Tim and Olive's Blog

ON BRICKS AND DONKEYS

A young and successful executive was traveling down a
neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new
Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from
between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he
saw something.

As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a
brick smashed into the Jag’s side door! He slammed on
the brakes and drove the Jag back to the spot where
the brick had been thrown.

The angry driver then jumped out of the car,
grabbed
the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car
shouting, “What was that all about and who are you?

Just what the heck are
you doing? That’s a new car and
that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money.
Why did you do it?”

The young boy was apologetic. “Please, mister…
please, I’m sorry…I didn’t know what else to do,” He
pleaded. “I threw the brick because no one else
would stop…” With tears dripping down his face and
off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around
a parked car. “It’s my brother,” he said. “He rolled
off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t
lift him up.”

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive,
“Would you please help me get him back into his
wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”

Moved beyond words, the
driver tried to swallow the
rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly
lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair,
then took out his fancy handkerchief and dabbed at the
fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him
everything was going to be okay.

“Thank you and may God bless you,” the
grateful child
told the stranger.

Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy
push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk
toward their home.

It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The
damage was very noticeable, but the driver never
bothered to repair the dented side door.

He kept the dent there to remind him
of this message
“Don’t go through life so fast that someone has to
throw a brick at you to get your attention!”

God whispers in our souls and
speaks to our hearts.
Sometimes when we don’t have time to listen, He has to
throw a brick at us.

It’s our choice.

Then the LORD opened the
donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you
beat me these three times?”
Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a
fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”
The
donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden,
to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”
“No,” he
said.
Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD
standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

~Numbers 22:28-31~

NOTHING

too. much. work. no. time. to. breathe.
ok fine, no time to sleep, eat, cook, shower, think, write, keep up with the world. so what am i doing then? drafting!!!!!! it never ends.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, [nor busyness nor lack of sleep], nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
~Romans 8:38-39 (italics mine)~

DANCIN’ WITH THE ANGELS

today, there is a party in heaven. and we have a new sister in Christ! :> PRAISE GOD!!! it’s taken a whole semester of weekly investigative bible studies, but God’s word has spoken and one more heart has returned to her Daddy. i’m so happy i would do cartwheels if i could. :> :> :>

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
~2 Timothy 3:16-17~

END OF THE ROPE

Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart feel lonely,
and long for heav’n and home?
When Jesus is my portion,
My constant friend is He.
For His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me.

i. need. faith.

You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
~Matthew 5:3 [the Message]~

SOMETIMES

…you actually find inspiration while doing research for essays. ok, so it’s very rare and only likely to happen if you’re in theatre and writing about a theatre company for mentally challenged young people. but still. from the pages of Throw Your Heart Over the Fence by Diane Dupuy:

“Ladies and gentlemen, I will now say grace. Please bow your heads. Heavenly Father, this is the beginning of a new day. God has given us this day to use as we will. We can waste it or use it for good. What we do today is important because we are exchanging a day of our lives for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something we have traded for it. We want it to be a gain, not a loss, full of good, not evil, success, not failure, so that we shall not regret the price we paid for it. Amen.
or the price He paid for it. Amen.

here’s another:

The trouble with this world is that nobody ever thinks they have a handicap, when in fact we all have handicaps to overcome.

finally,

Great spirits always encounter violent opposition from mediocre minds.
–Albert Einstein

in this time of chaos, stress and turmoil, it’s always good to be re-inspired.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.
~Philippians 4:8~

FREEDOM :: RESPONSIBILITY

i’m beginning to learn what it means to be an adult. i’ve hung around adults my whole life (the convenient byproduct of having no siblings and being close to my parents) so i’ve always been seen as more “mature.” but i’m only starting to understand what it means to have the freedom to choose for myself what i think is best and then to be responsible for my choices. after our EM last night (which, by God’s grace, went so much better than we expected or deserved), our fellowship went out to eat. since i’d only eaten a sandwhich, a pear and some random snacks the whole day, i knew i had to get some food into my system. so i decided to go, even though i knew i had an 8:30am class this morning. but this morning, when i awoke, it was already 8:30. and on top of that, i had a splitting headache.

this is where my lesson in freedom comes in. i knew i had to make some choices: would i rush around to get ready and dash off to class so i would be only 15 minutes late? or would i take the time to get some scripture into my brain and hand the day over to God before i left for class and be an hour late? the child in me would have taken the first option. i mean, i wouldn’t want my teacher to take marks off or be mad at me, would i? but then i thought for a moment and i realized that i am my own person. i can choose to walk in late if i know that’s what i need to do. it’s a three hour studio class so it’s not like i’d be interrupting anything. and if my teacher wants to dock me marks for being late, so be it.

this morning, i understood a little more of what it means to break free from trying to win the approval of people around me. the only One i need the approval of is God. and if i’m right with Him, the rest of the world is taken care of. i also learned a bit about wisdom: striving to please God will make you a wise spender of time.

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
~Psalm 90:12~

ETERNITY IS A LONG TIME

I don’t want to change the world. I want to change eternity.
–Ruth Liu, quoting someone…

The everpresent struggle as a student: do I spend my time on a theoretical assignment that only gets looked over by a prof and given a grade? or do I spend the time taking care of the people around me? i know God has given me brains and put me in university but sometimes, i wonder just how God gets glorified in some of the stuff they make us do here. i guess i just have to trust that God knows my heart and will act justly.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
~Colossians 3:23-24~

PUSHING LIMITS

i’m in a rather peculiar predicament. God has been doing so much in my life recently that i can’t figure out what to write about. tc was about a week’s worth of info packed into each day… prepping for ccf’s outreach this wednesday is NuTsO! random opportunities to share the Word of God with my classmates. the reality of going on a missions trip slowly sinking in. realizing that i’m a cultural orphan. trying not to be a zombie or a space cadet. coming to terms with all that’s happening in the world. learning what God means when He tells us His name is I AM. praying for peace – both within and without.

and that’s just a selection of what’s going through my head.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
~2 Corinthians 4:7-9~

MORE TO COME

on the final night of TC senior, Dr. Dennis Ngien spoke of a painting of Niagara Falls entitled “More To Come.” he explained how this illustrated God’s love and grace toward us. there’s always more to come.

if this past week was any indication of just how much God can pour into my life, i don’t know if i can take any more of what’s to come! anywho, i know this is a mean thing to do ‘cuz i have a lot i want to share, but i still haven’t recovered from my lack of sleep so i’ll leave it here for today.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.
~Psalm 23:1-3~

GOODNESS

why do i doubt God? He has shown His faithfulness and carried me through yet again. and now i can go home and focus my energies on the new task at hand: TC.

praise God! because He Is.

lates y’alls. i’m off till friday.

Your love, O LORD , reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
~Psalm 36:5~