Interesting Thought

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."-- President John Adams, Oct. 11, 1798

Stuff

Its funny how attached to stuff you are. Stuff makes memories, and stuff keeps them. Stuff brings flashbacks of good old times, and stuff makes them seem farther away. Stuff is dear, and stuff is hateful.....I can't imagine parting with it, yet I've lived for so long wothout it!

Today.....actually tonight we got all our stuff completely released from the hassle of customs and regulations.

These are interesting photos from tonight's unpacking-

I got my little Sparky Puppy from when I was 6. It used to cry when you patted it's head, but the batteries messed up, and the connection is all broken.















I also got all my seminar and Bible Study papers, and all the books I borrowed from Daddy's office. This one I kept, and read over and over again. This is also one of the verses that haunts me when I find myself getting happy being stagnant.




Then there are the silly stuff like an ornamental plate from India, and















curtains from my older sister's room-


And this is what happens when you run down the steps, and fall against a shoe-rack!

We also have guests.....

Existentialism 2

One result I noted in my last article mentioned "Neo-Marxism", or "the new gospel".

I recently found a good example. I was reading a children's story book to my little sister called "Jesus is born" by my Bible stories. It gives a rather comprehensive, 3rd grade explanation of the birth of our savior, and of the events during and following (Herod's decree, the wise men, the flight to Egypt).

It also includes other segments of Jesus' life such as the trip to Jerusalem when He was 12, His baptism by John, the calling of the disciples, the wedding at Cana, and the "Sermon on the Mount". At the Cana wedding there is no mention of Jesus' rebuke to Mary for "ordering Him around" In the picture she stands in the background looking on proudly as the servant pours water into a jug with surprise.

In the "sermon on the Mount" portion, Jesus is told to have been "heal(ing) the sick and look(ing) after people who were poor and needy". For the actual sermon part the book tells children "(Jesus) wanted to tell (the people) about God's kingdom. 'The sick, the poor and the hungry will be happy in heaven,' He told them. 'But those who only care about getting rich on earth will never go to heaven.'
Jesus told the people not to be selfish and to care for eachother. To look after the sick and the poor. To share what they had with others. The people listened to Jesus. They went away nd tole even more people about the things that Jesus taught them."

I think this is a prime example of how deception sneaks into one's home. I have seen that book around, and maybe I even heard my little sister read it to herself without conciously seeing how it twisted the salvation gospel into a condemnation of "the rich" or prosperous.

It is sad...

Missed stanza

At the topmost branch
Sit the best apple stock
The brilliance of A. A. Milne
A blood encrusted sock

MK Get-together

*Yawn* Oh my goodness-
Is it 4:00 already?
Everything is fuzzy,
My head just feels so heavy…

Laughing till you drop
Oh! Will the jokes never stop!
Blondes, men and mermaids…
How do you kill a mop?

Popcorn-in-the-cup duels
Ice down your back-
Deep turqoise seas-
What more do we lack?

Getting lost in the city
Singing your heart out
Dancing to numa in the backseat
The spare and the stout.

A foot laceration
Pictured Daza or Housa?
A moment of silence
An ode for dear Anna

A wallet a charger,
What have I lost now?
Pictures galore-
Phil Keggy takes a bow.

Adorable little admirers
Brownies, motors, and more!
Splitting wood, raking leaves-
Ah, what fun galore!!!

Do you like my music?
Can you play hearts?
Requirements for marriage?
Can you sing in parts?

Shall we pray for meals?
A ferocious pillow fight-
Firstborn or later kid?
Talking, debating away the night

The Westminster Confession-
Christmas or no?
Skipping away to see The Wizard-
Is it cold enough to snow?

Pitpit or amaccan?
Pronunciation is the key!!
Peanut butter specials
Are great, if you ask me.

Mucking out horse stalls
Opening doors for girls-
Casting Crowns, or Jars of Clay?
Liquid ‘brown’ eyes and smooth curls.

Walking, walking around the block
Seeing Christmas lights and more-
Falling, tripping, pinchy skates,
Ice skating has made me so sore!!!!

Seeing people for the first time
Me didn’t play Mafia, but even so
I loved my MK gathering-
I just wanted you to know.

Notes:
(a)I tried to get all my favorite mamories in, and get everyone laughing and have a special line or two for each person. If you have something else I forgot comment and I'll work in more stanzas.
(b) I finally got in Penut Butter...I was having such trouble, until I fell asleep. I woke up at 7 AM and a vwhole verse came to me. I memorised it, and fell back to sleep.
(c) this is not entirely my own poem....my *ehem* older sister had very much to do with the current layout, at least 4 extra stanzas, and some revision of words.
(d) anything else I forgot to mention----
(e) comment, comment, comment!! (I want to know what you guys think!)

Goodbye

I’ve been dreaming dreams of a heavenly place
‘Cause this world is not my home.
So I’m travlin’ light on my journey here
Makin’ plans for the day I go.

So if this is the last time,
We have down here together
I promise you,
I’ll see you in forever!!


Chorus:
Godspeed, bon voiyage,
Until we meet again.
Farewell, go with God,
I’ll see you soon, my friend
If I go before you do, or
You’re the first to fly…
Farewell, adios, for now-
Goodbye!


