Homeschool Giveaway --Lyrical Earth Science

Homeschool Giveaway --Lyrical Earth Science

Mama Archer is giving away a set of Lyrical Earth Science materials on her blog. I haven't heard these yet, but the life science ones are awesome. I would love to have these!

Happy Groundhog Day!

First D.J.: Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cooooold out there today.
Second D.J.: It's coooold out there every day. What is this, Miami Beach?
First D.J.: Not hardly. And you know, you can expect hazardous travel later today with that, you know, that, uh, that blizzard thing.
Second D.J.: [mockingly] That blizzard - thing. That blizzard - thing. Oh, well, here's the report! The National Weather Service is calling for a "big blizzard thing!"
First D.J.: Yessss, they are. But you know, there's another reason why today is especially exciting.
Second D.J.: Especially cold!
First D.J.: Especially cold, okay, but the big question on everybody's lips...
Second D.J.: - On their chapped lips...
First D.J.: - On their chapped lips, right: Do ya think Phil is gonna come out and see his shadow?
Second D.J.: Punxsutawney Phil!
First D.J.: Thats right, woodchuck-chuckers - it's
[in unison]
First D.J.: GROUNDHOG DAY!
Second D.J.: GROUNDHOG DAY!

--from the movie Groundhog Day

Quote to Ponder

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.
--A. A. Milne

Don't Know Why...

Why has it been a year and a half since I last posted here? I don't really know other than it's been a crazy last year and a half and I just didn't think about it. Oh well. I'm back, and while I won't be posting every day, it wouldn't be too challenging for me to be more regular than I have been.

Quote of the Week

"Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.
We are half-hearted creatures,
fooling about with drink and sex and ambition
when infinite joy is offered us,
like an ignorant child
who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum
because he cannot imagine what is meant
by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
We are far too easily pleased."
-- C.S. Lewis"

Quote of the Week

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
-Theodore Roosevelt

Quote of the Week

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
--John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)

Quote of the Week

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.
--Meister Eckhart

Quote of the Week

We would do well to shed unnecessary things and develop deep spiritual roots if we are to survive our own wilderness experiences.
--Kim Thomas, Living in the Sacred Now

Quote of the Week

"The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian does make me a different kind of woman."
--Elisabeth Elliott

Busy Being Busy

The last two weeks I have been consumed with busyness. There have been crises arise that demanded my attention and issues that needed my personal handling. And yet I wonder... what could have been set aside for another time or another person? Could I have handled these things more efficiently? Could I have leaned more on the strength of He who is limitless rather than my own meager supply? Lord, help me to walk in Your wisdom, Your will and Your way.

Quote of the Week

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."
--John Wesley

The Hunger for More

Have you ever had a serious craving? You know, when you get so hungry for something, that nothing else satisfies? When that happens, you can eat everything else, but that hunger will remain until you get that special something your body craves.

The same thing can happen spiritually. I sometimes get so hungry for more of the presence of God in my life, that I become restless, dissatisfied with the status quo, longing for something I’m missing. This most often occurs during those busy times when life seems to have spun temporarily out of control and events and activities have cut short or crowded out my time alone with God. I am poured out without being refilled. After a while, I yearn for quiet time, a time of communion, time to listen for that whisper of the Divine. I want to put everything else aside and just bask in His presence.

Unfortunately, I don’t have that luxury. I have a home and a family that need my care and attention. I have responsibilities and obligations. I don’t have the liberty of peaceful retreats or extended solitude, so I have to get creative. I look for moments here and there. I may send the kids to the library for a little while or ask my husband to go ahead and watch that movie without me. I put aside hobbies and recreational reading and computer time. Not forever. Not even for long. Just for now. Until those empty places are filled and the hunger is silenced. Until that needy, aching, ravenous part of me is soothed. Then the yearning will wane and life will continue on for a little while longer. But the hungry times will come again because beneath the surface there still lurks an insatiable, unquenchable place that will always be needing still more of God.

Quote of the Week

The greatest thing is to be found at one's post as a child of God, living each day as though it were our last, but planning as though our world might last a hundred years.
--C. S. Lewis

Searching for Silence

In my busy home, silence is a rare and precious commodity. In fact, I’m finding this to be the case in most places. We live in a noisy, hustle and bustle society. There’s traffic noise and TV and music and people. We fill our alone time with mp3’s and cell phones. It’s a real problem if you need quiet to think or create or dream.

