RAMBLINGS

Well, it's been a very busy week and I still haven't gotten rid of the Crud. I think when the seasons start to change (which by the way, is a very nebulous concept here in Georgia) I get some sort of virus which includes laryngitis. The only positive aspect to my laryngitis is that I can sing really low. Maybe I wouldn't call this positive so much as pretty neat. I hit a 'C' below middle 'C' on the piano really well and if it's a good day I can hit an 'A' below that. This seems to bother my husband though. Something about his wife being able to sing in the same range as himself. It'll go away soon. In the meantime I've had to go along with the crazy weekend schedule we had. On Saturday I had one rehearsal and a concert that night. I've been playing 2nd clarinet with the local community orchestra since August. The group has been around for many decades and this year marks the inaugural season with our new music director. It seems this season will be a grand success. Our music director is extremely talented yet not arrogant. He's able to relate to the musicians and urge us on to excellence without putting us down. He also has great rehearsal technique which I'm sad to say is sorely lacking in most conductors. The concert went really well. One problem I'm having though has nothing to do with the music. One of my fellow musicians, who happens to sit next to me, is openly homosexual and goes to church. Apparently, there are gay churches down in the city and he is a member of one. On Saturday night I mentioned that I wouldn't be attended the post concert reception because our church was doing a huge service the next morning to commemorate the end of the 40 days of purpose campaign. He proceeds to tell me that his church went through that too and now is going through Bruce Wilkinson's The Dreamcatcher (or maybe the Dreamgiver?). I didn't know what to say. I've been trying to figure out how to talk to this guy but part of me thinks there's no point. His conscience has certainly been seared to the point where he doesn't understand what sin is. Why did Christ die, for goodness sake? Part of me is mad that he and his fellow homosexuals are denigrating the cross each week by "worshiping" God and then living a lifestyle that is blatantly sinful. I don't know what to do. Any wisdom would be most appreciated. By the way, do you think there's a problem if these gay churches are using material by Rick Warren and Wilkinson and they're not being convicted of their sin? IMHO, Warren glossed over the sin problem in his book. I don't know about Wilkinson. I do know that I didn't like Prayer of Jabez. Maybe these books are finding their way into gay churches because the target audience is the so called "seeker". I don't know, just a thought.


On a lighter note, I think I'm going to try to grow my bangs out, again, for the umpteenth time. I've only succeeded once in my adult life to do this. It failed because for the whole year I was growing them out, I wore a headband. This may seem like a trivial issue to you but in the past year I've really begun to examine my wardrobe and my overall appearance. Last Christmas my hair was really short. I think I look good with short hair but two things began to be against me keeping this style. 1)My desire to please my husband and 2)My feeling that I didn't look as feminine with short hair. It seems that most women follow the same pattern. Grow your hair out for your wedding and then a couple months after the wedding, go short. This doesn't apply to all women but it's something I've noticed. So right now my hair is sort of in a bob shape and my bangs are just below my eyebrows. My overall length is right about chin length. I want to have long hair but I don't like the time it takes to make it look good. My hair is very fine and without any curl or natural body. It takes work to make it look like it's not just hanging there. Any hints or advice?


On a final note, our church ended the 40 days of purpose with a massive service outside on the soccer fields. Our church has not had one service since 1989. There were 5000 folding chairs set up along with a huge stage that resembled an outdoor rock concert stage. We had a 200 voice choir, 40-50 piece orchestra/band, and praise team and soloist. It was a fabulous day and it even was warm enough that my wood clarinet didn't crack. The sun was shining right on our faces. That was a tad annoying but it was better than cold and damp. The service was really great and there were no glitches. I'm a little ambivalent concerning the outcome of 40 days for me personally. There's been so much hype at our church about how this book and the campaign was going to change our lives. Maybe I didn't invest as much time in it as I could but frankly, I felt that most of the material, if not all of it, I had heard and read before. Plus, my misgivings about Warren's sloppy exegesis really bothered me. Maybe I'm being prideful. That's highly possible. Maybe I've been too unmotivated and melancholy lately. That's also highly possible. I just kept having this feeling of "been there, done that." A lot of people got a lot out of this book and the corresponding small groups, etc. I think I will go back and do a heart check on myself. I love to be challenged theologically. I just wasn't.

Coming soon --- Posts on holiness and a new Piper book I bought, When I Don't Desire God; Fighting for joy