Music Mentor

Little Bit is still the first to grab a hymnal when she sees me sit down at the piano.  She "sings" with all her might and does it so joyfully.  What so many of us take for granted, being able to sing praises to the LORD, Little Bit sincerely delights in, even though she doesn't fully understand exactly what she's doing. 

The other night, we caught her teaching her baby sister what she knows.

Notes from the Reading Chair~A Bibliophile's Nightmare

I finished up Beyond Stateliest Marble by Douglas Wilson over a week ago.....at least I thought I did.

First of all, this is one of my favorite reads thus far this year.  I really enjoyed this book, and it was the one I would choose first over the others in my current pile.  I was fascinated by what I didn't know about the Puritans, and I found Anne Bradstreet to be so interesting that I've added the other biographies mentioned by the author to my wish-list.

The objections to this book in some of the reviews on Amazon were related to Pastor Wilson's commentary woven throughout the text.  He was not looking at the Puritans and Anne Bradstreet through the lens of polictical correctness or feminism.  This frustrated some of the reviewers. 

Pastor Wilson even comments on such error....

"...these politically correct days, we are not only embarrassed by what the Bible teaches, we want to shut down any testimony that comes from those ages when this was not the case.  But history happened the way it did and not some other way.  One of the most irritating characteristics of many modern writers is their inability to keep their currect ideological crusades out of their reading (and rewriting) of history."

"We see a Puritan woman gladly honoring her husband, and we want her to get some therapy for her theological repressions."

After finishing the book and searching the back for the bibliography, I was quite frustrated.  I wanted to know where these great references came from.  I wanted to read these books!

Then, I did what I should have done before I ever started this book.  I read the table of contents only to find that my book was missing the last three chapters as well as the notes and the bibliography!  Horror of horrors.....that's one of the worst crimes a publisher can commit against it's readers.

So, my review is based on most of the book, and I'll be waiting for the UPS man to bring me a complete copy of this treasure. 

But what I can say is this..read this book.  Be inspired by learning something completely new about an often maligned group of the people...the Puritans.  Be inspired by a woman who has been mischaracterized by feminist ideology, but who was such a gracious example of Godly womanhood, delighting foremost in her roles as a wife and mother. 

And most importantly, check your book out before you read and make sure you've got the real thing!

Happy Reading!

Weekly Rewind 1/24-1/30/10

Last week we were so blessed to have Mountain Man home 3 out of 5 workdays! How thankful we are that he can do work from home when the weather gets bad.

The children enjoyed playing in the wonderful snow God gave us, and we're all healthy.

~It's been a busy week for Claire.  She started impressing us with her squatting-to-standing abilities and has turned into quite the climber, making me especially thankful we don't have stairs.  She also finally cut her first tooth, and none of us lost any sleep over it.:)

~Whistler and Reaches Up were given the fun (well, I thought it was) assignment of narrating the story of King Stephen, one of the Norman monarchs, with Legos.  Reaches Up was the architect, and Whistler was the builder. 

~I'm on a bit of a binder making spree, and I had fun designing a new Home Management Binder.  I've discovered the wonderful world of scrapbooking paper and using pictures from my books.  When it's pretty, I want to use it. 

~This is how Little Bit came out of her room the morning we got the big snow....adorned in her snow boots (thank you Rue and Judith!).  She was READY.

~"Did someone say SNOW?"

~Here's the road just across from our house that the children enjoyed sledding down.

~Mountain Man actually joined in the fun later, taking on Little Big Man, Scribe, and their friend from next door.  Three on one, and they still couldn't take him down.  Of course, they had lots of fun trying.

~I redesigned our Ebenezer box, using a container I've been wondering what to do with for some time.  I was going to give it away, but it's so pretty and goes so well with our decor.  Then, I realized it makes the perfect Ebenezer Box.  It's bigger and much sturdier, especially since we have precious Little Hands that like to touch everything. :)

~I love words.  I love to read them, write them, and surround myself with them.  You'll find lots of words on the walls of our home.  I was so excited to finally try out these wall words.  The quote above was quite the headache to put on our textured walls, but Mountain Man and Scribe did it so patiently.  I had a beautiful one of Psalm 34:3 that I had purchased over the holidays from Vision Forum.  It was the one I wanted most on the walls, and we found the perfect spot in the livingroom.

