Jul. 3, 2007 - What time is it?
I have gotten myself back on course and have started doing the I Am Bible Study again. Today in reading through Lesson 1, I got a bit of a reality check.
Lisa is discussing Moses and the "time" of his birth (Acts 7:17-20). The word used for time isn't the one that indicates a succession of events like the begats that we normally read. No, the word used is a word indicating a specific time, much like the seasons. It is a time that was planned. It was a time that was meant to come! In the same way, each of us has our "time". We were not just randomly placed around the Earth, we were each put in the place that the Lord wants us to be. Even though there are times when we think the world is coming down around us, we are where the Lord wants us to be. Adam and I have always found it amazing at the lengths that the Lord used to bring us together and all the many paths that would have led us away from ever meeting. His parents changed churches when he was in college. He was made to go to a college that was close to home, not the one in the mid-west that he wanted to go to. I found a job in real estate law that kept me here, not a job in French translation that I had gone to college for that would have taken me into DC. We are not even going to go into all the people that we dated that we determined were not right for us because of their lack of devotion to the Lord. What a marvelous plan He has for us!
Keeping that in mind, I started to consider what purpose the Lord had in putting me here. He obviously has plans for me. He has kept me on this path and I think I am continuing to follow the way He wants me to go, not off on my own tangent. So what am I to accomplish? Maybe I'm just a link in the chain he is forging by being a Mom to Jesse. There were lots of Moms in the links of Jesus' family chain that didn't bear mentioning, but they served the purpose the Lord had for them. I'd like to think that my purpose is something super important like finding the cure for the common cold, but maybe that's Jesse's purpose and I'm just supposed to foster that amazing creativity of his. Maybe I'm fulfilling my purpose by homeschooling Jesse. Adam and I have always felt that we have been called by the Lord to do this. It is not just a personal choice. Maybe I made a difference in someone's life that I didn't even realize like in the book The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Maybe by my involvement in Quota and all the services that we provide, I am fulfilling my purpose. I don't know and maybe I never will. I'll just keep on keeping on in the way that I think the Lord will have me to go. If I get off the path He planned, maybe He'll give me a shortcut to get back to the right one or use me in the way that I am going.
As you go through your day today, keep in mind how the Lord is using you. Is He whispering in your ear that you need to do something? Listen.
Hugs!
Kristi
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Jun. 21, 2007 - I Am Bible Study
I have found a wonderful new on-line Bible Study. The author uses stories and references that we can all relate to. She also uses a Bible that I have added to my wish list. It is the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible. I have said for the last while that I was going to learn Hebrew just so that I could understand that actual translation of the Bible. Now maybe I won't have to learn a new language!! Yay!! The link to the Bible study is on down on this page. Check it out and let me know what you think!! I'll be updating you on my progress as I go through the study.
The introduction really touched my heart. She tells the story of taking her son shopping with his Birthday money. After perusing the aisles of toys, he turns to her and tells her that he wants to buy her a ring. She does the typical Mom thing and tells him that he shouldn't spend money on her. He is crushed. She realizes how much he wants to do this and goes with him to pick out the ring. Once at the counter, she finds that he has chosen the ring he wants to buy her. As I am sure would be the case with my little guy, the ring he chooses isn't the same one that she would have chosen, but she accepts it with great pride. So often the Lord offers us gifts that may not be in the form that we would have liked. Instead of saying, "Thank you Father for your great and wonderful gift," we complain that it wasn't the one that we would have chosen. Too often I find myself doing this with circumstances in my life. Maybe my house isn't the house that I had dreamed of or maybe my child isn't the poster child that we all want, but they are mine and I love them dearly. I'll try to remember this the next time that Bubba jumps up and down on my last nerve. When I would normally raise my voice, instead I'll raise my prayers to Heaven and thank God for the greatest gift I've ever received!
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Jun. 15, 2007 - Just for Fun...
I received this through one of my groups and thought it was just too fun!! I had to put it in my blog!
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus -izzle.) Krizzle
3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (Favorite Color and Animal) Purple Kangaroo
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and current street) Lou Elizabeth (doesn't that sound intriguing!)
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom's maiden name) Zirkricom
6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink). Chartreuse Iced Tea or maybe Fuschia Diet Coke
7. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (Mother's middle name and father's middle name) Sue Earl
Now you guys will recognize me even if I go en cognito! I think my favorites are either my detective name or my goth name. What do you think? Enjoy your Friday and your weekend!!
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Jun. 13, 2007 - Convention Blues...
I think I have the post-convention blues. When you are at a homeschool convention, there are lots of Moms around who think like you do and have the same issues that you do. Then you come home and the people around you don't think like you do and sometimes can't even understand why you think the way you do. Suddenly you are thrown back into the world of "Why are you doing it?" and "What about socialization?. I am comfortable with what we are doing because I know that this is where the Lord wants me to be. I was made for "such a time as this". But there is a little part of me that wishes I knew someone else with a child close to my child's age who was also made for "such a time as this". I can't imagine what it felt like to be one of the homeschool pioneers. There was no one like them in their area of the world and there was no internet to connect them with someone like them in another area of the world. Most people that they encountered thought they had lost their mind. What a lonely life they must have led! But I sure do appreciate all that they went through to get us to where we are today!
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May. 30, 2007 - New Computer! Yay! I think...
