...the reflection of His face...

Deeply moved by Amy Carmichael's words this morning...

...The picture of the Refiner is straight from Eastern life. The Eastern goldsmith sits on the floor by his crucible. For me, at least, it is not hard to know why the heavenly Refiner has to sit so long. The heart knows its own dross.

"How do you know how long to sit and wait? How do you know when it is purified?" we asked our village blacksmith.

"When I can see my face in it," he replied.

Blessed be the love the never wearies, never gives up hope that, even in such poor metal, our Father may at last see the reflection of His face.

- Amy Carmichael, I Come Quietly to Meet You, ed. David Hazard (Minnesota: Bethany House, 2005) 31-32. See it.

Candidate for a Pullet Surprise

By Jerrold H. Zar

I have a spelling checker, It came with my PC. It plane lee marks four my revue Miss steaks aye can knot sea. Eye ran this poem threw it, Your sure reel glad two no. Its vary polished in it's weigh. My checker tolled me sew. A checker is a bless sing, It freeze yew lodes of thyme. It helps me right awl stiles two reed, And aides me when eye rime. Each frays come posed up on my screen Eye trussed too bee a joule. The checker pours o'er every word To cheque sum spelling rule. Bee fore a veiling checker's Hour spelling mite decline, And if we're lacks oar have a laps, We wood bee maid too wine. Butt now bee cause my spelling Is checked with such grate flare, Their are know fault's with in my cite, Of nun eye am a wear. Now spelling does knot phase me, It does knot bring a tier. My pay purrs awl due glad den With wrapped word's fare as hear. To rite with care is quite a feet Of witch won should bee proud, And wee mussed dew the best wee can, Sew flaw's are knot aloud. Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays Such soft wear four pea seas, And why eye brake in two averse Buy righting want too pleas.

Title suggested by Pamela Brown.
Based on opening lines suggested by Mark Eckman.

By the author's count, 127 of the 225 words of the poem are incorrect
(although all words are correctly spelled).

Published in the Journal of Irreproducible Results, Jan/Feb1994, page 13. Reprinted Vol. 45, No. 5/6, 2000, page 20.

That really is my name, really...

What does it mean when you try to order something online, and the error message you receive reads, "Please enter a valid name"?!

I Bought Some Pear Nectar Today

Below is my offering for the January writing prompt at Poets Online.

Perhaps you might also care to try your hand at writing a poem about... fruit.

That's the prompt. Really. Write about fruit.

I BOUGHT SOME PEAR NECTAR TODAY

God, how I love this store
It is too pricey, I know, but still it whispers to me
of provincial European bakeries
and of bloody butcher blocks
and of vineyards dancing with a world of bees
Things I’ve never seen
but have lived for a lifetime

I remember when your sister
said she loved the smell of our pantry
“Like a health food store,” she had opined

But I call the pungent smell of fresh herbs
and whole grains
and dried fruit
mingled heaven

Today I walked the forbidden aisles
like halls in a memory
and lusted
not for things I wanted to buy
but for a memory just out of reach
yet powerful
and nearly lost

The walls come down
just a little
when I think of him
and of the she that was me
that day

(How does it feel to be called “him”?)

Dancing around the discomfort
of feeling naked, fully clothed
I remembered
the feel in my mouth
(thick and full and sensuous)
and the taste on my lips
(sweet and voluptuous and urgent)
and I heard his words – your words – in my ears

And so, silliness of silliness,
I bought some pear nectar today

And thus she finds him in the halls of memory
and lets him in, with dim eyes
and hunger
and hope

© 2010 Laurie Sitterding

Earth Shots

Recently, we bought our daughter a camera. She is developing a love for photography, and a desire to study it, that has outgrown our little digital click-'n-shoot. She has a great eye, and I love some of the things she captures on film* precisely because of the way in which she captures them.

*[Well, actually, what do you call it now that it is all digital?!]

So I've found this website that I think will greatly interest her, and it might interest you, too. It has a daily photo that is usually a beautiful nature or landscape piece... something that is neat to look at... to reflect on... to force a pause in the middle of a busy day... to stimulate a moment to breathe deeply and pray briefly and smile...


This was today's "Photo of the Day" contest winner, entitled "Mesquite Dunes at Sunset" by someone named Chris.

