Oh boy, I've been tagged... so here goes, for the first time!
Here are the rules:
1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name (or pretend middle name!!). If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name.
3. After you are tagged you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.
4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details).
OK, hope that's all straight. I think I'm going to choose a short middle name ya'll!
Answers:
Levelheaded
Organized
Organist
I tag:
sblogger
Kym
Caryn
Thanks for playing!
Friday, February 22, 2008
What a Week!!
I'm not sure much else could have been squeezed into this one week. Let's see if I can document the essence.
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| Here is Missy in a special box upstairs only a few days before getting deathly ill - photo taken by C. |
In the meantime....on Monday morning I'm awakened at about 5am with terrible itching on my wrist which in a short while, is seen to be not confined to that one spot but totally systemic, including from the top of my head to the bottoms of my feet. Huge ugly red patches covered almost everywhere, with welts and purpley-red, VERY itchy skin. Nevertheless, we took a planned family trip to the Aquarium and had a good time there. Tuesday was not much better, with chills developing etc. Still managed to go with a friend to a fascinating talk by the famed Frank McCourt (of Angela's Ashes fame), in the evening in downtown Chattanooga, and take C to her morning school at CHE, and afternoon Keeper's club meeting - I just dropped her off. Wednesday I was feeling pretty bad, with chills, nausea, some vomiting and would have spent the afternoon in bed (after Missy died in the morning, of course) had not S insisted I go to a doctor and get this thing cleared up, for Pete's sake! So I drag myself off to find a doctor that has an opening (hard to find, it turns out, in this flu season) and eventually get in at a Physician's Assistant's clinic. That revealed a fever, elevated WBC count of 15.8, and a positive diagnosis of Clostridium difficile, etc. Not exactly what one wants to hear but it had been suspected with diarrhea pretty constant for the previous month from that lovely antibiotic the dentist prescribed for the abscessed tooth in January. Moral of the story - TAKE CARE OF YOUR TEETH - no crowns!! (for interest' sake, you can look up C. difficile on google - you'll be enlightened, I'm sure! - never take Clindamycin, for one thing!). So, I'm on metronidazone or something like that to kill the C.diff. Pray that works! Now, with the itchiness still around, but less severe, we have to find a cure for that little problem
Here is C by the little grave site in the woods, feeling sad that Missy's gone. (They buried her Wednesday afternoon while I was doc hunting).OK, on to other things...C has a cough - mostly in the mornings - feels fine during the day, thankfully. I really don't think I could have taken care of a very ill cat, an ill and itchy self, and an ill child at the same time!! Thank you, Lord, for small mercies!
Thursday and today have been much better, but no rest for the wicked - still have to teach school, be taxi lady for cello group, help fold newsletters for the non-profit I volunteer for, help move in a new library cabinet and move books over to it for said non-prof. group, and all that stuff that doesn't let up for "nobody". But at least life isn't boring and I can truly say that God has given the strength to get through, especially losing Missy. (Who cares about C.diff?). And I didn't even mention that C and I got borrowed violins on Sunday and have been playing them from time to time when life permits. C already plays several pieces by ear in the violin Suzuki book one, and I'm up to about number 11 in the book. Of course, we're just excited by the novelty. I'll talk more about the violins next time....(still taking cello - violin is just a side hobby, ha ha!)
Cheerio, and hope for better news next time!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Fresh Air is Good
Here are some wise, inspired words from Ministry of Healing in the chapter Contact with Nature:
I hope you all are able to enjoy the outdoors. Lately I haven't been getting out enough - this cold, biting wind and frosty air is enough to keep me indoors more than I should! C got out this week quite a bit though, and didn't seem to notice the temperature!
We had a child bride this week, thanks to Aunty J who made a lovely wedding dress and veil.
Poor B had a cold this week and to top it off, got pink eye on Thursday. It's very contagious so I hope the rest of us don't all suffer the same fate! I've been drinking charcoal this week for a different reason caused by a certain bacteria gone wild. The symptoms seem to be easing up, thank goodness.
A peek in to C's cello group class with Mrs. Burnham:
There's nothing too earth-shattering this week to report. Home-school is going well with more ups than downs. We're about done with first grade, I'd say, so are well into the 2nd grade stuff now. C is doing a bit more reading aloud in our Bible time, where she'll read one or so of our stories. She is used to reading to herself so her fluency is probably needing to improve - I'm sure this will help. Writing is also coming along and we're focusing on keeping each letter the same size.
Caridee has been joining us in the schoolroom, as well as occasionally Bud, Missy and Sunny. Bud and Caridee have a tentative relationship now but not too friendly from Bud's perspective. It's amazing how quick Caridee is to jump out of reach of Bud's claws! She'll stick her nose way in toward him then jump back as quick as lightning as he strikes. Everytime she barks she quickly looks at me to see if I'll spray her. She knows she's not supposed to bark inside the house.
As you can see, I'm scraping the barrel for something to say, so will end now and get an early night for a change. S is over at the Univ. seeing if anyone will be stargazing tonight. I think there are too many clouds! No doubt he'll find someone to chat with though.
Happy Valentine's from this giraffe in Florida! Do you see the heart? That's for YOU! They told us he was even born on February 14. Nice story!! :-)
Hope you all had a great week. Take care.
Totsiens.
Outdoor life is the only remedy that many invalids need. It has a wonderful power to heal diseases....
There are life-giving properties in the balsam of the pine, in the fragrance of the cedar and the fir, and other trees also have properties that are health restoring.....
Plans should be devised for keeping patients out of doors...
Exercise in the open air should be prescribed as a life-giving necessity. And for such exercise there is nothing better than the cultivation of the soil....
In nature may always be found something to divert the attention of the sick from themselves and direct their thoughts to God. Surrounded by His wonderful works, their minds are uplifted from the things that are seen to the things that are unseen. The beauty of nature leads them to think of the heavenly home, where there will be nothing to mar the loveliness, nothing to taint or destroy, nothing to cause disease or death.
I hope you all are able to enjoy the outdoors. Lately I haven't been getting out enough - this cold, biting wind and frosty air is enough to keep me indoors more than I should! C got out this week quite a bit though, and didn't seem to notice the temperature!
We had a child bride this week, thanks to Aunty J who made a lovely wedding dress and veil.
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| We've had several practice runs though miss bride still isn't satisfied with the flowergirl who WILL drop all the petals in ONE spot. |
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| Enough to make a bride grovel to pick them up for yet another practice!! |
A peek in to C's cello group class with Mrs. Burnham:
There's nothing too earth-shattering this week to report. Home-school is going well with more ups than downs. We're about done with first grade, I'd say, so are well into the 2nd grade stuff now. C is doing a bit more reading aloud in our Bible time, where she'll read one or so of our stories. She is used to reading to herself so her fluency is probably needing to improve - I'm sure this will help. Writing is also coming along and we're focusing on keeping each letter the same size.
Caridee has been joining us in the schoolroom, as well as occasionally Bud, Missy and Sunny. Bud and Caridee have a tentative relationship now but not too friendly from Bud's perspective. It's amazing how quick Caridee is to jump out of reach of Bud's claws! She'll stick her nose way in toward him then jump back as quick as lightning as he strikes. Everytime she barks she quickly looks at me to see if I'll spray her. She knows she's not supposed to bark inside the house.
As you can see, I'm scraping the barrel for something to say, so will end now and get an early night for a change. S is over at the Univ. seeing if anyone will be stargazing tonight. I think there are too many clouds! No doubt he'll find someone to chat with though.
Happy Valentine's from this giraffe in Florida! Do you see the heart? That's for YOU! They told us he was even born on February 14. Nice story!! :-)
Hope you all had a great week. Take care.
Totsiens.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Monarch Marvel
How nice it is to stop the hustle and bustle of a busy work week and to have a full 24 hours of rest. I can't fathom why it's considered legalistic by many to NOT work! Keeping this day Holy is a blessing for us because we consciously put away things that would lead us away from knowing God more fully. Actually, sometimes there IS effort involved - that of NOT working! But the results are worth it and very beneficial for the soul.
See how our little Cy has grown. How peaceful she looks. C loves to hold her and would hold her constantly if she could.
We've had a lot of rain this week. On Tuesday morning right around 8am we were hit with some mighty stormy weather. Unfortunately for about 50 people in Western Tennessee earlier in the day, it proved fatal. This time of year can be unpredictable in these parts.
