Thoughts on life....

In life there comes moments where you get to watch as a loved one is honored for a certain accomplishment or talent. A lot of these moments come at a graduation but also for our family a lot come in connection with sports. I think that a memory I will always cherish is the league awards the year my brother Jacob was a Junior. That night I watched as he was awarded not only his Team MVP but also was voted unanimously by all the team coaches as the best player in the entire league. This weekend brought another CSAA all -league awards to the Barrett household. I had the pleasure of being able to sit back, smile, and cheer with all my heart as my two little brothers (who aren't very little any more :) ) were each honored by being chosen on the CSAA all-league teams. The Awards are a testimony to their talent and hard -work, but what is an award without anything of proof behind it? My brother, Joel, certainly proved his worthiness of the award on the first drive of the all-star game later that evening. Joel dove to catch a ball that was going out of bounds, kept his toes in bounds and still came up with the ball.... that play, I believe, embodies the reasons he was put on 1st team all-league: effort and aggressiveness (leaving it all on the field even when the play looks like an impossibility), brains and field awareness (knowing where you are on the field and what you have to do to make the play happen), and finally Joel has a heart for the game that enables him to play well purely for the sake of enjoying of the game.

All of this would count for nothing unless I also knew that all of my brothers, besides being great athletes they are on their way to being great men of God. They are learning to live life to the fullness as a way to glorify God.

Sports can be great fun as well as great tools to learn more about God as well as life lessons in general. When you ask God to give you a heart for Him he will in turn give you the brains and the ability to give the effort that he needs to so that you can glorify him with everything we are.

Sunday Afternoon Ramblings....

Well, here we are, Sunday afternoon and guess who's blogging ;)

This week was one that was jammed full with activities!!!

Monday:
1st round of the volleyball tournament that ended in a loss to Emmett in 4 sets. :(
Hanging out with friends for the rest of the night. :) :)

Tuesday
2nd round of the tournament, CA wins over River of Life in 5 games :)
Staying up late till all the games are over :(

Wednesday
Got out of school to go to volleyball Practice :)
Made my German teacher mad :(
Got a nap :)
Went Pie-selling :(

Thursday
3rd round of tournament, lost to CHAMP in 3 sets

Friday
Azure :(
Play Practice :)
Watched the final volleyball games :) :( :)
Hung out with friends :)

Saturday
Slept in :)
Worked :(
Gym :)

All - in -all this year we had a great volleyball season. I grew alot spiritually and mentally as well as learning alot about volleyball. Caleb is an awesome coach and I am so thankful that he gave of his time to coach us!!! Besides being a spiritual leader for the team, he made two of my volleyball dreams come true: 1) We got to run a 6-2 for most of the year (in this rotation I was able to pass, set and hit) and 2) I got to hit right-side :)

Today I was supposed to get my senior pics taken as I wanted to have the changing of the colors as my "theme". however with the weather, the photographer rescheduled for Thursday. I was kinda disappointed (especially when the sun came out an hour later) but it was probably for the best since I have been sick all week and am still running a fever :(

I have a ton of homework to do so I better hop to!!
MFB

...

Well, in light of the fact that I took my personality test and it came back as a ESFJ (Extroverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging) and one of the big characteristics of my personality type is that I like to uphold tradition I felt that I should blog today sice I have blogged the last 2 Sundays.

Yesterday, my brothers led the Covenant Academy Rebuilders to a victory over the Hope House Heroes which earned them a 3rd place trophy in the CSAA. After going out to dinner with the cousins we decided to go bowling. I was still in my Business skirt that I had worn to The Idaho book Extravaganza that morning, but I managed. Besides the fact that I did fall over once while bowling and that I did look slightly strange in a "pencil" skirt with bowling shoes, I still was able to pull of a victory in the second game with a score of 117.

Tomorrow is my volleyball team's first tournament game. We are the fifth seed which means we are playing #4 Emmett. We are pretty evenly matched with them but I am confident that if all of us girls stay mentally and spiritually strong that we can win. But as they say.... "time answers all questions."

Book Review: Deception

Hey everyone!!

