Good Reads

I've been thinking it would be fun to get some magazines for the kids.  I remember how fun it was to get a magazine in the mail, plus it gives you some fun, light reading to do between books or when you just want to chill out.  Maddie has enjoyed an issue of the American Girl magazine.  It has great crafts, recipe ideas, fun articles, etc.  I ordered that for her, but was also looking around for others, particularly some with a Christian focus (since so many of the ones targeting young girls seem to focus on appearance or celebrity).  I'll post any good ones I come up with.  For now, here are a few that were recommended to us...

Sick Kiddos

Jake has had a stomach thing for the past couple of days...poor boy.  We had the day off today for Easter break.  We had planned to go to the beach with some friends, but instead we will be spending some quality couch and movie time together.  Maddie found some fun crafts to make from her American Girl magazine.  She even made a cute frog from buttons for Jake.  Hoping everyone feels better tomorrow.

Easter Conundrum via Jen Hatmaker

Love these two posts from Jen Hatmaker...

Easter Conundrum - Part 1

"Assessing the typical American Easter, on one side I see Jesus on the cross, humiliated and mutilated, bearing the failures of every person past and present, rescuing humanity through an astonishing miracle of divine redemption, splitting history in two and transforming the human experience for eternity. On the other side, I see us celebrating this monumental heroism with chocolate bunnies and boiled eggs, with Jesus as an afterthought. It doesn’t make sense."

"Jesus is a redeemer, a restorer in every way. His day on the cross looked like a colossal failure, but it was his finest moment. He launched a kingdom where the least will be the greatest and the last will be first, where the poor will be comforted and the meek will inherit the earth. Jesus brought together the homeless with the privileged and said, “You’re all poor, and you’re all beautiful.” The cross leveled the playing field, and no earthly distinction is valid anymore. There is a new “us” – people rescued by the Passover Lamb, adopted into the family and transformed into saints. It is the most epic miracle in history.

That is why we celebrate. May we never become so enamored by the substitutions of this world that we forget."

Easter Conundrum - Part 2

"I wondered if the American church was like well-mannered nice-talkers, sitting in a living room sipping coffee, talking about choir practice, while the world burns down outside our windows. While the richest people on earth pray to get richer, the rest of the world begs for intervention with their faces pressed to the window, watching us drink our coffee, unruffled by their suffering."

"So I blubbered in front of 3000 women, bawling for the anguish of others and my own heinous disinterest, worried we were missing the point. I told the story about giving away my boots and asked if a similar moment wasn’t in order – not that shoes will change anyone’s life, but there is something spiritual and submissive about offering the shoes on your feet, the sweater off your back. It tells Jesus: I’m in."

Scrabble strategy

These two are so much alike in so many ways, especially their love of Scrabble....



April Fools

Looks like St. Patrick's Day and April Fools crossed at our house today.  Here is what we found...

The "city" has a Green Cross & Green Shield (instead of Blue Cross and Blue Shield) and a Greenfish Restaurant (instead of Bluefish, a restaurant in our neighborhood.

Future researcher

Jake was outside shooting some hoops and Maddie decided to categorize and tally his shots from the window.  Here's how he did...

Giving Squared

I've been struggling and praying so much about what God wants me to do.  How I should spend my time, money, acquired skills.  I am such a doer and ofter want to just jump into my own plans.  I want (and pray) to learn to really listen and do God's will and plan, rather than my own.  It is hard and I am learning what a bad listener I really am.

Giving Squared is something Melanie and I started to try to make a difference.  All of us are constantly shopping for gifts...friends, teachers, kid's friends, etc.  We wanted to create a shopping experience where people can buy gifts and give gifts to missions at the same time.  At Giving Squared all of the profits go to missions.  We have selected 7 missions for 2012 that we will be supporting.  Since we started in November 2011, we have been able to give over $2,000 to missions (including some of the lemonade stands we hosted).  Not huge numbers, but something is better than nothing.  I always consider what Mother Theresa said..."God doesn't call us to be successful, He calls us to be faithful." 

God, help me be faithful and a good listener and a fearless follower!

Sometimes I would love these people to just show up at my house...

Tell me I am not alone! 

Forgotten God

I am currently reading Forgotten God by Francis Chan.  It is about the Holy Spirit.  It is an area I have been thinking about and wanting to study for some time now.  So much is said about the power of the Spirit in the Bible, but it isn't discussed much today in the biggness and powerfulness and importance and life-changingness (are all those words?) as I see it in the Bible.  Check out this short video clip...


Here is a quote I read this morning and loved...

“It is absolutely vital to grasp that God didn’t call you to where you are so you can settle in and live out your life in comfort and superficial peace. His purposes are not random or arbitrary. If you are still alive on this planet, it’s because He has something for you to do. He placed us on this earth for purposes that He orchestrated long before we were born. “

Easiest Veggie Side Dish for Cooking Out

Happiness = siblings getting along

Maddie and Jake decided to make each other Easter gifts.  Look what Maddie sewed for Jake...his own polka dot, smiley face, egg, suffed animal thingy. 

He drew her an amazing original piece of art....

