Yes ma'am! I thought I'd get your attention with that title.
About a week or so ago, I finished reading the book Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement by Kathryn Joyce. I have SO MUCH TO SAY about this book. I'm even working on composing a letter of sorts written to my female students about this book. {Yes, I realize said female students are 2, 3, and 4 years old and will probably never read my blog, but it's what's on my heart regarding this topic. I don't ever want my precious girls to grow up believing that they are subordinate or limited in the ways they may be called by God based on their gender, class, or race}.
BUT..until I complete that post, I want to share a quote {with my insertions} that is presented in this book. The voice quoted is that of Nancy Campbell, "editress" of the Above Rubies magazine, proponent of the Quiverfull movement and the idea of liberation through submission, and worshiper of all things Titus 2 and Proverbs 31. The chapter from which this quote is taken talks about the importance of the godly reproducing so as to fill and conquer the world {to practice what I've dubbed "Godly Spermination"}; the womb of a woman is, in this sense, her weapon in this "battle." Being a wife and mother and remaining in her "proper sphere" at home is really, they would say, the only way God would have them fight this battle. Oh, and also through baking cinnamon buns, in following with Edith Shaeffer's example, wife and helpmeet of the renowned fundamentalist pastor Francis Shaeffer.
Coupled with a negative take on the international news, the sense of a coming clash between civilizations demographically lends itself to comparing family sizes between family sizes in the U.S. with those from abroad.
"When godly people stop having children, we are wasting the godly seed. {As if there's something inherently godly about some people's seed over others} So today, we are facing a very, very serious threat: the threat of Islam. They are outnumbering us seven to one. {Who exactly is "us"? Conservative, neo-Calvinist fundamentalist Christians? Are they the only ones who are worthy being considered "God's Chosen"? For that matter, who is them? Us/them mentality= yucky}. And there's eight billion Islamics here in America. {ISLAMICS? Don't you mean Muslims? Those who practice Islam...}.
...When I talk to parents today and ask how many grandchildren they have, they tell me, 'Oh, we have two! Isn't it wonderful?' 'Two?' Is that going to impact the world? Two? {Well, I'm glad you consider yourself qualified to determine who will and won't impact the world. I recall several "ONES" who have spurred great positive change and impacted the world greatly} When you get someone like say, Osama bin Laden, he's just representative of so many Islamics, well, you see how they're populating." {Seriously, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry when you say "Islamics." Further, Osama bin Laden should not be the poster child for Muslims; I sure wouldn't want the extremists of my religion *cough cough* representing me!}
~Nancy Campbell, with my {annoying} interjections
Whheewww. I get heated. :)
More to come.
{Beat.}
Happy sperminating.
I don't know about SKILLFULLY, but singing and playing music has been a way for me to praise God and express myself for as long as I can remember. Even when my performances aren't as technically skillful as I would like, I remember I'm not actually performing for my own glory, but I'm to play my best for the glory of the One who gave me the ability to play. ♪♫ ♪
To see more Truth~Light~Hammer~Fire posts and visit the creator of TLHF, go to Life On Sylvan Drive.
"One should rather die than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though...betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope." ~Steven Deitz
This post has been brewing in the Colombian roast coffeepot for awhile, and it's {hopefully} a final step in my healing from a certain situation. And yes it really IS necessary for me to be that vague. However, I hope there's still something that perhaps resonates with you or maybe some input you would like to add.
Disclaimer: I don't intend to equate myself with Jesus in any shape or form. I'm simply grateful that he can identify completely with my very human emotions regarding being betrayed.
This Easter season I've focused less on the aspects of the holiday that typically have my attention {Jesus' death and resurrection} and more on a point of arguably less importance: the betrayal of Jesus and how this relates to my own experience of being betrayed.
Some general points I've observed regarding betrayal:
~Betrayal always involves the breaking of trust. Deception. There's great pain in realizing that the betrayer is not who you thought they were, and the process of grieving an end to the person you thought existed can be long and arduous.
~If one is betrayed, that means that there was once something positive {or seemingly positive} established and then broken. The betrayer and the betrayee had some sort of connection, understanding, or covenant. In order to destroy something through betrayal, that something had to exist, or at least in appearances.
~Exploring motives: betrayal is a result of greed, of self-interest.
"When tempted, no one can say, 'God is tempting me.' For God can not be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death." ~James 1:13-15
~Picking up from the last part of the verse from above, betrayal destroys the betrayer and others. It breaks the shalom that God intends for His creation, marring God~people relationships and people~people relationships.
~Betrayal takes place first in the heart, and then in fact. The heart corruption is first and then there's an actual acting out of the betrayal that has already taken place within.
All of these points parallel my own experience as well as what I understand to be the experience of Jesus when He was betrayed. Judas was one of The Twelve; he was "part of the group." He was chosen by Jesus to follow Him. While additional motives are possible, we know that this Keeper of the Money Bag had sticky fingers and was lured by the silver offered by the chief priests. Clearly, Judas was looking out for himself and didn't care that his actions would have grievous effects on others. This betrayal destroyed Judas {he committed suicide} and many others, too. Obviously, this betrayal cost Jesus his life; many were negatively affected by his death {though we know this isn't the end of the story}. Lastly, Judas had already betrayed Jesus in his heart before his actions followed. The real damage had already been done before he betrayed Jesus to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The only comfort I can find after being betrayed and deceived is that Jesus knows exactly how I feel. He experienced a betrayal that cost him his life. He knows that floor-dropping-out-from-under-me feeling, that cold-hand-clenching-my-heart sensation. Complete with icy tentacles enveloping my chest.
Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.
Each of us has seeds of betrayal. The disciples didn't know that the betrayer would be Judas. The fact that Judas had a weakness for money and theft wasn't any indication that he would be the betrayer because all people are sinful. I am just as capable of betrayal and deception as those who have wronged me. I am just as capable of betrayal and deception as Judas, history's most notorious backstabber.
Is it I, Lord? Is it I?
In the pre~K class we focus a great deal on literacy to prepare the children for kindergarten next year. One of our main literacy activities for these four year~olds is learning and practicing Word Wall words. The Word Wall is a literal wall {or bulletin board} in the classroom that has the 26 letters of the alphabet with words under each letter that begin with the given letter; these words are ones that the children should learn to write correctly and read with automasticity. Last week I was practicing these words with the children. Each child had a dry~erase board and marker so that they could practice writing the words; I would remove a card from the word stack, place it on the easel with a magnet, and then write the word as I spelled it out loud. Some of the kids provided me with Tiny Talk snippets before I was able to give them an example sentence for the given words:Ms. Leah: "Ok, this word is "for." F-O-R {writing word on board}.C------: "My for is my house!" {he meant his fort}Ms. Leah: "Alright, does anyone know what this word is? This one says "we." W-E.M----: "I have a Wii!!"Hmmm...yes, I'm sure you do.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Last Friday I was subbing in the 2's class. When I change diapers and help with the potty I have to wear latex gloves. I was helping two year-old L---- pull up her underwear when my gloves started to slide off, so I pulled them up over my wrists, releasing them with a smacking sound on my arm. L---- looked up at me with a concerned face and asked, "Was that me? My butt went 'pop'?" Share the comical words spoken by the little people in your life over at Not Before 7.
Well hello there...long time no write! I'm just stopping by my poor little neglected blog to post some Easter pics. In fact, the pictures show exactly why I haven't posted that much in the last few days.
With the exception of last year when I was in Philadelphia, I attend a family gathering with members from my mom's side of the family every year at Easter. We always have lasagna for our Easter meal {vegetarian and non~vegetarian selections}, which is prepared by my grandma. We also have lots of dessert contributions from many different people. These treats run the gamut from Oreo Easter eggs to pumpkin pie and peanut butter cheesecake to peep~topped cupcakes.
Even though most of us are beyond the "normal" egg~hunting age, many of the cousins still participate in finding the candy~filled eggs hidden by The Easter Bunny {our Pap-pap} in the backyard.
But the highlight of the Easter egg hunt? Watching our littlest cousin {21 month-old Elizabeth} walk around the yard repeating, "Eggs, eggs," and having the most EXCITING time ever dumping the eggs from basket to basket.
I even took a ride in her baby swing. Hey, 21 months, 21 years...pretty close, right?
Not quite.
