i Ascribe

Hello my friends. If you are among the very few who still check on this blog from time to time, and find no new interesting entries to read, I want to let you know that I am giving it a new beginning at  my new blog .  All of my entries from Humble Ambitions have been migrated to the new spot.  See you there! Beth bethascribe.wordpress.com

I'm not sure whether i still know how to do this, but i'm going to give it a shot. I saw this meme recently, and it inspired me to say some stuff. A quick disclaimer:  i didn't take this picture, and i didn't create this meme, and i don't know who did.  I do know that i have seen this picture with various captions in various places on the internet, so i don't think it's under copyright, but if it is, i will be happy to give credit to whom it is due.  It's a great picture! Let me ask you something.  Do you think that the tall dog is a more praise-worthy dog than the little dog? I mean, the tall dog can probably run faster, jump higher, and obviously wade through mud puddles with less-overwhelming mud-staining than the little dog.  So obviously the tall dog is a better, harder-working, better trained, dog, right?  You can tell because he's taller than the little dog, right? Does that sound silly? Let me ask you something else.  Do you ever ...

I have read Proverbs 16:9, approximately 1.4 gabatrillion times (or something like that).  I remember posting it on my bedroom wall as a teenager, not entirely understanding what it meant.  But then, when do we entirely understand the meaning of any scripture? This morning, i opened the Bible reading app on my phone, and the verse of the day was Proverbs 16:9, " the mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps ." And then i burst out laughing. If you've read my blog (back when i wrote it in more than twice a year), you know that the super hero and i have had lots of plans that haven't exactly come to fruition. I imagine in my mind, a child of God who has prayed things like, "Lord please have your way in my life," and "please make me more like Jesus," in their walk of life, going to God for direction, and the Lord pointing His child down what appears to be a fairly enjoyable path, knowing full well (because God knows everythin...

Before i say anything, i want to say that what i am about to say is not meant to be a slight or an insult toward anyone in the whole world. Here goes... Today is Mother's Day. I have always loved Mother's Day because it is a great time for me to give special shout-outs to one of my absolute favorite people in the universe, my mom. The impact that my mom has had on my life is profound.  But i'll get all gushy and snotty nosed if i go into that right now, so i'll forego for the time being. In recent years, Mother's Day has taken on a throbbing pain sort of element for me, as i am advancing on my mid-forties and am childless, and as my husband's mother has gone from this life to the next. But this is about me, not her.  Not right now anyway. Really wonderful, nice, kind, people don't want you to feel left out about anything.  So when you're not actually a mom, and Mother's Day rolls around, and they want to be able to tell you, "Happy...

I need to tell you a story.  It's important.  (and i should really be getting ready for work right now, so please excuse the typos.) Anyone who knows me could probably tell you that i am a pretty positive person.  Some people might tell you that i am a sickeningly positive person.  The name Pollyanna comes to mind.  I'm very very optimistic as a general rule. Interestingly, last week, and in recent weeks, i have spent a lot of energy encouraging a specific friend who has been going through some very tough circumstances, to "focus on the Lord," instead of those circumstances and to trust Him and believe Him instead of believing the very convincing negative messages that have been being forced into my friends attention.  I think that a couple of times, my friend really wanted to tell me to go mind my own business for a while and let people be angry and depressed if they want to be.  But i didn't. Stay with me...i little more prep work here... I...

I recently read someone say that one of the reasons that we don't do the really courageous things is because we are afraid of death.  (really loose translation from a small portion of a book called The Supernatural Ways of Royalty by Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton) If you are a Christian, you believe, at least in your mind, that this life is not the end of your life, and hopefully that what you do in this life contributes to God's bigger picture and plan for mankind. But each of us...especially in the United States...we want a nice house and white picket fence, 2.5 kids and dog....and to live happily ever after. Or something like that. Our picture of a life of success is all about us.  And not about anyone else.  Certainly, not really even for Christians, about God.  It's kind of more about God and how He makes MY life better. And i'm not even entirely dampening all of that...God cares about people and loves people and wants good things for us....no good t...

It has been a couple of weeks now, since one of several groups of violent storms that came to my area of the world, bringing flooding and winds and electric poles broken in two, and other wind, rain, and lightning-born natural demonstrations of destruction, began at approximately 5pm, just as work let out, on a day that has come to be referred to in conversation, as "that Thursday."  Everybody has a story about that Thursday  And everybody who's hearing those stories, knows which Thursday  that Thursday  was, because they have a story too...as do I... That Thursday  was not, as you might expect, a dark and stormy night. Not at all. I was in the office all day, but i remember it to be a cool and sunny day. Imagine that. Our area had been weathering and recovering from the effects of very generous rainfall for more than a month, and since the weather had been so nice for a couple of days, I was caught completely by surprise when the sky turned dark at abou...

Ta-da! Here they are!  My actual mealworms, possibly a bit larger than actual size, depending on your resolution. I picked up my mealworm farm starter kit this morning, kept the little guys (and girls) with me at my desk all day (don't tell my co-workers), and even took them with me to Bible study, where i used them for my own little show and tell.  Finally, i'm home, and so are they. I was a little concerned that handling these guys would kind of creep me out, but it turns out, they're not that creepy. No.  Really. Anyway, it's late.  I REALLY need to go to bed.  But i will leave you with this. A loose paraphrase of Luke 9:51ish through 54ish. Recently, the disciples had been given power by Jesus to heal sick people and to rid them of demons, and they had been out practicing, per Jesus' instructions.  But now they're back together, and Jesus has decided to go on a journey, and the disciples are with him.  While on the journey, Jesus is...

In the life of every chicken keeper is the daily chore of opening and closing the chicken door, the tiny chicken size door on the back of the chicken coop, that lets the chickens out into the chicken yard.  In my particular case, this also includes walking into the chicken coop (usually in my work clothes), bending down underneath the nest boxes, and prying out the piece of wood which is wedging the door in place, and then wedging it differently to keep the door open. The placement of the door is important because the nest boxes have a slanted top.  This was supposed to keep the chickens from hanging out up there, but apparently the slant isn't severe enough to disuade them, and they hang out up there anyway.   And anywhere chickens hang out, chickens poop. Anywhere. This is important because chicken poop sometimes doesn't stay where it's dropped off, especially if it's dropped off on a slanted surface, and then gravity takes over and if there happens to...

I know what you're thinking......ew. But what i'm thinking is LIVE CHICKEN FOOD! I'm also thinking cheaper chicken food.  Yay cheaper! If things go well, i might also be able to make a little side money, selling mealworms to bait shops or something like that.  But that's getting a little ahead of myself.   I've been reading about mealworm farming for a while.  I joined a mealworm farming facebook group, so i could read other people talk about mealworm farming.  I asked questions, looked at pictures, asked questions about methods about  And then yesterday, i finally worked up the nerve to order my first mealworm farm starter kit.  Yes, that's a real thing.  And yes, i had to work up the nerve.  It's because i hate the feeling i get when i start a new project without the necessary inspiration to see it through.  But i think springtime has hit me now, and i'm finally ready. And excited. Enough about worms.  F...

We are spoiled.  Modern Americans. When someone tells us a story, we need drama and mayhem and action and suspense and every detail of emotion laid out for us, so we can feel it. But the writers of the books of the Bible, were most often not novelists...or playwrights.  So some of the things we read in the Bible are a little bit more like reading a report, a history book.  And because of this, it's easy for us to gloss over extremely dramatic scenes in the Bible.  Scenes filled with mayhem and suspense and action.  We have to kind of work to really see the scenes that are described. Even Hollywood, when portraying Jesus, has almost always gotten it very wrong, making Jesus look so serious and boring and unfeeling...a portrayal which seems to me to be completely impossible for someone who did the things Jesus is reported to have done.  An unfeeling person couldn't have pulled this stuff off. There is a very very short story in Luke, which does...

