I haven't forgotten...

To follow up on a previous post:

I just think that the truth ought to be able to win on its own merits, and that it shouldn't be necessary to exaggerate the views of our opponents to prove that the truth is better. Consider 2 Tim 2:24-26, about speaking the truth in meekness. I thought Matthew Henry was helpful in understanding these verses.

I find myself thinking of a friend I had in college, who was your typical secular Muslim. He was converted his senior year. As far as I know, he became a Christian not because someone sat down with him and pointed out all the errors of Islam, but because he saw the truth in action via the witness and lifestyle of several Christian friends.

I'm trying to imagine how he would have responded if I had gone to him, before his conversion, and announced, "Islam is really a religion of violence!" I would think that he would have been insulted, just as I would be insulted if a Muslim came to me and tried to tell me what Christianity is all about. None of that was necessary anyway, as once he started reading the Bible, he was convinced just because, well, the truth is convincing, at least that's how I would like to see it. :) (And Mr. Friend from College, I don't know if you read this, but if you do, feel free to correct me if I'm misrepresenting you.)

Last point...I feel as though some (many?) think that there's secular Islam, and then there's "true" Islam as defined by the Quran, much as we have secular Christianity today versus "true" Christianity as defined by the Bible. But since the Quran is not inspired by God, then all of Islam's many variations are inventions of man, and no one branch of Islam is any more "true" than another. So we as Christians may as well concern ourselves with what the majority of Muslims think (don't forget to check out this study), since the radical few are no more relevant than the rest. I hope that makes sense.

Of course, this is just all my opinion, so please don't take it personally. I am almost hesitant to click "publish post" but I think (hope) that this is not written in a way to cause offense. :)

Coming soon: A New Blog!!! After I finish the series on my siblings, that is. (Mercy, I know you were hoping I'd forgotten, but you're next!)

Just In from the Hembd Household

Elijah: "Mama, Mama, Noah climbed all the way to the top bunk!"
Mama: *drops sewing project and races to bedroom*
Elijah, in a tone of wonderment: "I just don't know how he did it!"
Noah, huge smile on his face: "Mama, I seeping on a TOP!"

*sigh*

Life in Texas

I'm slowly settling in here in Texas. It's finally sinking in that I'm here to stay, and that this is not just another visit. And I'm mostly happy about that. :)

Life in Texas doesn't hold a lot of surprises, as I'd visited a few times during the last year, including in the heat of the summer. However, there have been a few things...like when I drove by a bank in northern Texas on my way down here, and the time/temp display out front read 105 degrees! I checked three times to make sure that I was reading it correctly.

Then, when I had just arrived, I went out to the car to get some things, and came upon an armadillo in the front yard. He went crashing away into the trees...I guess armadillos are rather clumsy creatures, which might explain the number of dead ones I see along the roads. Then the next day Ben opened the back door, then said "Hey, come take a look at this," and I peered over his shoulder to see a big mottled snake slowly slipping its way beneath the threshold of the door.

One thing I really appreciate--it's so nice to have other adults in the house! In Indiana it was just me and lots of small children, day in and day out...and while I enjoy children, I did miss having adults to talk to. With other adults here, I'm able to slip out the door for an early morning walk while the boys are still sleeping. Often as I leave the house, I meet my dad just coming back in from his morning run--he runs between four and six miles at a time. He's fifty-nine. :)

We do have quite a full house here--five adults and two children in a smallish three-bedroom house. :) I think we'll all be comfortable and happy here, but the initial settling-in process is challenging--Mom and I are having to do a lot of brainstorming to make it all work. We do have overnight guests from time to time, as well--at the moment we have Mr. Roland, from London, staying the weekend. And frequent dinner guests--last night we had my two married siblings over for dinner, and their spouses and children of course. We enjoyed hearing about my brother Caleb's recent trip to Kenya to visit the FP mission. He looked a bit hollow-eyed, as he'd just recovered from the amoebic dysentery he got on his trip, but he was still enthusiastic about his experience there.

All righty, it's picture time. :) Here is my super cute niece Olivia yawning. She is a sweetie. Shona, my other niece, was also present, but I didn't get any pictures of her, sadly.



And here's Olivia again, being held by my brother Jesh. Jesh is great with babies and small children.



Here's Caleb smiling politely as I interrupt his conversation with the camera.



And here he is again, deep in conversation with my brother-in-law Mark (not in the picture).



Must go, as we are headed out to dinner.

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!