MORNING                              MARCH 19

God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in the turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercies hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. — Saved by his life.

Our Saviour Jesus Christ ... who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. — As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy for I am holy.

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ... hath blessed us with all spiritul blessings in heavenly places in Christ. — In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him. — Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

ACTS 3:26.  I Pet. 1:3. -Rom. 5:10. Tit. 2:13,14. -I Pet. 1:15,16. Eph. 1:3. ‑Col. 2:9,10. -John 1:16. Rom. 8:32.

[from http://www.ccel.org/a/anonymous/daily_light/dlvol1.htm ]      

  "We must always remember that as followers of Christ, we are living in a world whose prince is still Satan. We are behind enemy lines. We are like paratroopers who have been dropped into enemy territory. Never forget that we are fighting this spiritual battle in the enemy's camp. Unless you realize this fact, you will continue to be discouraged, and Satan will push you to the sidelines.

"I encourage you rather to meditate on all the resources and the power the Lord has given to us. Let us never forget that, as He gave us the Great Commission, He also promised, 'Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world' (Matt 28:20).

I was back in my comfort zone today, nursing folks at the care home. 

It wasn't a bad day, just quite busy. I thought it was starting off kinda bad. Had a little trouble with a feeding pump this morning, but it turned out ok. Actually, I'm not sure if the problem fixed itself or if the DON or ADON did something to fix it. I was afraid the flush wouldn't work right for my tube feeder, but it was fine after that. Also, I had a little trouble with the tube when I tried to give medicine through it. I think the formula had been allowed to stay in the tube and start clogging it, I was sure I had allowed the crushed pills to fully dissolve before I poured it into the syringe and tube. Then I thought I overheard a little gossip about what time I was starting my treatments. It could have been my imagination. I knew I wasn't goofing off. I was busy dealing with a real problem. I guess I need to grow a tougher skin to work with that crew. Funny thing, they say they wish I could always be their nurse.

The nurse who used to do double shifts on weekends (evening and night) quit suddenly. So I'll be doing some extra. DH will be taking over much of the homeschooling for awhile it appears.

I had thought I'd sign up to teach a class for our homeschool group, since we are supposed to help with 3 things each semester. I thought I'd try teaching this time. It was a disaster. I won't be doing that again.

We are behind on school days. We've only had about 106 days so far, with all that's been happening. I hope we can get the others done before it's time for the next year to start. I hate the thought of going all summer.

My MIL passed away this morning.It will be different to visit her sister in the SCU/Alzheimer's Unit and not see Mom J puttering around there too. She was so cute the way she would walk around, point at things, say something in German, and smile and laugh.

I'm feeling a bit isolated at times. But that's okay. I'm becoming calmer, and more settled. Isobel Kuhn went through that at a time in her life.

I'm thankful for some things that are happening in my family. While DH was visiting his mom, a friend of hers loaned him a copy of the book Grace Awakening. He acknowledged that it was something he needed. Also, I can see oldest son is growing in his love of God and His Word.

We haven't done school much lately. Only one day in the last 2 weeks. So we're going to attempt today. I also need to work on quarterly report for my highschoolers. And I leave for work at 1. So we'll see what we can do. DH is coming home today. So that will help. We are looking forward to it.

How many of us could pass this 8th grade exam of 1895?

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7-10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10.Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?

Orthography (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10.Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of N.A.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10.Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

[found at http://mwhodges.home.att.net/1895-test.htm]

“My grace is sufficient for thee.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

If none of God’s saints were poor and tried, we should not know half so well the consolations of divine grace. When we find the wanderer who has not where to lay his head, who yet can say, “Still will I trust in the Lord;” when we see the pauper starving on bread and water, who still glories in Jesus; when we see the bereaved widow overwhelmed in affliction, and yet having faith in Christ, oh! what honour it reflects on the gospel. God’s grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers. Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good, and that out of apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring—that their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily, or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as long as he is pleased to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace. There is a lighthouse out at sea: it is a calm night—I cannot tell whether the edifice is firm; the tempest must rage about it, and then I shall know whether it will stand. So with the Spirit’s work: if it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, we should not know that it was true and strong; if the winds did not blow upon it, we should not know how firm and secure it was. The master-works of God are those men who stand in the midst of difficulties, stedfast, unmoveable,—

He who would glorify his God must set his account upon meeting with many trials. No man can be illustrious before the Lord unless his conflicts be many. If then, yours be a much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you will the better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God. As for his failing you, never dream of it—hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end.

[found at http://www.livingwaters.com/goodmorning.shtml]

I spent considerable time yesterday reading some stuff on family and marriage. I started with a search on Jay E Adams, since he's written a lot on Biblical counseling. I read several articles, all from a "Reformed" point of view. I won't agree with them on infant baptism or totally agree with them on some other stuff. But I decided it was worth a try in order to solve some problems.

My DH is with his mom, who is on the last of her journey here on earth. I went to see her also. I'm back home with the boys now. Sis-in-law is there too. Please pray for them all.

Another in-law, 1st daughter's DH, is in Iraq. Please pray for him, and for his family. It's dangerous but sounds like some good things are happening in his life. We'll be glad when he's back home safely.

