• Wake up.
  Eat cereal or waffles.
  Sit down and they would do their schoolwork. They would ask questions that I have no idea what the answers are. Then I'd say let's move on to the next subject.
  Lunch would be macaroni and cheese or Cici's Pizza.
  We'd come home and be too full to finish school. So we'd take a nap.
  That's about it.
• Field trip!!
• We would take a sick day and play video games all day.
• Cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would not answer the phone. We would read books, and watch educational videos all day.

I am not really good at working my away around this blogging thing.  I never know how and where to answer questions that I am sometimes asked in my comments section. I can't figure out how to do that so I decided to start a new category just for questions. 
A wonderful blogger friend recently asked:
"My oldest son (9) questions our authority, and has struggles with obedience and kindness. I'd love your input if you have one in your brood like that and the things that have worked for you guys."

Oh yes - I have one like that!  And let me just say that I hope this doesn't come across as if I think I have all the answers - I will just share what has worked for our family and the rest of you please chime in with what has worked for you too!
We have tried many different things over the years to remedy this problem in our family, but for our boys, we have found that the most effective fix for disobedience or bad attitudes is TIME.
I can always tell when I am not spending enough time with my boys.  I will begin to see rolling of the eyes, bad attitudes about chores, procrastination on assignments, arguing and power playing with brothers, and a general distance in the air.  Now, certainly these things are normal when it happens occasionally, but I am talking about when this behavior is consistent.
And when I say spending time, I'm not really talking about "school" time.  As a homeschool mom, I thought I did spend a lot of time with my boys!  Certainly, I'm home with them all day.  But the Lord showed me that most of my interactions with them were either specifically about their school work or chores or activities.  Not necessarily any FUN stuff, or stuff that was important to them.  So, their relationship with me was mostly as teacher and taskmaster.
The Lord revealed to me that I neeed to spend time with them doing the every day tasks of being a boy, and spend time with them doing the things they enjoy doing - yes, even if that involves dirt and bugs, and swords, and taking things apart - ugh!
I know this sounds kind of silly but it really does work.
I compare it to my relationship with the Lord.  When I am not spending time with Him and in His Word, it is so much easier for me to think only of myself, to discount His commands and His will, and to seek my own personal pleasures and desires. 
But, when I am dwelling in His Word, and spending time with Him in prayer, it is so much harder for me to sin, to ignore His will, to ignore what I know is right.
I think the same principles apply to our children and their relationship with us.
So, my advice is to spend time with that little bundle of attitude, even if he doesn't like it at first.  If he truly feels how much you love him, care about what is important to him and want to be with him - issues will still come up but will be resolved much easier because you will have captured his heart, and his desire will be to not dissapoint you!

I want to share with you all an awesome resource for homeschool moms - The Homeschool Minute.  It is a weekly newsletter put out by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine folks and every issue is jam packed with great information and encouragement.  The articles that are included are short - which I like - because I tend to skip and email newsletter if it is too long.  They usually have a contest and a homeschool freebies section.  Each newsletter is centered around a theme with articles and links reinforcing the theme.
I have subscribed to a lot of email newsletters, but in my opinion, this is one of the best.  Short and sweet - just the way I like it!

Want more great links?  Visit socalval's weblink wednesday

The foster family let us take him to my sister's house to spend the night with us!  Here he is in his jammies playing my sister's piano:

Here is the last photo with his foster family.  They had him for about a year so it was very hard for them to say goodbye.  They had a daughter too but she was not able to sit for the picture.

Here is one of our first family photos with my mom, grandma, and cousin:

I took this last picture of Joshua on the hay bail the other day.  He was in the middle of playing capture the flag with friends when I stopped him.  After I snapped that picture I said "Bye".  He said "Bye Mom" and then said "Now I can say mom and it really is true".  I didn't know whether to smile or cry!
We are so thankful to the Lord for bringing Joshua into our family!

Honestly, I don't know how my hubby puts up with me!  From goofy to grouchy I am one hard woman to live with!  And the things I ask him to do sometimes make him shake his head in wonder.  This past weekend he and the boys were out of town leaving me all alone. He took the oldest 3 boys camping at their Royal Rangers Pow Wow and our youngest spent time with his buddy since I had to work. 
My biggest fear about being alone was taking care of the dogs.  That is one thing I never have to worry about.  When they get dirty - the boys bathe them.  When they get ticks - the boys and hubby remove them.  I was not looking forward to taking on those jobs.
But my biggest challenge was calling our male Jack Russell inside after he spends time outdoors.  Our girl Jacks listen well and come right when I call them but that male dog is stubborn.  He must know he doesn't "have" to listen to a woman - I am not alpha male.  I knew he would spend all weekend wandering the woods, tromping through the creek, get filthy digging for moles, picking up tons of ticks - all while happily ignoring my calls for him to come home.
Thankfully, I came up with a solution.  I asked hubby to record himself calling the dogs inside so I could play it back on a portable radio when I needed to.
He thought I was crazy!  But being my hero - he did it for me - with the boys and I giggling in the background the whole time.  It seemed so silly!
I wasn't sure if it would work but it was the only thing I could come up with. 
Soon after they left I let the dogs outside.  When I called them in the girls came right away, but Arrow was too busy - laying in the grass sunning himself.  When I called him, he just looked at me, slowly blinking because of the bright sunshine.  I tried calling his name in a nice sweet voice, then in a deep stern voice - nothing.  His look said it all: 
"Can you keep it down, you're disturbing my vitamin D absorption"
He closed his eyes and turned his head away from me.
So, I had no other choice - I got out my secret weapon - a MAN!  I hit that play button and as soon as that dumb dog heard my husbands voice he came running up onto the deck with his tail between his legs. 
I ended up using that tape all weekend and Arrow never did figure out that his boss was not really there. 
I wonder what the neighbors thought.
Isn't that something!  I am amazed at the power and authority men have!  God gave men the job of ruling over the animals and clearly He also let the animals know who's in charge.  I am glad I have the protection and power of my man over me.  A weekend without him made me even more aware of what life would be like without my alpha male!

I have to speak tomorrow at an AARP meeting and I can't believe I am so nervous!   I have spoken in public many times but it was usually pertaining to homeschooling or foster care/adoption.  I wasn't really nervous speaking about those topics because I feel like I "live" them and can speak easily from experience and from the heart - but tomorrow is a little different.
We had a group of AARP folks come to the home where I work for their day of service.  They brought cookies and visited with the elderly who live there.  They liked what they saw and toured our facility and private cottages.  They loved it so much that they wanted someone to come and share with their entire group about our facility.  And my boss thought I would be the perfect person to do it (what is he thinking!!!!!!!)
I feel that our philosophy is truly unique but I am afraid of representing something that is not my own - my own idea - my own business - you know what I mean?
But,
because I thought they never really would contact us again - but they did
and
because my boss was planning on going with me - but at the last minute can't  
I know that the Lord wants me to do it.  So, I am resting in His peace, and counting on His direction.  I am praying that I convey the message He wants me to send about our facility that truly operates to honor Him through honoring the elderly. 
It sure makes me thankful though, for all the public speaking opportunities, speech, and debate classes my boys have had through our local homeschooling community!  No matter what they do in life they will need to be able to speak in public.  My boys aren't great at it, and neither am I, but I know that practice makes better.  So, I'm going to look at tomorrow as more practice.

Kid's bedrooms are another good room for extra learning to take place.  Here are some ways we have incorporated learning into their bedrooms:
- of course, the obvious: hanging posters up!  We have hung posters on topics such as WWII aircraft, planets, animals, etc.
- hang wall mounted magazine holders beside each bed next to the pillows to hold books and magazines that you want them to read.  Ours are often filled with art books, sketch pads, chapter books I want them to read but don't necessarily want to assign, zoo book magazines, or ranger ricks.  We find the boys use these more than their stand alone book shelves.
- create a reading corner: we used dust jackets off of books (you can usually get them at your library if you don't have enough of your own) to decorate the reading area.  We put in a comfortable chair and a magazine rack/table to hold books.
- use the ceiling: this works especially well if you have bunk beds.  I hang pictures and charts that the boys will be able to read as they are laying in bed.
- next to the boys cd/tape player we put a basket with books on audio, cd stories like those of Jim Weiss and Classical Kids stories, and cds of music they wouldn't necessarily just listen to on their own (like learn with Vivaldi)
- create a science corner: we have a small computer desk in one corner and that is where the boys have a microscope (just a cheap kids one that they can't harm!), magnifying glass, prism and other tools they can just experiment with safely
These are just a few of the things that we have done to try to make their rooms a place to think and not just play. Please post a comment to share your bedroom learning ideas, I want to hear what you all are doing as well!
Part 1 - Schooling in every room of the house - the BATHROOM

Having boys around is really handy!  I never have to take care of any bug, snake, spider, frog, or other creature that comes my way.  All I have to do is yell for help and one of my knights in shining armour comes to my rescue. 
Well, it's that time of the year - tick season - and my boys are responsible for tick removal on our 3 Jack Russells.  Thankfully our Jacks are white and short haired so ticks are real easy to spot.  Here is "Skittles" in our back yard - ain't she cute!

We only have just over 3 acres but it is mostly wooded so my boys and dogs can't walk out the door without getting a tick on them.  Lately, they (the boys and our Jacks) have been spending a lot of time at the little creek on our property and they have been coming home covered with ticks.  They are everywhere . . . and I mean everywhere!  One of our Jacks "Arrow" had a tick in a very unpleasant spot - right under his tail shall we say.  Thankfully we noticed it before that little tick went exploring!

I wanted to share more on the subject of strewing and thought my older posts "Schooling in every room of the house" would fit in well with this topic.  Here is the first post in the series:
Schooling in every room of the house Part 1: the BATHROOM!
As homeschoolers we are famous for using every nook and cranny in our homes to our advantage in schooling our kids.  I love to learn in unexpected or overlooked places.  I am going to start this series of blog entries with ideas for learning in the most overlooked room in the house:  the bathroom
I think the bathroom is one of the BEST places to sneak in learning! It is a room that my boys seem to spend lots of time in - especially when I tell them it is time to clean their room (you all know what I mean!).
Here are some of the ways I squeeze learning into the bathrooms:
1.)  I put a small basket on the floor and a file organizer on the back of the toilet and stuff them with books that my boys don't realize are "educational" (like When is a Pig a Hog?, 5 Minute Mysteries, Big Book of Questions and Answers, More Than Meets the Eye, Brain Surgery for Beginners, Art Fraud Detective, the Murderous Maths  books, Kids Discover magazines, etc.)  Mostly things that they normally would not just pick up to read.  I can't tell you how many times they have come to me after a visit to that room and say "Hey, guess what, listen to this!".  I try to put books in there in the subject areas that I feel we need to spend extra time on such as science, logic, art, or language.
I switch the books out every once in a while and sneak in ones that pertain to what we are learning. 
Here is a picture of one of the file organizers in my bathroom:

2.)  I also use the walls on the bathroom to hang posters, charts, and things I want them to memorize.  Here are some examples:
- When we were studying Shakespeare I plastered the bathroom (yes, the one our guests use) with Shakespeare quotes.  They were sayings that we use every day and never realize we are quoting Shakespeare such as "Eaten out of house and home" - my life story!
- When we are studying an artist I tape their work up on the bathroom wall to be admired while "lounging".  Sometimes I use those cheap Dover $1.00 art postcard packs - while studying Picasso I taped his famous painting post cards up on the bathroom wall in chronological order.
- I have a chart of the books of the bible hanging in there for us to work on memorizing.
- I hang pictures of the solar system, skeletons, the alphabet in sign language - anything!  The possibilities are endless.
So, when you get time, go look in your bathroom and see it with fresh eyes.  You can learn a lot in there!

