February Sunshine

and is that a blue bird I hear?? Okay, maybe not, but it is VERY spring-like outside. So much so that I gave my kiddos an extra long break after lunch to suck in fresh air (and blow the stink off!) They are there right now--and just came in for some water in a big bucket which can't be good. I can't bring myself to spoil the quiet tranquility that I am enjoying at this very moment.

I'm not one to complain about the weather (except when it's super hot with high humidity, okay, then I do get a little cranky.) I certainly can't complain about the wonderful weather we have had recently.

I've been working through an online Bible study through the book of Ephesians. It's a slow, thoughtful walk meditating on Paul's inspired words to the church at Ephesus. Last week, due to sickness, I got a little behind. However I caught up last night--even though to be honest I just copied down the Scriptures and read them over and over. The normal "method" is SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer. It's been difficult for me to find applications in each day's reading. That has brought me to the place of praying that God would guide me to the application--the thing HE wants me to walk away with, how HE wants me to change.

Throughout the study, I've been reminded again of God's great LOVE for us. And that is my "one word" for this year. Here is where I first read about "one word" Ali Edwards: One Little Word. So, I've been choosing one word for several years now. I really want to make my one little word more prominent in my thinking and my life. I'm going to look into what Ali has on her blog. However, I digress...

My one word for this year: LOVE, has come out of a prayer that I would realize in my heart of hearts how much God loves me and how His love for me will guide my relationships with others. Don't get me wrong, I know God loves me and I know I'm His child. I still struggle with the reality of this truth and I'm not sure how to even explain that. As I prayed about what God would want my one little word to be this year, "love" kept coming to my mind.

It's exciting to me that in the Ephesians study I'm being reminded of His love for me!
Well, the kiddos are back inside and school must commence.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

So far, I've only been able to keep up with posting the preschooler's school plans. Really, I'm doing schoolwork with the other 3 (1st grade, 4th grade and 10th grade), I just can't figure out time to write about it all. Anyway, our next book is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

Here are some of the ideas I've collected for the next two weeks:
Confessions of a Homeschooler has these printables 
1+1+1=1 shared this cute lapbook
Making Learning Fun posted ideas and some printables to use with the book
I Heart Crafty Things has two great ideas--magnetic letters on a baking sheet and a snack
The Crafting Chicks posted this cute idea for making a mini coconut tree out of an empty toilet paper roll.
Click here for a freebie download for a fun game from Peace, Love and Learning.
I made our own coconut tree out of tag board and lowercase alphabet stickers. I crafted the coconuts out of brown paper bag circle cut-outs stuffed with a bit of cotton. 
Lastly, we are going to make a coconut dessert on the last day...I think I'm going to use this recipe from AllRecipes.com

I'm excited about using this book with Alea...she so fun to teach and she loves school!

Blueberries for Sal

We had a great study of We're Going on a Bear Hunt! The little girl I watch LOVED the video of the author reading the book. By the end of the 5 days (which is two weeks for us--two days one week and three days the next) she had the book memorized. very cute!

For the next two weeks, we are going to "row" Blueberries for Sal. Here are some resources I found for this book.

• Literature Based Themes: Robert McCloskey This site has some great links to good ideas. We are SO making blueberry paint! :) 
• my favorite...Homeschool Creations printables 
• Blueberry Crumble {!!}

The only big downside is that this isn't really the right time of year to go blueberry picking. :( So I'll get some at the store and we'll make blueberry pancakes and muffins, etc. Won't be exactly the same, but we'll still have fun.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

With as long as it's been since I've posted, you may think I've already been on a bear hunt! Really, I have so much I want to post, I just can't seem to find time to do it. I am working on sticking to my schedule and hopefully, once I get into a routine, I will have time for some other things that I really enjoy doing.

I am homeschooling 10th grade, 4th grade, 1st grade and Pre-K this year. The youngest one is a girl that I've watched since she was a tiny baby. She LOVES doing school and I'm really excited to do Before Five in a Row with her.

This week we've started We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Here are some resources and printables I've found to go along with the story.
A video of the author telling the story:



Homeschool Share--lapbook for this story
Homeschool Creations printables for this story
Printables from Sparkle Box
For some fun snacks we are going to have Teddy Grahams, Gummi Bears and chocolate pudding (for the mud, of course!) I'll have to spread out the snacks during this week...don't want her to have too much sugar all at one time.

