Is It So Much To Ask?

I'm not obsessed with keeping my diet sugar-free because I eat fairly well and don't worry about it.
But I admit that I've tried all of the sugar substitutes...that's because of my addiction to coffee and tea. With that many cups of caffeinated heaven I know I'm consuming more sugar than I want to be in my drinks.
I'm searching for that elusive calorie-free non-sugar that tastes EXACTLY like sugar. You'd think that we'd be advanced enough to have gotten this right by now people! I know some people swear by Splenda and stevia, but both have this funkadelic aftertaste I can't escape. Aspertame is controversial and gives me a stomache ache.
So, I decided to try Truvia (which to me seems to be stevia w/ a different name. Is that true??). I was once again mightily disappointed. Oh yeah, and I'm cranky because of the drawdown in my sugar intake. Blah!

Any thoughts or suggestions? Do you think honey, brown sugar or demerrera sugar is better than the straight white goodness? Anyone else curse the bitterness of the substitutes?

There Is Nothing New Under The Sun

Do you ever look at joys and trials and think, "Hmm, kinda seems like a wheel."
I see both come and go and come back around again. The set of circumstances shift slightly, but they center on the same core issues. I'm having a week where things are circling around again. I'm amazed, looking back, on how much we've learned and thanking Him that He's prepared and sat with us through every turn.

"Two things I asked of You,
Do not refuse me before I die.
Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches.
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
That I not be full and deny You and say, 'Who is Lord?'
Or that I not be in want and steal and profane the name of my God.
Do not slander a slave to his master, or he will curse you and you will be found guilty."

Proverbs 30:7-10

RIP

We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of some very important members of our family. To the front tree/bush (Stumpy) you provided many a play club and I know you are much happier to not be a confused bush/stump anymore.
To the back dead tree (aka Hammock Holder), thank you for leaving enough of you left so that we can keep enjoying the hammock.
They are survived by Big Boy who continues to keep our A/C costs down and the Black Sheep (a tree that's attacking our telephone pole and serves no purpose other than oxygen production).

Know you will remembered fondly by those little children who counted you shady and useful.

Rest in...wood chips.

Lectures are Fun!

This last week has been hands-down what I look for in a summer...I've done nothing! The kids and I have barely left the house. What have we been doing?
Well...

-I've been reading outdoors and indoors and anywhere in between.
-listened to a plethora of podcasts and lectures (I'm listening to lectures from Reformed Theological Seminary)
-I've played guitar.
-The kids have played with their friends in our yard, our house, the neighbors yard and the neighbor's house.

They've had their moments of being bored, but it doesn't take too long (if I ignore the whining) for them to figure it out.

It's a good thing I've had time to read and listen since I'm teaching my Wednesday group on the subject of canonization of the scriptures. It's an infinately fascinating subject. Amazing how God planned the Word out and has kept it as He wants it for the last 1900 years!

FIFA Baby!

I don't know if any of you watch soccer...but I came to enjoy it beause of my husband who played soccer through his college years. I still don't understand a lot of the rules or formations, but I can now appreciate a clean, skilled match.

All that to say, did you watch the US vs Brazil today?! What a game! Why can't we play like this all the time?!

DCLA 2009

If your teens are in LA this week for the DCLA conference tell them to wave at the security team. My hubby's the serious looking one with the beard!

Terminology Overdrive

Is it just me or do we seem to be moving hyperquick through definative words these days? I was struck by this with some religious terminology today. In the early 2000s there was a lot of talk about the seeker-friendly movement and now it seems that this term may be applied to a movement called the emergent church...not sure what the term was before seeker friendly, but it seems like a good applicable word ought to be a part of the common vernacular for more than a decade.

We seem to have national word fads on a yearly basis and I for one cannot keep up...how in the world are you supposed to be conversant and educated if you have to research a new term for a movement every year. Though, I guess in reality, when it comes to philosophy and theology, many of the movements could be called by any number of terms since the time of Christ.

I recommend researching this term "emergent" church. There's also the "emerging" church which is somewhat different...but if you want to be up on the conversation it may behoove you to do the legwork.

Anyone have thoughts on the emergent or emerging movements? I'd love to hear them.