It's not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick.

According to my study Bible early church leaders believed that Matthew is the author of Matthew.  Now that sentence may sound silly but growing up I never understood how the books of the Bible got their names.  As a good little Lutheran/Pastor's kid I learned to recite the books of the Bible in order.  If you ask me to do it today I'd probably get about 75% of it right and forget a few.  But that's not important, just helpful when you are looking up a passage.

So, back to Matthew.  In today's reading Matthew 9, there are more accounts of Jesus healing the sick.  It also tells of when Matthew was 'recruited' as a disciple.  Matthew was a tax collector, a 'sinner'.  He was not considered a 'godly' man being a tax collector.  And this is where Matthew 9:12-13 comes in.  The Pharisees asked the disciples why Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners and upon hearing this Jesus replied, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."  To me this speaks volumes!  People at that time did not expect Jesus to associate with 'sinners', Gentiles, children, the sick, the uneducated, and so on.  To Him everyone was important no matter how big or small, how worthy or unworthy, status or no status.  He chose Matthew who was considered one of the lowest of lows as a tax collector.  Yet Matthew had faith and followed Jesus.  If you think you don't mean enough or aren't deserving of God's love it's not true.  You are exactly who God is trying to bring into his flock.

Matthew 8

Today's reading is Matthew 8.  And as much as I want to feel like there is something I learned from it all I can think about is that once again there is a phrase I thought was some crazy thing my dad always said that turns out to be from the Bible.  "You of little faith..."  turns out to be from Matthew 8:26. Any time there was doubt or something questionable, out came that phrase from my dad.  For those who may not know, Jesus joined his disciples on a boat, Jesus fell asleep, a big storm came and was tossing them around scaring the tar out of the disciples.  So they woke Jesus up saying, "Save us, we are going to drown!" For those that may not know my dad, Tommy Sparks, he was a Lutheran pastor.  To me growing up he was just a silly dad with silly things he would say.  As I age I've been learning which of those phrases were from the Bible and which were his 'old west Texas sayings'.

The rest of Matthew 8 has other stories of Jesus healing people and driving out demons.  When Jesus drives out the demons from two men into a herd of pigs, the pigs then run into the sea and drown.  If I owned those pigs I would not have been happy that I lost my whole herd.  The Jews consider pigs to be unclean and don't eat of them but I'm a bacon lover. ;o)  All in all, have faith.  Faith is what got a man with leprosy healed, a soldiers servant healed, demons driven out, and many others healed from their ailments.  So in the words of Jesus, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?"  Just have faith.

New Testament in 6 Months

Today is January 5, 2015 and officially the 5th day of reading the New Testament in 6 months.  Today's reading is Matthew 7 Let's see if this link works since I really haven't done this before.  And in case you are wondering what January 1-4 readings were see below.

January 1  Matthew 1-2

January 2  Matthew 3-4

January 3  Matthew 5

January 4  Matthew 6

First part of Matthew 7 is about judging others.  I struggle with this.  I get bothered when I see others being Judgy McJudgersons and I hate it when I have done the same and can't take it back.  I will probably have to be reminded of this verse for eternity.

Next up, Ask, Seek, Knock!  I can remember since being a little girl my dad dramatically saying in a Baptist Preachery sort of way, "Ask! And ye shall Receive!!!" Little did I know till I was a full grown adult that he was actually quoting Matthew 7:7.  

The Narrow & Wide Gates

It's easy to go through wide gates and broad paths but that's not what Jesus calls us to do.  He knows the road and path to Him will not be easy and may be hard to find.  But when we do, it will be worth it.  

A Tree & Its Fruit

Ever wonder about these verses and it's connection with Adam and Eve?  I never did till just now.  God told Adam & Eve not to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree.  Satan led them astray saying the would be like gods if they ate of it.  I think Jesus is saying to seek good in your life and don't be led astray by bad fruit (Satan).  If all you are looking for is bad fruit you will get nothing but bad fruit.  Adam & Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and they were banished from Eden.  I don't know about you but I would like to see heaven someday.  Thank God for sending Jesus to save us sinners!!  

Okay, who remembers the Sunday School song The Wise Man Built His House Upon The Rock??  Like many other things as a child I didn't really know that songs we learned came directly from scriptures.  My memories of Sunday School openings center around the time my mom was leading them.  Many others led before and after her.  Several of those have fond memories of Wilma Mason and Faye Miller being the ones that led them in song.  So stand up and sing it if you remember it!  I'm going to right now. :o)

15 day challenge, Day 1

So my dear friend Claire is a regular writer. I enjoy her writings. And sometimes she even inspires me to write. Which I hate to do. So I'm taking her 15 day blog challenge......maybe. Okay so day 1 is 15 fun facts about yourself. A few of them are directly inspired from a few of Claire's. Here we go. 

1) I have two middle names. When I was born my given name was Amanda Louise Weise Sparks. Part B interesting fact is my mom did not do the same for my sister. In some ways it was a little prophetic since my grandparents did help raise me and give me a home. 

2) In honor of Claire's confession regarding her butt crack here is mine. I have a crooked butt crack. I did not know about it until Steven told me. How do you go 27 years not knowing you have a crooked butt crack??

3) I am self diagnosed with slight OCD tendencies. I eat my M&M's two at a time. I like things to have patterns and order. I fold my towels a certain way. The toilet paper should come out on top of the roll and I WILL fix yours in your house if it isn't. 

4) I have a little left brain. Well actually just a part of my left brain is smaller. Drastically smaller. 

5) I hate writing. So why am I attempting this 15 day blog challenge?? I don't know but I am. Maybe it's to try to break my hate of writing. 

6) I stuck a rock in my ear when I was 4. Long story short they had to gas me to get it out at the hospital. And my cousin Dawn cried and cried, "Don't put Mandy to sleep!" Obviously a bad choice of words used with a four year old that had a cat that was 'put to sleep'. 

7) I went to four high schools. Too many alma maters, fight songs, and traditions to remember. It sucked yet probably was one of my biggest challenges through my teen years. 

8) I think I've had 15 or 16 different addresses. Ugh. My life has been in boxes. 

9) I can drive a standard. It may not be a 'fun' fact but it's practical. I think it's fun to drive. 

10) I can say I'm an only child, I'm the oldest, and I'm the youngest. Figure that one out folks!

11) I hope my children turn out to be as goofy and dorky as me. I hope they will be willing to laugh at themselves all the time and have a great sense of humor. 

12) I am not a creative crafter. I'm a follow the pattern/directions type crafter. I wish I could be both. 

13) I don't like to cook. I'm not bad at cooking. I just don't like to. But I like to bake! Bring on the brownies!!

14) I have had private lessons or taken a class for piano, trumpet, violin, clarinet, voice and guitar. I have mastered none of them. I should've played sax. 

15) I changed my mind on what I wanted the last 'fun fact' to be. It's part of my issue with writing. In reviewing my rough draft I decided to scratch it. Maybe you can come up with my last fun fact since my writing block is blocked.  Uh, that's not how it goes is it?? Oh well. :o)

Reading

It's the season of Lent and all around you've heard everyone asking, "What are you going to give up for Lent?" Well, being a Lutheran I wasn't raised to give something up for Lent and I didn't totally understand why all my Catholic friends were always trying to give something up for Lent and usually were not successful. There have been several years I've tried to be like everyone else and give something up like fried food, sodas or sweets. I can't remember that I've ever been successful myself. Since childhood I've learned that it's not just about giving something up. That sometimes it's a time for reflection, prayer, dedicating yourself to bettering your life or others. So my choice is to read in my Bible every day. I started at the beginning several years ago and the farthest I've gotten was Joshua. Even in the small amount I've read so far there were things in there that surprised me. So I'm looking forward to some growth.

For my government class the teach sends out 25-30 pages of current events every week. This has made a big difference for me. I had the first government class with her in the fall and am taking the second one this spring and I've never in my life known as much as I do now about what is going on in the rest of the world (okay maybe the rest of the US). Some days these current event readings are a drag for me and it's a struggle to just get through a couple of pages. And others days it's made me feel like I can converse with the rest of the world because I actually know some of what's going on. For most of my life I've hated watching the news, primarily because most of what is reported is negative. Shootings, fires, deaths, same stories day after day. But I have enjoyed having these current events to read each week. Definite growth for me.

I was reading a few of those vampire series like everyone else. I'm stuck in the middle of the 5th book of a series and just don't have much drive to finish it. I stopped after the 6th book of another vampire series too. The rest of the girls around that share books have read about 2-3 other vampire series that I haven't even started nor really want to start. I'm the slow reader in this group. And the other thing is that I always need to make sure I'm taking care of my reading for school first before I read for pleasure.

Which brings me to my last subject on reading. Well, listening actually. I love having a library nearby because you have a number of books to select from to read for free and give back. Doesn't cost you money or take up room on the bookshelf. So I decided to check out a book on CD. I've done this before when I lived in San Antonio because I had a 30-45 minute drive to and from work every day. Well I don't have as long of a drive to anywhere in Lake Jackson but I have resumed my book listening in my truck. My first selection is Fahrenheit 451. I read it in high school but wanted to 'read' it again. I have a completely different view in listening to it this time. And with that I realized it's due today, I haven't finished it and I forgot to renew it....oh well.

Mmmmm Bread :o)

I was going through an old church cook book just browsing. I wasn't looking for anything in particular but it was fun seeing the names of those who submitted the recipes and remembering things about them. Along the way I found a few of my mom's recipes of dishes that I remember eating and now have wanted to know how to make them but had no idea how. It was really exciting since I just last month was telling Steven about this red cabbage that she made that all I could remember was that it was sorta sweet and had bacon in it. Ta DA! It's in there!! So I bought a head of red cabbage and will be trying to make her sweet and sour cabbage sometime this week. What I did try yesterday was my Great Grandma Norma's bread. I've never made bread before much less anybody shown me how to knead bread. I just was going by what I've probably seen on TV. It took most of the afternoon between all the kneading, letting it sit and rise, and kneading some more. In the end I have 3 small loaves of bread and it tastes great!! It was like I was getting to have Grandma Norma there showing me how to make her bread. I was probably about 5 or 6 the last time I remember having her bread. I just remember she was so upset that there were 'holes' in her bread. So far no holes in my first loaf but I did dream last night I had holes in a loaf and it made me smile.

The wedding shower I had in Friendswood at my Aunt Elaine's house was a kitchen/recipe themed shower. Everyone was sent a recipe card with their invite and were encouraged to give me recipes and/or the non-perishable items for the recipe. So in the last couple of weeks Steven and I have tried a few and all have been wonderful! Last night I made the broccoli casserole that his Aunt Brenda gave us. When we sat down to eat Steven said it smelled like his Mamaw's broccoli casserole. I said since it came from his Aunt Brenda it probably was his Mamaw's recipe. It's the little things like the broccoli casserole and Grandma Norma's bread that make me smile. In an age where society is moving forward so fast it's nice to be able to experience things that have stood the test of time. I'm sure my great grandma was taught by her mother, and her by her mother, and so on how to make bread. And some day I'll teach my own kids.

Missing

I wrote this yesterday while I was in class and supposed to be watching a video. I half way paid attention while jotting down these thoughts.

Lately I've lost my drive for photography. I'm not sure why. It's like I lost a little part of me and I'm not sure where to look to find it again. I used to regularly take pics, load them to my puter right away and post them online. Even the few pictures I have taken are still on my camera and I haven't done a thing with them. I'd say it happened when I wasn't myself after my 'seizure'. But I think it started before that. At least the drive was declining before then. It's sad really. I've even taken a picture of myself drinking a green smoothie to email to Claire (about 3-4 weeks ago) and it still sits on my camera.

Something else I also miss. I miss church. I know (from previous experience) that it won't be easy to find a new church home. I miss worship. I miss Bible study. I miss fellowship. I've tried conversing with Steven about what he's looking for, likes, dislikes. But I think the impression I've gotten is that he will go with me wherever I decide to go. I was hoping to have that as something we share but I think I will just be greatful if we do share the joy of attending worship together even if it ends up being my decision and not our decision. I should consider myself blessed that he's supportive of this journey and will follow me in it.

-----------

So since then I did get my camera out and I'm sad to say that it had been since April last year since I had loaded any pics from my camera to my computer. :o( And my computer I think was angry at me for taking so long because I had difficulties loading them (or maybe I've used up most of my free space and need to purge/backup). So now it's time to go night night :o)

Here's one to laugh at, note the warning sign: