Monday Musings: Flight times

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Oh, the irony!
I prayed our flight would be late …
But not by an hour.

Whew, what a full weekend! We were blessed with an opportunity to travel to Pittsburgh (more on that in another post) and had a tight connection time on the return trip. I was afraid we’d miss the last leg home (which is also the last flight of the night to our small, regional airport), so I prayed that it would be late to accomodate us. An hour after we ran (quite literally!) to the terminal, they announced boarding. Alas — thank you, Lord, that we didn’t miss the flight! 🙂

Buried with him (Prayer Devotional for the week of March 11, 2012)

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Do you ever wonder what Lazarus’ life was like after Jesus raised him from the dead (John 11)? When I first read Don Piper’s book, 90 Minutes in Heaven, I was struck by the way he described the intense longing for heaven that he experienced after he was brought back to life an hour and a half after paramedics declared him dead at the scene of an automobile accident. How could anyone not want to return? Of course he was happy to be reunited with his family, and he learned to reevaluate God’s call on his second chance at life, but there was still a piece of him that wanted to go back.

Lazarus had been dead for days (verse 39) when Jesus ordered the tomb opened. I can only imagine the amazingly awesome heavenly things that he witnessed in that timeframe! Then, to be yanked back into his creaky old body – to eat, drink, work, live – only to die again at some point in the future … I wonder what he felt.

Lazarus was brought back to life by Christ himself, and then he had to watch his dear friend die on the cross. Can you imagine the roller coaster of feelings that Lazarus went through during Jesus’ death and leading up to his resurrection? Just, wow.

Something truly remarkable happened when Jesus died. (Actually, several somethings amazing happened, and I encourage you to read the whole scenario in Matthew 27.) At the moment Christ died, there was an earthquake, the temple curtain tore in half, and … people rose from the dead. Seriously, check it out in Matthew 27:51-53.

When we talk about being “buried with Christ” in our decision to follow him, it’s symbolic of our desire to give up our old, sinful lives and begin a new, different life with him. 2 Corinthians 5:17 describes it as becoming “a new creation.” This week, let’s pray through I Peter 1:3-9 and think about how astounding – how wonderful! – is his great love for us.

Foodie Friday: Making do

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I had a dinner event to attend after work recently, and I debated whether or not to eat a snack beforehand. The problem with attending a function where a plated dinner is being served is that you have very little choice in what to eat. I’ve learned to be creative (and discrete) at events like that. I usually leave food on my plate, and I’m still trying to break the mindset that it’s wasteful to do so … but the truth is that it goes to MY WAIST to eat it just because it’s there.

Thankfully, the dinner event ended up being buffet-style, so I scanned the dishes while I waited in line and planned my course of action. They were offering Caesar salad, ziti noodles with a meat/marinara sauce, breadsticks, grilled summer squash/zucchini/red bell peppers, lasagna and cake (I tried to ignore it, so I didn’t notice what kind it was).

So, I got a half-plate of salad (sans croutons) and a half-plate of the grilled veggie assortment. Summer squash & zucchini only have 3 net carbs per cup, and red bell peppers have 6 net carbs per cup (and I had way less than a cup of the bell peppers). I added a bit of the meat/marinara sauce (not totally safe, since a lot of spaghetti sauces have sugar, but I took a gamble) to the veggie assortment.

It was scrumptious, and I didn’t feel conspicuous avoiding the carb overload! In fact, I think grilled squash with the low-sugar spaghetti sauce that I usually use would be a nice, hearty dinner to make at home, too.

Wednesday Words: Deadlines around the corner

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This is what my next couple of months look like, so … farewell, “free” time! 🙂

I am pacing myself on the two individual term papers that I have to write, so I set weekly deadlines to keep me on track with various sections. Plus, it’s a mind trick to tell myself that I “only” have to write five or six pages this week! It breaks down a 20-30 pg paper into reasonable chunks.

I also have a PowerPoint presentation (based on one of the papers) to create, so I’m going to work on it in bits & pieces along the way.

There is also a group term paper for one class, and I am trying to wrangle the team this week so that we can parcel out the sections. I haven’t even added that to the calendar yet, but my part should only be 5-6 pages, so that’s manageable.

The last (and very exciting!) assignment is the draft portfolio that I mentioned last week. It’s a huge undertaking that I spent most of February working on (and I’m almost finished – woohoo!), but now, I have to turn my attention to the lengthy papers.

The good news is that since I will have the portfolio finished soon, then once I complete the term papers, I’ll basically be finished with the semester the last week of April! Yippee! That’ll give me a nice, long break before the summer term begins.