Day 9: Zondag (Sunday)

April 27th was a very special day for us: we visited the church that my grandma went to when she was a little girl, and we visited the farmhouse that she grew up in!

The Ooste Kerk.

Inside:

(Look how symmetrical it is!  Isn't that cool?)

This stained glass window was given to the people after World War Two. Beauty in brokenness.

There's something special about worshiping with other believers, even if you don't understand the language. On this particular day, they were having an infant baptism. At first, I thought the father was the baby's big brother! He looked rather like a young Michael Jackson (or one of his big brothers in the Jackson Five) and sang like him too! The baby's older sister - who looked about five or six - was in charge of holding a candle. And not one of those fake ones. This was a real candle, very tall, with very real fire at the end. I thought she was going to light her siblings on fire! Either them or the minister in his robes. Thankfully, no mishaps occurred. 

My grandma's family have supposedly been living on the same piece of land since the 1600's. In the 1850's, the below farmhouse was built. It was where my grandma, her siblings, and many of her other relatives (including my dad's cousins) were born.

The farm is run by my dad's cousin and they raise cattle for milk. While we were there visiting I drink some pure, unpasteurized milk, that came straight out of the tank (that had recently pumped the milk out of the cow). Wow! If milk tasted like that all the time, I might drink it. (When I was little, I had an allergy to milk. I've since grown out of the allergy, but we never switched from rice milk to regular. I don't drink milk; it goes only on my cereal and occasionally in hot chocolate.)

The farm, like most other farms, has other animals... cats, a dog, and some ponies, which my dad's cousin's daughter trains and rides. I even got into the saddle for a short ride!

My dad's cousin's daughter (I will give five hundred imaginary dollars to whoever figures out what relation she is to me) doesn't speak much English, and I don't speak much Dutch (I'm better at understanding it) but we managed to communicate a little bit. We're around the same age. She asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I tried to explain youth ministry in the church... but that didn't work too well. Whenever I told anyone about youth ministry, they didn't really understand. It wasn't a speech barrier, more like a cultural or religious one. They just didn't seem to have any programs for youth - at least not in the churches we visited. But more on that in a later post.
The girl was telling me about what she wanted to do as well. I believe it was something with horses and equestrian... but I could be mistaken.
In the end, I don't think either of us really got much out of the conversation, but it was fun nonetheless! And the horse was very nice.

Now, there are several big barns where the cattle are kept, but when my grandma was growing up, the animals were kept in the barn attached to the house. Can you imagine the smell? Now, the cows are milked in the attached barn. The really young calves live in the attached barn as well.

Inside the farmhouse there were three bedrooms upstairs, and one more downstairs. There was also the kitchen/parlor, where my grandma's family would usually sit. We sat in the "Sunday parlor," which, when my grandma was young, was only used on Sundays (it reminded me of Great Expectations). Now the parlor is used any time.

I could have stayed at the farm longer, I think. Not only were the owners of the farm and their children there, but two of my dad's other cousins with their children and spouses came as well! And an old aunt. There were 18 of us all together, I think! It was so much fun to sit with every one and to listen to them laugh and talk in a strange mixture of Dutch and English! I love having such a big family; I don't love that everyone lives so far away that we can't just invite them over or be invited over on a Sunday afternoon.

We had to leave, however, because we were going to another church service - a special Koningsdag service. This service had a female minister, and a beautiful, beautiful choir! Oh, how I wished I could go up and join them! The roofs of old Dutch churches radiate the music back to those sitting in the pews; it's gorgeous. I can't wait to do a special post on Dutch churches, because they were really wonderful (maybe not so much the worship - because we couldn't understand it - but the architecture, and the music. Oh).

It was a nice, restful Sunday.

Stay tuned for Day 10, where Tintin made a new friend named TomTom...

P.S. For anyone wondering, I didn't actually have my wisdom teeth removed today. There was a scheduling mishap where they didn't even have us down for an appointment today (plus the surgeon is in India because of a family emergency) so now my surgery is rescheduled for sometime in the last week in July.

Day 4: Wij komt aan Holland

We were up bright(ish) and somewhat early to get to the airport for our afternoon flight to Holland.
We don't normally fly Airbus (Boeing is where it's at) but this was a nice flight. Lots of room between seats... and nice coat hooks...

Huh? I don't recall seeing those before! Or, at least, not for a long, long time.
There was quite a lineup on the runway, so our plane was about an hour late departing.

We're airborne!

 

(Look, Grama and Grandpa from the Midwest! Wind generators in the ocean!)

The Dutch coastline!

After picking up our rental car and GPS system, we drove out of Amsterdam, where we had landed, and headed towards our first stop.

This is the farmhouse where my great-grandpa (on my mom's side) was born way back in the early 1898! Later, along with his family, he immigrated to the United States and one thing led to another and eventually my mother was born out of the bloodline!
No, the house isn't in an area of prime real estate... Many, if not most, of the houses in Holland's countryside are surrounded by water. 
Here is a picture of the house from 1915!

Dutch drawbridge. There were a lot of these around.

