How I Talk to Our Children About Evolution

1 Nov

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“Hey mom!” My children greeted my return after a few hours out. “We’re watching Dinosaur Train.” Let it be noted, we do not regularly watch Dinosaur Train. Having never seen the program before, I was skeptical about the science taught in the cartoon. I hypothesized the worldview of the producers of the show would be naturalistic and teach that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago.

As I greeted the babysitter and asked how the children behaved themselves, I heard the cartoon explain, “This dinosaur lived during the Mesozoic Period.” Ding, ding, ding, my guess was correct; this show was teaching evolution, likely from a naturalistic standpoint. At the very least this was communicating a worldview and philosophy in direct conflict with the Christian Theistic worldview I aim to instill and live out before my kids. With the same scientific data, creationist and evolutionist arrive at two different conclusions. It is my job as their mother to draw these differences to their attention.

Join me over atCrosswalk today to read the rest of this post. (Click here.)

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When Cancelled Plans Lead to a Better Path

21 Oct

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Often plans don’t go according to our schedule. Disappointments, delays, and roadblocks often test our ability to give thanks in all circumstances. A detour can threaten our peace of mind and unsettle our spirits. No doubt anyone who has lived a very short time can identify with disappointment…even kindergartners cry, “that’s not fair!”

Occasionally overturned plans lead to better paths.

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So was the case with our trip to Arizona with Going the Distance Adventure Ministries (GTD). Leader and ministry founder, Doug Garner, joked he feared the government shutdown would lead to a Grand Canyonless trip to Arizona. However, due to Doug’s tenacity, tireless efforts, and the Lord’s blessing, we were able to experience abundantly more than Plan A had allowed for.

Initially, our itinerary included the choice of a  day hike to Plateau Point or a ride to the North Rim to conquer the 26 mile Rim to Rim hike in one day. Many of us had trained for months for this chance of a lifetime hike from Rim to Rim. We also planned hours of rest and relaxation in Williams, Flagstaff, and Sedona, Arizona. Conversely, with the government shutdown here is what we were able to experience as Doug’s Plan B:

  • Hiking (22 miles) and Camping in the Supai Indian portion of the Grand Canyon with the breathtaking views of Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls (which towers 26 feet above Niagara).

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  • Horseshoe Bend

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  • Antelope Canyon

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  • Flagstaff and Williams, Arizona

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  • Bell Rock in Sedona, Arizona

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Interspersed between all of these beautiful sights was apologetic teachings on the world wide flood and the subsequent formation of one of the world’s natural wonders, the Grand Canyon by Dr. Aaron Walp. After two years listening to Dr. Walp’s teachings and a year of bits and pieces reading on my own, I can confidently say that the rocks are crying out to the glory of God. It is the glory of man to study and understand the story the rocks are telling.

It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them. (Proverbs 25:2, NLT)

As we have settled back into our “normal routines” I have pondered the lessons learned on our adventure. There are many to share, and many more pictures to help illustrate the lessons. I can’t wait to weave the stories and the spiritual truths together over the next few weeks with you as I share our pictures.

In the face of unexpected changes and revealed truths, God answers our prayers in His own way and time to bring about the most glory for Himself from all the nations.

Praise you Lord Jesus for safe travel and a Plan B that exceeded our expectations!

O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings! (Psalm 61:1-4, NLT)

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*Special thanks to my fellow GTD friends for the use of a few of these photos.

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When Plans Don’t Work Out

4 Oct

Last year Ron and I traveled to the Grand Canyon with 5 other people through a ministry called Going the Distance Adventure Ministries. You must know, the trip was an unspoken bucket list item checked off. We hiked the 12 mile round trip Bright Angel Trail out to the Plateau Point. It was a beautiful, slightly challenging hike that thrilled my adventure seeking heart.

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But that is only part of the story.

Three men from our team hiked the 25 mile Rim to Rim hike…in one day. I really wanted to attempt this hike, but was slightly discouraged by the sincere questions of people as to whether I was up for the challenge. I decided that I should start with the “easier’ hike first.

The taste  of the Rim to Rim hike has been ever on my mind for 11 months now. I began working-out harder almost immediately after our return last October and even started CrossFit Workouts of the Day between 4-6 months ago. Additionally, the StairMaster plus a 15 lb. kettle bell and I have become friends. I use the term friend loosely here.

Imagine my dismay and utter disappointment when the Government Shutdown earlier this week included the shut down of all the national parks. That meant my Rim to Rim hike with GTD would have to be routed to hikes outside of the Grand Canyon.

Don’t get me wrong, the revenue loss alone is a reason to be upset about the closing of all national parks. However, consider the individual stories that are being rewritten as a result of this standoff. Wedding cancellations, war veterans meeting up with their comrades for the first time in decades are left with dashed plans, and costly family vacation plans impacted.

Sometimes our plans don’t work out.

What do we do next? Well, in my case, I consider what my plans have cost me to date. I am in better physical condition than I was this time last year, Ron and I still get a few days away, great flood geology teaching, and Sedona red rocks will be equally exquisite as last year. However, there remains a goal unmet, a dream unrealized.

You would think I would quit training, right?

Wrong! I am continuing to train.I am confident my preparation will be met with opportunity.

It is much like this blog. When I first started my readership was significantly less than the present. The audience size didn’t affect my output in writing quality and desire to do my best job every time.In fact, days before my editor over at iBelieve contacted me about partnering with them, I told Ron, “I post and write the best I can as frequently as I can so that one day if opportunity arises for growth, I will be ready.”

In the spiritual, as in the physical, we can put off training for heaven as our eternal home because we are duped into thinking this life is longer than the breath we have. However, we are to live with an eternal mindset, everyday, so that when the opportunity to step into the heavenly realm signals with the end of our mortal lives we have done the work and finished our race in top shape…with fewer regrets.

We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

Wherever it is that I hike in the next two weeks, I am confidant that the Lord ordered the steps that I will take, the path I will follow, and the people that I will walk it with. I am so thankful that the Lord gives us the desires of our hearts and then throws in some twists and turns in our stories as well.

What have you learned from plans that didn’t work out?

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A Lovely Weekend Away

1 Oct

A few weeks ago three friends and I set off camping to a nearby beach location. It was such a wonderful time of fellowship and refreshment, as well as adventure. We all need a chance to step away from the everyday and venture into God’s creation to fellowship with Him void of the usual routines.  Wouldn’t you agree?

Pictured below are some highlights from that trip. This week it is Ron’s turn to venture out on his own. Can’t wait to see how his adventure goes! I will be back on Friday with a post. Until then, enjoy a smattering of past posts and the pictures from my travels.

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The Changing of Seasons

13 Sep

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The fall, a time of tailgating, football, pumpkin treats, and the fading smell of freshly sharpened pencils. This fall finds our family at more soccer games than football because our Emily is playing Upward Soccer with her good Coach Dad.

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This fall also finds us saying goodbye to Little E for four days a week as he goes off to visit his biological parents respectively. I am fighting this one however as any sane person will admit that a two and a half year old boy needs a steady home…not a rotation of three. The joys and struggles of foster care are abundant this harvest season. However, this little boy is abundantly worth both the joys and struggles we sow in hopes of an eternal harvest of joy.

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From the acorn caps scattered under our feet to the delicious caramel apples gathered in the grocery store, signs of fall are everywhere.

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Finally, as the fall season approaches on the 22nd of September, the fall of man also is on full display… everywhere. Diagnosis after diagnosis, declaration of judges in federal and local courts, and a call to weapons of war resound in our ears constantly reminding us that this earth is in a state of decay.

As we face the decay of life, season after fleeting season, we must remember the hope to which we are called. Ponder the hope of a new heaven and a new earth. We are to seek the changing of the eternal seasons from finite time to the infinite realization of relationship between God and man. We long for the return of God’s created order to earth. We long to see the miraculous a midst the fall.

We modern people think of miracles as the suspension of the natural order, but Jesus meant them to be the restoration of the natural order. The Bible tells us that God did not originally make the world to have disease, hunger, and death in it. Jesus has come to redeem where it is wrong and heal the world where it is broken. His miracles are not just proofs that he has power but also wonderful foretastes of what he is going to do with that power. Jesus’s miracles are not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our hearts, that the world we all want is coming. (Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, p. 99, emphasis mine)

This season as we tromp crunch, crunch, crunch through the dead and decaying leaves, let’s also look up and admire the blazing colors of the glorious changing of seasons and pray for the changing of the eternal season to come.

As we hear the acorns falling plunk, plunk, plunk on the rooftops and the hoods of cars, let’s pray in turn for the miraculous falling of the Holy Spirit over the multitude of hurting people in our spheres.

May this change in season tune our souls to seek the eternal season to come.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. ~Ecclesiastes 3

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From Wonder to the Belly of a Whale

10 Sep

Magical moments in the ocean of life, we splash and dance like the world is our playground. Other times we feel  terrifyingly small in the presence of a great and wondrous  creation that at any moment can overtake the strongest man’s strength, or shock us like an unwanted visitor. Often, we live in between the two extremes with a holy fear and a sacred desire for discovery.


Emily Beach Crab

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I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. (Psalm 139:7-10)

I am so thankful that I can never get away from the presence of God.

Jonah foolishly thought he could escape from the Lord’s presence as he fled to Tarshish on a wooden vessel.

But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the LORD by sailing to Tarshish. (Jonah 1:3)

Never imagining that God would send such a great storm for him to face his disobedience, Jonah sacrificed himself for the ship and men he traveled with “in the opposite direction” of God. He plunged into the farthest ocean depths and was swallowed into the belly of a great fish. Even there God heard Jonah’s cries of repentance and his pleas for deliverance.

You don’t have to be running from God out of disobedience to feel as if you have plunged into the greatest depths of the sea.

Do you utter a cry for deliverance from your present state? Do some moments, or days,  feel as if you have plunged into the farthest of the ocean’s depths and the times of dancing on the shore, of wonder, and rest seem a distant memory?

GOD STILL SEES AND HEARS YOUR CRIES FOR DELIVERANCE…and He hears mine too. Praise His great and glorious name! He hears us, friend, and he has not turned a deaf ear to those who belong to the family of Christ Jesus.

Perhaps our deliverance will come when we least expect it. Like searching in the ocean for a vacant shell and instead pulling out a huge and glorious living creature,  He will deliver us to newness of life from what now seems the mire of death and decay…our whale-belly experience.

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But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone. (Jonah 2:9)

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The Waters of Life

19 Aug

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Shells were created at the command of God the moment when time, space, and matter came into being. Created from the breath of God to provide a protective outer layer for sea life, they are one day discarded and many wash ashore.

Along their journey, the ocean rolls and tumbles the shells in tumultuous waves and in calm water until one day, finally, they settle in the sandy shores which beach combers traverse in search of beauty. Some shells are taken home as a memento, while others sit along the shore and eventually are bleached by the sun. Washed white in the brightness of day.

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We too are tossed and tumbled, even pummeled by the waters of life. We can be hit by crashing waves that swell out of seemingly calm waters. In the dark of night we may fear what we will find when the sun’s rays glimmer on the water we thrash in.

I have gulped for air a midst thrashing waves.; uprooted by swells of life I did not foresee coming. I have cried in the dark hours before the break of day and seen God’s Son wash white His saints that lay weary and beaten along the shores of life.

These verses bring me hope in such a time as this:

This I declare about the LORD; He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.

If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.

The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.  When they call on me I will answer; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a  long life and give them salvation.” (Psalm 91:2-6,9-10, 14-16, NLT)

Did you see it? Troubles and evil will come, but they will not conquer us. Night terrors are to be expected as are arrows that fly in the day.  But, we are to make God our refuge and his faithful promises our armor and protection.

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Recently our friend, Aaron Walp, D. Min, preached a sermon that I would like for you to take the time to listen to. His sermon entitled, Rip Tide, Thrash or Thrive can be found here, or simply view the link from Vimeo below. You will need the Joseph Four Step to break the grip of the rip in your life. Don’t miss out on this mighty word from God!

Rip Tide: Thrash or Thrive from Calvary Baptist Church on Vimeo.

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Here I Am to Worship

22 Jul

To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God. ~William Temple

As a little girl, I attended church and Sunday School in the deep south. Each Sunday I donned a smocked dress, tights and leather shoes, topped off with a large matching hair-bow. Today my daughter wears many of  the dresses my mother spent countless hours smocking and ironing  those many years ago. She plays with the little white patent leather purse which in years past held my tithes, offerings, and chap-stick each Sunday.

Maturity has seen a change in apparel along with a change in my heart as I prepare for service…that is, at least when I purpose to poise my heart for worship.

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Addressing a few questions concerning what worship is and why it is important may help us poise our hearts for the most meaningful God-centered worship.

First, worship is a right and exalted view of God and a humbled, dependent view of man on God.

Secondly, worship is important because it opens the door to true intimacy with Christ and clarity of mission we would otherwise live without. Worship does not consist merely of singing. We can worship in various, if not all art forms, in addition to all the work that our hands set to do. Worship is a posture of praise and thanksgiving within our hearts and minds and as expressed through our lives.

The endeavor does not determine the significance of praise, rather it is the hidden thoughts and intents of our hearts. We can sing without love, but it is a clashing symbol or a gong. (1 Corinthians 13) Consider David.  God loved David no less when he worshiped Him on a lonely mountainside filled only with dumb sheep and the sound of his own harp than when David sat enthroned in his palace splendor and declared among God’s people:

“Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And now, Sovereign LORD, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign LORD?“What more can I say to you? You know what your servant is really like, Sovereign LORD. Because of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known to your servant. “How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you! (2 Samuel 7:18-22)

Did you notice David’s humbled view of himself and his exalted view of God? This from the man who was labeled by God to be a man after His own heart. Perhaps David was a man after God’s own heart due to his right understanding of the righteousness of God and the praise that flowed from his heart.

Similarly, in Isaiah 6,  Isaiah’s commission comes after he saw the Lord and beheld his glory. His worship of God preceded his obedience to the call of God. Once we see clearly who God is, we realize the absolute imperative of taking the gospel to our neighbor’s, coworkers, and around the globe. 

So the question becomes, how can we worship God individually so that we fuel greater worship of God corporately?  The answer lies in preparing our hearts for worship all week and the hours before corporate worship.

Below are some bullet points which are taken from chapter eleven of the wonderful book, Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster.

Daily Preparation for Worship:

  • Learn to practice the presence of God daily. Pray without ceasing. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:17)
  • Have many different experiences of worship: Bible reading, prayers of thanksgiving, meditation on the goodness of God, singing praises, or praising God through various postures of sitting, kneeling, or lying prostrate before God.
  • Have a willingness to be gathered in the power of the Lord for the good of “we” not “me.”
  • Cultivate Holy Dependency: you are utterly and completely dependent upon God for anything significant to happen.
  • Absorb distractions with gratitude. They may be a message from the Lord.

  • Offer a sacrifice of worship. You may not “feel” like worshiping but go anyway.

On Sunday:

  • Arrive to service 10 minutes early.
  • Quiet your mind.
  • Pray for the pastor and worship leader.
  • Pray for others who arrive looking burdened.

If worship does not propel us into greater obedience, it has not been worship. To stand before the Holy One of eternity is to change. To worship is to change.  (Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 173)

Try to practice the discipline of worship this week. As we do, we will find that our communion with God increases and “the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” (H. Lemmel)

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Enter Here…With Eyes Wide Open

3 May

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And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. (Mark 1:34-35)

Following Jesus’ time in prayer, the disciples told him, “Everyone is looking for you.”  And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” (Mark 1:37-38)

Jesus designated time alone in prayer and as a result, it could be conjectured, that Jesus’ vision for his day’s work or even so much as his life’s purpose was sharpened and redefined.

Prayer can sharpen our vision for the purpose of life, in general, and our day specifically.

I want that kind of prayer discipline. The setting aside of time and space to draw closer to His kingdom and converse with Him as face to face. In order for me to experience this type of prayer life I must purpose a few things:

  • To go to bed on time so that I can wake up on time.
  • To make preparations in advance to draw away with God to a desolate place. This could be the quiet of the dinning room before the children are awake or  the still of the earth at dawn. Either way, preparations must be made so that responsibilities are not neglected.
  • I must quiet my soul and have His word on hand to meditate on. Bringing along cards or the Bible to read aloud Scripture to  meditate on God’s truth will provide another source for the Holy Spirit to speak to me as I aim to commune with Him  in prayer.

This week our son, Joshua, has been praying aloud more with our family. The interesting thing about Joshy’s prayers is that he will pray with his eyes open as he thanks God for all that he sees, but then close his eyes as he makes his requests known to God. “Thank you God for rocking chairs, curtains, toys, this John Deer, trucks, and shirts. I pray God you give me more toys and make more shirts for Ernie because he doesn’t have anymore. In Jesus Name, Amen.”

How God must delight in the heart-felt thanksgiving of a little child!

This weekend, I want to slip away to a quite place alone and pray with eyes wide-open to all of God’s blessings before me. Then, in heart-felt petition make my requests known to God. Perhaps you will purpose and do the same?

Enjoy your weekend friends…giving thanks with eyes wide open.

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*All photographs courtesy of my friend, Hannah F. What a blessing to receive these in my e-mail inbox this week! Thank you, Hannah!

 

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Wooing Our Minds To His Majesty

15 Mar

What woman doesn’t love flowers? I myself am enamored with them.

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On our honeymoon in North Carolina, Ron and I visited the Biltmore Estate. There are countless pictures of me with my nose in every rosebush and flowering shrub. Ron would laugh and tell me that I had pollen on my nose because I refused to enjoy the totality of the flowers’ aromas from afar. I literally insisted on putting my nose into the flowers and breathing them deeply.

In flowers we glimpse the intricacies of the handiwork of God.

Consider the variety of flowers, shrubs, and trees. God was not beholden to man that He should satisfy our desire for sight novelty and beauty. That man would desire a visual marking of the seasons was already known to God before we had yet experienced the cool refreshing autumn wind, replete with blazing leaves,  or savored the warming sun of spring birthing rainbow gardens.

Plants are good for food, medicinal purposes, and capturing the artist’s scope throughout the ages.

God gave plants both form and function for the enjoyment of mankind and as a tool to tell of His glory.

Our friends were over last night and gave an impromptu apologetic for creation based on plant species alone. In the course of our conversation Dr. Walp pointed out that the fully formed, fully functional plants, observed throughout all time, cannot be explained in any way by evolution. Nothing ties plants together in such a way that we would consider them to have evolved from each other. There are no fossil records to support such a claim (neither are there to support the evolution of man for that matter). Further, plants, animals, and humans enjoy symbiotic relationships. Symbiotic relationships are ones in which both parties need the other to survive (i.e. the bee to flowers and the upside down jelly fish to algae, or sea oats to sand).

In truth, there never have been millions of years of gradual, chance mutations and natural selections that produced the “intelligent” flowering plants that we see today. The intricate design of plants, as manifested by tiny proteins like AP1, testifies to the fact that an intelligent Designer created flowering plants. Plants “know” exactly when to bloom simply because, when God created them, He endowed them with the ability to perpetuate their kind. As Genesis 1:11 states: “Then God said, ‘Let all the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’; and it was so”. (Evolution Can’t Explain “Smart” Plants, Kyle Butt, M.A., via Apologetics Press)

Read the full article here. Also another article on this topic here.

Today as you are walking, driving, or working in your yard, consider the flowers and the glory of God. His creation was formed in such a way as to point us to Him and provide us with a plethora of avenues to woo our minds to His majesty.

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