Weekend Links - September 6, 2014

This week felt like it was missing a day. The Labor Day holiday does that to me: Tuesday ends up feeling like Monday. But that's OK. I'm willing to miss a day when it works out for all of my family to be together. Even the Air Force branch of our family made it in.

Now for the links:

Spiritual / Inner Life

• Not the You You Remember by Betsy Childs for TGC.
• Why It Doesn't Matter How You Feel About Your Friends by Shauna Niequist. File under "things that make you go hmm..."
• The Art of Relearning to Read by Shannon McKee. My husband and I have been talking about this a lot lately. (You can put us in the camp that thinks broad reading - while applying discernment - is the best path.) 
• Sometimes Simple Feels Complicated by Allison Vesterfelt at The Art of Simple.
• 4 Things You Don't Have to Do with Your Money by Kara Fleck at The Art of Simple.

Marriage / Parenting

• 7 Habits of Parents Whose Kids Solve Problems by Janel Breitenstein for MomLife Today.
• Not Something You Do, But Someone You Raise by Summer Saldana for The Better Mom.

Homeschooling

• Creating a Circle Time that Works for You by Kendra Fletcher at Preschoolers and Peace.
• Homeschooling in a Different World by Hannah Vanderpool at Simple Homeschool.
• Stuff That's Working by Melissa Wiley. She always mentions great resources.

Writing

• Let it Go by Anna Elliott for Writer UnBoxed.
• One Surprising Way to Write Better by Emily Wenstrom for The Write Practice.
• I'd Know that Voice Anywhere by Katrina Kittle for Writer UnBoxed. This is one thing I will call out every time in a book review: your characters should not all sound the same.
• Blogging Freehand by Melissa Wiley. I've read her blog for a long time. It's always inspiring.

In the News

• One-Third of Americans are Freelancers Now by Elizabeth Nolan Brown for Reason. My husband fits this description, and I guess I will too, when I start making more money blogging. (And that's not considering babysitting or piano lessons) Multiple income streams definitely seems like the best way to navigate our economy.
• Why Britain is Poorer Than Any US State, Other Than Mississippi by Fraser Nelson in The Spectator.
• Harper Mills: Should Marja Mills' Memoir Have Been Published? By Aida Edemariam. This caught my eye because I just finished the book in question. (You can see my review in this post: Books of 2014 - August)
• We Cannot Afford to View Children as Commodities by Allison Kieselowsky for The Federalist.
• Rolling Stone Discovers that Everyone Homeless is Gay by David Harsanyi for The Federalist. Yet more evidence that if Americans could actually do math our country would be a different world.

Just for Fun

• 10 Place Names Brits and Americans Pronounce Differently by Laurence Brown at Mind the Gap.
• 7 British Animal Idioms That Will Baffle Americans by Jon Langford at Mind the Gap. (Note: I've heard Americans use some of these so I doubt most of us would be too baffled.)

So, what caught your eye this week?

Linking up with:

Weekend Links - August 30, 2014

And just like that, August is over. We managed to fill it with new experiences (and some old favorites) and some good memories. Not to mention four full weeks of school already completed.

Today is the first Saturday where I don't remember having an outside obligation. So, what will we get up to? I hear Playmobil City building upstairs, so I think I know what the girls have chosen for their Saturday fun.

To the links:

Spiritual / Inner Life

• God Loves My Boring, Unimportant Neighborhood by Darren Carlson for TGC.
• Not Enough by Mary at Better Than Eden. I could definitely identify with this post.
• 5 Truths for When the World Seems Against You by Jennifer Deibel. 
• 5 Ways to Move from Overwhelmed to Overjoyed by Rachel Wojnarowski for The Better Mom.

Marriage / Parenting

• I Am Not Here to Entertain My Children by Jenae at MomLife. Yes. This needs to be said.
• Top 10 Reasons for Marrying Young by Sheila Wray Gregoire at To Love, Honor, and Vacuum. I have some regrets from my teen & young adult years. Marrying the love of my life at 18 isn't one of them. (We celebrated 15 years this year!)
• When Childhood Has Become a Race by Jen Pollock Michel for CT.
• Teach Your Children Who They Are Before the World Teaches Them Who They Should Be by Tricia Goyer for The Better Mom.

Homeschooling / Education

• Confronting Reality by Reading Fantasy by Joe Fassler in The Atlantic.

Writing

• 7 Highly Effective Ways to Be Your Own Worst Enemy by Thomas Smith for Novel Rocket.
• Want to Write Better Dialogue? Break the Rules by Jeffrey Whitney for The Write Practice.

In the News

• The Brazilian Bus Magnate Who's Buying Up All the World's Records by Monte Reel in the New York Times. As Spock would say: "Fascinating." I love records, but no one loves records the way this man does.
• The American Dream Isn't Just About Income by Robert Tracinski in The Federalist.

Made Me Laugh

• Back to School: The 1970s vs. Today by Victoria Fedden. (language warning) I wasn't around in the '70s, and I was homeschooled in the '80s, but I know this is mostly true.

What caught your eye this week?

Linking up with:

P.S.: Don't forget about the Simplified Organization course. The coupon code backtoschool (good for 30% off) will only be good for a few more days - it expires September 2.

Weekend Links - August 23, 2014

We've had a full week here and several more things to do today, so let's get on to the links:

Spiritual / Inner Life

• Rightly Dividing: 12 Do's and Don'ts for Effective Bible Study by Michelle at Satisfaction Through Christ. Helpful reminders.
• Look Up (Why I Hated Women's Ministry) by Kate Conner. This is one of those posts that I wish I had written (but she did it better than I could, anyway, so I guess it's just as well I didn't).
• Twitter Grief is Real Grief: There's Nothing Wrong with Mourning Celebrities Online by Meghan O'Rourke in New Republic.
• Not Another Celebrity Death Post by Kenneth R. Morefield in CT.
• My Life Issues are Just Not as Big as They Seem by Sally Clarkson at I Take Joy. (I know, I link to Sally every week. Her blog is fantastic!)
• The Spirit is Willing but the Schedule is Tight by Garrett Kell at TGC.
• When Your Father Tells You To Walk: Engaging the Sanctification Debate Through the Lens of Adoption by Trevin Wax.

