Here are a few posts that especially caught my attention this week:

A new normal. How does one ever get back to “normal” after something horrible has happened? “God shook the snow globe of my life, and some truths that were obscured by complacency have now taken a more prominent place in my thinking.”

What to do when the compliments don’t come. Excellent.

When You Take the Scraps of Lies and Make a Truth Quilt. Even if you don’t make a quilt, applying the truth counteracts the lies we’re prone to believe about ourselves.

The Great Awakening of the 21st Century, a renewed focus on grace. “I knew I was saved by grace, ‘To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.’ Eph 1:6 …but was I to be accepted in the body of Christ only when I did the right things?  Were the only people approved by God the ones who kept The List too?  And I noticed other people had different lists.”

Motherhood as a Mission Field. ” It is easy to become discouraged, thinking that the work you are doing does not matter much. If you were really doing something for Christ you would be out there, somewhere else, doing it. Even if you have a great perspective on your role in the kingdom, it is easy to lose sight of it in the mismatched socks, in the morning sickness, in the dirty dishes. It is easy to confuse intrigue with value, and begin viewing yourself as the least valuable part of the Church.”

It takes darkness and light to make a good book. Yes! I appreciate Sherry’s balance here.

A Faithful Man…Proverbs 20:6. This is a note on Facebook, but I think it is public so all can read. It’s a tribute to Justin Ridley, whom some of you knew or knew of, who died in an accident at a Christan camp a few years ago. My middle son happened to be at the camp that week, and many people were profoundly influenced by Justin’s life and death. Justin’s mom was the first person to reach out to us in our new church.

Thoughts on Simple Church (House Churches). Good analysis of the benefits as well as the concerns.

How to make a Bible notebook.

Ten Suggestions for Missionary Presentations. Unfortunately, the drive to compact speech into sound bytes affects even missionary presentations, but these are good tips to make them more concise and effective. On a side note, I’m so glad the churches I have been in have generally given a whole service to visiting missionaries rather than asking them to squeeze their life’s work into x number of minutes.

He would be what he wanted to be. Interesting that boys don’t generally dream of being daddies like girls dream of being mommies, but here is one sweet book about that dream.

When being silent can cost you in relation to blogging, HT to Laura Lee Groves. Balance is something most bloggers struggle with almost constantly, but it is true that the more time you invest in other people’s blogs, the more visitors and commenters you’ll have in return. Setting up a blog is not like moving into a new house where people know someone is there by the moving van in front of the house and the increased activity, lights on at night, etc. When you move into the blogosphere, no one knows you’re there unless you tell them or visit them first (or unless you write something unique that shows up on search engines). But of course we should visit and comment sincerely and not just to get return visitors.

And here’s a dose of funniness:

Happy Saturday!

I have just a few to share with you this week:

I am happy, I just express my happiness in a different way than you. Great encouragement that it is okay to be an introvert! And maybe helpful for those who do not understand introverts.

Time In. I haven’t liked the idea of “time out” for a number of reasons, and this presents a good alternative.

Richard Dreyfuss reads the iTunes EULA. HT to Challies. This is kind of funny: actor Richard Dreyfuss reads some of the technical “end user license agreement” and such like. It does make it easier to understand hearing it that way!

Onesie and pants set — cute baby shower idea.

My son shared this on Facebook:

I’d be afraid of bits of balloon going down the dog’s throat (that was always among the dire warnings I heard with babies, not to let them mouth or chew on a balloon lest it pop and part of the balloon choke them.) But love his enthusiasm and joy.

And this is just amazing:

Good morning! I don’t know how many people are here on Saturdays — the blogosphere seems pretty quiet on weekends, at least what I read of it. But that’s okay — I don’t always have as much time on the computer on weekends, which is probably true of most of us. And I don’t know how many people like to look through these links (that’s why I put them here on Saturday!) But  I enjoy scanning through posts like this on other blogs, so, I share these in case anyone else might find them of interest as well.

