On the Seventh Day of Christmas...

I saw this Christmas poem the other day on Slate, and loved it. Thought I'd share:

"A Christmas Carol, Sung to the King in the Presence at White-Hall"

Dark and dull night, fly hence away,
And give the honour to this Day,
That sees December turned to May.

If we may ask the reason, say
The why and wherefore all things here
Seem like the Spring-time of the year?

Why does chilling Winter's morn
Smile like a field beset with corn?
Or smell like to a Mead new-shorn,

Thus, on the sudden? Come and see
The cause, why things thus fragrant be:
'Tis He is born, whose quickening birth
Gives life and luster, public mirth,
To Heaven and the under-Earth.

We see Him come and know him ours,
Who, with His sunshine and His showers
Turns all the patient ground to flowers.

The darling of the world is come
And fit it is, we find a room
To welcome Him. The nobler part
Of all the house here, is the heart.

Which we will give Him, and bequeath
The Holly, and this Ivy wreath,
To do Him honour, who's our King,
And Lord of all this reveling.

…………................……—Robert Herrick

2008: A Retrospective

In case you're interested, a few pictures highlighting the past for me:

2008 in Review

It's been a good year!

Spotless Mind?

It's certainly a proud day for my new home state of Illinois. Maybe someone who's lived here longer than I can tell me how in the world this man ever got elected governor in the first place? Was it his incredibly foul mouth? His unwillingness to relocate from Chicago to the capital city once he got the job? Hopefully voters weren't bowled over by his intelligence...or lack thereof. Perhaps they were blinded by his fabulous hair?

Check out this gross stupidity. An article cites this quote from an interview YESTERDAY. Says Rod, "I think there's nothing but sunshine hanging over me."

I'll take some of what he's having, Doc.

Thanksgiving ABCs

I read this idea as something you should do with your 8-year-old, but oh well...

Things I'm thankful for, from A to Z:

Alice, aka Mama
Baseball. Also, Beer. Also, bears, beets, and Battlestar Galactica
Camille
Daddy
Ellen
Fantastic Friends
Grace
Hearing (and Hearing aids, for that matter)
Ice cream!
Job
Kilograms - the few extra I have because I eat and drink so well!
Lots of clothes (and still nothing to wear, so more reason to shop!)
Money, or that I've always had more than I needed
Nice house
Opportunities afforded to me, past and future
Providence from God, specifically as I relocated this year
Quiet street to live on
Relief I feel that the 2008 Aggie Football season is finally over
Singleness (for now!)
Twenty-seven and almost one-half really great years!
Underwear
Victory
Will Griffin
Xtended family, all 80,000 of them
You!
Zephaniah 3:17

What would you do with $74,000??

So, it's estimated that the government has committed $8.5 trillion towards the "financial crisis" that we're hearing so much about that it's been blamed for bad marriages staying together, the fall of reality TV, (as if there's really no other reason for that), and the increased demand for Spam. Bad times, eh?

This 8.5 trillion, by the way, doesn't take into account bailing out the Big 3 auto companies, who are asking for a mere $25 billion. Someone please tell me when $25,000,000,000 started to seem like an absolute pittance!

According to the latest census, and projections related to it, there will be 115 million households in the US in 2010. If my math is right, $8.5 trillion divided 115 million ways is almost $74,000 per household. I'd take it, wouldn't you? Can you imagine what this would do for most of the people who are underwater on their mortgages? What about those worried about Christmas? Would there still be polls showing that consumer confidence is low? How many different ways could you spend $74,000??

I know I don't have the slightest idea how all this money will save our economy, and I'd like to trust that there's someone behind all this who does have an idea. But I'm not sure I do, and wow, that is a tough pill to swallow.

In other news, it looks like Robert Gates will still be the Defense Secretary under Obama. Gig 'em.

We Believe

There's a song that they sing at my grandma's church that has been running through my head for the past two days. I think there are actually verses, but I've only ever heard them sing the chorus:

We remember how you loved us to Your death
And still we celebrate for You are with us here.
And we believe that we will see You when you come
In Your glory, Lord
We remember, we celebrate, we believe.

Look at how much theology is packed into those sentences! I read something today that said if we are ever discouraged about anything, we should think about Jesus coming back, and the fact that it could happen TODAY. How often do you do that? For me, it's almost never.

(An aside...I used to feel bad because I wasn't super-excited for heaven, or for Jesus' return. But I was in Bible study once, and my pastor said something like, "It's amazing how God does that...we aren't meant for this world, but God also gives us the desire to live out our lives here." And really, how could it be any different? So we're excited, but also nervous, a little frightened, and if you're me, asking questions like "Will there be ice cream, and baseball, [this is hilarious, but beware the Sodom and Gomorrah joke], and music in heaven?" And that's okay.)

