Labels: Books, Church, Food, Grandparenting, Homeschooling, Music, Political Humor, Sundays, Technology, TV

Labels: Books, Church, Music, Sanctity of Life, Sundays, Vacations

Last week while traveling and relaxing, I listened to more of Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby, read some more (aloud with The Papa) of Blue Shoes and Happiness, finished Somewhere More Holy by Tony Woodlief and Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, and started Carol Kent's Between a Rock and a Grace Place, a serendipity gift from my bestie. I'd read ANYthing by Carol Kent.

Another Warren computer bit the dust this week. Ugh. So that and a replacement for our second refrigerator are on my list for the next week or so. 

It's 50 degrees in my bedroom right now, and I'm sitting up in bed with a cold Diet Coke. I know, sick.
This year, we will break with our much-loved Thanksgiving traditions for a much-needed breather. Most of us will be going to Fort Worth to celebrate the holiday with our extended families there, including my mother who is getting more fragile with each year. I will cherish the chance to be with her.

This morning's sermon, from John 7:37-39, focused on what it means to come to Christ and drink from His living water. It was very moving to me, one of the best sermons I've ever heard. Made me genuinely sad to hear our pastor say, "In closing...."

("Our God, Our Help in Ages Past", lyrics by Isaac Watts)

Labels: Books, Church, Family, Food, Friendship, Holidays, Political Observation, Vacations

It's fall. And though usually the beginning of fall is a cruel joke to those of us here in South America Texas, it was actually below 70 before sunset this evening, and that gives me hope. Now if we can just avoid too much rain in the less than three weeks before the wedding. We need to park about 75 cars on our "land" and it would be nice not to have any quicksand, and it would be nice not to experience a deluge during the outdoor ceremony.

Our school is going well this year, but then again, we've way downsized. John Caleb is doing several courses through a local co-op and is just doing math and history with us. I've got lots of time and space now for one-on-one attention with Tim, and that has been very good for both of us.

If you're looking for a good writing program and don't mind giving it some real effort, please look at Classical Writing (www.classicalwriting.com). This is the program I've been looking for for a quarter of a century, and it's one I'd love to use with younger kids (my grandkids and others) when my own teaching responsibilities are over. I love to write, but teaching writing has always been my least favorite "chore," right there behind Texas history.

Learning to walk again with one leg considerably shorter than the other has been one of my biggest challenges in the past decade. And after two false starts at having shoes made for me that would equalize the difference, this week I'm so encouraged! Our friend Cody Longenbaugh brought me in to his company and they worked on two pairs of shoes for me, and I now have hope that I'm not going to have to spend the rest of my life limping or wearing shoes that look like my grandmother's :-)

This afternoon I watched half of the Ken Burns series on Thomas Jefferson. I can never seem to get enough of Jefferson or of trying to figure him out. He's one of the most interesting figures in all of history to me, even when I disagree with him. A couple of things stood out to me today. One is the quote from Tristram Shandy that would have remained obscure except for the fact that Martha Jefferson wrote it out to Thomas as she lay dying and could no longer speak...

Time wastes too fast: every letter I trace tells me with what rapidity life follows my pen. The days and hours of it are flying over our heads like clouds of a windy day never to return...

And then there's this, a quote from a letter Jefferson wrote to William S. Smith in 1787. It more prescient all the time:

God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

No, I still don't know what I'm wearing to the wedding. I'm working on it.

To the soprano who sat in back of me this morning and blessed my morning and my worship with your beautiful singing, thank you. You were a gift.

And this week, I WILL make Pioneer Woman's "The Bread." Yes, it's glorified breadandbutter. But I can smell it already. I was going to include a link, but her site is down. You're probably better off.

I hope that where you live you'll be feeling the zip of fall air very soon. I'll be here waiting...

Labels: Church, Food, Homeschooling, TV, Weather, Weddings

These last weeks of spring have been beautifully busy. With all the major activities of the school year finished, I'm making lists and tentative schedules and planning some travel for the summer. I always love the looseness of the summer as a break from the school year routines...and then, come late August/September, I'm ready to tighten up again and "fall" back into the routines that hold us together for most of the year.

My partial summer list: Get started on my Rosetta Stone course. Be available to work on wedding plans with CJ. Fine tune school plans for the fall. Finish reading How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil (it's slow reading, but oh-so-worth it). Declutter our room (it's become the victim of my inability to walk and use my hands at the same time!).

