Don't Know Much About History

I just finished the book "Birds without Wings" by Louis De Bernieres. It was a wonderful historical novel set during the final decades of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of Turkey. My knowledge of the Ottoman Empire prior to reading this book was pretty close to none. I had no idea that it officially lasted until 1923. I wish I had known a lot more about it because the whole the assasanation of Archduke Franz Ferdinand being the thing that set off WWI, would've made a LOT more sense.

The Ottoman Empire

The older I get and the more world history I learn about, the more I realize how little is taught in history courses in the U.S. I recall going over the United States' involvement in both world wars in several different years (although I don't recall that we got into a lot more detail in the higher grades than we did in the lower grades). The other parts of both wars were pretty much ignored. I'm from Texas, so I remember a lot of my Texas history. I recall studying Mesopotamia, Egypt (FYI, Cleopatra was a Pharoah people, not a queen), and the Roman Empire, but not the history of China, Japan, the Sassanid Empire, Ottoman Empire, Byzantine Empire, or any part of Africa other than Egypt. Basically, the history of the majority of the people on this earth was never even mentioned in passing.




There's no real point to this post, other than that I find it appalling that there was so much left out of my education.

Bible Verses and the Misunderstood, Part 2

So, I've told you that there are some bible verses that I may not have fully grasped as a kid (READ); well, here's another one.

You probably know the parable of the Pearl of Great Price: a merchant who seeks fine pearls, finds one pearl of great price and sells all he has to purchase it.

In the same talk, Jesus also tells a parable of the Hidden Treasure: a man finds a treasure hidden in a field, so he sells all he has to buy the field.




Well, in my infallible grasp of Scripture, I thought these were the same parable.

When I told the story, it went something like this:

A man once found a pearl of great price (which in my mind was the size of a small boulder, that's why it's so valuable) buried it in a field, then sells all he has to buy the field.


So many things wrong.

It never occurred to me to ask the question of how the pearl got in the field.

But more importantly, how frighteningly huge must the oyster have been that created a boulder-sized pearl!

hmmm.....


-Marcus, SGB

One of These Things is Not Like The Other

Marcus and I did a lot of work in our yard this summer. The previous owners did a lot of landscaping, but they also left some areas bare that we finally took care of. One of those areas was alongside our super duper looooooooong driveway. I don't have a before picture, but basically is was full of nothing but knee high weeds and two trees. Here are some pictures right after we redid that spot in May:

Those three center plants are crepe myrtles, which are all labeled the same. Well, a couple of weeks ago they started blooming:

Here, let me give you a closer look:

Here are the first two. Aren't they a lovely shade of deep pink?

And here's the third one. Doesn't it match perfectly? Oh, wait. Stupid Lowe's.

This is the kind of thing that makes me want to pull my hair out. Instead, I'm just gonna make Marcus pull this one up and plant it elsewhere. He's really looking forward to that.

Marcus Says the Darndest Things

Marcus talks in his sleep a lot. Sometimes, if I'm awake, I like to converse with him. There is no telling what he'll say. This was our conversation from 3:00 am last night:

Marcus (Sitting up suddenly in bed): "What's that?!?!"
Me: "It's ok, you're asleep."
Marcus: "What are you?"
Me: "I'm your wife."
Marcus: "Hmmmmm."
Me: "What are you?"
Marcus: "I'm curious."
Me: "Why?"
Marcus: "Because you appear to have a shell."
Me (Laughing hysterically): "This is so going on facebook."

Parties, Butterflies, and Secret Shames

Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?

You might want to sit down, I've got something I need to get off my chest...a secret shame.


(stares at the floor wringing hands; a bead of perspiration appears on forehead)


Right now, if you were to look at my iPod, you'd find a Miley Cyrus album. I know...Miley Cyrus!

But it gets worse...I actually kinda like it.


It really all started with this scene from the office.



It was innocent enough; I thought the song was catchy and it had a nice little intro to it. So I spent some time finding out what the real song was.


Believe me, it distressed me to find out who sang the original.



I should have stopped there. Turned off the computer. Gone to Confession...but no. My curiosity was too strong...I had to hear the original.





It was catchy, and kinda fun. So, in a moment of weakness, I...I... *gulp* ...I downloaded it.


(hangs head in shame; a tear drops to the floor; stage goes dark)


-Marcus, SGB

Bible Verses and the Misunderstood

This morning at church, there was talk about a project that had gone on where the grade school kids made drawings of what the 23rd Psalm meant to them.

This got me thinking back to my years as a wee one.

Most of you know that I come from a long line of preachers and grew up participating in church activities 4 times a week. Although, just because I was immersed in the Bible, doesn't mean I always understood it.

In fact, I had some interpretations of bible verses that may or may not have been, but most certainly were, inaccurate.

One that I'm most proud of was:








I never understood...why would I not want the Lord?! I'm getting some very mixed signals here...



Trust me, there are more to come...



-Marcus, SGB