A couple of contests

Nope, not my contests!  Still a bit lazy in that department although it is something on my to-do list.

 

Susan is having a contest to name her homeschool.  You can win an extra-fabuloso prize-- a pair of earrings!  And she is very, very talented in the jewelry making department.

 

Tami is also having a contest.  She needs a tagline and/or logo for her discount homeschool supply business.  You can win a $50 gift certificate!!!  Pretty cool, huh?

 

So get yer thinkin caps on and give it a shot!  Trust me, they need your help because I am not the most creative type when it comes to those types of things.  And you do NOT want them to get stuck with any of my measly suggestions!

Please pray for Emily, Candace and Israel!

Urgent prayer needed for Candace, Emily and Israel.  Check out Amy's blog to sign up for a specific prayer time on for Emily!!!  Her surgery is scheduled for 7:30am central time on Tuesday.

 

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

~Luke 18:1

 

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

~Philippians 4:6,7

 

Love,

Marsha

More babblings from Beijing

This is our last day in Beijing.  While I completely and totally miss my kids, I will miss this amazing experience...it really is a whole other world.

 

Just a few more thoughts on Beijing:

 

1.  It is a smoker's paradise here.  *cough*  *choke*  I was really surprised at how many people smoke and how it is acceptable in every restaurant and building.  I guess I'm used to the non-smoking atmosphere in the US.

 

2.  Everyone here thinks I'm Chinese and will start talking to me in Chinese.  They are surprised that I'm not and that I am married and have children.  Funny how Koreans don't think I'm Korean, but people here definitely think I'm Chinese...maybe I'm adopted???

 

3.  A very picky white boy from Texas will NOT die of starvation in China.  So far we've hit KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Starbucks and Subway.  But to dh's credit, we have eaten 3 authentic Chinese meals including Peking Duck.  Like $3 knock-off Polo shirts, there are also knock-off restaurant's here.  Dh walked into what he thought was a KFC...same paint, color and similar logo, but it turned out to be a noodle place.  If he looked closely at the Colonel Sanders on the sign, he would've noticed that it was an asian Colonel instead! hehehe...

 

4.  Cab fare is really cheap.  We can take a 20-30 minute taxi ride for less than $3US.  Oh and when we first got here and got out of the cab, dh told the driver Gracias!  I about died laughing!!!

 

5.  The Great Wall of China can be very steep!  But I made the trek to the highest point of the Badaling Section and it was sooo worth the climb!  Words cannot describe the absolute beauty of the Wall and the feeling of standing atop such history.  We would definitely come back again if given the opportunity!

 

Well, gotta go.  My hour is just about up (and it cost me less than fifty cents). :-)  We'll be back in the good ole US of A on Saturday.  Talk to y'all then!

 

Love,

Marsha

Neehow from Beijing!

Hi y'all!  This is our third day here in Beijing.  While our trip started out a little crazy with David's luggage getting lost, we have finally settled in here in Beijing.  Our first night was spent desperately trying to find David some clothes and shoes...VERY difficult here in China!  He is over 6'2" and wears size XL in the US...that translates to at least 3XL in pants and we could not find a single shirt.  It took us a harrowing 20 min cab ride to find a mall of all places-- and after looking at every possible pair of shoes, we were able to find ONE (only one in the entire mall) that was a US size 11.  Even *I* had a difficult time finding tennis shoes for my gigantic US 8 feet (gasp!).  You'd think I was a freak of nature asking for such impossibly large shoes!

 

God answered prayers (especially David's!) when his bag was delivered last night to our hotel. :-)  A day too late to keep him from freezing during our visit to the beautiful Forbidden City yesterday...but just in time for our visit today to the Great Wall!

 

Impressions of China so far:

 

1.  Smoggy.

2.  Our room is very hot and it is very cold outside.

3.  The people are so patient to put up with our lack of Chinese!

4.  There are A LOT of people here!

5.  Silk worms are cool and it takes a lot of work to make silk.

6.  We saw someone open a freshwater oyster (a young one) and there were 35 pearls inside a single one!

7.  Dh did not starve-- we've hit KFC, Pizza Hut AND McDonald's so far!  But I am proud of him for trying dim sum and a few other Chinese dishes yesterday.

 

Okay, gotta go now.  I've only got a few minutes left on the old 'puter time.  I will definitely post pics and write in more detail when I get back in the States.

 

Hehehe...I am SO excited that I get to go to the Great Wall today!  It should be spectacular!

