Wild Goose Chase and How Small I am

I've been participating as a book reviewing blogger for Mulitnomah publishing.  The book I'm currently reading is Mark Batterson's Wild Goose Chase.  I heard Mark speak at the Whiteboard sessions and he talked about how our thoughts are so small compared to God's thoughts.  

In the Wild Goose Chase, he relates a story about Theodore Roosevelt.

"When Teddy Roosevelt was president, he and naturalist friend William Beebe would routinely go outside after dinner and look up at the night sky.  They would locate a faint spot of light in the lower left-hand corner of Pegasus and recite the following:

This is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda.

It is as large as our Milky Way.

It is one of 100 million galaxies.

It is 750,000 light-years away.

It consists of 100 billion suns, each larger than our sun.

Roosevelt would pause and grin.  Then he would say to his friend, "Now I think we feel small enough!  Let's go to bed."

Isaiah 55:9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, 
       so are my ways higher than your ways 
       and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Book Review: God Loves Me More Than That, and When God Created My Toes

   

Summary: In two new books from best-selling children’s author Dandi Daley Mackall, clever rhymes and delightful illustrations help young children, ages three and up, understand God’s huge love for them and his joy in creating them. These enchanting picture books from the writer-illustrator team of Dandi Mackall and David Hohn will instill awe in young children as they revel in each page. Parents alike will appreciate the engaging stories that communicate God’s perfect plan and his divine purpose for little hearts.

            In God Loves Me More Than That, children learn that God loves them deeper than a wishing well, wider than a semi-truck, louder than thunder, and softer than a kitten’s sneeze. Each question, presented with charming child-like faith will help young ones grasp the great love of God through comparisons and descriptions they can easily understand. In short, they’ll discover that His love is bigger, wider, higher, and deeper than anything they could imagine!

            In When God Made My Toes, kids are drawn into the wonder of their creation by God. Their masterful artist who fashioned them just right for amazing and delightful adventures, such as roller skating, finger-painting, doing flips, and drinking cocoa. Children will come to an understanding that God shaped each part of their amazing bodies with joy, delight, and humor.

These books are written for the younger child.  Both are excellent choices for first graders or younger who can easily read and grasp the concepts of God's love and creation.  Both books are available at Amazon.  

God Loves Me More Than That

When God Made My Toes

Author Bio: Dandi Daley Mackall has published more than 400 books for children and adults, with more than 3 million combined copies sold. She is the author of WaterBrook’s two other delightful Dandilion Rhymes books, A Gaggle of Geese & A Clutter of Cats and The Blanket Show. A popular keynote speaker at conferences and Young Author events, Mackall lives in rural Ohio with her husband, three children, and a menagerie of horses, dogs, and cats.

 

Book Review - God Gave us Heaven

 Little Cub awakens one morning with some important questions on her mind: What is heaven like? How do we get there? Will we eat in heaven? Will we be angels?

During a delightful day spent wandering their arctic world, Papa gently answers each question, assuring Little Cub that heaven is a wonderful place, “a million times better” than she can imagine. He explains how God has made a way for those who love him to enter their heavenly home forever after their lives on earth are over.

My kids loved this book and it presented a biblically sound picture of how they have a way to enter this heavenly home forever.  For example, the little cub asks if he will be an angel but is told no as angels were created for a purpose.  Just as we are looking towards a heavenly feast, so is little cub anxiously awaiting a feast of fish in heaven.  This is an excellent choice for younger kids and parents, grandparents and librarians will love it.  The pictures are great and the story is easy to read.

Through captivating, full-color illustrations and tender, biblically sound storytelling, young readers and those who love them will find reasons to rejoice in knowing that God Gave Us Heaven.

God Gave Us Heaven is available at Amazon.

Author Bio: Lisa Tawn Bergren is the award-winning author of nearly thirty titles, totaling more than one million books in print. She writes in a broad range of genres, from adult fiction to devotional. God Gave Us Heaven is Lisa’s fourth children’s book, following in the tradition of the best-selling God Gave Us You. She makes her home in Colorado, with her husband, Tim, and their children, Olivia, Emma, and Jack.

Camera woes

Our Nikon D40 is giving an error message each time we try and take a picture so off to the Nikon repair shop it will go.

Getting a grip for the fall

Good thing Dave has posted a bit regularly or we would be out of the Pelt's good graces at least as far as blogging.

School: I start a new class tomorrow on cultural diversity. I am supposed to do one of the papers on my cultural identity. I don't feel like I have one which is how a lot of Northern European Americans feel according to my textbooks. I can't even interview my parents or grandparents as I do not have any now. Should be interesting to figure this out. Plus, Northern European Americans are bashed in most of the books as we are the domineering and privileged majority that have suppressed everyone else for hundreds of years. (An interesting fact: The Native Americans started out at 12.5million 400 years ago and by the 1980 were down to only 237,000 people). At least I am a woman!

Exercise: I have been contemplating the sprint triatholons and have been running, biking and swimming like a good little cross trainer. I was wondering about my bike though (bought from a garage sale, heavy, only 3 speeds, etc). So, yesterday I went into the bike shop to see what they could do with my bike. Well you guessed it, surprise, surprise, "You might as well buy a new bike" which I wasn't going to do, but he went on to say in the same breath, "We have 1 year free financing" and so that did it. I ended up settling for a hybrid (cross between a mountain ad road/racing bike) and some paraphenalia with it. Needless to say, the new 4 hour shifts at work will help pay the monthly payment for the year. Now I really feel pressured to ride.

Vacations: This has been an amazing summer for me as I went away for over 7 weeks between school, youth camp and family vacations. I really enjoy traveling but the summer is pretty much done leaving me to wonder where it went. We are definitely Kayak fanatics now and hope to find 3 double kayaks gently used so we can all go out on the lakes and rivers in the area. We enjoyed Myrtle Beach and St Augustine, FA-our first time at both. We saw lots of friends and family this summer and caught up a bit. Now I am working like a maniac to "catch up" a bit. Not everything is free financing.

Kids: Jonny's feet are now a size 9 men's and he is not even 11 years old. David just keeps getting bigger. Elizabeth is almost my height. I just bought Arianna size 10 clothes thinking they would be big-they fit nice. I am so proud of them all and I think they enjoyed the summer too.

Health: I am putting a plug in for the Natural Health place across from the New Marriot Hotel on Rt 1. The certified nutritionist there, Beverly, is very good and knowledgeable and has helped me a lot to figure out the maze of supplements to take or not. I am glad I have finally come to rest on that.

Bunco: I played Bunco for the first time last night with women at church. I had the most baby buncos. Colby and Annie, there is NO skill to that came-it is pure luck.

Travels

Been to Florida and now are in Myrtle Beach.  Quick notes from travels.

• Lots of Waffle Houses in the south
• Saw Keilan at the Creech compound.
• Saw a van with an air condition unit in the back window and a portable generator on back of the van
• Went kayaking several times in Florida

Pictures to follow

Congratulations

Congratulations to Bryan and Aimee on getting an iPhone and getting engaged.  Awesome....

Pet peeve / prayer request

The Fauth-nation went out to watch a great concert by Maranatha this past Sunday.  The emcee did a great job, but he said one of my current pet peeves.  "These kids are our future...".    The kids aren't the future, they are very much in the present and a part of the church.

King David started as a teenager fighting Goliath.  Josiah was 8 years old.  Mary and Joseph were teens.  They weren't the future, they were the present.  

Tonight we had close to 20 kids over for youth home group.  Luke Smith talked to us about loving Jesus, not making excuses, dropping everything when God calls and never looking back.  What struck me was Luke 14:15-24 where Jesus tells of the Parable of the Great Banquet.  Christ has a great feast awaiting us and I make excuses of how I'd rather eat my Spam instead of partaking in the Great feast.  

My heart is burdened for these kids as they all are struggling with at least one of those four things.  As Colby said, we see glimpses of something glorious and we need to step out in faith and act on it.

The Fauth Tribe

The Fauth tribe.  For some reason, people think we multiply or just take over tons of space.  I don't understand.

Last year, Shaun and Karen Doheney said we had "a million" kids.  It was a great joke that we still talk about.  It's a good thing Karen's Honda Pilot could carry a million and a half kids with our four and her two.

Now, I see that Jonathan Burke has called out Fauth Nation as a tribe of 40.  

We seem like a lot and we are a lot.  It just seems funny.

Camp and Dave

It is me, Nancy, back from Global Youth camp with 20 teens and 4 other young adults (I was the oldest in our group). What an amazing camp that is. I can understand why Colby wants to go there although I am still hoping to go to the Virginia version next year. I am so impressed with how their focus is so much on teens getting closer to God and reaching the world for Him. They are so concerned with youth groups not just in America, but around the world. I was tired but very happy I went.

So now my tribute to Dave ( I have to do this often because I want to remind myself and everyone else how amazing he is).

I was running this morning and came across the song written out below by Colbie Callat and thought about Dave immediately. After our first date 20 years ago! (see previously blog by Dave) and when he started to write to me, I realized what a different person he was and is than me and maybe the rest of the world. Like the song says, he really does want to make people smile and show how much he cares for them. He does this by 1. his quiet, subtle jokes, 2. by his constant service and 3. his generosity. He was unable to go to camp this year which I know was a big sacrifice for him and so the youth had a moment of silence for him and chanted DSF (his initials) when we returned home and saw him in the parking lot. Anyway, you still make me smile! And I am glad I am your lady. Thanks to Colbie Callat for her consistent sappy love songs.

Colbie Callat-Oxygen

I came apart inside a world made of angry people.
I found a boy who had a dream, making everyone smile.
He was sunshine, I fell over.
My feet like the rays under the water.

And how am I supposed to tell you how I feel
I need oxygen!

Oh baby if I was your lady
I would make you happy
I'm never gonna leave.
Oh baby I will be your lady.
I am going crazy for you.

We're back

Vacation: We returned on July 1st from South Dakota having had a good time, but very tired as we had to leave Dave's parents house at 0200 in order to drive to Omaha airport and be on time for our flight. To followup, the little baby bird was gone and no one knew what happened so that was good. Either mamma kitty and baby kitties had a meal or it was rescued in some other way. Before we left, we were able to get rid of mom and dad's furnace and oil tank that was taking up space in the basement. The furnace especially was quite heavy, but we got it done. I am glad we were able to help.

School: I am completing my paper today for school and then I should have completed 21 credits if I passed these last 2 courses-still don't know grades yet. I have a break until August 18th which is nice because we have one more vacation to FA and SC before that. I do have a test to take at work on heart arrythmias in the meantime.

Book: I read a great book while in SD called The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. This gentleman was born in 1960 and was a professor at the University of Virginia and then at Carnegie Mellon University in PA. He was diagnosed in 2006 with pancreatic cancer and has a wife and 3 small children under the age of 6. So, he was forced to retire and give his last lecture. The book is worth reading and you can see/hear his lecture at www.thelastlecture.com but here are a few highlights:

Apparently, he was a know-it-all and a bit proud. People were irritated with him. Finally a professor he admired told him: "It is a shame that people perceive you as being so arrogant because it's going to limit what your are going to be able to accomplish in life." He was able to change after that.

Brick walls (obstacles in life that seem impossible to scale or get through) are there for a reason: they give us a chance to show how badly we want something.

Not everything needs to be fixed (he told his wife after she had crashed both cars but they still worked).

Tips: Time must be explicitly managed, like money.
You can always change your plan, but only if you have one.
Are you spending time on the right things?
Develop a good filing system.
Rethink the telephone.
Delegate.
Take a time out.

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

It can be a very disruptive thing for parents to have specific dreams for their kids. Rather, a parent's job is to encourage kids to develop a joy for life and a great urge to follow their dreams.

Dream big. Be earnest. Don't complain, work harder. Treat the disease, not the symptoms. Don't obsess over what people think. Look for the best in all people. Watch what people do, not what they say.

Running: Before I left SD I was able to run over 4miles straight. So on July 4th I join the 600+ people in Fredericksburg to run 5 miles. I had a great time. I not only did it, but I ran the whole thing with no walking and managed to finish in 47minutes which is a 9.4 minute pace. I was proud of myself and praised God the whole way that I could do this. I do have some soreness in my left lower leg so have been walking gingerly on it. I do need new sneakers. We ended up staying in Fredericksburg on the 4th to see the tiny parade, look through the craft show, and see a juggler then we went home. We had some friends for dinner and saw the fireworks at Lunga and got a bit wet and muddy, but they were grand nonetheless.

Youth camp: I am departing for GA to youth camp tomorrow bright and early. Will I ever catch up on my sleep?

South Dakota

Nancy is thinking so watch out:

Movie Review: Last night we were able to go see Kung Fu Panda ($4 adults, $2 kids/students-gotta love the country). It was an entertaining movie with surprisingly good truths. The "master" told the panda that yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future but today is a gift-that is why they call it the present! I'd recommend going.

Running: yesterday Dave and I just walked the 4 miles around the section. His knee continues to bother him. We plan to get new sneakers (although if anyone has any suggestions as to how to go about doing that, feel free to let us know-we've paid from $30 to over $100, gone to different stores, etc. and have not come across anything that is a perfect fit), get supplements of glucosamine/chnondroitin/MSM, build up our quad and hamstring muscles, maybe go to the Doctor? My knees are fine so far but I have had trouble in the past. Anyway, today I decided to run myself and then walk with Dave later. It was very windy-up to 40mph gusts and cool, so I kept going and going until I did 4.25 miles straight!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. I had some resistance from the wind and my hair was everywhere (it blew off my headband) and the route was relatively flat, but I still was so excited and praised God for allowing my body to still work well. So while I cannot feel the fat oozing out of my body as my friend can, I did feel very healthy and alive. I hope I continue to feel this great.

South Dakota: As I was running today, I noticed (as I have before) how beautiful the plains of SD are. It has been cool, breezy, and clear here so everything is really green and one can see for miles because it is so flat. (By the way, Dave told me that a section is a square mile and covers 640 acres). The sky is amazing here because it is so big and is not blocked by anything. I can see the draw of living here although I will stick to just visiting.

New life: Here, there is a momma cat that has had 4 kittens. All live outside although they have access to the shed. The girls are in love with the kittens. We moved their home the other day by moving all the junk metal away from the side of the garage. We saw the momma and 2 kittens but couldn't find the other 2 kitties. Anyway, as we were loading a hot water heater, I believe, one kitty poked its head out of its small opening. The poor thing was scared out of its mind. I then realized we had rolled the container onto the tractor-poor kitties (there ended up being 2 in there). Finally, all came out and were sent to the shed where most of their junked home had been put and they seem to be happy. As my mother used to say, "babies of anything are so cute".

Life is sad: today Dave used the chain saw to cut down a bunch of dead trees and branches. As we were cleaning up one tree, we saw a baby bird on the ground. I put him in his nest in the stump of the tree, but he was by himself just opening his mouth for food. I thought maybe his mother would come for him, but my mother-in-law said no. I grew very sad because the bird will die. Mom suggested to give it to the kitties which was apalling at first. It is sad because life was not meant to be filled with fallenness, sadness, illness, and death, but that is how it is since sin entered the picture. But then, God reminded me of the new life above and how the kitties would benefit. As far as I know the bird is still on the stump. I couldn't bring myself to transfer it to the kitties. I hope it is not there tomorrow. Otherwise I may have to dig for worms!

More family coming: Tonight, Dave's sister, husband and 2 kids are coming to stay a night or two. That will make 12 people in the house with one bathroom. It was a nice surprise though and should be fun.

School: my last paper I have to do stressed me out the other day and so yesterday, Dave, my mom-in-law, and I went to mom's school library to get it started and do some research. The kids went to the town pool for a couple of hours and enjoyed themselves (again, gotta love the country where my kids can go by themselves to the pool!). Anyway, now I am almost done with the paper thanks to my wonderful husband and mom. Again, I could never do this degree by myself.