You should go see it onsite at http://www.earthshots.org/ to do it justice.

Enjoy!

European Capitals

Nathan Stark is a teacher whom I do not know but wish I did. He reminds me of my husband, who writes these kinds of songs for our kids sometimes. Mr. Stark, it seems, has written a song to help his students memorize the European capitals. I'm reposting it here so my homeschooled sweeties can benefit from his generous sharing on TeacherTube. Thanks, Mr. Stark!



Here are the lyrics, to help you in your memorization:

Oh yeah, Lisbon is in Portugal
Madrid you’ll find in Spain
And London is the capital of jolly old England
And Dublin is in Ireland
And Paris lies in France
Edinburgh, Scotland
And Warsaw, Poland

You’ve got Reykjavik in Iceland
And Berlin in Germany
Brussels is in Belgium
And Rome in Italy
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Bern in Switzerland
Prague, the Czech Republic
And Kiev in the Ukraine

Sofia, Bulgaria
Tirana, Albania
Chisinau, Maldova
Bratislava, Slovakia
Vilnius, Lithuania
Riga, Latvia
Tallinn in Estonia
Belgrade in Serbia

Oh, Vienna is in Austria
Zagreb is in Croatia
And Budapest in Hungary
And Oslo, Norway
Sarajevo, Bosnia
And Skopje, Macedonia
Bucharest is in Romania
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Oh yeah, Copenhagen, Denmark
And Athens lies in Greece
Helsinki, Finland
And Stockholm, Sweden
Oh, Valletta is in Malta
Vaduz in Liechtenstein

Luxembourg in Luxembourg
Monaco in Monaco
San Marco in San Marco
And the Vatican’s in Italy

And that’s all the capitals there are!

As we bid farewell to another year...

Here is a link to an Estonian New Year's song. It truly is such a beautiful language.

In true Estonian form, the lyrics are deep... spiritual-in-a-nondescript-sort-of-way... reverent and celebratory concerning life and relationship... and strangely worshipful of nebulous ideas like "the new" and "the love we share."

Estonians, I think, are having to re-learn how to worship the God they knew before their Soviet occupation. They remain deeply "spiritual," yet they are fiercely proud and independent and Eesti-centric, and their spirituality is often not directed upward but inward.

So while I reject the idea to, "Let all the new be our guiding light," I love the idea that, "The mystery of the new is tender and gentle when we greet it with a warm embrace."

Who knows what this new year will bring?

But I know Him who holds my future in His hands, and so I can lean into my unknown future with hope and trust.

The day we see today is new
As we bid farewell to another year

We let our memories be good and true
Celebrating the moment, embracing the new

The bright light of the new shines for all of us
Filled with hope, promise, and the unexpected

The mystery of the new is tender and gentle
When we greet it with a warm embrace

A Happy New Year we wish you all today
Let all the new be our guiding light

Happy New Year!
The love we share will find a way
To fill each new day through dark and light

Tug-o-War

We didn't know how much we each needed a friend...

My daughter sent this to me via email this morning. It made me smile, so I figured I'd share...

Turning off the dumb Wii...

I have kids on vacation who have no schoolwork to do and have already completed their "life grids" for today. Does this mean they're curled up reading a book? Listening to Christmas carols? Walking their new dog? Baking Christmas cookies? Playing a board game?

Nope... they're playing on the Wii the dumbest game I've ever seen.

"Well, at least they're spending some time together," you might suggest. Nope again, unless you count fighting as time spent together. It is a one-person game they're playing, and the best you can do is sit around and watch, bossing your sibling around while she tries to take her turn.

I think the ol' Grandpa had the right idea!

Christmas Eve, Unplugged

'Twas the night before Christmas and out on the ranch
The pond was froze over and so was the branch.
The snow was piled up belly-deep to a mule.
The kids were all home on vacation from school.
And happier young folks you never did see
Just all sprawled around a-watchin' TV .
Then suddenly, some time around 8 o'clock,
There came a surprise that gave them a shock!
The power went off, the TV went dead!
When Grandpa came in from out in the shed
With an armload of wood, the house was all dark.
"Just what I expected," they heard him remark.
"Them power line wires must be down from the snow.
Seems sorter like times on the ranch long ago."

