River’s Call

River’s Call by Melody Carson tells the story of Anna, as she struggles to overcome the difficult relationships in her life. For years she has borne the verbal abuse of her former mother-in-law, Eunice, and she is currently trying to resolve the wedge that Eunice has driven between herself and her own daughter, Lauren. Things become even stickier when Anna discovers that Lauren is pregnant, and does not intend to keep the baby.

This book was a little different than the other book I have read by Melody Carlson. Personally, I enjoyed the set-up of the Diary of a Teenage Girl series, and it was hard for me to make the switch to a more conventional method of storytelling, especially since I knew that it was written by the same author. The writing wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t as much fun! That being said, the book is heart-felt, and brings to into question many modern relationship problems, along with potential ways to resolve them. I did not always agree with the protagonists’ opinions – I happen to think that Anna should have taken her daughter in hand rather than let her figure things out for herself, and the feminist views of Anna’s new, more desirable mother-in-law, Hazel, got under my skin a bit. I don’t mean to be critical though, because everything else about the book was good! I enjoyed spending time on the river with Anna and her friends, and I will most likely read the other books in the series.

If you want to find out more, check out the product page for this book. Or you can preview it here.

Note: In exchange for an honest review, the publisher provided a complimentary copy of this book through Glass Road Public Relations.

A couple of new cursive writing worksheets

Here are a couple more worksheets that I created over at WorksheetWorks.com. Since we are focusing on capital letters right now, I’ve made one with Cursive Books of Bible, and one with the names of Months and Days.

A Prompt Disguised as Taking out the Garbage

Throw away something that you hate. Maybe it’s a trinket that you hate to dust or a pet rock that reminds you of the horrible summer you spent away from home. Maybe it’s a pair of earrings that were given to you, but you can’t bring yourself to wear. How would you feel if what you threw away turned up again the next day? And the day after that? And the day after that? Perhaps your husband saw it in the trash and thought it was a mistake. Each time, you become more creative in getting rid of what you despise, but it always finds its way back. What does it mean? Are you supposed to keep it? What will happen if you attempt to rid yourself of the thing again?

Post from the Past: Can God Be Wrong?

A few minutes ago, I read a Facebook post that really bothered me. One of my Christian friends from college posted a question asking whether it is wrong to mess up people’s lives just to see if they were loyal to you. He implied that he was going to wait to gather several “yes” answers, and then prove a point. The point being, that God is wrong to test people like Job and Abraham.

I’m always amazed that Christians can believe that God can ever be “wrong.” After all, what are our options? There’s God, and there’s Satan. Could you possibly get angry enough with God to choose Satan over Him just to hurt His feelings? I think people are forgetting the supremacy of God in these situations.

First of all, God made us. Everything we know comes from Him. He gave us reasoning skills –  you know, the ones we use when we try to prove He is wrong. He also instilled in us the very idea of what is good and right. I always find it amazing that people think they have a higher understanding of right and wrong than God does. Some people become angry because there is pain and suffering in the world. Some blame Him when a loved one passes away. Sure, I don’t understand everything, but I don’t allow myself to entertain the idea that perhaps I know more than God. Or that perhaps I love people more than He does. The love and knowledge that I do have are just itty-bitty pieces of God’s love and knowledge.

Secondly, we can only glimpse an infinitesimally small piece of reality. God is the only one who can see the whole picture. He is winding things down, wrapping them up for the last inning. He’s been working on the future since He set the world in motion, and everything that happens, happens for a reason. He is working on our behalf even when we can’t see Him. If you’re going to believe in God, don’t believe that you’re better than Him. And if you’re not a believer, I suggest looking into the creation/evolution debate with an open mind.

Thirdly, once you develop a relationship with God, you begin to trust Him with everything – your pain, your life, your death, your eternity – everything. You begin to realize that maybe your life is a tool in God’s hands that He is using to bring others to Him. Whether He does that by making me famous or by allowing me to be tortured and martyred, whether I become a millionaire or whether I lose everything that’s dear to me, I want Him to accomplish His will in my life. My goal should be bringing others to Christ and encouraging other Christians to be strong enough to lead others to Christ. He created us for His own glory, and we are to lift Him up so that others may see and glorify Him.

As I type this, I’m not afraid that God will prove me just to see if I really believe what I’m saying. If He does, that’s His business. I trust Him. This life will soon be over anyway, so what happens to me between now and death doesn’t matter much. It’s my eternal destination that counts, and He’s already taken care of that!

Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Job 23:3-14

Our Favorite Sins

Our Favorite Sins by Todd D. Hunter was written to help every sinner who is tired of his sinful lifestyle. Mr. Hunter addresses the fact that we commit the same sins over and over, and it’s difficult for us to get out of those ruts. Basically, we have trouble because we try to force ourselves to quit sinning, but we do nothing to address the desires that tempt us to sin again and again. If we could only steer our desires away from evil and toward goodness, it would be easier to just say “no.” We won’t fall into sin if we have no desire to commit that particular sin.

This was a great book for me to read. I would recommend it to all who find themselves falling for the same temptations again and again. All too often, we wander aimlessly through life, succeeding or failing to overcome temptation in a haphazard manner, without addressing the root of the problem. We neglect to ask ourselves which desires really drive us to temptation. In addition, we unknowingly nurture the desires that trip us up the most. For instance, if we are prone to sexual temptation, we read romance novels and watch romantic movies. These things just serve to enhance our desires, and will intensify the temptation to sin when it comes our way. If we are sick of our own sin, we need to make a concentrated effort to address our desires.

If you want to find out more, check out the product page for this book. Or you can preview it here.

Note: In exchange for an honest review, the publisher provided a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze®.

A prompt disguised as Freaky Friday

Think of someone you know well, but whose personality is nothing like yours. Write what would happen to your lives if you switched bodies for a day. You can pick a mundane day or a day that will affect the rest of your life.

Post from the Past: Budget Planning

I was printing out my grocery list and my budget for May this morning, when it occurred to me that somebody else may benefit from my Grocery Double Check List, so I am uploading it. While I’m thinking about it, here is my Budget Form as well.

A couple of notes: I try to save my receipts from week to week, and anything that isn’t already on my grocery list gets added, along with the price, before printing the list for the following week. The question marks are things that I haven’t bought since I started keeping track, or things that I have forgotten to record.

We use one of our savings accounts to pay for yearly expenses such as income tax (I’m self-employed, so we almost always owe) and property tax. You could also use a savings account to save for vacations or health care.

Our tithe is variable because my income varies from month to month. We pay tithes on our gross amount, so in the rare years that we actually get money back from the IRS, we don’t have to pay tithes on that (it’s already been done).

We always give ourselves a small monthly allowance. We try not to make any unnecessary purchases from our budget. If my husband really wants something, he buys it from his allowance, and I do the same thing. Unnecessary purchases usually include things like eating out, books (my major pitfall), and video games, but soda and other frivolous snack foods, such as beef jerky, fall under this category as well.

Jesse and I have an agreement that whoever suggests eating out pays for it out of their allowance. Needless to say, we don’t eat out as often, but when we do, it feels like we’re on a real date because one person is paying for the other person’s meal. It’s always very sweet and intensely gratifying, regardless of whether you are the giver or the receiver.

Personal allowances are also nice because we can buy whatever we want without checking with each other first to see what kind of shape the budget is in. It also keeps me from feeling guilty for buying things that are only for me. And if I really, really want a $30 book, I can buy one without feeling silly in front of Jesse.

Something that saved us $700 last year: we switched from Sprint to Net10. We signed up for $15/month plans (200 minutes that roll over). We save almost $60/month.

We don’t pay for cable: Netflix is way cheaper, and we can almost always find something that looks interesting from their instant library.

Occasionally, I will go on a freezer-cooking spree. It’s nice to have food in the deep freezer for months when we are over budget on groceries. I keep thinking that I will make some appetizers to freeze for impromptu party invitations. That would keep us from having to run out and buy soda and chips every time someone invites us to a BBQ, etc. I haven’t done this yet, but I know some moms who really seem to be on top of things, so maybe the idea can help you save a little more money.

Hope somebody out there finds this post useful! If you have any favorite money-saving tips, feel free to send them my way!

Cursive Writing Worksheets

My second-grader is beginning to work on his cursive writing skills. He had so much trouble with learning to print, I figured that cursive writing would be a big deal, so I’ve taken a pretty laid-back approach. Thankfully though, he seems to enjoy it! He even uses bits of cursive on his language worksheets when the mood strikes him! Anyway, we used the worksheets found at http://www.kidzone.ws/cursive/index.htm to get him started. He learned all of his lower-case letters this way, and he didn’t have any trouble. I didn’t see any capital letters on this site however, so I’ve been making my own worksheets at http://www.worksheetworks.com/english/writing/handwriting/handwriting-cursive-trace.html. If you skip a line when making these worksheets, there will be a blank line when you print as well. That way, your child can get used to tracing and writing on his own.

I’ve been making worksheets with lots of capital letters. The first day, we brainstormed the names of all of his friends. Yesterday, I typed in the names of all of the states and their capitals. That was a little tedious, so I’m going to upload a PDF so you all can use it if you like. As I make more worksheets for him, I will upload some PDFs. Here are some of my ideas for worksheets:

Books of the Bible

Names of family members and friends

States and capitals

Psalms

Memory verses

Personal info (phone number, street address, full name, parents’ names, etc.)

Months of the year

Days of the week

Spelling words

Vocabulary

Spanish vocabulary

Obviously, some of these aren’t great for capital letters, but I figured that he might as well be writing in cursive for things that he needs to memorize, such as spelling words and memory verses.

Here is the PDF generated by WorkSheetWorks.com: Cursive States and Capitals

Post from the Past: Eve’s Mistake, My Mistake

Back in January, my pastor’s wife loaned me a book by Debi Pearl, titled Created to Be His Help Meet. I have been reading it on and off, and have enjoyed (almost) every word of it! I don’t read much for pleasure any more (too many other things to do!), so last night, I found myself about a third of the way through the book. It was about there that Mrs. Pearl began talking about the differences between Adam and Eve. As I was reading, I had a strange idea.

How many times have I blamed Eve for being so stupid and ruining everything? If it weren’t for her, I sometimes think, we would still be living on a perfect earth. She should have known better! God told Adam point-blank that death was the penalty for disobedience (Genesis 2:16-17). Why didn’t she believe Him?

But as I was reading the story again last night, in the context of thinking about obeying my husband perfectly, a new idea occurred to me. Every single time I rationalize concerning the Word of God, I make the same exact mistake that Eve made. Take, for instance, submission to my husband. Every time I think, “Well, God’s rule doesn’t apply in this situation,” I am allowing Satan to deceive me into questioning God.

The problem is thousands of years old: Eve didn’t respect God’s supreme authority, and it’s even possible that she didn’t trust God to follow through on His promise. She wanted what she wanted so badly, that she allowed Satan to deceive her into rationalizing. She willingly chose to be deceived.

God is God. This fact alone requires our obedience.

First of all, Eve should have been willing to obey God because He is God. Because He is the Creator. Because He makes the rules (or rule, in her case). He doesn’t have to explain Himself. We often don’t tell our children precisely why we ask them not to say certain words or act a certain way. Sometimes, the explanation wouldn’t be good for them, like when I asked my five-year-old not to go around holding hands with and hugging on other boys (he was making some of the older boys in choir uncomfortable). Sometimes, we need them to obey immediately, and we don’t have time to explain. And again, sometimes, we just want them to recognize our authority and to obey us just because our position demands it.  God required Eve’s obedience. He told Adam that the consequences of disobedience were death. I’ve long figured that Eve didn’t really believe that God would follow through on His promise. She certainly didn’t understand the gravity of her situation. She didn’t know about all the sorrow she would bring into the world. But should God have needed to tell her the exact consequences of disobedience before He asked her to obey? No.

Sometimes I think we forget that God created us for His own glory. He wants us to tell Him how wonderful He is. He wants us to tell Him what an awesome job He did when He created everything. And He wants us to obey Him to the letter. Because He is God. We don’t need another reason.

How do God’s rules benefit me?

However, we humans often don’t follow God implicitly unless we can see how it directly benefits us. Don’t ask me why – it shouldn’t make sense, but that’s the way we are. We are sinful. Even before Eve took her first bite, she decided that she would do what she perceived to be good for her, regardless of what her Creator, her Lord, demanded. She was led to believe that perhaps God didn’t have her best interest in mind.

Luckily for us, God never asks us to do anything that isn’t good for us. He is the epitome of goodness and intelligence. He doesn’t make rules for the mere sake of placing restrictions on us, but for our own benefit. If you read through the books of Exodus and Leviticus, you will find that God made a great many rules and placed a great many restrictions on His people, and He didn’t always explain why. My husband and I aren’t Jewish, but when our son was born, we had him circumcised on the eighth day, just as God had commanded the Israelites. Now, we weren’t convicted to do so (at the time, we thought that God’s Law was only for the Jewish nation), but we figured He must have had a legitimate reason for creating a rule about it to begin with. We found out a couple years later that blood clotting is at its peak on the eighth day of life. What I’m trying to illustrate is: we don’t have to understand why God has asked us to do (or not to do) something. We need to just trust that He knows best, and that all of His intentions are good ones. When I fail to obey Him, I fail to trust Him.