Memories of my mom: As we were driving home from the movie last night, my daughter was talking to her grandma about holding her hand. She then started talking about Grandma Cullum (my mom) and talked about how she often would go down and hold her hand to warm it up because it was always cold. I know my children brought my mother much joy especially at the end of her life. Arianna was home with her the longest and would go down daily, warm her hands up, sit with her, and watch "cartoons". God showed me that He provided my mother some joy and comfort that she was able to grasp at the end of her life and I myself was much comforted. But, I still cried at the loss of my mother and am glad her and my dad are with God, the great Comforter.

traveling and other tidbits

Traveling:

Traveling with me (Nancy) is exhausting-I admit it. Even I get exhausted. Usually, however, we are all mostly grateful for my full itinerary when it is over and we realize how much we did. Dave already mentioned the zoo, beach and Legoland. We then went to the other part of the zoo called Wild Animal Park in Escondido. It was blazing hot. We realized we were in the desert that day! (over 100 degrees with beating down sun) It was really cool though-except we could barely see the Tigers-too hot for them!!!!!!!!! We managed to come home and go to the beach again. The cold water was totally refreshing that day.

On Saturday, we went to Balboa Park in San Diego city proper (Near the zoo). It was a beautiful park with museums and gardens. We went to the Science museum which was excellent except we are not impressed with IMAX shows and felt gipped. (esp since it was an environmental one on the endangered Colorado River and had a lot of spiritism in it) We enjoyed the model railroad museum where all these retired men got to play with trains all day-what a life! We saw most of the gardens, got really thirsty and left to go to Seaport Village where we had a nice meal on the water. (Karen and kids met us around 4:30pm) We shopped til we dropped in the Village, had Ben and Jerry's ice cream, then finally called it a day.

Sunday, I crashed. We went to Karen's church, came home and ate lunch, and then went to La Jolla beach to see the seals. They were lounging and swimming on the beach there with several babies-again, what a life! Dave and kids went to the beach and I took a nap. I went to the beach later, but it was foggy and cool and they called everyone in within a 1/2 hr. I proceeded to sleep all night too.

Monday, we went back to Legoland to finish off what we had missed (the best part was the use of the 24 million lego bricks to make all the figures, animals, and buildings in the park). In the center was miniland which is Lego's rendition of several cities including: NYC, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Paris, San Francisco, San Diego, New Orleans, etc. It was so clever. I can't believe man's creativity but then, God is an amazingly creative God. We then ate lunch at this fabulous Mexican restaurant (at least 4 sporks, Colby) and went to Mission Capistrano, a late 1800's mission started by the Catholics in CA (there are 21 of them). I couldn't help admire how they evangelized all the natives (indians) there at that time period. The Mission was both interesting and beautiful-having a church with huge gold altar area and beautiful gardens. We shopped and looked around the small town of Capistrano and then dropped by San Clement which was also beautiful.

We came home to chill, eat dinner (of which I had none being so stuffed from the Mexican) and packed. We left at an ungodly hour on Tuesday-God bless Karen for taking us to the airport and for being such an amazing hostess for the whole week) and flew out on time to Omaha, NE. As soon as we got there, they had thunder storms and flooding but we made it through (Dave really loves to go driving though pools of water so it wasn't so bad). We made it to mom and dad's around 7pm and began our visit with them.

Yesterday, Dave got the golf cart running and the kids drove around in that in between playing baseball. We did laundry and hung it on the line which I find soothing. (I also enjoy doing dishes while I am here-again soothing and no dishwasher). The girls found the momma and 4 little kittens and started a relationship with them. They are adorable but I am glad they are outside. Elizabeth started her allergies to them, and David II and I are also allergic to them so further reason for them to be where they are. So we are a little more chilled out here, but that is good.

School: I finished the group class on June 13th. I enjoyed it-got to see Julia's delightful parents and grandmother again and spend time with Annie. I am trying to get back into running and thanks to Annie, I got up to running 2.25 miles straight which considering I couldn't even do 1.5 miles before, that was great. Now I just have to do all the post work which I have completed one paper and 2 tests and just have one proposal group paper left which I hope to start today. I am quite unnerved about tests since I have started this Master's, they are stressful to me and I keep getting in the 80's on them which pulls my whole grade down. I think I need a class on test taking and studying for them. At least I can write.

Dreams: I was reading Beth Moore's book called Breaking Free on Isaiah and getting out from bondage of sin, when I came across her statement that all little girls have dreams of being 1. married (bride), 2. being fruitful which usually means having children, 3. being beautiful. I decided to ask my 2 daughters if this was true. (It certainly was true of me from the time I was 10 years old) Elizabeth: My dreams are to be a fashion designer and travel all over the world. When asked about getting married and having kids, she said she didn't have to and that is not her dream! Arianna: To have a nice house, to have kitties, puppies, to live with someone (when asked to clarify she said married), to have a job (when asked which one, she said she would like to try them all but can't afford it), to go to church, to have 1,2,3, or 4 kids. I found these answers fascinating and realized that maybe Beth Moore and I generalize too much.

Eating: Being around Annie for a week was great for eating less. She really does eat when she is hungry (sometimes starving) and takes small amounts and then stops (fancy that idea-stopping the shoveling of food in one's mouth when one is full even if there is still food in front of oneself!) So I hope I have lost a few pounds but I can't tell since I do not have a scale (unlike my friend's uncanny ability to feel 10 lbs oozing out of him). So between controlling my eating and exercising, esp running, I hope to beat this middle age spread and slowing of metabolism. I also save money by splitting meals (did so with Karen, Dave, and Elizabeth whenever possible).

20 years ago, part II

Another footnote to the end of the dance. On that Sunday morning, neither Nancy or I really thought we may see each other again. We had both graduated from college. She was going on a trip to Israel and then to her job. I was going to South Dakota and then off to sail on the Great Lakes. It was a sad day as I left her house that day not really sure what was going to happen.

Legoland

Some pictures from today's adventure in Legoland...











Hanging out at Legoland









Kyle and Jonny after getting wet










Kyle, Julia and Arianna getting ready to ride the boats.










Nancy and Karen









David intently watching the younger ones drive around the track.

We had a fun, busy day at Legoland. Everyone enjoyed it and they all ended up with some Legos at the end of the day. They weren't quite tired out so we headed back to the beach and the kids hit the waves for another hour.

Now they are watching Madagascar and mellowing out.

20 years ago today....

20 years ago today was Nancy and my date to my senior ball at King's Point. It all started a couple of months earlier when I called Nancy up and said "I need a date." Amazingly she accepted and we had a great time. We went to New York City afterwards and took a carriage ride in Central Park. Arriving back at Nancy's house around 3am, I had to be back at the academy around 10am for church services (an hour away). Man I was tired that day.

I have a picture from that night and that I'll try and scan in later.

Back from the zoo

It is about 10:15 California time. Back from a full day at the zoo and stopping by Coronado. Here are a couple of pictures:

Cami, we did see several monkees, other than our family. We also saw three pandas which were really cool.

Nancy's luggage came in tonight. David said that at least a part of mom made it to England.

Tomorrow we are off to Legoland.

San Diego

Arrived in San Diego yesterday for our week with Karen and the kids around 10am. Nancy's luggage decided to go to London so we are hoping it decides to join us later today. Went to the beach at Camp Pendleton yesterday. Heading out to the San Diego zoo today.

Day 2 - Musings

More tidbits:

1. 95 degrees in Stafford. 54 degrees in Reykjavik.

2. Elizabeth tried to make a cake with Smart Balance instead of butter. Didn't work out to well.

3. David stayed home and got the remaining kids off to school on time.

4. Garman kids were over during deacon's meeting. No beds were harmed.

5. Karen Doheney is questioning my ability to make flight arrangements. In one week from today, we will be in San Diego having a great time.

6. It's 10:30 at night and I have no idea what we are eating for dinner tomorrow as we have youth group and Jonny has soccer try outs.

Random thoughts

Nancy is back at Liberty U this week for another intensive in group counseling. Annie is with her so it should make for some interesting stories. Such as Annie's description of Nancy's driving.

Other thoughts/tidbits:

1. Hung out with Colby and Robert Steed trading college prank stories. No, I never went to Walmart at 2am and played with shopping carts.

2. It is hot here. When the pool feels good in mid-June, you know it has been hot.

3. Only one more week before we go to San Diego to see the Doheney family.

4. While at the Garman's, Darcy's bed fell down to the floor. I'm sure the Fauth kids were involved somehow.

5. Thinking about migrating to the Mac clan with the Garman's, Keilan, Burke's, and possibly Kristen.

df

Family Acitivities

Biking:

I am always trying to get a bunch of exercise and I am also concerned for my family especially my husband and 2 of my children who prefer almost anything to exercise. So I said lets bike down in Fredericksburg after we pick strawberries (by the way, do something with all the strawberries as soon as you get home-I make the mistake of not doing this every year!) on Saturday. So we stopped at Fall Hill Ave at the beginning of the Canal path and got going minus Arianna who was camping with friends. First, my tire was rubbing against the bike frame, but I just dealt. Then David's chain fell off. Finally, I was racing Elizabeth and her pedal came off. Dave had to return to the van and get wrenches and tighten the pedal. Does anyone realize how hard it is to maintain 6 bikes especially when they are not used a lot? Finally, we were able to keep on pedaling without any more stops and made it to Old Town Frederickburg and biked down Princess Anne St and back up Caroline (although not after Dave was cursed out and given an obscene gesture for being in the road and slowing some rude dude down) and then back down the Canal Path (about 5 or so miles). Then we went out to eat that night.

Eating:

This is becoming a real struggle for me. I guess I am eating too much and eating the wrong things. On Saturday we went to Maggiano's for "family style" (oh great-all you can eat of all the dishes they put on the table). I tried not to eat too much but with 10 different dishes it was so difficult. In any case, I woke up the next morning at 5am with severe stomach pain and told myself I had better get a grip with no exceptions! Of course a compassionate friend who shall remain nameless let me know he had lost 5 lbs this week by cutting down-good for you! Pray for me then!

Friends:

Sunday we went to friends house for the afternoon after church whom we had not hung with in a while. I ate tons of fresh vegies (God bless them for serving healthy) and had fish and chicken. I did have ice cream and sherbert, but felt a lot better. We had a great time with them. My friend's brother reminded me of a counselor. He was constantly paraphrasing, reflecting, and asking open-ended questions. I was impressed and really felt like he was listening and interested in what we were saying. Good model for us all, but especially for me with counseling.

Our other young friend was in the hospital-had been there 10 days so back down to Fredericksburg we went to visit him and then of course, I got the bright idea to get more exercise by doing the scavenger hunt or at least walking in Old Town. The scavenger hunt is a bit annoying to me, but I decided to let it go and not try to fill it all in. (This is a big step for me as I hate blanks and not finishing things). We saw Colby and Annie and the girls down town (biking of course-they are my inspiration). Needless to say when we returned from Fredericksbur, David went right to bed and Jonny went to a friend's to sleep over and Dave, Elizabeth and I watched National Treasure: Book of Secrets. What a great movie!

More biking:

Today we biked 9-10 miles and I got dirty looks from the kids. The other pedal fell off Elizabeth's bike and she thought we were going to leave her. Poor E. Of course we didn't and came back for her (we had been a bit ahead). The kids and Dave went swimming and I was in my bliss gardening. This blessed lady at church gave me about 30+ plants FREE (many just seedlings but still) and so I planted and watered them all. We are also keeping critters away from the garden with hair, pinwheels (or whirlygigs as some call them) and something else not worthy of blogging. Even if only a few of these plants live I will be ahead-some are perenials! I love being cheap-it is so rewarding sometimes especially if it works.

More friends:

We went to our dear friends' daughter's 2 year old birthday. I played kickball. Can't tell you the last time I did that, but I am having a lot of firsts in awhile since turning 40 (skiing, school, Carnegie Hall in NYC, etc). I had not been to Aquia Landing-what a nice park on the River and the weather was perfect. Good friends, good food, and celbrating-Wonderful.

Bugs:

Skin So Soft does not work for bugs. I was covered with them. Maybe it helped me not get bit, but it seemed to attract every nat in the area. I must come up with natural bug repellent and sunscreen. Not interested in the chemicals.

I do not think we have a free day between now and when we go away June 17th. (Friday the 13th is open, any takers? I guess we are not superstitious!) Trying to wrap up the school year and activities and finally get away!

Running:

Dave, Nancy and David II are planning to run the 5-miler in Fredericksburg on July 4th. I believe the Garmans are going to also (of course-they, as I said, are my inspiration) so I am hoping this will get us motivated to eat right or at least less, exercise more, and improve our overall health. There is a half marathon in September and of course the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. I hope we do all three and any others we can fit in. I find these things fun and motivating. We also biked to all my children's schools today so next time I have to go to one of them, I think I will get exercise, save gas and bike. Wait until that new hospital gets going!

That's all for now.
Nancy

Mercy

Mercy is a word that has been appearing to me more and more lately. From Pastor Bill's recent messages on the need to show mercy to the words of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.

to this quote I found on The Rabbit Room from the 1987 movie Babette's Feast

Mercy and truth have met together. Righteousness and bliss shall kiss one another. Man, in his weakness and shortsightedness believes he must make choices in this life. He trembles at the risks he takes. We do know fear. But no. Our choice is of no importance. There comes a time when our eyes are opened and we come to realize that mercy is infinite. We need only await it with confidence and receive it with gratitude. Mercy imposes no conditions. And lo! Everything we have chosen has been granted to us. And everything we rejected has also been granted. Yes, we even get back what we rejected. For mercy and truth have met together, and righteousness and bliss shall kiss one another.

I'm still processing my thoughts on mercy but I don't think it is without purpose that mercy has repeatedly shown up.

Day 4 and Day 5

They were a blur. Between soccer, dance, talent show, etc., the end of last week was a blur. It doesn't help that I usually stay up until midnight or so when Nancy is gone. We all survived and it was great to see her come home last Friday.

In about two weeks, we get to do this again. This time it will be Annie and Nancy off together. Most activities, except for dance, will have wound down so the pressures to get everyone where they need to be will have diminished.

Thanks to all who asked what happened after day 3. Nancy and I decided to stimulate the economy by purchasing a new mattress set. The lumps from 17+ years of the current mattress will hopefully be a memory soon.

I'm Back

I, Nancy, have returned from my first class on a University campus since 1988!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
20 years. I am in awe at how old I am and how fast time has flown even though it seemed slow in the 80's. How did that happen.

Anyway, the class was good-I finally got to apply what I have been learning this year. I was able to counsel people in my class for 4 afternoons. On the flip side, I was counseled for 4 afternoon by them so I was exhausted when I returned home having spilled my guts so much. I did actually get some good insight into myself and some good tips to apply to my life from my fellow students.

Liberty University was awesome. I could really sense how God has blessed it and it continues to grow by leaps and bounds in our stagnated economy. They have over 11,000 residential students coming in the Fall and have 27,000 distance learners of which I am one. Amazing. They are very organized and very well run. I was impressed. I even went to Jerry Falwell's museum on the 1 year anniversary of his death.

Today, I counseled my first client besides the fellow students. I was nervous especially since it had to be filmed. We talked for over 50 minutes! And I was worried about a 1/2hour! I think I did ok-we'll see. I have 2 more sessions with my client.

I am trying to get ready for my next class on June 9-13. It is a group counseling class so another perspective for me. I've never been in a counseling group or even attended one so it should be interesting.

For those of you curious about the naturopath, she ended up being a dud-just never called back, cancelled appts and now I haven't heard from her in weeks. I wish I knew another one and could find what I was looking for, but someone told me that it is silly to think that I am going to feel great everyday so I have decided to accept that. I am still trying to eat well, exercise and take some supplements (some being the key word-I must sort through which ones so I don't take over 30 pills a day!), but if I don't feel well, I am just going to accept it and hopefully, go to bed. I did get a minor cold while I was away but it had been over 6 months since being sick, so I was pleased. I still really like the chiropractor though.

Well, speaking of exercise, I am taking a big walk because one thing about getting older, fat is your friend! (a very clingy one I might add)

Day 3

Day 3 is starting off well. Economic stimulus package ($$) was deposited last night.

Day 2 - Blessings

Day 2 of Nancy away. No it isn't a blessing that she is away but I want to rejoice in some of the neat things that happened today and to glorify God through them.

• Nancy is able to take a class and learn to apply the theoretical things she has been learning. I am amazed at her capacity to learn, willingness to apply and her love for the counseling.
• Jonny saw the yard was getting tall and mowed the front yard without anyone asking. Brandon, a neighbor and older friend of Jonny, manned the weed wacker.
• The Garmans provided dinner tonight. Thank you Annie for preparing the meal, bringing it over and hanging at the Fauth house. I appreciate it so much and I know our kids had a great time playing with Haley and Darcey.
• I understand David beat Colby at Wii baseball. Colby, he is weak at tennis.

Most of the time I am so focused on the tyranny of the urgent that I lose sight of God's wonder, blessings and reminders of who He is and how He is the one in control.

Nan at School - Day 1

Nancy left yesterday for Lynchburg and arrived around 7pm. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the remaining survivors settled down to prepare for the week ahead. Following a full weekend of the Screwtape letters, serving at the New Generation ministry, Carl's ice cream and sleepovers on Saturday, the kids were wiped out. They crashed at 8 allowing me the pleasure of some Sunday Night Baseball between the Minnesota Twins and Red Sox nation. That ended around 11:20pm with a nail biting Twins victory. A little bit of Sportscenter and nighty night.

6:15 comes early but a fresh press of coffee helps out. David was up and left at 6:35 while I was ironing some clothes and preparing a crock pot meal. Around 7:00, he comes back. I'm thinking he missed the bus. Little did I know that Stafford schools were closed due to the 5 inches of rain we received over the weekend.

Ha ha, now I could get an early jump getting to work while the kids stayed home. Giving them directions not to wake Jonny and Arianna, I left only to sit in traffic for 2 hours.

One of the advantages of having older kids is that they can manage at home by themselves. One advantage of having an older girl with an interest in sewing, cooking, etc. is that things may get done that normally wouldn't.

Today while I was at work, Elizabeth cleaned the kitchen, repaired the torn cushions on our kitchen chairs, ironed the rest of the clothes and helped Arianna with her laundry. What a relief that she was able to do that. Annie, I'm sure she would do the same in Iceland.

Random Musings

Nancy is at Liberty this week for an intensive class. I know she was nervous about it but she will do great. She drove down to Lynchburg by herself in the rain and had no problems.

That means I'm at home with 4 kids being Mr. Dad. I'll be going in late and coming home normal time, however, I'm sure it won't go smoothly.

Nancy wasn't too happy when there were tornado warnings for Stafford and I just let the kids sleep. I went downstairs to sleep as I had to get up in the morning. For some reason, Nancy couldn't sleep (hmmm..... maybe her protecting husband wasn't doing the best job). Growing up in South Dakota, those were pretty normal occurrences. Only once do I remember actually seeing a tornado. We went in the basement then and maybe a few other times growing up.

Up for Air

It is late as I write this but I have been having blog withdrawal. So I must write some stuff before I get swamped with school again.

I was able to get an interesting blood test called a live blood nutritional analysis. Being a nurse and thrilled with biology, it has been the coolest thing I have seen in a while. The "lab guy" as he called himself, took a drop of my blood and put it under a high-powered microscope which displayed on a computer screen for me to see. I saw the red blood cells of which some were small (Vit B dificiency), some bacteria and yeast (I am now taking more probiotics), a few sugar crystals (I was starving-hadn't eaten for hours), some plaque (which he assured me was being flushed out well), and best of all, the white blood cells. These things looked like something out of a sci-fi. They were the largest and most detailed cells. They were on the move. I actually got to see them engulfing things they didn't like. I marvelled! I had never seen this before-sure I've seen a dead white blood cell, but not in action like these and not since science class in college. Then I saw the killer T-cells which are the "marines" (that's for you, Shaun) of the military white blood cell force. They are the powerhouses that fight cancer. I was told I have a good immune system which was gratifying. Mostly, I become more in awe of God who thought up everything from the microscopic white blood cell to the whole person that is me.

Speaking of marvelling, the spring is amazing this year to me. My favorite season is usually fall, but I tell you, this spring has caused me to rethink. Perhaps we are getting enough rain or maybe it is just that I do not get out much now. Anyway, take some time to look at all the color out there and the smells (if you can get your noses unclogged enough to smell-warm salt water up the nose works like a charm). God has outdone Himself if that is possible. It makes me get excited about heaven which will be way better than this!

I am in the 6th week of this stats and research couse and I am preparing for the next course which is a one-week intensive at Liberty in May. Hence why I have not blogged much. This is a difficult course with a challenging paper, but today I felt sorry for the instructor because I bet there are not too many people that enjoy his course and probably wouldn't take it if they didn't have to. God is using it to teach me to be more positive. You will have to ask Dave if it is working. I hope so by the end. And Annie, don't freak out over it. We will help you and I am too uptight!

I just got rid of not one, but 2 huge garbage bags full of clothes from Jonny and Arianna's rooms. Yikes. How do we get so many? I feel like I've had a cleansing. We even got rid of 16 stuffed animals-I am proud of Arianna.

I was in NYC with my son, David's, marching band on April 10-14th. It was amazing. I really love that place. I hope I get a chance to live there if for just a little part of my life but not alone. I am not quite confident to live there alone. My brother was great and found us great, cheap restaurants and sent me home with bagels (best in the world), black and white cookies for my friend, and with fond memories. We toured lots of places-some of which I hadn't been to such as Madame Tusseau's wax museaum. We met the assistant conductor for the Broadway show, "Wicked" as well as a violinist and french horn player from the same show. We met a swing from Mary Poppins (one show we saw). A swing is someone who must learn all the music, singing, dancing, and positions of all members of a show except the principles/primaries. So in Mary Poppins, he needed to know all the chimney sweeps, all the people in the park, all the statues, the people in the bank, and many more. I admired him. We also saw the off-Broadway show, Stomp which was so great and reminded me of Jonny. Aparently there is a movie of it if you can check it out. These people had rhythm and were always making it with anything they could find. No speaking, no instuments, just ordinary, everyday items including trash. I even saw one of my brother's friend's play (or dance on) the large piano in FAO Schwarz toy store. What a bonus!

Nancy

Arianna

I wonder what she is thinking about?

Creativity

Elizabeth made this rose out of clay the other day. I'm amazed at her talents.

Iceland - One year later

It is hard to believe that a year ago, we were coming back from 10 days in Iceland. Now we are looking forward to Colby, Annie, Haley and wild child (hair wise)* Darcy going there later this year.

*At times it appears to me anyway that Darcy has this 80's big hair action going on. You would almost think she was from New Jersey.

At the time, I didn't realize how the kids would be affected by the time there. They still talk about it and have fond memories of it. Both David and Jonny aren't fond of the heat and hot weather of Virginia's summers. When we talk about where they would like to live someday, Iceland is a place that comes up frequently. Hmmm. Nancy and I are praying that God would be working in their hearts and develop a passion for ministry and missions.

Slugging Stories

I slug to work most of the time. It's free and usually I get a nap on the way home. Plus you get to encounter all sorts of things. For example:

• On the way home, Mark Stratton in a Hawaiian shirt. What is up with that?
• On the way in today, a driver pulls up with his trunk open and he doesn't realize it. What's up with that?
• Again today, my driver has the radio on but she is listening to her walkman with headphones on. Huh???

