LilyforChrist's Xanga

Blog

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 22:41:24 GMT

I hardly ever update here! But that's because I already . So really, this post is just a shameless plug for my usual blog. So if you want to read more entries, hop over to my other blog. Or, if you're
so inclined, check out my LiveJournal, which I probably update most of all.

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 18:07:29 GMT

We've just started sending out a weekly newsletter for our evangelism ministry. If anyone wants to be added to the email list, just reply and let me know, and you'll be added!

Evacuation

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 00:31:51 GMT

Tomorrow it will be one year since we evacuated for Hurricane Rita. It's strange to think back to this night a year ago, when we were packing up to leave. We live in a mobile home and were right on the projected path for the hurricane to hit us straight on, so we didn't know if we would have a home when we got back. A few weeks before, we were helping with some of the Katrina victims, so we got to see a lot of that firsthand and hear stories about what happened to them. It was mind-boggling to realize we were then evacuees ourselves! Here's another post from before we left, then here you can read the log I kept of our trip. One thing I didn't mention there is that it was 102 degrees outside when we set up camp! I love camping, but that was just too much. The lake was a wonderful relief though.

My asthma has been bad the last few days, and I've had a bad headache tonight. I thought I was having a rough night until I realized that one year ago tonight, we were packing up to leave thinking we weren't going to have a house to come home to. It's really all a matter of perspective.

New Additions

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 23:35:23 GMT

Mama and I went to Wal-mart tonight, and had a rather interesting shopping list:

sorbet
Italian ice
Prince Charming

I would imagine the last item on the list raises some questions. How on earth could we expect to find a prince charming at Wal-mart?? Well, the story behind that started with my sisters' decision to buy some fish. They've been setting up the tank recently, then bought the fish today. They saw some frogs for sale as well, and we all talked about it this evening and really wanted to get one. Over dinner, we decided we should buy one and name him Prince Charming, though none of us wanted to try kissing him. Mama and I were going to get one when we went to Wal-mart, hence the curious shopping list. We actually ended up getting two frogs, and I named the other Marshwiggle. Mama is taking pictures right now, so I should have some of those available to post soon.

Updating...

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:50:27 GMT

I should probably update here more. I do update my regular blog more often though. The last few weeks have been pretty busy, and we've been looking for a new church as well. We've been homechurching for a while but are now trying to find something else. We're probably going to start going to one that's about 15 minutes away. We went Sunday and it went well; I loved the Sunday School class. We're going through the book of Matthew and the man teaching it makes it very interesting. He even made the geneology interesting!

Ragweed and other pollens are coming out now. I can tell because I've come down with bronchitis again(a yearly issue for me...). I actually didn't get it last year, just a lot of problems with my asthma and other respiratory stuff. I had forgotten how awful the bronchitis was! But I'm already on antibiotic for a sinus infection and asthma medicine, and I'm staying on decongestant, so hopefully I can get this out soon. Despite the fact that whenever I get it, it lasts from September to December, I'm still optimistic and hoping I can beat it sooner! It comes in with the ragweed and stays until a freeze kills the pollen. Last winter, it never froze hard enough; ragweed was still blooming in February! I'm praying for a hard winter to kill all the pollen early.

We do have two trips coming up this fall, one to Louisiana next month for a cousin's wedding, then one camping west of Austin in November. My allergies and asthma always feel better when I'm out away from the big city, so that will be nice. I love camping and hiking too, so I can't wait for that, and it will be nice to see all the family again at the wedding. And the MacDonalds are coming soon, so we're all really excited about that!!

I'm taking the week easy, sitting back and getting plenty of rest. There's so much I want to get done: I was organizing my room and just have a bit left to finish, I want to get a lot of sewing done and make a couple of skirts before the trip to the wedding, and I really want to work on my music a lot. But I can't push myself or I'll just get worse, so I'm taking it easy and getting plenty of rest so I'll get well soon.

'Tis a Gift to be Simple...

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 02:10:47 GMT

Today I met a girl from Romania. She is 21, and she was adopted 6 years ago and moved here. We talked a lot about America, and she was telling me how different it is here. I've never talked so much about that with someone from another country, and it was fascinating to hear her perspectives. She said that many people in Romania would say they wanted to come to America where they could be free, but she feels that it was actually much freer in Romania. Here in America, we're so bound to our technology. You can't function in the culture without constant use of a vehicle. Many people microwave meals or order takeout rather than have homecooked meals. Generally, people eat so much fast food and other unhealthy food, then get little exercise, as they don't have to walk to go anywhere, or work in the garden to ensure they have food on the table. She said that in Romania, shopping was much easier. If you wanted cheese, you went into the store, and they'd ask if you wanted goat cheese or cow cheese. You would tell them which you wanted, and that was it. Whereas here, you go into the store, and have to choose between twenty different kinds of cheese. She said a lot of people consider that freedom, to have all these options here, but that back in Romania, people have so much more freedom, because they're not bound by technology and vehicles and all the complications we have here, or so caught up in material gain or making money.

