"The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood."

Merry Christmas! As you know, this Barlow family was established July 7, 2006. Just before Thanksgiving we finished choosing the pictures for our wedding album. Thanks to the technology of the digital camera, there were literally a thousand from which to choose! Thank you to many of you who celebrated with us in person and in thought on that day. You are God’s gift to us.

Now, five months into our existence, we are about to celebrate our first Christmas together! We have purchased a Christmas tree, decorated it and the family rooms of our house. We almost have all of our moving boxes unpacked and put away. There may be one or two more in a corner somewhere...

We already have an addition to our family. We adopted Magnolia Suzanne Barlow (Maggie) in late August. She is quite energetic despite the stereotype of her breed (Bassett Hound) and the actors who have made it famous (Flash of the “Dukes of Hazzard” and Fred from Smoky and the Bandit). Her favorite toys include empty water bottles and our pant legs. At every nap time, she is convinced she is a lap dog. This will not last long, as she is getting very heavy.

We spend the majority of our time at First United Methodist Church of Long Beach. As Associate Pastor, Ben has been busy with planning for the youth group, making hospital visits, and leading Sunday worship. Emily has also been keeping busy by designing and painting a prayer room for the students and teaching them about worship. We love introducing the students and their families to Jesus and we are thankful that we are able to use our gifts together.

We hope that this Christmas season finds you remembering Jesus and His birth. May you and your family celebrate His life and look forward to His return with hope, joy, peace, and love.

Love, Emily, Ben, and Maggie

the mouse in our house...

this is the before picture, obviously. an after picture would have been too gruesome.

so it all started a few weeks ago. i was minding my own business watching a UK basketball game i had recorded earlier. i was sitting on the loveseat in the front living room; ben was in his recliner in the in the other living room. (yes we have two. really i just don't know what to call the two spaces so they end up getting called the same thing...) i decided i would like to have something to drink, so i paused my video and turned toward the kitchen when what did i see but a small, black something dart behind the couch.

"ben! i just saw a mouse or a roach!" i thought it was too quick to be a roach, but i didn't want to jump to conclusions...

"well what do you want me to do about it?" he didn't believe me. i shook the couch. nothing happened. ben eventually got up and came into the room. he touched the couch and the mouse immediately darted out between his feet.

"oh my gosh!" he jumped on the couch. what followed was half an hour of us chasing the mouse from corner to corner, yelling "there he is!" or "watch out here he comes!" we tried chasing him out the front door, but the door shut just as the mouse banged his head into it. we tried getting maggie involved in the hunt; she couldn't have cared less. we lost him somewhere in a pile of junk.

that was mouse #1. we had a funeral for him a few days later. i had to buy the mouse traps. i had a moment in walmart when i thought i ought to buy the catch and release traps, the humane ones...but really, if the mouse got in once, he'll get in again. it's him or me right? my other option is getting a cat, but that's not really an option because ben does not want a cat, at all.

ben seemed relieved after we caught mouse #1. but i said, where there is one mouse, there are many. and i was right. mouse #1 was evidently married with a couple of kids. i deduced this because a few days after the first funeral, we saw mouse #2 moving very slowing under our DVD shelves. again, maggie was unimpressed. she just rolled over and went back to sleep. ben, however, jumped up and ran the mouse out from under the TV stand. funeral #2 was the next morning.

i saw mouse #3 in the kitchen. i was headed for the sink and he saw me with his beady little eyes and retreated under the door and into the wall. (it's one of those doors that slides into the wall.) funeral #3 followed shortly thereafter.

so that's mouse #4 in the picture. i was on the phone with my dad when i just happened to look to my left. there in the corner of the dining room was a little gray mouse, looking back at me. that one darted behind the pillows we had stacked there. we got out our little trap and our little piece of swiss cheese and tried to intice the little sucker out of the corner. i snapped the picture, and then left the mouse to explore.

meanwhile i saw a mouse running down the hallway. he best not be going to my bedroom. and since all mice look the same to me i'm not sure if this was mouse #4 just getting some last minute exercise or if is indeed mouse #5. we still don't know for sure...

Kentucky

Kentucky is the Bluegrass State,
Even though the grass is really green.
Not only is Kentucky home to blue/green grass, but she is
Traditionally known for horses, bourbon distilleries, coal camps, and basketball.
Unlucky are those who’ve never beheld her beauty
Comparable to no other place I’ve ever been. True blue natives are
Kindred spirits. There is a bond of commonwealth that unites us.
Yes, the sun shines bright... in my home, Kentucky.


(basketball is supposed to be on the same line as "Traditionally...")

emily paints

i know you were waiting for it...me to unleash paint brushes on the world.

so here it is, my first public painting since middle school art. it's called "Holy Spirit." i know it's not super skillful, but it had been in my head for a while...there could be a few more in there, too.

i've actually been feeling fairly art-sy lately. i've been working with ben on creating a prayer room in the youth hall at the church. the hours we've spent watching HGTV are starting to pay off. i've finished painting all the walls and sewing the curtains for our accent wall. we've got a chair and cross to put in the room, a magnet board and corkboard as well. what we still need are some pillows, a table for the cross and a table for drawing and writing. and the best part is that except for the curtains, we've done everything with leftovers we've found around the church. it's been an exciting project for us. maybe my art can make it's debut there...

“a short conversation on the church steps”

hello.

i like your wings.
they remind me of tissue paper.
they never stop moving –
just dancing to a slower beat.
is the rhythm in your head?

i like your colors.
how is it that on your top you’re orange,
but your underside is black and white?
it doesn’t give you much camouflage –
except for when you pause on a marigold.

oh! wait!
can’t you stay long enough to say

goodbye?

Commonwealth as True Community

So I've just finished reading The Hidden Wound by Wendell Berry. It's an essay on racism which he wrote in 1968-1969 with an afterward from 1988. Here's a quote from one of the last paragraphs of the afterward:

"A true and appropriate answer to our race problem, as to many others, would be a restoration of our communities- it being understood that a community, properly speaking, cannot exclude or mistreat any of its members. This is what we forgot during slavery and the industrialization that followed, and have never remembered. A proper community, we should remember also, is a commonwealth: a place, a resource, and an economy. It answers the needs practical as well as social and spiritual, of its members-among them the need to need one another. "

And I've been thinking a lot about those statements. (really I feel like it would do me good to read the book through again...) I can't help thinking that in the Way Jesus established there is this true community of which Berry speaks. If Jesus' followers actually lived out his Way, there would be true acceptance and no exclusion. As we are told by Paul in this often used verse: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28) And could we (people who love Jesus) meet needs practical and economic of our communities by living like the church described in the book of Acts? The people of that church, "all the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need." (Acts 2:44,45) I think so.

It sounds great on paper (or rather now floating in space on the internet, i guess). How can we restore our communities/realize true community in real life? I think it's going to require a chance of mindset and a change of lifestyle, not to mention a habit of prayer.

"KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN"

this is a picture of me with a plate of fried chicken. obviously. i would like to tell you what i think about fried chicken. when i think fried chicken, i think "birthday". this is becuase on my birthday, every February 19th, my mom fixes my birthday supper. it is my favorite meal in the whole entire world. if i knew i was going to die tomorrow i would ask for fried chicken tonight. served with the fried chicken would be: mashed potatoes, green beans (but out of our garden not off a grocery store shelf. green beans from a can are a disgrace and should be banned. the squeakiness of those kinds of imitation green beans is ridiculous. green beans ought to be slow cooked for several hours along with a big piece of country ham.), pink jellow salad, homemade bread (i get the end piece), and birthday cake (chocolate cake in three layers, with cool whip in between, all covered in chocolate icing...all homemade, no short cut mixes allowed!! - as it should be with all birthday cakes!)

now, in the picture above it is no one's birthday which is odd for me, but i wanted to attempt to make fried chicken in the event that ben would like to have it for his birthday (which he did not and that's fine. his whole family came over to eat so we cooked on the grill, which was a way better idea for 14 people....) i didn't want my first attempt at making fried chicken to be a disaster and ruin a special occasion.

so, this dinner was our friday night activity...we ended up eating on the TV trays and watching Deal or No Deal. Dad said welcome to what married people do...stay home on friday and watch game shows...

here's how i made fried chicken:

1. called mom and asked her how. she told me, and asked if it was somebody's birthday...

2. put crisco in a skillet and made it sizzle.

3. dipped pieces of chicken in a egg.

4. dipped pieces of egg coated chicken in flour/salt/pepper mixture (no measuring, just guessing)

5. put pieces of eggy-flour chicken in the hot grease in the skillet.

6. covered the skillet and listened to the grease pop!

7. brown the bottom of the chicken and then flip it over.

8. when both sides were brown, remove chicken and put it on a serving plate.

it was delicious!! and the most fun.

it was especailly good to eat as leftovers, straight from the fridge with a cold pepsi (the way i always eat leftover fried chicken, of course.)

call me when it's your birthday. i know how to fix you KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN!!

here i am!!

here i am!! i know all of my expectant and faithful readers have been wondering....or does anybody really read this??? who knows... anyway, i am still around. we have been having wireless internet difficulities for about a week now. i have absolutely no clue about how wireless works, but i find myself very upset and frustrated when it is not working. the old router died, we think, and the first replacement i bought did not work. so i bought a new one. it's working- so far.

and then there's my computer. it's dying. it is so SLOW!! i don't know how it works either, and it really bothers me. i wish i could fix it. it's always been a good computer until now. and it's only 4 years old....but they tell me that's old for a computer. i guess technology is moving too fast for me. maybe i will get a Mac next!

so what have i been doing with my time?? well, i went with ben and some of our friends to a Youth Specialties conference in Austin, Texas. i enjoyed it. it made me miss school. i think because i was in these seminars and learning things and i miss doing that. i know i'm a dork. then my favorite part of the conference was a lecture/sermon by Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz - but my favorite is Searching for God Knows What). well, i actually had two favorite parts, because David Crowder led worship 3 times and i enjoyed that quite a bit. plus his band played Free Bird and that was highly entertaining.

and then since we've been back, ben had a birthday. his family came over for dinner and that was good. i know you're wondering what i gave him for a birthday present. well, i'll tell you. i gave him a DVD of Mama's Family season 1. do you remember that show? i didn't realize that Vint and Naomi weren't married when the show started, but it's not taking them long to hook up.

in other TV news, i've been watching Dancing with the Stars. if i really voted, which i don't, i would vote for emmitt smith. he looks like a nice guy. plus i only think of Saved By the Bell when Mario dances, but he will win. i don't think ben likes the show. "Does this come on every night?"

and in Maggie news....she is rowdy. she is biting everything she can, especailly my fingers. but i noticed she has lost 2 teeth, so maybe we are moving out of the biting stage. one can only hope. P.S. i've given up on the carpet business. she follows me everywhere and i've gotten tired of saying "no."

hope this satisfies all your curiousities, and that you rest easy knowing i'm still here...

Book Report!

So I'm almost finished reading Ministry in the Image of God by Dr. Seamands. I like it! I decided to read it A. because he gave it to me and I trust him, B. because it looked like something I needed to read, and C. because I miss being in seminary and having books like this assigned to me so I have to read them! I like that accountability.

Anyway, there are lot's of good things in this book, great implications for how the very being of the Trinity ought to affect the ministry in which we participate. That's helpful thought number #1: the ministry in which we participate is Jesus's ministry here in the world, not something we created or own. We get to help him.

Helpful thought #2 for today comes from the chapter I just read on Mutual Indwelling. It talks about how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in a dance, all indwelling each other and allowing themselves to be indwelt by the other. As mere mortals, we get invited into that dance by Jesus's life and death and life. So what does that imply for His ministry? One of the 4 implications Dr. Seamands lists is "intercessory prayer." This made a huge impression on me, because I never really thought about what my job is as an intercessor. Sure, I've always known it is important to pray for other people, and I've done that a lot, out loud, on paper, in letters, in groups...but I have often thought of that as something I do by myself, unless there are other people sitting next to me, also praying. What I realized as I was reading is that intercession is Jesus's job. That's what he does, he prays for us. So when I pray for other people, I'm joining Jesus in what he is already doing.

This gives us both freedom and confidence as we pray. It's freeing to know that praying for other people is not a job we have to carry by ourselves. We're not alone at all, and it's not that Jesus is helping us, it's more that we're helping Jesus. This gives us confidence because our prayers are added to those of Jesus. And powerful (and awesome) is that?

bad maggie...

Maggie is proof that we live in a fallen world. She has me convinced. And it’s not that she’s particularly bad or anything, it’s just that she, a puppy, does have an instinctive sin nature.

You ask me how I know this, that a dog is inclined to do the wrong thing. This innocent animal who is currently lying in a flower bed, gnawing on some poor defenseless plant, how could she possibly do anything wrong?

Well, let’s consider the carpet incidents, for instance. We have new carpet in our house so we decided Maggie should not be allowed to walk on it, especially as we are having a few setbacks in housebreaking. Maggie knows this. (You may at this point choose to argue that dogs cannot understand us when we talk. I think this is ridiculous. When I speak to Maggie I can tell by her expression and her eyes that she knows I am speaking to her and if she has done something good or if she is in trouble. That’s what I’m getting to…) So if I walk into the hallway, say to put away a book, to get a load of laundry, or to do some other task in one of the bedrooms, Maggie attempts to follow me. I stop in the doorway, look at her, and in my very stern voice say: “Maggie, Stay! Do not follow me onto the carpet!” She then looks at me, lies down on the rug by the door, (on which she is allowed to play) and gives me a very pathetic look that says to me, “ok, I’ll try.”

At this point in our conversation, I walk to wherever I’m going and get whatever I’m getting. But as I turn to come back down the hallway, I see that Maggie has not stayed in the den on her rug, but is creeping, super quietly, body low to the ground, out into the hallway. So I say: “Maggie!! That is not allowed!!” in my corrective voice. She knows she is in trouble, so she tries to become an actual part of the carpet, with ears, paws, and belly flat against it, and then she hurries back to her rug. This happens EVERY day.

Tell me this is not a case of someone deliberately choosing the wrong choice by instinct…not a learned behavior. Even our puppy has a sinful side, and that is just more evidence we really do live in a fallen world.

Must see TV

I think I have watched more TV since living in Mississippi than I did in the four years while I was at Asbury. Last night we got sucked in to "Deal or No Deal." We decided we could be compulsive gamblers. I don't know which is worse, the fact that we were talking to the contestants, telling them to take the deal and not be greedy, or the fact that we will probably watch it again tonight. and I have to say, I was all for the guy taking the $675,000 but then I was pretty disappointed he didn't ride it out to the end, seeing as he had $3 million in his case all along. thank goodness I'm not on that show. It's too much pressure...

our other favorite show to watch is the Cosby show at 12 every day at lunch. today I saw an episode I didn't remember ever seeing before. Vanessa came home drunk and Cliff and Claire punished her by making her play a drinking game with them...but then she realized they were just drinking juice.

then our other thing to watch is HGTV. who knew ben was into interior design. he has definite opinions and has made them known as we have arranged furniture, hung pictures, and tried to match comforters to wall colors. we keep thinking of things we'd like to do here in our house...

today we actually watched MTV for half an hour. that's about as much as I can stand. It was some show called "Sweet 16" something or other and it's about these 15 year old people having the most outrageous and ridiculous birthday parties. the guy today was all upset because his invitations were a day late and then they turned out to be mp3 players with his voice on them, inviting his whole school to a club for his party, enticing them by telling them some big name rappers would be there. and they were. it just got us to thinking about how MTV is such a false reality. they have all these shows which portray life as a fantasy, a dream world, centered around dating, sex, fashion, music, parties, etc. money never holds anybody back, but is a power and status symbol. what worries me is that people who watch MTV will start to believe that's how we all ought to live and that if we don't get a Hummer for our 16th birthday we're nobody, completely uncool, total failures, second rate.

so what's the point here...i definitely watch too much TV and I know it. it gives me something to think about anyway. i guess that's what can happen when you don't have a job.

God's pretty Creative, isn't He?

God impresses me sometimes...
ok, a lot. most recently God has impressed me through our puppy. it's his creative imagination. i mean seriously, who else would have thought up a bassett hound?

let's think about it...this puppy has the biggest feet. and the longest, widest ears i have ever seen. when she bows her head to take a drink of water her ears can't help but fall in the bowl. so then she runs back to me, satisfied and dripping. she has a coat of many colors: tan, brown, black, white. her tail looks like it was dipped in a paint can; it is all black except for an inch long white tip. she sleeps with one eye open - i think it's because the weight of her ear pulls her skin so that her eyelid can't close all the way. she tries to bark and everyonce in a while she gets one of those deep hound dog howls.

but, she needs a bath.

at any rate, i certainly never would have picked out all of this puppy's body parts and put them all together.
but i'm thankful -and impressed- that God did.

titles tell the tale...

why "our commonwealth"?
not only because I love Kentucky, which claims to be a commonwealth, but also because that's what i think the kingdom of God is...our commonwealth. it's a place without favoritism or partiality. a place where our wealth and riches are not physical or based on our bank accounts, but where our wealth is intangible, spiritual. it is a place where we share love, God's love, displayed in Christ's life through the presence of the Holy Spirit. and when we love each other, we love God, too.
I hope to be faithful as I write here, and that in doing so, further our commonwealth.