Marriage / Parenting

• Couples With Bigger Weddings Have Long-Term Happier Marriages, Study Finds by Cheryl Wetzstein. Guess this we can mark this down as one reason why Philip and I have been so happily married. (We had people at our wedding that NEITHER of us knew.)
• What You Do Before You Say "I Do" Matters for Marriage Happiness by Mollie Hemingway. And here are some more reasons.
• Have Babies, Just Not Yet by Courtney Reissig. Loved this one (not because I had our first baby when I was 20). 
• Giving Thanks for the Space You Call Your Home by Elisa at The Better Mom.
• When Motherhood Isn't What You Imagined by Becky Kopitzke for The Better Mom.
• When Our Kids Have a Bad Day by Christin at The Better Mom. 
• A Letter to My Boys (The Real Reason I Say No to Electronics) by Renee Robinson.

Homeschooling / Education

• Why I Choose to School My Children at Home and Why I Think You Should Too by Jenni White at EAG News. This is a former public school mom. Definitely worth a read, even if you think, "I will never do that."
• Mother Sentenced to 12 Years for "Stealing" Son's Education by Kira Davis for Watchdog Wire. Turns out calling the U.S. school system "public" education is quite a misnomer. Shouldn't public mean "open to anyone"?
• Don't Teach Math, Coach It by Jordan Ellenberg in The New York Times.
• High-Tech Schools with Low-Tech Problems by Allison Kieselowsky for The Federalist. The point seems to be that cyber school choices would best be considered "supported homeschooling" (which I thought most parents did, but apparently not).
• 4 Truths About Homeschooling by Kris Bales at Simple Homeschool.
• 10 Things Homeschoolers Think During Back to School Season by Joy Pullman. OK, this one made me laugh.

Writing

• What Writers Can Learn from "Goodnight Moon" by Aimee Bender in The New York Times.
• 3 Essential Questions for Better Backstory by Emily Wenstrom at The Write Practice.
• Avoiding the Rory Gilmore Syndrome by Rachel Hauck for Novel Rocket.
• This Writing Exercise Will Get You Unstuck Every Time by Joe Bunting for The Write Practice.

In the News

• Deliver Us From Wimpiness by Heather Wilhelm for Real Clear Politics.
• Emotional Storms are No Response for Disasters by Amity Shlaes in National Review. (Amity Shlaes is one of my newest favorite writers. Have you read her biography of Coolidgeyet? My Goodreads review is here.) 
• The Problem with Christian Films by Andrew Barber at TGC. Yes. (And bonus points for bringing C.S. Lews into the issue.)

Just for Fun

• Kids Weigh in on Fall 2014 Ad Campaigns from The Fashion Spot. Maybe I should have been saving some of my fashion magazines as creative writing assignments for my kids?

What caught your eye this week?

Linking up with:


Don't forget the offer on this new course, good until September 2 (see this post: Learning to Love What Must Be Done, for more about that)

This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure page for more about this. Opinions are my own.

Weekend Links - August 16, 2014

Crazy busy weekend so, on to the links:

Spiritual / Inner Life

• When Existence Becomes Seemingly Impossible by Alan Noble. There were many great things (and more than a few awful things) written after the tragic suicide of Robin Williams, but this one was one of my favorites.
• Robin Williams, Jonathan Edwards, and Heaven on Earth by Ryan Hoselton.
• 12 Toxic Behaviors That Push People Away From You by Marc Chernoff.
• God Does Not View Your Labors as "Filthy Rags" by Michael Kruger.
• The Secret of Hospitality by Alli Pluim at I Take Joy.
• Learning How to Choose Joy by Sally Clarkson at I Take Joy.
• How to Live an Exceptional Life, Even When Life Doesn't Feel Exceptional by Kat Lee at The Art of Simple.

Marriage / Parenting

• How to Help Kids Be On Time by Julie DesCarpentrie for MomLife Today. Practical advice.
• The American Dream Does Not Cost $130,000 A Year by Joshua Becker from Becoming Minimalist.
• Why Courtship is Fundamentally Flawed by Thomas Umstattd, Jr. This one pretty much went viral, at least in my circles. I could write an entire post responding to this post. No time for that today. Suffice it to say, he makes some good points but I don't agree with all that he says. (For instance: Philip and I dated. But he did ask my dad before our first date, because I asked him to. Doesn't seem to have hurt our relationship any.)
• Men Say "Uh" and Women Say "Um" by Olga Khazan. Newsflash: men and women are different, even in speech patterns. (Language warning)
• Growing Your Child's Relationship with Jesus (When Yours is Struggling) by Jessica Smartt for The Better Mom.
• 12 Frequent Questions About Our International Marriage by Trevin Wax. Thought this was an interesting peek into a cross-cultural marriage. 
• 8 Tips for Talking to Your Child About S** by Mollie Hemingway. (Asterisks to deter the crazies, not because I'm afraid of the word.)

Writing

• How to Get Your Short Stories Published in Lit Mags by Suzannah Windsor Freeman.
• Is Your Writing Like Julie Andrews, Etta James, or Ella Fitzgerald? by Ane Mulligan at Novel Rocket.
• Being Original by Carlos Cooper at The Write Practice.

Blogging / Social Media

• A Christian Response to Trolling by Emily McFarlan Miller for Her.Meneutics. 
• How Long Should Your Blog Post Be? by Joe Bunting at The Write Practice.
• 5 Elements of the "Perfect" Blog Post by Joe Bunting at The Write Practice. (Yes, he was on a roll this week.)

In the News

• Why I Am No Longer a Leftist by Danusha Goska. This one took courage. (Language & content warning.)
• World War I Continues to Haunt Us by Jonah Goldberg. No surprise, I agree. (And if you'd like to learn more about WW1, I have a reading list for you: Another War Soon Gets Begun.)
• How to Eliminate Almost Every Federal Agency by Jason Plautz in National Journal.
• Ninevah Will Rise Up by Joel Badal. Fascinating look at a culture I've never even considered.

Interesting (Everything Else...)

• Military Kit Through the Ages. See what British soldiers wore and carried through the years from the Siege of Jerusalem in 1244 up to Helmand Province in 2014.
• Tom Tierney, Who Made Paper Dolls an Art Form, Dies at 85. I hesitate to tell you how many of his paper dolls I have. (Hint: a lot.)
• Unpronounceable by Alissa Fleck. What's it like to grow up with a name no once can pronounce?
• New Evidence is Revealed in Latest Richard III Documentary.

