Tagged!

     Anna from Damsel in Distress has just given me a blog reward. Thanks Anna!
        Here are the rules:
           1.List 8 stories or books you would like to live in
          2.List 8 other bloggers who deserve this award

 Wow this is a really tough one! As an avid reader, there are so many books that I would love to live in. Here are some of my favorites off the top of my head:
     1. The Count of Monte Cristo  by Alexander Dumas
     2. Pride and Prejudice         by Jane Austen
     3. Pollyanna and Pollyanna Grows Up  by Eleanor H. Porter
     4. In Freedom's Cause        by G.A. Henty
     5. The Scarlet Pimpernel  by Baroness Orczy
     6. Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery
     7. North and South      by Elizabeth Gaskell
     8.To Have and to Hold  by Mary Johnston

  And now, instead of awarding 8 people specifically, I invite anyone who wants to do this tag to join in!

An Amazing Giveaway!!

Attention all Homemakers! Miss Antoinette has just alerted me to this amazing giveway at this blog.  Here's the trick: just leave a commment on her blog telling her that I sent you (you could probably mention Antoinette's name as well.)

So enter in on the action! What can you lose?

Twenty Years Ago Today

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

 Well the time has come: My first book recommendation!!!!

  I chose this book for the obvious reason that today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Previously, I have fallen in the category of most Americans by hailing Lincoln as a noble and heroic individual that fought against slavery, etc. I had been taught this my whole life from public school, to christian school, and even throughout the first couple years of homeschooling. But this year was entirely different. This year I was able to study the truth  of what happened during the Civil War. This was largely due to my excellent curriculum. But then a lot of it also had to do with this amazing book. The Real Lincoln  was a real eye-opener for me. It is not written by some crazy southern fanatic with absolutely no historical evidence. This book is full of quotation after quotation ranging from Lincoln himself to southern people, to the British, and even to some radical abolitionists who realized that Lincoln's agenda was not entirely honorable. I think one of my favorite (and most disturbing) part of the book  is when Dilorenzo elaborates on the suppression of rights and the violation of the Constitution under Lincoln and his administration. I highly recommend this book to everyone who is interested in learning new things. Let me warn you though, this book is not popular since it reveals the lies of the historical revisionists. This is certainly not something that you will hear today, even in much of  the South. I would encourage anyone who is studying the civil war to at least this book before you jump to any herioc notions of the man whose birthday we celebrate today.

For more information on Lincoln, check out these blog posts:

The Myth of Racial Equality,  by Samuel Turley

The Great Emancipator,  by Jasmine Baucham

My Regency Dress

Last fall, I was able to sew my first regency dress with the help of my dear friend Jessica. I have always liked this dress that Caroline Bingley wears in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice and with her help I was able to accomplish it. Thank you Jessica!
Here are a couple of pictures of the dress. The pictures were also taken by Jessica. Isn't she talented?!

 

 

 

Look How Far We've Come

Yesterday, I came across these  quotes from Alexis de Toqueville. It was amazing to me the difference a little over 150 years can make.
"Religion in America...must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it. Indeed, it is in this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief. I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion--for who can judge the human heart? But I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions."


"In the united States the sovereign authority is religious...America is still the place where the Christian religion has kept the greatest real power over mens' souls; and nothing better demonstrated how useful and natural it is to man, since the country where it now has the widest sway is both the most enlightened and the freest.....Religion..does direct, mores, and by regulating domestic life it helps to regulate the state."

"In the United States the influence of religion is not confined to the manners, but it extends to the intelligence of the people....Christianity, therefore reigns without obstacle, by universal content; the consequence is, as I have before observed, that every principle of the moral world is fixed and determinate..."


"The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other."


"I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of American in her harbors...in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power."


Now compare this to what our current president recently said:
"Whatever we once were, we're no longer a Christian nation. At least no just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, and a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation and a nation of non-believers"

All I can say is: Look how far we've come.  I pray that we would be moved to repentance.


"America is great because America is good and if America ever ceases to be good, American will cease to be great."  Alexis de Toqueville

"If my people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. "
2 Chronicles 7:14

"Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him." Psalm 2:10-12

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!

"Now in putting everything in subjection to Him, He left nothing outside His control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him. But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
   For it is fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers........
....Since therefore the cildren share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery."

I know what you're thinking: "This doesn't sound a lot like Christmas to me." However, I would beg to differ. In these passages of Scripture, we find the very reason why He came: He came to die. Too often we focus on the joys of Christmas (and Christmas certainly is joyful), but we often neglect to look at the dark side of Christmas. Even when Jesus was laying in the manger, His purpose was clear: He came "to save His people from their sins" and "to give His life as a ransom for many."
C.J Mahaney calls it the "disturbing side of Christmas." He said,

"During this time of year, it may be easy to forget that the bigger purpose behind Bethlehem was Calvary. But the purpose of the manger was realized in the horrors of the cross. The purpose of his birth was his death.

Or to put it more personally: Christmas is necessary because I am a sinner. The incarnation reminds us of our desperate condition before a holy God."

I hope that you will experience great joy this Christmas season, yet I also hope that you (or I ) will not forget the true purpose behind our Savior's birth.

I would also encourage you to read these two articles. These two men can explain it better than I ever could:
Born to die for Freedom by John Piper
Disturbing Christmas  by C.J. Mahaney
Also, here is a great song that speaks about the mystery of God sending His son to earth to die. The words are absolutely beautiful.