Memorial Day has never been significant to me. I wanted to change that for my children. I want them to grow up knowing what it's truly about and knowing the heroic history of their Vietnam vet Grandpa and Word War II vet Great Grandpas (three of them)

So Monday I rounded up kids and husband and in-laws and we made some cemetery visits, watched a parade, and participated in a Memorial Day service complete with Taps.

It was not only for them. It was for me too. A reminder of the country we live in and the price paid for it to be the country it is.

What do you do for Memorial Day?

Teen Book Blurb -- and Giveaway

About Book Blurb:

Helping you decide, through the use of honest reviews and free preview chapters, whether or not books are worth the financial investment of adding to your bookshelf. 

This book blurb has been made possible through the Thomas Nelson, from which I received  complimentary copies of these books.

I'm offering both of these books up for grabs. They are geared mostly for boys, though I suppose some girls might enjoy them as well.

So the girls don't feel left out, I have two books for them that I will be offering next week. :)

To enter the giveaway, leave your name and email in a comment below 

(no email = no ability to win the giveaway).

Feel free to gain additional entries however you may want to do so 

(i.e. tweeting this giveaway, Facebooking it, following Hidden Valley on Twitter or FB, etc. 

If you tweet it, please use @hiddenvalley713 in the tweet, so I can see it,

 and if you FB, please use @Hidden Valley Simplicity :)

Also, as you can see from my reviews below, both books contain heavy topics for middle schoolers, so I offer this review with the disclaimer to please read the reviews and be prepared to read the books with your child and participate in discussions about the content. 

Pondering love.

There is much time to do so. Yard work rules these days.

Weeds to pull, property line to define, spaces to create for memories.

So much of life parallels the untamed acres we have. 

Anyways, back to pondering love.

My heart longs for it in it's purest form. Love so strong, so true, so God-centered that self is fully nailed to the cross.

When others disapprove, or judge, or are mean, it doesn't matter. Only eyes of love look back at them and see the wounds that drive the hurt.

Joyful Keeper of the Home

~ To facilitate desire:
as women, in all walks of life, to be passionate about abandoning themselves
so that they can live in full surrender to God,
 as married women, to be wives with a forever bride heart,
as mothers, to thrill at the stewardship of motherhood,
as keeper's of the home, to be full of joyful contentment,    as women of God, joyful in their purpose and destiny, whatever that may be.  ~ Part 3 of Hidden Valley Simplicity's blog purpose.

The entire purpose statement can be found here
and
Part 1 of this break-it-down series
Part 2 
Part 3

Part 4a   Part 4b  Part 4c 

Keeper of the home.

What, exactly, does that mean?

For some, this is where a dimension of the mommy wars can starts. Stay-at-home versus working woman. Do the housework or share the load equally with our spouse.

Whether you work or don't, there are a few things across the board we can do as wives to be keepers of our homes.

Our homes should be places of refuge for our men. We can start there.

It is my old-fashioned belief, that they should walk in to a (fairly) clean and orderly house at night, able to put aside their cares for the day instead of overwhelmed with chaos and disorder.

Granted, there are the children who can wreak havoc in the space of ten seconds from their waking moment and there may not have been enough time to clean the disorder before you left for work that morning.

This isn't about perfection and the model home where not a crumb can be seen on the floor and everything is in it's place one hundred percent of the time.

It's been a week of hum-drum, every-day life posts, rather than spiritual encouragement posts. For those of you that come here for the encouragement posts, my apologies.

These posts are usually a reflection of life and life this week, has been so arid spiritually. How I dread desert seasons when I read a verse 10 times and still come away with a "ok. . . . and I can relate to that how?"  but I trudge through them anyways.

Because what else are you going to do?

Once upon a time, these would come and I would give up. "Forget it. No sense reading the Bible. I get nothing anyways." And the season would stretch into months away from the Word. As it did, my heart would grow calloused to things which once convicted, love for those around me was diminished, and everything irritated and annoyed.

Here, now, in this 29th year of my walk---0th year totally freed from those things which held me captive!---I've learned to keep up with the routine of seeking Him. Keep knocking. Keep falling to my knees. Keep turning the onion-thin pages of the Bible. Keep praying even though a dark cloud is between His face and my heart.

For I know the oasis season will come again.

Tomorrow perhaps. Next week. Next month.

It will return.

When it does, spiritual roots will have dug a little bit deeper into the water of life, love a bit more passionate, faith a bit more stronger, intimacy with Him a bit more precious.

And while pushing through, I come one. step. closer. to that time. 



In the meantime. . .

Before: Summer 2011

Every-day Randomnimity :)

Miraclegirl goes to physical therapy for low muscle tone and a (very) turned in foot, which has caused numerous trips and stumbles for her.

It takes a large block of time to go, but we're seeing progress and have hopes that orthotics will help even more in coming weeks.

In between chasing Bubbles, who is now so at ease in the office, he gets in more trouble than I can keep up with in a session,

I watch and ask questions. 
"Why that exercise?"
"What does that do for her?"

5.14.2012 | Simple Woman's Daybook

The Simple Woman's Daybook

                                    FOR TODAY

Outside my window...

It keeps raining, then the sun attempts to shine, then it begins raining again.

I am thinking...

about ordering home school supplies and wondering how much I can get at the used curriculum sale Thursday night.

I am thankful...

for God's grace that is bringing beauty out of this life that was once such a wreck.

In the kitchen...

Now that it's being looked for,
    simple beauty is being found everywhere.

Colors set into colors with angles and patterns.

Reminded,
     in the most unnoticed, taken for granted object around here,
         that Handsome works hard for his family.

 

Disconnect in Order to Connect

She's an emotional basket case.

I am the epitome of frazzled mother.

Some can be blamed on the fourth year of life. Too old for total attachment with me as she explores her world, plays in make believe, and visits Grandma's house for overnight treats.

Too young for full independence from me.  Still needing morning, evening, and in between cuddles and snuggles. To look at me over her shoulder as she disappears into her Sunday School class. To sob that Daddy tucked her in instead of me.

It's a rough age.

I had no idea.

With her senses exploding with Sensory Processing issues as well, a chemistry results that explodes and implodes in frequent gasping, sobbing episodes.

Sometimes I gather her up. Other times I stand there, not knowing how to deal with this for the umpteenth time that day.

Sometimes I let loose.

"This is ridiculous! Do you have to scream about your socks and underwear all day long???"

I didn't know you could lose your footing with your four year old. Fourteen year old, sure. But preschool age?

What is going wrong? What is the friction between her and I?

Missed Beauty

There are defining moments in our lives, where the heart is so deeply impacted, it will never again return to the landscape that it was before the moment of impact.

The defining affects the dimensions of our lives.

It may be how we parent or music we create. The definition may lend itself to art or to friendship. In this case, it has created a mushroom cloud of significance over photography.

He was so alive just a month ago at the birthday party for his two year old daughter. Those of us there, couldn't help but pick on him. Presents were being opened he would have to put together. "You've officially arrived at fatherhood", I told him as I snapped pictures. "'Assembly required' initiates you."

The smile in response was quiet and shy. Just a twenty-two year old, learning this parenting thing with his daughter's mother. No longer a couple, they were however, a team. A parenting team. Their star was their common goal.

I sensed something that day though, that went beyond teamwork.

My prayers turned a corner. "Lord. A fairy tale ending perhaps? As only You can do. . . ?"

Emails in the days that followed indicated that yes, hearts were open to that happening. Only if God wanted it. Only if God led it.

I cautiously gave feedback and support, praying with every word. And daring to hope for a beautiful story to be written as only The Author can write.

Family vacation began. He, his daughter, his daughter's mother, and the star's grandparents. I wondered what sort of conversations would take place while they were at the ocean.

So I prayed some more.

Then the text came. Harsh and out of the blue.

"He's missing. He went for a walk on the boardwalk and never returned. Police are involved. Please pray."

Pre-teen and Teen Book Reference Guide ~~ For Parents

About this page

A glance over at the juvenile section one day, during a library trip,  reminded me of being introduced to books that gave more material than my young mind should have had when I was a girl. Right then and there, a decision was made. I would begin methodically working my way through the entire "J" section and then move on to the YA section. All for the purpose of becoming aware of what was available to my children. To recognize the books they will eventually bring into the house on their own cognizance and know the material the books consist of.

I sought high and low for a widget of sorts, to sort the books into categories. I did not achieve my goal. I however, still feel the need to create a reference guide for parents--especially those who do not read or do not have time to read--so that they can know what books their pre-teens and teens are reading. 

They can be found in alphabetical order, according to author, with a brief synopsis of what I found within the book and given a rating, based on the five star rating system below.

(4/2012 update: Not only will library books be recorded here, but also Christian fiction books for this age category as well.)

Please note: These opinions are based on a Biblical worldview

1 star: Appalling and downright trashy and/or disturbing due to content

2 star: Content is very questionable and not something I want my children reading

3 star: Nothing horrifying in the book but just not the best written book if a family cares  about well-written literature for their children.

4 star: Average book. Nothing objectionable contained within the book.

5 star: Put this on your child's must read list because it is sure to become a classic and/or is a living book and/or is very informative while being entertaining. 

It's not Grey, It's Black and White

My heart is broken, plain and simple over the phenomena of Fifty Shades of Grey. 

Called erotica and soft porn from the secular book review corners of the literary world, it is based on an immoral relationship between a college girl who enters what the world calls a "dominant-submissive" relationship with a rich man.

And falls in love. Admidst bondage activities.

My Dear Sisters, this is a twisted take on God's intent for love and romance. Twisted by the ugly Deceiver, who somehow has used what would normally horrify many, to convince more, that love can be built on bondage activities within the sacredness of sex.

Fifty Shades of Grey is everything Song of Solomon is not. Therefore, it is everything God despises.

Why, exactly, are women falling for this sort of thing?