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I was asked to share my testimony at church this morning...

2012-01-29T07:55:00.001-08:00

I remember as a teenager being asked toshare my testimony and thinking that I wished my testimony were more“interesting.”

I grew up in a Christian home where myparents not only read the Bible, but believed and lived it daily. Icame to know Christ at a very young age. I attended Christian schoolsfrom kindergarten all the way through college. People talk abouttheir rebellious teenage years and college party days; mine werefilled with mission trips, studying God's word, and preparing for alifetime of serving Him.

I didn't realize what a blessing mytestimony was. I didn't think my story was very “interesting.”Then again, I thought my story was about me.

You see, God didn't save me from a lifeof drugs and alcohol, or a broken home, or the circumstances thatsurrounded me. When God saved me, He saved me from what was rooteddeep within – and that was sin. And it didn't matter what my storywas before, because from the moment I was saved, God gave me a newstory with a different ending. My story isn't about me. My LIFE isn'tabout me.

So what I want to share with you todayis that this, the Bible, is my story. It tells everything about me,from who I was, to who I am, to where my eternity lies. It outlinesthe struggles I will face on earth and how I am to respond to them.This is what scripture says,

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because

you know that the testing of yourfaith develops perseverance.” - James 1:2-3

As some of you know, this last year wasone of the most difficult I have been through. We had a lot ofchange, some personal decisions that were made, and I spent thebetter part of the year working toward a goal that, in the end,didn't yield the results I expected. It was a hard year. Butsomething happened in the midst of it all – God used the trials ofthis year to reveal some of the sin that had hold of my heart. Andthrough the trials, He chiseled away at that sin until it no longerhad hold of me. As a result, I look more like Him today than I did ayear ago, and THAT I consider pure joy and worth every one of thosetrials!

Mine is a story of faithfulness, notbecause I have been faithful, but because He has taken my story andreplaced it with one of HIS faithfulness. I have seen Hisfaithfulness in my life, I have seen it this year, and I have seen itin the story He gave me (the Bible).

I used to wish my story were more“interesting.” But last night my grandmother passed away and as Ireflected on her life, I praise God for the faithfulness He hasprovided my family for generations – Grandparents who loved andserved Him, who taught their children to love and serve Him, whotaught me to love and serve Him. I pray that I am faithful to teachmy daughter to love and serve God as well. God, who is faithful to transform me from the inside out, to chisel away at the sin,revealing a heart that looks like His.

The Hunger Games

2011-12-20T14:14:00.001-08:00

The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxset by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read The Hunger Games Trilogy on my Kindle this weekend and tore through all 3 books in less than 48 hours. They were amazing! The story line is captivating and Suzanne Collins manages to hold my attention throughout the books, even as the plot and storyline change with each new book. While the books are definitely violent and even gory, they are surprisingly clean and free of vulgar language, which I appreciate.

I don't know exactly which genre to put these books into, but I'd put them somewhere between sci-fi and war/action, with quite a bit of coming of age thrown in. Whatever the genre, I definitely recommend them.

View all my reviews

The Children and the Ants

2010-05-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

I've had a fable floating around in my head for a while, so I figured I'd write it down. =D

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The Children and the Ants

In the corner of the school yard, some children were playing with ants. Some of the children were following the ants that left the anthill, stepping on them as they went out in search of food. A couple of the children saved stray ants by picking them up and playing with them. When the frightened ants bit them, however, the children squished the offenders and went off to save some more ants. The majority of the boys found great pleasure in stomping on the anthills and watching the ants scatter as their homes were destroyed. They would rebuild the hill overnight and the boys would have new targets for their capricious enthusiasm. There was one little boy set apart from the other children. He saw the anthills being destroyed by the other boys and had compassion on the ants. He tried to save as many of them as he could, but the disoriented ants hurried away from his grasp as fast as their tiny legs would carry them. The ants he did save were carried across the school yard to a corner of safety. Along the way they fought to get free from his hold, scurrying across his skin, biting him repeatedly. When he released them, hands stinging with pain, the ants began their trek back across the yard to help rebuild the hill.

The children returned home as the day drew to a close, and recounted their experiences to mostly disinterested parents. Some of the children didn't even mention the ants at recess, because they'd already forgotten about them. A few of the children complained about the ant bites they'd received and sought sympathy. Two of the boys asked their fathers for magnifying glasses. One claimed to want to get a better look at the ants, while the other asked how to use the glass to set the ants on fire. And one little boy asked his father for an ant farm, because the ants that had bitten him, that had been so eager to get away from him and back to the destruction that awaited them, desperately needed a new home.

Back in the school yard, the children continued to torment the ants, intentionally or under the guise of rescue. The girls still squished the ants that bit them, and two of the boys were armed with new magnifying glasses. The restructured anthills were still being trampled, and the ants were still scattering in the wake of destruction. Each day, though, one container of ants was saved from the torment of all they'd ever known and taken to live in a new ant farm, far from the reach of stomping feet. Though the boy desired to save all of the ants, they did not come freely to him. They bit him when he reached out, yet he suffered to rescue them, because his compassion for them was so strong. Each day he sought out more ants, never tiring in his work, even when it hurt, even when he was tired, even when the other children made fun of him.

How like ants we are in the hand of God! We take the abuse Satan hurls at us and cling to this anthill of a home, returning to it each time Christ rescues us from its shambles. We think we can rebuild it, when we don't even realize that it is no longer our home! When Christ removes us from the sin that entangles us, we fight against him, biting him, inflicting pain on him with our rejection. Yet he loves us and has compassion on us still, and pleads our case before the Father, seeking us out and saving us. And we, the little ants we are, puff out our chests and make demands on the one who saves us! We demand that he rebuild our broken anthills. We demand that he leave us to what we know. When he doesn't give in to our demands, we lash out and bite him. In his love, he holds us still, and carries us to safety, acting not out of what would cause him the least pain, but what would be in our best interests.

Lent

2010-02-21T12:20:00.001-08:00

I have never before observed Lent, but this year I feel convicted. Not because it's Lent and I ought to sacrifice something, but because God is showing me some areas where I can improve by denying myself some of my habitual passtimes for some better ones.

SO.... I am actually observing Lent to some degree this year, and giving up my personal TV time (or Netflix / Hulu time, as the case really is) and Eliana is doing the same, though she has much less choice in the matter. =D I realized that we've fallen into a bad pattern where she watches TV and I feel free, so I hole up in another room, doing something else, in front of another computer watching TV. The TV isn't necessarily bad, but the pattern we've fallen into is.

I have so many opportunities during the day to spend time with Eliana, teaching her through activities and play, talking with her as we rise in the morning and walk throughout our day, as it were. So that's what we're doing instead of watching TV for a few weeks. And so far, it's been a really nice change. Yes, I want to know what's going on with "my" shows. But they will be there after Easter, and if they're not, well, will it really make a difference in the end? No. It is also a good chance for me to evaluate what I watch and whether those are shows I really want to spend my time following. Are they beneficial? Why do I watch them? I am looking forward to cutting out some of what I watch in the future and having more time to read. I'm also looking forward to doing things like listening to music or radio shows (like 'Says You') while I'm scrapbooking instead of watching shows while I do. So... I'm looking forward to a season of self control, of growing in my relationship with Eliana and of learning to use my time better. I die to self so very little these days, and it's something I want to practice, for my own sake, and for His glory.

On my list to read...

2010-02-20T20:35:00.000-08:00

I've actually been reading again, which has been a refreshing deviation from my recent habit of the last year or so of playing computer games on the laptop until I'm tired enough to fall asleep. On the flight to Texas Christmas day I started reading one of Leif's books because I failed to bring one of my own. It was a YA Sci-fi novel called Zoe's Tale and was actually the fourth book of a series, following a trilogy. It was interesting, and I enjoyed it. So when we returned home, I started in on the first book in the series, Old Man's War. The trilogy was not so much meant for a young adult audience, and the language of the novel reflected that. Aside from the language, the book was captivating, though, and delightfully unlike any of the other sci-fi I've read in some respects. I liked that about it. The second book, The Ghost Brigade, was pretty good, too. I probably liked the final episode of the trilogy the best. It was sort of strange reading The Last Colony, having already read Zoe's Tale, but it was still very enjoyable and shed new light on both the universe and the characters.

Originally I wasn't a big fan of John Scalzi's writing, though as I kept reading, it grew on me. Now, I'm interested in reading more of his works, including the above, The Sagan Diary, a continuation of the Old Man's War series.

Leif says he'd be happy to buy it for me for my birthday (in September), but I think buying it for HIM for his birthday in May and then reading it before I give it to him is a much better idea. =D Mwaaa haa haa. Okay, maybe I won't do that. But I do want to read it.

The Repentant Heart

2010-01-24T10:37:00.000-08:00

Just some sermon notes from today that I want to remember...

Satan is real and he is very good at his job. His job is three-fold:

1. Tempting us.
2. Lying to us.
3. Accusing us.

Satan tempts us and lies to us, and when we fall into the trap he sets and we sin, he points a finger at us and accuses us, telling us how awful we are. We are in a courtroom, and he is the prosecuting attorney, pointing out our wrongs before God, while we listen to all that we have done.

I John 2:1 - My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

When Satan accuses us before the Father, and makes his case against us, Jesus steps up and defends us before God, stating that the penalty for that sin has already been paid, and the sin forgiven. He is our defender when Satan accuses, for He is the one who paid for our sin.

When we sin, we have four choices:

1. Deny the sin.
2. Cover up the sin. (Or at least try to)
3. Let the sin weigh on us until we are crushed by guilt.
4. Repent

Repentance is confessing the sin and turning away from it and turning back to God. It is a change of heart, a change of focus, and a change of path. It is resetting the compass so it points again to God, and following in the way we should go, admitting that we were headed in the wrong direction before. (That part wasn't actually in the sermon, but a picture that just popped into my head.)

When we repent, we must confess the sin before God, but we may also need to confess the sin to the person we sinned against, in order to restore the relationship. This is the more humbling act, but is part of turning back to God and returning to the right path.

When we do repent, we are blessed with several benefits:

1. We receive mercy instead of misery.

Proverbs 28:13 - He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Parents ought to show their children HOW to repent, both by instructing, and by repenting themselves, asking forgiveness when they sin. When children confess and demonstrate repentance, parents ought to treat their children with the same mercy God shows us, that they will learn the beauty of God's mercy and the importance of repentance, that repentance will be sweet to them.

2. We receive forgiveness instead of slavery.

When we are riddled with guilt, we become a slave. We hold onto our sins and they control us, controlling our thoughts. We become slaves to Satan's accusations, cowering before the judge's bench, pleading guilty. When we plead guilty, we in effect waive our rights to a defender and let the prosecuting attorney win. If, however, we stand before the judge and let Christ speak for us, we are forgiven and receive freedom. How much sweeter is forgiveness in Christ!

3. We receive refreshment instead of shame.

Acts 3:19 - Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

When we accept the forgiveness that comes from Christ, our sins are wiped out and we are refreshed, knowing that He has borne our shame and we no longer have to.

I don't want to feel like this tomorrow....

2010-01-04T12:58:00.001-08:00

Listening to Skillet right now...

"I don't want to feel like this tomorrow... I don't want to live like this today..."

Green Chocolate?

2009-12-23T10:28:00.000-08:00

So my friend Jenny was asked to do a review of an environmentally responsible chocolate brand. I'm intrigued now - and there's the opportunity for free chocolate! Check out her blog (www.conscientiousconfusion.com) to see the review and enter the drawing!

Very funny, and pretty impressive!

2009-12-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

So this Italian composer wrote a gibberish song that was supposed to sound like English, or at least what foreigners think English sounds like. Truth is, though, it does sound a lot like English! I was impressed and found it highly amusing. =D

See more funny videos and Music Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Very Interesting

2009-12-15T21:39:00.000-08:00

It's long, but very interesting.

My Wish List of Books.... Griffin and Sabine

2009-11-30T07:48:00.000-08:00

Today I am ordering some books in order to take advantage of some discounts I've accrued from Borders. As I am trying to find the "perfect" book to round out my discount in the most advantageous way for me, I am remembering some books that have been on my wish list for a long time. The "must have" books that are really just fun for me.

Nick Bantock's Griffin and Sabine series.

Griffin and Sabine

Sabine's Notebook

The Golden Mean

The Gryphon

Alexandria

The Morning Star

I believe that I will get The Morning Star and The Gryphon today, since Amazon has them bargain listed for $4 and $6. It's hard to beat that. The rest will just have to wait, but feel free to buy them for me if you want!!

Synesthesia...

2009-11-29T11:15:00.000-08:00

From time to time, my thoughts return to the subject of synesthesia, and right now is one of those times. Ellie recently described a song as "the black and yellow one that dances and dances and dances..." which started me thinking again.

My mom and I have had several conversations about how we see different colors or patterns when we listen to music, and how we have colors associated with pain. It appears that Eliana does some of the same.

So yesterday I was telling Robert about the conversation with Eliana and he said he didn't quite get the color thing, as he has no color associations with things. So I went onto explain that some synesthetes "taste" certain words, or how some see different months as closer or further away. Without hesitation, Robert said, "Oh, yeah, my whole calendar is a lopsided oval." I laughed out loud. I have no idea how strong a role genetics play in synesthesia, even mild synesthesia, but there are 4 of us in 3 generations with it. =D

It also got me thinking about my calendar. I laughed at Robert and his oval calendar, and said I didn't have a spacial calendar like that. But I do... Mine is linear, with some color associations. It always starts at September and stretches out kind of at an angle from me toward the right. The months have color associations, though some are stronger than others, for sure. September is a dark, cloudy blue, July is a navy blue, June is more of a royal blue, as is January. December is a light, almost glittery, blue. March is kelly green, while November is brown, and October is orange.

Certain numbers have color associations for me, too. 1 is yellow, 2 is green, 3 is red, 5 is blue, 6 is blue, 7 is yellow, 8 is orange, and 0 is black. 4 is purplish.

My week sort of works like my year, though not exactly. It starts on Monday and stretches out in front of me through Sunday. With the year, it's ALWAYS in front of me (no matter what month we're actually in) and September is always closest to me. I can "zoom" in to the month we're actually in, but when I think of the calendar, September is always first. With my week, whatever day we're in is automatically right in front of me (or I am in it, however you want to say it) and the others are in line with it, in front of or behind me. There is only ever one week. It's not like thinking of next week means that there are days after Sunday. Sunday is always the last one. So today (Sunday), the entire week stretches out behind me. Then tomorrow it will sort of move right back through me and the entire thing will stretch out in front again. What is in front of me is "this" week. So, for me, today is Sunday. That means that "next" Sunday will be on December 6. A new week starts tomorrow, though, which means that tomorrow the 6th becomes "this" Sunday and "next" Sunday will be the 13th. I have thought of it this way for as long as I can remember, but never realized until today why I have always had a communication break down when it comes to "this" Sunday and "next" Sunday (or whatever day). Now I get it. Huh.

So... there you have it. I don't know exactly what you have, other than more evidence that I'm weird, but there you have it.

Obedience

2009-10-16T20:59:00.001-07:00

Obedience.... Sometimes it means doing what you need to do, even when you don't feel like it.

30

2009-09-26T19:53:00.001-07:00

I turned 30 this week.

It was a milestone.

And if this week is any indication, 30 is going to be a great year!

