Sunday morning, my newest little nephew, Aiden Levi Francis, was born. My older brother, Aaron, and his wife, Tasha, added this little guy to their already adorable family of four. With big sister, Kylie, and big brother, Wyatt, little Aiden was just what they needed.

He made his debut into the world about six thirty Sunday morning, and he’s a real cutie. He only weighed 4lbs 14ozs, though, so he’s a little guy. Being a little bit early and being so small, he’s having a hard time keeping his blood sugar up. He is currently in the NICU at Children’s Hospital, and we would all really appreciate your prayers for Aiden. Tasha was discharged this morning, but Aiden can’t go home until he can keep his blood sugar up on his own.

Please pray for Aiden, and also for Tasha and Aaron. I can’t imagine how hard it is for them to go home without their little guy. They need extra grace right now. God is good.

I have recently gotten into going to antique stores, thrift shops, and yard sales. The reason I got started doing this, was that I was looking for certain things for my “happy room”. I bought an antique rolltop desk from an antique store. I got some figurines from ebay. I bought several items from yard sales. Along the way, I began thinking about buying things that I didn’t necessarily want for cheap, and then re-selling them on Ebay.

So, anyway, I was wondering if any of you had experience selling on Ebay, and, if so, would you recommend it? Was it worth the time and effort? Any bad experiences?

I don’t like asking for money. It kind of makes my skin crawl. I always hated fundraisers in school.

With that said, I’m going to ask you guys for money. 

I have written about volunteering at Choices Resource Center in Oak Ridge. It’s a crisis pregnancy center with a far-reaching ministry. They help young women to see that they have choices other than abortion, help those women through their pregnancies by providing counseling and parenting classes, as well as providing free std testing, abstinence education, and post-abortion ministry. Above all, they want to show their clients that God loves them and present the Gospel to them. I’ve seen first hand the good that they are doing, and I really believe in that ministry.

Choices is a ministry, and, as a religious organization, they don’t get any funds from the government. They depend on donations and support from churches and individuals to keep their doors open. They are gearing up for one of the biggest fundraisers of the year, the Walk for Life.

Since I have class the day of the walk, my two eldest children are walking this year. I don’t like fundraising, but I know it’s necessary for Choices to operate. So, if any of you are able and would like to donate to a good cause, they would really appreciate the sponsorship. It’s not a per mile kind of thing, but a one time donation of whatever amount you want to give. You can donate by credit card online here , or you can choose to be billed in October after the walk is finished.

During this time of the year, when everyone is concerned with politics, abortion has been on a lot of people’s minds. Working at Choices has really cemented my already hard and fast pro-life position. We can’t just vote for pro-life candidates and leave it at that. In a lot of cases, it is desperate young women who turn to abortion. We have to give them hope, and we have to give them the help they need. Choices is doing just that.

If you can, please consider a one time donation to help us help women in need. If you aren’t able to donate monetarily, please pray for us. Pray that the needed funds will come in, and pray for the clients that we strive to help.

If you would like to sponsor me, you can do so here.

We’re winding down. Tomorrow is the last day of August, and, thus, the last day of our contest. So, if you have any titles that you want to finish up before the contest is over, you should get busy  reading. Here’s what we’re going to do. Post your totals today in the comments, so everyone knows where everyone stands.  Then, on Wednesday, everyone can check in with their final total. I’ll give you all of Wednesday to get your totals in, and, on Thursday, I’ll announce a winner and give some gift certificates for Amazon.

Friday is my last day of freedom. My semester starts bright and early Saturday morning. I shudder to think of the ungodly hour I’ll have to get up at to be in Oak Ridge at eight o’clock in the morning. I am not a morning person, by any means. Most of my Saturday will be taken up by Geology. The class lasts from eight to eleven, and the lab from twelve to three. That’s a long time to study rocks.

Chris will be taking care of the kids. Thankfully, he is on straight days right now, and can watch the kids on both days that I have classes. I am also taking Safety, First Aid, and CPR on campus on Monday nights in Harriman. Besides these two classes, I’m taking Art Appreciation and Principles of Nutrition online. A very full schedule, but it must be done if I want to graduate in the spring.