There may be some tears when we’ve said "so long"
But our parting will be sweet!
‘Cause my heart is sure that the time will come
I will meet you on Golden Street.

So let’s make some memories
To tresure for a lifetime
And love eachother like
It’s the last time!

The words of this song came to me last night. I think it is really a good song because it captures so well the MK thing with saying goodbye. It is also really sad, and in the end they add more languages.

A night with EMTs

My eldest sister is studying to be an EMT, and she took me with her tonight to be the practice patient, and to show me off to her classmates.(I am entirely kidding about that last point)

We came in and sat down, and everyone made jokes, cursed, and talked about a hundred different things.

When class officially started, I was taken into the testing room, and brifed about what I would endure, and what I would be/say.

Every person did things differently, and every person forgot different things. Some grabbed your hand, some sqeezed your pulse, a couple failed and they almost all caught the oxygen mask on my glasses.. >(
I saw everyone else doing 'EMT stuff' and have now become a qualified EMT examiner (not). I was everywhere from 37 to 20 with names like Melissa and Jane (which I often forgot). I had a bee-sting, and they were sopposed to ask me about what was my problem, if I hurt, where, what I last ate (anything from ice cream & soda to roast beef), if the oxygen helped, what meds I was taking, past med. history, and etc.

Being shot with an epi-pen hurts, and so does double blood-pressure taking when it is to low on your arm. Multiple surveys of my chracter were undertaken.(I 'clam up' when other people come around....I'm more talkative that my sis....I'm a good actress, and a very novice (read: unhelpful) emergency patient) And some other things like taking blurry group shots, and making everyone sit as far away from me as possible...(was that really me, or was it my Guinea Pig status?).

In all...it was interesting....and tireing.....and memorable.....and I think I'd be interesting to be an EMT.......

Homeless Outreach:

Saturday, December 2, 2006 I went along with a friend, her brother, and a handful of others from her church to distribute donated food, clothes, and blankets and compaasion to the homeless of inner Philly. My dad took me to the church around 2:40 P.M. and he then talked with the leader until 3:10….making us late.

We piled into two cars and got to our destination around 6:30 in time for some rush-hour jams. We ate at the New Delhi restaurant which is an Indian Buffet. I found that I don’t like buttered rice at all, though I suffered through it for some deliciously spicy, watery red stuff that REALLY needed some rice.(the only food I forgot the name of) I liked the Lamb and spinach that they had, and the lentils. I avoided the American’s defaults of a salad bar, small battered & fried chicken legs, and round, flat bread. Dessert was encluded in the meal, so I tried Indian Rice Pudding instead of trying cheesecake, vanilla ice cream, or coffe. (yuck!)

Joetta (the lady we were going to work with who had run a shelter for some years) shared her testimony, and talked about the people we were going to see/minister to. We walked out into the 40 degree city, and had a time of group prayer before getting into the vans and splitting into teams. I was on the socialization/prayer team. We wandered around looking for someone Joetta knew, and saw people making a movie under one of Philly’s neumerous bridges. We finally found the people against the back of a huge building behind a ‘park’ of sorts that bordered a street with four rows of flags.(from all nations...I blew kisses to the RP) We gave out blankets and coats to people who were huddled under layers and layers of comforters shivering. It was a hard contrast. One man was amazed as we gave him a coat with a silk lining, and a ‘brand new’ bright blue parka. He was so shocked, that he kept on saying "Oh, that’s-that’s so nice…that is just beautiful."

He had dislocated his shoulder recently, and couldn’t do as much as he used to do. It was also very painful since this was the third time he had hurt it. It never really healed because he took of the sling sooner than should be because he needed his other hand. We also gave him water, socks, jeans, some warm gloves, and hats. He reminiced growing up in TX with Mr. James.

We moved on, after searching for another aquaintence of Ms. Joetta’s and came to a lovely, pillared stone building with scrolls, and porches, and big columns. In the park across the street, the benches were filled with shivering people. Mr. James (my group leader), his wife, son, and I got to know Jerry who didn’t want to come out of her pile of blankets because of the cold. She was a ‘mother-hen’ type of person who introduced us to all the others around (her adopted family). We gave her a bright pair of red gloves (her favorite color), and she popped out from her blankets, and put them on just to feel them. They had Black stripes, and she exclaimed over & over about how well they would match her black parka. She showed me how she arranged her blankets to get warm on the bench, and where the toe-warmers went. We gave her two other pairs of knit gloves, a black hat, and two things of lotion.(one for them, one for them to give away and bless someone else) Mr. James and his wife had been talking to her adopted brother in the meantime, who knew a lot about things. He talked about a volcano in Yellowstone Park called Caldera that would soon errupt due to global warming, and the pollution of car-emmisions. "Then," he said, "we are going to have a new world order" b/c this one volcano would wipe out all of America, most of Canada, Mexico and Central America with pyroclastic flow and ash fallout.(I studied volcanos in a unit study with my two older siblings, and mom when I was younger. The conclusion of our learning was a vacation and climb of the volcano Hibok-hibok which had errupted earlier in the 1930’s.) He said that it was the world’s largest volcano. I said it was interesting that I had NEVER heard about it…even with my unit study experience.

