A great article by Doug Phillips: The 5 Scariest Things You Can Do This Halloween

Here is an excellent article by Doug Phillips, founder and CEO of Vision Forum  (here, and here.)  I completely agree with it, and thought it was well worth reading.

	The Five Scariest Things You Can Do This Halloween The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. (Proverbs 8:13) By Doug Phillips Our country is in the grip of a fear crisis. The tension because of this fear is almost palpable. There is fear over elections, fear over the economy, and fear over hundreds of other issues ranging from the environment to terrorism. The one fear that America is missing is a fear of the Lord. As a people, we no longer fear God. Because we do not fear God, we no longer hate evil (Proverbs 8:13). Instead of hating evil, Americans toy with it. We toy with holidays like Halloween that were conceived in evil and that promote the “cute-ification” of evil, whether that evil takes the form of witchcraft, sorcery, ghoulishness, or some other form of malevolent imagery paraded before our children. We laugh at the very things that the Lord describes as “abominations,” and we find ourselves obsessively fascinated by, and attracted to, all things dark. Yet we do not fear the Lord. Those who “hate evil” are very scary to a secular society that fears man more than God. They are scary because they dare to declare that there are absolute standards by which society must be governed. They are scary because, if they are successful, industries like Hollywood that make billions of dollars by promoting ungodly fear will lose their influence. They are scary because such people will not be swayed by political candidates who use fear as a tool for manipulation. With this in mind, I offer you the five “scariest” things you can do this Halloween: The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to not make light of evil. Halloween was conceived in evil and has remained a celebration that uses children to promote a fascination with darkness and superstitious fear. Simultaneously, it makes light of things that the Bible describes as evil. Stand against such things, and the world will find you very scary indeed. The fear of the Lord makes men turn from evil (Proverbs 16:6). The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to not be fearful . The media wants you to be afraid of everything from overpopulation to global warming. The politicians want you to be afraid of the economy and political instability. God wants you to do what is morally right, trust Him completely, and never be gripped by an ungodly spirit of fear. You can place your trust and hope for this nation in the King of Kings. Jesus said: “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him” (Luke 12:4–5). Believe this, and you will be light to the world. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to completely skip Halloween and remember Reformation Day . It was 494 years ago that Martin Luther nailed his world-changing 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church. These theses included rebukes to ungodly fear and superstition. 502 years ago, sometime near October 31, a baby named John Calvin was conceived who would dedicate his life to eradicating an ungodly fear of superstitious beliefs and proclaiming the gospel of grace. His emphasis on reformation, revival, and the sufficiency of Scripture had such far-reaching implications for nations like the United States that he has been described by Christian and secular scholars alike as the true founding father of America. The Reformers did something that was very scary to the world of their day. They stood against all forms of dark superstitions which grip the minds and souls of men. It was their emphasis on the fear of the Lord and the wisdom of Holy Scripture that was used by God to liberate untold numbers of men and women. But to remember the Reformers instead of Halloween is very scary to the world. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to refuse to watch or allow your children to watch any of the toxic Halloween and horror films emerging from Hollywood . America’s fascination with ungodly fear has made horror the most popular and fastest-growing film genre among youth. When parents allow their children to toy with this genre, they promote ungodly fear, and they contribute to the fear-factories in Hollywood that prey upon the youth of our culture. Say “no” to Hollywood horror and you will be dangerously scary to the media elite. “Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence....?” (Jeremiah 5:22). The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to get on your knees as a mother and father and pray that the Lord will send you many children who will fear God, not man — children who will especially shun the glorification of witchcraft, the bondage of ungodly fear, and the “cute-ification” of evil that is promoted through holidays like Halloween. Cultures that toy with evil end up being cultures of death. The Christian response is to be a people of life. That means babies. It means fearing God by honoring His command to “be fruitful and multiply.” It means remembering that the Scripture describes children as a “blessing” and a “reward.” Raise children that fear God more than man, and that will be answer enough to our Halloween-and darkness-obsessed culture; for if you trust God over your womb and commit your children to a holy education, you will be very scary to the modern world. “Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Psalm 34:11). Persevero,      Douglas Phillips, President, Vision Forum Ministries

Introducing a new blog: Technology Through a Glass

So my great little brother Evan has finally been bitten by the blogging bug, and has started his own.  It's called Technology Through a Glass and you can visit it here.  Head over there and check it out!

Fun on the farm~ planting sugar cane and camping out

God has truly blessed me with a wonderful family.  Although we may not run all over town to attend orchestra, riding lessons, soccer, basketball, etc, we really have more fun than many other families who do so.  We are privileged to live in the country on a lovely little farm, with great neighbors, a lake, and of course each other.

     Yesterday, I finally found time to pursue a little project which has needed my attention for quite some time- namely, my sugarcane patch.

As you can see, sugarcane loves our garden's soil.  To put this into perspective, the post to the right is 7'6" tall.

Farrah has kindly allowed me to plant it in the garden, but this was with the intention of cutting it, and planting a larger patch somewhere else.  I don't know if we will ever mill the canes and make juice, syrup or sugar out of them, but they are good animal feed, so it's worthwhile for us to have some growing.  I decided to plant it on the west side of our pasture, in what used to be part of our fernery.  (It's tree fern, not leatherleaf which is what most of our neighbors grow.  Tree fern grows under oaks, not black "saran" like the L.L.)

     First, I made the furrows.  I only made three- about eight feet long by 5" wide and deep.

Me hoeing out the furrows.

Then I cut the canes, and Bo and LilyAnn helped me strip them.  This means that we pulled off the leaves to uncover the buds on the stem so that they will grow.  I think that they would grow without being stripped, but that doing so speeds up the process.

Bo and LilyAnn stripping canes.  (Actually, in this picture, they were distracted by trying to figure out how to suck cane juice.)

  

We then carried them up to the furrows, laid them in, and covered them over with dirt.  Well, really, Bo and LilyAnn did...

Covering the canes in the furrows.

Now we'll just have to keep it watered (it's a long way from the hose, pray for rain!) and hope that the frost doesn't kill it before it's got a good root system.

Later that day...

Daddy spontaneously decided to allow us to camp out down by the lake.  It was actually Savana's idea- we were going to burn an enormous brush pile down there, and she suggested a camp out.  We were all delighted of course when he consented to the plan, and spent the last half hour of daylight, (and the first half hour of darkness) setting up before returning to the house for a while to clean up, eat popcorn, and have a "fizzy drink" (i.e.  carbonated water, fruit juice concentrate of your choice.)

Here are a few photos of the bonfire and camp...

I put Evan in front of the fire to show perspective.  In this picture he was asking me to please hurry up, it was too hot for comfort.

The pile had been formed of brush we'd cut earlier this year while clearing by the lake's edge, and so was mostly leafy stuff- branches, young trees, lots of palmettos, etc.  The tall flame only lasted a few minutes, but looked really neat while it did.

Bo as a fireman, which he thinks is the most fun job in the world.  (Though I don't know how effective half a bucket of water would be on a twenty or thirty foot flame...)  For those of you who didn't read the survey Mama took of our little guys, check it out here.

When we returned to the house to clean things up, Daddy had a voice message on his phone from our neighbor across the lake, who was calling to tell us that a big black bear was in her yard, and warning us to be careful.  We knew that there were bears in the area, in fact the dogs ran one off our property a couple months ago.  I wasn't too concerned, knowing that black bears are usually peaceable, and don't attack without provocation of some sort, but Mama looked up "black bear attacks" on Google, and came up with a Wikipedia article listing all the fatal black bear attacks for the last 30 years in the USA.  For some time there was doubt whether we would be allowed to sleep outside or not, but Daddy got our eyes back on the Lord, and finally Mama consented to our proceeding with the plan. 

Savana putting the finishing touches on Evan's tent.  The object hanging in the background is Bo's enclosed jungle hammock, which he slept in for the first time last night.

Savana and I contrived this tent for Evan, since the mosquitoes are too bad for him to sleep in the open air (his preferred way of camping out) and we only had one working tent big enough for him- the other tent being barely big enough for William and Justice.

A photo LilyAnn took of the lake this morning.

Farrah and Russell at the campfire this morning.  Photo credit:  LilyAnn

We didn't see hide nor hair of the bear all night long, though the dogs barked a good deal.  I'll leave off with the verses which make up a Scripture song we sing at our church, and which I had on my heart this morning when I woke up:

Psalm 27:1, 4a, 5, & 7

1

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid?

 4a

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in house of the Lord all the days of my life...

5

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion:  in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me;  he shall set me up upon a rock.

7

Hear O Lord, when I cry with my voice:  have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

On the trail... updated

As some of you may know, I have been a horse- lover ever since I can remember- an affinity which my sisters shared.  This year we finally had the opportunity for which we've longed, prayed, and hoped for so long.

Tammy Faye

Strawberry

Wampum

       Our neighbor, Mr. L., owns three paint horses, Wampum, Tammy Faye, and their four- year old filly, whom we dubbed "Strawberry".  This spring, soon after I got back from Haiti, we began walking up to their pasture and petting them, feeding them treats, and eventually brushing them six days a week.  Well, actually, we were focusing on Tammy and Strawberry since they are our favorites.  For several months we worked with them- making our own rope halters, and halter- breaking Strawberry, who had never been trained at all since she was a couple weeks old.  We gave Tammy a much- needed refresher on leading and longeing.  We taught them to stand tied.  Before this stage, we began bringing Savana and LilyAnn, primarily so that they could video us working with the horses, or take pictures.  Savana began working with Wampum, primarily grooming him, but occasionally leading him around as well.  I was sort of "head trainer" and would introduce a new concept to the horses, or deal with them when they were being difficult.

A screenshot of Strawberry's first reaction to pressure on her mouth from the bit.  (BTW, this is actually less dangerous than it looks!)

     We got permission to put the saddles on them, but were not allowed to ride, due to Mr. L's concern that we would be injured.  T. and W. had not been ridden for over a year, and S. had never even been halter-broke when we first began working them, so this concern was valid- especially since we had only been on a horse a handful of times.



     Finally, their owner was able to ride Tammy, and within a few days we were allowed to as well, provided that we stayed in the round pen under his supervision.  He also got on Wampum, and eventually Strawberry as well.  In those initial rides, Strawberry actually reacted the best (or rather, the least).  Tammy did not appreciate all the weight on her back, but responded well to the bridle, Wampum didn't care a straw about the weight that I could see, but was stubborn about moving forward and turning.  He didn't obey the bit well at all.  But Strawberry was, as we put it that afternoon, "twice as good with the weight as Tammy, and twice as good with the bit as Wampum".

Strawberry during her very first ride.

A screenshot of my first real ride on Tammy.  Hooray!

  Then we were given permission to ride T. even when Mr. L. was not there, and about a week later, he said that we could ride the others as well.  Finally, we went on our first real trail ride with all three of them.  Unfortunately, the photos were accidentally deleted from the camera :(  Daddy went with Farrah and I, and he said that it was the most fun he'd had with us all year (even if his legs were really sore the next day.)  We rode all the way to our house, after taking lots of little back roads and trails around Mr. L's property.  Daddy got off at the house and Evan rode Wampum back with us.  Farrah and I cantered our horses (Strawberry and Tammy respectively) for the first time.

     I'm so thankful to the Lord for giving us all that he has-  a very generous neighbor, who considers it a favor that we ride his horses, a wonderful family who have supported and encouraged us, and of course, the beautiful world we live in, and the magnificent animals we ride!

    

Here's a few photos from our last ride:

Evan on Wampum.

Riding by one of the many ferneries around here...

Farrah on Strawberry.  This filly is doing great for being so "green".  She used to have a phobia of branches coming near her head, but now we've ridden her through the woods and under low-hanging boughs without a problem.

Trailing in the woods.

Me on Tammy.

At the house.  Russel was so excited that he repeatedly tried to escape from the porch and come see the horses.

LilyAnn trotting.  She's going to be a really good rider.  Tammy had spooked and jumped sideways only a few minutes before, and she stayed on pretty easily.  That little episode made me much more comfortable taking LA with us, as it showed that she wasn't easily unseated.

A pretty flower I picked as we rode by the bush it grew on.

LA hosing Tammy down to cool her off.  She also untacked her by herself (took off the saddle and bridle).

Leading Tammy and Strawberry back to the pasture.

Feeding carrots...

And there's nothing like a good roll!

Visit with Cousins

Cousins are so much fun!  Sophia, James and Caleb are all adorable, and they have such a good time here with our little guys and all the animals :)  We always enjoy it when our "Aunt Gie-Gie" is able to come down and visit for a week.  Here are some photos Savana took of our visit with them.

Sweet Miss Sophia

 I love the sequence of these pictures of Farrah with James in our garden.

"Oh no, what am I supposed to do here?"

"Hey, whatcha doin'?"

"Oh, you're getting seeds?"

"I'm ready for some!"

"Thank you..."

"You missed one!  Let me get it..."

"So this is what you do with them..."

"This is fun!"

 Meanwhile...

The rest of the little guys were having a good ol' time in the mud.

 

 After playing in the mud all morning, everyone had to take a "front step bath"- i.e. get a hosing down and hair-washing on the steps of the porch.

That water is sooo cold!
(Screenshot from a video.)

It's fun getting a "front step bath" though!  (Another screenshot.)

Isn't James cute lying on the rail of our deck like this?
(Screenshot.)

(Screenshot.)

Sophia playing with Kep.  (At first she was rather afraid of him, but now she likes him a lot.)
(Screenshot.)

We love our cousins!