My actual birthday was pretty low-key. Ellie and I spent the day at home. She was great, played nicely, didn't whine. My mom called at 7:35am, like she does every year, my dad called, my best friend Charlotte called, and my brother called, all to wish me a happy birthday! When Leif came home he made me delicious steak for dinner. It was great! Tuesday she was at a friend's house from 9-3, so I hit the town and did some shopping! It was wonderful to have a relaxing day in town! Wednesday was busy, but great! I got everything done that I needed to in a timely manner, and even had time to take Ellie to the park! Thursday I had a brunch at my house, and then yesterday was, perhaps, the greatest day of the week... It started with Bible Study at 6. I love my morning Bible Study!! Then Ellie and I went for a walk (well, I walked, she rode her bike) around the lake and to the park. We came home and had lunch and then Erika and a babysitter showed up so we could leave Ellie and Zoe with the sitter and Erika and I went scrapbooking at Kristii's! We got home around 5, and at 6 Taylor and Leif threw me a birthday party!

Now, I haven't had a birthday party since, well, since I was in college, I think. Not since my 18th! So this was pretty special... To top it off, I had great friends there, chocolate fondue and cheesecake for dinner (I love it when dinner smells like chocolate!), and I even got gifts! Who knew you still got gifts at a birthday party when you were 30?? I certainly didn't. I got a beautiful watch from my friend Tracee, an amazing beaded garland from Cheryl, and an hour massage gift certificate from Cathy! Sweet!

Today began with my Aerial Dance class. I love it! I am always just plain giddy by the end of class. I didn't think I would get to go today since we have road-trip plans, but I did! Pleasant surprise that was! So after class we hit the road and now I'm enjoying some peace and quiet in a hotel room in Red Lodge while Ellie and Leif enjoy the pool. Tomorrow we head up the Beartooth highway to the pass! It should be beautiful this time of year, and I'm looking forward to it!

So there you have it... my first week of 30. Pretty crazy great, right?

We The Living

2009-07-26T07:28:00.001-07:00

As I'm sure I have mentioned before, I am a fan of Ayn Rand's works. I find her writing fascinating and thought provoking; it strengthens my worldview to read hers and observe the contrast between them, and makes me consider where mine might be weak when I find myself agreeing with her, even in the slightest. In most of her works I appreciate her writing style so much, and she manages to capture my attention for hundreds of pages, which fly by almost without my notice.

I first read Atlas Shrugged as a challenge to myself in recognizing the worldview of an author. Looking back, I find it interesting that I used her masterpiece as the subject for my experiment. Really, I just picked something random that I had never read before. I'd have to say, though, that reading Atlas Shrugged has changed the way I see some things, based both on the book and my experiment. It was an eye opening experience and I am glad I read it. From there I went on to read Anthem and The Fountainhead. The latter I enjoyed. The former seemed more like a retelling of the legend of Prometheus. I believe it was after reading Anthem that I felt the need to do more research on the author, as she seemed obsessed with societies that were turning to ruin and her heroes were those who would make society better through innovation and change, but were not allowed to and ostracized for their attempt. It turns out that Ayn Rand comes from Soviet Russia, and that background plays quite the role in her belief system and her philosophies. A basic summary of her philosophy of Objectivism would be "the virtue of selfishness." Her writings are full of this ideal, and it is interesting to see how clearly her villains are the altruists and her heroes the selfish. I don't remember the exact setting for Anthem, but Altas Shrugged and The Fountainhead are set outside of Russia, so it took some reading to trace the thematic roots back to the USSR.

This summer I came across a copy of We The Living at a garage sale for 25 cents. It was one of hers I hadn't read before and a cheap book, so I picked it up. I brought it with me to Texas and read it on the airplane and in the car and just finished it today. We The Living is Ayn Rand's first book, and she claimed it was the closest thing to an autobiography she would ever write. It was interesting to see how different her writing style was in the earlier days. Her chapters were choppy and broken, and paragraphs seemed to end before they were finished. While this does add something to the feel of this particular story, I'm glad it isn't a style she carried on into her later works. I enjoyed most of the story, though some of her expository sections got a little long and needlessly detailed. I found myself skimming paragraphs every so often and there were only two or three I felt the need to go back and read to understand what followed. It took some time before I felt the story pick up speed, which was a problem I remember encountering with The Fountainhead as well. As with her later works, We The Living has a protagonist who was bent on engineering. I have yet to research what that connection to Ayn Rand is, but I'm sure there must be one. I don't know that she was an engineer, but perhaps she was. Or perhaps she had an unfulfilled dream to be one. Either way, this one was like the others in that respect.

Aside from her writing style, I felt like most of this story was similar in thought and tone to her later works, at least until the end. This one differed strikingly, though, in setting. We The Living is actually set in Russia, at the beginning of the Communistic era. It gives a lot of insight into the author, and perhaps would have been a good work to start with. I have a feeling, though, that I would not have continued reading her work if I had begun with her first. I would consider most of the stories I've read by Ayn Rand to be comedies. Not because they are necessarily humorous, but because they end in triumph, in reunion, or in a marriage of sorts (though never actual marriage, because I'm fairly certain Ms. Rand was vehemently against marriage, based on her life and works), We The Living, on the contrary, is a tragedy, clothes in the apparel of a comedy. It reads like a comedy until about the last 20 pages, when the whole story unravels and the stage is littered with bodies. I was really looking for a happy ending, but when I reached the end of the book what I was handed was a funeral dirge in a major key. Honestly, it just felt wrong. Instead of the promised hope, I was handed depression and told to take it with a smile, because the heroine's life had once held potential.

If you love Ayn Rand's work and you've read several of her others already, go ahead and read We The Living, but don't expect it to be satisfying. It is far too transparent and blunt to provide the layers of thought provoking material I had become accustomed to, though it did give me a clearer picture of the author and her background. If you've been looking to read something by Rand and think that starting at the beginning is the way to go, don't. Start with her best work (Atlas Shrugged) or her most well-known work (The Fountainhead), but don't start at the beginning or I fear you'll never work your way to what is actually worth reading. View this book as a stepping stone, a blip in history that helped make her the author she eventually became.

Story Telling

2009-06-27T20:48:00.001-07:00

I've been writing lately. It's been years since I've written (6, I think, as the last things I remember writing were just after we moved here) and I have to say that I'm loving it. I am a story teller at heart (which sort of explains my need for 8 different blogs) and the written word fascinates me. So I'm enjoying writing.

Right now I have Leif reading the first couple chapters of my writing project, and I have to admit I'm a little nervous. It turns out that when I write, what comes out is that which is nearest and dearest to my heart, which is, consequently, where I am most vulnerable. But when I handed him the printed pages to read over and critique, I gave him permission to give it his all and be brutal about what would make it better.

He's always been better at the form than I have, which sort of stinks since I'm the one with the degree in English. Hrmph.

So here I sit, making my own changes, thinking of areas I'd like to expand, places more details would be helpful, etc. Mostly I'm sitting here waiting, though, because I know he's on the last page.

Book Review: Protocol Matters

2009-04-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

Protocol Matters: Cultivating Social Graces in Christian Homes and Schools by Sandra Boswell

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Protocol Matters is an excellent book on etiquette as a part of the Christian's life. It is an excellent resource for parents who want to teach their children how and why to show deference and respect to others, as well as for adults who want to learn themselves.

Protocol is not just about the stuffy "rules" of formal dining. Instead,

"Protocol training promotes the valuable character-building habits of self-control, humility, and thoughtfulness. Good training is practical, providing our children (and ourselves) with a working knowledge of how the Christian worldview applies to social actions, relationships, and culture." Protocol Matters explains how the rules of etiquette allow us to demonstrate God's love in a practical way. It also details what the rules of protocol are for different situations.

This is a great etiquette handbook covering protocol for many situations, ranging from casual to formal. It is thorough in detail, but written well enough to be accessible even to those without training in the social graces. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to improve their own social behavior, teach their children or students etiquette, or dig deeper into how etiquette is a practical application of love. I give this book 5 stars.

View all my reviews.

Galatians 3 and Romans 4

2009-04-24T04:36:00.001-07:00

This morning I am reading Galatians 3 and Romans 4.

I am mostly reading this because my Bible study book has not arrived yet. Yes, I ordered it almost a month ago. Yes, I finally received notice on April 22 that they shipped it. Media mail. It could take up to 4 weeks for it to arrive. Still. *sigh* I really thought I was doing the right thing by ordering it through LifeWay instead of through Amazon. I probably won't do that again.

So... Galatians 3. Wow. That's a pretty powerful chapter! I know that I've read it before, but here's what struck me this morning:

"Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?"

If this were a comic book, there would be a giant ***POW!!*** over my head. That's pretty much how that hit me. There are some things I've been trying to do in my own strength, that I do not have the strength to do. I have been teaching Ellie that we are weak and He is strong, so why am I not acting on that faith? Why am I trying to do it by myself? Am I so foolish?

Lord, please give me the faith to believe, to be fully persuaded (Romans 4:21) that you have the power to do what you have promised. Amen.

Still no book...

2009-04-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

I still don't have a book for Bible Study on Friday mornings. I ordered it last Thursday, and it still hasn't arrived. Sadly, Beth and I ordered our books together so her's isn't here, either! They will probably arrive while I am in TX, so I asked Leif to take her book over to her when it arrives. In the meantime, though, I still don't have a book. So I'll try to remember what we talked about today, but I don't have a way to reference it, so I'll be brief...

Today we talked about Pleasing God. We focused primarily on Paul, and his life after the transformation on the road to Damascus. This lesson struck the same nerve that has been plucked quite a few times this year for me, and I think perhaps God is teaching me something. =D

It's not about me.

That seems to be the resounding theme in my life this year. It's not about me. It's about Him and His glory. But it's not about me. It comes up in my relationships, in my Bible Studies, in my parenting, in Mary Kay... and guess what? It's (I think!) starting to sink in that this life I live is not about ME!

Now, I've "known" this for a while. But the knowledge is starting to make its way through my mind and into my actions. The knowledge is starting to affect what I do. And I am seeing myself change, which is pretty neat. A few years ago I read a book called "It's Not About Me" by Max Lucado. Can you guess what it's about? =D This is the book that planted the seed that started to grow and now, through the work of the Holy Spirit in my mind and life, is beginning to sprout leaves! If you've not read it, DO. It's an easy read, not too long, but it is packed with truth. It really has changed my life, and I don't say that about many things.

So today in Bible Study I was reminded once again that it is not about me. None of it. It is about Him and His glory. And knowing that makes me want to know more about Him and His glory. So hopefully my book will arrive soon, because studying and spending time in the Word is one of the best ways to get to know more about Him!

6am coffee

2009-04-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

What better way to start out a Friday morning than with a 6am Bible Study at a coffee shop?

Can't think of one? Me either!

I have contemplated joining this Bible Study more than once, but have always been too lazy to get up early in the morning. The last two weeks, though, I have been getting up at 5am and getting stuff done, so I guess that excuse just doesn't hold any more. =D So on Sunday I talked to Mel about joining the study and she said they were starting a new book this week. Perfect!! We are studying "Living Beyond Yourself" by Beth Moore, a study on the fruits of the Spirit. I am really excited about the study! What I am probably MOST excited about is the fact that we are doing one day of the book per week. It does mean it will take us about a year to get through the book, but it also means that (1) I will be more likely to do the study, since each "day" consists of several pages of questions and I have had trouble getting all 5 in when I've done studies like this in the past and (2) we will actually get to study more in depth on Friday mornings since we're not rushing to get through 15-20 pages of material in an hour!

Today we focused on Act 13:50 and 14:22. Good stuff to think about! We had lots of questions about why they were women of high standing (since culturally we didn't think women held positions of high standing, but maybe they were just the influential wives of ruling men), and we had good discussions about what we need to do in order to keep ourselves from being incited to persecute others.

We have a good sized group, if you ask me, with 6-7 members. I think that's great! A good sized group for discussion, and a pretty good sized group for 6am!

I'm looking forward to the material and studying with this group of women!

God's Appointed Times

2009-03-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

In Bible Study this Spring we are studying about the Jewish festivals. Last time we were doing a study of Jesus by Beth Moore and it occurred to us that we really didn't know or understand much about the festivals that Jesus was participating in throughout the New Testament. So in attempt to have a better understanding of what we are reading in scripture, we set about to study the festivals God set up for His people.

We're about halfway done with the book so far, but I put a little write up on GoodReads. Here it is...

God's Appointed Times New Edition: A Practical Guide for Understanding and Celebrating the Biblical Holidays by Barney Kasdan

My review

This has been a very good book for learning the Jewish festivals, as well as why and how they were and are celebrated. As a protestant, I did not know much about Jewish festivals, but they are the foundation of many of our own and so integral in understanding the Biblical times and customs, both in the Old Testament and the New. It is written by a Messianic Jew, which makes its message particularly applicable to protestants.

View all my reviews.

Time to SHINE!

2009-03-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

In one of the flylady emails today I read this line in a testimonial:

"If I have time to whine I have time to shine."

What a great quote!! How often do I spend time whining and worrying about a situation instead of just taking care of it? If I have time to whine about what I don't want to do, I have time to to put my best work into it. I would do well to remember that! Here is the full testimonial...

Dear FlyLady and Friends:

I always tell my kids "Don't spend more time complaining about doing something than it's going to take to do it in the first place." But then just last week I realized that I was talking the talk but not walking the walk.

So, this week I've been working very hard on walking the walk. When I find myself whining about having to do something I remind myself that I if I have time to whine I have time to shine. And I don't just mean my sink. This applies to any task that I am responsible for, whether it's a project at work or a meal at home.

I've noticed that this week I'm getting more done, and that my whine sessions are getting easier to shake off. Sometimes I DO need to vent, so I set my timer (There's that amazing timer again, what can't it help us with?) and C-R-A-B for five minutes. Unless I'm really mad, I generally feel pretty silly after about a minute or two and turn the timer off and get to the task at hand.

Thank you for all that you do.

Fluttering in Northwestern Ohio

Kelly here: Our children watch us everyday..and if you aren't walking the walk..then what are you teaching them?

What not to wear...

2009-03-02T10:22:00.001-08:00

I don't know anything about the show "What Not To Wear", but I can say that if you are a weather man, a green-screen colored tie is what NOT to wear.

More thoughts on baptism...

2009-03-02T04:46:00.000-08:00

I'm now reading through the passages that relate to baptism in Acts, since those passages relate to baptism after Christ's death, and after the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. One of the questions I had/have is... does the "baptism with fire" or the coming of the Holy Spirit replace the necessity for baptism with water in relation to forgiveness? So that's where I started this morning...

Acts 2:38 - "Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

This passage echoes an old question and brings up a new one for me: Is it the repentance or the baptism that brings about the forgiveness of sins? And does the baptism bring the Holy Spirit, or is the Holy Spirit the baptism and the water was merely symbolic because the Isrealites still needed the ceremony?

Acts 10 describes the giving of the Holy Spirit to the first gentiles and answers one of the questions above. In verse 47 it is clear that the gentiles there had been given the Holy Spirit, just as the Jews had, but that they had not been baptized with water yet. So the answer to that, at least, is that no, baptism with water is not required for the Holy Spirit to be given to someone. It doesn't say, though, that the baptism wasn't important, because those gentiles then went and were baptized with water. Was it just to fit in with the Christian community, or did it serve a greater purpose?

The best explanation I've seen yet...

2009-02-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

This is the best explanation I've seen yet for why our economy is doing what it's doing and how all the subprime mortgages ended up messing things up like they did. It's worth the watch...

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Mark 1:1-8

2009-02-18T04:53:00.000-08:00

"And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."

As a protestant, and specifically along baptist lines of theology, I was always taught and have always believed that baptism is an outward sign of an inward change. It is a public declaration that one has decided to follow Christ and live life for Him from that point on. Baptism is not necessary for salvation, though it is a spiritual act of faith. When I read the verse above, it seems unclear what John was preaching, though. Is it the baptism or the repentance that brings about the forgiveness of sins? At the time that he is baptizing, Christ has not yet died and resurrected, so why is John baptizing? What does it mean? I was always taught that it is a metaphor for Christ's death and resurrection and our death to the world and life in Him. You are dunked under the water, symbolizing death, and brought back up, symbolizing the resurrection and new life you have in Christ. But when John was doing this, Christ had not yet died and risen again. Is it prophetic symbolism? There is plenty of that in scripture, but is this part of it? Where did the whole notion of baptism come from? It turns out that I have a lot of questions.

