Is Google Making Us Stupid?

I just read this article entitled "Is Google Making Us Stupid". I resonated with what it said. The writer is a professional journalist and used to be a voracious reader, but after using the internet a lot in the past few years he now has trouble sticking with a book. He has heard the same sentiments from some of his colleages (and I feel the same way). The web throws things at us in snipets, headlines, summaries, and pop ups. Sustained thought or pondering...well, there is not much time for that. Take a look and see what this article says about the way that our brain is actually reprogrammed by the internet. Then...go read a book :0) I'm going to.

My Answers

Best Parenting Advice...Just to enjoy your kids and be a blessing to them. Here is a post on that topic. Now, being a blessing sometimes means training your children in a way that they will not think is fun. But lots of times it means putting the laundry or dishes on hold so that you can just play with and pay real attention to your kids. Do you remember when you were a kid...asking your mom to come and play with you? Do you remember wanting her to stay forever and just keep playing and playing? I try to remind myself that that is what my kids want. They want to have the assurance that I am not about to rush off and do something else. They want my undivided and "unrushed" attention.

Best Marriage Advice...Cultivate and enjoy your sex life. Put some time into learning how to make it enjoyable for both of you. Here is a good article about how God uses this area of your marriage in a mysterious way to strengthen your marriage.

One thing I would do differently in my parenting...I would not have been so hard on my first one. It is easy to be a little too consistent with the discipline on your first one and try a little too hard to do it all perfectly. Try to do your best, but relax a little. Enjoy it all, and pray for God to bless your efforts and do a mighty work in each of your children.

Edifying Meme

I am starting this edifying Meme. I will post my answers when I have time, but for now I just want to get these questions out there and get ya'll thinking. I am tagging everyone that reads this. Put it on your blog or post it here in the comments. I can't wait to get all this free advice! Post away!

1. The best parenting advice you've ever received.
2. The best marital advice you've ever received.
3. The one thing you would do differently with your kids if you could do it all over.

Encouraging Blog

I happened across a blog called Making Home and I have enjoyed reading bits of it here and there. Here are a few of my favorite posts so far.
Filling Our Homes With the Word of God
Show and Tell: Everything and the Kitchen Sink
Hospitality by Moms of Young Children

Less Meat

I have been trying to cut back on our grocery bill and this is one way to do it...use less meat. Dolly linked to ant article called "Putting Meat Back in It's Place" and it had some helpful ideas for how to consume less meat. Take a look.

Family Pictures

My sweet friend Meredith Frazier took these after we returned from our vacation. She's a gem!

Jeremy and Brandy

Aiden

Alex

Riley

Remy

Our crazy family :0)

Two great posts about summer vacation

This one is about why to have it and this one is about what to do with it...excellent stuff!

Google Reader

I would like to put a little plug in for Google Reader. First of all, I really love the way Google does nearly everything they do. I love gmail. I love picasa (although since I have switched to using an iMac I now use iPhoto because it came with my computer). Well, Google Reader is no exception. It is a site that you can sign into and then use to check all of your blogs (and many other sites) from one location. I used to use Bloglines, but I think Google Reader is a little more user friendly. I would not keep up with blogs very much if it were not for a site like this. I just log into it every few days and I can see, at a glace, if there is anything new on the sites I enjoy. This is a big time saver and makes things much simpler. Give it a try!

Cooking

I would like to draw your attention to King Arthur Flour. This company has a GREAT catalog with lots of really useful and fun kitchen tools and they also print some really yummy recipes in each edition. They just recently launched a blog that has some good looking recipes. They came to St Louis while I lived there and offered free baking classes. I attended one and learned a lot from these expert bakers. You can check their website to see if they will be in your area any time soon.

On another cooking note...I recently tried the most wonderful chocolate pie recipe from Pioneer Woman's cooking blog and I love it! My friend Rosemary posted the recipe on her blog and it reminded me that I wanted to post it here as well. It is a nice recipe to know because you can always have the ingredients on hand.

Evangelism and Fault Finding

Here are two quotes that made me think...

Ron Bennett's thoughts on authentic evangelism towards the unchurched:

As a couple trying to relate to neighbors and unchurched friends, we have found that even our home is not the first place to begin a relationship. If we invite new people over, it is usually for a cookout in the back yard, not
for a dinner inside our home. The initial place is often a local restaurant that is neutral ground. Our church is not neutral ground for the unchurched. Planning evangelistic activities on campus creates and unnecessary barrier for many we are trying to reach. Our strategy needs to include locations that are neutral, common, and natural to the unchurched. We need to ask, "Where would the unchurched feel comfortable?" Rather than our own comfort being primary, we need to apply the attitude of a servant and missionary and remove unnecessary barriers to sharing the message.

C. S. Lewis on fault finding:

We don't like rationing which is imposed upon us, but I suggest one form of rationing which we ought to impose on ourselves. Abstain from all thinking about other people's faults, unless your duties as a teacher or parent make it necessary to think about them. Whenever the thoughts come unnecessarily into one's mind, why not simply shove them away? And think of one's own faults instead? For there, with God's help, one can do something. Of all the awkward people in your house or job there is only one whom you can improve very much. That is the practical end at which to begin. And really, we'd better. The job has to be tackled some day: and every day we put it off will make it harder to begin.