Give Away - at Thy Hand Hath Provided

Michelle at Give a Girl a Fig has managed to capture some of the most beautiful photos to create some wonderfully designed creations.

Thy Hand Hath Provided is giving- away some of these, in fact some beautiful note cards are the choice item. I have registered (which was super easy) and you need to - too!

Go here and follow easy, easy directions...

photo by: Michelle @ Give a Girl a Fig

Gratitude - Lifetime Meds - dose # 19

74 is that really it? I need to post these more, so I'm going to keep a counter of sorts in my sidebar. I really, really, really think taking note of the gifts and being thankful continually keeps one focused on the Giver. This is one of those days 'I don't feel sick'. When the pink eyes are no longer pink, but there are 4 more doses to take.

I feel well, but I'll stop this healthy spiritual state of being, if I quit counting.

So thankful:

75 for a weekend that encouraged fellowship with christians.

76 weather that was amazing.

77 dear husband who takes kids to park to find simple adventures.

78 Zoes restaurant, chicken soup & Gruebens.

79 Franks' red beans & rice.

80 My neighbors Jerri & David & Nikki. we pray for them everynight. Henry loves them so.

81 My carpool friends this morning.

82 Boyscouts.

83 Boyscout cakebakes.

84 A son who wishes to do it himself, a self-starter.

85 Scripture that encourages my soul.

Join others or start your own account of soul nourishing meds here. The group of folks is diverse & wise looking to God for real healing.

Slipcovers & Painted Furniture

The Blogging Bee At Homestead Revival gave me pause to think -- had I learned anything this week that was thrifty or organic in any way? Well, I have a few thoughts on food, but this week was more of a do it yourself decorating weekend. I was inspired by The Nester to reconsider my hard pressed contentment with the color of this chair. I love the fabric, I loved the price when I bought the set ($85 down from $150 on craigslist.com) but I do not love the color. It's too cold, burgandy-ish. I would love a warmer color of red or a big buffalo black check.





This chair joined our family at Christmas when we needed a little extra seating in our home in Georgia.(long story soon to follow.)
It was calling me at $16 saying 'I'm blue check & relatively clean... take me home....'. How could I walk away? Now it sits in my bedroom, waiting it's future home. The ottoman goes with a pair of wicker chairs that reside in my living room, but don't have adequate space for the ottoman.
Both of these chairs are my idea of fixer-uppers in the upholstery world. I had a career in interior design & we seldom 'did our own', but I operate on a whole 'nuther budget than most of our clients. So I still stick to the favored method of glean as you go, and when it all comes together, fabric, time & chair -- go for it. Now I've found a great tutorial so I think its time to jump into this project.


My last picture is a sort of before(still looking for this picture) & after. But I just had to show you. This is where we've been doing our bird count. I bought this about 5 years before Eric & met, and it's been painted so many times, well, I've lost count. It has no name, it's too simple for a 'buffet', 'cabinet' just doesn't flow, ? China cabinet... ? please, there's been no china on this since 3 months after we married, and the wedding gifts were safely stored. I painted any surface with chalk board paint, and left our growth chart on the sides where we've marked it. (If you move you still have to chart these permanently somewhere.) But for now it stores playdough and a small do-dad cabinet the boys enjoy storing little things. I enjoy having a little extra storage space for cereal bowls & coffee mugs. Our cd's are also stored here with our 'hi-fi' system.

So even tho I've never recoverd these items I thought you might also enjoy visiting The Nester & the tutorial she shared for recovering furniture.

Sunday

Because of His great love, I now live. He is rich in mercy, and His grace sets me free. Let me live then as I've been raised, I'm no longer that 'old' woman. She was buried and I've been raised. Pay no mind to that spirit that walks about ready to devour and cause me suffering, now and in the afterlife. May I walk in a way that glorifies Him, honors Him, does not diminish the greatness of His sacrifice.

Silencing the landslide of cultural messages

Sally Clarkson is the author of the book 'Educating the Wholehearted Child' among many others.
I visited her blog this morning and found an excellent article about imagination in children & reasons for play. No surprise television is a part of the discussion. (Again, I'm carefully limiting my book purchases this year, but this one is on the way.)


