I know it's past Christmas, but I had been meaning to post this beforehand and never got around to it.  One of my favorite passages from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  Truly, a home to aspire to.

            They were in another scene and place; a room, not very large or handsome, but full of comfort. Near to the winter fire sat a beautiful young girl, so like that last that Scrooge believed it was the same, until he saw her, now a comely matron, sitting opposite her daughter. The noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous, for there were more children there, than Scrooge in his agitated state of mind could count; and, unlike the celebrated herd in the poem, they were not forty children conducting themselves like one, but every child was conducting itself like forty. The consequences were uproarious beyond belief; but no one seemed to care; on the contrary, the mother and daughter laughed heartily, and enjoyed it very much; and the latter, soon beginning to mingle in the sports, got pillaged by the young brigands most ruthlessly. What would I not have given to be one of them! Though I never could have been so rude, no, no! I wouldn't for the wealth of all the world have crushed that braided hair, and torn it down; and for the precious little shoe, I wouldn't have plucked it off, God bless my soul. to save my life. As to measuring her waist in sport, as they did, bold young brood, I couldn't have done it; I should have expected my arm to have grown round it for a punishment, and never come straight again. And yet I should have dearly liked, I own, to have touched her lips; to have questioned her, that she might have opened them; to have looked upon the lashes of her downcast eyes, and never raised a blush; to have let loose waves of hair, an inch of which would be a keepsake beyond price: in short, I should have liked, I do confess, to have had the lightest licence of a child, and yet to have been man enough to know its value.

            But now a knocking at the door was heard, and such a rush immediately ensued that she with laughing face and plundered dress was borne towards it the centre of a flushed and boisterous group, just in time to greet the father, who came home attended by a man laden with Christmas toys and presents. Then the shouting and the struggling, and the onslaught that was made on the defenceless porter! The scaling him with chairs for ladders to dive into his pockets, despoil him of brown-paper parcels, hold on tight by his cravat, hug him round his neck, pommel his back, and kick his legs in irrepressible affection! The shouts of wonder and delight with which the development of every package was received! The terrible announcement that the baby had been taken in the act of putting a doll's frying-pan into his mouth, and was more than suspected of having swallowed a fictitious turkey, glued on a wooden platter! The immense relief of finding this a false alarm! The joy, and gratitude, and ecstasy! They are all indescribable alike. It is enough that by degrees the children and their emotions got out of the parlour, and by one stair at a time, up to the top of the house; where they went to bed, and so subsided.

Happy New Year!

Currently Listening Home Ground By The Battlefield Band The Rovin' Dies Hard see related

Weel, someone asked for an update.  It's been, oh, a hundred years or so since I last posted, I suspect an update might be in order.  On the other hand, most of the three or four people who actually read this see me in person on a regular basis.  Oh, what the heck.  Here goes:

Item #1:  As of 12:34 am today, I am one quarter of a century old.

Item #2:  My life still consists of work, school, projects around the house, and church.  With an occasional evening at the Wilwerts squeezed in.

Item #3:  When it comes to man-made dwellings, you can't beat castles, stone houses, timberframe, brick, or a combination thereof (also, notice the list is in order of best first).

Item #4:  I have a dream.  It is this:  one day, in the bright future, all of Chris's camping gear I borrowed about a month ago will be removed from my 4Runner and restored to its rightful owner (and also to be a missionary disguised as an engineer someday, but that's a different one).

Item #5:  When I voted today, I voted for myself for all offices on the ballot.

Item #6:  On a superficial note, I hope the coming year holds in store a trip to Vermont, several to New York, one to Falling Water, and one to Ireland.  Believe me though, there are many more worthy hopes I have for the coming year also.

Item #7:  Bob Zambelli is a pretty awesome guy.

Item #8:  I was completely joking on item #5.

Item #9:  I hope my cittern arrives this year.

Item #10:  It is amazing the way the Lord pours His Spirit into you and realigns your thinking and viewpoint to match His, when you seek Him honestly, just as He promised.  Imagine that!  Know something?  The best advice you can take and make your own is to buy an alarm clock and exchange the last 15 mins of sleep before waking with 15 mins of talking to and learning from Christ.  Then a half hour.  And so on.  Before the day starts.  I cannot recommend that advice enough.

So then.  Ten items should do well enough for an update.  Gives a small sample of what fills my days, heart and mind.

Cheers!

- J

Currently Listening Hiding Place By Selah Before the Throne of God Above see related

Japan's Birthrate Hits Record Low

There is something slightly funny about this, though I cant put my finger on it.  Maybe it is the "solutions" governments are proposing.  Maybe it is the worry it is causing, as though this were some big surprise or unexpected phenomenon.  I wonder if God ever gets tired of saying "See, I told you so".  Judging by how many times Israel was taken into captivity....  I wonder too if Japan (and all the EU nations) will finally see what is of greater value in this world.  Not that they have any reason to apart from Christ.