Oh Let Me Go

Let me go and spend my last drop of life and strength in some corner darkness calls home.

Let me sell ease and comfort in exchange for pain and toil, and sweat, and sacrifice.

Let me forsake the insanity of security for the audacity of a miracle-studded existence.

Let me weep. And let my tears water your dreams... 

Let me.

Journal 3: These Strange Fetters

March 18, 18:52

...So like yours and mine, but not.

Don't I owe them something? These beautiful people with dark eyes, that look like they could be my cousins? These lives lived out in thatched huts, or wooden shacks on stilts 10 feet up?

These who live with spirit charms over their doors to keep the devils from wreaking havoc on their lives... (Only deep down he really doesn't care about woven straw, just wants them to live with fear as the default?)

These who planted their fields this year, only to have rain wash away their hopes. These starving for more than rice...
Starving for love?

Don't I owe them something?
Don't I?

I who can pray real prayers to the real Power in the shadow of the tree where the second-most-powerful evil spirit in the province lives...
I who understand, by grace, the glory of trust.

I do owe.
I do.

the (in)famous tree (where God is still stronger)

church

friends beloved

the guy with the 5D

Journal 2

3/17/12 0520
But of course I want to be a world-changer. Of course I'm ready to see selfish hearts warmed and broken by sympathy and love...

But if I'm ever to take part in such a revolution, my own life must be controlled by sympathy and love - exclusively.

My, but how selfish is the human heart! How eager to move from the difficult to the easy... How bravely we talk, how sheepishly we work.

Mist springs up from the ground and it's morning again... And I think of beautiful people stirring in their huts. And I think of hunger, and suffering, and hard work. And I think of the "house" that was pointed out to me yesterday... where children are exploited.

And I realize, only the blind can be selfish.
But I am still far too selfish!

So, I must be blind.

We must be blind.
Oh God, open our eyes.

Cambodia

The blog still sits silent. And what day is this?

Blame it half on sketchy internet, (usually down when I'm ready to roll) and half on photos and stories coming so fast I can scarce get my pictures dumped before the next thing calls. 

I'm resorting to something new. I'll just journal here real time, and post in as-I-can time. I conceive that will be better than nothing in the end...

March 15

Sometime ask me about the meal extracted directly from the jungle, prepared by hands that loved...

And dirty feet. And taming jungle with Acts 2 in my ears... And a wild (5 hour) taxi ride across the country. Ask me sometime...

March 16, 14:39

Mango and Sticky Rice in the works. (yes!!)

Have a deeper sense of the glory of being climbed as Hs own...

Got it while sitting barefoot and cross legged, listening while the inhabitants of the third Pnong hut in a row insist to Cara that I must be one of them. Or at very least, my grandfather must be Pnong...

Well, no. But I couldn't love them more if I were.

A Heart for This Word

I've never had so much fun memorizing.

At dawn's first light, over sink full of dishes, all breathless on the treadmill...
We're hooked.
Oh, we're feeling our limitations too... but there's no turning back.

But really, it's not five verses a day we're hooked on. Or three.
It's the constant preoccupation with the Word.
Truth be told, we're all over the place. Some are straining their limits to the breaking point, and are still a bit behind. Likely some of you are too. I've just got one word for you:

Whatever you do, don't stop.

In this quest, there is only one reason for regret:
Losing a golden opportunity to grow.

In the end the most blessed will be the ones who could barely manage 2 verses a day at the start, but who stuck with it anyway. Why, I personally know a girl whose mind became so thirsty for the Word (through relentless memorization) that she could finally nail down a chapter a day.

Try God.

If this were really about counting verses like dollars in the bank, we should never have started.
We need more than minds full of the Word.
Let this be a heart project.

Then we're all winners.



P.s. I've promised the audio of the book of Acts to whoever needed it-- Now easier than ever. Right click this link and click "download linked file" or "save link as." You get the whole thing. :)

http://www.fileden.com/files/2011/9/25/3200701/Book%20of%20Acts%20-%20Faith%20Comes%20by%20Hearing.zip

I Can't!

To the contrary,
yes you can.
I know you can.

Did you expect to get this without trying really hard? (this, for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about.)
We don't come by anything valuable without effort.

But we've learned a thing or two that makes it a bit easier... You probably have too, and I'd love to hear about it. (We're here to help each other, right?) So here are a few things that help me tremendously. (translation, habits without which it becomes impossible for me to memorize more than a phrase or two.)

1. Don't panic.
If you're working on verse 5 or 6, you're fine! The schedule is a guide. And some people will find it more effective to memorize tortoise style, rather than hare style (no, not hair.) with a bunch of review. 

2. Engage multiple senses
Hear, see, speak out loud. Hear, see, speak out loud. Speak, hear, read. Hear your own speaking, while reading. Hear someone else reading, while speaking. The more different ways, the more neuropathways. The more pathways, the better.

3. Engage multiple systems
Think, speak, move! Muscle memory is sometimes easier to come by than abstract memory. I attach hand motions to abstract concepts to make them concrete. Then the gesture can actually remind you of the word... So, for words like "former...before...after...many days hence" I picture time as moving from left to right, and gesture accordingly. Other words like "seen...speaking," "spoken...beheld...looked," "taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight." are even easier. Invent your own sign language. :) Just move your hands.
Lists, same thing. Jerusalem is always on my left, Judea next, (all Judea-- gesture the "all" too) Samaria off to the right a bit, and the uttermost part of the earth is... far flung. :)
Oh, and one more thing: Don't sit down. Seriously.

