How is everyone with presentations? I have always been terrible at it. My DW Traci is great at presentations and hosting seminars. Now we humor ourselves at home with a little play acting along with our read-alouds. We have allways wondered how our DC would do in front of an audience. The field trip group that we are joined with now gave us this opportunity. Once a month they have a oral book presentation. They do an oral report on a book they are reading or a subject matter of their choice. I am impressed with the different mediums or ways they bring out their reports.

     All the DC were a little nervous at first, but now they are doing great. I have seen poster boards, home made picture books, clip art with oral reports, and library books with oral reports. These presentations have helped the DC tremendously. They do a fantastic job with the timing and expression of their work before an audience.

     Field trips, park days, and home visitations are a great way for homeschoolers to meet and make friends. Support your local HSing groups.

Elton

In a former life that I now dimly remember, I occasionally got free music as a sales associate for The Ark Bookstore in Denver. Normally, the samples were of new, relatively unknown groups that their label was trying to push. There was the rare exception, however, and those were moments that made the low wages and long hours almost worth it. Chief among those moments was when our Sparrow representative stopped by with a pre-release copy of Steve Taylor's 1993 album, Squint. It was the last—so far—studio album that Taylor would release, capping a decade-long career in the Christian music industry. Most folks don't know who Steve Taylor is. However, most Christians have likely heard the Newsboys' song, Shine, which Steve produced and wrote the lyrics to. In fact, Steve's partnership with the Newsboys is what most credit them for their success.

Steve's music has had a huge impact on my life. Songs like Hero, Meltdown, On The Fritz and so many others fed my spirit when I faced religious hypocrisy and pretentious spirituality at a young age where I needed truth and solidarity. Truth confronts, but it also comforts. One of the best examples is in the song, "Curses," where the chorus (echoing Psalm 37:25) repeats,

Never have I seen the righteous forsaken
Never abandoned in the floodlands
Never have I seen their children out begging
Never have I seen them slip through your hands

This simple refrain would echo in my mind every time I faced worries about making mortgage or buying groceries. It remains a reminder that not only is God faithful, but that I am not the first of his children to encounter financial difficulty.

There is something else about the chorus. In this modern,"lower-middle class" lifestyle, I tend to forget the meaning of floodlands. Today, modern civilization has flood control. Rivers that used to rage and ravage towns and cities are now harnessed and regulated by dams and reservoirs. The floodlands were areas that were normally dry but prone to extensive inundation. As a result, no one who could afford to build would build in such an area. They tended to be vast areas with thick undergrowth crisscrossed by a myriad of foot trails. The only inhabitants were the poorest of the poor, vagrants living a nomadic lifestyle and eating hand-to-mouth. If a river were to flood, they would be among the first victims, sometimes the only victims. Being abandoned in the floodlands would never be by choice. It would be the last stop before dying.

God is always mindful of our situation. He never lets us slip through His hands. We make mistakes, but He never does. Also, notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say that we would never see the floodlands, or walk through them. He may have us pass through the floodlands for any number of reasons, not the least of which would be to reach out to those are also in desperate need. Yet here is the one thing that brings me such comfort: we will never be abandoned! We have a God who carries us through the fiercest storms and the highest waves. Most importantly, when it's all over, we get to go home with Him. That's worth any trek we might face here on earth.

Just in case one thinks I'm blowing smoke, I'll offer a subjective proof, one of many small miracles God has done for me and my family. Two weeks ago, my mind turned to Christmas. It dawned on me that we might not make mortgage, let alone have the ability to purchase gifts this year for my children. Rather than fret, I told God about it and asked Him to please provide Christmas gifts for my kids. Later that week, I got a call from our church saying that a family wanted to bless a family in need with Christmas presents and asked if I would be interested. "Are you kidding? I was just praying about that this week!" I told them. Needless to say, everyone was blessed at how God worked the whole thing. He usually isn't so blatant and obvious. God uses subtle and practical ways for us most of the time. But once in awhile he offers us unmistakable signs that He's there. With God, we are never abandoned.

   We are in the process of adopting Kate from Latvia. She is a handicap girl who dresses herself with her teeth. She will be visiting us during Christmas. The orphanage doesn't want her any longer. They were putting her through training courses to learn "independent living" so they could ship her out. She is only ten years old. How do you live independently when you can only use your mouth to dress yourself, let alone use the bathroom? Her fate is certain death if she stays. The orphanage complained that she was too much for them to lift any longer. Our hearts hurt for Kate. If you would like to help us adopt her, send a check  in care of Kate to :

Open Door Adoption
PHONE: (229) 228-6339  EMAIL: opendoor@rose.net
P.O. Box 4  218 E. Jackson Street
Thomasville, GA 31799

Thanks!!
This is a picture of her at eight years old. She is now ten years old.

My wife came up and told me that Sesame Street had done another spoof. This time it was a skit called "Desperate Horse-wives." I got a groan when I asked if the characters were less than neigh-borly.

In all seriousness, I'm not that thrilled with how the folks at Sesame Street parody network TV shows. While I am sure that the creators mean simple and innocent fun with their skits, I believe it also sends the message that the shows they represent are normal and acceptable in normal households. I'm not sure how normal we are, but Desperate Housewives is a show that we do not let in our house. My children know that when Extreme Makeover Home Edition is over and they hear, "Previously on Desperate Housewives..." power to the television is to be immediately terminated. It's almost comical how they scramble to turn it off, as if they were diving on a live grenade.

While it may not be a grenade, many TV shows are painfully difficult for us to watch these days. Some of the shows are so corrosive, I wonder how anyone can possibly watch them. Consequently, some nights we simply don't turn on the television set. Instead, we will read a good book or play a game together, if we don't split up to do separate things. We avoid the shows not because we like feeling superior or cerebral, but because we've found that these shows actively interfere with our hearts and minds.  

^8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. (Philippians 4:8, The Message)

I can't come out with a list of TV shows that I think are bad or good. The verse above should be more than enough for the average Christian, especially when it's paired with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Each person is responsible only to God for decisions like these. However, Jesus did give us a special charge with children.

"And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. Mark 9:42 (NIV)

To me this verse means that God takes the destruction of children's innocence very seriously. This is why the Sesame Street skits irritate me. It feels like they're playing with fire. Look smart all you want, but I would prefer if they would just stick with "C is for cookie," and the yip-yip monsters.

What? You've never heard of the yip-yip monsters?

Yip Yip

| MySpace Video Thanks Jodi!

I strongly suspect that those who would spend 30 minutes decrying Federal corruption and bureaucracy wouldn't spend 30 seconds on Google looking up who's on their local school board. If there was ever a weak point in democracy, this is it.

Thanks, Mike Rosen, for your thought-provoking commentary.

 This is Kate. She is from Latvia. She really wants a family. We would like to be that family. Right now we have a thousand dollar scholarship. We only need 1500 more by the end of next week Friday. Kate is in a wheel chair as she has no ability to use her arms or legs. She does everything with her mouth, including dressing herself. Her chances to find a home are dismal in Latvia. But, we would like to bring into our home to love on her and care for her. Would you like to help her? God says that true religion is caring for the orphans and widows. We are hoping to do that by caring for this precious girl. Will you help us? Tax Deductible Donation

  Well, we have had a slow start. First, we had our covenant ceremony, then it was the clean up and rest of such a day, now w have a musical and choir performance in 2 weeks. It seems like we barely have time to breathe, let alone do school.

 Rebekah turns 7 tomorrow and is well on her way to being an avid reader. I can't believe she will be 7. Where in the world did the time go???

 We are having a Reformation History Day here at the house on Sat. Since, we don't do the trick or treat thing, we are going to watch some DVD's on the history of the Reformation.

 On Monday we have to butcher 21 chickens. That will be a learning experience in of itself. The day will be great though. We will be spending the day with our pastor and his family, and that is a real blessing.

 LaVante is also doing The national Day of History this year. Anyone else doing this? It is a little intimadating all the research he has to do. He wants to do it on some sort of military history event.

 Finally, we are in the starting preparations for Thanksgiving.We have a few friends who will come by here and our once again opening ou home up to co-workers who don't have a family to be with. I love sharing the holidays with people who are in need, but more importantly I enjoy sharing Jesus with them. 

I don't have much to say today, but I will post a couple of pics.  I already had these up on photobucket and since it takes about 20 min to upload photos, I might as well use them.

We made maple leaf cut out cookies.  I think it was on recipezaar.com.  The kids always enjoy making cut out cookies and I don't, but I let them do it once or twice a year because I remember how much fun it was as a kid.  Now that I am the grown up, I have to deal with rolling the dough - which is my least favorite part - and of course, the clean up.  Lots of little sprinkles all over...  yuck. 

B was walking around with a bandana, so I turned him into a pirate.  He was a pirate with a sullen attitude.  He likes drama.    But isn't he adorable?

My next post will be a little more exciting.  Or creepy....

 

This is such a great book. Can't wait to read # 3. It is at cbdbooks.com for anyone interested.Let me know if you enjoy it as much as we do.