John 15:12-13

12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Thanks be to God that He does love us so much He sent His one and only Son to lay down His life for us!

Milk Chocolate Covered Oreos

As if Oreos themselves aren’t good enough, they then come out with milk chocolate covered Oreos. Awesome! I especially like the milk chocolate covered mint Oreos, and also like peanut butter crème Oreos covered with milk chocolate.

Large Catechism, Second Article Apostle's Creed--Martin Luther

“For when we had been created by God the Father and had received from Him all kinds of good, the devil came and led us into disobedience, sin, death, and all evil (Genesis 3). So we fell under God’s wrath and displeasure and were doomed to eternal damnation, just as we had merited and deserved. There was no counsel, help, or comfort until this only and eternal Son of God—in His immeasurable goodness—had compassion upon our misery and wretchedness. He came from heaven to help us (John 1:9). So those tyrants and jailers are all expelled now. In their place has come Jesus Christ, Lord of life, righteousness and every blessing, and salvation. He has delivered us poor, lost people from hell’s jaws, has won us, has made us free (Romans 8:1-2), and has brought us again into the Father’s favor and grace. He has taken us as His own property under His shelter and protection (Psalm 61:3-4) so that He may govern us by His righteousness, wisdom, power, life and blessedness.

Let this, then, be the sum of this article: the little word Lord means simply the same as redeemer. It means the One who has brought us from Satan to God, from death to life, from sin to righteousness, and who preserves us in the same.”

1 Peter 1:3-9

Praise to God for a Living Hope
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

So many of the things we tend to cling to or hold on to are not lasting. The people we love die. Things are spoiled all the time for us whether it be food or the plans we make. The possessions we have can fade as can the happiness we experience from things of this world. But we have an inheritance that cannot perish, spoil or fade. We have living hope. We have new birth. We have a Savior Who died and rose for us. And we are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy because we receive salvation. I love these words in 1 Peter, and they are so good to cling to when faced with the difficulties and “suckiness” of life.

Eight is Enough

I was pretty little when this show first aired, but when I was in junior high, I really got into watching reruns of Eight is Enough. I think for me being an only child, this show about a large family was fascinating. I loved watching the sibling interactions and seeing how the family dealt with different challenges, tragedies, conflicts with each other etc. Some of it may be a little hokey when you watch it now, but it’s one of those shows that gives me a happy feeling when I watch it because I watched it as a kid and enjoyed it so much. It’s too bad so many of the actors/actresses struggled with drugs and alcohol, but some of them became Christians (Grant Goodeve and Willie Aames “Bibleman”) and their lives turned around.

Large Catechism, First Article Apostle's Creed--Martin Luther

“Wherever we escape from disaster or danger, we ought to remember that it is God who gives and does all these things. In these escapes we sense and see His fatherly heart and His surpassing love toward us (Exodus 34:6). In this way the heart would be warmed and kindled to be thankful, and to use all such good things to honor and praise God…

For here we see how the Father has given Himself to us, together with all creatures, and has most richly provided for us in this life. We see that He has overwhelmed us with unspeakable, eternal treasures by His Son and the Holy Spirit, as we shall hear (Colossians 2:2).”

Dying Young Soundtrack

This soundtrack consists of mostly instrumental pieces, which in large part are performed by Kenny G. I like writing with this soundtrack on in the background.

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The Bourne Ultimatum

This third Bourne movie is the most suspenseful yet. Lots of great chase sequences, and scenes of Bourne eluding people as he finally really pieces together what happened to him and finds out what the CIA program he got drawn into was all about.

Eddie Bauer

Eddie Bauer has become my favorite clothing store. I love the dress shirts there, and I especially love that they are wrinkle resistant since I hate ironing so much! The clothes can be a little pricey, so I look for things on clearance, or ask for gift cards for the store for Christmas or my birthday.

The Joy of Tech (4/27/07)

Blogging

People blog for all different reasons. I have blogged to keep a journal for myself about what was happening at a particular my life and to update people on what’s happening in my life. This particular blog was inspired by my boyfriend Chris who has a similar type blog. This is a great way to celebrate all the blessings God gives. As I make all these entries I am thankful for the many many ways God blesses us and makes life interesting for us. And I hope it’s fun for the people who happen to read this blog to see this stuff, maybe be exposed to some new stuff or be reminded themselves of all the blessings they have.

Romans 8:28-39

More Than Conquerors
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This passage is always comforting to me, and it is one I share often when I visit people. We do face a lot of difficulties and hardship in a fallen world, but no matter what NOTHING can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That is something we can always cling to.

The Bourne Supremacy

This is a great sequel to The Bourne Identity. When his girlfriend is killed, and he is framed for something, Jason gets in touch with the CIA and starts to remember more of his past and what he’s done for the CIA. Lots of suspense.

Gyros

I love this Greek food. Meat (lamb usually, but could be another kind of meat) with onions, tomatoes, and tzatziki sauce (yogurt cucumber sauce) served on pita bread. It's so good!

"Cry Love" John Hiatt

I love this song! The guitar stuff is great. The first time I heard this, I found it incredibly catchy. Some lyrics:

The trust of a woman, in his hand

But he was a little boy, not a man

You loved him stronger, than he could feel

Yeah, he was wrapped up in himself like an orange peel.

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