Meet Laura Anderson

Hello again.. I decided it would be a good idea to write up a little something to introduce a very special young lady... Miss Laura Anderson. See picture.

I guess I'm going to tell a bit of our story, although you'll have to forgive me if I decide to withhold parts.. because some of it is just better told in person.

I met Laura fairly shortly after I moved to Mines during my sophomore year in college, so about a year and a half ago. We both attended the Ballroom Dance class on Tuesdays, and she became good friends with Alec Westerman, who lived down the hall in 008. We saw each other occasionally, mostly through swing dancing, but we never got to know each other well. I knew her as a quiet, beautiful, godly young woman, and that was about the extent of it. Last spring, we both attended an information session for intensive overseas language training, and it turned out she was there with the same motive I was, using that training for God's glory on the mission field. Unfortunately, neither of us made the cut into the program.

Fast forward to this semester, and it turns out that Laura and I end up in the same AEM (Advanced Engineering Mathematics, the capstone math course for most non-math majors at Mines). As soon as attendance drops and there is a seat open, I started sitting next to her, and over the first weeks of class, we began talking about anything and everything. This was really when I began to realize how precious Laura was. She knows the word of God as well as I do (quite possibly better, she pointed something out on Saturday that I'd forgotten), loves with all her heart, speaks life, uses her time well, and loves to serve. She and her sister Amy have both been through a lot of challenges, but she views them only as blessings. She inspires me, challenges me to grow, challenges me to love God more.

So Laura and I are moving into a new season together, pursuing Him and learning how to serve and love each other the way He loves us. I deeply welcome your prayers in that regard.

That's what I've got for the moment. I wanted to put this out there for those of you who follow what God's doing in my life through this blog, so you wouldn't be out of the loop. There are so many little stories I could throw in, but they'd just be superflous icing on the electronic cake. That said, if I've missed anything obvious, or you just want to know more, there is a wonderful comment button down below.

And yes, she's gorgeous. I'm way out of my league.

Musings, pt. 1

Just a collection of thoughts and prayers as I sit here tonight.

Things to re-learn
Laughter
Contentment
Differential Equations
Relationship dynamics
Humility
Love

Things to discover
Why God has put me here, now
Simple living
The beauty of friendships
How to find more time for cooking
Love

Things to ponder
Paintball: why do I still play?
Why can't I successfully make rice pudding?
Why do I still insist on making rice pudding?
Why don't more people know about the wonderous concoction that is rice pudding?
Why am I now craving rice pudding?
Love

Jericho

So this is something I've been pondering the last few days, ever since God pointed it out to me in worship at theMILL Northern Hills on Friday.

The key text is Joshua 5. In the first 12 verses, we find Joshua, the leader of Israel, having just crossed the Jordan. He's just recently taken over from Moses, the man who really is the Old Testament Messiah of the Jewish people (if you look at the parallels between the Old Testament and the New Testament, it's really easy to see why the Jews of the 1st Century AD were looking for a socio-political messiah.. the parallel they had in Moses brought them physically out of slavery and physically up to the borders of the new land)

Now, Joshua has a big challenge ahead of him. If you go back to the story of scouting the Promised Land, Joshua and Caleb went in together, they saw what they were going up against. When they came back, they didn't say "Aw, guys, there aren't really giants, and they cities aren't that well fortified, and the people look impressive, sure, but they're really not all that strong". They said "we can take possession of the land, we will swallow up the people there, because their protection is gone, and the Lord is with us".

So Joshua is facing a strong enemy, and this as one of his first tests of leadership. He's in command of a mighty force (so mighty that the people in the land are afraid of Israel), and he's just been shown to have God's favor by the crossing of the Jordan during flood stage. But we know he's nervous, from the exchange in Joshua 1 ("Be strong and courageous").

So he decides to do this whole thing the right way. Between crossing the Jordan and beginning the conquest of the land, we see him purify and circumcise his whole force (which, interestingly, is a very dangerous thing to do when in a hostile land, when you consider the story of Genesis 34), and he celebrates the Passover. I'm sure there are military preparations in there too, but Joshua is covering all his bases.

So the twist comes in verse 13.

At this point, Joshua is either scouting out Jericho, or since he's already sent the spies, he may very well be leading his column for the actual attack on the city.

13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand.

Ok, hold up, everything is off now. Joshua knows this isn't one of his scouts, he'd recognize him. And this guy, whoever he is, is apparently blocking Joshua's way with a drawn sword. Not really a good sign. Joshua makes a pretty logical next step...

13b Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"

Makes sense, right?

14 "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come."

Whoa. Neither. Didn't see that coming. Now, if Joshua was asking, "are you one of us or one of them?", this answer would make sense.

But that's not what Joshua asked.. he knew that this chap standing in front of him wasn't one of his men.

At this point, God (the commander is often believed to have been pre-incarnate Jesus) steps in and says that he is neither for Joshua, or against him. Doesn't fit nicely into our little Christian mold that God is always for us and that all things work for our good, does it?

14b Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?"

15 The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

God is reminding Joshua that while he is not necessarily on Joshua's side, Joshua is on His side, that Joshua is acting to fulfill God's will. The scripture goes on to show God's plan in action as Joshua defeats the defenders of Jericho, the most impressively defended city at that time in Canaan (as shown by the archeological record)

I wonder if we often make this mistake, of assuming God to be on our side.. The question we really need to ask is if we are on God's side. Are we serving God with our actions? Are we working to accomplish his ends? Or have we decided that these challenges are our own, and we simply need Divine help?

My 6 cents. Inflation is getting ridiculous