3. I repeat: Listen.
Can't stress this enough. The Bible we listen to is free. So free, in fact, if any of you have not already procured it, I will email the first 3 chapters to you right this minute. Seriously. [then the next three, then the next three] Please(!!!) drop me an email... [seannebblett[at]gmail.com]
Even if you're not an auditory learner, I promise you everything you hear (and everything you will ever hear) is stored in your brain forever. If you've listened to a chapter 20 times before it's time to memorize it, you'll find most of it recognizable. (Translation, start listening to Acts 2 a couple times a day. by the time you get there you'll be glad you did.)

As a bonus, the mind is particularly adept at capturing conversations through the ear... And Acts is full of conversations. Have you noticed it's easier to remember what the characters are actually saying that what is said about them?

4. Memorize out loud. (This is why it's handy to have more than one person doing it in your house. :))

Ok. What have I missed?

p.s. If any of you are still having trouble with the calendar, revisit the original post and use the links I added specifically for Google Calendar.

Triumph on Day 1

Did you catch what I caught?

Thirteen words into the book of Acts, and I'm already seized by the tenor of triumph. 

That one word, "began." 

The whole (previous) Gospel full... 

Luke says it was just the beginning.

Just the start.

That's really, really good news.

"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour..." 2 Cor 2:14, 15a

It's not too late to join us! :) Check out the previous post for all the details. This is day 1.
Day 300, here we come!

Acts: The Revolution... Starts on Sunday.

Winter blurs into spring; projects blur into each other. And blogs sometimes fall silent while we trace the trail assigned us. (Texas and Minnesota being the destinations in the last 7 days.)

But always there are those moments in between...when we remember what's really important.

Seattle skyline as seen from the hotel that will be hosting GYC.

Into the midst of our overflowing life, Tasha brought back from the most recent trip an idea destined to radically change our summer... Exactly how it was born, I know not. But a friend (and fellow GYC ECOM member) from Canada had something to do with it, and now the 5 of us are getting geared up for a challenge. :)

In the simplest terms,

The book of Acts:

28 chapters

1,007 verses

24,308 words

in 300 days.

And not just because GYC 2012 is going to be all about the book of Acts.

Because we want to enter in to the life of Acts.

Since after all, the book is still being written.

So here's the big question: 

You want to join us?

Yes, you.

Consider it an investment in your mind. An investment in your spiritual life...

Three verses a day isn't really that many, but only the absolutely determined will actually pull it off. And it will take more than 10 minutes a day. But what if it changed your life forever?

You don't think you can. 

I know you can. You should. And we'd love to cheer you on. (and hear you cheer for us!) :)

So here's the plan: 

1: Subscribe to our memorization and review schedules with any calendar application (iCal, iPhone/pad/pod, Android, Google Calendar, Outlook, etc) using the subscription links below.

OR:

Download and import these two .ics files (calendar will be static however, and won't update if we change or adjust anything) (click the link, and on the page right click file and select "download")

2: Just a suggestion... Get yourself an audio bible so you can listen at least an hour a day... to the chapter you're working on, plus ahead and behind.

3: Let us know you're with us!

GYC, here we come. :)

p.s. If you can't keep up the pace, or if you're reading this post late and we've already started, no worries! Take it at your own pace, or jump in in the middle... So what if you only have half the book memorized by December! You'll never be sorry. 

p.p.s. Hint #1:
You'll notice the memorization assignments fluctuate between 2 verses and 5. Three verses a day is the average. The daily dose is split by logical thought breaks, not by number of verses. But no worries, until the second half of Acts, 30% of the days have no new memorization assignments at all. They are just for just review. So if you can't seem to grasp 5 new verses in a day, do three. There are review days coming. Just check the schedule to make sure you're roughly on track. :)
Hint #2:
If you're jumping in in the middle, or you get way behind, skip a chapter and get back on schedule. (or ahead) Nobody said you couldn't come back to something. Your morale will stay higher if you don't feel like you're always trying to catch up. :)

______________________________________________

Subscribe to our memorization schedule here: (iCal)

webcal://p08-calendarws.icloud.com/ca/subscribe/1/cS21hHbOrOSRPcrfC_vHp4S3zfxv2eraV8XHi_Y611coj2Kk-d1VkgfOuDCZFzE5HgkyjHBVp7wNB7fCfTP1ZbgAOpQkPQmRIol2o1zJvn4

And to the review schedule here: (iCal) (Yes, you will want both.)

webcal://p08-calendarws.icloud.com/ca/subscribe/1/m5O5AqFpbyrgRnIlMho_YblamjH87rWrjeij1jiE0NOsWjypR4DHbBUntICR19xWSBiqT4hCdE8_CK-FKCq7E_dDTDu-MmoNWGAyNKO9ATY

Or subscribe with Google Calendar:
Memorization: https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/8ko4ui9l5gjl6l825bencd20q0%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Review: https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/h0cet12jp99d2kufm7n97s615c%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

Or check out the Acts: Memorization tab on either thenebblettfamily.com or seannebblett.com

Go get yourself an audio bible from a place like this.

Or, listen to it streamed on demand, here.

Or, download an audiobible app for your iDevice here.

Or your Android. here.