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Sunday, 06 December 2009

In As Much.........

     There's a line in Francis Chan's book, Crazy Love, that has played over and over in my mind since I finished the book a few weeks ago. Forgive me for not looking up the quote to give to you verbatim, but the gist of it is this. We often question God and ask, "Why are people starving?", when in fact shouldn't it be God who is asking us that very question? We are given so much! Most of us consider that we are living rather modestly when, in fact, by world wide standards most of us live in luxury. Forgive me for being blunt, but if you are reading this post you are probably safe and warm in your own home, have reliable electric service, and food in your refrigerator and pantry.    Compared to many parts of the world, that makes us wealthy beyond belief.
      The incredible numbers of those without what we would consider the basics - food, clean water, shelter - are almost unfathomable. Even if we want to help, those numbers seem so overwhelming. And yet............
     And yet we need only look to God's Word for instruction. From Matthew 25:

"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat ; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink ; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me. (NAS)


     Feed the hungry, give water to those who thirst, invite those without shelter in, and clothe the naked. Jesus, the very Son of God whose advent we observe at this time of year, tells us that we feed, clothe and shelter Him as we minister to "the least of them". Would you not part with your last penny to provide for the Lord?
     In my own community, a warm bed, a meal and hope can be delivered for just $2. Two bucks! I'm sure there are similar organizations in your own home town. They aren't hard to find.
   Please consider what the Lord might have you do for even just one "of the least of these" during this season of His Advent.
God bless you this second Sunday of Advent!

Photographs courtesy of PhotoXpress.com

Thursday, 03 December 2009

Passionate? Or Desperate?

      I'm a little behind the curve when it comes to reading new releases. I usually have so many books in my reading queue that when a new book that appeals to me is released I just can't add even one more to the stack. Passionate Housewives Desperate for God was released at just such a time. Good things are worth waiting for, though, and this book is no exception to that rule. Stacy McDonald and Jennie Chancey have done a tremendous job of outlining what true Biblical homemaking looks like, dismissing silly stereotypes and debunking feminist myths in the process. The authors split up the chapters of the book between them, and each lady's writing style really shines. Jennie Chancey's chapter looking back at her feminist past was a highlight. The final two chapters, "Show Me What a Keeper at Home Really Looks Like" and "Aspiring to Great Heights", authored by Mrs. Chancey and Mrs. McDonald, respectively, closed the book magnificently!
     While many books of this nature might leave a woman with a non-believing husband, or a Christian husband who abdicates his role as family leader, feeling defeated, these two women have done a wonderful job of reminding all women of their role and standing before the Lord through Scriptural examples.
     Passionate Housewives Desperate for God (* * * * *)


    I try to read a book about Tourette Syndrome every few months for the benefit of my son. Books written by Touretters are always my favorites. Brad Cohen's Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had was an interesting read for me for just that reason.   It's good for me to get a glimpse into what goes on in Will's brain when he is experiencing tics. I am amazed at what a good student Will is despite the multitude of distractions that Tourette Syndrome throws in his path. Not a book for everyone, but for this mom of a Touretter, a good read!
     Front of the Class (* * * *)
God bless you as you look well to the ways of your household!
Proverbs 31:27

Disclosure: All of the books reviewed are books that I have chosen and purchased with my own money, or books that I have received as gifts from friends. I do not receive free books from authors or publishers, nor do I receive any sort of compensation for the reviews I write. I do maintain an affiliate relationship with Amazon.com. This arrangement allows me to receive a very small percentage (pennies on the dollar) of any purchases made when readers click through to Amazon from my blog. Though I see a list of what has been purchased, Amazon never discloses their customer’s names or other personal information. For those of you that make Amazon purchases through my blog, thank you. Your doing so is a tremendous blessing to my family. I use the credit I receive through Amazon in three ways: To help offset the cost of maintaining this blog, to purchase books for our home Heritage Library, and occasionally to purchase prizes for drawings offered to readers of this blog.

