Everything Old is New Again

I think it was Fraulein Maria who first introduced me to the concept of re-purposing. I remember watching her creative glance, eyeing the curtains in her bedroom one night and the next day the Von Trapp children were wearing them as play clothes.


Since watching Sound of Music many moons ago, I have re-purposed many things including dish towels and aprons which have become curtains. A shower curtain has recently become a cushion for our glider, and just today, a twin bed sheet became our new shower curtain.

Recently, I found this super book online that is full of home making projects many of which are made from re-purposed materials. It’s titled, “Handmade Home: simple ways to repurpose old materials into new family treasures” by Amanda Blake Soule.

I can’t wait to head to the library and get my hands on this book! I can’t wait to peek through the pages and get some great ideas to further the life of many things laying around my house screaming out for new life. I’ll let you know what I find!

That Too?

The longer I go along on this journey through life back Home to my Father, I realize it is full of sacrifice. Some things are easier to sacrifice than others. Everything, eventually, gets handed over to the One who saved me. It is no longer I that live, but Christ in me. In order for me to no longer live for myself, everything must be handed over when He asks for it. 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, "and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."

So, I die and hand over my lifestyle, hopes, dreams,etc...I am not living for myself anymore. Rather, I am living for Him. What gets replaced is this new life--new creation where God places in me His lifestyle, hopes, dreams, etc...which of course is perfect and pleasing to the Lord. Only with His hopes and dreams am I really at peace. True contented peace cannot be found apart from the One who grants it. It is a fruit of the Spirit after all.

Well, I have had this part of me that I haven't wanted to give over yet...Yes, He has asked me for it numerous times. I try to hand it over with my own strength and it seems to fall on the ground and roll back to me. So, I scoop it up and continue in life until He asks for it again. Really, I have needed to ask the Spirit to help me carry it to the altar where I can properly give it to God. I am too weak but He is strong.

This is the summer to fall under complete submission and hand over my love of food and my distain for exercise. I do want to loose weight, don't get me wrong, but there is a greater want inside me. I want to give Him all of me. Even the rebellious part that wants to eat what I want to eat, when I want to eat it. So, I have asked the Spirit to lift my arms up and give me the strength to hand this rebellious desire over to God and put it on the altar once and for all. This require that I be vulnerable with all of me. In some bizarre human way, I feel covered up even though I know I am exposed before the Lord always. By saying, "okay, you can have this too" I feel pretty darn naked.

Are you like me? Do you have something that you have been withholding from giving over to God? Is there something that you just want to keep for yourself and not share with Him? Do you have some leaves hiding your heart from the Father? Friends, ask the Spirit to give you His strength and comfort to pass it over to the altar. I shall be praying for you during this season of letting go, just as I know you are praying for me.

Inhale...Exhale

Inhale. This is it, I decided not to give a two week notice. Instead, I  opted to turn around and walk away this morning. Yes,  I have gotten out of the driver seat and taken my hands off the wheel. I have opted to sit back and watch God work. To ride the train not drive it! No more striving, no more impatience, no more worry or anxiety. I'm done. It is finished. I QUIT!

Exhale. I will start each new day, fresh in His embrace. I will ask what He would have me to do with each day I am given. No more assumptions on what I should be doing, no more strategies on how my life should play out.

Life is a huge field to run through and I intend to run fast and hard to my Savior--the One who calls me His own. I don't know what that looks like, I don't know my place in the bigger picture AND I don't care. That isn't for me to be worried about TODAY. Today, I run after Him through the beautiful lush green field full of wild daisies and fragrant lilacs. It is a most beautiful journey Home!

My Kindle Science Experiment

An interesting development has occurred with one of my children who is diagnosed with visual perception disorder. (Basically, he has dyslexic tendencies and it takes longer for his brain to process information that comes in through his eyes.) This interesting development has come in the form of our Kindle.

Recently, I was having a talk with my son about what he sees when he reads. It always surprises him when I tell him that words don't move around on the pages that I am reading, and it always surprises me that they do for him. Anyway, I asked him to read a bit on my kindle.  He looked up from the device and said, "So this is what it looks like for you, huh?"

The words stayed in place! Nothing shifted! So, I asked him if the words stayed in place on the computer screen. He said the computer is better than books, magazines, etc... but there is still some slight movement. The kindle kept every single word still! No movement at all! We now use the Kindle daily in his schooling.

Here's a few questions I would like to ask which could proof or disproof my theory that e-readers are beneficial to dyslexics.

1. If you have dyslexic tendencies, is reading on the computer screen better for you than books, magazines, etc...?

2. If you have or know someone with dyslexic tendencies, have they tried reading from an e-reader and what was the result?

3. If reading from an e-reader meant no more dyslexia would you invest in one for your children?

4. If e-readers are proven therapy for various dyslexic tendencies would you want to see a literacy charity of some sort working with the schools and/or communities to get e-readers donated to kids who would benefit from them?

Note: I just have to say that I love my kindle! I looked at the Nook the last time I was in a Barnes & Noble and came away liking my Kindle better. Nook does have more bells and whistles on it but I'm good with my kindle. The kindle is a little lighter and the average book costs less with it than with the Nook.I also have looked at the SONY e-reader and wasn't impressed with the selection or the fact that it had to be connected to my computer to download books onto it.

A start...

He sat in the metal folding chair gazing over her body at the creme colored curtains on the wall. The room was so silent, so final. The air conditioning would kick on every once in awhile and a gentle breeze would blow across him. He imagined it was her blowing him a kiss.

He stopped himself from thinking of her and refocused on the hard cold chair and the creme curtains.  He didn't want to cry. He was tired of crying. He wanted to hold her and hug her. He wanted to tell her all the things that he would miss about her.

They knew this day was coming for a long time and still, it felt as if he had no warning. It felt as if she had suddenly passed away and he didn't have a chance to say "I love you."

He gained some composer and glanced at her again. He thought about how they had planned this day together. He remembered how very clear she was with him about what she wanted to wear, and how she wanted her hair when "her chariot took her up to heaven." That was what she called the casket they had picked out together last year when she got sick--her chariot.

She wanted to be comfortable not dressed up in some stuffy suited dress. He smirked when he thought of how she had gotten out of bed, in what had seemed like months, to show him the shirt and pants outfit. He sighed thinking of his spunky wife who loved life down to the last drop. He couldn't take being without her. 

He got up and walked out of the room. The rest of their family and friends would be there soon and he wanted to be ready for all the "I'm so sorries". That's what Claire had called all the condolences he would soon get.

Igniting Passions and Fueling Interests

This is my theme as a home school teacher this summer. I want to show the children the world in such a way that their imaginations will be awakened and will leap off the pages of the text books they have been studying this past school year. I want them to begin to critically think of questions to ask concerning various topics in all academic disciplines.

My 6th grader's favorite reply is, "I don't know" or " I don't care" when I ask him what he liked most or least about what we read or studied. My desire is to give him a courageous foundation in which he can express his opinion with confidence.  I want to show him that his place is important and he has a perspective that needs to be heard.

To begin this adventure, he and I will study comic books for literature class this summer. He loves superheroes. How fitting that he research the history and plot lines of various comic books. Today we came up with several research questions from "why do superheroes have aliases?" to "what role does the setting play in the story line?" See, we think that a city scape is necessary for Spiderman. He needs all those high buildings to swing his webs from.

I'm looking forward to a great summer full of superheroes!