Holidays are good things. I love reasons to celebrate, reminders to appreciate blessings in our lives, opportunities to commemorate special events. Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Thanksgiving are definitely my top three holidays for those reasons.
Remember in elementary school when we made Native American head-dresses and pilgrim collars out of construction paper? We were taught about that Thanksgiving commemorate a time when two opposing cultures came together to celebrate survival, community and blessings. We were told to take the opportunity to remember everything we have.
After the turkey and the pumpkin pie, we're told to count our blessings, make lists of what we're thankful for, and to celebrate family.
Late 2012, my husband began
praying, asking God to really bless our efforts to reach out to others.
He started taking some of the guys in our college group out to dinner.
The first one he hung out with was Michael.
At the time, Michael was living at
a friend’s house and was faced with the possibility that he might not be able
to stay there much longer.Jon told me,
in the future, Michael might need a place to live and approached me about
offering our extra room for him if the opportunity arose. It seemed God
was being very clear.
I have to admit that I had a lot of
reservations. Being newlyweds, I had become attached to our easy privacy
at home. Selfishly, that was my first worry.How would the presence of a third person in
the house affect our marriage?
On Good Friday, the day we commemorate Jesus' death and honor His sacrifice, I often think of Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemene before he was taken. I feel like this shows the heart of Jesus so well. Enjoy.
John 17 (New International Version) Jesus Prays to Be Glorified
1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples 6
“I have revealed you[a] to those whom you gave me out of the world.
They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.8
For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They
knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you
sent me.9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.11
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world,
and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of[b]
your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.12
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by[c] that
name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to
destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in
the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within
them.14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.17 Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth.18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Jesus Prays for All Believers 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,21
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in
you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you
have sent me.22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—23
I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.
Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as
you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you
have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory
you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the
world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.26
I have made you[e] known to them, and will continue to make you known
in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself
may be in them.”
A few days ago, I started telling of my journey through Lent. Check it out here! It was the first time I've given up anything for Lent, and I chose coffee.
So, Lent is not quite over yet, but you're probably wondering with my overly dramatic intro in part 1 how I've been doing without caffeine.
I started off Ash Wednesday in Hawaii, the capitol of the decedent Kona coffee. We arrived at the resort and for breakfast, the server offered us coffee. We smiled and said, "Tea please." The server seemed startled that we wouldn't want coffee.
We returned from Hawaii and got back into the swing of things at work. I missed walking in and making my trip to the Keurig maker for my cup of hazelnut or vanilla coffee. The first few weeks continued similarly; I was always thinking about coffee.
As a writer, I've never been good at writing scene (describing the setting). I find it difficult to build not only the objects in the room but also the mood simultaneously. Its a difficult task, and those who do it well, I envy you. However, I do find that building a room is easier than describing nature scenery.
aka How to Appreciate Modern Plumbing & Hot Water More aka First World Problems
My water heater recently broke. The hubby said the pilot light wouldn't light and all that. Most of it went over my head. All I knew was there wasn't hot water for my shower, and it was winter. As for me, my skin and scalp in less than 24 hours get as greasy as a bacon pan, so I need my shower every day.
Desperate and unwilling to take a shower in the frigid waters of the Arctic, I did the following:
1) I took my largest pot and filled it with water. I lugged it to my stove and brought it to a boil. Took awhile. It was a large pot of cold water, so its understandable.
2) I filled my tub with about two inches of cold water. I dumped about a quarter of the hot water in, so it would be tolerable to sit in the tub.
3) I used a pitcher of water to pour the hot water on myself. I would mix it with the cold water from the bottom of the tub at first because the water was so hot. Later, it cooled enough.
3.5) My husband had the absolutely BRILLIANT idea of pulling the room heater into the bathroom. He turned it on high, and because the bathroom is such a small room, the room heated up in a few minutes.
4) Washed my hair twice, conditioned it, washed my body, and washed my face. Felt a little exotic, like bathing underneath a warm tropical waterfall. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration due to the fact that I was relishing in the hot water. (And note: it had only been 36 hours since my last hot shower.)
5) I had a third of the pot left at the end of the day to just pour over my face and body and indulge!
So, that is how I did it, for anyone who was wondering. And for those who are thinking this is "TMI" for you, my apologies for making you feel awkward.
Funny how taking one "simple" thing away as a hot water heater made me that much more thankful for hot water. And funny how living for 48 hours without a water heater can cause such a disruption in my life when people across the world don't even get clean water on a daily basis, much less clean hot water to shower in.
According to the first link on a quick Google search, the average shower head is using 2.5 gallons of water per minute. So a 10-minute shower uses 25 gallons of water. And I just used less than probably three gallons to wash myself this way.
I'm not here to bash the wastefulness of America or harp on our society's water usage. I'm just concentrating on thankfulness. 48-hours and a new water heater later (Yay for my hubby, my water heater hero), I can say that I have a new appreciation for my hot showers.
And just to be super appreciative of this piece of technology, here is a picture of our new water heater. Ta da!
And if you also from FWP, check out this video to help you here!
