I have lost all sense of time over the last few days since daughter #2 arrived with her family–you know how it is when the dishwasher is literally running three times a day. And also the washing machine. Plus everyone (except the OM) got sick with some stomach virus and we have been cleaning up bodily fluids since Friday. I barely got out of bed on Friday.
We were on the mend by Saturday. And some of us managed to do a few normal things…
…but you can tell around the eyes that things are not 100%.
Then daughter #2 got sick early Sunday morning and I had a relapse. I was unable to go to church for our new senior pastor’s first Sunday and I missed the last Sunday School class of the TULIP–Perseverance of the Saints. Did I mention that poor Ida is teething?
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.
Well, now it is breezy and “spring-like” here in flyover country. I’m not complaining, but, you know, that means the Iris will be popping up only to be crushed by the next inevitable arctic freeze.
Daughter #2 and famille are settling in here for a few days. The movers should arrive in Illinois early next week. Fingers crossed.
I am happy to have more time with everyone.
In the meantime, here are some good things to read.
I could not agree more with this. “Changing songs to remove these kinds of words makes for weak theology and a gutted gospel. When we do this, we’re changing the very nature of God by making him into an image of what we think he ought to be. We’re keeping God’s mercy but removing God’s justice, and when we do that, it ironically makes his mercy completely unnecessary. We’re essentially saying to God, ‘I think your message is a little too rough for this new generation and we really need only to talk about how much you love them because that’s all they actually want to hear.’” Read the whole thing.
This will cheer you up: A Tour of Dolly Parton’s Career-Spanning Closet!
I really could care less about the Super Bowl, but I do like Brock Purdy.
And here’s a poem by Billy Collins: The Only Day in Existence
The early sun is so pale and shadowy, I could be looking up at a ghost in the shape of a window, a tall, rectangular spirit looking down at me in bed, about to demand that I avenge the murder of my father. But the morning light is only the first line in the play of this day– the only day in existence– the opening chord of its long song, or think of what is permeating the thin bedroom curtains
as the beginning of a lecture I will listen to until it is dark, a curious student in a V-neck sweater, angled into the wooden chair of his life, ready with notebook and a chewed-up pencil, quiet as a goldfish in winter, serious as a compass at sea, eager to absorb whatever lesson this damp, overcast Tuesday has to teach me, here in the spacious classroom of the world with its long walls of glass, its heavy, low-hung ceiling.
Another rainy, overcast weekend filled with busy-ness. When did February become such a busy month?
Among other things, the bud had the Pinewood Derby…
He got the “Spirit of Scouting” medal…
…but his car came in 4th out of 12 in the race, so he missed out on a podium trophy by three-tenths of a second. C’es la vie.
Meanwhile the movers came to daughter #2’s house two days earlier than previously arranged, so they had a last-minute scramble to finish packing the night before.
This gives them more time to drive to Illinois, so it’ll work out.
They left on Sunday and will arrive on Monday, in plenty of time to close on their house on Tuesday.
The OM and I are poised to drive over to help them unpack as soon as we hear when the movers are actually going to arrive (probably Wednesday) with all their stuff. Prayers for traveling mercies all around.
This week our Sunday School class on the Doctrines of Grace (TULIP) focused on Irresistible Grace–“the point at which the things determined beforehand in the mind and counsel of God pass over into time.” Or to put it simply: “He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6) I love this class!
After church the OM went to the Blues hockey game and the rest of us all went to see The Wizard of Oz (1939) on the big screen. (Check out Fathom’s Big Screen Classics series here.) As you know, it is one of my top 5 favorite movies, so I jumped at the opportunity. Wow, to see this great movie as it was meant to be seen was fantastic. The art direction is A++++ and on the big screen you can see every detail. The incidental music is awesome and Judy Garland is perfection. In fact, everyone in it is great.
The bud’s favorite part was the tornado in Kansas and Lottie’s fave was Glinda. We all agreed that Toto reminded us of Mr. Smith through the whole movie. I hope we can talk about it further sometime–they had to rush off to Lacrosse practice!
Today is the birthday of one of my favorite ancestors, John Wesley Prowers, the Colorado cattle king who was an early inductee into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Hall of Fame in 1963.
I like to celebrate by watching a really good cowboy movie. This year we watched Red River (1948), one of the best and a favorite of mine. As Roger Ebert wrote, “….’Red River’ is one of the greatest of all Westerns when it stays with its central story about an older man and a younger one, and the first cattle drive down the Chisholm Trail. It is only in its few scenes involving women that it goes wrong.” I have to agree.
John Wayne and Montgomery Clift are perfect as father and (adopted) son. Every time I see it I am so impressed with both of them. And Walter Brennan gives one of his best performances.
I also watched Kevin James’ Irregardless stand-up special on Prime Video. I think he’s funny and he seems really normal. No bad language or vulgarity. No politics. Probably having an old lady like me like your comedy routine is the kiss of death, but oh well.
So it was quite a weekend. What did you do? What did you learn? There’s no place like home!
Yesterday we were enveloped in a thick fog that was straight out of an old horror film.
(The Wolf Man, 1941)
It brightened up a bit in the afternoon, but not much. There’s rain and more rain on the radar.
Meanwhile my women’s Bible Study starts up again this morning. We are reading the book of Matthew. Since I loaned my softcover NIV to daughter #1 so she would have a smaller tome to carry to her Sunday School class, I had to find something to use for my Bible Study. My ESV Reformation Study Bible is too big to carry around and my chronological Bible is not suitable. So I went searching in my house…I found the RSV Bible that was given to me in 4th grade, which is cheap and kind of falling apart. Check out the inscription:
They used my nickname and spelled it incorrectly! Also, my last name is misspelled! Good grief. I remember at the time, even in the 4th grade, being really chagrined.
I found my mother’s American Standard Version presented to her when she was, like me, 9 years old:
I am not surprised that she received hers in recognition of “excellent work”. I’m sure she took it all very seriously, unlike me, who along with my schoolmates were giggling pains in the neck. I think we actually made our 5th grade Sunday School teacher cry. Mrs. Brinkmeier. I cringe to think of my elementary school depravity.
I found multiple copies of the Book of Common Prayer and a few more Bibles, including this ancient one inscribed to an ancestor, Emmeline Cornwall:
Emmeline too was singled out for her “punctual attendance, good behaviour and attention to her studies at the Sunday School.”
Emmeline’s Bible also includes helpful marginal notes…
“The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language” (Esther 8:9, ESV).
…and a hand stitched bookmark:
We have not forgotten you, Emmeline.
I found my father’s Oxford University Press KJV, which his Mother had given him, hoping for the best.
Finally I unearthed the study Bible I had used in my small group back in the 1990s, borrowed from and, I confess, never returned to my old church. Maybe I will use it, although it may raise some PCA eyebrows .
Well, remember, a Bible is of no use unless you open it.
So open it already!
You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Yesterday we were able to put away the storm gear and venture outside in relatively balmy temperatures in the 40s. Hopefully this weather system will persevere through next week when daughter #3 and DN will make the Big Move to Illinois. As you can imagine, the Move looms large in their lives and three-year old Katie has a limitless supply of questions.
Well, in case you were wondering, Illinois has been a state since 1818.
It is known as the “Land of Lincoln”–an excellent slogan, as they go. Three U.S. Presidents have been elected while residents of Illinois: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Barack Obama. Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois and raised in Dixon. He graduated from Eureka College outside Peoria where he was student body president, played football and was president of his fraternity. Although he left Illinois after college never to return, Reagan is a true son of Illinois.
Illinois is a very flat state, lying entirely in the Interior Plains. Its highest point is Charles Mound at 1,235 feet (376 m) above sea level. It is located in the Driftless Area in the northwestern part of the state. At 279 feet (85 m) above sea level, the lowest elevation point in the state is located near Cairo and the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
Champaign is the 10th largest city in Illinois. Because the university and a number of well-known technology start-up companies are located there, it is often referred to as the hub, or a significant landmark, of the Silicone Prairie.
