Well if you read my last post you know that I have rediscovered the joy of reading of the past several months. After the Narnia series the next on the list was a memoir recommended to me by my good friend Christina. We have always enjoyed a relationship of deep thought and discussions. Although we do not always agree, she challenges my in my thinking and I really appreciate her for it. I read "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver on her recommendation several years ago (actually now that I think about it it was almost a decade ago - wow I am feeling old) and I really chewed on it for a long time. "Jesusland" by Julia Scheeres has proved to be the same. I actually had to put it down a couple of times because it was too much for me to handle. It made me so angry and sad and disgusted all at the same time. I think one of the hardest parts for me was knowing that the story was true and the author and her brother actually had to endure the things that made me physically ill. It all still haunts my mind. I was going to summarize to book here, but I figure that you can read it for yourself if you're interested. Instead I will try to tell you what I've learned from it.
1) Christianity is so much more than words. It is who you are, both in public and private. We need to strive to be examples of Christ's love in our homes first and foremost.
2) I never want to waste an opportunity to tell my children that I love them and shower them with kisses and hugs. Just reading about the distance between Julia and her mom and knowing that Julia never felt loved and appreciated by her mom makes me strive to never give my children cause to feel that way.
3) Discipline that does not strive to change the heart does not work. I already knew this one, but this book really made it hit home. When Julia and her brother were sent to the reform school they learned behavior modification very quickly. They learned to act the way that their superiors told them to act in order to make life more tolerable (if that word could describe anything at La Escuela Caribe). It did not make their hearts more open to the ways of the Lord. It anything just the opposite happened. Because of the demeaning and demoralizing punishment they were forced to endure, they actually became more antagonistic to the Lord. Discipline should always be done from true love.
4) "God is who HE says He is not who these people say He is." This is a quote taken from the website that contains people's stories about their time at one or more of New Horizon Youth Ministries reform schools (where Julia and her brother were sent). We need to hold to the truths of the Bible, not to what other people tell us or want to "shove down our throats."
5) People can do some really awful things in the name of Jesus Christ. I'm sure that some of the people who worked at these reform schools had good intentions, but their actions were not representative of what Jesus would want them to do. It is really sad to read about what was done to these children.
6) We can never assume that we know what is going on in someone else's home. Even the most wonderful looking Christian homes can hide the most horrible abuse. We should always be sensitive to the needs of children - no matter how wonderful their home life appears.
7) Racism is a sick horrible thing. Again, I already knew this one, but the book really made me take a more activist stand. We should not only strive to be accepting of all races, but work to make others more so as well.
I know that this is just a small sampling of what I have learned from this book. If you enjoying an engrossing & challenging read, please pick it up. It sure will make you think.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Narnia
So with the writer's strike that happened this winter and TV being a "reality" wasteland, I have returned to an old favorite pastime of mine: reading. What a pleasure it has been to pick up a book and allow my imagination to go to work instead of having all the colors and shapes dictated to me by my television. Always being a "read the book before you see the movie" kind of person my first quest was to read the Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis. I know that it is crazy that here I am 30 years old having never read these wonderful books. Thanks to the CLEVNET inter-library loan system I finished them all over the course of a month. I really enjoyed them, although I told my husband that I wished that I had not known about the allegory (Aslan = Jesus) before reading them. I would have loved to discover that for myself and pick it apart in my brain. I found the last book the most interesting as I think that it has the most parallels to the Bible and some of Lewis' statements really made me wrestle with my ideas of eschatology, mythology, and even theology.
Last week my husband and I watched the movie about the second book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" that Disney made a few years ago. I found it to be pretty true to the book. The scene where Aslan is killed by the White Witch is well done and moved me like no human rendering of the crucifixion ever has. I am excited to see "Prince Caspian," which is based on book four, soon (we were unable to get a babysitter this weekend). Friends that have seen it have said that it is very good. I know that they are making book five, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," to be released in 2010. That should be good too. I hope that they will go on and make the rest of the series, but only if they stick to the books. "The Silver Chair " (book 6) is a really good story about the power of evil to enslave us and of course "The Last Battle" (book 7) is awesome and beautiful. It had me in tears more times that I can remember. What a thought-provoking experience it was. So thank you Hollywood writers for helping me rediscover the joy of a good book!
