May 20, 2014

A trip to the Library

So I got this book from the library, because I've heard so many great things about it.  It's called "Desperate. -Hope for the Mom who needs to breathe"   It's written by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson. I put the book on hold, because it wasn't available.  I got the notification that it was in, and waiting for me.  I hurried to the library and breathed deep when I saw the cover.







"Yes, that looks about right."  I'll sit in the bathtub, and read a chapter every night.  That sounds perfect. A month and a half later, I haven't even cracked it open.  I've renewed it twice, and now I owe fines.  -Someone please tell me what this book is about!

Oddly enough, I also got the book,  "Extreme Couponing" by Joni Meyer-Crothers, and  "One Year to an Organized Life" by Regina Leeds.

 Dear Regina, 
I'm thinking a more attainable title would be, "One Decade to an Organized Life." -just to be on the safe side.  Thank you for the consideration.

love,
Becky -The mom who needs to breathe

I think I set the bar a bit high when I was at the library.  I'll stick with my "Homeschool, Super Mom...Not!" book.  It doesn't matter that I've been going through it for two years.  That's more my speed.

Hang on, dear Homeschooling Moms!  The end of the school year is coming!!


Galatians 6:9 "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."





Mar 11, 2014

Shoes, shoes and more shoes!


From the time I was a little girl, shoes have always played an important role in my life. (I think I owe it all to Cinderella.)  Oh how I loved getting my brand new, white, little, Easter shoes!   I'd slip them over my pudgy feet, and click around the kitchen floor, just staring at my perfect "Mary Jane" shoes, and occasionally bumping into a wall or two.  When I sat down, I was very careful not to cross my ankles, because that always made a black scuff mark. (Cinderella didn't have scuff marks on her glass slippers.) If my worst nightmare did come true, and a black scuff mark should appear,  I'd rush to the linen closet, grab a face cloth, and rub that meanie out until I practically wore a hole in the side of my shoe.  I wanted my shoes to stay perfectly white.  I think every little girl's favorite part on Cinderella is when her tiny, flawless foot slips into that perfect glass slipper. Everyone cheers, and we're all convinced that the perfect shoe really can make a "happily ever after."  There is something so magical when the right foot meets the right shoe. 





Sadly, not everyone knows that feeling.  As a matter of fact, not everyone gets to experience the feeling of the perfect shoes, or any shoes.  In America, the perfect shoe makes the outfit.  In Uganda, the perfect shoe keeps the "jiggers" out.  Jiggers are tiny sand fleas that live in the ground.  As children run along the dirt roads, these jiggers attach themselves to their unsuspecting victims and then the awful nightmare begins. The jiggers burrow deep into these precious feet and lay their eggs. These egg sacks need to be removed. If they aren't, the infection and pain multiplies. The saddest part...all this could have been prevented if these children just had a pair of shoes... not perfect, white, Easter shoes, just any pair of shoes!

Sole Hope was born out of the hearts of Dru and Asher Collie. They simply could not see this as "someone else's problem."  Instead, they made it personal.  They took seriously Jesus' call to "treat others the way you would want to be treated."  Sole Hope's mission is to,
"offer hope, healthier lives and freedom from foot-related diseases through education, jobs and medical relief."

 David Livingston, missionary to Africa, once said,  "Sympathy is no substitute for action."
Sole Hope agrees.


To see how you can make a difference in the lives of these little ones, please click here.



"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" -Romans 10:5

Feb 6, 2014

"Losing it" isn't always a bad thing





Jesus said, "He that loses his life will gain it." I read the words over and over again.  How do I purposefully lose something?  Our little Emma sat next to me as I read my Bible. My mind began whirling in a million different directions, trying to make sense of what I just read.

"Emma?"

She looked up at me wide-eyed.

"How do I lose something?"

"You lost something?" she questioned.

"No, I didn't lose it, but I want to."

"Well," she said matter of factly, "whenever I lose something, I just put it behind me, and don't think about it."

So simple, yet so profound.

Put it behind you. Look ahead.  Lose your life, and find the life that Christ meant for you to live.

PS  If you'd like Emma to speak at your church, please contact me. :o)



Jan 30, 2014

Great Homeschool Convention



So guess what everyone?!  I'm going to be speaking here......


GHC Registration



Hello?





Mom...?



You there?




I'm a little nervous....alright fine.... I'm A LOT nervous....Like, run away to Joppa with Jonah nervous!!

-Rabbit trail -
Did I ever tell you about the time when I was registering for my college classes, and found out I had to take speech class?  I asked my advisor, "Sooooo, ummm, like,  do you offer any majors that would not require me taking a speech class?"  I stood there nervously wringing my hands.  The advisor stopped writing and stared at me blankly, "Only the two year secretarial program."

"Sold!  Sign me up....I like typewriters."

I can't tell you how bad I want to say "just kidding" after that last story, but I'm afraid it's the dead honest truth.  According to Wikipedia,  I have Glossophobia - fear of public speaking. The word glossophobia comes from the Greek word, blah-blah-glossa-something or other, meaning "tongue and fear or dread."  That! my dear Wikipedian friends, is a massive understatement! Allow me to offer my own definition...

"Glossophobia - you know you've got it when, three nights in the belly of a whale looks like a five star hotel."


I'll be in Greenville, SC at the TD Center on Friday, March 21st.  The session starts at 8:30 am
(Bring me coffee!)