Blue Like Jazz - My Take, Part 1

The book "Blue Like Jazz" was recommended to me many years ago by a friend, then later by a former pastor. Dan was quite interested in the book, and I saw it on the dollar table at a bookstore several years ago and picked it up. There it sat for a few years until recently...

I've been fascinated about the whole emerging/emergent/postmodern church movement lately and why some things about it concern me. A lot of this came after reading "The Shack" (which is a lengthy review for another time that I may or may not get around to doing.) I've been concerned about some trends in the church recently where, in a nutshell, people are picking and choosing what they want to believe about God, and in essence, creating God in their own image.

Now...I am human, I am imperfect, and my opinions can be wrong. My intention is in no way to slander or attack Donald Miller (a man I do not know), but rather to share some concerns and hopefully back them with Scripture.

So, that brings me back to "Blue Like Jazz"...I get where the author is trying to go, but I'm just not so sure about how he gets there or the conclusions he makes along the way. The subtitle of the book is "Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality." Okay, okay...I get that if we are going to reach the world, we need to be able to relate to the way others view God, Christianity, etc. However, while society and culture are always changing, GOD NEVER WILL (Malachi 3:6, among others). Having said that, I have huge red flags waving at me when someone writes a book about Christianity and never quotes (as far as I recall) from the words of the living, unchanging God (that is, the Bible.)

So...here are some notes I wrote along the way and my thoughts (which I pray align with Scripture).

p. 5 "I started to sin about the time I turned ten."

Okay...I have a six-year-old; I was once a child myself. Maybe he became aware of his sin when he turned ten, but we are ALL sinners (Romans 3:23); every one alive has a sin nature with the exception of Christ (1 Peter 2:22.) I think a volume on Christianity should have a Biblical view of sin.

p. 51 "The goofy thing about Christian faith is that you believe it and don't believe it at the same time. It isn't unlike having an imaginary friend."

That's the thing about faith...the more I read and hear from others, the more I realize that those who don't know Christ very much view Him as imaginary; and to those who do know Him and have a vibrant relationship with Him, He is very, very real. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18. It frightens me that a man writing a book about Christianity would compare Jesus to an imaginary friend. Maybe this wasn't the point Miller was trying to make, but a statement like that at the beginning of the chapter was very difficult to get past as I continued reading.

Another concern I have from the book is the flippancy that Miller seems to give to things of God. Something that I see as having changed for the worse in recent years is a very casual attitude toward approaching God. Yes, He is here with us (Emmanuel) and He calls us His friend (John 15:15) and we can come as we are. But I also believe that we are called to come before Him with an appropriate reverence (Hebrews 12:28). One such example of flippancy is on p. 88: "Powells is another church to me, a paperback sort of heaven." Now, I LOVE Powells Books in Portland, and I am an avid reader. I think reading is a wonderful gift that God has given us. I also believe that you can worship God anywhere. But Miller's statement here, seems to me more like he's worshiping books and reading...it smacks to me of idolatry.

Miller also seems to be content being "in the world, but not of it," but that contentment seemed a bit like complacency when it comes to sharing his faith. On page 115, he recounts a conversation where he is asked to defend his Christianity and refuses. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." I'm the first to confess that many Christians today aren't doing this with gentleness and respect, and I need to search my own heart as I share my faith with others. But, when God opens a door and someone is flat-out asking why you believe, why would you refuse?

Okay...now here's the one that really got under my skin. In fact, I got so angry after reading this, I almost put down the book for good.

In the churches I used to go to, I felt like I didn't fit in. I always felt like the adopted kid, as if there was "room at the table for me." Do you know what I mean? I was accepted but not understood. There was room at the table for me, but I wasn't in the family. p. 130

What a horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE picture of adoption. And definitely not the picture that God gives us in Ephesians 1:5 where He says that He has adopted us as sons. Does God really look at me, His child by adoption, and say, "She's not really in the family"?

He could have made the point that today's church could do a better job accepting everyone with a different analogy. But when you bring such a wrong picture of adoption to the table as your analogy...well, my blood is boiling again, so I'll move on...

Actually, I think I'll set this aside and finish my thoughts in the next blog post.

Stay tuned...

Surgery, Sutures, and a Very Silly Girl

Dayna had her third surgery last week. This one was pretty minor compared to the others. She had her ear tubes removed and a little bit of scar tissue removed from her lip.

The week before surgery, I was praying very hard for Dayna...praying that she would not fear, but trust God; praying that she would be comfortable; praying that she would heal quickly; praying that she would not be frustrated by her dietary restrictions after the procedure. There were some prayers thrown out there for me as well...

The weekend before surgery, we went grocery shopping and bought all sorts of soft foods that Dayna might like: instant grits, flavored oatmeal, cottage cheese, yogurt, mashed potato flakes, pudding, jello, bomb pops, macaroni and cheese...you get the picture. Dayna was pretty excited about her "special" foods.

Two days before surgery (Monday), I took Dayna shopping for some special pajamas. Really, this was a practicality issue, as all of her pajamas pull over her head...not a good thing after facial surgery. While we were shopping, Dayna turned to me and said, "I wish we didn't have a Tuesday this week...then it would be WEDNESDAY!!!" I asked why she was so excited about Wednesday, and she replied, "I'll get to have SURGERY!!!!!" (She's pretty excited when she talks to you.) I asked why she was excited for surgery, and she gave me that look (the one like "don't you know anything, Mom?") and said in a slightly exasperated tone, "It's not like I get to do this everyday."