What caught your eye this week?

Linking up with:

Weekend Links - August 9, 2014

We had a great first week of school. Experiments were conducted, copywork completed, lessons heard, and lots of reading took place even though I had no voice for the first few days and never quite got it back as the week went on. I'm hoping it will be back to normal by next Monday.

On the agenda for today: a movie. And maybe a thrift store. In other words, a fabulous Saturday.

What's on your agenda today? Hope you have some time to squeeze in a few of these links:

Spiritual / Inner Life

• In Defense of Emotional Eating from Nourished Kitchen. Another way at looking at it.
• Comparison Brings Death to Our Souls by Sally Clarkson at I Take Joy.

Marriage / Parenting

• Preserving Childhood Innocence: The Right Not to Know by Sheila Wray Gregoire. Parents, we must be vigilant about this. It's so important and so many things are against us.
• A Mother's Hope for A Better World by Halee Gray Scott for CT.
• On Daughters and Dating: How to Intimidate Suitors by Jen Wilkin. {H/T: Jessie} As a mom of four daughters, I loved this post.
• 7 Ways a Faithful Mother Can Make a Big Difference by Lisa Jacobson at The Better Mom.

Education / Homeschooling

• Can We Make Classicism Into a Fan Club Instead of a Movement? by Joshua Gibbs at CiRCE Institute. Still not sure where I fall in this argument but it's definitely thought provoking.
• Classical Education in Action: Brandy's Home by Brandy Vencel for Schole Sisters. True education is so much more than just a stack of textbooks (although textbooks may be part of it).

Writing

• How to Keep Writing? Break it Down by Claire Cook for Writer UnBoxed.
• The Strongest Form of Characterization by Joe Bunting at The Write Practice.

In the News

• Back to School: When Mr. Reuter Becomes 'Ms. Reuter' by Mary Hasson for The Federalist.
• The Libertarian Moment Has Definitely Not Arrived by David Harsanyi for The Federalist.

Christianity in the News

• What We're Really Saying by Bart Gingerich. Why is the decline in church attendance such an important subject? Gingerich gives a long, thoughtful answer.
• Learning From Young Atheists: What Turned Them Off Christianity by Eric Metaxas. Eric Metaxas is a treasure, what he has to say is usually worth a listen.
• Mega Churches and Worshipping Incognito by R. C. Sproul, Jr.
• Patriarchy, Christian Reconstructionism, and White Supremacy from Diary of an Autodidact. Long, but interesting in light of the downfall of both Gothardism and Vision Forum.
• What's Wrong With the "Wrong Side of History" Argument? by Kevin DeYoung.

Just for Fun

• Foods that Brits and Americans Pronounce Differently from Mind the Gap. In not-quite related news have I mentioned lately how much I want to go back to England?

What caught your eye this week? If you have a links round-up post, please consider sharing it!
Linking up with:

Weekend Links - August 2, 2014

August already. We plan to start school on Monday but we'll have to see what happens because about half of us are struggling with a persistent cold. It's not bad enough to go to the doctor, but we're not good for much else. Hoping it moves on quickly. In a family of seven, it can take a while for a cold to run its course.

Anyway, on to the links!

Spiritual / Inner Life

• Come Out of Your Shell by Nina at The Art of Simple. Practical advice for introverts.
• The Church Deserves Better Than Ugly Decorations by Michelle Van Loon for Christianity Today. So glad to see someone actually saying this out loud. Church buildings shouldn't be feminized, filled with 1980s cast-offs, OR HGTV-like, changing in appearance with every new trend. Church building are not just really big houses to be decorated how a committee of three or five women think it should be. What a church building looks like is an issue larger than ourselves.
• 7 Reasons Why We Should Stop Praising Excess by Joshua Becker at Becoming Minimalist.
• 3 Common Traits of Youth Who Don't Leave the Church by Jon Nielson for Faith It. Of the three, I'd say the first is the most significant. 
• Actually, Some Material Goods Can Make You Happy by Rebecca J. Rosen in The Atlantic. It's a provocative headline for sure, but it made sense once I read the post.
• The Gospel on Our Sleeves: Where I Went Wrong Teaching About Modesty by Irene Sun for TGC.

Marriage / Parenting

• The Hidden Years of Being a Stay at Home Mom by Emily Wierenga at The Better Mom.
• 5 Reasons Why Getting Married Young is Still A Good Idea by Greg Gibson at CBMW. YES! I've wanted to write a post like this for a long time.
• I Blamed My Wife for Our Messy House, I Was Wrong for Many Reasons by Clint Edwards. And all the stay at home moms rejoiced and were glad.
• Housewifely by Leila at Like Mother, Like Daughter. The gentle, practical advice we've come to expect from Auntie Leila.
  
• Murphy's Law for Mothers from the DHM at The Common Room Blog. Just in case you've ever thought it was only you.
• How I Taught My Kids To Clean...So I Could Stop Cleaning by Jamie Martin at Simple Homeschool.
• When 'Tidy' Doesn't Come Easily by Kristen Habermehl at I Take Joy. Does it seem like all my home related posts are following a theme this week? I wouldn't have said this was a particularly bad week for our housekeeping efforts, but they must be on my mind because I didn't notice how many posts on this I had saved until I started putting this link list together.

Homeschooling / Education

• Why Do Americans Stink at Math? by Elizabeth Green in The New York Times.
• Shivering in Tolkien's Shadow by Josephine Livingstone in Prospect.
• Navigating Homeschooling with a Sensitive Child by Kara Anderson at Simple Homeschool.

Writing

• How to Become a Better Writer in One Simple Step by Joe Bunting for The Write Practice. Great advice, and unlike some writing advice, anyone can improve in this area.
• Don't Look Back on Your Writing Journey with Regrets - 9 Things to Avoid by Edie Melson for Novel Rocket.
• Imagining Beyond One's Own Experience or, What The Fiction Writer Calls 'Going to Work' by Tracy Hahn-Burkett for Writer UnBoxed.
• What Dickens, Austen, Faulkner, and the Brontes Can Teach You About Writing by K.M. Weiland at The Write Practice. 
• 3 Things To Do to Guarantee You Won't Get Published by Selma Wilson for CT.

In the News

• World War I Reparations Weren't as Unfair as You Think by Brendan Hodge. (Side note: be sure to check back Monday for my WW1 Recommended Reading List)
• Big Government is the Borg, and Resistance Isn't Futile by Stella Morabito. I love a good political discussion with Star Trek references. (Does that make me a nerd, a geek, or a hybrid of the two?)
• Don't Close Your Eyes: Iraq is Torturing and Purging Christians by Leslie Loftis. This is really happening and we can't just wish it away.
• Christ Pratt on Son Jack's Premature Birth: 'We Were Scared for a Long Time'. I know this is kind of light reading after some of the above links. But I thought it was sweet. To have some from Hollywood openly profess faith and a belief that family comes first is a nice change.

What caught your eye this week?

Linking up with:

Weekend Links - July 26, 2014

We've had a busy week at church camp, so not as many links for you today. Meanwhile, I've got to catch up on the laundry (SO MUCH LAUNDRY) and get our lives back on track so we can start strong on Monday.

Spiritual / Inner Life

• Chosen: The Only Call YOU Can Answer by Jennifer Ebenhack for The Better Mom.
• Your Naked Truth by Aimee Byrd at Reformation 21.
• The Emperor's Game of Clothes by Emily Jacobs at Em Speaks. 

Marriage / Parenting

• Is Your Parenting That Different From the People You Mock? by Mollie Hemingway for The Federalist.
• The Parent Trap by Ross Douthat in The New York Times. Another look at the parenting controversies of last week.

Writing

• The Aspiring Writer's Dictionary by Bill Ferris at Writer UnBoxed. If you "LOL" at this, you might be a writer.

In the News

• Rising Prices and Stagnant Wages Are Real by Sean Davis at The Federalist.
• How To Tell Someone's Age When All You Know Is Her Name by Nate Silver and Allison McCann. I find this stuff fascinating. (Let's start the "bring back Opal, Agnes, and Helen" movement right now.)

If you want to know why my family thinks church camp is so important - even though it's exhausting and disruptive to our family life while we get ready for it and recover from it - see this series of posts: What's So Special About Church Camp?

What caught your eye this week?

Linking up with:

Weekend Links - July 19, 2014

We hit a few yard sales this morning (not too many, but I did find some things for our homeschool supplies - two USA puzzles, a Melissa & Doug magnetic calendar, a Think Fun chess game, & an anatomy coloring book, among a few other things). The big girls are off blueberry picking with their Gram, Philip & Miss Lili went to visitation, and I get to put this links post together in a quiet house while the iBoy takes his morning nap - what luxury.

Spiritual / Inner Life

• How the Church Became our Family by Courtney Reissig at In View of God's Mercy. What I love about this is not just how her church rallied around her when she needed them, but how she accepted what they offered. If she had spent her time comparing the women who reached out to help to her own mother, they would have constantly come up short. But she appreciated them for who they were and what they were doing, instead of comparing them to what they were not. [stepping off soap box now]
• Want to Love Your Job? Church Can Help, Study Says by Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra for Christianity Today. This doesn't surprise me at all, but it's nice to have it confirmed.
• When Loving Someone is Hard! No One Sees Me, I Am Lost by Sally Clarkson at I Take Joy.
• When Our Desires Disorient Us by Jen Pollock Michel for Christianity Today.
• From Hider to Reveler by Shannon McKee at The Better Mom.
• God Can Restore Your Lost Years by Colin Smith at TGC. Such an encouraging post!
• Are You Prepared to Trust in God? Well, Are You? from Tressays. My Twitter friend wrote this great reminder. 

Marriage / Parenting

• Help Your Kids Say 'No' to Porn by Jen Wilkin at TGC. This is SO very important. We had this point driven home just this week. I followed a link on Pinterest and it ended up at a site that had been hacked. I saw things I would much rather not and things I DEFINITELY do not want my kids to see. It was a good reminder though: sin doesn't just sit around and wait for us. The devil is seeking to devour. Sin finds you, and you need to be prepared and your children need you to prepare them.
• How Generous Are You, Really? by Lisa Byrne at The Art of Simple.
• Jesus Centered Parenting in a Child Centered World an interview with J.D and Veronica Greear by Trevin Wax.
• The Power of the Written Word by Angie Warren at The Art of Simple.
• Four Ways Three Children are Better Than Two by Leslie Loftis for The Federalist. Great points in this post, although I have to admit the addition of our third child was kind of hard (suddenly kids outnumbered adults). What's strange is that adding our fourth and fifth didn't seem that difficult. We'd already crossed the line into "those people" and there was no looking back.

Education / Homeschooling

• The Little Way to Success by Cindy at Ordo Amoris. Cindy is wise and her reminder is timely for those of us gearing up for another school year.
• How Family Game Night Makes Kids Into Better Students by Jessica Lahey for The Atlantic. Philip has always suspected this. (Our kids, living with a game designer, don't just have "family game night." There's a game with dad nearly every night at our house, and that doesn't count the games they play during the day.)

Writing / Creativity

• Create More Than You Consume by Mikael Cho.
• Unlocking the Story Box by Sophie Masson at Writer UnBoxed.
• A Guide to Networking for People Who Suck at Networking by Andrea Ayres. Introverts, unite! (Separately)
• Bill Murray, Tom Cruise, and You by Allen Arnold at Novel Rocket.

In the News

• Vox's Motto Should Be 'Explaining the News, Incorrectly, Repeatedly' by Mollie Hemingway for The Federalist
• The Crime of Letting an Eleven Year Old Who Wanted to Wait in the Car Wait in the Car by Amy Alkon at Advice Goddess Blog.
• Parenting in an Age of Bad Samaritans by Gracy Olmstead for The American Conservative.
• Mommy Police With Real Handcuffs by Megan McArdle at Bloomberg View.
• Food Prices are Soaring and Washington Doesn't Care by Ben Domenech for The Federalist. It's so aggravating to be told by the news that inflation is nonexistent when I do the grocery shopping and can see the packaging getting smaller while the prices just go up.

What caught your eye this week?

Linking up with:

Weekend Links - July 12, 2014

We had talked about having a yard sale today but somewhere around Thursday night my motivation to do anything just went away. Friday we talked about a free night at a local museum or dressing up like cows to get free Chick Fil A food. But the idea of going anywhere, or, again, doing anything, was just not appealing. We read books. We played board games. We cooked out, just for us. We gave the little folks a bubble bath and let them play as long as they wanted. I worked on some homeschool paperwork. We did not price any items or make a craigslist ad or set up any signs directing people into our neighborhood.

