We were fighting colds after Christmas and were so tired, we ended up not being to attend either of the two awesome New Year's parties that we were invited to. Hart fell asleep around 11 p.m despite the fire crackers booming off around us. I stayed up and read part of the first book about the Duggars. You know... those interesting Christian people with 20 kids? Yeah. I felt like a Duggar doing absolutely nothing on New Year's Eve, except coughing in bed! I did lean over and kiss Hart at 12:00, then turned off my light and went to sleep!

I don't watch their show, but Hart's mom gave me both of their books, because she does. It was actually a really easy read and pretty entertaining. It was nice to glean some of her wisdom with having so many children!

It tells their story and how God has taken them through this journey up until now. I think the thing that hit me about them is that they are INTENTIONAL PARENTS!

They don't just leave things up to chance with their children. They seem to truly have a goal of showing their kids how to love God and I really liked that about them.

Other things I found interesting were:

• That they NEVER bought anything new. They always thrifted or bought things gently used. I mean, it definitely shows in the outfits they wear, but they care more about honoring God than wasting their hard earned money on the "latest, best" whatever, even clothes/style. I think there are some honorable qualities there, for sure! 
• Next, was that they always paid for things with CASH. They never borrowed money, even building their home, and never were in debt. God has really blessed them in this endeavor and protected them, too. 
• They must eat REALLY unhealthy. She includes recipes throughout the book and it is all made with canned items and processed foods. I am sure it is delicious, but how many recipes can one person have with "cream of ______ soups!" I'm surprised they aren't all overweight!
• Despite declaring God's faithfulness over and over throughout the book and how he has carried them through their lives when they had absolutely NOTHING, yet 5 children in a 2 bedroom house, they never once mentioned anything about Jesus or talked about the gospel at all. I found that really weird for being such outwardly Christians, but maybe that was just me.. 
• She had great ideas about homeschooling practices, organizational strategies, and other household management, which I did enjoy reading through. 
• They don't watch TV ever, except for rare family movie nights. 
• All of their children had the most polite responses I have ever heard. Throughout the book, they answer questions they get quite often. Even though some were things like "Why do you all dress the same?", they always had the most kind, thoughtful responses. 

Personally, I did find this family kind of fascinating. Family dynamics with such a large family are really sweet and due to the size of the family, people just HAVE to be more thoughtful and considerate towards others. I actually am incorporating a few of Michelle's household management strategies and some of the ways I think about parenting Micaiah.

Anyways, if you are looking for an interesting book to read, read it! I think it is pretty good and you could definitely read it rather quickly! 

Two Books I'm Taking with Me

All I want to do is sit in the hot sun by the pool or lay on the beach and read uninterrupted. I've been waiting for two books from the library (along with everyone else) for a month. They arrived TOGETHER on reserve for me. My first thought was Oh, great, there is no way I can read both of these books in two weeks and then it will take another month to get them back, so I can finish them. I have a hard time reading books. Not because I can't...haha, but because I don't make time to read. If I do start reading I have a hard time finishing those books, and I usually have a little pile next to me that just gets taller and taller. However, I decided that it would be a good challenge for me to read two books in two weeks. I love reading when I actually enjoy it!

These two are popular right now and for good reason. They are GOOD! I got the ideas to read both from Danielle! Thanks, girl!

The first is 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

I read two pages and I was completely sucked in. The title says "A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are." As an American I struggle immensely with contentment. I have more than 3/4 of the entire rest of the world as a 2 year old married person, and yet the desire for more is always there; a battle you have to fight. I'm praying this book will open my eyes to loving the place that God has me right now.

The next book is such a great accompaniment to the former: Organize Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider.

It's a clutter-free approach to intentional living! Like any book, you have to kind of wade through their own suggested beliefs and find your own. She has some great things to say about being organized from top to bottom and what that can look like for YOU, not someone else, but how YOUR life can be clutter-free and simpler. I read in the book that if you are the average American, you are considered to be in the top 6 percent of the richest people on the planet. 80% of the world lives daily without running water or electricity. It's eye-opening when you really think about it, and what do we do, but want MORE, MORE, MORE! I'm learning a lot from both of these books! Go read them!

RC Sproul - The Holiness of God

Hey all, haven't really done much blogging lately, but wanted to share the following...

If you've been following our blog, you'll know from a recent post by Vanessa that we have switched cars for the time being. Well the stereo in my car is a little fancier than her car's stereo, because with mine I can plug my iPod directly into the stereo, and therefore, the sound quality is good. With V's car you have to use one of those FM tuner adapters that will play the iPod through a radio station. The problem is, those don't work all that well. It's usually really staticky so you're constantly having to find a new station to get rid of the static. Anyways, I'm not writing this blog post to complain! This is just setting up my story...

Normally if I listen to something in the car it's my iPod. But now that I'm in V's car, I just am not motivated enough to use the FM tuner thing, so I've been listening to the radio. But that got old really quickly. Well, yesterday was the start of March,  and over at the ChristianAudio.com, they give away 1 free audio book a month. I headed over to their website to see what this month's book was. This month it's RC Sproul's "The Holiness of God". So I downloaded it, put it on a CD and started listening to it in the car. And it's been awesome! So that's why I'm writing this post. I wanted to share a couple of the things that have stood out to me.

