WMFW - Ready for Show and Tell!

My back to school tip is probably more for younger kids that still have "show and tell" in their classes, but I think even older kids can benefit from this exercise. This is about capturing the memories of the summer gone by AND making a great impression on their new teacher.

My tip is to spend some time creating a summer scrapbook.  This year we incorporated this project as part of our overall summer education goals.  I handed the camera over to my five year old, Nathan, on more than one occasion.  Once was our zoo theme week field trip.  He took lots of great photos.

Finding and inexpensive scrapbook that he could get creative with was the toughest part.  I finally found a small, plain one at Target. Then I gave him some scissors, crayons, pencils, photo squares, stickers and sparklies and we went to work.

It was a great project that we are still finishing up, but he can't wait for show and tell. And I totally believe it can't hurt to demonstrate to your new teacher that you're no dummy.

So that's my WMFW back to school tip!  Have you ever created a memory book with your child? Drop me a comment and share your thoughts!

Top Ten Training Tunes for 2010

Say that five times fast. I mentioned yesterday that I have taken up running again. So my iPod is crucially important for this. Which leads me to think about what the best songs on my iPod right now are for exercising to. Here's a quick list of songs that inspire me to keep pushing.


1. OneRepublic - All The Right Moves
2. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Around the Bend
3. Crash Kings - Mountain Man
4. We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices
5. Neon Trees - Animal
6. AFI - Love Like Winter
7. Green River Ordinance - Rise Up
8. Jay Sean - Down (one of these things is not like the others)
9. 30 Seconds to Mars - Kings and Queens
10. Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling (total cliche, I know...can't help it)




For more Top Ten Tues posts, click the link!

The Final Fifteen of the Ultimate Fashion Diet

If I've learned anything in this life, it's that life is short and a month is even shorter. I've already told you how my lovely fashionista friend, Pam, threw down the gauntlet of the ultimate fashion diet...wear only 15 pieces of clothing for the entire month of September. I can do this. It'll be fun. My bank account will like it. And I know the 30 days will fly by. 

So here's my final list. The only way this will change is if my new running habit really takes off and I happen to drop a full size this month. A girl can dream, right?

Choosing these clothes was an amazing exercise, I have to say. Fit mattered more than anything in my selections. I was actually surprised that the pieces I ended up choosing were mostly from higher end labels, not LOFT and Target which have been my go-to brands for the most part. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that more expensive clothes are manufactured better. One piece that almost made the list but didn't is a black sheath dress I pulled from the back of my closet, since I haven't worn it in years. I realized the accessorizing options with it are endless, and after this month it will go back into heavy rotation.

1. First up are my gray wool (with stretch!) trousers from Michael Kors. They are lightweight, fit really super awesomely, and of course go with everything. I have had these for years and even had to restitch the inseam once when it split open a bit. 

  

2. Next up are my new Lucky brand, Sweet and Low jeans. Dark denim bootcuts rock. Screw the heat. 

3. Ok so I have to face the heat. These golden khaki bermuda shorts from J. Crew are my nicest pair. They are wrinkled in this pic because I took them off my body to take the photo. I suppose I need to bust out the iron.

      

4. And again with the heat, my J. Crew favorite fit capris. I like these so much that I have two pair of them, which may make things easier in the laundry department. 

5. On to the skirts. I found this dark wash denim pencil skirt at Ann Taylor and it is awesome. I wear it ALL the time now.

6. The last skirt is a black faux-wrap skirt from Michael Kors. It doesn't go with everything because the draping makes it only look right with certain structured tops, but I love it and it's versatile enough to make the cut.

   

7. Next up is are some basics. It doesn't get more basic than a plain white V-neck tshirt from J. Crew. 

    

8. Stretch ivory tank top from Casual Corner. Since you probably know Casual Corner went out of business, you know how old this is. I admit I generally like more color than this, but it works with everything and provides a great backdrop for accessories. 

    

9. I picked up this navy striped blouse at the LOFT BlogHer Style event I attended in Philly. I can't tell you how much I love it.  

   

10. At the risk of being somewhat redundant, I am going with another navy striped blouse, this one sleeveless and from Ralph Lauren. The foundational color of this 15 piece wardrobe has turned out to be blue.

   

11. Case in point, more blue. I just love this seafoam blue silk blouse from J. Crew so much I had to include it. I just hope I don't ruin it from overuse.

 

12. This sheer silver tshirt from LOFT has become a staple of my wardrobe, I've gotten countless compliments on it and it goes with everything.

13. For dressier occasions like church (ok, my church is FAR from dressy, but I dress up) I chose this structured but sparkly shell by Alfani.

    

14. A late addition to the final group was this black silk top from LOFT. Solid black looks great on anyone, is fabulous for accessorizing, and I happen to have two of this exact top. Don't ask. 

  

15. And finally, a girl cannot live on blue, black and grey alone. I would die. The rest of my closet is loaded with color. So I figured this bright pink camisole from Talbots would fit the bill. 

   

So that's it.  I'll be photographing completed outfits with accessories and adding them to Susan Wagner's Working Closet group on Flickr. 

I'd LOVE to hear your suggestions for pairing and accessorizing these pieces.

How World Travel Erases Bigotry

Somehow last Thursday flew by me without my doing a post on tenth grade for my Recording My Youth series. So better late than never, let me tell you about this very momentous year.

I've heard it said that the best way to dispel racism, bigotry, and hatred is to travel to a different country. To leave the environment you have grown up in and step into a new culture is to have your horizons widened dramatically. Seeing how other people live firsthand brings new perspective on our own lives.

The summer before my sophomore year, my grandparents decided to take our entire family on a trip to the United Kingdom. We flew to London, toured the English countryside, stopped by Stonehenge, and wound our way through Scotland and Wales. I realize that the UK is about as similar a culture to ours as you can get, but it also is dramatically not the same. That summer my view of the world expanded by a thousand-fold.

Even my teachers recognized that I was different when I returned to school for tenth grade. Far less moody, probably a bit more confident.

Tenth grade was the year of my first serious boyfriend...the first big mistake in terms of wasting time I'd ever make. In a small Christian school like mine, everyone knew everyone in our grade very well.  In fact I knew most of the kids a year ahead and a year behind me. So when I got asked out by a junior I didn't know well at all, I went for it. He had a car, which I think was the underlying reason my best friend wanted me to date him...so he could drive her and her boyfriend places. He was an idiot and we broke up before the year was over. Facebook recently suggested I befriend him...since we have like 100 friends in common. Uh, no thanks.

The summer after tenth grade I embarked on another big adventure abroad, this time to Germany as a student. Going so far from home without my family was a big deal, and has definitely contributed to my independence and self-sufficiency in life. A few of us flew to Germany and lived with families for a bit, attending their high school.  Then our German teacher flew over and we went on a long tour of the country, staying in youth hostels all over East and West Germany.  This was shortly after the Berlin wall fell and that photo is of us standing in front of one of the few remaining  pieces of the wall, kept for remembrance. I'm on the far left.

Aside for getting to know a German family and going to school, the most impactful part of the trip was our visit to a Nazi concentration camp. This was before any of the Holocaust museums in the US existed, so even though we knew the stories, we had never been exposed to the horrific photos of bodies piled high and bones and hair. We walked into the gas chamber. It was chilling to the core. I wish every 16 year old in America could experience that. Talk about a way to erase bigotry.

My experiences in tenth grade left me with a strong taste for travel, and for seeing how other cultures live up close and personally.  I have since done quite a bit more traveling abroad, but now there is a hunger in me to see more and more of the world that I know will never go away.

Have you ever experienced living in a totally different culture and did it change you?

Fashion Friday: End of Summer Steals and My 15:30 Fashion Project

First I want to tell you about a little fashion project I am embarking upon during the month of September. It has to do with the yogic principal of mindfulness and applying it to my shopping and wardrobe choices.  I was issued a challenge by my friend, Pam, the accessory whore, to join with her in Felicia Sullivan's 15:30 project. That is to carefully choose only 15 items of clothing to wear for the 30 days of September. It's all about having a very carefully edited closet, learning to choose much more carefully some well crafted and versatile pieces that emphasize fit. Oh and accessorize the heck out of them. 

