Anesthetic Smoke

The Donkey

2009-04-11T08:52:00.002-05:00

When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born;

With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil's walking parody
On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth,
Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
I keep my secret still.

Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.

by G.K. Chesterton

(h/t LewRockwell.com)

Caliber Confusion???

2008-12-27T07:24:00.000-05:00

If you are like me there may be some ammo talk that doesn't seem as clear as it should. Is a .380 the same as a .38? Here is an excellent article by Kathy Jackson entitled Caliber Confusion, that may help clear up your....caliber confusion.

My Review of Rogue Lombard Athletic Shoes - Oxfords (For Men)

2008-11-10T07:08:00.001-05:00

Originally submitted at Sierra Trading Post

Closeouts . Rogue's Lombard athletic oxford shoes are the perfect choice for weekday wear... oxford styling is great paired with khakis for the office, and the pure, premium tumbled leather upper easily complements your favorite jeans for weekend errands. Rubber lug pattern outsole has a hobna...

Good Shoes

By Frank the Farmer from Southwest VA on 11/10/2008

Sizing: Feels true to size

Width: Feels true to width

Pros: Comfortable, Breathes Well, Durable, Stable

Best Uses: Casual Wear, Travel

Describe Yourself: Comfort Driven

Excellent Shoes!

(legalese)

The First Homebrew-Part 6

2008-11-03T18:52:00.001-05:00

The final step was to label our brew with name of beer and name of brewer. So a strip of paper was torn and scibbled upon. The label stated "Townsman Cavendish Ale (Maple)-By Nathaniel and Brant". Two bottles were delivered to the contest. As I opened the fridge I was surprised to see the craftsmanship and creativity that went into the different labels. I would love to say that ours (craftmanship and creativity) was focused on the content in the bottle but I really didn't know that the beer label was for any design purpose other than to differentiate between beers. I gingerly place it in the fridge and headed over for the festivities of the HSC Reformation Celebration. We had a great time at the celebration and I was awaiting the verdict of the contest results. They also had a pie and chili contest. Unfortunately I had to leave before they announced the results of the various contests. Well, I received a call that evening that we had won the contest. I'm humbled and had a lot of fun entering the contest. I would have loved to have tasted the other entrants brews. The prize was a bobble head Martin Luther and a gift certificate for Inari Wines. The picture above is the bobble head Luther with my bobble head John Calvin that my good friend Van gave to me last week for my birthday. It's a fitting picture because Brant is a Luthern and I am a Calvinist. Cheers!

P.S. The name of our ale comes from an aromatic maple tobacco from McClellands Tobacco. The name of this tobacco is Townsman Cavendish Blue. Brant and I love to smoke this tobacco in the autumn and thought this ale might be a fitting tribute to a good tobacco.

The First Homebrew-Part 5

2008-11-02T19:03:00.000-05:00

The suspense has been killing us. It was time to evaluate the final product of our maple ale.

Brant and I chilled two bottles and then opened them. There was a nice hiss upon opening and when poured showed nice head. The aromas were good and its color was dark. The taste was off dry and only slightly sweet. There was an essence of maple in the brew but I would have preferred a more pronounced maple flavor. Overall, I felt it was a pretty good beer and I was glad it turned out well. My beautiful bride told me that had I brought this home from a specialty beer store she thought it would be worth getting again.

RC Sproul Jr. has been the reigning champ at the annual Highlands Study Center homebrew contest and we hoped to dethrone him. Unfortunately he is chief judge this year and will not be competing. He did point out to me that the beauty of the situation was one where he could not lose and I would not have to compete against his award winning brews. We'll see how it goes and I can only hope that the chief judge has excellent taste in brew...

The First Homebrew-Part 4

2008-09-15T19:21:00.001-05:00

Last week Brant and I spent about an hour bottling the homebrew. It tasted pretty sweet to me. We had just added the priming sugar so I am sure that made it sweeter. I am really looking forward to giving it a try and hope it carbonates well. I am also hoping that the carbonation will balance out some of the sweetness. Here are a few pictures from the bottling session.

Richmond Pipe Show-October 3-5, 2008

2008-09-02T20:47:00.000-05:00

The Conclave of Richmond Pipe Smokers is having their annual pipe show in October (3rd-5th) in Richmond, VA. Brant and I have planned on attending since we have moved away from California.
Here was the conversation last weekend:

Me: You know the Richmond pipe show is about a month away.

Brant: Yeah that's right, I better start hitting the ATM.

Me: You bet, cause you know you can only pull out $300 a day and there is not much time left.

They say that you will be able to smoke there (this is getting rarer and rarer). I always enjoy meeting other pipe smokers, looking at the beautiful pipes and smoking wonderful tobacco. I hope to see you there.

Prospective fathers...

2008-08-28T18:36:00.000-05:00

Prospective fathers should consume more folate, suggests a new study from the University of California, Berkeley. Men with a high intake of this B vitamin (more than 700 micrograms a day) had significantly lower rates of chromosomal abnormalities in their sperm, compared to men with moderate or low intake. Women need adequate folate before and after conception to protect against birth defects, but this is the first study to show that folate may also be key for dads-to-be. Good sources include whole grains, fortified cereals, beans, leafy greens, and orange juice; multivitamins typically provide 400 micrograms, the recommended daily amount.

(From the University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter Volume 24, Issue 9)

Quotes

2008-08-25T19:12:00.000-05:00

"I'm a man, and I don't want to be paying alimony to a man."
Lawrence Roach of Seminole, Fla., who argues that he should not have to pay alimony to his ex-wife now that she has undergone a sex change.
World Magazine December 2, 2006 pg. 16

The First Homebrew-Part 3

2008-08-18T19:10:00.001-05:00

It has been one week since I brewed the beer. The bubbling in the airlock has decreased considerably. The krausen has almost disappeared. My lovely wife helped me to rack the ale to a secondary carboy. I plan on allowing it to sit in the secondary for a few weeks before I bottle it. I tasted a bit of it and it tasted pretty "green".

The First Homebrew-Part 2

2008-08-14T11:57:00.000-05:00

Brant and I finished the brew and pitched the yeast at 3pm on Saturday. I excitedly rushed in to see some bubbling on Sunday morning.... nothing .... maybe the yeast observes the Sabbath? Sunday night ... nothing, Monday nothing. When we activated the yeast packed on Saturday we were not sure if the yeast packet expanded enough but pitched it anyway. I asked around and people told me not to worry. I worried. I called Midwest and they told me not to worry. They told me they would send out a new packet of dry yeast and if nothing happened in two more days then pitch the dry yeast in. I was wondering if my first attempt at homebrew was ruined. Well, Tuesday morning the yeast had taken off. It is bubbling away right now.

The First Homebrew-Part 1

2008-08-13T16:37:00.011-05:00

My friend Van told me that he was reading John Palmer's book How to Brew... and that he was considering taking a shot at it. I had toyed with the idea of doing this in the past but never really thought seriously about it. I read the book and made my decision. I decided to make beer, wine and mead and tried to gather all of the positive points so I could convince my wife of the goodness and necessity of this undertaking. When I went home and the conversation was closely to what follows...

"I was thinking of taking up homebrewing and wine making" -Me

"That sounds like a good idea." -Her

No convincing...Wow! So after a few weeks I picked a kit and bought an intermediate starter set from Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies. BTW I highly recommend them. Their customer service has been outstanding. This last weekend my friend Brant came over to help me. He was definitely a help and has brewed in the past. He has created the best Baking Soda Brew I've ever tasted, so naturally I needed his help ;-). We had fun brewing it gave us some time to hang out. Here are some pictures from the brewing session last Saturday.

Here is the steeping of the specialty grains.

Here is the addition of the malt extract.

Here Brant is adding the maple syrup.

The pouring of the wort into the carboy.

Check out Brant's excellent form.

The results at the end of the day.

This is a maple dark ale. I loved all the aromas as we brewed the beer. Every step had a wonderful scent, and the hops were one of my favorites. I can't wait to taste the final product.

The Bees Knees-Part 2

2008-06-02T18:39:00.000-05:00

This update is about a week and a half late. My kids and I awoke one morning to assemble the frames for the brood boxes. Brood boxes are the areas where the queen will lay the eggs and small amounts of honey will be produced. We had some preassembled plastic foundation for one hive and the other hive we were using wire reinforced beeswax foundation. The beeswax foundation needs to be attached and nailed to the frames. I am interested to see how the bees accept the plastic foundation. From what I understand the bees like the beeswax foundation more but it is not as easy to work with as the plastic. So we assembled the foundations and were awaiting the call from the post office for our bees. I ordered two queens and three pounds of bees for each hive. As I recall, three pounds of bees equals about 12,000 bees, so I ordered about 24,000 bees.
I received a call about 6:20 am from our local post office a few day later (I was at work until about 2 am that morning). They called to let me know that my bees had arrived. I threw the kids in the car and we headed over to the post office. As we were leaving our mail carrier yelled "Nathaniel!" He had noticed that we had a new address. I had the bees sent to our farm and not our rental like usual. He noticed the new address and asked us about it. Where else, other than in a small town, would your postal carrier notice something like that and want to talk to you about it. We then took the bees home and sprayed them with some sugar water to feed them. I headed on over to the farm later that afternoon and set up the site for the hives. My boss came over to help me install the bees. He lives "next door" and keeps some bees himself. We installed both hives. Two days later I returned to see if the queens had made their way out of their queen cages. Both queens were out. The hive was busy drawing out frame. Watching these bees up close is fascinating. I could stand and watch them for a long time. It was quite an experience to pull out a frame just crawling with bees. In a few days it will be about two weeks and I will go place my queen excluders on the hive with a super or two for each hive. A super is the boxes and frames that the queen cannot get to (with the excluder between the brooder and super). This is where the worker bees will place the honey. All of this and I have not received one sting yet. I wore a veil, jacket and gloves. I opted against buying the full bee suit and so far it seems a wise choice. My boss wrote a prescription for epinephrine pen in case we had an allergic reaction to the stings.
I didn't get any pictures of the installation of the bees because my dear wife was not over at the farm when we installed them.

