Are You Discouraged?

I don't know where this comes from. I found it in my old papers from a few years ago. I thought maybe it would encourage anyone who feels tired, or discouraged. :)

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Saviour appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin.
The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This, the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing it with all his might.
Each night the man returned to his cabin sore, and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture by placing the thoughts into the man's weary mind: "You have been pushing against this rock for a long time, and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it." Thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.
These troubling thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man. "Why kill myself over this?" thought the man, "I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort and that will be good enough." And that is what he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his thoughts to the Lord. "Lord" he said, "I have laboured long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even been able to budge that rock. What is wrong? Why am I failing?" The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve me and you accepted I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock. Your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom. This you have done. I, my friend, will now move the rock."

Passing along the award :)

I got home late this evening and had to check my 'Bloglines' listings before hitting the hay. Well guess what I found over at Buffaloes & Butterfly Wings?!?! She awarded me with this:



I was shocked... and then very excited to see my name in her list of excellent blogs. Thank you very much Amy!

And now I get to pass on this Excellent blog award to 10 more people. Love it. So here we go on 10 blogs of my choice, and the first one will be thrown right back at Amy. I've been keeping updated on her family's journey with her brave little boy. I forget how I found her blog, but I've checked it daily ever since. :)

Buffaloes & Butterfly Wings

and now for some others I really enjoy:

Amy's Humble Musings

Seven Meadows

There is no place like home

Peculiar People

Preschoolers and Peace

The Rebelution

Smockity Frocks

The Sparrow's Nest

Token Sister

So, if you were awarded this Excellence award by moi then you get to pass it on.
and here are the rules for passing it on…

By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, you have to award it to 10 more people who’s blogs you find Excellent Award worthy. You can give it to as many people as you want but please award at least 10.

Now, I really must go find a pillow somewhere. Tomorrow is just minutes away! :(

Dreams of summer.

It's freezing today. It took me a few hours to warm my hands this morning. They aren't completely purple anymore. Ah, the joys of older homes. :)

Anyway, I've been dreaming of summer and thought I'd share a few of my favourite summer photos with you. If you want to take part in dreaming of summer, post some pic's of your own and leave a comment so we can all dream together. :)

Book Review Friday: Leviticus 6-10

First things first, If you have no idea what Book Review Friday is all about please see my sidebar and you'll learn really fast and want to join in! :) This week we'll be reading Leviticus 11-15. Keep faithful in your reading. It's those Leviticus type books that we often want to skip, but we're all going to stick with it anyway and give it our best shot. God has stuff in there for us! :) I noticed one of the titles in the upcoming chapters this week is 'The Law Concerning Bodily Discharges'. Hmmmm, sounds....... ewwwww.

Okay, now for my review on chapters 6-10. Again, I didn't get much to share but I have a verse starred and circled. :)

"By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified." 10:3

Mister man, what a verse! A shake in your boots and get down to business, kind of verse. Love it. God will be glorified whether it is through your life or by taking your life. He means business and we don't get it. We do not take time to consider who the God we serve really is each day. Yes, God loves me, and yes He cares about me and my family, I'm thankful. But I forget that we are here to glorify Him, not be blessed by Him. His ultimate goal is to be glorified, and if that means he must devour someone with holy fire for disobeying, even my own child, then so be it. I just don't want to be on the receiving end of that judgement.

The story of Nadab and Abihu is only a few verses long but they pack a might punch. Two brothers who had just been told exactly what they were supposed to in worshiping God as priests and immediately revert to doing what they want instead and are killed for it.

I can stand on the sidelines with my many different feelings in the situation. I can be horrified at the whole affair for the parents sake. Imagine watching your children burn to death because they profaned the name of the Lord, and then be told you are not allowed to mourn. That's horrible. But then I can totally be on God's side and say "They deserved it! How dare they directly disobey God's clear commands!" (Don't judge me here folks, I know everyone does that sometimes!). But that self-righteous feeling doesn't stay too long because I know myself too well to dwell too long on others faults. That's when my feelings of pity and self-righteousness turn to fear. Oh my, we don't fear God anymore. We down-right don't care much of the time. If the truth were known, deep down in our hearts we would much rather enjoy some 'strange fire' than do exactly what God wants us to do. Before long we are so mixed up in our own made up acts of spirituality we don't remember what pure, unadulterated, God-centered living is like. In fact, we don't even have a clue that we're mixed up. One major reason why I'm loving BRF with all of you is that it's getting us back to the basics. We're learning the Bible, just the Bible. We read, God works. It's awesome. He even uses Leviticus to teach me amazing things.

