Category Archives: Memes

Missing something? No, I don’t think so after all.

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When we were preparing to move last summer, I unearthed a whole stack of family-oriented magazines from several years back. In more recent years I had marked and torn out what I was interested in (or checked and bookmarked the article online) and then passed it on to a friend, but this stack must have accumulated and then been forgotten before I started doing that.

I brought them with us to look through as I had time and just got to them last week. Many had turned-down corners noting something I wanted to consider doing with my own sons. I started looking at the dates of the magazines: many were from the time my youngest was in his toddler to preschool to early elementary years.

At first I started to kick myself and feel really guilty that I had never done all these neat activities with my children.

But then, I thought, “Now, wait just a minute!” We did do lots of things together:

We sat on the floor and made Lego creations.

We read books. Lots and lots of books. We made regular trips to the library and every library day afternoon was spent in happy reading all the new treasures.

We built tracks and loops for Hot Wheels cars.

We did puzzles.

We colored and painted.

We made various Play-Dough creations.

We had a multitude of Little People sets, thanks to my mom, and played seemingly endless scenarios with them.

We played untold rounds of a game called something like Memory Match (like Concentration from my childhood), Hi Ho Cheerio, Sorry, Candyland, and other games.

We took walks.

We went to the park.

We visited friends.

We played in the sandbox.

We blew bubbles.

We went to the zoo.

Even going to the grocery store was considered fun at certain ages.

We may not have done some of those neat unique activities in the magazines, but we did a lot of fun things and spent a lot of time together. I’ve thought to myself that I hoped that my lack of keeping up with baby books as I would have liked was due to my actually spending time with my kids.

Were those magazines a waste, then? I don’t think so. I did use some ideas over the years, but even the ones I missed using had a positive influence. Just like visiting a craft store or craft show or craft blogs sparks my own creative juices even if I never do the specific crafts I see, I think family magazines and idea books and these days mommy blogs can inspire my own goals with my family. But they need to be kept as an inspiration, a creativity-sparker, a supplement to our own real lives, not a burden, a guilt-producer, a competition against other moms and kids, an addition to an already crowded schedule.

As long as we’re spending both quality time and quantities of time together, nourishing our relationships, learning and growing, we don’t have to worry that we’re not keeping up with whatever everyone else does. Attentive time together is what matters most.

This post will be linked to “Works For Me Wednesday,” where you can find a plethora of helpful hints each week at We Are THAT family on Wednesdays, as well as  Women Living Well.

The Week In Words

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Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week  inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.

Here are a few that stood out to me this week:

I saw this on Lisa‘s Twitter sidebar:

“When you labor to show yourself righteous so that God will accept you, you are not submitting to God’s righteousness.” -John Piper

Paul says he wants to “be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9). There are whole systems built on laboring to be righteous to “gain” God’s acceptance, but even those of us who should know better tend to fall back into that mindset sometimes. I am so glad God’s righteousness is by faith.

Seen at Challies:

There can be no victory where there is no combat. —Richard Sibbes

I tend to want victory without having to expend the effort of combat, and it just doesn’t work that way.

And I hadn’t realized it t first, but these quotes might seem to be opposites. How can we expend victory by effort (or combat) if spiritual victory is by faith? Well, the first quote deals with the righteousness we need to stand before a holy God and not be condemned but rather approved, and Christ’s righteousness is the only kind that will suffice. That we receive by faith. We can’t earn it or work it up on our own. With that righteousness we can stand before a holy God without fear. But working that out into our everyday lives is what we call sanctification. Even that is accomplished by faith, and yet there are times God asks us to act on something in faith. In some of Israel’s battles in the Old Testament, God fought for them in unusual ways; in others, they had to actually take up sword and spear and shield and go to battle, yet they had no victory unless God enabled them. So even though my standing before God and his acceptance of me is by faith, in everyday battles, like, say, eating right and getting exercise, I still lean on Him for grace and strength, but I still have to expend effort: my body isn’t going to exercise itself, God isn’t going to exercise it for me, and I am not going to have any victory in weight loss without expending some effort at it. Someone once said “God will help you with your math homework, but He is not going to do it for you.”

