The Life & Times of...

Nov. 30, 2009

Names of Jesus - Day 1 - Alpha & Omega

This evening was the start of our 15 Names of Jesus Unit Study. We talked about what these words meant, & showed the younger ones where Greece is on the globe. I had my eldest look up & write down 3 verses, Rev. 22:13, Rev. 1:8, & Rev. 21:6. My Kindergardener wrote down Rev. 22:13. I had them all draw the symbols for Alpha & Omega.

Prayer: "Thank you for being the beginning and the ending and all things in between. Thank you for always being there. Help me to remember that I am never alone because you are with me always. Amen"

Link to my blog post about this Unit Study

Charlotte Church singing Little Drummer Boy

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Oct. 12, 2009

Field Trip.....day 1

Posted in Homeschool

For Day 1 of our 5 day field trip week.....we toured the KY countryside a little bit. Our first stop was Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace...in Larue County outside Hodgenville. The memorial that was built to resemble the monument in DC was under construction. So we didn't get to see the actual replica of his birth house. That was kind of a bummer. But we checked out the visitor's center and watched the little movie about his life.

Then we headed to the other side of town to his boyhood home at Knob Creek. Little bitty house there.

We drove into Bardstown, KY and ate at Old Talbott Tavern. We decided to sample the "authentic" KY dishes. We started with Burgoo. If you haven't had this before, it's basically beef soup with a little kick.

Then we had some fried green tomatoes. Not necessarily KY food...but a southern staple.

You can't really tell from the picture, but the ranch sauce was a bright green.

Then we had a KY Hot Brown. (no picture...it was a cheesy mess!)

After lunch, we headed to Federal Hill to check out the house that inspired the KY State Song, My Old Kentucky Home. While in the visitor's center, an employee made what she thought was a cute comment about owning slaves. >sigh< It is KY after all. Suppose I shouldn't be shocked.

After that, we headed into Washington County to check out the Lincoln Homestead, where his father & mother lived for a while. His uncle, Mordecai Lincoln, was the eldest son, and therefore inherited his father's fortune. You can see the difference in the houses alone.

This is the replica of Mordecai's house.

The replica of his father's house that he lived in until age 25.

This was unpleasant to cross in a minivan!!

This covered bridge was called Sweetheart Bridge and was just the entrance to someone's property.

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Sep. 27, 2009

when it rains...

Posted in Family Life

It would seem everything in and on this house wants to fall apart this month. We have been without air conditioning for the past month. Although it has not been smoldering hot, the humidity has been very high. It's hard to do anything in this house without sweating. My skin in breaking out so bad because I seem to always be just slightly damp with sweat, which in turns seems to kick the oil production up a notch.

Then we had this crazy leak in our pipes. Caused a little flooding to the carpet and bathroom floor, and soaked through the floor to the light in the ceiling below. Fun.

I won't even get into the termites that are slowly eating away at the frame of the house.

Then the microwave broke. That was just meeeeean. Now that it's just too hot to cook, I can't even use the microwave. grrrrrr

The gutter guys are coming out tomorrow. Apparently all the money I paid to get those fancy gutter helmet thingies are not keeping the birds out. All the rain we've had caused the gutters to overflow INTO the windows. Unpleasant.

We need $300 by Tuesday to keep the water turned on, the car insurance from being cancelled, and the car registration from expiring. Timing is everything...he gets paid Thursday. I have enough right now to pay the water bill. No water in a house with exceptionally high humidity would just be too much. !! As far as the other 2 pending bills....God is gonna have to make a way there. It's all in his hands anyway. We are all healthy, so I cannot complain. Wouldn't it be nice though if 1 thing could break at a time....

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Sep. 26, 2009

False Teacher or just Intelligently Superior to...well....God?!

Posted in Yearning for Jesus

What is a cult?
The specific Christian definition of a cult is “a religious group that denies one or more of the fundamentals of biblical truth.” In simpler terms, a cult is a group that teaches something that will cause a person to remain unsaved if he/she believes it.

As distinct from a religion, a cult is a group that claims to be part of the religion, yet denies essential truth(s) of that religion.

A Christian cult is a group that denies one or more of the fundamental truths of Christianity, while still claiming to be Christian.

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We Believe:

The Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men and the Divine and final authority for Christian faith and life. [read more...]
In one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [God...] [The Trinity...]
That Jesus Christ is true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the cross, a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. Further, He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He is now our High Priest and Advocate.
That the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and, during this age, to convict men, regenerate the believing sinner, and indwell, guide, instruct and empower the believer for godly living and service.
That man was created in the image of God but fell into sin and is, therefore, lost, and only through regeneration by the Holy Spirit can salvation and spiritual life be obtained. [Read more...]
That the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His Resurrection provide the only ground for justification and salvation for all who believe, and only such as receive Jesus Christ are born of the Holy Spirit and, thus become children of God. [Read more...] [More on the resurrection...] [Receiving salvation...]
That water baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances to be observed by the Church during the present age. They are, however, not to be regarded as means of salvation.
That the true Church is composed of all such persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the Body of Christ of which He is the Head.
That only those who are, thus, members of the true Church shall be eligible for membership in the local church.
That Jesus Christ is the Lord and Head of the Church and that every local church has the right, under Christ, to decide and govern its own affairs.
In the personal and premillennial and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and that this "Blessed Hope" has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.
In the bodily resurrection of the dead; of the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord; of the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment

So the belief statements all sound good. Seems like an awesome church right? So how come when you attend a service, you don't get any of that? Why is it people are dismissed to the back of the church for communion with a hand wave by the preacher? Why is Jesus not a focal point in sermons? Why are the sermons so in depth, that unless a person spent many hours studying not the Bible, but theological papers ahead of time, they will have NO idea what the preacher is talking about? Why is the preacher caught up in looking and sounding intelligent? Why does the preacher believe he can calculate the exact date of Jesus' return despite the Bible saying we will NOT know? Why do they insist on renting out of obscure locations? Why do they believe that buying their own building would be a waste of money, and yet they have a building fund? Why do they not mention or take up offering EVER during services?

CAN YOU HAVE A FALSE TEACHER NOT ASSOCIATED WITH AN ACTUAL CULT?

Jesus said “a tree is recognized by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33). When looking for “fruit,” here are three specific tests to apply to any teacher to determine the accuracy of his or her teaching:
1) What does this teacher say about Jesus? I don't know
2) Does this teacher preach the gospel? Not really...but I haven't heard EVERY sermon
3) Does this teacher exhibit character qualities that glorify the Lord? I don't know him that well, but what I have gotten from him when I have been around him is it is more about him than anything else.
...a false teacher can be known by his pride (Cain’s rejection of God’s plan), greed (Balaam’s prophesying for money), and rebellion (Korah’s promotion of himself over Moses).

I am really struggling with this. It is not cut and dry, that is for certain. But there are so many red flags...I don't know where to start. And just things that seem just downright odd. Not to mention they are SO against getting their own building...which makes it really hard to have new visitors who were not specifically invited by a current member. There are sermons posted online...I need to listen to some more of them. The most recent service I attented was entitled "Repent of Idolatry". It was neither about repenting not idolatry. So i have to say the ones that mention Jesus....what are they really about. Then there is the withdrawal. It's all about their church members. It's like well, you wouldn't understand cuz you don't go to my church. What else is there to understand if we are supposed to be on the same page???

Anyone else dealt with this situation? Where everything on the outside looked good, but when in the presence, you felt your skin crawl and you couldn't get out of there fast enough? What is that?!

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Sep. 25, 2009

Fake vs Authentic...Is there a difference??

Posted in Yearning for Jesus

I just had a little epiphany I suppose you could call it. I am currently in a Bible Study on the book of John, and while reading through the notes, something hit me.

I had been questioning myself and wondering why I wasn't more upfront about my faith. I generally don't have much to say about anything really, and I often want to say something, but don't for various reasons. When I think of all the kids & teenagers and parents that I am around, it kills me that I am not more upfront. When something offends me, I tend to walk away from it or look the other way. I rarely let the person know that I find whatever they just said or did offensive.

There is more to it, but I cannot begin to go into detail.

What struck me while doing my reading, was authenticity. That word just kind of popped into my head. I grew up watching my parents act and speak a certain way in church and a totally different way to me and each other. I completely resented their fakeness, and still do. I am always irritated by people who are ridiculously "nice" in church. No one is that **** happy all the time, and yet every Sunday, they smile and speak like they were just given $1,000,000. My mom would say things like they are just truly happy because they know Jesus, but seriously people...being a Christian and truly following Jesus means that you automatically have the whole world against you. I have had times when life was just really good since becoming a Christian, but that was just the beginning....when you follow Jesus life is just plain hard! There is nothing happy-go-lucky about following Jesus. When women come at me all cheery like that, I just want to say, you know....it's OK to just be you. You don't have to put on airs that everything in your life is OK. Because if everything in your life is OK, then you are doing something wrong. Why does the devil feel he doesn't need to mess with you?

I realized I do not know how to be "authentically Christian". I have never been around anyone who was truly a follower of Jesus and seen how they behave during all the different trials and triumphs of life. All I ever see is the "happy church face", which I am incapable of doing. Sorry, but I am not going to act a certain way just so you can feel better about yourself? I don't get it.

I try so hard to not "act like my mom". I have completely shut myself down at times. That needs to be my prayer, for God to reveal to me how to be a follower of Jesus and truly authentic at the same time. I need to pray for authentic women to cross paths with me. Friends who are not so fake that we miss the opportunity to be uplifting and encouraging to each other. I do not need people who want me to think their lives are so perfect that they do not have any problems.

My thoughts here seem random and jumbled....but I needed to get it out. Now I will let my daughter back on to play her Veggie Tales games.

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Sep. 24, 2009

A few flowers for this gloomy day

Posted in Family Life

It has been raining here for a week straight now. And when it's not raining, it's completely cloudy, foggy, and misty. When did the weather from Northwest Washington relocate here?! I feel like Edward Cullen and his freakishly white vampire friends are going to start frolicking in the street.

I started out thinking I might blog about my disgust with the public schools right now. But with the weather being so ick, I just don't feel like being ick with my post.

How about some flowers on this icky day to brighten things up a little. These are some that were in my garden back in the springtime.

As you can see...I had a good time with purple-hybrid Violets. Or whatever they are.

Lilac I think

Creeping Phlox...aka the plant that ate my garden

Minty-smelling

This was so good looking until the rabbits ate it back to a nubbin

Hosta...I have a sort of love/hate relationship with these things. The previous owner planted 5 in the front garden area, and they are so big now. They look great for a little while, but when the leaves start to yellow, it's like something threw up in my garden. Yech.

Columbine...I keep hoping they will multiply like the hostas...no such luck yet

Last but not least, my favorite...the little bitty Japanese Maple Tree/Bush thing

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Sep. 23, 2009

New use for Old spice jars

And by "old spice jars" I am referring to kitchen spices, not that nasty men's aftershave.

I went through my spices and had about 15 that needed to go. They were either real old or there was just a tiny bit left. Some of the jars were glass, and some were plastic. I hated to just throw them all out.

They are perfect for all those little-bitty craft items that easily end up all over the place. Perfect!

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Sep. 22, 2009

Unit Study subjects

Posted in Homeschool

In my planning for next year's homeschooling (remember this is my "year off" with just a 4 year old at home!), I thought it would be fun to incorporate Unit Studies. I plan to take about 1 week each month to deviate from the daily routine & delve into a Unit Study. I figure I will need 9-10 subjects.

This is what I have so far:

1. Winter & Antarctica
2. Insects
3. Royalty & Castles
4. Dr. Seuss
5. this had been Names of Jesus....but I'm now going to do that this year...I'll either find something else, or maybe 15-20 different names
6. Airplanes & Helicopters (military & commercial)
7. Trains
8. Dinosaurs
9. Space & Planets
10. Haven't decided...debating between farms or Australian animals or US States

I think it will be a lot of fun. So far I have started my research on #1, #2, #4, & #6. We are going to totally immerse ourselves in the particular subject....got to take advantage of them being at an age where playing dress-ups is still FUN!

As I get them organized, I will post more details about what we will be doing if there is anyone out there who might also like some ideas for unit studies and what to do. Mine will be very simple...I will be doing them for a 7 & 5 year old.

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