Voice of the Martyrs web-site says that over 500,000 of these have been ordered!!! Even the President has one. Praise the Lord!  

As you are watching the Olympics (and do watch it because this is a history in the making - weren’t the opening ceremonies amazing!), please remember that Christians in China are being persecuted every day and that to be a Christian in China is very dangerous. Please keep these precious men and women (and children) in your prayers.

Btw, these bracelets are a great way to involve your children in praying for missionaries – but even if you don’t have the prayer bands at least turn on the Olympics now and then and take the opportunity to involve your children in history and tell them that outside the doors of the beautiful, magnificent Olympic complex there are many brave godly men and women who risk their lives daily for the sake of the gospel. And pray that the message that these saints strive daily to share – in a language that is often completely foreign (and very difficult to learn) to them - is received and that many, many, many will turn to Christ.

Here is my daily schedule by half hour (actually this is my Monday schedule - there are a few variations day to day due to piano lessons, errands, homeschool functions and certain subjects - see previous schedule - that are only taught once or twice a week and are or are not mother guided).

When I create my schedule I start with Ben’s schedule and then plug in everything else I need to do around the times he eats, sleeps and naps.

Fall 2008 (or until Ben’s schedule changes)**

Morning

5-5:30 a.m. Nurse Ben (Other kids sleep; Ben goes right back to bed after nursing)

6:00  Quiet Time

7:00   Kids* up – they have their personal devotions and eat breakfast. Nurse Ben/Ben up

7:30-8:30 Dress/Chores/Kids start chores

8:30-9:30 Start Family Work:  Bible, Devotion, History, Scripture Memory, Catechism, Proverbs, Hymn Study (Tues. /Thurs. – Science; Tues. – review the Lord’s Prayer; Thurs. – Music); Ben goes down for a nap at 8:30            

9:30  Break

9:45-10:30  Math, Language Arts w/Caleb; Other kids work independently; Ben naps; Bess joins Caleb and or plays alone.

10:30-11:00 Math w/Beth; Aaron - typing or independent work; Bess and Caleb play.

11:00  Nurse Ben; Family Work – literature, Shakespeare (read)

11:30-12:00  Language Arts w/ Bethany; Aaron - free or finishes other work; Caleb – computer; Bess – Free

Afternoon

12:00-12:30 Logic, Language Arts, Math w/Aaron; Beth – independent work; Caleb reads to Ben and Bess

12:30-1:00  Lunch/ Afternoon chores

1:00   Afternoon Chores/free; Bess and Ben nap; others rest or independent work

1:30  Elocution, Latin w/Aaron; Bethany – keyboard; others nap/rest

2:00  Free or w/Beth if necessary; Aaron keyboard; others free or sleep

2:30  Afternoon Chores/Free; Kids free

Late Afternoon

3:00  Nurse Ben; Other kids have a snack/free

3:30  Preschool w/Bess; kids free

4:00  Bathe Ben; kids do afternoon chores

4:30  Start Dinner; Put Ben down for a short nap; Kids free

Evening

5:00  Prepare Dinner; Get Ben up; Kids take turns being Dinner Helpers

5:30  Bathe Bess; Kids free

6:00 Baths; Eat Dinner

6:30  Family Worship

7:00  Nurse Ben and put down for the night; Kids with Dad

7:30  Baths (if not taken earlier); Dinner clean-up; Free

Night

8:00  Kids Bedtime – brush teeth, bible readings, etc. ; Mark works

8:30  Mark works; I prep for next day/clean; children sleep

9:00  Evening chores or free; children sleep

9:30  W/Mark; Kids sleep

10:00  Watch news/Bedtime; Nurse Ben if necessary (no wake-time); kids sleep

10:30 Sleep

* *This schedule is a tool. It has been made to guide me through my day not dictate my day.

* Kids refers to older children excluding Ben

Here it is - our Fall 2008-2009 Weekly Schedule by subject:

