An evening with Kathy Evans.

Last night, I mentioned in my post that we were going to listen to a talk by Kathy Evans. Kathy was the second person to be healed through the intercession of St. Mary of the Cross.

Kathy spoke about how she found out she had lung cancer and later got secondary cancer in her brain. She was given a couple of weeks to live.

At the time that she started asking Mary Mackillop to pray for her, she didn't ask for healing, she asked for the strength to get through the trial and keep her faith.

When Kathy was diagnosed, she got very sick very quickly. The doctors told her she only had a couple of months to live. Once they started the novena she started to pick up and feel better. She didn't realise at this stage that she had been healed though.

Months later when she went to see her local doctor, he asked her how she was. She said well. She was sent for tests and there was no sign of cancer anywhere. Kathy had been completely healed.

This wasn't the only miracle that happened though.

She spoke also about a retreat that she went on while she was sick. One of the priests there, referred to the saints as the little fishes. He thought it was best to go straight to the top and told everyone, don't worry about the little fishes, just pray straight to God. That night, the priest prayed over Kathy and he felt Mary Mackillop praying with him over her. He had a conversion in his heart and knew that the intercession of the saints is a very powerful tool used by God.

We all had a great night. if you have the chance to hear Kathy talk, I urge you all to go. She has a wonderful story to tell.

Tania's pumpkin Tea Cake.

Today I made a pumpkin tea cake. Tania gave me the recipe in my last post.

This cake looks delicious. I would tell you how it tastes but I am taking it to share for supper tonight. Our parish is having Kathy Evans talk about her healing from brain and lung cancer through the intercession of St. Mary MacKillop.

Here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Tea Cake:

25ogms butter
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
2 eggs
1/2 cup mashed pumpkin
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
2 cups self raising flour
3/4 cup milk

Icing:

60gms butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Mixture:
Beat butter and sugar together. Add grated orange. Add eggs 1 at a time. Add mashed pumpkin and coconut. Stir in sifted flour alternately with milk. Grease a deep 20cm round cake tin, use greased paper on bottom of tin. Pour mixture into cake tin and cook in a moderate oven (180 -200C) for 1 1/4 hours.

Icing:

Mix all the ingredients together in saucepan in stove. Ice cake and sprinkle with coconut.

Weekend wrap up

We have had a great weekend here.

Joseph got his first pair of shoes today. He has been walking in them a bit but is still getting use to them so was crawling around in them too.

Amelia had a netball game yesterday. Their team won 7 to 5 so she was pretty happy about that.

Today I cut up a huge big pumpkin that my friend Ellie gave me. We have a lot of boiled pumpkin. I am going to make some pumpkin soup and pumpkin bread with it.

Steve and I walked to town yesterday for our food shopping, Since we were only buying for breakfast, lunch and snacks, we were able to put the shopping in the basket under Joseph's pusher and push Joseph and the shopping home. I would love to buy a shopping trolley on wheels that we could take for it though.

We have been having a lot of trouble with our TV reception. Whenever the weather gets stormy or overcast, we have interference with it. Today Steve moved our antenna and it has been fixed. We have perfect reception now.

Steve took some photos of our backyard so that you can all see how the plants have grown,. It is really nice sitting out there in the middle of the day. I will often go out and sit in the sun with my coffee and phone at recess time. I read all the blogs in my reader while I am there. This is just one of the things I love about my new phone. Here are all the pictures:

Lastly, this weekend, Steve posted our 1470 post and this post is post 1471.. Only 29 posts now till we have 1500. I am thinking about having a give away for it so stay tuned.

How can atheists adequately account for the law of morality when according to their worldview, nothing exists except material things?

For the most part, atheists believe in a law of morality just like those who believe in a God. But according to the atheist world view where nothing exists but material things, what is the basis for believing in the existence of right and wrong? What are right and wrong? Are right and wrong material things? Are they natural objects in the natural world like flowers and rocks? Can you touch ‘rightness’ and how much does it weigh or how long is it?

If right and wrong are not natural objects in the natural world then what are they? Are they natural properties like the colour blue or the property of smoothness?