On Tuesday afternoon C was invited to a belated birthday party - a dress-up tea party. Great fun and hilarity was had by all - especially as there was a 5 year old brother to chase after them with his stick sword and dinosaur mask. They were screeching and screaming so loudly one couldn't be heard above the din even when in the kitchen.
Wednesday night was Adventureres. I was the worship leader and Busy Bee teacher this week. We studied about butterflies and had to cover quite a lot in the hour alloted us for the class. Here is the interesting story of the Monarch butterfly's life here in North America. I'll mention the cycle of the eastern Monarchs which overwinter in Mexico just west of Mexico City.
We'll start in winter when thousands of them are in the same little area, clinging to tree trunks, branches and leaves. They are in a hibernating state at this time. In Feb/Mar, they start to awaken, find mates and after mating, fly northeast into the States and lay their eggs in Mar/Apr on the underside of milkweed plants. These butterflies then die - they've lived a total of 6-8 months. Their eggs hatch after 3-6 days, grow 2000X bigger as caterpillars/larva for 7-17 days, form a chrysalis and emerge another 2 or so weeks later as the adult Monarch. This is the "first generation".
These butterflies then continue the long trek northeast-wise, laying their eggs in Apr/May. The first generation dies after 2-6 weeks. The 2nd generation then emerges and continues the flight. They lay their eggs in May/June/July (the 3rd generation), and then die themselves. By now, they're probably more than half way across the States, heading east. The 3rd generation makes it all the way to New York/Maine and the northeast. (I don't know exact, specific locations, and remember I'm only talking about the ones that go to the east - others migrate all over the States). They lay their eggs in July/August/Sep? and then also die after several weeks. When this 4th generation emerges, they soon start the incredible 3000 mile journey, going back in a southwesterly direction across North America, arriving 2 months later at the EXACT location their great great grandparents started from 6 or 7 months previously. They drink a lot of nectar on the way, arriving fatter than when they left the Northeast. This fat helps them survive the long winter.
How they know exactly where to go is still a mystery. Maybe they release pheromones along the way, I don't know! Of course the TIMES of the migrations may vary somewhat due to various weather conditions. Sometimes they don't arrive in the northeast til Aug/Sep due to storms or other conditions.
In Mexico they hibernate as adults for 6-8 months before starting the whole amazing journey cycle again. So, next time you in the States see a Monarch butterfly flitting seemingly aimlessly about the garden, remember that you're watching an amazing participant in one of the most fascinating dramas of the animal world.(dramatic music...)
www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/jr/LifeCycle1.html
Your children might enjoy this little photo book about the life cycle of the Monarch, and from this link, one could go to a lot more interesting facts about the Monarchs.
Enjoy the Sabbath, and your coming week!
We've had a lot of rain this week. On Tuesday morning right around 8am we were hit with some mighty stormy weather. Unfortunately for about 50 people in Western Tennessee earlier in the day, it proved fatal. This time of year can be unpredictable in these parts.
Wednesday night was Adventureres. I was the worship leader and Busy Bee teacher this week. We studied about butterflies and had to cover quite a lot in the hour alloted us for the class. Here is the interesting story of the Monarch butterfly's life here in North America. I'll mention the cycle of the eastern Monarchs which overwinter in Mexico just west of Mexico City.
We'll start in winter when thousands of them are in the same little area, clinging to tree trunks, branches and leaves. They are in a hibernating state at this time. In Feb/Mar, they start to awaken, find mates and after mating, fly northeast into the States and lay their eggs in Mar/Apr on the underside of milkweed plants. These butterflies then die - they've lived a total of 6-8 months. Their eggs hatch after 3-6 days, grow 2000X bigger as caterpillars/larva for 7-17 days, form a chrysalis and emerge another 2 or so weeks later as the adult Monarch. This is the "first generation".
These butterflies then continue the long trek northeast-wise, laying their eggs in Apr/May. The first generation dies after 2-6 weeks. The 2nd generation then emerges and continues the flight. They lay their eggs in May/June/July (the 3rd generation), and then die themselves. By now, they're probably more than half way across the States, heading east. The 3rd generation makes it all the way to New York/Maine and the northeast. (I don't know exact, specific locations, and remember I'm only talking about the ones that go to the east - others migrate all over the States). They lay their eggs in July/August/Sep? and then also die after several weeks. When this 4th generation emerges, they soon start the incredible 3000 mile journey, going back in a southwesterly direction across North America, arriving 2 months later at the EXACT location their great great grandparents started from 6 or 7 months previously. They drink a lot of nectar on the way, arriving fatter than when they left the Northeast. This fat helps them survive the long winter.
