the fountainside.

Cardboard testimony

onlinesoph — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:18:11 +0000

Watched this yesterday at Bible study. I was a bit teary by the end!

Tomorrow When The War Began

onlinesoph — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:46:33 +0000

Tamie has written an in-depth review on her blog.

Happiness is…

onlinesoph — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:34:04 +0000

I’ve been asked by Soph G to name 10 things that make me happy. Well you all know I love a good list, so here it is.

1. Waking up every day to the little boy pictured above.
2. Drinking a good coffee from a takeaway cup.
3. Being in the middle of a really good book and knowing you still have ages to go.
4. Watching my parents interact on facebook.
5. Finding Sirena tuna on special at the supermarket.
6. Fairy lights and the smell of BBQ on a warm spring evening.
7. Ultramarine blue anything.
8. Emails from friends that have no point other than to tell me what they’re having for lunch today.
9. When Sam says, “stuff cooking dinner, let’s order takeaway”.
10. Knowing I belong to Jesus, and that nothing can take that away from me.

I’m supposed to tag people for this meme, so how about you Elsie? And you Bonnie?

Tinkering

onlinesoph — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:40:50 +0000

I think I’ve finally found a template I’m happy with. I’ve even finally worked out how to add a blogroll! All I need to do now is work out how to change the picture. Hmm…

The heart of prayer

onlinesoph — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:10:14 +0000

“At the heart of all our praying must be a biblical vision. That vision embraces who God is, what he has done who we are, where we are going, what we must value and cherish. That vision drives us toward increasing conformity with Jesus, toward lives lived in the light of eternity, toward hearty echoing of the church’s ongoing cry, “Even so, come Lord Jesus!” That vision must shape our prayers, so that the things that most concern us in prayer are those that concern the heart of God. Then we will persevere in our praying, until we reach the goal God himself has set for us.”

Don Carson, Call to Spiritual Reformation

Knitting

onlinesoph — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:33:20 +0000

They say never judge a book by its cover, but I often do…not just books but CDs, restaurants, items on the supermarket shelf, even shops. So when I saw a cosy looking store selling knitting wares across from where we live, I couldn’t help sneaking inside, even though I’ve never knitted a stitch in my life. Oh it was glorious! Filled with coloured yarn lined up like tasty morsels of candy.

I ended up chatting to the owner for quite a bit and she helped me pick out some needles and wool for my first knitting project (a scarf). After showing me how to cast off, she sent me on my way with a book that reads a little like “knitting for dummies”, assuring me I could pop over any time I got stuck. How nice is that? Apparently she’s starting up some classes for women who want to learn how to knit. I’m very excited about joining as I’ve been looking for something local to get involved in ever since my mothers’ group didn’t work out (long story, don’t ask!). Hopefully it won’t be too hard to bring Nathan along for a couple of hours of knitting a week.

I’ll post pictures of my scarf when I finish. Here’s hoping it won’t be a disaster!

Happy Spring!

onlinesoph — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:58:36 +0000

Here’s a video clip to put you in a good mood. How cute is this baby?!

Too many books

onlinesoph — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:12:18 +0000

I’ve decided to not buy any more books until I’ve read every single book I currently own.

Here’s a list of unread books I have sitting on my shelf:

Negotiating the Dead by Margaret Atwood
Orynx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
The Feel of Steel by Helen Garner
Vanity Fair by Thackeray
Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
God Has Spoken by JI Packer
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Infinite Plan by Isabelle Allende
The Book of Rapsody by Nikki Gemmell
The Constant Gardener by John Le Carre
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

This election…

onlinesoph — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:03:50 +0000

…is getting farcical.

That’s all I wanted to say.

From staff to little bosses

onlinesoph — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:46:24 +0000

Here is an interesting article on why parents hate parenting from New York Magazine. It’s a long piece, but a good read if you have the time. I found author Jennifer Senior’s point on how children have gone from being our “staff” to our “bosses” really interesting. She writes:

“before urbanization, children were viewed as economic assets to their parents. If you had a farm, they toiled alongside you to maintain its upkeep; if you had a family business, the kids helped mind the store. But all of this dramatically changed with the moral and technological revolutions of modernity. As we gained in prosperity, childhood came increasingly to be viewed as a protected, privileged time, and once college degrees became essential to getting ahead, children became not only a great expense but subjects to be sculpted, stimulated, instructed, groomed.”

She goes on:

“This is especially true in middle- and upper-income families, which are far more apt than their working-class counterparts to see their children as projects to be perfected…Annette Lareau, the sociologist who coined the term “concerted cultivation” to describe the aggressive nurturing of economically advantaged children, puts it this way: “Middle-class parents spend much more time talking to children, answering questions with questions, and treating each child’s thought as a special contribution. And this is very tiring work.” Yet it’s work few parents feel that they can in good conscience neglect, says Lareau, “lest they put their children at risk by not giving them every advantage.”