It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Tax return season.  I run my school year Feburary to February, which really makes no sense at all, but that's when I can order new curriculum.  My Elementary Greek should be here this week, along with Henle Latin, and  Max's new math workbooks.  I also got several books that go along with the Tapestry of Grace stuff which arrived a few days ago.  I am SOOOO excited to get started on all of it.  TOG year 1 looks amazing.  It's so God-centered.  It echos what I hear at church.  All of history is God's redemptive history.  Everything from Genesis to Matthew points to the cross, everything from Matthew to today looks back at the cross.  It's even more special that it's coming from a specifically reformed point of view. 

Congratulate me.  I got her to take a nap today.  The little bugger REFUSES to stay in her bed.  We have covered all forms of discipline, punishment, bribing, and the like to no avail.  Today I pulled the rocking chair right into her doorway and sat there nursing Piper while she waited for me to leave.... and waited and waited.  She finally got so tired of waiting she crashed.  It only took a half hour. 

Steve and I decided to take a little trip to Denver with the kiddos this weekend.  We told them that when he got his bonus for the year we would do a fun trip.  Our plan is to hit the Lego store, Casa Bonita's, IHOP (they beg to go here every time we see one... The actual experience will find them disappointed, I think)  the Aquarium, and a motel with a swimming pool.  So we are leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow.  Steve took a day off work and we have to be back by Sunday for church.  It will be a full two days, but hopefully, they will enjoy it.  Steve wanted to stop at the outlet malls in Fort Collins.  I said that shopping with 5 kids sounds like torture.  Sometime, when I am not connected to the baby, we will have to go down by ourselves. I am not ready to buy new clothes yet anyway. 

So that's the list of excitement on tap for the coming weekend.  I am sure we will be exhausted, but, hopefully memorable.

After having week after week of Steve home for a 3 day weekend with bank holidays and vacation time and such, he actually had a full week this week.  So, it feels like a really long week.  Couple that with Jazz band starting back up, and him being gone on Thursday evening, and we are really ready for the weekend. I don't know why January is such a long month.  It always is. 

As for school stuff this week, we've accomplished a full week of school and co-op starts on Monday.  Trent is about 10 lessons away from the end of his Saxon 7/6 book.  He conquered pi this week, and it didn't confuse him in the least.  I guess that's why we are sticking with Saxon.  It seems to be working for him,  Max is doing really well with his too.  The highlight of the morning was Fed Ex at the door at 8 with Trent's Apolgia Zoology 1 book.  He is doing it through the Co-op.  Max also has a beginning science class.  I will be teaching NO science this spring, other than doing some nature study stuff and a few science videos.  Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah.  Gabby is mastering lettersounds, but it is S...L...O...W  going with the blending.  She seems to be more aural with her learning.  Can sound out the letters that I verbalize, and blend them outloud, but looking at them on paper still sort of baffles her.  I do have to HIGHLY recommend the Letter Factory DVDs.  They are WONDERFUL for learning letter sounds.  Natalie can even tell you what most of the letters say.  Amazing, I tell ya!

Miss Piper is really changing.  She's smiling and cooing lots more.  The fussiness in the evenings is starting to subside a little, but not wholly yet.  As for sleeping through the night.  I don't want her too for quite a while, the more often I have to nurse, the more calories I am burning.  We have discovered that she loves tummy sleeping, though, so we are doing more of that.  She's more content to nap in her portacrib this way.  I am going to be hauling my swing to co-op with us, though.  The girl LOVES her swing, and the church nursury doesn't have one. 

Well, Nat's officially two.  She's acted two for at least the last 6 months, but now she has the ability to climb out of her crib.  This poses an ENORMOUS naptime problem.  She still needs a nap......... desperately by 7 pm, but I fought with her the better part of 3 hours.  I won't tell you who won.  I like to consider it a draw.   Hard to believe that none of the others ever climbed out of the crib.  Max and Gabby were probably already in regular beds.  Anyway... The upshot to this is my butt ought to start shrinking.  I bet I ran the stairs AT LEAST 20 times today.  Speaking of fitness...

It is my intention to start running.  As soon as I get some new tennies that is.  I am going to embark on the "Couch to 5K"  plan.  Essentially you start with incriments of running and walking alternatively, and work your way up to 3 miles (5K) within two months.... or so they say.  It may take me longer, and it definately is going to be contingent on weather.  I don't mind cold, but I can see myself slipping and cracking my tail bone or something on the ice that refuses to melt.

