The Perfect Mother-in-Law

One of my favorite books in the Bible is the book of Ruth. I just find the story there to be so incredibly beautiful. What is especially beautiful is the way a particular mother-in-law in this book displays the true virtues and example that all of us mothers who hope to be an inlaw some day should take to heart.

When my sons and daughters marry, will their spouses cry if I have to leave them behind? Will I display the lovingkindness and winsomeness that Naomi displayed?

For family worship, we are reading through the book of Ruth using Matthew Henry's commentary. Here are a few of his insights that struck chords in my heart:

-- Though there be a reason for our being in bad places, yet, when the reason ceases, we must by no means continue in them. Forced absence from God's ordinances and forced presence with wicked people, are great afflictions; but when the force ceases, and such a situation is continued of choice, then it becomes a great sin.

-- When death comes into a family it ought to be improved for the reforming of what is amiss in the family: when relations are taken away from us we are put upon enquiry whether, in some instance or other, we are not out of the way of our duty, that we may return to it.

--Thus God takes away from us the comforts we stay ourselves too much upon and solace ourselves too much in, here in the land of our sojourning, that we may think more of our home in the other world, and by faith and hope may hasten towards it. Earth is embittered to us, that heaven may be endeared.

--...that Naomi, as became an Israelite, had been very kind an obliging to them and had won their love, in which she is an example to all mothers-in-law, and that Orpah and Ruth had a just sense of her kindness, for they were willing to return it thus far. It was a sign they had dwelt together in unity, though those were dead by whom the relation between them came. Though they retained an affection for the gods of Moab and Naomi was still faithful to the God of Israel, yet that was no hindrance to either side from love and kindness, and all the good offices that the relation required. Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law are too often at variance and therefore it is more commendable if they live in love; let all who sustain this relation aim at the praise of doing so.

-- Orpah's kiss showed she had an affection for Naomi and was loth to part from her; yet she did not love her well enough to leave her country for her sake. Thus many have a value and affection for Christ, and yet come short of salvation by him, because they cannot find in their hearts to forsake other things for him. They love him and yet leave him, because they do not love him enough, but love other things better.

-- We must take the Lord for our God. "This God is my God for ever and ever; I have avouched him for mine." When we take God for our God we must take his people for our people in all conditions; though they be a poor despised people, yet, if they be his, they must be ours. Having cast in our lot with them, we must fare as they fare. We must submit to the same yoke and draw in it faithfully, take up the same cross and carry it cheerfully, go where God will have us go, though it should be into banishment, and lodge where he will have us to lodge, though it be in a prison, die where he will have us die, and lay our bones in the graves of the upright, who enter into peace and rest in their beds, though they be but the graves of the common people. We must resolve to contine and persevere, and herein our adherence to Christ must be closer than that of Ruth to Naomi. She resolved that nothing but death should separate them; but we must resolve that death itself shall not separate us from our duty to Christ, and then we may be sure that death itself shall not separate us from our happiness in Christ. We must bind our souls with a bond never to break these pious resolutions, and swear unto the Lord that we will cleave to him. Fast bind, fast find. He that means honestly does not startle at assurances.

And lastly...

-- Those that are unresolved , and go in religious ways without a stedfast mind, tempt the tempter, and stand like a door half open, which invites a thief; but resolution shuts and bolts the door, resists the devil, and forces him to flee.

Train Up a Child?

This morning I was reading my Matthew Henry commentary on the genology of Christ found in Matthew chapter one. He had this to say of the mixture of saints and sinners found in this pedigree:

"God's Grace is his own, and he gives or withholds it as he pleases."

I wish writers of parenting manuals would give greater heed to this fact. God does desire a holy seed and one of the primary means of doing this is to give children to godly parents. But one would think from the way that some Christian parenting manuals read that the children who do grow up to serve the Lord got that way because the parents followed a particular program and that it is the program and not God's grace on it (or even in spite of it) that did the trick.

House Despot

I was dismayed yesterday to read a post from a young lady who shall remain nameless. Her post was a long outpouring of teenage angst of not being understood, not being appreciated, and wishing herself dead. Mixed in with this was the determination that she would NOT be merely a housewife or mother. She wanted to be herself! She wanted to be a feminist in order to be able to fulfill her dreams and desires rather than submit herself to raising a bunch of snotty nosed children and cleaning up after some man.

This view, of course, is not a strange one. There is this pervasive idea out there that if one is a keeper at home that this necessarily means that one is unfulfilled and life is an endless round of drudgery like that described above. Running a home with 11 people in it certainly keeps one busy and there is never a lack of things to do. And yes, it can be drudgery at times. Oh but what some of these young ladies can't see and won't see until they are able to experience it is that this calling is really one of the best in the world. Lots of flexibility and creativity is called for in this job, plus there is freedom to exercise it in a way that you won't get if you are working for someone else. Being a house despot is the best job in the world for women, if only they could see it.

Something else about what the young lady said also reminded me that we mothers who are managing our homes, some of which contain a large number of people, need to remember that while our children should be contributing to doing the chores and helping with the babies, we need to be careful not to unload a lot of our responsibilities onto their shoulders as they get older leaving us to spend untold hours surfing the net, chatting with friends, or talking on the phone. They should be learning from an active example of industry and they should be trained with lots of input from us, pulling alongside them as the more experienced yokefellow.

Having said that, I know a lot of young people, for whom the more they are given, the less thankful and self-centered they become. They complain bitterly and act mightily put upon if they are asked to help with something. Some of their attitudes are almost that we should be paying them for the privilege of raising them. I wish I could say that I am seeing this in only public-schooled pagan children, but the truth is that I have seen this attitude even amongst catechized Reformed and homeschooled children.

There is a natural instability that appears to happen in the early teen years with some children. This is the time when they start to become more self-conscious about what they think and believe. And this is when the questions begin. Do they believe Christianity because it is true, or merely because this is what they were always taught? Boundaries are tested, sometimes with lasting and disastrous results. But many have only minor stumbles, and by the grace of God are able to stand up and continue on in the faith of their fathers.

We should be in much prayer for our young people during these years. We also need to be constantly encouraging them to remember the benefits that God has conferred upon them, totally as the result of His grace and not by their merit.

But I digress....

The real reason I wanted to write this post was so that those of you who do not reac Carmon's blog and who haven't seen this article will go there and read it now.

No Tar or Feathers

Yesterday was a homeschooler skating party at our local Roller Dome. I am happy to say that I survived the ordeal of seeing other homeschoolers that I annoyed and offended with my posts on Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of Christ

It probably helps that I usually only show up to one or two meetings a year, which means that most of the other homeschoolers don't know me by sight. And to be truthful, these ladies are very gracious people who, though annoyed with me for ruffling their ecclesiastical feathers, wouldn't think of plucking any out to stick into tar attached to my skin.

I enjoy the love of others and popularity as much as anyone. I hate making others mad at me or seriously annoyed. And I am, by nature a coward. Any of the times that I have been able to maintain a stiff defense of what I believe the truth to be is because God has enabled me to stand, rather than allowing me to melt into a puddle of non-resistance. Being quiet is easy, but is it faithful? One of the violations of the ninth commandment is being silent when speaking the truth is called for.

Since this movie and its implications are still on my mind, I thought I would expand a bit further on what I am thinking.

The current motivating philosophy of much of the evangelistic methods of mainstream Christianity seems to be pragmatism. Christianity is just another competing interest for modern man, and if we are going to get in there and rescue anyone, we had better be using the best methods that have been proven to work by market research. So you have the Willow Creek and Saddleback churches which design their programs to be "seeker sensitive." Entertainment reigns and offense is eliminated as much as possible. The preaching of the Gospel is condensed to 15 or 20 minutes of sound bites that won't overwhelm the listener and lots of humour, jokes, and anectdotes are thrown in, in order to keep everyone's attention. Some churches use movies to keep their audience with them. And some use the movies as the basis of the sermon. I recently read about one so-called preacher who used the trials of Frodo and Sam on their way to Mordor as the basis of three of his sermons.

I don't doubt for a moment that God uses people and things in spite of the lack of purity in them or the corrupt sin nature that exists in all of us. God used the false prophet Balaam, a man hired by Israel's enemies, to call down blessings upon the Israelites despite his intentions to curse them. Though God blessed Israel through this means, we should not presume to think that it is ok for us to ask other false prophets to do the same with the same happy results. We are to govern our lives by God's precepts, not his providences.

Gibson's movie attempts to picture One, who cannot be pictured/ portrayed or impersonated by an actor. Jesus was God and man, two distinct natures in one person; the truth incarnate. Since we are unable to represent him, we are not even to attempt to represent him. Is it a true depiction of one who is truth himself? How do you know?

How have we been commanded to spread the historical event and the signifigance of Christ crucified? Aurally. Orally. Preaching. Reading Scripture. Not visually. Since Christ cannot truly be depicted by man's art of any variety, the same necessarily become a lie and or an idol - a representation of God who cannot be represented. Consider the many so-called pictures of "Jesus" that you have seen over the years. Some portray him as a middle-eastern Jew, some as a blond-haired, blue-eyed Anglo-Saxon, others as a pansy. The danger we are most liable to falling into is making Christ after our own image. All images that we make, whether on celluloid film or in Sunday School papers or flannelgraphs, detract from the glory of our risen Lord and are nothing but lies. Christ gave us two visual representations of Himself for remembering Him by: baptism and the elements of the Lord's Supper. Let us be content with these.

I do not deny that there may be some who are drawn to the Gospel through this movie. Though God may and often does, sovereignly move upon men's hearts in ways that we don't understand, He has told us how we are to spread the Gospel: through the preaching and hearing of God's Word. What is of greater concern to me is that many more people will be lured into committing the sin of idolatry, which I contend is precisely what a movie or play that tries to portray Christ does. The first commandment tells us which God to worship. The second, tells us how to worship that God. When we insist on introducing things into worship that God has not ordained, or when we insist on actually violating what He specifically commanded us not to do, then in effect we are telling God that His ways are not good enough and that a lot of what man devises (Acts 17:29) needs to be added in order for the Gospel to be effective.

Over and over in Scripture, God defines idolatry to be not only the worship of false gods, but also includes the false worship of the true God. When God demands a blood sacrifice, it doesn't do to offer him fruits and vegetables, no matter how sincere the attempt, as Cain found to his dismay. When God forbids us to make any representation of Him, we should heed his words instead of looking to our own sincerity of motives. We should not look to our methods of spreading the Gospel and do a head count as though sheer numbers determine its viability or success. Instead we should be looking at our ways and means and asking ourselves if they are obedient to what God has commanded.

When Saul took the cattle that God had designated for destruction upon the pretext of saving it to sacrifice to Him, his reply through the prophet Samuel was,

"Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubborness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king."

Somber words. Sincerity in disobedience does not please the Lord.

Giving people the Gospel should not be a constant search for a more and more clever ways that grab the attention in order to "close the deal." And we should not interpret an emotional response or apparently good intentions as evidence of true repentance and faith in Christ.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, "I NEVER knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" Matt. 7:21-23

Prophesying, casting out demons, and doing wonders for Christ's sake are not good enough, according to Christ, if you are not doing the will of the Father.

Is this movie one that is sure to move people to tears and great emotional response? By all accounts this is so. And that is precisely where its danger lies. I greatly fear that there will be many who will be deceived into believing that the fact that many are moved emotionally is the same thing as seeing them saved. Again, let us look at what Scripture says:

"A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop; some a hundred fold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear....

"Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among thorns is he who hears the word and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received sseed on good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and porduces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." ( Matt. 13: 3-9; 18-23)

Now in the above portion of Scripture we have four instances of seed being sown, but only one of those plots of ground produced *lasting* fruit. One type didn't even have a chance to sprout, two others sprouted and gave the appearance of conversion, but in the end, they were false professions. These sort of verses should trouble us into looking at our own hearts and asking, "Lord am I one of the deceived who will think I did great things in your Name only to find I was wrong? Am I one of those who has a stony ground or thorns in my heart?" I fear that there are many who warm church pews these days, thinking that they are safe because they had an emotional response to a movie or sermon or because they said, "the sinner's prayer" or answered an altar call.

We are told in Romans 6:1,2 " What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live longer therein?"

Dare we say that the means God instituted are not efficacious or good enough?

Deep Trials Equal Deep Comfort

I have been reading through Morning and Evening, a daily devotional by that wonderful Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon. He has a way of really getting in there between the joints and marrow with his insights on Scripture. The morning devotional for yesterday is certainly true, as I have found in my own experience:

"For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ" -- 2 Corinthians 1:5

"Here is a blessed proportion. The Ruler of Providence bears a pair of scales. In this side He puts His people's trials, and in that He puts their consolations. When the scale of trial is nearly empty, you will always find the scale of consolation in nearly the same condition; and when the scale of trials is full, you will find the scale of consolation just as heavy. When the black clouds gather most, the light is the more brightly revealed to us. When the night lowers and the tempest is coming on, the Heavenly Captain is always closest to His crew. It is a blessed thing, that when we are most cast down, then it is that we are most lifted up by the consolations of the Spirit.

"One reason is, because trials make more room for consolation. Great hearts can only be made by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the resevoir of comfort deeper, and makes more room for consolation. God comes into our heart; He finds it full; He begins to break our comforts and to make it empty; then there is more room for grace. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have, because he will be more fitted to receive it.

"Another reason why we are often most happy in our troubles, is this: then we have the closest dealings with God. When the barn is full, man can live without God: when the purse is bursting with gold, we try to do without so much prayer. But once take our gourds away, and we want our God; once cleanse the idols out of the house, then we are compelled to honor Jehovah. "Out of the depths have I cried unto you, Oh Lord." There is no cry so good as that which comes from the bottom of the mountains; no prayer half so hearty as that which comes up from the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflictions. Hence they bring us to God and we are happier; for nearness to God is happiness. Come, troubled believer, fret not over your heavy troubles, for they are the heralds of weighty mercies."

The closeness to God one feels almost makes you long for affliction. Almost.

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Which Ringwraith are You?
By Lisa

Raining on Parades

Some days it seems like all I do is rain on other people's parades. The latest round of rain is due to all the fuss and bother about the new Mel Gibson movie, The Passion.

The second commandment, amongst other things, forbids "the making any representation of God, of all or of any of the three persons, either inwardly in our mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of any creature whatsoever;"

Deuteronomy 4:15-19. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

Acts 17:29. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

Romans 1:21-23, 25. Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.... Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

The above was sent in response to the raptures of the local homeschool association wrt this movie. So far there have been no responses to what I have said. But I bet you anything I will be persona non grata at the next homeschool event.

Tyrannical Patriarchy and Independent Feminism

With regard to the subject above, it occured to me that both of the above tend to reinforce and feed off of each other. The Fall had extreme effects on the institution of marriage and the relationships involved. Woman was told that her desire would be to her husband, which some have interpreted as meaning that she would try to usurp his position whenever possible. The other side of the coin is that Man, who was designed to rule creation and the home, in his corrupted state often does so very poorly. The extremes go from total abdication of rule to a stifling, controlling tyranny.

The natural tendency of mankind is to push back when pushed. Some men believe that ruling the home means micro-managing every aspect instead of trusting the judgement of their wives. Some women rebel and push back, others submit and sink under the weight of oppression.

Girls who are raised in these sort of homes tend to become feminists in their thinking. One abuse leads to another. Boys raised by feminists tend to become sensitive new age guy pansies or rebel by being stronger than the woman in every way possible.

The remedy for both independent feminism and tyrannical patriarchy can be found in the exposition of the Fifth commandment duties from the Westminster Larger Catechism.

Question 123: Which is the fifth commandment?

Answer: The fifth commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God gives thee.

Question 124: Who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment?

Answer: By father and mother, in the fifth commandment, are meant, not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and gifts; and especially such as, by God's ordinance, are over us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth.

Question 125: Why are superiors styled father and mother?

Answer: Superiors are styled father and mother, both to teach them in all duties toward their inferiors, like natural parents, to express love and tenderness to them, according to their several relations; and to work inferiors to a greater willingness and cheerfulness in performing their duties to their superiors, as to their parents.

Question 126: What is the general scope of the fifth commandment?

Answer: The general scope of the fifth commandment is, the performance of those duties which we mutually owe in our several relations, as inferiors, superiors, or equals.

Question 127: What is the honor that inferiors owe to their superiors.?

