Audrey Hepburn Quotes

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."


"I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it."


"Pick the day. Enjoy it - to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come... The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present - and I don't want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future."


"I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person."

Mere Christianity

Book 1:
Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe

Chapters 4 and 5

Ever since the beginning of time, man have been wondering what this universe really is, and how it came to be. There are two main views on the matter. The first, is what's called the materialistic view, which is very similar to the evolutionary theory.

"People who take that view think that matter and space just happen to exist, and always have existed, nobody knows why;and that the matter, behaving in certain fixed ways, has just happened..."

The other view, Lewis called the religious view. "According to it, what is behind the universe is more like a mind that it is like anything else we know. That is to say, it is conscious, and has purposes, and prefers one thing to another."

Science, Lewis says, works by experiment. My high-school science courses (which were Christian textbooks) said that science, is, in essence, a series of experimentation used to interpret God's world around us. Many things can be determined through science: how far away is that star? what is this substance made of? what happens when we heat this up to such-and-such temperature?

"But why anything comes to be there at all, and whether there is anything behind the things science observes - something of a different kind - this is not a scientific question."

There are some things God has allowed us to know, others, we will never know. Lewis used the analogy of a postman who gives packages to each person on the street. We know that others got packages, but we are only allowed to open our own. The others aren't ours to open. The only package we are allowed to open is that of Man. We can't open the package belonging to the ocean. Or the one addressed to the trees. We open the package that was sent to us.

"But I should expect to find that there was, so to speak, a sender of letters in both cases, a Power behind the facts, a Director, a Guide."

You may think that Lewis has quickly gone through everything and pointed straight to the God of Christianity. But, actually, we've only gotten to a "certain something" out there, a conscience of sorts, a mind over all.

"Of course, I quite agree that the Christian religion is, in the long run, a thing of unspeakable comfort. But id does not being in comfort; it begins in the dismay I have been describing, and it is not use at all trying to go on to that comfort without first going through that dismay. In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth - only soft soap and wishful thinking to being with and, in the end, despair."

My favorite - Books!

My friend Suzanne requested a list of some of my favorite books. I didn't realize how many there were! I truly love to read, sometimes I forget how much. Books are special to me, rich treasures are held between their pages.

Of course, my #1 book is the Bible. I love it more than any other book available. Its the absolute, perfect Word of God. His love letter to His bride, the church. And the guidebook given to us, His children.

But other than the Bible, my top 30 books are:

Biblical Womanhood:


1. Aunt Jane's Hero By Elizabeth Prentiss


2. Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss


3. So Much More by Elizabeth and Anna Sophia Botkin


4. Raising Maidens of Virtue by Stacy McDonald
http://www.raisingmaidens.com/


5. Beautiful Girlhood by M. Hale, revised by Karen Andreola


6. Authentic Beauty Leslie Ludy


7. Set Apart Femininity by Leslie Ludy

Spiritual:


8. His Chosen Bride by Jennifer Lamp

9. Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado


10. When God Whispers Your Name by Max Lucado


11. He Chose the Nails by Max Lucado

(can you tell I like Max Lucado? In fact, while I was looking at the books on the shelf I found another book of his that I want to read called Just Like Jesus.)

12. Before You Meet Prince Charming by Sarah Mally


13. A Place of Quiet Rest by Nancy Leigh Demoss


14. Jesus Freaks by dcTalk

15. Sister Freaks by Rebecca St. James

Relationships:

16. I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris

17. Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris

18. Created to be His Help-meet by Debi Pearl

19. Emotional Purity by Heather Arnel Paulsen

20. Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends by the Mally siblings

Fun:

21. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (it must be the unabridged version!)

22. Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott

My favorite of Jane Austen:

23. Pride and Prejudice

24. Emma

25. Ten P's in a Pod by Arnold Pent III

26. Autumn by Susan Branch

27. Summer by Susan Branch

28. Just David by Eleanor Porter

Misc:

29. Be Intolerant by Ryan Dobson

30. Our Country's Founders by William J. Bennett

What are some of your favorites?

<3

Mere Christianity

Book One:
Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe

Chapters 1, 2 and 3

We've all heard people quarrel and fight. And they do that because of the Law of Human Nature. If you're not being fair, and I call you out on it you won't reply with "Who cares about this fairness thing." You will most likely try to explain why you were being fair. That is because we both have ingrained in our hearts that fairness is right and unfairness is wrong.

"It looks, in fact, very much as if both parties had in mind some kind of Law or Rule of fair play or decent behavior or morality or whatever you like to call it, about which they really agreed. And they have. If they had not, they might, of course, fight like animals...Quarreling means trying to show that the other man is wrong."

That law or rule that both parties have in their mind is the Law of Human Nature. A basic set or morals set inside of each and every one of us. Natives in savage countries or people in ancient times may have had different morals than we do today, but they were not completely different. A total different morality would mean that people we admired for running away in a battle or where people felt proud to back-stab someone who had been so kind to them.

C.S. Lewis said something that caught my attention, "Selfishness is never admired." This struck me kind of funny because I thought about all of the celebrities whose lives are practically built on selfishness. But then I remembered that even in the worldliness of Hollywood people are deeply admired who care for the orphans or give their money to an important cause. The celebrities who are purely selfish may be admired for their good acting or singing, but everyone knows that if they don't help and care for others they are sorely lacking.

We don't have to follow the rules of nature. They are often ignored and soon people become callous to the urge to do the right thing and continue to do wrong. While gravitational law is not a choice (you'll fall if you jump off a building, whether you want to or not), the Law of Human nature is a choice (you can kill that person or not, its ultimately your choice).

"These, then, are the two points I wanted to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in."

