Geocaching

Another fun geocache for our family. This one started at the Knotty Shop. You are looking at Alasquito, a giant Alaska mosquito. That one is just a little bit bigger than the real ones. The Knotty Shop is a fun place to go to buy or browse Alaska gifts and souvenirs. It's also fun to check out their burlwood animals on the front lawn. In addition to Alasquito they have, among others, a moose, a caribou, and a bear.

It Is Done

Today I have finished Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I would like to make comments and discuss all of the new and interesting things I've learned. As well as break apart all of the new mysteries. But I know that most of the few people who visit my site have not finished. Some may not even have begun. I can't wait to get a new notebook and begin re-reading it and taking notes. As you complete the book please comment.

The Fullness of God

Living beyond yourself. How is that possible? Sometimes it is so hard to see past my eyes. I'm blind to what is below the surface. I see the limits of my body, my personality, my talents, my circumstances, my gifts. I see my failure. The failures of the past and all the failures to come. In those moments I feel paralyzed by who I am.
But...

I pray that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened in order that I may know the hope to which God has called me, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for me, who believes. Ephesians 1:18-19 (paraphrased)

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen me with power through his Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith. And I pray that I, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that I may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19 (paraphrased)

That I may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Amen

Truthfully when I first wrote the beginning of this blog I did not immediately follow with these verses. Days passed that were filled with the fullness of despair. But I resolved to make spending time with God a priority--a greater priority. And I discovered a new way to do it. A la Beth Moore. Pouring Out to make room for Pouring In. My daily specific confession followed by an acceptance of His forgiveness and an acknowledgement of the righteous He had given me has been amazing!!! Beating the day to the punch and unburdening my sin has filled me with a greater peace. Pouring out my concerns...I'm afraid of...I'm anxious about...I need... All of this provided much needed space for God to pour into me. I tell Him. I tell Him everything. All of my failures and weaknesses. All of the ways I know that I can never measure up. All of my hurts and fears and struggles. I tell Him that I can't do it.

He is teaching me that He can. He has the power. He has the Love. He has the strength. And all I need is Him.

Something Retarded

I just learned of something I think is retarded. It seems that the abbreviations for the Gregorian calendar, B.C. & A.D. are no longer politically correct. B.C.=Before Christ. A.D.=Anno Domini--or the year of our Lord. So, now we are supposed to use B.C.E. (Before Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era). This way if you don't personally believe in Christ, you won't be offended by the calendar. Now, I do believe in Christ so I may not be as sensitive but was anyone really suffering over the use of A.D.? How many people even knew what it stood for?

I apologize if I am being too insensitive. It just seems like we (our culture) are taking political correctness a bit too far. I mean our kids can't compete in sports because then one team would be the loser and we can't have any losers. They might get their feelings hurt. In schools there can't be a boys line and a girls line, only two gender neutral lines. Because we wouldn't want one sex to feel that they are less than the other because their line isn't as straight...as long...I don't know, whatever. At what point do we stop the insanity?

Don't get me wrong, I believe in compassion, and love, and understanding. I'm just struggling with why we need to erase all of the historical references to Christ in order to achieve it.

BnB

This is one of my favorite pics of my kids. It was taken in temporary lodging here at Eielson.

Harry Potter

In nine days Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince makes it's debut. Just to give you an idea of my level of excitement/geekiness, I have had a countdown on my desktop for about 100 days. I originally ordered my book from Amazon. I later cancelled this order when I discovered they would not be able to get it to me on July 16. Stupid Alaska. It's still a state, what is the deal with everyone's crazy shipping issues? I then had to find an actual bookstore in Fairbanks that could guarantee the book would be here. Enter Waldenbooks. Nine more days and my wait for the book ends...and my wait for the Goblet of Fire movie begins (November). I LOVE Harry Potter. I read the first Potter book to "check it out" for my daughter. To see if it was appropriate for her, or evil. There was so much controversy swirling around the book that I didn't feel comfortable just handing it over to her. Well maybe I read it more for my son. It is easier to find books that my daughter enjoys and wants to read. And many on the pro-Harry side talked of what a great series this would be for boys. Either way I read it. Then I read the second one. And so it went until I had read them all. Of course the craziness begins here. I loved the books so much I bought them...all of them...in hardback. I then re-read everyone...and took literary notes...seriously.

Favorite Harry book: Goblet of Fire--it was so much fun to read
Hardest book to get through the second time: Order of the Phoenix--big book, lots of info
Book or Movie?: The books are always better! For my children the books are less scary than the movies as well. When they are reading, they are limited to their own imagination. Their imagination seems to be less frightening than that of a movie producer.
Another series of books I'd recommend: The Circle Books by Ted Dekker--Black, Red, White

A Long Time Coming

Wow! It's been awhile since I last updated my blog. What have I been up to? Well to be honest I have been writing and deleting posts a lot lately. It is hard to publish my thoughts. I am my own worst critic. I do want to try and achieve some sense of truth and "realness". Revealing your "inner self" can be overwhelming and frightening. In addition to struggling over my blog and what it is I truly want to say, I've been pretty busy. I have finally completed the Beth Moore online study Believing God. For those of you who have walked through this with me, you know what an amazing accomplishment this was. Now I must go about the business of applying it to my life. Quite a challenge.
The five principles in the study are:
1. God is who He says He is--(I got this one)
2. God can do what He says He can do--(this one is easy when it involves everyone else...it's much tougher when it applies to me)
3. I am who God says I am--(what a challenge for me!!!)
4. I can do all things through Christ--(another tough one)
5. God's word is alive and active in me--(I really need to spend more time making this one more obvious and visible in my life)
The idea is that many people believe in God but don't really believe God. Do you? I find this very challenging. It was an amazing journey for me.