A Lesson in Fear

Dr. Suess' What Was I Scared of?

Well . . .
I was walking in the night
And I saw nothing scary
For I have never been afraid
Of Anything. Not very.

Then I was deep within the woods
When, suddenly, I spied them,
I saw a pair of pale green pants
With nobody inside them!

I wasn't scared. But, yet, I stopped.
What could those pants be there for?
What could a pair of pants and at night
Be standing in the air for?

And then they moved! Those empty pants!
They kind of started jumping.
And then my heart, I must admit,
It kind of started thumping.

So I got out, I got out fast
As fast as I could go, sir.
I wasn't scared. But pants like that
I did not care for. No, sir.

After that, a week went by
Then one dark night in Grin-itch
(I had to do an errand there
And fetch some spinach) . . .
Well, I had fetched the spinach.
I was starting back through town
When those pants raced around a corner
And they almost knocked me down!

I lost my Grin-itch spinach
But I didn't even care
I ran for home! Believe me,
I had really had a scare!

Now, bicycles were never made
For pale green pants to ride 'em,
Especially spooky pale green pants
With nobody inside 'em!

And the NEXT night, I was fishing
For doubt trout on Roover River
When those pants came rowing toward me!
Well I started in to shiver

And by now I was SO frightened
That, I'll tell you, but I hate to . . .
I screamed and rowed away and lost
My hook and line and bait, too!

I ran and found a Brickel bush.
I hid myself away
I got brickels in my britches
But I stayed there anyway

I stayed all night. The next night, too.
I'd be there still, no doubt,
But I had to do an errand
So, the next night, I went out.

I had to do an errand,
Had to pick a peck of Snide
In a dark and gloomy Snide-field
That was almost nine miles wide.

I said, "I do not fear those pants
With nobody inside them."
I said, and said, and said those words.
I said them. But I lied them.

Then I reached inside a Snide bush
And the next thing that I knew,
I felt my had touch someone!
And I'll bet that you know who.

And there I was! Caught in the Snide!
And in that dreadful place
Those spooky, empty pants and I
Were standing face to face!

I yelled for help. I screamed. I shrieked.
I howled. I yowled. I cried,
"Oh, save me from these pale green pants
With nobody inside!"

But then a strange thing happened.
Why, those pants began to cry!
Those pants began to tremble.
They were just as scared as I!

I never heard such whimpering
And I began to see
That I was just as strange to the,
As they were strange to me!

I put my arm around their waist
And sat right down beside them.
I calmed them down.
Poor empty pants
With nobody inside them.

And, now, we meet quite often,
those empty pants and I,
And we never shake or tremble.
We both smile
And we say
"Hi!"

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus....Or is There?

Just the other week when I was working with my wonderful little group of K-2nd graders at our church's kids outreach, one of my girls asked me if Santa Claus was real. Now while it may be all wonderful and good to write Virginia back and tell her, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished," such an answer simply would not do in this situation.
Personally, as much as I love Christmas (and I love Christmas, I still don't sleep well on Christmas Eve...) I don't believe in Santa Claus. I have no problem with Saint Nicholas (I mean, how could I, he actually existed), but the creepy Santa who slips down your chimney? Now I have a problem with that!
However, it was certainly not my place to tell this little girl that Santa Claus did not exist. If her parent want her to believe in Santa, that's their prerogative. Nevertheless, I knew I could not tell her that Santa Claus did exist because that would be a lie. Talk about a tough situation. Luckily my choice of words was made easier by the second part of her question.
As I was pondering quickly how to respond, I heard her say, "Cause I think he does and I told my friend that Jesus was Santa." Well that cleared my problem up really quickly. The answer became simple. "No, Virginia*, Jesus is not Santa Claus!"





*Name changed to protect the innocent :P

A Song A Sunday

How Can I Keep From Singing by Chris Tomlin

There is an endless song
Echoes in my soul
I hear the music ring

And though the storms may come
I am holding on
To the rock I cling

How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

I will lift my eyes
In the darkest night
For I know my Savior lives

And I will walk with You
Knowing You'll see me through
And sing the songs You give

How can I keep from singing your praise
How can I ever say enough
how amazing is your love
How can I keep from shouting your name
I know I am loved by the king
and it makes my heart want to sing

I can sing in the troubled times
Sing when I win
I can sing when I lose my step
And fall down again
I can sing 'cause You pick me up
Sing 'cause You're there
I can sing 'cause You hear me, Lord
When I call to You in prayer
I can sing with my last breath
Sing for I know
That I'll sing with the angels

And the saints around the throne

A Song A Sunday

You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You Are

You're the light in this darkness
You're the hope to the hopeless
You're the peace to the restless
You are

For there is no one like our God
There is no one like You God

For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done
In this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

You're the Lord of Creation
The Creator of all things
You're the King above all kings
You Are

You're the strength in the weakness
You're the love to the broken
You're the joy in the sadness
You Are

For there is no one like our God
There is no one like You God

For greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
In this city
When glory shines from hearts alive
With praise for You and love for You
In this city

Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
In this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here.

