bekahcubed – Page 147

How I blog (An explanation for the missing book reviews)

June 1, 2010 3 Comments by bekahcubed

Today, Carrie read one of the book reviews I’d linked up to 5 Minutes 4 Books’ “I read it” carnival and commented thus:

“So – do you have two blogs and am I horribly confused? I’m subscribed in Google Reader but I never see these book reviews pop up! What’s with that? Am I blind or something? I’m always surprised when you link up and then I scramble back through and catch up. Is it me?”

No, Carrie, it isn’t you.

It’s a rather nefarious plot of mine to completely befuddle my readers.

Okay. It’s not really that either.

[What follows is the long story–and the short. Feel free to skip ahead to the “short” if you’d rather not read my whole blogging history.]

Long Story

You see, before I switched to using the WordPress blogging platform almost a year ago, I did my entire website by hand. I started with a blank text document in Microsoft’s notepad and ended with a web page, coding the html, css, php, and whatever else I needed as I went.

This was fantastic for building and maintaining my web-authoring skill set, but not so nice for getting daily posts done in a timely manner. So after a year of regular blogging (I’ve had a website since 2001 but have only consistently blogged since April or May 2008), I decided to switch to using WordPress.

I didn’t want to let my skill set decline, though, so I continued building my “static pages” from scratch. I use the “old-fashioned” text-file edited html to create my Bible study, book review, and recipe pages (and use a completely different program to create my photo albums).

Unfortunately, these pages aren’t connected to WordPress’s auto-feeds. I realized this from the outset and tried to solve the problem by continuing my hand-coded RSS feed. The problem with that was that some people were only subscribed to my hand-coded feed–and therefore missed my regular blog posts. It was quite a conundrum. I deleted the hand-coded feed and directed those subscribers over to the blog feed.

But that left me without any way to let my readers know when I posted a new book review, recipe, Bible study, photo album, etc.

Short

In short, because I hand-code my book reviews, they don’t show up on my RSS feed. This is tragic for my readers (and potentially for my blog statistics), but I really want to maintain my html skills.

In order to help readers find the static content I’ve recently added to bekahcubed, I’ve started to post a weekly “Recap”. Recap posts follow a predetermined format, first showcasing any new pages that I’ve added to bekahcubed over the course of the week and then sharing any interesting links I’ve discovered on the web over the same week.

So if you’re looking for new book reviews or recipes (or if you want to see the photographical evidence that I really am real), take a quick scan of the “Recaps” that are posted every Saturday night at 11:59 pm Central time–and click the links to anything that looks interesting.

And there you have it: my nefarious plot to befuddle my readers (and my attempt at a workaround to still engage the most persistent of them all.)

The Week in Words

The Week in Words-MY inagural post

May 31, 2010 1 Comment by bekahcubed

Every week, Barbara H. hosts a meme “The Week in Words”, in which bloggers list some of their favorite quotes read throughout the week. Since I’m definitely a reader and somewhat of a quote junkie, I figured I’d jump in to the melee!

Read at Justin Taylor:

“Lust is the craving for salt of a person who is dying of thirst.”

—Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC, revised and expanded (San Francisco: Harper, 1993), 65.

The Vodka Pundit explains why the concept of “state’s rights” is mistaken:

“In other words, individuals have rights, and governments are instituted with powers to protect those rights, and are (or ought to be) restricted from abusing them.

With me so far? Individuals have rights; governments have powers.”

Azam Kamguian speaking of Sharia law in Canada:

“We cannot let multiculturalism become the last refuge of repression. To accept religion as a justification for human rights abuses is to discriminate against the abused and to send the message that they are undeserving of human right protection.”
(Read in Opposing Viewpoints: Human Rights, page 78)

From Tim Keller’s Prodigal God:

“When a newspaper posed the question, ‘What’s Wrong with the World?’ the Catholic thinker G.K. Chesterton reputedly wrote a brief letter in response: “Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely Yours, G.K. Chesterton.'”

From Richard B. Gaffin’s essay in Are the Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four Views:

“Theology that ceases being swept up more or less spontaneously in doxology, like that of Romans 11:33-36, needs to reexamine itself.”

Check out some more Week in Words posts at Stray Thoughts

Faith

Easily Deceived Eve (Part 1 of 3)

May 31, 2010 Leave a comment by bekahcubed

When I was a teen in youth group, my youth pastor enjoyed getting a rise out of me by asserting that the fall of mankind was Eve’s fault. After all, Eve ate the forbidden fruit first.

A bit of a feminist in my earlier days(!), I could be counted upon to take umbrage at the remark, arguing that man and woman bore equal guilt.

