The SAC Homeschool Symposium this afternoon was extremely helpful. The main thing I gleaned today was how much more homeschool-friendly SAC is than Northwest Vista, where my kids have attended and/or taken dual credit courses for several years now. SAC is making a Herculean effort to accommodate us in every way, and the appreciation of our "community" was evident. There must have been 500 there today, mostly parents but a few homeschool students as well. The major disadvantage to us is location: SAC is down in the heart of San Antonio, a 35-40 minute drive for us at non-peak traffic times. But the supportive attitude of the school almost wipes out that disadvantage for me and we'll have to weigh all the other elements before we make a decision about next year.

Above all, it was a day to rejoice in our ability to direct the educations of our children all the way to college entrance and to feel validated and supported by even a secular, state-sponsored institution. There will come a day, friends, and in the not-too-distant future, when this will be a distant memory. Not only will our efforts not be appreciated by state institutions, we will be actively discouraged and finally forbidden to teach our children at home. So I will praise God while it lasts and pray for His provision in the lives of my grandchildren and their children...

Labels: Education, Homeschooling

Let me see. Would we call this disingenuous? Dissemination? Prevarication? Or just outright lying?

WASHINGTON (AP) - "That wasn't me," President Barack Obama said on his 100th day in office, disclaiming responsibility for the huge budget deficit waiting for him on Day One.

It actually was him - and the other Democrats controlling Congress the previous two years - who shaped a budget so out of balance.

And as a presidential candidate and president-elect, he backed the twilight Bush-era stimulus plan that made the deficit deeper, all before he took over and promoted spending plans that have made it much deeper still.

Call it what you will. It's political opportunism at its ugliest.

FACT CHECK: Obama disowns deficit he helped shape

Labels: ObamaNation, Theater of the Absurd

Today I'll be doing a little provincial blogging for the sake of those in the San Antonio area and any who might be interested in what our community college system is doing to serve homeschoolers. I'm off to a symposium held by the Alamo Community College District that will cover many aspects of the dual credit system (whereby high school students take and receive college credit for courses they also need for high school graduation, with no charge to the student for the courses) as well as financial aid and other topics of interest to those wishing to access the ACCD program. If there's anything newsworthy to share, I'll have it all here tonight!

Labels: Education, Homeschooling

From today's entertainment section of CNN.com:

(CNN) -- "Where is John Galt?" reads a sign in the back of a vehicle heading down Interstate 85 in Atlanta, Georgia.

The quotation is wrong. As any reader of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" can attest, the correct line is "Who is John Galt?" but the point is well taken.

In the midst of the credit crisis and the federal government's massive bailout plan, the works of Rand, a proponent of a libertarian, free-market philosophy she called Objectivism, are getting new attention.

"If only 'Atlas' were required reading for every member of Congress and political appointee in the Obama administration. I'm confident that we'd get out of the current financial mess a lot faster," Wall Street Journal columnist Stephen Moore wrote in early January.

It's obviously getting attention from the general public. Rand book sales are "going through the roof," said Yaron Brook, the president of the Ayn Rand Institute. According to Brook, "Atlas Shrugged," her most famous novel, has sold more copies in the first four months of 2009 than it did for all of 2008 -- and in 2008, it sold 200,000 copies. It's been in Amazon.com's top 50 for more than a month.

Not bad for a 1,100-page doorstop of a book that came out in 1957, by an author who died in 1982. So many people see the parallels with actually what's going on, with the government taking over the banks, with the government kind of taking over the automobile industry, a president who fires the CEO of a major American corporation. These are the kind of things that come out of 'Atlas Shrugged,' " Brook said.

If you want to know more of what all the buzz is about, read the whole column.

And for the record, I believe one of the major distinctions in objectivism is that what is defined as "self-interest" is not a synonym for "selfishness." There are points of intersection, of course, but there are also differences. I may believe that this country's future depends on individuals acting in their own self-interest (capitalism), but I'm certainly not advocating selfishness. I just strenuously object to being forced by my government to act unselfishly. Whether or not it meshes with Rand's philosophy, I believe there is a place, an important place, for sacrifice. But when sacrifice is mandated, it ceases, by definition, to be true sacrifice.

