By: At A Hen's Pace,
on 9/19/2007
This post is third in a series of sorts.... Part One Part Two Papa Rooster, reading what I wrote for last time, tells me I HAVE to quote C.S. Lewis on solemnity, from The Preface to Paradise Lost. But he can't find his much-underlined copy, so he turns to the internet and finds this gem of a post. Since it so beautifully supports everything I said about ritual and ceremony--how nice, huh?--I
By: At A Hen's Pace,
on 9/2/2007
I just have to share with you all an email I received the other day from Annie, an amazing lady whose kids are in our Christian children's theater group (but their whole family gets involved in every production, even those they vow to take off!). She is the (un)official cheerleader for our group--and last February she was diagnosed with cancer in multiple areas of her body. So this is what I
By: At A Hen's Pace,
on 8/29/2007
My blender broke last week. It was brand new. I made fruit smoothies with it once, and the next time I filled it up with yogurt and frozen bananas and frozen berry blend, it was dead. I had ordered it from Amazon, so I opted to return it to the not-so-nearby service center rather than pay shipping back to Amazon--if indeed they would even take it back; I don't know. With my children cheerily
By: At A Hen's Pace,
on 8/9/2007
I received some nice comments about my post Choosing Joy. It sounds like I'm not the only one God is working on in this area! It wasn't so hard to choose joy while I was visiting family in Ohio. It was so good to be together, and there were 4 babies around (if you count a 2-year-old as a baby still--and Bantam2 is most definitely still my baby) to continually delight my eyes and soul. My
By: At A Hen's Pace,
on 7/29/2007
Saturday I was in the car running errands, and I took advantage of the time alone to pray and sing aloud. My prayer life lately has been consumed with intercessions for the sale of our house, and it was good to just praise God unconditionally. Whether our house is sold or not, I can still praise God’s goodness and care! I sang, “Allelu-, alleluia, glory to the Lord…I will sing, I will sing a
By: At A Hen's Pace,
on 6/25/2007
So we looked at nine houses in Kenosha yesterday. The good news is: we found several that could work for us, and two that we really liked a lot. The bad news is: they're right next to each other in a brand new subdivision, 10-15 minutes away from our first choice neighborhood. Let me explain our dilemma. As I've described before, we believe that God is calling us to lead this church plant,
By: At A Hen's Pace,
on 6/18/2007
Well, our house is now appearing in the MLS, supposedly available to show today. I think it's going to take a phone call from a realtor saying someone's COMING for everybody to really kick into gear, but it's close enough at this point. Our realtor friend said it would be fine to leave a note listing the work still to be done--the rest of the basement and the bathroom down there will be painted
By: At A Hen's Pace,
on 6/4/2007
It feels so good to sit down at a table at Panera, with coffee and a bagel and my laptop, and breathe a prayer of thanksgiving for last week--exhausting but so productive--and rejoice in this chance to reflect and write. My kids were thrilled to be left alone to do their schoolwork this morning--we've all been pushing so hard to get our house ready to sell. More on that soon, but today I have
By: At A Hen's Pace,
on 4/2/2007
Well, it's Holy Week, and the home stretch of Lent. Time to reflect a little.... This has been a quiet Lent for me. Early on, I chose this verse to guide my thoughts and practice: This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.... Isaiah 30:15 This Lent was unusual because six days of it was
By: At A Hen's Pace,
on 2/23/2007
I said Tuesday (about our decision not to buy the property we've been considering) that personally, I feel disappointed, relieved, encouraged and discouraged. I am disappointed because there were elements of that property that I had come to love. The stained glass windows, the little chapel in the convent, the children's library in the school, and especially this gym. In our imaginations, the
Posted on 1/28/2007
Papa Rooster forwarded me a fascinating interview with Dr. Bradley Nassif, an Orthodox evangelical professor who teaches at North Park College in Chicago. He has an exciting vision for evangelicals and Orthodox learning from one another, which he discusses in the interview. This quote resonates with the type of "monastery" we want to found, one in which most members will live a "mixed life" of
Posted on 1/26/2007
Thanks for bearing with me through that riveting series on homeschooling! (I'm teasing, but hoping that a few of you were delighted with all the details. I know what other homeschoolers want to know...but it can be a bit much, I bet, for the rest of y'all--especially four days in a row! Next time, I'll spread it out more.) So how is my foot? I'm sure you're all dying to know. Well, I thought
Posted on 1/17/2007
Click here to see incredible 4D pictures of twins, triplets and quadruplets in the womb. When you arrive, click the link that says "Gallery: See the stunning 4D scans." This was timely for me, having just finished The Thirteenth Tale! Don't miss these pictures if you've read it or plan to. From the accompanying article: New 4D scans reveal how twins and triplets bond before birth...A twin
Posted on 1/16/2007
Yesterday's post described a highly imaginative and creative birthday party, planned in great detail by Bantam 16, for himself. A great time was had by all and they're eager to plan something similar again. What you may not have realized is that Bantam 16 is a young man with High-Functioning Autism. (Probably; his last official diagnosis was PDD-NOS.) He has always had speech and social issues
Jeanne,I loved this post :-) A couple of thoughts...1. Have you seen Colleen Carroll's book "The New Faithful"? Its a few years old now, but its still helpful, I think. The book is based on her research into why so many young people are turning to churches that embrace liturgy, mystery, symbol, etc. 2. I think the whole emerging church movement is taping into this same desire. For our
Hen, I thought the wedding example was spot on to paint a picture of solempne. Really a thoughtful post, thanks for making us think.
Thank you both for your encouragement! Glad it's making sense.Jen, I'm not familiar with the book, The New Faithful, but I've heard the term used to describe the generation that is seeking the ancient paths. I'll have to read it!I find the emergent church to be a mixed bag as well. There's a lot of youthful enthusiasm there that needs the traditional structures! :) "And we just can't go back
Jeanne,The one thing I will say about the emerging church is that you can't beleive everything you hear :-) I've heard people say "they dont believe in real truth and dont teach the Bible" or "they dont believe salvaiton comes from Jesus". Comments like that just amaze me since, in our experience, nothing could be further than the truth. A lot of people are afraid of the emergent church, and