We stopped in Woerden for dinner because by this time, we were all starving. After dinner, we walked around the town for a bit and got our first taste of Dutch culture and architecture.

Woerden's water tower, with the church steeple in the background.

De 'kerk' up close!

(Those ice cream sculptures were in nearly every city - wherever there was an ice cream shop)

(Bikes and a typical Dutch storefront building)

Our first windmill!

 (Shawarma?)

An advertisement for Koningsdag... What is Koningsdag, you may ask? You'll just have to stay tuned!

Day 2 (part 2): Westminster Abbey

When we got outside of the Globe, it was pouring rain! Luckily, we brought an umbrella with us.
In London, when it rains, it RAINS. I live in an area where it rains pretty consistently; but it's more of a persistent drizzle. In London, even the individual rain drops seemed bigger than the ones where I live.
When it rains where I live, it's almost a sign of weakness to pull out an umbrella. Instead, people run for cover like rabbits. In London, when it starts to rain, umbrellas pop up everywhere. Every different type of umbrella imaginable! Every shape, every color, every design.

(And, evidently, everyone wants to cross the Millennium Bridge at once...)

On our way to lunch, we walked past the house the Benjamin Franklin lived in when he was in London.

Pretty exciting! But why is there a skeleton in the third floor window on the right...?

Next, lunch at...

The Sherlock Holmes pub! This is where I ate fish 'n chips.

What a cool restaurant! Downstairs, they had a bar, where they were playing Sherlock on TV. Upstairs, there was the restaurant! They had a display in one corner, modeling the sitting room at 221b Baker Street complete with the bust Sherlock Holmes made of himself for The Empty House story (to trick Sebastian Moran into thinking he was in the window, when he really wasn't. Tintin uses the same trick in Tintin in America)

 

 

It was like playing Spot the Sherlock Holmes Reference. In the corner stood a harpoon, on the chair sat his violin, on the table were visiting cards from Lestrade and Dr. Mortimer and Charles Augustus Milverton and several other familiar names. The correspondence was stuck into the mantlepiece with a knife. Science equipment was lined against the wall, and above it the initials "V.R." had been shot into the wall. On the sofa was the key to The Dancing Men, and on the table two ears, packed in salt, were waiting to be investigated. 

After that, we took the bus to Westminster Abbey for an Easter service; Lessons in Carols.

There was one place that I wanted to see in Westminster Abbey, and that was the Poet's Corner (with monuments honoring those such as The Bronte Sisters, Jane Austin, George Frederick Handel, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Spenser, and others). Because it was Easter, they weren't doing tours, and weren't letting anyone wander around. Seats were set up everywhere for the services. Do you know where they sat us? Us in the Poet's Corner!

I must say that now that I think back to the event, it's quite amazing, but at the time, I was too awed to notice. 

Westminster Abbey is the first big, regal cathedral that I've ever been in. Being in such an old place of worship, where thousands of believers over the centuries have gathered - and were gathered that day! - to worship our Creator overwhelmed me with emotion. All I could think was, Who wouldn't want to worship our God? 

Some people in the church just wanted to get a look at the inside, and when the service started, got up and left after the first song or two. My thoughts changed to, How can they just walk out like that? Why aren't they falling to their knees in submission to God?

Those architects who built Romanesque and Gothic style buildings believed that people could be converted just by walking into their churches and seeing the splendor of them. In a place like Westminster Abbey (which, I believe, is Gothic... but I'm not sure), I can believe it!

The service was very interesting. The priest would read some Bible verses, and then a men and boy's choir would sing a beautiful song to accompany it. At one point they lit incense, which only happens at special services like on Easter. I thought that was pretty cool.

It was especially nice because I've been studying church history and I know the history behind the church now. I have so much more appreciation for services like this. While I think that having a personal relationship with Jesus is the best way to go, there is something to be said for giant, mass services like that in Westminster Abbey. It was really quite amazing.

Even though technically you aren't allowed to take pictures inside... my dad sort of sneaked a few on his phone.

(The ceiling, which makes me think that maybe this church is build in the Romanesque style. All the old church in Holland have this sort of ceiling. It's really beautiful!)

 

(Part of the Poet's Corner. See Shakespeare in the middle? He's sticking his calf out to show it off!)

We were going to go and see Big Ben, but since it was pouring when we got outside, we decided to just go back to our hotel.

We passed Nelson's Column...

 

And a big blue chicken...

And many a red phone box.

Name that Tintin book!

The weather turned nice - and even a bit sunny! - late in the afternoon/evening, and my dad and I decided to walk to find the Allies Bench.

In World War II, the three major powers fighting against Germany were Winston Churchill and England, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union, and Franklin D. Roosevelt and the United States. They were called "The Big Three."

(You gotta love Winston Churchill. You just have to.)

There's a bench dedicated to "The Big Three" in London and my dad and I went and found it. 

Only it's missing someone...

After that, we walked to where the Embassies are, to find the American and the Canadian ones.

The Canadian Embassy (and all the other countries) is really nice... it's just like a house with a Canadian flag on it... it even has a nice little balcony...