According to Lewis, many people argue about this Moral Law saying that its merely instinct, like an animal would have. But that is simply not true. Lewis gave the example of a person who hears a cry for help from a man in danger. When you hear that call you will most likely feel two desires: one to go as far away from danger as you can, and the other to go and help the person calling for help. These are your instincts. The Law of Human nature helps you to decide which one is right (obviously helping the person). Here, though, you still have a choice. You know whats right and you may or may not do that. So the Moral Law is not itself an instinct, its a tool to decipher which of those instincts you should win.

"Consequently, this Rule of Right and Wrong, or Law of Human Nature, or whatever you call it, must somehow or other be a real thing - a thing that is really there, not made up by ourselves. And yet it is not a fact in the ordinary sense, in the same way as our actual behavior is fact. It beings to look as if we shall have to admit that there is more than one kind of reality; that, in this particular case, there is something above and beyond the ordinary facts of men's behavior, and yet quite differently real - a real law, which none of us made, but which we find pressing on us."

(Whew, that was a deep one. Let's not give up, though! I was tempted to several times, but the fact that this was school work and not optional kept me from it. ;-) This stuff is rich. So stretch your mind and keep reading, even if you normally wouldn't read this kind of stuff. You'll be glad you did.)

Mere Christianity

I'm starting a new book!

"Mere Christianity"

by C.S. Lewis.

A Challenge to Women

By John Piper
January 1, 1995

1. That all of your life—in whatever calling—be devoted to the glory of God.

2. That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.

3. That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.

4. That you be women of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area of its teaching. That meditation on Biblical truth be the source of hope and faith. And that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.

5. That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God would open to you; and the power of faith and holiness would descend upon you; and your spiritual influence would increase at home and at church and in the world.

6. That you be women who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God under girding all these spiritual processes, that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers and believers of these things.

7. That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific role, that you not fritter your time away on soaps or ladies magazines or aimless hobbies, any more than men should fritter theirs away on excessive sports or aimless diddling in the garage. That you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.

8. That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to Christ and not be paralyzed by the desire to be married.

9. That, if you are married, you creatively and intelligently and sincerely support the leadership of your husband as deeply as obedience to Christ will allow; that you encourage him in his God-appointed role as head; that you influence him spiritually primarily through your fearless tranquility and holiness and prayer.

10. That, if you have children, you accept responsibility with your husband (or alone if necessary) to raise up children who hope in the triumph of God, sharing with him the teaching and discipline of the children, and giving to the children that special nurturing touch and care that you are uniquely fitted to give.

11. That you not assume that secular employment is a greater challenge or a better use of your life than the countless opportunities of service and witness in the home the neighborhood, the community, the church, and the world. That you not only pose the question: Career vs. full time mom? But that you ask as seriously: Full time career vs. freedom for ministry? That you ask: Which would be greater for the Kingdom— to be in the employ of someone telling you what to do to make his business prosper, or to be God's free agent dreaming your own dream about how your time and your home and your creativity could make God's business prosper? And that in all this you make your choices not on the basis of secular trends or yuppie lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the family and advance the cause of Christ.

12. That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life's ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment choices, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of trade offs. Finding God's will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else's chapter or whether it has in it what chapter five will have.

13. That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might, and maximizing your joy in ministry to people's needs.

14. That in all your relationships with men you seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the Biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that does justice to the unique role God has given to man to feel responsible for gracious leadership in relation to women—a leadership which involves elements of protection and care and initiative. That you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as he must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with men.

15. That you see Biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women in relation to each other not as arbitrary constraints on freedom but as wise and gracious prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God's ideal of complementarity. That you not measure your potential by the few roles withheld but by the countless roles offered. That you turn off the TV and Radio and think about...

The awesome significance of motherhood

Complementing a man's life as his wife

Ministries to the handicapped

* hearing impaired
* blind
* lame
* retarded

Ministries to the sick:

* nursing
* physician
* hospice care—cancer, AIDS, etc.
* community health

Ministries to the socially estranged:

* emotionally impaired
* recovering alcoholics
* recovering drug users
* escaping prostitutes
* abused children, women
* runaways, problem children
* orphans

Prison ministries:

* women's prisons!
* families of prisoners
* rehabilitation to society

Ministries to youth:

* teaching
* sponsoring
* open houses and recreation
* outings and trips
* counseling
* academic assistance

Sports ministries:

* neighborhood teams
* church teams

Therapeutic counseling:

* independent
* church based
* institutional

Audio visual ministries:

* composition
* design
* production
* distribution

Writing ministries:

* free lance
* curriculum development
* fiction
* non-fiction
* editing
* institutional communications
* journalistic skills for publications

Teaching ministries:

* Sunday school: children, youth, students, women
* grade school
* high school
* college

Music ministries:

* composition
* training
* performance
* voice
* choir
* instrumentalist

Evangelistic ministries:

* personal witnessing
* Inter Varsity
* Campus Crusade
* Navigators
* Home Bible Studies
* outreach to children
* Visitation teams
* Counseling at meetings
* Billy Graham phone bank

Radio and TV ministries:

* technical assistance
* writing
* announcing
* producing

Theater and drama ministries:

* acting
* directing
* writing
* scheduling

Social ministries:

* literacy
* pro-life
* pro-decency
* housing
* safety
* beautification

Pastoral care assistance:

* visitation
* newcomer welcoming and assistance
* hospitality
* food and clothing and transportation

Prayer ministries:

* praying!!!
* mobilizing for major Concerts of Prayer
* helping with small groups of prayer
* coordinating prayer chains
* promoting prayer days and weeks and vigils

Missions:

* all of the above across cultures

Support ministries:

* countless jobs that undergird major ministries