Homeschool Journal: Week of March 20-26, 2011

The Homeschool Mother's Journal
In my life this week… there was heartache and joy, in roughly equal measures. I bounce back and forth from feeling wholly inadequate to this task of parenting and homeschooling to feeling gratitude to the Lord of all parents and children for the opportunity.

In our homeschool this week… we did math (Saxon) and language lessons, read history, began reading aloud The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, went to co-op on Friday, and re-grouped after a week of spring break.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… We watched a few of the videos in R.C. Sproul’s Old Testament survey series, From Dust to Glory. I like these videos very much. Karate Kid performed a minor role in the play, As You Like It at Selah Arts (located at our church). Some of the family are gone this afternoon to see the final performance of this Shakespearean classic. It’s not my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays, too absurdly unlikely, but it does have a few of my favorite lines in it:

And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.

I can suck melancholy out of a song as a weasel sucks eggs.

O, wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful wonderful!
and yet again wonderful, and after that out of all whooping.

Down on your knees,
And thank Heaven, fasting, for a good man’s love.

Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but NOT for love.

My favorite thing this week was… stories, as usual: the book I’m reading about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Phantom Tollbooth, seeing my youngest reading Ramona and her Mother, seeing the movie The King’s Speech with Engineer Husband, living our own story.

What’s working/not working for us…
Not working:
Trust issues with one of my urchins.
Too busy a schedule, too much driving around.
Working:
Return to read aloud time.
Sitting down to do math with my nine year old, Z-baby. She still needs me nearby for support and encouragement. I’d better slow myself down and enjoy that together-time while I still can.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have… I want to simplify and enjoy more, but at the same time I want to have it all, not miss out on a single good book or learning experience or beautiful thought. It’s difficult to find any kind of balance between gulping life passionately and focusing on the small, seemingly insignificant things that make all that passion worthwhile.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
Large Family Mothering: Homeschooling less is more links and lists This blogger’s perspective on curriculum necessities and the true purpose of education is refreshing and encouraging. And according to the heading, she has fifteen children.

The Homeschool Chick is hostess for the weekly Homeschool Mother’s Journal.

Saturday Review of Books: March 26, 2011

“The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself.”~Eleanor Roosevelt

SatReviewbuttonIf you’re not familiar with and linking to and perusing the Saturday Review of Books here at Semicolon, you’re missing out. Here’s how it usually works. Find a review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week of a book you were reading or a book you’ve read. The review doesn’t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can just write your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Then on Saturday, you post a link here at Semicolon in Mr. Linky to the specific post where you’ve written your book review. Don’t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after you’ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book you’re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews they’re most interested in reading.

After linking to your own reviews, you can spend as long as you want reading the reviews of other bloggers for the week and adding to your wishlist of books to read. That’s how my own TBR list has become completely unmanageable and the reason I can’t join any reading challenges. I have my own personal challenge that never ends.

1. Barbara H. (Just Between You and Me)
2. Reading to Know (Bound by Guilt)
3. Reading to Know (The Rewards of Simplicity)
4. SuziQoregon @ Whimpulsive (Lucifer’s Tears)
5. SuziQoregon @ Whimpulsive (The Hippopotamus Pool)
6. Semicolon (Bitter Melon)
7. Collateral Bloggage (Love Wins)
8. Beth@Weavings (Howards End Is on the Landing)
9. Anne (Think: The Life of the Mind & the Love of God)r)
10. Charlie @ The Worm Hole (Beside The Sea)
11. Across the Page (The Heart of the Family)
12. Across the Page (Linnets and Valerians)
13. Alice@Supratentorial(The Checklist Manifesto)
14. SFP (Faulkner’s Spotted Horses)
15. SmallWorld Reads (Mennonite in a Little Black Dress)
16. SmallWorld Reads (Born Under a Lucky Moon)
17. Beckie@ByTheBook (The MS Project)
18. Beckie@ByTheBook (The Miracle of Mercy Land)
19. Beckie@ByTheBook (The Resurrection)
20. Beckie@ByTheBook (Debra White Smith’s Austen novels)
21. Janie (Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague)
22. Out At Night by Susan Arnout Smith
23. Lazygal (The Time-Travelling Fashionista)
24. Lazygal (Sweetly)
25. Lazygal (The Tiger’s Wife)
26. Lazygal (Beauty Queens)
27. Lazygal (The Midnight Palace)
28. Graham
29. Lazygal (Belladonna)
30. Lazygal (Demonglass)
31. Graham (The Immigrant by Manju Kapur)
32. Lazygal (Ruby Red)
33. Swapna (Wither)
34. Swapna (The Cypress House)
35. Swapna (The Chicago Way & The Fifth Floor)
36. Swapna (The Four Ms. Bradwells)
37. Swapna (Dreaming in English)
38. Swapna (Katherine the Queen)
39. Sheri @ Life on the Farm (Under the Tuscan Sun)
40. Library Hospital (At the Sign of the Jack O’Lantern)
41. Library Hospital (A Tale of Two Cities)
42. Samantha @ Bookworms and Tea Lovers (A Dilly of a Death)
43. Samantha @ Bookworms and Tea Lovers (Silky Sand)
44. Samantha @ Bookworms and Tea Lovers (All Roads To Rome)
45. Marie (Frindle)
46. Marie (Passoin and Purity)
47. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (award winning picture books)
48. Donovan @ Where Peen Meets Paper (Cradle to Cradle)
49. Carol in Oregon (The Sword of Imaginations)
50. Debbie Rodgers – Exurbanis.com (Building the Pauson House)
51. Marisa Wikramanayake (Jacket & Spine)
52. JHS (Stilettos and Scoundrels GIVEAWAY)
53. JHS (One Bird’s Choice GIVEAWAY)
54. Judy @ Seize the Book Blog (Bathsheba)
55. Judy @ Seize the Book Blog (Love Amid the Ashes)
56. Judy @ Seize the Book Blog (Bound By Guilt)
57. Ellen (Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes)
58. Carina @ Reading Through Life (The Beauty of Humanity Movement)
59. Carina @ Reading Through Life (What I Talk About When I Talk About Running)
60. Carina @ Reading Through Life (The Invisible Line)
61. Nicola (Journey to America by Sonia Levitin)
62. Nicola (Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not So Fabulous Life)
63. Nicola (Slog’s Dad by David Almond)
64. Nicola (Wither by Lauren DeStefano)
65. Stephen King’s The Stand Graphic Novel, Vol. 1
66. Nicola (A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley)
67. Nicola (MAOH, Juvenile Remix, Vol. 4)
68. Nicola (Chester by Syd Hoff)
69. Nicola (There’s a Wolf at the Door by Zoe B. Alley )
70. A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust (The Hidden Gallery)
71. Woman of the House (Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life)
72. Diary of an Eccentric (The Return of the Soldier)
73. Diary of an Eccentric (The Postmistress)
74. Diary of an Eccentric (Only Mr. Darcy Will Do)
75. Gina @ Bookscount (Then Sings My Soul)
76. Gina @ Bookscount (The Gift)
77. Gina @ Bookscount (Conquer the Memories)
78. Kara @ Home With Purpose (The Girl in the Gatehouse)
79. Woman of the House (Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl by N.D. Wilson)

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Poetry Friday: Poetry and Sermons of John Donne

“Despair is the damp of hell, as joy is the serenity of heaven.”
~John Donne

40 Inspirational Classics for Lent

I’ve written several times here at Semicolon about the seventeenth century poet and Anglican priest, John Donne:

A Valediction Forbidding Mourning by John Donne, 1611
Holy Sonnet X (Death Be Not Proud) by John Donne
The Sunne Rising by John Donne
Song (Go and Catch a Falling Star) by John Donne
Hymn to God, My God, in my Sickness by John Donne
The End of the Alphabet, Wit and John Donne

I strongly suggest both the poetry and the sermons of Mr. Donne for your Lenten edification.

From A Lent Sermon preached at White-hall, February 20, 1629 on Matthew 6:21, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also:

The words admit well that inversion, “Where your Treasure is, there will your heart be also,” implies this; Where your Heart is, That is your Treasure.

Do all in the Fear of God: In all warlike preparations, remember the Lord of Hosts, and fear Him; In all treaties of peace, remember the Prince of Peace, and fear Him; In all Consultations, remember the Angle of the Great Council, and fear Him: fear God as much at Noon, as at Midnight; as much in the Glory and Splendor of his Sun-shine, as in his darkest Eclipses,: fear God as much in thy Prosperity, as in thine Adversity; as much in thy Preferment, as in thy Disgrace.

(Heaven) Where all tears shall be wiped from mine eyes; not onely tears of Compunction for my self, and tears of Compassion for others; but even tears of Joy, too: for there shall be no sudden Joy, no Joy unexperienced there. There I shall have all joys, altogether, always. There Abraham shall not be gladder of his own salvation, then of mine; nor I surer of the Everlastingness of my God, then of my Everlastingness in Him. This is that Treasure.

What the Bible Is All About by Henrietta Mears

40 Inspirational Classics for Lent

I’m doing my best to read through the entire Bible during 2011. I want to make this “read through” a yearly habit. But sometimes I get to some book of the Bible, and I just don’t get it. What is this part of Scripture about? Why is it in here? What does it mean?

That’s where Henrietta Mears’ little book about the books of the Bible is a great help. In the book, Ms. Mears takes each book of the Bible in order and explains the main themes of the book, a summary of its contents, the characters, the historical background, the type of literature, key teachings, and the book’s relationship to the life and mission of Jesus.

“The work for which she is best known, What the Bible is All About, a survey of the Old and New Testaments, was a revision of one year of her high school Sunday school lessons taken from her teaching notes. At four million copies this is one of the most popular study books on the Bible ever printed; it has been revised twice and produced in a number of editions. In this work, Mears clearly communicates the Scripture and shows one of the chief reasons her students’ favorite name for her was ‘Teacher.'”

Ms. Mears was the Christian Education director for Hollywood Presbyterian Church, and in her position she influenced many young people who went on to bring the message of Christ to the world. Some of her students and disciples included Billy Graham, Bill and Vonette Bright, founders of Campus Crusade for Christ, Richard Halverson, chaplain of the U.S. Senate, and Jim Rayburn, founder of Young Life.

Read more about Henrietta Mears:
Christianity Today: Henrietta Mears, she loved outrageous hats and teaching Sunday School.
Historical Renewal: Henrietta Mears
Henrietta Mears by Cherie Miller.
Henrietta Cornelia Mears by Richard J. Leyda.

The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

40 Inspirational Classics for Lent

Bonhoeffer, like Corrie Ten Boom, was a Christian, a German Christian in his case, caught up in the difficulties of confronting Nazism. He separated himself from the German Lutheran church over the issue of Nazism, and he was finally executed for his participation in a plot to assassinate Hitler. A biography of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxis called Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy was published last year and got lots of good reviews. I’m in the middle of reading Metaxis’ biography now, and I’m quite fascinated with its portrait of a young man with such firm beliefs and such an adventurous spirit. I’d also like to re-read Bonhoeffer’s book about the Sermon on the Mount, The Cost of Discipleship, and I do remember it as an inspiring and challenging read.

Bonhoeffer lived and wrote during the same time as two of my literary and spiritual heroes, C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien. One wonders what the men would have made of each other had they met. Tolkien and Lewis both were interested in all things Germanic and Norse, and Bonhoeffer would surely have found the Oxford dons quite congenial and vice-versa. I would note that there is some controversy over whether or not Metaxis’ portrayal of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is accurate or somewhat slanted toward making him seem like a modern-day “evangelical.” However, from what I’ve read so far the biography does a good job of discussing Bonhoeffer’s evolving beliefs in an impartial but respectful way, giving him the benefit of the doubt so to speak. I don’t see the harm in that approach. I really think that arguments over whether men like Bonhoeffer or even Lewis or Tolkien were sufficiently “evangelical” or “orthodox” to be saved are counter-productive and beside the point. They considered themselves Christians, followers of Jesus, and who are we to contradict their affirmation of faith? If there are specific arguments with certain statements made by these faith-filled men, those are worth discussing, but their eternal destiny is in God’s hands.

And again, I would recommend The Cost of Discipleship, a book whose original German title was simply Discipleship. A few quotes:

“His disciples keep the peace by choosing to endure suffering themselves rather than inflict it on others. They maintain fellowship where others would break it off. They renounce hatred and wrong. In so doing they over-come evil with good, and establish the peace of God in the midst of a world of war and hate.”
I think, looking back, that Bonhoeffer’s book may have been an influence on the pacifism that I adopted as a young adult (and later gave up). I haven’t yet gotten to the part of the biography where Bonhoeffer reconciles his early pacifism with his participation in the plot to kill Hitler, but it will be interesting to read about that aspect of his thinking.

“The call goes forth, and is at once followed by the response of obedience. …. It displays not the slightest interest in the psychological reason for a man’s religious decisions. And why? For the simple reason that the cause behind the immediate following of call by response is Jesus Christ Himself.”
It’s rather amazing to me to remember that God actually understands psychology –better that the psychologists do. He is able to call us over the objections and mystifications caused by our individual psychological make-up and issues.

“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

“Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: ‘Ye were bought at a price’, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

We are truly bought with a great price, and taking for granted the mercy of God, assuming that we belong to Christ without truly making any effort to follow Him, is a costly error. What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? We are “saved to sin no more” and if we do fall into sin and error, as I do daily, we should claim God’s grace all the more because we need Him so desperately.

Semicolon’s Eight Best Nonfiction Books Read in 2010

I had this list saved up and forgot to post it earlier this year because all of my other lists were lists of twelve. II didn’t read enough nonfiction in 2010 to have twelve favorites, so the list is limited to eight. But they’re eight good ones.

River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard. Semicolon review and thoughts about TR here.

Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough. The March Semicolon Book Club selection, and a lovely pick, if I do say so myself.

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream by Adam Shepard. Semicolon review here.

Apparent Danger: The Pastor of America’s First Megachurch and the Texas Murder Trial of the Decade in the 1920’s by David Stokes. Semicolon review here.

A Walk with Jane Austen by Lori Smith. Semicolon review here.

1776 by David McCullough. Semicolon review here.

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder.

The Narnia Code: C.S. Lewis and the Secret of the Seven Heavens by Michael Ward.

Bitter Melon by Cara Chow

Nominated for 2011 Cybil Awards, Young Adult Fiction category. Nominated by Lisa Jenn Bigelow.

“Frances, a Chinese-American student at an academically competitive school in San Francisco, has always had it drilled into her to be obedient to her mother and to be a straight-A student so that she can get into Berkeley to become a doctor. It has never even occurred to Frances to question her own feelings and desires until she accidentally winds up in speech class and finds herself with a hidden talent.”

Bitter Melon was pitched to me as sort of the “anti-Tiger Mother novel,” the Rest of the Story from the pressured child’s point of view. I would have thought about Ms. Chua’s recent controversial child-rearing memoir as I read Bitter Melon even if the association between the two books hadn’t been brought to my attention. Amy Chua apparently believes (I haven’t actually read her book, Battle Cry of the Tiger Mother) that children should be raised in a very strict, competitive, and pressured environment so that they will learn to achieve their best and be proud of themselves. In her Wall Street Journal article, Chua talks about giving praise and encouragement along with (or after) the initial response to substandard grades or performance which is to ” excoriate, punish and shame the child,” but it looks as if the positive reinforcement and simple love get short shrift in the Tiger Mother model for raising kids. Such methods may work to produce highly competent pianists or doctors, but I would argue that there’s a dark side to to this parenting technique that borders on the abusive, if it doesn’t actually cross over into child abuse.

Not all cultural traditions are equally moral, virtuous, and yes, Christ-like. The Chinese and other Asian cultures may have many things to teach the West about principled behavior, honoring parents, and even teaching children to excel, but shaming children and beating them and controlling their actions by force and by emotional manipulation even into young adulthood are not right ways of treating the children that God has placed into our families, no matter how brilliantly it makes them perform. Love is not, or should not be, based on performance, and our children should never wonder whether we will continue to love them if they fail.