I certainly won't be able to answer all of my own questions in a single morning, a single blog post, but I can do a little more research, particularly on the references to baptism in the book of Mark, since that's where I read today.

The second mention of baptism in the book of Mark, at least according to my handy concordance reference at the back of my Bible, comes from Christ's own mouth during the Great Commission. He says,

Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Matthew's version of the Great Commission is slightly different, though baptism is certainly part of it.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Which brings me to wonder what else Matthew has to say on the subject of baptism. It looks like the first mention of baptism is in Matthew, chapter 3 verse 11. John baptizes with water for repentance, but one will come after him who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire. More interesting to me, though, is just a few verses later where Jesus insists on being baptized by John. He says,

"Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness."

How does baptism fulfill all righteousness? Especially in Jesus? Wasn't he already righteous to begin with? And where did the custom of baptism come from? It appears to just be mentioned casually in its scriptural debut. But who came up with the idea? Is there something in the old testament where the sacrifice must be baptized or ceremonially cleansed before it can be used as an atonement for sins?

Clearly I have some more reading and researching to do.

2008-11-24T12:14:00.000-08:00

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Held a praying mantis
9. Climbed a mountain
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

So... I don't know where that leaves me for the rest of my life, but I've done over half of the things on the list. Interesting.

Waiting for His return....

2008-11-07T08:51:00.000-08:00

I read Luke 12:35-40 this morning while I was doing a Beth Moore study on Jesus. The passage is about waiting for the Master to return, and being watchful while we wait. In each study she asks a couple questions to get us thinking, and these particular questions made me think today:

1. What keeps you most distracted from awaiting Christ's return?

2. What are some very practical things you could be doing to constantly remind yourself to be scanning the skies, looking forward to His appearing?

I don't generally think about Christ's return on a daily basis. I am usually thinking about all the other things in my day. You know, the immediate things. I'm not sure that I'm living a watchful life, waiting for Christ's immanent return, in constant preparation for His coming. If my mother is coming to visit, though, I spend a great deal of time thinking about what I need to do to prepare for her coming. I need to make the guest bed, clean the guest bathroom, make sure the guest towels are clean, clear out my schedule so that I have lots of time to spend with her... It is at the forefront of my mind for a few weeks before she arrives because I am preparing for her arrival. How, then, ought I be preparing for Christ's arrival? What ought I be keeping at the forefront of my mind to work on so that it is done when His flight comes in? And how do I keep His impending return fresh in my mind so that it is not clouded out by all the other things I have to do on a day to day basis?

There are a couple practical things that I came up with that would help me keep my mind focused on Him and His return. Both are scriptural, and both, I believe, were commanded to the Isrealites before Christ walked the earth. So while they are not specific commands related to the coming of our Lord, they are good for daily reminders so I do not forget and so that I keep vigilant in my preparation for His return.

1. Scripture memory... When you have a storehouse of scripture in your mind, it is easier to meditate on it and the Lord can more readily bring it to your attention when you need to be focused on Him. There are verses about His return and His reign and what we ought to be doing to serve Him that will help us prepare for His coming.

2. Talk about it when we sit and when we rise... I have a 2 year old, and I can be talking about Jesus and His return with her. We can focus on His kingdom and what it looks like to serve Him. If His return is something I make a point to talk about and think about, I will be more likely to do it often and to prepare myself for His return so that I am ready when He arrives.

I want to be actively awaiting His return, and not found sleeping with my lamp out when He arrives.

Random Latin phrases one might find helpful...

2008-10-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure.
I can't hear you. I have a banana in my ear.

(This one is not dissimilar to my favorite German phrase... "Darf ich ein Schlaefchen in deiner Nase haben?" or... "May I take a nap in your nose?")

Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.
I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.

Braccae illae virides cum subucula rosea et tunica Caledonia-quam elenganter concinnatur!
Those green pants go so well with that pink shirt and the plaid jacket!

Si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus Latinus alacribus et fructuosis potiri potes!
If you can read this sign, you can get a good job in the fast-paced, high-paying world of Latin!

And that is your highly intellectual Latin lesson for the day, boys and girls. Alas, it seems I am out of practice in the highly intellectual realm. My apologies.

Bible Study Starts Today...

2008-09-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

... but I'm not going this week. Robert is in town, so I'm forgoing all of the "regular" activities I could get out of in order to spend the most time with him. But I'm looking forward to the start of Bible study again. I've missed it over the summer and I can't wait to get back into regular fellowship with the women from church!

This term we'll be doing a Beth Moore study on Jesus, which I'm looking forward to. We studied David last term and I enjoyed it, so I'm anticipating enjoying this one, too! If nothing else, I will enjoy having a regular routine again, as I struggle with consistency when left to my own devices.

So I'm thinking of all you women who are attending the study today! I hope to see some of the women I got to know last term and see some new faces join, too! Last I heard we had a fairly small group, so maybe a few more have signed up by now. That would be nice.

Psalm 58

2008-08-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

David is harsh on the wicked, seeking vengeance on them. He pleads with Go to destroy them, and pleads destruction with poetry.

What I find interesting is that never once did David plead for God to change their hearts, for Him to call them to Himself and change their ways. Perhaps it is the "tolerant" society of our day, but I sort of grew up thinking that "pray for your enemies" meant to pray with compassion, that God would change them, bring them to Himself, and use them for His glory. I thought that we were supposed to love those we hate, and pray for their salvation, that the mercy of God could extend to them, too.

But David doesn't. He says that these men have been wicked from birth, as though there is no chance for their reformation, that they are wicked through and through with no hope for good. And so I wonder... is this a character flaw in David, that he is so caught up in the wicked these men are doing (ruling and judging unfairly) that he simply has no mercy for them, or is it a flaw in me, that I have fallen into a thinking shaped by society, and not by scripture, that everyone can be reformed, that everyone deserves a second chance, and that wickedness should be repaid by love, not justice. Do I need to rethink my understanding of the balance between God's justice and mercy? Do I need a new perspective?

The wicked in this passage are devising injustice and meting out violence on the earth. It doesn't sound all that different from some of the leaders in our government. I haven't been praying for God to destroy them, and I don't know that I would call them "wicked". Should I?

Psalm 57

2008-08-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise.

I find it interesting that my praise comes in the form of song. So, apparently, did David's. There are other forms of praise, I am sure, but for me it is song. I think of the things God has done and I am inclined to sing them. I praise Him in the midst of sorrow and I find myself singing hymns and choruses that speak of His greatness, His faithfulness, His... Him.

I do not know why I am so inclined to commune with Him in music. I don't know why music has such an effect on me, why it touches me the way it does, even without words. But I know that when my thoughts turn to God, what He has done, and who He is, I break out in song, either inside or out.

And I think back to the hymns I learned growing up. And then to the worship songs I learned in college. There are plenty of emotional fluff "Christian" praise songs out there. I'm not thinking of those. I'm talking about the songs that are God-focused, theologically sound, beautiful songs of worship and praise. Many of these are based in scripture, and include direct quotes (and sometimes references) of scripture, too. I have struggled with staying in constant meditation on scripture, but am learning that these songs that run through my head, fill my heart, and keep my mind focused on Him help. I still don't know why I think in song so often, but I don't have to know why. Instead I will just thank God for creating me to praise Him and keep reading the word, meditating on Him, and praising Him as I go through my day.

As David says, I will sing and give praise. Today, right now, but also as a way of life. I will sing what is good and true and right, and teach my daughter to love Him, to think on Him, and to praise Him with every fiber of her being. For that is what we were created to do... love Him, serve Him, praise Him, and glorify Him forever. Amen.

Psalm 56

2008-08-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?

This phrase is used twice in this short passage. Once in verse 4, and once in verses 10-11. David is being pursued and attacked, and the study help in my Bible says that he had been seized by the Philistines when he wrote this.

The way I see it, there are 3 main things to note about this little phrase. First, David begins with remembering who God is. "In God, whose word I praise," This is the God whose very words, thoughts, and plans are worthy of praise. By His word the world came into being. The Lord, whose word is so powerful, deserves praise.

Then David moves from praising God's word to trusting in Him. If God is so mighty, so powerful, that He needs but speak and the world comes into existence, then He is surely powerful enough to handle the situation that we find ourselves in. If we start with praise for who God is, remembering what He has done, that perspective will lead us to trust in Him. And if we trust in Him, we need not be afraid, for our trust is no longer in ourselves, but in Him.

And once you trust in the Lord, as David has done in this passage, why should you fear? "What can mortal man do to me?" Our hope in the Lord is eternal, and we know that His plan is eternal. Men can only take from us what is here on this earth, but that is not where our treasure is stored. They cannot take the Lord from us, nor our eternal security. If we die here on earth we go to be with the Lord, so really, what can man do to us? Nothing. Not if our hope is in the Lord.

How many have YOU read?

2008-08-04T23:30:00.000-07:00

The story is that apparently the National Endowment for the Arts estimates that the average adult has only read six of these books. Here are the markup guidelines:

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Mark in red the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your blog

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. The Complete Works of Shakespeare (I've read a LOT, but not all!)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens (reading this right now...)
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (I hated this book.)
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert -
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie -
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Well.... I could have done worse. Still, I have a few of these books on my shelf and I've never read them. I think that's sad. I also think this list is flawed. There are a couple books I feel are duplicated (Complete Shakespeare + Hamlet; Chronicles of Narnia + Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe) and there are an awful lot by Jane Austen (whom I don't particularly like to read) and non by other authors, like Ayn Rand. They're missing some of the classics, too. Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Metamorphoses... anyone? Seems broken. Still, I've read 24 of the ones above. At least that's over the average.

Psalm 55

2008-08-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

But as for me, I trust in you.

These are the last words of the Psalm, and words I have found myself saying time and time again as things come up in my life. I have found myself at the crossroads of belief saying, "Either I trust Him, or I don't." And the truth is that I do. I may not understand Him and His ways, but I trust Him.

I am again at those crossroads, and just yesterday I reminded myself that I trust in Him. He knows where I am and He is still leading me. When I become uncertain I think back and remember that it was He who led me here. And I trust Him. So even though I do not like this place, I will serve Him where I am and trust Him to work His will for His glory.

There are lots of other things that struck me in this Psalm, but this is the one that hit home. And so, to quote verse 22, I will...

Cast [my] cares on the Lord and He will sustain [me].

Psalm 54

2008-07-31T09:15:00.000-07:00

A short Psalm, only 7 verses. But in those 7 verses you see change in David's attitude as he prays. He begins with a plea for the Lord to save him.

Save me, O God, by your name;

By verse 4 he has begun to have a little more confidence as he realizes it is the Lord who sustains him.

Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.

And by the end of the Psalm he speaks in all confidence as he says he will praise the Lord's name.

For He has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

Here David did not succumb to his emotions and fear, though he certainly starts out in them. But he was reminded of who God is and what He has done and he responds with praise and reverence for the name of the Lord and confidence in His plan.

Oh, that I may remember who God is and respond in the same way when I am fearful of those around me who would do me harm. For God is not ignorant of circumstances, nor is He incapable of handling my problems. I will put my trust in Him.

Psalm 53

2008-07-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."

That's how this Psalm begins. 5 verses later it ends with these words...

Oh, that the salvation for Isreal would come out of Zion! When God restores the fortunes of His people, let Jacob rejoice and Isreal be glad!

I love that this Psalm ends on a note of restoration. When I started reading I began to think of all the people I know who don't believe that there is a God. It saddens me that there are those who should know better and have turned their backs on Him, to the point of doubting His existence. Scripture makes clear the consequence for unbelief and rebellion from God. But the end of this Psalm reminds me not to give up hope, not to stop praying for their salvation and restoration. I praise God for His work in their lives and I ask Him to pursue them more fervently and to give them hearts receptive to His advances. And when He does restore them to fellowship with Him, we will rejoice and be glad! Praise the Lord for His goodness and mercy! His love endures forever!

Psalm 52

2008-07-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

This Psalm has a completely different tone than the last one, and one verse in particular stands out to me:

"Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!"

These are the words of verse 7, and the previous 6 verses speak of how the man boasts of evil, who speaks falsehood rather than truth, and how the Lord will bring him to ruin.

What the righteous say of him is not that he was a terrible sinner, nor that he was a liar, though he was. His great fault is that he trusted in his own wealth, his own works, himself, rather than trusting in God. The righteous know that they, too, are liars and sinners, and that it is only by the grace of God that they are saved. Because they know this and understand it, they do not trust in themselves, but in the God's unfailing love and His name.

Do I trust in myself and my own wealth (though not necessarily monetary wealth) or do I make God my stronghold?

Psalm 51

2008-07-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

When David messed up, he messed up big time. He didn't do anything halfway. His adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah marked a very dark time in his life, where he was, no doubt, out of fellowship with God. It wasn't just a few weeks where he was out of step with God, either. He did not repent of his sins until Nathan came to him after Bathsheba gave birth to their son. But when Nathan confronted him with his sin, after David had spent months living in it, David's response was repentance. Not a reluctant admission that what he had done might have been wrong and a statement that he was sorry if he'd hurt anyone. No, David repented like he sinned - wholeheartedly. Psalm 51 reveals David's heart as he comes before the Lord after months of absence. He lays himself bare before the Lord. And even after absence and sin and rebellion, when he returns to the Lord he has not forgotten WHO GOD IS. He KNOWS the Lord - His justice, His mercy. He says in verse 17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart." and that is what he brought before the Lord.

It has been a long time since I have been truly broken hearted for my sin. I would do well to learn from David's example of repentance and fall before my Lord in humility. But how can I expect to be sensitive to my sin if I am not constantly in the presence of the One who is without sin? Reading scripture, meditating on the Word, and being in constant communion and prayer is the only way to make my sin evident, all of my sin, the sins of my heart. Because what I desire is a heart that follows Him and does not go its own way.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. (Ps 51:1-2)

If I could go back to elementary school....

2008-06-29T17:33:00.001-07:00

I'd choose to play the cello instead of the flute. I love the cello. It is so rich, so deeply purple, so beautiful. I would love to know how to play one.

I'm pretty sure it started with the piano/cello duet I played with David Hastie in high school. Arioso is beautiful as a piano/cello duet and it was probably my favorite piece to perform.

Currently I love the theme song to Angel. Soulful is about the only word I can think of to describe it. It's beautiful. I think it's the cello.

My favorite album at the moment is Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet. Amazing. Complex. And... yes, a bit of cello. Click the link to hear some of the album. It's a little bluegrass, a little oriental, and a lot of funky beautiful. She yodels in her own style, sings in Mandarin, plays banjo and shares the stage with another banjo, fiddle, and cello. Makes for a unique sound I've never heard anywhere else and I love it. I think it's the cello.

And so, if I could do it all over again, I'd skip the flute. I'd choose the cello. And I'd play the most beautiful music I've ever dreamed up.

Tyranny of the Urgent

2008-05-20T23:25:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been overrun by the tyranny of the urgent. All those things that seem to need to get done right now. I have to do laundry because we have no more clean underwear. I have to kit for a class because it's tomorrow. I have to make dinner because it's already 6:00 and Leif will be home any minute. I have to do dishes because Ellie doesn't have any clean sippy cups. And the list goes on. There are so many things that demand my immediate attention. I feel like I am perpetually behind and I can't get caught up.

