Blog Archives - The Adventures of a Middle Kid

A Cat-Comment

1/28/2015

Abby the Tabby isn't necessarily the most talkative animal alive. Usually, she's pretty quiet, except when playing when she makes odd squeaky noises.

Enter my sardine tin.

I had sardines for lunch. Abby loves fish...and throughout the meal she spent a largish portion of her time around me. As I was finishing, she even was stretched across the gap between the back of my chair and the plant/cat stand in front of the window, front paws on the back of my chair, nose in my hair.

Well, I got finished, picked up my plate and my tin and headed for the kitchen. Abby was by my side. About the time I reached the doorway, she let out a loud, high-pitched "yee-ow!"

She wanted that sardine juice...and she got it. She hasn't eaten it all, but I imagine it'll decrease in quantity over the course of the day. (I generally feed the stuff to my cats, but Abby was so pitiful! :P)

So, there is the humourous cat story for the day. :)

Racheal

"Sweet Home Alabama"...or Something

1/27/2015

Some of y'all may recognize something about all or part of that title...but I shan't bother to explain it because I'd rather go into a different aspect of the weekend (don't worry, I'll get around to the 'just interesting' or amusing bits down at the bottom of the post).

SOO...just in case you didn't know, Savannah, Katherine, and I took a weekend trip down to the beautiful Southern state of Alabama where people say y'all without putting too much of an accent on the "'ll" part of the word and where the accents are just so...southern. It felt like 'home' partly because of that southern-ness and partly because of the so like-minded fellowship. It's really true, when you have a gathering of like-minded believers, it is home in a sense because we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Oh and yes, I obviously forgot to mention in the above paragraph that we were there for the wedding of some friends. :) Kyle and Shelby, neither of whom we had met in person until the day of their wedding, so kindly invited us and even made sure we had a place to stay while we were there! It was a joy to see these two, very much in love, stand and covenant one to another before God and through God's blessing to hold fast to one another faithfully even through the trials and temptations of life.

Wow...the whole weekend, from Saturday through Monday morning when we left beautiful Alabama, had a cohesiveness of thought, of theme...I was brought to my knees (figuratively) in wonder and awe and thanksgiving at the forward marching of the kingdom of God. "The gates of Hell can n'er prevail..." From Saturday through Monday I found myself, multiple times, with tears in my eyes...tears of joy, of awe, of conviction, of...of nearly every emotion.

I believe that the sermon Sunday morning encapsulates the overall "theme" (ordained before the foundation of the world!) of the those three days so well that I want to share my thoughts on it with you. I actually did not take notes during the sermon, but started writing them yesterday morning...I didn't finish for various reasons.

I really didn't have a plan for my blog post until yesterday morning when I looked over in the house we were so hospitably invited into and there was a wood-burned plaque that read: "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ."

I reached for a pen and pulled old bulletins out of my Bible cover and started scribbling something along these lines: "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ."

I have a solid head-knowledge of this principle and even a heart knowledge of it frequently enough to give me an increasing desire to cling to it. I still frequently stumble at applying it. Praise God for His wondrous works! I am trying to learn to praise Him even when things do not go "my way" (if I remember, I'll try to bring in a topic we discussed on the drive home yesterday that ties into this). I know, but was additionally clearly and convincingly reminded of in the sermon Sunday morning that I am just a puny, tiny piece in the glorious kingdom of my almighty, glorious, wondrous, awesome, sovereign God and Father. To Him be all glory and power and dominion from eternity and henceforth to infinity!

To try to explain the thoughts I have had banging around in my head, bringing me to tears, I thought I would run through the Beatitudes from the main passage Mr. Nelson worked from, Matt. 5:3-12. I believe his was the clearest summery I have heard to date on the passage and he used it to encourage his listeners towards right living before God, to apply the Law of God to all areas of life.

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
    For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
    For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Verse 3: "the poor in spirit". I had never had a supremely clear understanding of what this meant, but when Mr. Nelson described as meaning that when we realize we are nothing, can do nothing without our King, it opened up for me. Lord, make me 'poor in spirit'!
Verse 4: Being poor in spirit causes us to mourn our sins...and praise Almighty God! He comforts us in our mourning.
Verse 5: Meekness. What is it exactly? I always 'knew' it was being humble...or something like that, but as Mr. Nelson spoke, I understood more clearly. It's not just "being humble" (and I mean actually humble, not the self-righteous humility that I suspect we all at time to time must needs face). Rather it ties into the being poor in spirit and mourning our unrighteousness--our realisation of our smallness, our wickedness, makes us (or should make us) meek; or as clay in the hands of the potter. Malleable to the will of God, not resisting or rebelling, but willing to do anything, undergo anything for the glory of God and the expansion of the kingdom. May our Lord make us a meek people in boldness for Him!
Verse 6: "hunger and thirst for righteousness"...this should be the desire of a meek people! He shall not leave us to starve in a world of wickedness.
Verse 7: I actually do not remember what he said of this verse. I suppose I may have still been meditating on the previous verses and missed his explanation. However, I find seven to be fairly self-explanatory.
Verse 8: Blessed are the pure in heart...we can only be pure through the covering blood of Christ. Lord, give me righteous, pure, holy thoughts and deeds!
Verse 9: "peacemakers"...we must live at peace with one another and the world--BUT with one another first...for how shall we be a witness of the orderliness of God if we ourselves are full of strife and bitterness! (I had forgotten until just now that the fact of the orderly nature of God and His Laws were brought forth from the beginning of the sermon.)
Verse 10-12: I do not remember what he said here either. How I could have forgotten I'm not sure...unless I it was at this time that I was wrestling within myself with a particular train of thought and praying.

