Freestyle Friday 3-16-12

Have you ever made a promise to a child you knew you might not be able to keep?  Guilty!  Maybe that's one of the reasons I love this website - www.makeareadingpromise.com, based on the book by Alice Ozma. 

Alice's father promised to read to her EVERY night for 1,000 nights straight.  From 9 years old to 18 years old, He. Did. It.  Sometimes over the phone, very late, but he did it.  Get the book, check out the website, be inspired.
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Have you heard of Jen Hatmaker?  She's a great writer and someone I want to have a Coke with.  Check out her blog and her book trailer.  It's on my list to read next!

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Speaking of books, I stumbled onto this website from a friend - www.redeemedreader.com.  They offer great book reviews of all kid's literature, so you don't have to read everything! :)  (Does that mean I don't have an excuse now?)

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And just for fun - this hilarious website from someone "in the trenches" - www.whendidigetlikethis.com I love how one of her blog posts was entitled:

Let whatever you do today be enough....

The School Wars

I had the privilege of being a part of a panel today about education at a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Group.  I represented Christian school along with another mom, and then there were 2 moms representing public schools and another 2 moms as homeschool representatives.

Can I be honest here?

  I was scared to death. 

I hate conflict.  I hate that gut-wrenching feeling I get when people are getting testy and angry ....I didn't want this discussion to turn into defensive, angry opinions or criticism.

I LOVE my Christian School, y'all know that. 

And I think it is a fantastic option for many, many Bible-believing Christians. 

 But I also recognize the fact that education is not a one-size-fits-all situation. 

The beautiful thing about this talk today was how our entire panel spoke with grace, love, and encouragement to these moms who are at the very beginning of the journey.  I was excited to see all 6 of us recognize the fact that we all want the best for our kids and it takes prayer, humility, and wisdom to select the education scenario best for each child. 

We are our children's first and primary teachers.  Always.

If our children do not know the word of God or Who He Is, we cannot blame anyone or anything else except ourselves. 

Shame on us if we hold others responsible for our children's view of God. 

We all agreed that no matter where or how your child is educated, you must be extremely involved in their school/classroom.  Don't trust their opinions -- get in there and get to know the kids and the teachers.

There is no cookie cutter recipe for turning out godly, mature young men and women.  I have seen positive and negative aspects of EVERY educational option!  I'm sure you have, too. 

Here is what I think it comes down to:

1.  Pray for wisdom months and months before your child even reaches school age.  Ask the Lord to make it clear to you how your children should be taught.

2.  Talk to your husband and pray together.  (Hopefully you talked about it before you even got married!)

3.  Search what the Bible says about knowledge and wisdom.

4.  Know your child!  How does he learn best? 

5.  Don't let others' opinions sway you from doing what God has called YOU to do.  There are negative people in every camp - that's life.

What about you? How do you decide your children's education? What are your fears/worries?

Freestyle Friday 3-9-12

It's new!

It's funky and fresh like D.J. Jazzy Jeff!
If you're old enough to know who that is, I salute you.

It's FREESTYLE FRIDAY!  I'm starting a new feature where every Friday I serve up a few smokin' links that have caught my attention over the week.

What to expect?  Mmm, a little bit of everything! Here we go...

~ This short article helped me realize that the One Essential Habit Of Every Effective Leader isn't as mysterious as I think it is.  Very freeing!

~ For those of you who like to blog yourself, this is a really helpful link on Finding Your Blog's Unique Voice or any writing in general.

~ Sometimes I am just plain sick of Housework.  It feels like shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing!  This encouraged me.

~ And this is just a hilarious video about trying to be fluent in our native tongue, English.  Brian Regan kills me again.

Let me know what you think of Freestyle Friday! 

And thanks for reading.  I'm having fun and I hope you are, too.

Put on Your Glasses to Watch This

Last weekend, Aaron and I went to see this guy perform in Minneapolis, and I'm telling you, I'm still recovering.  I love the kind of laughing where it practically hurts, you've been laughing so much.

I love the fact that he does a sort-of Seinfeld act, just observations about life without getting nasty or inappropriate.

Stay tuned for the last few seconds - that's one of my favorite parts!

What/Who has made you laugh REALLY HARD lately?

Lukewarm vs. Obsessed

The book Crazy Love has been out there for about 4 years now.  A New York Times Bestseller, Crazy Love by Francis Chan rocked a lot of Christians out their lukewarm funk, creating passionate believers with a new-found obsession for Jesus.

I was not one of them.

I read the book when it first came out, thought it was great, but it certainly didn't transform my life or create in me desires to change anything about my lifestyle.  I thought I was okay.  Not really lukewarm, but not really obsessed either. 

As God would have it, our class at church is studying this book together.  Aaron and I are teaching the chapter entitled "Obsessed."  Every chapter is convicting, but this one is more like smacking into a wall in the middle of the night.  Here are a few statements from that chapter:

A person who is obsessed with Jesus is more concerned with his or her character than comfort.

A person who is obsessed thinks about Heaven frequently.  These people orient their lives around eternity.

People obsessed with God are known as givers, not takers.  They genuinely think that others matter as much as they do, and are particularly aware of those who are poor around the world.

And then some statements about the lukewarm:

Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church...as long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living.

Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act.  They assume such action is for "extreme" Christians, not average ones.  Lukewarm people call "radical" what Jesus expected of all His followers.

Lukewarm people think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven.  Daily life is focused on today's to-do list, this week's schedule, and next month's vacation.  Rarely, if ever, do they intently consider the life to come.

I read these statements, and I hear two voices in my head - one spouting "But, but!!" and another whispering, "This is you."  And I know which voice is true.

There is no excuse for not being obsessed with the Savior.  There is no excuse for not giving away what I have in the name of Jesus.  No excuses for seriously loving what He loves (the poor, the fatherless, the widow, the lost) and hating what He hates (sin, hypocrisy, empty religious activity).

Faith without works is dead, dead, dead.  And I'm not saying I know what this looks like.  I can't judge anyone except myself because that's not my job. 

But I am not obsessed.  God help me.

Your turn:  How do you know someone is obsessed with Jesus?  Do you think they're weird?  Or do you admire their passion and pray for a fresh spirit?

Why I Leave a Big Tip

 Last night, we went to a Chinese restaurant for Aaron's birthday.  This was a new experience for my third-born son, Jonny.  He is 6.  He is unpredictable.  

He needs his own sitcom.

He proceeded to loudly comment on everything that was brought to him at this meal.

It started with the glasses of water:

"DOES THIS WATER TASTE CHINESE?!?"

 (I will be writing Jonny's quotes in bold because this is how he speaks on a regular basis.  His autobiography will be entitled, My Life in ALL CAPS BOLD) 

And then the server brought his sweet and sour chicken:

"THIS IS CHICKEN??"

He was very confused.

Finally, a small bowl of ketchup for his french fries:

"IS THIS CHINESE KETCHUP???"

And that, my friends, is why I leave a big tip.

Live For the Long Rope