I've been on vacation the past few days.  Little One and Big One have been in Florida with their parents.  I spent Monday with my guy...having brunch at my fave place...Bongo Room, and checking out the Museum of Science and Industry...tons of fun!

Tuesday was spent sleeping in then having lunch with my guy...deep fried bacon and a BLT w/ a half pound of bacon...seriously?!?!  Yum!!

Today, it's back to work.  It's also the beginning of Lent, and though I'm not Catholic, I give something up every year.  Last year I gave up watching sad tv shows.  The year before was using the word awesome for anything other than referring to God.  And the year before that was celebrity gossip.  I'm happy to say that I no longer get glued to Hollywood news shows, and I've given up most tv shows...happy and sad.

So, this year my guy and I have been talking about it, and we've upped the ante.  We're both giving up something we love.  I'm giving up sweets...man, this is going to be hard!  I've also decided to give up the internet other than checking email, bank account and my small group page.  Now, I realize it's going to be really hard to be out of touch via facebook and I'll miss reading my favorite blogs, so I've decided to allow 30 minutes of internet activity once a week...that should be enough to catch up on the latest happenings of my peeps.  I intend to spend the rest of the time I'm usually online in prayer, seeking and growing closer to God.  Getting my priorities straight.

So...see ya after Easter!

Reason and Faith

My gal Britt posted this for our small group this week and I just had to share it (thanks Britt)...I believe she said its a devotion from John Fischer.

A conversation that allegedly took place between Abraham Lincoln and his best friend, Joshua Speed:

Speed, upon finding Lincoln reading the Bible, laid a hand on his shoulder and remarked, 

"I am glad to see you profitably engaged."

"I am profitably engaged," was the affirming reply.

"Well, if you have recovered from your skepticism, I am sorry to say that I have not."

"You are wrong, Speed," said Lincoln, looking up from the pages of his Bible. "Take all of this book upon reason that you can, and the balance on faith, and you will die a happier and better man."

1) It's Abraham Lincoln, an obviously smart and great man who gave God respect, believed the Bible, and relied on Christ for strength to lead America through one of it's most trying times.


2) It's a great statement on the cooperation of reason and faith. Christianity is not unreasonable. It does not require blind or stupid faith. It requires a reasonable faith. That would be, as Lincoln described it, a faith that travels along with reason until reason can go no further, at which point faith goes the rest of the way alone. 

That says that faith is not antagonistic to reason, it's just that reason alone isn't enough.

3) Joshua Speed, who was Lincoln's best friend, did not share Lincoln's belief. This is a good example for us, because we tend to gravitate, especially with best friends, to people who support the same belief systems we hold. We might have acquaintances that are not believers, but rarely best friends. This account lists Speed as Lincoln's best friend. I'd be curious as to whether Mr. Speed will be in heaven. It's hard to imagine a long, close friendship with a man like Lincoln that wouldn't have convinced Joshua Speed about the reality of all that Lincoln believed at some point.

At any rate, it's a great example of the kind of friendships I believe we as Christians need to cultivate-relationships of mutual respect with unbelievers (or what I like to call: "not yet believers").

Another Rotten Apple...

Unfortunately, I'm experiencing some computer issues.  It seems my computer only wants to connect to the Internet at home and at work. 

Not at the house I'm currently house sitting.

Not at the house I'm babysitting at 3 times this week.

This poses quite a dilemma in terms of getting blog posts posted.

I will do my best, but it looks like this will be my last post until my appointment at the apple store on Friday.

Bummer.

Have a great week!

Help A Sista Out

I need some help peeps...I need a knitting project to get started on.  I can't decide what to do, there are just so many good patterns out there.  I know winter is almost over but I'm stuck on hats, scarves, cowls. 

Check these out and put in your vote for my next project.  Also, I'm not planning on using the same color yarn that they used, so don't let that be a factor in your decision!

A cute little cabled hat.

A hearty cowl.

A twist on the above cowl

Celtic cable scarf

Vote, Vote, Vote...

The S'mores Hybrid

Ok, so I'm sure everyone is sick of all my s'mores recipes, but there is one more!  It's a hybrid of the last two mmm mmm monday posts.

I really liked the brownie and marshmallow portion of these ones:

And the crust from these ones:

So I combined the two recipes and came up with a s'mores hybrid:

A delicious cookie crust topped with a rich brownie and puffy, toasty marshmallows.  Seriously delicious, and super simple to make!

Real Photo Friday

A few weekends ago (when Chicagoland was still buried under feet of snow), I headed out to the burbs for some quality time with my guy.  He'd been out there dog-sitting for his parents while they were out of town.  We discovered a little park not far from the house...who knew suburban parks could be far superior to city parks?!  I mean, come on folks, I have yet to see a sweet little zip-line thing like this in the city!

This was the most fun I've had in a while!

My guy and Sadie the dog

66 Love Letters

My fab roomie HW lent me this book she read called 66 Love Letters.

Simply put...IT'S AMAZING!

I can't stop reading it.  I've had the book for a few weeks now and I'm only on page 50, but it's not because I'm disinterested or its complicated reading...it's simply because its sooooo good I re-read chapters immediately after I finish them the first time.

I've also pulled out my journal to take notes and found myself copying down entire chapters, it's all just such good stuff.

I don't want to give too much away, but the premise is basically that each book of the Bible is a love letter to us from God.  The author, Dr. Larry Crabb, then has a discussion with God about each letter, starting with Genesis and going all the way through to Revelations.  Each chapter of the book is only 4-5 pages and is a back-and-forth between Crabb and God, as Crabb asks what the letter is about and God explains His purpose and the meaning of each letter.

I highly, highly recommend this book.  I can't stress enough how much it's opened my eyes and created a renewed passion and fire for Christ.