The worst part about the tyranny of the urgent is that I am so busy doing the mundane tasks that cry to be done RIGHT NOW that I end up ignoring those things that really do matter. I spend an afternoon trying to put away laundry because it *needs* to be done. And while I'm doing that, I've got Eliana watching a show so I can get work done and Leif comes home to a messy house (because I didn't get the kitchen cleaned up after lunch) and no dinner. Now, a clean house is not the most important thing, but it is one of the tangible ways I can tell my husband I love him. A clean house speaks more than a thousand words could to let him know how much he means to me. And a messy house stresses him out. So I got the laundry done, but I missed an opportunity to tell my husband that he is important to me, and I missed the chance to play with my daughter because I was too busy putting away the socks and underwear.

I'm not saying that the clothes shouldn't be put away. I'm just saying that there are things that are more important than laundry.

Take tonight, for example. I was putting away laundry (because I actually DID ignore the pile of laundry so I could play with my daughter this afternoon) while Leif put Ellie to bed when I got a message from a friend asking me to pray for her. Now, I had been praying for her all week. But I had neglected to take the time to tell her that I was praying for her, so she felt alone and uncared for. And why hadn't I taken the time to let her know I cared and was praying? Because I was too busy doing the "urgent" things. I feel horrible that I left a friend feeling unaccompanied on a journey I promised to walk with her! It was certainly not my aim to leave her feeling so deserted. But I did not make it my aim to make a point of letting her know I was praying for her and so I let her down. And what do I have to show for it? Laundry in the closet instead of in the basket by the bed. Big deal! I can tell you which will have the greater impact, and it's not the one I spent the time on.

I have been succumbing to the tyranny of the urgent lately and I hate it. I hate how out of control everything feels when I am rushing from task to task because they demand attention NOW. I hate that my priorities get sidetracked and I let mundane things take their place. Tonight I scrubbed the shower and the toilet. Why? Because that's what I do when I am stressed. I am stressed because I have lost my balance. I swing like a 5 foot brunette pendulum between slob and perfectionist, letting go of my routines and then clinging so tightly my knuckles are white. I feel like hyperventilating because the clothes in my closet are not organized by sleeve length and color. I feel sick because I did not mop the kitchen today, again. These are the tell-tale signs that my life is out of focus. First because I feel the need for control and order, and second because I feel physically ill that things are not the way I think they ought to be.

And so it is time for a refocus. It's not about me. It's not about my laundry. It's not about my closet. It's not about how shiny the bathtub fixtures are, or how my clothes are folded and organized. It's about HIM. God. Creator of the world and the one who has the plan. The laundry need to be done, but it should be done for His glory, done so that we are able to get up and dressed and ready to serve Him. My house should be clean, not for clean sake, but to speak love to my family and so that our house is ready to be used by God at a moment's notice. He is a God of order and my home and life should reflect that, but serve Him, not the order itself.

Urgent things must be done tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. And I will do them. But that which is urgent should never supersede that which is important. Loving and training my daughter is important. Loving and helping my husband is important. If I can do those things while folding laundry, then Hallelujah! If not, we can go another day with the laundry in the basket. It will be okay.

Saw Barack Obama last night.

2008-05-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

Yep, Mr. presidential hopeful Barack Obama was here in li'l ol' Bozeman last night. It was one of the smaller rallies, I'm guessing, with 7,000 in attendance. Tickets were free, and thats what Leif wanted for his birthday. So we went.

I'm not going to vote for Barack Obama. Not in the primary, not for president. But who am I to pass up the opportunity to see him for free? When else will there be a presidential candidate in Bozeman? It was a little sliver of history and I got to be part of it.

Here's the sad thing...

2008-04-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

I just took this geography quiz. I got a 6 out of 8 after my husband got an 8 out of 8. Now, I'm not too concerned with the result. I know I'm not terribly good at geography. And I didn't learn anything new about myself by learning that I could identify where Iran is and not Afghanistan. I've never been good with the 'stans.

What concerns me is that I took another quiz immediately after, just out of curiosity. It was on scenes from horror films. I make a practice of NOT watching horror films, due to my overactive imagination. I just don't feed the beast and we all seem happier that way. But I took this quiz, which gave murder scenes and 3 movies to choose from. I had to decide which movie the scene was taken from. I had not seen a single one of the films. Not one. My score on that? 10 out of 10.

That's right. I am better at the trivia from horror films I've never seen (and many I'd never even heard of) than I am geography. That's just sad.

Loving Well

2008-04-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend was our Ladies' retreat at New Hope. I decided that going to the retreat would be the best way to get to know the other women in the church, so I signed up. I did get to know the women, and I had a great weekend, but I also heard a message that I think I really needed to hear. The topic was loving well and the study was by Beth Moore, who was our speaker via DVD.

Along with the lessons for the weekend, we were given a 4 week follow up booklet. It is sort of a devotional guide, but I think the questions are good ones to think about, so I'll do a little thinking...

1:1 (Week 1 Day 1)

Do I love others better than I did 5 years ago?

Five years ago we had just moved to Montana. I don't know if I love better now than I did 5 years ago, but I definitely love better now than I did 2 years ago. I think. I have a pretty hard time gaging how well I love. I know I make more of a concerted effort to love now than I did then, but maybe that's because I don't love as well now and it's harder. So I guess I don't know the answer to this question. But I do know that I am working on becoming a more loving person, and that in 5 years I certainly hope I will be more loving than I am today.

Am I growing in my ability to love others more openly, with more vulnerability?

Yes. I am in a Bible study with some wonderfully supportive women and I am working on being more open and vulnerable with them. Seeing how the body of Christ is supposed to support and love, without judgment, while holding each other accountable is a beautiful thing.

What marked change or transformation has come about in the way I love?

Hmm... I try harder. I make an effort to love when I don't want to. I am quickER to love and slowER to anger. I certainly have areas I need to work on, but I am getting better.

I John 4:7-8 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone who loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love."

Bleak House: Chapter 7

2008-04-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

I find Charles Dickens extremely verbose. Soooo many words... so little plot movement. I couldn't even read the last paragraph of the chapter because I couldn't keep my eyes open. It will be a sheer act of will if I ever finish this book. 100 pages in, 717 to go...

Prayer for Jennifer Vidmar

2008-04-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

I have mentioned Jennifer Vidmar before. She was in our Bible study earlier this year and is one of the women in our church. She is also a Petra parent. We've known the Vidmars since my first year at Petra, and we were in a Sunday school class with them at E-Free. We don't know them as closely as I'd like, but over the years we have witnessed the Lord's work in their lives through good times and bad. Jennifer is one of the strongest women of faith that I know, and her response to the struggles she has faced has always been a response of praise and glory to God.

This week we found out that Jennifer has Leukemia, and it appears to be fairly advanced. Please hold her up in prayer as she undergoes chemotherapy in Seattle, and hold her family up as they support her and go through this with her. Once again her response is one of glory to God, and we know that He is using her for His glory once again, but it is still hard to see her and her family suffering as she goes through this. Please pray specifically for her nine year old daughter Jessica. Jennifer almost died about 4 years ago in a completely unrelated health crisis. Jessica is old enough to remember that and is currently staying with family here in the area while her parents are in Seattle for Jennifer's treatments. The separation is hard on both Jessica and Jennifer during this time, so please pray for strength for both of them while they are apart. Jennifer and Bruce also have another daughter Rebecca, who is a year old. She is staying with family, too, and is too young to know what is going on, but she notices her mother's absence and is having a hard time dealing with it.

We know that Jennifer's desire is to be used for God's glory, whether through her life or death. She is ready for whatever He has in store for her. We know that God can heal her if that is His plan, but we also know that His ways are not our ways and He may have another plan for her. So we pray for her healing, but place her in His hands and trust in His sovereignty.

Please, when the Lord brings them to mind, pray for them too.

Bleak House: Chapter 4

2008-03-30T22:15:00.000-07:00

I don't ever want to be like Mrs. Jellyby. For all the good she did for others, and all the time she invested, she alienated her own husband and children, those whom she should have been taking the best care of as a wife and mother. But her reactions to Peepy were horrible. And her poor husband was estranged from her, though living in the same house. All of her housekeeping had gone to pot. Her house was a mess and her children were filthy. Her only concern was for the Africans, and I can't see how her neglect for the family God gave her was glorifying to Him.

I don't ever want to be like Mrs. Jellyby.

I don't ever want to be so busy with church commitments that I can't spend time with my husband and make him feel loved. I don't ever want to be so caught up in my own hobbies that I don't spend time playing with my daughter. I want them to know that they are important to me, and if I place them behind other things, no matter how good those things may be, they will not feel important. They will not feel loved. They will feel second rate. And I never want them to feel that way. Leif is second in my life, behind God, but not behind the church. Ellie is behind Leif, but again, she comes before church, and she comes before scrapbooking. I find in scripture where I am commanded to love the Lord with all my heart, submit to my husband, and train my child, but nowhere do I see that I need to overcommit myself to the local church and so push away the ones God has given me.

No, I don't ever want to be like Mrs. Jellyby.

Church today

2008-03-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

Last week it was announced that we would have a guest speaker in church today and, I admit, I wasn't looking forward to it. I don't know why, but I like the regularity of a single pastor preaching every week. But I knew I would be there this morning because I am participating in a skit for the Women's Retreat in a couple weeks and we were meeting before church to rehearse.

Some days it just seems like God reaches down and places things along the path, just for you. Just so you can see his hand as you walk along a road whose destination you are uncertain of. Today was one of those days.

We met early to rehearse our skit, and then two of the members had to leave to get ready for their Sunday school commitments. That left me and Shannon talking for a while, something we don't normally get the opportunity to do without the interruption of kids or other people. As the conversation progressed, I shared with her a burden I have been carrying in my heart for months. It just came out in the conversation and we had a good talk. And she prayed with me. And I realized that this was fellowship. This is what had been lacking in my life the last couple years. God's love shared through the lives and words of other believers. There was no condemnation, no disappointment, only genuine concern, love, and prayer. And so I entered the worship service with a portion of the burden lifted.

I opened the bulletin and right there was a prayer focus for the beginning of the service and this week. It was Isaiah 49:13

"The Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones."

It was as though that verse was there for me. I took comfort in its words as we began to sing. I don't remember the name of the song, but one of the worship songs today spoke of the name of the Lord being a tower of refuge. It is His name that has the power to save. And again I was thankful. Thankful that He has saved me, and thankful that He is my refuge and my strength.

The sermon today was about being God's chosen people, from 1 Peter. The last point was that being chosen should change how we live. And though I've read this verse before, it stood out today and I saw two things I don't know that I've seen before. The passage was from 1 Peter 2, verses 11 and 12

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Life such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."

That verse hit home. I am called to live my life in such a way that others, especially those closest to me, who are with me day in and day out, see Christ in all I do. Forming close relationships with those around me is good, but not if I get sloppy and begin living like they do. I am called to be set apart so that others may see God. I am not called to be 97% like them and 3% different. My life should be distinctly different, and that is sometimes a hard way to live. I want to let my guard down around the ones I am close to, but in doing so I am tempted to fall into their patterns and their attitudes, which are not to be my own. And so I remember that HE is my refuge when I am weary, not other people. And HE is my strength when I am weak and don't think I can live to the standard He has put before me. I am to be an example to the non-Christians He has brought into my life, not the other way around. I am to be love to those who cannot yet see where it comes from. I am to be a light to those who are in darkness.

The two things from the passage in 1 Peter that I don't remember noticing before are in verse 12. The first is that little clause that says, "though they accuse you of doing wrong," . It doesn't say IF they accuse you, it says though. We will be accused of things. We will probably be falsely accused. But our duty is to please the Lord, not men. We are to remain faithful to Him, not swayed by the opinions of man. And that is much easier said than done. But our reward is in heaven, not here on Earth, and we do well to remember that. This Earth is a battleground, and we are at war. Our victory is certain, but we do not claim the prize until the race is won.

The second clause that caught my attention is at the very end of verse 12. We are supposed to live righteous lives so that those who don't believe "may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." The impact our actions have is long lasting. We can do what is right over and over and over and never see any result. But those deeds testify God's righteousness to the end and He may use them to draw others to Himself years later. It is not our job to save people. It is our job to remain faithful and obedient to Him so that His work may be carried out through us.

And, with my burden still on my heart, I suddenly find myself singing a song that has long been a favorite of mine. Once again, I can't help but feel as though God reached down and put this song in my heart today as a reminder that He is still God, He is still sovereign, and He is still in control.

Trust and obey,
for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus,
but to trust and obey.

Bleak House: Chapter 3

2008-03-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

Ah.... NOW we're starting to get somewhere. The plot begins.

EPIC

2008-03-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

I read the rest of Epic by John Eldridge today. I started reading it at Barnes and Noble last weekend when Leif and I were out on our date. (sidenote: I can't believe we're going to get dates THREE weekends in a row! That's amazing!) I picked it up on a whim, adding it to a pile of scrapbooking magazines I'd planned on leafing through. I read the first chapter and put it on my "to read" list. Then Cheryl saw it on the list and offered to let me borrow her copy! It's a short book, just 104 pages, but is well written and easy to read. Eldridge does a good job of making profound truths and ideas clear and accessible without getting too deep into the theological intricacies. I really enjoyed it.

Epic sets out to explain why stories (including plays, movies, books, etc.) strike such a resonant chord with us as humans. What is it about stories, with their villains and heroes, conflict and resolution, that draw us in? What is it that makes us see ourselves in the story and experience the emotions of the characters? And Eldridge's answer isn't anything new to me. It's something I've known for a long time, and began to understand better during my time teaching at Petra. But there was one thing in the book that I hadn't really thought about before, though I've been contemplating the subject for a while: Fellowship.

When we were thinking about switching churches, one of the main reasons for doing so was fellowship. I longed to build relationships with the other believers in the church, something that I didn't seem able to do at E-Free. And so I chose fellowship over verse-by-verse teaching when we moved to New Hope. I've never really considered the origin of fellowship. I mean, I know that God created Adam and Eve. This is what I have always considered the beginning of fellowship. But it's not. Fellowship predates mankind. Fellowship predates time. Because fellowship is something that God has in the Trinity. And I'd never really thought about that before reading Epic. The reason we, all of us, crave interaction with one another is because we are created in the image of God. He has fellowship with the other members of the Trinity and desires fellowship with us. And so we desire fellowship with one another, and with Him.

It's a good book. It gave me some food for thought. And it's a good follow up to It's Not About Me by Max Lucado, if you've ever read that. That's another short, but profound, book with the potential to change your life and the way you think about it. But Epic? Epic is a good book. After reading the first chapter I gave it 5 stars (out of 5) on Goodreads. Now, having finished the book, I still give it 5 stars. It's worth reading.

Twitterpated

2008-03-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am twitterpated. Follow me.

Bleak House: Chapter 2 (On Fashion)

2008-03-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Once again, there was one paragraph that really stood out to me in this chapter. It is the second paragraph of the second chapter, and it reads like this:

[The world of fashion] is not a large world... There is much good in it; there are many good and true people in it; it has its appointed place. But the evil of it is, that it is a world wrapped up too much in jeweller's cotton and fine wool, and cannot hear the rushing of the larger worlds, and cannot see them as they circle around the sun. It is a deadened world, and its growth is sometimes unhealthy for want of air.

Initially this struck me as I am considering what material I want to cover for Protocol this year. There is a place for fashion. We ought to take care in how we present ourselves, as God's creations. But if we get caught up in it, we reveal not the Life that is within us, but the death we are allowing to foster by our misplaced focus.

What Dickens wrote about fashion in the 1800s is true about fashion today. That is not because the fashion itself has remained the same, but because humanity has. And his truth about fashion can apply to any area of life if we allow it. In any God-given field, there is much good. There are people who hold to that which is good and true about it. But there are those, too, who are so wrapped up in this tiny little world that they do not see the other worlds God has created around them, nor the God who created them. And so the challenge is to see the world as God sees it, within the context of Himself and all that He has created, and to take what is good, and true, and right from it and discard what Satan has distorted to blind us.

Using Dickens' example of fashion, we must ask ourselves, "What is good, and true, and right about fashion?" Is there anything good about it? Or is it wholly and completely shallow and base? What are the origins of fashion?

And so we go back to the beginning. Genesis 3 gives us the first account of clothing. When Adam and Eve sinned, they realized they were naked and sewed fig leaf coverings for themselves. After the curse, God made garments of skin from a sacrificial animal. The purpose of clothing is to cover our nakedness. It is a symbolic of the sacrifice Christ would make in order to cover our sins. So when we consider fashion, we ought to remember first and foremost modesty. Is the purpose to cover or reveal? The boundaries of modesty are dictated by culture. In the Victorian era, it was considered immodest for a woman to show her ankles. Not so today. In Irian Jaya, it is considered immodest if a man is seen without his gourd, despite the fact that the gourd really doesn't cover anything by our standards. In the same vein, if an American man tried to walk down the street wearing only a gourd, which would be completely modest by Irian Jayan standards, he would most certainly be arrested in a heartbeat for indecent exposure here. Modesty is dictated by culture, and we would do well to make sure we know what our clothes are saying about us before we wear them.

Once modesty has been made the priority, we ought to choose clothing that is appropriate for the event or task at hand, and finally something that is pleasant and flattering to look at. After all, we are representatives of God, and as His creations we ought to reflect the goodness and beauty that He possesses. But if we focus our attention on the form first, we will almost certainly lose sight of the Creator and His purpose. And then we reflect not Him with our dress, but our own sinful desires. And that is not fashionable at all.

Bleak House: Chapter 1

2008-03-17T18:56:00.000-07:00

I started reading Bleak House last night. I only read the first chapter, but it was a good start. The first chapter is all about Jarndyce and Jarndyce, a case which has been dragging on forever and ever. Just as the High Court of Chancery is at the very heart of the fog in the city, so this case leaves all who are affiliated with it in the fog of its complication and despair.

This paragraph in particular caught my attention:

Jarndyce and Jarndyce drones on. This scarecrow of a suit has, in course of time, become so complicated that no man alive knows what it means. The parties to it understand it least, but it has been observed that no two Chancery lawyers can talk about it for five minutes without coming to a total disagreement as to all the premises. Innumerable children have been born into the cause; innumerable old people have died out of it. Scores of persons have deliriously found themselves made parties in Jarndyce and Jarndyce without knowing how or why; whole families have inherited legendary hatreds with the suit. The little plaintiff or defendant who was promised a new rocking-horse when Jarndyce and Jarndyce should be settled has grown up, possessed himself of a real horse, and trotted away into the other world. Fair wards of court have faded into mothers and grandmothers; a long procession of Chancellors has come in and gone out; the legion of bills in the suit have been transformed into mere bills of mortality; there are not three Jarndyces left upon the earth perhaps since old Tom Jarndyce in despair blew his brains out at a coffee-house in Chancery Lane; but Jarndyce and Jarndyce still drags its dreary length before the court, perennially hopeless.

I have no idea where Dickens is going with the Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit, but I can tell you where my mind goes with it. Sin. It reminds me of sin. It is twisted and complicated, just like sin. The longer it goes on, the more it consumes. People fall into it, often without knowing why or how. Entire generations are born into it and die out of it, their whole lives defined and tormented by it. Sin is an ugly thing.

Like I said, I have no idea where Dickens is going with this suit. But I'm guessing that, like God did with sin, Dickens is going to provide resolution to the suit. He's going to provide redemption for those who are caught up in it. Now I just have to read on to see how.

Holiness, not happiness

2008-02-10T21:51:00.000-08:00

So the other day in Bible Study Jennifer Vidmar made a comment about the way most people view God vs. the way He really is. We were talking about how lots of people think that a "good" God wouldn't let bad things happen to people. And Jennifer said...

"God doesn't care about our happiness, He cares about our holiness."

There are things that God allows us to endure because they will shape us into men and women who look more like Him. We probably won't enjoy the process, but it is the end result that He sees.

Tonight I heard a quote on TV that struck me in contrast to this. A father commented that, "As long as my kids are happy, I am happy." I've heard other parents voice similar desires. But there are some problems with this thinking...

For one, it puts your own happiness in someone else's control. Happiness, contentedness, is a choice we all have and should exercise no matter the circumstances. You shouldn't hinge your joy on anyone other than God.

This thinking also leads your children to believe that their happiness is the most important thing in the world. It teaches them to be self centered and concerned primarily with what makes them happy instead of what is good, right, and true. Sometimes doing the right thing doesn't make us feel happy.

This idea also fails to teach kids what to do when things don't go according to their plan. If their happiness is all that matters, then what are they to do when life brings them unhappiness?

I hope, as I raise our daughter, that I remember that it is not her happiness that matters, but her holiness. I hope she learns from me that trials are given and allowed for the sanctification process and that contentment is a choice in every situation. I hope she grows to find her joy in the Lord and not in what the world has to offer.

For it is not her happiness that He seeks, but her holiness.

Interesting....

2008-01-14T13:37:00.001-08:00

What Elizabeth Means

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.
You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.
At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.
You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.
Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.
You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.
You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are incredibly wise and perceptive. You have a lot of life experience.
You are a natural peacemaker, and you are especially good at helping others get along.
But keeping the peace in your own life is not easy. You see things very differently, and it's hard to get you to budge.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.
You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.
You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous.
You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things.
Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times.

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life.
You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home.
You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.
Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.
Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

And here I thought Elizabeth meant "Consecrated to God"... I have to say, though, except for the fact that I don't think I'm an overbearing Type A personality, this has me pegged pretty well.

What's in a Church?

2008-01-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

For the last four and a half years, we've been attending the E-Free Church of Bozeman. When we moved here we shopped around some before we finally settled on E-Free. We started with the First Baptist Church where a friend of ours worked. Given the Baptist reputation (at least everyplace I've lived) I assumed it would be a conservative, safe place to start our search. We were sort of startled to find that a) they had a woman pastor, and b) the service was basically empty for the first part because the congregation doesn't like to sing and showed up after that part of the service was over. So, um... no. Then we visited a church that was WAAAAY out in the boonies and, while it was fine, it took forever to get there on long windy roads, so we didn't see that as a pleasant winter option. We tried the church that was within walking distance of our house, too. We liked it. The people were very friendly and they were a fairly young congregation. Lots of young couples. Just like us. Unfortunately, the pastor was about our age, too, and had never been to seminary. Call me old fashioned, but that wasn't something we were particularly comfortable with. We knew someone who attended E-Free, so we visited there and decided to give it a try.

Now, both Leif and I have always attended small churches. Congregations around 150-200 people. You know everyone and there is a familial aspect to it. KBC was like that, and so was BRBC. E-Free has hundreds of members. They have multiple Sunday morning services just to accommodate the number of attendees. But we decided to give it a try.

We tried for a couple months. After two months I started to freak out a little. We still didn't know anyone. It was like we were all alone in a room full of people. One thing we did like, though, was the preaching. Pastor Chris took a verse-by-verse exegetical approach to the scriptures and we both appreciate that. But after two months of great preaching and no fellowship, I felt like I needed more. So we kept looking.

We tried the Baptist church in Belgrade. I don't remember exactly what it was that we didn't like about it. It might have been the preaching, or it might have been that there weren't any young couples there. I don't remember. But I do remember that we decided to go back to E-Free and try to get connected somehow. The preaching was good; it was the fellowship that was lacking.

So we went back to E-Free and got plugged into a young married couples group. We met once a week and were led by an older couple with many years of marriage and life experience behind them. Glenn and Lyla were like surrogate parents to our group. It was in that group that we first met Todd and Andrea, Jose and Shannon, and Daniel and Eva. These are the people that we have remained friends with. We met as a group for about 2 years. Then Glenn and Lyla took up another ministry in the church and our little group stopped meeting.

It was around that time, though, that E-Free started having a Saturday night service. It was a much smaller service than the Sunday morning ones, and it was followed by a fellowship dinner each week. We got the benefit of Chris' teaching combined with the smaller congregation and opportunity to meet and talk with people over dinner each week. It was great. And it lasted until this summer. Then the Saturday night services stopped.

One of the reasons we liked the Saturday services, too, was that they fit very nicely with Ellie's schedule. Our options for a Sunday morning service were 8:30 or 11:00. 8:30 was still pretty early for Ellie to be up and ready (since until recently she liked to sleep in until about then) and the 11:00 service was always so packed full that it was almost impossible to find a parking space or chair. Added to that was the fact that the church got unbearably hot for Leif in the summer with the packed 11:00 service. But, most Sundays we were able to get ourselves up and going in time for the 8:30 service, even if we got there late. After a while, though, it became a little more hit-and-miss, and by the holidays it took concerted effort to make it to church each week.

You see, we'd lost our fellowship again. We were no longer meeting with our small group, and we were no longer fellowshipping with people over dinner each week. We still appreciated Pastor Chris' sound teaching, but this fall he announced his upcoming retirement.

A couple years ago, shortly after we started attending the Saturday service, E-Free did a church plant in Belgrade. I remember several families leaving to attend that church, including our friends Jose and Shannon. The church seemed to grow steadily, and two years later they have rented out the third floor of a building in our subdivision. It has been converted into a sanctuary and classrooms and they have about 150 people who meet there each week. We decided that we would give it a try after the holidays.

That brings us to last Sunday. We visited New Hope Bible Church and found it full of families with young children. We saw the Morales and the Vidmars there, and lots of people introduced themselves to us. In fact, I think more people talked to us there last Sunday than talk to us on any given Sunday at the church we have been attending for the last four years. Ellie stayed with us through the first part of the service (and danced along with the music) and then went to the nursery. It was the first place I've visited that I felt I could be a part of in a long time.

The downside is that the pastor there is no Chris Blackmore. I remember not being terribly impressed with him when he first arrived and preached at E-Free one Sunday. His sermons are more topical in nature and they don't have the structure behind them that I appreciate. They weren't heretical, or even fluffy-fluffy, but they were a little more emotional than I care for. I prefer sermons that speak of the God I know and love and less about me and what I may or may not be going through right now.

And that is what brings me to this question: What's in a church, anyway? Is it a place of teaching, or is it a body of believers? Obviously, both aspects should be present. But which do I consider more important? Which to I base my decision on? I need both solid teaching and good fellowship. But right now I feel that I need the fellowship more than the deep sermon. After all, if all I needed was an exegetical walk through the scriptures, I wouldn't be searching outside of E-Free. But without the fellowship I feel no connection. I feel no family there. The friends we've made at E-Free we will keep. Our get-togethers are no longer church related anyway. And though a good teacher is to be desired, his teaching does no good if I don't even make it to the service to hear it.

I have not completely made up my mind on whether to return to E-Free or continue to attend New Hope. But I am leaning toward New Hope. I have already signed up for a women's Bible study this quarter. I did that through Shannon before we even visited the church. I realized this summer that I need Christian women to fellowship with. I tried a study through E-Free this fall, but it felt forced. And after the 10 weeks were over, I didn't know anyone any better than I did when I started. In fact, I missed the last 3 weeks an no one even noticed. Or if they did, they didn't comment. So I'm going to try this group. I know God intends for His people to fellowship together. And I know that He will provide all I need. I know that He is faithful, but am I? Therein lies my struggle, I think.

Step Away from the Tub of Happiness!!

2007-12-29T08:14:00.000-08:00

I've been reading lately. Well, if you want to call it reading... It certainly isn't Ayn Rand or JRR Tolkien, but it is entertaining and it was nice to sink myself into an alternate reality for a while.

One of my Christmas presents from Leif (my "surprise" gift) was a signed copy of the latest Schlock Mercenary book. As it's name suggests, it is a Tub of Happiness. And less than a week after I received it, I have finished it - cover to beautifully illustrated cover. Did I say illustrated? Um, yes. I have been reading a comic book. About space mercenaries. And I enjoyed all 240 pages of it. *sigh*

I have yet to figure out what it is that I like about Schlock Mercenary. It's punny. Howard Tayler says it sort of writes itself. Maybe that's why it feels like it takes on a life of its own. Dunno. I could spend hours trying to figure out why this particular comic strip makes it into my top 5 sci-fi favorites* OR I could go straight to the top of my list and spend those hours rewatching Farscape.

Ah... Farscape. It's been a while. In fact, I don't think I've watched it since Ellie was born. We took it to the hospital with us to watch while I was in labor, but I think that was the last time. Wow... Has it really been 17 months since I last saw Farscape? (mocking laughter at my utter obsession with this show...) So I pulled out series 1 and watched the first 5 episodes last night while I put away Christmas decorations.

Best. Show. Ever.

So there you have it. My confession. My dirty little secret.
I am a sci-fi nerd.

* top 5 sci-fi favorites:

Farscape
Firefly
Schlock Mercenary
Battlestar Galactica
The Matrix

Cold Turkey...

2007-12-22T20:12:00.000-08:00

Why do they call it quitting "cold turkey?"

After further investigation I have found that most (not necessarily the most reliable) internet sources agree that the expression originates from the goose bumps and palor which accompany withdrawal from narcotics or tobacco. One's skin resembles that of a plucked, cold turkey....

Hmmm. That's something I didn't know before.

I think, therefore I blog

2007-12-21T22:38:00.000-08:00

So what does it mean if I haven't blogged for months?

Oh, sure I've blogged. I blog plenty. One might even say that I'm a blogaholic. I blog about crafting here, the family here, for hire here, housekeeping here, weight loss here, and a few Latin exercises for my tutoree here. So yeah, I blog.

This blog, however, has been neglected. It seems that I'm at a place in my life where I'm not doing as much reading, thinking, and pondering as I did while I was teaching. In fact, I can't tell you the last book I read. About the most thought provoking literature I pick up these days is a Sudoku puzzle before I go to bed at night. Somehow I thought once I quit working I would have all the time in the world to read. And I guess I would, if it weren' t for laundry, groceries, dishes, diapers, playdates, and all the other everyday Mommy things that seem to keep me busy. And even if I chiseled out some time in my day for deep reading, I'm not sure I could really switch my brain over to do the kind of thinking it would require. It reminds me of the Tyranny of the Urgent, which I ought to read through again.

So what am I to do? I can't simply quit thinking and pondering and studying just because I can't find a convenient time to get my reading in. At the same time, though, I can't neglect the job God has given me to do right now (being a full time SAHM to a busy toddler) just because I want to feel intelligent. I want to feel sharp and on top of my game, but I don't. So mostly I just don't think about it. Mostly I just don't think.

Most years I do not have a new years resolution. I sort of think they're silly. But this year I do. The more I see Eliana imitating my words and actions, the more I want to be purposeful in what I say and do. So this year I want to strive to live deliberately. I want to have reasons for why I do what I do. I want to live a life that I feel is worthy of my daughter's imitation. God has placed me as steward over her and I want to be a good steward of the precious gift He has entrusted to me. It is not enough to keep her alive and clothed - she must be nurtured spiritually as well as physically. She must not merely live, but thrive on the rich food that is fed her through example, teaching, and discipline. For her to grow to the fullest, I must be deliberate in my words and actions, in my training and discipline, in my praise and correction.

