Nick has really been blessed by the Youth Ministry there, and [Youth] Pastor Gabe is really a neat person.

We dressed as we always do. Wolf and R.T. were by far the best dressed men in the place, including pastoral staff. We got a lot of comments about how cute R.T.’s suit was, since it was such a novelty to them.

Being aware of the climate there, and working towards balance with a growing-up young man of 17, we allowed Nick to wear his “good jeans” with a button shirt and dress shoes. Not what we would choose, but still a step above the general dress of the congregation.

(The photo is my handsome son, but unrelated to the specific outfits mentioned in this musing).

We came home afterwards, and most of us began changing out of our “church clothes” into more casual apparel for a relaxed afternoon.

Nick, on the other hand, was going to a “dress rehearsal” with the mock trial team. He began changing to dress up - into his suit and tie.

Hmm.

To me, this would indicate that the mock trial competition is more important than God. Or that making a good impression on the “judge” is more important than making a good impression on the Lord.

It’s not a new concept, of course, in our house. You can read all about it in Wolf’s post Are You Ready?

A friend shared this on her Facebook page, and after reading it I decided it was something I needed to do, as well. Click the graphic to read the original post over at Hannah’s Harvest.

This is my modification of the explanation my friend posted:

I have spent an indecent amount of time on Facebook, and other various websites, during 2011. Only a small percentage of that time was truly nourishing to my soul. With the intention of reconnecting to my kids and husband, and to the soul-nourishing activities here in my home, I am going to come online only once a day, for 30 minutes, to check Facebook, email, blogs, etc., from December 20th – 31st.

If you need me, call or text me. I’m not turning off my phone.

I am practically twitching already just making the decision. What will I be like tomorrow?? But I believe that this ‘Reset’ is necessary for me, and will end up feeling very much a gift.

Would you like to join me in this Reset? I double-dog dare you!

Blogging will continue. Although that is technically “online” as well, it is not a significant amount of time, nor is it a mindless waste of my time and energy.

I have made various decisions to “spend less time online” and so forth. But somehow, with no specifics, and no accountability, it has never really taken hold.

Rather than going off Facebook altogether, which I have debated, this seems like a good way to, well, reset my thinking and behavior patterns. And it comes at a perfect time, when we are celebrating the birth of Christ, and enjoying time with family and friends.

Merry Christmas!

NOTE: If you haven’t started an Advent activity yet, I’d still recommend grabbing a copy of Truth in the Tinsel: An Advent Experience for Little Hands (it’s only $4.99!) — there are a couple of great options for condensed schedules that let you get in all the most important elements.

We are on the full 24 day schedule, although we have fallen a couple of days behind. I am hoping/planning to at least get/stay caught up to within one day, so that we can finish on Christmas.

The kids have had a lot of fun cutting, coloring, gluing, and painting.

Most of the projects have been fairly flat, so it was simple to just glue them onto pages for their Advent Books. Some required a bit of creativity… And tools.

Luckily, I have a handy helper. Wolf took two of the contour clothespins and sliced them down into four flat “person forms” (plus some scrap). These were then gleefully decorated as Mary (Day #5) and Joseph (Day #9).

These turned out to be the kids’ favorite projects so far.

We’re having a great time reading through the story of Christ in child-size bites, and the crafts have been enjoyed by all – even the craft-phobic mama.

There are the obvious “finer points” debates, about exactly how long a skirt should be, or what the appropriate length is for sleeves.

There are some more significant choices debated, about whether women should wear pants, how to handle swimming suits, etc.

And there are some totally philosophical arguments. One extreme says that “they” are being vain about their appearance and that’s not a modest attitude; while the opposite camp insists that a woman should make herself look good to appreciate the gifts God has given her and to please her husband (among other reasons), and “they” are getting holier-than-thou and being proud of being frumpy. Whew!

One thing that I realized from all this debate is that we are spending a lot of time and energy talking about this, thinking about this, and writing about this.

What if we didn’t have to?

If you’re a “conservative Mennonite” like these ladies, you and your friends don’t have to worry about debating the finer points.

