Anjie is one of the sweethearts of the board. On December 10th, it was made official her becoming co-cl of Christian Parenting along with Wendy. The Lord put it on her heart to become co-cl because the time was coming for Wendy to deliver her baby in late December, therefore Wendy's time would become scarce for a season getting used to having 2 children! Praise the Lord for such dedicated friends and members! Here is an exerpt of a book that Anjie shared with us: It's not a Christian book, per se, but God really spoke to me through it - what else can I say?! He can use anything! I wanted to share the words with you all. You do miss some of it by not seeing the pictures, but I wanted to share the words because maybe some of you will find them as comforting as I do. Maybe you could try to find it it your library, too (children's section, of course!). It's called "The Dandelion Seed" by Joseph Anthony. "It was Autumn in the garden. All the flowers had died and dropped their seeds. Only one seed was left, a little dandelion seed who was afraid to let go. But the winter wind began to blow. The stronger the wind blew, the tighter the seed hung on until it felt the wind blowing right through it. Then the seed left the garden behind. It became part of the wind and was carried away. The world was bigger than the seed ever imagined. It was also more frightening, more lonely, and more beautiful. The more the seed saw, the smaller it felt. It wondered where it belonged. The seed landed when snow began to fall. It listened in silence as peace covered it like a blanket. Finally spring came. Sunshine warmed the air and the soil, and the little seed began to grow tiny leaves and roots. Its leaves spread wide to gather sunlight. Its roots reached deep to drink fresh rain. Soon the seed flowered into the bright, delicate dandelion it was meant to be. It shared its green leaves with deer and rabbits. It gave sweet nectar with bees and butterflies. Then, almost overnight, the life that began as one little dandelion seed ripened into many. They each became part of the wind, and were carried away. All except one. 'Don't be afraid,' whispered the dandelion. 'The wind and the sun and the rain will take care of you. Let go and you will see.' You will see!" ~Anjie (Wasn't that great!?) Here's a snapshot from Anjie and Caroline's offline get together-you can see more pictures by clicking here. Jan 29, 2002 Saw an article about exercise and thought it was interesting ... ... and may be helpful for some of you here, especially for those of you with babies. Many people have said they would like to exercise regularly but are struggling to find the time. The main idea of the article (I think it was in Child magazine) was instead of getting all your exercise in one time period, to do it in 3 10-min. "sparks" 5 days a week. Apparently the research on it shows that is is very effective and provides lots of health benefits. I thougth especially of you, Joy, because they said that it can help lower blood pressure! You can walk, jump rope, stretch, or just about anything you can think of that is physical activity - and only 10 minutes at a time! Many people can find 10 minutes here and there, as opposed to 30 or more all at once. And then I started thinking ... maybe this could also be applicable to our devotional times! You could try to get several little nuggets of concentrated time with God instead of one big quiet time - I would think most people could find those little segments here and there in their day. Just wanted to pass these ideas along in case they would help anyone! Anjie How did Anjie choose her screename? Like Vince, it's pretty much who I am ... "I'm the mama of the Vago family! (long a, in case you were wondering how to say that) Actually, my brother started calling me that when I got pg with Laura, and I kind of liked it and it stuck." Feb 11,2002 My weekend was BUSY, but good! I have a definite praise - a continued one, actually, about how my marriage is going! God is doing so much. Today DH took a half day because I had so much to do, and as you all know I have been just swamped lately. He has taken the van to get an estimate from when it was hit last week, then I am going to spend some time with my grandma and go grocery shopping when he gets back. His level of understanding has just skyrocketed! It's neat. Anjie Anjie's turn to be highlighted as mom of the week Do you think counseling can ever get to the point where it is counter-productive? This started a great discussion, to read, click here