Bad title, good book: How to Stay Christian in College

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I hate the title of this book.

I wouldn’t have picked it if I hadn’t already been familiar with the author, J. Budziszewski. Not only is he a good writer, he knows the college context well, as a professor of government and philosophy at University of Texas for the past 20+ years.

I hate the title because I hate the insinuation that college is a place that turns Christians into pagans, that those who are firm in their faith when they head off to college ought to be concerned about whether or not they can stay Christian. Ugh. What a low bar. Concern about how to continue to grow? Now that makes more sense. But I guess How to Grow as a Christian in College doesn’t have the same ring as How to Stay Christian in College.

The content, though, is the best I’ve seen as a gift book (well, if you can call it one; it’s thicker than most gift books) for those nearing high school graduation. Actually, I think it would be good for younger high schoolers too. It’s a primer to help students know what they believe, stand firm in what they believe, and prepare for challenges. Hitting on topics like worldviews and campus myths (many of which apply to most high schools as well) and coping strategies for change, Budziszewski doesn’t dive as deep into each topic as a mature Christian might like but he does handle each well, albeit superficially at times.

I think this could be a good one for parents to consider reading with their sons and daughters as they enter high school or at some point during those four years.

Disclaimer: NavPress provided a copy of this book for my review, but they didn't ask for anything other than my honest opinion.

Thoughtful nugget: Oddly comfortable, deeply wrong

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The society we in the West inhabit is a strange place. We are oddly comfortable with truths that, on reflection, are deeply dissonant and even disturbing. For example, we seem quite comfortable with the knowledge that up to twenty thousand children die every day from preventable diseases…We develop policies and practices that welcome people with disabilities into our communities, offering them rights and responsibilities, and at precisely the same time we develop forms of genetic technology designed to prevent them from entering society in the first place.

If Vanier is correct that in France within the next few years there will be no children born with Down syndrome because they will all have been aborted, then something is deeply wrong with our society. As my friend John, who has Down Syndrome, puts it, “That doesn’t make us feel very welcome, does it?” 
John Stinson in the introduction to Living Gently in a Violent World, p. 11-12

Since we keep getting snow... (part 2)A White Christmas

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I've always wanted a white Christmas. As a little girl, I wrote letters to Santa asking for snow on Christmas day. In Tampa.

Yeah, I wasn't so realistic back then.

And while it wasn't really white until the day after, I'm counting it. It was breathtaking.















































And, finally, because snow angels are so 2010, what do my kids make?


Snow snakes.

Of course.



(And, yep, I said I was going to post this a couple days ago. I had great intentions.

And then I spent most of that day tracking weather news. And then yesterday we all hung out here. 

I'm not apologizing for the delay, though. I {heart} family time.)

Since we keep getting snow... (part 1)

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...maybe I should post some of our snow pictures, huh? Here's the photo reel from our first snow, which was the first weekend in December. I, of course, took a bunch of pictures.

I mean, there are years in which we've gotten nothing worth photographing. You have to take a bunch whenever it snows because those could be your only snow pictures for the whole winter. Most years, that is.

This is obviously not one of those years.

Tomorrow morning I'll post pictures from our mid-December snow and our Christmas Day snow. (Er, day after Christmas snow. I don't think we had any in our neighborhood on Christmas Day. It rained a bit, but the snow didn't come down in earnest until after midnight. But I like the ring of claiming a white Christmas and it was white in some parts of our city, so I'm not exaggerating much by considering it a December 25th snow!)

And then Tuesday or Wednesday I might be posting more pics, if another winter system really makes it's way through here as they have forecast. (Plus there have been a couple of other days with flurries that I'm not documenting. What is up with this?!?)

(Not that I'm complaining. I'm a Florida girl at heart. And a stay-at-home momma who isn't required to attempt driving in the snow. So it warms my heart to see my lawn in white!)









If you have snow and a toy tiger, what should you do?


Make tiger tracks, of course!


And, of course, you know the old saying: It's all fun and games until someone decides to play in the semi-frozen birdbath with non-waterproof gloves. (We were too late to stop it. So we chose the second best option: documenting it!)




The fun did end when he realized how wet and cold he was.


Parts 2 (mid-December snow) and 3 (Christmas Day snow) coming tomorrow!