So from Leviticus I'm taking away one major theme: Do not mess with God! He made us, He saves us, He expects us to live by His rules. And He has every right to deal with those doing their own thing in whatever way He chooses, even me. Yikes!

Well, that's all I have time for right now. We've had a busy but very good day here at Watchthesky and this mommy needs some sleep. I'll be checking Mr.Linky out one last time before bed to see if anyone else was able to complete a review though. If you would like to post a review from the reading this week and do not have a blog please email it to me and I'd love to post it for you.:) But of course, if you do have a blog, here is Mr.Linky. Link away. :)

Links you'll love

My hubby and eldest son are in the woods this morning snaring rabbits. We made this a reason to take a break from school and get a few extra things done around the house. I thought I would be able to have things taken care of and sit down with a cup of tea mid-morning and blog away. My, things take a long time. It's now almost time to get lunch started and many things still need to be done but I'm posting anyway, today will be busy and there won't be another chance... and I just have to post! :)

I have a few links I'd like to pass along. The first and foremost is one I need desperately! I was reminded last night as I did a bit of a grammar test online. I thought I was doing well and pretty proud that I knew what I did. The results actually told me, "You should be embarrassed!". That said, I remembered about a site that explains all I need to know. I'll be looking up some things later on. If you don't need to look because you actually learned it all in school when you were younger I'm jealous of you! :) But if you would like to improve read this site:

Grammar Girl

I also love the LAF website. I do not have much time to read all the great articles they link to but take time every now and then to catch up. Here is the Ladies Against Feminism website:

LAF

And here is one of the latest I've read from there and I would encourage any other moms out there to do the same (without tomatoes in your hand please!) :

The Me Time Myth

Now for those interested in learning a bit more about our Canadian geography and reinforcing all the info with your children check out this site. It's fun and can be easy or challenging for them (and you maybe). It also has a link to print a blank map of Canada and also more links to printable map pages.

Sheppard Software

Now for the jackpot. :) I have fallen in love with the Donna Young site. She is the fairy god mother for the homeschooling family. I was just using her cursive sheets but Seven told me to look around at all the other cool stuff Donna had on the site. Woo Hoo! There are some great things there and so I pass them on to you. Here is the homepage and a few of my new favourite links:

Donna Young's Homeschool printables & resources

Donna Young's printable Calendars

I have my 6 year old doing these penmanship sheets each day. I also started my older two doing them simply to learn the rules. It just so happens that it also makes their writing much neater along the way. :)

George Washington's rules of civility

And my absolute favourite these days is the little link for the math drill sheets. What a great resource for the homeschooling mom! I print myself the answer key and then some drills in addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, etc.. After just one week we've seen much improvement. It is meant to get all the basic math facts memorized so that thought isn't even needed. They just know that 9x12 is... um.... well, maybe I should do a couple of those sheets too. :{ Here's the link:

Math drill sheets

That's not all she has of course. There are even resources to help you organize your home and stuff. She's awesome. :)

Well, that's all I have time to pass on. I started 25 minutes ago and now it's time for lunch and I better have a quick plan. Tell me it was worth it. Tell me you looked at every link and totally loved them. Tell me Donna Young is awesome and you didn't throw any tomatoes at the third link. Just tell me so I don't feel guilty for updating my blog.

Okay it's now been 27 minutes and I'm very glad there are some leftovers we can scrape together. :)

Need a tutor?

There are a few people out there who would like to know how to crochet. I happen to have found a great tutor for you. I'm thinking mostly of Seven & her daughter. :) Check out this gal and her very own technique.