The Bees Knees-Part 1

2008-05-04T15:51:00.000-05:00

Well, I've decided to take up beekeeping. I have always wanted to but it wasn't until we bought a farm. I remember going to the LA County Fair as a child and being fascinated at the observation beehives. Our family also consumes more than our share of honey. My beautiful wife usually cooks with honey and maple syrup as a sweetener instead of sugar. There are many health benefits derived from honey, especially reduction in allergy symptoms when the honey is local. Also, honey is as effective as over the counter cough suppressant, except without the dangerous side effects.
So...my oldest son and I set out on a day trip down to Brushy Mountain Bee Farm to purchase some equipment for this adventure. I decided to start out with two hives so that I would have more honey and could also compare the two in relation to one another. I opted to go with the eight frame hives since these are supposed to be easier to handle than the ten frame hives. I am trying out three different foundations, plastic, wax and wax with wire. I decided to get the jacket with the zippered veil for my protective equipment. We returned with our equipment and five gallons of their honey to get us through until we start harvesting our own.
I am in the process now of priming and painting my hives. I have ordered two 3lb packages of bees. The hives will be ready by the time the bees arrive around May 20th. I have also been reading some basic books and have subscribed to the Americ an Bee Journal (this has been published for 146 years!). Hopefully by the time the bees arrive I will have a bit of an idea of what I am doing. I will try to keep you updated on my progress and failures. The first picture is getting our materials out of the boxes and the second is the priming and painting of the hives.

Quotes

2008-04-30T17:56:00.004-05:00

"She made an honest mistake. She confused the Bosnia trip with the time I took her hunting."

-Dick Cheney on Hillary Clinton's claim of dodgeing gunfire in Bosnia (H/T World Magazine)

Liberal Fantasy

2008-04-21T18:52:00.000-05:00

Someone at work put this on our desktop. I had to laugh. There seems to be a lot of truth to it.

The Branding of a Mailbox

2008-04-18T16:05:00.000-05:00

I used to have a reputation for giving nifty gifts to people. I think I've lost that edge, or possibly passed it on to my brother-in-law Daniel. Daniel and Michelle gave me a custom brand for Christmas. It has a very clever design that is a pipe on the bottom, with a smoke stream forming a piece of a large "W" above the pipe. I told him that he would have to help by holding my cattle as I branded them. I do not believe that he has taken me up on the offer. So, in my attempts to brand something safer than what just might be perceived as a raging auroch during it's branding, I decided to brand a slightly less than raging mailbox stand. Thanks Daniel and Michelle for such thoughtful gift that I will continue to show off for many years. If anyone happens to be driving along a peaceful country road and spots this mailbox with a unique brand, stop on in for refreshment and hearty conversation (and yes, bring your pipe if you have one).
The Final Result!

Soverign over Everything

2008-04-15T10:08:00.000-05:00

On my way to work this morning a train was standing still on the tracks in front of me blocking my route. I was annoyed, being slightly late for work, because of my need to backtrack and follow a new path to my job that consisted of a bridge over the train. Later I learned that a man who was walking on the tracks had been struck and killed.
I was slightly frustrated when I had to turn around, but then remembered that God is in control of every situation that confronts us. My reaction of frustration was wrong and did not acknowledge that God was in control of the situation.
In Everyday Talk, John Younts discusses how our reaction in situations like these show our attitude toward our creator and exposes our worldview. An example he used was being frustrated at the weather because it ruined your plans for the day. This shows that you are not really acknowledging that God is in control or that he has your best interest in mind. He makes the application that your children who are learning about life from you are picking up these little, seemingly innocuous attitudes. This worldview is the one they observe in spite of your lectures to the opposite.
RC Sproul Jr. also picked up on this in his Sound Teaching Series, How Strong is He (Based on his book Almighty Over All). He really helped me to understand God's sovereignty in a tangible way that I can relate to. He again brought up that the little (as well as the large) situations and annoyances in our life are placed there by God for His purposes. This has haunted me many times as even little frustrations upset me. We need to repent of these responses and let Jesus change our hearts so that when anything happens in life we are immediately aware that God is sovereignly causing it to happen for His and our benefit.
I think that the reformed camp understands this, however we usually live as if God is only sovereign in big things such as the salvation of man. I imagine that when we are transformed to glory we will be astonished at how God wove every situation into a majestic tapestry. I think it was CS Lewis who said something to the effect that as the painter of life God does not waste one brush stroke. In essence everything that happens is done for an exact purpose that accomplishes His plans for His glory.
After my frustration with the train incident I was reading the current issue of Tabletalk magazine. An article in the April 2008 issue is devoted to The Belgic Confession. Guido de Bres, a main author of the Belgic Confession, was imprisoned and martyred for his dedication to the reformed faith. This was a man who understood Gods sovereignty in his life. He wrote these words to his wife just before he was hanged.

Your grief and anguish, troubling me in the midst of my joy and gladness, are the cause of writing to you this present letter. I most earnestly pray you not to be grieved beyond measure...If the Lord had wished us to live together longer, He could easily have caused it so to be. But such was not His pleasure. Let His good will be done then, and let that suffice for all reason...I pray you then to be comforted in the Lord, to commit yourself and your affairs to Him, for He is the Husband of the widow and the Father of the fatherless, and He will never leave nor forsake you...Goodbye, Catherine, my well beloved! I pray my God to comfort you, and give your resignation to His holy will. Your faithful husband, Guido de Bres.

May God give us such an understanding of His sovereignty as this. An understanding that penetrates deep into our souls and shows forth in our lives, all for His Glory.

Quotes-Chesterton

2008-04-12T10:50:00.000-05:00

Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason why it was put up.

-G.K. Chesterton

Wine & Carbs

2008-04-06T12:04:00.000-05:00

Drinking white wine with a high-carbohydrate meal reduces the postmeal rise in blood sugar levels. Although only white wine has been studied, the effect is expected to be similar for red wine. Wine lowers the meal's glycemic index by 37%, probably because it's high acidity helps slow digestion-so sugar does not enter the bloodstream as quickly. Keeping blood sugar under control can help prevent diabetes and heart disease.
(Jennie Brand-Miller, PhD, professor of human nutrition, University of Sydney, Australia, and leader of a study of alcohol consumption with meals, published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Qutoed from Bottom Line Personal Volume 29 Number 8)

Iron increases a woman's chance of becoming pregnant.

2008-04-06T11:48:00.001-05:00

Recent Finding: Women who take daily iron supplements have, on average, 40% lower risk for infertility caused by ovulation problems than those who don't take iron supplements. The higher the iron dosage, the lower the risk for infertility. Women who take the highest doses-41 mg a day-reduced their risk for infertility by 62%. Caution: Take iron supplements only under a doctor's supervision. Iron overload can cause damage to internal organs.
Jorge E. Chavarro, MD, research fellow, department of nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and lead author of an eight-year study of women ages 24-42, published in Obstetrics & Gynecology. (Quoted from Bottom Line Personal Volume 29 Number 8)

Quotes-Wine

2008-04-05T07:25:00.000-05:00

"Wine is the most civilized thing in the world"
-Ernest Hemingway

2008-03-14T21:28:00.001-05:00

International Pipe Smoking Day-2/20

2008-02-20T07:07:00.005-05:00

Kind of funny to have an international day for this. As one person pointed out that the dead of winter is probably not the best time to celebrate a day dedicated to an activity that has been all but banished to the outdoors. And really...do I need another reason smoke my pipe. I guess I have a new one! Oh and my friend Van just posted a few thoughts on pipe smoking by Bach. Maybe a nice bowl while listing to some of his wonderful music (by the Academy of Ancient Music of course) would be a nice way to celebrate the day.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T07:14:00.000-05:00

Let the just rejoice, for their Justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice, for their Saviour is born.
Let the captives rejoice, for their Redeemer is born.
Let slaves rejoice, for their Master is born.
Let free men rejoice, for their Liberator is born.
Let all Christians rejoice, for Jesus Christ is born.
(from our Christmas Eve service liturgy)

Quotes-Christmas Card 2007

2007-12-20T07:43:00.000-05:00

The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.

--C.S. Lewis

(Previous Christmas Cards here)

What Jones Holiday Soda are You?

2007-12-03T07:24:00.000-05:00

I was walking through Target a few years ago and I saw a must get pack of Jones soda. It was their holiday meal box. It had sodas flavored as Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing and Cranberry. I saw this and had to pick it up for my brother in law. The sodas were, well, pretty interesting, but ultimately not something you want in a soda except for the Cranberry. He was very generous to share these sodas with us. Anyway, I noticed on Blogthings that you could take a test to see what kind of Jones Holiday Soda you are. I was Smoked Salmon Pate. That wasn't in the holiday pack I bought, but I would have tried it. Take the all important quiz and find out what soda you would be.

You Are Smoked Salmon Pate Soda

Tasting like fish ain't so bad!

What Jones Holiday Soda Are You?

Do You?

2007-11-28T05:51:00.000-05:00

Do you delight in the love of your woman?

I know that I do!

Give Thanks....It is good and right to do so.

2007-11-22T07:25:00.000-05:00

I just read an e-mail from a tobacco blender who said that one of the aspects of Thanksgiving he enjoyed was that it really did not have any religious connections. This gentleman is sorely mistaken. We all owe our creator thanksgiving, and our lack of being thankful is one of our central problems as humans. But being grateful requires humility and honestly looking at what we deserve: and we do not like to participate in these activities.
I have so unbelievably much to be thankful for. My Lord has overfilled my cup and He doesn't seem to stop. I have been given so much; health, material, comfort, food, love, a new home. He has given me love from my dream girl and my wonderful children. Most importantly he has given me Himself. I am not as thankful as I should be, nor do I love Him as much as I should. I pray that even if Jesus removes some of these earthly blessings from me that I will continue to love Him more and to not grumble. I want to maintain and increase a spirit of thankfulness. The only reason that he would remove these blessings from me is for my good, and I need to remember that he will not give me a serpent, scorpion or stone because He loves me.
So as we lift our cups of wine today in celebration, let us not forsake thanksgiving to the Son of Man for the overflowing cup that He drank in exchange for the overflowing cup He gives.

Blessings
Author of all blessings I enjoy, of all I hope for,
Thou has taught me
that neither the experience of present evils,
nor the remembrances of former sins,
nor the remonstrances of friends,
will or can affect a sinner's heart,
except thou vouchsafe to reveal thy grace
and quicken the dead in sin
by the effectual working of thy Spirit's power.
Thou has shown me
that the sensible effusions of divine love
in the soul are superior to and distinct from
bodily health,
and that oft-times spiritual comforts are
at their highest when physical well-being is
at it's lowest.
Thou has given me the ordinance of song
as a means of grace;
Fit me to bear my part in that music ever new,
which elect angels and saints made perfect
now sing before thy throne and before the Lamb.
I bless thee for tempering every distress with joy;
too much of the former might weigh me down,
too much of the latter might puff me up;
Thou art wise to give me a taste of both.
I love thee
for giving me clusters of grapes
in the wilderness
and drops of heavenly wine
that set me longing to have my fill.
Apart from thee I quickly die,
befeft of thee I starve,
far from thee I thirst and droop;
But thou art all I need.
Let me continually grasp the promise,
'I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.'
-from the The Vally of Vision

If you are man enough...

