Unsatisfied By Average

The Musings of a Stubborn Believer

Category: friends (page 3 of 5)

Of Bok Choy and My Bible

Lettuce I can do.
Broccoli I can do.
Kale I can do. (more please?!)
Kohlrabi I do. Radishes, turnips, parsnips, parsley, and fresh asparagus.
Yep. Do, do, do.
Like, all.

And I like liking everything. (everything good.)

Really.
You cannot imagine my horror when I woke up one day and found out there was one I couldn’t do…

.  .  .  .  .

My screen comes to life with a swipe.
My thumb dances, my eyes dance. My feet dance all the way up the stairs where I almost blunder into Natasha in the kitchen. I tap the icon with the little red “10” on its corner. Off in my own little world…
But not really…

No, actually, not at all.
I share this world.
I share it with who-knows-how-many other people. 100? 120?
And it’s not the facebook app, (don’t have that one, actually) and it’s not the G+ app, and it’s not the mail app, and its not Messages.

It’s ScriptureTyper.
Typing scripture makes my eyes dance. And I wander round and round the kitchen island dodging Tasha and a huge bowl of hummus, and the wheat thins leftover from recital night, and the rest of the lunch fixings.
And I pound the table with my fist, and she enters right in, and we laugh together…

“You know what I LOVE???”
“What?”
“I absolutely love the Ethiopian! Here’s the guy, sitting in his chariot, puzzling over Isaiah.”
“Yeah…”
“And Philip arrives from nowhere, and expounds,”
“Yeah…”
“And he’s like: ‘See,


“‘…here is water! What doth hinder me to be baptized?'”
(She listens to the same bible I do, so our intonation comes out perfect in unison.)

What a concept. What a beautiful, fresh perspective…
“Yeah… And Philip…”
“Yes! and then they come out of the water and, poof!”
“‘And he went on his way rejoicing…'”

Ha! I would have to….
I would have too. 

I’ll be honest, even at the start of this thing I never dreamed that memorizing could be this much fun.
Now, I’ve given up guessing. I’m just rejoicing.

Some of you were on to ScriptureTyper right from the start, before I’d ever heard of it. Well, I’ve heard of it now. And it’s a fixture… I’m totally hooked. Hooked most of all because those that have joined our group in the last week can be just as much a part as those who joined months ago… And we can push ourselves, and encourage each other, and pray for each other… 1,385 prayers and counting.
Even if we’re not (and we’re not! :)) all at the same spot…
And then there are the other emails I get… The other blogposts I read…

And friends from Young Disciple who have developed a full set of first-letter bookmarks for the entire book of Acts, (for download or purchase) so you can take your chapter anywhere… (click here.)

God is building something far beyond our dreams. He’s putting in His children an insatiable appetite for His Word

Oh, you don’t have time?
No, actually, you do. Perhaps you don’t have an appetite.
But that can change. I promise…
 

.  .  .  .  .
Remember my horror when I found the greens I couldn’t do? (Apologies to my Asian friends.) 
Bok Choy and I don’t agree… There’s a violent (and I do mean violent) chemical reaction when I put it in my mouth.
But you know, I’m not giving up hope yet. After all, the people who grew up on the stuff. . .
Wait a minute.
You chose what you’ll grow up on.
Go delete all the games off of your phone and computer,
and then go get ScriptureTyper. 

Why We Live

Identity determines purpose.

In other words, who you are determines what you will do.

*  *  *  *  *

I have a question for you. A question still ringing in my ears from a secret spot on a sunny hillside at Sweetwater…

Can you tell me, in 10 words or less, why you’re alive?
I mean, are you living today for a reason, or are you just breathing, working, studying…?

Let me tell you a little secret:
Identity determines purpose.
Satisfaction is the fulfillment of that purpose.

I’m blessed to be surrounded by some deep, beautiful people…
You know what we’ve been learning of late?

Just living isn’t enough.

Let me gently remind you who you are.

You’re the King’s son. The King’s daughter…
You’re the broken little lamb that the Shepherd keeps charging into the briers to rescue.
(That’s His blood on the thorns, not yours.)
You’re the pinnacle of God’s creativity.
Yes, you.

And you were created to identify with God. And for God to identify with.
And you’ve been broken, and bruised, and horribly disobedient.
But you’ve been redeemed.

That’s who you are.

So now: Your purpose… Your motto. 10 words or less?
Choose them carefully. Because in the end, they’ll be the reason why you breathe, work, studyLive.

Can I tell you why I live? Why I love, preach, blog, breathe?
Why I want to finish Nurse Practitioner and spend 6 months of 12 in a dark land?

“To Make Men Free.”

What Really Counts

Around the world, and back again…

Part of my heart is still in Southeast Asia. 
What remains of me has been completely transformed. 
I’m an American. Make no mistake. 
But I don’t see the world like the typical American. Not any more…
I cross the threshold back into my office/studio/bedroom at 0300, clap twice. Soft lights around the perimeter of the ceiling surge, illuminate the place. I stop and stare.
Is this my world?
Yes. 
No…
Morning light comes. (3 hours later.)
I press the silver button that will bring my MacPro to life. It doesn’t. 
I hear the sounds of a failing hard drive.
Thank you Jesus!
No, I’m serious. That’s exactly what I said. 
Do you know that stress is a choice?
Do you know that life is about much more than emails, work, school, stuff?
Or shall I say, much less?

Ask my Cambodian friends.
I work in the garden instead of the office. Then I leave home again, after 48 hours. In my flip flops. My dead computer stays. I thank Jesus for [another] Seagate failure all the way to Oklahoma… 
Because to eat, to sleep, to pray…
To serve,

this is life. 