Mr. James’ daughter wanted a picture, so Jerry and her gang primped, and styled (seriously!! It was funny to see them arranging their hats and smoothing their coats) and smiled pretty. It was them around 9:30, and getting even colder. I had on a turtleneck sweater, and a jacket (I’ve lost two pairs of gloves so far this winter, so I didn’t have any), and I was COLD. Our team leader had to drag us away (really, he told us 3 times, and we dwadled until he made us go), and we were back on the good old turn-pike by 10.


My friend rode in the other car, so her brother and I talked half-way back.(Or rather, I thought of things to ask him, and he murmered two-sentence answers. *sigh*-melencholies) We stopped for gas and coffe at Starbucks half-way there, and I stayed in the warm car. The rest of the way, the teens in the back seat calmed down, and a general sleepiness fell on everyone. We got to ‘Micsbug’ around midnight, and got out of the car only to rush back in. The car had to go home, so we got out and within a minute we were physically shivering, and our teeth were chattering so badly that we couldn’t hardly talk. I don’t know how cold it was but it was aweful!! We took refuge in my friend’s car until my dad came to pick me up. I sat by the wood-stove until I had thawed out only to return to my 45 degree bedroom to huddle under blankets with a thankful prayer the the wind coming under my closed and locked window was NOT as cold as outside and a gratefulness that I wasn’t outside exposed to it.

I liked my time out, and the gratefulness that lined Jerry’s face as she hugged ‘everyone’ goodbye was bright. As our team leader put it….we groups of people are known ‘the ones who come to listen’ to them. It was understandable, since I as an MK understand no one caring enough to listen. How much more so when you are veiwed as less than human because you don’t have a roof and four walls with a door to call your own…..

All the labors of my hands

All the labors of my hands
Could not meet thy laws demands!
Could my tears forever flow,
Could my zeal my respite know...

All for sin could not atone.
Thou must save, and thou alone.

While I draw this fleeting breath
When my eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unkown
See thee on thy judgement throne-

Rock of ages cleft for me-
Let me hide myself,
Let me hide myself-
Let me hide myself in thee.

(as sung by GLAD)

So Send I You

So send I you to labor unrewarded,
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing,
So send I you to toil for me alone.

So send I you - to loneliness and longing,
With heart a-hungering for the loved and known;
Forsaking home and kindred, friend and dear one,
So send I you - to know my love alone.

So send I you - to leave your life’s ambitions,
To die to dear desire, self-will resign,
To labor long and love where men revile you,
So send I you - to lose your life in mine.

And in a revision later on in her life:

So send I you-by grace made strong to triumph
O'er hosts of hell, o'er darkness, death, and sin,
My name to bear, and in that name to conquer-
So send I you, my victory to win.

So send I you-to take to souls in bondage
The word or truth that sets the captive free,
To break the bonds of sin, to lost death's fetters-
So send I you, to bring the lost to me.

So send I you-my strength to know in weakness,
My joy in grief, my perfect peace in pain,
To prove My power, My grace, My promised presence-
So send I you, eternal fruit to gain.

So send I you-to bear My cross with patience,
And then one day with joy to lay it down,
To hear My voice, "well done, My faithful servant-
Come, share My throne, My kingdom, and My crown!"
"As the Father hath sent Me, so send I you."

So Send I You(Ye)- Margaret Clarkson

There are some other verses that I am memorizing as well, but I don't have time. >(

My dog

Or..shall we say what I want for a future dog. It is a Spitz breed animal that the Japanese have cultivated, and expanded. My puppy.... the Akita-Inu

"Apres nous...."

We had un deluge the 16th. It was raining rather hard all morning, and despite being on the highest point in all this precinct (across from us is the water tower), we got a good-sized wet.

We elder ones were recruited to soak towels, wring them out in the sink, bathtub, and soak them again. The hallway to our room reeks of mold. I left a candle on in my room all night, and the hallway still makes it stink (the girls room escaped the water). I was on a stool almost the whole morning yesterday with a wet-vac sucking water from the carpet, and the living room. I also tiptoe and hop in the hallway holding my breath, trying to get out quickly and do it dry.

All things considered...it has been a great week. (changed quotation from Roughing It)

Nov. 14-Old song on the radio

"We have our hopes, and we have our dreams,
But we cannot go where you will not lead. "

Don Moen- May Your Precense Go With Us, from the CD Let Your Glory Fall

November 10 & 11- Ladies Conference

Or, Deep thoughts during the expensive sleepover

That is about all it was. An expensive sleepover with 2,500 giddy, shallow, peer-defined girls.

I actually learned a couple things!! :0

Femmininity-
Having seen mostly 'ladys' for most of my sojourn here (well, the people my family is friends with, socialises with) (in quotation depending on how one defines the word) I was rather surprised by what I discovered was mainstream, and suddenly I realised that all these modesty/femmininity books were not "all these". In 2,500 people I counted about two score that wore skirts (though there were more on the second day), and about 30 who had hair even longer than shoulder length. I many times (in the building less that outside of it) had to look more than twice to determine the exact gender (there were a passel of guys doing the techi stuff and in the group singing).
I realised how MUCH I stuck out, and how little they probbably had of femminine influence growing up, and what 'normal' women's presuppasitions were.
It was saddening, and it made me feel better the responsibility of women to act like women and get the message out that femmininity is not next to becoming a third-world country again.

