Life

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I got my new upper for the dental appliance (the lower has a minimal amount of puppy teeth marks and I've soaked it numerous times in denture cleaner).

Everything fits and the insurance is in the works - we just didn't follow the right steps in the right order so they made the dentist's office go back and do it again.

But I have my appliance.

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I'm home...need to unpack, but a lot of it can wait for a little while.  Cooler stuff needs to come in, laundry needs to be done.  I think I'm going to buy a big tub to put my sleeping bag (and bedtime gear) in so it stays together.

Tom's first day of classes are today.

I think he'll do fine...and he said that the "cute, blonde exchange student from Finland" was "looking at him".  He's been playing games, watching movies, going out for a "cigar and ice cream".  Making friends and getting to know people.

I have the window cling for my car...I'm a  university mom.

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hard core Atkins day...with a yogurt and fruit at lunch.

going to spend the day looking for waterfalls

  • Alder Falls
  • Yellow Dog Falls
  • Pinnacle Falls
  • head to the county visitor center for maps to more

camping tonight by myself (not the first time but I won't have internet).  Pick up Tom tomorrow night to head up to Copper Harbor, and then Porcupine Mountains.

Drop him off Sunday and then home.

Tom can tend to be quiet and withdrawn.  It's hard for him to make friends.

His roomie...Jason...is the opposite.  He's on the social committee, the welcome committee...the "let's get together and make the outsides of buildings into disc golf targets" sort of ad hoc committee.

I spent about 15 minutes at the dorm before Tom was whisked off to some social event.  he's not going to be allowed to sit in the dorm room and stagnate.  I think with this roommate, the action will come to him.

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This is Tom's first day of orientation at NMU. I need to go to the bookstore and get a bumper sticker and maybe a flag or something equally hokey to put on my wall at work.

MY plan for the day?

  • take a hike
  • camp out at a coffee shop with free wifi and do something contructive (go through old posts that lost their categories and tags when I moved webhosts and sort them out)
  • drink heavily.  (coffee)

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...I left my son in the dust...somewhere south of the bridge...

(he got stuck in traffic  behind a rolled over semi...I went to Mackinac and bought fudge.  Right now I'm at the Burger King in St. Ignace waiting for him to catch up and I think he's pretty close)

The Cut River Bridge is closed so it's going to take us even longer to get to Marquette...I think I'm camping and Tom's staying in the dorm.

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This is the second perm Lindsey has done for me.  She's slow (OCD about rolling), but without a doubt, she's done the best perm in my memory.  I asked for her on Friday and I'll ask for her again.

Lindsey is a young woman who comes from a family with six children, (2 from her dad's previous marriage, the youngest 4 are adopted).

She's very open about her life so I asked her about being adopted (she's from Korea).  It's pretty obvious that her parents have a grasp on eternity - I asked and they are Reformed.

She said, "I have friends that have asked me if I want to find my "real" family.  I tell them [she used Scripture], I was thirsty and they gave me drink, I was hungry and they fed me.  I was homeless and they put me into a family.  What's not "real" about that?"

I think that Reformed people have a different view of adoption than other "flavors" of Christianity - the right definition of "covenant" counts.  (by the way...when I get back from  vacation - I just don't have time or desire right now - I'm ordering a new keyboard.  The keys are taking turns not working...a few days ago it was "x", now it's "v".  I need to reach for the laptop keyboard each time that letter comes up.  I had no idea how many words I use contain the letter "v")

Then she talked about all of her "guy buddies" and wanting to go back to college but not being able to get a loan because her dad's a business owner.

It took 2 hours to roll my hair - she's that thorough.

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11 - What church do you belong to? - Why?

At this time, I do not have a church membership. I attend a Christian Reformed Church that I'm fairly comfortable at, who will let me work in the limited number of ministries that they have - and the music worship is all I could hope for.

I do not have a membership because I'm complementarian and this church has a co-pastorship that is a husband and wife team. I do not feel comfortable at this time, taking an official membership in a church that I disagree with on a core doctrine.

I have visited many churches and this is the one that I like - other than this one issue. In the fall, I plan to talk to the pastors about the issue. My pledge will be that I will not undermine Pastor Amy and that I will not be the one to bring up the issue with another congregant. If they can live with that, I can live with membership there.

12- * Discover how you form your views. What is the reasoning-believing process? How do you handle the Bible?

I'm Reformed.  Sola Scriptura...and "come, let us reason".  Part of the "reasoning" is digging through both sides of the issue and discovering which side has not only the best "pro", but the fewest weak points.

I have radically changed views at least once in my life, leaving a Nazarene Church for a Reformed Church.  This was done after two years of studying and debate and not done lightly.  I've never looked back.