Answer: The honor which inferiors owe to their superiors is, all due reverence in heart, word, and behavior; prayer and thanksgiving for them; imitation of their virtues and graces; willing obedience to their lawful commands and counsels; due submission to their corrections; fidelity to, defense and maintenance of their persons and authority, according to their several ranks, and the nature of their places; bearing with their infirmities, and covering them in love, that so they may be an honor to them and to their government.

Question 128: What are the sins of inferiors against their superiors?

Answer: The sins of inferiors against their superiors are, all neglect of the duties required toward them; envying at, contempt of, and rebellion against, their persons and places, in their lawful counsels, commands, and corrections; cursing, mocking, and all such refractory and scandalous carriage, as proves a shame and dishonor to them and their government.

Question 129: What is required of superiors towards their inferiors?

Answer: It is required of superiors, according to that power they receive from God, and that relation wherein they stand, to love, pray for, and bless their inferiors; to instruct, counsel, and admonish them; countenancing, commending, and rewarding such as do well; and discountenancing, reproving, and chastising such as do ill; protecting, and providing for them all things necessary for soul and body: and by grave, wise, holy, and exemplary carriage, to procure glory to God, honor to themselves, and so to preserve that authority which God has put upon them.

Question 130: What are the sins of superiors?

Answer: The sins of superiors are, besides the neglect of the duties required of them, an inordinate seeking of themselves, their own glory, ease, profit, or pleasure; commanding things unlawful, or not in the power of inferiors to perform; counseling, encouraging, or favoring them in that which is evil; dissuading, discouraging, or discountenancing them in that which is good; correcting them unduly; careless exposing, or leaving them to wrong, temptation, and danger; provoking them to wrath; or any way dishonoring themselves, or lessening their authority, by an unjust, indiscreet, rigorous, or remiss behavior.

Question 131: What are the duties of equals?

Answer: The duties of equals are, to regard the dignity and worth of each other, in giving honor to go one before another; and to rejoice in each other's gifts and advancement, as their own.

Question 132: What are the sins of equals?

Answer: The sins of equals are, besides the neglect of the duties required, the undervaluing of the worth, envying the gifts, grieving at the advancement of prosperity one of another; and usurping preeminence one over another.

Question 133: What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment, the more to enforce it?

Answer: The reason annexed to the fifth commandment, in these words, That thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God gives thee, is an express promise of long life and prosperity, as far as it shall serve for God's glory and their own good, to all such as keep this commandment.


Now if only our Christian homes would demonstrate more of the above graces and harmonies and less of the sinfilled nature!

Places I have Been



create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide

Homeschool Guru?

I generally only attend maybe one homeschool mother's support group a year. I just have too many other things to do most of the time, so this particular meeting gets cut. When I do show up, I am usually in the uncomfortable position of being the mother with the most children, including adult children, and also the homeschooler with the most experience.

Because of the above, the automatic assumption on the parts of many is that I am some kind of expert in child rearing/discipline and education. At one time, I would have agreed -- when I was much younger and had fewer kids and had just started homeschooling. The hubris and arrogance of young adults is a sight to behold. And the less kids and experience you have, the worse it seems to be.

I just want everyone to know now, I no longer have hard and fast rules about child raising beyond trying to get as much Scripture into their heads as fast as possible and that Dr. Dobson's advice on teens applies to homeschooling as well: Do what works and just get them through it.

Power of Placebo

As I have probably mentioned elsewhere in this blog, the placebo effect is a mysterious, but wonderful phenomena where the body heals itself, based on the expectations of the person being healed (combined with the sovereign power of God of course) rather than through the usual means of a drug or some other healing agent. I have often wondered by doctors don't deliberately try to invoke the power of placebo more often. It is cheap and non-toxic, after all.

The following short article is from the February 2004 issue of Alive magazine, page 18.

"Giant hoax or medical miracle, scientists are one step closer to understanding a long-debated mystery, the power of placebo, which can apparently turn sugar pills into powerful drugs.

"Finnish and Swedish researchers have revealed more about how this mind-body interaction works. A placebo, they reported in the February 2002 issue of Science magazine, activates the same pain control impulses in the same region of the brain as painkillers.

"This noteworthy phenomenon got big coverage after the New England Journal of Medicine reported that arthritis patients who only thought they'd undergone knee surgery experienced benefits similar to real surgery patients.

"Another recent meta-analysis of 96 studies found the effects of anti-depressants such as Prozac and Zoloft can be largely duplicated by placebo (75 per cent).

"While skeptics continue to ponder placebo's successes, many researchers would agree that a patient's beliefs -- particularly the will to live -- play a powerful role in healing."

Images of Christ

This morning I was reading in the epistle to the Hebrews and one of the things that leapt out of the page at me was that Christ is the "express image" or "exact representation" (as the NIV puts it) of the Father. This put me in mind of other verses in John's Gospel where Christ tells us that if we have seen Him, we have also seen the Father.

This is quite amazing, really. To see Christ is to see the Father, because they are One. If this is so (and it is) then those who make pictures of "Jesus" for Sunday School materials, paintings, book illustrations, etc., should take heed because of their gross violation of the second commandment.

"Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire, lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth." Deuteronomy 4:15-18 [NKJV]


Christ didn't leave us without a visible representation for remembering Him by. It is found in the Loaf and the Cup of the Communion Table. With this let us be content.

Cheaper by the Dozen
This past weekend I took in the movie, Cheaper by the Dozen, with my good friend, Milly Vanilly. It was an enjoyable, not terribly deep, movie of life with a large family. Milly comes from a large family and I have a large family, so we had an advantage that most movie goers don't have -- we have lived this chaos.

I learned a long time ago that if you expect a movie version of a book to be faithful to the book, you are in for a big disappointment. Since I didn't have that expectation, I wasn't disappointed.

Several things struck me about this movie. Despite the fact that it was mostly a positive portrayal of life in a large family and the love and loyalty that family members experience for one another, the message that our society views children as largely an encumberance and annoyance to be endured in limited numbers came through loud and clear. Even the couple who had all the children sort of apologized for the fact that they had so many because they lost their head one night after a few too many beer, and a set of twins snuck by before the vasectomy took effect.

In this movie version Dad takes a demanding job in a prestigious coaching position with a college. Mom writes a book and has to promote it on a book tour leaving Dad to manage the house alone. Things were chaotic enough as it was, but with Dad in charge, it rapidly got worse. The main conflict of the story was the question, "Can they do it?" Could a mother of many have a career outside the home and still have a family to come home to? Was a father of many able to hold down a demanding job that required more than typical hours of his time and still be available to his children when needed? In the end, the answer was no. This is pretty realistic. In the end, they chose the less tangible rewards of family life over the approval of the world. (Sorry if I have spoiled the ending for anyone who is intending to see it.)

You really do need a different mind-set and values if you raise a lot of kids. My kids have taught me not to love things any more. This is because things constantly break or get broken. I don't think I have a single intact knick knack in this house. I used to be quite sentimental about my knick knacks and special dishes that may have been gifts to me. Well, I have learned to keep the sentiment that prompted the gift close to my heart even as I sweep up the remains of the gift. I endure clutter a bit better than I used to. I doubt I shall ever completely overcome the neatnick monster that lurks inside of me. It is merely waiting to leap out in all its glory once the last child leaves home. And even then, it will probably be only a modified and fore-shortened leap as I expect I shall have grandchildren all too willing to beat it back in.

In a roundabout way, this sort of reminds me of that puzzling verse in I Timothy 2:15:

"Nevertheless she [a woman] will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control."

Some scholars say that this should read, "THE childbearing" meaning it refers to Christ's incarnation. Others say that this means that women are saved in their duties as mothers. I think there is a sense in which both are correct.

Women are saved through the only Son who was born who was and is capable of saving them. But there is a real sense in which the trials, tribulations, and sheer mundane tasks of motherhood have a real way of working out our salvation with fear and trembling in the lives of mothers.

Babies, toddlers, children, and teens have a way of demanding attention and needing care that requires a great deal of self-sacrifice on the parts of mothers if they are to be met at all in a competent way. Women give up their bodies and endure many discomforts during the gestating period. Then there is the pain of labor and delivery, afterpains, breastfeeding discomforts, sleepless nights, teething, dirty diapers, potty training, temper tantrums and childhood illnesses to get through, followed by the awkward hormonal teen years when a challenge to authority is likely to happen. Just when you get them to a stage where they are actually competent enough to be of material help to you, they either decide they don't want to cooperate, or they flee the nest.