Our attempt to get AT&T U-verse installed this week fell through when the installer was unable to get the expected signal at our house. So we settled for upgrading our cable package to one where we can DVR and order movies from more than one TV, and get more channels (including FOX Business!) than we've had before. We're still anxious to get U-verse, but it could be another year according to them.

I know I keep saying this, but I need a new computer. And a new phone. But I'm going to try and make the ones I have limp along until the end of the year. I finally got everything from my laptop backed up on a hard drive, something I should have done long ago, so at least I'm not living in fear of an unrecoverable crash. And I've freed up some space on this old not-so-faithful.

Last weekend we celebrated Shelley's graduation from high school and her senior piano recital. About 200 friends and family joined us for the big occasion and were treated to a 90 minute concert of Shelley's best. Later we presented her with her high school diploma and lots of roses and finished the evening with a nice reception. Shelley will now take a European-style "gap year" to work on material for college auditions and to breathe a little while she decides exactly what to do about college choices. Here are a few photos from her recital...




Thursday was a big day for me! I went for my routine appointment with my surgeon, expecting him to clear me to move from 25 to 50% weight on my right leg. After seeing the xrays, he was confident enough to tell me that I could put 100% weight on the leg "as tolerated", making sure that I didn't do too much too soon. My "surprises" at doctor's appointments of late have not been good ones, so I left walking on clouds instead of tile! At that point my plans for the summer changed a little, as I was expecting a very slow summer adding weight very gradually and needing a walker for a few more months. But it appears I may be free of that unwelcome companion sooner than I thought!

Just five months until the election when we may begin to retake our stolen government and return it to a group of men (and increasingly, women!) who respect the Constitution and will stop the madness that could soon have us modeling Greece.

All year long, while sitting here in my chair or lying in the bed, I have been craving some giant sea scallops, perfectly seared and sitting on a bed of couscous. Random, I know, but I'm going to find them.

Our freshly remodeled deck was the site of a Hawaiian luau last night, meticulously planned and executed by our church deacons and their wives. Yes, it was complete with a kalua pig, roasted in a pit in the ground in our back yard, which is being filled in by The Papa and Sons as I write this. It was a delightful evening, blessed by unseasonably mild and breezy weather. Here's a taste of our luau:




For the next couple of weeks, we'll be getting ready for Kristen and the elves to move in with us for a month or two. Dave is still in training for his new insurance job, and soon they'll need to relocate to the DFW area. In the meantime they'll keep us company as they wait for the big move. We're delighted...Kristen is a big help to me and a wonderful companion, and it's a joy to have the children here. Last time they lived with us there were four of them, and now there are five!

I hope you enjoy your last week of spring, 2010. I, for one, am more than ready for a new season!

Labels: Books, Church, Family, Food, Health, Political Observation, Summer, Sundays, Technology

“The gospel creates the kind of community that is even now an imperfect preview of the kingdom’s marriage feast that awaits us. The church originates, flourishes, and fulfills its mission as that part of God’s world that has been redeemed and redefined by this strange announcement that seems foolish and powerless to the rest of the world.”

—Michael Horton, The Gospel-Driven Life (Grand Rapids, MI; Baker Books, 2009)

I am privileged to fellowship with a part of the body of Christ that is a beautiful preview of that feast.

via Of First Importance

Labels: Body of Christ, Church

Last night our Covenant of Grace church family gathered at the home of one of our member families to celebrate God's goodness through the Reformation. It's something we do each year, focusing on one area and one leader of the Reformation. One of the highlights is sharing food from the part of the world we're studying, and last night it was French and Swiss food, in honor of the 500th birthday of John Calvin. It was a cozy little group of 93 of us in one of the only houses that will still fit most of us and we had a glorious time!

Each year about this time I go looking for a Thanksgiving checklist...a timeline for getting everything done. But the ones I find never seem to cover our unique traditions and needs. So this year I went to the Internet and downloaded seven or eight different ones, copied and pasted them all into one document, and then crossed out duplications, added things we do that no one else would do (Make sure we have a serviceable football), and adjusted for the odd way we tend to operate around here. Now I have my own very detailed but personalized list of what to do "Four Weeks Before" all the way to "Thanksgiving Morning." It should service me well for many years.

Who'd have thought I'd ever be glued to the coming results of an obscure upstate New York congressional race?

