{questions}

As I type there is snow falling outside the window. And I am listening to a lovely rendition of "In the Bleak Midwinter" performed by Corrinne May. Check it out - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC9C5kHL884 What a wonderful day to stay in and knit or craft! Or blog...

With Christmas approaching a friend and I are having a discussion on whether Christians should celebrate the holiday. The pagan roots of Christmas are well documented and so is the fact that Christ was not born on December 25. So, what do you do? Do you continue to participate in the festivities since it is now considered a Christian holiday or do you choose to refrain from because it really isn't a Christian holiday no matter how you try to reason away. We know from the OT how much God warned the Israelites to not practice any heathen rituals and I believe that the warning still holds true for modern Christians. In that light, Christmas should not have any place in a Christian home. That's right, no tree, decorations, presents or anything. This doesn't mean that you have to alienate yourself from family and friends that do keep Christmas as my friend assured me. On the other hand, if you hold to the reasoning that it is no longer a pagan holy day, though there are neo-pagans that do practice Saturnalia, then there is no problem. But what I wonder at most is for Christians that do realize the pagan root of Christmas why do we still celebrate it? Isn't that when it becomes a sin, when we know it's wrong but still do it anyway? Why not as a whole body decide to move our celebration of Christ's birth to the actual time of His birth? Now granted, it would not fall on the same day each year because the Hebrew calender is based on the lunar cycle, unlike our Gregorian calender which is based on the solar. Or even is it neccesary to celebrate Jesus' birth? We are not commanded to do so from the Scriptures, indeed the early church did not celebrate His birth. Nor even in early America was it lawful to celebrate Christmas.

Personally, I was raised with Christ as the center of the season. Never had Santa Claus. In fact, when I was a dinky do I told my grandma that Santa was a pagan. *laughs* She was shocked, needless to say. Instead, by using an Advent calender, I sat on her lap and read out the story of my Lord's birth. My family a few years ago stopped celebrating Christmas as Christ's birthday so we've already come halfway. Now we just enjoy the season of giving and as a European cultural holiday. Now as an adult I'm questioning the whole Christmas thing on all levels. Theologically, culturally, personally. What to do, what to think...

{give thanks}

Happy Thanksgiving to you dear readers! I just wanted to leave a quick note. Today is a day to remember and give thanks. So here are the things I'm thankful for -

~ My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
~ Family
~ Friends
~ A happy home, good food and warm clothes
~ The talents and skills I've been granted so that I may serve God and others
~ Trials and hard times to remind me of the mercy of God
~ Pleasant times to remind me of the goodness of God

What will you give thanks for today? Wishing you a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

{remembrance}

Just one more week until my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. A time to remember and reflect upon our rich history. I know that the leaves have fallen and the trees are bare, but there is an air of promise and hope. Maybe it's just the invigorating north wind blowing in my face. And yet, one cannot but think of how Fall is a picture of life. There are times when the joy is mingled with the sadness. When we realize that death and birth are necessary to each other, we become reconciled to the sadness and are able to embrace the joy. If the leaves did not fall, we wouldn't have flowers later. Then the flowers fade so the verdant foliage may break forth. It is the ultimate reminder that God's ways are perfect. Everything in due season. Everything in its time. I can see this in my own life. I do not like to be rushed. If I have a deadline, I'll take care of it, but don't push me. Socially, I was a late bloomer. I was a severe wallflower until a couple of years ago and used to be embarrassed about it but now I feel that it was for the best. I am still no social butterfly but I am at ease in society now. Enough about me...see, this is what happens when you are an only child.


I have added some Fall-ish/Thanksgivingy themed music to my player. I had the hardest time finding a Doxology that I liked. The one on the player wouldn't have been my first choice, but I really wanted to include Doxology and you could say this track grew on me. My best friends' family sometimes sings Doxology instead of saying a prayer before meals and they sound fabulous, so I think that is why I had a hard time finding one that sounded "right." I was hoping for an a capella version. I once saw someone call a capella cold and boring. They have obviously never heard what I hear every Sunday morning. My family goes to a church that sings without instruments. Oh the boxes we live in...

