Went to the dentist's office this morning at 9:40 for a routine cleaning and checkup. After taking a look at the xrays taken in the beginning of the appointment, my dentist informed me of a large and dangerous cavity on "tooth 14". He said that if I didn't get it dealt with soon, I might need a root canal...

I tried to schedule an appointment in the near future on the way out, but they informed me that the only available time in the near future was the morning of the 17th, which doesn't work for me because we're having a fellowship snow trip on that day.

As I was about to despair, she told me that one other option I had was to wait and try to squeeze the appointment in today. I opted for that, and luckily the dentist was able to see me in about 10 minutes.

I received fillings in two teeth, and took many photographs of the whole thing (just as I did when I got my wisdom teeth pulled).

I guess I need to work on my flossing.

During the "operation", the dentist told me that the cavity had reached the nerve already, but only slightly. He said he would try to apply medicine and then the filling, and then hope my body took care of the rest. The lack of certainty in his words did a great job reassuring me.

In the evening my mother, brother and I went on a walk, and I brought along my 70-300 IS telephoto lens. I'm definitely loving the lens so far, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it even more when I can use it on the streets of Berkeley in a week or two.

Devotion time notes:

Romans 8

There is no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus. We are not innocent and sinless, for we are still guilty of sin, but we are not condemned for our sins, because the blood of Jesus has covered our sins and allows us to satisfy the righteous requirements of the law in the eyes of God.

The law was powerless to accomplish our justification because of our sinful nature, which fell infinitely short of God's law. Thus, we needed the perfect blood of Jesus in order to be justified before God. No matter how hard we try, our sinful nature prevents us from obeying the law to the extent that we are justified as much as Christ's blood justifies.

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.
Romans 8:3

Christ's death was his purpose, and he was sent for no other. Jesus was not simply a good moral teacher who ended up being crucified on a cross, but was instead the sin offering of all mankind. His purpose was to accomplish for us what we could not accomplish, and to do for us that which the law could not. The baby born in a manger two thousand years ago was God's greatest demonstration of love for us, and the perfect solution that every person needs.

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
Romans 8:5

We can live in accordance with the Spirit by seeking after God's will. Though justified before God, Christians are still very susceptible to natural desires produced by the fallen state of man.

If we live as slaves to sin, we are spiritually dead and cannot please God. However, by faith and obedience to Christ, though our body is dead to sin, we have living spirits that can please God through righteousness.

To what or whom do we owe our allegiance? We do not owe this sinful world anything, and it has brought death upon us, yet there exists a desire to live as a slave to it. We owe Christ everything for redeeming us with his life, yet it's common for man to ignore or reject him.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18

Jim Elliot's life and death is a good demonstration of the truth of this verse. In laying down his life, Jim made the greatest and most reasonable trade a man can make: his life for God's glory!

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
Romans 8:26-27

If God has already given us what we needed most, why should we think that he would deprive us of any good thing? The problem here is that what we consider "good things" often do not match the good things God desires to give us. While the worldly idea of "good things" involves things like money, possessions, fame, and power, God's ideas of good things can be found in the fruits of the spirit. How ready are we to choose love over wealth, patience over power, self-control over self-glorification?

Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.