Heaven is a Real Place

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Today’s church service was the last meeting in a Revelation seminar. We’ve attended the past three Sabbaths and have really enjoyed seeing our old pastor in his new role of conference evangelist.

The sermon was about heaven. It was very uplifting and made me excited to see it! Too often it’s easy to get caught up in what’s wrong with the world, the country, our lives. Instead, we spent an hour focusing on Christ and on heaven.

Nevertheless we, according to His promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells
2 Peter 3:13.

I think this is a great passage reminding us to keep looking forward to a new heavens and a new earth.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself
Philippians 3:20-21.

Our citizenship is in heaven, not on this earth. Earth is not our home! Instead, we wait for Jesus, who will transform our bodies into ones like His. I can’t wait! No more sickness, no more death, no more pain.

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes;
there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.
There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away”
Revelation 21:1-4.

I love that God will dwell with us and we shall be His people. We have the promise that God Himself will be with us! Forever! What a wonderful promise.

And it shall come to pass
That from one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the LORD
Isaiah 66:23.

Can you imagine the first worship service? Millions of people, coming together, to worship the Lord as one. All of us getting the chance to sing praises to God, to hear Him speak, to see His face!

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads
Revelation 22:1-4.

This passage has so many promises in it. A beautiful tree of life, new fruits every month, the healing of the nations, no more curse, spending time with God, seeing His face, and having His name on our foreheads!

Heaven is going to be wonderful and I want to be there! I hope to see you there as well!

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Recipe Recommendation

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Tonight we had sub sandwiches and crackers with cucumber hummus. The cucumber hummus was a very pleasant surprise. It was very refreshing! i could taste the cucumber when I made the recipe without any of the suggested additions. Then I tried a small batch with cumin added and that was even better. Yum!

I have ripe bananas on the counter. Tomorrow I’m going to look for a bread or cookie recipe that uses bananas. There’s no way I can eat them all, so I might as well use them to bake something!

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November Elections – I Voted!

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I have spent very little time cleaning in the past two days. Instead, I’ve been spending all of my free time researching candidates and propositions that were included on Arizona’s ballot. Some of the information was very hard to find so it took longer than I thought. And still some of the candidates I was unable to vote on because I didn’t feel well enough informed.

Tomorrow I’ll be back to my normal homemaking schedule. I’m looking forward to having a tidy kitchen!

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Menu Plan Monday

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I am joining in on another Menu Plan Monday.

Sunday – Riblets with mashed potatoes and green beans
Monday – Homemade pizza with pineapple, mushroom, onion
Tuesday – Tortilla Soup – I love this recipe!
Wednesday – Vegan Alfredo with Peas – new recipe
Thursday – Subs with cucumber hummus (which I forgot to make last week)
Friday – Curry – potatoes, carrot, onions

Right now I have the pizza crust rising on the counter. It smells good!

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Simple Woman’s Daybook – Entry 2

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I thought I’d post another The Simple Woman’s Daybook entry today to mark the beginning of Sabbath.

Outside my window… the light is quickly fading. Cars drive by on our newly paved road.

I am thinking… how nice it is that my hubby doesn’t have to worry about work for another 24 hours.

I am thankful for… the Sabbath. We’re going to try to make it to church tomorrow, provided we don’t sleep through it! This has been a terrible week for sleep.

From the kitchen… a new pumpkin bread recipe is baking in the oven. Freshly ground cinnamon and nutmeg smells really good!

I am wearing… workout clothes from a walk we took earlier this afternoon.

I am creating… a peaceful atmosphere in our home with a clean house, nice music, and pumpkin bread in the oven.

I am going… to make dinner shortly.

I am reading… nothing at the moment. I just finished a book and haven’t decided what I’m going to start next.

I am hoping… that Sabbath will be restful.

I am hearing… “Let My Words be Few” by Phillips, Craig, and Dean.

Around the house… is clean and relaxed.

One of my favorite things… knowing we’re going to have a nice treat for dessert.

A few plans for the rest of the week… Church tomorrow and a day of relaxation. Nothing specific, though.

A picture thought

Today’s sunset wasn’t quite this pretty, but this is the view from our patio window. I love enjoying the sunsets!

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Cleaning out the closet

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Thursdays are my day for working on our bedroom and the bathroom where the cat boxes are located. The basic cleaning didn’t take very long so I decided to tackle my clothes. Earlier this spring, I donated a pretty big pile of clothes but I knew I still had more that I never wear. Recent posts by Lara and Karen inspired me to be brutally honest and get rid of what I don’t need.

These pictures aren’t very good as I couldn’t back away from the closet far enough to get the right angle. Sorry about that! I tried my best. Here’s what the closet looked like if you’re looking toward the side.


And a Before photo looking straight into my half of the closet.


All the hanging clothes piled on the bed, waiting for me to try them all on and see what still fits. The bucket at the end of the bed contained all the winter clothes I packed away earlier this year.


The After photo looking down the closet. Doesn’t look too different.


Looking into the closet. I got rid of a lot of the clothes that were piled up on the shelf. All that’s left are my workout clothes and a couple pairs of pajamas.


My giveaway pile, plus there were two pairs of shoes on the floor.

All in all, I purged 28 items of clothing from my closet and 2 pairs of shoes. Most of the clothes are now too big for me. A couple of the sweaters are still too small, but they don’t meet my current standards of modesty. The sneakers are really cute but they are incredibly uncomfortable and I never wear them. Why hold on to clothes and shoes that I don’t wear?

So far this year, I have eliminated 169 pieces of clothing and 11 pairs of shoes from our closets. How in the world did I end up with so much and yet I still felt like I had so little to wear? Most of the clothes either didn’t fit right or I didn’t like them but it’s hard to get rid of things that you’ve paid money for. In the future, I need to be more careful that I only buy what I need and what I will actually use on a regular basis.

It feels really good now that all of my clothing fits into one closet!

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Tagged!

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Last week, Lady Rose tagged me to answer a set of questions. I’ve been putting off answering the questions because I had to write a poem! I haven’t written in poetry in years. But today I finally came up with a little ditty.

1. If you could live in any place, where would it be? Why would you live there?
Japan! Actually, it doesn’t have to be Japan, but I want to live somewhere outside of the US for a few years. I want to experience another culture, another language, and get to know people who have experienced a life completely different than mine.

2. Make a list of the five favorite activities that you like to do.
Reading my Bible, reading in general, playing with my cat, blogging, and cooking.

3. What is your most challenging household chore? Briefly explain why it is challenging for you.
Cleaning the bathroom. It’s not difficult, but I find it a distasteful task. When I stay on top of my housework, it’s easier. But it’s still not a fun job!

4. What was the happiest day of your life (and you can’t say the day you got married or engaged. Choose another day.)?
I really don’t know. I would say today because God has given me another day of life and I’ve spent the day at home with my hubby. He was working the entire day and will be completing a project tonight as well, but we are blessed to have a job!

5. What annoys or irritates you the most (besides getting “tagged” :).
Close-mindedness. I try to be open to ideas that are different than my own and it annoys me that some people won’t give me the same consideration.

6. Where do you like to “hide” when you’re having a rough day?
On the couch with a good book.

7. Write a six line poem of rhyming couplets. Now tell us, was this a hard or an easy task for you and why (You know I write poetry, so you had to know this was coming :)?

Kitty jumps upon my desk
Tries to squeeze around the mess

He wants to know
When my cleaning will show

He throws a fit
And asks where he’ll sit

8. What is your all-time favorite movie?
The six hour long BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice!

Tagging – I’m supposed to come up with a set of my own questions and tag someone. I’m really not sure who to tag, so if you’re interested in playing, let me know! Here are your questions:

1. Who is your favorite Biblical figure and why?
2. If you drink coffee, what is your favorite drink?
3. What is your favorite book?
4. What is your favorite “comfort” meal?
5. Share your favorite Bible text and why it speaks to you.

