How's About Ya? That is a Northern Irish way of saying, "How are you doing?" Well, may I first apologize for the small blogging hiatus I took for the last few weeks . . . Tanner and I have been rather busy in school. We just finished our first round of assignments, and we are glad to have our essays all polished off and turned in. It was a privilege to study and prepare our essays as we learned new things about God’s word and how it affects and influences our daily lives.
I guess last time I blogged we were about to go on the C.S.
Lewis tour around Belfast. It was
an absolutely fabulous tour! We
were able to see Little Lea, the house C.S. Lewis grew up in and we most
certainly spotted a certain lamppost on the tour! It was amazing to see how much of Lewis’ growing up in
Belfast really did influence his writings. I am looking forward to reading The Pilgrim’s Regress, as C.S. Lewis composed this entire work in
Belfast documenting his return to the Christian faith after abandoning it for
some time.
School has been going well. I have thoroughly enjoyed all my classes, but I particularly enjoyed a class we had a few days ago specifically discussing the book of Isaiah. We focused particularly on the first chapter. For those of you familiar with Isaiah 1:17, then you probably know why I particularly enjoyed the class. The verse states, “Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” As I am learning in my Old Testament Prophet Books class, many prophets came with a message regarding pure worship of God, one involving a life wholly committed to God AND social justice. Isaiah is speaking on behalf of God to the Israelite nation when he addresses the issue of true worship. While the Israelites were busy with their worship rituals, making sacrifices and joining together in church services, the marginalized were completely forgotten about and disregarded. Why was this an issue worth addressing? In a predominantly patriarchal society, if the husband or father went missing, so did the protection and the provision for all other family members. If a modern day prophet appeared in our churches in America, would he bring a similar message? Please hear me say that church IS important and our bible studies ARE necessary. But perhaps we busy ourselves so much so inside the walls of the church that we forget what is decaying on the outside. It is my prayer that the church can continually be a people that love God and worship him through worship both within the church walls and out. As Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).
This past week has been bittersweet as we remembered Maria
on the 21st. I miss
her. I am sad that I haven’t seen
her in 524 days. I miss so much
the way Mom would do her hair in the sloppy side bun. I miss how she laughed; she could cackle with the best of
them. I guess I could go on and on
as I miss every part her, but perhaps what I miss the most is the joy she
brought. If I could only hear my
mom laugh again at Maria’s complete social aloofness, or hear my three sisters
playing together as beautifully as any three sisters could, or watch Caleb come
in the living room and pick Maria up only to spin her around a few times and
gently toss her onto the couch, or watch Will Franklin teach her Randy
Jackson’s “Yo Yo Yo Dawg” voice, or overhear my Dad lovingly explain to Maria
why she can’t just throw absolute tantrums every time she wants her way . . .
and her precious apologies were thoroughly endearing. Because of the beauty of Jesus, and the gift he brought us
with eternal life, confirms that I will absolutely see Maria again. I can’t wait to awake from this dream
to see the face of Jesus, the one who redeems and walks with us through the
valley of the shadow of death and the even the dark caves of doubt and
anger. What a glorious day! And, I know that Maria will be right
behind him, with her face covered in crumbs and her hair tossed up in a bun! What a marvelous sight!
So, what else has been going on with us in Northern
Ireland? Well . . . we are
currently on fall break and we are heading on Monday, October 26th
to travel down to the south of the Irish Isle. Hopefully we will make it to Cork to see the Blarney Castle
and maybe Tanner will kiss the Blarney Stone. I think I will carry a wet wipe with me so he can wipe the
germs off of the stone wherever he chooses to kiss it! We are road tripping with a few friends
from Bible College, so it shall be a blast! We will post photos when we get back!
Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. We are honored and blessed by your support in our adventure here in Northern Ireland. Please continue to pray that God will mold us during this year, and that Tanner and I will be willing to follow Him wherever He may call us.
