Finally Did It

After gathering all of our pennies, and counting our Christmas money, I finally bit the bullet and bought a DSLR. I've wanted one for a while since my camera is about 7 years old and I really want to work on my photography skills (or lack thereof). I read reviews and asked many people for their opinions before I decided. That doesn't necessarily mean that I listened. The majority said to go with a Canon or Nikon camera, but I decided on an Olympus e-620 instead. My brother has an Olympus DSLR that he really likes, and I've had several Olympus cameras before. Many of the reviews I read said that Olympus tended to produce the best shots right out of the camera, with a minimum of editing. Honestly, with my (lack of) skill right now, I'm not sure I would notice the difference between any of the big 3 brands, so I went with what I'd feel most comfortable learning with. I really, really liked the idea of having the image stabilization in the camera, instead of needing it to be in each individual lens, and I'm thinking the live view option will also be helpful. Now I just have to wait for it to arrive!

Don't Forfeit your Peace

More Elizabeth Elliot

Don't Forfeit Your Peace
It would not be possible to exaggerate the importance hymns and spiritual songs have played in my spiritual growth. One of the latter, familiar to most of you, has this line: "O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer" (Joseph Scriven). Prayerlessness is one of many ways by which we can easily forfeit the peace God wants us to have. I've been thinking of some other ways. Here's a sampling:

1. Resent God's ways.
2. Worry as much as possible.
3. Pray only about things you can't manage by yourself.
4. Refuse to accept what God gives.
5. Look for peace elsewhere than in Him.
6. Try to rule your own life.
7. Doubt God's word.
8. Carry all your cares.

If you'd rather not forfeit your peace, here are eight ways to find it (antidotes to the above eight):

1. "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them" (Psalm 119:165 KJV). "Circumstances are the expression of God's will," wrote Bishop Handley Moule.
2. "Don't worry about anything whatever" (Philippians 4:6, PHILLIPS).
3. "In everything make your requests known to God in prayer and petition with thanksgiving. Then the peace of God... will guard your hearts" (Philippians 4:6,7, NEB).
4. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me... and you will find rest" (Matthew 11:29, NIV).
5. "Peace is my parting gift to you, my own peace, such as the world cannot give" (John 14 27, NEB).
6. "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts" (Colossians 3:15, NIV).
7. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing" (Romans 15:13, KJV).
8. "Cast all your cares on him for you are his charge" (1 Peter 5:7, NEB).

"Grant, O Lord my God, that I may never fall away in success or in failure; that I may not be prideful in prosperity nor dejected in adversity. Let me rejoice only in what unites us and sorrow only in what separates us. May I strive to please no one or fear to displease anyone except Yourself. May I seek always the things that are eternal and never those that are only temporal. May I shun any joy that is without You and never seek any that is beside You. O Lord, may I delight in any work I do for You and tire of any rest that is apart from You. My God, let me direct my heart towards You, and in my failings, always repent with a purpose of amendment."
--St. Thomas Aquinas

Lesson Learned

This one made me laugh, so I just had to post it. Its a good reminder anyways.
My mom bought Chris and I a GPS unit for Christmas/Chanukkah. Thanks Mom! Because of my job I've been debating buying one for quite a while, but could never quite justify the expense when I can print Yahoo maps for almost free. I have a file folder full of them and I usually just pull the ones I need for any given day. In my test runs the Garmin has found addresses even in the middle of nowhere, which should just about eliminate my need for the Yahoo maps. Hooray for saving trees!
Anyways, in reading the Amazon info I discovered that there is an option for googling an address, then using a usb connection to upload it straight to the GPS. That sounded like a neat function, but the problem was that the Garmin didn't come with a USB cord. I went to their website, and the cord was $14.99. Seemed pretty steep for a simple cord. I checked ebay, since I've found that you can often get cords there for a much better price. (Lesson learned when the dog chewed through the cord to my cell phone charger).
On ebay, the same cord costs about $3 with free shipping. Much better than $15. Then I noticed that the ebay link showed a close-up picture of the necessary USB cord. And, that it looked familiar. On a whim, I pulled the usb cord for my camera out of my desk drawer. Lo and behold, it was the same type of cord that I needed for the GPS. In all of the time I've been using USB hookups for things it never dawned on me that there was a standard size for them. And I'd bet just about everyone has a few USB cords laying around. So next time you're thinking of buying a cord to hook up to your new widget, check your old cords first.

