I Swear!

I am very pleased with the Sunday School teacher that the kids are sitting under right now. She's a mother of 2 grown kids and approaches parenting with eternal purposes in mind which made/makes her a very forthright parent. This translates into her being a very forthright teacher on Sundays.

In past weeks they've talked over the 10 commandments, which caused my kids to ask her what adultery was. She didn't shy away from giving them a very tactful definition. They dug into the deeper implications behind the commandments as well.

Ruth's soccer team had played a very rough opposing soccer team Saturday (a la Real Madrid) and one of the girls on the other team had cussed at Ruth on the field. Their teacher on Sunday had asked them about their week and Ruth had brought up the game. This led them to discuss cussing and the meanings behind the words we use.

The Sunday School teacher made an extremely astute observation. All our cuss words fall into two categories: those directly offensive to God, those directly offensive to what He's made.

If you consider the meanings behind some of our cuss words:

sh**- poop
bi***- female dog
d***-to curse
f***- an intimate action with your spouse
c***- female anatomy
h***- place of torment
d***- male anatomy
p***- to urinate or be drunk
a**- donkey or ones rear end
various racial slurs which I won't list
There are also many, many more that predominantly have to do with bits of anatomy.

It's very interesting that people still damn others or use the word "God" to be profane when many of them don't believe that He exists.
As we've become a more atheistic/agnostic culture, wouldn't it make sense that people would find man-made objects something to be cussed about?

You never hear anyone stub their toe and say, "Macbook Pro!" or "Sailboats!" or "Pants!".
Along the same line, no one ever says, "Buddha!" or "Dali Lama!"

We still choose to wound the people around us by referencing God or predominantly the creatures made in his image, mankind. We insult their design both in anatomy and race.

This, I believe, is a result of what Paul talks about in Romans 1:18-19, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth by unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them.


I've long been a proponent of the alternative frustration words...here are some that the kids and I use:
Buckets
Frack (Used in Battlestar Galactica)
Darn
Freaking
Son of biscuit
Cripes
Blimey

Now, growing up, our parents ran a very verbally clean house, so clean that there were words that they were not familiar with. So, it was quite a shock to my sister and I when we realized one word that our family had been affectionately using to say, "Don't be silly" was actually a term that was a sex toy! (Psst, it was the d**** word)

I think we confuse some people because we fully support our kids knowing correct anatomical terms for private body parts, and yet we are against cussing. We give them the correct terminology for the privates because we believe that they're not shameful parts of the body, but parts that are to be correctly understood and explained to the glory of God.

I could go on and on about this topic, but sufficed to say, her observance has me thinking about the reasons that all cultures use the terms they do as cuss words.

What do you think? Do you cuss? (I have to confess, I'm not cuss word free) Do you have a good alternative word?

Foreign Adventure Countdown

Okay friends, here's the bottom line.
I'm tired.
Tired because of all the planning that goes into moving overseas by Christmas, tired because of all the changes that have had to happen and tired because of all the changes of friendships that have happened and will have to happen as a result of the colossal move.
*Sigh*
But, there will come a day when there will be no more that I can do to prepare and will be on the plane (tired I'm sure) trying to wrap my head around not being stateside for a couple of years.

If you've miraculously hung with this blog and its huge drought over the last two years, you may see more of me depending on how this all goes down. Above all, pray for our sanity and that we would see God as amazingly sufficient and providential in the midst of our shifting sands.

10 Is Just The Beginning

I've been thinking about today for the last few weeks. It's our 10 year anniversary.

Ten years ago today, Jason and I skipped chapel at CCU and went to downtown Denver. We paid $10 each, said our vows in front of the judge and had our wedding kiss in the Denver Post in a story on that judge.

Ten years was a number that I looked forward to because it sounded like the number of a mature married couple. I see now that ten years is just the beginning of a glorious union that God has brought together. The places we've been, jobs we've had, things we've worked out are just a taste of all the things yet to come.

Seeing more clearly every year God's hand on all that we do has made these last ten years so good:

-We've traveled and encouraged believers in 13 countries

-We've had 5 jobs that have all moved us closer to what God had for us at the next job and phase of life.

-We've moved 8 times and every location has been exactly what we needed at the time.

-God's given us 5 cars over the last 10 years that we haven't had to pay for. They've all been glorious mid-90s monsters that have even broken down at just the right times.

-We've been given two kids to raise in the fear of God and to see His glory and we're only now grasping some of the magnificence of that task.

