The Appearance of Freedom

I just read this quote from Beth Moore's book Breaking Free: "Please allow God to engrave this truth on your heart: liberty and authority always go hand in hand."

This flies in the face of what we want to be true: that freedom has no strings attached. We hear terms like "pro-choice" when discussing abortion issues. Now we're hearing "freedom of marketing choice" when discussing removing the viability of the Canadian Wheat Board. I can think of no situation where our 'freedom to choose' does not have consequences and directly affect the choices and freedoms of others.

In abortion, the choice to 'solve a problem' completely overides any choices and freedoms that the unborn baby might have. In the Canadian Wheat Board issue, allowing grain to be marketed freely means that the CWB no longer has the same leverage in global grain trade. The majority of farmers want to have a CWB that can market on their behalf but the freedom of marketing for a minority of farmers can do nothing other than change the face of farming for all farmers.

It seems to me that our thinking is flawed in this area and that true freedom is elusive. Until I realize that Moore's statement is true. True freedom can only exist within the design and parameters of our Creator God. Anything outside of that only has the appearance of freedom.

I'm glad the view out the window is not too exciting in these early drab spring days because I can't see much past the muddy handprints. Guess what I've got to do...hopefully soon. I think I'll round up a couple of helpers - justice isn't it?

Boys, pedicures and the blessing of God!

Yesterday, R6 called his Grandma and asked her if he could spend the night over there. She agreed and so off he went after supper. P3 was a little upset but a little popcorn and a snowcone helped him get over it (I guess I'm not above bribing my kids *grin*).

So our evening with P3 was supposed to be really special - I played a game with him and was going to read some books but he curled up on the couch beside me and promptly fell asleep - and stayed sleeping until 8am this morning.

So I got a chance to a little pedicure and polish my fingernails.

And while that was drying, I continued my efforts to memorize Isaiah 61:1-4. I've got this much so far: "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the Lord has sent me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisonors, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who weep in Zion - ....

Oops, now I'm in trouble. I probably made some errors in the above but it's the best I can do so far.

One thing that jumped out at me was how the Lord's favor lasts for a year compared to God's vengeance which was but a day. I know that type of thing is elsewhere in Scripture where God's wrath is so short-lived compared to his long periods of grace and blessing. May I live in such a way that He can bless my life and the lives of my children and generations to come.

Good Friday!

I admit it. I'm not fond of pondering death. I would rather skip by Good Friday and get straight to Easter. But without Jesus' death there would not be hope for a single person on this earth. Without it, there would be no way of approaching God for forgiveness, for deliverance, for relationship. There'd be no room for optimism, no place for hope to root and grow. Faith in anything would become meaningless and grace unheard of. Many in this world may not acknowledge what Jesus has done for each of us, but they live with the blessings of it every day. May your Good Friday be a time to reflect on the only One who ever could die for us and truly bridge the gap to our Father God.

Today would be a good day to work on the classic song "Because He Lives". I know Praise Charts has an updated version but I'd like to give it a go and see if I can give it a little face lift of my own for our worship team in a couple of weeks. And then it's off to Ladger's parents for dinner.

Do you wonder why I have "Perhaps Love" playing?

Is it because I truly love that song and want to make certain you all get to hear it? Or is it because I've been asked to sing it at a wedding and need to learn it and thought this might be a good way? If you guess the latter, you'd be correct. I ordered a John Denver collection of songs and will probably take it off my blog soon.

BTW, I do like the song - but maybe not so much that I want it playing every time I turn on the computer.

So what am I busy with these days. Yep, I'm busy because I barely ever spend time on the computer any more - which is probably a good thing for the most part.

Today Rory is off to Kindergarten and I've had a good morning with Paxton - reading, fun little mazes for pencil control and some paper crafts.

This year has been a good one for homeschooling - Rory's doing addition up to 10+10 and has now started substraction. He's reading quite well already - I found the perfect Bible for him - he can read it easily and is enjoying it. He loves history - we've been doing a combination of Mystery of History and Story of the World. The other day we made volcanos in the dirt outside because we were studying the story of ancient Myceneans and how historians believe a volcano wiped out their civilization. It was really fun to see the reaction of the boys watching vinegar hitting baking soda.

It's amazing how well he's done considering he's in Kindergarten every other day. We are looking forward to homeschooling full time next year - it will be so much easier to keep a consistency and flow.