A Day At Canton

Editor's note: Post almost fixed! You can see all of the pictures but one.

On Thursday morning early, Mom, Ashley, Lexi and my sister-in-law, Sarah, drove to Canton for a day of bargain shopping at the huge "First Monday" flea market. Below are some pictures from our fun day.

Here Sarah takes a close look at some antiques. She scored a beautiful rose painting on canvas, unframed, for the baby's room from this vendor.

Ashley and Mom absorbing ideas in a beautiful booth. Mom scored a beautiful vase that now sits on our piano. Notice the Christmas trees? Canton vendors are getting ready for the holiday.

An outside vendor with lots of fun junk. Shutters in need of paint, old kitchen items, toys, furniture... One of the joys of shopping at Canton was sorting through pure junk and finding all kinds of treasures.

Ashley and Sarah were examining a window shutter, I think. Notice Sarah's fabulous hat? It's from Costa Rica and is made (obviously!) for shielding face and scalp from a hot sun She is obviously the smartest, savviest, out-of-doors shopper in the family. She came with her backpack, sunscreen, hat, trail mix and large bottle of water. Smart, smart . We walked around toasted, hungry, thirsty, with our arms aching from carrying bags and wished we had had half of her foresight. And we have lived in Texas much longer! :)

Ahh, lunch time! Here Ashley and Sarah are in line ordering homemade sandwiches and salads. We all shared a peanut butter pie and a snickerdoodle (I think - or something similar) pie as well.

My "baby" sister. Isn't she beautiful? :)

Mom texting. (More money? Please?!) You can see where Lexi comes by her loveliness.

See?

Ah, yes, I'm sitting and tired at the end of the day. But it was so much fun! We filled our SUV's trunk with newfound treasures big and small. I think everyone got something at Canton, but the prize for the best bargain find probably goes to Lexi for finding a 1930's Royal typewriter in near-perfect condition for $60. I believe they usually fetch a hefty sum on eBay.

We are already saving our money for next month's trip. Mom even bought paper cups and lids so that we can share coffee drinks while we are out and put our saved dollars into the Canton fund. :)

Sometimes...

...You acquire bargains at garage sales. Sometimes, you just acquire more junk. But then, sometimes, you can acquire a cute kitten:

Muslim Outreach

"The most dangerous thing a Muslim can do is leave Islam—no matter what the reason" (Mark Gabriel, Islam and Terrorism, p. 59).

"Islam says that human rights are unnecessary because they are also a man-made idea that is not found in the Quran" (Mark Gabriel, Islam and Terrorism, p. 55).

HT: Doug Wilson

I was blessed to be able to hear a talk on Muslim outreach given by Brother Andrew the other night. What an amazing, God-exalting, humble missionary. He addressed the desperate need for mission work in Islamic countries, and challenged us to show compassion and love to this largely unreached people group. He said that "there are no places where you cannot go, as long as you don't expect to come back." Brother Andrew is just as active in delivering Bibles and sharing the Gospel today as he was when he first began his work 50 years ago in communist countries. Thank God for this man's dedication to the spreading of the Gospel, despite all of the dangers and difficulties he has experienced in his life's work. He is an extraordinary example of true faith and a dedicated missionary; a humble man exhibiting a love for the lost, coupled with compassion for the people he works with and an exuberant zeal to share the Gospel wherever he is.

To learn more of Brother Andrew's work and ministry, visit his website. You can also read his book, God's Smuggler and his newest, Secret Believers.

Good-bye Tarnish (and harsh chemicals, too!)

I love this easy, chemical-free way to remove tarnish!

I'm currently listening to this.

And the dog snoring.


The former is great. The latter is annoying.

If I Could Afford It

this would be the way I would choose to travel to the UK.

Unbelievable.

I'm already calculating how much I can put away between now and next September... ;-)

Should We Negotiate with Terrorists?

Although we can rejoice that the South Korean missionaries who were being held hostage were finally released last week and returned home yesterday, there is some sobering discussion on whether the S. Korean government did the right thing in negotiating with the Taliban for their release. Has the government set a dangerous precedent for future relations with the Taliban regarding hostages and meeting unreasonable demands from an unreasonable terrorist group? CBC reports that (Canadian) Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier expressed regret late Wednesday over South Korea's handling of the crisis.

"We do not negotiate with terrorists, for any reason," said a statement from Bernier's office. "Such negotiations, even if unsuccessful, only lead to further acts of terrorism."

It is something to consider, especially when you have the Taliban releasing statements like this on the hostages' release:

"We will do the same thing with the other allies in Afghanistan, because we found this way to be successful" - Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi.

I remember back when missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham were kidnapped and held hostage for over a year in the Philippines by the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf. The US government stayed out of negotiations, as did the mission agency that the Burnhams were a part of, in order to discourage kidnapping of missionaries and foreign travelers. The Burnham's ordeal ended with Martin's death and Gracia's rescue by the Philippine army. Of course, everyone wondered at the time, did the US government and the mission agency do the right thing by not negotiating their release? Shouldn't they have made every effort to rescue the Burnhams from their captors? Or, should we take the view that even though one life was lost, many more saved as a result?

Should the South Korean government have stayed out of the hostage affair? Should we ever make concessions to terrorists in order to save lives, or will many more lives now be lost as a result?