And yes, I'd like to know, "WHERE is John Galt?"

'Atlas Shrugged' author sees resurgence

hat tip: Dr. P.

Labels: Books, ObamaNation, Social Observation

Several months ago, we switched all our remaining students at Granny's House out of Saxon Math and into Teaching Textbooks. I will try to contain myself here about the success of my Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1 students in the new curriculum, except to give you this anecdote:

A few weeks ago I told the boys that from now on I wanted them to figure their own percentages on their math lessons by dividing the number they got right by the total number in the lesson. And they are to write the percentage grade under the number they got wrong. Tim was pretty excited about this for some reason and looked forward each day to figuring his percentage after we graded the lesson.

Only problem is that for FOURTEEN DAYS IN A ROW, Tim got 100% on his lessons. This is the kid that I was afraid might never make it out of fifth grade because he wasn't passing math. Now in 7th grade, taking TT's Pre-algebra course, he's acing the material. But he was slightly disappointed each day because he didn't get to use his handy calculator to figure his percentage. How boring.

Well, today he missed ONE problem and was deLIGHTed to get to figure that he'd made a 95%. Not too many kids are happy to get a problem wrong, and there aren't too many of them I'd WANT to be happy about it. But I'll give him this one :-)

Labels: Homeschooling, Kids

I'm becoming increasingly disturbed about the looming UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. I've tried to stick my head in the sand and avoid learning too much about it, because I instinctively know that it's the next step in removing our ability to raise our children as God says we should. But in truth I haven't wanted, in this age of Obama, to get exercised about one more thing. Unfortunately, though, they go hand in hand and it's high time that Christians stand up, for what could be the last time, in opposition to this dangerous move by our country.

I'm going to post here a list of The Top 10 Things You Need to Know about the CRC, but I urge you to go to ParentalRights.org and read more about it. The younger your children (or grandchildren) are at this moment, the more serious the impact will be on their lives and we can't afford to ignore it any longer.

Ten things you need to know about the substance of the CRC.

1. Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.
2. A murderer aged 17 years, 11 months and 29 days at the time of his crime could no longer be sentenced to life in prison.
3. Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.
4. The best interest of the child principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision.
5. A child’s “right to be heard” would allow him (or her) to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.
6. According to existing interpretation, it would be illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children’s welfare.
7. Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.
8. Christian schools that refuse to teach "alternative worldviews" and teach that Christianity is the only true religion "fly in the face of article 29" of the treaty.
9. Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.
10. Children would have the right to reproductive health information and services, including abortions, without parental knowledge or consent.

Don't allow yourself to be fooled: no matter how many "good" things the UN CRC purports to do, nothing removes the threat to you and that little one sitting beside you right now. If you read nothing else today on the ParentalRights website, please make time to read this:

The Threat: Attacks on Parental Rights

Labels: Children, Political Action, Social Observation

One of my kids posted on Facebook yesterday that these long trips of Dad's (and yes, around here two weeks classifies as "long") should be illegal. I don't know about that, but they sure aren't fun for any of us. Especially when the second half drags on with little or no communication due to the still high prices of phone calls and texts to Australia. We're glad it's OVER!

Yesterday, to help pass the last day before the coming home of The Papa, I treated myself to a movie alone. I mentioned several months ago that I'd been waiting with eagerness for The Soloist. It's based on the true story of Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless and schizophrenic former Julliard student and extraordinary cellist. He was "discovered" and made famous by Steve Lopez, a writer for the LA Times in a series of columns later expanded to book and now movie form. The movie was very sobering...it didn't end quite like I expected but I walked out reminding myself that "true stories" often don't turn out in neat "happily ever after" packages. To be honest, this one left me slightly blue. And after reflecting on it for 24 hours I think that, for me, the major message was the power of friendship even when that friendship can't perform miracles.

