7 Quick Takes Friday–May 17, 2013

 

1. Big news! Wild Man has a girlfriend! I am so not ready for this. PWM and I really like the girl. We’ve been friends with the family for a long time, too.

2. Wild Man would like for his girlfriend to go to family camp with us in July, but we’ve said that the two of them have to come up with the money themselves. Guess which two teenagers will be working hard over the next couple of months?!

3. We went to a wedding reception tonight that was held in an old barn. It was lots of fun. The food was all potluck, so there was plenty to be had with lots of variety! We got to visit with lots of friends, but finally had to leave about thirty minutes after the dancing started. The music and lights were starting to do a number on my head! But, we had a great time while we were there!

4. The renovation on the new shop is coming along well. One interesting thing is that they found a door when they tore down a wall. A door in the wall. That went nowhere. Interesting.

5. I’ve finished two knitting projects – a baby cardigan and a shawl – except for weaving in the ends. So, of course, I’ve been knitting a pair of socks. I guess I’d better tackle the ends tomorrow.

6. Rosie Girl and I spent last Sunday in Appleton shopping for some sandals for her and then hanging out in Barnes and Noble. I do love bookstores.

7. Wild Man’s band concert was Tuesday. I missed it because of a headache, but PWM said they did quite well. Sigh.

So, how are things in your part of the world? Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what others are up to!

Rambling

It’s late on Wednesday night and I’m the only one still awake. Insomnia can be really annoying at times.

I’m listening to Mansfield Park by Jane Austen on my ipod. I just listened to Edmund explaining why he wants to be a clergyman to Mary Crawford. It reminded me that Jane Austen was the daughter of a clergy and she saw the clergy as a positive force in society. While the clergy in London may have been seen as just giving a couple of sermons a week and presiding over weddings and funerals, the clergy in the country were part of the lives of their parishioners. Which is really as it should be.

We hired a general contractor to do the work on the new shop building (which is the building in the back of the property which is quite old and even used to be a blacksmith shop!). They’ve been tearing up floors – where they found wet wood which explained the musty smell. They’ve been tearing into walls and found a door in one of the walls. Apparently, they didn’t want to move the door during that remodel and just left it there as part of the wall. Interesting. We are very excited to see how things look when they’re all finished. And, since we’re using a contractor, he’s the one who has to talk with the inspector and make sure everything is up to code!

I spent almost all day today at the shop so PWM could set up his lathe so he can be doing woodworking very soon. I only made a few small mistakes in counting and pricing yarn. It was a good day.

I’ve had readings from Ezekiel in the Daily Office readings for the last few days. God sure gave Ezekiel some strange visions. Or Ezekiel ate some not-so-safe mushrooms right before God talked to him. The Book of Ezekiel – inspired by God, helped along by psychedelic ‘shrooms. Was that blasphemy? Maybe so. I guess I’ll be praying for forgiveness over that tonight.

Tomorrow, Rosie Girl and I need to make more plans for her graduation/birthday party. It’s going to be small, but we want to have it planned out so we can all enjoy ourselves instead of being all busy during the party.

That’s all my rambling for tonight. Tell me what you’ve been rambling about in the comments!

7 Quick Takes Friday–May 10, 2013

 

1. We celebrated Mother’s Day early by going out to eat at Menasha Grill!! Legit Cajun Food!!

2. The romance of doing laundry at the laundromat is wearing off. I’m ready for a washer and dryer. But, we need to get the electrical done first because we don’t have the right kind of plug for a new dryer. At least one and maybe two more laundromat visits. . . .

3. Rosie Girl’s graduation mortar board cap and tassel came in the mail today. She doesn’t want a ceremony during her graduation party, but she does want the cap and tassel. So, I bought her (at her request) a dark green cap with silver tassel.

4. As we get closer to dance recital, Rosie Girl has practices for the Daddy-daughter dance and for the faculty dance (which she’s in since she’s a demonstrator). The last week of May is when things get really busy for her.

5. Wild Man is also staying busy with playing in the teen and adult worship bands. And, the teen worship band is leading worship for the main worship services on the first Sunday in June.

6. I need to clone myself in order to keep up. And it would be nice if the clone me didn’t have headaches.

7. And we have a contractor who’s about to start the renovation work on the cottage to make it into the shop. Fun!!

What’s up in your part of the world? Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what others are doing!!

Outraged

Believe it or not, I’m not all that outraged about Plan B being over the counter for teenagers. As safety goes, it’s a reasonably benign medication. Teenagers can do more harm with a bottle of acetaminophen or ibuprofen than a couple of tablets of levonorgestrel. And, it doesn’t cause abortion or the failure of implantation of a fertilized egg. It causes either failure of ovulation or fertilization.

Why am I outraged, then?

I am outraged that teenager girls feel like they need sex in order to feel loved.

I am outraged that rape is so prevalent in our culture and that we don’t treat it as the heinous crime that it  is.

I am outraged that teenagers and parents can’t talk openly about the need for contraception.

I am outraged that our culture is completely sex-saturated.

I am outraged that sex is no longer a special and sacred bond between a husband and wife.

I am outraged that almost no one, even Christians, takes God’s plan for sexual intimacy seriously.

In short, I am outraged that any teenager would need the morning-after pill without a prescription.

What we need is Jesus. We’ve been educating abstinence and comprehensive sex ed for 40 years, but teens and young adults are still having babies without the benefit of marriage and getting sexually transmitted infections. Our culture knows plenty about sex. What they need to know is the love of Jesus.

And that requires a lot more work on our side than just giving information. It means fewer programs and more living. It means getting out of the churches and into people’s lives. And it takes lots and lots of prayer.

What About Those Who Never Hear?

In a couple of recent books, I’ve come across the question, “What happens to people who never hear the Gospel?” I know people who have left Christianity over this question. Jesus is the only way to salvation, but there are millions, and perhaps billions, who haven’t heard about Him. What is God going to do with all those souls in eternity?

First of all, the Bible is clear that the only way to salvation is through Jesus (Acts 4:12). And those of us who are already believers are commanded to spread the Gospel far and wide (Matthew 28:19-20). The responsibility for Christians is clear.

What happens to those who never hear the Gospel is less obvious. I don’t think the scriptures are explicit on this topic.

What do we do? As Christians, we obey God. Sharing our faith is not optional.

As for what happens to those who never hear the Gospel, we have to trust in the justice and mercy of God. I don’t know how God will work things out, but I know that I trust Him to be loving and righteous. There’s a lot about God that I don’t understand and this is one of those things. But, I don’t want to pretend confidence I don’t have.

What do you think about this topic? Any other ideas?

Fifteen Years With Wild Man

Fifteen years ago today, Wild Man entered the world with all the hoopla and pizzazz that we’ve come to expect from him!

On his due date, May 1, we started a labor induction with Pitocin because my blood pressure had started to go up. I had had a nice, quiet birth without medication with my first pregnancy and hoped for the same with this birth. Ha! I already had great respect for Pitocin, having used it in the practice of medicine for several years, but now I got to see first-hand what it was like. And it was rough! Within just a couple of hours, I was 4 cm dilated, but in serious pain. The nurses were turning the Pitocin down because my own labor had kicked in and they gave me an iv narcotic which didn’t seem to do a thing. In another hour, I asked for an intrathecal injection (similar to an epidural), but my doctor told me, oh so sweetly, that I was 8cm dilated and it was too late for more meds. By this time, I was well past calm and quiet – contractions were one on top of another, and I was in pain!

Within just a couple of contractions, I was ready to push! My doctor gave me the go-ahead. The nurses were getting a table in the room. My husband was getting on some gloves to help with the birth. My doctor was helping the hubby with the gloves. My mom was manning the heart rate monitor to check Wild Man’s heart rate every contraction or two. It was crazy! And I pushed! My water broke as the baby’s head descended from almost out of my pelvis to just about crowning! The nurse said, “Doctor, I see the baby’s head!” One more push (with a scream for good measure) and Wild Man was out and my doctor put him on my chest.

Wild Man had the cord around his neck, so he came out rather blue. But, since I was holding him against my bare skin, I could feel that he had great muscle tone and that he was making excellent respiratory effort, so my doctor and I weren’t a bit worried. Unfortunately, PWM didn’t have all that info at his disposal, but he calmed down as Wild Man turned very quickly pink.

Wild Man came into the world ready to eat. He turned his head to find the breast and didn’t want to let go for the next six months! He was a bit of a picky eater for his first five or six years, but now, at age 15, the boy will eat just about anything! And he’s smart – he likes his mama’s food the best!

