These 9-month-old Twins Don’t Need an Adult to Play the Best Game of Peek-a-boo Ever
What Feeds My Soul
All week I pondered this question in anticipation of this post. What feeds my soul?
1. My morning quiet time feeds my soul.
Over the years I've learned that the best use of my time in the early morning is to spend it reading my Bible and praying. It has become a priority for me. It's like water in the desert. His Word has sustained me through the hard times as well as the good times. Even though I must get up very early to have time before work, it's so worth it to me. I love it when I'm reading a Scripture I've read many times before but the Holy Spirit opens up my eyes to understanding in a new way.
2. Music feeds my soul.
I'm amazed at how busy I can get and somehow forget to turn on music. When I stop and do this, it makes such a difference. Yes there are times when I need the quiet and still. But there's nothing like listening to soft piano music to quiet my soul. The sounds of David Nevue often fill my home. The sounds of classic hymns fill my soul with worship. Many of the newer Christian music often energizes me. I often exercise on my treadmill to the sounds of Mandisa and Toby Mac singing their Good Morning song. But I also love my 60's music. Sounds of Motown, Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons, and many others remind me of my high school years. I had to laugh as only yesterday my husband turned on the DirectTV channel to 60's revolution. As I was getting ready, their sounds filled the air as I rocked out.
3. The sound of the ocean surf feeds my soul.
I grew up on the water. My house was located across the street from the canal. Boat yards lined my street. Clam boats were tied up within my line of sight from my bedroom. The smell of salt air is very familiar to me. Now I live in the desert of Phoenix and I miss the ocean. But how thankful I am when I get to travel to California or back east to Florida or New York. In the meantime, I listen to the sound of the surf on my computer. It's not quite as good but still feeds my soul.
4. The smiles and laughter of children feed my soul.
I think I'm still a child inside. I love the sound of laughter and I get plenty of that each day at work. When I step on to the grounds of our school, I can't tell you how many times I'm greeted by a child sticking their head out of their mommy's car window shouting, "Hi Miss Debbie". This totally feeds my soul. Children express their emotions so easily. Over the years, I learned to hold my emotions in but I'm learning through the eyes of children. I laugh more when I'm with them. Recently I had the opportunity to see a student who now goes to a different school. She lives in the same general area of town as I do so she asked her mom when she could see Miss Debbie. Her mom reached out to me and we made a date to meet on a Saturday. As I waited for her at a local restaurant, she spotted me and ...came running. Her hugs lasted so long as she told me how much she missed me. How can this not feed my soul?
I've been through lots of ups and downs in my life. My mom used to tell me as a teenager that I was in love with love. I think she was right. I had to learn the hard way as most do. My husband and I have been married for 30 years. I'm so thankful that we're in a place in our marriage where we appreciate and love one another. It hasn't been easy at times but we stuck together through the hard times. I know I am loved by God. That changes everything for me. Earthly people may let you down but He never does. Knowing Him through Jesus feeds my soul like nothing else can. My perspective on life and people changes as I view them through His eyes.
I'm linking up with Bonnie of Faith Barista for Beloved Brews Thursdays. I am a day late but decided to go ahead and post.
So now I ask you. What feeds your soul?
Blessings and love,
![](http://i513.photobucket.com/albums/t334/Panda444_photos/blog%20graphics/debbie_hc_sig01.png)
Space-making
Amidst the poorly-veiled disgruntled mumblings and vigorously squirming behinds, the evening’s speaker announced the lecture was now concluded and it was time for questions: “This is a Q and R, not a Q and A. I will do my best to respond to all questions directed at me, but answers I will not promise,” she […]
The post Space-making appeared first on Relief: A Christian Literary Expression.
A video game that asks theological questions
3 Helps: For When You Wish You Could Tame Your Tongue
An amazing resource - free
Imagine having a one-on-one conversation about humanity’s biggest challenges with some of the world’s most inspiring and knowledgable thinkers and activists. Well, that’s precisely what Michael Dowd had the privilege of doing over the past year. You can freely watch or listen to these 55 amazing conversations:
The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness — 55 pre-recorded podcast interviews:
https://www.entheos.com/The-Future-is-Calling-Us-to-Greatness/Michael-Dowd
At the link above, you can access all 55 audios, videos, and transcripts. This is an amazing resource. I had the privilege of being one of Michael's conversation partners.
Winter Morning at the Shore
Prepare for the Super Bowl with this Incredible Bad Lip Reading NFL Video
The team behind YouTube’s incredible bad lip reading series has released their latest video looking back on the 2015 NFL season, and it is hilarious. If you need to clear you football pallet of cheating scandals before the Super Bowl next week, this clip may do the trick ...
The New ‘Star Trek’ Is Being Co-Written By Simon Pegg
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The tone of the upcoming Star Trek 3 may be a bit lighter than J.J. Abrams’ other recent contributions to the franchise. Deadline is reporting that Simon Pegg—one of the masterminds behind send-ups like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz—has signed on to co-write the new film. As Vulture notes, Pegg isn’t the only reason to believe that the upcoming Star Trek film might actually be kind of funny: In addition to the Fast and Furious movies, the Star Trek director, Justin Lin, was behind the lens on several episodes of Community, including the now-legendary paintball episode ...
Culture war of cakes: Associated Press story on gay rights, religious freedom less than perfect
The Demands of Love in Harry Potter
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Fleur Delacouer, a student from a French school of magic visiting Hogwarts, says that her school would never tolerate the silliness that is commonplace at Hogwarts: “eef a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, ‘e would be expelled like that!” JK Rowling’s series is filled with characters unusual not only... Continue reading →
Seeing a Counselor No Longer Considered a Sign of Weakness
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Pastor Punches Kid, but It’s Cool… “There’s Times That Might Be Needed”: A Little Friday Funny
Printable Bible Verse Valentine Cards
In Twitter We Trust
This is a guest post by JR Vassar, lead pastor at Church at the Cross in Grapevine, Texas. He is the author of Glory Hunger: God, the Gospel, and Our Quest for Something More.
Visible and Valuable
Daniel Gulati recently posted an article at the Harvard Business Review’s Blog, entitled, “Our Dangerous Obsession with External Recognition”. In it he identifies in the professional world a growing obsession with visibility. Gulati cites as an example, “John,” a middle manager at a Fortune 500 Company who admittedly attended an inordinate amount of industry conferences in an attempt to “increase his overall visibility.” According to John, “It’s all about optics...and you need to be everywhere.” Gulati offers a second example, “Steven,” a consulting partner who has his own Facebook page with over 50 fans. Steven tweets over 40 times a day primarily because in his own words, “it makes me feel good.”
This is not just a “professional world” problem; that is a human problem. We have a deep desire to be visible and valuable. We crave attention and want the approval of others. We have a gnawing ache to be known and admired, to have our name in lights. And, we generally fear being unseen or unnoticed, passed up or passed over.
That is why social media is so intoxicating. It creates a platform whereby we can broadcast ourselves to the world and overcome our invisibility. As a society infected with a low grade narcissism, we give undue attention to our digital images and obsess over amassing followers and fans—all in pursuit of the exhilaration of being known. The state of invisibility is a frightening prospect. For many, social media has become a savior to rescue us from this dreaded hell of obscurity.
No Salvation
But what we quickly discover is that being saved from social obscurity is no salvation at all. This universal ache to be visible and valuable, to be known and loved, reveals something to us about the reason for our existence. The deep need we have to be known and loved by people reveals a deeper need we have to be known and loved by the Ultimate Person. God has made us for himself and until we are content being known and accepted by Him through Christ, we will spend our lives in the bondage of being known and accepted by everyone else. The Apostle Paul addressed this idea of bondage with the Church in Galatians 4:8-9:
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
To be known, loved, and befriended by God! To be visible and valuable to Him! That is the key to breaking free from the bondage of “optics.” This is why Jesus came.
In Christ, we can live under the smiling gaze of God. By his cross he has secured for us the unending acceptance and approval of the Ultimate Person. And, we need not have our name in lights when it is graven on his hands.
JR Vassar (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) serves as lead pastor at Church at the Cross in Grapevine, Texas. From 2005 to 2013, he served as the founding and lead pastor of Apostles Church in New York City. JR and his wife, Ginger, have three children. He is the author of Glory Hunger: God, the Gospel, and Our Quest for Something More.
Hundreds of thousands join pro-life rally in Washington
Fulfill Your Ministry
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Full Text Communications Day Message of #PopeFrancis Family Theme - "...we are working to build a better future for the world in which we live."
