Romans 3:5-8

Today I memorized:

But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.)  By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?  And why not do evil that good may come? - as some slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

I am looking forward to tomorrow's memory work!  I may attempt a (personal) record setting 10 verses!  They are VERY short verses. We'll see what the Lord has in store for tomorrow!

Romans 3:1-4

Today I memorized the first 4 verse of Chapter 3:

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one where a liar, as it is written, "That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged."

I am tired today.  It was a battle to stay awake to memorize. I started snacking on Kettle Corn to keep alert! By God's help I was able to get it done instead of collapsing on the couch (which I was very tempted to do and have done on other days). Praise God!

Papa

A few days ago, as I read about Heaven in Wayne Grudem's Bible Doctrine, in my mind I got a picture of my Papa.  Papa, Ward Stanley Ostrander, went to Heaven on August 5, 2007.  He was a godly man who loved the Lord, his dear wife, his children and grandchildren, and the church. His story is compelling and I am grateful to be his granddaughter. Our son, Jake, is named after him: Jacob Ward.  The picture I got was of Papa, big smile on his face, standing tall with full head of hair.  He was younger than I knew him to be, full of joy and peace.  He was greeting my little one.  I realized then that he is there with them.  He has two great-grandchildren with him in that wonderful place!  What a joy it is for me to imagine them there.  Last night I couldn't stop imagining them walking in the presence of God.  I picture them, one on each side of Papa, holding hands, walking and talking with our Lord.  

The more I study Heaven, the more my perspective is adjusted, the more I long for the place.  I had peace when Papa died that he was with Jesus in Heaven, but I have never been more comforted by that thought than I have been recently. He is experiencing life without sin!  He has seen and is continually seeing the glory of God!  His body is changed and is no longer corrupted by sin and death!  I am thrilled that he is there and not here.  I miss my Papa and I am saddened by the knowledge that my children won't know him in this life.  But I will see him again!  Lord willing, my children will know him some day!  These are not just comforting daydreams made up to help us get by.  These things are true.  The bible is rich with evidence! Heaven is real.  I long to go there and to be with my Lord.  I long to be freed "from this body of death".  I long to worship God perfectly and to interact with family and friends perfectly and to live perfectly - that is, to do all of those things without sin!  Praise God for Heaven and home and for telling us what he has in his holy word!  Praise God that he has made a way, through Jesus' death and resurrection, for me and every believer to enter into this wonderful place!  

Our greatest joy will be in seeing the Lord himself and in being with him forever.  When John speaks of the blessings of the heavenly city, the culmination of those blessings comes in the short statement, "They shall see his face" (Rev. 22:4).  when we look into the face of our Lord, we will see there the fulfillment of everything that we know to be good and right and desirable in the universe.  In the face of God, we will see the fulfillment of all the longing we have ever had to know perfect love, peace, and joy, and to know truth and justice, holiness and wisdom, goodness and power, and glory and beauty.  As we gaze into the face of our Lord, we will know more fully than ever before that "in your presence there is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures for evermore" (Ps. 16:11)...When we finally see the Lord face-to-face, our hearts will want nothing else.  "Whom have I in heaven but you?  And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides you...God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Ps. 73:25-26).  Then with joy our hearts and voices will join with the redeemed from all ages and with the mighty armies of heaven singing, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" (Rev. 4:8)  (Grudem, Bible Doctrine, pg. 470)

Papa and our two little ones are already there.  Praise God!  Come, Lord Jesus!

Romans 2:25-29

Today's memory work; the end of chapter 2:

For circumcision is indeed of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.  So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?  Then he who is physically uncircumcised will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.  But a Jew is on inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man, but from God.

Praise you, Lord, for giving me strength to memorize these two chapters!  Use your word to change me as I meditate on it.  You are the Giver of all good gifts, especially your word!  You have given me the ability to memorize as well as the desire.  Thank you for both!  Be glorified!

25 Random Things

Recently, on Facebook, I was asked by some friends to write out 25 random things about myself.  I enjoyed reading my friend's lists, so I decided to participate.  I thought I would include it here for your enjoyment.  If you can think of others (especially my family members) please feel free to include them as a comment!

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

I have been tagged 5 times now.  I thought I should go ahead and get to it!

1.  My whole life I have had stick straight hair.  While pregnant with Jake, my hair turned curly!  It is still curly...not curly enough to look cool, but just enough to cause problems!

2.  My nose is unusually squishy. 

3.  I have worn glasses since kindergarten and contacts since 6th grade.

4.  I am 28 days older than Kevin.

5.  My arms bend the wrong way to a disgusting degree.  I have participated in many "weird human tricks" games.  It comes in handy when I'm trying to reach something behind my seat in the car.

6.  I am very sleepy as a person.  I have fallen asleep driving...more than once.  When I was a child I would leave playtime with my brothers, crawl into my bed, and take a nap of my own free will.

7.  I LOVE coats.  They are the article of clothing I get most excited about purchasing or wearing.  This was especially prevalent a few years ago when I wanted to buy a coat anytime I had money to spend (Christmas, birthday...and my birthday is in July).  Seriously, I love them.  I often decide what I am going to wear based on the coat I want to wear.  

8.  I love food.  I have really big reactions when I really like what I am eating.  I talk about it a lot and often close my eyes so I can really appreciate the flavors in my mouth!

9.  Kevin and I were in the same "Freshman Seminar" class the first week we were at Liberty.  We didn't realize it until years later.  He interviewed me for a ministry team when we were freshmen in college.  We didn't reconnect until the end of our sophomore year.

10.  Kevin and I have moved 5 times in the 5 years we've been married.  We have lived in 2 basement apartments over the last 3 years.

11.  I slept with earplugs in for the first 5 years of our marriage.  I recently quit.

12.  I LOVE to read.  I have always loved it.  I use to hide a flashlight under my bed so that I could read under the covers.  I got in trouble more than once for this practice.  I later found out that my dad did the same thing but he used one of those fake candles that you plug in to turn on.  He would unscrew the light bulb just enough to make the light go out and then hide it under his mattress.  Early one morning, my grandmother (Mamaw) smelled smoke and followed the smell to my dad's room.  She got him up and discovered that his mattress was smoldering!  She dragged the mattress out of the house where it continued to burn until it ran out of mattress.  Crazy!

13.  My Mamaw and Papaw (dad's parents) met when they were 15 and 18 respectively.  They were married 3 months later.  They will celebrate 56 years of marriage this May 30th.

14.  My great-grandfather (mom's dad's dad) was a Vice President of Ford Motor Company.

15.  I refer to parking spaces as "parks".  For example: "Hey babe, this is a great park!"  I got it from my mom.

16. I love to bust into a silly dance out in public just to make Kevin laugh.  Now Jake loves it, too.  Chloe doesn't think it is very funny.

17.  My favorite restaurant is Tower Oaks Lodge (Clyde's).

18.  I can get sucked into something on TV within seconds.  Kevin is amazed that I can get into something while he is flipping through the channels!

19.  I was missing two teeth when I was 16 years old.  I pulled my baby teeth too soon and the spaces for my permanent teeth closed some.  When the permanent teeth were finally ready to come down, there was nowhere to go.  They eventually fused to the bone of my jaw.  I had to have surgery done on these teeth at the same time I was having all 4 wisdom teeth removed.  The oral surgeon released the teeth from the bone and attached a wire to each tooth which protruded from my gum (where the teeth would have been) and was then attached to a wire in my braces.  So much fun!!  

20.  Kevin and I were at the game when Maryland beat Duke in double over-time in the ACC Championship.  It was amazing.

21.  I know at least some (if not most) of the lyrics to a song after hearing it only once.  I never know the artist or title.  Kevin always knows the artist (especially) and title buy few lyrics.  I also know all the words to every light rock song from the 90s.  My mom controlled the radio when I was a kid and I loved to sing.  It wasn't long before I knew every song on the radio.  Now I hear them most often in the grocery store...much to Kevin's delight!

22.  My whole family lives within a 20 mile radius in North Carolina.  I'm talking both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins from both sides and both of my brothers.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are crazy busy and crazy fun!

23.  I enjoy snacking on green bell peppers with cottage cheese.  Kevin thinks this is gross.

24.  I want Kevin to drive a very particular speed.  Not so fast that he gets a ticket but not so slow that we never get there.

25.  I was a cheerleader in high school.  I wasn't just a cheerleader, I was all about it.  I cheered for my middle school and high school AND a competitive squad.  I traveled with them all over the country for competitions.  My high school coach was also my 10th grade English teacher, Laura Bott.  I was the first freshman to make the Varsity Squad so Laura and I were together for 4 years.  She was the greatest influence on my life at that time and had much to do with my growth.  I grew to love her so much that, when Kevin and I were married, she was my matron of honor.

This took far longer than I expected it to.  Please excuse any typos you find.  I just don't feel like proof-reading.  If you find one that is particularly bad, please feel free to let me know!  I probably should have included something about loving to edit things...just not my things.  Thanks for tagging me (those of you who did).  I had fun trying to think if the most random things!