As you know if you read my Fashion Friday posts, I am a collector of clothing. While this is fun, it is really more out of a misplaced emotional need than a physical necessity of course.   So I thought I'd give this a try. With Pam, Felicia and Susan Wagner playing along it should be fun. I hope. I have started selecting pieces and trying them on, with some disappointing results, so I haven't chosen the final fifteen yet.  You'll get a post when I do.  You can read all the rules here, but basically it doesn't count underwear, gym clothes, house lounging clothes or outerwear.

Not that we'll be needing any coats here in Texas during September.

So before I can end my shopping for a month, I must share with you the incredible end of season deals I got this month.

First, there was this coupon code my friend Stephanie posted about for $10 off at JC Penney and they had free shipping on shoes. So I scoured the website and found a pair I thought maybe I liked, and ordered them for less than $8.  They arrived and I fell head over heels in love...they are as comfortable as they are cute!  And actually totally practical, they go with everything!

Then I had to return something to my LOFT store, plus I had a 30% off everything coupon.  So on the final sale clearance rack I found this boyfriend cardigan for $6.92.

And these three tops for $6.92 each.

And this top which you've already seen in this fashion friday video blog for $4.82!

And finally the piece de resistance, this amazing LBD for a mere $20.97.

I had been searching other LOFT stores to find that dress in my size for awhile, and there it was waiting for me, looking perfect on me, at exactly the right time and place.

For more fashion friday posts check out Musings of a Housewife (back to school!), Centsible Life, (more back to school!) girlymama (dresses!), Mommies With Style (military jackets) and Big Mama (fall trends). 

So, do you think you could choose 15 pieces of clothing and circulate them for your entire wardrobe?

Lead Me

I needed to share a song and a prayer that are on my heart today.

A prayer for wives. (source)

Heavenly Father, you have called me to honor and serve my husband in grace, humility and love, and yet so often I let worry, insecurity and fear overshadow that calling. Unburden my heart from worry and expectations. Teach me to relinquish control of my life and marriage to you, for only you are strong enough to carry and sustain it.

Lead me to a place of deep trust and intimacy with you, so that I would seek no emotional fulfillment elsewhere, but would bring to my relationship with my husband a rich overflow of confidence and strength, making of our home and marriage a peaceful, restful haven. Show me how best to love my husband, supporting and respecting him, praying for and trusting the work of your Spirit in his heart and life.

Give me the wisdom to value what is eternal, so that I might be truly content with my present circumstances, and not fretful or anxious over family decisions and finances. Teach me to be beautiful as you define beauty. Let me be a creative and enjoyable friend and companion for my husband, gracious and kind, gentle in disagreement and quick to forgive.

Only as you lead me will I become the woman and wife that my husband needs. So lead me, oh Lord. Amen

How to Create Gorgeous Sunflare Photos

Today's Works for Me Wednesday is another photography technique that creates unique and dramatic images that will leave people in awe. I'm talking about sunflare! I'm sure you know what I mean, those photos with bright light streaming from one corner creating funky colored circles and interesting silhouettes.

It used to be that sunflare, or lens flare as it is also called, was a sign of a bad photo...that the photographer messed up the exposure. But nowadays clients LOVE the dramatic effect, so much so that people have come up with lots of ways to create it in Photoshop post-processing.   But that doesn't always look right, so it's better to go for it in the original image, if that's what you're after.

One caveat: I have no idea how to do this, or if it's even possible, with point and shoot cameras.  Some of steps might give you some great streaky sunbeams, but the actual lens flare (colored circles) may only be possible in an SLR.

1. Works best on a sunny day, when the sun is lower in the sky...like close to dusk.

2.  Zoom lenses seem to work better than primes, so your 18-55mm kit lens should actually be perfect.  I find that shooting closer to the low end of the zoom (18mm) produces more sunflare.

3. Take your UV filter (which you really should always have on every lens you own!) off for this experiment.  In my experience, it helps. Take of your lens hood too!