2007-11-04T21:43:00.000-05:00

6 Free Dr. Mom Otoscope Give Away from P&M Dermasalve Compounders

2007-09-30T18:38:00.000-05:00

Compounders of P&M Dermasalve are giving away 6 Free Dr.Mom Otoscopes . Click HERE for details.

That's right, maybe you can win, but if you do not be sure to purchase one. But wait, what is an otoscope? It is a device that allows you to look into the ear. This can be handy with kids in the house, especially children that are prone to allergies. I usually just haul my kids into see one of the ENT surgeons that I work with, but now I won't have to bother with that.

What's Your Beer Personality?

2007-09-19T21:53:00.000-05:00

A pointless test from Blogthings, what is your beer personality? I'm Guiness, but I know I prefer Young's Double Chocolate Stout!

You Are Guinness

You know beer well, and you'll only drink the best beers in the world.
Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them.
When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all - especially about subjects you don't know well.
But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

What's Your Beer Personality?

Quotes-Wine

2007-09-13T19:35:00.000-05:00

"Wine is sunlight held together by water"

-Galileo

A Public Service Announcement for Presbyterians

2007-09-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

I do believe that Presbyterians are known for their inability to show emotion. This would most definitely include man to man hugging. I have heard Hugh Hewitt joke that the reason he chose Presbyterianism was because it was the denomination where men hugged each other the least. Maybe it is because we are the frozen chosen, or perhaps, we have not learned the proper etiquette of man to man hugging. The following is a instructional video on how to hug. Perhaps it will help us be more comfortable with this "holy kiss" in the future. (h/t Bayly Blog)

VideoJug: How To Give A Great Man To Man Hug

Autumn has arrived!

2007-08-30T07:06:00.000-05:00

Well, at least a taste I associate with autumn. Nelly and I stopped by a Starbucks in Knoxville last night and they had their Pumpkin Spice Latte available. Good stuff, but I wish they could tone the sweetness down some. Maybe I can accomplish that with this homemade pumpkin spice latte recipe. Here is the nutrition information for the Starbucks version. Not for you if you are on the Atkins diet.

Does Brant have a Castle?

2007-08-29T08:17:00.000-05:00

Apparently he does. The Governor of Tennessee, Phil Bredesen, recently signed the "Castle Doctrine" bill into law. This bill seems like common sense to me. After Florida signed it into law, many states have followed. Unfortunately, I do not believe that Virginia has taken this step yet and my previous state, California, most likely never will.
This is an interesting study: Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide: A Review of the Internal Evidence This study took a look at many nations of Europe and compared them to America and found that areas with less guns do not necessarily have less crime. The authors were interviewed in the magazine America's 1st Freedom which highlights some main points of the study.

Quotes-Martin Luther on Marriage/Children

2007-08-24T19:58:00.000-05:00

Quotes from Luther's sermon "The Estate of Marriage" (1522)
(Stolen, uh, I mean....cut and pasted from Doug Phillips Blog)
The world says of marriage, “Brief is the joy, lasting the bitterness.” Let them say what they please; what God wills and creates is bound to be a laughingstock to them. The kind of joy and pleasure they have outside of wedlock they will be most acutely aware of, I suspect, in their consciences. To recognise the estate of marriage is something quite different from merely being married. He who is married but does not recognise the estate of marriage cannot continue in wedlock without bitterness, drudgery, and anguish; he will inevitably complain and blaspheme like the pagans and blind, irrational men. But he who recognises the estate of marriage will find therein delight, love, and joy without end; as Solomon says, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing,” etc. [Prov. 18:22].

Now the ones who recognise the estate of marriage are those who firmly believe that God himself instituted it, brought husband and wife together, and ordained that they should beget children and care for them. For this they have God’s word, Genesis 1 [:28], and they can be certain that he does not lie. They can therefore also be certain that the estate of marriage and everything that goes with it in the way of conduct, works, and suffering is pleasing to God. Now tell me, how can the heart have greater good, joy, and delight than in God, when one is certain that his estate, conduct, and work is pleasing to God?

Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason (which the pagans followed in trying to be most clever), takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, “Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores, and on top of that care for my wife, provide for her, labour at my trade, take care of this and take care of that, do this and do that, endure this and endure that, and whatever else of bitterness and drudgery married life involves? What, should I make such a prisoner of myself? 0 you poor, wretched fellow, have you taken a wife? Fie, fie upon such wretchedness and bitterness! It is better to remain free and lead a peaceful. carefree life; I will become a priest or a nun and compel my children to do likewise.”

What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, “0 God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers. or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? 0 how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labour, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight.”

A wife too should regard her duties in the same light, as she suckles the child, rocks and bathes it, and cares for it in other ways; and as she busies herself with other duties and renders help and obedience to her husband. These are truly golden and noble works. This is also how to comfort and encourage a woman in the pangs of childbirth, not by repeating St Margaret legends and other silly old wives’ tales but by speaking thus, “Dear Grete, remember that you are a woman, and that this work of God in you is pleasing to him. Trust joyfully in his will, and let him have his way with you. Work with all your might to bring forth the child. Should it mean your death, then depart happily, for you will die in a noble deed and in subservience to God. If you were not a woman you should now wish to be one for the sake of this very work alone, that you might thus gloriously suffer and even die in the performance of God’s work and will. For here you have the word of God, who so created you and implanted within you this extremity.” Tell me, is not this indeed (as Solomon says [Prov. 18:22]) “to obtain favour from the Lord,” even in the midst of such extremity?

Now you tell me, when a father goes ahead and washes diapers or performs some other mean task for his child, and someone ridicules him as an effeminate fool, though that father is acting in the spirit just described and in Christian faith, my dear fellow you tell me, which of the two is most keenly ridiculing the other? God, with all his angels and creatures, is smiling, not because that father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith. Those who sneer at him and see only the task but not the faith are ridiculing God with all his creatures, as the biggest fool on earth. Indeed, they are only ridiculing themselves; with all their cleverness they are nothing but devil’s fools.

St. Cyprian, that great and admirable man and holy martyr, wrote that one should kiss the new-born infant, even before it is baptised, in honour of the hands of God here engaged in a brand new deed. What do you suppose he would have said about a baptised infant? There was a true Christian, who correctly recognised and regarded God’s work and creature. Therefore, I say that all nuns and monks who lack faith, and who trust in their own chastity and in their order, are not worthy of rocking a baptised child or preparing its pap, even if it were the child of a harlot. This is because their order and manner of life has no word of God as its warrant. They cannot boast that what they do is pleasing in God’s sight, as can the woman in childbirth, even if her child is born out of wedlock.

I say these things in order that we may learn how honourable a thing it is to live in that estate which God has ordained. In it we find God’s word and good pleasure, by which all the works, conduct, and sufferings of that estate become holy, godly, and precious so that Solomon even congratulates such a man and says in Proverbs 5 [:18], “Rejoice in the wife of your youth,” and again in Ecclesiastes 11 [9:9], “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life.” Doubtless, Solomon is not speaking here of carnal pleasure, since it is the Holy Spirit who speaks through him. He is rather offering godly comfort to those who find much drudgery in married life. This he does by way of defence against those who scoff at the divine ordinance and, like the pagans, seek but fail to find in marriage anything beyond a carnal and fleeting sensual pleasure.

Bob's thoughts on SCHIP

2007-08-23T20:58:00.000-05:00

Recently I wrote on Contact Your Representatives, and Brant took the opportunity to write his representatives. His senator, Bob Corker, actually replied to Brant. This surprised me because I supposed that the higher ups would not even bother to read these emails. Brant blogs on his interactions with the senator here. Mr. DeBow makes some wonderful points. I hope that Senator BOB will take a few moments to digest what Brant's reply was as he wrote, "I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me over the next six years". However, it looks like it went straight into the trash folder. The Republican Party is in real trouble.

Contact Your Representatives!

2007-08-14T19:26:00.000-05:00

The Retail Tobacco Dealers Association (RTDA) has developed a link on it's website that allows you to enter your zip code to shoot off a quick e-mail to your representatives. The issue at this time is the gigantic cigar tax. This system lets you develop an e-mail with talking points (some of which are pretty lame) or you can enter your own thoughts. The best part about this site is that it takes only a few minutes to shoot off these e-mails. Here is the link. Do I think these e-mails really help? I doubt it, but it couldn't hurt. Send one off today! (h/t GLP)

a wike for pipes

2007-08-11T16:52:00.000-05:00

The scope of Pipedia will ultimately be defined by its contributors. Our hope in setting it up is that it will become an extensive repository of information on tobacco pipes and their makers. Knowledgeable enthusiasts, collectors, pipe makers, and tobacconists are welcome and encouraged to contribute to Pipedia. Please click the "discussion" tab above if you'd like to dialog with the contributors about the project. Main subsections are now linked in the navigation bar on the left. Pipe smoking is allowed, encouraged, and facilitated on this site.

I've linked to it on my sidebar. Be sure to check it out and learn something useful.

Quotes

2007-08-06T19:50:00.000-05:00

Postmodernism is a form of intellectual pacifism...It is the easy, cowardly way out that removes the pressure to engage alternative conceptual schemes, to be different, to risk ridicule, to take a stand outside the gate. But it is precisely as disciples of Christ, even more, as officers in His army, that the pacifist way out is simply not an option. However comforting it may be, postmodernism is the cure that kills the patient, the military strategy that concedes defeat before the fist shot is fired...And it is an immoral, coward's way out that is not worthy of a movement born out of the martyrs' blood. -J.P. Moreland, "Truth, contemporary Philosophy, and the Postmodern Trun," plenary address to the Evangelical theological Society, November 2004 (h/t STR/Solid Ground)

Sales Tax Holiday

2007-08-04T08:31:00.000-05:00

I bought a new pair of shoes yesterday and found out that the Commonwealth of Virginia (and a few others) is having a Sales Tax Holiday this weekend (some may be on other days). Unfortunately it doesn't apply to the tractor I want. It is geared mostly for back to school stuff such as school supplies, clothing and computers and such. Here are the info pages for Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Georgia. So, what are you waiting for, go out and save money by spending it!

Motivational Posters

2007-07-30T12:27:00.000-05:00

(at least some of my favorites, even if they don't motivate)
Seeing motivational posters reminds me of college. My roommates graced our room with one or two. I did not like them and felt that they were rather trite. I did begin to have some affection them when I found out about Demotivators. I just recently found out about a site that has mock motivational posters for the emerging church.

Well, after doing a little search on the internet I found out that there are motivational posters for just about everything. Star Trek, Christianity (do you think that marketing opportunity would slip by?), miscellaneous, and even personalized posters. I tried unsuccessfully to find some that made fun of the reformed tradition (if you find some I would love to see them). Well, here are a few of my favorites.

