A bragging mom moment...

My son, Jordan, recently moved down to the Fort Worth area to spend some time with his brother and sister-in-law. He's been wanting to put some songs on You Tube for some time and I'm glad to see he's finally done it! Nice to see him and hear his voice!

This first song is one he wrote based on "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". He said he wrote it after watching "Australia".



This is a "cover" of a song by Glen Hansard.

Fearless by Max Lucado

I've been reading "Fearless" by Max Lucado with great interest. Fear is something I've wrestled with all my life, and I think I can honestly say, with the Lord's help, I'm making progress on this front. So when I saw this title available on Booksneeze, which is a site that gives me books for free in return for reviewing them, I thought it sounded intriguing.

I love Max Lucado's writing, and this book hasn't been a disappointment! I just fininshed Chapter 8 entitled "This Brutal Planet". He deals with the age old question: "Why do Christians experience suffering and violence?" I can't type out the entire chapter here, but he makes some pretty good points.

We live in a world that Adam and Eve turned over to Lucifer by obeying him rather than God. He (Lucifer) has been trying to kill and destroy us ever since. Max mentions Hebrews 11 which names many "heroes of the faith" like Abel, who though "being dead still speaks"; Enoch, who "did not see death"; Noah, who "became heir of the righteousness"; Abraham and Sarah, whose descendants are as "innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore". On the other hand, "Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented."

Nobody has ever died a more violent death than Jesus himself endured. As Mr. Lucado points out, "A calmer death would have sufficed. A single drop of blood could have redeemed mankind. Shed his blood, silence his breath, still his pulse, but be quick about it. Plunge a sword into his heart. Take a dagger to his neck. Did the atonement for sin demand six hours of violence?

No, but his triumph over sadism did. Jesus once and for all displayed his authority over savagery. Evil may have her moments, but they will be brief. Satan unleashed his meanest demons on God's Son. He tortured every nerve ending and inflicted every misery. Yet the master of death could not destroy the Lord of life. Heaven's best took hell's worst and turned it into hope." (end of quote)

He never promised us an easy life as His followers. He did promise to never leave us or forsake us, and that He goes to prepare a place for us so we can be with Him forever after this life. He also said, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul." (Matt. 10:28)

To get back to the book, Mr. Lucado addresses many types of fear that bind us up and keep us from living the life God intended for us. Some of the fears he deals with include:

fear of not mattering
fear of disappointing God
fear of running out
fear of not protecting my kids
fear of overwhelming challenges
fear of worst-case scenarios
fear of violence
fear of the coming winter
fear of life's final moments
fear of what's next
fear that God is not real
fear of global calamity
and the one healthy terror: fear of God getting out of my box

Fear is not of God. This book helps equip us to triumph over it.

Lives Keep Changing...

Son Jordan stuffed his little red Grand Am with his most essential belongings and headed from our home in northern Minnesota to Ft. Worth for the winter. (At least, we HOPE it's just for the winter.) His sister in Oklahoma warned of impending ice storms, and after some deep thought he decided to make a run for it before the weather hit. He arrived safely on Thursday evening just ahead of the ice storms. Thank you, Lord! He will be sharing an apartment with his brother, Josh and sis-in-law, Jess. Hubby and I tried to be brave, but there were some tears as we hugged him good-bye. I hope we didn't make him feel too badly, but we just couldn't help it! He, like all of our kids, is such a bright spot in our lives. He's brought us so many chuckles and has grown up to be such an outstanding young man. Of course with all the technology we have now we can all (including all the kids, because they're all far away now) keep in touch via cell phone, Facebook and email. That makes it a little easier, but we're brainstorming our options. Where could we move so we would be closest to the most kids? LOL!

It makes me feel happy to know that Jordan and Josh will be close again. They've missed each other a lot. Two years apart in age they've always been like twins. They finish each other's jokes and just really think alike. I'm very glad that they'll have some time to catch up. We'll see what happens down the road. We're praying for God's best for them and all of our children!

A miniature writing lesson...

I've been enjoying a book called "The Courage to Write-How Writers Transcend Fear" by Ralph Keyes. It's a lot of fun to read and he has so many helpful insights. On page 108 he talks about a lesson he uses to teach his students about using plain language instead of trying to impress the reader with a lot of fancy vocabulary.
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To remind students that no one has a monopoly on good writing, I sometimes read aloud from the back of a little bottle of insect repellent:

Don't goop on. Three drops for hands and face is plenty. Rub in well. For chiggers apply sparingly on tops of shoes and socks and along openings of clothing. Repeat as needed. Special Cream Formula goes into pores: lasts longer; won't be sticky, stinky, or greasy; won't injure guns, tackle, or clothes when used as directed.