So, no yardsale today. No plans at all, really. And it is good.

But I do have lots of links for you this week so let's get to 'em.

Spiritual / Inner Life

• What We Get Wrong About 'Finding God's Will' by Chandler Vannoy for Relevant.
• In Praise of the Quiet Time by Megan Hill for TGC.
• Rest is an Act of Resistance by Rhesa Storms for On Faith. Thinking about it this way eases any guilt I feel about our laidback weekend.
• Don't Be a Sex Sponge by Simcha Fisher. Great insight here. (warning: adult subject matter and the site has several auto-play ads that are obnoxiously loud)
• The Great Commission Means Sharing Christ's Story, Not Yours by Trevin Wax. Right on. 
• Envy Always Wins by Tim Challies. Envy is not a "victimless crime".

Marriage / Parenting

• Let Kids Be Kids Instead of Sexualized Little Adults by Amy Julia Becker for CT.
• Related: I Am Ryland by Lindsay Leigh Bentley. This one went viral, but in case you missed it, read it now.
• Ask Auntie Leila: Dating Rules for Teenagers? from Like Mother, Like Daughter. Love the perspective in this post because it's not just about dating.
• Cultivating a Culture of Family Love: Love That Lasts a Lifetime by Sally Clarkson at I Take Joy. Oh, I appreciated this one! This is what I want for my family, for my children. It's a worthy goal, and like all worthy goals, at times it seems impossible to reach.
• It's Okay to Tell Your Daughter She's Pretty by Carrie Lukas at The Federalist.
• A Bit of Religion Can Be Bad for Marriage by Charles Stokes, Amber Lapp, and David Lapp. Let the headline grab your attention and then read the whole thing. It's sobering, but not without hope.

Friendship / Relationships

• 10 Ways to Love an Introverted Mom from Moderately Crunchy. I loved this post so much. I would print it out and hand it out to people I know if that were socially acceptable. Since it's not, I'll just share it here.
• What to Say When Friends Are Suffering from the DHM at The Common Room Blog. Helpful advice.
• Related: 5 Things NOT to Tell Your Depressed Friend by Candace Crabtree at His Mercy is New.
• How to Love Your Neighbors (Yes, The Ones Next Door) by Jessica Smartt at The Better Mom. This one was convicting because we recently moved and we don't know many of our neighbors yet. Maybe it's time to stop waiting for them to introduce themselves.
• 10 Ways to Grow a Friendship by Kara Chupp for The Better Mom. Why so many posts about friendship this week? Because it doesn't come easy for me. 

Homeschooling / Education

• This is What Education Reform Should Look Like by Penelope Trunk. American society is not homogenous, why should education be? 
• Could a Slight Schedule-Switch Work Wonders for You? by Kari Patterson at Simple Homeschool. One of the main points about homeschooling should be flexibility and yet I see so many homeschool moms beating themselves up if they don't start at 8 AM on the dot. Stop!
• Planning With an Open Hand (it's about humility) by Sarah Mackenzie for Amongst Lovely Things.
• Do You Believe in Magic? by MacKenzie at BRC Banter. Great thoughts on a sometimes controversial subject from my friend (and fellow INTJ).

Blogging / Social Media

• The Real Problem with Mommy Blogging by S.E. Smith for The Week.Tough questions.
• Dear Small Time Mediocre Blogger, I Think You're Great by Mary from Better Than Eden. I loved this one so much, I've shared it more than once this week.

In the News

• All Your Children Belong to Us by Glenn Cook in the Las Vegas Review Journal. Ignoring these issues will NOT make them go away. 
• Everything is Terrible: How Bad Stats Fuel Disillusionment by Ed Stetzer.
• Our Conservative Popular Culture by Jonah Goldberg. This post and the one above are a good flipside to most of the doom and gloom we see reported in conservative / Christian circles.
• Media Ignorance is Becoming a Serious Problem by Mollie Hemingway. And then there's the mainstream media...
• The Romantic Comedy is Dead by Andrew Romano at The Daily Beast.
• Response: What Killed the Romantic Comedy? by Rachel Lu for The Federalist. As a longtime consumer of classic romantic comedies, I found these fascinating posts.

Apparently I did a lot of reading, online and off, this week. I never know how many links I've saved until I start writing this post and I retrieve them from all my hiding places (Feedly, my email, Pinterest, bookmarks...)

What caught your eye this week?

Linking up with:

Weekend Links - July 5, 2014

Hope your Fourth was amazing. Ours was spent with family playing games, swimming, twirling sparklers and setting off bottle rockets, chasing (and running from) puppies, going in and out of Grandma's house (my niece's favorite game), watching fireworks, watching the Reds on TV (they won), and eating basically non-stop from 1PM until after 9 PM.

It was a fabulous day, in other words. But enough about that for right now. Let's get on with the linkage:

Spiritual / Inner Life

• Naming and Framing by Charlie Park for The Art of Simple.
• The Crisis Of Biblical Illiteracy by Kenneth Berding for Biola Magazine.
• To Know Them is to Love Them by Robin Dance for The Art of Simple. 

Homeschooling / Education

• Starting a Classical Co-Op by Jennifer Dow for Expanding Wisdom. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I've looked at as many options I can find for co-ops, support groups, and the like in our area. I'm striking out. If I was brave, and if I knew enough interested people, I would love to do this. Who knows? It may yet happen.
• Making Sense of Reading Levels by Beth Gorden for 123 Homeschool 4 Me. I don't care what levels my children are in, but this might help find appropriate books at the library.

In the News

• A Simple Solution to Healthcare Woes: Separate Health Insurance from Employment by Leslie Loftis for The Federalist.
• Facebook Has Become A Manipulative Boyfriend by Rebecca Cusey. I agree with a lot of this post, although I'm just not ready to give it up completely for many of the same reasons mentioned in this post:
• Facebugged by Melissa Wiley.