Some of the worst pain one endures as a mother has nothing to do with physical trials or lack of sleep. It comes from holding your breath as you watch a child you have loved, taught and prayed for teeter on the edge of moral ruin in the face of your warnings and tears.

Sounds pretty grim, doesn't it? No wonder most of the world doesn't think children are worth the pain.

These petty annoyances (and they are petty in the grand scheme of things) are the means that God uses to strip away the self-centered, naval gazing tendencies in the lives of women. If we react badly to these common occurances, it is only evidence that there is a lot of sanctification that still needs to take place in our lives. We have layer after layer of ego and sinful pride that needs to be ripped off us as painfully as Eustace shed his dragon skin in C.S. Lewis' Narnia chronicle, and very often our children are the means that are used for doing this.

Being a mother is an exercise in humility. It is knowing that despite all the best that medicine has to offer, a child won't survive or get well unless the Great Physician intervenes. It is knowing that each time your children deliver papers on their paper routes could be their last time if they are hit by a careless driver. It is knowing that unless the means of grace are made effectual in their lives, our efforts were in vain. In short, we are completely helpless despite our best attempts and we are driven constantly to the throne of Grace to find mercy in times of need.

Saved in childbearing? You betcha.

Homely Arts

If you do a scan of the centuries, one of the things that sticks out is the fact that the vast majority of the major pieces of art work, admired by the world, are done by men. Sure there are a few outstanding novels or paintings here and there by women, but most of the world's best music, sculpture, books, paintings, etc., were executed by men.

Hmmmm.

It would be foolish to conclude from this that women are not very creative. One only has to visit a local crafts' fair or think back to some of the things our own mothers did in the home to know that women are not at all without creativity and talent. My own mother did beautiful tole painted tin ware and there is one wooden chest that she painted that I have long coveted (hint, hint, Mom) because of the beautiful picture that decorates it. Mom was and is also a wonderful cook. I learned to like food far too well because of her talents in that direction.

My maternal grandmother made beautiful quilts that are cherished by all her offspring and grandchildren. She also knitted and crocheted up a storm of wearable art work.

A lot of the artwork women engage in belongs to the realm of the transient. It tends to be not only beautiful, but also practical and meant for using. Thus, it gets used up and passes out of existence. Most of it graces our walls, beds, sofas, and backs, but few of them make it into art museums. And so our art forms are more temporal in nature than that produced by men.

Or is it?

Though women may not make a splash in the arts' world of time and men, there is one piece of work that many of them are called to that is eternal in nature. God has given to women the awesome and holy task of being the vessels for His "knitting."

I probably won't be remembered after I am gone for my quilting, crocheting, or calligraphy. But by God's grace, when He makes up His jewels, I hope to have contributed a few to the number through my childbearing.

Little children, little children
Who love the Redeemer
Are the jewels, precious jewels
His loved and His Own

Like the stars of the morning
His bright crown adorning
They shall shine in their beauty
Bright gems for His crown.

Mind Over Matter

The following linked article supports other things that I have read in favor of the "placebo effect." I have often wondered why medicine hasn't tried to actually harness the power of the placebo effect before now, since it works so well for so many.

This article certainly seems to support the Biblical teaching about life and death being in the power of the tongue, and about joyful hearts being good medicine.

Mind over matter
By Kate Rew
Positive thought can be as effective as drugs in beating disease, studies show



PREVENTIVE medicine may soon mean more than just monitoring your vegetable intake and exercise levels, and include how many negative thoughts go through your head in a day.
There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that a patient’s beliefs and hopes affect their prognosis. “One of the major contributors to maintaining health and removing disease is the attitude of the patient,” says Professor Oakley Ray, a psychologist from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. He reviewed 100 years of research on psychology and disease for a paper published in American Psychologist, and concluded that “words can have the same effect as drugs: thinking optimistically can change your whole biology”.



Ray quotes a wide range of evidence, including various studies linking mindset to heart disease: one such study, by Professor Laura Kubzansky, from the Harvard School of Public Health, established that optimism lowers the risk of heart disease in older men, while pessimism and hopelessness increase it. “There is strong evidence that patients with heart disease who feel hopeless about their condition do worse,” says Professor Alan Steptoe, a psychologist at University College London, “but whether this attitude can be changed is still an open question.” Indeed, large randomised trials have shown that the use of drug therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy to treat depression in heart-disease patients has failed to improve survival in the depressed group.

Ray — who has survived lymphoma against the odds — would have optimism inculcated in schools, so that no one faces illness with a “woe is me” attitude or has to shift years of ingrained negative thinking in response to an illness. He would also have teaching hospitals spend as much time on human relations as on neuroanatomy. Graham Archard, of the Royal College of General Practitioners, says that while this would make no difference to the way GPs treat patients, “a positive attitude of ‘I’m going to get better’ can affect prognosis”. People who give up don’t do so well or live so long, while some people who do everything can defy serious illness.

“This is why counselling and complementary therapies can be so good, and why GPs will suggest books and courses on relaxation and stress management. However, ten minutes per patient doesn’t give GPs much time to harness this response. In an ideal world we would double appointment times so GPs could address the biopsychosocial aspects of disease and how people could help themselves.”

Not all the evidence that Ray cites is of equal quality. “There are some good studies alongside bad studies in his paper,” says Professor Amanda Ramirez, who runs the Cancer Research UK psychosocial research programme at King’s College London. “The idea that ‘fighting spirit’ is important in cancer prognosis has, for instance, been discredited.”

“Furthermore, current best studies don’t support any link between stress and cancer. We can say with increasing confidence that there is no evidence that cancer is a response to your psyche.”

She adds that it’s important to remember that if you are ill, it’s only natural not to feel positive about it straight away. “There is a process you have to go through, and you may need to talk and cry and get depressed first. This is entirely normal and appropriate. What we’re worried about is people who go down and stay down, or people who don’t go down at all — that sort of positivity is so brittle that it’s likely to come unstuck.”

Advice for Young Maidens

Early Thoughts on Marriage
by Nathaniel Cotton (1705-1788)

Those awful words 'Til death do part'
May well alarm the youthful heart:
No after-thought when once a wife;
The die is cast, and cast for life;
Yet thousands venture every day
As some base passion leads the way.

Pert Sylvia talks of wedlock-scenes,
Though hardly entered on her teens;
Smiles on her whining spark, and hears
The sugared speech with raptured ears;
Impatient of a parent's rule,
She leaves her sire, and weds a fool;
Want enters at the guardless door,
And Love is fled, to come no more.

Attend, my fair, to wisdom's voice,
A better fate shall crown thy choice.
A married life, to speak the best,
Is all a lottery contest:
Yet if my fair-one will be wise,
I will ensure my girl a prize;
Though not a prize to match thy worth,
Perhaps thy equal's not on earth.

'Tis an important point to know,
There's no perfection here below.
Man's an odd compound after all,
And ever has been since the Fall.
Say, that he loves you from his soul,
Still man is proud, nor brooks control.
And though a slave in love's soft school,
In wedlock claims his right to rule.
The best, in short, has faults about him,
If few those faults, you must not flout him.

Looks Like I *may* be a Criminal....

...before the end of the week.

Tribute to a Queen Amongst Friends

My Friend
by Vida I. Poutz

"This is my friend," I heard her say,
And in her voice I heard
A certain something then relay
That friend is no small word.

It seemd to pack a sort of pride;
She wanted all to know
She had someone to stand beside,
Someone in time of woe.

I heard her say, "This is my friend,"
And that encompassed all --
Someone on whom you can depend
To answer any call,

A certain sort of bond that held
Through trouble and through strife,
Two common spirits closely bound
In friendship all through life.

Deep inside a glow began
And spread to warm my heart --
A feeling of deep gratitude
For making me a part.

When she said, "This is my friend,"
I knew she meant it too,
For in my heart she'd always held
A space reserved for few.

Through the years true friends are made;
You cannot beg or buy one.
But life has ways of sorting out,
And life has tricks to try one.

As I look back, she always rose
Far up above the rest,
And when she said, "This is my friend,"
I knew I'd stood the test.

Oh Brother!

Brave New Babies
Parents now have the power to choose the sex of their children. But as technology answers prayers, it also raises some troubling questions

Permission to Rest

I think one of the hardest things that I and many other mothers have to do is give ourselves permission to rest when we aren't feeling well. And it gets even harder to do if you happen to be a homeschool mother. Demons of guilt arise to torment one's self over dishes not done, too much PBS Kids while mom is comatose on the couch, chores done sloppily or not at all if mom is not there to supervise, Laundry Mountain left unscaled, and not least, the lack of directed reading, writing, and 'rithmetic that is occuring.

Oh Demons..... SHUT UP!

I'm off to bed with a hot mug of lemon water to keep me company.

IMPORTANT HEALTH INFORMATION

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it. Don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system! Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass, a green leafy vegetable and a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable slop.

Q: Is beer or wine bad for me?

A: Look, it goes to the earlier point about fruits and vegetables. As we all know, scientists divide everything in the world into three categories: animal, mineral, and vegetable. We all know that beer and wine are not animal or mineral, so that only leaves one thing, right? My advice: Have a burger and a beer and enjoy your vegetables.

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body, and you have body fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good.

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: You're not listening. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you mad?! HELLO ..... Cocoa beans .. another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around! Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets. Have a cookie..One more thing... When life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt.

Pet Peeve

One of my pet peeves is the dearth of qualified women midwives. One of the biggest reasons for this dearth is the way the medical community has tried to create a monopoly on the delivery of babies, restricting it where they can to allopathic medical doctors. Most of these doctors are men.

I have nothing against men, provided they are kept in their place. But I don't believe that place is in the labor and delivery rooms of our nation, unless they are the husbands of the women and fathers of the babies.

Giving birth is the culmination of the most intimate act between a man and a wife. Traditionally, birthing women were attended by other women; a midwife, their mother, aunts, cousins, sisters, etc. Birth was a normal family centered event, not the medical catastrophe waiting to happen that it now tends to be. Since birth was taken over by the medicos and moved to the hospital, the traditional support system that saw a new mother nurtured, supported and mothered into her new role by her experienced friends and relations has now been laid upon the shoulders of her husband (who, unless he is exceptional as a nurturer makes a poor substitute for the women) and a bunch of strangers she has never met before. Worse yet, her typically male doctor rushes in at the end to "deliver" her baby and then rushes off when the baby is successfully caught.

I could sound off on a lot of things that I have problems with in this scenario, but the one I want to focus on right now is the way a woman has to endure the experience of having herself exposed before another man other than her husband. Not a few women come out of the experience of a hospital/medical birth feeling, not empowered, but humiliated and exposed. I had seven hospital births in a variety of hospitals before finding a woman midwife and had to endure the embarrassment of this exposure. I had to try and ignore the maleness of my doctor and set up a kind of refuge from what was really happening in my mind, just to get through and get that baby in the end. What a contrast to the dignity and respect I was treated with by my midwife who understood the need and desire for modesty!

Birthing is an extraordinarily vulnerable time for a woman. She labors at one of the most eternally significant things she will ever do when she brings forth life. What a shame to expose her to shame and violation at this time!

If there are any guys reading this blog, I hope you take it to heart to seriously consider the merits of a woman attendant when it is time for your wife to give birth. Men should be one of the biggest cheerleaders for women attendants for this very reason, imho.

Crazy Cat

I own a dainty little puss we called "Suki." She is part Siamese and has the blue eyes and seal point coloring, but also a white streak on her nose and a few white patches on her paws.

Yesterday I had a client come for a visit and one of the tasks at hand was to grind up some valerian root for her in my coffee grinder so that she could make capsules from it. Now I don't know if you are familiar with valerian root, but it is the herbal equivalent of say, Valium, but has none of the side effects, is non-toxic, and non-habit forming. It is a great tonic for the herbs and a wonderful sedative for those who suffer from insomnia. It is also exceedingly smelly.

How smelly is it? Smelly enough that Suki could smell it through the closed and locked office door. She was soon scratching at the door wanting in, but I thought she just wanted to be sociable. She came in and leapt up on my desk where we were working, so I shooed her back out the door. Very soon my client left and I returned to some work I was doing on the computer.

In front of my computer monitor is a small space where I had been working to encapsulate the powdered valerian root. I had done this on a piece of paper to minimize the amount of herb scattered about. Suki scratched and fussed at the door again, and since my client was gone, I let her in. She was immediately back up on my desk and to my amazement she started going wild -- licking the paper with the remains of valerian dust on it, rubbing herself in it and then biting, licking and scratching at it and anything else that happened to have valerian on it. If you have ever seen the wild gyrations of cats with catnip, then times it by a factor of 5 for increased wildness. I never knew that valerian held such attraction for cats.

After spending a good 15 minutes wrestling with the herbed paper and attacking various things in the office, Suki settled down at my feet and I forgot about her as I returned to my work. My husband arrived home a little later and found my cat laying at my feet in a very deep herb-induced sleep.

Cain and Abel Syndrome

Fratricide is not limited to the human race. Apparently this result of the Fall is also seen with regularity in the lives of eagles. Golden eagles will typically lay two eggs each season. Two eggs are an insurance policy to make sure at least one of them hatches. If both hatch, the parents feed both of the fuzzy little chicks until they are strong enough to duke it out to the death. It doesn't take long, and they are still downy chicks when they attempt to kill off their nest-mate.

While this form of behavior is a natural one that occurs with great regularity, it is also one that causes a sense of revulsion. There is something exceedingly unnatural about members of the same species doing one another to death, whether it is siblings killing one another, or fathers eating their young, as is the case with some fish. We may accept that this is the way things are, but at the same time, there seems to be a universal feeling of "something is wrong with this picture."This sort of points back to what the Apostle Paul said when he declared that "creation was groaning and travailing."

It will be an exceedingly glad day for all of creation when all the sons of God are revealed and it is released from the futility to which it is now subjected.

Dainty Doodle

Elodie, aka Dainty Doodle, aka Punkadunk, is growing up. She is still a petite little miss, smaller than average, yet strong and hale at 19 mos. But oh is she sweet!

The other day Bethany was massaging my ears for me (which is a cool way to stimulate the entire body through the acupuncture points in the ear) while I was nursing Elodie. In the middle of nursing, Elodie stops, clambers up to kneel in my lap and then reaches up both of her little arms to pull and tug on my ears too. Then she held her little face up to me for a kiss.

She is also a clever imitator who knows how to unload or load the dishwasher, turn on the VCR, make my computer do (ahem) interesting things, and wash dishes by hand in the sink, after dragging a bar stool over to sit upon.

It was pure mental agony carrying her for those 10 longs months, but I haven't regretted a day since she slipped into my hands and heart.

Uh... Thanks, Chris


Congratulations! You're Gandalf!


Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Put Not Your Trust In Princes...

"...Michael Moore [in his book, 'Dude, Where's My Country'?] accuses Bush of being a chronic and pathological liar. The kind of people who survive in the game of politics long enough to become President are, almost necessarily, pathological liars. It would appear that Boobus americanus doesn’t much care. Certainly not if the domestic economy is good. In which case who cares who’s lying? Or if there’s a war or emergency going on?..."

The Indignation of Children

My kids can be awfully hard on one another, despite many warnings, admonitions, exhortations and disciplining. But let some outsider do damage to one of them and it is amazing to see how quickly they close ranks and turn on the outsider.

The outsider today was the two year old daughter of one of my clients. While she was being looked after by her grandmother in my living room, she turned on baby Elodie and bit her hard on the cheek -- hard enough to leave a prominent set of teeth marks. Elodie's heart-rending sobs brought all the siblings running and one and all looked darkly at the offender who was hauled off by her horrified mother to the metaphorical woodshed in our bathroom. I had the feeling that they would have loved to have been the ones to administer the discipline.

So while I am sad that Elodie's cheek is decorated with a ring of teeth marks, I am at the same time gratified to see that my children do love each other, and baby especially, to the point that they will stand up for and defend one another.