"I'll hunt up some candles," said Mom. "With their light,
And the fireplace, I reckon we'll make out all right."
The teen-agers all seemed enveloped in gloom.
Then Grandpa came back from a trip to his room,
Uncased his old fiddle and started to play
That old Christmas song about bells on a sleigh.
Mom started to sing, and first thing they knew
Both Pop and the kids were all singing it, too.
They sang Christmas carols, they sang "Holy Night,"
Their eyes all a-shine in the ruddy firelight.
They played some charades Mom recalled from her youth,
And Pop read a passage from God's Book of Truth.
They stayed up till midnight - and, would you believe,
The youngsters agreed 'twas a fine Christmas Eve.
Grandpa rose early, some time before dawn;
And when the kids wakened, the power was on.
"The power company sure got the line repaired quick,"
Said Grandpa - and no one suspected his trick.
Last night, for the sake of some old-fashioned fun,
He had pulled the main switch - the old Son-of-a-Gun!

So close, and yet so far

Okay, so here's the truth: Winston is a sweetie. He is much more calm than we originally thought, now that he's away from the environment of the SPCA. He is already learning to heel when we take him and Pippin for a walk. He sleeps great in his crate, and he holds his urine all night and does a huge morning pee when we first get him up. He goes potty in his potty spot every single time we take him out there. He seems very happy to be here, and very eager to please.

And yet I have to keep one eye on him (literally) at ALL times. Does he chew on inappropriate things in my house? No. Do I fear he might attack one of the children or Pippin, the other dog? No. Does he just flagrantly pee or poop in my house? Growl or snap at us? Bark all day long? Make a mad dash up the stairs? Runaway and make us chase him? No, no, no, no, and no.

So, what's the problem?

Christmas trees. Ever notice that your Christmas tree is a large outdoor tree, brought indoors and set up in your living room? Ever thought about the fact that it looks just like the tree the dog pees on in your backyard?

Ditto houseplants.

Technically, peeing on them is really, really close to right. So close, and yet so far...

For this I gave up holiday baking and addressing Christmas cards before Christmas??! Well, I don't really need the extra calories... my neighbors have made it lots of years now without homemade Christmas treats... and I've not been on time with a Christmas card, ever.

But isn't this just worth it??!

Welcoming Winston

I've been meaning to write a post called "Awaiting Winston" for several days now; he was supposed to come home last Thursday but was unable to. He had kennel cough, which disallowed his intubation, which prevented his neutering surgery, which delayed his homecoming.

We were ready for him, yet he couldn't come. We had prepared a place for him... a crate... bowls... food... a collar... tags with his new name and contact information for our home. It sounds silly to make much of it, as if it is some profound thing, but it has been a profoundly moving experience for me, preparing for this dog. Moreso than when we adopted Pippin into our home - we found Pip and brought him home the same day, getting all the "stuff" we needed for him after the fact - this experience of preparing for this dog ahead of time has reminded me in some small way of my adoption as a child of God.

The Lord has set His love upon me, based on no actual merits of my own. He knows my sinful nature, my tendency toward selfishness and wrongdoing and sin, and yet He has chosen me for His family... welcomed me to join His Kingdom work despite His full knowledge of how much I'll fail... of what a pain I'll continue to be, despite my best efforts...

Very few ever love with even a shadow of that grace, that mercy, that forbearance and acceptance and tenacity. It is agape love... God-love...

Don't get me wrong. I do not mean to suggest that I have this sort of love for my new dog. But preparing for his arrival into my home has reminded me, ever so slightly, of how God chooses to call me His own, despite His certain knowledge of my impending and continual failure. This dog is not at all like any dog we've ever owned before. Interestingly, it is the first dog we've ever considered adopting which iivo has appreciated from the get-go... and the first one I've ever not liked from the start. This must be a "man's dog," of sorts.

But I'm very aware of his faults and flaws. He sheds terribly. He's big and a little wild. He has a destructively waggy tail. He has oozing wounds on his ears. He is a jumper. He is not housebroken. All in all, he has little to commend him to the potential adopter. And yet we have chosen him. We have received him, set our love on him, agreed to "instruct him and teach him in the way he should go," and committed to call him our own even when he fails to do so.