 

Love,

Marsha

 

PS If my family is reading this, I'm having problems with Yahoo so couldn't send y'all an e-mail.   Kiss the boys for us...we miss them!  Tell them we love them lots too!!!

Goodbye for reals this time!

I'm almost packed-- okay, not at all packed-- but wanted to take this time to say BUH-BYE!!!

 

We'll be heading to Tokyo and on to Beijing in the AM.  Yeeeee-hawwww!  And Steve Walden, I shall take your advice if they give me any grief about my Bible...  Uhhh...It's my husband's!!! 

 

So my dear friends, I leave you with one final video clip on my sidebar of Chunky-Monkey.  Tis an oldie but a goodie!

 

If anyone has any suggestions for a new, shorter, schnazzier nickname, please post a comment.  Mayhaps I shall even award a prize to the winning entry!

 

Take care my friends and remember, NO FUN until I get back!

 

Love,

Marsha

My cell phone drowned

I can't believe it happened.  I went into the bathroom to yell at my fighting little booger boys and it just slipped out of my hand.  *KERPLOP* right into the water!  I snatched it out as quickly as I could and dried it off.  But it was too late... 

 

My little buddy.  Mi amigo.  My extension of me.  I'm really going to miss it.

 

I already feel lost without it.

 

Good thing it was my cell phone and not a hairdryer!  Wait...we don't need hairdryers here with all the bald-ies running around.

 

*sigh*  So pardon me if I wander aimlessly about for a while.  And if y'all need to get in touch with me, just e-mail or call me at the house.  Yes, PCS friends and family members, you will have to actually USE your minutes!

 

Love,

Marshy who needs to finish laundering and packing

 

PS Check out my spaz-boy Tank saying the Pledge in my sidebar-- just click that little "play" arrow!  Isn't he a cute little patriot?!

 

PPS  Dash insisted I post the clip of him singing Away in a Manger-- I wanted to post this in December but couldn't figure out how...my sister Coco found this site-- cool, huh?

My last post for the next 11 days...

I am feeling much better after that penicillin shot but still seem to have a low fever.  It stinks because while I feel fine, I feel icky-sweaty and like I need to turn on the air conditioner.  Thanks for checking up on me, my friends!

 

It's going to be crazy around here today and tomorrow as I'm getting everyone packed for our VACATION (wooohooo!!!).  Tomorrow morning I will fly Dash up to Fort Worth to stay with my parents for a week.  Then Saturday morning, Tank and Chunky-Monkey (I've got to think of a new name for him!) will be going to my in-law's house.  Immediately after that, dh and I will be hopping on a flight to New York, have dinner with my sister Lele and her husband, and the next day heading to Beijing, China.

 

Yup, C-H-I-N-A!!!

 

A vacation sure takes A LOT of work!  I can't remember the last time I only had to pack for myself-- much easier than for 3 kids plus husband plus myself.  But I definitely can't complain-- I never would've dreamed that I would ever visit China.  Dh is sooo excited about seeing The Great Wall and even shopping...yup, you heard that right...shopping!  He is so fun and funny. 

 

Speaking of shopping, I asked one of my friends if she'd like for me to bring anything back for her.  She gave me a puzzled look and said,  "Ummmmm....if I wanted anything from China, all I have to do is go to Wal-mart and get it myself."  True.  True.  She is a wise friend, indeed.

 

Anyhow, it will be a whirlwind week for us!  I will be much more relaxed when dh and I are on our way to the airport and all the kids have been safely sent away to the grandparents.  Dash is so excited about having my parents all to himself-- playing Yahtzee, drinking slurpees, eating at Dusty's Diner ever morning for breakfast and just not having to share the spotlight with his brothers.  I give him a full 2 days before he gets really lonely for Tank...they really are great buddies.  Tank and Chunky-Monkey will love spending time with Grandma Linda and Grandpa.  Going to the park, all the Tootsie-Pops they can eat, and playing lots of games!

 

Okay, better go do laundry now...and get some moolah from the bank.  I should be able to find an internet cafe over there so maybe I'll get a chance to drop everyone a line.  Until then, NO HAVING FUN WITHOUT ME!!!  Seriously.  Y'all are not allowed to have babies, play dirty BINGO, find out you're prego or anything major like that until I get safely back in town, unpacked and re-laundered, and then can sit at my computer with a hot cup of coffee.

 

Until then, please pray for safe travels for all of us.  And remember, NO having fun without me!

 

Love,

Marsha

(who will be packing a paperback Bible for fear it might get confiscated or something...how does that work over there anyway? I am very nervous about visiting a communist country no matter how hard they try to change their image to the rest of the world).

Results of the experiment and our V-day morning

When the kids woke up this morning they noticed the first heart I taped to the bathroom wall.  It had a smiley face and another said I love you.  Amy V. would be SO proud of me!  They had such fun running around the house finding all the hearts I had placed for them-- on the doors, windows, their chairs (which said "Mommy loves their name").  I can't believe I was actually considering being a party-pooper!   (Edited to add that JenIG has sorta redeemed herself although the makin's of a rebellion is punishable by something horrible, I'm sure).

 

Each kid (baby included) got their own little heart-shaped box of chocolate that I paid a whopping .94 cents for at Wal-mart.  They drank their milk in V-day decorated cups and ate their chocolate for breakfast.  If you could only see the great big smiles on their faces!!! 

 

I also stole Amy V's idea and took a red sharpie to draw a heart on the palm of their hand.  When they look at it, the heart means I love them...and the dot in the middle of it reminds them that Jesus loves them (and reminds them of his sacrifice on the cross of Calvary).

 

They have been playing merrily ever since-- I think it was the chocolate for breakfast that did the trick.  Oh and here is the conversation that ensued after the sugar rush died down a little.

 

Tank:  Come and see!!!  COME AND SEE!!!

 

Dash:  Oooo, it DID change the color of the water!  The juice must've come out to make it red.  And the gummy is very gooey-- almost changing into floam.

 

Mommy:  Floam?  What's that?

 

Dash:  That means very stretchy. (spreads his arms out wide)

 

Mommy:  So was your hypothesis correct?

 

Tank:  Mommy, every time I put my ear on the tv, it stings me and shocks me! hahahahahah!!!  (runs around the room like a spaz)

 

Dash:  Yup, it was corrrrrrrect!

 

I just love my boys.  They warm my heart and make me smile.

 

Have a great Valentine's Day y'all!

 

Now we're off to bake a heart-shaped cake for dh.  I know, I know...it's a bit overboard on the heart thing, huh?  But the kids love it!

 

Love,

Marsha

Today's three reasons for loving homeschooling

1.  We are going to have our lessons in a few minutes-- and yes, it is nighttime.  I was sick and had a doctor's appointment this morning.  I was given a nice shot of penicillin and a prescription to help me with my pharyngitis.  I am feeling much better already...and may I say that Vanilla Tylenol PM is really niiiiiiice!

 

2.  Dash asked if we could have double lessons tonight and not have school tomorrow.  He is already working diligently downstairs.  This now leaves tomorrow free for some fun they-don't-know-they're-learning kind of activities.  Outside school, public or private, would not be so flexible with all the stuff that pops up in a normal family's life.

 

3.  The boys came up with their own science experiment.  Tank decided to put his last few gummy snacks (Fruit Gushers to be exact) in a small glass of water.  The boys thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if they left them in the water overnight.  Dash thought it would be best to do a second glass just to be sure they come out the same.  Their hypothesis is that it will change the color of the water and hopefully the color of the snack as well.  (As of 5 minutes ago, the snacks were a strange shade of white-- weird...I never would've thought it would turn that color--I think the boys were hoping for rainbow though).

Mamaduso's Spiritual Tag

Since Susan is sooo sweet and used very good manners in her comment, here are my responses to her spiritual tag.  By the way, she definitely lives up to her blog title of Ladies in Training, doesn't she?  And if you haven't checked out the many talents of mamaduso, you have got to see pics of the jewelry she makes-- tres bien, no?

 

On to the business of the tag:

 

How long have you been a christian?

17 years

 

What is you favorite verse or passage?

Philippians 4:13- "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me."

Philippians 4:6-8

Isaiah 43:2

 

Have you led anyone to Christ?

Sad to say, but No.  I have planted and watered... I pray earnestly for the day that my children will accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour!

 

How old where you when you were born again?

13

 

Was there one thing that kept you from being born again sooner? (This is my own question). 

Like many people, it was PRIDE!  Had it not been for my terrible pride, I would've accepted Christ much earlier.  But what would people think of me?  What would they say?  I was a good girl and many already thought I was a Christian...they didn't know what was truly in my stubborn heart.  Being good or "religious" will not get you into heaven.  You should have a time and a place where you personally repented of your sins and asked Jesus Christ to be the Lord of your life and heart.  Embarrassment held me back for a long time, but like the song says-- Jesus set me free!

