Love is Nails

They say that pictures speak a thousand words. It's true.

There's a photo on our countertop of a foreign pastor and his family. His little children stare at the camera, unsure whether to smile or be frightened. The pastor himself does not satisfy the popular image of a pastor. He does not pose. He emanates no suave charisma or toothy grin. In reading the article alongside the photo, I find that the pastor's teeth were knocked out by persecutors in his village, who wanted the pastor to leave and take his Christ with him.

Such are the Christ followers—those who bear Christ's image on their hearts. A few, such as the pastor, bear His image outwardly as well. The village pastor's face reminds me of Him who was also beaten and lived His life in humble circumstances as well.

Not many children born in barns are likely to be voted 'Most Likely to Succeed' or are on the 'Fortune 500' list. Yet His birth in the stable will never be forgotten. He entered life surrounded by a cloud of suspicion and disgrace—the son of an unmarried woman.

Yet His coming was heralded by the stars.

He was openly criticized, hated, and betrayed by a friend's kiss. Then He was crucified, beaten until so bloody that He no longer appeared human.

God's Son took the likeness of Man, and in His death even that likeness was torn away from Him. He became "one from whom men hide their face." (Isaiah 53:3) For what purpose was the One who was called the "Morning Star" and "Prince of Peace" beaten to a pulp?

1 John 4:9:

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him."

Because He loves you.

The foreign pastor was beaten brutally for the sake of the gospel. He suffered insults, disgrace, and great physical pain. And yet, he and his family have chosen to remain in his village, despite the persecution that they must face. Right now, they live in constant danger. No obligation ties this pastor to the tribe, and no one would ever blame him if he decided to immigrate to a safer location with his family. After all, how could anyone possibly expect him to love the ones who had cruelly assaulted him?

There can be but one explanation for his decision to stay. This pastor became a missionary because God placed a great love in his heart for his countrymen. This love has not faded, despite mistreatment at their hands. In a small way, this pastor’s story is a reflection of what God has done for us. The very Son of God suffered so much more. His actions were confusing—even a paradox. The All Powerful God surrendered Himself into the violent hands of those whom He came to save. Such is the nature of God's love.

God loves the world with an intense, passionate love—a love so deep and so pure that we can hardly begin to fathom it. On the day of Jesus' birth, God Himself entered the world—to die. And He did it out of love for you.

C.S. Lewis penned a poem, marveling at this as well:

Love's as hard as nails, Love is nails

Blunt, thick, hammered through
The medial nerves of One
Who, having made us, knew
The thing He had done,
Seeing (what all that is)
Our cross, and His.

by Hannah and Lindsey

Etc.

As my family unwraps Christmas ornaments and tinsel, brushing off eleven-and-a-half months of dust, it becomes time for unwrapping Christmas traditions as well. From my grandma's corn soufflé to the days devoted entirely to making tamales, I've noticed that most of our traditions have something to do with food. Perhaps this has something to do with the great talent for cooking that runs in my family...but probably not. We simply love to eat.

One recipe (that I hope will become a Christmas tradition) has made my mom almost famous this December. Numbers of people have asked for the recipe, but it's actually ridiculously easy. You can try it for yourself:

Mom's De-Classified Chocolate Chip Meringue Recipe

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Whip the three egg whites in a mixing bowl on "high" for about five minutes or until it has the consistency of shaving cream. If you are the type that is brilliant at improvising and improving recipes, do not improvise or add anything to the recipe just yet! It is very necessary for the egg whites to be thoroughly whipped without any other ingredients.

After your egg whites resemble a bowl of shaving cream, add the sugar and vanilla. This is where it gets fun. Dig through your cupboard and add about a cup of anything you wish. From crumbled up peppermint pieces to pecan chunks--all will taste good in these meringues. Personally, I prefer chocolate chips or M&M's* because any food tastes better with chocolate.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place dollops of meringue batter on a tray of aluminum foil (I don't recommend a greased cookie sheet, but the very adventurous can try it.) Turn off your oven before baking the meringues or else they will burn. Set the meringues in the warm oven for about 2 hours or until they resemble lightly browned, hardened shaving cream.

The recipe is so easy it's almost embarrassing to post, but believe me, it's delicious.

*This is not a paid advertisement for M&M's. Beauty from the Heart does not endorse M&M's or any of it's affiliates, but we are open to the idea of endorsing them if they pay in chocolate.

Race Update

As of 11:53 CST, Michael Bérubé and Spunkyhomeschool are tied for first place in the Wizbang Blog Awards. Let's try to help her take the lead...

UPDATE: It was a tight race and unofficial results show that Spunky lost by a very narrow margin. Thank you for your participation!

Vote for Spunky!

Many of you may have already heard that my mom, Spunky Homeschool has retired her blog. While this news has been sudden and somewhat disappointing, I think my mom made a good decision. However, just after announcing her retirement, she found out that she was a finalist in the Education blog category in the Wizbang Blog Awards (think the Oscars for blogs). I think the we should send her off with a "bang" by voting for her.

Her two top contenders are very strong supporters of elite education and look down upon the "commoners" who homeschool. IvyGate is a gossip blog of the elite Ivy League Colleges, and the other is a college professor at Penn State. Here's the comment by the Professor on the Ivy Gates blog,

"The important thing is that IvyGate and I crush the homeschoolers."

(There were others, but none were worth repeating.)

This isn't a about a "win" for Spunky Homeschool, but a win for homeschooling and particularly stay-at-home moms. For all these reasons, I'd like to encourage all of our readers, particularly you homeschoolers, to vote for my mom, SpunkyHomeschool. You, your family, friends, e-loops, and message board buddies are allowed to vote once a day until 11:59PM (EST) on December 15th.

To vote for Spunky Homeschool, click here.

Banner courtesy of The Rebelution.

We've been experiencing technical difficulties here at BftH and have been working to fix them (with our limited HTML knowledge.) Things should be okay now--thanks for bearing with us! If you see any problems with the site, break the news to us gently, please, in the form of an email.

UPDATE: The race is getting closer and closer. Be sure to keep voting for Spunky!

The Rebelution's Modesty Survey

TheRebelution.com has begun a new project: The Modesty Survey. Girls, this survey is your opportunity to anonymously submit questions regarding modesty, and recieve anonymous answers from Christian guys. The following instructions are directly from The Rebelution's post.

GIRLS: How To Submit Your Questions

If you are a girl and would like to submit your question(s) for inclusion in the survey, please email them to the Female Survey Coordinator, Katrina Rowe: jesusfreakatrina[at]yahoo[dot]com. They must be received by Friday, December 15th, to be considered for inclusion in the survey.

You really may submit any question provided that it relates to the topic of modesty. Through the the forum we have already received over one hundred questions ranging from glitter lotion and painted nails to swimsuits and skirt slits.

While not necessary, we also recommend that you register on the forum and join The Attic, our Girls Only area. This will allow you to be directly involved in any discussions which take place in the process of conducting the survey.

GUYS: How To Get Involved

If you are guy and would like to help respond to the girl’s questions please begin by signing up for the forum and joining our Guys Only area: The Garage. The Garage will serve as “brainstorm central” for the male side of The Modesty Survey.

This is an opportunity for you to serve your sisters in Christ. Many girls are without fathers or brothers to advise them in this area. They need input from godly men regarding what is appropriate and what is not. It is not unlikely that this survey will go on to be widely read and carefully referenced.

On the other hand, as Christian young men in a highly sexualized society, this is an opportunity for us to educate Christian women regarding our inner-battle so that they won’t unwittingly contribute to our struggle. If you have ever wanted to tell a girl to go put on a sweater, this is your chance to do so — anonymously.