10 April 2009
We had a wonderful time at the beautiful Callaway Gardens two weekends ago! I was blessed to get to spend the weekend with my father and sister at 2009 Vision Forum Father & Daughter Retreat, an event I will never forget! Below is a “brief” review of the weekend accompanied by photos (the notes are on their way!).
The trip down to Georgia from Indiana on Thursday went smoothly with the exception of getting stuck in Nashville during the morning rush hour. We arrived at the hotel in the mid-afternoon and settled into our temporary “home”.
After we were settled in we went exploring and then spent a couple hours in the small garden outside the lobby. Breezy painted a little pond and I took photographs of the flowers while the three of us visited and delighted in each other’s company.
Friday morning was relaxing as we had some much needed rest (the day before we had risen at 3:15am). We refreshed ourselves we went down to the ballrooms where the messages would take place. There were several young ladies putting tussie-mussies together (for the next day’s High Tea) and when we were asked if we could help we gladly accepted and got to work.
That afternoon we enjoyed visiting with other fathers and daughters. We were able to meet Madeline and Caroline whose father met ours at the Men’s Leadership Summit earlier in the month. We also had the privilege to meet Rebekah, Jasmine, Cassie, Hannah, and Elizabeth, (and see McKenzie and Julia again, who we originally met at the Crossroads).
On Friday evening was the “picnic”, but instead of being on the Grand Lawn (as it was raining) it was indoors at tables. Our fathers had matters to discuss, so several of us ladies sat on the floor in a small hallway enjoying fellowship with one another.
Friday evening, Saturday morning and evening, as well as Sunday morning we heard messages that were encouraging, inspiring, and challenging about our relationships with our father. They were presented by Doug Phillips, Voddie Baucham, Scott Brown, as well as Geoffrey Botkin and his two daughters, Anna Sofia and Elizabeth.
Saturday we awoke bright and early, ate a delicious breakfast at the buffet, and listened to the speakers. We were dressed in our High Tea attire because there would not be enough time later on to change into them. There were so many lovely outfits, all were quite charming!
High Tea was at 12:30 and we all went to our tables, each was set for ten. There were scrumptious delicacies, including delicious scones. Following tea we spent the free time with our daddy (though we did visit with other fathers and daughters beforehand).
That evening we listened to more encouraging messages. Afterwards there was a special time for the fathers and daughters. Randomly selected from the crowd (out of those who volunteered by waving their hands, and some by standing on chairs in addition to waving their hands), eight fathers with their daughters went to the stage and each had to serenade their daughter by singing either “You Are My Sunshine” or “Edelweiss”.
The winner was chosen by how load the audience was when it was time to vote for each one. (There is a picture below of the father and daughter who won, theirs was so sweet I almost started to cry.) Then with eight other father-daughter couples they had to pretend that they were getting their fathers ready in the morning for work.
Sunday morning we had breakfast at the buffet and following that we listened to a sermon by Voddie Baucham which was followed by fellowship with other fathers and daughters (a lot of this went on all throughout the weekend – I just love being around so many like-minded young ladies!). The Retreat ended at noon, but we stayed an extra night so that we would have a whole day to travel home.
In the afternoon, Daddy drove Breezy and I through the lovely gardens. I am always in complete awe of God’s amazing creation! The two days before were rainy, and then Sunday was chilly, so we did not walk in the gardens much at all.
Monday we drove home, only stopping once, and arrived back at our cozy home an hour earlier than we had expected. We gave Momma a nice, long report about the weekend, and we were all glad to be home – safe and sound. Words that were spoken during the weekend by the speakers still ring through our heads, such a blessed weekend it was!
I took over a thousand pictures during the weekend, and after going through them I picked the ones below for you to enjoy!
The pond in the garden where there lived several large coy fish and a couple small turtles.
Breezy painting the pond.
Making the tussie-mussies for Saturday’s High Tea.
A small look at God’s wondrously intricate creation! For more butterfly photographs, click here.
Picnic on the carpet with kindred spirits.
After High Tea on Saturday.
The father-daughter serenade that made me tear up — it was so very sweet!
Daughters getting their fathers ready for work.
We got to meet Elizabeth, a very sweet young lady who we originally met through blogging.
Friends both old and new.
Just a snippet of the beautiful Callaway Gardens.
My wonderful father and I. He is the best father ever, my hero!
7 February 2009
The Widow’s Might is a film by HeuMoore Productions which was a semi-finalist at the 2009 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival (SAICFF).
It competed against both Fireproof and Expelled, films that were in theaters all over the nation. The Widow’s Might came out at the top.
At the SAICFF the Best of Festival Award (grand prize of $101,000) and the Audience Choice Award went to The Widow’s Might. It was also the Runner-Up for the Best Feature Film award (which went to Fireproof).
We downloaded The Widow’s Might from Behemoth.com – the film made us laugh and made us cry. The voices (yes, it is a bit of a musical) and cinematography demonstrate great talent. Mr. Botkin described the significance of the film very well (click here to read what he said).
