Bethany is hosting today’s Carnival of Beauty. The subject of “Contentment” brought out a fascinating array of ideas — from dealing with frizzy hair to overcoming a fettish with the Home Shopping Network. So click on over to Bethany’s “Picturesque Life” blog for the Carnival.

On another topic:

Would you like your ideas to appear in a book? I’ve been introduced to author Martha Pope Gorris, who has written several books and is looking for help with her newest one on prayer. She asks:

Do you pray using pictures to visualize your request? If so, I am looking for your story for a book project. Contact me at my website. Thanks!

Check back tomorrow if you’ve ever dealt with anger in any of your children. One of my readers sent me a difficult-to-answer question, and I decided it was best to seek out an expert opinion. So I’ve found a nationally recognized author and speaker who has agreed to pay us a personal visit. Don’t miss what she has to say!

I’ve been tapped by Sting My Heart for this blogger meme. I don’t do many of these, but I did the Seven Sevens back in December. They’re kind of like chain letters, which I never forward, but actually, this one’s kind of nice. It made me do some remembering, which God likes for us to do.

What was I doing…?

10 Years ago (1996):

1. I was preparing to become a new mom, reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting and how-to books on labor, nursing, baby development, etc. Then our son was born, and our lives were changed forever!
2. We lived in a small neighborhood, and I took walks every day with my neighbors, who were also new parents.
3. I finished my last semester of graduate school, completing a master’s degree in English education.
4. I taught high school sophomores and seniors how to read Shakespeare and write essays — and then I cried while I read their journals.
5. My best friend from when I lived in Japan came to visit me to meet our new baby — but she died of cancer on Thanksgiving Day (2000), and I didn’t realize I’d never see her again.

5 Years ago (2001):

1. We put our house on the market the week of 9/11/01. I was afraid the world was coming to an end after the Twin Towers were struck.
2. We had chickens in our backyard, and I ground my wheat and made bread every week.
3. I was reading a lot of books about homeschooling and getting ready to start teaching my oldest son how to read.
4. I was quilting, smocking, and taking piano lessons — and realizing that I’d never be very good at any of those things.
5. I found out we were expecting our fourth child, and I had a late miscarriage that ended with emergency surgery to save my life.

1 Year ago (February 2005):
1. I stayed home with my toddler who colored the walls, while my three older children were in school.
2. I was pregnant with our fifth child, who was born in the spring.
3. We joined a new church, and our two older children were baptized.
4. I finished up several home writing courses and attended three writers’ conferences.
5. I signed a contract to write a small Mother’s Day gift book, and I wrote it.

Yesterday (Saturday Feb. 4, 2006):
1. My 3-year-old son came and wrapped his arms around my neck and said, “Mama, I love underwear.” (No more diapers!)
2. I turned in my manuscript for a devotional book on “Hope” that I’m helping to write.
3. I edited the introduction and first three chapters of my friend Trish’s book for moms. It will be published in 2007, and she wrote my name in the acknowledgements.
4. My youngest daughter learned to crawl, and I watched her — happy and sad at the same time.
5. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at my husband’s parents’ house, which I’ll tell you about in the post that follows.

5 Songs I know all the words to:
Lots of praise songs — I love praise songs.

5 Greatest Joys:
1. The Word of God and my relationship with Christ.
2. My family — I love growing closer to my husband as the years go by and watching our children grow up. Plus we’re blessed with wonderful extended families.
3. I enjoy encouraging people to pursue their dreams.
4. I love taking pictures of joyful events that I hope to write about someday when I have more time.
5. I’ve discovered I really enjoy travel writing and would like to do more of it.

The other parts of this meme are:
5 Things I’d do with a million dollars
5 Places I’d run away to
5 Things I’d never wear
5 Favorite toys
5 Favorite books or TV shows
5 People I tag

I can’t think of anything else right now — so I’ll stop here! If any of you reading this would like me to tag you, then I tag you. Have fun!
😉

I’m going to try what I’ve seen some bloggers do — and give you a quick tour of several good things I’ve read lately:

First of all, check out the Carnival of Beauty at Amanda’s following an unknown path site. Topic: The Beauty of Service.

Here’s a great idea I found for celebrating a teen’s birthday. You’ve got to click through this link to Lisa Whelchel’s online journal. Read what she did to help celebrate her oldest son Tucker’s 16th birthday. If you can’t click through, here’s a brief. She asked 40 wise, Godly men to write Tucker a letter, offering him words of encouragement for his future. Then her husband typed the letters out (for readability) and, along with the original letter and a picture of each writer, she compiled an album for her son’s birthday gift.

Tucker said it was the best present he’d ever received, and he stayed up well past midnight reading all of the letters. She’s posted a letter from their long-time pastor (before they moved) and also from her husband to his son (tissues required).

I hope her idea may inspire you moms out there. A child of any age would appreciate an album of special letters! This link also includes pictures — some of you may know Lisa is the scrapbooking queen.

(If you’re not familiar with Lisa Whelchel, don’t despair. I’ll be reviewing her new book soon, A Busy Mom’s Guide to Wisdom.)

More Blogging Boldness:

Stacy at Mind & Media has a great post about how watching immoral soap operas does nothing to strengthen your impact on the culture. From sea to shining sea, I’m saying “Amen.” Why in the world do people watch these kinds of TV shows? Or for that matter — daytime TV? I can see how watching the news and a cultural show like Oprah might keep your mind stimulated — but soap operas?

News Items:

If you love great chidren’s books, you’ll want to go see this article in the Baltimore Sun about the Newbery Award winner, which was announced on Monday. We used to homeschool with the Sonlight Curriculum and read lots of Newbery winners — so this book must be pretty good. It will definitely go down in history.

Here’s a good article from Lifeway if you’re feeling like you’ve got too many plates spinning, and you need to drop a few: 10 Steps to Overcoming Overcommittment.

If you live anywhere near the Chicago area, Beth Moore is coming to speak! Details are at this site.

Don’t miss this opportunity for all women 18–25 as Beth Moore delivers a very special edition of Living Proof Live just for you, March 10-11 at The Pavilion in Chicago! Plus this “special edition” features worship music by Christy Nockels of Rocketown Records recording artists Watermark. This event is only for college-age women, ages 18-25. If you’re over the age of 25 and would like to bring at least three young women to this event, you may register as a sponsor.

I’m not going to be there of course, but I can’t help but get a chill just thinking about all the teen girls who are going and will hear Beth speak — to their hearts! I know some will hear the Gospel and accept Christ — and others will turn wholeheartedly to following God — at such a crucial age. That’s very exciting for me to pray about. Beth Moore is awesome!

This completes my Wednesday round-up. Hope you find something you connect with.

DO NOT even go to this site until you have at least half an hour because you’re going to get hooked…addicted…completely. Talk about inspiration! Remember LJC FYI? I had not had a chance to visit her Projects Page until recently. How can a person be this creative and artistic — and not be too snobby to share it with the rest of us? I mean, she makes all this incredible stuff, then she describes it for us, like we can do it too. And her descriptions are so funny!

My husband had to leave the room because he got tired of hearing me say, “Oh, look at this! Can you believe this! This is so cute!!!” After a while, what’s a guy supposed to say about flowers and butterflies painted on a Puppet Theatre? (You’ve GOT to see what she and her husband made!)

Sometimes, I kind of miss my college roommates. Well, now I’ve got to find somebody who discovers this Projects Page and goes as crazy as I am over all these ideas. Please send me a comment! I’m not going to be able to stop thinking about this — I think I’m insanely jealous. But I’ll get over it because she blogged all of her secrets to me.

Go look at her Handmade Felt Hearts for Valentine’s Day — wouldn’t those be fun for kids to make? And the Harry Potter birthday cake is too amazing.

P.S. I missed this one — my sister wrote to tell me she couldn’t wait to try to make the Valentine’s Day Cranberry Body Scrub. Now there’s something useful to do with those baby food jars.

I hope you had a good weekend. I took some time to add several new links into my “Favorites” Blogroll. These are websites and blogs I look forward to visiting — most of these bloggers update several times a week. So, I enjoy having something current and interesting to read — and I hope you’ll be able to visit them too.

I also figured out how to get that Technorati Search Tool on my blog — do you see it down there on the bottom left in my sidebar? You can type in topics you’re interested in to see if I’ve written about them. For example, Iris asked if I’d studied under Beth Moore — to find out if I’ve posted about her, you can type “Beth Moore” into that Search Tool, and you can see two posts that I wrote in October about the Beth Moore Bible Study I’m attending. I have to give Terry Whalin credit for this — he has this tool in his blog, so I’ve added it to mine. I hope it will make Mom 2 Mom Connection more user friendly for people who are searching for certain topics.

I found out that Sallie of Two Talent Living will be taking a sabbatical from blogging while she pursues other writing projects. Here’s what she said:

I also really want to spend more time writing for publication. Writing is my gift and writing is my part of our business. And the totally honest truth is that as much as I love blogging, I’m not making any money. I know that sounds crass and that I’ve viewed my blog as a ministry, but the reality is, blogging doesn’t pay any bills. And blogging is taking way too much of my time right now. I need to be pursuing my writing as my profession for now.