This reminds me of an incident from my childhood. My sister and I were at odds a lot of the time. There were only the two of us and I was the elder. Our relationship was not the closest or most loving, especially as my sister took great delight in provoking me to the point of madness and retaliation in self defense, whereupon she would run to mother with a tale of woe over what I had done to her. This usually meant a spanking or some other form of discipline for me. I didn't cherish loving thoughts towards her most of the time.

One time we were being babysat by an aunt by marriage in an old apartment complex. One of the children across the way was envious of my sister's long, luxurious black hair that hung to her waist, and in a fit of jealousy yanked a huge chunk of it out of her head and left a bald patch. My poor sister cried her eyes out in pain and humiliation, and I cried my eyes out with rage. I was only about 8 or so at the time, but I remember having murderous anger in my heart for the perpetrator. How dare she do that to my sister? I wanted to do the same to her. Good thing she was out of reach.

Birthday Grrrrl

I turned 43 three days ago. Not that long ago I read an article that said that men and women approach birthdays quite differently. For women, birthdays are seen as celebratory events; a time for socializing and connecting with their family, friends, and important people in their social life. Men, on the other hand, tend to look at birthdays as being days of reckoning, where they look at their goals and either pat themselves on the back for a job well done or are reminded of all the things that they didn’t accomplish and the goals they missed. One of the ways this difference is seen is reflected in the timing of death for men and women. Many elderly women die soon after their birthdays because making it to the birthday and having a time to celebrate is important to them. Men tend to die before their birthdays as a way of avoiding that day of reckoning. Or at least that was the thesis of the article that I read.

This birthday has been a combination of the above for me. First, the celebratory part. I had a very wonderful birthday this year and it was reflected in the care and attention that was devoted to me by my family. First of all, I received a nice card and gift from my parents on Friday. This brought a tear to my eye and a feeling of warmth around my heart when I read what my mom had to say. I also received a gift of a fridge magnet, a CD from a Christian musical artist, some beautifully fragrant soap and a candle made with healthy ingredients from Chris, a friend of Ben’s and a sort of adopted family member, and his mother. Now that was totally unexpected!

The next segment of birthday gifts could almost be titled, “Queen of the Day Meets Lord of the Rings.” My dear husband, Marc, spent a great deal of time over the preceeding weeks trying to track down some collectible LOTR action figures and the soundtracks to all three movies. Some of the children chipped in to help pay for them. Trista got me A Guide To Middle-Earth daily calendar with all kinds of interesting notes on the LOTR and other writings by Tolkein. Marc also bought me a DVD of a live concert of Great Big Sea to listen to and watch. Tamara bought me a makeup kit, Sam gave me a gym jacket, and Bethany got me some chocolate. Ben and Hannah made me a cake that was, um, interesting. [Note to self – INSIST on baking my own cake next year.] Marc took me out for a meal (Steak Neptune – yum!), and I had a two phone calls from my sister and my daughter Patricia , who phoned to wish me many happy returns.

After the children headed to bed, Marc, Nathanael and I watched a Johnny Depp movie, “Bennie and Joon.” I didn’t know who Johnny Depp was until I watched “Pirates of the Caribbean” recently. Now I have watched two other of his movies, “Edward Scissorhands” and the above mentioned and am beginning to recognize certain characteristic mannerisms that he brings to his work. He is very talented and I am looking forward to seeing more of his work.

Now for the reckoning part. The time of reckoning at my birthday is actually coincidental and the result of several books that I am working my way through. The first book is “The Sedona Method” by Hale Dwoskin, which I have quoted in other parts of my blog. There is a natural psychology that exists in the world separate from the nonsense one finds in a lot of the stuff taught in universities. I believe the Sedona Method taps into some of it. It is enabling me to see that I spend a lot of time spinning my wheels in emotions that don’t serve to get me where I need to go. So I am taking stock of my emotional life and sorting out the stuff that is holding me back from the success I desire and working on making corrections to the often irrational thoughts that keep those emotions rolling. In other words, I am learning to take my thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ in a more intense way.

Another book I am working through is called, Smart Women Finish Rich, by David Bach. Lest you think that this book is just about money grubbing, one of the first things you are asked to do is to set down what your values are. Once you do that, you are asked to look at your spending/saving/investing habits and see if they are supporting your values or negating them.

One of the things I was surprised to discover about myself is that despite whatever talents and abilities I seemingly have, and despite the fact that these things should tend towards success, I am actually afraid of success. I never really realized this before, but it goes a long way towards explaining all the great ideas that never get acted on, the unfinished projects, and the lack of progress in certain areas. It also explains a diffidence I feel whenever I am working with people, especially when it comes to getting paid for my services. It’s like despite the fact that I know I have done something to help them, I feel I don’t deserve to be reimbursed for my time or abilities. I also feel inhibited in selling my services to people or recommending products that have solid scientific, clinical studies and from which I have personally experienced and seen others derive benefit from.

Okay, now that I know what some of the problem is, what about some solutions? Well, not surprisingly, when I did a test for psychological reversal on the topic of being successful, I was reversed. I then did some EFT to help correct the problem and a later test seemed to indicate that I had successfully cleared that mental/emotional block. The acid test for seeing if I had cleared my “success diffidence” came last night when I was at the gym. I ran into a friend I haven’t seen for some time and got caught up on his family news. One of his daughters is having some health related problems and he is quite certain that much of the problem is being caused by the drugs that she was put on by the doctors. I was able to share with him some of what I am doing and suggested with confidence that I thought I could help his daughter with some of her challenges. He expressed great interest in what I had to say and assured me that I would be hearing from his wife concerning setting up an appointment for their daughter. Even if he never follows through, I am encouraged that I have had that much of a break through with myself. Prior to this my heart would have accelerated and my respiration would increase as I would have nearly a panic attack when recommending myself to someone. None of that occurred last night and I was able to discuss it calmly, rationally, and with conviction. I am thrilled in a calm sort of way.

I guess I’ll be keeping you all up-to-date on the kind of progress I will be making in the days ahead, both in slaying personal demons and in clearing out the internal noise pollution of “should, must, have to” that seems to accompany everything I do.

Today's Hardy Har...

Q: What's the last thing that goes through a bee's mind when it hits the windshield?

A: It's stinger

(heheh)

Ahhhh!!!! THAW!!!!

After temperatures that dipped down to -35 before you factored in wind chill, todays daytime temperature of zero degrees celsius is postively balmy! The other day I foolishly tried to open the door on my van with a bare hand and it was so cold my fingers felt burned by it.

In the course of my lifetime, I have lived with oil heat, steam registers, electric baseboards and a wood furnace. When it gets this cold, nothing beats a wood furnace. The wood is not only cheaper, it also dries the air out which makes it feel warmer in the house. When we used to live in the Vancouver area, I could never feel warm in the winter when it was raining outside with the gas heat on because of the high humidity. It was bone-chilling,raw, dreary cold.

I also like not having to depend on the gas company for supply. Lots of people have found themselves stranded without heat or a way of cooking when their gas supply was cut off for whatever reason. Then there is the cost factor. If you use natural gas or electric to heat your home, you are captive to the rates charged by the supplier. This year we were able to get a lot of wood for nothing more than the price of the gas to haul it. The only thing it needed was sawing into the right lengths. We didn't even have to split it as it was the scrap unusable part cut off logs when they are sawed into boards. It was pre-split, so to speak.

I remember the clanking of the steam registers in the old converted farm house I was raised in, in Massachusetts. I am sure that I would consider them an unsightly though necessary evil if there were in my house now. My sister has them in her house and while they keep it warm, they are also great for catching dust. However, I loved being able to sit on them when especially cold, and they were also a great place for drying out wet mittens in the winter.

Is "Public" Education Always Bad?

I frequently read arguments by homeschoolers that the education of children belongs to parents because God delegated authority to parents and therefore it is solely the responsibility of parents to do all the schooling. I read such an article today and it prompted me to ask the following questions:

1. Are parents ever allowed to delegate tasks and still be doing their job of seeing their children are educated?

2. Is the only godly way to educate children in the home, or are parents allowed to form cooperatives or hire tutors who take direction from them and are accountable to them for what is taught?

3. I wonder if the problem is not so much one of jurisdiction (though I do not for a moment believe that the state/federal/provincial governments have not overstepped their bounds and treat parents as providers of room and board for the State's children) as it is one of the schools being run by the prevailing religious establisment in our nations, which is blatantly anti-Christian? IOW, would we be objecting so hard if the established religion of the land was the reformed faith and our children were being taught all the subjects under the sun from this perspective? Is it the institution itself we object to or the establishment that runs it?

4. Were our fore-fathers and mothers in the Faith all sinning when they sent their children to schools that were based on the presupposition that the Christian faith was true?

5. I also have in mind the Reformers like Knox and Andrew Melville who did much to institute and reform the schools and universities and thereby paved the way for their nation to become literate in a much more efficient fashion, thereby spreading the effects of Reformation quickly. Was this inherently sinful on their part?

I pose these questions because for a long time I gave the very knee-jerk response that I see a lot of others in the Christian homeschool movement give -- that truly godly parents homeschool and that this is always and forever the only godly thing to do. Anything less than homeschool is a dereliction of duty by these parents. I also believed that "public" education *as an institution* was from the pit of hell. I now question that belief.

I should say that I am familiar with Martin Luther's comment on schools. This strikes me as falling into the category of being an argument from abuse. Schools *might* and have fallen into apostacy. But we might as well argue against the institution of marriage because some men might beat their wives. If you eliminate marriage, no wives are beaten. Eliminate schools and no children are corrupted.

Lest there be any misunderstanding, my children are not in public school and I have no intentions of putting them there. (I have been homeschooling for about 21 years now.) I guess where I am coming from with all this is that, optimistic historicistic postmillenialist that I am, I forsee a time when not only our civil magistrates kiss the Son, but also our other institutions will do so. In that case, I don't know that I would have a lot of objections to parents choosing to send their children to a school.

Bad Bloggie

For some reason, the little counter thing that tells you how many comments I receive on a given blog entry no longer works. This makes it look like no one has anything to say about the things I write. And I don't know how to fix it either. Blech.

Musings on the RPW

We have just successfully gotten past another Ho Ho season and I would like to take this time to reflect upon something that, no doubt, some of you see as an obsession that I have. It has to do with the regulative principle of worship, or RPW for short. In the providence of God, chapter XXI of the Westminster Confession of Faith was the topic of discussion at our Bible study yesterday, and so these thoughts are offered as the result of the discussion and the meditation I have had on this topic.

When it comes to the second table of the 10 commandments, people can see pretty clearly why we should not steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, dishonor parents or covet. These are sins that directly impact us when they are practiced against us. Hence the adage to do as you would be done by is one that we naturally concur with (unless we happen to be the offender, in which case, we often try to build a case for why it is ok for us to sin in this particular instance).

When it comes to sins that are direct offenses against God, the case is not so clearly seen or felt. Bolts of lightening do not fall upon our hapless heads every time we worship false Gods, profane and corrupt true worship, take the Lord's Name in vain, or profane the Lord's Day. We often don't see a direct connection between a particular sin against God in the negative providences that are visited upon us.

The most hardened atheist amongst us will talk of things being either "good" or "evil", or will stand for what he thinks is "just" or "right." When he does this, he refers to a standard that exists outside of himself and with which he knows that the person he is speaking to also acknowledges. If that presupposition did not exist, all references to things being "good" or "evil" would be nonsense, or else nothing more than a statement of preference on the part of the speaker. An atheist couldn't talk about child abuse or puppy mutilation as being something truly evil, but rather something that he prefers didn't happen. But he doesn't. He thinks and acts in terms of the belief that there is a standard that determines what is right or wrong that others also recognize and thereby betrays the fact that he knows the truth about God, but is suppressing that truth in unrighteousness. (Romans 1:18)

God's existence, and the rightness or wrongness of actions and thoughts is built into the human psyche and is inescapable. Only fools deny this.

All well and good, but how does this relate to the topic of worship? Simple. Although we know by the light of nature that God exists and that we owe Him obedience, we do not know by the light of nature what constitutes good and acceptable worship of Him.

It is striking, if you go around the world and look at the worship practices of cultures, we often see some sort of sacrifice being offered to the god of that culture. It could be fruit or vegetables, drink offerings, animal, or even human sacrifices. We know that the "god" needs to be propitiated and appeased, but do we know how he wants this done? Is there anything in the light of nature that tells us how to approach the God of the Universe in a way that pleases Him? No. And that is the whole point behind the regulative principle of worship.

There are several ways of coming at the question of determining what is good and acceptable worship. The first way is to make it up as you go and hope that somewhere along the line you hit on something that is pleasing to God. This implies that man's judgement is capable of being reliable in determining what God wants by way of worship. Those who use this method rely on sincerity of intent to get them through. It also assumes that sin didn’t corrupt our judgement in this particular instance. This assumption is no where supported in Scripture.

A second way is to rely on special revelation, as being the only rule to direct us how we are to know and worship God. This is where most professing Christians look when they want to determine true and false worship, but even here we don’t see complete agreement, and the reason for this is because of the presuppositions that we all bring to Scripture.

The historic Reformed position espoused by the Westminster Divines states that “the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men or in any other way not presecribed in the Holy Scripture.” [WCF XXI.1]

This necessarily means that our worship will be limited to only doing the thing that God commands -- not adding to it or taking away from it. This is precisely the direction we find from God in His Word in Deuteronomy 12: 29-32.

"When the LORD you God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it."

Here we have God specifically telling us not to look to the heathen for ways of worshipping Him. He takes great care in the books of the Law in laying out precisely what it is that is required so that they are not left in any doubt. Instituted worship is worship which has been augthorized, commanded, or required by him.

Let’s look at the example of Cain and Abel for the first illustration of this principle. Cain offers a sacrifice of the fruit of the ground to the Lord while his brother, Abel, brings a firstborn sheep of his flock. God rebukes Cain but accepts Abel’s offering. Why? Every theologian I know draws the logical conclusion that God had told them exactly what to do for worship. “If you do well,” God says to Cain, “will you not be accepted?”

If God demands a sheep, does that leave any room for fruits and vegetables to be brought?

The approach of some reputedly Reformed people is to do what is commanded, refrain from that which is expressly condemned or forbidden, and anything else not expressly forbidden is ok. In this view, it is wrong to offer strange incense like Nadab and Abihu, but nothing forbids you from having clowns and skits in your worship service, because this is not expressly forbidden. By taking this approach, many Protestants have adopted the hermenuetic of Rome who has multiplied ceremonies, symbols, activities and so-called holy days, like Christmas, not mentioned or specifically forbidden in Scripture. The difference between Rome and many Protestant churches is only one of degree, and not kind.

This kind of worship is vain. Here is what the Lord said in Mark 7:6-9:

“…Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men – the washing of pitchers and cups and many other such things you do.’ He said to them, ‘All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.’”

In other words, whenever we add anything to our practice by way of worship that is not expressly commanded by God, this is vain worship and demonstrates a heart that is far from God in obedience. Were not the Pharisees believing that they did God honor when they washed their utensils and beds for God’s sake? Yet the Lord calls this vain worship.

Let’s bring this a bit closer to home. We have a feast that we are commanded in Scripture to observe: The Lord’s Table. How many people do you know who put in the same amount of care, time and preparation for celebrating a feast we are commanded to keep as they put into observing Christmas – a feast no where commanded in Scripture? People agonize for months over what they are going to buy others. Weeks of shopping and cooking go into the preparations for said day. Do we spend even a tithe of our time preparing for the covenant meal? Are we not guilty of vain worship when we do this? Are we not elevating a tradition of man over the commandment of God?

In short, what we have here is a struggle between two opposing camps: One camp which holds to and espouses the complete Sovereignty of God in worship, and the other which espouses the sovereignty of man in worship.

May the Lord purify His Church in these matters.

Get Blogging, YOU!

This is a notice to all the people whose blogs I typically read on any given day. You are all a bunch of lazies! I am tired of visiting your blog only to see the same old post that is over a week old. The only notable exception to this is Ginny, who has been posting long, lovely posts about her life almost every day.

No excuses now! Get busy!

Don't Get Caught....

...in the Meatrix!

Think your meat is safe cuz it is inspected? Have a look here.

Think there might be a problem with the orthodox theory of the cause of mad cow disease? Try reading this

Profound Thought for the Day

"Emotions are just emotions. They are not you, they are not facts, and you can just let them go...

"The first part, "Emotions are just emotions," may seem obvious, yet this is not how most of us live. We live in a culture that mainly deals with emotions on either end of a broad spectrum. On one end of the spectrum, we deny our emotions and the effect they have on our rational thinking processes, on our health or on our experience of life. On the other end, we deify our emotions, investing way too much importance on the supposed messages that they are here to deliver and what they mean about who we are.

"There are grains of truth in the perspectives of both acting rationally and of not denying our emotions. However, most of us lose ourselves, and our ability to choose, in each perspective. Depending on how our rational mind is interpreting our sensory input in the moment, we can often swing wildly between the two.

"Most of us tend to identify with our emotions as though they are who we are... We talk about "being angry" as opposed to "feeling angry." It is our identificationwith feelings that often makes it more difficult than it needs to be to let them go. We often cling to our identification with a feeling because we think, "It is who I am." We believe, "I feel, therefore I am."

"...I recommend that you examine this idea for yourself. See whether it is more accurate to notice that emotions come and go, while who you truly are always remains.

"... When you find yourself lost in identification with an emotion, you can ask yourself, "Am I this feeling, or am I just having a feeling?" This simple question can help you separate yourself from a false identification. ...

"As we explore the statement further, we come to: "They are not facts." Have you ever been sure of what you thought was a fact -- such as that someone you knew liked you -- only to find the opposite was true? Or have you ever been sure that something was about to go wrong only to have it go very right? These are just two examples of how we relate to the input that we get from our feelings. We live in a world of assumptions, thinking we are relating to facts. In some ways, our feelings are just stories that we have made up about a particular set of sensations. These stories often, if not always, come after the feeling has already arisen in our consciousness. We then use them to explain why we feel the way we feel.

"Treating emotions like facts can be a problem, because we often don't realize that we have made an assumption until it is too late. By then we have made what we thought was a rational decision, only to find out later that it was just based on an automatic emotional reaction.

"The final part of the statement focuses on what this whole book is about: 'You can let them go.' The more you accept and employ your natural ability to release [as in easing your grip on emotions or having them release their grip on you -- CG], the more every part of your experience of life will be transformed."

[Quoted from pages 102-104 The Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin]

The Irony of Life

The glory of youth is their strength, cuz it sure ain't their wisdom! The young are too soon dumb and too late smart, and they don't even know it. Worse yet, they think they are the opposite. This, of course, is a generality. Some young people are exceptionally mature. Then there are tons of adults who never grow up in terms of responsibility or attitude.

Here is where the irony comes in. The longer I live, the more I see what a complete shambles I am and how completely hopeless I am at stuff and how un-together I am, which, conversely, is apparently the evidence that you are getting your act together.

It was Pastor Price who taught me the beauty of humility. (How could I not love and appreciate a man who is in so many ways better than I, but who humbly asks my pardon when he thinks he may have offended me? )

Last night I was at my daughter Trista's for supper with her husband and in-laws. Trista's mother-in-law and I go back a long ways and it was a pleasant evening visiting her. I was lamenting to Sue about all the mistakes and failures I had made along the way when I was raising my two eldest daughters. Trista broke into the conversation and said,

"Mom, there was one thing you did that always made up for the failures. You always came back to us and said you were sorry and asked us to forgive you."

Trista then related that this fact is what encourages her to do the same with her little daughter. Which made me glad.

One of the worst things about the Fall is the way our sin nature makes us spend so much time focusing and wondering and fussing over our selves. I think one of the things I most look forward to in Heaven will be losing that all-pervading sense of self that is always yakking away in the back of my head, distracting me from really getting down to doing something. I waste a great deal of time worrying about how I am perceived as a mother rather than actually being one. I worry about how I look in pictures to the extent that I won't allow them to be taken of me. I worry about what others think of my housecleaning to the extent that I fuss over that to the neglect of my children. So much of what I do, even the things I excel at, are tied into wanting my self to be seen in a good light. And really, I know it is quite futile. Because even if I am good at something, this generally isn't what makes people like me or want to emulate me. Often the things I am good at become stumbling blocks to others because they either think they can't do it and become discouraged, or else it provokes envy. I have noticed more and more that the times I connect the most with people is when I am admitting to weaknesses and discouragements. "When I am weak, then am I strong."

I think one of the reasons that people are attracted to eastern religion is because of the promise of losing the "self" in the great One -- in a sense, to become unconscious. On rare occasions I have had a taste of what I think heaven will be like -- not an unconsciousness, but an attention that is directed completely outward and undistracted by thoughts of self. It doesn't happen that often, and it isn't anything I can conjure up by trying really hard. Instead, it is a Gift that has been given to me that gives me a sort of holiday from the eternal chatter of the self. I wouldn't mind an eternity-long holiday of that sort.

Good History!

I recently picked up and re-read a wonderfully engaging piece of historical biography by Otto Scott. The book in question is called James I: The Fool As King. Back when I was still a subscriber to Chalcedon Report, Otto was one of my favorite columnists. I was sorry when he and Rushdoony parted ways and he no longer wrote for CR.

If you want to gain a good understanding for the political arena of today, reading this book is one way of doing so. James I had a profound and negative impact on human government and in many ways is one of the prime architects of monolithic government intrusion. What is most interesting to me is that his views of government were formed deliberately to destroy the Reformation views he was taught by his tutor, George Buchanan, and to derail the personal liberty from government tyranny that the Reformation set in motion.

In addition to giving us insight into James I of England's life, Mr. Scott does a lot to strip Mary, Queen of Scots, of her glamour and mystique and reveals her as the conniving, murderous, and adulterous woman that she was. Elizabeth I is seen as the ultimate pragmatist who couldn't understand the religious passions or the logical outcomes of these passions led to. She was caught between the Vatican and pro-Catholic forces who would see her made illegitmate and de-throned in favor of her cousin, Mary Stuart, and the Reformed Christians who threatened the extent of royal prerogative by their insistence that the Crown govern only by consent of the people, and in subjection to God's Law. All in all, it was a fascinating read.

Go Here...

...to see why Christmass is idolatry.

Ho,Ho,Ho...

What a fiend we have in Santa
With his sled and jingling bells
And with all his empty banter
Leading pagan kids to hell.

Courtesy of Dr. F.N.Lee

I DID IT!!!

Up until now, I have been an html quadrapelegic. That meant that I had to depend on Emeth to do any tweaking of my blog features. And Emeth is a very busy girl these days. So, my blog languished for want of tweaking, and the orange and green text and pale orange background made me feel bilious, not to say nauseated, every time I saw it.

Until today.....

I took my courage in hand, opened up the template, opened up Web Monkey so I could figure out which color codes to change, and voila! I am now an html parapalegic!

How do you like my new look???

Next thing to learn: How to post pictures. Anyone want to give me a hint?

Return of the King

Saw it. Wanna see it again. I enjoyed the look of bliss on Gollum's face as he fell into the fires of Mount Doom. The thing I didn't like was the unintended comedy of Gollum strugging with an invisible Frodo before he bit off the ring. It kind of marred the seriousness of the moment.

Do I have to wait almost a year before I can see the extended version??? Wah.

Strange Road Kill

We get all kinds of road kill in our neck of the woods, but none so strange as what we found on our own road the other day.

The four eldest children were driving into town with me after dark the other night and we saw what looked like a large animal with long hair lying motionless at the side of the road. We were in a hurry so we couldn't take the time to stop and investigate, but the way its "fur" was blowing in the wind made me think it was possibly a dog or wolf.

On our return journey, we stopped to see what it actually was, and to our surprise, we found an emu. Not exactly what you expect to see leaping out in front of your vehicle in the Canadian north!

Eagles, ravens and other carrion birds have not taken long to reduce said emu to a rack of ribs picked clean, feet and legs, and a pile of feathers. The funny thing is, they congregate in large numbers during the day to eat, but by sunset there is nary a bird to be seen except the remains of the emu.

If the bird had to go, I am thankful it chose to make its suicide run at this time of year. No bugs and no nasty smell!

Signs of the Times

This article details the signs of the times which are merely the logical outworking of a corrupt foundation when America was established.

Gary North was right. Pluralism is a myth. There is no such thing as religion vs. no religion, but instead which religion. If that is the case, then establishmentarianism is the only logical conclusion. There must be one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, not many. Christians who refuse to acknowledge this are trying to live in an alternate universe that doesn't exist.