En Guard!

I think if I went back and did my undergraduate college education over again I would take fencing. It seems to be such an intriguing sport. If you do some research about the en guard position you’ll notice that it is the starting position. Interesting. This morning I realized that for a past couple of days I have not been in the “en guard position”. In other words, I have not been on guard and I have, therefore, left myself vulnerable.

There are so many times in God’s Word that He tells us to be on guard. Sometimes the phrase is “guard yourself”, other times it is “watch yourself” or “give heed to yourself” or simply “be careful”. These are not merely suggestions or requests, rather they are commands … imperatives … they mean, “DO THIS!”

David said in the Psalms, “I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue.” This morning I sinned with my tongue. I had let my guard down and, well, my tone was not pleasant or kind. I have realized over the past week that when I begin in the starting position – en guard – I am much, much less likely to sin. Imagine that! Do you think that God knew what He was talking about when He told us to be on guard?

Going now to start over … en guard!

(pic: from The Princess Bride, of course!)

Gifts

I was just thinking yesterday how blessed I am. Thursday night we (Brandon and I) went out with my brother and sister-in-law for her 40th birthday. The food was great (Copeland’s Cheesecake Bistro), but more than that the fellowship was wonderful. It’s a special gift to have a big brother and to have such a good relationship with him. And my sister-in-law is great too. They are gifts.

At one point (we did camp out at our table for a few hours!) we talked about how wonderful it is to have great parents and (all around — all 4 of us have great parents) they are all believers and our children love them all. We are so pleased that our children are able to grow up with special relationships with their grandparents and see them at least once a week, sometimes more. We (my brother and I) didn’t really know our grandparents, but our children know theirs very well … and love them very much. Our parents are gifts.

Brandon and I have never had a stronger marriage. Little Buttercup is faring very well sans artifical food additives. Baby Buttercup is a delight. Brandon’s business is doing well. My husband is a special gift and my children are gifts as well. Life is good.

We have good friends that with whom we can be real. We don’t have a lot of good friends, but the ones we do have are very close. Our friends are gifts.

What is a gift? The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation. These are all things that for some reason NOT related to my worth or righteousness, I do not deserve them, but God has voluntarily bestowed them without any strings. Thank you Lord, for such wonderful gifts. May I never again squander them or take them for granted!

Jonestown

The other night Brandon and I watched American Experience: Jonestown on PBS. It was very interesting. I have always been intrigued with Jim Jones and the People’s Temple and Jonestown and all that happened, ever since I was a teenager.

The documentary chronicled Jones’ birth to his death and followed his life and teachings. There were also many interviews with members of the People’s Temple and survivors from Jonestown.

Norman Scott, a phonographer that has worked with the 750 audio tapes from The People’s Temple, had this to say in an article about the tapes:

Amidst all of the horribly closed-minded condemnations of the members of Peoples
Temple – that they were brainwashed ghouls, that Jim Jones was a psychotic madman – it’s easy to forget that every member had a very compelling initial reason for joining. Many of them came from deplorable conditions; they found shelter, food, family, and control over their own destiny for the first time in their lives. Many of them were interested in progressive social change and saw Peoples Temple as their catalyst. Many of them came for the “church,” but stayed because of its good works. It’s fair to say, however, that all of them felt, in some way, failed by America.

I honestly don’t think that initially Jim Jones had planned the events that happened in Guyana. It slowly evolved and twisted itself into that because of what it was. Consider the following quote:

The belief system of Peoples Temple blended a number of different religious and
social ideas, including Pentecostalism, the Christian Social Gospel, socialism, Communism, and utopianism (Hall 1987: 41,43). This eclectic mix was held together by the charisma of Jim Jones, and by the idealism of Temple members who believed that religion and politics could mix in order to create a better world.

I think this idea made sense to people. I mean, you can hear and see tapes of Jones preaching about “unto the least of these” and about racial equality and the evils of capitalism. Especially in the climate of the 60s and 70s, people would sit up and take notice of such. But for whatever reason people only heard the bits of truth and not the lies that were mixed in. They blindly followed and swallowed whole what they heard.

One of the reasons why this has always intrigued me is how the people blindly followed Jim Jones through the entire evolution from preacher to god.

