Tuesday, October 17, 2006

The Sabbath and Education

I'd like to share a really good article that I read the other day in a newsletter I get from Veritas Press. It's written by Rev. Gregg Strawbridge, the pastor of All Saints’ Presbyterian Church in Lancaster County, PA. I don't agree with everything that I find him saying on the internet, but this article is very good. It's a little lengthy so I'm just giving you an excerpt. You can read the whole article here.

No one works to earn rest in the presence of God. It is a gift before one labors. Originally it was not a six-then-one day pattern for Adam, it was a one-then-six pattern. This should remind us of the structure of salvation. It is redemption then service. The order is always grace then faithful obedience—not works, then grace. The sabbath gift was certainly not a meritorious reward of rest for Adam’s works. At this point we may need to adjust our thinking. Many of us believe that Sunday is the last day of the week, though on the calendar and in our theology it is the first day of the week. Sunday for Christians should not be the last day of the weekend, but the first day of a new week in which to have dominion in the world. We are to be future-thinking people, not those who cling to passing hours, begrudging a coming week of fruitful labor.
Read the rest here.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Bonding

I have had a lot of one-on-one time with Abigail these last few days because Jim took the older kids up in the mountains to go deer hunting. He took Rebecca and Micah up on Monday and came back Wednesday evening for their bells practice. They left again Thursday morning taking Adam along this time. Jim got his deer Wednesday morning but still went back because the kids have so much fun. Jim's parents park their RV up in the mountains for the month and stay up there most of hunting season. Anyway, all that to say that I've been enjoying my sweet baby and enjoying not having to take care of anyone else. I took a bunch of pictures of her today and you can view some of them below or more as a slideshow here. Enjoy!

Also here are some hunting pictures from last year. (I don't have pictures from this year yet.)

Friday, October 13, 2006

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Reciprocal Blogroll

You are welcome to join my new blogroll. It's very simple. Just link to me on your blog and I'll add you to my blogroll. Send me an e-mail (mail *at* cindee *dot* net) with your request and I'll check out your blog and add you to mine.

I just ask that your blog is not offensive (to meJ) and is free from foul language. Just heed Philippians 4:8 and things should be great!!

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Rebecca's Birds

Check out my daughter's blog. She's got a new post up that shows great drawings she did when she was 8.

Friday, October 06, 2006

LibraryThing

Newly added to my sidebar is LibraryThing. I love LibraryThing. Someday I will have all of my books catalogued there and will know exactly how many books I have. I'm guessing I have 1000+. It will be interesting to me to see the real number. You can see what I've catalogued so far by clicking here. It will be a slow process.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Abby, my little duckling

Hey, I've got a duck on my head!















I can't see it, but I think it's here somewhere!














Aha, is that it?!














Yay, I've got it!














Anybody have a clue why I can't see the Flickr photos I posted here. I can't seem to get it to work!! I put in the URL correctly but the photo won't show up. :-(

Figured it out!!

Which Superhero Are You?

My results:
You are Spider-Man
You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.


Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Monday, October 02, 2006

Let My Lifesong Sing

I was thinking of changing the name of my blog. I thought about it for a long time and finally decided that it would be rather like renaming one of my children for no particular reason. I've settled for just making over the look of my blog (maybe, probably...eventually, sigh!) and NOT changing the name. I had even written a post about the new name of my blog. I'm going to publish the post anyway because it still is about things that are on my heart even though I chose not to change my blog name.

********************

The (would-be) name of my blog (Let My Lifesong Sing) comes from a song written by Mark Hall of Casting Crowns. This song continues to my heart and conveys something that I strive for, living a life of worship. I need to keep on understanding that everything I do is an offering to the Lord and I want my offerings to be the best I can offer. I am to be a living sacrifice. My actions need to reflect that.

Romans 12:1-2
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (NASB)


Here are the lyrics of his song:


LIFESONG
Empty hands held high
Such small sacrifice
If not joined with my life
I sing in vain tonight

May the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You

Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You

Lord, I give my life
A living sacrifice
To reach a world in need
To be Your hands and feet

So may the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Let my lifesong sing to You


Here's an excerpt from an interview with Mark Hall:


Can you explain what you mean by the title track off “Lifesong.”

All the songs you ever hear from us are songs that we’re talking about in our church, things that we’re talking about and dealing with in people’s lives and as a group. We started talking about worship and about the fact that to think that we can live our lives however we want to all day long and then wander into a church at night and read a bunch of words off a screen--to think that’s worship is a misunderstanding of what worship is. (emphasis mine)

Colossians 3 says that “Whatever you do in word or deed, do it all for the glory of the Lord.” So everything I do is to bring a smile to his face.

The song started when you woke up this morning. Today is your song. Everything that you’re doing. I remember at a prayer time one night, saying out loud, “God, let my lifesong sing to you” and I knew when I said it that it was something that we would hear again. This has kind of turned into a theme for us.


Here is a link to the whole interview.


Another quote from Mark Hall:


“This is your life song. This is your act of worship: what you do with the life you’ve been given. A life of worship says ‘God, I’m waking up today. I’m going to do a lot of things, I’m going to go a lot of places, I’m going to talk to a lot of people, but my goal is to point others to You and to make You smile today.’ The more we live like that, the more we become like him, and the closer we get to His heart, the more we see that His heart is for people. So then you start seeing people that are hurting. And ministry becomes the overflow of a life poured out at Jesus’ feet.”



This is my prayer.