     I have always been a fan of strewing.  I’m not sure where I ever learned about it.  Honestly, I'm sure many, many homes, including ours, used the art of strewing long before it was ever considered an “educational method” or a “system”.  But simply put strewing is strategically placing books and other items in places where unsuspecting children will find them in hopes that they will pick them up and read or use them.
     One of the things that I like to strew in my home is newspaper articles.  My boys would rather eat the newspaper than read it as an assignment.  Yes, I could “make” them read it each week - and as soon as they have graduated they will probably be thankful that they never have to read the paper again.  That’s how boring they think the paper is! 
     I certainly want them to know how to navigate their way around a newspaper but more importantly, I want them to understand that reading the newspaper can be a very enjoyable experience!  So, when I notice an article that I think might be interesting to them, I leave it where I know it will be found in hopes they will actually read it.  I am hoping that if this happens enough times during their school years, that when they are older and on their own they might actually WANT to read the paper every once in a while because their memories of reading it as a child were not forced or assigned, but discovered and enjoyed.
Here is a example of how I help them “discover” the newspaper in our home:
     The Washington Post Magazine recently had a whole issue on education.  It had some interesting articles that I wanted the older boys to read and I knew one of them in particular would catch their eye.  It was an article about students at a particular college who hold a humans vs. zombies nerf fight on campus every year.  The contests can last for days or even weeks – all while classes are being held and studying is being done (hmmm, not sure about that one!). But in light of recent school shootings (including in our state at Virginia Tech) not everyone is thrilled with the game being held on campus.  Some think that guys with guns (even play ones that are bright yellow, blue, and orange) walking around shooting each other is just not a good idea.
     I thought this would lead to a good discussion so one night I left the magazine open on the kitchen table.  Sure enough, Ryan began reading it while eating his breakfast the next morning.  He began to tell Joseph about it and Joseph bugged and bugged Ryan for the magazine so he could read it too.  I didn’t want to “push” a conversation on them and make my planting and strewing tactics obvious, so I just let them enjoy reading it and discuss it amongst themselves to see what would come of it.  Later that afternoon, Ryan came to me asking if I had read the article.  After he talked about how fun this game (and this college) sounded and relaying the exciting details of the story he asked me what I thought about the controversy.  Joseph of course heard us talking about this and joined the conversation too.  It turned into a great discussion about guns, freedoms, responsibility to others, all kinds of things.  Many opinions flew and that was exactly my goal.  I listened to their opinions and then shared my thoughts.  It gave me an opportunity to see what direction their thinking was going on this topic and why.
     Joseph has been carrying this magazine around sharing it with all his friends – mostly because they think it is such a cool idea.  For me, as a parent, it opened a door to a discussion that might not have been as enjoyable if it was just an “assigned” topic to study. 
     So, every Sunday I scour the paper looking for interesting articles to strew.  I have two articles waiting in the wings to strew as soon as I finish reading them myself.  They are: “Truth: Can you handle it?, Better yet: Do you know it when you see it?” (an article on the fact that there is a lot of information at our fingertips but it might not all be accurate) and “Somebody’s got to do the job.  But just what is it?” (an article on what the President of the United States actually does all day).
     Newspaper articles are perfect for strewing.  Don’t be afraid to strew articles written for adults (as long as they don’t have objectionable content of course).  My initial reaction is always: they won’t understand this or that wouldn’t be interesting to them – but both of those are wrong.  We don’t need to dumb it down.  Our older children are more than capable of discussing these current events and ideas.  Usually, they even find them very interesting. 
     My boys don’t always start a discussion on the articles they have read.  But, If I KNOW they have already read it I may try to start a conversation myself by picking up the article and saying something out loud like “huh, this sounds interesting”.  They almost always respond.  
Here are some newspaper strewing tips I have learned along the way:
- Make sure the article you want them to read is on the front page or open and fold the paper so that the article is on the front.
- Leave them where your kids read most: kitchen table, bathroom magazine rack, living room coffee table, etc. (my boys like to read while eating breakfast and lunch so I leave a lot of articles out on the table)
- Pre-read it yourself so you will be ready for a discussion when and if your kids are.
I strew other things in lots of other places and ways but I think this is long enough.  Maybe I will add more in another post.