I’m glad she was able to be so honest! It definitely takes time to scour the markets and find what publishers are looking for — then you need to contact editors, make sure you have their names spelled correctly, your writing meets the needs of their schedule and particular audience…and you have to meet deadlines.

People in the publishing business are always coming and going, so you really need to contact the publication directly before you send anything off — or you may have the wrong editor’s name. Then there are themes…and word counts…and other guidelines. And you should also read through a few sample copies of a periodical before you know the writing style they’re looking for. It’s exciting work, but also time-consuming.

Since I also write for publication — and keep a blog — I’ve found what works best is that I write for my deadlines in the early morning when I can think without being interrupted…then I write a blog post in the afternoon, when I feel relaxed and want to email people. I love the timestamp tool where I can postdate my entries!

While Sallie’s taking a break from hosting the Carnival of Beauty, other lady bloggers have stepped in to host. Here are the upcoming topics and hostesses:

January 8 – Winter – Carol (She Lives)
January 15 – Hope – Ellen (MzEllen & Co.)
January 22 – Serving – Amanda (following an unknown path)
January 29 – Gentleness – Iris (eph2810)
February 5 – Contentment – Bethany (A Picturesque Life)

So, visit the Guidelines and send your post to Carol by Tuesday afternoon at 2 pm — Texas time! While I was visiting Carol’s blog, I noticed she had a cute quiz on there — and since my birthday is coming up this month, I followed the link.

Who writes these things? It’s eery (and a bit embarrassing) how they seem to know me! Try it and see what they’ve written for you.

Your Birthdate: January 23

You’re not good at any one thing, and that’s the problem. You’re good at so much – you never know what to do. Change is in your blood, and you don’t stick to much for long. You are destined for a life of travel and fun. Your strength: Your likeability Your weakness: You never feel satisfied Your power color: Bright yellow Your power symbol: Asterisk Your power month: May

If you’re a homeschooler, you’ll want to browse the list of award-winning blogsites over at Spunky Homeschool. I’m starting to recognize a few of these blogs that I’m seeing other places. The Best Homeschooling Mom Blog award goes to three sites: Mother-Lode, Here at the Bonny Glen, and True Blue Semi-Crunchy Mama. And the Best Homeschooling Dad Blog goes to Doug Phillips.

Spunky (Karen Braun) is also a Mind & Media reviewer, and her blog has really taken off. She’s now a regular columnist with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine — so she’ll be announcing all the winners in her column (giving these blogs great publicity!)

If you’re blogger, you’ll enjoy Spunky’s selection of articles in her “About Blogging” section:
Why I Started This Blog
Principles of Blogging
Discovering My Voice

I followed a link to an article by Jakob Nielson, Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes. Oops — I’m finding out I’ve got lots of room for improvement. I’m still not used to writing headlines that actually tell you what the post is about (opting for clever-sounding titles that make sense only to someone who’s already read the post.) I also don’t stick to one topic, and I bury my “classic hits.”

I’m hoping to make this site more user friendly in the months to come. It helps me enormously to see what key words people type in to find me. Maybe I’ll be brave and join the TTLB ecosystem, which will make public my site statistics. Not quite there yet — but I’m thinking I’d like to someday open my blog for a few very tasteful ads. I know advertisers will want to know my number of visitors and hits. (Someone who entered my blog today was my 3,000th visitor this month.)

Edit: I’ve been informed that I’m already in the TTLB ecosystem — ranking as a “slithering reptile” — now that’s an enlightening thought!

This was too funny — I just had to pass it along.

I enjoy reading Amy’s Humble Musings blog — she’s expecting her fifth child and has such a humorous way of describing life. The way I found her blog is interesting. I was trying to write something on the topic of humility, and I did a search on the word “humble.” Amazing — out of over 24 million sites, Amy’s blog popped up 10th, following close behind Humble, Texas; Humble Pie; and Humble Stumble. So, of course I had to get sidetracked and go visit.

A couple of days ago, she wrote about her neighborhood’s joint custom of turning their street into a lighted winter wonderland, complete with candy canes at every house. She says:

It all began when we bought this house four years ago. The realtor withheld vital information from the Seller’s Disclosure. The secret? Our street turns into Candy Cane Lane during the month of December, and part of our neighborly duty is to join the uniformity of the street by placing a nine foot tall gigantic, lighted candy cane along the curb. I thought for sure it was a joke, but I learned it wasn’t when the neighborhood kid came by with a posthole digger.

Now that the season is over, she ponders the meaning of it all, as a Christian. I encourage you to go to her blog and read all of her post. She even includes a funny picture of their neighborhood. She’s NOT kidding!

I hope you’ve all had a merry Christmas. It was strange for me to be away from my blog for so long — I actually missed it! A few people asked me how I have time to blog, and the truth is — blogging has replaced a lot of my emailing. Of course I still keep up with people on a more personal level, but I don’t send out detailed “here’s-what-I’ve-been-up-to” messages anymore. If you’re a blogger, have you found this to be true as well?

It’s been fun for me to share my interests with local friends and family who read Mom 2 Mom Connection. (Someone asked if my husband was going to start Dad 2 Dad Connection — we laughed about that one!) And a highlight of my Christmas was getting to meet one of my fellow bloggers! We found out she lives near my parents’ house, and we got to meet yesterday and share a mug of hot apple cider together. I thanked God for that blessing — here’s someone I have so much in common with. We both love blogging about books — using WordPress (which is about to undergo a massive upgrade — has anyone tried out the new 2.0 version yet?)

I really feel like this Christmas was extra rich because of all that I’ve learned from other Christian women who share their voices in the blogosphere. You’ve taught me so much! We are not alone — this side of heaven — as we link up and share our thoughts. Don’t forget to send Sallie at Two Talent Living your best blog entry by 3:00 pm today — tomorrow is another Carnival of Beauty, and the theme is “The Beauty of Excellence.” I cannot WAIT to read what you send.

In the next couple of weeks, I want to hear what everyone else is doing about packing away decorations, organizing all your family’s gifts, making resolutions/ goals for the new year, and what you’ll use for devotionals and Bible reading in 2006. Let’s share ideas so we’ll have plenty to choose from.

My heart has ached this Christmas for some people I know who have been without loved ones — it’s not always a season of joy when there’s an empty place in the circle. Here’s a poem someone emailed me this week — she said she was stressed out baking cookies, wrapping presents, cleaning house — and then she found this poem and relaxed, knowing she could rest in Christ. What a lovely thought.

Have you taken it to Jesus?
Have you left your burden there?
Does he tenderly support you?
Have you rolled on Him your care?

O, the sweet unfailing refuge
Of the everlasting arms;
In their loving clasp enfolded
Nothing worries or alarms.

Have you taken it to Jesus,
Just the thing that’s pressing now?
Are you trusting Him completely?
With the when, and where and how?

Oh, the joy of full surrender
Of our life, our plans, our all;
Proving, far above our asking
That God answers when we call.

Have you taken it to Jesus?
‘Tis the only place to go
If you want the burden lifted
And a solace for your woe.

Oh, the blessedness to nestle
Like a child upon His breast;
Finding ever; as He promised
Perfect comfort, peace and rest.”

Mrs. E. L. Hennessay

OK — I’ll do it.

I’ve been tagged for the Seven Sevens by Carmen and Mary, who were both inspired by B.J. Hoff’s Grace Notes. I’ve put it off because everybody else seems to have such witty, creative answers. But that’s prideful. I’ll just be honest — so here goes!

Seven Things to Do Before I Die:

1. Go visit all the continents of the world with my husband and children — and worship with people who live there — yes, I’m dreaming big! (Which is why I love to travel through books.)

Specifically, I want to visit the largest church in the world in Seoul, Korea (700,000 members), walk on the Great Wall of China, see Michelangelo’s artwork in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, hear the sound of Victoria Falls in Africa that David Livingstone wrote about, climb Mt. Ranier (I’ve listened to a sermon tape about Mt. Ranier dozens of times), ride through a canal in Venice, show my children where my husband proposed to me on a mountain in Japan — and let’s also toss in Shakespeare’s house in England, tulips in the Netherlands, pyramids in Egypt, and the Holy Lands — oh, I want to see Mount Carmel where Elijah saw the miracle of fire coming down from heaven! And the places where Jesus walked. I LOVE hearing Eva Marie Everson tell the story of her Falling into the Bible — she says this:

Something happens to you when you’re there. You hear God’s heartbeat … you feel His breath. You know beyond all other knowledge that you’ve been called home … and have arrived.

2. Go live on an island with my family for at least several months, watching the kids explore along the beach, and write, write, write!

3. Watch my children grow up, be strong in their Christian faith, and marry wonderful people who also love Jesus and will make them happy (and give me lots of grandchildren! Ooh…I feel older already just writing that.)

4. Get all my scrapbooks and the kids’ babybooks caught up and make each child a book that tells their life story from my point of view. (Don’t even ASK how far behind I am…)

5. Publish something that changes someone’s life — and find out about it!

6. Tour all around the United States in an RV like Lisa Whelchel did during her Family Dream book tour. This would be the funnest thing! Go visit all those people we send Christmas cards to but never get to see. And homeschool our kids from the RV so they can document their journey.

7. Ride a horse on the beach somewhere with my family — where we can see mountains in the background.

Seven Things I Cannot Do:

I cannot…
1. Go for a whole day without reading or writing.
2. Bake bread without my timer on — or I’ll get distracted until I smell smoke.
3. Watch TV without getting bored, unless I’m also doing something else, like cooking or reading.
4. Fathom why anybody plays Solitaire on the computer — I just don’t get it! There are too many blogs to read if I have a spare minute — which is never!
5. Get our family dressed and out the door to church on time.
6. Say I’m sorry and admit I was wrong without help from the Holy Spirit.
7. Snow ski. I’ve done it twice — in North Carolina and Japan — and both times it was the scariest thing I’ve ever done, and my legs will not do what they’re supposed to do so I can slow down or stop. So I didn’t slow down or stop when I wanted to — and ended up in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the mountain.

Seven Things I Admire About My Husband:

1. He loves to read. And he gets me to read stuff that I would never have read on my own, and it’s usually way over my head — but he tries to get me to understand.
2. He’s the smartest person I know, but also the most humble.
3. He’s known me since I was 8, and still loves me!
4. He listens to me talk — a lot — even when I ramble on and on, and his “ears are full.” And he’s even learned to make appropriate comments such as “Oh, that’s a good idea” when it looks like I won’t ever stop.
5. He’s a great father and reads out loud every night to our kids.
6. He always has cool ideas about the Bible or about what God is teaching him.
7. He helps me on the computer and stays calm when I say, “I think it’s LOST forever!”

Seven Things I Say Most Often:

1. Has anybody seen my scotch tape?
2. Time to go! On y va! Ikimasho!
3. Y’all come eat!
4. Who did this?
5. How was your day?
6. I love you.
7. Please, Lord. Help me to [do all those things I can’t do on my own.]

Seven Books and Series I Love:

1. Anne of Green Gables series
2. Little Women
3. Anything Shakespeare (plays and sonnets)
4. The Chronicles of Narnia
5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
6. A Wrinkle in Time
7. The Bible, of course.
(And I’ve run out of room for Catherine Marshall’s books — and I also can’t read Frog and Toad books without laughing every time!)

Seven Movies I Would Watch Over and Over Again:

1. The Sound of Music
2. The Breakfast Club
3. Swiss Family Robinson
4. South Pacific (love the song, “One Enchanted Evening.”)
5. Hamlet (with Mel Gibson)
6. Gone With the Wind (of course!)
7. My new favorite that I want to see again: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe!

Seven People I Want to Join in Too:

1. Sally
2. Kara
3. Stacy
4. Lanier
5. Lorna
6. Jenny
7. Terry
(and you, the reader.)

I wanted to let you know that the Weblog Awards made the official announcement yesterday, and the winner in the Best Design category goes to LJC FYI — which stands for “Little Jenny C, For Your Information.” Congratulations, Jenny! (Check out this page — it’s too cute!)

I’ve browsed through her blog a few times, and I’ve definitely become a fan. I hope you’ll go visit too! She’s been blogging since September 2000 — that’s over five years! I didn’t even know what a blog was until sometime last year — so I find Jenny’s site inspiring. She updates daily with fun projects and creative ideas — and she’s very artistic! I can’t wait to read more about her summer garden. (And she has adorable pets too.)

There are over 23 million blogs out there, but I read yesterday that many of them are abandoned; the average length for a blog is six months. Interesting…I’ve been blogging for almost three months now, and I feel like I’m just getting started — but who knows?

So I wanted to say thanks again to those who voted for me — my blog came in 6th out of 15 finalists. It was fun to watch my visitor stats go way up for a few days — though I’m hoping some of my new visitors will stick around and keep reading. One day the top two winners in my category posted their visitor stats — I was in awe! They have over 2500 visitors a day! Well, I’ve passed that mark this month — but it’s only because of the contest.

I’m glad to have a blogging mentor now. If you’re a blogger, do you have one? What’s your purpose for blogging? Does it matter to you how many visitors you have? If so, how can you increase your number of visitors? It’s worth your time to write out some goals for the coming year.

Yesterday, Stacy at Mind & Media posted a nice review of what she’s accomplished with her blog this year. If you’re interested in Christian book publishing, you’ll definitely want to go check out her post.