Businesses/Companies of Leesburg VA I Recommend

www.findingmuchnessfilms.com - Films and Stills

October 2015

Sowing in Tears  - Reaping in Joy; Choosing Sacrifice For Future Hope

Their doctors said their baby had a chromosomal abnormality and that half of Suzanne’s amniotic fluid was gone, making it impossible for the child to survive. They also told Suzanne that she could die while giving birth. Great article from lifenews.com

Rant:

Yesterday I walked by a lawn ornament of a red skeleton rotisserie over a fire. Roasting a human. On the lawn.

Folks, this is in a very nice town. And I'm not walking by there again if it isn't to leave a very kind note, with images of the Holocaust, recommendations to get counseling, read Foxe's Book of Martyrs, etc.

So, when people ask, "Do you celebrate Halloween?" I might just think of that image for a moment - then realize that not everybody who's into Halloween is completely insane or possessed. Is it redeemable? Maybe. Does it have good historical roots? Yes. But I have to deal with demonic lawn ornaments, and I'm not happy about it.

Lying About 9/11 - Wow, this was fascinating!

Happy Birthday, King Edward VI

I admire Lady Jane Grey for many reasons, as well as her predecessor, Edward VI.  In honor of his birthday (hers is uncertain), I will yearly add to this post about them.  

The English Reformation led by Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer thrived under Henry VIII and then Edward. Following Bloody Mary's seizure of the throne and execution of Lady Grey, that went into violent remission. But the tie of its ascent is remarkable and inspiring. Just regarding the personal lives of these two short lived monarchs is a lesson in human potential.

Of course, Edward VI couldn't be a perfect king.  George Grant writes: 

Almost all nursery rhymes were originally written to satirize certain political and cultural circumstances long ago in English history—making them anything but innocent nonsense poesy. So, for instance, “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” was probably written as a complaint against the hardships caused to the poor by the enclosures of land for sheep farming in the days of King Edward VI.   

Prager University on Youtube!

I just finished watching all of Dennis Prager's Youtube videos on ideas.  I most resonated with his economic philosophy. He had some amazing speakers, including Eric Metaxas and Robert George with whom my husband has worked at the Colson Center for Christian worldview.
Breakpoint This Week, one of the radio broadcasts of the Colson Center, once interviewed Dennis Prager concerning the place of the 10 commandments in our civil arena and education.

This video channel is really a spectacular crash course in ideas about our culture. I highly recommend them as food for thought.

Stay at Home Mom: Luxury for Lazies?

I ran across this old article on Stay at Home Moms. I was, in turn, alarmed, amused and delighted. Of course ignorant people will always mock wise women (Prov. 31:27).

A luxury for the lazy? Not on my hectic, stressful, messy, painful, hair-greying but entirely worth-it, beautiful, filled-with-wholesomeness life with littles. Call it, rather, a labor of love, a blessing from God, a high calling, a season of sacrifice.

 "Dunst expresses appreciation for the work that her stay-at-home mother did and makes the obvious observation that such work is sometimes undervalued in our culture. 

"Undervalued, and often misrepresented. The writer Ariane Sommer, in reaction to Dunst’s comments, told Fox News that “people nowadays have to make a living and simply can’t afford the luxury of spending the entire day at home.” Actually, for many families, it makes economic sense for a parent to provide full-time child care rather than paying someone else to do it, given the cost of day care, transportation, and taxes on additional family income. Most stay-at-home mothers are middle-class; they are not indulging in a “luxury.” As the New York Times has reported, Census Bureau data show that “65 percent of married women who stay home with children under 18 years old live in households that earn less than $75,000 a year.”

Paleo Banana Bread

Just a note: I am not a fan of quinoa cereal. Don't know if it was soaking it in dried goats milk kefir whey, or just soaking it at all, or the fact that it's been in the pantry for 3 years. (!?) Not butter, not salt, not meat could get it better. Bleh.

Time to use those frozen bananas since smoothies aren't a common item I get to these days. But breakfast dishes are, for sure.
I rewrote for doubled amounts, made some other alterations, from this site : http://zenbellycatering.com/2013/01/13/banana-bread-sweetener-free/

Paleo Banana Bread

preheat oven to 350° and heavily grease an 8x8 pan and muffin tins. Let bananas bake in pan with  butter for 30.

2 1/2  cups almond flour
1 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 c. tablespoons coconut flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups mashed ripe bananas * (about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup butter
6 eggs
2 tablespoon vanilla

•  mix the dry ingredients (almond flour through salt) in mixer.
• Process bananas, (make sure pan is greased still) rest of butter, eggs and vanilla, add in dry.
• Pour into prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until cooked through.
• Allow to cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes, and then on a wire rack until completely cool, before you cut it. 

London (Broil) Adventures

A comment I have to look into:



<<<I have always found that the very best thing to do with a piece of meat is to buy it. If you plan on not using within the next 3 days or so, then freeze it.

Otherwise, leave it in the fridge for three days. Just before it starts to turn green, cook it. HOT!

The natural enzymes, etc. that build up in the meat for those few days are actually partially breaking down the meat.
If you do this right, even a cheapo chuck steak can come out marvelously good! >>>

The following is from this site :http://onedadskitchen.com/tag/london-broil/

and adapted from Amerca's Test Kitchen:

Sesame-Hoisin-Glazed Flank Steak

1/4 cup hoisin sauce (skipped)

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce (skipped)

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 (1 1/2 pounds) flank steak or London broil, trimmed

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (skipped)

2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds (skipped)

Whisk the hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, Sriracha sauce and cornstarch together in a medium bowl. Pat the steak dry with paper towels. At this point for my version of the recipe, place the steak inside a large, resealable plastic bag and pour the marinade over the steak. Close the bag and allow the steak to marinade in the refrigerator overnight before proceeding.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat until the oil is just smoking. Remove the steak from the marinade, if you did this step, and reserve the marinade. Cook the steak until it is well browned and the meat registers 125 degrees on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the steak (for medium-rare), about 5 to 7 minutes per side. Transfer the steak to a carving board and tent it loosely with aluminum foil, allowing the steak to rest for 5 minutes.

Stir the hoisin mixture into the now-empty skillet and cook over medium-high heat, scraping up any browned bits, until the sauce has thickened, about 2 minutes. Slice the steak thin on the bias against the grain and transfer it to a platter. Stir in any accumulated meat juices into the sauce and spoon the sauce over the meat. Sprinkle the meat with the cilantro and toasted sesame seeds and serve.

Baby Reflux, etc...

http://www.mommyser.com/myblog/10-natural-remedies-infant-reflux

I'm trying items on the above list one by one. Wheat's out now.  Then I'll add ginger tea. Today was a 3 poopy diaper day, but I think that's from 2 fast food runs on Friday, a hectic day.

Delightful Refreshment of Spirit, the second

Miss America Talent Show Takes a Human Touch

Nature for children: http://buzzpo.com/so-incredibly-sad-this-is-how-3-generations-answer-the-same-question/

Hilarious, and amen.

How he describes his job as a Pastor will leave you in stitches!
Posted by TBN Trinity Broadcasting Network on Thursday, February 19, 2015

More Pro-life:


Klusendorf, my main man:http://prolifetraining.com/resources/five-minute-1/
One of many pinterest boards for pro life inspiration:  https://www.pinterest.com/robinbobo/choose-life/

Chinese characters reminiscent of Genesis and the New Testament:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV5_qS0SwiE

Pro-life Speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOWMmx6eBjU

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Poor People Should Have Abortions, Not Children
The Story of sTEPHANIE fAST - Orphan from Korea, story of leaving shame, embracing Jesus

The story of Kim Phuc - best in the book How Now Shall We Live? by Pearcey and Colson

Here's some of it:

touches. The cruel efficiency of Napalm is once it sticks, it burns hotter than gasoline and more slowly. Two members of Kim’s family were killed as Kim tore off her burning clothes and moments before she collapsed a photo journalist snapped a picture of her confused terror stricken face which became the most famous photograph of the Vietnam War and for which the photographer earned a Pulitzer Prize.

Young Kim spent the next fourteen months in hospitals receiving multiple operations.  In 1982, Kim who had been raised a Buddhist became a Christian. 

