Beware the Evening VBS

You'd think that a week of immersion into the Bible would make my children strive to be better people. Quite the contrary. I've seen/heard so many fights and tears in the last three days that if I weren't working VBS, my children would NOT be attending. I have a good mind to leave them at home anyway.

I don't think it's VBS. I think it's the timing of VBS. 6:30-8:30 IN THEORY. I don't think they've gotten out before 8:40 yet, and by the time all the parents finally get to the nursery (where I am) to pick up their kiddos, and I get out to retrieve my kiddos, it's 9:00. By the time we get them home and into bed and asleep, it's 10:00.

I do understand that many, many families function in this time zone in the summer. We do not. As evidenced by all the great weeping and gnashing of teeth that takes place around here by my over-tired children who WILL NOT SLEEP IN.

In the school year I praise God for my early risers, but this week, I just wish they would sleep until nine once.

(I should throw on an afterword that goes something like this: the theological discussions in our van have been delightful. (I should probably not say "in between the fights and tears") And: my kids LOVE VBS and clean up their act when I threaten them that if they don't they won't be going. VBS is a good thing. I know this. Evening VBS can even be necessary for some families. This is a good service to provide for someone, I'm certain. I am trying to get over myself. Go easy on me. I'm a little stressed.)

if you don't have anything nice to say...

I should have something to say. Yet, I don't. I'm cranky. My house is on the market with no lookers. My children watch TV all day and i can't cook the foods I love because i can't make the house smell like anything but vanilla. All assuming that someone at some point will want to see the house at a moment's notice. I yell a lot. I cry a lot. I drop into bed exhausted and can't sleep. Good times. Good times. I'm sure you wish I would write more, dontcha?

Shades of Morning by Marlo Schalesky

Hey, anyone up for an other-worldly story of redemption?

Marnie didn't know much about miracles. 
Mistakes maybe. Accidents. And monstrous mess-ups.
She knew a lot about those.
Bit miracles? Those were for other people.


Marnie Wittier has life just where she wants it. Quiet. Peaceful. No drama. A long way from her past. In the privacy of her home, she fills a box with slips of paper, scribbled with her regrets, sins, and sorrows. But that's nobody else's business. Her bookstore/coffee shop patrons, her employees, her friends from church--they all think she's the very model of compassion and kindness.


Then Marnie's past creeps into her present when her estranged sister dies and makes Marnie guardian of her fifteen-year-old son--a boy Marnie never knew existed. And when Emmit arrives, she discovers he has Down syndrome--and that she's woefully unprepared to care for him. What's worse, she has to deal with Taylor Cole, her sister's attorney, a man Marnie once loved--and abandoned.


As Emmit and Taylor work their way into her heart, Marnie begins to heal. But when pieces of her dismal past surface again, she must as last face the pieces of paper in her box, all the regrets and sorrows. Can she do it? Or will she run again?

This is one of those books that will grip you from page one, but leave you puzzled until the very end, which actually leaves me conflicted about how I feel about the book as a whole. Now that I've finished it, I love the story. Reading it? Grr. I don't like predictable, but a little more hurry out of the confusion would have been nice. (but, frankly, I've been insanely stressed and that could factor into my feelings)

One thing I do know is that, other than an overall satisfying story, you never know what kind of book you'll get when you pick up a Marlo Schalesky. Was this my favorite? No. Was this my least favorite? No. It hovers somewhere in the middle. But I'd still give it an 8.7 out of 10. (As Veil of Fire was a solid 9.8, that's what I expect, and that's a lot to expect from a writer. I know that. I'm trying to mature. ;P )

So, as I said, you like other-worldly, mysterious, time leaping reads, here's a book for you.

Have a good book-filled weekend, peeps!

COTM - Dad Life

In the continuing saga that is Princess and reproduction IV

Yesterday, while reading a complex book about butterflies, Princess hollers from across the house, "WHAT'S SEX?" (Mind you, this was about the third word she didn't understand among others like pheromones, etc.)

