Baking

I decided to bake today. I've been dealing with a bit of discouragement in the food area. With all the food limitations, I get really tired now and then. It's not just a matter of feeding my children "healthy" food. There are many healthy foods that are not at all healthy for them. Because I have to do so many substitutions, often I have to experiment with multiple batches before getting something as good as I would like it to be. But, when it comes to baked things, the kids are awfully forgiving.


Today I made our weekly gluten free sourdough bread. I've been experimenting with this again. I had been making it the same every time for several weeks, but I'm tweeking the flour ratios and trying different things to see how they effect the texture, flavor and rise. This week's experiment was adding ground flax. It didn't rise as much as I hoped, but it did get round on top which seems difficult to achieve with gluten free doughs. It also seems maybe a bit more tender than without it, which I would definitely like. It doesn't change the flavor significantly. Last week's experiment was adding ground GF oats. That one was not a winner. It added a strange flavor that none of us enjoyed much.

I also made a batch of muffins. I had planned on two separate batches of muffins, one the girls could eat and one for Nick and me with things they couldn't have, but we were running low on the eggs from our chickens which we are feeding a soy-free feed so the eggs are easier on us. My parents are currently keeping our chickens, and we'll pick up more eggs this afternoon, then finish the muffins that I started soaking last night.


So, the girls' batch ended up being zucchini/ginger (both things they can have, though normally they would complain about eating zucchini), and I plan to do apples and cinnamon for Nick and me. Gnowfglins.com's eCourse just posted a sourdough muffin recipe which I easily adapted to GF with my brown rice starter, using 1/2 c. sweet rice flour and 1/2 c. tapioca flour, then following the rest of the recipe as written. For our muffins, I grated the zucchini and then squeezed out most of the water in a towel before adding to the batter. And I just used powdered ginger so the flavor wouldn't be too strong for the kids. I baked in a mini muffin tin so they would be more manageable for the kids.

With these add-ins (zucchini and ginger) that aren't inherently sweet, I think the batter could have used 1/2 c. of sugar. I used a bit more than 1/3 c. But otherwise they are very good. I might also add a bit less milk next time, so they would rise nicer. But then again, the zucchini added so much moisture that it's nearly impossible to judge that.

This is pretty much all I have accomplished so far today, since Tess decided not to nap and instead to fuss no matter what I tried. Much of this was done with her on my hip. :) Very ready for this round of teething to be done!

Things that make me smile

The song I Was Made for Sunny Days on The Weepies new album. Wish I had written it.

How much Tess loves her daddy. And watching her "talk" to us. She is very serious about communicating, already.

The outfits Hannah and Audrey put together. Audrey is in red today, from head to toe. Hannah is wearing a striped pink shirt, red flowered skirt, gray pants, and pink sneakers. I fully intend to let them go to the library like that if they want.

Bacon.

Songs from The Jungle Book.

Thinking about being in our new house soon.

My pink geranium that LOVES the fall weather - cool nights and warm days.


FINALLY feeling better. The kids and I have been taking turns getting sick for 2+ weeks.

I think that's a good list. Not much sleep around here the past couple weeks as Tess is getting teeth number 5 and 6 at the same time, the upper ones first, for some reason. At least that's the only reason I can come up with for 3-4 wakeups every night. Soon she will have her own room again. That should be easier!

Musings on family

Easter 2010

I don't know what made me think of it recently, but the past week or so I've been thinking about how my children are eternal beings, just like me.

Christian theologians generally agree that humans are three parts - spirit, soul and body. Body is the physical part, soul is the mind and emotions, and spirit is the part that was redeemed by Christ's death and will live forever - either in Heaven or hell, depending on whether they believe in Christ....

It's easy for me to get caught up in the daily stuff (the body and soul parts) when dealing with my children. They are currently, for a short time on earth, in submission to me as their mother, and it is my job to help teach them about God and model Godly behavior to them. (Whew. In some ways, what a task! In other ways, what else could I do?) But, even though they're just children now, they're still eternal beings, like me. And spiritually, they have the same ability to minister to me as I have to them. And Hannah and Audrey have both accepted Christ, and love to talk about the things of God. And when you start thinking in terms of eternity, the 25 or 30 years age difference between me and my kids seems rather insignificant. They have as much to teach me as I have to teach them.

All of this may seem kind of self-evident, but I just keep thinking about it. When I think about my kids like that, it makes it impossible to be impatient with them. It makes me discipline lovingly and gently. It just generally makes me respect and enjoy them more. I need to remember this. I have been enjoying them so much the past few days. How amazing to be part of creating an eternal being who is made to be in relationship with God? How amazing to learn to live together, and love each other? This family thing God came up with is pretty amazing.

Yesterday my youngest sister was home from college and all of my siblings were together at my parents' house for the first time in a long time. We have so much shared history together, so many inside jokes. We each have strengths and weaknesses, but my parents are having the honor of watching their children become adults. Their work is paying off. When kids are little it sometimes seems like the days never end. But at some point, they do. Rather quickly, they say.

Putting all these rather unrelated thoughts together makes me happy to be a mom, happy to be home raising my children, happy to have the experience of watching them grow, happy to HAVE them because of their value in my life and the lives of other people... Moms, what we're doing is worth it. Keep up the good work. :)

Five Questions for Friday

1. How many kids would you have, if you didn't feel limited by money, time, other resources? Be honest. :)

2. Who is your favorite Veggie Tales character?

3. What time did you get up this morning and why?

4. What thing have you always wanted to try making but haven't?

5. What smells remind you of your childhood?

Thanks to Derfwad Manor for the idea!

Simple Woman's Daybook

More here.
FOR TODAY, September 23, 2010

Outside my window...Blue sky, fluffy white clouds, light breeze. I must admit that I love September's weather. It's the ominous months of snow approaching that I dread. :)

I am thinking...about our family schedule. I have more students than I've had in a while, Nick is going to start teaching guitar, and between that and church stuff and going to Dr P once a week, our schedule is feeling awfully tight. We're having to make some tough decisions about how we spend our time and money. Not very fun.

I am thankful for...Audrey's quickly healing arms and legs. The allergy treatments are working wonderfully on her eczema. She hasn't looked this good in a very long time. For time alone with Nick. For rediscovering C.S. Lewis again. His writing makes my heart smile and always has. Having signed paperwork on our rental house! Waiting to find out our moving date. Should know within a week...hard to wait!

From the learning rooms...reading together, Bible study, letters and numbers... Hannah wrote her name without help or prompting for the first time! This is a huge hurdle for her! Things have been pretty simple this week as we've been dealing with sickness again.

From the kitchen...I go through times of excitement and boredom in the kitchen. Currently I'm bored and uninspired. Buying a few more things pre-prepared than usual, and I'm a little slower to keep up with the usual stuff. Sometimes I wish we could just eat out every meal, but it's not an option health-wise or budget-wise.

I am wearing...Silver brand jeans (the most reasonably-priced ones that come in a 35" inseam:) and white tee.

I am creating...my new home. In my mind. :) Mentally decorating the place...

I am going...to a meeting about my piano curriculum today. It's been on hold for several months for a handful of reasons. It will be interesting to see what God has in mind.

I am reading...a compilation of C.S. Lewis readings called Made for Heaven. Listening to a recording of Lewis' God in the Dock. Also have a whole stack of library books waiting for me. I always want to read more than I have time for. :)

I am hoping...for good news from several places. Things seem to take a long time to work out.

I am hearing...Hannah and Audrey playing with princesses in their room. Birds chirping outside.

Around the house...no comment.

One of my favorite things...watching Tess crawl around the apartment. She's pretty fast now. I'll take my eyes off her for a second and she's off around the corner, investigating something new. It's so fun to watch them discover stuff, everything is new.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Worship team tonight and Sunday, Dr P tomorrow, Nick will have to work quite a bit on Saturday because of coming home from work early a lot this week for piano and my meeting today. Bringing a meal to a dear friend and meeting her new sweet baby.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...posted it on FB so some of you have already seen it, but it makes me smile so here it is again. :)

Confession

I can think of no household task that I find more frustrating and often painful, than the simple task of changing the crib sheet.

Why is it so stinkin' hard?

Cloth Diapers

Don't run screaming, please. :) This isn't as hard as you think it is.

A few of the reasons I love my cloth diapers:

-They're cheap
-I don't run out of diapers (assuming I wash them on time, which isn't hard)
-I don't have to wonder what kinds of horrible chemicals my baby is being exposed to every day
-They're soft and comfortable, not scratchy
-They're cuter
-They don't leak as much
-They're cheap (have I mentioned that yet?)

We use Thirsties diaper covers like these, which you can buy about 500 different places. They're about $11-12, you need about 4-6 of them, and they last several months. They make them in lots of colors and even patterns now, I saw yesterday! Our initial investment was about $120, and we've spent maybe an additional $50 on covers over the past 9 months. That's about $19 a month, plus the expense of washing them. The initial investment was a bit steep, but definitely worth it in the long run. If you can't afford to do them full-time, you could buy a few at a time and work up to it.

Fold a standard pre-fold diaper into thirds and lay it inside, then fasten the velcro. That's it!

You do have to change diapers more often when using cloth. Since they don't have all those chemicals to "wick" away moisture, if the diaper is wet all the time baby will get a rash, and they can be nasty. The solution is simple: change the diaper more often. ;)

These diapers rarely leak. When we used disposables, we always bought the most expensive ones because otherwise we ruined clothes nonstop. Cloth occasionally leaks around the legs just a bit, but you rarely have those all-the-way-up-the-back blowouts like with disposables, because there is elastic across the top back. It's also easier to make them fit correctly, since the velcro tabs run all the way across the top of the front of the diaper. You can angle the tabs and make them as loose or as tight as you need.

The washing part is scary to lots of people. That part's not bad either:

I keep a "wet bag" hung on the corner of Tessa's crib, and throw the diapers and the dirty covers in it. Every other day, I dump the whole thing into the washer. They get a cold rinse in the most water my washer will do, then a long, hot wash with laundry soap (not detergent). The covers get laid on top of the dryer to air dry, and the diapers go in the dryer. Voila'! Clean diapers. This is not rocket science. :)

Occasionally, the soap starts to build up in the fabric and the diapers need to be stripped. That means you put just the diapers (not the covers) in a hot wash with no detergent, and wash them until the water is clear. No bleach is needed, and the diapers come out almost perfectly white, with no smell. You can also dry outside in the sun and they will bleach white again.

I was nervous starting out - would I hate them after a month or two? Would I wish I had bought something different? Would she grow out of them too fast? Would it be too gross? I've been pleased with the answers. She's 9 months on Friday and I still love them. I may have enjoyed something else, but this was the cheapest option, and certainly good enough. She does grow out of the covers and they need to be replaced every 3-4 months, for size and for wear/smell. Not bad at all. As long as I don't get a big whiff of the diapers when throwing them in the wash, they are not gross at all to me.

I do need to say that she still isn't interested in solids, so she is still only breastfed. This makes a difference in how clean the diapers get and how bad the smell is. Once she gets on solids consistently, I'll see how it goes. I may look into doing G Diapers at that point. But, for a breastfed infant, this is super easy!

Another great resource is Jillian's Drawers. They have a trial where you pay a certain amount to try several different diaper types for three weeks. You send back what you don't want, and keep what you do. You only pay for the ones you keep, plus $10! We did that when Tess was an infant, and it really helped me understand how different brands and types fit, wash, wear, etc.

There ya have it. I still smile when I wash mine, no joke. :) Hope you'll give them a try!

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY, September 18, 2010

Outside my window...it's dark now. But, we have having the glorious September weather that we have every year. 40 or 50 at night, 80 during the day. Clear and bright. Windswept, but that's common on the high plains.

I am thinking...about what we're wearing to church in the morning. I thought getting myself ready for church was hard. Try getting FOUR girls (myself included) ready for church!

I am thankful for...this week: new friends, old friends, Dr P, my family (including parents and siblings), feeling better. I woke up Tuesday feeling fine, and by 10am was absolutely miserable. Turns out I had my first (and hopefully last) bout with mastitis. Got that cleared up fairly quickly, but the headache that came with the fever remained and became migraine-ish. When we took Audrey to Dr P for her allergy treatment, he offered to adjust my neck for me, which had it better in oh...5 minutes. It tried to come back this evening, but something to eat and drink knocked it out again. So, I'm on the mend. But this week slipped away with very little accomplished - school, housework, etc.

From the learning rooms...one of the great things about homeschooling, is that when people are sick...you just stop. This is okay. Kids need to understand that when they are sick, they need to stop, rest and get well. I think this teaches important lessons about rhythm of life and what's really important. The world goes on without you. :) Then, when everyone feels better, you start again.

That said, the girls just started a Wednesday night program at church called Truth Seekers. I am so excited about this, and so are they. We did their homework and learned their Bible verse for the week over breakfast this morning. I was involved in a similar program as a child and LOVED it. Hannah learns just the way I do, and made me smile as she easily picked the answers to specific questions out of the Bible reading for the week.

From the kitchen...Large amounts of leftovers and veggies to use up resulted in a pretty yummy turkey veggie wild rice soup last night, of which I will be eating for DAYS, since the kids can't and Nick probably won't eat it. Also took a meal to a family from church that just had triplets. They now have 5 boys, 4 and under. They are very blessed and very busy. :)

I am wearing...khaki skirt, white tank and black short sleeved collared shirt.

I am creating...I need to come up with another creative outlet. I could use something hands-on to do besides cooking 24/7. A cross-stitch perhaps? I haven't done one of those in 20 years probably. Wonder if Hannah's old enough for one of those little ones yet?

I am going...crazy...wanna come along? We have been waaaaay too busy the past couple of weeks. Time to say no and stay home. I think. ;)

I am reading...too many blogs and too much facebook. Time to cut back and bit and read something productive.

I am hoping...that we find out tomorrow when we'll be moving. Please, please....

I am hearing...the dishwasher. That Nick loaded. This makes me happy.

Around the house...at the moment, it's a wreck. Being sick all week does not lend itself to keeping up with things. Hopefully we can get it back under control tomorrow. Might start packing this week, depending on what we find out?

One of my favorite things...hearing my nephew laugh hysterically at Hannah and Audrey on Thursday. Hadn't heard him laugh before! He even laughed at me a little. :)

A few plans for the rest of the week: Nick's on worship team in the morning. Piano lessons Tuesday. Dr P on Friday. Hopefully lots of staying home and enjoying school together.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...I took NO pictures this week. Will try again. :)

Mini-me

I have rather frequent conversations with my mom and dad about raising children. After all, they raised 5 of them. And I really respect the job they did. They aren't perfect, but they really did their best to tune into what we needed, and what God asked them to do. I'm forever grateful. And I take advantage of having their advice readily available.

The other night, mom pointed out to me that Hannah is pretty much exactly like me. I knew this, but it kind of hit me fresh in the way she explained it to me. I have a mirror to look into. All the things I hate about myself will probably be magnified in her. Whew. This presents interesting challenges, but also interesting opportunities in relating to her. As God works in my heart, I should be able to pass on to her secrets in dealing with our rather strong personality. :) But it also means that it is soooooo easy for me to react to her rather than respond.

This morning, for example. I was sick yesterday (seem to have had my first, and hopefully last, bout with mastitis. Yuck), and not feeling so hot today yet. I had finally dragged myself out of bed this morning and was sitting on the edge of the bed nursing Tessa when Audrey started yelling at me from the other room. Hannah came in to inform me that Audrey needed me (really?). I responded in frustration, tiredness and not feeling good, in a less-than-loving way. Hannah then turned around and left the room, and I heard her copy my exact tone and words to Audrey in the other room. Ugh. Time to work on my tone again. But without my little tape-recorder, I honestly would not have "heard" the I way sounded.

My dad likes to say that the purpose of this parent-child relationship is more to make the parents more like Jesus than the kids. I would tend to agree.

Do you have a mini-me? What kinds of things do you learn from him/her?

Discipline

I am purposefully not going to go into specifics here, because the last thing I want to do is start a debate about spanking vs. not spanking, etc. That would miss the point, I think.

We just finished our chapter of Little House in the Big Woods for today, and it brought up a very interesting conversation with Hannah and Audrey at naptime. Laura's cousin Charley was supposed to be helping his dad and Laura's Pa with the oat harvest. Rain was coming and they had to have the harvest in before it was ruined by the water. Charley was asked multiple times to run errands which he did with a terrible attitude, he hid tools, he got in the way, and finally resorted to screaming like he was in trouble just for the fun of it. Three times he did this and three times they found him laughing, but he was not disciplined. A fourth time he started screaming, but this time they ignored him and continued working. This was the time he actually needed help because he had stepped on a yellow jacket's nest and was being stung. Before they figured out he was in trouble, he had been stung all over his body, and the swelling was horrible. Pretty tough way for a kid to learn a lesson...

Two things about this - first, what an interesting way to illustrate to my children the importance of telling the truth and being obedient. This is the holistic aspect of homeschooling. We're not talking about discipline, we're reading literature. But literature can produce so many opportunities to talk about ideas. To talk about real life and how to live it well. I love that we have the freedom to stop and talk about things like this while doing a subject that is, on the surface, unrelated.

Second, this underscores for me the importance of disciplining my children in love. What if that boy's father, the first time he screamed and laughed about it, had disciplined him? That child might have then had the ability to do what was being asked of him without having that horrific experience with the bees - which honestly could have killed him.

(Incidentally, the way they treated all those bee stings? They went outside, made some mud, plastered him in it, and wrapped him from head to toe in cloth. The mud would then dry and draw the poison out of the stings. Back to that whole holistic thing - we do this with mosquito bites. You can buy bentonite clay at the health food store, mix it with water, and apply to bites. I am highly allergic to bites, they swell up huge and feverish and this is the only thing that helps them heal in under a month. Ah, the wisdom of past generations...)

There is much said about different discipline methods and ideas these days. Personally, I feel I've almost read too many of them. I start to feel paralyzed by all the conflicting information. One "expert" says one thing, another says the opposite, and both are convinced you could ruin your children if you don't follow their advice. Here's the conclusion I've come to: Pursue God. Love your family as unselfishly as you can. Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Seek wise counsel. Do the hard things. Don't make excuses. Get enough sleep, and ask for the things you need.

That's all any of us can do. The rest is up to God and our child's free will. Thoughts?

On Rediscovering My Passion

Once upon a time, I was a teenage girl who knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what I wanted to be when I grew up. I attempted to skip going to school and just jump right into ministry. No sense wasting time, in my book. I was hired as the worship ministry secretary of a large church in town as an 18 year old. I just wanted to be close to ministry. That job got me just close enough that it almost drove me crazy. Now, I was playing and singing all the time, not to mention learning about budgets, lighting, sound equipment, productions, event planning, scheduling, copyright, preparing for choir rehearsal, video - both as a camera operator and director, and lots of other stuff. Looking back on it, I wish I had understood that I WAS being schooled. In the real world. It was an amazing opportunity for a young worship leader. I was a bit too immature to see it all accurately, but I sure did learn a lot anyway.

After a year and a half of that, I attended Bible school which provided other opportunities for worship (and playing hippie music in coffee shops). After that ended, I spent two years fumbling around before finally deciding to take out school loans to attend ORU, since I wasn't moving forward in ministry but couldn't really afford school and wanted to major in worship ministry. I played and sang regularly in our church there, and did very well in school. There I met Nick and we began to plan our future together - most definitely including doing worship ministry together.

Then...I found out I couldn't get any more school loans. I had to move home before he was finished. He joined me here 6 months later with a degree in music and no job, so he began doing bookkeeping for my dad's business. We got married, and shortly afterward I was offered another worship ministry secretary job. But I had a feeling, which turned out to be correct, that we were expecting a baby already. I knew I wanted to stay home with my children, so I turned it down. And before we knew it, for many reasons, years went by without worship ministry being a part of our lives. I raised kids, Nick did accounting, we scraped by. It wasn't what we had dreamed of, and there were definitely times when we were pretty disillusioned with the whole thing. But we didn't see any other choices.

At the most random times, I would see someone playing and singing and burst into tears. It was no longer a part of my thoughts, but it was still built into me. I often asked God why I didn't feel His presence like I used to, and was pretty sure He was saying that I needed to be playing...but I couldn't. When I did try, I would simply cry. During all of this, I continued to teach - even teach worship music, and loved it, but I could not wrap my heart around it, if that makes sense. There was a huge disconnect between my faith, which continued to grow, and my music, which was stagnant.

Just a year ago, through a string of events completely unrelated to worship ministry, we landed at a new church. And God is reawakening the dream we thought had died. I resisted at first. And I'm still not sure exactly what to say about it. My thoughts and feelings still confuse me often. But at this point I do know that what I was made to do - create worship for God - breathes life into every other area of life. Parenting children takes on a new light. I'm raising kids because that creates worship for God - whether my kids grow up to be worship leaders that play music (which wouldn't surprise me, given their heritage) or if their worship takes a different form. We care for our bodies by eating well and exercising because it gives us strength to do the ministry to which we are called. We clean up the house and homeschool and do everything else we do, from an outflow of our primary calling in life. And it brings so much joy. And so much strength.

In some ways, life has never been more challenging and busy. But we have more peace and joy in our home than we have had...maybe ever, as sad as that is to me. I can't wait to see what the future holds. We can't do it in our own strength, but God is there. I look forward, most of the time, to getting up in the morning. And it's difficult to explain this to people! I know few people who know without a doubt that they are right where God wants them to be. Please, please, figure that out. Your life will never be the same. There are still hard days, but there is so much to live for!

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY, September 8, 2010

Outside my window...it's an overcast, chilly day. Across the courtyard, the wind is blowing the leaves of the oak tree that is covered with acorns.

I am thinking...about the house that we are hopefully moving to next month. Honestly, I'm trying not to get my hopes up about it yet, because papers still have to be signed. Choosing to trust that it will all work out for our good, whatever happens.

I am thankful for...my hardworking husband who loves me. Healthy children. A place to live. Enough food to eat. A wonderful church. A faithful God. The privilege of homeschooling my children. We are so blessed.

From the learning rooms...made a trip to the library today. The kids love to play reading games on the computers, so today I sat next to them and put items on hold on the computer. Found a few interesting things there today, notably books that came from the search "games for children." The variety of things that have been written continually astounds me.

From the kitchen...at least for me, the experiment with dairy has failed. The kids seem to do fine on raw goat's milk. I was so miserable last night with stomach issues that I am done for now. Time to take a break. Butter, I shall miss you.

Aside from that, we made a trip to a local natural meat company last week, which has made for some yummy dinners. Nick and I enjoyed BBQ ribs last week, we got some delicious ground beef that has been hamburgers, tacos, and spaghetti, and tonight the plan is roasted turkey legs.

I am wearing...black linen pants, black and white flowered top.

I am creating...order in my home. Things had gotten out of hand in the organization department, as they are apt to do. A long conversation with Nick yielded at least half a dozen mentions of how messy the house was, and he came up with the idea of having family clean-up-the-house time before bed each night. I feel like I have my life back! Waking up to a clean house each morning gives me much more confidence in confronting the day. I even cleaned out the van and our master closet today. Very satisfying.

I am going...out to a friend's home east of town tomorrow, at least that's the plan. They had a massive garden this summer which she posted pics of on FB and I drooled over. They also raise chickens. We're going to just have our own little chat about homesteading. I'm bringing my kefir and sourdough. :)

I am reading...everything I can get my hands on right now. I tend to read in spurts. On the tables and counters and floor at the moment: The Christian Home Educators of Colorado handbook, Victoria Osteen's "Love Your Life," John Bevere's "Driven by Eternity," Charlotte Mason, "Home Education Vol. 1," and Caroline Moorehead "Dancing to the Precipice." I've been trying to finish that last one, from the library, for literally a year. I reach the limit on renewals and have to take it back and then check it out again. I think this is the third time. It's about 800 pages long (maybe not quite that long), and it's history so it's slow reading...but fascinating.

I am hoping...that it stays warm just a BIT longer...