He's finally here

2007-07-18T19:32:00.000-05:00

Introducing Caleb Knox!
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. -Psalm 123:3-4

Meat, Meat, Meat

2007-06-21T19:52:00.000-05:00

My beautiful wife made up some tasty Brant Fried Steak (grass fed beef from Garden Mountain Farm). It was good and funny to see my twenty month old son chanting MEAT MEAT MEAT. He really ate it up (literally).

Masterpiece Pipe Tobacco Commercial

2007-06-21T13:53:00.000-05:00

-An old Masterpiece Pipe Tobacco commercial-
"Darling....are you enjoying the good things in life?"

"Buuuuurrrrrllleeyy "
"Why am I so interested in pipe tobacco....darling....because you are"
-Yeah, definitely not pushing the feminist agenda with this commercial. Ha Ha!
h/t GLP

Dry Dry Dry

2007-06-18T05:01:00.000-05:00

Everywhere you go around Southwest Virginia it seems that people are talking about the drought. People are looking for hay for their cattle because the grass is dying off. The problem with the hay is that there isn't much of it available and not much being produced because of the drought. I have also noticed ponds that have dried up in our area. Our pastor from California was out a few weeks ago and we kept thinking...It usually isn't this dry, it's usually much more lush and beautiful. I picked up a local paper last week that had a story on the drought. According to this paper, the lake is down 10 feet. The paper also said that January through May was the driest for that period in 118 years. That is pretty dry, at least for this area. The rain seems to have picked up a bit and the grass in our lawn is starting to turn a bit less brown. The Lord knows how much rain we need, but we are still praying for Him to bring the precious rain to us.

Our New Puppies!

2007-06-13T19:10:00.000-05:00

Let me introduce Cedar and Bramble!These are our new Vizsla Puppies. These sisters are fun and rowdy. Cedar is the dog in the back. Right now she is wearing a red collar. Bramble wears a black collar and has a white patch on her chest. These are bird dogs which is why we got the chickens. So far, we have not lost any birds to the dogs. The dogs are very interested in the birds but I don't think they will harm them. We haven't had a new puppy in quite a while. I forgot about all the little things you have to deal with. We are constantly pulling clothes or shoes out of their mouths or telling them not to chew on a chair or whatnot. They are worth it though. (The dog in the rocking chair is not posed, they like to sleep in it)

Chicken Nuggets-Part II

2007-06-11T12:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I intended to blog earlier on this. The Chickens have grown up quite a bit in the last few weeks as you can see from the pictures. I have built this makeshift cage for them. We put them out in the yard during the day and return them to a crate at night with the heat lamp to keep them warm and safe. The outdoors cage is moved around to different spots of the yard each day. The chickens seem to enjoy being in this outdoor cage with fresh air and bugs to pick at. Sometimes, I will find a moth and throw it into their cage. One of them grabs it and then frantically runs away from the others in an effort to eat the moth before it is taken away. The dogs, although curious, are doing a good job of not eating our chickens. It looks from their development that we have two hens and two roosters. Maybe we can get a few eggs from the hens. My daughter is really good at handling the chickens. She will grab them up and transfer them between cages without any fear. So far this has been fun without much work.

Over the Rhine

2007-06-09T08:04:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate enough to go see one of my favorite bands last Thursday. Over the Rhine played in downtown Kingsport, TN. They sounded great live and I think a few of the songs were better because you could really hear the dynamics and punches that are more subtle on the albums, a good example of this was Firefly. The venue was their old town main street that had been closed down to auto traffic with a big stage set up. It was ideal for us because we were able to take our two children. It was fun to watch them dance in the street with other children and with me. We picked up their new disc, Discount Fireworks, which is a "best of" album. They have a new album being released soon and I am really looking forward to it. Their best album, in my opinion, is Drunkard's Prayer. I also really like their Christmas CD's, most notably, The Darkest Night of the Year. Oh, and if you go to their website, they have a feature called "Over the Rhine radio." This will let you listen to a few of their tunes for free. Be sure to check them out.

Chicken Nuggets-Part I

2007-05-16T19:05:00.000-05:00

It's started...Yesterday we bought 4 chicks that were born about 3 days ago. Two yellows, a brown and a black. We are not sure what breeds they are yet and we don't know the ratio of hens to roosters. The children really love holding them. My three year old daughters favorite phrase right now is, "that one's really cute." I have to admit that she is right. We are getting two vizsla puppies early next month. The dogs are wonderful, but they are bird dogs. We plan on having birds around our place and want to "desensitize" the dogs to them. I don't know if this will work, but we figured our best chance was to get the birds before we obtained the dogs, training them as puppies to leave the birds alone. Secondly, we have had a few ticks around and felt the chickens would help with this problem. We were going to get some guinea hens, but we were worried they might annoy our neighbors because they can be pretty loud. However, for tick reduction, we hear they are the best. The other problem with the guineas was finding them, if we wanted to order from a hatchery the minimum order was thirty. Another reason for getting chickens is we consume quite a few eggs in our household, and would like to have inexpensive free range eggs. This will be a learning experience for us, but we are looking forward to it. They are already starting to get feathers on the tips of their wings. I better get out and start building the coup.

Endless Summer

2007-03-20T19:34:00.000-05:00

When we've been there ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun,
we've no less days to sing God's praise
than when we've first begun.

That is the 6th verse of Amazing Grace in the Trinity Hymnal.

I think this verse above really captures the reality of eternity. Sometimes I ponder that we are going to live eternally; How each of us will live forever. I don't know that my mind can properly comprehend this. We feel that our lives on this earth may last forever, but in the entire history of the world my life is just a breath.
If living eternally can stagger the mind, try to wrap it around this; God has no beginning...

And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. -Daniel 7:14

Single Issue Voting

2007-03-04T08:05:00.000-05:00

Single issue voting may not be as simple as you thought...Gene Edward Veith explains.

Books for Christmas

2006-12-31T16:21:00.000-05:00

Well, Christmas is over and I think I made out pretty well.
Here are the books that I received which I posted to LibraryThing, in no particular order:
History of the Christian Church, 8 vols, by Philip Schaff (Gift from my wonderful in-laws)
Small-Scale Livestock Farming: A Grass-Based Approach for Health, Sustainability, and Profit, by Carol Ekarius, as well as Storey's Guide to Raising Beef Cattle: Health/Handling/Breeding, by Heather Smith Thomas (Gift from my brother and sister in-law Brandon and Jenny).
O'Connor: Collected Works, by Flannery O'Connor (Gift from my brother and sister in-law Daniel and Michelle).
I look forward to getting though these.
History, Fiction and Reference.

Quotes-Christmas Card 2006

2006-12-25T12:04:00.000-05:00

"He whom the entire universe could not contain was held in Mary's arms."

However, this is not the original quote, I changed it from this ancient hymn phrase (seemed to be better for a Christmas card):

"He whom the entire universe could not contain was contained within your womb, O Theotokos."

Here's a link that includes some information on what Theotokos means.

Merry Christmas!

Fortune Cookie

2006-12-10T20:05:00.000-05:00

,
Having packed all of our pots and pans, the night before we left for Abingdon, VA, we ate some Pickup Stixs take out. At the end of our American fast food version of Chinese food I opened up my fortune cookie and found this inside...
"You are heading for a land of sunshine and relaxation"
Sometimes even fortune cookie fortunes are right! ;-)

Quotes-Education

2006-12-06T16:42:00.000-05:00

"I am as sure as I am of Christ's reign that a comprehensive and centralized system of national education, separated from religion, as is now commonly proposed, will prove the most appalling enginery for the propagation of anti-Christian and atheistic unbelief, and of anti-social nihilistic ethics, individual, social and political, which this sin-rent world has ever seen."

-A.A. Hodge (written in 1886) h/t ETC

Grow the best tasting Cattle!

2006-11-27T23:28:00.000-05:00

Just recently I thought that I might undertake the task of raising my own cattle. I am currently staying with one of my friends who owns about 10 head of cattle at this time. I have been talking with him about some of the necessary care and requirements of owning cattle. I know that grass fed cattle is quite expensive but has some advantages. One of the reasons I have looked into getting cows is so that I can provide a good life for the cows, know what they have been eating, and provide more benefits for my family though grass fed beef (I also think it will be fun). We have used a bit of grass feed beef in our cooking and it defiantly had a different flavor. Here is a survey of a taste test with different high end beef. Most in this survey preferred the grass feed beef. I also think an undertaking as such will be fun and quite a learning experience. I have also been fascinated by highland cattle so here is my chance to actually own them. This project will begin (if we actually decided to embark on this) once we find some land and we are in the process of looking now. Above is a picture of a Scottish highland cow. I also think I will join the Appalachian Highland Cattle Society.

We did it!

2006-11-07T08:09:00.000-05:00

at the end of this post Van left this comment;
1 Comments:
At 5/8/05 11:19 AM, Van Watts said...
Okay, so when are you moving, already!?

Well, to answer his question...November 2, 2006. Yes, we rolled into town this last Thursday. I accepted a job at Johnston Memorial Hospital. We made it across the country with only one mishap. My explorer fuel pump went out (the explorer has about 195,000 miles) and we were able to get it fixed in about half a day. We were also blessed to stop by my brother-in-law's in Texas. We wished we could have stayed with them a while longer.
We are currently looking for a house to rent or buy. Ultimately we would like some land to buy and settle down. If you know of any good rentals or properties in or around Abingdon, Va, we would love to hear about it.
We are very thankful for the hospitality of Pat and Susie who have been putting us up while we are looking for more permanent housing.

We will greatly miss our family, friends and church from Southern California, but look forward to seeing you soon.

It doesn't get much scarier!

2006-10-18T22:19:00.000-05:00

Here is a page that presents the top worst Halloween costumes! (h/t C&I)

Spare the Rod?

2006-10-11T23:48:00.000-05:00

Here is an interesting post by Keith over at The Christian Mind. There are people that I respect on both sides of the isle with regard to spanking. This is not an easy issue, but I think Keith may have some points and I just wanted to pass it along. I am sure there is plenty of other information available, so check it out as well.

Beautiful Libraries

2006-09-05T21:57:00.000-05:00

I just love old books that are made very well. When I went to Switzerland in 2001, my wife, mother-in-law and I were able to visit a gorgeous library. This was obviously built at a time when people really valued aesthetics. It's too bad this has been lost on our society (as apparent by modern buildings and the overwhelming majority of churches). On top of the beautiful architecture and paintings (check out the ceiling), the library had some wonderful old books to boot. I was recently reading The Skycow Blog which had some pictures of beautiful libraries of the world. The one I visited is the second to last one of the pictures (the one with the apparent ghosts in it). Anyway, I could have spent days if not years or decades. I will post the picture of that library here, but be sure to check out the other four libraries.

