Blog Archives

Adventures...

1/11/2014

Alright, so it wasn't really that much of an adventure--it would have been more of one if I had been able to make snowballs (but the snow was too, what'dya call it--soft? dry? to make them). Anyway, the three girls went out and goofed around in the snow for a bit. Savannah went in first, because she had a phone call to take, and I came in second because I had gotten so much snow down my boots that I felt like I was wearing ice-packs around my ankles. (I'd already dumped them out a couple of times.) Besides that those summer wieght work gloves were making my hands colder than warmer--so yes, I chickened out and retreated in doors. (By the way, this tale took place on Thursday.)

Anyway, I decided since I was going to go out and play in the snow, I might as well get seriously snow-clad and cold. I did...and I had fun at it--until my snow-packed ankles started to hurt. Every time I'd step into the snow, it pushed my pant legs up and thereby dumped a new load into the top of my boots (which by the way kept my toes warm the whole time.)

I really wanted to make snow-balls...but like I said the snow wasn't right. Now yesterday on the other hand--as it started to melt--I made a couple of real nice ones (barehanded)...but anyway. The snow is melting very fast, so I'm glad we went and goofed around the other day. :)

Katherine had to feed the chickens...and she sent me off to find the snow shovel. I finally found it--not in the garage, not in the barn, but on the trailer of wood sitting in the driveway!

I think I had accidently fallen down here...

Taken from the rear of the house...

Ah...there we are! I actually look respectible (because you can't see my back side. I was already covered in snow.)

Those icicles are mean looking...

But very pretty.

Here I am trying to (futility) make a snow-ball.

Down-stairs cat...

Up-stairs cat...

Our tenant farmer came with this really cool snow-blowing machine that goes on the back of a tractor and had cleared out the drive, a swath in front of the barn, and a swath behind the barn.

The snow was knee-deep here...(and yes, I did actually jump in.)

Katherine looks so comfortable, does she not?

"I'm stuck!" I'd flopped in backwards on a non-mussed patch of snow to do a snow angel (which turned out pretty decent), but I sank in so deep that it was a bit of trouble to get out (particularly without messing up my creation. ;P)

So...we had fun. :)

Yesterday I got a surprise--no...two surprises in the mail...the first came in a big box all by itself and the second came in a smaller box with two other books. The smaller gift was Guns of Thunder by Douglas Bond (the first of the Faith and Freedom Trilogy--which follows up on the Crown and Kirk Trilogy. Ducan's War is the first of that one...)

The second gift was something I had been told I would get for my birthday...then for Christmas...and believe it or not, I had actually forgotten about it. That's right...it was my new boots! And they are red!!

Aren't they pretty??

They are Ariat's (like my others) and fit nicely. I can say this--Ariat knows how to make boots for my flat, wide feet. :) The arch supports are always in the right spot--not too high, not too low and just the right width.

I love 'em!

Racheal

3 Comments

Epiphany

1/9/2014

0 Comments

I'll just do a short one here...it would have been longer if I had gotten to it sooner, but Tuesday I spent the day cleaning and rearanging in my room and yesterday, well...I spent the morning finally getting the rest of the hand-work done on those doll dresses I made way back when. While doing that I listened to the first two disks from Bill Potter's "Broadside!" album...I really, really enjoyed them! (Mama got us all six volumes for Christmas, plus some other things like "D-Day and the Providence of God"--which I really look forward to seeing!!)

Anyway, Monday was Epiphany ("Little Christmas"). As you know, we didn't actually do Christmas this year because Daddy wasn't here and so we pushed it all back. We waited until Granddaddy went down for his afternoon nap before we got started opening gifts. Before he went to bed, Savannah started playing hymns on the piano and all the ladies decided to sing. Well, I ran into a little bit of trouble there with my congestion. I simply couldn't without hacking after half a line--so I compromised. First I started out by grabbing a couple of old, short, very used pencils and tapped out time with them on a stool. Mama then braved the cold office room and got my bodhran (she offered to get my guitar, but when I'm out of practice, I really have trouble keeping up with Savannah). I think I did alright on it for not playing much at all and being a long time since I last tried. It was a lot of fun.

As we started to open our gifts, we enjoyed a very fine piece of cake...and afterwards, we had eggnog! (I'm rather fond of eggnog.)

After Granddaddy got up, we gave him his things--a couple of warm shirts! He was rather pleased...I could tell. :)

I won't go into all the gory details about what everyone got--but you can get a sampling from the slideshow below! (I was working with three cameras here so that's why things aren't in any particular order.)

It was really a great day...family is great...and I'm glad we can celebrate our Lord's birth in such a happy way!

Racheal

0 Comments

Do Not Post Til After Christmas!!

1/6/2014

4 Comments

I may just leave that as the title even when I DO post it--after Christmas, of course! As is, I'm writing this around a week and a half before Christmas, since the events chronicled in the words and pictures contained in this post are nice and fresh in my mind...

The reason this is 'verbotten' to be published prior to Christmas is because it tells the tale of my sister Katherine and I tackling an unique Christmas gift for our mama--thus this post is also dedicated to her.

We had a three-day video shoot, in various costumes, singing loudly, sometimes on-key, sometimes off, and generally making ourselves hoarse...it's definitely proof that one shoots way more video than one actually uses in the finished project! It also proved that everything [scene] you shoot doesn't end up in the finished video either!

I'd like to note that this was really kind of a spur of the moment idea so the both the planning and execution was rather haphazard and quite honestly, more gung-ho than brilliant.

So, here we go--pictures with attached tales! :)

Day 1--"Down in Yon Forest"

The Director

The Make-up Artist

Shortly after we got started that first day, my cellphone rang. It was one of the men from church coming with a load of wood. He wanted to make sure we would be home and if it was okay to bring it that day rather than the next because of the weather. I said sure, and he said they'd be here in about an hour. So...Katherine and I crammed multiple takes of "Down in Yon Forest" into thirty to forty minutes then quickly changed into "normal" clothes. That was a wrap on Day 1.

Day 2--"Scarborough Fair", "The Girl I Left Behind Me", "My Southern Soldier Boy", "Riding a Raid", and impromptu--"Suawnee River".

We actually took some "behind the scenes" pictures Day 2. They are rather thin, due primarily to the fact that Director and Make-up Artist were also the talent and film-crew.

Pre-dress prop-testing... ;)

There is no "before" shot of Katherine...unless you count the previous one.

The Make-up Artist's tools...

Next victim! (I look like Granddaddy in this one!!)

"What'dya think?"

She did a great job! Don't you think so?

Little Lady...

Scarborough Fair...

Yes...it's the same costume--but a different hair do!

Isn't she gorgeous???

Cute as a Bug! ;)

Someplace while working on "Scarborough Fair" we spontaneously burst into "Suawnee River". (The music was on the same page, so why not?)

Between "Scarborough Fair" and the next set--which required a clothing change, we indulged in a snack...

The apple-sauce lady...

And the milk-maid...

*is aware that she has a stay protruding* I kept fighting that thing....

The next one was "The Girl I Left Behind Me". We did the Irish version because that's what we know. I know there are at least three different American versions and yet another song to the same tune...there are probably mulitple Irish versions for that matter!

We really had a blast with this particular song!

As added humor--the floor creaked something awful while we sang it!!

I rather think the bow/neck-tie was rather more boyish than feminine...but that was purposeful because of the nature of the piece and how we performed it.

I loaned Katherine my wash-dress...it matches her eyes!

There! There's the hat!

I had to get my prop ready...all Katie had to do was stick Daddy's hat on her head!

Alright...so Uncle Everett's shotgun isn't really period correct, but it was handy. :)

I next plowed my way through "My Southern Soldier Boy" and ended up figuring that I'd more than likely scratch that one. I followed that up with "Riding a Raid" (I have Katherine whistling that a lot now) and came to the same conclusion. I was having a lot of trouble singing with the guitar.