I, being of sound mind, yelled back, "Gender. Like being male or female." (Please, God. Deep breath.) "Well, depends on how it's used." Walks upstairs. Reads book. "Yeah, it means how they determine if it's a boy or girl."

I'm going to HAVE to have a talk with her whether she's ready or not. Because she is quite possibly going to public school next year and will need to not be the class idiot that doesn't know what EVERYBODY knows at that age. Gah.

I'm gonna miss our little Christian school.

(Oh, wait, you all don't know about all this yet, do ya? We're moving home. Finally. Details soon. I promise.)

Charming

Charming: Mom, what kind of a day is it?
Mom: A sunny day!
Charming: Oh! A sunny day! I want to kiss it! Can I kiss the sunny day?
Mom: Yes, kiss the sunny day.
Charming: *kisses window* I wuv a sunny day!

Would that we could all approach new days with this enthusiasm.

Where I've Been

Not the most beautiful, but certainly the best moment of last week. Except, maybe, for this one:

He Has A Point

Charming has been usurping my computer and demanding to watch "Cars" shorts on YouTube for a couple weeks now. Very frustrating. For every time I get on the computer to do something highly important (like check my email), he worms his way in and asks for Cars.

This morning, in exasperation, I said, "Why don't we just go watch Cars on the TV?"

"Mommy, no!" He said. "Witning Cwashes and bwows out him tires on that one!"

I'm not sure he could have come up with a more reasonable argument.

He got the computer.

Time for Plan B

(Kerrville, TX) – From the beginning of time women have dreamt about their “Plan A” - the perfect husband, cute children, immaculate home, size six wardrobe, prestigious job, fabulous friends. But it doesn’t take much of real life to set in before compromises, changes and disappointments manage to cloud those dreams. The Plan A Woman in a Plan B World: What to Do When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan encourages women to re-evaluate the Plan B route and discover the blessings of God’s Plan A.   Using nine landmines that often claim the God-given plan for women, author/speaker Debbie Taylor Williams helps women reclaim hope and teaches them how to manage those sabotaging thoughts that claim many minds. Sprinkled with humor, an obvious love for God’s Word, and discussion starters for small group study, The Plan A Woman promises to help woman believe that God does have special plans for her, even in this Plan B world.

Author Debbie Taylor Williams   About the Author:   Debbie Taylor Williams is the founder of Hill Country Ministries, an organization dedicated to spreading God’s Word and ministering to women. Best known as a passionate biblical expositor, Debbie uses humor and practical illustrations to communicate spiritual truths to women throughout the nation. She is the author of Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion, Prayers of My Heart, and other books. She and her husband make their home in Kerrville, Texas. Learn more by visiting her popular Web site: www.debbietaylorwilliams.com

Interview Questions:   1. Your book focuses on living the Plan A life God designed specifically for you. What encouragement can you give for the woman who feels she's lived far too long on Plan B? Is there hope? With God nothing is impossible!  The Spirit who moved over the surface of the deep and created light and life is the same Spirit who abides in every believer.  We can live the Plan A life God has for us because Christ lives in us and He is our hope of glory. Col 1:2    2. In your book you talk about hazardous landmines. What are a few common landmines women fall into?   Bitterness, discouragement, being fixated on the past, fear, feeling shaken by our circumstances, having expectations of how others should act are but a few of the land mines we can experience in a Plan B world. Left unattended, these land mines can cause devastating harm to us and others.  God's Plan A is not for us to ignore these land mines, nor is it His plan for us to tip toe around them. Rather, He directs us to address and de-mine them.  When we do, we can walk in bold assurance, confident of the ground upon which we walk. We're able to carry out the good works and plans God has for us; those that bring purpose and joy.    3. Talk about your P.R.A.Y. conferences and how women can learn more about your prayer ministry.   April 2, 2008 God woke me up at 4 a.m. and told me that I wasn't doing all that He wanted me to do. He then directed me to one of His Plans for my life:  to take the principles from my book, Pray with Purpose — Live with Passion, to a church in every state in the United States. He told me to waive my speaking fee and travel expenses; that He had freely given me the keys to prayer that can change women's lives; and that I was to freely take them to my sisters. P.R.A.Y. with Passion Conference was birthed as a ministry of my non-profit ministry. It has been a joy to see God powerfully open doors through women who hear about the conference and pass the word to their women's ministry leader or event planner. Women are coming to salvation.  Spiritual breakthroughs and repentance is taking place among believers. A "pink hearts" club is spreading across America, one composed of women and men who come forward and receive a heart on which they write how God has spoken to their hearts. And God is speaking. If I haven't been to your church/state, contact lauren@debbietaylorwilliams.com ministries, call toll free 888.815.9412, or visit my web site for more information www.debbietaylorwilliams.com    4. In your spare time, what do you enjoy doing?   I love being with my husband. Whether we go for a walk, watch the sunset, take a hike in the country, travel, play golf (sort of...I'm a beginner :), or go for a drive and breakfast on Saturday mornings, he's my honi and love of 35 years. Our two adult children and their spouses are so much fun to be with; as is our 17 month old grandson. Family, friends, sharing the Lord - for what more could we ask?

