Completed!

/> We have been quite busy here at the Palmer household. Stan received his call to be a pastor to two congregations in western Kansas, Lindsay was confirmed, Elise graduated from high school, the younger girls sang in homeschool choir at the seminary for the last time! We thank God for all the opportunities he has given us during our time in Indiana, and the wonderful people we have met whom we will always cherish. As to being completed, I am unsure as of this time if this blog will be "completed" or not. I have enjoyed blogging about family and theology (my two main interests). Most of my readers are on facebook, where I post photos about our family. I have touched on many theological subjects that are important to me. After we are settled in our new parsonage in western Kansas, I may feel like blogging again. For now, I am going to focus on completing the task of packing our family up and spending time with dear people that are here. I appreciate those who took the time to read our blog, and hope that it was as enriching to you as it has been for us. God's blessings to you. "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21

Prayer

This is one of the prayers we prayed in church yesterday. I cut it out of the bulletin, and plan to refer to it often as we wait for Call Day, when Stan will know where he will be a pastor (and we find out where we will be living). Lord God, You have called Your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that Your hand is leading us and Your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. ~Collect for the 4th Sunday of Easter, used in the LC-MS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod).

Spelling, spelling, and more spelling!

John placed 8th out of 15 spellers at the regional spelling bee! Way to go, John!

Overpopulation or Population Implosion?

Here is another excellent Issues, Etc. program. The topic? America's Population Implosion. Yes, you read that correctly, "Implosion." I find it curious that with many hot button topics, we hear the ramifications and reasoning behind one side of the issue, but we don't often hear the full story from people on the other side of the issue. This is one of those issues. Ever since I was a child, I remember hearing about "overpopulation." It frightened me somewhat. Here is the other side. If you are a person who does not want to have children, you can still listen without fear of being shamed. The guest, Jonathan Last, states clearly that he is not trying to talk people into having kids if they don't want to. He is, however, offering some intelligent observations about the consequences of our fertility rate, which is below replacement rate.

Knowing God

This verse is such a wonderful summary of how we can know God: through the forgiveness of sins. It is also appropriate to think about during Lent, when the focus is on repentance, and how Christ carried our sins to the cross. Jeremiah 31:34b: "They all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." We are forgiven through the sinless death of Jesus Christ on our behalf, brought to us by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. That is how we know God our Father! All thanks be to Him.

A Little History, Please

I am a big fan of history. To be honest, in school through the 12th grade I found it to be one of the most, if not the most, boring subject around. In college I suddenly found myself interested, once I realized I was learning about real people like you and me. I still find it fascinating that widely held beliefs in one era can be the exact opposite of those held in a different era. I try to keep an open mind when considering beliefs of another period. It is easy to mock them, and think of ourselves as infinitely more intelligent and advanced than people in other times. In some cases, we do have advanced knowledge. In other areas, we are lacking and would do well to consider some older habits and beliefs. One subject that interests me is birth control. I find it incredible that the Christian church, across denominations, condemned it until less than 100 years ago. I used to think it was just the influence of newer technologies. However, there is more to it. How did our society change as much as it has? How did Planned Parenthood get started, and how did Margaret Sanger influence the church and in turn, society? Here is a gem of an Issues, Etc. radio program, called "Evangelicals and Birth Control". The guest is Dr. Allan Carlson. There is also a print article on the page I linked, if you would rather read about it than listen to it. Even though the title speaks of evangelicals, the program would be informative for anyone interested in American or church history. I think it is a wise practice to understand how and why a society changes. Sometimes we take our own beliefs for granted, and don't really examine why we believe as we do. Stan always says, "Know what you believe and why you believe it." That is good advice.

The Spelling Bee Champ

Congrats to John, who won the county spelling bee! John will advance to the regional competition in March. Way to go, John!