Frank Schaeffer Book Giveaway!

Last Thursday I drove to Omaha, Nebraska to hear Frank Schaeffer, author of Crazy for God and lots of other really great books dealing with the crazier end of the Christianity spectrum, speak. He did not disappoint. You can hear his talk at this link. If you start at about eleven minutes you can skip the introductions, although the minister of the church where Frank talked does give a brief, but interesting account of his own visit to L’Abri, the [...]

The Calvin Becker Trilogy

I was introduced to the writing of Frank Schaeffer via his book Crazy For God several years ago. I loved the book and wrote about it here. On that post, a reader left a comment asking me if I had read any of Schaeffer’s fiction books. I had not and I tucked that comment away in my brain in hopes that someday it would resurface at just the exactly right moment when I was in need of a new book [...]

A Holiday Make-Over for the Library

We hosted Thanksgiving this year. Twenty-seven of my husband’s closest relatives stayed at our house for four days. We went hiking and played board games and watched ballgames and went to the movies and The Oracle Known as Steve staged a coup and tried to take over my kitchen, but I bravely fended him off with a carving knife, a rusty old egg beater and a very pokey meat thermometer. And yet, even as he bled out from oozing puncture [...]

Random Weekend Photos

Because the Christmas tree photo was getting a wee bit tiresome.

Review of Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ”, with Boffo Giveaway Included

With mincing alacrity, Dear Charles takes on Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ” and startling questions arise!!!

Browsing Archives for March 2008

The Library Arrives

March 12th, 2008

Our library has arrived.

I was at first, somewhat mystified.

Evidently, I overlooked the small box at the end of the order form that said…complete library.

Though everything seems to be in very good order, with plenty of nooks and whatnots, and bins and cubbies, and higglyjoints and sputknacks…it seems that it did not have any…

BOOKS!!

I sprang into action!

Searching for the perfect book, the exact right one, to bless this humble library. The perfect book to first grace the shelves. To set the tone. To determine the character of this space for all time memorial!

I knew exactly where to go. A book of immense wisdom…unerring moral fiber. A book that nurtured me as I grew and taught me right from wrong. A book… actually many books…assembled into a flawless, seamless, whole. Where I still look for guidance and support and courage and fortitude. And I am never disappointed.

Nancy Drew

Of course.

This is my favorite cover.

Now that I have the sacred texts in place, I can move onto the lesser titles.

1 comment

Filed under: General Lunacy

Paying the Water Bill

March 7th, 2008

Moving to the country has resulted in some unexpected chores of which I am none too fond.

In order to face these unwieldy, difficult, troublesome chores I have to first, get up my strong.

I put honey in my coffee. From what I understand this is a simple way to save the world as I am giving underemployed bees a job.

Unfortunately I add regular old half and half from a regular old cow on top of my politically correct honey, thus destroying all my good work.

Never the less, I am drinking this concoction to strengthen myself for the coming task. For it is time to pay the water bill.

Which means I have to hike way out there, beyond the pond, clear up by the road. Once I get up there I have to root around in the frozen grass for the water meter. Then I have to haul up the heavy metal lid, yank out the spider encrusted insulating foam pad, and attempt to read the meter. Except that I can’t seem to read the meter. It is weird and confusing and complicated. You are supposed to ignore certain numbers and NOT ignore other numbers and I can’t ever remember which ones are which… so I made the decision a few months ago to just start estimating our water use. Because – IT IS FREEZING and I am not going to go up there and READ THAT STUPID… DUMB… STUPID… METER.

So I wrote a short note to the rural water district saying I was just going to estimate our bill based on our past usage. I explained that the directions for reading the meter were too complex and I couldn’t figure them out so here is my money and look I will even pay a little more… thank you… goodbye.

The rural water district has now responded two times now by sending a fresh set of complicated directions explaining how to read the meter and at the bottom of this set of directions they angrily scrawl out a note IN RED INK stating that I need to read my meter and record the numbers properly. Between the lines, what they really seem to be saying is that everyone else can read THEIR meters, WHY CAN”T YOU STUPID LADY!!!

So I tried to read the meter again, but got confused and I was kind of shaky and nervous over all that red ink and so my bill looks like this…

It’s all messed up and I still don’t know what numbers to write down. And you know what – who cares?

When it came time to choose a stamp for the mean people at the rural water district I had pick either the ugly brown liberty bell stamp or the pretty flower stamp.

That’s what you get mean rural water district people. Ugly bell stamp for you!

That ought to show them!

18 comments

Filed under: Uncategorized

Mr. Darcy

March 4th, 2008

I was going to write something very astute and erudite today like I usually do, but I found myself hesitating. Unable to go on… There was a wall… A stone wall in my way… Blocking my path… I couldn’t seem to get past it.

Finally I realized that “the wall” was really fear. A deep seeded, stomach searing fear that I had not fulfilled my obligation to my readers. I had not taken my responsibility as a blogger seriously and as a result, I had basically left you limping along somewhere on a street in Kajurkistan with a torn robe, shredded sandals and only a few shekels in your pocket to buy cheap chotchkes at the local market stall.

I don’t even begin to know how to apologize for my inadequacies. But I hope you will give me another chance. A second chance… to give you enough information to be truly informed, so that you can live a fuller life and make better decisions.

So let’s attack this subject again shall we?

And this time – let’s get it right.