Wednesday, May 27, 2009
A Personal Passover
Can I share a "God moment" with you? I was driving to Vancouver last March and was asking the Lord some questions. One of the things I asked was "Are you punishing me?" As soon as I asked the question, I saw a Highway Patrol car, so I looked down and saw that I was driving 80 mph in a 70 mph zone. I was sure I was going to be pulled over. As I was pass the car, I kept watching my rear-view mirror. The patrol car pulled onto the highway, and I figured it was coming after me. Then it turned on its lights and pulled over the car three lanes away. The Lord spoke to me in the moment and said, "See I am not punishing you. You deserved to be punished, but I do not delight in punishing you." I cried (and slowed down).
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Be Still
Observing Yom Kippur this past week had a way of focusing me that I did not expect. I woke up on Thursday morning hearing the Lord speaking over and over to me, "Be still and know that I am God." I lay frozen in my bed for quite a while. While I lay under my cozy blankets, I experienced a peace and calm that was wonderful. Although the phone calls that had gone to my voicemail earlier that morning plagued me a little, I realized that those calls could wait until the next day. Since then, I have felt a sense of calm that I haven't had for a long time. It is a realization that God is in charge and I need to trust Him. If I get fully stressed about a situation, it does not change what needs to be done to accomplish the task. Why do I work myself into mental exhaustion? What is the benefit?
One of the things that I have realized from observing God's appointed times is that I am more open/able to hear what He is saying on those days because distractions are nearly gone. The best part is that He speaks, wants to communicate with us, and desires good things for us. Blessed be His Name.
One of the things that I have realized from observing God's appointed times is that I am more open/able to hear what He is saying on those days because distractions are nearly gone. The best part is that He speaks, wants to communicate with us, and desires good things for us. Blessed be His Name.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Speaking the truth
The period of time between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur is know as the "Ten Days of Awe." This is a time of introspection; a time to examine ourselves and ask the Lord to show us areas of sin. This year has been particularly interesting in that I am encountering some emotionally intense situations. When emotions rise to the surface, underlying motives are sometimes more readily identified. I have also been observing how delivering the same message in even slightly different ways can produce dramatically different results.
There are a few Scriptures that I have been mulling over lately.
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." (Pro 27:17 ESV)
"but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Messiah; from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love." (Eph 4:15-16 HNV)
"For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Heb 4:12 HNV)
Sometimes, truth is cutting, but if it is spoken in love and humility, it is easier for the recipient to accept and incorporate the truth into his/her life. If both the truth teller and the truth receiver remain humble, the sting will be lessened. It is the difference between gently removing a sliver from the hand of a person who is remaining still, and brusquely pulling the sliver out of the hand of someone who keeps moving around. In both cases, the sliver may be removed, but the amount of emotional and physical pain present in the process will be significantly different.
Clean, purposeful, pruning hurts and may not be pretty in the moment, but the results are beautiful.
There are a few Scriptures that I have been mulling over lately.
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." (Pro 27:17 ESV)
"but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Messiah; from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love." (Eph 4:15-16 HNV)
"For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Heb 4:12 HNV)
Sometimes, truth is cutting, but if it is spoken in love and humility, it is easier for the recipient to accept and incorporate the truth into his/her life. If both the truth teller and the truth receiver remain humble, the sting will be lessened. It is the difference between gently removing a sliver from the hand of a person who is remaining still, and brusquely pulling the sliver out of the hand of someone who keeps moving around. In both cases, the sliver may be removed, but the amount of emotional and physical pain present in the process will be significantly different.
Clean, purposeful, pruning hurts and may not be pretty in the moment, but the results are beautiful.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
From the Archive
Because tomorrow at sundown begins another Yom Teruah (Day of Blowing), I thought I would repost something I wrote a couple years ago relating to this day. It was one of those "aha moments" for me in the desert. Maybe it will speak to you as well.
I had a memorable experience as I was making my way back to the US from Kenya. I needed to get to Nairobi from the remote area where I had been, which was about 16 hours by land vehicle, but only about 3 hours by plane. A Mission Aviation Fellowship plane made a stop every Tuesday and Friday at Korr. The missionary I was visiting had one of the ambulance drivers take me to catch the 6-seater propeller plane. He drove me two hours in the sand and heat to Korr.