About twice a year, I take the tv out of the room. I clear it out, I fantasize about smashing. I say it outloud. I read books like 'Bringing up Boy's' who advocate it, knowing what little there is good on it. But I find this last for a while, even months, before we find it's illumination filling our time.

And a quick by the way, I appreciate comments that mention parenting from a position of authority in early childhood, and more from a position of influence, from Amy @ Homestead Revival. And Thy Hand's comments about the perpetual revolving door.

I mentioned in this post, that Dobson's book, Bringing Up Boys, mentions the landslide of influence on our family's and children. In Chapter 14, titled Predators, an article is included written by Ellen Goodman, a secular writer for the Boston Globe/Washington Post, copywrited in 2000. It describes why parents who are often perceived as overly concerned about media or influences in the community shouldn't back down.

..." Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, a researach associate at the Institute for
American values, found this out in interviews with middle-class parents. " A common complaint I heard from parents was their sense of being overwhelmed by the culture. they felt relatively more helpless than their parents."

' "Parents," she notes, "see themselves in a struggle for the hearts and
minds of their own children." It isn't that they can't say no. It's that
there's so much more to say no to." '

"Without wallowing in false nostalgia, there has been a fundamental shift.
Americans once expected parents to raise their children in accordance with the dominant cultural messages. Today they are expected to raise their children in opposition."



Dobson goes on to write 'It's why parents feel more isolated.'


Ouch. Isn't that the truth. It automatically puts you at odds, when you step out of the mainstream, so not to be swept away. And being at odds or doing 'it'(life) differently can be a little lonely sometimes. Whether it's food, clothes, entertainment, worship...





But it's in those lonely times, the quiet, silent times, that meditation, not the emptying of the mind in a zen like experience, but the quietness that allows the filling of the mind with the Creator's original hope: to hear Him. Ann describes at A Holy Experience, how we live more reactively when we are constantly in the presence of noise. When you are accustomed to noise, & your children are accustomed to noise, it can be a tough transition. But one well worth it. It's where real strength to fight the current is found. Yes, reading all the books that support the family & wholesomeness are great learning tools, but in grounding our walk with Him is where we find the fortitude & reason to go to all the effort. Grounding ourselves so that when we suffer loneliness or weakness, we'll perservere, and continue to build character which leads to something hoped for that doesn't disappoint.





Romans 5:3-6





verse 6, '... when we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.'





Thanks be to God for silent moments. And a Hope that doesn't disappoint.





Visit A Holy Experience for more thoughts on the spiritual practice of silence.
This is an excellent link to visit. Those who contribute also have much to offer. Every Wednesday there are those who gather to share their thoughts helping them grow closer to God.

'Livin' in a Van Down by the River' -aka How did I get here and who are all these children?

It's Sunday morning early, so I'm looking for the next reading for the season of Lent. (my small devotion book pictured in this post - 'Devotions for Lent) is in the bedroom, where Jack is snuggled in the bed asleep. zzzzz

So I wandered over to visit Edie at Life in Grace to see what she'd posted about today as she is a worshipper who serves God through the appointed seasons of the Lutheran church. Like myself, she doesn't follow a pattern of posts, I wish I could have a simple train of thought sometimes, actually do a weekly post of sorts, but that's just not my style. My blog is for me to ramble about what I'm thinking about, and to keep me accountable. If you post it... there will be readers and they'll comment and then... well you know what happens... you are blessed with blogger friends who you will meet at the blogging bee. And you'll start chatting about what's really on your heart. And you'll be blessed because you took a little big of time out of your day to sit with kindred spirits, sharing, sewing, fooding, spiriting.

Anyway, Edie has a wonderful way of sharing moments in her life, like so many of you bloggers out there. She is a SAHM who homeschools, but she also, as she mentions in her fish-taco post, sometimes she feels like Chris Farley 'livin in a van down by the river'. It's an old SNL skit, where he rants on and on to his nephew & niece about 'this could happen to you' if you don't stay and school and follow your dreams. To hear a woman tell she's walked away from a medical practice to stay at home with her kids, somehow makes me feel like what I walked away from was worth it too. I don't miss working, but I do miss the mental stimulation sometimes, the order, the easy parts of working outside the home. (don't miss the recipe/picts of the fish tacos).

