Creation Museum

Our God is AMAZING!!!! The vast hugeness of the galaxies are held in His hand, solar systems are like tiny stars dotting the sky, and He knows each by its own name. Billions and millions of stars and He knows each one, and yet He chose to create one small blue planet and put all the things that are most precious to Him on it. Of all the beautiful and awesome things, He choses us to love the most. And, get this, God wants us to love Him back. Our freewill to chose Him is important to Him! It’s just mind boggling to think of.

I wish I could find adjectives to better express my feelings when looking back on these last two days. I’ll have to do my best to relate the events.

We left at about six last night to make the 5 hour drive down to Petersburg, Kentucky. We had made a reservation at a lovely hotel to spend the night in. The room was great and we were almost sorry for not staying two nights.

Anyway, today we woke up to Karin exclaiming from her bed, “Coffee! Room service!” It was to be expected. Seeing as we were all coffee people we had to head directly down to the lobby for some of that delightful drink and a sustaining breakfast of physical and Spiritual food as we did morning devotions.

My expectations of the Creation Museum, I’ll confess, were low. I’ve seen a lot of museums in my life, most from big cities that attract many people. I expected to see here a couple of small exhibits with some bones, rocks, and the odd wax person here or there. Upon entering the building I would soon realize that there was a huge difference between my expectations and what was true. The main hall is decorated like a rocky forest. As the eyes climb the fake stone wall they are astonished to see a moving dinosaur! It growled and grumbled as it swung its long neck over us.

In the same room were some smaller dinos and kids next to a brook, these all moved robotically.

The skeleton is holding a Bible!!!

 

 

 

 

The first show we saw was a comical special effects show. It opened with a girl sitting by a campfire as she questions the creation of the world. To answer her questions, “Gabe” and “Mike” the angels appear to guide “Wendy” and the audience (us) toward truth by describing God, creation, and contradicting one of Wendy’s professors in a comical but interesting way. The show was enhanced by wind that blew when the angels flew by and water that splashed our faces during the “flood” part of the show!

After that we headed in the direction of the planetarium to see two shows. The seats reclined comfortably to give us a view of the ceiling which was transformed into a night sky view.  But rather than point out all the Greek history dealing with constellations as were most planetarium shows that I’ve seen, this one took us on an awe inspiring journey through the universe in a Biblical perspective. In the end I could only think of how God made all of this and still loves me and desires my heart! Praise be to God!

After that we went through the walkthrough portion of the museum. The walk started us out in a pretend Grand Canyon. The lesson here was about dinosaurs and paleontology. Then we walked into the beautiful land of Eden. Tall trees made a green roof above us, the ground was covered in every kind of beautiful flower and plant. Among the flora, animals were playing. There was all kinds of animals from the quiet lamb, to a ferocious lion, a goofy penguin, and a mean dinosaur all stood about the forest in peace. And, in the midst of the animals and plants was Adam. We walked further to see Adam standing with another being: Eve. Together they enjoyed the garden, swam in the pool, and walked with their God.

But then sin entered the world. The hallway we entered was black save for a single light which illuminated an evil beast. The serpent hung from a tree and appeared to be almost smiling at his treachery. You know what come next. Eve gave the forbidden fruit to her husband, and sin had come into the world.

Now Adam and Eve would have to sacrifice perfect lambs to atone for their sins.

We continued the walk to see how this one mistake had affected the entire earth forever. I felt like crying when I came into a dark alley way. The walls were plastered with depressing and terrifying news articles and graffiti. Garbage littered the ground and one could almost smell the filth. The obvious dirt of the alley way gave way to what looked like a pleasant neighborhood. This neighborhood was anything but pleasant, however. Drugs, gossip, and disrespect, the sins that seem to be small littered this place.

At some point we came to an impressive exhibit of Noah’s Ark.

And we met some of the famous characters of the Bible

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m sure it’s obvious to see that we had a great time, but we also learned a ton!

There was a guy walking around the Museum with snakes and lizards on his back!! He was giving some presentations at the museum and when he was not presenting, he let people hold his snakes and get to know them a little. The picture below is of Daisy, the albino Python.

We took a walk out in the snow to go to the petting zoo portion of the zoo before getting in the car for a long ride.

At the zoo we saw a Zorse, a Zonkey, some sheep and goats, wallabys, a cow, alpacas, and this awesome camel named Gomer.

Then it was homeward bound! We had an excellent trip!

First Week of School

It’s so cold outside I decided that I just cannot leave Steve to freeze all day, so I brought him in as soon as I got home and have been enjoying his company since. He is huge in my opinion, reaching just about to my Greater Trochanter, which is a part of the femur that pokes out just at the top of the thigh on the lateral side of the leg (in case anyone wanted a little anatomy lesson.)

As you can see I have, since Tuesday, plunged into my studying at full blast. There was no easing into things this semester to my despair. The fifteen credit hours of mostly lecture this week has gotten my mind so stuck on all of it, that I find that I can only think in PTA terms. It is becoming a challenge for me to describe stuff in words other than, “medially to” or “in flexion” or “around the height of my greater trochanter”.

Steve has just come over to slobber on my laptop, reach up to give me a kiss then spook at the cat and stomp at the dog. How can I type when all this entertainment is happening around me!!!

Where was I…school! Earlier in the week I was becoming very stressed. I came into this year with high expectations and after only the second day I was starting to feel behind in the class. It seems to move so quickly, that if you don’t understand something the day it is learned, your toast. But now, at the end of the week, I’m finding a little more rhythm to it all. As a result the stress has melted away, a little.

On Wednesday, the vaulters got together after a long winter break to start practicing for the March Springfield show. I won’t say the practice went well, because, as a first practice, it was pretty bumpy as we stumbled around on the barrel trying to find what will work and what won’t. Our approach this year is very different as we are attempting something that no other vaulting team has done before to my knowledge, and that is to act out a play on top of the horse. Perhaps it’s never been done before because it doesn’t work, nevertheless, we are trying it. This could be either revolutionary or a huge flop. We’ll see. Anyway, we hope this practice will go smoother as we now have a better idea of a routine. We will be having practice inside the Horsemeister office on the barrel in a couple hours.

Ha! I just watched as Steve bravely faced Abby, stomped his foot in defense and then did a little hopping dance all the way around her as she wagged her tail. Her only response to this was to go lick him in the nose which gave him quite a fright. He then ran to me  for some comfort. Poor Steve!

Anyway, after school was let out at twelve today I gave mom a call. She invited me to have lunch with her at the Chinese Restaurant. It was good that we were meeting because she had some things she wanted me to take home with me anyway. Well, as we were transferring stuff from her car to mine, a blue car stops and starts honking. I wasn’t exactly in the way, but a quick glance told me it was an elderly woman, and I figured she must be a little sensitive to driving near pedestrians. I stepped between some cars, but she kept honking. Confused I turned to mom and asked, “is she honking at US?” She was indeed, for it was Mama, who just happened to be meeting Csilla there for lunch. It was a party now! We came in and were seated as we chattered about the coincidence of meeting up in this way when we run into Phil and Anna Sceggel! What are the chances?

Anni has been fortunate enough to find a steady babysitting job through Csilla. She will be sharing it with Kinga, my cousin. If anyone knows Anni well, they will know that she never has money! This opportunity is very welcomed on her part, though I must say, I dread thinking of it, not due to her, but due to my Mom. Mom tends to sort of latch onto a subject and will use it for EVERY conversation until it is past the point of being worn out. She resents me saying so but it is true! I’ve her analyze and excite over this dumb job for weeks now, and quite frankly, I almost wish Anni had never gotten it…ok I don’t wish that. It’s ok though, one little annoyance is not enough for me to ever find reason to fight or be angry with mom at all. I know I have my quirks too.

Alright, I just have to write this: Dad got mom some BEAUTIFUL roses for mom’s fiftieth birthday. She put them in a vase and placed them proudly on the counter between our kitchen and living room. The counter is rather tall and the flowers situated in the middle of it. Well, Steve spotted them and with his amazing balance, stood on his back two feet  to try to reach them. He had no success, but it was fun to watch.

Tonight we are leaving for the Creation Museum. We found a 21 year old to go with us to get the hotel, so all systems are go. The 21 year old is actually my Aunt Karin, who is always up for a fun time, and always willing to help a person out. And she likes hanging out with the teenagers, so it’s perfect.

Oh, now Steve is friends with Abby and is licking her! So odd.

Christmas Present

This video didn't show up in the Christmas post, so I'm fixing that little problem.

Galatians

Once or twice a certain question has come to my attention recently: What of the Old Testament applies to us? Because there are some laws in there that just aren’t done anymore, so what distinguishes the ones that are from the ones that aren’t. My answer used to always be that with Christ came the new “law”: to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength and your neighbor as yourself. True as it is, this answer seemed a bit unsatisfying.
It just so happened that I found a Bible study book on Galatians much like the James and Titus Bible studies from our church and it talks a lot of this exact question and many more. It says:
“When Paul says that non-Jews (Gentiles) are no longer bound by these laws, he is not saying that the Old Testament laws do not apply to us today. He is saying certain types of laws may not apply to us. In the Old Testament there were three categories of laws:

Ceremonial Laws
This kind of law relates specifically to Israel’s worship. Its primary purpose was to point forward to Jesus Christ. Therefore, these laws were not longer necessary after Jesus’ death and resurrection. While we are no longer bound by ceremonial laws, the principles behind the—to worship and love a holy God—still apply. The Jewish Christians often accused the gentile Christians of violating the ceremonial law.
Civil Laws
This type of law dictated Israel’s daily living. Because modern society and culture are so radically different, some of these guidelines cannot be follow specifically. But the principles behind the commands should guide our conduct. At times, Paul asked the gentile Christians to follow some of these laws, not because they had to, but in order to promote unity.
Moral Law
This sort of law is the direct command of God—for example, the Ten commandments. It requires strict obedience. It reveals the nature and will of God, and it still applies to us today. We are to obey this moral law, not to obtain salvation, but to live in ways pleasing to God.

Anyway, I thought that was helpful. Also, in this study is a lot about the faith of Abraham and the Law of Moses. Before I never really understood or noticed the difference and significance of the two. Whenever I saw the word “law” I would just skim through because I didn’t understand it. Now I do and it is amazing the way God laid out His plans. “The covenant with Abraham shows that faith is the only way to be saved; the Law focuses on actions to show us how to obey Him.” I’ve learned that the point of the law is to reveal the nature and will of God, and to point out people’s sins and show them that it is impossible to please God by trying to obey all His laws. The whole thing is beautiful in a way and I am so glad that God’s revealed this to me.
You know what’s funny. For awhile I’ve kind of balked at the idea of studying the Word in a deeper level because I thought that lead to getting ideas that didn’t line up. In my mind, the people who are Bible scholars are the ones who know how to argue all those controversies like “once saved always saved” “Predestination” etc. and read all the books concerning said issues. I clung to the fact that ours is a simple faith and that when we read the Bible it should be taken as that: simply. I still believe that it is a simple faith, were it not, I would be the first one to burn (as Karin would say) because I can never seem to understand any of those arguments and that’s ok with God. But what has changed is, instead of just reading the Bible and not daring to look more deeply into it, I’ve learned how to read and make connections with other parts of the Bible, to read whole books at a time to see the big picture, and to read single verses and cross reference them to others, to find out the definitions to words, to figure out where the end of Paul’s long sentences are in order to better understand his point, to find where the things I’ve read applies to my life, and to love what I’m reading. In no way could I call myself a Biblical scholar or even Bible smart, honestly I don’t think my intelligence will ever allow me to grasp enough of the Bible at one time in order to earn a title such as that, and that’s alright because that’s ok with God. He made it all easy enough for me to understand and hard enough that I will always have more to learn. Christianity is perfect.
Oh I could go on and on, and I do often to mom who is so wonderfully patient with all my inspirations, but I’m afraid, the blog could not hold it all, and I bet it’s boring to read. So the fun stuff.
For these past two weeks, my family has returned to school and work, but I’m am still on break. The original plan was to go to Disney, but that fell through, so I’ve been a couch potato. Just kidding, I’ve gotten a lot done and its been a lovely respite.
Karin and Grandma went away to Haiti for these past two weeks to spend time with the Reinhards. We have been blessed with the privilege of watching their dogs. Anni has been sleeping at Grandma’s house to keep Heidi, her German Shepard, company, and Karin’s dogs: Elli and Studley came to our house. Well, lets start with Heidi. Jessica, Anni, and I have actually enjoyed Grandma’s house a lot. It’s a little log cabin situated right above a beautiful lake. Cozy is an understatement to describe the interior of the home, but it is all I can come up with for now. It’s always warm and smells good. We’ve had some good times watching home videos, playing board games, and the most fun is playing house. All on our own we eat supper, spend an evening together, and go to bed. Then in the morning, all on our own, we prepare breakfast, clean dishes, make the beds, and go on our merry way. One morning I woke up earlier than Anni and Jess and made them breakfast so they woke up to the smell of coffee and bacon. It was so delightful to treat them in this way and I can’t wait for when I get married (if it’s God’s will that I do of course) to treat my husband in the same way (I would do it for my family except they all wake up so stinking early!). The only downside to watching Heidi is that she keeps running away. She ignores her shock collar and she and Ebby, Diane’s dog, go gallivanting around all the time.
With Studley and Ellie, the story is a little different. Ellie was dropped off at my aunt Beth’s way back when. The little dog was so loyal to her previous owner, that Beth said she waited by the road for three days. When Karin took her, she put her loyalty on her in the most extreme way. Ellie never let Karin out of her sight, pushing herself to the limits to follow her even on horse trails. The only way for anyone to dog sit Ellie was for Karin to leave her car there. Well, as precious as Ellie’s loyalty was, she became quite old, as most living creatures do and with that her breath began to smell and she was always panting. She got a gross tumor in her eye and, as we discovered, really bad breast cancer. Though, I’m sure, deep deep down, Karin still had a little bit of feeling for the little dog, she told us before she left that if she runs away or get hit on the road, she’ll pay us extra (you have to understand Karin’s humor, she is not as cold hearted as this sounds). Well, the cancer on her belly was bad. One of the tumors had ruptured and was seeping, and she just looked terrible. Mom called Judy to see if Rhoda would look at her and Judy, along with Diane, right away made the decision to put her down. They felt it would be best to do it without trying to get ahold of Karin because 1. they are not easy to get ahold of down there and 2 they didn’t want her to feel guilty. Judy was taking a trip to the vet anyway that day so we chose to send Ellie along. That morning was dreadful for me. Mom told me, that since it was her last day I should be extra nice to her. So, knowing that this was her last day to live, I showered Ellie with attention that she hadn’t had in a long time. I fed her treats to which she almost purred at and spoke soothingly all morning. Though it was difficult to even look at her I did it. Well, when it came time to meet Judy I was a mess, and I apologize to her for that. I understand that she was a smelly ugly dog, but, well, she was a living creature. (Now I know I’m pathetic because just writing this I’m tearing up) Well, the deed was done, and in the end I’m glad we did have her put down because, she really was in awful shape and it could only possibly get worse from here. However I’m not sure we’ll be doing much dog sitting in the future. “Hey, Karin! Glad to see you’re back, here’s one of your dogs, we killed the other!”
As for Studley, he has actually been enjoyable. His spunkiness and loving nature is almost contagious and he and Abby have been getting along beautifully. When I bring Steve in, they love each other and show their affection by licking each other's faces. It’s cute.
Last weekend, on Saturday, a group of us went up with the Bible class for the ski trip. I’m not sure if I’ve ever had so much fun snowboarding! It was great. On top of that, we some great conversations on the way back.
On the weekend of the 22nd a group of us girls are taking a trip to the Creation Museum. I am so EXCITED!!! so that should be great.

Christmas

I know that it has been too long since I last updated the blog, and honestly, the task has grown so large and daunting, that I’m not even sure I want to at this moment. Yesterday I retold and recorded most of the events that have happened as of late and accidentally closed out of the internet and lost all. It was terribly frustrating!
Before I go on to the past, I would like to say that Anni, Ryan, and Steven went out shopping today and Mom has been just a bit nervous about it. She was nervous for a good reason, Anni just called to say she got a flat tire! Dad is going out to rescue her.
Now, on to the past: I have to start with Wednesday, for that is when the Christmas celebrations began for us. As we were all finally on break we cleaned the house spotless and did extra decorating. This year we were especially please with how our tree turned out. New ornaments were bought and hung evenly throughout the whole tree and not just the bottom as it has been in years past. We also decorated our large dining table with little extra ornaments, candles, and vases. It was so beautiful that we just had to make the most of it and have a family sit down dinner.