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What’s On My Nightstand – November

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What's On Your Nightstand I can’t believe it’s already time for the Nightstand post! I didn’t even read everything on last month’s list because I kept getting distracted by other books. Such is the life of a library addict…

For 2011, I’ve decided to skip reading challenges (we’ll see how long that plan lasts). Instead, I’m going to read a book from each of several genres every month. I haven’t decided which genres, but it will definitely include memoir, history, and Christian nonfiction. I am going to test out that idea this month and see how it goes.

Christian Nonfiction
The Surrendered Wife, by Laura Doyle

Biography
The Singular Mark Twain, by Fred Kaplan

Fiction – both of these are to fulfill challenges for 2010
Sense & Sensibility, by Jane Austen
A Blue and Gray Christmas, by Joan Medlicott

And of course I am going to continue The History of the Ancient World until it is due back at the library.

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Menu Plan Monday

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Menu Plan Monday is another resource I’ve seen around the internet but have never taken advantage of. I realized last week that posting my menu online would keep me from losing my menu somewhere in the mess that is my desk. Of course, solving the menu issue isn’t an excuse to not organize my desk!

So, here is my menu for this week –

Tonight – Homemade stir fry with broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, tofu, and sweet & sour sauce
Tuesday – Subs with cucumber hummus (hummus is a new recipe)
Wednesday – Tamale pie
Thursday – Orange Style Tofu
Friday – Tofu & Pineapple Thai Yellow Curry (new recipe)
Sabbath – Spaghetti

What’s on your menu?

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Thursdays – Master Bedroom/Bathroom

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Yesterday was not nearly as productive as I had hoped. I allowed myself to not feel guilty about it as it was my birthday. I’m 28 already! I think I finally feel my age. I’ve always felt older than my actual age. I spent a good portion of yesterday trying not to be upset that I’m 28 and childless, but I didn’t mind getting older. After all, 28 is just a number!

I don’t know why I did this, but I scheduled a visit to the optometrist on my birthday. My last eye exam was in 2006 so I was overdue for new glasses. She dilated my eyes and they also took photographs of the inside of each eyeball. Very cool! My eyeballs are healthy, though my vision is worse. Yay.

After the doctor’s visit, hubby took me to Chipotle. I had to stay in the car while he picked up the food, as the lights were bothering my dilated eyes. Then we came home and watched The Reading Room. I didn’t realize it was a Hallmark film, but it was quite good! After that, my eyes were really tired. It might not have been a good idea to watch a movie right after doing an intensive eye exam, but I sat far away from the screen so that I could actually focus on it. Reading anything up close was impossible. It’s very weird to lose your ability to focus on something within a foot of your face!

Today was much better for productivity. I forced myself off the computer, set the timer for an hour, and got to work. After lunch, I did another hour long session. I was able to wash the dishes, sweep the kitchen, vacuum the apartment, tidy the living room, make the bed, wash two loads of clothes, hang up one of those loads to dry, clean the cat boxes, sweep the master bathroom, wash off the counters, and scrub the master bathroom’s toilet. Whew!

Then I sat down this afternoon and studied Japanese for an hour. I’m going to implement another aspect of study. I was thinking this morning that studying Japanese is good. However, I need to start trying to read primary material. At first I thought I would try reading the Bible in Japanese. Unfortunately, that is way over my skill level. Next time we go to the library, I will check out some children’s books in Japanese. I think 3 sessions each week, 15 minutes each session, tacked onto my normal study time will be very beneficial.

My quiche is almost ready to pull out of the oven and then we’ll be finishing up this week’s episode of The Biggest Loser. I hope everyone else is having a great evening!

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