While you may or may not consider the group’s “dress code” to be 100% in line with your deepest personal beliefs, you, and everyone else at your church, have agreed to follow them.

So you know what length your skirt and sleeves should be.

No stress, no debate.

And, obviously, they are modest.

That seems to me like a valuable thing. One less distraction on the path. One less question that the Enemy can use to start a nagging concern in the back of your head, or an afternoon debate over coffee with a friend.

Couldn’t that time and energy be put to better use? Studying Scripture? “Debating” how to implement a new service project? Or playing with your kids?

Me? I’m willing to die to self a little more, for that gain.

There is an application installed on my computer that prompts us to tell it who logs on each time, that tracks our online usage.

I have a scanner in my house, and we record all our purchases.

Why??

Do I do it for the rewards I earn, or the entries into their big sweepstakes?

Hardly.

I do it as a Christian witness. And a whole foods witness. And a simple living witness.

You get the idea.

Everyone has heard that we can “vote with our pocketbook,” and I am a huge proponent of this. Surely the catchup industry will catch on if enough people only buy the ones with no High Fructose Corn Syrup.

But this is a chance for my “vote” to carry even more weight.

These consumer panels (formerly Neilsen, the name more folks recognize) are one of the main ways the industry measures consumer behavior and opinion.

So I was excited to have the opportunity to “tell” the powers that be that we don’t buy disposable everything, that we don’t buy products with High Fructose Corn Syrup in them, that we don’t bankrupt ourselves buying a mass of consumer goods in November and December – and for that matter that we did not buy anything on “Black Friday.”

Furthermore, I’m excited to have someone tracking my Internet usage. While they will see more time on Facebook than I’m exactly “proud of”, they will also notice that there is not an awful lot of online shopping, and no visits to the entertainment sites, “gossip” news sites, racy clothing stores, bootleg downloads, or crude humor sites.

I certainly have nothing to hide, so I’m grabbing hold of this opportunity to let the Light shine!

If you’re interested, you can sign up at NCP Online, and be placed in a pool from which future panelists are randomly drawn.

(The image is from InterVangelist, a website I know nothing about).

I had a raging migraine. After two doses of my migraine prescription, and assorted home remedies, I had barely reached the stage where I felt like I wasn’t going to keel over.

The kids were scheduled to go to the Build and Grow clinic at Lowe’s. Normally I would have just cancelled the outing, but during the first three weekends in December they do a three-part train project. So missing today would have meant losing out on that whole series.

Conscripting Nick to drive, we packed up and went.

As always, the kids had a fabulous time building their project. And of course they enjoyed the face-painting and balloon sculptures by the resident clown, Scoops.

Afterwards, we were swinging by WalMart for some glue.

Now, going to WalMart on a Saturday is high on my “forbidden” list. And with a migraine, it was even less appealing. But we needed glue for our Advent projects (yeah, I have some somewhere, but it must still be packed), and I didn’t want to fall three more days behind by waiting until Monday.

As Nick drove past the first set of doors, we noticed the Salvation Army bell-ringer. Since they are so ubiquitous, and I don’t have any particular emotional attachment to the Salvation Army, they are pretty easy to ignore.

The we pulled up towards the second set of doors. We saw two very young Marines, and two equally young Sailors, standing in their dress uniforms.

They are harder to ignore. (See my post about Matt Broehm)

Nick waited in the car as the Littles and I went up to the store. As we approached, one of the Marines was explaining their Toys for Tots collection to a woman who had just come out of WalMart.

I asked him if he would mind explaining it to my kids.

He crouched down to their level, and told them in a simple and caring way that they were collecting toys to give to little boys and girls who didn’t have a mom and dad to get presents for them at Christmas.

As he finished, the other woman turned to me and asked if we were going into the store. When I said that we were, she held out $20, and asked if I would be willing to buy some toys for the collection while we were shopping.

I agreed, and had Jewel take charge of the money.

We had a great time inside, shopping for things that were a good value, so that the needy children could get as much as possible. With the $20 we were able to get two multi-packs of Hot Wheels cars, and a nice set of mini dolls and clothes in a case. The kids were delighted to put the toys in the collection box (and pose with the young military men) as we left.

