Two (rather random) political observations: March 4, 2008
Posted by Anya in : spontaneous degeneration , 3comments- I’m currently reading (selections of, fortunately) Mein Kampf. It is really a rather miserable book. But that doesn’t have much bearing on this point. I was just thinking… if Hitler wrote a book that the title translates as “My Struggle”, would you really want to write a book called “My ________” [fill in the blank]? My Life (by Clinton) came to mind.
- Obama really needs a new motto. I mean, apart from his politics — which I can’t say that I like, no matter how charismatic he is and how great he is at making speeches — his motto is “Yes we can”? Wonderful. I’m sure he really wanted me to have Bob the Builder’s theme song playing in my head every time I think of his motto.
So there you go. Nothing too theological tonight. 
I think an entry having to do with Relient K and Romans is coming, though. 
The Blessings of Being a Covenant Child March 2, 2008
Posted by Anya in : I won't keep things purposely vague , 3commentsI was (obviously) thinking about this today, perhaps because I ended up sitting with Beka during church. She’s four, her dad was sick, and her mom was playing the piano, and thus it seemed prudent for someone to be keeping an eye on her.
One of the blessings, of covenant children, is the funny things they say from time to time. New Horizons, the magazine of the OPC, actually contains an “Out of the mouths of children” section. Anyway, today it was Beka’s turn. As our pastor and the elders walked out of his study, Beka said to me, “There’s my friend, the pastor. He’s the real pastor; the other one [one of the elders] just pretends to be the pastor.” Apparently she was a bit confused by the fact that an elder has been leading worship since our pastor had been on vacation… however, I don’t think she managed to top what Elpinoine said at about the same age. The guest pastor stood in the pulpit and Elpinoine looked horrified. “Where’s God?” she asked.
But there are many other, richer blessings than the interesting questions children come up with. I think that one is an assurance of faith. And this isn’t some “assurance” that just comes from faith being something your parents have, but it comes from being brought up in the truth. Perhaps it is comparable to your native language. You learn to speak it with confidence, because you’ve been speaking it all your life. And you get better at it, too, finding the meanings of words, learning correct grammatical structure, in the same way that you learn to research and defend your faith. You can grow up trusting in God, which makes an enormous change in your worldview and mindset.
These are a very… few… of the blessings. They’re hard to put into words. I know I’ve had even many more, due to being classically homeschooled and everything else — that has left me well equipped in matters of faith, and (I think! I hope!) really for all of life. But the blessings more than amply make up for the fact that many covenant kids can’t point to a particular date and say, “Oh, I became a Christian then. And before I was a Christian I did drugs and…” We want boring testimonies, really. They’re good things. It is far better, far more natural, for children to grow up in a covenantal relationship with God than for it to be something dragged in from the outside, something added on after years of living in other ways. (That is a major reason I support infant baptism: I believe that it is much more in keeping with the covenantal way God works, through families and communities of His chosen people.) Far better for us to never have to deal with having to deal with addictions to sin. And I am certainly not saying that covenant children don’t sin. We do. We definitely do. But being brought up in the church as children of God does dissuade from much sin, because from when we are very young, we are given the identity as children of God. That is a beautiful and precious blessing.
So I’m very interested in your perspectives on these things! Infant baptism, being (or not being) covenant children, blessings which you’ve found from the way you were brought up in the church.
Quiz-ness March 1, 2008
Posted by Anya in : spontaneous degeneration, smiling is good for you , add a commentSomeone… (one of the other quizzer’s dads, maybe?): “What are you, ready for war?”
I’ve been wearing blue war paint to quizzes now for three years!
Samwise and Andrew decided to do a “suit quiz”. Meaning they wore suits. Samwise, Andrew, and Caleb decided to do a “Mexico hat quiz” — I’m assuming that you can figure out what that one means :). It was an… interesting combination.
me: “Arika!”
Arika: “ANNYYYYYYAAAAA!”
me: “AAAAH! No! Don’t run at me while you’re holding a pot of boiling water!!!!”
me: *helping Peter study* *climbs up into the volleyball tower*
Peter: “What are you doing??? WHY are you up there?”
me: “I’m tall!!!!”