Ahhh...sibling love.

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

A while back I started reading a lot of books that really impacted me.  A reference to another book while I was in the middle of a current one would then lead me to read that one next.  It actually all started with a blog post from Jen Hatmaker August of last year.  It was just notes from a conference she spoke at, but it was a different voice/perspective and a fresh view in my opinion.  It impacted me and got me fired up about my role, and challenges, as a parent.  It really spoke to me and lit a new spark.  I must have read that post 10+ times start to finish and even shared it with friends.  It caused me to start looking into other things she wrote.  I'm not sure the order, but it lead to me reading Radical by David Platt, Crazy Love by Francis Chan, Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker, The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, Barefoot Church by Brandon Hatmaker (her husband) and also 7: An Eperimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker...  I'm sure there were a few more, but I can't remember them at the moment.  Anyway, you get the point...I came to crave reading similar messages.  In a nutshell, we spend so much of our time "blessing the blessed" and I think we are really missing the point.  It was even part of the reason we started visiting other churches (even though I really did love my church and all the people in it).  I felt like I needed a change.  I needed to step out.  I needed to hear other things and meet other people.  I reread the New Testament a little at a time each morning, looking specifically at what Jesus said and what Jesus did.  How He lived His life and what He called us to do.  I honestly feel like this past year or so has been a life changing piece of my Christian walk.

Click here to read Jen's set up for the book, "7:  An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess."  Like the other books, this one really hit a nerve with things I have been thinking.  I'm really praying and thinking about what to do with this.  Definitely something, but not sure what yet....

Fearlessly make known...

I was listening to the Passion 2012 album on the treadmill today and it included one of the talks by Louie Giglio.  One of the verses he was preaching on was Ephesians 6:19...

Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ~ Ephesians 6:19

What a wonderful thing to pray... to speak with words that fearlessly make known the gospel.

Jassi's Dream

Amazed, grateful and humbled by amazing organizations that live out the Gospel to help those in need around the world...


You can get the free book with other stories here....

Pinterest before there was Pinterest

Like millions of others, I love Pinterest.  What a great way to capture and store all sorts of pretty, lovely things.

Before there was Pinterest, I created a blog to store beautiful, fun ideas for kids birthday parties.  It was my Pinterest before there was Pinterest.  How much easier it is now to just "pin" things....

No place like home

Fabulous vacations over Spring Break are wonderful, but there is something nice about being back at home...chilling out....watching Wipeout.

You gotta do what ya gotta do...

Kids going a little crazy. Sam kicked them out of the house. This is what we find.

Introverts

Great article for my fellow introverts...

Memorizing James

We are about halfway through our James Bible study and I think I am going to do it...I am going to try to  memorize the book of James.  I think what really got me considering it was watching the video of Beth Moore reciting it.  It was so powerful to see her be able to speak the entire book of James.  I love this Bible study and it is so relevant to so much of what is going on in my life/head/heart these days. 

I think memorizing it will help me hang onto it.  I am going to memorize the NET version, which is the version Beth Moore memorized.  I'm thinking I can watch the DVD of her reciting it at times to help with my  memory.  I am so excited, but so scared.  I am a terrible memorizer so I am really going to need God's help with this one.

Here it is...

James 1 (NET)

From James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings!

Joy in Trials

My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways. 

Now the believer of humble means should take pride in his high position. But the rich person’s pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow. For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away. Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. By his sovereign plan he gave us birth through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Living Out the Message

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. For human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror. For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he will be blessed in what he does. If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile. Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 2 (NET)

Prejudice and the Law of Love

My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if someone comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes, do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? If so, have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor! Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme the good name of the one you belong to? But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators. For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law. Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom. For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Works Together

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear.

But would you like evidence, you empty fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

James 3 (NET)

The Power of the Tongue

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly. For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well. And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies. Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination directs. So too the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it has great pretensions. Think how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze. And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence – and is set on fire by hell.

For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature is subdued and has been subdued by humankind. But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people made in God’s image. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters. A spring does not pour out fresh water and bitter water from the same opening, does it? Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a vine produce figs? Neither can a salt water spring produce fresh water.

True Wisdom

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. Such wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and not hypocritical. And the fruit that consists of righteousness is planted in peace among those who make peace.

James 4 (NET)

Passions and Pride

Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you? You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.

Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy. Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says, “The spirit that God caused to live within us has an envious yearning”? But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into despair. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. He who speaks against a fellow believer or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge. But there is only one who is lawgiver and judge – the one who is able to save and destroy. On the other hand, who are you to judge your neighbor?

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows what is good to do and does not do it is guilty of sin.

James 5 (NET)

Warning to the Rich

Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming on you. Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

So be patient, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s return. Think of how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient for it until it receives the early and late rains. You also be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the Lord’s return is near. Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be judged. See, the judge stands before the gates! As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name. Think of how we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and you have seen the Lord’s purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. And above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall into judgment.

Prayer for the Sick

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises. Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months! Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land sprouted with a harvest.

My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, he should know that the one who turns a sinner back from his wandering path will save that person’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Maddie's Chore Proposal