On a radio program the other day, I heard a guy say about feminists-" To try to be something, to hold something above another thing is to say that one is better than the other. For women to try to be like man, get treated like men, get the jobs of men...they are saying that being a man is better." It was just too true....to them there is no glory in long hair. No pride in being what God created them to be- Women.

Also, since they had no pride in being what they were, they had no pride in what men were. A pair of ladies who do shows, acting, and think up 'creative' ideas were talking about the types of women. The first type left casseroles with dates of when to eat them, and what temp. to heat the oven. The second type left the pizza cupons out. The third said 'They can fend for themselves!!' Then, they talked about packages to leave for thier husbands and my stomach curdled....I whispered to my mom "Did they put a bottle in too?" Listening to them one would believe that men were spinless little imps that crawled on the floor wimpering praying that their wonderful marvelous angelic wives would come home and take care of them.

Strangely, I believe thier husbands just might be. Though, except for the groveling on the floor part...they would sit in front of the latest football game. Thier children are probbably already fending for themselves in the eat-or-everyone-else-will-eat-you school/world/peer scene.

Pity and frustration welled up in me....along with a good bit of disgust. I felt like taking the whole kit and caboodle of them to a REAL ghetto in India where people are refused education, food, and water merely for thier social class, merely because they were living. They sit on the streets and pick trash for pennies (literally) (see late GFA updates). Let these women off to face REAL life, bring thier children to gang-infested cities where it is not merely the way one looks or dresses, but how one handles one's gun, and future survival is not in jepordy of one's parents taking away $10 from thier $100 allowance, but weather the opposite gang should catch you off guard and......and make your tomorrow the paralitic ward.

I guess this is a campain against selfishness.....pure selfishness about how one looks, weather one's tan is expensively done or cheap, weather one's kitchen counter is granite and weather one's children have ipods.

*sigh*....come quickly, Lord Jesus, come quickly!!

November 4- Book Review

This could also be called a book rave, because that is what I'm doing. C.S. Lewis was an amazing person. Today, at the craft fair that I was a vendor at I found a book of his short stories and fragments of stories he never finished.
The book was a posthumous compilation on convicting, scary, and deep ideas. It is called The Dark Tower & Other Stories.

The Dark Tower- a ghastly story!! (my word was 'freaky' but dearest older sister said I needed a new adjective) The idea of time travel and "other worlds" continued from the Space series, with Ransome as one of the 5 main characters. The idea of other life and "seeing" the future, or past makes it intriguing.
What struck me was how he was able to incorporate humor with horror and break into mental prejudices. One line went somewhat like this: "No matter what you say man is rushing into the future at the rate of 60 minutes an hour", and Macphee's sarcasm with "I shall drop by ----(some college) and tell them that Cambridge has made the amazing discovery that a man in 1938 cannot get to 1939 in less that a year..." Then, of course, there was the dry comment about the particles in Lewis' nose that made me giggle

The Man Born Blind-this one is sad. It has a confusing ending, and describing it doesn't work. It is about a search for light, a hunger for one's eyes to behold what no one can explain. A man born blind who regains his sight....and how he thinks.

The Shoddy Lands- Grabe!! This one is an enquirey into the mind, and how one thinks, (or how a girl thinks), about the world, and oneself. How perception, and one's imagination look to another.

"....or if I were the one investigated!!"

The other stories were confusing, and (should I warn tender readers) rather not what is pure, lovely and of good repute- not to say that the above were very much that.

C. S. Lewis was an amazing person...I whish I had had the honor of knowing him.

November 3- The TCK film that wasn't

Tonight we watched a TCK film that wasn't. It was called Mighty Joe Young. It was about how a 15ft. gorilla is misunderstood, and provoked into seeming like a second Godzilla. His only friend was the girl he grew up with in the jungles. Poachers killed both their mothers when they were young.
I watched the last 30 min. in tears. The sweet African song that Jill's mother sang to her surfaced haunting memories.

The movie wasn't about her being a TCK. It was a documentary about a TCK, but it wasn't.

October 29- Nicole Isabelle?

Tonight I found out that our family was once again in the 'irresponsible' stage of family life.

I am proud to say that the third ninth-Patterson-to-be is growing well. I don't really wanted another sib....I really would like to be out and about and changing the world like some other people I know. I know very well that this little growing one is a blessing from God....but sometimes it fells so much like drudgery.

I have spent 6 years watching 5 children, (two especially, I haven't been apart from for more than about a week, or one for about a month) and frankly I'm not very exited about what first appears to be another hampering to "my priorities".

What are my priorities? What is GOD'S plan for my life, on the other hand!

Nicole Isabelle might be my third blessing in total disguise!!!

Then again.... I want a Walter!! ;)

(after my mom's uncle....he is my favorite of all my mom's....colorful....extended family. We do not know the gender of the baby, and have always waited until thier birth to be surprised.)

October 17- A Day with Descartes

A day with Descartes:
A day well spent.

I am sure that all of you have heard of the famous words of his. But do you know how they were meant? I have heard his ‘catchphrase’ many a time used in defense of some humanist raving or another, but I never checked their source.

