King James: 400 years old but is he still the "only one"?

I was ruminating with my dad today about Bibles. A while back he introduced me to a neat website you can check out here which led to our discussion. He asked if I have a translation of choice and in thinking about it I realized that I really do not. I grew up on the New International Version and so a lot of the verses I have memorized are that translation though I do not tend to read that one much anymore. I sometimes prefer my New Living Translation, sometimes I want to read my New King James and other times I wish I had a New American Standard because I enjoy that when looking up certain text online. I do however have a translation I DO NOT prefer and in fact, it tends to turn me off. That is the old King James. I believe the reason for the King James Bible at the time was great. He wanted the common man to be able to read The Word in the language of the people. What has always bothered me as an adult is the great "hanging onto", so to speak, of this translation. King James wanted the Bible to be read AND understood by the common person and we do not speak the same way as they did 400 years ago. Therefore why do so many adhere to this translation as "the only one"?
I also must defer to Jesus on this point because, of course, His opinion on the subject is really the most important. Did He say anything that I could relate to this matter? Did He do anything that causes me to believe He may just agree with me on this point? Let me see what I can find. . .

Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
Matthew 15.1-3 NASB

To me this is a wonderful example of the "hanging onto" of the King James Bible. If we are so bent on not allowing a modern translation to be used by our pastor, church or congregation for the sake of tradition that we alienate people who do not understand the language how are we following the command of the Great Commission?

What else might Jesus say that relates to this subject?

But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22.34-40 NASB

To me this relates in that He is explaining what is most important. More important than what translation we read, what type of music we sing, whether the sermon is topical, expository or a bit of both. What is important is that we allow ourselves to be tools of Christ's love in order to reach the lost of the world. If that means putting our King James Bible aside and pulling out our New Living Translation to be better understood by one who has never read the Bible how can this be a bad thing?! I have heard the arguments that Bible translations have been "watered down" and "meanings get changed". I think that is all a bunch of nonsense, if the Holy Spirit is working we could really be reading (please read with exaggeration and humor) Dr. Seuss and the person would be hearing about Jesus and His love. I am not suggesting we be foolish but instead that we have already been foolish in the "hanging onto" of the old King James. Of course, this Bible had it's place in our history and it was and is a wonderful thing but we must be reasonable and practical, as well. It is not the only Bible that has been God-breathed:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
II Timothy 3.16 NASB

*On another note regarding Bibles in general I highly recommend this particular entry from the aforementioned blog.

One of those trimesters. . .

I am feeling frustrated by mommyhood. Yeah, I admitted it. I am currently hugely pregnant with heartburn almost all day long, pain in my knees, my back and my sciatic nerve on both sides (and those are only the "regular" pains). And I have a child who now wants to end every day with a fit. I am fairly certain a lot of his fit throwing has to do with the baby that is coming. I am sure he has figured out that he is not going to get mommy's full, undivided attention any more but I would rather he get it out in the middle of the day or the morning. By the end of the day I feel so horrible I have a hard time enjoying our quiet, reading, getting ready for bed time but I do it. He is usually so very pleasant up until the time I actually leave the room and then it all begins. I was responding the first few nights and now I do not. As a result the fits have become shorter but still have not disappeared. Am I asking too much for it to just stop? I want our end of day to be pleasant and wonderful like it always has been before. I know he is probably thinking, I know this is going to change when baby comes.
Life is changing and since I hate being pregnant I can not wait until the day this child comes into the world but life will change. I know this child is and will be a blessing as my older one is but change is still change and we are all going to have to learn to adjust to this and adapt and make it all work. Have I mentioned I have friends with four, six, seven kids? What were THEY thinking?!



I am sure they were thinking what a joy and blessing from the Lord that children are. And I agree wholeheartedly but for the moment I am just going to have to remind myself of that every five seconds. And when I finally meet this new little one and I see his brother be a GREAT big brother I will be reminded why we do this. And on other days I will just have to remind myself a little bit more.



Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19.14 NASB

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children." Matthew 11.25 NIV

Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins.
Genesis 25.21 NLT

So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”
1 Samuel 1.20 NKJV

Alas, not another list but. . .

just some books worth mentioning I am reading.


I am currently reading Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand and I recommend it to anyone and everyone! I can not believe it sat on my shelf for so long.

"I had the grace to be one of the chosen of God for reasons that I don't understand. These reasons had nothing to do with my character because [it] was very bad."

