Passionate Housewives Desperate for God

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God was a great book! The main theme throughout the book is the deterioration of the role of women and men. They make the point that we are trying to not be feminine OR masculine, we are trying to be something in between. Meet in the middle syndrome. I agree with this. Masculinity is often overlooked because of the huge feminist movement. But, if you think about it, we are not encouraging men to be men when we encourage women to be like men. We are essentially effeminating men. They also talk about the common term "me time", or me-ology. One thing she said about this caught my attention. She said that this term implies that we are someone other than ourselves outside of me-time. I really believe that we need time to equip ourselves for the struggles AND joys of the day. I believe that this time should be in the morning. I believe that communing with God should be the most essential part of this time. To me, this does not mean that I am being selfish, something that seems to be implied in the book. I do understand where they are coming from but they even mention that "quiet time" isn't necessary. Not that prayer is not necessary. They mean time set aside with God. They make the argument that it is extremely hard during certain seasons in our lives. I think it is even more essential during times like that. I think me time to them is leaning more on the thought that "I need this time to stay sane". So instead of leaning on God to be sufficient, you lean on time away. I agree with this, but to turn around and say that having a time set aside to be with God is not essential, I completely disagree with. Just my thoughts. Overall, the book was excellent. They also talk about your view of children. Are they a blessing or something that just gets in the way of that me time that you seek. I think I am guilty of that sometimes for sure!

Kombucha Colony

Well, from that one little kombucha mushroom, I have produced 12 more! They are taking over my cabinet. I don't want to throw any away but it seems that I will soon have to say goodbye to the elder scobies. I am thinking that I want to at least have 15. That would give Jason and I enough for a glass each everyday. Jason likes to put splenda in his. I like it just the way it is, with a bite to it. Anybody want one???

Free books online for homeschooling!

I just wanted to post about the free resources online for homeschooling. One of the best sites out there is Project Gutenberg. Most of the books for the kids are not in the best format. On top of that, there is no questions to go with the stories to see if your child is actually reading it. We have been putting together a flash document with the Uncle Wiggily stories that have questions at the end. We(Dh and I) thought others might benefit from it. They are posted on Captivatedminds.com(free of course). We will have more stories everyday, since these are for our own children. We will have so many by the time the rest of them begin to read!

Week in review

We have had a great week! It has had it's moments but overall, pretty good. Today we are planning on doing our weekly shopping and then enjoying being together. On another note, my dear husband recently started a blog himself! It's mostly about the ministry that he is trying to start. Off to get the kids and start the weekend!

Immutable

God is immutable. He does not change(his character). He is our rock. This brings me great comfort. This does not mean that he will not change his actions toward man. Because his character does not change, he has to deal with men according to their actions. His character is holy. He will act according to that holiness in response to sin. This brings fear to the wayward(or should anyway). Because God does not change his character, all the attributes he has will never change.

Free Math and reading lessons with questions

Shoot over to Captivatedminds for my husbands free math lessons. They come with a quiz as well. He has also taken the stories from old fashioned education and has begun to set up a kid friendly site for reading and asking questions from those stories. Right now these things are geared for first and second grade. We are continually adding to the content already there.

Easter

Pic of Sushi the raw food way

As promised, here is my sushi. I also have pickled ginger and wasabi on the plate. It was scrumptious!

Sushi the raw food way

I have a new found love, sushi the raw food way. I use grated parsnip and add a little soy sauce. Spread it over the nori, add avocado, tomato, cucumbers and roll it up and cut it. Delicious! You can also put some pickled ginger on it or some wasabi. The parsnip acts as the rice and it does a great job. Parsnip looks like a white carrot. You can usually find it at your local health food store. Want pictures? I can upload some soon.

John Calvin on the role of the housewife

John Calvin~
"All the chastity they [Nuns] pretend is nothing before God, in comparison of that that he hath appointed, that is to say, that albeit it seem but a vile thing, and a matter of none account, for a woman to take pains about housewifery, to make clean her children when they be arrayed, to kill fleas, and other such like, although this be a thing despised, yea and such, that many will not vouchsafe to look upon it, yet are they sacrifices which GOD accepteth & receiveth, as if they were things of great price and honourable.

Therefore let women study this lesson day and night that first of all they may play the housewives: and if women were the most negligent in the world, yet is there here matter enough to awaken them, and to correct this idleness. And how? If we take pains, we serve GOD, and not men. Again, when a man seeth his wife employ herself all the day long to do her duty, let him also consider whereunto God hath called him, that he also for his part may do his duty. For a man is not born to idleness, nor a woman.

Therefore...let women cast their eyes hither, for there is occasion enough to correct their slothfulness, when they shall see that the question is of serving God. And how? When they fall to kneading (as the proverb is) and apply themselves to good use, & flee not the subjection which God hath set them in: for this is to strive against GOD, when a man doth not follow his vocation, which is our true rule, that is to say, that that we have to do, & what God appointeth every one of us, according to the state, whereunto he is called. Therefore let women have this mark to shoot at, & say, well, although the world have no regard of me, yet must I find myself occupied here, for so God commandeth me. And thus much touching the first, how women have to take occasion to be diligent: and moreover also they have to consider, that when they do their duty and execute their office, God accepteth well of it, although men despise it.

And if men say, “What is this? A woman playeth the housewife, she spinneth on her distaff, and this is all that women can do.” As in deed there are a number of fools that when they speak of women’s distaffs, of seeing to their children, will make a scorn of it, and despise it. But what then? What saith the heavenly Judge? That he is well pleased with it, and accepteth of it, and putteth it in his reckoning. So then let women learn to rejoice when they do their duty, and though the world despise it, let this comfort sweeten all respect they might have that way, and say, “God seeth me here, and his Angels, who are sufficient witnesses of my doings, although the world do not allow of them.”

Something to think about

Quote from R.C Sproul Jr:

"By God's grace we don't believe most of the cliches that rule our lives. No one actually believes, for instance, that there is no objective right and wrong. Steal their pocketbook, and you will find them swiftly appealing to some transcendent law. Neither do we really believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The most ardent aesthetic relativist does not play the sound of car crashes on their CD player. Neither does anyone actually believe that forms have no meaning, that it is only the heart that matters.

This breezy indifference to form is bolstered in the church by the words of Jesus. When He met the woman at the well and she asked about the proper place of worship, He responded, "But the hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4: 23-24). Seems like a slam dunk, doesn't it? Jesus says it doesn't matter what form our worship takes. All that matters is the heart.

But what if forms influence our hearts? Isn't it just possible that you can't fully separate forms and hearts? Consider, for a moment, a wedding. Who among us would be pleased if they were married with vows like this: "Me and you. I won't sleep around on you. I won't leave you until you keel over." How does that compare with "forsaking all others, till death do us part." The formal forms that are a part of our weddings do not make the ceremony sacred. All they do is help us remember that they are sacred.

Which is why it actually matters how we dress when we gather together to worship the living God. It's true enough that God looks on the inside rather than the outside. It is also true that He is apt to see a casual approach to worship if He is looking at the heart of someone dressed casually. Why is it, I wonder, that we are willing to come to worship dressed like it's casual Friday at the office, but we would be unwilling to dress this way, were we to meet the President? Why is it, that we would never dress in jeans and a polo for our wedding, but we would when we come to feast with our Husband on His day? It is because we have listened to the serpent.

I am not arguing that all men everywhere must where an expensive suit when they gather to worship. I'm not suggesting that we ought to sit about our pews mentally doling out grades to those around us, looking down our patrician noses at others. I am suggesting, however, that we ought to come to worship in our best. I'm not suggesting that we do this so that God will take our worship seriously. I am suggesting that we do this so that we will take our worship seriously. I'm not suggesting that worship is only a somber and serious event. It is, like a wedding, a joyful event - a joyful, somber and serious event. The truth is this—spirit is influenced by bodies. And our bodies should reflect our spirits. We are meeting our King. We are meeting our Groom. We are coming into the presence of the living God. If we dress as though this is something important, perhaps we would better understand how important it is. Perhaps we would in turn teach our children the same."

When You Rise Up

R.C Sproul Jr.'s book When You Rise Up is amazing. I will finish the rest of it today. It is very hard to read, very "convicting". Many would NOT agree with it. It says the book is a convenantal approach to homeschooling but I would say that it even has application to other areas of our lives.

Holy

Websters 1828 dictionary defines holy as:
"Properly, whole, entire or perfect, in a moral sense. Hence, pure in heart, temper or dispositions; free from sin and sinful affections. Applied to the Supreme Being, holy signifies perfectly pure, immaculate and complete in moral character"
If you look up holy in today's dictionary, it is:
"exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness"
What a difference!

Piano: Guided Sight Reading

This was a fantastic book! It talks about the traditional method(seperate hands, disection) of learning the piano verses his way(reading as a whole, without looking at hands even from the beginning). I relate this book to speed reading for the piano. I am going to try and implement this in my own playing. I think Kaitlyn would benefit greatly from it. By the way, this is a rather old book, written in 1950. Gotta love old books!

Better Saturday

Finally, we had a pretty easy going Saturday. Well, maybe not easy going but at least we were all together! We went to Earth Fare early this morning only to run into the tail end of the St Patricks parrade. The kids enjoyed it so we didn't mind having to park a ways off. After that we came home and had lunch. The older girls then went with me to Sam's for our weekly shopping. We had so much fun coming home and messing around in the yard. I planted my seedlings but they looked so fragile as I put them in. I don't know if they are going to survive! Then we just played in the yard until the storm came. Nice and ominous clouds surrounded us reming us how mighty and awesome our God is! I love storms.

Enjoying great books

I am swamped with a load of great books and listening resources right now. I haven't put some of these on my book list because, well, I am reading all the time! LOL Here are some of them:
When You Rise Up by R.C. Sproul Jr.
Piano:guided sight reading by Leonhard Deutsch
Homesteading Adventures by Sue Robishaw
Your Child's Profession of Faith by Dennis Gundersen
Passionate Housewives Desperate for God
These are added to the ones on my book list that I haven't finished yet. On top of that, I am listening to The Best of the 2006 Entrepreneurial Bootcamp.
So far these Cds seem like they are going to be awesome! So many great resources. We are so lucky that we have the ability to tap into other people's lives and gain insight into areas where we would otherwise be ignorant.

Good

God is the source of all good, and He and He alone defines what is good and holy. But remember, our circumstances are not a true reflection of God’s goodness.

Foreknowledge

defined: Knowledge or awareness of something before its existence or occurrence; prescience.

The following is by John Calvin
When we attribute foreknowledge to God, we mean that all things always were, and perpetually remain, under his eyes, so that to his knowledge there is nothing future or past, but all things are present. And they are present in such a way that he not only conceives them through ideas, as we have before us those things which our minds remember, but he truly looks upon them and discerns them as things placed before him. And this foreknowledge is extended throughout the universe to every creature. We call predestination God’s eternal decree, by which he determined with himself what he willed to become of each man. For all are not created in equal condition; rather, eternal life is foreordained for some, eternal damnation for others. Therefore, as any man has been created to one or the other of these ends, we speak of him as predestined to life or death.

Ministry Opportunity

One of the things that has bothered me in the last several years is the inability to contribute(serving) to the church because of all the children I have. I was reading the book A Woman After God's Own Heart and she says that she felt the same way. She read a book that changed her perspective on things. The thought came to her that she could start a prayer ministry. It didn't require that she leave her children or home so she decided to do just that. I have always known that there were "prayer warriors" but it never clicked that it could be a potential ministry opportunity for me. I do pray for people who have requests but I have never thought of it as a ministry. What a wonderful thing! Almost like working from home. :)

Finally, some good pics of Andrew

Andrew and Papa JD

Faithful

~firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty
Revelation 19:11
Hebrews 2:17
God is faithful in MANY ways, how has he shown his faithfulness to you? It's good to look back and think of those times when we cried out to him. Praise him for the results that came out of it. Praise him for his faithfulness. If I can't think of anything(self gets in the way), I think back on the Israelite's journey thus far. How faithful God has been and continues to be, despite our unfaithfulness at times.

God - Eternal

Spurgeon:
"God was, when nothing else was. He was God when the earth was not a world but a chaos.If God himself were of yesterday, he would not be a suitable refuge for mortals. The eternal existence of God is here mentioned to set forth, by contrast, the brevity of human life."

God is eternal, apart from time. He controls it, it does not control him.

Kombucha fun

I have made kombucha..yay! It tasted awesome today. This is what I started with, given to me by my raw food friend..you know who you are! Thank you so much!










~Get a mushroom or make one from the kombucha tea you get at the health food store
~Get some tea, sugar, wooden spoons, and some type of glass jar.
~Boil quart of water, add 1/3 -1/4 cup of sugar until dissolved
~Put tea bag(should be black tea) in and let cool to room temp.
~Put mushroom(and tea that it sits in) into the jar with the tea you made.
~Put coffee filter or paper towel over it with rubberband
~Don't mess with it, put it out of direct sunlight.
~Start tasting in 4-5 days(though it could be longer depending on how warm it is. The warmer it is, the faster it's done)
***Don't use the mushroom if you see it grow hair! This isn't good.
***There will be another mushroom in there when your brew is done, separate and don't throw it away, give to a friend.. No need to kill the little thing. :(
***It will continue to ferment even without the mushroom in it. Store in frig to slow fermentation or leave on counter with a tight lid to make it more carbonated.
***Drink the brown stuff that floats in the tea, it's there for a reason and is good for you! If you just can't stand the thought of eating them, strain them.
***Remember, every mushroom is different, don't fret if yours doesn't fit in with the crowd :)

After 6 days, the mushroom makes a baby and then you can make another batch. you can see the shroom in the jar on the right.

Talent show fun

We had a great time at our church's talent show this past Friday. It was so funny! It was a talent show for the kids but afterward some of the adults did a couple of skits. Too cute. Kaitlyn got to sing and play the piano and Charlotte did a couple of magic tricks. I was soo proud of them! Mom, JD, and Grandma came to see it so that was special for them.

Spring ...Necessity Cleaning

So Spring is just around the corner and I am in the motion to clean. I told you before that I was going to start with my bathroom but every time I get a chance it seems Andrew is asleep(he sleeps in our room). So, I have started with the kitchen. I have a bag full of kitchen utensils waiting for another owner. I have started washing dishes by hand and this has been eye opening for me. If I wash dishes right away, I don't need very many extra dishes...duh. So, I will soon be giving away some dishes. I am trying to give more than consume...very hard habit to break.

Pictures from this morning

Our table after breakfast. I just love the sun shining through!







The kids sitting on the couch. Notice Kaitlyn with her current stack of books!

Our Charley Brown seedlings

We have, starting from left to right, a pizza box, a tea box containing my seed packets, an egg carton, tomato container from Sam's, and a pepper container from Sam's.

Calm My Anxious Heart

This book was awesome! Usually you can find a few great phrases to hold on to when reading a good book but this book was jammed with wonderful tidbits to memorize. I highly recommend it to all women, regardless of whether you have an anxious heart.

I figured out what has been wrong with Andrew. He has an ear infection..again. I am praying this is not a pattern. Poor little guy doesn't do so hot with pain. This week has been a survival week. Get the most important things done and worry about the rest later. It seems we are having many of those! Ugh. I really desire to garden but it has proved very challenging with a little one. We did start some seedlings. I have no idea whether they will last but I will post a pic of our charlie brown seedling trays tomorrow. I am beginning to put out coffee grounds to keep these crazy wild cats at bay. They already have started digging up my garden area and I don't even have anything in it! At least they are providing nutrients. :)

Scrapbooking fun

I had a blast with my mom this past weekend. Her church hosted a scrapbooking event to raise money for a missions trip. Here are some pics.

Here are some pics of the pages I did. These are the first few that I have ever done so I am a total amature!

Summer's Party

My cutie pie!










Quick photo with those who were hanging around..











Singing happy birthday













Summer opening presents










All of us(minus the inlaws-they're taking the picture)

Raw food friend

I have a raw food friend who lives close by! AND she is a Christian. Can you believe that? Hey Katie! She gave me a scobie (kombucha mushroom) and let me try some raw food she got from a raw food class she attended. It was great. She also brought me some homemade kombucha. Yum.
Today I am heading up to Anderson to scrapbook with my super extreme Mom. My step fathers sisters are going to be there as well. I am looking forward to the fellowship. I am going to take some pics and I will upload them later.