How they know exactly where to go is still a mystery. Maybe they release pheromones along the way, I don't know! Of course the TIMES of the migrations may vary somewhat due to various weather conditions. Sometimes they don't arrive in the northeast til Aug/Sep due to storms or other conditions.
In Mexico they hibernate as adults for 6-8 months before starting the whole amazing journey cycle again. So, next time you in the States see a Monarch butterfly flitting seemingly aimlessly about the garden, remember that you're watching an amazing participant in one of the most fascinating dramas of the animal world.(dramatic music...)
www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/jr/LifeCycle1.html
Your children might enjoy this little photo book about the life cycle of the Monarch, and from this link, one could go to a lot more interesting facts about the Monarchs.
Enjoy the Sabbath, and your coming week!
Friday, February 1, 2008
Pinch and a Punch!
for the first of the month!
This time last year we had a snowfall and had a snow day. This year it's cold and wet today.
On Monday C and I spent a good bit of the day at the Creative Discovery Museum. The new exhibit was called "Moneyville" and was all about how money is important, the history of it, it's value in different countries, plus some practical games and situations using play money, including making change on a computer game. Although C was at first reticent to play that one, since it was a school day, I made her play at least some, and in the end that was her favorite thing and she wanted to keep on doing it......(Mom says "Yay!"). We also had the opportunity to make our own "money" including a print out of it and a photo of oneself in the middle. Of course, C chose the 1 million denomination every time for her money, so now we're millionaires! Perhaps I'll donate a million to charity tomorrow....
On Tuesday we had our CHE day, studying about the eyes. After lunch we did First Aid at our Keeper's club meeting. It's hilarious to hear the kids' solutions to various medical emergencies! Hopefully we're setting them straight! In the evening C and I went to an "Escape School" programme - not scary at all, says C- at Spalding. I think we learned a lot that hopefully we'll never have to put into practice.
Heard a disturbing bit of news on local radio today - yes, the SS has arrived in the US. Right here in our local city, we are having a training program for regular citizens - your friends and neighbors - to be trained in the ways of the police. They are to be "spies" (though they're not saying that) in your friendly neighborhood and are to report any activity that is suspicious (in their minds). Some will even get radar "guns" to monitor your speed as you drive through the neighborhood and report you to the police who will then write you a friendly warning. To me, it doesn't seem like the old "neighborhood watch" going on here. So, do we live in the US of A or have we somehow become the USSR (of 20 yrs ago) or China? The lines are becoming somewhat blurred to me! Does this not strike you as a bit strange and antagonistic? Am I going to talk as freely to my neighbors any more? Will we be able to trust anyone? Pretty soon it won't only be crimes, but what we believe, or our lifestyle, or the way we're raising the kids....
Deep breath - I'll move on......
At GVE we're learning all about Roman numerals - quite fun - until it gets tedious! In cello, we're working on Berceuse in Book 3 and starting to do a little vibrato - much anticipated.
S did some handiman work around the house yesterday. Fixed a fluorescent light in our schoolroom, fixed a motion sensitive spotlight at the back door, fixed another issue with the heat pump and other various things. Yay!
And that about covers our 'extra' doings this week. The rest is all routine as usual. I am trying out some new recipes that S picked out. Quite good! (I must admit, I've only made one so far.) Anyhoo, IT was excellent, and quickly devoured. There will be more....
This photo is from before Christmas at G and J's.
Is that you, Darth Vader, in the back?
We're waiting to hear how G and J's trip to Indiana went. We hope they found good things. I'm sure they'll let everyone know in their weekly missive.
Prayer is key. It's our connection, easy to lose....."Pray, that ye enter not into temptation".
Have a great week.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Conspicuous
like this frog who is trying to hide in our azalea bushes. 
Isn't he sweet though? He let us hold his cool, wet body and calmly hopped back to his little leaf afterward. We didn't tell him but he should have been on some lichen.
