So I'm Getting Married

I guess the two themes of this blog are now going to be Theology and Wedding Planning.

And because I know you all want to read the story, let me 'splain.

On Saturday (before Easter), Caleb took me out to Lake MI (my favorite place in the WORLD) and he brought an awesome picnic (it involved bacon and fruit juice!) and the day was nearly perfect and we walked on the beach and I was totally expecting him to propose. And then he didn't.

And then he took me out again on Wednesday, and he still didn't. I was getting confused. (And - let's be honest - impatient.)

On Thursday, we went to the Frederik Meijer Gardens. He turned his phone ringer off for me! I teased him about that a little bit. At one point, though, he said, "Oh no! I forgot to tell Mike (his roommate) that dinner is in the oven." You should know that Caleb doesn't leave dinner in the oven for Mike - ever. So he texted Mike about that. A few minutes later, Mike texted back. Caleb read it to me, "Do I have to turn the oven off?" You should know that Mike is not that stupid. We kept walking around outside and at point I thought, "Why is there someone who looks like Mike holding a camera and ducking behind a bush?" but I decided not to comment on it. Then (while we were in the Kid-Sense Garden, actually), Caleb got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I, in true Leah-form, responded, "Yes! Yes! I thought you'd never ask!"

Then Mike and his girlfriend Laura, who is considerably more talented at ducking behind bushes, came and took non-creeper pictures of us.

Anyway, turns out he was planning on proposing on Saturday, but the jeweler chipped the diamond. And then they thought it'd be ready on Wednesday, but it wasn't. So we got three dates out of the deal - plus they gave him a discount on the ring (which delights my Dutch heart oh-so much).

To those who want to know, no - we don't have a date yet. We were looking at one in August, but it's my dad's softball tournament. So we're still working on that. And it's kind of a headache.

The real headache, though, was yesterday at church. Because Caleb works there and I've gone there since birth, everyone wanted to talk about it. I walked into church and literally could not even make it through the lobby without talking to 9 people first. My little brother commented that I couldn't walk 2 feet without someone wanting to talk to me. "Congratulations!", "Can I see the ring!", "Oh, how lovely!" - while I appreciate all of these, I seriously got interrupted while we were singing. I'm like, "Thanks, but I'm praising Jesus right now! Ogle the ring later!" (I didn't actually say that, for the record.)

What annoyed me, though, was the people who said things like, "Oh, you've been keeping secrets!" I said (and I did actually say this), "Not really. We've been sitting next to each other in church for four months, holding hands and leaning on each other. If you'd have asked, we would have told you." And my mom said, quite sarcastically, "Funny how they never put a 'We're Dating!' announcement in the bulletin!" (I love my mom.)

I did receive one really lovely comment, though. There's a woman at church who often says very insensitive things, especially to me because she's known me for so long. And while I always know she doesn't mean it how it comes out, it still hurts. So when I saw her coming toward me yesterday, I admit it - I tried to pretend I hadn't seen her coming and get away. But she called my name. And then blessed me so sweetly. She said, "Is it true what I heard? You're marrying the best man? And he's marrying the best woman?" I nearly cried because I have never heard anything so sweet come out of her mouth - not to me, anyway!

Anyway, my wedding plans are coming along. I couldn't sleep the other night, so I've already got invitations designed and a dress pattern picked out (who wants to sew it for me?). And I've got two of my three bridesmaids... I'll ask the other one when she decides to make time in her schedule for me. :)

Oh, and Cara, my maid of honor, decided that the situation called for sparkly nail polish, so my nails are bright purple-and-blue sparkles. :)

Love and more Love,

Leah Joy

Systematic Theology Chapters 2-3: The Word of God and the Canon of Scripture (Plus a Little Life Update)

I guess I'll start with the life update, since that's what everyone wants to know. "Why are you home in the middle of the day?" "What's this about quitting your job?" (I wish the maddening crowd would calm down... okay, I'm kidding a little bit a lot.) Here's why:

My boss turned out to be a pervert, so the other office girl and I both quit. That's all there is to it; I just need a new job.

Now Theology. The Word of God. Grudem uses this chapter to distinguish the different meanings of the phrase "The Word of God". The first meaning is in the person of Christ. The Bible, and especially the book of John, refer to Christ as "the Word". Another meaning is God's speech: his decrees (like, "Let there be light"), his personal address (like, "I am the Lord your God..."), his words through humans (prophets), and his written words (the Bible, obviously). Grudem states that the study of systematic theology focuses on the Bible, as that "is the form of God's Word that is available for study, for public inspection, for repeated examination, and as a basis for mutual discussion."