God uses the ordinary means of grace to really impact His people. I have had it happen many times. I have come home challenged to bring my heart and mind and deeds increasingly more under submission to the Word of God. This is my ultimate desire...I pray God that it always is my ultimate desire! That I would be willing to give up my secret sins, my wishes dearest to my own heart (even if not "sinful"), in order to see the kingdom of God ever marching forward in strength and honor and dignity and righteousness.

Well, now that I have just been all rather emotional all over again...how about something more on the amusing side? :) There are, of course, a few amusing little tales to tell; after all, my sense of awe doesn't exactly mash my sense of humour. :D These are not going to be in any logical order or in consecutive time.

When we arrived at the church Saturday, some thirty or so minutes before the wedding started, we were greeted at the door by none other than brother Caleb. I am considering calling him my "almost twin" despite the fact that our brains work in two entirely different ways. :P But anyway, that's what he gets for being the same age as I am and having been officially adopted (along with his brothers) by our family. I like adopting brothers...but that's beside the point. Anyway, he greeted us and almost immediately Dan and Andy appeared, said hello and disappeared again. :D Andy was one of the groomsmen so he had to be off. :) Dan and Caleb were ushers.

Another brother, Evan, was amongst the groomsmen as well. He informed us later that he hadn't slept so grandly the night before partly because the talking and singing went on past midnight (!!) and partly because he had been given a cup of coffee by the bride and groom earlier in the day (his first ever) and had been jacked up something awful by it! I confess his telling of how he ended up drinking this cup of coffee and it's after effects really did amuse me. (Oh, and he was beginning to like it by the time he got down to the bottom of the cup--just in case you wanted to know.)

*raises coffee cup* "Shoot...it's empty!"

Anyway, let me tell you...trying to catch up with the three R brothers Sunday afternoon as they were rushing around trying to get out of the place was hilarious. I'd spot one, only to have him disappear again. Andy was really spinning...I didn't feel like I had the right opportunity to grab ahold him and tell him to just breathe a minute. :D I have the same tendency to get in a whirl, so I can sympathise with that sort of spin.

I had finished Dan's kilt hose on the way to Florida in December, so this was a prime time to give them to him and at first I had given the bag to Andy...but he had left it in the church (I'm glad I went back to look and see if he had), so I got to give Dan his socks in person afterall. :) The deal was that he was going to pay me for them, but I never intended on taking his money anyway, so when Dan reached for his wallet, I blurted out, "No", (in my "no nonsense" voice even! Probably not really necessary...) He may have said something, I can't remember, but I do know he looked pleased with them. :) Hopefully, the foot fits perfectly...

I also made Caleb a pair of socks because I didn't want him to "feel left out"--the notion of which he rather laughed at, but he accepted the socks and I think was rather pleased. :) I didn't have a foot measurement for him, but I knew that his feet are a bit longer than his brother's so I went with an 'average' size. I made some comment about "looking at pictures trying to guess the size of his feet" and Caleb quipped something along these lines (dead-pan! how does he do it??), "Yes, I take lots of foot selfies and post them online." It cracked me up and so my attempt at explaining how I had been looking at the photos from the Scottish Ball where the three of them were seated on the stage was severely undermined...

I found out several years ago that giving gifts is as much fun (if not more) than getting them myself. It simply gives me a warm-fuzzy feeling (what sentimental bosh, eh?) to give 'my people' stuff. Speaking of knitting socks and such, I realized at some point on the way south that I had forgotten to pick up my knitting!! Current project: finishing my own knee socks. I'm about a third of the way through the second one.

