Another Thomas Nelson Book Review!

Christianity Today Study Series: Faith and Pop Culture

This review took me some time to complete. Honestly, I wrestled with the very nature of the study.
While I watch a fair amount of television, I don't feel I lean to the same reasoning for my viewing as do most of the article writer's in this Bible study.
My favorite phrase from the study was at the beginning of the book, which encouraged me to examine where I stand in my beliefs and values on the topic at hand, which is a quote by Jeffrey Overstreet. He said, “If I think that by withdrawing I can get away from sin's influence in the world, I forget that sin is active within my own walls and within my own heart.”
The whole work was well-written and put together in a smooth, easy-to-understand format, but I personally disagreed with much of what the articles were focused on.
Section 5, called “Cover Your Eyes” seemed to resonate with me the most, but still left me feeling a little empty when finished reading the article.
The study did help me to dig deeper, search the Scripture anew and find new areas (such as sports) that God can and does lead me and everyone else in that I had not really paid attention to before. For that alone, I do recommend the study.
Iron sharpens iron, you know (Proverbs 27:17).


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To My Precious Jewel

You are growing up so fast!
You are the best in the mid-west, Precious Jewel.
Momma loves you so much, always and forever.

You are doing so well at reading. Keep it up, honey!

A Quick Response!

Jess,

Thanks for your note.

We believe in a young earth and that this earth was created by God in seven days. If He can turn water into wine and raise the dead, (and He did) then there is no intrinsic difference between one miracle and another. If He wants to create a tree or a planet out of nothing, it is simply His choice.

And while we highly treasure all our girls and women, we do not recognize women as pastors, nor do our gals teach men. We do believe in roles, and as we all understand it, role does not speak to value , simply to how we work together.

God values each of us. Women and men are each valuable and we each have a role.

We home schooled our seven children and have eight grandchildren.

You would be welcome to visit us any Sunday and pick up some of our literature on our values and practices and we would love to meet you.

Keep pressing,
Pastor and his wife

***Yippee for being straight-forward and believing in Truth!

My short reply to this was pretty much:
Thank you for a quick, crystal clear response!
Your email brought tears to my eyes and hope for my heart. I will be visiting your church this next Sunday.***

Letter to a new local Church

Hi,
My name is Jess and I have been searching for a new church for some time. I have gone to several local churches and none seem to offer what I feel the Lord leading me to.
After looking at your website, I am a little curious about a few things.

There will always be differences between believers, and I will never find a "perfect" church, because we are all imperfect and saved by grace alone. I am not looking for a perfect church, just a church that strives to follow God's mandates and longs to be in obedience to Him, out of love for Him.

My two biggest concerns have been church's stances on creation and women in ministry.

On the creation front, simply put, many of the churches I've found take a very loose stance on how humanity came about. I want to find a church home that stands for God's Word on this issue. God says He directly created two humans, one male and one female, with His own hands. It was not a long, drawn-out process that took time to evolve us. God's Word doesn't even leave that as an option, in my understanding. Yet I've found way too many churches that cannot take a solid stand on one of the very first issues brought up in the Holy Word! If a church body can't even say that God lovingly created us Himself, how can they stand up for anything else that follows after? What does your church propose?

About women in ministry, I've noticed more and more churches that have women preaching sermons to the entire church. While my human nature tries to tell me this is okay, I keep being reminded of 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2.
I have no qualms about singing, giving a testimony, teaching children or other women, but directly and purposefully preaching over men in such a setting disturbs me on a Biblical level. On a human emotion level, I see that women can preach thundering, convicting sermons, and that is actually exactly why I believe God told us to keep silent. Women seem to naturally want to take control and make sure things happen 'just so.' By keeping silent during sermons, it allows men to step up and take the place of authority God ordained for them, it shows respect for such positions and it teaches women to control our natural inclination to want to control and order things. What is your position on this issue, as a church body?

Forgive me for being so straight-forward about my concerns, but I am, honestly, exhausted from going to services for several weeks, only to find I must keep going on in the search. I truly long for a community of believers to aid, serve with, and 'live' (i.e. fellowship) with on a regular basis, in the spirit of Acts, that dedicate themselves as the Bereans did.

Thank you for any time and attention you can offer to my inquiries.

God's many blessings upon you,
Jess
(Wife, mother, homeschooler.)

***NOTE to Blog readers*** This is probably the 12 church I have looked at in a year. I also feel queasy just reading those words and knowing that I went to so many other churches where women preached.
I wonder if it's unusual that I feel nervous about this email? It's like a pit in the bottom of my stomach, that this will be just one more church that responds that they don't care how we were created, they're just happy we're here... or that they don't think the Bible is "culturally relevant for today" on the issue of women preaching over men. I only hope that this is the one, not just because I want to find a "home," but because I really want to know there's somewhere local that stands up for these issues!

Bummer In the Summer

Sorry in advance for the funky layout today. Blogger is wonky about photos today and I cannot move the photos around, so I've had to move the words around instead!

I was distressed the other day to find two of my treasured plants destroyed. Something came through and chomped off the whole top part of my beloved red raspberry plant. I am hoping that the roots took well enough that it can revive, but I don't think so. Maybe the man from farmer's market will get me another one.

And my two tallest and strongest sunflowers were pushed down and broken by something. This leaves me with only three of my sunflowers, which are clumped together and I will have to separate.

My compost bin!

I planted about 50 basil seeds total over a 4-5 week span of time, and ONE little bud is coming up! It smells deliciously just like basil. ;) My two basil starter plants, a lime variety and a cinnamon, are doing well, and I have decided to try a water sprouting from one of them (the lime). I can already see a little nodule growing off the side of the cutting I took!

Cilantro in flower. I harvested leaves for cooking, but no other leaves have grown. It's not dying, as you can see, though.

I have a mystery plant that I would love your help identifying. Being a new gardener and new to paying attention to what each plant is, I have no idea what this is. I thought that it was marigold (duh), and then paid attention to marigolds at the store, and this is definitely not marigold. It has a very... bug-spray smelliness to it, too. Any thoughts, ladies?

Lime basil beginning to flower.

The lavendar is not dying, but it's pretty much the same. There's a little more new growth, towards the front of the picture, but not much.

My thyme and tarragon have officially died, but I am just going to buy a new thyme starter plant. The rosemary never took, which I wasn't surprised about, but was disappointed. I am going to buy a starter plant for that as well.
***One note that is not garden related and is NOT a bummer. I made a $31 profit at farmer's market on Wednesday! I am pumped and nervous about tomorrow's market, which has a LOT more people at it! Nervous that I won't even break even (it costs $5 to have a "stall" there). It will all work out. :)

Behind the Scenes

(Hahahaha!!! I'm sorry, that was all pun intended!)

Anyway. Here's what's been going on at the Dancing house lately. We've been so immeasurably blessed the last several months. It's so hard to fathom it at times.

One of my dear friends, as some of you had known, had given my family a bicycle trailer for Christmas. It's come in so useful in every way and been a great convenience to our life.

Several weeks ago, our family went on a bike ride to a local park and had a picnic together. It was glorious to feel the wind in my face, be slow enough to hear and see nature, and to pump my legs in rhythm to keep a momentum going.

(The above picture was taken by Precious Jewel while riding in the trailer, and the man and dog in front of me are Bubby and our dog.)

I am selling at farmer's market for the first time today, something I wasn't sure I would be able to do this winter, when we lived off of very little. (I'm not even going to get into having a dog when you're poor... let's say I think it's foolish, but it's another topic altogether. I just wanted to address that right now before someone asked why we had a dog when living on little money. Not my choice!) I didn't know if I'd be able to have change to bring to farmer's market, or have the money to even make the product to sell initially.

I was accepted into The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew, a program that enables curriculum companies and some homeschooling families unique opportunities. For the homeschooling family, it means products to use, review, and then do what they want with the product (keep, sell, trade, do a blog give-a-way). I feel honored to be accepted, and incredibly blessed. I don't even know where to begin on all my thoughts of being accepted into it. Even one free item to review makes me start to cry, but knowing that I will receive many more sets my heart to nearly breaking in thanks to God for always providing for us.

Bubby's mother, a fervent prayer warrior, prayed for several months for us (unbeknownst to us) that somehow, we would receive a free car. She knew that Bubby needed to get to work earlier than what his own boss could get him to work, that though I was willing to bike in the hot summer months to get groceries, it probably wouldn't be wise, and that I could carry my bulky products AND Precious Jewel to farmer's market in a car (but unfortunately cannot in a bicycle trailer).

One day a friend of mine was at my house, visiting, and very randomly (to me) said, "You know, husband and I have been looking to get rid of our second car. We really don't need two, and we don't need to sell the second one. Would you be interested in having it?"

Needless to say, we are the very proud owners of a new-to-us car that has extremely low mileage for an older car.

Groceries are in the house, bills are being paid and money is getting set aside. God is always good, even in the times of poverty, sickness and personal despair, ALWAYS. It just makes my fickle little human heart rest at ease when finances are in order.

Thought you would appreciate an update, if you happen to keep up with the blog!

Convenience Mixes Galore, and More!

I have always liked Budget101. For some reason, I've never made it to this section before, with a huge list of recipes to make convenience mixes.

Alfredo Noodle
Baked Caramel Pudding
Beer Bread
Hamburger Helper, Original
Funnel Cake
Instant Refried Beans
Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Shake-n-Bake varities
Whole Wheat Tortillas

And so much more!
But, that's not all. Budget101 offers helps in a lot of areas.
Landscaping
Crafting and Scrapbooking
and Gift Ideas
are just a few more sections.

Head on over to get some great ideas on frugal living!

What a Great Site Find!

I believe I found this through one of my new acquaintances in the TOS Crew. What a GEM!

If anyone is interested in winning a Perler Bead Craft Kit Bucket (Pet Pals), run over to Our Homeschool Fun really quick and sign up in a plethora of ways. The contest ends July 3, so you need to do it soon if you want to.

Placenta Monologue New Post

For anyone that is interested, I have made a new post at my other blog, The Placenta Monologue. It is the beginning of my learning abut hypothyroidism and infertility.
If you are interested in the female body and how it works and can be aided, stop over and read the entry.
I am still studying and will always be learning. Feel free to aid me in my journey and correct me lovingly if needed. ;)

Loving Catnip

Sometimes it pays to not listen. Okay, it usually doesn't, but this is one good example.

When I gathered from my herb plant for the first time, Bubby went outside with me later that day and “toured” my garden. Having a degree in horticulture that he has not used in a few years, we sometimes have interesting conversations focused around plants.
He noticed that the catnip was shorter, and so I told him what I had found. He said, “Wow, that's a starter plant, I don't think you should be cutting from it yet or for a few more weeks. But, you probably know more about herbs than I do now.” (So there was a contingency!)

It has grown another 2 inches since I last trimmed from it, and it has NOT been attacked by anything. I am SO excited. This plant is doing better than all the others. At least one of them has made it! Now hopefully it won't take over my garden next year, as it is prone to do.

Catnip is useful in many ways. It has the polar opposite effect in humans as it does cats. That makes it a wonderful relaxation promoter. Take a look at one of my favorite sites to learn more about this wonderful herb!

I use catnip in a special cold and flu tea I make up. The tea has a very delicate taste, but one I very much enjoy. I make up a big batch of it each time so that there's usually some at hand (I usually get spring time colds, though not this year, so I never know when we'll need it).

I make sure to put labels on my glass tea jars not only for identifying it myself, but I also give them out as gifts to “sickies” sometimes. The amounts of herbs are one part each of the following herbs (it's actually my label):

Cold and Flu Tea
Catnip for relaxation of body to encourage rest. Lemon balm to settle upset stomachs that can accompany the cold or flu with a racking cough. Rose hips for their vitamin C content. Thyme is in the blend for it's simply amazing antimicrobial, anti-fungal, and immune-boosting qualities. It is an excellent aid in throat and respiratory health. (Thyme should be avoided during the first trimester of pregnancy as it could induce menses.) Lavender because of it's ability to stimulate appetite, sooth tension and for it's healing qualities.

Steep 2 teaspoon in 8oz. boiling water for 5 minutes. Add generous amount of raw honey, which has enzymes with antibiotic abilities, helps the body maintain a stable electrolyte balance and increases the medicinal effect of natural remedies, especially for the respiratory system.