After a couple of years of disinterest, I've again become very active on eBay, using it to collect table linens, silverware, glassware and extra serving pieces for our holiday tables. I love it that no matter what pattern I'm after, someone is selling it. Yes, some of it is way beyond what I want to pay, but I've stuck with it long enough this year to get most of what I need and want at reasonable prices. Twenty years ago I'd never have believed this virtual worldwide garage sale!

We're having two sets of company this week...more on that later!

It's always startling on the first night after the time change...I actually love it when it gets dark early, but it's still a little disorienting.

And that's precisely why the Snippets are abbreviated tonight. I'm disoriented and sleepy and have to be up early. Have a great week!

Labels: Church, Holidays, Political Observation, Sundays

Today I cooked a turkey. No, I'm not doing it early for Thanksgiving and freezing it...I just decided to pull a fairly small one out of the freezer and have it for Sunday dinner. No big fancy meal, just new potatoes and carrots with it. And oh my, it was delightful. I think that I miss most of the goodness of turkey on Thanksgiving, because although it's sort of obligatory and is certainly the visual centerpiece of that meal (for those of carnivores), it gets overshadowed by all the elaborate trimmings and desserts. This time, I was able to savor it for its own sake...and look forward to a sandwich tomorrow.

Our south Texas weather can't seem to make up its mind. Today we're up in the mid-80's again, after a fall teaser that was gone all too soon. Okay, well I'll have patience until we go off daylight savings time next week. After that, I'm going to get really grumpy.

Is it just me, or is there a marked decrease in the amount of Halloween yard displays this year?

Saturday afternoon/evening, our church will celebrate one of the highlights of our church year: Reformation Day. This year, in honor of the 500th birthday of John Calvin (yeah, he's as old as I feel sometimes), we will focus on Geneva and the Swiss arm of the Reformation. And, because John Calvin was originally from France, we'll take the liberty to enjoy French food. You know, because Swiss cheese and Swiss chard make for a rather limited meal :-)

I'm in a dry spell as far as reading goes. I've been working on the same little stack of books for months now and don't know that I'll finish too many more this year. No excuses, just a lack of fire, I guess.

I guess you saw the story about the guy who broke the world record for the number of (live, 2.5 inch) Madagascar hissing cockroaches he could hold IN HIS MOUTH for ten seconds?

I'm more than halfway done with Christmas shopping. This sweet deal makes me wish I still had a little girl. Shelley would like it, but she's much too tall.

CJ made homemade bagels yesterday and we eagerly gobbled them up for breakfast. An incomparable Sunday morning treat!

Yesterday I gave my gift wrap cart a thorough cleaning out. There was stuff in there that's been hiding since The Papa first put it together for me several years ago, and it was sorely lacking in most things useful. So I ordered a whole bunch of new wrapping paper (non-Christmas) and ribbon and bows and restocked for the fall birthday season.

See you back here next week. An hour later, of course. If you don't move your clock back and you show up here early, you'll have to hang around :-)

Labels: Books, Church, Food, Weather

Nothing gets me going internally like waking up in a room that's 50 degrees. It always seems like I can conquer the world, if I can just get out from under the covers.

It was lovely to get to worship and then eat with my precious church family this morning. Our fellowship is very "child-heavy" and I say that in a good way...this morning I sat watching and listening to all of them and thought, "Here is the future of our church. And from the looks of it, it's a very promising future."

So I have had a good week of Christmas shopping. My bathtub, unused for much of anything other than storing Amazon boxes seasonally, is beginning to fill up and I catch the grandkids peeking around the corner once in a while to measure its progress.

Speaking of Christmas shopping. Every year I say I'm going to start in June and then don't really get going until October. This year was no exception since I was sitting still all summer! I've always "known" that you do better if you take advantage of sales throughout the year instead of waiting. Well as it turns out, it really isn't true, at least not any more. I am finding so many good deals right now that weren't there during the summer, as retailers desperate for their bottom lines not to bleed cut merchandise by 50-75% right before the holidays. I am VERY glad I waited.

This weekend The Papa got my ticket for our post-Thanksgiving Hawaii trip...and surprised me by getting it First Class all the way. That will make the flights so much more pleasant. I don't mind flying as much as some people...as long as the flight is about 45 minutes. Long flights, though, tend to panic me, and I think the perqs of First Class will make it easier to get through that Pacific leg. He will be on business there, of course, and wanted me to join him for a week and actually November-December is my favorite time of year there. Yeah, I know. I'm strange. (As it now stands, The Papa will be in Hawaii for part of every month from now until May and then has an Australia trip in June. I ask you: who should be allowed to have a job like this and get paid for it?)