And then you turn to the American Embassy and it has electric fences surrounding it, and those things that come out of the ground to stop cars (in National Treasure 2, Ben drives over them to get away from the police in the parking lot of the Library of Congress), and there are guards posted every few feet. And not just nice guards. Guards with HUGE GUNS. Though one did nod at my dad as we passed. 

You'd think we were the world's most hated country or something...

After that, we took a detour through Hyde Park to get back to our hotel. We walked passed Speaker's Corner, where people gather of a Sunday and speak about whatever they want. We didn't stop to listen too long. As we were walking away, we heard this guy say to his girlfriend, "I mean, really? Don't those guys have a life or something? They should go get a life!"

Hyde Park is really gorgeous - and HUGE! It would be fun to go back and explore it. 

Thus ends Day Two of our adventure!

Stay tuned for Day Three...

Live long and prosper.

Thomas Aquinas' life.

This is a paper I wrote for church history class on the life of Thomas Aquinas:

By Abbey, April 2014

Before he was even born, Thomas Aquinas was predicted to be a great learner, teacher, and preacher. This is what a hermit told Theodora, Thomas’ mother.

Thomas Aquinas was born in Italy around 1225, the youngest of eight siblings. His parents, though a count and countess, were not upper nobility.

At five years old, as per custom, young Thomas was sent to an Abbey in Monte Cassino to be taught by Benedictine monks. He puzzled his professors by repeatedly asking “What is God?” He was a diligent and quick learner and his teachers were impressed.

When the monastery became a site of military conflict, Thomas was removed by his parents and sent to Naples to continue his studies. Here he was most likely introduced to the works of Aristotle, which inspired some of his own works later.

Thomas Aquinas was also thrown together with the Benedictine Order, which followed the Rule of Benedict of Nursia. Against the wishes of his family, he wanted to join the Order. Instead of letting that happen, some of Thomas’ brothers kidnapped him and he was locked away for a year. His family tried to dissuade him from his intents – going so far as so hire a prostitute to seduce him, which didn’t work – but eventually his mother softened, and helped him escape out a window to some Benedictine friends below.

Through his confinement, Thomas Aquinas studied hard, and those in the Benedictine order were pleased with the progress he had made on his own.

He continued to study with the Benedictine monks at the University of Paris through the 1240’s and in 1250, he was ordained as a priest. His fellow students thought him dumb because he was quiet. Albertus Magnus, a Dominican scholar, said, “You call him the dumb ox, but in his teaching he will one day produce such a bellowing that it will be heard throughout the world." He was right.

Thomas Aquinas earned his Doctorate in Theology and taught theology at the University of Paris. He started writing books at this time. His life from this point on was immersed in traveling, teaching, writing, speaking, and preaching.

During the Middle Ages, many theologians and philosophers were trying to reconcile the two studies to each other. Obtaining knowledge through revelation from God or from evidence learned by the senses seemed to be at odds with each other.

There were two types of theology: Monastic theology – believing in order to understand – and Scholastic theology – understanding in order to believe. Thomas Aquinas was part of the latter group. He believed that theology and philosophy both came from God, and therefore, could be reconciled to each other – a revolutionary thought.

Thomas Aquinas argued that God’s existence could be proven in five ways:

·        By movement. There can’t be an infinite chain of movement, someone must have started movement at some point, and that someone is God.

·        Identifying God as the cause of everything by observing cause and effect.

·        There are many things that exist, but are not necessary. If everything were unnecessary, there would be nothing, so there must be a necessary being that stands on its own, and is the cause for other things to exist. This is God.

·        By noticing elements of perfection in beings and things, coming to the conclusion that there must be a supreme, perfect being: God.

·        Without God, we wouldn’t have intelligence. Everything without awareness takes orders from something that is aware.

Aristotelianism – Aristotle’s philosophy – and it’s more radical form of Averroism were rising and spreading quickly in the late 1260’s. This was a worry for Christians, as Aristotle’s teaching did not go along with the Bible. In 1270, the bishop of Paris, Etienne Tempier, condemned thirteen Aristotelian propositions and excommunicated from the church anyone who supported the heretic.

Although Thomas Aquinas did study Aristotle, and write several commentaries on Aristotle’s works on natural philosophy (a precursor to science and physics), he was against Averroism.

In 1272, Thomas Aquinas stopped teaching at the University of Paris and moved back to Naples, Italy, where he continued to teach theology.

His theological writings, however, ceased in 1273, after he had some kind of spiritual encounter which he did not speak or write about. When a man urged him to continue writing, Thomas Aquinas replied, “I can do no more. Such secrets have been revealed to me that all I have written now appears to be of little value.”

He was on his way to France in the early weeks of 1274, when he fell ill along the road, and was taken to a monastery. Sensing that his time was near, Aquinas refused to be taken to a nearby castle, saying, “If the Lord wishes to take me away, it is better that I be found in a religious house than in the dwelling of a layperson." His final words were Psalm 131:14 and he died in March 1274.

In 1277, Etienne Tempier, still bishop of Paris, ordered a more severe condemnation on the works of Aristotle and Aristotle’s followers. Tempier made a list of 219 propositions which he believed violated the omnipotence of God. Among these, were 20 propositions of Thomas Aquinas.