Proper Crochet Technique 101 by Smockity Frocks

Check it out, you'll be glad you did. :)

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

After entering Blockbuster yesterday to find a 'childrens movie' and having to weed through horribly disgusting images I am thinking I'll never enter a movie place again. I'll just call ahead and ask them to set the one I want aside. Who wants to look at extremely pervise things just to find Mary Poppins? Seriously. Now, once we've watched our latest purchase and join in on the 'Let's go fly a kite' song, I know what the next movie I want to see is. Check out this trailer and see what you think.

Book Review: Leviticus 1-5

** If you do not know what Book Review Friday it just check out my sidebar and we'd love to have you join in with us!**

First things first, let's read Leviticus 6-10 this week. Stick with it girls! :)

Wow! I'm glad I live in the here & now. All those sacrifices given means that I would have needed to own some pretty big herds. I would have spent my days at the tabernacle door killing one animal after another and passing Moses & his sons some grain & oil every now and then.

This is the first time I've seen the need for confession and keeping short accounts with God as I read. That doesn't mean it wasn't there to see in the other books of course, I just didn't see it. These people would have thought twice before lashing out or speaking ill of another person, it would mean getting another one of your animals and going through that whole process again. And they were learning in the not so distant past that their God was not to be trifled with, so they had to do it.

I'm so glad that I'm saved and have Christ as a mediator. Although the thought crossed my mind that His own sacrifice to remove the need of all previously needed sacrifices has made me lazy. It's much easier to 'kill Christ' than to sacrifice as the Israelites had to. When I do something wrong I feel guilty and sorry, but that's the end of it and soon forgotten. If I had to kill a cow or wring the head off a bird every time I sinned or thought I might have, it would have more of a lasting effect.

The whole comparison with the need for sacrifices from the Israelites and the priest being mediator for the people, and my own sin and the need for it to be paid and Christ being my high priest, is amazing. Thank you Jesus for being my high priest, for all my sin shall be forgiven me!

"So the priest shall make atonement for his sin that he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him." 4:35c

I'll be praying that the Lord reminds me of His sacrifice on my behalf and also to remind me to confess & keep short accounts with Him.

Now it's your turn to add a review to Mr.Linky. If you would like to write a review but don't have a place to post it just email it to me and I'll post it. I can do things like that. :)

Beware

Last week while we were at our public library & gym my 4 year old disappeared down the small hall that led to the sports equipment. I figured he was getting a ball or something. He was taking a bit too long so I checked on him. I had no idea that the hallway also led to a bathroom that my little guy had just used without my knowing. I was horrified! I let him know that he should never go to the bathroom without mommy or daddy when we are in a public place.

Today my oldest two were working away on their school stuff and my 4 year old came up to me and said that he's not supposed to go to the bathroom alone in public.
"That's right," I said, "It's very important to never do that."
Then my 6 year old asked why.
"It could be very dangerous. There could be someone in there that would be very mean to you." I said.
"Like what?" he asks.

I think all of us mom's have heard stories of kids being taken advantage of in these types of situations, but my kids haven't. I'm not quite sure when they will be ready to hear about such things. For now we'll go with my 9 year old's explanation. Picture a most serious tone:

"Yeah, they could start bashing you against the sink."

Reading to the kids

I'm so tired my brain isn't functioning very well, but I'm blogging anyway. :) I've wanted to pass on our reading list to you for a while. We (we actually means I) read to the children each night after tucking them in bed. Many of the books we read are passed down to us from the cousins. We don't own many of the ones we've read including my list below. But we're well stocked because the cousins read through them faster than we do and we are just getting to the bottom of the last bag we were given since Christmas time. :)
So in case you are interested in some good clean reading for the family you can take a look at our list.

Ducktails by Janette Oke, the kids laughed a lot in this one. Silly little duckling! :) Some good lessons to learn about the importance of obeying your parents here.








Danny Orlis and the Old Mine Mystery by Bernard Palmer
Danny Orlis and the Dry Gulch Mystery by Bernard Palmer


There wasn't a picture of the right book for Danny Orlis but I'm sure the whole series is great. It's a Christian Hardy Boys type of book. Excellent for those boys of yours!