I know many of you already know these principles, but I just felt I needed to explain further for anyone who might be confused by those two statements.

In another vein, this struck me from Warren Wiersbe’s With the Word, p. 293, commenting on Job 21, particularly Job’s “friends” trying to tell him that his suffering must be because of sin because God prospers the righteous:

If comfort and wealth are evidences of holiness, our Lord was not holy, for He had little earthly comfort and wealth, and He died a terrible death on the cross. Perhaps you need to examine your own “logic” and see if you are thinking like God or like the devil (Ps. 1:1; Matt. 16:21-28).

I don’t know how the “prosperity gospel” people miss things like that.

If you’ve read anything that particularly spoke to you that you’d like to share, please either list it in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below. I do ask that only family-friendly quotes be included. I hope you’ll visit some of the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder.

Don’t forget to leave a comment, even if you don’t have any quotes to share! 🙂

Wednesday Hodgepodge

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Joyce From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge of questions for fun and for getting to know each other.

Here are the questions for this week:

1. What reveals more about a woman-her refrigerator or her purse?

I think the refrigerator. My purse is full of things that I think have to be there, so there’s not much choice involved except brands. But people’s preferences in food and drink are interesting.

2. When was the last time you went to the zoo? Where? What’s your favorite zoo animal?

Oh, let’s see — maybe when we lived near Atlanta and went to the big zoo there. That’s the last time I remember, but then Jesse would have been under 4 years old, so he wouldn’t have any memory of going to a zoo, and that’s sad. Maybe we did go when we were in SC again, but I don’t remember. The zoo was in a town 30 minutes away, so it wasn’t something we’d just pick up and do. Hollywild Animal Park in SC set up drive-through Christmas light displays that we went to for several years, though, and they had a petting zoo. Favorite zoo animal? Maybe the giraffes. They’re just so unique.

3. What social issue fires you up?

I am not sure what constitutes a social issue, but if abortion is one, that would be it. It’s just so hard to understand people not understanding that a life is involved.

4. Are you a coupon clipper? If so, are you extreme?

I clip them once every few months and sometimes even remember to file them, but often forget them when I dash off to go shopping. So the next time I clip and file, I throw away the expired ones and lament the money I could have saved. I just hate to mess with them, especially the ones that have persnickety restrictions.

5. What is one of your favorite souvenirs brought back from your travels?

A little heart shaped ornament from Asheville, NC.

6. Lemon meringue or key lime?

Lemon meringue. Not a big lime-flavor fan, though I do like lime jello just very occasionally. Not a big jello fan, either. 🙂

7. What is the most beautiful word you know in any language?

Love.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

These are the kinds of conversations that go on in my head sometimes:

We’re having a cold snap now, but a few days ago the temperatures were at the level that I needed the AC on in the car for a bit, but then it would be too cold and I’d have to turn it off, then back on, etc. I remember thinking, “The dial on the AC setting needs one more notch between the lowest setting and ‘Off.'”

Then I thought: “You should be ashamed of yourself for being so picky and discontent. Some people don’t even have AC. Be grateful for what you’ve got.”

And then, “Yeah, but being content doesn’t mean we never see things that need improvement or let people know who could work out the improvements. Contentment doesn’t mean we sit around mindlessly grinning and never advance.”

It’s interesting….

The Week In Words

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Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week  inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.

Sorry to be late today! We had a very good but very busy weekend! I just said good-bye to some dear out-of-town company. Without further ado, here are some quotes that spoke to me this week:

This is from Robin Lee Hatcher‘s Facebook page:

“He that revels in a well-chosen library, has innumerable dishes and all of admirable flavor.” — William Godwin

I love that characteization.

This is from another friend’s Facebook:

“It’s better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right.”

I wouldn’t say I am a pessimist, but I probably lean slightly more that direction than the other. I thought this was much more poignant than saying “Look on the bright side” — which can seem a bit shallow if the bright side is a little hard to fathom at the moment.

And from Diane‘s Facebook:

“Satan is so much more in earnest than we are–he buys up the opportunity while we are wondering how much it will cost.”— Amy Carmichael

He is, sadly, more relentless in pursuing his goals — that is a rebuke to me.

