Happy New Year!

Wow. I can't believe that I never posted in November or December. I am a bad blogger. My apologies.

So here's what happened:

November - Thanks to a great Groupon deal, we got family portraits taken. We also got a bunch of just the kids, who are ridiculously photogenic and cute. For some reason I'm not able to upload any photos right now. I will add one later.

On November 1 I started reading through the Bible in 120 days. We extended the reading plan by 30 days and we are doing a chronological read through this time, too. I am struggling on a couple of levels - time management, discipline, and interest. There are parts of the idea of reading chronologically that are working, but the one thing that is making it difficult is the repetition. It's tough to stay interested when you read the same story twice or three times in a row.

My lovely MIL arrived just before Thanksgiving to spend the holidays with us. All of her children and grandchildren are within 3 hours of one another, so it really made sense for her to come to us. Also, we didn't want her to be alone during this first holiday season without my FIL. When she departed earllier this week, she assured me that it was a nice visit. She was homesick and ready to be back in her own home after about 6 weeks. I can totally understand that.

We hosted Thanksgiving, which meant we had about 25 people in our new home for the feast. It was a fun, boisterous time. I married into a loud, but loving family. My parents and uncle came, of course, despite the Irish invasion.

December - is a blur. I don't remember most of it. Christmas, however, was very good. While Beau's mom was with his brother for the week around Christmas, we had a fun day of just our little family. We loved preparing the kids' gifts and stockings after they went to bed on Christmas Eve and it was sweet to enjoy Christmas morning in our home. We did head west to enjoy the afternoon and dinner with Pop and Marmie and my uncle.

Beau's mom returned to us on Boxing Day and we were able to enjoy one more week with her before she flew home on Jan 2. While she was with us, Beau and I were able to see three movies in the theater: Skyfall (excellent), The Hobbit (excellent), and Les Miserables (excellent). I actually saw The Hobbit twice - I went opening day with my Dad, who introduced me to the book.

In other news, I met my goal of reading 60 books in 2012. I actually completed 61 books. Here are the last ones finished, not previously mentioned, with their star ratings:

The Giver by Lois Lowry - 3 stars
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - 4 stars
Pattern of Wounds by J. Mark Bertrand - 4 stars
The Last Man by Vince Flynn - 4 stars
Second Shift (Wool #7) by Hugh Howey - 4 stars

I set the same goal for 2013 and just finished my first book this morning - Reached by Ally Condie, which is the last of her trilogy. It was a good end of the story - 3 stars.

I'm currently listening to American Gods by Neil Gaiman and reading Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet on the Kindle.

2012 was an eventful year filled with blessing and grief. We are praying for a quieter 2013. Happy new year!

Stuff

1. I have a lot to say about current events - the election, the embassy/Libya attack, the economy, etc. However, I am refraining from speaking out here for a number of reasons. It's sort of frustrating, but I feel that I need to keep mum online for the most part. So much for the 1st Amendment.

But then there's this:

2. So the group of us that Read Through the Bible in 90 Days (link is .pdf) last year (and formed a Facebook group as a result) are planning to do it again after Thanksgiving. This time we're extending the readings to 120 days and we're reading through a chronological plan (link is .pdf). All of the chrono plans I've found are for a full year, so I'm working on condensing the plan to 120 days. It actually works out to 122 days, so we're adding 3 grace days and our plan will be 125 days. I'm looking forward to doing this again and I think reading in chronological order will make it fresher this year since this will be the 3rd year in a row that I'm doing this.

3. A few more books have been completed since I last posted:

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver - This is the 2nd book in the Delirium series and it's definitely a middle book. But I still enjoyed it. Now I'm waiting with the masses for the 3rd book to be released. I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated very well. 4 stars.

Hana by Lauren Oliver - this is a short story, book 1.5 of the Delirium series. It was interesting to hear Hana's side of the events that took place in Delirium. I wanted more when it was over, though, as it ended rather abruptly. 3.5 stars

No Easy Day by Mark Owen - great book. I appreciated why Owen wrote it and think he did a good job of explaining not just the Bin Laden mission, but what it is like to be a US Navy SEAL. 5 stars.

Return of the Rose by Theresa Ragan - middling time-travel romance. It isn't the best, but it isn't the worst either. I was sick on the day that I read this, so it served its purpose well. 3 stars.

Enclave by Ann Aguirre - I wanted to like this book more. Truth is it isn't that great. The premise was interesting, but didn't pan out well as the book progressed. I found that by the end I didn't really care about any of the characters. No plans to read anything else by this author. 2.5 stars.

I'm currently reading The Giver by Lois Lowry on my Kindle and listening to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn on the commute.

4. I'm watching a bit of TV, but mostly it's streaming stuff. I managed to watch the new season of Doctor Who, which was fun. I already miss the Ponds.

I'm looking forward to the start of the 3rd season of The Walking Dead, my new favorite show. I never thought I'd be into anything to do with zombies, but this show is so good despite the zombies.

5. Thanks to credit card rewards (thanks to a lot of purchases made for the house) I was able to get a refurbished iPad 2 for about half price. Already the kids have figured out that gaming on the iPad is way more fun than anything else. I am enjoying it a lot, too. More than I expected to, actually.

I'm sure there's more to share, but it will have to wait. But make sure to take a look at this and make sure to watch the whole thing:

I Am Second: Brian Birdwell

9/11 Pentagon survivor. Lover of Jesus. Amazing testimony.

Powerful.

YT of the Day: 10,000 Reasons

Bless the Lord, o my soul. Worship His holy name.

Happy Easter!

