Jaunt to the Beach

Last Friday morning, November 19, Mikaela and I met four friends in a Starbucks parking lot and embarked on a grand adventure. Our destination: the beach.

Our goal: have a fabulous time deepening friendships, fellowshipping at all times of the day and early morning, and drinking in the magnificent glory of the ocean.

Left column: Lauren, Mikaela, and Betsy.  Middle column: Sarah (top) and Katelyn.  Right column: Kaytra.

Our first predicament confronted us in the form of fitting six girls in one minivan.  Somehow, we managed to do so, but we had not an inch of space to spare!  We were soon on our way, and our car rang with laughter, Christmas music, and chatting.  We meandered our way down the coast, stopping to shop and being literally forced off the road by the first breathtaking view of the beach that appeared before us.  Could anyone drive by this without stopping?

Photo stop over with, we tentatively maneuvered down the road on which our rented cottage lay, eyeing the rundown houses we prayed were not ours, and holding our breath when we saw a particularly extravagent one. Ours turned out to be completely adorable, and was never loved so much by any of its previous occupants, I am sure. We exclaimed over everything from the adorable gingerbread to the charming gabled rooms to the eccentric but somehow completely loveable leopard print carpet that covered every inch of the cozy house. With a hot tub and plenty of sleeping space, the only fault we could find with our temporary home was the fact that it only contained one mirror!

Before the sun went down, we dashed down to the beach (which means we walked a block!), and snapped photo after photo of the beautiful sights that met our eyes. Even the chilly November day could not dampen our excitement!

That evening, we enjoyed a delicious supper, a dip in the scalding hot tub, an introduction (for Mikaela and I)to the newest Sense and Sensibility movie, and a rousing game of Split Second.

The next morning, however, we had determined to be dedicated, conscientous, and healthy by going for a morning run on the beach. What we weren't counting on was a high tide that covered the entire sandy beach, leaving high and dry only rocky hills that were too rough to run on.  A few hundred feet of jogging in knee-high water was all it took to convince us to turn back.  There was nothing else for it but to laugh, shrug our shoulders, and splash each other a bit before we headed back to our cottage to dry off and begin our day.

We had a precious time together of singing favorite hymns and studying a chapter of the Psalms.  It was so good to talk deeply with like-minded girls of the wonders of God's Word!  We could hardly tear ourselves away to commence the rest of our day, but by the time we did it was time for us to have a picnic on the beach! 

The rest of the day was filled with blissful photo-snapping, shopping, and marveling at the beautiful, rain-free weather God had given us! 

The sunset finally brought us back to our cottage, hungry and ready for an exciting evening in!  Mikaela and I were the chefs for the night, and we inflicted on the girls the experience of our "mystery" dinner.  Every part of the menu (pizza, salad, cookies, and soda) was numbered, and we gave the girls the blind choice of any three menu items from 1-11 for the first course.  Some found themselves presented with napkins and salad dressing, but nothing else to eat! 

We had a lot of fun, and they were good sports despite our mistakes which hilariously resulted in three of them being without a salad for almost the entire meal.
Notice the leopard print carpet in the picture below? (-:

The next morning dawned rainy and foggy, and we hurried to be out of our cottage by the check-out time.  Laundry, vacuuming, and dish-washing were all accomplished in record time, and we had another wonderful time of Bible study before we closed the door on our little cottage. 

But our adventures were only beginning, because while we were preparing to leave Seaside, someone noticed that one of our tires was exceptionally low on air.  We soon solved the problem with a visit to a gas station and were on our way to get lunch when everyone's phones summarily began to ring.  All our parents were calling to inform us that snow was beginning to build up back home, and with us still having to drive over an hour on a two-lane highway and down an infamously steep hill, they were becoming quite concerned.  We skedaddled back to the van, only to have our light bulb moment: the tire had been low because a charming little nail had dug itself deep within the rubber and the tire was now protesting with nasty hissing noises.  We stared at each other in disbelief before deciding that six cold girls trooping into the Napa auto parts store might do the trick.  Nope.  But the helpful Napa guy directed us back the direction we had just come from to a place that could fix the tire, since he wasn't offering.  Here we are, doing--what else in such a situation?--laughing and taking pictures under the stern glare of a mounted buck while waiting for our tire to be fixed!

