Jan

5

Christmas in Greenville and Michigan

Filed Under Events, Travel by Melanie | Leave a Comment 

Andrew was able to take off of work on Christmas Eve, so we headed down to Greenville Tuesday evening (Dec. 23). We spent Christmas Eve morning completing our Christmas shopping at some stores we don’t have in our area. We went to the Christmas Eve service at Hampton Park and spent time with both of our families.

Christmas morning we ate breakfast with my parents and then headed over to the Garland’s to open presents. Grandma Q. came over as well and brought her carload of gifts. Anthony is known for his creative wrapping. One present for Dad G. was about 6 feet tall and in the shape of a “T”. Dad unwrapped the top part and found an empty wrapping paper tube filled with paper towel rolls. He unwrapped the rest of the present and found an umbrella hiding inside. It was pretty funny. We went to lunch at BJU with both of our families. After lunch we opened presents with my family. We got a lot of nice gifts. Andrew’s favorite gifts were a George Forman grill, ESV study Bible, and several books from his Amazon list. My favorite gifts were two snowmen cross stitch books, a hot water bath (for canning), and a pressure canner and cooker.

Friday was a busy day. My family was busy packing for our annual trip to Michigan. Andrew and I attended the funeral for Mrs. Hadley, the mother of one of my good friends. We spent the evening with Andrew’s family.

Saturday was a long day that began at 4:30am. We followed my family for the 12 hour trip to Grandma and Grandpa Erickson’s farm. That area of Michigan had been getting a lot of snow, but Friday and Saturday were a little warmer and it rained so most of the snow melted. We did get a few more inches of snow halfway through the week.

Sunday was our only busy day of the vacation in Michigan. Grandma wanted her whole family at church so she could show us off. We took up 3 pews (most of the rest of the family lives in the same area, but they go to different churches). After church we headed over to Uncle Brian’s and Aunt Annette’s where we had our big dinner and then opened our gifts. Since there are so many of us we draw names for gifts. Some of the women like to do small things for everyone. This year my mom made caramel corn for all the guys and cookies in a jar for the women. Tricia made a small loaf of friendship bread for all the guys and Bath and Body Works handsoap or lotion for the women.

On New Year’s Eve we all went back to Uncle Brian’s for supper. Then some of us younger adults went into town to go bowling. We had a good time and enjoyed watching some of my cousin’s friends come up with creative ways to bowl. The funniest one was when the two girls (who were terrible bowlers) decided to roll the ball together. They got a strike. We got back to Uncle Brian’s about 9:30. Half of the group went downstairs to Uncle Brian’s home movie theater to watch an action movie and eventually everyone else went home.

The other days were pretty slow although there was always a house full of people, especially at meal time. All of us from out of town headed home Saturday morning. It is wonderful to have family we both get along with and enjoy spending time together.

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Dec

26

Meditation on Loss and Suffering

Filed Under Events, Ideas, Theology by Andrew | Leave a Comment 

Today we went to the funeral of a long-time friend’s mother. It can be hard to know what to think in such times. We rejoice that she is free from her years of suffering, and that she is rejoicing in the presence of her Savior. But we are tempted to ask why she had to suffer for so many years.

When someone who seems to genuinely love God suffers so much, I am often amazed by God’s grace to her. There is a sense in which such a person has been given a special task that is unusual, both in its difficulty and its reward.

Consider the most famous book in the Bible on suffering: Job. The story of Job describes the pain of a man who suffers for no apparent reason. His friends erroneously accuse him of wrongdoing, assuming that all suffering is the result of sin. Our culture has possibly gone too far the other way, assuming that suffering is never the result of sin. But there are still people who seem to suffer for no reason. Job apparently never learned why he suffered, but we benefit from his experiences through an inspired book describing both his suffering and the dynamics that initiated it. Clearly, the point of Job is that people, sometimes righteous people, suffer—that suffering isn’t necessarily the product of an individual’s sin.

Later, in John 9, Jesus’ disciples apparently hadn’t learned the lesson. They asked Jesus whether the man born blind had sinned or his parents had sinned that he should have been born blind. Jesus revealed their misunderstanding: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

This brief statement clarifies some of God’s working. Sometimes God lets people suffer so that He can show his power in them. God has given them a special honor by allowing them to suffer.