Though his image was stained for awhile after this condemnation, Thomas Aquinas’ reputation has since risen above it, and he is today much studied in Catholic circles. He was made patron saint over all Catholic academics in 1880. His unfinished Summa Theologica is especially well-known and studied.

Though he had some bumps in his career – namely the kidnapping by his family – Thomas Aquinas fulfilled the prediction the hermit gave to his mother. Thomas Aquinas was, indeed, a great learner, speaker, writer, theologian, and preacher, whose influence extends even to present day.

Bibliography:

www.newadvent.org, Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Thomas Aquinas

www.biography.com, St. Thomas Aquinas

Wikipedia.org, Thomas Aquinas

Upon This Rock lecture series, lecture number 10, “The Nature of Medieval Theology”

Plato.Standford.edu, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Saint Thomas Aquinas

World Book Encyclopedia, Aquinas, Thomas.

Boy am I glad I don't have to study philosophy! It was difficult enough to try and figure out a plain-english way of putting Thomas Aquinas' five ways to prove God's existence. I still couldn't explain to you what they are. 

Church history is a really fascinating topic. There are so many interesting people! And interesting heresies! And interesting splits in the church! It's crazy.

Right now I'm learning about Christianity in the Middle Ages. All sorts of Germanic tribes were invading and settling in Europe (throughout the first 1000 years of AD but specifically) in the 11th century. The Roman Catholic church sent monks to spread the gospel of Jesus and really, all it took to spread the word, was the ear of the leader of whatever tribe they were visiting. Over and over again this happened. Actually, all throughout history.

Take Moses for example... God chose him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and he did. He was their leader, and they all believed in God. 

Then, in 300AD, Emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity and from then on, Christianity was the religion of the Roman Empire. 

Around about the 1100's, the wife of the leader of the Franks was a Christian. She told her husband about God and eventually he converted. All of the people became Christians too, because their leader did.

Part of me is a little wary of this method of "mass conversion." I don't think that it necessarily changes the heart. I think it's more of a sheep mentality - following the crowd. But at the same time, it astonishes me! Whole nations converting to Christianity! That's crazy! The leader of a country becoming Christian!

Something else that absolutely baffles me... Often, in the first 1000 years AD, Christianity was often a political maneuver. There was absolutely no separation of church and state. Emperor Justinian in the 500's thought the mission of a pious emperor was "the maintenance of the Christian faith in its purity and the protection of the Holy Catholoic and Apostolic church from any disturbance."

How crazy is that?! Just image if our nation had that sort of mindset now!

(The Constitution, by the way, says nothing about separation of church and state. I think a good many people need to read it and see what it REALLY says... of course, that's a topic for another time.)

Anyway... I'm enjoying church history very much and am learning a lot of where the Christian church came from!

Live long and prosper.

In which I try to think of something to blog about.

I was going to do my Great Gatsby review but then I got too tired.

This weekend has been kind of a flop weekend for me. I did pretty much nothing. I already told you about Friday.... Yesterday I went to a work day at a local park with a group from church. Then I came home, practiced piano, and proceeded to spend the rest of the day curled up on the couch watching various DVD.
I started with the Beatles Anthology. Which is basically a documentary about, well, the Beatles.

Then I watched some Cosby.

And I finished with some Carol Burnett show, which was a variety show in the '70's. They had Sammy Davis Jr. as a guest star.... I love him. He has such a beautiful voice. And he sings so effortlessly. He's cool. Cool as a cucumber.

 

He guest starred on the Cosby Show the year before he died (or maybe it was two years? Something like that). After Sammy Davis Jr. died, Bill Cosby can always be seen wearing a pin that says SDJr. in the show.

Today was church. I was on worship team so I had to get up at 7:30. I ate a bagel for breakfast at church.
Then there was a potluck and I ate lunch at church. After that a girl from youth group gave  a very beautiful piano concert!
A hike with the youth group was next on the list. Four miles! Woo!
Then back to church for youth group.... We cooked our own meal! It was a good experience and we didn't burn the church down, so I call it a success! The food tasted good too. We only had one mishap.... Chips in the oven burned and smoke clouded the kitchen. We had to open all the windows and doors.
So I ate all three meals at church today.
Now I'm exhausted and going to go to bed.

Live long and prosper.

Postponed. Oh no, Christmas is canceled!

I am postponing today's Top Tuesdays until tomorrow because I have something important to talk about that I have been thinking about for a few months now.

Fandoms.

Wikipedia says that a Fandom is....
Fandom (consisting of fan [fanatic] plus the suffix -dom, as in kingdom, freedom, etc.) is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the object(s) of their fandom and spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with their interest, often as a part of a social network with particular practices (a fandom).

So basically, a fandom is a community of fanatics.... Some examples of different fandoms would be: Sherlock, Doctor Who, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.... it goes on and on. Anything geeky and popular will probably have a fandom.