I was told that the plane could arrive anytime between 11 am and 1 pm (typically). We (the ambulance driver and I) got to Korr a little before 11 am. For the first 20 minutes or so, the driver took care of a couple errands and I visited with someone I had met a year earlier. I was a little nervous because I didn’t know exactly where the plane would land, and I didn’t want to be preoccupied with something else when it came. My driver assured me that we would know when the plane arrived. Nevertheless, I told the driver that I wanted to wait close to the airstrip. He drove me to a Catholic compound, which was right next to the airstrip and where there was some shade. We sat and waited. I looked in the direction of the "runway," or where I was told it was. It just looked like a flat open space of sand right next to another flat open space of sand. Cattle were walking along a path near it.
As I sat in the dusty heat in a Toyota Land Cruiser ambulance waiting for the little propeller plane to appear in the clouds, I began to doubt. Airplanes in the northern desert of Kenya are not a common sight. The only things I saw in the sky were a few clouds, birds, dust, and the hot sun. I kept watching the sky while I listened for an airplane. I started to wonder if it was really going to come. You never know in Africa what type of delays can take place and there is no fast or reliable way to communicate a delay in that part of the country. What an unlikely place for an airplane to land--in the middle of the desert. Still, there shouldn't have been much reason to doubt since I arrived in the same place two weeks prior in a plane operated by the same organization. It was only 12:20, so it was still within the expected arrival time, but for some reason, I was really starting to worry. How long would I wait? What if it got to be 2, 3, or 4 pm and it hadn’t arrived yet? At what time would I decide to quit waiting? Then what would I do?
I started thinking about how much faith it required for me to believe that the plane would actually arrive. It was much more difficult to believe it here in the desert than at “real airports” where monitors list the expected arrival time and gate agents assure customers that the plane is coming. This time I was trusting the word of a person I talked to a week earlier on a satellite phone.
As I sat there and looked at the sky, I realized that it was just a few days before Yom Teruah or Day of Blowing (Sept 2006), where we look forward to the day when the trumpet will sound, the whole world will hear it, and the Lord will return in the clouds. I was actively listening & looking at the sky waiting for a plane...do I wait and watch as intently for the Lord to return? Do I believe God's Word that the Messiah is coming again? How often do I grow impatient and start thinking that maybe He really isn’t coming?
Suddenly, the driver said, "It's coming. I hear the plane!" I didn’t hear anything. But as I listened I started to hear it. The driver heard it much sooner than I did because his ear was trained to hear the plane. In a similar way, I want my ear well-trained to hear the Lord.
I was reminded of these verses:
“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” (2Pe 3:8-14 ESV)
I had a memorable experience as I was making my way back to the US from Kenya. I needed to get to Nairobi from the remote area where I had been, which was about 16 hours by land vehicle, but only about 3 hours by plane. A Mission Aviation Fellowship plane made a stop every Tuesday and Friday at Korr. The missionary I was visiting had one of the ambulance drivers take me to catch the 6-seater propeller plane. He drove me two hours in the sand and heat to Korr.
I was told that the plane could arrive anytime between 11 am and 1 pm (typically). We (the ambulance driver and I) got to Korr a little before 11 am. For the first 20 minutes or so, the driver took care of a couple errands and I visited with someone I had met a year earlier. I was a little nervous because I didn’t know exactly where the plane would land, and I didn’t want to be preoccupied with something else when it came. My driver assured me that we would know when the plane arrived. Nevertheless, I told the driver that I wanted to wait close to the airstrip. He drove me to a Catholic compound, which was right next to the airstrip and where there was some shade. We sat and waited. I looked in the direction of the "runway," or where I was told it was. It just looked like a flat open space of sand right next to another flat open space of sand. Cattle were walking along a path near it.