Fall 2008 Weekly Schedule

		Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Family Work (All years)	Bible Devotion History Scripture Memory Catechism Literature Hymn Study Proverbs		Bible Devotion History Scripture Memory Catechism Literature Science Review the Lord’s Prayer Proverbs	Bible Devotion History Scripture Memory Catechism Literature Proverbs Picture Study Music-car	Bible Devotion History History Pockets Scripture Memory Catechism Poetry Shakespeare Science Music Proverbs	Bible Devotions History Scripture Memory Catechism Literature Music - read History Read-aloud Walk Proverbs (notebook)
Independent or Mother Guided-Work
Preschool Elisabeth		Literature Coloring Lacing Workbook	Literature Play-dough Workbook	Literature Blocks Workbook	Literature Gluing Workbook
Year K/1 Caleb		Devotion Chores/Habit Training Math Grammar Phonics Reading Spelling Writing/Copywork	Devotion Chores Math Grammar Phonics Reading Writing	Devotion Chores/Habit Training Math Grammar Phonics Reading Spelling Copywork	Devotion Chores Math Grammar Phonics Reading Writing	Devotion Chores Reading Copywork/Writing Drawing Personal Development *
Year 3  Bethany		Devotion Chores Math Spelling Grammar Horizons Reading Writing Copywork Keyboard	Devotion Chores Math Spelling Grammar Horizons Elocution Writing Keyboard	Devotion Chores Math Spelling Grammar Horizons Reading Writing Copywork Keyboard	Devotion Chores Math Spelling Grammar Horizons Elocution Writing Keyboard	Devotion Chores Fun Math Grammar Reading Personal Development * Keyboard
Year 5 Aaron		Devotion/journal Chores Logic Math Spelling Grammar Writing Elocution Typing Latin Keyboard	Devotion Chores Math Spelling Grammar Reading Writing Dictation Typing Spanish Keyboard	Devotion Chores Math Spelling Grammar Writing Logic Elocution Typing Latin Keyboard	Devotion Chores Math Spelling Grammar Reading Writing Dictation Typing Spanish Keyboard	Devotion Chores Math Spelling Grammar Logic Letters to Family/friends Elocution Personal Development* Keyboard

 *Music – done in the car on Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays when necessary

*Thursday – run errands/ministry

*Bethany and Aaron - Piano Lessons – Wednesday and possibly Friday

 *Personal Development/Good Citizenship

To make what Spurgeon has written a little easier to understand and follow I’m going to break the devotion down and number the points. Hopefully this will make what he has to say a little easier to understand and apply. (Note: Again, Spurgeon does not number his points. I am taking liberties and doing this for the sake of clarity. This is exactly what my morning journal entry looked like.)

What is Everlasting consolation? (2 Thessalonians 2:16)

1.  It includes a sense of pardon from sin.  A Christian has received in his heart the witness of the Spirit that his iniquities are “blotted out…as a cloud” and his transgressions “as a thick cloud” (Isa. 44:22).

2.  The Lord gives His people an abiding sense of acceptance in Christ.  The Christian knows that God looks upon him as standing in union with Jesus.  (In sickness and even in death we have this consolation.)

3.  The Christian has a conviction of his security.  God has promised to save those who trust in Christ.

“The Christian does trust in Christ.  He believes that God will be as good as His Word and will save him.  He believes that he is safe by virtue of his being bound up with the person and work of Jesus.”

-Charles H. Spurgeon

I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. –Isaiah 45:22

If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

                                           –John 8:31-32, 36

24 Liberating Truths for Today's Woman from Revive Our Hearts

More wonderful printable downloads from Revive Our Hearts

It is as if the Holy Spirit reproduces Jesus’ death and resurrection in our lives when we believe in Christ.  We become so unresponsive to the pressures, demands and attractions of our previous, sinful way of life, that Paul can say we are “dead” to those influences, because we have died with Christ (Rom. 7:6; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; 6:14; Col. 2:20).  On the other hand, we find ourselves wanting to serve God much more, and able to serve him with greater power and success, so much so that Paul says we are “alive” to God, because we have been raised up with Christ:  “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).  “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom.  6:11; see also 1 Peter 1:3; 2:24).  Because we died and rose with Christ, we have power to overcome personal sin more and more (Rom. 6:12-14, 19); we have come to “fullness of life” in Christ (Col.  2:10-13); in fact, we have become a “new creation in him (2 Cor. 5:17, with vv. 14-15), and should therefore set our minds on things that are above, where Christ is (Col. 3:1-3).

And

“He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit” (John 15:5).  It is not only true that we are in Christ; he is also in us, to give us power to live the Christian life.  “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).

And

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ,” writes Paul (1 Cor.  11:1).   John reminds us, “He who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6).  So union with Christ implies that we should imitate Christ.  Our lives ought so to reflect what his life was like that we bring honor to him in everything we do (Phil. 1:20). Thus, the New Testament pictures the Christian life as one of striving to imitate Christ in all our actions. (sic)… in imitating him we are becoming more and more like him:  when we act like Christ we become like Christ.  We grow up into maturity in Christ (Eph. 4:13, 15) as we are “being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18).  The final result is that we shall become perfectly like Christ, for God has predestined us “to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 15:49), and “When he appears, we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2).  When this happens, Christ will be fully glorified in us (2 Thess.  1:10-12; John 17:10).

