8 Things that Caught My Eye Online This Week

1. The Daily Meme has Photo challenges - I'm trying to get my daughter motivated to take up some of them.  Haven't had any luck so far.  Teenagers!  :)

2. I took great encouragement from Ann's post The Real Secret to Happy Homemaking .  Here are the snippets from it that spoke to me, but please go read the whole thing - "Homemaking is about making a home --- and a home is a safe place, a refuge, a place to be real and alive and truest true...Homemaking is not about making perfection...A perfect home may not at all be a neat as a pin home." -

3. US President's Reading Project - I found out about this through Robin's Book Week Two post and I thought it was a great idea, however, as I am Canadian, I am considering posing my own Canadian Prime Ministers Reading Project. You may see something about that soon.  Please let me know if you'd be interested in such a thing

4. Loved this Sunday's Get Real With God post at Totally Tots.  Here's a quote: "children are the best mirrors. It never fails. If they are going through some behavior issue or attitude problem it doesn’t take long to realize that I am the ultimate cause of this."  Ouch.  I have found that to be so true.

5. 12 Tips for New Bloggers - Though written specifically for book bloggers there are some good tips for all bloggers - Get into a rhythm of regular posting; Read and comment on other blogs;  Ask questions in your posts; and answer questions posed by your readers in the comments; Always link to blog posts that you mention; If you get nasty comments or spam comments, ignore/delete. Do not respond; Enjoy blogging.  I discovered the 12 Tips from Phylis's new book blog, Windy Ridge Books.

6. I'm considering adding the Library Loot to my list of memes to participate in.  I like the idea of sharing great finds from the library and learning about what others have discovered in their local libraries.

7. 6 Steps To Effective Self Learning  Love this post!  My favorite point is point #4 Anytime is learning time.  If we could only get that into our heads!  And a favorite quote: "Let constant learning be a major part of your life-style".  Found out about the 6 steps through a Self Learning post at An Unschooling Life.

8. Booking Through Thursday - another meme that I will likely use as fodder for my blogging.  Every week a question having to do with reading is posed.  Today's question is: Do you read the inside flaps that describe a book before or while reading it?  My answer is most definitely yes! I read everything - the front and back covers, the inside flaps, the forewards and introductions, the reviews, the appendixes - everything!  I know, I'm sick  :)

post inspired by

How do you Shape Your Brand (Witness/Testimony)

Last weekend while participating in the Bloggiesta I read something that I haven't been able to get out of my mind. It was all about the importance of your Brand in the blogging world, but I couldn't get over how much of it also related to the importance of your Christian witness in the world.

As part of her bloggiesta Mini-Challenge about favicons and gravatars, Trish quoted from a ProBlogger post about How to Shape Your Blogs Brand and I had to go check out the whole post.  I hope ProBlogger doesn't mind but I've written my own adaption to the post to show where my mind has been.  I do encourage you to go check out the original post.  Most of these words are from that post, but I've edited them slightly.

1. A Brand (Witness/Testimony) will emerge whether you want it to or not

People begin to develop perceptions about you and what you stand for as they listen to what you say, as they look at what you wear, as they see what's important to you, as they observe how you interact with them and others – all of this contributes to how they perceive and describe you – your brand (witness/testimony).

2. You Can Shape Your Brand (Witness/Testimony)

People will form their own ideas about who you are and what you stand for – but you do have some ability to help them come to these conclusions.

How do you Shape Your Brand (Witness/Testimony)

1. Identify what You want to be Known For

2. Be what you want to be known for…… Consistently

Every time you do anything keep the witness you’re attempting to grow in mind. Everything you write, everything you say, everything you do either has the potential to build and shape your witness or conversely to hurt it.

Build relationships with people and influence their perceptions.  It is very easy to rush into conversations about you with guns blazing to ‘defend’ yourself and ‘fix’ peoples erroneous views about you – however this kind of attitude can actually do more harm than good.  Listen and reflect on what people are saying before you respond.  You’ll not only gain the respect of others but hopefully learn a thing or two about yourself and your witness that will help you improve it.  Don’t get sucked into letting what others say about you determine how you view you or determine your self worth.  Learn to know when to take it on board and learn to know when to let it go and move on.

Such wise, wise words.  Thank-you, ProBlogger.  I know you were talking about something totally different than what I ended up thinking about, but I learned much from your post, for both the blogging world and my Christian witness.

The Dangerous Voyage by Gilbert Morris

The Dangerous Voyage, by Gilbert Morris, is book #1 in The Time Navigators fiction series, written especially for preteens (ages 11-14). In the series Danny and Dixie travel back in time and experience "unforgettable moments in history". In The Dangerous Voyage they are transported back to 1620 in England and they explore the Mayflower.

I found this book on my book shelf last week and decided to re-read it because it fit the requirements for a couple of reading challenges I am participating in - the First in a Series Challenge and also the Young Readers Challenge

I remember buying the book for my children to read after I had read many of the books in Morris' House of Winslow series.  I really enjoyed Winslow's writing and was thrilled to check out his writing for children. Also, as a homeschooling mother, I was always looking to squeeze all the learning I could out of a book and the fact that these books had an historical element to them made them more appealing.

If you are interested in seeing the books in each series you can check out Gilbert Morris' page on Fantastic Fiction. I think that both of these series can be used as additional reading for pleasure in an American history learning unit, the Time Navigator series for younger readers and the House of Winslow series for older readers. Children could be encouraged to record mentions of historical events and people and use this as jump of points for further study. While reading the book this time around I was wondering how it compared to the first book in the House of Winslow series and I wished I had it on my shelves to do the comparing.

I am not a fan of the whole sci-fiction travel in time concept, but I do see how it can be fun for children and it can help them to see things from a different perspective.

