Aaron's family

The Beautiful Nadler Family ~ Aaron's mother and dad, sis and bro-in-law.   I spent Christmas in Danville, Ca with these Lovelies.
John/Jen, Mark/Debbie, Aaron/Danielle (Daron)

God “whispers” to us in our pleasures, “speaks” through our conscience, and, if these voices are not heeded, “shouts” to us in our pains.  C.S. Lewis

Voyage of the Dawn Treader ~ take in a meaningful movie

{C.S.} Lewis intended the details in the Chronicles of Narnia to add up to something. Lewis’s storytelling in the Chronicles of Narnia, and in all his fiction, was intended to provide insight into the human condition—penetrating insight, I would claim—and to reveal truths about life, our life. In a world where fewer and fewer works seek to do this, and fewer and fewer critics find merit in those that do, I would argue that perhaps one reason these books and their film adaptations are so widely popular is because they are so widely needed.  
Devin Brown is a Lilly Scholar and Professor of English at Asbury University, where, among other duties, he teaches a class on Lewis.

Feb 2nd ~ Good but not safe

Browse Inside A Year with Aslan: Daily Reflections from The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

In some ways an agonizing week:  Friday ended with a "Will you forgive me?" tearful confession to a student.  He said "Yes."


Robin Mark's celtic tune offers a balm.

the inexplicable wonder of Apprenticeship

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis - explodes misconceptions about the life of faith, offering a much more radical and engaging vision of the place of each human being in the cosmic drama. As Lewis himself summed up his view of the Christian life: “If we let Him—for we can prevent Him, if we choose—He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror that reflects back to God . . . his own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less.”  
David C. Downing from C.S. Lewis blog

Attitash Mountain Biking

Grab your women and children

The other shoe is about to drop.  It is time to stop flapping our gums about "tightening the belt."  It is time to do it!  DeNile is not a large river in Egypt, it is what we do to ourselves to prolong the inevitable.  Denial ~ whistling past the graveyard, pretending that All Is Well.  The gig is up.  Our country is insolvent.  


This excellent article lays it out:  
http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/12/the_only_thing_that_will_save.html


If you've got the nerve, read 'em and weep.

Weekly Republican Address 12/11/10: Rep.-Elect Kristi Noem (R-SD)

Doesn't this just make you crazy?  Like a pyro to fire, this image draws me.  Not sure why.

Quote of the week

Why is so much deception necessary, if your case is good?  Thomas Sowell

All is Well - Michael W Smith

feminist rock 'n hard place

"Sarah Palin had everything the liberal feminists had said they were working for all these years. She was a self-made woman with a family, a career, and influence earned through hard work. However, Palin couldn't possibly be a feminist because she was conservative, loved her husband, and, most importantly, was pro-life."   Robert Eugene Simmons Jr.  

A life of obedience starts early

http://www.elisabethelliot.org/devotional.html

Elisabeth Elliot's Daily Devotional

Title: A Child's Obedience

Author: Elisabeth Elliot

Questions from a young mother: "How can I train my twenty-month-old to come to me? How many times do I say 'Come here' before I go and grab him?"

The very first time you tell the child to do or not to do something (come here, don't touch, sit still), (1) make sure you have the child's attention; (2) look him straight in the eye (let him know he has your attention); (3) speak in an even, normal tone, address him by name, give the command; (4) give him a few seconds to let the message sink in; (5) speak his name again, and ask, "What did I say?" Since training should begin long before he is talking, he will not be able to verbalize the answer, but he should obey. Children always are way ahead of their parents' idea of what they can understand. (6) Tell him once more: "Mama said come, Andrew." If he does not obey, spank him. After the first time or two of practice, spank after you've spoken once.

To make a habit of repeating commands is to train the child to believe you never mean what you say the first time. If the first lesson in obedience is carried out as above, the child learns quickly that you mean exactly what you say. I know it works--my parents taught us this way, and I watched them train my younger sister and brothers. I found that it worked with my daughter Valerie.

If you run after the child and physically force him to do what you say (e.g. grab him when he doesn't come, take something away when he touches it), you are training him not to pay attention to your words. He knows he can get away with anything until forcibly restrained.

Now about spanking. The book of Proverbs speaks of the "rod of discipline," (22:15) and says, "Rod and reprimand impart wisdom, but a boy who runs wild brings shame on his mother" (29:15, NEB). "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him" (13:24, NIV). My mother used a very thin little switch from a bush in the backyard. We knew there was one in every room, readily available to administer a couple of stings to our legs if we disobeyed. Valerie keeps a thin wooden paint stirrer handy in the house, and also in her purse. One or two firm "paddles" on a small outstretched hand are language that an under-two child understands very clearly.

Don't imagine that following this advice will mean that your child will be punished twenty times a day. The wonderful thing about these simple rules is that punishment needs to be used very seldom, if you start soon enough. If you begin at the beginning to show the child you are serious about obedience, you will not need to undo the months or years of raising your voice, repeating commands again and again, rushing after him. You will have control. The child will be learning to trust the word of authority (which will make it much easier later for him to believe that God means what He says) and your life together will be much more peaceful and happy.

Suppose your child is already twenty months or three years old and you have not taught him to obey? Then you must both pay a price, but I believe it can be done. Set aside a whole morning to start over. Talk to him, tell him how much you love him, tell him, "This morning we are going to learn the most important lesson you will ever have to learn." Let him see that you are in earnest. Start practicing the beginner's rules.

A word of caution: spanking, in my opinion, should be for deliberate disobedience only. When a child spills his milk or stuffs peanuts up his nose or pours your talcum powder all over the carpet, he is not being disobedient. He is only acting his age. You have not forbidden him to stuff peanuts up his nose. If you have, and he does it anyway, spank him. If, in defiance, he dumps his milk on the floor, spank him. But childish mistakes and messes must be pointed out, and by all means he should be made to rectify them or clean them up as best he can. Think of punishments that will fit the "crimes," but reserve the stick or the switch for deliberate disobedience. He will soon learn that when he defies you, a spanking follows as sure as the dawn follows the night--even if you are in church or the supermarket. Take him out to the car and spank him. Explain the whole system to him again (after the spanking), if necessary. Put your arms around him, assure him of your love, and change the subject.

Daily devotions courtesy of Devotions.org, a ministry of Back to the Bible. 

run Sarah run

"Has she given anyone a reason to say that she would say one thing and do another? No. You can say that she's not qualified -- that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. But know this, with Palin you'll always get the truth."  American Thinker comment


http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/12/sarah_palins_charisma.html


That, my Fine Feathered Fickled Friends, is the point.  The Cogent Point!  The woman is a truth-teller.  And for that, I love her.


P.S.  "Sarah is endowed with the wisdom that comes from a life of hard work, scrupulous honesty, and from bearing and raising 5 offspring, running a successful family business for 25 years with her devoted husband, and hunting down, killing, preparing, cooking and eating her own food. Her husband built their house. She and (Todd) are the prototypes of American independence of spirit and self-reliance. She is far more of a complete woman than any of her female critics, many of whom, I suppose, do not even do their own nails.  She is happier and more fulfilled than any of them..."  AT comment (could not say it better myself, so why re-invent the dat-gum wheel; just cut and paste)

driftless direction

Trendy sayings reflect prevailing thought.  Take a popular favorite, "Random!"  Now that's a well-used adjective. 
  "It's just so random!"  or "Random acts of kindness."  Is there such a thing?  Isn't an act of kindness always intentional?  

Random connotes 'aimless' or 'without rhyme or reason.'  Haphazard. I think of Seinfeld which is incoherently random.  Or the dolefully popular "Friends."  The centerpiece of these friend relationships is random acts of fornication.  Just happens.  Everyone falls into bed with everyone.  

Dallas Willard sums up the folly:  "Most people live their lives in a perpetual state of drift."  

A leaf floating on a creek.  random