The Bean...An expensive bean....

For those thinking of a potential gift for either Colby or Pastor Bill or maybe even Clint, I leave you with this....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=558540&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=

From the review is "It wasn't too bitter and the earthiness really came through - probably because of where the beans have come from. "

Time to brag

As parents, we get to brag on our kids accomplishments. Two recent brag-worthy events are:

1. David tried out and was accepted to Brooke Point High School's Wind Ensemble. He is one of 3 saxaphone players that will be in the group next year. Didn't try out for jazz band but maybe next year. He does want to buy a soprano saxaphone. If anyone wants to contribute, I'm sure he would be happy.

2. Arianna wrote an essay on pets that her teacher, Ms. Carr, entered into a Free Lance Star Pet story contest. Surprisingly since we don't have pets, she was one of six children chosen for first grade entries. Her winning entry will be published in the Town and Country Magazine section of the paper this coming Saturday, April 12.

Easter

We wanted to read the Bible as a family pertaining to Christ's death and resurrection to thwart some of the notion that Easter was just about the Easter bunny, eggs, and candy. So we did read it all together as a family today and I asked the children that perhaps they could remember Christ's awful death when they are tempted to do wrong.

Then Arianna piped up that she knew what Easter was all about:
"Easter is about Christ rosing from the dead!"

I am so grateful for Christ's rosing and for the enthusiasm of my daughter when speaking about it.

Nancy

News from Nan

Another Ariannaism: Contar. Can you guess what that means? Keilan plays it. It is in many rock bands.

New book: The Art of Growing Up by Veronique Vienne.

This book goes along the lines of my musings (and bordering panic) regarding getting older. I bet the author is in her 50's b/c she references this age group a lot. Here is a brief outline with some quotes I enjoyed or found helpful:

1. The Art of Beginning
How old would you be if you didn't know your age? Begin anew by throwing out old things...there is no need to hold onto what's obsolete. One never loses what one throws away.
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
You begin to grow up when it dawns on you that all your alleged setbacks are in fact opportunities.
Some birthday wishes: lifetime season tickets to the symphony (ballet, opera, plays, musicals, all culture), clean windows every day, a huge dog, like a St Bernard, as a pet, a social secretary, housekeeper, cook, spiritual understanding-getting closer to my God, the time and money to start an art, dance, (fill in the blank) school-and be a student, a good relationship with your children, access to smart people, a pain-free body, the courage to give up the past, unexpected joy. The things one wants the most are not things after all.
2. The Art of Changing
Define progress as taking 2 small steps forward for every step back.
Don't exaggerate your weaknesses.
Remember late is never too late.
Stick to the schedule.
Continue what you've begun.
Don't seek closure.
Think of being up in years as a novelty.
3.The Art of Changing
"Fools that we are-we pray for a long life but fear old age" Chinese proverb.
The best age-defying beauty tip-SMILE!
4. The Art of Knowing
"Nothing was so unfamiliar and startling to me as my own thoughts" Thoreau.
Repeated self examination is a matter of survival.

A quiz for you: What do these expressions really mean? (answers on a future post):
A face that launched a 1,000 ships
An Iliad of woes
The last infirmity of a noble mind
In 2 shakes of a lamb's tail
Knee-high to a grasshopper
Quicker than hell can scorch a feather
To fiddle while Rome burns
To flutter the dovecote
To walk the chalk
To wear callouses on your elbows
To know a hawk from a handsaw
To syncopate the long hand
*For each new word we learn, we create a 1,000 mental connections.
5. The Art of Shining
Become visible by stepping out of other people's blind spots. Don't age typically-be radical, be different: play soccer with the kids, go to a rock concert with teens, etc. We have to replace the old cliches about aging with brand new concepts that don't relegate any of us to invisibility.
To be an adult is to be on one's own.
Love your age, stand your ground, refuse to be labelled.
Never apologize for your age.
The secret of eternal youth-cultivate the art of not complaining.
6. The Art of Inspiring
Inspiring someone can be as simple as listening.
Love is an incentive for reaching beyond our usual capacities.
Plans are one thing, life is another-Claudette Colbert
7. The Art of Choosing
Bless the day when you discover that good is good enough and excellence is onerous.
Life is sweeter when the best is yet to be.
We can choose our mistakes and in doing so we can take full credit for the inscurtable prospect of tomorrow.
Personal differences can be shared in unison.
One way to save the world: Stash it away in your mind. Be the eyewitness of all you see. don't miss a thing. Be there when nothing can console a crying baby. Stay put even though a friend offends you. Don't look away when someone needs help. Be the designated observer of grief and wonder. Take an imprint of all moments and hide them where only you know, then take very good care of yourself.
Nothing is lost. All that you have ever seen is always with you.-Henri Cartier Bresson.
8. The Art of Succeeding
Celebrate others' successes.
New Rules of glamour:
Treat others as you want to be treated (sound familiar?)
Figure out what you do best and do it.
No meetings over 30 minutes!
Wearing off-rack clothes as if made for you
Wearying of generalizations
Replace youth with mystery
9. The Art of Laughing
Make them laugh by keeping a straight face. Laugh at yourself.
10. The Art of Becoming
We grow up one day at a time without ever being able to study the master plan (but we can know the Master!)
Don't look back to find out where you are going-the answer is ahead of you. Become someone you haven't met yet.
We are always the same age inside.

My own revelation: One thing I have learned about myself. I experience and think about everything that comes my way to the fullest. Perhaps this is why my mind is so crowded most of the time and why I am frequently on a roller coaster ride of emotions. The good parts are that I am very rarely apathetic and will probably have no regrets in the area of experiencing life to the fullest. The bad: those who know me have labelled me anxious, "spazzy", and emotional. My response: It is better than being bland or dull.

Enjoy all the existential writings.

Hope

I could listen to this over and over...

...especially the lyrics:

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing along

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

While not normally a fan of fiction books, Andrew Peterson has written a captivating, amusing, wondrous tale for all ages. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
really captivated my imagination and kept me wanting to know more about the wonderful, imaginary yet almost real world of the land of Skree.

In the quiet land of Skree, the Igiby children—Janner, his younger brother Tink, and their crippled sister Leeli—stumble upon the lost jewels of Anniera and determine to return them. Unfortunately, the scary-bad Gnag the Nameless seeks the jewels for his own evil ends… and so our band of friends, accompanied by their trust dog Nugget, must escape with the help of their mom and grandfather (who happens to be an ex-pirate). Their journey takes them through an inventively fantastical world of wonders, complete with memorable characters (like Gnag’s evil minions the Fangs and Peet the Sock Man), fanciful creatures (like sea dragons, snickbuzzards, toothy cows, flabbits, and bomnubbles), and captivating places (like the Books & Crannies bookstore, Shaggy Tavern, the Dark Sea of Darkness that divides the land of Skree from Anniera, the Glipwood Forest, Ice Prairies, and the Stony Mountains).

Through fast-paced storytelling, little ditties, songs, and poems, side-splitting asides, sensory descriptions of time and place, and characters rich in heart, courage, and smarts, Andrew Peterson has created a wondrous tale you’ll enjoy and treasure—just like those lost jewels.

As I read this, I wanted to know what happened in Anniera, who was the Sock Puppet man and how did he get like that, what were the family secrets and what were these jewels. Through rich imagery, funny stories, and rich descriptions, my mind painted a wonderful rich story.

I can't wait to read it to my children and see their faces as they follow the excitement of the Igiby children.

For another great review, read this review.

Naturopath

So I, Nancy, in addition to going to the chiropractor, have now gone to a naturopath who studies functional medicine. It is fascinating. I have to overhaul my diet (for example, no dairy, no soy, no white sugar, flour, etc), organic, more raw vegies and fruits, etc). She is also helping me take the supplements that I really need! I think I was buying whatever the studies said to buy and was spending more than what I will with her. I am getting blood tests and hair analysis and this funky pressure point test that help her determine where I am weak or dysfunctioning. So my food bill is going up but we are all going to eat healthier. (She is big on soups which does not make my kids happy but my kids will just have to "suck it up" literally). More later-have to go to work.

Some interesting tidbits on preventing and fighting cancer

John Hopkins Cancer Update AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ("TRY, BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY. Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime. 3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply. CANCER CELLS FEED ON: a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc. are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruit help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it. 12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup. 13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells. 14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells. 15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.(PLEASE FORWARD IT TO PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT) CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL , U S - PLEASE READ 1. No plastic containers in micro.2. No water bottles in freezer.3. No plastic wrap in microwave. Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons. Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead. This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life.

Hockey Night

Last Tuesday, Elizabeth picked up 3 tickets to see the Washington Capitals against the Minnesota Wild. I took Jonny and Elizabeth to the game. Despite seats almost in the rafters, we still could see the flow of the game and the puck just as easily as if we were down closer.

Highlights for Jonny were watching the two fights break out. Elizabeth liked watching the action on the Jumbotron. The Capitals won 4-1. If they would have scored 6 goals, we would have had a pound of chicken wings for each ticket stub from Austin Grill. Of course, this past Monday night, they scored 6 goals in the first period.

Fine Stafford Dining

Last Saturday as part of family night, we ventured out to La Tierra, a Salvadoran/Mexican restaurant off of Rt 1 near Bloom. While the restaurant was empty except for the six of us, the service was outstanding and the food was Excellent...excellent...excellent. There was some great music in the background and soccer on the tube.

The owner came out and was extremely friendly. Nancy practiced her Spanish while he practiced his English. The papusas and tamales were some of the best we have ever experienced. The Salvadoran platter was great. The plaintains were sweet, not fried and salty like we have made ourselves. Did I mention the papusas were excellent? After the meal, the owner brought out free orders of flan and fried ice cream.

We highly recommend supporting this local restaurant. For less than $10/person, we came away with a great meal and a great time. They do have a kids meal (pizza, cheeseburger, hot dog, nuggets), however, Arianna had beans and a tortilla and said it was excellent.

Overall, even the great restaurant critic, Colby Garman, would enjoy the fine food of La Tierra.

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: Adventure. Peril. Lost Jewels. and the Fearsome Toothy Cows of Skree.

The FauthClan blog has been selected as part of Andrew Peterson's blog tour of his new book On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: Adventure. Peril. Lost Jewels. and the Fearsome Toothy Cows of Skree.

You can read a quick review here. The official FauthClan review will be posted within two weeks. I am looking forward to reading this with the kids.

As part of the blog tour, the FauthClan blog will be giving away a free copy of the book. Once I determine how to do this, I will be posting the details.

Miscellaneous

Nancy says:

Correction:

The Irish movie recommended by Andrew Peterson that we saw having to do with musicians was called Once (not Alone). The main song on it was actually on the Academy Awards performed by the couple in the movie. Apparently they are more popular than I thought. She is only 17yrs old from Czech. He is Irish. Excellent movie-bad language in the beginning.

I have my big long paper to do this coming week and then I am done with another course! Finished the annoying test tonight. I decided I would rather write long papers. My next course much to my nervousness, is on statistical research. Math-yikes. Dave, help me.

Clogged toilets: Does anyone get as many clogged toilets as we do? They are almost clogging on a daily basis. I informed the kids that I was no longer going to de-clog them and also, instructed them all on the proper flushing technique to possibly avoid this problem (needless to say they giggled throughout). One does not want to call a plumber only to hear him say, "Well don't put so much in there. That will be $100." Any wisdom I am open. (I only wish my toilets were as open).

A new song on the Christian radio station I believe by Stephen Curtis Chapman called "Cinderella". It is about his daughter growing up and the different times of practicing dancing with daddy in preparation for some event-prom, wedding. He dances with her, all the time remembering that by midnight, she will be gone. I burst into tears. One daughter in 6th , one in 1st. Not too long and they will all be gone. (Yes, go ahead and say it. I am a sap!) I can't believe I am saying this when I vowed I wouldn't. When my kids were babies and I just wanted them to grow up and now they are quickly on their way. Everyone told me to enjoy them while they were little. Now I get it. Well, I have time to enjoy them still. We have instituted family night each week and other special times and trips, and so I am glad. We are watching all the Home Improvement episodes.

This is for Annie and anyone else who gets confused about how to spell my son's and my brother's name. Both of their names are Jonathan and if shortened are spelled: Jon or Jonny. No H.

Speaking of Jonny, I had a bit of a breakthrough with him the other day. He has been struggling in school not because he is stupid, but seems to have lack of motivation. For example, he still does not know his multiplication tables and I have gotten very frustrated over them for the last year or so. I asked him what is wrong and he said they were too hard. I told him lots of things were hard in life. " I am afraid I will never get it-especially the 8's", he said. He is afraid of failing, of not getting what he is supposed to get, of not being who he is supposed to be, or who people (esp. us) think he should be. Oh boy, I wonder where he got that from and now I wonder what to do? I told him he could do it and would get it eventually and that we would just work until he got it. So confusing to be a parent. I felt like a counselor already!

Happy Leap Day!

Oscar Award for Best Original Song- Once

Glen Hansard and partner Markéta Irglová won the Best Original Song Oscar for 'Falling Slowly' from the film 'Once', in which they starred.

"no matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible," Irglova said during take two. "And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream, and don't give up. This song was written from the perspective of hope, and hope, at the end of the day, connects us all, no matter how different we are."

I'll have to show Kielan the replay of the performance and get his insight on the Hansard's guitar. It did look "well loved".

Teach us to number our days

Psalm 90:12 - Teach us to number our days...
Psalm 103:15 - As for man, his day's are like grass...

This past Wednesday, I had to drop off our car to get the oil changed. We had delayed and forgotten to do it earlier in the week, so after youth group, Nancy took the kids home and I went to Eddie's repaire on Courthouse road.

As I pulled in to Eddies, I looked across the street and saw a car upside down against a pole and about five guys around it. I got out and ran over to see what was going on. I yelled to see if anyone had called 911 as I could hear screaming and shouting. I anticipated either someone strapped in their seatbelt and waiting to get out or someone covered in a bunch of blood. As I looked in, all I could see was a part of an arm trapped under the car. Nearby was an 8 year old boy screaming for his mom, asking if he was hurt and bleeding. Over and over he kept asking the same question.

There was nothing we could do. Within a few minutes, fire and rescue arrived and took over. I went back across the street and dropped my keys in the drop box and waited for Nancy to pick me up.

As I have been processing this over the last two days, I'm reminded to pray more for the fire and rescue people in Stafford who deal with this on a frequent basis. We talk about it in church regularly but this drives it home.

I'm still thinking about "teach us to number our days...". It is a short time here on this earth. God, teach me more and teach me to value the truly valuable things.

Movie Review - Once

As Nancy mentioned in an early chapter, errr post, we have been watching some different movies. Reading through some end of year movie lists, the movie Once kept popping up. So, I thought, let's see what the buzz is about the movie.

Alone was an independent movie that received good reviews at some of the film festivals. Set in Dublin, Ireland, it tells the story of a song writer over the course of a week as he writes music, interacts with another younger woman he has met while performing on the street, his and her relationships with other people and his relationship with his dad.

The language is raw in the movie so if that bothers you, you've had your warning. It is in a deep Irish brogue so we used the English subtitles which did help.

The songwriting and music is amazing. It is almost considered a musical with all of the music being played throughout the movie. I'm impressed by the talents and abilities of musical people and how they can write music that moves and impacts people. To listen to the music, you can go to http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/

This was a movie that I could have watched again and probably again. The story was not your typical Hollywood ending. I specifically enjoyed the father/son interaction.

Overall, excellent movie. Raw language but great storyline and insight into relationships.

Correction

I just wanted to correct my last entry. Erickson's stage that I find myself in is generativity (not initiative-that's toddlers!) vs. stagnation. Anyway, the point is not to stagnate. Which brings me to thoughts of my friend, Annie's, mother. She flew in the other day and I was able to chat with her a bit in the nursery at church. While I was chatting, she certainly was not stagnating! She was doing all kinds of sit ups and crunches the whole time and never did sit still. When Darcy climbed on, she just kept crunching up with more "weight". I hope to be like this, and encouragingly, Annie says I already am.

The CRACK IS BACK!
I have returned to the chiropractor due to horendous headaches mostly, but also other minor chronic ailments that have not been relieved by any of the several doctors I have gone to (or the several medications). I feel better already in only 2 weeks. I am journaling this and will periodically let you all know differences as I go through my year. So far, no headaches, more energy, sleep better. We shall see.

Nancy

Nancy's new stuff

It's been a while for me, Nancy, making any new postings, so I have a bunch of "random" thoughts, so bear with me.

My friend reads our blog and couldn't figure out who posted what between Dave and I so I promise to at least identify myself somewhere.

New movies worth seeing (all picked by Dave I might add. He is becoming quite the philosopher/psychologist lately-think "deep thoughts"):

Rain on Me with Adam Sandler (not funny or crude at all believe it or not)
Alone (Irish movie)
Evening (Meryl Streep, Gwen Close, Vanessa Redgrave)

Get ready to think, feel and cry.

Culture: 2 weeks ago we took both our daughters to the Richmond ballet's performance of , "A Midsummer Night's Dream" . We have been going to these ballet productions for the last 2 yrs or so and have enjoyed them plus they are cheaper than Kennedy center and just as good to our novice eyes. Anyway, what an amazing production. It was a great one to take the girls to for the first time. It had an excellent orchestra which played several pieces on their own and were portrayed on the big screen along with the energetic conductor. Then there were 2 narrators who were reading Shakespeare well. (This is based on the Shakespeare comedy/play by the same name so the plot was amazing). There were 2 opera singers who did several pieces with dancers performing around them. To top it off there was a women's chorus adding to the mix. The scenery was excellent and the ballet dancing was as usual superb. I cannot recommend it enough especailly if you are trying out your first ballet or entrance into culture. It has been the best one I have seen so far. The girls loved it. AND... IT WAS FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Servant Leadership: I want to recommend a person who has really had an impact in my life and I am not even in business per se. His name if John Maxwell. He has CD's and books. He is a Christian business leader and very successful. My husband's company subscribes to him and I would highly recommend his books. He said: "If you cannot lead yourself, how can you lead others?" Even pastors and church leaders go to his seminars. Dave and I will go to one in April.

Books: I have read 2 books by Joshua Harris called, "I kissed dating goodbye" and "Boy meets girl". They are amazing and I wish I had read them and been taught that when I was "dating" and in misery half the time. I plan to teach it to my children and asked if Dave and I could teach it in our youth group. I recommend them to any parent or church leader with teens. It has even helped me currently in my own marriage believe it or not. That is because its premise is that we get married not to see what we can get but to glorify God and serve another. Before marriage we treat the opposite sex as brothers and sisters to care for and as God's other children. New perspective.

School: I have less than 3 weeks to be done with this course but it has been very good. It is on all the 11 psychological theories. Makes one think. I can't believe in April that I will be a quarter of the way done with my degree!

Perfect husband: Dave has been continuing his perfect husband streak by doing a beautiful job on the house painting (basement and dining room). I can't wait to see his wainscotting that he plans to create himself and put up in the dining room.
He also remembers all math! and helps both David and Elizabeth with their work in math. He has also been science fair dad this month with Jonny. I do not remember math!
He has been working on our budget and I made a list of dreams for trips and the house (both my favorite things to spend my money on after family). I asked about redoing the floors in the basement (I despise wall to wall carpeting) and he said probably not until 2012. This made me discouraged at first but then I admired him because he isn't willing to let us get in trouble with money by gratifying all his own (we need and he would really like new computers-7+ yrs old) and my wants. That is a true leader.
He tells me I am beautiful (see below) and "I love you" constantly and that never gets old.

Midlife crisis: I think I am in a midlife crisis but not the kind we hear about a lot that men do-leave wife for a young fluzy and get a new sports car. I have not enjoyed 40 and now I am 41 so I am in the thick of it. Mine has to do with transitions and decisions. Eric Erickson had stages that he believed we went through in our lives and at each stage is a crisis that we must successfully resolve or we will get stuck and experience dissatisfaction. I am in the initiative vs stagnation stage and I can really feel that.
1. Getting old: I can really see this since I turned 40 and in a society that emphasizes the outside and beauty and youth, it makes it even harder and more obvious. I told Dave that I used to feel beautiful just by myself-no makeup, hair dye, etc. Then, in my 30's, felt better with nice clothes and makeup and the hair dying started. Now even with that, I do not feel beautiful. Everyone seems younger and prettier (it doesn't help that my kids are entering teens AND I work in youth group, so I hang around a lot of young people). Hence, Dave comes in with "You are so beautiful" and I struggle to believe him because I want to so bad. Then God reminds me of what really matters and I settle.
2. Career: I am still working as a nurse but there have been some changes at the hospital and the shift I worked for 10 yrs has been taken away from me. So now I sit at a desk mostly and make phone calls. I am PRN which means I work as needed so they don't consider me much there. Then I am going to school for Counseling-bit of a career change. This will take me about 8 yrs and I have barely completed one so I am in a long transition with that. I just keep persevering and do not give up.
3. Kids: My son really changed this past year from a boy to a man at least on the outside and it really struck me that I am entering into a new stage with my kids. I not longer have babies, toddlers, or even preschoolers anymore and this is strange. I like them and do not want another baby, but it is still strange to have 1 teen and 2 tweens and a school ager. David especially though, has hit me with the reality that they will soon be gone and what will I do with myself? Another transition which requires a lot of thought and thankfully, I am starting now and have time. Already I try to treat David and Elizabeth differently, but it is hard.

I am crying as I write some of this but I am glad I am facing all these things and not burying my head under the sand. I used to hear women say all this especially about the kids "enjoy them while they are little" and while they were little I wanted to punch these women out, but now I get it much to my chagrine. So I make time for the kids, try to hug and kiss them a lot (hard with David b/c he is so big-5'7' and 150lbs. and he pulls away), and talk to them and listen. I teach them about God, life, experiences and about Dave and I and our relationship. I pray and hope they are listening and that God is speaking to their hearts.

I think I may write a book on turning 40 or hitting this midlife realization that some of my dreams did not come true, some did and some still may. I will include marriage, kids, jobs, careers, experiences, and growth in the Lord. Maybe it will help someone else as some older women have helped me. My one friend who is 57 told me, "When I get down, I just get up, get busy, and serve others". She is absolutely beautiful both inside and out. May we all find mentors to mentor us and others that we can mentor.

Your Homework Assignment

In college, I took a lot of courses in calculus, thermodynamics, differential equations, partial differential equations, etc. We were required to do multiple proofs and solve advanced equations. Often the professor would solve part of the problem and then say "solve the rest as part of your homework assignment".

Which brings me to a "holiday" Arianna-ism. When my parents visited over Christmas, we were out driving around Virginia. In Virginia, we have these gas station/quick marts called FasMart where you can get gas,chips,soda (pop), fried chicken, etc. It is pronounced Fass Mart.

Arianna tells her grandpa that if you switch the F and the M in FasMart you get...The rest is your homework assignment.

Garmans - Iceland

As I read the following quote, I thought of the Garmans possibly headed to Iceland.

"My Bible is full of those kind of heroes - the shaking-at-the-knees men and women thinking there are countless people more qualified than they are and wondering why the cosmos has deferred a particular task, job, position, title or dream upon them."

Our prayers are continually with you as while there may be more people more qualified than you, God has planned this from the foundations of the earth.