Shortly after I finished reading my Bible this morning, the dogs started barking up a storm. I glanced out the window to see what was going on, especially since Buddy was really growling. They were just barking at the neighbor boy walking down the street to catch the bus to school. But it is what I saw that just made me sad.

He was walking down the middle of the road, not looking ahead at where he was going, but instead was looking at something in his hands. His chin-length hair just hung in his eyes, and his shirt was several sizes too large, like the kids today seem to like to wear.

It broke my heart. What is happening to our kids?

What about his parents? Do they know he dresses like that? Do they let him dress so sloppy because they want him to be able to fit in with his friends?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not judging. It just makes me sad. It makes me want to grab my son and not let him go. It gives me a fierce determination to make sure my children are dressed neatly, to make sure they represent Christ well without shaming His name.

What has happened today to our children?

As I sat at the dining room table this morning reading my Bible, I was struck by the beauty that is right outside my window. We have a nice porch furniture set, but it needs to be sanded and repainted. Needless to say, we don’t sit in it as much as we could. Because some of the chairs are rarely moved, the morning glories have grown up and around them. It is so pretty!

Did you know you can use a mason jar for your blender jar? I found this link this morning while I was browsing Prairie Homemaker.

Then I had to run to the kitchen to see if my blender really did work with a mason jar, and sure enough, it does!

How cool is that?

Last night, Stephen and I were just sitting in bed talking, and there was an earthquake. It scared me to death! I had never been in one before…..so I was pretty startled. I never realized that there was actually an audible noise during an earthquake! It was kinda weird to watch the mirror on my wall shake. When it was over, I couldn’t tell if the bed was still moving or not, my heart was pounding so hard.

I don’t know how people living in California do it – this one only registered a 3.8…..and I thought it was plenty scary!

After last night, I’ve really been thinking about the Titus 2 woman. Titus 2:3-5 says:

3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

Back when Mrs. Moore originally asked me to give the devotional at the God’s Ideal Woman class, I made a comment about being young (I’m 26). She reminded me that even though I’m young, there are plenty of girls at church younger than me. I am married, and even though I’m not an aged woman, there are those who watch me because I am older than them. Like DawneMichele said the other day in her blog,

There will ALWAYS be a wife, lady or mother younger than yourself!

And you know what – I can think of 1 wife and mother younger than me, and 1 engaged lady, and 1 single lady at our church – and all three of those ladies are younger than me. And that’s not counting the teens and younger girls.

It just really made me think. I never know who is watching me. But I know that as a married woman, it is very likely that there are younger girls watching me, watching my actions, and learning from my example. It is up to me to make sure that my actions are in line with what the Bible teaches!

I was reading DawneMichelle’s blog today, and her post Where are the Titus 2 Women? really struck a chord with me.

As it’s getting late, I’ll just post a link tonight. I’ll meditate on it and hopefully write more tomorrow.

Is gone. I was trying to fix something on it and accidentally deleted it.

Just letting you know….I didn’t want it deleted, but I don’t think I can get it back!

I believe this recipe was orignally credited to Rachel Ray. I found it on the Prarie Homemaker message board.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Chocolate Coffee

Equal parts coffee grounds and baking cocoa
1/2 to 1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Measure coffee grounds as usual, but add the same amount baking cocoa to the filter basket. For me, when I do two scoops coffee (for my big travel mug), then I add two (coffee) scoops of cocoa. Then sprinkle the cinnamon over top of the grounds. Put the tsp of vanilla in the bottom of the carafe so that the coffee and the vanilla can mix while it’s brewing.

This is delicious!

Little man has begun figuring out that he can make people laugh. It is the cutest thing! If he hears people laughing, he’ll laugh at them, making them laugh, which makes him laugh more…he is such a little ham.

I got some new pictures added to the gallery – take a look! But here are a few sweet ones.

This afternoon I was changing Little man’s clothes so we could leave for the funeral. Many times when I change his diaper, I’ll tickle his belly. I can’t help it, LOL! I love to see him laugh.

But today the tables were turned – he lifted up my shirt so he could see my belly – and tickled me! I was laughing so hard because it was so cute! He thought that was funny so he kept doing it.

Wow – the things they pick up on…