Fun Stuff

• JK Rowling's New Novel Reveals What She Really Thinks of the Publishing Industry by Elizabeth Winkler in The New Republic. (See my mini review of this book here: Books of 2014 - June)
• The Town That Went Underground from Messy Nessy Chic. Looks cozy, anyway.
• New Findings About Richard III - Remains Reexamined by Irina Michaels for Royal Central. Thanks to Josephine Tey and Elizabeth Peters, who both wrote persuasively about Richard III, I've become a bit of a Richard apologist. I don't think he killed his nephews, and it's starting to sound like he wasn't hunchbacked either. (Shakespeare let us down on this one, folks.)

So, what caught your eye this week? And Facebook - love it or hate it?

Linking up with:

Weekend Links - June 28, 2014

This has been an interesting week. One thing that happened (among many other disasters both big and small): our beloved desktop computer died an ignoble death. A techie friend of ours installed a new hard drive(s) (my husband tells me one of these is "solid state" and he is quite excited about it. Means nothing to me but...) and was able to salvage many of our old things. We're missing some programs because we've misplaced some things in the move (didn't know THOSE cd's would be important, don't you know). My apologies if any of these links are duplicates. We still don't have everything sorted out yet.

Spiritual / Inner Life

• 8 Ways to Say "No!" by David Murray. For folks who have trouble with, you know, just saying "No."
• 7 Inescapable Choices Pastors' Wives Face by Kathy Ferguson Litton for Flourish.
• Stop Saving Your Stickers by Brooke McAlary. Oh, how this one resonated with me. (Except in my case it was coloring book pages instead of stickers.)

Marriage / Parenting

• Where I. Am. the. Mom. by Christy Duffy at Where I Am. This went viral, for good reason. This is a new to me blog but I'm subscribing now. The follow-up to her viral post:
• Who's In Charge? It's so crazy to me that we have to discuss this, but that's where we live now and ignoring this stuff does NOT make it go away. And another one:
• Rita Skeeters Among Us. Having a post go viral must be a wild ride.
• Cool at 13, Adrift at 23 by Jan Hoffman in the New York Times. Not to be too snarky, but this shocks whom, exactly? My dad has been telling me all my life not to be the kind of person who thought their glory days were in highschool. Can you imagine peaking in middle school? *shudder*

Homeschooling / Education

• How Homeschooling and Classical Christian Schooling Could Alter the Leadership of the Future by Tom Gilson for Breakpoint.
• Waste Your Time by Sarah Mackenzie for Simple Homeschool. 

Reading / Writing

• Reading and the "Attention War" by Gracy Olmstead at The American Conservative.
• Ramona at Forty by Stephanie Lucianovic for the L.A. Review of Books. Fascinating look by an adult at a beloved childhood character.
• How I Wrote 400K Words in a Year by Jamie Todd Rubin. Write every day. Just do it. (I'm exhorting myself here.)

In the News

• My Invitation to be Filmed for TLC's Extreme Cheapskates by Andrea at Pennies & Pancakes. Thought this behind the scenes look was informative. (Just in case you've ever wondered, "Is this real?")
• Box Containing Christmas Gifts from Royal Family to World War 1 Soldiers Discovered from Royal Central. I love the royal family and I love history so this definitely caught my attention. (But can you imagine 100 year old chocolate?)
• The Left-Right Political Spectrum is Bogus by Crispin Sartwell. Long, but thought provoking and worth it if you have the time. 
• The Manufactured Immigration Crisis on the Texas Border by John Daniel Davidson for The Federalist.
• How the Trans-Agenda Seeks to Redefine Everyone by Stella Morabito for The Federalist.
• Site Refunds Donations for Alleged KFC Hoax from The Clarion-Ledger. The facts about this story are still murky but it drives me nuts how these things go viral before ANYONE REALLY KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED. Cut.it.out, people. Stop sharing this stuff around Facebook when you don't know the people involved or the facts of the case either way. [/rant]

For Fun

• 28 Things Only Stay at Home Mums Will Understand from Buzzfeed (language and content warning for this site). Maybe it's just the British-isms but I found this charming and very, very true. (Especially that last one. NO MORE.) Related:
• The Definitive Ranking of Things That Will Test a Parent's Patience also from Buzzfeed (same language & content warnings).
• 25 Very Real Struggles of Making New Friends as an Adult from Buzzfeed. Yep.
• Speaking of Buzzfeed, this is not so fun: Buzzfeed Tracks Your Quiz Answers and the Results May Surprise You by Sam Machkovech. Will this stop me from finding out what cheese I am? Maybe not. But it does give me pause.

What caught your eye this week?

Linking up with:

Weekend Links - June 21, 2014

We've had a fabulous couple of days celebrating our anniversary. This morning we reunited with our kids (that's the first time we've left the iBoy for that long) and now we're almost ready to make the trek home to get started on whatever the next 15 years holds.

Meanwhile, here are the links I saved this week:

Spiritual / Inner Life

• Be Still: Learning to Live in the Goodness of His Grace by Sally Clarkson at I Take Joy.
• Grace Comes Every Morning by Sally Clarkson at I Take Joy. (So much good stuff from I Take Joy this week!)
• Why People Who Sleep Longer Achieve More by Michael Hyatt. Loved this.

Marriage / Parenting

• Hope in the Mess by Brook McGlothlin

Homeschooling / Education

• Americans Think School is For Socializing by Georgi Boorman for The Federalist.
• Revitalize Your Family's Reading this Summer by Allison Kieselowsly for The Federalist.

Writing

• Writing as Therapy by Robin LaFevers at Writer Unboxed.
• Why We Write: Four Reasons by Joe Bunting at The Write Practice.

For Fun

• 33 of Your Childhood Toys that Are Worth a Fortune Now from Buzzfeed. (Language and content warning for this site.) My sister had those Polly Pockets and we had a Teddy Ruxpin too. My husband had a few more things on the list. (sigh)

What caught your eye this week?

Linking up with:

Weekend Links - June 15, 2014

After a full week of VBS, today we have a birthday party for my nephew (the famous Fen) and brother-in-law, Philip and our oldest are off to a game convention, and we're hosting Father's Day festivities at our house tomorrow. The fun times just keep rolling.

On to the links!

Spiritual / Inner Life

• 5 Keys to Finding Your Passion by Jenni Catron for Relevant.
• Five Ways to Be a Heart Sister by Natalie Snapp for The MOB Society.

Marriage / Parenting

• A Quarrelsome Wife by Heidi St. John for The Time-Warp Wife. Great advice.
• The Secret to our Sanity by Rachel Wojnarowski.
• Stop Controlling Kids and Teach Them Judgment by Leslie Loftis.
• How to Prepare for Marriage - Not Just for the Wedding by Shelia Wray Gregoire. I love the "red flags" she shares and I hope to use this as a tool with my own daughters as they approach this milestone. (We have a few years yet!)

Writing

• Help, I Forget How to Write! by Gina Holmes for Novel Rocket.
• What Kindergarten Got (And Still Gets) Really, Really Wrong by Lisa Cron for Writer Unboxed.
• Why Your Writing Sounds Weird (And What You Can Do About It) by Joe Bunting for The Write Practice.
• In Defense of Cliches by Rachel Lu.

In the News

• Obama's Wish-Fulfilling Prophecy in Iraq by Robert Tracinski.
• Secession, Slavery, and The American Civil War a roundup from The Common Room blog.
• 'Maleficent': A Story of Repentance by Rebecca Cusey for The Federalist. I've seen conflicting reviews of this movie but I do hope this take is an accurate one (and no, I haven't seen the movie myself yet).

What caught your eye this week?
Linking up with:

Weekend Links - June 7, 2014

Today is our big open house. We've invited all our friends and family in our area to come check out our new place. The a/c is finally fixed & working but it set us back on a few other projects. So the house isn't finished - is a house ever really finished? - but that's no reason not to throw a party and invite everyone we know over. Or so we keep telling ourselves.

Spiritual / Inner Life

• Sports vs. Church from Family Discipleship Path. I'm guessing this one stepped on a few toes. The only chance Christians have to stop this games & practices on Sunday trend is for parents to simply start saying no. There is strength in numbers.
• Serving in Small Places on Sunday by Elisha Galotti at True Woman. "Ordinary work is kingdom work." Loved this post.
• The Christian Bystander Effect by Melissa Edgington at Your Mom Has a Blog. Horrifying.
• A Habit that Could Be Cluttering Your Life by Allison Vesterfelt at The Art of Simple.

Marriage / Parenting

• Six Things to Tell Our Daughters About Culture and Beauty by Gina Smith for MomLife Today.
• How to Kill Your Child's Creativity by Nuria Paredes at Playful Learning.
• Paltrow, Jolie, & Thompson: A Few Lessons from the Elite Mommy Wars by Leslie Loftis.
• 8 Ideas to Teach Our Kids to Say "Yes" to Discernment and "No" to Judging Others Part II by Janel Breitenstein.

Homeschooling / Education

• What's Lost as Handwriting Fades by Maria Konnikova in the New York Times.
• How We Got Our Kids in College by Age 12 from Yahoo. I'm not sure this little story actually tells "how", but it did catch my eye. Hooray for homeschooling! (Even though I haven't gotten my 12 year old into college, nor do I think that would be the best thing for her.)
• Why You Should Read Old Books by Richard Rohlin for Humane Pursuits.
• Why College Board is Revising U.S. History by Joy Pullman. This is ridiculous (and scary).

Writing

• How to Write Through Duress by Birgitte Rasine.
• I Have a Kid Hangover (But Manage to Write Anyway) by Ellen Painter Dollar.

Linking up with:

Weekend Links - May 31, 2014

May went by in a hurry (you can see a recap of our May here). There are more things on the schedule for today so on to the links:

Spiritual / Inner Life

• Life Isn't a Zero Sum Game by David Azerrad for The Federalist. 
• Perfectionism, Chancing Failure, and the Coming of the Kingdom of God by Katie Orr for Flourish.
• Local Connections by Lisa Bogart. I need posts like this because I've wailed to my husband - more than once: "But why is friendship so hard?"
• 10 Ways to Make Your Birthday Meaningful by Sheila Wray Gregoire. My birthday just passed, but I really liked this post and I'd love to apply it next year.
• Fun quiz: What is Your Gift? (Just in case you're wondering, mine was Intellect.)
• Your Failures Do Not Define You! You are Beloved by Sally Clarkson at I Take Joy.
• Race, Diversity, and God's Glory: A Conversation with Trillia Newbell at Blogging Theologically.

Marriage / Parenting

• Top 10 Mistakes Christian Parents of Teens Make by Jeff Strong.
• Kids Need 17 Hugs a Day by Holly Homer.
• 8 Ideas to Teach Our Kids to Say "Yes" to Discernment and and "No" to Judging Others by Janel Breitenstein.

Homeschooling / Education

• 4 Must Have Resources for Planning the Homeschool High School Years by Kris Bales.
• Utopian Plans vs. Everyday Reality by Brandy Ferrell at Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood. Posts like this are encouraging because I've often looked at this particular blogger and wondered, "How does she do it ALL?"
• Simple Ways to Create a Content-Rich Environment This Summer by Anne Bogel for Simple Homeschool.
• Best of the Best of the Best Sir! With Honors! by Joshua Gibbs at CiRCE Institute. The minefield of awards season.

Writing / Reading

• 3 Times You Should STOP Writing by Emily Wenstrom.
• Seeing Ripples at Novel Rocket by Cynthia Ruchti
• The Do's and Don'ts of Writing a Book Review at 5 Minutes for Books by Laura Brown (author ofHow to Write Anything: A Complete Guide)
• 7 Tips to Help You Read More (and Love It) by Anne Bogel for The Art of Simple. (See also my related post: How to Read More in 2014.)
• Becoming a More Mature Reader by Carrie at Reading to Know.
• Raising "Wild" Readers by Megan at Redeemed Reader. How to teach the pleasure of reading to  non-readers.
• As Publishers Fight Amazon, Books Vanish from The New York Times. I've seen conflicting reports over this but you can file it under, "Things That Make You Wonder." 

In the News (all from The Federalist)

• 9 Trigger Warnings for Hamlet by Doni Wilson. 
• Don't Be Evil: How Google Celebrates Rachel Carson's Dubious Legacy by Bethany Mandel. Someone wrote (much better than I could) exactly what I was thinking when I fired up my computer and saw Google's "doodle" of the day.
• Hijacking A Mass Murder To Boost Self-Esteem by Heather Wilhelm.
• The Ten Most Asinine Things About #YesAllWomen by Mollie Hemingway.

What caught your eye this week?