A much, much larger problem, however, is when we cannot find a quiet place in our own souls. How will we hear that still small voice amidst the chaos of our own thoughts? How will we perceive the beckoning of the Holy Spirit in the clatter and clang of our own plans and projects? How will we lean toward the voice of our Shepherd if we can’t identify His call through the roar of our disappointments and despair?

If you are ready for a challenge, attempt right now to find a place of silence, a haven of quiet. Begin to seek that small, still voice. Tune your ear to the Divine. It’s not easy, but will, like almost anything else, become easier with practice. You may have to find a physical place of quiet first until you are better attuned to His presence. At first, too many things will distract you, but eventually you will be able to filter them out and listen for God even in the midst of the clamor, the crush of the crowd, or the frenzy of light-speed living.

He is still calling, drawing you, saying “Be still, and know that I am God” Psalms 46:10a

Quote of the Week

When you read God's Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, "It is talking to me, and about me."
--Soren Kierkegaard

Quote of the Week

Many Christians have what we might call a "cultural holiness". They adapt to the character and behavior pattern of Christians around them. As the Christian culture around them is more or less holy, so these Christians are more or less holy. But God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be like himself. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God. --Jerry Bridges

Smelling of Smoke

This region has been rife with grassfires, causing many counties to issue strict burn bans. Ours was lifted only to be reissued a couple of days later after a new outbreak of wildfire. People I know have been evacuated or in peril or, at the very least, greatly inconvenienced due to the fires. But last week we came face to face with the grassfires that have been filling our local news reports. We were traveling down the highway and ran upon a smoke-filled area. The grass in the median was on fire. The smoke was so thick that traffic was almost at a standstill. Visibility was nearly non-existent. We crept down the road while catching fleeting glimpses of the firefighters struggling against the spreading flames. At times, the fire was within a few feet of our vehicle. Eventually we made it past the area and out into fresh, clear air. We all took a deep breath, thankful for our exodus from a tense situation.

The next day our vehicle still smelled of smoke. The events of the previous day were stored away as memory but the odor lingered. Although there were no outward signs we'd been anywhere near a fire, the smell gave us away.

I think sin is like that. When we try to overcome it on our own, we may put the actions behind us but the “smell of smoke” lingers on. The reminder of the mistakes of the past sticks with us... unless, of course, we confess our sins before God and ask His forgiveness. When we do that, He washes us clean. We become smoke-free. The stench of our sin is mercifully removed from us. Again. And again. What a tremendous gift!

“Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:19-23

Quote of the Week

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.
-- Henry David Thoreau

Quote of the Week

We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first.
-- Oswald J. Smith

Quote of the Week

To clasp hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder in the world.
-Karl Barth

Excellence vs. Existence

Are you living a life of excellence or are you merely existing? We live in a world of mediocrity. As a result many people have applied that mediocre mindset to their lives as well. Oh sure, we value victory in sports and video games and trivialities of all sorts. We want to know who won a Grammy or an Oscar or a Nobel prize. But that doesn't cross over into our everyday lives. Instead, we seek to be a face in the crowd, a part of the audience. We try to blend in, not make waves, not call attention to ourselves. But deep inside, there's something that is crying out. Something destined for more. The fingerprints of God, the most excellent One of all, are all over our lives. It is the image of our Creator that calls to us to be more, to do more, to make a difference. We have gifts and anointing and vision to do something real and lasting. Are you marking time, caught up in the dailiness of life? Or are you stretching and reaching for something beyond yourself? Examine your life. What areas could you be stepping out into something greater? What vision could you catch hold of to bolster you? What gifts could you put to work for the Kingdom of God? Can you find it in yourself to look beyond the everyday stuff of life and glimpse the eternal?

Quote of the Week

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies with in us."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote of the Week

While we have the gift of life, it seems to me that the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die - whether it is our spirit, our creativity, or our glorious uniqueness.
Gilda Radner, US actress & comedienne (1946 - 1989)

Sometimes I Could Just Cry...

Sometimes I look around and I just want to cry. I see the pain and suffering. I see those destitute of faith and hope. I see those of questionable motives and morals. I see the greed, the materialism, the lust for power. I see the apathy, the self-absorption, and the idolatry.


The saddest part is that all of it can be seen right inside the church. The dead and dying are all around us and rather than being a life-giving force in the earth, we are often part of the problem. When righteousness is inconvenient, when character is belittled, when standards are considered something we need to break free of, how can we hope to lift a fallen world into the light? When will our hunger for God outweigh our hunger for accolades? When will our passion for the lost outweigh our passion for the things of the flesh? When will our desire for revival outweigh our desire for the things of this world? When will our own sin and shame drive us to our knees before a holy God and cause us to cry out for mercy and more of His presence? When will we trade in our arrogance and pride for a humble and contrite spirit? Our heavenly Father promised us that if we humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, He will heal us and forgive us and heal our land (2Chron 7:14). Isn’t it time?

