Reading Scripture: Mark 6:1-6

I've been reading in The Gospel of St. Mark lately and the topic of familiarity breeding contempt crops up when, in Chapter 6:1-6, Jesus returns to his hometown. The entire time Jesus is "home," everyone is questioning his authority. They "know" him too well according to their own understanding of who Jesus is. He will never be more than Mary's son, other than a carpenter, other than a member of the community who they watched grow up. They do not believe he is capable of miracles or is equipped to teach in the synagogue because there is no way he could be.

Verse 3 says that "they took offense at him" and in verse 4 Jesus says "'Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.'"

They had contempt for Jesus and diminished him from his proper status as prophet, and yes, God's son, but He wasn't allowing His identity a the Son of God to be publicly proclaimed at this point in His ministry. I actually do get this concept a lot. If I suddenly professed a vocation that nobody suspected before, my friends, family, and colleagues would wonder what in the world was going on and whether I needed psychiatric help. I get it. Change comes as a shock to the people in our lives who are accustomed to a person being one thing.

And verse 5 says "He (Jesus) could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them."

I love how faith plays a role in Jesus working miracles. This verse does not imply that Jesus was limited in terms of ability although some would wrongly interpret it that way, but it does make clear that He will perform miracles only where there is that faith as small as a mustard seed. His neighbors really missed out on a lot by their lack of willingness to believe in Him. There were people in that town who would have benefited from Jesus' healing touch if they had just reached out in faith, but that wasn't happening. Jesus does not force Himself on people who are unwilling to believe. He is a respecter of free will, which is totally a double-edged sword. In free will, people have the freedom to choose, but it also means they have the freedom to choose. And if they don't choose Christ, as He is, He's not going to force the issue.

Imagine those few sick people who were healed though! What broke through to them? Were they new to the community or was it something Jesus said that really shifted their perception from the familiar to the unknown? I don't know, but I love that even here, in a place where so few people believed, there were still some who put their faith in Jesus.

Finally, in verse 6 it says "And He (Jesus) was amazed at their lack of faith."

I don't believe for one minute that God didn't know these people would be lacking in faith, but I also don't pretend to know in what way Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith. Disappointment would imply that He had expectations, which He didn't have. He wasn't surprised either. There is such a lack of understanding of who Jesus is that the lack of faith is amazing, but not in a positive way. I don't know. I think the closest I've come to understanding is simply Jesus' amazement at how hard it is for those who should know Him well to trust and have faith in Him. I read something similar in this article on the Catholic Exchange and it makes the most sense to me, trying to explain something that feels inexplicable.

My personal takeaway is that I don't want to be the community in Nazareth who thought they knew Jesus so well that they couldn't see Him as the Christ. And the only way to avoid that happening is by practicing faith in Jesus.

Read More

Let's Talk Right-Wing Cancel Culture!

 

from Tenor

There's been a bizarre increase of Right-Wing Cancel Culture, and I don't mean cancel culture against the opposing viewpoint, I mean cancel culture against what should technically be our own people.

What I'm talking about is The Daily Wire Brett Cooper/Reagan Conrad controversy for The Comments Section YouTube channel. Brett is no longer with DW, has her own EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL YT channel now, and Reagan is the new host for the DW's channel The Comments Section. Well, turns out, this was an incredibly controversial event. And instead of diehard Brettbros (I believe her fans call themselves that) peacefully transitioning to Brett's new channel, they are now doing the cancel culture thing of literally flooding all of Reagan's videos with bullying comments.

Now, I have nothing against Brett. But I'm 41 and far too old for this type of petty behavior. There is no call for there to be hundreds of comments on each of Reagan's videos literally lambasting her, hating on the DW, chanting for the downfall of the channel, etc. I am there for the content. When Brett was the host I was still there just for the content. I do not care who provides the information to me, I am loyal to the premise of the channel itself.

I do not need Brett's little anti-fan army reminding me on every single of Reagan's videos that Brett has her own channel, that her 1st, 2nd, blah blah episode are up. I KNOW! Do they think I've buried my head in the sand and have no clue what's been going on!? If I wanted to follow Brett and watch her content I would do so.

I also happen to be an extremely stubborn person. The more somebody pushes buttons to manipulate me into doing something or attempts to cause the downfall of someone, the angrier I am going to become and less likely it is I that I will actually do what you want.

from Pinterest

Cancel culture is an ugly thing. I regret participating back with the whole anti-Star Wars rant related to Gina Carano that WENT ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE. It's ugly when you try to silence opposing viewpoints because we should be better than our opponents and not do to them what they have done to us. But it is absolutely reprehensible for people who share the SAME BASIC PRINCIPLES to attempt to cancel someone simply because they didn't like what went down. 

Hopefully I'm wrong and these people are just trolls. But I have an awful feeling that I'm right. I wish Brett well. I hope she has a great amount of success. But I will watch who I want to watch and right now, that person isn't her. Because Reagan and the DW have proven to be the "better person" in this whole situation by simply carrying on and not addressing the bullies. That takes a lot of guts and I applaud them for continuing to push out relevant content and not stooping to the level of the mudslinging Brettbros.

Read More

Yummy Soy Wax Christmas Candle + Nordic Reindeer Hotpad

 

I'm in love with scented candles from small businesses, and I just bought this sweet 9 oz candle called Joyful in person at a consignment and tea boutique called Festivitea in Colorado Springs. I couldn't resist lighting it as soon as I got home and I grabbed this red Nordic Reindeer hotpad as background for the photo!

Color me thrilled to find that this candle artisan also has an Etsy shoppe, called CelyseStudio! And the candle I just purchased is in her online store!

Joyful has such a mild Christmas scent. I find sometimes that holiday scents are far too woodsy for me, so I love that the primary scent I'm getting is the clove, which I find very calming. It's a warming scent, if that makes sense, like you're snuggled up in a blanket with a cup of tea and eating gingerbread. 

Click to open the Etsy listing for Joyful

As for the Nordic Reindeer hotpad, this is available from another Etsy business called The Finnish Cottage, and this one happens to be my family's small business! We started up this business last year and I just never got around to mentioning it on this blog!

We currently have red and silver Nordic Reindeer hotpads, along with a variety of other holiday table and home decor, including table runners. Our little online store exploded with business this November which has been amazing!

Click to open our Etsy listing for this hotpad

Click to open our Etsy listing for this hotpad

Click to open the Etsy listing for this table runner set

I'm super proud of what our family has accomplished in just a year with The Finnish Cottage and I am also thankful to support other small business owners like CelyseStudio!

Read More

Christian Christmas Reads Haul!

 

It's that time of year again!

Well, technically I'm a little bit late, but better late than never when it comes to buying some new Christmas Reads, which I did and am waiting to arrive in the mail!

If you're looking for an amazing source of Christian (or clean) Christmas fiction then I highly recommend browsing through the Christmas Fiction section of Christianbook.com. I love that website so much for Christian fiction and even for stocking stuffer ideas, so keep it in mind for that too!

I tried reading Christmas Bells by Jennifer Chiaverini a few years ago and just couldn't finish it. But I'm a little bit different now as a person than I was a few years ago so I'm actually really looking forward to this book. And I love Longfellow's poem so I am excited that Longfellow is the primary theme of this book!

This is one I would consider to be more clean than Christian fiction just based on my memory.

I haven't read Lynn Austin books in many years but I like postwar and 1950s fiction, so I think I will enjoy The Wish Book Christmas. I also fell for the cover, not gonna lie. It's super cute. 

Waiting for Christmas, also by Lynn Austin, is another book where I just loved the cover, but I also enjoy Victorian fiction a lot so I thought I would give this one a try. Literature is full of people who married for love, not station, so I wanted to see Lynn Austin's take on the subject.

I haven't had good luck with Julie Klassen in the past, BUT sometimes Christmas fiction brings out the best in an author. So I'll give An Ivy Hill Christmas a try. Regency fiction is some of my favorite to read so I'm hoping that this novella is as charming as it appears.

I absolutely adore Melody Carlson's Christmas fiction! She's one author whose work I look forward to reading every year, but I don't own all her Christmas books and this one is a 2024 release so I am eagerly bouncing up and down waiting for it to arrive. I can't wait to read The Christmas Tree Farm!

Again, here's another author that can be hit or miss with me. I've very much enjoyed some of Roseanna M. White's fiction in the past and really disliked others, but I'm more than willing to give her 2024 Christmas release of Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor a try.

I totally missed last year's Melody Carlson Christmas novella so I had to leap at the chance to buy it, even buying it at full price, which I totally did. I appreciate that romance doesn't seem to be at the front and center of A Quilt for Christmas, but instead is about a widow befriending a child in need of a Christmas miracle for her mother.

While my ancestry is mostly Finnish and Swedish, I do have a small amount of Norwegian blood in me and I happen to love eating lefse, a delicious Norwegian alternative to a tortilla or a crepe that is made out of potatoes. So finding an author, Larry Woiwode, who wrote a story involving lefse, well, I knew I had to purchase The Invention of Lefse: A Christmas Story.

And there you have it! My 2024 Christmas Reads Haul from Christianbook.com! I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my package so I can get reading!

Read More

Excited about the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series!

For numerous reasons, I’m absolutely stoked about HBO’s new Harry Potter series that’s in development! I love magic and fantasy and epic adventures, and stories starring children as the leads. That goes way back to my childhood and has carried on well into my adult years.

But, I’m not really a fan of the Harry Potter movies. In fact, I haven’t watched them in years. With a few exceptions, the films just didn’t meet my expectations, which is strange to admit because I did watch the movies before reading the books. I guess I just didn’t know how much MORE there is in the books than what the films allowed.

I did “like” the movies when I was younger, but I LOVE Rowling’s books. She created such a masterful world of imagery and experiences and characterization and my hope and prayer is that the HBO series really brings that world to complete life.

Funnily enough, my favorites of the Harry Potter movies are the first two! They felt the closest to the books with so much obvious magic just everywhere. I LOVED that feeling so that vibe is what I’m literally crossing my fingers for in the series remake.

 

 

I also have a gentle confession to make so if you don’t want to get a little political, it’s okay to skip the below paragraphs and join up again at the end.

 

 

 

 

 

I support J. K. Rowling and I don’t think anything she said concerning biology and female spaces should have ever created the massive controversy the Harry Potter fanbase finds itself in. Because HBO is standing firm in its stance on having her on board with the new series, I am also on board with them. You cannot have Harry Potter without JK. Nor should you try because that really is just disrespectful to the creator of such an imaginative world.

My sister and I had tickets to Leaky Con back in, oh 2021, in Denver. It’s a Harry Potter themed convention that has, apparently, evolved into something called EnchantiCon but hasn’t really changed their mindset from what I can tell. That season was at the beginning of the intense anti-Rowling sentiment that was infiltrating the Harry Potter fandom. We read through the new “rules” for the convention which were quite long and ranting and realized that unless you towed the line and went with the anticipated anti-Rowling narrative that was going to be in a lot of the talk sessions, you really weren’t welcome at the convention. We got refunds for our tickets.

I have no patience with authoritarianism whatsoever and the entire convention reeked of it. You have no idea how very much that grieved my heart. I wanted to go. I wanted to celebrate Harry Potter and just have an incredibly good time with my friends. The convention should have been about Harry Potter! But they made it about politics. The convention was tainted because it no longer allowed for diversity of thought or opinion on Rowling herself. Authoritarianism isn’t left wing or right wing. It can infiltrate any belief system, any fanbase, and any political party and that is what happened with Harry Potter.

It’s taken me 4 years to reach a place of psychological safety where I can publicly acknowledge that I love the Harry Potter books and JK. Nobody wants to feel that they’re putting themselves in a position of potential harassment by complete and total strangers online for coming out in support of something.

If a person decides that reading the Harry Potter books violates their personal ethics, I’m not going to argue with them. But just because that person feels that way, does not give them the right to thrust that opinion on everyone else in the fandom and demand that we follow suit. Because that’s not happening.

 

 

 

End of gentle confession/rant.

 

I have a delightful Autumn at Hogwarts ambience on Youtube playing on my computer while I’m writing this. If you have never played ambiences, either while working from home or crafting or just if you’re sitting and reading a book, I highly recommend the experience! My sister and I have at least a hundred ambiences saved for a variety of themes, and they are so relaxing as an experience!

We’re making Pumpkin Pasties tonight for Thanksgiving tomorrow, using the delectable recipe from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. We’re not big on pumpkin pie in my house but Pumpkin Pasties are another matter entirely! If you’ve never given them a try, I highly recommend using the recipe from this cookbook.

 I wish you all, at least those of you who celebrate it, a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Read More

Desiring a Husband but no Kids

Jun//Getty Images

It seems to be a controversial statement in conservative Christian culture to want a husband, but not want kids.

My primary response to people who are upset at the concept is "why do you care?!"

It actually is my body, and I do have my own personal reasons for why I don't want kids, my age being foremost in my mind now since I've turned 40. I believe it's called a geriatric pregnancy at my age and . . . no thanks, nothing about that sounds like a healthy idea for myself or for potential offspring.

But I do not think that my lack of desire for children should EXCLUDE me from desiring a husband!