Tuesday, 01 December 2009

The Creche to the Cross........

"His birth and his death are but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and the morning of one and the same day. From the creche to the cross is an inseparable line. Christmas only points forward to Good Friday and Easter. It can have no meaning apart from that, where the Son of God displayed his glory by his death."

John Donne, The Book of Uncommon Prayers
This excerpt from Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas

Copied this evening into my Commonplace Book.

Monday, 30 November 2009

And So It Goes!

     The most oft quoted Copperswifeism is, I believe, "hold your plans loosely" or "don't hold your plans too tightly". Either way, the meaning is the same. A man, or woman, can make his plans, but the Lord must establish them. Amen?

     I sent my husband a quick email at work on Saturday telling him that Monday, November 30 was an official holiday. Deck the Halls Day, 2009. He emailed back indicating that his calendar said the same thing! Cool, I thought, we're on the same wave length. We would all be home Monday. What a fun way to end the long Thanksgiving weekend by "decking the halls" and spending the day putting up our Christmas decorations.


     My husband actually hung the outside lights on his days off last week and we've been lighting up the outside of our home since Friday night. They're beautiful at night. An across the road neighbor says our house looks like a gingerbread house at night. I'll have to take a picture to show you soon.




      The boys helped me take down all of our fall decorations Saturday. All the fall linens have been washed, dried, folded and packed away for next year, as well. My stack of storage tubs wait in the garage to be put away as the Christmas tubs are brought down from the loft in the little barn.

     We were all looking forward to our annual Deck the Halls Day.

     In God's good providence, we needed to have two vehicles at church yesterday. It was such a blessing because twenty minutes into our worship service, William started not feeling well. He was a bit fevered, quite pale and had terrible dark circles under his eyes. Boy, it was quick! Dani drove Will home and the rest of us spent the afternoon at church as always. I was hoping that Will would feel better by Monday and be ready to deck the halls.



      However, today dawned and it was quickly obvious that no decking of the halls was going to happen. My boys, both of them, have Chicken Pox!    Will broke out last night, and Aaron this morning. They both have low grade fevers and feel generally pretty miserable. So far the break out is quite mild, but Will gives me an hourly update on his "spots", and I seem to find a new one on Aaron every time I check his fevered brow or rub his back.

     Dani was off fairly early this morning to help her sister out a bit as poor Corin was ill, too. In fact, she left before we'd even discovered that Aaron was sick!

      We'll still have a Deck the Halls Day, and it will be fun when it happens. In the meantime, I'm holding my plans loosely and doing what I can to keep my boys comfortable and my oldest daughter bathed in prayer. I have received lots of wonderful tips, natural and medicinal, from the other moms at church who have had recent experience with Chicken Pox. I appreciate their hints on how to keep the boys as itch-free as possible.




     The boys were comfy and cozy on the couches in the living room, enjoying holiday movies from our modest collection, listening to Christmas music and otherwise having a quiet day. My plans? They are loosely held and not so important after all.

God bless you as you look well to the ways of your household!
Proverbs 31:27

Sunday, 29 November 2009

Bite Back!


     Ever spent the night with a mosquito buzzing around your room? It can be pretty miserable. Hearing that incessant whining buzz all night long might be annoying, but it is certainly not a life threatening incident. Unless, of course, you are a child living in Africa.


     Please take a few minutes to watch this video. It's less than five minutes. You have that long!



     For just $10, Compassion will deliver a treated mosquito net to protect an African child for three years. Ten bucks will protect a child for three years!! Forgo a couple of mochas. Make your own pizza instead of ordering out. Have your son wear the old jeans for another couple of weeks. These are just three ways I know that I might be able to provide mosquito nets. What can you do?   Click here to Bite Back! For more information, click the Bite Back logo at the top of this post.

      Want to do even more? Consider sponsoring a child through Compassion.

"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'"
Matthew 25:40 (NAS)
God bless you this first Sunday in Advent!