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Weekend Links - May 24, 2014

Spiritual / Inner Life

• What If Your Twenties Weren't What You Expected? by Jackie Knapp.
• Blessed are the Introverts by Gina Dalfonzo for Breakpoint. This post added several books to my reading list.
• The Loneliness of Not Knowing Ourselves by D.C. McAllister.
• An Introvert's Defense of Mobile Devices and Social Media by Emily Jacobs at Em Speaks. This post and the post above are almost a point / counterpoint kind of thing. 
• Is Your Busy Season Becoming a Lifetime? by Melissa Martin at TGC. Not sure I agree with everything in this one, but the warning is apt.
• 5 Really Bad Reasons to Leave Your Church by Aaron Loy at Relevant. Sadly, the comments are certainly illustrative of a "church is all about me" mentality. (One commenter: "Any reason is a good reason to leave a church.")

Marriage / Parenting

• How the Abortion Culture Affects Motherhood by Melissa at Your Mom Has a Blog.
• The Irony of the Overprotected Child by Jeffrey S. Dill at Family Studies.
• Kids Don't Need Pinterest Perfect by Heidi St. John for The Better Mom.
• Navigating the Rough Waters of Girlhood Friendship by Rhonda Owens at The Better Mom. This is good advice for helping our daughters but it's also applicable for adult women.
• Cultivating a Home with Beauty, Depth, and Vast Love by Sally Clarkson at I Take Joy. I so appreciate Sally Clarkson's ministry encouraging younger mothers. Her blog is fast becoming a favorite of mine.

Homeschooling / Education

• If Your Kid Loves Going to School, You Really Need to Homeschool by Penelope Trunk. Hard to hear, maybe, but I think she's on to something.
• A One-Room Schoolhouse Philosophy by Cara Thompson at Simple Homeschool.

In the News

• What Would a Real War on Poverty Look Like? by Robert Tracinski at The Federalist.
• The Media's Abortion Problem by Brandon McGinley at The Federalist.
• Trigger Unhappy by Jonah Goldberg. This way lieth madness. (Just when you thought political correctness was losing its power.)

Writing

• Don't Chase the Wind. An interview with Karen Barnett at Novel Rocket. This is a fantastic interview that I encourage all my writer friends (or wannabe writers) to read.
• 8 Things That Will Derail Your Writing Goals the Fastest by Edie Melson at Novel Rocket.
• Be A Little Nosey is the Key by Rachel Hauck at Novel Rocket.

What caught your eye this week?

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Weekend Links - May 17, 2014

Once again we have a lot going on this weekend - my baby sister is graduating with her Master's. I'm so proud of her and all her hard work but I'm also having trouble reconciling my mental image of her as, well, my baby sister.

So, anyway, we're off to a graduation ceremony this afternoon. (We may need to print out this Graduation Bingo from Wired.)

Just in case you have a lazy, rainy Saturday ahead of you, I have a lot of links for you this week!

Spiritual / Inner Life

• It's Not About Being the Most Amazing by Heather at Mama Knows, Honey Child. 
• Confirmed: First Born Siblings are More Conservative from Hot Air. File under "things that make you go hmm..." Seems anecdotal to me and I'm not sure it's even borne out in my family of origin.
• Life Online Is Part of Your Life Too by Christy at Fountains of Home. Yes!
• In Defense of Pretty Things and Pretty People from Em Speaks.
• Introversion and Online Friendships from Em Speaks. She was on a roll this week. (And she quoted C.S. Lewis both times. Lewis has something applicable on almost any subject.)
• Where To Find Real Simplicity by Scott Redd at TGC.
• Skip the Verse, Memorize the Book by Joe Carter at TGC. We've cultivated the habit of memorizing longer passages of scripture in our family, but we haven't quite memorized an entire book yet. That would be a great goal to set.
• What Does 1+1=2 Mean? Why Christianity Matters for Math (and Everything Else) by Joe Carter.
• Conquer Your Small Fears by Tsh at The Art of Simple.

Marriage / Parenting

• 10 Problems with Frozen by Amber Van Schooneveld.  I've been protesting about #4 since I saw the movie the first time. That's just sloppy story-telling. (And yes, we're still loving the soundtrack around here. Well, my kids are. Philip and I are pretty much OVER IT.)
• 10 Ways to Maximize Moments of Rest by Rachel Wojnarowski at The Better Mom.
• Raising Self Governed Children by Sally Clarkson at I Take Joy.

Homeschooling / Education

• Recognizing Dangerous Philosophies by Carol Barnier for HEDUA. Homeschoolers seem more prone to this or maybe I'm just more familiar with the phenomenon. We're outside the mainstream so we seek validation of our methods and that can make some of us vulnerable to gurus and cult-like behavior. I'm thankful my parents (who homeschooled me) could smell a rat and avoided Gothardism back when many of their friends were blindly following.
• Saving Higher Ed from Middle Class Tyranny by Peter Augustine Lawler. Long and thought provoking.  (And somewhat related to a book I'm reading right now:Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education by David V. Hicks. 
• Behold the Two Absolutely Worst Arguments Against Homeschooling by Matt Walsh. I meant to link to this weeks ago but it got lost in my inbox.
• 8 Tips for Parents Who Have Saved Nothing for College by Ron Lieber. Interesting article sent to me by my husband, although we don't agree with the last point (taking on debt).
• Negative Space in Homeschooling by Amy Frank for Simple Homeschool.
• The Only Homeschool Room You Need is In Your Heart by Daniele Evans at Free Homeschool Deals.

In the News

• The Climate Change Debate is Over, and Environmentalists Lost by David Harsanyi for The Federalist.
• The Last Communist City by Michael J. Totten. This is a well written, fact based article and yet it's haunting. Such unnecessary suffering so close to our own comfortable, apathetic country.

For Fun

• These Are the Most Popular Baby Names in Ohio. I love statistics about names. And yes, I know multiple children with these names.
• ITV Should Un-Cancel The Bletchley Circle.  Yes, yes they should. It's a solid, well acted and interesting ensemble cast period drama. It's not flashy or, dare I say, soap-operatic like Downton Abbey. But it didn't deserve to be cancelled.
• 18 Brutally Honest Slogans for the Apps that Everyone Has from Buzzfeed. (language and content warning.)

That's a lot of inspiration for one weekend! What caught your eye?
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