Monthly Archives: September 2010

a romance that is visible

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"Parent's ability to communicate their worldview to their children is mostly bound up in their personal relationship to each other. If Mother and Father have a romance that is visible, a joy that is uncontained, and a passion that is enviable, their children will want to travel the same road in hopes of reaping the same fruit in their own lives."

– Jumping Ship, Michael Pearl 


Blue-flowers2web 

I am no expert and I have not finished the book yet.  This excerpt spoke to me however and I think that only good things can come from unbridled joy and visible romance, so those are excellent places to start. 

Visible romance this week? While I was blogging the video yesterday, husband had already run to pick up flowers, just because, on the way to the ball field to cover practices for a sick wife. In blue. Why? Because he thought that they would go with the dishes I love – though he loves them less. : ) 

  thank you 

geocaching

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Had a hard core geocaching hike today. With iphone GPS in hand we followed the sidewalk 'til it became farm path…

 

and then the farm path became a field…

DSC_0906 

which took us out beyond the village

 

among the neighboring farm pastures


 

and linked up to a trail heading into the forest.


 

Where we looked and looked – and found it.  

 

 

The boys signed the log book


         

checked out the contents of the cache box

 

and decided to exchange their key ring for a pair of soccer cleats. 

 

a good day had by all! : ) 

 

 

 

There’s an app for that

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We have been listening to the audio bibles Ann Voskamp mentioned some time back from Faith Comes by Hearing.  They are AWESOME recordings.  All dramatized and each person is represented by a different voice.  They are complete with wind and waves and music in the backgrounds. I have been totally captivated and am choosing this over the music on the ipod now. Time and again I think that I have never heard a verse put that way. This is probably because I have literally not HEARD the verse that way.  

To make it even easier they now offer both the OT and NT as an iphone app.  No iphone? You can listen on Facebook too, which is probably a heckuva lot better than most of the other things a person could be doing on FB.  Way cool. 

Yesterday I was listening to the exhortation in Philippians 2:14 to 'do all things without murmuring or disputing" sometimes translated as 'grumbling' and 'complaining.'  Basically a biblical command to be cheerful and cooperative IN ALL THINGS.  Tall order, but one that is repeated several places. I had recently printed out Wise Woman's essay She Delights Him based on the Botkins Sisters words and placed it on my fridge as a reminder of what "bringing him goodness and not harm" looks like in daily life. It seems more and more that it all begins with attitude.  Choosing to be grateful vs resentful, choosing to be joyful vs brooding, choosing to be positive vs critical. 

I printed Phil 2:14 for the fridge as well because it applies to all members of the family. How much strife could be avoided if we just followed this direction and went on with our work?  I mentioned back in lent a discussion at the dinner table when we heard about a frustration Zach had.  He just smiled and said he had given up complaining for lent. And then refused to vent about it.  It made a big impression on me and I was reminded of this yesterday. The bible makes it clear we are not to grumble – period. The commentary linked points out that protest and complaining is 

"sometimes prominently displayed in the countenance."

Oh yes, it is. Even when we button our lips and press on we often make it clear we are not happy about a thing and our faces complain when our voices do not. So this is my challenge currently. Am I bemoaning my circumstances? Snapping over petty frustrations. Or doing ALL things without complaining? I figure the best way to bless my husband AND my children right now is to be a smiling wife and mother. To be diligent is admirable as well. But the 'how' of it often impacts more than the what of it all. So smile. : )  It's all happening for a reason – to bless and not to curse. 


Sweet-pea-blooms
 

Corners of my home – master

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For as long as I can remember I have loved old things. Flea markets, rummage sales, thrift shops, bazaars. If I had all the money in the world I would still love junking. The thrill of the hunt is at least half the fun and it's really gratifying to resurrect something discarded and forgotten and give it new life. Not to mention that over the years we have been able to furnish a home this way on less than what one room of new furniture would cost. 

 Our old bed was so beyond its last legs it was picked up by the metal man on the roadside before we left. We knew we would need to replace it here but didn't relish the thought of paying the prices we were seeing for pressed woods. We were blessed to literally find this set in the basement of the local junk shop for less than what we could have picked up a new bed at a furniture warehouse.  Such a deal. 

 The old European furniture is not nailed and glued together but rather held in place with a system of pins. When the pins are taken out it stacks fairly flat to fit through the narrow stairways and doorways. Genius. Although putting it all back together was tricky.

 

In the end we got a marvelous master bedroom with a lot more character than could be found on a showroom floor for a fraction of new. 

 


I am still so very pleased.