It's time once again for the dramatic musical to take place at our local body of worship. We've practiced and prepared for quite some time now. Our family is very involved in the musical. These musicals offer a unique avenue to reach out to the lost, but there is more than meets the eye. Being a part of the choir or becoming involved in any sort of ministry through your local church is very important for your growth as a Christian.
So many of us (Christians included) have misconceptions about what heaven will be like. We wrongly believe that when we arrive at the gates of heaven that there will be nothing more to do than float around on distant clouds and strum on a few harps, WRONG! But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed].
Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny].
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (Amplified Bible)
The Lord wants to reveal His heart and plans to us! Maybe not everything but certainly what we need to know along with those desires He places within us. We are servants to the Master and heaven will NOT be boring!! We will be busily working and serving our Lord AND each other! What better preparation than right here on this flawed earth! Our Lord gave His life to REDEEM that which had been lost! He has not tossed us aside! His plans are to save us. He could've wiped out everything and started over, but the Lord loved His original creation so much.
Involvement in the church prepares us for Heaven. We will not be idle and the work will not be drudgery, it will be our joy. Imagine for a moment, the temptations and trials that we experience upon this present earth, they will be done away with in Heaven and we will be free to SERVE and WORSHIP in a place where sin will exist NO MORE!!! In true love & harmony!
I've experienced many, many glimpses of a love that runs so deeply through the hearts as we fellowship with the choir at our local church. We see the love and life of our Savior Himself in the eyes of our brothers and sisters in Christ. As I grow in His grace, I crave this more and more and find I can't live without much of the time.
May many lives be touched for His glory through, not only our local Christmas musical. May you the reader be blessed the Christmas and may YOU have many quiet nights basking in the Love of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
We have been exceptionally busy this past month. The highlight was our trip to the Poconos at an outdoor retreat called Spuce Lake Science Camp. We have oodles of pictures that Annette will be sharing on her blog but for now I'm going to post 2 pictures. We spent 3 days and 2 nights and each day was filled with nature learning. Every lesson ended with scriptures and how to apply each lesson to our Christian walks. I will be sharing those lessons here on this blog so that I will not forget them.
Annette is getting ready to repel a cliff in the following picture. The lesson is designed to help the student take a step of faith out of their comfort zone.
Everything went smoothly. It was very easy and affordable to find and purchase the items for the recipe dd chose! She was not too happy about posing for the camera in front of((All Those People)) in the grocery store.......but she soon got over it because mom needs a picture and that's all there is to it! LOL She did a good job of taking her time and shopping wisely.
When we arrived home, dd found the cooking utensils, measured the ingredients, adjusted the flame on the stove and stirred occasionally until it was done. I am going to post all of the recipes and a summary when she has completed her assignment. I read in one of Cindy Rushton's books about starting a recipe notebook. This would probably be a good time to start. Nettie is in 9th grade and this isn't the first time she has tried her hand at a meal but it is a first for planning the meals, shopping and logging about it.
Overall, I say: {Job Well Done!} She is excited to do it all again tomorrow.....I can get used to this!!!
I am looking forward to today's lesson in Meal Preparations and Menu Planning! DD has been given the assignment to plan the dinner menus for the next 5 days. After successfully planning, shopping and preparing these dinners, she will plan the menus for "breakfast and lunch" again for 5 more days! She has made her selection from a cookbook we have in our home library entitled "The Busy People's Low-fat Cookbook" by Dawn Hall . I created a menu planning form, well, actually I re-created one. The original idea came from a book that we are using "Senior High -A Home Designed Form+U+La" You and your family will benefit from this book even if your children are still little. Many of the ideas can be implemented throughout any stage of learning.
The book is jam-packed full with Godly counsel, advice, educational ideas and many ways to incorporate "real-life-learning" into your homeschool. It's written by Barb Sheldon. If you want to take a peek at the form I (re-created), I made it available for you to download and use if you'd like. Just click on the picture you see on the left and it will open up in Word doc or you can "right click" and "save as". We are finishing up a few things around the house here and then it's OFF to the grocery store! If I have the chance, I will post some pictures of the (chef at work)!
If you have trouble viewing the word doc format you can download the form in pdf right here:DINNERPLANNER PDF
Hi Everyone! Been
busy getting caught up on things around the house but I thought enough
time has passed since I posted last so I thought I'd share some
pictures that dd recently snapped. She participated in a
photography class this year in co-op and we are also continuing with
photography lessons on our own. These pics are self explanatory.
I am planning to paint one or two of them.
In case you were wondering, this is "Babie Blue" and yes, she "is" a card!!!
