Friday, April 13, 2007

2007 Christian Heritage Conference

Well, it's been a while--sorry about that. Right now, some of the family (including myself) is up in Redmond WA for the 2nd annual Christian Heritage Conference, and all I can say is wow! Daniel and I have only been able to attend 4 sessions today because we're in the conference choir, but one speaker in particular is outstanding! Voddie Baucham is a powerful Christian leader and speaker dedicated to the Lord's work and committed to passing on his vision through the generations so his own children, and those of fellow believers will impact the earth for Christ. He is a very passionate, entertaining, dynamic speaker, as you can probably glimpse in the photos. Later on, I will post some thoughts, but for now pictures must suffice. Sleep is catching up to me after 18.5 hours!



Monday, March 05, 2007

History

In our ancient lit. class which corresponds to our humanities studies, we recently read Herodotus' "Histories," his chronicled of the Persian War and its causes. He has a very interesting (sometimes annoying) way of going off on tangents and finally returning to his "real" topic pages or chapters later :) So the class was told to write a short history of some aspect of their family in the style of Herodotus. Here's my attempt (keep in mind, I have exhaggurated some things just a bit... ;)


There was a certain family who lived some distance north of the great river Columbia in the region of Battleground in Clark County, remarkable not only for the fact that they had 8 sons and 4 daughters but also peculiar in their habits. The house was naturally quite large with 14 rooms, including a dining hall which contained an enormous oak table, and 5 bedrooms. As the family grew, Tom and Cindy--the parents of this household--determined to buy a table capable of seating many children and guests, and with money given them by Tom's parents for this purpose, searched for many weeks before finding one. I am told that it was sturdy, made of solid oak with metal fasteners and screws, able to extend, by means of telescoping beams and removable leaves, from a small circular table no more than 5 feet in diameter to a length of at least 20 feet--or so my sources tell me, though I believe they exhagurate. The furniture salesman claimed that even a full-grown man could stand on it without causing damage, and he promptly demonstrated his faith in that claim by walking across it himself. This is fortunate, for the children frequently climbed across the table to get food for which they were too proud to ask. But I have already spoken of this matter in more detail than it perhaps deserves.

There were three brothers who shared a bedroom, Christopher being the oldest and Jonathan and Benjamin two of his younger brothers. As is common among boys, none of these were very concerned with cleanliness, and if it weren't for the patience and hard work of their mother, the room would never have looked inhabitable. But as time wore on, Christopher recieved the privilege of his own bedroom--why he was the only son to ever enjoy that his brothers never knew--and from that point on there were four brothers living in the same room. It was not uncommon for those entering the room to be unable to tell whether the floor was carpet or wood. Gradually, as more discipline was exercised things began to look better, but regardless of how everything looked there were still underlying conflicts and difficulties.

Take for example the strange dissapearance of the socks. Though their mother often restocked the supply, the children often complained that they had no socks to wear, and that this compelled them to wear sizes that were much to large or none at all. Indeed, it was as though they were whisked off one by one by some malicious sock-hating spirit, though this seems unlikely. This mystery was never solved, but if I may volunteer my own opinion I beleive that the younger ones, whose habit it was to wander outside in their socks, abandoned them and then forgot their wherabouts. This they also did with the larger socks until the whole household groaned under the weight of the sock famine.

Another fact which may interest some was the way in which clothing changed hands without the actual owners' knowledge. It may seem obvious to some, but when piles of clothing are left on the floor, mixups naturally occur. Shouts of glee and joyful howling usually meant that someone had just recovered a shirt or treasured sock, which they had thought never to see again, from the possession of another.

Many other habits could be mentioned, enough to convince the reader that the Berkompas family was really quite different, but many people are blind to the fact that they too are unique, and have practices that some would consider strange, even frightening. From this we may learn not to judge families by their peculiarities, realizing that we too may be judged.

Monday, February 19, 2007

"You Are Not My Brother?"

You might remember that haunting kid's book called, "You Are Not My Mother?" by some author who delights in scaring young children with characters like The Snort... Never read it? Forgive me for reminiscing :) But I'm not really sure this is my brother. He thinks he's a bird, and (with a little encouragement) started slopping up nerds like birdseed.


Jeremy is definitely a fledgeling judging from the status of his wings, and his beak is obviously in the early stages of development, but he managed ok despite the inconvenience of a nose.


We've learned to expect this kind of thing from a goof like Jeremy. Read on :)

Someone sure likes snickerdoodles and watermelon! ;)







Hehe... Would it help if I said, "He's not my brother?"... :)

My Little Sister Likes Me...

...Because in my room we have a radio. Once I helped her discover the technological wonder of headphones, Christianna became addicted. While I'm studying, I hear something crawl into my room gurgling, and the baby promptly grabs a pair of headphones off the dresser and looks at me pleadingly. "Plug me in?!" Then she just sits there swaying and making strange noises--you wouldn't guess she's listening to classical music (especially with the hair-do!).


There's no doubt she looks cute in headphones!



"Wait, is this the channel I want?"

"Oh yeah..."

Monday, January 29, 2007

Some Quick Quotes From Calvin

Consider this first quote in light of 9/11 and the pietistic response it received from unbelievers.

"...A sense of divinity is by nature engraven on human hearts. For necessity forces from the reprobate themselves a confession of it. In tranquil times they wittily joke about God, indeed are facetious and garrulous in belittling His power. If any occasion for despair presses upon them, it goads them to seek him and impels their perfunctory prayers. From this it is clear that they have not been utterly ignorant of God, but that what should have come forth sooner was held back by stubbornness."

I found Calvin's comments on the innate knowledge of God in mankind very well-stated and true.

"Indeed vanity joined with pride can be detected in the fact that, in seeking God, miserable men do not rise above themselves as they should, but measure him by the yardstick of their own carnal stupidity, and neglect sound investigation; thus out of curiosity they fly off into empty speculations. They do not therefore apprehend God as He offers Himself, but imagine Him as they have fashioned Him in their own presumption. When this gulf opens, in whatever direction they move their feet, they cannot but plunge headlong into ruin."

This reminded me of the Greeks--all pagan civilizations in fact--who fashioned gods in their own image, worshipping things which they themselves created to rule over them. When men reject God, they worship themselves and the things they have made, becoming slaves to their own sinful nature.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

We've Got Snow

As I write, there's a good 5-6" of fluffy white stuff coating our yard. It's been so cold lately that the snow stuck without difficulty and will probably remain for several days. I haven't gone sledding yet, but from all reports it's pretty good!








Friday, January 12, 2007

Yes!!

Exciting news... :) Yesterday afternoon, while I was engaged in school Mom came and handed me the phone. "It's the American Birding Association," she said. Since I'd been waiting a couple months to hear results from their Young Birder of the Year contest (which I entered), my heart skipped a beat. Why would they be calling me? The lady on the phone then told me that I had placed 2nd overall (there are only 2 grand prize winners) in the YBY, had gotten first place in the upper age group illustration module, and 3rd place in both photography and field notebook! This is a nationwide contest. I couldn't believe it. :) The 2nd place grand prize is an incredibly nice Leica Trinovid 8x32 binocular (list price about $1500!) and a $350 scholarship to a birding convention or camp. Plus a ton of books and other things for placing in the individual modules. This is the kind of thing I've been dreaming about for a long time--God is good!

Quote of the day: "To look through a pair of binoculars, you'd have to have four eyes."--Someone...

Have a great day everyone! (Stay warm :)

Sunday, December 24, 2006

A First

Yesterday morning, my younger brother Michael and I decided to give grouse hunting on state land another shot :) Returning to the area which had been productive 2 days earlier, we began systematically combing the woods, flushing one bird about 4-5 times. Finally, after about an hour, we were walking along when Mike stopped me with an excited whisper, "There it is!" He graciously waited for me to get positioned, then we both fired at once. At a range of about 25 ft. that grouse didn't stand a chance. It's a first for both of us.



Dad also posted on his blog about it.

iThink...

...that Apple should develop some new products. Things like:

The iBall

The iSore

Or if they ever make a karaoke machine--the iScream

Just some ideas from a tired Mac supporter... :)

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Conviction

So lately I've been visiting Dad and Daniel's blogs and have become convicted of my few-and-far-between posting habits. I'm going to work on that.

As always the first topic must be hunting! ;) Dad, Christopher, Zach and I went to an area near Vancouver Lake with Mr. Hardy Mr. Koch and his daughter. (We're hunting ducks of course :) The weather looked pretty good--cold and foggy, but no ice or wind. There's this long pond we call the "slough" about a half-mile walk from the parking lot. Spreading out into three parties of hunters, we determined to give any available birds some trouble. Dad and I had the dog, and I got a chance to set up my new hunting/photography blind/tent. Wouldn't you know it though...there weren't any ducks flying, and no opportunities to shoot! Christopher, Zach and I wandered around in the nearby fields pursuing C's latest hobby--coyote hunting--which he tries to attract with a call that imitates a dying rabbit or deer. When Mr. Koch heard it he said it was the worst duck calling he'd ever heard :) Anyway, our trio approached a large (and deep!) pond and flushed a pair of beautiful Mallards. Christopher was the only one to shoot since Zach and I were behind him, and he succeeded in injuring the male. You can read about his adventure on Dad's blog. What a duck to shoot on your first hunt in years!

More hunting stuff... :) Michael and I went to some nearby state land after lunch for a bit of grouse hunting--encouraged by Christopher's bird he shot yesterday. I got to use Dad's Winchester lever action .22 rifle, a very nice little gun. After tromping around in the brush for a while, we entered some promising habitat and soon flushed a Ruffed Grouse about 15 feet ahead of us. The trick with these birds is that they are very secretive and camoflauge, and they usually see you before you see them. To kill one with a rifle you need the bird to sit still... Somehow they never do--they must think we're going to hurt them or something :) I flushed it again a few minutes later, and Mike found it again a little later. Unfortunately we never had an opportunity to shoot. Dad posted on Christopher's bird yesterday.

In case you haven't noticed by now, my oldest brother Christopher is now home from his 5 month internship with Vision Forum Ministries in San Antonio Texas. He's happy to have "normal" weather again--like 35 degrees instead of 85. It's great to have him back for the holidays.

Merry Christmas, and a blessed New Year everyone!

Friday, December 15, 2006

Best Hunt Ever!

This past Tuesday Dad, Michael and I went duck hunting at the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge again. The night before, the rain was coming down in buckets, and we almost didn't go, but by 4:30 a.m. things had calmed down. Just so you know, I would only get up at 4:45 in the morning to go hunting--normally I'm up at a healthier hour :) Even though we got the 13th pick, a few people didn't show up so we were able to secure blind #6 which had always been kind to us in the past. As it turns out we got the hottest blind of the day.

Blind #6 is a pit blind, which puts the hunter at about ground level, and allows 360 o vision--a big plus.

Our lately injured, purebread, black lab, hunting puppy was finally well enough to come with us again. Duchess lives for duck hunting. Whenever we fired, she would whine at us to let her go fetch the ducks we must have hit ;) She was great to have around, finding some birds that we wouldn't have recovered without her.

Ok, so here's what happened. Before shooting time (7:20 a.m.) we had hundreds of ducks flying right over us. Unfortunately, we didn't take some shots that we should have as soon as it was legal to shoot. Dad nailed a Green-winged Teal drake just as it took off out of our decoys, and soon after I knocked down a hen Pintail. (btw the chronology here is probably wrong, but I'll do my best :) I think we got a few more Teal after that, as well as Michael's drake Pintail. At that point we could legally only shoot one more Pintail, and I wanted a drake! But alas, Dad got one, and from that point on we had to pass up probably a dozen shots so we wouldn't exceed the limit. Normally the action really slows down after shooting time, but this was different. We had tons of birds fly over, and I think we really could have done better if one of us was calling.

Dad got a tiny hen Green-winged Teal, and I got my first double--two Shovelers in two shots. The drakes are really beautiful birds.

So with 3 Pintails, 4 Teal, and 2 Shovelers we decided to leave at about 10:30 (I think).

We had never gotten more than 9 ducks in one trip so I was kinda dissapointed we didn't break the record. As we walked back to the truck, Michael and I decided to keep our shotguns loaded just in case. Wouldn't you know it, a huge drake Gadwall dove right down toward us! Mike fired twice, and I joined him on his second shot, both bringing the bird down. We can't determined who actually killed it, so we decided to split the credit :) I still beat Mike with 3 1/2 birds to his 2 1/2. We got our tenth :)


Harvest Time!


When I got home I naturally wanted to take some closeups of such beautiful birds. The artist emerges once again... :)

Green-winged Teal




Green-winged Teal and Northern Pintail



Northern Pintail




Family Enjoyment

This one is priceless! Christianna is coming along fast. She's the one I've taught to shoot rubber duckies in the bathtub! ;)


Yes, Aimee will actually touch a duck! She often talks about those silly boys and their hunting obsession, but she'll come around.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Tonight...

I'm singing in my first Voices of Praise concert! Dad will probably take pictures so later I'll post a few.

And I'm really sorry everyone, for not updating in so long! :O Laziness has kicked in more than usual, but in a few weeks I'll be going down to Texas--that'll sure give me some interesting stuff to post about. Dad has been posting regularly on the family blog so go there for more family news.

Gotta run...more later!

Christmas Lights

I'd like to leave you with a verse I found particularly meaningful as we enter the Christmas season. In I Timothy 4:12 we read Paul exhorting his young disciple Timothy, "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity." You'll notice that the very first thing he tells Timothy to exemplify is speech and then goes on to list conduct, love, faith and purity. Paul is urging Timothy to devote himself to God in all of life, to be consistent. As we enter the season where we celebrate Christ's birth, all of us will struggle with keeping our focus on God's gift. It's very difficult, especially for young people, to appreciate the true meaning of the holiday when we're all caught up with decorating, shopping and measuring boxes to see who has the biggest present. Most of us celebrate "Selfmas" instead of Christmas. Just last week as we celebrated Thanksgiving, I imagine many of us either silently or vocally expressed our thankfulness that Christ came to earth on our behalf. This Christmas season you have the opportunity to live what you say. Make your conduct reflect the true meaning of Christmas, and if that happens you will stand out in the crowd. It may even cause people to come up and ask you, "What are you doing? Isn't X-mas a time to spend lots of money on presents, pie, trees and lights?" What you say and how you live are a witness to a world that's forgotten God and the birth of Christ. "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity." Paul is talking to us. Let's be Christmas lights of truth this season.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Happy 10th birthday Zach! I'll add a few pics later :)

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

First Time in Years

Hey everyone, I'm alive!, but as of yesterday 8 ducks no longer are :) Dad, Zach (his 1st time) and I went out to the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge at about 4:15 a.m. yesterday and even though we had to pick our blind almost last, we ended up with a really productive spot. Thankfully the rain was not very intense and the warm temperatures were pleasant. After about 5 hours of hunting, we came away with 5 Northern Shoveler hens, 2 Gadwall (a drake and hen), and Dad's hen mallard :) I'm so glad we decided not to can it because of the weather--I've never shot that much in my life or knocked down 2-3 birds. So yeah, we're pretty happy hunters! ;)

Friday, November 03, 2006

It's The Banjosphere's 1st birthday today! I almost forgot! :)

My links are now updated too. You should visit the Naturescapes.net bird photography forum--it's the best I've ever seen!
Happy 18th birthday Hannah!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Paradise

Sometimes we forget what awaits us in eternity. Revelation 22 provides a beautiful picture.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

“And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Happy birthday, Dad and Mom. And happy 20th Christopher! :)