4. Put your subject directly between you and the sun.  Or put the sun just off to the edge or corner of your viewfinder.

5. Use a very narrow aperture (high f-stop).  This one with the barn is shot at f-22.  Do NOT shoot wide open. Play around with your exposure, spot metering off the subject and adjusting as necessary.  

6. If you have two people, try positioning the sun directly in between them, letting only part of the sun peek pass them.  Unfortunately I don't have any of my own photos like this to show you at the moment.

So that's it! Just practice, practice, practice! It's lots of fun.

Here's an additional post on sunflare from I Heart Faces!

And that's What Works for Me!

Any pointers I missed? Tell me in the comments!

How To Use Twitter

Need Help Using Twitter?

Most people these days seem to know how to use Facebook, but a lot of people don't get the how and why of Twitter.  I've heard a lot of people guess at what Twitter is without really ever having tried it. "Isn't it like instant messaging?" No. "Don't people tweet stupid stuff like what they had for lunch?" Not people I follow, unless there's something significant about the food or place.

It seems like every brand on the planet suddenly has a Twitter account, but most still have no idea how to use it. The best users of Twitter?  Are bloggers. Twitter is often referred to as micro-blogging, and just like blogging about what you had for lunch won't attract many readers, Tweeting about it won't either.

Why I Use Twitter

The benefits I get from Twitter include

• getting to know bloggers more personally
• finding links to the most interesting and relevant articles
• sometimes winning things and getting free stuff
• crowd-sourcing answers to my pressing questions
• hearing news as it breaks, not minutes or hours later
• sharing my blog and photography content
• learning about cool local events and gatherings

Ten Simple Tips for Using Twitter

Like the sound of that? Here are a few of my tips for new users to scale the learning curve and start realizing the benefits before you get bored.

1. Choose your user name carefully.  I can't emphasize this enough.  You want something short, memorable, and easy to spell, so that people will be able to interact with you easily.  Remember you only get 140 characters per tweet, which includes your name when people reply to you, so the shorter the name, the more space for what you want to say.

2. As soon as you sign up for an account, carefully fill in your bio and upload a photo of your smiling face. Yes, I'm serious. People want to get to know you, and a smile is just that much more inviting. If I see the little colored birdie where your photo should be, chances are good I will blow you off.  Also it's a great idea to put your city, so that local people can find you.  I have found Twitter to be awesome for not only connecting people in cyberspace but in real life.  When I see they are from Katy or Houston, TX, I am far more likely to follow them.

3. When you've got your account set up, start following some people. Twitter can help you do that by searching your email contact list for people you already know.  You can also look for the Twitter handle on some of your favorite personal blogs.  Once you have found someone interesting to follow, take a look at who they are replying to and check out those people.  It's no fun to only see half a conversation.

4. Take a look at your favorite Tweeters Lists. Lists are groups of people set up by Tweeters in a particular category. I haven't created a ton of lists, but I have a few...for example I have a list of people from Katy, TX, a list of Christian bloggers, a list of photographers, and a list of people who tweet mostly about Penn State football. I should really add some more lists, like one for mommy bloggers, one for fashionistas, etc. Sometimes it's fun to find a list and simply follow that person's entire list. I did that during the Olympics, I followed Twitters whole list of Olympians.

As an aside, this is where a third party Twitter software client like Tweetdeck or Seesmic really helps.  These clients allow you to set up multiple columns on your screen so you can see just the tweets in a given group or list of people.  This is a great way to avoid missing what interests you the most.  

5. As for your own tweets, share things you think people would care about. If you read a really great article or post? Tweet it with a link. Saw something really funny? Take a pic with your camera phone and use Twitpic or Tweetphoto to share with the world.

6. Twitter is a bit like a cocktail party...you wouldn't walk in the door and start shouting to everyone "Hey, check ME out...I ran five miles this morning!" So your best bet is to jump into people's conversations using replies. Don't be afraid to reply to people, that's what Twitter is ALL about.  Eavesdropping is not considered rude on Twitter.

7. Use the RT (retweet) button generously and wisely.  If someone says something really funny that you think others will laugh at...retweet it.  If someone shares an awesome link...retweet it.  If the tweet allows you room to add your comment, go for it. Promote other people's blog posts. Expert Tweeter, Chris Brogan's (@chrisbrogan) rule of thumb is promote others 12x for every one time you promote yourself.

8. I strongly believe that you do not have to follow everyone that follows you, automatically.  I've heard the arguments in favor of this and I don't buy them.  I follow about 1200 people and I want my Tweet stream to be as relevant as possible since it flies by so quickly. (By the way, don't feel the need to read every single tweet of those you follow.  Twitter is something you jump into and out of when you find a little time.) There are lots of people who follow me for reasons I don't know, whose tweets are totally irrelevant to me.  I do give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and I check their most recent tweets before deciding whether or not to follow back.

9. Use hashtags to find people talking about things you are interested in.  My husband has recently found it enjoyable to follow the hashtag #nascar during races and banter with other folks watching the same race.  This is similar to how I enjoy watching big awards shows while tweeting about them.  Twitter has a function that will allow you to simply see the tweets of everyone using that hashtag, not just those you follow.

10. Be careful not to over-tweet.  I'm guilty of this a lot.  You can tweet by replying to people as much as you want, but if you tweet ten times in an hour about whatever TV show you're watching...it can get irritating to people following you.  It's called polluting or flooding their tweet-stream. 

I could go on about this forever, and this was probably information overload, but I hope it helps someone out.  I am on my laptop all day and I keep Tweetdeck up in the background. In between projects I flip over and interact for a few minutes before hopping back to my work.  It's my way of keeping from being too isolated in my home office all the time.

Still have questions about Twitter? Hit me up in the comments and I'll be happy to respond!

Like this post? Follow me (@MainlineMom) on Twitter!

First Day of School

Prayer for our Students:

Lord, we ask that you bless
the youngest and littlest of learners,
with Your infinite and loving mercy,
granting them the strength to learn, concentrate,
and act appropriately towards
their teachers and fellow students.
We also ask that You would watch over them,
at home and at school
and grant them proper direction
so that they may learn
of Your wonderful virtues.
Amen. 
(author unknown)



Today my Nathan started his first day of Kindergarten at the big public elementary school directly behind our house.  This is actually his second year of Kindergarten because his birthday is in a couple weeks and he missed the cutoff last year, so we put him in private Kinder.  So he is well prepared.  His teacher seems delightful and she sat him next to a neighbor girl he'd never met, but they will ride the bus home together and get off at the same stop.  


Alex started his first day at his new/old daycare center across the street from Nathan's school.  He was there prior to September of last year when we moved both kids to the school where Nate's Kinder class was located. He pitched a fit, but calmed down pretty quickly.  This week will take a lot of adjustment while we walk Nate to school together on  Tuesdays and Thursdays, but drop Alex off only on Wed and Friday.  I prefer dropping Alex first so that I can get back home and start working, but that might not go so well for this first week. 


I'm so glad that my flexible work schedule should allow me to volunteer some time in Nathan's classroom this year.  And I'm grateful to not need before and after school care, and to not have to dress up to go into an office...since walking to school left me dripping in sweat.  It's a five minute walk, but it's 87degrees at 8 in the morning and 90% humidity. Anyway, I'm grateful all around.  

Christ-centered Yoga

Many of you reading this blog are probably not familiar with my many many posts about my yoga practice back in the day...before we moved to Texas in 2008! I discovered yoga at my YMCA long ago with an incredible instructor, Jenifer Parker. She spoiled me, no instructor I've had since her has measured up.  But I've tried many classes and instructors.  My favorite was actually sunrise yoga on the beach in Bethany Beach, DE. 

I practiced yoga in a group twice a week or so right up till the week Alex was born.  Not pre-natal yoga either, full on vinyasa style yoga. I was in really fabulous shape, physically and mentally.  Then we moved and I got busy with two kids and making new friends. I'm not very good at home yoga practice, but I still do it occasionally when I get stressed or feel some aches and pains in my body.  When we joined the YMCA I tried a couple of classes.  One class was too hard for my friend Kristi, who I like to workout with.  She has never really done yoga before so she needed a beginner class. We tried another class that was pretty good, but didn't fit into my schedule very well.

