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The Art of Subtraction
“But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.” Mark 10:6-8 ESV We nod our heads in agreement when we hear the phrase “two shall become one” in reference to marriage. We like the way that sounds. We think we even agree with it, and we think we know what that means. I marry him, he marries me, and we take two lives and bring them together and try to make them work compatibly until death do us part. But…
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Steadfast
The word that keeps rolling around my brain these days, the one that means the most to me when it comes to describing God’s character, is steadfast. In my times of meditation and quiet before God, this is the facet of His character that shines through. It means: stead·fast ˈstedˌfast/ adjective resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering. “steadfast loyalty” In an ever changing world, where nothing is ever certain or secure, this sounds refreshingly welcome, doesn’t it? What I keep hearing, and what keeps being communicated to me through the air waves is that God is resolutely, dutifully firm, and loyal in His love towards me and His plans for…
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And the Two Shall Become One
After being married to the same person for 17 years, I am beginning to understand why marriage is so important to God, so sacred. In a world full of disposable relationships, ghosting and unfriending have become our go-to methods of relationship management. We pick people apart; god-breathed, beautiful, and fearfully made souls, discarding and shelving them for the most arbitrary of reasons. Oftentimes we take the easy way out. To stick with someone through all of their junk is just plain hard. Sometimes even impossible. And when something feels impossible or even just a little too hard, we are tempted to give up. If you have been through a divorce,…
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For the Level of Humanity!
Unless you have no internet connection, no television, never go to the grocery store, or aren’t on speaking terms with your mother, you have probably already heard the news: George Clooney is getting married! The internet is abuzz with THE woman who finally captured George’s heart. Her name is Amal Alamuddin, and her resume is dizzying. She’s an Oxford-educated human rights lawyer who, coincidentally enough, also looks like a supermodel. She speaks three languages and her list of accomplishments range from representing Julian Assange to acting as advisor to Kofi Annan. In other words, she isn’t mortal.
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A Movie Review, an Epiphany, & a Birthday Wish
I saw Julie & Julia recently. Before I’d seen it, several people told me I needed to see it, and that the movie reminded them of me. I don’t know what exactly about the movie reminded each person of me, but nevertheless I was intrigued. Now, as you can probably imagine, as a woman with 4 small kids, I don’t really get to the movie theater much these days. Pretty much if it’s not available to watch on Netflix’s Instant Streaming feature, I haven’t seen it. A few opportunities to see the flick passed me by, so I simply resolved that I would eventually watch it once it came out…
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Suffering Better
I’m not big on New Year’s Resolutions. Yet, I find myself reflecting on some things as we enter 2010, thus leading me to a couple resolutions conclusions. 2009 was a really good year for the Buckland family in many ways. While it seemed that storms were raging all around us, we remained sheltered in what, at times, felt like a protective bubble. Our kids thrived, our marriage thrived, and our lives were, for the most part, pretty peaceful. During one of the worst economic crises our country has ever seen, Ren’s company also had its most profitable year. Oh, and Zoloft is AWESOME. But I’m sure that has had absolutely…
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Bad Tither
First of all, I have to give credit to the snappy title of this post to its creator, Mr. Wes Whitener. It’s a song of his by his band The Sheeps. You should totally check them out. They rock. I’ve been thinking about that song a lot lately. I hope he’s not going to expect any royalties. Cuz I ain’t got ’em. As you’ll soon realize further into this post. So, a while back, in this post, I mentioned duplicity. Duplicity is basically another word for deceit; having a different intent than what is being professed or projected. Saying one thing but doing another thing entirely; double-mindedness. It is the…
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Things Life and God are Currently Teaching Me
God is really, really big. Housework is way overrated. Sleeping in is way underrated. God is not as uptight as I once thought. We as human beings have an astounding knack for over complicating just about everything. I find this interesting especially when so many of Jesus’ teachings revolved around simplicity. Simplicity vs. Duplicity is a running theme in my life. More on that later. Monism vs. Dualism is also a theme. More on that later, as well. I am blessed. And I am thankful. If you want to have a great marriage, spend time with your spouse. If you want to have a great relationship with your kids, spend…
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The Art of Subtraction
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Welcome to “No Longer Waiting”!
You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place. The Waiting Place… …for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or a No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to…
