Brit Mom USA

Save our libraries

2009-06-24T15:24:00.003-04:00

I was shocked to discover Monday that Gov Strickland wants to slash the library budget in half on June 30th. This effectively closes many of the smaller libraries and will change all libraries in Ohio as we know them. Many of you know that I work at a library in a small community and have discovered since I started work there that libraries are a lifeline for many families. Government agencies regularly refer people to their local library for help in submitting a job application on line. I can't tell you how many times a day someone comes and asks for help from a librarian because for the first time in their life they have to put together a resume on line and then e mail it to a company because they have lost their job. It is heartbreaking to see men and women who already have had to navigate the unemployment agencies for the first time and now have to ask for help yet again just to apply for a job. Where will they go when the library is shut down or no longer has the staff to help?

Libraries are busier now than they have ever been. More Americans have library cards now than ever before. It is the only free unbiased source of information available to many Ohioans. How short sighted it is to even think about taking that away.

Please call Gov Strickland and visit the website www.saveohiolibraries.org. Our dear governor's phone number is (614) 466-3555. Call him and keep calling him. He has received thousands of calls but we must be relentless.

It's not March anymore

2009-06-21T14:52:00.002-04:00

It's not March anymore and this is my first posting since then. Oops. So what's new? Well we have two kids who finished their time at the schools they were at. Zach finished preschool and Jess finished elementary school. Emma graduates to the back of the bus (also a big deal). Winnie won a 2nd place ribbon for saddest dog at a pet show. I can't imagine who won first place. Having waited for an hour and a half with three kids and a dog amongst many other kids and dogs I missed the actual prize giving because zach had to go to the loo.
So here is summer.
We had a bunny in church this morning!
That's all I have for now.
This one's for you Kimmy :-)

Where have I been?

2009-03-26T18:35:00.002-04:00

Have I really not blogged since February? Pathetic. Very sorry. I have read "The Shack". That isn't all I've done but I did read a book. That counts for something. So let's get together and talk about it. I can't wait to discuss it because it seems that our reading audience are divided in their opinion of it. I loved it and enjoyed reading it in public places because it's one of those books everyone has an opinion about and wanted to share with me. So if you haven't finished it yet - hurry up.

Love Dare

2009-02-27T09:29:00.004-05:00

Dave and I are taking the love dare challenge over the next 40 days. We're really having fun with it. I think we have a wonderful marriage and we want it to stay that way so it's good to be really methodical about how we treat one another for a while. It's nice to put chunks of scripture to things that we already know are right about our relationship and to see where we can try harder and really understand why - lead our heart and not the other way around.
I love my husband!

Prayer

2009-01-20T17:37:00.002-05:00

I feel as though God has opened a window for me to learn stuff so I'm trying to spend as much time with Him and in reading as I can. I hope I'm getting what he wants to give me! Dave and I are re reading Richard Foster's book on prayer. It is the best book. I think we so often waste time giving ourselves a guilt trip about how bad our prayer life is when we could be and maybe are communicating with God the whole time. I'm looking forward to enjoying prayer a lot more these days.

Crazy Love

2009-01-15T18:50:00.002-05:00

I heard about a new book today it's by a guy called Francis Chan and it's called "Crazy Love". It talks about what our lives look like when we have 'crazy love' for Jesus. It really fits in with Dave's sermon series at the moment. On the face of it the series is about finances and how or why we decide where our money will go and what that really means. But it's more about how much we love Jesus. Finances are only important in the discussion because of what they indicate about our life with Jesus. Chan talks about how when we fall in love or become obsessed with another human we would gladly give up a lot just to spend time with that person. We will give anything to them. Dave talks a lot about generosity. This is why - it's crazy love and there really is nothing like it. Check out the book when you get the chance.

Gate staff

2009-01-13T18:20:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited because this Wednesday morning The Gate will have the regular staff meeting - only this week it will be Dave, Kim and Ry our new Youth Pastor. I have decided to really pray for this time. Dave and I believe that Kim and Ry were delivered to our doorstep by God himself! It is a huge responsibility to be in those positions. Please pray for them - we need them to stay focused on God and be healthy in their living and in good relationships with the people around them. I know they'll have fun Wednesday and lots of great ideas for our still new church.

Just because

2009-01-11T16:11:00.000-05:00

Time with God in 09

2009-01-10T15:12:00.002-05:00

I've been a christian for a while now and every year I feel challenged when I try to plan or at least have a clear idea how my time with God every day will be spent. I find that if I don't have a plan of action then I can easily just not do it. I decided that this year I would pick one book of the bible at a time and spend a week on each chapter. I'm going to read Romans first. I read Romans chapter one this week. It is amazing what God will tell you when you are meditating just on his word and his message through that just for you. I will be checking in on some commentaries just to be accurate.
I know - I haven't blogged for a really long time.

Election Day!

2008-11-04T18:16:00.005-05:00

Today's the big day. I'm so bummed that I can't vote. My goal is to be a U.S citizen for the next election and vote then. I really wanted to vote this time though.
Still I can't be too down because I really had a lovely time last night . . . I stayed out until 12:20am. And I didn't fall asleep even though I was sitting in the dark very late at night. Maybe it was the huge hand sized bugs that were crawling on my head!

PINK

2008-10-28T11:21:00.002-04:00

I've gone pink because someone who I trust completely told me it's God's color. And - in honor of our girl's night out where pink was quite the topic of conversation. Remember our tagline girls. What happens at girl's night stays at girl's night!
Seriously though there is nothing quite like sharing a really good laugh right alongside a really good cry with women who love you. It's the way God made us so let's go with it.
Have a great week everyone and big thanks to the Genovas for a wonderful time Sunday!

Girl's night out

2008-10-24T15:58:00.003-04:00

It's our night out tomorrow ladies (that's Saturday). We will watch the Nicholas Sparks movie "The Notebook". 6pm at Debbie Turnbull's house - bring southern food and a box of kleenex. Bring a friend too. Lots of laughs gaurenteed. If you're pregnant I'll rub your feet for you while you watch. See you there.
If you're not sure where Debbie's house is - call me or leave a comment and I'll call you.

Book club pick

2008-10-21T17:33:00.002-04:00

We have changed our mind for the next pick for our book club. Well I did - with the encouragement of some others! Non fiction is just not as much fun to discuss. So our next book will be . . . "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. I know we already did his other book but this is even better than "The Kite Runner". Hard to believe, but it is.
Happy reading.

Friday

2008-10-17T11:09:00.002-04:00

All the kids are home from school today. I love a bonus day like this. Dave is valiantly trying to be very deep about the book of Ruth in the next room. I'm not sure how that's going - don't be suprised if all his illustrations are from Teenage mutant ninja turtles cause that's his background noise right now!

Here's some info for anyone who likes Fruit loops. Zac has discovered that they last a lot longer if you stick them one by one between all your toes then eat them directly from said toes. Oh come on you're just jealous you can't reach!

Have a blessed day and enjoy your kids.

Hello

2008-10-16T20:52:00.003-04:00

I will be very surprised if anyone still checks my blog as it's been so long since I posted anything. I haven't felt like doing it for a while. No reason. Actually now that I think about it there is a reason - I don't know where all my time is going! I really enjoyed book club on Monday night. What a blessing those women are! I love them. And . . . I'm really enjoying our life group. Also a great group of people who I love. Lots of love and friendship going on right now. Just what I need. Thanks everyone.

New Book Pick

2008-09-06T18:24:00.003-04:00

"The Host" is a popular book and it seems that some folks are having a hard time getting hold of it at their local library ;) So . . . a very wise friend of mine suggested that we switch to "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Piccoult. Everyone wants to read it anyway so there you go. Let's do it. We'll meet during the 4th week of September. Please make suggestions for the best day.
And while I'm here - what a wonderful time we had at the Columbiana parade. Kim, Stephanie and the band were amazing. I was completely blown away by the crowds response - they very obviously loved it. And noone fell off the float.
Looking forward to Sunday, as always.

comment away!

2008-08-29T09:09:00.002-04:00

For all of you who have been sulking because I was not publishing your comments immediately ;) comment away - you will now pop up post haste (I think). Thank you to my technical advisors. You know who you are and I will expect a plethora of comments. Ha ha.

I'm Back!

2008-08-21T12:29:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I posted anything. I think I've got summer brain - I find myself yearning for that Fall schedule. I just can't seem to string two thoughts together or get anything done. Having said that, we have had fun this summer. Before I forget - we will have book club on Wednesday August 27th at 7:30pm at The Encore Cafe in Columbiana. I haven't been there yet so I will look forward to it. Our book is "The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls. If you're a fast reader you still have time to read it before next Wednesday! We also said we would bring a list of books we really want to read. We said 50 but I can't cope with that. You overachievers will have to whittle it down to 10.

One more thing. The Gate girls like to get together once in a while. I would like to put together a list of things to do / places to go for the next year. Maybe movies or restaurants or a play or ice cream at someones house. Who knows what. So . . . suggestions please.

I think I just broke a tooth on a piece of English chocolate. Still worth it.

My Emma is 8!

2008-08-03T14:15:00.003-04:00

Emma turned 8 on Wednesday.

