Fall Ladies' Retreat

(L to R) Mellissa, Joanna, Galilee, Me, and Mama 

Once again, it's that time of year. The Fall POH Ladies Retreat! And it was just as good as last year.

Learning, sharing, and visiting. Encouragement and conviction. All in one weekend.

And what beautiful scenery! The camp where we stayed was comfortable and wonderful. God's creation is so especially lovely in the autumn.

But the weekend wasn't only about fellowship, we were also there to learn.

Mrs. Hunt

Susan Hunt was the speaker this year. A lovely, gentle southern woman (I LOVED her accent), Mrs. Hunt was certainly a blessing to us all. She challenged all of us to think biblically about womanhood. Reminding us all that how we live must be grounded in our Reformed theology, she encouraged us to remember God's creation order. Feminism mistakenly associates equality with sameness. However, Biblical Christianity teaches complementarianism not egalitarianism. The reality of our sin is hard, when as Mrs. Hunt said, "We've breathed feminist air for so many decades [that] we are all feminists to some degree, and we need to fight against it." But God is good, and He sanctifies us. Unlike what our sin natures tell us, women should be life-givers not life-takers.

Reminding us of our Reformed covenant theology, Mrs. Hunt continued to teach us about nurturing one another in our relationships. Covenant children and fellow adult believers. Speaking on Titus 2, she encouraged all of us to see our roles as mentors; there is always someone older and younger than I am. I should be seeking the fellowship and company of older and younger women. I have things to learn and things to teach. 

Psalm 144:12 states, "Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants, And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace." A corner pillar must be strong and supportive. And we must be guiding each other, mentoring each other, and encouraging each other to be those life-giving, helper pillars.

When I thought about those future pillars, I thought of Galilee. Seeing this young lady was one of the best parts of this trip. She is such a sweet-tempered, happy baby. What an example of Psalm 127:3! Being the only baby at the retreat has its advantages; she was quite pampered by all the ladies. :)

I finally saw these bookshelves in person!

After the retreat was over, our car load of ladies traveled to stay with some old church friends. (Their hospitality and company is something to which I always look forward.) And the ladies went shopping. Almost immediately, I sought the books and bookshelves. Is anyone really surprised?

Aren't these stack-able bookcases fun?

In the shopping plaza, there was a two-story Barnes and Noble. Yay! How fabulous. And it had a homeschooling section. I couldn't resist a picture.

After checking out the homeschooling, science fiction/fantasy, and literature sections, I walked (or rode down the escalator!) toward the current events section. While this B&N did not have any books by Neil Postman, they did have a couple by Ron Paul. I couldn't resist purchasing one. What is it about people with the last name beginning with the letter "P"? ;)

As we traveled home, the Lord blessed us with a rainbow. A reminder of his wonderful grace. A perfect end to the trip!

The Round Barn

Interesting sights can be seen almost anywhere. And Mellissa kindly took me to visit this one...

 Isn't it awesome? And check out what's written on the barn.

Quotes of the Day

At last! Quotations from my new hero, Neil Postman. :O)

"A written sentence calls upon its author to say something, upon its reader to know the import of what is said.  And when an author and reader are struggling with semantic meaning, they are engaged in the most serious challenge to the intellect. This is especially the case with the act of reading, for authors are not always trustworthy. They lie, they become confused, they over-generalize, they abuse logic and, sometimes, common sense. The reader must come armed, in a serious state of intellectual readiness. This is not easy because he comes to the text alone. In reading, one's responses are isolated, one's intellect thrown back on its own resources. To be confronted by the cold abstractions of printed sentences is to look upon language bare, without the assistance of either beauty or community.  Thus, reading is by its nature a serious business. It is also, of course, an essentially rational activity." (50)

"It is quite likely that most of the first fifteen presidents of the United States would not have been recognized had they passed the average citizen in the street. This would have been the case as well of the great lawyers, ministers and scientists of that era. To think about those men was to think about what they had written, to judge them by their public positions, their arguments, their knowledge as codified in the printed word.  You may get some sense of how we are separated from this kind of consciousness by thinking about any of our recent presidents; or even preachers, lawyers and scientists who are or who have recently been public figures. Think of Richard Nixon or Jimmy Carter or Billy Graham, or even Albert Einstein, and what will come to your mind is an image, a picture of a face, most likely a face on a television screen (in Einstein's case, a photograph of a face). Of words, almost nothing will come to mind. This is the difference between thinking in a word-centered culture and thinking in an image-centered culture."  (60-61)

"What reading would have been done was done seriously, intensely, and with steadfast purpose. The modern idea of testing a reader's 'comprehension,' as distinct from something else a reader may be doing, would have seemed an absurdity in 1790 or 1830 or 1860. What else was reading but comprehending?  As far as we know, there did not exist such a thing as a 'reading problem,' except, of course, for those who could not attend school. To attend school meant to learn to read, for without that capacity, one could not participate in the culture's conversations. But most people could read and did participate. To these people, reading was both their connection to and their model of the world. The printed page revealed the world, line by line, page by page, to be a serious, coherent place, capable of management by reason, and of improvement by logical and relevant criticism." (61-62)

"There could not have been a safer bet when it began in 1969 than that 'Sesame Street' would be embraced by children, parents and educators. Children loved it because they were raised on television commercials, which they intuitively knew were the most carefully crafted entertainments on television.  To those who had not yet been to school, even to those who had just started, the idea of being taught by a series of commercials did not seem peculiar.  And that television should entertain them was taken as a matter of course.
Parents embraced 'Sesame Street' for several reasons, among them that it assuaged their guilt over the fact that they could not or would not restrict their children's access to television. 'Sesame Street' appeared to justify allowing a four- or five-year-old to sit transfixed in front of a television screen for unnatural periods of time. Parents were eager to hope that television could teach their children something other than which breakfast cereal has the most crackle.  At the same time, 'Sesame Street' relieved them of the responsibility of teaching their preschool children how to read--no small matter in a culture where children are apt to be considered a nuisance. They could also plainly see that in spite of its faults, 'Sesame Street' was entirely consonant with the prevailing spirit of America.  Its use of cute puppets, celebrities, catchy tunes, and rapid-fire editing was certain to give pleasure to the children and would therefore serve as adequate preparation for their entry into a fun-loving culture." (142) Emphasis mine.

"'The Little House on the Prairie, 'Cheers' and 'The Tonight Show"'are as effective as 'Sesame Street' in promoting what might be called the television style of learning. And this style of learning is, by its nature, hostile to what has been called book learning or its handmaiden, school-learning. If we are to blame 'Sesame Street' for anything, it is for the pretense that it is any ally of the classroom. That, after all, has been its chief claim on foundation and public money. As a television show, and a good one, 'Sesame Street' does not encourage children to love school or anything about school.  It encourages them to love television." (144)

What a Cat does best

Muss up the works of a project. Sigh. :)

Shopping w/the Girlies

Not having seen my girlies for weeks, I was only too excited to go out for a girls' afternoon.

With Dee at the helm, we were soon on our way...

And we sang, chatted, and laughed the whole way there (and back again).

It had been too long!

Dee's crazy curly fry

And girls' afternoons do present a lovely opportunity to take some pictures. :)

Booklist 2011: August

In August, I conquered books that I've needed to read for months/years. :O) First on my list, I read Leslie Ludy's book, Answering the Guy Questions, a book recommended (and lent) to me by a friend. Ludy's work is fairly typical of the Passion and Purity/courtship genre. However, her comments on purity are exceptional! That alone makes her book worthwhile.

Finally finished from June, Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death is insightful treatise on a culture of typography transformed into a culture of images and the resulting state of incoherency, irrelevancy, and impotency. (Quotations to follow soon!) Don't read his book unless you are prepared to mourn the current state of our culture. On the bright side, he will convince you to read more.

Given to me over a year ago - Inkheart. You can read the review for yourself. While I may not agree with everything in the review, The Story Girl Blog does and excellent job of revealing the faulty worldview of Inkheart. Link below.

Roald Dahl is quickly becoming one of my favorite children's authors. He is hilarious and fun. I bought Charlie and the Chocolate Factory years ago on a bargain rack at Books-A-Million. I can't believe it took me this long to read it! For what was I waiting? CCF is a delightful children's story (It seems wrong to be saying this after reading Postman's work, but CCF reminds me why I love the new movie adaptation so much!) full of discipline for sin, familial love, and happy endings. :)

August 2011
Answering the Guy Questions by Leslie Ludy
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Artsy Nonsense

Of Poppers, Flinger Frogs, Flowers, and Funny Faces

Do you remember the above? "Poppers" are a fond childhood memory for me.

And, therefore, I was eager and willing to share them with my little friends...

They all seemed quite as delighted about the experience as I have been.

Of course, "flinger frogs" were a natural extension of poppers.... Well, maybe.

The children love to take pictures. Of anything. And everything. I love looking through what they've captured afterwards...

Flowers are an obvious choice.

Eva and Maggie

And I choose to take pictures of the children, themselves.

Jude

Their smiles and silly faces never cease to brighten my day!

The Karate Master ;)

I assume you can see why...

If you can't, then I can't explain it.

Youthful joy and exuberance?

Noah

Ever the eldest child, Noah doesn't much participate in silliness. He is maturing more and more each time I see him. It's such a blessing to witness him becoming a young man.

Yet, no matter how old you are, you are NEVER to old to roll down the hill....

Pandora Find

Good, yes?

With Mellissa and the Children

Recently, Mellissa and I had the opportunity to visit some friends and take care of their children. What fun!

Jed

And aren't they cute?

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward." Psalm 127:3

Mary Grace

And having been responsible for these three little ones, I know the truth of it!

Bubba

Covenant children certainly are a blessing; Mary Grace, Bubba, and Jed are no exception.

Their smiling faces were eager to greet Mellissa and me. And their joyful laughter was contagious.

We surely had lots to do; we never wanted for fun.

Chasing each other around the yard, eating pop-sickles, singing at the breakfast table, having pillow fights, and making photo frame crafts were just some of our fun activities.

Though, perhaps, it is more entertaining to decorate yourself than the frame. Tee hee.

I was the only casualty. My poor toe took a beating from "tag." Ah, I guess I should learn to pick up my feet. *grins* But, Mellissa was an excellent nurse with the help of the children who kept bringing me leaves to make it better. :)

Needless to say, I had a great time!