So now we have to be worried about the swine flu. I don't think it's a false alarm, and I hope I would be saying that even if the first U.S. cases weren't here in San Antonio. But it has brought the threat very close to home, and has made me think we might just be hunkering down for a few weeks and opting out of public events...

Listening this week to A Soldier of the Great War.

Four more weeks of school at Granny's House. As always, I look forward to the break for all of us, even though this year at least one and maybe two of our kids will need to keep going with math during the summer in order to stay on track. "On track" was never that big a deal in the early years, but when it comes to the middle and high school years, I do feel some pressure to make sure their courses and credits are in place so that I can, with integrity, put together a transcript that accurately reflects their academic accomplishments. So, we will give a couple of extra months to getting caught up, with a couple of weeks off during July vacation.

In the past couple of weeks we've done some sprucing up around here...a little paint, some new light fixtures, several new faucets, trim work. We have other projects coming up including our fourth major rebuilding of the kitchen door in 7 1/2 years. Not the kind of fun stuff we enjoy putting more money into. The big joke around here is that in three more years we'll have rebuilt the whole house, cleaning up all the builder's messes. We're glad he's now out of business.

I'm in the mood to do some heavy-duty cooking this week. Assuming my pain level isn't too high, I may be able to report back next week that we've had some extra-scrumptious meals and perhaps a few extra for the freezer.

Papa and I are looking at calendars, airline and hotel points, etc. and dreaming of a getaway sometime soon. Anyone have any thoughts on Savannah, GA?

So much fun this morning to turn around and see the five stairstep Slaughter kids sitting on the row in back of me. After two months I'm still occasionally startled to see them, whether in church or in my kitchen...what a joy!

Have a great last week in April!

Labels: Books, Grandkids, Health, Homemaking, Homeschooling, Movies, The Papa, Vacations

hat tip: Dr. P.

Labels: ObamaNation, Social Observation

Mark down the date. Tuesday, April 21, 2009, is the moment that any chance of a new era of bipartisan respect in Washington ended. By inviting the prosecution of Bush officials for their antiterror legal advice, President Obama has injected a poison into our politics that he and the country will live to regret.

Presidential Poison

hat tip: Pam Y.

Labels: ObamaNation, Political Observation, Theater of the Absurd

A little explanation here about the W.O.W. hiatus.

Yes, I have been very busy lately what with a trip out of state, The Papa's absence, end-of-year activities heating up, and trying to get everyone's teeth, eye, and medical appointments taken care of for the year.

But the real reason is that I am growing discouraged in the area of language.

I am definitely a language enthusiast though not a purist. I am not afraid of change in the language and I have loosened up on many things, especially where the traditional grammar begins to sound stilted in light of popular usage.

However, I see much of what's happening to the English language today as the result of exceedingly poor or non-existent grammar and spelling education, and the capitulation of dictionaries and language "authorities" for fear of being shut out of the popular market. The result is that for nearly every grammar or language travesty, you can find a dictionary or an expert that will pat your hand and tell you that it's okay, just do it however you feel best expresses what you want to say.

Consequently, for many of the W.O.W. columns I've written, I've gotten emails that tell me I'm wrong because the American Dictionary of You-Name-It at www.yourtheonlyexpertthatcounts.com says it's perfectly acceptable. I'm not kidding--there's hardly a thing I've written that can't be refuted if you really want to refute me. So I think that it's better for my own mental health to just concentrate on being the best writer and communicator I can be and let the rest of the world reduce itself to its lowest common denominator, metaphorically speaking.

You're perfectly justified if you want to call me a snob. That's not the same as being a purist. It just means that I will continue to value the language and its heritage. I am as likely as anyone else to get caught saying, "And I'm like, what?" but I will NEVER tell you it's correct, acceptable, or desirable to litter your speech or your writing with HUNDREDS of likes and y'know's. (There are people I know who are quite literally handicapped in communication because of their inability or unwillingness to work on this and they're passing it on to their children. I don't think they have any idea that people aren't even listening to what they say...they're counting the "you know"s.) And I will not tell you, no matter which dictionary has given in, that it's okay to say "irregardless" or "exetera" or "I'm nauseous." Though I have realized that it is time to let go of the complete ban on ending sentences with prepositions when the alternatives now sound contrived, I will continue to wince and will never approve "Where's he at?" I will not give even a slight nod to an abomination, no matter which former Beatle made it trendy, like "the world in which we live in." And I will not give you a passing grade on a paper on which you've chosen to eliminate all apostrophes because you can't remember where they go and don't even want to try.

Hmmm...does that sound like a rant? Probably so. Nevertheless, I am taking a break from offering unsolicited grammar advice because my blood pressure doesn't need the dressing-down from folks who are inclined to find some source to prove I'm wrong or out of date. I'll continue to sharpen my own skills and even to loosen up when I believe it's to the benefit of my readers, but I will (shall?) also continue exulting in the structure and the beauty of English.

Don't worry, folks. I'm in my mid-fifties already and I won't be around to hound you for long ;-)

Labels: Language, Words On Wednesday

Let's hope that lots of folks are going to start saying out loud what the majority is whispering: Where did we get these people?

Can someone please tell us how U. S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano got her job? She appears to be about as knowledgeable about border issues as a late-night radio call-in yahoo.

In an interview broadcast Monday on the CBC, Ms. Napolitano attempted to justify her call for stricter border security on the premise that "suspected or known terrorists" have entered the U. S. across the Canadian border, including the perpetrators of the 9/11 attack.

All the 9/11 terrorists, of course, entered the United States directly from overseas. The notion that some arrived via Canada is a myth that briefly popped up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and was then quickly debunked.

Informed of her error, Ms. Napolitano blustered: "I can't talk to that. I can talk about the future. And here's the future. The future is we have borders."

Ummm...this person is in charge of a major department of our government? Of course, I could ask the same question of the person at the head of the government but that's one I've covered before...

The border for dummies

Labels: ObamaNation, Political Observation, Theater of the Absurd

Piggy-backing here on the comment made by Kim in the previous post, regarding "key words": This is a technique The Papa used with the boys to bridge the time when they're too old to just sit drawing pictures but can't really take notes yet. Once they were old enough to read a few words (or recognized them once they'd been read to them), he would ask our pastor on Saturday for 5-7 key words expected to be in Sunday's sermon and he would print them in their notebook. During the sermon, they were to listen closely and put a tally mark under each word each time they heard it, including in any of the hymns, which are often chosen to complement the message. Obviously this was not too taxing for a beginning reader, as the only effort was listening and writing straight marks on the page. But it was amazing how this focused them and kept their minds from wandering, afraid they'd miss one! A couple of times they came up with more tally marks than their dad!

Another thing we do when the schedule allows: as we're finishing dinner on Monday evening, Papa asks questions to start a discussion about the sermon. It's easy to tell who's been paying attention and who's been dreaming about dinner...it's hard to bluff your way through more than a couple questions. It's a way to focus our minds and hearts on the portion of God's word that was opened to us the day before and really feast on it, and it holds the kids accountable for what they're absorbing.

Feel free to share more of YOUR ideas for making worship meaningful with children or teens...

Labels: Church, Family

Sometimes it seems that I get asked a lot of the same questions over and over, and I guess I do...but not by the same people. Maybe it's a feature of getting old that makes me feel as though I'm reworking the same ground a lot. In truth, a lot of (increasingly younger!) families cross my path and they tend to have the same kinds of struggles and questions that I've been hearing for many years now.

Yesterday, after a particularly well-attended and slightly noisy morning in our family-integrated church, I was asked a question that made me think it was time to address children in church once again. I've probably blogged about this before, but for some who may be new readers, I'll spend a little time on this very important topic again...

