Thinking over the day, I only had 30 minutes to myself this morning, and that was for devotions.  In all the other waking hours I was doing something for someone else in the family.  Ouch!  No wonder I'm so grouchy.  And now at 9:30 at night, I'm still grading  papers.  Now you understand why I neglected my xanga.  But here is something to uplift the soul:

Christ, as a light, illumine and guide me.  Christ, as a shield, overshadow me.  Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.  This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.  Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.  This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.  Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

I haven't updated my xanga for so long!  It wasn't until my daughter told me someone actually commented on my last entry (thanks, Steve) that encouraged me to get back to it.  I must admit it's nice to have someone drop a note here or there to feel there's actually some interaction going on with other xangers(?), even though I try not to think writing xanga is just for someone else to read.  It's cathartic for me, too.

Well, I don't know where to begin...so much happened since my early June blog.  We managed to pack the whole house and move to Arnold's country.  Once we arrived, it was a constant contending with the heat, along with all the responsibilities of home ownership again.  When we rented at our old place, it had its benefits.  When things broke down, just pick up the phone and call the landlord!   But owning your own home is like being enslaved to it.  I felt overwhelmed with getting to know our new place.  But the Lord provided a reprieve in the midst of it.  Ben and I were able to go to Pastoral Care Ministry Conference at Wheaton College. 

Before we decided to go, we didn't know where to deposit our kids.  But the Lord worked it out for them to visit their cousins down south.  It was the perfect arrangement because we could attend the conference knowing they were in the best hands.  They had a great time, as I knew they would. 

Anyway, back at the conference, it was an amazing time!  It was impressive to see this frail old lady in her seventies (Leanne Payne) speak and minister with such power to help people break out of their whatever bondage.  God has used her mightily in the last several decades to bring His people to wholeness through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  This is what the Church should be doing, helping broken people to experience the power of the gospel, the Good News.  Salvation isn't just for the future, to get into heaven, but for now as well, as God wants to see people whole.  (Ps. 147:3  "He heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds.").

It was good to be reminded to live out of our baptism everyday, which is essentially experiencing the dying with Christ of our old self (when we go down into the water during baptism) and the rising to new Life (when we come back up).  So now there is Another who lives in me, Jesus Himself.  He is at the center of my being.  I should live out of that center, which is my true self.  Does that make sense?  There is such freedom to become who God wants me to be when I live out of that true self with Jesus at the center.  I remind myself of this precious truth everyday.

There are other happenings to share, but they will have to wait.  The duties of being a mom becken me. 

Now that we're moving, I realized we don't even know who our old neighbors are.  In the three years which we have lived here, I can only remember a couple of  incidences when we actually came in contact with our neighbors.  When we first moved here, I baked some cookies to take over to the neighbor across the street.  Someone took in the cookies for the lady who lived there, but she herself never came to the door. Nor did I hear from her about the cookies-were they delicious?  Did she enjoy them? No courtesy call, no pop in.  Another time a golden retriever was hanging around our yard, and Dingboy called the number on its tag to tell its owner that the wandering dog was here.  Right after he hung up, our neighbor two doors down came over to pick up their dog.  We didn't know our neighbor had a dog, nor did we recognize the neighbor.  In fact, I wouldn't recognize any of our neighbors if we saw them on the street.  This has got to be the weirdest phenomenon-- to live right smack in the city in houses so close to each other that you can reach out your hand through your window and touch your neighbor's house, yet NEVER seen your neighbors. 

This is the paradox.  When we lived on seven acres in the country, we had better contact with our spread-out neighbors.  There was always a warm and welcoming exchange when we saw each other.  I long for that kind of community. Hopefully in our new place we will experience a better connection with the people living around us.