Hodgepodge

Mark had gone to get gravel to build the base for the hot tub. When he opened the back of the truck, some gravel fell out and Judah screamed in terror.

At David's birthday party, Grandma W. just didn't seem to have the touch.

After two long years of sitting, unused, in the same spot, Peter Maclennan, Mark Wenslawski, Frank Wenslawski, Andy ???, and Nick Christy, moved the hot tub to its rightful place...to be used by many.

We had a get-together for Lisa Maclennan's 25th birthday party. What was so amusing is the segregation that took place. From left:

Christian Christiansen, Nick Christy, Nik Chanda, Mike Coffey, Scott Berardi, Tommy Barrington...

From left:

Christine Berardi, Brenda Loving, Lindsay Christiansen, Lisa Maclennan, Carmen Pampeyan, Laura Coffey, Christie Chanda...

On Friday, we went to an A's game to support our friend, Brian Bannister, a Royals player, as he pitched against our favorite team. From the left:

Lydia Csider, Micah Csider, Amy Wenslawski, Amanda Johnson, Diana Sauer, Jason Sauer, Scott Johnson.

Micah and Lydia with Brian Bannister after the game.

These are two baby hummingbirds in our orange tree. Mark was trimming today and we think, may have cut off a bit of their nest, accidentally. However, I watched for about forty five minutes to make sure their mother returned. She did. I prayed that she would return because yes, I believe that "His eye is on the sparrow!"

Okay, final thoughts:

This weekend, we had been looking forward to watching our friend from church, Brian Bannister pitch against the A's. A group of us from our Sunday school class went out to the game and cheered him on, donning Bannister shirts and signs. It was a very fun time.

I was, however, slightly anxious about the event. I was nervous that there would be so much fawning over him. And I loathe this type of behavior. Often with "celebrities" there are so many people trying to just get near the STARS in order to feel some sense of importance. Even in Christian circles, sometimes, this seems to happen. We exalt a man and clamber to just be recognized as someone in the presence of greatness.

One of our friends, before the game, was noting his coolness by dropping the fact that Brian Bannister had once been to his house for dinner. I do not want to crucify this poor fellow, as if we all haven't made shameless plugs through namedropping or innuendo. In the flesh, I think we are all given to bouts of such pride...okay, maybe not. Maybe it's just me. But, I think naturally, we want people to think we're as important as we are in our own minds. I was telling Mark about a daydream (really, more of a passing thought) that I have had many times which typically features me as the hero. And I was thinking about how crazy it is that I am so self-focused that these things just pass through my head on a semi-regular basis- most of the time, unnoticed. And it's amazing how people think that they need more "self-esteem!" I am pretty sure I'm not the only one who thinks too highly of herself, either. Anyway, I am going too far off-track. The point is, I was nervous about the way some would behave at the game, in manners that are self-important. And, while there was a little bit of that, I am grateful to report that for the most part, many who were with us, were quite classy.

But, what I came home with, and what I am most thankful for, is the fact that my identity is not tied up in how many celebrities I know, or in how many super-Christians I am friends with, or in how many people know me at church. Rather, my identity is firmly planted in Christ alone. And I am unabashedly appreciative of this. I picture God glancing around at all of us self-important people, trying to make everyone else think we're as important as we feel, in sadness at how misguided we are. Don't get me wrong, it is great to follow the example of those who are spiritually stalwart, and to imitate those who imitate Him. But I am ultimately grateful that we are not even a blip on the screen of eternity, yet still, we are worth a son to God. So, how this works, I do not know. But one of the ways it plays out in my life: I try to put off my fleshly desires to be important, and I TRY (though sometimes, it comes more easily than others), to exalt Him alone and to put others before me. I guess the only way to do this is by remembering Philippians 2: Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Okay, I know my thoughts are rather disjointed tonight. So, I will leave off with this song:

In Christ alone, my hope is found.

He is my light, my strength, my song.

This Cornerstone, this Solid Ground,

Firm through the fiercest droughts and storms.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease.

My Comforter, my All-in-all, here in the love of Christ, I'll stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless babe.

This gift of love, and righteousness,

Scorned by the ones He came to save.

Till on that cross, where Jesus died,

The wrath of God, was satisfied.

For every sin, on Him was laid,

Here in the death of Christ, I live.

There in the ground, His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain.

Then bursting forth, in glorious day,

Up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands in victory,

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me.

For I am His, and He is mine,

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life. No fear in death.

This is the power of Christ in me.

From life's first cry, to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand.

Till He returns, or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ, I'll stand.