By Grace Through Faith. Important truths to remember when sharing the gospel (geared towards sharing with children, but true for anyone).

Having An Open Door. This really convicted me, as I probably would have had a very similar reaction to unexpected dinner guests.

When You Feel Unworthy.

Alzheimer’s and Gospel Transformation.

From the True Woman site, How to Live With, and Love, Your Mother-In-Law and How To Live With, and Love, Your Daughter-In-Law.

Letting Herself Go. Perhaps a bit of a controversial post from Challies, but he makes some good points.

Stickers From a Bunk Bed — the inability of the law to make our kids good (yet I think it does show them their need that they can’t be good in themselves.)

More Funny Signs. Rob posts treasures like these regularly.

Get Paid to Be a Word Nerd.

And for the recipe files:

Homemade Protein Bars.

Peanut Butter and Corn Chip No-Bake Cookies.

Meatballs With Herb Gravy.

This is adorable, especially at about the halfway point.

“What’s Right With Our Son” — dealing with autism.

Have a great weekend!

Wow, it’s been a super-busy week — I can’t believe it’s the weekend already.

Here are a variety of interesting things seen ’round the Web over the last couple of weeks:

Gentleness: a forgotten virtue, HT to Challies.

You are my sunshine. Sweet, tender.

Parenting 001. Hilarious and wise at the same time.

Praying for a Pearl. We’ve often heard about praying for our children’s future mate, but what about their future mother-in-law?

What Not to Wear — no, not the TV show, but a little bit different take on modesty.

Everyday Theology: You Need to Feed Yourself. Similar thoughts to what I had in “Not Being Fed.”

Why Won’t God Just Tell Me What to Do?

Animals with stuffed animals — if you need a dose of cuteness.

Preschool Teacher Appreciation Card.

Ten Terrific Teacher Gifts.

Ideas for Graduation Celebrations.

More Graduation Party Ideas.

A Craft Suitcase — a neat idea for storing or transporting certain craft stuff.

Thought this was really cute even though it’s past Mother’s Day. I don’t think I’m this bad! But I do still need help on many things and am thankful for my techno-competent sons being willing to.

Kids, DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME! Seriously! (Or adults either, for that matter!)

This is totally too cute:

Happy Saturday!

With Sunday being Mother’s Day, there has been a lot of good Mother’s Day reading this week:

For Moms, Former Moms, and Wannabe Moms. “Motherhood is not the greatest good for the Christian woman. Whether you are a mom or not, don’t get caught up in sentimentalism that sets it up as some saintly role. The greatest good is being conformed to the image of Christ.”

For the mother of teenagers who aches but a bit. “It takes all the years of making a boy into a man — to teach a woman how to be a mother.”

For the Mother who fears failure. “Relationships cost. It’s not that you aren’t going to blow it. It is what you do with it, when you do…Perhaps there was something more powerful to experience than a perfect Mother: the wonder of a committed Mother who simply humbles herself.”

Tutorial for Making Silhouettes. There is a very sweet example in the above link, and this shows the how-to. Neat gift idea!

Some very, very nice handmade Mother’s Day cards.

Inexpensive but thoughtful Mother’s Day gift.

Genesis 1:1-2:3 is not poetry and it is historical. HT to Challies. “When it comes to standard Hebrew poetic forms—especially parallelism, ‘non-standard’ vocabulary and ‘unusual’ verb patterning—these are also absent from the text (with the exception of 1:27). As my old Ancient Near East history lecturer once put it, anyone reading the text would fail a first-year Hebrew exam if they called Genesis 1 a type of Hebrew poetry.”

The Interrupted Reading: The Kids with George W. Bush on 9/11. Interesting article on how those students in the classroom with Bush when he received the news of the 9/11 attacks viewed the President’s response then and now.

Austenbook: if the Pride and Prejudice characters were on Facebook. “Lady Catherine de Bourgh is most seriously displeased.”