Right and wrong exist as standards above the mere preferences and tastes of cultures, societies and individuals. Atheists can not deny that they are universally perceived. But how can they adequately account for them according to their world view which insists that nothing exists except material things?

Christians believe that the laws of morality are non material moral properties that exist in the real world alongside natural objects, but that attach to actions rather than objects. The Christian worldview can account for the laws of morality because this view of the world includes the existence of non material spiritual entities like God, human souls and angels. But how could an atheist say this when he has already committed himself to a world view which essentially says that the natural universe is all there is?

There is absolutely no basis for anything like a moral law in a universe in which nothing exists but material substances. The preconditions for moral law simply do not exist in the naturalist worldview. There is no way to account for them.

For the atheist to be consistent, he must say that right and wrong do not really exist and that they are merely words individuals and societies have adapted to express their preferences. Ethics must therefore be personal and relative, that men and women, families and nations must simply choose for themselves what they will consider ‘right for them’ and ‘wrong for them’.

From “The Godless Delusion” by Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley.

Chocolate boy.

This is Joseph on our way back from Adelaide last time we went. He got more chocolate over him than in his stomach. Still, it kept him quiet for a while.

God’s character provides the source for morality as well as the standard for moral law in the universe

Moral laws reflect the nature of who God is. God’s character provides the source for morality as well as the standard for moral law in the universe. Every human being is made in God’s image, like God, we are moral beings. It is no surprise that we know intuitively that right and wrong exist and are real. Right and wrong are not just words used to express our personal preferences but real fundamental moral laws that God has written on our very souls.

God is the perfection of goodness and it is in comparison with that perfect standard that we can measure all relative goodness. Without presupposing an absolute standard of ‘good’ there would be no way to discuss how near or far something is in relation to that standard.

When Christians speak about God being all good, it is not as though “right” and “wrong” are arbitrary concepts base on some arbitrary decision that God has made. Right and wrong reflect the nature, the moral character of God. God could not declare that murder, rape and lying are good because those things do not reflect his nature. On the other hand, honesty, peace and virtue are good things because they reflect the nature of God.

The instinct each person feels to love what is good and be repelled by what is bad is natural. It’s God given because God is good and he wants you to know the truth by which you can live and experience happiness and peace.

When Jesus Christ commanded us to be good, kind, loving, just, merciful, patient and forgiving, he was saying: Live as God created you to live. Reflect his character of goodness and truth in you own actions. Be imitators of your Father in heaven.

The Christian theistic world view can account for the real existence of a moral law, as well as humanity’s universal recognition of that law.

From “The Godless Delusion” by Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley.

Wordless Wednesday

Joseph walking.

Australian Catholic Families Blog.

I am posting today over at Catholic Family Blog about online friends. You can go and read it here.

Happy Birthday Brigette.

Today Brigette turns 14. She is home from school though. Brigette has a grass allergy. When she touches grass, she gets some pretty awful rashes. She woke up this morning with two rashes on her leg. We have some cream to put on but she doesn't like putting it on because it burns. She put some on so hopefully they will disappear soon.

Happy Birthday Brigette. We hope it is a great day for you even though you are not feeling well.

Sausage Casserole.

Here is the recipe I use for Sausage Casserole.

Ingredients:

1 tbspn olive oil
2 onions
1kg of sausages.
500 grms mixed frozen vegetables.
1 425 tin diced tomatoes.
2 cups gravy.
dash of wistershire sauce.

fry onions in oil. When they are going opaque, add sausages. Cook until sausages are done then transfer to crock pot. Add tomatoes, gravy and Worcestershire sauce. Cook on high for 3 hours. Add in vegetables and cook for another hour.

If I am organised enough when I do the shopping for the oamc, I cook the sausages and onions ahead and freeze them. Then when we have the meal, everything is ready to go in the slow cooker.

I also have done this recipe with baked beans but now I get too many complaints when they see them. I think it really adds to the flavour but my children think baked beans are the most gross thing on this earth.

In the book "The Godless Delusion" one of the authors tells the story about an experience he had with an atheist professor of psychology.