-We've gained a deeper and more God-entranced vision of all things, including each other.

And that last good thing has really been the best thing. Without this deepening and joy-filled sight of God, the little annoyances and day to day misunderstandings would have worn at these last 10 years.

Living together as a man and a woman is not made to be easy, but it is made to be good! So, my dear and faithful Jason, here are the things that cause me to respect and love you more as we shuffle on this mortal coil:

-Your faith that God's sovereignty is always good and right

-Being able to look at life and say, "What's the worst that could happen?" and knowing it's a momentary light affliction.

-The joy you have of our children.

-Your full understanding that all that you have is to be given to others to glorify God...whether it's your time, your car or your finances.

-That you do not write or say anything lightly, but weigh things carefully.

-And, while it may seem silly, I love that you are so strong and stately looking.

I love you and, if God wills, I want to be able to spend 70 more years maturing in the knowledge of all God has made marriage to be.

Let The Games Begin

Jason and I have 2 different language programs for learning Arabic.

Why two different programs?

Because we're pretty sure that we learn differently. So, since we're also competitive, it is now a race to see who can communicate the best when we visit Jordan next month.

I have to say, I'm nervous I'm going to lose solely because my husband seems to be such a smarty pants. I have hope I can pull this off, enshallah!

Much Ado About Life As I Know It

I know, I know, I've been seriously falling down on the blogging job lately. Thank goodness you can't fire me!

Much, and not much, has happened over the last couple of months. So, here's the flyover:

-Kids in school and soccer. They have a love/hate relationship with both.

-Daughter entered early stages of adolescence...trying to ignore this because I'm sure it will go away (psh!)

-Grandparents health has been absolutely aweful, so I've been trying to help where I can.

-Slowly, much too slowly for me, getting ready to move overseas. Have spurts of trying not to think about this since I'm sure it will be so easy when it all happens.

-Studying Romans and Job with my women's groups and loving them. Just finished Deuteronomy and think it's amazing. Who knew it was such a pivotal book?!

-Took a free four day vacation to Universal Studios, Florida. My daughter won us that trip and it was everything I'd hoped for and more. Found out my daughter is a roller coaster/thrill junkie just like her mom.

-Three of the four of us got the influenza virus which laid us all out flat for Christmas Break. Also, I had the joy of my eardrum rupturing. It's still in the healing process.

That's life in a very quick flyby...I'll try and post sooner next time!

Contest of the Week

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to:http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?

This Christmas season feels different to me.

I'm usually slightly irritated all month because of the disruption to precious routine that the Christmas season is. It makes a mess, rearranges rooms and costs us money we shouldn't spend. But, every year, my husband's generosity and calm attitude has infected me a little more. The big shift this year has a lot to do with the reality that our next 2 Christmases will be spent in a foreign land where they don't have snow and don't celebrate Christmas as a nation. I realize that all these fun and heartwarming "disruptions" will be events I'll miss dearly while overseas.

So I'm finally relishing all the little things this year. The gift wrapping, the advent calendar, the decorating of the Christmas tree, and the lights on the house. But most all I'm relishing the reminders we have of it being all about His glory and grace since His declaration of Christ's coming in Genesis 3.

The reminder of Christ and His mercy are my wish for my family this year as we gear up to walk away from all we are familiar with in our culture. I want this Christmas to give my children confidence in the larger realities of why we celebrate Christmas. I want them to understand that it's not a mere cultural duty, but a deeply rooted example of all that we've received as sinners saved by His gracious hand.

So, pray for me that I not become a grinch, but at the same time, that I continue to be awed by the deep meaning of this month. May you see Him as most glorious!

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition?

We go to the Christmas Eve service.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?

I would ask for a working car with 10 years of free repairs.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?

We play in the snow and bake together.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?

We loved Scrabble, Pictionary and Monopoly.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?

I've carried on the traditions of driving around to look at Christmas lights and opening one gift on Christmas Eve.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?

Billings, Montana

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

Super Mario Bros for Wii

Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Wii

Lego Harry Potter yrs. 1-4 for Wii

Quote of the Week

"The old idea was to treat adults as adults. They could do anything; if they did something wrong they were punished. Children were treated as children-to be protected from what is harmful and reared and reformed in what is right. They modern idea is to reverse this. We treat adults as children and reform them.

We treat children as adults and let them see and do anything and everything. If we say someone's background and education is responsible for his present need of reform, it is inconsistent to let children taste and see everything good or bad."

-John Wenham "The Goodness of God"