Another Great Freebie from the Old Schoolhouse! - Nov. 5, 2009
Posted in Managing My Home
Have you downloaded your free holiday e-book from The Old Schoolhouse? What are you waiting for? Just click on the graphic below and check out this fun freebie!
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Weekly Wrap Up - Oct. 26, 2009
Posted in Weekly Wrap Up
I am reading in John again. I had to stop for a little while and turn to Genesis. Why? Paradise Lost, that’s why. I had to read Paradise Lost in my British Literature class. For anyone who has never read Paradise Lost before, let me explain a little bit about it, and you’ll understand why I just spent several weeks intensely exploring the first three chapters of Genesis. Paradise Lost is an epic poem about Satan’s rebellion in Heaven, creation, and the fall of mankind in
On the Homefront
Home has been a bit chaotic these past couple of weeks. A full schedule is nothing new around here, but we just can’t seem to settle into a rhythm. Hopefully, with things like a vacation, a birthday, and an anniversary behind us, we can finally get more comfortable with our schedule.
Also, on the homefront, I found and amazing price on apples and canned Apple Butter and Apple Sauce. I didn’t have a food mill, so the first batch of Apple Butter was a bit challenging. I put the cooked apples into a colander and simulated a food mill by pressing the apples through the holes with the back of a ladle. It worked out fairly well except I got tired pretty quickly. That’s when my hubby rescued me and finished that first batch. However, when I came home with twenty more pounds of apples, he bought me a food mill that I absolutely love! By the way, if you do make Apple Butter this year, beware! The smell of apples simmering with all those spices just might have you thinking about Christmas. I’ve been listening to Christmas music ever since!!
Oh, and I went to
In the Schoolroom
School is doing surprising well in spite of our schedule. Jared is really enjoying his weekly hands-on projects from Christian Kids Explore Chemistry and reading My Side of the Mountain for Total Language Plus. Sequential Spelling and daily dictation are really helping his spelling issues. Unfortunately, math hasn’t been much fun lately. Jared’s at a point where math is just practice and drills. He still won’t commit basic math facts to memory, and until he does we have to spend time drilling every day. It’s really just the nature of how Jared learns certain things. He simply needs to review it often before he can remember it. We’ll just keep plugging along.
Colleen is keeping up with her work load pretty well, although she did slack off a bit in Spanish 2 this past week. Oh, and she’ll get to read excerpts from Paradise Lost soon. I can’t wait to hear how much she “loves” it! She just finished Beowulf and was less than thrilled, so
On the Exercise Mat
We finally built a gas-free day into our week by riding our bikes to choir and drama classes. Between the heat and the spread out schedule, I just couldn’t find a weekday that I didn’t have to drive somewhere. Thankfully, the temperature had finally dropped below ninety, and we can ride in the afternoons again. I’ve also been using the treadmill a couple days of week in order to keep up on my reading for school. Unfortunately, I have, once again, let my strength training lapse. Time to unbury those dumbbells…again.
From the Library
School, school, and more school has taken up most of my recreational reading time. My literature class requires reading about sixty pages each week, and my environment class requires a book read every other week. Now, add in all the reading I need t do just to keep up with the kids’ schooling, and I’m full! Although, I have been getting a lot of cookbooks out from the library. Does that count?
On the Creative Side
Right now I’m working on the baskets we give to our friends each Christmas. I’ve been canning a variety of jams, jellies, and butters to put in the basket. This year, I’ll be adding an ornament of some kind. So far, I’ve found a crocheted snowflake and a quilled snowflake that I like. I’ve managed to work on these a little at a time while I watch different movies and videos for school. I hope to get the sewing room cleaned up this week so I can get a few more larger projects done. It seems someone in my home likes to dump big boxes of stuff in the sewing room so they don’t have to be seen or dealt with. Time to haul them up the attic!
In the Garden
The fall garden is coming up nicely! Hubby built an amazing drip irrigation system to keep those extra thirsty plants well-watered without drowning those that don’t need quite so much water. I do love my mornings in the garden suckering the tomatoes; thinning the turnips, carrots, and beets; weeding the broccoli, cauliflower, and corn. What a way to wake up each day!
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Work With What You Have - Oct. 23, 2009
Posted in Inspirations
Have you ever wanted to do something but thought you lacked the tools? Happens to me all the time. I see a project I want to attempt, but then I realize I don’t have exactly the right tools to do the job perfectly as described by the instructions, and since we’re basically poor, I usually can’t purchase the missing items. The idea then gets abandoned, and I move on to something else. Now, abandoning the inconsequential I-just-want-do-this-‘cause-it-looks-like-fun project is probably the best choice anyway, but what about the God-wants-me-to-do-this project? You know the ones I mean. The Bible study God wants you to host, but you won’t because you can’t afford a bigger coffee pot, or your table’s too small. Or the church construction project that needs extra hands, but you just don’t own the “right” tools so you don’t get involved. Or the homeless people we all should be helping, but the budget is so tight that we just don’t feel we have the money. It’s so much easier to let these obstacles stop us instead of having to spend the time and energy finding a solution. I should know. I do it all the time. “There’s no time on our already packed schedule to volunteer for this, and no money to give for that,” I think as I peruse the church bulletin. By the time I’m done, I’ve this’d and that’d myself out of doing anything productive! However, I came across a very interesting story in the Bible this week that helped me put things in a little better perspective.
1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
6Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7"Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. (John 9:1-7)
While this is a wonderful and touching story of how Jesus heals us from our blindness, there’s a part here that I overlooked very time I’ve read the story. I think I overlooked it because it kind of grosses me out. Jesus spit in the dirt, made a little mud, and put it on the man’s eyes. Yes, there a small, girlie part of me that can’t help but say, “Ew!” However, that reaction had me missing a very important part of the story. Jesus worked with what he had on hand. He didn’t look at the man and say, “Hang on while I get my degree in ophthalmology.” He didn’t create an elaborate plan and make endless lists of things he couldn’t get anyway. No, he worked with what was available. He made things happen with what he had on hand. Let’s face it. That’s what he always did. His preaching wasn’t hindered because his outfit might not look good on the internet, or he didn’t have just the right graphics for his PowerPoint. He preached on the side of a mountain and made miracles out of mud.
I think we spend too much time worrying about having just the “right” tools before we’re willing to do what he’s called us to do. Even a tight budget can purchase a single can of vegetables for the food pantry or maybe even a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches handed to the homeless people who have been reduced to begging on the street corner. And God already gave you the most useful tools you will ever need: your hands. As for that Bible study, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised that God will only send the number of people that your space and your coffee pot can handle. So, what has he called you to do that you’ve avoided because you don’t think you’re equipped enough?
Thanks for stopping by.
Betty
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
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