Congratulations, Jodi!
/We send our congratulations to Jodi, who said...
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Elizabeth,You are a wonderful mother and you have a terrific family! I love learning from you and I would be so excited to win a copy of Real Learning! Here's hoping! God bless you and thank you for this blog. ~Jodi
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Jodi, please email me your address and we will get a book out to you as soon as we can. I see that you're local; maybe we can deliver in person.
All Caught Up! and a Giveaway...
/At last! We shipped out 40 packages from the Heart of my Home Store today. Now that we're all caught up, it's time for a giveaway. If you leave a comment below, one of my little cherubs might just pull your name from a basket and you can choose a book--Small Steps, the Small Steps Journal, or Real Learning-- from the store. Can't wait to hear from you! We'll draw a winner on Sunday.
Comments are moderated so you might not see yours right away, but I promise to get it through:-)
More about being open to a life of prayer:
/:it's not about what we're saying in our heads; it's about what we're hearing in our hearts.
Parresia
/(Greek) Confidence, boldness, courage. The word is found 31 times in the New Testament and in the context of speech, it describes words that are clear and straightforward, spoken openly and publicly. In the same way, it refers to the confidence that believers have when they approach God with their prayers. It is not presumption, but filial boldness.
So, shall we chat for a bit about the rest of the story? I mentioned that I had the Velveteen series all queued up and ready to go a couple of weeks ago. And I mentioned that Friday's post underwent significant re-writing. The reality is that I almost pulled the plug on the whole thing. On Sunday before my series was published, a dear friend made a decision to stop blogging. I understood her decision. I get her. I love her. And sometimes, words are really unnecessary. She wrote what she meant. She meant what she wrote and I believed her. But on Monday, I experienced the horror of the internet from a different perspective.
I saw it through the eyes of a friend as someone I love and trust was picked apart. It wasn't my blog or my reputation. It wasn't me at all. Instead, I watched as people, both publicly and privately, questioned motives, cast aspersions, offered armchair psychological diagnoses, and then blatantly stole her content. I was dumbfounded as people questioned whether or not she even owned her own pictures, words, and lesson plans. I was astonished at the lack of compassion, lack of charity, lack of grace. And I was horrified.
My first urge was to pull my own blog down. My second urge was to reach for the phone. I dialed familiar numbers.
We talked and talked. We wrestled big questions. We thought too much. And we shared with each other things that will remain forever in our hearts, because some things really don't belong here in this public space. By week's end, I posted my last Velveteen post.
She undertook the formidable task of making her blog safe in the wake of hate, protecting her memories and the images of her children from people who really would do harm.
Evlogia means blessing. The blog is a blessing, born of courage. Of confidence. Confidence in something--Someone--bigger even than the Internet.
Go visit. You will be blessed.