Being a senior and all that I have been hard pressed to find time to get books from the Library much less read them. However, when the feeling of stress did nothing but increase I knew I had to face the situation head-on with my "old-as-time, Mercy fix-all" i.e. reading a good book. (Usually when I am feeling OVERWHELMED I do one of two things: 1. pound on the piano for at least 20 mins if not an hour until I know I am not scowling anymore or 2. disappear into the enormous landscape of a most amazing novel)

So this time I decided to "make" myself sit down at the computer and put "Deception" (by Randy Alcorn), the book I have been waiting almost 4 years to read, on hold at the Library.

I proceeded to read it over a span of 4 days (on a big-Azure weekend that my sister came home) and I thought it would be cool to use this blog to write a book review.

I am going to start this highly questionable post with a disclaimer: This is the First book review I have ever attempted and so please do not judge too quickly or harshly.

After 4 years of edge-of-your-seat anticipation, you would think that the book would have a hard time meeting those highly placed expectations , but this book passed the test with flying colors!

As you open the pages you enter the world, life, and even the mind of one Detective Oliver Justice Chandler. With his dog Mulch and his trusty guns Ollie faces murder every day. As a homicide detective with the Portland police he is one of the 10 criminal-catching masterminds that that city keeps on their toes. This beer-drinking, double cheese, double pepperoni pizza loving crime-fighter is also fighting the notion that a good God would allow the evil that he sees every day into this world. Haunted by the death of his wife to cancer and his subsequent dysfunctional relationships with his daughters, he fights on to serve the victims, and their families, the justice only he can bring about. When the mysteries of an elaborate murder continue to close in on him, he still refuses to look to God yet cannot deny the things that Jake Woods and Clarence Abernathy continue to point out as God's fingerprints.

Deception has many qualities which I admire in a novel:
The story's telling itself was absolutely superb.
One minute you think you have the case all figured out and the killer has got to be nailed down on the next page... you just know it... but alas, the next page comes and not only is the person you had already convicted cleared another suspect is definitely the killer and then on the next page after that you are wondering how anyone in the story could be such a devious schemer.

The Character development was amazing.
Not just Ollie's journey as he works through thoughts about Christianity but also the development of the sub-characters even to the personality of his dog.

The shifting of moods was very good.
I remember at one point (about 2/3 rds through) crying through one page and laughing at the next. The measure of suspense was moderate throughout yet fluctuated enough to keep your heart beating different rates.

The Parallels drawn were incredibly thought out and eye-opening.

The showing of the influence parents have on the out comes of their children I think can be convicting for anyone.

The truth that "things are not always as they appear" and that "deceptions" lurk everywhere could not have been more clearly shown.


I liked how quotable it is (almost as much as a movie :)) and I loved the Sherlock Holmes quotes that started each chapter.

All in all it was a fantastic read that I would recommend to readers above the age of 15 or 16.

10 Blessings

I was very amazed as I looked back over this last week and realized how many blessings God has given me and I just wanted to share a few of them:

1. A loving, understanding, and supportive family
2. Friends that make me laugh when I get down
3. An opportunity to go to School to learn more and more
4. An opportunity to play sports with some of my best friends
5. The freedom to go to church and worship Him
6. The gift of a consistent job
7. The ability to run
8. The rain... so lovely
9. The most amazing piano teacher in the world!
10. The biggest and best God who actually cares about such a small person as me and is actually interested in not only being involved in but using my life for His purposes....

And the list could go on......

I encourage you to take a minute this morning to stop and count your blessings and I am sure that the number would be greater than you would have thought. :)

Have a wonderful week,
Mercy Faith Barrett

400th Anniversary of the KJB, Part 1 by David Barrett

400th Anniversary of the KJB

(English Authorized Version)

Part 1

“The apple of my eye”; “A man after God’s own heart”; “Don’t cast your pearls before swine”; “At their wits end.” These and a multitude of additional sayings have entered the English speaking cultures worldwide from one book. They show the great impact that one book, the Bible, and more specifically, the English Authorized Version, has had in the lives of English speaking people. The English Authorized Version is more commonly known to us and throughout history as the King James Bible.

The King James Bible has united kingdoms and divided kingdoms. It has been accepted overtly and promoted covertly. It has inspired authors, play writers, housewives and athletes. The King James Bible has shaped the English Language and it has been a tool to teach the English Language. Many authorities would consider it the finest work in English Literature.