I cannot be offended when she is disobedient or throws tantrums, for it is not against me that she rebels. She is a sinner and, like any sinner, she rebels against God. As her parent, I need to use those moments of rebellion to teach her foundational truths that will shape the person she becomes. I need to teach her that there is right and wrong. And I need to demonstrate that when she chooses to do wrong, there are consequences that she must face. And that though the consequences may be painful, with obedience and repentance comes forgiveness.

I may not spend my days reading Ovid and Livy, or even Lewis and Tolkien. I spend my days reading Boynton and Seuss instead. I have the very real day in and day out task of being malleable enough in God's hands that He can use me as His hands to mold the heart of my daughter so that it will be receptive to Him when she is old enough to enter into a relationship with Him. It cannot be about me. It's can't be about whether I think reading Dr. Seuss is as "valuable" or "intelligent" as reading Augustine. He has placed me right here, right now to raise this girl. So, even though I'm not thinking the "deep" thoughts I was a couple years ago, the thoughts I have today are no less important. They're just completely different.

Back again with thoughts on bikes....

2007-07-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

So previously this blog was for my thoughts on Latin. But now that I'm not teaching Latin anymore, I don't really have too many thoughts on Latin that need to be recorded. Hmmm. So today we move to my thoughts on human-powered transportation and carbon footprint reduction!

I've been reading No Impact Man, a blog on reducing our impact on the environment. It's been interesting reading and has given me a few things to think about as I consider new ways to minimize my own carbon footprint. I certainly won't go to the extremes this guy goes to, but then I'm not trying to make a big point either. His is a year long project and mine is... well, mine is just the way I live my life on a daily basis. I try to make good decisions to limit my impact when I can, but I am not an extremist. We recycle, compost, drive a Prius, buy certain things (like potatoes) that are grown locally, cloth diaper, carpool when possible, and a few other things. Like bicycle for transportation. Okay, so I don't really do that. But Leif does. A few days a week he rides his bike to work (15 miles each way) instead of driving. Bozeman is generally a bike friendly town. But it certainly could be more so. A recent post on NIM explained how some larger European cities are adopting bike share programs. What a great idea!! I would definitely ride a bike more often if I had access to one like this. Right now we have Leif's bike and a tandem bike that we ride together. But I don't have my own bike, and I don't see myself purchasing one in the near future. So right now I can't just put Ellie in the trailer and hop on the bike to ride to Albertson's for groceries. But I'd like to be able to. Or ride down to get the mail on those days that it's TOO HOT to walk. Bike sharing? That would be uber cool.

Speaking of heat... I know that there are those out there who poo-pooh global warming. But out of the last 6 days, 5 have been over 100 degrees here - and this is Montana. At the same time, it's been raining and flooding like crazy in Texas, where I'm from. So to all you nay-sayers out there: Don't tell me there's no such thing as global warming, because you're going to have a VERY hard time convincing me that all of the heat and flooding is coincidental.

Quiz Frenzy

2006-10-29T22:23:00.000-08:00

One night in Texas I took a bunch of blogthings quizzes. Some of them were right on the dot. I thought they were interesting, so here are some of the results I got...

***Your Personality Is Like Marijuana***

You're laid back and easy going, so much so that taking a shower is
often too much trouble for you!
Nevertheless, you're quite popular, and many people enjoy your
company. You're rarely turned down.
You're prone to giggle fits, paranoia, and forgetting where you are exactly.

What Drug Is Your Personality Like?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatdrugisyourpersonalitylikequiz/

***You are a Believer***

You believe in God and your chosen religion.
Whether you're Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Hindu..
Your convictions are strong and unwavering.
You think your religion is the one true way, for everyone.

What's Your Religious Philosophy?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourreligiousphilosophyquiz/

***You Are Wonder Woman***

A true goddess, you have the strength and skills to rule the world.
You're one sexy amazon... all of the superhero guys are fighting over you!

What Superhero Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatsuperheroareyouquiz/

***You Are a Visual Learner***

You tend to remember what you see, and you have a good eye for aesthetics.
You excel at art, design, and computer programming.
You would be an excellent film director - or the next Bill Gates!

What's Your Learning Style?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourlearningstylequiz/

***You Are a Centaur***

In general, you are a very cautious and reserved person.
However, you are also warm hearted, and you enjoy helping others in
practical ways.
You are a great teacher, and you are really good at helping people get
their lives in order.
You are very intuitive, and you go with your gut. You make good
decisions easily.

What Mythological Creature Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatmythologicalcreatureareyouquiz/

***You Are 50% Left Brained, 50% Right Brained***

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to
detail, and reasoning.
Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others.
If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic.
Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.

The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility.
Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way.
If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art.
Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?
http://www.blogthings.com/areyourightorleftbrainedquiz/

***Your Political Profile:***

Overall: 55% Conservative, 45% Liberal

Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/howliberalorconservativeareyouquiz/

***You Are From Mercury***

You are talkative, clever, and knowledgeable - and it shows.
You probably never leave home without your cell phone!
You're witty, expressive, and aware of everything going on around you.
You love learning, playing, and taking in all of what life has to offer.
Be careful not to talk your friends' ears off, and temper your need to
know everything.

What Planet Are You From?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatplanetareyoufromquiz/

***You Should Rule Mercury***

Close to sun, Mercury has very long days - and is rarely visible to
the rest of the solar system.

You are perfect to rule Mercury, because you live for the present -
and can truly enjoy a day that goes on forever.
Like Mercury, you are quick and elusive. Your wit is outstanding, and
you can win any verbal sparring match.

Some people see you as superficial, but in truth, you just play many
roles and have many interests.
A great manipulator, you usually get what you want from people. And
they're happy to give it to you.

What Planet Should You Rule?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatplanetshouldyourulequiz/

***You Are 7: The Enthusiast***

You are outgoing and playful - always seeing the happy side to life.

You're enthusiastic and excitable. You love anything new.

Multi-talented, you do many things well... and find success easy.

You prefer to keep things light with others. Opening up is hard for you.

What Number Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatnumberareyouquiz/

***You Are Root Beer***

Ultra sweet and innocent, you have a subtle complexity behind your sugary front.
Children love you, but so do high end snobs... when you're brewed right.

Your best soda compatibility match: Dr. Pepper

Stay away from: Diet Coke

What Kind of Soda Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofsodaareyouquiz/

***Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence***

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well.
An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly.
You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of
your point of view.
A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding
your vocabulary.

You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer,
politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofintelligencedoyouhavequiz/

So.... I guess that's me in a nutshell.

Linguistic Quiz Answer

2006-10-29T21:41:00.000-08:00

ghoughphtheightteeau = potato

gh - "p" as in hiccough
ough - "o" as in though
phth - "t" as in phthisis
eigh -"a" as in weigh
tte - "t" as in gazette
eau - "o" as in plateau

Linguistic Quiz

2006-09-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

How do you pronounce ghoughphtheightteeau?

Stay tuned for the answer...

Some days I love comics.

2006-08-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Like yesterday - this was the daily Dilbert.

Reading in Latin

2006-08-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

Today I read to my daughter in Latin for the first time. I read "Three Blind Mice" - it was a pretty good story. She was quiet through the whole book. Sweet little girl.

Can aliens speak Latin?

2006-08-01T15:48:00.000-07:00

We're watching the 4th season of Farscape again (one of the best sci-fi shows ever) and in "A Constellation of Doubt" D'argo uses the phrase ad nauseum. How cool is that? My favorite aliens speaking my favorite language...

Books, books, fun books...

2006-07-24T23:18:00.000-07:00

I got 4 books in the mail today and I am excited. Mostly I bought them so I could read them to my daughter, who is only 5 days old. But sooner or later she will be old enough to enjoy (let's hope this isn't just wishful thinking on my part!) the books I'm so excited about. They are...

Winnie Ille Pu - Winnie the Pooh in Latin
Tres Mures Caeci - Three Blind Mice in Latin
Quomodo Invidiosulus Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem Abrogaverit - How the Grinch Stole Christmas in Latin
Fairy Tales in Latin

I have others, too. The Giving Tree, The Cat in the Hat, and Green Eggs and Ham in Latin. It's wonderful.

Frasier

2006-07-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

To my delight I heard a familiar phrase on Frasier the other day...

"Numquam postea"

Ah... music to my ears.

Answer to Tribond

2006-07-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

All three are derived from the names of Roman deities:

Veneration: Venus (Veneris, gen, 3rd decl)
Cereal: Ceres
Volcano: Vulcan

You could also add the word 'jovial' to the list... it's derived from the genitive stem of Iuppiter, Iovis.

Congratulations to Kimberlee and Richard for correctly answering... or answering at all. =)

Trivia: honorificabilitudinitatibus

2006-07-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

In Love's Labours Lost, Shakespeare uses the longest word in any work of English literature: HONORIFICABILITUDINITATIBUS. What does it mean?

The word "honorificabilitudinitatibus" is the dative singular conjugation of a real medieval Latin word. Dante actually used it more than once, as did other writers of the period. A translation of it would be "the state of being able to achieve honors."

Love's Labour's Lost

2006-07-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to see William Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost performed by Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. This has to be one of my all time favorites. Not only is it fast-paced and witty, but it defies the conventional definitions of both comedy and tragedy, falling someplace between the two. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the play is the comic relief that Holofernes presents through his musings on language. He is presented as a Latin scholar, but reveals himself as a linguistical bumbling idiot - it's funny stuff. Act V scene I might just be my favorite scene in the play:

Act 5, Scene 1

SCENE I. The same.

Enter HOLOFERNES, SIR NATHANIEL, and DULL

HOLOFERNES

Satis quod sufficit.

SIR NATHANIEL

I praise God for you, sir: your reasons at dinner
have been sharp and sententious; pleasant without
scurrility, witty without affection, audacious without
impudency, learned without opinion, and strange with-
out heresy. I did converse this quondam day with
a companion of the king's, who is intituled, nomi-
nated, or called, Don Adriano de Armado.

HOLOFERNES

Novi hominem tanquam te: his humour is lofty, his
discourse peremptory, his tongue filed, his eye
ambitious, his gait majestical, and his general
behavior vain, ridiculous, and thrasonical. He is
too picked, too spruce, too affected, too odd, as it
were, too peregrinate, as I may call it.

SIR NATHANIEL

A most singular and choice epithet.

Draws out his table-book

HOLOFERNES

He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer
than the staple of his argument. I abhor such
fanatical phantasimes, such insociable and
point-devise companions; such rackers of
orthography, as to speak dout, fine, when he should
say doubt; det, when he should pronounce debt,--d,
e, b, t, not d, e, t: he clepeth a calf, cauf;
half, hauf; neighbour vocatur nebor; neigh
abbreviated ne. This is abhominable,--which he
would call abbominable: it insinuateth me of
insanie: anne intelligis, domine? to make frantic, lunatic.

SIR NATHANIEL

Laus Deo, bene intelligo.

HOLOFERNES

Bon, bon, fort bon, Priscian! a little scratch'd,
'twill serve.

SIR NATHANIEL

Videsne quis venit?

HOLOFERNES

Video, et gaudeo.

Enter DON ADRIANO DE ARMADO, MOTH, and COSTARD
DON

ADRIANO DE ARMADO

Chirrah!

To MOTH

HOLOFERNES

Quare chirrah, not sirrah?
DON

ADRIANO DE ARMADO

Men of peace, well encountered.

HOLOFERNES

Most military sir, salutation.

MOTH

[Aside to COSTARD] They have been at a great feast
of languages, and stolen the scraps.

COSTARD

O, they have lived long on the alms-basket of words.
I marvel thy master hath not eaten thee for a word;
for thou art not so long by the head as
honorificabilitudinitatibus: thou art easier
swallowed than a flap-dragon.

MOTH

Peace! the peal begins.
DON

ADRIANO DE ARMADO

[To HOLOFERNES] Monsieur, are you not lettered?

MOTH

Yes, yes; he teaches boys the hornbook. What is a,
b, spelt backward, with the horn on his head?

HOLOFERNES

Ba, pueritia, with a horn added.

MOTH

Ba, most silly sheep with a horn. You hear his learning.

HOLOFERNES

Quis, quis, thou consonant?

MOTH

The third of the five vowels, if you repeat them; or
the fifth, if I.

HOLOFERNES

I will repeat them,--a, e, i,--

MOTH

The sheep: the other two concludes it,--o, u.
DON

ADRIANO DE ARMADO

Now, by the salt wave of the Mediterraneum, a sweet
touch, a quick venue of wit! snip, snap, quick and
home! it rejoiceth my intellect: true wit!

MOTH

Offered by a child to an old man; which is wit-old.

HOLOFERNES

What is the figure? what is the figure?

MOTH

Horns.

HOLOFERNES

Thou disputest like an infant: go, whip thy gig.

MOTH

Lend me your horn to make one, and I will whip about
your infamy circum circa,--a gig of a cuckold's horn.

COSTARD

An I had but one penny in the world, thou shouldst
have it to buy gingerbread: hold, there is the very
remuneration I had of thy master, thou halfpenny
purse of wit, thou pigeon-egg of discretion. O, an
the heavens were so pleased that thou wert but my
bastard, what a joyful father wouldst thou make me!
Go to; thou hast it ad dunghill, at the fingers'
ends, as they say.

HOLOFERNES

O, I smell false Latin; dunghill for unguem.
DON

ADRIANO DE ARMADO

Arts-man, preambulate, we will be singled from the
barbarous. Do you not educate youth at the
charge-house on the top of the mountain?

HOLOFERNES

Or mons, the hill.
DON

ADRIANO DE ARMADO

At your sweet pleasure, for the mountain.

If you are ever presented the opportunity to see this play performed, I recommend it. It is well worth it.

Tribond

2006-06-30T09:26:00.000-07:00

What do these three words have in common? (The answer will be posted later...)

1) Veneration
2) Cereal
3) Volcano

Latin on Prarie Home Companion

2006-01-15T15:26:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows that Garrison Keillor loves English majors. Or loves to mock them and remind them that they can do nothing with a degree in English. But I didn't know that he loves Latin.

I am an English major. Er, well, I was until I graduated with my English degree, that is. I guess now I am an English degree holder. That counts for something, right? Not if you're looking for a job. As you know, I've become a teacher. A Latin teacher, to be exact. This is my third year and I love it. But imagine my surprise and elation when Garrison Keillor announced that his next guest would be quoting a poem in Latin! Ah... music to my ears, made sweeter by the classical pronunciation to which I adhere, but which is so often discarded for the ecclesiastical. It was beautiful and it made me glad to be addicted to NPR.

I finished it months ago, really...

2005-10-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

After a long break, I finally picked up The Fountainhead again. This time it sucked me in and I read incessantly, tumbling through the words like Alice down the rabbit's hole. Ayn Rand always keeps me guessing and I can never predict where she's going with things. Well, that's not completely true. I always know that she's going the way of the individual, in radical defiance of community and altruism. But as far as the plot goes... it's anyone's guess.

After struggling through the first 100 pages, I found the following 450 or so quite intriguing - compelling, really. And I finished it. Check that off my list. I finished it months ago, really.

Rome Alive

2005-06-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been reading Rome Alive by Peter J. Aicher. It claims to be "a source-guide to the ancient city," but its benefits go well beyond researching a visit to Rome. The book consists of two volumes. Volume I is the guide and includes maps, summaries, and English translations of the Latin and Greek sources for most of the ancient Roman monuments. Volume II includes the same maps as the first volume, and provides the original language text for the sources quoted in the first book.

As I said before, this book is beneficial not only for the traveler, but for others as well. I would recommend Rome Alive to anyone who teaches Latin (even Greek) or ancient Roman history. The supplementary volume II is an excellent resource for teachers who want to give their students the opportunity to dig out facts and do simplified research from the original language. Aicher's writing style is easy to read and gives the reader such clear and interesting information that it is hard to put the book down! The more I read, the more I wanted to continue. His source translations are also beautifully rendered, consistent with the tone and intention of each author.

