You Decide 2008: Cookies or Donuts?

When making reference to spinning in circles in your car, do you say doing donuts, cutting cookies, or something else entirely?

Kyle is convinced that I am the world's only person who says "cuttin' cookies."

Merry Christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A hobby for 2009, I hope.

I am very often taking on new projects and hobbies. I scrapbook (when I can afford it), paint, sew (a little), knit, crochet, garden, and blog. For the last several years, I've just been dying to take on photography. So many of my friends take excellent photos, and I really enjoy reading blogs full of beautiful pictures. My current favorite photo blog, and one that I've followed for quite some time is written by a woman named Toni Weber. Her blog, Simple Sparrow, is warm and full of life. She is uber-crafty, and an excellent photographer of her crafts, her kids, and all the life around her. I go there to get inspired.

Just recently, she launched a website dedicated to her photography. As I understand it, she took up photography as a hobby, but has no formal training. Now she takes beautiful and whimsical pictures like the one you see here. You can check out her official website here, or see her Flickr photostream here. Her middle son, Micah, is also a photographer, and you can see some of his great work here.

Okay, I'm not getting anything out of promoting these people, I just really like their work. All of it is leading up to me saying that in 2009, I would really like to secure a good camera and start taking pictures. I am sincerely hoping that we can save up some money for a Nikon D60 or a Canon 40D. I would probably even settle for a Nikon D40. I've seen all of these on eBay for a (relatively) reasonable price. I feel like I have an artistic eye (thanks, Mom), and I could be good at it.

Who knows, maybe I'll be the world's greatest speech language pathologist/photographer. Ha!

**I sincerely hope Toni will not mind that I used her pictures here.

106 Books

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread." As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded, but not to be read. A $ for the ones you own, * for the ones you've read, ** for the ones you read for a class, *** the ones you started but did not finish.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina $ ***
Crime and Punishment $
Catch-22 $ *
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights $ ***
The Silmarillion $
Life of Pi
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick $
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice $ *
Jane Eyre ***
A Tale of Two Cities $ **
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel
War and Peace $
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Iliad **
Emma $ *
The Blind Assassin
Zatoichi
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations **
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Quicksilver Exposition
Wicked $ *
The Canterbury Tales $
The Historian
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead ***
Foucault's Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein $
The Count of Monte Cristo $
Dracula $
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath $ **
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility $ *
The Picture of Dorian Gray $ *
Mansfield Park $ *
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver's Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune $
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela's Ashes
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter $ ***
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake
Collapse
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion $
Northanger Abbey $ *
The Catcher in the Rye $
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity's Rainbow
The Hobbit $ *
In Cold Blood
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield $
The Three Musketeers $

I feel pretty awful about all the ones we own, but I have not read. At least Kyle has read most of them. I'm such a poser.

I'll tag Kyle because he's read more than just about anyone I know "just because," and Bonnie, who's practically a reading major (hooray for English), and Jon, because he's always asking people "Whatcha been readin' these days, brother?"

A Dinner Time Hit

This recipe was a big success at my house recently, and it was very simple to make. Give it a try!

Chicken and Dressing Casserole
3 cooked chicken breasts, diced
1 cup of milk
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 box of Stovetop Stuffing

Combine Stovetop, milk, and soup until thoroughly mixed, then stir in chopped chicken breast. Bake at 350 in a 9x13 pan for 40 minutes. Enjoy the deliciousness.

Serves about 4 people.

The greatest Christmas movie ever

Love, romance, adventure, comedy, and whimsy- ELF has it all.

"O Holy Night" is my favorite Christmas song about Jesus. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is my favorite Christmas song not about Jesus.

What are your favorite Christmas movies and songs?

Thankful for my pastor

Phil Nelson has been called many things. Some would say he's radical. Others may call him crazy. Why would people say those things about him, you ask? Because he upholds the Bible as true from cover to cover.
He spent years as an open-air apologist, traveling to college campuses all over the state of Illinois, proclaiming the truth of God's word, defending the faith, and engaging students with the gospel of Christ. For the last two years he has taken the role of pastor of Lakeland Baptist Church. Because of him, Lakeland has become a church where membership is not easy.
When he began teaching at Lakeland he decided to start in Genesis and work through the entire Bible from front to back. Many people did not expect him to stick with this plan. Who preaches for extended periods of time from the Old Testament these days? It wears on people who do not want to be constantly reminded of their own depravity by the repeated failures of the Israelites. Nonetheless, he preaches it faithfully.
This week he will preach on Deuteronomy 15. Those of us who are still sitting under his teaching are blessed. Phil opened my eyes to the beauty and richness of God's plan spoken through the entire Old Testament. He knows and loves God's word so much that his excitement overflows and stirs me to love it more too.
I am blessed to call him my pastor.