Despite criticism of the group, membership grew steadily. As Jones felt more secure in his California base, he began to exchange religious rhetoric for political rhetoric. He denounced traditional Christianity, and claimed that the only God that his followers had ever known was himself. Once the group moved to Guyana, he dropped all religious references, except when visitors came. No worship services were conducted in Jonestown. Community planning meetings, news readings, and public events replaced worship.

People are ever-looking, ever-searching for something, for someone to fill that God-given void in their hearts. In the beginning they heard Jones talk about utopia, about racial equality, about the evils of capitalism. They sat up and took notice and listened. They said, “Yeah … that makes sense. What else preacher?” It seemed to be the best of both world to them I think … religion and social reform. What began for them as an ideal twisted itself into a scary reality.

In short, the ideology of Peoples Temple focused on commitment to the community,
and to elevating the group above the individual.

I read that statement on a website I was reading as I was researching Jonestown. I thought that statement was interesting … the group above the individual. Jonestown would be the ultimate manifestation of group (institution/organization/church) over individual. How incredibly damaging it can be to a person, or group of people in this case, when they are not loved and valued because they are fearfully and wonderfully made, because Christ died to set them free. This is a vivid picture of what can happen when we are not pointing people to Christ alone.

I’m not saying that loyalty to godly leadership is akin to loyalty to Jim Jones, so please don’t misread that. What I am saying is that we have to be careful to always, above all else, love and value people simply for who they are. And we need to be careful to always point people to Jesus. Don’t point them to ourselves, or to our church or our group, but to Jesus alone.

Red, Yellow and Blue … Oh My!

Things were really getting out of control with Little Buttercup. That is, until we tried a couple of things …

1) the ideas in the book Good and Angry by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller (a VERY practical, when-the-rubber-meets-the-road, grace-based parenting book)

2) we threw out everything that has artificial colors and flavors, and preservatives.

Fortunately for us, we normally eat all-natural, organic, whole foods, so it wasn’t too difficult. But her “treat bucket” was full of easter candy. So I had to dump it all in the trash (a good thing, actrually!). And she loves Pink Lightning Lemonade bubble gum, but we had to throw that all out too. I threw out anything with artificial clorings and flavorings.

Why? Those pretty colors that make red, the green and blue are made from petroleum (crude oil) which is also the source for gasoline. EEK! They’ve also been linked to more serious things like cancer, tumors and thyroid problems, just to name a few.

What about artifical flavorings? They are combinations of many chemicals, both natural and synthetic. An artificial flavoring may be composed of hundreds of separate chemicals, and there is no restriction on what a company can use to flavor food.

One source for imitation vanilla flavoring (called “vanillin”) is the waste product of paper mills. Some companies built factories next to the pulp mills to turn the undesirable by-product into imitation flavoring, widely used in many cookies, candies and other foods. You’ll find it in Hershey’s syrup.

Preservatives? The initials BHA, BHT and TBHQ stand for three major preservatives found in many foods, especially in the United States. Like the dyes, they are made from petroleum (crude oil). Often, they are not listed in the ingredients.

These chemicals may be listed as “anti-oxidants” because they prevent the fats in foods from “oxidizing” or becoming rancid (spoiling). There are many natural, beneficial anti-oxidants, but they are much more expensive than the synthetic versions.

There are other undesirable food additives (MSG, sodium benzoate, nitrites, sulfites, to name a few) but most of the additives used in foods have not been found to be as big a problem as those listed above.

I’ve seen first-hand the benefits of changing my diet and eating right (and by right I do NOT mean what the government thinks is right [i.e. the food pyramid] – I mean eating natural, organic and whole foods). And I had heard over the years about the benefits that people had seen when they took their children off of artificial food additives. But I had not seen it first-hand … until now. Our bodies just aren’t supposed to process these chemicals. When we remove them our bodies say, “Ahhhhhhh … thank you!”

Little Buttercup is a different child. Sure, she is still 6-years-old and acts like it, but she is no longer out of control. She is so much more of a delight to be around, and so I am I for that matter since I am no longer losing my temper.