I wrote this post at my old blog last year, and I feel even stronger about it now. How much better it would be to live a life poor in funds, but rich in friends, family, fellowship, and a simple life, than to have all the money in the world.

"'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free,
'Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
It will be in the valley of love and delight."

Some Thoughts of Mine...

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 23:28:37 GMT

I wrote up a post for my blog, and I wanted to share it here as well. I refer some to these messages by Voddie Baucham, which I linked to on my other blog earlier today.

Warning: What I'm about to say may be shocking to some. It definitely goes against the modern dating trend. It even goes against some of the thoughts a lot of courtship advocates speak on. It most certainly goes against feministic beliefs, and would probably give any feminist a heart attack. But it's what I believe, however small of a minority I may be in.

I've been thinking about this for a couple of months now, since I started reading Let Me Be a Woman, by Elisabeth Elliot. It also goes along with what's said in the messages I linked to earlier today. A lot of people scoff at the idea of needing a spouse to "complete them". The line "You complete me" gets a lot of flack. A lot of Christians say we should be complete in Christ alone, just resting in Him. But while we should always be able to find contentment in Him, is that thinking flawed? Woman was made as a helper for man, to work alongside him and be his companion. We're made to fulfill different roles for a reason. Also, the two shall become one. So, in essence, aren't we specifically made to complete each other? Wasn't that what woman was made for, to complement man?

Often, the longing for a spouse is pushed aside: Women are told by the world, and some Christians, to fulfill their own desires and pursue their own careers, while many other Christians speak on how much better we can serve Christ single, and say we should find our wholeness in Him and let Him fill that longing for a spouse. The first is full of selfishness, and goes against God's design. The second also goes against God's design, denying the fact that He gave us a longing for a spouse and says that if a person was only seeking God enough and content enough in Him, that longing would be fulfilled. We do need to be careful not to be overtaken with discontentment, but I believe that desire for a spouse is God given and shouldn't be quenched. Now some are truly called to be single, but I believe those people are rare, and that most aren't called to that life.

Here's a quote from Let Me Be a Woman:

God might have given Adam another man to be his friend, to walk and talk and argue with if that was his pleasure. But Adam needed more than the companionship of the animals or the friendship of a man. He needed a helper, specially designed and prepared to fill that role. It was a woman God gave him, a woman, "meet", fit, suitable, entirely appropriate for him, made of his very bones and flesh.

Is it wrong to desire a spouse when God created marriage, created us to desire that? To say so would be like saying it's wrong to be hungry, when God created us to need food. That can be taken too far and turned into gluttony, which is indeed wrong, and such can be the case with lust when the desire is taken too far.

If we were created differently and to complement one another, then is there not something missing until one finds a spouse? If Adam wasn't lacking in something, what purpose did Eve serve?

I believe too many women today have the mindset that being a wife and mother is, at best, second to their life and career. They're taught that they need to pursue a career and "find themselves" before they can be happy in a marriage. That's true both in the world and in the church. The age for marriage has been pushed back greatly, largely because women are told they need to go to college and they need to pursue their own interests and careers first, so they think they're not ready for marriage until much later. And if you desire marriage too much, you just need to become closer to the Lord, because you must not be content enough or walking closely enough with Him if you're struggling. But I believe that being a wife and mother is what God has called most women to do, and that He has created us with that desire. He has given us that longing because that's what He has called us to be. It would truly be a blessing to be a wife and mother, and I think it's sad how that perspective has been so skewed.

I hope my thoughts have made some sense. This has been brewing for a couple of months now, and after listening to three of those audio messages today, I wanted to share all this. I'd love to hear input!

Aye, avast!

