Homeschool Day at Elitches!

Everyone that is homeschooled and lives in Colorado, here's a cool idea: go to Elitches on May 11th! It is (I believe) $19 per person - a good deal. PLUS, there will be other homeschoolers there. We are planning on going to celebrate Esther's 13th birthday. Yippee!

Laziness!

I'm lazy. But if you'd like to read about how Regionals went for us, go to my other blog, Amateur Journalism. Hope all is well with you!

Another rant on humanness

I was going to post this on my sister's blog as a comment to her post from 1.4.07 , but it got too long...check out the original post first, the comments made in response to it, and then this post will make more sense.

First, a little background of my own, though:

We're dealing with an interesting issue right now. It's not horribly awful or anything, but it's something new that is kind of scaring us. A friend, who I had never been very close to because our personalities just didn't get along very well, decided she liked the guy that I had basically adopted as my brother. You've got to realize how protective we are of our brothers...it's a bad spot for her to be in...PLUS, she initiated the "relationship". I'm not saying he doesn't deserve some of the blame for this silly relationship (it really is - one just wants a girlfriend, I think, and the other is trying to get back at her "former boyfriend" and get the "satisfaction" that she thinks comes from "having" a guy). But she shouldn't have initiated.

--

I totally agree with you about the reasons girls initiate versus why guys initiate. To be quite honest, sometimes it seems scary how "slow" guys are (no, I'm not trying to beat up on everyone--it's just a common complaint among women that guys are slow), yet they are in some ways much more observant than the girls. Girls tend to get carried away in the rush of the moment, in the emotional side of things (no, duh!), but guys are smarter.

Girls care so much about relationships (that's pretty much all they talk about), yet guys are the ones who do the best in them. Ugh. Like Mark, I'm being random, but I hope these make sense.

As a girl, I'm tempted to initiate. But what happens when you initiate one relationship and then another one comes along that the guy initiated? Which one would be more likely to succeed?

Guys may be slow, but they know what they're doing. Besides, a girl may be "ready" for a relationship (in maturity...maybe...), but maybe the guy isn't! Maybe the girl thinks she's old enough to have a sharing, caring relationship (for lack of a better term), but maybe the guy wants to complete college, for example. For Pete's sake, cut the guy some slack!

This is a common mistake among girls, of thinking that now is the only chance they have to "nab" the guy of their dreams. If now is the only chance, what about God? Isn't He in control any more?

The best relationship is centered on Christ--both by each individual and THROUGH the relationship. Centered on Christ for the girl means first and foremost being patient and trusting Him. It means trusting that His timing is perfect and that we really can't rush Him. What a concept...

Another point about "nabbing" the guy of the girl's dreams: if he really is the guy of her dreams, wouldn't HE rush in on his noble steed and rescue her from a lifetime doomed to loneliness? Yeah, guys have to be the initiators. Otherwise the girl ends up thinking she "caught" him (although I don't know how that works...), and he thinks she was too easy to get.

Dad has told me over and over that guys like a challenge. Girls that ask a guy out are not presenting a challenge. They're (please excuse me if I'm being too coarse or explicit) basically playing the role of a hooker. Guys like that...for a night...but it grows old VERY quickly.

I don't claim to know the minds of guys, but I do know that girls need to keep themselves pure and mysterious. Guys like challenge and mystery. If a girl is willing to wait and pose that challenge to a guy, the true man of her dreams will indeed rise to the occasion and win her heart.

Wow...that was a rant...sorry!

Poem and today's sermon

I enjoy Elisabeth Elliot. She was the widow of Jim Elliot (think Through Gates of Splendor or The End of the Spear) and has since remarried twice. Her second husband died of cancer, and her current one is doing quite well and doesn't show signs of keeling over. Her books such as "Passion and Purity," "Keep A Quiet Heart," and others are simply wonderful.

This poem from one of her books is one that I really enjoy and have tucked away quite visibly in my journal:

If thou but suffer God to guide thee,
And hope in Him thro’ all thy ways,
He’ll give thee strength, what-e’er betide thee,
And bear thee thro the evil days;
Who trust in God’s unchanging love
Builds on the rock that naught can move.

Obey, thou restless heart, be still
And wait in cheerful hope, content
To take what-e’er His gracious will,
His all discerning love, hath sent;
Nor doubt our inmost wants are known
To Him who chose us for His own.

Sing, pray, and swerve not from His ways;
But do thine own part faithfully.
Trust His rich promises of grace,
So shall they be fulfilled in thee.
God never yet forsook in need
The soul that trusted Him indeed. Amen.


~Georg Neumark (Catherine Winkworth, Translator) Inter-Varsity Hymnal

Today's sermon was on Matthew 27, which talks about Jesus' crucifixion. Although a sad story, it's familiar, and our pastor's twist on it was new and interesting. He talked about Matthew's focus throughout this book of the Bible, how he focuses on Jesus' not coming to create a kingdom on earth but in heaven.

He then said that we are all looking for a hero that will make us happy, someone that will love us, that will be our hero. All of us have been made to realize that there's a true hero out there. Some of us find the true Hero, while others enthrone the wrong ones.

Okay, my eloquence (or whatever it's called...) has run out. I hope you are having a restful Sunday and a great weekend!