Update (Wednesday, July 19) Still no power (I'm writing from work)... 😉

As of this morning (and noon), there was no electricity at our house (or on our block)...big storm last night! We sat out on our porch and watched the whole thing - it was great...

Anyway, there were a quarter million customers without electricity this morning and they're saying it might be Thursday before ours is back on (that means no fridge and no fans...and no washing machine or dryer)

But we have candles, book, Bible and games. Life is an adventure!

😉

"When life whacks you so hard your head flies off, sew it back on and keep going."
~ Mary Pierce ~

The inspiration for this quote came from (basically) "what I learned from my rag doll".

I had a rag doll like that - her name was "Judy". She'd fall apart and get sewn back up; over and over. The thing is, the more I loved her, the more she fell apart; and the more she fell apart the more I loved her.

Sometimes life seems like that. We have a Master Craftsman/Creator who loves us and who picks us up and puts us back together when nobody else can. When we fall apart, that is when it seems that is when we can feel His love the most. And the more He loves us, the more we can plan on needing Him.

Some of us have had our heads sewn on more often than others - and some of us have felt like our heads are only hanging on by a thread...for a very long time.

I used to have a cross stitch piece hanging on the wall of my old house; it was a cat holding a very worn stuffed mouse, "This is Harold, my mouse. He used to have fur but I loved him too hard."

My doll, Judy was like that. I loved her too hard. There have been times that I felt like God was "loving me too hard." But that isn't true.

The more worn Judy was, the more I loved her. The more time I spent putting her back together, the more precious she was. It was that process that made that doll important to me.
I don't regret any of the things that have happened to me; they have worked together to make me who I am: a precious child of the King.

It's not the play, it's who you're playing with!

Last Tuesday we went to the beach...Lake Michigan has beautiful, sandy beaches!

I've spent a good deal of time writing about how wives should treat their husbands - why? I mean - I'm single and (other than looking forward, hopefully, to a marriage), why would it make a difference to me?

I believe that (for any believer) understanding the role of wives and husbands is a step toward understanding the relationship between Christ and His bride. It works in the other direction; understanding the relationship between Christ and His bride is a step toward understanding the Biblical relationship between a husband and wife.

There are many references to this relationship and Paul refers to Christ and His bride when he (Paul) instructs husbands and wives in Ephesians 5,

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

As we look at Christian marriages, we should be able to see Christ and His bride reflected.

Does the wife demand "equal leadership"? Does the church demand that she have "equal leadership" with Christ?

Is there "mutual submission"? Of course - Christ submitted to His role as Savior, Sacrifice and King. The church (is supposed to) submit to His leadership.

But do they share the same role? No, there is only room for one King of Kings, Lord of Lords. There is only room for one Head of the church.

It is that way in marriage - one leader emerges.

If we see marriage as being reflected in the relationship between Christ and the church, we must see marriage in a different way than the world does. The world doesn't like being submissive, the world seeks self.

If we see Christ and the church reflected in Christian marriages, we are better led to submit to Christ's headship, as we see wives submit to their husbands.

In January, the "prophet" and "apostle" from Firehouse Full Gospel Ministry came to speak at my old church. The pastor stood next to his wife while the "prophet" laid hands on her and performed a Pentecostal "activation and impartation" - a human being "imparting the gift of the Holy Spirit" and "activating" that gift in the pastor's wife.

I was angry - he is her husband and it is his role to watch over her, to protect her from error and he didn't do his job! He stood beside her and let this happen!

And so it is with Christ and His bride - He gave His life for her, He washes her of water with the Word. He guides her and protects her.

This "one flesh" means something - one body, one heart, one head.

If we see Christ reflected in the husband and the church reflected in the wife, that is a Christian marriage.

And yes, today - as a single women - this must be meaningful to me. I am choosing a new church. Will I look for a church that reflects the wife I want to be? Or will I search for a church that wants "equal time" with Christ?

That is a very important question.

This photo reminded me of my grandfather. Unless he was going to church, he wore bib overalls - he even had a hat like this one.

The last time I was in the barn on the farm where I grew up, there was still a plow a lot like this one and one of the harnesses is at my dad's house.

I could sit in the tire swing and look across the yard and see an apple orchard (like this tree) and across a field (like this one) and see a woods (like in this photo).

This is like where I grew up...for a frame of reference, here is a satellite picture of my dad's house:

In the lower left, you can see four houses in a row - the top one is my Grandparent's farmhouse, then below that is my aunt's house (it wasn't there when I was growing up) and then my mom and dad's house.

We still go there - my cousin owns the farmhouse now and one of the aunt's that built the little house in the middle passed away last year. My mom and dad are still there and another cousin owns a house down the road.

There are relatives all over the place, it seems that everybody is related to somebody...

Running across that photo just reminded me...

I don't think I could/would live that life now, but it was a good life growing up. We didn't have much money, but most of the time, it didn't seem to matter; love made up for it. There may not have been much "stuff", but there was always plenty of food and love. And books...no matter what, there was always money for books - even if we got them at garage sales...

A lot of books...

"In the United States culture has transformed Christ, as well as all other religions found within these shores. In every aspect of the religious life, American faith has met American culture—and American culture has triumphed."

Read the story. (There's a question at the bottom)
That last line struck me..."American faith has met American culture—and American culture has triumphed."

The world brings us feminism and we have feminized churches.

The world brings us technology and churches no longer have hymnals.

The world brings us video games and our shortened attention span demands 65 minute church services.
Another quote:

"We find ourselves in a culture that defines our relationships and actions primarily through a matrix of consumption. As the philosopher Baudrillard explains, “Consumption is a system of meaning.” We assign value to ourselves and others based on the goods we purchase. One’s identity is now constructed by the clothes you wear, the vehicle you drive, and the music on your iPod. In short, you are what you consume."

I found these on line a few weeks ago:

...continue reading →

I'm taking a "family studies" class over the summer and right now we're "doing" family structure. At the same time, Milly asked a question over on her blog: "What if?"

Throughout the Bible, we have a model of the husband (if there is one) as the head of the home. What if "something" happened and all the men were gone? How should we (as women) handle the home when there is no husband present?

There is a difference in attitudes, for instance, in military wives. Some step into the role of "I am the head of the home now" and some consider themselves to be the "second in command" - when the "general" is absent, the second in command is in charge until the general's return.

If a wife whose husband is absent still sees him as the head of the home, and as herself as filling in for him in his absense, the transition upon his return is much smoother. He's never lost his place, his wife has only kept his seat warm for him.

In the case of a wife who considers herself the "new head of the home", there tends to be a power struggle upon his return.

My text book says that following WWII, there was a large increase in of divorces; in the discussion group, it was said that the veterans returned home and the wives didn't want to give up their new role (although I don't have a source).

Mark Driscoll has said, "Either the husband rules the home or the dragon will." In the "dragon's" world, divorce rates have climbed, and will continue to climb. There are many reasons that divorces happen, but there are many men who would say (in moments of honesty) that it started with a power struggle.

That power struggle takes place in many different forms - in the checkbook, in the church, in the bedroom. But in all cases, it's destructive and it's against the Biblical model.

Every team has to have a leader; it's natural. If you look at any team, no matter how large or how small, a leader emerges. The Biblical model is that the husband should be the leader. The Biblical mandate is that the wife will "hupotasso" unto her husband.
Back to family structure after WWII - in rural areas or in areas where large families were in the same area (in other words, in patriarchal groupings) divorce rates did not go up significantly (this is from the professor, I do not have a source).

What this tells us is that when wives struggle for headship, marriages fall apart.

Sometimes it is that the husband is leading in a way that is impossible to follow. Don't think that the husband does not have a serious responsibility - he does.

Both partners have a part to play and the Bible describes those parts. When we depart from the Biblical model, things become more difficult. Even if "egalitarianism" works for us, what of those who are watching us? What are they learning about marriage...and by extension, about Christ and the church?

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This was taken at the Franciscan Life Process Center

The Life Process Center is the work of the hands of a group of Franciscan nuns; they run this center, they run a farm, they grow their own food, and they run classes for aspiring artists, as well as sponsoring art like this.