There was once a time that my sister in law told me she checks my blog 10 times a day to see if anything new has been recorded.  I remembered that today and felt bad at the thought of her coming here for several years and seeing absolutely nothing.  So, just in case she checks...Good Morning Virginia!  I hope you have a wonderful day.  I love you. 

The Gospel According To Larry Richie

This past May--the month before he died--Mr. Richie was a student in a class that Dustin was teaching. The class was New Testament Survey, and the discussion one night centered around the fact that each of the four Biblical Gospels was written to a particular audience.  This is the reason the Gospel of John may recount stories that the Gospel of Luke seems to omit.  Each was written by a different author to a different crowd.  As an assignment following this discussion Dustin had each student write their own "Gospel" (Good News) with a specific target audience in mind.  For example, one student was to write the good news to recovering drug addicts or the good news to a group of refugees.  Mr. Richie's assignment was to write the "Gospel According to Larry Richie" to a group of college professors who were considered "skeptics".  He was to present the good news of Jesus Christ to them in a relevant way, as did the authors of the Biblical Gospels.  They had 30 minutes of in-class time to write their "Gospel", and then each student presented his assignment orally in class.  What Mr. Richie presented that night was a gospel written with thought and passion.  Dustin has claimed it to be one of the best theological writings he's seen in awhile, and the class agreed that it was profound (especially considering the 30 minute time limit for writing).  What inspires me the most, I think, about the whole thing is something Dustin commented on:  Mr. Richie came to class all year--sitting week after week--his body growing weaker as cancer invaded it.  Yes, the beauty of the Gospel--the Good News--was revealed in this man--that as his body grew weaker, his spirit grew stronger.  Death was traded for life as Mr. Richie sought to live for something greater than the life of the flesh, and through him was revealed the life that only comes through Christ.  Several of us talked about this assignment and its meaning on different occasions after Mr. Richie died in June.  Dustin did not require the students to turn  the papers in, and Isaiah and his family had never been able to find it...until recently.  We received a message from Isaiah saying the paper had been found!  I requested his permission to share it as the occasion called for, and this morning I woke up with it on my mind.  For your encouragement...the Gospel According to Larry Richie.  (keep in mind his assigned audience of college professors)...

The Gospel According to Larry

                  How are we to present a clear and complete picture of a topic of such depth and breadth that words alone cannot capture its essence, and even if they could, all the bookshelves in all the universities of the world could not hold them.  Shall we then consider it prudent, even rational to focus on what is the mainstay of the good news of God’s creation and what many believe to be the central moment of history – that being the Christ Event.

                  There is a popular notion in many circles that in order to embrace the construct of Biblical Christianity one must first have a frontal lobotomy.  It conveys the gospel of the Christ as a static, if emotionally charged, body of information based primarily on some primordial human drive for answers to the unknown and his quest for immortality. In short, Biblical Christianity is palatable only to the ignorant.  It is devoid of reason and does not stand up under serious rational examination.

                  But in response to that allegation let us forget such groups and focus instead on the recorded words and acts of Jesus Himself.  Jesus, though from humble peasant background, put a lot of stock in the power of reason and the importance of education.  His first recorded act is that of finding his way to the Temple in Jerusalem when he was twelve years old, where he sat discussing the scriptures with the learned men of the day.  Jesus was never one to avoid arguing an issue of faith from a reasonable vantage point.  “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and unto God that which is God’s” is a lesson in common sense in political, economic, and social areas as well as in the spiritual realm.  Jesus was not one to stand on tradition or status quo.  By his powers of deduction and higher argumentation he challenged the most powerful men of his time. “Come, let us reason together” is a touch point of the Christian faith, though some have chosen to turn their back on it and present a white washed, septic, and self-serving version. I am certain my fellow seekers, that this would not be you. You are more likely then they to have an open mind and would applaud Jesus’s injunction “that ye should know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free!”

And, as a final thought, is not the highest form of man’s reason the awareness that, given the limitation of man’s mind, there must be that which transcends reason. I would strongly urge you to accept the Lord as both He who embraces reason and He who transcends reason.

Week 7

http://dustinpaulturner.blogspot.com/2012/02/misunderstandings.html

I couldn't have said it better myself.  I love reading what Dustin writes.  And I've been thinking on this.  The cost of seeking to understand and be understood is worth the investment.  People are people.  Misunderstandings arise.  But it is worth the time to talk and to seek to understand and to proceed forward with the best in mind.

13

I am not typically superstitious, but I would say the 13th had its way with us this weekend.  Two of the worst happenings I can not even mention in a public setting, but you can trust me when I say they took it out of me.  Third, we found out that its true...our computer is toast.  That means I lost about 10,000 pictures and all of mine and Dustin's school work.  Fourth, the furnace quit on the coldest day we had had this year.  Fifth, I wrecked the car--my first car accident ever.  I always thought it would be fun to race a car, but as I did a 180 in the highway at 45 mph, I decided that I prefer slow drives on a dirt road to anything fast and spinny.  Sixth, my childhood pet died.  Daisy was sixteen years old and my mom's faithful companion.  My mom has this way of making pets sort of people-like, so its fairly accurate to say that Daisy was a kind of "sister" to me.

We ended the weekend with a birthday celebration for my grandpa, which helped me put things into perspective.  Kids running like crazy, fits galore when candy was denied, playful shouts from the basement toy room,  and enough food to feed an army makes for a great gathering to honor Pa.  If "all's well that ends well" then all. is. well.  I have a  new computer, the house is warm again,  I was unharmed in what could have been a tragic car accident, and Daisy's life as a dog was long and meaningful.

Happy 83rd Birthday Pa!!  

