With love to you all from all of us!

So I’ve been going along and supposing that I had cleared all the comments coming in when Bekah called and said something like, “Mom, did you know there are over 70 comments waiting to be cleared?” Yikes! I’m so sorry everyone! I didn’t mean to leave your comments high and dry. I’ve cleared a bunch now, so they’ll see the light of day.

Those of you who have requested the Minister’s Wife….it’s coming!

Also, a few of you have asked for some personal advice. So, as soon as I can, I will answer those. (Meanwhile, I’ll leave those off the blog.)

And finally, keep on commenting! I’ll try to keep a closer eye on things.

Highlight of it all was meeting Mark and Grace Driscoll. Mark  addressed us twice, and he nailed it both times. We so appreciate them making the trip over. Grace looks like a much-loved woman (i.e., lovely), which made Mark’s ministry to us all the sweeter. (And she’s fun!)

Now for a few highlights:

From Pastor Mark: Are you more disposed to sin being religious or sin being rebellious? Good questions and easy to get nailed in that talk.  He used the prodigal son story for that one, and he pointed out that there is a perfect Third Son who is neither religious or rebellious. He gave a talk on masculinity, the need for men to be tough and tender. Tough to outsiders who would harm the wife, the home, the kids. Tender to the people inside the home.

Doug interviewed Mark, and I couldn’t help but feel like those two have a lot in common. Rachel summed it up when she said that Mark feels like a cousin or something. Familiar and almost family.

Nate reminded us to keep our eyes open to the wonder all around us and not to grow numb to all the glory in this fantasy world of ours. Ben spoke to us on how to pray, bringing all our desires to God just like He told us to do. Pestering Him about those things just like the neighbor in the parable who needs some bread.  Doug reminded us that we become like what we worship, which explains why our culture is so confused. When you refuse to acknowledge your Creator, and want to shape your own identity according to your own whims, you end up blurring every distinction. And God loves distinctions: male and female, heaven and earth, moon and sun, etc.

Heather spoke to the unmarried women about using their time wisely and the importance of connecting to community. My favorite point of hers was that when Nate made it clear to her that he was going to be living in Idaho, not near the ocean, she thought about all the best books she’d read and about the main characters she admired most in them. What would they do? So she did the same thing. The courageous thing!

Bekah urged the married women to think about what kinds of things their husbands would like them to do, or not do, that they have ignored. Rachel emphasized the role of the mother in making the home all about good fellowship with one another.

Hats off to Tora Whitling and her team who made the Femina conference attendees a beautiful and delicious lunch, and to Donna Foucachon who was such a lovely m.c. for our Femina conference.

Thanks to all of you who came! What a blessing you all were to us. And thanks to those who told us you were praying for us. We are so very grateful!

Our ninety-something degree weather is supposed to give way to nice fall weather in the seventies and sixties, so bring a sweater! And bring an extra bag for all your book and Amoretti clothing purchases! Happy Travels!

Some more good stuff from the note on Genesis 3:2-5: “The serpent tempts Eve by emphasizing God’s prohibition, not provision; reducing God’s command to a question; casting doubt upon God’s sincerity and defaming His motives; and denying the truthfulness of His threat. The woman gradually yields to Satan’s denials and half-truths by disparaging her privileges in adding to the prohibition (‘nor shall you touch it,’ v. 3) and minimizing the threat (v. 6).”

Okay, did you get that? I especially appreciated the first point. Don’t we often emphasize all the things we can’t do and forget all the blessings and freedoms we have in Christ? Eve had all the garden. Imagine! But she was tempted and deceived into thinking that God was a kill-joy. Of all things! In the midst of amazing, shocking, opulent abundance, she believed that God was short-changing her.

Don’t we sometimes attribute bad motives to God, assuming that “rules” just keep us from having fun? And we even re-word His commandments and blow off His threats, assuming that He will bless us no matter what. That’s how our mother Eve fell.

Good stuff for meditation.

A few weeks ago Nate shot a book trailer for The Dragon’s Tooth which I am linking you to here. I had to laugh at my son. Not only did he write the book and the screenplay for the trailer, he built the motel sign in his front yard (which Bekah designed) and gathered up the actors (starring Joel Courtney of Super 8) and the props, including my dad’s old black Cadillac, and directed the filming. All this to say, he’s a hands-on guy, which makes his writing all the more interesting and fun. Be braced for weird insects and lots of action!