Blog Archives

Five Minute Friday: Joy

3/21/2014

Today the word is Joy.
The rules are simple. Write for five minutes.
Linkup.
Comment on the blog ahead of you in the link up - this one is a MUST DO. Check out more of the blogs and comment if desired.

This week you link up HERE.

Topic JOY
Three
Two
One
Go.

Joy, what is it?   What does it mean truly?
Joy is one of those words that is both a noun and a verb.   As noun it means "a feeling of great pleasure and happiness".   As a verb is means "to rejoice".

Joy is different than happiness. Happiness to me seems like such a transient thing.

This past week my son and I had the privilege to chat with a man who knows that he is dying.   His body is riddled with cancer.

Though he's concerned about his wife and regrets he can't live with her for the next 10-20 years, he isn't unhappy.   He has this deep-seated Joy. This joy that comes from knowing the Lord and where he is going.   As much as it pains him to die, he knows that the Lord God will sustain his wife and watch over his family, and that's okay.

Death is not something to be feared.

Joy... I find joy comes best from knowing the Lord.   Otherwise how can you have the type of happiness that isn't fleeting?   Seriously.

To not have fleeting happiness means it needs to be based on more than something that is not fleeting. Life, items, money, success...it's all fleeting.

But the Lord God... he is not fleeting.
In knowing him, in loving him, therein with find something that is not fleeting, and therein we find true happiness, a deep abiding happiness, that will not depart.

Therein we find JOY.

The Long-Form for joining in on this linky. From Lisa-Jo's Site.
So now on Fridays a group of people who love to throw caution to the wind and just write without worrying if it’s just right gather to share what five minutes buys them. Just five minutes.

Your words. This shared feast.

It’s easy to join in, just:

Check what the prompt is on my blog.
Write a post in only five minutes on that topic on your blog.
{And if you don’t have a blog, no worries! Just leave your writing as a comment on my post}
Link over here and invite friends to join in.
Select the permalink to your post {so not your blog url www.lisajobaker.com but your post url www.lisajobaker.com/2012/07/five-minute-friday-2/ }
Using the blue linky tool at the bottom of my Five Minute Friday post enter your link.
It will also walk you through selecting which photo you want to show up in the linky.
Your post will show up in our Five Minute Friday linky.
Be sure and encourage the person who linked up before you!

Blogging through the Alphabet. X is for eXamining

3/20/2014

Almost a week has gone by and it took me this long to come up with a word for "X".   X can mean so many things you know, excellence, examining, xylophone, xrays... I had thought about doing xrays, but I don't really have one here and I don't feel like borrowing one from the internet either. :)

So WHY did I choose examining?

I don't know, maybe because I"m tired, and why I get tired I can get introspective? Perhaps it's because I need to examine what I'm doing with my boy and our schooling.

I feel like I"m in a battle lately with him.

Complains it seems like ALL the time.

Things he liked, he doesn't anymore, he's quick with the "I'm sorry" and he means it at the time I know.. but doesn't follow through in his actions. If I ask anything he complains, and I have to admit, I'm finding it wearing. And I think to myself.. if he's like this at 8 what will he be like as a teen????   But I can't think that way you know.

I have to think... this is my boy. A mostly happy, eager to please and help child, a child with a brain on his shoulders but who doesn't always like having to use it (but do I always like using my own??). But something is off with our schooling and I'm not quite sure what it is or how to figure out how to do it differently or better or .....   I just don't know.

So I guess I have to ask....

How DOES one figure out what isn't quite right and how to resolve it?

How does one know the right questions to ask so that one can properly examine what is going on?

Perhaps it's seasonal?
Perhaps it's tiredness?
Perhaps...hmmm.. perhaps.it's a habit?   ooh... perhaps I'm on to something there... it just might be a habit. Complain first... perhaps not have to do what one is complaining about... hmm...

Have to admit, enough complaining makes me go FINE, enough then. Go on.. do your own thing I'm tired of it. (not perhaps the best attitude but I don't do fighting and complaining well so I'd rather give way albeit unhappily than fight).

So...how does one break that habit???
How do I break MY habit of giving way when feeling pushed by complaining?
How do I break my son's habit of complaining first?

So suggestions folks? Perhaps you can offer me some suggestions?
They would indeed be appreciated. :)

Join me over at BenandMe for blogging through the alphabet. :)

Blondies

3/20/2014

So here I am, a person who doesn't much care for making squares and what not. I usually find them WAY too sweet, but I'm needing something quick and easy to make for a snack... The lad said.. CHOCOLATE CHIP SQUARES MOM!!!! I said no, I can't do chocolate....so Hubby suggested Blondies.

I've never made them, but voila! I found a recipe. :) Just so you know, I cut them into 30 pieces, means they are 87 calories each. :) (hubby loves figuring that stuff out).

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup of butter, melted
1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar didn't have dark, used light still worked
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup of butterscotch chips (chopped walnuts and chocolate chips are equally tasty) I did butterscotch chips.

How to Make

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan. Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.

2 Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.

3 Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together. Add the butterscotch chips or other mix-ins.

4 Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool. Cut into squares and serve. My oven it took 25 minutes.

Encouraging An Entrepreneurial Spirit

3/18/2014

I have this firm belief that small business people, people that own their own businesses run this country.   The government may or may not support them, but small business is honestly where it is at.

So I encourage my son to develop an entrepreneurial spirit.    He already is learning to be a young business person. He sells mice, helps me with the guinea pigs and rabbits, sells catnip, sells items at our annual yardsale and generally figures out ways to earn a dollar or two here and there.

Last year he sold starter veggies. It was his first time doing so, and he did okay. He pays me back for my seeds and does his business. He is NOT allowed to sell EVERYTHING we start as we need it for our own garden, but he's allowed to sell much of it.

Last year we were able to start our seeds directly outdoors.   That isn't happening this year as the gardens are still covered with three feet of snow and I"m not doing that much work to dig them out. :)

I am hopeful that once we get them growing that once they get a bit bigger that we'll be able to transfer them outside to our window gardens. :)

Last years window gardens

This year we are starting them indoors and thusly we had to make a bed for the seeds.
We took our flat box and added a garbage bag on top.

The lad taped the bag up securely.

After we added the dirt the lad wet it down quite well. I wanted to let it set for an hour to soak up the water well but the lad just couldn't handle waiting.

So he got the popsicle sticks, I got the pen and we got to planting.

I find it interesting. This lad who complains about writing had no problem being responsible for writing names on the popsicle sticks. :)

This is me holding some seeds for him and trying to stay out of his way. He was quite focused on getting things just so.

mmm mom, cucumber seeds taste pretty good. Don't eat them lad...but mom, birds eat them, so why can't we???? They are for planting lad, not eating.

Since we have cats in the house, covering up the seeds is rather important. We don't want them thinking.. ooh.. sweet, new litter box. That just would NOT go over well. :)

Finished product with plants in the order that they are planted.

I should make a special point of noting that we are taking part in Tomatosphere. Some of the seeds we planted have gone up in space. We are helping with research. They give us a control group, and a space group. Plant both in identical soil and see which comes up. :) It's rather cool. We tried it last year and only one set came up, I'm hoping this year both come up. We don't have to document anything more than how many of the seeds germinate. Makes it an easy science project for the lad.

Asia, It's People and History

3/17/2014

So I won this today. Pretty cool eh? Anyways, if you want to know more about this unit study you can check it out here. :)

For use by children 8-12 "Is the land of Asia a mystery to your kids? Do they know who lives there? Do they know how to pray for them? Asia is home to more than fifty countries and territories and roughly three-fifths of the world’s population. Could you use some help introducing your family to this vast land? This sixteen-week course presents a brief picture of six nations. It is by no means all encompassing. Its purpose is to introduce your students to the people of Asia, share their stories, and spark curiosity."

Review: The Adam Quest

3/16/2014

When it comes to origins, the start of the world and of the people, animals and plants upon it, how does one sort it all out? How does one meld one's faith with scientific study? How can believing Christians come to differing opinions on this matter? Come with me to the book "the adam quest" written by Tim Stafford.

Product Information

Received: One Hardcover book
Author: Tim Stafford
Pages: 232
Type: Non-fiction
Price: Currently on sale at Amazon.ca for $16.06, in kindle for $13.99
Review done for:BookLook Bloggers.

I have to admit, I enjoyed this book.   I found it fascinating to read the stories of how these 11 different scientists came to their conclusions. I very much appreciated how Tim Stafford kept his nose of it as well. I was kinda concerned when I agreed to review this book that it would be Mr. Stafford saying "see I agree with this guy, but this guy is completely wrong".   But there was NONE of that in this book at all.

In the conclusion of the book Tim writes about how he explained this book to the 11 people chosen. "They wanted to know my angle and worried about being used as a foil for somebody's agenda.   ..... I told them all the same thing: I was going to get out of the way and let them tell their own stories.   I wasn't going to try to referee who was right and who was wrong. My goal was for readers to get to know them and to understand their points of view." (p 199) Mr. Stafford did exactly that. He got out of the way, he let people tell their own stories.

I thoroughly enjoyed that. It was very neat to read how these folks came to their conclusions.   How the lives they lived influenced them, how the bible and science influenced them, how world-view matters, and such like. It was a well done book.    The eleven scientists fall into one of three categories:

young earth scientists
intelligent design creationists
evolutionary creationists.

Can everyone be right? No. But the point of this book isn't to argue the different cases. The point of this book is to show how people come up with the different conclusions that they do. And frankly, no one really knows. There are problems with every viewpoint given. Is one stronger than another? Each has it's strengthes, each has it's challenges. Tim does, at the conclusion of the book, give the direction as to which way he leans. But he doesn't show that leaning throughout the rest of the book.

My final thoughts

I would definitely recommend that if you want to gain a greater understanding of the positions people take on creation, evolution, the age of the earth and such like that you get yourself a copy of this book and read it through yourself. It just may help you gain clarity in your own thinking as well. :)

HA! I think I did it!

3/16/2014

I've been wanting to create my own disclosure banner for my blog but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to do it.

I asked on the TOS board that I am part of and someone mentioned having three buttons in a row (or something like that) so I went searching for what I could do.

The thing is for TOS I need to have the disclosure wording be exactly what they require it to be, but for generic reviews I don't need to have it quite as TOS would put it so how to do that?

Anyways, I started off with this. Didn't like it as well I have a typo in it as well as my face is much too big and I just didn't like that. I like small and neat and this wasn't it.

I headed off to Fotor. Where I found a variety of Collages, but none did exactly what I wanted it to do, but I got the brilliant idea of using picmonkey in combination. :) And VOILA!

For FOTOR I did this

Which nicely breaks down in the TOS disclosure

And a more generic disclosure.

So tell me, what do you think?
Did I do an okay job?
Are there things I should change?
Do the colours work okay? (I am SO not a colour person).

Anyways, leave a comment if you don't mind, I'd love some real feedback please.
Thanks a heap!

Review: Cloak of the Light

3/15/2014

A battle. A mystery. Dark and light invaders. What does it all mean?

Product Information

Author: Chuck Black
Pages: 285
Extra: Reader's Guide with biblical references
Style: Christian Fiction, Young Adult
Received: One trade paperback book
Price: $11.99 U.S./$13.99 Canada
I received this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group to do a review. Release date of book is March 18.

Find Chuck Black on Facebook.
CHUCK BLACK was raised in Williston, North Dakota. After traveling with the United States Air Force as a tactical communications engineer, he was accepted into pilot training and flew F-16 fighters for three years. Chuck and his wife, Andrea, have six children. He is the author of 13 books.

My Review

I have to admit, it's an interesting book. Characters are well-developed.   You really get to know the characters Drew, Ben and Sydney.      Drew is the main character, everything centres around him, from his reaction to his father's death at age 12 to the relationships he has with his Mom, Jake, Ben and Sydney.   Chuck Black takes his time to thoroughly develop Drew as a believable character.

He doesn't know the Lord. He is keenly interested in Sydney, a young lady who is mostly homeschooled, and is a believer in the Lord.   Sydney has a heart after the things of God and has a servant's heart.

Through an accident in a lab that Ben works at, Drew's life is completely changed. Suffering blindness, fighting depression, everything in Drew's life changes.   Jake (a friend of his fathers) teaches Drew survival skills throughout his growing up years and that knowledge becomes helpful after the accident.

It was overall a good read.
I found it immensely disappointing at the end.
It's like I read it all and I wanted to know the END of the story. I was SO disappointed to find that I'd need to purchase another book in order to (hopefully) learn the ending.   Will Drew figure out what these light and dark invaders are?   Will he and Sydney ever have a relationship? What will happen with Ben?   Did things go okay for Drew's mom when he left home?

All these questions and no answers. The book simply left me feeling dissatisfied.

I have no problems with books being in a series, but I do like each book to feel complete. This book simply did not feel complete to me.

Would I recommend it?
Honestly not sure.
It's a good read. It has a good theme. Characters are good.    It just didn't feel like I finished it (even though technically I did).   And I'm not sure I want to wait for book 2 to come out in order for me to feel finished with the tale. It's not compelling enough to leave me on pins and needles.

Catapult from Lego in Sequence

3/14/2014

My lad made this catapult. He gave me strict orders about what I was to put up here. In the right order mom and only the pictures I say. :) Okay lad. :) it's your creation.

climbing up to set the rope. Do you think this is a dangerous job?

wind it up tight! Be careful!

there we got it!

okay, cut the rope guy,get ready, I have to check something.

NO!!!! Don't cut the rope yet!!!!! STOP!!!!!

Ouch! That hurt! Stupid cut the rope Guy!!!! OUCH!

MY ADDITIONS
Throughout the process of making a catapult the lad has learned much about catapults and how dangerous it was to make them. This of course, makes it really fun to enact out these scenes. :) Good communication and attention to detail was really important when making a catapult! :)

The lad had a few false tries, but in the end success! OH.. how I love the internet and how easy it is to look things up to see how things were done. :) I wish I could find the Youtube video that we thoroughly enjoyed watching.... but not to be on this rushed morning as we head off to HOPE days. Cheerio!

FMF: Crowd

3/14/2014

As Lisa-Jo Baker says:
We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to finger paint. For joy in the process. No matter how messy the result.

Got five minutes? Come and write with us; it’s the best kind of free therapy.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in. You can do that over here.
3. And don’t forget to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.

Three
Two
One
GO

I have to admit, I've been thinking about this post off and on most of the day. The word Crowd.. what does it mean to me?
I asked my lad this morning.. when you think of the word crowd, what does it mean you?   My fine young 8 year old said "A group of people listening to someone talk".   I thought that a good explanation.
I mentioned to him how my first reaction to the word crowd was to recall a post I did a couple days ago that I still ponder in my heart.
Jesus had learned about John the Baptist dying, he wants to head off to some place quiet, just to be alone, but the crowd won't let him. They follow him and he had compassion on them.

it's what he did.

It too me would be a hard thing to do. To stop wanting what you want in order to just minister... even in that time of sorrow to just say let me stop, let me show compassion to these needy people.

But the more I think of it, the more I see what Christ calls us to and sometimes it isn't that difficult.

Say you're a mom and you are feeling sad and alone and just want to be sad and alone, but then your child falls and hurts themself...you don't stay that sad and wanting to be alone person... you don't turn away from your child.. you pick them up, ,you kiss their owie and you minister to their needs. That's what Christ did you know. He simply saw their need and had compassion on them.   Just like a mom or dad would, just like a pastor does when a member of his church needs him. He takes a moment and he turns his heart to compassion.

Let us then today, consider how we can show compassion to the crowd that gathers round us. Doesn't have to be a big crowd.... just has to be the people placed in front (or behind) us.   But let us resolve to show compassion... as Christ showed us to. Amen?

STOP