My home is not a place for study

The way space functions in my home reflects its ordained design.

My bedroom is a space for sleep and changing clothes. Half the space is bed, almost half is wardrobe, and the remainder is carpet. The carpet is there so you have space to roll off the bed and move to the wardrobe where clothes await. There is simply no space for study.

The girls' bedroom is their playground and their abode of rest. From the lighting fixture hangs a rainbow, Noah's ark and animals. It reminds us of renewed life on earth. The clothes in the drawers are bright pinks and reds. The scattered toys are remnants of recent playful activity. Everything about their room speaks of life and happiness. There is no room for study.

The kitchen is small and functional. The cupboards are for crockery. The oven is for cooking. The sink is for cleaning. It is cramped but cosy. Not for study.

The living room is a place of vitality: for dancing, playing, eating, talking and relating. The television hides in the corner, the couch lines the wall and the large windows allow sunbeams to bounce around the room. Centre stage belongs to an open space: for dancing, playing, eating, talking and relating. It is just not inducive to study.

The garden is just outside. It is green. Inside there is little green. Most 'greeness' is seen on the television, when gardening shows and sports are on. Again this causes you to glance toward the garden, seeking the peace and serenity of lush green patches.
The green outside juxtaposes the white tiles inside. God's creativity is put side by side with man's making. The green is where infant feet graze the grass and little digits dig dirt. There is peace in the green, not to be disturbed by the chaos of textbooks and morbid plastic hues.

The toilet brings relief. But it is only physical relief and mental relief comes merely as a secondary consequence. And if you linger in your relief then it only results in distress. Pins and needles are not fun when sitting on the toilet. The toilet cannot provide sufficient time for study.

My study is ironically no longer a place of study. It now houses a cot and is the boy's bedroom. Instead of being a study, it is just storage for big books and a beautiful baby. How can you study when he coos at you?


My home is not a place for study.


So, now I am out of the house and in the library. But the library doesn't seem to be a place for study either. Instead, I procrastinate. And when procrastination prolongs, then my screen saver appears... photos. Mostly of my family. It too drives me to seek my home, my family.


Well... back to study before I go home.

I'm a banana.
Yellow skin on the outside.
Mash banana on the inside.
Mash banana, mash banana.
Mash banana, mash banana.
Mash banana, mash banana, banana.
Banana, banana, banana.

How to wash up to the glory of God (plus washing up tips)

Finding joy in washing up

...

[W]e can share the joy of the Creator as we bring order from chaos. God’s first creative act brought order from chaos (Genesis 1:1-2). And that first creative act is prototypical for all creative acts. Being made in the image of Creator to care for his creation means we are made to share his joy in order and beauty. We sweep a yard and then lean on the broom handle admiring what we’ve done. That is a profound act. We are expressing our true humanity and sharing in God’s joy at creation. It’s the same with washing up. The dirty washing up becomes a pile of clean crockery. The cluttered kitchen becomes new again.

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד
וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ

Listen up Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. Love the Lord your God with all your mind and with all your life and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

kookaburra sits on the old gum tree
merry merry king of the bush is he
laugh kookaburra laugh kookaburra
gay your life must be

The only problem is that this Kookaburra is sitting on a Jacaranda tree... and it seems to have lost part of its upper beak. I wonder if that makes life difficult for a kookaburra...

Are we to spend eternity somewhere off in space, wearing white robes, plucking harps, singing songs, and flitting from cloud to cloud while doing so? On the contrary, the Bible assures us that God will create a new earth on which we shall live to God's praise in glorified, resurrected bodies.

Anthony A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future (Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1978), 274.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Revelation 21:1-4 NIV