I have a cool job

2006-09-02T14:50:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to work, but instead of putting patients out for surgery, I was put out. I had hernia surgery (but I think it should be called HISnia surgery). I do anesthesia everyday for a living and know how safe anesthesia is; however, I was nervous at the prospect of having surgery done on me. I went into the preop, got undressed and put a wee thing we call a gown on. Met with my surgeon and anesthesiologist. The nurse then started an IV and gave me some medications (Reglan, Pepcid, Celebrex and Decadron and Versed). My CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) then took me down the hall, put me on the OR bed and put an oxygen mask on my face. I then woke up in recovery. That is all I remember. The surgeon used local anesthetics thus minimizing pain. I am a bit sore and have not used any of my Vicoden. I have taken 600 mg of Advil few times, but that is it. I do remember being really thirsty. On the way home I drank some bottled water that tasted precisely like sevoflurane which is an anesthetic gas. I have never tasted it before, but occasionally smell it doing my work. I am very thankful for modern medicine and anesthesia. I can't believe how comfortable I felt and how little I remembered. I am happy that I have a job (I am a CRNA) that can allow people to get though surgery in such an effortless way. I also want to thank everyone who was praying for me.

TSA: Permitted and Prohibited Items

2006-08-31T23:09:00.000-05:00

My family and I took an airline flight to Virginia last weekend. We knew that the TSA have heightened security and now are restricting many liquids as carry on items. So we decided to browse through the things we could bring and not bring in our carry on baggage.
Here is what is listed on the TSA site linked above...

Can I Take It?

Due to enhanced security measures liquids, gels, lotions and other items of similar consistency will not be permitted in carry-on baggage. These types of items must be packed in your checked baggage.

Additionally, liquids, gels and lotions purchased beyond the checkpoint but must be disposed of before boarding the aircraft.

To ensure the health and welfare of certain air travelers the following items are permitted.

Small amounts of Baby formula and breast milk if a baby or small child is traveling
Liquid prescription medicine with a name that matches the passengerÂs ticket
Up to 5 oz. (148ml) of liquid or gel low blood sugar treatment
Up to 4 oz. of essential non-prescription liquid medications including saline solution, eye care products and KY jelly
Gel-filled bras and similar prostethics
Gel-filled wheelchair cushions
Life support and life sustaining liquids such as bone marrow, blood products, and transplant organs carried for medical reasons

So, I understand most of the stuff, but KY jelly (or personal lubricant as stated on the American Airlines website)? I mean how much do we need to cater to "the health and welfare of certain air travelers?"
Yes, I am glad the TSA is keeping us safe.

(I do realize that there is probably some medical reason for having it, but I found this funny at face value)

No Comment!

2006-08-25T07:34:00.000-05:00

I hear from others that they have been unable to add comments to my site. How annoying...because I like to hear what everyone thinks about my posts. Well, I did some tinkering last night, and without having any clue as to what I was doing, the problem appears to have cleared up. So Flaunt Away Laddie! Aahhhemmm, I mean, please leave your comments if you wish.

Beer Snobs?

2006-08-20T09:28:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I am accused of being a beer snob...

Beer nut
Perhaps one Pennsylvania judge only drinks imported beer. Berks County Judge Jeffrey K. Sprecher threw out a case against a Pennsylvania man accused of buying beer for minors, saying the prosecution failed to prove Miller Genuine Draft is actually beer. A superior court quickly overturned the judge's decision.
-From World Magazine Aug 19, 2006 page 7

Perhaps if he was buying these minors some Young's Double Chocolate Stout, there would not have been any confusion.

Never thought it would happen

2006-08-06T15:53:00.000-05:00

I attended a conference this weekend and did not buy one single book!

Hollywood Worldviews and the Cultural Mandate was the summer conference this year for the Southern California Center for Christian Studies (SCCCS). This conference was interesting and helped me to look at some aspects of Hollywood that many Christians may wrongly disapprove of. I think that is important that Christians are involved in Hollywood and use their influence there to portray God's truth in creative ways.

Oh, and on the books...there were many that I would have enjoyed buying and reading, but I own so many that I have not read yet. Not to mention that the Ligonier Conference is coming up next month. See you there!

Snapshot of a conversation on music

2006-07-29T23:54:00.000-05:00

Somewhere in the midst of a conversation via e-mail with Van. (Van can you remember which article we were discussing? If you know, I'll link to it)
...as I pointed out to you earlier, that the reason that "old" music seems to be so much better at times could possibly be because they likely had just as much lousy music as we do nowadays...However, as time progresses you lose the music that was second rate and hold to the better music; therefore, naturally filtering out the bad. I mean, how often does that top forty hit of 5 years ago spin on the radio now? Whereas, some of the better songs tend to continue to get played (although the number is very small). In contrast, it also may be that the article is right, that we live in an infantile christian culture at this time and much of the better music was written by more mature cultures. Unfortunately we live in a time where short attention spans rule and music therefore is written to be disposable (maybe not intentionally). I pray that the church will lead the culture musically (not lag behind by 10-20 years), and that we will produce new music that is beautiful and glorifying to our Lord.

Quotes-Love

2006-07-18T13:43:00.000-05:00

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certaintly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket-safe, dark, motionless, airless-it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.
-C.S. Lewis on Charity in The Four Loves

Somebody get my Gun...I mean...Get my Tobacco?

2006-07-09T18:52:00.000-05:00

Just saw this pipe for sale on e-bay....what is it?
Animal? Pipe? Something else?
here's the link
"Something you can't buy any longer these days!" ---Gee, I wonder why?
Sorry, but bidding is closed for this item...I can just sense your overwhelming disappointment.

Quotes-Theology

2006-07-07T09:35:00.000-05:00

The law is always common sense-until Jesus explains it. Then it is just sheer “lunancy”-an impossible demand. –Michael Horton (Good News for Bad Dads, Modern Reformation May/June 2005)

December 25, 1771

2006-06-27T22:50:00.000-05:00

I enjoy, on occasion, old graveyards; I take pleasure in walking among these old stones and browsing the epitahs of those that have gone before us. Often there are some that strike me to my core. Usually these are young people who seem to have their life cut too short such as children or infants. Other instances are of brides who leave their husbands behind. Today as I was reading The ARP Magazine I came across an article, "Oh Death, where is they sting?", by Rev. Edgar about a powerful epitaph placed on an old gravestone at Burton Parish Church in Williamsburg, VA.

"Here sleeps in Jesus united to Him by Faith and the Graces of a christian life, all that was Mortal of Mrs. Ann Burges once the tender and affectionate Wife of the Rev. Henry John Burges, of the Isle of Wright: She died 25th December 1771 in giving Birth to an Infant Daughter who rests in her Arms. She here waits the transporting Moment when the Trump of God shall call her Forth to Glory, Honour and Immortality. O Death where is thy Sting? Oh Grave where is thy Victory?"

This is powerful to me. I couldn't imagine losing my wife and my daughter on what should have been an otherwise glorious Christmas. I can only imagine the grief he felt at this loss and how much more on the following Christmas'. My heart breaks for the anguish that he felt. We can learn something from these old gravestones and the old church graveyards.

As I walk among these gravestones I am more aware of my mortality. It is very similar to the feelings and thoughts that flood you at a funeral. Sometimes I ponder the futility of life as well as the glory of life such as presented in Ecclesiastes. I think older churches who have placed graveyards on church grounds can help remind us of the effects of our sins and where we are headed. I believe that this would help Jesus' bride to remain sober about the seriousness of her worship. Another reason to view these stones is because they can point to the strength of the saints who have come before us. This strength is blatant on Mrs. Burges' gravestone. Here was a husband who had lost his precious wife and daugher, but realized it was only temporary. Their mortal bodies were waiting in this grave for the resurrection on the day of our Lord.
Let us pray that we, even during great despair, have the faith of Rev. Henry John Burges and look forward to the glorious resurrection that awaits us on the other side of glory!

Kicking the Smoking Ban Habbit

2006-06-12T23:21:00.000-05:00

A post I started in March...
Just read a good article by Jay Ambrose entitled Ban the Bans (you should read it) In this opinion piece he describes why many governments are jumping on the smoking ban(d) wagon. I love these legislatures who save us from ourselves.
"It doesn't dampen their enthusiasm to find they are widely applauded by a majority of their constituents who are non-smokers with easily offended nostrils and who are probably mostly ignorant of the most exhaustive research project ever completed on secondhand smoke"
According to Ambrose, "The study involved 118,000 Californians. It followed their health history for four decades, and was conducted by highly respected scientists and published in the highly respected British Medical Journal. Here is what it said: There is no evidence of a 'causal relationship' between 'exposure' to tobacco smoke in the air around you and death. A 'small effect' cannot be ruled out, the scientists reported, but that's it. Period." He also says that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration "says it is rare to find a workplace nook or cranny with concentrations thick enough to be deemed dangerous." This should stop and make us rethink our assumptions. In an age where many believe science to be the end all....why do we enforce these bans on private enterprises when the science does not show there is really harm in second hand smoke?
My feeling on the matter is that civil governments should not be ban smoking in private establishments. That should be left up to the business owner. If you do not like smoke in restaurants then don't patronize those businesses that allow it. America is becoming more health aware and as a result of this, I imagine that businesses that restrict smoking are more likely to thrive. This would allow the public to decide without big brother walking in with his nose plugged with edicts on how to run private establishments. In fact, in an article by World Magazine entitled Nipped in the Butt (need current subscription to access after 6.21.06) , Rob Paulson, a restaurant owner who was in favor of the smoking ban in Washington, had an uneasy feeling about the ban. He "admits harboring reservations about such state interference with the rights of private businesses. No one was ever forced to patronize a smoker-friendly bar or restaurant, and the number of smoke-free establishments had steadily climbed to match customer demand. That citizens elected to circumvent the free market—voting out tobacco with their ballots instead of their wallets—betrays a growing belief that government should protect majority preferences over individual liberty."
On the flip side of the coin, this article in World Magazine shows how some restaurants and bars are suffering from the ban. "EVERETT, Wash.—Less than a dozen cars speckled the parking lot outside the White Elephant Bar and Grill on a recent Saturday night in this growing Seattle suburb. Inside, most booths and tables sat empty while two electronic dart boards hung unused on the side wall. A handful of customers encircled the restaurant's lone pool table, sipping beers and conversing easily at normal volume levels. Owners John and Donna Kerns leaned on the end of a deserted bar and watched helplessly as their once buzzing establishment choked to a slow death on its clean, smoke-free air." This is killing their business and they are reducing their staff in order to stay open. What the public sees as an attack on "big tobacco" (whoa, that pulls me back to the movie Mystery Men), is really hurting some small Mom and Pop establishments.
Legislators and the public feel that they are protecting employees that need these jobs but do not want to deal with the smoke. An employee at the Kerns establishment states "I'd rather deal with a bar full of smoke and get paid than work 18 hours a week and have to stand in line to get food stamps."
We need to stop and think about what we are doing. We are spending time restricting the liberties of people without much science to back it up. Even if the science were backing these bans, people are aware of the dangers of smoking. Is this really the government's roll in our lives? How long will it be before people decide something you enjoy is annoying and therefore decide to ban it.
For a biblical based discussion on the harms and blessings of tobacco check out the Basement Tape on tobacco (#49) from the Highlands Study Center.

(picture from world magazine)

Quotes-Education

2006-05-31T20:58:00.000-05:00

"Though our children live in the midst of a Christian world, they faint and perish in misery because they lack the Gospel in which we should be training and exercising them all the time. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Schools will become wide-open gates of hell if they do not diligently engrave the Holy Scriptures on young hearts. Every institution where men are not increasingly occupied with the word of God must become corrupt."
-Martin Luther in Appeal to the Ruling Classes (1520).
(h/t spunkyhomeschool.blogspot.com)

Quotes-Education

2006-04-21T23:18:00.000-05:00

America's public schools have come to be for the education of our society's children what the United Nations is to peace among the nations of the world. Both are noble ideas, occasionally driven by good-minded people-but hopelessly mired in secularist ideology and maladministered by bureaucrats of the most unreformable character. -Joel Belts in 'F' (World Magazine April 22, 2006))

LA Pipe Show 2006 Recap

2006-04-11T11:33:00.000-05:00

I was able to attend the Southwest Pipe and Cigar League's Los Angeles pipe show this last Saturday. This makes for an enjoyable afternoon and I shared it with my friends Brant and Van. This show has many beautiful pipes, tobacco, books, and other tobacco related items. The atmosphere is always wonderful (yes, you can actually see the atmosphere). A room full of folks smoking pipes with friendly conversation. There is a wonderful aroma of fine tobacco smoke.
Greg Pease was there with his Fog City Collection of tobacco for sampling. I tried Montgomery and Telegraph Hill. My vote of these two goes to Telegraph Hill, I’ll have to get a few tins of this. Rick Newcombe was there signing his book In Search of Pipe Dreams. I regretted not getting this book two years ago at the show when he had his first edition, so I was lucky enough to snap up the last one this time. Mr. Newcombe signed my copy and we talked for a bit. Van, Brant and I each picked up a tin of Highland Targe by Rattray's for a really good price. There were also some immaculately carved briar pipes that rivaled some of the astonishing meerschaum carving.
Brant is the luckiest guy I know. Somehow it seems that whatever raffle he is in, he wins. The first year we were there we bought some raffle tickets; with which he won two tins of tobacco. The second year he didn't win, but that was only because he was late to the show and didn't buy any tickets. This year he walked home with another addition to his tobacco cellar, Cornell and Diehl’s Corinthian mixture which is part of their new Heritage Series. Not only this, we are members of the North American Society of Pipe Collectors. All members of this group are involved in a raffle every month for a pipe carved by some American carver. The first year he was a member he won a J.M. Boswell pipe...Disgusting! (not to mention all the non pipe related things he has won)
Finally, the highlight of the show was hovering over Paul Perri's table. Paul Perri is a pipe carver that resides in Hawaii. He has been carving pipes forever. Well, not forever, but the first pipe he carved was on the same day that Charles Lindberg made his historic flight across the Atlantic. The date was May 21st, 1927. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why more American’s know that date as the first transatlantic flight when it was, more importantly, the day that Paul Perri carved his first pipe! Mr. Perri's pipes are wonderful, as is his personality. It is splendid to be able to converse and shake the hand of the man who carves them. His wife, Mrs. Perri, is a delight as well. Each of us purchased one of his pipes. Brant and I bought our third Perri and Van obtained his first. I cannot understand why his pipes are so undervalued; I believe that he could charge much more for the exceptional creations he sells. I really take pleasure in standing over the table comparing multiple pipes I would love to possess, and then being forced to narrow it down to solitary pipe. Here is a picture of my Perri pipes. The one in the center is my newest.

They are beautiful...Don't you think?
Looking around you may think that the art of pipe carving, tobacco blending and pipe smoking is dying out…but you would not have guessed it from the activity at the show on Saturday. At least there are a few of us who will keep that ember burning.

Random thoughts on illegal immigration

2006-04-03T23:16:00.000-05:00

With the student walkout demonstrations last week, and prompting by my friend Van, I decided to throw together a post of random thoughts on immigration.

If you really wanted to see how many school kids supported illegal immigration, have them write papers instead of walking out of class (I am sure there would be far less protesters).

I would be upset with the school district if they had responsibility of my children when I dropped them off at school, and then the school allowed them to wander around the cities and onto freeways.

"This is unjust. This land used to belong to us and now they're trying to kick us out," said Sandra Molina, 16, a junior from Downtown Magnet High School. Actually Sandra, didn't "your people" take it from the Native Americans first? Let's give it back to them then.

It is against the law to do what they are doing, even if they are doing it to feed their family and such.

I wouldn't be quite as opposed if our tax money, forced from us, wasn't used for social services and health care.

I wish the communities that these folks settle into had their quality of life increase, but it seems that they become more like slums as immigrants become more of a majority in these areas.

Do you think if these people were legalized they would be happy with the same wages? I think they might demand higher wages, which would then lead to more illegal immigrants undercutting these newly "legalized immigrants".

Fields need to be harvested by somebody. If there is not the illegal labor force, legal citizens would need to accomplish this. To attract legal citizens, the pay may need to increase. I have no problem paying a fair wage on the food I eat.

I keep hearing about all of the jobs that the illegal workers perform that Americans would never do. When I was back in Virginia last summer, I saw many of "these jobs" being performed by ordinary Americans. Funny, I didn't think they would do jobs "like that".

Why are these people protesting the United States? Shouldn't they be protesting the Mexican government and the corruption there that allows a country with many natural resources to remain in such poverty?

Why can't Mexican president Vicente Fox work on his own country instead of spending all of his time trying to get his people inside our borders?

Did you realize that when people back in Mexico try to cash a check from America that the Mexican government taxes that check?

How come those protesting don't protest the illegal immigration issues of Mexico?
Why is it OK for Mexico to protect their southern border and keep Latin Americans from immigrating up to Mexico? These immigrants are just trying to feed their families as well.

Why must these people always be screaming "racist" on every issue? I would have the same feelings if these people were from Switzerland.

Our politicians are too much into gaining praise instead of leading on issues. We wouldn't want to lose any votes now, would we?

I feel like we have turned a blind eye to this problem too long, and in a sense, the toothpaste has already been squeezed out of the tube. It's going to be pretty hard to put it back.

Finally, when people used to immigrate here, they would become Americans. They wanted to be Americans and most likely would learn the language and forsake their former nation. How many of these illegal immigrant's would want to seriously abide by the naturalization oath:

Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

Anti-natalism

2006-03-28T23:04:00.000-05:00

I just read this interesting article from across the pond (h/t BaylyBlog). This article discusses what I have observed for quite some time in our society. The first question that is often asked of mothers to be is, "what are you gonna do about child care." Congratulations is in order only as an afterthought.
Since I do anesthesia I work with many women nurses and doctors. I have rarely seen these women give up their careers to stay home with their children. Usually, they take as much maternity leave as the state allows, but then they are right back at work with their children in someone else's hands. I do notice some heartbreak initially when they come back because they instinctively want to be with their kids, but they eventually seem to get over this feeling. This breaks my heart. But as the article points out, our society views the consumer as top dog and mothers who care for their children at home just don't cut it. Child rearing is difficult and takes an immense amount of time. I have watched my wife raising my two children give of her self constantly. In observing this, I have seen her beauty grow. She is self sacrificial and puts our children (and me) above herself and what she desires. Sure, we may have less "stuff" than if my wife had a second career, but the blessings that come from her child raising far exceed any material gains we lose...
It seems to me that God should have created someone to raise our children. Oh wait, I think that mothers are perfectly suited for this. Mothers know their children better than anyone and they have their children's best interest in heart. I think God knew what he was doing when he created mothers.
Just today I heard that the Dutch Labor Party is proposing a bill that would create punitive fines for those women who are educated and decide to not to remain in the workforce (h/t WorldMagBlog). Part of the problem here is with the socialist state. They believe that since the state paid to educate these women, the government should have a say in how these women spend their time. But then again, isn't it in the interest of the socialist state to seperate parents from their children.

Read the articles and think about these issues.

So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. -1 Timothy 5:14 (ESV)

Double Header

2006-03-26T10:34:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday my family had the joy of baptizing our son Keldon.
This Sunday we have the joy of seeing our good friends daughter Braelyn get baptized.

Double the Grace!

For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. -Acts 2:39 (ESV)

Unfortunately, we are going to miss our friend Van's ordination as an elder at our church this morning.

Qutoes-Tobacco

2006-03-10T23:23:00.000-05:00

"I cultivate my flowers and burn my weeds."
~Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Mark Your Calendars!

2006-02-26T16:57:00.000-05:00

It's about time for the Southwest Pipe and Cigar League 2006 Expo. April 8 and 9, 2006. If you enjoy cigar or pipe smoking and live near the Los Angeles area you should try to make it out. There are many extraordinary pipes, tobaccos, cigars and, of course, the very interesting people that take part in these functions. Expo flyer here. I hope to see you there.

Storytime

2006-02-12T10:58:00.000-05:00

I noticed my daughter, Éowyn, reading Jemima Puddle-Duck to her brother...Keldon sure took delight in it.

The Strand Magazine presents Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective

2006-02-09T16:45:00.000-05:00

I just received the first issue of a very fascinating magazine. The Discovering Sherlock Holmes Stanford Continuing Studies has been putting a project together that employs a reprinting of some Sherlock Holmes tales. The neat thing about this printing is that they are facsimiles. This means that the printing and illustrations are done just as presented in the 19th century The Strand Magazine. Even the paper has a vintage feel to it. I should receive a new magazine for the next 9 weeks as “A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Speckled Band", “The Hound of the Baskervilles” and "The Final Problem" are reprinted. The website allows you to subscribe to receive these paper facsimiles at home (it is free, but feel free to donate to the project). It is also available online PDF format too. They have also done Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities , and Hard Times by Charles Dickens (they are available here). Also, if you are close by, you may want to check this event out: (from their website) Join us on Sunday, February 26 at 7:30 PM when Marco Barricelli, of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and ACT, will offer a free dramatic reading of Sherlock Holmes in "The Speckled Band" at Kresge Auditorium on the Stanford Campus.

My friend Brant has been reading these stories lately and he continually reminds me of how good they are (increased heart rate/sweating and other such physical ailments...I told him to stop puffing on his pipe so fast...puff-puff-puff). Nelly, Brant and I used to spend some of our evenings watching old Sherlock Holmes movies. They were well done and certainly worth your time. Hopefully I can return to the stories as they are sent to me. My reading plate is pretty full right now, so I make no promises. But I will get to them sometime. These stories also present the modernist mind and how logic and science are what would save the world. Sherlock did not have emotion; he used only facts, science and shrewd thinking to crack a case. This worldview can make for interesting discussions, and you might say, a three pipe problem.

Oh, and as a side note. When my wife and I visited Switzerland a few years ago, we spent a day at the waterfall where Detective Holmes was to have fallen to his death in a fight with Professor Moriarty in "The Final Problem." The waterfall in Meiringen, Switzerland is powerful and beautiful; furthermore pictures do not do it justice. Here is a picture of that site. They had a nice little museum dedicated to the great Sherlock Holmes there as well.

Quotes

2006-02-01T22:29:00.000-05:00

It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners...It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their terms. It was a deal: We preached, and they beat us. We were happy preaching. They were happy beating us, so everyone was happy.

-Richard Wurmbrand (founder of The Voice of the Martyrs)

Joshua's Memorial Service Program

2006-01-25T21:48:00.000-05:00

This was the program from Joshua's Memorial Service

(I have also updated the previous post with my father-in-law's message following mine. Here is the post)

Joshua Daniel Whisler: April 2, 2005-January 17, 2006

2006-01-22T23:20:00.000-05:00

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
We are greatly saddened at the death of my nephew, Joshua Daniel Whisler. He died this past week due to complications from myotubular myopathy (more info here). We request prayer for the family of Joshua and thank everyone for all the support and prayer that has been given. Contributions in Joshua's name can be made to the Joshua Frase Foundation. Joshua's father and grandfather did a wonderful job of sharing memories at the service. Everyone there was touched. Below is a copy of what I shared at his memorial service on Saturday, January 21st.

Death is not natural. We grieve, rightly so, at death because it is unnatural. Since sin has entered this world each one of us is left in its wake of calamity, illness, suffering and ultimately death. We should have no hope. My nephew Joshua was not different than the rest of us.

However, I do have hope. I have been given hope. Our Lord has deemed Brandon and Jenny as special and set apart with the rest of His people. Because of this, our gracious King has a special relationship with their son, Joshua. Therefore, I know that Joshua is with his Savior today. Right now, he is singing and dancing before King Jesus. He is filled with joy. And, he has not forgotten a thing. Joshua is remembering his parents and his family. All the while he is before our Savior he is eagerly waiting. As I imagine it, when his parents cross to the other side of glory, Joshua will run to them and hug their necks with tears in his eyes. Laughing and crying out loud, he will thank them for the devotion they gave to him, and for showing him Jesus. Happy tears will flow and he will grab their hands and run with them to meet Jesus face to face. They will then worship our God together as a family once again.

Our God is completely sovereign and has planned the whole of Joshua’s life. We, as humans, do not fully understand why He designs as He does. I have heard that what God is creating can be likened to a tapestry. We are on the underside of this tapestry and are unable to see or understand what is being created above. What we perceive from here are loose threads, knots, and occasionally a vague pattern. Whatever God is creating is beautiful and majestic. I have seen a glimpse of this vague design observing the Whisler family. I have seen increased prayer. I have seen a church rally around the Whislers to provide them with meals as well as meeting their other needs. I have seen joy in parent’s, grandparent’s, aunts and uncles and friends faces. I have seen joy in Jenny and Brandon’s face and I have most assuredly witnessed joy in Joshua’s face. I have seen growth and sanctification in Jenny and Brandon through the trials that they have endured. I have seen Joshua’s parents and grandparents give so selflessly, and to the point of exhaustion. I believe that they better know what true love means. I have even seen others who barely know the Whislers give generously. So, even though it is the underside of the tapestry, I have caught a glimpse of what our Savior is accomplishing through this excruciating trial.

I thank the Lord for bringing Joshua into our lives. He has brought us a great portion of joy. Our family has loved every minute that we were able to spend with him. We miss, and will miss him terribly. We grieve at his death. He has been taken from us. Death, our foe, has temporarily triumphed. However, as it says in 1st Thessalonians 4:13, we do not grieve as others who have no hope… But let us rejoice that King Jesus has conquered death so that we can live forever, with Joshua, in the light of His amazing grace.

The following is what Joshua's grandfather shared at the memorial service.

The past 9 1/2 months have been incredibly difficult for all of us, filled with joy and heartache. I commented to my daughter Jenny a while back about my birthday, that it wasn't fair, in one year I aged ten and she said, "Me too Pa".

I do consulting work and travel most of the time but by God's arrangement I have worked at home the entire past year. From April to September, Joshua was in the NICU and I would go after work nearly everyday to see him and give Jenny and Brandon relief from their watch. Seeing Joshua nearly everyday, I became deeply involved in his life and he in mine. I read nearly everything written on Joshua's condition, which isn't much! We talked to doctors and geneticists at Harvard and a few parents with similar children across the country. I learned more than I ever wanted to. I learned first hand how incredibly complex our bodies are. One tiny little spont on one tiny little gene on a tiny DNA chain can cause a block of muscle development in the whole body. This tore at the hearts of all of us and we desperatly wanted this to be made right.

I have a dear friend, a pastor at Penninsula Bible Church in Northern California, who himself lost several children shortly after birth to genetic problems. He told me in one letter how somehow God has a special, horrible school for some, to give them the deepest tender feelings that He alone possesses. In this school you get a glimpse into His heart and how He sees the results of a fallen creation, physically and spiritually, and how much He wants it to be made right, and he will make it right one day. I will never see this world the same again thanks to Joshua.

I would like to share a special little experience I had with Joshua sitting with him in the NICU for so many days. He was born 2 1/2 months premature and was so small but by the time his due date came around he was really getting to be interactive. So I made up a simple little game to play with him. I would hold up my fist and pop up a finger at a time and count one, two...then quickly close my hand and say "where did they go? all gone". He would watch and study this as hard as he could. We played this game for many, many days and I could tell he looked forward to it and would really brighten up when I came and held my hand up. Then one day he looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and a big grin on his face that said "aah grandpa, I've got that figured out".

There have been many people at this church and others across the country who have been praying and upholding Joshua and our family and I want to thank you all. God Bless You!

Joshua Daniel Whisler

April 2, 2005-January 17, 2006

tap taptap tap tap tap tap tap taaaaaap

2006-01-19T23:49:00.000-05:00

Now this is what Al Gore must have envisioned when he invented the internet. The Song Tapper. This is a nifty little website that lets you tap out a song on the space bar of your keyboard as the site searches for possible matches. Example: I have some song in my head, I don't even know the lyrics or the group but I can hum the melody. Annoying, isn't it. This happens to everyone. Have no fear just tap that song on your keyboard and tah dah, you just might find the match.
(H/T Ben)

It's Another Girl!!!

2006-01-14T14:30:00.000-05:00

Our friends Aaron and Louisa just announced the birth of their new daughter:
Jenna Louisa
Born: 12:30 a.m on Friday the 13th.
Weight: 10 lbs. 2 oz.
Length: 21.5 inches long
Delievery was safe and the whole family is doing wonderful.
Praise the Living God for the blessings of children!

It's a Girl!!!

2006-01-12T17:10:00.000-05:00

Our dear friends Brant and Janet just welcomed a new member into their family:
Braelyn Grace DeBow
Born: January 10, 2006 at 1:31 pm
Weight: 9lbs 4 oz

If this info is wrong I will correct it. I am unable to contact Brant right now to verify. He's probably napping with Braelyn at this time.

Mother and Baby are doing fine. Father is extremely proud. We cannot wait to see her. Brant told me that she is perfect.
We praise God for the safe birth of Braelyn!

"I just don't see how some people cannot see children as a blessing"
-Brant DeBow while holding his new daughter

Evading the Law

2006-01-09T11:55:00.000-05:00

Here’s how it went down. Our friends, Brant and Janet with Braelyn in utero, came over for a nice meal. They brought us a wonderful Butterfinger Bonanza ice cream cake from Cold Stone (yummmmy). After dinner we retired to the back patio for some conversation, tea and tobacco. My dear wife put my 22 month old daughter to bed and came out to join us. Soon after that we saw my daughter run out and look at us through our sliding door. Nelly, my wife, proceeded to return our daughter to her bed with instructions that she was not to come out. Nelly joined us again. Not much later our daughter was looking through the window again and when she saw mom get up to come after her she ran down the hall. But as my wife was walking in the back door to our laundry room (a different door than our sliding door) my daughter ran back to the sliding door. This created a circumstance where due to Éowyn’s postion, Nelly did not see her and continued down the hall to make sure she was in bed. I quickly gave instruction to Brant and Janet that laughing was not appropriate at this time (although it was cute and amusing). I went in and corrected Éowyn and sent her to bed. We then finally adjourned to the patio again without further sign of Éowyn. The DeBow’s headed home later and my wife and I closed our daughters door so that we wouldn’t wake her up as we proceeded to get ready for bed. We went into our room to brush our teeth. A minute or two later we looked over at our bed and noticed Éowyn curled up asleep on our bed while clutching her baby doll. It was so delightful. I will treasure memories like this forever.

Welcome to my Library...

2006-01-02T22:07:00.000-05:00

I love books; unfortunately I buy more than I read. Now there is a way to keep track of these many books. My friend Brant has tipped me off to a fine website called LibraryThing. This is a website that allows you to create a log of your books as well as other nifty things. I pulled this summary from their website:
Catalog your books online

Easy. Catalog your books online.

Social. Show everyone your library, or keep it private. Find people with the same books you own. Read reviews and get recommendations from readers like you.

Tagged. Tag your books…

Powerful. Search Amazon, the Library of Congress and 30 other world libraries.

Safe. Export your data. Import from almost anywhere too.

Free. Enter 200 books for free, as many as you like for $10 (year) or $25 (life).

Bloggy. Put a widget on your blog to show people what you're reading.

See how it works

See users like Livia_Llewellyn (catalog), grbarr1 (catalog) or wafflehouse (catalog).

Arrange your books graphically on a virtual shelf.

Check out the LibraryThing blog to see how rapidly it's developing.

And if the buzz page doesn't convince you, you cannot be convinced. Go away.

As said above, it is free for the first 200 books you log, but you can pay for a more premium membership which I may very well do (besides, it supports a good thing). I am including some of my wife’s books and children’s books, so there will be everything for Calvin’s Commentaries, to Cookbooks, to Garden Pop-Up books. I have set it up for the time being to have random books pulled from my library and they will be listed on the right hand side of the blog. I believe that you may also have current books you are reading displayed on the blog. There will also be a link on the right hand side to my virtual library.
I always like to learn about people and I believe one way to do that is through books. I am not talking about biographies, which of course is one way. I like to know what type of books people read. When I go to a person’s house I frequently notice what books are resting on their shelves. I enjoy seeing what subjects interest them, what they like to learn about. This, in my opinion, likely presents a general idea of their worldview. LibraryThing will give you a glimpse into the books I read and own. Hope you like it and let me know if you have a virtual library that I can peruse.

Quotes-Theology

2005-12-31T16:30:00.000-05:00

"To have a horror of tobacco is not to have an abstract standard of right; but exactly the opposite. It is to have no standard of right whatever; and to make certain local likes and dislikes as a substitute." --GK Chesterton

A Fathers Contribution-God's Charge

2005-12-22T23:00:00.000-05:00

I See Me by Travis Tritt
How we got that GI Joe in the church this morning, I don't know but he ain't listening to the preacher,Like his mama taught him to.She's wanting me to cross the aisle,Go, sit
over there with him awhile,Make him turn around and sit up straight,Stop playing
in the pew.To watch him is all that I can do.
'Cause I look at him and I see a boy,An' I see trouble and I see joy.See
innocence and headstrong,And a heart full of dreams.And I look at him and I'm so
amazed:I'm so proud and then so afraid,That the apple didn't fall quite far
enough from the tree.Yeah, I look at him and I see me.
Already says, when he grows up, He's gonna have a big old
truck,An' I can see him getting stuck on some private property. He'll take
chances, he'll take dare's,And keep his Momma and me scared to death.When he
goes out at night,You know, I'll bet we'll never sleep.I guess I get what my Dad
got from me.
Cause' I look at him and I see
a teen,Having fun doing stupid things.I see roadblocks, I see mistakes:I see
heartbreak he can't see.I look at him an' I'm so amazed:I'm so proud and then so
afraid,That the apple didn't fall quite far enough from the tree.Oh, I look at
him and I see me.
I look at him and I see
me,Breaking down one day,As he packs up all his things,To move away.
I look at him and I'm so amazed:I'm so proud and
then so afraid,That the apple didn't fall quite far enough from the tree.Yeah, I
look at him and I see me.

It seems that after having children, songs can sometimes speak differently. I know there are many things I don’t agree with in this song but there are aspects of it that hit me in the gut. After having my second child I was once again hit with some feelings of inadequacy such as, am I qualified to raise my children? I understand that having children and raising them has eternal consequence. I comprehend that one of God’s greatest gifts to parents is children, and with that gift comes the charge to raise them in the Lord to His glory.

“I'm so proud and then so afraid, that the apple didn't fall quite far enough from the tree.” Here is where sin hits two birds with one stone. There are and will be times when I am proud of my children because they carry traits similar to mine. Is this the sin of pride? The second is just that I have sin. I know that my children will probably commit many of the sins that I have committed in my lifetime. I wish I would be able to steer them completely from this folly, but I know I won’t be able to prevent all heartache. “Having fun doing stupid things. I see roadblocks, I see mistakes, I see heartbreak he can't see.” I hope that my children will see my wife and me as a source of wisdom (and use us frequently).

I understand that God has given imperfect humans children. This is the one thing that I always need to keep on my mind. I will raise these children and make many mistakes in the process. It is cases where I make mistakes that I need to repent before my family and God of my errors. I also feel that many parents may place too many burdens on themselves. There is one great expectation that he has of us. He expects them to be raised in His knowledge as shown by this passage in Deuteronomy...

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV)

It is important to note the repetition in these verses. We need to teach our children about God. R.C. Sproul Jr. says that we need to teach them who God is, what God has done, and what He requires of us.
Finally, one of my fears can be related to all those that I love… ”I look at him and I see me, breaking down one day as he packs up all his things, to move away.” When you love you open up the potential for hurt. I remember thinking about this before marrying my wife. I knew that loving her allowed the possibility for the deep hurt of someday losing her to glory before I left this world. When our children are leaving to set up their household I will ache. This ache will be a joyful pain, because I know that this is the pattern that God has ordained, however, I will miss them immensely. This pain of my children moving on or temporarily losing my wife is never enough to think of not loving and cherishing them.
I guess one thing that I need to have is courage, and I suppose many fathers may need this as well. God has given me a task to carry out all the while knowing that I am deficient. As Michael Horton said, “God works through means, and fathers are significant instruments of his own covenantal nurture.” I need to remember that only He is the perfect father and I can look to him to forgive my shortcomings. I pray that I will raise my children in His knowledge and day after day show them Jesus. So ultimately my hopes for my children are summed up with this line (with a bit of editing) “Yeah, I look at him and I see me.” Or rather, I pray that when I see my children, I will see Christ in them and I pray that they see Christ in me.

Quotes-Christmas Card 2005

2005-12-21T23:06:00.000-05:00

Blessed be His Christmas presence, for He is making a world where it is never winter, and always Christmas.

-R.C. Sproul Jr.

It's been wonderful...

2005-12-15T00:15:00.000-05:00

My wife and I have been spending our evenings lately (when we have time) with books. I read to my wife usually after our children have gone to bed. A few of the books we have ventured through are Winter’s Folly, Pilgrims Progress, Thoughts on Family Worship and most recently The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. These make for pleasant times and memories. I don’t know really how conscious it was, but we gradually decreased our amount of television time to pretty much nothing. Other than watching an occasional movie I don’t think our television has been on for over a year. However, one intentional decision we did make is that we did not really want our daughter to watch much television. We have provided a shelf on our bookcase filled with books that she loves. She will pull out a book and look through it by herself or bring it to us to read to her. Reading to her is something that I really enjoy.

I used to be amazed at how much time was trodden by that one-eyed monster. We may watch different shows in the future, and we are not totally against television watching. Just don’t let your life be controlled by it and give yourself a little freedom. Create some good family memories, do something better for your brain; pick up a book and read it with your family, you’re likely to find yourself surprised by how little you miss your television.

Quotes-Christmas Card 2004

2005-12-14T19:56:00.000-05:00

The Word is born a child. It is only right that we should be astounded.

-Bernard of Clairvaux

Is your child a future criminal?

2005-12-09T17:17:00.000-05:00

Lately the air waves have been saturated with commercials advocating a universal preschool system in California. The basic tenants of the commercials are the following: if a child is placed in preschool he is…

More likely to become a good reader in elementary school.

Less likely to be placed in special education or held back a grade.

More likely to graduate from high school and attend college.

Less likely to be arrested or incarcerated.

Less likely to need public assistance as an adult.

These ideas were found on this website that is trying to have an initiative passed to create “preschool for all”. This site shows multiple reports and studies suggesting what a great utopia our society could be if only we could have all children attend preschool.
UniversalPreschool.com is a website that is opposed to universal preschool. They seem to have a good list of reading material that shows the damaging effects of preschool (I have not read any of this material yet). They also provide updates on current legislation dealing with universal preschool and ways in which you can contact your legislature to oppose the universal preschool movement. This website purports that research has shown children in preschool and daycare to have…

Poorer work habits

Inferior peer relationships

Substandard emotional health

Lower grades and standardized test scores

And are more difficult to discipline

Here is a review of research from University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University which “found that the social skills of white, middle-class children suffer – in terms of cooperation, sharing and engagement in classroom tasks – after attending preschool centers for more than six hours a day, compared to similar children who remain at home with a parent prior to starting school.” Other various articles and studies are linked on this page.
There is little chance that my children will be attending preschool, especially public preschool. So, according to the commercial, my children are more likely to be ignorant societal outcast criminals that live off the welfare system. Hardly, I say. My wife and I sacrifice (actually, I’d scarcely call it that) so that my wife can stay home and raise our own children. We believe that this is what is best for children, to be raised by their own parents. In doing this, we make sure that they receive the love, attention, education, socialization and instruction they require. This is not an easy task and requires a great deal of patience and persistence; however, it is what our children require of us. Parents should not be abandoning their children at school, dumping the responsibility of raising them on the rest of society, especially the government. I believe that my wife knows our children better than any “expert” and will know precisely what they need.
I believe that one reason why universal preschool may gain ground is that many will find it convenient to place their children in preschool while the mothers go off to work. So essentially, parents will justify this free babysitting service believing that they are following the best route for their children’s benefits. I think it is also dangerous to allow our children to be educated by the state. I once heard a story told by Doug Wilson where he needed to borrow an item from his neighbor. As Mr. Wilson stopped by his neighbor’s house he noticed that his neighbor was cleaning his guns. The neighbor proceeded to tell him that he needed the guns to keep the government from coming after him and his children. Mr. Wilson asked him where his children were at that time. The neighbor responded that they were in school. To which Mr. Wilson replied that it looked as if the government already had his children. Education is important and can have a tremendous influence, remember the Nazis?
Unfortunately, many people will absorb the “facts” presented in these commercials and not think critically about them. They may then look down on us that do not plan to have our children in preschool because we are inhibiting our children’s development. After voting in universal preschool, the next step is to implement compulsory preschool to “help” my children. Another annoying aspect of this is that I will most likely be taxed to support what I am adamantly against. Please carefully consider what is best for your children and then do it…even it is a little less “convenient.”

Quotes-Fatherhood

2005-12-05T17:30:00.000-05:00

Abba is not Hebrew, the language of liturgy, but Aramaic, the language of home and everyday life…We need to be wary of the suggestion…that the correct translation of Abba is “Daddy.” Abba is the intimate word of a family circle where that obedient reverence was at the heart of the relationship, whereas Daddy is the familiar word of a family circle from which all thought of reverence and obedience have largely disappeared. Moule and Jeremias both agree that the best English translation of Abba is simply “Dear Father.”

-Thomas A. Smail, The Forgotten Father (h/t Modern Reformation Magazine May/June 2005)

It's scary who provides anesthesia

2005-11-17T20:01:00.000-05:00

My dad sent this to me the other day and I thought it was pretty funny (and why didn't I think of doing this on a trig test?)
He said in the subject line....A CRNA's answer on a trig test.

Quotes-Chesterton on Progress

2005-11-03T00:30:00.000-05:00

My attitude toward progress has passed from antagonism to boredom. I have long ceased to argue with people who prefer Thursday to Wednesday because it is Thursday. -GK Chesterton