Last week my husband and I watched the movie about the second book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" that Disney made a few years ago. I found it to be pretty true to the book. The scene where Aslan is killed by the White Witch is well done and moved me like no human rendering of the crucifixion ever has. I am excited to see "Prince Caspian," which is based on book four, soon (we were unable to get a babysitter this weekend). Friends that have seen it have said that it is very good. I know that they are making book five, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," to be released in 2010. That should be good too. I hope that they will go on and make the rest of the series, but only if they stick to the books. "The Silver Chair " (book 6) is a really good story about the power of evil to enslave us and of course "The Last Battle" (book 7) is awesome and beautiful. It had me in tears more times that I can remember. What a thought-provoking experience it was. So thank you Hollywood writers for helping me rediscover the joy of a good book!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
I've Been Chastised
My sister and I went shopping last night. At about 7pm we left Wooster and headed for the sprawling metropolis of Wadsworth where there happens to be a Target. I was looking for a swimsuit bottom (I had already found a top at Kohl's, but there was no matching bottom to be found) and some other clothes for our upcoming vacation and my sis was along for the ride while perhaps looking for a dress for her college graduation. We spent a long time in the dressing room and my sister found a pants, capris, shorts, and various shirts that all looked great. Guess what I walked out with...another swimsuit top without matching bottoms! If you know me at all you know how practical I am and that it is not like me to buy something that is not useful (unless it is really on clearance). Obviously I will not be wearing a swimsuit top with no bottoms, so right now they are not very practical. However, I will not be defeated! I will find swimsuit bottoms!
--On a side note, who designs these swimsuit bottoms anyway? Both of the tops I bought are mediums. When I try on bottoms that are a medium or even a large I am exposing more skin than I (or anyone else for that matter) should feel comfortable about exposing. I swear the people that design them must have absolutely no rear-end (I wanted to use that other word there, but I am not sure who reads this :) Anyhow, I digress.--
So my sister and I left Target at 9pm and headed to Kohl's. There I actually found some clothes for both me and my husband and one of my girls, but, alas, no swimsuit bottoms. My sister did find her graduation dress - a really cute one at that - and some other stuff. In all it was a very fun trip. We got back to my house at about 11:30pm both exhausted, but in a way refreshed.
So you're probably wondering about the title of the blog. Well somewhere in the course of our conversations my sister scolded me for not blogging recently. She said that she checks my blog every time she logs on and I haven't written anything new in over a month. Shame on me. So, I decided to use our trip as my topic. See Rach, you complain - you get written about :)
I do have a lot of stuff to write about. Hopefully I will be able to catch up this week. We'll see...
--On a side note, who designs these swimsuit bottoms anyway? Both of the tops I bought are mediums. When I try on bottoms that are a medium or even a large I am exposing more skin than I (or anyone else for that matter) should feel comfortable about exposing. I swear the people that design them must have absolutely no rear-end (I wanted to use that other word there, but I am not sure who reads this :) Anyhow, I digress.--
So my sister and I left Target at 9pm and headed to Kohl's. There I actually found some clothes for both me and my husband and one of my girls, but, alas, no swimsuit bottoms. My sister did find her graduation dress - a really cute one at that - and some other stuff. In all it was a very fun trip. We got back to my house at about 11:30pm both exhausted, but in a way refreshed.
So you're probably wondering about the title of the blog. Well somewhere in the course of our conversations my sister scolded me for not blogging recently. She said that she checks my blog every time she logs on and I haven't written anything new in over a month. Shame on me. So, I decided to use our trip as my topic. See Rach, you complain - you get written about :)
I do have a lot of stuff to write about. Hopefully I will be able to catch up this week. We'll see...
