Weekly Wrap-Up

From the Heart:  Funny how a simple question of “What would you like for Christmas?” brought me to wondering “Who am I?” and “What do I need/want?  My sister-in-law called me on this when my answer was things that others would benefit from or enjoy.  I began to cry as I truly did not realize how low on the priority scale I’ve allowed myself to become.  I know this has entered my life over time as the children came into the family and then we began homeschooling.  Overall I don’t believe putting effort into others is a bad thing, but it has become a “not so great” thing now that I see I’ve buried caring about myself so deeply.  Actions to change this will translate into the next section…..

With the Lord:  ….as I will be making this time a priority for me.  (As will that dust laden treadmill and basket of hand weights.)  We sang this song yesterday in worship and it has stuck with me so I’m using it as a way to praise God today.

“The Revelation Song” sung by Kari Jobe

Worthy is the,
Lamb who was slain
Holy, Holy, is He
Sing a new song, to Him who sits on
Heaven's Mercy Seat
[Repeat 2x]

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing:
Praise to the King of Kings!
You are my everything,
And I will adore You…!
Yeah!

Clothed in rainbows, of living color
Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and
Glory and power be
To You the Only Wise King,
Yeah

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come, yeah
With all creation I sing:
Praise to the King of Kings!
You are my everything,
And – I - will - adore You!
Yeah!

Filled with wonder,
Awestruck wonder
At the mention of Your Name
Jesus, Your Name is Power
Breath, and Living Water
Such a marvelous mystery
Yeah...

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come, yeah
With all creation I sing:
Praise to the King of Kings!
You are my everything,
And – I - will - adore You!

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come,
With all creation I sing:
Praise to the King of Kings!
You are my everything,
And – I - will - adore YOU…

Come up lift up His Name
To the King of Kings…
We will adore YOU Lord…
King of heaven and earth
King Jesus, King Jesus
Aleluya, aleluya, aleluya!
Majesty, awestruck Honor
And Power and Strength and Dominion
To You Lord,
To the King, to King
To the King of Glory


As a Family:  My first thought was our time together on the long Thanksgiving weekend.  We played “couch potatoes” together as we watched the Macy Parade and then an hour of the Eukanuba Dog Show.  Afterwards we all headed outside to put up the nativity scene and the last of the Christmas lights.  For dinner we headed to a friends home with a roasted turkey, stuffing and gravy in tow.  It was a very nice couple of hours.  The rest of the weekend we worked on getting the big Christmas tree up and decorated (took two days and two Christmas videos) and then did some more winterizing outside.  A very fun few days as a family!

In the Schoolroom:  Only three days spent in the schoolroom this past week and all lessons were accomplished without incident.  I could tell that Sweetie Boy was beginning to struggle with the reading again (currently trying Explode the Code with him) and I was able to go by the curriculum store in the neighboring town on Saturday and pick up the #1 and #2 books to use with him instead of # 2 ½.  Also bought set 2 of the Bob Books to make that easier as well.  Just don’t want him to hate reading!

God Gave Us... Review and Give-away!

 

Treasured Blog Tour

Moving Day

Grab a lamp and follow me on over to my new place!  

My blog is still called By Fidelity and Fortitude, but it has a new host site, WordPress.  I know I run the risk of losing a few of you along the way, but I hope you'll come on over.  Either click on the link here: http://byfidelityandfortitude.wordpress.com/ or copy that address and paste it into your browser. Easier than Mapquest!   

Weekly Homeschool Report--November 29, 2009

If you want to participate in this meme, please visit Carol at ThreeLittleLadies, and be sure to link your post to her Mr. Linky so that we can all see what life has in store for you.  

From where I sat this past week,

As an individual, I…

am thankful for the Lord’s deliverance from gluttony.   This week, I saw previews for a show on overeating called “Dying to Eat” or something like that, and given the upcoming holiday, I couldn’t help but reflect upon what Thanksgiving meant to us as kids.    Our family was huge, and each of the women—aunts and older cousins—brought 1 or more dishes to the family gathering.   You were expected to eat some of everything, no matter how full you were.   Food was so much more than food; seconds were a sign of love.    In addition, there were no restraints when it came to sweets, a personal favorite.   I can remember eating 2 or 3 slices of 2-3 desserts.   It is a wonder that, though there’s more of me to love than I can appreciate, I’ve never had to deal with high blood pressure or diabetes.   How the Lord must love me.   So, it was with that pride and sense of grace that I baked a chicken with crawfish dressing, but I also enjoyed greens, green beans, and carrots.   And, it felt good to eat that ice cream when I truly had allowed my food to digest and was ready for it.   Thank you, Lord, that I’m here and not passing the demons that kill us slowly on to our children.