I am hearing...the dryer. Yay for all three children sleeping at the same time. :)

Around the house...starting to think about packing in the next couple of weeks. Assuming the move will happen, moving day is probably October 16th. I really hope this is the last move for YEARS.

One of my favorite things...curling up in bed with a book.

A few plans for the rest of the week: worship team for one or both of us (still waiting to hear), getting Toby groomed (yay!), a birthday party, a baby shower, a trip to Denver for Audrey's allergy treatment. Whew. Sounds like a lot!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...Hannah arranged her Barbies and princesses on her pillows right before bedtime.

Wisdom

(An aside: go Google images for "wisdom." The results are quite interesting. I decided not to add one to this post, partially because of the results I found. Amazing how wisdom means so many different things!)

Something that's been on my mind lately: how do the wisdom talked about in Proverbs and the moment-by-moment guidance from the Holy Spirit compare? Are they the same thing? I've been reading the Proverb for the day, most days, and have had lots of time to consider this. I have no definite answers, but here are some thoughts. Love to hear yours as well!

-Everything good is from God, therefore any wisdom is from God.

-People didn't have the Holy Spirit when Proverbs was written, so they were missing a very important component of wisdom that we have readily available to us in the New Testament.

-I remember from Bible school (but couldn't quote references without some study) that wisdom in Proverbs is Christ personified, so technically all the wisdom there was complete.

-Proverbs regularly talks about the wisdom from God, as opposed to the wisdom of the world...

In other not really related news, Lisa Bevere is releasing a new book on Sept 21st, and I'm excited about it. She's one of my favorites.

Fun things this week

-Pineapple water kefir. Man, if your family is hooked on sodas, you should get some of this stuff. It's yummy and it's easy and it's good for you and it's fun. I have lots of extra kefir grains and can even mail them to ya. Let me know if you want some.

-Having my gluten free sourdough recipes posted on the Gnowfglins.com Sourdough eCourse. This is a really neat thing, people. If you want to learn how to cook/make nourishing, traditional food, sign up for this. It doesn't cost anything to sign up, and you pay what you can when you can. It is a WEALTH of information.

-Nick and I lead worship rehearsal Thursday night and are leading in services this weekend. I'm so grateful for a "safe" place to experiment and learn how to do this. I'm out of practice, and feel inexperienced in many ways, but I'm so excited to be doing it. I'm also very glad God is still honored even with our imperfections. "My strength is made perfect in weakness..."

-Our sweet little Audrey turned 4 years old. Hard to believe. I remember her birth like it was yesterday...in our tiny house in the forest. She was so cuddly...still is!

-Tess has finally decided to start getting around. 8 months old! She's still not crawling yet, but she's now doing the rocking on all fours, which I hope means she'll figure it out soon. So far she scoots on hands and toes, and rolls. It's pretty funny, but she's really quick! Time to keep the house vacuumed. ;)

-Audrey's allergy treatments at Dr P for her eczema are working! I can't express what a load off my shoulders this is...

Little House in the Big Woods

Hannah, Audrey and I have started Laura Ingalls Wilder's books at naptime. I wondered if they were old enough yet, but as I hoped they really love them, and identify with Laura especially. I loved these books as a kid, and have so much fun experiencing them with my kids. One thing I didn't expect though, is that I see the stories through the eyes of Ma and Pa now, instead of Laura. I'm left with a new-found awe of what they went through just to survive.

Like yesterday, we read the chapter called "Two Big Bears." Pa had to WALK to town through the snow, carrying his furs for the spring, couldn't carry his gun, and didn't return at sundown like he was supposed to. So Laura carried the lantern, and she and Ma headed to the barn to milk the cow. Outside the barn, they found what they thought was the cow because of the dim light, so Ma smacked it to try to get it to move into the barn, but when Laura raised the lantern, they got just enough of a glimpse for Ma to see it was a bear! She calmly asked Laura to go back to the house, and when they got about halfway, Ma scooped her up and ran to the house, locking the door behind them.

I kept tearing up, reading this story to the kids. I just can't imagine living out in the middle of nowhere like that, with my husband gone, not sure if he would even return. The weight of caring for three young children is incredible sometimes, but I don't know how those pioneer women did what they did. Incredible.