encouragement for moms over at "girl talk"

Having a tough day, moms?

Discouraged that your words of reproof and correction seem to bounce off of their beautiful curly little heads?

Check out this wonderful post over at girl talk.

taking the plunge

So....we've decided to homeschool Ingrid in the fall. Kinder, we figure, is a great way to dip our feet in the water, as there is "nothing to lose" -- according the State, which of course is untrue -- there is a LOT to lose, and that's the reason we've chosen this mode of education.

Both girls are home sick today, Ingrid not as snotty as Ilsa, but enough to remain away from the germ factory that is Pre-K. So I decided to "homeschool" her -- she was thrilled. I have a few educational things here at home that I've been collecting: a bunch of Kumon workbooks, "The Big Book of Questions and Answers About Jesus" workbook that we picked up at the Ligonier conference last summer, and I printed worksheets for the letter X, as that is what she would have been doing today at school.

The thing that excites me most is that she was so engaged with the Bible lesson. She went and grabbed the book, then got HER Bible off of the shelf (it's a real one, not a kiddie Bible) and brought them to me. We sat on the couch and read out of The Word, then did the workbook together. Ilsa listend as long as her 3 year old ears could last, and then toddled off to do princess stickers. Here is Ingrid's picture of the burning bush of Exodus 2; the lesson was about the names of God -- specifically why Jesus' name means "The Lord Saves", hence the Exodus 2 reading. The brown blobs above "I AM" are Moses' sandals :) The model for the bush is our pokey Catsclaw Acacia in the front yard...it is tall and pokey and brown and icky.

We were done in 1 hour! And she did GREAT! I could have done more, but I could see she was dragging, and Ilsa needed attention, as well.

I'm excited. I have a smile on my face. I am re-energized about her education!

voting like you aren't voting

This election cycle has left me underwhelmed, frustrated and unexcited about any presidential candidate. And I'm NOT an apathetic voter. I have a BA in political science from one of the largest Pac-10 schools. I was the only female member of College Republicans the year I joined. I worked in a congressional office for a quarter. I am not tooting my own horn...just know that I'm an involved voter. I study the issues, read the voter's guide, go to candidates' websites, read the opposition opinions. I really do care. I think it is very important to vote my values! The Lord told the early Christians to be the best citizens in Rome, and that included voting because it was the right thing to do. However...

Why has this election left me cold? Why have I almost been beligerent in my frustration? My focus was off. I believed that the right candidates could save America. I've been mulling these thoughts for over a year now, and it is only recently that I finally am able to articulate it in a somewhat coherent manner. I'm frustrated because I have heard well-meaning Christians say that if we receive a candidate of a certain party, the Lord has blessed us as a nation; and conversely, if we get the candidate that we didn't vote for, it is clear that the Lord is not blessing us. What about non-democratic nations -- are blessings upon their civic life dependent upon the moral fiber of their leadership? What about Christians in China? What about Christians in Africa who are constantly persecuted and martyred by their governments? What about North Korea, Pakistan, on and on and on...

Ultimately, it comes down to this: The Lord sets kings up and deposes them. See Daniel 2:20 - 23. Don't get me wrong, we are to be involved in our world, not to withdraw. We are to prayerfully vote (not blindly check any old box), but the Lord takes it from there. Further, we are not to become overly despondent, nor are we to be overly jubilant about the election outcome.

Need Biblical proof for this assertion? Click to read this enlightening and balanced article on the subject by John Piper. Here is a paragraph from the article that outlines a bit of his thought process:

...We deal with the system. We deal with the news. We deal with the candidates. We deal with the issues. But we deal with it all as if not dealing with it. It does not have our fullest attention. It is not the great thing in our lives. Christ is. And Christ will be ruling over his people with perfect supremacy no matter who is elected and no matter what government stands or falls. So we vote as though not voting.

Agree? Disagree? PLEASE -- I would love to hear from you. Provide me reasons for either position.

By the way -- I mailed in my ballot last Tuesday morning, happy to live in a country that allows me to vote at all, and praying for my candidate to win.

10 things for which I am thankful

I just found out there I'm not the only one who does a "10 things thankful" list! There's actually a site that has a whole section devoted to 10 things to be thankful about lists, on tuesdays, called "10 things tuesdays". Here's link:

1. "An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:4-5)
2. good news from the "tax man"
3. a working coffeemaker
4. The new Costco environmentally friendly laundry detergent that smells like a field of lavender in bloom, rippling in the wind...
5. mail-in balloting
6. band-aids as cheap entertainment
7. mouse traps
8. our library lets us check out 25 books at a time
9. "5" gum -- the pink kind
10. honeycrisp apple time!

james 3:10

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
James 3:10

Pastor Andy, thank you for the admonishment.

sola scriptura

Sola Scriptura -- scripture alone, the Bible is sufficient...

