I had a moment of near panic today. I couldn't find my new Sonlight catalog.

Sonlight is the homeschool curriculum that we have used for three years ... and look forward to using for the next 16 or so. And the Spring Day that we receive the new catalog is seriously one of the happiest days of my year.

I love the catalog. I love the company. I love the curriculum... the focus on the nations and on literature. I am absolutely, positively sold for Sonlight.

And I did end up finding the catalog. It was right where I put it.

I set the goal for myself with weight loss that once I broke that 140's barrier, and hit my preSofia pregnancy weight, that I would get this figure for myself.

It is called Happiness. “FREE to sing, laugh, dance and create!”

I hit my goal this past Friday, and was able to go out and get it that afternoon.

Isn't she beautiful! What a cool 'icon' to have around. I can just feel the Son on my face and daffodils at my feet in a field when I look at her.

"You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what you're doing is work or play." Warren Beatty

This was the quote on my google homepage today.

YES LORD! may this be for me with my kids, our homeschool, our church, our life!

I've been scanning our wedding photos into my computer over the past few days. I am not one who is talented or drawn to scrapbooking with all the acid free precautions, so I figured I'd better put these things somewhere where they are less likely to be ruined.

As I've been looking at the pictures I've thought several things:

1. Letting a friend who is 'sort of professional' as a photographer do your wedding photos is not a great idea.

2. How could our photographer have captured so very many unflattering moments of me? It's as though there was that digital delay... but he wasn't using digital.

3. Who are these two young kids? We look like we are young enough to be off to prom! Imagine... it's almost been eleven years.

These are the crocuses that are in the backyard. I get so excited when these little guys pop up... hey... winter is past, the spring is coming. Today as I was putting out grass seed, I noticed that the daffodils are not too far from opening up. For someone who really does not enjoy gardening, these spring bulbs are sure a thrill for me.

Look what I made! This is going to be the kid's major Easter present this year. I had seen one of these puppet theatre's that hangs in a door in one of the many catalogs that come my way. I really loved the idea, but had this nagging sense that surely it couldn't be that difficult to make. Most of the puppet theatre's that I looked at were going for over fifty dollars. I am pleased to report, that my puppet theatre cost about five dollars - the cost of two tension rods. The rest of the material was all stuff I had on hand.

So this Sunday (Easter) will be the grand opening of the Pitman Puppet Troupe... maybe there will be more pictures next week.

We were once in a group where the question was asked, if your spouse were to drive the perfect car to fit their personality what would it be? Marc said the perfect car for me would be the mini-cooper. Since then, I have intently studied them when I see them on the road.

I just saw one when I was out doing errands. Cute little car. But the grouchiest, meanest looking person I have ever seen (I know I know, don't just by appearances) was driving it. It was just wrong.

Anna picked out a book at the library called The Spring Cleaning, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It's about fairies who get spring ready for Primrose Day for a little girl named Bunch. On the page where you would expect to read the dedication there is a quote from Queen Crosspatch - the fairy who is the teller of the story.

"...how is a person to find time for stories when she works seventy-five hours a day. You may say that there are not seventy-five hours in a day, but I know better. I work seventy-five hours every day whether they are there or not."

After the Wodehouse quote that came across my google desktop the other day (see March 17 post), I did go to the library that afternoon and borrowed The Girl in Blue, by PG Wodehouse.

It was an excellent weekend read.... a light, but intelligent mystery. There is an interesting cadence to Wodehouse's writing that has me wanting to read another book before I label myself definitely as a Wodehouse fan.

I've been reading The Helper, by Catherine Marshall as part of my Lenten routine. It's a forty day study about the Holy Spirit. While I don't necessarily agree with everything, I do recommend the book.

Yesterday I read the chapter entitled "He Convicts Me of Sin". I'm going to type in a large portion of the chapter, because to me it was a phenomenal re-revelation.

"...the Spirit showed me that every time I reject Jesus' ability to handle any problem or problem area of my life, I am rejecting Him as the Lord of Life as truly as did the three thousand on the Day of Pentecost. He claimed to be the Savior, to be able to save us from any sin, any bondage, any problem. By disclaiming that, with regard to any one of my problems, I am calling Jesus a liar and a charlatan - a fake prophet - as truly as did those who long ago howled for His death before Pilate and who drove in the nails.

At that point I am also back in the garden of Eden standing beside Adam and Eve giving heed to the serpent - 'Don't believe God. He's really trying to deceive you and take away your happiness. After all, you know your own situation best. Don't be afraid to follow you own best judgment.'

Whenever I follow the serpent's twisted, convoluted advice, instantly I reveal the root of my sin-nature. It has many tentacles, among them my rebellion against God, the self-will of my determination to have my own way, and my arrogance. How ridiculous we human beings are when we set the pathetic limitations of our finite minds and petty judgment over against the infinite wisdom of our Creator! We can see this in regard to our own children. We can simply judge better than they can... 'No, you may not ride your bike in the heavy traffic downtown.' ... 'Stop it, Johnny, you'll pull that chest over on yourself.'... 'Debbie, no! You cannot play with matches.' But how blind we are to the fact that we grownups are in an even more untenable position in relation to our Heavenly Father.

Even so, we hear our amazing Lord telling us, 'Neither do I condemn you.' Here too, His viewpoint is very different from ours. Even as we are inclined to center down on legalistic and fleshly sins, so we usually assume that we are in for massive doses of judgment and condemnation.

Not so!

'For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.'

The difference here is that we think of sin as the breaking of laws, whereas Jesus thinks of sin as being bound. Why would anyone with goodwill condemn a poor man bound with chains or tied with a heavy rope? Would he not rather want to free him?

That, Scripture tells us, is the plight of us all before we meet Jesus because

'All have sinned... If we say we haveno sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.'

And Jesus came to earth, He announced at the beginning of His public ministry, for the express purpose not of condemning us, but of releasing all of us sin-captives.

Therefore, until we see ourselves as bound in many specific areas and in need of freeing and saving, obviously we will have no need of the Savior. Our danger then will be that of approaching Jesus not as a Savior but as a Santa Claus for the good gifts He can give us.

The truth is that none of us can go anywhere in the Christian life so long as we are chained with unbelief. For in any area we look, until we believe that Jesus is the Savior of our life for whatever our problem is - health or sex or money or job or strained or severed human relationships or whatever - there is nothing He can do for us. ...."