TulipGirl

So God glorifies Himself toward the creatures in two ways: 1. By appearing to . . . their understanding. 2. In communicating Himself to their hearts, and in their rejoicing and delighting in, and enjoying, the manifestations which He makes of Himself. . . . God is glorified not only by His glory’s being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it. His glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart.

–Jonathan Edwards

Nearly all the wisdom we possess — almost everything we know — can be summed up under the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves.

–John Calvin

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. . . . I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. . . . Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Selections from John 14

What About Mine?

When you cried as a little baby
Mom and daddy let you cry
Thought that that was the best way maybe
To make you grow all strong inside
Now that you’re older
You need someone’s shoulder
What about mine?

Growing’ up your mind was closed
For repairs for a long long time
You could feel the loneliness in your hairstyle
Just like mine
Now that you’ve grown up
You still need that shoulder
What the hell are you waiting’ for?
It’s mine

I promise not to chase you
Only to embrace you
I promise not to bug you
Only just to hug you all night

When you was a little baby
Mom and dad they let you cry
They thought that’s the best way maybe
To make you all strong inside
(Were they) wrong? (Yes)
Mine……What about mine?

–Paul Westerberg

Hear it Barlowised.

For the Mommy-Inspiration Files. . .

The Blanket Commands

I don’t like the word “resolution”–it has connotations that feel as if it is almost designed to set us up for failure. But I do like having the ritual of evaluating the past year, thinking of goals for the upcoming year, and daydreaming about the future.

So in that spirit, I’m recording my goals, desires and dreams as well as reflecting upon those from past years.

Goals:
1. Hold my nose with the bureaucracy, and actually take a couple of college classes. (Fingers crossed for a statistics class starting next Monday.)
2. Floss almost daily.
3. Feed my family in a healthier manner, and utilize meal planning to aid in this.
4. Minimize my sugar intake.
5. Read aloud more to the boys. (Hmmm. . . I’d really like to have certain books/series set as a goal, but not sure which ones to choose.)

Desires:
1. Get a bike (my Christmas present!) and take regular bike rides with the boys.
2. Go on a road trip with the family. Chicago? Arizona?
3. Weekly photos, in the spirit of Project 365–only downsized.
4. Simplify. Beautify.

Dreams (ala Mondo Beyondo):
Still pondering. . .

This is not a definitive list, and is open to updating and modification. . . *grin*

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“I must live a little each day, greet the sun as it rises and revel in its setting, swim naked, sip cofee and wine by the shore, generate new ideas, admire myself, talk to animals, mediated, laugh, risk adventures. I must try to be soft, not hard; fluid not rigid; tender, not cold; find rather than seek. I have been embraced by the sea, tested by its elements, emptied of anxiety, cleansed with fresh thought. IN the process, I have recovered myself.”

–Joan Anderson, A Year by the Sea

I’ve been listening to a series of lectures through UC/Berkley (hi, Dan!) on Human Emotion, and tonight’s lecture had some interesting tidbits about oxytocin and monogamy.

Very interesting stuff.

I’m in awe at how God has designed us, the complexities, the subtleties. Learning more about both body and soul feels like putting together a puzzle, one which I know I’ll never have all the pieces. The “picture” gets bigger and clearer, but I still know I’m only getting a glimpse of His amazing design.

What a glimse, too? Read this about Mommies, Babies and Attachment.

Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other. For, in the first place, no man can survey himself without forthwith turning his thoughts towards the God in whom he lives and moves. . . . On the other hand, it is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he have previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself.

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
Chapter 1, from sections 1-2

I know that wise brethren say, “You should not give way to feelings of depression.” Quite right, no more we should. But we do; and perchance when your brain is as weary as ours you will not bear yoursleves more bravely than we do. “But desponding people are very much to be blamed.” I know they are, but they are also very much to be pitied; and, perhaps, if those who blame quite so furiously could once know what depression is, they would think it cruel to scatter blame where comfort is needed. There are experiences of the children of God which are full of spiritual darkness; and I am almost persuaded that those of God

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