Say What?

Me: Ooooooo, Princess, I've hurt myself. Ooooooh, my back.

Princess: Do you need to go to the hypochondriac?

What do you think she's saying? (Upon further questioning, she did mean chiropractor, but I'm still not so sure...)

Really? Rompers?

What are we? Five?

And that's all I have to say about that. Because some fashionable person or other I know will surely wear one this summer.

Sigh.

What am I? 34 or 67?

Shed A Little Light on the Subject

Don't you just hate it when what seems like such a do-able idea on a long stretch of dark highway looks so impossible with the sunrise and a good night's sleep?

Add 24 more hours and you wonder why you ever considered such a thing.

But are still drawn to the idea in ways greater than you have felt in a very long time.

They Amlost Always Come Home

(Wausau, WI) – At the foundation of each relationship resides the need to know love can survive even when feelings fade. In Cynthia Ruchti’s debut novel, They Almost Always Come Home, readers feel the desperation of this foundational yearning in a marriage clearly pulling loose from its moorings. Compounded by other issues—an unrewarding career and mismatched dreams—it’s enough to drive a man into the arms of the Canadian wilderness. When Greg Holden doesn’t return home from a wilderness canoe trip, his wife Libby wrestles with survivor guilt, a new layer of grief, and the belief that she was supposed to know how to fix her marriage. She planned to leave him—but how can she leave a man who’s no longer there? He was supposed to go fishing, not missing.   Libby has to find him before she can discover how their marriage ends. She plunges into the wilderness on an adventurous and risky manhunt, unsure what she will do if she finds him…or if she doesn’t. She expects to meet hardship, discomfort, and danger in the wilderness. She doesn’t expect to face the stark reality of her spiritual longing and a faint, but steady pulse that promises hope for reviving her marriage. If Greg’s still alive.   They Almost Always Come Home provides a glimpse into common, however uncomfortable, marital conflicts. Cynthia weaves a page-turning story, suspense building scene by scene. Her characters mirror ordinary people, living real-to-life situations, allowing readers to relate and sort through a myriad of emotions and life decisions. If fiction can contain adventure, riveting self-awareness, and romance all between the same covers, this is the book!

Cynthia Ruchti writes stories of “hope that glows in the dark.” She writes and produces The Heartbeat of the Home, a syndicated drama/devotional radio broadcast, and is editor for the ministry’s Backyard Friends magazine. She also serves as current president of American Christian Fiction Writers. Cynthia married her childhood sweetheart, who tells his own tales of wilderness adventures.

