touch of an artist's stroke

God’s creation rightly try to portray,

Essence refined, it’s contours emerge

When theology with ink smears converge

Darkened smudges, pencil scratches array

Upon white and starkly empty Bristol.

Hidden magic the soul deeply render.

Erase, re-draw, the paper he does cover

Hatching creates shapes of charcoal.

Rhythms sweet of life inspire. Artist

Skilled to mimic details’ linear form

Magic enhances the typical norm.

Opus to illustrate with echoing twist.

Inspiration brings to life the order,

Sharpened graphite manifests the wonder.

Just a doodle, now a gesture semblance.

JUST a mom?

I don't think so.

Disputatio today was pretty much awesome. Mr. NDW gave the talk. And, to tell you the truth, I wasn't too excited to go and hear what he had to say--it was supposed to be about his time in Florida with the former president Bushes and their family (I think he mentioned FL 4 or was it 5 times?). I heard a condensed version about it during my Rhetoric class and thought I had heard pretty much all he would have to say. Well, to my surprise and delight, he deviated from the assigned topic, and it turned out to be one of the best lectures I've heard since being up here and a double bonus because it corresponds oh, SO nicely with my up-and-coming paper =)

Funny how often God uses the circumstances and people that I don't like to teach me so much and grow me in all kinds of crazy directions. Sometimes I just get a kick out of God's humor.

ND talked about the importance of education, specifically appreciation for/enjoying the liberal arts. We as students are here to learn. We signed up for it. We should be putting our all into it.

He drew a great analogy based on the passage in Luke (12, I believe) about how from the people that have been given much, much will be required--sometimes all we have is little, insignificant, piddling; yet it's still from Him and we should give thanks for it in the midst of the trouble. In ND's example, his dad gave him a pile of gravel and a rake...he got to smooth out the pile countless times. In this life, whether it's in school or otherwise, we will be given tasks that we don't want to do and are hard at the time. But when we are faithful in what we have been given, we will be blessed/entrusted with more.

In lieu of continuing education, many Christian girls resist the stretching of their minds in favor of "staying home," folding clothes and waiting on the edge of their chairs for a Mr. Right to come along. This picture is completely wrong. Really wrong.

Girls should have a great education. Basically they should be so well rounded in such an assortment of skills and abilities that not only are they indispensable to the community they are living in, but not just any guy can stop by and sweep her off her feet. The qualifications to marry a guy should be so high that it can only be THE Prince Charming not just an almost-perfect guy.

Women are not just for "breeding purposes only." Women are the ones teaching, training, and influencing the children. They need to have a great education so that they can wisely instruct their children, to raise them up to become the best version of themselves that they can possibly be. And in doing so, keeping their focus solely on doing it all for the glory of God. Raise those boys and girls to grow up and make a difference, do some damage to our post-modern society.

Women are the culture shapers of the next generation.

Why is female education so important, you ask? Well, who is it that has the most profound impact on children? Who is the one who gives everything she can to further her children's lives? Who would rather die than see her children hurt and in pain? Her name is Mama. In modernity (and, I submit, in many ages past) women and their role at home as the dictator is severely under-vauled. Our culture says that if women are not out in the work force they are being suppressed and not able to realize their full potential. This is a far cry from the truth.

A women is liberated in staying at home, not so that she can be confined and restricted to only learning things from home. But she is able to pursue a countless number of things

not just honing in on one particular topic and perfecting all the minuscule details associated with it

(developing her secondary interests and talents, copious is all areas--a polymath of the domestic arts).

The world is her oyster; the stars are at her finger tips.

One of the ditches on the side of this worldview is valuing education for women more than is perhaps profitable. Being educated in the liberal arts enables a women to easily adjust to and be copious in so many areas of life. After all, a woman's first and rightful domain is the home. She should be capable and proficient. She should have a good grasp on things. She should get everything at home in line before she tries to run other people's lives (if that's even what she's called to be doing). Then and only then should her attention be taken away from the home-front. But hold on. What about us women who aren't married, raising kidos, and running a household?

I'm sure y'all know, I would be the first to stand up in favor of educating girls in the domestic arts and being intentional about learning first-hand through family/church/community ministry. S

ure, education is good (I am a girl and attending NSA, right?!!) and in many cases it is a great choice for young ladies. But going to college is not the only thing out there for girls.