Here is our next sweetie, Cy. She was born on Christmas day and only 2-3 weeks early instead of the 2 months we thought it might be! She's a month old now and starting to pay more attention to what's around her. Here she's looking to see what C and the cat, "Monkey", are doing.
This little country church is about 2 miles from our house. This is the typical little white country church in Tennessee.
The next few photos at the airport must be seen in sequence. S decided to try out his new camera's quick takes feature (yeah, I know I don't have the technical term!). It just so happened that as C was running toward him, a plane started up and these photos are truly her expressions of horror and fright (albeit a bit dramatically as is her fashion sometimes!).
So, these are some photos from the past week and beyond. Some of them are from the late fall, others from the summer, and the baby is from this week.
I didn't get to the blog making this Friday due to taking up time emptying our iPhoto folders. Whew! That was amazing. Anyway, it has really speeded things up by freeing up some memory space. I won't even tell you how many photos were deleted. Of course we've made copies on discs!
This week has been cold and frosty - but at least it really feels like January for a change. Caridee has been in the garage at night even though that's not really toasty warm by any stretch (in the high 50's). At least it's not in the teens like outside.
Some big news - C has just finished the Suzuki Cello Book 2 and is now officially starting Book 3 - as soon as I go buy it!. Congrats, C, you've worked hard.
Til next time, may the road come up to meet you, or something like that! (just not too hard, ha ha) and may the wind blow softly in your face (boy, do I have it all wrong!?). Anyway, my kindly thoughts are with you all, especially M&D who celebrated their wedding anniversary today. Congrats to you too!
Isn't he sweet though? He let us hold his cool, wet body and calmly hopped back to his little leaf afterward. We didn't tell him but he should have been on some lichen.Here is our next sweetie, Cy. She was born on Christmas day and only 2-3 weeks early instead of the 2 months we thought it might be! She's a month old now and starting to pay more attention to what's around her. Here she's looking to see what C and the cat, "Monkey", are doing.
This little country church is about 2 miles from our house. This is the typical little white country church in Tennessee.
The next few photos at the airport must be seen in sequence. S decided to try out his new camera's quick takes feature (yeah, I know I don't have the technical term!). It just so happened that as C was running toward him, a plane started up and these photos are truly her expressions of horror and fright (albeit a bit dramatically as is her fashion sometimes!).
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| All is well!! Whew! |
I didn't get to the blog making this Friday due to taking up time emptying our iPhoto folders. Whew! That was amazing. Anyway, it has really speeded things up by freeing up some memory space. I won't even tell you how many photos were deleted. Of course we've made copies on discs!
This week has been cold and frosty - but at least it really feels like January for a change. Caridee has been in the garage at night even though that's not really toasty warm by any stretch (in the high 50's). At least it's not in the teens like outside.
Some big news - C has just finished the Suzuki Cello Book 2 and is now officially starting Book 3 - as soon as I go buy it!. Congrats, C, you've worked hard.
Til next time, may the road come up to meet you, or something like that! (just not too hard, ha ha) and may the wind blow softly in your face (boy, do I have it all wrong!?). Anyway, my kindly thoughts are with you all, especially M&D who celebrated their wedding anniversary today. Congrats to you too!
Friday, January 18, 2008
Snow/Fall
Here are just a few pics of our latest snowfall taken by G.
Altogether we only had about 2 inches but isn't it pretty?
Be sure to check back to the blog about Christmas in Florida for some added photos.
Altogether we only had about 2 inches but isn't it pretty?
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Are we harbouring Canaanites?
According to the Bible, God promised the Israelites the land of Canaan even from the Great Sea to the River Euphrates. The Israelites were told to annihilate the heathen and pagan nations from that area completely. Joshua was on the path to doing just that when he was deceived by the Gibeonites and made an alliance with them.
Earlier, Balaam, who couldn't pronounce a curse on Israel, decided to use trickery to get the Moabites to seduce the Israelites and weaken them that way. He succeeded, they intermarried and trouble ensued. Read Joshua's summary of what happened in Joshua 23 and 24. These weren't the only backslidings of the Israelites, but yet God helped Israel subdue the pagan nations around them and in Joshua's time, Israel had rest from all their enemies. Close to his death he made the Israelites promise and swear that they would never ally themselves with any heathens or their gods. He wrote this covenant down and brought there a great big rock to be a witness.
