Stopping By, Checking In, Stepping Out

Hello, dear readers!

A few quick updates.... but first, my latest zero-carb cooking project - CHEESECAKE. 

As a matter of fact, it was awful. But then again, we run up against one of the unbreakable laws of the universe: Cheesecake is cheesecake.  Does it matter if it was terrible? YUM. I ate it anyway.

Besides, it grew on me. Let's pause briefly while I go get the last piece. Mmmm.

Okay, so back to what we were discussing. Or rather, speaking of rabbit trails, I have to mention that this is one of my favorite times in the Phoenix valley - time for the blooming of the palo verde trees! Huzzah! You have not seen true loveliness until you have seen a desert palo verde dripping with millions of brilliant yellow blooms. We stopped on the way to church today so that I could snap a few pictures.

Gorgeous? Yes, gorgeous!

Okay, enough rabbit trails! Get to the point!

Yes, the point, albeit an unpleasant one: Although I am currently bubbling over with various blog topics that I am eager to share with you...

Yes, they're all covered with notes and ideas for future blog entries. 

... at this point I feel that I am called on to take a blogging break. I don't want a break, but I've felt that I need to. And so, with that, I am planning to shelve blogging (*sob*) until at least the end of April. After that, we'll see. If I feel that I need to go on a longer break, I can... but hopefully I'll be back to writing at that point.

In the meantime, I'll be preparing for a really exciting new series that I want to share with you, tentatively titled "Plain and Simple." You've already read the first entry, in which I discussed why I love having only one car, and I'm planning to continue the series as a journal of my journey into examining the modern American life (read: frenzied, harried, stressed-out, and exhausted) and determining which parts of that lifestyle we want to alter or discard in our quest to develop a quiet, peaceful, family-centered life - more like that of pre-techie rural life or modern Amish life.

In this series, I plan to examine:

(1) Activities - Which need to go, and which do we need to add?
(2) Habits - What ways of life and ways of doing things should be adopted?
(3) Technologies - Which truly benefit us, and which cost more than they are worth?
(4) Mental and Spiritual Disciplines - What has to be developed and nurtured for a peaceful life?

I am very excited about this journey, and I am already experimenting with several life-changes which will form the first entries. Look for this in a couple of weeks (or months... whenever I get it started).

In the meantime, have a great couple of weeks, and I'll see you all in May!

From last week's desert adventure - we caught the last of the wildflowers! 

Going Counter-Culture (Again) and Loving It (Again)!

Have you ever noticed how fun it is to be counter-cultural? To swim against the tide, and make decisions that go against the cultural gods of "the way we've always done it"? I tell you, ladies, it's addictive! Once you start down the path, it just snowballs - in delightful and surprising ways.

One counter-culture decision that we made earlier this year was the decision to reduce from two vehicles to one. This was not made in order to be counter-culture, but just to save money - (1) to save on insurance payments, (2) to save on gas and upkeep, (3) to avoid having to make (more) costly repairs to get the car to pass smog, and (4) to be able to use the sale money as additional income during this season of non-income.

It was rather a reluctant decision, based on need rather than desire, and I expected that it would be an inconvenient nuisance - and that we would be a second vehicle as soon as possible. Of all the money-saving decisions and changes that we've made recently, this one was the one I dreaded.

To our complete surprise, both DH and I love having only one vehicle! No joke! We have laughed over this, as it was such a surprise, but going from two cars down to one has been just awesome. I don't know if we'll ever buy a second vehicle again.

Now pick your jaws up off the floor, and I'll explain why! Here are all the reasons that having only one car rocks:

(1) Money Issues - As anticipated, having only one car saves us in gas, in insurance payments, and in repair and maintenance fees. Score!

(2) Freeing Up Driveway Space - This sounds funny, but it's true! Our driveway is where our son rides his scooter and where the kids love to play. It's prime real estate, but having two cars really clogged it up! With only one car, the kids have plenty of room to play, and we never have to hear, "Mom! Can you move the car so I can ride my scooter?"

(3) Freeing Brain Space - This is odd, but true - it feels so much easier to have only one car to worry about! One car to repair, one car to maintain, one car for oil changes, one car's records to keep. It clears up so much mental clutter! Not to mention that I am much likely to go wash one car than I am two!

(4) Family Benefits - Right now, I would normally (i.e. back when we had two cars), be at a homeschooling moms' night out. However... DH needed the car, so here I am at home! Yes, I missed an event - but what we also missed was a frantic night of trying to get everyone ready to head out the door in different directions, and all the stress and irritability that go with it. Instead, I have spent a wonderful and relaxing night here at home, planting squash and watermelon in the backyard with the kids! Yes, I lost... but what I gained was greater than what I lost.

Additionally, not only does having one car limit us to doing one activity at a time, it also inclines us to family-type activities and errands rather than individual-type functions. It's a great safeguard against having each family member going in a different direction, and it keeps us much more family-oriented in an age when dividing the family on a regular basis is an expected (but unhealthy) norm. It also helps us to prioritize - instead of choosing concurrent activities A, B, and C, having one vehicle forces us to choose the best thing and stick with that alone rather than dividing our energies (and our family) amongst non-essential activities that lead only to chronic busyness (and stress and exhaustion).

And so... This has been a big surprise, but a very welcome one! We love having one vehicle, and the benefits have been enormous and wide-spread. It makes one ponder very seriously which of our modern "conveniences" are taking from us more than they promise and/or deliver. Hopefully this will lead me to evaluate which of our modern "advances" might be better left behind. 

Thoughts, dear readers? 

The next step!

When Medical Mysteries Turn Nasty

Hello, dear readers!

I'd love to ask you all to pray for this sweet family who is dealing with a medical nightmare with their little girl. She is dealing with numerous conditions and a puzzling mystery of how to treat them and where to go for medical advice and help. It is extremely serious, and they are searching high and low for new options. They could really use your support and prayer! Local readers can also jump on their meal support schedule.

We pray for this family daily!

In Which I Forget a Whole Bunch of Stuff!

One of my ongoing projects as a homeschooler and as a homemaker has been to remember holidays - you know, to actually do things for the holidays rather than remembering "Oh yeah, I should have done something for that" in retrospect.

While I did pretty well for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentine's Day, I pretty much fell flat on my face for St. Patrick's Day and Easter.

I started out well for St. Patrick's Day - we did this scavenger hunt (though we only got to it yesterday, several weeks after the fact) and then green pepper print painting:

Mommy's pepper painting...

... and the 6yo's green pepper painting! 

(To do pepper prints, slice the bottom off of a bell pepper and use to make prints - like potato painting! It's harder than it looks (slippery!), but still fun.)

We also made green sugar cookies, colored with chlorophyll:

However, then a cold hit our house, and everyone got sick within 48 hours - and the rest of my St. Patrick's Day plans went out the window that week. On St. Patrick's Day itself, I completely forgot to do any of the special little things I had planned (green jello, green milk, green pepper-slice shamrocks, etc.). I read the story of St. Patrick to the family during devotion time and called it a day. (Have you ever read it? It's fascinating!)

This book of missionary stories came with our Sonlight Core A curriculum. We found it too advanced for our 5yo, but it is filled with great missionary stories that we plan to read later - including the story of St. Patrick. 

Easter was even worse, activity-wise. We attended an egg hunt for our MOMS club, but that was about it. I even forgot our Benjamin's Box activity! (Next week... next week...)

However, we had a great time attending Good Friday service and having our family egg hunt and Easter dinner on Saturday.

The 1yo got to do his first egg hunt, as well!

We assigned the 6yo to help the 1yo and 3yo find their eggs before he got his (though he got them all in the end), and we were really pleased with how helpful of a big brother he was!

My culinary adventure of the day was making refrigerator rolls, which were easy to make and smelled delicious! ("Tastes good too, so they tell me!" Name that quote!) I made them in our food processor, which greatly simplified the process (though it rather overloaded the food processor).

After this full day of Easter festivities, we headed straight out to a neighbor's wedding reception, where we had a great time and stayed several hours. At the end of the day, we were tired - it was definitely a full day.

Today (Easter Sunday), we attended. two church services (sunrise service at a friend's house, and regular church later) today. Have you ever taken three young children to a sunrise service? When the alarm went off this morning, my first thought was, "This is the dumbest idea I've ever had and we are never doing this again!" But we had an absolutely wonderful time and decided we want to do this annually. It was awesome!!

After the two services, we came home in a state of utter too-tired-to-think-straight fatigue, and ended up sleeping for almost two and a half hours this afternoon. (Thankfully everyone was tired!) Is there anyone else out there who (1) loves the holidays, but is also (2) intensely thankful when they're over? I find myself in an odd dichotomy between the two.

Happy Easter, everyone! He is Risen! I hope that each of you has had a fun and blessed Easter weekend.

The eggs that we finally remembered to dye, three days after the fact! 

In Which Children's Lessons Provide Hours of Merriment!

As part of our school work for kindergarten, we do once-a-week notebooking - a Charlotte Mason type of work in which the child chooses a topic (from amongst those studied that week) and narrates the story back (or writes about a certain topic studied).