It is quite sad to me that so many girls these days have no idea how to cook or do a load of laundry. These are just the baby-steps in learning how to be a great keeper at home. And I have no idea how any girl could even be thinking about getting married with out having a good grasp on these basics. Once they have been laid, however, there are endless possibilities of areas she could pursue.

The point is that women, whether is college, living at home, or in some other should be intentionally pursuing gaining a wealth of knowledge that will be her for the rest of her life.

We as women have a mighty powerful opportunity. How will you use your influence?

Go out and do some damage.

oh, and I ended up working in not only some of my ideas on the subject, but also some ideas from CS Lewis and other random parts of NDW lectures.

The Horrors of Black Bart Chili

A remnant from the millennium stash

Dehydrated chili, what could go wrong?

Tomatoes, nosh, and juice, those shouldn’t clash.

We have Black Bart, and lunch will not take long.

Reconstituted it’s nothing but yuck.

Still crunchy this is hot like hellish brew

It sticks onto the ribs and fills the stomach.

But only for a sec—then you can’t chew.

It’s gotta be bad if the dog won’t eat

With clayey flavor thickening the air

There’s not a point to being discrete

This pot of meat and bean stew, none could bare.

This brutish Bart, no mortal man is he.

The label death, now I know him to be.

worthy of my common place...

but so is the rest of the book, so I haven't actually written it in. I might just have to stick the book at the back of my commonplace journal. This term of Rhetoric is, at least so far, SO much better than the last term. It is the poetry term, which also means creative...and you know I'll like that better than the logic term! Today I read Holy the Firm, by Annie Dillard. Oh, it is so good! It's basically just a long creative sketch about life. AND it's only 75 pages (and 14 pt. font)--you should read it. Here's a selection that I found especially inspiring (and you'll probably see more clips from this book in the near future):

"How can people think that seek a name? A name, like a face, is something you have when you're alone. There is no such thing as an artist: there is only the world, lit or unlit as the as the light allows. When the candle is burning, who looks at the wick? When the candle is out, who needs it? But the world without light is wasteland and chaos, and a life without sacrifice is abomination. What can any artist set on fire but his world? What can any people bring to the alter but all it has ever owned in the thin towns or over the desolate plains? What can an artist use but materials, such as they are? What can he light but the short string of his gut, and when that's burnt out, any muck ready to hand? His face is flame like a seraph's lighting the kingdom of God for the people to see; his life goes up in the works; his feet are waxen and salt. He is holy and he is firm, spanning all the long gap with the length of his love, in flawed imitation of Christ on the cross stretched both ways unbroken and thorned. So must the work be also, in touch with; spanning the gap, from here to eternity."

Mass Ascension, A Patchwork Dawn

It was five hours past midnight—the moon was still out, though the stars had long since disappeared. After winding through a maze of traffic police and orange barrels we had finally made it to the fiesta grounds. Bundled in sweats and one of my dad’s jackets, shivers ran through my 9-year-old frame as the frigid desert air swirled. A mug of marshmallow-topped hot chocolate steamed in one of my chapped hands and burnt my tongue as I impatiently tasted its sweetness. In the other hand, I held a thick, cheesy, green-chile, hashbrown, bacon and egg breakfast burrito. Impossibly excited, my eyes were wide open, straining to see through the dark night. Balloonists were hard at work, I knew, but I wanted to see. Propane torches flickered now and then, lighting the scene only for a moment. But in those few seconds I saw colors and faces—I would just have to wait. Frosted grass crunched under my feet as I inched forward. The black of night slowly crept away and was, like a rainbow after rain, replaced by soft rays of sunshine that began to light the world. Crinkled and lifeless bags attached to sturdy gondolas, started to take shape as hot air was blown into the yards of nylon. A motley medley of ginormous shapes began to immerge. A mumbled hush surged around from person to person. I held my breath… 5-4-3-2-1! Colors unimaginable inflated the dawn sky as one balloon after another illuminated and took flight.

goodbye dorm-room, hello new look

So, Marissa and I rearranged all the furniture in my room right after I got back to town after break (okay, it's been a while, I know and I'm just now getting them posted, but at least I am, right?!). Before, my room was pretty much split in half--your's and mine--and there was so much wasted space and it felt like I had to walk miles just to get to the closet. We fixed that, although I still really want to decorate the walls somehow. ideas?

(my favorite part)

and of course, me and by sista