For almost its entire existence, it has outsold any other work. Only in the last 30 years have other versions begun to surpass it in annual sales. No work of the Bible will likely every pass it in total sales.

Only in the most recent generation are there a significant number of children being raised who are unfamiliar with the KJB. Yet, their language, the expressions they use, the version of the Bible they read from and the world they live in, has all been impacted by this monumental work.

The year 2011 marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. Few people know its history, yet this work has been a major part of their lives and their history. The history of the bringing forth of the KJB is a fascinating history of political intrigue and religious conflicts; yet, an ultimate uniting of followers of differing factions. A uniting under a single task to which all who participated in could agree. The history of the KJB is definitely a story that identifies the Providence of God. God is at work in all that occurs. There are times, however, that special acts seem to take place that, if they had not, the resulting historical events would never have taken place. This is the case for the coming about of the KJB. When the full history of that momentous event is considered, though the intrigues and designs of men are clearly evident, the hand of God cannot be denied.

The King James Bible was the result of 7 years of work involving 47 scholars working at times individually and in 6 separate committees. That alone is astounding, especially when one considers the factions within the Church of England ranging from committed Anglican to ardent Puritan. However, to start the story at that point, would be to miss so much of what had occurred previously to bring the history of England and its state church to that point.

One could begin the history of the King James Bible with King James I, the reigning King of England at that time and the one who approved, sanctioned and had the ultimate oversight of the plan. This would be a better point of origin for this story. However, to begin with his reign, which started less than a year before the idea was conceived, would again miss many great opportunities to see God’s Hand at work. For, you see, how James became the king of England is a story in which the Hand of Providence shows clearly. Additionally, to understand James as King can only come about through understanding his background and upbringing, which is a fascinating story in and of itself.

The make-up of religion in England at the turning of the 16th to the 17th century was quite unique. The primary Church was the Church of England, the State church. However, within this Church was a growing and influential faction of individuals called Puritans. The Puritans were gravely concerned with the external ceremonial aspects of the worship in the Anglican Church and wished to purify the Church of these and bring it back to what they saw as the more simple and pure worship of the early Church. Those that were impatient with the attempts at purifying the Church of England had taken a further step and separated from the Church. These Separatists met in homes and pursued “individual reformation with our tarrying for any.” They
also experienced the wrath of the Church and State causing many to flee England and some to journey to America as our early Pilgrim settlers. There was also in England a strong Catholic subculture. This group also had an influence upon what was happening in England in both the Church and the State.

In England, the king is head of both State AND Church. This unique united headship was what King James inherited. This dual headship had been formed almost 100 years before James was offered the English crown. Though the beginning of the Church of England would serve as a good starting point, to begin our story there would leave out one last and crucial element. An element that shows the dedication of committed Godly men and the mysterious, yet majestic workings of the Providence of God.

You see, the history of the making of the King James Bible is certainly a part of the history of the Political movements of England. It is also most certainly part and partial of the history of the Religious developments in that country. But, more than any of these streams of historical events, the history of the making of the King James Bible is the history of individual men responding to the call of God to bring the Word of God to the eyes and ears of every individual. The history of the King James Bible is His Story – God’s Story – of causing His Word to begin covering the
earth as the waters cover the sea.

Where do we begin? We begin with the life and work of one, solitary man – a man who heard and responded to God’s call to bring His Word to the common person of England, a man who risked his life to make that call a reality. This man preceded the event we are celebrating by more than 200 years. Yet, it is to John Wycliffe, the Morning Star of the Reformation we must turn to appropriately begin the relating of the history of the making of the King James Bible.

John Wycliffe was born in Yorkshire, England in 1328 and grew to become an excellent scholar at Oxford College. There, at Oxford, he obtained his bachelor’s degree in theology and later his doctorate of divinity. He was a serious student of God’s Word, believing that it contained all truth and was to be the final authority in the Christian’s life. As a result, this belief led him to positions that were contrary to the Catholic Church. He did not hold the Church as the final authority because that was the place of Scripture. He did not hold that the Pope was the head
of the Church, because that was the place of Christ. And, he believed in a type of separation of spheres of jurisdiction between Church and State. The Church should be over the state in matters spiritual and the state was over the Church in matters temporal.

These and other positions held by Wycliffe put him at odds with the Catholic Church and he was eventually forced out of his influential position at Oxford and into a small country Parrish. But, what men had meant for the purpose of silencing Wycliffe’s voice, God determined for the advancement of His Word. For, it was under these conditions that Wycliffe could give his full attention to the ultimate conclusion that flowed from his conviction that the Word of God is the final authority in the Christian’s life. What was that conclusion? It was this, put the Word of God into the hands of people.

At that time, God’s Word was read, spoken and explained in Latin, a language few commoners understood. The little they knew of the worship of God was the ceremonial formalities of worship and the little scripture spoken of in English. Few could read English, let alone Latin. Wycliffe was determined to change this. So, he set about translating the Holy Scriptures into English from the Latin Vulgate Scriptures of St. Jerome. He began with the Gospel of John.

However, putting the Bible into English was not enough, for, as I mentioned, few could even read their own language. Thus, Wycliffe had to have a greater plan involving a number of helpers. These helpers came in the form of individuals that were called Lollards. The Lollards would carry out into the communities portions of Scripture that Wycliffe had translated into English. Wherever they could get people to gather, they would share the Scriptures with them in their own language. Even more importantly, however, they would find eager and bright individuals and teach them to read. In this way, their efforts were multiplied as those individuals could continue sharing God’s Word with their friends and neighbors even after Wycliffe’s Lollards moved on to other communities.

Thus, the Wycliffe Bible of 1382 became the first of the English translations. Being the first such translation, then, the Wycliffe Bible is in a very real sense the origin of the King James Bible.

20 down, 120 to go

The countdown continues....

As I make my way along the twisted and treacherous highway that has been labeled "Mercy's Senior year", I cannot help but wish it would slow down and speed up at the same time. Slow down so that I can enjoy the views and take in the scent of the rain as well as the glorious rays of sunlight. Speed up so that I can reach my destination and start on the next path that God has for me. Slow down so that I can enjoy the times with family and friends, take deep breaths of life- sustaining air and drink deep of the water, that is Christ. Speed up so that I can see the end results, so that decisions will have to be made............... and on and on........................

So as I come to Today, Sunday, September 25th, a day filled already with fun, food fellowship, and friends ; and one that promises more of the same, I see that it is worth it to make myself slow down... Slow down to give a smile, a hug, and a pillow pet to my sister as she turns 22. Slow down to text with my brother who is on the front lines of the culture war as he goes to college. Slow down and spend 20 mins on the phone with my sister I haven't seen in over 2 months. Slow down to give my brother a hug as he congratulates me after a close volleyball loss. Slow down to make those memories with my family, slow down to remember them.

With only 120 school days left, the highway speed limit keeps increasing and my vehicle, that is life, is keeping right up with it. With School 5 days a week, Volleyball 4 days, Running 3-4 days, work about 2 days, Piano once a week, and Choir every other week it seems as if I only get to blink in between Sundays when I get a respite and come before God to find peace among the craziness. but despite the intense speed, God has been good, teaching me a new life lesson every day and giving me time to nurture my relationships with family and friends...

In school, I am taking aton or super interesting classes, one of them being German Studies. I thought to give you a taste of what I am learning I would share with you the paragraph I wrote last week.

Ich ging einkaufen. Ich fuhr mein Auto zum Supermarkt. Im Supermarkt kaufte Ich Milch, brot und andere Lebensmittel. Auserhalb des Supermarkts, sah ich meine Freundin, Rebecka. Sie hat auch Lebensmittle gekauft, Ich ging aus den Supermarkt und ich ging auf die Bank und die Post. In der Post, fand ich einen Brief von meiner Schwester. Ich fuhr nach dem Park, um meinen Brief zulessen. Gegenueber dem Park gab es ein Cafe. Ich ass in dem Cafe. Ich trank Kaffee und ass Schokoeis mit Schlagsahne. Ich wurde krank, nach ich ass. Ich ging nach hause und ich lag mich in meines Bett. Ich schlief acht Stunde. Wann ich wachte, war es shon Morgen.

(If you don't understand any of this you can email me and I will give you a translation ;) :) )


I am also taking an Oratory class for which I have a speech due tomorrow which I have not done/finished/started yet...............................

Besides this somber fact, the weather outside is calling my name even as it makes me smile...

Tschuess,
MFB