Campbell Clan

15 minutes

2012-01-31T09:17:00.005-05:00

I often lament the fact that I don't get as much done during the day as I would like to get done. Fatigue is a big factor, one that I can control somewhat, if I will get in bed by 9:30.

The other reason I don't get more done is because I feel overwhelmed when things are cluttered. My homeschool library gets this way frequently, moreso when I vacuum because I put all my storage crates up on the counter to get at the carpet, which makes the room feel claustrophobic (and gives me a great urge to pack everything in the back of my van and take it to Goodwill).

Anyway, way back when my babies were really babies, I felt like I would never have a clean home again. I was truly exhausted then, and I just didn't get how to manage everything at once. I found an organizing website that helped me get back on my feet, and I gradually got out from under the oppressive feel of hopeless disorganization.

The one thing that did the greatest good for me was learning that I can do anything for 15 minutes. I tend to be an all-or-nothing person, so organizing a closet or my library is an exercise in frustration where I tear everything out, get tired (or overwhelmed) and shove everything back in --usually leaving it in a worse state than it was when I began.

So, my challenge to myself --and to you! -- is to tackle anything you've been wanting to do, or avoiding, by doing it 15 minutes at a time. This isn't just for organization. Rick Warren said that you can read the Bible through in a year if you read it 15 minutes a day--amazing! I know I can tackle anything if I know I only have to do it for 15 minutes at a time.

Most big tasks aren't as ominous if you break them down, so I'm excited about doing this. If you try this, please post a comment and let me know how you did!

You Wouldn't Understand

2012-01-28T08:07:00.004-05:00

My sweet little Sara has been saying to me lately, "You wouldn't understand." This has happened a few times, last night being one of them. I asked her what she means. I told her I'm her mom, and I love her, and I want to understand.

She said, "It's just that, you know, you're not a kid, so you just can't understand what I'm going through."

I thought, If she only knew.

Then, it hit me--how many times do I do this to God? When I'm hurt, or something doesn't go right, or I feel lonely or rejected, my first instinct is to want a person to talk to. (Forgive me, I'm taking off my mask here.) I want to talk to someone who understands, someone who can hug me and say they know how I feel, someone who will sympathize with me.

But, the Bible tells me Jesus is the best One for me to go to because we don't have "a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need," (Hebrews 4:15-16 NASB).

It hurt when Sara felt she couldn't share her feelings with me because she thought I wouldn't understand. The Bible talks about how a parent-child relationship mirrors the relationship we have with God. And I don't want to hurt the heart of God. Instead of going to others first, I will practice taking everything to Him, because He promises to give me all that I need.

School Apothecary

2012-01-16T13:56:00.006-05:00

I have been remiss in posting a picture of the lovely apothecary cabinet that my talented husband made for me for Christmas. The drawers can switch so it can rest vertically or horizontally (which is really cool), and the stain colors look great in my library.

It is perfect for my paper clips and other miscellaneous stuff that didn't have a home in my office. Now whenever I need a clip, I know exactly where to find it!

I am blessed to have a woodworking husband. Unlike Red, on PBS's The Red Green show, my husband is handsome AND handy. :)

e-mealz to the rescue!

2012-01-14T16:58:00.003-05:00

I don't know about everyone else, but I am terrible at menu planning. I'm not sure why, since I understand the concept and I have plenty of recipes for meals that I regularly fix. Maybe it's the process. I should just do a week at a time (make up menus, create a shopping list, and type it all up), but my perfectionism gets in the way and I try to tackle a six-week rotating menu, all at once. Of course, that doesn't work well and I stack everything in a big pile and stuff it in the cabinet for next time.

Well, I've found an answer to my problem! E-mealz.com is a WONDERFUL site. They have menus tailored to specific stores (or not, if you so choose), and Walmart is one of them. I have subscribed to the Walmart lo-fat family plan, which gives me seven weekly recipes with a grocery list that is Walmart specific--which means I should be able to find everything on my list. I don't know about you, but I've been highly frustrated when I have managed to go to the store with another plan and some key ingredient isn't in stock. With e-mealz, I have not had this problem.

It only costs $1.25 per week, and the best part is the whole week's menu is always under $100! I've been doing this for a couple of months, and I've been within $15 of their projected total. I am ecstatic! And, my family loves the meals--twice baked potatoes, rotisserie-chicken tacos, bbq chicken...it's all "regular" food, and it tastes great, too!

If you think you'd like to try it, just click the banner above and it will take you to their site. You can view sample menus, and you can sign up for just 3 months, to try it out. Better yet, print a sample menu and fix one of the meals and see how you like it (that's what I did).

I have no idea who signs up and who doesn't, whether you visit or not, so no pressure. I just want to pass along something that I think is fabulous!

I don't particularly enjoy blogs that are laden with ads, but I put the e-mealz banner at the top of my blog so I can get credit, should you decide to click on it. :)

Happy Great Auntie and other Pictures

2012-01-12T21:55:00.007-05:00

Great Auntie Selena finally got to hold sweet baby Hayley today! Sara was SO excited that Hayley visited us, and Hayley liked her, too. I think they bonded because they are fellow redheads. :)

Grandma (Lori) and the rest of us sat down for a light dinner. Mac and cheese, and pumpkin muffins for the older set...

...and Mom (Brittany) fed Hayley her first taste of Greek yogurt. She liked it!

After showers, Sara had some snuggle time with Daisy.

And last, but certainly not least, these are my lovely anniversary flowers that Glen brought home to me Monday. I have them hanging in the garage now to dry out.

One final note--did you buy milk and bread? We are supposed to get another snowy ice storm tonight. I'm hoping they cancel school tomorrow so I don't have to venture out if my driveway is icy. Regardless, I'm thankful for my warm home and my comfy bed, to which I'm retiring after a hot shower. My shoulder is confirming the weather forecast for tonight...it is singing like a toothache.

13 Years!

2012-01-09T12:28:00.005-05:00

It is hard to believe that thirteen years ago today I married my tall, handsome redhead. Above is our engagement picture. And below is my favorite wedding photo...I love this picture! I used to stare at it and think, "Wow, I'm really married to this guy!"

Since it was very cold and snowy that January, we waited until May to go on our honeymoon to Scotland. In this picture, we are standing at the lookout at Queen's View. I am terrible at remembering things, so I don't recall where we were in Scotland, but Glen would know.

I'm working on a "13 Memories" card for Glen for his anniversary present--reciting thirteen things, one for each year, that I fondly remember about our marriage. I'm excited to give it to him when he gets home from work tonight.

Glen has taught me so much during our marriage. I'm thankful for everything we've been through--the good and the bad--because it is part of who we are together today. I'm excited for what God has for our future together, and I'm thankful that I get to spend life with someone whom I love so much!

Thoughts on a Daniel Fast

2012-01-09T06:24:00.004-05:00

My church is holding a Daniel Fast again. If you read the first chapter of Daniel, you will see that this "event" is taken from the verses where, depending on the Bible version you use, Daniel purposed in his heart or made up his mind that he would not eat the King's food. He asked to be given only vegetables and water, so he wouldn't be drawn in to sinful behavior by indulging in rich foods and wine.

God gave the Israelites the Law to show them their need for a Savior. They simply couldn't do every thing perfectly--purely--and so damnation was the result. What joy the followers of Jesus must have felt when He rose from the dead, and they realized the truth that they were set free from the Law! Jesus came not to do away with the Law and its perfection, but to fulfill the requirement of the law. He was the ultimate blood sacrifice--it was finished with Him, and we are no longer bound to that Law. What joy! What freedom!

Fasting (or the suggestion that I do so), and the response of my flesh to it, gives me what I imagine must be a small taste of the difficulty people felt in trying to keep the Law.

"I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:21-25).

Even though I struggle with this discipline, I know that my acceptance isn't measured by my success. How thankful I am for my salvation in Jesus!

Epiphany (Three Kings Day)

2012-01-07T21:46:00.010-05:00

Have you ever seen "Epiphany" on your January calendar? In case you didn't know, it is a celebration of journey of the Magi--three wise men (or Kings)--who followed the star, seeking the King of the Jews.

(Although Epiphany is actually January 6th, we celebrated today because Glen was off work.)

We started our celebration with dinner. For dessert, instead of the traditional "King Cake," I made a King Trifle. It was yummy, if I say so myself. :-)

After we finished eating, Glen read to us the story from the Bible (Matthew 2) about the magi visiting Jesus.

Our "three kings" made paper lanterns (complete with battery-operated votives) to carry about while searching for King Jesus. Iain carried the gold (coins), Sara the "myrrh" (whole nutmeg), and Kyla the "frankincense" (perfume).

The magi encounter King Harold (Herod) on their journey, and are questioned about this person they are seeking.

After they wander for a while longer, they are warned in a dream not to report back to King Herod anything they discover.

They eventually find baby Jesus in Mary's arms (but there's no picture because Mom was Mary and the photographer).

This event was capped with a gift presented to each of our children.

Regardless of how silly they thought the whole process was, I am convinced that they will remember this passage of scripture well, now that they've acted it out.

I wonder how all the families that lost toddler or baby boys to King Herod's wrath felt about this newborn King? I need to remember their sacrifice, when I start to complain about something hard in my life.

What are Parental Rights in Public Schools?

2012-01-07T10:54:00.002-05:00

I am posting this from an email that I received as a subscriber of parentalrights.org. This is a real concern. I talked with a family who recently moved to WV who decided to homeschool because the grade school that their daughter was attending would not allow for any parental visits without 48 hours advanced notice to the school administration. (This was a Marion County, WV, elementary school, but I do not remember which one it was.)

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When we were in school, several parents were there on a regular basis helping out in the classroom or the library, chaperoning field trips, or leading special reading or art programs. They were just doing their part to improve our education.

But parents are not allowed in public schools today. Sure, there are those increasingly rare exceptions. But in general, a parent cannot even visit, let alone sit in on a class or become a regular part of the classroom community. And those terrific school districts sprinkled around the country who do still allow parents entrance grant it as a privilege, not as a parental right.

Washington Times columnist Jay Matthews recently lamented this fact in an article called “What’s Wrong with Parents Visiting a School?” Matthews had spoken with two sets of parents, each of whom had asked to sit in on a class with their child, whom they were looking to enroll in the school. In each case – one in Fairfax, VA and the other in Arlington – the answer was a solid, “No.”

That’s not to say schools should open their doors to just anyone. But Matthews’ article highlights the bigger picture – even parents familiar to the school and with children in attendance are being walled out by government regulations and bureaucratic policies.

We have come a long way from the 1986 Department of Education report which asserted – as the first principle in the Classroom section of the report – that “Parental involvement helps children learn more effectively.” And by depriving our schools of the parental presence, these policies have robbed the parents, the teachers, and especially the students of a terrific resource.

So, what if you are that parent and your child is in that school? How can you impact what and how your child learns? The answer is, you can’t.

According to the Supreme Court’s decision in Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), citing Meyer v. Nebraska (1923), any government action that “unreasonably interferes with the liberty of parents or guardians to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control” is unconstitutional. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the Ninth Circuit determined in Fields v. Palmdale (2005) “that the Meyer-Pierce right… does not entitle individual parents to enjoin school boards from providing information the boards determine to be appropriate….” And the current Supreme Court has chosen not to review that court’s decision, leaving it as binding law in the west and as a dangerous precedent for the rest of the country.

So once your child steps onto school grounds, you no longer have a say. You have been effectively “walled out,” and the schools can do and teach whatever they want. Here’s what the court in the Palmdale case decided:

“Parents…have no constitutional right… to prevent a public school from providing its students with whatever information it wishes to provide…when and as the school determines that it is appropriate to do so…. Although the parents are legitimately concerned with the subject of sexuality, there is no constitutional reason to distinguish that concern from any of the countless other moral, religious, or philosophical objections that parents might have to other decisions of the School District – whether those objections regard information concerning guns, violence, the military, gay marriage, racial equality, slavery, the dissection of animals, or the teaching of scientifically-validated theories of the origins of life.”

In 1997, father David Parker found out the hard way that he could not even opt his child out of teachings his family found offensive. His story and others are told in the new docudrama Overruled: Government Invasion of Your Parental Rights now showing (free!) at OverruledMovie.com.

Consider these comments by three viewers of the film:

“This is very possibly the most important 35 minutes you will spend in front of your computer this year, and maybe in your life!” – JohnSc001 on YouTube
“The movie really opened my eyes about an area of government invasion into American's lives I did not know existed.” – Dale W. on Facebook
“So shocking! Thanks for letting us know what’s going on.” – MrDiscostarship on YouTube

Please take a few minutes to see for yourself how parental rights in America are being eroded right under our noses. Then find out what you can do to stop it.

Will schools continue to wall out all parents as they have in recent years? That remains to be seen. But one thing we already know – we as parents are powerless to stop them, unless we take a stand and demand that traditional parental rights be restored!

Sincerely,

Michael Ramey
Director of Communications & Research

Parental Rights

2012-01-03T16:29:00.002-05:00

If you value the privilege of making decisions regarding the welfare and education of your children, it is important that you consider supporting parentalrights.org. Click here, to learn more.

My Knight in Shining Armor

2012-01-02T20:16:00.007-05:00

There he is, folks, my hero.

For some bizarre reason, I thought I'd be able to just run to Walmart and get groceries and then get back before the roads got bad tonight. Silly girl, I am. I failed to realize that everyone else in the tri-county area was thinking the same thing.

You know that still, small voice? Mine was saying, "Just run up to Food Lion and come back. Their produce is better anyway, and you'll be sure to get back soon." Did I listen? No. Do I wish that I had? YES! Am I so very, very, very, very thankful for my wonderful, fearless husband? You have no idea.

After skating to my van, I left Walmart ice rink, I mean, parking lot and decided to go down the back exit, since I was afraid I'd get hung up at the main entrance. That was a good decision, based on how icy the roads were. I went out Rt 73, and thankfully the light was green. Although I didn't make it through, I was the first one in line at the red light, and on level ground.

I got through the Hardee's intersection and made it all the way through the next few lights and down Rt 250 past Muriale's restaurant before things got really bad. I was praying fervently going up the next hill, and my traction control light kept buzzing on the dash--which made me want to throw up I was so nervous. I got to the top of the hill and a big tanker semi was coming down the hill, so I prayed that he would be safe.

When I got down the hill above Pizza Hut, I was really worried about getting stuck on the hill before the light by Mon Power. Thank God, He was gracious enough to let me be only a couple cars back...that alone was bad enough. I managed to get enough traction by cutting a sharp left into the oncoming traffic lane (I had a green arrow, thankfully) to get through the intersection and out Locust Ave.

I was feeling waves of relief at making it that far without incident, and I felt home free--until I remembered the hill above Wings Restaurant. I noticed several red tail lights, and I flat out panicked. Afraid that a bunch of cars were stuck on the hill, I pulled into Wings' parking lot and called Glen.

"I'm stuck at Wings! I can't go any further! I don't know what to do!" I wasn't crying, but I could taste the terror-flavored adrenaline that my body was pumping out.

Glen said he'd come get me, and I could drive his Element (um, why didn't I take his 4-wheel drive vehicle on my excursion?) and he'd drive the van home .

"No, I'm scared. I'm scared for you, too. I don't know what to do!"

"Just sit still, I'll be right there."

He came and got me, I drove his Element up the hill without a single problem, and he fish-tailed my van all the way home to the driveway.

My husband is a rock-star super hero, in case you didn't know.

I love him so much, and not just because he rescued me. That's just highlighting everything tonight. :)

A Re-Newed Year

2012-01-01T17:11:00.004-05:00

"Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth...put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him," (Colossians 3:2,10 NASB).

With a new year comes pressure to make resolutions--firm determinations to change. But we need to keep perspective when doing so, or we will soon fail and give up--as I'm sure many of you, like me, have experienced before.

In the verse above, the word that is translated "renewed" literally means "renovated." Now, if you've been through a home renovation, you may be groaning at the thought of that meaning. But, it's exciting to me.

When our previous home's bathroom was being redone, it took a long time. We started the work ourselves and ended up overwhelmed, so we called a contractor to finish it. It wasn't fun during the process--it was painful, at times (especially when the oil-based paint forced a pregnant me into a hotel because of fumes)--but the end result was wonderful. I would go into the room and just sigh, loving the whole look and feel of it.

The temptation to reform ourselves with resolutions usually doesn't work because it takes work to stick to them, and often it takes more work than we are prepared to face. But, when we ask God to do the work--to renew, to renovate--our lives, He gives us the strength, and He goes at a pace we can handle without being overwhelmed. Isn't that exciting?

The pastor who spoke at our church this morning talked about Haggai chapter 1, where God informed the people that He was basically frustrating their plans because they were not doing what He wanted them to do. I took that as confirmation of what God has been telling me for a while now--I have to put Him first, to seek Him first, if I want to succeed at anything. And furthermore, if I do manage to succeed in accomplishing something, nothing really matters for eternity, if my goals don't align with His plans.

Ads bugging you? Protect Yourself!

2011-12-30T10:05:00.007-05:00

Some of you may have read my post from a while ago about my going off of Facebook and why. This post isn't more of the same. Rather, I want everyone to know there is a way to block companies from tracking your online activity, thus stopping those pesky ads on your computer.

There is free software, called Do Not Track Plus (or DNT+), which will block all tracking from your computer. It gives you the option to click on social tracking buttons (such as the Facebook "like" button), but it is at your discretion, as opposed to being automatic.

If you are like me, your computer is running painfully slow while waiting for ads to download. Ours was as slow, if not slower, than our old dial-up provider, Juno--which is nuts, considering how much I pay per month for "high speed" internet.

After calling Time Warner about my Roadrunner email taking forever to load, and getting the runaround about the ad situation, I was thrilled to read about DNT+ in USA Today. I promptly got online and downloaded the software and it took about 1 minute from beginning of download to end of install.

Once installed, it puts a tiny circle in the upper right corner of your browser window, and a number appears inside the circle to indicate how many tracking attempts are being blocked for you. If you click on the circle, it opens a box that lists who was blocked. When I visited a coupon site that was linked to my friends blog, I was amazed to see that 15 tracking attempts were blocked!

I've only had the software installed for an hour, and all I've done is check my email, look at my friend's blog, visit Pinterest, and my husband visited a couple websites. And my all-time total is 129 tracking attempts blocked, which represents 8 social buttons, 16 ad networks and 105 tracking companies!

The best bonus is that the performance of my computer is back to super-fast, and I don't have those annoying ads blinking in the sidebars of websites I visit.

So, based on my own experience, I highly recommend this free software.

Click here to check out DNT+.

Disclaimer: I am not affliiated with DNT+ in any way, nor do I get any sort of compensation for this recommendation. I am merely spreading my joy at finding this wonderful product. :)

The Day After

2011-12-26T08:27:00.006-05:00

Depending on the previous day's event--what it was, what expectations were held for it, etc.--the "day after" can be a mixed-bag of emotions. For some (most?), Christmas is a happy time, albeit stressful; but others find it emotionally taxing, if not downright depressing. I'm not one of the latter, but I do tie my happiness up in expectations far too much, so the potential for me to be disappointed is greater than it should be.

Today would have been my mom and dad's 47th (I think) wedding anniversary. For my mom, it is a hard time of the year, since today was usually filled (prior to Dad being too sick) with after-Christmas shopping and lunch out at a restaurant. Instead, she's at home debating on whether to let herself in at the donation center she works at, in order to keep herself busy.

We are going out to see her in a little while, since our weekend didn't work out for us to go then. Isn't it funny how things can turn out so differently from what you envision? One moment, you are planning the future, the next moment the future is profoundly different and you aren't sure what to do with your plans. Thank God for His tender care during times like these.

My sister, Lori, brought Christmas presents to our home on Christmas eve. Here is a picture of mine:

This is my dad, a handsome twenty-one year old new enlistee in the U.S. Navy. This gift is especially touching, since I've missed my dad horribly recently. Or rather, I've missed what I could have had but threw away because I spent too much time being angry at him for things that I should have just forgiven him for.

That's how "the day after" plays out, though. Like the Cat's in the Cradle song, you waste time on things that don't matter, and then later try to get the time back when it's too late. Thankfully, God is in the restoration business.

Is there anything you are resisting? Something that you need to do, or someone you need to call or forgive? Please don't waste time. The day after, when it's too late, will bring pain and sorrow that Jesus can heal, but it still has the power to haunt you. Don't wait until it's too late to do the right thing. Do it now. Be vulnerable; reach out; listen carefully, and do what you know you are supposed to do.

Godspeed to you. May you have a great, fresh-start new year.

Joyous Giving

2011-12-22T09:05:00.012-05:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, this year we are doing Christmas differently--no electronics, and our kids are only getting things that fit into their stockings. This may sound cruel to some, but I hate the furious ripping open of toys and then looking for what's next, which I said would never come to our home but it did anyway. Thus the change in gifting for the year.

I think that this change, combined with other things going on in my extended family that have been hard, has made this holiday season feel odd and dampened our excitement some as a result. So we signed up to sponsor three children from Compassion International, to get our focus off of ourselves. I let each Campbell kid pick out a child, with the only requirement being that they had to pick one with a heart symbol, which means they've been waiting for a long time for a sponsor.

When I contacted Compassion to ask some questions about how to mail things, the representative that I spoke with told me something amazing--two of the children we selected had never had a sponsor before, and the child that Kyla chose has had two sponsors that never followed through. It was wonderful to see how excited my kids were about this information.

They each have their child's bio printed out and they keep it in their rooms. We got our sponsor packets from Compassion last week, and they had a bookmark with the child's picture and info on one side, and a list of prayer requests on the other side. I can't tell you how much joy it gave me to hear my little Sara praying through her list for her child, Sharon.

A bonus that I didn't think of when we signed up is how our kids will get letters from their sponsored children in their native Spanish dialect. It will be translated, but it will still be fun for them to see a letter written in another language from their new friends.

All day yesterday was spent sending email greetings to our new kids, and then making cards and pictures and letters to send to them. Kyla's friend is Nicole, and her birthday is in March, so she made a birthday card for her. Iain's friend, Louis (pronounced Lou-eese, we learned), likes soccer, so Iain was excited to tell him about how he enjoys playing basketball.

Below are the pictures that we put on the new sponsor sheets. Each Campbell kid wanted their picture taken with Daisy:

It takes about six months to get letters to the kids and then to hear back from them. Our kids are excited about hearing from their new friends, so it gives them something to look forward to...and maybe they won't groan as much when I ask them to get the mail now. :)

Last Sunday, December 18th, was Glen's birthday. We had afternoon plans, so while Daddy walked the dog, the kids and I quickly decorated the dining room and had his present ready for him when he came back.

I love catching expressions when someone opens a gift. I think he liked his new gloves, and I love being able to surprise him with something he actually likes...

That afteroon, Iain had a basketball game, so I took the girls to a birthday party for Sara's friend, Chelsey. Sara got her face painted at the party and she was sad to wash it off, so I took a picture so she could remember it.

Glen is off from Christmas Eve through Thursday, and we are excited to have him home with us. We are going to be some of the crazy people who are in stores on December 24th...but that's okay. The weather is supposed to be mostly sunny and near 40 degrees, and we'll be together, so it will be a wonderful day!

Memories...

2011-12-16T08:54:00.002-05:00

Remember Weebles?

"Weebles wobble but they don't fall down. "

I remember when my sister and I got our Weebles set. Our baby sister was in the hospital to get tubes put in her ears (I was 8 years old, I think...many moons ago), and Lori and I were in the waiting room playing with our new Weebles set. It came with a treehouse and a couple other kids, and I think a dog, and maybe a cat, too. (Isn't it cute that all I have left is a red-headed girl?)

As Christians, don't you think we are like Weebles? If we have a strong relationship with Christ, things may make us wobble--and maybe tip us over for a short time--but we bounce back; bad times can't keep us down when we are plugged into the source of true strength. He keeps us upright!

Disorganization Is A Heart Problem?

2011-12-15T18:34:00.004-05:00

I'm working through a book called, "I Used To Be So Organized: Help for Reclaiming Order and Peace," by Glynnis Whitwer. She is amazing.

While everything I've read in the first parts of the book (prior to the specific organizational tips) has been great--dealing with spiritual and relational issues--the self-examination section hit me hard. Here's a quote that stood out to me, followed by some self-examination "red flags" that she lists:

"I believe if your heart is where God wants it to be, you'll see things with new eyes, have more peace, and feel less pressure to get things just so [emphasis mine].

"Before moving on, take some time for a self-examination. Are there things in your heart that need some attention? Some red flags might include:

Comparing yourself to others.
Being overly concerned with what others think or say.
Putting tasks over people.
Entertaining resentful, unkind thoughts about others.
Unforgiveness.
Believing that you're the only one who can get things done.
Judgmental thoughts."

Um, hello? Methinks, since I struggle with ALL of these things, that God had a hand in my purchase of this book.

The funny thing is, I wouldn't associate these heart issues with organizational difficulties. But, if you look at this list, all of these things have to do with motivation. If my motivation is God-centered, instead of me-centered (or opinion-of-me centered), then I will only care what God thinks--and in order to know what He thinks, that requires time spent in His presence.

Conversely, when I don't spend time with God, praying about priorities and asking for wisdom, then my life will be spent rushing around trying to accomplish what I think I should be doing--wearing myself out feeling like I've never done enough, or feeling like what I have done isn't good enough. Sadly, this is what I usually do.

If I'm not feeling worn out, I always have this level of performance anxiety running through me that feels like a constant buzz in my head--thoughts that tell me I am lazy, or guilt over spending money that I didn't need to spend or from wasting food that I fully intended to cook.

So, I feel like I've had an epiphany. This disorganization and clutter (even if my house doesn't look like a hoarder's) is a symptom of the clutter in my head, which is a symptom of my priorities being askew.

I'm so glad that God gives wisdom without expressing disapproval (James 1:5), aren't you? I'm going to exercise the wisdom of a self-evaluation, and ask God to help me to declutter some unwanted and unnecessary thoughts and behaviors before I make any new plans to tackle my task management.

The Skandalon

2011-12-14T12:30:00.004-05:00

He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! (Luke 17:1 NASB).

This is such a festive time of year, but it also seems that the holidays bring out the grumpiness in some people, such as the man I encountered last night. I went to pick up some books at the Marion County Library. As I was driving up Adams Street, I debated whether to park in the free 20 minute spot across the street from the library, or to pull into the paid lot beside the library. I elected to pull into the lot, and since it was after 4:30, I didn't think it was an issue. Boy, was I wrong!

Even though the attendant had let me park there for free when I came at a similar time on a different day, he wasn't in a giving mood last night. He chased me down, yelling at me that it was a paid lot. His appearance, being rather scraggly, served to make the whole experience rather unnerving.

Jesus promised us that stumbling blocks (offenses) will come. In the above verse, He used the word inevitable, which means: "certain to happen; unavoidable."

The Greek word for "stumbling blocks" in this verse is skandalon, which means: 1) the movable stick or trigger of a trap; 2) any impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble or fall; 3) any person or thing by which one is (entrapped) drawn into error or sin.

If you can picture a box trap, the kind that is propped up by a stick, and tied to the stick is a rope that leads away to a hiding place (like a bush). When the prey goes to the bait in the trap, the stick is jerked away by the predator and the prey is now caught in the trap.

Doesn't that make the issue of offenses seem more clear? Every time a person, or a situation, offends us or causes us to stumble in our faith, it is a potential trap. When we take the bait--such as responding in anger or withdrawing--we can get trapped in bitterness and resentment, the unfortunate consequence of which is spreading our venom to others.

Since opportunities abound for offenses, I am praying that God will help me to guard my heart against them--so I don't end up being a stumbling block to others!

Love Poem

2011-12-12T22:12:00.004-05:00

...left for me on the fridge by my sweetie. He made my day! :)

Pictures!

2011-12-08T21:26:00.011-05:00

I think I mentioned before that we're starting a new tradition this year of using an Advent wreath. Here's our wreath for this year...

but I need to get taller candles to make this more safe. Iain is especially concerned that we're going to burn down the house when these short ones are lighted.

Daisy puppy was only around 4 weeks old when this was taken...

but at almost 6 months, she looks more like a dog than a puppy now. I think she looks like the dog on the PBS show, "Martha Speaks," so I've been calling her Martha.

And she has made herself part of the family...

As a fun school thing that doesn't seem school-ish, I bought some Poetry Magnets. If you haven't heard of Poetry Magnets, here's what they look like:

They come in various tiny packs (think a little larger than the mini Altoid mint containers) of around 70 pieces, up to the basic starter kit of over 400 (which is on its way to us). I bought the "Love" one, and my kids had a blast with it, so I ordered the bigger one. (It is rated for age 16+, so I may need to weed out some words that I don't want to define for them.) At any rate, the kids spent over a half hour organizing "poems" on the fridge.

And here are Iain and Kyla reading chapter books on the couch. Of course, Iain has to pose for the camera. Must be the boy in him. Or the comedian.

Speaking of funny things, we are looking forward to our homeschool co-op's annual Christmas party and talent show tomorrow night. If you live in the Fairmont, WV area, and you'd like to come see some homeschoolers in action, the party starts at 6:30 at Trinity Assembly of God, in Whitehall, WV.

Feeling Needy? Gifts Are Coming!

2011-12-03T22:16:00.006-05:00

So, I have a confession to make. I like to buy things for myself. One of my "love languages" is gifts. But I'm picky--I enjoy most gifts, but I only feel loved by a gift if the giver knows me and gives me something I like. That may sound horrible, but it is how I am.