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
What A Week
Last Sunday (Feb 24) I started to feel a little under the weather. It wasn't any better when I woke up Monday morning, but I thought I would shake it. So my husband left for work and I took my oldest to preschool. Little did I know that by the afternoon I would have a fever of 102 and would be on the couch wrapped in blankets trying to get rid of a horrible case of chills. Thankfully my mom was able to come and get my oldest, but my youngest ended up spending about four hours in her crib until her dad came home and rescued her. Yes, I did change her diaper and give her books to look at, but I was in no shape to chase her throughout the house. She survived (no worse for the wear) and I sprawled on the couch. I knew that I wouldn't be sleeping with my husband that night (to keep him from getting sick) so I tried to get comfortable on the couch. After a horrible nearly sleepless night moving from the couch to the futon to the floor and back again, I went to the bed at about 3am and told my poor sleeping husband that I was desperate for some sleep and laid down. I couldn't sleep there either and went back out to the couch until morning. Finally, the next morning I went into the bedroom and feel asleep on our queen size bed. I ended up staying there until Saturday, getting up only to make myself food (when I could eat) and to go to the bathroom. I also took a brief trip to the Dr on Wednesday where I was told (big surprise) that I had the flu. I must have looked awful because a lady in the hallway actually offered to get me a wheelchair. It was an awful week as I had every symptom that can accompany the flu at one point or another. On Saturday James had a meeting in the morning so I told him that I felt well enough to take care of the kids for a few hours. I got up and saw the state of my house for the first time - I don't mean to insult James; he did a wonderful job taking care of the house and the kids, but I could tell that a lot had piled up in my absence - and did WAY too much. I did three loads of laundry, changed the sheets and towels, cleaned up the living room, and who knows what else. By Saturday afternoon I was having trouble breathing and called the Dr. Well, if you've ever called the nurse on call and told them you are having trouble breathing, you know that they tell you to hang up and call 911. I didn't feel that it was that urgent so James took me into the ER. The checked my vitals and gave me some Tylenol and Motion (I could have done THAT at home). They really didn't do any other tests (except to make sure I wasn't dehydrated), but the Dr said that my symptoms didn't really fit the flu exactly any more. He believed that I had developed an infection secondary to the flu. This one was likely a bacterial infection so this time I got broad spectrum antibiotics. So back to bed I went...
I'm sure that it is horrible when any mom gets sick, but I think it is especially problematic for stay-at-home moms. If I had a job outside the home, I would already have childcare arranged for my children and would just continue to take them to daycare while I recuperated. As a SAHM I don't have that option. There is no one else to take care of my children. Therefore my poor husband was left trying to come up with childcare options at the last minute. Thank you so much Mom, Heidi, Carol, Marghie, and Rachel for taking one or both of my kids while I recovered. James only ended up having to take one full day of work off. PTL!
Now it is Tuesday and I am still sick. However I am well enough to take care of the kids. I had them by myself for the first time yesterday. It went pretty well. James had gone grocery shopping (for the first time in years) and gotten some convenience-type foods for me to feed the kids so I wouldn't have to cook too much. I took it easy and spent much of the afternoon in bed. Raquel actually took a nap so I am so thankful for that. Today is another day trying to get well and get some stuff done around the house without doing so much that I relapse. We'll see how it goes. As for now my voice is still weird and when I cough it still sounds like I am going to hack up a lung, but at least I can move. Thank God for small miracles.
I'm sure that it is horrible when any mom gets sick, but I think it is especially problematic for stay-at-home moms. If I had a job outside the home, I would already have childcare arranged for my children and would just continue to take them to daycare while I recuperated. As a SAHM I don't have that option. There is no one else to take care of my children. Therefore my poor husband was left trying to come up with childcare options at the last minute. Thank you so much Mom, Heidi, Carol, Marghie, and Rachel for taking one or both of my kids while I recovered. James only ended up having to take one full day of work off. PTL!
Now it is Tuesday and I am still sick. However I am well enough to take care of the kids. I had them by myself for the first time yesterday. It went pretty well. James had gone grocery shopping (for the first time in years) and gotten some convenience-type foods for me to feed the kids so I wouldn't have to cook too much. I took it easy and spent much of the afternoon in bed. Raquel actually took a nap so I am so thankful for that. Today is another day trying to get well and get some stuff done around the house without doing so much that I relapse. We'll see how it goes. As for now my voice is still weird and when I cough it still sounds like I am going to hack up a lung, but at least I can move. Thank God for small miracles.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Something about Wednesdays
Our youngest daughter, who is almost 2 and a half, has always been a great sleeper. I sincerely hope that she will be one of those children who takes a nap up until the time they start Kindergarten (I would not know anything about such children since my oldest stopped napping at 22 months - but I've been told that they exist). Several months ago she stopped napping for several days. I was bracing myself, thinking that she was giving up her nap. However, suddenly and inexplicably, she started napping again regularly after about ten days. So when she stopped napping last week I began to wonder if this was another "episode" or if she was actually giving it up this time. She stopped napping last Monday (2/11) and has not had a good one since, except for Wednesdays. It is the strangest thing because that is the night when we usually go to church for dinner and New Community. It is the one night that we keep them up late so if she doesn't nap it becomes unbearable. It's like she knows that she needs to take a nap those days or we will be stuck at home. So thanks Raquel for taking a nap on Wednesdays so that mommy can go to church. I appreciate it! Now if we could just go back to napping everyday...
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Life after Death (and Taxes)
(For those of you out there who are Relient K fans, yes I am aware that I stole the title for this post)
Well, as you can guess I finished the taxes. What an absolute pain. I know that I should not complain since we are getting money back, but you would think that the government would make it a little easier. I even used H&R Block Taxcut (I've got people, apparently). But the tax software doesn't actually help me determine when we stopped being Michigan residents and became Ohio residents. It was a very ambiguous experience. Anyway I think I figured out the dates that were both accurate and got us the most money back. At one point I just sat at the computer and cried. We probably should have broken down and paid an actual person, but I've always done my own taxes and it is something in which I take a lot of pride. Since I don't bring home a paycheck, it is nice for me to be able to say that I got my family some money! Next year should be a lot easier since we will have lived in the same place the entire year. Yippee! I must say however that Ohio has the coolest tax filing system. They let you do your taxes online through an interview process and then you can submit them online for FREE! Take that H&R Block! They even let me file them online with a part-year resident status. Taxcut said that I couldn't do that. Score one for the Buckeyes!
Well, as you can guess I finished the taxes. What an absolute pain. I know that I should not complain since we are getting money back, but you would think that the government would make it a little easier. I even used H&R Block Taxcut (I've got people, apparently). But the tax software doesn't actually help me determine when we stopped being Michigan residents and became Ohio residents. It was a very ambiguous experience. Anyway I think I figured out the dates that were both accurate and got us the most money back. At one point I just sat at the computer and cried. We probably should have broken down and paid an actual person, but I've always done my own taxes and it is something in which I take a lot of pride. Since I don't bring home a paycheck, it is nice for me to be able to say that I got my family some money! Next year should be a lot easier since we will have lived in the same place the entire year. Yippee! I must say however that Ohio has the coolest tax filing system. They let you do your taxes online through an interview process and then you can submit them online for FREE! Take that H&R Block! They even let me file them online with a part-year resident status. Taxcut said that I couldn't do that. Score one for the Buckeyes!
Monday, February 11, 2008
A Foray Into the Known
I've finally gotten around to making my own blog. Aren't you so proud of me? It has been a long time coming. I have my own Facebook page and my own photo website (smugmug.com - it rocks), but for some reason I haven't made the time to jump on the blogging bandwagon. My sister and a bunch of my friends have them and I've heard it's very cathartic. So here we go..
It has been a long day (aren't they all) and I decided that I deserved some computer time this evening. We had our friends Matt and Abby and their daughter Claire over for dinner this evening. It was a really fun time. We are really enjoying getting to know the people in our ABF better. It is so nice to be able to swap stories with others in the same stage of life. We ended up spending the majority of the time talking about Facebook and how cool we think it is. What a bunch of dorks we are! Earlier today I cleaned the entire house. I told James that we should have people over at least once every two weeks so that I have motivation to clean the house. I also did all the laundry. Then, of course, Raquel decided not to take a nap and had a leaky diaper all over her freshly changed sheets. It never fails! Oh the things we do for our children!
Anyway, it feels good to have gotten so much accomplished today. Maybe tomorrow I will finish the taxes. It looks like we are going to get money back so I guess I should be looking forward to it. Well, I think I am just rambling now so I will sign off. See you soon...
It has been a long day (aren't they all) and I decided that I deserved some computer time this evening. We had our friends Matt and Abby and their daughter Claire over for dinner this evening. It was a really fun time. We are really enjoying getting to know the people in our ABF better. It is so nice to be able to swap stories with others in the same stage of life. We ended up spending the majority of the time talking about Facebook and how cool we think it is. What a bunch of dorks we are! Earlier today I cleaned the entire house. I told James that we should have people over at least once every two weeks so that I have motivation to clean the house. I also did all the laundry. Then, of course, Raquel decided not to take a nap and had a leaky diaper all over her freshly changed sheets. It never fails! Oh the things we do for our children!
Anyway, it feels good to have gotten so much accomplished today. Maybe tomorrow I will finish the taxes. It looks like we are going to get money back so I guess I should be looking forward to it. Well, I think I am just rambling now so I will sign off. See you soon...
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