The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Manning

To believe means to realize not just with the head but also with the heart that God loves me in a creative, intimate, unique, reliable and tender way. Creative: out of His love I came forth; through His love I am who I am. Intimate: His love reaches out to the deepest in me. Unique: His love embraces me as I am, not as I am considered to be by other people or supposed to be in my own self-image. Reliable: His love will never let me down. Tender…Tenderness is what happens to you when you know you are deeply and sincerely liked by someone. If you communicate to me that you like me, not just love me as your brother in Christ, you open up to me the possibility of self-respect, self-esteem and wholesome self-love. Your acceptance of me banishes my fears. My defense mechanisms-- sarcasm, aloofness, name-dropping, self-together-- start to fall. I drop my mask and stop disguising my voice. You instill self-confidence in me and allow me to smile at my weaknesses and absurdities. The look in your eyes gives me permission to make the journey to the interior of myself and make peace with that part of myself with which I could never find peace before. I become more open, sincere, vulnerable and affectionate. I grow tender... If the question were put to you, “Do you honestly believe that God likes you?”—not loves you, because theologically He must—how would you answer? God loves by necessity of love; He would cease to be God. But if you could answer, “The Father is very fond of me,” there would come a relaxedness, a serenity and a compassionate attitude toward yourself that is a reflection of God’s own tenderness…He loves those most who need him most, who rely on Him, depend upon Him and trust Him in everything. Little He cares whether you’ve been as pure as St. John or as sinful as the prostitute in Simon the Pharisee’s house. All that matters is trust. It seems to me that learning how to trust God defines the meaning of Christian living. God doesn’t wait until we have our moral life in order before He starts loving us.

tante bethany

my sister-in-law is preggers!!! i'm going to be an aunt in february :) wahoo, this is exciting...

foire brocante et jambon

a couple weeks ago, while a little off the beaten' path (aka - we were lost), we saw this expo site called "foire brocante et jambon"...i have already educated you on what a brocante is, and if you know any foreign languages the second word is not hard to figure out...jambon = ham. yeah, we were confused too, but decided that perhaps there was a colloquial meaning/usage of this word that we were not aware of...
but yesterday my friend came across an advertisement for a bi-annual market held at this location, selling...antiques & ham. it sounded just odd enough to convince us that it could not be missed. so, today we ate ham (really tasty ham btw) and browsed some expensive antique booths. i say "browsed" b/c most everything was WAY out of our league, though I didn't leave completely empty handed...

you like? it is completely mid-century and quintessentially french...oh, and it was cheap :)

in response to your earlier requests to see some of my brocanting treasures, here is a pic of a few things i have purchased this season (not pictured are gifts and large items already returned to the states)

Brad came for a visit...

...and a good time was had by all. One highight was getting to tour Vaux le Vicomte (the chateau where the Man in the Iron Mask was) by candelight. here we are contemplating a swim in the moat before our tour...

the rest of the time was spent chillin' in the city...walking, sitting, eating, and exploring...Paris at its best :)

brocant (bro-k-ont)

once a year, each city in france comes together to put on a brocante. it is equivalent to a community wide garage sale / flea market selling anything from genuine antiques to tacky souveniers and used childrens toys. except, this is france...so the items are ecclectic, usually have a story, and can be bargained for. the height of brocante season is late spring, and this is one of my first purchases: a light fixture for our (newly painted yellow) kitchen.
what do you think?

my other treasures include a vintage Dior purse, an antique pillow sham with my initials embroidered on it, a (new) tweed coat, a Japanese scarf, a brass Moroccan tray, and quite a few more...

why?

A night at home with some Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza, the original Pride & prejudice, and a little cookie dough seem to be the universal problem solver...
Everything will be okay tomorrow.

our friend Susan is staying with us this week. she recieved an e-mail from her mom yesterday asking if she had seen the "Aifel Tower" yet...

my playlist of the week...

1. To the Woman / Tammany Hall
2. Nobody Dances Anymore / Brandston
3. C'est Supercool / The Chalets
4. La Camisa Negra / Juanes
5. Be Gentle With Me / the boy least likely to
6. Brightest / Copeland
7. Vienna / The Fray
8. Lizzy / Ben Kweller
9. Peculiar People / Mute Math
10. Rolling Home / Tyler Hilton
11. Jesus, etc. / Wilco
12. Scratch / Kendall Payne
13. With My Own Two Hands / Jack Johnson
14. The Fear You Won't Fall / Joshua Radin
15. On A Night Like This / Dave Barnes
16. Symphonie / Sibermond
17. Come Thou Long Expected Jesus / Derek Webb

quoi est neuf?

* The most important news of late is that I have purchased my ticket for returning to the States! It does not need to be said again, but...wow, 2 years went by really quick! (want to know the date & location of my entry? you gotta leave a comment and ask)
* School is just getting going here. Most of the families in my neighborhood made it back in time to find out what day classes started, but some would never dream of letting such a trivial thing as their kids schooling cut into their vacation, so we have yet to see them! Odd as that sounds, it is actually normal (esp. for younger kids) to miss the first few days as well as the last few days of school each year.
* I am applying for graduate school. It sounds like a simple task, but getting all the little details in order (from a foreign country on a 7hr time difference), has proved a little more involved than I anticipated. If all goes well I will be moving to KY in January to get a job and start classes.
* I may be developing a sty in my right eye...has anyone ever had one of these? what should I do? ahhhh, I'm only 25 and I'm falling apart.
* I gave in...though I signed up a while back, I have now become a user of Myspace.
* Joyeux Anniversaire to Joshua Langston!!