I’m going to miss the freedom I’ve had from homework since before Abby Jo was born. At the same time, though, I have really missed going to school.

I have a very full schedule this fall, beyond school. It looks like this:

Sunday: Church (a.m. and p.m.)

Monday: Karate for the kids and my class at six thirty

Tuesday: Bible study

Wednesday: Church (including my class that I teach)

Thursday: Karate for the kids

Friday: nothing so far

Saturday: Geology class

That my friends is a lot of stuff, but, lest you forget, let me point out that I am also homeschooling a first and third grader. I just throw in a four year old and a toddler for good measure.

Ay yi yi. I know I’m crazy. I know it. Everyone keeps telling me that I’m either wonder woman or that I’m crazy. I know I’m not wonder woman. She would have things under control. I do not. I’m constantly behind. The laundry is never done. The house is a mess as quickly as I clean it. If I think I’ve got all my plates spinning, I realize there’s no toilet paper and we’re out of milk. Definitely not wonder woman.

I’m okay with a little bit of crazy, though.

I like the way Simon Tugwell put it. “Maybe the best way not to go mad is not to mind too much if you do go mad.”

Lately, I find it so frustrating when I feel like someone I’m talking to is choosing ignorance for comfort’s sake. Let me explain what I mean. As a Christian, I am supposed to desire truth. I should want truth at any and all costs. I should be willing to change all my theology, all my practices, and all my thinking if it doesn’t line up with Biblical truth. That’s the way we’re supposed to be, isn’t it? Willing to forsake all to follow Christ?

There have been times in my life that I knew pursuing truth would cause me emotional pain. I have literally asked Chris not to study subjects, because I knew that if he changed his mind about it…it was going to hurt. When Chris began studying KJV-onlyism, I asked him several times not to. I think I was even in tears one time. I had this niggling feeling that he was right to distrust that particular belief, but I just didn’t want to go there. I had counted the cost, and I was not courageous enough to risk it. Fortunately for me, Chris was. I am way more socially inclined than he is, and so that played a much larger factor in my willingness to pursue truth. I didn’t want to lose my circle of friends. I didn’t want people to think badly of me. I just wanted to fit in. Long story short, Chris studied and shared, we both changed our minds, and we were willingly ushered out of the circle. It was hard.

I remember very vividly Chris and I driving home, and him recounting a conversation that was meant to hasten our departure from the circle. I was in shock. I knew it was my fault, because I had outed our change in belief. I put Chris in a position where he had to defend my writings on my blog, and everyone knew that we were no longer one of them. We came home, and I leaned against the doorway in the kitchen. I remember sliding down the wall, burying my face in my knees, and crying over my loss. I remember weeping and asking Chris, “Do they not love me anymore?” Chris said, “Rachel, they still love you. We knew this would happen eventually.” I cried and cried, and mourned the loss.

Was it worth it? Definitely. To not go there…to not write about the difference…would mean living an inauthentic life. It was worth the loss of fitting in and belonging to a group of people that I loved to feel the peace of taking a step toward truth.

That first step was the hardest. That first announcement of, “I don’t fit in.” It was scary. It was depressing at first. People were hurt by my departure. People were angry at me. I had people writing me…leaving comments for me…calling my house and yelling at me and telling me my children would never get saved. It was a hard time. It was worth it to me, though.

The first step made the second step easier. The process of examining my belief system…taking out different theologies…turning them over, holding them up to the Light, and trying to discern whether or not I was right to believe them. I found out that I was going to have to make some changes to truly align with what the Holy Spirit was showing me. Don’t worry. I’ve not stepped away from orthodoxy. I’ve simply found myself in the place where I had nothing to lose if I had to do an about face. The changes were necessary, and I have grown. The studying of my husband and my own studying have whetted my appetite for Truth. I love theology. I love learning. I love that satisfaction when some abstract idea falls into place, and I finally understand something that had confused me. I love having the freedom to make my faith my own.

It discourages me when I feel like people I talk to are unwilling to pursue truth. I sometimes feel like people are so scared of losing their circle of friends…the place where they belong…that they don’t even want to look into a subject. Fear of finding out they’ve believed a lie or been misguided is stronger than their desire to pursue Truth no matter what the cost.

