Gleanings of Wheat

I'm quite excited about reading Tim Challies ' latest book, The Next Story - though I expect I'm going to walk away from it very challenged about my technological usage. As I mentioned to a friend recently, I've been having difficulty actually finishing books lately. I start tons of them, get about half way through, and then start the next one. Months may pass before I finish the initial book. I think it has only encouraged my scatter brained-ness, so my plan is to blog my way through this book without starting another one. At just 196 pages of actual reading I plan on covering it in 11 days, starting Monday...I want to finish John Piper's "A Sweet & Bitter Providence" first. See you Monday!

Now that the kids' dad is more involved in their lives I don't have them full time on holidays anymore - I know they're glad to see their dad, and I'm happy for them, but I miss how laid back things like Easter used to be. This year I got them for Good Friday and half of Saturday so I tried to make the most of it. Friday we visited the grandparents and cousins - always a lot of fun, always exhausting. Since I wasn't going to have them for Sunday we celebrated the Resurrection as a family Saturday morning. When they got up they raced to the fridge to grab the stuff to make our Empty Tomb treats - they've been looking forward to it all week. Now that they're older and have a better understanding of the Gospel they get more out of it than just the treats. J is still surprised when our "Jesus marshmallows" disappear, though. It's a lot of fun to talk about how much more amazing the real Jesus and His resurrection is. Once we got done we headed t...

Here is another flyer you can print out for the event taking place on July 31st. Please spread the word and help keep Sammy safe. When: July 31st Pancake breakfast available: 8-11am Registration: 9-12pm Kickstands up: 12pm Where: Start off at the Joliet American Legion (705 S Larkin Ave, Joliet, IL) and join us later at Fat Daddy's in Seneca (176 W Jackson St, Seneca, IL) Cost: $15 per person at the door Join us for a pig roast, live music, party and auction! You can RSVP for this event at Facebook , please come out and show Sammy your support. To download a printable flyer right click and save this link .

If you follow my business blog, sorry for the duplicate content, I just wanted to cover all the bases so that as many people as possible would hear about Derek & Sammy. I'm going to get a bit personal on this post, but it's for a very important reason so bear with me. I've got two small children and until February 17th this year I had four nephews who were all younger than my kids. Now I only have three nephews. I only have three nephews because Derek was murdered. He wasn't even two years old yet. There is a lot surrounding the circumstances of his death that, frankly, doesn't add up. Sammy, Derek's younger brother, was also hurt - though we still don't have a straight story on that either. The wonderful thing is that Sammy is fine. His broken leg healed, and he's home with his father - where he ought to stay. This brings us to the purpose of this post - Derek & Sammy is a website that we as a family set up in order to have a place to sha...

Carla , my favorite displaced American blogger who lives in the Great White North, posted this yesterday . Not only does it sound delicious, it's also healthier than the original version of the recipe! I've included the ingredients list, click over for instructions. 1 pkg. (2-layer size) lemon cake mix 1 pkg. (85 g) Jell-O Lemon Jelly Powder (sugar free) 1-1/4 cups water 1/2 cup oil unsweetened applesauce 4 eggs 1/4 cup poppy seed 1/2 cup (1/2 of 250-g tub) (light or reduced calorie) Philadelphia Cream Cheese Spread 2 Tbsp. butter, softened 1 cup icing sugar, sifted 2 Tbsp. shredded peel and 1 Tbsp. juice from 1 lemon, divided * alternatively - use freshly whipped cream with a dash of lemon flavoring for the "frosting"

The 50 states. Strike throughs are the ones I've been to. Bolds are the ones I want to go to. Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming