What Grows from Your Heart? makes it to the front page of Etsy!

And I already got a commitment to buy from a lady in Australia, but I had to update the shipping for that country. An exciting way to start a Saturday!

Can't Believe that I Made the Front Page of Etsy Again!

Mine is the green and brown one made from an ink blot. You can see it here if you want.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/86057508/green-and-brown-t-rex-dinosaur-original

Front Page of Etsy

I recently opened a little store on Etsy.  Today one of my items made the front page.  It is the rather freakish green butterfly (about number 6 on the slideshow).



I was totally amazed and very greatful to God and the person (Devi) that chose my work.

Literal world-wide flood

  Our Sr. Minister of the Word gave the Noah lessons all three days of our Summer Spectacular.  Several hundred adults were there many of them visitors.  I enjoyed it.  In part, I enjoyed it because I got an answer to one of my questions:  Does this church believe in a literal world-wide flood about 4500 years ago?

The short answer is yes, but we are not discussing the age of the earth or how long man has been on the earth.

He did a good job of sticking up for the fact that the genealogy is of real people who lived 900+ years (as opposed to clan leaders or other mumbo jumbo).  He did a good job explaining the local/universal debate and defending the universality of the flood.  These were the reasons he gave:
1.  It is the simplest reading of the text.
2.  Why else would God insist on a boat instead of migration?
3.  The year long duration of the flooding/drying process seems out of league with a smaller flood.
4.  God promised to never do this again, but there have been many catastrophic floods since then.
5.  Jesus and Peter use the flood of Noah's day as an example of God's ability to judge the whole world.
He also mentioned the flood traditions from around the world, and how there would have been plenty of space for all of the kinds of animals.  He also pointed out that there would have been only one doggish animal not coyotes, wolves, etc.

Here are some other nuggets of interest that I gleaned.
Enoch means dedication.  He started walking with God the year Methuselah was born.  Methuselah's name means when he dies judgement comes.  Methuselah long life shows God's grace.  (FYI, Methuselah died the year of the flood.) 

We must have a supernatural worldview not a purely natural one.  This is the most rational explanation of the marvels we see around us.

The source of trust is what you are trying to build.  What are you trying to build with your life?  What does it show that you trust?  Build something now that will survive when judgement comes.

Obey even when it doesn't make sense.  For example, how can being dunked under water have anything to do with my spiritual life?

Faithful move upstream in a downstream world.  Sometimes this might involve moving upstream against even religious people. 

God shows he remembers us with deeds (wind to recede the waters), signs (olive branch in the dove's mouth), and his Word (speaks to Noah, gives covenant).

True faith looks for a way to respond to grace.

Sixteen Brides by Stephanie Grace Whitson

I received Sixteen Brides by Stephanie Whitson on Thursday and couldn't put it down the whole weekend. The story revolves around civil war widows who want to make a new life by claiming homesteads in Nebraska. Sixteen women are going west together with train tickets purchased for them by the "Ladies Emigration Society". They find out later that this is not on the up and up.

Before you start to feel overwhelmed at the thought of keeping track of 16 women, the focus is on five of the ladies with glimpes at the others. And if millions of people can keep track of the first season of Lost, you can keep track of these ladies. The story is well worth it.

The five main ladies have to overcome things that are still around today. Ella feels like she is not a real woman because she is tall and "beefy" and not pretty to look at. Sally is overcoming an abusive relationship. Ruth is still grieving the loss of her true love after 3 years. Caroline has been branded a traitor by her family for her choice of husband. And Hettie . . . well you'll just have to wait to the end of the book to find out.

This is a very engaging tale that weaves God in subtly largely through Ella's mother, Zita. I do wish that there was a bit more about the spiritual transformation of the people, but I still give this book a big thumbs up.

Good News and Bad News

Good News/ Bad News #1
I got a notice from the county tax assessor the other day saying that we would owe less property taxes next year because our homes value had gone down by about 12%. At first I was excited. Let's face it; less taxes is nice. Then I was slightlly concerned. Did that mean we could even get what we owe out of our house if we tried to sell it? Good thing we don't forsee moving anytime soon.


Good News/Bad News #2- In which the helpful IRS agent turns it into all good news
I got a notice on Thursday that we owed the IRS an additional $2,000 +. This is on top of the money withheld and the money I sent a check for back in March. So I panic and then carefully read the documents that came with the notice. Turns out I forgot my kids SSN on the first page. So I call the 800 number expecting a rude IRS employee to tell me it will take forever and three forms to get the matter resolved and in the mean time I am still responsible for the two grand. Instead I get a very friendly IRS agent who has me verify some information and give the SSN. He then put me on hold then came back and said my 1040 was ammended and I wouldn't owe anything. Then he asked me if I wanted to take a deduction that I hadn't taken for the kids. I didn't even know for sure what it was but I said OK. He put me on hold again and came back with the announcement that I would get about $800 in a refund. Go, IRS guy.

Now don't start thinking that I have changed my mind about the IRS needing to go and be replaced with the FairTax. But it is nice to deal with pleasant, helpful people.

Quite a Week

We have had quite a week. Saturday and Sunday was a fundraiser for Real Choices Pregnancy Center. This is a big deal to me because I have been working for years to get my church to be more pro-active in the abortion front. And now I am one of the people in charge of the fundraiser. I am excited to see what God will do.

Tuesday we got to see John Williams conducting the Fort Worth Symphony in some of his music. This was especially cool for my husband. He is a big fan and has been saving and plotting for a long time for us to be able to do this. The kids did great and especially enjoyed the Star Wars and Indiana Jones parts of the concert.

Then yesterday we went to Camp El Tesoro for their Homeschool Adventure Day. We had a blast. We got to choose 5 activities. First we searched for and categorized fossils. We mostly found bivalves though they had some examples of larger cephalopod fossils from the area. The next activity was the nature hike. This was the best part of the day for me because I found this guy beside the path.

It is a poisonous pit viper called a copperhead. Then our guide declared that he was going to catch it and take it back to the main lodge so that the other families could see it.
Obviously, this is not something you should try at home. After this we had a picnic lunch and moved on to archery. We all really enjoyed this. The staff was very patient with us and we all got to shoot about 15-20 arrows before the session was over. Then we went to the birdwatching class and a hayride. The last thing of the day was cooking s'mores over a campfire. That was fun and a good snack to tide us over on the hour ride home.

Also, I have to mention, the bluebonnets were spectacular. I really like our state flower.

Race to the Top

Family Research Council published a post recently about Pres. Obama's "Race to the Top" program. One of factoid that jumped out at me was the amount of money America spends per student per year: a whopping $9,266.

That made me start thinking. . . What would I do with $18,532 a year for education of my two kids? So here is my wish list with approximate costs.

1. Native Spanish speaker Spanish tutor, 72 sessions x $30= $2160
2. Master Gardener to dig a garden and supervise the kids and I as we produce organic vegetables and herbs, gardener+garden = $3000
3. A lab quality microscope with computer hookup, $1500
4. Private astronomy lessons by someone who could help us figure out our telescope, 36 sessions x $25= $900
5. Right Start Math curriculum level D, $150
6. Karate classes for my son, 12 months x $30= $360
7. Horse Riding lessons for my daughter,12 months x $40= $480
8. Fort Worth zoo membership= $170
9. Awesome thinking games like Qwirkle cubes and others= $200
10. As I still have about $9500 left, I guess I could pay myself as the teacher and use it to by a minivan.

So what would you spend your $9,266 on?

What do you think the public schools spent it on? That is about $203,000/classroom.

Are we really getting that much bang for our buck?

Marching for Life

I participated in the Dallas March for Life this past Saturday. It was great to participate with so many people (about 5000). Because of permit issues we had to walk on the sidewalk (last year a lane of the street was coned off), it took an hour for all of the people to make from the cathedral to the courthouse were the original Roe v. Wade was filed. Of the many pro-life t-shirts, the one that made me think the most was this one.

One of the facts it lists is this:

87% of the people that have an abortion claim to know Christ.


If we focused on discipleship instead of just conversion or "accepting Christ", how many lives would be saved?


Also over this MLK weekend, many thousands marched in protest against the enormous Planned Parenthood under construction in Houston. People from all over the country came to make their voices heard.

We Are Back

This is a brief run-down of our very cool vacation.

We left December 18th.

We stayed with my uncle near Shreveport, LA. It was nice to see him and his wife. I had not seen them since my dad's funeral 5 years ago.