I already quoted one passage for the book in my Admit You Need Him post and I'd like to end with another one:

"Are you sure you want the truth?" Dixie asked. "Or do you just want to prove what you already have decided to believe?"

Recalling some, but missing much

61.  friends to share a meal with62.  safe travels for family63.  quick healing of oldest daughter's knuckle64.  books to encourage65.  learning new things66.  oldest daughter keeping youngest occupied so I could rest and recover from illness67.  challenging messages from God's word68.  little one adjusting to her own room69.  enjoying the results of little one's imagination70.  memories packed with decorations
I am going on memory at the moment because I spent most of last week recovering from a bug and then I had computer troubles.  I missed making my daily jots as they occurred.  I know there were many more blessings than what I have recorded and though I didn't get to record them all, I did treasure them more because I was more aware of them than I would have been before taking up the challenge.
Ann explains The Thousand Gifts challenge - to start listing the gifts in the everyday and watch as your list grows...first to 1000...and then beyond...until it becomes an Endless Gifts Lists. Ann says that she tries to "add to the endless list of gifts every Monday... to begin the week with a heart spilling with gratitude!" I am following her example.

Admit You Need Him

"...how can we ask God for anything? We certainly haven't been on good terms with Him."

"Well, I don't know much about God, but I don't think it works quite like that. He doesn't hold out on us until we're good. He just wants us to admit that He's the only one who can help us. Then if we pray..."

A quote from a conversation between Dixie and Danny in The Dangerous Voyage by Gilbert Morris

Learning lots at the bloggiesta festivities!

Here's my six words for today:
Learning lots at the bloggiesta festivities!

Now to expand on those six words  :)


I decided to skim the mini challenges - old and new - and I got sucked in!

Here are the Old Challenges that caught my eye:
Clean Up Your Feedreader - got rid of feeds that hadn't been updated for over a year, got rid of some that I never really read anymore, got rid of some tags - down to 110 subscriptions, 13 tags.  I know that still sounds like a lot and I may do more cleaning yet, we'll see.

Google Alert Challenge - Never heard of Google Alert before and didn't find the link provided with the challenge all that helpful so went searching for info.   I found a good explanation and instructions on how to Set Up Google Alert Yourself and set one up for my blog address and my blog title.

Elevator Pitch - didn't know what an elevator pitch was but up on reading what it was and trying to work on one I realized that I already have a really short one, at 29 words, in my banner.

Favicons and Gravatars - I had heard bout a favicon before but didn't know how to make one or install it on my blog so I decided to give it a try.  I had much trouble but also had much help from Trish and Jill.  I finally figured out how to do it from How to Add a Favicon in Blogger.  In case you don't know what a favicon is, check out the little icon in the URL box by my blog URL.  Notice that it's no longer the bright orange blogger favicon.  I created my own little J's favicon.  Isn't it cool!?  I didn't do the Gravatar part of the challenge

Anchors Aweigh -  I learned about the importance of using more descriptive anchor words for links.  I'm trying to do better at that. 

Grade Your Blog  - I did a website grader and only scored 57%!  Boy, do I need to do some work.  One of the things I need to do is include ALT text for images.  I never do that.  Another is to add meta tags.  I tried, and tried to do that yesterday but never did succeed.  I kept getting an error message when trying to save it.  Sure wish I knew what was wrong

And the new challenges that appealed to me:

Cheat Sheet - I was sort of already doing this with sticky notes on my igoogle page for daily blog posting ideas, but I like the idea of making a master cheat sheet for blogging codes.

Footers and Copyright - I did not have a footer or copyright on my blog at all but this challenge had me searching to find out how to add it.  I found a website that finally helped me figure out how to add a copyright notice to my blog.  You have to scroll down to the bottom to actually see the copyright notice.  
 
Labels and tags - I had actually already started trying to be more consistent in adding labels to my posts.  I still forget sometimes but I'm trying to stay on top of fixing it when I forget.
 
Backing Up Your Blog - I had never thought about doing it before but it's done now, thanks to this challenge.  I can't believe it was so easy to do!
 
Dead Links - I hate dead links, but they are kind of inevitable. I do, however, think it is important to fix them when you become aware of them.  I tried testing my blog for dead links but got really frustrated with trying to read the results.  I may try again later.  I'd love it if people would leave a comment when they found a dead link, because then I would find out about it and fix it.

Care to join the "Bloggiesta" this weekend?

What's a Bloggiesta, you ask?

Natasha says "In short, it’s a blogging marathon.  An opportunity to cross those nagging items off of your to-do list and improve your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing." She is hosting a bloggiesta this weekend, starting today. Find out all the details here about what it is, how to play, who can play, prizes, etc.  


I heard about this on Robin's 52 Weeks Blog.  I am definitely going to be checking out the info and mini challenges, which you can read about here.  It sounds like a great way to pick up some blogging tips and help improve your blog, no matter what type of blog it is.


Let me know if you decide to join the celebrations, and what you thought about it after the fact, if you decide to join in the fun.  

8 Things Online that Caught My Eye

1. 2010 Mathematics Game - found this from Let's Play Math.   Not sure if we'll actually do anything with it or not but we might try.  It's a challenge to use the digits in the year 2010 and the operations +, -, x, ÷, ^ (raised to a power), sqrt (square root), and ! (factorial), along with grouping symbols, to write expressions for the counting numbers 1 through 100.  Check out the site for more details.

2. Money making saving goals for 2010 - While I don't see myself doing a lot of the things that she does, I like the idea of setting money making/saving goals for the year.  Not sure if I'll actually do it or not, but I like the idea.  :)

3. Online Game of Sudoku Playing Board - Love this!  My dad has been hooked by Sudoku for a while now and I had tried it but couldn't quite get in to it.  Love playing it through this online playing board, however.  I'm still only at the easy level of play but I've played many games since finding this site last week.