I Am Second

Have you seen the website called I Am Second? It's fantastic and I can spend hours watching the videos they have featured. I love how a simple concept can grow into a beautiful ministry. These people, mostly celebrities, are amazing in their vulnerability as they share a small little snippet of their faith journey and testimony.

So far I think Scott Hamilton's is my favorite. He had me smiling with joy in the midst of tears because he was smiling with joy in the midst of his own tears. He loves and trusts God for his life and it shows.

Check it out. It's well worth your time.

Bible Study: The Last Days

I'm in the final days of my study of Daniel (by Beth Moore) and I have to say it lived up to my expectations and hopes. First, I have to say that I was fortunate to be able to borrow a copy of the DVD set (the Leader Guide came with it, but I never opened that since I was doing this by myself). I bought the workbook since it's a workbook and it's expected that the participant will do the homework and actually write in it. I did. I'm grateful, because it's expensive and also because the DVD sessions are crucial for getting everything out of the study. There's so much that Moore speaks about in each week's session that to try to do this study without the DVDs is kind of ridiculous.

As for the work, I expected it to be a little harder, to be honest. Not that it wasn't challenging, but I expected it to require a bit more time each day. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the self-study homework days only took about 20 minutes. I broke up the DVD sessions into 2 parts of 30 minutes each. It made it very manageable from a time perspective, but also content-wise.

The content is good, in-depth study of some complicated prophecy. What I most appreciate is that Moore carefully broke up the book into two halves - looking at Daniel's life of integrity and then looking at the prophecies revealed to him. And then she broke things up into each chapter and within each chapter she tackled the smaller nuggets. She used commentaries and historical documents to open up the prophecies revealed to Daniel as the history that it is for us (except with regard to the end times, which is still prophecy for us).

I'm grateful for what God revealed through His Word and Moore's teaching. I'm reminded of His overwhelming power and His loving grace.

I highly recommend this study, whether for personal Bible study or for a women's small group.

On deck is Abide by Jared Wilson. I was fortunate to receive a leader's kit for this study. I plan to do the study myself and then donate the kit to my church as a resource for our small groups ministry.

QotD: Godly Parenting Edition

I think I'm going to have to get this book:

‎"We are not, nor can we be, the saviors of our children. He is the Savior. When we forget this, our parenting will be pockmarked by fear, severity, and exhaustion." - Elyse Fitzpatrick, Give Them Grace

As my mother commented to my posting of this on Facebook, "Psalm 78:1-8 should be emblazoned on the hearts of all parents." Amen.

[Via Jared on FB]

The Weirdness of Dreams

It's disconcerting to wake up from a vivid dream wherein I'm reliving 9/11. I have no clue where it came from - I haven't been thinking about that dark day any more than normal. I don't know why my subconscious put me and my family on the roof in New York, but there we were and I was terrified. There was smoke and noise and fear, and then I woke up.

The clock read 3:13am.

I started praying, asking the Lord to remove the images, and managed to doze off until they came back and I woke up again. 4:05am.

Since the alarm goes off at 4:27am, I got up.

With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD!
I will keep your statutes.
I call to you; save me,
that I may observe your testimonies.
I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I hope in your words.
My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,
that I may meditate on your promise.
Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;
O LORD, according to your justice give me life.
They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose;
they are far from your law.
But you are near, O LORD,
and all your commandments are true.
Long have I known from your testimonies
that you have founded them forever.


-- Psalm 119: 145-152 (ESV)

Only You Give Life and Breath...

Burn Us Up

It's a familiar Bible story from childhood. The Veggie Tales folks made it a kitchy cartoon (that I love, by the way - it's one of my favorites of the VT videos). But I have never really studied it. How can that be? It has been rectified and I'm grateful.

It's the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (or Rack, Shack, and Benny in VT parlance) in Daniel 3. Go read it. I'll wait.

Isn't that a great story? There's a lot to take away from it - the fury of King Nebuchadnezzar; the appearance of the 4th man in the furnace (many have said he's an angel, I believe he is pre-incarnate Jesus); the utter faithfulness of the three who disobeyed a king to obey the King.



Lord, may I be as faithful as Rack, Shack, and Benny in the face of fire. Help me to trust You to deliver me whether it's from the fire, through the fire, or in the fire. Thank you for your amazing mercy.

Bible Study

Back in December, prompted by a post by Amy at P2P, I accepted a challenge to read through the Bible in 90 Days. It was challenging, but I accomplished the mission and actually finished the Bible in 89 days. By far it was one of the most rewarding spiritual exercises of my 30+ years as a Christ-follower. Around Christmas and New Year's it was a struggle to get in the hour of reading for that day. I fell a bit behind, but managed to catch back up by reading extra for about a week.

The best thing was getting the big picture of God's plan and work and seeing how Jesus was weaved throughout. I loved the experience so much that I plan to do it again and often. Even now, just mere months out from completing it, I'm considering when I'll do it again. Sometime this year or early in 2012 for sure, I think.

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever! -- 1 Chronicles 16:34 (ESV)

I'm grateful for the renewal of my interest in God's Word as a result, too. For too long, any time I spent in Scripture was somewhat stale - not because the Bible was stale but rather because my heart was closed and my spirit was wrapped up in false idols. Over the past few months, the Holy Spirit has reopened my heart, revealed the idols for removal, and caused my spirit to reignite with fire for my Lord. It's humbling to realize how much lip service I paid to my spiritual life. But I know that God was faithful where I was unfaithful. He was loving, merciful, and gracious where I was not. And He still is, daily.

Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them.The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments. Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name. Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep your precepts. Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes. -- Psalm 119: 129-135 (ESV)