Now to tell you the story behind the pictures. Early in October I went out one morning to get some sunrise shots. I love doing this, except when I forget an empty dog food sack and come back in with a wet rear and knees. So I was walking along when I saw this spider web right in my path. The dew just sparkled on the fine filaments. God is awesome!

After I took several pictures of this wonder I turned aside so that I didn't disturb Mr. Spider thinking to myself what other marvels I would see that morning when lo and behold I caught sight of this...

A dragonfly with the dew still on its wings! Now that's something you don't see everyday. I stand amazed at the ingenuity of the Creator. These next two I took one evening a day later. I love Fall!

Whew, that was long winded. Sorry dear reader. I shouldn't ramble on so. But sometimes I just can't help myself...

{mini reunion or bust}

Last weekend my family traveled to Kansas City to go to the Homeschool Alumni Midwest Mini Reunion. I've been a member of HSA for a couple of years now and haven't been able to make it to one of the national reunions. So when I saw the MO mini reunion posted on the event board I was thrilled. And then ecstatic when I told my dear father about it and he said "we're going" before I even had a chance to ask. Late Friday morning we set off for our destination. About mid afternoon we reached the Cabela's store in KC and decided to stop and stretch our legs, again. I always enjoy going into Cabela's and looking around. While we were there we bumped into some other homeschoolers but they were not HSAers. Being homeschooled turns on some radar that allows you to pick up on other homeschoolers. No kidding. Anyway, then it was off to the campground to set up the tent before heading to HQ a.k.a. one of the other HSAers house that was hosting the event. We were the last ones in because of how long it took to just pick out a campsite. *sighs* But supper was cooking and the house was warm and inviting which was welcome relief after putting up a tent in the cooling temps of a Fall afternoon. After supper there was a Boggle tournament and other games plus lots of talking and laughter. I had a hard time staying awake and at one point had dozed off for a couple of seconds. But then a couple of friends shook the couch to make sure I would stay awake. Thanks guys. Needless to say I am not a night owl. I'm not exactly sure when we girls crawled into our sleeping bags (my parents had already left for the campground) but it was about 1 in the morning. Whew! Saturday was packed with activities. In the morning we went on a 3.8 mile hike around the lake at the local state park.

"The road goes ever on and on..."

Someone in our group decided to take a little detour and we thought he would catch back up before long so we didn't wait. Back at the parking lot and eating our picnic lunch he still hadn't shown up. So then we were worried. Just as we were planning a rescue mission he walked up. No Chris, we're not going to let you live this one down. Then it was off to the WWI museum in Kansas City.

Here's our reflection on the glass walk over the field of poppies and you can see the tower, too.

Very interesting and informative. Lots of artifacts, most of them original, to view. After that we dashed back to HQ to throw some grub down the hatch and change before the dance. It was my very first ECD and I loved it.

Here we are before the dance. Aren't mirrors handy for taking pictures!

Sorry to those whose toes I stepped on. We laughed 'til it hurt, which wasn't very hard. We danced The Hole in the Wall, the Gay Gordon, the Virginia Reel and another one I'm not sure of it's name.

The white blur dancing with the blue blur is yours truly.

Note to self: use shutter mode at next dance.

But now I'm hooked and don't know how long I can make it without another dance! When the dance ended it was back to HQ for dessert, more games, laughter and talking. We also had a few surprise visitors. Missionaries from Siam to be precise. There's something wrong with the leg on the last missionary. *laughs* Saturday night we stayed up until 2! I was able to remain awake a lot easier though. Sunday morning we had a time of scripture reading and prayer. Then my family left right before lunch and headed home. I wish it could have gone on forever. But life called and said it was time to get back to work. Bummer. Now I'm already thinking about next year...

Thanks to all my homeschool family for the wonderful memories made this weekend. We won't easily forget them.

{too cute}

I just had to share this. There's a gal at our church that is pregnant with her first child and I decided to knit a baby sweater for her. So I set off looking for a pattern. 1) it had to be free, 2) it had to be cute with a hipness about it and 3) be easy. I found a few patterns but narrowed it down to the Berroco "Baby Picchu." Well I finished it yesterday. I knit it in a different yarn than called for and didn't knit it exactly as the instructions called for. I only changed a couple of rows though, so that is why it doesn't look just like the one in the pattern pic. Here it is in pieces...

Drumroll please....ta-da! Sorry about the lighting being different.

And another angle. Thanks to my dear mother for crocheting the flower and the button loop. My very first sweater project, baby ones count too you know, completed. And I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Plus I think it is absolutely darling!

{transition}

Fall is in the air. The trees are beginning to change color, the birds are gathering and the pumpkins are setting on. Whoopee! I love Fall! This has definitely been a month of transition. Not just the seasons, but life itself. My birthday was earlier this month and I feel more like an adult than I ever have before. I don't know what it is about 22 because 21 didn't quite have this vibe. Maybe it's that I've been really considering what am I going to do. Looking at how I want my future to be and making the decisions now that will set me on that road. More transitions have been finishing the painting and putting in the flooring in my room. That allowed me to set up my bookcase and finally get my books out of their boxes. The poor things have been in the dark for four years. It was wonderful seeing my trusty companions once again. Except for the fact that with the books I've accumulated over the last few years, all my books did not fit on the shelves. Ahh! There was only one thing to do...eliminate. After that comes the creative stacking. Over the weekend I did some decorating on the shelves. Here are a few pics of some of the results.

This is on top. The white rose pitcher was found at a thrift store and I absolutely love it!

This is on a lower shelf. As you can see I haven't decided on a picture to put in the frame.

One of the upper shelves, not quite finished with this arrangement, but I like how the colors and textures mix. I really like the square frame, it's magnetic! Found it and the frame in the above pic on clearance at Target the other day. Can't find the picture I want to put in this frame. Argh. And in the frame on the right is my fantastic parents.

Have a great day!

{american girl}

I grew up watching Mr. Rogers and reading the American Girl series. So this afternoon when my mother and I went to see the lastest American Girl movie I was quite pleased. I may be 21 now and considered too "old" for such fair in the modern public opinion but I believe that you should never outgrow the wonder of childhood. And if you read very much of my writing you will be able to tell that I don't give two whits what everyone else thinks. What I liked most about "Kit Kittredge" was its Dickens-esque qualities. The Kittredge family are kind, generous people that help out those in need even though they themselves have fallen on hard times. And the reminder that when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Such a refreshing perspective in our self-centered society. Where is America's can do spirit in these troubling times? It seems to me that everyone is looking to the government to bail them out when the best thing they could do is look to the past for an example on how to manage with what you've got. Sure, I'd love to have a new house, car and fashionable wardrobe but that would be wrong of me to burden my family like that. Instead, my family drives two cars that are paid for (I don't have my own car), shops at thrift stores or the clearance rack (you just have to do a little digging at Goodwill to find designer clothing gems for a fraction of the cost) and we're very happy because we have each other. Anyway, if you haven't seen "Kit" yet, take the family and go watch it before the theaters drop it like a hot potato! It may just be my imagination but it seems that the more moral and family friendly a film is the less time it spends in the silver screen. And if you need proof of just how great a film "Kit Kittredge" is, my mother cried. I did too for that matter, but in my family a film isn't good unless Mama has cried. Tears of joy or sadness, it doesn't matter. I'll leave you with this parting thought - life is too short to miss out on family. Just being together and enjoying each others' company will provide for a lifetime of happy memories. Oh, and if your husband doesn't want to see "Kit" because he thinks it's just a movie for girls, you just tell him there's lots of awesome cars to watch, too.

{just believe}

as far as the eye can see...
Originally uploaded by satis verborum

I love that sentiment, "just believe." I find this story in Mark so sweet and amazing. As we can see from the text, one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus, comes to Jesus to beg of Him to heal his daughter. On the way to do so they are interrupted by the woman with a flow of blood. While Jesus assures her of her faith and healing some members of Jairus' household come to give him the awful news of his daughter's death. They advise him to give up and leave Jesus alone. When Jesus hears this He tells Jairus, "Do not be afraid, only believe." I can picture this moment in my mind, Christ looks Jairus square in the face, maybe even with a hand on his shoulder, and with an earnest gaze tells him it's going to be okay. And isn't that what our Lord does when we despair? Looks us square in the eye and calms our fears with His gentle touch as He asks us to continue trusting Him. Believe in Him, that He cares and is in control. It may not turn out how we want but in the end everything will be alright. Just believe...