The professor began by saying that right and wrong do not exist, they are merely cultural conventions, words societies use to describe what they approve and disapprove of. Take for example the Eskimo tribes in which the elderly are set on a block of ice and sent out into the ocean to starve to death or the primitive practice of cannibalism or the Indian practice of Sati in which many widows were burned alive on the funeral pyres of their deceased husbands. These are examples of how different cultures view right and wrong. For these people, these practices are good and right. It is their way, and who are we to speak against them?

If right and wrong really are merely subjective cultural conventions and really are relative from society to society as the naturalist (atheist) wordview tells us, then how could we ever say that one society was morally superior to another? We can not say that Hitler was wrong when he murdered six million Jews. All we can say is that we disagree with Hitler's views and that we don't like what he did.

Regardless of what some people say, we all believe in an objective law of morality. Even those who say that moral laws don't exist or morality is just relative from culture to culture actually show, by the way they think, speak and live that they really do believe in an objective moral law.

Even the atheist ethics professor believes in an objective law of morality. He immediately becomes a strict proponent of moral absolutes the moment soneone cuts in line in front of him at the checkout counter. "This isn't right! I was before you!" It will do no good to say to him at that moment, "Hey, morals differ from culture to culture, and who's to judge?"

The atheistic naturalist world view is not able to account for objective morality and our moral experiences as human beings. By contrast, the Christian theistic world view does provide a basis for objective morality.

The atheist knows that right and wrong are objectively real and he can't help his natural response to even a minor violation of the moral law. In his heart of hearts he knows it exists. God has inscribed an innate sense of justice on his very soul. The atheist can't erase is simply be telling himself over and over again that right and wrong are merely subjective social conventions. What ever he says be believes as an atheist, deep down, he cannot help but know the truth, even if he refusess to admit it to himself or anyone else.

7 quick takes.

-1-
Netball.

Tomorrow morning, Amelia has a bye for netball. We don't know yet what time Brigette's game is. Steve and I will go to mass and adoration. If Brigette needs to be at netball before this finishes, I might see if she can get a lift with someone.

-2-
Parties.
We are having a combined birthday party for Brigette and Amelia this weekend. Back in 2007, They had a double party for their 10th and 6th birthday. This time is is for their 14th and 10th. We have invited lots of families and will have a bbq lunch for them both.

-3-

Joseph is Walking.
This week, Joseph has started walking suddenly. He has seemed to be on the brink for months walkign along furniture and then getting down to crawl whenever he came to the end of it. Now this week, he has suddenly started taking lots of steps across the room. He finally has the confidence to stay standing. I think he could have walked weeks ago but was lacking in confidence. Now I guess there will be no stopping him.


-4-

Date night.

Tonight Steve and I went to our local Indian restuarant for tea. We had lamb korma, chicken something (I cannot remember what they called it). garlic and cheese naan bread and some lemon rice. I really love Indian food.

-5-

Mini Trampoline.

We bought a new mini trampoline. Steve and I just don't seem to be able to get out walking as much as we want to so we decided this would be a good thing that we could both do at night. Hopefully we will loose a few kilo's running on it.

-6-

Three site changes.

Today Christopher's pump site has come out twice. He woke up with numbers in range but was high by morning tea time. I investigated and found the whole site had come out. We put a new one in only to have it come out a few hours later. He didn't know how it happened but I had to put in another site. Tonight when Steve and I got home, it had come out again. Now we have some sites from a new box in his leg. I suspect the other box had a few which were not as sticky. Fingers crossed that we don't have to do another site change for another three days.

-7-

Plurk

Have you heard of plurk? Plurk is another social network that is similar to twitter. I find it much more fun though.

There is a great Catholic community on there. I have meet many priests and stay at home home schooling mothers.

If you want to join plurk, just click on my link above and it will take you to my page. You will have a page ask you if you want to join. I usually read my friends plurks while I have my morning tea.

Jen from Conversion Diary is the hostess for the Quick 7. Go and see what others are saying in their quick 7 posts.

Butter Chicken.

Ingredients:

1 medium size onion
700 grms chicken fillets
1 425 can coconut cream.
1 cup natural yoghurt.
1 - 1.5 tblspns thai curry paste.
1 - 1.5 tblspons tomato paste.
1 tspn garam masala.


