50 Great Frugal Tips

Take a look here for 50 terrific frugal tips. Take a look here if you want to see some of the best posts by that same blogger.

A Good Challenge

My good friend Jennifer wrote a great post over on her blog that I'd like to share with you. It is an honest and challenging account of trying to "fit in" bible study and prayer. I'm right there with her. Thanks Jennifer!

Nifty Kaboost

This Kaboost looks like a cool idea.

NT Wright on Easter

Here is another great quote that I stole from Pastor Lusk. This is Bishop NT Wright talking about Easter.

~~~~~~~~

N. T. Wright (wow, just wow – these are some the best words ever written on Easter):

Without Easter, Calvary was just another political execution of a failed Messiah.

Without Easter, the world is trapped between the shoulder shrug of the cynic, the fantasy of the escapist, and the tanks of the the tyrant.

Without Easter, there is no reason to suppose that good will triumph over evil, that love will win over hatred, that life will win over death.

But with Easter we have hope; because hope depends on love; and love has become human and has died, and is no alive for evermore, and holds the keys of Death and Hades. It is because of him that we know--we don't just hope, we know--that God will wipe away all tears from all eyes.

And in that knowledge we find ourselves to be Sunday people, called to live in a world of Fridays.

In that knowledge we know ourselves to be Easter people, called to minister to a world full of Calvary's. In that knowledge we find that the hand that dries our tears passes the cloth on to us, and bids us to follow him, to go to dry one another's tears.

The Lamb calls us to follow him wherever he goes; into the dark places of the world, the dark places of our hearts, the places where tears blot out the sunlight....and he bids us shine his morning light into the darkness, and share his ministry of wiping away the tears.

And as we worship, and adore, and follow the lamb, we join, already, in the song of Revelation 5.11-14, the song that one day the trees and the mountains and the whales and the waterfalls--the whole world, reborn on Easter morning--will sing with us:

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain...
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honour and glory and blessing!

To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honour and glory and power
forever and ever, Amen.

Thanks Dolly

I saw this on Dolly's Blog and loved it! I hope it makes you smile :0)

Cracking Twigs

I came a cross a helpful string of posts on Empowered Traditionalist. Here is the intro:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Though it was an unusual question, I understood it immediately: “How does a woman appropriately, biblically, humbly, and submissively go about ‘cracking the twigs and stirring the leaves?’ A friend of mine said that it seems like girls end up ‘breaking logs and throwing leaves’ too vigorously at times.”

This woman was not referring to any hiking or forestry activity. She had heard a quote read at a Christian singles conference and she, like several other women, had written me to ask how to apply it. First, some background. The quote read at this conference was from the outstanding book, Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart, by John Ensor:

Brothers, it falls to us to be the initial risk takers in matters of the heart. Headship means being the one to go ahead and ask. It is ours as men to suffer the embarrassment of rejection if need be. It is our role to initiate. Get to it right merrily. We are the hunters. They are the quarry. It is for men to strike out into the forest and look. It is for women to crack the twigs and stir the leaves so we know where to find them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a 4 part series. I have not read it all, but the parts I did read looked really great!

What an Easter Witness

This video is of my friend Dolly's father. He is in the hospital having some serious heart issues. I just had to share this video of him in the hospital singing hymns on Easter morning. I want to be a person who sings hymns in the hospital. What a witness and what a way to reach for the comfort and blessings that God provides! Please pray for him with me.

Cheap or Free Toys

Simple mom posted 11 Cheap or Free Toys for Young Children. Check it out :0)

Family Rituals

Here is an article about starting some really SIMPLE, EASY family rituals. We have pizza movie night every Thursday night with the boys, but I loved her idea about breaking out a board game after the kids are in bed. What great fun!

Feminine in Jeans

Here are some really fun ways to add a little feminine flair to your outfit when you are wearing jeans. I liked this a lot :0) I got this one at Anna's blog too!

Fast Easy Ways to Fix YOUR Hair

Here is a neat little article with 17 ways to fix your hair in less than 10 minutes. I found this on Anna's blog.

God's Creation is Amazing!

This video has an AMAZING shot of an octopus going from camouflage to bright white right before your eyes. That part is at 4 minutes and 30 seconds of the video, but I thought the whole thing was pretty neat.

Organized Closets

I can't remember if I have posted this here before. Just in case, here is a terrific article on maintaining a good balance between tidiness and a healthy amount of chaos. Afterall, we don't want tidy unhappy houses do we?

Wonderful

This article over at Femina is so wonderful that I had to link to it here. I think I need to reread this one often.