• Jul. 10, 2009
A Quote

"Many young people today are living for their friends.  They spend their whole time trying to please, and measure up to the expectations of their friends.  But from the day they get their diploma, most of those people will never be seen again, no matter what is written in their yearbook.  And all of that time has been wasted."

Ken Davis

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• Jul. 6, 2009
One Christian's Critique of the American Dating Game

I have heard several different speakers and preachers on this topic and had many conversations about this topic lately.  So much so that as I was trying to fall asleep last night this conversation just kept turning over and over in my mind so I thought I would put my thoughts together here.  I want to begin however, by stating that I am not thinking of anyone in particular as I write this but about the nation and churches as a whole.  I stress again that I am not speaking of any church in particular and I am especially not speaking about my own home church since I do not know yet what is taught regarding this issue in my own church youth group.  When I mention the church in this article I am simply generalizing about the church culture that I have seen in general in this nation.

My daughter is 11; soon (though I can’t believe it) to be 12.  Because of this she is coming to ‘that age’.  ‘That age’ is the age at which our society believes she should start thinking about boys and desiring to date them.  Everything in society says this, from television shows and movies (which we avoid at all costs) which show even 7 and 8 year olds having ‘boyfriends’ to advertisements, to the clothes that are made to make our young girls look like they are 25.  Since my daughter was 7, well meaning, even Christian people have asked my daughter, “Who’s your boyfriend?”  Seriously, if there is one question that makes me cringe, this would be it!

So here are my questions:  Why do we want to “stir up and awaken love before it so desires”? (Song of Solomon 3:5)  Why do we encourage children to commit their hearts to someone when they are years away from being able to legitimately act on that commitment with marriage?  Why do we, even in the church, adopt the worlds view of what is appropriate in the arena of relationships?  Why do we pretend like the Bible has nothing to say about how to act toward the opposite sex?  In my experience churches are willing to seek the scriptures when it comes to how we should act inside the marriage relationships but leading up to that we act as if the Bible has nothing to say.  Instead we take what the world thinks is acceptable and try to Christianize it.

Here is what I mean.  The world says, “You should date as many people as you can, starting as young as you can so that you know what you want by time you are ready to get married.”  In the world’s estimation this includes experimenting with all kinds of intimacies that God says are reserved for marriage.  In response the church says, “No, that isn’t right.  You should only date other Christians and physically there is this certain line you shouldn’t cross, because after all we are Christians and we should be different.”  Wow, how compelling….  But here is the problem, where are the scriptures that mention this scenario?  Where is the Biblical authority to teach these dating regulations?

I would like to share with you what I heard a pastor say recently.  Here is a summary of what he said.  “I said to my 14 year old son once, ‘Son, do you see that girl over there?’  ‘Yeah dad.’  ‘She likes you.’  ‘How do you know dad?’  ‘Just trust me, I know.  I want you to stay away from her.’  ‘You mean you want me to be rude?’  ‘No, I just mean, well, yeah, if it comes to that I will show you how to do that, but no, what I mean is I want you to actively try to stay away from her.’  ‘Why dad?’  ‘Because you are not ready to fulfill her desires, you are not ready to be a husband and it is your job to protect her heart.’”

Wow!  Now that is biblically compelling!  The Bible commands Christians to think of others more highly than we think of ourselves and that command applies to relationships!  Most of the ‘dating sermons’ I sat under as a teenager dealt with keeping yourself physically pure until marriage.  While that is an admirable goal I know many people who got married, proud of their ‘technical virginity’ while that technicality was all they had left.  Even those who had been ‘physically responsible’ had in their past a trail of heartbreak from being emotionally attached to multiple people that were not the person God had for them to marry.

So what is wrong with this ‘keep yourself pure till marriage’ message?  Well, the problem is it tackles the issue from the end point for starters.  By the time you get to the point you are considering not keeping yourself pure, you have long ago left the path God had intended.  Another problem is that is that the focus of the argument is not complete.  In my experience these messages spoke only about keeping your body pure, not focusing in the least about keeping your heart pure.  The Bible says that it isn’t what comes into the body that makes a man impure, it is what comes out of him from his heart.  (Matthew 15:10-20)  While we try to keep our kids physically pure, we (no matter how unintentionally) encourage them to defile their hearts by getting emotionally involved with another.  We allow them to be inundated by what the world says is the way things are done and then just modify that message to be more ‘Christian’.  Finally, this ‘keep yourself pure till marriage’ message is faulty because it has a wrong focus.  Again, in my experience, this message almost always focuses on self.  “Keep yourself pure, don’t allow someone to talk you into doing something you don’t feel is right.”  We never encourage them to think of others more highly than they think of themselves. 

Why don’t we teach our kids that they should care enough about others that they should not be seeking relationships that are sure to not last.  Why don’t we teach our kids that, while it is natural to feel attracted to the opposite sex at a certain point, we cannot always act on everything we feel.  There are times when we get really angry at another person when we would really like to punch them in the nose, yet I have never heard a pastor or youth minister try to ‘Christianize’ that message.  No, we teach our kids how to deal with their anger in a Godly, Biblical way.  Why do we take a different approach here?  A 12, 13 or 14 year old, even most 16 and 17 year olds are still years away from marriage.  Why do we encourage them into relationships they are not ready for?

I pray that we begin to see that God has a higher calling.  I pray that we encourage our kids to focus their eyes on Christ instead of the cute kid sitting next to them.  I pray that we encourage our kids to guard not only their bodies but their hearts and minds as well.  On top of that I pray that we encourage them to seek to protect the hearts of those around them.  God has this wonderful gift of marriage that He has blessed His people with; this beautiful picture of His own relationship to His people.  Yet we so often come into that marriage with a bundle of physical or emotional baggage because we swallowed either the world’s message about dating or the churches ‘modified’ version of it.  What a gift we could give our children if we would be bold enough to stand apart and be different as the Bible calls Christians to be.  What a blessing to their lives if we would teach them that there is so much more to this than just being physically responsible.  Oh that we might be truly Biblical in this and every area of our teaching.

Shannon

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• Jul. 6, 2009
Fabulous 5th of July

While we spent our 4th of July simply, we had a much more fun 5th so I thought I would share about it here.

We started our day at church (as usual) and it was a wonderful way to start the day.  In my Bible study class we started a new study called The Emmaus Lesson.  It is a study on Jesus in the Old Testament and if the first lesson is any indication it is going to be fabulous.  With both of our pastors on vacation, one of the young men in the Pastors mentoring group brought the sermon.  It was a wonderful study of Psalm 1.  The part that spoke to me the most I think was when he pointed out that the Psalm would be incomplete without verse 2.  Many people think it is enough to avoid doing bad things.  But it is not those people who are blessed.  Those who are blessed by God are those who love and delight in His word. 

After church we had lunch at Penn Station, which has fast become my favorite sub sandwich place!  After lunch we spent some time at Jay's mom's house and he installed a new kitchen faucet for her.

Later in the afternoon we headed to a friends house to help get ready for the evenings house church session and spent the rest of the evening there in a wonderful time of fellowship and study.

At about 8:30 we left, with the addition of another child (Sarah's best friend) and headed to First Baptist Arnold to meet my sister's family for fireworks.  They had a good show and the kids were happy to finally see fireworks live, even though the wind was blowing our way and we were all rubbing ash out of our eyes by time the night was over.  On the way home I found out that the girls (Sarah and her friend) are no good whatsoever at the quiet game!  I kept hearing this from the backseat.  "Let's play the quiet game.  Ready, Set, Go!" Then there would be two seconds of silence followed by giggling and, "That didn't count, let's try again."  Then repeat the above scenario about 20 more times.  It was hilarious.

Needless to say we got to bed late last night, but the day was full and well worth it.

Shannon

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• Jul. 4, 2009
4th of July

Happy 4th July everyone.  It is such a blessing to live in this country.  What a wonderful blessing to live in freedom.  Happy 233rd birthday America!

We celebrated this Independance Day simply.  We slept in due to the wonderful darkness created by the rain.  We had a fantastic BBQ lunch with Jay's mom and half-sister.  Later in the afternoon since the sun had come out my daughter convinced me to get in the pool with her.  The experience could only be called CHILLING!  The water was 68 degrees and while she was swimming and doing all kinds of flips in the water, I only stood there trying not to become a popsicle.  When I could stand no more we came in for leftovers for dinner and got ready to go out to see fireworks. 

