Multitude Monday - 1000 Gifts ~ Reconnecting

Wow! I knew it had been a few weeks since my last Multitude Monday post... I didn't realize it had been nearly a month. Internet has been bipolar in this country for the last month. First, we didn't have it at all. Since then it was either really good or really bad, depending on the moment; those moments I have actually had to blog have coincided with the bad ones. WAWA-ed (West Africa wins again) yet once again! We've even thought things were back to normal again... only to have our cyber traffic crawl to a halt, yet another time. So, who knows?

I have a long list to post - it has been four weeks, ya know! - so I won't chatter along too much, but I did want to mention two thoughts that have been rumbling and rampaging about in my mind since hearing them in church yesterday:

1. At our morning, Nigerien, service, the preacher reminded his listeners that "...if you just show up to listen to the teaching and are not actively using your gifts or seeking to minister to others in the church family, then you really don't belong... you aren't really a member of the family."
2. At the evening worship service, generally a gathering of expats where we worship in a bit more western (and natural for me) style, the speaker asked if anyone actually knew what it was like to stand before real royalty... you know, like they show in the movies... where you immediately bow or kneel or do something to lower and humble yourself and your position simply because you are in the presence of one who is undeniably recognized as awesome and powerful and above you?

I'd like to share more about my mental rumblings and rampagings... and will later this week... but first wondered:

What is your initial reaction

to either one (or both) of those thoughts?

this week's gratitude list:

(#s 1827 - 1879)

a lovely cool season this year

the fun of feeling the season beginning to change

beautiful maniac guard dogs who don't let anyone near the house without letting us know

the encouragement of a spiritual life conference

the challenge of a spiritual life conference

listening to friends give God the credit and the glory for all He is doing... all over this country

soft-hearted teens

Sunday morning breakfast - delivered

Education conferences

being reminded of what I already know... and learning some new stuff, too... about those amazing creatures called "third culture kids"

big boys making decisions - even when I don't agree

the priviledge of discipling

an opportunity that was not only unexpected... it was undreamed of

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman - many fun nights with the kiddos

the teachable moments and good discussions that have followed episodes of that tv show

romantic movie soundtracks to work to

full schedules

watching horseback riding lessons

beautiful and ornery stallions that make my girl smile

bipolar internet forcing me to plan my time on line... and be flexible when those plans don't work

researching questions

everyone, at least for the moment, more or less healthy

a night without coughing

M&M actually choosing to sleep with her sisters now... sometimes

clean laundry

hair growing longer

giving things away that we no longer need or use

melon surprise growing in our garden (along with watermelons and tomatoes... and hopefully cucumbers, very soon)

trial and error gardening learning curve

a very special new fb friend... my brand new thirteen year old Nadia

international dancing

clean floors

omelettes and coffee and hot chocolate for a Saturday morning breakfast

finding a routine again

asking about bamboo poles... and finding them the first try

having a game plan... even while knowing that plan will probably look totally different in a few months

studying Job in detail - again

reading recovery lessons

teaching algebra to a motivated student

great kids

culture questions

Mamata's progress as she continues to work to learn to read

feeling alone which forces me to look elsewhere

finishing up the dishes on Monday morning before I leave for work

three year old dish washing helper

visiting with Safana... and finding out that her mother is okay

praying for the salvation of dear friends

the thought that hanging tight to hope and faith even when you have no reason to is the type of sincere faith that pleases God

amazing verses scattered all throughout the book of Job

God's faithfulness in teaching despite my lack of faithfulness in striving to learn

green-growing-like-crazy-vines coloring my otherwise mostly orange yard

sharing a blanket with a friend who doesn't have one

singing my favorite praise and worship song at church last night

favorite foto from a fun, "nutty" weekend full of softball

Favorite fact? Six weeks after we started trying and exactly one month after we moved into our new house, we FINALLY have DSL internet. I'm so thankful ~

Really Junky Junk Mail

While we first came home on furlough... wow... over 1 1/2 years and what seems like a lifetime of experiences ago... we had a nasty little "housing" problem that sent me looking for a solution... and I stepped into one of the new chain "houseware" stores (is that what you call one of those stores where you can buy just about anything imaginable and then some for your kitchen, for your bathroom, for your windows, for your bedroom...???) for the first time ever.