John Plummer, had also been in Viet Nam in 1972. He was the man responsible for the air strike and it was his job to make sure no civilians were in the village when the raid began. He left Viet Nam with a different kind of scar. Like many Viet Nam veterans he had trouble adjusting to life back in the states. He developed a substance abuse problem…he went through divorce and relationship problems, but in 1990 John Plummer also became a Christian and later a Methodist pastor.

In 1996, Kim was speaking to a group of veterans at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. at which time she said that if she ever met the man who responsible for her injuries she would tell him that she forgives him and that while they could not change the past perhaps they could change the future. 

Reverend John Plummer was in the audience and he immediately sent word to her that the man she wanted to meet was there.  Twenty four years after a war which left both of them wounded two people were once enemies were enemies no longer and they became more than friends for as Christians they were now members of the same family…they had been reconciled. 

Who doesn't want the skin of a baby?

This practice is as old as abortion. Cosmetics from dead baby. So we fight.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/3/aborted-fetus-cells-used-in-anti-aging-products/?page=all

https://www.cogforlife.org/fetalproductsall.pdf

http://www.lifenews.com/2011/05/30/pepsi-ignores-criticism-on-use-of-aborted-cells-in-research/

I posted to facebook:

What are researchers doing or planning with the fetal tissue Planned Parenthood collects?
[Perhaps you've seen The Island(2005).]

Below is a layman's translation from a 1972 article ( later published in Science, a prestigious scientific journal) followed by the original in medical jargon, with link to the source.

1972, 58 pregnant women.
Researchers removed living children from the wombs of their mothers (who had come for elective abortions and opted for riskier method of hysterotomy). They injected amino acids into their umbilical cords, and observe the results. When each baby died about ten minutes later, they harvested the relevant parts in order to store for further research.

[You made it. I'll see you at the protests: protestpp.com ]

Here it is untranslated:

“For “in vivo” experiments, each fetus immediately after removal from the uterus was injected with approximately 100 uCi of either 35S-L-methionine (specific activity 515 mCi/mmole) or 35S-L-cysteine (specific activity 31.3 mCi/mmole) contained in 0.5 ml of a 0.9% solution of NaCl at pH 7.0. In some experiments, unlabeled cysteine (2.0 /xmoles L-cysteine in 0.2 ml 0.9% NaCl, pH 7.0) as well as 35S-L-methionine were injected. All injections were made into the umbilical vein through a short Teflon catheter which was then rinsed with 0.2 ml 0.9% NaCl; the whole cord was clamped on the fetal side of the point of entry of the catheter to prevent blood loss during the experiment. After 10 min (elsewhere in the paper, “in all cases the heart continued to beat during the 10-min period and spontaneous movement was seen”), the cord was severed close to the fetus, and as much blood as possible was collected into a tube which contained heparin as anticoagulant. The fetal organs were quickly removed and dropped into liquid nitrogen.”http://www.catholicstand.com/experiments-on-intact-whole-l…/

"The research was funded by the Lalor Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts, the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene, and the Association for Aid of Crippled Children also in New York. The abortions appear to have been done at the Central University Hospital and Borja Womens Hospital in Helsinki, Finland because an end note offers thanks to the staffs there.

Delightful Refreshment of Spirit

40 Acts of Kindness

FATHERS

Kid's Playing Worldwide

Evil is Specific. It's precision is sometimes surprising. Good must and can and does do even better.

I just want to save children liek this.
Ever wanted to just blow up your life?
Case in point. It goes like this:
You go on vacation. You encounter refugees of government oppression. 
You drop your life and spend the next 9 months saving almost 700 children before the Nazis get them and then never tell anyone about it?
I just want to save children 

Throwback to Watching Robin Hood. Great ad.
The Chaos of Parenting in photos
Time Lapse Videos of the Swiss Alps night sky

Elisabeth Elliot on Suffering

Encouragement about the crisis over marriage lately.
8-Year-Old's Letter to Jesus Busts Child Molester

“Remember He is the artist and you are only the picture. You can't see it. So quietly submit to be painted—keep fulfilling all the obvious duties of your station (you really know quite well enough what they are!), asking for-giveness for each failure and then leaving it alone.You are in the right way. Walk---don't keep on looking at it.” -C.S. Lewis

"Facebook is your most dysfunctional family reunion. Stuck in the house together and it's raining, someone is smoking on the couch, drifting off to sleep. Your mildly racist uncle is yelling at the news on TV. There's a teenager spoiling for a fight; they start most sentences with "actually...". Your mother cites something she heard about your chosen career, passive-aggressively. It's in a study she read someplace. For the most part you try to ignore the subtext and read at the dining room table until dinner's ready. One problem: the screen door won't latch and every couple of days or so ferrets run through the house with their tails on fire. -James Kessler

What does it mean? the chicken church

http://www.boredpanda.com/crazy-photographers/

“What a horrible mother:” How a call from a “good samaritan” derailed these mothers’ lives

I found this article chilling.  And outrageous.  But God can turn something scary into a real adventure where His grace is seen vividly.  One homeschool mom gave me a testimony of His love during a hospital/nurse/social worker nightmare.  I was so encouraged to look at snoopy do-gooders who are quick to judge parents and their decisions.

To all these "good samaritan" people, I'd say:

• Let's not jump to conclusions.
• I do appreciate your concern for a child you don't even know. Perhaps I will thank you in a while after I get over this scare, but for right now, all I am is upset. 
• Before you call the police, could we talk for a few minutes?
•   If you call the police, they will come and likely make me go through parenting classes and community service, if I spend every penny I have on lawyers.  That will mean I will not have the money to feed and clothe my child as well.  You've scared me with that threat.  I will never do this again.  
• Why do you think the police can take better care of my child because I made one mistake?  Because I'm not perfect?
• Yes, I make lots of mistakes in parenting.  Are you perfect at taking care of the people who depend on you?  Should we suspend your status?
• The Good Samaritan did more than just get help for a situation.  He gave himself.  He sacrificed. A lot.
• Are you aware that kidnapping is almost always done by someone close to the family?

Nail Polish Adventures

But first, quick cosmetic recommendation:

 Environmental Working Group for skin products: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
Why do we love it so much? Guys must scratch their heads. So do I!

But we do.

So, here are my experiences. My lifestyle is two littles. 'Nuf said.


Want to try lots of pastels, because I always have shrinkage, so I figure that would camouflage it! But I love close to nude colors because when I mess up, it doesn't show. If I use something like red, they don't look for good until a day has gone by and the polish is peeled off my skin. Also, I have small nail beds, so nudes don't help them look bigger!

I hated white.

Everyone raves about CND. The base coat didn't have great shelf life I guess. It made bubbly nails after about 6 months! Got very dried and sticky.

Want to try Sally Girl. Sally Hansen insta-dri




http://www.mamashealthytribe.com/beauty-industry-doesnt-want-know-used-skincare-products/

Strong Immune System Against the World's Scorn

Quote from  Doug Wilson's Blog post:  BioLogos, Respectability, and Classical Christian Education:


As we labor to establish our schools, as we strive for academic excellence — which we should continue to do — we are looking to put points on the scoreboard. We can want recognition, which is a tool we can use, without wanting full approval, which is a weapon they can use. The most we want should come in the form backhanded compliments. “And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind”” (Acts 26:24, ESV). Festus had just discovered that Paul believed the Lord told Noah to build him an arky, arky.

I never lost the fascination of my 2 year old days, walking about in mom's heels.  Now I can do it the 'proper' way.  Here  it is:

How to Walk in High Heels

Slow Roasted Beef

Slow Roasted Beef (from America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook)
I adapted this from :  http://www.fullmeasureofhappiness.com/2011/02/26/slow-roasted-beef/

• bottom round roast (also called a rump roast)
• 1/2-1 T canola oil
• salt and pepper

Dry the roast with paper towels and heat the canola oil in a large pan.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 250 degrees (I said slow roasted, didn’t I?).  Season on all sides with salt and pepper, and when the oil is shimmering, brown the roast on all sides to get that beautiful dark sear (this should take about ten minutes).

Place into the oven on the lower medium racks and leave it alone for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  When it’s finished, the internal temperature should be 115 degrees for medium-rare, or 125 for medium.

"If you are like us, and your meat thermometer recently broke, then the inside should be red, the outer edge pink, and the outside brown; pressing down on the meat shouldn’t be too firm or too spongy.

 It’s not often that I find beauty in a big, bloody beef roast, but it was pretty easy to see it here: