Dovecote Academy - Homeschool Blogger

Hold the Torch High

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:35:00 -0600

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, fell down, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

(John McCrae, a Canadian medical officer who served in WW I)

Thank you to those who currently "take up the quarrel with the foe" daily. The foe has changed, but the quarrel has not. Those who fight selflessly for the freedom of all, hold the torch high. We support you. We appreciate you. We thank you.

Black Maximus in Winter White

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 13:38:00 -0600

I left the house this morning with one thought on my mind. I hate winter. I hate how much you have to put on just to stay warm outside. I hate how restrictive all that clothing is. I hate having to scrape the windows before going anywhere. I can’t reach the whole windshield, so there is always a section in the middle that I can’t see through. I hate that my fingers get cold doing anything outside even in warm mitts, and there are things one can’t do with warm mitts on because one needs one’s fingers. Those things you must do very quickly! I hate that no matter how many socks I put between my feet and my boots, and even though I’m wearing Sorrels that are supposed to be good down to -40, my toes get cold if I’m outside for very long. Maybe the fact that they’re about 20 years old has something to do with that. Or maybe it’s got more to do with my age than the age of the boots…

I try to stay indoors as much as possible from the first frost until the spring melt, but that leaves me with cabin fever because I can’t stand being inside for so long. In the spring I get very stir crazy because I feel such a strong need to get outside, yet I can’t go outside without freezing or without several layers of restrictive clothing. The thing I hate most about winter is that it’s cold. I have to wear multiple sweaters inside to stay even remotely warm, and that’s with the furnace turned to 23 degrees celcius. I often find that the only way to warm up is to take a bath – a bath so hot that my face stays red for an hour after I get out. That truly warms me and I am able to be comfortable for the rest of the evening when I do this. Otherwise I can feel cold for weeks straight, without ever warming up. I hate it.

This was on my mind this morning as I spent ten minutes scraping frost off the truck windows. It’s not terribly cold yet, but after 15 years in this northern climate I have learned to dread the oncoming winter. Not even so much because it’s so cold as because it’s so long. Even this year, when winter was a bit later in coming, the first snowfall – something I used to find beautiful – only reminded me that the long winter was about to begin. “Here we go,” I thought despondently, gritting my teeth in preparation for the long, cold months ahead. This morning’s frost only reminded me that winter has begun. It is early November now, so it really was a late start, but I know that I will probably not be truly warm again until at least May.

I got in the car and drove reluctantly slow over the icy roads. It takes so much longer to do anything in the winter, I moaned inwardly. I turned into the saddle club and pulled up to Max’s temporary paddock. They are still building his stall, so he has to be out here in the meantime. Yet another thing to add to my list of why I hate winter. There is no electricity out here, so we can’t use a water heater. Instead we have to haul warm water from home 2 or 3 times a day so that he has water to drink. But before refilling his water bucket I have to chip the ice out. My son rakes up manure and says his hands are cold. I give him my warm mitts and keep my own hands warm rubbing in Max’s thick winter coat of fur.

It doesn’t take long to shrug the winter blues. In fact, as soon as we start working in the paddock the blues slip away. I shovelled, filled the water bucket, got the hay, and stroked some of the white frost off Max’s black mane and back. Max’s full name is Go Boy’s Black Maximus. Go Boys is from his sire’s name. Maximus is Latin for greatest or biggest. This big, black horse is well named. There is something magical about caring for a horse. At least for me there is. We’ve had Max for about a month now, and I still love every job I’ve had to do for him. The only thing I haven’t enjoyed is being cold while doing those jobs. Still, even when I go and think I won’t stay long because it’s too cold, I find that I don’t want to leave. I enjoy working at the paddock and especially being around Max. We’re still getting to know each other, and I want to spend as long as I can there every day to facilitate that process.

But eventually we do have to get home. So we pile into the truck and head back out to the highway. But first we have to drive through the field where the large round bales of hay are kept, and it is there that I noticed the beauty of winter for the first time this year. A beauty I used to appreciate, but having endured so many long winters I now often miss. The long grass in the field was covered in frost, and it glistened in the morning sun, reflecting, like millions of tiny prisms, all the colours of the rainbow.

If nothing else, living up here as afforded me many beautiful sights of winter that I had never seen in the more southerly climate I grew up in. This was definitely one of them. I watched the twinkling frost as I drove through the field and back out to the highway, knowing that winter does have some beautiful redeeming qualities. I thought this winter would be harder because I have to be outside every day. Could be possible that this “Great Black” horse who has already blessed us in so many ways, will also make this winter just that much more bearable? I’m beginning to think he might.

To Hallow or Not to Hallow

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:52:00 -0500

I was going to leave this alone because I know not everyone agrees on this topic, but a rather interesting comment came to my attention this week that I thought worth sharing. Let me preface by saying first that I have not read this woman’s blog, other than this one post, so can not endorse anything you may find there. Also, I am not suggesting that everyone must approach October 31 the same way we approach it. So first, the quote. It comes from this blog http://asmallcornerofnowhere.blogspot.com/2009/10/happy-halloween.html . The writer of the blog is a self proclaimed witch who homeschools her children. Here’s the quote:

“I am somewhat shocked at the fundy churches who have "Harvest Day" celebrations to keep their flock away from the evils of the pagan holiday. Umm... does no one do their homework anymore? Samhain IS a harvest festival. Your jack-o-lanters with Jesus cut out on them are a really fine hallmark of the pagan reverence for the dead on this day. Your bonfire? Well... if you knew how that tweaked the nips of every pagan looking for an excuse for rolicking good Sabbat revelry, well... would you still do it? Seriously, people... if you're going to co-opt a pagan holiday, then proceed to secularize the h*** out of it with candies and Power Rangers costumes, and THEN eschew it for something else, at least take the time to see that your something else isn't rife with even MORE pagan symbolism than the thing you were trying to eschew in the first place.”

For our family we have decided to opt out of the Halloween scene. We do not dress up, we do not go to halloween parties (even glorified "harvest" parties), we do not give out candy at the door. The most common response I have to this is, “But it’s all in fun.” That may be, but it doesn’t change what they are celebrating “in fun.” We did not come to this decision lightly. We spent quite a few years (really, quite a few fall seasons) praying about this decision and doing our research. Without having seen the above quote, we realized that she is right. Another common response is, “It doesn’t matter what its origins are. It’s what it is now that counts.” I can assure you that while the origins are not entirely irrelevant, we came to our decision not because of the origins of Halloween, but because of what it is today. Take a look at the facts.

There is more crime on Halloween night than any other night of the year. Do I really want to be part of a holiday that encourages this?

You don’t have to go far down the street to see that the holiday is all about death. Do I really want to be part of a holiday that glorifies death, whether or not this is the participants’ intention?

The justification of “it’s all in fun” is also a concern. Should we really make light of things that are very real and very dangerous?

Church parties that “clean up” Halloween aren’t really changing it. They are simply taking out the most offensive elements in order to free their consciences to participate in what they like about the holiday. As noted in the above quote, even in good intentions some of these celebrations incorporate traditions that we would really not want to participate in if we truly understood what they are.

And I have asked myself why? Why is it such a big deal to simply not participate? What is so wonderful about the celebration that we have to make all kinds of excuses and changes to it in order to not miss out on the fun? What really would we be missing? Dressing up and eating candy? Surely we don’t need Halloween for that. Furthermore, if it really is a night that is important on the occultic calendar (and it is) why are the churches bending over backwards in order not to miss out? Why, I ask myself, are we not responding with prayer against the evil of the night instead? Even if you choose to ignore the satanic activity of the night, believing that it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t personally participate in that specific portion of the holiday, there is still the matter of increased criminal activity. Ask any policeman and he will confirm this. Should we not be responding in prayer rather than trying to see how much we can legitimately celebrate? It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Again, I write this not to point fingers or to tell others what they should do. Please don’t comment that I should just chill out because it’s all in fun. As I said, we did not come to this decision lightly or quickly, and it's ok if you disagree with me. I simply suggest that you do so with full knowledge of the information and in prayer. Is there really anything in the Halloween celebrations valuable enough to be worth cleaning up just so we won’t miss out? Think about it.

Thanksgiving: Better Late Than Never!

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:46:00 -0500

Thanksgiving breezed by this year as we spent Saturday and Sunday in the truck driving home from an unexpected trip to the coast. But it did not pass without the realization that we have much to be thankful for this year. In fact, there are so many things I’m thankful for (in addition to the usual things like a good husband, great kids, etc) that I hardly know where to start! So in no particular order:

1. Max. Max is a beautiful black Tennessee Walking Horse, bred and trained by my father-in-law. With Dad’s fight with cancer picking up he decided it was time to sell his beloved horses. He has bred Tennessee Walkers for many, many years, so this was a hard place to come to. He wanted one of his kids to have at least one of the horses, but none of us live on property that could house them. They sold two of the three, but the last one, Max, would just not be sold. Meanwhile, my husband surprised us all by checking into a local saddle club to see if we could bring Max here and house him at the club. After watching God work out all the details, many of them at the very last minute, Max is finally ours! I was glad to hear that our taking Max was a relief to the family who had been unsure what to do if they couldn’t find a home for him. Meanwhile, my oldest daughter and I could not be happier. Owning a horse is something I have always wanted, but thought would never happen. Victoria inherited that desire, whether from me or from her Opa. Now we are living the dream!

2. Family. We were called to come as my father-in-law was not doing well. The decision to go was made at 10 pm on Friday, Sept 25, and by 11 pm the next day we had made the 1400 km drive and were at my sister-in-law’s. For the next week we spent a lot of time at the hospital where my father-in-law finished his 3-year fight with cancer. During that time we were blessed by their large family as a constant stream of visitors came and went. Supper was brought to us at the hospital. Prayers were said on our behalf. Several times family sang around my father-in-law’s bed blessing not only us, but the nursing staff as well with their hymns of praise. It is a wonderful heritage my children have received through their father’s family, and it was a great blessing for them to see the faith of their fathers (and uncles and cousins) worked out in such a practical and loving way. My own family supported me by phone and my parents were able to come to the funeral and blessed us with their gift of music before and after the service.

3. Heritage of love. In addition to the heritage mentioned above, I was also touched to see the deep sorrow of my mother-in-law in the final days of her husband’s life. There are many occasions that give me cause to be thankful for my own marriage, and this was one of them. To have a husband whom I love as deeply, and to know that he loves me the same is a treasure beyond measure.

4. Relationships. There is something about spending all night with someone at the bedside of another that makes one feel much closer to both. My mother-in-law had been spending her nights in the hospital with her husband, and the last two nights my sister-in-law and I stayed with her so she would not be alone. Through this, as well as the rest of the week’s events, we grew closer than we had been before. We were also able to develop more friendships with some of my husband’s cousins whom we were blessed to be able to visit with over our time at the coast.

5. Hospital staff. The ward my father-in-law was on was excellent. The doctor was available throughout the day and gave us honest and informative daily evaluations of my father-in-law’s condition. The nursing staff were incredible in their genuine care of their patient as well as his family. We were wonderfully blessed by this compassionate and competent medical staff.

6. My husband. He is an amazing man who was able to drive 17 hours (including stops) after only 4 hours sleep. (I did drive after lunch for a couple of those hours while he napped in the back seat.) He spent a huge amount of time over those two weeks driving out to where his Dad’s horses were to feed them, sorting through the barn, finding what we would need to bring Max home and care for him, packing tack, etc. He spent a full day working on the brakes of the horse trailer only to realize that he did not have the parts nor the time to finish the job and took the trailer to a garage to have the brakes done. He helped with the set up and clean up for the reception after the funeral. He stayed up very late packing up the horse trailer the night before we left, then drove about 9 hours Saturday and again on Sunday, pulling Max in the trailer and letting him out to walk in the mornings before we left and in the evenings after we arrived at that day’s destination. And through all the craziness he remained calm and got the jobs done.

7. Friends. We obviously could not pull Max in the trailer for 17 hours, so we had to make the return trip in two days. But that posed the problem of where to stop for the night where Max could get out and walk. We had met a friend and riding buddy of my in-laws a few times over the two weeks. His wife was managing a hotel at a town roughly half way between where we were and home. They graciously offered us lodging as well as a place for Max in their stable. Unfortunately one of the horses at their stable had contracted an illness so Max could not stay there, however Mike found a place for our truck & trailer behind the motel and helped my husband walk Max and clean the trailer for his night’s stay. We were very blessed by their hospitality.

8. More friends and family. It was such a comfort to know that we had family and friends all over the country praying for our father and our family throughout this whole time, and in fact, throughout Dad’s illness.

9. Our Risen Lord. Most of all we know it was the Lord’s grace that sustained us. It was His hand that ordered all our steps and worked out all the details so that we could be there with our family at this critical time, and so that we could bring Dad’s horse home with us. But most of all we are filled with gratitude that He allowed His Son to die and to rise again, thus conquering death once and for all! Because of this, says the well-known hymn, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives all fear is gone. As we said good bye to my father-in-law, we knew that it was not forever. While the parting was difficult, there was great comfort in knowing that his pain is gone, his fight is over. He now has a perfectly healthy body in which to spend eternity, and we will see him there. This is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Corinthians, “Oh death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (I Cor. 15:55) There is no sting in death because for those who love God, it is temporary. Because I know He holds the future, I can face uncertain days because He lives! (Words from “Because He Lives” by Bill Gaither)

Me and Max

Doesn't Count List

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:08:00 -0500

Where have all my serious posts gone? Let's face it, as a homeschooling mother of four my life is full of random funny happenings, and I love to share them. And that's ok. But it's also important to remember the heart of living, which for me is my faith in Christ. This morning my cousin posted a link to a blog I had never seen before, and I am glad I took a few moments to read it. I was surprised to learn that I do, indeed, have a "Doesn't Count List."

I don't know about the author and this is the only post of his that I've read, but this one I can highly recommend. Take a minute to read it yourself. You won't regret it! And let's get rid of those Doesn't Count Lists!

While you're blog surfing, surf by my cousin's blog at What's Gotta Be Said. He has a lot of good thoughts that will enrich your day and maybe even your life.