My last thought for the day is actually a thought I had yesterday at our bible study.  (just now getting around to putting it down in writing)  I decided that I would share the definitions of FOREKNOWLEDGE and PREDESTINATION as defined by J.M. Boice in The Doctrines of Grace:

Foreknowledge:  To know in the biblical sense is to love, to foreknow is to forelove.  Therefore, God has beforehand fixed a special attention upon certain people or has loved them in a saving way.  It doesn't mean he foreknew their actions (the faith they would somehow be able to muster up from deep within their DEAD souls .... as if that were possible).  He foreknew His elect.  Christ's bride, the church. 

Predestined: This term does not mean the same as foreknowledge.  It means that a persons destiny is is determined before hand.  Not that God fixed special attention on us, or elected us, but rather, what we are elected to... our destiny... to be conformed to the image of Christ. 

Did I mention that I love this book?  It has done an excellent job thus far of making the Doctrines of Grace understandable.  The deeper we dig into the Word, the more it's confirmed to be Biblical truth, and the more confidant we can be in a sovereign God, who has had it all planned from eternity past. 

Well, of course, I made resolutions like I do every year.  They always include a list of things that I never actually accomplish.  My standards are:  reading all the way through the Bible, exercising daily, eating less sugar, and giving up Diet Pepsi.  I think that everybody does this, but I always make it about a month before I have completely given up.   Last year I managed to lose 30 lbs or so, and promptly got pregnant with miss Piper.  So I now have about 15 pounds to lose to get back down to where I was.  Steve is on board with me on the whole eating no sugar thing, so that will help.  Plus the dear soul refused me when I begged him to run to Burda's for a 9:00 fountain Diet Pepsi.  WHAAAAH!  Never mind that I told him I was giving the stuff up, never mind that I told him that you shouldn't let me indulge.  Isn't he a meanie?  Oh well. 

On the bible reading front, I know that I will not make it all the way through the Bible this year.  I don't have too many uninturrupted minutes to do that.  But I am going to purchase the Bible on MP3 and try to listen to it.  Plus I intend to make it through at least 4 books and actually do some inductive study on them.  I am working on Mark.  I think that is probably more realistic with 5 little people, one of them a newborn, Homeschooling, and a co-op to prepare several classes for. 

So in light of my New Year's Resolutions, I am posting the top 10of Jonathon Edwards' extremely thoughtful resolutions.  If you want to see the whole list of 70 that Desiring God has listed, click here

Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.

1. Resolved, That I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God, and my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration; without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved, to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved, so to do, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.

2. Resolved, To be continually endeavouring to find out some new contrivance and invention to promote the forementioned things.

3. Resolved, If ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

4. Resolved, Never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God, nor be, nor suffer it, if I can possibly avoid it.

5. Resolved, Never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.

6. Resolved, To live with all my might, while I do live.

7. Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.

8. Resolved, To act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings, as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God. Vid. July 30.

9. Resolved, To think much, on all occasions, of my dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.

10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.

Greetings to all, we hope you are well,
We’ve had quite a year, sit back and we’ll tell.
It’s usually best to begin at the start,
But this year the last is dear to the heart.
December has brought loads of new fun,
A tiny new baby is Joy number one.

Piper Josephine got here in fine style,
She’s perfectly pink and brings all a smile.
Twenty-one inches, and a head full of hair,
Seven pounds and six ounces, blue eyes in a pair.
She came on the twenty-fifth of November,
And we’re praising God for our newest member.

Next in line from bottom to top,
Natalie is our sweet little girl who won’t stop.
She’s wild and silly, she lights up our days.
Oh, she can be naughty, she has her ways!
But we love her dearly, our Nattie Lou,
She’s funny and sunny and…… she’s nearly two.

Then comes our big girl who’s now all of four.
Gabriella is her mama’s helper for sure!
She loves to bake cookies and color and draw.
She also loves reading her books with her Pa.
Soon she’ll be doing school with her brothers,
Learning her letters and numbers and others.

Max is our almost six year old boy.
He loves his books and his music and toys.
Max plays piano, Jingle Bells is his fav.
But other songs, too, can cause him to rave!
He keeps it lively at home and away,
Jumping and cartwheeling all through the day.

Trent is our oldest, He’s ten and two months.
Unlike our Maxer, he’s not into stunts.
He draws with the best of them, loves painting, too.
He also builds legos to make a whole zoo.
Trent’s growing and learning to be more like Jesus.
There’s nothing else that could ever more please us.

Steve is still working the old eight to five.
Teaching band on the side, just to keep it alive.
At home, Steve is busy with projects galore,
And with his five children, life is no bore.
He’s growing in Grace day after day.
Becoming an oak in his faith all the way.

As for the mama – I do what I do.
Teaching piano and other stuff too.
God has been teaching me in many ways.
I’m learning to lean on Him every day.

Our tiny new baby this Christmas season
Makes us remember that Jesus’ reason
To come to the Earth from His Glory above
Had everything to do with His Love.
Not just His love, though, It’s all for His glory
The Father created a Redemptive Story!

Merry Christmas to you from all of the Shell’s.
Enjoy all the twinkling lights and the bells.
But keep Christ in Christmas,
without Him you’ll find,
A day without meaning of any kind.

I am doing a couple of "parties" this month.  Some are on line, some are home shows. Anyone who is looking to purchase a book or two, or twelve is welcome to come and peruse the bookstore... www.peanutshellbooks.com .   I have several orders going in to the company over the next couple of weeks. Normally, I have done some of my Christmas shopping by now, many years I am done completely.  This year, I just haven't had the money to do it in advance, and haven't been motivated to do much.  Most of my neices and nephews are getting... you guessed it... books.  I love to give books, I love to get books, I love books. I love watching my kids sucked into some other world. Current loves are Lord of the Rings (Trent is halfway through the Fellowship), The Boxcar Children ( Max is in the middle of 3 different mysteries), Treasure Island, Dr. Doolittle's Tales, and a few other's picture books.  Gabby is getting 1001 things to spot in Fairyland for her birthday.  She'll love it, of course, it's pink.  I think she is finally starting to show some interest in letters and such.  Guess it's time to pull out the Phonics Pathways.

I was thinking about "love languages" the other day.  My friend R was talking about her son's love language being gifts.  He appearently loves to buy his friends, siblings, parents, etc... the perfect gift.  I have a sister-in-law like this.  She is a bargan hunter to the core and just loves to give gifts to people.  I like to bake for people, but I don't really enjoy shopping, and really don't like giving people something that isn't practical, useful, or necessary.  Some people are easy to find something for, but most people, even people I love and hold dear prove to be a challenge.  It's not an area of expertise for me.  If I had money in excess I would probably just get everyone gift certificates for Applebee's or Barnes and Noble or Home Depot.  That way they could get themselves what they really want or need and I haven't cluttered up their wall, counter, or closet with a gift that they didn't want or need in the first place.  I figure there are probably other people that hate to dust, as much as I do.  The kind of things I put on my personal wish list are as boring as all get out, but I would rather be practical:  a new blender, Steve to figure out how to put a bathroom fan in, a new shower curtain, or maybe a new mattress pad.  See? That's just how I am. I have never claimed to be a fascinating individual. 

Fortunately, I am not married to someone who feels compelled to lavish things on me anyway.  We don't exchange gifts unless it's something that we mutually want to spend money on.  Like the dvd player for the car or a new hot water heater.

As for the love languages.... I haven't figured out what mine is... I guess I ought to read that book or something.  Maybe I don't have one.  It's not verbal affirmation, it's not physical affirmation, it's not gift giving, so I haven't a clue. 

Ok.  Part of it is just this time of year, part of it is this stage of pregnancy, and part of it is the massive quantity of things that need done in the next 3 weeks.  Here is the run down. 

• Monday for another 2 weeks co-op in town.  ONLY another two weeks.  Hallelujah! Followed by lessons. 
• Tuesdays, lessons in Bridgeport, and yesterday we got everything but Science and History done.  Have I mentioned that I hate science? 
• Wednesdays for the last 3 weeks I had to be in town for either doctor's appointments, Clavinova festival sign up, or a play that I took the kids to. And I have missed the last 3 weeks of our women's bible study.  Followed by lessons.
• Thursday next week is a Dr. appointment.  Followed by lessons.  And then it's Thanksgiving which will require another trip to town to do grocery shopping.
• Fridays are jam packed with everything else that hasn't gotten done all week from the running around. Next week is the Clavinova Festival.(Yet another trip to town)....Followed by lessons.
• Saturdays clean and next week fit the Clavinova festival in (in town, of course.) And if I think I can get my kids to do schoolwork on a Saturday, well, that's just laughable.
• Sundays are my relief.  The cleaning is done, the focus is the important things and I can relax a little.  Except of course the concerts that Steve has coming up for Jazz Band are on Sundays.  Imagine that, another trip to town.