While washing dishes this evening, I was thinking about two deliveries that are on their way to me, one from JC Penney and the other from Amazon. I was feeling that "Christmas Eve" sense of anticipation at getting my new stuff that I ordered. I followed that thinking with a sort of congratulatory thought of how it doesn't matter that I don't get excited about getting Christmas gifts because I just buy my own stuff. I meet my own needs.

Hmm...maybe you can guess that my next thought, which I feel certain was prompted by the Holy Spirit, was that God is supposed to meet my needs.

Then, I pondered what I've cheated myself out of, what joy or surprise or contentment I stolen from myself by being impatient when I'm needy. I thought, I wonder how different I might be today if I took a breath and counted to ten and then prayed for God to help me with my needs, so I could see if they truly were needs or if they were just wants, or something to stuff into a hole that's developed in me because I'm not wholly committed to Him.

So, now I'm on the hook. God has let me get by with ignoring conviction for too long. That small tug that I've felt has turned into a full-blown call to surrender myself to Him. All of me. Even the part that gets giddy when I hear the UPS truck pull up the road.

And, the funny thing is that, as is usual business in God's ironic, paradoxical way, I'll give this (seemingly) big thing up and I'll receive far more than I can think or imagine in return.

Gee...that makes me feel excited, just thinking about it! :)

My Little Blessings

2011-12-01T21:28:00.004-05:00

I don't know about other moms, but I regularly feel like a failure. I hate it when I lose my cool, or when I get frustrated because my children's hearts aren't showing godly attitudes--mostly because I feel to blame for everything they do wrong, especially when I'm not showing a godly attitude!

Such an instance came this evening, which makes me feel like the day was a waste. But then, God gives me such a delightful burst of grace and love in the form of a note from my sweet Sara:

In case you can't read it, it says, "I (heart) U mom you are very kind wat would i do with out you"

Sigh.

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies!

2011-12-01T13:41:00.009-05:00

The Girls' Ministries at our church does a Christmas Cookie fundraiser this time of year, and since I'm a sponsor (teacher), I am in charge of baking some cookies. And, boy did I bake! (My kids were taste testers).

White chocolate macadamia nut

Chocolate brownie

Christmas fruit and nut

Lemon flavored raspberry swirls

Orange flavored chocolate swirls

I felt like I would fall over from fatigue last night. I honestly don't know how my wonderful husband stands on his feet all day, practically every day, for a living. How thankful am I that he is so dedicated! It is hard enough standing on our wooden floor at home, let alone doing that all day on concrete at Walmart. Thanks for working so hard for us, sweetie! We love you!

Christmas Blessings

2011-11-28T20:33:00.008-05:00

Like last year, we are doing our "Blessing Box," which we will start on the first of December. We'll read our blessings on Christmas Eve, after we eat our dinner.

In addition to the blessing box, I am making my own list of blessings, and things I'm thankful for, in this pretty journal I found at Big Lots.

This picture isn't clear, but you may be able to tell that the inside pages are pretty, too. :)

High on my blessings list are my precious Campbell kids. Iain seems to have inherited his dad's ability to crack me up. We were playing a math Quizmo game, and the kids were getting mini marshmallows as treats. Iain rolled his on the dining room table and it picked up some random pencil lead flecks in the perfect place...

...and he said, "Look, it's Frosty, the Snowman..." We were all laughing our heads off.

For Christmas, we are doing a new thing this year by celebrating Advent. I've largely neglected this celebration, but had some fond memories come to mind after flipping through a new book that I bought last year, after reading my friend's blog.

When I was younger, we attended a church that would light Advent candles. I was thrilled with this, mostly because I knew that the final candle before Christmas meant that Christmas Eve was very near (which meant presents, of course!). But, as Lisa Whelchel explains in her book, that's okay. :)

I'm not going to kill myself trying to do all the activities, but I'm going to light the candles (I'm already behind, not realizing that Advent started with the last Sunday in November...yikes!). And, I plan to go over the explanations of Christmas traditions, which are listed here:

I'm feeling rather disgusted with the commercialism of Christmas, so I'm hoping and praying that this will restore my excitement for the holiday. I know that sounds horrible, but the whole thing just frustrates me...the gimme, gimme attitudes, police being called in to settle fights in stores on Black Friday (someone got shot at a Walmart in another state)...it's all nuts!

I want my kids to see Jesus in this holiday, to be thankful for what they have, and to reach out to others who are hurting. Turning the focus of all things Christmas toward Him is definitely a good way to begin.

Repost -- Devotional from Proverbs 31

2011-11-03T05:59:00.001-04:00

November 2, 2011

What I Don’t Believe

November 2, 2011

What I Don’t Believe
Glynnis Whitwer

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22 (NIV)

Every parent knows the frustration of warning a child against something … only to have him walk right into trouble, and suffer the consequences. “I told you so” doesn’t bring as much pleasure as we might have thought.

When my first son started driving, he decided that speed “limits” were speed “suggestions.” Friends told him just how far above the posted limits he could drive without getting a ticket, and he nudged past that. The police, however, have a different view of the rules. And my son learned that the cost of speeding isn’t worth the few minutes gained or the momentary adrenaline rush.

My son deceived himself. He talked himself into believing the rules didn’t apply to him. And for awhile he got away with it. But eventually the consequences caught up with him.

I’m not much different. I’ve been guilty of doing the same thing, only not with traffic rules. I’ve read Scripture and decided parts of God’s Word didn’t apply to me. I could not have been more wrong.

Growing up, I attended church faithfully and was taught from the Bible. But there were bits and pieces I ignored because they didn’t seem relevant. Like honoring and submitting to my husband (Colossians 3:18). Or really forgiving someone who had offended me (Matthew 6:14-15). Or staying away from horoscopes (Isaiah 47:12-14).

It’s not that I stomped my foot and demanded my own way. I simply ignored God’s teaching, and quietly went about creating a faith based on my opinions and beliefs. Basically I created Christianity according to Glynnis.

Isn’t it tempting to define God by our own understanding? It’s so easy to say, “God would never …” and then fill in the blank with how we think He should behave. Instead of checking that belief against the entire counsel of Scripture, we create a very safe and non-threatening God. We bring God down to our level, and forget His holiness.

James 1:22 says we deceive ourselves when we hear but don’t obey God’s Word. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to be deceived — even by myself.

So what changed for me? I got honest and admitted this tendency to go my own way. I confessed that I didn’t fully trust God’s wisdom. Then I decided to accept God the way He is. It was a simple (not always easy) decision to trust that God’s character is perfect, that His ways (not mine) are really best for me.

Choosing what I don’t want to believe is dangerous. I might not get a ticket, but it has opened doors of consequences that took years to live through. But choosing Whom to believe is the wisest thing I’ve ever done.

Dear Lord, You are perfect and holy in all Your ways. Forgive me when I try to put You in a box, or make You into who I think You should be. Help me to accept that I won’t understand everything this side of heaven, and that I should just trust You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Related Resources:

Are you ready to stop doing life on your terms? If so, you can make a decision today follow God. Click here for more: Do You Know Him?

Did Glynnis’ comment about horoscopes surprise you? To hear why Glynnis stays away from astrology, visit her blog.

For help on finding more order and peace in your life God’s way, check out Glynnis’ newest book, I Used to Be So Organized.

When you purchase resources through Proverbs 31 Ministries, your purchase supports the many areas of hope-giving ministry we provide at no cost. We can’t compete with prices offered by huge online warehouses, therefore, we are extremely grateful for each and every purchase you make with us. Thank you!

Application Steps:
Identify one question you’ve had about the Bible, and commit this week to researching it. An easy way is to visit Biblegateway.com and do a search for a specific topic.

Reflections:
Our culture wants us to believe truth is relative. Can I identify one of God’s truths that has commonly been denied?

How have I personally benefited by believing and obeying some of God’s hard truths?

Power Verses:
2 Timothy 4:3, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (NIV)

1 Corinthians 2:3-5, “I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (NIV)

NaNoWriMo 2011

2011-11-01T11:56:00.005-04:00

Here I am, ready for another month of writing fun. Yes, with homemaking, homeschooling, and teaching three classes each week, it may seem crazy to add another thing to my to-do list. But, I do enjoy writing when I get to set my own goals!

For those who aren't familiar, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50,000 words between November 1st and November 30th, which requires an average daily output of around 1,670 words. I got up at 5:00 this morning, started my coffee pot (which I had primed last night), and wrote 2,153 words in one and a half hours. (Yeay me!)

You may be curious about what I'm writing. Well, I'm not exactly sure. The title is "Once Upon a Tea Room," which I shamelessly took from the (now closed) restaurant of the same name, located in Mannington, WV. I detest outlining a story or article, so I'm winging it at this point. It's exciting to see how things unfold, especially when one is just waking up and downing coffee. The first few chapters are sounding more like a young adult novel than the chick lit category that I put my book in. But, that's the beauty of NaNoWriMo--you are free to write as you like, without editing for spelling or grammar--it's just a month of literary abandon.

Kyla is inspired and she is signed up for the young writers option, and her goal is 25,000 words for the month. She is reading and writing prolifically these days, so I'm excited for her to join me on this journey!

Whether or not I succeed in having a great finished product, I just love the challenge of this. I have a hard time making myself stick to things, and finishing NaNoWriMo last year was great. Hopefully, this year I'll both finish and have a book that I'll be willing to let see the light of day when I'm done. :)

Here's an excerpt from my writing today. If you are willing to comment, I'd love to know what you think!

“Hey, wake up!”

Ellis turned to look at the girl who spoke. She was so lost in her thoughts about the diary that she didn’t hear what she said.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” said Ellis.

“I said that my name is Theria and I’m glad you came. This picnic is so annoying because my parents make me come when I’d rather stay at home. But I am so curious about what it’s like to live in the Wolk’s house that I came hoping to meet you. So, what’s it like?”

Ellis looked at the pale girl with even paler, blue eyes. Her golden hair was a mess of curls, made even more unruly by the wind that had picked up since they arrived at the picnic.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” said Ellis, trying not to giggle as the British accent sneaked out.

Theria looked at her sideways. “Why are you talking like that, you’re not from England—are you?”

Ellis burst out laughing. “No, silly, we moved from Pennsylvania. Actually, I’m from all over. My parents have lived in every state. And we even lived in Canada for a little while.”

Theria’s mouth dropped open. “Get out! Are you serious? What was West Virginia like? I hear the people there are weird and crazy, and they yell a lot and shoot guns in the air and run around barefooted all the time. Is that true?”

“Well,” Ellis pondered whether or not to admit that she was born in West Virginia. “I’m not sure about the weird and crazy part, but they do go barefooted in the summer,” she said.

“Oh,” said Theria, clearly disappointed with the bland answer. “Anyway, tell me about the house. Is it fun? I hear it is haunted.”

Haunted? Her parents hadn’t told her anything about it being haunted. Very interesting…

“…and then there’s supposed to be this room full of dolls and—“

“Wait!” said Ellis. “What did you say?”

“There’s supposed to be a lot of secrets in that old house, and they said the owner, Jane, had a big doll collection that she kept in the room on the west side of the house.”

“What do you mean, the room?” said Ellis. So much for it being a secret room.

“You know, the tea room.” said Theria, with a bit of impatience.

“The tea room?”

Theria huffed, now clearly annoyed. “How can you live there and act like you don’t know about this?”

“Um, because…I don’t?” said Ellis, frowning. “We’ve only been here a week, you know. And I am only twelve. It’s not like my parents give me a full report on every place we move to.”

Theria’s expression softened some. “Sorry. I love mysteries, and I’ve never been able to figure out what’s up with that house. Everyone talks about it, but they don’t say much. At least not much that makes sense. Maybe that’s on purpose. But it drives me crazy! Can I come stay the night with you?”

Ellis tried hard not to roll her eyes. Nothing was happening the way she imagined it would. She thought she would go to this picnic, eat a few pieces of fried chicken, smile politely, and then come back home. Now her secret room was not really a secret, and she was worried that her parents would want to investigate. She couldn’t let anyone find the diary, that much she knew for sure. Maybe letting Theria come over would be a good idea, to distract her parents for a while.
(copyright 2011 Selena Campbell)

My Lovely Life

2011-10-19T17:59:00.010-04:00

Today is the end of my husband's 5-day stretch of vacation. We've had great family time, and I'll miss him when he goes back to work tomorrow.

He spent time listening to Sara reading from her third-grade reader...

...after making our garage look amazing! Now, maybe most women wouldn't care how the garage looks, and you could add me to that category, IF our garage wasn't the first thing you see when you drive up to our house. We had a beautiful garage door installed a few months ago, but it ends up being open much of the time (kids having their bikes outside, Glen mowing, etc), and this was a room with a view that I didn't like people to see -- until now!

Glen installed wire shelving above the built-in wood shelving that was already there (which he painted) and was able to elevate much of the floor clutter with that and the hangers he put up on the other wall.

He made a great door for our crawl space access, which used to be just a piece of foam board stuck against the hole in the wall. And, the pièce de résistance -- the fancy paint job he did on the floor. Now I won't feel embarrassed if someone sees into our garage!

This is the pitcher full of flowers that I bought at "Country Prim & Folksy," in Mannington, when we went to have an early dinner at "Once Upon a Tea Room," their tea-themed restaurant. We were sad to learn that last night, when we were there, was the last night for this wonderfully quaint place, but we were thrilled that we made it there before it was too late. The food was fabulous, so I'm very sorry they closed down. The rest of my family ordered sandwiches, which were all yummy. I chose to embrace the theme, so I ordered "afternoon tea." This included a pot of tea, your choice of flavor (we chose Mango Ceylon, and it was a great choice!), and a delightful array of tea sandwiches and typical tea sweets, such as scones and shortbread. It was delicious, and I almost drowned trying to drink the whole pot of tea. :)

Reading your dog-themed book with your dog, a fringe benefit of homeschooling.

Playing Quizmo during school...nothing like turning math into a game!

Doing Saxon math with Sara and Iain. Note the spray bottle of bitter cherry spray that is kept close for the table-leg chewer that likes to lie under my chair.

Happy Sweetest Day!

2011-10-16T15:32:00.004-04:00

Sweetest Day is the third Saturday in October, and in 1998 it was October 17th. Not only was that date the holiday called "Sweetest Day," it was also the date that my sweet husband proposed to me.

That Saturday was a beautiful, warm day when, fourteen years ago, we went to Cooper's Rock for a picnic, and Glen asked me to be his wife. We've been through a lot together since then, and I know that our marriage is strong because of all that we've weathered together.

I'm so thankful for my wonderful, handsome, hardworking, dedicated man. He has made my life richer in so many ways, and I'm excited to see what the future has in store for us!