Between homeschooling, working part time, being a homekeeper, wife to my hubby, and mom to four active boys - there just isn't a lot of "me" time.  We all know that saying - we need to take care of ourselves first in order to take care of others - but practically, I find that hard to do sometimes.

So, my solution is to take nice, long, relaxing showers.  Come to think of it, this is the only place where I am ever alone.  The peace and quiet allow me to relax and spend time with my brain, my heart, myself.  I get my greatest inspirations and ideas in the shower.  My thoughts and plans are solidified here.  Trouble is that in the shower I can't write all these great ideas down and by the time I get out I forget most of them.  It figures.  Oh well, at least "I" know that I was brilliant for a few minutes.

Before I got in the shower today, I told the boys to only bother me if it is important.  I really should have clarified what I meant by important (like broken bones or excessive bleeding).  But I assumed they knew what I meant.  Wrong.
The first knock at the door was followed by:
Mom, can I eat some of my left over Christmas candy that I found under my bed?
My response: Oh yeah, that's important.  Ask me when I get out of the shower.
Another knock by another guy
Mom, I had 2 BP&J sandwhiches but I am still hungry - can I make 2 more?
My response: Oh yeah, that's important.  Ask me when I get out of the shower.
(Notice a pattern here - I figure if I say this every time, they will eventually get the hint and only interrupt me if it really is necessary. I'll let you know in a couple of years if my theory worked.)
Another knock
Mom. Jacob's shooting me with a blow gun!
Now, my boys can make a weapon out of anything and I was really curious about the who/what/when/where/andwhy's of the blow gun so I took the bait:
Where did Jacob get a blowgun?
He made one out of that long thin tube you use to open and close the blinds.
Of course, why didn't I think of that!
What I really wanted to say is: Oh yeah, that's important, but that wouldn't be very nice so I ended my shower and set off to investigate the obviously now broken blinds and Jacob's new blog gun.

So much for alone time.  So much for deep, profound thoughts. 
I'll just have to be happy with peanut butter & jelly and blow guns.

Ok, this is my first attempt at participating in Weblink Wednesday which socalval hosts every week! 
I thought I would share some of my favorite free clip art sites that I use:

Microsoft Clip Art
This site has a TON of clip art, photos, and web graphics.  Very easy to use and download.  This is by far my favorite because they have everything you could want!

Math Clip Art
Neat black and white graphics.  The geometric patterns are my favorite - they make great coloring sheets.

DK Clip Art
Beautiful clip art from their books.

Classroom Clip Art
Clip art and photos in multiple categories.

Don't forget to visit socalval to see all the links this week.

I have had several friends ask me about the curriculum I use - Tapestry of Grace - lately.  It is that time of year when we are all re-evaluating our homeschools and looking ahead to next year so I thought I would share the reasons why I chose this curriculum and why it works for my family.
First of all, let me start with a brief description of Tapestry (TOG):

Tapestry of Grace (TOG) is a unit study curriculum that covers most of the major subject areas for students in grades K through 12. Some features that make it especially appealing are Christian worldview studies incorporated throughout the curriculum, a chronological approach to history as the basic organizing theme, and a classical education approach based on the grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric stages of learning.  Subject areas covered include history, English (writing and literature), fine arts, some science, geography, church history including missions (more extensively covered than I recall seeing in most other curricula), Bible, and history of fine arts and sciences (reflecting a classical approach). You will need to use other resources for phonics, English grammar, math, foreign languages, and high school lab sciences. (From Cathy Duffy's 100 top picks)

We have homeschooled from the beginning and our boys are now 8, 12, 13, & 17.   I have used just about every curriculum under the sun in my quest for the one that works for our family.  NO curriculum will be right for everyone but if you have several children in wide age ranges then Tapestry might be beneficial to your family.  I will mention a few curriculums in this post - not to say they are not good curriculums - but they just did not work for our family and I will share with you why.

