Proud?

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."

Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are:

That no flesh should glory in His presence.

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." ~ 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

God honors those who honor Him, not those who try to impress others.

I met a young lady who is disabled due to horrible abuse as a child. Would that I could learn from her joyful spirit how to rise above the lowest of my circumstances.

A week ago I heard from native missionaries to North Korea. Would that I had the courage to leave an oppressive homeland, meet the Savior Jesus, be trained in God's living Word, only to return to my family and be imprisoned, beaten, and even killed for my witness. (the government in N. Korea is scared of only one thing - no, it's not the mighty American fighting power, pressure from other governments, or economic downturns - it is the mighty God of the Christians whom they cannot win against, no matter how many they kill).

Learning about the amazing complexity that is found in the field of nutrition, I am humbled that my God is the only one with any power to heal - regardless of my dietary choices, He gives and He takes away health... and blessed be His name.

I know a couple who are wise in the world's eyes. They are smart, skilled, influential, well-to-do... and utterly impoverished in their spirits.

Will we pray for God's will to be done? Will we seek men's wisdom, or the truth found in God's Word? Will there be people who repented through the Holy Spirit, our prayers, and the sharing of the gospel when we stand before the throne of God, when the Son of Man is revealed in all majesty?

Lord forgive me.

I'm signing off this blog for a while, just to get my bearings aligned with His again.

Spinning

Caitlyn has officially created a monster. I have joined the ranks of the Spindlekins.

She taught me to use a drop spindle yesterday. (Great job on teaching, by the way! I will recommend you highly if anyone mentions to me the desire to learn how to spin.)

It's a good thing I ran out of wool this morning, or my schoolwork would never get done, my music students would feel neglected, and my siblings would starve.

Oh, and harvest time is almost over - what is one supposed to do with 200 lbs of butternut squash, I wish to know? Perhaps I'll try cooking it like pumpkin pie filling. Yum!

We weighed the largest of the sugar baby watermelons, and it reached 15 lbs! Tasted good too :)

I was too scared to document the tomato harvest - let's just say it was enough.

Fort Stevens

Welcome to the Fort Stevens Civil War Reenactment!

I'm telling you, they had pretty technologically advanced weapons back then ;)

Lost in the dungeons.

The ladies...

The gentlemen, going away to war. The car in the foreground really adds to the effect, don't you think?

The confederates - waiting.

The confederate army.

Here come the union soldiers...

Am I the only one to think the confederates were way outnumbered?

Here lies the fallen soldier... with his hat over his face to block the sun, how nice :)

Deserter?

On the fields of glory...

Lie those slain...

And the victorious...

The entire union army.

The horses were gorgeous!

The last canon fire.

The ladies returning from the scene of blood and gore.

One of many camps.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Rain

"Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving...

Who covers the heavens with clouds,

Who prepares rain for the earth,

Who makes grass to grow on the mountains..."

~Psalm 147:7-8~

Last week I went camping with my church at Fisherman's Bend for four days. Among the fun things we did were biking, hymn-singing around the campfire, playing Dutch Blitz and spoons by lamplight, wading in the creek, hiking at Salmon Falls, and chilly morning devotions by the bank of the Santiam River. *Several younger boys received great joy in teasing me about my like of 'healthy food' and extreme dislike of soda and candy. One evening I found a chocolate bar on my pillow. I got revenge the next day by publicly burning it. The looks of horror on those faces was perfect :D Who says I'm sweet and kind all the time? ~Evil laugh~ *

A good friend invited me to join her family at Detroit Lake on Friday afternoon. Some of us went out in the boat while others fished. What could be more fun than lying in a boat on a lake watching the rain drops fall?

This morning I woke to the sound of rain on the roof. It's enough to make me glad my room is so poorly insulated. I slept in a full 15 minutes longer than normal just to enjoy the peaceful rhythm.

After milking I had to chase a galloping cow around the wet orchard. Have you ever seen a 1200 lb matronly milk cow gleefully kick up her heels as her irate owner runs after her, yelling helplessly? 'Tis a sight to behold.

I biked to a neighbor's house this morning to care for their animals while they are on vacation. Wet through and happy, am I :) A few hours from now some of us are heading up to Fort Stevens for the reenactment.

In the rain.

