Out of the Womb - Into the World

Just wanted to share with you, the stunning beauty just emerged from her womb...
Elyse Joanne was born last Saturday and makes for an incredibly sweet 8lb.10oz bundle of blessing! Her name means God's promise and her arrival graces this family of ours with five grandchildren though I like to use this moniker while it still fits:
Grandmarmie X7 with two in heaven :)

This is big sister Jules who reportedly is handling the adjustment with style & grace.

I can't help it. I literally laugh out loud every time I look at this picture. Each 'personality' in this candid shot is captured so true!
Five grandbabies.
I am often overwhelmed with gratitude to have so much sweet spice in this life!

Growing Grandbabies

This is baby Danielle. She turned a year old today. I can hardly believe this even as I write it! Our littlest munchkin grandbaby, a year already! Can you see the mischief in her eyes?

She got her cake and she ate it too. All by herself. Sans candles, yes, of course.

But truly, THIS is our littlest munchkin grandbaby. Soon to greet us face to face, D.V.

*sigh*

All this goodness...our cup overflows!

No apology Apologetics

It is one thing to be well-read and edified by the apologia of a great Christian thinker-writer-theologian like C.S. Lewis, it is quite another to learn the skill for oneself.
Those who know me well, know that I am seldom without adequate words to express myself and convey my thoughts. I don't like the term "opinionated" but fear that it does describe me none-the-less. A favourite play on words for me is: You are certainly entitled to my opinion!
You would be surprised however (as I often am myself when push comes to shove) and a spontaneous opportunity befalls me, how hard I have to work to make a defense of my strongly held beliefs in a manner that is articulate, methodical and convincing.
I marvel at the concise and engaging manner of apologists like Lewis, Lee Strobel, Ravi Zacharias and so many others. Part of that is divine gifted-ness I know, but ultimately, every believer is mandated to be prepared to give a verbal defense of their faith.
Me? I'd rather cook you a meal.
But God has a sense of humour.
He has a not so subtle way of prodding one off the laurels.
My newest nephew by marriage describes himself as an atheist/agnostic. And he'll tackle anyone who wants to challenge that position.
The time to hone that skill has come upon us. For the love of God and for the love of my new nephew.

A Quandary

It's been five weeks since my last post on this blog.
I'm in the process of creating a Storybook (using the Creative Memories program) but my progress was seriously curtailed when I decided to experiment with my daughters recommendation: http://www.blurb.com/
It was my undoing until the light went on and I made the choice to switch back to the program more familiar to me. WHY? she wails, must I learn everything the hard way?
I have also dabbled a bit with Picasa editing programs and made a collage of some England photo favs -- while I can't claim any expertise (it appeared by accident on the screen), I shall post the effort anyway. Getting it large scale into my book will be the trickier feat.

The quandary I face is this: do I close my blog and make it officially the keepsake of our Oxbridge 2008 adventure or do I keep going? I have certainly enjoyed the experience of journalling in this forum; it has provoked a fondly held dormant dream to write things down for posterity.
*sigh*
I understand more fully, the satisfaction my daughter must feel - in blogging and photographing her life as it unfolds. I think (with horror) at the shoeboxes full of neglected memories that our forebears live with - the things we find when we bury our dead and sort through the stuff left behind....not a travesty I want to copy.
*sigh*
I have also read a great deal since returning home - and of course, the daily regular routine of life is a pace that makes these "extras" more difficult to accommodate.
I shall think some more but thanks for listening eh?

Zeteo and Heaven

This blog post is dedicated to the memory of Julie...a sure friend, fellow musician, quasi family member and sister in Christ since we were both in diapers.
Over the past five years, Julie spiraled into a mental anguish with an intensity few of us will ever witness in this life. Two Sunday mornings ago, she died at her own hand.
Heaven has been firmly foremost on this mind ever since.

Zeteo is Greek for "set your hearts on" which denotes man's general philosophical search or quest. This is a gleaning from Heaven, my current couch companion - a book by Randy Alcorn. Heaven is a topic that holds increasing fascination for me. The more I read, learn and contemplate -- the more I yearn for it. This is huge for me.
I cringe to admit that not too many years ago, my view of heaven would have sent any potential proselyte running fast in the opposite direction....indeed, the adjective boring or mediocre comes painfully to mind.
What an insult to the One who Is - there - preparing a place for His own!
Earthlings. Pfft! We boast so big from minds so small.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Col3:1,2
The verb zeteo is in the present tense, suggesting an ongoing process. "Keep seeking heaven."
Don't just have a conversation, read a book, or listen to a sermon and feel as if you've fulfilled the command. Since you'll spend the next lifetime living in Heaven, why not spend this lifetime seeking Heaven, so you can eagerly anticipate and prepare for it?
Preparing for Home. How on earth :) can this concept feel so novel to me?
After the highly unusual experiences of this summer, I am convinced more than ever of these three things:
*We are called specifically to search these things out with diligence till we see Him face to face.
*God has set eternity in our hearts (!) - a divinely ordained quest for heaven if I ever heard one.
*A casual careless pursuit of heaven is akin to wasteful living and a serious affront to our Maker.

C.S. Lewis observed, "If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.
The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven.
It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.
Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither. "

We need a generation of heavenly minded people who see human beings and the earth itself not simply as they are, but as God intends them to be. page 21 of Heaven by Randy Alcorn
I heartily recommend this read.

We were once the three amigas and we all loved music. Singing was just one of the things that drew us together and kept us busy. I look forward to employing those gifts with Julie once again.

King's College Anecdote

During our Cam River punt tour, our guide (a young college student from Trinity himself!) obliged us with many tales of fact and fancy (?) but this one anecdote begs to be told....

There was and remains a good bit of good-natured rivalry between all the various colleges and the student bodies thereof as one can well imagine in a medieval university town.

He pointed out the dramatic spires of King's college rising heavenward and claims there was a certain mischievous male who once took life and limb in hand - scaled one of those spires in the dead of night and placed a traffic cone at the top of it.

It took authorities nine days to set up the scaffolding necessary to rescue King's from her defacement -- the night before the rescue was complete, this same student, with spiderman verve, retrieved the cone - scaled the other tower and crowned one of its spires.

The student was never caught, and a 20 year old Cambridge mystery remains unsolved.

Brazen buffoonery at its finest!

The World Famous King's of Cambridge

The world-famous Choir of King's College, Cambridge is one of today's most accomplished and renowned representatives of the great British choral tradition. It was created by King Henry VI, who founded the College in 1441, to provide daily singing in his glorious Chapel, which remains the main task of the choir to this day.
Today the choir is directed by Stephen Cleobury and derives much of its fame from the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, broadcast worldwide to millions on Christmas Eve every year, and the TV service Carols from King's which accompanies it.