Oh the Inhumanity!!

It snowed yesterday. Like a lot of snow. It was snowing at 6 am when I got up and it snowed until 3:00 in the afternoon. Big fat snowflakes. To the tune of a couple inches. Blech. Just when we thought it was spring...

Thankfully, it has all melted and today will be sunny. Hopefully no more snow. At least I had something to cheer me up yesterday...

What have we learned?

I have finally given up on a full review of my time offline. If I have to catch up before I can blog again, I will never blog again. Some things don't change... I will attempt to hit the highlights.

Enter the Tomato...

And so what we have learned applies to our lives today,
God has a lot to say in His Book...

Larry, you know how I feel about that song... (the tomato is disgruntled)

You see, we know that God's Word is for everyone and now that our song is done we'll take a look!

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Let's start with what we've learned.

Internet addiction is real. It affects everything in one's life. And I was held captive by it.

The internet is not inherently bad. Using it is not generally a sin. But using it as an escape from your real life and an alternative to seeking God is, at the core, idol worship. As much as I hate to admit it, I was worshipping internet forums. It sounds ridiculous, but anything that replaces God is idol worship. The time away gave me perspective. I discovered this passage:

Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.
I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.
Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!
~Psalm 66:16-20

We (I) must reject the cherished sin in our lives!!! God wants to listen, to hear, and to answer us, but we need to give Him our praise & worship!

Lesson 1, check.

Lesson 2: Avoiding the internet saves me money!!

Part of what I was doing was looking at "neat things" online. And buying them. Lots of them. A lot of money has gone to diapers over the years, and currently it is yarn that has my affections. I can spend hours online just looking at yarn. I don't intend to buy any, but it somehow falls into my shopping cart. If I'm not online, I don't buy yarn.

Lesson 3: My children are interesting!

Having more time to focus on my family, I discovered how interesting it can be to have a conversation with my kids. They really are quite wonderful! And they get into less trouble when you don't have your face glued to a screen.

Let's move on to things that have changed since March 1...

Hosanna is 4 months old, teething, and eating solids!
Winter is gone and spring has finally arrived!!!
Everyone is finally healthy!
I took on the Sunday School Coordinator job at church!
Our pastor is leaving! :-(

My husband is learning Biblical Hebrew! And I can say the first 6 letters of the Hebrew alphabet! (Aleph, Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Hay, Vov!)

I'm sure there was more, but those are the big things.

I got a few things done while I was gone. I...

Finished knitting some socks.
Read 2 books!
Started organizing my craft/utility room.

So, those are the highlights & lowlights. Now I can blog again without feeling guilty!

This Provincial Life

I know this is not this promised update from my fast, but I have something to say.

Let's see if you can name these movie lyrics...

"Madame Gaston, Can't you just see it!?
Madame Gaston, his little wife!
No sir! Not me! I guarantee it!
I want much more than this provincial life!"

(The music swells...)

"I want adventures in the great wide somewhere,
I want it more than I can tell.
And for once it might be grand
To have someone understand
I want so much more than they have planned..."

Show of hands... who got it? Anyone who cut their teeth on Disney princess movies should be seeing poor sweet misunderstood Belle from Beauty & the Beast in their mind right about now. If you're like me, you heart soared during that song and you sang it too. I want so much more!

In true fairy tale form, Belle got what she wanted. She was saved by an unlikely circumstance, an ugly beast turned prince, and rewarded with a princess' life of ease. Servants to wait on her every need, and true love to boot. No more provincial life holding her down.

I watched this movie with new perspective today. I hadn't seen it in years, but could still quote it to you. It was a childhood favorite that I watched a hundred times (or more!) But it's feminist propaganda, wrapped in a pretty package, courtesy of Disney. Being a wife, raising children - you can do so much better! You want so much more! You deserve to have it all! Why would anyone want that poor provincial life?

What dangerous thinking. Is it any wonder that I (and so many other women) are dissatisfied with the simple life? You know what I mean. That restless feeling that you need more, that this isn't what you planned. Dear sisters, this is not what God intended for us.

1 Thessalonians 4:11 says, "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands." Moreover, Titus 2:4-5 adds these words specifically for us girls: "Train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." It sounds like the "provincial life", that simple way of living, was God's intent.

Sisters, do not be fooled. The princess life is not all it's cracked up to be. True blessings lie in the simplicity of real life. Embrace it. Teach it to your daughters. Don't surrender them to the lies of "harmless" fairy tales.

I'm Back!

Well, my 40 days are up and I will be back to my blog. Look for a series of posts about my time off, when I have a little time to spare. Hosanna has a nasty ear infection and is super clingy so I'm not getting a whole lot of spare time right now. I've only had time to delete my hundreds of e-mails and check in on Shelli's blog. Tomorrow I'm going to check in on Tara's blog. Y'all were busy while I was gone!