Reformed SHEology

As mentioned in my previous post I have decided to take up the Love Dare. I will be sharing some of my experiences here on Reformed SHEology along the way. Now with Saturday being day one I really didn't expect to be sharing so soon but here I am eager to share what has happened! But before I do I must rewind back to the day before I began the dare:

In my prayer time with God Friday morning I prayed something that even surprised me as I prayed it. I'm not in the habit of praying for specific material things that I can quite easily go without. So I was surprised when I felt really led to pray for a laptop. We have a family computer at home and when I need to get work done I don't often get a chance to go online and when I do I can feel quite rushed. I thought to myself how wonderful it would be to be able to work in the privacy of my room and not get distracted.

Fast forward to Saturday, day one of the Love Dare. As I went downstairs to get a cup of coffee I decided to quickly check my messages online only to discover to my horror we had an awful computer virus. The night before my husband downloaded something that contained the virus that now wreaked havoc with everything we had stored on the computer. Realising just how we got this virus I was tempted to proceed with giving my poor husband a lecture. In a moment I was faced with two choices. I left my husband to fix the problem with the computer while I went upstairs to pray. I was reeling inside and the last thing I felt like doing was praying. But as I walked in my room I suddenly realised that I had not read today's dare! The first day and I almost forgot! So I picked up the book, The Love Dare and turned to day one. I couldn't believe what I read:

The first part of this dare is fairly simple. Although love is communicated in a number of ways, our words often reflect the condition of our heart. For the next day, resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to your spouse at all. If the temptation arises, choose not to say anything. It's better to hold your tongue than to say something you'll regret.

Did anything happen today to cause anger toward your mate? Were you tempted to think disapproving thoughts and to let them come out in words?

After repenting I came out my room rejoicing and praising God. I knew what I had to do. Downstairs my poor husband was working hard to fix the computer. I sat down next to him and instead of giving him an earache I reassured him that these things happen and I'm sure we'll get it sorted soon. He looked at me and smiled.

Later that morning we had to go out and I shared with my husband my desire for a laptop. When I explained to him what I needed it for he explained a netbook would be more suitable for me. That evening when I found out all our family pics may be lost I couldn't hold back the tears. Seeing I was upset my husband told me not only was he able to save the photos but he had bought me a netbook which would be dropped of in the next 15 minutes! I couldn't believe it!

Dare one - check!
I contemplated how that day could have turned out had I not been patient and held my tongue. Even though I was patient I could not have done it all in my own strength. I had to continue to rely on God's grace and focus throughout the day on what matters most. It wasn't easy.

Well, here I am writing this post with my new netbook...an answer to prayer, praise God!

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. - Ephesians 4:1-2

For a good, solid decade or so, I prided myself on being one of those strong, independent types who didn't need to depend on anybody but myself. Relationships were for crybabies. In fact, anything that involved feelings and emotions was a waste of my time. I had ambition. I was driven. I didn't have time for men, especially since I thought men had been given an unfair advantage. Why should I help them? What did they ever do for me? No, I was a Christian, and everyone knows that Christians don't need anyone but God. Little did I know, God was about to hold a mirror up to my face and force me to see what I had been avoiding for a long time: my pride. What you are looking at right now is the product of my repentance.

A BLOG IS BORN
When I started this blog, I had no idea what I was doing, and quite frankly, I was nervous to put my thoughts on the web where anybody can read them. In fact, the only reason I started this blog was because in October 2007 I had been asked to deliver a presentation to women at an evangelism conference. We ran out of time at the conference so I only had ten minutes to give a forty-five minute presentation. I didn't want all the work I had done on this topic to go to waste, so I prayed about what I should do with it. At first I thought I'd just make a resource-based website. I didn't think a blog was a good idea, because I honestly thought I'd run out of things to write about. Nevertheless, I felt the Lord impress upon my heart to open a Blogger account and just write. So I did.

OUR FIRST READERS
This site was officially lauched on November 2, 2007. (Don't be fooled by all those October 2007 posts. Those were added much later on, as web pages. I don't consider them to be real posts.) Because I was shy about putting myself out there on the internet, I only shared the link with one individual, Kurt Michaelson, our very first reader. Kurt was very supportive, so I got up the courage to share it with some others. Before long, we slowly aquired a handful of readers.