Directions:

dice onions and chicken fillets.

place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.

You can fry the chicken first but I just throw it all in the crock pot. The chicken is a bit drier this way but everyone here still enjoys eating it.

Regardless of time and culture, people believe in an objective moral law.

Each of us demonstrate that we believe in a higher law of morality - something higher than our own opinions and preferences - something objective, beyond ourselves.

Atheists will typically respond that what we call 'right' and 'wrong' are merely cultural norms or societal conventions that have evolved over time. Subjective ideas of right and wrong that have come from the individual and which the group has agreed upon. They assert that the differences in morality from culture to culture and time to time proves the point.

But whenever you find a man who says he does not believe in a real 'right' or 'wrong' you will find that same man going back on this a moment later. He may break his promise to you, but if you try breaking one to him, he will be complaining 'It's not fair, you promised.' Does this not demonstrate that all people regardless of time and culture believe in an objective moral law? Has there ever been a culture where breaking a promise was a virtue?

You might think you are justified in breaking a promise or that you haven't really broken a promise at all, but when the tables are turned you realise that your reasons don't hold water. Both parties know that it is objectively wrong to break a promise. The quarrel is not about the rightness or wrongness of breaking promises but about whether this law has been broken and whether the offender was justified in doing so.

From 'The Godless Delusion' by Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley

Tasty Tuesday. Our menu plan for the next four weeks.

Last weekend, I did our big shop for the months main meals. Now that the weather is cooling down here, we are having more meals from the slow cooker and soups.

Here is what is on the menu this month at our house:

Butter Chicken.
Pasties.
minestrone.
fish and salad.
sausage casserole.
spaghetti.
Shepherds pie.
vegetable noodles.
spaghetti and meatballs.
tuna mornay.

The only meals that I don't do in the slow cooker are the pasties. spaghetti. shepherds pie and fish and salad. If you want any of my recipes, feel free to ask and I will post them.

Praying together.

I have been thinking about writing about praying as a couple for a while now.

Last night I read a post by Sue from Sue Elvis Writes, about spending time together and praying together.

It was the motivation I needed to get me writing about it too.

After 20 years of marriage, I would have to say that praying with Steve is the thing that really cements our marriage together. There have been many times that the need for prayer has been stronger than other times and that we have looked to God to get us through.

In our house, we pray with the children every night. On average, we would probably pray together twice a week. It really should be more but I think we don't see it as a real need for our marriage. A part of the reason we neglect it is we just feel so comfortable with each other and prayer tends to be a thing I put as a high priority when I face problems. I am trying to change this and see prayer as a thing to do in the good times and bad times. It is something that is so esential for all aspects of our lives but especially our marriage.

When Steve and I pray, we will usually pray something like the rosary, read from the bible or just have some quiet music in the background, a candle lit and sit together in the quiet. I think the quiet music and candle light is my favourite way to pray.



Taize music is one of our favourite musics to put on. It makes the atmosphere and helps me to focus on God. We also have some Gregorian chant and some music by The Priests.

Weekend Wrap up.

This is a post that my blogging friend Chez does when she misses the 7 quick takes. I missed them this weekend so decided to do a weekend wrap up for you all.

-1-

Blogger was down all day Friday. That is why I didn't get a 7 quick takes up.

-2-

This weekend Amelia and Brigette had their first netball game. Netball started last weekend but we were away.

Amelia's team won.

Brigette's team lost.

-3-

Saturdays are going to be pretty busy for us. Steve and I go to mass and adoration every Saturday morning and now we also have two netball games to get the girls too. I hope that their netball games don't interfer with mass and adoration too much.

-4-

Today was a beautiful day. Steve and I went for a walk this morning. It was great to get out alone with him. Sometimes life seems so crazy in our house and even though we spend lots of time together, we can sometimes go days without talking about things that are on our mind or talking about things that we don't want to discuss in front of the children. We walked for one hour. I hope we can do this regularly every weekend at least. It would be good to do it during the week but I don't think that is going to happen with all that is going on in our house.

