Rearranging Home

Our sixth month journey has now come to a finish.

Today we helped with the final packing up and there are only a handful of objects left to move to their new home; we girls have been in a flurry of cleaning and rearranging each room to compensate for the absence of the Hood's belongings (I keep looking around for things I thought we owned, then remembering that it wasn't really ours. :)

Last night I was sharing with a friend how truly bittersweet this time is for us, and it's not just because of the lack of Mr. H's big leather chair in our living room. ;)

I know what you're thinking, it went by pretty fast for me too, yet, at the same time, I feel a bit at a loss as to how to move forward. When they came both of our daily lives changed in their own ways, and at first I wasn't sure what life would look like; now I'm so accustomed to it and they're moving into their own home and again both of our lives have changed in pretty big ways, and again, I'm not quite sure what life will look like. Isn't that funny?

There are a few things that I hope don't change, at least anytime soon.

I hope that I continue managing my time better; it's so easy to let things slide when you have all day long to do them but in the past six months I haven't really had all day! Not perfectly, mind you, but I've seen a change in the way I organize, plan, and execute things.

I hope that we continue to be hard workers; like the above point, we've learned over the past six months the importance of staying on top of household duties. We don't want to live in an "untouchable" home, just a tidy one, and you can't do that when it takes you all day to clean.

I hope that we continue to keep short accounts with each other; when you have little people looking at you for examples, it pushes you to be just that, an example.

I hope that we don't stop going to bed early; it was an 8:30 lights out for the majority of the house, so it seemed kind of pointless to stay up much later than that. That made waking up at the crack of dawn so much easier!

Next week I'll be heading solo to Austin to be with Nicole before, during, and after she has her baby (Dear Houston, don't expect me back until early August); then we'll drive back together and she will stay with us two weeks (in our brand new guest room! Aka, the former Mr. and Mrs. Hood's room). As you can see, this nostalgia shan't last for very long. :)

A while ago I shared some thoughts on the first few weeks of having the Hood's living with us, then there wasn't really much of anything until now! I can assure you that it's not for lack of material, rather mentally processing all that I've learned in the past six months, praise the Lord, there was much sanctification; the majority of it were things that we as a family wouldn't have seen or know had not another pair of eyes and hears been privy to our daily lives!

I'm so grateful for the time spent with them and the blessing of seeing what the Lord has done in both of our lives. Praise His for His faithfulness.

But whatever gain I had,

I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the

surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things

and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain

Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness

of my own that comes from the law,

but that which comes through faith in Christ...

Philippians 3

{Picture Credit}

What's a girl to do with Harry Potter?

I'm sure you have all heard of and perhaps, read the Harry Potter books. The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was released in 1999 and the seventh (last) one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, came out the summer of 2007. A classic story of good versus evil where good triumphs evil. These books immediately became loved by everyone around the world and even more so when Hollywood came out with the movies. But one must dare to ask, should we or our children be reading these books? Or more importantly, what are these books teaching people today? Basically, what do we do with them?

Now, before you begin assuming things, let me be clear: I have read all the Harry Potter books and until recently, owned all of them. I have watched every movie that has come out (up to the fifth one) so far.

I would say no, we should not be reading them. Here are a few reasons why I believe the Harry Potter books should not be read by children or even adults:

1. It gives a "glorified view of the Occult", as Mr. Baucham said in the article below. That is what all the books are about; witches, wizards, magic, tea-leaf reading, and the like. It is commonly accepted and common practice of the characters in the book. But is the Occult something to be so highly praised and tolerated? The Bible clearly teaches that sorcery and anything of that sort are an abomination to the Lord. It is referred to as "works of the flesh" in Galatians 5. We should not, willingly and unnecessarily, expose ourselves to such corruptness.

2. It gives a false view of love and romance. Harry "loves" one girl for a couple of books and then, quite suddenly, realizes that he truly loves a different girl. He ends up marrying the second girl in the last book. While some people may try to get the moral of the story and "true love", we really should examine it further. He "fell out of love" and things just sorta "stopped" with the first girl. Funny enough, those phrases and that whole concept of falling out of love is found nowhere in scripture. Romance is between husband and wife and anything different from that is not to be tolerated. As said in Titus 2 that young women are to be trained to love their husbands, not young men who they are not married to. In Proverbs 4 we are warned to keep our hearts with all vigilance for from them flow the springs of life. I know the author and books don't claim Christianity but, as Christians, we should examine what we are reading by scripture. Love is to be "patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

3. It's a waste of time. As much as I enjoy reading (believe me, I do), why read something I know to be wrong? Especially when it's for mere entertainment purposes. It also causes your thoughts to dwell on things of this earth. We are to be dwelling on, "Whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise." I have many friends whose worldviews have been shaped by books such as Harry Potter. I, myself, have had to undo and change a lot of wrong beliefs by reading fiction of that nature; I didn't realize what a change it had made on me. Now, obviously, it wasn't just these books but they definitely contributed. Even as I say this, I have heard people try to justify it by saying, "it's just a book" and "it's just fiction, it's not like it's real". It may seem to be "just a book", but people all over the world are reading it. It is popular everywhere and people love it. If it so impacts and changes our culture, then we should know and take our stance on it. It is important because everyone knows about and is affected by it. It may be fiction and not real, but it has helped change our culture. It creates a worldview of the "accepted norm"; teens expected to go through a rebellious stage, anger not kept under control, having a "crush" on several different people is ok, and so on.

So, why did I read them? Good question :). Nicole was actually the first one to read Harry Potter. I remember, us girls, sitting around her as she read some of them aloud. Those memories were always good; not because of the book but because we were gathered together, reading. I want to be like my sister in many respects and, at the time, reading Harry Potter was one of them. I must say, I enjoyed the story and the British humor made it more amusing. In that stage of our lives, books were not a huge conviction for us. The books were seemingly "clean" and fun. My discernment was very poor at that time. Over the years, our convictions have changed. My dad has taught me to examine, evaluate, and discern what I read.

For those who will try to argue that books such as these are necessary for children to be "equipped" for the culture war, I only say that I believe the Bible equips us as said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."

Voddie Baucham, author of What He Must Be, wrote an insightful and thought-provoking article two years ago on the eve of the release of the last Harry Potter book. I encourage you to read it.

There are lots more reasons I could give but this gives a brief sketch on it. As Mr. Baucham says, " We need to give our children less World and more Word."

In Christ,

Micaela

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

~Ephesians 5:1-2

Think again

"...discretion will watch over you,understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech..."

"...men whose paths are crooked,and who are devious in their ways..."

"...The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply..."

During the past few months, well better make that years, there have been seasons in my life that have made me think of the Bible differently.

Verses that were simply made up of words now have meaning; they are associated with events and times in my life.

Passages like the ones above hold a new meaning for me now; I am not saying that the Bible has ever-changing, new messages especially for me.

However, now I know what it is to be protected by discretion and understanding (Not always my own-usually by my parents); thankfully I have been delivered from "men of perverted speech". I have seen devious men; I know people who are in miserable and tragic states because they have run after another god, unfortunately some are still running.

These are a few examples of the passages that have become so precious to me.

They are precious because now I have a better understanding of what the writer means when he expresses joy or pain, loneliness or contentment.

Needless to say, I don't go thought the scriptures the way I did when I was ten; life at that time really didn't hold much true pain or sorrow. In the short span of eight years, the Lord has done much to continually draw me close and sanctify me.

For example, as I write this, I am reminded of the book of James.

We are going through it verse by verse during family devotions; we are currently in verse four.

Verses two through four have most recently been a source of strength for me.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Previously I seemed to glaze over the "when you meet trials" bit; notice James didn't say "if" but "when".

And the "various kinds" part didn't really hold much meaning until different circumstances came to pass in my life. But thankfully the Lord does not make us go through these trials without a purpose: that we may be "perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

I am so thankful for God's unending patience and grace in my life.

It is because of the "difficult times" that I can praise Him in this "new" way.

This causes me to humbly thank Him for what He has done, and to look forward to what He will do in the future.