Weekend Links - March 15, 2014

First, please don't forget the giveaway over at my husband's blog: Tiger Stripes Contest. You can help support my daughter's game and possibly win one of my husband's games. (If you're wondering what we get out of this, the answer is nothing. Any money made - and we're not talking big bucks here -  would be our daughter's. This is her baby, not ours. We just want to see her dream become reality.)

Thanks so much for all of you who have already pledged or helped us spread the word. It means a lot to us.

Now, for our regularly scheduled linkage:

Spiritual / Inner Life

• Can Your Chores Become Sacred Acts? by Shannon McKee at The Better Mom. I loved this post.
• Repent of Lent: How Spiritual Disciplines Can Be Bad for Your Soul by Brian Lee. We don't observe Lent but whether you do or not, this is an interesting read.
• Why I Care Which Ninja Turtle I Am? by Mike Leake at Borrowed Light. I'm a sucker for these kind of quizzes but I hadn't really given a lot of thought to why.
• To Whom Shall We Go? by Persis at Out of the Ordinary. My favorite passage of scripture. I think Philip and I are going to put it on our walls or at least print it out and frame it. It's just that meaningful to both of us.
• Being Liked Is Overrated by Jennie Allen for Relevant.
• How Churches Can Care for Their Pastor's Children by Chap Bettis at The Gospel Coalition. As a PK, I can tell you from personal experience that some churches (and church members) are better at this than others. This is good advice, right here.
• Thick Skin, Tender Heart, and What Every Pastor's Wife Needs Most by Elisha Galotti at True Woman. From PKs to pastor's wives: guess these things were just on my mind this week.
• The Man Who Destroyed America's Ego by Will Storr. Long but fascinating. Totally worth it if you have time to read through it. (H/T: my husband who has taken to sending me fascinating links under the heading "this might be link worthy". This one definitely made the cut.)

Marriage / Parenting

• 15 Unexpected Benefits of Big Family Living by Jennifer Flanders at Loving Life at Home. (OK, I know, 5 is not considered "big" in some circles. But my 5 give us many of these same perks.)
• This Crazy Little Thing Called Respect by Lisa Jacobson for The Time-Warp Wife.
• Let Boys Be Boys: Hard Truth for Fluffy Moms by Tricia Goyer at MomLife Today. I'm storing up posts like this to remind myself to let the iBoy BE a boy. With four older sisters that's going to be a challenge.
• The Anti-Viral, Non-Pinterest Way to Be a Great Mom by Erin Odom at The Humbled Homemaker.

Homeschooling / Education

• Librarian's List: Easy Leveled Readers by Betsy at Redeemed Reader. I need lists like this for my not-quite-fluent-yet Reader. (Plus, who doesn't love book lists, right?)
• Kids Play With Gadgets More Than Toys by Chris Matyszczyk at CNET News. Does this strike anyone else as just really, really sad?
• Scientists Debunk the Myth That 10,000 Hours of Practice Make You an Expert by Shaunacy Ferro at Fast Co. Design. File under "Things That Make You Go Hmm..."
• The Glorification of Busy by Karen DeBeus for Home Educating Family Association.
• If World War I was a Bar Fight from The Meta Picture. This is brilliant.

Possibly Controversial or Political

•  Book Review of Growing Up Duggar by Carrie at Reading to Know. I've never seen the show. I know relatives of the family. I have mixed emotions about the whole concept of Christian celebrities and the surrounding issues. So, I haven't read the book but I really appreciated this review.
• An Open Letter to Liberal Feminists: Girls Don't Have It Any Worse Than Boys by, you guessed it, Matt Walsh. It's almost mandatory that I link to at least one Walsh post a week.
• Challenging the Claims of Cosmos with Jay Ryan from The Wired Homeschool. Seems like an interesting resource.
• U.S. to Relinquish Remaining Control Over the Internet from The Washington Post. Does this seem like a REALLY BAD IDEA to anyone else?

Made Me Smile This Week

• 10 Pop Stars You May Not Have Known Were Pastor's Kids from Relevant.  We PKs know our music, that's for sure. (And she didn't make this list, but she might one day. OK, maybe not "Pop" star, she's way classier than that. But anyway, you should check out my friend Julie's music page on Facebook: Julie Anne Turner Music.)
• The 20 Greatest Disney Parents of All Time from Buzzfeed. Hmm...maybe. (Content & language warning for this site because you never know what awful thing might be in the sidebars.)
• 16 Tips from Bulldogs to Improve Your Day from Buzzfeed. If you can look at these pictures without smiling, well, you should probably go back to bed because, wow, you're feeling grouchy today.

To see my homemaking related links, check here: Creative and Domestic.

So, what caught your eye this week?
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