Batteries
I think the batteries in our house need a recharge. All of the kids, Eric, and I have battled a stomach bug this past week. Yuck. Between the stacks of paper plates and dirty laundry there have been a few gasps for air. Last night we felt well enough to go shagging with some friends only to find that it wiped Eric out for another day today. Poor thing! I think he’s lost 20 pounds. The kids are trying to understand why they are staying in their pajamas so much, and there’s not much to capture on the camera this week. (It actually does need recharged batteries.)
God is good to us! Yesterday some friends gave us lots of diapers and baby supplies that they didn’t need, and that was just a blessing. Whenever we have a hard week at home, there is always some way God smiles on us. He is so good.
Here is what I did tonight in efforts to update my web design site. When I originally designed Goodlikeamedicine.com, I put it together more quickly than I would have liked. I had a lot on my plate at the time, and I was happy with the basics I created. Recently I have been brainstorming a more whimsical /”me” design for the site in my head. When I took the shot of the kids on the bed last week, I knew I would use it for the design. So cute! I drew the images with my own pen (um, yes, that’s supposed to be a boat), and I think I like the colors. I’ve thought about changing the orange to red, brown, or yellow, though. I’m working on a permanent logo for my web design and lydia’s closet store that will be incorporated into the site in the future, but first I need to finish a few real design projects. After all I’m not getting paid to redesign my own site! I am still looking for more projects as I start freelancing. If you or someone you know is interested, just contact me.
The links and pages aren’t “live” and working yet, but you can get the idea. I’m working on a few bugs in Internet Explorer, so if you’re using that (awful!) browser (haha), it’s not going to look the best. Anyway, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, and have a great week.
Infants, Sorrow, Sex, Discovery, Disagreement
These are some of the topics we discussed at our home with our church small group last night in regards to eternity in heaven. We are almost finished reading through Alcorn’s Heaven. Wow! This book just gets me excited.I really wish I would have taken the time to share from our past discussions here; maybe I will find a chance to share some insights, quotes, and questions from the last few months of our readings. Here are some brief excerpts (there is so much more than this in the book) that prompted our conversations last night. I would love to read your responses on them as well.Regarding marriage
“The one-flesh maritial union we know on Earth is a signpost pointing to our relationship with Christ as our bridegroom. Once we reach the destination, the signpost becomes unnecessary. That one marriage – our marriage to Christ – will be so completely satisfying that even the most wonderful earthly marriage couldn’t be as fulfilling…Jesus said the institution of human marriage would end, having fulfilled its purpose. But he never hinted that deep relationships between married people would end…The notion that relationships with family and friends will be lost in Heaven, though common, is unbiblical. It denies the clear doctrine of continuity between this life and the next and suggests our earthly lives and relationships have no eternal consequence.” (337).
Sex?
“Because sex was designed to be part of a marriage relationship, marriage and sex logically belong together. Because we’re told that humans won’t be married to each other, and sex is intended for marriage, then logically we won’t be engaging in sex. This appears to be, then, an exception to the principle of continuity. However, since there’s a different sort of continuity between earthly marriage and the marriage of Christ to his church, there may also be some way in which the intimacy and pleasure we now know as sex will also be fulfilled in some higher form. I don’t know what that would be, but I do know that sex was designed by God, and I don’t expect him to discard it without replacing it with something better” (338).
Addressing our questions about children who die
“Scripture makes no reference to an ‘age of accountability,’ and it certainly doesn’t teach the moral innocence of children… If infants be saved, it is not because of any natural innocence. They enter heaven by the very same way we do: they are received in the name of Christ…How could a child be born again without consciously choosing Christ? Scripture opens the door to the answer to this question through its teaching that God has a special love for children (Matthew 18, 19, Ezekiel 16:21, Psalm 8:2, Matthew 21:16, Luke 1:15, Jeremiah 1:5, 2 Samuel 12:23)…more” (340-341).