Because our congregation comprises many large families and lots of young children, we're in a continual process of training even very tiny children to worship. For the most part, things are amazingly orderly, as each family has taken on the important responsibility of teaching their children to participate enthusiastically, to sit quietly when appropriate, and to respect the worship experiences of others.

And then there are days like today, when some families feel as if everything is coming apart at the seams (and today we were bursting at the seams!). The Papa likes to remind our church that the sounds and even the cries and occasional tantrums of little children are the sounds of treasure falling from heaven. It's good to be reminded of that, isn't it? Because most of the time it's the parents of the ones still being trained who get the most "stressed out" by the noise and the need to enforce the boundaries.

But it's true, too, that genuinely unruly children do make it difficult for others around them to worship, and this is just one of the reasons that we work so hard to encourage our kids to learn self-control and reverence for the worship atmosphere. No one, though, ever gives you a manual to learn how to teach such things, and I continue to think that the best way to succeed is to observe families who've gone before you and ask them questions! Remember, too, that some of what you'll need to teach your children is dependent on the surroundings, the furnishings, and the tolerance level of the congregation you're attending. What's acceptable and even desirable in one setting won't always fly in another.

When our kids were much younger, we actually had a list of standards that we would review with them from time to time, and then we'd do a "debrief" once we were home to provide them with feedback on how they were doing. We don't ever want this to overshadow the importance of the actual worship experience, but a child who's causing trouble and disobeying is not likely to be worshiping.

Here are some of the things we trained our kids to do (and again, some of them were specific to the church we were a part of at the time):

• When the congregation stands, the children stand. When asked to be seated, they will follow.

• When we sing, they are to sing if they know the song. Once they're four or five years old, we help them follow the song in the hymnal even if they're pre-readers, so they get a handle on how to go from line to line and verse to verse.

• They are to bring their Bibles to church, and find and follow the Scripture readings once they're old enough. Again, for pre-readers, helping them follow the text with your finger helps train their eyes for the time when they can read on their own.

• No climbing or crawling under the pews/chairs and no standing on them after about two years old. In larger churches it's sometimes helpful for a very tiny child to stand on a chair so she can see what's going on. In our current church this probably wouldn't be necessary.

• Show respect for the church's hymnals, Bibles, visitor cards, etc. No writing on anything you didn't bring. The church's offering envelopes are not meant to be note card stock :-)

• Bulletins will not become airborne in any form, with or without alien insignia.
  

• If the child exceeds the acceptable noise level (and you and those around you will determine the level), he'll be taken out of the service temporarily for discipline or to calm down. But it won't be pleasant--we don't want to take them out of church and have them like the change so much that they act up on purpose in order to go play with the toys or take a walk outside. They may need a spanking, they may need a diaper change, they may need to sit just outside the crowd on Dad's lap where they don't disturb but also don't feel they've "escaped"!

• After age three, no snacks in church. Once again, some of this is determined by the setting of your church and whether Cheerios are acceptable in the pews. But in our family, we needed to set an age limit on this or they'd still be bringing their bowl of cereal into the sanctuary ;-)

• No toys, ever. This was our standard and I understand that this isn't a black and white issue, and you may disagree. We did allow drawing, but not until the sermon began. Until then, the child was to participate fully in the service and not sit in the pew with crayons. Once the sermon began we allowed quiet drawing/coloring. When our children were six they weren't allowed to draw unless it had something to do with what they were hearing. Sometimes this was a stretch...David and Goliath might resemble X-men or something. But we wanted their ears to be attuned to the sermon. After age eight or so, depending on the ability of the child, any writing needed to be sermon keywords, outline, etc.

• Intra-sibling squabbles and altercations were not/are not tolerated. It's bad enough at home...but this was (and occasionally still is) dealt with severely and swiftly when it happened in church.

• I've left this one until near the end because it is, admittedly, one of my "things". But after a child is four years old he almost NEVER needs to leave a one to one and a half hour service to go to the restroom. I'm very serious. Once a child is reliably potty-trained I give him about a year and then no more leaving the service for this. Of course, your child will scare you into thinking he's about to make a puddle on the floor but I've never personally seen this happen. Not in 54 years. I'm not saying it didn't happen once in Evanston, IL when a mom dared to say no. But I'm saying it's a good risk. If your child can go an hour at home without going to the bathroom, he can do it at church. If you're in a church where he goes to Sunday school and then church, please take him right before church and then insist he wait until after the closing prayer to go again. Honest, he'll make it if you're consistent enough to tell him no every time. Seeing 26 children leave a service inside an hour is very distracting to the pastor and the congregation, and for the most part totally unnecessary. Recognize that the impulse to ask to go to the bathroom is driven more by your child's felt need to get a change of scenery during a long sermon than it is to relieve a physical need. Obviously, you know your child and you know the look she gives you if she has a stomach virus and is about to prove it. Please allow her to go to the restroom :-) (Oh, and beware of 13 year old girls who mysteriously need to leave the service together. It usually has something to do with mascara or texting.)

• Finally, teach your kids to respect the needs and desires of those around them. If they're being fairly obedient but it appears that their loud turning of the pages in the coloring book is turning heads, then they should take the cue and try to keep it quiet.

I share these guidelines not because I want you to adopt them all "as is." It's important, though, for parents to set guidelines and then work toward the child's progress in meeting them. It doesn't happen all at once, and it's not necessarily a constant moving forward. But consistency and feedback should keep you moving in the right direction most of the time. The time and effort you spend now is a gift to your children, their children, your fellow church members, and of course the God we meet to worship.

I can't count the times that visitors to our church comment on how amazing it is to have a room FULL of children, many under three, and have it be so orderly and quiet. It's not always that way, and I know that some moms begin to feel that it's never that way! But the sound of treasure falling from heaven is a joyous thing to hear. (Well, okay, especially for those of us whose youngest sons and daughters are now 12 and above. I, too, was one of the stressed young moms for several years and didn't fully appreciate the sounds of treasure. Now I do.)

One last encouragement, mainly for you moms of little ones. Maybe you've got three or four little ones, you're pregnant with another, and you feel you'll never again get to worship or hear a whole sermon. But what higher form of worship can there be than to honor God by patiently teaching your children to worship? It won't last forever...and for now God is looking on your service to Him as an act of worship.

The church of tomorrow is counting on your faithfulness today.

Thoughts? What do your standards look like?

Labels: Children, Church

UPDATE: I found and fixed the error. I had misplaced a tag and it threw everything after it off. The very interesting thing to me is that Firefox automatically corrected for it so anyone viewing the blog in that browser never noticed! Firefox ROCKS!

Housekeeping note: If you're viewing the blog on IE (or its cousin AOL) you may find that it's not loading properly and it's all jumbled. I'm aware of the problem and don't have a clue how to fix it...since it appears fine on Firefox I'm assuming it's not a problem with my template but don't know where to go from there. If any of you code junkies know what I should do, I'm listening :-)

Labels: Blogstuff, Technology

I don't know about the rest of Bluebonnet Country, but in San Antonio our rains came too late to give us a beautiful wildflower season. At least now we've had some good rain and the world is greening up nicely. I will refrain from commenting on what "green" means here as compared to other places I've lived and just say that the spring has been nice so far...

I like having kids who love making homemade pizza.

The Papa is in Australia, adjusting to being 15 time zones away from us and, of course, working upside down. Does this make him part of the underworld? In any case, we miss him!

For those of you who joined my challenge to read Atlas Shrugged, I've finished it again this week. Hard to tell the difference sometimes between the novel and the country we're living in...and my question now is, "Who IS John Galt?" And will we find one...

This week we've employed son-in-law Dave to: change out two faucets, install a sliding shower door, paint a bathroom, caulk a kitchen sink, and order a door and a plate glass mirror (which broke in half as he and Nate attempted to remove it). Most of the stuff we're having him do isn't the fun stuff; it's the constant re-building and equipping of the house to mop up the messes the incompetent, substandard builder made. Good thing we know a good contractor :-)

Eleven weeks until our family vacation to Red River, New Mexico. We've gone several times before, and several of us went two years ago and loved it...can hardly wait to get up in the mountains and wear jackets and fish in the early morning. Well okay, not me personally, but I love hearing about it! Best of all, we hope to have all of our kids and grandkids with us, as well as great-grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins galore!

Our little congregation had a record crowd this morning, even more than on Easter. What a joy! But it did make some of us muse about the mathematical formula that would predict the rise in temperature in a small space with the addition of each successive family...I think it's time to find a new building!

Well, it's apparent now more than ever that American voters, some through our actual pulling of a lever and some through stamping our foot and staying home, have elected and allowed Obama and Co. to go play in a very dangerous sandbox, one in which they are completely and laughably out of their league. This administration has worse problems than not understanding the rules of the game: they are convinced they can rewrite them as easily as they rewrite history. The trouble is that thugs don't abide by any rules--yours, the group's, or even their own. It's too bad that we don't elect men like Victor Davis Hanson, who clearly understand the threat in the light of both historical perspective and current political realities. Read what he's saying today about the mismatch between what our country needs and what it voted for itself.

I've been so blessed this week to see the Body of Christ caring for hurting members, standing by them in the most basic of ways as they walk through the fiercest of fires. May God return a hundredfold to all those who've given of what they have to ease the burdens of others, and may He grant comfort and rest to His children who are still experiencing the flames.

And may you have a week full of the blessings of life in Christ, even if those blessings come packaged in circumstances that look like anything but...

Labels: Body of Christ, Church, Food, Homemaking, ObamaNation, Political Observation, Sundays, The Papa, Vacations

Labels: Political Observation, Theater of the Absurd

Oh, No Thank You. Really.

Labels: Fun, Language

For those of us who grew up in the age of mandatory, enforced Bible drills, this is just unthinkable:

Stuff Christians Like #521


;-)

Labels: Fun

Not sure how I feel about this, but it's an interesting viewpoint...what do you think?

Forever in Blue Jeans

Labels: Clothes, Fun, Social Observation

I just can't get enough of Susan Boyle...

She Dreamed a Dream

Labels: Music

Seems that Mr. Obama is perfectly willing to drape himself in the prestige and heritage of Christian institutions, as long as there's nothing remotely Christian in the shots that include him. Rather than acting humbly as the guest of these schools that have invited him, he sets the conditions in order to avoid being tainted by or even associated with their timeless values. Georgetown, and now Notre Dame, become his accomplices in the foisting of a post-Christian world in their increasingly accommodating halls.

Georgetown Says It Covered Over Name of Jesus to Comply With White House Request

Labels: ObamaNation

A first in my lifetime:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer prices fell unexpectedly in March and recorded their first annual drop since 1955, government data showed on Wednesday, as slumping demand pushed down energy and food costs.

Of course, lower prices sound good, but the drop is really a symptom of the slowing economy and doesn't really mean anything hopeful. And don't worry...the trillions of dollars that Obama and Co. are printing and pouring into the economy will translate into Carter-like inflation within a short time. So hang onto those pennies you're saving on this month's peanut butter. You're gonna need 'em.

Consumer prices fall

Labels: Money, ObamaNation, Social Observation

If you're in the market for a car and you're thinking about going "green," consider the safety of your little ones (and the driver!)...

Do watch the video and keep your eyes on the parts of the cars that are inhabited by people!

(And don't be fooled by stats that give the smart cars good crash ratings...they've been crashed into each other and not against the larger cars that they're likely to be hit by in a real accident.)

Study Says Minicar Buyers Sacrifice Safety

Labels: Theater of the Absurd

Sometimes you wonder if the world can get any crazier. If the sky is blue, there'll be a group out there saying that it's yellow, or that if it isn't, it should be:

What's good for women's basketball will be good for nuclear physics.