If you know Emma then you will know that she is quite an unusual character. She is the kind of person who can show up at Boardman Park (or any gathering, including church) dressed as Batman's side kick, Robin. The only one in costume, and not be at all bothered. Sometimes she gets up up for school and declares it a good day to wear a party dress and 'clip clop shoes' to school. She bought her teacher a tooth brush the week they studied dental health in school and regularly takes her an apple. You cannot leave Emma alone in a room with anything interesting because she'll take it apart to see how it works. Emma is a friend to anyone who needs her. Current projects include starting a girl band and saving gorilas. That's Emma.

A dead car, a grassy slope and fleas

2008-07-27T13:32:00.004-04:00

My car died again on Friday. It is becoming a sadly regular thing. I was driving the kids to Old North Church for VBS and it died right outside the Eddy's house. That's right - Bob & Chuck Eddy, the car people. How's that for irony. So we got out and walked the rest of the way. There was much complaining and gnashing of teeth. The kids weren't happy either. Of course I turned into my parents and told them how I walked to school every day - 3 miles each way (true) uphill . . .both ways (not true, obviously).

Then I had to sit on a grassy slope and wait for AAA to send a tow truck. Lots of people stopped to offer help - cold drinks, company etc. All of the men asked me if I had run out of gas!! So I'm sitting there and I thought well I could be thoroughly grumpy about this or . . . . well I remembered an illustration that Dave used way back when our fledgeling church was meeting at Pine Lake. It was a Corrie Ten Boom story of how they were allowed to pray in the prison camp they were in. Not everyone, just their cabin. They eventually found out that the guards left them alone because there were so many fleas in their cabin. So Dave's thought was that the things we sometimes assume are our 'fleas' are actually something we need to thank God for. Well I realized as I sat there that if I had not been forced to sit there for an hour I would have continued to rush around as I had the whole week. Yet here I was enjoying some lovely scenery and making a list of the ways God is blessing me. It's a long list.

Book club

2008-07-24T22:32:00.002-04:00

We had a lovely time at Caribou last night discussing The Kite Runner. Excellent book and very good discussion! I told Emma about it today (middle child aged 7 and fellow book worm). I explained what we did and she said "oh cool". I found her at 10pm last night sitting on the toilet reading Flat Stanley. I like to lay in bed and read, but whatever floats your boat. Our next pick is "The Glass Castle" chosen by two of our crew who look and sound alike.
I will post something about our vacation when I have downloaded my pics. I've just been a little busy this week since some people we know had a wild party at our house while we were away. Big mess. Not really. . . they did vacuum.

Book club

2008-07-21T20:59:00.002-04:00

I've been on vacation (more about that later) had a lovely time. We will meet at 7:15pm at Caribou in Boardman on Wednesday to talk about The Kite Runner. Do come even if you didn't finish the book - it will be nice to see everyone!

Jumping

2008-07-10T22:25:00.000-04:00

So who is the more graceful?

Calling all bookworms

2008-07-07T18:12:00.002-04:00

I hope you are enjoying The Kite Runner. We will meet at 7:30pm on Wednesday July 23rd at a location that you can pick. Please comment on meeting either at the cafe at the Dutch Inn, Columbiana or Caribou (is that spelled right?) in Boardman. Can't wait - see you soon!

More Kidgate 2

2008-07-04T19:52:00.008-04:00

We missed a week but we'll be back this Wednesday at 9:30am. Here are more Amy pics from 2 weeks ago. It seems like forever since we were last at the Emch house - I can't wait to see you guys!

Lovely Sunday

2008-06-29T18:55:00.002-04:00

It is 7pm Sunday evening. Two kids are playing in their imaginary world which I love to listen to! Dave is chilling with Jess playing NFL on his PS2 and I am using the laptop in the living room listening to Bebo Norman. We spent a really nice lunchtime with Amy, Rich, Ella and Philip (and #3). Oh yes and church was amazing! Do you ever have those moments when you just think - Thanks God. It doesn't get any better than this? It is these simple family moments that truly fill me with joy. That in itself would be enough but we have the added joy of watching a church rise up and and take on its own life and see God so clearly in the process.
I love Sundays :)

KidGate 2

2008-06-25T19:18:00.003-04:00

We had another lovely morning today at our weekly kiddy gathering. We are all agreed that we like the once a week approach as opposed to one looong week! Our goal for the summer was to build community amongst all of our precious kids and it really seems to be working. The snack of choice was raw green beans. Big suprise. Philip and Zac had a good time eating those! Kim W worship leader extraordinaire joined us with some fab songs. It was quite something with all the kids trying to sit as close as they could to her. Amy took more pics - maybe she'll e mail some to me:).

The tooth fairy

2008-06-21T14:53:00.003-04:00

Anyone who believes they have been visited by the tooth fairy recently should not read this post. Assuming all those people are now doing something else I will continue.... It is a sad day in our house today. Yesterday Jessica (9 yrs) lost a tooth. There was the usual discussion about how much money she would get and how she planned to spend it. Her friend was over most of yesterday and today. I noticed some conversation about belief in the tooth fairy. Jess and I were in the car this morning and she asked the question - "Is the tooth fairy real?" She has asked before but I realized that my usual evasive answers wouldn't do the trick this time. "What do you think?" I asked. She smiled and said she didn't think so - but I sensed that had I said yes she would have been relieved to go on believing. I have never lied to her but somehow the myth has been kept alive! Well we are all straight on the facts now. I am very sad. I feel like this is her first step away from being a little girl. And I don't like it. I was proud of her though because she did know the truth but was very gracious about her transition. After a while of gazing out the window and thinking she said "so what about Santa?". I thought to myself, well why don't you just rip my heart out and jump all over it. So I spilled the beans about that too. We agreed that she will never speak of this to her siblings and we will still pretend. Well we have seen "The Polar Express".
I do feel good about the fact that she is really clear about the difference between that and who she believes Jesus to be. He is real to her. I love that about her and Him. Even though I did cry today I am glad about who she is growing up to be - even if it's a little quick.

Book Club!!!

2008-06-20T08:58:00.004-04:00

We are starting a book club. I am completely excited because it appears that I know a lot of people who like to read - some of them are on a quest to read 50 books a year (others are reading 50 pages a year which is OK as long as they are the right 50). We will meet at a coffee place (yet to be decided). Actually it has been decided I just don't know how to spell it. I think our first book will be The Kite Runner by Hosseini. Someone else can pick next time. I'll pick a date for about 2 weeks time. Can't wait. Get reading book worms.

I feel Old

2008-06-19T16:14:00.003-04:00

Evidently I spoke too soon. Kimmy and Sweety (that's right) have already passed comment on last night. My thought process was that obviously at 11:45pm it was far too late for a person to be still up and blogging and that the first opportunity anyone would have would be bright and early on Thursday morning. So I stand corrected - very ungraciously - by Kimmy.
So what did happen last night? I had a lovely evening getting to know two new friends and of course enjoying Kimmy's company. We ate well and truly had a great time. Then it was time to go home. One of us had left her car lights on the whole evening. I won't say who. I will say she has a very valid excuse! Needless to say between the four of us we did find jumper cables but were at a total loss as to where to put them. Very sad. We were saved (after phone calls to despairing husbands) by a wonderful Boardman police officer. Those guys are great. So a good time was had by all. Thanks ladies - let's do it again soon.

First to blog about last night

2008-06-19T09:29:00.004-04:00

A quick post just to beat everyone else from last night since I'm sure they are not up yet!! I was out with three young women and we ended up being helped out by the police. A very nice policeman. I'll catch you up properly later today.

Kidgate

2008-06-18T14:35:00.009-04:00

We had an amazing time this morning at the Emch house! There were loads of Gate kids gathered to have fun and learn some spiritual truths. I think Max was the youngest and maybe Bethany was the oldest. I took some pics as promised. Amy did too and hers are probably better than mine - I may be able to get hold of those at some point. What did we do? We played relay games, ate ice cream cones, played a memory verse puzzle game and decorated a team T shirt. All in two hours! If you want to join the fun let me know - we will be at the Emch house every Wednesday morning 9:30am - 11:30am. There is soooo much more in store!

Big thanks to Gretchen Emch for opening her home and spearheading this project. Love ya. (I don't love you for giving me a balloon game to organize outside in the wind)

PS I Just got pics from Amy so they are the ones you see. Lovely.

Happy Fathers' Day

2008-06-14T21:41:00.004-04:00

No it's not Jerry Springer taking a nap. This is my Dad! He said he was praying.
I want to wish him a wonderful Fathers' Day. I'm pretty sure he is our biggest supporter - it doesn't matter what seemingly wacky decisions Dave and I make he always trusts that we are doing what we believe God wants from us. He prays for us every day. He has really helped us out in practical ways too. He's the best! Thanks Dad - we love you!

First time blogging

2008-06-13T09:06:00.003-04:00

Here I am. I've wanted to do this for a long time. I feel prompted to start because my husband Dave is blogging now and he's really excited about it. So now I want to get more hits than him !!!! Just kidding.
So summer break has started. So far so good. Of course we are only at the beginning of day 3. I'll keep you posted!