I think it’s a lot easier to step out of the safety of the familiar, out of the circle of your friends, and out of what you’ve always known, when the familiar is no longer safe, you find yourself outside the circle of friends, and you discover that everything you’ve always known isn’t necessarily right. It’s harder to just step out in faith in the pursuit of truth with nothing but courage and a desire for the Divine to spur you on. That takes a powerful trust in the Almighty.

It’s easy now for me…I’ve nothing left to fear losing. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

Alright guys, it’s that time again. Time for a reading update.

The contest continues till the end of this month. I’m having fun. I hope you are, too. As always, leave your updates in the comments.

Alright, guys. It’s time for a reading update! Lindsey Scavo is schooling us all. There’s a Amazon gift certificate for the top readers in the adult and child categories. Don’t we all feel smarter already?

As always, leave your update in the comments. Follow my example. Current title -> Titles completed since last update -> Total

Happy reading!

Every day for the last two weeks, I’ve thought about blogging. For the most part, though, I’ve not blogged. It somehow seems like too much work. So, in lieu of a great post, here’s a mediocre list of ten things going on in my life right now. People love lists, right?

1. I am teaching a class for the teen girls at church on Wednesday nights, and I am loving it. Turns out, I love teaching Bible classes. Like, really a lot.

2. The Kindle app on my iPhone 4 is the best thing ever. It makes reading books so much more convenient for me. I read in the van when Chris is driving…in the bathroom…standing in line at Walmart…waiting at the doctor. I make much better use of my time these days. Not to mention reading all the free classics. I feel so much more well-read.

3. Toby died. I killed him. It sucked. I might write about that later. I’m really sad about it. It makes me feel like a failure, and I tear up every time Abby looks out the window and says, “Bubba?”

4. I went on a road trip to Texas with Amy Jo and her kids and all of my kids. That’s right. Six kids under ten years old. We rocked it. I will blog about it soon…I promise. If only so you all can tell me  how much Amy and I rock.

5. I’m going whitewater rafting on Sunday! So excited.

6. I am taking four classes this semester. “Safety, First Aid, and CPR”, “Geology”, “Principles of Nutrition”, and “Art Appreciation”. I’m very excited about getting back to school, but I’m a little worried about how I’m going to do everything I’m committed to. Homeschooling is going to be a huge amount of work on top of normal life and going to school myself.

7. I made myself a happy room. We have a hot tub room connected to our bedroom, and, for the most part, it was empty and unused. It had a hot tub and an elliptical machine in it. I bought an antique rolltop desk and a papasan chair, put some cool art on the walls, and I now spend a large portion of my free time in there. I’ll try to do a nice post with pictures soon. I refer to it as my “happy room”, and so do the kids. They just roll with my quirks.

8. I used to love listening to music. Mostly, contemporary Christian music. I waited excitedly for Tuesday to roll around with all the new albums. I hardly ever listen to music lately. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. Loving music is a huge part of who I am. There was a definite correlation between the worst part of my depression and not listening to music. Chicken or egg? I’m not sure. I just looked at a list of soon to be released albums, and got pretty excited. Third Day. Jars of Clay. Natalie Grant. Just to name a few.

9. Chris got assigned to an Army Reserve unit in Knoxville. It’s the 489th Civil Affairs Unit, which just so happens to be one of the most deployed units in the Reserves. Chris is very happy about this. It was the unit that he wanted, and there will be lots of opportunity for him to travel on orders for different training. There’s also a real possibility of an at least relatively soon deployment. This is what Chris wants. He wants to be a Chaplain to soldiers who need him, and they never need a chaplain more than when they’re deployed. His first drill is this coming weekend.

10. My new favorite store is “The School Box” a “Parent and Teacher Superstore”. I must be turning into a true homeschool mom, because I walked in the store for the first time a few days ago, and got all giddy over nearly every aisle. I showed great restraint by only spending around forty bucks in there.

The End

Ok, so all you slackers better comment and give an update on this post. Not a single one of you commented on my last one. Come ON, people. There are Amazon gift certificates on the line.

Follow my example in the comments.