4. 52 Self Portraits a Year - I found this by googling after reading Alex's 52 Fridays of Self Portraits post.  I love the idea and have challenged my oldest daughter to give it a try. I think I'll do it for my little one too.  Through my googling I also discovered the 52 Weeks group which has the same basic idea but is a little more creative.

5. Handmade Ornaments for Christmas 2010 - Found out about this flicker group through Alex's Handmade Ornaments for Christmas 2010 post.  The idea is to pledge to make one ornament a month.  I love the idea.  Not sure if I'll actually do it but I will be watching to see what everyone else is creating.

6. Project 365: How to Take a Picture a Day and See Your Life a Whole New Way - found this page from Molytail 365 .  I actually took up the challenge to take a picture a day in late April last year.  I missed a few days but didn't do too bad. I'm in the process of putting my 2009 Project 365 pictures into a set on Flickr so that I can make a slide show of them. I'm doing the 365 Project again this year and have a 2010 album started at Picasa for it.  I actually have a gadget showing the 2010 album in the sidebar of my blog.  I've already missed one day but that's okay.  I found a Project365 group on flickr.  I may end up switching my album to Flickr - we'll see.

7. GoodReads - found this site when I went looking for an online place to record books I'm reading with my little one.  You can create your own bookshelves to record whatever books you want.  I have a shelf to record books I've read to my little one and also some shelves to record books I read for challenges I've joined.  I have a gadget on my blog showing the books I've read to my little one and I'm thinking about adding gadgets for the other challenges too.

8. The Daily Meme - Need inspiration for blogs posts?  Check out the Daily Meme.  It give links to all kinds of ideas

post inspired by

Returning to Holiness by Dr. Gregory Frizzel

Finished my first book for 2010.  Well, I've actually read 23 different books to my 4 year old so far this year but this is the first book that I read just to me. If you want to see the books I've read to my little one check out my "read to Anna" bookshelf gadget from GoodReads at the bottom of the right hand column of my blog.

This book, Returning to Holiness by Dr. Gregory Frizzel, counts as my first read for the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge and also for the Christian Non-Fiction Challenge.  I've been fighting a bug and haven't made it out to the library yet so I've been raiding my own shelves.  I picked this book up a while back and didn't get around to reading it until now.

Dr. Frizzel stresses the importance of living a holy life and provides guidelines to encourage the reader to begin a journey towards holiness.  He suggests 7 different types of sin - Sins of Thought, Sins of Attitude, Sins of Speech, Sins of Relationships, Sins of Commission, Sins of Omission, and Sins of Self-Rule and Self-Reliance -  that must be looked at to take this journey.  He gives scripture verses that address many different aspects of each type of sin.

I have mixed feeling about the book.  It is a good topic and it has some good stuff in it.  I found parts of it very challenging and I will be revisiting it.  Having said that, however, I do not feel it is well written or well presented.  I found many typos, especially in the last part of the book.  I was also frustrated by the margins and spacing of the type - in other words it wasn't eye appealing.  I do, however, like all the scriptures that are quoted in the book and will be working on committing many of them to memory so that I can better live the holy life God calls me to live.

Finding treasures on my bookshelf

I haven't managed to make it to the library yet, I'm fighting a bug of some sort, so I've been revisiting my own bookshelves and finding some treasures.  One such book is The Counting Book by John Peter.

This is an interactive book that introduces children to the concept of addition.  It was published in 1957 and has a very unique design.  The inside front cover tells you to cut each page into three strips.  The children then turn the strips to match the pictures and form addition equations.  My four year old loves playing with this.

Though I'm a day late this post was inspired by 

So much to be thankful for!

...adding to the list is so easy and really does brighten the darkest of days
31. short visit with uncle and family32. eldest son arriving safe and sound33. a fun contest34. watching youngest and oldest love one another35. sister and husband arriving safe and sound36. listening to oldest make sounds of enjoyment first at the smells and than at the taste of my cooking37. listening to son and daughter play guitars and sing and praise the Lord together38. hearing the laughter and chatter of their together time39. watching son's friend become more comfortable with the family40. mother, father, and "brother of the heart" arriving41. fun times with family42. bringing the New Year in together43. cooking for family44. dishwasher working!45. son getting safely back to his present home46. son and friend arriving safely at her house47. good weather for everyone's travels48. having friends to share burdens49. praying father50. fun loving mother51. sister and husband getting back to their home safe and sound52. the wonders of technology that allow me to "sit in" on a church service many miles away53. table cloth that I like54. sharing books with little one55. finding out how much a cousin enjoyed her time with us56. invitations to visit over the holidays57. time with friends58. listening to a sweet voice sing her own creations59. knowing oldest daughter turns to God for comfort60. being able to lay it all at God's feet
Ann explains The Thousand Gifts challenge - to start listing the gifts in the everyday and watch as your list grows...first to 1000...and then beyond...until it becomes an Endless Gifts Lists.  Ann says that she tries to "add to the endless list of gifts every Monday... to begin the week with a heart spilling with gratitude!" I am following her example.

My Reflections on Question #1

While Reflecting on the Old and Preparing for the New I posed 6 questions for myself.  Here are my ponderings on question #1

Was my relationship with God what it should have been this past year?

There is definite room for improvement but there were things that I did that were good for my relationship with God.

Daily Bible Reading


I was pretty faithful to my daily devotions.  I set my homepage to the chronological reading plan at BibleGateWay.com and I committed to doing the daily Bible reading before doing anything else on the computer.  I was faithful to that but was unfaithful when I had computer problems.  I probably missed less than 20 or so readings the entire year.