 

What do look forward to most when getting to Heaven?

Being at the feet of Jesus!!! I cannot even imagine what it would be like...let alone no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears...

 

Who do you want to see most when you get to Heaven?

My family and friends that have already left this earth.

 

What bible character/hero do you want to talk to first?

Abigail

 

What one thing do you want to be able to do in Heaven that you can't do on Earth?

I have no idea!  Walk the streets of pure gold, I suppose.

Tagged with 4

I was tagged by someone I can't remember and then reminded of it by an anonymous someone else...so this is for all of you Tag fans out there! (See I'm only a party pooper sometimes!)

 

Four jobs you have had in your life:

 

1. Research Assistant at a couple of med schools

2. Laundromat Attendant

3. Notes & Quotes Notetaker

4. Administrative Assistant

Four movies you could (or do) watch over and over:

 

1. The Incredibles

2. Little Bear or Kipper Movies (mainly to hear my kids laugh)

3. The Princess Bride

4. The Matrix trilogy

Four places you have lived:

 

1. Fort Worth, TX

2. Cleveland, OH

3. Atlanta, GA

4. Houston, TX

Four shows you love to watch (or did before the TV moved out):

 

1. LOST

2. Stargate SG-1

3. Stargate Atlantis

4. What Not To Wear

Four places you have been on vacation:

 

1. Cancun, Mexico

2. London, England

3. Belize City, Belize

4. Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, TN :-)

Four websites you visit daily:

 

1. Homeschoolblogger

2. WeatherChannel

3. That's all I have time for...

Four of your favorite foods:

 

1. Korean food

2. Mexican food

3. Fuddrucker's Cheeseburger

4. Mo's BBQ

Four places you would rather be right now:

 

1. In my bed!!!

2. Shopping with my sis in NYC

3. Hanging out with Coco in OKC

4. On a southern carribean cruise with dh

Prayer request

Please pray for this little girl and her family!  I can't imagine going through that with one of my children.

Ummm...No, officer! *I* wasn't the one driving!

Regarding my fender-bender (that didn't really bend) the other day-- I was framed, I tell ya!  Framed!!!

 

Frugal Funny

We are always talking about saving money, coupons and The Grocery Game around here.  I having been cutting out coupons on a weekly basis for years now, done one terrible TV news story on it, and we are always saying "Coupons are money!"  I had to chuckle at this conversation I overheard in the car today.

 

Tank:  Look at the horses in that field!

 

Dash:  Oooo!  Mia loves horses! (Mia is a close friend of the family)

 

Tank:  How much do you think they cost?

 

Dash:  Ummmm...I think they're free with a coupon.

Winter Beauty by Nancy Campbell

Timely as always, this is what I received in my inbox today. 

 

Did I mention that tonight is yet another night that I will be missing church?  The baby has that hand-foot-mouth thing that's not really contagious but it scares parents-- especially the new ones that have kids in the nursery. *sigh*  Oh and I did get into a little fender bender yesterday-- don't ask...don't want to talk about it.  We're all okay...it was my fault. *big sigh*

 

But as Nancy talks about in the following devotional, I did pass by a major accident on the way to the pediatrician today.  This poor lady was on a stretcher and being loaded onto an ambulance.  All I can say is, Thank you Lord for not letting that be me.  It was just the baby and I yesterday and a very, very low speed rear-ending...I hit the car in front of me.  It was God reminding me that He has a purpose for all things and that He protected us...reminding me also of what is most important in my life.

 

Love,

Marsha

 

PS Keep reading! :-)

 

 

**************

Dear Reader,

 

Today I am posting a devotion that I sent out to you last winter, and I think the winter before? I am not doing this because I don't have anything else to send you. But once again, this week, I looked up from reading the Word in my early morning Quiet Time to behold the most beautiful sight of brilliant colors of red, pink and gold silhouetting the bare winter trees. I was in awe. I couldn't stop from going outside and praising the Lord for His beautiful creation. And I thought, "I'll just have to send this devotion to you again!"

Love from NANCY

WINTER BEAUTY
 

Isaiah 61:3, "To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified ."

I look up from reading the Word of God in my morning Quiet Time. Oh what a glorious sight meets my eyes. A beautiful sunrise of brilliant salmon pink glows through the bare leafless branches of the winter trees. It is glorious. I am awe-inspired. Why haven't I seen these beautiful skies before? I realize that I hadn't noticed them before because they were hidden from my view by the thick foliage of the tall trees that surround us here in the Tennessee woods.

Wintertime is stark and barren, but it is in these bare times that we see beauty that we don't normally see. As I drive the country roads in the winter, I often exclaim, "Oh, I haven't noticed that home before." Or, "I've never seen that barn." The lovely leafy laden trees had blocked them from view.

Perhaps you are going through a winter season in your life. Your heart is cold. The outlook seems ugly. You feel stripped of all that you hold dear. Can I remind you to lift up your head? Look up. As you do, you will see things in a new light. You will see God in a new way. You will see different facets of His beauty that you hadn't noticed before. You will see things that God has been waiting to show you that He couldn't reveal to you with all the foliage around your life.

Often God has to strip us of all our trappings and the things we daily rely upon, so He can reveal Himself to us. We don't need Him when we have everything else around us to rely on. We don't see Him clearly when our sights and senses are filled with other things.

I used to think the bare trees of winter were rather ugly, but I have now come to appreciate their own uniqueness. I love their intriguing beauty as they silhouette against the differing moods of the sky. I delight to see the tiny thin branches of the trees, which show up like lace in the sun-setting sky. There is nothing more striking than the moon shining down through the bare trees. What could bring more pleasure to the eyes than seeing the hoar frost or a fresh snowfall balancing on their bare outstretched limbs? And of course I now see the sunrises that I don't see in the other seasons.

There was also a time in my life when I didn't like going through hard times. I'd rather not have to face them at all. But I have learned to find beauty in these times too. This is when God does His deepest work in our hearts. This is when we really grow. This is when God is able to conform us to the image of His Son.

Don't despise these winter seasons. Don't let your heart get bitter. Fling off that self-pity. Don't cower in the dungeon of despair. Open your spiritual eyes. Look up. Unless I had looked up from my reading to see the sunrise, I would have missed it.

You won't see unless you look up. There are beautiful things to behold that you haven't seen before, which you cannot see in any other season. God will reveal Himself to you in a deeper way. And you will see a new sunrise in your life.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"Father, I have been shivering in this winter experience. I feel bare and stripped of everything. Lord, I am sorry, that I have been looking at the ugliness of it all. I have been consumed with self-pity. I confess this to you. Lord, I look up to you. I want to behold your beauty. I look to see your goodness in the land of the living. Show me glimpses of the precious work you are doing in me in this winter season. I thank you for the good work you are doing in me."

AFFIRMATION:

I will look for God's beauty even in the barren times.

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to subscribers-on@aboverubies.org

I've calmed down and canceled my doctor's appt

Yup, too chicken to tell my big sis in person that I canceled my doctor's appointment for tomorrow...so I'm blogging about it instead.  (But I'm not afraid of you, Coco-- I can still whoop up on you like when we were little-- except you being prego and all makes you a little more imposing...)

 

How can I possibly talk to the doctor about what ails me when I'm not doing the most BASIC of things to take care of myself?  Hmmmm...I can just see it now...

 

Doctor:  So have you had this before?

Me:  Maybe once but it didn't last long...just dizzy for a day.

Doctor:  Are you eating right?  Taking your vitamins?  Exercising?

Me:  Ummm...No.

Doctor:  Are you even getting 8 hours of sleep?

Me:  No?

Doctor:  Weren't you up quite a bit with sick kids for the entire week before this happened?

Me:  Yes.

 

Diagnosis:  You are just really tired and need to take better care of yourself.  Try a week of decent sleep, decent meals and a multivitamin and I'm sure this won't happen again.  Oh and if it does, you are getting older, ya know!

 

Plus, I WebMD'd my symptoms and I think I'll survive.  Perhaps I was a bit hasty in my panic...you know, the nighttime makes ya crazy and all.  But in the meantime, dh and I will get our will's done before we go on our trip next weekend...and I will stop this post now so I can get to bed at a decent hour.

 

If I get all weird again, I promise I'll go to the doctor, okay???  Thanks for all the kind comments and sympathy/empathy and all-- y'all are the best!

 

Love,

Marsha (who is a little crazy in the head sometimes but hopefully in a not-too-annoying kind of way)

It's not a too-mah!

Or is it???  It has been quite some time since my last entry.  Since then I have dealt with a merry-go-round of fevers.  Once one boy gets over it, another one gets it.  It is a sad state when you can actually empty an entire bottle of Children's Motrin!  *sigh*

 

Around 2am last night, Tank woke up screaming.  I rushed upstairs and he was burning up.  I was able to get him into the kitchen but then had to almost collapse onto the floor because I felt so faint.  Not like the vapors or anything (you Little House fans know what I'm talkin about), but like I am really going to pass out.  You know, you get all woozy-dizzy, flash of cold, and you can't see straight all of a sudden. 