The Gift of Work

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: Keep A Quiet Heart
Scripture Reference:

The Gift of Work

The principal cause of boredom is the hatred of work. People are trained from childhood to hate it. Parents often feel guilty about making children do anything but the merest gestures toward work. Perhaps the children are required to make their beds and, in a feeble and half-hearted fashion, tidy up their rooms once a month or so. But take full responsibility to clear the table, load the dishwasher, scrub the pots, wipe the counters? How many have the courage to ask this of a ten-year-old? It would be too much to ask of many ten-year-olds because parents have seriously asked nothing of them when they were two or three. Children quickly pick up the parents' negative attitudes toward work and think of it as something most sedulously to be avoided.
Our Lord and Savior worked. There is little doubt that He served in the carpenter shop under the instruction of His earthly father Joseph, putting in long hours, learning skill, care, responsibility, and above all, the glory of work as a gift to glorify His heavenly Father. He did always those things that please the Father. Later He chose almost all His disciples from those who labored with their hands. Even the apostle Paul, a man of brilliant intellect, made tents.
Booker T. Washington, an African-American who grew up in the South when members of his race were expected to do the hardest and dirtiest jobs, learned his greatest lesson from the example of a Christian woman. A New Englander, the founder of the Hampton Institute, she herself washed the windows the day before school started, so it would be nice for those children who had been born slaves.
Is work a necessary evil, even a curse? A Christian who spent many years in Soviet work camps, learning to know work at its most brutal, its most degrading and dehumanizing, testified that he took pride in it, did the best he could, worked to the limit of his strength each day. Why? Because he saw it as a gift from God, coming to him from the hand of God, the very will of God for him. He remembered that Jesus did not make benches and roofbeams and plow handles by means of miracles, but by means of saw, axe, and adze.
Wouldn't it make an astounding difference, not only in the quality of the work we do (in office, schoolroom, factory, kitchen, or backyard), but also in our satisfaction, even our joy, if we recognized God's gracious gift in every single task, from making a bed or bathing a baby to drawing a blueprint or selling a computer? If our children saw us doing "heartily as unto the Lord" all the work we do, they would learn true happiness. Instead of feeling that they must be allowed to do what they like, they would learn to like what they do.
St. Ignatius Loyola prayed, "Teach us, Good Lord, to labor and to ask for no reward save that of knowing that we do Thy will." As I learn to pray that prayer, I find that there are many more rewards that come along as fringe benefits. As we make an offering of our work, we find the truth of a principle Jesus taught: Fulfillment is not a goal to achieve, but always the by-product of sacrifice.

Keeping it Local in Phoenix- Bookmans

I've been blogging about ways to avoid the big-box stores and do your holiday shopping locally here in Phoenix, and I just may have saved one of the best for last. That is, unless I come up with other local businesses to review. As a certifiable bibliophile (go look it up), Bookmans is hands down one of my favorite places ever. Other than the library. Because they let me borrow books for free. But the library wants them back. Which makes it difficult to give them as gifts. Um...anyways.
As I was saying, Bookmans is the place to shop for any of the readers on your Christmas list. They have been in the Phoenix area for over 30 years, and they currently have six locations. The store sells used books, movies, video games and systems, toys, music, electronics, and almost anything else that could be sold used. People bring in their used items and exchange them for either store credit or (a lesser amount of) cash, which also makes it a great way for you to clear out some unwanted household clutter.
As the name suggests, Bookmans specializes in books. By the thousands. And their staff is helpful and can find almost anything, whether it be the next book in the Twilight series, or a classic first edition. In general their popular books are priced around 30%-50% less than the cover price, which makes them a great deal. And don't worry about the etiquette of buying used books as gifts- most of the book lovers I know have no problem with used books, and many of the books at Bookmans are in very good condition.
So as I've been saying all along- wherever you live, give local a try. I've posted about 4 of my favorite Phoenix businesses, but there are hundreds more in this area, and thousands more across the country.
By the way, I'm not being compensated in any way for these reviews. These are purely my opinions.