In any case, eventually I may get sick of the fact that I can't get these five lines out of my head, but for now, it's been nice to have a different thought stuck up there.

Prayers

Will y'all please pray for my uncle, Raymond? He has a very aggressive form of leukemia, and has been in the hospital for almost three weeks. His wife, my dad's sister, is keeping a blog here.

Obviously, I haven't posted much lately. That will change soon. God has been doing things in my life I really want to share.

I cannot give an answer

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss.
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life.
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Curse you, writer's strike!!!

Here's hoping the rumors are true that the parties in the writer's strike have come to an agreement.

We have reached the critical hour. Not only have I been without new Office episodes for almost three months, my DVR is almost completely empty!! I'm actually watching a commercial right now! What's a girl to do? Read?!?

Rock the Vote

Are you as clueless as I am when it comes to the current presidential race? I thought this was a worthwhile quiz to get me thinking. Thought I'd share...

Happy 2008!

(Yay for new digital cameras!!!)

Current View from My Front Door

Time to reassess?

To single folks out there, I'd like to offer the following as food for thought and discussion.

We all have it: the list of traits we'd like to see in our spouses. What's on your list? Mine has always gone something like this: "Strong Christian, spiritual leader, good sense of humor, gets along with my family and friends, someone I can have a good time with." Is yours similar?

My friend and I started a women's Bible study a couple weeks ago, and we're reading "Safe People" by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. This week part of the first chapter got us talking about outward appearances, specifically how little they mean to God. We read Psalm 15, and then considered the following (lengthy) passage from this book.

One evening, I spoke to a group of Christian college students about dating and relationships. At the close of the talk, I asked, "What qualities do you look for in a potential date or mate?" The answers went something like this: "I want someone spiritual, godly, ambitious, fun to be with," and so on. They replied as I had expected. And that disturbed me, for as a counselor and as a person, I know that these are not the issues that cause relationships to break apart.

When I questioned the audience a bit further, asking them about character and relational issues, they were in the dark. They continued to give me broad religious answers and descriptions of people that had little to do with what the Bible actually says about relationships.

People in trouble don't say broad religious issues are the problem. They say:

He doesn't listen to me.
She is so “perfect” that she can't understand my struggles.
He seems so distant that I feel alone.
She always tries to control me.
He makes promises but really doesn't follow through.
He is condemning and judgmental.
She is always angry at me for something I did or didn't do.
I tend to be my worst self with him or her.
I cannot trust him....

When we listen to God address his problem relationships, the list is much more like the second than the first. He says that, among other things, his people are "far away" (Is 29:13), "unfaithful" (Josh 22:16), "proud and perfectionistic" (Deut 8:14, Ps 36:2), "unloving" (1 John 4:20), and “judgmental” (Rom 2:1).

God does not use religious terms and language when he discusses people. He talks about how people treat him and others, and whether or not they get things done as they said they would. In short, he looks at someone's character. He is looking at their makeup as a person and the way that that character interacts with him and the world…

Of course, no one sets out to find a mate with bad character. But it still happens. Are we valuing the right things? I have more than one friend who dated the guy or girl with all the right assets, and it actually was not at all what they were looking for.

Maybe this shouldn’t have been such a revelation to me, but it has made me reconsider just what my husband might look like. None of the things on my list is bad, but they really say very little about how this guy would treat me and take care of me on a daily basis. What exactly does it mean to be a “good Christian?” Or even a “spiritual leader?” Couldn’t it look a little different in just about every person? I’m sure I could find someone who really gets along with my friends and family who I have no interest in dating, and I can have a fantastic time with guys who I know I should never end up with.

When asked “What qualities do you look for in a potential date or mate?” what should our answer really look like?

Attention, Ladies

Have you heard of the Christian Working Woman? I listened to this radio program most mornings on my way to work in Iowa, but haven't found a good station and time to listen to it in Ohio. But you can subscribe to it by email. I highly recommend these devotions. They are so practical that the last two weeks, my friend and I have wondered whether she has been listening to our conversations.

Haikus are easy

So, my little sister got hitched this weekend, and there was much celebration! On the long trip down to College Station, Mom wrote the following haiku:

Sincere wedding wishes
Camille and Will pledge their love
Honeymoon awaits

This inspired a maelstrom of syllable-counting and haiku-composing, recorded here for posterity.

October 20
The death of her single life
Good luck, Will Griffin
(Betsy and Ellen)

New brother-in-law
We have a crazy fam'ly
You will fit right in.
(Betsy)

Camille and Will wed
Mom stops all her hollering
New spouse takes over.
(Mom)


And a couple post-wedding haiku:

I have made it home
The wedding was lots of fun
And I hate Mondays.
(Betsy)

Who will Dad root for?
Red Sox, Rox in World Series
Baseball gods mock him.
(Mom)

An honest question

When I was in high school, I came across a quote that went something like, "To see God in everything makes life the greatest joy there is." I do believe that God is present all over the place, so I believe this statement until I read something like this article. The author is describing her trip to the mattress store to buy a queen-sized bed.

From the article:

"Scott the Mattress Salesman asked how much I wanted to spend, then showed me two sleeping beauties in my price range. The good news was that he wasn't really Scott the Mattress Salesman, but Scott the Regional Manager Posing as Mattress Salesman. He explained that they'd fired the store's manager just the day before and he was covering until the new guy could start. And because he couldn't earn any commission, he knocked the 100 bucks the salesman would have pocketed off the already reduced price. "You came in on the right day," he said. I smiled and exchanged a knowing glance with Ingrid. We'd been trying to schedule this shopping excursion for a couple weeks. Obviously God had helped us pick the right day."

To me, this elaborate story is just a clever ruse to make the buyer of said mattress feel like she had saved $100 on a mattress, when Scott the Mattress Salesman really could have sold the mattress for $200 lower. But what do I know?

That is not the honest question. The honest question is, have I become too cynical?

Fast Food: Not your Momma's Home Cookin'

If you need another reason not to eat fast food, I'm your gal. I don't know how many people have already seen this, (I'm usually a little behind the curve on these things), but it's too great not to pass on.

Ads vs. Reality

Vote for the grossest!! I think the grossest ones are the two that most look like they're decomposing, but I'll let you figure out which ones those are.

Because I Said So

I'm finishing up the book Letters from a Skeptic by Gregory and Edward Boyd. I just came to this passage written as a response to a question regarding how we can be forgiven (holy) and sinful at the same time:

"So, how can we be holy and sinful at the same time? I'll explain it with this analogy. When God created the world in the beginning, He said, 'Let there be light' and there was light. He said, 'Let there be dry ground,' and there was dry ground. And so on. God's Word, we see, is 'ontologically productive.' It creates being.

"Now our salvation is no less the result of God's word than is our creation. God says, 'All the sin of Ed Boyd's past is gone,' and all your sin is gone! And God says, 'Ed Boyd is perfectly holy before Me,'' and you are perfectly holy before Him."

The simplicity of this, especially after reading the other chapters, which tackle such complicated issues, is striking to me. Spiritual milk, to be sure, but isn't it tasty?

A Music Recommendation

I'm going to skip the whole "I haven't blogged in a while because..." If you look to the right, you'll notice it now says "Ohio" under my name. That's right, I now live in another midwestern state with a name made up mostly of vowels. The similarities between Iowa and Ohio do not end there! There is lots of farmland here, too, which is what is keeping me employed! I just got all moved into my new place today, and all but one room is cleared of boxes!

There's a CD, Carried Away by Andrew Peterson, that I think everyone should hear. I think I got it the summer after my freshman year in college, which is almost seven years ago, (!), so this might be old news to some. I listen to this CD about once a year...I rediscovered it today while unpacking. Every time I hear it, I wonder why I don't I listen to more Andrew Peterson? The music is nice to have on in the background, but I'm always drawn in by the stories he tells with his lyrics. Has anyone else listened to him? I'm wondering if his other CDs are as terrific as this one.

Also, my sister is on YouTube with her Youth Encounter team! (There are two videos out there.) Thanks to the Slefanizer for telling me about it.

A Farewell to Apartment

Goodbye, heated garage
Goodbye, nearly unlimited kitchen cabinet space
Goodbye, beautiful trees and privacy.

Goodbye, kitchen floor that never looked clean
Goodbye, carpet with mystery stains
Goodbye, plastic shell-shaped bathroom sink with faux brown and tan marble
Goodbye, ancient oven
Goodbye, noisy refrigerator
Goodbye, teeny dishwasher
Goodbye, saving quarters for expensive loads of laundry
Goodbye, chain smoker on the balcony below me
Goodbye, fake butcher block cabinets
Goodbye, pomegranate juice stains on the wall
Goodbye, lingering campfire smell
Goodbye, oh-so-unhelpful apartment management
Goodbye, half-mile walk to mailbox
Goodbye, white paint on all the baseboards.

Goodbye, apartment. I'll always remember my first.