Weekend in Columbus, GA

Last weekend was spent with 500 families who came from Montana, Texas, Virginia, New Jersey and all over the states to gather together for Christians at the Crossroads Conference with the Botkin family. They covered many topics from: What Is The Home? - What Is The Church? - Brothers And Sisters - Understanding "Patriarchy" - Family Dynamics With Adult Children - Courtship and Marriage For Serious Families - What It Means To Honor Our Parents- Dominion Oriented Femininity - The Difference Between A Playground And A Battlefield And Why Young Men Must Live For Spiritual Warfare - How You Can Have Hope for the Future - How To Watch a Movie With Your Family (and use the occasion as a life-changing discipleship opportunity)

(Mr. Botkin during Q&A)

(Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin talking with some young ladies.)







Notes from: Honoring Your Parents
*We honor our parents whether they deserve it or not.
*Serve by loving them
*Praise them in private and public
*Bless them with kind words; don't despise your parents
*Share interests, even if you aren't interested

I really enjoyed Anna and Elizabeth's talk on:
Ten Attributes of a Young Dominion Woman.

A few things that I came away with were:

*Be more invested in my family
*Embrace a hard life
*A dominion woman strengthens her arms and trains her mind
* A dominion woman understands the times: we need to look around for opportunities to serve our families, church, and community.

Something the Lord has been showing me...

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth forever. -Psalm 111:10

My To-Do List For 2009...

These are in no particular order:

• Read the Bible chronologically in a year.


• Continue on working towards getting my B.A. in History through CollegePlus!


• Work on health/fitness plan and sticking with it. Fortunately I'm blessed to have a friend who is becoming a personal fitness trainer and has offered to help me with areas I need help in! Looking forward to this one!


• Travel to see Meredith! This is something I can hardly wait for and will be looking forward to meeting my lovely friend who seems more like a sister sometime this year!


• Attend the “Christians at the Crossroads” Conference.


• Read many books


• Make new friends.


• Journal more.


• Pray diligently for my future husband.


• Evangelize more.


• Serve others more. I think I found in 2008 that one of my biggest gifts is serving...so I plan to do a lot of that in 2009.


• Write more. I have a lot of essays that I will be writing for school but I hope to do some writing for pleasure such as: poems, stories, maybe that book that I started a looong time ago!


• Spend more time with family.


• Procrastinate less.

Twelve Books I Hope to Read in 2009

1.) The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by: Peter Duffy

2.) Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by: by James L. Swanson

3.) William Wilberforce: The Life of the Great Anti-Slave Trade Campaigner by: William Hague

4.) Set-Apart Femininity: God's Sacred Intent for Every Young Woman by: Leslie Ludy

5.) The Hiding Place by: Corrie Ten Boom

6.) Winston and Clementine: The Personal Letters of the Churchills by: Mary Soames

7.) Persuasion by: Jane Austen

8.) A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror by: Larry Schweikart and Michael Patrick Allen

9.) Wives and Daughters by: Elizabeth Gaskell and Angus Easson

10.) A Man Called Peter: The Story of Peter Marshall by: Catherine Marshall

11.) What He Must Be: ...If He Wants to Marry My Daughter by: Voddie T. Baucham Jr.

12.) My Life for Yours: A Walk Through The Christian Home by: Douglas Wilson

Poetry to think about...

Picture from allposters.com

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Is the Hand That Rules the World

Blessings on the hand of women!

Angels guard it's strenght and grace,

In the palace, cottage, hovel,

Oh, no matter where the place;

Would that never storms assailed it,

Rainbows ever gently curled;

For the hand that rocks the cradle

Is the hand that rules the world.

Infancy's the tender fountain,

Power may with beauty flow,

Mother's first to guide the streamlets,

From them souls unresting grow-

Grow on for the good or evil,

Sunshine streamed or evil hurled;

For the hand that rocks the cradle

Is the hand that rules the world.

Woman, how divine your mission

Here upon our natal sod!

Keep, oh, keep the young heart open

Always to the breath of God!

All true trophies of the ages

Are from mother-love impearled;

For the hand that rocks the cradle

Is the hand that rules the world.

Blessings on the hand of women!

Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,

And the sacred song is mingled

With the worship in the sky-

Mingles where no tempest darkens,

Rainbows evermore are hurled;

For the hand that rocks the cradle

Is the hand that rules the world.

-William Ross Wallace

My very scary Wednesday!

It started as I got out of bed at about 7:10 a.m., I heard a crash from the kitchen, and a loud scream. Immediatley rushed to the source and found my mother who had fallen and hurt herself very badly. Spilled coffee, tears streaming, and a very worried daughter, I quickly put on some clothes and a jacket and got her in the car and off we went to the E.R. Pulled up to the door, went to get a wheelchair for her, signed her in, then parked the car, and ran back in to sign some papers. Thankfully, they were slow at the moment and it took hardly any time before she was in a room. They did X-rays on her arm and foot and then we waited for the doctor to come and tell the news! A nice and older gentleman doctor that looked to me like someone who would should be out in the woods in a cabin with a red plaid shirt, jeans, and boots on, came in and told us some very good news. Her foot was only sprained, arm was indeed broken at the elbow or as they called it the "radial head" something like that, but she didn't need any surgery at all and that it should heal in the next few weeks! After spending about two hours there we were finally discharged and off to our local drugstore to get some medicine for the pain and to rent a wheelchair because crutches wouldn't work with her arm. As we went home I was so relieved to know that everything was okay and that I never panicked for a moment. The Lord blessed me and I felt Him with me as we went to the E.R. and on the drive home. Thursday we went to see an orthopaedic doctor to make sure that the splint on her arm was okay and at this point her foot had recovered a good bit and was able to hobble around. It's finally Friday and I'm so happy to see that she is feeling much better! Well, until next time....

My Daybook...

I was planning to post this earlier this week but never had the chance. So here is My Daybook from Wednesday...

Outside my window...it’s cloudy and raining (great reading weather)!

I am thinking...about all the work that I will be doing in the coming months.

I am thankful for...Jesus, a lovely home, family, friends, inspiring books, our founding fathers, and for all of those who have served this country and keep us safe!

From the kitchen...comes the aroma of coffee!

I am creating...a scrapbook for my pictures.

I am going... to run some errands in a few minutes.

I am wearing... jeans and a shirt.

I am reading... well, I just finished reading The Raising of a President by: Doug Wead. I’m not sure which book I’ll be reading next…so many to choose from!

I am hoping... that I get all of the things on my list finished.

I am hearing... classical music from the NPR station.

Around the house... are many books.

One of my favorite things...is to have a really great conversation with someone!

A few plans for the rest of the week... finish getting my nephews birthday present together, plan what dish we are taking to our fellowship group this Sunday, and order books online.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...