Nov. 13, 2009 - Just the Tip of the Iceberg on the Goodness of God
I am thankful for:
A God who rains on the just and the unjust – often I am disobedient, and benefit from his blessings still. I am thankful that He is merciful, and waits patiently for me. That He woos me by His love long before any discipline comes.
A God who comforts me when I realize my shortcomings, and weep for the choices I have made.
A God who disciplines me when He has been patient enough with me, and it will do me no good for Him to wait any longer to bring me to my senses.
A God who is faithful to show me in countless ways, *that I need to pray more and stop being so independent. He calls me to prayer, and so often I say “Not right now.” When I think that I would jump at the chance to sit down with Dave Hunt (one of my favorite authors) and have a long conversation, I am ashamed that I tell the Creator of the universe “Not right now.”
A God who puts up with my many petitions. He says “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:6 & 7) He can handle my many requests. He does not roll His eyes and say “Here she comes again.” He wants me to come to Him and lay my burdens down.
A God who saw my great need and paid the price. What is a house worth? Only what someone is willing to pay. What is a soul worth? Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for my salvation. He paid what He thought I was worth. I am worth the blood He shed. He said so when He hung on the cross for me. He said “It is finished” – i.e., “Paid in full.” That is enough to quiet every voice out there that my enemy sends along to bring me down. I am His, and He is mine.
*From the book The Tyranny of the Urgent: “P.T. Forsyth once said, ‘The worst sin is prayerlessness.’ Does that statement surprise us? We usually think of murder and adultery as among the worst offenses against God and humanity. But the root of all sin is self-sufficiency – independence from the rule of God. When we fail to wait prayerfully for God’s guidance and strength, we are saying with our actions, if not with our words, that we do not need Him. How much of our service is actually a ‘going it alone’?”
Nov. 2, 2009 - Approaching End to 1st Quarter
Where does the time go???
I blink and the first quarter has almost come to an end. No, things did not go as planned, but not so bad. I've learned to re-evaluate and adjust. My kids are learning. So am I.
Spelling City has been very helpful this year. We will continue to use that. MCP math - I've not been so happy with, but it's OK. So many problems on a page, and not enough room to do long multiplication problems. A consumable math book that I still have to have them copy the problems! Hate to toss it, and use something else, when I spent so much money. I need to get the kids writing more. Will address that. Reading - I have one who devours everything that comes into the house, and one who will avoid it if at all possible.
We have been reading "Farmer Boy" aloud, and I would love to take the field trip to the Wilder Farm, since it is in my state - however, very long drive. We'll see.
It's been a tough couple of years, having put much time into an extended family emergency. I am quite sure that the kids have learned more about helping others, stepping up to the plate, loving, caring, and so many other things that it would be impossible to name. The important stuff.
Sep. 8, 2009 - I'm back.....again!
Okay, so I thought that I was going to end up deleting this blog because: 1) I never seem to update here anymore.....I really don't even update our family blog as often as I should. & 2) because we thought we had our minds made up and weren't going to be homeschooling any longer.....but, this past weekend, we had a complete change of heart and decided that our children are best when they are home with us.....so we are gearing up for another year of homeschooling.....I am sure it will be a very relaxed homeschool setting....and we are all looking forward to it.....more to come......
Aug. 26, 2009 - Beginning the New School Year
I loved my daughter's latest post about starting the new school year, and getting her children all prepared and excited. I may have to do something similar, I love the idea so much! Go check it out.
Meantime, I'm excited too. I'm planning to begin some math review - going over the "Math-It" tricks and such. I'm using Learning Language Arts Through Literature this year - The Purple Book. That is way more structured than I usually get. I think it will be good for us though, and I think my kiddos will like the structure. Just hope I don't burn out by mid-September :)
I almost bought a state notebook from ABeka today, but they were going to charge $8 shipping for a $15 order, so I did not see it through. Since I can't seem to get these anywhere else, I gave up. I looked at Rainbow Resource, Christian Book, Amazon. I guess ABeka doesn't sell through other sources. NOT paying $8 shipping though!
Jul. 1, 2009 - King Tut Exhibit at the Indiana Children's Museum
I am sooo excited about this! I just scheduled our trip to it today, and can not wait until we go. We aren't scheduled to go until July 30th, which is my birthday, I didn't have a choice in our date so I will have to deal with it. The great thing about the trip is that it is going to be FREE! You just can't beat that! The museum is graciously offering free admission to school and homeschool groups. I think it is so awesome that they are including homeschoolers in this promotion, as we are so often overlooked. We do have to have a group of twenty so we are going to be taking friends from our homeschool group with us.
Skateboarder and Bubbles both started the history cycle again this year, and are working on the Ancients. It just so happens that in two weeks they will be starting the Egyptians, and we plan on studying them for several weeks. Which means our trip to the King Tut Exhibit will fall smack dab in the middle of our Egyptian study. I have requested some elementary age read along books from the library on the Egyptians as well, so I am thinking we might take Sunshine and Taylor along for the ride on our Egyptian study.
Jul. 1, 2009 - Wordless Wednesday
This is a picture I took last week on our camping trip to Spring Mill State Park. The creek ran behind our campsite and the kids had a blast playing in it. I thought it was absolutely beautiful.
May. 27, 2009 - Wordless Wednesday
For this week's Wordless Wednesday I thought I would take the opportunity to share some pictures I took on our most recent trip to the zoo.
May. 27, 2009 - Little Man Turns Six
Last week was Little Man's sixth birthday. I can not believe how big he is getting! We had a small party for him here at the house, and he asked for a deer cake.
The cake is made out of a sheet cake for the body, two small round cakes for the head, a cake baked in a bread pan for the ears, and another cake baked in a bread pan for the nose. We just cut everything to the right shape. The antlers are made out of aluminum foil that is covered in icing. We were going to make the antlers out of rice krispie treats but discovered at the last minute that someone had ate the marshmallows!
And here is my birthday boy. We let him cut his hair into a mohawk for his birthday, which of course he wanted to dye green. We did end up using food coloring to dye it green, which worked better than I thought and washed out quite easily.
May. 13, 2009 - Leave Perfection to the Perfectionists
It's a neverending battle. The yardwork, the housework, the body - health and fitness. If you stop for a moment - like if you're spinning plates on a stick, and pause - it can all come crashing down. Then, it seems, all that work was for naught. You paint a room, someone knocks a hole in the wall somehow. You mow the lawn, two days later there are dandelions sticking up all over the place.
It could drive the perfectionist crazy .
We want to find the balance between being good stewards, being diligent, and not letting our possessions own us.
One thing I tell myself is this; perfection is for heaven. This life - we are living in the fall. We will fight this battle by the sweat of the brow, and we will not attain perfection.
One very wise thing my sister said to me the other day is this. We need to be very, very careful about our time - and what the devil is giving us to take up our time so we don't spend it wisely. The time is very short. Jesus is coming soon. I could be kept very, very busy with so many things. And I'm not saying we chouldn't have a home, and whatever might come along with that. I'm just saying that we won't attain perfection. Accepting a bit of mess, or a not so neatly manicured lawn, is better than paying the price of having all of our time wrapped up in keeping it perfect.
I read in a knitting book once ... "Leave perfection to the perfectists - a miserable lot."
May. 12, 2009 - Spring!!!!
It is spring, and I am loving it. Lilacs are in bloom, bleeding heart, etc. There is a LOT of work to be done out there, but I got so much done yesterday and it looks so much better.
Does anyone else out there feel pulled in 100 different directions this time of year? Wrap up the end of year school stuff (get my quarterly reports in, do the required annual test - but review first), deal with the yard work and garden stuff that needs attention NOW and keep up with the laundry so we can be ready to go on vacation at the end of June ...
I tell myself, we've survived this insanity many years, and we'll survive again. Whatever, I LOVE SPRING!
P.S. My daughter and son-in-law just got chickens and I'm so jealous! Now I'm looking at these tracter coops on-line and checking out our local codes and zoning.
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