And so, I present to you Winston, the newest canine member of our family. (He's pretty dopey in this video, taken just hours after his surgery.)

Standing Up Whoville

Okay, call it silly, but we have a new holiday tradition in our home, thanks to my middle daughter, OG. Last night, while she was Christmas shopping for her siblings, she found this Cozy Cracklin' Fireplace CD at Rite Aid for $4. She immediately announced that her older sister, EV, would love it and that we needed to get it for her.

(Previously, EV had bought me a "crackling candle" that had a wooden wick and would supposedly make fire-popping sounds when lit, but much to her disappointment, it did no such thing. She had known I missed the sounds of a real fire burning when we got our gas logs.)

I had successfully avoided buying a more expensive version of a similar CD just an hour earlier at Borders (a previous stop in our shopping date), and for $4 I figured it was worth a gamble.

Well, anyway, we love it! We put it in the DVD player when we got home, turned on the gas logs, set it to play the Christmas songs (lovely instrumentals with Classical guitar and piano), and all sat back to watch the screen play the lovely fire... for all 66 minutes of running time!!

This is remarkable in that we had been planning to curl up last night as a family with a bowl of popcorn and the How the Grinch Stole Christmas DVD, but none of us (from the 9-year-old to the 42-year-olds) could bring ourselves to turn off the peaceful, quiet, relaxing environment of this lovely crackling fire and beautiful Christmas music.

iivo quietly turned to me where we were snuggling on the couch and asked, "How did you know I needed this? I didn't even know I needed this."

So, slow down in the midst of the Christmas frenzy and give yourself a beautiful treat this year, for $4 at RiteAid. It is worth more than every penny!

Worldview Resource Directory

Today I came across an unbelievable resource called the Worldview Resource Directory.

A compilation of hundreds of useful resources on a wide variety of social and theological topics, it is easily perused for suggested reading on just about any subject.

The Red Pill and the Shot

I am not necessarily one who looks for a conspiracy around every corner, but I have come to believe - over many years of research and investigation and study - that conflict of interest is a huge factor in almost everything.

Just as it operates in my day-to-day life - as it does in yours - so it operates, on a much wider scale, in most of the industry, and government, and business, and institutions that operate around us.

What drives me crazy is that people seem to be willing to separate themselves from this understanding and simply believe whatever the medical community tells them, as if there is no conflict of interest present at any level within the medical or pharmaceutical communities.

It is as if every player in that arena is presumed to be a "good 'ol Doc Baker" (a favorite from our family's Little House on the Prairie viewings) whose only motivation and ultimate purpose is unquestionably the good of his patients... to the point of working at his own expense. Certainly no one ever presumed (and rightly so) that Doc Baker was "out to make a buck" at the expense of his client; rather, Doc Baker would work for no pay - or for the barter of a chicken or a quilt or a meal of stew. He would make house calls. He was like a member of the family, and there was not a bone in his body inclined toward greed or financial aspiration or dishonest gain.

How and when did we transfer that level of trust to our contemporary society's medical and pharmaceutical establishment? And on what basis do they deserve unquestioning, unflinching devotion and assumption of good will?

I have many good friends who are doctors, and I do believe that they believe they're doing the right thing when they do what they do. Based on what they've been taught, they are most often practicing medicine in the manner they're convinced is the best thing for their patients. So we trust them.

My first foray into not trusting my doctor with absolute carte blanche authority, doing whatever it was he told me to do, came fifteen years ago when I was pregnant with my first child. But that is another story for another day, if you ever care to hear it. For now, let's just say that I continue to be shocked - weekly - at "just how deep the rabbit hole goes"* in the arena of deliberate deception, conflict of interest, and dissembling - when it comes to medical information in general, but vaccination science and policy in particular.

If you have the stomach to handle "the red pill,"* listen to this interview with CBS investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson. What she continues to uncover regarding medical, pharmaceutical, and governmental conflicts of interest, particularly as relates to H1N1 (swine flu) reporting and recommendation, will likely shock you, especially if you're still very prone to presume good 'ol Doc Baker is looking out for you when he recommends that you get that shot. "Pharmaceutical money is behind many strings that are pulled in Washington government," she notes.

"Let me begin by saying that this was the same kind of stonewalling that I received under the Clinton administration, under the Bush administration, and now under the Obama administration, by CDC, FDA; it's very common..."

