nice site

How have I not come across this one before?

psalm-singing.org

Mostly from the good ol' Scottish 1650 Psalter, which is what my family's church uses.

I look forward to listening to more once I reach my parents' house...they have better speakers on their computer. :)

Coming soon....er, someday

...at some point, I would like to say a few words about how misrepresenting the views of our opponents is really counterproductive; as an example, I will discuss how misrepresenting the views of Muslims is not helping us to win any converts. (And that's the goal, right? Winning converts? As opposed to fear-mongering?)

If you're looking for some interesting reading regarding the real views of most Muslims, check out this Gallup poll research

Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think

But I won't get to this for a while, perhaps after I move. (Wow, I can't believe that I'll be moving in less than two weeks!) I'm busy busy busy going through things in preparation for my move, selling stuff via Craigslist, and of course I have to keep the house looking good at all times for showings. Lots of showings...apparently the economy isn't hurting this sector of the housing market. :)

NOTE: After some thought, I have deleted the anonymous comments. Sorry, I know that others had responded to those comments, so the "comment conversation" may not make as much sense now! If "Anonymous" would like to repost with his name attached, he (or she) is welcome to do so.

Procrastin...I mean Meet My Family, Part 5--Caleb

(Updated July '11)

I ought to be cleaning my house, but instead, I'm on the computer...so, next up is my wonderful brother Caleb.

Caleb is a Texas A & M grad.  For a few years, he worked as a technical writer for an oilfield services company in Houston; but just recently, he has become a student for the ministry in the Free Presbyterian Church, so he is studying full-time, and preparing to move to Edinburgh this fall, Lord willing.

Caleb and his lovely wife Leah have two beautiful little girls, and are expecting a third child next February, all being well.  I can't wait!  Sorry this is such an old picture, from when their oldest was a brand new baby.


I remember Caleb as being a very outgoing, active, and cheerful child, with a goofy sense of humor, and always lots of energy. Today, while he's still athletic, he's also a surprisingly studious and intellectual guy who can maintain a good conversation on topics ranging from politics, to history, to Biblical Greek. He is a talented writer and public speaker. He has a strong work ethic.

In high school, Caleb raised sheep, and pigs (won championships with both), and played soccer and ran track. When he left Indiana to go to college in Texas, he planned on becoming a veterinarian, and was a bit surprised to find himself at a desk job instead. But the job worked out well for him for a time.  Still, I think he is quite happy to have left that job behind, and to be studying for the ministry instead.

Recently, Caleb went to Kenya to visit the FP mission there. Despite coming down with a nasty case of amoebic dysentery, he enjoyed his visit quite a bit. He was especially impressed with Rev. and Mrs. Watkins (whom I also remember with fondness from the times they visited us in Indiana, years ago).

I'm trying to restrain my impulse to brag on my siblings here...I think I've done a pretty good job of just sticking to the facts, don't you? :)

Okay, I really really ought to go get to work now. Feel free to leave a comment.

Meet My Family, part 4-Jesh

Updated July '11

Next in line is my biggest little brother, Jeshurun.

Photo credits: Samuel Smith

Jesh (short for Jeshurun, Deuteronomy 33 etc.) is sort of the "man of the house" in my father's absence.  He works as a geophysicist in the oil industry, work which he enjoys, but which he says is a little too "consuming."  He works long hours, and occasionally travels to meet with clients or to participate in geophysics conferences; so we don't see much of him, but when he is at home, he still makes time to talk to and interact with my children, something I greatly appreciate.

Jesh is very level-headed, and has a good deal of common sense; you can always count on him to provide you with an intelligent, well-reasoned viewpoint on an issue, that is, if you can drag it out of him, since he is not quick to share his opinions on things. 

In his spare time (what little he has), Jesh is kind of a jack-of-all trades, capable of handling tasks of all sorts.  Past projects (not in chronological order): small-scale sheep farming, replacing the clutch on his own car (a project which involved suspending the car from the rafters of the garage), helping design and manage a website (now defunct) for FP youth, working as a butcher at a meat processing place, converting a wing of the church into living quarters for the pastor and his family (he did much of the work himself, including electrical, tile, etc.) and many more. Feel free to remind me of some of his more interesting projects that I'm forgetting. :)

Jesh's memory is quite impressive; for instance, he remembers every detail of our childhoods, including the details of many of the books we read as children. 

