Ripple effect

Yesterday an Emeritus Professor in the bio dept passed away. He was highly decorated with memberships in academies and an impressive track record of research. But these aren't the things that affected me... the most important to me was that he paid attention to people around him, no matter who they were.

I didn't know Howard personally, but I've been told stories about him. He used to eat lunch at retirement community restaurant here in Bloomington. (Apparently, he was quite the ladies' man... always flirting with the little old women, but that's beside the point. :) )There was a waiter working there to pay his way through undergrad. Howard got to know him, found out that he was a biology major, and weaseled him a dish-washing position in one of his friends' labs. That waiter was my uncle. He started as a dish-washer in that lab, grew interested in research, and now he's a Principal Scientist at Genentech.

Not only did Howard have a profound effect on my uncle's life and career, but mine too. When my uncle was in grad school here at IU, I came to visit for a job-shadowing school project. My goal was more to hang out with my favorite uncle and get out of school for a whole day, but one day in the lab was all it took and I was hooked. If it wasn't for my uncle, I may not have been exposed to research and careers in science, which I'm so passionate about.

All that to say, be mindful of what you do, of how you live, you never know how far your legacy will stretch or who you may be influencing. The ripple effect extends far past our individual human experiences.

"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:58

The ultimate never-ending story

"We've already finished that book." --Zachary, 4 yrs old.

He told me this as I got out the kids' Bible to tell them the story during Sunday school.

Haha. :)

A Bible for all ages

A book I ordered from Amazon came in the mail for me this week and I'm pretty excited about it: The Jesus Storybook Bible (written by Sally Lloyd-Jones.) That's right, I ordered a children's Bible. As an avid reader growing up who had at least 3 children's picture Bibles that I can remember, I have to say that this one is better than all of them. We've been using it all year long in teaching the 4 & 5 yr old class at ECC and I've fallen in love with it's method of storytelling--it connects every story back to Jesus. Also, its illustrations are pretty great too. Here, let me show you just a bit of why I really like it. This is from the introduction:

Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done.

Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy. The Bible does have some heroes in it, but (as you'll soon find out) most of the people in the Bible aren't heroes at all. They make some big mistakes (sometimes on purpose). They get afraid and run away. At times they are downright mean.

No, the Bible isn't a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It's an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his long treasure. It's a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne--everything--to rescue the one he loves. It's like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life!

You see, the best thing about this Story is -- it's true!
There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.

I just had to get it, because as much as I love reading it, it's best when shared with some kiddos. And at some point I'm banking on the fact that I'll have some to read it to, whether they're my own or cousins or nieces and nephews or neighbor kids or whoever.

No limitations

I'm still dwelling on and marveling at this thought from the Yellow House study this week.

The Spirit doesn't have a problem with scale.
--paraphrased from Christina

In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned, and) created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding*) over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2 (Amplified Bible)

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. Acts 4:31

*I particularly love the thought of the Spirit brooding over the earth.

Thoughts on the dozen

Sometimes I think we put the 12 apostles up on pedestals when we really need to remember that they were regular guys. Last night we were studying Mark 10 during Cgroup. We got to the section discussing the request of James and John and spent a few minutes on this particular verse:

35Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."

I think the general consensus was something like "Really? Whoa James and John, back it up for a second and think about what you're saying. Do you really want to demand that Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world and God of the universe, do what you want him to? Not only that, but the request you're following it up with is one of power-hungry selfishness? You sure you want to do that?" We had a good laugh at their naivete and the fact that they just don't get Jesus and his purpose even though he's been trying to hammer home the point to them for a couple years at this point. But really, do we get it? Granted, we have scripture right in front of us to study, the knowledge of what happened to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit living in us. But despite all this, I still think we lose sight of the big picture a lot. As Eugene pointed out, don't we ask in that way too? "Please God, could you help me with this... oh, and here's how I want you to fix it." It's not that far removed from the way James and John were posing their request.

So my point here is really just that the 12 were regular guys. Human beings. Yes, they got to walk along side Christ and be a part of his ministry on earth, but they were still human. We can see the absurdity of some of their choices and actions (Peter, dude, what were you thinking trying to rebuke Jesus?!), but I'm going to argue that some of my choices and actions are just as naive and ridiculous. I think if we put ourselves in their shoes we'd probably have a little more compassion for them and try to see how we're pretty similar. Just trying to follow Christ and make sense of it all. Our thoughts are just too human... :)

My cup runneth over

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:6-7

Let this be a week overflowing with thankfulness. :)

Mark 8 words

Because I think Wordle is pretty nifty, and Mark 8 was a better choice than my golgi apparatus hw.

Part of me is the prodigal

"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:20-24

This is a cheesy, Christian pop song, but I don't even care. The lyrics are just too good.

"Always have, always will"--Avalon
Part of me is the prodigal, part of me is the other brother
But I think the heart of me is really somewhere between them
Some days I'm running wild, Some days I'm reconciled
And I wonder all the while why you put up with me
When I wrestle most days to find ways to do as I please

I was born with a wayward heart, still I live with a restless spirit
My soul is so well worn, you'd think I'd have arrived by now
I'm caught in the trappings of, my search for lasting love
I've made mistakes enough to last me a lifetime
I still slip, I still fall, but I'll always run back to you

A grateful heart

November 25, 2008

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles and the judgments he pronounced.
Psalm 105:1-5

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
For the LORD is the great God,
the great king above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Psalm 95:1-7

Sweet deliverance

Be at rest once more, O my soul,
for the LORD has been good to you.

For you, O LORD, have delivered my
soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.

Psalm 116:7-9

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Scripture in Scientific Lit!

I was reading through a paper on sex-determination (all that X and Y chromosome stuff) that was assigned for one of my classes today and was pleasantly surprised to find scripture cited right within the text. A little shocked I must say. I think they use it here for the purposes of clever allusion, but still scripture IN scientific literature... that's pretty cool. Check it out:

"Since testis determination appears to be a conserved function of the mammalian Y, we would search for 1A2 sequences having homologs on the Y chromosomes of a wide range of animals. To this end, we prepared 'Noah's ark blots." Onto these genomic DNA transfers "went one pair, male and female, of [many] beasts, clean and unclean, of birds and of [many things] that crawl on the ground, two by two" (Genesis 7:8-9), including humans, great apes (e.g., chimpanzee, gorilla), Old World monkeys (e.g., rhesus monkey), New World monkeys (e.g., owl monkey), rodents, rabbits, dogs, goats, horses, and cattle."

Page et al. (1987) The sex-determining region of the human Y chromosome encodes a finger protein. Cell 51 (Dec 24): 1091-1104.
(Btw, their findings were rejected a few years later in light of a mistake they made. oops.)

For He has said...

For He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]
Hebrews 13:5 (Amplified Bible)

Hannah's Prayer: The Lord remembered her

"My heart rejoices in the LORD;
in the LORD my horn is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.

"There is no one holy like the LORD;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.

"Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the LORD is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.

"The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with strength.

Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry hunger no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.

"The LORD brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.

The LORD sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.

He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.
"For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's;
upon them he has set the world.

He will guard the feet of his saints,
but the wicked will be silenced in darkness.
"It is not by strength that one prevails;

those who oppose the LORD will be shattered.
He will thunder against them from heaven;
the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.
"He will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed."

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Moses' Song: Who is like You?

"The enemy boasted,
'I will pursue, I will overtake them.
I will divide the spoils;
I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword
and my hand will destroy them.'

But you blew with your breath,
and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
in the mighty waters.

"Who among the gods is like you, O LORD ?
Who is like you—
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
working wonders?

You stretched out your right hand
and the earth swallowed them.

"In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
to your holy dwelling.
Exodus 15: 9-13