What's for Dinner Wednesdays

This week's dinner was actually rather similar to last week's dinner, due partially to the fact that it's almost time to go grocery shopping again so we're running short on some things. I made Honey-Garlic Glazed Meatballs, rice and broccoli (yes, I know, broccoli again....but come on, it's been a whole week!) The meatball recipe included a section to make your own meatballs. However my mother always stocks up on pre-made meatballs, just as yummy and much easier!
Here's the recipe for the glaze. I doubled the recipe because I wanted to have it as more of a sauce then glaze.
Honey-Garlic Glazed Meatballs ~ 4 servings
1 T. Minced garlic (the original called for fresh garlic but we didn't have any)
1 T. Onion flakes (I added this cause I like onions :D )
1 T. Butter
3/4 Cup ketchup
1/2 Cup honey
3 T. Soy sauce
Saute garlic and onion in better. Stir in the ketchup, honey, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 5 minutes. Add cooked meatballs.

My dad's not a big fan of sweet & sour sauces but he said this one was good :)
So that's what was for dinner in our house, how about yours?

50s Wives

A topic on the Rachael Ray show today was Real Life Mad Men Marriages. I love that a TV show as popular as Rachael's is talking about this! (Even if they did have to use a dumb show as a springboard....) And the woman in the interview?? Not only is she a homeschooling mommy, but she's a Christian and a graduate of Moody Bible Institute too! She blogs over here. Check it out :D

What's for Dinner Wednesdays

Wednesday is my night to make dinner for the family. Usually I try out some new recipes that I got offline or something. Anyway, I thought just for fun I'd share these recipes and my experiences with them.
Tonight I made chicken, rice, and broccoli. If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE chicken, and rice, and broccoli for that matter.
For the rice, I decided to try adding some flavor with Lipton onion soup mix. You just make the rice the way you normally do, except when you add the rice to the boiling water you put in a packet of Lipton onion soup mix first, one packet for every cup of rice. It turned out really well except it took a little longer to cook with the onion soup mix in it. Don't know why, but it did.
For the chicken I used a recipe I found online, with some slight variations of my own. The internet recipe was pretty much your basic breaded, baked chicken recipe. Here's my version.
Ingredients ~ Makes 4 servings
~4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
~1/4 oil
~1 T. minced onions
~1 T. minced garlic
~1 egg, beaten
~1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
~1/4 cup bread crumbs
~1 t. dried parsley
~1 t. dried basil
~1/4 t. paprika
~1/4 t. salt
~1/2 t. pepper
Boil chicken. Combine remaining ingredients except for the egg. Heat oil, onions, and garlic in 10 in. skillet. Slice chicken into strips. Dip chicken in beaten egg, coat in Parmesan cheese mixture. Brown chicken in oil. And that's it. I thought it was pretty good :)

So that's what was for dinner in our house, how about yours?

A Song A Sunday

Search my heart, search my mind, search my soul
Make me clean, make me new, make me whole

Chorus
All of my plans, all of my dreams, I lay them down before Your feet
All of my time, all that was mine, I now submit to Your design
‘Cause You are the one and only one who dared to give it all away for me

You are my strength, You are my God, You are my King
You make me laugh, You make me dance, You make me sing

Chorus

Everything inside, everything outside, I give it all away
You never change, but You rearrange my heart more everyday

Chorus (2x’s)
You are the one who can give light to my feet
‘Cause You are the one and only one who dared to give it all away for me

Search my heart, search my mind, search my soul

“You don't know a woman until you have a letter from her”

~ Ada Leverson

College and a Wedding and Phantom, Oh My

It's been a month since I've posted anything..... I blame it on school! And to be honest that isn't far from the truth. While school has not filled my every waking moment, I tend to find myself unwilling to use my free time to sit down and do still more writing. However, now that it's "crunch time" and I have quite a bit to do, I'll do anything that helps me avoid college paper writing.

