Nursery Rhyme - by Scott Phillips

So last Thursday, in my Thankful Thursday post, I mentioned that we were hosting a small private concert in our house. It was very cool. Our friend and songwriter from church opened with a short set. Then Scott played for about an hour.

Scott's music is real. The lyrics are thought-provoking and inspiring. The melodies are catchy, but not so simple that they drive you batty. When he plays, it feels like he's playing to each person in the audience independently (or their cell phones).

It was such an honor to have him here that we are hoping to be able to get him back to do something for the whole church.

Here is the chorus of a song from his latest album, Next Stop Willoughby. The song is called "Nursery Rhyme (Fleece)."

To hear more, check out his website. He has 7 full mp3s on his site to play.

If you are interested in having Scott play at your church, either as a concert or to be a guest worship artist, send Scott an email (address on his site). Let him know that you heard about him through Christine's Contemplation

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day

Thankful Thursday - 6-17-10

Today I have a few thankful thoughts.  I'll start with the short and move to the longer.


*VERY thankful for my sweet little angel baby Audrey Grace, who is 13 months today.  She's been starting to walk a lot more and is sleeping a lot better too.  YAY!!!!  We get 10 hours out of her almost every night now.  And she goes to bed with almost no fighting.


*Yesterday was my beautiful step-daughter's 14th birthday.  Fourteen!!!  WOW!!!!  I remember feeling old at 14.  That was the birthday my mom bought me my promise ring.  I cherished that birthday and still look back at it fondly.  At any rate, Kymberly is a wonderful child.  She is a great big sister.  She is a great girl.  She is loving.  She is sympathetic.  She is very caring.  She is very special and I love her very much.  I'm so happy to have her in my life.


*Lastly ... I'm thankful for our house.  The last 2 years have been a saga in the house.  But the house has been a huge blessing.  We have a great living room.  It's probably 20'x30' in size.  We have a drumset, 6 guitars, 2 desks, a couch, a TV, a bookcase, Audrey's toys, and a dresser.  And there's more room to play.  Two years ago when our landlord passed away, Josh and I kept saying that there's gotta be a reason God put us in the house.  I think God just told me why.  


I was convicted a couple weeks ago that we really need to be using our house for God.  Whether it's to host a youth group, to let people stay here when needed, or even something greater.  I think only 48 hours after I shared this with Josh, our worship leader emailed us and asked if we would be willing to open up our house and host a small, intimate Christian concert.  We didn't have to think about it ... our answer was yes.  So tomorrow night, Scott Phillips will be giving a small concert.  We are so excited.  We've spent the whole week getting ready.  We're also opening up a bedroom to Scott to stay on Friday night.


Less than 2 weeks after God told us to use our house for Him, we are a concert venue and a bed and breakfast.  What else does God have planned for us?????

Frugality....

I really think that the Dutch Frugal-penny pinching gene has been activated and is going crazy in me.


About 2 months ago we looked into and eventually purchased cloth diapers. A $150 start-up cost and 24 diapers. Now we're saving $40 a month. We're still using disposable wipes, but I suspect when the new baby comes and we start using more wipes, I'll cut up some receiving blankets into cloth wipes.


I know that one of the best ways to dry a diaper and "bleach" any stains is to dry it in the sun. And now that it's summer and we have no rain and LOTS of heat and sun, it's the perfect time to do that. But I have no way of air-drying my diapers. I have nothing clean onto which I can set my clean diapers to dry. I don't even have a sweater drying rack, which makes me sad.


I've been drying my covers by hanging them on all the towel racks and on top of the shower. That works, but don't have enough room for all the diapers. And I don't get to take advantage of the sun. I've asked Josh if we could hang up some of our old towel bars in the garage. That at least gets me more room. But I still want to use the sun.


So I started pricing sweater drying racks. They are about what I remember ... starting around $30. But then further investigation showed me that we could get a portable clothes line for only $85. And it folds up and I can put it away so that it doesn't take up the whole back yard. Not bad!!!


If I'm going to spend $85 on a portable clothes line, I should just dry all our clothes on there in the summer. Think of all the money we could save by not running our dryer. And then it wouldn't heat the garage either. WOW!!!


Now I understand why my underwear always hung outside at the cottage. I'm not as embarrassed about it now. Well ... maybe I won't hang up underwear for all the neighbors to see, but I could do socks and t-shirts and pants.


In the mean time, I've thought about just getting a piece of rope and stringing it across something and hanging clothes on there. Clothes pins are cheap, right????

The Car Seat Song

Audrey is getting to an age where she tries to help when putting in her clothes or buckeling up in the carseat. So we've tried to make up a song for getting into the carseat.

You put your first arm through the little strappy thing 
You put your next arm through the other strappy thing.
Your chest goes, " click!"
And 2 more little clicks.
And now we're buckled up for safety!

Memorization Monday

Deuteronomy 30:14
But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.

I thought this was a great reminder. I resembles Psalm 119:9,11 also.

National Donut Day

Tomorrow is National Donut Day and Krispy Kreme is celebrating by handing out free donuts, your favorite kind. So enjoy. And since it's a FRIDAY ... calories don't count! Free Krispy Kreme Donuts

Thankful Thursday

So many things to be thankful for this Thursday.

1) My baby girl started walking
2) Robitussin
3) Feeling the baby start moving
4) A husband with a heart for God

My baby is now a toddler....

On May 17 (Audrey's first birthday), Dr. Lionel said that he would be surprised if Audrey weren't walking by 13 months. Well, here we are. 12 months and 15 days.