Carl Perkins and Bob Dylan joined forces in 1969 to write the song “Champaign, Illinois”, which Perkins released on his album On Top. This is a very cool, fun fact. Not many towns can say that Carl Perkins and Bob Dylan wrote a song about them.
“Yes, I certainly do enjoy Champaign, Illinois!”
My maternal grandmother was born and raised in Illinois–the Ravenswood neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago. After her mother, Anna Hough, and father, William Carnahan, were married in Colorado in 1889, they moved to Chicago where they lived thereafter and brought up their five children. They helped found the Ravenswood Baptist Church which still appears to be going strong.
The next few days are going to be a stressful time for daughter #2 and her famille as they wrap things up in Maryland and head west. I have no doubt they’ll all handle it with aplomb.
He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” (Genesis 26:22)
We survived another frigid weekend in flyover country. At least the sun was out. Daughter #1 and I braved the arctic elements on Saturday to go to an estate sale where Lamar gave us our usual good customer discount and made our day. We then went out to lunch at our local pizza place which was hoppin’ with activity.
Later at home I worked on a puzzle I got for Christmas…
And the Amaryllis is blooming! Wowee! What a show!
We went to church–it was almost 10 degrees! Our Sunday School class was on Limited Atonement. We had a lively discussion in our 60s age group. The boy said they also had a lively discussion in their 20-30s age group, but some of them are still working out their salvation with fear and trembling. It is a blessing to be able to go somewhere and have a lively intellectual discussion.
After church we went to our favorite diner for brunch and daughter #1 met us there after her service. We wolfed down our food like starving Presbyterians after a worshipful morning. As Charles Spurgeon said, “There is hardship in everything except eating pancakes.”
We went back to church that evening for our annual meeting, which was pushing it considering the eternal threat of bad weather. But we had a quorum and conducted our business. Our new pastor starts in two weeks!
Meanwhile daughter #2’s daughters continue to enjoy outdoor winter activities to varying degrees…
Ida prefers to play inside and I’m with her…
We are bracing for an ice storm today. Here’s to further hunkering down.
*This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)
The year has sped by, hasn’t it? Daughter #2 reminded me that the day before Ida was born we watched East of Eden (1955) in the afternoon and I told her I thought she might be in labor. Sure enough, she went to the hospital later that evening and Ida was born at 12:38 pm the next day.
What a baby! We are sad we will not be able to celebrate with her, but we look forward to seeing her very soon!
The Angel that presided o’er my birth Said, ‘Little creature, form’d of Joy and Mirth, ‘Go love without the help of any Thing on Earth.’
–William Blake
In the meantime, hope you are all staying warm and safe.
(Barge traveling in an icy Mississippi River near the Eads Bridge–Fox2 photo)
Our weekend in flyover country was very cold–indeed, frigid. I wore my (vintage) fur coat to church, it was so cold. We did have a few diversions.
The boy came over with the twins on Friday in between a birthday party at the Mini Fig store and a date at the Cat Cafe (no school that day)…
Kirkwood is such a happening place. A Mini Fig store and a cat cafe.
Continuing the ‘In Memoriam Glynis Johns’ theme, we watched Mary Poppins (1964) and were reminded what a great movie it is.
Disney really peaked with that one. It had a message for all the parents in the audience, especially the fathers.
Thankfully, Mr. Banks is redeemed.
Sunday morning as we drove to church in the negative-five-degree cold, I said to the OM, “I bet [our old church] is closed this morning.” But we had an (almost) full house at our new one–everyone who stayed home missed a good class on Unconditional Election. Oh well. We hunkered down in the afternoon and attempted to stay warm watching the PGA in Hawaii.
Meanwhile daughter #2 et al are busily packing up their stuff and getting ready for the big move to flyover country at the end of the month…
…as well as Ida’s first birthday this week.
And I received this text:
Of course she did.
And this is interesting. Here’s the song that started Bobby Zimmerman on the road.
