love to paint

Yesterday, I saw our pastor at Starbuck's.  We talked for a moment about facebook.  I have come to the conclusion that there are more cons than pros about facebook.  I actually discourage people from joining if they haven't already.  My belief is that it's not wise to shift your conversation to facebook if it isn't already there.  Facebook lives in the land of quasi-real relationships.  The relationships aren't quite real, but aren't entirely fake either.  It's a bit of a trap in my mind.  The reason I don't withdraw from it altogether is that I now have relationships with family and friends far away that I don't hear about otherwise.  It also allows me to keep in touch with people that I don't see regularly where I am. My pastor made a comment about communication and the internet and how it was supposed to improve communication, but it often leads to more frustration--that you can't get ahold of everyone right away or that you have to cal...

I began writing another entry when I was struck that what it was really about was wasting time, which made me reflect back on my past few days.   Yesterday, I was sitting with another mom outside my daughter's ballet class talking about homeschooling and commitments.  I have to admit this--at that moment I was having a great day and felt such peace about God helping me learn to cut things out and simplify.  My husband's schedule has been crazy lately and instead of packing it fully like I have in the past, I chose to simplify and make our lives less stressful rather than more. The beginning of her conversation began with her asking me how I seemed so calm and how I was able to juggle 3 young kids.  I told her very humbly that I am in a good place right now.  I was enjoying that moment in my life and the peace that God has given me amidst my husband's busy life.  But, I said that very humbly as I explained to her that just the day before we'd gone on a...

There are some things I know about myself.  One is that I often struggle with self discipline.  There are areas where I am disciplined and there are others where I am not.  I want freedom--or what I think is the freedom to do what I want.  But, often that isn't true freedom. "Man's perennial efforts to take himself in hand, however he attempts it, lead to the greatest bondage in which man misses what he was meant to be.  Man's true freedom does not consist of the unfettered power to direct his life, either in a political or in a Stoic sense.  It lies in life with God, lived as it was originally intended by God for man.  He only gains this as he denies himself.  Paradoxically, the free man does not belong to himself.  He belongs to him who has set him free."  J. Blunck Last year, I read the book Distracted by Maggie Jackson.  I read about her ideas about the damage media is doing to our lives and minds.  Our attention spa...