Shanghaied to China by Dave & Neta Jackson

This is the first of the trailblazer books we've read. We are pleased with this one but I'm really not sure about the rest. Be sure to read through them before handing over to your children to see if they are too mature or intense.:)

Jimmy Skunk by Thornton W. Burgess

My mom used to read these ones to me and she read them as a child. I'd love to own the whole set.











All of my children enjoyed each of these books. They range in age from 9 - 4. I can't really include the 4 year old I guess, since he is usually asleep before page one is read through. :)

Anyway, that's all she wrote for tonight folks. If you have any book recommendations to pass along please feel free. And if I'm not too tired in the near future I'll add a few more that we've read in another post.

Just one more. :)

Found the song!

Seven found the video and I figured I'd share it with you. And it just goes to show how much I know of celebritiys. I thought it was Billy Ray Cyrus that sang this one, it's actually Billy Dean and it tears my heart apart. I think the ending is different from the video I watched way back when. Doesn't he meet back up with her years later and she's married with a child and asking for his autograph??? What a sad song!

Happy thought indeed

I'm not big on celebrities. Couldn't care less actually. So when I checked out CNN online the other day and read the latest on Hanna Montana and how she used a double (how dare she) during a concert it didn't affect my mood in the least. Now, if she could have run to the store this morning to grab a new pair of nylons for me to wear to church instead of the ones I have with 4 runs in them, she would have become a fast friend. But she didn't. And so life goes on around here without good ol Hanna Montana.

I'm working through getting my head wrapped around our school subjects for this coming fall. As the kids grow it's not as straight forward with the subjects as it was when they just needed to learn to read, add & subtract. I want to be prepared and know they are getting what they need. Off I went to my older sisters to look through her stuff and get her take on it. I went into her home stressed about schooling and came away relieved and with a list in hand.

Also a month or so ago I was commenting to the same sister about how hard it is to keep the house organized and clean. I was tired. She told me in a straight forward manner that the kids could be doing much of what I tried to take care of. Kids fold their own laundry!?!?! Happy thought indeed! So I've been checking myself much more to see if I can hand over a job to a youngster and get something else done myself. We are still in the works with this new idea but the finished product is promising to be quite refreshing. My children always washed & dried dishes, filled the wood box, took care of the chickens, made their beds... but there is a whole lot of day and job left when they are finished those little tasks.

So, now I know who Hannah Montana is (which apparently I should have known a long time ago,) but she wasn't the one to tell me about Zoology 1 & to check out the Timberdoodle site. But hey, maybe all hope is not lost in the Hollywood realm. Maybe I should check out some celebrity sites and see if anyone has tips on how to train a 4 year old to sneeze without holding their mouths shut tight when they have a cold. Maybe, just maybe they will have some advice that a decent stay-at-home mom could use.

Book Review Friday: Philemon

First things, we will be starting off in Leviticus chapters 1-5 this week. I've never read Leviticus and am truly excited about it. I always avoided it thinking it would be a boring list of something or other. We'll see. :)

I struggled with Philemon this week. I didn't struggle in reading it, it's so short I was able to read it sometimes a number of times a day. But I read it and read it and still nothing was 'hitting' me. I was actually wondering why God chose for this book to be included in the scriptures. Part of me is still wondering and will be pleased to read what you all learned, and part of me did see a few things. Nothing big and new, but convicting still. Here are a couple points I've pondered:

vs)6, " that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." When people watch me they should see Christ working in me. That's what makes it count when I witness to them. Whatever I might say is backed up in action. When others see that action in me it really does show the power of the gospel. They don't just hear it, they see it.

vs)7, "For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother." By living out my faith and having that love for Christ and believers I am a tremendous encouragement to other Christians. It's refreshing to me when I see someone else passionate about their walk with Christ, so I can assume that others would be encouraged by seeing the same thing in me.

vs)8&9, "Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, yet for loves sake I rather appeal to you..." The nice thing about when Christians live with Christ-like attitudes is that we need only to be asked. We see a need and we fill it. In a world where Christ is center Christians don't' have to be told or hounded to meet a need, because the love in them removes the need for commands and creates a willingness and desire to help.

