I spent this morning listening to Andrew Peterson's new album, Counting Stars. First, I want to say that it is a great album to listen to on a quiet, sunny morning!
Peterson is always a big favorite of mine because I just love creative word plays and Mr. Peterson is a genius wordsmith. His style is an acoustic mix of easy country rock and bluegrass that's sprinkled with a healthy dose of Narnia and wanderlust. I also like his theology that is so evident in all of his songs, not just on this album, but in each song in each album.
To me, it's like he's saying that a glorious sunrise or the wonder in a child's face are moments of tremendous worship to our Lord, and in the same breath, the redemption of a soul or the spontaneous healing of a terminal patient are fabulously ordinary moments for those of us who follow Christ. For Christians the ordinary is miraculous and the miraculous is ordinary.
At the same time he sings these themes, he has an overwhelming urge to leave this miraculous life to spend eternity with the Savior. It's no wonder that my favorite song on this album is The Reckoning (How Long), where Peterson sings about that strong desire to be in everlasting worship. (I can't wait, either!)
It's another tremendous album; Congratulations, Andrew!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Nancy Drew Twister Walkthrough
Okay... this is just a few quick pics to help... not really a full walkthrough. I've done the whole thing, but thought I'd help others along their way. I'll post more later...
With the groceries, I've shown which ones to buy with the sale prices and budget. There's probably more than one solution to this. If you need me to post out exactly what to buy, I will.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
European Americans With Possible Native American Ancestors
As I do genealogical research for myself and for my friends, I am often told that family lore is that one particular ancestor was a Native American. I've given this answer so many times that I could almost repeat it in my sleep, so I thought I'd take this rainy afternoon to write it all out once and for all.
Finding proof of Native American ancestry is extremely hard for a number of reasons that I'll go into in just a second. First though, I thought I might address the reason why a number of people are looking for proof: to be able to qualify for US Federal Government grants such as scholarships that are available to Native Americans.
If you think you are part of a Native American Tribe, your first stop is to call your local Bureau of Indian Affairs. You can find that information (and more) at the Department of Interior website: www.doi.gov/tribes/esablishancestr.cfm
I'm afraid that this part of the equation is not very good news for most people. What I have heard from a number of people who have ventured down this road is that unless the person requesting aid is a full-blooded Native American and most likely living on a Federal Reservation, then the chance of getting any aid is very small. But, who knows? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? The only cost in trying is your time.
The other side of the ancestor question is equally important to many: simply finding more about their heritage and whether it includes the riches of Native American ancestry.
Unfortunately, thanks to the Euro-centric natures of our other ancestors, this too is a difficult road. To explain, I need to go into a little history.
We all know that stories of the European explorers who came to America, bringing with them new, strange customs, religions and names. Contrary to what we learned in our social studies books as children, many Native Americans embraced a European lifestyle. (Many Europeans also embraced the Native American tribal lifestyle as well, never to be seen again in their settlements.) The Native Americans who chose to live as the European settlers became baptized as Christians, changed their names to European names, lived in European-style homes, built and successfully ran European style businesses and farms. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/five_civilized_tribes)
Beginning in 1830, the Federal government began a series of Indian Removal Acts. The "reason" (and by reason I mean prejudice, irrationality, hatred) behind the acts was that the civilized tribes had successful pieces of land and the whites wanted them. Imagine any of your neighbors who live the same as you do, their kids go to the same school as yours -- they even go to your same church, but just because their great-grandparents were of a different race, they are forced to march a thousand miles to a barren prairie to completely start over from scratch. The Federal government at one time even barred missionaries from going into Indian lands in Georgia for fear that converted Native Americans would have a case for not being forcefully removed.
Of course, being neighbors with European settlers meant that many of the Native American and Europeans had intermarried. In general, when the head of the family (male) was a Native American, the family was removed to the west. If the head of the family was a European settler, then he and his Native American wife wouldn't be forced to move west, but scared of a forced removal later, many of these particular families moved into Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and even into Arkansas and Missouri. This one situation is why you will hear a lot of European descendants today speak of a Native American grandmother rather than grandfather.
So, when you have a complete name change (Pocahontas to Rebecca Rolfe) as well as a location change, you suddenly have an ancestor show up in your family tree who seems to just "appear" suddenly. Because they have a European name, there is almost no way of telling if they really were of European descent of if they were of Native American descent.
I know this isn't very helpful, but I'm hoping for you in your search that the stars will all align so that you can find your true heritage.
Finding proof of Native American ancestry is extremely hard for a number of reasons that I'll go into in just a second. First though, I thought I might address the reason why a number of people are looking for proof: to be able to qualify for US Federal Government grants such as scholarships that are available to Native Americans.
