I just finished an amazing, soul-stirring book by rob bell titled, sex god:exploring the endless connections between sexuality and spirituality.
There are so many things that I could write about this book, but the one that is filling me with amazement is something written in the last chapter that was a big “ahhhha” moment for me.
I never did understand why Jesus used the seemingly materialistic analogy of a mansion, etc in the following passage from John 14.2-4:

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that were I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.

rob bell writes that this is a marriage analogy! it’s all about the relationship he offers to us! that this ties back to a very common custom…let me just give you some of his words:

In the first century, generally a young woman would be married in her early teens, often at thirteen or fourteen. It would become known that she was now ‘of age,’ and her father would entertain offers from the fathers of young men who were interested in marrying her. If the fathers agreed on the terms of the marriage, there would be a celebration to onor the couple and announce their engagement. At this celebration,the groom would offer the young girl a cup of wine to drink.
But she doesn’t have to drink it.
She can reject the cup. She can say no to his offer of marriage. Even though everything has already been arranged, she can still say no. It’s up to her.
Can you imagine the pressure on the young fella?
…If she says yes, the groom gives a sort of prepared speech about their future together.
Because if she takes the cup and drinks from it, that only means that they are engaged. They aren’t married yet. Something still has to happen.
Or to be more precise, something has to be built.
If she says yes, then the groom goes home and begins building an addition onto his family’s home. This is where he and his bride will start their new family together…
And so when she takes the glass of wine at their engagement party and drinks from it, the groom says to her: ‘My father’s house has plenty of room; if that were not so…’ (p 169, 170)

You will have to read the book to catch all the ties of the analogy that Jesus uses here, but I think you can get the idea. Jesus is preparing a place to take us to the WEDDING FEAST!! He desires intimacy with his creation and has made the way through his sacrifice to bring us back to him.
at the same time I am doing some reading through the book of jeremiah and can’t help but notice the overwhelming language of God’s people being his bride, and how his bride has broken his heart, but how he is not giving up on her!
we have reduced God to this rule mongor and have often left out the passionate lover that he reveals himself to be as well. our God is a jealous God, who deserves and desires all of us for himself.

Well my friend Greg has gotten started blogging and has stirred up some thoughts and ideas about the blogging world and the great possibilities of it all. This has stirred Mandy and I to return to our vision for themooresonline and make it a place, not only about the happenings of our family, but thoughts on life, God, ourselves, others we meet, things we read, and more.
Last year I began keeping track of books I read and I made a short page on this site which was inspired by my friend Timmy J who is a well read guy…you should check out his books!
So now Mandy and I have added a section on our sidebar that lists what we are currently reading and will allow for us to write a brief book review when we’re done reading. The plugin we are using for this is an excellent addition to any wordpress website created by Rob Miller!
We have also begun a picture gallery and look to populate that with lots of pictures to keep grandma, grandad, grams, and grampy on their “fix” of seeing the grandkids; as well as some of our creative photography that we have stored up in our files and are continuously expanding. Some have commented that they can’t see the background pictures because of the words, so I’ll have an album just for those pictures
So, just a “heads up” as we look to expand the content and tweak the features and designs of our site to be suited for this type of stuff!

Well today was busy and interesting to say the least! It started out at 4:20 am with Owen waking up to be fed and then not wanting to go back to sleep easily in his own bed. So I brought him to ours which I knew was not the best idea. See I wanted to get up at 6:00 am to get a shower and be ready to start the day before the girls got up. But I know that after 6:00 Isabelle could be joining me in my room at any time, and if Owen were in the bed then it would be hard to protect him from his loving 2 year old sister who likes to steal his passifier. So from 5:30 on I tried to get sleep and sure enough Isabelle joined Owen and I shrotly after 6:00 when I was still hitting the snooze button. Then in came Emma and I headed off to the shower with Owen in the bouncy chair right by the shower, Emma “protecting” him from Isabelle and Isabelle looking at books on my bed. A good start to the day. Well I don’t think you want to read all the details of my day but I want to share some of the insaneness with you, so I shall do it quickly

7:30 - woke Addie and headed down stairs with the girls to get them breakfast - had to sit and feed Owen before I could eat myself

8:20 - became referee and discipinarian when A and E began fighting in their room (someone pulled someone elses pants down and then someone else began screaming at the top of their lungs!)

8:50 leave to drop off all girls to school

9:10 run into preschool with E I and O all crying and screaming because they are cold in the 18 degree weather with massive wind included

9:20 realize in preschool hallway today is parent teacher conferences, how can I fit that in?

9:25 leave preschool parking lot trying to hurry to make it to O’s 9:30 Dr apt

9:40 Dr apt for Owen and he wets all over the scale for fun!

10:20 leave doctors and try to race back to preschool to make it for parent teacher conference (Brian ended up making it whew!)

11:15 pick E and I up early to get A and go to dentist apt

11:50 pick up A

12:20 dentist apt. A and E head off to get there teeth cleaned and I take I and O to the bathroom to change diapers - end up staying in there a LONG time since O has had an explosive diaper that is all over himself and his clothes

12:30 trying to clean O and keep I out of the tolet!

1:00 trying to get A E I and O out of the Dr office A is busy coloring O is in his car seat E is in the bathroom and I is all over the office messing with stuff

1:10 McDonald’s drive through

1:50 drop off A at school

2:00 back home take forever to get everyone and everything into the house and out of the car

2:10 I to nap

2:20 bath O to get all the poop and pee off! And got part of dinner ready to cook
3:00 feed O and read to E

3:15 E plays in the living room and O and myself take a quick nap on the couch (much needed)

3:50 A arrives home

4:00 A E and I all get baths or showers

4:30 trying to get them all dressed and hair brushed

5:00 working on dinner while O crys, I is starving and crying, A is trying to do homework and E is in a timeout on the couch for talking rudely

5:40 Brian arrives home YEAH!!!!!!!!!

6:00 dinner - at dinner A has an attitude and we have to work on that
6:30 reading with Dad while Mom cleans the kitchen
6:45 Brian leaves for college meeting while we do living room cleanup

7:00 brushing teeth - A trys out her new timer and flossing

7:15 reading praying and singing (trying to keep O happy and I from crawling all over me while Mom reads books that are over I’s level but her sisters love)
8:00 A E and I are in bed and Mom heads down stairs to clean up one project she picked to get clean today

8:00 - 9:00 O wants to be held

9:00 I sit down to type my blog while holding O

So there is my day. Not the craziest I have seen but exhuasting still the same. I am waiting for Brian to come home and then plan to watch a taped show with him while sipping hot chocolate and oh of course feeding O - a mother of four’s day is never done