1,000 gifts 760-770

It is the simpliest things in life that bring the most pleasure. Counting them as they happen, one after the other...

760) sweet boyfriend offering to take out the trash for me on a day that I'm exhausted
761) delicious chai tea latte
762) streamers waving in the air as child runs with homemade kite
763) braclets that jingle
764) raindrops on window pane
765) community
766) health
767) coupons
768) shoes with bows
769) life, full, and abudant!
770) new board games

"Come, thou Fount of every blessing,

tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise." Robert Robinson

:)

There are but a few things better than dinner with good friends and my sweet boyfriend, playing fun games, yummy food, and good conversation!

So blessed to be surrounded with people I love!

WFMW: How I'm memorizing the book of Colossians in a Year

(most of this blog entry is background about what I'm memorizing, but if you keep reading I promise you my tip for HOW I'm memorizing it will be there!)

If you're a reader of Ann's blog you're probably aware of her free printable download for a commitment booklet, memorzing the book of Colossians in a year, two verses a week. 

Here's  a commitment booklet I made.

It's a black moleskin journal in which I pasted the pages from Ann's free download.

 I knew that I didn't want to carry around the whole book with me everywhere to study from for two two reasons. One, it's pretty bulky after pasting 52 pages into it, and secondly I wanted the book to remain nice. I knew I needed something tough and sturdy to carry around, something I could easily replace if lost, and something I could easily throw into my purse or backpack.

Ding! I had an idea! So... I printed out a second set of all the pages that are posted in the book. I cut them all out and then proceeded to paste them back to back so that I could laminate them, hole punch them, and throw them on a ring.

(like the candle that I'm using to prop it up?)

Two things... the pages are actually wider than the cover page...so I took my cover page and placed it on the BOTTOM of each rectangle on the page and trimmed all the excess at the top. If you're printing it out and looking at it it will make sense. Secondly, I couldn't put the next day on the reverse side of the card because I wanted to be able to flip it and have the second card right side up. The way the cards are printed some of the words would have gotten hole punched, so instead I pasted the 52nd weeks card onto the back of the first weeks card and so on and so forth so that when it's time to flip them at least it will be in order going the same way. I hope that makes sense?

SO. Now. A tip (I hate those WFMW posts that don't actually have a tip, don't you??)

See the little boxes that say "review" and "learn"? Here's what has been working for me, I baught some dry erase expo markers and every day my goal is to cross off those seven little boxes. Seven times a day I consciouly read, repeat, and practice those verses. I try to do it when I'm walking and stuff too, so it ends up being more than seven, but if you practice the verses seven times a day, every day, for a week that makes 49 times that you said the verse. At the end of the day I get a wet paper towel, erase my checked boxes and start over the next morning. I make it a point to stagger my seven times throghout the day and practice in between my "official" verse saying. I've found that I do it when I wake up, before I get out of my car when I get to work, and before bed every day for sure. The other four times I just fit into my day when I have a spare moment.

That's what's been working for me!



it's [not] all about you

It was a normal day and I was walking across my college campus to my class when it caught my eye. A large black banner with yellow words. The banner read, "IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU!"  As I passed it and walked on towards class mulling the words over in my head..."all about you, all about you, all about you..."

And really, that is the world's mantra, isn't it? The world that encourages abortions because after all, "it's all about you." It's your body. Your life. Your choice. So you got pregnant, made a mistake. No problem. It's all about you, and because it's all about you, that baby, that "mass of tissue", can be disposed of the way you scrape gum off the bottom of your shoe.

Isn't that the world is screaming at us day after day? You spill your coffee in the car and get to sue the restaurant you bought it from because, hey, it's all about you. Credit card companies send out cards every day because you're entitled to have whatever you want. Never mind if you don't have the money to pay for it. It's all about you. You deserve those shoes, that car, this book, that house. You cheat on your boyfriend because he's just not cutting it for you. Never mind that he'll be heartbroken when he finds out, it doesn't matter, because it's all about you.

And isn't the world creeping into our christian circles? You don't tithe because there's just not enough money. Don't serve because there is no time. You don't love your neighbor because you haven't taken the time to meet your neighbor and you have no idea what their needs might be. And in essence, when we, the Body of Christ, do these things aren't we telling Him, "it's all about me, God."

