• Bible ~ All 3 are doing Kay Arthur's How to Study the Bible ~ for kids to begin with. 
• Math ~ Math-u-See's Geometry for Bri, Pre-Alg for Sis and Zeta for Con
  
• Science ~ Apologia's General Science for Sis, Biology for Bri and Creation Science Botany for Con
• Grammar ~ Our Mother's Tongue
• Writing ~ IEW American History Vol. 1
• History ~ Beautiful Feet Early American and World History (literature-based) and American Heritage Series DVD's
• Basic Maps and Geography ~
• Literature ~ a broad look and discussion of different types of literature (Shakespeare, short plays, songs, classics, etc.)
  
• Art and Music Appreciation ~ I have designed a schedule using the Usborne Book of Art  the Usborne Book of Art Skills and the Usborne Introduction to Music. One 2-hour class each week.
  
• Keyboarding ~ Mavis Beacon CD-Rom
• Guitar Lessons

It is apparent that God wants us in a drought right now. And that's okay. The kids are trudging through the remainder of school lessons from this last "school year" and I'm working on the outlook for next year, which is due to start the week after Labor Day. Even with our new yahoogroup up AND the friends we made in the writing class, we still appear to be "out of touch" with homeschooers in this area. I'm wondering if there are any here at all. 

Across the lake and river, groups are booming with activity and communication. I just don't get it. In greater New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish however, we get crickets. LOL I did get a phone call last week from a gal who lives here in Chalmette. She's homeschooled for 11 years and has a 13yo and a 9yo. She said that since Katrina, that's the way it's been. And she doesn't like it either....always having to travel across town or the lake to be with other hsrs.

Sincerely,

Puzzled

Thankfully, we are no longer in our homeschooling drought. What do I mean by "drought"? I mean that for almost five months, we've lived here in New Orleans and have not been able to find any homeschoolers with tweens and teens. It's crazy.

A few weeks ago I found a Classical Conversations group having a 3-day practicum on logic. Long story short, I wanted to attend the practicum, but ended up teaching the IEW Intensive Writing B class for the nine to seventeen year olds. That was a first for me. My kids had taken the Style and Structure last year with Miss Alicia and then I had bought the teacher's curriculum to go further with them. Apparently, CC couldn't find anyone else to teach it and were desperate. The great thing was, my kids could take the class too. So, we all benefited. I acquired a new teaching experience, that went rather well if I do say so myself. And the kids harvested a classroom full of new friends.

It was hilarious the first day. There were 26 kids and all but my three and one other 9yo had never even heard of IEW and key word outlines. Their question was, "Is this school? 'Cause this seems alot like school."

"Noooo" I exclaimed. "This is a "creative flow workshop"....we are learning to flow our creative thoughts from our brains, down our arms, through our fingers and pens, and on to paper.....it'll be FUN!" There were many moans and groans that followed, but I tried my best to keep it fun, entertaining, and a bit different from the normal "school scene".

All in all, by the end of the three days, most said that even though they didn't think they were going to like it, they had now changed their minds about writing and in fact, had alot of FUN. Hooray! Maybe I can get my kids to get one of their writing pieces to a final draft and we can share it here.

Sidenote: In our quest for finding new homeschool friends, we have started a new yahoogroup: NOLATween2TeenHSClub.  Wish us luck!

I would so love to be able to say that I am one of those women who seem to be great at everything they do. I wish I completely satisfied my husband 24/7. I wish I always had it all together and never had to worry about tramatizing my children with my mood swings and occasional outbursts. I wish I always had dinner planned, and a grocery list stuck on the frig, and the kids never had to worry about having to sit on the pot and call for someone to bring them napkins from the kitchen.

I wish I religiously sat at the computer every Sunday evening, typing out each of my children's schedules, highlighting the calendar's important events for the week, and making sure to already have any science experiment materials "in stock". As much as I love to write, I wish I could just sit down and begin one of the several book ideas I've had bumping around in my knoggin for years. The list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, I'm not that woman. I'm not that wife. I'm not that mom, home manager, or homeschool teacher. I am none of the above.