The Interview:   1. How would you describe your book?   The tagline for the book is “She’d leave her husband…if she could find him.”   When Libby’s husband Greg doesn’t return from a two-week canoe trip to the Canadian wilderness, the authorities write off his disappearance as an unhappy husband’s escape from an oatmeal marriage and mind-numbing career. Their marriage might have survived if their daughter Lacey hadn’t died and if Greg hadn’t been responsible. Libby enlists the aid of her wilderness-savvy father-in-law and her faith-walking best friend to help her search for clues to her husband’s disappearance. What the trio discovers in the wilderness search upends Libby’s assumptions about her husband and rearranges her faith.      It’s my prayer that this fictional adventure story and emotional journey will reveal its own hope-laden clues for those struggling to survive or longing to exit what they believe are uninspiring marriages. How can a woman survive a season or a lifetime when she finds it difficult to like the man she loves?   2. How were you different as a writer and as a person when you finished writing They Almost  Always Come Home?   This book changed me in a profound way. It forced me to take a more honest look at myself and my reactions to crises so I could write Libby’s character with authenticity. Libby is a composite of many women. I haven’t experienced what she did, but I identify with some of her struggles and longings, as I hope my readers will. I see my friends in her eyes and know that her tears aren’t hers alone. Her shining moments feed my courage. Libby speaks for me and for many others when she discovers that she is stronger than she realized and weaker than she wanted to admit.   Writing her story was a journey for the author as much as for the character.   3. What did you feel the tug on your heart to become a writer?   My journey toward a lifetime of writing began by reading books that stirred me, changed me, convinced me that imagination is a gift from an imaginative Creator. As a child, I read when I should have been sleeping…and still do. I couldn’t wait for the BookMobile (library on wheels) to pull up in front of the post office in our small town and open its arms to me. Somewhere between the pages of a book, my heart warmed to the idea that one day I too might tell stories that made readers stay up past their bedtimes.   4. What books line your bookshelves? My bookshelves—don’t ask how many!—hold a wide variety of genres. The collection expands faster than a good yeast dough. I’m a mood reader, grabbing a light comedy one day and a literarily rich work the next. Although I appreciate well-written nonfiction, I gravitate toward an emotionally engaging contemporary women’s fiction story.

Somthing Extra From the Author's Heart     Ten years ago, my husband almost didn’t come home. His canoe adventure with our son Matt soured on Day Two when Bill grew violently ill from what we presume was either pancreatitis or a gall bladder attack. He’s an insulin-dependent diabetic, so any grave illness is a threat. One in the middle of the Canadian wilderness is morgue material.   With no satellite phone with which to call for help, Matt took turns caring for his father and watching the shore for other canoeists happening past their hastily constructed campsite. The few other canoes were headed deeper into the remote areas of the park, not on their way out. None had a satellite phone. And none of them were doctors.   As my husband grew sicker, his diabetes went nuclear. He couldn’t eat, yet needed insulin because his liver thought it should help out by dumping vast quantities of sugar into his system. Even in a hospital setting, the situation would have been difficult to control, and the nearest hospital was light years away across vast stretches of water and woodland, through peopleless, roadless wilderness.   Our son stretched a yellow tarp across the rocks on shore and wrote S.O.S. with charcoal from a dead fire. He scratched out countless notes on pieces of notebook paper torn from their trip journal:   Send rescue! My dad is deathly ill.     Read the rest of the story at the KCWC BLOG (Pssst: link through, it's worth it!)  Leave a comment here (or there, I think, or any of the other tour stops) for a chance to win.

Blog Tour Giveaway Includes:   North Pak 20 inch cinch sack (lime) Day Runner journal Canoe Brand wild rice Canada's brand blueberry jam Coleman 60-piece mini first aid kit Wood canoe/paddle shelf ornament Six original photography notecards from video trailer "Hope" hanging ornament Mini Coleman "lantern" prayer reminder

Max and Ruby

Eldest is humored that Charming thinks Eldest is "Ruby" of Max and Ruby fame. I suppose this is funny because Ruby is a girl. But Ruby is also controlling and bossy (in a loving eldest sibling kind of way). I think it fits. And I told him so.

I think we'll go berry picking today. How sad is it that in order to connect with nature in the city, you have to pay MORE money per pound to PICK YOU OWN berries and we drive 30 miles to do so?

Grandma would be horrified. (See below)

Money saving tips

It's a bit irreverent, but funny.

This girl (me) is doing her darndest to get out of debt, but neither do I wish to become this woman's grandma. Sometimes a happy medium is A-OK.

