No More Dragons by Jim Burgen (Book Review)

I remember listening to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by Focus on the Family's Radio Theatre and loving the part about Eustace being freed by Aslan. It's a terrible, beautiful, painful, wonderful way of drawing a picture of something we can all relate to: We either are dragons, are chasing dragons, being chased by dragons, or have been undragoned. According to Jim Burgen, "undragoned" is a word. And I get it. You will too, if you read this book.

Read the rest of my review here: My Two Cents' Worth

I've Been Nominated for the Liebster Award!

I'm very grateful to the Rosevine Cottage Girls for nominating me for The Liebster Award. Thank you so much!

Okay, here goes. I hope I did it correctly!

If you have been nominated for The Liebster Award AND YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, here are the rules: write a blog post about the award in which you:

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.

2. Display the award on your blog (by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or     a “gadget”.)

3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, (which will be provided to you by the person who nominated         you.)

4. Provide 11 random facts about yourself.

5. Nominate 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 200 followers.

6. Create a new list of questions for the your nominees to answer.

Eleven Random Facts About Myself:

1. I'm a little afraid of heights.
2. People frighten me. I am definitely an introvert. 
3. I really, really stink at math. Really.
4. I knew nearly nothing about cooking or cleaning when I got married.
5. I knew nearly nothing about childcare when I had my first child. Hers was the first dirty diaper I ever changed. 
6. I nearly drowned as a child. Twice. 
7. I'm trying to teach myself to like seafood, but it's not going so whale. Heh, heh....
8. I recently obtained my driver's permit. Yes, I'm a little old for that and yes, I know how strange that is.
9. I'm very afraid of escalators. Like, very. 
10. My daughter just pointed out how many fears I have listed. Evidently, I am a very fearful person. That scares me. 
11. I find it far too easy to laugh in church, and when I do, I find it nearly impossible to stop. This usually results in desperate gasps for air. As quietly as possible. (And in case you're wondering, it's pretty much not possible.)

Here are my answers to the 11 questions asked by The Rosevine Cottage Girls:

1. Why do you write?  I write because, well, because I've always written. It's an outlet for me. 
2. What and Who inspires you? I'm inspired by every other mommy blogger who is brave enough to open her heart for her readers to see.  
3. Who do you admire the most? That's a tough one. I deeply admire Elisabeth Elliot and Ann Voskamp. I also admire a dear friend of mine who has suffered the loss of her husband to cancer. She's the homeschooling mom of four children, she's a writer, she's an encourager, a listener, and she's my hero. 
4. Where have you always wanted to go? That's easy! Europe! 
5. What gets you through the really tough times? A crazy sense of humor, reminding myself that this life is only temporary, and the knowledge that nothing takes God by surprise; that His Spirit will always be with me.
6. What is the most important lesson you have learned? That placing too much trust in people and putting their opinions over what the Bible says will bring a lot of pain and confusion. God's Word should be the basis for everything we do.
7. If you could give advice to yourself as a child what would it be? Stop trying to win love. Don't stress so much about being perfect and accepted. God's love for you is eternal and unchanging...cling to that.
8. Where is your favorite place to be? Home!
9. What are some defining moments in your life that God has brought you through? There have been a lot, and so many have been in the past three-four years. We went through some things as a family that nearly shattered us. I lost my grandparents, the only parents I'd ever known. We lost some close friends. Our lives changed drastically in nearly every way. But God has been unchangeable and always present, gently leading us in the way He'd have us to go. 
10. What is your passion? I'm passionate about encouraging, uplifting, and spreading joy, pointing others to Jesus, being a real Christian, and being the best wife and mom God can help me to be. Oh, and I'm passionate about homeschooling! :)
11. If you could go back in history and meet one person who would it be? Another tough one! Only one!? Of course, I'd love to go back to Bible times and meet the disciples, Mary, and all the rest, but other than that, I'd probably like to meet...wow, there are so many.... Well, one person I'd love to meet is Abraham Lincoln. Oh, and Susanna Wesley. And..... :)

My Liebster Award Nominees (in no particular order):

1. Frontier Blessings
2. Essentials for Health and Wellness, Naturally
3. Am I The Only One?
4. The House With a Red Door
5. Crystal Starr
6. Learning Table
7. Embracing Him
8. Homeschool Camper
9. The (mis)Adventures of a "Born Again" Farm Girl
10. Simply Blessed
11. Jennifer L. Self

Questions for my nominees (I borrowed some of them. Hey, I'm sleepy!) :

1. What is your favorite passage of Scripture?
2. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
3. What is your favorite book?
4. If you could give advice to yourself as a child, what would it be?
5. Who inspires you?
6. What is the worst advice ever offered to you?
7. What do you find to be the most challenging in your life right now?
8. Are you "early to bed, early to rise", or are you a night owl who lives on coffee?
9. Who is your favorite historical figure? Why?
10. Who is your favorite biblical figure? Why?
11. Why do you blog?

A Hug for You, Tired Mama

I hadn't planned on posting today, but then I saw this post at We Are THAT Family, and I just had to. Because I know I'm not the only one who feels like I'm not always up for this motherhood thing--that every other mother has "got it", but somehow I missed it. Whatever it is. 

And I know I'm not the only one who is surprised by motherhood. Not the hard stuff, but the good stuff. Those times when you see your child being a servant to his sibling, or reading her bible because she wants to, or understanding a math concept that you thought would keep her from graduating until she's forty-five. 

Those are the moments when you realize that God, through your weakness, is doing great things. That He, through you, is working out the miraculous in the mundane. 

Mama? What you're doing? All those tasks that seem pointless or oh, so ordinary? They're ginormous, when you think about it. 

So to all my fellow, tired mamas, here's a hug and a great big, "Atta girl!" 

Oh, and when you read the blog post I shared? Be sure to watch the video, too. It's pretty awesome. (And I really want to read that book!)