the LORD reigns!

The LORD reigns... and there is no unrighteousness in Him. (Ps.93:1,92:15).

We Christians in the West tend to fear our freedoms being taken away. Our brothers and sisters in hard places rather fear that they might dishonor the name of Christ. They pray, not for times to be easier, but that they might not fail Him.

We should learn from them. Richard Wurmbrand, in prison, put it something like this (in an article I can't find any more...), "what law of God is there that I could obey better in other circumstances? I will not pray to be free..." and he was right. Our flesh could wish for easier times. But our spirits can obey God by His grace just as well in any circumstances.

May we not be afraid, no matter what the election results may be. Trust Jehovah who reigns over all! His goals are not primarily for America's good, but for His Kingdom's good. Nations rise and fall, but His Kingdom is the one that will stand forever, the rock that became a mountain and filled the whole earth! (Dan.2:34-35,44).

Womanly Dominion book

Pastor Mark Chanski has just published a new book called Womanly Dominion [More than a Gentle and Quiet Spirit]. If you're a woman, get this book and read it! It will give you a solid Biblical view of yourself and your noble and influential place in God's world, in His way. If you're a man, read this book anyway, and encourage the women in your life in their God-given spheres of influence and responsibility. (And by the way, if you're a man, I understand that his earlier book - Manly Dominion [In a Passive Purple-Four-Ball World] - is a great antidote to culture's message to men in our day. I haven't read it yet but have heard good things about it. Go get a copy!)

Chanski's message is that God's creation mandate was to both man and woman, to "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over [it]" (Gen.1:28, ESV), and that this mandate still holds today. Men and women are given different spheres of life, fitted by God for different responsibilities in His world, and we are each to go "subdue and have dominion" in the areas He has given us. Not to be passive or sit helplessly in our situations, but to go rule them for His glory.

Halloween

David and the girls are sitting out on our front steps waiting for children to come so they can give them Halloween candy. Katherine is enjoying giving it out, and Emily is too. She wants to do whatever Katherine does...

I went out and joined them after awhile, and we all sat on the steps watching people (and giving out candy). One family came by, saying "Here comes King Kong!" and the dad was dressed up like a skyscraper, and he was holding the baby dressed as a gorilla. It was very cute. (They had two other older children too.)

"I'm little!"

I had recently told Emily that I couldn't carry her around much or hold her much (unless I'm sitting down) because she's too big. Today she said, "Hold me because ... I'm little!"

rolling and teething

Jeff is rolling around, often getting to places where I didn't put him. It's fun to see a little mobility.

He's also teething. It didn't bother Emily when she was teething - she has a high pain tolerance. She's very laid back too, but I guess laid back doesn't mean you get a high pain tolerance to go with it. Jeff is fussy lately, but at least it does appear to be teething and not sickness.

tangible things

I think one reason I like to make drawstring bags is that the result is something nice (I've always liked drawstring bags, even as a child), and it is still just as nice the next day. Something tangible that lasts longer than the meal I made for our supper or the laundry just folded or the neatened living room.

Tangible things are also nice because it is easy to see if you are doing it right or not. Parenting is intangible, unique to each child - and my finite mind does not fully understand the personality and thinking of each child, nor have the wisdom to know how to raise them. My best judgment is only that, and there is often second-guessing. I can't see if it was right, or could be better, like I can with sewing.

On the other hand, the tangible is the temporary. Drawstring bags will perish with the earth, but my child has an undying soul, and in some mysterious way, my efforts to train my child will have everlasting impact, for good or evil. There is permanency to that which is intangible.

"For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18)

time flies

weeks fly into years
where did they go
how did they grow
     so fast

end of a weary day
oh! did I even say
     I love you
must be a better way
     to make it through

before the years
     are past
and I've lost
     my chance
to be a mommy to you

where to the seasons fly
so many years pass by
and did I even say
     I love you