It's called a "chintz pot"

That's according to our resident Tea Expert, Debbie.



I don't know a great deal about this teapot. It has been handed down from my great-grandma Brown to my grandma Phillips to my mom to me. I intend to pass it on to my daughter when she gets married.

I always thought that GG Brown brought this over with her from England, but now I'm not sure that is how it really happened. I know for sure that this pot was made in England by "Royal Standard":

but I did a bit of googling and I discovered that chintz from this era was not produced before the 1920's. My grandma Phillips was born in Canada in 1903, so I know that the pot could not have been brought over by GG Brown (who came to Canada in the 1800's) as I have always thought. I think it might be one of those things where I knew it was from England and I knew it originated with GG Brown, so I assumed that it had come over with her. I will have to ask my mom if she knows anything else about it. My interest is piqued now!

In any case, I think it is a lovely piece and I enjoy using it when I have company over. I always take great care when using it so that it remains in good shape for my daughter. Assuming it was produced sometime between the 20's and 30's, it is a bona fide antique.

True love

So, one morning about a week ago, my hubby got up about 20 minutes earlier than usual. I'm normally the first one out of bed in the morning, so I took full advantage of the unexpected luxury of being able to stretch out and have the whole bed to myself for a bit. I must have been making some contented little stretching noises or something because hubby asked me what was up.

"Oh nothing," I told him happily, "it's just nice to be able to stretch out for a bit before I have to get up."

Ever since I told him that he's been getting up about 30 minutes early.

Boy do I ever love that guy!

It's like going to the movies for free

I am one of those lucky people who dreams at night in widescreen, surround-sound, full-blown Technicolor. Really vivid stuff. I tend to remember the details in my dreams for quite a while afterwards, and I'm typically able to recount two or more dreams the morning after. My husband thinks I'm so weird. He hardly remembers his dreams, if at all.

Even though I have a very rich dream life, I don't put too much stock in my dreams. I mean, I've heard that our dreams are supposed to be our subconscious "working things out" and I suppose that could be an explanation for them, but I personally think that given the complexity of the human mind, we just can't say for certain what the purpose of dreaming is. Nor do I believe in so-called "dream interpretation". (Joseph's ability aside...Joseph himself attributed his ability to the Lord; he did not claim to have any insight in and of himself.) Yes, sometimes I will have a dream about something that just happened to me, or something that I am looking forward to. For example, I had a dream last night that I was at my little cousin's first communion...which we will be attending this Sunday. I am very excited to be a part of this so obviously I'm dreaming about it because it is really on my mind right now. Nothing unusual about that. On the other hand, there are times when I dream about something that I was not aware of carrying around on my heart; in cases like these I really do think that it is my subconscious telling me something.

I had a dream on Saturday night that is a perfect example of this. I have been trying to decide if I will continue to teach Sunday School next year, or put that aside for now to focus on my Department for Outreach activities. I am torn, because I love both, but I recognize that for the sake of balance I must give one of them up. Saturday night this is what I dreamed:


I dreamed that my grade five Sunday School students were being sent to fight
in Iraq. I was full of sorrow over this because of the dangers that they
would encounter. The children were bewildered by what was happening.
They held up guns without any idea how to use them. So I showed them how
to load and fire their weapons (I don't really know how to do such a thing!) and
I showed them how to protect themselves from enemy fire. I told them
everything I could think of that I thought might help to protect them.
When it was time for them to go, I wished that I had been able to give them more
to arm themselves with, but I had simply run out of time. I cried as each
one was taken away.

Now, I am no expert, but I don't think it takes a genius to figure out what is going on here. I think it's pretty clear that my desire (in my dream) to arm them against the enemy is really my desire to arm them against the Enemy.

The Enemy accosts us from all sides - but we are not without protection. Ephesians 6:10-20 testifies to the Armour of God with which we may be able to "stand against the schemes of the devil". But like the weapons in my dream, we don't always know "how to use" the protection we have been given. We must be taught, by God's Word, how to make full use of the armour that He so graciously provides. Now, I don't mean to imply that there is some sort of "secret" to using the full armour of God, only that it is God Himself, through His Word to us, who reveals how we may take up the full armour of God. And as a Sunday School teacher, this is what I have been charged with: to faithfully bring God's Word to those students in my care, that they may be fully armed against the temptations of the world, the devil and their own sinful flesh.

I still must decide which I will choose, but obviously, these precious little ones are on my heart more than I even knew. I just thought it was interesting how God would use a dream to bring this to my attention.

Things that make me go hmmm

Just some things that I get to wondering about...

1. Debbie - do you have a southern accent? In my head you do not. And your writing is perfectly unaccented...
   


2. Lisa - have you ever bumped into a celebrity? Living in L.A. you must have seen somebody famous at some point. Come on now, dish!
   


3. Leeann - are you by any chance British? For some reason I think that you are. Perhaps it's because you have a friend who is a butler. That just seems so British to me.
   


4. Leigh Ann - When are you gonna give me the recipe for that cake????
   


5. Sara - How are you honey? I miss you so.
   


6. Eileen - WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU????
   


7. Shortybear Denise - Why teddybears? There's a cute story, right? I think they are just like you - cuddly and sweet!
   


8. Homeschoolin' Denise - If it's not too personal, I was wondering who is the picture on your blog of? Is it you? The reason I ask is because if it is, you don't look anything like I picture you in my head. Kind of like how the DJ on the radio never looks like you picture, I guess *grin*!
   


9. Sharon('s Roses) - Have you found the bat yet? *Sly wink*
   


10. Sharon a.k.a. Lady of Value - Can I come live with you?? Pleeeeaaaase? I am SO tired of The-Winter-That-Would-Not-End, and the Sunshine State looks so lovely. I promise I will behave.
    


11. Rusha - I was right, wasn't I? I knew it!!
    


12. Kari - What's your favourite cereal? Ok, that one I stole from a meme, but I already asked you your question a while back which was, "Do you know the Hillbilly Housewife personally?" You know, because you both live in Virginia and all.
    


13. Allison - This is kind of personal/serious...I always wonder how you and Brian are able to maintain your long-distance relationship? I admire that so!
    


14. Holly - Since I have taken the bold step from "lurker" to "commenter" at your blog, may move you up from "The Daily Rounds" to my "Friends" section? Just trying to be polite, *wink*, I'm going to do it anyways.
    


15. Beth - Did you take the picture that is in your banner? It is breathtaking!

Have a good weekend, y'all! I'm doing some more painting this weekend...pictures to follow, I promise!

Who are YOU to tell me it's a mistake?

Came across this today at USAToday.com - it's a review for a book called The Feminine Mistake. The review begins...

'The Feminine Mistake' is a well-crafted cautionary tale for
women of all ages.

Its basic message is passionate and unflagging: Women
who depend on men for economic stability do so at their own considerable peril.

Go ahead and read the rest if you have a strong stomach.

The author's main objection to allowing my husband to support me financially is that, should our marriage come to an end, I may find myself alone and *gasp!* POOR!!

Gee, thanks for the warning.

I guess it does no good to point out for her that I put my trust in neither myself, nor my husband, but in the Lord to provide?

I can finally say it...

Alleluia!

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

O Dearest Jesus, What Law Hast Thou Broken?

Hymn #119 from Lutheran Worship
Author: Johann Cruger
Tune: Herzliebster Jesu
1st Published in: 1630

A part of me hopes that we will not be singing this hymn today. It is so hard. And yet a part of me knows that I must hear it, even if I am not able to sing it because I am sobbing uncontrollably. Here are some excerpts:

O dearest Jesus, what law have you broken
That such sharp sentence should on you be spoken?
Of what great crime have you to make confession,
What dark transgression?

They crown your head with thorns, they smite, they scourge you;
With cruel mockings to the cross they urge you;
They give you gall to drink, they still decry you;
They crucify you.

What is the source of all your mortal anguish?
It is my sins for which you, Lord, must languish;
Yes, all the wrath, the woe that you inherit,
This I do merit.

How strange is this great paradox to ponder:
The shepherd dies for sheep who love to wander;
The master pays the debt his servants owe him,
Who would not know him.

A good hymn is like a good sermon: it teaches you something. If you had never heard the Passion story before, from this hymn you would learn:

• Jesus was sinless
• He went to the cross anyway
• It was MY sin that nailed Him to the tree
• He died for me despite the fact that I do not always follow or obey Him
• He even died for those who deny Him (Whoa. Think about that for a moment.)