vs11) " who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me." This perhaps was my favourite verse from the book. It's just another testament to the fact that the gospel changes everything. You could know a person for years and not really have anything in common. You just know who they are and that's about it, then they get saved and all of a sudden you have so much in common. Jenn of www.jennrambleson.wordpress.com is a perfect example of this. We went to the same school, my sister even played v-ball with her a few times but she was just another person in the hall at school or on the court. Now she's saved and we're friends and sharing notes and discussing verses, meeting up at church and different ministries. It's like night & day. Love it.
Also, as many of you know, I tend to talk to people I don't know when I'm out and about. For example, while at Frenchy's with a friend I met up with an older lady and she was letting me know how to get a stain out of a tablecloth. She had an accent so I asked where she was from. Well, she's from the Netherlands and she's been here for 30 odd years and is best friends with her next door neighbour of the full 30 odd years, etc... She was a great lady and we enjoyed our little chat but that's where it ended. When I mention something about the Lord providing the stuff I needed at Frenchy's there is no recognition of spiritual things it seemed. But, me and my little family eating out in a restaurant and praying before our meal has caused us to meet a few people. There have been a few times when another couple has pulled up a chair beside us and asked us point blank if we were born again because they saw us pray, because they were too. Well there's a conversation starter! :) Then we instantly feel a connection and proceed to have a great conversation and really get to know each other. Both the Frenchy's lady and the restaurant people were very nice, it's just that meeting one was more encouraging and more 'profitable' than the other.
I've walked into stores that were playing Christian music and made a point to ask them if they were Christians. When they are it's encouraging to them to be asked and also encouraging to me.
I've stopped a guy in the airport who was wearing a Christian t-shirt and asked if he was saved. He wasn't, he found the shirt in a second hand store, but he said he had been stopped and asked that a lot after putting it on. Not only does that open up a great witnessing opportunity but it also is encouraging to know there were others in that airport who were Christians and excited enough about it to ask someone else if they were too. Encouraging.
Onesimus was the same I guess. He left a non Christian and was returning home a completely different person able to encourage and connect with his former acquaintance in a totally new and meaningful way.

And finally vs 21) " Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say." As a Christian I should be giving %110 to the things of the Lord, not my leftovers. Often we Christians chug-a-lug along each day and use whatever steam is left to get through our 'ministries'. And to have it that people could count on us to give all we've got and more when asked to do something for the Lord is becoming a rarity.

Well folks, that's all she wrote. Maybe I thought that the theme of Philemon was 'encourage'. maybe. I'm just thinking that after writing all I did. Live for Christ like you mean to and you'll encourage others and be encouraged yourself. Maybe that's it. ;)

Here's Mr.Linky so you can add your own review. If you would like to write a review and do not have a blog please just email me your post and I'll post it for you on my second blog. I'll do things like that just to get more reviews on Mr.Linky. :) And of course, if you are new to the Book Review Friday idea please check out my sidebar for all the details and join in wherever we are! :)

Thoughts on prayer

Well there are a few of you who have checked out the prayer link. I know this because you wrote and told me. :) It was good and now you know (if you read the link).

I've been thinking a lot about what John Piper said. I've thought about why I struggled with not knowing what the right way to pray is. I do pray, but in the past year or so have started to wonder if we as Christians pray 'okay'. Through a few different messages and in reading the Scriptures I became more in awe of just who God is. That happens the more you get to know Him. And because of realizing just who I am praying to and how shallow I am it brought me to thinking about my own prayer life a lot. It also had me listening more intently to others as they prayed. My conclusions were that most of the time we are just rambling to God and trying to sound spiritual and basically praying for our own good, not for God's glory. We're human it's going to happen.
What I appreciated in Piper's writing was how matter of fact it was. Prayer is simple. Not easy, but simple. What I cannot forget is that I am praying to an awesome holy God who demands my fear and respect, but I also have the awesome privilege of having a relationship with Him. A close and personal one.

In a close relationship with someone I don't just concentrate on one aspect of that person. We as friends cover a whole spectrum of things, ideas, feelings, and even disagreements. Piper reminded me that prayer is another privilege God has given me to bear all of my heart, ask for His blessings, worship Him with all my heart, see God change things because I asked, and above all see God's name hallowed in my life. To me that last one is scary. God is God and He could cause anything to happen in my life, painful or pleasant. I'm not one to pray for painful things but by allowing God full reign in my heart through prayer, painful is just what I may get. But that doesn't exclude joy. Even in painful circumstances my joy can be full. I know, I've been there before.
Yes, I loved the article. And I really hope Seven does her prayer post soon too so I can read that. (hint, hint) :)

I really hope this isn't confusing. Before that article came along I really wouldn't of been able to make it even this clear. Prayer had become confusing for me. Always wondering if my prayers were pleasing to the Lord hindered them. Now I know that even my honest 'complaining' prayers are okay with God.
It's all about the relationship & giving God the glory for it all, not about the exact words I say.
So I'll pray on and leave it all in His hands because we know God is good, all the time. :)

Hallowed Be Your Name

One of mine and hubby's favourite reads is John Piper. Hubby reads his books, I read his website. This week on Desiring God, John Piper's website, he had this article on prayer:

Pray like this

I wanted to pass it along. Prayer is something that I have struggled with a lot. Not only to be more disciplined with it but also to understand just what the point is, and exactly what is the right way to pray. When I saw his headline 'Pray Like This' it got my attention right away. I love how straightforward it is. Say it like it is, right? :) Here are a couple small quotes from the link I gave you just to wet the appetite again.

“You do not have because you do not ask” means prayer causes things to happen that do not happen if the prayers don’t happen.

If your joy in God is small, this may be part of the reason. Pray . . . that your joy may be full.

The first thing that Jesus tells us to ask God to do—mark this! The first thing. The head of the list. Above all others. Most central. Most supreme. Most overarching. Most all-encompassing—the first thing he tells us to ask God to do is that God would cause his name to be hallowed. The first, and all-pervasive, all-influencing, all-controlling concern in prayer is to plead with God that God would make his name supremely valuable in the minds and hearts of people.

This stuff is important. I know that if I left a link to a gorgeous picture or an awesome recipe you would all check it, but I have my doubts for a link on prayer. That's the way it is most of the time. Let this not be one of those times. :) In this new year of 2008 let's get down to business and start pray without ceasing and just see what the Lord will do!

Reminder

*If you read my blog but don't do BRF and don't care to, please skip first paragraph, but I may need your help in the second one. :)

This is a friendly little reminder to all of you out there who are part of Book Review Friday, or wish to be, that Friday is coming soon. Philemon is such a little book that even if you haven't gotten around to reading it yet you could still read it at least 6 times before Friday if you wanted to. Seriously. (For my others 'serious' statements see the previous posts. :) And also, if you read along with us but do not have a blog feel free to email a review to me and I'll post it for you, with or without your name as you choose. You see, I have this Wordpress blog that is just sitting there and they won't let me delete it so I figure it's still good for something. I'll just post non-blogger BRF posts on it... if you want. :)

Is there anyone out there in my little bloggy world that would have a clue about good math programs for children with dyslexia? Many dyslexics do well in math, we're not one of those people, and we would appreciate any help in pointing us in the right direction. Thanks so much.

3 Random things

I don't have much to blog about but feel like posting something. So here are 3 random things I'll share with you all. :)

1. Last week we were waiting for the 'heavy snowfall warning' to actually produce some snow. The kids love snow. My daughter loves potatoes too, a lot. So when I told her it was finally snowing she asked me this, "Are the snowflakes as big as the hash browns I had yet?"
She was perfectly serious.

2. Today at lunch my youngest boy asked the blessing. His prayers always have a lot of 'And I pray that....' in it. The very last request of his was, "And I pray that daddy & Uncle J will shoot a grizzly bear. Amen."
He was perfectly serious.

3. Hubby took a trek up in the attic this morning and found a bunch of these....


Our home is almost 200 years old and this wood is the same age. It looks like the wood is wet but it's just got a bit of paint or something on the end. They were too long to try to get downstairs and out the door. He's thinking of making some cool stuff out of it.
Any orders???? I'm serious.

