A message to Iowa, meant for us all...

Found on the web......

Melted Crayons

by Kimberly B. Southall

"Oh, honey! I told you not to leave crayons in the car," I admonished our son. The box of 16 crayons had melted all over the interior of the plastic lap desk in the summer heat. The result was a brownish mass of wax.

A couple of days later when I set myself to the task of scraping the hardened wax off of the plastic lap desk, I began by prying the cardboard crayon box loose. Curiosity made me study the once melted but now hardened wax. Just an indescribable murky color existed. All the pretty, individual colors were gone. Then I turned the crayon box over and made a fascinating discovery. One crayon hadn't become indistinguishable like the others. On the back of the crayon box, there was an unmistakable large blob of the white crayon. It had melted alright, but it stood alone as the one crayon which could be identified. Interesting, huh?

As I gave more thought to the uniqueness of that single crayon, a passage of scripture popped into my mind which gave me pause for thought: You are the light of the world . . . let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. --Matthew 5:14, 16 (NIV)

Am I like the white crayon when heat is applied? Would others know I'm a Christian by my behavior in times of stress? Or would I be better compared to all of the other crayons which melted into an undistinguishable murky-looking mess?

What about you, fellow Christian? We all will have trials and times of stress when the heat is turned on us. Do we let our lights shine before others for God's glory? Remember the melted crayons.

Etsy

I'm considering opening an Etsy shoppe. Does anyone have a review or tips they would like to share? I would love to hear from you!

I love my sizzler. Really. I do.

I have a Sizzler. He spins, he twirls, he rolls on the floor with the dog. He does cartwheels while eating popsicles, he is a study in motion. He is a trial of my patience. He is the light of my life. Days like today, I turn to the stories section of Sizzle Bop and read...just to hang on. To gain some perspective, and to give us both time to just RELAX.

That's why Sizzle Bop is at the top of my Homeschool--->Favorites List. The following is from the site and is used with permission. (Thanks Carol!)

Why is it called "Sizzle Bop?" The title for this site was an inspiration from my much loved but high energy (and high maintenance) son.

One night several years ago, he came rushing into my room, out of breath, to inform me that something “really serious” had happened. It somehow involved flying pieces of broken light bulb glass and smoke. Fearing an impending fire, I flew to the site of concern. Sure enough, there was a light bulb with a substantial portion missing. I found the offending piece lying almost ten feet from the lamp.

I wondered at the laws of physics that had been at work here when I saw what looked like the remnants of a water drop on a piece of glass. I asked my son if water had been dropped onto the bulb. With very deliberate speech, he said that perhaps…when he had been talking…a piece of saliva...might have been expelled onto the bulb. Why had he been talking to a lamp?…I thought. Then I noticed the desert dry rivulets of previous spit streams that were encrusted upon this defenseless bulb. “Son…?” I called quietly. My incredulous tone betrayed the calm I otherwise possessed. What I’m thinking might have happened here couldn’t really have happened....could it? “Son,” I said again… “have you actually been spitting on this light bulb?”

No answer.
He gave me a very wide-eyed and fearful expression.
Let’s try again.
“Son…why were you spitting on this light bulb?”

I could visualize seventeen or eighteen wheels turning in his head. Finally, the answer I shall never forget emerged. “Because I like the sizzle”

In spite of the very clear dangers, I burst out laughing. (I know that many children go through a saying “NO!” stage. Some go through a biting stage. But no one ever warned me about the “spitting-on-light bulbs-stage”). I think the most revealing part of the story can be summed up in the line “I like the sizzle!”

These kids do indeed like the sizzle. They like to

See the sizzle
Hear the sizzle

and often
BE the sizzle

That is a part of their wonderfulness…and also a part of the challenge in sharing daily ife with them. That sizzle can lead them into wonderful discoveries of humor, earning and experience. But that same desire for sizzle can lead them into difficulties. Our hopes in this group is to limit the difficult side with shared strategies and to more fully celebrate the wonderful side that is so often missed.

And here comes the “Bop” part of Sizzle Bop! There is a daily dance of life that is unique to the shared time with these high energy individuals. In spite of all of their challenges, there is a charged and delightful energy that comes with the package. In our family, we’ve chosen to dance to the music, to join in the bop, instead of trying to turn down the music.

Here I sit

at the public library while the youngster participates in the art program. The sky is cloudy, and lightning flashes in the distance. This business of staying home has got to be the most challenging, invigorating, wonderfully exhausting thing I've ever done.


Son is so intelligent, but he's also quite the handfull. He is a sizzler. Do you know what a sizzler is? I'll let you in on the secret next post. I'll give you a hint, though. If you have a sizzler at home and have yet to find the resource I'm going to review -- you'll cry when you finally see it. I did.

Salt...and Sinuses

So sorry for my prolonged absence. I noticed last Tuesday that the chili I'd fixed was not pleasing to my palatte. So I added some salt. Upon re-tasting, I still couldn't quite enjoy it without adding another dusting of the white stuff. And another. I should have known something was up...

On Wednesday, I headed to the doctor with what turned out to be the "head" infection of a lifetime. One ear has fluid, the other is angrily infected, and the sinuses are infected as well. Had I not been so self-absorbed with the move to working/staying at home, I'd have known something was coming. When I'm getting sick, I can't taste salt. It took years for me to add two and two but I kept noticing that when I'd layer on the salt for lack of flavor, something dreadful was coming down the pike.

That got me to thinking, so I googled "what does salt do?"

This is one of the first sites I was drawn to. Here's the quote on their home page:

"Over the course of human history, salt has added much more than flavor. Its ability to preserve foods and sustain civilizations through cold winters has sent countries on desperate searches to find it, control it, tax it, and trade it. In some parts of the world, salt was minted into coins as valuable as gold and soldiers were paid in salt (hence the terms 'salary' and 'worth his salt'). Today, salt is far more common that it used to be, but not every type is the same."

- Weber Grill-Out Times, Fall 2002

Soon I got to pondering the spiritual concept of being salt. After all, this is an illustration used by Christ Himself. In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus tells his disciples, "You are the salt of the earth" From here we read this:

"Salt is necessary for flavor. Without Christians and the gospel they proclaim and practice, this world would be more insipid. There is no true flavor found in the world. There is no true joy found in this world. Only the company of Christians gives flavor and joy to the world. We can prove this by examining the worldly parties and good times. What are they like? Boring, tasteless, and insipid. As Christians, we have the function to provide flavor and taste to the world. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. The world is without hope, and only the Christian, by his proclamation and practice, will point the world to hope in Jesus Christ.

The world is sick. Terribly ill with all that satan has to offer. All that is void, displeasing to the Creator, unlovely, unloveable. In fact, it's so sick it can't taste the salt. May God hear my prayer for just a tiny way to be salt to a sick and dying world.

Too Cute...

Who told them they could be so stinkin' cute anyway?!

It's official...

I'm home now. Today was my last day at the part time job I've held for 6 years. I'm feeling a tiny bit sentimental, but not so very much. I'm very glad to have this opportunity.

The timing certainly was grand on the Lord's part, though, the kiddo has a severe sinus infection today and needs some extra TLC.

That'll give me something to think about OTHER THAN some special friends I won't see nearly as often now. *sigh*

I love this idea!

I'm participating in A Commitment to Loveliness over at
Charming the Birds from the Trees. What a lovely idea! Here are my commitments:

1. Fresh flowers for the table and nightstand
2. Bathe the dog...it's hard to have a lovely home with a stinky critter running about!
3. Take time to read the Mitford series of books my wonderful Mother gifted me.
4. Polish my antique silver - I display part of it and it's tarnished.
5. Wear makeup. My hubby loves a tiny bit of color and I just don't take time for it often. I will make more of an effort now that I know he likes it.

I'm sure I can come up with much more, but this is a good start. Join me?

A Kindred Spirit

"What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow." -Martin Luther

Rebecca has this quote scrolling at the top of her lovely site. I absolutely LOVE it. How wonderfully blessed we are to be entrusted with such great responsibility!