Last year, around this time, the radio station i listen to, #ksbj, in Houston, was promoting an idea.  An idea that instead of new year's resolutions, what if we picked one thing we want to spiritually improve in our lives this year.  Just one thing to bring before God and say, "please teach me about this and help me to do it." I deeply dislike new year's resolutions, but this idea i felt good about.  To be honest, i didn't really think about it.  I remember sitting in my car, driving down the road, listening to the dj describe the concept - probably much better than i did it just now - and before i could even think about it, i just breathed the word, "obedience." And sitting here, at the end of 2015, looking back, i am so glad for that moment.  As a follower of Jesus, and Jesus being someone i generally can't see with my physical eyes or hear with my human ears, learning to hear Him and obey Him, is integral to following Him, and i needed help ...

One of the things that is good for me about going to the laundromat to do my laundry is that it forces me to have some limited contact with complete strangers - something i don't really do naturally.  But i have to have clean clothes, so ... complete strangers it is. Something that always warms my heart is when i see young dads at the laundromat with their kids, taking care of business.  Family business. I don't think young men - or even old men - really really understand how meaningful it is for a child to have that man in their life, respecting the importance of their daily life, dealing with the laundry, or the whatever, and caring for their kids. I don't have a lot of words on this tonight, but i just want to say.  Way to go, dads.  Way to go, lifting up your kids.  Way to go, letting them know that their thoughts and experiences are important to you.  Way to go, being being gentle and caring and firm.  Way to go, being all the things th...

Many moons ago, when i was in college, i had the wonderful benefit of spending most of three summers in Germany, as part of a short term missions program from my college.  One of the things we would do while on missions, is perform street dramas.  Some of the skits we did were ones we were taught while at home, and sometimes we would make them up on the fly. One such made up skit we performed my last summer in Germany, came to called by us, Blind Bethimaeus.  It was re-enactment of the Mark 10 story of Jesus healing the blind man, name Bartimaeus.  Only, in our skit, i played the part of Bartimaeus.  For this reason, and because i think my team leader really enjoyed saying, "Bethimaeus," the skit came to be known, by us, as Blind Bethimaeus. In the skit, to demonstrate my blindness, i would wear a rag, tied on my head, so that it covered my eyes, and i would begin the skit by wandering, literally blind, with my hands stretched out in front of me, feeling my...

There is this verse i have read so many times.  I've memorized it.  I've meditated on it.  And then this morning, i get a text message or a notification or something on my phone, and i read this same verse again with completely brand new insight. The Bible is amazing like that. Let's talk about wisdom.  Did you know there's more than one kind?  James 3 says there is demonic wisdom and heavenly wisdom. The term 'demonic wisdom,' almost seems like blasphemy, but it's right there.  It says "This wisdom ... is demonic."  (It's verse 15.) What kind of 'wisdom' could the brother of Jesus refer to as demonic? Have you ever heard anyone tell you to "look out for number one?"  Has anyone ever told you that you need more ambition?  Yes, i'm aware of the title of this blog. Well, "... if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.  This wisdom is not t...

This is a picture of my beautiful niece, Rachel, after she learned to catch a chicken. Warning to my grammar enthusiast friends: this post is  infected with run-on sentences and sentence fragments.  I saw them, and i'm leaving them there.  Because today, the content is more important than the structure.  Please enjoy. As anyone who lives in East Texas can tell you, a working air conditioner in one's vehicle is a very high priority, especially for anyone who commutes any distance to work each day.  About a year ago, the air conditioner in my car, or rather the fan that makes the air from the air conditioner (or ever so rarely, the heater) blow out of the vents, and into the atmosphere of my vehicle, began to falter.  It took on a temperamental maybe-i-will-and-maybe-i-won't kind of attitude, which i found extremely frustrating.   Even more frustrating, was the strange fact that my husband could get in the car, put his hand on the vent (i'm am ...