I'd love to hang a sign on campus that says, "IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU."

Because it's not.  

1,000 gifts list 743-753

I just finished reading Ann's book, One Thousand Gifts, and she writes about combating emotions in like stress and anger with the emotion of grattitude. Up until now I've never done that. I've simply gone through my day looking for His graces during the good times. I laugh in wonder now, have I been missing the point the whole time? Of course I can see his gifts when I am happy, laid back, relaxed, ready to look. But when I'm angry, upset, anxious, or stressed? Does that mean that God's gifts are now gone? Of course not!
So as I've gone through these past couple of days and I'm starting to feel any of those emotions I stop, wrack my brain, and say...

Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you for...
743) memory work laminated and on a metal ring
744) wet erase markers that don't stain lamination
745) hide-and-go-seek in the house and sqeals of laughter
746) socked feet slipping and sliding on hard wood flors
747) sitting close to him to keep warm while eating outside on a January night
748) Mario's eyes wide with adoration for sweet boyfriend
749) secret valentines at work
750) prayers whispered in the dark
751) automatic candles that are programmed to come on every night and flicker in the dark
752) shoes piled high in entry way of Cindy's house for Friday night Bible study
753) words gobbled down and then available to re-read and savor

"Eucharist [thanksgiving] is the state of the perfect man. Eucharist is the life of paradise. Eucharist is the only full and real response of man to God's creation, redemption, and gift of heaven." Alexander Schmemann

because sometimes the world is most beautiful in black and white

My Review

Originally submitted at DaySpring

Beautiful!

By Daughter of the King from Arcadia, CA on 1/20/2011

 

5out of 5

I have been a long time reader of Ann's blog and knew this book would be amazing. I had read a lot of reviews on amazon and was almost wishing that I hadn't, not because the reviews weren't good but because they were all WONDERFUL. I was so afraid that I would get my hopes up, read the book, and then be disapointed. I am halfway through and I have been sucked in. Ann's writing is poignant and touching.

I have ordered two additional copies of the book to give away as gifts. I will continue to order this beautiful hard cover book to bless those I love.

This book will suck you in, make you feel as though you are listening to an old friend talking to you over a cup of tea, and challenge you to seek God in everything from grated cheese to soap bubbles.

Buy this book, but make sure to order two because you aren't going to want to lend out or give away your copy!

(legalese)

WFMW: American Science and Surplus

Do you like bottles and boxes and weird little items? I do!

I recently came across this website that sells a surplus of items  such as  these glass bottles.

Or how about some corks?

Add caption

Everyone needs a pencil nose sharpner!



I think those glass bottles would be great for gifting home made bath salts, ect. Corks, who doesn't like corks? And I'm sure kids would get a kick out of those pencil sharpners. This website really does have a surplus of EVERYTHING and even if you don't buy anything the writers are QUITE witty. I spent one day just reading the descriptions of everything.

So, head on over to American Science and Surplus and check it out!





1,000 gifts list 716-726

Seven hundred and thirty seven gifts. That is what I have recorded so far. And seven hundred and thirty seven gifts later, I am still blown away. This practice of soaking in, looking, waiting, eagerly anticipating, what is to come has made me more aware and alive then I ever thought possible. It is those quiet, unexpected moments, that captivate you, make you stop and stand still and I regret not starting this practice sooner, regret all those gifts that I wasted, un noticed, flown by, never able to fully appreciate. But that was then and this now and I am trying to force my eyes open, to take a deep breath and look around and truly see what is before and around me, His love continously pouring over me. And the graces continue...

716) acorns and acron hats
717) co worker you really, truley, enjoy
718) first four verses of Colossians- almost memorized!
719) tech savy boyfriends
720) thick interfacing
721) fabric sales
722) flint and steel and tinder and a brother who loves those things
723) Jared on the piano and Jason on the guitar
724) bonfires in the back yard
725) very imperfect trial run of a sewing project- lessons learned
726) sparking apple cider in single serving sized bottles

"People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea,

at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular
motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering... Now, let us
acknowledge the wonder of our physical incarnation— that we are here, in these
particular bodies, at this particular time, in these particular circumstances.
May we never take for granted the gift of our individuality."
— Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

modern day slavery

I posted last week about Peter and slavery and how, through teaching my little class of 2nd and 3rd graders, I wanted to plant a seed in them that abhorred injustice. My prayer is that that seed will grow and that once they are older will learn to fight for those without a voice. Because slavery still happens.

Yesterday, after class, one of the mom's approached me. She said that her daughter was horrified by slavery and kept telling her mom, "I would never want to be a slave mom, never." So the mom, being the true teacher that she is, used that as an opportunity to explain to her child that slavery still exists. That people are still bought and sold and mistreated.

I came home and found a list of resources for the mom that she and her family might like to know about. And perhaps you would, too?

Invisible Children is dedicated to helping end the longest running war in Africa. Joseph Kony is a rebel army leader who abducts children and forces the boys to become child soldiers and uses the young girls for their bodies. This is an incredible organization, founded by 4 college age guys who went to Uganda, saw a need, and is doing something to fix it.

Love146 is an amazing organization dedicated to stop child trafficking. They have a heart breakingingly informative website about the evils of child sex slaves, how these little girls are displayed, sold, bought, used.

World Vision is tackling each of these issues, child soldiers, child sex tourism, child trafficking, and child labor.

Free the Slaves is an organization that partners with countless people across the globe to end slavery everywhere.

We are responsible for our knowledge. We are called to love mercy and to act justly. We are called to defend the orphans and widows, relieve the oppressed. If christians around the world took this call seriously and cared for widows, single mothers, and orphans abroad how many children would be saved from the trap of traffickers who promise them good jobs and education but then steal them away into slavery? If christians around the world took the call seriously to relieve the oppressed, how quickly would we be able to break into brothels and markets that list children on menus as though they are a meal to be bought and free them?

Slavery is still happening. It is real. And it is around us everywhere.

WFMW: OneNote

Do ya'll know about Microsoft OneNote? My guess is that if you have a newer computer you have it. I didn't know I had it until my friend told me about it.

So...what is it? It's like word in the sense that you can type notes onto it but you can click anywhere on the screen and just start typing. You can also click and drag and arrange things and create tables. It's very, very user friendly.

It's also an organizer of sorts. My version is the 2007 version and the tabs are divided into two sections "work notebook" and "personal notebook". For instance, under the personal notebook there are tabs that say things like, "travel" and when you click on that it has pre-set tabs named "lodging", "transportation", "sightseeing", "Destination B", ect. You can also add tabs, delete them, whatever you want. Other main tabs included are "recipes", "books, movies, and music", "shopping" ect.

Here is the link from microsoft with details about OneNote .

How about you? Do you use OneNote? What do you use it for? Any good tips to share?

WILMM: He is good

Why I love my man reason #19



Upon our return from Arkansas my mom told me that she thought my boyfriend was "a keeper."

I'm inclined to agree. :)

1,000 gifts list 705-715

Only in January, in California, can my list contain images of snow covered mountains and fall leaves... I suppose there are some simple joys of living here after all :)

705) pink snow covered mountains from setting sun
706) heart shaped crimson leaf
707) cute dollar notecards
708) new faces at smallgroup
709) nachos
710) thick, creamy, lotion
711) good home made carmel recipe
712) trip planning
713) cute, free, tutorials
714) three day weekend and fun things planned
715) sweet boyfring taking care of me when I'm sick

"I thank God for this day,

For the sun in the sky,
For my mom and my dad,
For my piece of apple pie!


For our home on the ground
For His love that's all around
That's why I say thanks everyday!
Because a thankful heart is a happy heart!
I'm glad for what I have,
That's an easy way to start!


For the love that He shares,
'Cuz He listens to my prayers,
That's why I say thanks everyday!" - Annie from the Veggie Tales movie "Madame Blueberry"

Peter

I have the honor and pleasure of teaching a home-school co-op class every Thursday. We are studying history and literature through the use of the American Girls Books (an excellent historical fiction series!). We are currently focused on "Addy Learns a Lesson", the story of a runaway slave and her new life in Philadelphia.

I like to show a lot of pictures of when I am teaching. I think it makes things more real for those of us who have not lived through certain time periods. We focus on similarities we can find and compare and contrast the differences. As I was preparing for the upcoming classes I will be teaching on this very ugly period of American history I stumbled upon an image.

