DH & I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary Sept. 25 (we were in Dakar for a conference and to visit our kids, hence the belated post). Yay for us! We took the kids out to dinner and also invited the Ericksons, who met & married the same year we did (also joined the mission with us, Bill & Jim in '79, Becky & I in '82). I gave a corny little tribute to each of my kids. I know wedding anniversaries are about the parents, but face it, if we hadn't gotten married they wouldn't be here, and they have been (and continue to be) a major highlight of our lives for the past quarter-century!
I read a piece recently called "Married Today, Gone Tomorrow" by Janice Shaw Crouse which makes me even more thankful to the Lord for the longevity of our marriage. According to statistics, "If you married before 1950, the chances are your marriage lasted at least 15 years, probably 25 and likely even longer. If you married after 1980, however, your prospects are not as rosy. In fact, you are less likely than at any time since World War II to celebrate a Silver wedding anniversary — 25 years of marriage." [Go here to read the whole article: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JaniceShawCrouse/2007/09/27/
married_today,_gone_tomorrow]
This was published 2 days after DH & I celebrated our Silver Anniversary. By the grace of God or downright stubbornness (probably both!) we are still together and enjoy each other's company. Our 'nest' is empty (most of the time!) as the youngest of 4 children went away to school this fall, and we have been pleasantly surprised to find we still have things to talk about other than the kids!
So to continue the celebration of our Anniversary, I would like to include here a tribute to other couples whose marriages have, by that same grace of God & personal stubbornness, stood the test of time since 1980 (I've included a few married in the 70's as well since we are all essentially part of the same generation). If you're our friend and I missed you, let me know, and I'll include you in a later post!
[Alphabetical by first name]
Arlene & Dave R. 70's
Barb & Charlie R. '81?
Barb & Lee H. '70's
Bev & Court B. '82
Bill & Becky E. '82
Bud & Barb S. '70's
Chris & Karen P. '70's
Chuck & Becky K. '81
Chuck & Debbie B. '76
Colleen & Yudi B. '72
Dan & Audrey S. '81
David & Sharon F. '70's
Dee & Patty B. '70's
Dianne & Andy S. '79?
Eben & Sue C. '70's
Founeke & Ane D. '70's
Gene & Dawn M. '76?
Greg & Heather S. '74-ish?
Jeanie & Larry M. '81
Jim & Barb R. '70's
Larry & Stephanie K.
Martin & Luzia M.
Moise & Rebecca D.
Narci & Glenn H. '79
Paul & Kitty T. '78?
Randy & Anita T.
Ray & Deb H.
Rick & Carol R. '70's
Rita & Ron F.
Sandy & Gary G. '78?
Tad & Jane H.
Tom & Ruth H. '70's
Friday, October 5, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
Postmodernism explored/explained
As part of my ongoing quest to understand the postmodernist mindset, I offer this quote from apologist/theologian Rave Zacharias:
...we have now reached a degree of secularization in our society whereby "religious ideas, institutions and interpretations have lost their social significance." This secularization "is revealed in a very inversion of language. It used to be that the Christian worldview was so present in Western culture that even when you were expressing secular ideas you had to borrow religious terminology with which to do it. Now there is an inversion; our world has become so secular that even when you are communicating religious ideas you have to borrow secular terminology with which to do it. Secularization has become so powerful in our social fabric, that the moment you introduce (into a discussion) a moral idea, if it has any connection to a religious worldview it is ipso facto disregarded as (being invalid)."
Quoted by David Limbaugh
...we have now reached a degree of secularization in our society whereby "religious ideas, institutions and interpretations have lost their social significance." This secularization "is revealed in a very inversion of language. It used to be that the Christian worldview was so present in Western culture that even when you were expressing secular ideas you had to borrow religious terminology with which to do it. Now there is an inversion; our world has become so secular that even when you are communicating religious ideas you have to borrow secular terminology with which to do it. Secularization has become so powerful in our social fabric, that the moment you introduce (into a discussion) a moral idea, if it has any connection to a religious worldview it is ipso facto disregarded as (being invalid)."
Quoted by David Limbaugh
Thursday, August 30, 2007
I am Lightly Nerdy
What is it about these Inet quizzes some people (like me) love to take? I mean, why would I take a Nerd Test, when I'm clearly not one?
Blogger/Blogspot as a Source of Internet Porn
I may have to switch my blog to another host. I used to like to browse neighboring blogs using the "Next Blog" button (upper left) but have found that this often leads to pornographic advertising. I was quite shocked, b/c there are supposed to be built-in protections against such things. I wrote to the company about 10 days ago, and just thought I would share my letter to them with you:
Aug. 22, 2007
I am writing about a number of violations to your Terms of Service regarding content, particularly the following:
* Pornography and Obscenity: Image and video content that contains nudity, sexually graphic material, or material that is otherwise deemed explicit by Google should be made private. Otherwise, we may put such content behind an interstitial.
* Commercial Pornography: We do not allow content that exists for the primary purpose of monetizing porn content or driving traffic to a monetized pornography site.
One of the features I USED TO enjoy about Blogger was the "Next Blog" button. I like to randomly troll the blogs in hopes of discovering a gem, as I hope other users might discover and enjoy mine.
I had not done this for some time and was in for a shock when I did. Yesterday and today when I did this, AT LEAST every 3rd (sometimes every other) page took me to pornographic photos (naked women, women with their crotches displayed to the camera, etc.). I respect your policy of freedom of speech (altho I don't totally agree with it in the area of porn), but why are these pages not preceded by an interstitial as mentioned above? What's more, MOST of them did not have the bar at top with the Flag Blog link. (Which means they also did not have the Next Blog option, so I just had to close down the page and could not continue exploring blogs).
I try to maintain a family-appropriate blog and cannot take the chance of my friends accidently opening such pages in proximity to my own. I will be checking back to see if their is any improvement, and if not, will move my blog elsewhere, and make known why I did so.
Here are the results of less than 1/2 hour of exploration using the Next Blog key: [Here I listed a number of URLs].
The following pornographic blogs had no Flag Blog option: [More URLs].
These were the only ones which gave me the Flag Blog option, and I did so, but I notify you of them just the same b/c Blogger has a reputation of ignoring flags: [2 more URLs]
I hope you will deal with this ASAP. It would be sad for a company like Blogger to become known as the "Best Source for Porn Blogs" in PC Magazine or Consumer Reports.
Aug. 22, 2007
I am writing about a number of violations to your Terms of Service regarding content, particularly the following:
* Pornography and Obscenity: Image and video content that contains nudity, sexually graphic material, or material that is otherwise deemed explicit by Google should be made private. Otherwise, we may put such content behind an interstitial.
* Commercial Pornography: We do not allow content that exists for the primary purpose of monetizing porn content or driving traffic to a monetized pornography site.
One of the features I USED TO enjoy about Blogger was the "Next Blog" button. I like to randomly troll the blogs in hopes of discovering a gem, as I hope other users might discover and enjoy mine.
I had not done this for some time and was in for a shock when I did. Yesterday and today when I did this, AT LEAST every 3rd (sometimes every other) page took me to pornographic photos (naked women, women with their crotches displayed to the camera, etc.). I respect your policy of freedom of speech (altho I don't totally agree with it in the area of porn), but why are these pages not preceded by an interstitial as mentioned above? What's more, MOST of them did not have the bar at top with the Flag Blog link. (Which means they also did not have the Next Blog option, so I just had to close down the page and could not continue exploring blogs).
I try to maintain a family-appropriate blog and cannot take the chance of my friends accidently opening such pages in proximity to my own. I will be checking back to see if their is any improvement, and if not, will move my blog elsewhere, and make known why I did so.
Here are the results of less than 1/2 hour of exploration using the Next Blog key: [Here I listed a number of URLs].
The following pornographic blogs had no Flag Blog option: [More URLs].
These were the only ones which gave me the Flag Blog option, and I did so, but I notify you of them just the same b/c Blogger has a reputation of ignoring flags: [2 more URLs]
I hope you will deal with this ASAP. It would be sad for a company like Blogger to become known as the "Best Source for Porn Blogs" in PC Magazine or Consumer Reports.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Why is God like that?
I'm on somewhat of an emotional roller-coaster these days, so anything I write should be taken with a grain of salt...
For years I've been trying to figure out why God treats similar people SO differently. Oh, I know he's trying to build different things in our lives.