Chapter 3 discusses the Canon of Scripture. First of all, the canon of Scripture is simply a list of the books that belong in the Bible. We must trust the canon to be God's words or we will not trust the words He has spoken to us. By the time of Jesus, the Old Testament canon (or at least what we today call the OT) was well established. There were no recorded arguments among the Jews about adding or taking away books. The Jews did not accept the Apocrypha as Scripture, and most of the early church did not either. They treated them as helpful and useful books, but not the Word of God. Jesus himself did not consider them as Scripture, nor did the New Testament authors.

Grudem has a lot to say about the New Testament canon and I can't summarize it all. He basically gives a few requirements the church had for books to make it into the canon: apostolic ties and a self-attesting nature ("the words would have borne witness to their own divine authorship as Christians read them"). He also points out that we should not be concerned about the adequacy of the canon. We don't need to fret, "Are we missing a book?" or "Should this book not be in the Bible?" If God wanted us to have another book, He is a big enough God to get that book in the canon. If He wanted a book out of the canon, He would have worked that. Our God is big enough that we needn't worry! We can trust Him - and we can trust His Word!

Next up: The Four Characteristics of Scripture. And hopefully a new job!

At least I've got some time to work on art projects. :)

Love and Sewing,

Leah Joy

Let's Be Honest

First of all, it's been too long. I have excuses. Good ones this time. My grandpa died a couple weeks ago, and life has been hectic.

Second, no Theology this time. Though it would honor my grandpa's memory, it's not happening tonight. Honestly, I'm just waiting for my nail polish to dry so I can go to bed.

Third, I just realized how like my grandpa I am. I've always known I got the whole no-condiments thing from him, but I just realized that we both love Theology. I guess he can read long books about wars and grow dahlias though, and I can not. :)

Fourth, sometimes I get really angry when people pray. Or annoyed. Or frustrated. Maybe I'm not supposed to analyze your prayers. But I do. I hate it when people are constantly super super reverent. And I hate it when people are constantly too "friendly" ("Hey Jesus. What's up?"). (I see that last one a lot with college students. Yes, Jesus is your friend. He's also a holy God who put you into this world and can take you right back out of it.) I think there should be a healthy balance between "Jesus is terrifying" and "Jesus is my best buddy".

Also, God's name is not a comma. Or are you reminding Him of His name? Or perhaps you forgot to Whom you're praying? Why must you say "God", "Lord Jesus", or "Father" every two words?

And the word "just"? UGH. "Just give us peace. And just give us strength." Okay, which one do you want? Because 'just' means precisely, or only. So do you want God to only give you peace, or only give you strength? Maybe I'm over-analyzing this. Okay, I know I'm over-analyzing this, but I wish people (myself included) would stop overusing the word "just", when speaking to God and the rest of the time, too!

And finally? Why do you ask God to come and be with you? If you are a follower of Christ, God is already with you. You can thank Him for His presence, but asking for it is completely unnecessary.

Rant over. Thanks for letting me be honest with you. :)

Love and Nail Polish (Just a clear coat),

Leah Joy

Tendencies

We all have our little things that we do based on history. I mean, duh, that's kind of everything we do, but I mean more specific, out-of-the-ordinary things. Let me explain through example.

I work with this girl named Dee Dee. If she gets the sniffles, she apologizes EVERY single time she sniffles. After about 30 times, I said, "It's really okay; it's not bothering me at all." Turns out, when she was a kid, her step-dad threw a tissue box at her head for sniffling. No wonder she apologizes!

I do similar things. For example, I rarely share my opinion, because it has often been squashed by my father. People say I'm real chill and that I go with the flow, but I really just don't want to get squashed again.

How about you? Do you have any weird tendencies? (They don't have to be that personal, either, or based off of deep emotional connections.)

Love and Milk Duds,

Leah Joy

Youngest Children

I've noticed this problem with youngest children. It doesn't apply to every youngest child. But every child to whom it does apply is a youngest child.

What's with this? Do parents forget how to raise children? Do they give up after the first 4 or whatever? Is this "just" the youngest child getting spoiled?

Examples:

"Sofia" (obviously not her real name) has three older siblings. She's younger than her nearest sibling by at least 10 years. Her three older siblings are all awesome. Really really nice people. Funny. Smart. Talented. Sofia is a snot wagon. She dresses like ... well, she dresses like she doesn't really care if she's a stumbling block or not (to put it in Christianese). She is stuck up, self-absorbed, and seems to think that she can do anything. The worst part? She gets away with it. Does her mother actually let her out of the house like that? Does her father actually let her say those things? Who is encouraging this? How is this okay?

"Joe" and "Josie" are the two youngest of five siblings. The older three aren't my favorite people, but they're good people. They're nice and respectful, at least. Joe and Josie seem to think the world revolves around them. They are similar to Sofia in nearly every characteristic. They interrupt, butt in, and stick their noses where they don't belong. They talk too loudly and whisper (very loudly) to their friends during church. Their parents let them get away with this. It's like they don't even see how horribly their children are behaving. How is this okay?