 

So I sent Dash to wake up daddy...my hero!  Eventually, the boys will be big enough to carry me to the couch but for now it's just the man himself that can do it.  Oh and he gave me a cold glass of water-- with a straw so I could drink and not have to lift up my spinning head (spinning inside...not around like a horror movie...contrary to what some people may say about me).  And he dosed Tank up with Motrin for the night as well.  Double-sweet of him, huh?

 

So in the midst of all this, the boys all went down to our bed to crash and I stayed on the couch all night.  The weirdest part is that both of my arms started feeling numb...all the way down to my fingertips.  I thought surely there was something terribly wrong with me.  I honestly could not bring myself to lift my head up, not even an inch.  Man, the things you think about when you are woozy-headed and have arms that don't feel right. 

 

When I was in 4th grade, my dad had a brain aneurism.  I had a friend die of a brain aneurism at the ripe old age of 22.  A few years ago, my big sis had a tumor on her uterus the size of a grapefruit.  Is this what it would feel like???  I did have that weird, sharp pain a few days ago.  And a couple of weeks ago, I was dizzy for an entire day...hmmmm....

 

So I'm just laying there in the dark, with my tingly-numb arms, wondering if this is what it feels like to have a brain aneurism...or a tumor...   Scary, huh?  This further led to thoughts about not having done my Will yet...although I have had the paperwork collecting dust on my nightstand for over 6 months.

 

So for all of you nightowls out there, have you made a Will yet?  Have you set down in writing who will take care of your children should something happen to both you and your spouse?  Do you know how much one of those full-body scans costs?  I'd really like to get one of those.  Honest. 

 

And the BIG question is:  Are you ready for eternity?  If you were to die today, do you know for sure that you would spend eternity in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ?  While I can't tell you exactly who should watch your dear little ones if something tragic were to happen, I CAN tell you how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and accept Him as your personal Saviour.  Just click on that handy-dandy link on my sidebar to e-mail me...and I promise I will answer.

 

Okay, those are my thoughts for the day, week, year!  I promised my sis (the one with the grapefruit sized tumor that the doc actually took a picture of to show us in the waiting room-- yes, it was icky but VERY cool!) that I would go to the doctor about this bodily weirdness.  I'll let y'all know what he says...and it better be more than...Well, you know you ARE getting older.....

 

 

 

 

Bless the Lord- The 103rd Psalm

Why is it that we can read the Bible and sometimes the words, God's Words, just go in and then right out of our heads?  I'm ashamed to say it, but it's true.  I love to read my Bible but there are times that I just see words.  I'm either too hurried or distracted to see the beauty and love behind what God is actually saying to me-- and to listen.  And yet when these same Words are written on a blog, in a letter or some other non-Bible place, it really makes me pause and take notice!  Such is the case with Bless the Lord: The 103rd Psalm, illustrated by Johannah Bluedorn. 

 

In this book, the very talented Johannah Bluedorn (interviewed in the current Winter Edition of TOS) illustrates the true beauty of The 103rd Psalm (KJV) in lovingly detailed pictures.  Some of her drawings remind me of the My First Little House books that I used to read with my boys.  There is an innocence to Johannah's illustrations that kinda makes you *sigh*...but in a good way!  The rich colors throughout the book make you just want to climb right in and make yourself at home!

 

I think that this is a great book to sit and read with your children.  Start your day out with it over breakfast or cuddle up with it at night before bed.  They will enjoy getting lost in the world that Johannah has created.  My oldest son really enjoyed finding some of the "hidden treasures" in the pictures.  He even noticed a couple things that I missed in my first three times through the book (hint:  look in the trees)!  Teeeheehe...does it bother you that you may not have a copy of this book in front of you to figure out what I'm talking about?!  If so, then get it now!

 

Another thing I really like about this book is the song at the end.  Harvey Bluedorn wrote music so we can have a tune to Psalm 103-- how's that for talent in a single family?!  We all know that it is much easier to memorize scripture when it is set to a tune!  And with verse numbers notated in the score, you can easily pick out what verse of Psalm 103 you're singing.

 

I can't wait to read Miss Bluedorn's other books!  I have a feeling that I will be starting quite the collection.