Personally, I kept getting teary-eyed over the fact that a complete stranger would hand me $20 and a charge like that. Really, at WalMart, do people often hand cash to strangers?

What a blessing!

I’m sure part of her trust was simply the fact that I had two little kids, and we were showing interest in the Toys for Tots. But combined with past experiences, I tend to think that my manner of dress also contributed to her level of comfort.

Our silent witness makes an impact when we least expect it.

Migraine or no, I wouldn’t have missed that experience for the world.

The book has an easily broken-down shopping list of supplies – most of which are things you’re likely to have around the house anyway (or can substitute for such things).

Each day has a Scripture reading, tagged to a “clue” that the kids find in their Advent Calendar (several options for how to do that).

Then there’s a fun craft project for the kids to do, along with some other discussion ideas for you to use (or not, or as you see fit).

The projects are set up to be done as a series of Christmas Tree ornaments, but for a variety of reasons, we’ve decided not to go that route.

We’re going to “flatten” everything, and mount each artwork on a sheet of paper. Then each of the kids is going to assemble their 24 projects into an Advent Book (in a 3-ring binder, to give it some protection), which can be stored away in their memory box, or enjoyed again next year, or whatever other use we can think up!

The photo is the Littles at work on Day 1 – a candle, for Jesus, the Light of the World.

I’m not going to post our project each day, partially out of respect for the book’s copyright (go buy one, I tell you!). I’ll post perhaps weekly or so, with the highlights.

Who else is doing something special for Advent?

No, I don’t mean December 25th.

CHRISTmas is when we celebrate Jesus’ birthday, of course!

I mean the Feast of St. Nicholas, on December 6th.

If you’re interested in what we do, and why we do it, let me direct you back to a few earlier posts on the subject, rather that reinventing the wheel this year (both on this blog and on our earlier family blog, Life on the Road):

• Last year’s post, St. Nicholas is Coming
• Who is this St. Nick guy, anyway?
• Less Presents, More Presence

I was hoping we’d be able to take up an Advent tradition this year… But of course rather than being settled in Biloxi after being here for over a year, instead we’ve moved again. Though still in Biloxi, I’m also still unpacking!

Maybe I can at least make a start of it. Any suggestions?

This amazing photograph was taken at Vanderbilt University hospital a few years ago. It was taken during a surgery of a baby in the womb and clearly shows the baby grabbing the finger of the doctor. Indeed, life does begin at conception. And indeed, each life is precious to God.

This is not a political blog.

I typically do not post political issues here. But this is not a political issue. This is a Sanctity of Life issue. This is a matter of speaking for the little ones who cannot speak for themselves.

When we vote tomorrow, there is a little bit of “separating the men from the boys” that will show up from the previously united “Pro-Life” camp.

Let me back up and explain.

Those on the other side of the issue altogether call themselves “Pro Choice.” We, looking at the statistical fact that Planned Parenthood does 99 abortions for every 1 adoption referral, choose to label them with a more accurate “Pro Abortion.”

So over here on our side of the issue, there are a whole bunch of people running around calling themselves “Pro Life.”

But when push comes to shove, and they have a chance to vote for the Personhood Amendment, the truth starts to come out.

They are not going to be “Pro Life” if it inconveniences them. If they can’t use their favorite form of birth control anymore, or dispose of their artificial insemination embryos.

They are, it turns out, only “Anti Abortion”.

There’s actually a pastor that has made a prominent proclamation about how he, naturally “is Pro-Life”, BUT…

Then he gives a bunch of cop-out arguments.

He says, “… but what is fertilization?”

Who are you, Bill Clinton?

Please listen to (watch, but it’s a radio program) Dr. Richard Land discussing Amendment 26. Dr. Land has served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission since 1988 and is an ardent supporter of Amendment 26!

He makes an unassailable case for the beginning of life, and the rightness of the cause. He then goes on to explain the necessary simplicity of 26, and the way our legal and governmental system works – laws will be drafted to codify how this law is implemented, and how each of the various hypothetical situations people raise will be addressed.

