Friday, October 26, 2012

PuPa 2012

So we finally made our annual trek to the Pumpkin Patch on Sunday. It was easier this time, with our youngest now being two - everybody could walk on their own! The kids loved it, and we loved getting it done (yes, we are party poopers when it comes to the pumpkin patch, but it's such a hard time of the year to squeeze it in between all the Halloween/harvest activities, ballet and skating rehearsals, and piano recitals). Because we won't be at home on Halloween due to church activities, we've decided not to carve our pumpkins (since it doesn't seem wise to leave lit pumpkins at home while we're not there LOL). I'm thinking of letting the kids paint them instead, but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough for that - maybe some stickers? I think I saw jack-o-lantern face stickers somewhere. And this is why I blog - every so often my rambling produces an idea...









Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Uh Oh

I think I might be having a moment.  You know, the kind where God lays something on your heart, but not in a huge, lightbulb type way.  Instead, you see little hints and feel little nudges, spread out over the course of several weeks or months.  Earlier in the year, I had a conversation with women who felt convicted to cover their hair.  Their choices of coverings varied (rather dramatically, I would say) and the occasions on which they covered were also very individual (some covered at church only, some covered in all public places, and some covered in public and private).  I found it all quite interesting.  The biblical backup for it found in 1 Corinthians was a revelation as well.  Despite a pretty decent religious upbringing and education, I didn't realize that hair-covering was a New Testament issue.  I know the reasons why most American Christians don't do it (mainly, that it was dealing with cultural issues specific to the Corinthian church), and they might very well be correct.  But the tiny kernel of "well, aren't we supposed to take God's Word on its face whenever possible and go with the simplest explantion" popped into my head then, and it's layed there dormant ever since.  Then, just tonight, out of the blue, the subject came up again.  I just have the feeling that God is drawing me towards trying it out.  I'm a little nervous, truth be told.  It seems so revolutionary!  I don't like to stand out at all.  I very much like to be a "background" type of person.  And this would be such a departure - would force me out of my comfort zone, for sure.  I suppose the answer, for now, is for me to pray on it and keep you posted.  In the meantime, I think I have fallen in love with this website.  Such beautiful, beautiful things.

http://www.garlandsofgrace.com/

Here's my favorite, I think, although it's hard to chose. 

Queen’s Lace

Thursday, October 4, 2012

My Civic Duty

Go Me!  I watched the first Presidential Debate last night.  Of course, after arriving home from Awana at 8:30 last night and spending an hour getting the kids (and their friends that spent the night) to bed, it wasn't super high on my list, but I think it's important to be engaged and knowledgeable.  Don't get me wrong - I don't come at it objectively.  I'm not an independent voter at this point in time.  After Romney revealed his true feelings for 47% of Americans, there is no way my conscience could ever allow me to vote for him (well, that, and reverting back to the old system of exclusively employer-based healthcare, big fat NO THANKS).  But I still think it's important to hear what everyone has to say.  Unfortunately these debates, on both sides, are more about performance and stagecraft than substance and policy.  But a girl can hope she'll get a nugget of truth here or there.  I've got a date with Paul Ryan and Joe Biden next week!

  

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Outing Myself

I have the privilege (and I do believe it's a privilege, in the sense that it's where I can do the most good) of spending more time around non-Christians than most practicing, devout Christians. Some of those non-Christians are amongst the finest people I've ever met. I almost feel as if I'm outing myself: I love liberal, non-Christian Americans. I feel a passion for them that simply must be of God's leading. When my Christian friends do things that hurt them, I hurt, both for my non-Christian friends and then for the fact that too many of my Christian brothers and sisters use their words and actions (all in the name of my Savior) to wound. I hear a lot of "hate the sin, love the sinner", but nearly every time that phrase is trotted out, the emphasis is on hating the sin and almost never on showing Christ's love to the sinner (as if they are perhaps not worthy of receiving Christ's love, through us, until they are no longer sinners - oh what folly that way of thinking is!). Amongst non-Christians, there is often a false bravado. It's like the child who's bullied at school and decides to adopt a "devil may care" attitude to mask the pain. But deep down, almost to a person, a non-Christian can tell you ways in which Christians used their words and our Jesus to wound them deeply. Would that that was never me! - I pray frequently and fervently. It is absolutely true that Christians are supposed to be set apart. Indeed, I delight in being set apart. What glorious wonder it is to be a daughter of God! But I see too many Christians who want the Christian community to have a country-club mindset - one of exclusivity and superiority. God loves those non-Christians as hard as he loves us. And not just the ones who live in exotic foreign countries who have never heard the story of our Lord. But the ones here who grew up steeped in a culture in which some type of cultural Christianity is the norm, and are, often rightly so, jaded and dismissive of His followers because of that very experience. Jesus is the Shepherd. He will leave the flock and go in search of that one lost sheep. Because that one lost sheep means as much to him as me. What right have I, or any Christian, to hurriedly try and shut the gate in the Lord's absence? As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 "But the greatest of these is love." Love should be the first step in our witness to the non-Christian and, per God's own word, it's the most powerful tool we wield. Love is what turns people to God, and, until they are in God's flock themselves, WE are the keepers and, more importantly, reflectors of that love. What an awesome responsiblity!

I love this song so much.  I hear it a LOT (I have the CD and they play it on the radio frequently) and it never fails to bring tears to my eyes.  This is just what I was trying to explain (only by someone who is way less verbiose yet increcibly more eloquent than myself).