And my computer, and my email, and my to-do list… These other things that dominate when someone asks me what I’m going to do today? 
Those are actually accessories.
On this trip, the accessories stayed home. My iPhone went to Europe in Joshua’s pocket. 
And I just loved people.

I’ve never felt so alive.

Just a Pebble…

Some day when every wrong is made right, I will understand the true weight of today. For now, let’s just say it was one of the best days of my entire life…

I step out, zipped and buttoned. Black wool and cashmere reach earthward almost to my knees. The very air is alive with vigor, somewhat like my insides… I go to meet my God in a beautiful field, on a beautiful farm, this beautiful morning of mornings.

I sit on sandstone at the spot where two friends of mine became one months ago, and read…
And my journal, this spiral bound book with my handwriting in it, this book that records the secrets of my broken-hearted moments, this book my Nana gave me, it opens my eyes to the goodness of my God.

Every moment I have lived, every mercy I have tasted, every tear I have shed, every battle I have fought, every dream turned to ashes, was for today.

Today.

Without them, the new dreams springing up would have nothing to root in; to feed on. Because of them, I love my God more than I love anything else in this great wide world. And I love all that is (are!) His…

Hours pass and I wander around the pond; ponder why my heart is here today anyway

It was just a pebble.

Just a friend who doesn’t even know it happened. But just because they love Jesus, because they love what is high and holy and pure, and just because I was blessed to catch a glimpse of it when I was momentarily unsure of what to do with my sword, just because of that; them…..

Some day when every wrong is made right, I will understand the true weight of today.

Mean time, I will never again underestimate the power of influence…
Even if it does seem like just a pebble

“Throw a pebble into a lake, and a wave is formed, and another…
until they reach the very shore. So with our influence. 
Beyond our knowledge or control it tells upon others 
in blessing or in cursing…
If by our example, we aid others in the development of 
good principles, we give them power to do good. In their turn 
they exert the same influence upon others, 
and they upon still others. 
Thus by our unconscious influence many may be blessed.”
Signs of the Times, Oct 21, 1903

I Thirst

Another full revolution around the sun…

I thirst.

25 years have taught me a few things, and none more potent than this:

The greatest gift to any man, is the faith of a child.

Just days ago I sat on the piano bench in a living room full of life, and animated conversations. I was surrounded. Surrounded by young friends 8, 10, 12 years my juniors. Thirsty for God

I love young lives. And I try to maximize every opportunity to make them stronger.
But these lives had at least as much to teach me as I had to teach them.

I thirst. And I’m not alone.

Strange thirst; all consuming, filling to rejoicing, yet only growing stronger with time…

I thirst for Christ.

Nothing else matters.

If there is anything I intend to do with this year of my life,
it is pass on the faith of little children.

Taste of the Tour

Words fail of conveying sufficient depth and gravity.
Clichés like: “I’ll never be the same” apply, but still don’t tell it like it is…

I throb thankfulness while I grope for expressions worthy, and finally conclude-

Our best statements are understatements.

Because once again, our God has outdone Himself, blessing when we went to bless.
How I needed the quiet. How I needed to see the rocks that cried red. How I needed the battle to refocus. How I needed to be broken and healed, raised up out of weakness, charged to fight…
Reminded that I am nothing.
Reminded that “All things work together for good…”

All things.

Thank You Jesus.
Thank you, beautiful friends from all over the continent…

We love you…


Taste of the Tour from Sean Nebblett on Vimeo.

Full Cups and New Friends…

I learned today how to make a full cup fuller…
Surround yourself with european friends three tiers high, and talk about war.

Seriously, guys… Why do we have to nearly starve before we’re ready for bread?

friends: three tiers high
sermon notes. (green version)
Marcel manipulating languages
faces
Frank Fournier: fellow “American” and new friend 🙂
This one is for the Fords. 😉
more friends
my pal again. (fun to take pictures of!)
listening
we interrupted a birthday party on outreach. Second from left there got Happy Birthday, and Always Cheerful.
the neighborhood natives lead the way
p.s. you don’t have to speak the same language to be friends…

Outreach!

I love it when a group of kids knocks on the door, and after they have finished singing and the owner has selected a Great Controversy (of all things!) from their stash of “free gifts,” they offer to pray for blessings on that house, and the owner crashes in with his own beautiful prayer of blessing for them…

I love it when a simple songs strikes a solid chord because the heart was made soft by a brother’s recent passing…

I love it when the neighborhood kids get excited right along with us, and wait with huge smiles with their scooters and unicycle for us to pick them up each afternoon to sing to he rest of the town.

I love it when those same neighborhood kids tell me all the english phrases they’ve learned in school, while I stretch my poor tongue to make German sounds back, and we all laugh, friends.

It is hard not to love this place.

we set out
that’s my pal there
and his harmonica is a big hit
neighborhood girls
surrounded by friends
(most of whom have names difficult to pronounce)
this is real fun
next door
see my friends with the wheels?
how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news…

Church in Three Languages

Love it. 🙂
And we love meeting young people in other parts of the world that have the same fire burning in their souls that burns in ours. The army is growing… 

Halfway to Heaven?

Spent hours this morning in a warm little Austrian living room, talking of Heaven… (While the clouds were deciding whether or not to cry.) Now my heart carries a peculiar little twinge.

I want to go Home…

But then I look out the window and remember where I am, and what I have left to do before it’s time to leave. 
Heaven is my home, but earth is my workplace.

And it’s not yet time to go…
. . . . . . . . .
I live on a cursed planet, thanks to my first father’s ingratitude.  
But I think the curse rests more heavily in some places than others. 
This place is unreal. The pictures are pitiful.
I’ve never been to a place where the curse seems to rest more lightly.
Look, the sun just came out.
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