Right now I copy down what our 6yo has to say on his chosen subject (in later grades he will write on his own), and then he illustrates it. The things that he writes are absolutely hilarious! I had to share this one with you.

Just in case you can't read it, here is what he wrote:

"Beware of Death Worm"

"The Mongolian death worm has tentacles. It uses them for stinging and then it eats. It has lots of venom. It could kill Grandpa in eight minutes. The death worm is huge - that's why it has so much venom. It lives in the desert. If you are ever in the desert, watch out for the death worm. The End."

In case you're wondering, the Mongolian Death Worm is a mythical creature of antiquity that was mentioned in a "most dangerous animals" book. For some reason he was fascinated by it!

Sometimes DH and I get his essays and read them together for sheer enjoyment. Kids are hilarious!

What Makes a Great Blog: A List of Tips!

I am, of course, writing this list of "how to blog well" tips because I am such a wonderful blogger and am ready to bless the world with my overflow of knowledge!

Stop laughing! I mean it!

No, in all seriousness - I am not writing this post because I am a great blogger, but because I read lots of great blogs!

In the years that I've been a passionate blog reader, I've had time to compile a list - what makes me click on a blog post, and what makes me pass one by? Some of those qualities are truly "content qualities," but many are, sadly, purely "appearance/presentation qualities" - i.e. how a post is presented to the world rather than actual content. Psychology 101, here we come!

And so, in no particular order, here are some "great blog characteristics" that I have compiled based on my own observations. Enjoy!

A Good Lookin' Blog - A few months back, I noticed that I had started to read a blog in my reader much more frequently than I had before. What had changed? Improved content? Nope - the content remained the same, but she had upgraded from a blah-and-boring background to a new-and-improved and visually appealing background. Voila - I found myself reading more often. The moral - looks matter. Pathetic, but true.

Length of Posts - Moderate or long posts = great. Super-short or marathon-length = not so awesome. (Super-short often means a lack of content, while marathon-length is apt to lose reader attention span. If you have something marathon-length to say, it helps to break it up into Part 1, Part 2, etc.)

Bring on the Links! - Lots of links within your posts to past posts or other pertinent sites or other bloggers' posts.

Short Paragraphs - This is a well-known technique. Short paragraphs make for easier reading! In fact, a while ago I gave up on one blogger who wrote in solid-block format (no matter how long her post, it was all in one unbroken paragraph). Regardless of content, it was exhausting to read.

Grammar, Spelling, Etc. - We all make mistakes, but grammar and spelling really do count. I have to admit, I do tend to click past blogs that begin, "Your not going to believe what their saying about..." Quality matters!

Clarity of Purpose - It helps to know the purpose of a blog. Is it a family blog? An issue-based blog? A short statement of purpose (and an intelligible blog name) help to focus your audience appeal and clarify your purpose in blogging.

Good Post Titles - If one thing makes me skip past a blog post, it is a vague or uninteresting post title! (Unless you're a friend or a really good blogger, in which case I read 'em all!) Example of a bad title: "Peer-Reviewed Studies, June 2011 to July 2012." When I see that, I've already scrolled past! Now, as to how to write an interesting title... I'll get back to you when I've found that out.

Decent Post Frequency - There's nothing more disappointing than finding a great blog... and then realizing that its most recent post was April of 2007! Blogging regularly enough to keep a blog active is a definite plus.

Social Media - Social media share-buttons on posts, or a Facebook group for your blog - huge pluses in gaining readership, and in being able to interact casually with your audience! (Unfortunately, the latter is often a huge time commitment over and above the blog itself, which is one reason that I don't do this. But if you want to grow your blog, this is the way!)

Pictures - I find that I am many times more likely to click on a post that has a picture attached to it. Again, this is not content-related but is instead purely a presentation issue.

Author Bio and Picture - I like to feel connected to the author, which is hard to do if the blog author is anonymous or unidentified! A page with author bio, picture, and contact information is a huge plus.

Sidebar Link Lists - Link lists on the blog sidebars (to past posts or links outside the blog) is a huge plus in garnering reader interest and providing more information for your readers. Keep it updated! (Again, I need to do this.)

Civility - Nothing is more likely to make me click "unsubscribe" than vulgarity, profane language, irreverence, or the like. Everyone differs in her tolerance for this, but it's a huge turn-off for me.

Evidence of Work - Readers appreciate it when bloggers have truly done their homework, putting their minds and their hearts into their posts. Lazy blog posts will lose readers! For example, a blog post that consists only of, "So, everyone, what do you think of President Obama? Discuss!" just won't work. Links, quotes, discussion, etc., are needed to make it work and obtain greater readership.

What would you add to this list, gentle readers?

Following my own advice: Adding a picture, even though it is totally irrelevant to the article. Aren't you feeling more likely to read this post now? 

Getting Radical On Y'All

Lately, an article that I read several years ago has come to mind - check it out:

Conversations of a Husband and Wife

Most of you probably know (from the absurd frequency with which I quote from it) that this is one of my favorite blogs. I love it. But when I read that particular article, I found it a bit... extreme. Okay, yeah, sure, I get the whole Christian "submission thing."

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:22)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got it.

But... this blogger took it a bit too far, in my never-to-be-humble opinion. She wrote:

"I sat down in this chair last night, pen and paper in hand, lists of questions on my mind. I needed his input. I needed guidance. I needed to sit under authority."

You're kidding me, right? Sit under my husband's authority? Get his advice when my own mind is just as bright as his, thank-you-very-much?

"I must be honest, some of the things that were on my mind involved him and perceptions I had about his priorities and the priorities of our household, but I knew I could not come into the conversation with both guns blazing, throwing accusations at him and trying to control the outcome of his answers.

 "I consciously put myself under his headship and what followed was an amazingly insightful and blessed conversation that took a load of burden off my back and reset my focus as the lady of the home."

This was a bit much for me at the time. I had come to accept wifely submission as a reality of the Christian life - you know, that after a long and vicious fight over [issue A], I would grudgingly give in and do what he wanted, all while giving long, exasperated sighs to let him know that I was only submitting because I was such a good wife, even though he was wrong and I was right.

But to seek his advice? To sit under his authority? To purposely ask for his input, direction, advice - and what's more, act on it?

Thank you, but no.

However, over the past few years, I have come so far with this issue, and I'm so glad that Amy had the guts to tackle it on her blog. I so needed to hear wisdom on that subject from a godly "older woman" (she is older in faith, if not in age).

I am now in a place where I actively put this advice into action, and it is such a blessing in my life. When I have issues that perplex me regarding our home, our schedule, our homeschool, or our life in general (and at least one of the above is usually a subject of confusion at any given time!), I have learned the habit of going - not to my friends or the internet - but to my husband. And the Lord has richly blessed this. Even when I feel that I have more "head knowledge" than my husband does on a certain issue, God blesses my efforts to respect and honor my husband as my (and our family's) federal head.

Additionally, I see my husband grow by leaps and bounds in his efforts to lead our family well as he sees me respect him and value and seek his opinion. When men are respected, they will move heaven and earth to be worthy of that respect.

Life is just better when I do things God's way.

In the same vein, I read another article several years ago that has been sitting on the back burner of my mind ever since. Go read it. (I'll wait.)

Submission and Silence

I found myself absolutely fascinated by Anne's discussion on the topic of the following verse:

“…women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church” (1 Corinthians 14:34-35).

Like most people, I have glossed over those verses without much thought, other than the occasional, "Okay, that was weird. Whatever." But as I have grown in my Christian walk, I have learned that the Bible was meant to be taken seriously. There are no irrelevant parts to the Bible, and we do ourselves a disservice by dismissing or ignoring any of God's inspired Word.

But seriously? Women keep silent in church? Not ask questions, but ask their husbands at home? You've got to be kidding! While it is absolutely clear in Scripture that women are not to teach in the church (i.e. be pastors or teach from the pulpit), I had never really paid attention to the "silent in church" bit.

But God said it. And He doesn't say things that He doesn't mean.

So over the past half-year or so, I have attempted to put this into practice! In other words, when I have a question about the sermon, I have made a conscious effort not to ask the pastor/teacher about it (or to look it up on the internet), but rather to save it and ask my husband at home. "So, hon, when the pastor at church today said such-and-such, I wasn't sure about that. What do you think?" etc.

And again, I have been blown away by how much this simple act of obedience has blessed our family!

When I come to my husband and ask him these questions, I can visibly see him grow spiritually as he realizes how much I trust him and his opinion, and how much I am relying on him (instead of another man or the internet) to answer my spiritual questions. I could never have anticipated how much spiritual growth would be occasioned by simply trusting my husband to answer my questions.

Again. Life is just better when I obey God's Word and do it His way!

Sometimes I don't understand the why of obedience until after I've obeyed (and sometimes not even then). Sometimes it takes a long time to see the blessing of obedience. As we tell our six-year-old, "Obey first and then ask for an explanation." But every time, God honors His Word, and He honors our family when we obey it.

I love watching how God leads and develops our family toward Himself. 

Be blessed!