Application

The difficulties begin when we start applying His commandments to our own lives. If we were to trust God completely, our lives as we know them would be turned upside down. Even Christians fail to trust God when doing so gets between them and the things they really want to do. The more wrapped up we are in the lifestyles and perceptions of our day, the harder it is to let go of our own desires and understanding, and trust God with everything.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5

Here are some potentially life-changing applications, should we decide to obey God to the letter:

Be Careful What You Watch on Television

Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Romans 1:29-32

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Philippians 4:8

Submission to Authority

Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;

Ephesians 6:2

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

Ephesians 5:22

Does God tell wives to submit to their husbands, except when the husbands are wrong? Does he tell wives to submit unless the husbands are unsaved? No! In fact, he tells wives that their unsaved husbands can come to salvation through observing their wives’ submission in the fear of God. The only time we should not obey authority is when we are commanded to do something contrary to the Word of God. Period.

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Romans 13:1

For me, this verse even means paying taxes on every penny and obeying the speed limits. This may be common sense for a lot of people, but I also know many, many Christians who are more of the “civil disobedience” type.

Gossip

And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

I Timothy 5:13

Caring for Others

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

James 1:27

He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

Proverbs 19:17

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

Proverbs 3:27

Resisting Worldliness and Conformity

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 12:2

Church Attendance

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Hebrews 10:25

What about Old Testament Laws?

(I am updating this section as of 1/10/2017 because my perception of God’s Law has changed drastically in the last couple of years. I have to smile now, when I see that I wrote the phrase “Old Testament Laws.” It has come to my attention that there is only one Law given by God. The New Testament refers to many of the individual laws, but it is not a new law. I am not updating this post in an effort to hide the fact that I have changed my mind, but merely because I do not want to spread false doctrine. For a better picture of what I believe now, please see The Law Is Not an Example of Planned Obsolescence.)

Even though our salvation is not based on obedience to the Law, I maintain that all of them were instituted for our own good, and following them certainly won’t hurt us. Besides, once you get to know the Lord, you will want to please Him as much as possible by obeying His commands. In the following verse, God practically dares us to trust Him with our finances.

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Malachi 3:10

Tithing is good for the Kingdom. It supports those who have devoted their entire lives to reaching others for Christ. It is good for us, too. By tithing, we prove our trust in God, which, when God blesses us in return, helps to increase our faith.

Keeping the Sabbath is also good for us.

And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Mark 2:27

Have we never stopped to consider that it is good for us, emotionally, spiritually, and physically to actually rest from working once a week?

Rationalization Is Our Warning Signal

I would venture to say that anytime we find ourselves rationalizing, we should stop in our tracks and do the opposite of what it is that we are wanting to do. Rationalization is the signal to stop and ask ourselves if we are trusting God, and to try to figure out what our motivations really are. If we have to rationalize, we already know what we should be doing, but we don’t want to do it. We are trying to find a way around it without hurting our consciences. We set ourselves up as God, and think: In this situation, I can see what’s best for me. For some reason, God’s rules only apply to our situations when we want them to. Any other time, we can find ways around them. That’s not respect at all! How would you feel if your teenagers treated you that way? My friends used to tell me, “It’s easier to apologize than to ask permission.” But if you know ahead of time that you are going to be apologizing later, then you already know it’s wrong. It’s a sin to dishonor your parents, husband, or God by doing anything that you suspect will garner their disapproval.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Do you believe that? Do you believe it enough to trust God to the point of obeying Him in all situations? That your situation isn’t the exception to the rule? Or maybe you think that God didn’t see this coming. Maybe it appears that things can’t work out by doing it His way; that it will only work out if you do what you think is best. Since when is your wisdom greater than God’s? Will you be brave enough to present these arguments before God when He asks why you disobeyed? I know the answer.

I’m not trying to be mean, but I am trying to promote a “No-Excuses Christianity.” Let’s get real, folks.

Can you think of any more areas of life in which we can apply this concept? I’m sure there are many, many more, and I would love to hear your ideas!