Spiritual Sounding Board – This is your place to gather and share in an open format.
by Kathi
Matthew 20: 17-28
Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. “What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Song of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.
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*I know this isn’t a “traditional” church song, but I can’t share the Machu Picchu picture without this song. It is played everywhere in Peru. And, no, this song’s origins are not from Simon and Garfunkel!
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May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness: protect you from the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing: at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing: once again into our doors.
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Feel free to join the discussion.
You can share your church struggles and concerns.
Let’s also use it as a time to encourage one another spiritually.
What have you found spiritually encouraging lately?
Do you have any special Bible verses to share, any YouTube songs that you have found uplifting?
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photo credit: Machu Picchu by Kathi
Spiritual Sounding Board 
Hello all. Anybody got anything on their mind?
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It sure is quiet around here Gary. Maybe people are enjoying Summer fun with their families.
After church, I got a much-needed nap and then 3 of my kids and I went floating down the Columbia River for a couple of hours. What a nice relaxing day before school starts up tomorrow for Summer term.
How is everyone doing?
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Yesterday we spent the day with my in-laws where we swam and picked berries. Then sweltered in our 86 degree house. Summer in the Pacific Northwest! Today I worked – in the air conditioning – ahhh!
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I’ve been wanting to try a specific Episcopal church near here, but I’ve been having a lot of trouble with insomnia. I couldn’t get myself up at 9:00 when I’d only fallen asleep around 4:00.
Otoh, we moved in January, and the new place is in the middle of forty acres. It’s SO MUCH COOLER than our old place! Summer and I don’t get along in the best of years, so this Pac NW heat wave is especially unpleasant. The new place is such a wonderful retreat.
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Yesterday morning I woke up to my usual routine: shower, get dressed and go to Tim Horton’s for coffee before doing the rest of my primping before going to worship. When I left there was a bag of “stuff” on my door that could only have come from xh, so he had been there some time during the night. For me, that is triggering and creepy so I was really shaken when I left again to leave for church and questioned whether or not I would go. The sermon that was brought by a young preacher in a pulpit swap was “Praying for Protection”. I needed to hear those words!! God is good in all things and knows what we need so far in advance of when that time will be.
It has been 2 years. You’d think xh would find someone else to torment. Praise God the repercussions of the triggers don’t last as long anymore.
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“You’d think xh would find someone else to torment.”
One would think. How is it that narcissists have this hardwired determination that nobody will ever, ever, get away with telling them no? Probably it is good that our Lord is more patient than I. My desire is to turn your xh over for destruction. Well, for now I leave it in His infinitely wise discretion.
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Gary W.,
I wouldn’t actually want another woman to endure what I have. That would be cruel. I turned xh over to God a while ago. I can’t pray for his good anymore. I felt putting him in God’s hands was the most loving thing I could do for him and I came to grips with the knowledge that no reconciliation would ever happen. Before I left, I prayed daily that the Lord would take me home to give xh more time to find Him. I’m still here, so obviously that was not God’s plan.
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Sometime last night someone destroyed the handicapped sign showing that it was parking for my apartment. I cannot prove who did it, but in my heart I feel I know the answer. It is just to coincidental and no other was harmed.
Please pray for me as fear rises.
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Brenda,
I assume you have called the police, perhaps they can step up surveillance on your property. I hope your building parking lot has a security camera, it was be great news if they nailed & jailed the creep. I would be scared too, I will be praying for you about this. I hope your daughter is healing from her recent loss.
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Gail, The township police have been reluctant to do anything because it is not a security building, private property and what is evidence to me is not convincing to them. I suppose if he breaks in they might do something, but believe I am being seen as the crazy lady.
My daughter is going in for an ultra sound tomorrow. She is still on 2 antibiotics and prednisone, as nothing seems to be killing the infection so far. She is in good spirits. I believe she goes back to the newest specialist next week. They are putting all of their energy into their new home and praying they get another chance to be parents.
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Shame on the township police, sounds like they need some education on domestic violence, they are the crazy ones! Thank-You for the update on your daughter & husband, I say a little prayer for them when I see your posts.
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Thank you Gail. Prayer is always welcome and reciprocated.
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Brenda – You are probably already doing this, but document everything! Even this, which you cannot prove, but have an idea that it may be him. Any pattern counts. I wish it could be easier than that for you. Sigh.
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I’m off to a job interview shortly. Which I am so excited about, and just thinking about is starting to make me nervous. If you all don’t mind sending off a quick prayer, good vibes, crossing fingers, etc. 😉
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Kathi- Just crossed myself on your behalf! In the name of the Father and the Son and The Holy Spirit may the Lord make His face to shine upon you & give you favor. Let us know how it went.
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Praying, Kathi!! I can see in your smile that you will interview well!!
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Oh, I was so nervous! They asked about my diagnosing skills (which I have none, and I learned DSM IV many moons ago), and I don’t feel like I was able to answer how I would respond in a provided scenario well. I guess what I’ve got going for me was that they provide training and asked where I thought I needed it – I was able to point that out! And, I’ll have some experience in working with the police. I will hopefully find out by the end of the week.
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I don’t know what a SDM IV is or what kind of position you are going for, but working with the police sounds like a hoot. I think employers expect you to be nervous. I am praying for you.
I hate pop quizzes and interviews seem like one big pop quiz to me. Come to think of it, I’m not sure how I ever got a job with my interviewing skills. Ask me a question, send me home for a day to think about it and I’ll come back with some answers tomorrow. No, Mr. Interviewer Guy says. Hopefully, I will never have to go through this again.
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I interviewed for a crisis line position with a community mental health organization. The DSM is the diagnostic manual for assessing mental health. I took a class on that 20 years ago, but have never had a job where I had to use it. And, the manual has changed since then. It’s funny that I said that I think I can remain calm under stressful situations, but I know I had a hard time hiding my nervousness about talking about myself. Oy vay, interviewing is hard!
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I’m sure if you get a new manual you’ll do just fine. If they are willing to train you, even better, they’ll be getting a good employee who will care about the people.
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Not to change the subject but JA, are you going to this next year?
http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/beauty-hair/hair/news/a36837/ginger-pride-festival-2016/
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Haha, unfortunately not, Jim. I’ll be in the middle of Summer term at school. It looks like fun.
I think they had a similar gathering in downtown Portland (4 hrs from me).
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Portland has everything. Including some things which I wish I’d never heard of. And way too many stupid bicycles!!
I agree with Persephone. I’m glad we’re in the country.
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I love the Peruvian song, by the way. Kind of wish it didn’t have the corny drumming and synth in the background, though. That style reminds me waaay too much of the mega we attended for a while. Their music is super corny, to the point of mortifying.
Even their “relevant” service is that way. In some ways, it’s worse. But then, I hate most Contemporary Christian music!
That’s part of why I haven’t bothered to try going back to a service. I get irritable and disgusted during WORSHIP time, and then spend 30-45 minutes “readjusting my attitude”. By the time I’m ready to hear a sermon, it’s pretty much over, and we’re back to “worshipping” again. Which, for obvious reasons, does not work for me! I feel closr to God as part of a good secular choir than singing in church.
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Witch Hazel – There were way too many bicycles and naked people riding them this past weekend! It’s all about the logo: Keep Portland Weird.
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Kathi, speaking of Mental Health, on the MMPI, sociopaths and police officers often have similar scores. Sociopaths use these traits for the bad and police use these traits (I hope) for societal good!
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JA, What will you be posting about next????
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Kathi,
Yeah, the headline this morning was that there are activists on the Burnside bridge handing out free marijuana in celebration of its legalization. 8-/
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I can’t be reading this correctly. Naked people riding bikes and free marijuana samples. That sounds like a formula for disaster.
Note to self: Never want to vacation in Portland. They can be weird all by themselves.
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Brenda,
Yeah, that’s why we live in the country!
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Brenda – LOL! Once a year the naked bike ride happens. At one point it was about protesting fossil fuels or something like that. It’s not something that catches my fancy. Recreational pot smoking is legal starting today. I’m not crazy about that either.
I promise if you came to visit I would show you the better side of Portland, such as the coffee houses, brew pubs or waterfalls!
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GAAAAHHH!!! Kathi, you just stumbled into one of my biggest pet peeves! The waterfall are NOT in Portland, they are in the gorge!!!
Hee hee, sorry, just had to say it… The hipster attitude that Portland owns everything within 70 miles *really* gets under my skin!
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Imagine if you were born here fifty years ago, and remember the pre-hipster days.
it was an AWESOME city back then.
I do love the artistic sensibility the hipster movement brought, though. But we always had a good music scene.
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Oh, Witch Hazel, I know! But everyone who comes to visit us wants to go to the waterfalls. So, off we go (or, more likely, off my husband goes). Seriously, though, I grew up in the midwest in the middle of corn fields. I’ll take the evergreens and Mt. Hood scene any time over the flat lands. And, I do really like Portland a lot. We have been to a lot of great neighborhoods and have met some fabulous people. The “weirdness” of it makes me laugh and shake my head.
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It would be fun to do a Portland meetup! There’s 3 of you already there and I’m 4 hrs away.
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Yes! We’d be there for sure.
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No job for me. I was told that they thought the learning curve would be too high. Oh well. On the plus side, I was told that I presented myself well and was very professional. I wanted to say, “If you only knew how nervous I was…”
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I’m sorry, Kathi. I’m sure that God must have even better plans for you.
You can be jello on the inside as long as you don’t show it on the outside. So you did better than you thought through the interview. The next one will be that much easier.
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Kathi- Bummer. So sorry. Thanks for the update.
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