THE SITE TAKES "SHAPE"
Meanwhile, I began praying for a blogging partner. I specifically asked God for someone who is married (because I'm single), someone with children (because I don't have any) and someone who is really passionate about the subject matter. In January 2008, Geraldine Davidson found the site through one of my online profiles. She fit the criteria I had been praying for and so I asked her to come on board as a contributor. We still did not have a solid direction, but were just seeking God's face on both the site's design and content. Over the next few months, I spent hours every weekend tinkering with the code and the layout of the blog. Then one night in April 2008, I saw a movie on television that would inspire the format of our content.

The themes of the month were a gift from God on two levels. First, they guaranteed us something to write about. (We discovered this truth after temporarily abandoning the theme of the month in August. The result: writer's block!) Secondly, the theme provided us with a protective boundary. Over the last several months, much has happened in our lives, not all of it good. There were times I was tempted to vent my frustration publicly and use this site as a vehicle to discuss my personal issues. The only thing stopping me at those times was that the situations I wanted to write about did not coincide with the theme of the month. I cannot tell you how many times I've said to Geraldine, "PRAISE GOD I did not publish that!" God is so good. I find that God will give me themes up to two months in advance (we already have December's theme and film planned for you). And it helps to know in advance what we are writing about and commit to that as it prevents us from going off topic and writing as our circumstances dictate.

THE PIECES FALL INTO PLACE
At this time, we were still praying for an overall layout to tie everything together. For a while we used a flower theme (you may remember our tagline, "Biblical Womanhood in Full Bloom"). We also toyed with using the butterfly as a symbol of spritual transformation in our lives. But in my heart I knew God had something else in mind. I spent hours searching the web for ideas. In July we settled on our third (and current) template. Again, it was a gift from The Lord. The use of both moving and still pictures gave way to our current tagline, "Biblical Womanhood in Living Color." Between the layout design and the monthly theme, the blog was starting to take on a "magazine" feel. We were finally starting to see this thing take shape!

A SPECIAL THANK YOU
We want to thank everyone who has supported us and encouraged us over the past year. Thanks to all of our faithful readers (you know who you are), those of you who have linked to us, recommended us to others, and commented on our thoughts. I continue to be amazed at the positive reception we have received, especially from those of you we have never met.

I never had any intention of starting a blog, but it seems God had other plans. I have derived much joy and experienced significant growth since taking on this project, and I'd like to take this time to thank you, our readers, for your support and words of encouragement. And with that, I pray God will allow us to serve you for another year, perhaps more!

We have something very special in store for our readers this month. To celebrate our first year on the internet, we have chosen a theme of "Testimony" for the month of November. All month long we will be sharing true stories of God's grace and power in our lives. Perhaps no film would be more appropriate to accompany our theme than The Miracle Worker. And because this is a special month for us, we thought we'd do something a little different with our film of the month. For this reason, The Miracle Worker is our first ever "double-feature" (well, sort of).

STATS
Year: 1962 (Not Rated)
Directed by Arthur Penn, based on the play by William Gibson
Starring Anne Bancroft (Anne) and Patty Duke (Helen)
Setting: United States, 1890's.

Year: 1979 (Made for Television)
Directed by Paul Aaron, based on the play by William Gibson
Starring Patty Duke (Anne) and Melissa Gilbert (Helen)
Setting: United States, 1890's.

Based on the life of Helen Keller, who was both deaf and blind, and her teacher, Anne Sullivan.

Content warning: Mild violence in the form of Anne and Helen slapping each other in the face. Otherwise, no objectionable content observed.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
I will not list point by point the themes I have noticed in this film. Instead, I would encourage you to simply reflect on God's love as you watch this movie. Many of us will most likely identify with Helen Keller on a spiritual level, as we were once without eyes to see or ears to hear. For me, the whole relationship between Annie and Helen is best described when Annie says:

I treat her like a seeing child because I ask her to see! I expect her to see!

We can expect no less from our faithful God, who treats us like seeing children because He expects us to see:

For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

TRIVIA
Patty Duke, who won an Oscar as young Helen Keller in the 1962 version, played Anne Sullivan in the 1979 TV version and won an Emmy for it.

The 1979 version is extremely hard to come by, but highlights are available on YouTube. On the other hand, the 1962 version is easily accessible as a video or DVD rental. The 1962 version should most likely have sufficed as our feature film on its own. (In fact, I happen to think it is superior to the 1979 clips I've seen.) But I just couldn't see myself ignoring Patty Duke's wonderful double performance. For a quick comparison of Patty's talent, here are both versions of the final (and most powerful) scene of the movie side by side:

1962 film, Patty Duke as Helen Keller:


1979 Made-for-TV Movie, Patty Duke as Anne Sullivan:

Kind've reminds me of my relationship with God sometimes!