Thankfully there are still a few investigative journalists out there willing to stick their noses into things, and then to stick their necks out to report what they find. I think you will find it interesting and enlightening.



(You can find links to the other parts of the interview in the right-hand sidebar at the YouTube site, or you can listen to Part 2 of the interview here. Here are Part 3 and Part 4.)

For more information about this and other investigative reporting that Sharyl Attkisson has done on this subject, see this CBS report containing her interview with Dr. Bernadette Healy, former director of the National Institutes of Health and current health editor for US News & World Report.

*The references to "the red pill" and "how deep the rabbit hole goes" are from the 1999 film The Matrix.

Perhaps a proofreader would be in order...

I have certainly never been characterized as "easily amused," but many times silly things will strike me as funny which nobody else thinks are as funny as I do. Case in point: Friday night's Chinese restaurant menu.

So - with all due respect* and acknowledgment that they're doing quite well for composing in a second language - I offer the following amusing Chef's Suggestions:

* Walnut Shrimp...
Jumbo shrimp with cream walnut sauce exquisite flavor, you're never try before.

* General Tso's Chicken...
The most tender morsels of chicken enveloped in an etherealty light blended of special ingredients to import the morest crispness & exquisite flavor.

* Beef with Orange Flavor...
The tender beef breaded & deep fried with imported tangerine peel and enhance by a rich brown sauce.

* Roast Duck (Half)...
The old traditional way to marinated and slow roasted to golden brown.

* Spicy Pepper Shrimp...
Breaded large shrimp deep fried to golden crispy & cooked in special way to coat with hot and spicy powder.

* Jumbo Shrimp Chef's Special...
Jumbo shrimp with vegetable in chef's own sauce.

We were also advised by a large sign near the ice cream: "To avoid sticky, wash spoon every scoop."

And one near our table: "Please bring in church bulletin and received 10% discount."

On the front cover of the travel menu was a map, depicting our location as being near "Eftinghum St." (Effingham St.), "Crowford Porkwoy," (Crawford Parkway), the "Naval Haspital," the "Renuissunce Hotrl," and the "Sport Hall of Fome Museum."

The fellowship over this meal was a delightful end to a delightful evening of watching my youngest daughter EL play handbells in the youth handbell choir that was performing at the Portsmouth Antique Show.

[*This is shared in good humor as good-natured fun. I do not mean to be seriously mocking anyone. I would also like to freely acknowledge how much Chinese that I - the English speaker - could put on a menu in their language: precisely zero words.]

Blepharospasm

That frightening-looking word is the official name for a new phenomenon I am experiencing, officially defined as "an abnormal involuntary blinking or spasm of the eyelids."

Apparently it is most often caused either by excessive fatigue from lack of sleep, or by stress and anxiety over a particular event (like an impending public speaking engagement).

As far as I know, the frequent twitching of my left eyelid which I have experienced over the past few days is the result of neither. I have certainly had more exhausted and more stressful times in my life, when no "blepharospasm" was present. I am not experiencing a particularly sleepless or anxious time in my life right now.

Whatever its cause, "Eye Twitching is associated with an abnormal function of the 'basal ganglion' from an unknown cause. The basal ganglion is the part of the brain responsible for controlling the muscles."

So, I'm not sure how I feel about having any sort of "abnormal brain function from an unknown cause," but I do know that the little twitch I've begun to develop a dozen or so times a day in my left eye is driving me crazy.

I guess it is time for "sleep week" in our home, where I go to bed at 9:00 p.m. and see if more sleep will take care of it. But who has time for that! I have overnight Thanksgiving guests arriving on Wednesday, and the late-night visits with out-of-state family members is one of the best parts! "Sleep week" will have to wait.

Does anybody else have any experience with this? I'd love to hear how it resolved itself...

"This, the oldest of all American holidays..."

The following is from a newsletter I received from HEAV, but the links and information contained therein are wonderful educational resources, not just for homeschoolers, but for all of us who move toward commemorating "this, the oldest of all American holidays."

I loved reading again about the history of Thanksgiving. Schoolchildren around the country are told that the Thanksgiving holiday originated as a celebration where the Pilgrims thanked the Indians for their help during the harsh winter. This is a drastically incomplete picture of what truly transpired as both Native Americans and European Americans together thanked God for His goodness to them. May we all remember again the rich heritage of our nation's gratitude to Almighty God for His blessings and provision for us.

