The Giver, Commander, and Doer of All Things Good

“God is great, God is good.
And we thank Him for our food.
By His goodness, we all are fed.
Give us, Lord, our daily bread.”

When I was a child, I used to recite this little prayer before meals.  A mix of praise, thanks, and supplication, all contained within four short lines, which I would rattle off in a predictably anapestic meter every time I was selected to “say grace.”

Growing up, God’s goodness was always something that I acknowledged both implicitly and explicitly.  I sang “God is So Good” on Sunday mornings (“He’s so good to me”); I called Him “good” in my prayers; I read stories from the Bible about all the good things God has accomplished; and I knew that no matter what happened to me, it was for my own good, because God works all things together for good to them that love Him (Romans 8:28).

St. Lucia, the Beautiful

So, I finally uploaded the photos that my husband, Eric, and I took on our honeymoon to St. Lucia.  Here are just a few:

View from our balcony at the Windjammer Landing.

Wretch Turned Treasure: or, Miserable no more

This past weekend, I watched the 1998 film Les Miserables for the umpteenth time.  It’s a historical drama set in early 19^th-century France and based on the novel by Victor Hugo.  Yes, it definitely has elements of melodrama (its efforts to evoke viewer sentiment are glaringly obvious), but the story really is compelling.  One of the reasons the film has always intrigued me is because its central theme of redemption beautifully pictures the biblical story of mankind’s redemption through Christ.  Les Miserables is a story that seeks to discover the nature of man and, more subtly, the nature of God, by exploring such issues as sin, compassion, forgiveness, sacrifice, and reformation.  The conflict between justice and mercy, law and grace, is established in the very first scene, and it dominates the rest of the work.  Because the former is embodied by the antagonist and the latter by the protagonist, the film clearly promotes mercy and grace as the supreme virtues and more honorable life path—but not before examining the trade-offs.

Getting Started

This is my first blog.  Ever.  So let me start by introducing myself:

My name is Victoria Jones (formerly Hartz).  I am 22 years old, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a resident of Boston.  I am a wife, a daughter, a sister, a cousin, a niece, and a friend.  But my primary identifier is:  adopted child of God the Father and passionate follower of His Son, the risen Lord Jesus Christ.  God is my Creator and Sustainer, my Redeemer and Friend, and I love Him dearly.  All that I have and all that I am, I owe to Him.

At first I was hesitant to start a blog because I didn’t think anyone would care to read it, save maybe my mom.  My life really isn’t that interesting, and my thoughts surely are not that profound.  Has my time for blogging come and gone?  In college, I was constantly challenged and stimulated; I was growing leaps and bounds—in terms of knowledge, character, insight, and experience—learning new things daily, doing new things daily.  My mind was always busy and active.  It would have been an ideal time to have been communicating to the virtual world, sharing with it the knowledge I was acquiring, telling stories of my adventures and misadventures as an undergraduate.