". . .after having seen the Bride of Christ in prison, I . . .love the Underground Church almost as much as I love Christ Himself. I have seen her beauty, her spirit of sacrifice."
~Richard Wurmbrand

Here is a link to the Voice of the Martyrs website where you can actually request a free copy and explore and support the outreach the Underground Church is doing.

I am also currently reading My Utmost for His Highest. Another classic that I have never read completely. I have picked it up here and there and just read some entries but I have now started from the beginning. It is interesting, I am only on day five and it already seems like several people might have written it and not just one. I have already been uplifted and yet also questioned one passage. I have decided to read five passages every day, a new one and the previous four. It helps me digest them better and already I am finding new things in each passage as I re-read it.
Here are some examples of things that have struck me so far. I pray that I may be able to heed Mr. Chambers words as I pray I continue to grow in the knowledge, grace and love of Christ.

Here is a link to a blog about Oswald Chambers and it includes devotionals.


"Let the attitude of the life be a continual 'going out' in dependance upon God, and your life will have an ineffable charm about it which is a satisfaction to Jesus."

"When it is a question of the providential will of God, wait for God to move." ~Oswald Chambers

Sweet big brother

You have to love a boy who always wants to smell the flowers. . .

Since telling our little man he is getting a brother he has, of course, had many questions and comments that only a kid his age could come up with. And some that have been a bit shocking for his age. I am sharing them as much for myself and his history as with you.

:Mom, when you have heartburn does baby [brother] have it too?

:Mom, did I have that thing on my wrist already when I came out? You know the thing that didn't get me mixed up with the other babies?

:Mom, can I hold baby [brother] into church every Sunday?
What do you mean, bud?
:I can hold him into church and then give him to you when I need to go in my class.
{mama's heart melts}

{He always, very quietly, comes in my room in the morning to wake me up. We are so fortunate, I know. On this particular morning. . .}
:{whispering} Mom, can I see if your belly is bigger than yesterday?

:Mom, I'm not scared anymore.
Not scared of what, bud?
:Scared of talking to [baby] in your tummy.

:Mom, I am just sooo acited for baby [brother] to get here!

:Mom, can I go in when they are gonna take baby [brother] out of you?
{yikes and not sure how to answer pause}
:Acause I wanna see the special knife they use to cut him out.
{I know it sounds gross but he is fascinated with the whole process and I think that is super cool}

{The day we told him he kept getting the giggles. It was so great! Then this. . .}
:Mom, I really wanted a baby sister.
Really, why?
:I just don't want you to be mad all the time that you live with only boys!

I am sure there have been more I (sadly) can not remember but I also know there will be more to come. Maybe I will have a part deux to this post.

Thankful for Mount Washmore

I often wonder how you know how much clothing is too much for a family of three. Recently I think I discovered the answer. If one does laundry all day long and can separate loads by COLOR I think that means we have too much. Please understand me when I say color, NOT COLORS, COLOR. Not only can I separate by color, in a few instances it includes hues. I have entire loads of laundry in light blues, medium blues and dark blues. Black is popular as I can actually do two loads and light grey is a separate color with it's very own load from dark grey. I think we have a problem.
I have friends who have four, six and seven children who may not have the amount of clothing we have. On the one hand, I do come by it honestly but on the other it is a bit shameful. Not having a working washer and dryer at the moment is making me thankful for the piles of clothing we have. It has also shown me it is time to cut down a bit once the washer and dryer are fixed. Salvation Army, here we come!
I have discovered as long as we have enough underwear we will be just fine!

kicking and screaming or quietly and broken; just fall on your knees

"We look for visions of heaven and we never dream that all the time God is in the commonplace things and people around us." - Oswald Chambers

"We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good. Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious...
Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I am blessed to know that I did not need a 'big miracle' to come back to my faith in Christ. Do not misunderstand me, it is a miracle that I stopped living my sinful lifestyle and came back to faith at all but I did not have a flashy, saved-from-death-in-a-car-wreck kind of miracle. I am so happy to have faith in the midst of 'small miracles' but I pray daily for my faith to be strengthened and daily God delivers.

I know that some people need that 'big miracle' to validate their faith or to believe at all. Gideon needed that miracle, even after the angel of God came to him, he still asked for proof! *Judges 6.11-40* Thomas, a disciple who saw Jesus perform miracles, needed proof that He had risen even after hearing it from his closest friends. *John 20.24-29* One of my dearest brothers in faith is a skeptic who came to faith in Christ after a lot of doubt and testing and I am sure he is not the only one.