God-willing

Have I mentioned before that I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up?  Maybe a better way to say that would be that I'm now grown up and trying to figure out HOW to do what I want to be!!  I am a college drop out.  I got married young.  I have been pregnant for most of the past thirteen years.  In the eyes and mind of many, I put the cart before the horse and now I'm paying the price.  I am reading a book that has an excellent excellent quote that I've been thinking about for several days, "It seems as many of us grow older, we come to find out which passions faded away because they were birthed out of our humanity, while what has remained may be a confirmation that it was birthed within our spirits". (from Writings From Outside the Camp by Fred London)  Its so true.  I can't imagine what I must have been thinking as an 18 year old graduating from high school.  Its no wonder I quit college!  If I wonder now about my life, my gifts, my callings at 34 years old, how much more clueless was I then?  Thankfully, as I have grown older I have discovered more about myself.  The problem now is how to make it happen while caring for a young family who need my devotion of time and attention.  I have recently enrolled in school to finish my basic degree that I started fifteen years ago, and God-willing I will finish this time in about a year.   Beyond that I want to study midwifery.  I dream of being stealthy and strong like the Hebrew midwives.  I imagine catching babies in mud huts in West Africa and on thatch floors in southeast Asia.  I follow a blog:  midwife4jesus.blogspot.com that I often have to stop reading for the weight of compassion and prayer I feel for this woman.  It makes me dizzy trying to figure out how this will happen.  Part of the problem is that I lack patience.   I am resolving (or at least attempting to resolve) to rest and to be all here-- where I am right now...to be a faithful and present mother to my children, and in time I believe these other dreams will work themselves out.  God-willing.

A Look Back at the Highlights

Five months later...I'm back!!  I tried to just let it go, but I can't seem to continue on into the new year until I've done a proper year end review of 2011.  I'll start by saying that my resolution for 2011 was that I would keep my room clean.  I really really really want a new bed and sheets.  And maybe a wall decoration of some sort.  BUT, i vowed to myself that I would NOT buy anything for my bedroom unless I could be a good steward of what I already have, hence my resolution.  I have to say, I would not give myself an A...maybe a low B, but not any higher.  However, I did do better than what I imagined I would.  My room is never really dirty...just messy.  I tend to six kids and all their stuff and clean the rest of the house, so I have always figured that if my room is at the bottom of the list that its ok.  I will continue on though with my resolution because I have liked sleeping in a neater space.  Also, it truly is the desire of my heart to care for what I have, so its good discipline.  And as for the bed and bedding...I'm currently taking donations.  Ha!

2011 Highlights...
--January snow days
--Reuben's 1st birthday
--Kids in sports--I love going to their games!! 
--Superb homeschool evaluations
--Planning trip to Peru for church kids (although it would be nice to actually GO on the trip with them!)
--Sibling Phish concert in Cincinatti
--DeLaney/Dobson visit (except for the poison ivy). 
--Taking my kids to Illinois for a week with cousins
--Spring and summer drives in the country
--Anniversary trip to Pittsburgh
--Kids enrolling and for the most part doing well in public school
--My garage sale--I love sitting in my garage chatting with people all day long
--Receiving word that Dustin's grievance was granted
--Birthday weekend celebration with friends in Oklahoma
--Planning and attending KayCee's wedding. (this is obviously the highlight of all highlights, but I am going in chronological order!!)
--Another year of no cavities for the Turner family
--Enrolling in college to (finally) finish school
--Mountaineer football games
--Holidays with my family and with Dustin's family

As far as 2012 goes, the only resolution that I can think of is that I will knit 100 dishrags.  That is not really anything spectacular, as I have done this before.  But, I've been out of the discipline of quieting myself to knit this year, so I will knit four rags a month and try to use up all my yarn.  I will not buy any more new yarn until I use what I have.  Oh...and you can almost guess what everyone will be getting for Christmas next year. 

Aged to Perfection

 Dustin has often commented that I have too many shoes and clothes, but really I don't.  Its just a collection of items that I have accumulated over the past decade +.  I seriously do wear things until they fall apart or get lost.  In an attempt to "prove"this to him, I took inventory of some of the items in my closet.  Some of the highlights...

My very favorite shoes...April 2001-November 2010:  Cause of death:  campfire

I don't have a picture of them new, but I bought them when I was pregnant with Judah, and I have worn them year-round in several countries and many states--over the river and through the woods.  Finally, this fall I was visiting a friend in Oklahoma, sitting around campfire, and smelled a really funny smell.  We thought someone was burning tires nearby.  Eventually when my feet started smoking, I realized that it was not tires, but rather my sandals that were melting.  I suppose I could have kept wearing them, but rather I used it as an excuse to let my mom buy me a shiny new pair for my birthday.   It was a good ten year run for the dear old Birkenstocks, and I expect these new ones to last even longer because I will remember not to put my feet too close to a fire. 

 

My very favorite tshirt...January 1996-current

This tshirt was given to me by my first youth pastor, and its what got me thinking about this blog this morning.  I still wear it all the time, and this morning I thought, "wow...this shirt is getting THIN!".  As the picture indicates, the shirt has faded considerably and its wearer grown larger over the past 15 years!

My favorite backpack...sometime 1994-current

I bought this backpack in 10th grade because I wanted a new backpack for our consolidation with Sistersville.  Like my shoes, its been around the world and carried everything from school supplies to poopy diapers. Sometimes I WISH it'd wear out so I could buy a new one, and at the same time I'm trying to convince Cana to buy one just like it so we won't have to buy her another backpack while she's under this roof!  Sadly, she doesn't like the thought of not getting to buy a new one for high school here in a few years.

 

So, yes...while my closet IS full, I am confident that neither do buy extra "stuff",  nor am I a hoarder.  I simply know what I like, what will last, and I keep things for a long, long time.