Courageous

We just saw the movie "Courageous" with another couple from church.  The message is powerful!  It's about a group of men in Albany, Georgia, most of whom are police officers, and the struggles they face on the job (ex. fighting gang members) and off the job (maintaining happy marriages and raising happy children).  It's about men stepping up to the plate as fathers and seizing the role as the spiritual head of the household.  It's about seizing those precious years when their children are still young to instill in their children the values that they will pass on to their children and to their children's children.  It's about standing up for the truth, even if it means losing money or losing a friend.  It's about being a strong leader at home and at work.  It's not about being a good father, but a Godly father. 

"Courageous" was number 4 at the box office the first week it was released and then went on to remain in the top 10 for the duration of its run.  Obviously, its message is what many of us need to hear right now.  We spend so much time going through the motions and not enough time cherishing our families.  We spend so much time keeping up with the Joneses and not enough time trying to impress our own children.  So, when you tuck your kids into bed tonight, hug them a little bit tighter, and snuggle with them a little bit longer.  And let them know that they are loved by an Almighty God.



Photo courtesy www.songonlyrics.com.

The Mozart Effect

The phrase "The Mozart Effect", coined by Alfred Tomatis", refers to the beneficial effect that listening to 15 minutes of Mozart daily for several months has on the brain.  Mr. Tomatis used the classical music to treat a variety of disorders including dyslexia, attention deficity disorder, autism and epilepsy.  Listening to Mozart can benefit all of us according to experts who claim that it improves listening, relaxation, sleep, memory and awareness while reducing anxiety, stress and depression. 

The Boston Globe printed an article in 1997 quoting a study that was performed on three and four years olds who were given eight months of classical piano lessons, while control groups were given either computer lessons or nothing.  Later, the piano group scored 34% higher than the other two groups on spatial-temporal reasoning tests.  Some experts even claim that significant exposure to Mozart raises a child's IQ by a few points.

Classical music is not just being used to develop the brain.  I remember a few years ago about a Calgary school that played music on a loudspeaker on the playground at night to keep vandals away.  Furthermore, a German sewage treatment played Mozart to break down waste faster. 

So put a piano concerto into your CD player today.  Your brain will thank you.

The following books deal with the Mozart Effect:

1.  Pourquoi Mozart?  (Alfred Tomatis)
2.  The Mozart Effect:  Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, Unlock the Creative Spirit (Don Campbell)

Source:  www.enwikipedia.org.



Image courtesy www.images.travelpod.com.

The New York Times Bestseller List

Here are the top ten picture books for January 15, 2012.

1.  Heaven is for Real for Kids
     (Todd & Sonja Burpo)

2.  The Night Before Christmas
     (Clement C. Moore)

3.  I Want My Hat Back
    (Jon Klassen)

4.  Goodnight, Goodnight construction Site
     (Sherri Duskey)

5.  Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
    (Jeny Slate & Dean Fleischer-Camp)

6.  The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories
    (Dr. Seuss)

7.  If You Give a Dog a Donut
    (Laura Numeroff)

8.  The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse
     (Eric Carle)

9.  Wizard of Oz Scanimation
     (Rufus Butler Seder)

10.  Bumble-Ardy
      (Maurice Sendak)

The more things change the more they stay the same.  Five out of the ten authors are big name authors.  These are writers who not only know how to write a good tale, but they know how to sell their work, they know how to promote it.  Apparently authors 25, 50 or 100 years ago used to buy out the first printing of their book to make it appear that it was popular.  And, of course, they practise perseverence.  Once they find a winning formula, they stick with it.  It's so much easier to get published if you are known rather than unknown.  Apparently, known authors have written books under pseudonyms that have been rejected by publisher after publisher.

The Eighth Wonder of the World

The first Native settlement was organized there 4000 years ago.  The first Europeans to explore the area arrived over 500 years ago.  The first pioneers to settle the area came almost 150 years ago.  By 1900, the place was a tourist attraction.  Now it is considered the Eighth Wonder of the World. 

The Grand Canyon was carved into the rock in Arizona by the erosion of the Colorado River and the shifting of the Colorado plateau.  It's length is 227 miles, its width is 4 to 18 miles and its depth is over a mile.  Artists popularized the area in the late 1800's by painting scenes like the one done by Willliam H. Holmes.  First tourists arrived by stagecoach to see what all the fuss was about.  Paddlewheelers made their way up the Colorado River carrying tourists as well.  By 1901, they arrived by train after the Grand Canyon and Santa Fe Railroads were built.  Oliver Lippincott drove the first automobile to the site (from Flagstaff) thinking that it would take him several hours but the trip lasted two whole days.  By the 1930's, the car became the preferred mode of transportation. 

In 1919, the Grand Canyon was declared a U.S. National Park and received a total of 44,173 visitors that year.  Theodore Roosevelt, a conservationist, was a vocal proponent of the park.    The park boasts many wild animals like coyotes, bald eagles, ewes, bobcats, mountain lions and rattlesnakes.  Tourists can view the wildlife through hiking, mule rides and helicopter tours.  By the mid-1930's Hoover Dam was completed, attracting even more tourists to the area.  Current annual visitation is 5 million visitors per year. 



Painting by William H. Holmes courtesy http://upload.wikimedia.org.

Spare Wheel vs. Steering Wheel?

Prayer is not a "spare wheel"

that you pull out when in trouble.

But it is a "steering wheel"

that directs the right path throughout.

One of my Facebook friends, Maureen, posted this thought recently.  Unfortunately, all too often I use prayer as a "spare wheel" rather than a "steering wheel".  I used to wonder why people would ask for prayer about little, trivial matters.  However, nothing is too big or too small for God.  And if you get in the habit of praying each day, you enter into a dialogue with God and you draw closer to Him.  I joined a prayer group last year and it is a good first step to turning that "spare wheel" into a "steering wheel" to guide us through life. 

Here are some benefits we can enjoy, if only we pray:

1.  We can ask what we what in prayer, with the promise God will answer.

2.  We can pray as much and as long as we want without boring God.

3.  We can have prayer partners/groups and increase the power of prayer.

4.  Prayer will remove anxiety (Philippians 4: 6).

5.  The Holy Spirit will help us pray when we don't know what to pray for. (Romans 8: 26)

6.  Prayer can bring peace in our jobs, in our country and in our homes. (Timothy 2: 1)

7.  Prayer brings forgiveness of sin. (1 John 1:9)

8.  Prayer connects one with the right people.

9.  Prayer is the opportunity to commune with the Creator of the universe.

10.  Prayer heals.

*  There is only one catch:  PRAYER MUST ALWAYS BE ACCOMPANIED BY FAITH. 

(James 1: 60)

Source:  www.squidoo.com/21-benefits-of-prayer

Photo courtesy http://1.bp.blogspot.com.



The Midnight Hunter

After darkness falls and our little girl has been put to bed, a hunter comes out of the woodwork in our rec room. She's a furry black creature.  Her weapon is not a rifle, it's not a club, it's not a knife:  her only weapon is her stealth.  She finds a hiding place on a book shelf or behind the TV or in a box.  Then she lies in wait, ready to pounce, her green eyes penetrating the darkness.  At the appropriate time, she leaps out, and makes her attack.  The victim is not a bird or a pheasant or a bear:  it's a mouse made out of velvet; it's a little red ball; it's a slender gray string.  Tonight it was one of Jacqueline's stuffies named Silly Billy which the hunter wrestled to the ground and then left for dead.  She propels herself across the room so fast that your head spins.  She keeps hunting until Daddy says "Settle down, Midnight."  Then she climbs up on the couch, cuddles up against us and falls asleep.  Sleep tight, Midnight!



Photo courtesy www.cats-fun.com.

 

Goodness is Stronger than Evil

Goodness is stronger than evil;

Love is stronger than hate;

Light is stronger than darkness;

Life is stronger than death;

Victory is ours through God who loves us!

A prayer written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu for Chicken Soup for the Soul...Stories for a Better World



Photo courtesy www.entheosweb.com.