As I sat in the dusty heat in a Toyota Land Cruiser ambulance waiting for the little propeller plane to appear in the clouds, I began to doubt. Airplanes in the northern desert of Kenya are not a common sight. The only things I saw in the sky were a few clouds, birds, dust, and the hot sun. I kept watching the sky while I listened for an airplane. I started to wonder if it was really going to come. You never know in Africa what type of delays can take place and there is no fast or reliable way to communicate a delay in that part of the country. What an unlikely place for an airplane to land--in the middle of the desert. Still, there shouldn't have been much reason to doubt since I arrived in the same place two weeks prior in a plane operated by the same organization. It was only 12:20, so it was still within the expected arrival time, but for some reason, I was really starting to worry. How long would I wait? What if it got to be 2, 3, or 4 pm and it hadn’t arrived yet? At what time would I decide to quit waiting? Then what would I do?
I started thinking about how much faith it required for me to believe that the plane would actually arrive. It was much more difficult to believe it here in the desert than at “real airports” where monitors list the expected arrival time and gate agents assure customers that the plane is coming. This time I was trusting the word of a person I talked to a week earlier on a satellite phone.
As I sat there and looked at the sky, I realized that it was just a few days before Yom Teruah or Day of Blowing (Sept 2006), where we look forward to the day when the trumpet will sound, the whole world will hear it, and the Lord will return in the clouds. I was actively listening & looking at the sky waiting for a plane...do I wait and watch as intently for the Lord to return? Do I believe God's Word that the Messiah is coming again? How often do I grow impatient and start thinking that maybe He really isn’t coming?
Suddenly, the driver said, "It's coming. I hear the plane!" I didn’t hear anything. But as I listened I started to hear it. The driver heard it much sooner than I did because his ear was trained to hear the plane. In a similar way, I want my ear well-trained to hear the Lord.
I was reminded of these verses:
“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” (2Pe 3:8-14 ESV)
New way to make stem cells is safe: research
Another interesting article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080925/sc_nm/us_stemcellssci
I have been of the opinion for the last several years that there can be much gained from taking the time to really understand how stem cells actually work. There is so much that is not known in the area of adult stem cells, which makes wanting to use embryonic stem cells rather reckless. We are now seeing more and more what can be done with regular old skin cells. The fact is that people around the world have been doing research using embryonic stem cells, and it does not seem that they have had any greater advances than those researchers using adult stem cells.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080925/sc_nm/us_stemcellssci
I have been of the opinion for the last several years that there can be much gained from taking the time to really understand how stem cells actually work. There is so much that is not known in the area of adult stem cells, which makes wanting to use embryonic stem cells rather reckless. We are now seeing more and more what can be done with regular old skin cells. The fact is that people around the world have been doing research using embryonic stem cells, and it does not seem that they have had any greater advances than those researchers using adult stem cells.
Too Busy
Clearly I haven't posted anything for a while. There is a reason for that--I have been very busy. I thought my busyness would be through August and then ease up in September, but that did not prove to be the case. September has been almost more stressful that August was. When will it end? I guess there is a point where I have to say "enough is enough--I need my life back." I want to blog again. I want to sit and think about things other than the mountain of work sitting on my desk. I recall those projects that I put off several months ago thinking that I would get to them in September, and now it is almost October. They say time flies when you are having fun. It also flies when you are really busy.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Interesting study
Antibodies still protect 1918 flu survivors: study
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1647217720080817?sp=true
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1647217720080817?sp=true
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
A woman in a male-dominated field
Those of you who know me know that I work in male-dominated fields (engineering and construction). For the most part I feel like I am treated fairly and am respected by the men with whom I work. However, there continue to be remnants of male chauvinism that rear their ugly heads. Even though I am the one making the final decisions, some of the men tend to ask the other men on my team rather than talking to me. The other day, one of the engineers with whom I am working blatantly challenged my request, but listened to the men who reiterated what I had requested of him. I try not to be paranoid about it, but sometimes it is hard to ignore the fact that being a woman in this field is still a bit of a novelty, and some men don't know how to respond. When I see or hear gender-biased responses toward me, I usually choose to ignore them and act as if the person didn't mean it. I am of the opinion that if I act with the expectation that they respect me, they will in respond in such a manner. Unfortunately, sometimes it doesn't happen, but I am learning to live with it.
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