My Kitchen Counter

Y'know, there are times when an electric can opener would be very handy. Like today:

But then I look at the space lack of space on my kitchen counter, and I realize that hand-cranking a can opener is way better than having something else take up 25 square inches of precious counter space every single day.

Psalm 116:16

Oh Lord, truly I am Your servant.
I am Your servant,
the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.

Isn't that verse odd?

We state that we are God's slaves.

And then we say that He has loosed our bonds, set us free, unshackled us from the chains that held us.

It is an odd slavery which is propelled by freedom.

Think of Dobby.

Or there's our silly little Rosie-Kitty who wants to crawl up on my lap or sleep by my feet. I'm the one in the house who never forces her to stay on my lap, or picks her up when she wants to be left alone. The kids sometimes ask in wonder, "She jumped up on your lap, all on her own? Uninvited? You didn't put her there?" Nope. She came of her own free will.

Cate wrote a couple of weeks ago about her daughter's piano lessons. Madeline resisted practicing and kept begging to quit her lessons. When Mom and Dad finally gave her permission to quit, Madeline began to play. Freely. Willingly. She began to want to play piano and began to enjoy it.


I am Your slave.
You have loosed my bonds.

Today's Laugh

A newlywed farmer and his wife were visited by her mother, who immediately demanded an inspection of the place. While they were walking through the barn, the farmer's mule suddenly reared up and kicked the mother-in-law in the head, killing her instantly.

At the funeral service a few days later, the farmer's wife stood near the casket and greeted folks as they walked by. The pastor noticed that whenever a woman would whisper something to the farmer's wife, she would nod her head yes and say something. Whenever a man walked by and whispered to the farmer's wife, she would shake her head no and mumble a reply.

Curious, the pastor later asked the farmer's wife what that was all about. The farmer's wife replied, "The women would say, 'What a terrible tragedy,' and I would nod my head and say, 'Yes, it was.' The men would ask, 'You wanna sell that mule?' and I would shake my head and say, 'Can't. It's all booked up for a year.'"

Do We Need More Regulations for Homeschoolers?

Lora linked to an excellent article by a former public-school teacher who now homeschools. The author tells how regulations and frequent testing hamper the ability of public-school teachers to provide an excellent education to their students. She sees no reason to do the same damage to homeschoolers.

Today's Laugh

A conversation on Wednesday morning between my son-in-law and my 16-mo-old grand-daughter, adding some new twists to the usual questions:



Alia, can you tell me what a cow says?
Moo!
What does your lamby say?
Baa!
What does a tiger say?
Rawr!
What does a kitty say?
Meew!
What does mommy say?
No!

Book for Little Ones

Barbara and her husband have reprinted Kindergarten Stories which was first published in the 1890s. Looks like a winner of a book for those who are homeschooling under-8's or for those who would be interested in a wholesome, old-fashioned read-aloud for the family.

Maundy Thursday Vines

In the synoptic gospels, at the Words of Institution on Maundy Thursday, Jesus talks about not drinking of the fruit of the vine again until He drinks it new in the kingdom of God.

John doesn't record the Words of Institution. But he does record Jesus' words on Maundy Thursday: "I am the true vine; my Father is the vine-dresser. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing."

Do you suppose they're connected?

Today's Laugh

O'Gara was arrested and sent for trial for armed bank robbery. After due deliberation, the jury foreman stood up and announced, "Not guilty."

"That's grand," shouted O'Gara. "Does that mean I get to keep the money?"

Stylish? You Must Be Joking.

Sunday I bought a box of compression socks. I mean, "sock." Turned out there was only one in the box. That provided for a fair experiment, wearing it on one leg and not the other. Oh my goodness. The pain I've been having for the past 2½ weeks improved immensely. So while running errands Monday, I picked up another sock. This one had a flyer in it on "Style Tips."

STYLE tips.

I look like I'm wrapped in Ace bandage from the knee down. And they're talking about STYLE tips???

Paul said that the only attempt at "style" with these things would for me to keep them out of sight. :-)

Today's Laugh

I suspect this tale came from a Lutheran Sunday School...


The Sunday school lesson for the day was about Noah's ark, so the teacher decided to get her small pupils involved by playing a game in which they identified animals.

"I'm going to describe something to you. Let's see if you can guess what it is. First: I'm furry with a bushy tail and I like to climb trees."

The children looked at her blankly.

"I also like to eat nuts, especially acorns."

No response. This wasn't going well at all!

Finally a kid volunteered: "Well, I know the answer has to be Jesus -- but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me!"

Food Is Living

The other night we watched Food Inc. Definitely biased, but certainly no more biased than the big corporations that control so much of our food supply.

One of many thoughts in the wake of the movie:
A nice, scientific level of control is behind the government oversight of our food supply and of our butchers. Food factories must maintain a certain level of chemical cleanliness. Nutrition (removed through processing) is replaced with chemical versions of vitamins. Science says to eat more of this, less of that. We don't want food to spoil, so we do things to make lettuce shelf-stable for several weeks. We take our corn and soybeans into the laboratory and turn them into all sorts of food items. It's all very scientific.

But food is about life. Food was alive. Meat was alive, walking or swimming or flying. Milk came from a living animal, to be fed to the growing baby. Fruits and veggies came from living plants. Grains came from grasses.

Science doesn't control LIFE. Science doesn't rule life. Science doesn't make life.

Sometimes LIFE even has the audacity to do what science says ain't gonna happen. People who are supposed to die end up living. People who are supposed to live end up dying. Medicines that help some people to heal are the same medicines that harm others who have the same disease.

Food is from life, and food is for life. Food often requires sacrifice: the animal must die, or the seed must be planted into the ground to die and then bring forth new life. Additionally, food engenders fellowship, and food brings pleasure. Food is not cold, hard science. There are things about gardening, ranching, butchering, and cooking that are arts, ruled more by common sense and love and skill than they are controlled by science.

And where will we be when we've lost the common sense and the skill and have to depend only on the scientists for our food?

Today's Laugh

Reilly is walking through a graveyard when he comes across a headstone with the inscription, "Here lies a politician and an honest man."

"Faith now," exclaims Reilly, "I wonder how they got the two of them in one grave."

New Altar

These were taken on the Thursday that the new furnishings arrived and on Saturday after the introductory meeting.

Today's Laugh

A teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five- and six-year-olds.

After explaining the commandment to "honor thy father and thy mother," she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"

Without missing a beat, one little boy answered, "Thou shall not kill."