I've been reading '7 Habits of the Highly Effective Family' and it has really, really struck a cord with me on several things. ---

In one of the chapters, there is a discussion about fitting the former paradigm of the traditional home into the modern arrangment & modern core values. I think I said that right. If you are a mom & dad who choose to follow the traditional mom stay at home, dad works outside home pattern, you will face some truly challenging odds. Per the book, not just me saying. (Dobson's quote regarding this 'landslide' to follow in later post).

It has been thoroughly interesting being a part of a book club reading this. These ladies are diggin in to make their families better, more effective. Not militant, but getting tools to fight the wave of modern assault on the family. I feel it? Don't you?

There are times it is so hard, challenging, I who swore I'd live in a box, before I'd go back to work when my kids were young, have wondered what kind of teaching position I could get, today, right now, immediately. Do you ever read the postings on Monster? I at least read the local teaching/education section. I've probably read the want ads every week since I was 15.

But I don't ever call, or send my resume. Because I see the wave coming crashing at my familiy. I see the importance of stepping up to the plate. I see the inadequacies of parents, including myself, to enable our children for holiness. The voices in the world are so loud and so blaring, so visually stimulating, so charged with that which I would not have them to hear or see. But I have to spend the time it takes, with a heart that is invested, for them to actually hear my voice. God says that those that love Him, hear his voice. Like sheep know the shepherds voice. I think my kids know my voice, they know my snap. I can snap across a room and their heads at least pop up. But instead of a threat of punishment, I wish for them to do my will, when it comply's with what God desires, because it will disappoint me if they don't, not because of fear of punishment. That their heart will be saddened & that they will choose a better way not out of fear but of a desire to do what's right. I think this comes with age, but children are all different in disposition (it actually really annoys me when I hear parents say this, because I feel like it's a cop out for not having children follow any expected standards).

I've ordered a new book, 'Educating the Whole Hearted Child' in hopes that I will work on my parenting to consider the heart of my children. I have been a huge John Rosemond fan, and don't doubt his work when it comes to effectively dealing with children. But I'm always left with a less loving feeling when I read through it. I don't doubt because I've seen results using his materials. But I can be a bit abrupt in my parenting, disciplining, training. I can quote his stuff, but I need to be able to quote, in my head for purposes different than compliance, other material, that addresses the heart. I have also pulled out my Dobson book, Bringing up Boys.

I found this post at Diligently Seeking God for today(the daily devotion I'm following this year) spoke volumes to me about that quasi place obedience for love or fear. It is a beautiful thought provoking post. God will not lead us where He won't light the way.... I hope you look there with me, and gain a blessing for yourself.

May God bless you and me in our efforts to serve Him by serving our families- this week, as always. I've enjoyed this little chat at the blogging bee! Be sure to go over and visit... there are some really smart gals who visit Homestead Revival. Be sure to stop by.

Iditarod & Alaska Reading for Adults

Some years ago, my Dad handed me this book. It was one I'll never part with. It is a beautiful love story, with history from the same wild state as the Iditarod --Alaska.

If I ever travel to Alaska, I'll go to Chicken. I'll look for the places in this book. The warm firebox style homes that nurtured souls in such a barren land. And hope that I happen upon a storyteller who knew Ann Hobbs.












We've also read 'The Great Serum Race'

an excellent, but less complicated version of the origin of the Iditarod. We are following the race using eIditarod and have chosen our musher, a rookie, 'Middie' Johnson #35, grandson of Henry Ivanoff, who handed the serum package to Leonhard Seppala. Seppala mushed twice as long as any other sled team in this amazing story. Seppala's dog Togo is the star of this book, and it tells what really happened and why Balto is more well known.

We are rooting for an Alaskan, and hoping genetics plays to our odds! Go Middie!

By the way, I heard that you can view the race somewhat through google earth. Hope it's not a wilderness legend...