When I began homeschooling, I set up "school" in my home - after all, it is "HOME SCHOOLING" right!  We said our pledge to the flag, had little desks, the whole nine yards.  Complete with our Abeka textbooks/workbooks.  One for each subject.  This went on for a while but I ended up realizing that this was pretty boring!  I was becoming a slave to these workbooks and while my boys were doing the work, they just were not enjoying it.  I did not want them to end up hating school!  I felt like I was just duplicating a classroom at home.  I wanted them to learn how to learn - and not just finish workbooks. 
So, I tried a literature based curriculum - Sonlight - because of the rich literature and read alouds that we could do as a family. Sonlight was like a breath of fresh air!  We had so much fun with the great books that we read aloud or independently - we learned so much and really enjoyed it.  But, having 4 different children it became quite expensive and a lot of work for me.  One child would be studying ancient China while another would be studying the American Revolution at the same time!  Sorry to be blunt but that was just stupid - what was I thinking! 
So then I tried unit studies - KONOS - at least we would all be studying the same things right?  That was true but it ended up being a LOT of work for me as far as research.  Also, the jumping around in history drove me nuts.  It just didn't make sense to me.  Another down side was that the majority of the history was US history or major ancient history themes (egypt, knights, etc.)  A lot of connections were lost in this method.
A lot of other curriculums were tried in between the examples above and all have their pros and cons, but I am so thankful that the Lord led me to Tapestry.  It has everything I was looking for:  a curriculum that studies history chronologically, is from a christian worldview, has the family studying together, and uses living books and classics.  It even has lots of extra activities we can add in if we want to - such as ideas for projects, vocabulary, church history, timeline, and so much more.  And all the information and ideas I need to teach each week are all in one easy to use format.

I find that my boys learn so much more with this method of 
- interesting books
- chronological history, and
- family learning
so much better than dry text books!  When the whole family is learning together, my boys have that added support and motivation which is much more conducive to learning than just duplicating a typical class room - with typical school books.
Tapestry does have it's cons - it's size alone can seem overwhelming.  The author of Tapestry Marcia Sommerville (wife of HSLDA lawyer Scott Sommerville and mother of 6) explains that Tapestry is like a buffet where you pick and choose what you will use each week - just like a food buffet - you don't try everything!  Also, there is what they call the 4 week fog.  It really takes a while to get the hang of how this curriculum is best used.  I recommend that you get the free sample weeks that Tapestry offers.  Here are the links:
Go To Egypt  
Sail To The New World
I would also recommend that you get the free Explore Tapestry Packet.  It has more information in addition to a sample CD.  You can get it here:  Explore Tapestry Packet
Take your time and slowly look through the material.  Then spend time asking questions of current Tapestry users, and peruse the Tapestry forums.  I found that most Tapestry users are happy to talk about this curriculum, to share ideas and resources and answer any questions you may have.  I am not trying to say Tapestry is "the" best curriculum for everyone, or fits for everyone's homeschool, but for us, with Tapestry of Grace, I really feel like we are finally learning together - not just doing school!