Those who know about fandoms and BBC are probably aware of this phrase:

 

I have mostly seen this phrase in correlation to Sherlock... And Doctor Who whenever someone dies. "Right in the feels" pretty much means that something angsty (anxiety, pain, fear) happens (usually a character dies) and because the person behind the screen was so attached to the characters or the storyline that they feel pain at whatever happened.

Now, this post is going to take a random turn... But remember "the feels."

In "A Scandal in Belgravia" (Sherlock season 2, episode 1) Irene Adler says, "Brainy is the new sexy" and I think she's right (despite my dislike of the S word. And of Irene herself). A few years ago you were popular if you loved makeup and Justin Bieber and Twilight and frilly, girly things. And boys and Disney Channel and stuff like that. Now, however, the tables are turning. With shows like Doctor Who and The Big Bang Theory becoming so popular all over the world, the tides are turning towards geekiness. More girls are now becoming obsessed with BBC shows and sci-fi and fantasy are replacing Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place - the Highschool Musical that every little girl dreamed of. Now girls dream of The Doctor coming to pick them up in the TARDIS.
I look at people's blogs (mostly random people) and I see people's Pinterest's (again, mostly random people) and I feel sad. They obsess over these BBC shows and these BBC guys and really, I see no difference between girls obsessing over Zac Efron and David Tennant. I see true geekery as knowing everything about the shows... For example, knowing how to talk in Klingon, or knowing the history of Gallifry, or knowing how to write in Elvish. Knowing the little things. Simply obsessing over something, doesn't really give much depth.... The depth comes in knowing the little things.
Anyway, that's not my point.
I feel SO sad for the people that only obsess over TV shows, geeky or not. For me, it's great to be known as the "Trekkie" at church. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel unique. For other girls, I think it feels good to be "geeky." They want to fit in (and hey, if hot, time travelling aliens are involved, it's just an added bonus!). It's fun to post funny pictures and "get the reference." (Did you guys get the one in the title??? It's from Sherlock!!)
I know I enjoy looking at funny pictures. But... is that all?
It that all there is to life?
No.
Of course not.
But do all the fangirls know that? I don't know. I don't know what they think.
But it makes me very very sad to see people obsessing over TV shows. Things that don't matter. Life should be spent doing better things. Getting a good education.... Working.... Family.
GOD. Getting to know God.
In youth group we just started a new series where we're talking about being a follower, verses being a fan. A fan sticks around the sidelines while a follower... Actually, we haven't talked about what a follower is yet. I believe that is next week (that or I wasn't paying attention).
Similarly, our pastor is always stressing the point that being in the Word of God is very important. We should spend time daily in the Bible, getting to know God.
I think, how much time do people spend watching Doctor Who?
Then I think, how much time do Christians spend watching TV shows. Time that could better be spent getting to know God better.
I know that I spend waaaay too much time watching TV or surfing the wide web. I don't spend nearly enough time with God.
Some say that their teen years are for partying. They use their teen years as an excuse. I am finding that I am using my teen years as an excuse for watching TV. I keep thinking, "I don't want my kids to grow up watching too much TV - ruining their imaginations. I want them to read books. Maybe I won't even HAVE a TV when I get married and have kids! I want them to be closer to God." Then I think, ashamedly, what about me? I could stop watching TV right now. But I'm a teen, I can goof off if I want. I'm a teenager!
I'm using it as an excuse. I realise that. And I really am trying to change. It's hard, though.
Anyway, these are my own personal convictions I've been going through lately... I don't mean to change any of your minds.

So, spending more time with God is my first point.
My second point is family.
Tonight I have been watching family videos from a family reunion on my Dad's side in 1998. The whole family was these - every child and every grandchild (except for my Favorite Cousin, who was not yet born). That is no easy task... My dad has quite a few siblings who each have a few children of their own.
Anyway, my dad was videotaping the whole event. He was asking everyone to tell a story that they remembered of Grandma and Grandpa (or Mom and Dad, for his siblings). He was also being teased for always videotaping. He said at one point, "It's all part of the memories!" and I couldn't help but think, "OHH! RIGHT IN THE FEELS!"
You see, my parental Grandpa passed away last July. For the last 10 years or so, he had been suffering from Alzheimer's, a heightened version of dementia (says Wikipedia). All I know, is that Grandpa didn't know anything when he passed away. His soul was gone and all that was left was an empty shell.

 