Today, that youth pastor is the lead pastor of my church and one of my peers from youth group has succeeded him as youth pastor. To this day, either of them can count on me to raise my eyebrows, roll my eyes, or issue a little snort when they make such an assertion. (Please recognize that they make these remarks as a jest, so my “humph” response is not a sign of disrespect. They would be the first to tell you so.)

What Jason and Jeremy may not realize is that my reasons for disagreeing with that statement have changed over the years.

It started as a feminist response–“Hey, don’t try to pin the sin of mankind on us. Men and women alike are equal opportunity sinners.” But as I’ve studied the Word, specifically what Scripture has to say about women, I’ve revised my position.

While men and women may be equal opportunity sinners today (having all been born with a sin nature), God holds man (Adam) responsible for the first sin. Romans 5:12 states that “through one man sin entered the world”, and verse 14 clarifies that this was “the transgression of Adam.”

This might sound like I’m becoming even more rabid in my early tendencies towards feminism. Now I’m not only claiming that Adam shared equal fault with Eve–but that Adam was fully responsible for the first sin. Vilifying man, justifying woman. That’s what it might sound like if I leave the argument there.

But I won’t. The reality is that Eve deserves neither the praise that the aforementioned view would afford her, or the censure that my pastors would jestingly give her. Eve disobeyed God’s command. She ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil–which God had forbidden her and Adam from eating. She sinned and gave the fruit to Adam so that he also sinned.

God chose to hold Adam responsible for the sin of mankind. Why?

This is the tricky part. Adam was held responsible because God, even prior to the fall, ordained the headship of man. I Corinthians 11:3 states that the head of every man is Christ and the head of woman is man. Paul goes on to state that this is inherent in creation: “…but woman is the glory of man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head.”

The headship of man makes him responsible not only for his own sin, but also for the sin of his wife.

This concept, inherent in creation, is codified in Numbers 30, where God sets out laws for women who make vows. According to the law, if a woman makes a vow, her husband, upon hearing it, can declare that vow void. Neither he nor his wife will be held responsible for the vow she made. On the other hand, if her husband does not nullify the vow on the day that he hears it, he is now responsible to God for the fulfillment of that vow.

I Timothy 2:14 states that “the woman, being deceived, fell into transgression.” On the other hand, “Adam was not deceived.” Instead, he stood by as his wife was deceived; and then, not being deceived himself, he willfully took and consumed the fruit in opposition to God’s plan.

Eve was deceived and fell into transgression. Adam willfully chose to disobey the command of God, knowing full well what he was doing.

And God chose to hold Adam responsible not only for his own sin but for the sin of his wife. Thus, “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin” (Romans 5:12)

Check back over the next week for Parts 2 and 3, discussing the implications of Eve’s susceptibility to deception and the headship of man.

Family & Friends, Reflections, Relationships

Daddy Dates

May 30, 2010 1 Comment by bekahcubed

I’m sure I’ve said before that I don’t have tons of dating experience. I chose not to buy into the casual dating atmosphere of high school–and was pretty school focused throughout college.

Now, I just love it when someone or something asks about my “favorite date” or “ideal date” or what I envision as the “perfect date.”

Uh, I don’t know.

Can’t say that I’ve dated around enough to get some sort of ideal vision in my head, divorced from WHO I’m enjoying something with, that is.

My most regular date has been my dad. We’ve been enjoying daddy-daughter dates off and on for five or so years. It started out as lunch dates, just having lunch once a week and talking. We worked for the same department of the University for a number of years and could both get reduced-rate meals at the cafeteria. It made for a nice little break for both of us–and didn’t cost either of us much at all.

Now that I’m employed by a different department and don’t have reduced-rate meals, we’ve varied things up a bit. Sometimes we still do lunch and we just pay full-price for my meal, but just as often we’ll choose something else.

About a month ago, we put in part of my dad’s garden together. Dad tilled, stretched the lines, and dug the furrows. I planted the corn. It was great. We just talked and enjoyed life together.

Last night, we took a leisurely little six mile bike ride and then settled in at my parent’s house to watch “Elizabeth”. On our bike ride, we talked life, blog reading, Microsoft’s market share, and the latest in science and news. Then we talked our way through the movie too, fast-forwarding when it included some gratuitous sex (WHY do they do that?), rewinding when we missed a line or which character was which, and occasionally pausing so we could make some popcorn or use the restroom. Of course, we had the subtitles on.

We have shared interests, we enjoy talking with one another. Our “dates” are generally pretty successful whatever we do.