In the realm of school... Psych class continues to be a joy. I love the lectures and the tests aren't too bad. Right now I have an A- in the course which (with increase in the next two test scores) can be pulled up to an A. The math class is much better than I thought it would be, but we'll see if I'm still saying that next week when I get my first test back....


In addition to the two classes mentioned before, I have and art class (more about that later), Development and Learning Theory (Ed Psych), and Ruth and Esther. Development and Learning Theory is the class were I feel the most out of my league. I don't know what the professor's saying half the time and writing a paper for her is scary. She has a very dry sense of humor which makes her hard to read. However, I think she like me so that's good :D Ruth and Esther is with my favorite professor from last semester. I really enjoy the lectures, but the papers he has us writing are a bit daunting and the midterm and final are absolutely scary.

In the realm of the wedding... Oh wait, didn't I tell you?!?!? One of my best friends is getting married!!!!!!! In MAY!!! And she asked me to be her maid of honor!!! So yeah, it's pretty exciting and all that :P Just last Sunday we went dress shopping for me. She already had picked out her dress and the bridesmaids' dresses but she wanted the maid of honor's dress to be different. We found one, though I'm afraid I can't post pictures, it being for the wedding in May and such. It's quite interesting. I love the color and most of the style. It's a bit snug but we had two options: buy the size they had and I'll lose a some weight by the wedding or order a size larger (if we were even able to) and then run into problems if I did lose any weight between now and May. Obviously we went with the first option. And my dad even said that if in trying to lose the weight I ended up losing too much to fit the dress, we could have it altered. So with the weight lose I think I'll like the dress even more than I do now!

In the realm of Phantom... Remember that art class I mention earlier in this post? Well I was pretty apathetic about the whole class, not really loving, it not really hating it. That is not until they took me to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway again! And gave me two extra tickets for my mom and brother!!! It was pretty fantastic. I love all things musical and Broadway, and Phantom takes the cake!

So anyways, that's all that has really been going on in my life. Odd how I can summarize a whole month and a half almost in a few paragraphs. I could flesh it out more I suppose but would you really care to read it?? Probably not....so.... short and sweet. Or at least, kinda short and sweet.

Please Ignore Half Of What I Say

Well besides being back in the world of blogging, I’m also back at school which is not nearly as exciting…..Nevertheless my first class helped my dismal attitude to school a little bit, General Psychology with Prof. Stephen Maret. Besides standing on the stool of drum set with one foot and leaning over like he was pretending to be an airplane, Prof. Maret also told us “please ignore half of what I say” and “I’m trying to work on my sarcasm…….that was sarcasm.” Let’s just say it ought to be an interesting semester! :)

My next class was Math for the Elementary School Teacher. Not nearly so much fun. The Professor decided to throw and 81 question test at us to “see where you all are.” Fun!…..not. The professor herself is a tiny, old woman who proudly declared her graduation from a NYC public highschool, who speaks in an almost whisper and yet at the speed of light, and who wants us to “write our own math story.” I’m starting to wonder were they find these people……

Well anyway, I least I don’t have classes on Fridays! In celebration of being home, my mommy and I went out for brunch to our favorite local diner. It was great to catch up with her after a long three months away. I love you, Mom!

I'm Back!

Well I’m back! I had high hopes of keeping up on my blog this summer, but obviously that didn’t happen. My excuse? It was a crazy busy summer! Where to begin, where to begin? Well I left on Sunday, May 31^st to head up to my beloved Pinebrook. It was an extremely long ride because the driver accidently went east instead of west causing us to sit in 45 minutes of traffic for about a mile of roadway. I should have seen this summer coming right?

Anyway, when I arrived the rest of the leadership team was not on grounds so I had another almost three hours all to myself to unpack. It seemed ideal at the time, get all settled in before the fun begins, but unfortunately in the long run it made things harder. And so began Leadership Orientation. Leadership Orientation is basically three weeks of practically free manual labor, with a few hours of meetings stuck in on Tuesdays. Here’s what our schedule looked like for three week, 8 o’clock ~ Staff Prayer, 8:15-12 ~ weeding/cleaning/painting/sanding, 12-1 ~ lunch. 1-4:45 more of the same. Sounds fun doesn’t it? And to be honest, a lot of it was. It just would have been more fun without the whole work aspect. The friendships were amazing. All but two of the members of the LT I’ve known for years, but even my friendship with those people grew and matured this summer. I now count most of them as some of my nearest and dearest friends. All the things we did - trips to Walmart and Salvo, pictures with Bob the Builder, Kosherland (more about that later), midnight viewings of the Disney’s Robin Hood and the 5 hour version of Pride and Prejudice, late night talks, and a trip to Boulder Field – only grew my love for theses dear people.