I still don’t have it all together.   There were no workouts on last week, but I will hit the Wii Fit when I finish this write-up.

As a wife and homemaker, I…

spent much of my week preparing for Thanksgiving day.    There was the usual cooking and cleaning, but there was also recognition of the baton that has now been passed down.   I thought so much about the days when my mom and her sisters would prepare meals for 30+ people.   My husband’s family is much smaller, and I was able to prepare at least ½ of the meal, with my MIL bringing the other ½.   I can remember a time when no one expected anything of me at the Thanksgiving table except to eat.

As a mom and homeschooling parent, I…

am experiencing my first year with no homeschool burnout--HOORAY!!!!!!!!  Normally, November and December are tough months for me as the year begins to wear on me.    I always have that one subject where we’re woefully behind (this year it is science with the first grader), and the stress of the holidays begins to combine with the frustrations of not getting it all done; stir all of this in a pot together, and you get a miserable shell of a woman who was at one time called Belinda.

The oldest is performing well and preparing for her final science test for this semester.   She gets a six-week break from this class, giving us time to pray about how to move forward.   She agreed to let me finish the Iliad over the Christmas break, as I am now five weeks off the syllabus I compiled over the summer.    Thankfully, because these books are classics, there are many video/book on tape options that can give the content, and toward the year’s end, we will probably take advantage of them.   I can remember as a younger mom on our homeschool journey, I had real issues with reading abridged versions of books, or watching an occasional film of a book.    A more seasoned mom on this journey explained to me that most children in a regular school system only complete a fraction of their books each year, and that an occasional film wouldn’t take away from a rich education in literature.    Though it’s not me, there is even a course designed for high school literature geared toward the movie buff!   In any case, being able to insert an occasional film for the sake of time gave me an unmeasurable amount of freedom.

I was so blessed to hear from Karen on today, and one of the conversations we had was about kids developing enough maturity to “take off” in their learning and venture off into projects and studies that aren’t scripted in the lesson plan.   It occurs to me that if I wasn’t a lesson plan type of person, this might happen more frequently, but then all my hair would be gray and my fingernails would be nubs (LOL).   At any rate, our son is beginning to fill his time constructively.   Caring for a gecko, though a low maintenance project, is a lesson unto itself in both science and psychology!   After a diet of live baby crickets, he had to care for that gecko much like a mother cares for an infant, poop, spit-up, and all.   We’re trying new authors to encourage his love of mysteries, and he’s bought into the reading journal idea for capturing some of his thoughts and interests.

I am definitely in a high teacher involvement/ low planning mode with the youngest.    I am unintentionally, but decidedly, headed down the path of having to fix what I broke.   She has fallen into a habit of waking up early, getting a little milk in her belly, and then falling back asleep until later in the morning.    I’ve used this time to catch up on things that either didn’t happen the night before, or need to happen today.   The end result is that my early bird is developing late morning tendencies, and though I’m watching it happen, I am not correcting my own habits to do something about it.    Perhaps after the holiday break I’ll begin again on a fresh note.   She has become my finest Bible scholar, once she quit letting being at the “big kid” table intimidate her.   When I ask the question, “What is the Lord saying to us today,” she is always first with her hand, and can actually give wonderful responses to the Word of God.    I think the older two feel a bit embarrassed that she can give such eloquent answers to scripture while they take for granted that because they’re older, they should automatically out-do her.   With her own self confidence increasing, she moved herself to their table—much to their chagrin.   The youngest is very musical, so the pencil has to have a beat while she’s writing, and there’s usually a made-up tune to accompany the drum.  The oldest, who thinks the birds outside are sometimes too loud, is going bananas.  At least until someone grows weary of someone else, our elementary school, aka the kitchen table, is temporarily closed, and all three kids are seated at our front table.  

As a business owner, I…

am in a brief hold on my editing while I wait for books to arrive.   I hope to finish the first in the two-part elementary series by the year’s end.

May the Lord bless your week as well.

Things I'm Thankful for . . .