In the afternoon, we spent a lot of time out in the garden with the children. Our garden area that Steve put in has grown a lot since I posted pictures of it. I will try and get some photos up this week to show you how much it has changed.

-5-

Joseph is starting to walk finally. He still crawls most of the time but can take many steps in a row as long as he is heading for something. I think in the next couple of weeks, he will probably start walking everywhere.

-6-

On Friday Tom and Christopher had a check up with their endocrinologist. I was really happy that both boys have a much better hba1c. Last time they were tested, it was in the 8's and they are both in the 7's now. I really hope we can get them into the 6's by their next check up.

So that is my weekend wrap up. I hope you all had a great one too.

Each of us continually demonstrate that we believe in a higher law of morality - something higher than our own opinions and preferences.

Everyone believes in right and wrong not merely as words we us to describe the things of which we approve or disapprove, or what we like or dislike, but as real standards that somehow exist in the real world. We demonstrate this belief continually in the way we speak.

Everyone has heard people quarrelling, they say things like...'That's my seat, I was there first'...'Leave him alone, he isn't doing you any harm'...'Give me a bit of your apple, I gave you some of mine'...'Come on, you promised.'... The person who makes these remarks is not merely saying that the other person's behaviour does not happen to please him. He is appealing to some kind of standard of behaviour which he expects the other person to know about. Your companion seldom replies, 'To hell with your standard.' He nearly always tries to make out that what he has been doing does not really go against the standards, or that if it does, there is some special reason for it. It looks as if both parties had in mind some kind of Law or Rule of fair play or good behaviour about which they agree. If they had no agreement about the 'rule of fair play' they might fight like animals but they would not be quarrelling in the human sense of the word.

Quarrelling means trying to show that the other person is in the wrong. There would be no sense in trying to do that unless you both had some sort of agreement as to what Right and Wrong are; just as there would be no sense in saying that a soccer player had committed a foul unless there was some agreement about the rules of soccer.

Christians believe that a personal God exists and has a particular nature and moral character. Moral laws reflect that nature of who God is. His character provides the source of morality as well as the standard for moral laws in the universe. Since every person is made in God's image, like God, we are moral beings. It's no wonder we know intuitively that right and wrong exist. It's no wonder we sense to the very core of our being that right and wrong are somehow "real things," not simply words we use to express our personal preferences. God has written these fundamental moral laws on our very souls.

From "The Godless Delusion" by Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley

The Aussie Version of Creation

The Aussie Version of Creation




In the beginning God created day and night. He created day for footy matches, going to the beach.....

And BBQ's......


He created night for going prawning,
sleeping and BBQ's, and God saw that it was good.


On the Second Day, God created water....for surfing, swimming, and BBQ's on the beach,
and God saw that it was good.


On the Third Day God created the Earth to bring forth plants to provide malt and yeast for beer

and wood for BBQs, and God saw that it was good..


On the Fourth Day God created animals
and crustaceans,chops, sausages,
steak and prawns for BBQ's, and God saw that it was good.

On the Fifth day God created a Bloke to make use of all these wondrous creations - go to the footy, enjoy the beach, drink the beer and eat the meat and prawns at BBQ's, and God saw that it was good.


On the Sixth Day God saw that the Bloke was lonely and needed someone to go to the footy, surf, drink beer, eat and stand around the barbie with.

So God created Mates, and God saw that they were good Blokes, and God saw that it was good.

On the Seventh Day God looked around at the twinkling barbie fires, heard the hiss of opening beer cans and the raucous laughter of all the Blokes. He smelled the aroma of grilled chops and sizzling prawns and God Saw that it was good .. ...

Well.... Almost good.....

He saw that the Blokes were too tired to clean up and needed a rest.
So God created Sheilas to clean the house, to bear children, to wash, to cook and to clean the Barbie, and then God saw that it was not just good.....

It was better than that, it was Awesome!

IT WAS AUSTRALIA!!!!!





This was sent to me from Smiley. Check out his blog here. It is one I read regularly.

God's existence is clearly perceived in the things that have been made

For the wrath of God revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousoness, because that which may be known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18)

Notice that St Paul does not grant to the atheist that the evidence of God's existence is either ambiguous or equivocal. Rather, he insists that God's existence is clearly perceived in the things that have been made.