My dear, sweet Adam has finally tired of hearing Bubba and I say those fateful words, "I don't think it will run on our computer." While our old computer is still running well, it doesn't have the get-up-and-go that a new computer does. It's a bit like me...my get-up-and-go got-up-and-went a long time ago!! I have finally gotten everything moved to the new computer. It has actually made me quite proud of myself to be able to figure out some of the intricacies of the computer. That said, we are up and moving and fast!!
Bubba did school today primarily on the computer! We found a wonderful website www.spellingtime.com that we really love!! It has a hangman and an arrange the letters game that the kids get to play with the spelling list each week. By the way, the spelling lists are even provided for grades 1-5! Mom can modify them if you like, but they are at least provided. After playing a game, the kids have to write the words. Then they receive their reward of playing special games. They only get to play one game each day so it doesn't get too lengthy!
After finding spelling time, I thought that maybe a math game would regenerate Bubba's interest in math. For a while we couldn't get him to do anything but math. Now that he has learned to read, he doesn't want to do anything but reading! The on-line math games at least brought a spark of the thrill back to math. We found an online baseball math game where each properly answered equations equals a hit and an incorrect answer is an out. We tried another game that uncovered a part of a picture with correct answers. Another game allowed him to send a space shuttle into space with the correct answer of a math problem. The favorite probably was a math pinball game. He really seemed to enjoy that and by the end of the game he was easily answering basic addition problems. We truly love our math-u-see curriculum, but it was nice to reinforce it with some fun! You might check out funbrain.com.
We also started a neat on-line typing program. Bubba is enjoying typing on the computer so much that I thought it would be good if he would learn how to do it properly. Less incorrect moves to UN-learn later! We found a program that is developed by the BBC. It is very cute with various rock-and-roll animals teaching the home row and so forth. He is really enjoying it and I think improving his typing skills. Next year we are going to have to add a good typing program to the curriculum. Adam will love that! 
We are going to be attending the HEAV convention in Richmond next week. It should be quite exciting. I think I am going to buy the MP3 files of the speakers instead of worrying about attending the various seminars. Mostly we are going to concentrate on the exhibit hall. The first year that we went to the convention, we were debating homeschooling and just checked out the various curriculums. The next year, we knew mostly what we wanted and went primarily to learn about those. This year, although I know what curriculums we are using, I'm open to suggestions and want to learn more about the other ones out there. What a progression! Wish us luck!
Until next time,
Kristi
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May. 18, 2007 - Vacation???
For Blogger School this week, I am supposed to talk about my plans for keeping cool, relaxing and vacationing this summer. Considering that we are having a cold snap here in Virginia today, I am really thinking about the possibility of vacationing on a very warm beach!! We are supposed to go to a seminar in Virginia Beach for Adam next week. Unfortunately we only get to stay for a day and that day the weather is supposed to be similar to what it is here today. Isn't that my luck? Adam has promised that we will get to go on mini-vacations this summer - basically weekends away. So I wonder what lucky locale will have us come to visit and bring the cool weather with us? Let's see where can I dream of going...Virginia Beach, Ocean City, Kill Devil Hills (just to see GraveDigger!), Williamsburg and Jamestown, the Zoo and Richmond for the HEAV conference, to name a few. Bubba has asked to go to Natural Bridge. I have to visit Greensboro and Raleigh Quota clubs in September, so we may have to make a week out of those visits! Won't that be grand? I'll go spend the rest of my dreary Friday relaxing on the couch pretending I am somewhere warm!
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May. 17, 2007 - I am signed up for the Homeschool Moms Secret Sister Session #2!
I am so excited!!! I have found the neatest website, actually blog, called Training Hearts. I have signed up to be a Secret Sister and I am SO excited!!!! I am not an experienced blogger as you can tell, but I'm working on it. You might want to check out the website www.traininghearts.com. It is phenomenal!!!
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Apr. 28, 2007 - Wow! It's been awhile!
We've been so busy lately just trying to keep up with life, that I have forgotten to blog. Adam has been busy with the business, I was installed as District Governor for Quota International last weekend and Bubba is just hanging on to both of us. But what a wonderful way to teach him how to deal with life's craziness!!
In the midst of the chaos, we managed to do a lapbook (our first!) on Arbor Day. It was a wonderful experience!! We did the reading that they suggested and the activities that they had planned. I added in a little trip to the local arboretum to take pictures of some of the trees and the other things that we had discussed. Bubba left the arboretum only because I promised that we would come back - frequently! What a wonderful feeling to be able to instill a love of something in your child. It surely makes me glad to be able to homeschool!!
We've had several bomb threats at local schools in the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech. Yet another reason to say, "Thank you, Lord, that I can homeschool."
Until next time,
Kristi
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Sep. 22, 2006 - Who am I? What am I doing here?
We decided to homeschool Bubba a couple of years ago. We started a bit randomly in the first years, but this year have set down a routine. We are using Sonlight K as our core with Math-U-See and 100 Easy Lessons. Bubba is thriving this year! He doesn't like "reading" time, but he is actually doing very well. Math-U-See is wonderful! I can't sing enough praises about that! We are using Apologia Astronomy for science. Bubba is really enjoying notebooking. I'm getting very excited about our year!!
I've always asked the Lord to give me more patience. I think his call to homeschool Bubba has been his answer. It is taking every bit of patience I have, but we are both growing in our patience a little every day! The Lord does have strange ways of answering prayer!
Take care!
Hugs!
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