My Beautiful Old Bicycle!

Last Friday and Saturday there was a wonderful event called the Buchanan Community Garage Sale. This event is huge, people even take off of work to attend. I was informed of this event the first week I was here at Life Action and was greatly anticipating its arrival! However, when morning came last Friday, things did not look so hopeful for this cherished event. The sky was dark, thunder rumbled, lightening struck and rain poured from the sky! Carrie and I were almost sure there would be no garage sales open so we just went about our business, running a few errands in Buchanan. After finishing up, we noticed the weather had improved a bit and decided to make a little run through town to see if anyone had opened up shop. As we drove up the main thoroughfare we saw a few people walking, armed and ready for a day of garage saling, and our hopes rose! Then we looked to our right and were delighted to see open doors welcoming eager shoppers into their treasure-filled garage!

It was not hard to find and abundance of wonders but the real treasure came right at the end of Carrie and I's shopping extravaganza. At our last stop were two vintage bikes. Ever since I returned from Italy I have dreamed of owning a quaint old bike that I could put a basket on and ride all over town in. After Carrie helped me barter the beautiful vintage bike down to $15, my dream has now become a reality! I could barely wait to take my bike out on a ride and did so as soon as we got home. It was just a short first ride because lightening cut it short. But when the sky cleared up I headed out again and ventured around on country roads for a little over an hour. And let me tell you, it was glorious!

Memorizing to Cognizance

For almost three weeks now I have been having a grand old time with Dennis and Carrie up in South Bend. During the week Carrie has been helping me get my tush out of bed in the morning to go on a walk/run with her. She works on her memory verses while walking and has appointed me to keep her from making up her own version of the Bible. Carrie has several chapters memorized and after listening to her say her verses, I was inspired to get back into a memorizing routine. 

 

Last fall I had been working on Proverbs 2:1-6 and decided to pick those up again. I'm also trying to memorize Romans 6, 7 & 8. So far I have Romans 6:1-4 down and am ready to move on to the next couple verses.

In the last couple of months, I had been having a rather lackadaisical attitude any time I read my Bible. I wasn't necessarily very excited about my lack of excitement for God's word and began to pray for a renewed interest and hunger for His word. I have found that memorizing Scripture has greatly increased my excitement for and joy in God's word. 

I was just reviewing my Romans verses and was reminded of some quotes I read the other day in Worldliness by C. J. Mahaney so I decided to look at them too. Romans chapter 6 is talking about how I died with Christ so that I can live a new life. So often when I think of dying to sin I just create a list of all the things I shouldn't do. I really appreciated the perspective that Mahaney took on dying to sin. Here are some of the quotes I like from the book thus far:

"The evil in our desires often lies not in what we want, but in the fact that we want it too much." (David Powlison paraphrase of John Calvin)

"Worldliness... loving the values and pursuits of the world that stand opposed to God." (C.J. Mahaney)

"We must fight worldliness because it dulls our affections for Christ and distracts our attention from Christ. Worldliness is so serious because Christ is so glorious." (C.J. Mahaney)

"Meditate on the cross. Consider the wonders of the Savior who died for sinners and rose victorious over sin and death. Dwell where the cries of Calvary are louder than the clamor of the world." (C.J. Mahaney)

Quite Possibly the Funniest Verses

This morning I read what may be the funniest verses in the entire Bible. Here they are:

II Kings 2:23-24 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

I thought it was hilarious that Elisha was called a "baldhead" but perhaps that's because I don't really understand the meaning of such an insult. However, when Carrie and I looked at StudyLight.org we discovered that "baldhead" merely means "bald". So it kind of seems like Elisha was just a very sensitive guy. I know this is probably not a very good biblical interpretation but at first and second and third reading of these verses I had a good laugh.

Pike's Peak or Bust!

For some time now I have been dreaming of finding a mountain in Indiana. I know this really is quite impossible but yet I still had hope I could find one. There is a burning desire within me to find this Indiana mountain, climb it, come back down, buy a t-shirt, draw a picture of me on top of the mountain in Indiana and proudly wear this t-shirt boasting the feat I have just accomplished. This dream will soon be able to become a reality as a result of a discovery I made today! 

While looking at a map of Indiana to find where the center of the United State's population is located (another great adventure waiting to happen!) I saw these word's: Pike's Peak! And you all thought Pike's Peak was in Colorado! No, no. America's Mountain may be in Colorado, but Pike's Peak is just a little bit southwest of Columbus, Indiana.

Apparently a man named Adrian Miller was planning on moving out to Colorado to take advantage of the 1875 Homestead Act. As he set out west his conestoga wagon declared his intent: "Pike's Peak or Bust"! However, Miller only made it slightly further than Columbus, IN. In an effort to maintain his dignity, he named the hill Pike's Peak and the name settled in.

I am so excited about this new Indiana find and cannot wait to go hike this "mountain" and make my t-shirt! Would anyone like to join me on this tremendous adventure in the Indiana wilderness?

A Natural Wonder of Northern Indiana

I have recently been made aware of an erroneous assumption I have been harboring in regard to North America's geographical status. It has always been my belief that there is only one continental divide in North America... until I received enlightenment today! There are in fact four continental divides in North America. The largest and most well-known of the four is the Great Divide. However, as you can see from the map above there are also the Northern, Eastern and St. Lawrence Divides. 

The reason I have taken an interest in the continental divides is because I happened to pass by the North/South Continental Divide while driving through the great state of Indiana on U.S. 31 Bypass. The water on the north side of the divide is carried up by the St. Joseph River into the Great Lakes and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean. Water on the southern side of the divide will be carried by the Kankakee River into the Gulf of Mexico. 

For more information about all four of the continental divides in North America I recommend a visit to this site. 

My Sewn Creation

For quite some time now I have been thinking about how I should start sewing more often and a couple weeks ago I put those thoughts into action! Before coming up to South Bend I made it my goal to make a skirt. While looking for some fabric I came upon some old dress shirts that Dad had given to me. I thought it would be a fantastically simple idea to make a skirt out of one.

However, as I was explaining my technique to Mom she became disgusted with me and told me to use a pattern. And being the kind mother that she is, she found one that showed how to make a skirt out of a men's shirt. I ended up buying another shirt that didn't have a pocket on it to stick with the pattern Mom found me. After following the pattern, I was able to produce what you see above. I'm quite pleased with my skirt, feel a bit more confident in my sewing abilities and am looking forward to my next sewn creation!