LinearLady's Xanga

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 03:55:44 GMT

A little something about the city that I love...Sarajevo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHKCH7dZDkw&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrI4Q2Bo70g&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO3ESC8GAIw&mode=related&search=

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:50:01 GMT

So the facebook status thing always starts "Ashley is..." Currently, the rest is something like "thanking God for a safe motorcycle ride with Dad"...That's basically the intro for this entry because tonight I went on a ride with my dad to and from our favorite Mexican place. Just the two of us. A father-daughter outing. Good times...

I don't remember exactly when my parents started to ride motorcyles. Maybe it was a year or two before I went on STINT. That's how you measure life after STINT. There was before STINT, during STINT, and after STINT...The point is this: They've been riding motorcycles for quite a while now. It's a hobby that's sticking. I partly attribute it to the fact that there's community wrapped up in it. There are a lot of them that ride together regularly. It's like a fellowship...of the bikers...

I remember when I was a little girl on Sawmill...My dad was selling his motorcycle, and he took me and my sister on a ride around the neighborhood before its new owner came for it...That was the last time that I had ever been on a motorcyle, though I did rent a scooter last summer in Croatia with Lauren and Andrew. And then this year in Morocco I rode a camel...Perhaps that's beyond comparison in this instance...

So since I got back from Sarajevo, my dad has been saying that he'd like to take me on a ride, and as it turns out, tonight was the night. We decided on a father-daughter to Fiesta Brava. The ride: my dad's Kawasaki. So I put on the appropriate attire: boots, pants, shirt, jacket, and helmet...After a quick tutorial ("Hold on to your grips. Lean in when I lean in. Lean out when I lean out. When we turn, don't just sit straight up...Lean with me; lean into the turn..."), my dad and I were on our way...

I would't exactly say that I was a natural. My dad took us on the back roads for a while, going out of the way instead of taking a direct way to the restaurant. I was holding on for dear life. I was pretty stiff through even the straightest parts of the road, and especially the moments of turning, even with the slightest curve, taking one hand off the grip to place a hand on my dad's back to lean with him. I was very thankful that my dad had put the trunk on the bike, providing a bit of support for me to lean back on. Thankful that I had a mask thing over my face to block out the wind....

We came to a light at one point, and my dad put up his mask thing to ask me how I was feeling and to tell me that I was doing well. To tell me that he could hardly tell that I was even riding with him at all...When we passed the hospital where my sister works, I heard him shout out: "Hi, Rachel!" Nice to know that I'm not the only one who does things like that...

Of course, I thought about things like fear. Things like risk. Things like God. At any moment I could have made the slightest mistake, and we could have been goners. Or maybe it could have been my dad's mistake. Or that of another driver. My parents go on bike trips into the mountains, and they ride all kinds of switchbacks up and down the mountains. Our ride was nothing in comparison, but my mind wondered what would come next with each speedy turn that my dad made...

The sun was setting as we were riding, but my eyes were fixed on the road. Or, at least, I tried to fix them on the road. I couldn't look directly in front of the bike because my dad was sitting in the driver's seat right in front of me. His helmet blocking my view. It's like that with us, isn't it? We try to see what's coming up. Looking to the left and right, trying to increase our visibility of what's on the horizon. Trying to anticipate every bend in the road so as to lean into it. If you lean out, you're a goner. The best thing to do, the only thing to do, is to hold on and to lean into it, to lean into Him, the Driver. He sees it so clearly. He has full visibility, and He's the one doing the driving. We're along for the ride. He has so many things in place for our protection, for our good...

Every turn, every straight shot...Just hold on...Lean in when I lean in...Lean out when I lean out...Move when I move...

A break for dinner...a feast...It always is when Dad's treating, isn't it?

The ride back...Even the ride out of the parking lot felt familiar, more natural. I didn't need to hold on to the grips so tightly as before. I felt my body loosen up and was even able to look around at some of our surroundings...I wasn't afraid or nervous. I didn't think about us falling. I trusted every move, every turn that my dad made, and I moved when he moved, sometimes not even knowing that I was doing it...

Will I go out again any time soon? I don't know. But I do that it's something that I'm not likely to forget any time soon...

Just hold on...Lean in when I lean in...Lean out when I lean out...Move when I move...

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 01:39:22 GMT

I'm such a sap for these things...

http://www.ksbj.org/eblogs/afternoonShow/?p=86

Monday, September 17, 2007

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:48:53 GMT

Okay, so it was a very emotional service at church this morning. The lead pastor was doing a play off the new Transformers movie, talking instead about heart transformation. I was really locked in and tracking, seeing as how that's all that I talked about for two years in Sarajevo...At the end of the service the band played a song. I had never heard it before, but here are the lyrics. Apparently, it's sung by Casting Crowns, and it's called Set Me Free...

It hasn't always been this way
I remember brighter days
Before the dark ones came
Stole my mind
Wrapped my soul in chains

Now I live among the dead
Fighting voices in my head
Hoping someone hears me crying in the night
And carries me away

Set me free of the chains holding me
Is anybody out there hearing me?
Set me free

Morning breaks another day
Finds me crying in the rain
All alone with my demons I am
Who is this man that comes my way?
The dark ones shriek
They scream His name
Is this the One they say will set the captives free?
Jesus, rescue me

As the God man passes by
He looks straight through my eyes
And darkness cannot hide

Do you want to be free?
Lift your chains
I hold the key
All power on Heav'n and Earth belong to me

You are free
You are free
You are free

I was really moved. Tears and all. And it had been an emotional week leading up to then. But in the moment, all that I could think about were my friends in Bosnia and the lost and dying in the world. People who are carrying around their chains, while we're called to carry our cross. Trapped in darkness, and He alone can set them free and bring them into His light. They need to know. I remember when He did that for me. I wanted freedom from my chains. Only He could rescue me from the darkness of death and the bondage of my chains. And He did. Praise Him, He did!

Hvala ti, Isuse...

Monday, September 10, 2007

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:36:41 GMT

Something that we read in d-group the other night. I hadn't read it in what seemed like such a long time. Something to re-visit and learn all over again...Oh, and it's John 6:66-69...

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

So, as promised by my latest entry...

I went to Florida over the weekend with Lauren. We had a most excellent road trip to Jacksonville, where we stayed with a family from CRU for a night. The next day we went to Orlando for the rehearsal dinner of our friend Andrew. We all spent a year together in Bosnia, 2005-2006. It's funny what can happen in a year or two. At the beginning of our year together, we went to the lookout in Sarajevo to pray over the city and over each other. Andrew was sharing that he was just accepted to seminary at RTS in Orlando. He said that pretty soon he would have to decide whether to re-STINT in Bosnia or go back to the States for seminary. He decided to go back to Florida and start seminary. Soon after, he met Meredith. By the third date, he knew that he wanted to marry her. And this past Saturday, they got married.

It was great for me and Lauren to meet his friends and family. People that we had heard so much about through his stories, finally connecting names to faces. It was so precious to re-connect with his parents, who had visited us in Sarajevo in April of 2006, the same week that my mom came to visit me. Andrew's mom is especially precious, and at the reception, she shared about one of the books that changed her life. It's entitled Bold Love. She did this as a study with a group of seven women. It took them five years to go through this book because they were so committed to healing and to applying the truths found in the book. Andrew's mom, Beth, says that the author speaks a lot about the difference between forgiveness and restoration. Meaning that one of the main differences between the two is that forgiveness takes one party, while restoration takes both parties. There was so much more to her explanation, but I simply cannot do it justice. A lot of the explanation has to do with her application of the book's principles to an example from my life. That is to be continued, as I plan on purchasing the book and seeing where it takes me. So, there's more to come...

Monday, September 10, 2007

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 01:02:47 GMT

So expect an entry in the very near future. The topic: Forgiveness vs. restoration. Something to think on...

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 19:03:18 GMT

I love stories of lives that have been changed by Christ...

http://www.headtochrist.com/video/cnn.htm

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 04:00:23 GMT

Two quotes from the book that I'm reading, The Voice of Jesus by Gordon Smith...

"...moral reform without joy is legalism or moralism, not the authentic transformation of character that arises from an encounter with the gospel..."

"...it is important to stress that the outcome of the lectio divina is the encounter with Christ Jesus himself. Out ultimate longing is not to know the text so much as it is to know the one who speaks to us through the text. For many Christians, it would seem, their devotional lives are a "quiet time" in which they meditate on the Bible and pray in a manner that suggests that their encounter is really with the Bible and not with Christ. However valuable this might be, what the Christian really seeks is to meet Christ. True devotional reading anticipates this encounter. As Paul put it, we "are being transformed...from one degree of glory to another" because we see Christ (2 Cor 3:18). And our daily prayers are opportunities for union with Christ, a union that is facilitated by the ancient text of the Bible. In our public worship, what we long for is that we would see Jesus. The holy Scriptures are read and preached so that this encounter is possible. The goal of our pursuit of understanding and wisdom is that we might know Christ experientially, that we might meet the One who is the very embodiment of truth.

This is a crucial reminder because many of us can be content to so relish one insight that we do not allow a new understanding to enable us to know, love and serve Jesus--the very purpose of Scripture. In the end what brings true joy and consolation is that we delight not in our insight into the Scriptures but in their power to transform us into the image of Christ. What matters is not our mastery of the text but the wonder that the ancient text enables us to know Christ and be known by Christ."

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:52:25 GMT

I hear the Savior say,
"Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow'r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper's spots
And melt the heart of stone.

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I'll lay my trophies down,
All down at Jesus' feet.

Oh praise the One who paid my debt
and raised this life up from the dead

Oh praise the One who paid my debt
and raised this life up from the dead!!!

Monday, August 13, 2007

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:36:55 GMT

So while I was away in Bosnia, some high school guys at my church decided to start a non-profit organization that is determined to help build wells in Africa. These guys are just sophomores. (A living testimony that you are never too young to be a leader and make a difference!) They did a lot of touring this summer, and even have a website and merchandise. Please, take a minute to check out their site, but more than that, take the time to find out about the great need of the African people, whether through this site or others. Look outside your walls and into the far-reaching corners of the world...

http://www.drytears.org/