Overcoming Homeostasis through Adaptation.

here's one of my favorite xanga entries -- from December 11, 2006.

so, i wrote this down lonnnnng time ago and ive been meaning to post it but hadnt gotten around to it, so.. here it is!

and okay. i do admit that this is one of the nerdiest xanga post titles ever, but .. bear with the biological terminology. i swear it will make some sense.

HOMEOSTASIS - the body's tendency to maintain a stable, constant condition

homeostasis is basically what keeps our bodies functioning properly. it's what keeps our blood from boiling over when a fever attacks. it's what takes away the drowsiness of the night as we study for midterms and finals. it's even what makes the extreme urge to poo temporarily disappear when there is no toilet to be found.

however, homeostasis is one of my worst enemies. you might be thinking, "what in the world is joan talking about! we probably would have died and fallen apart with every bacterial infection, every measly paper cut, knee scrape, even a surge of great emotion." but no, i understand the absolute necessity for it in the physical sense, but what i speak of isbeyond the physical sense.

so many times, as Christians, we desire something greater. a stronger bond with God. our hearts and minds know and long for it, but we can't seem to pull our bodies in line with our broken hearts.

we see the solution, we want it, we strive for it, and though it may last a day, a week, maybe even a couple of months, soon, homeostasis takes its effect as it always seems to do. it makes us want to revert back to normalcy. our bodies naturally want to go back to a regular, uninterrupted life of sin.

we always hear it, "read the word. pray constantly. keep building your faith." and the list goes on. in response to it, we often respond with nods and attitudes of repentance.. or anger.. or unfortunately, indifference.

it sounds simple enough: read, pray, believe... but why is it so hard? i blame the homeostasis within each and every one of us for our forgetfulness, for our apathy, our lack of devotion. our bodies desperately want to keep sinning. we've been doing it our whole lives and nature tells us it's okay. we crave it. we take pleasure in it. not sinning just isn't as fun, so, we do it. thus, we fail God.

so this is where adaptation comes into play.
ADAPTATION- a process where organisms evolve over a period of time by natural selection, increasing long term success.

i believe that the reason why we constantly fall back into our regular lifestyles is because we try to fight homeostasis as our only enemy. what we forget is that we must first deal with adaptation. Once adaptation takes place, our old homeostasis levels elevate to new heights where we can more successfully live life for God.

we are sinners by nature and we always will be. if we try to adapt and improve on our own, we will always burn out, falling prey to homeostasis over and over again. but there is hope. jesus gives us grace. he gives us the hope of genuine adaptation. he mercifully gives us a chance to escape our vicious, corrupted cycles of homeostasis. we can overcome homeostasis through the adaptation that only God can grant when we earnestly seek him.

so instead of constantly trying to change what we do (homeostasis), we must change our hearts, our mindsets (adaptation) and soon homeostasis falls in line. and of course that sounds just as hard, if not more, but God is always there to guide... just ask for help

Jeremiah 29:10-14

This what the Lord says: 'When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.

For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

I will be found by you,' declares the Lord, 'and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,' declares the Lord, 'and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.'

Parenthood on Parenting

Mom (Sarah Braverman, Lauren Graham):

Do you ever worry so much about something bad happening to me that you stomped out my fire by accident?

Grandma (Camille Braverman):

We all try to protect our kids. It's what we do, then they grow up and we can't protect them anymore.

And you'd save yourself a lot of grief if you'd accept that fact. I mean, we can be there for them, but you can't protect them. I think it's one of the toughest things about being a parent.

Sarah Braverman to her daughter, Amber:

When you have kids, if you have kids, there's something you should know --very confusing thing that they don't tell you.

You see so much of yourself in them, you see your ironic take on the world, you see your smile, your walk, your sense of humor, whatever..

And you think they're you.

But they're not you.

And they shouldn't have all of your baggage, your fear, and your insecurity, and your life experience and that's not fair, they have their own.

New Mantra for 2011

My new year's motto for 2010 was "Nothing tastes as good as skinny." Yes, it was a great motivational tool, but after a while, things did taste better than skinny, so as you can suspect, the value of that statement faded with time.

But thank to my rimz, I have found my new and improved mantra for 2011:

"Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat."

Much more realistic, practical, and healthy.

This is the year!

Redefining Single

'Being single used to mean that nobody wanted you, now it means you're pretty sexy and you're taking your time deciding how you want your life to be and who you want to spend it with'

-Kim Cattrall on Sex and the City

Chronological Snobbery

I've been listening to a sermon series by Mark Driscoll called Peasant Princess and it is really good. I highly recommend it. I listened to part 4 (His Garden) last night and something he spoke about really resonated with me, so here it is.

He highlights 1 Kings 11:1-13, where Solomon's heart turns from God and he builds temples and high places for his wives. When we read that, because we don't know the history and context of those other religious groups, it becomes easy to think little of it.

So here's the skinny:

• The temple for Ashteroth were poles of worship - male phallic symbols where people would gather to have orgies and do all sorts of sexually deviant acts.
• He also built a temple for the god of the Moabites, Chemosh, which required regular child sacrifice (think back to Ruth).
• And more temples for the god of the Ammonites, Molech, which required child sacrifice by fire -burning your children to death.

Mind you, this was Solomon, the builder of the temple of the Lord.

• This man was richer than Bill Gates,
• Smarter than Albert Einstein,
• More spiritually influential than the pope,
• More politically powerful than the president,
• And he had a harem that makes Hugh Hefner's look junior varsity.

Now we may read that and think, those people were disgusting, horrible! But be very careful of chronological snobbery, as C.S. Lewis calls it. Statistically, we slaughter far more children than Molech and Chemosh EVER did. They called it worship, we call it "choice."

We don't have the moral high ground. We slaughtered far more children in the worship of sex than they ever did. If you walk away from God, you are capable of anything, even the murder of your own child.

After marrying his 300 non-believing wives, his heart turned from God and look at the sins he was capable of.

Carry yourself with fear and sobriety. We may look at disgustedly at Solomon's 1000-woman harem, but lust is a matter of the heart. You could have a harem on your computer or stored away in your mind. Are you that much better?

We (I) must be very careful. Chronological snobbery and moral high grounds are very easy and dangerous ways to give yourself a false sense of righteousness. We must always look deeper to understand the fullness of the Word. It can be painfully sobering.

1,2,3,4 I declare thumb war

1. I am sooo jetlaggeddd

2. I just bought a suit for interviews -yay

3. Why is it so cold in California already!

4. It goes without saying - I miss the kids at House of Sarang.

5,6,7,8 try to keep your thumb straight.