I was just checking out this thing called Blogger Play. It’s a slide show of the photos people have published to Blogger. And the photos are clickable to the post that they were published on.
It’s a strange combination of voyeuristic and interesting.
Anyway, I saw this very cool marriage proposal and thought I would share.
You have to see this. I wanted to put the picture here, but it is so huge that it was slowing the loading time way down.
I was working on a post that tells about the struggles I had with my faith last year, but I just could not get it right. I didn’t want it to be too long or say too much, but I wanted it to say enough.
I wanted to share what I learned, looking back, about the way our modern, seeker-friendly churches give people a shallow faith that cannot stand up to trials and tests.
I wanted to share how God used other Christians, some of whom I don’t even know IRL, to bring be back to Him.
I will share it because it is a good story that needs telling, but today I was hit in the face with another example of the problem I had, only this person did not come back, or at least not yet, and a good friend of mine, an inspirational sister in Christ, was hurt in the process.
Some time after I cane to Christ, some ladies in my neighborhood were having a study group for the book Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge, and they invited me.
There was a woman there who was not a Christian, I’ll call her Deena. She was going through a divorce. Her husband had been unfaithful. She was a wreck. I felt compassion for her, but I did not like being around her.
After she accepted Jesus, she was a totally new person. I love being around her now. She is so uplifting. She glows with her love for the Lord.
The most amazing thing about her is that she struggles with illnesses and pain. She has greater struggles than most people I know. But through everything her faith is strong and she is an inspiration to everyone around her.
After seeing this great change, her soon-to-be ex-husband, I’ll call him Stan, wanted to give his life to Jesus. He changed, too, and they recommitted to one another.
I just found out that the seeds sown in him were not so deep; they did not take root in him as they had in her.
Deena found out a couple of months ago that Stan has been having an affair.
Amazingly, through it all, she is closer to the Lord than ever.
But as much as her faith is a testament to the power of having Jesus in your heart, Stan’s unwillingness to repent of his sinful lifestyle is a testament to the sad reality that many people who accept Jesus will fall away.
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.” - Matt. 13
I don’t know which analogy explains what happened with Stan. Did he not understand the message of the Kingdom? Did it not take root? Did the worries of this world choke it out?
I had a crisis with my faith this past year. For me, I was the man in verses 20-21.
The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
Fortunately, I did not do anything as stupid and irreparable as what Stan did. Thankfully, God pulled me back and provided me with the means to gain a deeper understanding.
There but for the grace of God go I.
We love Stonyfield Farm organic yogurt. We buy it because it is all natural, low sugar, and made in our neighboring state of New Hampshire. (And they are not even paying me to say that!)
We love it so much that we have a pile of lids that I collected for a free one year subscription to Organic Gardening.
Since I have so many lids, I thought I would offer a subscription to one of my readers as a “thank you” for reading.
Just leave me a comment and you will be entered to win a free one year subscription to Organic Gardening.
I will randomly draw a winner on Friday at noon (EST).
You can promote this contest on your blog, but it is not necessary for entry. Just make sure I have some way to get in touch with you if you win, or check back on Friday to see if you won.
The other day my mother was here and the boys were showing her one of their video games, while she and I talked. (The computer is in the living room, so we were able to sit in the comfy chairs and still see the computer screen.)
As we were talking, I mentioned that I am working on my blogs more and thinking about getting back into freelance writing, something I did before I started homeschooling.
She asked me if I wanted to use her laptop, since she has not used it in months. That way I could go online or write while the kids were using our family computer.
I told her that was my first goal - to earn enough money writing to buy my own laptop.
She’s bringing it next Monday when she stops by. (She stops by every Monday.)
As the tech-geeks and gamers say, w00t!
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up over at Red Sea School. It’s got rhythm.
A lot of people say that they do not use coupons or shop sales because they just don’t have the time to bother. While it is true that there is some time and effort involved, the money saved can be worth the time.
So, in my effort to promote this awesome money-saving technique, I decided to share my awesome buys of the week.
First, a couple of tips.
My great buys this week came from Price Chopper. They double coupons up to and including $1.00 and they offer 6 double coupons (up to 99 cents) in their circular in the Sunday Paper.
SpaghettiOs (which I never buy, but Big E loves them) were on sale 2/$1. I clipped a coupon for 40-cents off 2, which I tripled. Final cost: 2 cans free
Hood Simply Smart milk (half-gallon) was on sale for 2/$6.00. I bought one for $3.00, but had a $1 off coupon, which was doubled. Final cost: $1.00
Garelick Farms chocolate milk (half-gallon) was regular priced $3.29, but I had a $1 off coupon that was doubled. Final price: $1.29
Barber Foods broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken breast (2 pack) was on sale for $3.00, minus $1 coupon was doubled. Final cost: $1.00
Note: That is something that I would not normally buy, but I could not make two plain chicken breasts for $1, let alone stuffed. I thought it would be a good thing to have on hand for a night that I can’t cook, or something.
Flintstones vitamins on sale for $5.98, minus $1 coupon doubled. Final cost: $3.98
I also got a couple of good deals on things that I did not have coupons for.
Bread (for the kids, who do not like homemade bread for sandwiches): 2 loaves/$1.98
Cheddar cheese: 8 oz block $1.99
All told, my savings was $15.48, and I paid $12.43 (total bill, $27.91). And $1.19 of that was spent on an item that was not on sale. Though, admittedly this store tends to be higher-priced than my regular store.
Updated to add: I wanted to add that I like to clip coupons for things that I would like, but do not usually buy, and keep them separate to use if those items ever go on sale and I can get them for free or nearly free.
Sometimes getting something special can help ease those occasional feelings of going without that, if not dealt with, can derail your financial discipline.
Do you think it is an accident that the words noise and boys rhyme?
I’m just wondering.
The other day, I met a woman whose daughter has health problems that led them to homeschool her for the second half of last year.
This year, they decided not to homeschool because she is a high school freshman and was afraid that she could not get into college if she had been homeschooled for high school.
I talked to her a little about my knowledge of homeschoolers getting into college and told her that I would gather some resources for her. I thought I would share those with you.
Many of us homeschoolers already know that homeschoolers do get into colleges and universities, but might still have some apprehension about the process.
The best advice I offered to the woman I spoke about was to trust herself. We all second-guess our ability to provide our children with all of the educational advantages they need to have a successful future. The important thing is to not let those nagging voices (from within and without) get the better of us and sabotage our efforts.
I found that the most important component in preparing your homeschooled child for college is record keeping. Your child will need a transcript to show the admissions office what they learned in their home study program.
The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has an excellent website dedicated to Homeschooling Thru High School. One of their resources is a PDF pamphlet that simplifies high school record-keeping.
Homeschool Central also has a page dedicated to high school transcripts.
Learn in Freedom has a page of colleges that admit homeschoolers.
On that list, I found my alma mater, the University of Vermont. Here is a link to their admissions policy regarding homeschoolers. (Scroll down about half-way.) They require “documentation that shows what the student’s home-school curriculum has covered.”
Again, we see that documentation is crucial.
Finally, no list of resources would be complete without a link to About.com:Homeschooling. Here’s “help for homeschooling your high schooler. Information on curriculum, planning, transcripts, college, scholarships and more.”
We plan on homeschooling the boys through high school. One option that we intend to use is having them take courses at community college while they are still in high school. This is a great way to demonstrate their ability to succeed in college courses.
I welcome and encourage you veteran homeschoolers to share your experiences, advice, and success stories in the comments section.
Yesterday, I took Little E out to sled behind our house while the older boys were over at a friend’s house. It was 6 degrees out. That’s Fahrenheit, people!
The one thing I can say, well, besides that I froze my behind off, is that if your New Year’s resolutions included exercise and spending more time with your children, then trudging through knee-deep snow drifts to go sledding is a great way to kill two birds with one stone*.
Of course, I spend nearly 24 hours a day with my kids, so I really didn’t need to resolve to spend more time with them. In fact, if I made resolutions, I might have resolved to spend slightly less time with them. Not that I don’t like being around my children, mind you. It’s just that, well, you know. There is only so much time one can spend with the same group of people, especially when that group has the conversational skills of elementary students.
It could be worse, I suppose. I could spend all of my time with adults that have the conversational skills of elementary students.
* The first time I used this expression around The D, he was horrified that anyone would want to kill any birds with any number of stones. He was completely disgusted that that is even a common saying. Who would want to kill birds?
Now, if I could only figure out how to get him to have that level of compassion toward his brothers.
The second anniversary edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling is up at the blog that started it all, Why Homeschool.
Many thanks to the Cates for starting and supporting this wonderful carnival.
Don’t forget about their contest for Carnival of Homeschooling graphics.
Thanks also to all of the homeschool bloggers who host, contribute, read, and promote the carnival.
Use this link to shop at Christian Book Distributors and support All Things Hold Together.
Thank you!