Church

Ready for a boring history? Well, read on at your peril... I never do anything half-heartedly ;)

God is so good. For the first 9 years of my life, my family attended a Baptist church with a great emphasis on solid Biblical teaching, and the homeschool families there really banded together and supported one another. I loved home groups, homeschool field trips, and spending time with other big families of similar interests.

I'm not sure why we left, but my parents felt God was leading us elsewhere, so we visited a new church one Sunday. Love at first sight ;) I have never witnessed a group of people more active in service and loving care for one another than at this church. At the time, the church was small and made up mostly of homeschoolers. I never thought God would ask us to leave, we were so involved in the homeschool co-op, AWANA, teaching sunday school, and myriads of other projects. But it seems to me that as a church grows, there is a tendency to get watered down in doctrine, purpose, and unity. Perhaps I'm wrong. I hope so, but my experience speaks otherwise. I have never felt so emotional about changing churches as I was on leaving this one. My parents wished better things for me and my siblings - a higher calling, a narrow road that means being different from the world, and shunned by 'cool' people. The youth and leadership were pulling the opposite direction in dress, music, actions, attitudes... and the new Christian school seemed to draw many home educators. 8 years had seen a lot of changes in both the church and my family - in the opposite direction.

You know when there is a conviction by the Holy Spirit, 'visionaries' (those who are passionate about their ideals and eager for change) tend to hit the opposite wall - that's exactly what happened with my family. We longed for a church family whose music, dress, and attitudes reflected the purity and 'peculiarity' that should mark believers in Christ. After visiting so many churches that the little kids would make a habit of asking, "Where are we going this Sunday, Daddy?" We found a church that shares our ideals. For two years members of my family struggled with this decision, however. I'm afraid I was the worst. I am reactionary, and I loved everything about this new church - hymns only, suits and dresses, King James only, great teaching, respectful youth. I did not want to leave, though God was not giving my parents peace with the change. When will I ever learn that my parents are the instruments of almighty God for good, and not for evil? That in my folly, they can guide me to the right path if I will only submit and listen to their teaching.

After a year, my family became quite cynical - every Sunday over lunch we would argue, joke, laugh and cry over this church. Why were all the issues that had made us leave SWH so important? What made our new church so right or wrong about things like only reading the KJV, singing hymns, and girls wearing dresses only? Were we simply guilty of 'church shopping', choosing to fight over 'gray areas', or were we truly convicted by God of Biblical truth? Were we dealing with legalism or leniency?

My heart changed - how frail I am. I realized that my parents were right. If we could not submit to our new church leaders, we needed to move on. We left and tore the whole family away from the few friends all had made.

Finally, through ECD, I met three lovely young ladies (you know them as Caity, Megan and Emily :) ). By happenchance I mentioned my family's struggle, and their family invited us to their church. We are now where God wants us and I am at peace for the first time in two and a half years.

I now know the purpose behind why the Lord sent us to this last church for those two years, yet never allowed us to stay. It went through a major church division at the same time that we left our old church, so it was not the right timing! My family also had many lessons to learn, many priorities and convictions to form, and struggles to work through. That's when faith becomes real and doctrine becomes your lifeline.

We have come full circle. I miss so many friends from all three churches, godly examples who encourage me to walk in His ways. I pray that you will forgive me for any words not spoken in love, but mostly for my bitter thoughts during these times. I am extremely opinionated, and where I failed to show grace to others, many still extended grace to me. To all of you that read this, thank you.

Two years ago, I grew fed up with the lack of repentance and the justice of God not being preached by churches in America. Where was the zeal, the conviction of sin in unbelievers' hearts? Why all the 'back-slidden' and apathetic Christians in the churches I visited? When I turned my focus to the wrath of God, however, I began to miss the grace of God. It's like driving - you find yourself drifting towards the ditch, and you react by yanking the wheel to the left and veering into the other lane.

In His mercy, I have again found as King David did;

"The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. He has given food to those who fear Him; He will ever be mindful of His covenant." (Ps. 111:4-5)

"Oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness." (Ps. 107:8-9)

"Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
and His righteousness to children's children, to such as keep His covenant,
and to those who remember His commandments to do them." (Ps. 103:1-18 NKJV)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, never forget the greatest commandment - to love one another.