Someone seemed to have lost their mind this year and all of our local firework displays happened last night!  Whoever heard of shooting of 4th of July fireworks on the 3rd of July!!!  Luckily we found this out before we drove out to see them.  So we decided to end the 4th of July sitting on the couch with homemade brownies and watching the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular.

Hope your 4th of July has been great.  Don't forget to thank God for the blessing of living in this great country.

Shannon

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• Jul. 2, 2009
Unbridled Joy

I am currently watching my daughter and her best friend play Horseopoly.  They are giggling and laughing at the silliest things, and naming all their horses.  It is fun to watch!  They are showing full expressions of joy and it is contagious as I sit here smiling and watching them.

It has been another fun but busy week.  This week started with surgery to remove a cyst on my shoulder.  That went well and I am healing nicely. 

The night of my surgery Sarah and I went to the Muny to see "Annie".  It was fantastic.  I felt great and thanks to my wonderful husbands 'taxi service' I did not have to drive.  The show was great and the weather was perfect.

We have been taking it pretty easy this week since then.  Yesterday we visited my parents and today we went to my daughter's friend's band concert.  It was a lot of fun and we decided to kidnap the kids after the concert and bring them back to our house.  Some of them were even brave enough to get into our new pool.  (The old one got several holes in it and we had to start new.  It is still filling up and the water is REALLY COLD!  But you just can't keep kids out of water.  They had fun.

Shannon

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• Jun. 27, 2009

"You may have been told, 'I just do not think God would want me to be unhappy.'  Really?  Let me see if I get this straight.  The spotless, sinless Lamb of God, He crushed and killed, for your sin, not his, but you He wouldn't want unhappy.  Who do you think you are?  Unhappy might be right where God wants you to be to bring maximum glory to Himself." 

Voddie Baucham

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• Jun. 27, 2009
Something to ponder

"A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher."

Luke 6:40

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• Jun. 26, 2009
What a week!

What a week!  This particular week is always a doozy but it seemed to be even more so this year. 

This week is VBS.  Our church does VBS at night which I like because I still have the full day to get things done.  However VBS and the homeschool conference always fall in the same week.  Always, without fail.  Therefore we miss two nights of VBS.  VBS has gone well this week and I have enjoyed working with the 1st graders again.  Timmy really likes his class, they made pancakes last night!  Sarah enjoyed her class as well although she only made 2 of the 5 nights with the homeschool conference and tonight she is going to a Cardinal game!  Lot's of fun for her, she is also going to the Magic House today!  One more night of VBS tonight and things will settle down a bit.

The homeschool conference was great as always.  The only downside to this year was that I got a booth to sell my book at therfore I did not get to sit in on any of the workshops in person.  I bought lots of CD's as a result!  The speakers were all great although Voddie Baucham was my favorite by far.

This Sunday night starts our summer of Sunday evening House church which we are co-hosting again this year.  This is always a great time (and a great incentive to keep the house clean!)

I will be somewhat glad when next week starts, although it begins with surgery to remove a small benign cyst off my shoulder Monday morning and Sarah and I going to the Muny to see Annie Monday night!  Yeah, you could pray about that if you'd like!  Nothing boring at our house!

Shannon

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• Jun. 15, 2009
Free Home Ec Course!

I just saw this on Money Saving Mom and wanted to share it with you.  Click on the following link to receive your very own free Home Ec Course.  This is a great course from Future Christian Homemakers.  You can view the course on-line or save it to your computer in a PDF format.  I am so excited about this resource.  Thanks Heather, for telling me about it.

Shannon

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• Jun. 13, 2009
Swagbucks

I have talked to you about Swagbucks before but I wanted to let you know that I just got my first reward for being a part of it! I chose a $10 Starbucks gift card as my first prize, but you can choose anything from baseball cards to i-phones! (The amount of swagbucks you have to earn are obviously different based on the prize you choose!)

Seriously, if you haven't signed up yet you really should. All you have to do is search through the swagbucks search engine to earn swagbucks. It's that simple! They also have other ways to earn swagbucks like codes they post on places like Facebook and Twitter, but I earned most of mine just by searching.