We
have been putting our portfolio together. Here are some tips from
a website that you can use all year long. Whether or not your
state requires you to compile a portfolio, they provide a great
lifelong record of your child's learning and events that might
otherwise be forgetten. It will also stir your creative juices as you
and your children put it all together, this can be lots of fun.
Don't wait until the last minute though, that can take all of the joy
out of it. If you find the article below helpful, click on the
link for a more detailed look at each tip!
by Ellen L. Stanclift Compiling
your children’s portfolios does not have to be difficult, but it can be
time consuming. Here are some ways to stay on top of things, as well as
ways to put your own personal mark on these “end of year” collections: Begin organized and stay organized.
Keep a file for every subject area, for every child. You will find that
just having a folder into which your children can place their work will
save you hours of running around at the end of the year. Date all
completed worksheets and place them in the appropriate file
immediately. For books (like math consumables), you can date the
appropriate worksheet and leave it in the book, tearing out examples
when you put your portfolio together. Document everything you can.
Write a weekly log. Take lots of pictures!
Take photos of items too large to fit into the scrapbook. When in doubt, keep it!
It’s a good idea to keep all sketches, diagrams, spelling tests, maps,
current event projects, reports, handwriting samples, book reports,
creative writing examples, math worksheets & tests, foreign
language samples, ticket stubs to special events (such as museum trips,
theater events, etc.) and map & timeline projects. You can always
weed out later ! But by saving them in an organized, methodical way,
you will be able to pick and choose which samples you can best include. Give yourself plenty of time to sort and compile your portfolio.
Neatness does count! Don’t forget the basics.
Make sure your child’s name, address, phone number, age, grade and
other relevant information is right on the front of your portfolio. Have fun!
In conclusion, remember that your child’s portfolio is a memento that will record his homeschool journey.Ask yourself what meant the most to you this year and make sure all those events or projects are included. Look
at this book as your own keepsake, as well as the message you hope to
convey to your evaluators. Taking the extra time to make it special
will make it a treasure for you, but it will also help to give the best
window into your homeschool. Make sure that window is one you want
everyone to see! In doing so, you will provide yourself with a record
of a moment in time that will last a lifetime.
This
weekend we decided to go to the movies, something we hadn't done in a
long time due to the nature of the movies that have been created
lately. We were pleasantly surprised as we viewed Eight Below The
movie is rated PG but there was nothing objectionalable about it.
The language was clean and I even considered it an opportunity to learn
about the Anarctica and dog behavior. I cried several timesand
I don't cry easily at movies. If you're interested in a watching
a very good, heartwarming movie with your family, visit the official
website by following the link on either the picture or above and watch
a short trailer. I posted a movie synopsis under the
picture. Surprising, this is a Disney movie. I hope they
create more like this!
The
fierce Antarctic winter is just setting in when an intrepid team of
explorers and scientists on a research mission -- survival guide Jerry
Shepard (Paul Walker), his best friend and cartographer Cooper (Jason
Biggs) and the rugged geologist Davis (Bruce Greenwood) -- just
narrowly escape a fatal accident, thanks to their steadfast team of
eight skilled sled dogs. Forced to evacuate, the men must leave the
beloved dogs behind in the frozen wilds -- with a promise they will
return. But when the storm of the century approaches, cutting off all
means of travel, the dogs are stranded. Now, as the intelligent,
courageous dogs -- including noble pack leader Maya, rambunctious rebel
Shorty and rising young alpha-in-training Max -- fight to make it
through the most unforgiving winter on the planet, the heartbroken
Jerry is driven to mount a seemingly impossible rescue mission, aided
by a beautiful and adventurous bush pilot, Katie (Moon Bloodgood). Held
together only by unwavering bonds of friendship, the humans and the
dogs alike make a remarkable journey of grit, endurance and belief to
find one another again in this spectacular but perilous land. Credits
We
enjoyed a wonderful display created by various homeschoolers in our
co-op group. The children each chose a country to research and
create a display documenting everything that they learned. There
were approximately 15 countries on display, Ireland, Indonesia, Germany
and Madagascar to name a few.
Annette chose Italy. She asked her grandfather who is italian, to be a living model in herdisplay. He played the accordian!I
made a dutch oven filled with spaghetti. I had prepared two pounds of
pasta which I thought was "overdoing" it but everyone ate it up!
We had a very good time learning, eating and fellowshipping!
WhO SaiD LeaRniNg CaN't Be FuN??
Welcome to our homeschooling treasure trove of learning and ideas. This is our place to share some of the exciting things that we are doing and learning together in our family's homeschooling adventure. We are Christians, and our goal is to yield to our Heavenly Father's will. We hope to encourage others who may be considering homeschooling and help to dismiss some of the misconceptions they may have about living a life of learning!
But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed].