In attempting to be honest, some Christians will observe that no one is really a good or righteous person. Everyone has sinned and thus deserves to suffer in some sense. I think that this notion is wrong-headed and unhelpful. Of course everyone has sinned, but Christians need not do penance. Their suffering has been taken by Jesus. He has given them peace with God, so they can rejoice in hope of the glory of God, even through suffering. Their suffering isn’t easier to explain by observing that they still have a sin nature.

Instead it seems a great honor that God would let them suffer. If some people suffer merely so that the works of God could be displayed in them, then God is letting them be a special vehicle for displaying His glory. God takes his own glory very seriously, so that if God trusts a mere person with his glory, He shows great confidence in their ability to bring Him praise. Of course He provides special grace to those people, but it is nonetheless a great privilege. A vote of confidence from God is the best you can get.

I think this notion plays out in observation. Unbelievers seem sorry and confused, even despairing, when they are confronted with adversity. Christians who suffer from some physical ailment often have extraordinary ministry with others around them; their doctors and nurses and fellow patients remark about their generous and humble spirit. Their ability to affect those around them seems to grow exponentially. I can think of at least four individuals and families who seem to have been given this special ministry in recent years. They are the ones that seem to need ministering to, but they end up encouraging those who try to encourage them. Surely God is with them.

So it’s hard to know what to think and how to minister to those who have lost loved ones, especially after that one has suffered for years. We are naturally disposed toward sympathy, and perhaps some is warranted. But my sympathy is often counterpoised with wonder and admiration, that God would honor these people with such an important task. In this we can see how the Holy Spirit would command us to rejoice in sufferings. The death of such a saint is the final reward for successfully completing her calling.

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Dec

22

Nature

Filed Under Events, Pictures by Melanie | Leave a Comment 

We periodically get pretty windy days with strong gusts. Friday was such a day. Sustained wind was around 70 mph with gusts recorded up to 150 mph. It appears the wind knocked down an oak tree at a nearby house. You can’t really tell from the picture, but the inside of the tree is rotten. The tree knocked some of the roof work off, but no windows were broken!

Friday night I was working on supper and glanced out the window. A beautiful bright rainbow caught my eye. The sky above us was blue, although I could feel some sprinkles being blown from somewhere (another usual occurrence in this area).

Saturday Andrew and I took a walk in the wooded park a few blocks from our apartment. We were looking for deer but saw a skunk instead. We enjoyed watching it for several minutes. It was very entertaining. Unfortunately we didn’t have a camera, so we weren’t able to get any pictures.

Here are some pictures. The first one is from Thanksgiving. The others should be pretty self-explanatory.

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Dec

17

Fall School Semester

Filed Under News by Melanie | Leave a Comment 

Well, now that the semester is over, I’ll get around to writing about it. I wanted to do this months ago, but I never did.

My schedule was very different this year. I had 2 block classes on Monday, and a block class on Wednesday night. I had clinic Tuesday and Thursday at 10am, 1pm, and 6pm plus meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. I didn’t have anything on Friday. It was very nice.

My first class was Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). AAC is providing ways for people to communicate that can’t speak. It can be anything from using a computer to type, computer software with pictures to click that will speak, or pages with pictures and messages. The user points or clicks on the icon and the message is spoken (if using a computer) or the other person reads it. It’s a great way to open the doors of communication for those who cannot speak. I learned how to assess a person to determine if he qualifies for AAC and how to create an AAC system. There were several projects in the class. Every student’s project was a part of the whole. One project was to research quotes for various developmental disabilities to have on file for future use. Another project was to take a category and find a line drawing and a photograph of 10 items and make them in various sizes. This was helpful because there ended up being 28 different categories once everyone did their work. That will save a LOT of time when I need to use them since I won’t have to do all that work.

My second class was Autism Spectrum Disorders. It was taught by the same teacher that taught AAC. She was a great teacher, so it wasn’t too bad to have her for 5 hours a day. This was such an interesting class since autism is such a hot topic these days. I learned the different disorders in the spectrum, how to assess a person, and various intervention approaches. The projects in this class were similar to the projects in AAC in that each part was combined to form a great resource to have for the future.