EI Food Drive

This year my Early Intervention team did our second annual holday food drive. Last year we were able to give boxes to about 13 of our families in need. This year, having learned from our prior mis-steps, we made a few adjustments to our system. We collected mostly donations of nonperishable food from families, day cares, former clients, and classrooms. We will be distributing the food boxes this week to families in need who are receiving services. Yesterday was our big day to sort through everything and divide it up into boxes. Here are some of my pictures from the day.We spent about a month collecting food, and storing it almost anywhere that we could. We kept some in offices, some in a co-worker's garage, and some in the trunks of our cars.
This is just part of what was donated, after we finished sorting it all out.
This is what it looked like once we had everything sorted into boxes for distribution.We had enough food to put together over 20 boxes, plus so much left over that we were able to donate two large boxes to other causes. One box of baby items went to a nurse who visits discharged NICU babies, and works with many families in need. Another HUGE box will be given to a family with school-aged children who otherwise would not have a Christmas this year.
Needless to say I am incredibly proud of our team, and SO thankful to everyone who donated food and helped out. Our EI food drive will continue to be an annual tradition.

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap." -Luke 6:38

This is how I felt today. People gave so generously to us that it overflowed into our laps and we were able to give to others.

Just had to post this...

Chris snapped this picture out the car window as we were driving to the hobby shop yesterday.Just in case you were wondering, that is indeed a huge golf ball in the back of that truck. No, I'm not sure what it was doing there. I don't think there are any major golf tournaments happening here in the near future (not that I'd know if there were). I have to wonder what would happen if that golf ball had fallen off of the truck somehow and gone rolling down the road.

Keeping it Local in Phoenix- Butcher Bob's

This is number three in my Keeping it Local in Phoenix series of places you might consider doing some of your Christmas shopping. While loose leaf tea and board games are relatively easy to ship out of town, this one would be a bit trickier. A cut of meat bought from Butcher Bob's could easily be the star of your Christmas dinner though.
As someone who has eaten meat from both Butcher Bob's, and from a grocery store, I can tell you that there is no comparison. Butcher Bob's meat is of much better quality, and the flavor is excellent. They get either choice or prime beef from the Midwest, pork from Iowa, and all natural chicken. The meat is a bit more expensive than what you would get in a grocery store, but the taste is second to none. Personally, although we would love to, we cannot afford to eat this meat all of the time. We splurge for it maybe once or twice each year for noteworthy occasions. If you are planning a special holiday dinner, consider meat from Butcher Bob's as a way of making it really memorable.

Butcher Bob's is located at:
11663 W. Bell Rd. Suite 2
Surprise, Arizona 85374
623-933-1518
Their hours are:
Tuesday thru Friday: 9-5
Saturday: 9-4
Closed Sunday and Monday

By the way, I am not being paid or otherwise compensated in any way for any of these reviews. These are solely my unsolicited opinions.

Peace

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: Keep A Quiet Heart
Scripture Reference: Psalm 119:23-32 Genesis 48:5

God's Curriculum

One day recently something lit a fuse of anger in someone who then burned me with hot words. I felt sure I didn't deserve this response, but when I ran to God about it, He reminded me of part of a prayer I'd been using lately: "Teach me to treat all that comes to me with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all."

Where could that kind of peace come from? Only from God, who gives "not as the world gives."

His will that I should be burned? Here we must tread softly. His will governs all. In a wrong-filled world we suffer (and cause) many a wrong. God is there to heal and comfort and forgive. He who brought blessing to many out of the sin of the jealous brothers against Joseph means this hurt for my ultimate blessing and, I think, for an increase of love between me and the one who hurt me. Love is very patient, very kind. Love never seeks its own. Love looks to God for his grace to help.

"It was not you who sent me here but God," Joseph said to his brothers. "You meant to do me harm; but God meant to bring good out of it" (Genesis 45:8, 50:20, NEB).

There is a philosophy of secular education which holds that the student ought to be allowed to assemble his own curriculum according to his preferences. Few students have a strong basis for making these choices, not knowing how little they know. Ideas of what they need to learn are not only greatly limited but greatly distorted. What they need is help from those who know more than they do.

Mercifully, God does not leave us to choose our own curriculum. His wisdom is perfect, His knowledge embraces not only all worlds but the individual hearts and minds of each of His loved children. With intimate understanding of our deepest needs and individual capacities, He chooses our curriculum. We need only ask, "Give us this day our daily bread, our daily lessons, our homework." An angry retort from someone may be just the occasion we need in which to learn not only longsuffering and forgiveness, but meekness and gentleness; fruits not born in us but borne only by the Spirit. As Amy Carmichael wrote, "A cup brimful of sweetness cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, no matter how suddenly jarred" (From her book IF published by Christian Literature Crusade).

God's curriculum for all who sincerely want to know Him and do His will will always include lessons we wish we could skip. But the more we apply ourselves, the more honestly we can say what the psalmist said: "I, thy servant, will study thy statutes. / Thy instruction is my continual delight; / I turn to it for counsel. / I will run the course set out in thy commandments, / for they gladden my heart" (Psalm 119:23, 24, 32, NEB).

Keeping it Local in Phoenix- Imperial Outpost

Do you have a family member who likes board games but is tired of Monopoly and Scrabble? How about a young niece or nephew who is into "geeky" things like Warhammer or Dungeons and Dragons? For that matter, do YOU like board or card games that are just a little bit outside of the mainstream? If so, you might want to check out Imperial Outpost. They have a great selection of Eurogames like Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, and Dominion. (I'm only linking to the Amazon pages so you can read and see what these games are actually about). If you click on the games tag at the bottom of this post, you can also read my reviews of some of these games.
At its heart, Imperial Outpost is a game shop. They deal mainly in things like Warhammer, Dungeons and Dragons, and Eurogames. Like most small businesses, the owner is in the shop frequently, and is very friendly. Because Imperial Outpost encourages people to stay and play games, many of the customers in the store at any given time are regulars. In general they're friendly, harmless, and happy to talk with "newbies" about different games.

Imperial Outpost is located at 4920 W Thunderbird Rd # 121; Glendale, AZ

By the way, I am not being paid or otherwise compensated in any way for any of these reviews. These are solely my unsolicited opinions.

Keeping it Local in Phoenix- Souvia Tea

In my initial post about shopping locally, I outlined some of the best reasons to give it a try. For these next couple of posts I'll spotlight a few local businesses that just might help you find a gift for that impossible-to-buy-for person on your list.
Do you have a friend who drinks tea? How about a co-worker who WANTS to drink tea, but thinks all tea tastes the same? What about a relative who wants the health benefits of drinking tea (as opposed to pop), but thinks that they don't like tea? If you know any people like that (or if you ARE any of those people), then Souvia tea store is the place to be in Phoenix.
I went years and years thinking that I didn't like tea, when really my problem was that I didn't like the bits and crumbs that end up in most commercial tea bags. Drinking loose leaf tea is an entirely different experience. Many people think that loose leaf tea is expensive and difficult to brew, when really neither one is true. Many good loose leaf teas can be had for $5-$10 per 100 grams. That may not sound like much, but 100 grams makes at least 50 cups of tea. That works out to about $.20/cup, or less when you know that many loose leaf teas can withstand 2-3 brewings without compromising their flavor.
Anyways, back to Souvia. Although I have never been in a European tea or coffee shop, I can imagine that it would feel much like this store. In addition to selling loose leaf teas, the staff will also brew a pot of your choice of tea to enjoy in the store. Since many people coming into the store are tea "newbies", the staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. They are always willing to make recommendations or let a customer see or smell a particular tea. One of my favorite things about this store is that it is JUST a tea store. Some of the tea shops we have been to were very new-agey, as in "here's your tea, would you like me to read your aura also?" Souvia isn't like that. The atmosphere is relaxing and inviting, and it is an easy place to pass some time.