Peter: “No, you are not tall.”
me: “I FEEL tall!!!!!”
Peter: *walks away shaking head*
[This next conversation involves the Other Peter — the one from a different church.]
me: *blinkblink* “You’re wearing a kilt!”
Peter: “What?”
me: “It’s a kilt quiz!”
Peter: “Oh. Yeah.”
Abby: “He forgot his bagpipes though.”
Griffin: *talking to me for what must have been at least the second time this morning* “– and see, Anya! I am acknowledging your presence and our relationship!” [Sorry, Griffin, I know that was not a word-perfect quote.]
me: “I think… you may… have killed me.” *falls over backwards* (which sort of hurt!)
Peter: “WHY are you fainting?”
me: “Because Griffin acknowledged the fact that we know each other!!!”
Peter: “Why would ANYone faint over Griffin???”
me: *standing back up* *not sure if I should look at Griffin or totally avoid eye contact for the rest of the day* “Peter!”
Peter: “REALLY!”
Griffin: “That was –”
me: “I apologize for his manners.”
Griffin: “Dude, that was totally uncalled for.”
me: “I don’t know what to do with him.”
us: *walk away*
Samwise, David, and… some other guy from our church: *go galloping past in a sort of horse imitation*
me: *talking to Bethany (from another church)* “I… do… not… know… them.”
(she obviously knows that I do know them)
Mr. D: *as Joanna and Johnny walk in* “Alright. Question number seven will be a tossup for team three and — wow, you guys are late, it’s okay, you still have time — question number seven –”
Johnny D: *sliding into his seat* “Are you SERIOUS???? JOANNA! We’re late! Are you SERIOUS! You started without us???”
Mr. D: *nods*
Johnny: *looks at the rest of us quizzers* “Did you START???”
Anna: “Yep.”
Johnny: “Augh, man.”
Mr. D: “No, we’re teasing you. We didn’t start.”
Johnny: “WHEW.”
Alex: “I would like to challenge that because [explains all the reasons] so it should have been a chapter verse reference, not just a chapter reference.”
Mr. O’D: “Um… it was.”
Alex: “It was?”
me: “Yes… but thank you anyway, that was very kind of you!”
*standing around listening to Arika and Griffin talk*
Arika: *waves hand and knocks over a floral arrangement*
us: O_o
Griffin: *goes diving for it and picks it up*
me: *picks up the other pieces* “AAAAAAH! It’s a dead hummingbird!”
everyone else: *starts laughing*
me: *some sort of mourning noise*
[And Miss Dance believes that the floral arrangement was set up backwards. She’d notice that sort of thing… I, obviously, don’t.]
Aaron — you know, the Aaron who supplies music for his team (more about that in this post) — was not able to do that today! His batteries died! It was sad.
We should have gotten t-shirts today which say: “Josh is NOT HERE. He is at a basketball tournament.” Many people asked. Including several of our own coaches.
Mr. K: “Quote Colossians 3:20.”
me: “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.”
Mr. K: “Repeat that please.”
me: “Um… Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.”
Mr. K: “Say it again, please.”
me: *trying to figure out if I’m messing it up, or if he is just messing with me* “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.”
Mr. K: “I LOVE that verse! Say it again. Put the emphasis on ‘obey’.”
me: *gritting teeth* “Children, OBEY your–”
Mr. K: “Okay, you may sit down now.” (Sometimes 20 points is not enough.)
*to the other parents* “That is my favorite verse in the whole Bible!”
Peter: “Actually, I like the next verse better.”
Mr. K: “What is the next verse?”
me: “Fathers, do not embitter–”
Mr. K: “Umm, no. Nevermind. I think that is a very bad translation of the Greek.”
me: *GLARE* “Would you like me to bring my Greek New Testament to the next quiz???”
Mr. K: “Never mind. Next question!”
[Okay, and in conclusion to this long and random post, and in conclusion to the whole Griffin-acknowledging-that-he-knew-me, I had put this up on my AIM
What do you know? I exist! My presence has been acknowledged!
Griffin: This message makes me feel good about myself.]
So even if 20 points isn’t enough, making someone else feel good is pretty high up there.
Goodnight!