My students and I analyze this piece of writing. The smallnesss of its forum enforces economy of expression. That's good. Also, the "Directions" genre calls for (but seldom gets) such clear, active language. We pause to worry over goop. Is this word too colloquial? Does it call too much attention to itself? No better alternative suggests itself. Goop gives a graphic picture of the act in question. So goop it is. Stinky is another venturesome term that does its job, and stands in poetic juxtaposition to the word sticky. This piece of writing is a success. It's clear. It's vigorous. It has good rhythm. The writer accomplished her mission.
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Cute, huh? This would-be writer (me) is hoping to find the encouragement needed to actually write that 'tween novel!

Is it just because I'm his mom, or is this REALLY funny?

My oldest son, Jordan, who is 27, is doing what is called a PRACS study in Fargo. It's a clinical pharmacological study using paid volunteers. He's done several in the past and they're supposed to be pretty safe. He's doing this 12 day long study to raise funds for his move to Ft. Worth. Anyway, I thought I would share what he's been putting on Facebook since he got there. You can tell he's been watching too many war movies!

PRACS study log- study minus 2: Food supplies are holding ... movie supply is WELL stocked.... I'm settled into my temporary snow cave but I'm not going to get too comfortable. I've heard some rustlings in the distance and the tracks I crossed yesterday have me planning a move to some higher ground ... END OF TRANSMISSION

PRACS study log- study minus 1: My American body isn't used to only eating 2 or 3 times a day. I'm experiencing some sort of "gurgling" in my stomach...not sure what that means... Today we were placed in sensory deprivation, forced to lie flat with no electronics for hours at a time. I'm proud of my men. Not one broke under the unthinkable strain.

PRACS study log-Day 3 dose day: The days are all blending together now, though I'm pretty sure it's not one of the first two days...because that would mean I'd skipped ahead and done the third day early...The Nazi scientists dosed us with some sort of hallucinogen this morning, doubtless a last ditch effort to extract information...Then the purple ponies flew in on dazzling pumpkins...and the coleslaw...Dennis Quaid...


PRACS study log-Day...6ish: We lost a man yesterday. We think the probing finally broke his will but there is a growing chatter among the men that he was assimilated by his mattress during a sensory deprivation period. In an attempt to raise morale we fashioned some farkle dice from dissected urinal cakes.

PRACS study log-Day 8 : We've all settled into a comfortable monotony. We quietly begin to forge plans of escape. Goldwyn smuggled a cafeteria tray to the holding cell in his stomach. We begin tunneling with it as soon as...it becomes available. We'll get rid of the concrete and soil by sprinkling it into our leftover soups and mud pack facials ...

PRACS study log-Day 10: There is a faint light at the end of the tunnel. Rumors of a negotiation of release... but Elliot spent hours forging surgical implements out of liquid hand soap. And so we are continuing with operation "Open Goldwyn". Today we will begin assembling an anesthetic mask from unwashed socks and wild ocean body spray...

PRACS study log-Day 12: Freedom !! We loaded Goldwyn on a makeshift gurney made from...an old gurney we found. As we prepared the microwave and cat bomb to breach the cell door we discovered that it didn't actually have a lock on it...

With no time to linger on that convenient truth we sped north along the dark hall, down two flights of stairs, crept across an exposed catwalk and crawled through a bustling child care recreational coloring area without detection. And we are now free men again !

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=0) I'm a proud mama! LOL!

Glorious Saturday!

I'm bingeing on all of my favorite things today. Hubby was gone this morning on an errand. I took advantage of my solitude by beginning to sort through all of the books on my shelves. What to keep, what to donate to the library sale? I dusted shelves and reorganized things and ended up with THREE apple boxes full of books to get rid of.

I also began watching "Australia" while I worked, but put it on pause when hubby returned. (He's not a big movie watcher.) Now he's gone off to see the tax man and then he's going to a neighboring town to watch our local girls' basketball team play. (I'm not a big high school basketball watcher.) So, I have hours ahead of me to finish that movie, read and just enjoy the quiet activities I like to pursue when I'm home alone. Solitude is hard to come by once your hubby retires! =0)

I've got so many books going and got one more today at the library (Born to Run) which I heard about on Jody's Home-Made Living. (Thanks, Susan L!) I may have to rein myself in and put a few aside while I finish others!

It's a beautiful sunny day and must be in the 40's. A veritable heat-wave!

Well, I've made myself some supper (I know it's only 3:20, but I'll call it tea.) Off to watch that movie.

Have a great weekend!

Promoting our kids...

Hey, isn't that what parents do best? Take my son, Josh, as an example. He's a young man who loves God more than anything and I think he has a real gift for communicating truth through his writing. The only problem is getting his writing "out there" where people can read it. He's had a My Space blog for a while now, but I don't think many people know it's there. Blogspot seems to be getting very popular, so I've created a blog where I'm going to post his writings.

He already has a My Space blog called Free Love Movement, so I kept that name. If you're curious, you can find it by clicking on the photo of Josh and his wife Jess in my right hand column.

I will only post one or two things at a time so they won't scroll off the page too soon. Thanks in advance for visiting his blog! =0)