It Made Me Laugh

Okay, you have to go and read this:
Boys in the Kitchen

Be sure to check out the recipe for carrot sticks.

To Think About

J.I. Packer, speaking of being adopted into God's family:

"There you have absolute stability and security; the parent is entirely wise and good, and the child's position is permanently assured. The very concept of adoption is itself a proof and guarantee of the preservation of the saints, for only bad fathers throw their children out of the family, even under provocation; and God is not a bad father, but a good father."

from Knowing God

Sunday Stuff

This morning, for the first time since the start of summer, my small elf sat with me in church. She was somewhat giggly during the service, until near the end when I told her to stop and behave. Then she pouted for a while. I didn't mind. When she's pouting, she's not bothering me. Eventually she stops pouting.

After church I...

• arranged for a couple of my girls to come for discipleship sessions
• handed out candy to the kids without making them work hard for it at all this week
• heard what the potential choices were for this year's Bible study (a book by Bunyan or Edwards) and gave my opinion
• started helping organize the Bible study kick off gathering, gave up and left it to other people, and told them to send me details and I'd email the group
• assured one grade 8 girl that my decision to change the sleepover age groups (last year it was grades 4-6 for one group and junior/senior high for the other; this year it will be grades 4-8 and 9-12) was not the end of the world and that it was done to make the numbers more even and not to torment her
• fed her chocolate so she felt better about life (she can be a bit dramatic)
• set up the Sunday School plans with my other teacher (Sunday School starts next week)
• helped that teacher find a couple good missionary biographies (she's teaching about missionaries once a month)
• found some materials for someone who teaches "Christian ethics" at a school and wanted something that wasn't fluffy
• agreed to send her the Junior Church stuff as well for use with the little kids
• spoke with her about the Christmas concert; she will bring me some programs she has so I can see if they will work for us
• accepted some donations for the church library (which was my sole librarian job today; I left everything else up to the other librarian, who had also brought in some new (to us) books)
• spoke with one of the Junior Church music people about the changes we are making to the songs and learned that she had the same concerns

It was a very productive hour!

On That Same Note...

(This one comes after the one below.)

Trying to find God's will for you outside normal means, and waiting for a word from God, and wanting to feel God's presence at all times are like are like trying to smell the color nine.

On Hearing God

I believe I've posted on this before, but I'm still thinking about it.

Confession time:
I have never heard God speak to me.
I have never heard that "still, small voice" everyone is supposed to hear.
I have never had a dream or vision from God.
I have never "felt led" to do something.
When I make big decisions, I rarely have that perfect peace that proves that what I'm doing is God's will.

When I have to make a major decision...
I pray.
I talk to people who might have good advice or ideas or who might have experience.
I look at the options, weighing the pros and cons.
Then I do whatever seems to be the best decision.
Often I have second thoughts and I worry that I made the wrong decision and I pray more.
In the end, it all works out.
God is still in control of my life, even though I don't "feel" Him.

Here's the thing:
I don't know what "feeling led" feels like.
I just do stuff that I want to do.
Sometimes I just do stuff that needs to be done.

I think that "God told me to" or "I don't feel God leading me to" are just attempts to avoid responsibility and keep people from questioning your decisions.

I take responsibility for my choices. I choose what I do or don't do, and I don't blame God for my decisions.

I've stopped wondering if I'm missing something in my walk with God or if I'm not a good enough Christian because I don't hear His voice and all that stuff. I've finally realized that God has told me everything I need to know and has written it all down for me so I can read it whenever I want. What more can I ask for?

What I'm Learning

I'm preparing my discipleship plan for Worship and Wisdom class. Everything I'm reading, from Proverbs, Matthew, and James (and various other parts) only confirms one thing:

We only have 2 choices.

We either follow God or the world, as demonstrated in wisdom or folly.

We want more choices, right? Things that are sort-of okay, or not really wrong. It's not really God's wisdom, but we're certainly not following worldly folly either.

I'm sorry, people, but such a choice does not exist. Furthermore, we have to choose wisdom deliberately: it won't just happen. And every time we are not choosing wisdom, we are by default choosing folly.

Sometimes the hard part is knowing what wisdom is in a certain situation. I think, though, that it isn't always as tough as we think (or as we want it to be so that we might have an excuse for slacking a bit). It takes work, though, and time spent reading and learning Scripture and learning to know God more and more.

Oh My...

I don't have cable or satellite television at home, so whatever I watch comes form the internet. I have happily allowed this to limit my viewing. This week I'm staying at a hotel in Grande Prairie and dealing with limited internet access (it comes and goes), so I'm watching television again. It turns out that I haven't really been missing much.

It isn't all bad. I've watched some Jeopardy and a few dramas and episodes of The Big Bang Theory and that's been fun. Tonight, though, I was bored and decided to check out Toddlers and Tiaras. All I could think was, what is wrong with these people????? The children are so totally spoiled and you cannot convince me that they all want to be in the pageants. Some of them are not quite 2 years old. And the moms...they're all paranoid and scary. You can tell that it's all about them and how their daughter's win (or loss) reflects on them. They need a life of their own so they can let the children be children. Speaking of which...who dresses a 5 year old up as Sandy from the end of Grease, complete with big hair and a cigarette? Her mom spent a lot of time trying to justify it, like she was really trying to convince herself that it was okay. The other little girls weren't much better. It actually made me very sad and I wanted to bring them all home and let them be children.

I think I had better stop watching most television again. It upsets me too much.