A sobering reflection
“Everyone deserves Hell. No one deserves Heaven. Jesus went to the cross to offer salvation to all (1 John 2:2)…We’ll embrace God’s holiness and justice. We’ll praise him for his goodness and grace…Although it will inevitably sound harsh, I offer this further thought: in a sense, none of our loved ones will be in Hell –only some whom we once loved. Our love for our companions in Heaven will be directly linked to God, the central object of our love. We will see him in them. We will not love those in Hell because when we see Jesus as he is, we will love only – and will only want to love- whoever and whatever pleases and glorifies him. What we loved in those who died without Christ was God’s beauty we once saw in them. When God forever withdraws from them, I think they’ll no longer bear his image and no longer reflect his beauty. Although they will be the same people, without God they’ll be stripped of all the qualities we loved. Therefore, paridoxically, in a sense they will not be the people we loved” (348).
Will we ever disagree in heaven?
Some of us will have insights others don’t. Some will have a better understanding in one area, others in a different area. Our beliefs can be accurate but incomplete, since we’ll not be omniscient…The companionship of other finite beings involves discussion and dialogue, which creates progress through synergy. That synergy involves differences and even disagreements…Even though Christ’s insights would be absolutely accurate, that doesn’t mean we’ll always fully understand them. God made us learners. That’s part of being finite” (349).
And finally, pondering the discovery of New Earth
“Wouldn’t it be great to travel to Heaven together simultaneously? Wouldn’t it be great to be like Lewis and Clark, discovering together the wonders of the new world? In fact, that’s precisely what Scripture tells us will happen. Though we go to the intermediate heaven [this term is one Alcorn uses frequently to describe the place Christians live until God redeems the earth and resurrects all of his children] one at a time as we die, all of us will be charter citizens of New Earth. We’ll be resurrected together and set foot on the New Earth together. We’ll discover what no one else has ever seen. We’ll share our discoveries together, grabbing each other by the hand and saying, ‘You can’t believe what Jesus made – an animal I’ve never dreamed of. You’ve got to come see it!’” (350).
Some of the other questions in this section were ones I enjoyed:
Will we want anyone besides Christ? What will we remember? Will all people be equal? Will we have privacy? Will we witness together God’s new creation? Who will our friends be in heaven? Will we recognize each other? Will there be private ownership? Will we regain lost relational opportunities? What will our reunions be like?
(I was happy to see that you can click here to read Alcorn’s online answers to some of these questions.)(audio: will heaven be boring?)(audio: we will learn in heaven)(audio: it is not selfish to want the rewards of heaven)No matter what you have believed or been told in the past, the fact is the Bible has much to say that may shock us about heaven. Yes, to the buddhist it seems irrelevant to ask these questions, and asking them leads to self-seeking dead-ends. But for Christians there is an entirely different perspective. God loves us as individuals. He made us each in his own image, and we are of value to him. These are important, relevant, and exciting topics to mill through our brains. We need to think about these things, and it is good and right to be excited about all God has in store for each of us. These questions stir our hearts as we walk here on this earth, knowing that in Christ God’s children will one day dwell in eternity with him through his blood!
Wide-eyed
Sometimes I am like a mean, spoiled brat when it comes to appreciating my husband, but most of the time I feel like a little kid who gets unplanned extra credit on a test. I find myself shaking my head in disbelief that someone so wonderful tells me over and over how much he loves me, how beautiful I am to him, and how happy he is with me.
He doesn’t say much, even to me. He wears a smile most hours of the day, and he lets me snuggle with him even when he’s really burning up from all of the blankets I like to swaddle around me. He loves God so much, and he really cares about other people and ministering to them.
In many ways we are still newlyweds. We have welcomed three children into the world in our short five years of marriage, and we have moved three times. (We don’t like to be bored.) In all seriousness we can tell people who want to get married and love God through marriage, “Do it. You will never love so much, work so hard, and see God’s grace in your growth with someone else who holds your own hand and heart.”
This week we have looked forward to our anniversary, and today I pray that my incredible Eric knows my love in a deep, powerful way that words cannot express.
We watched our wedding video yesterday with the kids.
Steven grabbed his microphone and tried to sing with daddy and mommy!
Get to know me
Here’s a few random facts about myself – feel free to fill in the blanks for yourself in the comments, so I can get to know you more, too. (This is my nonconformist version of a “tagging meme”) –
- I used to be a gymnast.
- I used to drink sodas.
- I used to keep journals using Mead folders and notebook paper.
- I have never had jury duty.
- I have never cheated on a test.
- I have never dyed my hair.
- I wear inexpensive jewelry.
- I wear Burt’s beeswax chapstick.
- I wear a Baby Bjorn.
- I love the sound of a busy city.
- I love the sound of a typewriter.
- I love the sound of a river.
- I once had a dislocated hip.
- I once jumped out of an airplane.
- I once wore a homecoming crown.
- I feel at home in flannel.
- I feel at home in a body of believing Christians.
- I feel at home beside my dad in his recliner.
- I will always like chocolate.
- I will always seek truth.
- I will always live.
(And here’s a little “get to know my sweet kids” video – Steven loves to feed Meredith now, and Lydia still likes to tell him what to do – haha) 
So tired
I probably shouldn’t write a blog post when I’m this tired, but oh well. I don’t share enough when I’m feeling like this, and I think it’s healthy and encouraging to other moms out there. Take it for what it’s worth I guess. I’m still going to look to God, run to the Cross, and find my strength in Him, and in this moment I just need to be honest and recognize my weakness. I’m tired. It’s likely a combination of multiple causes, but all I know right now is that I’m pretty beat. I just emailed Eric at work and apologized in advance for how tired I am and in need of some time alone to clear my head (’cause I know June Cleaver’s not gonna be opening the door tonight when he gets home)!
Some people love to be on the go. I am like that to a very strange extent. I like to be very productive, and I think of ideas to implement and creative ways to be a better wife and mom constantly. But I don’t enjoy getting in the car with 3 kids and going places hardly at all at this stage in my mommy career. I would rather just stay home. I was in the middle of every activity in school, but now I am pretty comfortable with saying, “Sorry, but I think I need to be home today.” In all truthfulness I probably spend 98% of my week at home with my kids. The only time I go somewhere is in the event of church activities, errands, or a bite to eat at a restaurant, and sometimes I will go out with the kids to meet up with some friends. I have a few friends that tell me they cannot imagine life for them like this. I really don’t think they are bad moms, but the thought of spending that much time “going” and in the car makes me feel tired. I know it might seem like we are here and bored all the time, but honestly it’s almost always fun and full of activity.
Yet even at home I can get so worn out and quickly become like a wilted flower. GIVE ME SOME WATER PLEASE! Do you ever feel like you don’t even have the chance to drop to your knees and ask God for strength? I know, that’s pitiful. But really. My pastor encourages us to stop reguarly throughout the day and get on our knees and listen and commune with God, even if it is brief. Lately I have felt like it is one urgent need after the other, and I feel exhausted of words, games, and instructions by noon. By late afternoon I want to run in a closet, hide, and say, “Please, no one need me for just 10 minutes!” It has been like that at home the last few weeks. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that my oldest child is still not reading or writing yet, but she doesn’t need a long afternoon nap anymore. She is bursting with energy and wanting me to help her find new things to do all the time, and I cannot keep up with her and the other two plus the duties of the day. Part of it is wanting to live more simply. I am constantly thinking of how much stuff I consume and throw away and how easy it is to be wasteful. I want our home, our calendar, and our budget to be excess-free, and getting rid of what “weighs us down,” so that we can be more useful for God. It just sounds so good to my ears. The more “stuff” I have to worry about every day, the more drained I feel. Sometimes I just wish all the little unwanted bits of plastic and paper in my house would be instantly eliminated. Or that they wouldn’t end up there in the first place! Ha. You know?
I know that my God is on my side, though, and he is teaching me in these weary days. I don’t want to discourage other parents. God knows that the best thing I can ever have is Himself. He knows that I want Him more than anything, and His favor rests on me through his Son Jesus. I think Romans 8:32 includes rest: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” He knows that these burdens make me tired. Sometimes I catch myself begging God to make these things easier and asking him to give me a “break,” when I know good and well that this life isn’t supposed to be easy. I am learning humility and self-denial, and I am learning to put feet to my love when I am tired. I know these are great and rewarding lessons, but it is hard sometimes. I need God to give me wisdom, clarity, and more of his precious Son.
Entropy!
I guess our record’s fracture was inevitable. We sang in our friend Clay’s wedding today, and I’m not pregnant!
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