The Genius of Ancient Man is here!

Hey all! You will recall, if you have been a long time reader of my blog, that I was in Wyoming for 6 months working on a book with Pastor Don and a team from JHBC. (read posts about the project here, here, here, and here) Well...after over 2 years of research and another year of writing and editing, the book is done! If you would like to see the finished product, look it up at Amazon.com or check out this link from Answers in Genesis! There is a short promo video on the right hand side that is pretty fun.

So blown away by what God is already doing with this book and excited to see it for myself! Thank you for your prayers and support!

I'll be home for Christmas

It's really over.

Over the last three days I have hugged, cried, and waved as I watched my dear friends drive away. It's hard, being the last to leave. I'm not going to lie, it's a lonely place tonight on this empty campus. I'm all packed up, ready to head out tomorrow afternoon, ready to start the next step.

The last week here was packed with such amazingly awesome times. We stayed up late, played games, chatted about anything and everything, went out to eat, played broomball (still sore, but SO worth it), and just ENJOYED each other. I also finished my work here, well obviously the book will be a continuing project but we are as complete as we can be on our draft, waiting to hear back from the editors now. It felt so bizarre to finish up everything. So fulfilling, yet it left me feeling all jittery and odd. I was rather hyper and giddy as well. As you can probably guess, it made for an exciting evening.  :)

And so now, I sit in my lonely, empty house. Looking around as memories flash by me. I hear echoes of laughter, can still feel the hugs of my friends, and see glimpses of their twinkling eyes. How I will miss living here and being a part of their lives in this way.

I still can't get over how I blessed I am. As I was packing I came across a picture of me from my very first day in Jackson Hole. I stared down at the girl in the photo, looked into her uncertain eyes and asked, "Would you ever have guessed? Could you ever imagine God would have given us this amazing year and a half?" I remember clearly that girl, I know her well, she's still very much a part of me but, well she's also practically a stranger. God has grown me so much over the last 18 months. I have experienced so much, learned so much, and I pray matured and grown wiser through it all. I have never before had such a great trust in God and His plan, a dependance on His faithfulness. Truly, even though I am uncertain about my future, I am sure that He is in control and so I rejoice at the uncertainty, for through it, God will prove faithful yet again.

And so Canada, watch out. I'm coming home.

...and now it's over

ya, um, sorry about that. So basically I was WAY too busy on this fantastic trip to have time to blog about the busy happenings. So I shall do my best to give you the highlights without boring you to death or giving my hands cramps from typing.

So, where to begin? Well I guess I already wrote that part...okay so...the rest of the trip..."let me splain...no, there is too much, let me sum up."

Fourteen days
Almost 4000 miles
9 states
4 very different people crammed in one vehicle for hours on end...

And there you have it. Use your imagination :)

Jess and I still cheery early on in the trip

the clan of us who were at the Creation Museum

Riding a camel, no big deal :)

Front of the Creation Museum

Yay for the fantastic four!

Always finding new positions to sleep in the car

Okay, so I have made a decision here. I shall turn this trip into a series of posts written over the next few days, so keep coming back if you want to hear more :)

In this post I would like to share with you one part of our trip that is ironically opposite to the post title: our visit to New Leaf Publishing Group where we met with the editors/publisher of our book! Truly, this project is really just beginning!

We drove out to their quaint location in the middle of the Arkansas countryside. (I didn't even know we were going to Arkansas, I thought New Leaf was in Branson this whole time so that was an interesting surprise.) We were given the grand tour of the offices by Tim Dudley, the publisher, and then had a 2 hour meeting with the editors, marketing people, and graphics people. It was a surreal moment, let me tell you. Put yourself in my shoes if you can:

Nineteen years old, walking into a meeting with a major publishing company, holding in my hands a short manuscript that I've slaved over for 3 months, passionate about what it says but worried to hear the diagnosis on how well I've done. No idea what to expect, smiling, shaking hands, mostly silently listening to Pastor Don present our book, watching people's expressions, trying not to appear like the child I feel like inside, inadequate and foolish for thinking I know what I'm doing. I alternate from nervous, stomach in knots, fiddling insecurity to a calm resting in Jesus, confident that I have been working for Him and He is in control of this book so it doesn't matter what this editor says.

So the moment comes when Laura, the main editor, speaks up. And her words blow us all away: "You have fulfilled your goals and purposes in this manuscript." She goes on to say there are no holes and no glaring errors that she can see right away, just little suggestions she has. She shares excitedly with the whole room how she thinks our book is valuable because it not only brings all different areas of ancient man together as one picture but it has relevancy in today's world. Our book has purpose and it accomplishes what we want it to get across. I am barely comprehending her words as I sit there, looking around the room. We did it? It's good? There aren't any holes? I'm sitting there smiling but I don't really know what I am feeling. Craig, the other editor is smiling his face off and can't say anything bad about it. The marketing people are excited to hear all about what we have to say. Laura wants to hear about our whole experience writing it. Pastor Don is saying that he wants Laura and me to stay in contact, for me to the go-to person between our team and theirs and I'm sitting there trying to remember that I'm only 19 and this is all actually happening. I've just had a meeting with an editor, soon to be OUR editor, who loves our book and hasn't criticized my writing and...I'm ready to jump out of my skin with excitement, bewilderment, awe.

Truly, God has brought me to this place and I am so humbled by how He has used me. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought this would be happening, never mind at this age, without any schooling! This was so not in my plan but God definitely had a different plan and it's only in His power that it was accomplished. That He is using little me and the gifts He gave me to write something, to get this message out to people, is just too much for me to comprehend. I'm doing what I've always dreamed of doing: writing something of value that will be read and will make a difference, Lord willing. I have dreamed of writing for Jesus for so long that I can barely digest the fact that it is actually happening and before I'm even twenty! I am SO blessed by this experience, so honoured to be a tool in His hand, so excited to see what He does with this book, with our team, with the rest of my life.

So, just as an encouragement to you all: Keep dreaming. Keep giving your hopes and dreams to God. Live each day for Him; don't be afraid to follow His leading even if it doesn't seem logical or practical (or financially wise). He will provide for you if you follow His plan for your life. He is in control and can accomplish what He wants to be done. Sometimes I think we have been so ingrained by our culture that we have to do everything a certain way, in a certain order, a sequence of events, a checklist that must be fulfilled before you success can be reached. But God doesn't work that way. He is beyond time and money and the world. Just read His Word, and listen to the testimonies of those around you. He is working.

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" - Isaiah 55:8-9

The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps - Proverbs 16:9

Many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand - Proverbs 19:21

The journey begins

It’s already day three into our Grand Road Trip. (For those who don’t know, Josh, Derrick, Jessica, and I are on a two-week trip to Petersburg, Kentucky and then to Branson, Missouri and back.) We started out on this epic adventure on Thursday and successfully made it to Hesston, Kansas (beloved home of our driver, Josh) yesterday evening. Today we will spend our time just hanging out with Josh’s friends and family and resting up before we continue on our way tomorrow after church.

So far, the trip has been rather uneventful. Well, I mean, no one has been kicked out of the car yet, though both the guys have been smacked on the head already.  It has been two days full of teasing (everyone has their turn on both ends of the jokes), music (Josh and Derrick spent two hours the first day being cultured by my iPod. They say they have never heard such a range in genres – what can I say? I like them all!), Oreo truffles (190 should be enough right?), laughter (always needed on a trip such as this), gingersnaps (after Jess heard they were made with “Grandma’s Molasses” she decided they taste like dentures and old people) and sleep (mostly on Jess’s part). The fun all started…1 minute out of the driveway when the guys realized they had forgotten the promo DVDs…we promptly turned around, retrieved them, and set on our way once more.

And then we were driving, and driving, and driving. Southern Wyoming is NOT an exciting place to start a road trip, let me tell ya that. It’s flat and brown and dead.  When we finally got out of it I rejoiced to be leaving the “desolate sagebrush wasteland of death” to which Derrick pointed out (of course), “if there’s sagebrush, there must be life.” I promptly dismissed this logic explaining that “sagebrush is just death with branches.” I mean REALLY people! Can you even call that stuff alive!?!? But then…we entered an even more desolate wasteland, a barren wilderness without even sagebrush and Jess, ever the optimist says, “you know the best thing to do in a wasteland? Go 4-wheeling…also a great place to collect your thoughts!” Derrick quickly responds with a, “well just don’t let ‘em get away on you!” The day was full of these fun conversations that had us all cracking up the whole ride.

The highlight of day one was definitely our excursion to Boulder, CO. Following Derrick’s iPhone we made our way through the bustling city until, as luck would have it, his phone dies. So we sit in a sketchy parking lot while Josh gets the printed instructions (good ol’ Josh, always prepared) and then we turn around in rec center, watching out for the deaf children as the signs warned us, and move on down the road. Finally, we make it to Pearl Street and Jess and I make our way down the adorable lane while the guys find a place to park. We have one destination in mind and even with the dozens of cute shops beckoning our attention, we don’t stop until we smell it and then we are almost running as our eyes behold… LUSH! Jess is in heaven as we step into the place and she sees it all for the first time. There are shampoos and soaps and bath bombs and lotions in every shape, size and colour. It was such a joy to just watch her enjoy the place as we experimented with different products, heard the saleswomen’s spiels and went about deciding what to buy. One hour and almost $200 later, we walk out to the guys’ relieved faces. We get back to the car only to find a parking ticket…yay for pay parking zones you had no idea about!

We make it to Tatiana’s house around 7:30 that evening and after a fabulous meal, dessert and fun times chatting, we head to bed. Friday morning we are on the road again by 9am and so begins the trek to Kansas. Yay for more desolate wastelands! Why people even live in southeastern Colorado or western Kansas is beyond me. I have never seen so much flat land and big blue sky in my life! I mean, I thought the Canadian prairies were bad but these places don’t even have trees! The dusty brown land sucks the very life from you and I was getting desperate. Finally, getting closer to Hesston, things started to get a little greener and trees popped out of nowhere and it was like people realized what life was suddenly! I decided the place does have a certain beauty to it but…I’m a mountain girl, no doubt about it.

So, at Josh’s place last night, we sat through a slightly awkward party for his parents in which we didn’t really know anybody until one of our old classmates and his friends showed up and then things got interesting. After sitting through a bizarre movie on bow hunting, we headed out at 11pm to this donut place called Drubers which is only open at night…all night. And my goodness, it was the place to be last night! The donuts were fresh and warm, the company was great and all in all, it was a fantastic night. Got to bed around 1am and now here I am this morning, writing to all of you. I hope you feel well caught up and knowledgeable about my adventures so far. Stay tuned for more as the days go by!

They believed what????

So I have been researching a lot lately for the Ancient Man book and come across everything from the fascinating to the disturbing to the creepy-McCreeps! From diabolical religious practices to uncanny resemblances to the Bible these ancient religions and myths I've been studying are constantly throwing me for a loop.

Check out this excerpt from an ancient Hindi manuscript:

Let us meditate on God, His glorious attributes, who is the basis of everything in this universes as its Creator, who is fit to be worshiped as Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient and self existent conscious being, who removes all ignorance and impurities from the mind and purifies and sharpens the intellect

I cannot help but be astounded by this description of a god so similar to the One true God! Hinduism does not currently recognize a single concept of god but more the supreme god manifests himself in many ways. Seeing this knowledge of the true attributes of God in ancient religions really gets you thinking.

Or this ancient Egyptian hymn to Amen-Ra:

Adoration be to Thee, O Maker of the gods, who hast stretched out the heavens and founded the earth!...Lord of eternity, maker of the everlastingness...creator of light...He heareth the prayer  of the oppressed one, he is kind of heart to him that calleth upon him, he delivereth the timid man from the oppressor

I am reminded of the Psalms:

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me of my distress; be gracious to me and hear my prayer - Psalm 4:1

Even the gruesome human sacrifices of the Aztec people have the roots in the misinterpretation of some interesting spiritual allegories:

My well loved and tender son...know and understand that thy house is not here...This house wherein thou art born is but a nest, an inn at which thou has arrived, thy entry into this world; here dost thou bud and flower...thy true home is another

I am reminded that God calls us to live in this world but our true home is with Him:

If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. - John 15:19

For our citizenship is in heaven... - Philippians 3:20 

Another tradition from Teotihuacan (ancient Aztec city) states:

When we die, truly we die not because we will live, we will rise, we will continue living, we will awaken...

 This seems to come back to the concept of eternal life after death which we are promised through the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain - Philippians 1:21

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord - Romans 6:23 

Somehow these ancient religions knew something of the truth. Of course, this study of ancient man gives a lot of evidence as to this fact. The book we are writing clearly outlines how Noah would have handed down the truths of God to his children and their children and so on but as the generations go on, things are bound to become distorted. Especially with the rebellion at Babel and the subsequent dispersion of peoples around the globe. It would be impossible for the truth to remain intact without divine intervention as God did with the nation of Israel. Even then, that chosen nation fell into sin and rebellion of God. However it is still awe-inspiring that the most obscure religion, the most diabolical, the most bizarre, has some concept of the truth. For truly, there is nothing new under the sun and as Pastor Don teaches at the Bible College, "Satan can't create, he can only pervert". Indeed Satan has avidly perverted God's message to the nations but there is still some truth left. It brings to mind the verse in Acts when Barnabas and Paul spoke to the people at Lystra:

"In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness." (14:16-17)

Truly mankind is without excuse yet we continually "suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18). How great and terrible will be the day God judges the earth for our rebellion.

Drainage

Back to working on the book this week and currently quite exhausted. I haven't felt this mentally drained in awhile. It's getting to that point where I start making odd noises to release pent up brain swirlings...if that makes any sense...

"Brain swirlings" - the confused muddle of shifting thoughts in one's head which comes from intense mental exercise involving many facts and opinions and ideas which all want to escape. As they are released onto paper or a computer screen, the left over fragments build up and need to be expelled verbally

So I've stopped working for the day and now just chillin, enjoying the sunlight filtering in the window, the wind in rustling through the trees, the birds singing and waving to the random people walking by. I decided today that I kind of wish we could go back in time and I was doing this project by hand because then I could sit outside in this beautiful weather and work. That would be just fantastic! ...except for the fact that it would take approximately 5312.64 times longer to complete this project and that just wouldn't do...