2nd daughter's DH, and 3rd daughter's DH-to-be are both good cooks. One cooks at a college cafeteria and the other at a nursing home. Both have wanted to go to culinary school. One plans to go next fall, the other has been promoted in his job.  I want to pray for God's direction in their lives. It can be so fun and interesting when families change as they grow up.

I just found out this book is available to download free.

Learning to Pray by K P Yohannan

http://www.gfamedia.org/pdf/learning-to-pray.pdf

I went to a memorial service Tuesday evening. I must say it was one of the nicest memorial services I've ever been to! I felt challenged by what I could learn from Cris's life. At the same time I knew I must resist the temptation to compare myself too much with someone whose personality, talents, and opportunities were very different from mine.

Here are some of the things I would like to have learned from her: 1. She had a way of making each person in her life feel special. I would like to learn how to do that. 2. She was both a "Mary" and a "Martha". That is, she was a good homemaker and made her home a place where her family and others loved to be, but also loved spending time alone with the Lord, "sitting at Jesus' feet". How often have I thought I had to pit one against the other? Or became so discouraged I gave up on both? 3. She was strong and confident. She wasn't a needy, weak, "please love me, please accept me" kind of person. 4. She was very organized. Not sure how to improve there. I think I'm kind of ADD. I lose a lot of time and energy forgetting what I was doing.

The way her husband played guitar and sang, leading the congregation in "When We All Get to Heaven" made me want to jump up and start dancing. You could tell he had a real joy and peace about it all. People stood and clapped as they sang.

Maybe this time I will actually write something about our school.

We started out enrolling with Christian Light Education. This was mainly because we were going to pull our kids out of public school again and thought it would go smoother and look better if we enrolled the kids with a program. Also, I wanted our highschoolers to have something more authentic-looking for their high school credits. Our senior wasn't keen on being pulled out his senior year. And our freshman was worried about being "held back" from going to college. They're are both doing well with CLE and our senior is doing Saxon calculus. He already took his ACT last summer and scored a 30. So I'm not worried about college accepting him. He probably could get a scholarship as well. I'm confident our freshman will also do very well as he is also smart and a very good student. All the boys are using ACE for science and our freshman is using ACE for English.

The younger boys however (we have 5), we "unenrolled" . It was too stressful to keep up with that work load. We still enjoy CLE's peace-loving emphasis in Social Studies. But DH reads it to them, and they discuss it together. We are not ordering anymore CLE Light Unit workbooks for the younger boys. We are finding other ways to go through their lessons with them. We might use ACE next year. It's so much easier and less stressful. We will probably use ACE for science, maybe other subjects, too.

I want to find out from our local group how to do high school without enrolling with a program. I might do that when our younger boys get to that point. I think especially our third son will need a different approach. He is very hands-on and interested in vocational types of things rather than college prep.

"No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. The pulpit can be a shopwindow to display one's talents; the prayer closet allows no showing off.

"Poverty-stricken as the Church is today in many things, she is most sticken here, in the place of prayer. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere.

"We...mistake actions for unction, commotion for creation, and rattles for revivals." by Leonard Ravenhill from his book Why Revival Tarries. Quoted in The Road to Reality by K P Yohannan. K P adds, "Too often, we equate learning about prayer with the real thing.

If I could get every Christian I know to read one book besides the Bible, this would be it.

The Road to Reality by K P Yohannan. Inspiring for increasing holiness,  intimacy with, and dependence on God.

Description: "Road to Reality" is a practical book for those who desire to walk more like Christ. K.P.Yohannan gives an uncompromising call to live a life of New Testament simplicity in order to fulfill the Great Commission.

http://www.gfa.org/storeitem?stock_code=B2

Revolution in World Missions by K P Yohannan. Free!

http://www.gfa.org/revolution-pdf

DH has gone to his hometown to see his mom, who is in the hospital and not doing well. I don't know how long he will be there. We will likely join him on the 14th, since we have to go there anyway for a dentist appt.

My MIL has had alzheimer's disease for the past several years. I worked in the Special Care Unit where she lives. She's a little German-speaking lady, seemed happy in her dementia most of the time since living at the SCU. My girls went to see her today. I wish I could too. But I have things to take care of here and she probably wouldn't know me. At least DH is able to go.

I worked night shift last night. Evening tomorrow. Nights Thursday and Friday. Worked days last weekend. LOL. Life can be kind of weird. Actually I took some of the regular night nurse's shifts because she wanted less and I wanted more. So if I'm wiped out this week I guess it's my own fault.

CNAs from different shifts have said they wish I could be their nurse all the time.  I guess that's a good thing. My DON once told me, "It's so peaceful when you're here." I don't know what I'm doing that's so spectacular. But apparently it's working.

They talk about some other nurses just sitting around and make comments like "you actually do nurse stuff". I have a hard time believing that. I'm sure the others do it too. I've heard that one of them was so bummed out for not getting the ADON position that she tried to make herself a desk job by just sitting at the nurse's desk and doing other stuff. I know that's not totally true, though. I can't imagine trying to do that myself. I didn't go to nursing school to just sit at a desk.

I'm kind of wondering about some recent experiences. Not sure of the significance of them. I don't want to go into too much detail here