God Made Them All

It's fun to learn about animals but while teaching children about animals but how often do we forget to credit the God who made them?God Made Them All by Melody Carlson is a fun book about all the animals God made. Not only to I appreciate the durability of this board book but it rhymes too! This book is great way to start telling your kids about all the animals that GOD made! I love these lines:

I saw the desert, vast and dry.

But what lives in that sand?

Amazing creatures can survive

Just the way God planned.

If I could have it my way I'd put an exclamation mark at the end of that last line (at least that's how I'd read it anyways). Yes, God planned that the animals that live in the desert, are able to live there in the dry heat. Does anybody hear a bit sovereignty in that line like I do? ;) I love it. The last page ends like this with a mouse sitting on an elephant:

By now you've met some animals-

Some big ones and some small.

But each of them is special,

For God has made them all.

God is the sovereign creator of all things. There are value to things in this world because God made them, what a simple book to share hints of those truths! 

Pro-choice or Pro-Abortion?

Recently Planned Parenthood released their 2008 annual report. From the report we found that for every single adoption referral Planned Parenthood performed 134 abortions. When we talk about giving women choices, is not adoption a choice? Then why is it, that Planned Parenthood does NOT have developed options and more resources on adoption? It's because Planned Parenthood is NOT pro-choice but pro-abortion.

Image & info from LiveActionBlog

Also, if you haven't already seen the recent footage released by LiveAction that exposes Planned Parenthood's value of abortion above the U.S. law (reporting the sex trafficking of minors) then watch this video. Christian brother or sister, be informed about Planned Parenthood & evils going on there.

Watch the full unedited version here and here

Now you tell me, is Planned Parenthood pro-choice or pro-abortion?

Lemon Faces

Funny video of babies tasting lemons. Enjoy, happy Monday! 

Criticism

Recently my husband told me “your feathers are easily ruffled.”  My husband doesn’t point out things to me very often, so when he did, I was so appalled-it was funny. Well, my husband is funny. Only he could point out a flaw to me and at the same time make me laugh. Laugh in a how-could-you-say-that-to-me-kind-of-way! 

I thought about my feathers being ruffled for a bit. It was hard. It was hard to receive criticism. Someone saying that you fall short of a standard doesn't tend to be easy. It made me think, is it so hard because I’m so critical? Well, if I’m being honest, that’s not hard to answer. Just ask my Sunday morning Starbucks date, she’ll tell you that being critical is something I am often trying to defeat. 

Right now I am reading Counsel from the Cross by Elyse Fitzpatrick & Dennis Johnson and I read an amazing paragraph on criticism:

Do I find it difficult to receive criticism? Are your transparent and vulnerable before your friends or defensive and self-protective? In your mind do you rehearse your accomplishments or others’ faults when someone corrects you? Do you think that criticism is always a bad thing? If you find it difficult to take criticism, it’s because you haven’t believed what the cross says about you. The cross is the most blatant statement of criticism ever displayed (my own emphasis added). It says you deserve to die. You deserve to be stripped and naked and humiliated and then to receive the righteous wrath of a just God for all eternity. That’s what we all deserve. But we have been given grace, forgiveness, and relationship with Him. You would need to defend yourself from criticism only if you didn’t have a Savior who loved sinners. If you are defensive, you are missing the gospel.

I did try to defend myself from his concerns about me. But don’t you see this? Don’t you see that? I asked him playfully (yet out of the overflow of my heart) This hurt me and that was crossing the line! I told him defensively. But then this quote points me to the gospel. I am a dirty, rotten, sinner. I deserve what Jesus received on the cross. That should have been me. No remark is as true as “You deserve to die.” When I think about that, no other criticism comes close. All critical thoughts of others fade away.

And as far as defending goes? It's unnecessary.  I don't need to save face because Christ didn't. If it’s true sin that my feathers are easily ruffled (and they are) then it was gracious of the Lord to point it out to me-it shows me I'm his daughter (a sinful one-yet his still HIS). If a criticism doesn't ring true then let them come all the same, after all, if I have truly been crucified with Christ, then this false accusation is nothing in comparison to what Christ received. And I don't deserve to be treated better than Jesus.

But whether the criticism is even true or not, I like what Dr. Poirier says in his article The Cross and Criticism: "If God has justified me, who can condemn me? If God justifies me, accepts me, and will never forsake me, then why should I feel insecure and fear criticism? Christ took my sins, and I receive His Spirit. Christ takes my condemnation, and I receive His righteousness.” No matter my sin, I am justified, accepted by God himself because of His Son Jesus that took on my condemnation, and I have undeservedly received his righteousness.