– all of the above can be found in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology chapter 43 entitled Union With Christ.

1.  Elisabeth’s favorite movie is “Because of Winn-Dixie”.  She is two. I know! You too have a bewildered look on your face. It’s beyond my understanding as well. I guess this is what happens when one has three older siblings…Veggie Tales goes out the window and movies like Cats and Dogs and Because of Winn-Dixie become their favorites.  (And I know, you are thinking “What a horrible mom she is for letting her two year old baby watch a big kid show. I know. I agree. But at least they sing a few hymns in the movie.)

2.  About my photos…have you been wondering what happened to them? Well, maybe not…but I’m going to tell you…Shutterfly changed formats! Did you know? You too huh?  You have my sympathies. Almost all of my pictures were attached via Shutterfly and now with their new format (the white background thingy) all my pictures are a mess.  I wish they would return to the old way of doing things or tell me how to fix this problem cause now my blog looks…not so good. And in order to add pictures I have to use Photobucket. Which is fine, except that all my pictures are already on Shutterfly.

3.  The podcasts disappeared. Yes, I know…and you were waiting with baited breath for the next installment…so sorry. No, Mark didn’t stop teaching, I stopped posting. Here is my lame excuse…first there were technical difficulties, then Mark had a week off, then I just didn’t catch up and post and, well that’s it… I’ve decided that I probably won’t post them unless someone is just dying to hear them.  (Sorry, Hon.)

4.  This has been my teacher in-service week (still in progress). This means, yep, you guessed it, school starts next week. So my next post will be something to do with scheduling…probably Ben’s schedule.

5.  If you are looking for some neat organizational tools to help you get a grip on your out of control life check out www.getbuttonedup.com. I bought the Nothingelse.pad and the Shopping.pad and I love them. And yes, you can buy them at Target. (Wahoo!)

6.  Bess (Elisabeth) is watching “Because of Winn-Dixie” right now and they are singing “Glory, glory, hallelujah…since I lay my burden down…”  I love that!  Don’t we all need to lay our burdens down. Hand them over to the Lord and let Him carry them.

GLORY, GLORY (HALLELUJAH) (SINCE I LAID MY BURDEN DOWN)
Traditional Negro Spiritual

REFRAIN:
Glory, glory, hallelujah
Since I lay my burden down
Glory, glory, hallelujah
Since I lay my burden down
Glory, glory, hallelujah
Since I lay my burden down
Glory, glory, hallelujah
Since I lay my burden down

All my sickness will be over
When I lay my burden down
All my sickness will be over
When I lay my burden down

All my troubles will be over
When I lay my burden down
All my troubles will be over
When I lay my burden down

Lord, I'm feeling so much better
Since I lay my burden down
Lord, I'm feeling so much better
Since I lay my burden down

Amen.

Squabble? What an odd word. But it happens. Daily it seems. (Sigh) It takes so much energy to deal with - wasted energy. I hate squabbles. Our homes should be peaceful havens…squabbles should be few and far between and quickly dispensed with. Right?

So how do I respond when the children come to me upset over this or that offense? I tell them to “work it out”. I don’t want to be a part of it. If I become a part of it, they both (all) lose. I take the toy, or turn off the show or end whatever game they are playing. This has been my strategy for years now…but as the children have grown and started to reason this strategy is not enough and I find myself embroiled in their squabbles – much to my dismay. So you can imagine how thankful I was when this morning I found this link to this wonderful advice on how to deal with squabbles in my inbox. Thanks so much to Spunky and her wisdom. This is truly Titus 2 in action. (Hat tip to the Homeschool Minute- sorry I don't know how to link to you.)

Just in case you are not familiar with the term (and because I love to look up words even when I know their meaning)…

Squabble - (intransitive verb) argue noisily over something unimportant, to have a petty argument over a trivial matter. (Encarta)

Squabble – (noun) petty loud argument; a noisy argument over a petty matter. (Encarta)

Note the word “petty”. As I was reading through Spunky’s tips I couldn’t help but think about how often we  – Christian adults – get into petty, maybe not loud, noisy arguments, but unimportant, unnecessary arguments none-the-less with each other.  Especially at church…over theology, over child rearing, over how things should be done, over whether or not to homeschool…sigh…

It’s heartbreaking really. How much better if we would just follow #1 or  #2 on Spunky’s list and take our offenses to the Lord first. Maybe if we did that they would cease to offend us quite so much.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! Psalm 133:1