Random Blog Thoughts (and a poll)

I wanted to take a quick minute and thank everyone who offered the supportive emails and comments regarding the new tab I added to the blog. Several thoughts occurred to me as I contemplated them.

The first thing I wanted to say was that I am very hopeful that the new prayer request tab is a source of hope and comfort, but I also want to be sure that any and everything said there is God-honoring so I thought I might set a  few ground rules.

While I am very pleased that we have managed even in the midst of the most heated debates to avoid gossip on this blog, I know that we ladies can be a little loose with our lips ( or our fingers on the keyboard) when we’re not careful. So when prayer requests are made I’m asking that a couple of rules be respected:

1. That all prayer requests be confined to personal, specific needs, or the needs of immediate family members.
2. When making a request for a child or family member, please use a pseudonym, respect their privacy, and refrain from revealing unneccessary details online. The two prayer requests that have been left thus far are excellent examples of appropriate requests.

As I considered adding this to the blog (and I have been mulling it over for months), I was often gripped with apprehension because ideally, believers should have people in their churches and inner circle to whom they can turn for prayer. As I have repeatedly opined the limitations of the Internet as a means of Christian fellowship, I wondered if offering this level of support would serve to allow isolated believers to stay comfortable in their isolation.

In the end I decided to go ahead with the idea because I believe that people who are truly seeking God will realize the need to connect with other flesh and blood believers to serve and build community. But there are many believers who for any number of reasons, find themselves in a solitary place during seasons of stress and change. If anyone stumbles across this site, or has read my blog for a long period of time needs prayer, I want to make myself available to offer it.

Lastly, I want to say that in general, this blog isn’t changing  all that much. Except for greater lengths of time between posts- this week is a definite exception-I will still be sharing my thoughts on culture, theology, and every thing in between. In a rapidly declining culture that is seeping its way into the church, I feel it’s important to think about and discuss these things. The vast majority of us are in positions where we need to be reminded of the importance of being in the world without becoming a part of it.

But because the gospel needs to be at the center of all I say and do, I felt it would be good for my blog to offer something a little more than just opinion/editorial pieces with a religious slant.

When all is said and done however, I really hate to waste time and space on endeavors for which there is no need. To that end, there’s a poll over on the bottom right side of the page. I’d really appreciate it if you’d take a minute and vote.

This and That: Some Random Musings

This and that, as the catchy title of the post implies…

~Has it already been 2 years since I posted this? Where did the time go! Our Sweetie Pie is two years old today. She is getting into any and everything, the wobbles in her walk are fading, and her vocabulary is on the increase. Of course, there are times I wish I had a translator handy when she decides to string together a sentence! Happy Birthday, Sweetie Pie!

~And at the other end of the spectrum: I have a kid in college. Yes, you read that right. Down here, high school students who prove via testing that they can do the work can take college classes for free. Our high school sophomore, BrightEyes, is taking college algebra at the local community college. She’s feeling pretty ambitious, hoping to take enough classes to get her A.A. at the same time as her high school diploma.

When her dad and I dropped her off, and she started to jump out of the truck, the reality of what it meant was a bit lost on me at first. Then she said, “It feels like the first day of school.” And my husband said, “I hope your mom doesn’t start to cry.” Then it hit me. My kid is in college! And my eyes welled up, but I didn’t cry.

~So I’m browsing around in this great used bookstore: And I run across the very controversial marriage book by Debi Pearl, Created to Be His Helpmeet. It isn’t a new book. It’s been around quite a while, in fact. But I’d never read it for several reasons. First, I read many reviews of it when it was gaining popularity a few years ago. There were a few women that raved about it being convicting and a revelation, but many more thought it was disgusting, heretical, and disrespectful of women. I didn’t want to spend my husband’s hard earned money on a book that was filled with error or that I might hate.