The Children of Green Knowe - A Book Review of Sorts

Jack has been listening to this series on CD, and really enjoying it. (We just finished The Treasure of Green Knowe )I have listened while we're in the car, and sometimes in our kitchen, and enjoyed the simplicity and wholesomeness. The reader has a wonderful voice presence and the story generates creative play. It is reminiscent of The Secret Garden, and many of the books that involve siblings who create the story for a unique house, such as the children in the Narnia series(not to understate the excellence of Narnia books.) The animals & relation to nature in the book is just enough to engage my young boy, to stimulate outdoor play, incorporating the characters such as Tolly & Linnet in his own stories.

There are characters in the book that are 'from the past', that could be called ghosts, however, they aren't called ghosts. Tolly, the lead character, is not in the least scared,-- this is not a scary story. These children become friends with Tolly, and the adventures at Green Knowe begin. Tolly has come to live here through loss, but discovers a family who gives him a sense of place & home.


There is an enormous amount of reference to the creatures & natural surroundings. Birds, bugs & all sorts of critters.


The vocabulary is stimulating and the prose a cut above. It is an enjoyable read/listen for kids and adults alike.

My use of the CD's are mostly for diversity in language & vocabulary. Also for the imaginary play. The sheer enjoyment factor. I'm not ready to call this 'excellent' literature, (I still haven't read 'Roxaboxen'.) Comparitively the main character lends a view into how one might entertain & spend days if there were no parents to guide, similar in ways to 'The Secret Garden'. Little Mary Lenox, certainly needed a dose of parenting, but historically that didn't always happen. She was sassy, smart mouthed, and had been allowed arrogance to be her leading character trait. Tolly lends another, gentler manner to the child who must fend for his personal growth & character.

There are all sorts of references to kindnesses to siblings, teaching & caring for each other. I really enjoy that.

I would have written a better description of this book, shared more quotes, but I only checked out the Cd's. Yet another reason to actually read the hardcopy book. I love books.

In a comparison of simply entertaining media- actually having a child request stopping by the library to get the next set of Cd's-- Jack is always up for one of the 'Cowboy Dog' series, which I have begun to refuse.

(Homeschool Dawn shared an excellent review about Hank the Cowdog at her site)

The last Cowboy Dog Cd had a song which was titled 'Be a Winner'. It was full of catchy tongue & cheek phrases which I heard for the next few days. Most of the song suggested sportsmanship was over rated & cheating was ok, as long as you won. I know the writer did not intend for the sentiment to be what the child chants in the car, house or school, but he did, & I didn't like it.

So, 'Cowboy Dog' is off our listening/reading list. I'm all for chanting something far more noble.


Take-away- not a classic in our books yet, but seriously good food for imagination and exposure to nature as a daily part of life.



Related Post #1




Related Post #2

Trials & the Testing of our Faith

Our faith shine's brightest in the darkest moments, would you agree?

In the daylight, it seems no so bright, it blends in with what is good already, the warmth of all things comfortable. But when darkness of colds and flu and infections and colisions of schedules, spills and messes are the norm, our faith is tested. ---whether we continue to be reverent & grateful, in the light of challenge.

Perseverence in difficulty creates character, not for character's sake only, that we may be praised but for the glory of God. That even when we're challenged, and walking in life's quicksand, God will be glorified.

Thankful am I for what God has done for me, seeing Him for who He is, His greatness, His Holiness.

Thankful for a husband that just keeps going, not unlike that energizer bunny.

Thankful for smart little boys, who make tents & play even when they're sick.

Thankful for tennis lessons for little kids, building their agility, in game & life.

Thankful for friends who perservere in their life's version of quicksand.

Thankful for new born babies, God's design for life.

Thankful for cool beautiful weather.

Thankful for flowering bulbs, a unique gift in nature.

Thankyou God for this unique life of mine, for challenges & blessings, may my faith in You grow, only to glorify You.

64-73

Counting & remembering with reverence Who gives these Gifts.

