The Final Bow

Busy, busy around here...Dave and I leave for Israel next Friday...wowsers! Lots to do between now and then.

Since I haven't had time to write a thoughtful post, I did want to share with you another book I read a number of weeks ago now. It was one I picked up at Salvation Army in my book buying spree a couple months back. :)

The book is entitled The Final Bow, and it takes place in the 4th century during the Roman persecution of Christians. I picked it up particularly because I had read Maier's Pontius Pilate or Flames of Rome and really appreciated how they made that time in history come alive. This book is similar in that it takes a reasonably likely historical character, Genesius, and crafts a story around him. The main character is an actor who performs for Diocletian, who desires to suppress the Christians, and Galerius, who vehemently hates the Christians. Genesius scripts many plays defaming Christianity and in his "research" he infiltrates Christian gatherings and eventually converts. That, of course, is in direct conflict with his acting and leads to many difficulties for him. The story then weaves in and out through events in about one year of his life. 

It was definitely an interesting and eye-opening book into the Christian persecution under Diocletian. It was also a bit crass at times and somewhat strange at times. The crassness was probably an accurate representation of the content of the plays...and likely even toned down from what would be considered obscene. The strange aspects detracted from the book for me and made it seem less realistic and likely. So, all in all, a decent read, but I would recommend Maier's books much more highly. 

A couple weeks ago I went out to check the mail and found these in the yard 

at first I thought they were flowers and then couldn't figure out where they came from

the kids wanted to keep them...Dave thought I was pushing my lawn decoration limits

But, they were really a clever mission trip support raising idea
you paid to get them off your lawn or to send them to someone else...pretty neat

Gifts 865 - 884

This will be an atypical "gifts" post...earlier this week I had a very overwhelming-type day...I don't get those very often...so I took some time alone and spent it with the Lord reorienting myself. Part of the time I spent writing out some thanksgivings, choosing to think on true and honorable things rather than my out-of-whack feelings. Here they are:

865 - God is near
866 - God cares
867 - I am His child
868 - I don't have to be perfect
869 - God's ways are best
870 - I don't/won't always understand
871 - God is at work refining me
872 - God is forming me more into the image of His Son
873 - God will give grace for today
874 - God is enough
875 - God has a purpose
876 - Satan is not in control
877 - I can believe even if I don't see
878 - In His presence is fullness of joy
879 - Better is one day in His courts than a thousand elsewhere
880 - In Christ there is hope
881 - God is faithful to His promises
882 - The Lord hears us
883 - God delights in us
884 - Sometimes we need to be broken before we can be made whole

Know

I have been quite delinquent about keeping you all up to date on the Redemption Group process. We already completed our training on Tripp's four aspects of personal ministry: Love, Know, Speak, Do. And earlier this week we headed out to Seattle for a CinC conference on those same four things. So, here are some great concepts from the Know portion:

pg 185 Biblical personal ministry is more about perspective, identity, and calling than about fixing what is broken

186 Biblical personal ministry thrives when good exegesis of scripture leads to an accurate exegesis of a person's life. 

Knowing someone

1. We must not assume

2. We must confirm our conclusions

3. We must ask good questions...open-ended, survey and focused, progressive - always seek to find out what you don't know

How to organize information

1. Situation - what's going on?

2. Responses - what the person says/does

3. Thoughts - interpretation of their world

4. Motives - What is desired

A comment was made at the CinC this weekend that "the further you get in this process, the more humility you need." When you're getting down to the motive level, you must make sure you are not responding in a prideful way that you know what the person thinks or needs...I guess I would also say that you can cause the most hurt/damage as you are addressing motives.

"Responses arrive from thoughts and motives of the heart amidst the situation." Mike Wilkerson from CinC summed it up that way. 

Know is basically about gleaning good information...seeking to find the root behind the action. 

Pulled these pics from our trip to Mount Saint Helens 2 years ago

 

 

 

Gifts 856 - 864

Been thinking a bit about how God displays Himself all around us through people and creation.

856 - Love as shown through the tenderness between a mother and her child

857 - Joy as shown through the exuberance of childhood

858 - Peace as shown through the stillness of a lake

859 - Patience as shown by a cat silently stalking it's prey

860 - Kindness as shown by the immense beauty around us if we look for it

861 - Goodness as shown by the encouraging call of a friend

862 - Gentleness as shown by the light rustle of breeze through the trees

863 - Faithfulness as shown by an elderly man caring for his wife

864 - Self Control as shown by the dog awaiting his master's command

A friend took the kiddos on her horse a couple weeks back
 

 

 

Patience Poem

Hannah also wrote a fruit of the Spirit poem...hers is a bit more "traditional" though. :) I like that my kiddos use good words...comes from all the books they read.  

Patience

Patience is waiting when you don't want to wait

Patience is not grumbling when someone is late

Patience is not fretting when you're a little off time

With patience everything seems sublime!

Patience means listening when someone is taking a while

and keeping on listening with a smile!

Remember to have patience in all that you do

And it will make a happier you!

Dave decided to begin playing the guitar a couple of weeks ago
He and Hannah have been working on playing Bless The Lord together
 

More Josh Humor

This afternoon as we were eating lunch Josh made this comment on the heels of our discussion about not judging how others parent when you don't even have kids. “I don’t know if I want a child…I don’t even know if I’m going to get married. I’m going to wait till Hannah gets married and when she does, I’ll see if she thinks it’s easy. Then I’ll decide.”

I don't know if I should think that is brilliant or concerning. :)

This is what our living room has looked like most of this past week

the kids are recreating Josh's lego sets that have gotten destroyed in the past

 

 

 

 

My Mommy I Love...

Hi, friends...sorry it's been so quiet around here. Lots going on and not too much in a mood for writing. Hope you haven't missed us too much. :) Tonight I just wanted to share a crazy poem Josh wrote this week. I had assigned them to choose one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit and write 8 lines about it...

My mommy I love

She looks like a dove

She is so cute

She is a beut

I love my mommy so

I wouldn't say no, no

She spanks and teaches us

She doesn't let us cuss

(A couple of notes...I can't recall the last time I spanked either of the kids, and I think there was more focus on finding rhyming words that actual facts) :) Josh is a closet romantic...I'm interested in what his wife will be like. 

Some beautiful pics up near Silver Falls
(couldn't get all that way because there was still snow blocking the road)