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I am still trying to understand what is so controversial about this ad! I find myself tearing up each time Tim tells his mom he loves her.

“The third choice that must not be missed is to cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family. For several years, you’ve had impressed upon you the importance to your career of dedication and hard work. This is true, but as important as your obligations as a doctor, lawyer or business leader will be, you are a human being first and those human connections — with spouses, with children, with friends — are the most important investments you will ever make.  At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child or a parent.” ~ Barbara Bush, June 1990, Wellesley College commencement address

This young man needs hot chocolate, especially after his grandpa thought the best method of keeping mittens dry was to duct tape plastic bags over his hands. Is there no end of the uses for duct tape?

Texas Cake Hot Chocolate Mix

One 8 quart box powdered milk
One 16 oz. Coffee Mate powdered creamer
One 21.8 oz. Nestle’s Quick Mix
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs. cinnamon
vanilla, marshmallows, chocolate shavings, or whipped cream, optional

Sift or mix well together and store in container with a tight lid. To serve, put ½ cup or more of mix into mug and pour in boiling water. Stir, adding 1/8. tsp vanilla if desired to each cup. Top with favorite garnish. Just like Texas Cake in a cup!

It must be the fact that we are on the “other side” of Ground Hog’s day, but I detect an ever-so-slight scent of spring in the air! I am compelled to tidy the house and finish putting away the Christmas decorations. OK, so the tree IS still up but we just finished our last family Christmas celebrating a few days ago!

I am pulling some links out I have been saving and thought today looked like a good day to share them.

~ My dear friend, Hillary, has hit the nail on the head again in her article entitled “Whitewashed Idolatry.” Be sure to read it and follow the links if you haven’t read them already.

~ There has been a lot of discussion lately on children sitting through church services vs children going to a nursery. Dumb statements like this one from noted patriocentrist Voddie Baucham leave me wondering if Child Development 101 shouldn’t be required of all potential parents:

“I believe one of the greatest crutches in the church is the nursery. Parents who have neglected to train their children have very little encouragement to do so when there is a place to hide them. The father who should be up in arms by the time he gets home from church because of the embarrassment to which his child subjected him ends up going home with a clear conscience while the nursery worker takes a handful of aspirin.”

While I am the first one to say that I believe all children, no matter their age, ought to be welcomed into worship service, this sort of condemnation on parents and nursery workers alike is really over the top. Why must everything be so hyperbolic? Frankly, I have never thought of the nursery as a place to “hide” children. In fact, the very first place that small children ought to feel welcomed in the church is where there are those humble souls who offer to feed and diaper babies. And calling it a crutch (my dictionary defines “crutch” as an aide for the disabled) implies that only parents who aren’t able to properly parent would keep their children out of worship service, never mind the basic physiological nature and needs of children. And embarrassment to dads? Of course. What else matters as long as the dad isn’t embarrassed? Rolling eyes here! This is the second time I have heard Voddie talk about small children “embarrassing” their fathers. The other time he talked about the need to discipline naturally shy children who don’t warm up to strangers and he based it on his own experience with a child. Go figure.

~ I have posted several blog entries from 2 1/2 years ago under one heading called Virtuous Homeschooling Moms on the article page above. I hope you will find it to be a fresh and encouraging look at Proverbs 31.

~ I am always refreshed when I read Wade Burleson’s blog. In this article, Wade discusses the devilish origins of pronouncing eternal damnation on another person. Lots of food for thought.

Titus Two Mentoring ~ Part One ~ What is a Titus Two woman and why is she important?

“Similar to the two letters Paul wrote to Timothy, the emphasis on the letter to Titus is on both the importance of sound doctrine and the character of those who are leaders in the church. Paul recognized that false teachers and false teachings would come in and “take captive silly women” that is, women who didn’t know what they believed or those who didn’t have a living relationship with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in their lives to help them discern truth. He knew that the body of Christ is to be the pillar of truth and that sound doctrine is reflected in godly behavior. Knowing that what is taught to wives and mothers will be made manifest in the lives of their children, Paul reminded Titus that mentoring was to center on the knowledge of sound doctrine in order that the believers in Crete would live Godly lives and grow in grace.”

Clay and I are celebrating 35 years of marriage this week. In many ways, time has just flown by and it is hard to imagine it is only 15 years until our Golden Anniversary!

As these pictures were being taken by a photographer and his wife who were spatting during most of the photo shoot, there was a blizzard beginning outside! One of my Facebook friends wondered what I was thinking as Clay fed cake to me and I imagine I was just waiting for it all to be over. We were both so nervous before and during the ceremony that we hadn’t eaten all day. Once we finally got to Peoria after driving through all that snow, we were so hungry we headed for Jim’s Steakhouse where, when he learned we had just gotten married, the man at the piano serenaded us!

I am so grateful for 35 years with the man of my dreams. God has been so exceedingly gracious and merciful to us and continues to bless us every single day!

Today has brought the end to a lovely week. Our son and his family have been visiting and we have had a great time relaxing, field tripping, watching movies, playing games, jigsaw puzzling, and experimenting in the kitchen.

One day, my daughter-in-law whipped up a Key Lime Pie that was out of this world and we all pronounced it the best pie we had ever eaten. Then we put our heads together and decided that the next night we ought to have another sort of frozen dessert pie and so, in my kitchen, the Ukulele Pie was born!

Key Lime Pie

1 graham cracker crumb crust
1 4-serving size package instant vanilla pudding mix
8 oz. carton Cool Whip
1 cup key lime juice, best if fresh from key limes
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 TBS. fresh lime zest

In bowl, by hand, whip together the pudding mix, lime juice, and sweetened condensed milk. When well mixed, fold in Cool Whip and lime zest, reserving a sprinkling for the top of the pie. Chill in freezer for several hours and cut with a sharp knife to serve. Makes 8 delicious slices.

Ukulele Pie

1 shortbread crumb crust
1 4-serving size package instant vanilla pudding mix
8 oz. carton Cool Whip
1/2 to 1 small can crushed pineapple, reserving the liquid
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 TBS. orange zest

In bowl, by hand, whip together pudding mix and coconut milk. Add reserved pineapple juice and mix well. Fold in Cool Whip, pineapple, and orange zest. Pour into crust and sprinkle with coconut. Chill in freezer at least 8 hours (best if overnight) and cut with sharp knife to serve. Makes 8 wonderful island slices!

My grandmother on the right along with her mom, circa 1910.  The woman’s suffrage movement is in full swing but it would be another 10 years before these ladies could cast a vote!

Those who attended the Treasures retreat last fall were introduced to homeschooling mom, Jane Gestrine, and were greatly moved by the story she shared of welcoming two young high school drop outs into her inner city home when they were kicked out of school.  She told us that as the school year progressed, a theme of injustice began to emerge in their readings, culminating in a study of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus and Jane encouraged us to read and learn from this amazing book.

First published in 1818, Shelley began writing Frankenstein when she was only 18 years of age. Her understanding of the dangers of technology and modern man along with a passion for caring for the unlovely and most burdensome of society produced one of the greatest novels of all time and one that still causes students to ponder the same questions of Shelley’s day.  But what many people do not know about Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley is that her mother, also named Mary and who died shortly after she was born, was her greatest inspiration for Frankenstein.

Author of Thoughts on the Education of Daughters and The Vindication of the Rights of Women, Wollstonecraft was an early advocate for the education of women.  She saw young women as valuable in their own right, not merely as being marketable to “suitable young men” and she decried what was passed off as the education of women of that day as teaching “artificial manners, card-playing, theatre-going, and an emphasis on fashion.”  She was saddened by the amount of time and energy placed on superficial things that “if saved for charitable purposes, might alleviate the distress of many poor families, and soften the heart of a girl who entered into scenes of woe.” She placed a high value on motherhood and the home and was tenacious in addressing the inequality and abuses of her day, one of the greatest of these being abortion.

Her unfinished novel, Mary and the Wrongs of Woman, tells the story of a young maid who is brutally and sexually assaulted by her master, in part, because she is sentenced to a life of servitude because of her own illegitimate birth. At finding out that she is now pregnant as a result of the rape, the character says “I know not why I felt a mixed sensation of despair and tenderness, excepting that, ever called a bastard, a bastard appeared to me an object of the greatest compassion in creation.”  The master, concerned only to avoid his wife’s and the public’s disapproval, gives her an abortifacient. She refuses the “infernal potion,” as she calls it. But when the master’s wife discovers him raping the her again, the woman beats and verbally abuses her, throwing her out into the street. The servant girl finally obeys her master and swallows the potion “with a wish that it might destroy me, at the same time that is stopped the sensations of new-born life, which I felt with indescribable emotion.”

Calling on her own experiences as a young woman who experienced a crisis pregnancy, Wollstonecraft observed that male sexual exploitation renders women of all social classes “weaker in mind and body than they ought to be,” thus women “have not sufficient strength to discharge the first duty of a mother and “either destroy the embryo in the womb, or cast it off when born. Nature in everything demands respect.”

Some fifty years later when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony began the women’s suffrage movement, which had been born out of the abolition movement, they called upon the writings of Wollstonecraft for inspiration and echoed her call for an end to abortion.

During that time, women were not allowed to vote or own property or inherit anything if they were married.  They could not have their own money, testify on their own behalf in court, sit on a jury, keep their children if they divorced, or to assemble or speak freely.  A woman who was visibly pregnant was not even allowed to be seen in public!  Stanton and Anthony rightly saw abortion for the evil that it is and the scourge it is upon women, noting “When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit.”

Examining this great social evil of the day in their newspaper, The Revolution, Stanton and Anthony observed “Guilty? Yes, no matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed.  It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; but oh, thrice guilty is he who drove her to the desperation which impelled her to the crime!”

Today is the 37th anniversary of the US Supreme Court ruling known as Roe v Wade.  That one decision set into motion a series of rulings that have culminated in the unbridled “right to choose” that is really abortion on demand during all 9 months of pregnancy for any and every reason and, in many instances, at tax payer expense.

But it has brought with it other costs.  Every single one of us today is touched by the life of someone who suffers from the pain of “choice” whether it is a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker, a family member, a classmate, a mother, a father, a husband, or a wife.  Abortion kills children and it causes life-long grief and suffering for their mothers.

I would encourage you today to take a few minutes and examine the history of the pro-life movement with your children.  It did not begin that fateful day in 1973 when America “celebrated” a new right. Rather, it began with courageous women like Mary Wollstonecraft, Elisabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony who recognized that before we can value unborn children, we first must value their mothers because women deserve better than abortion.

For more inspiration on our foremothers who stood strong in their opposition to abortion, read the history archives at Feminists for Life.

Related articles and podcasts from thatmom:

My Own Adoption Story
On Being a Mother, My Own Crisis Pregnancy Story
Shedding of Innocent Blood

If you are looking for a great homeschooling convention opportunity, this has got to be it!

The Midwest Homeschool Convention will be held April 8-10, 2010 in Cincinnati, Ohio and will feature more than 250 seminar and workshop sessions. The roster of speakers is impressive if not overwhelming (how can you ever choose who to hear?) and the list of exhibitors is fresh and fun but also includes some of everyone’s favorites! The Worldview Teen Track alone is amazing and assembles some of the clearest Biblical worldview voices around….Dr. Jeff Myers from Passing the Baton, John Stonestreet and Chuck Edwards from Summit Ministries, and Attorney David Gibbs from Homeschool Legal Advantage. (For a sneak preview of John Stonestreet be sure to listen to my interview with him!)

And speaking of Homeschool Legal Advantage, each family attending the conference will receive a complimentary first year membership to this fine organization! HLA is an outreach of the Christian Legal Association and has successfully defended over 8,000 education related cases. Even if you aren’t able to attend this conference, be sure to check out this wonderful organization.

Two Kinds of People

There are two kinds of people on earth today,
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say,
Not the good and the bad, for ‘tis well understood
The good are half bad and the bad are half good.

Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
Not the rich and the poor, for to count a man’s wealth
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.

Not the humble and proud, for to life’s busy span
Who puts on vain airs is not counted a man.
No! The two kinds of people on earth I mean
Are the people who lift and the people who lean.

Wherever you go you will find the world’s masses
Are ever divided in just these two classes.
And, strangely enough, you will find, too, I wean,
There is only one lifter to twenty who lean.

This one question I ask. Are you easing the load
Of overtaxed lifters who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner who lets others bear
Your portion of worry and labor and care?

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

In our house, we do not call these two groups of people the lifters and the leaners. Instead, we call them the energy givers and the energy suckers. I know you know just what I mean. There is always one child who is the most needy, either because of his temperament, his age, or his stage of development. There is always someone who is easy going and whose needs can easily be overlooked until there is a crisis. And then there are those whose greatest desire in life is to serve everyone else in the family.

My goal as a mom is to not only raise a house full of energy givers but to set the example of how to give energy to others. Most days I bounce out of bed with joy and excitement, disgustingly cheerful at the crack of dawn, as I have confessed before. But many times, by evening, I feel as though a shop vac has been attached to my side, voraciously sucking every last drop of enthusiasm and vitality right out of me. I pray daily that the Lord will renew my energy as I seek to serve my family, but sometimes I am overwhelmed.

Energy givers are a rare commodity and have many opportunities for ministry to others and most of us desire to be the lifters, we truly do. But many times we need to be lifted.

This is the essence of genuine biblical counseling….today I may be the one who needs the encouragement and tomorrow it may be you. None of us are “professionals,” but in reality we are all pilgrims on the same path, one anothering each other as we grow more like Jesus.

Sometimes, life’s burdens become so great that it is impossible to see even a twinkle light of goodness in the present darkness. This is why the Lord placed the lonely in families (Psalm 68:6), in order that we might bear each others’ burdens, lifting the load for each other, sharing the pains and troubles that weigh us down. We do this both within our own homes and also within the family of God, one friend at a time.

If you or someone you know is struggling, be sure to listen to my podcast that addresses discouragement as a homeschooling mom as well as the following one that deals with depression in a homeschooling moms life. I pray that you will be encouraged and lifted up because next week I may be the one who needs to lean!

And for even more inspiration today, you will love this!