Maps
Rome Alive begins with an overview map, which highlights the areas covered by the smaller maps throughout the book. This overview map is helpful for visualizing Rome and its major divisions. It is according to these divisions that Aicher divides his book into chapters. Each chapter opens with a numbered map encompassing the monuments to be discussed within, and the sources are numbered in correspondence to the numbered location on the map. Aicher not only explains the locations of the ancient sites in relation to each other, but also in relation to what stands in Rome today, both on the maps and in his summaries. Additional maps are provided as needed throughout the chapter, again numbered for easy reference to the source texts. Many of the maps in volume I are also duplicated in volume II. This facilitates reading by providing visual context for the explained monument.

Pictures
Peter Aicher includes not only a plethora of maps and illustrations, but of photos of Rome as well. Each picture seems to have been carefully chosen and placed, for each adds to the reader's understanding as he progresses through the book. For a visitor to Rome, these pictures would leave no question in his mind as to whether he were indeed glimpsing the remains of what the ancient Romans described in the sources given. I personally appreciate Aicher's including clear pictures of the aqueducts' channels; despite all of the ancient description I'd read, I did not have a clear idea until seeing the included photo. After reading the sources, referencing the maps, and studying the pictures, I am amazed at how much deeper my understanding of the technology and architecture of Rome is.

Summaries
As each new site is introduced, Peter Aicher begins with a summary of the information about the location. These summaries are short and easy to read, but give the reader a skeletal understanding of the site, which is fleshed out as the reader works his way through the sources. Aicher's summaries are true to the sources, and it is here that he addresses the socio-political issues that often impacted the inception or destruction of Roman buildings. It is in these summaries, also, that he addresses discrepancies in the sources.

Sources
The sources included in Rome Alive are the real reason I am so enthusiastic about this book. The real meat of the book is found in these. Aicher has sifted through mounds of primary sources and extracted just the right amount of the most pertinent information for each of the sites he covers. Because he references not only the author and work but also the line numbers for each source, it is not difficult to look up the complete source elsewhere for greater context of the excerpt. Aicher has translated the sources wonderfully, rendering them into easily read idiomatic English. An example of his careful translation can be seen in the rhyme of this excerpt from Suetonius' Nero (39.2):

Nero proved surprisingly tolerant towards those who made him the target of their witticisms and verse-lampoons. There were many of these in circulation, in Greek as well as in Latin. The following about the Golden House is one example:

Rome is now a private home,
It's time to emigrate -
Assuming other lands exist
When they finish this estate.

While the sources in volume I have been translated into English, I can't begin to express how easy it is to cross-reference them with their original language text using volume II. Because each source in volume I is numbered (according to the monument number on the maps) and the corresponding Latin or Greek source is given the same numbering in volume II, checking the original text is extremely simple. This is my favorite aspect of the set - and what makes these books such an amazing resource for teachers and students alike.

Inscriptions
As a visitor's guide to Rome, some of the most valuable references Peter Aicher includes in Rome Alive are his translations of the monuments' inscriptions. When I visited Rome, I wished I knew what the monuments said. Later, when I had learned Latin, I tried to decipher the inscriptions but found the abbreviations difficult. Peter Aicher has included not only the text of the inscription (with the lengthened forms of the abbreviated words in parentheses), but the translations of the inscriptions as well. Understanding the inscriptions on the monuments makes viewing them more interesting and fulfilling. Having read the history of the monuments, understanding why they were built, and how they impacted the Romans' lives will make a visit to ancient Rome more memorable and substantial.

For anyone interested in learning about Rome or her language, I recommend Rome Alive. For anyone who teaches Latin or Roman history using primary sources, this book is a must-have.

In Catilinam I

2005-06-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

This website is a great reference when I begin teaching 9th grade prose.

I put the book down...

2005-06-09T17:04:00.000-07:00

... which was something I couldn't do with Atlas Shrugged. Yet, 36 pages into The Fountainhead I was tired, put the book down, and fell asleep. That was a few days ago. I haven't been inspired to pick it up since. Is this a sign? Atlas Shrugged had me captivated at line 1. "Who is John Galt?" and I was hooked. As I sit writing right now, I can't even remember the name of the main character in The Fountainhead. I hope this isn't indicative of what I will find throughout the book. Here I am at page 36 and I must make it to page 694! It's not that the book isn't interesting - it's just not captivating. I should have known; when you begin with an author's masterpiece, all his other works will be inferior to that first.

I'll keep reading. Maybe the pages will fly like the last did. Maybe not. We'll see.

Anthem

2005-06-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

Over the Memorial Day weekend I had the opportunity to read Ayn Rand's Anthem. It's a pretty short book, only 105 pgs. I can't say that I enjoyed it nearly as much as I did Atlas Shrugged. I did enjoy the imagery of Prometheus, though. In the book, the main character likens himself to Prometheus for bringing light to mankind. Both were punished for "helping" humanity. Unlike Prometheus, though, Anthem's character was not bound and tortured for eternity - instead he escapes into the Uncharted Forest, with the love of his life, and there sets out to free humanity from its bondage to altruism. Anthem parallels Atlas Shrugged at least in one way, though. In both, the brilliant of mankind are shunned or punished because they are not working to better the brotherhood of humanity or the less fortunate. They respond by removing themselves from society and building a better society based on self-interest alone. When you consider the fact that Rand comes out of communistic Russia, it makes sense that she would see "brotherhood" and "community" very negatively.

Next on my list of Rand's works to read is The Fountainhead. It's another long one, so I'm interested to see how that one compares to Atlas Shrugged.

Wish List

2005-05-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

I would like to add this book to my wish list. I get all giddy and short of breath just thinking about reading it. It is A Natural History of Latin by Tore Janson. I know that I spent over $100 on books alone last month... But really, is reading such a horrible obsession? The next time Leif needs some drachenfutter, maybe, just maybe, he will remember reading this and bring me such a gift. =) I can hope, right? 256 pages (80 of which are vocabulary and expressions) - $27. CDB (Christian Book Distributers) has it for $22, hardcover.

Cur trepidi?

2005-05-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

Why do we get nervous? Today we had our first elementary Latin vocabulary bee. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders have been faithfully learning their vocabulary all year and today was they day they got to demonstrate that to their parents. Now, all year we have been quizzing and testing and chanting vocabulary. We have had class bees and have even had official class bees with prizes. So why, today, did they get nervous? Parents were there - but these were the same parents who have worked with them all year to learn vocabulary. The event didn't count on their grades, so that wasn't it... And why, when we are nervous, do we forget what we know so well on any other day? The kids did great. They had fun; they had wonderful attitudes when they missed a word and had to sit down. The students who worked to learn their words well during the year are the ones who did the best and won. Parents were happy to see their kids reciting individually in front of a group. But isn't nervousness a weird human reaction? Even I was nervous. And I all had to do was say "correct" or "incorrect" after reading the word. But a vocabulary bee is more than that for these kids. And it was more than that for me. This was a display for the parents of what I taught the kids this year. It was a reflection on what I spent months of my time doing. For the kids, this was the first time they'd had to stand in front of a group of adults and recite. They were scared! But they did it. And they did well. They had fun. And next year it won't be so scary.

I'm excited for these kids who are learning as 8 year olds to stand and speak confidently in front of a group. Our goal is to prepare kids to do whatever God has planned for them. It's not to make them into politicians, or writers, or teachers, or engineers - it is to help parents turn out well grounded children who are capable and open for whatever God chooses to do with them. As I heard my students express their fears at doing poorly in front of the parents, I was reminded of Moses, who, when God told him to speak said, "I can't, God - send someone else." And I was proud of my students for stepping out on that limb, even though they weren't sure it would hold. They are one step closer to being ready and willing for God's call, whatever it may be.

Wikipedia Pages on Latin, English, and Language

2005-05-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some Wikipedia links on Latin, English, Anglo-Saxon... Hopefully these will prove useful as I think through my introductory lessons for next year. I want the students to be able to see the profound influence historical events have on the formation of language.

Dual number (not directly related to Latin, but adaptable given the declensions of duo and ambo)
Old English (and how it was influenced by Latin, etc, to become modern English)
Yogh (Interesting article on why night, cough, through all have different 'gh' sounds)
Eth (again, why 'th' is pronounced as it is)
Wynn (runic beginnings of our 'W')
Germanic and Latinate Equivalents (Excellent list of words and roots)
Latin Proverbs (use as quotes)

Home Sweet Home?

2005-05-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

Deo volente, this could be the new home of Petra Academy. What an incredible opportunity and a beautiful location!

Sword Fights and Bread Baking

2005-05-07T07:41:00.000-07:00

This week our school had its first annual Renaissance Fair for the secondary students. There were chess, sketching, and costume competitions, authentic Renaissance games, a great feast, and ... a sword fighting tournament.

It was this sword fighting that the boys were most excited over and the girls most dismayed. Our egalitarian culture dictates that men and women are equal, which means that the opportunities presented to one ought to be presented to the other as well. It was not a popular notion when the girls were not allowed to participate in the sword fighting.

Prior to the Renaissance Fair, some of the girls asked nicely why they couldn't participate, some demanded scriptural proof that females sword fighting is sin, and some even went so far as to draw up a petition to convince the administrator that they should be allowed to sword fight with the boys. The administrator stood firm, though, and other events were planned to occupy the girls' time while the boys were learning to fight. The girls helped decorate the lunchroom and then set off to prepare food for the next day's feast.

When the sword fights got underway the next day, the girls were completely unprepared for what they saw. The boys, though friends, went after eachother like enemies, fighting one-to-one. There was no mercy; it was one of those events where the testosterone was allowed, and even encouraged, to flow in full force. They had wooden shields, and foam-covered dowel swords. Even with the padded swords, the boys were vicious. The girls watched in amazement - that is not how they would have fought. This became one of the beautiful moments of the day - the girls began to really see how God wired men and women differently.

When God designed humans, he created two genders: male and female. He created them equal, but gave them different roles to fulfill, and so wired them to think in a way conducive to filling those roles. Men are protectors, leaders, and fighters, both physically and spiritually. Our culture, in its declaration of "equality," has stripped men of their masculinity to push them toward a more gender-neutral role. Satan has twisted the equality of respect and importance found in Scripture into an equality of role, so prevalent in our culture today. Culture says, "There is no difference between men and women." and our children have bought into that lie.

On Friday, the girls of Petra Academy were given the opportunity to clearly see the difference between men and women. One girl commented, upon leaving the tournament, "I would bake bread any day over doing that." There is a difference between men and women, and our children ought to be taught that. Boys should be taught to grow into MEN, real men, leaders, heros, protectors of faith and family, not into the emasculated men of the sitcoms. And women must understand the role of men and the importance it holds so that they do not usurp that role from the men.

In Bozeman, MT a corner of the cultural blindfold has been lifted from the students, simply by allowing men to be men. It is my prayer that the blindfold will keep coming off, and that these students will influence the next generation as they model their roles in their families - that these men will be MEN, and the women will be WOMEN, confident and strong in the roles God has given them, glorifying Him with their lives.

Texts for Prose I

2005-05-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

These are the texts from Bolchazy-Carducci that would be needed for Latin Prose I in 9th grade. The first is Cicero's In Catalinam I. I have a Latin text only copy of this already. There is also a parsed version that would be very helpful as a teacher resource. Caesar's Invasion of Britain is also required for that year. This is a graded reader, not straight from De Bello Gallico.

And THIS is just a book I would like to have. More reading, fewer sentences...that's what I say.

Link for Christian Latin Sources

2005-04-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

This was a Christian Latin resource recommended by someone in the email group. Seems to be a good place to gather memory pieces or other Christian Latin readings.

Building Children Like Roads

2005-04-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

Training children classically is like building a road like the Romans did. You must begin with a solid foundation. Romans used large rocks as a foundation. In classical education, the informational boulders are large fact groups. These large fact groups make up the grammar of each subject. For Latin, these are the inflections for declensions and conjugations, and vocabulary. In math, these are multiplication tables and adding and subtracting facts. In Bible, these are major stories and characters, and books of the Bible. History, Science, Art, and Music also have grammars that form the basis of knowledge for each category.

Romans used various smaller rocks, gravel, sand, or flint for the next layers of a road. These are the things that packed everything together tightly and made the road solid. In education, these are the relationships between the information found in the large fact groups, and the relationships between the subjects themselves. This training is done during the junior high years, when students have mastered the grammar of a subject and are ready to begin studying how those facts came to be and how they affect the world. This is the time students are taught formal logic. Logic and the relationships between subjects cement the information into a single body of knowledge instead of fragmented groups of facts.

Roman roads were finished with smooth paving stones that were more comfortable to drive a cart or walk on and made travel more efficient. On these finished roads traveled the ideas of Greece and Rome, the power of the military, and the truth of the Gospel. In education, rhetoric has the power to swiftly and accurately convey ideas and truth. When the Romans equipped themselves with a network of completed roads, they were able to conquer other lands more efficiently and quell uprisings quickly. When a student is equipped with rhetoric, which has been laid on a foundation of grammar and the cement of logic, he is able to conquer ideas more efficiently and to persuasively tear down falsehoods quickly. It is through the rhetoric of students so trained that the great ideas and truths will be conveyed to the next generation.

It is the hope of the builders of the Christian classical education movement that the work being done in the hearts and minds of these students will stand the test of time as the Roman roads have.

Today's Quote...

2005-04-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

from Dr. Who - "Would you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?"

(and in Latin, just for kicks... "Noli dum mundum servo ventum emittere."

Pythagorean Hinduism?

2005-04-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

I was reading in Ovid's Metamorphoses tonight -- An interesting section on the Roman monarchy. Romulus has just been deified (Quirinus is his new god name) and Numa has been selected as his predecessor. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Pythagoras (yes, the Pythagorean Theorem math guy) speils for 17 pages about the nature of the universe. He begins by saying that we should basically become vegetarians - eat only vegetables, fruits, grains, etc. Our carnivorous activities are atrocious, imitative of the Cyclopes. After all, only savage animals kill to eat. We may kill ferocious, threatening animals, but we should not consume their flesh once we have done so. Pythagoras then goes on to say (quoted this whole time by Ovid, I might add) that life is an ever changing cycle. Why do you fear the Shades, a fabricated story, he asks. Don't you know that the body may experience death, but the soul will be tranferred to another body? He then claims that during the Trojan was he was Euphorbus, son of Panthous. After many, many pages of the fluid state of life and earth's living energy, he concludes by saying that the reason we should not eat animals is because we must respect the bodies where the souls of our ancestors may have found new homes. Could it be that our Greek friend here believes not in the Greek pantheon, but in the Hindu oneness and transformation of all matter? A quote to stir your thoughts:

"...the heavens and all things beneath the heavens change their forms -- the earth and all that is upon the earth; and since we are parts of the world, we, too, are changeable. For we're not only bodies, but winged souls; and we can dwell in bodies of wild beasts and hide within the shapes of cows and sheep. And so, let us respect --leave whole, intact-- all bodies where our parents' souls or those of brothers or of others dear to us may well have found a home; let us not stuff our bellies banqueting, as did Thyestes. Whover cuts a calf's throat wtih a knife and listens, without pity, to its cries; whoever kills a kid that, like a child, wails loud; whoever feeds upon a bird that he himself has fed --profanely sheds the blood of humans: such a man abets a habit that is evil --little less than murder." (Ovid's Metamorphoses translated by Allen Mandelbaum)

Summer Reading List

2005-04-19T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well, this is the summer. I'm almost done with Ovid's Metamorphoses, and it's only taken me about a year. So this is the summer I tackle the Illiad, Oddessey, and Aeneid. I can't justify waiting any longer to read the Aeneid, and I know I won't have a complete picture of the story if I don't first read the Illiad and Odyssey. So... this is it. I've officially posted my goal.