I could get really down about that. Well, let's be honest, I do get really down about it....sometimes. I think to myself, why do I even try?? I can't seem to do anything right. The older I get, the more I forget stuff. It's like my brain has become a container of mush.  

But thankfully, I've learned that that is exactly what Satan would want me to believe. And those are lies.

God's truth is the opposite. He would never want me to believe that there's no use in trying, that I can't do anything right, or that my brain is mush!! He created me. And He says that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

David says in Psalm 19:14, "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." In other words, I want the things that I say to be a reflection of the things that I feel and know in my heart. This will be pleasing to God, when it's of God. I have to replace the lies that Satan whispers in my hear, with the truth of His Word.

I recently picked up Beth Moore's Believing God from my bookshelf again. She encourages you to memorize five key statements of truth:

• God is who He says He is.
• God can do what He says He can do.
• I am who God says I am.
• I can do all things through Christ.
• God's Word is living and active in me.

These are truths taken straight from God's word. When I'm feeling down, depressed, even oppressed, I can raise my Shielf of Faith by proclaiming this, and my spirit and soul are revived. I keep saying it to myself over and over again until I believe it from the inside out.

Being a homeschool parent is not an easy job.Gosh, just being a parent is a challenge. It takes time, energy, discipline, creativity, a great love for your children, and a supernatural ability sometimes that can only come from God. I'm so thankful this week for His word and how He's proven Himself my Rock again.

Here it is, the middle of April, and we are living in a whole new state, as new missionaries, with a whole new schedule, doing life with a whole new circle of friends. That about sums it up.

Back in February, we made our move to New Orleans working with an organization called CrossRoads Missions. Bruce is the field project manager here. And basically, as self-supported missionaries,  we are hosting short-term mission trips for volunteer teams from all over the nation. Each week, we house, feed and put to work in the community, up to 125 individuals that come from churches, schools and universities. From a local standpoint, we are partnering with evangelical organizations by providing the manpower to help them accomplish their goals of furthering the gospel in the Greater New Orleans area.

Much of this is fleshed out by building new homes, renovating existing homes, clearing lots of debris and over-growth, and doing yardwork for those that aren't able to do it themselves. By investing time into a particular neighborhood week after week, we are able to meet folks, build relationships with them, and introduce them to the love and hope experienced and given through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We have yet another reason for appreciating the fact that we homeschool. What a blessing it is to have the flexibility to go and work with the teams each week. And to use the diverse setting to educate our children in a variety of ways,  We have been trying out a four day school week for the last month, seeing if we can try to go to the worksites atleast twice a week. Plus, we usually meet back at CrossRoads most evenings for dinner with the crews. Wednesday afternoon we set aside for family time. Friday night is the final sharing time and good-byes. The volunteers normally take off early Saturday morning. We'll continue to tweak the schedule until it works out the way we need.

I am very interested in how other missionary families homeschool in the field. Would love to hear any input...

I've been thinking long and hard about ending this blog all together. When we started our ministry blog back in November, I have found little time to maintain both. And I feel like Five to Go is a "must" right now for us and our supporters. However, I'm thinking that once we've settled into things around here, I'll be able to get back in the groove of blogging on Home For Him atleast a couple times a week. Lord, please help me do Your will with this.

It's very nice to be coming off of a two and a half week vacation for Christmas. We really needed it. Things can get too crazy around here sometimes and we fall into bad habits, like not following through, or not finishing projects, or not keeping to a good routine.

I really believe that a good, healthy routine does wonders for anyone. I know it does for me. It's too early in the game to claim any "new habits" but we do seem to be more determined than usual. =] 

Today being our first day of the new year went rather well. We accomplished everything we set out to do. We seriously started our Spanish curriculum....again. I hate that that gets put on the back burner too often. But, with some new friends from El Salvador, our desire and motivation is back to learn the language even more.

We met the Morales' a couple weeks before Bruce went to El Salvador. They own a grocery store in the front of our subdivision. They speak very good English and don't seem to mind our humble attempts to converse with them in Spanish. They appreciate it I think. Before Christmas we went over to their home for dinner one evening....an all authentic Salvadorean feast! Pan-fried tilapia, cheese and pork papooses (unique to their country), some type of shrimp and tomato saucy mixture that went over rice (it was delicious!), and a type of coleslaw that you put on a large corn tortilla chip and then smother with homemade salsa. Yum!!! It was wonderful!!

Throughout the evening we got to hear the story of how Jose and Maria came to America back in 1989. Rosa (Maria's niece) and her two children arrived in 1995. They have since developed a commercial and residential cleaning business with over 45 clients. And took over ownership of this hispanic grocery a little over a year ago. Their perseverence and hardworking spirit are quite admirable. Although we've been telling them ever since we've met them that they need more time to enjoy life. They work entirely too much!!

One last thought....we were blessed to talk with Adri and her family on New Year's Eve (their NY's Day). It was so good to hear from them. Adri has been diligent about calling us about every 4-6 weeks. We miss her so much and I know she misses us too. She's talking about making a trip to New Orleans and Louisville....perhaps over the summer. That's a sweet thought to look forward to.

As you might've noticed down the right margin, we have become Affiliates for Amazon.com, SpiritualCinema and Textbook.com. Our purpose for this is too generate more funds to go toward our budget as we enter into the mission field of New Orleans. If you plan to shop at Amazon or any of the other affiliates, please consider entering their website through the link on our blog. We will receive 8-15% of the total sale. And it would ultimately benefit our ministry and the work God is doing in NO. We soon plan to add more to the list.

Bruce made it back home safely last Saturday night from El Salvador. There's always something exciting about going to the airport late at night to wait for your loved one to emerge from the terminal. Watching the big planes up close as they jet off the runway and then others landing gently by the guidance of the blue, red and white lights. The kids all bouncing off the walls.  We were glad to see daddy home safe and sound. He spent the whole week telling us about every experience he'd encountered. You can read more about his trip soon on our other blog.

For our Thanksgiving celebration, we traveled up to MI to see mom and dad's new home. My brother, sister and their families were all there. The cousins had four days to run and play and explore the woods around the house. We had a blast playing Catch Phrase and euchre. Ofcourse by the time Diane and I got warmed up, we'd lost more than we'd won. But, who's counting?? We had fun anyway. LOL

It's hard to believe Christmas is around the corner...only 23 days! My dear sister Diane LOVES decorating her home for Christmas. This year, they found the tallest tree on the farm....a whomping 15 feet high!! Unfortunately, they had to hack off a couple feet due to that darn ceiling!! As well as having to anchor it to the wall on both sides. It is a beauty though!! Kudos to your creatively rich decorating talent Sis!! Your home is a sure Southern Living photo shoot in the  making. :)

Myself on the other hand, is a different story. This year, as much as I'm looking forward to enjoying the season of Christ with my family, I just can't seem to get into getting everything out. I know. It doesn't seem right. I just feel like we've been so busy for so long that I'd rather not do one more thing to make it any busier. No, I'm not being a hum-bug....really! It'll come. After our house guest this week and the Christmas Tea at church on W, Th and Fr.....we'll go cut a tree on Sunday. I do look forward to that. :) 

We drove Daddy to the airport on Sunday morning. He flew to El Salvador to lead a team for the Fuller Center Building Blitz. 300 volunteers plan to construct 16 homes in one week. Wow!! From the looks of the blog I've been following on their progress, I'm certain they will reach the goal. Yea God!!

While Bruce is basking in the 80's, we had to really break out the winter clothes around here. We made it half-in-and-out of the box for a couple weeks, but this week we were forced to wear hats, gloves and even boots for the kids when they played outside. The dogs are even wanting the heater on for a while in the garage before bedtime!

For school, we've had a great time learning about the artists of the Renaissance. It's been especially interesting to zero in more of the things that made each one stand out. The detail and perspective of Leonardo da Vinci. They gave a try to writing backwards, encoded, like much of Leonardo's journals. The fact that even though Michelangelo didn't like to paint, he managed to work for over four years in painting the 10,000 square foot vaulted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. An amazing accomplishment, he worked much of the time laying down, without eating, and sometimes throughout the night.

