Candee Fick's Blog, page 36

Creation Declares – Wonderfully Made

How special am I?

On the one hand, I am tiny speck in the universe. As shown in the following video, our sun and solar system are relatively insignificant compared to the billions of other stars. Then, the ball of dirt that makes up our planet with its swirling atmosphere, vast oceans, and towering peaks is inhabited by millions of species and billions of humans.

It’s easy get lost in the crowd. As the psalmist wrote, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the sta...

Do You Believe Reviews?

It’s been awhile since I’ve gone to see a movie in the theater, and at those prices I want to make sure I don’t walk away disappointed. So, I search the Internet to find out what others have to say about the films showing this weekend.

When it’s time to buy a book, I tend to do the same thing and check out the reviews. If it’s an author I like or the continuation of a series I have enjoyed so far, I’m more likely to skim the reviews. But if it’s a new author or new genre for that author, I’m m...

Tools For The Journey – When To Say Yes

With a special needs daughter in my life, I get a lot of practice saying no, especially when she falls into Princess mode. “No, you are able to put your own shoes on.” “No, you can carry your own coat.” “No, you’re a junior in high school and should be able to …”

She is quick to ask for help when she doesn’t need it … and completely silent when she should speak up. Lately, there have been several times where she sat through an entire meal with an unopened drink because we were too busy to noti...

Creation Declares – Laminin

Ever feel like you’re falling apart? Regardless of how stressful or complicated juggling life’s demands can be, the good news is that the estimated 50 to 75 trillion cells in your body are stuck together.

In this continuing series exploring God’s fingerprints on creation, we’ve recently taken a closer look at DNA, amino acids, hormones, and cell membranes. Each topic continued to underscore the importance of individual cells to the overall function of our body … and showed how incredibly compl...

So Many Books, So Little Time

If I could spend a day anywhere doing anything I wanted, my dream day would include a book. Whether swinging in a hammock in the shade or lounging on a deck chair beside the ocean or curled up in a comfy chair beside a fireplace while snow falls outside, I need a story to keep me company.

And where do I find enough stories to feed my cravings?

My own bookshelves bulge with old favorites. There’s teetering stack beside my bed. I love to browse for garage sale bargains. I already have a virtual b...

Tools For the Journey – When To Say No

While the cell membrane (see Monday’s post) defines the boundaries of an individual cell, it also serves as a gatekeeper that only allows certain molecules in. Boundaries in our personal lives serve a similar purpose.

We can all probably remember the advertising campaign to just say no to drugs. It’s always a good idea to say no to progressively destructive or addictive substances or behaviors like drugs, alcohol, pornography, erotic novels, soap operas, super-sized double bacon cheeseburgers,...

Creation Declares – Cell Membranes

My first real memory of looking into a microscope involved a layer of onion skin stained with a drop of iodine. After turning the knob to bring the purple structures into focus, I discovered cells, those too-tiny-to-see-without-help living building blocks that make up our bodies.Yet, even with magnification, I could only see the outline of each cell and faint squiggles of interior structures such as the nucleus. I could not see the tiny openings in the cell membrane that allow even smaller mo...

Life Might Be Boring, But Fiction Shouldn’t Be

Fiction has been described as life with the boring parts taken out.

My life is mostly comprised of mundane routines like packing lunches, daily hygiene, carpools, swim lessons, football practice, work, fixing meals, folding laundry, washing dishes, etc. repeated daily. Yawn.

But when your toddler sticks a raisin up his nose … or your special needs child flushes her $300 glasses down the toilet … or your husband and teenaged son wage verbal warfare while you play referee … or your boss calls you...

Tools For The Journey – Boundaries

Why was the math book so sad? Because it was full of problems.

Some days it feels like life is full of problems, but not all of the day’s problems are really mine to carry. That is where the concept of healthy boundaries actually brings freedom. (see Boundaries: When to Say Yes, When to Say Noto Take Control of Your Lifeby Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend)

Simply stated, boundaries define what is mine and what isn’t. They show where I end and someone else begins. Just like property lines d...

Creation Declares – Endocrine System

With a teenaged daughter in the house, I find it hard to say that hormones are a good thing. But hormones and the glands of the endocrine system that produce them influence almost every cell, organ, and function in our bodies.

Hormones regulate our mood, growth, development, tissue function, reproduction, and metabolism. They are the body’s chemical messengers, transfer information and instructions from one set of cells to another, and are influenced by factors such as stress, infection, and c...