Mornings & Mercy...

"He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly

and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God."

Micah 6:8

I love early mornings.

But, I also love late nights.

As you can imagine, this creates quite a bit of conflict in my life.

Nevertheless, once that steaming cup of rich coffee reaches my lips,

the reconciliation begins...

This morning I've been meditating on mercy.

As I read and re-read Micah 6:8...I mean really chew on it,

and strive to understand it's implications, I am quieted.

I can feel my heart being tenderized.

Act Justly. LOVE MERCY. Walk humbly with your God.

Hmmm. Yep. There it is.

We have been told what the Lord requires of us.

And when I think about loving mercy,

that isn't as easy as it appears at first glance.

I mean, sure, I love mercy...FOR ME.

But how often do I long for God to have mercy on others?

Oh sure, I want God to have mercy on some.

But everyone? The undeserving?

Then again, how deserving am I really???

You might say being "deserving" is relative, but I disagree.

I have often busted myself thinking,

"oh that's ok, what goes around comes around"

or

"they'll get theirs..."

or

"Lord, strike them down!"

*blushing* 

truth.

But today, I pray for myself,

and all of you,

that you seek to love mercy...

not just for yourself,

but for others.

James 5:11 says "...the Lord is FULL of compassion and mercy."

Lamentations 3:23 says that His mercies are new every morning.

I love the way Sandy MacIntosh put it,

she calls them "mercy muffins...

He bakes them while we're sleeping,

and by the next morning, we're hungry for more."

I just love that...really.

If un-forgiveness is holding you back from wanting mercy for others...let it go.

The greek word for forgiveness is "aphieme" which means "to cut loose"

while the opposite is "to strap on."

Cut loose...let it go...free yourself.

"To forgive is to set the prisoner free, 

and then discover the prisoner was you." 
~ Corrie Ten Boom, Holocaust Survivor

(I am also told Lewes B. Smedes was quoted saying this, 

Corrie may have quoted him)

Either way, I love this quote. 

I have contemplated it many times over the years.

or this one:

"Un-forgiveness is like drinking poison, 

and expecting the other person to die." ~ author unknown

profound.

And so here I sit, with my coffee, and mercy, and you.

Mercy...she's like the warmest blanket 

on the coldest of winter days, such a lovely companion.

I can feel my soul exhale as her coziness wraps around me.

Praying, that as you journey through the rest of this year,

you will consider digging into your heart of hearts to love mercy.

Act justly. LOVE MERCY. And walk humbly with your God.

LOVE MERCY...not just for yourself, but for others.

Veggie Scramble

This is beyond easy. 

I took 2 eggs and scrambled them in a bowl with a splash of 1/2 and 1/2,

salt & pepper to taste.

I melted 1 Tbsp of butter into a frying pan over medium heat,

poured the egg mixture into the pan,

and added 1 Tbsp each of diced bell peppers, cremini mushroom,

purple onion, jalapeno, zucchini, squash, tomato,

one clove of minced garlic, and a pinch of shredded fontina cheese.

Once cooked through, I spooned into mini pitas, and served with

sliced kiwi & strawberries, and red chile cheese potatoes.

serve hot.

Mangia!

iPods & Stray Cats...

"Music is the shorthand of emotion."  

~Leo Tolstoy

You've heard the song "Video Killed the Radio Star," 

appropriately the very first video that aired on MTV in 1981.

Well, if that's true, than I think it's fair to say 

that iPod killed the record store.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm smitten over the iPod.

I mean really...a portable jukebox of my favorite music??

Genius. 

I love the thrill of customizing tasty playlists 

for different moods and occasions... 

Makes my "inner DJ" swoon I tell ya.

I'll never forget the first day I caught a glimpse of it's glimmer.  

It was a sunny day in 2001, 

 sitting down at my mother's kitchen table, 

when my sister Stacy showed me the latest technological indulgence 

that she scored off of EBAY... 

a shiny metallic lime green Mini iPod.

My eyes grew as big as millstones 

while visions of sugar plums danced in my head.

  I gazed upon her thumb going 

round and round and round the dial,

showing off her library of songs and playlists.

ohhhhh snap. 

Just the thought of replacing my bulky "discman" 

brought a Kool-Aid grin to my face. 

But there was a time in the not too distant past 

when I could spend a whole afternoon at the record store with my friends. 

Charley's records and tapes, or Krazy Kat's Vinyl's, even Hastings. 

A parade of long haired rocker guys 

and laced up pant rocker girls combed up and down the aisles. 

Racks of posters and concert t-shirts neatly displayed in the back of the store. 

Big cushiony earphones awaited you at a station to sample the most recent new release. 

Hours would go by, though it felt like minutes.

I remember my first 45.

"Stray Cat Strut" by the Stray Cats.

And my first vinyl full length album.

"Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. 

Do remember how cool the album art used to be??? 

It would fold out and sometimes there was even art on the inside sleeve. 

What treasures they were.

I have further flashbacks of my tape recorder, 

which I not only used to hide behind plants 

to record my parents private conversations, 

*what a little spy I was*

but also to play music. 

Soon my collection began to grow, 

thus came the need for a wooden cassette holder 

to display them all for my perusal. 

Of course, then came the illustrious CD. 

How cutting edge was that?

Do you remember your first 45/vinyl LP/8-track/cassette/cd????

Well, I must say, 

as much as I enjoy scrolling the I-Tunes online store 

for the latest and greatest new music, 

I sure do miss those days at the record store...

don't you?

Here's a sample of some of the tunes I'm diggin on lately: 

a little something for everyone :o)

(p.s. if it doesn't show you the video with the first click because of restricting the view from certain sites, just click "watch on youtube" and it will take you right to it in a separate window.....check it out!)

for those of you who like something fresh:

for those of you who like to chill:

for those of you who like to have some fun:

for those of you who like to roooock your face off:

for those of you who are contemplative:

for those of you who like to 

step out of the comfort zone: