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dietsodaisbetter
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Name: Mary Catherine
Country: United States
State: Kentucky
Metro: Louisville
Birthday: 3/29/1985
Gender: Female
Interests: Photography, journaling, sleeping, working out sometimes, food
Expertise: Over-organization and yet, somehow, procrastination. I make lists upon lists and never get anything accomplished because I just keep making lists.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Other
Message: message me
AIM:  flipflopguru
Member Since:
2/4/2005
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| I just finished reading this book ("The God Who is There" by Francis
Schaeffer). You know those books that are so thoughtful and
truthful that you instantly feel the need to re-read the entire thing,
because there is no way to glean everything from it in one
sitting? Yeah, it's one of those. It was assigned in my
worldviews class for a book review, and I will probably post my review
once I have it finished (depending on how good I think it is  ), but
for now, I wish to share with you one of the best sections, in hopes
that it might spur you to read this book for yourself. This is
long, but I have summarized some parts of it for brevity's sake.
"As orthodox evangelicals we have often made the mistake of stopping
with individual salvation. Historically the word
<i>Christian</I> has meant two things. First, the
word <I>Christian</i> defines a person who has accepted
Christ as Savior. This is decidely an individual thing. But
there is a second consideration as well. It concerns that which
flows from individual salvation. While it is true that there is
an individual salvation, and this is the beginning of the Christian
life, yet nevertheless individual salvation should show itself also in
<i>corporate</I> relationships. This is the Bible's
clear teaching concerning the church and what we find, in some measure,
as we consider the church at its strongest through the ages."
Schaffer then discusses how the fall has brought about various forms of
separation: Man separated from God, man separated from himself
(psychological problems), man separated from man (sociological
problems, and man separated from nature.
The work of Christ in history will eventually bring healing to all of
these relationships. Presently, Christians have been made perfect
in their relationship to God through justification; guilt is gone
immediately and forever. In our other relationships, those on the
horizontal axis, the blood of Christ brings
<i>substantial</I> healing. Eventually, these other
divisions will be healed just as completely as our freedom from guilt
before God.
As an apologetic to the world, we must demonstrate this substantial
healing in our churches. The non-Christians around us should be
able to look at the church and not just see structural unity, but see
love and through that, know that we are followers of Christ and that
the Father sent the Son (John 13:34, 35, 17:21). People must see
that these things "are not theoretical, but real; not perfect, yet
substantial."
The present world will hardly hold it against us if we are not perfect;
however, they will ignore everything we say if we are not real.
"There must be communion and community among the people of God - not a
false community that is set up as though human community were an end in
itself; but in the local church, in a mission, in a school, wherever it
might be, true fellowship must be evident as the outcome of orginal,
individual salvation. This is the real church of the Lord Jesus
Christ - not merely organization but a group of people, individually
the people of God, drawn together by the Holy Spirit for a particular
task either in a local situation or over a wider area. The church
of the Lord Jesus should be a group of those who are redeemed and bound
together on the basis of true doctrine. But subsequently they
should show together a substantial "sociological healing" of the
breaches of men which have come about because of the reults of man's
sin...."
"...It is not enough for the church to be engaged with the State in
healing social ills, though this is important at times. But when
the world can turn around and see a group of God's people exhibiting
substantial healing in the area of human relationships in their present
life, then the world will take notice."
Non-Christians will be forced to say, as they were during the time of the Roman Empire, "Behold, how they love each other."
Other than that, this book is radically challenging the way I view my
relationships with others and my call to bear the truth of Christ to an
unbelieving world. And our heat is not working. Have a good
day!
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| At the prompting of none but myself, I have decided to write a little update.
Sooo....I'm married now. Thumbs up? Yeah, definitely. The blessing that comes with having a Godly spouse is an experience that may only be rivaled by living a life of called, contented singlehood. And that is certainly not any challenge that I was up to facing. After the flurry of wedding/honeymoon/finals/moving/holidays/classes starting, life has finally begun to take on a semblance of normalcy, and normal life in Louisville with Marshall is wonderful. There is such contentment in coming home after a long, hard closing shift on Saturday and having someone waiting up for me. Such contentment in simple tasks like grocery shopping and making the bed and walking to Starbucks and watching CSI when I have my best friend and lover to share this time with me.
I am still taking classes at Boyce (I am now in my 5th semester...my how time has flown). This semester, I am on campus on Mondays and Fridays, taking Advance Public Speaking, Worldview 2, Baptist History, and Intro to Christian Ed. I am loving school, working hard, and looking forward to how God will use this education in the future.
I am also still working at California Pizza Kitchen. I am serving now, which seemed like such a long time coming. I don't work a huge amount, but enough to pay for groceries and rent, so that Marshall's income can be directed towards paying for school. Marshall's still working for Print Fulfillment Services as an IT technician, and he has the possibility of being promoted to system admin (I think...correct me if I'm wrong, dear) sometime after April.
We are attending Highview Baptist Church (East Campus) and have made some friends from our Bible study class. We are the "babes" of the class by far (by as much as ten years, in some cases), but it is nice to have fellowship with older, wiser Christians. I've also been working with the children's ministry some and I am excited about getting more involved with serving our (Christian) community in that way.
I feel like I am writing some Christmas time family newsletter.
I made some chocolate-covered strawberries on Monday, and boy are they yummy. I learned how to make ganache in the process, and I do believe it is the most delicious thing ever.
We're going down to Tennessee this weekend, and I'm quite happy about getting away from work for more than two days in a row. I've been closing so much lately (and especially on Saturdays) that I am really considering not working night shifts. The advantages are that I don't have to work as many shifts to make an equivilant amount of money, but I really don't care to have to work one more dayshift. Now that the weather is getting nicer, lunch is getting busier (and that will only increase as we head into summertime) and I like being home in the evenings to spend my time with my husband. We've started taking dusktime walks when the weather allows (and just walking more in general) and it's something I definitely miss when I have to go to work (like tonight...boo...)
Ok, this is getting entirely too long. Maybe I will update on a more regular basis, in order to avoid these lengthy, bi-annual posts. Maybe...
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| In just over 16 days, I will be Mrs. Mary Catherine Anderson. Not
only will I have a new last name, I will be a Mrs. Oh, and
I'll have a husband, too . My wonderful Marshall....
Life is crazy when you work and do school and plan a wedding. But
it's good. God is gracious and wonderful in so many different
ways. Whether it's through financial provision of a really good
tip or physical provision of a great night's sleep or emotional
provision of good time spent with good friends or whatever it is, He is
sovereign and gracious and wonderful. All good things come down
from Him...halleluiah...
I will be in Winchester this weekend. Marshall and I are
driving home tomorrow night after work. I'm sure we'll mostly be
consummed with wedding things the entire time. Sunday afternoon
is the church shower. Pretty much a whirlwind trip.
I think it is time for sleep....
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| So things are interesting lately.
Work is going great, and business seems to be picking up, so I am definitely making money now. Which is a good thing.
VBS was this past week. I was asked last minute to work with the first grade class. It was a great experience, really, even though I was a bit stressed about the whole thing. I didn't have any sort of teaching or material packet to help me out, and I was also late on Sunday to decorate, so there were very few things left for me to use. I was starting to get all mad about how the other ladies stole all the good stuff and my room wouldn't look as awesome as their rooms, and then I remembered that the kids don't care and it would only be my selfish pride that would be hurt if my room wasn't as cool. So I got over it. And the Artic Adventure is now finished.
I really loved the kids I spent time with all week. I liked working with little kids. I was tired and stressed about things, but I really felt a good connection with them and that I was able to communicate with them effectively and that they understood me when I talked. So children's minister is one of those things that I will not cross off my "Can never do this as ministry" list. In fact, it's probably moved up quite significantly on my list of "Definitely would love to do this as ministry." Who knows where life will go....
Family things are rather crazy right now. I'll not go into details, but it's stressful and frustrating and at times makes me really mad about God's timing with things. Please pray for me in this area, as well as my siblings and mom. My dad especially needs prayer (as he is in general the stressing agent) and my grandmother (on my dad's side) is having a very rough time lately. Please pray for her salvation. She is finally thinking about these types of things, and I feel that she is very open to the gospel. My brother and I are going to visit her this afternoon, so pray for us both as well as we have the opportunity to share about the hope of Jesus Christ.
Marshall surprised me last weekend and was here at the house Friday night when I returned home from work. It was lovely and a much needed salve for heart. I absolutely adore him. He is incredible and so loving, patient, romantic, and handsome. Also it is wonderful to see how much of a MAN of God he is. He fights for my heart and I know he will protect me at all costs. It makes my heart so glad to know that he is mine forever.
I am going to Louisville on Sunday for a few days. His friends Wes, Luke, and Laura (from Wisconsin) are in town this weekend and next week, too, so it will be a nice little break. Spending time with friends and not working. Ahhh. Also I will get to see baby Salmon and Carrie and Jeremy. I miss my friends so much. I am loving being at home, but I think I'm starting to anticipate my return to the River City.
I have been very lazy today. I don't really care though. I will work tonight. I need to get ready, I suppose, now. This was really long. Oh well. Goodbye friends. Have a good Saturday. | | |
| 1. YOUR SPY NAME: (middle name and current street name)
Catherine Greenview
2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your dad's side, your favorite candy)
Connie Reeses (hey...Chelsey and I are related...!)
3. YOUR RAP NAME (first initial of first name, first two or three letters of your last name)
M-Cat (ok, that's my middle name, but "M-Bak" sounds stupid)
4. YOUR GAMER TAG: (a favorite colour, a favorite animal)
purplecat
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Catherine Winchester
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters of your last name, last 3 letters of mother's maiden name, first 3 letters of your pet's name)
Bakrumkit
7. JEDI NAME: (middle name spelled backwards, your mom's maiden name spelled backwards)
Enirehtac Murrud
8. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, the automobile your dad drives)
The Pink Civic (again, Chelsey and I are related)
9.YOUR ACTION HERO NAME: (First Name Of The Main Character In The Last Film You Watched, last Food You Just Ate).
RJ Pineapple | | |
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