If you’ve read anything that particularly spoke to you that you’d like to share, please either list it in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below. I do ask that only family-friendly quotes be included. I hope you’ll visit some of the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder.

Don’t forget to leave a comment, even if you don’t have any quotes to share! :)

Wednesday Hodgepodge

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Joyce From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge of questions for fun and for getting to know each other.

Here are the questions for this week:

1. How many times in your life have you moved house?

In my adult life, six. In my childhood, I’m not sure but it was a LOT — seven times come to mind off the top of my head, not including going to college, but I’m sure there were more. .

2. What subject would you study if you had a year to devote to it?

Writing.

3. What in this world breaks your heart?

Abuse.

4. What is one item that symbolizes the times in which we live? Why?

Probably cell phones. I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t have one, and many have only their cell phones and no land lines. As they got more advanced they set off the texting phenomenon and revolutionized communications.

5. Share a favorite bumper sticker or t-shirt slogan.

“Don’t believe everything you think.”

6. How do you like your spaghetti?

We use ground turkey rather than ground beef (no meatballs) and prefer very skinny spaghetti, preferably angel hair, and homemade spaghetti sauce.

7. What is one piece of advice you would give a recent, or soon to be recent, graduate?

Hmm. I’d have to think about that for a while. The verse I usually put on graduation cards is Psalm 16:11: “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” So I think I’d say, whatever you do, keep your relationship with the Lord first — not just routines and rituals, but a living relationship that begins with being born again and needs to be nurtured like any other relationship by time spent together and communication.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Does anyone know what kind of plant this is?

Here’s a closer look:

I’m not sure if it it was planted there on purpose or if it is a weed. I’m thinking of taking it out anyway — if I were going to have something viny there I’d rather have some type of pretty ivy or Morning Glory.

The Week in Words

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Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week  inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.

Here are some that ministered to me this past week:

From a devotional titled The Invitation by Derick Bingham. commenting on about the Pharisees casting out the blind man healed in John 9:

The truth was that the man’s spiritual sight was now dawning. He refuted the Pharisees on their own ground but they threw him out of the synagogue. They literally excommunicated him. But Jesus found him. What a moment! Being excommunicated from a dead religion and being found by the living Saviour is no mean swap.

Sometimes the thing we lose is something dead that needs to go to make way for true spiritual sight and truth and life to dawn.

Seen at Callapidder Days:

The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s “own,” or “real” life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life—the life God is sending one day by day; what one calls one’s “real life” is a phantom of one’s own imagination. This at least is what I see at moments of insight: but it’s hard to remember it all the time. ~ C. S. Lewis

As many times as I have been convicted of this truth, I still need to hear it. I can get so caught up in my agenda, schedule, goals, etc., that I get resentful of interruptions or other bids for my time and attention. It’s interesting to read through the New Testament looking for interruptions. Mary was interrupted from whatever she was doing to hear the news that she was to bear the Messiah. Jesus and Jairus were interrupted on their way to Jairus’s ill daughter by a woman with an issue of blood. Jairus’s daughter died in the mean time, but was raised to life — an even greater miracle. Jesus was interrupted during times of solitary prayer, travel. God works through interruptions! That doesn’t mean we don’t plan and schedule, asking for His guidance as we do, but we remain open for events He had on the agenda that we didn’t know about.

From 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.” ~ Ann Voskamp.

So true — it’s a continual learning process, and we don’t feel we’re anywhere near getting a handle on being a mother until our children are almost grown. I am thankful for God’s sufficiency in my inadequacy!

And finally, from an Elisabeth Elliot e-mail devotional:

“Pray when you feel like praying. Pray when you don’t feel like praying. Pray until you do feel like praying.”

If you’ve read anything that particularly spoke to you that you’d like to share, please either list it in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below. I do ask that only family-friendly quotes be included. I hope you’ll visit some of the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder.

Don’t forget to leave a comment, even if you don’t have any quotes to share! 🙂

Wednesday Hodgepodge

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Joyce From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge of questions for fun and for getting to know each other.