Advice from an excellent student

If on the last day before Thanksgiving break, in a class in which you have secured a solid 'A' and do not have to take the final, you find yourself extremely bored and questioning why you bothered to show up, do not, I repeat DO NOT pull out your iPhone and start reading from cakewrecks.com. Chances are you will find yourself laughing so hard that you will not be able to hold it in. This, in turn, will draw a reasonable amount of attention to the fact that you are not listening to your instructor drone on about the minute workings of the inner ear, or whatever subject you are studying.

This, of course, is purely a hypothetical warning. Being the excellent student I am, I would never do such a thing. Just trust me on this one.

Tagged

1. Choose the 4th picture folder on your computer
2. Choose the 4th picture
3. Explain the picture
4. Tag 4 other bloggers

This is part of my team from the summer I spent as a missionary in the Smoky Mountains. From left to right-Laura, Me, Jacob, Rachel, David, and Travis (missing quite a few people). This was taken at the Tennessee Baptist Convention in Brentwood, TN. We spent the weekend with other student missions teams in training and then we were commissioned and sent back to the Great Smokies!


I tag Amanda, Kyle, Shannon, and Chase.

In Another Life

In another life, another place and time, if I didn't have to think about any responsibilities, I think I would have been an Art History major. I took a class in it, and it was my favorite class of all time. I would have learned about world cultures, drank a lot of wine, sponged off my parents, traveled the world, lived in England, been an eternal adolescent, etc.

I love what I do now, but I think I could have been fairly happy doing many other things as well. Most likely unemployed, but still satisfied.

What would you do?

Monopoly, anyone?

Has anyone played this new electronic version of Monopoly?

As a Dave Ramsey fan, I must say that I find it a bit disturbing. Teaching kids to use plastic? Isn't half the point of the game is teaching them to count and handle money? Also, what's with all this "fast" business? Why in the world is a 9-year-old in such a hurry? Lastly, the attitude. This little girl's got one that just rubs me the wrong way. Am I over-analyzing this? Maybe parents will have more insight.

Making Your Husband a Priority

This was a timely devotional today from Nancy Leigh DeMoss at Revive our Hearts. Please listen or read the whole program. I've linked to it below.

It’s a challenge to keep up with all the needs in a busy household. As you’re deciding what to tackle, who becomes a higher priority—your kids, or your husband? The Bible speaks to that question.

• I wish young women knew how to reverence and adore their husbands, to protect their reputations, and to affirm them in public. Men blossom when you do that.
• If you are a married woman, loving your husband is the number-one way that you demonstrate your commitment to sound doctrine.
• Loving your husband means enjoying him. It means being his friend, taking pleasure in him

Read or Listen to the full "Make Your Husband a Priority"

Of course, this video from Fiddler on the Roof makes much more sense after listening to the message, but a classic nonetheless.

What are we giving?

As a wife (and some of you as mothers), you are busy. You go to work, go to school, lead Bible studies, disciple young women, do laundry, wash dishes, prepare meals, tend to your body, change diapers, wipe noses, and do all the other beautiful, wonderful, tasks that come with the territory. You give so much of yourself away. Your husband is proud of all you do and supportive. He is ever-patient and doesn't mind sharing household responsibilities because he knows how much you have on your plate. But your Bible sits there unopened, the laundry piles up, the dishes sit for days in a dirty pile, the pizza place is on a first name basis with your household, the bills get stacked on the counter and shoved aside, the forgotten fish go a night without dinner.
One day something happens that causes you to crack. You finally crumble into a pile of tearful, mushy goo, and cry out to Jesus to change you, to use you. You know what He wants, but you're so unwilling. Through a cloud of tears, you look up at your husband. He stands over you in prayer, holds out his hand, and tells you that it's all going to be okay.
That's when it hits you. This man who loves you, who you love more than anything, is a rock. Wait, you knew that already. What you didn't know is that you've been neglecting him. You have been giving your best energy to everything else. All he's been getting is your stale, soggy leftovers when he's supposed to be getting your very best.
This breaks your heart. You are finally ready to make the hard decisions. You are finally ready to say "no" to all of those extra causes, no matter how worthy or high the calling. Your calling as a wife comes second only to your call as a child of God. You miraculously quit worrying about what others think. So what if you can't do it all? You don't want to be a Martha, you want to be a Mary. You want to love Jesus and love your man.
So are you giving your husband your best for the glory of God, or are you exploiting his patience and giving him your leftovers?

Worlds Apart

... by Jars of Clay

I am the only one to blame for this
Somehow it all adds up the same
Soaring on the wings of selfish pride
I flew too high and like Icarus I collide
With a world I try so hard to leave behind
To rid myself of all but love,
To give and die

To turn away and not become
Another nail to pierce the skin of one who loves
More deeply than the oceans,
More abundant than the tear
Of a world embracing every heartache

Can I be the one to sacrifice
Or grip the spear and watch the blood and water flow

To love you - take my world apart
To need you - I am on my knees
To love you - take my world apart
To need you - broken on my knees

All said and done I stand alone
Amongst remains of a life I do not own
It takes all I am to believe
In the mercy that covers me

Did you really have to die for me?
All I am for all you are
Because what I need and what I believe are worlds apart

And I pray,
To love you - take my world apart
To need you - I am on my knees
To love you - take my world apart
To need you - broken on my knees

I look beyond the empty cross
Forgetting what my life has cost
And wipe away the crimson stains
And dull the nails that still remains
More and more I need you now,
I owe you more each passing hour
The battle between grace and pride
I gave up not so long ago
So steal my heart and take the pain
And wash the feet and cleanse my pride
Take the selfish, take the weak,
And all the things I cannot hide
Take the beauty, take my tears
The sin and soaked heart and make it yours
Take my world all apart
Take it now, take it now
And serve the ones that I despise
Speak the words I can't deny
Watch the world I used to love
Fall to dust and thrown away
I look beyond the empty cross
Forgetting what my life has cost
So wipe away the crimson stains
And dull the nails that still remain
So steal my heart and take the pain
Take the selfish, take the weak
And all the things I cannot hide
Take the beauty, take my tears
Take my world apart, take my world apart
I pray, I pray, I pray
Take my world apart 

I've been listening to the Shane and Shane "Similar Artists" station on Pandora Radio. Let me tell you, it is great stuff! It's not fluffy or cheesy. This song takes me back to the first year Kyle and I were dating. We went to see Jars of Clay and Caedmon's Call at Assembly Hall. It was a great concert and we praised God together.

The song, "Worlds Apart" always breaks me, but hearing Kyle sing every word of it right next to me that night, I was in awe. I was in awe of Christ, and in awe of this amazing, godly man He had just put in my life. I had never seen Kyle filled with such passion, such worship. My world changed forever. Jesus changed everything about the direction of my life that year.

Tonight I sit even more in awe of Christ, and even more thankful for that amazing, godly man. Tonight I understand that when God takes my world apart, He does so in a way that only makes it better. To Him be all the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

15 Seconds of Fame

A few days ago the Girl Talkers posted an article about creative ways to do your husband good. I wrote in saying that I would love to hear more ideas from all the women out in conservative Christian blogoland. Well, they responded! I can't wait to hear what everyone says.

It rocks my superficial face off.

We got our ESV Study Bible today. It is awesome. Getting a new Bible makes me read it more. I know how wrong that is. It's pretty. Girls like pretty things. Oh, and also, it is packed full of more study notes than I will ever be able to consume. It is highly recommended by all my favorite, most trusted Bible teachers.

Some of you may have not heard of this highly anticipated Bible. You can watch a preview about it here. You can view many more videos about it here.

She Does Him Good

A few months ago, I began to write about the Proverbs 31 woman. In the midst of it, I realized that I did not know what to say. To my delight, the wise ladies over at Girl Talk recently began a P31 series.

A Woman of Action by Nicole Whitaker:

“She DOES him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.” (Proverbs 31:12)
The Proverbs 31 woman is a woman of action. She isn’t simply a well-wisher of her husband’s happiness; she’s a doer of good to him. She brings him good, it says in the NIV. She delivers and supplies good to him. She does it.
It doesn’t say whether or not she feels like doing her husband good. In fact, feelings don’t enter into the matter. Not that feelings are irrelevant--if we lack desire to do our husband good, this needs to be investigated. Maybe bitterness has corroded our desire, laziness has dampened it, or busyness and selfishness have stifled it. If so, we must repent from sin and ask God to revive in our hearts a desire to do good to our husband.
But we must not wait for some lovey-dovey feeling or just the right time to do him good. Instead, as a step of repentance, we must act for our husband's good. This not only proves our desire for his happiness, but will fuel it as well.
“The…conclusive evidence of our wishing or willing to do good to another” wrote Jonathan Edwards, “is, to do it.” He goes on: “In every case nothing can be plainer, than that the proper and conclusive evidence of the will, is the act…for whatever we truly desire, we do thus seek.”
If we truly desire our husband's good, we’ll make specific efforts toward his happiness. We will not simply love him in word or tongue, “but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18-19).
Maybe, like me, you are full of good intentions and resolutions but often come up empty on action. That’s when a plan can be helpful. Take a few minutes to think about your husband and ask yourself: “What is one way I can do him good and how can I make it happen?”
May God, the source of all good, help us grow in doing good to our husband.

Five Years Together

There are so many reasons I love this time of year the most. Five years ago this week, I started spending all my time with this wonderful man! Our first date was to a Barndance/Hay Ride with a group of friends. We square danced the night away. Kyle showed me some lesser known constellations in the clear, starry night, wrapped his arms around me in the chilly autumn air, and held my hand as we walked through the "haunted" woods. A week later, we went to a costume party at the BASIC House dressed in our thrift store "hippie" costumes.

I could never imagine how much I would love him five years later. I am so glad we get to do life together.

Super Duper

I'm becoming acquainted with a company called Super Duper that makes learning materials for people with communication disorders. I really love their stuff! Need I say, "It's super duper!" Some things could be used by teachers of all kinds. I highly recommend it to those of you who are teachers, homeschoolers, or parents who like to play educational games.

Meet Jim and Pam

These are our new pets, Jim and Pam. They are best friends. We picked them out because they were vibrant, hardy, active fish. They're so active, in fact, that I could barely snap a picture of them.
When we watched them in the tank at the store, these two always stuck together. Pam (the smaller, brighter, one) is a faster, more active swimmer. She moves up and down, all over the place! Jim is a little slower and more calm, but still very active. He likes to swim right up to the place where the water pours out of the filter and swim into the currant.
Hopefully we can give them a couple more friends over the next few weeks, but you aren't supposed to start with too many at one time. I think it will keep us entertained for now. There is something soothing about watching them swim. These fish need to hold us over for the next couple years until we can get the dog we really want!

A Night On the Town

Kyle and I attended the Poshard Family Foundation Charity Auction and Dinner. It was a nice evening. The best part was getting all dressed up with my man! They raised a lot of money for abused women and children. That was okay too.
Although, while we were sitting there listening to numerous speakers, it occurred to me that even though this was a very honorable cause, it was merely a filthy rag in the sight of God. It was a work done for the glory and feel-goodery of men, not for Christ. When our days on this earth are over, only what is done for the glory of Christ will stand.
A few photos for your viewing pleasure...

Works-for-Me Wednesday: The Dishpan

Works-for-Me Wednesday is the brainchild of Rocks in My Dryer and a great spot to get ideas from other brilliant women.

After dinner with some friends one night, I started the warm water running and pulled out my little red tub. My dear friend, Cathy, exclaimed, "What on earth are you doing?" Didn't she know about this glorious invention? I use a dishpan.

It's more sanitary than the sink and saves lots of water. My cute little red tub is easy to clean and uses 1/2 the water a dishwasher would use, and 1/4 of the water hand washing with an open sink would use. It stores easily right under the sink. You can disinfect it quickly. No scrubbing required. If it gets bad, just toss it out and get a new one. They're only a few dollars. Not to mention that studies like this make me want to avoid contact with the sink at all costs.

I must admit, however, in all my self-righteousness about the dishpan, I would probably ditch it if I had a dishwasher. I'll praise God for forcing me to be a better steward of the blessing of clean water.

Tagged

Here are the rules:
Link the person who tagged you
Mention the rules on your blog
Tell about 6 quirks of yours
Tag 6 fellow bloggers of yours to do the same
Leave a comment to let them know

1. When I get my mind set on something I really want, I tend to fixate and become a little obsessive. My current obsession= reading the Twilight Saga. Don't judge me.

2. I unconsciously rub my feet together when I'm relaxed. It's like my version of purring.

3. If I fall asleep on the couch before bed, I will wake up very grouchy with Kyle. He takes it in stride. He thinks that I confuse my dreams with reality and that's why I wake up angry.

