Here is another one of "my" girls!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=009guFEmftU
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
I had a great weekend. I was blessed to be able to go and spend time with Hannah in Tacoma. It was wonderful and I really, really needed it! I have found that with my crazy life here that I have had to remove myself from the area in order to truly rest and recover. We had so much fun watching movies (Fred Claus - very cute), getting a pedicure, going out to eat, going and seeing Rob Bell (who was new to me), sleeping in, shopping, etc. She is a dear friend and it was great spending time with her. Next time I travel up there I will take Jasmin.
Speaking of Jasmin, the honeymoon is definitely over! I need to be sensitive of her and can't write anything since this is somewhat public - but if you want details let me know.:-)
Cheer has been very, very hard. Last night I had to dismiss a girl from the squad. Even after she had PLENTY of warning, I was literally sick over it and felt like I was breaking up with a boyfriend or something. I did not want to do it but knew it was the right and fair thing to do. Anyway, I am glad it is over but I am praying that she will be able to continue on in her life OK (not that cheer is everything but I don't want her to think that I didn't 'want' her) and that she will be able to make better decisions in all areas. Other then that the girls are tired (as am I) and we are all ready to be done for a while. The good thing is that basketball doesn't really start until after the new year. The bad thing is that we are going to playoffs for football and who knows when that will end.
Here is an updated pic of my niece:
I saw her at lunch. She is the cutest ever. She tells me "hi" and gives me a big smile when I see her. Today I heard her say "no" for the first time and I had to force myself to keep from laughing. She is so darn smart too. Such a delight!
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
I read this online this morning. It can be found on Time.com. It is very interesting...to say the least. Thoughts?
By DAVID VAN BIEMA Tue Nov 6, 12:30 AM ET
On questions relating to the Bible's treatment of family and morals, one might expect assurance, if not rigidity, from Evangelical Christianity. So, it may surprise many to learn how "live" the topic of divorce remains in Evangelical circles. Last month, the cover story of the monthly Christianity Today was titled "When to Separate What God has Joined: A Closer Reading on the Bible on Divorce." The heated controversy provoked by the story showed how Biblically flexible some Evangelicals can be - especially when God's word seems at odds not just with modern American behavior, but also with simple human kindness.
As the article's author, the British Evangelical scholar David Instone-Brewer, points out, for most of 2,000 years Christians have viewed divorce through two scriptural citations. In Matthew, the pharisees ask Christ, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?" Jesus refers to the Old Testament and then replies, "Whoever divorces a wife, except for sexual indecency, commits adultery." The apostle Paul adds in the book First Corinthians that a Christian is "not bound" to a non-Christian spouse who abandons him. Simple, right?
Instone-Brewer radically reinterprets the first passage using, of all things, quotation marks. The Greek of the New Testament didn't always contain them, and scholars agree that sometimes they must be added in to make sense of it. Instone-Brewer, an expert in Jewish thought during Jesus's era, writes that Christ's interlocutors were not asking him whether there was any cause at all for divorce, but whether he supported something called "any-cause" divorce, a term a little bit like "no-fault" that allowed husbands to divorce wives for any reason at all. Instone-Brewer claims Jesus's "no" was a response to this idea, and that his "except for sexual indecency" condition was not a statement of the sole exemption from God's blanket prohibition, but merely Christ's reiteration of one of several divorce permissions in the Old Testament - one he felt the "any-time" advocates had exaggerated. Finally, Instone-Brewer tallies four grounds for divorce he finds affirmed in both Old and New Testaments: adultery, emotional and sexual neglect, abandonment (by anyone) and abuse.
Christianity Today has written previously on divorce, often bemoaning how easy it is in today's America. However, the Instone-Brewer essay appeared to be its editors' attempt to offer Evangelicals an escape from a classic dilemma. The "plain sense" of Jesus's words without quotes seems clear enough, but also inhumane: how could a loving God forbid divorce, even by omission, in cases of wife-beating, or of abandonment by a Christian spouse?
Each branch of Christianity deals with divorce in its own way: Catholicism bans it entirely, but many divorced and remarried couples nonetheless find that their conscience permits them to take Communion. Liberal Protestantism accepted divorce some decades ago without much engagement of the scriptural issue. Evangelicals define themselves as being tightly bound by scripture. But besides the humanitarian problem, there are some uncomfortable facts on the ground: The divorce rate among Evangelicals, which first became news after polls released by the Barna Research Group in 2001, has been as high or higher than the national average.
The Evangelical movement has actually made tremendous accommodations given the strictures it lives under. Ministries for the newly divorced are common at megachurches; and on the historically less-rigid Pentecostal side of the spectrum, celebrity preachers Juanita Bynum and Paula White both recently announced their intention to divorce. Most experts interviewed for this story attested that whereas 30 years ago, a pastor might well order a battered woman home to return her husband, that is rare today.
More conservative Evangelicals remain uneasy about divorce. If a split itself is inescapable, notes Christianity Today editor Andy Crouch, "remarriage is where the rubber meets the road," and many remarried couples find themselves denied church membership. Says Russel Moore, dean of the 16.3 million-member Southern Baptist Convention's influential Southern Seminary, "We teach our future pastors that marriage is a lifelong, one-flesh union." Any woman in an abusive marriage should "leave that situation," he acknowledges, and a "majority" probably accept remarriage. Asked if he does, Moore demurred: "Let me think about that for a little bit. I could answer in a way that would be very easily misunderstood."
Evangelical conflict on the topic was obvious in reader response to the Instone Brewer essay. Initially the mail was heavily negative. The most stinging broadside sas a column by John Piper, a respected theological conservative, that called the essay not just weak but "tragic." The magazine's editor in chief, David Neff, felt the need to explain online that "Instone-Brewer's article did not... give people carte blanche on divorce." The mail eventually leveled off at 60% negative to 40% positive.
Still, the controversy suggests that even the country's most rule-bound Christians will search for a fresh understanding of scripture when it seems unjust to them. The implications? Flexibility on divorce may mean that evangelicals could also rethink their position on such things as gay marriage, as a generation of Christians far more accepting of homosexuality begins to move into power. (The ever-active Barna folks have found that 57% of "born-again" Christians age 16-29 criticize their own church for being "anti-homosexual.") It could also give heart to a certain twice-divorced former New York mayor who is running for President and seeking the conservative vote. But that may be pushing things a bit.
By DAVID VAN BIEMA Tue Nov 6, 12:30 AM ET
On questions relating to the Bible's treatment of family and morals, one might expect assurance, if not rigidity, from Evangelical Christianity. So, it may surprise many to learn how "live" the topic of divorce remains in Evangelical circles. Last month, the cover story of the monthly Christianity Today was titled "When to Separate What God has Joined: A Closer Reading on the Bible on Divorce." The heated controversy provoked by the story showed how Biblically flexible some Evangelicals can be - especially when God's word seems at odds not just with modern American behavior, but also with simple human kindness.
As the article's author, the British Evangelical scholar David Instone-Brewer, points out, for most of 2,000 years Christians have viewed divorce through two scriptural citations. In Matthew, the pharisees ask Christ, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?" Jesus refers to the Old Testament and then replies, "Whoever divorces a wife, except for sexual indecency, commits adultery." The apostle Paul adds in the book First Corinthians that a Christian is "not bound" to a non-Christian spouse who abandons him. Simple, right?
Instone-Brewer radically reinterprets the first passage using, of all things, quotation marks. The Greek of the New Testament didn't always contain them, and scholars agree that sometimes they must be added in to make sense of it. Instone-Brewer, an expert in Jewish thought during Jesus's era, writes that Christ's interlocutors were not asking him whether there was any cause at all for divorce, but whether he supported something called "any-cause" divorce, a term a little bit like "no-fault" that allowed husbands to divorce wives for any reason at all. Instone-Brewer claims Jesus's "no" was a response to this idea, and that his "except for sexual indecency" condition was not a statement of the sole exemption from God's blanket prohibition, but merely Christ's reiteration of one of several divorce permissions in the Old Testament - one he felt the "any-time" advocates had exaggerated. Finally, Instone-Brewer tallies four grounds for divorce he finds affirmed in both Old and New Testaments: adultery, emotional and sexual neglect, abandonment (by anyone) and abuse.
Christianity Today has written previously on divorce, often bemoaning how easy it is in today's America. However, the Instone-Brewer essay appeared to be its editors' attempt to offer Evangelicals an escape from a classic dilemma. The "plain sense" of Jesus's words without quotes seems clear enough, but also inhumane: how could a loving God forbid divorce, even by omission, in cases of wife-beating, or of abandonment by a Christian spouse?
Each branch of Christianity deals with divorce in its own way: Catholicism bans it entirely, but many divorced and remarried couples nonetheless find that their conscience permits them to take Communion. Liberal Protestantism accepted divorce some decades ago without much engagement of the scriptural issue. Evangelicals define themselves as being tightly bound by scripture. But besides the humanitarian problem, there are some uncomfortable facts on the ground: The divorce rate among Evangelicals, which first became news after polls released by the Barna Research Group in 2001, has been as high or higher than the national average.
