Two Babies - 2.3 Years Apart

They both have my heart!!!  

                                               

     

    

Reading Through the Bible in a Year

 On Christmas Eve, I finished a yearlong goal: to read the Bible through during the calendar year 2024.

This is the first time that I set that goal for awhile.  It is encouraged at our church, and it is a Bible-reading plan that can be helpful at times.  I found there to be both positives and negatives in the process.

Good reasons for reading through the Bible in a year:

--It is good to see the Bible as a unified book, one knit together by 40+ authors over several thousand years, all with the same message and all pointing to the Messiah.  This is the best reason for accomplishing this plan!

--Knowing that I had to get through a certain number of chapters each day, or I would get behind, was motivating to keep at the job day after day.  Reading through in a year is a good plan to keep a person on task, and in the Bible, without falling behind.

Possible drawbacks in this reading plan:

--As the year progressed, I found myself falling into a habit of my younger years - reading the passages for the day without getting as much out of it.  Knowing I had to get through Chapter 14, or whatever, sometimes caused me to read the words - while my mind wandered.  That was obviously not effective Bible reading.

--Also, having that daily goal sometimes caused my Bible reading to be just that - a daily goal.  I was not as motivated to think closely about each passage, or stop when something was speaking to my heart, but rather to get done.  I say that to my shame.

Other comments:

--I did not use a prescribed Bible reading plan.  I found a listing of the chapters of the Bible on the internet and printed it off.  It was very effective!  I did not attempt to go straight through but rather moved around through the Bible (reading Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel in a row was more than this reader could handle), sometimes reading Old Testament and sometimes New; sometimes reading in two books at a time and at the beginning of the year, reading in three or four.

--Sometimes I read in the ESV, sometimes in KJV.  Sometimes I listened using an online source read by Alexander Scourby.

--After checking off chapters that were read, I used yellow highlighter to indicate that the book was completed, and pink highlighter for entire sections.  The numbers at the end of each book were just the numbers of chapters in it, to make adding up how far I was a little easier.  Same for the numbers at the top.  1189 is the total number of chapters in the Bible, and at the right were the number of chapters I needed to complete each of the months listed.  (That kind of fell by the wayside.)

--I started with a goal of four chapters a day.  That meant I would have been finished by late October.  But that was a good thing, because several occurrences over the course of the year, including the passing of my father, meant that some days did not get the reading done.  So therefore I had plenty of padding to get done by the end of the year.

A former student posted that she read through the Bible in three years.  That is an appealing method.  It means that there is more time to read the commentator notes and digest what the authors are saying.  

I recommend reading through the Bible from time to time, and next time I will probably slow down, take my time, and therefore get even more out of it.  

Overall, reading the Bible this way was a blessing to me. 

Election 2024 Thoughts

 I've been so silent on here for so long that am certain the readership is very low, but am going to put some thoughts on here anyway, if for no other reason than documentation.

--For years the Democratic machine has been throwing open the southern border, and the reason has been generally known to increase the number of Democratic voters due to the gratitude of Latinos who have flooded across.  How ironic is it that the voting bloc that increased greatly for Trump was - Latinos.

--Trump won this election in my opinion because people have to get groceries.  Even people who can afford the current prices are aghast at how expensive things are.  Grocery store prices tell the story of our current economic policy.

--I wanted to see what the buzz about "The View" was about.  So yesterday, the day after the election, I tuned it in.  Within five minutes the hosts were saying that Trump will be starting up detention camps.  That was enough for me.  I turned it off.

--Anyone with any thinking ability knows that for years dirty tricks, evil intent, and vicious words have been directed at the winner of this election.  And Christian people know that anything that happens in an election is of God and is due to His will and intervention.  This morning I read Psalm 64 and saw striking parallels between the contents of that psalm and the election:

Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;

        preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
    from the throng of evildoers,
3 who whet their tongues like swords,
    who aim bitter words like arrows,
4 shooting from ambush at the blameless,
    shooting at him suddenly and without fear.
5 They hold fast to their evil purpose;
    they talk of laying snares secretly,
thinking, “Who can see them?”
6     They search out injustice,
saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”
    For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.

7 But God shoots his arrow at them;
    they are wounded suddenly.
8 They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them;
    all who see them will wag their heads.
9 Then all mankind fears;
    they tell what God has brought about
    and ponder what he has done.

10 Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord
    and take refuge in him!
Let all the upright in heart exult!

--And finally, this just came up on my favorites from a few years back, posted the day after an election when the candidate that I was very much against, won.  I think that this is true whether my candidate loses - or wins.

Lay up your treasures in heaven;

Oh people, lay up your treasures in glory

Where nothing in this world will take them away;

Oh listen people hear the master say:

Come on and lay up your treasures in heaven,

Oh people, lay up your treasures in glory--

Your treasures in this world will fade away

But the things of the Lord will last forever, evermore!

Well the Lord looked up and saw the people there

Tied up with worry and burdened with care,

He said "Seek first the Kingdom and you will see

The things that will last for eternity.

Lay up your treasures in heaven;

Oh people, lay up your treasures in glory

Where nothing in this world will take them away;

Oh listen people hear the master say:

Come on and lay up your treasures in heaven,

Oh people, lay up your treasures in glory--

Your treasures in this world will fade away

But the things of the Lord will last forever, evermore!

"Some people trust in their silver and gold

They put their faith in the wealth they hold

But fortunes will fade and kingdoms fall

So put your trust in the Lord of all!

Lay up your treasures in heaven;

Oh people, lay up your treasures in glory

Where nothing in this world will take them away;

Oh listen people hear the master say:

Come on and lay up your treasures in heaven,

Oh people, lay up your treasures in glory--

Your treasures in this world will fade away

But the things of the Lord will last forever, evermore!

Surprising Fashion Trend

I took this photo while shopping recently for a dress to wear to a wedding.  This was not an outlet store, or a specialty store.  It wasn't online at some website named modesty.com (I made that up) or a company that caters to women who want to reasonably cover up.

No, this was in a well-known mainline department store. And this wasn't the only example.  Almost every rack had clothes that were midi-length, full, and sometimes ruffled.  Almost all of the skirts were like that.

At the formal wedding last weekend, almost everyone was wearing something similar in style (though not denim of course).

Fashion has amazingly swung very far in this direction.  Keep it coming!

 

Being Elisabeth Elliot

 

I have the same mixed feelings about Volume II of this set as I did about Volume I.

This is the authorized biography, meaning that Ellen Vaughn was given access to Elliot's journals and private papers, rather than just researching public items as Lucy S.R. Austen, author of Elisabeth Elliot: A Life had to do.

Vaughn stated in Chapter 2 that her goal was to tell the truth, in love. I appreciate that she did not want to write a hagiography, or biography that only points out the good points in a person's life. And aspects of Elliot's life that were not so positive needed to be explored. Overall, I was glad to read much of this story of Elisabeth Elliot, a hero of mine for many years. The negative aspects that are coming out publicly actually enhance my view of her. She made mistakes and was tempted. She was not better or more holy than any of us.

However, truth can be told without getting gratuitous or telling too much. We didn't need to be told details about her physical relationship with Leitch - their passions were already obvious. Several instances of this were totally unnecessary, as were details about women's cycles that were included at several places. Just leave that out.

Certain inclusions should have been modified. Even if Lars Gren's writing abilities were poor, I think it was unnecessary, embarrassing, and hurtful to include specific examples of that. The fellow author in whom Elliot expressed interest after Leitch's death should not have been named - the story could have been written without using his name. And no good reason exists for including the story about the workmen at her home who told stories about working at the nudist camp.

Two more things. The author inserted herself into the story too much. Another issue was the editing. Several errors were obvious and should have been caught by a good editor.

In other words - telling the whole story of someone's life can be accomplished in a more tasteful way than Ellen Vaughn did in this book. Under the cover of telling the whole story, she appears to gravitate toward somewhat salacious information. Elliot was a hugely influential , but also hugely complicated, figure in 20th century American Christianity. Her story can be told, honestly and truthfully, without tarnishing it with indelicate details.

Elisabeth Elliot: A Life, by Lucy S.R. Austen

 

Once in awhile a biography comes along that is well worth the slog through 500+ pages (600+ with bibliography and notes included).  This is just such a book.

Elisabeth Elliot has long been an icon to much of the Christian world - the book says she's the best known Christian woman of the 20th and early 21st centuries - and she has been a huge inspiration and example to me for the past 40+ years.  I have fond memories of reading Shadow of the Almighty aloud with my dear college roommate and friend as we shared a dorm room during summer work on campus--an experience that started my lifelong reading of Elliot's work.  I have an entire bookshelf filled with most of her 25 published titles.  So this biography was of great interest to me.