Hopefully soon I will be able to post about what I'm doing with the other kids. We started school on August 22, so we are still working hard to be diligent and consistent.

Off I go, to do more printing and preparing!
Thanks for sticking with me!

Warrior Prayers: Week 1

My son has been giving me a run for my energy, strength and yes, even sanity lately. So when I saw a 21-Day Challenge of praying for our sons...my eyes perked up and something stirred deep in my weary heart...maybe...just maybe, a glimmer of hope.

Hope for the encouragement to keep trying.
Hope for the strength to be consistent.
Hope that God loves my little treasure even more than me.
Hope that it is God who changes his heart.
Hope that I can be faithful to what God has called me to do by the power of His Word.

So, that's where I am. Praying through this fantastic little e-book, that I printed out and have a feeling it will be well worn over the years to come.

The place of seeing God....

I have been reading a wonderful, thought-provoking book called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Her writing draws me in, holds me, twirls and swirls me around and begs me to read more or begs me to re-read what I just read. She is deep. So, in all my reading (and even taking the book to India with me--picture to the right, book is on the end of my bed), I'm yet on chapter 6. Not to worry as I see this as God helping me ponder and ruminate on thoughts and concepts that I am still working on grasping. This afternoon as I finished chapter 6. She talked about seeing a huge marvelous moon on evening. Eloquently, she details her thoughts about God, our Creator and our Righteousness. As she turns to leave the field and lovely moon, she ponders this thought:

The world I live in is loud and blurring and toilets plug and I get speeding tickets and the dog gets sick all over the back step and I forget everything and these six kids lean hard into me all day to teach and raise and lead and I fail hard and there are real souls that are at stake and how long do I really have to figure out how to live full of grace, full of joy--before these six beautiful children fly the coop and my mothering days fold up quiet? how do you open the eyes to see how to take the daily, domestic, workday vortex and invert it into the dome of an everyday cathedral? Could I go back to my life and pray with eyes wide open? 

 Oh, my goodness, this strikes me to the core. I am so there with the loudness and blurriness, the forgetting things, the failing and so on. I must cling to God, see His divine holiness in His created beings (us) and in His creation. I must give thanks to Him for it all, for in giving thanks, is "to move into His presence and listen to His love unending and know the grace uncontainable."

Found a Peanut, Found a Peanut

Okay, not really...it's not a peanut; it's a new blog I like. But now you are all singing the little ditty, aren't you??

Cultivated Lives at my initial glances around seems like a really neat blog. She is a homeschooler who is married and now homeschooling (I think she'd have some neat perspectives on things.) She is hosting a give-away--a coloring book with illustrated Scriptures and some fantastic colored pencils.

And Ann Voskamp has a wonderfully rich blog called A Holy Experience. You must go read her post for today. challenging and convicting...

Off to AWANA....

January's Blowing By

I enjoy blogging, trying to find time to blog...I do not enjoy. Some exciting things are taking place around here and I wanted to tell you about them.

Today, I have time at home with no "outside the home" commitments. You may not think that is very exciting, but really, it is! I've been extremely busy in-and-outside our home and that's has made it difficult to get my lesson plans ready for my kids. I've been wingin' it in school since the beginning of January---I do NOT like doing that. So, today, I'm getting myself ready for at least this coming week--and maybe even the rest of the month!

• After looking at this curriculum on Confessions of a Homeschooler, since August, I finally bought it over Christmas! Yippee!! Even though much of it is too easy for Trenton (5.5 years old), it works great with the two preschoolers that I watch. 
• Bethany (my 8.5 year old) "lost" her math book, yep, how convenient, right?? Actually she is very organized and keeps good track of her things. We have no idea where the math book has gone...So a friend told me that on the Math-U-See website, you can generate worksheets for certain lessons (it looks like the even numbered lessons.) You can also generate an answer key. I've already gone and printed off a week's worth of lesson problems.
• I taught a lapbook workshop for a homeschool group on Sunday. The workshop went fine--the greatest treat was meeting a blogger that I follow--Shannon from Song of My Heart! She is sweet, sweet, sweet! It was so fun to meet her and I'm praying that a friendship will grow {as God allows}.
• This week was our monthly local homeschool meeting and our speaker talked about learning styles and modalities. It was fascinating! I'm working through my notes from that evening and thinking about how to apply some of what I learned. Trenton needs to be active while learning. When I saw these Education Cubes, I wished desperately that I'd thought of this idea!! I placed my order for the cubes (on Amazon) and purchased a membership to the Education Cubes site which will give me access to all the printables she makes for the cubes. 
• I've committed to reading the Bible in 90 Days. yeah, I know. But I'm determined to do it! I'm a couple days behind, however that is not deterring me. My big goal is to get caught up this weekend. Feel free to ask me how it's going any time between now and March.

Okay, well I'm off and running, printing, planning, laminating and so on and so on. 

Celebrating Advent

I've been wanting to share what we are doing for the Advent Season. I really like Advent because it takes you through the Bible and shows you how God wove His Story! Amazing!
We are using Adorenaments from Family Life Today. We love this set and I'm sad that it is out of print. Each ornament highlights a name of Jesus and the CD has a song particularly about that attribute.

We are also doing Ann Voskamp's A Jesus Advent Celebration. At the end of November, I printed all the ornaments, backed them with card stock paper and threaded a ribbon through the top. Each day, at lunchtime, I read to the kids and they take turns putting the ornament on the tree. It has been very good. (And it was free when I signed up!)

The last thing we are doing is reading the book called, Looking Forward to the Nativity: a family Christmas devotional by Jon Farrar. It's a great little way to end the day and much of it overlaps nicely with Voskamp's ebook.

With the lights on the tree and our focus on Him daily, we are joyfully anticipating His birthday!

Lots of blog ideas...

I have so many blogging ideas running through my head and so little time to actually write them down! I suppose I'll have to be content with a catch-up list for now...

• thanks to the generosity of a friend, we were able purchase an upgraded computer. Our friend built it and sold it to us for a VERY reasonable price. It runs faster and better...except
• the first week we had it, a new virus attacked it. ;( Thankfully, after our friend returned from vacation, he fixed it!
  
• While preparing for my first ever overseas short term ministry trip, I have been busy getting shots, folding and stuffing prayer letters, and making lists of the necessary items. Added to that, I'm gathering the items for my part of the trip and praying for those I will be working with and for myself.
  
• Both of my sweet girls need some extent of vision therapy to correct problems with their eyes. This will entail 1 hr. 15 min. drives to a nearby city every two weeks for progress checks. We are thankful for God's direction in helping improve their ability to see and do their school work with more accuracy, and less frustration and fatigue.
  
• Our annual Kids Craft Sale with our homeschool group is fast approaching (second Thursday in December.) My main little crafter, Bethany, and I need to get a move on! In a future post, I'll reveal what we are doing this year. :)
  
• My goal (and hopefully not too lofty) is to write several posts, with pictures included, of the batches of preschool/kindergarten fun we have been having here! Our camera was not downloading to the computer for a LONG time. We've managed to fix that and now I have lots of pictures to post. :)
• In our Jr/Sr High girls Literature Club we recently read The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. Amazing story and I'm thankful that a friend let me borrow several other Corrie books...Amazing Love, Each New Day, My Father's House and Prison Letters.
  
• The above family picture was lovingly taken by our friend, Erin at Lasting Snapshots. She is talented, funny and efficient!
  

I have been challenged and encouraged by reading Corrie ten Boom's books. So many quotes and nuggets to take away from her life. I'll end this post with such a quote:

"If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest."

Two Tidbits

Happy Monday Morning! Before my day gets too far underway I wanted to share two things: a book I'm reading and a handwriting website.
First the book: Humility: True Greatness by CJ Mahaney
I've read the book once straight through, now I'm going to read it again and take notes. I find I learn better and retain it better that way. So many good truths and practical suggestions in this relatively short book!
Here is a review of the book by a blogger that I do not know, but I thought the review was good.

Second the website: Meacham Handwriting I have been teaching my 5 yo (plus the 3 and 4 year olds that I babysit) how to write the letters of the alphabet. We've also been working on the sounds the letters make and overall have been having FUN doing it. I saw an idea for "gel tracing" on my FAVORITE homeschool blog E.V.E.R. and googled "gel tracing" to see if I could make my own gel packs. The Meacham Handwriting site came up and I liked the ideas right away. So, I'm off to try to make my own gel pack using hair gel, food coloring and a zip-lock baggie.

The Hero and The Crown

The girls Literature Club read The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley this month. It was an interesting book--at some points hard to read, other times I didn't want to put it down. You can easily find summaries of the book at sites such as this one:

What I had a difficult time finding though were discussion questions, so I thought I'd post a few of them that I came up with and maybe it will help someone else.

The girls are middle school aged and all home educated. We meet once a month and at the beginning of the year, I give them a list with all the books we are going to read as well as the role they will fulfill for each book. Some of the roles include: biographer, geographer, connector, literary chef, literary luminator, vocabulary enricher, props and character representation, and illustrator.

We always start out talking about our overall feelings about the book. Then we move into a summary with each girl adding to the discussion. I try to have several questions that require deeper thinking or evaluation in addition to the ones that are more straightforward.

Discuss the main characters and their personalities.
Define a hero.
What is the Newberry Award?
What does it mean to "tack up" a horse?
In chapter 6 as Aerin is trying to figure out how to handle the horse bridle, reins and her sword, she talks about holding the reins in her mouth. However if she holds them in her mouth, she won't be able to belt out her war cries such as "Victory!" and "For Damar!" Where else do we hear such war cries? (My thought was in the Narnia books)
There were several rumors about Aerin, what were they? How did these rumors hurt Aerin? In groups of two, search the Scriptures using the concordance for verses on gossip, slander and overall what our speech should be like. (I loved this...the girls did a great job and I pray that they will hide God's Words in their hearts. I shared with them that down through the ages women have struggled with their tongues--men too, I'm sure. But women are notorious for being gossipers. So these verses are going to be good reminders on how we should use our tongues for good and not evil."
What was special about Gonturan?
Aerin expresses her dream to Teka, saying "Someday I shall be famous in legend and story." Teka's quiet reply was "I have never doubted it, my dear." What do you dream of (what are your goals) and who are your encouragers?

Lastly we were sure to discuss that the book suggests that Aerin spends the night with Luthe, no other details are given, however I felt the need to say aloud what God's plan is for them as single young women.

As I read the book, I was thankful God brought these and other questions like them to my mind (and I promptly wrote them down). They made for good discussion and prayerfully things were discussed that the girls will recall in years to come.

Love Language-Quality Time

I've been reading Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages of Teenagers. Tonight I'm convicted about the chapter on Quality Time. I so want to do better in this area with my kids. I've typed the long quote below directly from the chapter.

Here are eight guidelines for better listening and true dialogue.

1. Maintain eye contact when your teenager is talking. This keeps your mind from wandering and communicates that the teen has your full attention.
   
2. Don't listen to your teenager and do something else at the same time. Undivided attention.
   
3. Listen for feelings. Ask yourself, "What emotions are my teenager experiencing?"
   
4. Observe body language. Ask for clarification to make sure you know what she is really thinking and feeling.
5. Refuse to interrupt. Interruptions often stop the conversation before it gets started.
6. Ask reflective questions. "What I hear you saying is.... Is that correct?" "Are you saying...?"
7. Express understanding. The teen needs to know that she has been heard and understood.
   
8. Ask permission to share your perspective. "Would you like to hear my perspective on the idea?"
   

Some parents find the idea of asking permission to share their perspective offensive. "Why should I have to ask my teen permission to speak?" The question is not whether the parents have the right to speak to the teenager, they do. The question is "Do you want your teenager to listen to what you are saying?" Asking permission recognizes that she is an individual and has the choice of hearing what is in your heart and mind or not hearing it.

Lots for me to think on....overall I don't think I'm doing terrible in these areas. However I know there is room for improvement! The computer is a biggie for me. I'll be working on something and my girl will come in and start to talk to me. I need to take time to listen to her--either by saying, "I want to hear what you are saying, give me 10 minutes to finish this up and I'm all yours." Or by turning right then and listening to her. We have good communication and I'm so thankful for that. I want to continue to foster that and let her know that I treasure our relationship.

Learning how to be a better parent to my kids is what Works for Me this Wednesday. Head over to "We are that Family" for lots more Works for Me Wednesday posts.

The Next Study Endeavor

This morning I finished reading The Grand Weaver by Ravi Zacharias. It was a thought provoking book and I enjoyed reading and studying through it.

Next I'm going to read "Romancing Your Child's Heart" by Monte Swan. I bought this book years ago, read a couple pages and put it down. I don't even remember why. Then a couple weeks ago, I came across an e-workbook for the book. So, I'm intrigued. I'm going to read the book and go through the workbook. I pray that it's a good study.

I'm trying to remember where I purchased the e-workbook. I got it along with several other things and I'm sure I can track down the information. When I do, I'll add it to this post.

Do share what you are studying, won't you?

Reading...instead of cleaning

This week I've been catching up on blog reading and wanted to share some goodies with you. I've also been reading some books from our church library that have been very insightful and convicting. All this reading has made it hard for me to get my cleaning done (imagine that!?) Balance...I need balance!

Had to throw in this cute picture of T. He feel asleep after sitting in his room for getting in trouble.
This is what I'd do too if someone sent me to my room! :)

Anyway, here's some of what I've been reading...maybe you'll enjoy it too (just don't forget to keep up on the housework!)

• Just today a friend linked to this site I Am Second on Facebook. Amazing testimonies about God transforming hearts and lives.
• Lelia from Write from the Heart has some good stuff to say about how we dress (and how we allow our kids to dress). I just found her blog and can see God working in the everyday circumstances of her life.
• Are you looking for a beautiful unique gift for a newborn? Look no further, Naomi makes the perfect gift....baby silkies. Visit her site for pictures and products. (She's my real life friend which makes me grin!)
  
• Living with Lindsay has a great post about learning to embroider. Lots of links and ideas. I'm gearing up for starting Christmas gifts. :)

A picture of T picking red raspberries at a friend's berry farm.
Along with his sisters, he was a diligent worker. I made freezer jam with our bounty!

From our church library, I am reading Made for His Pleasure: Ten Benchmarks of a Vital Faith by Alistair Begg. Here are some of the chapter titles: Spiritual Fitness in a Flabby Generation, Prayer That is Larger Than Ourselves, Sacrifice: Wholehearted Commitment to God's Kingdom and Relationships: A Marriage that Pleases God. In the Introduction the question is asked, "Who am I trying to please?" May I say with Paul and the writer of this book: "I make it my goal to please Him" (2 Cor. 5:9)

Hebrews 13:21 "May He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

What have you been reading lately?

Busy Summer Days

I've been absent from blogging--mostly having busy summer days, but also little bit of 'writer's block'. I have things I want to say but can't quite get the words formed and typed.

Here's a brief run-down of our summer since I last posted:

Marissa had a friend here for a week from Michigan--it was a great week of reconnecting between long time friends. I loved to hear their giggling and chatting. I made this welcome basket for Sarah. I'd talked about this basket here in this post...and I love the outcome.


My cousin and his wife visited for a few days. Before they came, we prayed that we would be good hosts and that we would have good conversation. God answered our prayers and our visit was delightful.

We celebrated two birthdays~mine and Trenton's. Good family times.

I've been reading some books from our church library:
The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancy
Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments by Kara Durbin

And one I purchased:
That's My Son: How Moms can Influence Boys to Become Men of Character by Rick Johnson

All three good books that I hope to comment on in upcoming posts.

I'm also trying to prepare for this upcoming school year for the girls and trying to come up with creative ideas for the 4 year old boy. :)

I mentioned my friend Kristin in a previous post, please pray for her and her family as they go through the loss of sweet Joanna Claire.

Lastly, I've had something for the last 3 days that I think might have been food poisoning. I'm not for sure, but I've been in pain and haven't felt well. I hope I'm getting over it and just slowly recovering.

Mark Hamby: The Media, The Mind and the Moral Imagination

I had the great privilege of attending the Midwest Homeschool Convention last weekend. It was wonderful to be with friends and go to so many encouraging workshops and lectures. My first session was Mark Hamby of Lamplighter Books. The title of this session was The Media, The Mind and the Moral Imagination. You can find his power point here. I thought I would type out some of my notes in order to 1) share them with you and 2) catch what I missed because I was busy taking notes. :)

If character is not engaged our children won't go far in their spiritual pilgrimage.
Luke 1:17 "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord".
You are what you read.
A mind oversaturated by media has decreased capacity for creative imagination, concentration and delayed gratification. The formation of mental pictures and imaginative play does not come easy as parents find these children apathetic and unmotivated to join in group and outside play.
Too much media misconstrues reality and the supernatural is blocked. Knowledge helps free us from things that bog us down.
There is a link between violence and viewing any television.
Violence begets violence.
We need to help our children find their God-given talents and help them practice their skills.
We are created in the image of God. We need to be upset and offended at what offends God. Ironically, while audiences long for reality in their media, their own lives are becoming less real. Instead of actively participating in life--sports, art, outdoor play, etc. children in our culture watch other people do things with increasing hope that what they watch will be 'real'.
Quote:

"If we educate a man's mind but not his heart, we have educated a barbarian." Theodore Roosevelt.