The Lord was watching out for us during the entire escapade, for we were soon on the road with our tire in one piece (!) and six pairs of eyes on the lookout for snow.  The frosty white trees were beautiful, but not much snow appeared on the highway while we were driving home, for which we were intensely grateful!

And all too soon, our beach weekend ended--just before dusk, with snow gathering on the ground, and six tired but happy girls hugging each other good-bye. 

"Haystack Rock"

One Nation Under God

Does the Constitution follow God's Law? Is the Bill of Rights lawful? What about the Prohibition—was that lawful? The environmental regulations? Fair working laws? And how about the most recent quandary—TSA’s screenings which digitally disrobe you in the airport, or their intimate pat downs? All of these things are legal, but are they lawful?

You must begin with a basic presupposition: the government does not have the authority to punish all sins. This is because all crimes are sins—but not all sins are crimes. Certainly, we are not able to go back to the theistic government of ancient Israel, but God is still the lawmaker, and His law book—the Ten Commandments—provides the basis for determining unlawful “crimes.” The Constitution, you see, is based very much on the laws of God, as is the Bill of Rights. The Prohibition is a difficult subject in that, at the very least, the manner in which the law was carried out was unlawful. And yes—every other example I presented is also not under the government’s jurisdiction. The government has no authority or hope of regulating its citizens into perfection. When it attempts to litigate every sin, it produces infringement of basic freedoms and liberty.

The real problem, however, goes back to our understanding of God. We have failed to live each and every day with the reality of God’s Judgment. We have forgotten that everyone will receive his just reward—not from the government, but from God.

“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you….Behold, the Judge is standing at the door (James 5:1-6, 9b)!”


By looking to the government to protect us from immorality, drugs, alcohol, irresponsibility, and unethical behavior, we have created an idol and worshipped it. And yet this government which we are so willing to worship is the very antithesis of God—it condones immorality, divorce, debt, and the murder of society’s most helpless. We have become willing to give up our rights to privacy, modesty, free speech, and entrepreneurism because we are afraid to trust in God’s ultimate sovereignty and judgment. It is time that we take our trust from the instable, immoral, and unlawful reaches of the ever-expanding government and place it back where it belongs—our Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God.

As citizens of both an earthly and a heavenly country, we must therefore live in faith. Punishing those sins which are crimes and trusting God for His ultimate judgment of man, we will be released from the immense burden of taking God’s job on our shoulders. It is not man’s responsibility to seek vengeance. “For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. And again, ‘The LORD will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:30-31).”



Note: Please do not presume that I am advocating a revolt, revolution, or rebellion. I firmly believe that government is from the Lord, and it is my desire that we remember this and keep government in its proper place—subordinate to God.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The inspiration for this post was taken from "There's 'illegal,' and there's unlawful, and in a righteous society, they would be the same." I have not perused the blog beyond this article, so use discretion.

Photo Credit

Your Fingerprint on the Future

In eighty years, it is more than likely that you and I will both be dead. For that matter, in two hundred years, all that will remain of us will be a tombstone and a pile of dust in a coffin, if that. Most of our names will be forgotten, except in the eternal remembrance of a dusty old family tree. Blogs may not exist. Telephones may be as extinct as the telegraph now is.

Most people have a difficult time imagining their lives ten years from now, and they would simply laugh at the idea of planning for eighty years into the future. The Barna Group conducted a fascinating survey last year of teenagers, asking, “What do you expect will happen in your life by age 25?” You can view the complete results here, and you will find the numbers intriguing.  93% predict that they will definitely or probably have a college degree, but only 39% will definitely have a close relationship with God. 81% hope to have a great-paying job, and 71% plan on travelling to other countries, yet only 58% definitely or probably plan to be married. In the most ironic twist, 24% of teens are definite that by age 25 they will have a job that makes a difference. But only 7% plan on serving the poor regularly and only 9% are definitely planning on having children before age 25!  For the young people of today, any planning ahead is centered on careers and prosperity, and the idea of making a difference in one's own family is a foreign thought. 

Now, forget age 25—envision 2090 and 2210. If the Lord tarries, there will be ten year olds, twenty year olds, and thirty year olds who will hardly know your name, and could care less what countries you visited and what numbers were scribbled on your paycheck. But these are people who will have your same nose, your same talent for curling their tongues, and your same fatal flaws. These are people whose goals and strengths and weaknesses and very lives hang on your choices today: you are bequeathing to them an inheritance, whether you like it or not.  Think back to 1930, and the great-grandparents who were working and sleeping and living then. You may not know it, but it is more than likely—in fact, it is almost certain—that they fought the very same battles you are fighting today. Don’t you wonder if they won? Don’t you wonder if they never could gain victory over that one weakness, and if it is the same one you now wrestle with today? Wouldn’t it change how you live your life if you knew that someone who lived eighty years ago prayed for you specifically to follow Christ?

I’m here to tell you that multi-generational thinking is not just for conferences and parents and grandparents. It is the most incalculably short-sighted folly for young people to become so absorbed in their own lives that they cannot see past their fleeting goals for age 25.  It is the most immeasurably shameful delusion for young people to really believe that having a vision for the future is fulfilled in their well-laid plans for education and travel. 

Having vision for the future is not a command of God that we do not have to fulfill until we get married. Singleness, youth, childlessness, and busyness are not exemptions from investing yourself in future generations. Deuteronomy 4:9 is an all-encompassing, no holds barred kind of command: “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself[present], lest you forget the things your eyes have seen[past], and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren[future].”  Seeing with multi-generational eyes means seeing just a little more like our God who is unbound by time sees.  Why else would He constantly reiterate that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob unless He views His people from within the framework of the previous and future generations?   If God thinks multi-generationally, how can we continue thinking only in decades?  We have no excuse. 

There is no possible excuse because a thirteen year old can already start praying for the spouse that God has planned for her.

And if you’re fourteen, you have no excuse because you can diligently pursue serious quiet time every day, knowing that one day you will have little children looking up at you with shining eyes, waiting for your answers to their most difficult questions. 

If you’re fifteen, you can pour yourself into obeying your father and his vision for the next generations.

If you’re sixteen, you can keep a journal and record your own pitfalls and stumblings—and how the Lord has worked in your life.

If you’re eighteen and newly graduated from high school, you can live with decisiveness, working every minute for God’s kingdom, not defaulting to college because it’s the thing to do.

If you’re twenty and still single, you can follow God with all your heart and soul, because the choice between right and wrong that you make today will have repercussions for centuries.
If you're twenty-seven, you can intercede before the throne of God for your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. 

If you’re forty and have no children, you can still find children in every church and on every street whose lives are just waiting for investment, prayer, and vision in order to blossom.

In short, if you are breathing and you are a Christian, know that having a successful vision for the children of your children to love the Lord Jesus does not start when those children are born: it started when you were born. The future generations must live worthy of their inheritance, but you must live to bequeath a worthy one. 

Picture Credit: CameliaTWU
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Always Winter and Never Christmas

For millions of children, Christmas is but a fantasy--like a cozy storefront window they must be content to adore from the frigid sidewalk. Samaritan's Purse, however, has given us an incredible opportunity to not only bless these children with a shoebox full of presents and love, but to experience the blessings of giving and of emulating the Wise Men who gave the first sacrificial gifts to their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This weekend, we shopped and looked and laughed and talked and bought and wrapped and laughed and talked as we filled a shoebox full of goodies for a five to nine year-old girl and one for a ten to fourteen year-old boy. What fun it was to spend time together as siblings, and what a delight it was to drop off our boxes at the designated church and hear that our middle-sized community had mustered 1100 boxes last year, and was aiming for 3000 this year.

"Operation Christmas Child," as Samaritan's Purse has dubbed their enormous project, is hoping to send out more than 8 million shoeboxes to children all over the globe this year. Their stated mission is "To demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ."

All you have to do is fill a cardboard or plastic shoebox with everything to delight a child's spirit (check with the website for prohibited items and suggestions), print out a label for your box, and enclose $7 to cover the shipping (this year, you can now pay the $7 online and print out a handy barcode which they will use to track your box and let you know where it ends up!). Go online to find a local drop off point--many churches participate in this. Please hurry, though, because this week only is National Collection Week.