Sure, sometimes our interests don’t align as perfectly. One night, we went to an art show that my cousin was showing a painting at. I enjoy art galleries, but it’s not really my dad’s favorite thing. What’s more, I really like to get up close to a piece of art and then move far away from it and then explore it from a dozen different angles. I like to wonder about the craftsmanship and the techniques and the tools. This show was pretty busy and I didn’t have opportunity to do that–and my art-viewing-style is rather solitary in the first place. My style, the atmosphere there, and my Dad’s apathy towards art combined to make that date less-than-ideal. But we made up for it by going to a coffee house and chatting over coffee (Dad) and a steamer (me).

So what is a perfect date?

I think it must depend on who you’re having the date with. The perfect date is one which allows both individuals to enjoy their shared interests and to relate to one another. And since everyone has different interests and relates in different ways, that “date” isn’t always the same for everyone.

In short, I don’t know what a “perfect date” looks like, but I do know what I enjoy in my “daddy dates”. I enjoy talking with my dad and sharing our common interests. And I’d imagine that’s what I’d want to do on a “real” date too.

What about you? What’s your vision of a “perfect date”? Have you ever done regular “daddy dates” or “friend dates” or something of the sort?

Recap

Recap (May 23-29)

May 29, 2010 3 Comments by bekahcubed

On bekahcubed

Book Reviews:

Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern

“When Cara’s autistic nine-year-old son Adam witnesses the murder of a classmate, Cara’s already stressful life goes insane. Adam has regressed–any advances he’s made fly out the window in light of the trauma he’s experienced. At the same time, the police want to learn anything they can from their sole witness, the elementary school and nearby middle school are doing everything they can to maintain order, and Cara runs into a reminder of her past.”
Forgotten God by Francis Chan

I saw the video on Vitamin Z and thought “I have got to read that book.

I did something unusual for me. I didn’t interlibrary loan it. I didn’t request that the library purchase a copy. I went out and purchased a copy of my own.

For the record, “The Big Red Tractor” is not a book trailer for Forgotten God. No sneak peeks of the book included. But, like any good parable, “The Big Red Tractor” whets the appetite for more. “What do you mean by that?” we ask. “What is the tractor? Who is the farmer? What is the owner’s manual?”

I have a copy of this and would love to lend it to anyone who wants to read it–on one condition: you have to be willing to tell me your thoughts once you’re done. If you’re interested, let me know via Facebook or email (b3master@menterz.com) and I can figure out how to get it to you.

Photo Albums:

Sister’s Spa Night (Menter/Brunk girls, May 28)
The boys went camping and potato-gun shooting (out of town so it wasn’t illegal). It was supposed to be their last hoorah before Daniel gets married and John leaves for boot camp. We ladies decided to have our own fun with a Beauticontrol spa night “catered” by Debbie’s coworker Nikki. We had a WONDERFUL time.

On the web

Books for the TBR list:

In the President’s Secret Service by Ronald Kessler
A friend (Joanna) read this and mentioned that she enjoyed it. When I saw Susan’s review in the monthly Nightstand carnival, I knew I needed to add it to my TBR list. I love behind-the-scenes stuff (and who doesn’t want the scoop on some of our former presidents’ “private” lives?) I have since found this in my library’s online audio book collection and am currently listening to it. It really is pretty great.

News to take note of:

Olfactory Reference Syndrome: Probably the coolest disorder ever.

“ORS has been described around the world for more than a century,” Phillips explained. “It consists of a preoccupation with the belief that one emits a foul or offensive body odor which is not perceivable by other people.”
Scientists create the first “synthetic cell”
Dr. Fazale “Fuz” Rana of Reason’s to Believe explains why the recent creation of “artificial life” by Craig Venter’s team is evidence FOR design in this podcast.

“This is a third approach that says ‘We think that life is the work of a designer because we know from empirical experience now that to make life requires ingenuity, careful planning, careful manipulation of chemicals in the lab under exacting conditions in order to generate life forms.”

Thought-provoking posts:

Are we “training our brains to pay attention to the crap”?:
Please pardon my French. It’s a quote and I wasn’t sure quite how to modify it.

“Dozens of studies by psychologists, neurobiologists, and educators point to the same conclusion: When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning. Even as the Internet grants us easy access to vast amounts of information, it is turning us into shallower thinkers, literally changing the structure of our brain.”

HT: Challies.com
Sandra talks about “organic mentoring”:

“Organic mentoring is just what the name implies- mentoring that is natural. Women naturally become friends. The “younger” woman begins to ask questions. The “older” woman finds more and more to share. Naturally, organically, they find themselves covering all the topics Paul lists in Titus 2:3-5.”

I think we all could do well to seek ways to incorporate “organic mentoring” into our lives–both as “older women” and as “younger women”.

Videos worth seeing:

Wintley Phipps shares about Negro spirituals, the pentatonic scale, and Amazing Grace. This video is absolutely amazing–totally worth your nine minutes. (I had tears running down my face by about halfway through.)

HT: Challies.com

Everyday Life

Hair Ruts

May 28, 2010 Leave a comment by bekahcubed

It’s my observation that most women have one of two types of hairstyles. Either they have a wash-and-wear type style that they use every day, or they take the time to actually fix their hair each morning. Or sometimes both.

I adore Debi’s hair. She always has it carefully styled, oftentimes in a vintage style of some sort or the other. Her hairstyles are not the same day after day–but they are always “done” day after day.

I, on the other hand, am remarkably prone to hair ruts.

I find a hairstyle that works for me and I use it until I absolutely wear it out.

Although by “hairstyle”, I mean that by the loosest definition possible.

I don’t spend a lot of time on my hair. With as much hair as I’ve got, if I were to straighten or curl it every morning, I’d be spending hours in front of the mirror. Instead, I choose “styles” that take five minutes or less.

Most recently, I’m going with the “pull back the very top into a barrette” look. (On a side note, have you ever noticed how hard it is to figure out where to look when taking a mirror picture?)

Before that, I was prone to put my hair in a quick French braid–day in and day out.

Even before that, when I was working in food service, my hair was almost constantly in a bun at the nape of my neck.

Someday perhaps, I’ll take more interest in styling my hair on a regular basis. For now, I find something that works and…

Welcome to a hair rut!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Isaiah 30:15

May 27, 2010 Leave a comment by bekahcubed

Today I’m thankful for God, who brings His word to my remembrance, and who faithfully pursues me, even when I run to another.

A little less than a week ago, I wrote of my silent cry–the ache, the request within my soul that I can’t articulate. I was working on a sewing project with a lump (size large) in my throat and tears bottled inside, refusing to overflow. I worked for an hour, maybe more, with no thought in my head except that one inarticulate cry.

Then one verse popped into my head–a verse I had memorized many long years ago (in a different translation than I currently use). “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.”

The verse rolled over and over in my mind, combining with the cry. I continued on with my work, moving seamlessly (ha-ha!) from sewing to organizing.

Then another thought arose and sought prominence. “You should check out the context of that.”

“Okay,” I thought. “I’ll check it once I’m done folding this laundry.”

“No, I think you should check it out now.”

Reluctantly, I put down my work. I’ve taken such comfort in my work, staying busy as a means of enjoyment–yes–but also as a means of avoidance. As long as I was working, I didn’t have to process that cry. The pain I was experiencing couldn’t cripple me unless I stopped. But I feared that if I were to stop, I’d never be able to start again.

But now, I needed to stop, needed to put aside my laundry and look up that verse.

“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,
“Who take counsel, but not of Me,
And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit,
That they may add sin to sin;
Who walk to go down to Egypt,
And have not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharoah,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!”
Isaiah 30:1-2

In light of my recent struggles, I’d devised my plans. I’d figured out how I was going to get through them. I was going to keep busy. I was going to distract myself. I was going to push through despite my lack of heart.

I took counsel, of a sort. Mostly, I explained what I’d decided in such a compelling way that none of my counselors could dare disagree. And when they did, when they started using the subtle phraseology of redirection, I ignored them.

I placed my trust in my chosen plan. It would work. It would have to work.

Still I added sin to sin. I was NOT placing my trust in God. I was worried (Matt 6:23-34). I was anxious (Phil 4:6-7).

And my plan produced no results. They exhausted me, they ravaged my emotions, they left me in despair.

And then God, in His wisdom, brought the memorized Scripture, Isaiah 30:15 into my mind.

“For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
‘In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.’
But you would not.”

God offered an answer. Not the Egypts I had been trusting in. Not the busyness I had clung to. He offered Himself.

“Return to Me,” He said. “Rest in Me.”
“Quiet your soul. Take confidence in Me.”

The Israelites Isaiah spoke to would not.

But I will.

I will turn aside from the Egypt that my flesh so desperately wants to run to.

I will uncurl my hand from the things I so desperately want to cling to.

I will silence my soul. I will rest in Him.

I will take confidence in this: “that He who has begun a good work in [me] will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

“For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
‘In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.'”

Technology

Managing my blog reading

May 26, 2010 4 Comments by bekahcubed

Blogs have a way of taking over one’s life–filling every spare moment unless one takes deliberate steps to control them.

This is true of the writing of blogs–of which there is no end–but it is even more true of the reading of blogs.

There are hundreds of absolutely amazing blogs out there–from those that update multiple times a day to those that update only a few times a year.

RSS makes things easier by allowing one to only visit those blogs that have been updated recently.

I have had moderate success using Firefox’s “Live Bookmarks” to manage my blog reading. All the blogs I follow are organized into a folder, with subfolders for each “category” of reading. I have the “Bloggers I know”, the “Book Bloggers”, the “Mommy Bloggers”, the “Thinking Bloggers”, the “Political Bloggers”, etc. By categorizing them this way, I can avoid certain classes on certain days (for example, I don’t read politics on the weekends–it’s just a personal rule.)

This hasn’t been a bad system, per se–but it hasn’t been a spectacular system.

The problem is that I had almost 100 blogs that I was following regularly–and I simply didn’t have enough hours in the day to read them all. Still, I was trying to read every word of every post as soon as it came out.

I tried to impose control by only checking blogs once a day.

But even this was insufficient. There were so many blogs that even checking them just once a day meant that I was spending hours reading every day.

I don’t have that kind of time.

So now, I’m trying something new. I kept my thirty(!) favorite blogs in my blog feeds folder on Firefox. I divided another sixty between the five weekdays (12 per day) and added them to a nifty little Firefox Add-on called Morning Coffee. Morning Coffee allows me to press a little coffee cup icon () on my toolbar and load the twelve preselected blogs for the day.

The plan is that I’ll read my thirty as normal and load my “morning coffee” blogs. I’ll skim what’s been written on the morning coffee blogs over the past week, reading in depth only what really sparks my interest. In doing so, I should (my fingers are crossed) be able to reduce my blog reading time somewhat.

An extra sixty or so blogs that I’ve bookmarked at some time or another are now kept in a subfolder at the bottom of the “blog feeds” folder. I can peruse these at a leisurely pace during the weekends when I don’t have any “morning coffee” blogs and don’t read any of the political or “news” related sites.

At least, that’s the plan.

Do you ever struggle with spending too much time online? How do you keep your blog-reading under control?

What's on Your Nightstand?

Nightstand (May 2010)

May 25, 2010 15 Comments by bekahcubed

My pride rebels against holding over books from one nightstand post to the next, so I often find myself frantically trying to finish and review the rest of my list immediately prior to the fourth Tuesday of the month.

Alas, this month even my pride cannot keep me from holding over books. I bit off more than I could chew last month…and added some extra books throughout the month…and had all sorts of stuff to finish in the last weeks of school…and have been trying to actually get my thesis off the ground…and I’ve been on a bit of a crafty kick lately that has distracted my attention from books.

Which means that, in short, I am holding over a whopping 10 books.

Dear me!

On last month’s nightstand:

On my nightstand

What I actually read this month was:
(Links lead to my reviews of the book, never to a site selling you something.)

Fiction

Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern
Lost in Rooville by Ray Blackston
Where Love is, There God is also by Leo Tolstoy
The Winds of Autumn by Janette Oke

Nonfiction

703: How I lost more than a quarter ton and gained a life by Nancy Makin
Convergence: Spiritual Journeys of a Charismatic Calvinist by Sam Storms
Dave Barry Does Japan by Dave Barry
Dave Barry’s Money Secrets by Dave Barry
Forgotten God by Francis Chan
Check out my notes on this book about the Holy Spirit here.
The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket
Get Married: what women can do to help it happen by Candace Watters
The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee
I made a couple of recipes out of this–a vegetable cassoulet that was good but not good enough to justify the work it took to make it; and a wonderful, low-stress Ginger Lentil Stew that I like so much I posted the recipe in my online collection!
On Grief and Grieving by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler
Discussion of stages of grieving was helpful, as noted before–otherwise, the vague “spirituality” of the remaining book was somewhat disconcerting.
Religion Saves: and nine other misconceptions by Mark Driscoll
Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff

Juvenile

Children’s Picture Books author ANDERSON-ANHOLT (52 titles), including
- Derek Anderson’s Derek and Lou Blast Off!
- Tea for Ten and other books by Lena Anderson
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
The Deserted Library Mystery created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Another confirmation of my bias against the “created by’s”. The children were in a truly dangerous situation without any adult oversight. Completely unlike Warner’s books where the children are involved with minor mysteries under the watchful eye of a caring but non-intrusive adult.
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George