A couple of thoughts from 'In Defense of Food'

I've limited my book purchases, because I'm trying not to spend money. If you don't spend money, you haven't spent it. Seems obvious, but sometimes we miss the obvious for the trees.

But I did buy 'In Defense of Food', by Michael Pollan. Not surprised by it's content, but encouraged someone put it in such simple, readable terms.



From page 39, " Yet as a general rule it's a whole lot easier to slap a health claim on a box of sugary cereal than on a raw potato or a carrot, with the perverse result that the most healthful foods in the supermarket sit there quietly in the produce section, silent as stroke victims, while a few aisles over in Cereal the Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms are screaming their newfound "whole-grain goodness" to the rafters. Watch out for those health claims."



I couldn't agree more.



My pet peeve food rule (that fluctuates in practice as required) - is mentioned under the heading 'Don't eat anything your Great-Grandmother wouldn't recognize as a food.' page 149.

He mentions 'There are many reasons to avoid eating such complicated food products beyond the various chemical additives and corn and soy derivatives they contain. One of the problems with the products of food science is that , as Joan Gussow has pointed out, they lie to your body: their artificial colors and flavors and synthetic sweeteners and novel fats confound the sense we rely on to assess new foods and prepare our bodies to deal with them. Foods that lie leave us with little choice but to eat by the numbers, consulting labels rather than our senses.'



Perhaps this is a little more theoretical than good mantra. But it takes away my ownership of what I put in my body. Unfortunately I'm addicted to the compositions & concoctions produced by the major food players in the industry. I've become sensitive to the unbelievable contradiction between my food conscience and my palate, but in the heat of the moment, all reason goes out the window. The heat of the moment may be in a social setting, or at home when no one is looking. But that moment comes. Usually stress induced.

I'm talking Zingers, Kashi Blueberry Cereal, Coca-cola, Pancake Mix, Food cheese Product, Salsa Verde, to name a few. And of course the Tostitos to eat the Salsa Verde.

But as I read yesterday, this is about 40 years of training a finely tuned palate. I can certainly enjoy a refreshing vegetable, fruit, or other whole food. I have begun to train my palate to be tuned into the nuances of whole foods as well as organic or true-free-range products.

But that doesn't mean the battle is won. There are the family to think about, whose palattes and emotional eating habits are also well trained. No blame here, but I'm the one doing the shopping. I'm the one guiding the Food Journey. I can and have dumped bad habits before.

So I press on. Reading and working on patience. Planning & avoiding, and trying the new choices, making them the preference.

Reasons it's Difficult to Travel this Food Journey

This one may seem a little less obvious, but can you tell how anemic this tomato looks? While we've been sick, Eric went to the store. I had list ready, abreviated it a little and sent him shopping. Bless his heart... seriously you could almost see through this tomatoe-esque thing. It had a slight resemblance in flavor to a real tomato, but eek! He really didn't do that badly in his efforts. He did purchase organic milk. (?) I was stunned. All the other options must have been sold out.

1.Point I'm making, we are on several journey's right now, and the food journey isn't at the top of our families list. When taking a food journey, bring family along with patience. Be thankful for efforts made of any kind.

2.Cultural foods are not always...mmm.. shall we say 'high quality'. I'll be careful here, but to some these are just mud-bugs. After watching 'Food Inc.' & reading 'In Defense of Food', I've been reminded about some of the less palatable facts about food. But isn't he cute? The kid, I mean....

oh yeah... our first bag of the season- 7 lbs of heaven.

3. Kids are trained to eat what they've been served. Do you notice that this picture is taken as we're driving by? We can't slow down in front of a Cane's sign, because it's all we'll hear for, well until we get some Cane's chicken. Yet another wonderful thing about Louisiana. Henry wake's talking about Cane's chicken, (and Eden.) He's a simple man, with good taste.

Do I have to say anything about this Baum's Bakery sign? During Mardi Gras, they'll ship your king cake anywhere... or just serve you up 3 to go.

4.But it should be said, sugar is addictive.

So while I plan my next trip to the farmer's market, and consider CSA's I'm painfully aware of the difficulties that are out there, challenging my food journey. Like the sirens calling Jason...