Booyakalakashaka

Scene:  So my roommate just got a job at my favourite cafe in Toronto, Hotel Gelato.

Cute Barista (my nickname for the guy who always serves me):  So how'd you hear about this?
Roomie:  Well my roommate always comes here.  She's a regular.
CB:  Oh really?  What does she look like?  Maybe I know her.
Roomie:  Well she's Asian.
CB:  Is she hot?
Roomie:  Erm...I don't know.  I'm a girl, and I'm not attracted to girls.  And I'm not attracted to Asians.  She's not ugly.
CB:  I think I know who she is...She's REALLY HOT.

Of course it could be some other really hot asian girl, but I haven't come across any in my frequent visits there so I'm going to assume it's me, and allow my ego to be thoroughly stroked.  :)

Material for Sacrifice

God gives us material for sacrifice. Sometimes the sacrifice makes little sense to others, but when offered to Him is always accepted...The loneliness itself is material for sacrifice. The very longings themselves can be offered to Him who understands perfectly. The transformation into something He can use for the good of others takes place only when the offering is put into His hands.

What will He do with these offerings? Never mind. He knows what to do.

~Elisabeth Elliot

And so to You, Lord I offer the brokenness of my life.

In Love,

In love divest me of blessings that I may glorify
Thee the more;
remove the fuel of my sin,
and may I prize the gain of a little holiness
as overbalancing all my losses.

Excerpt from "Union With Christ"
The Valley of Vision

If...

If...
I ask to be delivered from trial
rather than for deliverance out of it,
to the praise of His glory;
if I forget that the way of the cross leads to the cross
and not to a bank of flowers;
if I regulate my life on these lines,
or even unconsciously my thinking,
so that I am surprised when the way is rough and think it strange,
though the word is,
"Think it not strange,"
"Count it all joy,"
then I know nothing of Calvary love.

That which I know not, teach Thou me, o Lord, my God.

Excerpt from the book "If" by Amy Carmichael missionary to India.

Wish

I was wishing that my wishes were what God wished, and if my wishes were not what God wished, I wished that I could wish that my wishes would go away, but my wishes were still there.

~Elisabeth Elliot

Enfolded

I will teach you, and guide you in the way you should go.
I will keep you under my eye.
Do not behave like horse or mule, unreasoning creatures,
whose course must be checked with bit and bridle.
Many are the torments of the ungodly;
but unfailing love enfolds him who trusts in the Lord.
Rejoice in the Lord and be glad...

PSALM 32: 8-11 (NEB)

Unruly Affections

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer
The Collects
Fifth Sunday of Lent

There Are Days...

And shall I pray thee change thy will, Father,
Until it be according to mine?
But no, Lord, no, that shall never be, rather,
I pray thee blend my human will with thine.

I pray thee hush the hurrying, eager longing,
I pray thee soothe the pangs of keen desire,
See in my quiet places wishes thronging,
Forbid them, Lord, purge, though it be with fire.

And work in me to will and do thy pleasure,
Let all within me, peaceful, reconciled,
Tarry content my Wellbeloved's leisure,
At last, at last, even as a weaned child.

~Amy Carmichael
As quoted by Elisabeth Elliot in her book, These Strange Ashes