“I think, therefore I am”

Do you know how he went on from there? He began to wonder

‘about the many other things outside of him’, and came to the conclusion that “To derive (perfection) from nothingness was manifestly impossible, and it is no less repugnant to good sense to assume that what is more perfect comes from and depends upon the less perfect than it is to assume that something comes from nothing.”

He continues,

“…it followed of necessity that there was someone else more perfect upon whom I depended and from whom I had acquired all that I possessed. For had I been all alone and independent of anything else, so that I had bestowed upon myself all that limited quantity of value which I shared with the perfect Being, I would have been able to get from myself, in the same way all the surplus which I recognizes lacking in me, and so would have been myself infinite, eternal, immutable, omniscient, omnipotent, and, in sum I would possess all the perfections that I could discover in God.” He also notes “…I saw that doubt, inconsistency, sorrow and similar things could not be part of God’s nature since I was happy to be without them myself.” “….I considered that composition is an evidence of dependency and that dependency is manifestly a defect. From this I judged that it could not be a perfection in God to be composed of these two natures, and that consequently He was not so composed. But if there were in the world bodies, or even intelligences or other natures that were not wholly perfect, their being must depend on God’s power in such a way that they could not subsist without Him for a single moment.”

He decided to consider mathematics through his new method of thinking and decided

“…there was nothing in that to assure me that there was a single triangle in the world. But when I turned back to my idea of a perfect Being, on the other hand, I discovered that existence was included in the idea in the same way that the idea of a triangle contains the equality of it’s angles to two right angles, or that the idea of a sphere includes the equidistance of all it’s parts from it’s center. Perhaps, in fact, the idea of a perfect Being is even more evident. Consequently, it is at least certain that God, who is this perfect Being, exists, as any theorem of geometry could possibly be.”

He then turns to those who rely only on the material things, and dis-soppose anything spiritual, and asks them about dreams.
In dreams you can hear, see, feel, and even smell, yet they aren’t real. He concludes saying

“…I do not believe they can find any reason good enough to remove this doubt (of weather real life is just a dream too) unless they presuppose the existence of God. The very principle I took as a rule to start with….is know to be true only because God exists and because He is a perfect Being, and because everything in us comes from Him.”

I was rather surprised by this ‘progenitor of humanism’ with his philosophy “I think, therefore I am” proclaiming man as the supreme over everything because he has reason.
Or was he saying that?

No...he wasn't.
He was saying that it was not enough to reason. He was trying to tell us of the One who gave us reason. Of a Creator....of a God...in fact.....of THE God.

I spent a day with him, and I consider it a day well spent.

Why I have not been posting-

Seriously!! (inside joke...but I have to keep repeating it)

Work 2

Well, it took about 3 hours and 4 people....and I'll get y'all some pictures...

This is beginning....Kalipay decided the most efficient, and clean way was for her to get IN and scrub from there.

This is her gingerly wiping off a place to stand. That thing was SO gross...seriously!!

This is how we began draining all the water & gunk out. It didn't work......seriously!!

SO...we resorted to this!! (A wet-vac to suck all the stuff out) I had the lovely jobs of photographer, water girl, dirty junk-water disposer, and annoying sister.

This is almost done.... *whew*

This is DONE!!!

And with gratitude, this is our miracle worker....

Sincerely,

The overworked,

And tired,

And well bleached

Girls.

Work

I may be accused once more of complaining, but it is 50 around here. My work yesterday was to chap my hands in cobweb water TRYING to clean a ginormous chest freezer that was a steal a an auction. Today for the inside of it (help!!), and the dusty box of baskets that came in accompaniment to 5 boxes of misc. games, toys, kiddie batting helmets, and a hamster cage.

Life never ceases surprising you!

An All-American War

Tolerance


Sad, isn't it!?!?

The angels rejoice

My almost-seven-year-old sister (in October) made her decision to accept Jesus as her savior the night of the 25th. I extra glad. A couple months ago my mom and I began praying more for her and trying in ourselves to be better examples. My mom noted how the family was acting, and how selfish attitudes were then, and said "If that is what being a believer means- what part would she want in it?"

SO, trying harder to model Christ worked!! She is on her toes about "witnessing" to the neighbor girl she and Sara (5) play with almost every day, and she has gotten Sara interested in things that she "understands" and can quote back to you, but that she never got to her heart. Sary is asking for a Bible, and was very receptive during our Bible-study last night. Maybe we'll yet see our whole family saved!!

Not

Grandparents are coming!!

And I think I'll block those desert boys from veiwing anymore if they are to be so insensitive!

B-b-b-br-rr-r-rrrrr!!

It is around 70 in the house and 65 outside....it's too warm to turn on the heater....Im in two layers and shivering.

Also, yesterday I took a cooking pan of chicken out of the oven, and then decided to grab the handles.....my thumb hurts!

Interesting-

Some poeple still chew and spit tabacco!!

Also, I found out that thorn trees (at least 2" in diameter, 7 ft. tall w/ "flowers" on top) will make short work out of a very nice looking skirt.

Magic Wand

By Chris Rice:

He rode his wagon into town
A gaudy spectacle-
And every grey November brought him there.
Always entertaining,
Prestidigitating,
Pulling rabbits from thin air...