Have you noticed this in people?

Parents: Pay attention to your children - all the way through the last ones, PLEASE!!

Love and Ranting,

Leah Joy

Chapter 1: Introduction to Systematic Theology

And thus begins my Theology notes. Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology in itself is only an introduction (despite being 1167 pages longs, excluding appendices and indices) and my future blogs only a summary of that. And so I guess this blog is a summary of an introduction of an introduction. That sums it up pretty well, I think. :)

What is Systematic Theology?

Here's Grudem's definition: "Systematic Theology is any study that answers the question, 'What does the whole Bible teach us today?' about any given topic." So, what does the whole Bible tell us about mankind? There's one study of Systematic Theology. What does the whole Bible tell us about sin? There's another.

We're not talking historical theology, like what Augustine taught or whatever. We're not talking apologetics, how to defend the Christian faith. We're not even dividing Old from New Testament. We want the whole Bible. And what it teaches us today, not the doctrine of the Jews or the early church, though there are certainly many crossovers. (However, we aren't, for example, required to slaughter a lamb to atone for our sin, nor do we require circumcision, etc.)

Systematic Theology is applicable to daily life. The Bible isn't some experts' guidebook for the greatest peril or direst need. The Bible is a guidebook to everyday life, and we do not need a Masters in Theology to understand it.

Did you know that you use Systematic Theology already? Have you ever said, "The Bible says that Jesus is the only way to God?" Systematic Theology, my friend. Granted, our 57-chapter volume is much more organized (systematic, if you will) and in-depth, but you've already started! Doing Systematic Theology on one topic leads us to doctrine: "what the whole Bible teaches us today about some particular topic". Grudem splits up his book into 7 different doctrines: the Word of God, God, Man, Christ and the Holy Spirit, the Application of Redemption, the Church, and the Future. (Currently, Caleb and I are still in the Word of God.)

Why Should Christians Study Theology?

Honestly, my initial reaction to that question was to scoff and say, "Why not?" But then I remembered that I'm a nerd and extremely passionate about Theology. However, you don't have to be a nerd to have a passion for studying God.

We should study Theology because it helps us to understand what the whole Bible says, and it helps us relay this information to others. (Great Commission, anyone?) Studying theology also helps us right our wrong thinking. We've all grown up with some wrong understanding of God or man or the world or sin. Actually opening up the Bible and studying it deeply can correct that.

Final Thoughts

Grudem goes on about some arguments against studying Theology, and if you are interested in them, I suggest you read his book.

While the introduction was really long for me to read through, I appreciated the careful argument laid forth by Grudem. This last fall I took a Theology course at Cornerstone, and up until my first day of class, I had no idea how I would feel about Theology. I had heard the class was boring. I had heard it was painfully difficult. I had heard it was pointless. (People don't seem to 'complain' as loudly about classes that are interesting and yet challenging.) However, the moment we started delving into the knowledge of God, I realized how much my soul thirsted for knowledge of my Creator. Sure, I can't know God fully. That's impossible. But I can know Him better. And it's such a joy and thrill!

Up Next: The Doctrine of the Word of God.

However, there will probably be a non-Theology blog coming soon, too.

Love and Theology,

Leah Joy

Living on the Edge

Not really, I've just always wanted to title something that way, so here we are.

Living on the edge of... March? No, we've tumbled off that cliff.

This past Thursday, my life and job got a lot more interesting when Sam, the girl who had worked over me, quit. Oh, by the way, Sam was the only person who knew how to do absolutely everything. So here's Leah, thrown into a sea of billing, inventory, emails, phone calls, shipping, receiving, etc. Ready, set, don't drown! I'm still alive, a few days later, and we've got a new girl in, Didi, who we're training. "Girl". She's almost my mom's age. But still. She is female.

Also, my life got more interesting Saturday night when my car wouldn't start. Turns out the fuel pump is shot. So that's fun.

Anyway, writing about my life isn't that interesting forever. So I thought of something I could do. Not every post, but hopefully this will get my blogging up more. (Also, not working 10 hour days would help, too.)

Caleb and I have been reading through Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, which is actually really fascinating, even if it sounds super boring. I really enjoy Theology. And I thought I could give little chapter-by-chapter summaries, so those of you who don't want to read the 1300-page book (I rounded up) can still get a bit of knowledge out of it.

At this point, Caleb and I are through the first 6 chapters, so you can expect a whole slew of chapter updates coming up in the next several days/weeks, and then they'll slow down a bit and maybe I'll hit you with some more YouTube videos and movie reviews. :)

With that being said, I have the whole night free, and I intend to use it to read or knit or something.

Love and THEOLOGY,

LeahJoy