Well, unfortunately, if you'll read on into Judges, the people soon forsook their promise. Judges 2:11 and on "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth" etc...Then the LORD gave them judges (v.16) who, despite their disobedience, were able to help defeat their enemies. These are the nations who were left in the land of Canaan: the Philistines, the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites.(Chapter 3:1-3). Although the Israelites did have physical battles with them, the real influence of these heathen remained to corrupt and pollute their morals, their allegiance to God and purity of heart. If they had been committed to removing these peoples in their entirety, they would have been less likely to have been corrupted, and would have remained true, at peace, and would have fully revealed God's true character to the world.
So, the point of this discussion is to lead us to question whether we, as Spiritual Israel, have removed Canaan entirely from our lives or whether we are still being corrupted by it. First, we have to identify WHAT is modern Canaan. Because if we don't know what or who we're "fighting", then we won't feel a need to purge it. This is a work of heart-searching and honest evaluating of ALL we allow to influence us - and there is so MUCH in 2008. Besides the obvious influence from things of technology, there remains the subtle influences of a lavish and wasteful lifestyle, materialism, procrastination, workaholism, fashion, lack of value for family, structure, discipline, order, courtesy, integrity, healthy industry, spiritual nurture of ourselves and of our families, service to those in need, time for meditation and lots of other things that the "world" leads us away from in tiny increments. Before we know it, we're worshipping the ideals and philosophy of this world - a world tainted by "Canaan". Although it is mostly unrealistic for us to purge Canaan from the world, we CAN and should purge it TOTALLY from our homes.
We have to realize that the "who" behind Canaan is Satan himself. We are so easily led astray and deceived unless we are firmly on the ROCK of Jesus. As the LORD God helped the Israelites defeat the Canaanites, so He is the only one who can help us defeat modern Canaan. But we must do our part in not courting evil where we can control it - in our homes and hearts. Refuse to be seduced, by turning from evil and studying the good. We have no time for frivolous amusements and dallying with the 'enemy', thinking we can avoid contamination. Just the giving of our TIME to these things is walking on enemy ground, never mind the corrupting influence it has on us. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation..."(Matt 26:41)
Eventually God gave the Israelites up fully to the heathen nations in a physical way - they were exiled to Babylon - but "only" for 70 years. At Christ's first coming He MORE FULLY revealed to them a merciful and longsuffering God, ready to forgive and redeem. We have the whole history of Israel to see what happens when we forsake the only true way - and yet we so easily fall into the snares of the evil one ourselves - Spiritual Israel; we, who have pledged ourselves to following ONLY Him. The next exile will be FOREVER, not a measly 70 years. We have a lot more at stake this time. Let's not throw eternal life away for the sake of worthless, worldly idols. We must return to a pure and innocent (primitive) godliness. Let us repent!
"Choose ye this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15.
Earlier, Balaam, who couldn't pronounce a curse on Israel, decided to use trickery to get the Moabites to seduce the Israelites and weaken them that way. He succeeded, they intermarried and trouble ensued. Read Joshua's summary of what happened in Joshua 23 and 24. These weren't the only backslidings of the Israelites, but yet God helped Israel subdue the pagan nations around them and in Joshua's time, Israel had rest from all their enemies. Close to his death he made the Israelites promise and swear that they would never ally themselves with any heathens or their gods. He wrote this covenant down and brought there a great big rock to be a witness.
Well, unfortunately, if you'll read on into Judges, the people soon forsook their promise. Judges 2:11 and on "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth" etc...Then the LORD gave them judges (v.16) who, despite their disobedience, were able to help defeat their enemies. These are the nations who were left in the land of Canaan: the Philistines, the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites.(Chapter 3:1-3). Although the Israelites did have physical battles with them, the real influence of these heathen remained to corrupt and pollute their morals, their allegiance to God and purity of heart. If they had been committed to removing these peoples in their entirety, they would have been less likely to have been corrupted, and would have remained true, at peace, and would have fully revealed God's true character to the world.