Rolled paper flowers and Fabric flower tutorials.

No wonder mamas have a hard time getting things done:

Poor doggie! This is really cute.

One man sings six parts of “Who Is On the Lord’s Side” a capella.

Have a good weekend! I’d better go get mine started!

Here are some great reads I discovered the last couple of weeks:

Abounding Works — great post-Easter thoughts.

How an Atheist Found God, HT to Sherry — wonderful testimony.

The Communist Party Declares War on Christians. Sobering.

Talents For a Season, HT to Challies.

Loving Children When They’re Unlovable — from an adoptive parent’s point of view, but true for biological children as well.

He’ll always be my baby. Sniff, sniff…..

Don’t Be a Drama Queen, and Other Lessons in Friendship from Anne Shirley, HT to Diane.

Printable and recipe for chocolate bundt cake gifts, meant for teachers but could be adapted for other purposes.

Beginning Free Motion Quilting. I’ve been intrigued by this since discovering blog friend Wendy, who is a master at it — such beautiful stuff! But this post by Vanilla Joy is her first attempt and it gave the courage to think about trying it some day….when I have some other projects finished!

Peep Surgery. Funny! A little weird, but funny.

San Fransisco Treat: “Artist Scott Weaver has constructed a new interactive tour of San Francisco hotspots — using 100,000 toothpicks collected over the past 35 years.”

Cricut Imagine Giveaway — closes tomorrow.

I’ve seen rabbits being chased before but never saw one do a back flip:

An amazing catch:

Does that mean the batter is out?

I am SO looking forward to The Hobbit! Here is a pre-production look:

Hope you have a good Saturday!

It’s been a while since I posted a round-up of interesting reads on the web. Hope you find some of these useful.

Marriage:

Whose Wife Are You? Tim Challies discusses two different blog posts on what it means to be submissive to one’s own husband. Both original posts are linked there, but Tim does a nice job in pulling out the main elements and pointing out that there is much in marriage and home life which is not delineated in Scripture, so each may not follow exactly a particular book’s view of what the marriage relationship “should” look like.

Are you sure you want a husband who…?

Writing:

50 of the Best Websites for Writers.

Six Elements to a Writer’s Style.

Crafts/Sewing:

A variety of ideas for Organizing Fabric.

Edible Valentine’s treats.

Fabric Flower Tutorial.

Others:

Returning to Your First Love: Bible Memorization: Make a Commitment Booklet.

Four Women I Would Like to Thank on the 38th Anniversary of Roe vs Wade. Beautiful.

Spiritual Care of the Elderly.

Star Wars Meets The Princess Bride:

…in which I share interesting things seen round the Web over the last week or so.

Random Thoughts On Reading Fiction.

What’s Wrong With Seniors Clinging to Their Memories? I’ve wrestled with how much to try to bring seniors focus back to the present, and this has some good thoughts. Of course, those who are saved have a glorious future to look forward to, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with walking down memory lane with someone who has more past than future on this earth. Might learn some things!

Lisa Notes’ book review of I’m Still Here: A New Philosophy of Alzheimer’s Care.

Also from Lisa, 5 Ways to Really Sympathize In a Sympathy Card. If you’ve ever struggled with what to write in a sympathy card, this has some excellent advice.

Coconut Button Flowers.

Free Fillable Suzee Que Vintage Labels.

Gift Bags Made From Scrapbook Paper.

This was seen at betz white‘s. Amazing. When you see the set-up at the end, that’s when you realize how small it truly is.

While I was looking at that, I saw a link to this, another stop-motion video guitar number. Pretty cool!

Saw this at Chris Anderson‘s. The narration is in Spanish but it has English subtitles.

Here are a few things of interest I found here and there over the last week or so:

Recovering the Wonder, HT to Lizzie.

Miss Sandy and the Blustery Day, another Miss Sandy Misadventure. Though sorry for Miss Sandy’s misadventure, I just love the way this is written.