If you want more information about children and the effects of food additives on them, visit the Feingold Association.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

A New Law

Shauna has posted about “missing the point of grace” on her blog today. Go and check it out. Click on the link to the video (A New Law) – it’s a good concept & speaks volumes (in my humble opinion). The quote at the bottom of the post from the artist is especially interesting …

Still Listening

The other day I was listening to my iPod and it was set on “shuffle songs”. A Third Day song began playing that I’ve heard a thousand times. But this time that I listened it really spoke to me. The song is “Still Listening” on their Come Together CD.

You know what I keep learning every day? I am still learning … and I still need to be listening … every moment of every day. I don’t know what I thought I knew. I am very humbled by what God is teaching me and showing me every single day. I am so sorry for the pride that I have had in my heart (and still have) that says I am better/stronger/more important/superior because I know and understand X, Y, & Z. Because you know what? I don’t know. I don’t understand. I don’t have it all figured out. I’m so sorry for thinking that I did and for acting like Ms. Know-it-all.

So I wanted to share this song with you. You can click on the player below to listen and the lyrics are posted below the player.

Lyrics by Mac Powell/Music by Third Day

There was a time when I thought that I had you figured out
I told you before and I’ll say once more
Now and then I have my doubts
I’ll never pretend to know what you are doing
It’s true that you move in mysterious ways

I looked for you in
The fire and the wind
But you weren’t there as far as I could see
I thought I’d hear you shout
But then I figured it out
That all along you’re whispering to me
And I’m still listening

Just when I thought that I had caught a glimpse of who you are
You taught me a lesson I needed to learn
Right from the very start
I never will be the man that I quite need to be
But that’s alright ’cause you’re enough for me

I looked for you in
The fire and the wind
But you weren’t there as far as I could see
I thought I’d hear you shout
But then I figured it out
That all along you’re whispering to me
And I’m still listening

Blessings!

Please Pray for Maggi

A fellow homeschooling mom on the Five in a Row Boards …..

Saturday morning:

I just got a message that Maggi is on life support. Friends saw her on Tuesday and Wednesday and she was fine. Her husband took her to the hospital this morning (Saturday) at 7:30. She has bacterial meningitis.

This is what I know: her brain is swelling, but they can’t do anything about the swelling until her body starts fighting the infection, which it hasn’t started to do yet. She’s on life support, in a coma (possibly an induced coma?). The doctor was surprised that she had made it all day. Maggi is an amazing lady. Pregnant with her 2nd son, they found cancer. So, home with a 1yob, she had a newborn, preemie baby and going through chemo. The doctor’s said she’d never have any more children, but she’s had 2 boys since. Praise God!

The friend who called me said that Maggi does not have a spleen–it was removed with the cancer or something like that, and was wondering if that contributed to her getting sick and not being able to fight this infection. Please pray for this mom, her husband and 4 boys, ages 11, 9, 4 and 1.

As of 1:00 p.m. Sunday -

We just returned from the hospital. We were blessed to have the opportunity to hear the latest doctor’s report. He is very HOPEFUL at this point that Maggi is going to survive this ordeal – PRAISE GOD. However, we are NOT out of the woods! Continue to pray for her liver. The doctor indicated that there is limited function, but that total recovery of her liver is possible! Everyone was greatly encouraged by this news.

The doctor said that it IS a miracle that she’s survived this long and that she’s fighting as best she can. John is hopeful, but realistic, and seems to be doing as well as can be expected under these terrible circumstances. It’s difficult to judge the boys – I’m sure that they’re scared and unsure, but they aren’t really showing it at this point. Another thing is that they don’t think it was meningitus at this point – the cultures aren’t coming back as expected, so they don’t really know what has caused all this yet.

Also, they’re going to begin bringing Maggi out of the coma periodically to see how she responds. There is a possibilty of some brain damage but that is a total unknown at this point. We plan to go back to the hospital this afternoon at which time we’ll get to actually see Maggi, touch her and pray over her. Keep praying!!!

Since Maggi has no spleen (removed due to cancer 10 years ago), her body was not able to fight this form of meningitis. John got her to the hospital; she had respiratory failure, liver failure, he said every kind of failure you could think of. They put her under, have her body totally paralized and are trying medicine and seeing if her body will accept the medicine to fight this.When they first got to the hospital, John was told every 30 minutes was critical; he was told if she made it 24 hours, that was amazing. Maggi has made it 24 hours and John says that is a miracle. Praise God for that.

Please pray for Maggi, her husband and 4 boys, ages 11, 9, 4 and 1.

UPDATE:
They have stopped the dialysis. She is still breathing with the help of the respirator, but she’s doing about 50% on her own! She has been taken off of one of the two coma-inducing drugs, so they believe that she should be becoming much more aware of what’s happening – she should be able to hear people, for example.

She developed a fever of 103 degrees at some point during the night, but they’re not surprised by this and are treating it. I think that’s it for now.

Don’t stop praying! It is obviously working – our God is amazing!!! And so is our Maggi – she’s a fighter!!!

Dear Anonymous

I am not going to defend myself or my beliefs to you. If I am wrong then I have no defense, and if I am right then I don’t need one.

In the future, if you would like to dialogue with me, then I welcome that. But if all you are interested in is attacking or accusing, then I won’t be a part of that. If the things you have written are your conviction, and it’s important enough to take the time to read, and to respond, to what I write on my blog, then you should sign your name.

Blessings!

~Heather

Another Old Friend

What is God up to in my life? I think He’s trying to show me something (ya think?!).

Today I ran into another old friend of mine at the library. I’ve known her since highschool and I’ve known her husband since elementary school. This is a couple that Brandon and I partied with in highschool and college. Yes, they have seen us at our worst! We’ve always kept in touch through letters and cards, and her husband owns a garage, so Brandon takes our cars to him. But we (my friend and I) haven’t seen each other in ages. The last time we spent any time together was years ago when I shared Jesus with her. She wrote me a long letter afterward thanking me for taking the time to do that and for loving her so much to do it. But she stopped short of claiming Christ as her Savior.

Today we talked a bit about what and how we were each doing and she shared with me how she and her husband have been bouncing around trying to find just the right church for them. You see, they’re not saved, but they’re seeking … something. They just don’t know that it’s Jesus. They think it’s religion. She grew up staunchly Roman Catholic and readily admitted to me today that it’s hard having grown up Catholic with all the sacraments and such, it’s hard to accept that everything isn’t wrapped up in what she does, in just being a good little Catholic girl.

She then went on to talk to me about how they will attend somewhere for a while, but then keep their distance when it comes to “getting involved”. She said it was because they either 1) feel like hypocrites because they know they don’t “measure up” or 2) feel like as people get to know them they are judgemental of them. I find her words sad. And I was convicted. No one has just loved on them, loved them for who they are. No one has really reached out to them and totally accepted them, as Christ does for you and me. They don’t really know that Jesus loves them unconditionally, that they don’t have to “measure up” (because they never will). They know nothing of God’s grace. They have believed the lie that they somehow must earn God’s love and grace and salvation. And I am as guilty as anyone for not showing them! We have not spent quality time with them in so long and they live literally 5 minutes from us.

Lord, forgive me for being so wrapped up in my own life that I don’t think of others who need you!

But we exchanged our numbers today to make sure that we don’t lose touch again. We’ll go to the park soon and talk some more …

The Laws of God

Yes, I know this isn’t my homeschool blog, but I wanted to share my thoughts on this here. I was reading Charlotte Mason’s volume 1 Home Education, Preliminary Considerations the other day and came across something that I thought was a great insight. Remember that she is writing around the turn of the century (19th – 20th), so this is not light reading due to her use of Victorian English. She said:

Law-abiding Lives often more blameless than Pious Lives.––It is a shame to believing people that many whose highest profession is that they do not know, and therefore do not believe, should produce more blameless lives, freer from flaws of temper, from the vice of selfishness, than do many sincerely religious people. It is a fact that will confront the children by-and-by, and one of which they require an explanation; and what is more, it is a fact that will have more weight, should it confront them in the person of a character which they cannot but esteem and love, than all the doctrinal teaching they have had in their lives. This appears to me the threatening danger to that confessed dependence upon and allegiance to Almighty God which we recognise as religion––not the wickedness, but the goodness of a school which refuses to admit any such dependence and allegiance.