Whether or not someone is willing to admit it he 'gets it.' When he encounters nature's voice proclaiming the existence of the God who created it. It's not that God's existence is merely suggested through what has been made, or faintly hinted at. St Paul says it is clearly seen. In fact, he says God's existence and nature are so clearly recognisable that men and women who refuse to acknowledge him are without excuse.

All of creation cries out the existence and glory of God, so much so that in order to escape God, the unbeliever must engage in a massive and continual suppression of the evidences seen in his creation.

Whatever an atheist may say about the world, he is still a manifestation of the image and likeness of God. He bears in his own being the most powerful proofs of God's existence and information about his nature. If he closes his eyes to escape into the solitude of his own mind and heart, he is immediately confronted with the clearest of all evidences - his own being.

The atheist claims there is no God, but he has no choice but to live in the world God created, the real world, a world that calls out to him from every direction the truth of God's existence.

Taken from the book "The Godless Delusion," by Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley.

Scents.

I have been thinking a bit lately about how powerful scents are. I have a couple of scents that bring back memories from our wedding day. One is the perfume Lou Lou and the other is frangapani flowers.

We had frangipani flowers in our wedding bouquets and I wore lou lou perfume. If I ever smell either scent, I remember our wedding day.

There are other scents that bring back memories. I remember hating the smell of pinetarsol. Daniel, Sam, Madeline and Brigette all had chicken pox one after the other when Brigette was about 10 months old. I remember Daniel had them mildly, Sam and Madeline a bit worse and Brigette terribly. She had them everywhere. I gave her a lot of pinetarsol baths and now relate the smell of it to Brigette being sick.


I love the smell of baking. I love smelling bread or fruit cake baking in an oven and soups or casseroles baking in the slow cooker. One of my favourite things about winter, is walking into a warm house with the aromas of baking.

I also love the smell of a nice clean bathroom. I hate cleaning bathrooms but when they are done and smell all fresh and clean, I love it.

I cannot think of many other smells that make me feel sick or bring back bad memories. I am glad there aren't that many.

What are some of your favourite scents?

Do you have any scents that remind you of any special days?

Oh and this post was inspired because I bought myself some lou lou perfume. I cannot wait for it to get here. I wonder if Steve will be reminded of our wedding day by it?

Missing.

First, one set of keys. My keys to our little car. I rarely loose these now so suspect Joseph got a hold of them from my handbag. They could be anywhere.

Second, Christopher's blood glucose meter. We have a spare that I checked his pre dinner bsl with but I want to find the one we usually use.

Third, my mobile phone. I remember walking into the house with it after getting Tom and Amelia from musical theatre. I have put it down somewhere.

Please say a little prayer to St. Anthony. I want to find them all tonight please.

-------------------------------------------------------

Found:

1 mobile phone.

1 blood glucose meter. Only my keys to go. I have told the children that we cannot go out till they have been found so I am sure they will put in extra effort to find these.

Happy Mothers Day.

This video is so funny, I Had to post it.

Big weekend.

We spent the weekend in Pikina for a Catholic home school camp. It was lots of fun. On Friday, I left here just before lunch time with the children. Steve had somethings to do at home so he didn't come till Saturday at lunch time.

It was a great weekend. We all had a ball. We went to Magnetic hill and Appila Springs. Saturday we spent time just hanging around together in the morning. In the afternoon, Steve and I took 7 children off to Peterborough for a drive and then to the park in Orroroo. Today we had mass, clean up and then drove home.


------------------------------------

10 years today.

Today is Amelia's 10th birthday. We bought her a basket ball ring and pink netball. Amelia is doing netball this year for the first time. She is playing for Magpies. She really loves going to practice so I am sure she will love playing the games too.

Happy Birthday Amelia. I hope you had a great day. We love you very much.

-----------------------------------

Happy Mothers Day.

To all the mothers out there that follow my blog. I hope you all have a blessed mothers day. I had a great day and got lots of great presents. I really love being a mother and feel very blessed to have all the children I have.

