What Does It Mean to Carry the Cross?

I'm not very good at picking favorites, so this week, I'm bombarding you with verses. But they all center around a main theme; in Jesus' words:

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Matthew 16:24

You may have noticed that my posts here all seem to go back to that theme: the cross. This subject has been on my mind a lot lately, because when you think about it, it's the whole basis of Christianity. So if we want to understand our faith, we must understand what it means to take up the cross.

Carrying the cross is a big deal. It's all or nothing. We can't hoist it on one hip and a bag of groceries on the other. We can't juggle it with worldly pursuits (Matthew 6:24). We must deny ourselves--even our very lives, if we must (Luke 14:26)--and bear the weight with every ounce of our being. There's no turning back (Hebrews 6:6).

Jesus laid out this very example:

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:8

And He demands the same of us:

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:27

We are to follow His example of obedience to God, even when the going is rough, even if we must drop what we are doing, leave our homes and our jobs and our friends and our family, even if the world turns against us, even if we are persecuted for so doing--even if we die. Clearly this is something more than popping into church for an hour every Sunday. This is a radical change of lifestyle. No--it is our life.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 16:25

So why I do find such solace in these morbid thoughts? I guess I find it comforting that there's more to life than the fleeting pleasures and entertainments of this world. There's more to life than life itself. There is a purpose in life; in fact, that purpose extends beyond life. It is everything. Frankly, there is nothing else. Everything I do, in some way, works toward that purpose.

E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me
Still all my song shall be, Nearer, my God, to Thee;
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!



Wherever the Cross Takes Me...

This is Altogether Separate's fortieth post. Forty is an interesting number. It rained over all the earth for forty days and nights. God led the Israelites through the wilderness forty years.  Jesus was on the mountain forty days and nights, tempted by Satan. A child is in the womb forty weeks...

But I digress.

Now, on to our regularly scheduled post.

As children, my friends' future careers changed on almost a weekly basis. Most of them still have no idea what they're ultimately going to do with their lives, and they rub their temples as they choose a major and pray for God's guidance on the road ahead.

I was always the odd one. I career-swapped a number of times in my early school days (though always pursuing similar fields), but well before middle school my love of animals and fascination with science fused into a steadfast pursuit of veterinary medicine.

My interest and utter enthusiasm in that area never waned (and if you find yourself particularly bored today or taking a curious fascination to strangers' childhoods you can read an essay about my peculiar and nerdy one), but as I grew older I began to wonder if doctoring animals was really what God wanted me to do with my life. After all, shouldn't I dedicate my blink-of-an-eye time on earth to serving people? Was this a God-given desire, or one to test me to see how much I was willing to sacrifice to follow Him?

It was during that time I learned of veterinary missionaries—veterinarians who abandon the comfort of their former lives to practice in less fortunate regions of the world, caring for the animals the native people rely upon for food, transportation, and income; educating them to increase the longevity of their livestock and equipping local veterinarians; and often ministering to the people in more conventional ways by distributing Bibles and helping churches and teaching English.

I came to realize there are at least as many ways to serve God as there are people to serve Him, and it was entirely possible I could serve through the veterinary field. Regardless of where life took me—overseas or here at home—I would be shining the Light He put in me by enabling me to live a holy life, and I would be fulfilling a necessary occupation in the world.

And what if this isn't what God wants? What if He wants me to marry and have children instead?

I suspect there is a good chance I am called to serve as a single woman (although honestly at this point I have no idea), but if I am to serve God by serving a husband, I will gladly devote my life to ministering to him and educating my children. If the latter, the knowledge and skills acquired in my time of singleness will probably help me in the future in ways I can't conceive of.

But the important thing is that I am content with God's plan, and I will carry my cross and follow Him wherever He may lead.

[By the way, I'm pretty sure I got all the facts right in the first paragraph, but I have the horrible habit of second-guessing myself and I don't have the time to double-check right now. So if I got anything wrong please let me know. =P]

Image credit GabrielaP93 on Flickr.

Top 5 Advantages to Homeschooling

As homeschoolers, we have some amazing opportunities that kids in the traditional school system can only dream of. Here are the main five I've noticed in my life. I have had a pretty lenient school schedule—I probably classify as an unschooler—so maybe some things are unique to my style of education.

1. Freedom in Education

For me, education isn't a chore that must be completed before 3pm before I can have any free time. Learning is a lifestyle.

I was never forced to write essays or create models, so I didn't dread compiling books on equine psychology or drawing maps of the migration paths of Australian parrots—entirely on my own terms. I didn't waste time answering every question in the curriculum when I thoroughly understood the material—in fact, I never took an English course. Once I got the basics down, my history lessons came from whatever books and websites and field trips I could get my hands on, allowing me to corroborate the facts from various sources rather than taking one viewpoint's word for it. I adored science and supplemented my usual curriculum with the latest in the journals.

Plato said, "All learning which is acquired under compulsion has no hold upon the mind." Because I wasn't taught under compulsion, the knowledge I've gained has taken firm root and my mind blossoms with passion for learning.

2. Lessons in Self-Discipline and Time Management

Did I ever take advantage of my freedom and shrink away to less constructive pastimes when I should have been doing something educational? Yes. I learned my lesson, and it's a much better lesson to learn at this stage in life than later on, when it really matters.

I had the opportunity to learn essential life lessons like self-discipline and managing time and putting priorities in order the hard way before failing a college class or getting fired from my day-job. My experiences will give me discretion in the years ahead, when I won't have my parents around to ensure I complete assignments on time.

3. Free Time

Unless I put a time-consuming task upon myself there's really nothing to hinder me from pursuits that don't fall under core classes, like classical piano and drama and sewing and horse training and novel- and screenwriting. I can take an hour or two to practice that Bach piece or rehearse lines for a play, or spend the afternoon teaching my horse to play fetch, or dedicate the month of November to the National Novel Writing Month. Or just read. Or write this very post.

Each of these things could potentially lead to a career (well, maybe not writing this post), so they're important skills to develop.

4. Making Friends

Some people find it mind-boggling that homeschoolers actually make friends. (Really, if most kids don't make friends outside of school, what kind of sad lives do they lead?) But one of the great advantages to homeschooling is that we get to meet people with similar interests, be it at band practice, soccer games, robotics competitions—you name it. And among homeschool groups, we're likely to meet people who share our values, adding an extra level of intimacy to our friendships.

The main issue that spurred this blog was how lonely we homeschooled girls often feel surrounded by the worldly people around us, but at least, as homeschoolers, we do have more opportunities to seek out people like us. Just last week I was able to attend a Christian writers' conference (thanks to not having a rigid school schedule holding me back). It was my third time going, and each year I've made friendships I believe will last a lifetime.

I might not get to see my friends every day (which is mostly because I live a weird life and my friends live far away--they see their other friends regularly), but I do have a number of wonderful, true friendships that run far deeper than those portrayed by the media.

And if we are blessed enough to have friends nearby, as I once did, we can spend time with them while our school-going peers are in class or doing homework. I cherish the many daytime hours I got to spend with my friends before I moved away.

5. Spending Time with Family

I have been asked, "Don't you hate being around your parents all day?" If this is the mindset, something is wrong. That's not to say I don't long at times to stretch my wings, but living at home has cultivated healthy relationships with my parents and a stronger bond than would probably have formed if I only saw my mother in the evenings and weekends. (Which is probably why I'm not as close with my father.) It can be hard at times to be at home so much, but I endeavor to be nothing but loving. If I can't do that with my own family, I can't do that with anyone else.

I was an only child before my brother was born year before last, so I'm thankful I'm able to spend as much time experiencing sisterhood as possible before I go away.


Homeschooling has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. I thank God daily for the opportunity to have such an education and for an unquenchable love of learning.

What great opportunities did you have through homeschooling that you couldn't have had otherwise?

Photo courtesy mikebaird on Flickr

An Undying Beauty

When God forms a child in the womb, He lovingly and meticulously fashions each joint and sinew, each capillary and nerve ending, to perform its part in the whole—a little body which will grow to glorify Him, which indeed already does bring Him glory by its very existence and intricacy.

And if God creates something so temporal as the human body with such care, how much more beautiful has He made the spirit which exists for all of eternity?

When we repented of our former ways and enslaved ourselves to God, we were recreated. We are new creations; old things have passed away; behold, all things are new (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24). God created for us a new man in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). The love of Christ compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14); He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him (2 Corinthians 5:15). We have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20). He has granted us even the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).

The wages of sin is death, but thanks be to God that He crucified our old selves and raised us again to a new life, as described in Romans 6:

⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

How beautiful then has God made us on the inside as well! Such mercy is truly humbling.

Some seem to think it is spiritually vain to praise Him for what He has made us. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14). All things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18). Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God (2 Corinthians 3:5).

Praise the God who creates beauty inside and out.

⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

1 Peter 1:6-7

Image courtesy Glen's Pics on Flickr.

Wordplay: A Review

I apologize for another late post! I planned to post this afternoon while I was away, but for some reason I couldn't connect to the wifi there. There's been a family emergency, so even though I'm not finished writing this post, I'm just going to post it.

Since we've posted a lot about spiritual issues, I've decided to focus more on the academic side this time. A lot of homeschoolers, it seems, are writers, and as such are ever seeking to hone their craft.

One of my favorite sites for fiction writers, and the only one I read regularly, is KM Weiland's Wordplay. She consistently offers relevant and objective advice on all aspects of story in a humorous yet intelligent tone.

The Small Things

I apologize that this post is a bit late! I really wanted to do a longer post, but I just came home from the hospital this afternoon recovering from MRSA, so this is going to have to be a brief post, and not particularly articulate.

Credit foxypar4 on Flickr

Praying for the small, insignificant things in life is something about which most praying people have probably experienced inhibitions. In the same way we might feel bad for asking a number of small favors of a friend, sometimes we don't want to bother God going into a job interview or suffering a cold when there are people out there starving and dying.

While it's true we need to keep things in perspective, we must also remember a few things. For one, God is the master of multitasking. Time He spends nurturing and guiding us isn't going to take Him away from other people, and He won't tire of caring for us.

But most importantly, in praying for every detail in our lives, we are demonstrating our dependency on God. We need His help in everything we do, so that we are best able to serve Him and others. Praying for the details isn't complaining, or asking too much. It's fully surrendering ourselves to a higher purpose.

Don't Dream. Do.

Image credit BaronBrian on Flickr

I don't know about you, but the coming of the new year is usually a sad time for me. As others discuss the year that has gone and all the things they did and the wonderful memories they made, I realize just how little I've done with the precious gift of life given to me.
The thing is, when people talk about living life to the fullest, they often mean physical feats; skydiving, perhaps, pocketing money to travel Europe, or embarking on a new business venture.

That's all well and good, but it isn't exactly practical or possible for some of us to do those things. I'm just a lowly highschooler! My parents don't have the money for a big trip, or anything so exciting, so what can I do but sit around and wait till I'm old enough to do something with my life?

By the time 2011 came around, I'd had enough of it. Maybe I couldn't visit London. Maybe I couldn't go to Harvard. Maybe I had a chronic illness that prevented me from doing things. Maybe I couldn't serve God the way I wanted to, by leaving all my earthly possessions behind and suffering the harsh winters of Mongolia as a missionary.

But I could--and always can--serve God the way He wants me to.

So in 2011, I pushed myself to the limit making the most of my precious little time on earth. I read the Bible cover-to-cover. I spent many sweet hours in prayer for the afflicted, the oppressed, and the lost. I devoted myself more than ever to my studies and attacked math problems with vigor (although not with a paper shredder, as I would have liked to).

But the most important things I did were not physical actions. They were matters of the heart. I severed my attachment to the material things of this world. I let go of the past. I presented my troubles to God. I realized that my present trials serve not to hinder but to prepare me for my future by instilling the qualities--the perseverance, the patience, the trust, the empathy--that I will need later in life. I submitted, even in the midst of agony, to whatever may be in God's will.

And in things like these, I took up my cross and followed Him.

The biggest things in life are often the simplest. So even if you aren't yet in a position to work your dream job, or to become a mother and raise children, or whatever your passion may be, remember that each passing moment is an opportunity to ready yourself for the future--either spiritually, mentally, or physically. And the longer you have to wait, the more prepared you will be--if you take advantage of your time to prepare.

No matter how impossible that passion of yours seems, either financially or physically or otherwise, if God wants it to, it will happen. No matter how far-fetched it sounds that I could serve in Mongolia in my current condition, if that's what He tells me He wants, He will give me the strength to serve. And if that's not what He wants? He must have something even better planned.

Life is an occupation of unknown duration. Don't waste it dreaming. Live it doing.