What are you reading?

Right now, I'm reading Jon Acuff's new book, Gazelles, Baby Steps, and 37 other things Dave Ramsey taught me about money. It's funny! It's a light-hearted book to have sitting around to read occasionally, especially if you've listened to any of Dave Ramsey's seminars. I picked it up because I loved Acuff's first book, Stuff Christians Like, and I read his blog almost daily.

I'm also reading Growing Up Christian by Karl Graustein. It's been a good read so far. I think it will be helpful to read with my kids when they're teenagers. It's about making your faith real and not just living on your parent's faith.

I'm not reading any adult fiction right now, but I just bought The Last Block in Harlem by Christopher Herz after I asked on Twitter what I should read next. It's not a book I'd ordinarily pick up, but I think it will be good for me. I will probably start this tonight. I'll let you know what I think.

With the kids, we are reading Caddie Woodlawn. So far so good! We're reading it at night before bed. My girls love the adventurous spirit of Caddie. They wish they could live on a prairie. I would miss the plumbing. And electricity. And Facebook. And hot showers.

Then for school, we're starting Mr. Revere and I this week. I hope it's as entertaining as it looks. So far, the historical fiction books we've been reading have been very fun to read.

So, what are you reading?

Toliver's Loaf of Bread - minus the snuff box

I love reading. I hate baking. But, in honor of finishing the book Toliver's Secret, the kids and I baked 2 loafs of white bread. I used this recipe.

The dough was so sticky and gooey it was impossible to kneed. I was getting very frustrated until the girls and I started laughing about it. We looked like monsters with slimy hands. I would have taken a picture, but my hands would have stuck to the camera.

We finally got the risen dough into the loaf pans, and the finished product looked beautiful. It tasted ok, but it was chewy and heavy. I wouldn't want to make it again.

So, I need a little help here. What are the secrets to perfect bread? Did I add too much extra flour? If so, then how in the world was I supposed to kneed that sticky, pasty substance? I should add that I don't have a bread maker or fancy mixer.

On a good note, we loved the book. I was almost in tears of relief and excitement at the end myself!

We are learning American History this year by reading literature, with a combination of Beautiful Feet, Truth Quest, and Sonlight suggestions. It has been so much fun! In fact, we are enjoying the Revolutionary War so much and have so many good books to choose from, we might just stay here the rest of the school year.

Have you read anything inspiring lately? And... how do I fix the bread?

_____________________________________________________________________________

In the mood for an inspirational historical fiction book? Check our Becky's new novel Surrender.

Want a creative way to teach the 23rd Psalm to your children? Becky wrote a devotional titled Duncan's Journey that is now available!

Online Home School Expo & Free Stuff!

 Have you heard about the Online Homeschool Expo? I just found out and registered right away. The amount of stuff you get just by signing up is well-worth the $29 ticket, plus you get to listen live and download the MP3's of all the speakers.

I downloaded my freebies today. I'm really excited to start reading them! Especially the one on juggling a home-based business while home schooling.



You also receive a year's membership to the HLA, which is something I've been planning to join but haven't gotten around to.



I hope to "see" you there!

All I Have Is Christ!

Welcome to Theology Tuesday, where we discuss essays that I'm writing for a NANC Counseling exam.  Today I'll begin a three part series in Soteriology. If you're like me, you might be scratching your head at that word. I'll do the dictionary work for you: It's the study of the doctrine of our Salvation.

Is Theology as dry and dusty as an old moth-ball-ridden library? Well, it can be, I guess, but studying this over the three-weeks time left me dancing... and there's no room for dust when you're kicking up your heals to this!

(A friend said these theology posts are too long... but hang in there! It's worth it!)

So... to begin!  

Part one:  “Justification by faith alone.”  Discuss the meaning of this phrase.

First, I’ll define a few important terms. Justification means “to declare righteous.”  What does that mean?  To be righteous means “morally upright, without guilt or sin.”  We know that none of us are righteous. We all have sinned and have the guilt associated with that. Romans 3:23 says that everyone has sinned, and Romans 6:23 says that the wages, or punishment, for our sins is death. So how are we, as guilty sinners, ever to become righteous?

The answer is that we can’t become righteous by ourselves. The Bible describes us as being dead in our sins. (Ephesians 2:5). A dead man cannot bring himself back to life again, just as a smashed spider cannot wake himself up and begin to crawl again. We need something outside of ourselves to change us and breathe life into us again.    

No amount of good works or noble actions can erase the bad mistakes. They are constantly accumulating in our life. The good does not out-weigh the bad. In fact, the good things we do only condemn us more, because in doing them, we acknowledge that there is a right and wrong way to live, and so often we choose the wrong way. (Romans 2:14-15).

This is the beauty of the cross. Jesus, as God, came as a man and did indeed live that perfect, righteous life. (Romans 5:19). He was morally guilt-less and upright. Legally speaking, he had not earned the punishment associated with sin, which is death and separation from the Holy God. However, he allowed himself to die so that God could place the wrath that we deserve for our sins onto Him.

Now, God’s Word says that if we believe in Jesus and His death and resurrection from the dead, God will do two things: First, He will remove our sins from us; sins in the past, present, and future. “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” (Ps 103:12). This means that we “have no penalty to pay for sin, including past, present, and future sins... we are not subject to any charge of guilt or condemnation.” (Grudem 724-725)  “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn?” (Rom 8:33-34).  (Note: This is the part where I started dancing in my chair!)

It doesn’t end there, however. If it did, we would be morally neutral. Our sins are removed, but that is not all. God then goes one step further and places the righteousness of God through Jesus onto us. Just as Adam’s guilt was placed, or “imputed,” onto us, and our sins were imputed to Christ on the cross, so now His righteousness is imputed to us. “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19).

It is evident from the Bible that this is a gift of God and not something we can earn on our own. (Romans 3:24). As mentioned already, we were dead in our sins, and it was God that made us alive. “But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). It wasn’t after we cleaned ourselves up that He died for us. It was while we were still sinners.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1). There is no room for a faith and (fill in the blank) approach to God’s grace. Fill that blank with baptism, going to church, giving to the poor, or being a good person.  Romans 3:20 is clear that no one will be justified by following the law. This is repeated clearly again in Ephesians 2:8-9. “For by grace you have been saved, through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest any man should boast.”

When we have faith in God, we are choosing to not depend on ourselves for our salvation. As Grudem explains, we essentially say, “I give up! I will not depend on myself or my own good works any longer. I know that I can never make myself righteous before God. Therefore, Jesus, I trust you and depend on you completely to give me a righteous standing before God.” (Grudem p 730).  This is the beauty of the Gospel.  It is the beauty of the grace of God, and it should cause us to love Him all the more.

___________________________________________________________________________

Now, are you ready to dance? This LONG blog is ending with a song that you should turn up and sing loudly based on this awesome truth.  Now, it may not really be a DANCING song, I'll post one of those later, but it's one that fills your heart with thankfulness.

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You

____________________________________________________________________________

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pages 722-732.

Righteous. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

So I Married a Visionary

I often tell my friends that one day I'll write a book, So I Married a Visionary.

I am sure it will be a best-seller. The thing is, I can't write it yet because my Mr. Wonderful is still coming up with adventures for our family!

For example, what do you do when you own a Construction Company, and your tools are spread out at various sites? Well, when you get an urge to work on a household project, like running gas lines for the dryer and rerouting the ducts, you just have to improvise. Is your ladder at someone else's project? Then you make do.

Call it Extreme Construction. He's a nut. With a Visionary in the house, there is never a dull moment.

Uh oh, I just heard him tell one of our kids, "I'm going to ruin mommy's scissors by cutting this." Ugh. His clippers must be at another site as well. Oh well!

Save 20% on Surrender

Save 20% on Surrender!

If you were interested in purchasing Surrender, now is the time to buy.

Lulu is having a 20% off sale, through February 21st. Enter code HAPPY305 at check out. Order Here.

Building Boxes and Breaking Them Down

I have a confession:

I love creating charts, schedules, and plans.

And then I think I love breaking them just as much as I love planning them.

Maybe it gives me some strange sense of freedom when I can bust out of the box and do my own thing! I know in my mind that I am the designer of the box, and I don't have to tell myself what to do. There is no submission/sin issue when it's all just me.

Don't get me wrong - some boxes I've made for myself have been very helpful. Like grocery shopping once/month, or laundry once/week. Those have rocked my world, and I love those boxes.

Boxes I make for my kids that they use work great too. Like in the mornings, my girls each have their own check list of seat work and chores that they are to complete before they do anything else, and though it took time to train them, they have perfected it. I am so proud of them!

How about the checklists I make for myself for a morning routine? Yeah, I think my seven year old is more disciplined than me in this area.

So now, I'm about to start yet another busy season of life. I have added a lot to my plate that I can see is about to start rolling. Usually I can keep the plates spinning, but lately I've found myself needing more time for writing and the beginning phases of promoting my book, Duncan's Journey.

I know in my head that I need to set up a schedule for myself; for when I teach the kids, when I clean, when I work, and when I play.

I know that.

But in the back of my mind, I'm telling myself, "You can make a pretty, color-coded schedule Becky, and post it in the office, but you won't follow it, and then you'll just feel guilty for not doing what you told yourself to do."

Is this maddness?

So, please tell me I'm not alone here.

Who else loves the planning sometimes more than the actual doing?

I'm stepping off the vulnerability chair now. I need to go do the dishes. Yes, I was "supposed" to do my dinner dishes immediately after dinner last night, but they are still in the sink because I worked on my website last night instead of doing my dishes, and went to the park today and then took a nap.

Ahhh, yet another perfect example. But the dishes will get done eventually, and all will be well. Life keeps moving. Maybe it's not such a big deal after all.