The end of a season, for me, and the beginning of a new one

Go to my xanga. Thanks.

For a good cause...

Check out our Gabriel's fund-raising website for the Walk for Life.

Joyfully At Home: Cover Up!!

Miss Jasmine Baucham has done it again! Go over to her site and read this excellent post on modesty and loving our Christian Sisters.

Joyfully At Home: Cover Up!!

Well done, Miss Jasmine!

On To Do Lists...

Just read and found this article helpful. My Mom says that list making is my hobby.

I'm mostly posting this so that I can find the article again after I've read the book that she recommends. I don't tend to like Stephen Covey, but I found it on tape at the library so I'll bite.

What to Look for in a Mate A-Z

This is a terrific article at the Boundless E-Zine blog.

Not only are the lists excellent for singles to consider, but are you growing in all of those areas too, as a married?

The list for young men to look for in a lady:

If you're a man, ask yourself, is this woman I'm dating:

• A -- Aware; of the big picture, of the world around her
• B -- a Believer
• C -- open to having Children
• D -- Dignified
• E -- Excellent in her pursuits
• F -- Full of Faith
• G -- Gracious
• H -- Honorable
• I -- Inventive
• J -- Just
• K -- Kind
• L -- Loving
• M -- Modest
• N -- Noble
• O -- Obedient to the authority in her life
• P -- Pure
• Q -- capable of being Quiet
• R -- Resourceful
• S -- Skilled, Stable
• T -- Trustworthy
• U -- Under Authority
• V -- Victorious
• W -- a Worshipper
• X -- an eXample to others
• Y -- Yearning for God
• Z -- full of Zoe "life of God"

In which I'm thankful -

I'm battling my yearly bout of Bronchitis. I'm being forced to slow down. I slept most of the day, yesterday and took a two hour nap today.

A friend remarked recently during a discussion on joy that joy truly is a gift from God. A Christian will often find joy welling up at the most inexplicable times, making itself manifest in the most awful circumstances.

I find this is also true with Thanksgiving, they are closely related, after all.

I wrote this post lying in bed, having stopped fighting the need to just stop and rest and was overwhelmed by God's goodness to me.

The Sun is streaming through the window in the late afternoon. It's shining down on melting snow. God has kept those of us who had to venture forth on dangerous roads safe.

I'm thankful for antibiotics - I only have 6 pills to take! Amazing!

I'm thankful for cough syrup with Codeine, lovely stuff!

I'm thankful for lots of books to read and my Bible reading plan.

I'm thankful for friends taking kids to hang-out with so I and my sick hubby can rest.

I'm thankful for ready made pasta, frozen meatballs and canned spaghetti sauce! I'm thankful for a competent daughter who can make dinner and I don't have to worry about a thing.

I'm thankful for homeschooling - that it is such an organic way to learn. We can always be discovering and discussing no matter what's going on.

I'm thankful for a church family who really tries to love and care for one another.

I'm thankful for my amazing sister who just keeps going and going. I know her Frankie would be proud of her and the little girls she is raising.

I'm thankful for my Mother who just won't stay put - she's being a snowbird again this year. She sent me a note in the snail mail with a limerick that she wrote about the books she's reading - "A Tale of Two Cities".

My brother is rejuvenating his house with his flock of little boys learning right alonside him - I wish they were closer so that Isaac could join them.

My husband gets up and goes to work at crazy hours! He always has! He continues to lay down his life for us and I'm humbled and oh so grateful.

It seems as though everytime I think of something to be thankful for, several more new things come to mind.

The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:3

A well-written answer...

to a good question.

Jasmine Baucham answers the question that I've heard asked in many different ways. The questioner asked her what she will do as a daughter who chooses to stay and serve at home if she is not married by the magical age of 30. Jasmine answers the question with grace and eloquence.

I'm linking as an encouragement to the young ladies who I know are trying to work these things out in their own lives. I'm also hoping to help those who honestly don't understand this way of doing things to understand better.

First Question of the New Year

My Christmas Book Stack

YUM!

Remembering one of my Dad's favorite authors

"Is there no refuge from strife? Is there no place of refreshing where a man can prepare for the battle of life? Is there no place where two or three can gather in Jesus’ name, to forget for the moment all those things that divide nation from nation and race from race, to forget human pride, to forget the passions of war, to forget the puzzling problems of industrial strife, and to unite in overflowing gratitude at the foot of the Cross? If there be such a place, then that is the house of God and that the gate of heaven. And from under the threshold of that house will go forth a river that will revive the weary world." (Christianity and Liberalism [1923], 180-81)
Greshem Machen

Hat Tip to National Center for Family Integrated Churches blog.