I would also encourage you to read An Examination of Mississippi’s Proposition 26 by Steven Wedgeworth. I’m going to give you a few highlights, but I strongly suggest you take a moment to read the post through in its entirety. It is very well-thought-out, very well-written, and a very compelling piece of truth.

First, a bit of definition:

“Personhood” in this conversation is a legal consideration. We are not dealing exclusively with biology or even sociology or psychology. There is a long-standing historical record to testify that slaves were once not considered legal persons. Though they were living, breathing, and thinking human beings, they were nevertheless not legal persons. This changed in America over time, and the change in the point of view was clearly influenced by moral, religious, and philosophical concerns. Even trickier is that fact that, today, Walmart is considered a legal person! It is important to remember that Prop. 26 is concerned with “person” as used in the MS bill of rights.

He clearly states the response to the very sorts of points I was discussing above. This, simply put, is where the rubber meets the road:

The fact that Prop. 26 might have implications on other areas of life is not unimportant, but those implications are not themselves enough to settle the issue. One really ought to decide whether or not he agrees with the assertion of Prop. 26 first, and then he may examine the implications. After all, if an entity is a person, then the fact that its rights might conflict with yours is simply a reality.

Complicated legal situations may arise when the rights of multiple persons come into tension with one another. This is true already, and Prop. 26 is actually not adding to this complexity at all because those issues already exist and personhood is currently undefined. Any possible “difficult case” that I’ve heard as an argument against Prop. 26 can still exist without Prop. 26. Prop. 26 does not create those difficult cases.

Further, it would seem to me that the proper way to move forward regarding legal conundra is not to deny personhood to one of the parties involved, but rather to continue the conversation, adding relevant clarifications and protections for the specific situations. Prop. 26 would not settle all or even any of these difficult scenarios. We would still need to discuss power of attorney, as well as the State’s duty to protect. But we must do that anyway.

And a tidbit about Roe. I had no idea!

Roe v. Wade actually has some insane logic on precisely this point. It says that, since it is unclear when life begins, it will decide to protect the mother’s rights up to a certain point in development and then after that point, it will protect the rights of the child in the womb. This is law by coin flip. In no sane universe does it make sense to settle a genuine legal dilemma by denying personhood to one of the two parties. We should either explore ways to respect the rights of all persons or clearly express our principles for limiting one party’s rights in a given scenario. In no case is it sufficient to simply deny personhood.

Well said! Thank you, Mr. Wedgeworth!!

And, additionally, for those who suggest that we Vote No and go back to re-write and clarify – although those concerns are amply debunked by both Dr. Land and Mr. Wedgeworth – one more item to consider:

I was initially not very motivated to participate in this discussion because I saw Prop. 26 as overly limited (exactly the opposite of its critics’ claims). However, witnessing and participating in a few recent conversations has proven to me that more than the specifics of Prop. 26 are actually at stake. Rather this is a strategic opportunity to state and clarify pro-Life principles as well as a consistent Christian legal thought. And if the national media is any trustworthy guide, Prop. 26 will be influential upon future legal decisions across the US.

Please go to your polling place tomorrow, and vote for LIFE. Go, even if you do not cast a vote on any other office or issue!

We pretty thoroughly discussed the fact that this was simply a fundamental Worldview issue, and that it is not the proper mindset for a Christian – we should be the hands of Christ, reaching out to help our Brothers and Sisters bear their burdens.

But I had an interesting thought about how flawed that idea is, even from a purely secular, “pragmatic” point of view.

If people should only help me move if I had previously helped them… Why would I have helped them, when they hadn’t already helped me?

Nobody would ever help anybody, because nobody wants to be “out” a “credit” by helping someone who hadn’t helped them first.

And maybe that’s just why the world is the way it is. People don’t know their neighbor, or welcome new folks to the neighborhood. A crime can be committed in plain site and nobody will step up and help the victim.

Whether you do it out of Christian charity and love, or simply a blissful New Age “Pay it Forward” mentality, you need to do it.