Sadly enough, Frances in the book Bitter Melon sees herself making a choice between pleasing family (her mother’s expectations) and speaking her own truth. She writes, “Then the question of whether to choose one’s family at the expense of oneself or oneself at the expense of one’s family has no easy answer. It is like choosing whether to cut off one’s right hand or one’s left hand.” There is a third way: we can teach our children that they are ultimately responsible before God to praise, enjoy, and glorify Him forever. It’s not all about me. Nor is it all about family and making my parents happy. Life is about accepting the love of the One who created me, loving Him with all my heart, mind and strength, and glorifying Him with my talents and abilities, serving others as if they were the Lord Jesus Christ, and honoring my parents even if I must defy their expectations. It’s still not an easy answer, but it is right, and God’s way of living transcends culture, both East and West.

Bitter Melon is a good novel, and a good antidote to the poisonous temptation of making human excellence and/or filial devotion one’s god.

Sunday Salon: Upcoming Events in Houston

Here are some events that I would like to attend because they feed my fascinations:

Exhibit: Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art
February 20–May 23, Museum Hours — Audrey Jones Beck Building, The Museum of Fine Art, Houston, 5601 Main St., Houston
The MFAH presents French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. This exceptional loan exhibition brings to Houston 50 paintings from the National Gallery of Art’s premier holdings while the galleries that house its 19th-century French collection are closed for repair, renovation, and restoration. The National Gallery’s Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection ranks among the finest of any museum in the world and features some of the greatest artists active in France between the 1860s and the early 20th century. The MFAH presentation showcases works by Mary Cassatt, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Georges Seurat, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. A fully illustrated catalogue exploring these paintings in depth accompanies the show. Admission to Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art will require a timed-entry ticket that also includes general admission to the museum. See website for full ticketing information.

Lecture and Book Signing: Louis Markos discusses C. S. Lewis
March 23 and 30, 6:30 pm — Deacon’s Parlor, Second Baptist Woodway Campus, 6400 Woodway Dr., Houston
Louis Markos, professor of English and scholar in residence at Houston Baptist University, will give a two part lecture series on C. S. Lewis based on his two new books: Apologetics for the 21st Century and Restoring Beauty: The Good, the True, and the Beautiful in the Writings of C. S. Lewis. The talks are free and open to the public, and will be followed by a book signing.

Concert: St. John Passion
March 27, 5:00 pm — Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby, Houston
Bach’s setting of the passion narrative from the Gospel of John is sacred drama of the highest order. This beloved work, presented in collaboration with the Moores School of Music Concert Chorale, features tenor Tony Boutté as the Evangelist and a stellar lineup of soloists and players. Presented by Ars Lyrica. Tickets are available online or by calling 713-315-2525.

Free Performance: UST Jazz Ensemble Concert
April 5, 7:30 pm — Cullen Hall, University of St. Thomas, 4001 Mt. Vernon, Houston
Dr. Malcolm Rector leads the talented UST Jazz Ensemble in performing some of the most spectacular selection from the harmonious music genre that is Jazz music. The UST Jazz Ensemble, famous for its sophisticated sound and fabulous improvisation, will be performing in UST’s Cullen Hall. This event is free and open to the public.

Performance: Amadeus
April 6–May 1, Times Vary — Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Ave., Houston
Peter Shaffer’s Tony Award–winning play is a riveting tale of obsession and vengeance. Loosely based on the lives of Viennese court composer Antonio Salieri and his young rival Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Amadeus follows a murder plot that shocks and fascinates. After committing his life to God in order to be blessed with the ability to create the world’s most sublime music, Salieri believes that God graced the rebellious Mozart with greater inspired creativity. Envious Salieri schemes to destroy Mozart and, in so doing, rebukes God. See website for performance schedule. Purchase tickets online or by calling 713-220-5700.

Free Lecture: Dr. Neil de Grasse Tyson
April 13, 7:00 pm — Hilton Hotel, University of Houston, Houston
Dr. Neil de Grasse Tyson is the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of National History and Visiting Research Scientist and Lecturer at Princeton University. Dr. Tyson published the first of six books on astronomy and astrophysics in 1988. His research interests include star formation, exploding stars, dwarf galaxies, and the structure of the Milky Way. To conduct his research, he uses telescopes all over the world as well as the Hubble Space Telescope. This lecture is presented as part of the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Ethics & Leadership Lectures.