Sunday afternoon there was a hymn sing. I hadn't brought my guitar (not that I had room for it to begin with), but one of our friends allowed me to play her's...though I admit I didn't play very long. Partly because I simply cannot keep up with Andy and his "funky" chords, partly because I find that I cannot sing alto when trying to keep up with Andy because I can't watch his fingers and the notes in the hymn book at the same time. I almost always sing alto now (and if I sing the melody line, I don't sing it as written), and I think I had a break-though with it not overly long ago. How horrid I sound, I don't know. You'd have to ask the people around me. (Savannah said she could hear me during church and she was sitting in the row in front of me.) Anyway, that was enjoyable. I do so enjoy listening to the R's sing because they all have trained voices and they harmonize so nicely.

I think the following event took place when I went back into the church to see if Andy had left the bag with the socks in it...but the timing doesn't matter. I just like to place things in rightly in my head.

Anyway, so I was going into the building and one of the men was standing there, holding the door open and his young son was charging up from the left. I slowed my steps to ensure that if the little man didn't pay enough attention that he wouldn't plow into me (not that I think I would have minded too much anyway...I love kids). Well, the youngster went in front of me and started to go through the open door when his father stopped him with a word. It was something like this: "Hold on there! Back up..." There was no need for him to say anything much more; that little boy stopped in his tracks and stepped aside to let me go through the door first. I was blown away. Now I wish I had stopped and knelt down and looked him in the eye and thanked him for being a gentleman. My brain wasn't working that fast at the moment being pre-occupied. Anyway, I scarcely had to get the door for myself while there. It was really wonderful. :)

We took hardly any pictures...the ones we did get were taken primarily by myself Saturday night at the steakhouse were we went out to eat. And would you know it, but those brother's of ours bought EVERYONE's food?? (Again!) I thought we were all going dutch, but I guess they had other ideas--so THANK-YOU for your generosity!!

Here are the best ones...I couldn't get photos of everyone because we were at two different tables. I guess I COULD have gotten up, but the idea didn't cross my mind and I was so tired that by the time we left the restaurant I was ready to put my head down on the table and start snoring. Speaking of snoring...the tales of the young men about camping out in the travel trailer the night before elicited some laughter from my sisters and I. They had five in the trailer and all had beds. We used to pack seven in a motor home and not everyone had beds, so I'm afraid we weren't as sympathetic as we should have been. (One brother informed me [for some reason] that another brother snored...and I immediately thought of the story Daddy tells about once when he got bunked with some guys, someone who had been bunked with him at some point previously was like, "You have to bunk with Sgt. --?? He snores terribly!" I didn't tell that story, but I thought of it! :D Daddy's snoring has only kept me awake once...)

Oh...and this song just came up in my playlist...and it reminded me that Andy sang this one for the bride and groom...supplying Shelby for Marie. It was soo great!

It was a fantastic weekend in more ways than one! Before I get off of here though, I really want to say how grateful I am to the L's and Y's for putting us up (and putting up with us!) We have made new friends and I hope that someday we'll meet again (on this earth, that is). My sisters and I were made to feel quite at home down in Alabama.

I drove all the way home and while we squeaked out of about two wrecks (praise God!) we arrived home safe and sound in one piece around nine o'clock Monday evening. We talked and talked and talked about everything on the drive. I like to travel sitting next to Savannah for we have all kinds of wonderful conversations. She challenges me in a really good kind of way. Katherine, in the back seat, says she thinks she needs to sit in the middle seat in the back next time so she can hear better. :D (We did not intend to exclude you, Katie...but you know how road noise is!! Um...and the mousy-ness of Savannah's voice. :D)

I think I had better get off of here now. I look forward to the next time we get to see these friends (or framily as another brother would call them)...God bless y'all!! [And yes, you did see me stand up when Andy played "Dixie". I couldn't stay in my seat... ;)]

Racheal

Run...run...run...

1/21/2015

Well...that's how I seem to myself to have spent the day. My knees hurt if that's evidence of anything.

I can't remember if I started with getting laundry going or dishes...but it was one of those two. (Well, after feeding the chickens and then my own very hungry person.) Mama asked me to put the lamb in the oven and from there I rather evolved into the de facto cook of lunch. We got our days mixed up and thought that Daddy had to take Grandpa to the eye doctor today (when in fact it is tomorrow), so I was in a whirl-wind in the kitchen...just to figure out by the time that lunch was almost done that I really didn't have to have hurried....

Anyway, we dined on lamb, butternut squash (laden with chicken butter and coconut oil...mmm...), purple cabbage, and pea-salad. That last was my own idea, the rest was Mama's choice (I think she planned on making lunch, I just ended up doing it. :D)

It was back into the kitchen for the clean up after that...and I have a missing piece of the day here. Probably I was on the computer letting the plantain salve soak in. My hands are rather over sensitive to dish-soap, so I tend to have a peculiar 'greasy' time after doing dishes. ('Greasy' referring to the plantain salve, of course.)