--------------------------------------

Oh and in other news, Steve also fixed my computer before he joined us at the camp. Now both our computers are running smoothly.

Therese.

Creation reveals the creator

Scripture teaches us that God exists and that God created everything in the cosmos.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth..."Let us make man in our image, after our likeness... (Gen. 1:1, 26)

According to scripture, the atheist is also in the image and likeness of God. Whatever he may say about the world, he is still a human being created specifically to mirror the God who created him. He is an image, a likeness of God.

Scripture also teaches us that all creation gives evidence for God's existence.

The heavens are telling the glory of God: and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm. 19:1)

Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. (Romans 1:20)

It makes basic intuitive sense to think that a building will evidence the existence of its builder, so it makes basic intuitive sense to think that if God created the heavens and the earth, then all creation would evidence God's existence.

That which is created speaks of its creator.

Take, for example, the book "God Is Not Great," written by the famous atheist Christopher Hitchens. We should be able to agree that Hitchens' book makes the case for the existence of Hitchens. The book speaks of the existence of its author in every way as well as revealing something of his nature, character and personality.

Imagine for a moment that someone denied that Hitchens wrote the book. Imagine this person claimed that the book called "God Is Not Great" was just the result of an explosion in a print factory or the book was simply the accidental result of random processes acting upon random collections of elements. Can you imagine anyone wasting any time pondering the possibility that Christopher Hitchins did not write the book, which just happens to bear his name on its cover and in its copyright statement and happens to have his picture on the dust cover?

As a book tells you much about its author, so it is with the stars and planets, oceans and forests, animals and plants, and especially human beings, speak about its creator. Each of them individually and all of them corporately speak to us of God's existence. And, through their beauty and order, they tell us a great deal about what kind of person he is.

For the wrath of God revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousoness, because that which may be known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal pwerer and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what hs been made, so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18)

Joseph in the cupboard

two broken computers.

I wasn't going to post anything tonight because Steve's computer was doing some very puzzling things and mine would not start up. Then all of a sudden, it started.

He decided to re install windows on his computer. Maybe he will do mine this weekend. (hint hint honey).

If I am not here or at facebook, you will know why though. I should be able to keep up with all my facebook and bloggy friends with my phone though.

First day back.

Today was our first day of term two. We got of to a bit of a rough start but I was happy that the children got everything done that I planned for the day.

We are revamping Tom and Amelia's spelling program. They did a progress test and I was a bit disappointed with their results. I have always wondered how to teach spelling and struggled with the program I have written for them both. It is one of the hardest areas of their curriculum for me. I am getting a new program from IEW called The phonetic zoo. From the reading I have done about it, this program has much more success in teaching children spelling and retaining the information. What I find with the spelling we do at the moment is both Tom and Amelia do well in the test I give at the end of the week, but they are not retaining the information long term. That is the main goal so I need to do a revamp. I am glad I have found a program that I can try for this.

We are going to be doing a unit of work this term on the Saints. The children have all chosen a saint that they will study.

Tom is studying St. Matthew. Amelia is studying St. Helen and Christopher will study St. Christopher.

We will also be learning about Divine Mercy Devotion and St. Faustina.

Our time table is still the same as I posted last year except for kindergarten pickups.

The denial of God's existence leads to the complete disintegration of morality, meaning, human value and the possibility of knowledge.

Continuing on with the book "The Godless Delusion," the authors Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley outline the approach they will take in the following chapters to solve the problem of the godless delusion.

While the Christian worldview can account for and make sense of the most basic and important aspects of his/her experience as a human being the atheist worldview simply cannot. Naturalists who say that nothing exists but matter cannot make sense of realities such as the existence of right and wrong the possibility of knowledge, or the belief in human dignity freedom and personality. The authors hope to lead the atheist to see that he/she must in fact presuppose God's existence in order to make heads or tails of his/her experience as a human being.

God's existence alone provides the very preconditions of intelligible human experience while the denial of God's existence leads to the complete disintegration of not only morality, meaning and human value and dignity, but the possibility of knowledge itself. The atheist world view leads to foolishness. It leads to conclusions the atheist is not going to be willing or able to live with. The atheist must presuppose God's existence even to argue against it.