Just wanted to share a blog I found out about yesterday through my dear friend Sarah. It’s called Simple Mom and has some really helpful stuff there. My favorite thing so far has been her home management notebook. Check it out!
How many can you do? Monday, Jan 12 2009
After “planning” to start this for a few months now, I’m finally beginning the hundred push up challenge with some brothers from Sojourn. The idea is to follow the plan for six(ish) weeks to start at any strength level and make it up to 100 consecutive push ups. I’d love for any of you reading to consider taking the challenge, too. It should be a rockin’ time.
Christmas Book Giveaway Friday, Dec 19 2008
Blogroll and Family Updates and General and Resources 9:22 pm
A dude named Trevin Wax is doing a giveaway on his Kingdom People blog where you get entries for signing up for his feed, adding him to your blogroll, and/or posting about the giveaway on your blog. Being the shameless prize hunter that I am, I’m doing all there–hence, this post. Here are the books you could win. They’re an awesome set.
#1. THE REASON FOR GOD
#2. CULTURE MAKING - Andy Crouch
#3. SURPRISED BY HOPE - N.T. Wright
#4. WHY WE’RE NOT EMERGENT - Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck
#5. HOW PEOPLE CHANGE - Timothy Lane & Paul David Tripp
#6. THE BIG PICTURE STORY BIBLE -
#7. JESUS MADE IN AMERICA - Stephen Nichols
#8. RESIDENT ALIENS - Stanley Hauerwas & Will Willimon
#9. WORSHIP MATTERS - Bob Kauflin
#10. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT THROUGH THE CENTURIES - Jeffrey Greenman, Timothy Larsen, and Stephen Spencer
And also coming soon to a blog near you:
- Ultrasound pictures (yes, we have them–they’re just not scanned in yet)
- New picture of the kiddos
- Funny kid stories (we always have those)
- Whatever other random things we come up with
See ya more soon!
Worthwhile Chatting Saturday, Jul 12 2008
People and Resources and Spiritual Growth 9:49 am
I had mentioned in a previous post about my conviction of not having Christ-centered conversations when I was meeting with other Christians, so Bill and I have been evaluating that lately. Basically, we came up with a few questions to help keep Christ in the middle of the conversation, most of which are on the Girl Talk blog.
When we are meeting someone new…
1. Tell me the story of how you got together (this is an ice breaker question that really helps you learn about the other Christians, but you can obviously only use it if you’re meeting someone who is married or dating).
2. How did you come to Christ?
When we are repeatedly meeting with someone, particularly for accountability or discipling (though they work great with any believers)…
1. Describe your current practice of the spiritual disciplines.
2. What passage of scripture have you been meditating on recently?
3. What fruit of the spirit are you cultivating?
4. What sin are you seeking to weaken?
5. How can I pray for you?
6. Here is an evidence of grace that I observe in your life.
7. How are you seeking to grow in spiritual masculinity/femininity?
To get conversation going with unbelievers, Bill recommends “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. There is absolutely nothing Christian about the book. He is actually trying to teach you how to make sure everyone loves you–not what we’re going for here. Bill finds it useful, though, for learning how to take the focus off self and have a sincere interest in others lives for the purpose of building relationships. Prayerfully, that relationship will quickly turn into an open door to share the gospel.
Book List Tuesday, Jul 1 2008
Resources 8:14 am
Bill made a book list for me this weekend. Here’s what it looks like:
Currently:
Simple Hospitality
Knowing God
The Princess Bride
The Tightwad Gazette
Future:
Exegetical Fallacies
When People Are Big and God Is Small
Elizabeth Prentiss: More Love for Thee
Reading Together:
The Gospel for Real Life
C.J. Mahaney’s blog
The plan is that I will always be reading something practical for our family, a theology book, and a biography/novel. Some of these I don’t plan to finish for a long time, but I will always be working my way through them slowly. Feel free to share what you’re reading.
Music Advice Thursday, Feb 14 2008
I find myself getting into music ruts, and I think I have been in one for close to a year now. Basically as far as Christian music goes I listen to Sojourn music, Sovereign Grace music, and a little Derek Webb. Will you give me some ideas of additional music to listen to? I prefer music with rich, gospel-centered lyrics over a specific music style, so any suggestions are welcomed.
Some Christmas Tools We Use Monday, Dec 17 2007
Holidays and Parenting and Resources 12:21 pm
The Christmas before Liam was born, Bill and I started evaluating how we could make sure we point our children to Christ instead of greed during the Christmas season. Some tools we found and have used each year are:
1. Noel Piper’s advent calendar (sorry, I couldn’t find it on the Desiring God website–I hope it hasn’t been discontinued)–this calendar lets you tell the Christmas story a little at a time for 25 days with little figurines and everything. Here’s a picture of ours:
2. Adornaments–a neat way to put ornaments on the tree that tell about Jesus’s names during the twelve days of Christmas
3. Advent candles–there are many different sites where you can find readings. Some are obviously more gospel-centered than others. You can also write your own. Liam enjoys blowing out the candle most nights.
What kind of things do you use?
Updated Blogroll Friday, Dec 14 2007
Resources 1:53 pm
It’s been a long time since I updated our blogroll, especially considering the amount of new friends we have from church, so I would encourage you to look around at some of our friends’ sites. Some are simply family updates and some talk about a bit more. I love all these sites and check them each time they post something new. Happy clicking!
Family Fun Magazine Wednesday, Nov 14 2007
Resources 6:17 pm
For all you parents out there who are not already subscribed to “Family Fun” magazine, I would highly recommend it. I have been subscribed for almost two years now and have never been disappointed. The magazine is totally about, as you might imagine, fun activities (games, crafts, recipes, etc.) to do with your kids, without all the articles about how to be a “better” parent. Though it is really meant for preschool and older, I have already used some of the ideas with my little ones. If you are interested, though, they just came out with a magazine a while back specifically for little ones called “Wondertime.” I haven’t really checked it out, so I won’t recommend it yet. Have fun making memories with your family!
Sojourn Music Friday, Sep 7 2007
Resources and Sojourn 11:14 am
I wanted to encourage you all to check out a website about our church’s music. There are ways you can listen to some of the amazing, gospel-centered music Sojourn does each week, along with info about the songs and the five C.D.s Sojourn has put out. The C.D.s are made entirely of songs written by members of the church and make up a large portion of the music we sing each week as part of our corporate worship. There are also several other links on the page to a variety of things like articles about worship. Our church is full of unbelievable talent. We are so blessed to be a part of such a gospel-centered church, and we are especially blessed to have our pastor of worship arts ministry, Mike Cosper. He does much hard work each week planning our services and proctoring the music and lyrics to help make our corporate worship one that is a constant reminder of the grace that has been shown to us, and the life we can now have as a result of Christ taking our sins upon Himself and receiving the wrath of God we all deserve.