My sense of this danger is my reason for offering the little I have to say upon the subject of education,––my sense of the danger, and the assurance I feel that it is no such great danger after all, but one that parents of the cultivated class are competent to deal with, and are precisely the only persons who can deal with it.

Mind and Matter equally governed by Law.––As for this superior morality of some non-believers, supposing we grant it, what does it amount to? Just to this, that the universe of mind, as the universe of matter, is governed by unwritten laws of God; that the child cannot blow soap bubbles or think his flitting thoughts otherwise than in obedience to divine laws; that all safety, progress, and success in life come out of obedience to law, to the laws of mental, moral or physical science, or of that spiritual science which the Bible unfolds; that it is possible to ascertain laws and keep laws without recognising the Lawgiver, and that those who do ascertain and keep any divine law inherit the blessing due to obedience, whatever be their attitude towards the Lawgiver; just as the man who goes out into blazing sunshine is warmed, though he may shut his eyes and decline to see the sun. Conversely, that they who take no pains to study the principles which govern human action and human thought miss the blessings of obedience to certain laws, though they may inherit the better blessings which come of acknowledged relationship with the Lawgiver.

Antagonism to Law shown by some Religious Persons.––These last blessings are so unspeakably satisfying, that often enough the believer who enjoys them wants no more. He opens his mouth and draws in his breath for the delight he has in the law, it is true; but it is the law of the spiritual life only. Towards the other laws of God which govern the universe he sometimes takes up an attitude of antagonism, almost of resistance, worthy of an infidel.

It is nothing to him that he is fearfully and wonderfully made; he does not care to know how the brain works, nor how the more subtle essence we call mind evolves and develops in obedience to laws. There are pious minds to which a desire to look into these things savours of unbelief, as if it were to dishonour the Almighty to perceive that He carries on His glorious works by means of glorious Laws. They will have to do with no laws excepting the laws of the kingdom of grace. In the meantime, the non-believer, who looks for no supernatural aids, lays himself out to discover and conform to all the laws which regulate natural life––physical, mental, moral; all the laws of God, in fact, excepting those of the spiritual life which the believer appropriates as his peculiar inheritance. But these laws which are left to Esau are laws of God also, and the observance of them is attended with such blessings, that the children of the believers say, Look, how is it that these who do not acknowledge
the Law as of God are better than we who do?

When I read that I was amazed. Charlotte Mason SO eloquently said something that I have been trying to figure out for years.

Have you known people like Ms. Mason is talking about? I have. I have known many people who claim Christ and treat people and the physical, mental and moral laws of God like trash. And I have known people who claim nothing of Him and yet treat people and the physical, mental and moral laws of God like gold. I don’t get it.

Is God Elohim? Is He the creator of everything and everyone? Then every PERSON He made is fearfully and wonderfully made. And every person is to be treated as such, viewed as a beautiful creation of Elohim. Why are we more insistent on being right or speaking the truth than we are on loving our neighbor as ourselves? Why do we not live out 1 Corinthians 13? Why don’t we love like Jesus loved? Why don’t we glorify God with our bodies? Why don’t we determine that God will be exalted in our bodies in every way?

If God is Elohim, then He is also the creator of every THING. The heavens are telling of the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. His eternal and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made. Why, then, do we not care about His creation? Why do we neglect to see the His glory in all that He has created? Why do we not try to protect and care for His creation?

Why do we think that knowing Christ means that all we need care about are spiritual laws, that we mustn’t care about people or this wonderful earth we live on? Do we think that that He doesn’t now or that He didn’t while He was here? How could He not? For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him. If that last sentence is true (and it is) then why are we as Believers not the ones that the rest of the world looks to first to see how to protect and care for ourselves, the earth and other people?

Why do we seem to think that, as Ms. Mason said, “a desire to look into these things savours of unbelief, as if it were to dishonour the Almighty to perceive that He carries on His glorious works by means of glorious Laws”?

Help me to understand. Because I just don’t get it.

I will close with the opening line from Ms. Mason above: “It is a shame to believing people that many whose highest profession is that they do not know, and therefore do not believe, should produce more blameless lives, freer from flaws of temper, from the vice of selfishness, than do many sincerely religious people.”