Terror by Night & Blind Sight by James Pence

James H. Pence

Celebrating Hanukkah Today

Each night of Hanukkah includes the lighting of candles, the reading of blessings, gift giving, special foods and game called dreidel. There are also many songs and readings from ancient books in some homes. This year (2009) Hanukkah begins at sunset on Friday December 11th. Let’s take a look at some of the most common elements of the modern day festival!

CANDLES: the chanukiyah (Hahn-uh-key-uh) is a candle holder or menorah with nine branches. Each night of the Festival, at sunset, the candles are lit for that evening with one more candle lit each night to symbolize increasing joy!
First the shamash or servant candle is lit. The shamash is the taller center candle. I love the imagery of the central “servant” candle “bowing” in order to bring light to the other candles. It reminds me of two passages of Scripture:
In Mark 9 we read of a time when the disciples were having a dispute over which one of them would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God. Jesus answered their question in verse 35 with these words:

Mark 9:35
35And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

 

Jesus was telling them to be like Him! In Philippians 2 we read:

Philippians 2: 5-11
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

 

A FUN ACTIVITY:
My mom told me about this fun and easy craft recipe that can be used to represent a Hanukkah candle:

CANDLE “SALAD”
1 pineapple ring
1 banana
1 orange or red gumdrop or a slice of strawberry
Cut off both ends of the banana and place it into the pineapple ring to represent a candle in a candle holder. Top with the gumdrop or strawberry to “light” your candle! Enjoy!

 

BLESSINGS: Each night after the shamash is lit, two blessings are spoken. On the first night, one additional blessing is read. This is traditionally done in Hebrew and is often followed by the English translations.

GIFTS: This is a newer addition to Hanukkah that began as rewards for children who could answer questions on the history of the holiday!
Gift-rewards were originally known as gelt. It became a tradition to give eight small gifts… one for each day of Hanukkah. Since Hanukkah is around the same time as Christmas it led to this tradition becoming more prominent and popular, especially for families with young children.

Gift ideas:
For young children: Small books, little toys, match box cars, hair ties, and maybe even a baked treat or candy
For older children: Hand lotion, craft supplies, smaller hobby items, tools, journals or handmade gifts
For young adults and adults: Items to save for their own Hanukkah traditions such as a nice menorah/chanukiyah, olive wood dreidel or other items from The Holy Land

 

FOOD: It is said that many of the traditional feast items are fried because of the miracle of the oil. We have not tried any of these recipes yet, but if we try them we will work on making them healthier by baking or at least frying in the better, high-heat stable oils like coconut oil.

Latkes: some recipes call for white potatoes, but I have also seen some with sweet potatoes. That sounds like it has even more potential to be a little healthier! Potato Pancakes from foodfit.com

 

3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
1 medium onion
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup egg substitute, or 2 whole eggs plus 4 whites
salt
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil spray (or 2 tablespoons olive oil)

Serve with:
non fat or low fat sour cream
applesauce

1. Preheat a non-stick electric griddle to 450°F.
2. Peel the potatoes and onion and coarsely grate in a food processor fitted with a shredding disk, or on a box grater. Grab handfuls of the grated vegetables and squeeze tightly between your fingers to wring out as much liquid as possible.
3. Transfer the grated vegetables to a mixing bowl and stir in the flour, baking powder, egg substitute and a pinch of salt and pepper. (The potato pancakes should be highly seasoned.)
4. Spray the hot griddle with oil (or drizzle the oil on it and spread with a wooden spoon.) Spoon small mounds of potato mixture onto the baking sheet to form 3-inch pancakes, leaving 1 inch between each. Fry the pancakes on the griddle until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes per side, turning once with a spatula.
5. Transfer to plates or a platter and serve immediately with sour cream and/or applesauce.
Serving Size: 3 potato pancakes

Baked Soufganiyot: Baked Soufganiyot–Low Fat Israeli Hanukkah Jelly Doughnuts. Doughnuts is a lower fat recipe from foodfit.com

1 package dry yeast (1 scant tablespoon)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup lukewarm water
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (approximately)
1 cup lukewarm skim milk
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
pinch of salt
grated zest of one lemon
3 tablespoons reduced fat butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup apricot jam (approximately)
confectioner’s or granulated sugar for rolling