To most Americans, that statement will sound odd. To President Obama, it apparently does not. In an October letter to women's advocacy groups, he declared that Title IX, the law that requires universities to give equal funding to men's and women's athletics, had made "an enormous impact on women's opportunities and participation in sports." If pursued with "necessary attention and enforcement," the same law could make "similar, striking advances" for women in science and engineering.

That campaign pledge is hardening into policy, which ought to give people pause. In February, the Congressional Diversity and Innovation Caucus met with academic deans and women's groups to plan for the new Title IX deployment. Nearly everyone present agreed that closing the gender gap in the laboratory is an urgent "national imperative." What they failed to consider, however, is how enforced parity might affect American science.

Labels: Social Observation

We've just shared a lovely Easter meal with family and a few friends at Granny's House. Actually, less than thirty of us--a small group. And we have LOTS of leftover ham if you'd like to drop by for a sandwich...

It was nice to come home from church and hear that our American merchant marine captain had been rescued and was on his way home. Easter will forever have an extra layer of meaning for Capt. Phillips and his family.

Would it be sacrilegious to say that I wish Easter would make up its mind about March or April? Oh wait...I guess since God set the date that would be a yes. Never mind.

I'm unpacked and settled back in after my week and a half in California. What a blessing to have a husband who supports my going to care for my precious "elsewhere" family and children who are old enough and self-sufficient enough to carry on in my absence and have the house clean and my sheets changed when I return! Thank you, dear ones.

This week is pretty much devoted to taxes (no, I didn't procrastinate...I did enough of the work in February to know we were going to have to pay a lot, so I put it aside until closer to the deadline) and to getting the kids enrolled and registered in college for the fall. We could have five, yes FIVE, kids in college full- or part-time this fall and that is a heck of a lot of paperwork. Uh, yes, that too....

I love grocery shopping in southern California. There's nothing like poring over the choices of imu steaks and ostrich sausages. Seriously, the choices are amazing. And so are the seafood soups at Whole Foods, which we may have here but it's too far to go!

Already posted this on my Facebook, but just in case you haven't seen it, check out this great T-shirt. (If you're not with us on Facebook, you won't "get it"...if you've been on for longer than thirty seconds, you will!) And while you're there, look around one of my favorite slightly twisted websites, Despair.com. It can make even recession fun.

How are you coming on Atlas Shrugged? Seeing anything you remotely recognize? I'm more than 3/4 finished. Again.

Ruffles and lace and bows on our youngest ladies...dress shirts and ties (something we don't see as often as we used to!) and fresh haircuts on our young men...pastels and flowers and Resurrection greetings...glorious music and a moving sermon on 1 Cor. 15...all experienced with joy and gratitude for the Saviour's gift of love and His every gift since. I hope your day was as wonderful.


("Love Crucified Arose," Michael Card)

Labels: Books, Family, Fun, Holidays

I'm home again! I've spent the past nine days at Lyric's in California, helping her do all the things you can't do with just one arm/hand and helping her pass the time in the first week after her shoulder surgery.

It's good to be home again, spending the Easter weekend with The Papa, the kids, and my church family. I've had a nice nap, trying to readjust to Central Time, and now I'm ready to do some prep work for tomorrow's dinner! Hope all of you are looking forward to a day of celebrating the Resurrection and our new life in the Risen Lord!

Labels: Family, Holidays

In case you suspected it was just Granny who thought it was timely...

With 'Atlas Shrugged,' Hollywood may have its first anti-bailout movie


(I apologize in advance for the inexplicable photo of Barney Frank in the piece. Painful.)

Labels: Books, Movies, Political Observation, Social Observation

There are already too many people living on Planet Earth, according to one of most influential science advisors in the US government.

Nina Fedoroff told the BBC One Planet programme that humans had exceeded the Earth's "limits of sustainability".

Guess this is the only instance in history when man followed God's instructions TOO well?

Earth population 'exceeds limits'

Labels: Science, Social Observation, Theater of the Absurd