God is Good

A friend was telling me about a discussion she had been a part of that questioned the goodness of God because of assumed unfairness in who got beauty, brains, breaks in life, etc. Most of us probably wrestle at one time or another with reconciling the goodness of God and the presence of unfairness, or even evil. The problem of pain and suffering is real and touches us all. Some would deny the existence of God because of the presence of evil, pain, and suffering. "Evil exists; therefore, the Creator does not."

We cannot deny the existence of God but accept the existence of evil. To call something evil means there must be something good to measure it by. God is good, whether or not we believe it or understand it. Ravi Zacharias says, in his book Jesus Among Other Gods:

"If evil exists, then one must assume that good exists in order to know the difference. If good exists, one must assume that a moral law exists by which to measure good and evil. But if a moral law exists, must not one posit an ultimate source of moral law, or at least an objective basis for a moral law? By an objective basis, I mean something that is transcendingly true at all times, regardless of whether I believe it or not."

We live surrounded with God's goodness. He is good to send the rain that nourishes the earth to bring forth the flowers of spring. He is good to give the birds a song and people ears to hear their singing. He is good to bring the new life of a baby and to use a mother to continue His creative work. He is good to show us mercy and grace and His abundant faithfulness in our times of doubt. God is good, whether or not we believe it or understand it. 

Photograph: Golden Marguerite, Mark Bolton

allposters.com

Consistently Consistent Answers

Sharing a snippet from my book reading with you today.

"There is an immense difference between a worldview that is not able to answer every question to complete satisfaction and one whose answers are consistently contradictory. There is an even greater difference between answers that contain paradoxes and those that are systemically irreconcilable. Once again, the Christian faith stands out as unique in this test, both as a system of thought and in the answers it gives. Christianity does not promise that you will have every question fully answered to your satisfaction before you die, but the answers it gives are consistently consistent. There may be paradoxes within Christian teaching and belief, but they are not irreconcilable."

Ravi Zacharias

Has Christianity Failed You?

Painting: Bench ~Edward Noott

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Today I reflect on simple thoughts and simple pleasures. My leads are somewhat similar to others in The Simple Woman's Daybook group, yet a bit different as well.  

A picture to share... 
from my kitchen mantle

 Outside my window...
A gray-sky day. The lone robin has found a misses.

Noticing the sound of...

birds singing in spite of the grayness of the day. They remind me to do the same.

Click here to go ther

Looking to the ways of my household...
We did some cleaning up outdoors this week, some spring pruning--majorly! The holly bushes in front of the house had become holly trees and had practically covered the windows. It all looks so bare now, but new growth will come. Actually, we're wondering about just pulling them out of the ground and doing something entirely new there. Spring has a way of coaxing me outdoors to get things spruced up. Once June comes with its heat and humidity, though I have no interest in being outside.
  

This coming week I'm looking forward to...
seeing my daughter Laura and her husband John next weekend. :-)

Thinking...

about the wedding we'll be attending this afternoon. Looking forward to seeing some homeschooling friends from the past. 

Thankful for...
families along life's way who have been a testimony of God's redeeming grace.

From the kitchen....

 Saturday is big breakfast day at our house. This French Toast is made from French bread cut diagonally. It's delicious with apples or peaches, as you prefer. If you use canned peaches they may need to be sliced a little thinner, depending on the brand. Drain them before using. If you use apples, they can be sliced, dipped in salt water, and stored in the fridge overnight for a quicker prep in the morning. The recipe is for two servings, so you'll need to increase it for a family.

French Toast with Apple Topping

1 peeled and sliced apple
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Saute apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon in butter over medium heat until apples are tender.

1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 tablespoon or so of cinnamon sugar
4-5 slices French bread, cut on the diagonal about 3/4-inch thick.

• In a shallow bowl wide enough to dip bread -- mix egg, milk, and vanilla.
• In a large skillet or griddle, melt butter over medium heat.
• With tongs, dip both sides of bread in mixture.
• Cook bread until golden brown on each side. Sprinkle topside with cinnamon sugar.
• Serve with sauteed apples and maple syrup, if desired.

Recipe from Cooking for 2 Fall 2008

A thought from my Quiet Time....

James 1:3-5--Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

I find it interesting that in the midst of trials and troubles James instructs us to ask God for wisdom. My own inclination is to ask for escape. It's often difficult to think biblically when the trials are pressing in. James knows that we need to seek wisdom as we go through the trial so that it can have its intended result--growth and maturity toward Christlikeness. Trials send us in that direction.

Reflecting creativity, in His image…

Redecorated the Book Nook at church for a springtime look.
 

I'm learning....
to think about who God is rather than what my circumstance is.

Currently reading...

Should finish Has Christianity Failed You by Ravi Zacharias this weekend.  One more seed-thought from it to share with you.

To be sure, the problem of evil is a problem. But to reject the only One who can change the natural proclivities of my heart so that I learn to live and think and work like him is to perpetuate evil, not eliminate it. For Job, and the others mentioned in this chapter [of Has Christianity...], the incoherence they struggled with was not so much the incoherence of suffering in a world where God was in control but the incoherence of trying to explain the world if there is no God. To walk away from one's faith because of unanswered questions about evil is to walk into a storm of unanswered questions about good.

You may also enjoy reading what other simple women are saying and doing these days. Just click here to go to The Simple Woman's Daybook site. I'll be posting my journal on Saturdays. Do stop by again.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Today I reflect on simple thoughts and simple pleasures. My leads are somewhat similar to others in The Simple Woman's Daybook group, yet a bit different as well.
 
A picture to share...
 My reminder each morning as I awaken and look across the room.

Outside my window...The daffodils have pushed out of the ground about an inch! Spring is on its way! Oh, the grandeur and glory of God's creative hand in the rhythm of the seasons!!

Noticing the sound of...

Click here to go there

Singing birds in the bright sunshine!

Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
     Praise Him in the heights!

Mountains and all hills;
         Fruit trees and all cedars;
Beasts and all cattle;
         Creeping things and winged fowl;
Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Let them praise the name of the LORD,
         For His name alone is exalted;
         His glory is above earth and heaven. 

Psalm 148: 1, 9,10,11,13

Thankful for...
the oneness I have with My Beloved that both us hold very precious and that neither of us are willing to lessen for any cause.

Looking to the ways of my household...
Mostly routine goings on, but I did get the stove and microwave cleaned, also all the upholstered furniture vacuumed with some help from My Beloved. That's eleven pieces of furniture--cushions off, some brush-dusting in the tucks and crevices, and wondering where all the dust comes from! How nice to find one of Elijah's blocks from his Christmas visit under a sofa cushion and some goldfish crackers in the rocker in the room where he was rocked at night. Sweet visions of my precious growing-so-quickly-out-of-babyhood Elijah.

WV Quilt Shop Back Room

This coming week I hope to...
go to the WV Quilt Shop. It's in a charming old hardware store with wooden floors and tin ceiling, a turn of the century brick building. Michelle has a wonderful back room with table after table of wonderful sample cuts that you can purchase by the pound. I'm hoping to find some pieces that I can fussy cut and use as the center interest of some quilt blocks.

Thinking...

About my visit to my hurting friend's home this afternoon.

From the kitchen....

Apple Streusel Muffins this week. Sharing the recipe with you.

Apple Streusel Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1-1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups chopped peeled tart apples

Streusel Topping
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cold butter

• In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• In another bowl, whisk the eggs, butter and vanilla.
• Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened (batter will be stiff).
• Fold in apples.
• Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.

• In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.
• Cut in butter until crumbly.
• Sprinkle over batter.

• Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
  Yield: 1 dozen

A thought from my Quiet Time....
Reading through Titus and instruction about relationships between older and younger women. Chapter 2, verses 3-5

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

The purpose? So that God's Word will not be dishonored. It's not about me. It's about Him.

Reflecting creativity, in His image…

This week I designed another quilt on my own in EQ6. (Our church is growing with new babies!)  I'm using some of the same safari fabric that I began using in Elijah's quilt and used some of it in the last baby quilt. Looking forward to pulling different fabrics together for this one. 

I'm learning....
that life isn't fair. Shouldn't I already know that?! I do, but it's accepting it and being content with it that I struggle. I'm realizing more and more that God wants me to ask Him for His grace to live with unfairness and be content in how He is allowing my life to unfold. His grace is sufficient, if I will seek it. I'm doing that more.

Currently reading...

Still reading and pondering Has Christianity Failed You by Ravi Zacharias. A snippet to share today: 

The decisions we make during the throes of wrenching emotion sometimes have great ramifications. Thus, skeptics often cavalierly charge that those who believe in God only do so out of psychological need or emotional fear. How easy it is for them to choose to ignore the fact that many skeptics are skeptical about God for the equally distorting psychological reasons of hurt, pride, or just plain self-aggrandizement.

You may also enjoy reading what other simple women are saying and doing these days. Just click here to go to The Simple Woman's Daybook site. I'll be posting my journal on Saturdays. Do stop by again.

Stymied

I finished piecing the baby quilt top today, but am stymied now as to what quilting design to use. I've sandwiched the quilt and pinned it, and hung it on the wall in my sewing room, hoping to get some inspiration. I don't have much experience choosing a quilt design, and I'm not really very creative. I've paged through magazines and surfed the Internet trying to get ideas, but as far as I've gotten is "quilt as desired," or that I should choose a design that relates to the quilt theme or its design. The theme is safari, with baby and mommy safari animals in the inner blocks and babies on the border fabric. The coordinating fabrics lend an African flavor to it, too, and from what I've read, I suppose the geometric pieces could blend into an African design as well. But I can't seem to come up with a simple quilting design that would complement the baby safari theme (emphasis on simple!). Maybe I'll just meander all over it. Any suggestions?

Other than all the thinking I've done today on the quilt, the rest of the day has been a here-a-little-there-a-little kind of day. Got the laundry done, went out for lunch with my beloved as we ran a few errands, and stopped in at the church to pick up a box of books delivered for The Book Nook. Some good reading ahead with Will Medicine Kill the Pain by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Home-Making by J.R. Miller. Will give a book review when they're finished. I'm currently reading Has Christianity Failed You by Ravi Zacharias. A thought from last evening's reading that's cause for pause:

"Who is Jesus? He is the Son of David, the Son of Man, the Son of God, and the Savior--not to defeat Rome, not to take care of "the other guy," not to abolish the other political party--he is the Savior, the only one who can deliver us from the tigers within our own deceitful hearts. This is Jesus. Knowing who he is makes the journey to a strong faith rational, even though the way is punctuated with times of struggle. In our ethnic, human, and relational conflicts, we can see what happens when we displace the one who transcends all these issues, and in breaking our relationship with him we break it with each other and ultimately with ourselves. This rupture of serious ramifications often leaves us saying that our faith has failed us. Rather than pausing to see what we have done to the content and object of our faith, we lay blame at the doorstep of God."