If you think you are part of a Native American Tribe, your first stop is to call your local Bureau of Indian Affairs. You can find that information (and more) at the Department of Interior website: www.doi.gov/tribes/esablishancestr.cfm
I'm afraid that this part of the equation is not very good news for most people. What I have heard from a number of people who have ventured down this road is that unless the person requesting aid is a full-blooded Native American and most likely living on a Federal Reservation, then the chance of getting any aid is very small. But, who knows? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? The only cost in trying is your time.
The other side of the ancestor question is equally important to many: simply finding more about their heritage and whether it includes the riches of Native American ancestry.
Unfortunately, thanks to the Euro-centric natures of our other ancestors, this too is a difficult road. To explain, I need to go into a little history.
We all know that stories of the European explorers who came to America, bringing with them new, strange customs, religions and names. Contrary to what we learned in our social studies books as children, many Native Americans embraced a European lifestyle. (Many Europeans also embraced the Native American tribal lifestyle as well, never to be seen again in their settlements.) The Native Americans who chose to live as the European settlers became baptized as Christians, changed their names to European names, lived in European-style homes, built and successfully ran European style businesses and farms. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/five_civilized_tribes)
Beginning in 1830, the Federal government began a series of Indian Removal Acts. The "reason" (and by reason I mean prejudice, irrationality, hatred) behind the acts was that the civilized tribes had successful pieces of land and the whites wanted them. Imagine any of your neighbors who live the same as you do, their kids go to the same school as yours -- they even go to your same church, but just because their great-grandparents were of a different race, they are forced to march a thousand miles to a barren prairie to completely start over from scratch. The Federal government at one time even barred missionaries from going into Indian lands in Georgia for fear that converted Native Americans would have a case for not being forcefully removed.
Of course, being neighbors with European settlers meant that many of the Native American and Europeans had intermarried. In general, when the head of the family (male) was a Native American, the family was removed to the west. If the head of the family was a European settler, then he and his Native American wife wouldn't be forced to move west, but scared of a forced removal later, many of these particular families moved into Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and even into Arkansas and Missouri. This one situation is why you will hear a lot of European descendants today speak of a Native American grandmother rather than grandfather.
So, when you have a complete name change (Pocahontas to Rebecca Rolfe) as well as a location change, you suddenly have an ancestor show up in your family tree who seems to just "appear" suddenly. Because they have a European name, there is almost no way of telling if they really were of European descent of if they were of Native American descent.
I know this isn't very helpful, but I'm hoping for you in your search that the stars will all align so that you can find your true heritage.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
"Civil War" or "War of Northern Aggression"?
I was watching Ken Burns' Civil War on Netflix yesterday. I love this and could just about watch it every day. I love listening to it while I'm doing housework because it is a great "right-brain" activity that helps to keep me from getting distracted.
While I have seen it dozens of times, I never can get over that both sides felt that they were being led by God. Overwhelmingly. This was a time in our country where most people were Christians--true Bible-believing, praying Christians. When they say they were led by God, I cannot help but to believe their testimony.
Of course, I've grappled with the paradox of how God could lead both sides to oppose each other. After a great deal of thought and even more prayer in this area, I think I have an answer.
In the Bible, God calls the Host of Heaven together and asks who can mislead a king into battle and to his death. Finally a spirit comes forward and says that they-the spirit will put lies in the mouths of the prophets to get the king to go into battle and to his death. [I Kings 22]
You see, we had to fight this war because of the atrocities we had inflicted on both the Africans and the Native Americans. God did not punish America, but He let a lying spirit lead us to punish ourselves in the most horrific way possible.
I have come to believe not so much in a God who punishes but a God who removes His protection. Our pride in believing lies such as Africans "had the mark of Cain so were ordained by God to be slaves" or Native Americans "must be moved westward because they are heathens" led us to unspeakable horrors. God could not and would not have protected us from ourselves.
The truest horror of these beliefs were that they were preached from pulpits in God's Name. It should sicken all of us to think of that today.
Yet, what "lying spirit" beliefs are preached from the pulpit today?
How many emails do you forward that speak about injustices to immigrants?
What would you do if a gay couple came to your church?
Back in 1992, my husband and I, Church youth group leaders at the time, took our group to a nearby church to see a presentation of GodSpell. When the church opened their doors to allow seating, the line to get in was perhaps a hundred yards long, with maybe three to five hundred people in line. Just outside of the church doors, a homeless woman stood with a packed grocery cart asking for money. Erich, my husband, never misses an opportunity to give to a homeless person. As we approached the door, he discreetly handed off a wad of bills to her. The rest of us went inside.
Just before curtain, an usher came and got my husband and asked him to the back of the church. There the lady was waiting. She actually wasn't homeless, but an actor in the production. She handed Erich's money back to him. He was the only one--the only one--who gave her anything.
We're so concerned--and I put myself into this category--that someone will buy liquor with our measly donation, that we justify our stinginess with this. Really? An entire auditorium of "Christians" and only one person gave to "the least of these?"
====
So many people want to debate whether the war should be called the "Civil War" or the "War of Northern Aggression." Scores of individuals still worship this war to the point of making it their church and re-enacting the battles.
With apologies to Jane Austen, I think it should be called "The Result of American Pride and Prejudice."
Thinking about those modern lies we believe as "good Christians", I want to really call it "The Result of American Pride and Prejudice, Part I," because surely, God will not stand by and let us continue to use His Name with these lies.
While I have seen it dozens of times, I never can get over that both sides felt that they were being led by God. Overwhelmingly. This was a time in our country where most people were Christians--true Bible-believing, praying Christians. When they say they were led by God, I cannot help but to believe their testimony.
Of course, I've grappled with the paradox of how God could lead both sides to oppose each other. After a great deal of thought and even more prayer in this area, I think I have an answer.
In the Bible, God calls the Host of Heaven together and asks who can mislead a king into battle and to his death. Finally a spirit comes forward and says that they-the spirit will put lies in the mouths of the prophets to get the king to go into battle and to his death. [I Kings 22]
You see, we had to fight this war because of the atrocities we had inflicted on both the Africans and the Native Americans. God did not punish America, but He let a lying spirit lead us to punish ourselves in the most horrific way possible.
I have come to believe not so much in a God who punishes but a God who removes His protection. Our pride in believing lies such as Africans "had the mark of Cain so were ordained by God to be slaves" or Native Americans "must be moved westward because they are heathens" led us to unspeakable horrors. God could not and would not have protected us from ourselves.
The truest horror of these beliefs were that they were preached from pulpits in God's Name. It should sicken all of us to think of that today.
Yet, what "lying spirit" beliefs are preached from the pulpit today?
How many emails do you forward that speak about injustices to immigrants?
What would you do if a gay couple came to your church?
Back in 1992, my husband and I, Church youth group leaders at the time, took our group to a nearby church to see a presentation of GodSpell. When the church opened their doors to allow seating, the line to get in was perhaps a hundred yards long, with maybe three to five hundred people in line. Just outside of the church doors, a homeless woman stood with a packed grocery cart asking for money. Erich, my husband, never misses an opportunity to give to a homeless person. As we approached the door, he discreetly handed off a wad of bills to her. The rest of us went inside.
Just before curtain, an usher came and got my husband and asked him to the back of the church. There the lady was waiting. She actually wasn't homeless, but an actor in the production. She handed Erich's money back to him. He was the only one--the only one--who gave her anything.
We're so concerned--and I put myself into this category--that someone will buy liquor with our measly donation, that we justify our stinginess with this. Really? An entire auditorium of "Christians" and only one person gave to "the least of these?"
====
So many people want to debate whether the war should be called the "Civil War" or the "War of Northern Aggression." Scores of individuals still worship this war to the point of making it their church and re-enacting the battles.
With apologies to Jane Austen, I think it should be called "The Result of American Pride and Prejudice."
Thinking about those modern lies we believe as "good Christians", I want to really call it "The Result of American Pride and Prejudice, Part I," because surely, God will not stand by and let us continue to use His Name with these lies.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Benefits of Nicotine
I was looking at the Wikipedia article this morning about fibromyalgia. I find it very interesting that one of the proposed causes of this is a dopamine imbalance.
Thirty years ago, everyone smoked or was in close contact with someone who smoked. Now, I'm not for smoking, but nicotine itself is a wonderful, naturally occurring chemical. I won't go into it now, but we have to realize that thirty years ago, just about everyone was on this mood enhancer.
And, big surprise, nicotine raises dopamine levels.
I believe that our smoking and second-hand smoking--while obviously detrimental to the lungs--did an amazing job in warding off a lot of today's ills. I bet if we looked at it closely, we would find a link between lower nicotine levels and many of the conditions we have today that seem so much more prominent than they were thirty-plus years ago, not just fibromyalgia, but also ADHD, childhood/adolescent obesity, road rage/sports rage, etc. I'm not saying we should start smoking again, but I don't know that I'd be against a nicotine supplement.
Thirty years ago, everyone smoked or was in close contact with someone who smoked. Now, I'm not for smoking, but nicotine itself is a wonderful, naturally occurring chemical. I won't go into it now, but we have to realize that thirty years ago, just about everyone was on this mood enhancer.
And, big surprise, nicotine raises dopamine levels.
I believe that our smoking and second-hand smoking--while obviously detrimental to the lungs--did an amazing job in warding off a lot of today's ills. I bet if we looked at it closely, we would find a link between lower nicotine levels and many of the conditions we have today that seem so much more prominent than they were thirty-plus years ago, not just fibromyalgia, but also ADHD, childhood/adolescent obesity, road rage/sports rage, etc. I'm not saying we should start smoking again, but I don't know that I'd be against a nicotine supplement.
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