For a few years now I have made it a goal to read through the Bible in a year.  I've used a number of different methods to help me do this and I've done fairly well.

Recently I've come across even more online Bible reading helps:
ESV Bible Reading Plans
For the Love of God
One Year Bible Blog
Bible Read Through
Blogging Thru the Bible in 90 Days

This year I've started doing the default Bible Reading plan through Bible Read Through but I don't feel totally settled into it yet and may change to one of the others.  The Bible in 90 Days challenge is tempting but I don't want to take on more than I can handle.  In reality, though, it shouldn't be any big deal to spend an hour a day reading my Bible.  Thing is, I'd like more time to actually study the Bible too, so we'll have to see.  I've still made a commitment to do nothing on the computer until my Bible reading is done.  It is priority number one.

I believe that daily Bible reading is vital if you want to grow in God.  I've been encouraging my kids in that for years.  You don't have to read the Bible through in a year.  Start small and work up.  One thing I did for my kids was I made them a Bible Reading Chart to tuck into their Bibles.  On it was listed all the chapters of the Bible and I suggested that they mark of each chapter as they read it and work their way through the Bible no matter how long it took them to do so.  It seems daunting at the beginning but slow and steady gets you through and it feels good to have tangible evidence of what you have read.

I'd like to encourage all readers, Don't Forget The Most Important Book.

Bible Memorization


I wanted to work on Bible memorization and had great plans, but I didn't follow through on them.  I need to do better this year.  I found the Scripture Memory System a couple of years ago and have made an attempt at using it but haven't been faithful.  I really want to give it another try.  I'd love to find an online tool to use but haven't found one that fits me yet.

Prayer


While there have been many times in the past year that I had great prayer times, brought on by tough circumstances, I could have, and should have, been much more consistent in my prayer life.  I do fine with praying about things throughout the day but I don't do well with focused intentional prayer time.  I need to work on that.

Yesterday I decided to start a prayer journal document to help me be more focused and intentional with my praying.  I've started prayer journals before but they've died out quickly.  I'm thinking doing it on the computer may help me be more consistent, but we'll see.  Basically all I'm doing so far is taking time when it strikes me to write whatever I happen to be praying for at the time.

One thing that I did work on more last year was praying scripture.  I really found that to be helpful and powerful.  I am hoping to do more of that in my prayer journal this year and I may share more here.


So, that's my ponderings on question #1.  My relationship with God wasn't too bad this past year.  I made some conscious efforts to improve it, and it definitely helped, but there is also definite more for improvement, and I will be working on improving it this year.

Keep Christ in every single day

My friend Tom had something on his status on facebook a few days back and I asked his permission to use it in a blog post.  Here's what he had to say:

"Keeping Christ in Christmas is the easy part. Allowing him to live through us during the other 364 days of the year? That's the challenge! If I were so accused, would there be enough evidence to warrant a conviction? "So it is true of the child born in Bethlehem. He does not live in men's hearts only one day of the year, but in all the days of the year" - Ghost of Christmas present, A Christmas Carol."

It really struck me when I read it.  We make such a big fuss about Keeping Christ in Christmas, but we really should be concerned about letting him shine through us every single day.  Thanks for the reminder, Tom.  I'm going to try to keep that thought in the forefront this year.

Keep Christ in every single day.


post inspired by Tom's status and by

My 2010 Word and Verse of the Year - Wholeheartedly, Col. 3:23

A couple of years ago I came across the idea of picking a word or phrase as inspiration for the year.  I'm thinking it may have been from Ali Edwards One Little Word idea.  She says "I began a tradition of chosing one word for myself each January - a word that I can focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life." I liked the idea and enjoyed reading about other people's "word of the year", but I didn't really pick one for myself.

Last year I tried to pick a word but I didn't really settle on one.  I was thinking along the line of purposely, purposeful, etc. I tried to find a verse to go with my word but couldn't settle on a verse either.  I wanted to try to be more purposeful in what I did. Even though I didn't really settle on a word the idea was there often and I found it did help me to be more focused.  I didn't always succeed but I was more successful than I would have been if I hadn't thought about it at all.

This year I have decided on a word.  My word is wholeheartedly.  I really need to work on my attitude, especially when it comes to many of my responsibilities.  I want to work "wholeheartedly" at what I do instead of just doing things half-heartedly.

My Word for the Year was actually inspired by a verse that I have decided to make my Verse for the Year - Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people." ISV  I like how this page shows how the verse is translated in different versions of the Bible.  I especially like the Douay-Rheims Bible "do it from the heart" and the Weymouth New Testament "let your hearts be in your work".

So, that's my goal for the year - to let my heart be in my work and do things from my heart.

Do you have a Word for the Year?  I'd love to hear about it.  By the way - Happy New Year!

Reflecting on the Old and Preparing for the New

Earlier this week a friend pointed me to a site with 10 questions for the New Year and I thought I might try to work my way through them.  Reading through these questions, however, started me thinking about my own 6 questions.

Was my relationship with God what it should have been this year?

Was my relationship with my husband what it should have been this year?

Was my relationship with my children what it should have been this year?

Was my relationship with my neighbours what it should have been this year?

Was my relationship with my friends what it should have been this year?

Was my relationship with my church what it should have been this year?

I will be taking some time to reflect on these specific questions during the next few days.  I want to acknowledge things that I did right, confess things I did wrong, and come up with specific plans to do better.

post inspired by the "Repentance and Renewal" theme in this week's

A Fun Contest and Another Reading Challenge

Trudy Morgan Cole has turned her 2009 Top Ten favorite books list into a fun contest.  She doesn't actually name the books but gives you hints to help you figure out what they are, and she's going to select 5 winners from the correct entries she recieves before  January 6.  I just finished searching her blog and finding the answers.  Along the way I also found some books to add to my list of possibilities. Give it a try and see how much fun it is.