1st - "Nothing": He starts out by looking at "nothing". God created everything out of nothing. He spends some time getting you to think about "nothing". Can you? No. It's not possible. If you try to think about nothing, you will think about something. He said when he thinks about nothing, he envisions empty air. But air is something. It's impossible for us to wrap our minds around the fact that before Genesis 1:1, other than the Trinity, there was absolutely nothing. And God, being so powerful, was able to create everything out of nothing. In fact, there is a Psalm (I can't think of where it is off the top of my head) but it says that God merely whispered, and the world was created. That's how big, that's how mighty, that's how awesome, that's how powerful God is! He just had to whisper, and out of nothing came everything! Sproul also takes a little jab at those who believe that nothing created the universe. As he points out, scientists would argue that by saying "nothing created everything" you are painting a distorted caricature of their scientific theories. They would say that the universe was created by "chance". But all "chance" is is a word used to express a mathematical concept. Ultimately chance is not anything...it's nothing!

2nd - "Hallowed be Your Name": You probably know the Lord's prayer. But did you know what the first petition of the Lord's prayer is? (I'll give you a hint...look back at the start of this 2nd point). I never really thought about it, but if someone had asked me I would have said "Your kingdom come" was the first petition. I always thought of "hallowed be Your Name" as a characteristic of God. But Sproul points out that's wrong. If Jesus had said "hallowed IS Your Name", then yes, it would be a characteristic, or a title of God. That portion would be considered a "praise". But Jesus didn't say that. He said "hallowed BE Your Name". The word that Jesus used that we translate as "BE" makes the phrase a petition. Christian, are you living a life that reveres God's name? The second petition in the Lord's prayer is "Your kingdom come", but Sproul goes on to say that we CAN NOT expect God's kingdom to come in a place where His name is not hallowed/revered.

3rd - "Woe to me?": I think it's chapter 2 Sproul begins to look at prophets. He talks about how prophets had a certain lingo they used. Unfortunately, in our English translations that lingo is kind of lost and overlooked. So the significance or impact of some things they say might be missed. One thing is that when prophets spoke God's word to people/kings/kingdoms/countries/etc, it was preceded by either a "bless-ed" or a "woe". And as we can all guess, the "bless-ed" meant good things while the "woes" meant bad things. And Jesus, being God's final prophet, used this lingo too (think of the "bless-eds" in the Beattitudes, and the "woe to you scribes and pharisees...") But I want us to focus on the word "woe". That's one of those words that prophets used that most people today never really grasp the significance of (including myself). But just to put it this way; You don't want a prophet saying to you "woe to you". If they say that, then nice knowing ya, because that means God's anger and wrath is about to be directed at you. And here's the thing I wanted to share....what is Isaiah famous for saying? Isaiah 6:5 - "woe is ME". Did you catch that? Remember what I just said? You don't want the word "woe" directed at you (not because it's some magical word or encantation, but because of what it implies is about to come). And yet, as he stood before the Lord Almighty, seated on His throne, surrounded by angels singing out "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty", at that moment, all Isaiah could do was compare himself to God and realize how sinful he is, and that he has rightfully earned and deserves God's anger, God's wrath and God's judgement.

Now, I don't know who will be reading this. I know that for those of us in Christ, when we read that last bit our minds will go to places like Ephesians chapter 2:4-6 "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." But if by "chance" someone reads this that is not in Christ I don't want to leave you hanging in the "woes". After Isaiah made the "woe" declaration upon himself, God in His mercy cleansed Isaiah. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!" (Acts 16:31). Spend time in the Word. Learn what Jesus has said. Believe it! Live it!

North! Or Be Eaten

Andrew Peterson, a Christian musician who is one of my favorites, has now turned his attention to writing books; specifically a three part children’s series entitled The Wingfeather Saga. And just like his music, it’s superb!

In the first book of this series, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, we are introduced to the Igiby family. In OTEOTDSOD, Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby thought they were normal children with normal lives and a normal past but end up learning that they are the Lost Jewels of Anniera, and they are heirs to a legendary kingdom across the sea. But Gnag the Nameless wants the Jewels, and has sent the Fangs of Dang to get those jewels.

In North! Or Be Eaten, the second book in the series, the Igibys determine that in order to survive, they must flee to the safety of the Ice Prairies. But in order to get to the Ice Prairies, they must escape the many monsters in Glipwood Forest, then get through Fingap Falls with the Fangs hot on their trail, and then get past the thieving Stranders of the East Bend. But after all of that, when it looks like they are going to make it, the Igibys are betrayed, resulting in Janner and Tink being separated from everyone else. And because of jealousy and bitterness, Janner must escape the Fork Factory and get to the Ice Prairies without his brother Tink, who has fallen into the hands of the Fangs of Dang.

Though this is aimed at children, adults will enjoy this series, just as adults have enjoyed Tolkein’s The Hobbit, or Lewis’ Narnia series. There are two reasons for that: One, AP has a great sense of humor, and he will have you laughing a lot while reading these books. Two, the Lord has blessed AP with the gift of story telling, and that gift is on full display in N!OBE. I promise you, you will get sucked into the story. Furthermore, AP does a great job of leaving you hanging at the end of EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER, so you will end up staying up really late, because you don’t want to put the book down because you are dying to know what is going to happen next.

Seriously, go out and get these books. You will enjoy them!

Please visit Andrew Peterson’s website for more information about his music. Please visit The Wingfeather Saga website for more information on The Wingfeather Saga. And for you parents who are interested in reading this book to your children, read this letter AP wrote specifically to you.