As I was looking at this picture I was thinking about how this would be a good way show them what being whipped was like. The scars that were left, give them an idea of the very real pain that was inflicted upon one human being from another.

Then my eye caught this description, "Slave named Peter, revealing horrendous scars on his back from whippings. "Overseer Artayou Carrier whipped me. I was 2 mos. in bed sore from the whipping. My master come after I was whipped; he discharged the overseer," spoken by Peter as he sat for pi.pi. c" (source)

And it hit me. Peter. This man had a name. His name was Peter. Here I was preparing a lesson to teach my girls that slaves were people and to open their eyes to some of the atrocities that took place towards other human beings on American soil. And yet I was the one looking at a picture of a man and not seeing the man. Not seeing the very real person that he was.

I teach a mixture of third and fourth graders. I showed this picture to them because I think it's important that they know that slavery was real. It made them uncomfortable. I'm glad. Slavery was rea. It was hard. It affected people. It tore families apart, caused an insurmountable of pain and devestation, changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Human beings created in the image of God. Treated like animals. Insufficient ammounts of food, clothing, shelter, respect, rest, medicine.

Slavery is not dead. I want those girls in my class to be shaken up, I want them to take these lessons and as they grow I want them to learn about the humans that are today being taken as slaves and I want them to care. I want them to learn about organizations like Love146 that battles against the child sex trafficking. I want them to learn about the hundreds of children that are being stolen from thier homes in Africa and forced to become child slave soldiers. I want them to partner with Invisible Children. I want to capture that childhood innocence of knowing when things just aren't right before they grow up and become calloused. And while I don't think explaining child sex trafficking is appropriate for third and fourth graders I do hope that by instilling in them a strong sense of injustice for those who are oppressed now, even if just over the course of a couple of weeks, a seed will be planted that will continue to grow as they grow.

I can't do anything to help Peter. But my knowledge of him can help me to take action for those living in the here and now. Peter should have never of had to have endured what he did. Neither should anyone else who is enslaved. I am glad that that picture was taken. I'm glad that someone understood the importance of documenting what happened. I am also glad that whoever took the picture had the forsight to have Peter turn towards the camera. There is a face to go with the wounds. One that I will not be forgetting anytime soon. 

full of earth

Because sometimes a song is the only way to express how you feel.

WFMW: books on tape

Today's edition of Works for me Wednesday is a "doesn't work for me Wednesday!" So, here you go. Books on tape do NOT work for me. I know people who ADORE them but I can't stand them. Something about the pace of having to listen to someone else read outloud when I know I could be reading it faster drives me insane.

HOWEVER, audio dramatiazations of books, such as the audio dramatazation of the The Chronicles of Narnia done by Focus on the Family, I immensly enjoy. I also highly recommend that series. While I was in Arkansas this past month visiting my family we went to a Christian discount store and I was able to pick up the dramatization of Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, A Horse and His Boy, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle for a whopping four bucks apiece. SCORE! :) It looks like Amazon has the radio theatre productions for pretty cheap as well, although as I was finding all of the ones I just listened the prices vary between 5 and 10 dollars. I need to get The Magican's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to complete my set.

We listened to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader on our four hour journey from my Grandpa's house to my friend Marlene's, it was the perfect ammount of time and the book was wonderfully executed. They do not say that they are unabridged however my boyfriend, my mom, nor I could find anything that they had left out. The voices for the characters, the sounds, everything was really nice.

What doesn't work for you? How do you feel about books on tape? How do you feel about radio dramatazations? Let me know!

1,000 gifts list 684-694

A new year, a new day, new graces. It's a beautiful thing to know that His mercies are new every morning. I am looking forward this year to continuing on this journey, eyes open and aware of the love he lavishes on me daily. Just some of the few gifts that were poured out upon me during this holiday season...

684) cami's with lace
685) possible snow on Christmas!
 686) mom coming to Arkansas with us
687) crackling of a good fire
688)Grandpa and his wheel of fortune comments
689) seeing something I know I can re-create cheaply
690) Jason and "second dinners"
691) lots of iced tea
692) blue wintery Arkansas sky
693) drip drip drip of rain
694) blankets piled high on my bed

Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness

is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude.
Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.
John Henry Jowett (1864-1923)