Checking footage real quick. I have this really cool feature on my camera where you can turn the LCD screen around backwards--it makes it a lot easier for filmming yourself! (I actually discovered that feature by accident a little over a year ago when I was working on my Cow Cavalry promo.)

As you can tell...these two songs required a little change in appearance. (I am thankful for Savannah's kind re-stitching of the ribbon on my blouse. I wasn't going to do it again as I had already done it twice and I HATED it about as bad as hook and eyes.)

Katherine actually took these pictures AFTER I got done singing--and as you can tell--I was kind of tired! :D

Day 3--"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel", "O Holy Night", "Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted", "What Wonderous Love is This", "Auld Lang Syne", and "Dixie" done impromtu by moi when finishing playing "Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted" while Katherine sang it. (I was really, really surprised that I was able to play it. It's really the only hymn I ever learned how to play decently and it'd been probably at least a year since I last tried it...I hardly play the piano any more these days and if I do, it's generally just to bang out "Dixie" in a fit of ardor.)

Katherine struggled with "O Holy Night" so did a re-take the next day. Other than having a ragged voice, I think her main problem was that she can't hit the high notes like she used to.

The rest we belted out even though we were hoarse even before we started. Professional singers must have to sing all the time in order to keep their voices nice and stretchy...so...if the songs sound rather crumby, Mama, that's why. We did have a lot of fun putting this together though...

We stuck to the same outfits for the whole shebang that day. We went "formal"...and I wore my mother's dress!! I really do like the style...

I tried curling my hair a little bit--as you can see, it didn't work too well. Of course, I didn't wait an awful long time either for it to work...

Katherine said, "You look like Mama in this one!" I do kinda, don't I? :)

Cute hair...

"Oh! Let me put my gloves on!"

The resident gargoyle...ahem...Abby. She doesn't appear to like music the best (she went tearing out of the room like she had a pack of dogs on her trail once)--other than that, we really did sound awful! :D

This is my favorite!

Dis gal is jist Classy!

When I went to edit it together I decided to list a number of randoms observations about the whole gig...

Number 1: Our commentary between takes (or even during takes) can be down-right hilarious (sorry, only a select number of people will be allowed to veiw any of that!)

Number 2: During "Scarborough Fair" we had a few good-natured squabbles about perfectionism and the clash of words--we both had slight variants of the song memorized. Turns out Katherine had to give on one, and I on another. It worked nicely that way.

Number 3: We discussed how to sing. "Sure, you have to heave some--even when not shoulder breathing because it comes from down here!" Someone patted her diaphram a little too vigoreously...

Number 4: We sounded something like a swarm of bees while trying to get the proper key...

Number 5: The director wasn't always paying close enough attention to framing...that off-centeredness (and thereby cropping of motions) cannot be fixed in post!

Number 6: I still find 6/8th time hard to play on the guitar...but if I think 3/4th time, it's easier!

Number 7: Singing with the guitar is still hard for me...particularly when my voice is already strained.

Number 8: The director/editor obviously forgot about safe-margins when framing...

Number 9: One can tell that the director needed to go to the chiropractor...her gait was rather, well, 'waddle-ish'. :P

Number 10: You can tell that our participation in interpretive speech many years ago served us well! (Some of the choreography was simply spontanteous.)

Number 11: Bits and pieces of favorite movies slipped out...like McLintock.

Number 12: I clearly tend to sway when I sing, whereas Katherine keeps much more rigid...

Number 13: I reminded myself of Napolean (out of Aristicats) a couple of times saying, "I'm the director!!"

Number 14: You can clearly tell our voices were tired...

Number 15: The lighting really stinks. I am aware of that. If I had had more time I would have done a better job at trying to control the lighting. As is, we just went with the natural light from the front window and the overhead light-fixture.

Number 16: The sound quality would have been MUCH better if I had used the Zoom--but there was no way I was going to sync this project unless I absolutely had to! My on-board mic is pretty good, but it still probably would have sounded better to use the Zoom.

And Finally: I am convinced that though I am the shortest of us three girls, I must have the biggest lungs!

Katherine summed up the whole project very well when she said/sang: "We are nuts!!" :)

And...just for fun. At the end of Day 3, it was real chilly in the house because I had purposely let the fire die down in the furance so I could give it a thorough cleaning out. After we were done singing (and before supper), I bounded down to the basement (I seem to have difficulty walking down those stairs...maybe because it's cold in the garage) and banged and scraped and rattled and poked and prodded. I got the furnace cleaned out and the fire going nice and then I came up and per usual, dodged into the bathroom to scrub my hands.

I looked into the mirror and burst into laughter. I had a nice gray-brown nose and a matching dot on one cheek. I don't recall brushing hair out of my face or scratching my nose (though it is possible that I did one or both of those operations), but somehow I looked like a very clean chimney sweep!

You can't really tell in the picture, but if you look closely you can see that my nose is off-colored. :)

Love you, Mama!! ~~Your Furnace Sweep

Racheal

4 Comments

The Perfections of God, Part 3

1/5/2014

0 Comments

Due to weather, we didn't go to church this morning (I might have stayed home anyway) and so I spent some of the morning and part of the afternoon reading. In the mid afternoon to sometime into the evening, I had a very, very interesting conversation with a handful of my "internet" friends (some of whom I now know in person!) on the nature of death and if it's possible to say exactly how and when the soul leaves the body (and more). Not surprisingly, we didn't come away with any real conclusive answers on the mystery.

However, I'm not here to talk about that (it's still sinking into my brain), but to continue summarizing the third chapter of Authentic Christianity. I still did not finish the chapter. To begin therefore:

God is Omniscient. Some people deny this fact...

It is impossible to think of a God who is not all-knowing, although the Unification Church believes that God is limited in His power and His knowledge. Y. O. Kim, in the official “Moonie” manual, Unification Theology, writes: “God is not omnipotent… Man was created in such a way that he can restrict God’s purpose… Nor is God completely all-knowing. His omniscience, like his omnipotence, has to be qualified by man’s free will. God does not know everything that will happen because even though he wills some result it cannot take place if we do not cooperate.” 35 In this system, man, not God, is the most powerful being in the universe. 35. Kim, Unification Theology, 67. (267)

This makes me ask: "Doesn't this make man God?"

Anyway, the next thing Dr. Morecraft draw our attention to is what God knows. Now of course, "omniscient" means all knowing, but we might like to define what it is He knows a little better than that, simply for our own sakes. Therefore, God Knows Himself...

There are no mysteries in God to God.

R. J. Rushdoony concludes: “there is no subconscious in God or any unrealized aspects or potentialities. God knows Himself fully and completely and has fully known Himself through all eternity.” 37. R. J. Rushdoony, By What Standard? (Fairfax, VA: Thoburn Press, 1974), 159. (267)

God Knows Creation and All it Contains:

He knows everything there is to know about everything there is to know anything about. (267)

His knowledge of this universe is never in error. It is the correct, comprehensive, detailed and only interpretation of everything...All creation is perfectly understood
and fully interpreted by God, even before it was created. (268)

God Know the Future:

He knows everything that will be in the future, in time and eternity, just as He has
fully known the past. If that were not true, there could be no such thing as Biblical prophecy. (268)

God Knows the Possible:

Job 12:22 can also be used to show that God knows everything that is possible to
the power of God, but which God shall never bring to pass. He knows everything there is to know about everything that could have been but is not. (268)

God Know Man:

God has all-encompassing knowledge of all of us. He has a perfect and thorough knowledge of our every posture, gesture, pursuit, state, condition, emotion, aim, doubt, distress, desire, motive, plan, imagination, memory and intention...We are unaware of thousands of things that influence us, but God knows them all. (269)

How does God know?

God knows all things because He has planned all things. He knows all things instantaneously, simultaneously, and eternally, in one eternal act of knowing, because there is no succession of thoughts or moments in the eternal, unchangeable and omniscient mind of God. Because He is eternal, everything is eternally present
in His mind. He knows everything all at once. (269)

God’s knowledge is not derived from observation (Acts 15:18). Human knowledge of something assumes the existence of a thing. The opposite is true of God. God fully knows a thing before it exists. (269)

There are a few more things Dr. Morecraft has to say about God's omniscience...