As a sidenote, I've chosen translations of the Oddessey and Aeneid by Allen Mandelbaum. It was his translation of The Metamorphoses that I read and liked so much. I have been very impressed with his translations - in their fullness of meaning and simple beauty to read. I already had a copy of Lattimore's Illiad (which I had heard was an excellent translation), so I'll be interested to see the difference in their styles.

Raising the Bar

2005-04-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

Whew. It's amazing how impossible it seems to reach the bar when you're just beginning. And as you get closer to meeting your goal, there's always a higher bar, a greater goal, a raised standard. A little over a year and a half ago I was hired on at Petra Academy to teach Latin to 3rd-10th grade students. I accepted the position in July and had a little over a month to prepare before school started. There was only one problem... I didn't know Latin.

I know what you're thinking - What?! What kind of a school hires a teacher to teach something she readily admits she doesn't know? And what kind of psycho ACCEPTS the position??!!! Well, as I was soon to learn hundreds of times over, "God doesn't call the prepared, he prepares the called." Little did I know that he had already been preparing me for this position. It all started when I was a baby...

When I was an infant, my parents had a friend and missionary staying at their home. He watched me in my crib, just beginning to form sounds in that baby-talk way and told my parents, "She's going to be good with languages someday."

Now fast forward a little over a decade or so to my freshman year of high school. Spanish I with Mrs. Montenegro. Now, Mrs. Montenegro was not a Spanish teacher by occupation. She was a nurse. But she happened to be a native El Salvadorian who learned English (by watching soap operas, I might add) and was willing to teach Spanish to a bunch of high schoolers. We learned all sorts of things that year. We learned to shop in a Spanish market and make authentic maize tortillas, we learned to give directions to the beach (nevermind that we lived in East Texas and the nearest beach was seven hours away), we learned to describe all the animals in a zoo (including a banana slug...), and many other things, all in Spanish. The one thing we didn't learn was Spanish grammar. Oops. Our Spanish II teacher was straight out of college with a degree in Spanish. Let's just say that she was a little more particular with proper Spanish grammar and a little less concerned with actual culture. All in all I'd say my Spanish classes were less than inspiring. Yet despite all that I made trips to Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, and Mexico in the next few years and conversed freely in Spanish with no major problems.

My junior year of high school I decided to try my hand at German. Because I already had a full classload and didn't need any more credits, I opted to audit the class. All was going pretty well until the teacher learned that I wasn't taking the class for credit - He chose then to poke at every mistake I made and make snide remarks about my lack of effort because the class didn't count. I decided it wasn't worth the persecution and dropped the class about half-way through the first semester. Yet - when we took a family trip to Europe the following year, I could hold basic conversations and navigate German signs just fine.

English having been one of my easiest and most enjoyable subjects in high school, I chose it as my major in college. As a liberal arts student, I would need four semesters of a foreign language to graduate. Our university didn't have a whole lot of offerings in the way of foreign language - you could either take Spanish or Greek. I'd had Spanish before so I thought it would be easy, but I heard horor stories about the professor. She was a native French woman fluent in Spanish, French, and German. Unfortunately, she conducted all of her classes only in Spanish and at that, Spanish with a French accent. The only people who managed to pass her classes the first time around were those who grew up in Spanish speaking countries. So... I decided to opt for Greek. By this point I had decided that I wanted to become a linguist and translate the Scriptures. With a degree in English and minors in Bible and Cross-cultural studies I figured Greek was the next step in my journey to missionary translation.

The two years I spent in Greek were all-consuming. I ate, slept, and breathed Greek participles, paradigms, and conjugations. My classmates and I formed a bond that could only be formed by trudging through two years of life-draining academic rigor. I ended the first semester with a hard earned A, followed by two B's, and finally a C, for which I was eternally grateful. By the time I finished my last semester of Greek, I didn't care if I ever saw another foreign language again. I was burnt out.

I didn't really think about language again until that interview with Petra. Noticing that I'd learned Greek, they wanted to know if I would consider teaching Latin.

"Do you realize that I don't know any Latin?" I asked.

They assured me that I had a month before school started to learn. Wow. After praying and consulting those who knew me best (and having all of them say, "Go for it!") I accepted the position and set about the task of learning Latin. I have to admit that, though I tried, I had no idea where to start and got very little accomplished in that first month. But "God doesn't call the prepared, He prepares the called." and He set out that first year to prove once and for all that it was He who was at work - not I. Once school began, never did I sit down to study and learn the material. As I read and planned each lesson, the information clicked into place immediately and fit with the rest to build the picture of Latin I was being given. God gave me what I needed, when I needed it, and not usually long before I needed it.

Now that my second year is drawing to a close, He is still working to supply me with the knowledge I need to do the job He has called me to do. And the more knowledge He gives me, the more I see how much I still have to learn. Learning is a never ending process, and I hope that I never stop learning. There is so much I still have to read and learn and develop before I even have a decent mastery of Latin, much less any of the other subjects in which God has so richly revealed himself. I am convinced that as I (through God's grace) develop my understanding of Latin, I will constantly be presented with new ways to raise the bar and hold myself to a higher academic standard. I stumbled across one of these tonight in an article written in 1912. I know the classical Christian movement is still in its infancy, and I know that it will take time to grow to maturity, as will I. But I pray that God will continue to provide such goals as only He can help me achieve so that my dependence will always be on Him, that my studies in any area will always lead to Him.

Didactic and Dialectic Teaching Methods

2005-04-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

This article on the difference between didactic and dialectic teaching methods is interesting. I moved this year from a lecture style presentation of grammar lessons more to the didactic way of presenting material. I still need plenty of work to make this consistent, but I am pleased that I have seen a shift and progression from last year to this, and even from last semester to the present. I do not have the dialectic teaching down well at all. I need to work on this. I think this method would be extremely beneficial in the presentation and analysis of primary sources. The article presents the didactic method in a much clearer way than the dialectic, but does make it clear that they are both necessary and complimentary.

And yet another great article

2005-04-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

This article, particularly the poem, is just a small glimpse into the incredible depth and insight the study of classical literature/history/language can offer when viewed through the light of God's Scripture. I have never met education so breathtaking as that which I have encountered in my two years at Petra.

Teaching Latin...

2005-04-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

brings instant gratification. 3rd grade Latin has got to be one of my favorite classes to teach. I love the enthusiasm they bring to class each day and their eagerness to discover something new. They can't wait for Wednesdays, when we talk about derivatives. Their hands shoot into the air when asked why we pronounce "Veni, vidi, vici" using a different pronunciation than our other quotes because they are excited to describe it as 'ecclesiastical Latin' and actually know what that means. They see pronoun chants not as more that they have to learn for a quiz, but as a new challenge, longer than the previous and therefore all the more rewarding when they master it. The author of this article states her experiences with elementary Latin students in much the same light. There is a great part of me that looks forward to next year when, Deo volente, I will be teaching only half the classload I am this year. But another part of me misses already the elation that comes from the excited faces of 3rd graders greeting me daily with, "Salve, Magistra Wickland!" The day is approaching when I must say "Valete, discipuli" for the last time as they file out of my room, but I will cherish each day until then and be thankful that God has given me the grace to teach all of the Latin classes for two years. What a blessing it has been to see the trivium in action, all three phases side by side each day.

Becoming a Student

2005-04-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

In Gregory's Seven Laws of Teaching we read that one of the things that must happen for learning to take place is that the student must attend with interest the lesson being taught. Learning cannot be acheived passively by the student. This article by Brian Smith on How to Be a Student is an excellent reminder of what it means to attend with interest the lesson being taught. It should be a reminder not only for those pupils in an educational institution, but also for adults who seek to be students of Scripture and life.

Articles on Teaching Latin Grammar

2005-04-09T16:33:00.000-07:00

Memoria Press has made some of their previously published articles available online. Two articles on teaching the Grammar of Latin (Article 1, Article 2) could be helpful in emphasizing to a new Elementary Latin teacher the basic necessity of learning the conjugations, declensions, and paradigms thoroughly before moving on to translation in Latin. I like what the author says about making sure students are drilled thoroughly enough to give various forms for words immediately upon request. The author discourages the memorization of long lists of vocabulary, but says that obtaining a vocabulary of 500-1000 words over four years is acceptable. In elementary Latin at Petra, we are within this vocabulary limit. I think our curriculum could better use the vocabulary in drill sentences and we could use model sentences to futher drill the most commonly used vocabulary. It is worth mentioning that when the author refers to "overlearning," she is referring to review.

The Great Stereopticon

2005-04-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

I was reading Ideas Have Consequences by Richard Weaver this evening and I found myself in the chapter titled "The Great Stereopticon." Aside from having a very cool name and 12 words I had to look up, the chapter made some excellent points on the depth with which we consider the information we partake of each day. Weaver describes The Great Stereopticon as a machine consisting of three parts: the press, the motion picture, and the radio. The purpose of the Stereopticon, he says, is basically to maintain or instill values. The way the machine does this is "to project selected pictures of life in the hope that what is seen will be imitated."

To begin the chapter, Weaver presents a dilemma in which leaders must unite a people are no longer like-minded on fundamental issues. Originally the people were united by a shared belief or common religion. As religion deteriorated and the people became fragmented and individualistic, the leaders were forced to try to unite them again so that they could be led (or rather, so that the leaders could have a group to lead.) The leaders' solution was

"to let religion go but to replace it with education, which supposedly would exercise the same efficacy. The separation of education from religion, one of the proudest achievements of modernism, is but an extension of the separation of knowledge from metaphysics... We include here, of course, the education of the classroom, for all such institutionalized instruction proceeds on the assumptions of the state. But the education which best accomplishes their purpose is the systematic indoctrination from day to day of the whole citizenry through channels of information and entertainment."

And so the Great Stereopticon was constructed to so indoctrinate the public.

As Weaver addresses each of the three parts to this machine, he speaks of how each is used in the breakdown of a thinking society. Newspapers, by their bold article titles and carefully worded reports elicit automatic responses.

"Headlines and advertising teem with them [carefully chosen phrases to evoke specific responses of approval or disapproval], and we seem to approach a point at which failure to make the stock response is regarded as faintly treasonable, like refusal to salute the flag."

Because of this, journalism becomes something to be feared. So many are not used to thinking that when they feel a response contradictory to the one suggested by the piece, they don't know what to do.

"If our newspaper reader were trained to look for assumptions, if he were conscious of the rhetoric in lively reporting, we might not fear this product of the printer's art; but that woul be to grant that he is educated."

This is the education we are seeking to do through Classical Christian education, that most of us did not receive ourselves.

As for Weaver's discussion on movies, I found his ideas of censorship very interesting and inconsistent with those I was raised to hold. On censorship he says,

"For what the public is reconciled to seeing censored are just the little breaches of decorum which fret bourgeios respectability and sense of security. The truth is that these are so far removed from the heart of the problem that they could well be ignored. The thing that needs to be censored is not the length of the kisses but the egotistic, selfish, and self-flaunting hero; not the relative proportion of undraped breast but the flippant, vacuous-minded, and also egotistic heroine. Let us not worry about the jokes of dubious propriety; let us rather object to the whole story, with its complacent assertation of the virtues of materialistic society."

And possibly most interesting was his critique of the radio and television. Being an NPR addict myself, I thought, "What could possibly be wrong with NPR?" For the radio and television he states that the problem lies in the "daily mechanical wrecking of hierarchy." Through our daily consumption of these media,

"we are made to grow accustomed to the weirdest of juxtapositions: the serious and the trivial, the comic and the tragic, follow one another in mechanical sequence without real transition."

This approach separates us from the reality of our world and feeds us the metaphysical dream of progress, somehow making us feel that though the world is in disarray, it will soon be all better and we need not worry now. Cheerful commentators come on the air to discuss in the same breath the death of Pope John Paul II and the rising gas prices, as through they had equal significance and impact. This fragmentation has never seemed inconsistent to me, but then I have been inundated with it my entire life. It seems no stranger to me that 2 minute commercial breaks (which are divided into four 30 second segments) break up an hour long news show (which is itself broken into four or more segments) than it does that the days are separated into hours and minutes and divided by night. How do we, who are so satiated with the ideas fed us through the Great Stereopticon become free to think and reason without its influence? I'm sure there is much to be said to answer this question and I will continue to think on it, probably for years. But I know my starting place... "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." ~Proverbs 1:7

A really interesting blog on The Great Stereopticon can be found at The Misspent Life.

Famous Men of Rome Website

2005-04-01T21:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a possibly good resource for summaries of some of the famous men of Rome. It takes the information from Livy's accounts and summarizes it in a way that is easily read by children. I think this is the same book our school has and uses with 5th-6th graders. This appears to be the online edition. Anyway- should be a good resource if I remember to use it.

Defense For Continuing High School Latin

2005-03-25T20:09:00.000-08:00

In my Latin teachers email group, a woman wrote in with the question, "We are currently working on our high school graduation requirements (we have two 9th-graders this year), and we have a potential new student at the high school level for next year. We have already decided to require two years of a modern language, but our students have already had Latin from 3rd-8th grade. If a new student does not have any Latin, do any of your schools require it for high school graduation? If you had to choose between teaching Latin (or Greek) or a modern language for high school students, what would you do?"

The following was my response. I had never thought about the reasons behind continuing the study of Latin instead of a modern language in high school, but in thinking through it, I gained a fuller understanding of what it is I'm trying to do in my classroom.

It seems like a lot of the responses on Latin vs. modern language have been from lower schools only, so I thought I'd give some input from one who teaches both elementary and secondary Latin. Our students take Latin from 3rd -10th (we hope to offer Greek someday in the 11th and 12th). I find that Latin is especially beneficial to students transitioning from the Logic to Rhetoric phases. Elementary Latin is all about memorizing the vocabulary, endings, cases, etc. 6/7-8th grade Latin is about seeing the relationships between the words and learning how they work to form sentences the way they do. When students begin to transition into the more idiomatic/poetic Latin, it really helps them see how language works. This is around the time (and at our school even a little before) they study formal rhetoric. Ideally they should be reading some "real" Latin and becoming familiar with the rhetorical devices in Latin, how they translate to English, why they are effective, how the speeches impacted history, etc. These things don't make a whole lot of sense to students in the logic phase. They're still pretty concrete thinkers. In the poetic / rhetoric phase, it clicks with the students and they see the impact of language from a different perspective. Modern languages don't really offer these types of rich rhetorical histories which are so much a part of English's past. Modern languages are fine, don't misunderstand me, but if you're looking for the best language to use to train students in the tools of learning, I would say Latin is it. Your students are already familiar with it, and even if new students come into Latin it isn't so difficult it can't be made up with effort. I have a new 9th grader this year who has not had any Latin, while the other students have had at least 1 year, and one student has had 5 years. The new student picks up so much from the insight of the other students that he has done very well. He works very hard and currently has a B-. Most likely your students will have the opportunity (or even requirement!) to study a modern language in college. One of the best preparations for that is to teach them how to study a language (using Latin, which they are already familiar with!) using all three of the tools of learning.

[The links were added for anyone unfamiliar with the 'tools of learning' and were not a part of the original email. Miss Sayers' essay explains one of the central ideas in Classical Christian education.]

Classroom Resource

2005-03-21T17:19:00.000-08:00

You can easily make your own word searches and word games at the Educational Press website. They print out very nicely and take a lot of the work out of making them yourself!

Wish List

2005-03-18T17:05:00.000-08:00

Okay... So when I have a baby, these are must-haves. Little onesies with Carpe infantem (seize the baby) and Dormio ergo sum (I sleep therefore I am). These are great!!!!!