You can visit Swagbucks by clicking on the "Search and Win" referral box in my sidebar! Enjoy your searching!

Shannon

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• Jun. 10, 2009
Slowing down

Life is finally starting to slow down around here!  We are doctor/dentist visit free till the end of the month (Lord willing) and we are fully enjoying it.  After 3 weeks straight of at least 2 doctor/dentist visits a week it is a nice change.

One of the unexpected doctor visits we had was for my shoulder.  I have a small cyst that has been there for quite some time but it got infected all of the sudden.  The infection is now gone but I have to have the cyst removed.  Most of these things can be done in the doctor or surgeon's office, but just because I am so special  I have to have it done in the hospitial.  It figures, last year after we took Timmy to the ER I had to go to the hospital for gall bladder surgery.  This year Timmy went to the ER for a myster leg issue and here I am, scheduled for surgery again!  At least this surgery is not so invasive and it is scheduled for June 29th.

On a more fun note we got our pool up and running.  We moved it from it's previous location so it will get more sun and less tree debris.  We are excited about the prospect of warmer water, if it would just stop raining!

Looking forward to the slower pace of summer....

Shannon

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• May. 28, 2009
Stay At Home Mom? -- Hah!!!!!

Who is it that thought up the title "Stay At Home Mom" for the women who don't work outside the home?  I have not been home for two days in a row for the past 3 weeks!  Gratefully this is not normal for our lives, but it seems to be a recent trend.  In the past week we have been to the oral surgeon twice and the orthodontist once.  Then I had to throw in a doctor's visit for myself unexpectedly.  We've been to graduation parties, funerals, church and other general errand running. 

Tomorrow I will be home (at least as far as I know) but then off again on Saturday and Sunday.  I was looking forward to maybe being home all next week but we have one more follow-up to the oral surgeon next Tuesday.  Who knows the next time I will have two days at home in a row.  So for now, if someone asked me, "Do you work outside the home or stay at home?"  I would have to laugh and say neither!

Shannon 

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• May. 24, 2009
The 21 Rules of This House

We have this list posted on the refrigerator in our kitchen.  Many people ask me if they can have a copy when they are at our house so I thought I would post it here.

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• May. 20, 2009
The musical

What fun!  The Acorns to Oaks musical was fantastic!  The kids did such a great job.  They worked so hard and it all paid off.  I must admit my first thought when the lights came up was, "Who are these kids and what happened to the kids I have been working with for the past several months?"  I had never seen them stand so still before!  But they were fantastic!  Here are a couple pictures and you can view the rest at THIS LINK.

She's a rumor weed!

Singing "Rain" by Sara Groves

Singing "In The Garden"

Timothy's choir also performed and he did fantastic.  He was not nervous like he had been at Christmas.  He sang every song and even did all the hand motions.  And he was one of the few that was not dancing around the stage and pulling on the microphones!  Here are some pics.

Shannon

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• May. 12, 2009
Onion Soup Mix Recipe

Thanks to Stacy at PROVERBSMAMA for allowing me to share this recipe here.  Be sure to check out her post on setting boundaries.

Onion Soup Mix

Makes 10 batches

• 1 c. dried minced onions
• 2 t. onion powder
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1/4 c. instant beef bouillon granules
• 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
• 1 t. celery salt
• 1/2 t. white pepper
• 1 t. sugar
• 1/8 t. black pepper
• 1/8 t. salt

Makes 30 batches:

• 3 c. dried minced onions
• 2 T. onion powder
• 1 T. garlic powder
• 3/4 c. instant beef bouillon granules
• 3/4 c. parmesan cheese
• 1 T. celery salt
• 1-1/2 T. white pepper
• 1 T. sugar
• 1/4 t. black pepper
• 1/4 t. salt

Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Store in an airtight container in a cool place.  I store mine in the freezer, where it can be kept for up to six months.

When you have a recipe that calls for dry onion soup, use 2 T. of this mix.

To use as a soup:  Combine 2 T. with 1-1/2 c. boiling water per serving.

To use as an appetizer:  Combine 1/4 c. of the mix with 2 c. sour cream.  Mix well and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving.

Shannon

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• May. 11, 2009
A Busy Week!

