Day at the Zoo

God's creation is so incredibly amazing! The kids and I took my mom to the Denver Zoo today and here are just two examples of God's perfect design for His animal world.

The giraffe stands about 18 feet tall, and the head and neck of a full grown giraffe weigh about 500 pounds. God has designed the giraffe with a strong, large heart, capable of pumping blood against the pull of gravity. In addition, He has given the giraffe a unique series of blood vessels and valves located in the head which regulate the blood pressure to the brain when the head is lowered.

We also learned about the alligator snapping turtle which has a wormlike growth on the tip of its tongue. The turtle will lie still in the water with its mouth wide open. The appendage on the tongue moves, imitating a worm, and when an unsuspecting fish comes for the "worm," the snapping turtle then quickly closes its mouth and enjoys lunch!

Who else but God could think of, and then speak into being, such creatures?

God's Layout for the Hour

I am reading a book about Frank Laubach and Brother Lawrence; two men who strove to walk in the awareness of the presence of Christ. I ran across these two journal entries, written by Laubach, a missionary in the Philippines. Both thoughts spoke to me and it is no accident that I "chanced" to read them today!

August 21, 1930
I shall be forty-six in two weeks. I no longer have the sense that life is all before me, as I had a few years ago. Some of it is behind--and a miserable poor part it is, so far below what I had dreamed that I dare not even think of it. Nor dare I think much of the future. This present, if it is full of God, is the only refuge I have from poisonous disappointment and even almost rebellion against God.

January 2, 1932
I resolve to accept each situation of this year as God's layout for that hour, and never to lament that it is a very commonplace or disappointing task. One can pour something divine into every situation.

Today is my birthday (a few more candles than Laubach), and instead of getting to relax with our children, and garden as I had hoped, we spent a couple of hours hoping to retrieve our "dead" car and bring it home. God had different plans for us. We weren't successful in bringing the car home, but I had the opportunity to spend those hours with my mom as she joyfully recounted some of the circumstances surrounding my birth.

Thank you God for my precious mother, and thank you for unexpected time spent with loved ones.

"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"

bulwark--1. a wall-like defensive structure; 2. a strong support or protection in danger.

Not only is God our strong support and protection in danger, but His fortress never fails! What comforting words.

The great reformer, Martin Luther, wrote not only the words to this famous hymn, but also the music as well. Go here to hear the music.

"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

No Regrets

This afternoon I had the opportunity to see many former colleagues from my teaching days. I took our two children to an art show put on by a wonderful former principal of mine. (My poor children, who are cooped up at home, not being socialized properly!) I prepared them for the usual barrage of questions they would inevitably field.

I also steeled myself for the usual barrage of questions that are invariably lobbed my way. Public school teachers can be some of the most skeptical people when it comes to home schooling. You can see it in their eyes, behind the slightly uncomfortable smile. You hear it in their questions. "Are you in a home school group? Do you do any outside activities? Do you have to take the CSAP (Colorado statewide testing)? You aren't going to teach high school, are you? I bet they're really smart! Is it hard? Do you like it?"

Many of my friends took early retirement. And now they're traveling to foreign countries. Driving nice cars. Pursuing hobbies. Finding their creative sides. Puttering around in their gardens. Painting.

I don't have any spectacular photographs taken in Nepal to put in an art show. I can't talk about what Heathrow was like yesterday in London. But I have no regrets. I get to spend every day with my two precious children. I get to see them learn. I get to travel alongside them in their Christian walk. We get to pray and sing hymns every morning. We have Creation as the first event in our timeline of world history.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to brush up on those high school requirements. Let's see...that's four years of English, four years of....

The Tower of Babel

Early in my teaching career, I taught sixth grade in NE Florida. On the first day of school, a student asked me a question in a foreign language.

To attempt to replicate the full effect of my dilemma, you must say it fast and use a southern accent: "MizMacMillen, isyoufintocarryusoutside?"