He would wave his magic wand, he would say the magic words,
Workin' up a miracle, puttin' on a show.
Changin' what I thought to be
Unchangeable reality,
Wish I had a magic wand of my own!!

Now 23 Novembers later, the prestidigitator
Still holds a power in my mind.
'Cause I'd like a quick and easy way, to look inside and make a change,
A magic wand would do me fine!!

I would wave my magic wand, I would say the magic words,
Workin' up a miracle, puttin' on a show.
Changin' what I thought to be
Unchangeable reality,
If I had a magic wand of my own-

I would wave it over you, and over me
And over all this crazy world and make it right.
OH, there's so much I'd change if I could take the easy way!!!

I would wave my magic wand, I would say the magic words,
Workin' up a miracle, puttin' on a show.
Changin' what I thought to be
Unchangeable reality,
Wish I had a magic wand of my own!

The only way to really change is simple choices, every day
Obey the Spirit's whisper in your soul.

Without a magic wand He'll work a miracle...
Without a magic wand He'll work a miracle...
Without a magic wand He'll work a miracle!!

I would wave my magic wand, I would say the magic words,
Workin' up a miracle, puttin' on a show.
Changin' what I thought to be
Unchangeable reality,
Wish I had a magic wand of my own!

(Note: I am sure Wings will be extatic over my listening choice during melancholy, and moody moments. I believe that my memory has run away with the last part of the last verse...but it'll do for now!!

WOW!!

I heard parts of this on a radio program last night and it gave me the shivers.

http://resources.haventoday.org/product_info.php/products_id/829?currency=USD

If you want to find the sound-track of the broadcast you can search for it....and if you don't have 30 minutes you can fastforward to the part where they play Ch. 19, 20, and the end of 21.
(It is called "Coming Soon: part 3")
http://www.haventoday.org/archives.php

There are more clips from the archives, but you'll be well rewarded for your pains!!

IF I had any money I would buy as many as I could!! (BUT they are incredibly expensive!!)

Existentialism

Today I learned about existentialism.

Modern Progenitor:Soren Kierkegaard.

Basic Characteristics: "Truth is relative", "there is no absolute truth", "do what feels good", "follow/listen to/trust in your heart", "look inside you...", etc, etc, etc!!

Well remembered/memorable results: The 60's era, Neoorthadoxy, the drug "solution", the suicide "solution", the "peace" movement, homosexuality, rock music, and a "'spiritual' encounter" with god. (I don't capitalize that word because the "thing" that they perceive as "god" is not anything like the one, true GOD.)

Some results to curches because of this movement: Infiltration (As an interesting friend of my sister put it...modern day church-goers are looking for a "'spiritual' high". It is a shame that for every new religion like Darwinism, or Marxism people in the body of believers always try to fit God's Principles into it instead of fitting it-or throwing it out- based on God's Principles), the "new gospel" (of refurbished Marxism)(that God came for the abused minorities and to liberate, and enrich the poor), and most of all- Stagnation.

Resource: 7 Men Who Rule the World From the Grave.

Conclusion: God came for the "sick", that they might have a doctor. God came for the "infirm", that they might be healed. This means that God came for the sinners. He came to save them from eternal damnation, to wash them from all the sin that would keep them away from Him, and so that all mankind could be without excuse (Romans 1:19b). Sadly, though many of our brothers and sisters in Christ have fallen for some/many of these lies. They truly believe that the Bible (or at least most--if not all of it) is outdated, judgmental, and legalistic. Even though many want to discredit it, the Bible is true and infallible. There WILL be a judgment day for believers (Rom.14:12) and un-believers.

Truth is there, it is up to us to discern it, get it, and spread it.
(I can never say anything without preaching can I?)

THE GATES OF PARADISE

By D.L. Sayers

FROM the grave-bed and the winding sheet
Is a long way for dead feet,
A dark road for dead eyes,
That leads to the gates of Paradise.

When Judas' soul went through the night,
To knock on Hades gate,
His way was over the whin-pricked moor,
And the noise of the wind was great.

He had no lantern to his feet,
Nor candle in his hand,
Such as God gives to every man
That dies at the time planned.

The angels sit in highest Heaven
And trim the lamps of God,
And all day long make lights for those
That travel death's dim road.

And when the cross is on thy breast,
The chrism on thine eyes,
Thy angel will bear down thy light
Out of the starry skies

And thou therewith shalt walk by night
Safely to Paradise.
But whoso doth so deadly sin
To cast his life away,
Finding his lamp not lit betimes
Walks through the midnight grey.

For a long night and half a day
Did Judas walk alone
Through the utter dark, for in that place
Is neither sun nor moon.

For a long night and half a day
Did Judas vainly seek
To reach the gates of Paradise,
The salt tears on his cheek.

With that he saw a candle gleam
Borne by a hasty man,
And Judas caught him by the cloak
So swiftly as he ran.

"O let me walk with thee, kind friend--
I grope, I fail, I fall,
I have no lamp nor candle-light
And the night is over all."

"Full gladly, so thou make good speed,
I run to keep the tryst,
That was given to me at the gates of Hell,
By sweet King Jesus Christ.

"I am the thief whom God forgave,
On Calvary's bitter tree,
For 'To-night,' He said, 'thou shalt rest thine head
In Paradise, with Me.'"

"And I am the man that sinned such a sin
As the world remembers not,
That sold for a price the Lord of Life--
Judas Iscariot."

"Now God forbid, thou damnèd wretch,
That ever this should be,
That I should tryst with Jesus Christ,
In the company of thee."

The first robber went his way,
And Judas walked alone,
Mirk, mirk was the black midnight,
The heavy wind made moan.

Right so there came a second man
Was walking by the road:
"O brother, let me share thy light
As far as Hell's abode."

"Now well I fear, my brother dear,
Thou never wilt walk with me--
I am that thief which railed on Christ
All on His bitter tree.

"I cast shame on King Jesus then,
Wearing His painful crown,
And scorn upon His Royal Head,
Whence the pale sweat dripped down.

"O rudd-red were the five blest wounds
Where nails and spear went in,
A thousand, thousand years of Purgatory fire
Never can cleanse my sin."

"Why never, I ween," said Judas then
"Did two such sinners meet;
I sold King Christ to the bloody Jews
That pierced His Hands and Feet."

"Art thou that man," quoth the robber,
"Most cursed under skies?
God do so to me if I go with thee
To the gates of Paradise!"

The second robber went his way,
And Judas walked alone,
Till he was aware of a grey man,
That sat upon a stone,
And the lamp he had in his right hand
Shone brighter than the moon.

"Come hither, come hither, thou darkling man,
And bear me company,
This lamp I hold will give us light,
Enough for thee and me.

"Judas walks with the grey-clad man,
And fear is in his heart:
"Speak yet again, thou man in grey
And tell me what thou art."

"I bought a burden of deadly sin,
And needs must pay the price,I
bear it hither in my hand
To the gates of Paradise."

"Sin cannot lie upon thy heart
So heavy as on mine."
"Nay, sinner, whosoe'er thou art,
'Tis a heavier load than thine."
He hath not askèd Judas' name,
And Judas makes no sign."

If sin is heavy on thy heart,
And I must bear its weight,
It is fit that we should go together
To tryst at Hades gate.

"Judas walked with the grey-clad man
And feared to tell his name,
He clasped his hand in the barren land,
Bright burned the lanthorn's flame,
Brotherliwise and hand in hand,
To Paradise they came.

Satan looked out from Hades gate,
His hand upon the key,
"Good souls, before I let you in,
First tell me who ye be."

"We be two men that died of late
And come to keep Hell's tryst,
This is Judas Iscariot,
And I am Jesus Christ."

Interesting perspective. A lot of bad theology. Well worth the long read, though. Dorothy Sayers was a very intersting person.

Darcy's Lesson

I found this article off of the Ladies Against Feminism site.....
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I want too.

Darcy's Lesson

The Declaration of Revolution

I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed.
I have Holy Spirit power.
The die has been cast.
I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made.
I am a disciple of His.
I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure.
I’m finished with low living, sight-walking, small planning, smooth knees,colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfedgoals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions,plaudits, or popularity.
I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on his presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.
My face is set, my gaitis fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear.
I cannot be bought, comprimised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary,negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, ormeander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ.
I am a disciple of Jesus.
I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till he stops me.
And when He comes for His own, He will have no problems recognizing me—my banner will be clear !!


**Written by a young African pastor and tacked to the wall of his house—discovered by those who entered his house after he was martyred. **

I'm an MK

I’m an MK
That I’ll admit
.I have so many titles,
None bother me one bit!

I’ve lived in so many countries
Of which "normals" haven’t dreamed.
I’ve had, oh such heaps of fun-
How long ago it seems,

Don’t you just love to reminisce
The delightful songs and laughter?
Have you still a language to share
With a curious son or daughter?

Did you leave it behind- a memory?
Or cherish it still today?
Hold on to your MK heritage,
Oh don’t let it slip away!

You’re unique, I must say
And this is a part of you.
Let God use you: present and past.
For Him be faithful and true!
The Warbler

I am proud of being an MK. I embrace the diversity, cultural inadequacies, and insight that it has given me. I thank God for making me what I am and for how I have come to love Him more because of how I got to be raised. Who I am, what I love, and how I think were all shaped differently from "the normal" because of my childhood and upbringing. I have two heart languages, and a burden for souls will ever be on my heart. I heard God's word taught, and explained almost every day...and now explaining, defending and learning it is my life's passion.

It is like no other.....and I am an MK.

My country

What makes a house a home....


And what makes a place so wonderful!

Evolutionary Hymn-

Lead us, Evolution, lead us
Up the future’s endless stair:
Chop us, change us, prod us, weed us.
For stagnation is despair:
Groping, guessing, yet progressing,
Lead us nobody knows where.

Wrong or justice in the present,
Joy or sorrow, what are they
While there’s always jam to-morrow,
While we tread the onward way?
Never knowing where we’re going,
We can never go astray.

To what ever variation
Our posterity may turn
Hairy, squashy, or crustacean,
Bulbous-eyed or square of stern,
Tusked or toothless, mild or ruthless,
Towards that unknown god we yearn.

Ask not if it’s god or devil,
Brethren, lest your words imply
Static norms of good and evil
(As in Plato) throned on high;
Such scholastic, inelastic,
Abstract yardsticks we deny.

For too long have sages vainly
Glossed great Nature’s simple text;
He who runs can read it plainly,
‘Goodness=what comes next.’
By evolving, Life is solving
All the questions we perplexed.

On then! Value means survival-
Value. If our progeny
Spreads and spawns and licks each rival,
That will prove it’s deity
(Far from pleasant, by our present
Standards, though it well may be).

C.S. Lewis-
The Cambridge Review LXXIX (Nov. 30, 1957), p.227

This is for sure my most favorite whimsical/apologetical poem!! Even if I coudn't stand to hear the beliefs held by Mr. Lewis (which is not the case), I would bear it to hear this poem a million times over!!

Let me see-

Let me see this world, dear Lord,
As though I were looking through Your eyes.
A world of men, who don’t want You Lord-
But a world for which You died.

Let me kneel with You in the garden.
Blur my eyes with tears of agony.
For if once I could see this world-
The way You see, I just know
I’d serve You more faithfully!

Let me see this world, dear Lord,
Through Your eyes as men mock You holy name.
As they beat You and spat upon You, Lord-
Let me love them, as You loved them
Just the same!!

Let me rise high above my petty problems
And grieve for men, hell-bound eternally!
For if once I could see this world
The way You see, I just know
I’d serve you more faithfully!

If Only I Had Said

My, one-time-friend, I’m sorry
I just wish I could have said-
I just wish I could have voiced,
All the convictions in my head.

Yes, I tried to model them,
But I fit them into my system-
And watered them down so low
That I couldn’t recognize them!

I wish I could have been a better
Example of a true friend,
But all this speculative wishing-
Finds itself a bitter end…

For you are down there screaming
In torment day and night!
Truly, only, for one reason-
MY stupid, selfish, fright.

If only I had said-
I really might have saved you!
But- now you are dead, and
All of my chances are through.

Are you afraid of saying?
Of speaking out your belief?
Learn- PLEASE- from my example,
So you won’t bear this grief!

I bear a load of remorse so great-
If ONLY I’d stepped out and said!
If I had told him of my great God,
He might have been in heaven, instead!

I sat mute and silent, wanting
All the acceptance my friends gave-
But the greatest gift, I with held
And now he mourns in the grave!

Believe me it’s not worth it!
Stick out! Stand up! Be the talk of the town!
And you won’t have my burden-
Weighing you down!

J. L. P.- June 23, 2006

Calvinist?

Am I a Calvinist?

It is a shock-word to most denominations. I was raised adamantly free-will. Now I have to come to terms with (what I think is a) balanced view.

First, to all you good (moderate) "Arminian", and to all you good (moderate) "Calvinists" "Reformed Baptists"...and etc.

I have a firm belief in the Hypostatic Union. That is the biblical doctrine that states that Jesus (while here on earth) was at the same time both fully God, and fully man. This is confusing to some because the definition of "God", and the definition of "man" are fully opposite of each other

This is how I have settled in my own mind the question of how God can be fully supreme....for He is by His very nature...and how man can have at the same time a fully free will to make decisions for which he is fully responsible.

Supremacy entails full power over, and absolute control. Freedom entails perfectly uninfluenced decisions, and no set boundaries to limit. I am not fully able to understand the plans of Father God.......but couldn't that be?

I heard from someone that there is a movie about a man raised in a glass world. That is all he knew and all he wanted to know. What he didn't know was that his world was fake...all the people surrounding him were well-versed actors. He believed that he was acting from his own ideas, but all he thought and did was really dictated by the false world around him. He was the ultimate reality show to the world. One day his "world" breaks and he realizes how duped he was.
Is this how God has set things? Are we just thinking we make decisions on our own and God lets us think it? Are we then still responsible for our actions?

Obviously God is all-knowing (omniscient)...
Matt. 6:8- ...For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him
9:5- But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?
Acts 1:24- And they prayed and said, "You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all...
15:8- Known to God from eternity are all His works....
I Cor. 3:19- For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their [own] craftiness"; 20 and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." 21 Therefore let no one boast in men.

But man was created in God's image
Gen. 1:26- Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His [own] image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

God's image in man is what the other creatures weren't given and don't have...namely, a soul, and with a soul goes the ability to exercise it. It is a shame that man had to use it wrongly...namely the first sin when Eve went against the only rule that God had set, and Adam ate after her. This gave them the knowledge of evil, and gave sin to all of us who were born after.

It also did not stop...for after the flood when God set up new guidelines for society, (Gen. 9:6 - Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.) He acknowledged man's free will.

Is it a hypostatic union? I don't know.

I am certainly NOT *hyper* anything. If it has to come down to a debate where only either man can be fully autonomous, or where God cam be fully supreme....I'm on God's side every time!

Immortal, invisible...

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, thy great Name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all life thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish, like leaves on the tree,
Then wither and perish; but nought changeth thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
All praise we would render: O help us to see'
Tis only the splendor of light hideth thee.

It gives me shivers to hear it sung by a choir.....and it is only praise to the Father. It's only notice of self is to admit how worthless, derpaved, and degraded we naturally are.

All praise I render...to Him who is worthy alone!

Intro-

Hullo! This is my blog. For those of you who know me, you did a good job in finding this......and don't check often because I won't be posting a lot!