tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60372115330210834812024-03-13T16:15:11.479-04:00love to paintUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger939125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-72745475152895071862023-02-28T19:58:00.003-05:002023-02-28T20:04:13.808-05:00A Book Review... about Forgive by Tim KellerOver the past few months, I have read the book "Forgive: Why Should I, How Can I?" by Tim Keller. I rarely read books when they are released, but this one caught my attention and I wanted to read it.For the most part, I really enjoyed the book. I found the text to be very helpful and it challenged me to look at my own heart and past experiences and responses. It also helped me Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-36632505166788888812022-12-18T21:44:00.001-05:002022-12-18T21:44:12.467-05:00Podcasts and Giving AdviceA while back, I read the transcript from an interview on NPR. The interview was part of their "Dear Life Kit" series. The subject was a letter someone wrote asking advice about a situation that had previously happened. The writer had uninvited a family member to their wedding when they replied late and informed the bride and groom that they were bringing two uninvited people Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-1736546180452358842022-08-07T08:56:00.000-04:002022-08-07T08:56:00.697-04:00Adult Bullies and Cyberbullying This post is about irony that I never expected.Back in April, I taught a two hour class to a group of teenagers about Cyber Bullying. Everywhere, you can find the message aimed at teens that they should speak up if they are being bullied. But, what is Cyber bullying?"Cyberbullying is the use of cell phones, instant messaging, e-mail, chat rooms or social networking sites Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-75278753198170522662021-08-18T08:21:00.002-04:002021-08-18T08:21:56.177-04:00Why would I share my pain? The internet is a funny thing. Even if we don't think anyone will read what we write--and it's one of hundreds of comments, someone might. I have always been very matter of fact about things. I can say things without emotion that are shocking really. It is my way of accepting them, acknowledging them, but not getting lost in them. Pain has the ability to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-35245573471028616542021-08-13T06:39:00.002-04:002021-08-13T09:27:43.138-04:00An Obituary for my Dad I learned last night that my father died earlier this week. There are moments in life when you feel like you should feel a certain way. You should have a reaction, yet you don't. This is one of those moments for me. When I got the news, I searched for an obituary, but found none. Who was my dad? He was a man with a large presence. His physical Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-48856742765011666732021-03-26T09:36:00.002-04:002021-03-26T09:36:41.950-04:00Things people shouldn't say A month ago, I was talking with an older woman who was making excuses for the decisions someone had made. The excuses, I knew, were really the reasons for her sympathy for her bad choices. I, too, felt sympathy for the choices that had been made and the situation that had resulted. But, my perspective is a little different. I also felt that the woman had choices Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-77560589199687516142020-12-06T20:49:00.000-05:002020-12-06T20:49:39.071-05:00Nobody likes youWhen I was getting my master's degree in education, one of our assignments required us to pick a book to read and write a report about it. The book had to be chosen from a selection of books on varied topics in regard to education. I chose You Can't Say You Can't Play by Vivian Paley. At the time I read it, I had no idea how much a single book would impact my philosophy about Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-19209731824306177852019-08-15T10:13:00.001-04:002019-08-15T10:13:30.511-04:00Strange ObituaryThis is a longer note than I can post on Facebook, but it is over the years I have noticed something that I have never quite been able to reconcile with.
When people die and get married, often a very different picture is painted of reality.
And it troubles me.
I have known parents who were abusive throughout their lives to their children when they were both children and adults, whoUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-63513679499722058452019-06-04T07:48:00.000-04:002019-06-04T11:17:42.202-04:00Silent PainA few months ago, I read a blog post that a friend on Facebook had linked to. The mom was lamenting her life and explaining that no one understands how hard her life is, but also that it is truly harder than anyone else's.
After I read the post, I felt differently than the author did. Throughout the post, she talked of friends she had--friends who listened, friends who tried toUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-9338589371915943012018-12-26T19:07:00.000-05:002019-03-03T19:24:35.859-05:00Twisting Scripture
Two months ago, I read a post that a page I followed had linked to on Facebook. I was curious, so I went to the article and read it on the site Gentle Reformation (www.gentlereformation.com. The title of the post was "A Letter to the Inactive Member". As I read even the first paragraph, my heart became unsettled. Something was implied in the first paragraph that was a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-65066316336916767032018-10-03T13:49:00.002-04:002018-10-03T13:49:24.367-04:00Ah, the teenage years!My girls have both entered their teenage years. Yet, they are so different from each other. In conversations with each of them this past week, I became aware of moments when I frustrated them. And I was reminded of something that my husband warned me about a while ago. He advised me to tread carefully with them even when I have strong opinions because I need to protect andUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-70637854394991391792018-06-11T17:09:00.001-04:002018-06-11T17:09:17.143-04:00The ups and downs...A few weeks ago, I was listening to a mom telling me that she was in a place where she was really enjoying homeschooling and feeling good about being a mom. She was in one of those places I've been before--savoring a moment of peace and contentment that you're doing what God wants you to and that things are working! I remember the first time I had that feeling. I think it was Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-90445329011137246912018-05-25T15:38:00.000-04:002018-05-25T15:38:06.084-04:00How to Use 100 Easy Lessons to Teach ReadingWhen I was student teaching in first grade over fifteen years ago, I remember being in awe of how a child learns to read. I felt this enormous amazement at how a child's brain connects symbols to sounds, sounds together to make words, and then words together to make sentences and to make meaning! In the school where I student taught, there was no set curriculum. Teachers always Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-24694756415631327272018-05-25T14:33:00.000-04:002018-05-25T14:33:01.116-04:00And the series goes on... and on...Just a few posts ago, I wrote a review of the book Troubled Waters by Susan May Warren. And it's already time to write a review of the next book in the series!
Storm Front is the next installation in the series. So many Christian fiction series only have three
books in them. So, when I read the third book in this series I expected it to end--but it didn't! Now, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-55699237704224779672018-05-24T13:03:00.002-04:002018-05-24T13:03:42.724-04:00A little behind...I'm a little behind in my book reviews. A lot has been going on in my house. House projects, homeschooling, sports, and the like. Amidst all of that, I've read a few books that I need to write a few quick posts about... so here goes!
The first book in my stack is Bountiful Blessings: A Creative Devotional Experience by Susie Larson. Several years ago, I read a book Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-49675975184247159122018-04-15T17:30:00.000-04:002018-04-15T17:30:15.839-04:00And the Series Goes On...I enjoy getting into a book series and looking forward to the next one! There have been several series I've enjoyed over the years, but right now there's a Christian fiction author that I enjoy reading. It's Susan May Warren. Her books are the typical Christian fiction and I've wondered why I like them more than others...
I think it is because the first series I read by her Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-20444473952886679902018-02-21T08:14:00.000-05:002018-02-21T08:18:01.058-05:00Correcting One Another...
I have come to the conclusion that people often do not realize how harshly they speak and how long their correction stays with people or how it damages relationships. I think we really need to think long and hard before we speak to someone in an effort "to correct what we think is wrong in someone else". Matthew 7:3-5
Here's an interesting and different take on speaking the truth in love...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-22047258249984744942017-12-07T13:51:00.001-05:002017-12-07T13:51:18.399-05:00Fun, Light Hearted ReadingWhew. A few weeks ago amidst the stress of life, I sat down and took a little break from it all. I had fun reading the latest novel by Jen Turano.
Out of the Ordinary is the second novel (after a novella and novel) of her Apart from the Crowd Series. It tells the story of Miss Gertrude Cadwalader and Harrison Sinclair. They have quite the names, of course!&Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-51866372715497986232017-10-29T09:32:00.000-04:002017-10-29T09:32:00.110-04:00Engaging with Social MediaI realized yesterday that it's been about a year since I got back on Facebook. It was quite the anniversary...
I chose to comment on a thread in a homeschool group I had joined on Facebook. The person who started the thread asked for insight about how to help her young daughter who didn't want to do her handwriting. I commented that I had been reading a book about handwriting Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-54934780162879997302017-09-15T10:32:00.000-04:002017-09-15T10:32:29.470-04:00Ugh... A horrible book.I just read the kind of book that gives homeschoolers a bad name. I feel like I have had a unique combination of experiences. I have taught in several public schools, substitute taught at various schools in several different states, taught at a private school, taught at a homeschool co-op, taught in a GED program at a community college, have tutored K-12 subjects, and have now Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-53353398810579132812017-09-15T08:49:00.000-04:002017-09-15T08:49:55.155-04:00The next yearly installment...For the past how ever many years, I have reviewed Melody Carlson's annual Christmas novella. This year is no different. This post is about her new one, The Christmas Blessing. I've had some favorites over the years. Christmas at Harringtons, The Christmas Cat, The Christmas Box... But, this one kept me going until the end and then it didn't make my favorites list. &Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-1129154216191555162017-08-18T13:39:00.004-04:002017-08-18T13:41:34.604-04:00The many approaches to homeschoolingIn a former life, in what feels like a long, long time ago, I was a middle school teacher in two different public schools. It seems like a lifetime ago. I had earned a master's degree in education and fell in line with an educational philosophy similar to many of my colleagues. I was in a cohort of students that hoped to teach at urban schools--to help kids who were struggling Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-86825273649244156652017-08-01T15:53:00.000-04:002017-08-01T15:53:02.343-04:00Cops and RobbersA while back, I started reading Lynette Eason's Elite Guardians series. It was fun. I enjoyed the characters. So, I looked forward to reading the new book in the series, Chasing Secrets. Chasing Secrets could be a stand alone novel, but it really makes more sense when read in the sequence of the series. I had missed one of the books, so I went back and read Moving Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-61795264161787693952017-07-23T15:29:00.001-04:002017-07-23T15:29:11.702-04:00EmbarrassedSometimes I feel embarrassed that I read Christian fiction as a way to relax and take a mental break from life. My husband teases me about the books and I am embarrassed when friends or family ask me what I've been reading.
To me, life is quite heavy. It's busy and I have a lot to do. My life only allows me to breathe for a few minutes here and there. And Christian Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6037211533021083481.post-54613581434266433352017-06-27T07:56:00.002-04:002017-06-27T07:56:29.329-04:00Novellas and Christian Historical FictionAfter the last novel I read by Jen Turano, I discovered that she'd written a novella as the start of her new series. I read the first novel first. When I discovered the novella, I enjoyed reading it, but wished that I had read it first. I've noticed that several authors have started to do this. So, when a new novel arrived in the mail recently for me to read, I first went Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0