So, the point of this discussion is to lead us to question whether we, as Spiritual Israel, have removed Canaan entirely from our lives or whether we are still being corrupted by it. First, we have to identify WHAT is modern Canaan. Because if we don't know what or who we're "fighting", then we won't feel a need to purge it. This is a work of heart-searching and honest evaluating of ALL we allow to influence us - and there is so MUCH in 2008. Besides the obvious influence from things of technology, there remains the subtle influences of a lavish and wasteful lifestyle, materialism, procrastination, workaholism, fashion, lack of value for family, structure, discipline, order, courtesy, integrity, healthy industry, spiritual nurture of ourselves and of our families, service to those in need, time for meditation and lots of other things that the "world" leads us away from in tiny increments. Before we know it, we're worshipping the ideals and philosophy of this world - a world tainted by "Canaan". Although it is mostly unrealistic for us to purge Canaan from the world, we CAN and should purge it TOTALLY from our homes.
We have to realize that the "who" behind Canaan is Satan himself. We are so easily led astray and deceived unless we are firmly on the ROCK of Jesus. As the LORD God helped the Israelites defeat the Canaanites, so He is the only one who can help us defeat modern Canaan. But we must do our part in not courting evil where we can control it - in our homes and hearts. Refuse to be seduced, by turning from evil and studying the good. We have no time for frivolous amusements and dallying with the 'enemy', thinking we can avoid contamination. Just the giving of our TIME to these things is walking on enemy ground, never mind the corrupting influence it has on us. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation..."(Matt 26:41)
Eventually God gave the Israelites up fully to the heathen nations in a physical way - they were exiled to Babylon - but "only" for 70 years. At Christ's first coming He MORE FULLY revealed to them a merciful and longsuffering God, ready to forgive and redeem. We have the whole history of Israel to see what happens when we forsake the only true way - and yet we so easily fall into the snares of the evil one ourselves - Spiritual Israel; we, who have pledged ourselves to following ONLY Him. The next exile will be FOREVER, not a measly 70 years. We have a lot more at stake this time. Let's not throw eternal life away for the sake of worthless, worldly idols. We must return to a pure and innocent (primitive) godliness. Let us repent!
"Choose ye this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Pain and Tribulation
Last time I said I'd talk about the 3 little angels. Here they are.
Ages 3, 5 and 6.
Needless to say we had a busy time that week, and the New Year's Eve party was a disaster! The middle one especially has no idea how to behave in a group situation and was out-of-control bouncing off the walls, bless his little heart. I'll spare you the details but to say we left early!
The pain and tribulation title refers to the fact that on Tuesday a crowned tooth of mine decided to "erupt" in pain - an angry beehive indeed. The pain is indescribably agonizing. I say "is" because it's not completely gone despite a strong antibiotic and fairly strong painkillers. And it only takes a minor irritation or disturbance (such as eating OR drinking) to set it off again! I'm bracing myself for a root canal and am NOT happy about it. Why don't the dentists just come out straight and tell you "The nerve is dead and you'll have to have a root canal". But no, they give you the antibiotics, painkillers and give you hope that everything will work out just fine. "But we'll check in two weeks to see that it's OK". Then they'll break the news to you: "Oh, too bad, it needs a root canal!"
Since sleep didn't come easily at times this week I had the time to listen to some very interesting online videos by Walter Veith on the history of all the versions of the Bible. They're at the Google video site - can't remember the exact address there but the series is called Total Onslaught. Check out videos numbered 213 and 214 in particular I think. They're the Bible versions-specific ones. Anyway, I have found them terribly enlightening and informative and several of our Bible versions are being put out to pasture! (The more radical ones of course). Some of them one can take a pen and "correct", which he does himself with the New King James - one of my favourite versions too.
We've had nice weather this past week with a fair amount of rain, wind and storm to water the earth. It's supposed to be winter but is more like spring. We had our chimney worked on this week too, but alas, the foundation is hardly more than mortar - not even concrete - and just cracks and breaks when they (Ram Jack Company) try to lift the chimney up. I believe they said they've "stabalized it" but we're still not playing around it! Two stones have already fallen off during its "surgery".
When S sends me more photos I'll add a few here and there, so check back from time to time!
On Sunday evening we had the wonderful pleasure of a visit from Jeni-Joy, Carlindo and their two little girls from California. We had a lovely catch-up visit and supper. Uncle Robin is in SA as we speak, for two months. He took Aunty Loretta's ashes to be buried with Gailee's at HBC.Until then, happy Sabbath. May you find that true rest in Christ as you rest physically from all your labours of the week.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Christmas in Florida
Drove down last Sunday, the 23rd Dec, to visit the folk in Avon Park. Had a lovely visit, enjoying the warm, even hot temperatures (I saw one temperature display that said 91' one day, but not sure if that was accurate. Some others showed in the mid to high 80's), sunny skies and fresh salty/swampy breezes one recognizes all too well from that part of the country. Also enjoyed taking a trip down to "Lion Country Safari", Xmas lights at the hospital, visiting with the folk
visiting our old favourite, "Highlands Hammock" etc. C and Grandma had a wonderful time loving on each other - so sad that we live far away. I think Grandma enjoyed all the kisses and hugs,
and Grandpa enjoyed showing us photos and other things he's been up to lately.
We reluctantly left them on Friday morning for the coast where we headed to the beach. The air was very warm but the water was chilly. I got in as far as my waist but C managed to swim up to her neck. S got his ankles wet! We also had fun building a dribble castle and decorating it with shells.
The next day we meandered slowly up the coast, visiting interesting places along the way - some nature reserves, and cute harbour villages: Cedar Key, and another one: Apalachicola amongst others. We even saw brightly coloured autumn trees here and there - about 2 months behind the rest of the country. It was low tide at one place and we got to see miniature fiddler crabs scuttling around. Many of them were only the size of a dime (just more than 1cm wide). I'm not sure if S got any close-up pics of them but will add them later if he did. Some of them were tenaciously guarding their wives and didn't move til we actually nudged them along. There was a whole city of crabs in that area so we didn't walk around for fear of stepping on them.
We ended up near St. Joseph's Peninsula State Park around 5pm and made the decision to camp there - it's nice to have a van we can sleep in at short notice! There were a few sites available and we found a nice one just a stone's throw from the sea.
Sunday morning we had a picnic breakfast by the boat launch and got to feed the gulls
who caught our bread offerings in mid-air.
C was, of course, thrilled. I don't know how much food actually got down her own throat though.
So then, this week was the first of the new year - HAPPY NEW YEAR! We had 3 angels to watch this week. I'll tell you about that next time. And the time after that will be about Canaan, comparing us to the Israelites of old.
(S got a hole in one - a birthday present)
and Grandpa enjoyed showing us photos and other things he's been up to lately.
Lion Country Safari
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| C doesn't look too perturbed at being eaten by a lion! |
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| Feeding a giraffe |
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| My, what a lovely long tongue you have! |
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| Riding on a camel..... |
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| May I jump in, Mommy? |
We reluctantly left them on Friday morning for the coast where we headed to the beach. The air was very warm but the water was chilly. I got in as far as my waist but C managed to swim up to her neck. S got his ankles wet! We also had fun building a dribble castle and decorating it with shells.
The next day we meandered slowly up the coast, visiting interesting places along the way - some nature reserves, and cute harbour villages: Cedar Key, and another one: Apalachicola amongst others. We even saw brightly coloured autumn trees here and there - about 2 months behind the rest of the country. It was low tide at one place and we got to see miniature fiddler crabs scuttling around. Many of them were only the size of a dime (just more than 1cm wide). I'm not sure if S got any close-up pics of them but will add them later if he did. Some of them were tenaciously guarding their wives and didn't move til we actually nudged them along. There was a whole city of crabs in that area so we didn't walk around for fear of stepping on them.
We ended up near St. Joseph's Peninsula State Park around 5pm and made the decision to camp there - it's nice to have a van we can sleep in at short notice! There were a few sites available and we found a nice one just a stone's throw from the sea.
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| (The reason these two photos are dark is that they were taken at or around sunrise.) |
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How nice to go to sleep with the roar of the waves in one's ears. And the cherry on top was a storm that blew in just around bedtime so we got to hear the rain on the roof as well as watch a light show from the lightning. That didn't last too long - or maybe we fell asleep before it ended.... |
So then, this week was the first of the new year - HAPPY NEW YEAR! We had 3 angels to watch this week. I'll tell you about that next time. And the time after that will be about Canaan, comparing us to the Israelites of old.
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