Reflections E-mail from Planetwisdom

This is from an old e-mailing that I used to get from Planetwisdom.com. As is usual, my mailbox is a mess, so I decided to try to clean it up a bit. This is from sometime last February, so it's pretty old, but I thought that it was definitely worth sharing.

If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
- Romans 8:10

In my backyard we removed about seven trees and an entire wall of ivy. We started landscaping from a clean slate... well almost. You see, under the ground there is still a massive network of ivy roots. Every week new ivy shoots begin to spring from the ground. I pull them out and they grow back. It has become a weekly routine. The other day I actually said to myself, "When will these ivy roots get tired of this game? When will they give up?"

Of course, they will never give in. They are what they are. They are ivy roots. They know one thing and that is to grow ivy. It has nothing to do with will, but character. The character of the ivy root is to grow ivy. It doesn't have to will it to happen, it just does. And no amount of desire will stop it.

Now this is quite like our lives. Before Christ, we had a heart that sinned. We didn't have to will to sin, we just did. And no amount of will power could turn our lives from sin. After Christ, we have been given a new spirit by which we can now seek righteousness. This spirit is still trapped in a dead body of flesh that knows only what it has been trained to do - sin. So while our new heart wants to follow Christ, we struggle with our former ingrained character. We must continually crucify the flesh and walk in the Spirit, allowing the Spirit of God and the Word of Christ to transform us from the inside out. It is a process. It is a journey. We are in it together.

Josh Matlock

Proud Oldest seeks time with Genius Siblings

Is there anyone else that is a sibling, especially an oldest? There are plenty of things about life that are worth enjoying. Being a mom or dad is probably great, but I haven't gotten to that point yet. So, for right now, my favorite hat is that of the "big sister," which potentially has double intimations, but we won't go there, will we?

Either anywho, the local library system's summer reading program is here and my little sister, all of 8 spunky years old, has dived right in. Along with reading all of the books that she can check out and carry in her book bag, she has also been attending the programs that they have. Both today and Tuesday I got to go with her. I enjoyed Tuesday because it was about birds of prey from the local zoo: a kestrel, a black vulture, a (huge) owl, and a red-tailed hawk. The library was packed with these little creatures that couldn't have been taller than three or three and a half feet. They were everywhere! Of course, my little creature wasn't all that impressed with the guy from the zoo. She already knew everything about these birds from watching The Crocodile Hunter on Animal Planet. Of course.

The calendar of events said that this morning's program was supposed to be about recycling, but it was actually about monster legends of Arkansas, the Boggy Creek Monster, the Gurdon Light, and the White River Monster. But, they were sneaky about it. They also told us about protecting our natural resources, our wetlands, our air, and our water. Pretty clever, huh?

Yes, we had a good time. On Tuesday we walked home chasing the shade. It probably wasn't any hotter than a few billion degrees outside, but the walk wasn't too long. It's only a couple thousand miles back to my grandma's house from the library. Thankfully, I was walking with my little sister. If you know anything about little sisters, they are quite the curious things. She can talk about almost anything. This morning, due to the precipitive weather, we just drove back home. We still talked about as many of the same important things that we could think of, like when we'll next go swimming or playing in the mud in the backyard. Ah.

If you get the chance, spend a few hours with a younger sibling. Whether you're reading a book, wrastling, swimming, walking, or anything, you're going to have a good time and probably learn quite a bit too. Especially about bugs, crocodiles, and crayons, or maybe that's just my little sister. Find out.

A Summer Without a Brother

This is my "ode" to my brother, who is spending the summer with my uncle and his family as of this past Tuesday. I am hoping that he is having a good time. He lives in a house with four females, six including the cats. So, this will be an escape from being the only brother in the family. My uncle has two sons that are a bit younger than my brother. In this way he will not only get to hang out with guys, but he'll be the oldest kid in the house too.

While he is away, my sister and I intend to do something that should annoy him, but probably won't. We haven't yet figured out what that is, but when we do, that is what we will do, definitely.

Who am I kidding? WE MISS YOU!

P>S> Maybe Batman Begins will be at the dollar theatre when you get back. hm?

They Charge You Money!?!

My last paycheck was not the kind of paycheck that makes you want to kiss your boss and buy everyone a candy bar. My last paycheck was kind of puny because of the lack of hours that I logged at work. I missed two days to help a friend with the loss of his mother. Then I didn't get a whole 8-hour shift in because we ran out of work to do that day. So, my rent that came due that weekend was enough to eat just about my entire paycheck and most of the contents of my checking account, minus tithe and food money.

In fact, BBB and I needed to get some food since we didn't have much left. It's no fun to be out our own and starving (not that I have nor will likely ever experience anything close to starvation, perhaps not even true hunger). I walked up to the bank attempting to both save gas and get some exercise in. I took out exactly $15 hoping that it would be enough to bye the essentials that we needed. I then trotted over to the grocery store, which was having some truly amazing specials. I was able to get one gallon of milk, two loaves of bread, bologna, a bag of spinach, a bottle of ketchup, a can of chili, some cheese, a box of cereal, and something else, I think. That was all for about $14.25! It was wonderful! And my sister found $10 in my purse when she came with me to the bank, which was in immense help. I am so blessed in that I am well taken care of. God has orchestrated so many things to keep me from totally drowning in so many situations. Not to mention the best family and friends that I could ever hope to imagine to think to ask for.

If only it didn't cost anything to read books. Wait, there is a way! The library!

Ciao, y'all!