Recently the YMCA started offering a class called Christ-centered Yoga, which happens to meet across the street from the Y at my church.  At first I thought they would never allow me to leave my kids in the Y's childwatch and go to this class across the street, but Kristi asked and it turned out they would!

Tuesday we attended our first Christ-centered yoga class, and it was very interesting...in a good way.  We placed our mats in a circle with a silver cross at the center. I'm actually not a big fan of using a physical cross as a focal point. She had printed out sheets for us to read scripture in unison, and she talked a little about God's truth and the lies the world hands us.  It was a beginner yoga class, and I noticed she didn't use any sanskrit names for poses.  The instructor also teaches other cardio and strength training classes at the Y, so I think she's had a lot of fitness training and not a lot of real yoga as a discipline training. That's ok for the purpose of this class, I guess. Being the "know-it-all" that I have a tendency to be, I found myself often wanting to add to what she was saying. But I kept my mouth shut :)

The class was a good combination of focus on God and physical exercise and relaxation.  I got a good burn going in the middle and we had a nice long savasana at the end. While we were relaxing in corpse pose she came around and rubbed "anointed oil" on our foreheads and temples, which smelled nice. Kristi enjoyed it too, so we'll be heading back to that class again.

Fashion Friday: Back to School Shopping with thredUp

You know I am a big fan of consignment sales and shops for kids clothing. Recently I discovered an even COOLER way to buy and sell high quality gently used clothing...without ever leaving my house. No more dragging my clothes to a store and waiting months for a paycheck!

My friend Kelly introduced me to a company called thredUp.com and I jumped in during the seed phase.  The concept is that you stuff one of those flat rate USPS boxes with quality name brand clothes your kid has outgrown, and list it on their website.  Then you can "shop" for someone else's box from the list with clothes in sizes you do need.  All you pay for is shipping of the box to you, currently $13.  At an average of ten items per box that's just over $1 per piece. When someone chooses your box, they pay for shipping and you simply print out the prepaid mailing label and ThredUp even schedules a pickup at your door with USPS! I love that.

Joining thredUp is totally free, but they do have a Pro membership for a fee.  I recently became a Pro member and I love that now I can see more detail on the clothes within the boxes.  With a Pro membership (only $29.99 per year) you can not only see more details on the boxes, you can have an unlimited number of friends in your "Inner Circle", an unlimited number of "Favorite Senders" and access to Golden Threds boxes (brand new clothes from select retailers), plus many more benefits.

So I thought I'd show you a little video of my recent experience receiving a box I picked from thredUP.



There are lots more interesting tidbits on the thredUp blog, and also (speaking as an avid Twitterer) their Twitter account is really useful and worth following as well. So I highly encourage you to check them out, especially if you are shopping for kids clothing on a tight budget. 

What have you discovered that works for getting rid of your kids' outgrown clothing?

Disclosure: I was provided with a six month Pro membership to thredUp and a free box swap to try out the service, however all opinions are expressly mine with my own words. 

She Was Only A Freshman

Finally we have come to high school in this series of posts designed to record some memories from my youth for posterity.  My new best friend, Elizabeth, and I spent the summer hanging out at each others' houses and the mall.  Oh, and I got to spend a week with her up in the Poconos at a house on a small lake.  One day we discovered that the banks of the lake were clay, so we did what any budding divas would do...we made clay masks! Our pores never looked so good.

I was extremely moody in ninth grade.  I would have brief manic episodes of fun and craziness and then crash and mope around.  I was well aware of the fact that everything I did counted towards my "permanent record" and I was working at having a stellar HS resume, but classwork and tests came easy for me.

The most significant class I had in ninth grade was Astronomy and Geology with Dr. Frank Roberts.  We called him Doc Rock, because he was one of the foremost experts in the entire region on geology.  The man was old, even then, and a total genius.  He was quirky and often looked like he had woken up from a 30 year coma or something.  But he knew stuff...lots of stuff.

I love to learn big things.  Not basic things like reading and writing, but sophisticated, complicated things like calculus and thermodynamics. When Doc taught us how to use red shift to calculate the distance of a star from the earth, my mind was officially blown.  I was hooked. 

The awesome thing about Doc, in my opinion, was that even at our evangelical Christian school...he taught multiple theories on the origin of the earth.  He explained very well why people think the universe is millions of years old.  He of course explained six-day Creationism, and he explained other theories that make the two fit together.  He never told us his opinion, he asked us to think through things and come to our own conclusions.  That...is what makes a great teacher.  Doc passed away last year and it saddened the whole Delco Christian community, but I know I'll see him again at the throne of Jesus.

WFMW - Some Great Money Resources

Kids and Money Round-Up: Money Management International is an awesome resource for all things related to financial literacy and they have created a new character, the Money Bunny, to help teach kids about money. Here they've compiled a list of other great resources, including ten tips from yours truly. 

The Family That Saves Together: A great example of how children can learn to think about money wisely when parents are proactive.

How Much of Your Finances Should You Automate?: I've written before that I'm a big fan of Ramit Sethi and his book and blog.  He's all about completely automating your finances to help you save more. But I'm also a huge fan of Adam Baker, and he has some great reasons not to automate everything.

Eat, Pray, Spend: This is an insightful article about what the author calls the "priv-lit" genre, where women are encouraged to spend money and ditch their responsibilities in search of wellness and enlightenment.  I love how Eat, Pray, Love is referred to as "Wealthy, Whiny, White". Definitely reflects my sentiments about the book.

 But Will It Make You Happy?: The New York Times examines people rejecting consumerism in favor of simplicity during this recession and the relationship between "stuff" and happiness.

Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed: Why is it than when we make more money, we spend more money? A look at the American culture of consumerism.

Walk Away From Your Underwater Home and Get An iPad: This story makes my stomach turn. It's a perfect picture of what's wrong with our country's attitude towards money.

And that's what works for me this week.

Top Ten Bible Verses Regarding Orphans

I wrote this weekend about my heart for orphans. I believe this is where God's heart lies, as reflected in the following scriptures...plus many more not listed here.

1. James 1:27

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.



2. Psalm 68:5

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

3. Isaiah 1:17

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

4. Deuteronomy 10:18

He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.

5. Deuteronomy 24:19

When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

6. Psalm 27:10

For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.

7. Exodus 22:22-24

You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

8. Psalm 82:3

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

9. Psalm 146:9

The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10. Hosea 14:3 In you the orphan finds mercy.

Bonus! Jeremiah 22:3

Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

Father to the Fatherless

Yesterday I had the privilege of going to a meeting of new alliance of churches in Houston forming to support each other in orphan, foster care and adoption ministries.  Our worship pastor is in the process of adopting a son from Ethiopia and he is starting a life group with an orphan care focus that my husband and I will be a part of.  This is a brand new focus for our church but it clearly is not as new for many many other churches in Houston, as evidenced by the passion at this meeting.  I think all the people in the room had either already adopted or were in the process of adopting, except me.  The ideas exchanged and support for each other because of the heart for orphans God has placed in each of us were inspiring.  It's clear to me that the hand of God is moving, not only in Houston but across the country, and Christians are responding to the call in scripture to care for the fatherless. 

At the meeting I got to finally meet Missy, (and her husband Walker) from It's Almost Naptime, who just sent in their dossier to adopt a little girl from Ethiopia.  I also met a bunch of folks from four other churches just in my town of Katy who are passionately following God's call in this direction.  I'm excited to get to know these folks better in the coming months.

There are 48 verses in scripture that are not even arguable about God's command that His followers take notice and actively support orphans.  Adoption is a perfect picture of the gospel, a living and breathing picture of what God has done for us through Jesus, saving us from our desperate situation and bringing into His family as co-heirs with Christ.  It is for THIS reason that I think Christians should expand their families, not because they want more kids, not because I would love a little girl to add to my boys.  As David Platt puts it, in his book Radical, Jesus did not call us to maximize our comforts in this life. 

Yesterday I saw Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Lutherans and Presbyterians working together and sharing with each other for a common goal.  It was really beautiful.  I have a vision of the churches in Houston working together and living like the church in Acts, sharing their resources humbly with each other, and I think it is going to happen through this alliance.

And if our God is for us, than who can ever stop us? 

And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?