The Rebelution's latest post.

These guys have more on the ball than most people. I thought I'd pass their latest article for ya'll to read and if you want you can go from there and read the previous postings from the series. If you've never heard of The Rebelution... where have you been?!?! :)
Here is a tiny little snippet from the post. I'm quoting a quote that they used. It's good don't you think?

This is what G.K. Chesterton was talking about when he wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried.”

Anyway, I hope that wets your appetite for more. Here's the link for you:

Why do hard things?

What's on your table?

My daughter was the first one to claim my new puzzle table after Christmas. All the kids were given a puzzle in the stocking and we've been working on hers off and on since Boxing day.
Working on it....


And if you look very closely you'll see part of the wing missing on one of the birds.


Don't ya hate that!?
So we'll be cutting the vacuum bag open and sifting through all the dirt in there to see if we can find it. If it wasn't for the fact that it's a brand new puzzle and it is loved so much by it's owner I wouldn't go to such great lengths as that. But surely it can't be that hard to find a puzzle piece inside my vacuum.

Tell me, what's been on your table??

Book Review Friday: Exodus

First things first, we'll read Philemon every day until next Friday. It's very very short so maybe we could even read it a couple times a day. :) I was kind of shocked to look at my list and find out we haven't done this book yet.

We have a sick little boy in the house and it's taken me this long to get to the computer. And even then many breaks in between typing to get a glass of water help the little guy in the bathroom and tuck blankets around him. But here we go with Exodus. :)

My, it's good to be back. Book review Friday is good for me. But as you will see in my review I really don't have very much to say. But I caught up with ya'll and read the whole thing.
I'm jealous of Moses. "So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." 33:11 "Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai,... that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him." 34:29 Someday I'll get to speak with God face to face too. Meanwhile I'll be reading and praying and getting closer to him that people will see the glory of the Lord shining through in my life.
I loved how the book of Exodus ended. There were a lot of mistakes and sin throughout the whole story but it ends with the glory of the Lord filling and surrounding them. "Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." 40:34 " Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys." 40:36 There was no doubting that God was ever present for the Israelites now. They had showed that this is exactly what they needed, just as a toddler needs to have their mommy with them 24/7 for teaching, training & discipline. They also knew exactly when to be moving along. Clear concise direction from the Lord and a constant reminder of His presence, care, and also judgement if they did not heed his voice. I have often wished for such readable signs to be put in place for me.
Exodus was good, I wish I had been more diligent. I will be looking forward to some reviews showing up on Mr.Linky as the day passes.

If you don't know what Book Review Friday is just check out the info on my sidebar and feel free to jump in wherever we are! :)

Getting prepared for the new year.

It's a blustery snowy day out there and I'm glad to have an afternoon to just chill out. Our Christmas is every bit as busy as yours. :) Then New Year's eve is a big party at The Homeplace to bring in the new year. Games, way too much food, hot apple cider, The Andy Griffith show for the kids to watch, and waiting for the clock to strike midnight, and then lots of sparklers. It makes for some pretty tired kids on Jan 1st but we wouldn't miss it for anything (except the flu, which did happen one year, ewwww).
Growing up we didn't stay up to bring in the new year... ever. But Grammie & Grampie have everyone over every year now. We love reasons to party. And the very next day after the big bash is a birthday party for one of my chillins. Yep, he was the first baby born for our town that year. And I now have a birthday party to get ready for when everyone is sick of partying and gift giving, and concerts, and mommy just happens to be a little extra tired after it all. I could, and I say could because I would never do it for real:), go crazy and get a little overwhelmed with it all. You would think I'd remember to get prepared for a New Years birthday, especially if it happens every single year, but I haven't caught on yet.
Forget all other resolutions for this year. The ones from last year just didn't work out. They are dead and gone, and I'm okay with that. :) But this year I want to keep a close eye on my calander and be prepared for EVERYTHING, right up to that Jan.1st birthday for 2009. Oh yeah, and I also want to keep a close eye on the budget. My, we are seeing God's blessing on our attempts at being frugal. We want to continue down that road. So calanders & budgets are on the list this year.
So what have you got planned for the new year?