Now ‘Serial’ Witness Asia McClain Says Prosecutor Is Lying and She Stands by Syed’s Alibi
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Serial season one may be over, but the story of the case against Adnan Syed is still unraveling. In a new development, Asia McClain—a high school classmate of victim Hae Min Lee and the man convicted of her murder, Adnan Syed—has penned a new affidavit this week giving Syed an alibi in the case. McClain is standing behind the original letter mentioned on the series, in which she claimed to be with Syed at the time of the murder. The new affidavit, which was provided to TheBlaze of all places, says that McClain realized that she “needed to step forward and make [her] story known to the court system.” Even though she told investigators the same story in a letter at the time of the trial, prosecutor Kevin Urick testified that letter shouldn’t be heard because, “She told me that she’d only written it because she was getting pressure from the family, and she basically wrote it to please them and get them off her back.”
The problem is, McClain says that never happened in her new affidavit: “I never told Urick that I recanted my story or affidavit about January 13, 1999 … I did not write the March 1999 letters or the affidavit because of pressure from Syed’s family … my only goal has always been to provide the truth about what I remembered.” The new affidavit also says that Urick told her not to be a part of an appeal back in 2010: “Urick convinced me into believing that I should not participate in any ongoing proceedings … Based on my conversation with Kevin Urick, the comments made by him and what he conveyed to me during that conversation, I determined that I wished to have no further involvement with the Syed defense team, at that time.” For his part, Urick told TheBlaze the allegations were “Absolutely false … She definitely told me that she wrote what she wrote, was to appease the family, to get them off her back.” As with a lot of elements of this case, the only thing that is clear is that someone—in this scenario, Asia McClain or the prosecutor—is lying. Syed’s defense team is currently arguing that he receive ineffective counsel, partly because the “Asia letter” was not presented as evidence ...
#BreakingNews King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Dies - RIP
SAUDI ARABIA
King Abdullah, the timid Saudi reformer, is dead
He is succeeded by his half-brother Salman. The Crown Prince is Moqren. Ambiguous relations with the United States, but also with China. Proponent of a peace plan for Israel and Palestine, but opposed to the Arab spring. His meeting with Benedict XVI. Supporter of the opponents of Bashar Assad and Iran's enemy. The Wahhabi kingdom must defend itself against al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Riyadh (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz died last night at o'clock (local time), after a few weeks in the hospital with pneumonia. The sovereign was 90 years old (his exact date of birth is unknown). The Royal House announced that his funeral and burial will take place today, after Islamic prayers in the afternoon. It also announced that his successor is his half-brother Abdullah Salman, 79, and that the crown prince is Moqren, 69.
Abdullah ascended to the throne in 2005 upon the death of King Fahd, but in fact reigned since '95, due to his stepbrother's poor health.
Among the first to pay tribute to the memory of the deceased king was US President Barack Obama and French President François Hollande.
The news of the death of Abdullah has caused little surprise: he was ill for years and often spent periods in hospital. Analysts view him as a cautious reformer of the dynasty and Saudi society. During his reign, in the only country in the world that does not allow women to drive a car, he granted them the opportunity to vote in municipal elections. He also reduced the influence of the religious police (muttawa) in the private lives of the Saudis. He also worked for peace between Israel and Palestine, proposing in 2002 a comprehensive peace plan between the Arab countries and Israel in exchange for the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. The plan was thwarted by the United States and categorically refused by Israel.
After 9/11, relations with the US faltered, since most of the terrorists involved in the attack on the Twin Towers were Saudis. Abdullah tried to maintain relations with the United States, but in 2003, with the international invasion of Iraq, he would not grant US aircraft permission to have a base in Saudi Arabia. In 2009 he stepped up relations with China, which has become the main customer of the oil rich kingdom. But in 2011 he bought weapons from the US for nearly34 billion US dollars.
In 2007, a year after the Regensburg speech, critical of the violence in Islam, the Saudi King became the first in history to meet with a Pope, Benedict XVI.
With the outbreak of the Arab Spring, for fear of seeing the end of his reign, he used military force against the riots in the country and in neighboring countries (see Bahrain) and poured more than 130 billion US dollars into the domestic economy to appease popular discontent. At the same time he has curbed the press freedom and launched an anti-terrorism law that allows security forces to arrest anyone suspected of criminal actions for at least six months.
Saudi Arabia is home to the two most important holy places of Islam, Mecca and Medina, popular places of pilgrimage. During his reign, Abdullah also had to fight the Iranian influence on the Muslim world. In Syria, the Kingdom also continues to fund the fundamentalist opponents of Bashar Assad, while Iran supports the latter. Shared from AsiaNews IT
Home to Wahhabi Islam, the most fundamentalist and combative form of Islam, Saudi Arabia is facing the threat of al Qaeda in the Islamic peninsula and those of the Islamic State on the border with Iraq. Both radical groups count supporters in the Kingdom.