Near the end, all he would do was sit with his eyes closed. He would have to be fed and bathed and put to bed. Through it all, my Grandpa loved him and took care of him - everyone in the family did, really.
It was a blessing when God finally took him home. The memorial service was a really really good time. Stories were shared and it was a time of rejoicing in my Grandpa's life.
I never really had a close relationship with my Grandpa, because his Alzheimer's was already pretty bad when I was old enough to have any sort of relationship with him (though from what I hear, he was a pretty hard person to get to know). It was really good to hear stories about him. I kind of got to know him through hearing other people talk about him and I am so grateful for that. I really regret not being able to "get to know him" or even just to observe him. He was my Grandpa, after all.
Anyway, on this family video that I'm watching, he's there. He's not just there, he's there. As in, his mind hasn't gone yet. He was interviewed by some of the family. He was talking, telling stories, telling jokes... And all caught on camera! I was really happy to see that as well.
Tonight I was going to watch Star Wars but I popped this in instead since it was sitting there and I had been wanting to see what was on the tape.
I am SO glad I did.
I am enjoying watching this SO much more than watching Star Wars or Doctor Who or any other TV show.
Watching TV isn't bad. Watching movies isn't bad. But too much TV, to the point of not doing other things, is bad.
Someone said (people say it is Einstein, but I don't know) that "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots."
I think that day has come. We are so caught up in our own little worlds.... We can talk over the internet but it is so impersonal. We watch TV shows and feel like the characters are our friends... Is that right? Shouldn't we be spending more time getting to know our friends, family, relatives, and God? than getting to know TV characters?
I'm not a fangirl. I try to make that known to people. I enjoy TV, and occasionally it becomes more important than other things... But I try really hard not to let it overtake my life. I don't want to be a fangirl. I don't want to spend my whole life talking about TV shows and characters because there is no substance to that sort of life. It is an escape, sure. But for how long? We all have to come back to reality sometime. And when we wake up, we'll find ourselves all alone because we've spent more time watching TV or cat videos than building relationships with people. I don't want that kind of life. There's nothing to that life! It's so dull and surface! There's no depth!
Watching these home videos, where everyone is laughing and talking has really opened my eyes, I think. (And when people weren't laughing or talking they were all sitting in the same room reading. Hee hee. How times have changed... Now we sit in the same room glued to our screens.)
Anyway, this is all my own opinion. It's just stuff I've been thinking about lately.

And seeing my Grandpa smiling and laughing may just be the best thing I will see this month.

I just need to rant

Sooooo..... yeah. As the title says, I just need to rant. SO many bomb shells have been hitting me all of a sudden.
I will start with the least important.
I just found out that instead of TWO Hobbit movies, Peter Jackson will be doing THREE Hobbit movies!!!!! THREE!! When did this happen?? In a way I'm kind of excited because it just means the movie will be longer (LotR's length I'm guessing.... 9-10 hours with all three movies). On the other hand, it just means a longer wait for all the movies....
Still, THREE Hobbit movies? The story is so simple.... In my mind it can barely fit in two movies. Are they putting the Silmarillion in it as well or something? Either that or Peter Jackson is taking waaaay too many liberties with Tolkien's book. I really, really, really hope they don't mess up the Hobbit because it is one of my favorite books and I will be maaaaad if they mess it up too much.

Now onto the more serious issues. This first one is more sad than rantish and I will probably be doing a more in-depth blog post on this later.

On July 27th my Grandpa (dad's dad) died.
This is the first grandparent I've lost.
Instead of going to the youth conference this week, my family and I went up to Canada for the funeral (which was more a memorial service).
It was a very, very blessed time. For the past 12 or so years my Grandpa suffered from Alzheimer's disease. For the past 3 or 4 years he didn't know anything or anyone. He would just sit with his eyes closed. In the past few weeks he hadn't been eating. It is such a blessing that he is with the Lord now. He is much happier now, I am positive.
I never knew my Grandpa. My mom says he was a hard person to get to know - made ever harder with the Alzeheimer's. I was very happy to go to the memorial service to kind of get to know Grandpa. It was very wonderful and I am so happy I went to Canada instead of to the conferenc! (which I was nervous about anyway.... And my ticket went to a non-believer who had been asking questions so that's ever better! I would rather my ticket go to her than to me).
Anyway, I might do a different blog post about my Grandpa.

The third and final rant is about my church once more.... (remember the one about youth leaders?).
The past few months our worship team grew so so so much. My church is only about 80 people so it's great blessing that we had such a big worship team. When we first started coming to this church 9ish years ago they were doing worship from CD's because they didn't have a piano player. My mom became piano player and no more canned music!
Anyway, in the past year or so our worship team has grown SO much. Lots and lots of people. Now, one of our guitarists (who was only here for the summer interning) is going back to college. One young couple (guitarist and singer) were transferred to Virginia with his work. And I just found out that our worship team leaders (husband and wife that play guitar and sing) are leaving our church. That leaves about 6 or 7 people on our worship team. Not 6 people a week. 6 people period. I honestly do not know what to say. I understand every one's reasons for leaving and if God is calling someone somewhere else, I'm not about to argue with God! If God is calling you, go! Don't let anything stand in your way!
I'm just kind of at a loss.... I will be the lead singer. Me. I'm not sure how to handle this. One, it's a HUGE responsibility and means I will probably have to be on worship team a lot more. Two, this school year is going to be the absolute busiest yet. I'm not sure if I have enough time for everything!
Plus, now we don't have a worship team leader.... No one to pick the songs to sing each Sunday. No one to introduce new songs.
Luckily they don't leave until the fall. I pray and hope that God will provide some sort of solution before then.

Anyway, I feel like crying. I've been feeling alone a lot lately. This is just making me feel more alone.... Like these people don't want to mentor me and other young people in the church. They are just thrusting the responsibility onto us and expecting us to go from there.... I feel the same about not having someone to disciple me. I often put on the air that everything is fine in my life. But I've hit a bump. I have no idea how to even begin to start learning more about God and reading His Word. And I have my problems just like everyone else, even if they aren't as severe as others. I feel like I'm left alone to figure everything out on my own.

I don't know. I guess I could use some prayer. And lots of prayer for my church. Right now everything in my personal life seems to be falling apart and I'm not sure what to do other than just weather through the storm. The best way to do that is for me to keep busy. Which is why tomorrow I will be starting up everything again. Schoolwork (yay!) and music lessons. Hopefully that will keep me going until the wind blow away the gray clouds and brings the blue skies back (metaphorically. In reality, I would rather the weather be cloudy than clear).

I may be surronded by a million people, I still feel all alone.
(Home by Michael Buble.)

Boston! Part 1

Yesterday we went to Plimoth Plantation. The Plimoth Plantation is a living history of 1627 when the pilgrims landed in America.

You start your self-guided tour at the bottom left corner of the map, the visitors center. Then you follow the trail to the Wampanoag Indian Village where men and women (real Wampanoag Indians and descendants) are dressed in clothing from the 1600's that the Indians would have worn. The re-enactors can answer questions both about the time that the Wampanoag people lived in, and questions relating to today's world.
The re-enactors were also carrying out every day activities that the Indians would have preformed. One man was making a canoe by burning out the inside of a large tree trunk. You would think that it would just roll over in the water. Not so! The Indians would burn just enough out to make the sides thin but the bottom very thick.
How did they fell the trees? They would burn the bottom of the tree until it became burnt enough to push over. This would also make the end of the boat.
(Grama said, "Go get a picture by that boat so we can prove we were really here!")
Next we went into one of the houses.

Fires would line the middle of the hut, sometime up to 25 fires long. See the hole in the roof? That would be to let the smoke out. If it rained, the Indians were able to close a small flap.

The beds lined the sides of the huts. Families would sleep on furs. Blankets were not needed, even in the winter, because the fires would keep the huts over 80 degrees in all weather.

You would think that these houses wouldn't be built very well. You thought wrong. The skeleton of the structure is dug into holes three feet into the ground and tied together with tree bark. When a hurricane passed though this area a number of years ago, the Indian buildings survived with hardly a scratch.

These buildings were - and still are - very resilient, although it is now illegal to live in houses like the one above.

After the Wampanoag village, you  walk up the path to the crafts center where there are a number of people building or making things that you would find in the 1600's. One man was working on making a chest, which he would later carve intricate designs into. Another man was making an arrow for a bow, and yet another man was making pottery. Perhaps the most impressive was a woman making lace! It looked like very hard, slow, and difficult work.

Look, Dutch pottery from Holland dating back to the 1600's!

Next you head the the 1627 village. This was my absolutely favorite. In this village, the reenactors are all role playing that they are people from the time period! If you asked them about something that happened in 1628, they would shake their heads and ask you to explain. Since 1628 hadn't happened yet, they had no idea what we were talking about!
I overheard one schoolkid (they were EVERYWHERE!) ask if William Brewster had ever watched Spongebob Squarepants.... Perhaps the best of all was a little girl that asked Sam Fuller (a young man) if she could take his picture. He stared at her confused and asked, "I have a pitcher. You want to take my pitcher? I only have one.... For carrying water." the little girl's mother said, "Explain it to him!" and the little girl said, "Well... we have iPods and cameras and can I take a picture?" In the end they walked off (without the picture, I think). The same man proposed marriage to my mother! He was 20 and my mother asked, "Are you one of the unmarried ones?" and he replied, "Yes, unfortunately. Why be you asking? Are you in need of a husband?" It was very cute. I'm just glad she didn't say, "My daughter is more your age!"
We talked to this young man for quite awhile but I didn't take a close up picture of him. The re-enactors played their parts so well it's almost as if they really were settlers in a new land. I didn't want to take a picture of them because it would be treating them as if they were some sort of spectacle. Kind of like the Amish people. They don't like their pictures being taken and if I ever visited an Amish town, I don't think I would take any pictures. It just wouldn't be right.

I did take a few pictures, however.

I enjoyed seeing the re-enactors SO much. As I said, they were very, very, very well trained and good. I thought some of the older ones were Shakespearean actors because of the way they talked and the way their curled their mustaches. I think I may have found a new future job!

We met William Brewster (the preacher - not a pastor because he wasn't ordained) and talked a very long time with him. He was very nice. My mom was asking him questions about the pilgrims faith and their reasons for leaving England and such and he was giving very learned answers.
I think the reenactors rather liked talking with us because Mom asked such interesting questions. As I mentioned before, there were many school children there. Mostly 2-5th grade. They were so rambunctious that they didn't really learn anything. Their questions went as deep as, "What's that? What are you doing?"
It must make the reenactors tired to hear the same old questions day after day. But they must love it as well. I know I would.

There was a town meeting house at the top of the hill. A watchtower was on top while on the ground floor was a meeting hall and a podium where people could talk; or on Sundays, William Brewster would preach.
There were cannons in the watchtower, although they hadn't been used for self-defence or an offensive as-of 1627.

Here is the view of the whole Plimoth Plantation town.

You could go into all of the houses (there were about 12) and in many of the houses, an actor was either inside, in the garden, or standing outside.
In one of the houses I had the chance to play "Nine Men's Morris" which is similar to Tick-tack-toe, except with more pieces.

In many of the houses we saw these odd three legged chairs.

Why three legged? Perhaps so they would fit into corners. Or because three legs are easier to stand on than four (especially on dirt floors, which all the houses had). Or perhaps it was because the men's jacket tails and swords could hang out comfortably. We don't really know.

An interesting woodpile (see Tintin?)

A cow (just for you Highlight/Jessica)

Suddenly Sam Fuller (the boy who proposed to my mom) began to beat the drum.

It was time for church! William Brewster was coming up the street to tell us about 1627 worship.

(before he arrived I took a picture of the windows... it reminded me of our dog door)

William Brewster told us that in England, The Church of England was the only religion allowed. The pastors of The Church of England were the only ones allowed to preach and the only ones allowed to interpret The Bible. You had to take their word for what was in The Bible. Well, some people wanted the freedom to preach out of The Bible, what was in their hearts and heads so a number of people in the country began to do just that. They grew in numbers and began to be persecuted so they went to Holland. In Holland they could not believe that you could have a Godly Christian living on the same road as a Jew or a atheist. The English children were picking up bad habits from the Dutch (William Brewster said to my mother, "If you hear anyone speaking Dutch, send them to me for a talking to." My mom looked at me and laughed. I had been speaking Dutch shortly before entering the village!). The English decided to leave Holland and go to the new world, where they would be able to set up their own church. It was the only church allowed. Others of different religion were allowed, but they were not allowed to set up their own church.

There was no ordained minister on Plimoth Plantation. William Brewster was lucky enough to have gone to University in England. He did not get a degree, though, which is needed to be ordained.

He was able to read and therefore was the one who did sermons on Sundays.

Since he was not ordained, he was not allowed to do communion or baptisms. Weddings were preformed by the Governor.

William Brewster telling us about 1627 worship:

All children over the age of 14 had to come to church. If you missed a day of church, you had to stand up publicly and say sorry. If you were younger than 14 and had enough wits about you to understand the sermon, you were allowed to come as well.

Church would last all day Sunday. No work or rough play was allowed on the Day of Rest.

Although the pilgrims were without instruments such as organs or pianos or other things to accompany singing, the pilgrims were not without music.

In church they would sing out of the Psalter.

I must say.... That Psalter was one of the most AMAZING things I have EVER seen in my entire life!! I don't know when it was published, but it was very, very old. I was allowed to hold it and look through it. I didn't get any pictures, though.

Anyway, the Psalter was very old. It had one line of music for every song (very faded and very tiny) and the words to all the verses written on the sides.

Today, church Hymnals have all sorts of different hymns in them such as "America the Beautiful" and "Amazing Grace." The Psalter that the pilgrims had was all 150 Psalms put to music. My heart is quivering just to think of it. I would love to have that song book. It was beautiful. All 150 Psalms put to music.... And only the Psalms! No other type of hymns. It was amazing.

William Brewster also had a very old Bible that I was able to look through as well. It had the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha. It was the first version of the Bible to have verses and chapters in it! Again, I'm not sure how old this copy was, but it looked old. It had annotations on the side. It was very beautiful and amazing as well. I wished I could just stay with those two books forever. Truthfully, if I could spend the rest of my life enveloped in music, praising The Lord, I would be a very happy woman.

Since the pilgrims didn't have musical instruments, they had to follow William Brewster's lead.

Like this:

Plimoth has it's own troupe of Shakespearean actors!

All the actors are men! Just like in Shakespeare's day. I thought that was very cool. I would love to come back in July and watch one of their productions. 

After Plimoth (which was amazing. If you ever get the chance to go, GO!) we went to the Mayflower II, which is a replica of the first Mayflower which bore the pilgrims to America.

It was a BEAUTIFUL ship! Reminded me of my novel.

Me on deck:

The navigator and navigator's assistant's quarters/office (look at the old map, isn't it cool?)

The Crow's Nest! My favorite place on a ship. This ship had two.

 

Cannons below deck:

This is where all the pilgrims were packed away for months. They weren't allowed to see the light of day.

We met the Captain of the ship. He was the best actor I'd seen the whole day. He was so in character. He even yelled at me! He was ranting and raving and I could tell that he was just an amazing actor. You know you are faced with a great man when you are afraid to take his picture! I finally snapped one of two.

And he had the most interesting eyebrows.... They were really bushy and went up and down when he talked. He would make a good Gandalf, if he was older.

After the Mayflower, we went to Plimoth Rock where the Pilgrims "landed."

And now I'm afraid I have to post this blog post.... Mom says it will be too long to read otherwise. Plus it's getting late.

Oh, I forgot.... Tintin has a new place to sit when we go sightseeing!

Here is a sneak peak of tomorrow's blog post (aka, what we did today).

No, it is not the Washington Memorial in DC. It's the Washington Memorial's baby. It's the...