How do you smell?

For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ, among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

2 Corinthians 2:15

This morning I was able to relax in a bath, spending a nice long time reading through the scriptures. It was a great time of worship and study. Unfortunately, as I ascended from the water, I realized my dog was very inconveniently lying on my towel. Sadly, it was the only towel left in the bathroom. Now, yes, I could have scurried down to the laundry room to get another towel, but frankly, I like my dog way more than I like being wet and cold.--- I used the towel.

Brain Worms

Last night my son asked if brain worms were real. As he asked, he was squeezing the bridge of his nose.  When I answered no, he exhaled and said, "Oh, good, 'cause Teddy and Ty (his cousins) told me you get brain worms from playing the computer too much.  My nose was starting to hurt, and I was worried I had one."

I supressed my giggle,but soon started thinking of  my own brain worms; the things I believe, or have been told, that just aren't true.   They range from little lies about myself, or the way others view me, all the way up to how I view my God.  They're insipid little buggers that wiggle there way in and, well, just plain make my nose hurt. 

Verizon and Valentine's Day

I just got off the phone with Verizon Customer Support.  I spoke to "Ed," however based on his accent, I am guessing this was a pseudonym, and Ed was speaking to me from India rather than Indiana.

At one point, Ed and I had to wait 30 seconds for my modem to reboot.  Me, being me, decided to fill the silence.  I say to Ed, "So how many of these calls must you get in a day."  Of course, I wasn't looking for a concrete answer, but Ed, not having a real grasp of English idiom,  answered seriously, "I am sorry, mam, I do not count my calls."

How ironic, Ed was able to break into my computer and fix my problem, but he wasn't able to understand the simple meaning behind my words.

I stole this from my friend

Ephesians 3:14-19

For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 

Now, read that passage again.


Yesterday our pastor read these words, and after the message my dear friend simply said, "Why aren't we doing this, Why aren't we praying these words for each other?  They are so powerful, why aren't we praying them?" 


I didn't have an answer for her, but her words pierced my heart and I knew what my next blog would be.  It would simply be this Ephesians passage, and a promise that this week I will commit to praying for those of you who read this.  I don't know all of your names or your faces, but each time I sit down at the computer this week, I will pray you see the love of God.  I will pray for your roots to grow, that you will be strengthened by the knowledge that Jesus, the Christ, the Holy God loves you.

A God who grows

Yesterday, due to a series of odd events, I found a cassette tape of a sermon I first heard when I was 20 years old. In short, it's a message encouraging listeners to trust their Savior, to watch their God grow. It's a good one, and as I re-listened to it, I recalled what the 20 year old Jessica was trying to trust God with at the time she first heard the message. Ironically, I also realized that thing, that wound, was really just a scrape in comparison to what the next few decades would hold.  

I ended up listening to the whole sermon and found myself marveling at how, even though the thing I faced back in 1994 seems so insignificant now, the words of the sermon are still true. Life has gotten bigger, trials grew, but God has risen to every occasion. He has grown (Isaiah 41:10).  Again and again, God proves to be the opposite of almost everything; while most things get smaller the older we get, He grows.