Excuse me for a moment, I need to go in the kitchen and see if we have any more chicken and dumplings.

Ah yes, good. Okay, where were we?

Oh, I was about to give out the weekend political reading assignment. There will be a quiz, especially for those of you too young to remember Chairman Mao. Mark Steyn: Limbaugh bad, Mao good

Thanksgiving plans are shaping up at Granny's House. I'm scouting for tablecloths and taking inventory of flatware and especially serving utensils, for which we seem to scrounge at the last minute every year. I've used ebay to beef up my supply of glassware, and we've taken a count of all the dinner plates and dessert plates. I'm going to buy a couple of extra tables this year to make sure we have places for all of our guests that don't include the coffee tables. And the menu is coming together as well, thanks to my handy-dandy Google spreadsheet that everyone can access. Still more than a month away, and we're making great progress!

And as far as physical therapy progress, in case you were wondering: last week I was able to walk to the end of my driveway (and if you know our driveway....) and back with no cane, no walker, no support at all. I'll admit that the walk back was not as easy as the walk out there, but I made it all the way back to my room without help. Can I do the airport yet? No, but the driveway comes first :-)

So...these are my stories and I'm stickin' to 'em. Hope you have a wonderful week!

Labels: Church, Health, Holidays, Political Observation, Vacations

Is it August? Is that possible? Where did my summer go? Ah...traction. Surgery. Drugs. Physical therapy. Nights in a recliner and days trying to catch up from the lost sleep in the recliner. Okay, now I remember. And as much as I hate having had to go through it, I know it was part of God's plan for my life and I'm trying to mine it for all it's worth...

My mother and step-father have "downsized" from their sprawling 6000 sq. ft. Tudor into a 2200 sq. ft. penthouse condo in downtown Fort Worth. This has meant her needing to give away some of her treasures, so this week Nathan and John Caleb drove up and returned with a load of paintings, silver, crystal, teapots, etc. It's been bittersweet going through them...I'm honored to be the next owner of these sweet things, but the very thought that she needed to "shed" them as they make their final move is sobering.

It's been very good to have The Papa back home after two weeks in Hawaii. I tell ya, I'm gonna have to make one of these trips with him again soon. Souvenirs only go so far!

So, once again our "appliance curse" has hit. After not quite three years, our fairly high-end Whirlpool dishwasher quit working and the repair estimate was pretty much equal to the original price. So for the umpteenth time in eight years I am shopping for ANOTHER major appliance. I HATE THIS! (In the meantime, warn us if you're dropping by, okay?)

Annie and fam have been with us for a month now, and, for me at least, it's flown by. Still no word on whether they'll stay here in town or be offered a job somewhere else, but either way we will always treasure these weeks of summer...

I've been pretty amused that Barney Frank got caught on camera this week admitting that the famous "public option" part of the health care reform bill is just the first step toward getting a complete single payer, socialized medical system. I hope the Republicans burn up the airways this fall with commercials featuring this clown and his now-not-so-subtle plan to remake society one sector at a time...

This week, since I'm walking a little and can stand for a few minutes without pain, I'm going to work on putting our room back together. A couple of weeks ago we rearranged the furniture but I still have four or five laundry baskets worth of books, stationery, office supplies, pictures, and knick-knacks to replace or find other homes for. Also, I'll be finalizing homeschool details for my three remaining students. Not to mention all the other summer things that I now have to pack into August :-)

What a joy it was to be worshipping IN PERSON with my church family this morning. I haven't been to church (or much of anywhere) since the end of May, so it felt like a celebration today. Nevertheless, the hymn lyrics which struck me the most this morning were not the ones that sound like celebration, but ones that made me think deeply about how little I deserve and how much God gave for me:


--from "Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended", lyrics by Johann Heermann, 1630

Labels: Church, Family, Health, Homemaking, Music, Summer, Sundays

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

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

We didn't have much of a winter in our part of the world, but at least we're having a fairly nice spring. Sometimes by mid-March we're already melting, but we had the heat on this morning and got to wear jackets to church. That probably ends tomorrow, but the cool wet air has been very nice...