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 16:01:58 GMT

Rachel's 12th birthday was August 6. For her birthday, she wanted a pirate themed party. Our parents took her out for dinner and a movie, while the rest of us decorated the house and prepared for her party. Hannah, Caroline, and I thought it would be fun to dress up as well, to go along with the theme. We dug through our old clothes and material scraps, and set to work putting together costumes. They put on a bit of makeup as well, and no pirate would have skin as white as mine...So here are the results:

We had a lot of fun with it. We thought it would be fun to go outside and dance around while singing piratey songs and see what reactions we could get from the neighbors, but we restrained ourselves from trying that. If we hadn't, Mama probably would have, so it wouldn't have happened anyway. :)

I'm still working on the literary project I mentioned previously, but due to sickness in the house, it's moving rather slowly right now. Hannah, Rachel, and I have had a lot of bad allergies, as well as respiratory problems, and I've got a bad sinus infection. So that has things slowed down a lot here. I've also been working on our evangelism site some, fixing up some small problems and working on some other changes. I have a migraine from my sinus infection though, so I might just spend the afternoon in bed with a movie on. I'm sure the rest would be good for me anyway. Last year, I had a migraine with a sinus infection like this which lasted four days, so I'm really hoping this won't be like that one.

Our dove is still doing well, and you can see a picture of him(or her) at Mama's blog.

Updating(finally)

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 01:28:50 GMT

I need to update here more. We're currently caring for a dove rescued from a neighborhood cat Friday evening. When we found him, we didn't think he was going to survive the night because he appeared to be hurt badly. He had some injuries to his chest that looked bad, but they seem to be healing nicely, and aren't as deep as we first thought. He is missing most of his tail feathers, as well as the wing feathers from one of his wings, and has some cuts. However, he appears to be doing well, and seems even more alert today than he was yesterday. He's hopping around his box, and will step up on my fingers and try to walk up my arm. We have to be careful though, as he's still hurt and he keeps trying to fly, not realizing he can't.

The cat who attacked him was Mr. Tumnus, the cat that adopted us recently. He's been moody ever since, and was mad at us for a while Friday night. He was sitting out on top of the van and wouldn't even look at us when we called him. I think he's getting over it though.

I've also been dealing with my asthma a lot lately, and having a lot of respiratory problems. I think I'm getting bronchitis, which I expected, but don't look forward too. I tend to get it for several months in the fall/winter. Not much else going on around here. I've been changing the layout on our evangelism site, which took a lot of time. We saw Pirates of the Caribbean 2 on Monday. It was great. I'm glad the third one comes out next year, especially since this one leaves you hanging on some things.

Medical Intervention

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 15:27:44 GMT

This is a compliation of two posts from my regular blog:

I think this is a very sad example of both how our rights are being denied and how our lives are trying to be run too much by others. This 16-year-old boy is having to fight for the right to decide how he should be treated medically. He went through chemotherapy for Hodgkin's Disease, and was effected so adversely from the chemo, he almost died. He feels certain that he would die were he to undergo another chemo treatment. He and his family want to try to treat the disease naturally because of the effects the medical treatments had on his body. However, social services have stepped in, charging the family with medical neglect and trying to get a court order saying Abraham must go through another round of chemo, and the family is facing the possibility of losing custody of him. It is interesting to note that the family homeschools. Here is the link to a good blog entry about the issue, and this article speaks of the possibility of Abraham being put in jail for refusing the treatment.

Though much milder in comparison, I've gone through a lot of trouble with asthma medicines making me really sick, so lethargic I was doing well to walk through the house, and the doctor wanting me to take a higher dosage. I could tell how my body was reacting well enough that I knew the medicine was making me sicker, and more medicine would only make me worse. The doctor didn't think that was it, but it was later proven that medicine could indeed have those side effects, and up to 80% of asthma deaths are caused by those so-called preventative drugs. Sometimes patients can tell better than doctors how their bodies will respond to something, though doctors can think they know everything and should have the right to decide. We should have the freedom to decide for ourselves. It's also tragic that the parents could be threatened with losing custody for simply trying to do the best thing for their child's health. It's not as if they're against it while the son wants the care.

It's astounding to me that the doctors and social workers want to be able to tell this boy what to do when it's his life and his body, and he even says another round of chemo would kill him. What kind of "American freedom" is that?

Friday, a judge ruled that Abraham Cherrix, the boy I wrote about in my last entry, must undergo the chemotherapy. An article about the ruling can be found here, and more information here.

It's sad that the judge can make such a ruling. A girl his age could have an abortion without parental consent. In Virginia, where he lives, someone his age can appeal to be emancipatedfrom his parents. However, Abraham can't make the decision to treat his cancer naturally, even with his parents' approval. Please be praying for them as they make an appeal to have the judge's ruling stayed.