But it just wouldn't work.  The writing was so fine that the guys couldn't get it to apply without tearing.  I was truly sick when they ripped the whole thing off. :(  Guess that means I'll have to give free hand a try or find a great stencil.  This seemed like the much easier option, and the stencil was so lovely.

Another week that shouts of God's many blessings...........

Love,

THE Laugh

This is a VERY short video, but it's enough to give you a good idea of the delightful laugh we hear many times a day from Peep.

Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

That's right.  Those are baby BOY clothes you see there!  Can you believe it?  A baby boy is set to arrive in the Poff home this summer.....8 years since the last one, our sweet Reaches Up.

Since we have no baby BOY clothes (I finally had to bless others with those....didn't have room to keep them for all these years), it was fun to pick out a few things yesterday after finding out we're having a BOY.

An even bigger blessing is that our precious son looks healthy and there aren't any placental concerns.  We're so, so thankful!  Deo Gratias!

Love,

She's a Supah Stah

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Persevero,

Super Easy Brown Rice

I've had this recipe for almost 2 years, and I can't believe I waited so long to try it!  I normally cook brown rice in the oven, and I've been quite happy with the results.  However, when I finally made it in the slow cooker, I was even happier.  The results were moist but not mushy, and I was free to use the oven for other parts of the meal.

Start checking your crockpot at around 2 hours, though.  My rice was ready in just 2-1/2 hours.

5 c. water
3 c. brown rice

Combine in slow cooker and cook on high for 3.5 hours.

Enjoy!

Notes from the Reading Chair

Somebody stop him!  Mountain Man is off at breakneck speed (especially for a man with his schedule) in conquering his reading list.  He finished up three books this week, St. George for England by G.A. Henty, The Search for God and Guinness by Stephen Mansfield, and Is Christianity Good for the World? by Douglas Wilson (in a debate with Christopher Hitchens).  He's on to Perelandra by C.S. Lewis (that's on audio) and Witch Wood by John Buchan.

Can you believe it?  I even managed to get him to give me some thoughts on some of his reading. 

Speaking of Is Christianity Good for the World?.

"Of course it is...there's really not much suspense here, but this is a good opportunity to see Satan at work in this world through the mind of a (apparently) well-respected academic.  Although I would certainly never refer to Mr. Hitchens (the atheist whom Pastor Wilson is debating) as a Christian...no fruit, no salvation, etc.....as Pastor Wilson does, this is nonetheless a good, short read."

Mountain Man summarizes the "Guinness Way" from Searching for God and Guinness...

1) "Discern God's will for life and business."  Do not assume that these are two separate things.

2) "Master the facts before you act."  Do not give in to impatience; prayerfully consider all before taking       action.

3) "Always think in terms of generations to come."  Keep your focus on the future of those who will come after you.

4) "Whatever else you do, do one thing well."  Know what you do.  Do what you know.

5) "Invest in those you would have invest in you."  Look for opportunities to serve those around you.

Little Big Man offers these quotes from How to be a Man by Harvey Newcomb.

"Young folks think old folks are fools; but old folks know young folks are fools." (actually an old quote from that time period...the author wasn't implying his readers are fools but stressing the importance of thinking of the consequences of our behavior.)

"The original root, from which the word education is derived, means to lead out, to conduct, to form, to fashion, to beat out, to forge.  It was used with reference to the forging of an instrument out of a piece of metal, or the chiseling of a statue out of a block of marble.  This furnishes a good illustration of my ideas of education.  It is a process by which a character ir formed out of rude or unwrought materials.  It is not confined to mere school learning.  A person may be very learned, and yet not half educated."

"...everyone that is educated must be active...but, if you are determined to be educated, you will turn everything to some account."

"It has been well observed, that the difference between a wise man and a fool is , that one goes through the world with his eyes wide open, while the other keeps them shut."

I finished up the biography of Anne Bradstreet, but I'll share those thoughts next time since I know I'm pushing the attention spans at this point. :)

Happy Reading!

~Queen Mom

"Winter In It's True Colors"

"The air is always delightfully pure after a fresh fall of snow, and today this sort of wintry perfume is very marked."
~Susan Fenimore Cooper, Rural Hours

Today.........

   

   

  

 

 

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Persevero,

Scribe