My Wednesday night class was Research. I couldn’t take it through my department because of a schedule conflict (I was supposed to take this class last year, but couldn’t because of another schedule conflict). I ended up taking it through the education department. Let’s just say that it was a waste of my $1710. It wasn’t a waste of my time because we only met one hour out of the three (other than the last class where we met for 1 1/2 hours) and halfway through October the teacher canceled class for the rest of the semester. Her reason was so we could work on our research papers. I think I could have taught the class better than she did, and I haven’t even written a dissertation!! I’m thankful I learned how to write a review of the literature in undergrad, otherwise I would have struggled alot with this class.

In a nutshell, those were my classes for the semester. I’ll write another post on my interesting clinic experiences.

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Dec

10

Half-anniversary

Filed Under News by Andrew | Leave a Comment 

As of today, we have been married for 30 months (2 1/2 years for those who don’t want to do mental math).

We celebrated by . . . Christmas shopping. And going out to eat.

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Dec

6

Thanksgiving

Filed Under Events, Pictures, Random Thoughts by Melanie | Leave a Comment 

Andrew and I were able to go to Greenville for Thanksgiving. We were busy most of the time. Here’s a recap of our trip.

Tuesday: We headed south when Andrew was finished with work at 4pm

Wednesday: Andrew went to his parents’ house most of the day while I stayed at my parents’ house and helped my mom make food for Thursday. The Keys and Jessica got in that evening.

Thursday: Thanksgiving dinner #1 was at Grandma and Grandpa Boone’s house around 12:30pm. My family was there as well as Grandma and Grandpa, the Ridleys, the Keys, and Jessica. Thanksgiving dinner #2 was at Grandma Q’s house at 5pm. Andrew’s family was there plus grandma and a family Mom Garland works with.

Friday: Andrew helped Dad Garland and Anthony do some work on their new property. I stayed with my family and we went downtown for awhile. It was a beautiful day. We ate supper and spent the evening with Andrew’s family.

Saturday: I helped my parents pick out a Christmas tree. We went out to lunch and spent some time with Abby and Lincoln. We spent the evening with my family.

Sunday: We went to Hampton Park for church and ate lunch with Andrew’s family and our friend Erica. The Keys and Jessica left. I helped decorate the Christmas tree. We headed back to Radford around 3:30pm and had heavy traffic the first half of the trip. It took us more than an hour longer to get back.

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Dec

6

Does conservatism need religion?

Filed Under Ideas, Random Thoughts by Andrew | Leave a Comment 

Kathleen Parker has made herself plenty of enemies on the right during this election cycle. I suspect her column this week isn’t likely to reduce their numbers.

Here’s my question, and the premise of her argument: Does conservatism need religion? In particular, does conservatism need Christianity?

I think there may be several relevant points here, but let me offer some clarifying (to me) observations. First, American conservatism is somewhat different than, say, European conservatism or Islamic conservatism. I don’t think too many people in the West think well of Islamic conservatism–certainly not many in the Republican party. American conservatism is, well, American. It gains much of its ethos from a relatively short history. But that history is profoundly religious–indeed, Christian–for better or worse.

Second, though there are some “conservatives” who claim to be atheistic (e.g. Christopher Hitchens), it’s hard to imagine how they aren’t somewhere being inconsistent. If the conservative “tent” is big enough to house a guy who’s most famous book is “god [sic] is not Great,” I wonder if shrinking the tent might be beneficial. Several commentators have noted that Hitchens–and others like him–are not merely atheistic, they’re anti-theistic.

I’m not sure what Parker is trying to do by marginalizing the Christian aspect of American conservatism. If she’s trying to appeal to those from other religions, fine. But it doesn’t follow that we should write off the Christian side of conservatism to do so.

Her example also doesn’t seem all that strong to me. She cites abortion as a conservative plank that doesn’t require Christianity. To her thinking, you can be an atheist who objects to any arbitrary killing, including killing the unborn. The argument has some merit, but it isn’t clear why arbitrary killing itself is bad. Her example is of a person who thinks of life as continuous in some sense, thereby validating the worth of any living person (?). This is true, but the continuity of life is a pretty vague concept that could be employed to make all sorts of very non-conservative arguments. Christianity offers a very good reason not to kill babies–they’re made in the image of God. But the moral government of God also permits the killing of murderers (by the state), and the ruler-ship of man gives him authority to use the Creation for his purposes since the rest of the world is made “for him.”

My tentative conclusion is that Ms. Parker’s fundamental premise is flawed. I have a number of other reasons for thinking that American conservatism needs religion, and her argument isn’t working as a credible counterargument for me.

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