Big Universe, Small World... ©2013-2020

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow, For babies grow up, we’ve learned to our sorrow. So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust, go to sleep. I’m spending time with my babies, and babies don’t keep.

yeah...so, this sounds like a complaint...but it is not...   i have tremendously dirty fingernails today. i remember when i used to pay to have manicures and carefully sculpted nails. they were pretty nails. and my hands looked great...   now, for the most part the nails are short and seem to stay dirty...not always. i do clean them. but, then i dig in the dirt again. this is a new phase of life. i love plants. i love to grow things. i love to take the seed and germinate it and watch it grow and gather a useful product for it.   about two weeks ago i went and got a pedi i had saved for a few weeks. it was my treat to me. i may not still get manis, but i still love the occasional treat of a pedi. other ladies there commented on why i would not get a mani. i responded there was no point, as my nails would be more than likely completely dirty by the end of the day. i wanted to get home to play in the raised bed my son had recently built for me.   curr...

Today in an email I received from a friend: Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never noticed this.... The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over The face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly Folded, and was placed separate from the grave clothes. Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the Tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I Don't know where they have put him!' Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see.. The other disciple Outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen Cloth lying there, but he didn...

The 5 Money Personalities Speaking the Same Love and Money Language by Scott Palmer, Bethany Palmer     All couples disagree at some point and time in their relationships. Most arguments, at the root of them, are about money or how it was managed. It is important to realize what you believe about money, how you think about it, how you view it, to note how it affects your interactions with others, particularly your spouse. The book helps the reader to understand how they manage their money and how others understand money. The authors are known for identifying the money issues of a relationship and offering helpful advice and solutions to get past this issue and solve it. This is not a book about budgeting or money management. This book is more of a guide about relationships with each other and relationships with money. The book helps you to personally identify five money personalities and to detect your personal money personalities. The book helps you and y...

  I am thinking about impact a lot lately. The other night, I remember thinking that if days were to end, I wanted my children to know that they had been enough . I know that might be a hard word to understand. Although, it explains it all: enough . They do not have to be the best in life. They just have to be their best in God . They do not have to please others. They just need to be what the Lord has chosen for them. And, they will find that their lives are enough . I want them to have enough  to make them happy, enough  to make them feel loved, enough  to make them feel complete. Enough ...Nothing more, no less. Enough . I look upon their lives and the impact that they have made upon mine...and they have been enough .  Enough to complete me.  Enough to make me happy.  Enough to make me know it was a life well lived, well planned, well sacrificed. Enough . And, in reflection, I don't want to leave them a legacy. I want to make them a t...

  ISBN-13: 9780764210426 Publisher: Bethany House Publishers Publication date: 11/1/2012 Pages: 448 Recently, I was given the opportunity to review The Breath of Dawn by Kristen Heitzman. There were parts of this book that I loved and parts that I found to be a bit unrealistic. A brief overview of the text follows: Morgan is a business success and seemingly, a life success. Recently, his wife has died and he has to pick up the pieces to move on to parent his young toddler, Livie. Livie becomes the sole reason he exists after the death of his wife. Morgan meets Quinn and it appears she might be able to draw him back into existence again. But Quinn has a troubled past. Several years previous to Quinn meeting Morgan, she testified in a trial against a man and he was imprisoned. Now, he is being released and she is understandably alarmed. Quinn cares for Morgan and his daughter, and wants them to stay protected. Her the book takes a turn in what ...

  A Big Life : Ordinary People Led by an Extraordinary God by Peter Hone ISBN-10: 1613466471 ISBN-13: 9781613466476   I have completed a read recently on the book A Big Life: Ordinary People Led by an Extraordinary God by Peter Hone. Hone's book has been endorsed by Charles Colson and Mike Huckabee. In A Big Life: Ordinary People Led by an Extraordinary God,  the central character John Heerema works with the guidance of the Lord to demonstrate that even ordinary people can live out an extraordinary life. This book follows Heerema's  like journey of creating his Big Life ministry that is actively strong today. Heerema's Big Life ministry has reach believers in the thousands from all areas around the world. Heerema's work in the mission field has led others to carry forth on the promise of his ministry to accomplish all that he started and to bring the Word of Christ to others in a promise of salvation and the brotherhood of disciple...

Recently, I was given the opportunity to review Short Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer. I loved this book. It seems like a rare moment when I can actually sit down to read a novel and enjoy my alone time. Most of my time is spent reading textbooks or reviewing textbooks for the universities I teach. I spend the remainder of my reading time in devotionals or reading/reviewing homeschool curriculum for parents and this blog. So, this book was refreshing for me. Here is a YouTube overview of the book. There is a book trailer available for viewing through the publisher at Bethany House (a division of Baker Books). This book demonstrates how the love of the Lord can help anyone to overcome obstacles placed before them, no matter how insurmountable the odds may seem. Meredith is the main character in this novel. She is young and seems naive, but is actually quite astute. She has been infatuated, or in love, with Travis Archer for most of her life. She recognizes the character in ...

been a baking/cooking machine today...made an apple yum yum and homemade pizza for dinner. made some banana bread for my younger son's homeschool social group tomorrow. tomorrow my neighbor and her junior league are taking some children from the children's home to the marionette theater. i made some banana muffins for them to have. :0) yummy!!  since i will be gone next week to the lda conference, i know my hubby and children will not be huge on cooking the veggies bought from the farmers' market and produce co-op. my younger son boiled all the corn after i shucked it. i flashed rinsed it and froze it for later. we flash froze the cauliflower as well. tomorrow i flash freeze the zucchinis. i am thinking of either eating the cucumbers or pickling them tomorrow. i am not sure what to do with the kale. i have 1.5 bundles of it. i thought of making crockpot apple and pear butter to use those up and canning the this weekend. i do not want then to go bad.  i harvested some ...

There are some great free resources available to use as curriculum. Below is a list of websites I have found that offer free curriculum choices, some complete with videos and lessons already written. I, in no way, endorse any of these sites. I simply list them here for others to peruse at leisure and see what they might find. http://www.khanacademy.org/ One word about this site is WOW!! Everyone needs a link to this site. We use it in the public schools and share it with parents left and right. Bookmark this site NOW!! Ambleside Online – This is a free Charlotte Mason-style curriculum, with a complete schedule for grades K through 12. Also contains the complete text of Charlotte Mason’s original homeschooling series, along with a library of free online books and a complimentary support group. An Old Fashioned Education – A free homeschool curriculum that utilizes a combination of public domain textbooks and living books. Contains a complete 40-week schedule for...

These are pieces of ivy that I am rooting to transplant and pot soon. The green ivy is from a plant I have at home. The purple and green striped leaf ivy is one that was thrown away, discarded, left unwanted. On the trip to Home Depot to buy the rain gutters for the rain barrel project recently, I walked through the garden center. There were two pieces of this striped ivy laying on the concrete flooring. It was somewhat withered. It was left laying to just die. Yes, I understand that the people that work at HD don't have time to be concerned about a few leaves or a simple piece of ivy that falls from a larger plant to the floor. I felt different. I felt compelled to pick it up and save it. The worker saw me and sort of made a face. Anyhow, I brought it home and put it in the jar with my piece of ivy to root as well. I did not know the name of the type of ivy. This past week, I was at a friend's house to gather our produce co-op foods. My friend had some of the same ...