Fund the Culture Wars: Give!

You know that your money isn’t actually your money, right? C.S. Lewis said this about charitable giving:
I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusement, etc., [...]

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Give It A Whack

I’ve never been a big chess player, but here’s a pretty spiffy (free) online version if you enjoy it.
flash CHESS 3

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To the Trees!

All summer long, Linc watched his brothers climb the tree. He never inquired about going up himself. One day this month I helped him go. It was late in the day and the wind was blowing and it was probably near 40 degrees. He was shivering or shaking from the cold or the height. This [...]

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Where’s Your Favorite Piece of Earth?

Rudyard Kipling wrote:
God gave all men all earth to love,
But since our hearts are small,
Ordained for each one spot should prove
Beloved over all.
Leave me a note. Where the place that you love best?

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On Government

Thomas Jefferson:
“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.”
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with [...]

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Chronicles of the Genesis

Everyone has to start somewhere. Here are the first two original compositions that Karsten has produced. He has been given topics and then the latitude to write a story of his choosing. He was told to write a title, a story, and use proper punctuation. Here are his first attempts. He gravitates toward boy themes, [...]

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Abraham Lincoln and the Whetstone

In 1834, when Abraham Lincoln was a candidate for the legislature, he called on a certain farmer to ask for his support. He found him in the hay field, and was urging his cause when the dinner bell sounded. The farmer invited him to dinner, but Lincoln declined politely, and added, “If you will let [...]

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A Call for Something Radically Different

It’s worth your time to digest this. This is John Milton Gregory from his The Seven Laws of Teaching quoted in a review by Puritanism Today:
“In an age of cultural rootlessness, moral relativism, religious pluralism, social disintegration, and future uncertainty, how can we expect anything other than education chaos? Unstable times call for a return [...]

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On Reading

I‘ve traveled the world twice over,
Met the famous; saints and sinners,
Poets and artists, kings and queens,
Old stars and hopeful beginners,
I’ve been where no-one’s been before,
Learned secrets from writers and cooks
All with one library ticket
To the wonderful world of books.
~ Anonymous ~
Whether you love it or hate it, do it lots or little, there’s advice [...]

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You’ve Heard About It

But have you ever seen what the International Space Station is? Here’s a photoessay from the Big Picture.

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Things Might Not Be Settled Yet

I hope it is settled, but the legitimacy of Obama’s Presidency is still in question and is still a matter that the Supreme Court is going to address. See here.

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The Emperor’s New Ceiling

Wow. This guy must be some salesman. $23 million to spray paint their ceiling and take some press photos in Switzerland.

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The Cheese Song

by Andrew Peterson

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Better Yet, Let’s Start in 3rd Grade

Victor Davis Hanson:
Four years of high-school Latin would dramatically arrest the decline in American education. In particular, such instruction would do more for minority youths than all the ‘role model’ diversity sermons on Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, Montezuma, and Caesar Chavez put together. Nothing so enriches the vocabulary, so instructs about English grammar and syntax, [...]

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Don’t Stare at the Stairs Just Step Up the Step

Alexander MacLaren quoted by VonDo:
“No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant. [...]

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Appointment to Be A Hero

My Uncle Phil came home from Alaska last weekend to attend Grandpa’s funeral. He is a veteran firefighter and seasoned adventurer both far and wide. This morning he was were he was needed to be to save a life. Here’s the story from WWMT in Kalamazoo, MI.

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Straight to the Quick

Abraham Piper’s two recent comment seems to make it clear that he knows me or something:
On 11/12…

Places like Twitter and comments about coffee remind me how significant insignificance can be.
We wouldn’t be or know humans without it.

On 11/21…
I used to take pride in my “inability” to participate in small talk.
I guess I preferred being emotionally [...]

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Character in Sports

J.P. Hayes disqualified himself from a spot on next year’s PGA Tour…from the solace of his hotel room. He’s wrong that all the others would have done the same. I don’t know if most Christians would have. I know the struggle that would have warred in my own heart and the attempt to justify. Bravo [...]

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Every Teacher is An Art Teacher

This is a wonderfully written summary of what education should be. Live the story beautifully. Here is part:
As a teacher do more than impart raw data.  You teach young minds to receive that data, process it, comprehend it and grasp how the data they’ve just received comes to bear on the rest of what they [...]

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Teaching Children to Be Thankful

Nancy Wilson gets to the core:

One of the central duties of parents is to teach their children to be grateful to God for all their many blessings. I remember my father teaching me that I could not even lift my little finger if it were not for God’s power and goodness. That little lesson had [...]

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On Butterfly Pavilions

Brian Regan

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Define Strong

G.K. Chesteron:
“We are perpetually being told that what is wanted is a strong man who will do things. What is really wanted is a strong man who will undo things; and that will be the real test of strength.”

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Waking Up in Glory

Thursday morning my Grandpa woke up with new good legs, new strong arms, a new full voice, and newfound joys. He sees God in His glory. He’s singing again today and adjusting to his eternal home. His joy is beginning to bud and will always increase.
“But just think of stepping on shore and finding it [...]

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We Are the Dead…

…Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Today I took my family to Nashville National Cemetery. For some strange reason, I did a search beforehand to see if I could find the Boomershine name there. I was shocked to find it on one grave! That [...]

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Thank You, Veterans

Last week I was surprised to come across Nashville National Cemetery (picture). Today I’ll take my family.

Here’s another extended slideshow version of the same song.

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My Mad Mission

I’m thankful for a friend [thanks, Farmer] who sent me this article right before we moved to TN to help start JECA. We think of it often.
Mad Missions:Avoiding the soft despotism that emphasizes personal security | Marvin Olasky

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He Will Get Over It

Had would probably be embarrassed if I told you how much he loves this song. So I won’t. This is Celtic Thunder singing Ireland’s Call (it was written for rugby matches).

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Kind Regards

Chrissy writes, but the boys dictate their thank you cards (usually written on a page they just finished coloring). Linc had this to say on one thank-you after his birthday last weekend:
“I will love you. I will be sweet to you. Thank you for the money.”

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Objectionable Elements in Literature

A very sweet cousin of mine and I were emailing recently about literature. I was recommending she read Narnia to her classroom. She had questions about that. I’ve included part of her objections and then my response, because I think her question is fairly common. I wish I had spiffed up my answer to her [...]

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Perhaps I Should Try That Pizza

From the front of the web page of the Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers in Franklin, TN:
“I would go on a quest for this pizza. I would cross desolate mountain tops and brave unexplored jungles in the dead of night. I would kill my fellow journeymen and use their bones to construct a bridge to cross [...]

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