POST THIRTY FOUR - YET AGAIN...

do you tire of fighting the same battles again and again, especially when you find you are fighting yourself? i do. struggling against my selfishness, my pride, my desire for my time, my space, my rights, clearly you can see the pattern of me here. not Christ, not others, but me.

in this struggling and learning how to think & live based on truth, i have found so much help and hope in the teaching we receive at the church we attend. Christ Redeemer Church (CRC) of which Don Willeman is pastor, has been such a source of encouragement, challenging the way i've come to think about things, consistently presenting me with the truth of Christ, and the gospel. it doesn't come easily, and i'm reminded that ease and comfort is not what i am to expect in following Christ.

i don't know where you might find yourself in relation to matters of faith, maybe i've completely turned you off, or maybe you're wondering... either way i think you should give a listen.

you can find CRC here http://www.christredeemerchurch.org/ on the bottom left of the page you will find an icon for listening to sermons. may you find hope in the truth of the gospel of Christ.

POST THIRTY THREE - FOR LISTENING

i really like music. there is generally some variety of music playing in our home most of our waking hours. a band that i have really come to enjoy is called the innocence mission i believe doug introduced me to them, and we went to see them together at a little show not too long after we started dating. they have a really mellow sound, and a faith component to their music which i thoroughly enjoy. we have several of their albums, including my room in the trees which i received for Christmas. you can check them out here http://www.theinnocencemission.com/ at their home page, and here at amazon, where you can preview all the songs on the album. http://www.amazon.com/My-Room-Trees-Innocence-Mission/dp/B003O7I72O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296438665&sr=8-1

if you haven't listened to them before i would definitely recommend them, hope you enjoy!

POST THIRTY TWO - A RECIPE

this is a really easy, yummy recipe you should try. "healthy homemade poptarts" which everyone in my family enjoyed! i found the recipe here at http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/homemade-healthy-poptarts by way of link from http://moneysavingmom.com/ the recipe only requires 5 ingredients, it doesn't take long to make them, & they freeze well. my only adjustments would be to add a little extra jam and dust with a little sugar- just to satisfy my sweet tooth.

POST THIRTY ONE - A CAUSE...

i was checking out sorta crunchy this evening, http://sortacrunchy.typepad.com/sortacrunchy/ and knew i wanted to share this post with you. i've mentioned megan at sorta crunchy before, and if you haven't checked out her site, you really should. i wanted to point you to her january 14th post entitled "Announcing the Give: LOVE Project!" the focus of the post is an organization called Love146 whose mission is to "end child sex slavery and exploitation" http://love146.org/ this is an awesome cause, which deals with a horrifying reality. their site will likely bring you tears and motivate you to want to do something...

so, here is something you can do! as megan's post explains, in early february on sorta crunchy

there will be valentine's day cards available that you can download and print for free (for kids class parties etc...) which will include a small message about Love146. the request is that you would donate whatever you would usually spend on those valentine's to Love146. i love this idea, and think its a really creative way to make people aware of Love146 & their mission.

POST THIRTY - KIWI MAGAZINE

here is a link you may want to check out (courtesy of money saving mom) that connects you to a site called Mampedia, through which you can apparently get Kiwi Magazine for just $2 for a year! i do get this magazine and i like it- it focuses on natural/organic living for families. i didn't actually try to sign up using the coupon codes since i already get the magazine, but i thought it was worth putting out there for any of you who might be interested. worst case it looks like the magazine would be $6 for a year without the coupon code:) so if you're interested check out http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/01/kiwi-magazine-for-only-2-per-year.html

and here is the website for the magazine itself if you wanted to check that out http://www.kiwimagonline.com/

POST TWENTY NINE - !!CRESCERE!!

todays post is a quick one to tell you about a music/art/poetry blog called

!!crescere!! that i think you should check out. now, i will say up front that doug (my husband) regularly posts on the blog, so i may be slightly biased.

there are several different contributors who are all very talented artists. you can check them out here http://crescerians.blogspot.com/. i hope you enjoy!

POST TWENTY EIGHT - AN UPDATE

so, in case there is anyone out there, and in case they happen to remember the original plan for this blog, i thought i'd put a little update out there. initially the plan was for me to be putting up a post a week which started last year in early january. clearly i'm a little ways off from reaching the 52 post mark, so i've come up with a slightly altered plan for myself. my new hope is to reach 52 posts by early april (when we are expecting -Lord willing- the arrival of the newest little cooper) i really want to complete this project, and i'm hoping this goal is a workable one. so, there you have it- my new plan.