I know I've already signed up for an over abundance of reading challenges but I have one more to add to my list.

100 books a month challenge - Now before you call to have me committed let me explain.  This challenge is to read Children's books. To meet it I merely have to read at least 3 books a day for 20 days of the month and 4 books for the other 10 days.  Rereads count.  Shouldn't be a problem.  My little one loves to be read to and we can easily read 3 or 4 or more books a day.

To be perfectly truthful, the thing that really drew me to this challenge was reading what inspired the challenge.  The lady is attempting to read through the children's section of her local library.  I like that idea!  So while I'm saying I'm going to attempt to read 100 children's books a month my real goal is to read through the children's section of our library. Maybe I should call this the Reading through the Children's Section of your local library challenge.  :)

The counting of blessings continues...

13. receiving a long awaited Nativity set!
14. watching youngest daughter play with the set
15. sharing oldest daughter's delight of having found the perfect gift for someone special
16. oldest daughter and father going on a late night last minute Christmas shopping trip out of town together
17. getting to stay at home with little one
18. oldest son calling to tell us he's asked permission for us to all come spend a night with him while his house mate is away
19. youngest daughter saying "Know why I love you, Mom? You're the bestest Mom I ever seen."
20. the delight in youngest ones eyes when she saw the decorated tree, even if it was an artificial one
21. a night out with friends - good food and good company
22. visiting with oldest son
23. a poinsettia from oldest son - I've always wanted one
24. simple toys that bring much joy
25. blessings from family and friends
26. having a puzzle to do
27. a child that also enjoys puzzles
28. an unofficially adopted son sharing time with us
29. BBQ and good time with friends
30. cleaning for company

Ann explains The Thousand Gifts challenge - to start listing the gifts in the everyday and watch as your list grows...first to 1000...and then beyond...until it becomes an Endless Gifts Lists.  Ann says that she tries to "add to the endless list of gifts every Monday... to begin the week with a heart spilling with gratitude!" I am following her example.

Everything we need!

2 Peter 1:3 says "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."

"His divine power" - the same power that raised Jesus from the dead - the same power that created the heavens and the earth.

"has given us" - it's available to us - He's given it to us - it's there for our taking.

"Everything we need" - do you get that?  Everything we need!

"for life" - to live our lives on this earth - we don't need to worry or fret

"and godliness" - to live a godly live - we can't do it on our own, but we don't have to, we're not supposed to try to - it's only possible through His power working in us

How do we get it?

"Through our knowledge of Him." - as we get to know Him better - as we spend time with Him - as we talk to Him - as we learn about Him through His Word and through His servants - as we allow His power to work in us

He has given us everything we need!

Happiness is....

....doing a puzzle with my girl

Christmas is just not complete for me without having a jigsaw puzzle to work on.  I've been a jigsaw puzzle fanatic from quite an early age.  The harder and more pieces the puzzle has the better it is.  It was tradition for me to get at least one jigsaw puzzle for Christmas, until I got married.  Neither my husband or my three older children really enjoy jigsaw puzzles and so I stopped getting them.  I miss my puzzles.

Thankfully, I finally have a child that enjoys puzzles.  Today I went out and bought a puzzle for my four year old and I to do together.  I was actually looking for one just for me - at least 1000 pieces - but another one caught my eye.  The description on the box said that it was a Family puzzle with big pieces for little ones and smaller pieces for adults.  I'd never seen one like it before.  It was only 400 pieces but I decided to get it anyway.

Little one and I had great fun putting it together.   I think I'll make a point of getting one for us next year too.

Post inspired by 

Are You Ready for Christmas?

How many times have I heard that over the last month.  What exactly does it mean?  What do you need to do to get ready?  So many people have so many different ideas in that regard.  I never really know how to answer the question because I'm never really sure what it means.  I know that I don't do half the things to get ready that other people do.  If they knew how little I did they'd probably think I'm crazy.

Christmas is coming, whether you are ready or not.

Something else is coming, whether you are ready or not, and it's much more important that you be ready for this coming.

Jesus is coming.  are you ready?  Once again people have different ideas on how you get ready, but there is really just one way. Romans 10:13 "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  Call on His name.  Accept His gift.  Be ready for His coming.  It could be today.

Inspired by the Christmas is coming... theme of this week's 

Stories and Movies about Christmas Miracles...

....have me thinking - why is that some people have no trouble believing in, or giving credit to, Santa, or the magic of Christmas, for miracles but they really struggle, or out right refuse, to believe in, or give credit to, God for miracles?

A different kind of gift list

Gift lists.  Most everyone has one or more on hand this time of the year.  Either it's a list of gifts to give or a list of gifts you'd like to receive, or both.  I've decided to join Ann and start writing a list, not of gifts that I want or that I am going to give, but a list of gifts that I have in the everyday happenings of life.  The idea goes right along with the  Make a List suggestion that I wrote about in yesterday`s post.

For some time now I've been toying with the idea of joining Ann's Gratitude Community.  The clincher for me was the post on her blog today - Notes of an Avid Grace-Collector: Lessons From 1000 Gifts.  I love the list of lessons at the end of the post.

Ann explains The Thousand Gifts challenge - to start listing the gifts in the everyday and watch as your list grows...first to 1000...and then beyond...until it becomes an Endless Gifts Lists.  Ann says that she tries to "add to the endless list of gifts every Monday... to begin the week with a heart spilling with gratitude!"  


I am going to try to follow her example, and so I begin with my first post for the





1.  playing games with youngest daughter
2.  healing bones in oldest daughter's hand
3.  listening to oldest daughter play her guitar and sing
4.  safe travels to the doctor in another town
5.  bumping in to friends while shopping
6.  unexpectedly seeing and having the chance to hug my "brother by heart"
7.  the time and funds to buy little gifts
8.  seeing youngest son's smile as a friend from the past shows up
9.  seeing his friend from the past
10.  being able, through the wonders of the internet, to watch oldest son perform in his church's Christmas program
11.  knowing oldest son is settled into a church, a job, and a community
12.  being able to connect with like minded people that encourage me in my walk

Feeling stressed about the holidays?

Want some peace?

I came upon the 12 Days of Peace idea a little late, as I only discovered it today.  December 13 the blog owner started sharing daily ideas for something easy to do to hang on to peace in your home.  I liked the idea and decided to skim to see what she had suggested so far.

I really like the idea for day one - make a list of things you're grateful for.  She suggests putting it where everyone can read it and add to it.  I think I'm going to make one tomorrow for your fridge door.

I also like the Unplug idea.  She suggests that you "Reinvest the time you would have spent facing a screen and give that face time to those you love." It goes right along with where my mind has been lately.  I know I need to set aside time for this.  

The Let it be idea also goes along with what I've been thinking lately.  It's time to let some things go and just "let it be."

This also goes along with a verse that really spoke to me in my devotional time this morning.

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you.

That's the key.  Give it all to Him.  Be sure to do what is important to Him and let the rest go.

6 more days...

...and I don't have a thing done. Seriously. Nothing.

Christian Authors I've read in the past

I have read a number of Christian authors over the years and I wanted to make a conscious effort to read more books by Christian authors in 2010 so I looked for a challenge to read Christian authors.  I came up with four such challenges - the 20 New Christian Authors in 2010 Challenge (which isn't open to Canadians and I didn't really want to commit to reading 20 new authors when I really wanted to read more of some of the authors that I have already read), the Christian Non Fiction Challenge (which wasn't what I was thinking about originally but I like the idea), the Christy Awards Reading Challenge (which interests me but still wasn't quite what I had in mind because I have to pick from a list of books rather than have complete freedom to choice ones that I want), and the Biblical Fiction Challenge.  I didn't bother to join the first challenge but I did join the last three.  

To prepare for the Christy Awards Challenge I checked out the Christy Nominated and Awarded Books list. I decided to make a list of authors mentioned on the Christy list and see if I had read any books by these authors, whether the actual books I had read were on the list or not.  It ended up being a great walk down memory lane for me, as it had been quite some time since I had read some of these books, and I also found some books to add to my TBR list. 

It wasn't that long ago that a friend introduced me to Liz Curtis Higgs books and I quickly bolted through three of her books: Thorn in My Heart, Fair Is the Rose, and Whence Came a Prince.  These three books tell the stories of Jamie and Evan McKie and and Leana and Rose McBride.  It is a retelling, of sorts, of the Biblical story of  Jacob and Esau and Leah and Rachel.  I loved the books!  These would be a great pick for someone participating in the Biblical Fiction Challenge. 

It was quite some time ago that I was introduced to Francine Rivers books.  The first one I read was Redeeming Love, a retelling, of sorts, of the story of Gomer and Hosea.  Loved the book! Another great one for the Biblical Fiction Challenge.  Next I read the three books in her Mark of the Lion Series: A Voice in the Wind, An Echo in the Darkness, and As Sure As the Dawn.  Excellent books that would be great choices for anyone doing the Historical Fiction Challenge because they are set in the time of the crumbling of the Roman Empire.

The same friend that introduced me to Liz Curtis Higgs books also introduced me to Lynn Austin and I am so glad she did!  I devoured her Chronicles of the Kings series which included these five books: Gods and Kings, Song of Redemption, The Strength of His Hand, Faith of My Fathers, and Among the Gods.  They would be a great pick for someone participating in the Biblical Fiction Challenge.  I also read her Candle in the Darkness, which I didn't realize was a part of a three book series set in the time of the civil war.  These would qualify for the Historical Fiction Challenge.  I also read one of her stand alone novels, All She Ever Wanted. 

I know I read at least some of the Zion Covenant Series by Bodie and Brock Thoene, but I don't remember which ones or how many. My dad was into this series big time and he was the one that introduced me to it.  I seem to remember enjoying the books I read but it was such a long time ago that I don't remember much about them.  I wouldn't mind rereading them or reading other books by them.  There are a lot to choose from, most of which fit into the Historical Fiction Challenge.  On this page they answer the question "How do I read the books in historical order?".  

I read a number of Gilbert Morris' House of Winslow Series a few years back and loved them.  I don't remember which ones or how many I read.  I would love to have the whole series and I wouldn't mind rereading them all.  These fit into the Historical Fiction Challenge, as they are set in American history from the time of the Mayflower on.

Many years ago I read a number of Gary Smalley's books, all of which would fit in the Christian Non Fiction Challenge. The ones I remember for sure that I read are Love is a Decision, Making Love Last Forever , If Only He Knew, For Better or Best, and The Two Sides of Love.  Recently I also read some books that he co-authored with Karen Kingsbury.

I discovered Karen Kingsbury this past year when I was browsing the shelves of our library.  The books in her Redemption Series caught my eye because they were co-authored with Gary Smalley so I decided to give them a try.  I was hooked!  I quickly devoured all 5 books in the Redemption Series, and quickly moved on to devour both the Firstborn Series and the Sunrise Series.  I also read On Every Side.  While these don't fit any of the challenges I've signed up for they are still great books to read.

So, that's some of the books by Christian author's that I have already read.  I'm looking forward to reading more.

My Own rewrite of a Christmas Song

I'm making a list,
Checking it twice,
Gonna find out what the library has
January first is coming up fast
I need to get some books
To get ready to start to read
I've joined so many challenges
I need an early lead

So, I'm making my list
Gotta get it done fast
Gotta check out
What the library has
January first is coming up fast

Books that I have read by Newfoundland Authors

To encourage people to consider joining my 2010 Newfoundland Authors Reading Challenge, I thought I'd share some books by Newfoundland Authors that I  have read in the past.  I may reread some of the same books this year or I may read other books by these authors.

Trudy J. Morgan Cole`s Esther: A Story of Courage is a book that I loved.  I seriously couldn`t put it down.  If anyone is looking for a book to count for the Biblical Fiction challenge I would suggest this one.  I was thinking about using it for the the Flashback Challenge but then I discovered her blog and learned about all the other books she`s written and I want to taste some of them first.

Kevin Major`s No Man's Land is another that I really, really enjoyed.  It's another I'm considering for the Flashback Challenge.  I originally read it because it was required reading for my son for highschool.  He loved it and I'm thinking about rereading it with my daughter after Christmas as part of her schooling.  It could also be counted for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and I think it would fit the Young Adult Reading Challenge.

As Near to Heaven by Sea is another of Kevin Major's books that I enjoyed, even though it is a history book instead of a novel.  I'm also considering doing this one with my daughter as part of her schooling in the New Year.  It would count for the Flashback Challenge.

I also read Blood Red Ochre by Kevin Major, but this is one of those books that doesn't especially suit my reading taste.  I think it is a very good book, but a little out of my comfort zone. It would make a good choice for someone participating in the Young Adult Reading Challenge

I think I read a couple other Kevin Major books but I can't remember for sure if I read them or just thought about reading them.  I may look at more of his as possibilities for some of the challenges.

Cassie Brown's Death on the Ice was required reading for either a high school or university course, or maybe both.  I remember enjoying it somewhat but also not liking some things about it.  It would be a good fit for someone looking for books for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.  I am consider re-reading it or reading one of her other books.

Earl Pilgrim is a great story teller and from the books that I've read by him over the years I've found that he was improving as a writer.  Will Anyone Search for Danny? is the first book that I read by him and while I really enjoyed the story, I did not enjoy the writing.  Some other books that I've read by him are The Captain and the Girl, The Day of Varick Frissel, and The Curse of the Red Cross Ring.  I think I read some others too but I can't remember for sure.  Many of his books would count for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

This is just a small sampling of some of our Newfoundland Authors, there are many more, and I will be posting about more of them in the near future.  If there is a particular Newfoundland Author that you enjoy I'd love to hear about it.  Also, please consider joining my 2010 Newfoundland Authors Reading Challenge and spreading the word about it.

2010 Reading Challenges

I love challenges.  I don't always totally complete challenges that I take on but figure that it is better to try and fail than to not try at all.  If I at least try I may accomplish something, but if I don't try anything then I am sure to accomplish nothing.  I'd rather accomplish something than nothing. With that thought in mind I have decided to take on the following Reading Challenges in 2010.  It seems like a lot but in reality there will be a whole lot of overlapping.  All books will fit in at least two challenges, and most will fit in a lot more than that.

2010 52 books in 52 weeks reading challenge - Plain and simple - read at least one book a week for the whole year.  I will be looking for very thin books.  :)

Reading Through the Seasons 2010 Challenge - Read one book for each season with the season word in the title.  Pretty simple.

Flashback Challenge - The challenge is to reread books you've already read but it includes a mini challenge to read at least one book from your childhood, one from high school, and one from adulthood.  I think I can manage that.

1st in a Series Challenge - I love reading books in a series!  I'll be attempting to read at least three books that are firsts in a series.  Now to find some interesting sounding series.  Hmmmm...

2nd Reading Challenge - At first I thought this was the same as the Flashback challenge but it's totally different.  For this challenge you read either a second book in a series or a second book by the same author.  Once again I'm aiming for at least three books.

Wish I'd Read That Challenge - There are a few books I can think of that I wish I had read so I figure this one will be easy.  I'm aiming for at least three books that fit this challenge.

E-books Reading Challenge - I know that some of the books that I wish I had read are available as e-books so this one should be easy. Once again I'm aiming for at least three.

Read the Book See the Movie Challenge - The kids and I have done this a lot over the years, and loved it!  In our experience the movie very really measures up to the book.  There are lots more out there that we haven't done yet, or we may just redo one or more.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - I love historical fiction!  Had to join this one.  I'm sure I can manage at least three, if not more.

The Art History Reading Challenge - I love art and I've been wanting to learn more so that I could add more to our home learning.  The minimum for this challenge is just three books so I figure I can manage that.

Science Book Challenge - Not my favorite kind of reading but necessary for our home learning so I'm going to do my best to do at least three non-fiction science/nature themed books.

Support Your Local Authors Challenge - This is simply a challenge to read local authors.  It's something I'd like to put more effort in to.  I know there are a few people in our community that have written books and I should make the effort to read them.  This is a perpetual challenge and there are no minimum requirements

Canadian Authors Challenge - I want to make a conscious effort to read more Canadian authors and was planning on starting a challenge to do so until I came across this one.  The challenge is to read a minimum of three books by Canadian Authors.

2010 Reading Challenge - Newfoundland Authors - This is a challenge I issued myself because I want to make a conscious effort to read more Newfoundland authors.  I haven't see a goal of a certain number but will simple see how many I've managed to read by the end of the year.

