My Two Cents

 
Well it finally snowed here!!  Every time we have a snow storm I am blown away by how beautiful everything is when it stops snowing.  The frosted trees, the sparkly winter wonderland created by that brilliant sunshine that usually follows a snowstorm; that snap in the air that you breathe; that grateful feeling that wells up inside of you as you take a first glimpse out the window of God's breathtaking handiwork....  Those things are all wrapped up inside my brain right now as I sit in our loft working on….

January's "My Two Cents."

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I’m in the mood for inspiring, heart-warming, self-sacrificing movies, so let’s see what is on the shelf…. 

I love studying military history, so when I came across this movie last year I was really excited!  It can be hard to find movies based on stories from that era, that aren’t filled with bad language or unnecessary scenes, but this one was clean and very well done!

Hidden in Silence

“Przemysl, Poland, WW11.  Germany emerges victorious over the Russians, and the city comes under Nazi control.  The Jewish are sent to the ghettos.  While some stand silent, Catholic teenager Stefania Podgorska chooses the role of a savior and sneaks 13 Jews into her attic.”

While most stories of this kind can be very graphic, I felt that they did a good job of portraying what happened and yet still keeping it a family film.  I have family members that can read about graphic things, but if they actually see it in person they are just overwhelmed…. They did not feel that way with this film, and yet it still adequately told the truth of what was happening during that time period.   I would highly recommend this!  Very well done…plus, anything with Kellie Martin is good J

 

My Two Cents

Wow, the month of November has flown by!  I can't believe Thanksgiving will be here in just a couple days and Christmas just a few weeks later!!  2014 has been a huge growing year...I know we tend to say that about a lot of years in our life, but you know how certain ones are REALLY growing years and others are still growing years, but maybe not quite as life impacting??

I think the biggest thing that God has been showing me this year is to find my validation in Him alone.  To meet His expectations alone.  To live for His smile alone.  I will never be able to do what every one thinks I should be able to do or live in such a way that meets the expectations of everyone and that is ok...   I am here to live the life God wants me to live - no matter how countercultural it is :)

Ok, so onto the monthly "My Two Cents"...

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I'm just going to come right out and admit that I have been addicted to the "When Calls the Heart" series that came out last spring on the Hallmark Channel...  I know, I know but sometimes I can become a hopeless romantic.  I have those moments of wanting to curl up on the couch and watch a movie that has nothing wrong with it, still has a good story line and has decent actors.  The series is not based off of Janette Oke's books (When Comes the Heart series) like the "Love Comes Softly" series was (which is probably why I can watch it without any pre-judgments).  I have to admit that I am not a big fan of the Love Comes Softly series past the first and second movie... I just loved the books too much and didn't really enjoy the actors and story lines... So I admit to being a bit apprehensive when "When Calls the Heart" came out, however I was captivated by the pilot and have been impatiently waiting for all the episodes to come out on DVD for the past few months!  Definitely check it out!

"We The People"

    "'We the people.' These are the first words of the United States Constitution.  'We the people'...do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America."  Those aren't just pretty words.   They are a clear statement of the origin of all authority and power in this country.  This government by the people derives it's power from the people -- power flows from the bottom up, not from the top down. 
    The Constitution is not a document whereby an all-powerful government grants certain rights and privileges to its citizens.  No, it's the other way around.  The Constitution is a document whereby the citizens of the United States grant certain authorities and powers to the government.  'We the people' aren't passive recipients of rights granted in the Constitution; "We the people" are the actors, the initiators in this exchange.
    At least, we're supposed to be.  The truth is, 'We the people' have grown quite passive when it comes to our relationship to the government that we empower.  As a nation, we have grown quite ignorant of how and why our government works.  And in our ignorance and passivity, we have surrendered too many rights and freedoms to our government.

Book Review: It's (not that) Complicated

Hello Everyone!

I just finished reading Anna Sophia & Elizabeth Botkin's book "It's (not that) Complicated", and I couldn't resist doing a book review!  It was a huge eye opener as well as a good reminder in different areas...  However, this is my first book review so bare with me as I travel this new field of giving a book review :)

So, the main theme in the book is how to relate to guys in a healthy, sane and biblical way.  They approach this subject with humor and wit, while keeping the readers attention by going straight to Scripture for their answers to all those guy-girl relationship questions.


You can find this book on Amazon


The Botkin sisters are fantastic writers and keep things "down to earth".  They realize and understand that most of us struggle with at least some, if not all, of the questions and circumstances that they talk about in the book....and they have worked through many of these struggles/questions themselves which makes their book so much more relatable knowing the authors have experienced what you may have experienced at some point in your life.

They start out the book talking about why guy-girl relationships are so complicated in today's world because of the influences that swirl around us every day in the music, movies, books, lifestyles and cultural norms that surround us every day.  However, they aren't hesitant to point out that every century has had it's own set of problems to deal with and ours is no exception!  They bring you right to the root of the problem by page 10.

"However, our circumstances aren't the only thing making life messy for us.  The first question we need to sort out is the complicated-ness inside each of our hearts.  The battle between the spirit and he flesh.  The desire to surrender our will to God and the desire to be captain of our own ship.  The question of whether to consider others, or ourselves, more important.  The desire to do what is right and the desire to do what is wrong....We can't decide what our circumstances will be, but how we will respond to them is up to us."

Five Books Every Christian Should Have On Their Bookshelf

In the school years of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 I took classes through Apologia Academy.  They were some of the best classes I ever took!  Apologia Academy offers classes in Science, Bible, Worldview & Apologetics.  The classes I took were 1. Apologetics Introduction, 2. Advanced Apologetics, 3. Introduction to Worldviews, 4. Advanced Worldviews and 5. The Life of Christ.  They were amazing classes and I learned so much.  My teacher, Mr. Larry Blythe, was phenominal and his love for Christ and teaching came across into the class every time.

This video, is Mr. Blythe's opinion of what he thinks are "The Five Books Every Christian and Homeschool Family Should Own."  I've only read the first book he mentions, "I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist" and learned SO much from that book.  Mr. Blythe had us read at least three books each semester for the classes we were taking and there wasn't one that I didn't enjoy. All of them were by credible authors and were very well written for teenagers and adults.  If Mr. Blythe recommends it, his word is good enough for me. All of the books he talks about in the video look really good.

If there was one thing that I walked away with from the classes that I took, it was that God commands us in 1 Peter 3:15 to "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear."  God wants us to prepare ourselves and He has given us some fantastic resources.  There are some pros and cons to living in this century, but the amount of information that we have and the ability we have to search out truth is amazing and definitely one of the pros!

When I saw this video, I thought it would be a great one to share with all of you, so I hope you all enjoy it!