On the 20th, we drove to Biloxi, MS and let the kids look for shells at the beach. They had been asking to see a beach for some time so we had a good time even though it was quite cold. That night we slept at the Moss Point Oaks Bed and Breakfast in Moss Point, MS. We had a nice stay here. The innkeeper even made us sack lunches for the next day for only a few dollars more.

The next day we saw the USS Alabama in Mobile. It was quite fascinating. My husband especially liked it. Beside the ship, there is a collection of airplanes and a submarine on display that you can tour for the cost of admission. We then drove a little farther to Pensacola, FL and visited the Creation Science Evangelism offices. They are the main carriers of my Creation for Little Sprouts DVD and it was nice to put faces with voices I had been talking to on the phone. That night we stayed at the Howard Johnson Express in Tallahassee, FL.

Our next big adventure was snorkeling with the manatees at Crystal River, FL. We got to see and touch lots of manatees on our 6 AM tour. I would recommend requesting a high visibility stop if you had kids. Our first stop was murky and it is a little disconcerting to see a giant manatee suddenly "appear" only a few feet in front of you. It is amazing to be in the water with these gentle giants. The night before we stayed at the lake house rented by the same people that run the tour. It was really nice and came with kayaks. We had a great time paddling up and down the river looking at birds and such.

After the manatee tour, we drove across Florida to my brother- and sister-in-law's house. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day there with my mother- and father-in-law. It was a very pleasant time. We went to the Brevard Zoo and even got to take a dip in the Atlantic Ocean.

We then spent two nights at the Anastasia Inn in St. Augustine, FL with my brother- and sister-in-law and their baby. The first day we went to the Castillo de San Marco. It is a fascinating fortress that was build in the late 1600's. The next day we went to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. They have every species of crocodilian. We even got to have our family picture taken while holding a baby American Alligator. We also went to Anastasia State Park and found star fish and a mermaid's purse.

The next day, the in-laws went back home and we continued north to Cumberland Island, GA. We saw wild horses, armadillos, and turkeys. The animals have few if any predators so they weren't skittish at all. The ferry ride there and back was a new experience for the kids.

After spending the night in the very inexpensive, hideously decorated, clean Star Motel in Folkston, GA we went to the Okefenokee Swamp. We took the boat tour and saw a raccoon, alligator, and quite a few birds. We also walked the board walk to the observation tour. You got a real feel for what the swamp was like overall from up there.

We spent the night in a great little b&b in Tifton, GA called Shalom House. There was a pool table, goats to pet, a friendly family, and a great breakfast. We drove from there to Providence Canyon near the Alabama border. The trail from the visitor center was quite strenuous so we only went the quarter mile down to a little stream and back. We the canyon itself was very beautiful with very colorful layers.

We slept at the Jameson Inn in Selma, Alabama then it was up for a 6-7 hour drive to my uncle's house in Louisiana. That was New Year's Eve so we were glad to be off the road shortly after it got dark. We made it back to Fort Worth New Year's Day.

It was an awesome trip. I am already planning the next one. We are thinking about a tour of the Rocky Mountain states.

Farewell!

This is farewell if only temporarily. We are leaving in a couple of days for a trip and won't be back for a while. I wish you all a blessed and Christ-centered Christmas.

I hope to post about our trip, but might not have much access to fast computers until we get back.

Unity and Truth

My mother and I have an ongoing conversation about unity and truth. It is obvious that unity among believers is a biblical principle. But unity has to be around something. Something more than being able to tolerate one another's company while listening to sermons. Unity has to do with a purpose. It would seem pretty obvious from scripture that the purpose would be the Great Commission: making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe Jesus' commands. All of these things involve truth. For people to work together in a unified way on these things, they have to agree on some basics. For example, you have to agree on either infant or believer baptism.

I think that many churches try to stand for as few truths as possible so that they can be unified with as many people as possible. They usually summarized them as Statements of Faith. This is a super-condensed version of my church's:

1. There is one true God having three persons (God the Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit).
2. God loved us so much that he sent his son, Jesus. Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died, and was raised again. In his death, he took on the sins of the world so that God's justice and mercy could remain intact.
3. At the point of salvation, each Christian is physically indwelled by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps the Christian make righteous choices and transforms us into a new person.
4. The Bible is without error and full of truth. It is God-breathed.
5. We are created in the spiritual likeness or image of God, but he allows us to choose to love him and act according to his commands. The first man, Adam, chose to sin, and now every person lives in a marred creation with a marred spiritual nature. As a result, every person will eventually choose to sin and subsequently become separated from God.
6. Salvation is a gift of God and cannot be accomplished by works. When we decide to trust God, we obey Jesus' command being immersed in water and demonstrating Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.
7. The church is the body of Christ and the family of believers. As such it is our duty to love others and share the Gospel to win as many as possible.
8. Those who follow Jesus will spend eternity in Heaven with him. Those who reject Jesus' will spend eternity in Hell without him.

While these eight things are all well and good, they don't address many issues. For example, can you tell from this if we have women elders or deacons? Can you tell what our position on evolution or do we even have one? The list could go on.

Some people would say that since these are not "salvation" issues that it isn't worth taking a firm stand on them. So that is my question. . . What is worth taking a stand over?

The Lutheran denomination is wrestling with this issue right now. Some congregations are separating from the ELCA because they believe that ordaining non-celibate gays and lesbians is something that they cannot be a party to. I agree with them. But some would say this is wrong because unity is more important.

And is separating from one another necessarily disunity? My mother pointed out that Paul and Barnabas separated over John Mark. But were they bringing about disunity? They basically went their own way and REMAINED FRIENDS. That is often lacking when congregations part ways.

I, for one, wish that my church would take a stronger stand on many things. For example, pro-life issues, the biblical role of government, and creationism. But if they did, many people would leave. Others might come. How important is staying in the same congregation? How important is standing for the truth? Any thoughts?

Fall Color?

The kids and I went out yesterday and gathered the "best" leaves in our neighborhood. The kids made crayon rubbings while I scanned them in. The are not as beautiful as what you would see in Maine or Michigan, but we had a great time.

Homeschool Happenings v. 5 (2nd six weeks)

We are in vacation mode having finished our second six weeks of the year a week and a half ago. I guess a better way to say it is that is my kids are in vacation mode. I, on the other hand, am working to get things done that I don't do during "school" like dental appointments, car maintenance, vacation planning, etc.

We made good progress the last six weeks, but did have to take a week out do to all of us being a bit under the weather. My son finished his first grade Bible Reader. I am hoping to get him up to grade level (he is in 2nd grade) by the end of the year. He wanted to continue doing Bible reading for the main part of his reading. I had to search far and wide to find one on his reading level that wasn't too inane. I decided on the Day-By-Day Begin to Read Bible. I am still not completely satisfied with it, but it seems to be pretty good. We have also made progress (slowly) on the quilt. The kids pin the strips in the order that they want and I sew them. These in the picture were the first four that we finished.

During this off time, the kids finished the last of the 12 Keeper of the Faith badges that they needed to get the honor badge. They were pretty proud of that, and we went out to eat to celebrate. Here is a list of the badges they completed over the last year. My son- birds, baseball, coloring, hand tools, pets, loving others, prayer warrior, art, puzzles, swimming, Bible reading, and photo albums. My daughter-birds, baseball, prayer warrior, pets, loving others, painting, puzzles, cooking, table setting, swimming, Bible reading, and singing.

We are still having a great time. Maybe next post I will tell about some of our adventures during this 2 weeks off.

And BTW, there is a good article at Caffeinated Thoughts about education and how far we have fall in that respect since the founding of this country. You should really check it out. This cartoon was part of the post.

I So Loathe Activist Judges

Many people are decrying the fact that an activist Dallas judge, Tena Callahan, overturned the Texas State Constitution and the will of the people in one swift decision. In a case involving two men who were "married" in Massachusetts and seeking a divorce. Ms. Callahan ruled that the Texas constitution was unconstitutional because it upholds marriage as between one man and one woman.

How can one woman be so arrogant to think that she has more right to change the laws of Texas than 75% of the voters, the governor, and the state legislature combined? Oh, this just makes me so mad!!!! The worst of it is I don't even know what I can do about it. Pray. I have been saying how powerful prayer is. So I ask you to join me in prayer that this judges decision will be trampled by God in whatever way he sees fit.

40 Days for Life

The kick off for the fall 40 Days for Life prayer vigil was yesterday and I didn't get to go because I was sick. :( But on the up side my friend did get to go. She reported that about 400 people crammed onto the sidewalks by the Fort Worth Planned Parenthood. All in all, 40 Days for Life has gotten off to an exciting start this year.

For those of you that don't know, 40 Days for Life is a 24/7 prayer vigil outside of abortion clinics across the country and internationally. As the name indicates, it lasts 40 days. Yesterday was the first day with the final day being Nov. 1.

God has done amazing things through this time of prayer and fasting in the past. There have been 4 national vigils so far. Here are some of the cool things God has done.

• Over 200,000 have joined together in an historic display of unity to pray and fast for an end to abortion
• More than 70,000 people have taken to the streets, forming peaceful 40-day prayer vigils outside of Planned Parenthood centers and abortion facilities
• Reports document 1,561 lives that have been spared from abortion — and those are just the ones we know about
• Eighteen abortion workers have quit their jobs and walked away from the abortion industry
• Three abortion facilities completely shut down following local 40 Days for Life campaigns
• Hundreds of women and men have been spared from the tragic effects of abortion, including a lifetime of regrets
• More than 400 news stories have been featured in newspapers, magazines, radio shows and TV programs from coast to coast ... and overseas
• Many people with past abortion experiences have stepped forward to begin post-abortion healing and recovery

I really encourage you all to participate. There are 212 cities participating this year. To see if there is one near you, click here. My first hours are Sunday from 9-11. I am pretty excited to be participating again.

Critter Corner v. 8 Pet Capybaras

I have a thing for strange pets. The strangest pet I have ever had was an African pygmy hedgehog. His name was Alf. He was given to our family by a friend. He was friendly and easy to take care of. We really enjoyed him.

Anyway, a while ago I found out about capybaras as pets. Capybaras are 100 pound rodents that live in the grasslands of South America. I have no idea why someone decided to start breeding them as pets. One of the most famous ones, Caplin Rous, lives right here in Texas. He even has his own blog. Here is a video of him doing tricks.

Gun Free Zone

When I was a little girl (about 6), there were a rash of burglaries in my neighborhood. As my parents sat discussing this, I came up with a plan. We could put a sign in our yard saying, "Please do not steal." Then the person would know that you shouldn't steal. My parents didn't follow my advice.

The other day my husband and I were watching short clip on YouTube and came upon this Gun Free Zone bit from Fox. It is about two years old, so you might have already seen it. But I thought it was funny.

Critter Corner v. 7 Chick Report

Well, we have had a big last couple of days! Sunday evening I noticed that one of the eggs had hatched. Two more were jostling around. Since then we have been watching eggs and chicks a lot. Out of 7 eggs we have 6 chicks with the last one hatching yesterday evening. (We will leave the last egg in the incubator just to be sure, but there are no sounds coming from it so we are assuming it was not fertilized.)

Here is a picture of them with their names and the order in which they were hatch.

We have been really praising God for 6. We have been praying this whole time for at least one to hatch despite our less than perfect incubating and egg turning skills. The egg itself is an amazing creation.

The kids are especially proud of the ones that they named. This is my daughter with Majesty. (She wanted it to be princess, but I reminded her that we can't tell if they are male or female.)
Notice the Keepers t-shirt. If you are looking for a Christian scouting-type organization, Keepers of the Faith is a good one.

This is my son with Chickpea. He was going to be Chickpeeper, but ended up with the easier to say Chickpea.

It is a good thing we are having two weeks vacation. I think we would be having a hard time concentrating on school with all the excitement. It has been a great learning experience. We get to keep them at least until Sunday. Then they will be going to live on the farm where they came from.

Homeschool Happenings v. 4 (The Last Day of the 1st Six Weeks)

It seems that six weeks have gone by quickly. We have made good progress in many areas especially reading. The kids really enjoy Texas geography. The only thing that we have been slackers in is quilting. (I think that is because it is such a steep learning curve for me.) This past week we have been reviewing our elements (arsenic, iron, calcium, chromium, and potassium), our big fat lies (earth is millions of years old, church is a place, you need to be like everyone else, people get to decide what is true, and religion needs to stay private), our traits of the wise (discipline, industrious, prudent, humble, and justice) and the Panhandle Plains region of Texas. They are supposed to tell Dad this weekend what they remember as a sort of "final".

Now we will have two weeks off. As a reward to ourselves we are planning to go swimming in one of the area lakes and going to Arlington Gem and Mineral Show. We are also hopeful that at least few of the chicks will hatch. The two weeks gives me time to plan the next 6 weeks and to edit our video yearbook for last year.