To amuse or muse? That is the question!

You already know from my previous post that it is Fair Time around here.  :)  We love the State Fair and love the memories we have made there in years gone by.  This past weekend was no exception... what a great time with the family!

I will admit, though, that I am not here to necessarily talk about all of the fun.  I want to get you thinking.

I have been mulling over this topic for weeks and the Lord has continued to give me thoughts and ideas during this time.  It all started when my Sunday School teacher shared that "amuse" is the opposite of "muse." 

I never thought of that before and I guess it is because we do not use the word "muse" most of the time in our everyday language nowadays.  I mean, really, who walks around saying, "I just took time to muse over the latest headline."  In our culture today the word "AMUSE" is so much more prevalent.  Let's look at their definitions.  (Yes, this is the school teacher coming out in me.....)

MUSE

[myooz]

verb (used without object), mused, musing.

1.  to think or meditate in silence, as on some subject.

2.  Archaic. to gaze meditatively or wonderingly.

verb (used with object), mused, musing.

3.  to meditate on.

4.  to comment thoughtfully or ruminate upon.

 

 

AMUSE

[uh-myooz]

verb (used with object), amused, amusing.

1.  to hold the attention of (someone) pleasantly; entertain or divert in an enjoyable or cheerful manner:

2.  to cause mirth, laughter, or the like, in:

3.  to cause (time, leisure, etc.) to pass agreeably.

4. Archaic. to keep in expectation by flattery, pretenses, etc.

5. Obsolete.

1. to engross; absorb.
2. to puzzle; distract.

What do we find ourselves doing most of the time?  Think about it.

 

Do we take the time to be still and MUSE in silence, or do we AMUSE ourselves constantly with music, TV, busyness, going, going, and going?

 

 

 

I know for our life, and it is mild compared to most people, we are too busy most of the time.  Some of it is out of necessity because it is just "life" in this present world.  But is it really "life?"  

 

We are so busy going nowhere that we take very little time to stop, think, and meditate.  

 

I see it in myself.

 

I see it in my own children.

I see it in my students.

 

I see it in other adults.

 

When we do have a few minutes of quiet, we reach for the electronic gadget that will pass the minutes.  We reach for something that will take our mind off of the ability to muse.

 

Why do we do that?

 

It seems we have become so ingrained that we need Amusing that we do not know how to muse any longer. 

 

I cannot compete with fast electronics.  I cannot compete with games.  However, I must do it every day to capture the attention of my students and sometimes my own children.  There are even days I have to do it to capture the attention of adults.  

I want to teach my own children how to muse.  I want to teach them to think deeply and take the time to dig into learning something without needing it to be flashy, humorous or entertaining.  I want my students to walk away from my classroom having an appreciation for thinking on something just for the value of what was gained by musing!

 

I am learning to do the same.

 

This past summer I took the time to MUSE.  

 

I DID NOT.....

 

deep clean my house.

 

obsess over the neatness.

 

make it a habit to go, go, go.

 

 

I DID, however...

 

spend time in God's Word

 

sit quietly at my kitchen table

 

took time to think

 

 

When school began again, I will admit that I was a bit sad.  As much as I LOVE teaching, I also enjoyed the precious time of musing.  I enjoyed the time of less busyness and more quality time of thinking.  I was not ready to be in the "rat race" again. 

 

We all need that time of quietness and thinking.

 

How about you?  Do you really take time to muse?  

 

Nothing is wrong with being amused at times, but God's Word is clear that in order to know the Lord you must be still and quiet.  You must take the time to get to know Him.

 

The Lord gave me this verse the other day.  The end of it stopped me in my tracks.  

 

 

Isaiah 30:15 ~  For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: 

and ye would not.

 

We live in a society today that wants little or nothing of the Lord.  It is all about the "ME" factor.  They want to be entertained... amused.  Even our churches are becoming an entertainment field instead of a time of pure worship and musing.  We must take the time to stop, rest, and become quiet before the Lord so that confidence from Him will be our strength.

 

In order to do that, AMUSEMENT must go away so that MUSING can stay.

 

Think on that.      

FAIR TIME!

It's that time of year again!

Fair Time for the Fowler's! 

We had our annual bake-off this weekend and we made lots of memories!  We are now officially exhausted, too.  :)

Here is what we did:

Kellie:  

Photography

Baking:

Blue Cheese Straws

Banana Nut Bread

Cupcakes (Hershey Chocolate with Caramel Icing)

Oatmeal Raisin drop cookies

Wesley:

Old fashioned chocolate fudge (yes, we are nuts for choosing that one)

Honey Muffins (Honey food category)

Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Honey (Honey food category)

Mikayla:

Bittersweet Chocolate Brownies

Blueberry Muffins

Pecan Spice Layer Cake with Caramel Frosting

 

I have "blown up" this blog with pictures.  Enjoy our antics!

Working on my blue cheese straws.

 Me and my sweet Mikayla

Of course I dragged my brother Kevin down here... I needed help!

Mikayla getting ready to make her Pecan Spice Cake.

She put the flour on our noses. lol

Yes, I photographed the sifter.  This IS ME you are talking about.....

Kevin guiding Mikayla in the process of sifting dry ingredients together.  Kind of hard for a left-hander to hold a right-handed sifter sometimes.

Mikayla got to grate the nutmeg for her cake.

Oh, goodness... the cake batter was SO YUMMY.

Now I am mashing bananas for my banana bread.  Such the pro.

Along comes Wes.... there are not many "normal" looking pictures of him on here this time.  Of course, THIS IS NORMAL for him.  Have NO idea where he gets this from....

Working on his Whole Wheat Banana bread with honey

My banana bread and oatmeal raisin cookies cooling....  YUMMO.

Is that candy thermometer right!???

Day 2 of working with the blue cheese straws.  I had the privilege of using my rolling pin and rolling out the dough!  Kevin's sternum was thankful we didn't use a cookie press this year!

The recipe called for poppy seeds on the blue cheese straws.... I had cut them in little strips before I baked them.

This is my son.  Working on his fudge.  Goofball.

Mikayla was melting her chocolate for her Bittersweet Brownies.

Waiting on the fudge.... with a toothpick in his mouth.....

Mimi was such a blessing.... helped keep all of us straight!  haha!  

Making my caramel frosting.  I ate too much.  Yes, I admit.  I almost got sick I ate so much of the stinking good stuff.

But look at these pretty Hershey Chocolate cupcakes with the Caramel Icing!!!!

We taste-tested A LOT....

Trying to avoid licking our fingers..... heehee

Wesley is getting ready to make his honey muffins....and his sister is being the goof again now.

But he gets back into it quickly...

He made an executive decision to add more honey to his recipe.  Proud of him for thinking through and choosing to do that.  :)

My blue cheese straws. YUM.

Mikayla with her brownies as they were cooling.

The honey muffins looked scrumptious!  Wesley tested them.... with a toothpick to make sure they were done... and then by eating one.  haha!

Mikayla did a great job frosting her Pecan Spice Cake.

Wesley making his fudge... AGAIN.  The first batch we overcooked.  :(  Perseverance was our keyword for him!

Mikayla making her blueberry muffins.

Now she is modeling her cut brownies and half of her Pecan Spice Cake.

And here are all of the entries on the table ready to go.

I ingested too many calories this weekend so I will eat carrots and celery the rest of the week.  haha.  Truly... I love these times with my family.  I love how we learned much just by being together.  It doesn't matter if we win or not... and if we do that is like "icing on the cake!"  I know I have already won because I am so thankful for the family God has given me. 

Taste-testing will be at school with me...... heehee.....