I encourage you to watch The Widow’s Might — it is a great family film that glorifies, praises, and honors God.
Click here for a preview of the opening titles. Click here to buy the DVD, or click here to purchase the film download at Behemoth.com.
28 July 2008
Feelin’ Feminine is a new site created to encourage, inspire, and challenge ladies to wear modest feminine clothing. In today’s culture the beauty and elegance of modest femininity has been lost. Looking back to before the 1950′s it is evident that there was a sense of modesty and loveliness about the clothing that women wore, yet today, that has disappeared. At this site, you will find encouraging posts on femininity, inspirations to practice femininity in your daily lives, as well as a challenge to dress in modest feminine apparel.
Sense and Sensibility is a beautiful site where you can find patterns for ladies clothing. Mrs. Chancey has patterns on her site from the Regency Era of the 1800′s to the Swing Era of the 1940′s. You will find ladies’ stories about the dresses they have made from her patterns, as well as a whole section devoted to vintage images. Mrs. Chancey also owns and runs Ladies Against Feminism, a site where ladies are encouraged in their walk with the Lord, and the Biblical role of womanhood.
In early Spring, Eyebright started Homemaker in Training Thursday. When time allows, on Thursdays she posts about how she is preparing to be a homemaker. On each post there is a Mr. Linky, and she encourages others to post what they are learning while training to be a homemaker. It is nice to read and learn from what other young ladies are learning. Click here to see her first post about it. These posts have encouraged me to continue in my training to be a homemaker, and it’s been enjoyable to write about what I’m learning as well.
Hallie at Confessions from the Rubber Room has started a new Photography “school” called Through the Lens. In the lessons that she gives, she helps you to become a better photographer. The assignments so far are Getting to Know Your Camera, and Understanding White Balance. Her tips are very helpful, and I look forward to more of the lessons.
Homeschool Share is a great place for resources on lapbooking and notebooking pages. This site is run by a very dear friend of mine, and the site has grown and taken flight since she started it. Lapbook templates and studies are sent to them from all over, and when approved are posted on the site. Everything on the site is free, and there all kinds of lapbook subjects. A while back we took a little “class” from her where she showed us the different booklets that can go into a lapbook. Lapbooking has become very popular, and now I know why. All of the information on a subject goes into a folder that is easy to look at, and a great way to share your knowledge with others (it’s fun too!).
HSLDA is holding a photo contest for homeschool students! This is an annual contest, and has been taking place for the past three years. There are three categories, according to your age. Use your own creativity to display what your category topic is.
Gentleness (ages 7 to 11 as of July 1, 2008),
Faithfulness (ages 12 to 15 as of July 1, 2008), and
Self-Control (ages 16 to 19 as of July 1, 2008).
There is a $10 entry fee for HSLDA members, and a $15 entry fee for non-HSLDA members. If you would like to see the contest results from previous years, here are the links: 2005, 2006, and 2007. Contest ends this Thursday (must be post marked by then)!
16 May 2008
(Warning: Contains Spoilers)
It’s been three years.
I‘ve been looking forward to seeing The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (PC) for three years. When I heard that they were making the first movie, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (LWW), I was very excited and looked forward to seeing it, and the ones that would proceed after the first.
The first film, LWW, was very well done, and followed the book quite nicely, only adding a scene now and then.
C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia was a classic, even at the time it was written, but has become even more popular and well-known since Disney and Walden Media paired up to bring it to the big screen. Now, the second installment of the Chronicles has been released – and is playing all over the nation.
Yes, three years ago, I was quite excited, but as I sat down in the theater this afternoon – that excitement was no longer there – it had vanished. I found that I really wasn’t ready for it to start when it did. At the beginning there is no intro – it just starts.
Combined with funny one-liners, and plenty of fighting, the movie was quite far from the book. With many of the scenes having been added to the storyline, it just wasn’t the same as the sweet book.
Of course, Hollywood couldn’t pass up this great chance to elaborate on the evil side and make it far more dark. The scene with the hag and werewolf, are, in fact, very disturbing and gave me a terrible feeling inside, and did the same to the others that were watching PC with me.
As I had heard rumored, it is true. Caspian and Susan kiss. The end of the movie was approaching, and I was thinking “Yes! Haha! That scene was deleted!” But then, as they were saying good-bye, they did the terrible deed. I’m quite put out.
They changed the look of Aslan – he was a bit cartoonish – no longer majestic, as in the first film of the Chronicles. It almost seemed like they threw his character into the movie because they had to. He was a side character – and was hardly included in the film.
This is definitely not a great family film, I do not recommend young children seeing this.
In the film, they did not give you the time to get to know and love the characters – most of the movie was just fighting. The dialogue was short, and mostly one-liners – no interesting conversations.
This film – while entertaining – left me a bit disappointed. I was hoping for a better treatment of C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian.
(Please understand that I am not trying to be negative. I felt that these issues needed to be addressed, and my audience warned.)
23 February 2008
Wearing skirts everyday has made me feel more feminine and lady-like. As the days went by, I found myself walking more gently around the house. Going about everyday activities was just as easy as it was when wearing pants, though now and then I felt like I would wrinkle my skirt when I sat down. Never did I notice anyone responding differently to me because I wear skirts now and then anyways.
It was a great pleasure to feel more like a lady, and I would enjoy wearing skirts everyday, though there is the occasional day when I’d like to wear pants. In the past when I’ve seen ladies wearing modest skirts, it makes me so happy inside, I can’t help but smile at them and wish I was wearing a skirt too.
Through this challenge, I have been greatly blessed to see other young ladies enjoy wearing skirts. Seeing modest, feminine ladies is so rare these days, it beautiful to see it in these young ladies’ lives.
While looking over the different time periods and the ladies style of dress, it is amazing to see how much ladies clothing has changed. All the ladies used to wear long, flowy, beautiful dresses. Many times I’ve looked at period clothing, wishing I could wear those kind of dresses. A couple years ago Momma made both Breezy and I a Regency dress. They were very pretty, but we’ve both grown out of them.
Wearing modest, pretty skirts and dresses is a wonderful way to be feminine, but we mustn’t forget that our attitudes and temperaments add to or take away from our femininity. We are to be “sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands [or in our case fathers], so that the word of God will not be dishonored” (Titus 2:5). Our actions have a lot to do with our femininity.
I am very glad that this challenge was started, it has been a great blessing. I encourage all you ladies to spend a week wearing modest feminine clothing, you never know what kind of an influence you can have on others by being fearlessly feminine!
24 November 2007
We went on a trip this past week to stalk up on some bulk food supplies.
While we were shopping, I came across some Vintage Habanero Cheddar Cheese. Now, I know that Habanera is the greatest hotling of the pepper family, but the “vintage” part just stood out to me . . . and it got the better of me.
I leaned over the counter, grabbed a toothpick, and began to determine which little cube I was going to taste from the sample bowl.
Now, you must realize that I am not one to try “samples” in a public place (you never know whose fingers have touched the food), but remember the “vintage” part had taken its toll.
So I jabbed my toothpick into the “chosen” one, and placed in it my mouth. Ah, just beautiful at first, with the taste of an elegantly tasty morsel of cheese. Then – AH! Hot, but delicious, hot, hot, delicious. This went on for a while, and without having access to water, I panted while exclaiming, “That is SO good, you’ve got to try it!”
And that’s pretty much how the story goes. I got my Aunt Lou to try it first, then Momma, Breezy sister, and Maggie cousin.
So . . . I recommend it, if you’re ever in need of something tasty with spunk, this should be your choice.
Here’s a sample:
15 November 2007
One thing I really enjoy about homeschooling and using Tapestry of Grace, is that I am assigned great books to read, that I probably wouldn’t have read on my own.
Quite humorously, I’ve been reading War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (which was the first Sci-Fi book written), every now and then reading portions aloud to my sister, Breezy, and now she’s drawing these little aliens. :) Need I add that she is a wonderful artist? One can’t help but love her.
There was a little part that especially stood out to me while reading. While the Martians are invading and destroying the London area in England, the Narrator encounters a Curate, who cannot concentrate on anything, and to all the questions he is asked, his only reply is about all the death and destruction. To which the narrator replies,
“Be a man! You are scared out of your wits! What good is religion if it collapses under calamity?“
This made me think of the sower and the soils in Mark 4 (which I was planning on reading the next morning during my quite time, what a coincidence–I think not!). The seeds that were thrown in the rocky soil (Mark 4:5-6) fit the bill.
“. . . seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.” – Mark 4:16-17
The martians are quite interesting, the descriptions are well made, though sometimes a bit vague. I am throughly joyful that we don’t have to worry about aliens coming and invading, as well as taking over our land.
Sadly, I have had a few disturbingly, creepy dreams lately, but they’re just dreams–right?
May God bless you and may you have a beautiful day. Here it’s pretty cloudyish and rainyish, but that won’t spoil my day, just make me a bit more sleepyish than usual.
10 July 2007
I have found that it is a great blessing to read a book of encouragement along with the Bible during my private time with God.
Currently I am working through Journeys of Faithfulness by Sarah Clarkson. In this book she creatively tells the stories of Mary of Bethany, Esther, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Ruth. At the end of each chapter she shares personal experiences from her own journey, along with references to scripture and questions to ask yourself.
I highly recommend it for all ages of ladies, to encourage them in their walk with God.
9 July 2007
This past weekend my family and I watched Wives and Daughters, a BBC production based on the book by Elizabeth Gaskell. It is approximately 5½ hours, and the plot continually thickens.
I can’t tell you the story, for I do not wish to spoil it for you, but I can say that the story is a mix between a Charles Dickens and a Jane Austen novel. If you are a devotee of either (both of which I am), you should truly enjoy this film.
