Alaska is Awesome

Two license plates I've seen in Fairbanks this week:
WUHOO
and
PUCKOF

Oh Alaska, how I love you.

I could not get enough of Alaska today. Yesterday we went to Family Reading Time @ the Library and got a free book for the baby, then we went to the Literacy Council and found the cheapest used books in Fairbanks, hung out in Pioneer Park and enjoyed the weather, went to Home Grown Market for local food, and tucked my daughter into bed at 9:30 before sunset. Today, baby and I walked to the lake, checked out the musk ox farm, and enjoyed the sunset around 10.

Another reason Alaska is the best state of all time: people pass on their stuff. I went to say hi to my neighbors tonight (and bring them banana bread) and they offered me 2 grills, a patio set, and flower boxes for my porch! Sweet! I've been scouting the transfer sites for all of those things! I have also prayed for each of those things in the last week. Ask, and it shall be given to you. (Matthew 7:7) [That verse is NOT saying you'll get anything you want just by praying or asking for it. Intentionally misrepresenting bible verses might be a sin. Oh well, it's already typed; no way to fix it now.]

Alaskans are fantastic.

Revelation!

Personal revelation this morning.

The answer to the question about when a life begins may not be a fixed point in time. In other words, sperm + egg, blastocyst, zygote, fetus, breathing baby, these terms are shades on the gradient of the transition from not life to life. Maybe a person isn't instantly a life or not a life.

Can't we die slowly? Medicine has created specific criteria to determine whether or not someone is alive, and we may pass from 'passing' to 'failing' instantly, but that doesn't mean that our life didn't end sooner or will end later. For years, life was determined by the presence of breath or a heartbeat, but as it turns out those criteria weren't good indicators of life. Maybe in ten years we'll feel the same about the presence or absence of brain activity. Maybe these principles apply to the beginning of life as well.

Could the question about life be answered by something that isn't life vs. not life? Could life begin slowly? Or simply be outside our capacity to define?

A friend raised this issue with me while I was debating the morality of birth control. She's a smart woman.

The conversation went like this:
Me:So if abortion is wrong because it takes away a potential life (or a present life, depending on your definition), wouldn't birth control be wrong because it takes away the potential for life? If God has a plan for sperm+egg, who's to say He didn't have a plan for the sperm, or the egg? Who am I to decide that God's plans start when the two meet and not when they implant in the uterus or when the neurons begin firing or at any other arbitrarily appointed time? How can I take birth control when I have these thoughts bouncing around in there?
Her: You're missing the point. It's not about life vs. not life. It's about using ALL of the body God gave you to do what glorifies Him. Including your brain to manage your uterus. Disregarding birth control completely isn't evidence of faith, it's just naive. [I'm not sure I paraphrased that very well. Somebody remind me to message her on Monday and get the text of our conversation.]
Me: Touche. Just because I am capable of eating all day every day does not mean it's God's plan for me. Just because I can continue to walk does not mean I keep walking until God sits me down. I can and should make judicious decisions about how (and when) to use what I've been given.

So there's that. I guess I'm less open to QF, and more confident about using birth control. No hormonal options, because I'm still breastfeeding (and even the mini-pill creeps me out while I'm breastfeeding), we have condoms but don't use them because they SUCK, IUD's weird me out because they're stuck in there for so long (plus we plan on another one soon - why bother with getting it put in, etc.) so I guess a diaphragm would be the way to go. But, that too would require me to go in and be fitted and pay for it, plus get spermicide, plus put it in every time.

I've been spoiled with sex without consequence. And blessed with the revelation that my husband and I have been trusted with our fertility, and we wouldn't have been trusted with it if we weren't capable of handling it. I'm not saying our (my) conclusions are absolutely right, or that we can't make wrong decisions, only that it's ok for me to keep thinking and be acting while I think.

Christianity dumbed down

For a long time my husband and I attended churches that spoke to the lowest common denominator. They wrote their sermons for 7 year olds and nonbelievers. This disservice to the church is very common among many denominations. Then, one day, we happened upon a church that was different.

We decided to check out the evening service of a church we often passed. We thought the building looked very old and the architecture was interesting, and we wanted to see the inside. So we went to a service and were surprised to find a pastor preaching challenging, relevant, unsafe sermons.

He wasn't preaching to the lowest common denominator. He held himself (or maybe the elders are responsible for this) to a higher standard and he spoke so that anyone could take something away, but also so that everyone got more. We dug deeper and more thoroughly understood each verse. Sometimes we spent months or even years (well, the church spent years, we weren't there that long) on a very small section of scripture because there was SO MUCH information to unpack. My husband and I were changed, and maybe a bit spoiled.

We moved to Alaska for school, and we have not yet found (or heard of) a church that spoke to us on that level. More accurately, we have not yet found a pastor that spoke to us that way.

We've been to several churches, most were ok. We've also been to two churches with outstanding communities. OUTstanding! Fellowship and grace and love like I've really, really never seen.

I guess we'll keep looking. Or maybe we'll stick with one of the outstanding churches and just listen to podcasts of the more challenging stuff on the side. I don't know.

no luck =(

So far no luck in any of my giveaways.

I suppose I should keep trying. Entering doesn't cost anything but time, so when I get some time, I'll give it to the giveaways.

For now, I've got my class, my workouts/weight loss, my daughter, my husband, my work, and my God to work on. That list is in no particular order by the way.

Sermons from this church have been kicking my butt lately. I put their pod cast on while I work in the kitchen (and since I started letting the kiddo have solids I spend a LOT of time in the kitchen) and I have been truly convicted, over and over. Preach it Russ, preach it!

Mirus and I attended that church while we were in Denver and we both really appreciated the way that Russ McKendry portrays/teaches/studies the Gospel. I always left church with something very practical and very important to work on, and I always felt equipped to do so. I also really respect the commitment of that church to be a church that the city needs. Russ always asks: "If we were to disappear tomorrow, would anybody notice?" It's a good question to be asking yourself. Really, truly, you should be noticed. Not because you're important or special, but because you did important, special things. This may be the only day you have, give it to God and leave your (and therefore God's) mark on the world.

i.e.: go out with a bang!

BANG!

An Awakening this Morning

I think I've found why I dislike punitive discipline so much. Or, at least found a way to verbalize the reasons behind my feeling of dislike. And why I dislike the idea that I should punish my child the way God punishes me. Here it is: I am not God. I am not even a little God in the eyes of my child. Nor do I aim to be. I do not want that job. I do not want to take the place of God, but to face him with my family. To prepare my children to face him. I am raising my children to be my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I want my children to be disciples, not just disciplined.