No matter what type of criticism we receive, may we not fear our pride being hurt, our hearts being shown, or the opinions of others. May Jesus sanctify my critical heart so much that I can one day respond to criticism this way:

"You have not discovered a fraction of my guilt. Christ has said more about my sin, my failings, my rebellion and my foolishness than any man can lay against me. I thank you for your corrections. They are a blessing and a kindness to me. For even when they are wrong or misplaced, they remind me of my true faults and sins for which my Lord and Savior paid dearly when He went to the cross for me. I want to hear where your criticisms are valid."

My feather’s being ruffled isn’t even the half of my sin. Yet I am still loved and forgiven by my gracious Savior. How sweet the cross looks even in the face of criticism.

Wallpapers

I am always changing the wallpaper on my desktop. From pictures of our wedding to friends, to pictures of my niece and nephew. Recently I have loved the pictures/wallpaper that have been coming out from TheResurgence & Abort73.com. On TheResuregence blog they'll make a cool graphic designs of scripture. My favorite of their is:

Another place I get wallpaper from is Abort73.com. This is my favorite: 

 Below I listed the links for you. Enjoy!

The Resurgence Wallpaper

Abort73 Wallpaper

Get a free book on Adoption

Are you considering adoption? Does someone you know and love want to adopt? Well if that is your case, then this will be a great resource and encouragement for you! Via Justin Taylor's blog I found out that the audio book Adopted for Life by Russell Moore will available for free the entire month of February! Go HERE to download it and follow the directions. I've mentioned Russell Moore, a couple of times. See here and here. If you do NOT have have this book, this is a great time to get it for free FREE! Did I mention it was free already? Sorry. I'm excited.

Fool Moon Rising

I first saw Fool Moon Rising by Kristi & T. Lively Fluharty at Westminster Bookstore (which provides an excellent list of children's books).  This fun, rhmying book tells a tale of the moon boasting away at all the great songs about him, all the people that have visited him, how he could change shape and even disappear! Then one day his pride is revealed and he confesses that his light comes from the Sun. Now he reflects,

"the light with all his might

The Sun is now his boast"

And it ends with a little boy on his knee's praying:

"So God I pray for grace each day

To find the joy thats true,

In all my days in all my ways

In making much of You!"

Some bigs words like: brag, boast, pompous and croon are in the book as well as abstract words like: fame and pride. So either explaining the words as you go to little ones (that will endure it) or reading the book to older kids that will understand it will be most helpful. Either way, I hope that you add this book to your family library!

Would you like to see the entirety of the book? It's beautiful! Just go to Crossway and click on the book.

Family Worship

Last night I caught the last half of Joel Beeke speaking to the men at Desiring God Pastor’s Conference. (I’m not sure how many men follow this blog, but either way, I think it’s helpful for single mom’s leading devotions as well). The Desiring God blog listed some of his practical advice on Family Worship. Here are the ones that stood out to me:

• Be short in your prayers when your children are young: 3-5 minutes when your children are young, 7-8 minutes when your children are older. Be simple in your prayers without being shallow. Be direct in your prayers, naming your children by name and spread out their needs one by one before God.
• Don't make Family Worship too long and provoke your children. Maybe 10 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes at night.
• Involve the whole family in the reading, as soon as your children can read. Even before they can read, give them a Bible. If you have 20 verses to read and you have 5 people in your family, each reader should take 4 verses.

To read all of them go here.

Abortion Argument: What about rape & incest? #1

{What about a woman who is pregnant due to rape or incest?}

Answer #1: Pregnancy due to rape is extremely rare, and with proper treatment can be prevented.

Firstly, Alcorn cites the Guttmacher Institue saying that consenting fertile adults only have a 3% chance of getting pregnant from an act of intercourse. Also, they say that other factors reduce the chance of the pregnancy of rape victims. They say that only 1% of all abortions per year are due to rape or incest. Alcorn writes that this misconception about many pregnancies being due to rape is because “fearful young women will sometimes attribute their pregnancies to rape, since doing so gains sympathy and avoids condemnation.” Driving it home he points out that even, “the young woman called ‘Roe’ in the famous Roe v Wade case-who elicited sympathy in the court and media because she claimed to be a rape victim-years later admitted that she had lied and that she had not been raped at all.”

Alcorn notes that Prochoicers will often bring up this argument because of the sympathy factor it gets (and it should get sympathy). However, bringing this up so much, leaves the wrong impression that many pregnancies are due to rape or incest. Which clearly is not true.

Well, I do hope that was helpful, stop by for more answers soon!

But before you go, meet Norma McCorvey the Jane “Roe” of Roe v Wade who was the plaintiff in the case that legalized abortion on demand. Here’s what she wants you to know….

Why am I doing this? Read here.