"Pop" Tarts

I am going to start out by saying that I do not condone eating Pop-Tarts for breakfast on a regular basis, especially for a young child.  However, Sunday morning can get a little crazy around here with having to be to church by 8am.  I usually let Elizabeth sleep as late as possible and just get her dressed at the last minute, often times not giving her breakfast, or maybe something she can eat in the car.  She's not a big breakfast fan anyway, and, I know she gets animal crackers at church, so it's not like I'm starving her. 

The other Sunday though, she woke up a little earlier.  Mike took her downstairs with him to eat breakfast.  I didn't think he'd give her Pop-Tarts, but he did.  I was showering or something.  One of her favorite words is "pop."  Mike told her they were "pop-tarts" to which she quickly caught on.  She's just starting to talk and repeat lots of words, but they're usually not real long words.  He would ask her, what kind of tarts do you have?  She would respond, "pop!"  It was so cute.  I just had to share this story, mostly so I don't forget it, but also because I think it's just hilarious.  But it gets better...

About a week after eating the Pop-Tarts and repeating the pop frequently that day, we were eating some blueberries.  Mike made a comment about them being pretty good for being fresh blueberries, as he doesn't really care for them much plain.  I proceeded to say I thought they were kind of tart.  Right after saying that Elizabeth speaks up and says, "Pop!"  I can't believe she made that connection.  I was, of course, using tart in a totally different sense, but it was so funny.  I didn't expect that one. 

Sabbath by Dan B. Allender--a book review

Sabbath by Dan B. Allender—a book review

The fourth commandment, found in Exodus 20, is “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Because this is one of the Ten Commandments, Allender writes this book about the importance of observing this day of the week. Delighting in this day is a prevalent theme throughout the book. “The Sabbath is an invitation to enter delight. The Sabbath, when experienced as God intended, is the best day of our lives” (p. 4). Allender gives personal examples and suggestions of how to delight in this day, especially through enjoying God's creation. He recognizes the fact that most Christians do not observe this day or even think twice about it.

This book, overall, has some interesting points to ponder regarding how to observe the Sabbath, points that I have never given much thought to before. For example, delighting in the day, rather than just resting and not working, is a new thought to me. I have tended to be somewhat legalistic on how to approach the Sabbath, so this book was refreshing in that regard. Experiencing new parts of God's amazing creation brings us into closer relationship with Him and is something we can truly delight in. It gave me a new perspective.

On the other hand, Allender did not address the issue of rest, other than saying there is more to the Sabbath than that, or that one doesn't necessarily even have to rest at all. In the passage in Exodus above, God commands His creation to rest and make it holy. Other passages throughout the Bible indicate this concept as well, such as when Moses was leading the Israelites in the wilderness and they were to collect manna for the day before the Sabbath as well as the Sabbath. While I understand the need to make it holy in ways other than rest, not working, and not being caught up in legalism, I thought leaving this important piece out of the equation did not do justice to these Sabbath verses.

I would recommend this book to someone looking for new ways to approach the Sabbath. Otherwise, I was somewhat disappointed. I was hoping for a book encompassing the whole of the Sabbath, to challenge me. I have read books by Allender before and have appreciated his writing, but in my opinion, this is not one of his best books.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program.

Price vs. Value

This past Sunday I heard a very profound statement during the sermon at church.  If I were to remember one thing, this would be it:  "Our society knows the price of everything but the value of nothing."  The sermon was on the first set of verses of Mark 14.  How true this is.  I pondered this for quite a while and admittedly did not catch much in the following minutes because I was left running that statement through my head.  I have been wanting to write about it for a few days now and have had even more time to think about it. 

As a bargain shopper, with coupons always in hand, never a person to pay full price for anything, I was thinking about how this affected me.  Sure, I know what the price is of things.  I try to get that price down as low as I can.  But do I sometimes take a cheap price for a crummy value?  Just because something is cheap doesn't mean it is worth much of anything.  I probably tend to take this too far and risk losing some value on things.

Mary used a jar of perfume on Jesus that cost a year's wages!  Would I have done something like that?  Unless it was something inherited, I probably would not even have something that expensive in my possession.  And even at that, I may not have thought much about it because it's just perfume, right?  Why would I want that?  I'm guessing it had more significance back in those days.  But still.  I'm so hard up on spending money.  I want a good deal.  I try to be wise in spending, not frivolous. 

Regarding value though, I was also struck by a comment someone made to me on Sunday.  Asking how Elizabeth was doing in the nursery, I responded with the usual up and down answer.  Sometimes she's okay, sometimes not.  She can't be on her own long without her mommy.  Sure, it seems the price I have to pay right now is extremely high.  I don't ever get a good night's sleep, I don't ever get time alone.  Actually, this person said, so, is this the only hour you have without her all week?  Yes!!  It's true!!  That hour during early service is my only hour without her all week. That is no exaggeration either.  She sleeps with me, so she's there all night too.  This cost may seem high to some, but I hope there is a lot of value in this.  I hope my daughter will be secure and know mommy's there for her.  I hope all this time spent with her will be for the good, that she'll value what I value, come to know Christ, and so forth.  If that happens, no price can be too high.  I want her to become God's child.  I love you, Elizabeth, and I want what's best for you, even if it means a high price for me to pay right now.