I'll Sing Thy Power To Save

Theology in Heels

2010-02-20T20:40:00.003-05:00

hey, folks. i have no idea if anybody still checks this, but if you do.... i've started blogging regularly for the Houston Chronicle's religion site, HoustonBelief. come visit.

Serious Business

2010-02-18T11:49:00.000-05:00

Your ability to really love your enemies, to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect, and to do generous good even to the ungrateful and wicked required that Christ learn obedience through what He suffered. It required Christ to die because of your natural enmity to God. It requires the Holy Spirit's power to give you a wholly new life. It requires the Father's patient hand to prune and grow you in a way of life that is otherwise impossible - even inconceivable. It requires nothing less than radical repentance, living faith, and renewal of your whole heart that you might learn how to really love. - David Powlison

dear blog,

2010-02-05T13:57:00.003-05:00

i know i haven't been around much lately. things have been crazy, what with the new job and moving 4 times in 6 months and making friends and establishing connections in a new city. and the truth is, i found someone else.

now it's not that you aren't special and awesome and everything, but twitter is just so much easier! i only have to come up with something 140 characters long to say, and it can totally be a line from a song. the level of creativity and thought required by you is just not required by twitter.

so, really, it's not you, it's me. but let's stay friends. every once in a while we can catch up. but at the moment, twitter is just meeting my felt needs more fully. you are kinda freaking me out with the intensity of your demands.

we'll always have paris,
lauren

My Fair Lady

2009-12-09T18:04:00.003-05:00

"with a little bit of luck" profundity:

"they're always throwing goodness at you,
but with a little bit of luck
a man can duck"

interesting to think about in terms of common grace...

A Gem from Agatha Christie

2009-10-11T01:14:00.003-04:00

Nemesis, p. 158

speaker: archdeacon brabazon, a minor character

"I know when a couple are really in love with each other. And by that I do not just mean sexually attracted. There is too much talk about sex, too much attention is paid to it. I do not mean that anything about sex is wrong. That is nonsense. But sex cannot take the place of love, it goes with love, but it cannot succeed by itself. To love means the words of the marriage service. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. That is what you take on if you love and wish to marry. Those two loved each other. To love and to cherish till death do us part."

I can't believe I'm such a slacker

2009-10-05T10:47:00.002-04:00

it's been AGES since i last posted!

well, let's see, what have you missed?

i have read a lot of books.

i have hung out with a lot of students.

i have made serious progress on my Pauline epistles class

i have attended a derek webb tweet-up - with about 250 other twitter fans.

i have gotten sick. and gotten better. several times. (they say your immune system gets stronger after a while. i'm hoping it's been a while.)

(it was never swine flu.)

i have to a taylor swift concert with my brother and his friend ryan in dallas.

i have been rained on a lot.

good stuff, right?

this is what i like to call...

2009-08-25T23:47:00.003-04:00

freaking awesome. dad and i saw the most glorious rainbows - two of them - on our drive from atlanta to charlotte (post-RUF training, pre-move-stuff-to-dallas). i have never seen such vibrant rainbows, or such complete ones. you could see almost the entire arc!

dad took a lot of pictures (since i was driving), but i like this one the best, even though the apparent sky-color-change is actually due to the tinting on my windshield. ;)

rainbows are such great reminders that God keeps His promises, and that He has decided to take the blow for us, His people. after all, who do you think that arrow is aimed at, given the direction the bow is pointing?

andrew peterson plug

2009-08-23T01:42:00.002-04:00

...i believe He is the Christ
Son of the living God

all i know is that i was blind and now i see
that though i kick and scream, love is leading me
and every step of the way His grace is making me,
every breath i breathe, He is saving me...

resurrection letters, volume II is a brilliant piece of work - the songs are good (some of them are better than good), but together the album is stunning. lyrical and musical motifs are woven throughout (as andy p is wont to weave). right now, this portion of "I Believe (The Good Confession)" is what is stuck in my head, especially the line "every breath i breathe, He is saving me." knowing andy p's body of work like i do, i think what he is getting at here is not that Jesus needs to keep saving me all the time, but that my need for Him and His grace is ongoing. i need Him now as much as i did at 5 years old when i "prayed the prayer," but i also HAVE Him now as much as i ever have or will.

we never stop needing Jesus. we never outgrow the Gospel.

[also, i just bought north! or be eaten today and started it. looks to be even better than it's predecessor.]

a bit of excitement

2009-08-18T19:50:00.003-04:00

so a few days ago my poor car nearly missed being taken out by a toyota. so did the house. thank you, random rock in the yard.

not so lucky: a tree.

some poor girl who a) is new to the country, b) is living away from her family, c) had just recently lost her brother, and d) had only gotten her license to drive a week ago wound up getting herself into quite a crash in the yard of the house i am staying at.

i feel dreadful for the poor girl, but am very grateful that shelly is still in one piece.

i'm on my way, just set me free, home sweet home

2009-08-07T20:20:00.003-04:00

so the summer has been positively loco, but not in a bad way. just in a crazy way. i am kinda ready for it to be over, and to be in one city for more than a month!

RUF staff training was last week, and it was most excellent. i really enjoyed getting to catch up with the other folks in my intern class and learned some extremely helpful things in the sessions. i also got to meet a bunch of other interns and campus ministers and got to spend some great time with billy and ashley, my new campus minister and his wife. they are pretty much fantastic.

next week (on the 12th, to be precise) i will be moving to houston!!!!!! freshmen show up on the 16th. here we go - i can hardly wait! i even got a necklace with an owl on it to get into "rice mode."

i am so excited to be moving to a ginormous city with fantastic food and old trees and an awesome home church that is so close to home. i know, i know - 4 hours isn't exactly around the corner, but it beats 17 any day!

we had this crazy adventure when we moved my stuff out of charlotte and to dallas that i will have to tell you about later. suffice it to say, none of the four of us (mom, dad, me, and kj) got a complete REM cycle in that night.

in other news, i seem to have entered a new life stage. a few years ago, it seemed like my facebook newsfeed was full of weddings. now it's full of babies.

sorry it's been so long! now that my life will be normalizing some, i expect i will be posting much more regularly.

My Parents' Printer Makes Weird Noises

2009-07-09T20:36:00.002-04:00

it sounds like it needs some oil in the wheels. it makes such distressed noises and works so hard. unfortunately, it totally screws up at the whole printing-labels thing more often than not, and that is a trifle annoying when you need return address stickers to save your hand from FALLING OFF because you have already addressed more than 100 postcards!!!!!!!

the point is, the printer is weird. and i am raising support. and it is hot in texas.

This Year's Incoming College Freshman...

2009-06-12T12:10:00.002-04:00

saw the entire high school musical phenomenon unfold during their own high school years.

for some reason, that is weird to me.

And So It Begins...

2009-06-11T17:58:00.003-04:00

well, folks, i am officially living the dream. i mean, i'm not THERE yet, but we had new intern orientation last week in atlanta for RUF, and y'all, i am SO excited about all this! and i'm officially an RUF employee as of last monday! and now, in addition to taking 2 classes this summer (i'm on the tail end of one right now, and next week i'll be in dc taking the other one), my job = raising support! that way i can actually move to Houston and work with students!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok, so i am a little excited. anyway. if you think of it, pray for me and that God will bring in the money i need to do this crazy-awesome thing He has called me to.

way more updates coming soon, but i wanted to give the quick one.

(ps - if you are so inclined, you may follow the link in my sidebar now to donate money to my work with RUF at rice.)

Irony

2009-05-26T22:20:00.001-04:00

my used copy of the glorious body of Christ smells of smoke. and by "smells" i mean "reeks to high heaven."

can you count the ways?

I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-19T00:59:00.004-04:00

so, after sheer insanity, i finally am emerging from radio silence and giving you some pictures from my life for the last few weeks. they aren't very exciting. ;)

my sister came to visit in the middle of my paper writing. we had fun, despite the fact that i was working like a dog quite a bit of the time and sick as a dog for more of the time.

not sure which roommate brought home these flowers, but they are beautiful, aren't they?

ruf support letters! lots of them!

studying is hard work! old exams help.

katie and i went out for a fancy seafood dinner. :)

we have had LOADS of storms and rain and craziness. beautiful, isn't it?

paper writing - this one was on the reasons for the differences between the blessings of the 12 tribes in genesis 49 and deuteronomy 33. sounds like it wouldn't be fascinating, but it so was.

went to visit friends at wake. this advert for the lilting banshees comedy troupe made me laugh and brought back memories from times gone by.

this is what my bed looked like an awful lot during the past few weeks. lots and lots of books. can you tell facebook is up and there's an agatha christie book in the back? a girl's gotta have some breaks or her brain will fry.

hi!

