Colds and kinks

We had a lovely visit down to Indiana to visit friends and !!!sing psalms!!! in the new RPC building in Columbus. The psalm sing was recorded and posted on the church website, so for those who love to hear a psalm sung, feel free to check it out. (columbusrpc.org website, under sermons, "Psalm 103 and others" from 11/25/07) I actually am not technologically with it enough to make it work, but I'm sure K. can help me at some point.We also enjoyed time in Lafayette, helping friends pick out their Christmas tree, among other things. And L is now three. Enjoy some pictures of a cake and a kid with a cake. On the way back from IN, J and L entertained each other in the back seat. Here's a picture of J pretending to chew L's foot, and L just giggling and giggling about it. I've got a drippy nose, and kinks in my legs (although, unlike Mazy, the lazybird, they do NOT make me wish for a vacation way off at Palm Beach), but my woolen underwear (L.L.Bean, from thrift store for under a buck) are warm and toasty (which is probably why no Palm Beach is necessary). You might ask, how can you do woolen underwear? Aren't you allergic? Ah!!! the glory of cotton lining!!! Joanna is supposed to have a warm bath EVERY DAY to help her skin condition. Now to carve out time for that!!!

Wouldn't it be nice to be incorruptible? One of the reasons I love Jesus is that His things are incorruptible. The inheritance I have through Him is incorruptible (I Pet. 1:4). The Word of God is incorruptible. Jesus Himself was incorruptible, without blame. The writer to the Hebrews says, " For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. . ." And this high priest, Jesus, who is fitting for us because of his incorruptibility, has let me in on it! "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard. . ." I'm corruptible now, but Jesus has the power, through His death, to present me spotless. After all, I am of Jesus, and the things of Jesus are incorruptible.

L Winks

Here are some recent pictures of L practicing her new winking skill, and of the big girls playing in leaves from the trees in our yard. They helped me rake them. It was thrilling to be out in the wind wielding large tools against the big piles of leaves. Notice how low E sometimes wears her glasses? She likes to imitate K and look over them with a smirk. Except her smirk isn't at all smirky, as seen in the two close-ups of her.

"I am of Paul"

I Corinthians 1:12-19 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

K and I were asked at a potluck one Sunday afternoon, "And when did you come to the reformed faith?" We've heard that question a lot, and it bothers us every time we hear it, not least of all because, although we have attended "reformed" churches, we do not consider ourselves reformed. In fact, this passage in Corinthians seems to indicate that it is wrong to bear the label "reformed" distinctly from being identified with Christ, as though there were some "wisdom of the wise" in being called reformed.

I've heard the argument, "But when I say that, people know the lines along which I think. It says so much about what I believe. It's just shorthand for a belief system." But Christ doesn't call us to a belief system. He calls us to himself. After all, was Calvin crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of the Westminster Confession?

The Greeks seek after "wisdom," but "the foolishness of God is wiser than men. . ." Does it seem like foolishness not to have all of your beliefs spelled out in a list? Does it seem like foolishness to have them all "jumbled up" in one book, interlaced and inseperable from each other? That is God's wisdom.

more birthday joys

Here they are: the latest birthday pictures. K surprised me with baklava. . .to help me keep my double chins healthy.

Birthday picture

J turned one this Wednesday. She turned up her nose at the cake and ice cream, but begged for her presents, especially a ball L and E bought her. She also enjoyed a box of raisins. In addition to eating them, she enjoyed dumping the raisins out and putting them back in the box one by one. Her sisters wish she would learn the meaning of "may I please have one?"