Austen takes an unprejudiced approach to her subject.  This is not hagiographic at all; Elliot's weaknesses are portrayed even as her value to Christian thought is explored positively.  Austen's research is impeccable.  She is dispassionate about her information, which in my opinion makes this volume much more valuable than Ellen Vaughn's Becoming Elisabeth Elliot Vol. 1. Vaughn resorted to weaker writing tactics of using gratuitousnessin some examples, and her insertion of herself in places in my opinion removed some of her objectivity.

Here are some of the things I learned from Austen's Elisabeth Elliot: A Life:

• Elliot had feet of clay.  She had areas of weakness in her personality and areas where an objective reader could look at her decisions and raise eyebrows.  We so tend to look at our Christian heroes as being saints rather than sinners - but she, like you and I and everyone else, was a sinner.  Looking at the worth of Christians in spite of their sin (rather than people who have fallen off the "Christian pedestal") has been a revolutionary process for me in recent years, and seeing Elliot's weak areas just reinforces that to me.

• Elliot faced self-doubt and frustration with schedules and getting everything done.  In that regard she was no different than most Christian women.

• Elliot faced difficulties, in marriage and elsewhere, that made her question herself and her choices.  I found this to be an extreme comfort, to find that she was not above other Christian women in second-guessing herself and in learning to live with the results of her decisions.  She most certainly did not have a perfect life, which most of us would acknowledge in the death of her first husband, but probably thought her later life was more free of difficulty.

• I didn't always follow where her train of theological thought was going, and could tell I would not always agree with her conclusions.  But when she came to a firm Biblical conclusion (such as in the roles of men and women) she was not afraid of the fallout.

Austen's biography of Elisabeth Elliot will eventually be regarded as a classic work.  Her work is moving and inspirational.  It has affected me greatly, and will affect other readers as well.

George Washington Saved the Tree

 During our recent visit to the beautiful Hampton Plantation south of Georgetown (see the previous post), I spent some time sitting on the large portico facing the front yard. The house is situated between a small rice field and a wooded path to the family cemetery.  Wambaw Creek is in back, and in front of the portico would have been an expansive view of the front lawn - except that a huge live oak tree stands in the way of the scene. And barring an act of nature, that enormous oak will block the panorama for many more years. It has its own illustrious history and story. 

The year was 1791, springtime, and George Washington was traveling on an extended trip through the southern states in an attempt to unify all parts of the infant nation.  After spending the night in Georgetown, he stopped the next morning at Hampton Plantation for breakfast. The portico on which I was relaxing was constructed all those years ago especially for this important visit. 

 

The home at the time was owned by the Horry and Pinckney families, ancestors of long-time Hampton owner and state poet laureate Archibald Rutledge. All those names should ring a bell for South Carolinians who know the history of our state. The Declaration of Independence was signed by John Rutledge, and the Constitution by two of the Pinckney men. And Myrtle Beach is in the county that was named for the Horry family. 

 

When Washington arrived at Hampton that long-ago morning, he was greeted by Harriott Pinckney Horry and her mother, Eliza Lucas Pinckney (famous in her own right for her work in indigo production).  The two women were naturally very excited to have the first president of the United States visit their home. They told Washington that because the view of the front lawn was obstructed by the large oak tree, they were going to have it cut down. They asked him what he thought. Washington disagreed, told them he liked the tree, and thought they should keep it!  

 

Thus, the ladies reconsidered their decision and allowed the tree to remain. It has steadily grown in that front yard for the past 232 years, and has been fondly called the “Washington Oak” in honor of the great man whose opinion kept it from being removed.

 

Fast forward back to 2023. After leaving the portico and walking around the grounds with Mike, I later sat for a few minutes longer on the bench directly beneath the Washington Oak. Just sitting there helped me sense a little part of the great history of the place.  The Washington Oak still stands, as does the rest of Hampton Plantation, as a treasure of our beautiful state.

Turning Back the Calendar

It was like stepping back into the 1700s. Mike and I were leisurely traveling north from Charleston to Pawley’s Island recently, when about two-thirds of the way there we saw the sign for Hampton Plantation. We’d seen that same sign on several occasions in past years but had never stopped. 

This morning we had time to spare, and took the opportunity to go see the beautiful place that time appears to have left behind. Hampton Plantation, built between 1730 and 1750, is associated with several illustrious names from South Carolina history: Horry, Pinckney, and, since 1830, generations of the Rutledge family--as in Archibald Rutledge, our first state poet laureate. After his passing in 1973, the property was sold to the Department of Natural Resources and is now in our state park system. 

 The place was empty when we arrived mid-morning. We made our way past the visitor center entrance and several massive old magnolias and Spanish-moss laden oaks that had been standing guard for multiple centuries. Immediately we had an unobstructed view of the stately old home. We walked past a small rice field and read a sign describing how Carolina Gold rice was the huge moneymaker for early settlers in our state. (A bird note here: bobolinks were also called rice birds, because as they migrated north each spring they often decimated those rice fields along the coast.) 

 We would have taken a guided tour of the inside of the home, but it was not available then. So we just rambled around the outside. The cabin where food was cooked was close by the main house (kitchens were separate in those early days to prevent fires). We looked in the windows and checked out the layout. 

 The quietness of the grounds accentuated the feeling of being back in the 18th century. No power lines were visible. The walkway to the little family cemetery was surrounded by overgrown gardens, and hushed except for a few bird sounds. Everything was peaceful as we paid our respects to the Rutledge family. 

 Mike took another walkway to look at Wambaw Creek and the crossing where centuries ago slaves were taken every day to work the rice fields on Hampton Island. Meanwhile, I headed back toward the quietness of the big house. Then the loud sound of a swarm of bees made me wonder what was going on nearby. 

 I rounded the corner of the house and discovered that the buzzing noise wasn’t from bees--a man and his three sons were using the open lawn to play with their drone. Immediately I was snapped from the 1700s back to 2023. Oh well, that historical feeling was nice while it lasted. 

 Hampton Plantation provides a great and lovely look at the early history of our state, and we highly recommend it as a worthwhile side trip for beachgoers this summer. (Just bring bug spray.) And I certainly hope no drones will be hanging around to ruin your own feel of stepping back in time.

James 1:15 and the Murdaugh trial

 I'm fascinated with this Alex Murdaugh trial.  It's one of the nice things about being retired--I can pay attention to things other than school.  It's caused me to sit at my sewing machine and get several projects done - because I can then justify long periods of listening to trial testimony at the same time.  

It's a horrible story.  The financial crimes alone are breathtaking in their scope.  And then the possibility that this man also finished off his wife and son advances the story from horrible to unthinkable.  And yet it very possibly could be true.

In my senior English teaching days, we studied Macbeth each year, and I always introduced it by reading:

    Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. - James 1:15

That's exactly what happened to Macbeth.  His crime started in his mind - "I could be king." That was the conception of lust - the lust for power.  Then came the sin of murder to gain that end.  After that, he had to murder person after person to cover his own tracks.  And in the end, he died as the result of his actions.

The current situation carries parallels (even though I'm not saying that Murdaugh will personally die if convicted).  In Murdaugh's mind, something happened to set him on the path of stealing - which soon became action.  That resulted in more stealing, and more and more. And his actions, if proved, certainly did result in death - the tragic death of his wife and son.  

And it all started with some root cause, not completely ferreted out yet, for which he needed money.  The murder has not been proven, but compelling evidence exists that he had motive - that of covering his tracks and gaining him sympathy and time from those who were on his trail.  After all, several witnesses have said that after the murders, because of sympathy for the defendant, for quite some time they didn't want to bring up the financial irregularities.

If Alex Murdaugh did commit the murders of his wife and son, I hope and pray that he does not get off of the charges due to the skills of sophisticated lawyers.  If he didn't do it, I hope he is found innocent.  Most of all I hope justice is served to the perpetrator of the gruesome murders of these two people.

And the older I get, the more I see the truths of the Bible proven in daily life.

Christmas Quotation from the incomparable Janie B. Cheaney

Janie B. Cheaney, WORLD magazine, 12/3/2022 - “A cloth-wrapped baby in a feeding trough and a cloth-wrapped boy in a tomb form the axis of a profound mystery that screen treatments and novels can only suggest.  Nations rise and fall, eras come and go, but this ungraspable Person remains, still able and willing to grasp us.”