So I had to do one of those meme things on Facebook.
My 25 Random Things About Me included:
"I found out that chia (as in Chia Pets) are edible seeds that are very good for you. I have to make Chia muffins for my Sunday School class on Sunday."
This little statement has already netted three comments. One was very serious and supportive...thanks, Erin...the others...well, let's just say they oozed sarcasm.
I quote:
"After you eat a chia muffin, does your hair grow better?"
"I want to know if after you eat the chia muffin you start to grow hair in unusual places - YOU DONT HAVE TO ANSWER THAT!! Ha!Ha!"
So Nora and Ane might I introduce you to the very serious nutritional powerhouse in a very tiny package. (This is also known as milking something for a complete waste of time blog post, and/or doing research you planned to do anyway and using it to fill an otherwise empty blog.)
Click on the pictures to be forwarded to the always enlightening Wikipedia pages.
And you do know that the next time I see you ladies I'll be packing chia muffins...right?
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BOUT THE BOOK
Bob Liparulo wants to give away a signed 3 book set of the DreamHouse Kings books! Send an email to Bob [at] Liparulo [dot] com and put "CFBA" in the subject line. He will pick a winner next week!!!!
In the third novel of this young adult series, the mystery deepens in a house that is more than meets the eye.
The Kings have been in the creepy old place, their new home, for only a few days, but they've experienced enough terror to last a lifetime. And the mystery is growing even more baffling. Shadowy and shifting, the big house conceals doors into other worlds that blur the line between memories and dreams-and the slightest misstep can change history forever.
At least, that's if they believe the trembling old man who shows up claiming to know them. "There's a reason you're in the house," he tells them. "As gatekeepers, we must make sure only those events that are supposed to happen get through to the future."
The problem is that horrors beyond description wait on the other side of those gates. As if that weren't enough, the Kings are also menaced by sinister forces on this side-like the dark, ancient stranger Taksidian, who wants them out now.
It's hard to believe that things could have gotten worse for the King family-but they have. Dad's in handcuffs, the school bully has just found the secret portal that leads from the high school to the house, and Xander is sure he's found Mom, but they can't get back to her. Then Jesse arrives, and he seems to be a virtual Obi Wan of knowledge about the place. But is he the key they need to unlock the secrets, or just a crazy old man?
Dangers are increasing from within and without when Xander makes a startling discovery that explains why they haven't found any rooms that lead to the future. Alongside the threats, though, they're also starting to find some surprising allies.
All they have to do is get organized, get psyched, and get Mom. But that isn't nearly as easy as it sounds.
Xander, David, and Toria must venture beyond the gates to save their missing mother-and discover how truly high the stakes have become.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Gatekeepers (Dreamhouse Kings #3), go HERE
Meet Bob...he's left some crumbs at the Dregs...check out our history, and his website.
My Review:
Robert Liparulo has taken the Dreamhouse Kings to the next level. Tension keeps the pages turning. Constantly appearing bad guys keep the fingernails embedded in sore palms or clamped between the teeth. Three kids left nearly alone to figure out a mystery of a house that wants to destroy their entire family. Can they escape? Can they keep their family together?
New characters are introduced and the stakes continue to climb higher. This story series and the twists and turns are alternately unbelievable and overwhelming then cycling back to hopeful. Every chapter is soaked with adrenaline.
Adventure loving kids and adults need to look further into this series. One thing bugged me as a parent....the adults seem a little too hands off, it works, but I couldn't help struggling with the need to suspend belief in several spots.
So, regular readers, you know I've been doing some soul searching in the past couple of weeks. I've also done a lot of reading.
Here are two book recommendations should you find the need to do any yourself. You can get further info by clicking on the book covers.
The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss Reviewed
James Kemp has crafted a little devotional book with a substantial 
amount of meat. Based on the story within beloved and not so well known Seussian characters and books Kemp shares some the basics of the Christian life and faith. Topics like ecology, racism, forgiveness, humility and faith are covered in the thirteen short lessons. Only ninety pages, this is a perfect book for small groups. Though there are no follow-up questions, a creative person could easily craft some. Teens might find the writing a little adult but the ideas could easily be adapted for a youth group.
Wild Goose Chase Reviewed
I've found myself in more than one spiritual cage. At times I've wondered why the Christian walk had to be so cumbersome and hard. Other times I've found myself looking on at someone who bubbles joy or oozes peace and wondered what I'm doing wrong. Mark Batterson reveals some powerful ideas and help in identifying spiritual malaise and doldrums. He asks hard questions and gives life altering advice.
As with all really great and meaty books written about the Chris
tian walk. Don't think you can buy this and gather help and wisdom by osmosis. This book requires that a person rise to the challenges and absorb the truth.
Wild Goose Chase will spark a bit of controversy in the usual circles that struggle with different ideas. The only negative I had was the occasional NCC commercial that seemed to run throughout the book. But then again, he was using his life as examples and NCC is a big part of his life.
This little book is packed with helpful thoughts and suggestions, Biblical examples and personal stories. I would recommend it to small groups as a great study. Or to individuals as a possible life changing adventure.
On this fine, snowy Monday I need to confess something to you.
I'm a failure.
Some of you may not be surprised. A few of you may be slapping your foreheads and screaming, “She finally got it!” But for those of you who may be shaken by this news let me continue in the vein which I just opened.
I am far too rich in humanity and far too anemic in the divine. As a teacher, as a mother and as a wife I feel like I should be a shiny, undented vessel for the Holy Spirit.
Alas, I am not.
Last week I hit a little emotional wall. Not that I've never done that before -- and I have the bruises and scars to prove it. But this one was a little harder than the rest. I had to face the fact that what a very good friend said to me was true and that I needed to climb out of the tide-pool of self-pity and anger.
Our family has changed. A situation has reared it's ugly head and we are in all-out spiritual and emotional upheaval. And I don't have the luxury of soaking in my feelings and letting them become rooted in the hard-packed ground of bitterness.
I've taken this to God and I feel like I need to say it out loud. Or at least with the click-clack of the keyboard.
I've failed someone I love. A someone that I love with all my heart. As much as I wanted to be the woman she needed me to be I was unable to fill the voids, smooth the wrinkles, ease the hurts and shelter her from life's painful blows. Looking back on my decisions and my choices, I don't feel like I would've have been able to do things much differently, really. The decisions I made in our relationship were ones that were needed. But in knowing this, admitting this, I've still struggled with playing “what if” and “if only” and I had begun to replay the drama over and over again. Like the aching tooth that only stopped throbbing when a tongue was pushed up against it causing a white-hot flash of pain followed by a split-second reprieve before the next throb, I was reliving pages and pages of emotion and hours and hours of time.
Peace was withering and grace along with it. Finally, resentment had taken hold and I was left with little good to offer anyone who crossed my path.
I had to give my mess back to God where it belongs and allow Him to take over again. He is the only one who can bring healing to my relationship. He is the only one who had any business being the void filler, the wrinkle smoother, the hurt easer and the life shelter. I took my eyes off of Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith (and yours) and put them on circumstances and feelings which are as shaky and changing as pounding waves.
So, I'm a dented, unkempt failure in the hands of the Almighty God. I can live with that.
If you have plans to go out on the town this weekend and you either want to avoid the "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." guilt or want to make the healthiest choice possible, click here.
However, if you are prone to cheesy, greasy or breaded and don't want to know how bad it is...then avoid clicking at all costs.
The worst of the worst is listed in black and white and living color. Fortunately, there is a healthier alternative provided, too. Nearly every type of restaurants' worst and best.
I encountered 3-Dimensional glimpses of me today.
While heading around a corner in a creepy hospital stairway I stumbled upon another skittering woman. We both startled, squealed and jumped back. The hallway isn't that creepy. But it always reminds me of every movie or novel wherein something goes wrong in a stairwell or in the morgue. There is a reason I don't know where the hospital morgue is. I don't want to, I will not ask. I know where the psych ward is or was and you have to take three elevators and walk down seven abandoned halls to get to it. I couldn't find it if I needed to.
But, as usual, I digress. So after this poor frightened lady and I nervously twittered we headed our separate ways until she rammed into the wall. Bam. After making sure she was okay, I continued on. That is such a me thing to do. Wonder if I'm contagious?
Later on, one of our 90-year-old patients came in for a routine check-up. It was her annual visit so she got to see me today. If I live to be 90, I want to be like her. She laughed the whole time. She laughed at everything I said. I was apparently "on" today. She laughed as she mentioned a bad shoulder and a bum foot. She laughed because she couldn't quite get herself out of the chair the first time or up on the table without assistance. She may have had trouble on both counts because she was laughing.
As a little girl, I learned that it's very difficult to pour milk correctly while laughing. As a matter of fact I revisited that little lesson earlier this week. I lifted a gallon of milk to pour and just as when I was a child, I got the giggles and couldn't move forward. Really. Who'd have thought that milk could be funny?
I'm going to remember exactly how funny it is when I'm 90. When I'm an old lady I shant wear purple and red since that has long ago lost it's charm. I shall laugh.