Christian Non-Fiction Challenge 2010 - I like the idea of this challenge but I'm not sure I will manage to read as many as required.  The challenge is to read ten or more.  I'm going to make a conscious effort to read as many as I can fit in whether I reach the ten or not.

Biblical Fiction Challenge 2010 - The challenge is to read at least six fiction books based on stories or characters from the Bible.  I like those kind of books so I will attempt to include some of them in my reading list, though I'm not sure I'll manage to read six.  I guess we'll see.

The Christy Awards Reading Challenge - I wanted to include more Christian authors in my reading and this challenge will help with that.  The challenge is to read at least three books that have won a Christy Award.  Lists are available on the site.

Young Readers Reading Challenge -I will definitely be reading some children's books to my four year old so this one is a must.  Must read a minimum of 12 for the challenge but I will read more than that.  I will be keeping a list to see how many we have actually read by the end of the year.

Young Adult Reading Challenge - The challenge is to read at least 12 young adult novels.  I'm hoping to find some to recommend to my young adults.

Take Another Chance Challenge - This is a list of 12 very different challenges to find books books to read in "unusual or random ways".  You only have to do three to participate.  Ones I'm thinking about using are: #1: read an author who has the same initials, same first name, same last name, or exact same name as you; #3 read a book that is on a provided list of 100 best books, I'm thinking of choosing from either the Mystery or Non-Fiction list; #4 read a book that won a literary award; #11 read two authors from the same family

2010 Genre Book Challenge - There are no minimums for this one, basically just a list of different genres to encourage people to read different genres.  I'm going to see how many I can cover.

2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge - I like this challenge.  I'm hoping to get most of my books from my local library so this one should be easy.  Minimum is 25 books.

Throughout the year I will be posting about books I read and reporting on how I am doing in the different challenges.  I'd love to hear from you if I should happen to inspire you to take on any of these challenges, or if you have already signed up for any of them.

2010 Reading Challenge - Newfoundland Authors

I've searched high and low but I can't find a challenge to read Newfoundland Authors in 2010, so I've decided to issue my own challenge. :)

Newfoundland and Labrador is my home province. I love it. I know there are a number of authors from Newfoundland and Labrador and I've read some of them. To be perfectly honest, I haven't always enjoyed books written by Newfoundlanders. I have read a few that I've liked, but the ones I haven't especially liked are more numerous. I think it is a matter of my own taste in books rather than a reflection of the quality of our writers. I don't especially like books that are full of crude language and questionable behavior and many of the books that I've found by Newfoundlanders seem to have both. Regardless of that, however, I want to make an effort to read more books by Newfoundlanders in 2010. I'm hoping I'll find more that I actually enjoy. I am not going to set a goal of a particular number, just going to see how many I've actually read by the end of the year.

If you are interested, you are welcome to join me in this challenge. I haven't a clue about the wonderful Mr. Linky that I've seen on other pages for people to use in joining challenges. If I happen to learn I will add it to this post, but at least for now you can simply leave a comment on this post letting me know that you are planning on joining the challenge. If you should happen to write reviews of the Newfoundland authors books that you read, I'd love for you to share links to those, too, throughout the year.

To help myself and anyone else that might be interested in this challenge, I will make a post in the near future with a list of Newfoundland authors and books. If you have authors or books that could be added to the list, feel free to tell me about them in a comment on this post.

Why I'm Back

It all started when Alex interrupted the silence of her "create corner" blog by sharing about the 2010 52 books in 52 weeks reading challenge.  Before that I was happily enjoying my long term blog writing break, while once in a while skimming blogs in my google reader.  The challenge, however, stirred something within me.  I love to read, and I love challenges.  I couldn't resist.  I had to check it out. While the rules said that you didn't have to blog to participate, I knew it would be that much more fun, and motivating, to blog about the challenge.  That started the wheels churning about the possibility of reviving my sleeping blog.

I decided to check out the list of participants that had already signed up for the challenge.  This led me to the Book Dragon's Lair.  I noticed in her side bar that she was hosting some challenges and it was there that I found the Reading Through the Seasons 2010 Challenge.  I thought this would help me choose some of the books I'd read for the 52 books challenge.  I had I noticed that the challenge rules stated that books may overlap other challenges and this challenge said the same thing.  I could participate in both without adding to my required reading. Good idea!  That got me thinking...maybe I could find other challenges that would help me in deciding what to read for the 52 books challenge!  I did a google search for 2010 book challenges. There are lots of them out there.  It became more and more tempting to revive my blog so that I could post about these challenges and why I was interested in them.

While going through all the different challenges that I found, I came up with a few of my own ideas for challenges that I want to challenge myself with.  That got me to thinking that if I revived my blog I could post my own challenges and invite others to join me.

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.  Yes, I would revive my sleeping blog and join the challenge - er, challenges!

Stay tuned for a list of the challenges I hope to participate in and a couple of challenges I would like to pose.

Like my new look?

I spent the afternoon and evening working on my blog. Found this great document on creating a blogger template. I used a picture of my girls that I took this week as part of the blog banner I created. I originally used a pattern on this page from Squidfingers for the background of the blog. I changed the pattern and the photo to black and white because that's the color scheme I wanted. What fun! I may play some more but I like it so far.

Edit:  I ended up creating my own background pattern and using it instead of the pattern from squidfingers, simply because I wanted my background to better match the blog banner.  I'm pretty pleased with what I've created!  I think I'll keep this look for a least part of the winter.

Edited again in April when I changed the look.  I wanted to show the look that I had created and was talking about in this post.

Changes coming

I have plans to revive this blog for the new year. I'm planning pretty much a complete overhaul so please be patient with me as I experiment with changes

Trying something out

Just trying this out to see how it works