I have always been an extremely affectionate and playful person with people I trust and am fond of. I love touching and hugging and snuggling and all the things, and, forgive me, but I would love to do those things with a husband without the added pressure of "I'm doing it with the hope of bringing children into the world someday." I'm sorry, am I not enough as a partner for you? I want to do those things because they feel good to both of us, not because there's additional expectations.

There is a lot of pressure put on women like me, and by me, I mean Christian women who are sensual by nature and want to share that side of themselves with someone without the offspring string attached. Can't I just want that relationship for me? But no, it seems like it's considered selfish in mainstream Christianity to desire a sexual relationship with a man without the expectation of children. As if the thought is, if you don't want kids, why do you want a husband? Ummm, because I do. Isn't that enough?

Turning 40 has been a milestone. I didn't cry or get overly emotional at putting my young adulthood behind me. Instead, it's helped me realize there are things I want in life. Like, a healthier lifestyle concerning my weight. I'm confident when I work out and eat better and weigh less. It's my reality and it's what I'm extremely proud to be working towards. I want that both for myself and for a potential mate because I know what I find attractive in a man and I would like him to find me attractive too. Our relationship would not be cemented together by children so there would need to be other incentives and reasons for why we're together.

And yes, while I want a husband who is a believer, I am not going to settle for a man whose personality type is literally "Evangelical Christian" and there is nothing interesting about him. That was my problem when I was in youth group and young adult groups in church. The guys weren't INTERESTING because all they talked about was purity and Christ, skiing and football, and, I'm sorry, to me that is boring. It was boring to me then, even though I didn't say so out loud or even really allow myself to think it, and it is incredibly boring to me now. Surely not all of them really wanted to be youth pastors and worship leaders!

It does my heart an incredible amount of good to see Christian parents with their kiddos in church together, worshipping and listening to the pastor and just spending quality time. I am so happy that these family units exist because they are so important. I just wish I felt accepted as a Christian woman who realllllllllllllllllllly wants to be a part of an A+B relationship but without C thrown in.

This rant went a little long, oh well. This is what happens when I go online and find young Christian conservative women in their twenties waxing profound on what it should mean to be a woman, including the maternal instinct, and that if you don't want kids now, you will someday. Sorry, but that box doesn't fit me. And I should still be allowed to find a husband who loves me for me, not for the offspring I can give him.

This post might seem harsh, especially since I haven't posted in so long. But it is genuinely how I feel from my perspective. And I'm not sorry.

Read More

Paid Vacation Days: Finland vs. the US

Oh my gosh, America is so bad at this! I'm now appalled that the US government doesn't have mandatory paid vacation days. 

In case you're wondering what I'm talking about, here's the gist.

Both Finland and Sweden employed persons are allotted between 5 and 6 WEEKS of paid vacation time every year. This vacation time is mandatory, and to that I say, yes please, absolutely require me to take time off to spend with my family, to travel, to rest, and STILL GET PAID FOR IT. 

Whatever it is the US is doing, they're doing it wrong. There's a federal law somewhere that needs to be either created or changed to require employers to provide their staff with at least 5 weeks per year of paid vacation time. 

Just think of the mental health benefits?! If you want to take a month long trip to Europe with your family, you can do it because you're still being paid and you have job security. 

I'm sure there's a reason why the Finnish government has such labor laws in place, and there is undoubtedly a cost to the citizens of some sort, but again, I don't care. There can be a cost if it means that I'm allowed time to rest and just enjoy my house, my garden, my books, and a trip around the world all as part of a mandatory paid vacation.

The reason I'm starting to feel this lack keenly was the 5 months I spent last year out of work on severance pay. It was glorious. I enjoy working and I enjoy my new job, but I am frustrated because I am currently just a "temporary" employee which means even though I'm full-time, I have no paid time off benefits. No PTO, zip. So if I want to take time off, I will not be paid for it. I don't even get paid for official holidays so if we're closed on the 4th, sorry, I'm out of luck financially. That is the height of frustration and in Finland, that wouldn't happen.

If you work 35 hours or 14 days a month in Finland, you are eligible for your mandatory paid vacation leave of 25 days. It's the law. End of story. None of this temporary full-time worker with no benefits nonsense.

There is a growing mental health crisis and work burnout rate in the US. It's no wonder. Maybe instead of panicking over unbuilt border walls and who won what debate and whether a person's identity matches their birth sex, our politicians should consider ways to work together to get its citizens 5 or 6 weeks of mandatory paid leave. Take a page out of Sweden and Finland's books and I guarantee you that American citizens would be far better for it.

Read More