One Word At A Time: Reconciliation

By MAD21

Everyone is discussing reconciliation over at my friend Bridget's blog this week. My life has been totally insane the last month with family and school activities, and will be until at least Thanksgiving. I wish I had the time to talk about all the things that are written on my heart about this topic. But in the end, it isn't more words that will express my point. It's my heart.

I believe reconciliation is the end result of a long and difficult process of forgiving and healing. It's the reward for persevering, for having the courage to say what needs to be said, the courage to admit when you were wrong, and the desire to make love win over pride. If you have ever experienced true reconciliation, you will know that it's more than just what happens after saying, "I'm sorry." So much more.

But from Jesus' perspective, he had nothing to reconcile for himself. He went through all the pain and suffering so that each one of us could reap the reward of the ultimate reconciliation with our Father. Instead of us being punished for our sins and being eternally separated from God, in one action Jesus took it all. The perfect example of grace, of mercy... of love.

Here in this place...

If you have relationships that need to find a place of healing, let me encourage you to take that first step. Meet them at the table. God is already there.

This post is a participant in a blog carnival over at Bridget Chumbley's One Word at a Time.
Be sure to go and check out what everyone else wrote on: Reconciliation.

Endurance

By Pat

I wonder where Christians would be in their walk if there were never any roads to travel that didn't have hills? What if each path we walked was lined with flowers, filled with beautiful sunshine to warm us and light the way, birds singing, and level ground the entire way?

Well, I have never found that road. Believe me, I've looked! It's nowhere to be found. (I really don't think it even exists!) But oddly, it's okay. The roads I have walked have been laden with hills-some steep, some small. There have been many dark clouds, and sometimes rain. At times I have encountered thunder and lightning. But just as my physical body does not become stronger without regular exercise, neither does my spiritual body.

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Life Is Funny: NYC - Take Two

By MAD21

My hubby and I got to go spend a weekend in New York City last month. It's become somewhat of an annual event. We love going, but one weekend is about all we can handle of the craziness of that city. Last year I created a Top Ten List of the ...interesting... things that happened to us while we were there. We didn't see any boxing squirrels or people licking railings this year, but there were two very unique items that I thought I would share with you:

THE largest Pez dispenser that I have EVER seen (can you imagine the size of the candy for that??). Barbie's face was pretty scary, but I have to say that the Lucille Ball Barbie is WAY scarier (sorry, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of that one). There was also an enormous amount of scaffolding next to buildings held together by, you guessed it... DUCT TAPE. Wow. Obviously OSHA doesn't visit that city very often!

My friend and fellow blogger Wendy at Weight..What? has a fun carnival at her blog called "Life is Funny." Every Monday we talk about something in life that we find funny. Be sure to go visit her blog to read her post along with links to other blogs who are participating.

Praying for Purity

By Nick (My Experience As...)

What could be more sweet, innocent, and pure than a newborn child?  It seems that purity starts being threatened shortly after that first breath though. 

We work to protect our children.  We baby proof houses by covering all the outlets, putting parent proof locks on cabinets and everything else short of wrapping the world in bubble wrap. Despite all our efforts, it isn’t long after the sweet little baby starts life that we make our first panicked trip to the ER because of a minor head wound.  Did you realize even a small cut on the face bleeds a LOT?  I didn’t know kids had so much blood in them.

Despite all our efforts to protect our kids they get hurt, which is especially scary when I think of how little is done to protect the purity of a child.  Even if you remove the smut and garbage from your house, it is everywhere around them. The safety of prime time TV disappeared when I was a kid.  Even the shows on popular kids’ stations are pushing the envelope. Not long ago a popular show decided to roll with it when the lead actress got pregnant, following on the heels of Juno they went for the pregnant teen story line. While the show was cancelled before following that story line, it is clear that the networks don’t see a problem and will gladly take that risk again.

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Tasty Bites: Quesadilla Kick!

By Beth V

I’ve been on a quesadilla kick lately. My kids love them. They are super easy to throw together and they are a delicious way to use up random leftover meat and veggies. Sometimes I will simply reheat leftovers, but when I want to use leftovers to create something new, I‘ll often turn to these tasty quesadillas.

I start with whatever leftover meat I have. Today I used leftover London broil. I cut it into large chunks and chopped it in my food processor. If you do not have a food processor, simply chop the meat into easy-to-bite pieces or shred the meat with two forks or your fingers.

If you have leftover vegetables, feel free to get creative with them. I didn’t have any leftover veggies on hand, so I quickly chopped an onion and a couple of peppers and then sautéed them in a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle a little salt over the peppers and onions as they cook down.

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