Following is the body of the text of their mailing, including the Editor's Note at the end:

David Barton of Wall Builders suggests a few resources to review the true history of Thanksgiving. This scholarly article, "Celebrating Thanksgiving in America,” includes primary sources about the four-century long highlights of the holiday.

Find a number of famous Thanksgiving Proclamations of historic significance listed on this page.

Read a notable Thanksgiving sermon entitled, “Blessed Is the Nation Whose God Is the Lord, and the People Whom He Hath Chosen for His Own Inheritance,” preached by the Reverand Thomas Baldwin of Boston in response to President George Washington's 1795 Thanksgiving Proclamation.

Editor's Note: Unlike modern sermons (which are commonly published or taped weekly), due to high paper and printing costs, only the most popular sermons and preachers were published during this era. Once available as pamphlets, notices appeared in local newspapers announcing the sermon details. The prices were listed, sometimes noting sale prices were less by half “for those distributing them free in the prisons and gaols.” Sermon pamphlets were collected as private devotional reading and individuals who could afford it might have selections bound together into volumes. George Washington was among those who collected them.

"Who owns your children?"

A recent news story about homeschooling from my friend Dale Hurd, a reporter with CBN News, has my blood boiling.

The reality that children are being seized from loving, exemplary parents simply because those parents have chosen to educate them at home is appalling. To hear the terrified screams and cries of little 7-year-old Dan Schultz as he is forcibly removed from his bed and home in the middle of the night is shocking... disturbing... sobering...



(I just keep hearing the voice of the little twit in Steven Crowder's video - you know, the one who can't name the Vice-President of the United States - announcing, "I don't like America. I'm from America, but I don't like America. I'm moving to London.")

This idea that to be a "progressive society" means that the State takes over the lives and education of its children - with little or no regard for parental rights - is no longer just a European idea.

Consider the words of the current United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who believes that "the more our schools truly become the centers of the community, centers of family life, the better our children can do." He envisions "pushing innovation, pushing change," where schools are open "twelve, thirteen, fourteen hours a day, six or seven days a week, twelve months a year."

Why? Because, "Our society has changed, and our schools have not really kept pace." He acknowledges - and he's right - that the days of kids coming home from school at 2:30, to a mother at home and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, are largely over. He is correct when he acknowledges that the typical American school child is currently "going home to almost no-parent families." Dad is at work. So is Mom. She has been since he was six-weeks old.

I just missed when we started calling this good. acceptable. ideal.

When did it become the government's responsibility to raise our children for us?

As you evaluate the merits of his plans for American schools (which include things like onsite provision of three meals a day, onsite provision of dental and medical care, and onsite provision of vision care and eyeglasses for students), consider his own track record of success as CEO of Chicago's public schools. Even taking into account a controversial change in testing methodology which experts have claimed "significantly inflated test scores," fewer than half of all Chicago elementary and middle school students met or exceeded state standards during his years of leadership. This means that for all the money he poured into it (an astonishing average of nearly $11,000 per pupil), fewer than one in every two Chicago students can read on grade level. Or write on grade level. Or perform math on grade level. Or demonstrate understanding of science on grade level.

His assessment of the situation? "The money I spent to open our schools longer in Chicago is arguably the best money I spent."



"This needs to be the norm, not the exception," he has said when referencing this proposed near-24-hour-a-day oversight of children, in all areas of life, by schools.

Sounds like he's following the battle plan of Adolf Hitler, who noted, "When an opponent declares, 'I will not come over to your side,' I calmly say, 'Your child belongs to us already... What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.'*

*From a speech given by Adolf Hitler in November 1933, quoted in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer

Mourn with those who mourn...*

I just found out about this, and I think it is very interesting. I remember George Bush's having been criticized for being slow to visit New Orleans following hurricane Katrina. I was so glad to hear about these unpublicized visits by the former first couple to the survivors of the Ft. Hood shootings. Their Texas ranch is about thirty miles from the military facility, and apparently the Bushes arranged to enter and leave the facility secretly to avoid press coverage of their time there.

*From Romans 12:11-15