What he meant was, "Miss McMillen, are you getting ready (fixin') to take us outside?"

Reading "Why Don't They Just Speak English?" in Christianity Today's "Books and Culture" newsletter reminded me of this conversation I had 28 years ago. It also makes me consider the Tower of Babel. What must it have been like when God confused the languages? And now, here were are thousands of years later, still trying to translate the Bible into numerous obscure languages. This article is made even more interesting when one considers this tremendous task. You'll appreciate not only already having a Bible in our language, but you'll be in awe of the tenacious people who spend a lifetime on these translations.

(painting by Pieter Bruegel, 1563)

"Just As I Am"

I never thought I'd blog this hymn. I used to think of it as the hymn that would be played over and over until someone, anyone, would come forward to "rededicate" their life to Christ. The story behind this hymn was included in today's sermon and I now see the hymn with new eyes.

The hymn's author, Englishwoman Charlotte Elliot (1789-1871), was stricken at age 30 with a serious ailment that made her an invalid for the remainder of her life. She became bitter and depressed until she was visited by a well-known Swiss evangelist, Dr. Caesar Malan. The author of Amazing Grace (a book of the stories of hymns), Kenneth Osbeck, describes the scene this way:

Sensing her spiritual distress, [Malan] exclaimed, "Charlotte, you must come just as you are--a sinner--to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Immediately placing her complete trust in Christ's redemptive sacrifice for her, Charlotte experienced inner peace and joy in spite of her physical affliction until her death at the age of 82.

"Just As I Am"

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou biddest me come to Thee--
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot;
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yes, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Maturity

Every so often when I'm in the kitchen, I listen to snippets of the Dennis Prager Show on the radio. Today, I heard parts of an hour long interview with Dr. Steven Marmer about the topic of maturity. With our current culture's fixation on youthfulness, our children are becoming mature (i.e. responsible) later than in past generations. With immaturity, come destuctive behaviors that attempt to bring momentary distractions and joy from external sources. This often includes engaging in destructive and/or addictive behaviors.

Here are three signs of maturity, according to Dr. Marmer. As I gather the curriculum I want to use this year in school, I want to remember these sorts of life skills that are very good goals to impart to our children.

1. Don't let life's adversities drag you down. It is inevitable that they will come--we live in a fallen world. Deal with them without blowing up at your children or spouse.

2. Don't be blind to the past; learn from it. At the same time, don't be a prisoner of the past, either. Go on with life.

3. Willingly fulfill obligations.

Building Balance in Church and Family Life

CHEC Home School Conference--Part 4

So far, I have written about the following seminars we attended: Rebuilding the Wall by Doug Phillips, Building Covenant Communities by R.C. Sproul, Jr., and Building Meaningful Family Worship by Kevin Swanson.

In the 4th seminar we attended, Kevin Swanson, a pastor and the executive director of CHEC, discussed the different types of balance needed in church and family life, and how Christendom today is flailing for the proper balance. He covered a lot of ground in this seminar, so I will just share a few of his ideas.

#1 Jurisdictional Balance
God has ordained three institutions: family, church, and state. It is our duty to have a proper understanding of the rights and responsibilities of each. In today's society, the state holds an undue amount of influence in our lives. Swanson stated, "Anything that's dominated by the state will be destroyed by the state." I think this holds true in many aspects of our lives. One just needs to look at examples such as the public school system in this country, the way the government "protects a woman's right to choose," or the way the welfare state has destroyed many black families in the inner city.

#2 Core/Crust Balance
Our core is our heart; how we truly are. Our crust is that external self we show to the world. Scripture is clear on the fact that God looks at the heart, so we know this is important. Yet, our external self is important, as well. Swanson was focusing here on how we act and treat others.

#3 Heart Balance
We need to balance three aspects of our heart; our mind, our will, and our emotions.