Some of my favorite painters of the time were of flemish roots. Jan van Eyck, who was known for his unbelievable detail and use of depth, painted the sobering scene of The Arnolfini Marriage. He even captured a reflection in the background mirror! The kids and I had a good conversation about one of the first known surreal painters (before his time) Jerome Bosch, and his painting The Ship of Fools which represented mankinds foolish groping for something more to life. And lastly, Peter Bruegel's rendering of The Tower of Babel, filled with unique perspective, realism, and action.

One final project we have planned to cap our learning experience is to make homemade paint brushes, and give them a try at painting on their backs like Michelangelo!

Well, our history studies this week managed to coincide exactly with the national holiday we observed last Monday...Columbus Day! The Wednesday thru Friday before, we learned about the first, second, third,  and fourth voyages of Christopher Columbus. Very interesting stuff. I don't think I got exactly the same story when I was their age. Little did I know that so many voyages were made, AND that gold was the underlying motivation.

I earned several new books recently by hosting an Usborne Book party. You've got to try that if you've never done it. We got all three encyclopedias of World History, Science and World Geography; the Usborne Book of Art, the mini book of Art Skills, and Stories from Shakespeare. This comes timely, for we decided again this year that we would learn more about Shakespeare. (We've been doing more of a 5-year unit study. =])  Shakespeare always intrigues us, but we really have to work at fitting him into our tight schedule. At any rate, we highlighted his childhood last week and are looking forward to dipping into some of his works written in contempory style with our new book. Might I add the illustrations are beautiful!!!

In Apologia, the Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day, Clara and Connor learned about eight different kinds of sea turtles. It always blows my mind...the stuff I learn about through them. I'm always feeling like I'm getting a whole 'nother education. They came downstairs to kindly interrupt my work at the computer to tell me they had "something to show me". ....that always gets me a little curious... Long story short, they had used duct tape on the living room floor to show what 9 feet by 6 feet looks like. Then they added tape to mark their individual heights for comparison. Apparently, the Leatherback sea turtle, the largest in the sea turtle family, measures up to 9 feet long and 6 feet wide. WOW!!! I'm impressed! They added to their character assessment of the creature that he was a "very nice and gentle creature....and we'd like to swim with one."  Pictures to come....

I've finally posted our curriculums and materials for the kids this year. You can find them in the right margin. Have a blessed day!!

Thursday is our busy day. Community Bible Study in the morning. Lunch. Then a writing (IEW) and public speaking coop afterwards. Fun! Later today I want to come back and post what the kids are doing for school this year....haven't gotten that up yet.

Our memory verse this week is a good one: And Mary said, "My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Luke 1:46-47

It's been a good reminder as we cover the first couple chapters of Luke....nothing is impossible with God! Amen. This study along with "The Air I Breathe" by Lou Giglio has been a good reminder for me that worship is a lifestyle! I can worship with my whole life. As a matter of fact, if you think about it, we're worshiping all the time.....unfortunately, it's just not always the Almighty One.

Sometimes I've been guilty of worshiping my husband, my kids, my computer, my time, my schedule, the cleanliness of my home.....ouch!! Have you ever been to a rock concert, or a sporting event? We stand up, jump up and down, dance, holler, scream, raise our hands, light our cell phones (it used to be the real thing back in the olden days =]). It blows my mind how much energy I can put into one of those events. But how come you don't see that kind of energy unraveled at church during worship time? Atleast not at our's I should say. 

I almost think that we have limited our concept of worship to thinking that it's just all about singing a few songs....it is so much more.

Jesus told the woman at the well that it doesn't matter where the people worshiped, but that they worshiped.....in other words, it's a heart thing. We can worship God through anything we do, at anytime, in any place. The question we should ask ourselves is, Am I doing this for myself? Or for Jesus? Imagine the impact we Christians could make in the world if we lived like that all the time. Being salt and light would be first nature. And anyone passing by would have the opportunity to see Jesus through  us. Wow!

