a less than great awakening

Jonathan Edwards, regarding his wife, Sarah Pierpont:

"They say there is a young lady in [New Haven] who is beloved of that Great Being, who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this Great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight; and that she hardly cares for anything, except to meditate on him- that she expects after a while to be received up where he is to be raised up out of the world and caught up into heaven; being assured that he loves her too well to let her remain at a distance from him always. There she is to dwell with him, and to be ravished with his love and delight forever. Therefore, if you present all the world before her, with the richest of its treasures, she disregards it and cares not for it, and is unmindful of any pain or affliction. She has a strange sweetness in her mind, and singular purity in her affections; is most just and conscientious in all her conduct; and you could not persuade her to do anything wrong or sinful, if you would give her all the world, lest she should offend this Great Being. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness, and universal benevolence of mind; especially after this Great God has manifested himself to her mind. She will sometimes go about from place to place, singing sweetly; and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure; and no one knows for what. She loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have someone invisible always conversing with her."

When Sarah Pierpont was thirteen years old, Jonathan Edwards observed her, in awe, from a distance. He saw in her innocence, honor, character, love for that Great Being, and total submission to Him. It was not until four years later that the two were married, but Edwards had recognized something significant in her: a heart and an attitude that, in his eyes, set her apart from the rest of the world. How out of place would Sarah be were she picked up from the fields of New Haven and plopped down in the middle of the Galleria? How appalled would Jonathan Edwards be to observe the people pushing past her? Can you imagine the look of disbelief on his face? Can you see the confusion?....Not at the technology or materialism, but just...the lack of substance. The lack of anything clearly good and honorable. I think poor John would pass out then and there.....then come-to and start up the Great Re-Awakening...Lord knows we could use it.

**I feel that I should pause here to say that I love the Galleria. I am in no way bashing that magical place or the people who frequent it....I'm just wondering what's missing. Now I can continue.**

Honor.

I heard a message today titled "Wisdom Works for Relationships". The text was Proverbs 3:5-6. You can find the podcast of that message here. There were main points about honor that he really hit on:

-Relating well to God defines all your other relationships
-Demonstrating honor builds healthy relationships
-Honor is to be shown but not sought
-Honor can be shown in practical ways (ex: love languages)
-Heading wisdom's warnings protects relationships
a few of those warnings are:
-Respect the allure of immorality
-Beware of hurtful words
-Always do more than your share (never assume the relationship is 50/50...you always give more. so do it on purpose)

But I think the most important thing I heard about honor was this:

Showing true honor comes from being a person of honor.

I don't think I know many people of honor. I don't know that I am a person of honor. I do a lot of things for selfish reasons. Sometimes I respect people because I have to...not because I want to. I make rude comments. I get angry. I'm not always honorable.

Honor is so rare that when we see it, we stop and stare at it for a while. Think of the last time you heard about a Marine rescuing a friend already killed in battle....that's strange to us, unthinkable. It's weird that someone would risk their own life for someone whose life is already gone. It's not common, but it is honor...

and we could use a little more of it.

Submission.

Don't get nervous.

It's a touchy subject and one that I'm not going to tackle.

At least not today :)

I just want to share with you the new perspective on submission I recently heard:

We always think of submission in the context of marriage, when really, the reason submission between husbands and wives is such an issue is because submission should have been in place in both of their lives before then.

We should submit to the people in our lives who can speak wisdom and truth for us.

What does that look like?

That means my parents, my sister, my sisters-who-aren't-actually-my-sisters, my friends, my other-mothers...in general the people I love that love me, get to counsel me. They, in their wisdom tell me what they think I should or should not do; and because I know that God has placed them specifically in my life, I open myself up to be positively influenced by them.

I submit to the position they have in my life.

I practice submitting to my husband. (Calm down, you know it's true)

I have a physical representation of what it is to submit to my God.

Wrappin' it up.

Sarah Pierpont radiated honor and submission. It was obvious in the way she carried herself and interacted with other people. Jonathan Edwards was able to look at her and say: She will honor and submit to me because she honors and submits to other people...and ultimately to the Lord. Those things were evident in her character.

So, yeah, I think Jonathan Edwards would be more than a little frustrated with us. We rarely show honor. We don't submit...we do what we want.

We seriously need some help.

growing pains...

Gosh I'm bad at this. I was getting so much better....and then June practically killed me.

But I'm back. No worries :)

I'm a boss. Did I ever tell you that?

And I don't mean like "Dude...she's boss"....I mean I'm actually a boss. Like I have thirty daycamp counselors that report to...well, me...and, on average, 120 kids to worry about every day. I'm a boss.

And I don't like it.

Don't get me wrong...I'm so grateful to be where I am. It's a great opportunity and I'm learning a lot. The thing is, that's kind of the problem.

Lots of learning...means lots of....blah. That's the only word for it.

I have to be confrontational...disgusting.
I have to handle budgets and finances...gross.
I have to be nice when parents aren't...fantastic.
I can't hand off questions. I'm the one that gets handed questions...wonderful.
I have to be a grown-up...sick.

It's hard stuff this grown-up business.

I have a feeling the end result is going to be good. I'll like it. I'll be happy about that.

It's just the process I'm not so keen on.

Any tips for the transition into adulthood? I could use a little help :)

impossible to be a gentleman?

I went to Target the other day...I can't remember why. There probably wasn't a reason, and seriously...do I really need one? ;)

Anywho....I walked up to the door. You know, the automatic sliding ones. This man is walking up at the same time, but instead of walking through the doors, he stops. I look at him with a bewildered look on my face, thinking "come on dude, the doors open for you." Turns out he wasn't crazy...just chivalrous...

He stopped, made a sweeping motion toward the door with his hand and said, "Here, let me get that door for you."

I laughed a little, said "thank you" and walked on in. Then from behind me I heard him say, to no one in particular...

"They make it impossible to be a gentleman anymore."

I literally stopped and looked back at him...he had moved on and wasn't even talking to me anymore, but I was so shocked and, literally, halted by what he said.

They make it impossible to be a gentleman anymore.

Really? Did society and technology and innovation take away their chances to be polite, chivalrous, and just...well, manly?

Doors open themselves.

Roadside assistance is a phone call away.

Valet's open car doors.

Movers lift heavy boxes.

The lady (or man...I can never tell) at Wal-Mart fixes my car.

So have we taken away their opportunities to serve us in those small but huge ways?

I think that, just maybe...we have.

Understand that I'm not justifying the selfish, stupid actions of guys who are flat out jerks. That's not ok....uncool....unattractive....stupid.

However.

A few months ago I heard Mrs. Beth :) talk about how just like it's the heart of every girl to be the heroine, the princess, the "it" girl in the happy ending...it's the heart of every boy and man to be the hero, to save the day, the hour...or even just the moment. So I'm wondering...

Are we stealing their chances?

Of course guys can still get creative and find a way...but here's my question:

In all of our technological progress, are we pushing away the possibility of an uprising of strong, Godly, servant-hearted men?

My mind and heart have been reeling about this for days...so, your thoughts-

Share them with me :)