Home

Over the weekend my family and some friends went to see Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I won't bore you with my laundry list of complaints. Suffice it to say I think they could've done a lot better. For me they lost the magic of Narnia that they captured in Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. Anyway, one of the things I could definately relate to in the film is the longing for home. It isn't that England wasn't home for Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, but not like Narnia was. Three years ago my family went through an extremely trying time where we didn't have our own place to call home. During that time we were living with my grandparents until we could find another place. A word to the wise - don't sell your home until you have money down on another one. My dad had been laid off and my mom, who had quit her job a few years earlier to homeschool me was the first one to win the job hunt race. So basically we, as a family, were between a rock and a hard place. No home, nowhere to go and regret. It's a wonder we didn't go insane. And the most intense longing for a place to call home again. It was also a reminder to me that this world is not my home. I'm just here for a time in this body of flesh. C.S. Lewis once said, "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world." So true. Home is one of the basic comforts of life and when that is gone, you struggle to survive. You cling to the hope that one day everything will work out and until then you cling to the thought of Heaven. I'm sure you've already noticed that I've added a couple of new songs to the player. They are both from the Prince Caspian soundtrack and I cried when I first heard them. It didn't help that I was reminiscing about when my Daddy and I were reading through the Narnia series outloud and we cried through the last two or three chapters of "The Last Battle." If you get a chance read the story behind Switchfoot's "This Is Home." Really neat. Well I have held you captive long enough. For those of you wondering, yes my family found a place to live, but no, I'm not Home yet.

War of the Worldviews

Thank you Ben Stein! It's about time a thought provoking film made it to the main stream. My family went and saw this documentary yesterday afternoon and we were thrilled. It's not everyday that you get to see a balanced, well made film that doesn't cram the Humanistic worldview down your throat. Yes, this film is based on the raging war between the Theory of Evolution and the Theory of Intelligent Design. But what I really appreciated about this movie was the fact that it touched on the root cause of this struggle. A war of worldviews. In one corner Humanism, in the other Christianity. Why though in our schools do we not allow two differing view points concerning science? An honest discussion of all sides of the issue. I thought that we wanted to give our children a well rounded education. Well it can't be well rounded and complete if they only hear one side of the story. Are we saying that we are not smart enough to weigh the evidence and decide for ourselves? Do we have to be told what to do? And if Intelligent Design didn't have a valid point, why then do evolutionists play pop goes the weasle everytime they smell a hint of it? If you haven't seen this film go see it. Here's the website where they have more great stuff - http://www.expelledthemovie.com

P.S. - I believe in the "big bang theory," God spoke and BANG!, it happened.

"Thus Will Shine The Dawn"

Morning Blossoms
Originally uploaded by satis verborum

I love mornings. The promise of a fresh start is a beautiful reminder that life goes on. A new day to grow, learn and do. Some days fall to pieces and nothing seems to go right. But then the dawn comes and we are given the chance to pick up the broken bits and move on. In the thick of WWII, Sir Winston Churchill, in an effort to fortify the hope of the Allies said this, "Good night, then: sleep to gather strength for the morning. For the morning will come. Brightly it will shine on the brave and true, kindly upon all who suffer for the cause, glorious upon the tombs of heroes. Thus will shine the dawn." I think that what a sunrise truly means is never give up. Even when the storms of life are raging, don't lose heart. Just because you can't see the sun through the clouds doesn't mean it's not there.

Ordinary?

Sweet Simplicity
Originally uploaded by satis verborum

Have you ever noticed the beautiful simplicity of a flower? A while back I came to the realization that everyday things are really quite extraordinary. The simple is beautiful, the plain is unique and the ordinary is amazing. We live in a spectacular world of golden sunrises, fluffy clouds and twinkling stars. And what's even better is that each day presents something new! We can have gentle rains one day and another perfect picnic weather. Fog in the morning and the Milky Way stretched across the sky at night. Ordinary? I think not.

Spring Is Here!

Three Daffodils
Originally uploaded by satis verborum

I absolutely LOVE Spring! All the gorgeous colors and unique shapes of the flowers remind me what an awesome God I serve. Psalm 19:1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork." How true that is! When I see flowers like the daffodils above, and I peer into their happy faces, I know that a loving Creator formed them. Happy Spring!