I think that's about all I can fit into this post. :)

Meet My Family, Part 3--Me!!

Updated 1/10

The next family member is myself. That's right, I'm the oldest sibling (of five). Hmm, what don't you already know?



Well, for those who don't know, I'm a single mom of two lovely little boys (5 and 2.5). Until recently, I lived in a college town in southern Indiana, where I worked as an in-home childcare provider. Then, last summer, the boys and I moved to Texas to be with my wonderful family. Initially I lived with my parents and two of my brothers, but then my parents up and moved to Israel. So now it's just my brothers and I, and my boys. I spend my time raising my boys and keeping house for my brothers.

My interests include: everything pertaining to children, their education, and their development; Reformed theology; classical music; hiking/nature/the out-of-doors; environmental issues; energy issues; and politics to a certain extent (I do have a degree in political science). I like to crochet, sew, and quilt with salvaged and recycled textiles. I run for exercise (someday I'd like to run another 5k). If I were rich, I would take singing lessons, and buy a piano. Hmm, I think that's about it. :)

ETA this is my 100th post! Woo-hoo!

Meet My Family, Part 2--Mom

Updated 1/10

This is my mom.

My mom is a career homemaker who raised and homeschooled five children. Mom is the middle child of three siblings. She was raised in a wonderful Christian home in Indianapolis. She is a highly intelligent person, and musically inclined--she has played the piano and violin since early childhood. After graduating from high school, she worked and took a few semesters of college (early childhood education) before meeting my dad and getting married.

Mom is more quiet and reserved compared to some of the more outgoing members of my family, but she is happy to talk once you get to know her.

Mom is good with languages. At one point, she was studying six!!! languages--Romanian, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, French, and Dutch. I asked her if studying all the different languages at once was confusing, and she said no, she really enjoyed seeing how the different languages compare. Hindi was especially interesting as it uses a different alphabet with 44 characters, with four different types of "T's" and four different types of "D's." It sounded pretty complicated to me! Now, of course, living in Israel, Mom is studying Hebrew.

Mom also plays the violin and the tin whistle--the last few times I heard her play, she was playing a lot of Irish folk music. (Did you know that she has perfect pitch?) She also designs and pieces quilt tops, and gardens.

Mom's mind works in unique and interesting ways (at least, I find them very interesting). She likes numbers and patterns. Once she designed a quilt top based on prime numbers. And just for fun, she recently worked out all of the repeating decimals up to 16 places. Even phonics instruction became an exercise in geometry, as she laid out grids of words that followed certain phonics patterns (all of her children became avid readers, for what it's worth).

Mom was happy to have me and my sons join her in her Texas home last summer. My brother Jesh finished school and moved in on the same weekend, so for a short time, Mom had three of her children at home, and the other two (married) within a short distance. But then Dad was invited to move to Israel, so she and Dad packed up and left. While Mom misses her family, she finds the challenge of settling into a new country to be quite interesting. She now spends quite a bit of time studying Hebrew, but still finds time now and then to post to her blog.

Coming soon: Meet My Family, Part 3!

My Family, part 1

Updated 1/10

Hello friends,

I have a wonderful family. I am happy to talk about my family to anyone who will listen. Sadly, opportunities to talk about my family do not arise as often as I would like. So I have decided that I will share a little more about my family on my blog.

Many of you already know my family and will not be learning anything new here, so these posts are for those who don't know anything about my family, and are curious. :)

This is my dad.

Dad is a Bible scholar. He works for TBS (the Trinitarian Bible Society), doing translation work, in conjunction with Rev. Goldby of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Just last November, he and Mom moved to Israel to work more closely with the translation team there. They now live in a small flat in Jerusalem just minutes from the Old City.

He is a highly intelligent individual who loves to study theology and Scripture (and politics). He is also quite outgoing and happy to engage in long discussions of said topics. He acquires books in large quantities. When he moved to Israel, he took "only the essentials" from his book collection, which meant six or seven boxes' worth. He has excellent recall of almost everything he reads (I wish I knew how he does it!) For exercise, Dad runs regularly, up to six miles at a time--not bad for an old man!

Dad grew up in Indiana. He's the oldest of five siblings. He initially got a bachelors degree in music (he played the trumpet) but then became a school teacher, and taught elementary and special ed for years. When I was in high school, he went back to school himself and entered the field of computer programming.

Dad and my family are happy to belong to the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. After years of being a member from a distance, Dad was finally able to get a computer programming job in Houston, so he and the family moved there. Shortly afterwards, Dad was happy to land his "dream job" with TBS. And he hadn't been working for them for long before he was transferred to Israel.

Coming up next: part 2--my mom!

Noah's New Favorite Book

Noah's new favorite book: My World, by Margaret Wise Brown.

I think Margaret Wise Brown must have paid a lot of attention to small children, because she really seems to know how their minds work. Noah, who has a favorite spoon that he requests at every meal, is fascinated by pages like "My spoon. Daddy's spoon. The moon belongs to the man in the moon." Sometimes he tries to pick the picture of the spoon off the page, and says, "Want it spoon. Can't get it spoon."

Which reminds me. The other day I found him with a board book about tractors. He was making distressed noises, and trying to stick his feet into the picture. "What's the matter, Noah?" I asked him. "Can't get in it," he whimpered.

Reminds me of a story Mom tells about when I was small. She found me ripping the page of a book, and asked me what I was doing. "Sure I can put my feet in the snow!" I told her. LOL

Elijah can read My World quite fluently. I think he has it half memorized, as he does most of the books in the house. Nowadays, when I go to the library, I pick out a few books just for Elijah, and refuse to read them out loud to him. "These are for you to read," I tell him, and he does. He does pretty well with "Step 2" readers.

More Noah cuteness (in my opinion, of course): his two new favorite phrases are "Maybe," and "I think." Often I will give him two options, for instance, "Noah, would you like to go a little more quickly, or would you like to ride in the stroller?" (He moves at a snail's pace.) He ponders this, then tells me "Maybe just walk." Or I say "Would you like Raisin Bran or Cheerios?" to which he responds, "I think Bam Ban." Raisin Bran is his favorite cereal. Strange child.

Go Buy Stamps

Hi friends,

Stamps go up in price by 2 cents on Monday. So tomorrow while you're out, pick up some "Forever" stamps.

You're welcome,
Sharon

p.s. What's that you say? Stamps are for Luddites? Ha, funny.

I like bad puns :)

So, lately, I have been immersed in the topic of baptism. :)

LOL okay, that was horrible, I know.

I have been attending a membership class at my church for a few months now, and recently spoke to a pastor about interviewing for membership. As I had expected, he told me that upon becoming a member, I would be expected to get the boys baptized (they haven't been). The problem is, I don't understand infant baptism, and never have, really.

So I have embarked upon a quest to "get" infant baptism. I have been talking to my pastor and my parents, and reading extensively from books, articles, and online discussions. The more I read, the farther I think I am from a conclusion (at least, the farther I am from the "right" conclusion, that is paedobaptism). I have encountered some good arguments and some bad arguments on both sides. As soon as I come across an argument that I think has settled the issue for me, I come across an equally convincing rebuttal of said argument. *sigh*

I found these two interesting sites, and thought I would share them:
www.puritanboard.com (discussion forums)
www.monergism.com (collections of articles, sermons, etc)

I'm also struggling with the issue of authority as a single mother. If I were married, then obviously I would have a husband/head to lead in these decisions, but as a single mom, am I entirely "headless"? What role do the church and my father play? Tough questions! (at least for me!)

Well, just thought I would share what's on my mind lately. I hope this isn't too personal! In case you're curious, here's the latest article I read:
A String of Pearls Unstrung
Feel free to let me know what you think of it!

EDIT: I did, after weeks of study, thought, and prayer, finally "get" infant baptism. More here.  By that time, though, I was in the middle of a move to Texas, so it wasn't till the following summer that my boys were baptized at the FP church in Santa Fe.