Here’s a little bit about them, we’ll start with the guys (I know, I know, ladies first. Deal with it.)

Edward ~ He’s my brother! What more is there to say :P Seriously though, I always enjoy seeing my brother in a leadership position; he always amazes me with how well he does.

Stephen ~ If there’s one word that could describe Stephen it’s unique. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone quite like Stephen, or ever will again! Still, he was always fun to hang out with and his fake British accent was hysterical!

Michael ~ Mike may not be the best leader in the whole world, but he’s always fun to hang out with. Plus he called me awesome so that’s cool.

Eric ~ I’ve known Eric since my first summer in 2006, but this was the first summer we got beyond just being comfortable around each other. I’m really honored to be considered his friend. He has a great desire to follow God’s will and grow in Him. Add to that, his great sense of humor and facial expressions and you’ve got one fantastic person! We had some great times, going bowling in Lehighton, going book shopping with Elizabeth in Schnecksville, and random trips to Rita’s.

Nathaniel ~ Nate and I have been great friends for the last two years. However it was great to have a relationship grow and change this summer. And he got a girlfriend, making him an all over happier person. They’re quite cute together, even if they are a bit sappy!

Now for the girls.

Alicia ~ I was very apprehensive about having Lecie on the LT this summer, not only had she never worked on staff but she’d never even been to Pinebrook. However, it turned out to work really well. I’ve never met anyone sweeter than she and I’m privileged to call her my friend. Plus she was a fantastic secret sister! I now have two fantastic tea cups to add to my collection!

Meredith ~ My fellow city dweller! Meredith and I have also known each other since 2006, but it was great to see her in a leadership position that really stretched and grew here. She was quite hard working and a great friend to all.

Rachel ~ Again, someone I’ve known since 2006. However she was always someone I envisioned as lofty and popular, one of the cool girls which I was not. Add to that her quite demeanor and it made for very little actually conversation between us. This summer all that changed. I got to see her on her own, away from her friends that overshadowed her personality and actually heard her speak, and you know what? I love her! She’s a wonderful young lady who has great leadership ability. Plus she was a great example to the girls in her relationship with her boyfriend, Nate. That’s right, what’s a summer without a little LT romance. Which reminds me, did I tell you Stephen and Lecie started dating too….. :)

Elizabeth ~ Liz and I have been really good friends since our first summer, 2006. However this summer she became more than a friend to me. She’s like a sister. It’s incredible how much I’ve grown to love her and care about her. I can share anything with her and I believe the feelings mutual! Right now I’m praying she’ll have her own little post-summer romance. If you can’t beat them, join them right?

Anyway that was Leadership Orientation in a nutshell. It’s a good thing there are some large nuts out there cause this ended up being quite long. And just think, it was only three out of 13 weeks!

The Leadership Team (Plus 6)

A Rather Busy Weekend

Thursday ~
Yes, I know, Thursday is technically not part of the weekend. However, when school is out and work has not yet commenced the line between weekday and weekend can be blurred slightly. My Thursday was spent, to my great enjoyment, in the kitchen. I managed to end the day with 24+ cupcakes for the end-of-the year kids' program at church,

a Jewish apple cake (don't know quite why it's called that but it's quite good nonetheless),


two brownie-bottom cheesecakes (my personal favorite) drizzled with chocolate,


and dinner for my family. I certainly enjoyed myself and I think it all tasted pretty good :)

Friday~
Friday we celebrated my highschool graduation. While I was technically done in December and have completed a semester of college, we waited till the spring to have a party. Even though many of my friends couldn't make it, it was still a great party. My grandparent were able to come from Pennsylvania and my cousin came with them.
We had a wonderful dinner of turkey barbecue, potato salad, and seven layer salad.

And of course, I can't forget the chocolate fountain......Yum! One of the young men from our church who came to the party managed to get a fair amount of chocolate on his clothes as well as in his mouth. His mother told me when he came home Friday night the first thing she said to him was, "I see you had chocolate." :D

We had lots of different types of fruit to dip in the chocolate, as well as pretzels.

I had a wonderful time. I'm so thankful to my mommy for all the hard work she put in to making this a special day! Thanks, mom!


Saturday~
As I mentioned before, my cousin, Carol Jean, from Pennsylvania came for my graduation party and she and my grandparents stayed until Sunday. We decided to take a trip to Times Square on Saturday.
We got a little bored on the subway, so we took a picture :)

Times Square in black and white.