Here are the questions for this week:

1. Have you ever been served breakfast in bed? Do you enjoy that? If someone were serving you breakfast in bed what would you hope to see on the tray?

My husband and I did that for one another a couple of times in early married days, but didn’t really like getting crumbs in bed. If you’re counting eating in a hospital bed, yeah, I guess you could say one perk of being there is breakfast in bed served on a nice rolling tray so you don’t have to balance it all on your lap. Not enough of a perk to cause me to want to visit there again, though. 🙂 If I ever were served breakfast, in bed or otherwise, I think my first choice would be an omelet with ham and Cheddar cheese and some orange juice with a bit of ginger ale mixed in.

2. What is one piece of advice you would give a new mother?

Sleep whenever you can. Accept help, even if things aren’t done exactly as you would do them. Savor the moments — they pass so quickly. Keep some time with the Lord, even if it is shorter or different than it was before (see Encouragement for Mothers of Young Children for more.) Oh, wait, you said just one piece of advice….

3. When was the last time you wanted to scream? Explain.

I can remember it wasn’t too long ago but I can’t remember what it was about. It does happen more often than I’d like to admit. 😳

4. Can you hula hoop?

Probably not any more.

5. What is something people do in traffic that really bothers you?

Tailgate, change lanes too closely and recklessly, fail to use turn signals, pull in front of me and then slow down for a turn.

6. What do you do when people don’t admit they’re wrong?

Honestly? Seethe inwardly. Then hopefully before long put it in perspective. If it is some little thing that doesn’t matter in the long run, I try to just let it go — some things you have to “agree to disagree” about. But if it is something that I think will have serious consequences for them or others, I’ll pray for them, that the Lord will open their eyes and change their hearts and maybe seek another opportunity and way to bring it up again.

7. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘fun’?

Something with the family — pizza and movie night, going out to eat together, playing a game.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I frequently hear an owl in the trees around our house. I’d love to see him some time. Some years ago at a different house and state, our kids and some others were playing on the trampoline in the back yard when an owl flew out of the trees, perched and looked at them for a few minutes, and then flew away. It all happened too fast to even think about getting the camera. We probably woke him up and he came out to see what the commotion was about. We never saw him again.

The Week In Words

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Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week  inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.

Here are some that ministered to me this past week:

From a devotional titled The Invitation by Derick Bingham. commenting on John 9:1-4:

[The blind man’s] suffering was not due to sin but was in fact a conduit for showing what God can do. He was about to become a legend for the glory of God…..Your circumstance may be dire; your health may be failing, your business may be collapsing, your plans may be wrecked, your finances stretched and your cupboard bare. You may be ready to quit. Don’t. Why? Because this circumstance you are in is not because you have done wrong but because God is about to reveal His works in you.

From Women’s Ministry in the Local Church by J. Ligon Duncan and Susan Hunt:

No matter how many bowls of soup we dish up at the soup kitchen, if we do it with rebellious hearts against those God has put in authority over us, it is not pleasing to Him (p. 90).

From a friend’s Facebook:

“Every job is a self portrait of the person who did it. Autograph you work with excellence.” ~ Unknown

This is something I wish every person could imprint on their brains! And their work!

From another friend’s Facebook:

“Keep out of your life all that will keep Christ out of your mind.”

From “Meeting God Alone” in On Asking God Why by Elisabeth Elliot:

The Bible is God’s message to everybody. We deceive ourselves if we claim to want to hear his voice but neglect the primary channel through which it comes.

If you’ve read anything that particularly spoke to you that you’d like to share, please either list it in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below. I do ask that only family-friendly quotes be included. I hope you’ll visit some of the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder.

Don’t forget to leave a comment, even if you don’t have any quotes to share! 🙂

Wednesday Hodgepodge

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Joyce From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge of questions for fun and for getting to know each other.

Here are the questions for this week:

1. What is something that bothers you if it is not done perfectly?

Oh — too many things. I hate when I am trying to put an address label or stamp on an envelope and get it crooked. I hate to send it out like that but life is too short to try to peel it off without ripping the envelope. There are plenty of things I live with less-than-perfectly (my bed, for instance. I like to make it, but it is nowhere near military or hospital precision.) Crooked wall frames bug me, too.

2. What is one of your best childhood memories?

Once when the power was out we all slept in the living room and did shadow hand puppets on the wall and such. It was a cozy moment in a not-always-so-cozy childhood.

3. Do you plan to watch the Royal Wedding and when was the last time you wore a hat?

a) I haven’t decided yet. I didn’t get up early to watch Diana’s and then kind of regretted it. Maybe I’ll tape it. b) Last Sunday.

4. Where do you fall in the birth order in your family? Do you think this has influenced your personality?

I am the oldest of six, and yes, I think I am the typical (mostly) serious, responsible firstborn.

5. Where do you think you spend most of your money?

At the grocery store!

6. When you need to confront someone would you rather communicate in person, on the phone, by email or by letter? Why?

I hate confronting people and would rather do it in writing where I can get my thoughts and tone the way I want them — and avoid eye contact. 😀 But that’s rarely as effective as communicating in person.

7. Dodge ball, freeze tag, kickball or jump rope? You have to pick one.

I’m guessing the question is which do I prefer to participate in? Well, these days, freeze tag — I’d get to stand still. 😀 But in my youth I enjoyed all of those.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I am grateful for the lady at the customer service desk at W-mart who came over to check my purchases out this morning, though it earned us both a frown. I like shopping there right after I drop Jesse off at school because it is much less busy. But they usually only have one regular check-out lane and one “speedy” lane open. This morning they had two regular lanes open, but one had five people waiting in it, so I went to the other. But the guy in front of me was having some trouble buying a gift card with his corporate credit card, and I waited — and waited, and waited. The other line continued to have several people in it. The lady at the Customer Service counter was zipping over to one of the lanes limited to 20 items to check people out if she wasn’t busy at Customer Service. She saw I had been waiting for a long time and waved me over: I let her know I had more than 20 items, but she said that was ok. But wouldn’t you know right then someone came to the customer service desk who wanted help right NOW. The lady’s supervisor started fussing and the person waiting was glaring — she probably thought I hadn’t heeded the sign about 20 items or less. I felt bad that the cashier was getting some flack for trying to be helpful and wished I could do something nice for her besides just profusely thanking her. But I was also convicted by the thought that if I had been the waiting customer at the service desk with no service, I probably would have been glaring, too. 😳

And that turned into a longer story than I’d planned. But here are two more quick random thoughts:

a) Why does no food on the Biggest Loser ever look or sound appealing to me?

b) Why is it that when I start to think about the need to lose weight or my doctor mentions it, I start craving every unhealthy thing I can think of?

The Week In Words

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Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week  inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.

Here are some that ministered to me this past week:

From Counterintuitive Words of Comfort for the Hurting at Wendy Alsup’s Practical Theology for Women:

I am beginning to see that the primary point of long periods of silence by God during our earthly sorrows and suffering is that we show His worthiness of our belief and trust based fully on who He is and not on what things He gives us. Satan can’t believe we would trust God just based on His character and not on the blessings on earth He gives us. That’s Satan’s taunt–“They only worship you because you are good to them. They’d never worship you if you didn’t answer their prayers and take care of them like they expect.”

From a booklet titled Selfishness: From Loving Yourself to Loving Your Neighbor by Lou Priolo:

Thine own will is a corrupt and sinful will, and therefore unfit to be thy governor: What! Wilt thou choose an unjust, a wicked, an unmerciful governor that is inclined to do evil?…To prefer self will before the will of God, is, as the Jews, to prefer a murderer, Barabbas, before the Lord of life…When God is content to be your governor, prefer not such foolish sinners as yourself before Him ~ Richard Baxter, The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, Vol. 3, pp 400-401.

Very convicting and eye-opening.

And from p. 16 of the same booklet:

We are so selfish — that is, our love of self is so strong — that a love much stronger than our own is required to overpower it.

If you’ve read anything that particularly spoke to you that you’d like to share, please either list it in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below. I do ask that only family-friendly quotes be included. I hope you’ll visit some of the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder.

And please do comment even if you don’t have quotes to share!