It is not wrong to need that in our faith. We can come to Christ kicking and screaming in our pride or beaten and bruised in humility. The important thing is that we come to Him at all and when we fall on our knees before Him that we repent of the ugly sin that holds us captive. And then we can rise in the victory that He has provided over that ugliness and walk through life with God, our Maker and Christ, our Redeemer by our side until we meet Him face to face in heaven!

Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. -John 20.29-31

Aslan, the lion, strikes my heart every time he appears in the Narnia books. He is such a beautiful picture of God and Christ. I am brought to tears because I think of what has been done for all of humanity in the name of love. I look at my child and rejoice in this truth, knowing that as much as I love him, he is loved that much more by his Creator.

He brings us out of the darkness to the brightest light we can never imagine until it is seen by our eyes at the end of our journey here on earth. If you are reading this and really do not understand or know what this real, true love is, my heart breaks for you. I hope to the core of my soul, that we will all spend our time in eternity together in paradise. It will make any beauty we experience in this world pale a thousand-fold.

An important thing to note is this, so many people I have known and spoken to throughout my life have said things to the effect of, "so and so (evangelist/pastor/priest, christian friend, christian parent, {insert yours here}) did this, has done that to (me, my friend, my family, {insert yours here}) and yet claims to be a christian, I do not want to be part of that hypocrisy". My response to you is this, DO NOT LOOK TO PEOPLE FOR WHAT ONLY CHRIST CAN SHOW US, PLEASE! We will always fail you, we are not perfect like He is. It is not meant as an excuse, we are told to be examples, to live like Christ but please do not let this be a stumbling block to faith that will bring you to the beauty I have described! No one is perfect, we all sin and will continue to do so until we are brought to paradise. We strive not to do so but again, this world is not our place of perfection. It grieves me to know that I have possibly influenced anyone in my life in this way. I pray often for anyone who crossed my path when I was not living for Christ (or even when I have, but made mistakes) to be shielded from that wrong influence.

I want to end with this verse and also these words from c.s. lewis:

Romans 1:7b
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

These words come from Surprised by Joy, lewis' autobiographical account of his 'early life' remember, if you know, he was an outspoken atheist attempting to disprove God's existence:

"In the Trinity Term in 1929 I gave in, and admitted God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not see then what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The prodigal son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape? The words compelle intrare, compel them to come in, have been so abused by wicked men that we shudder at them; but properly understood, they plumb the depth of the Divine mercy. The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation."

Book List #7

So, this only includes books that were banned in the United States at some point. I am sure I have read a hundred books banned in other countries. Freedom makes our country great!

Top ten banned books I have read

1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
4. Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
5. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
7. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
8. One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
9. The Witches by Roald Dahl
10. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

disclaimer: You may be surprised by what I agree with when it comes to banned books. I do not believe in banned books overall but I believe there are certain exceptions. Hear me out for a minute, if something is against the law for moral reasons ( I am pretty much thinking pedophilia here and not much else ) then by all means ban the book that condones or even praises it. As for subjects like witchcraft, sex, adultery, homosexuality, murder, etc. do you know they all exist in the Bible?! We all know that there have been many instances of Christian books being persecuted against because they "offended somebody". One thing I find funny are the fantasy books by Christian authors ie. Narnia, LOTR, etc. that go both ways, so to speak! I know people exist who will NOT let their children read these books because they have witches/ warlocks in them! I do not necessarily think that parents do not talk to their children about these books, I think it is more a lack of understanding on their part and so they are afraid to do anything but shelter the kids. I have already read all the Narnia books to my 4 year old and he loves them. I will always censor what my own child reads to make sure it is age appropriate and that includes the Bible. I already have removed some of his books for when he is older after they gave him nightmares or I looked at them again and realized he just wasn't old enough to process some of the things in them. It is not always a morality issue either, it all depends on your child. A child who has a fear of bugs would either want to learn more about them to help get rid of the fear or if he is just too afraid you take those books away and work on it later. My point is, it is up to us as parents to censor what our children read. It is not up to the government or whomever.
Happy reading!

Mister Rogers

I read a wonderful book about 'Mister Rogers' which caused me to look back and reflect on his influence in my life.
I am working it out in my head and am not sure if he had as much influence when I was a child or if he actually has shaped my adult life more. Sadly, I did make fun of other kids at times which he would have been sad about. I was not always a good neighbor. I am not the best neighbor these days either, literally. I do not know even one of my neighbors. It is so sad and I hope to remedy it though I still have done nothing to remedy it so far.

Mister Rogers on prayer:

A young girl asked Mister Rogers about prayer and his answer was thus. . .
' . . .prayer is asking for something, and sometimes you get a yes answer. . . sometimes no. . .you might get angry when you get a no answer. But God respects your feelings. . .God can take your anger [and] your happiness. So whatever you have to offer God through prayer. . .is a great gift. Because the thing God wants most of all is a relationship with you. . .even as a child-especially as a child. Look how Jesus loved the children who came around Him.'

He prayed every morning at 5 am for his family and friends by name and he would begin his days singing 'Jubilate Deo'. Rejoice in the Lord, rejoice in the Lord, alleluia.

I will keep reflecting. Maybe he will influence me more in time. I miss the 'neighborhood'. God blessed the work you did, Mister Rogers. We will get 'there' one day.

Life and religion. . .

'Life and religion are one, or neither is anything. The same God who is in us. . .also is all about us-inside, the Spirit; outside the [Bible] and the two are ever trying to meet in us.'

'One of my greatest difficulties in considering to think of religion was that I thought I should have to give up my beautiful thoughts and my love for the things God had made. I find that. . .God is the God of the beautiful, [Christianity] the love of the Beautiful, and Heaven the House of the Beautiful-nature is tenfold brighter in the sun of righteousness, and my love of nature is more intense since I became a Christian.'

He wrote this poem after four of his eleven children went Home to Heaven:

But thou art making me, I thank thee, sire.
What thou hast done and doest thou know'st well,
And I will help thee; gently in thy fire
I will lie burning; on thy potter's wheel
I will whirl patient, though my brain should reel.
Thy grace shall be enough the grief to quell,
And growing strength perfect through weakness dire.

~George MacDonald

Recommended reading:
At the Back of the North Wind
Phantastes
Lilith
I think it is best to read them in that order as well. They become more complex and I think it eases you in this way.
ENJOY!

Some random thoughts on life

There are so many subjects that have been taboo for churches or Christians to discuss in the past and I believe the result of that has been confusion and apathy instead of further study. I am so glad that is changing.

Guess what, God created sex! He knows we FAIL CONSTANTLY! He does not care if we have TATTOOS on our body (although if one is a christian and gets one that could allow someone to question their faith they may at least want to think long and hard. . .but I digress) or make-up on our face! It is okay to wear shorts, sleeveless shirts and bathing suits! First and foremost, HE ALLOWS US TO MAKE OUR OWN CHOICES SO WHEN WE SCREW UP WE RUN BACK TO HIM! I truly believe that a lot of other things could be included in this particular rant, I am sure you can think some up yourself. It is an absolute truth that 'we are not to conform to this world, we are to transform by the renewing of our minds' but does that include alienating people of the world so that they see christianity as a set of rules and hypocrisy that they have no interest in? I say NO!

One of my favorite U2 songs, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, brought me to tears the first time I heard it and it still does now. It seriously affects me every time. I hope my son realizes he always has me to lean on.

Of course, there is a bigger picture. We can not ever make it on our own. We can attempt to rely on ourselves and we will fail, in some way. Maybe financially we will fail, maybe not. Maybe emotionally we will fail; somehow, somewhere, we all fail at something. It is a great comfort to know that Christ will pick us up from wherever we fail and blow a breath of fresh air softly over us and prod us to keep going. The creator of the universe is our great Encourager.

Chew on that for a bit and thank Him for His blessings. You can't ever make it on your own. No 'sometimes' about it!

My church in AZ read the Bible together cover to cover over 2 years. It changed my life as well as the life of other folks in all stages of their lives. God gave us His word to gain knowledge of Him. He speaks to us in this way and we need to listen to Him. So often we take an idea from a sermon or Sunday school and decide it is truth without bothering to gain this knowledge. When I taught Sunday school I always stressed my fallibility. I wanted those high school kids to challenge what I was saying by reading and studying His word! I believe with my whole heart that Christ reveals more of His truth to us the more we engage with Him. That is the only way to begin to understand these conversations and help others to also gain the knowledge of Christ. His words are infallible and they are the only words that exist that are. We must talk with His words on our lips and in our hearts and to do so we must know Him!

This is the true "love" chapter in my own humble opinion.

Deliverance from Bondage
1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
3For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
4so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
12So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--
13for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"
16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
17and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
19For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.
20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope
21that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
23And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
24For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?
25But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Our Victory in Christ
26In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
27and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
28And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
30and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
32He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
33Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies;
34who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36Just as it is written,
"For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8 (NASB)

Deviating from the normal. . .

I woke up on the morning of 31 March to my child screaming. Truly, he was screaming. In the midst of the screaming were the words: Mommy, spider, biting me and help me, intermittently. Little man had woken up early and I had turned on a Thomas movie for him so I could continue to sleep off my cold a little longer. Although in a haze from cold medicine I jumped out of bed instantly and ran to survey the damage. He ran into my arms shaking and saying there were "lots and lots of spiders under [the couch]". The haze from the cold medicine, while not impairing me physically was definitely impairing my understanding of the situation. I asked him what he was talking about and assured him there could not be lots of spiders under the couch. He turned and pointed and I finally saw the cause of the morning's chaos. A medium sized North American cockroach was clinging in fear to the back of my couch. But only for a moment and then suddenly he was aware again and attempting to sneak away. Not wanting a cockroach loose in the house, at least one I was aware of I "took care of" the blasted thing that had disturbed my blessed sleep.
Needless to say we did an extra measure of vacuuming and there was a lot of discussion about bugs in general for the rest of the day. Somehow, my child has an irrational fear of them and I do not know it's origination. Granted, I have an irrational fear of slithery reptiles but I know where it comes from and well, they are very creepy. On the other hand, I find (most) bugs somewhat fascinating although I do not count the cockroach among those that fascinate me. They are disgusting looking creatures and, in his words, "mommy, I don't like them because they scurry and scurry all around".
Some of the bug discussion started around the dinner table and I had to explain that we do not discuss yucky things like that while we are eating but we could discuss it after dinner. My child is a bit obsessive (not sure where he gets that from) and so we did discuss it after. The big, million dollar question my child asked was this, "mommy, are they God's creatures, too?" followed by, "does God love all of His creations?" Seriously, the kid is 4. How do I answer this question? I attempted explanation and then I evaded. There was just too much to explain. So, I said that He made everything for a reason and left it at that.
He stalled at bedtime and asked me to pull all the covers off his bed and make sure there were no bugs in them; he asked me to check under his mattress, too.
During bedtime prayers the topic came up, yet again (it also came up at bath time and reading time). He prayed for God "to not let the bugs come in the house through the heaters and if they came in could He please kill them so they don't scurry on my bed".
I am praying for a good nights sleep and a peaceful awakening in the morning. Preferably, bug free.

Book List Nommer Ses

Top ten ethics/apologetic non-fiction books other than the Bible

1. Mere Christianity by c.s. Lewis (book changed my life so it may show up alot)
2. The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
3. What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey
4. Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity by Lauren F. Winner
5. Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2 by Steve Stockman
6. Pensees by Blaise Pascal
7. Beyond Opinion by Ravi Zacharias
8. My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers
9. The Question of God: Lewis/Freud Debate. . . by Armand Nicholi
10. Walking On Water by Madeleine L'Engle

Recent reads

Not a true top ten list just some books I have recently read.
WARNING: these are mainly light reading; I'm talking cottonball, cotton candy, marshmallow light. Sometimes a person needs that amongst the heavy stuff and lately I have been in SPECIAL need of a really good laugh. As you can see I went from some not funny into the funny and now I am back to a NF (non-fiction) about U2. Some of these may end up on lists later. You never know!

~Split Ends by Kristin Billerbeck
~Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella
~The Undomestic Goddess by Kinsella (a re-read b.c it is really, darn funny!)
~The Covenant by Beverly Lewis (not funny) I was really surprised that this women was not as bad a writer as I expected.
~Real Sex: the Naked Truth About Chastity by Lauren F. Winner (NF)
~Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers (not funny)
~The Inklings by Humphrey Carpenter (NF)
~Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (NF) This book has A LOT of spoilers so if you want to read the books she is analyzing do not read this first!

Book List Nummer Zes

So I am sticking with the children's book theme. This list will be. . .

Top ten children's storybooks I have discovered since being a mommy

1. One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
2. Olivia/Olivia and the Missing Toy by Ian Falconer (This one's a toss-up)
3. A Day with Wilbur Robinson by William Joyce
4. Hondo & Fabian by Peter McCarty
5. A Boy Wants a Dinosaur by Hiawyn Oram
6. King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood
7. Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
8. Sleepyhead by Karma Wilson
9. McDuff & Yoko series by Rosemary Wells (I know, I'm cheating but it's MY list)
10. God Gave Us You by Lisa Tawn Bergren



This was a hard list to narrow down. We love most of the books by all of these authors as well as so many more. I tried to choose based on both story and illustration. I could probably do a top twenty list. Maybe next time. I will do a classic storybook list later, maybe that one will be a top twenty. . .
I would really, really love feedback on this one with books you love reading to your kiddos.
The top illustration is from Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey.