Poem from Rudyard Kipling...

I've really enjoyed several of Rudyard Kipling's poems, and I wanted to share this one with you, that I just heard recently on the Great Authors Webinar. It's called The Gods of the Copybook Headings.

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market-Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision, and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place;
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch.
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch.
They denied that Wishes were horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed they sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbor and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said:"The Wages of Sin is Death".

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew,
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four-
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man-
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:-
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing, and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will bun,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!



Isn't that good?! Have a blessed day!

God's Will...

As last night marked the end of Mrs. Victoria Botkin's Monday Evening Webinars, I wanted to share with all of you what I consider to be one of the best statements she made over the course of her nine-week webinar:

"God's Will is more important than your will."

Over the past nine weeks, I have been encouraged, as well as convicted, and have learned so much! This webinar was timely for me, and helped me get my priorities straightened out, because it is so easy for me to sidetracked, or shortsighted, and lose sight of a true, godly Vision for my life. Even worse, it's so easy for me to slip back into the old paths of disrespect towards authorities, and an independant, feministic attitude! Thankfully, our God is a gracious and merciful God, who is always there to guide our steps, and send people into our life (whether our moms, godly women in our church, or people like Mrs. Victoria Botkin) to encourage us, and set examples for us!

I'm still here...

Most of you have probably figured out by now that I'm not a consistent blogger!! :) So, I thought I'd just tell you all what I've been doing lately.

We've been doing the Evenings with Victoria Botkin webinar, which has been very good, and we just started the Great Authors Webinar, as well. (see banner above)

But I've also been doing alot of reading. ALOT! Recently I've been reading things as varied as J.C. Ryle, Nutrition books, with a little bit of John Calvin, Louisa May Alcott, and (smile) Driver's Ed thrown in, too!

I've also been busy researching different doctrines of the church. I have learned so much, but I think the most rewarding thing has been discussing different Confessions, Scriptures, and viewpoints with my parents, particularly my Daddy.

I thought I'd share with everyone my family's "Hymn of the Month", too-- Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Robert Robinson.

Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tounges above;
Praise the mount- I'm fixed upon it-
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer-
Hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wand'ring from the fold of God;
He to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee:
Prone to wander- Lord, I feel it-
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart- O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Isn't that a great hymn? It is so convicting when I read that section of the last verse where it says, "Prone to wander- Lord, I feel it- Prone to leave the God I love". What a great reminder that I must daily give my heart to both my fathers- Heavenly and earthly!

Oh, and by the way, I passed the Driver's Permit exam! :D

Definitions are Important

"He who defines, wins. He who defines the language, defines the culture."

Doug Phillips

Why Poetry Matters

Last night we gathered with some friends to listen to the first of the Great Authors Webinar Series. This first webinar was given by Mr. Doug Phillips, and was entitled, Why Poetry Matters, and was an overview of both his book, Poems for Patriarchs, and Poetry as a whole.

Something Mr. Doug pointed out that I had never thought of before, was that “Poets, as artists, are motivators of culture. A great poet carries a lot of weight, not only because of the words of the poem, bu because they are theological in nature. Poetry is designed to be theological in nature. It is a form of communication of the poets’ religious beliefs.”
He went on to say, "The absence of manly poetry trivializes manhood." And daughters, when the manhood of our fathers is trivialized, the family is compromised.

This has a trickle effect-- and we daughters don't escape!

Mr. Phillips pointed out some characteristics of Good Poetry:
... it inspires manly bravery.
...it points us to God.
... it inspires a love of our nation.
...it can inspire the godly love for women.

Poetry always inspires a love of something.

Mr. Phillips even went into some of the foundational elements of poetry:
-Theme
-Theology
-Lines & Stanzas
-Rhyme Scheme
-Meter
-Illiteration
-Exaggeration
-Similes
-Metaphors
-Idioms
-Symbolism
-Mood
-Tone

God Bless!

Ah, the Life's Giveaway!

Ah, the Life! is having a giveaway on the Great Authors Webinar, and I wanted to let all of you know about it! To register for the giveaway, click here, and let them know I sent you!

Click here to find out more about the Great Authors Webinar.

Notes from "All About the Proverbs 31 Woman"

I know that it's Friday already, but I wanted to share with everyone some of my notes from Mrs. Victoria Botkin's Monday Evening Webinars.

I'd like to start out with a definition Mrs. Botkin gave- "Sin: Disobeying God’s instructions to us". I don't know about the rest of you, but I sometimes think, "Oh, I don't sin too much...I'm not nearly as bad as (fill in the blank)." I was so convicted about my sinful tendency to think far better of myself than I ought to. It's like what Robert Murray M'Cheyne said, "God is a sovereign God. Do not cry to Him to convert you, as if it were a debt He owed you. There is only one thing you can claim from God as a right, and that is a place in hell. If you think you have any claim on God, you are deceiving yourself.” Ouch!

I know many of us can get caught up in the question of "What defines Biblical Femininity?" and I thought Mrs. Botkin's answer was excellent: "Biblical femininity is about women helping their husbands." (And I would add that it is also about daughters helping their fathers.)

She also encouraged wives to be frugal, as that was a way of helping their husbands. As a young lady who hopes to be married someday, this was something I hadn't thought about before! But it's true. When we as daughters are not frugal, it places a burden on our fathers that we can help lift when we are frugal. This was so interesting to me, that I looked up the definition of "frugal"- characterized by thriftiness and avoidance of waste . Even more than this, though, Mrs. Botkin pointed out that when we are not frugal, we are being discontent. Here's what she said- "When we are not content with when God has provided, we are finding fault with God- even despising Him." Ouch again!

God Bless, and have a great day!

Monday Evenings

I don't know how many of you have been doing Mrs. Victoria Botkin's Monday evening webinars, but if you aren't already, it's not to late! They have been a tremendous blessing to me already, and I am eagerly looking forward to the next six weeks, and re-listening to them after that!

To register or find out more, click here.

More Notes...

Earlier this week I shared with you some things I learned from Mrs. Victoria Botkin’s first webinar session, All About Eve, and I wanted to share with you some things I learned from her second session, All About Sarah: Biblical Submission and how Godly Women Do It.

One of the first things Mrs. Botkin addressed was the question, “Is there such a thing as virtuous Christian feminism?” She pointed out that “we are all feminists at heart. Clear back to Eve. It’s just the way we are.” But feminism is a clearly ungodly mindset for women. She quoted Colossians 3:19- “Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” (This is applicable for the Father-Daughter Relationship, as well)

Mrs. Botkin gave two tips for practicing submission: 1) Taking every thought captive, and 2) Hoping in God to do His Will. My Mamma has said before that it is much easier to develop submission before marriage than after. Mrs. Botkin indicated this as well in the following quote:

“Get on board with your husband’s vision right at the beginning. This is really at the heart of submission…you submit your will and your vision to the will and vision of your husband.”

To be able to someday “get on board” with my future husband’s vision at the beginning of my marriage, I need to practice now, by submitting myself to my Daddy, and furthering his vision, rather than my own. The thing that really pricked my heart while I was listening, though, was this- “God’s will is more important than your will.” (Doesn’t that hurt!?!) Too often, I feel as though I must defend my will, rather than submitting to my God-given authority’s (aka, my daddy) will. When I do that, I sacrifice God’s Will, in an effort to get my way!

Evenings with Victoria Botkin

My Mamma and I are doing the Evenings with Victoria Botkin webinar with a dear friend every Monday, and I wanted to share with everyone some notes I took from her first session, All About Eve.

The first thing that stood out to me was that, "Wives (and daughters) are helpers, and by created nature must help men, and will help their husbands (or fathers) for good or bad." Mrs. Botkin also pointed out that Eve's temptation in the Garden of Eden was to be autonomous... the thing we as daughters usually struggle the most with!

She also stated that "Women are subordinate to men, but no less influential." In fact, she went on, "Women have great influence over their husbands and sons." Why else would so many great men speak so highly of their mothers? Benjamin West even went so far as to say once that, "A kiss from my mother made me a painter."

I don't know about the rest of you, but I struggle alot with the attitude of "I really know better than you do" towards my God-given authorities. Mrs. Botkin had a wonderful perspective on this attitude--

"If a wife (or in our case, daughters) is truly more spiritual than her husband (or in our case, our father), she will be submissive and respectful to him, in faith that she's doing what's right and that God will take care of the rest."