Passover

The Passover (well really all of Exodus) is one of those sections in scripture that, when I saw myself in it, blew my mind. In the chapters leading up to 14, the Israelites are in slavery, under oppression of the new Pharoh. When things get tough, they begin to doubt God's sovereignty, His goodness and eventually their relationship with Him. In their discouragement and cruel bondage, they refused to listen to Moses when God promises to rescue them in chapter 6.

 I think we've all been there at least once...

Next come the plagues. God is working on Pharoh's hardened heart. He throws 6 natural disaster upon the land trying to get Pharoh to let up and let the Israelites out from under his rule, but alas, he refuses. The next one, the plague of the first born (chapter 11), cuts to the heart; but not before God gives special instructions: the Passover. 

Slaughter and feast on a perfect lamb, then paint some of the blood over your door so that "when I come to strike down every first born and bring judgement on all the gods of Egypt, the blood will be a sign, and I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt." - Exodus 12:12,13

Ok. Let me make sure I'm reading this right. I'm in slavery, hating life, despising God to the point of rejection, and God gives me provision anyway to prevent me from destruction?!?!?! 

I totally don't deserve that!!!!! 

That's what makes The Gospel so awesome. God loves us - a sinful, rebellious human race - so much that He sent his sinLESS, perfect son as the sacrificial lamb to die for the likes of us so that we could be rescued from ultimate destruction. 

So to celebrate the Passover, I did this. Not in legalism, but as an artful display of my gratitude for Jesus - my rescuer, my redeemer. 

How to dismantle a lightbulb

When the new CFL bulbs were advertised as a money saver, I switched every last bulb out, but kept all of the old ones because you never know when you'll need one. So when I was cleaning out the basement the other day, I came across this stash of 4 or 5 of them. 

"Woo hoo! What can I do with these?!" I thought. After perusing Pinterest, I decided to make flower vases out of them. I mean, I will have a rediculous amount of flowers soon anyway.

I started with an old bulb, a tiny nail and my (rusty) pliers. 

The first thing you need to do is pull what looks like a thumbtack out of the center. (Make sure to do this over newspaper so that you can gather all of the debris and throw it away when you're done).

Once this is out, you'll see a tiny hole. Insert your nail (or bobby pin) and wriggle it around until the black glass cracks. Tack your pliers and pull out all of the black glass. 

Wait, the bulb isn't hollow? Nope. Sure isn't. You'll want to pull out the two wires you'll see in there. (Oh - be sure that, when gripping the lightbulb with your opposite hand that you're gripping the metal part. Our tendency is to squeeze or grip firmly, and if you're holding the bulb end, off to the ER you'll go.)

Ok, here is where you exercise some patience. Stick one half of the needle nose pliers in the bulb and gently yet firmly press until you hear the inside glass break. Shake all of the guts out. 

Get a pen (or wire, whatever you have handy) and a paper towel. The bulb is actually clear with a white powder coating. Poke the paper towel into the bulb and swirl it around, wiping down the edges. 

Shake out more guts. I rinsed mine with warm water and let it air dry. On a side note, I had some foil wrapped wire from a party that I worked, so I used that as the hanger. Have fun!