God’s knowledge of Himself and of His creation is the basis for all human knowledge. In order to know anything truly about God, creation and ourselves, we must “think God’s thoughts after Him.” (270)

To summarize: God’s knowledge of things is creatively constructive. His thought and will give existence and meaning to all things. Man’s mind and knowledge are not creatively constructive, his mind and knowledge are receptively reconstructive; that is, he receives the word of God, and seeks to reconstruct life, spoiled by sin, but being renewed by grace, by the faithful application of that word to life in all its facets. “[A]s man as a knowing creature learns, he is, to the degree he truly learns, ‘thinking God’s thoughts univocally after Him.’”41. Robert L. Reymond, The Justification of Knowledge: An Introductory Study of Apologetic Methodology (Nutley, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1976), 45. (271)

Next point: God is Most Wise...

God’s wisdom is His ability to use His knowledge and power to accomplish His plans in a way that brings the most glory to Himself and the most benefit to His people. Wisdom without knowledge is impossible. Without power it is pathetic. Power without wisdom is terrifying. And knowledge without wisdom is useless. In God, boundless knowledge and boundless power are used by His boundless wisdom for the accomplishment of all His plans, thus making Him worthy of our greatest admiration and fullest trust. (271)

God's wisdom is manifested in creation, providence and redemption.

Creation, with all its variety, harmony, beauty, orderliness, usefulness, and perfect
interrelatedness... Providence, in His restraints upon sin and in His methods whereby He brings glory to Himself out of sin, without every excusing sin... Redemption, God made our Mediator, Jesus Christ, to be fully God and truly man in one person forever: “the infinite with the finite, infant and eternal God, Lawgiver and subject, and all without mixture or separation.” 42. Source unknown. (272)

Biblical knowledge is a solid grasp of the content of the Bible. Biblical wisdom is true insight into life and reality as they really are, in the light of that Biblical
revelation, coupled with the ability to apply this knowledge practically to everyday
issues; so that God may receive the most glory and God’s people receive the most benefit. (272)

The third, and final point from today's reading: God is Most Holy.

Holiness is God’s moral purity and glorious majesty. God’s holiness denotes two truths about God: (1) He is absolutely distinct from all creation; and (2) He is exalted above all creation in infinite majesty and splendor. (272-273)

“Holiness is to be regarded, not as a distinct attribute, but as the resultant [effect] of all God’s moral attributes [perfection] together… His holiness is the collective and consummate glory of His nature as an infinite, morally pure, active, and intelligent Spirit.”43. Dabney, Lectures in Systematic Theology, 172 (273)

It is impossible for God not to be holy and still to be God. God is necessarily holy as He is necessarily God. Without holiness, His mercy would be mere sentimentality, His wrath sheer madness, and His power terrifying tyranny. (273)

GOD’S HOLINESS IS HIS MAJESTIC AND MORAL SEPARATION FROM HIS CREATION. (273)

Christian man’s holiness is comprised of his being separated and consecrated to God and to His glory as the chief end of His existence. God’s holiness is His absolute self-consecration—is total consecration to Himself and to His own glory. (274)

God's anger is holy:

It is not capricious, arbitrary, irrational, uncontrollable or impulsive. It is of irresistible force. It is continuing and abiding. It remains as long as the sin stirring God’s holiness to displeasure remains. It is the most destructive power in the universe. It will completelydevastate all sin, and will pursue all God’s enemies into
the darkness, where the worm does not die and where the fire is not quenched. (275)

Then Dr. Morecraft lists a number of ways in which God's holiness is manifested...

God's holiness is manifested throughout history; it is manifested in biblical law. God manifested His holiness in the death of His Son:

Romans 8:32 says that God did not spare His beloved Son from any of the punishments God’s offended holiness demands for sin. He poured out on Jesus, our
substitutionary sacrifice for sin, all the condemnation our sins deserve (Mark 10:45; 1 Pet. 2:24). The tidal wave of God’s holy anger beat upon the breast of the spotless Son of God as our Substitute. He bore to the fullest extent God’s holy hatred and anger for human sin. (276)

God also manifests his holiness in every aspect and phase of our salvation:

We were elected to be holy (Eph. 1:4). Christ died so we could be holy (Titus 2:14).
The Holy Spirit calls us to be holy (1 Thess. 4:7). Sanctification and the Christian life consist in our progressive development in the holiness of the image of God (Rom. 8:29). Christ will return at the end of history to perfect us in holiness (Eph. 5:27). (276)

We are holy as we reflect God’s thoughts and character in our own minds and lives.
God’s goal for us as Christians is holiness. The pattern of our lives is God’s own holy life in Jesus Christ. The method of reaching God’s goal is faith in Christ and obedience to Biblical law for Jesus’ sake. The power for a holy life is the Holy Spirit of God living within us. (277-278)

I leave you here tonight; brain fried from all kinds of interesting conversations...

Racheal

0 Comments

Just in Case You Wondered...

1/3/2014

4 Comments

I am still here. I didn't stub my toe and fall off the face of the earth. I've just been down with a cold ever since Tuesday morning. I have spent the week in bed with my nose (runny or stuffy depending on the minute) poked into varying mysteries by either American or British authors of the early 1940's. (I picked up a collection of old Detective Book Club books consisting of eleven volumes with three novel's apiece at the local annual book sale several years ago.) Some of them are just mediocre, but some of them are really quite good.

I'm not much of a hand at napping, so I haven't napped any, though there have been definite times were I was laying down with my eyes shut. I'd pop back up at some point to lean on my pillows and blow my nose or drink the tea someone brought me or just to put my nose back into my book.

I spent some time playing with the cats...Runty in particular. All I have to do is wiggle my toes under the covers and she will pounce. I have to admit they did cause me quite a bit of amusement over the course of the week. Now eating...that was interesting. :D I'd have my plate or bowl or whatever balanced between my knees and my sternum and next thing I knew, I had a couple of black noses pointed my way, wiggling gently as they sniffed the pleasing aroma's of whatever I happened to be eating. (If I were a gambling gal, I'd bet you a buck they could smell it better than I could!) Then they would start encroaching into my "plate territory". I'd shove off Cuiro--then Runty...then maybe both at the same time...like I said, it got interesting.

Other cat amusements were watching little Runts playing with my sock...a white anklet with black lace on it (a lovely gift from a dear friend--Thanks Mrs. S!! They've gotten some wear! :])...then I lost the hair band out of the end of my braid at some point yesterday and Runty's been goofing around with that. This morning she had it hanging out of her mouth and I nearly laughed out loud because it looked like she had a long, fuzzy, florecent lime green tongue!

Then of course, the two of them get to chasing each other and bouncing of the bed, me, the other furniture, and whatever. I got leaped on unexpectedly the other day. Curio landed right smack dab in the middle of my stomach (aka. right in the soft spot); if she were much heavier I think I would have had all the air knocked out of me!

Of course, they weren't funny the whole time. Curio in particular decided that she like playing with my digital thermometer (the highest my temperture got--that I'm aware--was 100.4) and my bed-side clock--knocking both of them on the floor a couple of times. (The battery falls out every time the clock hits the floor.) Finally, I had enough of it and tucked the thermometer under my pillow and leaned the clock up in bed against the wall.

Curio is in heat again so she's acting a little nuts and when awake she spends a large portion of time making that noise that is someplace inbetween a purr and a meow. It's gets a little annoying after a while, so maybe it's a good thing my ears are stuffed up! :D

I'm on the upside of this cold and I hope to be back to normal in a day or two here...I'm just grateful I can go crawl in bed and stick my nose into a book when I feel as lousy as I have this past week.

Racheal

4 Comments

Forward>>

Adventures...

Racheal

Epiphany

Racheal

Do Not Post Til After Christmas!!

Racheal

The Perfections of God, Part 3

Racheal

Just in Case You Wondered...

Racheal

The Middle Kid

Archives

Categories