I found the solution for our problem and a few other items I needed (I'd left mine stored in an action packer halfway around the world and they weren't to be found in the mission house where we were living). Impressed by the size of the store and variety of items within Relieved to have found what I needed, I then promptly caved to the gal at the register giving her sales pitch encouraging me to sign up for "regular, but not inundating, emails promoting sales, deals and often including coupons." I wrote down our email address, checked the box for text only emails, and within a few days, our inbox was regularly stuffed with electronic fliers promoting sales, deals and the occasional coupon.

For the most part, I ignored the emails unless something in the subject line caught my eye - deleting them as quickly as they arrived. It became a bit more complicated last summer when we returned to the slower pace of West African life... particularly crawling internet on top of frequent power outages and telephone lines that cut in and out as the wind blows which easily interrupt internet service - and those emails served absolutely no purpose (except maybe an envious longing for what was no longer available) as the nearest location of that particular retail store was at least a few thousand miles distant.

I finally decided to "unsubscribe." I've actually done so at least 4 or 5 times. Unfortunately, I'm still receiving advertisements and promotions although the frequency is slowly decreasing.

Then an advertisement arrived this morning. This time, however, the subject line literally screamed at me - not because it enticed me to see what they were offering, but because it promotes a message I abhor, a trap I've tripped over most of my life, something I'm hoping and praying my children don't, won't ever want to, buy into...

The message found in that subject line?

"Wouldn't you rather that people talked about your OUTER beauty, too?"

(their emphasis, not mine)

Yuck!

was my immediate response.

 

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised." -Prov. 31:30



A few years back, Grandma and Grandpa Wright gave the kids a bunch of books and corresponding cassette tapes with catchy little songs, many based off the truths in the book of Proverbs. One of their favorites went something like this: 

Man looks on the outside. God looks on the heart.

People want us beautiful but God wants us smart!

You can wear those fancy hairstyles, be as gorgeous as can be.

But that's not what counts with God!

It's wisdom He wants to see.

Man looks on the outside. God looks on the heart.

People want us beautiful but God wants us smart!

Unfortunately, termites ate up the books and the cassette tapes, or I'd type out the entire lyrics... and they'd still be playing them, writing those truths in their hearts. For several years, I have loved listening to the kids singing biblical principles in songs like that! So when this subject line popped up in Outlook this morning, I was not only frustrated that I was still receiving notifications... I was also greatly disturbed by the message, its insidious pervasiveness as well as its insistent influence.

With ~ 

• 6 girls growing up in this home,
• the almost exclusive emphasis the world places on physical attractiveness, desirability and beauty for selfish goals and purposes, 
• and the challenge it is to not only talk the truth but also walk the truth - that real beauty comes from God's Spirit within and it is forever lasting, infinitely more striking, and most importantly, more pleasing to God than surface, outward beauty,

...I really don't need extra sources promoting this train of thought, for trying to get our children to believe a message that is so counter-cultural (both in the States and in Niger)... when the opposite is so totally integrated into almost every aspect of our lives... seems well-nigh impossible! Our girls-becoming-young-woman do notice that so many (especially those boys in whom they claim they aren't interested) pay attention to the outward and seemingly neglect the inward. These girls see that often facebook praise for a new hairdo overwhelms Mom's and Dad's response to faithful help offered and household chores completed with a sweet and gentle spirit. Sporting a new dress receives numerous "Ohs!!!!" and "Ahs!!!!" followed by all sorts of compliments and questions about the tailor while teaching Sunday School results in sweaty clothes, a headache and sore throat from singing songs for 45 minutes when the sermon continues longer than what they'd prepared.

And more often than I care to admit, those girls see me spending more time fussing with my own hair, make-up and head scarf while barking orders at them to get ready or pick things up... or not so gently brushing and fixing their hair... and NOT quietly preparing my heart for the upcoming church service or sweetly serving my family as we get ready to begin a new day.

What do you do to gently live and teach this truth to your children?

How do you not only talk but walk this truth in your daily life?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luann comic strip "Shiny on the Outside" by  Greg Evans.

All the King's Horses and...

...all the king's men have finally connected us once again!

They must have felt sorrier for us than they did for Humpty...

This week is a crazy week for our family. Tim is at a pastor's conference in Minnesota and it is Spirit/Homecoming Week for the kids at school with tons of extra stuff and dress-up/costume days every day. I've also got tons of ideas for blog posts I've been wanting to do. That forced fast from the Internet must have flowered my imagination. *grin* And that doesn't even touch all the photos I'm still wanting to post from before the holiday rush. I'm just hoping I have computer time before I start to forget... we are getting older, after all... Tim especially... today's his birthday... and it is one of those decade ones...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best daddy and hubby EVER!