We didn't see either of these but we're making plans for the fall.....yay Wicked!


I don't think she believed me at first when I told her there was a Starbucks on practically every corner......Now she does.And of course, although we had grandiose plans for not buying food at ridiculously high Times Square prices, we broke down and got some New York pizza!


Later that evening we curled up with bowls (or, I guess, mugs) of ice cream. Ice cream that we got for free....... double yum! Monkey Butter (Banana flavored ice cream with peanut butter) is probably just about the best ice cream I've ever had.

Oh, and who can resist flipping on Pride and Prejudice to close the evening. Cousins, Darcy, and ice cream, *sigh* it was a good day.

Sunday ~
Although I do not have pictures of Sunday, it was still a pretty eventful day. We went to church in the morning and afterwards a Chinese buffet for lunch. After managing to get my grandfather to the restaurant (I don't do so well with directions), I proceeded to exemplify grace and took a marvelous little tumble onto the sidewalk. Well, it really wasn't much of a tumble, it was a flat out fall, complete with bloody knee....... I don't know how I did it, but despite the blood and pain it was a fun day. As my grandfather said, "unfortunatley knees heel faster than egos."

Love

Aristotle once said that, “Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” However, for the Christian, love is composed of two souls cohabiting in one flesh.

Ephesians 5:31 "For this reason a man shall. . .be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

Pastors and PMS

Did you know that pastors get PMS?? Every pastor of a small church that I’ve known (and that’s quite a few since my dad is a pastor in a small denomination) gets something I like to call PMS or Pastoral Morning Syndrome. I happens every Sunday morning and it goes a little something like this…..

“Did you bring that vase from home like I told you to?” “No, you simply mentioned that we should bring it so I didn’t remember….” Well what am I supposed to do NOW??” “There’s a vase in the kitchen, dad.” “Where?” “Right in the bottom cabinet.” (opens cabinet) “I don’t see it!” “It’s right there, dad.” “*heavy sigh* This one’s not as pretty as the red one at home.”

Following that there’s the huge discussion of how best to arrange the flowers and whether or to put the water in before or after the flowers. Next there’s the OCD arranging of the chairs and the constant rushing around until everything is just so. Seriously, it’s just like the normal kind of PMS (swift mood changes, obsessions, and annoying everyone around them) only it’s once every week instead of once a month, but luckily it also only lasts for about an hour instead of a week.

Some Thoughts on My 1st Semester of College

So it's hard to believe as I sit here typing this, that I've completed my first semester of college! It's funny, as much as college was always a part of my plans it seems so weird to be where I am right now. I'm only 17 and have a full 15 college credits!

Anyway, I took my last final today! The knowledge that I'm done gives me the most amazing feeling! I couldn't help thinking back over my first college classes, my first classes with teachers other than my parents. I'll never forget the feeling of shock when the first thing we studied in my College Writing I Class was what a noun was! I felt like I was back in 1^st grade! Not that I'm complaining, I got all As J From that class I moved on to Old Testament. Again, I was slightly shocked when we spent the first hour memorizing the books of the Old Testament, again something I did in 1^st grade! Though Old Testament did end up being my favorite class, the beginning was rather humorous.

My Monday classes weren't quite as shocking, and they didn't make me feel quite as juvenile. However, by the end of the semester, I'm so glad that my New Testament class is over. Some of the most boring three-hour time chunks ever! Foundations of Education was neither juvenile nor boring, but I'm still glad it's over. It's funny how I can enjoy teaching and yet hate school.

So all in all the like/hate ratio was fair. I LOVED Old Testament and enjoyed Foundations of Education, while I HATED College Writing (more about that at a different time perhaps) and barely tolerated New Testament. Let me say again though that I am SOOOOO glad to be done! And get this!!! I think I even have a 4.0!!!

Set Apart

After my last experience delving in to the world of literature for the "Christian" young woman, I was even more hesitant to read the next book on my list. However, when it arrived at the library, I checked it out prepared to be disappointed and frustrated with yet another book of feel-good, sappy, Jesus-ness. Set-Apart Femininity by Leslie Ludy (co-author of When God Writes Your Love Story, which did nothing to raise my expectations of this book) claims to be "not the same old message you've always heard. It's a radical call to counterculture lifestyle in which every aspect of your femininity… is shaped by an intimate relationship with your King of kings. It's the kind of heroic femininity that the world changing women of history understood." I pondered this book's potential as I wandered home from the library; to be honest, this book's back-cover left me no more impressed than Captivating's, a feeling that was only solidified by my brother's declaration of, "that looks like a horrible book." Nevertheless, I resolved to read it, or at least flip through it until I could no longer tolerate it. However, flipping it open to the table of contents nearly made me gag. Titles such as "Sacred Mystique: femininity that changes men into princes," "Sacred Priority: femininity that captivates [there's that word again!] the masculine heart," and "Sacred Ardor: femininity that makes marriage dreams come true" nearly made me toss the book aside!

