Monthly Archives: March 2007

The grandparents have left and all is quiet on the home front. A good time was had by all. We went to the beach almost every day to use the skim boards the grandparents bought them. Putt-putt, ice cream runs, and go carting were some of the highlights of the week. We ate seafood for a birthday dinner for Hubby and I. Mexican food was a surprise lunch and we grilled a bit. We visited and laughed, and enjoyed a crazy night of cousins and extended family staying with us. (One of the little cousins was car sick and the ocean/pool water made it worse. Driving was not an option as they had intended so we pulled out the blankets and got the motor home out of storage for the night and we all got to hang out and catch up longer. Yay! We’ve missed seeing them for over a year!)

All of us are sun kissed and after the cold ocean, the pool doesn’t feel so cold anymore. None of us feel inspired to do much school, so we are going to ease in gradually. We’ve been doing devotions, reading history, and finishing up a couple other books that we left hanging before break. On Monday we will jump into our full schedule.

Today we shall swim, get a little further into a video game we are working on as a family, and watch Narnia. If it cools down a bit, we may even bike ride. Tomorrow we have a play date at the beach with a family from our church. Yep, I could definitely get used playing on the beach everyday. Maybe we could call it recess or P.E?

We’re expecting grandma and grandpa for a week (starting tonight) writing will be limited. Friday we’ll have an aunt and uncle, and cousins with their two children! We are very excited to see family again!

For those of you with kids, I’m sure your familiar with Melman. He’s the neurotic giraffe in Madagascar that yells, “Nature, it’s all over me, Auggh, Auggh!” Well, since the lizard episode, my kids have been known to scream the above line in reference to ANY encounters I have with wild life that does not have fur and a collar. We had one such encounter today….

Today we were trimming the bushes and tidying up the yard for our company that will arrive tomorrow. As I was trimming our giant leafy bush, this is the little “friend” that met me, face to face.

From what I can tell, he is non venomous. I’m pretty sure it’s a black racer and he lives in our bush in the front yard. I can’t tell how long he is because he was draped over 3-4 different branches. He’s an adult, because he doesn’t have the lighter bands of the baby ones. He didn’t try to bite me, he just slithered into the lower branches and we respected his space.

(The picture is from Tom Spinker’s site. He has lots of other neat pictures of animals, reptiles, and wildlife from Florida that you can check out here.)

Recently I jumped into a discussion on another blog. It was a discussion format so I tossed out a differing view. One of the fellow commenters trounced on me and demanded that I support my information with a Secular Point of Origin from a college or university. I didn’t think it would be too difficult to do, since I had been taught this particular point from various sources throughout my life. It was one of those things that you don’t think to question because it’s always been there.

Well, finding a Secular Point of Origin, proved to be tricky. We were dealing with Scripture and the inferred interpretations of traditions/law that applied to it, so not many secular people would be interested in the topic. I found many religious sites of various denominations that supported the view. Wikipedia supported the view, but its source was from a religious author too. I found secular writings that referred to the practices that I was addressing, but not the exact interpretation of the implied response its self. I found the penalty for the practice, but again, not the social thinking behind it. I did find the source where the law supposedly came from, but it is not written in English and I did not want to risk stating that unless I could verify it for myself. (Oh to be able to read Greek, Latin, and Hebrew!) I DO try to do my homework before I share a thought/idea.

All this researching was excellent and I learned even more than I cared to know about the topic. It got me thinking though. If I am discussing Scriptures and doing research on a topic, why am I looking to a Secular source for validation of a Biblical description? I take the Bible literally but I enjoy looking into the culture/traditions that surround the Bible at the time it was written. I think it helps to understand the meanings when you find out who was the author, what was his nationality or feelings towards who he wrote about, what were their traditions at the time it was written in context to the writings? All of these questions have served me well as I read through the Bible.

I guess I am feeling a little frustrated. I’ve never had someone ask for a secular source on a Scriptural interpretation. Maybe I’m making too much of it, or maybe the other commenter was sent to sharpen my research skills and knowledge.

My question is this:
To those that study the Bible closely and deeply, do you look into secular sources for answers that support Scripture? I believe Scripture first and foremost because it is the inerrant words of God. In areas that are open for interpretation, I usually consult other passages from the Bible first, then several sources of a Christian nature. Once that is exhausted, I compare those findings with secular sources if they can be found. I give them the most “weight of truth” in that order as well. What methods do you use? How can you verify your source to someone that does not believe the in errancy of Scripture or any Christian based text? (FYI- I don’t know the commenter’s views on Scripture, so I am in NO way referencing this question about our exchange specifically.) Should we as Christians even try to clarify passages with multiple interpretations?

Another random thought is that I can find lots of secular universities and writers that will support things that I totally know to be wrong. For example revisionist history, evolution, feminist agendas, and p*rn as art. Just because the minds and institutions of academia endorse them, doesn’t make them truth. The Bible is the only absolute standard for truth that I am willing to stake my life on. As always, comments are welcome. Just keep it civil and clean.

Today we had planned to go on a surprise field trip. I was hoping to take the kids to see Amazing Grace, about William Wilberforce. (He fought to bring the horrors of slavery to public attention in England, and later brought about the political reforms to abolish it.) We studied him about a month ago and I thought the kids would like to see a movie about him. Well, because of the religious tones, I couldn’t find it in any of the local theaters unless we drove for over an hour and several towns away. Probably not a good plan since I get lost in my own subdivision. Directions and I don’t mix well and getting lost in Florida during Spring Break is not my idea of fun!

Plan two was to take the kids to see Charlotte’s Web. We read that a year ago with both boys and I will be reading it next year with the Imp. It stopped showing in our area last night. Sigh.

We checked out the movie Road to Teribithia. We had heard it was good but that it has a death in it. The Imp handles death better when she has had a chance to talk about it and knows it’s coming, so we probably won’t see it until we can get a hold of the book.

Our next thought was the zoo or a museum. We voted and the zoo won, so we got ready to head out after Bible and Math class. (We did extra school yesterday to accommodate an outing, and we planned to do History and oral reports when we returned home.) Then daddy called to see where we were going to go today……Another change of plans! (Daddy might possibly be interested in going to the zoo with us sometime, in the future. MAYBE.) Soooo, we opted to go to the museum instead.

We wandered around the museum for over 3 hours (it’s a very small museum). We practically had the place to ourselves. We only saw 4 other people there other than the staff, and we had the only children. It was AWSOME! They had this one wall of lights in motion. The kids would dance in front of a screen and it would translate motion into colors. As they crossed over each other, it would blend their colors and leave a blended trail. The Gremlin found he could pretend to throw a ball and it would throw a virtual color splash at his brother. They then reenacted a Star Wars “force” fight throwing virtual color balls into each other’s chests. Then the wall turned into a beach picture and a bunch of virtual volley balls bounced in. If your shadow touched a ball, it would bounce and react accordingly. The kids played virtual beach volley ball for another 15 minutes. Then we watched a couple informational snippets and wandered through the next section.

The last section had a bunch of optical illusions and sensory tests. The kids loved that section the best. They tried to walk without falling over in a motion tunnel, they tried to touch a hologram, and to see all these weird phenomenon that your eyes do with patterned pictures. Mommy was a tad queasy from the motion tunnel. I don’t think they expect you to go forward and backward through it several times to see if you will tip in the opposite direction going backwards. (You do, by the way, so our theory was proven correct. ) Fun was had by all!

Now we must tackle History and our oral reports.

I received this e-mail today, too good not to share!

A lady wrote the best letter to the editorials in ages!!! It explains things better than all the bologna you hear on TV.

Her point:

Recently large demonstrations have taken place across the country protesting the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal immigration.

Certain people are angry that the US might protect its own borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and, once here, to stay indefinitely.

Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind these protests……
Let’s say I break into your house.
Let’s say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave.
But I say, “I’ve made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors.
I’ve done all the things you don’t like to do.
I’m hard-working and honest (except for when I broke into your house).

According to the protesters:
* You are Required to let me stay in your house
* You are Required to add me to your family’s insurance plan
* You are Required to Educate my kids
* You are Required to Provide other benefits to me and to my family
* (My husband will do all of your yard work because he is also hard-working and honest, except for that breaking in part.)
* If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my RIGHT to be there.
* It’s only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I’m just trying to better myself.
* I’m a hard-working and honest, person, except for well, you know, I did break into your house.

* And what a deal it is for me!!!
* I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of cold, uncaring, selfish, prejudiced, and bigoted behavior.

* Oh yeah, I DEMAND that you learn MY LANGUAGE so you can communicate with me and I can feel more at home here.

Why can’t people see how ridiculous this is?! I’m all for being a melting pot, but lets go through the proper channels and pay the same dues as everyone else. That’s why they call them RULES!

Hat tip to B.Young!

Well, my new shorts and capri’s arrived. I’ve been told I need to wear sensible shoes to help various foot issues from flaring up. (Thanks to genetics, a rogue can of beans, and a biking incident…) Hubby has decreed that sensible footwear looks tacky with all the dresses I wear. (What, no bright yellow crocs with my long flowery dresses?!)

A change in wardrobe seemed inevitable. I found a bunch of shorts and capri pants (note: I only owned one pair of jeans and one pair of shorts for mowing the lawn in the last 2 years.) Now I’m trying to get used to wearing pants again. They are hot and confining. When it gets 90 degrees with 100% humidity, I’m going to die of heat stroke! But….. at least I won’t look goofy in my “sensible shoes” and a dress. Sigh.

Any sensible shoes (that don’t look like crocs or white tennis shoes) that could pass as fashionable with a dress? Anyone…..anyone?