Wowza!! Check out Joel's New Tunes!

So many of you write me and say how much you absolutely love my son Joel's music. I'm so excited to let you know that he's just released all of his piano music, including his spectacular new album "If I Rise on the Wings of the Dawn", on iTunes and other online stores!

It's beautiful, melodic piano music to enjoy with a cup of tea and a book on a lovely afternoon, or even just as a way to escape the craziness of your motherly lives. I encourage all of you to go forth and enjoy his gorgeous music!

Find it here on iTunes

Find it here on Amazon

Find it here on CDBaby

Available anywhere else online music is sold!

* used Blog 6/3/2021 If you can keep your head...........

"If you can keep your head, when all about you....

are losing there's and blaming it on you.

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

but make allowance for their doubting, too."

This poem, IF, by Rudyard Kipling, of which I have just quoted a little tiny bit, is one that I made all of my children memorize--and we reviewed it over and over and over again.

Right is always right even if no one is doing it, wrong is always wrong even if everyone is doing it.....a Clarkson favorite mama saying.

We are called to have a different character, a constant one, one that reflects the very image of Jesus, and yet,

In this crazy world, and especially in this crazy Christian world,

there are many irrational, unloving, critical,

exhausted, weary, discouraged,

immature, mean-spirited, untrained people wandering around. How I have been embarrassed by supposed Christians, even in the past couple of weeks.

I have seen lately, in the lives of my children and friends, them being overcome by some very difficult situations and people who unwillingly become a tool in the hand of Satan to discourage and destroy--faith, heart, well-being of others..

And yet, for those of us who have lived long enough, we know that this is the common "tribulation" and stress that Jesus was referring to when he said, "In this world, you will have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world."

And so, if we can keep our heads, know that love covers a multitude of sin, live in grace and know that we and everyone else we will ever know make mistakes on a regular basis,

and live in the liberating grace of the freedom and blessing we find in the abiding love of Jesus,

then we will always, always have peace and always have the ability to keep giving life as he did.

Overcoming evil with good, loving beyond measure, forgiving and being a peacemaker, living with practiced faith, again and again and again,

this is where we become more like Him, our very dear savior,

and it is where we become true warriors who redeem.

And so, I highly commend this poem, the entire poem, to put in your brain and that of your children, so that you may have grace in your soul to go to, for facing this world and conquering the challenges that come your way.

Words have such power to bring life and inspiration and power--I just love words.

Thank you, Rudyard, for penning this poem for my own well-being and for that of my children......

Just a little pondering over blue

Simon Kozhin, (Russian artist)

Blue, my favorite color.

Blues are what I see in the fields surrounding my house this time of year. Every year, God brings me blue and I stop to notice amidst my comings and goings, speeding away in my car with one more round of speech and debate,

hurried breakfasts and quick cups of tea and coffee,

late night talks, sharing secrets on beds,

Blue, every day, no matter what is going on, He is there, painting,

creating His art,

speaking to me words of comfort and grace-

will I see Him? Hear Him today, amidst my own agenda?

Today, I will pause for the blue He has taken such pains to paint for my pleasure.

PS Thanks for everyone voting--looks like it will be 3! Fun to see everyone's opinions and thoughts.

Teaching our children, training their minds.......

“We teach our children how to think and reason in their own minds so that they may be able, when mature, to discern what is true and what is false. It is our job to train them to understand “righteousness and holiness of the truth” in their everyday lives. We will not always be there to think for them, so we teach them to think for themselves according to biblical precepts … Our task is to train ourselves and our children to think clearly, truthfully, and biblically about Jesus and the world. This task requires us to understand the scope of the biblical knowledge our children need and to develop a plan for helping them acquire it. In addition, we help them understand biblical principles and guidelines and learn how to apply them to everyday life.” Sally Clarkson, Mission of Motherhood

For more about teaching children, join me today at momheart.org

(Still having fun at the Speech and debate tourney. Having fun and amazed at the wonderful speeches and clear train of thought. Great, great event! )

Pick the cover for Desperate!

Which one do you want to read?

#1

#2

#3

Teaching children and training their minds

“We teach our children how to think and reason in their own minds so that they may be able, when mature, to discern what is true and what is false. It is our job to train them to understand “righteousness and holiness of the truth” in their everyday lives. We will not always be there to think for them, so we teach them to think for themselves according to biblical precepts … Our task is to train ourselves and our children to think clearly, truthfully, and biblically about Jesus and the world. This task requires us to understand the scope of the biblical knowledge our children need and to develop a plan for helping them acquire it. In addition, we help them understand biblical principles and guidelines and learn how to apply them to everyday life.” Sally Clarkson, Mission of Motherhood

For more about teaching children, join me today at momheart.org

(Still having fun at the Speech and debate tourney. Having fun and amazed at the wonderful speeches and clear train of thought. Great, great event! )

There is a season, .......,

Kasey, Benjy and Mary working on a case.

 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven--including debate and speech!

This week, almost 600 students are gathering here in the Colorado Springs area for the nationals finals of speech and debate.

We have 11 of us, including our family of 5, together for a week, eating meals, sleeping, and attending a gazillion rounds of speech and debate competitions. It is all very thrilling and fun for us as we love so many of the students who will participate.

Joy will be in 5 different events for this week, speaking for many different rounds, (we hope!).

Joy and two sweet friends who are waiting for a round to begin.

As I want to enjoy each minute and be fully present for all of my peeps who I will see, I will not be blogging this week.

Pray for us and we will do so for you and have a great week!

Reviewing ballots when it is all over.

Fun, fun and great memories.

Feeling pretty much like a princess this morning......

Yesterday was a taxing day. I drove an hour to the airport at 6 in the morning, stood in line for an hour, wasn't able to check in my suitcase, so at security they took some of my liquids (hair spray--a definitely needed item for this straight-haired girl going to the maritime in Canada to speak!).

I finally got checked in after two attempts through security, ran like a crazy girl to my gate, hoping they would still let me on--of course it was the very last gate on a long concourse.....

They had not even boarded yet because it was running late.

Sweating profusely from my long distant run with two suitcases in hand,

I bought a bottle of water and finally boarded.

Landed in Toronto, where I had a 3 hour lay over, dragging about my computer bag and clothes bag,

and then boarded a plane once again for another

2 1/2  hour flight.

Picked up in Halifax.

Visited with my sweet friends who were hosting me, lovely Kristen H. who had saved me a hot dinner for my 9:30 p.m. appetite

Went to bed exhausted and finally awakened, walked upstairs to find the house empty, as children had swimming lessons,

this lovely tray.

"Good morning, Sally" says

the little note on the kitchen tray.

Lovely music wafting through the room.

Tea in a china cup.

Fruit and the most delicious scone.

Her preparation and care for me gave me a whole different view of my day.

Today, I feel cared for, thought about, nurtured and it has made the whole difference of how I will go into my weekend.

Now, I feel more like a care-for princess than a dried up, worn out woman.

Now I will go into my 5 hours of speaking with love and grace in my heart--

because a friend took the time to take care of my needs in a lovely and life-giving way.

Today, when you nurture, love and meet the needs of your beloveds with beauty, it will make a difference in how they face their whole day.

Praying blessing and grace for all of you who may be having days of life like mine was yesterday.

The Heart of influence is unconditional love

My very first disciple and now bestest of friends, Sarah.

Seems like lately I have been surrounded by relationships that are filled with stress and tension. Especially moms of toddlers, preteens and teens. "How did you deal with your teens? What did you do with exasperating toddlers and immature 4 year old boys? Etc. Etc. ........

Of course all children are exasperating many times over, as I am sure most parents are so to their children. But, when I think of the way we reached the hearts of our children, it was so much less about formula or teaching our children the right rules than it was living the love of Jesus before them. Relationship and loving your children as God made them and taking the time to invest love, time and beauty into their souls that is the foundation of reaching their hearts--and it is living fully in the grace that He brought.

Jesus--the heart of all that is good--the one who created the universe, and who embodied gentleness and unconditional love. He who walked on water and made meals--He the very center and life of my heart.

We reach our children's hearts when we give them Jesus, in His fullest measure.

“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, makng the world more human and more fraternal.”

Today we are discussing the center of discipleship, as moms seek to influence their children to love Him. For today's discussion and a video, please be sure to read the rest of the story at Momheart.org

On this lovely May morning, I am.......

Early this morning, I sat on my front porch and took in the Colorado breeze, the sparkling aspens "shimmering", the geraniums, roses, and quiet--the cherished quiet.

I read from

Celtic Daily prayer--3 scriptures---Psalm, Old Testament and New Testament

My Bible--New American Standard, my beloved version

Daily Light Readings for morning and evenings

Wendall Berry's Life is a Miracle

Drinking Yorkshire Gold Tea, munching homemade toast with blackberry jam, and nibbling strawberries, blue berries, raspberries and nuts

Baking 5 more loaves of bread, after baking 6 yesterday--butter tops bubbling!

Preparing for a speaking trip to New Brunswick, leaving early tomorrow morning. (How I love my Canadian friends, and I love sharing memories and time together. I am looking so forward to this trip.)

Buying groceries and baking and freezing food for the 11 of us who will be sequestered in our home for a week for the national speech and debate finals. That's what all the bread is about! I get home Sunday morning and they all come Sunday afternoon. I am looking so forward to this tournament. Speech tournaments are so exciting and so much fun, running around, seeing all the finalists, living in the familiar relationships with friends. Alex, a childhood friend and debater will give us lots of fun as he stays with us and judges lots of rounds. Methinks midnight will be the standard for going to sleep each night, even though all will need to be at the tourney by 8!

Joel, Sarah, Clay and I will be judges and cheerleaders.

Taking my car in for a fix on a tire puncture.

washing clothes and dishes, one more time,

Finishing the financial package for college with Joy this morning.

Getting excited for Nathan coming home in June,  and making arrangements for a flight.

Checking into my flight and thinking of the fun talks I will have with my sweet friend Kristen on the 3 hour drive Friday to the hotel.

Trying to finagle a tea time with Joy before I go tomorrow and gathering the others for a quick deck dinner tonight.

So far, I am enjoying my day and thankful for the fulness God has given me. This is a season where He is opening my eyes, once again, to His faithfulness and my heart continues to restore and renew. A season of spring, for sure.

So what are you doing today?