TreasuresInTerraCotta

The Scribe by Francine Rivers The story of Silas from the Sons of Encouragement novella series. When I was introduced to the joys of Christian Fiction a few years ago I was introduced to Francine Rivers. She has come to be one of my favorite authors and I have read many of her books, novellas and series. The Sons of Encouragement series includes five five books, however this is the first one I've read. We meet Silas in a place of reflection and recovery after he has flead the persecution of Rome and watched many of his friends martyred. I felt Silas' fatigue on the first page, "But all Silas saw was the darkness of men, the triumph of evil. I am tired, Lord. I am sick of this life. Lord, please take me home ." The story then follows Silas as he reflects on his experience with Jesus, his journeys with Paul and Peter, and the encounters they have along they way. The narration closely follows Acts with pieces filled in from Paul's epistles and with beautiful f...

When we added onto our house last year one of our major investments was installing solar power. And I won't kid you, it was a major investment. One which we will not likely "break even" on until our kids are in college. But we were eager to do it. After all, we live in a city that proclaims itself as the sunniest city in the United states with 350 Days of Sunshine. Last month we generated more power than we consumed. We still have to pay some taxes and fees but for all practical purposes our bill was zero. And if you care about being green, our net consumption was negative! Have you considered solar power?

What's that boy so happy about? He can escape! Little feet pitter-patter down the hall. Little hands open the door. Little boy surprises mama in the shower. And he can climb into his high chair. Maybe he's trying to tell me, "No Sleep, More Food!" But who can resist that smile? You can have anything you want little boy!

I have been thinking about doing book reviews here on my little blog and have, in fact, had this post half-composed for over two weeks. I attend a book group once a month and it is one of my life's great joys. In addition to reading for book group I usually read one or two other books a month. While I'm certainly not a voracious reader or even an "adventurous" reader I do love books. And sometimes I think I might like to share them. So if that's something you, my three readers, are interested in I think I'll do it. I am going to start with Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations by Alex and Brett Harris Why did I read this book? I am nearly 20 years out from the teenage years and I didn't even love them when I was there. I don't work directly with teens and I don't have teenagers. Honestly, I don't know what initially drew my attention to this book but the concept caused me to place it on my wishlist months ago. P...

Today is National Flag Day . The observance commemorating the adoption by Congress of the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777. I love the flag. I love what it represents. I love the National Anthem. I love our country. Today we celebrated! We played with red, white and blue Play-Doh. We did a word search with flag words. Does anyone know what an estoile is? Halyard? How about a mullet? (relating to flags, not hair) The words were a little obscure...so obscure I had to pull out the dictionary...and then when the dictionary didn't have the words(!) I had to search on-line. We decorated cakes like flags with Cool Whip, strawberries and blueberries. We decorated and made pinwheels . They don't really look like pinwheels you say? Well, that's because the basic pinwheel plan didn't work very well. Using firm cardstock and placing a push-pin through the paper and into a pencil eraser is a good combination for launching a push-pin dar...

We had a weekend full of family! First we celebrated my nephew's 3rd birthday with a Motorcycle Party. The invitation said "come dressed in your best biker gear." So that's what we did. If you skeptical that I have biker gear you would be right. But when I married Tyler he came with a motorcycle, the gear and the stories to go with it. And we love having a reason to dress up, so we gave it our best effort. My sister has pictures of us all on motorcycles. Quite literally everyone, from the grandmas to the babies, had to done at least one piece of motorcycling paraphernalia and pose for a picture. Now, what is the world is she going to do with them??!! On Sunday we celebrated my sister's birthday with home made vanilla ice cream. (Which also happens to be #16 on my 101 in 1001 list .) I just used the recipe that comes with the ice cream maker. It was yummy and easy. Finally, we added a few fish to our household (not permanently). We are apparently viewed a...