The plans were, originally, to have the dinner on Tuesday night, but it turned out we were invited to eat at Grandma’s. We enjoyed some juicy lamb chops, cinnamon rolls, and salad, and a grand time with eachother. Since we were in the neighborhood, Anni and I invaded the Sauder’s house to use their hot tub.
On Wednesday, my sister and I slaved over the stove for hours preparing the meal for the night. The menu was a fresh salad to start with, then chicken stew and dumplings with biscuits, and to finish: bread pudding with coffee. (I know at this point I should move on with this lengthy narrative, but I must say that I was particularly proud of the bread pudding. It turned out so splendidly that I will surely keep the recipe.) As we prepared the meal, we also made many trips from the dining room table to the kitchen to set the places in a proper way, fitting for a formal dinner such as this.
When the family finally gathered we turned off the bright lights in our living room to allow the candles and Christmas lights on the tree illuminate our meal. The smell of food wafted throughout the whole house. Everyone was hungry. As we bowed our heads to pray together, I confess that I opened my eyes to see my beautiful family. I am so blessed!

On Thursday morning, it seemed we weren’t the only ones celebrating the joys of the season. God blessed us with a magnificent sight, to wake up to in the morning. I was sipping my coffee when I looked toward the window and saw a sliver of red peaking from a break in the curtains. At first I had to blink in confusion at what this color could be from. Drawing the curtain back my eyes were filled with a view of the most marvelous sunrise you ever did see. It was glorious beyond comprehension and caused my mind to lift upward to my God. How kind He is for blessing us so richly with His artistry! Hallelujah and Glory to God in the Highest!

Well, that was the morning, but the day had to move on. We left after some light housework to shop for the party that night. One stop was UFS to buy some “cheap unexpected gifts” as mom would put it. She shopped for the adults and Anni and I shopped for the kids, buying two dollars worth of toys for each child. I must say, it was really very fun and made us look forward to the party all the more.
The party turned out to be, in my opinion, one of the best Meister Christmas party yet. There was food galore, the cutest kids on earth to entertain us, and really good volleyball! I have a video made, but the internet is too slow to upload it right now.
Christmas Eve is the day that we always open our gifts. I guess we are too impatient to wait for Christmas day. Some presents were successful, some, mom unfortunately struck out with. I think my brothers need to learn a lesson on gratefulness. I feel a little spoiled and undeserving of my gift: a new laptop. The laptop is partly the reason that I haven’t updated this blog in a while as the job of getting used to a new computer has taken up all my patience for time in front of a screen.
Another gift was a Kinect. I love the kinect, it makes you get up and work to play the games. I had to laugh when I told people that I was sore from playing video games!
One gift in particular was very well received:

Throughout the day it snowed constantly. White sparkling fluff coated every branch, tree, and surface, and made the entire out doors look magical. Anni and I were invited to ride horses with Karin, Mike, and Diane and took them up on the offer without hesitation. To spend some time in this dreamy winter land a top some of the finest horses in the state was very appealing. I rode Sangria, the spunky Andalusia, and boy did she give me a great ride. It was in every sense lovely.
Christmas day we went to church and heard a great sermon by Mike Rieker. It helped so much to here about what its all about: our Savior giving up His glorious home in Heaven to show us the way and to die for us.
After that the day was spent being lazy.
That was Saturday.
It was so strange to get up on Sunday and go to church again. Strange, but very pleasing. I love church and eagerly got ready physically and spiritually. That evening we were invited to Mike and Diane’s for dinner. A large group of famliy was there to enjoy the meal together. After eating everyone played a competitive game of Scrabble, but Anni, Sarah, Karin, and I went to the Sauder’s to get in their hot tub. We spend a lot of time in that hot tub, if you haven’t noticed.
Monday, Karin and I had it planned to go to Chicago to teach a group a bit about Vaulting. It was a therapeutic riding facility interested in learning a bit more about the sport. They found out about our team through Judy’s blog and asked if we could show them the ropes. Judy talked to Karin who invited me along to demonstrate. The trip up was four hours long and very easy driving with very little traffic. We conducted the three hours of lessons as smoothly as possible, doing all kinds of activities to help them learn and understand this fastly growing sport. The drive home was a little longer as we hit a little traffic near chicago, but nothing to heavy. It was an all day event, but worth it in my opinion.
Tuesday was Steven’s Birthday, and feeling inspired by our acquisition of chopsticks and a bag of fortune cookies, we decided to invite people over for a Chinese meal. The food was ordered from a China Kitchen so we didn’t have to cook at all and all dishes were disposable making cleanup very easy. Thus leaving room for a delightfully fun evening of good food, visiting, and round the world ping pong. Afterwards Sarah, Anni, Jessica and I really felt like seeing the 6 hour long version of Pride and Prejudice. We rented it from the Library and went to watch it at Sarah’s house. When they say six hours long, they mean it! The movie wasn’t finished until 2:00 in the morning. Of course we forced ourselves to stay awake through the whole thing in order to gain a small form of accomplishment. I was exhausted at the end and couldn’t bear to hold my eyelids open for another moment. Jessica and Anni, however, still felt inspired by the Jane Austen movie and felt compelled to watch the newer rendition of the story also. They did not fall asleep until six in the morning! The crazy girls!
The rest of the week has been rather uneventful.
Which leaves us at today.
The kids made it home safely and the flat tire was fixed.

Gulf Shores Movie

 

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Anni’s Artwork and Pet Pictures

Computer edited version                   Original Version

Anni drew this rose heart flower picture and I thought it was really good. It’s funny because the first goat we ever had, little Anni wanted to name her Rose Heart. Now I understand what a “rose heart” is. Good times.

Steve’s Christmas Picture:

What can I say, he is like a child to me! Haha. Really I just wanted to waste some time with Photoshop. But in all seriousness, I am really very attached to my Steve. He leads nearly perfectly with his little camo collar and when not on the lead he always follows me, or at least keeps one eye on me. He and Larry do not get along, the other day I watched in horror as Steve went up to sniff Larry’s nose, and Larry, not wanting to have anything to do with him, took a snap at Steve’s face. Steve wasn’t hurt, but I think he will be leaving Larry alone in the future. Cindy, on the other hand adores Steve. With maternal affection she licks and nuzzles his thick fur kindly. The two make quite a pair. I try to make an effort to go out and see Steve everyday, but with the cold of winter, it has been harder and harder to get myself outside. Ah well, perhaps today I will let him spend some extra time in the house. He is terrible in the house. He is just tall enough to be able to stick his nose right on top of the tables. He loves to snack on anything and is determined to try and snatch everything within reach. If he isn’t looking for food, he is still putting things in his mouth. Anything and everything that will fit has to be chewed on when it comes to Steve. He reminds me of a two year old. But no matter how annoying that is, he is still my Steve. I’m glad we decided to keep him till spring, for I am sure it would be impossible for me to give him up now.

We added some new birds to our collection. The aviary my dad built is certainly large enough and in my opinion it needed a little more excitement. So I went to the pet store and headed straight to the birds. In one little cage they had probably thirty or so finches. All the same greyish color except one. This one was a beautiful little white snowball of a bird and I had to have her. I chose her out, and one male and brought them home to meet our original two finches. The two older ladies at first welcomed the new ones happily, but over the next couple days became territorial and now they will have nothing to do with them, not even the male. Since we now have four I decided to name them. Zuri and Zeera are the older ones. They can be told apart by the stripes on the right side of their tales, otherwise they are identical:

The one on the right is definitely Zuri. See the three broad stripes on her tail? Zeera’s are smaller.

Here they are with Zeus, the male, in the middle. This was the first day Zeus and Zipporah were introduced.

Below are Zipporah                                   And Zeus

Zipporah is a spitfire and very difficult to photograph. Zeus on the other hand is quite sleepy.

Together the have settle into one nest and Zeera and Zuri in the other. Other than fighting each other away, the two rival groups hardly associate. I must say, Zipporah and Zeus have a much better chance of success with their nest. I’m excited to see what their babies will look like.

Yup, the finches are fun. They are so quirky and hilarious to watch, everything they do is fast. Watching them is a lot like watching that television show: Mere cat Manor.