Tip: Cottonelle 1 ply. Happy medium. ;)

Charming and his CARS obsession

This week it's all the blue ones. He's hauling around Dinoco Lightning, Dinoco Chick, and Dinoco King. Lightning and Chick were probably Dinoco for a sum total of 15 seconds of the entire movie...that came out before he was born.

The Last Christian

W. O. W.

First, I should make it very clear that I am a big fan of apocalyptic/futuristic type stories. I loved Alas, Babylon. Brave New World. The Foundation Series. Gattaca. I Robot. I may be able to go on ad-nauseum. (I know, ME, WWII girl.) So, I admit, stories that put me far enough into the future to make their science (or lack thereof) just that side of freakishly wierd, but close enough to What Could Happen if things stay on their current course, intrigue me. That said...

Wow.

So The Last Christian takes you eighty years into the future where science has hit the vertical line in the learning curve and changes and "improvements" are taking place overnight. God has been virtually (no pun intended) replaced with Virtual Reality and the almighty human improvement brain implants. Truth is relative. Sin, as far as people are concerned, is so foreign as to be inexplicable.

I tell you what; this book is absolutely phenomenal. Not only was the story line fascinating the theology was as well. We, who live in our current world, know how hard it has become to explain sin and faith to a generation raised on tolerance. People today are living so frantically, manic, chasing the everything goes philosophy, it isn't a hard leap to know exactly what David Gregory is getting at. And his new angle to presenting the gospel has me intrigued enough that I think I will have to pick up his other book, The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel Has Worn You Out (co-authored by Dan Stone, and apparently "Greg Smith" which I think is a pen name...? Clearly I haven't read this one yet.). 

Anyway, if you like futuristic/apocalyptic stories, I have a feeling you will love this.

Back Cover Copy:
A.D. 2088 Missionary daughter Abigail Caldwell emerges from the jungle for the first time in her thirty-four years, the sole survivor of a mysterious disease that killed her village. Abby goes to America, only to discover a nation where Christianity  has completely died out. A curious message from her grandfather assigns her a surprising mission: re-introduce the Christian faith in America, no matter how insurmountable the odds.

But a larger threat looms. The world's leading artificial intelligence industrialist has perfected a technique for downloading the human brain into a silicon form. Brain transplants have begun, and with them comes the potential of eliminating physical death altogether--but at what expense?

As Abby navigates a society grown more addicted to stimulating the body than nurturing the soul, she and Craighton Daniels, a historian troubled by his father's unexpected death, become unwitting targets of powerful men who will stop at nothing to further their nefarious goals. Hanging in the balance--the spirutual future of all humanity.

In this fast-paced thriller, startling near-future science collides with thought-provoking religious themes to create a spell-binding "what-if?" novel.

Jessica's "Daily Affirmation"

May 18, 1996

This day I married my friend.

My best friend.

It's kinda cliche, I know that, but oh, so true.

If you aren't marrying your best friend, you ought not be getting married.

Period.

I've been scampering around, fetching for him for three weeks now as he hobbles around on a broken foot. That he broke doing something that I don't enjoy being abandoned for him to do. Now I have to wait on him hand and foot. I got more than a little grumpy about it there for a few days. After the first three hours the thank yous ran out. I found that thank yous keep me going. A person who shall remain nameless brought my wedding vows into it. "In sickness and in health." (I'm not certain we used that line, by the way, but we probably did. My specific vows had more to do with "encouraging all you are as an individual." That I do remember.) As I told friends a couple days later, "I didn't promise I'd do it with a good attitude. All I promised was that I'd stay married. I have." Later, I told them it was the thank yous that were missing and messing me up. Since I told them, I told him. "Not every time, but a couple times a day would be nice." He has. Guess who is less crabby?

Communication.

You do that with friends.

Happy anniversary, Gimpy. Love you.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

"I eat a-gusting green stuff, I have [candy]bar? OK. I eat a-gusting green fings."

FYI, he took one more bite and decided even the peanut butter cup wasn't worth it.