2009-04-30T01:52:00.003-04:00

it's crazy paper-writing time, so i'm snapping pics and will add them sometime, probably after i write another 40 pages but before i take four exams, two of which are supposed to be the hardest of my life. we'll see which one makes me cry first. ;)

just wanted to say hi. i know i've left unfinished business - like an argument for the authority and inerrancy of Scripture - but i'm working like a mad woman.

i'll be back.

This is my left ear

2009-04-26T23:01:00.002-04:00

it has hurt really bad all day. ergo, this photograph appropriately captures my day.

mascara

2009-04-25T23:09:00.002-04:00

and people say blonde eyelashes don't make you look lashless....

See This?

2009-04-24T23:06:00.002-04:00

this is a married man's phone number. on my hand. (it's blurry on purpose.)

i wish i could say there is a good reason for this, but i can't. we're having a women's conference at RTS this weekend (speaker: carolyn custis james, who thus far has been utterly fabulous), and there was some trouble with the sound system, so i was charged with calling a friend to get another friend's number in hopes that friend #2 would know what to do. i wrote the number on my hand - we were in a rush - only to discover that, in fact, someone else already had his number and had called repeatedly to no avail.

so i wrote it on my hand for nothing.

at least it's fading.

Multitalented, He Is

2009-04-23T23:19:00.004-04:00

use the force, he must.

of gravity, that is:

this is my friend josh. he does magic with everyday household items!

My Roomies

2009-04-22T22:38:00.002-04:00

watching L O S T.

sadly, just a clip episode this week.

Does It Matter If We Call God "He" or "She?

2009-04-22T14:50:00.001-04:00

check out this great post from aron's blog, wherein he quotes CS Lewis on this issue.

guess what was in here before i ate it?

2009-04-22T00:09:00.001-04:00

FINALLY!

2009-04-21T11:33:00.002-04:00

there's going to be a black disney princess (must say i like including mulan and wendy and all the other heroines), tiana. it's about dang time.

RTS Is Pretty!

2009-04-20T23:31:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I think my life might look like this

2009-04-19T23:56:00.003-04:00

except for the book ends - i'm not really french.

Don't Waste Your Life

2009-04-18T23:52:00.001-04:00

Today Was Excellent!

2009-04-18T23:27:00.004-04:00

i spent relatively little time here today:

i went on a walk, i went to the pool and laid out with a friend, i did homework, i got sun, i felt great. yay!

(disclaimer: i am actually sitting there now, despite what the picture would have you think. working on a paper. :)

New Template

2009-04-18T03:12:00.001-04:00

i'm trying it out... what do you think?

props to bloggertricks for the gorgeousness.

Photo of the Day

2009-04-17T20:49:00.003-04:00

i love this stuff. let's face it - i am truly a texas girl. :) when i used to want to be a professor of scottish history in scotland (which is kinda a weird thing to want to do for an american, admittedly - who is going to hire an american to teach scottish history in scotland?!?), i had it all planned that i would have dr pepper shipped to me regularly. cause i was a strange child like that.

Well DUH

2009-04-17T11:12:00.003-04:00

this story is not surprising at all, but people are acting like it's demonstrating that Gov. Perry spoke out of turn. i LOVE the USA and, like Perry, think "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that? But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot."

the point is not "Peace out, America - we're ready to leave!" - it never was. the point is "If things pass the point of no return, we can secede. And we very well may."

but we aren't there yet, and hopefully we never will be. i really do love this great country of ours, and one of my favorite things about us is that we are a nation that holds the federal government at bay to some degree simply because we CAN object to the point of pulling out - hello, American Revolution! but our union is great, and while there is much that needs to be redeemed and set right and redirected, i'm proud to be an American.

Pj Pants Come in Cool Patterns

2009-04-17T00:46:00.003-04:00

for example:

Open Line Thursday (So to Speak)

2009-04-16T12:47:00.001-04:00

this is pretty much for anyone who wants to talk religion from the 4815162342.com forums.

let's get it on, folks!

Who Wants Some Tea???

2009-04-16T00:11:00.004-04:00

We had a tea party here in the Queen City today.

This was my favorite sign.

Everybody loves Ben Franklin. Lots of other founding fathers made "appearances" as well.

And we had some wonderful veterans show up.

And a few cute shout-outs to Sarah Palin.

"Don't tread on me" was a common theme.

I think the best estimate we had was about 3000 people turning out. It was so peaceful and fun and happy - we sang America the Beautiful and O Say Can You See, said the pledge a couple of times, and laughed a lot.

I mean, yeah, we're clearly peeved about the stimulus package and the exponentially increasing size of the government, which is trying to do all kinds of stuff the Constitution left to the states.

And about the fact that our babies and their babies will be paying for this bailout stuff.

And about the rise of Socialist policies.

But we love this country. And we love that we can gather peacefully here and say, "Hey, Raleigh! Hey, Washington! This is not ok!"

Sorry About Yesterday...

2009-04-15T00:09:00.003-04:00

i just completely forgot to take a picture!

this lovely group of hydrangeas came home with kristen this evening. i love flowers. :)

yay spring!

I Am His and He Is Mine, Bought with the Precious Blood of Christ

2009-04-12T22:36:00.003-04:00

last night, sarah processed down the aisle to that verse of "In Christ Alone" (the third), and about half the bridal party lost it. it was a beautiful precursor to that amazing sermon i mentioned.

jean larroux, the minister who performed the ceremony, opened with the story of a time he was outside the sanctuary doors with a groom waiting for their turn to come in. the groom turned to jean and said, "you know why the bride wears white and the groom wears black at a wedding?" jean thought that was weird, but he said, "no, why?" and the groom responded, "because it's her wedding and his funeral."

we laughed.

jean said, "it's funny and all, but the thing is that it's true."

i panicked a little inside - what in the world???? is he going to be all down on marriage? that's SO weird!!!

jean said, "the husband is commanded to love his wife as Christ loved the church - to DIE for her."

to say the sermon only got better after that is an understatement. it acknowledged the passion and faithfulness of marriage, the beauty of a husband leading well and a wife submitting well, the importance of marriage to the kingdom of God. but most importantly, and most centrally, jean focused on the picture that marriage is for us of Christ's relationship with the church - the eagerness of the Bridegroom to receive His bride; the purity of the bride (yay for wearing white, like the robes of the saints in revelation!); the sacrifice demanded of the Groom if He is to love His bride.

let me tell you, it packed quite a whallop and said all the stuff you want said in a wedding sermon, but in less time and with more punch.

of course, the crazy thing about this is that Jesus, our Bridegroom, did die for us in a way that no normal husband ever could, but then He rose again, defeating all our enemies and claiming us for His own!

He is risen!

Spring Has Sprung!

2009-04-12T22:34:00.003-04:00

and that's my excuse for wearing shirts with applique flowers on them.

from this moment on...

2009-04-12T01:33:00.003-04:00

sarah denton is sarah niemitz!

it was an absolutely delightful wedding - SO much fun with so many friends! plus the best wedding sermon i have ever heard. i'll post about that tomorrow.

congratulations, mr. and mrs. ben niemitz!!!!

Who Doesn't Love an All-Girl Party?

2009-04-11T01:48:00.003-04:00

my friend sarah is getting married tomorrow. we have been friends since we were six, when we started first grade in the same class, and in fourth grade my family started attending her church. we graduated high school together (class of 13! whoohoo!) and i am SO excited that she is getting married! i kinda thought this was it when she went on and on about how he is her best friend and she couldn't imagine life without him at christmas, and it looks like i was right. :)

tonight i went to a little "last night sarah is single" sort of party for her, and it was a blast. here is my one, admittedly unimpressive shot.

there will be TONS of pictures from the wedding tomorrow though. it's going to be hard to narrow it down to one for the day.

A Bit Otherworldly

2009-04-10T01:09:00.002-04:00

i went to watch the double-Office episodes that aired tonight (which were hilarious) at the Cozarts' house. they also put up with me on monday nights for heroes/24 (i don't really care that much about 24, but it's fun time with friends). anyway, they have a number of LOTR items on display in their living room. including this ent:

aren't you eternally grateful that i've shared him with you?

they also have a map of narnia over their fireplace. you could say they are inklings fans.

A Few Shots with the New Camera

2009-04-08T22:44:00.003-04:00

my new camera has this awesome setting where you can choose one color and all the others turn black and white. obviously, this picture showcases the purple in my wardrobe.

this picture shows the same setting with blue. you can see me and my friend chris, who has the same camera and was helping me figure it out, in the reflection.

and again - this is kristen and the color red in our kitchen. she made our LOST-watching regulars a fancy and delicious dinner tonight.

this is erin, without any crazy effects.

and our dining room table, 1/2 set for our amazing dinner. we had a great time hanging out and having fun, in addition to eating well. :)

and then we watched LOST. and it was gooooooooood.

IT CAME!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-07T23:13:00.005-04:00

my new camera is here! it's super-awesome looking.

i also happen to think it can take a good picture. it will take me a while to figure it out - it's very different from my last camera.

edit: the weird stuff on the picture is from my mirror. i guess i need to clean it?

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way Back from Dallas...

2009-04-05T01:09:00.003-04:00

and it really took us a while of looking on both ends to figure it out. but it's pretty certain at this point that someone stole my camera when they were doing the security search of checked baggage at the airport. i've been using my roommate's camera for pictures thus far, but my new baby should be arriving in the mail on tuesday, and until then we are going to have to put the project on hold.

in other news, high school musical 3 apparently promoted a very complementarian view of romantic relationships. i am shocked. shocked, i say.

Day 2 - Two Pics (cause i couldn't pick between them)

2009-04-02T23:58:00.004-04:00

this is a part of one of my pillows. i think it looks cool.

not to beat a dead horse, but i am just a little excited about the whole MOVING BACK TO TEXAS thing... this old license plate is over my door here, and it makes me feel more rooted. which maybe is silly, but whatever.

Day 1 (& an Announcement)

2009-04-02T01:56:00.004-04:00

so one of my roommates, erin, told me about this cool challenge where you take one picture every day for a year - at the end of the year, you get a collection of pics that commemorate the year PLUS you are hopefully a lot better at taking pictures. i decided to do it, and to post them all on here (let's be honest, it's gonna be way more fun this way), but thought i would wait to start till april 1. the original plan was to take a picture of my left hand with a giant fake diamond on the fourth finger and also make it a joke.... BUT i now have a way better plan. and there is no joking involved.*

i have been told where RUF is placing me for the internship. may i have a drumroll...

ladies and gentlemen, i am headed back to texas. specifically, to houston, to work for the RUF at Rice University.

i am ECSTATIC!

*that is how i'm excusing the fact that it is technically april 2....

The Other Kind of Bookie...

2009-03-30T21:48:00.004-04:00

it's kinda like a "foodie..."

(got this from kari)

1) What author do you own the most books by?
Agatha Christie, hands down. She's so addictive, so relaxing, and she wrote SO much!

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
Pride and Prejudice. And that's AFTER throwing out like 3 copies.

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
No. I don't really believe in that rule anymore.

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Good heavens, that's hard to pin down. There are so many fabulous heroes.

5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
I'm not sure whether Kay Arthur's Israel, My Beloved wins or Francine Rivers' Redeeming Love - I read both of them multiple times a year for several years in middle and high school.

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
I was really into this Zion Chronicles series by Brock and Bodie Thoene back then. Probably my favorite was the first, The Gates of Zion.

7) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
Usually, if I really don't like a book, I quit reading it. The only one that I can remember the name of is Bag of Bones by Stephen King, which I read some of last week and decided I didn't like. I know that is terribly uncool of me to say.

8) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
That is soooooooooooo hard. How about in the past month? That would be Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle.

9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
I will be nice and choose a fictional work, since those seem to be the most universal. And I'm going to go with The Odyssey - translated by Robert Fagles. And if you absolutely refuse, you can read Howard Pyle's The Story of the Champions of the Round Table. I think we all need a little more in the way of the heroic epic.

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?
I have no idea.

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Rick Riordian's The Lightning Thief. It'd be a really cool - and not cheesy - way to bring Mt. Olympus into the 21st century. (Yay YA fiction!)

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis. The book (and the others in the series) have an old-school PI hero.... but it's set in ancient Rome. It would be absolutely absurd and not fun at all on film.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I mean, once I dreamed that Jesus was a biker-hippie who rescued me from a kidnapping by throwing grenades at the would-be kidnapper, but He's real... That should count though. He's in lots of books, and it is a REALLY weird dream.

14) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?
I think probably The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. Sorry, Lauren Willig...

15) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
The first time (in high school) The Sound and the Fury was pretty dang hard. I was all kinds of confused. But Faulkner made much more sense in college.

16) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Oh the Russians.

18) Roth or Updike?
I plead ignorance, since I couldn't make it through The Plot Against America and haven't read any Updike.

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Sedaris. But I am basing that off a reading he did on The Late Show.

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare for sure.

21) Austen or Eliot?
Austen.

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Probably that I haven't read the entire LOTR trilogy - and barely made it through the first 60 pages of The Hobbit.

23) What is your favorite novel?
Pride and Prejudice. Although I have to say that

24) Play?
A Midsummer Night's Dream is tied with Henry V.

27) Short story?
"The Fall of the House of Usher."

28) Work of non-fiction?
John Piper's The Pleasures of God.

29) Who is your favorite writer?
Too many... we'll go with the living ones:
Fiction - Deanna Raybourn, Dianne Setterfield, JK Rowling, Jane Yolen
Memoirs, etc. - Lauren Winner
Theology - Elisabeth Elliot, John Currid, John Piper, Paul David Tripp

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
David Baldacci. Good gosh, but The Camel Club was an experiment in hilariously bad fiction.

31) What is your desert island book?
Probably The Pleasures of God.

32) And … what are you reading right now?
The Lightning Thief, Get Married, and the Bible.

Now tagging.... whoever wants to be tagged.

On Making Decisions

2009-03-28T18:02:00.004-04:00

i think it's interesting that we - people in general, not just Christian people - often don't like being told what to do in general. sure, we can usually handle "don't murder" without throwing a hissy fit, but when God presumes to dictate how we spend our sundays or when and with whom we have sex, we feel encroached upon.

yet, despite this, we want to know what we are supposed to do in specific instances - should i go to this concert with a friend or should i go to this other birthday party? should i marry this man? should i take this job offer? sometimes those are moral questions, but more often they are wisdom questions i think - and sometimes they are matters of preference.

i mean, obviously you shouldn't take the job offer if the job description involves swindling people out of their money. but most of our decisions don't look like that. it probably doesn't make much of a difference whether you go to the birthday party or to the concert - just pick one! so many women (and presumably men) are looking for "the One" when instead we should be looking for a certain sort of mate. i'm not advocating marrying someone just because they fit your little check-list, but i also think that the idealized idea of "the One" is poppycock and balderdash.

i think we have this tendency because it is much easier to just be told what to do than it is to become the sort of person who will make those decisions well. i'm not saying we shouldn't wrestle with decisions, or that they aren't hard, but that we should be about the business of growing wise and knowing Christ. the better we know Him, the more we will instinctively as well as thoughtfully know His heart - perhaps you should have gone to that birthday party out of love, because the honoree is having a rough time and you know being there will mean much to him. i still think that it's not a moral decision between good and bad, but that doesn't mean it's an irrelevant decision.

as Christians, we live beyond the law in a way - not that the law isn't important, but that there is much freedom in decisions that are beyond the pale of black and white. paige brown, one of my favorite speakers of all time, says it this way. say you are talking to a friend you haven't seen in a while, and you ask her how her marriage is going. she says, with great self-satisfaction, "great! you know, i haven't had sex with anyone else since we got married! i haven't done drugs, or stolen anything, or killed his mother!" you would look at her very oddly.

and you should. it's a good thing that she hasn't killed her mother-in-law, but the fact that her focus is there shows that something is seriously off with this woman. her obsession with her keeping of the law is depriving her of LIFE.

we aren't so different, i think.

Spring Break

2009-03-21T23:37:00.002-04:00

i've been in dallas since last sunday, and i'm flying back to north carolina tomorrow. it is really nice out here - not even a little bit cold, but not unreasonably hot. it's amazing. i love it. i've been hanging out with my brother and my parents, seeing friends, getting ahead on homework, eating frozen grapes. it's been lovely.

i had surgery on friday, which has made yesterday and today weird. i am really glad to have been home - REALLY glad. hopefully this will take care of a ton of my medical problems from the last year. i am so relieved. i just hope the rest of my recovery is easier than the first 36 or whatever hours have been.

i love frozen grapes.

my brother rented me six movies to watch while recuperating - most of them are decidedly children's films, like bolt and horton hears a who. (both of those were fabulous, btw.) he has been looking after me too, not just my parents. it is nice to be cared for when you feel awful and are kinda helpless and a mess.

Toothbrush

2009-03-18T01:22:00.003-04:00

i have been known to forget my toothbrush on occasion. for example, almost every time i spent the night at someone's house growing up. in fact, when i went to college and had my first "hall meeting," our RA had us bring our favorite things from home. i brought my bible and my toothbrush, and announced how incredibly glad i was that i had remembered that toothbrush this time i left home.

i flew home to dallas for spring break on sunday and - you guessed it - forgot my toothbrush. my ever-resourceful mother found a fresh one, still packaged, lying around the house somewhere, and now i am using it. apparently it makes my teeth very white (yay!).

that said, it is really strange. there's this bumpy thing on the back of the brush part that rubs against your gums and the inside of your cheek and all that and it feels very weird. invigorating, i suppose, but who needs the inside of their teeth invigorated?

what i'm trying to say is that i have no clue what this thing is supposed to do. i tried scrubbing my tongue with it this morning - it's definitely not intended for that. i mean, it's squeaky! what is the deal?!?

Pet Peeve

2009-03-10T13:55:00.003-04:00

i wish people would stop talking about how nestor carbonell (who plays richard alpert on LOST) is wearing eyeliner. HE'S NOT. HE JUST LOOKS LIKE THAT.

that is all.

Wanna Know What I've Been Pondering?

2009-03-05T20:11:00.003-05:00

you have to click the picture to see the whole thing... but if you're a LOSTie and haven't seen this week's episode, this might count as a spoiler.... not the part you can see right now, but the whole picture.

Shoe Binge

2009-03-04T19:03:00.006-05:00

i have large feet - size 11, which is not an easy size to find. (it's not as hard as 12s though, not by a long shot. of course, that is what my mom and sister wear.) once i got to this size, the options were limited - crazy lime-green-with-rhinestones sandals (hello, i'm like 13!) and old lady shoes for the most part. i had to buy men's tennis shoes. you get the idea.

there was one place that wasn't SO bad in the mall, and a DSW that i got to where i could look down an entire aisle for the yellow "11" sticker and figure out whether it was worth it to even look. but it was pretty hit or miss.

then this beautiful and amazing thing happened to dallas. we got a nordstrom.

nordstrom is known for (1) excellent customer service and (2) carrying really bizarre shoe sizes, not just 6s-10s. and lemme tell you, they brought both in a major way. MAJOR.

their shoes are fantastic. i love them. and it seems that wherever they plant their roots, other stores in the area start broadening the sizes they carry - not as much as nordstrom, where you can get a 13 in women's shoes sometimes! it's like suddenly someone realized, gee, there's this huge untapped market, especially as women are getting taller.

all this is an introduction/excuse for my shoe binge. :-D nordstrom was having a sale. what can i say? and i ordered a couple of other pairs from zappos (one works and i love it; one doesn't) on account of all the weddings, etc. on my horizon. the thing is, i wear through shoes a lot - i get a few pairs that i wear all the time, and 3 years later (max) they are dead as doornails - either the heel breaks or the cushion stops cushioning or the bow starts looking like antennae.... you get the idea. the point is, i wear my shoes OUT.

so here are my recent ~~conquests~~ purchases.

i had to chuck my brown flats last fall because i kept slipping in them. and now that my beloved but very worn cheetah print shoes are getting close to the end of their lives, i really needed something brown. so i got these:

these are just fun and comfortable, and they cost less than $30! "what can you possibly wear hot pink shoes with?" you ask? EVERYTHING. except red.

These are the zappos shoes. They are BCBGirls and they are really comfortable and really fun and I want to wear them with a black dress to a friend's wedding - you know, channel a little Angelina.

These are my new favorites. They are ADORABLE and fun and by Linea Paolo, one of my favorite shoe lines. (Only Nordstrom carries LP.) Again, I think they will go with pretty much everything I own (except navy). I expect to get a lot of wear out of these babies. And you probably can't tell this from the picture, but that black-and-tan patch definitely sparkles.

One-Two Punch: Presuppositional Apologetics = Awesome

2009-03-02T22:24:00.003-05:00

i am taking the exam for my one-week apologetics january class tomorrow afternoon i hope. i figured that writing the promised post on the presuppositional approach to apologetics would help me distill the essentials of what we learned, prepare me to write about it tomorrow, and fulfill that promise.

rather than spend a great deal of time explaining why other methods and philosophies of apologetics are insufficient at best, i will be jumping straight into an explanation of the presuppositional system itself. this is due to two factors: 1) i am not wanting this post to be longer than methuselah's beard, and 2) this is the most important stuff for the test tomorrow. i will be happy to field questions or explain further in future posts.

cornelius van til is, from a formal standpoint, the father of presuppositionalism (though i agree with a number of other reformed folks in thinking that the methodology has been around for ages and was used by everyone from moses to paul in writing the Scriptures). so hats off to dr. van til, who i liked a lot way before i learned all this stuff. now i can't wait to meet him.

as best i can tell, presuppositional apologetics is rooted in the idea that a worldview can't break the law of non-contradiction and still be valid. therefore, in order for us to claim Scripture as our final authority, we have to base our deepest level argument on.... Scripture! van til is innovative in that he realizes that circular arguments are necessary for absolute authorities. suppose i were to say to frank, "how do you know that the Bible is true?" and he were to respond, "well, lauren, there's all this manuscript evidence for the authenticity of the books we have now..." and go on to reference everything from the testimony of eyewitnesses to the number of manuscripts we have of homer. in saying all this, frank is making good sense. however, if that truly, fundamentally is the reason that frank believes the Bible to be true, then frank's highest authority is not the Bible; it is the evidence. circular reasoning is essential for ultimate authority arguments to be at all consistent and coherent.

and so we come to the transcendental argument, which is a beautiful thing imho. my professor, the excellent michael j. kruger, is pretty much obsessed with triangles and lines. especially triangles. so imagine with me a triangle. each corner is labeled (lucky us!): (a) evidence, (b) experience, and (c) ultimate authority. these three comprise a person's worldview. the one-two punch works this way: there are two triangles - one of them representing our worldview, the other representing our friend's. here we have an offensive and a defensive approach - first we go after their worldview, showing the inconsistencies in each of the three areas - evidence, experience, and ultimate authority. then, having demonstrated the insufficiency of their explanation of the world, we present positive arguments for our position in those same three areas.

[this is not at all to suggest that testimony about what God has done in your life or evidential argumentation are bad; in fact, their use is encouraged. but unless your worldview is sitting on the firm foundation of Scripture, the integrity of your position is compromised.]

one of my favorite things about all this is the way that it accounts for all sorts of pagans being right or doing good things. this is what we like to call "borrowed capital" - these pagans are thinking christianly, at least in this area right now. it's not surprising, really, particularly given the knowledge-suppression described in romans 1. dr. kruger had a very helpful illustration of this: say you are in a friend's backyard pool playing volleyball with your pals. then all of the sudden, after a play, the ball disappears. everyone is looking around at everyone else, wondering who has it. midge has stolen it and is now trying to sit on it and maintain decent balance. she isn't doing a very good job, and pretty soon the ball springs up to the surface of the water. midge has been supressing the ball under her, but she can't keep it up for long. similarly, non-Christian hearts and minds seek to supress the knowledge of God, but they can't do it consistently. it sneaks out, in their belief in the laws of logic, in their kindness to an elderly stranger at the supermarket, in their desire to care for their children well. this is the volleyball springing up, the knowledge of God manifesting in their lives. in such matters, whatever they may be, men and women are presupposing God, even if it is wayyyyyyyyyyy down deep in their logic and they aren't aware of it. no non-Christian worldview can account for any such behaviors.

the goal of all of this is twofold - to call people to repentance and new life, and to silence those who persist in rebellion against God. this is not at all to be a vendetta, and ripping people apart is the antithesis of what we are called to. but it is not compassionate to leave a sleeping neighbor in a burning house. to show the dangers and the way out of them to freedom in Christ is all kindness.

YAY!

2009-02-18T22:56:00.002-05:00

so the other day i was singing Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus and remembered a verse which i forgot for like 6 years or so. so here's the "new" one - it goes in the middle.

come to earth to taste our sadness,
He Whose glories knew no end.
by His life He brings us gladness -
our Redeemer, Shepherd, Friend.
leaving riches without number,
born within a cattle stall,
this the everlasting wonder:
Christ was born the Lord of all!

the song du jour

2009-02-10T22:31:00.002-05:00

this song is the one that is dominating my life right now. it's on that new indelible grace cd: wake thy slumbering children. i thought i'd introduce y'all.

Go to Dark Gethsemane
go to dark gethsemane, ye that fear the tempter's pow'r
your Redeemer's conflict see, watch with Him one bitter hour
turn not from His griefs away - learn of Jesus Christ to pray.
learn of Jesus Christ to pray; learn of Jesus Christ to pray

see Him at the judgment hall, beaten, bound, reviled, arraigned
oh the wormwood and the gall! oh the pangs His soul sustained!
shun not suff'ring, shame, or loss - learn of Christ to bear the cross.
learn of Christ to bear the cross; learn of Christ to bear the cross

calv'ry's mournful mountain climb; there adoring at His feet
mark that miracle of time - God's own sacrifice complete.
"it is finished" here Him cry! learn of Jesus Christ to die.
learn of Jesus Christ to die; learn of Jesus Christ to die.

early hasten to the tomb where they laid His breathless clay.
all is solitude and gloom - "who has taken Him and where?"
Christ is ris'n, He meets our eyes; Savior, teach us so to rise!
Savior, teach us so to rise; Savior, teach us so to rise.
________________________
it would seem that my health issues are not totally put to rest, and as i deal with more tests, more weirdness, more uncertainty. this song, particularly the first two verses, really have helped me refocus.

Excellence

2009-01-27T23:54:00.003-05:00

Justin Taylor has quoted a fabulous John Updike poem on this, the day of his death, about the resurrection of Christ. Check it out here.

The point made here is excellent: let us not behave condescendingly in considering the Bible's, trying to come up with crazy ways you could possibly say it's true. It either is true, or it is not true.

We are talking about this sort of thing a ton in my apologetics course right now. I will be posting a bit on presuppositionalism (which I want to marry) once the class ends on Friday. Get excited.

no place like home for the doctor's visits...

2009-01-12T21:47:00.004-05:00

i am back in dallas. in december i left charlotte for greenville, nashville, dallas, charleston, and greenville. last week i took one of those condensed classes - acts-romans, which was fabulous - and i came back to texas last night for a doctor's appointment today. hopefully this guy will figure out why i have been soooooooooooooo tired.

it's really much funner to go to the doctor's office with your mother, and not just because there are two people to remember everything.

i just finished reading Rhett Butler's People, which was fun, especially since i read Gone with the Wind this summer. as much as i enjoyed them both, i must confess i totally don't get how this is the greatest love story ever. to live a life like scarlett o'hara - or rhett butler, for that matter - would be terribly sad. the one great promise that is offered, at least on some level: there is redemption and healing at every turn of life. that is a somethign we don't hear often enough.

A Tribute to My Awesome Father

2008-12-15T00:23:00.004-05:00

taylor swift has a precious song on her new album about her father that my brother pointed out pretty well describes our dad, who is not only the greatest earthly father i know of, but also happens to be one of my best friends in the world. i have been listening to this song almost as much as i've been listening to the aforeposted "abide with me."

i wanted to share it with you. (it's been hard for me to think of stuff to say here, in case you hadn't noticed, but i have been wracking up the lyrics, so maybe that will help my brain get going with more original stuff to say.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Day

i'm five years old, it's getting cold,
i've got my big coat on.
i hear your laugh and look up smiling at you.
i run and run past
the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides -
look now! the sky is gold!
i hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home.

i don't know why all the trees change in the fall.
but i know you're not scared of anything at all.
don't know if snow white's house is near or far away,
but i know i had the best day with you today.

i'm thirteen now and don't know how my friends
could be so mean.
i come home crying and you hold me tight
and grab the keys.
and we drive and drive until we find a town
far enough away,
and we talk and window-shop till i've forgotten
all their names.

i don't know who i'm gonna talk to now at school.
but i know i'm laughing on the car ride home with you.
don't know how long it's gonna take to feel okay,
but i know i had the best day with you today.

i have an excellent father;
his strength is making me stronger.
God smiles on my little brother -
inside and out, he's better than i am.
i grew up in a pretty house and i had space to run
and i had the best days with you.

there is a video i found from back
when i was three:
you set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're
talking to me.
it's the age of princesses and pirate ships
and the seven dwarves.
my daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady
in the whole wide world.

now i know why all the trees change in the fall.
i know you were on my side even when i was wrong.
and i love you for giving me your eyes, staying back and watching me shine,
and i didn't know if you knew, so i'm taking this time to say
that i had the best day with you today.

Abide with Me

2008-12-14T23:05:00.003-05:00

abide with me; fast falls the eventide
the darkness deepens - Lord, with me abide.
when other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, abide with me.

Thou on my head in early youth did smile,
and though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, though i oft left Thee.
on to the close, Lord, abide with me.

i need Thy presence every passing hour;
what, but Thy grace, can foil the tempter's pow'r?
who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
through cloud and sunshine, abide with me.

i fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless;
ills have no weight; tears lose their bitterness.
where is thy sting, death? where, grave, thy victory?
i triumph still; abide with me.

hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes,
shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
as morning breaks and earthly shadows flee,
in life and death, Lord, abide with me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
this song is my new obsession. it is definitely going to play at my funeral (hopefully like 70 years from now hehe). a delightful version is on the altogether excellent album recently put out by the kevin twit and the RUF folks at Belmont, wake Thy slumbering children.

It Would Seem That...

2008-11-18T16:06:00.002-05:00

I come across as perky, happy, and full of energy most of the time. Sunday night the topic came up at Life Group in my half of girls (we split up to share prayer requests and pray), and then today the lady at the dry cleaners said, "Are you always this perky and happy?" I said, "Usually."

How weird. I never realized I came off that way, except when I would go visit one of my favorite college profs at office hours - he could only handle about 15 minutes of me, but he liked me a lot. As great as he is, he's not someone whose opinion about people I ever really relied on.... he's kinda odd in a hermit-ish sort of way. Absolutely brilliant, a fabulous lecturer, and really invested in the lives of his students, but not the sort of man you'd guess would be the last of those.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with my newfound power. Hehehe...

I love America

2008-11-02T00:52:00.001-04:00

and this video reminded me of one of the many reasons why.

big props to democracy and intelligent conversation/debate.

Fascinating Fact

2008-10-31T01:55:00.001-04:00

turns out that if the Iraqis could vote for our next President, they'd vote McCain.

Add to the Beauty

2008-10-28T01:12:00.002-04:00

thanks to the AMJ tour i was finally introduced to the wonderful sara groves. some artists, i find, you just have to get acquainted with live before you get all ramped up about their stuff. sara seems to be one of those for me. but wow - and i mean WOW - am i ramped up about her stuff now.

great lines include:
+ "redemption comes in strange places, small spaces
calling out the best of who we are" ("add to the beauty")
+ "i see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
i see the man with a passion come and kickin' down that door" ("when the saints" - ahem, GO IJM)

i love music. i especially love music that resets my affections to be more like God's affections.

Food for Thought in Light of the Looming Election

2008-10-26T00:22:00.002-04:00

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 'Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." ~ Jeremiah 29:4-7

Spread the Wealth

2008-10-15T21:49:00.001-04:00

if you're bill gates, "spread the wealth" is generous.

if you're wanting to be the president, "spread the wealth" is communist.

HI

2008-10-08T18:51:00.002-04:00

so. i am a bad poster. bad bad bad. but the truth is, most of the things that happen in my days these days are not the sort of thing i post, either because they aren't that interesting to read about (like i asked a question in class and other people had been wondering about that too and were glad i asked) or are rather personal in an "i'm not telling everyone in the world about this" sort of way. you know?

my sister did come last week, which was fun, and this weekend my roommate from college/cousin by marriage is coming. it's not like my life isn't interesting, more that it's got enough in it that tons of extraneous thoughts aren't looming, and personal enough that i'm not wanting to blog about it all the time.

but i haven't forgotten you, faithful readers. in fact, i have a little something to tell you about.

it's called fringe, and it's my new love. a brainchild of the great jj abrams, fringe is a delightfully weird combination of x-files and alias, but with a mildly crazy scientist. it is a thing of wit and beauty. just sayin'.

Wonderful Grace of Jesus

2008-09-25T18:10:00.002-04:00

wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin [and that's saying something!]
how shall my tongue describe it? where shall it's praise begin?
taking away my burden, setting my spirit free
for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches!

(refrain:)
wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus (the matchless grace of Jesus)
deeper than the mighty rolling sea (the rolling sea)
wonderful grace all-sufficient for me (higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain all-sufficient grace for me, for even me)
broader than the scope of my transgressions (sing it!)
greater far than all my sin and shame (my sin and shame)
oh, magnify the precious Name of Jesus
praise His Name!

wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost,
by it i have been pardoned, saved to the uttermost.
chains have been torn asunder, giving me liberty,
for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me!

(refrain)

wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled,
by its transforming power making him God's dear child,
purchasing peace and heaven for all eternity,
for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
mysteriously got this one stuck in my head today - we learned it in elementary school, but i think it's been at least 12 years since i've heard it. what a great hymn, though!!

The Heroes Season Premiere

2008-09-23T00:41:00.003-04:00

was fabulous. i gotta say i love it when shows demonstrate the complexity of human nature. and, let's face it, there is no true "hero" except Jesus. at least these characters are portrayed as being flawed.

Never Forget!

2008-09-11T19:46:00.000-04:00

Bon Jovi & Politics

2008-09-05T14:31:00.002-04:00

when i run, i usually listen to music, and the other day after palin was chosen to be mccain's running mate, "you give love a bad name" came on my ipod shuffle. i was struck by its appropriateness. if they have a presidential race 2008 karaoke night, obama should so sing it to palin.

i'm particularly thinking of lines like "you're a loaded gun, there's nowhere to run, no one can save me, the damage is done."

obama is going down - taken out by a mom with a sharp tongue and a sharper mind.

Random Celebrity Post

2008-09-01T01:42:00.003-04:00

before we get back to politics (which will probably be a pretty big feature on this blog in coming months), i want to post this thing i ripped out of US Weekly last fall to post and never did. i just thought it was interesting and kinda cool:

"Marsden's Fairy-Tale Marriage
"He may play a fair-tale prince in Disney's Enchanted, but is hunky actor James Marsden a real-life romantic? 'My wife [actress Lisa Linde] thinks I'm romantic if I get up with the crying baby and let her sleep in,' says Marsen, 34, who has two children, Jack, 6, and Mary, 2, with LInde. Fair enough. But what about over-the-top romance? 'Early on in the relationship, there was lots of serenading on the beach and things like that,' he says. 'But once you have kids... romance could be filling her car up with gas or making her coffee.'"

heck, i think that's romantic and i'm no mother.

10 Reasons Sarah Palin Is a Genius Choice for VP

2008-08-29T16:59:00.002-04:00

When I heard McCain introducing Sarah Palin on the radio today, I cried. I had no idea that it would be such a big deal to me to have a woman chosen by my beloved GOP, but apparently it was. I am so proud of women like Palin and Condoleeza Rice - women who have pulled off femininity and feminism at the same time.

I know I will think of more reasons later, but this is a good start. And there's no particular order to these.

1. Sarah Palin didn't wind up in politics because of a carefully-lived resume. She makes me think of Esther and all that "for such a time as this" language. Not that it's bad to wind up in politics on purpose from the getgo, but that it means she doesn't think like Washington-fashioned politicians.

2. Palin comes to us from a working class background, and was a hockey mom and basketball coach before she was in politics at all. She understands firsthand the interests and concerns of many, many Americans.

3. Palin is spunky, bold, and eloquent - if you haven't heard/seen her acceptance speech from this morning, GO DO IT.

4. Palin knows the oil business and the people in it. She's dedicated to American energy independence.

5. Palin is young, smart, and ready for a challenge - which I'm sure is much of the reason that McCain has chosen her to run with him. He wants to nurture his successor, and I think he couldn't have chosen better.

6. Palin is a mother.
6a. She is the mother of a soldier. Talk about someone who will have our troops in mind when she makes decisions!
6b. She is the mother of a child with Down Syndrome. I personally feel that a person like her has a lot of valuable, weighty things to say about abortion, embryonic stem cell research, etc.
6c. She is the mother of five, which usually seems to mean a person is hopeful about the world.

7. Palin is a woman, and she's not afraid of it. She wore a skirt today. She's proud of and respectful toward her husband. She brags about being a "hockey mom." I'm a big fan of politicians being comfortable with who they are and acting from that, instead of constantly attempting to compensate for what they are not.

8. Palin roots out bad stuff where she finds it, despite party politics or other such things. We need people of notable integrity in public office, and she's got it.

9. Palin is prolife, progun, profamily, protroops, and proAmerica. And she's anti gay marriage. To name a few notable issues.

10. Palin is a hunter, a fisher, and an athelete. She seems like a real person. Rather shockingly real.

Fact:

2008-08-28T20:45:00.003-04:00

i run faster to "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor than normal songs. yay nba!

i'm taking pastoral counseling, history of philosophy and christian thought (virtually), isaiah-malachi, and systematics I.

so i am swamped.

but being well ROCKS.

and i discovered i like riesling wine.

and expensive maple syrup isn't worth the extra dough....

Ooh, the WCF Makes Me Weak in the Knees...

2008-08-22T11:45:00.004-04:00

from Chapter 19.6 of The Westminster Confession of Faith:
"Although true believers be not under the law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned; yet is it of great use to them, as well as to others; i that, as a rule of life informing them of the will of God, and their duty, it directs, and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their nature, hearts and lives; so as, examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and the perfection of His obedience."

If It Gets Any Sweeter Than This...

2008-08-05T22:12:00.003-04:00

... I don't want to know.

Actually I do, but this is pretty dang sweet.

Have fun, my friends.

The Dark Knight

2008-07-18T04:17:00.003-04:00

if you weren't planning on seeing it, i probably wouldn't encourage you. and if you hate explosions, can't handle diagrams of the human body, or break out in hives if not every loose end is tied up perfectly (remember, heath ledger died before they could finish filming all the scenes that they'd planned, although they do a decent wrap-up if you consider that), maybe you should avoid it. it is certainly not for the faint of heart.

that said, it was AWESOME. as far as i know, the best comic book movie ever made - and i have professional comic book peeps who concur. the acting is fabulous, the visuals are fabulous, the dialogue is great. you get a number of opportunities to laugh. and, most dear to my heart of all these things, justice and goodness and self sacrifice are the victors. i loved it, to be quite simple. loved it loved it loved it.

then again, batman is my favorite superhero anyway. but that's another post.

Andrew Peterson Baccalaureate Address

2008-07-15T14:18:00.001-04:00

yay the Gospel. (how's that for an understatement?)

ps i'm pretty sure i spelled baccalaureate wrong. and i don't care.

Well Hello There

2008-07-01T21:48:00.002-04:00

sorry i've been so silent. the health problems drama has gotten, well, more dramatic, and i just haven't had many thoughts. this kind of pain numbs my brain apparently.

other big news:

~ i tried on a pair of manolo blahniks, and i can see why people find them so comfortable and awesome, but shoes that run $440 ON SALE seem a little extreme to me.
~ went to branson, mo, with the 'rents to get my sister from K1, where she'd been a counselor - and we saw some amazing shows, including The Promise, which was a musical about the life of Christ that remarkably avoided cheesiness for the most part. the guy who played Jesus was fantastic.
~ Get Smart was stupid. fun, but stupid.
~ i am reading Gone with the Wind for the first time. i really like it, but i'm appalled at the way black people are discussed. i'd really love to hear a black person's opinion on the subject, particularly one descended from slaves. i'll google it probably after finish this post.
~ i love I Kings.

Letters

2008-06-17T02:10:00.002-04:00

i've been writing tons of letters lately - i have a stack sitting next to me of eleven completed epistles, most just in need of a stamp and trip to the mail box. i have always been a note-writer - several times in middle and high school i wrote letters to every single girl in the school - but now that i'm sick and my brain doesn't work very well on things (like the class i'm working on virtually), letter-writing is one of the few things i still feel capable to do. i am anxious to get back to normal, but as it stands, writing letters is a profitable diversion. i've been reading an incredibly ridiculous amount, as i believe i have mentioned before, but letter-writing is more externally focused, which is good. and you know, it's always nice when you get a letter in the mail instead of bills or credit card offers - i'm just making sure it happens more often. :)

not that i don't love me some email.

Three Thoughts of the Day

2008-06-15T00:36:00.001-04:00

#1 Independence Day is a silly film.
#2 I stink at chess.
#3 John Frame is a really great lecturer.

The Morning from the Bad Place

2008-06-03T01:39:00.003-04:00

you would think that waking up at like 11 would preclude this sort of thing, but apparently a lot of things can go wrong in about an hour (and a half, if we're getting technical, but more on that later).

so my madre walks into my room literally 15 seconds after i grab my current fun-book, the reason for God by tim keller off the marble-top table acting as my nightstand. i had just woken up from a dream in which my dad yelled at me a lot. you have to understand two things 1) my dad doesn't yell in real life; and 2) i have really vivid dreams, and even though a lot of times they are completely ridiculous, sometimes they affect my mood, a la this morning.

so after a quick debriefing on the day, mom heads downstairs, calling back up that i need to phone the urologist in charlotte again because they still haven't gotten back to me on a urodynamic exam they ran three weeks ago. so i grab my phone, text my brother (he's at church camp in florida), and call the doc. i leave a message. i'm not feeling too badly today (on a pain scale of 0-10, 0 being zero pain, 10 being the worst pain i've ever felt, which was really horrible and i screamed and my roommate could hear me from the waiting room, i started at about a 3). text from the brother about the stingray that he almost stepped on. so far, it's annoying that the doc hasn't called back, but not killer.

i'm checking my email. lo and behold, my roommate up in charlotte had called (that explains the 6 missed calls last night), and she wrote me a facebook message to tell me that my voicemail wasn't working anymore and asking if i had changed phones. hmm. so i hop over to the at&t wireless website and start looking around for stuff about voicemail problems - what do you do when your voicemail up and disappears? but mom was like, 'we have to go,' so i said i'd deal with it later.

oh, i almost forgot, i've had mail forwarding set up, but nothing came and nothing came and we were starting to think maybe the doc had sent me the results from the exam in the mail and we hadn't gotten them. so i pull out the confirmation letter i got here in dallas, and i give them a call before we head out the door. they give me the phone number for the post office that delivers my mail in charlotte. when mom says it's time to roll, i grab that sheet with the number on it and head for the door.

only i couldn't find my purse. it wasn't that big of a deal in the long-run - it hadn't been stolen, and we knew that from the getgo, but we really couldn't figure out where it was. i gave up and we headed to lunch with dad, who was checking his car to see if my purse was in the back (it wasn't). awesome.

i call the p.0. people in north carolina. their server isn't working, so it takes quite a while to figure out if i'm in the system, if they know who i am, if anything's wrong. the guy asks for my old address, new address, and phone number, and i tell him that, of course, if they call me back while i'm at the doctor's office this afternoon, i won't answer, and i have no voicemail. but they figure things out before we hang up, so that's one less phone call i have to worry about missing. now we're just worried about the urologist's office calling.

so we pull into a parking spot at our restaurant of choice, and dad beat us there, so he called to tell us he beat us, and then he must have slipped his phone into his pocket and then bumped it, because he's standing in the parking lot waving at us with both extremely long arms (remember, he's 6'11"), and my phone is ringing and it says "daddy" is calling. so i answer, hop out of the car, walk over to him, and hand him the phone. "here," i say. "talk to yourself." (this happens a lot. i hear snatches of meetings regularly.) he grabs the phone, says "hello?" and then laughs and closes the phone, handing it back to me. i slip it into my pocket and we get inside and seated and all that.

dad wants to know if we've heard from the bug. both of us have, so mom starts talking about the sting ray while i pull out my phone to refresh my memory about which kids he's been hanging out with so far. i flip open the phone and.... houston, we have a problem.

it's an appearance of what i like to call the black screen of death.
"Boot Loader
blah blah blah
blah blah blah
some random numbers
D3R
PH SIG ERR:
number that would be time if it wasn't so large

OK to Program
Connect USB
Data Cable"

this has happened before. normally i just turn it off and back on again and we're golden.

oh no, ladies and gentlemen, not this time. this time it's dead.

not that i didn't try to resuscitate the darn thing. i think it was probably after attempt number 15 or 20 that i called it quits and gave up. so now there is NO way for the doctor to leave a message, NO way for her to reach me anyway, NO way for me to tell her - after all, all my doctor contact phone numbers were in the stupid phone - and i'm not eligible for a new phone until october. i mean, this was getting ridiculous. i turned to mom and said, "hey, at least i have something to blog about."

{fyi, mom figured out a plan that will hopefully work, and i managed to pass my bad luck on to dad for the rest of the day. [the work day ended with him locking his keys in his office...]}

of the last, say, 30 times songs have gotten stuck in my head...

2008-05-31T01:28:00.003-04:00

probably 25 times it's been this commercial or this one.

that's some good marketing.

now instead of looking fly and rolling phat
my legs are sticking to the vinyl
and my posse's getting laughed at
F-R-E-E that spells free
credit report dot com baby

The Bug

2008-05-27T20:04:00.001-04:00

the bug turns 16 in july, and while he will be driving mom's old suburban for a while, his goal is to get an audi a-4. he is seriously in love with this car. so much so, that dad said tonight at dinner, "i'm afraid, when kj sees a real a-4, like one he can sit in, he'll lick it or something."

Memorial Day

2008-05-26T23:13:00.003-04:00

last night at 11:30, a dear friend went to be with the Lord Jesus. clem mueller, a beloved member of our church here in dallas, a man of great character and wisdom, family practice physician, father of eight (his eldest daughter mentored me through high school), grandfather of 6 (including one in-utero), and best-friend and husband of one woman for almost 34 years, will be sorely missed. he went to be with the Lord after a hard fight with pancreatic cancer.

praise our gracious God, dr. mueller is now more alive than we are.

Top Ten Books I Was Surprised to Love

2008-05-26T00:50:00.003-04:00

these books are books i read for class or fun, books i really didn't know that i would be sucked into, would fall in love with, would lose myself in, would even in some cases be changed by. so here you go. i'm not really sure why the list is ordered this way, but it made sense.

10. love, rosie - a modern epistolary novel, this fluffy piece of chick lit is the traditional story of love derailed by circumstances... and eventually remedied, through no disloyalty of the main characters. a little bit like jane eyre in its heart.
9. running with scissors - ok, so skip the sex scenes - it's quite easy to see them coming - and this book is hilarious, shocking, tragic, fascinating, and brilliant. dry, a memoir about overcoming alcoholism, was much better, but by then i was hooked on augusten burroughs, so it came as no surprise.
8. the lord of the flies - really quite excellent book about sin nature run amock. think LOST but with little boys, and no enemies but each other.
7. the constant princess - this very compassionate reading of katherine of aragon captivated me. i love how philippa gregory tends to root what she writes in history, and this book did a great job of explaining the facts in a way that really made you rethink the whole story, because it's possible that katherine's story really did unfold this way.
6. the opposite of fate - this memoir by amy tan really brought out my inner-writer. having read most of tan's work, it was really interesting to learn about her personal life and her relationship with her remarkable mother, who has clearly shaped quite a bit about her books. i loved it.
5. the historian - this is a novel about dracula. i mean, what are the odds that i would go for that? to make matters more unlikely, it's by a dracula expert - and over 650 pages. boy was i surprised. it was AWESOME.
4. the thirteenth tale - ok, so there's some weird twin psychology, but never have i been so shocked by a book's ending. the twist caused my jaw to hit the floor - for two days at least, my mouth hung open most of the time after i finished the book. it's a traditional gothic novel, but with a unique structure. ok, maybe not unique, but structurally very woman in white while being more in the spirit of wuthering heights. an absolute blast.
3. mama day - i used to wonder what married people fought about. now i know. that sounds awful, but it's really wonderful. kinda like this book. yay for sacrificial love being chosen by selfish people.
2. the harry potter series - i read the first book when i was working at barnes & noble in the kids' section, largely to see it for myself and make up my mind about recommending it or not, but also to see what the hype is about. i guess it really took until the next february for me to really get hooked (book 3 did it for me, and right after my car accident, you might remember), and i loved them so much i went to one of those crazy book release parties last summer. so that's pretty surprising.
1. the time traveler's wife - this book was remarkably good. i cried like a baby. there were a few r-rated scenes, so read with caution, but it's powerful, beautiful, and good - changed the way i think of myself as a single woman who hopes to get married, as a part of the church that the Lord Jesus died for and is coming back for, and as a person who loves novels. they are really powerful things.

in other news, i am reading wendy shalit's latest - girls gone mild: young women reclaim self-respect and find it's not be to be good, which will be released in paperback this summer under the title the good girls' revolution: young rebels with self-esteem and high standards. it is FABULOUS. anyone who knows women or girls should read it. i'm serious.

Two Lists for Book Lovers

2008-05-24T22:52:00.003-04:00

i love books. i read voraciously, to an almost sickening degree (strike the almost if you're my sister). so i have decided to compile a couple of lists about books. tomorrow i'll post a more positive list.

the first list is of books i hate. in order for me to hate a book, something serious has to have happened. i mean, we aren't talking mere about disliking or being disturbed. i rarely really hate books. it makes them special. these are listed in terms of how virulent my hatred is, not the books' own merits. incidentally, several of these i haven't finished because i got worked up too quickly and strongly.

Top Ten Books I Hate
10. hatchet - i was highly disturbed by the ruminations of a preteen on suicide. couldn't handle it.
9. the emperor's children - just not that interesting. just enough literary proficiency to make me read the whole thing, just enough sin and disordered relationships to frustrate the heck out of me, just enough of a waste to make me like "grr" about the whole thing. especially since it was supposed to be the greatest novel of the new century according to somebody i will no longer be listening to.... if i can remember who it was.
8. the awakening - i hate to break it to you feminists who believe it, but freedom is not about escaping the responsibilities of family. it's not about escaping responsibilities period. the selfishness - claiming to speak for women - of this book really ticked me off.
7. choosing God's best - who wants to be patronized, talked down to, and lectured on romantic relationships with questionable theology? this is your book.
6. the camel club - i would hope that there would be SOME level of literary prowess in an author who has consistently made the NYT bestseller list.... but this book suggests otherwise. it's painful - full of sentences like, "not only was macon surprised to see his mother, but the sky was full of dark clouds." i made that one up, but it reflects a common sentence structure baldacci loves to use. and the plot sucks, too.
5. lipstick jungle - started reading it. stopped after page like 12 and threw it in the trash - too much sex. in the first 12 pages. not a good sign.
4. the master and margarita - this book is probably not at fault, but i read it for a class in college which was taught by a professor who totally creeped us out, especially regarding this book (jokes about the magic lotion - or "goddess cream" - that makes you gorgeous and enables you to fly were REALLY over the top). this is a case of guilt by association.
3. corregidora - the obsession of this book with the ugliness of the protagonists' genealogical heritage - a grandfather (and also great-grandfather - same guy) who was a slave-owning monster is overwhelmingly grotesque. the sexual violence, the serious dysfunction were really disturbing. and there really is no hope, because there is no exit from the cycle of dysfunction.
2. codex - the entire time i was reading this book, i was thinking "this is just completely ridiculous." i kept thinking there had to be more going on - there had to be more going on, but there wasn't. the secret of this codex was in some easter egg in a video game. and the darkness of the narrative form, which is something i generally enjoy, was weird. i actually threw the book when i finished it.
1. lolita - that same class from #4 required this book. 60 pages was enough for me - i begged off on moral reasons (and was told to read this fabulous other book, called we). nabokov is undoubtedly a genius, and lolita is undoubtedly a very important book. but sometimes i think burying your head in the sand is ok, and i for one don't need detailed descriptions of pedophilia floating around in my head.

Sometimes She's Crazy...

2008-05-22T00:39:00.002-04:00

...but sometimes she's dead on.

this is one of those times.

long live ann coulter!

Barlow Girl - On My Own

2008-05-19T23:57:00.002-04:00

can't believe that i'm here in this place again
how did i manage to mess up one more time?
this pattern seems to be the story of my life
should have learned this lesson by the thousandth time

cause i promised myself i wouldn't fall
and here i've fallen
i guess i'm not as strong as i thought
all i can do
is cry to You

oh, God, You have to save me
You're my last and only hope
all my right answers fail me
i can't seem to make it on my own

always thought that i could be strong enough
what made all of them fall couldn't take me down
why did i think that i was above it all?
i have learned that pride comes before the fall

i can't promise myself that i won't fall
cause here i've fallen
i know i'm not as strong as i thought
all i can do
is cry to You

oh, God, You have to save me
You're my last and only hope
all my right answers fail me
i can't seem to make it on my own

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

yeah. that would be me.

Shut Up and Drive

2008-05-17T18:39:00.002-04:00

i will be doing quite a bit of the second (and we all know i'm probably incapable of the first) for the next couple of days. mom is here to take me back to dallas, so it's ROADTRIP TIME! in all likelihood, she will be doing an inordinate amount of driving, as i'm due for some bad days. but i'm glad i'm going out on a high note, at least.

my stomach hurts.

see you in texas!

Background on the Westminster Assembly

2008-05-14T23:49:00.002-04:00

this article is fantastic and to the point.

excerpt:
"I want to close with a story to illustrate the practical value of knowing Presbyterian doctrine. The story comes from B. B. Warfield (1851-1921), the great Princeton theologian. It concerns a Christian man who traveled West during the days of the pioneers. One day he found himself in the middle of a gunfight in a wild western town. The whole town was in an uproar, but he saw one man who - despite all the commotion - remained calm, cool, and collected. The traveler was so amazed that he said to himself, 'Now there is a man who knows his theology.' At this he walked up to him and asked the first question of the Shorter Catechism, 'What is the chief end of man?' The man answered correctly, 'Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.' On the basis of Warfield's story, I commend to you the Westminster Catechisms and Confession of Faith as a theology suitable for every situation in life."

Top Ten Actresses I Might Watch a Movie For

2008-05-13T20:02:00.004-04:00

you know what i mean - there are actresses and actors you like enough to seriously consider seeing anything they're in... not that i don't have my limits (slasher films/horror/tons of skin) - i don't see all their films, but i'm more likely to. here are my top 10 such chicks, living and dead. the reasons differ from woman to woman - sometimes it's more about the performance; other times it's more about what kind of films they choose to do.

10. anne hathaway
9. kate hudson
8. gwyneth paltrow
7. michelle pfieffer
6. cate blanchett
5. angelina jolie
4. reese witherspoon
3. audrey hepburn
2. grace kelly
1. jennifer garner

who are some of yours?

Wisdom for the Day

2008-05-11T22:32:00.003-04:00

[i didn't say this; it's practically a direct quote from a friend in my life group.]

"my kids ask for the world because they know they are loved. we will ask God for huge things if we really know He loves us."

i needed to hear that tonight. badly.

I just had to laugh...

2008-05-10T22:03:00.001-04:00

see more politics and fun!

Great Cheesy Lines

2008-05-10T21:51:00.002-04:00

don't you love them? the best one i've heard in the last 24 hours goes to "if you want to live, don't leave my side." oh val kilmer. you kill me.

Fact of the Day

2008-05-09T01:21:00.001-04:00

this is an excellent episode of law and order svu.

Top Ten Television Shows Currently in Production

2008-05-08T21:58:00.004-04:00

i noticed camille paglia has top ten lists (top ten works of art, top ten sculptures, top ten movie lines, etc.), and they are cool, so i thought i would start doing the same on occasion. of course, i'm not nearly as brilliant as camille paglia, but i'm also not as wrong as her on a number of thing that matter (like theology), and that has to count for something.

10. the Office. it takes some getting used to the humor if it isn't quite your style, but it's fun to quote with friends any time.

9. CSI. yay for the forensics! seriously, though, i way prefer the original to either of the spinoffs.

8. Law & Order. i love how relevant a lot of the cases are, and how generally evenhanded they are (maybe excepting religion).

7. Ugly Betty. fashion, humor, awkward romance, ridiculous drama, and some salt-of-the-earth characters. what more could you ask for?

6. Law & Order: SVU. the on-screen chemistry between Detectives Stabler and Benson is fantastic, the cases are raw, and the law is fascinating. i love it.

5. Bones. i watch this gem after the latest season comes out, episode after episode. i can't handle waiting between episodes. the chemistry between Bones and Booth is palpable, and it's physical, emotional, professional, personal - almost every level is electrifying. i love it. and the forensic science is SO interesting. i'm sure a good bit of it is totally unrealistic, but it's fantastic.

4. House, MD. i love house because he says and does things that no one could get away with really. it's like a fairy tale for sarcastic people.

3. How I Met Your Mother. LEGEN-wait for it-DARY. hilarious. not exactly the most moral of these shows, but it probably has the best dialogue-writers of any of them. and the concept is great - a father telling his children in 20+ years how he met their mother - and how he became the man he was when he met her. brilliant. the cast is great, and they are FUNNY.

2. Heroes. everyday superheroes. epic battle between good and evil. surprises at every turn. need i say more?

1. LOST. ok, so i definitely am attached to this show partly because it's a JJ Abrams brainchild, and so was Alias, which is only the best television show in history. the twists, the backstory, the reveals, the drama, the weirdness of it all - i love it.

John Owen

2008-05-07T22:44:00.003-04:00

my paper was called "Will the Real John Owen Please Stand Up? A Preparation to Read Owen's Works." if you really want to read the whole thing, which is like 13 pages long, let me know and i'll email it to you. in the meantime, i'll give you a few snippets you may not have known about the great puritan theologian.

fact #1) owen was married twice, first to mary for 31 years, then a year and a half after she died, to dorothy (who was widowed as well) for 8.

fact #2) mary bore john 11 children. only one of them survived to adulthood, and she too died before owen. that's an average of one child dying every three years throughout his adulthood.

fact #3) neither of his wives and none of his children are mentioned in any of his published works, and as far as i could find out, they aren't mentioned in any of his surviving letters. in fact, the only family member he does mention is his father, and only in a sentence.

fact #4) owen was a calvinist before he was a christian.

fact #5) owen was, in turn, a country preacher, a tutor, a private family chaplain, a military chaplain, dean and then vice chancellor at oxford college christ church, where he was responsible for the worship services, and a city pastor. and the whole time he was writing book after book. he also regularly preached before parliament, and his favorite sermon topic on these occasions was religious tolerance within orthodoxy.

fact #6) owen was tight with oliver cromwell.

fact #7) owen drives biographers and historians crazy because of the paucity of info on him.

Home Again, Home Again, Giggity Gig

2008-05-06T20:03:00.002-04:00

so i'm headed back to dallas for the summer to be tested and studied and do physical therapy and all the funness of diagnostic medicine. i'm glad to be able to be home with my family - and be taken care of on bad days. :)

last night i had a sleep study done. it was not fun. i don't like those. hopefully they got what they needed and i never have to do that again.

i finished my paper on john owen. tomorrow i will post some stuff about him, but i will warn you - we know very little about him, oddly enough.

2001: A Space Odyssey

2008-05-02T22:02:00.001-04:00

is stupid.

and the disc didn't work long enough for me to change my mind.

on the upside, bacardi frozen daquiri mixes are awesomely easy.

Newfound Bliss

2008-04-25T23:11:00.002-04:00

did you know that frozen grapes are amazingly wonderful?

the surgery didn't turn up anything they expected. there are still more mysteries to be explored.

of the last 7 days, i've had 4 bad ones and 3 good ones. that's a much more satisfactory ratio than i am accustomed to. hopefully that means the new medicine they gave me after the surgery is helping.