Last night Doug took me to see Expelled, the movie with Ben Stein on the Intelligent Design movement. We had been looking forward to it after seeing the advertisement, with Ben Stein sitting in the hall outside the principal’s office. The kid next to him says, “What did you do?” and he replies, “I asked a question.”

So the film is basically Ben Stein traveling the country/world interviewing scholars, some who have been “expelled” from their jobs in academia because they were so foolish as to question Darwinism. Parts of the film are truly chilling, like when he is exploring the impact Darwinism had on Hitler and Planned Parenthood.

Do go see it if you can. It is well worth it. And though in the first part of the film it is frustrating to see ID proponents deny the need for a Creator, by the end of Stein’s journey, he has shown the foolishness of that idea as well.

My favorite part? Richard Dawkins suggesting that aliens from some advanced civilization may have “seeded” the earth, which got the whole evolutionary process going. Pixie dust, maybe?

 So I am way over-achieving on posting beach pics here, but it was just too hard to choose. We had such a great time frolicking in the sand.

In all things related to our lives and duties, we are either building up or tearing down. None of us builds perfectly, even on our good days, but we want to be making visible progress, not always cleaning up after our mistakes. So I’m going to start posting a few suggestions on how mothers can build up their daughters. Today, part one.

Our daughters want to know who they are and what they are supposed to be doing as women, even when they are little. God has obviously designed us with a purpose, and He has kindly laid that out for us in His Word. And His Word reinforces what is built into our feminine natures by design. He created us. It makes sense that when we live in harmony with Him, we find joy and peace in who we are in Christ. We don’t have to flounder around guessing. Continue reading ‘Mothers and Daughters’

So it turns out that this recipe for Vietnamese Chicken Salad is fabulous. Try it, I think you’ll agree.

So last year around the last day of November we all had a little discussion about Advent calendars and how to make them and ideas for them, etc. The trouble was, the discussion left everyone about 30 minutes at a very busy time of year to try to crank something out. This year, I decided to make another Advent calendar contraption, but I thought I would share the pattern with you all in case any of you knitters want to make one too. It goes very quickly, although you can see that I have not even sort of finished mine yet. The concept is a sort of garland to hang across a mantle or curtain rod or anything with a number on each mitten. The pocket for a treat or clue or something would obviously be inside of the mitten. The string will probably just be an i-cord, and I am waiting to do all the numbers until I have them all done to make sure the colors are evened out. I go the idea from one that I saw as a prop in a Country Living photo shoot, although theirs had hats also. So, knitters, get going! Continue reading ‘The only kind of Christmas in July I don’t mind’

Hallo! I’ve missed you all. We spent last week on the Oregon coast. Just a blast. Soon will post pics. Lovely wedding today (my husband officiated) and tomorrow a.m. we begin two services. So I just can’t stay up late and try to write much tonight. And, to top it off, my computer refuses to turn on, or it will come on for about twenty seconds. All this to say, good night. Many blessings to you all.