One Thousand Gifts

2011-10-07T19:04:00.005-04:00

I'm reading a wonderful book that I received for my birthday from my dear friend, Liz -- Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts." Ann is no stranger to stress and difficulty, being a homeschooling mom of six children, and losing her younger sister to an auto accident (she was run over by a delivery truck in front of Ann's childhood home). In this book, she encourages her reader to live in each moment and consider every one a gift from God, whether it feels good or bad.

The inspiration for her thought-pattern was encouragement to write a list of one thousand things she is thankful for, which she did, and she was surprised by how it changed her perspective. And that, perspective, is key to what she writes about--that our viewpoint is skewed and therefore we are in no place to pronounce judgment upon things, calling them "good" or "bad," since all things ultimately pass through the hand of God (read Job lately?).

At any rate, I'm going to do my own list. And number one on my list is this:

Beautiful children born to one who was told she would never have children.

Yes, they get on my nerves--they act up, don't listen, and often get distracted while supposedly cleaning their rooms (which is the biggest problem for Iain, with tons of Legos and an active imagination). Yet, they are so precious to me, and they make me laugh loudly with their silliness.

The other night we were snuggling on the couch, doing some before-bed reading of newly acquired library books, when I noticed that Sara was pushing out her tummy. It looked like a basketball, so I commented to that effect.

In an inspiration of silliness myself (which my kids love), I told her to suck in her belly flat, and then I proceeded to say, "This is a how dough starts out, but then the yeast kicks in and starts eating the sugars and making poo-poo bubbles (sorry, family word there) and then it gets bigger and bigger...Sara caught on and made her belly gradually stick out and we all laughed.

Of course, Iain and Kyla wanted to demonstrate how they could push out their tummies, too. Then, I told them I'd show them my belly (which, after three pregnancies pushing skin to it's limits, can be pushed out quite far). I pulled up my shirt and leaned back on the couch, sucking in my gut, when Iain said, "No Mommy, you have to make it flat."

Yes, I did actually laugh, rather long and hard.

.

Book Review: The Daughter’s Walk by Jane Kirkpatrick

2011-10-05T12:07:00.002-04:00

Click here to read an excerpt.

Historical novels attract me because I enjoy history much more now that I’m an adult than I did when I was a child. This particular novel is about how a Norwegian American, Helga Estby, and her daughter Clara, walked from Spokane, Washington, to New York City. In 1896. This was a dangerous journey for men to make, let alone two women, but they were successful. At least, they completed their journey. In order to consider it a success—which would have netted them a prize of $10,000—they needed to finish the journey by a certain time frame, which Clara’s sprained ankle prevented.

The author writes in an easy way, making the reading of this book enjoyable. Ms. Kirkpatrick took information about this walk and then fashioned a story about what happened after the ladies were finished. Although interesting, I was frustrated with the ending.

If you are looking for something to read on a cold, fall afternoon, while sipping some tea, this is the book for you.

Thanks to the publisher for a free copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Birthday, Sara!

2011-09-20T09:05:00.013-04:00

Sara Lael Campbell turned seven on September 17th, which was the same day as Trinity's annual Harvest Fest. Since she wanted to have a birthday party with her friends this year, we did two parties--one for friends the Saturday before her birthday and one with family the morning of the 17th.

Here's my beautiful Sara with her ice cream cake she had for the friend party. She's looking more like a young lady every day...

And here is Sara with her party guests, Emma, Faith and Hannah.

Sara's artistic big-girl friend (and sitter) Kate, graciously agreed to decorate the girls' nails at the party, which was a lot of fun! :)

After nails were done, presents were opened!

The week flew by, and before we knew it, we were partying again! Here's the princess cake that Sara chose for our family party...(actually, while they were writing her name on the ice cream cake, she said, "Aw, Mommy, we should have picked this cake!" She loves Disney princesses, and she was so disappointed that I told her we'd get it for our family party. :)

We capped off Sara's birthday with time at the Harvest Fest, where all the Campbell kids got some candy and Sara got to do the Treasure Island hunt on the volleyball court (which was all that she talked about doing).

It is hard to believe that seven years have flown by. My sweet baby girl continues to amaze me with her ability to read. She's in second grade this year, but she's reading on a fourth grade level (or maybe higher), and she's loving the grade three math that she's doing with her brother. Sara loves Barbie dolls, and she gets so emotional (like her mom used to) when she makes up adventures for them. Sara also loves American Girl dolls. She got one for Christmas last year (the first time she specifically asked for anything, ever), and she wants to get a friend for "little Sara," so she's saving up her birthday money and allowances. She's well on her way, with over fifty dollars saved already! I'm so proud of her.

Sara also loves Jesus with all her heart. I love to hear her in her room, belting out praise songs that she's learned in Kidz church, or making up her own. She sings with abandon, and I know that the Lord is thrilled with the way she pours out her heart to him.

Sara's favorite color is still yellow, but she also likes purple. We did an early birthday present for her in August, getting her a bedroom makeover. She chose purple and pink bedding and purple curtains, foregoing her "Dora the Explorer" decor for something more mature. She loves her big-girl room.

Daddy made Sara a jewelry box, which you can see on her chest of drawers, and he also made her a bed for her American Girl. Now Mommy needs to get busy and make some bedding (as Sara keeps saying).

My Day

2011-09-08T08:47:00.007-04:00

As you may have read in my previous blog post, our beautiful Georgia Boo van was rear-ended. It is finally in the shop, and now we are driving Snow White, a rental, until our van is fixed. While I am thankful for something to drive while my Honda is being fixed, I do not like this Town & Country's features. I will be so happy to get my own van back!

Some highlights of the last few days:

Wake up Tuesday to dead home phone. Again.
Made copies at church, dragging books and papers in and out of rain. Called Time Warner from church to tell them phone is out again.
On way home, remember that our van is to go to shop today.
Call shop and they come get my van.
Glen goes to hospital for a test.
Call Enterprise and they come to get me in Snow White. As we are leaving (around 2:40), we pass Glen on our street and I wave to him.
Get to Enterprise and remember that my driver's license is expired.
Can't call Glen to have him come rent van because our phone is dead.
Can't tell him I'm about to enter the Abyss that is the DMV because our phone is dead.
Enterprise takes me to the Fairmont DMV.
Sit in a chair at DMV for three hours watching the most amazing display of disorganization. Iain and I thumb wrestle for a while, to pass the time. Then we try index finger and pinkie finger wrestling, which doesn't work as well.
Finally get license and call Enterprise. They say they'll be there as soon as they can.
20 minutes pass; call Enterprise again. They say it will be a few more minutes.
It is 5:20 now.
I call my elderly neighbor to ask for my other neighbor's phone number, so she can walk over and tell Glen that I am still alive.
I call neighbor's cell phone and there's no answer.
Enterprise picks me up at DMV and we go back to rent Snow White.
Pull out of parking lot and almost get t-boned by a big truck.
Laughing hysterically now.
Get home and house is a wreck. Decide to get a sitter and have a good evening.
Sitter comes and Glen and I go out to dinner.
Felt tired after dinner and sat in parking lot of movie theatre for an hour before deciding we were too old to watch a 9:35 showing of a movie.
Go home and go to bed.
Wake up next morning, annoyed that kitchen is a mess. Coming down with my kids' head cold.
Sitting at dining room table eating, see guy wearing backpack walk up onto front porch.
Tell Glen that I think it's one of those guys selling educational books, and to tell him to get lost.
Glen invites the Time Warner service guy inside.
Time Warner guy works on our phone problem and discovers what is wrong.

She looks innocent, doesn't she? She argued that she was falsely accused, but a few minutes after the Time Warner guy left, she chomped up another wire under our desk. Thankfully, it wasn't attached to anything. She is now banned from the desk area.

Dragonfly Invasion

2011-09-03T09:50:00.006-04:00

This is a video of dragonflies swarming in our yard. There must have been one hundred or so, flying and swooping around. I've never seen anything like this before...

Here's a video closeup of one that Iain caught. They were all this big, but different colors.

The kids caught a few of the dragonflies in their nets. They were green and red, and some had electric blue on them, like this one:

Pretty amazing, huh?

More Pictures

2011-09-03T08:24:00.016-04:00

Here's Daisy when she was around 5 weeks old and still at the breeder's house:

And the pictures below are from this past week. She's a little over 9 weeks old now. It's amazing how fast puppies grow, especially ones that are turning into big dogs...

Oh, I wasn't going to bother those wires, not ME...

Being a camera ham:

Being her usual rag-dog self. She has a few hours of energy during the day, but she's pretty laid back for the most part.

My kids are all on toy and technology arrest for a while. We are starting back to school, and there was too much talk about "stuff," so I told them they could only play with educational-type toys through the week, and only use the computer for school assignments. Legos, Barbies, and LPS toys can only come out on Saturdays, and only if they do their chores and school work promptly, with a pleasant, joyful attitude.

Here are some things we did this week:

Kyla and Mommy did a clay facial...

Kyla read to Iain and Sara

Iain's sculpture made from Play-Doh (note the chocolate goatee)...

And some pattern-block creations...

My Funny Girl

2011-09-01T09:37:00.003-04:00

Sara asked if I would play checkers with her. She always alters the game into something totally abstract (which drives this first-born, do-it-by-the-rules mom nuts), so I suggested we play Connect 4 instead. We play and are even with four wins each, when I pull ahead winning the next two games. She obviously gives up and I easily win the next game.

"Are you letting me win?" I ask.

"Yes," says Sara.

"Okay, then we'll quit and you can go take your shower and get ready for bed." (It is 7:30 anyway.)

"It's not fair," Sara says, "I never wanted to play. I told you I wanted to play Pictureka!, I didn't want to play this!"

She stomps, demonstratively, up the stairs, yelling and crying, stomping more in her bedroom.I come upstairs and brush her teeth. She gets in the shower and is grumbling more. I tell her that what she said (about really wanting to play Pictureka!) was a lie, that she never mentioned that at all. She starts to cry.

"I said the wrong thing, Mommy. I never should have said that. I meant to say checkers."

I tell her that's better, but I explain, while drying her off, that she was still a poor sport.

"Why? Because I gave up and then said I wanted to quit?"

"Yes," I say, "And also because you stomped up the steps when you got mad."

"I wasn't stomping, I was heel dancing," says Sara.

"Heel dancing?" I laugh out loud and grab her into a hug, thinking she must really be tired.

"Heel dancing? Why did I say that?" Sara shrieks, laughing and crying at the same time, "I didn't mean to say that, I meant to say heel walking."

Kyla and Iain are downstairs cutting out pictures from magazine, making funny collage faces. Sara is sad because she has to go to bed and can't cut with them. She wants to know why she can't do it.

"Explain it to me, Mommy."

"No, I don't need to explain it. Go pick out a book and I'll read it to you."

"Why do you want to read to me? You don't like me."

"Why do you say that?" I ask.

"Because you're being mean," Sara says.

"I'm not being mean. You can't cut until tomorrow."

"I don't want to listen to any books," says Sara.

"Okay, you can go to bed then."

"Why? I thought you wanted to read to me!"

Funny girl.

Rambling Thoughts...

2011-08-26T14:50:00.008-04:00

So, I'm in Walmart, and I see a display for dishwasher soap that promises to get food off your dishes after it has been allowed to dry on them for 24 hours. My first reaction was, "Eeww!" But then I thought of how that relates to our lives.

How often does something happen, and you know that you are supposed to deal with it right away (like rinsing the dishes, if you aren't going to wash the immediately), but you are lazy (or angry) and don't do it? And then (24 hours?) later, you want to confront the issue even less (Ephesians 4:26, Hebrews 12:15).

Dried food on dishes requires some soaking (I hesitate to believe the claim that a certain soap will remove dried on food any better than another one...it's the hot water and force (and some presoaking) that does the trick; just like with washing the germs off your hands. Gotta actually scrub those puppies...but I digress). We also require some soaking in the Word, especially when we've allowed things to go on too long.

I am having something...a crisis of faith? Not sure if you'd call it a crisis, but I'm feeling compelled to really know what I believe and why (1 Peter 3:15), and to examine what I'm doing and my motives for doing what I do (such as why I homeschool). What exactly are my objectives in life? What are my expectations? And how do these line up with God's word? Do I understand what it means (and requires of me) to be a Christian? It seems that so many are forsaking the truth for a lie (Romans 1:25) these days. Just check out this post for an example: "A Laboratory for Christianity's Destruction."

My son has been having weird, apocalyptic-type dreams. Twice he dreamed that war was going on around us in Fairmont. He saw tanks, and shooting, and dead bodies littering the ground (and no, he has not (ever) watched any movies with war or killing in them). He also had a vision while he was at church. He was (actually) in the sanctuary, and he said he suddenly saw people throughout the room with pistols in their hands. He couldn't tell what they looked like because they looked shadowy (Acts 2:17).

Last night, I had a dream that various groups of people were chained up under tarps in the yards of other people. I was at the house of a lady who goes to my church, and she had a group of people in her yard, under a tarp. The tarp was over a small, low-slung tree, and all the people were up in the tree, so I couldn't see them well. She said that social services was coming to help her with them, because they were all violent. When I asked her why then didn't run away, she said they were all chained to a big desk. Bizarre.

How about you? Are you thinking about the meaning of your life? Do you wonder what God has you doing and why? Are you having any weird dreams?

New Pictures!

2011-08-22T05:15:00.015-04:00

Here are some new pictures of Haley, my great-niece. Isn't she a cutie-pie? She is the daughter of Brittany, my niece, who is the daughter of my younger sister, Lori. Got that?

And here is a picture of her mama, Brittany:

She's so beautiful. I can remember when she was born, and what a chunk she was, and how she would wear a sleeper with little pigs on it and I would sing, "She's just a piggy in a piggy suit," over and over and she would smile that Barney-smile that babies give you, the one where it's just their gums showing, and it looks like Barney's uni-tooth. It amazes me how quickly time flies. Brittany will be 21 the end of this October. Twenty-one years have just flown by...so important to savor the moments as they come, whether or not they are pleasant. Just being present and engaged makes time slow down. We spend so much time wishing it away because we don't like being in uncomfortable situations. But in this fallen, longing-for-Christ's-return world, so much of what we encounter is uncomfortable that we end up on the other side of 20 odd years wondering where all the time went. Stay awake and watch carefully--that's what God is telling me to do.

I put this flower up again because I love red, and I've never seen a flower like this before. The face is almost as big as a yellow sunflower, but it has multiple blooms on the stem. And the green parts are trimmed in dark purple. Truly a beautiful flower.

On to the reason for why I'm up, yet again, before the roosters...

Do you think Daisy is getting used to living here and is feeling pretty relaxed? I'd like to trade places with her, except for the deer poop-eating part.

Here is Daisy enjoying her new bed, adorned with all of her new toys. She prefers to crawl under an end table to rest, so you guessed it, this picture is staged.

And now, the reason that I still haven't finished writing my lessons plans for this year:

My rooster has a sign in his mouth, "Simplify," which I would do well to heed.