4. I'm probably the pickiest eater you've ever met. Pickier than your 5 year old brother.

5. I make up songs to the tune of other songs. Usually I change them to be about Kyle. It usually gets a laugh or a "You're so silly."

6. I go ridiculously gaga over my husband sometimes. We were out somewhere last week and I just began to giggle. I couldn't help it. He looked so good.

Current Reading List

Spiritual growth, just for fun, mental heavy lifting, and professional development... I've got it all on my list right now!

p.s. This does not include the many, many blogs I read on a daily basis or the podcasts I listen to several times a week.

Now that's what I call fungus.

While mowing the yard today, I came across some very interesting fungi. The most amazing thing is that it sprouted up in just 6 days. Last week I saw more variety, but how could it compare to this? I'm not sure that I've ever seen anything quite like it. I could not bear to mow over it. Is it me or is it almost pretty?



I also almost bumped in to this big fella. Needless to say, he frightened me! You may not be able to tell from the picture, but he's almost as big as my hand!

I am no friend of spiders, and they're no friends of mine. Please spare me the argument that spiders eat bad insects and things like that. I think I might ask God why he couldn't have just made a nicer looking creature to do the same thing. I am confident there's a very good reason.

Soundtrack for Life

I'm pretty nerdy. When I walk down the street with my iPod, the music almost seems to course through me sometimes. There are some songs that just seem to match the way my life feels at that moment. It's not necessarily the words that express my mood, but the sound. Does that make sense? The last couple weeks have been fairly melancholy. These are a few songs that fit my particular mood of late.

• Little Waltz by Basia Bulat
• Crooked Legs by The Acorn
• Title and Registration by Death Cab for Cutie
• Adlai Stevenson by Sufjan Stevens
• I'm Nowhere and You're Everything by Chris Thile
• Amsterdam by Coldplay
• There There by Radiohead
  

What songs might express the spirit of your life lately?

Take Me Out

To the Cards/Cubs game...
Kyle's boss called yesterday and offered us free tickets to the game. We were supposed to go on Tuesday night with my Dad and Stepmom, but because of the Miners' playoff game, we were unable to attend. This worked out very well for us, though. Kyle's brother Keith and our friend Micah drove from Champaign and joined us.

Buddies...

Brothers...

Lovers...

It was a fun night. Unfortunately, the Cards lost 4-3. If we had gone Tuesday we would have seen a W. We also sat around some really interesting people who brought their own booze with them. It was interesting.

Systems of Organization

I'm not a naturally organized person. While I do have some symptoms of a Type A personality (impatient, outspoken, semi-competitive, covertly insecure) I tend to be more Type B in other ways (forgetful, procrastinatory, undisciplined, disorderly).

Learning is dependent on one's ability to organize concepts and tie them together. In my head, I understand this. If only I could get this discipline to spill into my personal life.

Our checkbook is a mess, things are constantly strewn about the house. Dirty dishes seem to pile up for days. The bed only gets made for company. My unfinished craft projects are everywhere. Cookies and pizza are chosen over vegetables and chicken. Sleep takes precedence over exercise. The Bible takes a back seat to Facebook.

How is it possible to be so undisciplined in so many areas? Some days I think, "Will I ever change?"

I often think about organizing my life to be more efficient. God is a God of order, no? It would only make sense that the life of a Christian would reflect this. Order brings a sense of peace. There are plenty of people around me who seem to "have it all together." Why can I not just bootstrap it, buckle down, bite the bullet, and get 'er done?

There are some systems already in place. Books are alphabetical by author, music by artist, and movies by title. Kyle keeps his closet organized by type of clothing. Polos, button-downs, sweaters, sweatshirts, jeans, dress pants are all in order. My closet is organized by color (though I'm thinking of switching to Kyle's system). Purses, hats, and scarves are tricky. Of course, this only addresses visible order.

There are so many things in my life that need reorganized on the inside. Only God can do this. I used to be hopeless, knowing that I didn't have it in me to change. Now I understand. I was hoping in my own abilities to change, the abilities I knew I lacked. I now praise God that I'm not capable of doing any good on my own. He shows himself to be all the more glorious, mighty, and powerful.

I began this semester with the knowledge that I had no strength left. I have been a college student for a long time. I have been terribly fickle and indecisive about what I want to do. I prayed fervently that God would give me strength and change my weary heart. He's been teaching me to think really hard on how I organize information. My notes are very orderly. Everything has its place in my binder. God has blessed me with more discipline, diligence, and motivation than ever before.