Something Old, Something New

In light of the diversity of posts on this blog, I've decided to start another blog to house the homemaking content and quirky quotes. I will still post quotes on this blog, but they will be some of the less quirky and more thought-provoking ones. You will notice some of the old articles have been moved to my other blog already. I hope this will help those who are interested in the hearth and home articles but not my philosophical meanderings and vice versa. If you like both, feel free to enjoy both blogs!

Using My Treasure

There once was an elderly woman who lived in an old, rambling two-story house. The day eventually came when she passed away and her family began the process of going through her earthly possessions. As they began to open drawers and closets and spare rooms and other storage areas of the old house, they discovered a treasure trove of beautiful things, all still just like new and most in their original packaging or the gift box she received them in. She had stored away nearly everything she'd been given for the past 40 years because she was saving it "for good". The only problem is that there was never a time that was special enough in her eyes to warrant using any of her pretty things. And so her family sifted and sorted through linen tablecloths that had never seen a table and wonderfully scented candles that had never seen a match. They went through silver tea sets and candlesticks and embroidered nightgowns and pretty sheets and monogrammed towels and several sets of china and crystal and silver. They found yarn never knitted and fabric never sewn. Crossword puzzle books never pondered over. Stationery that never brightened anyone's day. Vases that never held flowers.

Her loved ones took a few things they wanted for their own homes and marked the rest, the vast majority, for an estate sale where her long-stockpiled treasures were sold for a fraction of their actual value.

One of the main goals I have for this year is to use what I already have. Sometimes it is so easy to just accumulate things without using them. We acquire items and then save them for when we have more time or it's a special occasion or some other perfectly logical-sounding reason. The fact is I'm not going to have any more time, limited as I am, to the same 24 hours a day everyone else has. The fact is that life itself is a special occasion. So I'm using my things. That's what they're for after all. I'm going through my accumulated fabric and kits and decorative items and candles and finding time and ways to use them. I making a point of using what I have stashed away in the freezer and pantry, too. My real treasure is in heaven and my true earthly treasure is my family and my friends. So why am I putting a bunch of stuff on some kind of pedestal like it has to be laid up and protected for some unknown time when it can finally be used? Will such a time ever actually come? Probably not. Those times don't just happen. We make them. I'm making my times starting right now. What treasures do you have tucked away that could be put to use to brighten your life or someone else's?

Quirky Quote of the Week

I base my fashion taste on what doesn't itch.
--Gilda Radner, US actress & comedienne (1946 - 1989)

I can't get no....satisfaction!

Have you ever been dissatisfied with your life? Have you experienced that restlessness that you can't seem to shake?

Often we need to take a lesson from the apostle Paul. In Php 4:11, he said "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." and in 1Ti 6:8 "And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." Sometimes this is exactly the issue. We are looking at someone or something else and discontent or envy or lust sets in. We get caught up in the materialism and striving of the world around us. In these instances, we need to pull our eyes off the cause of our discontent and put them back on God who is all sufficient all the time. In absence of that and left to fester, we will soon be unhappy with our houses, cars, spouses, jobs, friends, etc., etc., etc. This is an issue of the heart and mind that must be dealt with lest we wander completely off track and out of the will of God, finding ourselves in a very precarious place indeed.

I am convinced, however, that there are times of holy discontent. These are the times when we are dissatisfied with the status quo because God has put something far beyond what we are living now deep on the inside of us. This is the "fire in the bones" that John Wesley spoke of. It's that yearning to break out of the everyday routine of life and do something truly great for the kingdom of God. It is that "eternity in their hearts" spoken of in Ecclesiastes. It is the vision of being part of something so much bigger than ourselves that we are overwhelmed and awestruck at the possibility. The thing that needs doing may actually be great or small, but it will always be big in the doing and the impact. Is your burning desire toward ministry at home or abroad, or simply tweaking your lifestyle to better line it up with His will? It could be as large as training for the mission field or as seemingly small as keeping your house consistently cleaner so it's ready for hospitality. Is there a book, a song, or a message trying to break its way out of you? Don't be afraid to embrace His awesome vision for your life. What has He put on YOUR heart today?

20 Meals

article moved to A Fire In the Hearth