I wanted to share with you all a neat online tool for scheduling and organizing school assignments.  It is called Pageflakes.  It is a webpage that you personalize with to-do lists, assignments, calendars, podcasts - all kinds of things. 
My main purpose for choosing to use this site is because I was looking for an easy way to consistently assign the websites and web courses that I want my high schooler to accomplish.  Initially, I intended to use this page only to organize his daily online links.  But, it worked out so well that I decided to add all of his assignments onto this page and have everything all in one place.
The site uses flakes (like widgets) which you add to your page.  Flakes can be pre-designed like the one below where the content changes every day:


Or, you can design your own flakes to meet your needs like the ones I did here:



Some of the neat flakes you can add are:
SAT word of the day
Dictionary word look up
Quote of the day
Art piece of the day
Local weather
Blog Feeds
Science podcasts
Sudoku games
And tons more!
You kind of have to "see" it to understand what I am talking about.  If you want to see a generic student page click here:
http://www.pageflakes.com/deefleming11/15295069
Or to see one I have personalized for my oldest teen, click here:
http://www.pageflakes.com/deefleming11/15212275
I have made my own page too and added weather forecasts, a flake that lists local events in my community, my favorite blog feeds, and sticky note reminders of things I need to remember.   Check it out if you get a chance and let me know what you think!  Dee

Our current event study this week will focus on the island of Cuba.  Cuba has been in the news quite frequently lately with it's recent leadership change and some policies and practices in the communist country have subsequently changed as well.  Microwaves and cell phones are now allowed on the island and even a TV channel with foreign content will soon be broadcasting.  I think it will be interesting to watch this small country in the months and years to come.   Here are some links to news stories on some of the recent changes.  I am going to read them with the boys and see where the discussion leads. 
Cell phones in Cuba
Cubans Struggle to Enjoy New Economic Freedoms

Cuba Giving Land to Private Farmers

Cuba to Open TV Channel with Foreign Content

Enjoy!  Dee

Martin Luther King Jr. felt poorly the night he delivered this speech, the last one of his life. The venue was a mass meeting held in the Bishop Charles Mason Temple Church of God. Andrew Young, who was with him at the time, said King initially decided not to speak at all that night. King and his small entourage - including Ralph Abernathy, Jesse Jackson, and Benjamin Hooks - had led a march that day protesting low pay for black garbage collectors in Memphis. A rainstorm was gathering. King decided he was too sick to preach. He asked his best friend, Abernathy, to speak instead. Once in the church, Abernathy felt King would have to speak to the crowd, so he phoned King and asked him to come down. Abernathy promised that he would still do the preaching; King would just have to say a few words. Abernathy spoke for more than half an hour, his words energizing the crowd. That called up the spirit in Reverend King, and he spoke that night without a single note in hand.

Enjoy!  Dee

I have a friend who when greeted with 'Hi, How are you?" responds:
I am blessed and highly favored!
I love this response!  Besides being far better than the usual "I'm fine", or "I'm good" (which isn't always true), responding with "I am blessed and highly favored" is an encouragement to everyone who hears it and if you think about it - it's always true.  We may not be walking in that truth that day, but the reminder is uplifting!   So I am going to try to enjoy each day remembering that I am a Blessed and Highly Favored Daughter of the King!

Welcome Home - Words and Music by Shaun Groves

Welcome to this heart of mine
I've buried under prideful vines
Grown to hide the mess I've made
Inside of me, come decorate, Lord

Open up the creaking door
And walk upon the dusty floor
Scrape away the guilty stains
Until no sin or shame remain

Spread Your love upon the walls
And occupy the empty halls
Until the man I am has faded
No more doors are barricaded

Chorus:
Come inside this
Heart of mine it's
Not my own
Make it home
Come and take this
Heart and make it
All Your own
Welcome home

Take a seat, pull up a chair
Forgive me for the disrepair
And the souvenirs from floor to ceiling
Gathered on my search for meaning
Every closet's filled with clutter
Messes yet to be discovered
I'm overwhelmed, I understand
I can't make this place all that You can

(Chorus)

I took the space that You placed in me
Redecorated in shades of greed
And I made sure every door stayed locked
Every window blocked, and still You knocked

(Chorus)

Take me, make me
All You want me to be
That's all I'm asking, all I'm asking