It is going to be one of those weeks!  It seems that life likes to happen all at one time.  Sunday night is our children's musical.  (This statement is follwed by feelings of joy and terror!)  It is also Awana awards night.  Since I am the secretary that means making sure everyone has the awards they need.  Mix that with the need to put together several large props for our children's musical, two major rehearsals, tonight is the only night we will be home all week and there are 4 birthday celebrations to be had this week!  Yeah, I'm feeling slightly insane at the moment!

Shannon

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• May. 2, 2009
The Kids

I am happy to report that everyone is doing well at our house again!  After 3 days of on again, off again, mystery leg pain, Timothy is now fine.  He must have pulled a muscle or something that bothered him for a few days.  Of course, we had just finished paying for last years trip to the ER...........

Sarah successfully finished school 3 weeks early!  She got really motivated and doubled up on everything she had left.  Not only that but she took her achievement test and we already got the results back.  She scored in the 81st percentile, which means she scored as high or higher than 81% of 6th graders.  She also made all A's and B's in school this year.  We are very proud of her!

The spring musical is coming up two Sunday's from now.  Timmy's choir is singing two songs.  I love to listen to his rendition of one of them.  I will put the actual words first, his translation in parenthesis.  I don't know all of the real words so I will do my best:

A gentle breeze (a dental breeze)
And [something about] trees (and make me trees)
And busy busy bumble bees (and busy busy bum knees)
But better than all of these (but 'etter than all of these)
Simple as ABC's (He Gets The Rest Right)
From my head down to my knees, I thank God for all of these.

Sarah is very excited about her part in the musical "Acorns to Oaks."  She has a pretty major part and several solos.  She also gets to be a rumor weed (yes, like Larry Boy and the Rumor Weed).  We even get to sing the Rumor Weed song!  It is going to be so much fun!

Shannon 

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• Apr. 28, 2009
Timothy Update

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• Apr. 27, 2009
A Little Boy's Sacrifice

My son Timmy just exhibitted the sweetest spirit of sacrifice.  Before I tell you how I must explain his day to you.

Timmy woke up fine today.  He was happy and normal.  He wanted to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  (We currently watch that movie 2-3 times a day!)  He wanted to watch one of the special features which teaches you how to do an Oompah Loompah Dance and he danced all around the living room.  It was histerical! 

About an hour later we were getting ready to leave the house and I asked him to come to me to get dressed.  He said he didn't want to get out of his chair.  I thought he was just being stubborn because he didn't want to stop watching his movie so I turned the movie off and he came to me under protest.  He fought standing up so I could get his shorts on him then immediately sat down once he was dressed.  When we started to go to the car he scooted on his bottom across one room and crawled across another.  He was laughing so we thought he was being silly.  However as the day progressed it became clear that he did not want to stand or walk.  When I finally made him he would only go a few steps and he would not put his feet flat on the floor.  When I asked him what hurt he pointed to the back of his knees.  I called the pediatrician and they asked me to bring him in.  However they were completely perplexed and told me to give him ibuprophen every six hours and update them in the morning. 

He still won't walk.  He can, it just hurts.  Unless we ask him to stand he is fine.  He is playing, crawling and rolling around.  He has even wrestled with daddy.  It doesn't hurt him to move his legs, just to straighten them out all the way.  It is very bizarre.

Now, back to his act of self sacrifice.  Timmy was just sitting across the table from me where I have been surfing the net.  While I have been 'surfing' my arms have been resting on the edge of the table.  Apparently while I had a hand up in the air for some reason, the red stripe, left by the table edge, caught Timmy's eye.  He said, "What happened to your arm mommy?"  I tried to explain that it was fine but he said, "I'm going to kiss it."  He got out of his chair, crawled around the table, took my hand gently in his and kissed my arm!  What a tender hearted little boy!

Shannon

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• Apr. 24, 2009
So quiet!

My house is so quiet right now!  Sarah finished the last of her school work yesterday.  She got so motivated that she finished everything three weeks early!  Since she finished we decided to make today testing day.  So, little brother is at Grandmas house and I am administering her acheivement test.  There is not a sound in the house besides the clock ticking.  It is a very, very rare treat!  I so rarely have this much quiet time to think that I don't know what to do with myself.

Shannon

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