Some Points of Clarification

1. I enjoy and appreciate those people, both young and old, that do not engage in the practice of gossip. If you want to know something about soneone...ask that person...not a third party. Otherwise, please know enough to realize that all you'll ever get is someone else's version of the person you are inquiring about.
2. I believe that the sinner is the one who commits the sin. I've done it. I am what I do. The person who uses a gun to kill someone is a murderer. The one who commits adultry is an adulterer. The teller of a lie is a liar. Any philosophy that says otherwise is simply a "wrong" philsophy. Accept responsibility for your actions. If you have sinned against someone, then only you can repent for it. No one else should or can do that for you. Ask for forgiveness and change. You'll gain humility and truth. That's why we need Christ even more.
3. I believe that everyone absolutely should not get married at a young age. We do not all mature at the same rate of speed. Just as some will never come to the knowledge of the truth, some will never come to a full maturity.
4. I believe that men should act like men and women should act like women. Quit trying to be something you were not created to be. If only leads to strife and confusion. After all, it's a lie.
5. I believe that God and His Son both taught us how to LIVE...not how to DIE. Quit looking for things YOU want to see and look for the truth. Don't be distracted, quit reading tripe and take dominion over the things that God gave you to take care of. Rapture Schmapture.
6. I believe that adults should debate with adults and children should listen and learn obedience, so that they can teach their children the same. Perpetuation of stupidity is a bad thing and it's hard work. Truth is perpetual whether we want it to be or not.
7. I believe that God tells us what to do and that we should do it and stop whining about it and making excuses. A brother gave me this example...If I leave my children in charge of the house while I'm gone and tell them specifically what I want done and they don't do it, that's when I get mad. I believe that by God's own actions, he is the same in that regard.
8. I believe that if I am hungry and want a meal placed before me, that I absolutely should not go in the den and pray for God to bring me that meal out of thin air. I live in a house with 7 people and we can all fix a bowl of cereal or cut a piece of bread. He put me in charge of feeding myself.
9. I believe that there is no right way to debate a "wrong" principal or theory.
10. I believe that no amount of lying can change the truth...no matter how long you lie and no matter how many lies you tell. You cannot mock God. He IS truth.
11. I believe that people don't simply need to "have a personal relationship with Christ" or don't just "need Jesus". To tell someone that, is like telling a starving man that he just needs to eat and be fed. He will quickly find himself starving again. Many significant events led up to Christ and all of those events are a part of history...HIStory.
12. I believe that many Christians are guilty and have become blinded by their idolatry...of the Bible. If you thing that the Bible is the source of all knowledge and truth, then throw away all of your other books and other publications, unplug your phone and don't leave your closet. You see, I can be as ridiculous as they can.
13. I believe that God's laws are forever...just as He is. They don't go away, just because we don't want to see or believe in them. If the speed limit in a certain area is 75 mph. and there are signs to indicate that that is the law, then we can choose to ignore that and deal with the consequences...from simply knowing that we were disobedient, to obtaining a ticket, to a possible accident which damages property, causes injury or death to you or another. The law is in place, whether we want to recognize it or not and the consequences of disobedience still exist...whether we want to admit it or not. Maybe we should be exploring law instead of spending our time worrying about when and how Jesus will come back to earth. His return and presence will be triumphant, whether he comes on a cloud or a 1972 Buick. Meantime, we have things to take care of. How about we focus on those things?
14. I believe that no matter how many times we ask, the person who sneezes in front of us is not blessed by God. If you believe in that, then go hang all the bottles you can find in your trees (the more colorful, the better) to scare away the "hants" (pronounced "hain'ts") outside of your house. Quit believing in superstition. God is not a phantom.

Male Character

After reading a very good post on the subject of chivalry at http://www.onewaypurpose.com/2006/07/05/chivalry-in-a-modern-world/
I wanted to share an observation or two regarding the subject...first hand.

For the most part, I was raised to practice the simpler things of chivalry, such as door holding and plodding out in the rain to get the umbrella, while the females waited under cover. I'm from the South, had a decent Christian upbringing and would really be ashamed for not doing the things that a man should do. I have lived in a house with five females for thirteen years, until my son arrived seven years ago, which raised the odds a little...but we're still quite outnumbered. I make it a point to tell Mrs. Arkanblogger that her meals are delicious and do the same when my daughters, my mother, my mother-in-law and any other females in our out of our family, have put forth an effort to produce a meal, whether it may be one of my favorites, or a strange dish to me. My son, with my encouragement and explanations, now follows suit; even jumping the gun on me from time to time.

As the father of four daughters, ages eleven to eighteen, I have had cause to observe the behavior of young males, interacting with my girls in different settings. What I have seen is for the most part, disappointing. So many of these young fellows, who are mostly homeschooled and from "Christian" homes, don't do so much as hold a door at church for my children, much less any other female, young or old...unless they are trying to get the attention of a specific young lady. I have also observed these same boys doing no such thing for other females present.

On another hand, I have personally held the door many times in public for complete strangers and what I recieve about half the time is silence. The older generation of women (40 plus)seems to recognize these traits and will generally make it a point to thank me. The younger crowd has their head in the clouds...or the world...generally speaking.

Now, I want to point out that I don't do these things for the thank you. I do them because they should be done. But just as there should be an obligation on the part of men to engage in Chivalry, I believe that there should be a simple reciprocation of appreciativeness from the part of the reciever of the "blessing" of said Chivalry. Just as when someone recieves a a bit of unexpected good news and tells the giver of the news, "thank you". This I believe, could simply fall under the law of loving your neighbor as yourself. I also hold the door for older gentlemen, when I recognize that they might not have the strength to do it themselves. Let's engage in Chivalry, shall we?

-The Arkanblogger

Salutations!

Salutations all! I hope you have been having a blessed Summer. So far mine has been quite well. Oh, here's something I didn't know, "salutations" is actually French for "greetings". I had hoped for something I hadn't ever heard of when I went in search of a new greeting. At least it is not Spanish. Ugh. For those of you who don't know, Spanish is one of my least favorite languages. I have had two teachers, both of them tried to get me to roll my "rr"s. I have never been able to. Even after a certain exercise where we had to put pencils in our mouths and bite down. Therefore since I do not possess that certain skill, I shall never be able to really speak spanish. Even the teacher said so. I can do the French "r" though. But alas, I am in for another year of Spanish. Maybe I could learn them both...

These past few days have been lovely. I got to go to lunch with some of my dear friends from choir and church. They are such sweet young ladies and such a blessing to be around. I love spending time with them. I look foward to getting to spend a week with them on choir tour. More on that later. On Friday morning I was part of a car wash. The purpose being to raise money for the choir tour. My first job which lasted most of the time I was there was holding a sigh by the turn in to the car wash. I did a lot of waving and jumping up and down. If the people were nice they would wave and honk. Then there were those who changed lanes once they saw us. It was a fun job if you ignored the sun beating down on you or brought sunscreen. My second and not so fun job was cleaning up what the car washers missed. Which mostly consisted of bug mush on the front of the cars. The outcome was good. I gained a few more freckles (they come and go) and no sunburn! (that took some work) The last event was another one of my dear friends birthday. She turned 16. Happy Birthday sister! Caitlin and I got to spend time with her family having a wonderful time. The best part was when she opened the door to her room to find Caitlin and I there to surprise her. She screamed rather loudly and nearly through her book at Caitlin. Oh what I would have given to have a camera at that moment ;)

This post has turned out much longer and unstructured than I planned. Please forgive my messiness. I will try and post on things of more substance in the future. I hope that you all have a blessed Monday and rest of the week. The Lord has truly blessed me. Now I must go and see to the "mighty" Aslan.

Paige ;)

Happy Birthday Popsey!

Our "Popsey" is 70 years old today. Happy Birthday Popsey!!!

We got together and came up with a few things you should know about him...

• He can fix just about anything and when he doesn't have the right tool or part needed to repair it, he just makes it himself.
• He was in the Marines AND the Air Force.
• He's written a book. We're just waiting on him to publish it.
• He has a very jolly laugh.
• He told us how deer lose their antlers and we didn't forget it.
• He can tear the inside of a new jet airplane apart in about 60 seconds, when the interior wiring catches on fire at 33,000 feet.
• He flies an American flag in his front yard.
• He draws faces that make you laugh.
• He gives very good directions.
• He prays for our soldiers.
• Most of the time he still feels like he's in his 30's.
• He would like more horizontal space in his house. Most of it is covered up with our Mimi's ceramic roosters and rabbits.
• He says that his head has worn out three bodies but we don't believe him.
• He knows ALOT about antiques...except for ivory scrimshaw ;-)
• He likes to learn new things.
• He does not recognize the term "step" family.
• He has a gift with words and writing.
• He offers his counsel and confidence freely.
• He likes to hunt and fish...mostly hunting in the wintertime we think.
• He comes from a large family.
• He's traveled all over the world and even arranged the purchase of airplanes from foreign governments as part of one of his jobs.
• He is a patient man.
• He appreciates hard work and honesty in a person.
• He's very encouraging and affectionate.
• You can count on him in the "clutch".
• He is not stingy nor bashful with his hugs and "I love you's".

Some quotes for Popsey to remember...

To be 70 years young, is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be 40 years old.~ Oliver Wendel Holmes Jr. ~

The aging process has you firmly in it's grasp, if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.~ Doug Larson~

Forget your age and live your life. ~Norman Vincent Peale

The old age of an eagle is better than the youth of a sparrow. ~Proverbs~

Happy Birthday Popsey...We Love You,

Bruce, Janice and Family

How are you?

I'm doing lovely, and if you like you can answer my question up there. A couple of things are happening down here, I had the joy of turning 18 years old last month on the 10th and am now the first child in our household who can officially vote, with my parent's permission of course;) Paige and I finally went and took the written exam to get our driving permits. Our father has already had experiences driving with each of us, in which he's usually telling Paige to "Stay in your lane!'' and myself to "Stay away from the curb!" but really my father is a good driving teacher, and I am thankful to have him as mine (especially since he's very good at reaching across the car to grab the wheel when I veer towards a pretty brick mailbox on my right;) . Paige and I are also house-sitting for some dear friends of ours who are on a 16 day excursion to Alaska. Oh, to be there with them, the air is so thick here you could spoon it up and serve it for dinner, pre-cooked! The house we are watching includes a dog on it's list of responsibilities . But not just any dog, this dog is the great and mighty Aslan. Who just happens to be about a foot tall, and looks like a fox crossed with a lion that was hit with a shrink ray. It is actually a very pleasing affect, and he is one of the best dogs I have ever known (by the way, I believe he's really a Pomeranian but I love dramatic descriptions) . Well, it is getting late so I must say farewell.

May the Lord bless and keep you,

Caitlin :~)