*Sighs*
...
*Sisters*
I have no words to say nor any excuse to offer for the long and rather abrupt (that is, unannounced) rest I have taken from my writings. Sometimes you need a break from something in your life and blogging is the natural choice for me because it is not the sum total of my life and it is often time-consuming.
For having no words to say nor any excuse to offer... I sure typed a lot.
Currently, as in, at this moment as I type these words, I am at a friend's house, babysitting three of their children. Samuel is down napping for the moment so the girls and I have been, shall we say, creatively passing away the time with paper crowns and bows (taped on with scotch tape).
"Queen Allison of the Palace Beautiful"
Yes, so, in addition to this, we held a grand ball, where the aforementioned costumes were absolutely critical to the atmosphere. Note her dress below, covered in spots not unlike those of a leopard, hence, the Amazonian Princess.
"Princess Erin of the Amazon"
If you haven't, check out Vision Forum's Hazardous Journeys Amazon adventure. We signed up awhile ago and are enjoying studying the lessons and mysteries of the Amazon rain forest as a family. It has been an eye-opener as to the wonder of God's dominion and creation and of man's part in bringing the earth into submission to the glory of God. This was mainly the source for the Amazonian princess idea. Be careful who you get as a babysitter, OK? Rest assured, she is a Christian princess (her words).
After lunch, which consisted primarily of Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches (infinitely to be preferred to Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup- in the minds of 5, 3, and 2 year olds) I began reading a fascinating treatise on the sovereignty of God (in case you didn't know, all powerful, omniscient, etc...) and the problem of evil (that is, wickedness, sin) which is difficult (for finite minds I guess) to reconcile with the absolute love and goodness of the God of the Bible. I am a full three pages into it, not quite ready to give an opinion, but am inclined already to like by the recommendation of a respected individual whose book it is.
Side note: by way of current events, studying a book by Charles Dickens and following it up with Ernest Hemingway is a fabulous way to illustrate total opposites. As you may have noticed, I am having difficulty recovering from A Tale of Two Cities, as evidenced by the length and complexity (at least partial unintelligibly) of these past few paragraphs. I have not yet mastered his articulation and brilliance, nor Hemingway's brevity and clarity in constructing sentences which do not contain multiple clauses or ideas.
I struggle against verbosity. Brief sentences inspire, and intimidate, me. My mind is constantly in turmoil, wrestling with ideas, yet never choosing only one. It escapes me how to speak objectively, capturing the greatest amount of meaning in the fewest words. But I will try.
in their words- "fuzzy"
The past few weeks have been really busy and really fun. We spent a weekend at a family camp with a lot of other "like-minded' families, and volleyball is still the ultimate home school social event. Strengthening old friendships, building new, and listening to conversations between mature Christian fathers and mothers is always a lot of fun. The speaker for the weekend was Israel Wayne who is a person I really admire, and have admired for a lot of years. His book, Homeschooling from a Biblical Worldview, is thought-provoking to me as a young unmarried person who is currently without children to teach at home. It gave me (when I read a few years ago) a new perspective on education, the why and how of gaining godly knowledge specifically as it pertains to my own education.
By the way, the Bible is still correct (shocker, huh?) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the law is understanding. No matter which way you slice it the pie is still apple. :)
*grins*
An interesting lesson of socializing with many different people in all walks of life (very good friends, you understand), is learning, on the one hand, how not to be constantly swayed by different ideas, but on the other hand, listening humbly to the counsels and convictions of other believers who don't see eye to eye with you on many major issues. On the one hand, I respect many families and their beliefs and this causes me to truly consider their views, but on the other, I have a responsibility toward God to follow Him and not blindly to follow others- however much I like them. Their words though, give me a starting place to begin to 'research', if you will, what God says on the subject and begin to evaluate what is true. Instead of desiring to 'prove my point' or agree with someone out of desire for 'peace', I desire more firmly to know God and to know the truth in order to please Him, not someone else. Hopefully we all can come to the knowledge of truth- and not quibble while we're coming to it! Iron sharpeneth iron...
Final thought:
The Love Jesus has toward us is not a love which led Him to paint a smiley face on your bumper sticker. His love led Him to leave His home, His Father, His glory, to come to earth, to become physical man, and to suffer the worst death imaginable so that He could save us - who were His enemies, who hated Him. We don't have a God who sits in heaven biting His nails over the problem of evil and sin, He's not hoping that we'll shape up, or begging us (in the powerless sense of the word) to turn from our evil. He has been doing something about this horrible wickedness that fills the earth, He did do something- He put on sin, was swallowed by tragedy, died to death, and used sin to accomplish His glorious end- the salvation of a people prepared for the Lord and the judgment of that which is evil. The redemption of a people whom He loved, whom He created. The perfection of the saints who believe on His name.
Yes, with this in mind, we can truly "Smile, Jesus loves you!" But hopefully not after wiping away a few tears?
~Jordan Elizabeth
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