You’re drifting too far from the shore You’re drifting too far from the shore Come to Jesus today Let Him show you the way You’re drifting too far from the shore
How was your weekend? It snowed here on Friday evening so that slowed things down quite a bit. We watched The Court Jester (1955) in honor of Glynis Johns, who died last week at age 100.
Funnily enough, we had decided to watch it before she died, but it worked out just right and we toasted her and the rest of the cast and crew.
I don’t know where this movie has been all my life, but I just love it. It has everything–a great script by the team of Norman Panama and Melvin Frank (who both co-directed) and a sparkling cast of stars and veteran character actors. It also boasts art direction by the incomparable Hal Pereira, who, if you are a discerning movie watcher, you know was the supervising art director at Paramount and as such was responsible for the “look” of a lot of great movies–such as Shane, Double Indemnity, Rear Window, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and on and on. Nominated 23 times for an Oscar, he only won once, for The Rose Tattoo (1955). Typical. [Trivia note: Hal Pereira graduated from the University of Illinois!]
I finished putting away the last of the Christmas decorations and got things in relative order before the twins came over to wreck havoc after church to celebrate their Mom’s birthday.
At church we started on a new Sunday School unit on the 5 points of Calvinism (TULIP) starting with my favorite, Total Depravity.
T – Total depravity U – Unconditional election L – Limited atonement I – Irresistible grace P – Perseverance of the saints
Everyone is taking the same class, but we are divided up into four age groups with different leaders, i.e. 20s and 30s, 40s and 50s, 60s, and 70s and up. I was directed by my friend and style icon, Linda, to go into her room–the 70s and up. I said, “I’m not quite there yet.” She was embarrassed, but I’m like, who cares. I’m alive and breathing.
We also heard a good sermon about Bartimaeus, the blind beggar (Mark 10:46-52). Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is coming and he shouts out for Jesus, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuke him and tell him to be quiet. But he cries out all the more. And Jesus stops and calls him. Bartimaeus tells him he wants to be healed and Jesus heals him. “Your faith has made you well.” He responds to being healed by following Jesus “on the way”.
The simple cry for mercy by Bartimaeus has inspired countless prayers during the last two millennia. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” the so-called “Jesus Prayer,” which has a variety of forms, is spoken millions of times each day by believers throughout the world, myself included.
As sinners, we need to experience God’s forgiveness. And this comes, not through our efforts, but through God’s mercy. Because of his love for us and his faithfulness, God’s mercy is new every morning (Lamentations 3:23).
Grant us grace to see you, Lord, mirrored in your holy Word. May our lives and all we do imitate and honor you that we all like you may be at your great epiphany and may praise you, ever blest, God in man made manifest.
Our New Year’s Eve party was a very low-key family get-together. We never even got the 45s out for a dance party. The boy and his family were pretty tired from their early morning trip home from Sarasota, but they were game and joined us for pizza and assorted dips.
We managed to do our ‘movie clip night’ and I thought you might be interested in what we all chose to share. (It’s all a plot where I am trying to whet the younguns’ desire to watch these great movies in their entirety when they are a little older.)
I opened things up with the car chase scene from Bullitt (1968).
The wee bud was, of course, enthralled and recognized the bad guy’s car as a Dodge Charger. He also knew who “McQueen” was. I told him I thought he kind of looked like him and he was pleased. (I will note that Lottie thought this car chase was not quite as good as the car chase in The Gnome-Mobile.)
Daughter #1 chose the musical interlude from Rio Bravo (1959)…
…which led to the boy’s choice of another musical interlude from Hatari (1962)…
For daughter #3 we played the classic intro to Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1962)…
The bud chose the Genie-is-released scene from Aladdin (1990)…10,000 years and such a crick in the neck!
Then I chose a famous scene from The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)…
Daughter #1 chose another classic musical interlude from Pillow Talk (1959)…
And then we finished up with Lottie’s choice of a song from Frozen II…
By this time the little bud was falling sleep and we wound things up so that they could hit the road and go to bed. Daughter #1 stayed and we watched Last Holiday (2006) with Queen Latifah and L.L. Cool J. which is our New Year’s tradish.
dual personalities 