Happy Birthday Anna!

12!!!

Lots of changes for Anna this year. Here's what I know. She does not like
Kingdom Hearts anymore. She does not like collecting snow globes anymore. She likes Ramen noodles but only the chicken flavor and only when cooked on the stove...not in the microwave. She still loves anime (although I can't keep up with which ones.) She still loves YouTube. She still loves hamsters...but not the tiny one she has, she loves the bigger ones. She still makes awesome grades and she still has the longest attention span of any of the kids.

Happy Birthday Kaylee!

12!!!

What can I tell ya? She's still loud. Still boy crazy. And she is still pretty obsessed with her cell phone. In the past year, she has made another "best" friend. Rebekah and Zoe now share that title. She started playing trombone. (Another band nerd! Yeah!) She made two different Honor Choirs. And she somehow makes the Honor Roll or Principal's list every nine weeks without ever studying anything but Facebook.

Quoted - C.S. Lewis Edition

The real way of mending a man's taste is not to denigrate his favourites but to teach him how to enjoy something better.

Happy Birthday Savannah!

13!!!

I'm not really worried about Savannah becoming a teenager. I reserve the right to take that sentence back at any time. But so far, Savannah is more than living up to my parental expectations.

She is smart.
She is beautiful.
And most importantly, she is fully surrendered to Christ in a way that I am often jealous of.

If the future of God's kingdom rests on the shoulders of kids like her, I am not concerned in the least.

Paula Deen's Butter Popsicle

Dear God, Please let me be Paula Deen when I get old.

Love,
Rachel

Book Review - The Crimson Petal and The White

A cautionary tale...

If you happen to be in your public library...bored and uninspired, then please DO NOT just wander through the shelves and pick up a book with an interesting title. Learn from my mistake.

The Crimson Petal and The White (by the way, I still have no idea what this friggin title means. I thought it sounded mysterious but now I think it's just pretentious.) is described as "the first great 19th-century novel of the 21st century." Dude, you had me at "Hello". Are you kidding me? Doesn't this sound like it would be my favorite book of the millenia? Well, it wasn't.

It'a a really long book that took me well over a week to read. That's a ton of my life that I will never get back people. I kept wanting to move on to something else but I just kept reminding myself of how many pages and days I had already wasted. I was just convinced that there would be some kind of redemption. I just knew that eventually this book would start getting good.

It didn't.

The novel is about a young prostitute named Sugar (seriously)who is determined to better herself. She becomes the mistress of a goofy, rich businessman. He has a crazy wife (don't they all?) He has a young daughter. Sugar volunteers to be the daughter's governess. The goofy businessman lets her (for real).

I think this author fancies himself to be a modern day Dickens. He describes in ridiculous detail every sight and smell his characters experience. I'm pretty sure modern day publishing doesn't work on the 'pay per word' principal. I'm not sure if this author realized that.

If you ever get sentenced to 20 years in prison, this book might be a good way to pass the time. Otherwise, skip it.

Quoted

"There is no menial work. Jesus came not as a philosopher, not as a general. He came as a carpenter."

Tim Keller

American Idol

"You shall have no other gods before me."
Exodus 20:3

So as I continue to work through my bible study on Jeremiah, the subject of idol worship comes up constantly. Think you're ok on this commandment? Think you are doing pretty good here? Go answer these questions and then let me know if you change your mind.

Book Review - I Still Dream About You

Did you see Fried Green Tomatoes? Of course you did.

Did you love it? Of course you did.

Wanna know why?

You loved it because Fannie Flagg wrote it. And Fannie Flagg represents all that is good about the South. She is deviled eggs. She is hot buttery biscuits. She is homemade ice cream. You will love this book for the same reason. If you grew up in the South, you will recognize so much in this book. Maybe not specific places but character traits and personalities. If you're not from the South, you probably think you're too good to read a book by Fannie Flagg. Let me assure you that you ain't.

There is much to adore in this book. But let me tell you the best part. One of the main characters is a midget real estate agent. Her name is Hazel Whisenknott. For serious people. A midget named Hazel. What else do you need to know?

Quoted

"Little by little, one travels far."

- J. R. R. Tolkien

Book Review - Year of Wonders

Remember how I said I hate books where horrible stuff happens? Apparently that's not always true. This book is chock full of horrible, terrible, no-good, very bad things. And it is awesome.

It's short, well written and the ending has a twist. A twist!!!

The book is about the plague so if you are a super delicate type, be forewarned.

Losing my religion

I never wanted to leave my old church. When Kevin and I married, I felt it was obviously important for us to worship together as a family. My church was over a half hour drive from my new home so it seemed like a 'no-brainer' to attend the church where Kevin and his family had been attending. Other than my constant social idiocy, the early days went fine. Everyone there was ridiculously nice to me and the kids. The children's ministry leader was an absolute Godsend. I passed one year there due mainly to her great work with my children.

But I could never be happy there. If you know me, then you know that I think happiness is generally overrated. I wouldn't have moved my family from a church just because I was unhappy. So I tried really hard to make it work. I got involved in Precept Bible Study. My rationale was that if I wasn't getting hardcore bible teaching at church, I could just get it elsewhere. This backfired on me in a big way. The more I 'fed' myself in bible study and small groups outside of church, the more I realized that I was spiritually starving while at church. That's not the way it is supposed to be.

I don't think the church we just left is a bad place. Far from it. It's full of great people who I believe genuinely love the Lord. But the root of my discontent was simple. I just don't want to worship service. Let me be clear here. I believe anyone who loves God will want and need to serve His people. But service can't be your god. I need a church where God has first place. Where worship is a corporate event integral to each week's service. I need a church where the bible is important.

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness."
2 Timothy 3:16

You can believe this or not. But if you don't believe it, we probably aren't going to be able to attend the same church. It doesn't make your church 'bad' and mine 'good'. But it does mark an important distinction between us.

Changing churches is not a decision I treat lightly. I kinda never want to do this again actually.

Quoted - C.S. Lewis Edition

It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men.

Emerson - Mommy's Nose is Scary! (Original)

This video is better than Prozac.