various fall festivities

This was the first year we have gone trick or treating...I have felt a little conflicted about it, plus Trenton wasn't old enough last year to want to go...but this year he had looked forward to wearing his batman costume for weeks, so we found something cute for Chloe, and had our first experience of trick or treating. It was great, my nieghbor Jan invited us to go with her grandkids, and Trenton had a great time. Chloe was pretty miserable with her two yr molars coming in, but was a good sport and said "thank you" pretty consistently. :) She never did get the hang of "trick or treat", but held out her little bucket as cute as you please. In the picture are from left to right, Dillon the fireman, Hanna the fairy princess, Trenton as batman, Chloe as a grumpy butterfly, and Nick as Woody.

The two trees in our back yard have lost most of their leaves now. Piles and piles of gold and yellow and brown. They provided alot of fun these last few warm weeks of indian summer.

As you probably know, I turned 30 this year! My dear friend Pam convinced me to have a birthday party, and did a lovely job of making the treats and doing the planning. We had a massage therapist here and she did reflexology foot treatments on everyone! So fun!

Those fascinating goblets were a wedding gift from my sister Andrea, hand made in Romania. the design on them is actually painted on brass. Very unique!

Chloe has been really having a hard time with her two year molars, very fussy, not wanting to eat things that require chewing. She even bangs her hands onto her jaws while moaning and saying "teef hurt!". Its also affected her (and my) sleep pretty badly. All four were swollen, and finally one broke thru, the top left one. To my suprise, it seemed to be sideways! As in, longer from side to side than front to back. It was out part way, all the jaggedy points thru, and then when I checked again a few days later, its gone! Only one tiny point is still out. The pain seems to be better for now, but I know we will have a hard time ahead of us! Poor love, she has inherited the Whiteman problem of too small a mouth for the teeth!

You may also notice she has finally gotten some hair! yay! Not enough for a pony tail, but certainly warrents a clip! yay!

works or freedom?

I am having a great, sometimes frustrating, ever deepening, life changing time studying in the New Testament. As you know, I like to process things that are on my mind by talking thru them, so here we go.
Galations 5
Paul is writing to the Galation church regarding the fact that someone has been again insisting that the followers of Jesus must be subject to the o.t. law, in this case, circumcision.
As I read, I like to go back and forth between the k.j.v. and The Message. So alot of this wording is from The Message.
vs 1-4 "I am emphatic about this. The moment one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule keeping system, at that same moment Christ's hard won gift of freedom is squandered. I repeat my warning, the person who accept the way of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave-life of the law."
Why did returning to the system of law appeal to the Galations, when they had already been told by Paul that it was useless for justification? I believe part of the reason is this- it is appealing to my ego to think that something I can DO, or refrain from doing, I can have a part in my salvation, sort of "meet God half-way". That by my striving, I can have some active part in saving myself. Its easier to buy into the lie that "God helps those who help themselves" than to look straight at the facts- that we are hopelessly helpless to be anything other than sinful disasters apart from the Work that Jesus did for us, our redemption in Him!
Listen to vs 6 "For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard for religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love."
So what then do we do with this freedom?
vs. 13-14 "It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word (the Law) is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourselves. That's an act of true freedom."
And now, "the rest of the story..." how to live a Godly life IN our freedom.
vs.16(k.j.v.) "This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh" ...live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with living by God's Spirit. These two ways of life are at odds, so we cannot in our own power live the way that we know we ought. But if we make the choice to be led by God's Spirit within us, then by HIS power it is possible! Our lives will then bear witness thru the "fruit" or results of our relationship with Him, these being love, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.

I know this is a gramatical nightmare, and I apologize. Would love to hear what you think, if anyone would like to talk about this.