God is able

A phrase that’s been on the front of my mind lately is one you’ll hear in sermons, in songs, or written on posters or in sympathy cards. It comes from Ephesians 3:20.

God is able.

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If you’re like me, though, every once in a while you might ask yourself, “What is He able to do, exactly?” I think the Sunday School answer is everything. But that doesn’t necessarily help me when I’m stuck in traffic and frustrated, or when I make a mistake at work, or when I say something that’s not exactly encouraging to someone. Or for you, maybe you’re losing patience with your kids, or lost out on a big work project, or didn’t do so hot on a recent test. Or maybe you just accomplished something significant, or did get that big work project. There’s still a need for God even in those situations, right? It could almost be anything at all that points us to a need for something more.

What has made the phrase relevant in my life recently is acknowledging that I sometimes get caught in this cycle:

Feeling discouraged <turns into> thinking something will or won’t happen <turns into>  doubt <turns into> unhealthy behavior <turns into> guilt.

So I’ll admit, then, sometimes I wonder about it. “Is God able?” I’ll ask. Is He actually able to help me with what I’m doing today? Using the cycle above, is He able to keep me from diving into discouragement, etc?

Then recently it dawned on me: Yes, He is. Because His ability to “do” isn’t constrained by and doesn’t rely on my belief that He can. He can. He can. That’s it. He can. It’s like wondering if a beagle howls. Or a dolphin jumps. Or if grass is green. The answer is yes, yes, and yes. Whether I believe it or not, the grass is still green. A dolphin will still jump. A beagle will still howl.

And God is able.

So I’m thankful today that even in my wavering ups and downs where for one minute I’m singing How Great Thou Art and the next I’m quoting one of my favorite lines from Rescue Dawn – “God, why don’t You help us when we need You most?” – God is still there, and He is still able.

-Out of the Wilderness

An apology to my mom

I can now say with certainty that I must’ve been pretty annoying sometimes when I was growing up. But not just me; also my brother and sisters. I’m not taking the fall alone on this one! You see, I was recently napping. Just like this except alone, so not like this at all, but you get my point.
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Then out of nowhere one of my dogs, who’ll remain nameless (cough cough Asia cough), uses her megaphone bark to let the neighbor’s dogs know she’s inside but still very aware of their complete inferiority. Then Piper arises from her slumber to join in with all the fun barking.

Is it a full moon or something?

Still horizontal on the couch, I realize my nap will not be continuing and it dawns on me. My poor mom. All she ever wanted was a 30 minute nap. “Wake me up in 30 minutes,” she’d say. “Wake me up at 5,” she’d say.

But either me or my brother, probably my brother, yeah MY BROTHER! would wake her up before we were asked to with a whisper that went something like this: “Mom, <insert irrelevant question here>”. Sorry Mom! He was really annoying wasn’t he? 😉

-Out of the Wilderness

Watching Santa Clarita Diet, then I noticed THIS…

I could totally be an extra on Santa Clarita Diet. Why? Just check out the shirt this background guy is wearing in season 1, episode 9.screen-shot-2017-02-13-at-8-17-36-amscreen-shot-2017-02-13-at-8-18-13-amscreen-shot-2017-02-13-at-8-18-34-am
I HAVE THE SAME SHIRT!!!!
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I guess I’m not the only one that shops at Target. I knew that was a good shirt to pick up. Score one for Wilder!target-logo

-Out of the Wilderness

Stay calm, count to 10, then go slash his tires~~

Anyone that knows me, knows that certain things really tick me off and I can get mouthy about it. I think it boils down to a few things, when people do stuff that comes from:
1. laziness
2. entitlement
3. arrogance

My response to those things is something I’m constantly working on (more honestly: battling with). Today this jack leg passed me on a neighborhood road and it ticked me right off. Here’s the dash cam footage:

Funny thing is we both ended up in the same parking lot about a minute later, he arrived 10 seconds before me. Way to go, dim wit! I shouted a few things at him, he looked my way, and kept walking…into Planet Fitness…to roid rage on the dumbbells.

-Out of the Wilderness

Lady screams at the inauguration

I’ve been having a little too much fun trying to come up with ways to use “lady screaming at the inauguration” in completely unrelated ways. Just something to make me laugh, so here are my top 3 favorites.

-Out of the Wilderness