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Two blogs I love are sending traffic my way this week! Please stop by these Internet gems, both with long-time spots on my blogroll, and say konnichiwa:

The Flourishing Mother : This week, I’m being featured for Andrea’s Momma Monday column! Last March, I quoted from Andrea’s Post, “I Made a Meal for Jesus,” which challenged me to think of Jesus as a friend and to do things, like making dinner, as if was doing them directly for Him. It was life-changing for me.

Feminia: Nancy Wilson, who has written of some of my favorite books, coauthors a delightful blog with the ladies in her family. Recently, she invited readers to post their blogs for a Tour the Readers’ Blogs Party… so I did! There are many great bloggers who responded to her post. How about you add yours?

You’re also invited to check out my Welcome! page as well as send me an email to introduce yourself. Please let me know how I can best pray for and/or be of encouragement to you. If you have them, please let me know your Twitter handle and blog URL so I can check out your corner of the Web.

For the latest monthly care package giveaways and brand new posts, click here to subscribe!

Photo credit: chez_sugi via Flickr

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“Many hands make light work.” - John Heywood, English playwright and poet

Have you ever used your chin to hold onto a stack of library books? I have… and that’s when I’m just carrying my books!

With plenty of children who love to hear stories read, two of whom are avid readers themselves, trips to the library (on the base, two hours away) would be pretty daunting if I didn’t have my helpers!

Across the street from our house is a grocery store. Next door is a farmers market. How sweet it is to have children who help bring home food that will nourish our family!

More than moving items from Point A to Point B, having children help out in this way is good for their little hearts and souls.

Helping to carry things…

Burdens, or things that have to be carried, are also a great Biblical metaphor for teaching our children about entrusting Gods with the things in this life that weigh us down. This burden could be anything from sin, an illness, a difficult relationship situation, to a house that doesn’t sell.

Trusting in Him gives us a soul-deep version of the feeling we get when the very straps of our heavy bags are cutting into our hands and dad comes along and carries it the rest of the way home.

Psalms 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

This month’s giveaway is of five kawaii (that means painfully cute in Japanese!) totes so you can carry your things to and from wherever you need to go. There are four smaller totes, a pink bunny, an orange pig, a brown bear and a yellow lion, to encourage your helpers to lend a hand, and a larger tote for you!

To enter, in the comments of this post, please leave a story about carrying something or something being carried for you. The burden could be a physical one or a metaphorical one. Please mention how carrying this burden, or having it carried for you, shaped who you are today. You must leave a pertinent comment to win!

My hope is that this giveaway will encourage others to help bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2) and to trust that the Lord is carrying us through.

1 Peter 5:6-7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Please leave your comment and complete bonus entries by 9PM EST, Friday, March 26, 2010.

The winner will need to provide their mother’s maiden name, social security number, and a valid US credit card number + three digit secret code. JUST KIDDING! I will, however, need their name and mailing address which will be kept strictly confidential.

If they’re agreeable, I’d like to interview the winner and feature them in a future post. I would consider including links in the post to the winner’s blog, favorite cause, home business, etc.

Winning contestants may not enter my subsequent monthly giveaway contests for a year following their win. In other words, if you win in March, 2010, you cannot enter again until March, 2011.

Best wishes! :)

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“Hey! This ice cream is boneless!” - Leah, age 3, on eating vanilla ice cream.

Think the child eats enough fish?

Photo Credit: Jessicafm via Flickr

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John writes:

I’m getting pretty sick of people with the whole optimist outlook. Call me rude or whatever else, but isn’t it appropriate at times to be angry, upset, etc? I see optimists as people who don’t have the sense to take off the sunglasses when it starts raining.

Now, some people call this pessimism. I, however, argue that I’m a realist. I see the world more or less as it is.

Some say the glass is half empty; others say the glass is half full. I simply say the glass is too big. Maybe the person was expecting too much. I have at this point begun to see the world with resignation. Things are neither good nor bad. They just are.

Thoughts, gentleman?

Dear John,

Bad things happen, and they happen to good people. We live in a fallen world. It is a wonder than any of us are okay at any given time. From a spiritual perspective, I wrote about this in my post regarding the earthquake in Haiti.

While we don’t have control over what happens in life (and giving up control to God is very liberating), we do have control over how we react to them. We can choose to push back in anger, as if we are owed happiness and perfection — or we can accept the circumstances, make the best of them, and praise God anyway.

Another thing we can do is make a habit of doing good to others, even people who are not kind to us. As you pointed out, bad things are never in short supply. Consider for a moment, then, the impact you can have as a person by doing good things to others. Quite simply, it is shocking, heart warming and compelling to the recipient. It is unexpected.

My friend Nate started a site called ItStartsWith.Us — a “club” of sorts (free membership) where a mission is given each week to do something that will make a difference. It could be as simple as putting someone’s cart away in the grocery store parking lot (hmm… might have to suggest that one to him ;) ) or writing a thinking-of-you note to a child who is suffering from terminal cancer. Please take a moment to check out the site. Consider the Change the World statement and the idea behind it. We’d love to have you join us.

Since being intentional about helping others, I have realized just how far a little kindness will go, and how strong it is against the “bad things” in this world. Bad things can happen, but a little bit of love goes a long way.

We cannot see the love in this world if we are only looking out for ourselves.

Realistically,
SJA ;)

PS: You can follow Nate @itstartswithus. Please mention my name when you introduce yourself :D

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Japanese farmers around here take a lot of pride in their work. Many of them even put their photograph on their packaged produce available in the “farmers market” section of our local grocery store. I would, too, if I was able to grow fruits and vegetables so deliciously full of flavor.

If you had your picture and contact information on the products you sold, would you change the way you do business? How about the quality of your products and services? Would you be embarrassed or honored if your customers recognized you on the street?

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Just read an excellent post, “Solomon’s Song for This Sunday” by Kevin Deyoung who writes to his readers “as one who needs to learn.”

Wow. 

In the book “Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God“, CJ Mahaney adds this advice for wooing one’s wife:

Does anyone have ideas to add to the list?

Photo credit: WebboT

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Shauna’s name was drawn as the January Tamagoyaki Perseverance Giveaway Winner!

This past year has been a hard one for their family, but she is always smiling and handling her circumstances with grace. Her faith remains strong. Shauna has been of great encouragement to me both on Twitter and at The Homeschool Lounge.

Here is her winning comment. :

We’ve been through a rough time for the past several months and even before that because of the economic downturn; my husband lost his job last fall and was unable to find another until just this week (praise the Lord!!!). In the last month, I have moved to another state, enrolled my daughter in school, and started a new job. None of these things would have been my preference, but sometimes you have to persevere and make the best of your situation. My daughter enjoys school so far and seems to be adjusting well, and I like my new job and am settling into new routines. Would I rather still be a stay-at-homeschooling Mom? Yes, and one day maybe that will be an option for us once again. In the meantime, I will continue to move forward, persevere, and take advantage of new opportunities instead of lamenting what I don’t have any longer.

Please follow Shauna on Twitter@shaunarum and check out her lovely blog, Treasure Seekers.

Congratulations, Shauna! You and yours are in my prayers as you adjust to this new adventure!

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In this YouTube clip, I review Sapporo and Royce’s happoshu, Chocolat Brewery :)

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Roast Beef.

Dry-brined. Rotisserie roasted to 120F; serving temp 132F. Sliced with a ceramic knife.

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