We are having a used-curriculum sale tomorrow during our homeschool registration meeting, and I hope to get this room organized and streamlined today (God help me!), so I can feel less overwhelmed when I walk into it.

Some Cheese With Your Whine?

2011-08-20T18:50:00.005-04:00

I was looking forward to today because I met my dear friend at Cracker Barrel for breakfast, and it was the first time I had official "me" time in a while. (No, going to the grocery store alone doesn't count, not that I've done that much.)

My normally bubbly, super-glad-to-be-with-me friend seemed out of sorts, so that put a bit of a damper on the morning. Then, I went to Walmart to get groceries and was there for what seemed like forever, longing to get back home so I could sit down. When I got home, all of my family was complaining about how long I was gone--like buying groceries is pure fun and I couldn't tear my happy self away!

Anyway, then we go see the Spy Kids 4 movie, which was full of gross humor but thankfully had a redeeming message at the end, and I come back home to fix dinner and have to stop the kids from letting the puppy chase them and bite their pants.

Did I mention that we have a new puppy and I don't get to sleep through the night? Nor do I have "alone" time in the mornings now? I didn't want this puppy, but I'm the one doing the work! I'm thinking how much I hate this change (not that I ever lovingly embrace any change in my life), when Oswald Chambers rebukes me with this comment from today's devotional:

"Lord, prove Thy consciousness in me, and self-consciousness will go and He will be all in all. Beware of allowing self-consciousness to continue because by slow degrees it will awaken self-pity, and self-pity is Satanic."

So, I guess if Corrie ten Boom can be thankful for fleas in the midst of a concentration camp, I can choose to thank God for a puppy, and for disappointing days, knowing that He is doing something in me..like major surgery to cut out the incredible amounts of selfishness that I'm obviously infested with.

To end on a happy note, here's a picture of the beautiful flowers that Glen planted on the side of our house. They look like a sunflower variant--anyone know what they are?

When Christianity Is Idolatry

2011-08-19T09:21:00.003-04:00

(This is a re-post of an article, by Matt Johnson, that appeared here.)

I am standing in front of a church congregation with a microphone in-hand. The pastor had asked me to give a short testimony about when I came to the church and what was going on in my life at the time. Here’s, essentially, what I said:

I came to the church during a confusing time in my life. I was struggling with theological and philosophical ideas and there were some people in the church who understood my questions and helped straighten me out.

Recollections of Idolatry

Fast forward about five years. I am on a stroll with my wife through a park on a sunny spring day. Out of nowhere I get a revelation. That little speech in front of the church all those years ago was idolatry.

The backstory to that mini-testimony is that a couple years prior, I’d come out of a rebellious, sinful time of my life. I’d gotten “straightened out” but I had never truly faced my sin before my savior. Instead, I’d accepted the counterfeit of deep theological study. I’d fallen for the subtle lie that knowledge of good Christian theology served as my justification.

All I’d done was exchange the truth for a lie and served created things for the Creator God (Rm. 1:25). I’d taken a good gift from God and used it for my own purposes of looking good in front of others. If I were to infuse some truth serum into that speech, it would sound a little more like this, “Hi, I am guilt-ridden over some past sin but I’ve pridefully never really faced the fact that my sin is treason against God. So rather than call it sin, I’ll just say I’ve been trying to crack a ‘theological problem’ so you’ll think I’m smart.”

When Christianity Becomes Idolatry

Even good Christian theology can become an idol. When Christian belief is information detached from the substance of Jesus’ objective work on the cross for sinners, it becomes idolatry. Like it or not, you and I are guilty of it. How so?

Do you live for the approval of others in the church?
Do you stew over your spiritual performance and personal holiness more than you steep in what God has already accomplished for you in Jesus?
Are you prideful about your biblical knowledge?
Do you love to debate finer points of theology with others and get angry when you’re challenged by your views?
Are you feeling burnt out and joyless in your service to those in the church?
Are you uncomfortable with suffering people and find you’re quick to recite Bible verses as a way to avoid awkward, personal engagement?

If you answered "yes" to any of these, there is a good chance you have taken God’s good gifts and used them for your own selfish purpose. You have used God to make yourself look good through your service, your knowledge, and personal growth. This form of idolatry is hard to detect because the “fruit bearing” looks good to everyone else. Let's face facts though; it's idolatry.

The problem is, like the Pharisees, we prefer our safe religion over the death of our selfish spiritual aspirations.

Religion is a Golden Calf

The clearest picture of idolatry in the Bible is the Exodus 32 narrative on the golden calf. This narrative isn’t simply a message that pagans, perverts, and addicts need to hear; it's also for religious folk like you and me. When God looked down from the mountain and found his people had crafted the Golden Calf, he wasn’t simply witnessing immoral living. He saw a people he had redeemed that had taken his good gifts and used them against him. While it's not explicitly stated in the text, the gold the Israelites used to make the calf was intended for God’s purposes. Later in the narrative we see the leftover gold is used for the building of the tabernacle. Just think about that for a minute. The Israelites used God's gift for their own selfish purposes. In creating the golden calf, the people had committed high treason. Even though the true God had always proven himself faithful, they just couldn’t wait. They needed a God that met them on their terms, a God of their choosing that they could define and control. We’re so quick to judge those primitive, control-addicted Israelites. What we miss in those people are you and me.

Hi My Name’s Joe Christian and I’m a Religious Addict

Religion is control addiction. In the appendix to Redemption, Mike Wilkerson comments on a lecture given by David Powlison at the 2008 CCEF conference titled, The Addict in Us All. Religious addiction has a least two components: impression management and escape from sin.

“Religiosity is about the show, the 'impression management,' and the trappings of religion, but not its faith and certainly not its God. Like any other addiction, religiosity serves as an escape from reality. Are you devastated by the loss of a loved one? 'God is sovereign,' blurts the stoic religious addict, like a knee reflex, and by this he means, 'Don’t feel it; don’t think about it; just detach yourself from it. Since God is sovereign, why should you bother?'

The religious addict escapes the reality of his own sin too....he justifies himself by the doing of and associating with religious stuff: serving, reading, teaching, praying, and church-going, along with adopting the lingo, aesthetic tastes, and moral lifestyle typical of other religious people. These are his “sacrifices” to gain his god’s favor and retain his righteous standing. But he is as deceived and rebellious as the Israelites imitating orthodoxy through idolatry.”

Religion is About Control Amidst Brokenness

Religion is God-talk we use for our own controlling purposes. We use his word as a defense mechanism against him and other people. It’s a kind of excuse-making for God as if we’re smart enough to know what he’s up to when life is difficult. Its time to face the pain of a broken world without our pre-packaged religious answers. To gloss over our pain and suffering or someone else’s through religiosity is inhumane. We love the story of the cross as a get-me-out-of-hell free card. But nobody wants to face the cross when it’s time to put sin to death, extend love to others in crisis, or come to terms with the brokenness of our world. The problem is, like the Pharisees, we prefer our safe religion over the death of our selfish spiritual aspirations.

Religion is God-talk we use for our own controlling purposes.

Graced Pharisees Called Out Of Slavery

The word Pharisee is synonymous with hypocrite. Many Christians don’t know when they are being hypocritical. Identifying our need to appear religious by spiritual performance or being a Bible know-it-all is difficult because doing religion seems like the right thing to do. It feels good to us and looks good to others, but our religion offends God.

If this is all true, if you and I are religious addicts and idolaters, we have a big problem on our hands. God’s anger against us is justified in the same way his anger was justified when the Israelites made the golden calf. Now is the time for repentance.

The good news is when we confess, he is faithful to forgive: 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Fortunately, many of the Hebrews were spared for Moses' sake. We too are spared for Jesus' sake. He is the greater intercessor. Not only does he intercede on our behalf and forgive us our sin, he restores and sustains us. Reaching back to Exodus 17, 1 Corinthians 10:4 says the Israelites "drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ."

God has called us out of slavery. We are his treasured possession. While we are faithless, he has remained faithful. Our idols are wrought with the unholy sacrifice of his good gifts. We have crawled up into God’s lap only to slap him. But thanks be to God, rather than punish us, he graces us. And his grace is big enough even for Pharisees like Paul, and like you, and like me. He leads us out, he leads us through, he atones for sin, and he leads us home.

Do Everything

2011-08-19T05:45:00.006-04:00

"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father," (Colossians 3:17 NASB).

When I don't get the sleep that I need (which decreases as I age, but still...) I really have to fight being grumpy. And with a new puppy now living in our home, I've been rather fatigued.

I went to Fairmont State yesterday to pick up my sister. Security was flagging every person who entered the campus, and traffic was backing up onto Locust Ave. This wasn't a big deal, and it really didn't upset me, but I ended up getting an attitude with the security guy. I wasn't a major snot to him, but I certainly wasn't acting like Jesus was riding shotgun in the van with me. Yesterday was move-in day at the school, so there were lots of new families who were unfamiliar with the campus. The security guy was just doing his job.

Then, when I took my sister back to the campus a few hours later, I wanted to just pass through. I even said that, when the security guard, again, stopped me (how dare he!), "Just passin' through!" I said.

"Where are you going?" he replied.

Nunya, was what I wanted to say. I did say something like, "Why do you need to know?" (Did I mention I had an attitude?) Then I told him I was dropping off my sister.

That wasn't good enough. He wanted to know where I was dropping her off at.

Now I was annoyed, so Ella piped up and explained that she was going to the Financial Aid office. Then he told us that the way I wanted to go was blocked, so I'd need to go another way.

Again, the guy was just doing his job. I didn't respond kindly to him, nor did I present a good witness in front of my sister.

Do you ever do or say something, and you are surprised at your behavior even while you are doing or saying whatever it is? I felt convicted about my attitude all day.

Before I went to bed, I saw this video for Stephen Curtis Chapman's song, "Do Everything," on my friend Charli's blog.

I got up this morning at 4:30 to let Daisy out (which was fine, because she slept in her crate from 10:00 until then, which is six and a half hours straight--wah-hoo!). While I was petting her, this song was going in my head, and it hit me: even taking care of this puppy, and my attitude about it, needs to be done as though I'm doing it for Jesus.

Everything I do, and say (even to security guards), is to be done in a way that has Jesus in mind and brings glory to God. Attitude adjustment received. Thank You, Lord. :)

Pantry Organization

2011-08-17T05:39:00.005-04:00

Clutter really bugs me. That's partly why I haven't finished my lesson plans for this year yet, because my library looks atrocious. I'll tackle that today, Lord willing, but yesterday I felt inspired, in that fatigue-induced fog sort of way, to clean out my pantry and get it organized.

Before

After

This may not look as dramatic to you as it felt to me, but my husband said, "Wow!" when he saw it, so that made me happy. :)

I'm ashamed of how much food I end up wasting because I forget about it, or I'm just lazy and don't feel like cooking the thing I planned to cook on a particular day. Now I'm newly organized and inspired. I found a great menu-planning sheet online, and it has places for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus a shopping list at the bottom:

I like this format because I can make up a master list for one week, then photo-copy it and take the copy to the store with me. I put the shift that my husband is working (it changes daily and weekly) at the top of each day, and that helps me to better plan what to cook for dinner that evening.

Having the shopping list at the bottom with all the meals visible at the top helps me to juggle things in a pinch if something isn't fresh or available that week while I'm shopping. Plus, after I mark off the items I buy, I put the list on the fridge and everyone knows what we are eating for the week.

I have attempted to do a six-week rotating menu-plan for years now, and I've always gotten frustrated and gave up in the middle of doing it. I ended up partially filling in blanks of various forms for various weeks, but nothing was ever accomplished other than making a big mess of papers and recipes.

To combat my feelings of being overwhelmed, I've broken down my task into smaller pieces. I've decided to do one week at a time, eventually doing at least four weeks (that is my husband's rotating schedule--for four weeks his schedule changes weekly, then it repeats). Once I master that, I'll work up another four weeks of different menus, so we'll have an eight-week rotating menu. I'm doing fall/winter recipes now and I'll work up eight weeks of spring/summer recipes in February or March.

I'm praying for God's grace to get this done. I'll let you know how it goes.

And They Call It Puppy Love?

2011-08-17T04:23:00.004-04:00

My mom came over yesterday so I could take her to the eye doctor. She had her eyes dilated a few weeks ago, and she was having a checkup. I live very close to her doctor's office (at Fairmont General), so she spends time with us when she's done with her appointment, until her eyes are back to normal for her to drive home.

When grandma saw her newest "grandchild," she grabbed Daisy up and snuggled her close, and just made all over her. I'm standing in the background, rolling my eyes. Or, were they just lolling in my head from fatigue? Maybe a little of both.

We have had Daisy since Saturday, and she hasn't been sleeping well. At least not at night. She wants to sleep during the day and bark, howl, yell, yowl all night. (I think I remember praying for more patience, recently.)

I think the term "Puppy Love" came into being for relationships because of the way people get into puppy ownership because they are cute, but then they end up being trouble. (This is coming from the non-dog person in this house...I'm sure my daughter would correct my interpretation.)

Grandma only had one eye dilated yesterday, so she left fairly quickly. As she was gathering her things, I said, "Don't forget your dog!"

She just laughed as she walked out the door, sans puppy.

And so, here we are again at 4:00 a.m. Although, I will say that Daisy went for five hours without an accident last night--even amid much noise making. Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. :)

Pictures

2011-08-15T14:11:00.010-04:00

Finally, after much debate and discussion, a fix for our garage door problem was found, and we were able to have arched windows, after all--yeay!

Before

After

We have carriage-style hardware to put on the door--faux door handles for the center of the door, and black faux hinges for the edges--but we haven't decided for sure if we will install them. We'll put them up with double-stick tape first, before drilling any holes, to see how they look.

Meanwhile, Daisy the puppy is the center of attention inside the house...

It is amazing to me how big my kids are getting. Iain is 100% muscle, and Sara is looking more like a young lady than my baby girl. And I keep reminding myself that Kyla just turned 11, not 14.

Daisy likes to sleep...unless it is time for us to go to bed and she has to go in her crate. She doesn't like that so much. I was up at 4:30 yesterday and this morning (after going to bed between 10:30-11 both nights), so I was feeling high fatigue today. Kyla got up with me, too, so I let her sleep on the floor with Daisy while I went back to bed...

...and I slept until 8:30 when my girls surprised me with breakfast in bed as a belated birthday present. Hot tea and toast with butter and strawberry jam--yummy! I was 45 yesterday, and I'm not afraid to own it. I feel and look better today than I did when I was 21. :)

Daisy the Puppy

2011-08-13T14:41:00.010-04:00

Daisy likes her veggie bone. It's like rawhide, but all-natural and made of veggies and chicken, so it's fully digestible (unlike rawhide).

The first thing Daisy did when she came inside is start skipping around snapping at things like the throw rugs and the edge of the carpet (where it transitions from the vinyl in the kitchen). Then she ate a little food, pooped on the carpet, and after lots of romping she's down for a nap.

Door Makeover

2011-08-13T09:03:00.006-04:00

Here's the inside of our front double doors before I painted them:

And here they are after their makeover. What do you think?

Can you tell that I love the color red? :)

Here's a picture of my painted laundry room door. I didn't do a before picture because it was just white.

Today we are picking up Daisy, our new puppy, so I wanted to get the painting done before she came, so I wouldn't be fighting with the dog hair. The kids are nagging me to get off the computer and finish organizing my library, so we can go get her. :)

Ears to Hear

2011-08-11T12:07:00.003-04:00

"But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear," (Matthew 13:16 NASB).

I really hate it when someone doesn't listen to me. It is a problem that I have frequently, and I think it is partly because I talk too much. Some who know me well will be happy to learn that God is working on me about that.

However, when I'm talking to someone and they are obviously distracted, or they are looking past me to see who may be walking by, I feel hurt and rejected. Sometimes my husband will not be listening, and when I stop talking, he doesn't even realize that I quit in mid-thought.

Ouch.

And sometimes he will just leave the room while I'm talking--my kids do this, too--and I'll be honest with you: It makes me want to cuss.

And I'm wondering if God feels a similar way when we don't listen to what He tells us (not the cussing part). There are numerous examples in the Bible of how people didn't do what God told them to, and they got into trouble. I'm not suggesting that my words are so wisdom-laden that they will save all those around me from trouble. But, it does hurt when my words are disregarded or ignored.

God has been dealing with me about grace, and how much He loves me and that I can't mess that up. So, loving me that much, I can only imagine that it hurts Him when I ignore what He says.

Food for thought: Sometimes we just need to listen.

This Thursday?

2011-08-10T09:21:00.004-04:00

Okay, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has ever done this, but it is disconcerting, nonetheless. I have "10:00 am" written on my calendar for Thursday, Aug 18th, and nothing else, no identifying info.

Please forgive me if this is a brunch date with you (and do not take it personally), but I truly have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing at 10:00 am on that Thursday! If we have plans, will you please call or email me and let me know?

Sigh.

Random Thoughts and Pictures

2011-08-09T16:53:00.005-04:00

Our gardens are doing well this year, despite the weather extremes...

I'm excited to taste our corn, because I've never grown my own corn (or tasted home-garden corn) before. It is almost ready! I love the flavor corn gets when it is grilled, almost tastes like popcorn.

Here's our bean patch. We are growing both wax and traditional green beans. My kids picked a bunch of them today. That's our summer squash, peeking in at the left corner. It is doing well, but our zucchini got zapped by some squash bugs (aka stink bugs, I just learned). And we only planted one plant, since they are normally so prolific...bummer.

It felt like fall, when I was sitting in our garage this morning listening to the rain shower. I love fall, and I'm excited for it to get here (I don't like the heat or humidity), but I will miss my fresh garden veggies!

I made some gluten-free banana muffins for my kids the other day, and Iain topped one with some Nutella. Well, actually a lot of Nutella. By the time he was finished eating it, he was covered with it--all over his face, his neck, the back of his shoulder (he wasn't wearing a shirt) and all over the front and back of his shorts (!). I asked him about it and he said he didn't know how that happened, he didn't mean to get it all over him. The thought occurred to me that sin is that way. We dabble in something that seems sweet, only meaning to dabble, and the next thing we know we are covered in sin. I made him change his clothes and wash up. That's what God makes us do, too. We are supposed to lay aside our old self, renew our minds, and put on our new self--essentially, change our spiritual clothes, getting scrubbed in between removing old and new. If you read Ephesians 4:22-24, you see that the renewing is essential to removing the old and putting on the new. So, meditating on scripture is key to walking in newness of life in Christ. This is profound to me. I've read this a bunch of times, but it never has slapped me in the face like now.

I've been praying for God to give me discernment and to open my eyes to ways for me to apply scripture to my life. The other evening, when I was correcting Kyla at the table, Glen got upset at my repeating myself and yelled at her (told her to listen to her mother). She proceeded to get upset and cry, and Glen was angry because he just wanted some peace. The scriptures about a nagging wife came to my mind, and I believe God was showing me that it isn't just annoying to my husband when I nag him, it is annoying when I nag the children. I need to train them to listen to my requests by only saying things once and having consequences for a lack of swift obedience. I admit, I've been lazy in this area lately, but I'm thankful to God for answering my prayer, and giving me discernment! Now, to incorporate some discipline into our homeschool plans for the year.

How about you? What has God been showing you lately?

Book Review: Healing Your Marriage When Trust Is Broken, by Cindy Beall

2011-08-09T06:00:00.004-04:00

Quote from Harvest House website:

"A few days after an ordinary Valentine’s Day, Cindy Beall’s life changed forever. She listened with disbelief to her husband, Chris, a respected pastor, confess to pornography addiction, numerous affairs, and the startling news that a woman was pregnant with his child.

With raw honesty and intimate knowledge of pain and of God’s power to resurrect something new out of the debris of betrayal, Cindy reveals how to:

seek guidance, counseling, and prayer support when deceptions surface
help the family heal from the grief and humiliation
rebuild trust after porn, sex, and other addictions undermine a relationship
protect a marriage from lies and unfaithfulness
rely on God to pursue forgiveness and move forward in new promises

Cindy’s compassion, grasp of God’s Word, and the Bealls’ remarkable story will help wives and husbands trust God with their broken hearts and follow His leading, hope, and redemption."

This book is Cindy's very open account of the pain she endured while seeking God's will for her marriage. If you feel that you have a reason to leave your spouse, if you want out because he or she has hurt you badly, this is an excellent book to read for encouragement. Cindy's bottom line is that nothing is impossible with God.

I love what she says about forgiveness:

"...the key to learning true forgiveness is this: No more comparing...When we compare our sin with the sins of others, we turn our standard into a moving target. That means we will never have a consistent benchmark. Our standard for measuring up should never be horizontal. It should be vertical...(Hebrews 12:2)." (page 110)

That is so true. When our eyes are on others, and what they have (or haven't) done, we elevate ourselves by saying that we aren't as bad as they are, which leads to justification for our doing things so we can be happy. God wants us to be totally in the center of His will, and that means painful things will enter our lives, things that sometimes leave us in such incredible despair that we wonder if we will physically live through them. But, God is faithful, and He is still in the business of redemption. Cindy's story proves that.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who struggles with forgiveness.

Thanks to the publisher for a free review copy of this book. This is my honest opinion, and I was not required to write a positive review.

Good News, Bad News, and God with Us

2011-07-31T07:32:00.017-04:00

Good news, first!

This is Daisy, the newest addition to our family. She's five weeks old, pure Lab, and we get to take her home at the end of August.

The puppies were feeling lazy from the heat, but they were still playful.

This little black puppy is pulling the leg of Iain's shorts.

Here's Mama Bella, being attacked by some hungry nursers. She's losing her hair, and they said the vet told them she'd be stressed. Nursing twelve (12!) puppies? Yes, I'd be stressed too. And in this heat...but she's such a sweet dog and a good mother.

Now, the bad news...

Yeah. Ouch.

We were rear-ended last night, while waiting on Rt 73 for someone to turn left into Nixon Trailer Park (we were headed to Saltwell Rd. Exit of I79) . A pickup truck came flying up behind us and slammed into us so hard it opened the inside cover of our moon light and moved our side mirrors out of alignment.

All five of us were in the van, with Sara being in the third row passenger seat. She got the brunt of the impact, but she's doing well. In fact, we are all doing great this morning, praise God!

I was driving and saw him coming, but it all happened so fast that I couldn't do anything to move (plus there was a car in front of me). Anyway, God's hand was upon us. The pickup driver got off to the right so he didn't hit us square, which could have been much worse. The State Trooper that came to the scene was playing KLOVE on his radio while he was filling out the accident report with me.

I called my mom to tell her that we'd been in the accident and she said that she'd been praying for all of us all day, for some reason. Now she knew why. :)

God is always with us, and nothing surprises Him. I was tempted to play the "what-if?" game with myself, but I shrugged it off and decided to trust God and His Sovereignty. He knew when we got up yesterday that we would get in that accident.

After reading to my children Corrie Ten Boom's book, The Hiding Place, and hearing her and her sister be thankful for fleas (and what a blessing they ended up being) I choose to be thankful for this accident, and for God's will, whatever it is in this situation.

"In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus," (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

An Excellent Wife Is Forged, Not Found

2011-07-29T13:45:00.004-04:00

by Jen Smidt

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. – Proverbs 31:10

I often believe my husband has not found an excellent wife. When he tells me I have been short with him lately, overreacting and snapping unnecessarily, I am discouraged at my lack of excellence. Impatience and disrespect have brought embarrassment to him on several occasions.

My task-oriented, performance-driven heart attempts to fix itself by making a list: An excellent wife cooks with organic food (not Velveeta), sews her own clothing (or at least irons her husbands shirts!), speaks only words dripping with grace (and not sarcasm) and reads her Bible for hours on end (okay, minutes?!).

The list brings more condemnation; concrete evidence that I cannot be an excellent wife on my own.

Forged not Found

While all of these things can be signs of excellence, they are definitely not requirements. Turning to Scripture for comfort and conviction, I am reminded: An excellent wife is not found but forged. No man goes out and finds a woman who is pure wife perfection and marries her. Neither of them truly know what that even looks like yet!

A godly woman becomes an excellent wife as she understands she is made in the image of God, re-made in the image of Christ, and formed over a lifetime of repentance and redemption. Excellence is not measured by a to-do list; it is manifested in the life of a wife who knows Jesus intimately.

Bringing Shame

An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones. – Proverbs 12:4

When I humbly and honestly assess the times I bring my husband shame, I am sobered by its destruction. To bring rottenness to his bones means mine are already disintegrating with unbelief and bitterness. We bring shame as wives when we:

Focus on our husband’s sin
Think our way is better, prioritizing ourselves over him
Speak harshly to him or derogatively about him to anyone
Withhold blessing, prayer, sex, or encouragement of any sort in an effort to punish, manipulate, or “get the message across”

The wife who brings shame to her husband is the daughter who does not truly know and trust her heavenly Father.

If the wife’s identity is centered around her man, she will certainly deliver shame when he disappoints – as he will inevitably do. It is the character of God, and not our husbands, that can be fully and firmly trusted. Our core identity must be anchored in Christ alone.

Made Precious by Jesus

We are made precious by Jesus. This heart transformation is the basis for any preciousness that our husbands experience in us. It is not about what we do but what our precious Savior has done for us that graces us with the power to be excellent wives. We are helpless on our own.

A godly wife understands that she is nothing outside of the saving grace of Jesus Christ and has no excellence apart from him. Christ’s grace and love are precious to her. Fueled by his riches, she will become a glorious crown to her husband as she helps, nurtures, and loves him from the depths of Christ’s righteousness in her.

It takes a 10-minute ceremony to become a wife. It takes a lifetime to become an excellent wife – one who understands that Christ’s shed blood on the cross is needed to offer excellence to our husbands.

This article originally appeared on The Resurgence

Pictures!

2011-07-28T10:51:00.009-04:00

Sara with the beautiful new cherry-wood jewelry box that Daddy made for her for her birthday (which isn't until September 17th, but that's okay...)

My sweet baby girl with her new glasses. Sara is nearsighted, and we hope and pray that she outgrows it eventually. In the meantime, Dr. Marty said it would be best for her developing eyes if she wears glasses for reading.

Iain's pattern block castle, complete with a moat! :)

This is a poinsettia that I bought last Christmas. I put it outside when we got Jacob, the Puggle, because I read that they are poisonous to dogs. I figured it would just die, but it has thrived! Amazing what sunlight and water can do for a plant...
Our patio cherry tomato plant is doing well, despite being blown over my stormy winds a few times.

Attitude is a Heart Thing

2011-07-15T22:19:00.003-04:00

Today, I went to Big Lots and found some school supplies and some cute things for my home. While I was looking at the home decor area, I noticed some $3 signs that are for sale:

"I used to care, but now I take a pill for that."

"Time heals all wounds, but revenge is faster."

"Patience isn't a virtue, it's a waste of time."

(I did not buy any of these...)

Then, I went to Food Lion to pick up some eggs. When we walked in the door, one of the cashiers was passed out on the floor by her register. The following dialogue was exchanged:

A couple of customers said to the other cashiers, "She's passed out on the floor."

To which another employee rather casually said, "Yeah, we know. She's taking medicine and said that might happen."

One customer then said, "Uh, don't you think you should call 911?"

"No," said the cashier, "She said she didn't want us to."

I'm thinking--What? You're just going to let her lie there?

"Did she hit her head when she fell?" I ask.

Puzzled look precedes response of: "I don't know."

Someone then calls 911.

Both the Big Lots signs and this experience at Food Lion didn't shock me as much as they reinforced in me the belief that we are truly approaching the end. Jesus told us that as the end nears, most people's love will grow cold.

What should our response be? To act like Jesus.

"Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus," (Philippians 2:4-6).

It's so easy to become cynical, or critical, or selfish these days. I find that I need to examine my heart regularly, so I don't allow myself to act in a way that I don't want my children to act. It is hard, with the way the world is going. And, again, that is one reason that I got off of facebook (which I do not miss in the slightest).

I've been sobbing through a reading of "The Hiding Place" to my children. They've asked me why I was crying, and it was because Corrie's sister was SO compassionate to the guards at the concentration camp they were in, and I felt ashamed of my own cynicism and impatience.

I pray for God to fill me with the attitude of Jesus, so I put the interests of others above my own, starting with my own family.

Critters In Our Yard and Other Pictures

2011-07-13T06:56:00.013-04:00

This is the groundhog, affectionately named "Peaches" by Kyla, who lives on the perimeter of our yard. He was right outside our back window munching on the abundance of clover in our yard.

This is a Hummingbird Moth. They beat their wings and hover just like a hummingbird, hence their name.

Kyla, the butterfly & moth whisperer...

Here's a mom and her twins that have been enjoying some nibbles from our garden when we forget to spray it with invisible fence. They are nonchalantly crossing our side yard. If you go outside to scare them away, they look at you like you are bringing them something to eat. If only the neighbors would stop feeding them...

Our round garden, where we planted tomatoes, peppers and lettuce. Shortly after taking this picture, our lettuces bolted, shooting up about a foot! They looked impressive, but unfortunately had a bitter tang after that.

Our rectangle garden. This is our corn, which is much taller now because we've had a couple days of rain since I took this picture. We also have cucumbers, squash, peas, beans. Also, potatoes that we've already harvested. I LOVE growing--and eating--my own food. There's nothing that tastes better than fresh food from your own garden. :)

I haven't posted a picture of our side yard since we first moved in, so I thought I'd post this one. The ruts that the contractors made when we had our concrete and drain work done are mostly gone, and the grass looks very nice. Our friends recently had an in-ground pool installed, and the heat was causing me to lust after one for myself. But, when weighing the cost--and my desire for a remodeled kitchen--I think the kitchen will win out. Although, I do love to swim...

This is a "before" picture of our garage door. It has not been able to support the tugging force of the opener lately, which resulted in the door only opening about two feet, at most. Yes, that was annoying. So we bought a new door!

We wanted to dress up this side of the house with a carriage-style door, complete with nicely arched windows, but the top row of panels is not fully visible in the opening (and the windows would be partially covered). So, we got a door without windows, but we will install the carriage hardware. Capital Doors is busily working to change the door right now, so I'll post an "after" picture when they are done. I'm so excited to be able to press the opener and have the door go up all the way!

Campbell KidsTheatre

2011-07-02T08:05:00.013-04:00

Last month, we all went to see the Fairmont State production of "Aristocats," which had our friend's daughter among the cast members. It was great fun, and our only complaint was that it was too short.

Inspired by the cat theme, the Campbell kids made their own musical yesterday. I tried to upload the video, but for some reason blogger won't let me do it. Maybe later...

The cast:

Kyla-Scarlet cat

Iain-Tiger Cat

Sara-Lightening Cat

Earlier in the week, I took a moment to rest and Sara decided to play makeup artist with me.

Sara the makeup artist

Kyla joined in, and things got a little crazy. Do you think they have a future in this profession?

Mommy, the subject

It was a beautiful day outside yesterday, and this skipper butterfly was visiting one of my hanging baskets:

I spent some time reading outside yesterday. I'm working on Charles Dickens' "Bleak House," among other things. What are you reading now?

Summer School -- Chemistry

2011-06-28T21:29:00.013-04:00

We started "God's Design for Chemistry--Properties of Matter" today, and it was fun doing the experiment. (I linked to the AiG website page with "God's Design," curricula, but I must note that I bought mine several years ago and it appears to have been updated since then.)

I lightly discussed with the Campbell kids the info in the first two chapters, which covered, among other things, the basic definition for matter (something that has mass and takes up space). We thought it was interesting that even air is considered matter.

The second chapter dealt with "The Scientific Method," and how a chemist/scientist handles experiments.

Here's the Scientific Method Worksheets (you can see that Sara, on the left, has already personalized hers), which we used to record our experiment details and findings.

We learned about having a "control"--something to base our findings upon--which in this case was a bottle (#1) with hot water and yeast. Bottle #2 had hot water, yeast, and granulated sugar; and bottle #3 had hot water, yeast, and molasses. We were determining which bottle would produce the most gas, the one with sugar or the one with molasses.

Iain and I guessed it would be sugar (my reason was that it tastes sweeter), but both girls guessed it would be molasses.

These are our bottles, #1, #2, and #3 (from left to right), at the start of the experiment...

And 15 minutes later, the control bottle (#1) had sucked the balloon inside the neck, the sugar bottle (#2) was slightly puffy, and the molasses bottle (#3) was even less puffy (and I was feeling pretty good about my hypothesis--my guess that sugar would be the winner)...

Another 15 minutes went by, and the control hadn't changed any but sugar (#2) was inflated to a circumference of 5 3/4 inches, and molasses (#3) was measuring 5 1/2 inches (oh yeah...)

Yet another 15 minutes later, and control (#1) is still unchanged, sugar (#2) is measuring 6 inches, and now molasses (#3) is measuring at 6 3/4 inches....uh oh.....

And, 15 minutes later we had a clear winner...(#2) sugar had swelled to 7 inches, but (#3) molasses passed it by 3 inches to end with a circumference of 10 inches! (And the girls did a little victory dance, which I won't post for humility's sake.)

Once we were done with our experiment, Iain asked to take off the balloons. The control (#1) with only the yeast and water had forcefully drawn the balloon into the bottle. As you can see, it would suck it back in whenever it was pulled out...

As my chemist-hubby explained, this was due to the yeast trying to get oxygen in order to grow while the balloon was blocking the entrance of air into the bottle. We thought it was pretty funny.

This book (by Debbie and Richard Lawrence) is designed for grades 3-7, and it was too much info to simply read it all to my kids. I think the work was fine for Sara and Iain (going into grades 2 and 3), but I needed to read it myself and summarize things so their eyes wouldn't glaze over. I think it is interesting and well written, though, and it is a wonderful bonus that it is creation science-based (which I knew when I bought it from Answer in Genesis) so it explains the differences in scientific study between evolutionists vs. creationists.

Book Review: Enemies of the Heart, by Andy Stanley

2011-06-28T14:30:00.003-04:00

Have you ever said or done something, and then said or thought, "I didn't mean that," or "I don't know where that came from" ? Then, this book will hit you between the eyes with uncomfortable truth.

Read an excerpt here.

Andy Stanley does a great job of describing four common heart issues -- guilt, anger, greed and jealousy -- in a way that pierces the very area talked about (your heart). Just when you find yourself thinking of someone who fits the profile of the person he's describing, he turns the tables on you and tells you not to play the victim, because you've got issues too.

He addresses how we tend, as a society (secular and Christian), to work on behavior modification rather than dealing with the root--a heart problem.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9 ESV).

The author discusses the four heart problems as "debts" that are owed, whether to others (guilt) or to ourselves (greed), or from others --you owe me (anger) or God owes me (jealousy).

Andy Stanley boils everything down to us not getting what we want, and our reaction to that. This is an intriguing read that will make you examine your motives and actions, and the discussion questions in the back of the book make this an excellent tool for a small group or home Bible study.

You can buy the book here.

Thanks to the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review of this book. I wrote it this way because I liked it! :)

Pictures!

2011-06-27T21:15:00.001-04:00

We love for Uncle Ronnie to visit from Ohio. Glen's brother was in this past Saturday, so he got to see Glen play the bagpipes at Mt. Zion Cemetery for a local family, and then he spent some time being worn out by the Campbell kids. Iain was waiting for him in the driveway with his new, long-range Nerf blaster locked and loaded. A heated battle ensued once Ron arrived. Later that evening, Sara had Uncle Ronnie read to her. :)

Tonight, Iain made the entree for our dinner, Spicy-Honey Chicken. He did all the work, except putting the chicken in the oven, and it was delicious! Teaching my children how to cook is one thing that I incorporate into my homeschool routine. I knew how to heat-up canned things and how to fry an egg when I went out on my own, and I wasn't highly confident in those abilities. Everything I've learned has been through trial and error, and tears. Hopefully, my children will eat more than Ramen Noodles and canned veggies -- or take out -- when they venture out on their own. :)

It's Official--No More Facebook

2011-06-26T20:54:00.007-04:00

I am officially off of facebook. Although my profile isn't visible right now, facebook was sure to let me know that I could easily come back, just by logging in as usual (which would reinstate my facebook page). That's good to know, since I got off of facebook because it was a problem for me.

Well, I guess I should state it more strongly. It wasn't just a problem, it was a habit. And not a good habit, like daily Bible reading or keeping my teeth brushed (not to compare those two by putting them in the same sentence, but you get my meaning). For me, facebook was a destructive habit.

Now, you may say, "Destructive? Little ol' facebook?" And I will reply with a resounding, "Yes!"

You see, I tend to be obsessive and compulsive about things. This can be good, if my obsession is for the things of God, or my compulsion is to be a good steward of the money God has blessed me with (more on that, later). But, in this case, my compulsion was unhealthy.

Although I justified that I was "only" on facebook for a couple of hours out of the 24 given to me each day, that is a HUGE chunk of time in my life. The routine in my home for my quiet study time, my homeschooling, my housekeeping--it all had gone south because of my computer time. I would go on facebook just to check something, or to respond to an email I'd received, and the next thing I knew an hour or so was gone. Worse yet, I was getting annoyed and pushing my children away when they were interrupting me while I was perusing the site (while "Cat's in the Cradle" was playing in my head). Inexcusable behavior from someone who claims to homeschool partly so she can spend more time with her children. Someone once said that more is "caught" than "taught," and I hated what my children were catching through my behavior.

Another problem for me was my own insecurity. I would get on the site to check whether someone had commented on my current post. Whether it be a link to my blog or just some random thing, I would be disappointed if someone didn't say something about it. And, I would be hurt when others would post how they got together and I wasn't invited, or if I tried to chat with someone online and they would quickly go offline. Regardless of the motivation of others, I was spending a lot of time upset about things on facebook. Not to mention how many times I had visited a link someone else posted, which lead me to visit multiple other links, wasting precious time reading things that weren't important, let alone encouraging.

I knew that God wanted me to stop it for some time now, but I told myself I'd modify my behavior, instead. I wouldn't go on unless someone sent me a facebook email, and only then would I quickly look at the statuses and then log off. Unfortunately, that didn't work. Just like all sinful (disobedient) behavior, trying to do better didn't work.

Then I read this scripture:

"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything," (1 Corinthians 6:12 NASB, emphasis mine).

When I read this, I realized that I'd allowed facebook (among other things) to master me. I would like to say that I immediately took down my page, but I didn't. I thought about it for another month. Then I posted an announcement that I was taking down my page, so if anyone wanted to stay in touch, they needed to email me or visit my blog. Out of 250+ "friends," only one sent me an email saying they would miss me. I must say that helped me to combat all the "just think of what you'll be missing!" thoughts that bombarded me as I pressed the "deactivate" button.

Obedience to God is so freeing. Tomorrow is the start of a fresh week of school, and I have loved not spending extra time on the computer this weekend. I check my email and post to my blog and then I get off the computer! With God's grace, I'm conquering other sinful habits in my life. But, as I mentioned above, more about those, later. :)

Image is everything?

2011-06-25T22:13:00.004-04:00

We all have a tendency to judge others by the way they look, whether we want to or not. It is partly a reaction, and partly something we do on purpose, but we do judge--whether we should or not.

I like a particular pizza place in Fairmont, and I've been to this place a few times over the last couple of months. Most of the time, I go in to pick up my pizza with the front of my hair clipped to the top of my head (it's not long enough yet for a ponytail), and one of my at-home outfits--sweats and a tee-shirt, or something similar. A few times, tonight being one of them, I've went there "cleaned up," with my hair fixed, and dressed in a nice top and jeans. I must say, I get considerably more attention when I'm cleaned up.

This happened in the Bible, too. Samuel was sad about God rejecting Saul as king, and God basically told him to cheer up and to go anoint one of Jesse's sons to be the next king. Samuel went there, and he naturally assumed it would be Eliab--the tall, strong, and good looking older son--but God said, "No." On down through the line he went, until Samuel finally had to ask Jesse if he had any other sons.

David was out tending sheep. Samuel told Jesse to send for him. Can you imagine? Coming in from tending sheep, I'm sure he wasn't the cleanest guy, nor the sweetest smelling. David is described in the Bible as ruddy and handsome, but I'm sure that's not how he looked to Samuel the first time he laid eyes on him. Why? Because God rebuked Samuel back when he was sizing up the first son he saw:

"...the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart," (1 Samuel 16:7 NASB).

God clearly lets us know through this passage that He cares about the condition of our heart more than whether we are fashionable or good looking. If we have a scowl on our face, or we wear inappropriate or immodest clothing, we don't look any different than the world-- so we have to use some care in how we present ourselves. The important thing is to make sure that our motivation is to please God, not people. Because image is definitely not everything when it comes to God's opinion of us.

Kyla's Birthday & Some Other Pictures

2011-06-25T09:59:00.011-04:00

Our beautiful Kyla turned eleven on June 21st. I can't believe how tall she is--she reaches my nose now!

We celebrated Kyla's birthday early on Tuesday, because Daddy had to work 11-9.
(Note his morning hair. :)

Kyla loves Littlest Pet Shop, so we got her a French set, which had a poodle in it. It also had a Blythe doll, the newest LPS creation. Although Kyla has never been a doll lover, I guessed that she secretly wanted one. She said, "How did you know?"

Kyla loves Pugs, so she got some Pug thank-you notes, and also a Walmart gift card...

which she used to buy herself an iPod Touch with a cute cover...

Kyla is turning into quite the young lady. She did a great job with school this year, overcoming her fear of math and raising her overall achievement test mean by 25 points! She is very creative, and she comes up with amazing stories that she loves to tell while running around in the yard. Now, to get her to put them down in her journal...

Today, Glen is playing the bagpipes at Mt. Zion cemetery for Melvin Hess's funeral. Glen recently played at the Presbyterian church on Jackson Street, where the Hess family attends. Sue Hess called to ask if Glen would play Amazing Grace.

He wears his kilt well, does he? :)

I've never used clippers before, so I was nervous about cutting Iain's hair. That, coupled with the sheer volume of hair that he has (and that he wanted cut off), made me feel a little light-headed...

Iain loves his hair this short. He said he wanted to be "shiny bobbed" (bald), but I said, "NO!" I told him I wasn't cutting it like this again. It makes me sad, all that beautiful, auburn hair all over the ground. Sigh...

Because I'm His

2011-06-24T15:45:00.005-04:00

The amazing thing about scripture, and proof that it is truly living and active, is how you can read things over and over again and continue to be inspired in different ways. Or, to one day read something and have it hit you between the eyes. And, my favorite thing is how you read about a verse in some other book (or someone quotes it) and you go, "Nah, that can't be in there," yet there it is, in black and white.

I had an epiphany about scripture the other night, while in the shower. I usually become inspired there, or at 2:00 a.m., or whenever I'm without paper and pen to jot down notes. So, I quickly ran downstairs to scribble out some thoughts. Hopefully, this will translate into some coherent encouragement.

My mother called me Tuesday morning, fearfully explaining that she was seeing some flashers in her eyes and the doctor wanted her to come to the hospital so he could check them. Since her eyes were being dilated, she would need me to take her to and fro, and she'd need to hang out at our house for a while. That was fine with me, since I try all the time to get her to visit for longer than 15 minutes. Still, she fell all over herself apologizing about taking up my time.

When it was time for her to leave, she said, "I really don't know what I'd do without you. I'm sorry I'm such a bother. I need to find a way to repay you."

Of course, I told her I didn't mind, that repaying me was not necessary, etc., but she kept going on and on about it.

I was thinking about this while getting ready for bed, and it hit me--so simple and obvious, but it seemed so powerful to me. I didn't want, or expect, any repayment for what I did. I help my mom because of who she is--she's my mom.

The minute this thought went through my head, I realized it is the epitome of God's love for me. I know that seems so simple, but it is hard to separate our value from our performance. Because other people tend to love us when we please them, and we love others when they please us, we think God is the same way. But that is far from the truth. Look at what God says about His chosen people, Israel, when they were preparing to enter the Promised Land:

"The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you..." (Deuteronomy 7:7-8a, NASB, emphasis mine).

Even Israel, God's chosen people, were not loved more than you or I are loved. They were not chosen because they were better or stronger, etc. They were chosen because God loved them. And that's the same reason we are chosen--He loves us! We can't do anything great enough to make Him love us more, and we can't do anything bad enough to make Him love us less. His love is perfect and complete. The only thing we have to "do" is to receive it. For performance-driven people, that is probably the hardest thing to do.

So, one of my spiritual goals for now is to rest in the knowledge that God loves me completely and I can't mess that up.

That's really exciting, if you think about it.

I Am New!

2011-06-23T21:57:00.003-04:00

I Am New, from the Album "Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue," by Jason Gray.

These lyrics are amazing, and they move me to tears. It is true--we are made new by the blood of Jesus Christ, and nothing else matters. Any labels that others try to place on us -- good or bad -- are irrelevant. Only what God calls us matters. And when we know Christ, He calls us beloved.

You can give me a name
Call me whatever you like
Or weigh me down with shame
To crush me but you won't
My burdens are light

Chorus
I am not who I was, I'm being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy and I'm dearly loved
I am new

Now I won't deny
The worst you could say about me
But I'm not defined
By mistakes that I've made
Because God says of me

I am not who I was, I'm being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy and I'm dearly loved
I am new

Too long have I lived in the shadows of shame
Believing that there was no way I could change
But the one who is making everything new
Doesn't see me the way that I do
Who I thought I was
And who I thought I had to be
I had to give them both up
Cause neither were willing
To ever believe

CHORUS
I am not who I was, I'm being remade
I am new
Dead to my sin, I'm coming alive
I am new

Forgiven, beloved, Hidden in Christ
Made in the image of the Giver of Life
Righteous and holy, reborn and remade
Accepted and worthy, this is our new name
This is who we are now

[This ending makes me want to shout!]

By: Jason Gray, Joel Hanson

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T22:19:00.012-04:00

This Father's Day, Glen had to work 9-6. We missed him, so we decided to surprise Daddy when he left work today.

Waiting in Walmart's parking lot for Daddy to get off from work.

By the look on his face, I think we were successful in surprising him!

Glen and I both like Greek food, so I made Greek chicken, which was amazingly delicious, tabouli salad (from a box), and served it with cucumber and tomato slices. It was a yummy dinner.

Glen is a wonderful husband and father who works long hours at Walmart, which enables me to stay home and homeschool our precious Campbell kids. I am so thankful that he is a hard working man. When we pay off our home in 2013 (Lord willing), work will be less stressful for Glen. In the meantime, we are determined to find ways to make him feel special and honored for all that he does for us.

We love you, sweetheart! :) xoxo

It's hard to believe that it was two years (May 31st) since Grandpa Shriver went home to be with Jesus. Here he is holding baby Iain. He loved all of his grandkids, but he and Iain always had a special bond. I think it is because Iain is the first boy born into the Shriver family in many moons.

I miss my Dad, but I'm thankful that he's with Jesus and he is perfect now--no longer trapped in a failing clay pot. The best part is that one day I'll see him again!

Helpful Pamphlets for End-Times Study

2011-06-04T13:01:00.006-04:00

Did you know there are FIVE views on when the rapture will happen? You will if you read this informational pamphlet by Ron Rhodes.

With respect for different perspectives, Rhodes answers important questions including:

What is the tribulation period and why is that at the center of the debate?
Which Bible verses do the different views emphasize?
What are the main points of difference and similarity among the views?
Why is understanding the Rapture important to the Christian faith?
How can believers have faith-building conversations with those of different views?

While this won't necessarily make you decide on a particular view, it is helpful to know the different perspectives, so we can be respectful of others when discussing end-time events.

With all the chaos going on in the world today, have you thought about America's role in end-time events? Rhodes cuts through the confusion and reveals answers to the most pertinent, timely questions including:

How does the United States resemble past civilizations, and why is this relevant to the future?
Which verses are used to support the idea that the U.S. is indirectly mentioned in Scripture?
Should believers be afraid of what the future holds for them and their descendants?
How does this topic influence how Christians should live out their faith today?

This excellent, brief exploration of prophecy as it relates to America will help believers rest in God’s truth and sovereignty even when questions about the future arise. A great study tool for individuals and groups of believers or seekers.

If you are studying end-time events, or just curious about the future, both of these pamphlets are good resources to add to your library.

Thanks to Harvest House for giving me complimentary copies of each, in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: What Is Yet to Come, by Kay Arthur & Pete DeLacy

2011-06-04T10:44:00.003-04:00

I have worked my way through several of the Inductive Bible studies, and I love them all. This new study on the book of Ezekiel is no exception.

On Wednesday nights, I teach a class to 5th grade girls at my church, and one of the units we study is End Time Events. Even though the material for that age group has a light touch, I found myself feeling woefully inadequate to teach the subject. That is what drove me to work through some end-times related Bible studies.

This study, like all the inductive studies, pulls in scriptures from other books of the Bible to aid in your understanding and to help you to see how cohesive the Bible is as a whole. I love digging through the scriptures to find truth, and this study was a great help to me for such a cryptic topic.

I highly recommend this study, and all of Kay Arthur's books. This particular study is from "The New Inductive Study Series," and the lessons are shorter. Although you can do more in-depth study if you want to (and you will want to!), the daily lessons are structured so that you can get some serious work done in a short amount of time (approximately 30 minutes per lesson).

I'm grateful to the publisher, Harvest House, for sending me a complimentary copy of this book for review. This is my honest opinion of the book.

Author Bios:

Kay Arthur is a four-time Gold Medallion award-winning author and beloved international Bible teacher. Kay reaches more than 80 million people daily through radio and TV and countless more through the Internet as the featured teacher on Precepts for Life. She and her husband, Jack, founded Precept Ministries International in 1970. Today Precept teaches people in 150 countries and nearly 70 languages how to discover truth for themselves.

Pete De Lacy, executive vice president of Precept Ministries International Published Products, is the author of many studies in the New Inductive Study Series and The New How to Study Your Bible with its companion workbook. He is a contributor to The New Inductive Study Bible and Discover the Bible for Yourself and is also a featured teacher on many "Precept Upon Precept" videos and at Precept Ministries conferences.

Book Review: Undefending Christianity, by Dillon Burroughs

2011-06-04T10:05:00.002-04:00

I like to laugh, and this book is funny. Dillon Burrroughs talks about serious issues facing our world and the way that Christians should act versus the way that we do. Although sometimes his humorous comments get corny in an effort to be funny, for the most part he does a wonderful job of making you think about what you believe and how you are living that out.

Among the many crazy chapter titles is "Hollywood and Flaming Liberals." I enjoyed his comments about our current President, Barack Obama. Here a a few:

"Talking about Jesus was his [Paul's] only crime. But in the second chapter of his letter, he tells Timothy that Christians are to pray for their national leaders, not sue them, make fun of them, or mock them." (page 24)

"...someone asked me to talk on the radio about Obama and evangelicals. I said, 'Sure, why not?' I had not idea what I was getting into. I found out after accepting the interview that many Christians don't like Barack Obama. It's not because he's African American; it's because of abortion, his views on same-sex marriage, war, and a whole lot more. But then I said the Bible gave two clear concepts for relating to our president: Pray and submit. People didn't like that."

The author goes on to talk about topics like homosexuality, porn, slavery, racism, and much more. He even devotes a chapter "To All the Haters," with some kind words to people who don't like his writing style.

I really enjoyed this book. If you like Donald Miller's books, you'll enjoy Dillon Burroughs. I recommend it to anyone who wants to laugh while being challenged to examine their faith.

Thanks to the publisher, Harvest House, for a complimentary copy of this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review, and this is my honest opinion of the book.

Author Bio:

Dillon Burroughs

Dillon Burroughs is an activist and the author or coauthor of nearly 30 books on issues of faith and culture. He has served among at-risk American youth, constructed housing in Mexico’s barrios, provided aid relief in Haiti, and was most recently nominated for a CNN Hero award for his efforts to fight human trafficking. His written and edited works have been featured by NPR, MSNBC, ABC News, and other media outlets.

Book Review: Making the Best of a Bad Decision,. by Erwin W. Lutzer

2011-06-03T14:11:00.003-04:00

From the publisher:

Maybe you worry you’ve married the wrong person. Maybe you’re carrying the burden of a secret or have gone down a dangerous road. Maybe you’ve made a life choice that’s hurt someone else so badly you feel the relationship can never be restored. But there’s good news: you have the opportunity to clear your conscience, make things right with God and others, and get to a place of grace and new beginnings. Join pastor and bestselling author Erwin Lutzer as he shows you how to make the best of even your worst decisions and move forward into a better future.

Read the first chapter here.

This book is about how to recover from bad choices, from a biblical perspective. Obviously, we all make decisions, at some point, that we regret. The good news is that "there is more grace in God's heart than there is sin in your past" (pg 87). "Forgiveness and reconciliation with God are given freely, apart from what we have done or who we are," and "The work of Christ is the one and only basis of our forgiveness. Neither our goodness nor our badness affects this objective fact," (pg 13).

That's great encouragement for anyone who struggles with beating themselves up over bad choices, especially when the consequences of those choices are still with you.

A discussion guide at the end of this book helps to process and apply the truths that are stated within. This would be good for an adult Sunday school class or a Bible study group.

I received this book for free from Tyndale in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: How To Write A Book Proposal by Michael Larsen

2011-06-03T13:03:00.003-04:00

From the Book Description provided by Book Sneeze (booksneeze.com):

With more than 100,000 copies sold, How to Write a Book Proposal has been the go-to resource for getting your work published for almost 25 years. This Writer's Digest classic from literary agent Michael Larsen outlines in a clear step-by-step manner how to create an effective nonfiction book proposal.

I requested a copy of this book for review because I would like to write a book and sell it, hopefully, some day. So, I thought it would be good to have a manual for how to do that.

The author of this book, Michael Larsen, has worked in promotion for three major publishers, and he and his wife, Elizabeth Pomada have Northern California's oldest literary agency (these statements are from "about the author" page in this book I'm reviewing). With credentials like these, it would seem that he knows of what he writes.

This book covers a wide range of topics from your subject hook, your title and subtitle, and your back matter, to your rights, markets for your book, your mission statement and platform, and your promotion plan. Larsen tells you keys for effective outlines, gives you a style guide, shows you a mini-proposal and examples of other full proposals, and tells you how and where to submit your query letter and proposal. All this, and much more.

This is a valuable resource for any writer's library.

PLEASE NOTE: The copy that I received is not the one in this picture (although this is the picture that Book Sneeze provided for my review purposes). The picture above is for the 4th edition of this title, and I have the 3rd edition. I'm not sure how different they are, but my 3rd edition was copyrighted in 2003, so I'd say there are some significant differences since the publishing world has changed so much in recent years. If I had purchased this book and didn't get the newest edition, I would be upset; since I received this free in exchange for my review, I can't complain.

The opinion expressed here is mine and I was not required to write a positive review of this book.

I'm a Great-Aunt!!!

2011-05-20T17:34:00.005-04:00

And my younger sister, Lori, is a grandma...wow! Haley Marie Kahmar was born today, at 4:31. She is 9 lbs 10 oz!!! (Haven't heard about the length yet.) My niece, Brittany, and her daughter Haley are both doing well and busy bonding.

Haley has red hair, so I may have to steal her; she's SO beautiful!

Thank you God, for keeping them both safe during delivery.

Princess Kyla

2011-05-16T08:20:00.016-04:00

The Missionettes Celebration was held last night at our church, with over 200 people attending. The Honor Star crowning is the highlight of the evening, and our beautiful Kyla was among the girls that were honored.

The Bible that she carried down the aisle was donated by Women's Ministry.

Iain was Kyla's crown bearer.

To demonstrate what the girls learned as Stars, they were asked a question. Kyla's question was to name three beliefs in our Statement of Faith. All of the girls did a great job.

The girls were presented their "Honor Star" sashes by their moms, and the dads placed the crowns upon their heads.

After the girls were crowned, they joined Lindsey Porter on the stage to sing "You Are All I Need," by Bethany Dillon. Their crowns were so sparkly; they looked beautiful, and they sounded great!

After the crowning was finished in the sanctuary, we all came to the Fellowship Hall for a reception, where the girls got to sit at the head table.

Each girl had their own gourmet cupcake, and Kyla chose Black Forest. It was so full of cherries that it was leaning to one side. :)

Everyone else was able to enjoy a mixture of white, yellow and chocolate cupcakes, beautifully prepared by Linda Dudash, of Cakes With a Personal Touch, Plus.

Kyla does not like to dress up or to look like a princess, so she was annoyed that everyone kept telling her that she looked like one. Conversely, Sara kept saying, "Kyla is so lucky!" because she wanted to be the one dressing up. Sara will be in second grade next year, and it is the fifth grade girls who crown, so it won't be long. However, I'm not in a big hurry for her to get to that point. (sigh)

So Hard Saying Goodbye

2011-05-13T16:00:00.002-04:00

We took our cute little Pug, Jacob, to Maryland today, to drop him off with a courier for Mid-Atlantic Pug Rescue. They found a foster home for him, one that has Pugs already. The people are committed to helping Jacob with his behavior, and to try to get him socialized so he can be adoptable.

Please pray that he does well, and that he finds a forever home. For not being a dog person, this little guy stole my heart. I think I'm more sad than Kyla.

Guilty Sacrifice vs. Obedience

2011-05-11T22:46:00.000-04:00

“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,” (1 Samuel 15:22).

I must admit that I made a guilt-motivated decision to get a dog for our family.

I did one of those Gideon-fleece prayers. You know the ones where you say, “Okay, God, if _______ (fill in the blank) is supposed to happen, then ________________ (fill in the blank).” Such as, “God, if we are supposed to have a dog, then let it be available when I call about it.”

Several calls and emails were returned to me saying the dogs I’d inquired about were already gone. And that should have shown me my answer—after all, Gideon only put out two fleece, right? (See Judges 6)

What can I say—guilt is a strong motivator, especially when it comes to my children.

I’ve had some terribly negative experiences with dogs, one of which was connected to an extremely painful time in my life. I was concerned that my feelings were selfish, so I felt like I was “yielding” to God by sacrificing my desires and pressing on until we were able to adopt our Pug, Jacob.

After only having him for one month, we are surrendering him to a Pug rescuer because he has become very territorial. He bit two children at our home group a couple weeks ago, and we justified it by saying he was overwhelmed (and we figured that the kids were teasing him some). But this past Saturday, Jacob bit our neighbor’s son, after running across our yard and up a hill to get to him. It was a bad bite, and now the boy is on antibiotics.

I’ve learned a painful lesson—making a decision out of guilt is never a good idea. Now I’m learning not to make decisions based on feelings. Bringing Jacob into our home, getting used to him, getting attached to him, and now letting him go…the whole thing has been an emotional roller coaster. Regardless of how painful it is, I must not let my feelings cloud my good judgment. We must get rid of the dog.

I covet your prayers.