Strength In Weakness

I ran across this verse in my devotions a couple of days ago, and it has stuck with me - I guess you could say I've been pondering it:

But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak [in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine strength). 2 Cor. 12:9 & 10

What a puzzle this is to me. First of all, I am about as far from taking pleasure in my weaknesses and infirmities as you can get. I pretty much hate them, and wish God would just release me from them right now. I'm pretty sure I didn't (and don't) bear them manfully.

How can it be that when I am most weak God is most strong in me--and not just strong, but most effectively strong? I'll tell you what, this has been a year of testing for me, and while I continually went to God to beg Him to get me through my days, I wonder if His light came through at all. Did He show Himself to be most effective in my weakness? Could people still see God in me? Did I honor or shame Him in my days? Does the strength in weakness all have to do with calling on God and learning to say, I can't do this, can you just replace all of me with all of You? Of course, you ask that, and then you fail miserably at the first trial that comes your way.

I'm going to try to hold on to the picture of the strength and power of Christ pitching a tent over me and dwelling upon me. It gives me comfort, it feels kind of like a hiding place. I like the idea of being in a tent, just God and me . . .

Afghan Acid Attacks on School Girls

Okay, this just makes me so mad. Dexter Filkins of the New York Times wrote of girls attending school in Kandahar Afghanistan who were attacked by 3 pairs of men who circled the school and terrorized the girls with the use of acid. The article states that the attacks appear to be the work of the Taliban, but I'd have to say no matter who they are it is the work of cowardly ignorant people. Prior to the attack posters had been put up: "Don't Let Your Daughters Go To School"! And, after the attacks, that worked for a while. But now, the girls are coming back. One of the worst injured girls, Shamsia has blurry vision and scars across her face from the attack. Shamsia says "My parents told me to keep coming to school even if I am killed. The people who did this to me don't want women to be educated. They want us to be stupid things."

Naturally parents didn't want to send the girls to school after the attacks, but the headmistress told them "If you don't send your daughters to school, then the enemy wins, I told them not to give in to darkeness. . ."

Darkness perfectly describes this evil. And, while education certainly is a light to get them out, I believe the light of God will be the only thing that will defeat evil in their world and ours.

Such courage these girls and women have. We don't even think about our kids not being able to get an education. We don't think at all about how easy we have it . . .

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

I stayed up way past my bedtime Thursday night to watch this movie (11 p.m.!!). I had read Cold Mountain years ago. I kept saying to myself, only 1/2 hour longer, then I'll go to bed, but I had to see how they did the end which I remembered as very sad (it was).

I really enjoyed the movie, the scenery was lovely, and I think they stayed pretty true to the story line (although the years may have blurred the distinctions).

The main character, Ada, grew from a smart woman with no competence to sustain her life, into a smart woman who grew into a competent woman. The two melded together make for the most powerful women I know. But, although we admire smart, the women who are survivors are the ones who are competent. This holds true for men too. How many smart people do you know who don't have a practical bone in their body? They're like Ashley in Gone with the Wind. He didn't know how to survive for anything. Scarlett may not have been book smart (what did she see in Ashley anyways - Rhett was much more exciting), but she sure was survivor smart. Ada became survivor smart too. I really liked that about her.

As a result of watching this I'm re-reading the book. I've already discovered one small area where they veered from the story line, but it hasn't ruined either the book or the movie for me. Hopefully that will hold true for the duration of the story!

It's My Birthday!

Well, today it's my birthday. All the good books tell us that ladies don't divulge their age, so don't expect me to tell you!

I followed my annual tradition of taking a day off to shop at Macy's and have lunch with my mom and sister. Since my B-day fell on Sunday this year, that takes a little glee out of that day off!

We went to Bob Evan's for breakfast after church, and now I'm revisiting my youth. When I was growing up we got to choose our favorite meal, and our favorite dessert. So I have Italian Spaghetti simmering on the stove, and homemade parker house rolls rising on the counter. Usually I would have Heath Bar Dessert (A yummy confection of baked meringue frosted with whipped cream and crushed heath bars), but I only just decided to revisit my youth this morning. So, in lieu of Heath Bar I'll have home-made brownies with ice cream and home-made hot fudge for dessert. It is kind of a bummer making your own birthday supper, but since the alternative would be hot dogs or frozen pizza, I'll live with it.

