Living outside of the Box

4:52 PM - Apr. 24, 2006

Read it and Weep

Here is a story that I heard the other day about the famous hymn "Jesus Lover of my soul." I love stories like this.

   In a company of old soldiers, from the Union and Confederate armies, a former Confederate was telling how he had been detailed one night to shoot a certain exposed sentry of the opposing army. He had crept near and was about to fire with deadly aim when the sentry began to sing, "Jesus, Lover of my soul." He came to the words,

"Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of Thy wing."

The hidden Confederate lowered his gun and stole away. "I can't kill that man," said he, "though he were ten times my enemy."

In the company was an old Union soldier who asked quickly,

"Was that in the Atlanta campaign of '64?

"Yes," the old Confederate replied.

Then I was the Union sentry!"

And he went on to tell how, on that night, knowing the danger of his post, he had been greatly depressed, and, to keep up his courage, had begun to hum that hymn. By the time he had finished, he was entirely calm and fearless. Through the song God had spoken to two souls.

7:45 PM - Apr. 17, 2006

A New Meaning for a Promise Ring

  Okay, this is a topic that I am particularly excited to write about. Several years ago I attended a private Christian high school in southern California (briefly mentioned in the previous blog). Big fashions came and went through that school like any other, and in a desperate attempt to "fit in," I went along with as many of those ridiculous fads as I could. One of the cool things to do, though, when I was in the seventh grade wasn't as ridiculous as the others. Many of my friends began wearing promise rings. If you are not familiar with a promise ring (or purity ring) it is a ring that is given to daughters by their fathers, symbolizing their goal of staying pure. Whether they really wanted to make this commitment to stay pure or they just to wear a nice, expensive ring, I'll never know, but the parents were certainly willing to purchase them. I was one of the girls who just wanted to wear a nice, expensive ring (not to mention the benefit of being accepted by my peers), and that next week I was wearing a pretty little ring on my left hand.

   There are a couple of things you should know about this situation. When I had asked my parents for a "purity ring" all I was really asking for was a nice piece of gold to wear on my finger. Before the promise ring fad had ever hit my school, I knew that it was my responsibility to stay pure until marriage. Just because my parents had put a ring on my finger didn't mean that my responsibility was somehow lessened by the fact that I now had a visual sign of my purity. I was expected to stay pure no matter what. This much I knew already, so the ring seemed kind of like a bonus thrown into the overall package. I happily received the new jewelry, and never thought twice about the ring's meaning until I turned fifteen. One night (because I find that most of my profound thoughts come to me at night) before bed I really began to think about the purpose for the ring that I was wearing. As I sat there contemplating it's symbolism I realized that since I was no longer going to that school, all the ring  REALLY represented was my vanity. It suddenly became clear that my whole life should be a visual sign of my purity, and not just the ring on my finger. Now there was a problem. I didn't want to stop wearing the ring that my parents had so lovingly given to me. The end result was that I came up with a new meaning for my promise ring (for which this blog is named)

   A wedding ring represents the covenant between a man and a woman, and their promises to each other before God. When a man and a woman are married, the man protects, provides, and loves his wife, and the wife helps, loves and submits to her husband. All of this is symbolized in the rings that they wear on their fingers.

This is the new meaning for my promise ring. It symbolizes my father's protection, provision and love for me and my help, love and submission to him. This little ring will stay on my finger until the day I am married and it is replaced with my husband's, or, if I'm not married, until the day I die.

I love this new meaning for my ring. Now when I look down at my ring, I am reminded of my father and my high calling as his daughter.

5:37 PM - Apr. 15, 2006

A Brief Introduction

  Before I begin writing about myself, I would first like to state the purpose for this blog (after all, we should have a purpose for everything we do in life, right.)

I would like this blog to be a source of encouragement and hope for Jr. High and Sr.High girls

  I am a sixteen year old, homeschooled girl who has always loved schooling. When I was just five years old I was sent off to a public elementary school that was around the corner from our house. As I grew, I began to enjoy going to school and learning new things. (Though I didn't know it at the time, this was a fatal error on my part, because as I got older my classmates began to categorize me as a nerd). The summer before my fourth grade year my family moved to a different community and I was transferred to another public elementary school. By the time I finished sixth grade, my parents were already wrestling with the decision of where I would go for Jr. High school. The idea of sending me to yet another fabulous, governmentally funded school was not sitting well with them, because peer pressure, dirty language, and bad habits seemed to be more rampant there. In the end I was put into a private Christian school. I liked this idea, and was excited to meet some new friends which I knew were decidedly Christian. (I found out the truth soon enough)

  Meanwhile, my younger sister was not doing very well in school. My parents began to observe that, even though she was in the classroom for six hours everyday, she would come home with a mountain of homework which would take her into the wee hours of the night to complete. My sister, at the time, was in the THIRD GRADE. This was when my parents first began to consider home schooling. My sister was excited about it, and during the middle of her fourth grade year she was pulled out of school so she could really begin to learn. As I began to see all of the benefits of homeschooling, I realized how much better it was than my current situation. By the grace of God, I came home from school one day and asked if my parents would homeschool me through high school. My life is so completely different from what it was, and I have never been so happy in my life. (There were many other strange changes that occurred to bring me to this blissful estate. I'll save those for another occasion, because this brief introduction turned out to be longer than I expected)

2:26 PM - Apr. 14, 2006