The Hunger Games

Since I got my kindle I haven't done a ton of blogging. Partly because I was out of town visiting family during Easter week and partly because since I've been home all Rosie's naptimes have been filled with reading The Hunger Games Trilogy. James says I have to wait to borrow the 3rd book from the Kindle Library. But since I've already reached my limit for this month I have to wait till NEXT month! It's killing me! I've really enjoyed the books so far...

When James and I went to go see the movie I was really excited.( I hadn't read the books yet) He asked me why I was so excited and I told him I think it's because it has to do with kids....then I watched the movie and even though there are some pretty rough scenes of kids killing kids...I really liked the movie. All I could think about was how Albert Mohler sometimes refers to our culture as a "Culture of Death" (when it comes to the abortion industry)...and somehow I saw a faint reflection of that in the movie...of the capitols blindness to the Hunger Games and the deaths it required....gotta think about it more though.

Well my sister-in-law said I should do some kind of post on The Hunger Games. For now this will have to do but maybe I will do one on why I'm enjoying them so much in a little bit. For now here are some posts I've enjoyed that talk about the movie....

What Makes The Hunger Games so Popular? by Tim Challies

Film & Theology: The Hunger Games by The Resurgence

What I do when Rosie sleeps...

This past week I had a little fun while Rosie was napping....

I've been hinting for so long to my husband that I want a kindle (It's so much easier to read while nursing). My most recent hint was my "kindle fund" jar. To my surprise, I found some twenty dollar bills in it the other day from my sweet husband! (And I just had to put a picture of Rosie napping in there.)

Thanks to Pinterest I've discovered new ways of crocheting. I hand-crocheted this from an old shower curtain we never used.     Thought it'd be a good accent on our wooden chair in the living room. Gotta love that bulky look!

All I did was 

1. Cut it into one long continuous strip. 

2. Roll it up like you would a ball of yarn.

3. Made my first hoop.

4. Went around in circles till I finished it.

I actually thought it would be bigger. I can't imagine how much fabric it'd take to make a bulky rug! But maybe with an old fleece blanket or something....another time, another time.

I did the same thing here with an old summer dress. But since it wasn't nearly as much fabric I went for something smaller-cup holders!

All things family...

The ones that I found this week seem to go mostly for the ladies. But I'm pretty sure thats who read this blog the most-at least whom comment the most. My FAVORITE this week was "Motherhood is Application". I really enjoy the way she writes and how she applies the gospel so clearly. I hope you will too. I noticed that she (Rachel Jankovic) has also written for the Desiring God Blog on occasion and through them I discovered another gem she writes for called Femina. Anyways, hope my finds this week are encouraging in some way...Woot! It's Friday!

Keeping Home Priorities in View- "...with great gratitude to God, I testify that my parents were not hypocrites. That is the worst possible heritage to leave with children: high spiritual pretensions and low performance. My parents were the opposite: few pretensions, and disciplined performance."

On Misreading Daughters- A post on the tender hearts of little daughters.

Ladies, Don't Compartmentalize God- Having a worshipful attitude amidst the messy, busy life.

Motherhood is Application- “The days of a busy mother are made up of millions of transformations.
 Dirty children become clean, the hungry child fed, the tired child 
sleeping. Almost every task a mother performs in the course of a normal 
day could be considered a transformation. Disorder to order, dirty 
clothes to clean, unhappy children to peaceful, empty fridge to full…”

Sharing Biblical Concepts with Children

I mentioned in my last post that I'm reading Instructing a Child's Heart by Tedd & Margie Tripp. I just finished reading Chapter 4 "Three Principles for Communicating Formative Instruction" and thought I'd post a couple of helpful quotes and then some bullet points:

"We give our children big truths they will grow into rather than light explanations they will grow out of."

"Children grow in their perception of the gospel as they move from a naive, tactile, and sensory grasp of the world to a more abstract ability to interact with concepts. This is a process...We need to teach these spiritual concepts in gentle, compelling ways."

Don't Mix Imaginary Stories with True Bible Stories
- Illustrate spiritual concepts for children by other means than popular entertainment characters.
Sidenote: This reminds me of the Santa Clause in his red and white outfit bowing to baby Jesus in a manger at Christmastime-just a little confusing for little ones ;)

Don't Trivialize the Gospel to be "Relevant"
- When we "bring the Bible down to their level," children quickly outgrow their love and wonder at biblical narratives. Children will grow into their understanding as they realize that God's Word is different from all other literature. It is truth. It is life.

Help Young Children Relate to Bible Stories in Tactile and Physical Ways
-Giving real examples of sizes, lengths and heights from stories (i.e. Spear from David and Goliath, weight of Goliath's armor-so they could imagine themselves in David's sandals)
-Putting yourself in similar situations as people from the OT (i.e. Setting out on a trek like Abraham and Sarah saying that "We will never return. I don't know where we are going or what will happen but God will give guidance and provision.")

*examples taken from book

The Bible As Our Family Album?

Have you ever thought about Abraham of the bible being related to you or Ruth? I mean ever REALLY thought about it. I kind of knew it but it didn't mean as much to me as say being related to my Grandma Mary that I have real memories with. But reading books like Adopted for Life by Russell Moore and now thinking about Scripture as Our Personal History-a section in Instructing a Child's Heart by Tedd & Margie Tripp...I'm starting to see it, love it and cherish it...

Russell Moore originally got me thinking when he was talking about how he was counseled NOT to change the name of the boys he was going to adopt because it'd give them identity issues and how he was counseled to be sure to give them their Russian History. He had a different idea (I think more biblical) he was going to change their names and give them the Moore family history-because that's what they were becoming-and he went on to say that not only were they going to hear the Moore family history but also the stories of the Bible-that of course he hoped he'd claim as their own. I love that.

Personally, I know the stories of my auntie Mags pulling out my uncle Henry's hair and how my great grandpa served chorizo and eggs to movie stars in L.A. I love knowing how my Grandpa Joe sold huaraches with his mom on Olvera St in L.A. but since Jesus saved and adopted me into HIS family I have another family history. A history that tells of a Creator and the sinful people he used to point to their need for a Savior, and how the long awaited Savior actually came to save the sinful people and make a way for them to be with the Father-my Father :) I love that. Isn't it sweet?!

Well let me leave you with some quotes from the book I'm currently reading on the same topic:

"God has revealed himself to us in the Scriptures, telling us who we are and why we were created. Scripture is our history. Creation, Fall, and Redemption are the context for understanding life. Our children cannot understand why they are in this world, how sin has affected them, and how redemption restores what sin has destroyed, apart from their spiritual history."

"Scripture is history that tells us about ourselves."

"Scripture is not only about God's people of old-it's about us and our children. The Bible is our family album."

The Infinite & The Finite

This weekend was filled with snotty tissue, coughing (or should I say hacking?), the sound of a humidifier, and lots of naps on the couch. No, I didn't catch the flu (Praise God! Because it's going around my work) but it was still no fun when my coughs woke Rosie up or I couldn't take a full nap b/c of uncontrollable coughing and wheezing....but me being sick is a good reminder of my humanness. Valley of Vision- The Infinite & The Finite brought it to my attention:

 May I rejoice that while men die, the Lord lives, 

that, while all creatures are broken reeds, 

empty cisterns, 

fading flowers,

withering grass, 

HE is the Rock of Ages, the Fountain 

of living waters.

God is so good to remind me and thus renew my spirit when I am not feeling good at all. It reminds me of that scene from The Passion of the Christ when he says to his mother "I make all things new." Thank you God that I am just me and YOU are YOU.

Here is the except from the movie.

All things family...

Here is my round up of posts concerning families. There were some good ones this week. Hope you find some helpful or at least interesting.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made “And indeed we found that she had an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy. Thankfully, the tube had not ruptured so she did not bleed to death. We had to excise the tube where the baby was growing (leaving the other tube for future pregnancies). What we found inside that tube is pictured below. A dead baby at about 10 weeks of age.”

The Lorax: Branching Out - The political side to The Lorax.

Understanding Complementarianism- Don't know what that is? Well Justin Taylor put a really helpful list of websites, audio and articles on this topic to help us learn more if you don't already know.  Be sure to also check out his follow up post on decision making for complementarian couples

The Fear of Baptizing Children. Ever wonder about the right age for a child's baptism to take place. Well you will find this article helpful. He did a follow up post here .

How an Affair Begins a quick post on how listening to another person's spouse can be dangerous.

Motherhood is a calling “Everywhere you go, people want to talk about your children. Why you shouldn't have had them, how you could have prevented them, and why they would never do what you have done. They want to make sure you know that you won't be smiling anymore when they are teenagers. All this at the grocery store, in line, while your children listen.”

Brothers, love your wife more than seminary "Deeply dwell on the Gospel. Your affection for your wife can only go as deep as your affection for the person and work of Christ. Because marriage is a picture of how Christ has loved His church, if your heart has grown cold toward the cross, you can be sure it has grown cold toward your marriage. Thus, do everything possible to keep your heart soft toward Jesus."

Fearfully and Wonderfully Drawn “Diversity within my family and diversity within faith-filled communities is necessary for the displaying and the building up of the Body. And, it is inside the safe and comfortable boundaries of family that my children are free to explore and discover God’s hand on them.”

New Look

About every year I get tired of my blog looking the same- so I change it up a bit. So you may notice changes here and there...if the font is too small or hard to read let me know.

Talking to your kids about sex

If you have never visited CCEF.org I highly recommend it! They have wonderful counseling resources and blogs/articles on a variety of topics from mental disorders to family relations. Here are a couple of videos by Julie Lowe on Talking to your children about sex.