Take two missionary families, who both go to the USA for Home Ministry at the same time, and both need to raise funds for a new vehicle. At the end of the year, one returns (ours) and is able to buy an old used Land Rover in constant need of repairs. The second family returns with enuf money to buy a brand new air-conditioned Land Cruiser. (That was over 15 years ago; we have had 3 more used vehicles in that time, and the Land Cruiser is still on the road).
Then there's the fact that we prayed faithfully for a teacher to come help home school our children so I could continue in ministry. In 17 years of home schooling, we never once found anyone, but fellow miss'ys in the same town had (and have) teachers year after year.
Some extenuating circumstances:
The second family in the car situation belongs to a home church which provides almost 100% of their member miss'ys' support, as well as many of their project expenses.
Some of the families who got teachers belong to a mission which pools all support so their teachers did not have to wait until they had raised all their support before they could come. Another family belongs to a well-known agency with thousands of members, and therefore abundant human resources.
Okay, but does God need me to make excuses for him by stating these extenuating circumstances? He would be a pitiful God indeed if he is able to abundantly supply the needs only of those who belong to rich churches or big mission agencies.
So why, all other things being seemingly equal, did he not do for us as he did for those others? Enquiring minds want to know!!!
Since I am feeling less emotional than when I began this entry several hours ago, here are some (slightly) objective observations:
-We certainly learned to trust in the Lord, not in vehicles! I remember a one-year period when I should have been stranded at least 3 times, but He miraculously intervened and I was rescued. (Still, He would have less work to do if He just gave us a good car).
-For the past few years, I didn't pray or recruit all that diligently for a teacher (but that was partly b/c I stopped believing God would answer -- not that He could not answer b/c he was certainly doing so for others, but for some reason in our case He would not).
-I am grateful for having home schooled my kids. Even tho I did so out of necessity, not conviction, I came to consider it a privilege.
Something to be grateful for: I know some miss'ys who have been trying to raise support for a long time, are convinced God has called them to the field, and long to be serving Him overseas -- but who just can't get enuf money to do so. We've had our ups and downs of support over the last 20-some years, but God has kept us here where, not only are we serving Him, but we love to be! In light of that, my other complaints seem petty.
For years I've been trying to figure out why God treats similar people SO differently. Oh, I know he's trying to build different things in our lives.
Take two missionary families, who both go to the USA for Home Ministry at the same time, and both need to raise funds for a new vehicle. At the end of the year, one returns (ours) and is able to buy an old used Land Rover in constant need of repairs. The second family returns with enuf money to buy a brand new air-conditioned Land Cruiser. (That was over 15 years ago; we have had 3 more used vehicles in that time, and the Land Cruiser is still on the road).
Then there's the fact that we prayed faithfully for a teacher to come help home school our children so I could continue in ministry. In 17 years of home schooling, we never once found anyone, but fellow miss'ys in the same town had (and have) teachers year after year.
Some extenuating circumstances:
The second family in the car situation belongs to a home church which provides almost 100% of their member miss'ys' support, as well as many of their project expenses.
Some of the families who got teachers belong to a mission which pools all support so their teachers did not have to wait until they had raised all their support before they could come. Another family belongs to a well-known agency with thousands of members, and therefore abundant human resources.
Okay, but does God need me to make excuses for him by stating these extenuating circumstances? He would be a pitiful God indeed if he is able to abundantly supply the needs only of those who belong to rich churches or big mission agencies.
So why, all other things being seemingly equal, did he not do for us as he did for those others? Enquiring minds want to know!!!
Since I am feeling less emotional than when I began this entry several hours ago, here are some (slightly) objective observations:
-We certainly learned to trust in the Lord, not in vehicles! I remember a one-year period when I should have been stranded at least 3 times, but He miraculously intervened and I was rescued. (Still, He would have less work to do if He just gave us a good car).
-For the past few years, I didn't pray or recruit all that diligently for a teacher (but that was partly b/c I stopped believing God would answer -- not that He could not answer b/c he was certainly doing so for others, but for some reason in our case He would not).
-I am grateful for having home schooled my kids. Even tho I did so out of necessity, not conviction, I came to consider it a privilege.
Something to be grateful for: I know some miss'ys who have been trying to raise support for a long time, are convinced God has called them to the field, and long to be serving Him overseas -- but who just can't get enuf money to do so. We've had our ups and downs of support over the last 20-some years, but God has kept us here where, not only are we serving Him, but we love to be! In light of that, my other complaints seem petty.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Empty Nest Syndrome
"I missed them, but of the two of us, I think it was worse for Allie. She may have been a painter, but she was first and foremost a mother, and once the kids were gone, it was like she wasn't exactly who she was anymore. At least for a while, anyway." The Wedding (Nicholas Sparks), p. 59
This week we took the last of our 4 children to boarding school. She is 12, in 8th grade, and has been more than ready to go for over a year. But, oh, it has been soooo hard letting her go. Every now and then I say (only half teasing), "Remember, Susanna, if you want to stay home, just say the word..." and I get the typical adolescent, "Mo-om!" in reply.
So now, all 4 of our children are in Senegal, DD#1 as an English teacher, and the other 3 as students (only DD#2 actually has her big sister for a class, DS will have her next year). They are absolutely thrilled to all be together, as you can imagine (altho they are not living together in one place).
I'm not handling this Empty Nest stuff very well. I've been struggling with this all summer, having bouts of depression and so on. It's not so much losing the kids; it's: what do I do with myself now? The work I did in the local church before I started home schooling is all being done by Malians now -- and that's GOOD, we are supposed to work ourselves out of a job! So now I have to find another niche for myself. It would be nice if there were an office or a school for me to go work in, but it doesn't work that way. There's plenty to be done, but you have to be somewhat of a self-starter -- and I am pretty weak in that area!
I've started making lists of things I can do. But I don't want this to be just 'busy work.' And I don't want to do things which a local person could do, thus depriving them of a job/ministry. I plan to spend more time traveling with Jim on his many bush trips, and he will be glad have to have me with him. I may also have to start studying the Fulani language. I don't expect to become fluent (after 9 years he is not), but people always appreciate that you make the effort and it builds bridges.
On the other hand, having left off the kids... maybe it IS about losing them!
This week we took the last of our 4 children to boarding school. She is 12, in 8th grade, and has been more than ready to go for over a year. But, oh, it has been soooo hard letting her go. Every now and then I say (only half teasing), "Remember, Susanna, if you want to stay home, just say the word..." and I get the typical adolescent, "Mo-om!" in reply.
So now, all 4 of our children are in Senegal, DD#1 as an English teacher, and the other 3 as students (only DD#2 actually has her big sister for a class, DS will have her next year). They are absolutely thrilled to all be together, as you can imagine (altho they are not living together in one place).
I'm not handling this Empty Nest stuff very well. I've been struggling with this all summer, having bouts of depression and so on. It's not so much losing the kids; it's: what do I do with myself now? The work I did in the local church before I started home schooling is all being done by Malians now -- and that's GOOD, we are supposed to work ourselves out of a job! So now I have to find another niche for myself. It would be nice if there were an office or a school for me to go work in, but it doesn't work that way. There's plenty to be done, but you have to be somewhat of a self-starter -- and I am pretty weak in that area!
I've started making lists of things I can do. But I don't want this to be just 'busy work.' And I don't want to do things which a local person could do, thus depriving them of a job/ministry. I plan to spend more time traveling with Jim on his many bush trips, and he will be glad have to have me with him. I may also have to start studying the Fulani language. I don't expect to become fluent (after 9 years he is not), but people always appreciate that you make the effort and it builds bridges.
On the other hand, having left off the kids... maybe it IS about losing them!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Where I've been...
I was somewhat shocked to see that I have not been to this site for over 3 mos., since April 25 ! I went to the States in May to attend DD#1's grad from college. We are so very proud of her. She graduated summa cum laude in English & Adolescence Education. She's even talking about getting her Ph.D someday. Meanwhile, she is coming to teach HS English at Dakar Academy for the next 2 years. For the next year, at least, all 4 of my children will be in the same place.
On the other hand, this also means DD#3 is leaving us to go to boarding school in 2 weeks, leaving us with an empty nest. I am surprised at how much this is bothering me, as it has been long anticipated. I am consequently going thru some sort of a Mid-life Crisis (as dramatic as that sounds!) and bordering on depression.
On the other hand, this also means DD#3 is leaving us to go to boarding school in 2 weeks, leaving us with an empty nest. I am surprised at how much this is bothering me, as it has been long anticipated. I am consequently going thru some sort of a Mid-life Crisis (as dramatic as that sounds!) and bordering on depression.
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