I still find the titles of the chapters repulsive (perhaps that word is a little strong but I like it :D), but if I had to recommend a book of this genre to a fellow sister in Christ it would be this book. There are still some aspects of it I find frustrating, and I'm not sure what she bases some of her statements on, but overall it's the best of its kind I've read. Ludy clearly emphasizes the main problem I had with Captivating, that apart from God we are NOT beautiful. She says that, "The God of the universe, the Author of all that is good and lovely, passed by and saw me in wretched, hopeless condition. He was not attracted to my beauty or goodness because I had none. I had absolutely nothing to offer him. I was ugly and helpless, drowning in the blood of my own guilt and condemnation. But incredibly, beyond all logic, beyond all comprehension, He had compassion on me. He rescued me. He entered in a covenant with me. He made me His own." Ludy writes passionately against Christian mediocrity, she exhorts young women to be bold prayer-warriors and slaves to Christ abandoning our own passions. She stressed the importance of living for God because of what He has done for us, not because of what He might do for us if we live for Him.

As I stated above, I still have some issues with the book. Although she does back up most of her declarations with Scripture, there are times when she does not. Be advised if you read this book, to be very aware of what is or is not backed up by Scripture. If you can't back up your statements with scripture, you ought not to make them. However, with a couple of sections in the book, even though she did not use any scripture I could very easily think of Bible passages she could have used. I challenge you to read with a Bible next to you, if you can't find it in scripture take it to someone who's faith you admire and ask them, if they can't, disregard that statement! Another problem I had with this book is that Ludy uses herself many times as an example of how to do things right. Whether or not she did do things right, I personally find it very frustrating when authors or speakers seem to speak of themselves as much as they do of God. And while Ludy does use quite a few other godly Christian women as examples, she uses herself just as often.

Even though I don't' agree with her on every point, I admire Leslie Ludy for not being afraid to write a book that is meant to challenge instead of excuse, promote femininity for the glory of God instead of ruining it by making its sole purpose to acquire worldly admiration. May God bless every young woman who actively seeks to be Set-Apart to God, to be focused on the glory of Christ and not the glory of self, to be captivated and not captivating.

Captivating or Captivated

A currently popular book among Christian young women is Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul. This book proudly proclaims that,

“What Wild at Heart did for men, Captivating can do for women. This groundbreaking book shows readers the glorious design of women before the fall, describes how the feminine heart can be restored, and casts a vision for the power, freedom, and beauty of a woman released to be all she was meant to be. By revealing the core desires every woman shares-to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a grand adventure, and to unveil beauty-John and Stasi Eldredge invite women to recover their feminine hearts, created in the image of an intimate and passionate God. Further, they encourage men to discover the secret of a woman's soul and to delight in the beauty and strength women were created to offer.”

Sounds pretty good right? I tend to be a biased reader when it comes to books about femininity and beauty; I expect them all to be horrible. Why? Is it because I believe in feminism and female empowerment? Not at all! I can’t stand the feminist movement! It robs women of any chance they had of being feminine. I find these types of books horrible because I don’t think godly femininity is something that can be humanly taught. Every woman’s quest for femininity and godly beauty is a special, glorious journey with God. You can tell me as often as you want that I am “beautiful in God’s sight” but I’m not going to believe it until God teaches me. A process I believe takes the entirety of a woman’s life.

All of that aside, I attempted to be objective as I flipped through the pages of this book. However I still found the message to be warped and potentially devastatingly harmful to young women. I have not read the whole book, but I did find a review of Captivating that very clearly explained all the problems I was finding in this book. Tim Challis describes some of the main flaws I saw in this book:

“I was surprised to see that the book paid scant attention to those passages of the Bible that particularly address women. I do not recall any attempt to interact with Paul’s epistles; Proverbs 31 received only one mention, and it was only in the context of sneering at the church’s fixation with that traditional role model. In fact, the only passages that received any significant attention were Genesis 2 and 3. The authors rewrote Genesis 2:18, which most translations render similar to “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” They turned to a commentary and translation written by Robert Alter and suggested a better translation of the verse is “I will make a sustainer beside him” (page 27). Strangely, though, they later seem to indicate that a man does have some sort of authority over his wife.

