St. Valentine's Day

I have been looking up St. Valentine. Although my resources are limited to my encyclopedia and my computer, they all seem to agree that the St. Valentine of St. Valentine's Day is one of three saints by that name. I think the favored one for St. Valentine's Day is the earliest(?) one, a priest martyred around 269 A.D. The reasons for his martyrdom are contradictory too. I think he was martyred because he would not give up the faith. Some places say he was helping Christians, others say he was marrying young couples. All three saints were supposedly killed February 14.
Although the beginnings of Valentine's Day are sketchy, there is something which is not so. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." This is not unknown; this is beautiful, this is true. It is what we as Christians should remember as often as possible - that which Christ has done for us.

Dangers of Blogging: Honor code 4squared + 4

Well my honor is at stake so here is this "tag" from Mr. Notes (you gotta be careful going to his site).


Four Jobs You've Had

1. being a child
2. being a student
3. becoming a woman
4. babysitting


Four Places You've Lived

1. #1 New York
2. #2 New York
3. #3 New York
4. Current New York


Four Vacations You've Taken

1. Wedding in Virginia
2. Visting friends in New Hampshire
3. Wedding in Maryland
4. Day trips to Vermont


Four Vehicles You've Owned

1. A bicycle
2. A little yellow and red car (or was it yours, Jo?)
3. Ice skates?
4. How many teens my age have had any other vehicles!?!?!?


Four Blogs I Visit And Want To Tag

Here is where the honor code part comes. If you are one of the first four bloggers to see this, then I tag you! Be sure to leave a comment, so that later bloggers know that they are home free. Oh yes, I'll visit (at least once).

Holiness

I have been reading a really good book by Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness. I recommend it to be read and reread several times through. This is my second time reading it in a long time, but I think I really need it.

"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy'" 1 Peter 1:15-16

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to me!
I live in a tree!
I sing like a birdy!
And now I'm eighteen!

Happy Birthday from your sweet sister.
Love,
Jo
P.S. Do you like my poem?

Yikes!

My very silly sister has gone and put a picture of myself on my profile. It has ruined the seriousness of my blog!

From Annie

annelise can see you!
muff can get buns.
Love,
Annie

God and Time

With the new year, I could think of no more fitting post than one which reminds us that God sovereignly holds all of time in His hands.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says it best in his book God's Ultimate Purpose:

God controls everything, the time element in particular. As you read through your Old Testament have you ever wondered why it was that all those centuries had to pass before the Son of God actually came? Why was it that for so long only the Israelites, the Jews, had the oracles of God and the understanding that there is only one true and living God? The answer is that it is God who decides the time when everything is to happen, and so He reveals this truth which had hitherto been secret. This is but another illustration of the sovereignty of God. He determines the time for everything to happen. God is over all, controlling all, and timing everything in His infinite wisdom. At such a time as this I know of nothing which is more comforting and reassuring than to know that the Lord still reigns, that He is still the sovereign Lord of the universe, and that though "the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing", yet He has set his Son upon his holy mount of Zion (Psalm 2). A day will come when all His enemies shall lick the dust, and become His footstool and be humbled before Him, and CHrist shall be "all and in all".

God has had control over time since the very beginning. He created time, so it properly belongs to Him.

In The beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

T'was the beginning of time as well as the beginning of the heavens and the earth, for they were created at the beginning.

God is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, and there is no time without God.

He orders the times and life spans of every man. Because of this, we should use the time He has given us wisely and not waste it. God is not pleased with wasted lives.

Sometimes, however, we make plans (so as to use our time well) but interruptions break them and cause us to feel that we have not done what we are supposed to do. Using one's time profitably does not mean following a list, though. God, who is in control, sends us things which did not fit in our plans, but they are His will.
So, it is best everyday to ask God to lead your steps and to help you use your time wisely in His will.