My advice to all birthday people is - don't work on your birthday and create a fun tradition with friends or family :-)

Thoughts on John Adams by David McCullough

I just finished, after 2 long years, John Adams by David McCullough. I'm not sure why it took me so long. It always engaged me when I picked it up. One of the things I loved about this book is the strong role Abigail played. She was not just John's wife, but truly his partner. They were best friends, giving their hearts and minds to each other. Although often apart, they kept connected through their letters.

What an interesting generation of Americans this was. People didn't blog, but they wrote reams of correspondence to each other, and kept diaries. They had passion for their lives, and their hopes for their country. It seems to me that life mattered more. They had more to lose, and thus took more risks to ensure their freedoms. I think we are missing some of that today. We seem to be passionate about our money, but not to the point of holding companies, Wall Street and ourselves accountable for being wise about what we do with our money. We just want what we want when we want it, which is now. There often isn't a lot of self-sacrifice in our lives. Who do you know who waits to buy something until they have the cash for it? We bring ruin on ourselves and need some brave voices to point us back to the way of responsibility, and those 2 words we hate - self-denial.

But, I regress! Back to Adams - it is so interesting to me that way back to the beginning of our first election, there was "stab in the back" politics. Defame your opponent and inflame the American people against them with false or exaggerated information. It brings past elections into perspective as far as negative campaigning goes - it's been around since the inception of America.

Back to Abigail - I got a giggle out of this "In Massachusetts, infuriated Federalists were saying that had the President's "old woman" been with him in Philadelphia none of this would have happened--she being the more stouthearted of the two". A little picture of how much her opinion mattered to him, and that the country knew it, too!

I loved the benediction Adams wrote for the President's house, which is carved in the mantelpiece of the state dining room in the White House. "I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof." Amen to that!

Here is something to ponder: in a letter Adams wrote to Dr. Rush: "Why was it that a nation without wars to fight seemed to lose its honor and integrity. . . war necessarily brings with it some virtues, and great and heroic virtues, too". . . "What horrid creatures we men are, that we cannot be virtuous without murdering one another?" (p.609). This is something that I'll have to think on a while, because it seems true, doesn't it? It's a puzzlement to me.

It is also new learning to me, and so very interesting, that both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the 4th of July. And, just why did Jefferson's will free 5 Hemming family members, but not Sally, his slave mistress. That just doesn't make sense to me, and, somewhat cruel as well.

Here's My Take on Twilight

Sorry all you fans out there, but I thought it was just so-so. I am not compelled to go out and read the entire series, and I super-fast read through to the end so I could just get through it. Books and art (and politics too, I guess), are so interesting to me. Our likes and dislikes are so personal and varying. I can definitely see why a teen would like this book, but I have to say it puzzles me as to why adult women like it so much. In ways it is a classic tale of good vs. evil, and I have to say I find Lord of the Rings, Dark is Rising series, Dragons of Pern series(a girl is forbidden to become a music master, but in the end she does - I love girl heroines!) and Narnia heads and tails above this book. It is also a book of romance (or is it just sexual longing?) in a way, but again, there is so much literature out there that in my view is so much better. I like fantasy, but this just didn't do it for me.

I remember being so surprised when my friendLara didn't like The Thirteenth Tale (I thought it was riveting), so I imagine my friend Tonia probably feels like she can't get why folks wouldn't like Twilight. It was disappointing to me NOT to like it. I do love a good book :-)

Being Lazy

I'm being very lazy this break. I took vacation days so I could have a full 2 weeks off. Of course, the first week was exhausting, getting ready for Christmas, but now I'm in the 2nd week, and feeling very slothful. According to Webster, a definition for slothful would be indolent, meaning averse to activity, effort or movement. Yup, that's me. Get up, eat, watch mindless TV, take naps. Of course I am getting some things done in between - like making meals, and doing the wash (who wants to be lazy in smelly clothes!), and yesterday I finally picked up a book which I needed to finish (Edgar Sawtelle). A very good book by the way. But overall, I think indolent pretty much describes my state! By the way, for those of you with kids who may be feeling envious of my slothfulness - your day will come! By now, I should be getting bored with all this inactivity, but that hasn't happened yet. Oh well, I am now off to read Twilight, which many of my friends (who by the way are grown women), rave about. I will let you know my thoughts tomorrow (maybe even tonight)!.