So...I no longer had to worry about her fear. The morning of surgery, we made it to the hospital bright and early. The plastic surgeon is the same one who did her lip and palate repair. We absolutely LOVE Dr. Hollins. The ENT is the father of 3 of my former (and dare I say favorite) students. Only the anesthesiologist was an unknown. When we got there, I was thrilled to find out that Dr. Kolb would be the anesthesiologist. He is the head of our craniofacial team, as well as the director of our local international adoption clinic. Dr. Kolb is also the father of 10, 8 of whom are adopted internationally. I couldn't have asked for a better trio to be working on my little girl.

Well, her procedure went very well. She was a little dazed and dozy for most of the morning; we dealt with headaches for quite awhile. Finally, we were able to get Dayna up and about, which helped her headaches. She really just wanted to lay in the hospital bed all day and watch movies (I guess "it's not like she gets to do this everyday"). In fact, we had a very hard time getting Dayna to agree to come home. She wanted to stay overnight!

The next day, we went up to Dan's folks'. We figured it's always more fun to recover at Grandma and Grandpa's house than to sit at home.

Well, we're one week post-op. Dr. Hollins removed the last of her sutures yesterday. Dayna has been cleared to eat regular foods again. And what did she ask to eat this morning for breakfast?

Oatmeal.

Silly girl!

Squishy Face

Coloring before the surgery

Before - notice the happy grin; the little bump in her top lip is about to disappear

She will take any reason to snuggle - so will I

After - she had a remarkably small amount of swelling

I notice that Dan took her blankie AND her stuffed starfish

Sleeping it off

Awake, but still dazed

Finally up and about - going to the playroom

Resting at home, watching "Kung Fu Panda"

3 days post-op

7 days post-op

Crock Pot Pie

Okay, I was skeptical at first when a friend posted this link. Then I was intrigued...

So I made my own crock pot rhubarb pie today.

I made my own crust (I just really, really, really have an aversion to frozen pie crusts). I placed that on the bottom of my crock pot, with the edges going up at least one inch on all sides. I let that cook for 1 1/2 hours on high.

It was surprisingly golden brown. Not soggy like I expected.

Then I found the rhubarb pie recipe in my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook. I mixed 6 cups of rhubarb, 2 cups of sugar and 2/3 cups of flour. I poured the filling into the cooked pie crust and allowed it to continue cooking for another 1 1/2 hours on low.

It worked! Really well. The crust was flaky, the filling was a bit runny (but not soupy; you win some and lose some with fruit pies.) Scoop some vanilla ice cream on top, and it was absolutely perfect.

I've had 2 pieces today already!

So...the next time it's just too hot to crank up the oven and make a pie, this might just be a winner for you as well.

True Confessions: Housework

I'm not a good housekeeper. At all. I detest housekeeping. I have no motivation.

I like a clean house; I just don't like putting in the effort to get it that way. Keeping it that way is a challenge as well.

So, last month, we had out of town guests. My guest room and my sewing room are one and the same. (2 halves to one large room.) We let them have our room, because the guest room wasn't habitable. Before Easter, I had to pull out a card table and extra sewing machine to make Dayna's dress because I couldn't get to my sewing room.


So...the logical thing would be to roll up my sleeves and just dig in.

I've never been accused of being logical.

But, we will be having overnight guests next week. I don't want to have to go through this again. So, after some brainstorming and hard work (thanks, Dan), I now have a habitable guest room. The sewing room...that's another story.

This One's for My Mom

Apparently, I haven't been very good about getting pictures to my mom. She's been great this year, making a lot of darling outfits for Dayna. So, here are some pictures of some of her great creations:
The Zebra dress: Dan is not a fan of animal print, and would never let me get clothing for Dayna with animal print; Nana to the rescue! (Because what's Dan going to say to his mother-in-law...really?)
Dayna's Christmas dress at her school program. This is a picture with Mrs. Bebout, her music teacher.


Dayna at the Ashland Fine Arts Festival. She was so sweet that night!

I LOVE this skirt! So fun...it is reversible (brown with polka dots on the inside) and filled with just enough teal netting to make it really, really poofy! The children on the skirt are of every race and color.


Dayna calls this her "fall" dress, or her "apple" dress. It's a darling corduroy. Her Bitty Baby (Lucy) has a similar dress (red with apples). They went together to an American Girl tea party before Christmas.

Thanks, Mom for the great clothes. Sorry I was such a flake about getting you pictures.

Last Day of Kindergarten

Today is Dayna's last day of Kindergarten. All year, I have been sending special encouraging notes to Mrs. Starns on this pad of paper. Dayna has been instructed not to use this paper.

Well, today, I let her write her own encouraging thank you note to Mrs. Starns. The spelling is creative, but I think you'll get the idea.


And just in case you need help with the translation:

"Dear Mrs. Starns:

You have been a great teacher to me. You have taught the kids about reading and writing and comprehension strategies. Again you have to me love (?).

Love Dayna"

Of Pots and Potters, Reprise

Just a review of some struggles I had last winter:

http://wilson24-15.blogspot.com/2010/12/of-pots-and-potters.html

So while Dayna was painting pottery for her birthday, I was making a project of my own.

The song is "Amazing Grace"

The reminder is that when the Potter chooses to thump me, my heart should sing:


...because if I just go "thunk", the Potter will have to put me back through the fire until I'm ready. So...what choice will I make?