That yesterday, I saw a huge flock of robins in our neighbor's backyard, and tonight we are bracing for the worst snowstorm in a century.
Those birds are sure going to be confused.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
hosting a terrific birthday party...
Rachel's Pajama Party
Atmosphere is important. Dim the lights, light some candles, decorate the table with bedding, and mom, you need to put on your pajamas, too!
Invite the nicest girls you can find. They make the best kind of friends.
Serve chocolate cupcakes and don't tell anyone they are gluten-free. They won't notice anyway.
Don't worry about the crumbs. That's why there are 2 sheets on this bed!
Cupcakes work fine for the ten candles we had to light.
Have more games ready than you need. (Use the internet!) Go with the flow. When the girls come up with flashlight hide-and-seek, ditch the idea for flashlight limbo. Play Mancala and Apples to Apples Jr. Know when to move on and when to backtrack. Did I mention they liked flashlight hide-and-seek?
Make sure everyone leaves wishing they could stay longer.
Friday, January 28, 2011
The newest 10-year-old
Today was Rachel's 10th birthday. How is it even possible that our girl has hit double digits?
She dearly wanted a hamster, but we were very concerned about the allergy load already on us with two cats and a dog. Fish were a worthy compromise. She found the tank mesmerizing...and there aren't even any fish in it yet!
The day she was born, I dreamed of having her hair long enough to put up in pigtails and ponytails. I have photos of every time I actually got to do this with her, which tells you how rare it was. But lately, Rachel's been asking for braids, curls, and today...a pony tail. And after 10 years I finally found a brush (this week!) that doesn't pull her hair.
We had two family parties to celebrate, and both were postponed due to illness. But presents were delivered by Nana and Papa today anyway. We'll get to that cake yet!
I really didn't understand why my mom cried when I turned 10...but I do now.
Happy birthday, Rachel. You are so dear to us!!!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
halting the trend
For the past few years, I've had the privilege of leading women who are farther along life's journey than I am. At first this role scared me to death, as I felt ill-equipped to handle a different season in life--one I haven't experienced yet. However, as I've listened to their wisdom, walked along with them through trials, and peeked into heartaches, it has been an experience I treasure. I'm so grateful to all these women who have given me a glimpse of their lives and hearts as they have walked trusting Christ in places I have not yet trod.
One particular area of heartache has gripped me as a mom of young children: hearing mothers of grown children expressing concern over one, two, or more of their offspring who were raised in the church and active in youth group, then went their own way in their young adult years. We pray often for each other on these issues. These are godly women and often their kids have attended solid churches. What went wrong?
It was with that concern in mind I recently picked up Ken Ham's book Already Gone. With the help of a poll conducted by Britt Beemer, Ken carefully looks at the epidemic proportion of young adults who are leaving the church. According to statistics, if you look around your church youth group on a Sunday morning, it is not unreasonable to fully expect two-thirds of those young people to leave the church when they leave home. Some of them will return when they have their own children, but most will never come back.
What Ken discovered is intriguing and alarming: many young adults who seem to leave the church after high school were "already gone" before they left high school, or even jr. high. When asked when they began to question and even reject Christian teaching, these young adults cited these years as the ones in which they made their ultimate decisions about Christianity. Shockingly, it was not their college years or experience that tipped the scales in either direction. Furthermore, those who had grown up attending Sunday School were actually more likely to question their beliefs, embrace the world's values, and exit the church doors. The reason for the abandonment of faith given was a disconnect in church to what they are experiencing in their daily lives. They have no answers to provide a solid Biblical foundation which will counter the things they are learning at school about evolution, moral issues, and the things that matter most to them in life.
According to their poll, those who have attended Sunday School are actually:
Thankfully, Ken Ham does not suggest that we quickly pull our children out of the Sunday School program. He does, however, call into question some of the ways we teach our children and suggests ideas to help remedy the problem.
First, we need to equip children with Biblical information on creation to help counter the evolutionary theories that are so prevalent in our culture. This means we need to start teaching apologetics, even in preschool. Whether in lessons to children or to adults, our congregations need help in understanding how things like dinosaurs, the fossil record, and Noah's flood fit in with scientific discoveries and the biblical account of God's creation of the world.
Second, we must teach Biblical authority, starting with the first book of the Bible. It is there that we learn about the creation of the world in 7 days, the sanctity of human life, the institution of marriage, the problem of sin, the creation of races, and other issues that shape a Biblical Christian worldview. Perhaps one mistake we are making is in teaching Bible stories, interpreted as a narrative that may or may not be true but from which a good, moral lesson can be learned. The Bible instead must be taught as historical fact, including details on how/where/why such events took place. Use this teaching to ask important life questions, using the text to make connections to the questions of our day and to defend matters of faith.
Where is the message of salvation in the remedies Ken Ham suggests? Actually, a correct understanding of Genesis issues IS the basis for our knowledge of salvation. Evolution supposes a world that started from nothing and gradually becomes more sophisticated over time. Because of the assumption of millions of years before man arrived on the scene, we have death (of lower animals) occurring before the fall of man, which if true leaves the Bible inaccurate and irrelevant for any man. Evolution supposes we have a world that given time, creativity, and the right solutions, can save itself. Why would the message of the gospel be relevant to those who would believe such things?
From a Biblical standpoint, we live in a world that God orginally created as perfect. Man's sin and its curse brought with it far-reaching consequences including physical and eternal death which, left to ourselves, we will never escape. God took it upon Himself to provide a means of escape by sending His Son, Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life and died in our place to satisfy the wrath of a holy God and take sin's curse upon Himself. He was raised to life, showing that the power of death and sin's curse has been broken, and proving that those who believe upon Him will one day receive eternal life as their reward.
Moms, dads, Sunday School teachers, youth workers, pastors...are you helping those in your care to have a Biblical worldview that is strong enough to counter the culture? There is much food for thought in this book and I'd highly recommend it. Another great resource is the Answers in Genesis website at http://www.answersingenesis.org/.
My oldest son has always been fascinated with dragons and dinosaurs. When he was a preschooler, we happened onto a book about dinosaurs that was written from a Creationist perspective. When we read about dinosaurs in other books together, we always discussed the words "millions of years ago" to be misleading and instead gave the Biblical perspective. He is now reading Answers magazine with a thirst for how Biblical knowledge lends us clues about dinosaurs and is considering a career along these lines someday. I'm thankful to see how God is at work in his life in these areas even as I soberly understand there is much yet to be done to equip him with a solid Biblical worldview.
Our kids can be equipped! And by God's grace, in answer to much prayer and careful teaching, may they be among those who remain in His church because they know without a doubt they are in need of salvation and want to build their lives on the authority of God's word. Perhaps they will even be empowered by the Holy Spirit to help others rediscover that the Bible does have answers to life's toughest questions and is necessary for salvation.
One particular area of heartache has gripped me as a mom of young children: hearing mothers of grown children expressing concern over one, two, or more of their offspring who were raised in the church and active in youth group, then went their own way in their young adult years. We pray often for each other on these issues. These are godly women and often their kids have attended solid churches. What went wrong?
It was with that concern in mind I recently picked up Ken Ham's book Already Gone. With the help of a poll conducted by Britt Beemer, Ken carefully looks at the epidemic proportion of young adults who are leaving the church. According to statistics, if you look around your church youth group on a Sunday morning, it is not unreasonable to fully expect two-thirds of those young people to leave the church when they leave home. Some of them will return when they have their own children, but most will never come back.
What Ken discovered is intriguing and alarming: many young adults who seem to leave the church after high school were "already gone" before they left high school, or even jr. high. When asked when they began to question and even reject Christian teaching, these young adults cited these years as the ones in which they made their ultimate decisions about Christianity. Shockingly, it was not their college years or experience that tipped the scales in either direction. Furthermore, those who had grown up attending Sunday School were actually more likely to question their beliefs, embrace the world's values, and exit the church doors. The reason for the abandonment of faith given was a disconnect in church to what they are experiencing in their daily lives. They have no answers to provide a solid Biblical foundation which will counter the things they are learning at school about evolution, moral issues, and the things that matter most to them in life.
According to their poll, those who have attended Sunday School are actually:
- More likely NOT to believe that all the accounts/stories in the Bible are true/accurate.
- more likely to doubt the Bible because it was written by men.
- more likely to defend premarital sex.
- more likely to accept that gay marriage and abortion should be legal.
- much more likely to believe that God used evolution to change one kind of animal into another.
- more likely to doubt the Bible because of the secular dates of billions of years for the age of the earth.
- much more likely to have become anti-church over the years.
Thankfully, Ken Ham does not suggest that we quickly pull our children out of the Sunday School program. He does, however, call into question some of the ways we teach our children and suggests ideas to help remedy the problem.
First, we need to equip children with Biblical information on creation to help counter the evolutionary theories that are so prevalent in our culture. This means we need to start teaching apologetics, even in preschool. Whether in lessons to children or to adults, our congregations need help in understanding how things like dinosaurs, the fossil record, and Noah's flood fit in with scientific discoveries and the biblical account of God's creation of the world.
Second, we must teach Biblical authority, starting with the first book of the Bible. It is there that we learn about the creation of the world in 7 days, the sanctity of human life, the institution of marriage, the problem of sin, the creation of races, and other issues that shape a Biblical Christian worldview. Perhaps one mistake we are making is in teaching Bible stories, interpreted as a narrative that may or may not be true but from which a good, moral lesson can be learned. The Bible instead must be taught as historical fact, including details on how/where/why such events took place. Use this teaching to ask important life questions, using the text to make connections to the questions of our day and to defend matters of faith.
Where is the message of salvation in the remedies Ken Ham suggests? Actually, a correct understanding of Genesis issues IS the basis for our knowledge of salvation. Evolution supposes a world that started from nothing and gradually becomes more sophisticated over time. Because of the assumption of millions of years before man arrived on the scene, we have death (of lower animals) occurring before the fall of man, which if true leaves the Bible inaccurate and irrelevant for any man. Evolution supposes we have a world that given time, creativity, and the right solutions, can save itself. Why would the message of the gospel be relevant to those who would believe such things?
From a Biblical standpoint, we live in a world that God orginally created as perfect. Man's sin and its curse brought with it far-reaching consequences including physical and eternal death which, left to ourselves, we will never escape. God took it upon Himself to provide a means of escape by sending His Son, Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life and died in our place to satisfy the wrath of a holy God and take sin's curse upon Himself. He was raised to life, showing that the power of death and sin's curse has been broken, and proving that those who believe upon Him will one day receive eternal life as their reward.
Moms, dads, Sunday School teachers, youth workers, pastors...are you helping those in your care to have a Biblical worldview that is strong enough to counter the culture? There is much food for thought in this book and I'd highly recommend it. Another great resource is the Answers in Genesis website at http://www.answersingenesis.org/.
My oldest son has always been fascinated with dragons and dinosaurs. When he was a preschooler, we happened onto a book about dinosaurs that was written from a Creationist perspective. When we read about dinosaurs in other books together, we always discussed the words "millions of years ago" to be misleading and instead gave the Biblical perspective. He is now reading Answers magazine with a thirst for how Biblical knowledge lends us clues about dinosaurs and is considering a career along these lines someday. I'm thankful to see how God is at work in his life in these areas even as I soberly understand there is much yet to be done to equip him with a solid Biblical worldview.
Our kids can be equipped! And by God's grace, in answer to much prayer and careful teaching, may they be among those who remain in His church because they know without a doubt they are in need of salvation and want to build their lives on the authority of God's word. Perhaps they will even be empowered by the Holy Spirit to help others rediscover that the Bible does have answers to life's toughest questions and is necessary for salvation.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
you made chili with what?! carrot-based chili recipe
Since the carrot-based tomato sauce was a hit, why not try it for chili? I cut this recipe in half, and my very picky 4-year-old ate it! (The rest of us had the real thing made with tomatoes.)
Carrot-based Chili
2 cans carrots, drained
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 to 1 can red kidney beans, drained (0ptional)
1/8 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
add garlic, onion salt to your taste (we leave this out--I'm allergic and quit using onion/garlic in recipes a long time ago)
1/2 lb. ground beef
Puree all but last ingredient in blender. Add browned ground beef and heat. Serve with Fritos and cheese/cheese alternative if desired.
Carrot-based Chili
2 cans carrots, drained
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 to 1 can red kidney beans, drained (0ptional)
1/8 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
add garlic, onion salt to your taste (we leave this out--I'm allergic and quit using onion/garlic in recipes a long time ago)
1/2 lb. ground beef
Puree all but last ingredient in blender. Add browned ground beef and heat. Serve with Fritos and cheese/cheese alternative if desired.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
milk is easier than corn...
Not too long ago here, I expressed the thought that we would be trying to take corn out of Josiah's diet. Starting sometime in November, some of his ADHD-type symptoms began to return and worsen. It seemed like he was reacting to all kinds of things he was eating.
Now I can see, hindsight is 20/20! Just before Thanksgiving, Josiah developed the stomach flu. Then he started showing signs of lactose intolerance. Finally, I took milk out of his diet completely to see if it would make any difference for him. For a few days, nothing.
Then, like a switch had flipped, his ADHD-type behaviors again seemed to disappear. He stopped spinning around constantly, fidgeting, and having trouble with attention and focus. He began to obey again rather than resist every direction. When I grabbed some pizza made with a milk-based white sauce to heat up for him again at lunch one day, the behaviors quickly returned. Now every day off of milk is an improvement. We even tried some vitamins today that had caused a reaction while he was still on milk. They are working for him fine now.
Here's a casein-free recipe to celebrate!
Gluten Free, Casein Free Mac and Cheese
2 T. of butter substitute
2 T. potato starch
1 c. warm milk substitute (I used unsweetened coconut milk--coconut milk is my family's favorite milk sub.)
1 c. or more of cheese substitute (we like Daiya cheese)
8 oz. elbow macaroni (Tinkyada is our favorite)
Melt butter, add potato starch. Stir until smooth paste. Slowly add warm milk; stirring constantly until thickened. Add cheese and stir until melted. Pour over pasta.
To be honest, this was not a smashing hit for my kids, but I've heard it is sometimes best to leave favorites like mac and cheese out of the diet for awhile if they are used to the real thing. Eric and I thought it was pretty good. We'll try again in a few months and see if it goes over better.
This sauce is great if you have children with milk intolerance or allergies, and worth a try if they aren't used to milk! The Daiya cheese is the best substitute we've found. It's a bit pricey, but we don't use it too often, or just use it to sprinkle on top of tacos. That way, a little goes a long way.
Now I can see, hindsight is 20/20! Just before Thanksgiving, Josiah developed the stomach flu. Then he started showing signs of lactose intolerance. Finally, I took milk out of his diet completely to see if it would make any difference for him. For a few days, nothing.
Then, like a switch had flipped, his ADHD-type behaviors again seemed to disappear. He stopped spinning around constantly, fidgeting, and having trouble with attention and focus. He began to obey again rather than resist every direction. When I grabbed some pizza made with a milk-based white sauce to heat up for him again at lunch one day, the behaviors quickly returned. Now every day off of milk is an improvement. We even tried some vitamins today that had caused a reaction while he was still on milk. They are working for him fine now.
Here's a casein-free recipe to celebrate!
Gluten Free, Casein Free Mac and Cheese
2 T. of butter substitute
2 T. potato starch
1 c. warm milk substitute (I used unsweetened coconut milk--coconut milk is my family's favorite milk sub.)
1 c. or more of cheese substitute (we like Daiya cheese)
8 oz. elbow macaroni (Tinkyada is our favorite)
Melt butter, add potato starch. Stir until smooth paste. Slowly add warm milk; stirring constantly until thickened. Add cheese and stir until melted. Pour over pasta.
To be honest, this was not a smashing hit for my kids, but I've heard it is sometimes best to leave favorites like mac and cheese out of the diet for awhile if they are used to the real thing. Eric and I thought it was pretty good. We'll try again in a few months and see if it goes over better.
This sauce is great if you have children with milk intolerance or allergies, and worth a try if they aren't used to milk! The Daiya cheese is the best substitute we've found. It's a bit pricey, but we don't use it too often, or just use it to sprinkle on top of tacos. That way, a little goes a long way.
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