"For He is the living God, enduring forever.  His kingdom shall never be destroyed.  His dominion shall be to the end.  He delivers and rescues.  He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth."   Daniel 6:26-27

Scripture is such an amazing gift.  Here we have Daniel proclaiming truth that we can see in our daily walks with Him.  No matter the circumstances He is forever!

November was filled with glorious lessons for all.  Some were a bit more challenging than others!  If you haven't yet heard about husband's great November challenge, read here.  Thankfully, he is fully recovered!

Our school time began a major turning point for us that you can read more about here.  Before we got to that point, here are the highlights of our learning:

Bible (Judah Bible):

We began Theme III which is "The Kingdom of Israel: The People Want an Earthly King and Slavery".  We read about Samuel and examined the principle that "personal unrighteousness brings national disintegration", in other words, what the few do, affects the many.

"There is none holy like the Lord; there is none beside you; there is no rock like our God"  (from Hannah's prayer) I Sam. 2:2

We enjoyed another look at David and Goliath, bringing in the true armor of God, which was all David had to fight with, and is what we must take up every day.

"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm." Eph. 6:13

Solomon and the Temple continued the theme and principle

"...and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in His ways and keeping His statutes, His commandments, His rules, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn."  I Kings 2:3

Reading about Elisha finished up our month. 

"He said, "Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." II Kings 6:16

It was wonderful to be reminded and to share with my son, how God reveals himself in His time, which is usually a time of seeming utter desperation, for either one or many, and cannot be defined as such by man, but only by God and His purposes.

We memorized all the verses above.

History

We finished off our colonial studies with Pennsylvania and William Penn. The time of the Great Awakening came and we really enjoyed looking more at John Wesley, George Whitefield and the Mathers.  "The Light and the Glory for Children" was our main reading for this period.  Son tackled "Chimney Sweep's Ransom" by the Jacksons, about John Wesley.  He finished it by himself, though it was a bit tiresome for him (I rushed him).  I'm not sure how much he got out of it, though he did narrate back to me.  He truly enjoys learning more about people who share about Christ, so we gave it a try.  I'll probably stick to reading the bigguns out loud for now.  He may enjoy them better.

This is a great time period for us and for our country.  It was awesome to know of how God drew His people back to Him.

We are now beginning to venture westward (expansion) as we learn more about the Mississippi River, the Indian Wars (just touching on them for now) and Pioneer experiences.

Our Astronomy time is still fun, but slowing slightly as we come to the end of the book.  We finished up the planets, including the (dwarf) planet Pluto!  Our balloon Solar System has about "fizzled" out and will have to come down soon.  We're thinking about a replacement.  Son has a glow in the dark model in his room, so we may make another one for the school room.

Math

Who would have thought that Geometry could be such a winner!  Boy absolutely loves it--particularly drawing using his board, T square and Triangles.  He's precise and doing a great job!  I'll have to consider further activities of this nature, as he wants to do them all the time.  Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Spelling and Grammar

We went into overdrive this month to try and get past our last year stopping point by Christmas.  We've done much more "grammar" than last year, so it's taking longer, but it's going well.  Son particularly enjoys creating his own sentences with his new words.  He "demands" I use them, which is fine with me as they are great.  He wanted me to be sure and share some of his sentences.  I think you'll see where his heart is!

far:  "I hope we are not far from the Lord."

told: "Jesus told the disciples He would be back."

new: "If you ask Jesus in your heart, you are a new creature."

block: "Block Satan from your life."

down: "When I get down, He lifts me up."

life: "What is life without God?"

hang: "The Lord will hang with you in all your troubles."

cast: "Make sure that Satan does not cast his shadow upon you."

perch: "God will perch on your heart forever."

left: "Left and right, Jesus is everywhere!"

Our "Thanksgiving" hymn of the month was "To God Be the Glory":

To God be the glory, great things He has done;

So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,

Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,

And opened the life gate that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the earth hear His voice!

Praise the Lord, praise the lord,

Let the people rejoice!

O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,

And give Him the glory, great things He has done.

Thanksgiving was full of many blessings for us beginning with a huge smoked turkey being delivered to our door.  Some really wonderful friends blessed us indeed, with this big surprise, and since we weren't expecting any company for the holiday, we dug in and ravished that wonderful bird ourselves!

Thanksgiving Day found us enjoying my Dad, his wife, my brother and sister in law, just an hour away.  This was a wonderful gourmet meal, as my Dad's wife is an incredible cook.  I'm trying to pick up tidbits from her, though cooking does not come naturally to me!  It was also special having SIL there, as this was her first Thanksgiving with us in ten years.  Her NEW job, with my brother at our family music store, allows her holidays off!  Hallelujah! 

Here's the official family portrait!  I'm the grown up with brown hair. 

As a last minute thought, we headed to my cousin's house, knowing several cousins would be hanging out there.  What fun!  Being all together made the day complete.  It was sad when the day was done and it was time to leave. 

Here I am with my cousins.  Two of which I grew up with.