1. Dissolve the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in the water.
2. Put the flour in the bowl of a food processor equipped with a steel blade. Add the dissolved yeast, milk, egg, egg yolk, salt, lemon zest and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Process until blended. Add the butter and process until the dough becomes sticky yet elastic.
3. Remove the dough to a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for at least an hour. If you want to prepare the dough in advance, place it in the refrigerator overnight, then let it warm to room temperature before rolling and cutting.
4. Grease 2 cookie sheets. Dust a pastry board with flour. Roll the dough out to a 1/2-inch thickness. Using the top of a glass as a cutter, cut into rounds about 2-inches in diameter and roll these into balls. Place the balls about 1 to 1 1/2-inches apart on the greased cookie sheets. Cover and let rise 30 minutes more.
5. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake the doughnuts for 12 to 15 minutes or until they’re golden. Remove from the oven and let cool.
6. Soften the jam in a food processor. Using an injector (available at cooking stores), insert a teaspoon of jam into each doughnut. Roll the soufganiyot in confectioner’s or granulated sugar and serve immediately.
Serving Size: 1 doughnut

DREIDEL: this game is a favorite with my children ever since they received an olive wood dreidel as a gift!
The driedel is like a little four-sided top. Each of the four sides has a Hebrew letter. The letters are the initial letters of a sentence: “A great miracle happened there!” The game is played with coins, candy or other small tokens and each letter/side rolled represents an action:

Nun=take nothing
Gimel=take all
Heh=take half
Shin=put in

 

At the start of the game, each child has an equal portion of items and the remainder is place in the center. We play for a certain length of time (usually 30 minutes or so) and rather than allowing the children to keep all they have at the end we play with chocolate coins and allow each child to eat one and the “winner” to eat two!

Whatever YOUR family does this year, may your lives be filled with the Light of Christ. May you do ALL to His glory. May you stand for what you believe in and rededicate your life to shining God’s light into this dark and lost world. We know that our salvation is not based on our works, but on the work of Christ on the cross, but may be show our love and thanks to Jesus by acting in a way that will bring others to a saving knowledge of The Messiah now at the end of 2008 and as so long as we may be given grace to live in this world, but NOT of it!

Matthew 5:16
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

 

Hanukkah: The Festival of Lights

Hanukkah began nearly 2300 years ago and is rich in history and tradition. Unlike most other Jewish Festivals, Hanukkah is what is called a Post-Mosaic (After Moses) Holiday. This festival was not commanded by God nor was it instituted by God. However, it is LIKE other Jewish Festivals in several ways:

THE PAST: Hanukkah reflects upon remembrances of the past and shows us God’s provident hand upon His people!

The Greek culture that ruled much of the Middle Eastern world over 2,000 years ago had much to offer. It brought the world beauty in the form of architecture, fashion and art. It brought intellectual “wisdom” in the form of philosophy, language and mathematical discoveries. It brought entertainment in the form of sporting events and leisure that was previously mostly unknown. To much of the world there seemed to be no harm in indulging in the subtle blending of these styles with their own. This became known as Hellenism named for the Greek word for Greece, Hellas.

In Judea, however, the Jews lived by another standard. They followed a God-given law, The Torah. They were allowed to live in the way they saw fit until the Syrian King, Antiochus Epiphanes, came into power in 175 B. C. He insisted on full immersion in the Hellenistic life-style to the exclusion of all else. Under his tyrannical rule, anyone who even owned a Torah was in mortal danger. The King’s abusive acts went from the arrogant to the ultimately offensive. He minted coins with his image alongside that of Zeus proclaiming himself to be “god manifest”. He sullied the Jews temple by sacrificing pigs on the altar (an extreme insult to the kosher system under The Torah) and he even killed a priest named Elazar for NOT participating in this mockery.
Finally, an old Jewish priest named Mattathias was troubled enough to stand up for his beliefs. He would not abandon his religion and would not convert to the pagan practices that had so blended with their lives that the lines were no longer simply blurred, but were all but erased! Mattathias and his sons gathered up an army of farmers and craftsmen and they trained themselves to fight against the Syrians. Years of battles passed and when Mattathias was too old to lead any longer he appointed his son, Judah to take over for him.
Judah was a man of decisive force and had earned himself the nickname “hammer” or Maccabee. His followers soon after came to be known as The Maccabees. It took several more years, but this band of men had something going for them the Syrians did not have. The Syrian’s motivation was based on money, power and fear of the King. The Maccabees’ motivation came from determination to do what was right, regaining their freedoms and fear of the TRUE King! Through clever strategies, integrity and strength of character the Maccabees eventually were able to defeat the armies of their enemies and emerged victorious!

The people of Judah were triumphant, but were also devastated at the condition of their temple. It was littered with statues of false gods and almost every item that should have been consecrated unto The Holy God had been misused and abused. They set to work restoring the temple to its former glory. They built a new altar, removed the defiled stones, cleansed the sanctuary and finally in the year 164 B.C. on Kislev the 25th they were ready to rededicate their temple. In fact, the word Hanukkah means “dedicate”.
Legend holds that there was an additional event that increased the joy of the people during the ensuing celebrations. As they prepared to light the Ner Tamid, or the Eternal Light, they found they only had enough untainted oil to burn for one day. It would take a full week to make more, but miraculously the limited supply of oil lasted for EIGHT days the duration of the entire festival!

THE PRESENT: Hanukkah gives us a firm focus for the present and opportunities to apply the lessons learned to our situation today!

We can learn many applicable lessons from Hanukkah and its traditions! We, like the Jews of that day, can stand for what we believe in, cleanse from our lives the world’s culture and pagan practices, and rededicate our lives to living a life that shines Light to the World! In their joy, the people worshipped God with gratitude and set aside a time of full devotion to honor God and celebrate the restoration of their freedom. They were once again able to obey God openly and were no longer under the oppression of their enemies. They decorated the temple, prepared a feast and offered the sacrifices required by God upon the newly constructed altar.

We can apply this in many ways, such as dressing in a way that is modest, giving of our time and talents to worthy causes and sacrificing of ourselves to be a blessing to God and to shine HIS Eternal Light to a lost and dying world! Think of that from which we have been delivered and worship God with a heart full of thankfulness. Let that heart of gratefulness transform your entire life. Make time to whole-heartedly glorify God as you thank Him for the liberty that we have in Him!

THE FUTURE: Hanukkah points us to the future and our hope in Jesus Christ!
At the time, Jesus had not yet been born. Even so, I can see the possibility, as with other Biblical Jewish holidays that many of the elements of Hanukkah point to the truths of our Savior! We may even be able to learn some truths from the words Jesus spoke in the temple during Hanukkah in AD 29. Just prior to the festival he spoke about being the Good Shepherd. This may have been an allusion that the Jews would have understood as a Messianic claim! Then, we read in John chapter 10:

John 10:22-42
22And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
23And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
24Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
26But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30I and my Father are one.
31Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
33The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
34Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
37If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
38But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
39Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
40And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.
41And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true.
42And many believed on him there.

 

In an article by Gordon Franz, he points out that when Jesus was asked:
“point blank, “Are you the Messiah?” (10:24). Jesus had to be careful how He answered that question. During the festival, throngs of Jews caught up in the nationalistic fever, were visiting Jerusalem. The word “Messiah” might spark off riots because of its heavy nationalistic and political overtones…Jesus does, however, answer the question in the affirmative, but not directly. When He answers, He is careful not to use the contemporary term and understanding… He says “I and my Father are one’” (10:30). That statement had heavy religious overtones for the festival which they were presently celebrating. Those gathered on the Temple Mount recalled the events nearly 200 years before on the very mount where, Antiochus IV, a mere man, proclaimed himself god. Jesus, the LORD manifest in human flesh, made the same claim but His claim was true. The Jews picked up stones to stone Him for blasphemy because, in their thinking, He was a man who made Himself God (10:31-33). Jesus declared that He was the fulfillment of Hanukkah by saying the Father “sanctified” the Son of God and sent Him into the world (10:34-36), The Father was in Him and He in the Father (10:38). If the Greek word “sanctified” was translated into Hebrew, it would be “dedication” or Hanukkah.”

In the same article, Gordon Franz goes on to say:
“John wrote his gospel primarily to a Jewish and Samaritan audience, One of the unique things about John’s gospel is his emphasis on the Jewish and Samaritan festivals and his indication that Jesus was the fulfillment of these holidays. Hanukkah was the rededication of a defiled Temple. At the beginning of Jesus public ministry, He said, “‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then the Jews said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking of the temple of His body” (2:19-21) Herod’ s Temple had been defiled by a wicked and corrupt priesthood. The Lord Jesus was “sanctified” by His death, burial and resurrection and is the New Temple.”

I pray that whether or not you celebrate Hanukkah that you WILL Celebrate the Light of the World without whom we would be in bondage and in a hopelessly lost condition.. I pray, also, that you will take the advice that the apostle Paul offered in Philippians chapter 2:

Philippians 2:14-18
14Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
16Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
17Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
18For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.

 

Give Thanks To The Lord