Watch this video for more information (as well as a plug from the adorable Georgie Henley for THE upcoming movie of the year, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader).

Won't you take a few hours out of your week to fill a shoebox and drop it off? I can't think of a better way to brighten your corner!


PS--As I typed this up, the entire house suffered one jarring shake, with my seat lurching up, and my laptop screen bouncing like a sheet of paper. Just a minor (4.2) earthquake with no apparent damages, though it was felt from Seattle to Oregon, but enough to get the day started with a bang!

Blessed are Those Who Lay Down and Die?

Contemporary society prizes above all other qualities independence, self-assertiveness, and the ability to stand up for what you want and deserve. Numerous are the gurus who proclaim that meekness is a condition that requires psychological help. Take for example the article “How to ditch meekness and walk tall.” The author helpfully begins,

“Are you a meek person? If so, your life may be ruled by others, and it’s time to ditch meekness. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But it’s not. Because meekness is a habitual response to the challenges of life. And it takes time and effort to change ingrained habits. The root of meekness is low self-esteem. When our self-esteem is low, we respond to the challenges of life with doubts and fears….For example, if you were bullied, shut up, abused, or controlled as a child, you may well suffer from meekness. I say 'suffer' because meekness doesn’t make you happy; it leads to an unfulfilled life.”

After all, can you imagine a world that didn’t suffer from the scourge of meekness? It’s a world in which, if someone cuts in line, they are thrown dirty, glaring looks and at the very least receive a sarcastic comment.  It’s a world in which you only need to plant yourself at any customer service desk for a few hours in order to get a feel for how vocally and staunchly otherwise calm people will advocate for themselves if they feel they have been ripped off.

And what if we zoom in closer to home? The chore system in our house works like a well-greased machine most of the time, but if someone is gone, the machine suddenly squeaks to a halt as everyone stands around wondering who in the world could possibly fill in for the extra work. (“Do you think we should we hire a maid to fill in for the day since we couldn’t possibly do chores that weren’t assigned to us?”) Or a sister is playing on the piano, and I march up: “It’s my practice time. Get off.” From giving a ten-point persuasive argument on why we should watch the movie of my choice to making sure that everyone’s schedule revolves around me, the missing quality in all of this is meekness, and a world that doesn’t “suffer” from meekness sounds all too familiar. It is not a world in which I want to live. Standing up for what is right is always good, but standing up for your rights may not always be.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to make sure you aren’t swindled, but I’m asking what would be so very bad about saying when someone cuts in front of you, “Oh here, let me move my things so you have room to set your groceries down.” We have heard the encouragement to give an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but what would be so wrong about turning the other cheek for someone to slap after they slapped the first one? And “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.(Matthew 5:40-42)”

George Washington is heralded as the Father of our Country—the Father of our independence and Yankee gumption, and he led America to victory against impossible odds. And yet he was a man who refused to be made king in the face of cheering and determined throngs; he was a unanimously popular leader who graciously declined to run for president for a third term, so meek and humble was he. In no other person is Matthew 5:5 better exemplified: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

And blessed are the meek, Jesus says, not cursed are those who suffer from the ailment of meekness. Jesus blesses the quality most abhorred by modern society! We have no ballads for those who quietly work behind the scenes, no awards for the one who gives up her own long-awaited desire so that someone else can enjoy the day, no Oscar-winning movies celebrating the meek. The Greeks viewed meekness as condescension, and today we think the word means laying down and dying. It is one of the most untranslatable words of Scripture, but Bible scholar Zodhiates describes prautes, one of the Greek words translated as “meek” in this way:

“Prautes, according to Aristotle, is the middle standing between two extremes, getting angry without reason, and not getting angry at all. Therefore, prautes is getting angry at the right time, in the right measure, and for the right reason. . . . [I]t is a condition of mind and heart which demonstrates gentleness, not in weakness, but in power. It is a balance born in strength of character[1].”

A meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great price (I Peter 3:4), and rest assured that it will cost you dearly. But when you really stop to think about it, wouldn't you say the inheritance of the earth is worth quite a bit too?

Picture Credit Martian haemoglobin x in paris
1. Zodhiates, Spiros. The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament. Pg. 1209-1210. 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.