I had prayed for this in the past, but perhaps not with such an overwhelming knowledge of the weight of what God had to do, what I could not. Seeing his strength in my weakness is a beautiful thing. It is a glimmer of hope, a reminder that God is capable to change me in other ways too...

Saluki Friends

Last night we went to the first home football game for SIU. It was alright, but a little lackluster after years of grandiose Illinois football games. Mostly, I just enjoyed being with my husband and friends! I am blessed to have both.

John, Emily, Ashley, Drew, and Brad are ready to cheer the team on to victory.
Jason pretty much took pictures and talked to Kyle all night. They had fun.
Cathy and Kelly Beth got a little crazy barking like dogs when we scored.
The Marching Salukis had a short field show. They mostly faced the other direction (not the student side) so we couldn't really hear them.

I had a seat next to the best looking guy in McAndrew Stadium!

He loves me.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Ephesians 5:25-33

I have always found that in sickness, we have a great opportunity to demonstrate our love for one another. The last couple days have provided many opportunities for my husband, friends, and family. Thank you all for your prayers and offers to help. Had my husband been unable, I would have gladly accepted your offers. By God's grace, he was able to be here and make sure all my needs were met.

As I not-so-delicately put it to one friend, it was a "don't-drink-the-Mexican-water" kind of sick. Let me just say, friends, that I have drunk the Mexican water, laid alone and sick on the dirty, cockroach-infested floor of a Mexican hotel bathroom for two days, and this one still wins. Need I say more? I think not.

In praise of my glorious father, I express my deepest gratitude to Him for Kyle. When this all began at a painful 4am yesterday, his feet quickly hit the floor to aid me. He went to work for a few hours out of sheer necessity, then came home early and did not leave my side. He prayed for me and took care of my every need. Even last night, when I could not seem to find comfort in our bed, I moved to the couch and he decided to sleep on the floor next to me so I wouldn't be alone, or so he would be there if I needed anything.

I cannot express my joy and gratitude for having such a husband! This is a grace given to me by God that I utterly do not deserve.

50 Important Questions for Defining Biblical Gender Roles

This is a very extensive and very instructive article from John Piper and Wayne Grudem. It makes for good discussion in my head.
Foundations for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Genius

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration.
- Thomas Edison

While old Tommy might be right, I've found that the perspiration never happens if real inspiration is absent.

Just for fun

So often I think to myself about all the wonderful things I would love to do if I I had time to do things "just for fun."

This is scrapbooking week on Martha Stewart. When I came home for lunch, I tuned in. It makes me wish I had the time (and the money) to give to such a hobby! I need another Judy, who has every scrapbook tool known to woman. All I ever had to bring was paper and pictures. She has everything else! Judy- if we make a trip to Champaign this fall, I'm bringing the book I started a your house 3 years ago!

I started making this quilt about a year ago. I really want to finish it. Part of the problem is that I don't know how to do the backing. I am going to have to differ to an expert quilt-maker in my church. She makes amazing stuff, and will probably laugh and my messy hand stitching! Oh, well. It is made with lots of love! (It is much further along than this now, and we have a much prettier couch!



3 years ago, I did an oil painting for Kyle for Christmas. He loves Lewis Carrol's novel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass, and other Carroll Nonsense Literature (hence, his blog theme, which he never uses anymore). The painting was a scene from Alice. It was my first oil painting. It made me want to do more, but it is such an expensive hobby!

I would also really like to knit something of substance, not just a scarf! I, however, am not good with reading directions. I need someone to show me how to do a new stitch. Kyle's mom can show me how to do all the stitches, and she can make just about anything! Unfortunately, I also have no time to make a whole sweater, or even a pair of socks :( Scarves are easy, and don't require much thought or time. This is my most recent scarf project. Hopefully it will be done before scarf season arrives.

I also have an interest in taking great pictures. I have so many friends who are great photographers. I would love to have a nice camera. Again, so expensive!

Blogging is probably my favorite thing to do just for fun. I almost always make time for "Across the Brandywine!" You all make it great.

Me Through the Decades

1950- I definitely had my Grandmother's hair.













1964- The year my mother was born. Love those horn-rimmed glasses!












1968- Dad was 8, mom was 4, and I could have been their babysitter with my flippy hair.













Skipping ahead to 1976- I think my mom had this hairdo. I've seen pictures. It makes me look like her.










1990- I know my mom had this hairdo, as did many others I admired. I was 5. I loved it.