"What fires together, wires together."
Reading teaches us to think in a logically connected way.
Media can't take the place of the written word.

book recommendations:
Culture-Wise Family by Dr. Ted Baehr
The Vanishing Word by Arthur Hunt
Amusing ourselves to Death by Neil Postman

The Diary of Anne Frank

Our next book club book is The Diary of Anne Frank. I'm in the midst of reading it (again, I read it in high school) and Marissa is listening to the unabridged version on CD. Due to some visual processing problems Marissa has been experiencing, she has difficulty reading. It's been strange because she has always loved to read and knew how to read before I taught her. Anyway, we've altered our plans to include books on CD and mom reading more aloud.

Here are some of the free online resources I've found for discussing Anne Frank.

Good ole Cliff Notes.
Class Zone Novel Guides--includes Theme openers, cross curricular activities, and research assignments. One of the cross curricular ideas is to make the number six million meaningful to the class. Relate the genocide of six million people to something like people in the city of_____, times a football stadium would have to be filled up, etc. This is a good idea--even for me to 'see' the hugeness of it.
A lesson plan from Education World--good resource
Free Literature Resources from Webteaching (sign up free with your email address)

Okay, now I've got to go through these resources and narrow down what I want to do with the group. We only have 2 hours and it goes by fast. A good friend of mine is leading the "Miniature Literature Club" and they are reading Mrs. Katz and Tush. I've got to get this one from the library and start reading it with Bethany. Lit club is next Wednesday!

Reason for God by Tim Keller

Our pastor preached on forgiveness last night. He referenced a book he'd recently read called The Reason for God by Tim Keller. I first heard of Tim Keller from my friend Melanie. He opened up the story of the Prodigal Son in a way that I'd never heard of before.

So, I'm really looking forward to reading this book.

Pastor reminded us that "when Jesus went to the cross, he went feeling and experiencing the pain and suffering our sin causes. He went to the cross in the most incredible act of embracing the pain and hurt..and forgiveness. We have a Savior Who sees every offense and says 'I forgive'."

From Luke 11: "And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us."

That is big. I pray that I am a continually forgiving person, for I have been forgiven much.

Quiet Strength

I've been reading a great book called Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy. I picked this book up at the library randomly because the spine caught my eye. I suppose really it was the title--Quiet Strength. Now, I'm not a football fanatic...although I do like to watch it and I follow a favorite team or two. He gives a lot of detail about players, games and seasons of football that I didn't exactly follow. On the other hand, he shares so much about his firm, deep faith in God and how his faith affects everything he does. He is sure to point out that he "doesn't have the strength or wisdom to get through a single day without guidance and grace from God." During the good times, he praises God and during the bad times, he does no less. He also points out several times that football head coach is what he does, not who he is. Listen to this:

The competing views of success in our world often create an interesting tension. Society tends to define success in terms of accomplishments and awards, material possessions, and profit margins. In the football business, winning is the only thing that matters.

God's Word, however, presents a different definition of success--one centered on a relationship with Jesus Christ and a love for God that allows us to love and serve others. God gives each one of us unique gifts, abilities and passions. How well we use those qualities to have an impact on the world around us determines how "successful" we really are.

If we get caught up in chasing what the world defines as success, we can use our time and talent to do some great things. We might even become famous. But in the end, what will it mean?

What will people remember us for? Are other people's lives better because we lived? Did we make a difference? Did we use to the fullest the gifts and abilities God gave us? Did we give our best effort, and did we do it for the right reasons?

God's definition of success is really one of significance--the significant difference our lives can make in the lives of others. This significance doesn't show up in the win-loss records, long resumes, or the trophies gathering dust on our mantels. It's found in the hearts and lives of those we've come across who are in some way better because of the way we lived. (Taken from pages 145-146)

I'm so thankful to have read this book. I'm thankful for professional sports players who are sold out to living a life pleasing to God. Dungy's integrity, humility, faith and winning attitudes are a lesson to us all.