#4 Here are five ways we can attempt to achieve balance in the various areas of our lives:
1. Honor our fathers (I would add mothers, too)
2. Be humble
3. Be long-suffering
4. Pray, pray, pray
5. Use God's Word

"Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!"

This was the processional hymn at church today. The words were a comfort to me, as today was the one year anniversary of our last worship service at our old church. We mourn the loss of that unique community of believers, our gifted pastor's teaching, and the service that was full of theological meaning, reverence, and the presence of the Lord.

But, time goes on, and we are trying to discern God's will for us concerning settling into a new church home. As the hymn says, He has redeemed us by His blood! We are not left as orphans in sorrow!


(ornate throne at St. Peter's in Rome)

"Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!"

Alleluia! sing to Jesus! His the scepter, His the throne.
Alleluia! His the triumph, His the victory alone.
Hark! the songs of peaceful Zion thunder like a mighty flood.
Jesus out of every nation has redeemed us by His blood.

Alleluia! not as orphans are we left in sorrow now;
Alleluia! He is near us, faith believes, nor questions how;
Though the cloud from sight received Him when the forty days were o’er
Shall our hearts forget His promise, “I am with you evermore”?

Alleluia! bread of angels, Thou on earth our food, our stay;
Alleluia! here the sinful flee to Thee from day to day:
Intercessor, Friend of sinners, Earth’s Redeemer, plead for me,
Where the songs of all the sinless sweep across the crystal sea.

Alleluia! King eternal, Thee the Lord of lords we own;
Alleluia! born of Mary, Earth Thy footstool, Heav’n Thy throne:
Thou within the veil hast entered, robed in flesh our great High Priest;
Thou on earth both priest and victim in the Eucharistic feast.

book bog backhoe Ireland

Through the marvels of computers, I typed these four words into a search engine after reading a brief article in today's Rocky Mountain News. I came up with a newspaper article from the Hindustan Times (of all places) about a manuscript discovered by a backhoe operator in Ireland. Manuscript experts at Trinity College in Dublin date the medieval manuscript to 800-1000 A.D., and will be spending years researching this new discovery.

The Times article states,

The book was found open to a page describing, in black Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations' attempts to wipe out the name of Israel.

This is either an elaborate hoax on the part of the bog's owner (or the backhoe operator), or another glimpse of the hand of God. I'd like to root for the latter.

Oh, and just in case you were looking for a used backhoe, try machinerytrader.com.

Overheard at the Ballgame

We took my mother to a Rockies baseball game last night, her first major league game in over 50 years. She liked it so much she wants to go again this season! The Rockies beat St. Louis, 7-0, in a near perfect game, but that isn't what I want to write about.

We were seated in front of a group of five twenty-something kids (two girls and three guys), all Cardinal fans with ties to St. Louis. Their loud conversations volleyed back and forth between their narcissistic prattlings and the superiority of the Cardinals.

One of the two girls is engaged to be married this fall. (I can tell you all about their first date, how he proposed, where they're having their wedding photos taken, and the reception...she never stopped talking). But, before her monologue, one of the guys asked, "Why do people ever bother to get married anyway?" Another guy sagely replied, "In my tax bracket, you can save money if you're married!"

My husband and I both remarked on the drive home what a sad commentary on our society that marriage would be so trivialized and degraded. Given the state of American culture today, it's not surprising, but it's troubling nonetheless. Troubling, too, was that in Miss Bride-to-Be's conversation, nary a word was spoken about how much she loved her intended. In fact, the only opinions she expressed of the guy were how she thought it was past time they have a joint bank account, and how she was disappointed by his uninspired marriage proposal. The rest of the one-sided conversation between her and the other female companion consisted primarily of particulars surrounding the wedding day.

I think back to my grandparents and their very simple wedding, or to the simple wedding of Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder written about in her Little House books, and of the lifelong devotion of each of these couples to one another. Many of the weddings of today (mostly in non-Christian circles) seem to be spectacles of opulence, without enough thought given to the vows or the days and years that follow the ceremony. Oh, that our culture would recapture the awe, reverence, and sacredness towards marriage.

Psalm 23

We had another rehearsal this morning and had to miss church, which always makes for an unsettled feeling for the day and even the week ahead. Some churches read Psalm 23 today in their scripture readings. What better hymn to post today than this familiar psalm? And if you're feeling especially adventuresome, try chanting it!



Psalm 23 (King James Version)

1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

"O Day of Rest and Gladness"

We sang a version of this as the processional hymn this morning, using the traditional German melody found at the Cyberhymnal website. The text is especially uplifting in verse three where God is pictured as a cooling fountain. It's been so hot here that our two children were awakened last night by the oppressive heat. I was able to soothe their discomfort by gently applying a cool, wet washcloth to their foreheads, necks, arms, and legs. They each transformed from an agitated state to one of complete joy, gratitude, and rest. Very much the model of how we should behave towards our heavenly Father when He offers us His rest!

O Day of Rest and Gladness

O day of rest and gladness, O day of joy and light,
O balm of care and sadness, most beautiful, most bright:
On Thee, the high and lowly, through ages joined in tune,
Sing holy, holy, holy, to the great God Triune.

On Thee, at the creation, the light first had its birth;
On Thee, for our salvation, Christ rose from depths of earth;
On Thee, our Lord, victorious, the Spirit sent from heaven,
And thus on Thee, most glorious, a triple light was given.

Thou art a port, protected from storms that round us rise;
A garden, intersected with streams of paradise;
Thou art a cooling fountain in life’s dry, dreary sand;
From thee, like Pisgah’s mountain, we view our promised land.

Thou art a holy ladder, where angels go and come;
Each Sunday finds us gladder, nearer to heaven, our home;
A day of sweet refection, thou art a day of love,
A day of resurrection from earth to things above.

Today on weary nations the heavenly manna falls;
To holy convocations the silver trumpet calls,
Where Gospel light is glowing with pure and radiant beams,
And living water flowing, with soul refreshing streams.

New graces ever gaining from this our day of rest,
We reach the rest remaining to spirits of the blessed.
To Holy Ghost be praises, to Father, and to Son;
The church her voice upraises to Thee, blessed Three in One.

"To Thee, O Lord, I Lift Mine Eyes"

My husband and I had a rehearsal this morning, so we didn't make it to church. We always feel out of sorts when we can't worship on Sunday morning, so thankfully it doesn't happen too often. We miss the singing, the confession, the teaching, the communion, the quiet, the fellowship...

Some churches used Psalm 123 as one of their scripture readings this morning, so I thought I'd post a hymn that's new to me, based upon this Psalm.

The hymn was written by American preacher, Robert Lowry (1826-1899). There are two different melodies commonly used with these words. I am using the lesser known of the two.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (12 years old today) TO MY PRECIOUS SON!!!!! May you always lift up your eyes to the Lord.

"To Thee, O Lord, I Lift Mine Eyes"

To thee, O Lord, I lift mine eyes,
O thou enthroned above the skies;
As servants watch their master's hand,
Or maidens by their mistress stand,
So to the Lord our eyes we raise,
Until his mercy he displays.

O Lord, our God, thy mercy show,
For man's contempt and scorn we know;
Reproach and shame thy saints endure
From wicked men who dwell secure;
Man's proud contempt and scorn we know;
O Lord, our God, Thy mercy show.

Huh???

Rocky Mountain News, July 6, 2006
"State ed board member Polis announces he's gay"

"Jared Polis, the state board of education member whose wealth helped Democrats take control of both houses of the state legislature for the first time in decades, told the Daily Camera this weekend that he is gay."

"I think sexual orientation, like religion or race, has nothing to do with one's values, and to most people it's not important one way or the other," [said Polis.]

Huh? Sexual orientation, religion, and race have nothing to do with one's values? They aren't important one way or another???? Those three things define all of us in very substantial ways!