To Live as Christ

A week ago found me eagerly reading the pages of "A Severe Mercy." I mentioned in my last post that I've been looking forward to reading this book for almost four years, now I'm almost done with it, and I can see why Mama and The Autumn Rain like it so much. The ideas created within the pages of this book are beautiful, and the questions if considered and conclusions reached have the potential to be completely life changing.

The most challenging question I've come upon so far is how far am I willing to go to further the kingdom of God? Am I willing to offer my life as a trade off for the salvation of a fellow man? Davy petitioned not even for her husbands salvation, but for her husband to have a life full of joy and centered around Christ, she was willing to die if Christ would give her husband a Christ-centered joy. I'm not sure that I could say "Father you can take me home if you will give my family an abiding joy in you." But Davy did, what's more, Christ took her at her word, he gave Davy and her husband a year of Christ-centered joy, and then he took Davy home to himself.

I am amazed by the way that Davy mirrored the life of Christ in her own life. It is incredible to me the lengths that Davy went to live as Christ lived, even to the point of offering up her life so that someone else might find a greater fulfillment in Christ. The idea just blows me away, and yet it is an idea that I've been familiar with my whole life, after all isn't that what Christ did for me? Somehow when it isn't God making the sacrifice it changes my perception of it All of a sudden it is here taking place in the century that I was born in, just another person, not the son of God, but she was willing to give up her life for the glory of God. It makes the sacrifice more of a real thing for me, more tangible, and yet so much greater when I think of all the life that was given up. The sacrifice of ones life is a huge sacrifice, and that sacrifice was made for me by the son of God.

Next week is week 21 in school, guess what that means?

I've been waiting for almost four years to read A Severe Mercy. Both Mama and The Autumn Rain read this book during Autumn Rain's freshman year of Highschool when she was studying British Lit. Now It's my turn to read A Severe Mercy, or it will be starting next Friday, I can't hardly wait to begin, it's been a long wait, sometimes I almost couldn't make myself wait and would pick up the book to start reading but set it down again, knowing that I would enjoy it all the more on week 21 if I were reading it for the first time, then in a couple of months I can go back and read it again!

Guess What!?

The Daffodils are coming up and a white crocus has bloomed on the side of the house. Signs of spring are appearing everywhere even though spring itself is six weeks off yet. It's time to start making visits to the botanical garden during the day so that I can revel in the flowers that will be gracing the walkways with their blooms in the weeks to come.

It's complete, now on to the next project!

I began working on this afghan way back in September, right before The Autumn Rain started school. Now, five months later I've finally finished it. I had no idea when I started that a Argyle patterned blanket would take so much time. I have to admit that while I won't be doing this pattern again any time soon I really enjoyed the challenge and subsequent satisfaction upon finishing this project.

Now, it's on to the next project. I've chosen a bursting star quilt as my next project, I have yet to pick out the fabric or piece together my experiment square to make sure I can make the quilt work out. I thought I ought to give the piecing a try before I buy up yards of fabric to make the whole thing, we'll see how it goes!