Over the course of the afternoon, I matched socks, folded laundry, stitched in a hook and eye, ironed a dress, tried said dress on to match up accessories for it (my sisters and I are going to a wedding on Saturday--down in Dixie! [we leave Friday]--so we did some of our pre-trip clothes planning this afternoon). I ran about and dug in the ribbon drawer (gal's have to have ribbons for their hair, right?), accidentally melted a spot in one of the ribbons (aw, shucks...), crawled (literally) into the "cold room" twice in search of the fray check (yes, I found it--the second time--right where Katie told me it would be--the first time; only I didn't hear her then.) I dosed myself...while getting hungry. Sometimes I find myself scowling at the clock because I have to wait to eat when in the middle of taking my Lyme "stuff".

I vacuumed the upstairs; giving it the two-head cleaning. In other words, I started with the attachment that does not have a beater bar. We do this to pick up the copious amounts of hair that otherwise clog the beater bar in no time flat. (I'm not kidding, we can do one room and need to clean it out.) Secondly, I went in with the normal vacuum head and did a more deep cleaning. It feels better in my room at any rate. It always does to get the excess cat fur off the floor--as well as the cat litter. :P

I hauled the vacuum back downstairs and...and...had a snack!!

Then I folded another load of laundry...and now it's suppertime and you know what that means. Racheal is taking herself away to the table.

Racheal

Fall Job

1/20/2015

Well, technically, it was two fall jobs. One was mine and the other Mama or Savannah take care of. Today, I did them both.

Yes, jobs that should have been done in the fall finally got done here in the middle of winter. (Yay for 40+ degree weather!)

I got the wisteria cut back...and was singing "The Southern Soldier" when one of the older men who walks on our road walked by. I was rather glad I wasn't singing too loud and that I wasn't on the first verse! ("I'll march away to the firing line and kill that Yankee soldier...") I may belt these songs out up here, but not when folks can hear me! :D

I stopped in to see Grandma and Grandpa (who had just gotten home from a doctor's appointment) for a few minutes. Grandpa was a hair grouchy...I think he was hungry. I know how that goes!

I was on my way in when I heard Savannah call, "Racheal!" I responded, "Yes?" before I realized that she was behind me, not in front of me. So I stood there until she caught up with me and she asked me if I would trim the grapevines too...only I had never done it before so she had to show me how.

We went in for a few minutes before that though so I could get going on my next batch of Lyme-killer doses. And...I was going to say something else here, but I completely lost it. :P

By the time we got back out, the temperature had dropped noticeably. So much so that I had to come back and get my heavier denim coat and a scarf to tie over my ears. I rather wished that I had gotten my gloves too, but I hadn't, so I just ignored the fact that my fingers were getting numb. I did manage to get mud on me at this juncture, but what's new? I seldom manage to do outside work without getting dirty anyway... ;)

Now...I'm hungry and I think it's been long enough since my final dose that I can go eat! Bye for now!

Racheal

Raising the Barre

1/18/2015

Remember this?

Well, I have actually started playing (aka "working on") out of it. And boy...does it hurt!

I really like it...but as the songs are barre chord heavy, it's something of a work out! As you may know, I have wide-ish hands, but my fingers are short and a little stumpy. It's times like these that I'm thankful God saw fit to give me double jointed thumbs! I do believe that feature expands my reach a little. Anyway, barre chords (particularly full barre) take hand strength...maybe more than I have right now. (Cover your ears folks, she's "dubbing" through them barre chords agin!) But...that's not stopping me. I'm going to push through, yelp "OUCH!" every now and again, moan "but my fingers are too short" and go right ahead and do it. Things we do for the music we love, eh?

My wrist has returned to acting up again which doubles the issues I have with barre chords to begin with...so I brace up before I play and screw up my face as I work through a particularly daunting looking chord.

Here's the neat part though...I have been s-l-o-w-l-y inching my way into more difficult pieces over the past year and I'm finding, jumping head first into barre laden pieces, that my sight reading way down (or technically 'up') the neck has dramatically improved! Um...that's not to say that it's perfect. I still have a long way to go, but I am not having to stop and count...and grab the tuner (or my 'cheat sheet') to determine correct note nearly as much.

The above book has TAB in it, under the notation line. TAB is rather like cheater-notation, so I tend to dislike it; particularly as it distracts me and, if I fall into the habit of looking at it, it does two things, a) confuses me and b) makes me lazy in my note reading. However, I am finding it helpful in this book. I look at the notes of a barre chord, set my fingers on the strings...and if I have any question, I can quickly peek at the TAB...this saves me the trouble of removing my fingers from the strings to go double-check elsewhere as to whether or not my fingers are placed correctly. Other than that, I am forcing my eyes to stay above the line of TAB. It good for the self-discipline...an area I, at any rate, need work in.

Oh...and if you're wondering, four songs is about max at this point...the ones I'm playing being 2-4 pages long. I can't take any more than that! However, I hope to be able to keep "raising the barre"...

Racheal

P.S. This whole post made me think of the sermon this morning--which was on the "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life". Pastor was talking about pride...and I wonder if I came across prideful in this post, since I do seem to be bragging a bit on myself and patting myself on the back. I didn't really mean it that way, it's more that I'm just excited that I have had improvement (despite pain).

I might as well pitch in here that I just felt like writing too...funny how one deals with the desire to communicate...I write on here because I don't really feel like talking, or my family is all engaged elsewhere.

A Link

1/18/2015

Seeing the lateness of when we got home amongst other things, I opted not to attempt delving into the next section of Authentic Christianity today. Instead, I'd like to redirect you to an interesting little article by a friend of mine (and go ahead and read the rest of his blog too!)

It just so happens to be on one of my "pet" topics (which I admit, I am a wee rusty on since I 've done very little recently along these lines):
https://thetruebadour.wordpress.com/2015/01/14/twenty-four-theses-on-jurisdiction-and-lawful-resistance/

Standfast!

Racheal

Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

1/17/2015

Soo....let's see if I can make this interesting.

I started out the day with a serious head-washing. It was time to drop the lye soap for a wash and switch back to my favorite, baking soda and vinegar. There was only one problem with that...the vinegar spray bottle has gone AWOL. I'm wondering if it isn't sitting on the bathroom counter at Granddaddy's house... Anyway, pouring cold vinegar out of a pint jar isn't necessarily my favorite way to go about it, but I was bound and determined that my scalp and attached hair would thank me in the long run.

So, with clean hair, I find out that I'm going to help clean out the chicken coop. :D Seriously, I always seem to have just washed my head when something potentially nasty comes up. Anyway, I braided my ponytail and looped it up on the back of my head, tied a scarf over the top, and put on the respirator (I have elevated mold levels, so we're trying to be careful with me on that front.)

Oh, by the way, maybe I ought to mention that the reason we were doing the chicken coop today was that it was actually above freezing (I believe it hit 41 today!) and Katherine really wanted to get some of the straw/chicken "stuff" build up out. She was actually going to do it, but Davy called and told Daddy he wanted to go ahead and get the rest of a tree they started on last week, so she went with Daddy to help.

Mama and I headed for the chicken coop and forked and scraped and pounded away at frozen chicken poop...but that was after we (and Katherine, they hadn't left yet--obviously) chased the chickens out of the coop and into the snowy run (they hate snow) and managed to free up a frozen gate (I broke it in the process, but it still works) to block them out. I got so hot doing that that I striped my heavy duty denim coat off and never put it back on.

Anyway, we got started sometime around noon (we ate breakfast late, which turns out was a good thing!) and didn't get done til around 2. Believe me, I was pretty hungry by that time!

To be completely honest, it felt good, to a degree, to get out and work like that. My upper body strength is still lacking, but worse than that, my left wrist was killing me. I astounded myself at one point my lifting this huge hunk of frozen straw and being able to pitch it into the back of the go-buggy...but man, did that hurt!

When we came in, I went right ahead and ate (I have that prerogative since getting too hungry a) seems to cause my Lyme stomach issues to flair and b) I tend to get rather grouchy) before everyone else.

After lunch, Mama did the dishes (I intended to) and I went straight to my stitching. I did not quite get the bodice finished on the dress I'm working on, but I feel like I did a good job on what I did get accomplished. Trying to learn from my mistakes you know...like being in such a state of excitement that I plow ahead instead of double-checking everything. That was part of the problem with the Harlequin dress.

Anyway, in the middle of this post, Savannah started playing "My Southern Soldier Boy" and I got this incurable itch to get my cello out and play along (we used to play that one together in Florida, but haven't done so since we've been here, I don't think). I am really rusty...and my wrist hurt (of course), so you can imagine that I didn't sound overly amazing, but with Savannah on the piano, Katherine on fiddle, and me on cello, I think the piece might have some potential if we actually played it at all frequently. I think I would play my cello more if it wasn't of necessity stored in the case...if I had a stand for it where all I had to do was reach out and pick it up (like my guitar), I think I'd so. :D

Ah, well...it seems like today was busy with various interesting items...

Racheal

The Harlequin Dress

1/16/2015

That is my nickname for the dress that I made this week. It was essentially a mock-up for another dress which I got cut out today.

(Yes, the house is messy...but that's what happens when we sew.)

However, it caused a great deal of stress, some irritation, and a few tears (I had Lyme issues this week). First, I didn't have enough of the green-stripe to make the full skirt...therefore I split the skirt panels from four to eight and put muslin in the gaps, so to speak.

The biggest issue (which was not totally resolved with this dress) was the fit of the bodice. (The sleeves on the other hand were a grand success seeing as I drafted them myself--under the half-attention supervision of my sister who was busy making supper as I stressed over them.)

I shan't go into all the details, but suffice to say that the shoulders had to be taken up and the princess lines had to be reworked at least twice. It was very frustrating...and though it still doesn't fit just right, I still like it. :)

Mama was very instrumental in making sure this fits as well as it does...she was bound and determined, even when I was ready to call it quits and just "wear it as it is" to keep working on it.

This morning, Savannah and I essentially re-made the pattern for the bodice (I stitched up a mock-up real quick before lunch and it completely fixed the problem!)

The Court Jester is ready to take a bow.

Racheal

Chapter 16: Union and Communion with Christ; Part 1

1/11/2015

The fully title of this chapter is, Union and Communion with Christ and the Invincible Call of God. This afternoon, I got through (as far as I can tell, sometime Dr. Morecraft fools me) the part covered by the first portion of that title. I would have gotten a little further, but my sister's and mother's singing in the other room yanked me away from my reading...not that I regret it. :) Daddy joined us after a while and got a lesson on singing parts (he doesn't read music, so it's strictly by-ear). I think we all had an enjoyable time...but I digress.

Back to communion and union with Christ and the benefits that flow from it...

These benefits are union and communion with Christ in grace and glory. These two classifications: (1) Union and communion with Christ in grace; and (2) Union and
1. As we have seen, by the invisible church the Westminster Standards mean the whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ the Head. See Eph. 1:10, 22, 23; John 10:16; John 11:52. communion with Christ in glory, describe all the rich blessings Christ bought for us with His own blood, in this life and in the life to come.
Christ not only purchased these benefits for us in His death, He arose from the dead to bring them personally into the lives of everyone He died to save. (638-639)

What is the significance of our union with Christ?

...believers in Jesus are “in Christ,” i.e., inseparably, representatively, vitally, and consciously united to Christ. This saving union is not due to our own efforts or wishes or prayers. We are united to Christ “by His doing.” God Himself created this union by His grace. We enjoy this relationship, not because we are wiser or better than others, but because of the sheer grace of God. (639-640)

This is not simply to say that because Christ is the true wisdom, in Christ the
believer is truly wise. It is to say far more. “Wisdom” is immediately interpreted in historical-redemptive language, righteousness, sanctification and redemption....“True wisdom is to be understood in terms of the three illustrative metaphors, which refer to the saving event of Christ.… Wisdom does not have to do with ‘getting smart,’ nor with status or rhetoric. God’s wisdom—the real thing—has to do with salvation through Christ Jesus.”4 Gordon Fee, New International Commentary on the New Testament The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, [1973]1987), 86–87. (640)

“Righteousness” equals justification in Paul’s epistles. It is not an ethical term here, but rather a forensic one, referring to the believer’s right legal standing in Christ before God, despite his guilt from having broken God’s law. “sanctification” (1:2) is an ethical term (6:11). As “righteousness” is that which satisfies the demands of God’s Law as a rule of justification; “Sanctification” is that which satisfies the demands of God’s Law as a rule of duty. (641)

In justification Christ credits His own righteousness to our account, paying our debt with God; and in sanctification, Christ by His Spirit imparts His own righteousness to us, conforming us more and more into His image. (641)

Fallen man is ignorant of spiritual realities, and therefore in need of “wisdom.” He is guilty, in need of “righteousness.” He is depraved, in need of “holiness.” He is a slave to sin and Satan, in need of “redemption.” All these become ours the instant God places us “in Christ,” because Christ and His benefits are inseparable....Because of our union with Christ, whatever He deserves, we receive; and whatever He did, we enjoy its consequences.
The totality of the Christian’s existence and experience is viewed in the New Testament as being “in Christ.” (462)

“The life of faith is one of living union and communion with the exalted and ever-present Redeemer.”9 This is the point of Jesus’ sermon in John 15 about the Vine and the Branches. He is the daily source of our life, strength, and fruitfulness as Christians. Without Him our lives would be rootless, sapless and fruitless.9. John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1955), 169. (643)

The nature of our union with Christ?