Check out this great blog article over on one of my favorite websites, Camp on This (Steve Camp -- yep, the singer/songwriter...)

CAMPONTHIS: TREASURING THE TREASURE OF GOD'S WORD


Here are the Bible verses with which Camp leads his article:

The Scriptures should be our joy: Psalm 1:2 and Psalm 119.
God gives His Spirit through His Word: Galatians 3:2 and Romans 8:5.
The word of God gives hope: Romans 15:4 and Psalm 78:5, 7.
The word of God makes us free: Psalm 119:45 and John 8:32
The Word of God makes us wise: Psalm 19:7-8 and 119:98.
Wisdom brings joy: Proverbs 3:13.
The Word of God gives assurance: 1 John 5:13
The Word of God overcomes the evil one: Ephesians 6:17
The Word of God revives us: Psalm 19:7.
The Word of God is our life: Deuteronomy 32:46-47
Our physical life depends upon God's word:
He created us by His Word: Psalm 33:6 and Hebrews 11:3
He keeps us in existence by His Word: Hebrews 1:3
Our spiritual life depends upon God's Word:
We are born again by God's Word: James 1:18 and 1 Peter 1:23
We go on living spiritually by God's Word: Matthew 4:4
The Word of God causes faith: Romans 10:17 and John 20:31.

reflections on the ligonier fall conference

Some of you know that Chad and I had the distinct privilege of attending the Ligonier Fall Conference last weekend up in Scottsdale, AZ (near here, Almost Mexico, AZ). We heard R. C. Sproul, John MacArthur and Ligon Duncon speak to "Hard Questions Christians Face". There's no way I would ever comment on everything discussed (besides no one would want to read my post, if anyone does!!).

But what I did take away from the conference:
God is Sovereign. Completely. Wholly. To his own glory. Soli Deo GLORIA!

Psalm 115:3
Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.

Daniel 4:34 - 35
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Amos 3:6
“Is a trumpet blown in a city,and the people are not afraid? Does
disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?

Christians! Don't try to "defend" your belief that God is sovereign! What I mean is this: we all have, from time to time, certain misconceptions about evil in the world, the bad stuff that happens whether natural calamity (disasters, famine, disease...), personal evil (sin of the heart that we all possess), supernatural (demonic) or the existence of hell because...

GOD EXISTS!!! He is the true and only living God! He is absolutely over everything, and will consummate all things -- that means when the time comes, evil WILL be eradicated. But for now, all of history is in line with his purposes, whether we understand it or not.

He is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY and can not look upon evil or do evil. This is the part I'm still struggling with (not because of unbelief, but because I don't get the subtle difference of these two concepts): God WILLS evil to exist, he ALLOWS it and DESIGNED it into the universe WITHOUT being RESPONSIBLE for it. In other words, God wills evil to exist but he did not create it.

Romans 3:5
But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of
God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I
speak in a human way.)

Romans 9:22-23
What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known
his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for
destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of
mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory...

BECAUSE....

Romans 5:8
...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.

Please comment if you wish. I'd love to hear feedback.

tony

I guess it was just a matter of time...we have finally (after a whole year of living in Almost Mexico) seen our first tarantula. My friend Molly appropriately named him Tony. Personifying him actually really helped alleviate my very real arachnaphobic fears.

Of course, the first thing I did after getting inside was hit the web (pun intended). I learned a ton about God's amazing creation, the tarantula. Did you know that females can live up to 20 years in the wild? Males mature at between 5 and 7 years; they seek out a "lady friend" at maturity, do their thing, and then crawl off and die. I found that kind of sad. All of that growin' up for one big moment. Females reproduce multiple times. Males are also very fragile. Often they will tear themselves apart just trying to attack prey, literally fighting to the death.

I also learned that tarantulas are GREAT to have in a desert yard as they eat scorpions, baby mice and rats, crickets (which attract scorpions being their main food source) and more "bad bugs". They are very, very docile...people keep them as pets (NOT ME!). If you don't bother them, they will not bother you. But man are they big, hairy and crunchy. Their venom is no worse than a bee sting, and will only be slightly sore after a bite; however, they have very irritating hairs which will shed when they are stressed, and can cause serious skin irritation, and you really don't want to inhale them into your nasal passage, where they could become a serious problem.

Sooooo, even though I will probably never lose my fear of spiders, I now really do now appreciate the wonderous creature, the tarantula. Chad's mom called me with this encouraging Bible verse this morning (...taken out of context! I'm pretty sure Christ was talking about Satan and his minions and spiritual harm, but hey, it was comforting to hear it anyway...):

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions
and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm
you.
Luke 10:19