A Mess May Mean Success! by Chris Anderson.

Beyond the Book by Karla Dornacher, about a unique approach to women’s ministry.

Maintaining Sanity During Dementia’s Cognitive Decline at Eldercare ABC Blog.

Lord, When Everything is Stripped Away, May It Be You They See at Lori’s Reflections.

Needy Women at Femina.

And on the crafty front:

DIY Wrapping Paper and Ribbon Organizer, HT to Tipnut.

Fabric sunflower brooches. I’m not a big sunflower fan, but I know a few people who are. These are really cute.

Treasury of Memory collage.

Fabric wallet tutorial.

Some cute card designs here, here, here, here, and here, and a couple of cute favors here and here.

We have had none of the predicted snow yet at our house as of 11 p.m. Friday night, though some friends have reported some via Facebook. We’re supposed to get together with some of our oldest and dearest friends Saturday night — we’ll have to see what happens with the weather. But otherwise we’re all set for bad weather for a couple of days.

Hope you have a happy Saturday!

Some interesting and edifying things seen round the Web lately:

The basis of Project 1189 is a plan to read all 1,189 chapters of the Bible within a two year period, not, as is said here, to “[conquer] the Word, merely circumnavigating the biblical globe so we can say, ‘I’ve done it!'” but rather “to encounter Him.” Or, as he says in explaining the challenge, “This is not so much a challenge to a journey through the Word, as if we were the knife and it the meat to be carved. It’s the journey of the Word through us. It is allowing ourselves to be taken where the Story would take us, to be shaped, to be remade, to be changed.” Different helps or thoughts or encouragements are posted along the way. One I found of particular help was On spiritual reading.

Wendy at Practical Theology for Women reminds us in Impulse Control that even with medical conditions that make make us more prone to certain sins, “In Christ, I am supernaturally equipped to obey even in the midst of the struggle” and “God does understand how our bodies and minds function both when healthy and when ill. And in Christ, He has made a way for us to deal with that intense temptation to sin that accompanies hormonal peaks and valleys.” Very convicting and yet reassuring.

Wendy also posted about her frustration with Pink Fluffy Bunny Women’s Bible Studies with a recommendation of a Bible study book I want to get.

Many of us start to think about dieting and weight loss after the feasting of the holiday season and the fresh start of a New Year. Conversion Diary shares some thoughts on food and sin from her own experience.

Elisabeth Elliot shares the story behind the writing of one of my favorite poems, “Afraid? Of What?”

Eldercare ABC Blog has a lot of good articles, one this week being How to address difficult moments in care-giving.

Semicolon has 12 Tips for New Bloggers, Especially Book Bloggers.

And that leads me to my question. From time to time I think about splitting off into another blog, perhaps a separate book blog, or perhaps separating the “fun” stuff from the “serious” stuff (I did actually start a new one once dealing with attempts at weight-loss, which, sadly, I’ve not kept up with). I know some of my readers are interested in one area but not the others, and that’s ok: I am grateful (and amazed) that anyone reads here for any reason, and I certainly don’t expect anyone to hang on my every word. My blog has always been a “hodgepodge,” and while I do read and like certain blogs with a single purpose, I also enjoy the general ones where you see different sides of the whole person. Plus I have really disliked it when other blogger friends have started new blogs, and their first blog contains constant links that say, “Go read what I wrote over here.” Plus, to build up readership of a blog you have to “get out and meet the neighbors” under the auspices of that blog, and I have enough to do just keeping up with blogging friends I already read. So for all those reasons I talk myself out of it and just post everything here, even if it sometimes means I post more than once a day, which I don’t like to do because most people only read what’s on top. But I wanted to get your thoughts and opinions. Do you like blogs focused on a main purpose or “hodgepodge” blogs? Is there any value in dividing blogging material up into separate blogs?

Finally: my boys loved launching model rockets and got a kick out of this: