Regarding Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, www.CreationSafaris.com has some great analysis!   It's worth reading every day.

Also, regarding the following quote:

Why is knowing God and embracing His sovereignty so important when we're single? We have to keep in mind that we've received this gift of singleness from the pierced hand of the One who bore all of our sins - from unbelief as singles to selfishness as marrieds. We can be like Peter who initially rebuked Jesus for His humiliating, yet glorious, plan of redemption - or we can be like Mary, who came to accept His plan and purposes, and demonstrated it in the costly outpouring of perfume in anticipation of his burial. Confident of the Lord's good plan for our lives, we can emulate Mary and spend our treasures (youth, dreams, desires) to further His purposes on this earth.
More importantly, when we are almost faint under the strain and worry of wondering if singleness is to be forever, we need to be reminded that there is an end to singleness: One day we will be at the wedding feast of the Lamb and we will be His bride. Even if we receive the gift of marriage on this side of heaven, that's not our ultimate goal. It is a shadow and a type of what is planned for eternity and, like all things on this earth, it will have its conclusion in death. Our Father knows the time when earthly gifts will be distributed and when they will be no more; He knows, as well, when the heavenly wedding feast will commence. We can blissfully rest in the knowledge that the future is better than anything we think we've missed now: Jesus is preparing us for the eternal rewards and eternal joys of a future He's told us is too inexpressible for us to understand. For His purposes, and within His covenant to always do us good (Jeremiah 33:40), He has declared for us that being single now and into the foreseeable future is His very best. He desires that we overflow with hope as we trust in him (Romans 15:13) and his sovereignty in this season -- redefining hope from hoping in a particular gift from God to trusting the God of hope unreservedly.  (http://www.cbmw.org/Resources/Articles/The-God-Who-Knows-the-End-of-Your-Singleness)

...the excellent point is made that singles have the UNIQUE opportunity to show to the world the desirability and value of God in the midst of their loneliness and heartache, just as marrieds have the UNIQUE opportunity to show to the world the desirability and value of God in the midst of the stresses of family relationships and needs... just as chronically-ill people have the UNIQUE opportunity to show to the world the desirability and value of God in the midst of their physical pain, just as.... every pain and every life-circumstance carries with it the special and unique opportunity to showcase God's glory and value...   YOU have a unique ability that no one else in the world has ever had or will ever had, in trusting wholeheartedly in God in the midst of your own unique life-situation...   in saying with David (Ps 39:7) "And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You."  ...and with Jeremiah (Lam 3:27) "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I have hope in Him."

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9)

"...but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things."
(2 Corinthians 6:4-10)

Many of you are probably familiar with the passage in 1 Kings 19 where Elijah, the great man of God, begged God for death (as did others throughout the Bible... Job 3, Jonah 4, etc).   Here's the link if you want to read the story again: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?interface=print&version=49&showxrefs=no&showfootnotes=no&search=1+kings+19

It's interesting to see how God responded.  He did not say no.  Nor did He immediately grant the request.  At first glance, it looks as if God ignored Elijah's request, or effectively said 'no', because He gives him some new tasks to do.

But if you look more closely, one of those tasks is to annoint Elisha as prophet in Elijah's place.

This seems to me essentially like a 'yes' response... a 'just a few more things I want you to do here, then I will grant your request and take you home'.   A 'make sure you have a successor, a man whom you have trained to take your place and who will carry on the ministry after you leave, and then I will grant your request for death and rest.'

This is encouraging.

The squished-from-both-sides husband: boss at work saying "Why aren't you performing well?  Why aren't you putting in more time at work?  Your job is at risk unless you are willing to put in some overtime like everyone else", while wife at home saying "You aren't spending time with me!  You must not really love me!  Why don't you love me?"  Meanwhile the husband putting in the time at work in order to provide for his family because he loves them and wants to be a good provider, while getting excoriated for that very action by the one he loves... and in response to his wife's question "Do you really love me?  Do you really want to spend time with me?" he thinks "Actually, you're making it very difficult for me to enjoy spending time with you, when all I can expect is lecturing and nagging and constant 'do you love me' questioning.  Do I enjoy spending time with you right now? Honestly not.  But I can't tell you that, because you'll freak out.  Do I love you in the sense of wanting what is best for you and being fully committed to you whether you treat me nicely or not?  Yes.  I will remain faithful to you despite your nagging and pouting and the gentle friendship and temptation of many other beautiful women.  But do I enjoy coming home to your sermonizing?  No, honestly I do not."

Although I am not married, I am going through lots of 'training', perhaps, in the above scenarios and feelings, through current friends' situations.  May God use the training for good in my life and others' lives in the future.

"Be still my soul: thy Jesus can repay

"From His own fullness all He takes away."

Is this true?

I'm fed up with people hoping I'm happy, trying to make me happy, etc.  Happiness is not the goal of life!

I am extremely 'broken' these days (in the sense of 'not working properly; needing to be fixed').  If you think to pray for me, PLEASE do... I really appreciate your prayers... that God would heal, fix, restore, grow, mature me... and use me in the meantime for good.

If you ask me how I'm doing, I will probably say 'good', for several reasons.  First, in view of the eternal life that God has given me in Christ, I truly am 'doing well' in the ultimate sense, no matter how difficult my temporal life is at the moment.  Also, some of the issues I'm going through are difficult to explain to people even when they have time and interest, which quite understandably most acquaintances have only in small measure.  But I just wanted to mention this so that if I say I'm 'good', you understand.... and to ask for your prayers, those of you friends who read this.

With much gratitude, and with hope in Christ (whether He decides to fix me or not, whether I 'perform well' or not as His ambassador here, He has loved me with an everlasting love and guaranteed me eternal life with Him forever... that's pretty awesome...),

Tim

If "a woman's heart should be so focused/absorbed/lost in God that a man should have to seek Him to find her" as they say, then, in my opinion, a man's heart should be so focused/absorbed/lost in God that he would not even notice the woman at all until God knocks him out cold and personally gives her to him.

"My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to Your word."  Psalm 119:28

Where is the joy?  Where is the peace?  Where is the happiness?

It's future.  That's where it is.

"Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."   Matthew 5:1-12

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"If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied."  1 Corinthians 15:29

another funny quote, from the lunch today (Dr. S------) (well, actually from Daniel Boone originally, to be precise) - "All a man needs to be happy is a good gun, a good horse, and a good wife."