The Evangelical movement has actually made tremendous accommodations given the strictures it lives under. Ministries for the newly divorced are common at megachurches; and on the historically less-rigid Pentecostal side of the spectrum, celebrity preachers Juanita Bynum and Paula White both recently announced their intention to divorce. Most experts interviewed for this story attested that whereas 30 years ago, a pastor might well order a battered woman home to return her husband, that is rare today.
More conservative Evangelicals remain uneasy about divorce. If a split itself is inescapable, notes Christianity Today editor Andy Crouch, "remarriage is where the rubber meets the road," and many remarried couples find themselves denied church membership. Says Russel Moore, dean of the 16.3 million-member Southern Baptist Convention's influential Southern Seminary, "We teach our future pastors that marriage is a lifelong, one-flesh union." Any woman in an abusive marriage should "leave that situation," he acknowledges, and a "majority" probably accept remarriage. Asked if he does, Moore demurred: "Let me think about that for a little bit. I could answer in a way that would be very easily misunderstood."
Evangelical conflict on the topic was obvious in reader response to the Instone Brewer essay. Initially the mail was heavily negative. The most stinging broadside sas a column by John Piper, a respected theological conservative, that called the essay not just weak but "tragic." The magazine's editor in chief, David Neff, felt the need to explain online that "Instone-Brewer's article did not... give people carte blanche on divorce." The mail eventually leveled off at 60% negative to 40% positive.
Still, the controversy suggests that even the country's most rule-bound Christians will search for a fresh understanding of scripture when it seems unjust to them. The implications? Flexibility on divorce may mean that evangelicals could also rethink their position on such things as gay marriage, as a generation of Christians far more accepting of homosexuality begins to move into power. (The ever-active Barna folks have found that 57% of "born-again" Christians age 16-29 criticize their own church for being "anti-homosexual.") It could also give heart to a certain twice-divorced former New York mayor who is running for President and seeking the conservative vote. But that may be pushing things a bit.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Yum, lunchtime. But what to do for lunch today? As I decided I thought I would take a moment to say "hi" to all of you out there in blog world. I hope that you are enjoying your lunch break at this very moment!
Not much to update you on. Things are pretty much the same in my world. I have been painting my house little by little. It is more tedious then anything. I am really excited to see the finished product. My favorite of course is my red kitchen.:-)
This weekend I am going to the Bulldog game with my dad. He has season tickets but my brother always gets the other ticket. He couldn't go this weekend so I got to snag it. It is my first game in four years so I am super excited about going.
Thanksgiving is only three weeks from today. Isn't that so bizarre?
I have been battling many self esteem attacks lately. Instead of giving details, which this isn't exactly the proper forum for that, I can sum it up by just saying that I am feeling rather "unlovely." I have noticed that this is a constant current in my life that just acts up every once in a while. It just seems to be that time again. No fun, but it will subside.
I am going to a work conference in San Francisco on Tuesday and come home on Thursday. On Friday I leave for Tacoma to visit one of my besties, Hannah, and spend the holiday weekend with her. I'm super excited! I really, really need a vacation and this will be a great trip I'm sure.
Sullivan was a lion for Halloween. If you ask her what a lion says she will quickly tell you, "Rawr!" She is pretty much the cutest kid in the world.;-) Can't wait to have some of my own...hopefully sooner rather then later.
OK, I think I am going to go to Subway! Mmmmm...:-) Happy November!
Not much to update you on. Things are pretty much the same in my world. I have been painting my house little by little. It is more tedious then anything. I am really excited to see the finished product. My favorite of course is my red kitchen.:-)
This weekend I am going to the Bulldog game with my dad. He has season tickets but my brother always gets the other ticket. He couldn't go this weekend so I got to snag it. It is my first game in four years so I am super excited about going.
Thanksgiving is only three weeks from today. Isn't that so bizarre?
I have been battling many self esteem attacks lately. Instead of giving details, which this isn't exactly the proper forum for that, I can sum it up by just saying that I am feeling rather "unlovely." I have noticed that this is a constant current in my life that just acts up every once in a while. It just seems to be that time again. No fun, but it will subside.
I am going to a work conference in San Francisco on Tuesday and come home on Thursday. On Friday I leave for Tacoma to visit one of my besties, Hannah, and spend the holiday weekend with her. I'm super excited! I really, really need a vacation and this will be a great trip I'm sure.
Sullivan was a lion for Halloween. If you ask her what a lion says she will quickly tell you, "Rawr!" She is pretty much the cutest kid in the world.;-) Can't wait to have some of my own...hopefully sooner rather then later.
OK, I think I am going to go to Subway! Mmmmm...:-) Happy November!
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