Many of you have asked about my mother. She had a very successful knee replacement surgery on Tuesday morning and has now been moved to the rehab side of the hospital to learn to use that new knee. Her surgeon was surprised at how bad her existing knee was and the surgery took nearly twice as long as he had estimated, but she is doing fine now. The rehab is a challenge for a Parkinson's patient, but so far she's participating vigorously and looking forward to walking without pain again. Thanks to those of you who prayed for her!


If you've got a very good memory, you might remember me talking about getting an AeroGrow herb garden last year. For some reason (probably dozens of reasons) I never actually unpacked it and started using it. Until yesterday. It's now sitting and glowing above my kitchen sink and hopefully germinating seven different herbs. I can hardly wait!

We're also tossing around the idea of trying a real garden this year. San Antonio's early growing season makes it very tempting, but it can be very discouraging when everything is parched by June. Gives a whole new meaning to "Fried Green Tomatoes." We know we can't do it without devising some kind of elaborate shelter from the afternoon sun, but we might just be ready to try!

Our kids have enjoyed their spring break week, although it seems as though OUR spring break week and the ones they have in music, online classes, and their local science classes never seem to coincide with the one I schedule. And then of course two of them had to take their SAT on Saturday, which wasn't ideal either. At least they've all had a break from the normal routine and we'll dive back in tomorrow morning.

What a joy to welcome the Slaughters back into the membership of our church today. Kristen and Dave were charter members of our church nearly five years ago, so this is really a homecoming for all of us. Here are some photos from our membership vow ceremony this morning...


Pastor/Uncle/"Apu" Dirk welcomes Molly to the fellowship...


Henry is considering accepting the welcome but isn't quite so sure...


The family once again becomes church family as well...


...and what a tear-jerker to hear our church family's children sing "Welcome to the Family" to our newest members! (This song has become part of who we are at Covenant of Grace. Do click on the link and turn on your volume if you don't know the song! )


Another blessing is that Kristen has started baking our weekly communion bread. I don't have a photo, but I did hear some complaints from a certain unnamed music leader who was so distracted by the aroma in front of him this morning that he forgot where the downbeats were.

And from our morning together...

Labels: Body of Christ, Church, Family, Good Stuff, Homeschooling, Weather

We're passing on a evangelo-culture to our children that is going to result in an extinguishing of the "evangel" part of the Christian church. And from the nursing home we'll sit and wonder why the gospel didn't change their lives. Answer: no Gospel.

You May Not Be a Church IF...

hat tip: Jen C.

Labels: Children, Church

Well, it's another one of those crazy south Texas days where we had to have the heat on going to church and the air conditioning on coming home. Yeah, in January.

Today was one of the sweetest days ever in the life of our church. A long sermon seemed very short; the music was nothing short of glorious; the brunch following the service was a joy; and the ladies' Bible study tonight was a huge blessing. Thank You, God.

Anne and Caleb have arrived in their new home in Blacksburg, Virginia where Caleb will start back to school on Wednesday. We hope the semester FLIES by because they'll be spending some weeks with us in the late spring/summer!

Is it an Inauguration, a Coronation, or a Beatification? I'm just sayin'....

So after sending my monstrously big ESV Study Bible back (I needed a rolling backpack for it), I'm now looking for a replacement. I've decided that I'm going to go against my principles and actually walk into a store and hold a few in my hands before making another choice. The return shipping could end up costing me the price of one of the good ones!

Is my husband the only one in the country who has to work on MLK Day? Ugh.

People actually eat Nutella. I know they do, because I saw them doing it just tonight. On perfectly good French bread. Seriously.

It's time for the annual Elfa 30% off sale! Yippee!

Good night...hope you get to sleep in tomorrow :-)

Labels: Church, Family, Food, Political Observation, Sundays, Weather

Our east coast girls are back home, having left here Friday afternoon. We miss them and Dave and all the little ones who bounced on our trampoline and around these walls for two weeks...it was sad to see them go but at least it was a nice long visit this time. Special thanks to son-in-law Caleb, the one one who didn't get to come, for being so generous as to do without his family for two weeks.

Snippets that make you go hmmmm....sent along by The Papa: There are more employees in the Department of Agriculture than there are farmers in America. There are around 775,000 words in the Bible; there are 7,000,000 words in the U. S. tax code. Don't ever say your government isn't working hard for you.