Concert: Rodgers & Hammerstein and More
April 21, 8:00 pm — Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana St., Houston
Ashley Brown, celebrated leading lady of the Broadway stage in such Disney blockbusters as Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast, recently came to Houston to reprise the role of Mary Poppins in the National Tour. She comes to Houston again to be a part of an unforgettable concert with the Houston Symphony and Robert Franz. Hear her perform your favorite Rogers and Hammerstein songs along with selections from her Broadway roles and much, much more. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling 713-224-7575.

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

40 Inspirational Classics for Lent

Miss Cornelia Arnolda Johanna Ten Boom was a middle-aged Dutch watchmaker and repairer when World War II brought the ethical dilemma of the twentieth century to her doorstep, “What shall we do in response to the Nazi persecution and genocide of the Jews?” Corrie and her family hid Jewish refugees in their home and were subsequently arrested. Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp where Corrie learned the lesson that she was later to share with the world: “there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still.”

The Hiding Place tells the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her family as they hid Jews in their home in Amsterdam and of their imprisonment in the German concentration camp, Ravensbruck. After the war was over, Corrie Ten Boom, already in her fifties, travelled the world for the next three decades, telling people about her experiences in Ravensbrueck and even more importantly about God’s provision during that time of suffering. She also wrote several books in addition to The Hiding Place, and in 1975 a movie was made also called The Hiding Place and featuring Julie Harris, Eileen Heckart, Arthur O’Connell, and Jeannette Clift in her Golden Globe nominated role as Corrie ten Boom.

Here’s just a taste of the wisdom embedded in “Tante Corrie’s” autobiographical story, a book I strongly suggest you read with an open heart and mind if you never have:

How long I lay on my bed sobbing for the one love of my life I do not know. I was afraid of what father would say. Afraid he would say, “There’ll be someone else soon,” and that forever afterwards this untruth would lie between us. “Corrie,” he began instead, “do you know what hurts so very much? It’s love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill the love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or, Corrie, we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel. God loves Karel, even more than you do, and if you ask Him, He will give you His love for this man, a love nothing can prevent, nothing destroy. Whenever we cannot love in the old human way, God can give us the perfect way.”

I did not know that he had put into my hands the secret that would open far darker rooms than this; places where there was not, on a human level, anything to love at all. My task just then was to give up my feeling for Karel without giving up the joy and wonder that had grown with it. And so, that very hour, I whispered a prayer, “Lord, I give to You the way I feel about Karel, my thoughts about our future, everything! Give me Your way of seeing Karel instead. Help me to love him that way. That much.”
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“Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.”
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“Even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him….Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness….And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives along with the command, the love itself.”
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“God’s viewpoint is sometimes different from ours – so different that we could not even guess at it unless He had given us a Book which tells us such things….In the Bible I learn that God values us not for our strength or our brains but simply because He has made us.”
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“You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.”

You can read more about Corrie ten Boom here.

U.S. Launches Missile Strike on Libya

The Pentagon reports the United States has launched a missile strike on Libyan air defenses.

American warplanes, ships and submarines are prepared to launch a furious assault on Libya’s limited air defenses, clearing the way for European and other planes to enforce a no-fly zone designed to ground Moammar Gadahfi’s air force and cripple his ability to inflict further violence on rebels, U.S. officials said. The U.S. also has the ability to knock out air defense radars with Navy electronic warfare planes.

Hours after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton attended an international conference in Paris that endorsed military action against Gadhafi, the U.S. was poised to kick off its attacks on Libyan air defense missile and radar sites along the Mediterranean coast to protect no-fly zone pilots from the threat of getting shot down. (Sources: Associated Press, USA Today, the Pentagon)

As the Lord leads, please pray now:

* For the protection of all U.S. servicemen and women participating in this attack.
* For the safety of all Allied forces engaged in the operation.
* For the safety of Libyan civilians and rebels and all who are in the strike zone
* For God’s purposes to be accomplished as a result of this international action against Libya.

From: The Presidential Prayer Team