Secondly, I’m not a big fan of marriage books. I have always been of the mind that marriage is pretty cut and dried in the Bible: What to do, what not to do, how to be a godly husband, and how to be a godly wife. Marriage books, I figured, just muddy the thinking, so I tend to skip them. I’ve onlyever read two:  Elizabeth George’s A Wife After God’s Own Heart, which was a solid, balanced book, and a great book on marital intimacy written by my blogging friend Sheila. I reviewed it here, for those interested.

The Debi Pearl book piqued my interest again, however, after Brenda recently mentioned enjoying it on her blog. Not all of her readers agreed, of course, so when I saw the book  for a very manageable $6, I thought I might read it. I purchased it. I haven’t gotten very far, but what I have read has been interesting. I hope to share my thoughts over the next week or so.

When I do, I welcome the thoughts of those among you who have also read this book. I hope to have fun time reviewing it, whether we all agree or not.

~America unhinged? When I was in the car the other day, I happen to stumble across the radio program of a conservative talker who was all in a tizzy over the new Supreme Court nominee. What, I thought, is this all about? I am no fan of our current President, but as the saying goes: elections have consequences and power comes with privileges. Among those privileges is the ability to nominate judges whose take on the law matches his own. There are plenty of policies and legislative initiatives we can take exception with, particularly things have to go through Congress, where theoretically voters have some say. I don’t think this woman is qualified, but that’s not my call to make.

Additionally, there was even a woman screeching on about denying Miranda rights to the guy who tried to set a bomb off in NYC a little over a week ago. Generally, I loathe the practice of reading rights to foreign, non-citizen terrorists. Miranda rights are rights guaranteed to American citizens. Guess what? That guy was a citizen! An alleged terrorist, yes, but a CITIZEN alleged terrorist. The show host agreed with her inanity. I was dumbfounded. Just proves that irrational, ideologically driven foolishness isn’t isolated to those on the left, though I do think they have a worse case of ideological delusion than those more conservative. Once you say citizens can be stripped of their rights based on the nature of the crime, we are all in jeopardy. What a waste of airtime!

 That energy would be much better spent educating listeners on the way government is supposed to function and arming them with the information they need when they go to the ballot box. Hearing that just reminded me of why I stopped listening to talk radio except on rare occasions. I’ll take Allistair Begg over Rush anyday.

~How often do you think about heaven? When was the last time you heard a message on the Second Coming? After hearing a message at church recently, it occurred to me how much time and energy we (meaning me) spend attempting to get our faith to work for us with the end result being relief from difficulty and increased comfort in the here and now. I realize that Scripture and faith are to be applied in this life. But I’m supposed to be building up for myself treasures in heaven. Unfortunately many of the most popular preachers of our day are encouraging believers to do more of what we do naturally: looking for perfection here. If life were perfect here, we wouldn’t long for heaven. And that also goes for our faith walk. If it were possible for us to be perfected now, how prideful, arrogant, and useless to the kingdom we would be! I dare say delusions of personal perfection are what’s keeping us from winning souls as it is. Just some food for thought.

Enjoy a relaxed, worshipful, and family-filled weekend!

New Poll

This is my last post on this issue for the foreseeable future, but since some concerns were raised privately to me about my last two posts, I have added a poll to get an idea of where you all stand.

The concerns raised centered upon whether the discussions I started only serve to add to the already inappropriate, tawdry, and indiscreet way sex is handled in the larger culture. As believers, we should uphold a higher standard. And since this is the Internet, I should expect that not everyone who reads my blog is a believer.

I think these are valid points. And the last thing I want to do is promote immodesty and indiscretion. But when I hear the level of suffering that was revealed by many women in response to the first post, I ask myself: how can we NOT make it okay for these women to get the help they may not have gotten any other way? Especially those who may think that what they are experiencing is the normal order and that they shouldn’t expect anything better?

Anyway, the poll is open.

Tomorrow is Fitness Friday. Aren’t y’all relieved?