Good Friday is hard for me. On this day above all others I am acutely conscious that I put Him on the cross. It's one thing to say, well, Jesus died for the sins of the world, but I'm not "the world" am I? and I'm not responsible for the sins of others...but I am responsible for my own. And they are enough. I sin in every thought, word and deed. I am defiant and disobedient and I do not love Him with my whole heart. I don't love my neighbour as myself. I am a sinner and I deserve only death.

Instead, He gives me Life.

And because the story doesn't end there, the hymn doesn't end there:

The sinless Son of God must die in sadness;
The sinful child of man may live in gladness;
We forfeited our lives yet are acquitted;
God is committed!

O wondrous love, whose depth no heart has sounded,
That brought you here, by foes and thieves surrounded,
Conquer my heart, make love its sole endeavor
Henceforth forever!

When, dearest Jesus, at your throne in heaven
To me the crown of joy at last is given,
Where sweetest hymns your saints forever raise you,
I too shall praise you!

May our Crucified Lord bless your solemn worship today as you remember His tremendous love and sacrifice - for the world, but also for YOU.

And me without my acceptance speech handy...

Yup, yesterday I was tagged by Sharon of Keeper of the Home with a Thinking Blogger Award. She chose this blog and four others as blogs that make you think. Thank you Sharon for thinking of me. It's both exciting and humbling to be thought of that way.

This is how it works: I write a post tagging MY five picks and link back to Sharon's Then if, and only if, you are tagged, write a post with five links to blogs that make you think.

Link to this post so people can find the exact origin of the meme.

Optional: proudly display the Thinking Blogger Award with a link to the post that you wrote. Here are two versions to choose from at the end of this post.

So, without further ado, here are my five picks for blogs that make me think:

• First and foremost, Sara from Toward the Mark. Sara doesn't shy away from the tough questions. She airs her doubts and difficulties and in the end understands that faith doesn't have to be unwavering to be genuine. Sara is currently on hiatus following the birth of her son, but I look forward to her return.



• Second, Kari from Healed Waters. How can I put this without it sounding like hyberbole? Every single thing she posts makes me think. Kari is also on hiatus right now. That's ok. She's a writer at heart and I'm sure one day she will make a reappearance. In the meantime, stop in and check out her archives.



• Third, Leigh Ann of Seeing Afar Off. She's touched on topics ranging from the Trinity to authority under God to the fullness of God's grace. She doesn't post often, but what she posts is always worth the time.



• Fourth, The Rebellious Pastor's Wife is a confessional Lutheran like me. Her posts have really made me reflect on the role of the pastor's wife and the expectations that the congregation places on her. She was recently interviewed for a piece in Time magazine which can be found here if you're interested. I am a lurker and occasional commenter to her blog, so I imagine she'll be quite surprised at how I've chosen to formally introduce myself!



• Last, Holly at Seeking Faithfulness is another blog I lurk at. She's also a pastor's wife with plenty of thought provoking (and humourous!) posts on a variety of subjects.

Now, if you five ladies haven't already been tagged by someone else (which is entirely possible as I am so pokey) go forth and multiply already!

It must be Indian Winter

Someone MUST be held responsible for this. It's minus 13 degrees out.

And snowing.

Don't they know they can't toy with me like this??? Dangle the promise of spring in front of me for a couple of days and then YANK it away again??

Sigh. Welcome to spring in Southwestern Ontario...

The boys

Things have been relatively quiet around here with our boys. For the last 2 weeks or so they have really been towing the line.

It has been about a month now since I "confessed" what has been going on with them. What precipitated my meltdown was: the night before I caught them both stoned. If you can imagine, that evening - with my husband and I in the family room just one floor above them - they crawled out of a basement window and stood between our house and the next and smoked a joint. Then they crawled back in and sat in the dark of the basement talking quietly and listening to music. At around 11 o'clock I went down to send them to bed. I couldn't see them in the dark...but I could smell something funny. I was suspicious, because I knew that my oldest son Kirk had "experimented" before - something we naively thought was over. (As far as I knew though, Brent hadn't been involved thus far.) I told both of the boys to go upstairs to see their father. My husband took one look at them and roared.

The conversation that ensued was far from productive. My husband and I were both angry/terrified and the boys were, well, stoned. You have no idea what it was like for me, seeing my boys like that. All glassy-eyed and unable to track. We tried to talk to them and you could see them trying to focus, but losing. We sent them to bed without anything being resolved.

The next day was a snow day and we were all home together. Can you say tense? My poor daughter of course had no clue what was going on. I didn't want her to know. Ken and I talked and prayed and made some calls. Towards dinner time we sat the boys down and told them that some things would be changing. I won't give you the blow-by-blow, but essentially we restructured their lives (and ours) so that they do not have any time that they are unsupervised outside the home. (It's funny, I remember once when Brent was quite a bit younger he asked me what I would do if I ever caught him doing drugs. I told him that life as he knew it would end. There would be a grown-up there every minute so he would have no opportunity to ever do it again because it's my job to PROTECT him. I always thought he believed me.) Anyways, as you can imagine the news of their new "situation" didn't exactly go over well.

Over the next 2 weeks, Kirk gave us all kinds of grief. Before he had been sort of sullen and uncommunicative; now he was hostile. Everything made him angry and he made sure we knew it. After about a week, he became suddenly sweet and cooperative. It was a Saturday night. Around 10:30 I told my husband I had a feeling that something was up so Ken went to check on Kirk in his bedroom. Gone! The little (censored here) had snuck out of the house THROUGH HIS BEDROOM WINDOW!! I'll tell you, I was ready to change the locks and bar his window. My husband stayed surprisingly cool-headed. He tried calling Kirk on his cell - no answer. So he tried calling Kirk's friends until he found one who knew where he was. He was at a party. My husband got the address and went to pick him up. Somebody must have tipped off Kirk because he was waiting outside by the time his father arrived. Thankfully he was not under the influence of any drugs or alcohol this time. We had another fun "conversation" when he got home, followed by a week of sulking.

But something has happened since then and there has been a change in him. We've been to talk to the pastor, and we've stuck by our guns as far as the discipline goes (still are) and we have made a real effort to spend more time with them over the last month. Kirk has been almost pleasant. (He still gets his back up when we do a random pocket or bedroom search though.)

His brother is stoically taking his punishment. By all accounts, it was his first and only time to try drugs. You know what he told me a week or so after? He said, "Mom, I'm so ashamed of what I did. I never wanted to have you and dad see me like that." He says he will never do it again, and for what it's worth I believe he means it.

A part of me can't help but think "it can't be this easy" and is waiting for the other shoe to drop. But another part of me thinks "Is anything too hard for God? Didn't you cry out to Him, first on your knees, then prostrate on the ground? Didn't you beg Him to protect these boys from the wiles of the evil one and their own sinful natures, to draw them back to Himself, to remind them of His love and mercy towards them, to please, please God just make it all right again?"

There's no guarantees and no way to know if this is truly over. Sin is in the world and my family is not immune to its effects. And it's not like this is the only issue - school is still a struggle for them both. Still, I am cautiously hopeful...though my prayers for my boys are far from over. For those of you who added your prayers to my own: thank you. And please don't stop! No matter what happens, our family is being blessed by your prayers. I sure hope I have some more good news to report soon!

IOWT: We preach Christ crucified

“At the heart of the story stands the cross of Christ where evil did its worst and met its match.”

~ John Wenham ~

This Friday, we will attend the "Tenebrae" service - the ancient Service of Darkness. Every window, door and crack of light coming into the sanctuary will be blackened and we will worship in the dim light of candles. The candles will be gradually extinguished until we are in utter darkness and silence. The final candle, the Christ candle, will be removed from the sanctuary to signify Christ's removal from this earth. Then the pastor will take a mallet and hammer an iron nail in to the cross that stands at the front of the chancel. It makes a horrible, rending noise. This is the end of the service and we leave in silence.

Dramatic, is it not? This service will remind us that Christ suffered and bore the pains of ridicule and torture and crucifixion - but more than that...He also bore the pain and agony of our sins. All of us. Each and every sin. Imagine the burden! The holy One of God who hates sin and by His very nature cannot abide being in the presence of it, takes on all sin. The physical pain surely must have been horrible, but the agony of one sinless man bearing the sins of the world must have been crushing. It was unfair and it was unjust and it shouldn't have happened. And if it had ended there, well, the world would be a much different place, wouldn't it?

Whoops! Forgot to credit...For another person's take on the quote this week please visit Iris @ Sting my Heart