Modern Times Chaos Grid LoL edition Imperial Stout (Picked up at the brewery in Point Loma). A 4 of 4. Aged in bourbon-barrels, with cocoa, vanilla, almonds, and peanuts added, I'd say the bourbon barrel, peanut, and vanilla are most dominant. Obviously there's a ton to the base beer, too -- lots of chocolate and roasty notes and a slightly oily body that seems to pick up and carry all the additions quite well. The peanut notes have a nice roast quality to them, which works well with the rest of the beer.
One of my biggest fears is to forever fall. For God to give me a kabillion opportunities to learn, only to later read an inspired biography about me where I’m just taking all the right steps in all the wrong places! But my help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let my foot be moved; [and] He who keeps me will not slumber.”
Hey beautiful people! I’m your host Chermilyn and you’re listening to Between the Lines, a podcast that goes beneath the surface. We got another LOL for you; episode 3: a lesson of life, a letter of love if you will from God to me and from me to you.
So I woke up today (obviously, otherwise I wouldn’t be recording this right now). But! I vaguely remember the dream that I had last night. I remember seeing darkness. What I was looking at was so dark that the details were unclear. Was it a room? Was it a cave? I wouldn’t be able to tell you. That’s how dark it was. Or that’s how bad my memory is when it comes to dreams.
But I do remember looking at this dark whatever it was when my friend told me: Go into it. Go into the dark. And in my dream, I was like: Why though? Not gonna lie, but I’m sort of scared to go into the dark, because I don’t want to get lost. I don’t want to fall. I don’t want to be stuck there. I don’t want to lose my way and never come out of the dark. I don’t have a light on me.
Then my friend said something very profound.
My friend said, “I am the light of the world. You have no reason to fear the dark. Go.”
Then the dream transitioned and got weird where my mom asked me to make cookies for church and I missed out on my friend’s sermon because I came back from trying to play soccer.
Anyways, the words my friend said in the dream, stuck with me. “I am the light of the world. You have no reason to fear the dark. Go.”
I woke up and these are the lessons that I learned from it:
Oftentimes a lot of Christians don’t want to go out into the world. We like our safe bubble. We like lingering and staying in the light and when Christ calls us to go back, whether it’s into the dark, we hesitate. We become afraid. We start worrying. We think to ourselves: what business do I have in the dark? I don’t want to fall back into sin. I don’t want to fall again period. I don’t want to repeat the mistakes I’ve made beforehand. And we almost become paralyzed in the presence of God.
But Jesus says in John 8:12, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
He speaks these words to a woman who was caught in adultery. He doesn’t condemn her, but tells her to sin no more.
And if I was standing in the crowd, watching this whole scene take place, I would ask myself: What? tHow can this woman sin no more? “Can an Ethiopian change the colour of his skin? Can a leopard take away its spots? Neither can [she] start doing good, for [she] has always done evil.” (Jeremiah 13:23) And I project that onto myself as well. Can I change the colour of my skin? Can a leopard take away its spots? Well, neither can I start doing good, for I have always done evil.
But verse 12 says that Jesus addresses the crowd and speaks to them again saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
You may be afraid of leaving your comfort zone and reaching out to a world that is hurting and broken. You may feel as though you just recovered from your own brokenness. You just found the light. So why take the chance and risk to experience the hurt and darkness again?
But Jesus is telling you that He is the light of the world. If you follow Him, you will not walk in darkness, but you will have the light of life. Therefore, you have no reason to fear the dark.
So go and let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
And if you feel as though you are in a helpless situation, may the word of the LORD in Psalm 121 be your comfort.
“When you lift up your eyes to the hills—
wondering where will your help come from?
Remember that your help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.”
He who is the Light of the world is with you. Even if you say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,” even the darkness is not dark to our God; [in fact,] the night is as bright as the day, for [even] darkness is as light to [Him]” (Psalm 139:11-12). So long as you follow God and make Him your help, you will never walk in darkness. So do not be afraid. Arise. Go. And shine. For He who is with you, will never forsake you.
So I almost died and made my family broke, all in one day. But all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose.
Hey beautiful people! I’m your host Chermilyn and you’re listening to: Between the Lines, a podcast that goes beneath the surface.
We got another LOL for you; episode 2: a lesson of life, a letter of love if you will from God to me and from me to you.
I’m doing my practicum at a church that is roughly an hour away from me. Every Tuesday we have a scheduled meeting at 10 AM. So, I woke up bright and early, went to grab the car keys from my mom and I’m like: mom, it’s Tuesday. I have a meeting today so I need the car; can I take the smooth, sexy, silver 2019 Honda Civic? My mom’s like: Yes! Go for it. As I’m righteously pocketing the keys, I ask a question I shouldn’t have asked: Wait. Mom. Are the repairs on the car done?
Yeup. Shouldn’t have asked that.
“Oh Che! Thank you for reminding me! I totally forgot! I’m supposed to take the car in to get it fixed today!” She hands me the keys to the engine dying, about to break down, how is it even enduring, 2009 toyota yaris sedan. *sigh*
Then she adds: “Oh Che! If the car needs gas, just refuel it.” She hands me her credit card. Such trust. Little did we know that trusting me was a fatal mistake.
I get into the car and fight my battle up the hills of BC terrain, fill the car with gas, attend a few meetings and start making my way back home. Later that evening, my mom asked for her card back. I UNZIPPED my wallet, yes I said unzipped to find all MY cards and the gas receipt intact. Perfect condition. But something was missing. My future. My degree to graduate. My food for tomorrow. My house for today. All gone, because my mom’s card wasn’t there.
I do not know why none of us freaked out. But my family began to embody Matthew 6:34 “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” We called the gas station. They said they got nothing. I called save on foods. They got nothing. I texted some of the pastors. They didn’t see anything. By now, it was 11 PM.
Matthew 6:34 “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”
Woke up to a brand new day. My mom told me to phone up the gas station again, just in case. I called. “Hi! Do you happen to have an MBNA credit card? I might have left it somewhere around the second station when facing boundary road.” “What’s the name on it?” “Rachel Pedernal.” “We have it. We have your future, your degree, your food and your house.” Wooow praise God!
My mom and I got back into that 2009 yaris sedan and as I drove, my mom started praising God. “Che! God is with you! You know, yesterday I completely forgot that I booked the car for repairs. If you didn’t remind me, I would have let you take the car. And Che, you know that when I drove the car, one of the mechanics pointed out that the back tire was flat. Imagine Che! If I had booked the repair for today or if you didn’t remind me? Imagine if you drove with that car on the highway? You could have gotten into an accident! God is with you and He is protecting your life.”
So what are the lessons God taught me? There’s no need to worry! God takes care of His children. Despite all the mistakes and mishaps you could have caused, whether you dropped a card, reluctantly got into a car that’s celebrating its 11th birthday, almost made your life come to an early end or make your entire family broke, God is able to make all things work together for good to those what love Him and are called according to His purpose. So don’t worry! Trust Him! And why not invite Him to be the author of your life?
Every now and then my EIGHTY DOLLAR razer mouse just stops working for a few unexplained seconds. It's brand new. How come the support team can't fix it?