One of the funny things about Wild Man is how verbal he is. Well, you’d expect a child of mine and PWM’s to be verbal. But, Wild Man was very late to talk. I remember when he was three years old that he would stand at the refrigerator and kind of grunt. I used to say, “pick a word, any word!! Even if it’s the wrong word!” Somewhere along the way, he learned to talk and now we can’t seem to get him to quit.

When Wild Man didn’t learn to read by the time he was nine, we got rather concerned and had him tested and found that he’s dyslexic. Wild Man has had to work hard at it, but he reads quite well and reads everything I assign (which is a good bit since we use Sonlight curriculum) without problem. He’s had to work at his reading, writing, and spelling, but he’s making progress. And I’m glad to see that he’s willing to put in the work.

We are a musical family, and Wild Man is no exception to that rule! He took piano lessons when he was young, but I think he was frustrated with reading music because of his dyslexia (which wasn’t recognized at the time). However, he was in dance for several years which he enjoyed and at which he excelled. When he started 6th grade, he joined the middle school band, mostly because I told him he had to take a class at the public school. He’s been playing percussion in the band and drum kit in the church youth band since then. At some point in the last few years, he started learning guitar. Now he plays acoustic, electric, and bass guitar. He has been known to play any of the for the adult and youth worship teams at church.

Mostly, though, Wild Man is just a great kid. He has always loved his hugs and kisses. When he sees me at church (since he’s usually there before me), he runs over and gives me a big hug and kiss and doesn’t care how many of his friends see him. He loves to laugh and have fun, but he can be serious, especially when it comes to leading worship. I love that he loves Jesus so much!

God has blessed me and PWM tremendously with our children. Wild Man has been a joy and challenge to raise. He makes us laugh and makes us want to tear out our hair. But, as Wild Man has grown, so have I. I’ve learned not to take myself so seriously. I’ve learned to relax about education. I’ve learned how to help my incredibly smart dyslexic boy learn to read as well as understand his other subjects. I wouldn’t trade these last 15 years for anything in the world.

Grace and Faith

 

³⁶ When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷ A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸ As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰ Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

⁴¹ “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,^[c] and the other fifty. ⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

⁴³ Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

⁴⁴ Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹ The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰ Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

In the above passage from Luke 7, Jesus is having dinner with one of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the most learned about the Jewish law and the most careful about keeping every last bit of the law. Unfortunately, some of them had become so focused on the letter of the law, that they had completely lost the spirit of the law (to love each other). Jesus had his harshest words for the Pharisees and other religious leaders of the day.

During (maybe after or even before – the text doesn’t say) the meal, a woman who was apparently known in the town for being a sinner came into the room and began to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears, dry them with her hair, and anoint them with a precious ointment.

Who was this woman? Well, Simon knew enough about her to know that she was a “sinner”. Was she a prostitute? Perhaps. Maybe she was known for dealing unfairly with people in the marketplace. Maybe she had a child without being married. There are all kinds of things that could mark her as being a sinner. And everyone apparently knew she was a sinner. She certainly did. When she came to Jesus, this great teacher, she didn’t come to him for teaching or to talk to him as any kind of social equal. She came in tears. I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that they stem from her knowing her place in that society and how she feels about it.

And then she washed Jesus’ feet. In our culture, this is pretty creepy. At least, it is if you aren’t paying someone for a pedicure. We wear shoes and don’t have perpetually dirty feet. But in that culture, it was the job of a servant to wash someone’s feet. And it must have been especially nice for Jesus to also have a nice smelling ointment on his feet since he walked around all day in the dust.

What really struck me in this passage, though, is that Jesus tells her “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Washing Jesus’ feet was a nice thing, but it’s main effect was to show her faith. She wasn’t forgiven of her sins because she washed Jesus’ feet. She was forgiven because of God’s grace. It was there no matter what. But, this “sinner” woman (like any of us are any better) took hold of that grace through faith. And Jesus knew of her faith. Faith doesn’t just sit inside of us. It comes out somehow. In this case, the woman washed Jesus’ feet – the evidence of her faith. This was her version of accepting that gift of grace.

Every day, we have the chance to act in faith. Grace has already purchased out eternal life, but grace is also making us more holy every minute of every day. Every time that I choose to act in a way that puts others first, I have acted in faith.

My word for this year is Walk. The woman who washed and anointed Jesus’ feet reminds me to walk every day in faith, knowing that God’s grace (unearned favor) is always there. Here is another reminder to get up every day and walk with my savior.

P.S. James 2 has a good discussion on the role of faith and works in the life of a Christian.