First, it is like the union of a vine with its branches (John 15:5) or the trunk of an olive tree and its limbs (Rom. 11: 16–24)....It is only as the branches are connected to the stock of the vine or tree that the life-sustaining, fruit-producing sap flows
from the trunk to the limbs.
Second, it is also like the union that exists between God the Father and God the Son. This, of course, is a mystery. Jesus prayed for His people “that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us” (John 17:21). This is NOT a union of essence, resulting in the deification of man. It is a
spiritual union between Christ and believers that is described, but it is one which is like the intimacy, profundity, and indissolubility of the union that exists between the Persons of the Trinity.
Third, our union with Christ is like the union between the head of the body, the body itself, and the members of the body...This pictures the church as a community
of feeling, life and emotion, energized by the Head, who is Christ, the source of the body’s vitality and volition.
Fourth, it is also like the precious union between husband and wife....As husband and wife, Christ and His church are united by a sacred bond, constituting them one
legal person, with Christ as the head.
Fifth, this spiritual union is like the union of bricks in a house to their foundation and cornerstone: “So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, IN WHOM the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a
holy temple IN THE LORD” (Eph. 2:19–21). The Cornerstone sustains the rest.
Sixth, this union is like the nourishment which the physical body receives by the food it digests.
Seventh, “the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17). This difficult verse denotes the closeness of this union, “inasmuch as the same spirit dwells in believers which dwelt in Christ, though with different views and designs,
they are wrought up, in their measure, to the same temper and disposition; or as it is expressed elsewhere, ‘the same mind is in them that was in Christ.’”11. Thomas Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 2 vols. (Canada:Still Waters Revival Books, [1855] 1993), 2:47 (645-646)

From these figures certain attributes of our union with Christ become evident.
It is A UNION OF PROFOUND AND LOVING INTIMACY...
It is A SPIRITUAL UNION, not a metaphysical one, because the created can never become one in essence with the Uncreated, nor the finite with the Infinite.
It is A VITAL UNION, in which Christ is the source of our life, strength, vitality, blessedness and salvation...
It is A MYSTICAL UNION: “This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:32). This is not to imply that it is something vague and unintelligible, or that it is some irrational emotion that overtakes us. It is to say that this union was hidden in the mind of God until He revealed it to us in the Bible by His Spirit.
It is A RECIPROCAL UNION. Christ, by His Spirit acts first and unites us to Himself, then, by His grace, we respond, and unite ourselves to Him by faith...
It is AN INDISSOLUBLE AND ETERNAL UNION.

(647-648)

What are the results of our union with Christ?

Union with Christ establishes a LEGAL UNION between Christ and those who belong to Him: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are IN CHRIST JESUS” (Rom. 8:1). By virtue of our close and vital union with Christ, we have His righteousness credited to us and we are “accepted in the Beloved.” This is justification.
To be accepted with God, God demands of us payment for our sins as well as a sinlessly perfect life, neither of which are we able to give. Therefore, in sheer grace, God sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sins, and to provide that perfectly righteous obedience to God in His own life for all those who are united to Him by faith. So that, by grace through faith, His righteousness, His obedience unto
death, and His sacrifice become ours, and we enjoy the benefits of what He accomplished. (648)

Our mystical union with Christ establishes a SPIRITUAL UNION, in which we participate in the influences of Christ’s endless life in our own life; and by which the qualities and virtues of Christ’s human life become the fruit of the Spirit in our life. (649)

Our union with Christ establishes a COMMUNION OF SAINTS. As bricks in a temple, we are related to each other as well as to Christ. As members of Christ’s body, we are organically dependent upon each other in the one body. (649)

There are two sorts of benefits which result from our union with Christ: 1) Communion in Grace (WLC #69) and 2) Communion in Glory (WLC # 82,83,86).

First, Communion in Grace:

Our communion in grace means that, in fellowship with Christ, and by virtue of the accomplishments of His work as the Mediator of the Covenant of Grace, redeeming us from our sins and reconciling us to God, believers are justified (Q. 70), adopted (Q. 74), and sanctified (Q. 75). Because of our union with Christ, we commune, fellowship and participate in all those saving benefits which He purchased for
us with His own blood....Such a communion of grace which believers have with Christ implies, on His part, infinite and merciful condescension in which He was pleased to communicate such magnificent blessings to us, and, on our part, unfathomable honors and privileges which we enjoy from His hand. (651-652)

Second, Communion in Glory:

The communion which believers have with Christ in glory is the highest honor we are capable of receiving from God. Our communion in glory (Q. 82), begins in
this life, in the enjoyment of foretastes of the life to come (Q. 83), and continues after death into the eternal bliss of the immediate presence of God (Q. 86). (654)

...those in Christ experience in this life:
(1) An exhilarating sense of God’s love for them: “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5).
(2) Peace of conscience: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
(3) Joy in the Holy Spirit: “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17).
(4) Hope of glory: Through Christ “we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:2).
All of these blessings are firstfruits of glory with Christ, or as the hymn has it, “foretastes of glory divine,” which will be perfected after death for us, so that even now, we are complete in Christ, in whom God’s fulness dwells (Col. 2:9, 10; Eph. 2:5; Rom. 5:5, 6; Rom. 5:1, 2; Rom. 14:17). God gives us these foretastes so that we “may love and long for Christ’s appearing, when [we] shall reap the full harvest of glory.” 17 Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 2:219. (655)

And finally for today, what are the implications of our union with Christ?

The point is that, whereas all human beings have a craving for community, their efforts at creating it are self-destructive because of their spiritual schizophrenia. And more importantly, community is impossible without communion; and communion between human beings is impossible apart from communion with Jesus Christ. (659)

In Christ” the punishment and tyrannical power of sin are dealt with sufficiently and finally; therefore only in Christ can true communion with God and true community among men be experienced. Only those who receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will participate in this one, true communion. (660)

Hopefully, I will cover a little more ground next week, but until then, that's it!

Racheal

Uh-oh....She's at it Again!

1/10/2015

Sometimes it seems inevitable.

You put a historical costuming-interested female down in front of a movie and the next day she goes balmly.

Mmmm...yes, Racheal has been watching 1940's movies again. And decided to try her hand at pin curls...

I suspect I may be a bit on the nuts side, trying pin curls by myself in hair that reaches a good couple inches past my waist. (For one, my arms simply are not *that* double jointed.) Oh, and the fact that I started with dry (though clean) hair. (edit...I went ahead with dry because after having done a single pin curl before with wet hair and once with dry, I discovered it set and held better dry. Kinda backwards, if you ask me.)

I figured, instead of trying to do it with all that long hair left to tangle itself up, I would split it into sections, held by hair bands.

Boy...you can really see my droopy eye in this picture!

I think, if I remember correctly, that I started with a grand total of four distinct "sets" of hair. Two low in the back, the upper part of the back of my head, and the front section on the left.

I curled the upper back first, then the right back section, then the left and culminated with the front. A large percentage of that went into a big roll right smack dab on the top of my head.

I used every last one of my bobby pins and still had large rolls. Some obviously much more expansive and/or messy than the others...

I believe that technically, a pin curl is not supposed to have any twist in it (I mean twisting the hair before or while rolling it up), but I confess that the only way I managed the ones in the very back was twisting my hair while rolling it. That doesn't make much sense, but if you were doing your own hair way back there, I think what I mean would become very obvious. :D

Once I was safely pinned all over, I went into the bathroom, turned on the spigot and started dampening my head (not too much). I dabbed the excess water off and tied my hair up, ready to tackle my dusty, messy bedroom!

Yep, I get Bing Crosby ears when I tie scarves behind them...

Now, just to keep you in suspense as the success or failure of the venture, let me tell you what occupied me between the time I tied that scarf on my head and the time I untied it and started to take my hair down.

I cleaned my room. That sounds simple, right? Think again...I rearranged the top of my vanity; that included changing the towel on the top of it (protects it from more cat-scratches than it already sports [wish it did a better job; it's an antique]). Then I dusted and changed up my dresser and bookshelf...okay, no big deal.

The real terror was the table upon which I have everything from my own personal iron (which needs to be used soon) to a different kind of iron, from purses to my "project" stack (i.e. clothes that need repairing or patterns made off them) to my cross-stitch stash to baby dolls (yes, you read that right) and other odds and ends. Well. I got that cleaned OFF before lunch, dusted the table, pulled it away from the wall and vacuumed the floor all along that wall. Curio managed to jump into the cat water sometime around here and spill almost an entire bowl of water on the floor...at a place were it was impossible, without moving half the furniture, to flip the carpet up. I put as much friction into the clean up as possible (thank-you Savannah for rushing to my assistance by going and getting me those towels!). I did manage to reach underneath the upper carpet (there are two...both very old and not necessarily in pristine condition) and check on the lower carpet (which then sits on the hardwood floor). It was just barely damp, so I felt comfortable with my job.

About the time I got done there, I realized I had my hungry brain-dead coming on, so I quit until after lunch (and coffee and dishes). Returning to "the Pile", it didn't take me too long to get thing organized in neater stacks than they had been. Hopefully, it made it more usable as well.

Anyway, by the time I got done with my room, it was after 4 and I was ready to check on my experiment.

My immediate reaction (lessened thanks to the time it took to get the picture to take):

(I hate selfies...my face always looks out of proportion!)

I started grinning almost as soon as I started the take down. I had curls every which way!! True, they most certainly weren't very uniform in size, but IT HAD WORKED!!!

Daddy came in while I was prancing around delightedly and he said (in a funny kind of voice): "O0ggly-wooggly...what happened to your hair?" I thought that was pretty funny...besides the fact that he actually noticed I had done something weird. ;)

Katherine told me the proper way to brush out pin-curls (she's done more research it than I have...obviously) and I set about it.

I look like my Mama! (Her hair is naturally like this...)

So...maybe I can do 40's hair after all. Now I just need to experiment some more... :)

(By the way, pin curls are not going to become a regular feature in my life. They take way too long for that...and I'm not going to sleep in bobby pins. I know people do it, but I'm not people, I'm me. But then I say I want to do WWII reenacting...bah! I'm not sleeping in bobby pins!)

Wow. Okay, so that was some Racheal thinking out loud stuff. Now you know sorta what it's like when I argue with myself.

Racheal