Favorite quote this week: "Worship, it's a verb."  ~ Lou

I have started to Twitter! Yey! Twittering is just a quick and simple way of letting people know what you're up to. You ask yourself, "What am I doing?" and you describe it in 140 characters or less. It's fun! In the right margin, you can see my Twitter page. The cool part is getting other people you know to Twitter too. Then you can follow them and they can follow you. You can do it from the web or from your cell phone. It's a great way of finding out how family and friends are doing on a daily basis....and keeping them up on your moves.

So, do you want to Twitter? If so, give me your username and I'll add you to my "friends to follow" list. 

Well, after 8 lonnnnggggg days, we finally have power. Last Sunday, a "tropical depression" from Ike left our city with nearly 300,000 without electric. It was a long week to say the least. And a very quiet one without the phone ringing either. And, I'm afraid that I've discovered that I have a semi-addiction to the internet and email. LOL I just felt like I couldn't get anything done!  Isn't that terrible?

We are thankful that we atleast had hot water, and, being the campers we are, the means of cooking out on our back porch all week. It wasn't so bad. We (I) enjoyed not having the TV going in the evening. I caught up on some much needed sleep. What else can you do when it's dark by 8:30pm? I tried to read by candlelight, but my aging eyes just can't do it.

All kidding aside, it was a pretty bad storm. There was so much damage done everywhere. Trees down. Lines down. And it really took the power company by surprise. Many of them were gone helping Texas. We ended up having help come from all over the place...working 15 hours a day from the time they pulled into town. I think as of this afternoon, they were still working on about 15,000. Today when the power came on the kids and I stood out in the front yard hooping and a hollering for a job well done. It was funny to hear it coming from all over the neighborhood.

One thing we can recognize for certain is that God has used this to prepare us just a little for our move to New Orleans. I know that this was nothing in comparison though. But it was good to see the kids respond with a good attitude. Each day our desire builds more to be down there helping to restore their community and their hope and faith in God. We just continue to pray for his Sovereign Hand over our mission and purpose and that our move date will come quickly, but in His timing.  

Crazy, crazy, crazy .......CRAZY......last two months. We are now in the thick of preparing our family for our new calling.........missionaries to New Orleans. SO MUCH has happened!!

Jun '08 - We emailed our close friends and family asking for prayers for direction. Should New Orleans be the place we go to serve?? Within just a few short weeks, we knew in our hearts that this was it. We accepted God's call with excitement and anticipation.

Aug 9-15 - I attended Team Expansion's LAUNCH training for us. A week long line up of about 20 different seminars designed to train and equip us to GO.

Aug 20 - We need to raise a team of 100+ Prayer Warriors to help in laying a solid foundation and a road laid out to NO that with invite God to go before us in all things. Sent out an email to 50 + close friends and family asking for prayer commitments.

Aug 20 - Present - We have raised 92 partners in prayer!!! Yey God!!! We've now decided to keep going to 200!!

Aug 30 - Have sent support packets to two churches that have have integral parts in our faith walk. Waiting to hear from them.

Sept 10 - Had a good meeting with our home church. Have also enlisted two individuals to be our two "Representative Elders" from our home church.

Sept 11 - Printed our first 200 Prayer Cards to be sent out to our Prayer Partner team soon.

Sept 11 - Bruce attended an all day meeting for CrossRoads/New Orleans field to make plans for remainder of the year and the beginning of 2009. Found out we already have a financial supporter down there that will cover almost one-third of our first year budget!!!  Yey God!

This week - We are developing our new family blog....it should be ready for viewing by the end of next week. We are also writing our first support letter to be sent out within the next week. We are setting appointments with close friends to meet with here....gearing up for the next phase of our mission -- raising financial support.

LOTS happening here!  I will try to keep you better informed. As soon as we get our other blog up, I'll set up a link here for NOMission Updates.

Please pray for us!! More info on becoming a Prayer Partner in the next post.

God Bless,

Deborah

We thank God for giving us a perfect, 12 day vacation this year. We got to spend time in the mountains and on the beach.

It's my mother-in-law's 75th birthday this year (everyone say Happy Birthday Dori!!) so we all went in together and rented a rather large cabin in Gatlinburg, TN....complete with gameroom, hot tub, and access to three pools. About 20 of us spent five days driving up and down the steep roads that led about two miles outside of town to our cabin. We had a great view of the Great Smoky Mountains and OberGatlinburg. If you've never been to the 4th of July Parade at 12:01am in Gatlinburg, you have to try it atleast once. They boast of it being "the first Independence Day Parade in the nation".  I've never seen so many patriotic floats in one place. And LONG......it was soooo looonnnnngggggg. LOL But it was fun. And now we can say we've been.

During our stay, I talked Honey and the kids into going on a hike in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We've been on the paved 2-miler to LaureL Falls. That was a piece of cake. This time I wanted to hit something a bit harder. So, we trekked up the 1,700 feet ascension to Chimney Tops. It was two miles up and two  miles back. And it was HARD!!!! Honey was about ready to kill me half way up.....I thought he was going to have a heart attack. It was very scenic and beautiful and steep and hot and humid. It had just rained the night before, so the bugs were out. I was thankful though...I think the rain cooled it off a little from the high 90's we'd seen the days before. When we got to the top, it was utterly amazing!!! A perfectly panoramic display of God's beauty and creation. The giant rock-top jutted out with straight drops down both sides. You literally had to crawl and climb out on your hands and feet. With the kids, Honey decided that we weren't going out that far, so he stopped the train after about 20 feet up the rock. The team staged a minor revolt, but to no avail. He wouldn't budge. So, we stayed there sitting where we stopped to take in the gorgeous view and discuss the many things that could happen if we fell off the side of the mountain.  You know how it is with two boys and a tomboy-wanna-be.

Would you believe that I forgot my camera???? I was so mad at myself!! Aunt Deb said that it must've just meant to be a great memory. She has a good point. There is a difference when you're sitting there in the middle of this miraculous scenery able to just sit, and breath it in, and think about how amazing our Great God really is, AND when your looking at it all through the lens of a camera. Yes, you get to keep the memories forever, BUT I'm sure God was thinking that Deborah likes to take pictures so much that she will surely miss the whole point of being there....PLUS she's bound to fall off from not paying attention to which rock she rested her foot on. Ha!!!

At any rate, it was a great bonding adventure for our family. It was hard going up, but worth it. It was also a good opportunity to talk about hard times and trials in life and how they compare to climbing a mountain. If we always stuck with the easy way out, we'd never see the blessings and benefits that promise to come with a little blood, sweat and tears. 

We ended up leaving on Sunday morning and continuing on to our own family vacation to Charleston, SC.

Next entry is on our time at the beach! Stay tuned....

Believe me when I say that I'm not trying evade the topic of school....LOL.....we're just on vacation. I know I haven't talked much about it lately. We've just had SO MUCH going on with life in general.  

So, here's my attempt to get current with what's happening in our school room....

• Well, it looks like it's under construction most of the time!! LOL It ends up being the transition room for items being moved from one room to another. With changing rooms around and getting ready to paint, our school room looks more like a storage space right now.
• The kids are mainly keeping up with reading and math through the summer. We took a break from everything for the first couple weeks. Now we're settling into a semi-structured schedule of getting school and chores done BEFORE anyone leaves the house to play outside for the day. =]
• We met with a few hsr's on Tuesday for a playdate at the park. It was fun and relaxing. The kids hung out and played all kinds of games while the moms sat and talked in the shade. We needed it!!
• The fall schedule has not made it to paper yet. I'm having to wait this year to buy some curriculums....and I'm hoping to find them used. In particular, I'm trying to find some feedback on a language arts curr called Analytical Grammar. It was recommended by the SCM website. We're also moving on to Mystery of History Volume III, Apologia General Science for my 8th grader, and Swimming Creatures for the younger two.  I'll post our schedule in mid-July, after vacation.
• A couple girlfriends and I are working on a small co-op for Thursday afternoons, after CBS. She's going to be teaching Institute for Excellence in Writing (I can't wait.). I'm doing Beginning Public Speaking again (Communicators for Christ). We plan on having two groups, 2nd-5th and 6th-8th. If we're still here for the second semester, we'll have a Book Club too.
• We're registered for CBS. We'll be studying the Book of Luke. CBS is a global organization. You should check and see if you have a group in your town.
• I have yet to get anything on my fieldtrip calendar!! It looks like it's going to have to come together in July....God willing.  =]

Okay, that should do it for now. I promised Honey that I'd get up and mow the lawn this mornng and it's already 85 degrees!!  Gotta go!

Have a blessed day!!

Bruce and our nephew, Andy, will be leaving tonight for New Orleans. They are bringing a trailer down to load and bring back up for our friend Bill, the CrossroadsMissions director there. This also gives Bruce a little "recon" opportunity.

Please pray that they have a safe trip traveling through the night, that God will watch over them and protect them. They plan on taking turns sleeping and driving. Pray that God will continue to bring some clarity to Bruce regarding the mission in N.O.. Pray that he can begin to find out a few details about living options and costs. Pray that God keeps his heart and  mind open to listening.

Thanks a bunch! This is the first step for us.

More to come....

Deborah

"you might not finish this chapter".......hmmmm....interesting title for a chapter....what's it suppposed to mean? I asked myself.

It means that at any given time, every single one of us will meet one-on-one with death, be it sudden and unexpected, or drawn-out and anticipated for months or years. Either way you look at it, we're all going to die.

It's a morbid thought that most of us don't really like to think about. The funny thing is, we'd rather spend our days consumed with our living. Even consumed so much that if we're honest, we spend entirely too much time worrying and stressing about what the day is going to bring....should bring....what if it doesn't bring.....what will tomorrow bring??? Instead of shining for Jesus, and bringing God glory in everything we do, we almost scare others away with our complaining, and arguing, and worrying, and stressing, and looking as if our lives are more out-of-control because  we're spinning so fast.

About two years ago, Bruce's granny died at the full-life age of 92. She's one of the few people I've ever really heard say "It's my time and I want to go to be with the Lord....I'm tired of being down here." And although the process of seeing her go through the highs and lows in the hospital were hard for all of us, her passing away and funeral were one of the most peaceful celebrations of life that I've ever had the honor of attending. It's something quite different when you've walked with the Lord for as long as she had. I vividly remember her telling every person she came into contact with how "Every day was a pure blessing and that she's so proud of how her entire family is serving the Lord.....I know I'm blessed." she'd say.

One year ago, a 40 year old mother of two boys...long time member at our church....Christian counselor.....dating a fine Christian man and looking forward to beginning a new life with him.....was sun-bathing in her back yard. She had been experiencing migraines for quite some time and was on medication for it. On that day, she had upped her dose a little because of the intensity of the pain. That, crossed with not drinking enough water and being out for an extended period of time in the sun (she'd fallen asleep), brought her sad and unexpected death. I think they said she had a cardiac arrest. It was a devastating day in the life of our church. And although we knew she was with the Lord, and there was no doubt in our minds, for some, there was no fighting the feelings of resentment. Lord, how could you take her now? She had such a promising future and she touched the lives of so many people in our church and community with her gift of counseling. She was a bright light in our lives.

Only a short seven months ago, one of the boys in my Cub Scout den and his older brother, lost their mom in a fatal car accident. Brett and Jessica were driving down the same road they drove down every other day. They were on their way over to his parents to pick up the boys. It was raining and the roads were a little slippery. They came up to a curve, lost control of the car, and crashed into the entrance of a subdivision. Brett lost his wife. It was so sad, and still is, to know that this man and his two sons would be beginning a whole new chapter of their lives that they didn't choose....with one less loved one in their midst. You could tell that Jessica was loved much and had an impact on the lives of many people in her community and synagogue. She loved to volunteer for different organizations. As a matter of fact, she used to be the den leader for our den before I was. This fall we will be planting a tree over at the school in her memory....something to remind the kids of a faithful servant that once walked the halls of their school.

So why are we talking about all this??  Frederick Buechner wrote, "Intellectually, we all knw that we will die, but we do not really know it in the sense that the knowledge becomes a part of us. We do not really know it in the sense of living as though it were true. On the contrary, we tend to live as though our lives would go on forever."  We tend to go about our day more interested in just getting through it. Francis talks about how we tend to go about our day subconsciously justifying our stress and worry.

"When I am consumed by my problems -- stressed out about my life, my family, and my job -- I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsiblities.....Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control."

I know what this means. I know first hand what it's like to allow a week  to pass by as a blur because I'm so caught up in what needs to get done. I'm ashamed to look back and think about how many times I yelled at the kids, or judged a stranger, or argued with my husband. I'm ashamed when I realize that my so-called divine light, was nothing more than a dull, 10 volt glow. Did I live to bring glory to God in every move I made (as the song goes)? Were my actions and words something I know brought someone closer to knowing Jesus? I don't think so.

Francis says.....and this is good...that 

 "The point of your life is to point to Him."

I started something new this flag football season with my son Connor. I've started asking him before each game, "Who are you playing for?"  The first time I asked him this he answered with all the "right answers"....for you and daddy....for the coach....for my teammates.  But, when I told him what the Bible said in First Corinthians 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.", his answer has changed significantly.

The kids and I have spent about 12 hours this week at church filling up water balloons for the Massive Middle School Water Ballon War that is taking place this evening.  Would you believe we filled 5,700 balloons this week???? I can't believe it. My fingers are aching from turning nozzles on and off and tying balloons.

Yesterday was the last day for filling and we celebrated with a mini-water fight of our own....myself, Micah (one of our MS interns) and about 8 kids. I held my own for a while in a prime stragetic location under the steps where the spicket was, until everyone ganged up on me, overtook the hose, and dumped a rather large trash can of water on my head.  LOL  It was pretty fun. Tonight the war takes place from 6:30-8:30pm with our 150 middle schoolers and all their closest friends.

Other news this week  ~

• Adri's transcript that was supposed to be returned apostilled by the Secretary of State was returned without its stamp. Apparently, we wasted about $20 getting the thing "certified " at the County Clerk's extension office and sending it on with self-addressed stamped envelopes. They should've told us to go down to the main office for a "blue and gold" seal of approval before sending it on. Now we have to go through the whole process again.....lovely.
• Talked to Adri over the phone last night....she had her English test yesterday and is starting her summer school today. Poor girl. After working so hard all year long. She does miss us. =] We can ditto that 100 times.
• Our friend Jean from the DR is emailing us again. He has joined the church since our visit there almost two years ago. Praise God!! He is very excited but is really struggling in life right now. It would be so cool if he could come visit us. =]
• Connor and I are taking guitar lessons. This is a piece of cake for him since he's been taking informal lessons from our neighbor on and off. For me, this comes as a GREAT challenge. Don't forget I'm 42 here....forging brand new brain paths for me. I don't think my fingernails have been this short since I was 5 years old.   But, it does seem to help. Sweet Connor tells me last week, "Mom, just think. If we keep learning guitar together, maybe we could start our own band and go on tour like Third Day!!" Ha! Ha!  Oh, bless his heart!!  I'm just thinking it would be fun to be able to sing songs together at family functions and retreats. =]
• Okay, I'm already behind on my Summer To-Do list.....I've had this crappy cold for about 3 weeks and it's driving me crazy!! I feel worn-out all the time. Pray for me please??  The kids are shooting to do three math lessons each week and a couple reading programs. Ofcourse, without me reminding them, they're happy as clams to play outside all day long........which on the other hand I don't mind either. That's what we used to do all summer long, right?? And for that matter, the summer is cut so short these days!!   Just pray for me....thanks! =]
• Hangyul, our next exchange student from South Korea, is scheduled to be arriving on July 31st. Big project this summer: paint the boys room, move Connor to his own room downstairs, move Briar upstairs. I also need to get his transfer app into the school some time next week (since it didn't happen this week.)

Okay, that's all for now. I am working on my "crazylove ~part 2" entry. I can't say it enough.....this book is life-changing.

More to come....