So this is the week I leave to go give aid and comfort to the troops The Papa while he's away serving his country in Hawaii. Of course I'd really rather stay at home than be with him in a full ocean view room with a balcony at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki for a week. But you know, when you've invested 35 years with a man, you know you're going to have to make sacrifices along the way. I thought long and hard about it and decided that this is more important than anything else on my calendar ;-)

Grandson Sam had a rough introduction to the fall cold/asthma season this week. As of today he's avoided a hospital stay but the next few days will be important in restoring him to health...

I'm increasingly disturbed about voter fraud in this election. This morning there was an interview on the news from an election official from a county in Alabama where 110% of the residents are now registered to vote. No one seems to know how that could have happened. Hmmm. On the other hand, I heard a (much too young) commentator claim that this could be the first presidential election to be won by fraud. Obviously said commentator is too young to know much about Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Fab Fridays here continue to provide our kids with extracurricular activities and provide the moms, and sometimes the dad, lots of relaxed time to visit, nap, catch up on their own schoolwork, etc. Halfway through our fall term I'd have to say it's a big success!

I smiled this week to hear that one of the books that Laura Bush returns to and rereads every few years is Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. I'm about halfway through it and not in any hurry to finish--it's that good. Don't know that as long as it is I'd be willing to read this one often, but I certainly understand the appeal. I'm sorry that I got to be this old without reading it, but then I'm not sure I could/would have fully appreciated it before now.

Today our little church was blessed with the beginnings of our orchestra....Our hymns were accompanied by our new piano, plus violin, viola, and acoustic guitar. A small but significant beginning as we seek to deepen our use and appreciation of music in the worship experience.

From this morning's glorious worship...

Unnumbered comforts to my soul
thy tender care bestowed
before my infant heart conceived
from Whom those comforts flowed

~~from "When All Thy Mercies O My God", Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

Later in the week I'll share a few pictures from our visit with the kids, but for now I leave you with these, along with the only thing I can think of to quote: "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth..." (3 John 4)


This one includes a few "almost sisters" as well...


Have a blessed Sunday!

Labels: Books, Church, Family, Grandkids, Homeschooling, Political Observation, Sundays, Vacations

Asian food day at church is my second favorite, right after Brunch day.

A week from today we'll have all of our family, minus one, here together again. The Slaughters and all the Weltys but Caleb will drive in next week to spend two weeks here--happy days! We've got a long list of things to do and another spreadsheet for meals and events and parties and HOPE activities, and we're looking forward to a wonderful time.

I have this thing about geraniums. I adore them. Right now my deck is full of them and I find myself going out to check on them constantly. This year we've got some kind of bug that is attacking them so they're not always happy and they need my TLC. But I'm happy to oblige them.

We have gas at $3.18! (Two years ago who'd have thought we'd be clapping?)

If you're one of the ones who wants to leave church feeling uplifted, don't go on the Sodom and Gomorrah sermon day. But if you want to contemplate God's mercy, it would be the right day.

Full disclosure on my latest book: I've put World Without End in the "Books Finished..." column in my sidebar. I did not finish it. I got through half of it and that is so much volume that I felt I deserved to have it listed. But as I mentioned before, the explicit sensuality was oppressive and I knew I could not keep assaulting my mind and soul with garbage just so I could say I'd finished it. It just about finished me! It's one thing to understand how the elements of prostitution, rape, orgies, homosexuality, and adultery shaped and were shaped by the medieval mind, and quite another to be subjected to the nauseating (or, some would say, titillating) details of those elements. (Oh, and I'm aware that simply describing this aspect of the book could lead some to read it out of curiosity. But I'm counting on the fact that readers of THIS blog are not going to be spurred to read anything that Granny calls "titillating." LOL) I've moved on to The Great Gatsby.

Most of your driving is probably finished for a few months, but if you're planning a car trip you will want to take advantage of a new site that calculates the gas cost for you. You enter the origin and destination and the make and model of your vehicle, and it will give you an estimate based on average gas prices on that route. Terrific! Cost To Drive

If you have a PC rather than a Mac and you're using Firefox, which IMO you should be, do go upgrade to Firefox 3. It really does make a difference. And get the colored tabs :-)

Nope, no politics today. I'm taking a break. I'm on overload.

Congrats to Shannon and Tiffany and Mystery Mom, all expecting babies in June!

And here ends the first October Sunday snippets. Time for a nap................

Labels: Babies, Books, Church, Family, Food, Technology