Journal of Faith: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling Philippians 2:12

A lot of ministry students like myself have heard this term or saying before.  It means scripture only.  This is the way I strive to live my life.  It is according to the inspired word of God.  Because God holds all wisdom in his hands if we follow what he has said then we will be able to live victoriously in this present world.  People try to say that the Bible is outdated, but God is not subject to time therefore God can not be outdated.  God knew the end from the beginning and before we were formed in the whom he knew us.  How can he ever be outdated?  I am not trying to shove aside tradition, but tradition should be taken as just that rather than our means of salvation or mark of christianity.  A christian by definition is a Christ - follower.  I think that many traditions are great, but if you can not apply the word or God to your life than you have only a form of Godliness.  I want to exude Godliness from the inside out. ...

So, my brother will be married soon, and I think I am okay with it.  I get along well with his bride to be and resolved myself to the fact that I am going to have a sister.  I think it may not be as bad as I have imagined.  When I was younger I used to wish that I had a sister all the time, but as  I got older I began to appreciate the fact that I was the only girl. The only person that  I had to share with was my mother.  I do enjoy the many female cousins that  I do have which are like sisters to me, and I enjoyed my roommate experiences in college. I am adaptable.  I think everything will be fine although one day I was looking for my curling iron and found it two days after she was there. It was behind a dresser.  Let the shared female experiences begin.  =)  Heaven help us all.   As I write this  I think I am becoming a little bit excited.  It's like college all over again. 

That is right folks, my little brother,20, is getting married next month.  He and his girlfriend were planning to get married later, but they moved it up to next month.  Am I happy for them...I don't know.  I think that it takes a certain level of maturity to make a marriage last at any age, but with them being so young I worry a little.  I love them both, and I want everything to work out wonderful for them.  I just want them to be smart about things. Now that the practical big sister statements are out of the way, I really need to get to the part where I am very much an adult and not married.  When I found out that my brother was getting married I was shockingly angry at myself, at  my situation, and at my son's father.  How could he be the one getting married after how hard I worked to do things the right way, sometimes unsuccessfully but still.  I didn't get married when  I got pregnant because I didn't want to make things worse by...

I am helping my one year  old to gain his independence, but it seems he just wants to nurse more and more.  The cold turkey method is not really working for us.  He is so determined to nurse that I can barely hold him any more.  This strong child immediately tries to nurse every time he sees me.  I pretend that I don't remember how to nurse, and he goes to great lengths to remind me how it's done.  He walks me to his room, closes the door tells me to sit on the bed, climbs up, and proceeds to angle himself for nursing while pulling at my clothes and saying something that resembles "I want this."  I then say "huh?" and act as if I don't understand him.  This is followed by crying and scratching and more crying and more "I want this!"  I try to go get him food or something to drink, but he is so determined that he swipes all of that away.  I've got the carpet stains to prove it.  He even went so far as to climb into our rocking chair,...

Over the last few years I have been in transition between being an adult and being my parents' daughter.  To hold both of these roles in balance is difficult and takes a lot of careful decision making and prayer.  It has been hard especially since I have a little family of my own now, but  I think I have figured things out relatively well for right now.  When I am at odds with my family over a decision I remember what the Bible says "honor your  your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the face of the earth" and "children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right".  When you are a kid it sounds like something that your parents say to shut you up, but in reality it is a formula for getting along with your parents.  I have to honor my parents even when  I disagree.  If it doesn't kill me or dishonor God to go along with what my parents' are saying than I do it.  Of course this is easier said than done because I am ...

So in the beginning I really was not a fan of the split shift, but I am starting to turn the corner on the issue.  I work in the morning, grab a coffee before taking the bus back home, get to play with my son and relax for about 3 hours, and then go back to work for the rest of the day.  It is actually kind of nice.  By the time I get that "wow is work over yet?" feeling it really is almost over!  It is like I get a 3 hour lunch break, and who doesn't love an extra long lunch break.  The week seems to go by pretty quickly too.  I can't believe that it is already Thursday.  Another week is almost down, and I have now worked a month.  I guess it is mostly about finding a routine that makes work difficult, but now I have found it as well as a satisfaction with the splits.  Has anyone seen Star Spangled Rhythm?  I am feeling the need burst into song "On the line with my baby on the [split] shift. Life's just fine with my baby on the [split] ...

I have been thinking about marriage since I was 5 years old.  At first I thought God made us girls to get married to some handsome boy and have a family.  Then in my teen years I thought "you get married so you won't have to be alone."  This one stuck for quite a while, but when I think about it I can't see how being alone is worse than being stuck with someone who makes you miserable.  Then for a while I changed the question to what are the advantages of being married?  Sex is the more obvious plus, but what about companionship, children, and increased chance of survival.  A lot of people with children get divorced now for lack of these in the marriage, but quite honestly there are plenty of people having children outside of marriage, plenty of people finding companionship in other ways, and plenty of people who have found a way to not only survive but thrive as single individuals.  Even Paul in the Bible said it would be better to remain single when ...