What do you Want?

“What do you want?”
It’s a popular question today…and one of the most anticipated.
What do you want...to do…to eat…to read…to play…to learn…etc.
There was an important moment when Jesus asked this question too!
......

John the Baptist was active in declaring Jesus as the Lamb of God, and he took the opportunity to teach those around him (especially his disciples) about this Word-become-Flesh.

One day, John speaks to two of his disciples and points out Jesus (John 1:35).
Imagine the emotions those disciples must have experienced when Jesus passed by – the Lamb of God, the promised one! They immediately left their place with John and followed Jesus (vs 37).

What happens next is astounding!
First, Jesus “saw them” (vs 38) – beheld them, studied them (in the Greek).
Then he asked the two men, “What do you want?”
The King of the Universe asks these two men what they want….and their answer is beautiful.
“Rabbi…where are you staying?” (vs 38).
In essence, Where will you be so we can spend time with you? We want to get to know you. We want to be in your presence!

“So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him” (vs 39).

Do we really, truly crave and pray for a deeper relationship with Christ?
Do we long to spend time in his presence?
Let that be our daily prayer for ourselves and for one another, as the body of Christ!

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10).


These thoughts are summarized from a sermon by Rev. Darren Quilley, Sunday April 29/07.

Secret Providence of God

"Whenever we may wander in uncertainty through intricate windings, we must contemplate with eyes of faith, the secret providence of God which governs us and our affairs and leads us to unexpected results."

John Calvin

most recent adventure

My most recent adventure was being flown up to Washington State to surprise a college roommate for her wedding!!

It was SO wonderful to spend time with Stacy and Nick, not to mention other college friends: Lindsay, Jenae and David, and Jeff. Ah, sweet Dordt College memories!

Here are a few special pictures:

1) Lindsay and I (and Seattle in the background)

2) Myself, Jenae, Lindsay, and Stacy

3) Beautiful cherry blossoms! Wow.

Isaiah

I have been reading through the Old Testament in as much chronological order as possible. As I am currently in the stories of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, I read the prophets that prophesied at that time.

I am currently reading through Isaiah.
I love that book of the Bible for many reasons.
For now, I just wanted to share a passage that I like a lot (especially the italics part).

Isaiah 26:7-9

The path of the righteous is level;
O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth.

Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts.

My soul yearns for you in the night;
in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
the people of the world learn righteousness.

...only a matter of time....

well, it was only a matter of time until someone emailed me with the subject line, "still alive?"
it was bound to happen sooner rather than later.
this poor little blog has been neglected for over three weeks....thanks and much patience to all of the faithful blog checkers out there! :)





so, excuses?
well, i don't think they need to exist for blogs, but basically, it's a matter of time
my mom and sister from Canada came,
report cards came,
exams came,
Easter came,
parent conferences came,
creating substitute plans came,
looking for jobs came, etc.
i hope to catch up on blogging one day.
i definitely have been thinking of lots of things on this end!

but as evidence that i truly am alive and well, here are a few photos of when my my mom and bethany were here.
:) enjoy!

From top to bottom:
1) Mom and I - do you see any resemblances?
2) Mom and Bethany with two sisters who live at an orphanage
3) Sisses enjoying icecream on a hot day!