Eldredge rehashes the worst of The Sacred Romance, drawing extensively from Hosea and Song of Solomon and using sexual terminology. He says that God has a deep, fiery, passionate love for women and that He wishes to romance us. “Think of one of the most romantic scenes you can remember, scenes that made you sigh. Jack with Rose on the bow of the Titanic, his arms around her waist, their first kiss. Wallace speaking in French to Murron, then in Italian: “Not as beautiful as you.” Aragorn, standing with Arwen in the moonlight on the bridge in Rivendell, declaring his love for her. Edward returning for Elinor in Sense and Sensibility, and professor Behr returning for Jo at the end of Little Women. Now, put yourself in the scene as the Beauty, and Jesus as the Lover” (page 114). This clearly goes far beyond the biblical metaphors for God’s love.

Ironically, while God is presented as a wild Romancer, He is also presented in an emasculated form. We are told that God has been wooing you. We are told that “you are meant to fill a place in the heart of God no one and nothing else can fill. He longs for you” (page 120). This almost seems to indicate that God needs us to make His joy and satisfaction complete. There are often several references to our need to minister to the heart of Jesus through our worship. All of this portrays an inaccurate understanding of God.”

On one page Captivating says this, “Beauty is the most essential and, yes, the most misunderstood of all the feminine qualities. We want you to hear clearly that it is an essence every woman carries from the moment of her creation. The only things standing in the way of our beauty is our doubts and fears, and the hiding and striving we fall to as a result.” While some of this could be considered accurate and we do have the potential to be beautiful before God there’s more than just our fears and doubts standing in our way. There’s one main thing standing in our way that is stronger than any type of fear or doubt, sin. Sin is what separates us from God. God does not see you as beautiful. God loves you in spite of your sin, but he doesn’t find you beautiful. It is only when you have been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, that he sees you as beautiful, because when he looks at you, he no longer sees you He sees Christ. And Christ is gorgeous!!!

While I’m not positive that this is where the authors came up with the title, there is one passage in Proverbs that refers to a husband being captivated by his wife. However, I took a look at a The Message (a paraphrase of the Bible that attempts to take the Hebrew metaphors and concepts and convert them to modern English) and The Message translates that same verse this way, “Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose - don't ever quit taking delight in her body. Never take her love for granted!” (Proverbs 5:19) Slightly different meaning then when we think of captivating a guy, isn’t it?

I think we as women ought not to be so concerned with being “captivating.” I think we ought to be more concerned with being “captivated.” “Christian” America is teaching its young women that we should fall in love with Jesus while we wait for Him to bring us the “perfect” man. How about we start teaching our young women to be captivated by God regardless of the man he may or may not bring into our lives. How about we teach our young woman to focus on Christ not because when we focus on Him we will be found beautiful by men but because an obsession with Christ is what he deserves because of what He’s done for us!

This song by Watermark is to me what the desire and prayer of every Christian young woman ought to be:

Your face is beautiful
And Your eyes are like the stars
Your gentle hands have healing
There inside the scars
Your loving arms they draw me near
And Your smile it brings me peace
Draw me closer oh my Lord
Draw me closer Lord to Thee

Captivate us, Lord Jesus
Set our eyes on You
Devastate us with Your presence
Falling down
And rushing river, draw us nearer
Holy fountain consume us with You
Captivate us Lord Jesus, with You

Your voice is powerful
And Your words are radiant bright
In Your breath and shadow
I will come close and abide
You whisper love and life divine
And Your fellowship is free
Draw me closer O my Lord
Draw me closer Lord to Thee

Captivate us, Lord Jesus
Set our eyes on You
Devastate us with Your presence
Falling down
And rushing river, draw us nearer
Holy fountain consume us with You
Captivate us Lord Jesus, with You

Let everything be lost in the shadows
Of the light of Your face
Let every chain be broken from me
As I’m bound in Your grace
For Your yoke is easy, Your burden is light
You’re full of wisdom, power and might
And every eye will see You

Captivate us, Lord Jesus
Set our eyes on You
Devastate us with Your presence
Falling down
And rushing river, draw us nearer
Holy fountain consume us with You
Captivate us Lord Jesus, with You

For The Glory of Christ -

To live is Christ
I have a passion in my heart I've never know before
That makes me love Him more
To die is gain
I am learning though surrender what it really means
To know that I am free

And it's my prayer
I would live each day in such a way
That in all I do I would bring Him praise

Chorus:
For the glory of Christ
I'll lay down everything that I've been given
All my hopes and my ambitions
For what He wants for me
For the glory of Christ
I'll take up my cross and follow
Wherever He may lead I'll live my life
For the glory of Christ

He knows my heart
He knows I seldom measure up to what I long to be
And what He has for me
I know His grace
And I have seen how far His arms will reach to rescue me
From the man that I could be

And it's my prayer
I would live each day in such a way

That in all I do I would bring Him praise

BRIDGE:
And when I think of what my life was worth
And how He gave His life to bring salvation to this world

How could I ever offer less than He deserves.

By Eddie Carswell, David Allen Clark, and Michael David O'Brien

Fun Find :)

I am a huge Jane Austen fan! I absolutely love anything Jane Austen

Today, through Kelly over at The Best Dressed Nest, I discovered a wonderful new Jane Austen-y thing!

A beautiful font that, while not entirely practical for college paper writing :), is wonderful for any classy print job you may have, or just for fun. You can pick it up for free over at dafont.com.

So here, in that lovely font, is a portion of Pride and Prejudice. Doesn't it just make you want to pick it up and read!

They walked on without knowing in what direction. There was too much to be thought and felt and said, for attention to any other objects. She soon learned that they were indebted for their present good understanding to the efforts of his aunt, who did call on him in her return through London, and there relate her journey to Long- bourn, its motive, and the substance of her conversation with Elizabeth; dwelling emphatically on every expression of the latter which in her Ladyship's apprehension peculiarly denoted her perverseness and assurance in the belief that such a relation must assist her endeavors to obtain that promise from her nephew which she had refused to give. But unluckily for her Ladyship, its effect had been exactly contrariwise. "It taught me to hope," said he, "as I had scarcely ever allowed myself to hope before. I knew enough of your disposition to be certain that had you been absolutely, irrevocably decided against me, you would have acknowledged it to Lady Catherine frankly and openly."

Someday.....

So I am completely obsessed with everything to do with Homemaking. Cooking, cleaning organizing, sewing, and. . . Decorating!!

Now I know chances are even if I do manage to get married and have my own house, I probably won't be able to decorate to my heart's content simply because of finances. But. . . a girl's gotta dream :)

Several years ago my parents gave me a teacup and saucer, the beginning of my own Noritake China set! The pattern is called Sweet Leilani and it looks like this . . .

It's kind of hard to tell from the picture. But it's mostly a soft purple color and a sage green. Which leads me to my paint colors for my "dining room"


So this color looks much more purple-pinkish on the computer than it does in real life. But what I want is a pale, pale, purple almost cream kind of wall color,


with this nice chocolaty brown for the trim.
and this lovely sage for accessories like linens and such.


Now for the everyday dishes I have an absolute obsession with square plates. I LOVE these brown ones from Bed Bath and Beyond.
with these sorta squarish glasses
Now the flatware I don't really care about, but I like this because it has the same square look but it's softer than the harsh square flatware that I saw.
For everyday meals I like just plain placemats, they're easier to switch out if someone spills something. You don't have to replace the whole tablecloth just one placemat. But for fancier meals I like an actual tablecloth. These are the same brand so theoretically they're the same color even if they don't look it. I'm hoping they're more like the tablecloth color :)


I also like to have napkin rings on my napkins all the time, they just look neater and cleaner that way, plust you don't have to worry quite as much about wrinkles. These are nice because they are silver so you could use them with the china and the everyday. And again, they're square!


Last but not least I like these curtains because they have color yet they're light and airy so they won't make the whole room look dark.

So that's my dream dining room :) I just had to share!

He is Risen!

I cannot tell why He, the Joy of Heaven,
Should give Himself to suffer for my sin,
Why Holy God should love me in my shamefulness,
Why He should die to draw my soul to Him.
But this I know: that Christ the Lord is risen,
And praise His name, He's risen now in me!
Because He lives, I'll rise to life eternal!
He took my guilty heart, and I'm forever free!

The Spirit of Youth

Sonnet 98
~William Shakespeare~

From you have I been absent in the spring,
When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim,
Hath put a spirit of youth in everything,
That heavy Saturn laughed and leaped with him,
Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell
Of different flowers in odor and in hue,
Could make me any summer's story tell,
Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew.
Nor did I wonder at the lily's white,
Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose;
They were but sweet, but figures of delight,
Drawn after you, you pattern of all those.
Yet seemed it winter still, and, you away,
As with your shadow I with these did play.