It's as simple as that!

In Bible study this morning, we were studying what verses pertain to "the law" and what verses pertain the "the Gospel."  One person brought up that the Israelites needed to make sacrifices for all their past sins and as soon as they finished one sacrifice, they would sin again so more sacrifices would need to be made.  It was a never ending cycle. Then Jesus Christ came and made the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, both the past sins and the sins of the future.  For those who believe this, it's as simple as that!  No heavy thinking needed here!

What was I thinking?

Last year, the day before Thanksgiving, I worked my regular day and then came home and made lefse.  For those of you that know anything about lefse, it's quite the project but soooooo worth it.  I did this while also taking full time college classes, homeschooling Z. and working full time at a bank.  I definitely wasn't "thinking", I was "doing."  I was going through the motions of getting things checked off of my list.  I didn't have time to think.  No deep thinking on philosophical views; no deep thinking on theology/doctrinal views; just praying that God continues to give me the strength to keep "doing."  Now, I'm still homeschooling Z. and working at the bank but I'm done with college (YEAH!!!! I have "that piece of paper"!!).  And I now have time to "think" but I can't seem to find as much time to "do", like make lefse....So what is better, no time to think but get tons of stuff done or have time to contemplate but get little done.....mmmmm I think I'm thinking too much now.....What was I thinking?!

Quips from someone else's brain

Although I don't agree with Rene' Descartes "philosophy and theology" of life, I have always found his ideas intriguing.  The most famous one is "I think, therefore I am."  He was trying to reason out if he (and each of us individually) was actually a live, individual.  He wondered if he was really REAL.  How could he prove that the person he thought of as himself was an actual person and not a figment of someone else's imagination.  Was he just a character in someone else's idea?  Did he REALLY exist?  Whenever I decide to pick up some of his writings, I marvel at how deep he thinks about things.  He finally comes to the conclusion that because he can think (make decisions, change events...) he must be an actual person, separate identity, REAL individual.  If I lose myself in my head, I could end up with the same questions but I just have to remember that God didn't create us as imaginary beings to fill up his world.  HE created us to be in HIS image and for that, we must be real.  Another favorite author of mine is C.S. Lewis.  He tends to have the same way of deep thinking but comes to some very different conclusions.  I'll share my favorites from C.S. Lewis another time.  I wouldn't want to waste all this wonderful thinking on one post!

More on Names......

I have a new nephew whose name is Jaydee.  I haven't asked how they came up with that name but I'm guessing it's a combination of their names--first initals J and D.  I couldn't find Jaydee in a name dictionary but I think it's cool to come up with unique names.  I wonder if he'll get a lot of questions through out his life about where his name came from.  I work with someone that has a different name and he constantly gets odd comments and questions.  Is it ok to make comments about someone's name?  Is there a non-offensive way to ask?  I'm always curious about things but I never want to offend anyone so I tend not to ask people.  I'll look things up, research and try to figure something out before asking.  Sometimes I find out that if I had just asked, I would have found the answer sooner but then I wouldn't have gained the knowledge that I obtained by doing the research.  So, I'll just assume Jaydee is from J.D. until I'm told otherwise........

The Letter "C"

Why is there a letter C?  It doesn't have it's own sound.  It can either sound like a "k" or sound like an "s" or be combined with an "h" to make "ch".  If we need a letter c, why can't it just make the "ch" as it's own sound?  This changing the alphabet could lead to getting rid of "X".  It also doesn't have it's own sound; it can sound like a lot of different letter combinations.  In case you're wondering, yes, I have spent a fair amount of time in my life analyzing the alphabet and the usefulness/uselessness of several letters.  I like to know "why" in most areas of life.  Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn't mean that it's the best way.  I have had many people ask me through out life how I figured something out...it's because I ask why.  If I can figure out "why," I can usually figure out "how".  The one thing I haven't figured out is how to get rid of the letter C......

What makes a name a name.....

When I hear someone name their baby with a name that is "different" I have wondered why we think it's different.  I've heard some people comment that "that's not a name, that's an object/thing/word."  But all "names" have a meaning so, were they "words" that got used as names so often that they become names instead of words?  "Diane" in Greek means divine (I won't comment any further on that meaning.....)  "Terence" is Olde English coming from the clan Terrance.  Was "Diane" used as a word for divine?  If it was never a "word", how did it get the "meaning"....... I've read a blog from a mother that names their children after very specific "things".  At first I thought that was strange and when I read her children's names, I thought--those are just words, not names but maybe those "word/names" will become so common as names that they won't be words anymore.......just names.  How's that for circular thinking?

Is Blue really Blue?

How do we know that everyone sees colors the same way?  We already know that some people are "color" blind but does everybody see colors a little differently?  My blue and your blue might be different.......Only God's view of "blue" is the perfect interpretation.  These are the kind of questions and ideas I think about in the randomness of the day.

The beginning.......

I've often wanted to share the little thoughts and ideas that come to me. Sometimes I share these on facebook but so many people just "don't get it." I don't know if anyone will "get it" on a blog but it is worth a try!