love to paint

I'm not even sure where to begin.  So much has happened in the last month and a half that I want to write about. So, I'll start here. We did move last weekend.  The closing on our new home was very hard and even before we closed we could see that problems with the house were likely ahead.  There were a few that we new about.  What we've found though is much more.  There are little and big problems. There are so many shows on television about rehabbing houses, fixing up your old house, decorating rooms, finding treasures that one thought was trash...  They make moving look fun, full of work, and doable.  I think they also romanticize and idealize it!  They make us think that different and new is better than what the present is. I had a lot of time to think about this the past two weeks. After our pre-closing inspection showed issues, we were a bit jittery.  Our closing did nothing to settle my nerves as the house's owner started...

When I told my husband about taking a break from blogging, he didn't give the enthusiastic cheer that I thought he would.  Instead he told me, "Well, we'll see how long that lasts.  You may need the outlet in the midst of everything else."  As often happens, he's right in this case.  I've had all these thoughts running around in my head this week, so I'm just going to put some of them down in this post. Pondering #1 Last week a missionary couple came to visit our church from France where they are serving.  We started talking about books and I recommended several of my favorite books to her.  At first, I didn't articulate why.  After the church service, I realized that it was because each of the books made a deep impression on me. These were the books: Love in the Driest Season by Neely Tucker This book made me realize how Americentric I've been in my world view and why it is important that the U.S. help countries in Africa and why we need ...

I will admit that I've read all 7 Harry Potter books.  Many people have different opinions on these about whether they want their children to read them.  After discussions with friends, I decided that I would let my children read one each year beginning when they turn 10 or 11.  Harry gets older in the books and the later books include material (how they address magic) and are often scary in ways that I feel aren't appropriate for young readers.  So, that's going to be my approach with these books and my kids. This week I read a book that made me recall my feelings about Harry Potter.  It reminded me of the books because my husband's reaction to it and what he was concerned about. The Future Door by Jason Lethcoe You see my husband has a habit of picking up the books I'm reviewing, flipping them open, and reading a few pages. After he read a snippet from this one, his first question was whether I was going to let our 8 year old daughter read it?  I said...

Right now, I am sitting down and writing down my homeschooling plans for the week.  Yesterday, I made a list of all the things I need "to do" for our move this week.  It's a big list.  I also have to keep up homeschooling in the midst of it.  So, I thought I'd write this post and say there's a ton of things running through my head that I wish I had time to write about.  But, I don't think much of it is going to get written before January between moving, unpacking, homeschooling, the refinance, my inlaws coming for a visit, my brother and his wife coming for a visit...  So, if you read my blog, please don't think I'm disappearing permanently.  It's just for a little while.  I'll be back in a few weeks.   PS To whoever reads my blog:  Thank you...  I say very humbly...  Thank you for listening and reading my musings.   PPS I'd really appreciate your prayers that I make it through all of this in one piece! ;) Merry C...

This week my children and I had the chance to read a new book together.  It is The Barber Who Wanted To Pray by R.C. Sproul.   This picture book is the story of a dad having family worship with his kids.  One of his children asks how to pray.  The father tells the story of Martin Luther and his barber.  This picture book is an interesting thing.  It is written for older children, rather than younger ones.  Honestly, I think it would be most appropriate for 4-8th graders.  I think 8th graders would benefit from it  and grow from it, though they might think a picture book is young for them.  My 3rd grade daughter did enjoy the story, but I'm not sure how much she understood about Luther's explanation of prayer.  As an adult, I thought it was wonderful and it did encourage me.  Essentially, Luther explains that he prays through the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostle's Creed.  He meditated on the statemen...

Two years ago, I had a long conversation with a local bookstore owner about children's bibles.  It was he who explained to me the difference between the ICB (International Children's Bible) and the NIrV.  I've written several posts that reference these two translations (see  http://lovetopaint.blogspot.com/search?q=NIrV ).  To quickly summarize, the NIrV is a simplified version of the NIV and the ICB is a thought for thought paraphrase.  After my conversation, my husband and I decided to purchase an NIrV for our 6 year old daughter.  It was a little above her reading level, but we knew she'd grow into it.  She did the next year.  We wished at the time that we could get her a copy of the ESV, but the only one available for children didn't have notes that would be helpful to her at her age.  My husband struggled though because he really wanted Autumn to read from the ESV. Last month, Crossway published a new edition of the ESV for ages 8-12....

19 days and counting...   An update on how we're doing.  Home buying is so complicated and stressful.  This week has us trying to live "normally" while waiting for pieces to fall into place.  This week was the termite inspection.  Thankfully, it came back just fine.   I'm trying to think about Christmas and being prepared.  I'm also trying to plan for Thanksgiving.  I'm trying be present. What it comes down to is this:  trusting God is a simple thing to say, but not such a simple thing to do.  In some ways, I think it is easier to trust God in the hard parts of life.  It feels as if there is no other option.  It's often hard to trust God with the things we desire most.  We fear disappointment and that what we want is not what God wants for us.  Or at least I do.   This is the place I'm in.  Taking each day as it comes.  Trying to focus on what I need to do.  Trusting that God will fit the ...