Souvia has two locations in the Phoenix area:

15414 North 7th Street , Suite 8
Phoenix, AZ 85022
Phone: 602-938-1216

Store Hours:
Monday-Friday - 7am-6:00pm Sat 9-5pm

and

4320 North Miller, Suite 107
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Phone: 480-947-3133

(across from TJ Maxx and PetsMart)
Located at the SW corner of Camelback and Miller

Store Hours:
Monday - Friday - 11-7:00pm Sat 9-5pm

By the way, I am not being paid or otherwise compensated in any way for any of these reviews. These are solely my unsolicited opinions.

The Small Things

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: Keep A Quiet Heart
Scripture Reference: Luke 16:10-12

Little Things

When we were growing up our parents taught us, by both word and example, to pay attention to little things. If you do a thing at all, do it thoroughly: make the sheets really smooth on the bed, sweep all the comers and move all the chairs when you sweep the kitchen, roll the toothpaste tube neatly and put the cap back on, clean the hair out of your brush each time you use it, hang your towel straight on the rod, fold your napkin and put it into the silver ring before you leave the table, never wet your finger when you turn pages. They kept promises made to us as faithfully as they kept those made to adults. They taught us to do the same.

You didn't accept an invitation to a party and then not turn up, or agree to help with the Vacation Bible School and back out because a more interesting activity presented itself. The only financial debt my parents ever incurred was a mortgage on a house, which my father explained was in a special class because it was real estate which would always have value.

When I went to boarding school the same principles I had been taught at home were emphasized. There was a hallway with small oriental rugs which we called "Character Hall" because the headmistress, Mrs. DuBose, could look down that hall from the armchair where she sat in the lobby and spot any student who kicked up the comer of a rug and did not replace it. She would call out to correct him, "It's those tiny little things in your life which will crack you up when you get out of this school!" In the little things our character was revealed. Our response would make or break us. "Don't go around with a Bible under your arm if you didn't sweep under the bed," she said, for she would have no pious talk coming out of a messy room.

"Great thoughts go best with common duties. Whatever therefore may be your office regard it as a fragment in an immeasurable ministry of love" (Bishop Brooke Foss Westcott, b. 1825).

It is not easy to find children or adults who are dependable, careful, thorough, and faithful. So many lives seem honeycombed with small failures, neglectful of the little things that make the difference between order and chaos. Perhaps it is because they are so seldom taught that visible things are signs of an invisible reality; that common duties may be "an immeasurable ministry of love." The spiritual training of souls must be inseparable from practical disciplines, as Jesus so plainly taught; "The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches! And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?" (Luke 16:10-12, JB). (The footnote to "your very own" says, "Jesus is speaking of the most intimate Possessions a man can have; these are spiritual.")

Keeping it Local in Phoenix- Why?

"According to Local First Arizona, an organization that fights to keep your money circulating in the state, for every $100 spent at a national chain store, $13 remains in Arizona. .... But for every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 remains in Arizona.

This doesn't just apply to Phoenix, it is the same for any area. If you needed any reason at all to make an effort to shop locally, this would be IT. When you consider that Arizona currently has a 3 billion dollar budget deficit, it only makes sense to try and support local businesses, and to keep more of our money in the hands of people who have an investment in this area.
Besides the financial aspect, when you shop locally you get personalized service. We are occasional customers at some of our local favorites, and frequent customers at others. However, small businesses recognize the importance of making every customer happy. They know that one unhappy customer walking out of their door will cost them future profits, as well as future referrals and new customers. Honestly, Wal-Mart doesn't care if you're unhappy and never darken their doors again- they know that plenty of other people will.
Like everything else, it can feel overwhelming to think of suddenly giving up the big box stores and doing 100% of your shopping locally. The key is baby steps. The Shop Local website has a goal of persuading people to shift 10% of their shopping to local businesses. That's one transaction out of every ten, and the holiday season is a prime time to start. Mom and pop businesses are great sources of gifts for that person on your list who seems to have everything. With that in mind, I'm planning to profile a few of our favorite local businesses. Even if you don't live in Phoenix, there are probably similar places in your area. I encourage you to give them a try.