I am supposed to have a baby in the middle of this, and the timing there has to be perfect. My doc is leaving for South Africa the 30th.  If this baby shows up over Thanksgiving, that would be good... a 3 day vacation!  Plus, I have relatives coming, so they will be here and I won't have to figure out what to do with the other kiddos in the middle of the night.  I have in the past lamented that I can't have a home-birth since I get really tired of being in the hospital before they let me go, but this year it might be just fine!  

All I really want is to stay home.  Eliminate 3 trips to town a week, make all of my students come to me, not feel like I need to be there to hear all of my students play their pieces.  Steve still isn't convinced that I have become an introvert over the last 10 years, but I tell ya, I think I have.   Give me a regular schedule, and a couple of weeks where I don't have to leave the house for anything, and I am sure that I will be in better frame of mind! 

We have gotten Math, Latin, and instrument practice in 3 days a week for both the boys.  Hopefully, that will ensure that they don't forget absolutely everything we have done over the last year.  I wouldn't think this makes me an "unschooler" but who knows. 

Saturday we woke up and started our routine of cleaning and such to get ready for Sunday.  Steve and I both got showers taken and then he headed downstairs to inform the kids of the day's plan.  (We had 3 extra kids whose mama had a birthday and their dad decided to take her to the big city on a day out.)  Anywho,  while Steve was downstairs he noticed that the carpeting was wet and on further investigation found that the hot water heater was leaking all over the floor.  He got out his handy-dandy homeowners guide to fixing all things yourself, and quickly realized that none of the problems listed applied to our hot water heater.  So, this required a trip to Home Depot to get a new hot water heater.  While trying to drain the old one, (with the water to the house off, and 6 kids needing to use the bathroom) he discovered that the old water heater was full of sediment and could not be drained.  Which leads me to this question..... Did you know that every 6-12 months you are supposed to drain the hot water heater?  So far I have never heard of anyone that knew this was to be done. The owners manual on the side of the tank says that sediment will build up in the tank if this isn't done.  AH HA!   So last night I was talking to my mom and telling her all this, which of course she's never heard at all.  The hot water heater in their house has to be at least 20 years old... probably way older, and they don't have a water softener, so the hardwater build up is substantially worse for them.  They just don't make things like they used to.  Now the next problem is that because we are unable to drain the rest of the water out of the old tank, it weighs a ton, and we aren't sure how to remove it from the basement.

We started our newest bible study last night.  It's a women's study on the covenental family.  The first few chapters are very good, and there were several convicting things even in the introduction to the book.  We read Psalm 78:1-8 where the psalmist talks about teaching the Lord's statutes to your children and to your children's children.  I was so blessed to grow up in a home where I was taught truth.  What I hope to get out of this study is how to teach my kids what God's standards are, but still model the Grace that he has bestowed on me.  So that they know that it's not an outward conforming to a list of do's and don'ts, but rather a heart transformation.  I am not good at being gracious, as testified to by my actions most of the time.  I love my "formulas."  Even though I know deep down that my "formulas" for turning out well behaved, obedient, thoughtful children are in reality not going to make life turn out that way.

It's really interesting how this all fits together with what Tim has been preaching about on Sunday mornings with the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus lays forth that the standard is perfection, and ends the whole thing saying be perfect as God is perfect.  Which is completely impossible.  For me, for you, for any member of the human race. Only by God's grace is that standard achievable.  Which doesn't mean that I am going to be able to live a perfect life even after God draws and saves me.  It means that He has to look on me through the blood of Christ. That's what makes me perfect.  Not me.  Not my will to be so.  Not my righteousness. God's righteousness.  Not my own list of do's and don'ts.  So if that kind of grace is given me, then I ought to extend that to others, especially my kids. 

Well, last year after Halloween when my children aquired tons and tons of candy, I made Trent the official "Candy Nazi"  He was given a big bucket and told to take it to the basement and hide it, and he would be responsible for doleing it out to the other kids.  This was done primarily so that I would stay out of the candy. (Last year I was doing NO sugar.)  However, this year, I am not restricting myself quite as much.... til after the baby is here anyway.  But  Trent has taken his task so seriously, that we decided to implement it again.  This kid really amazes me.  He will truely stay out of it.  Last year it lasted clear til Christmas.  We don't have quite the quantity that we did last year, but the candy is better.... Read that as harder for mom to stay out of.  

Today Trent gets to go to Evan's plunge with a buddy of his.  He was there once when he was maybe 2, so this will be a fun day for him.  The draw backs are the other 3 are going to be missing him (as am I) and the candy is not guarded... Either from the other 3, who do not have Trent's restraint, or myself. 

It really makes me think about how disciplined a kid can be, and how most of the time I am not.  I love structure and consistancy, but in some areas, I just fail miserably.  There are a hundred books on how to parent, how to discipline, how to correct.  There are hundreds of books on how to make yourself more disciplined and fit more into a day.  I love the premis, but a lot of the time the grace is missing in the how to.  My kids are fallen sinners, they need correction, but I need to extend grace to them, too.  I need to shoot for a high standard, because I am a child of God with a calling to sanctification, but have to remember that He's given His perfect grace to me.  And I am going to fail miserably. 

God is not desirous of a performance.  He wants me to realize where I am, what I came from, and glorify Him in my every moment.  And God is taking into account my gifts, my personality, my quirks, and teaching me through those things, not inspite of them.  That's where I get it wrong sometimes with my kids.  Each of them is different, each of them needs different kinds of discipline.  One size does not fit all.  Nat is the one who needs complete consistancy, and OFTEN, Trent is a self regulator, Gabby is ultra-sensitive to correction.  Max is Max a little of everything.  Consistancy is necessary in parenting no matter what the child is like. Kids need to know that we mean business, but God doesn't have one way that He deals with all of us in our sin.  He knows us so intimitely that  He brings the right amount of conviction when we need it. Food for thought, especially for a fallen parent of soon to be 5. 

My kids are constantly telling me they have no socks in their drawer.  How is that?  I send a whole pile of socks downstairs with them.... already paired up and matched every laundry day.  ( I used to do Monday's and then we started co-op on Mondays, so now I do Friday's) I swear that they take them apart one by one and then put them in separate drawers. Now, losing baby socks in the washer is a known phenomenon, as is never actually getting both socks of a pair to the laundry room.  I don't know what my boys actually do to their socks.  My grandmother on my mom's side has my grandfather "trained" to safety pin his socks together before they go into the laundry.  She never loses a one.  Maybe that's the route we ought to go?

Steve has band tonight, so, it'll be pancakes for the kids (my specialty when Dad's gone)  It requires no meat, very little prep work, and they are happy as clams.  Plus, I have like 4 cups of buttermilk that are souring nicely in the fridge. 

Thursday evenings are a lovely change of pace.  I put all kids to bed by 8 (boys read til 9) and I usually watch CSI, the only show that I routinely watch, although, I was told that there is a show on that I would really like about a doctor who is a little too like me.... blunt and cynical.  Appearently he's constantly getting himself into trouble by saying exactly what he thinks about the given situation.  Sounds familiar.... I am a very literal person.  Don't read between the lines.  Should I hold my tongue with greater restraint? Absolutely.  Do I regret it when I am too harsh about things that aren't of great importance?  Yes.  But I don't know how else to be.  I am what I am.  I stink at the relational aspect of life most of the time.  I love truth, I love intellect, I have strong opinions. I dislike tiptoeing on egg shells and feel like I am not being me.  Probably why I am more of an introvert than I ever thought I was.  Being 8 and a half months pregnant tends to bring out more of my "color" too.  God is working at me to sand off roughness, but obviously, He is going to let me feel the weight of my depravity over the course of a lifetime.  For the kinder, gentler version of Jodi, Check back in about 50 years.  And maybe I will be able to show mercy and walk humbly.  I am hopeful that I might see that fruit sooner.  Be patient with me.

Trent is turning 10 in 5 days.  Makes me sad that my baby is growing up.  Even if there is another baby not even here yet.  Steve is giving him a "rite of passage"  gift.  Hopefully he won't shoot his eye out with it.  (think A Christmas story.)  At least he wears glasses like Ralphie.  The big problem is that Max thinks he gets to do everything that he gets to do.  Like tonight.... Trent gets to have 3 guys spend the night.  It will be an all night Star Wars/ Legoland adventure.  Max is going to be sorely disappointed when I send him to bed at 8:30 or 9 while the other guys are up till all hours.  Hopefully he will get over it with a minimum amount of complaint.  My sister and I were MUCH closer in age, and much more antagonistic toward each other in all respects.  I never would have let her hang out with my slumber party group, and vice versa.  We considered the other a major pain til high school at least.  Trent is generally very good about letting Max tag along when he has friends around.  But this is TRENT'S birthday party, not Max's.

Grandma Linda and Aunt Steph are coming next week to celebrate for a couple of days.  They haven't been down here for a very long time.  My brother in law got deployed to Iraq in July, so Steph hasn't gone too far from home since then.  And Linda is sort of put into a double duty capacity while Steph is single parenting.  They had talked about coming down earlier, but August and September were crazy for us with Farmer's market every Sat, Co-op planning, trying to find our rhythm, I went to a retreat thing, and so on and so forth..... So we finally have settled back into a quasi-routine which will be disrupted substantially in about 5-6 weeks.  I feel like I am getting more rigid with age, but by the same token, there is more to accomplish in a day.  I need to start implementing my morning routine again.... but rolling myself out of bed early is SO HARD right now. 

Biblestudy today.  We are to the chapter in Doctrines of Grace that deals with unconditional election.  Boyce points out that God was elective in 3 different generations. He chose Abraham, who, up to the point of his being chosen, worshipped false gods.  Then He chose Isaac when Abraham had 2 sons, only one was the child of promise.  Finally, God chose Jacob over Esau when both of them were born of the same parents, the same line, the same jewishness, if you will.  Why should anyone argue that God couldn't possibly choose some for salvation, and some for ****ation (reprobation).  Romans 9 is so crystal clear.  He has ALWAYS been a God who chooses a people for Himself.  That alone makes me wonder - why me? ... I was just as dead as Madonna or Howard Stern or Charlie Manson.  If Ephesians says that we were dead in our sins, and dead means dead (which it does, I am ALL dead, not mostly dead--which is slightly alive) then God chose me to be one of His children.  I am a part of a chosen group.  Wow.  Why do I not live like that every day? 

It also brought to light how every part of the doctrines of grace work together.  There are no such things as 4 point Calvinists.  I am radically sinful, unable to choose God.  He has to choose me, which He did before the foundations of the Earth, for His glory alone.  The fact that He specifically chose me means that the scope of whose sins the blood of Christ covered are limited to those whom He chose.  Since I wouldn't be able to come to Him, He had to draw me with His irrisitible grace.  And if He went to the work of choosing, drawing and saving me, He will persevere me to the end.  Ok, my head hurts.  Let's do something easy now, like Latin. (comparitively anyway)

By the way.... I showed mercy to my daughter(s) today.  Thanks for praying. 

Do you know what it's like to be persecuted?  I have no idea.  I live in a comfortable house, free to read the Word of God, free to meet with fellow believers, free to say what I want about almost anything.... I can blog to my heart's content, and I don't have to agree with what my government does, either in word or mind.  I complain about having no money..... people are being starved in a stinking hole of a jail cell for Christ.  I complain about a nasty cold when people are being beaten within inches of their lives for preaching the Gospel.  I am a wimp, a weakling, a pathetic excuse for someone who claims that she has been bought with a price.

Pastor Tim is preaching through the Sermon on the Mount.  He made an interesting observation about how first few verses deal with our salvation, and the next several deal with our progressive sanctification.  We aren't going to be willing to be persecuted for righteousness sake if we aren't peacemakers, we won't be peacemakers if we aren't merciful.... etc.  Ok, so then my pastor asks really tough questions like, if you aren't persecuted, why aren't you persecuted.  I live in a country where the worst thing that is going to happen to me is that other people are going to say I am a lunatic or "devisive."  And I still don't meet the criteria for persecution. Probably because I am still way back on "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall recieve mercy"  Thank God that He's the one faithful to complete the work in me, and I am not doing this on my own.   

This Sunday Tim talked about a pastor in India beaten by Hindus for his faithfulness to Christ. And also this girl in Egypt who is only 15 and was kidnapped because of faith.  Will my kids have faith that strong when they are 15?  Do I have faith that deep at 31?  Talk about serious conviction.  If it isn't worth dying for, is it worth living for? 

I loved this article  by Steve Camp.  It's plenty long, but SO good.  If you disagree with the fact that we are totally depraved and unable to choose Christ, you may disagree with the premis that we can't insist that the world (still in it's oblivious to sin state) hold to our moral compass.  Not that anyone is saying we should ignore sin or not call it what it is, but what good does boycotting Walmart do?  Sure, they are very pro gay rights, along with a whole host of other things that doesn't line up with biblical principles.  Who says they are supposed to conform to what the bible says is right?  They are the world..... we aren't to conform to them, no one said anything about them supposed to conform to us.  If it makes you feel better, boycott them, but insisting that ALL christians should avoid Walmart because they are evil.... well, can't say I can agree.  Stand up and say sin is sin... Be holy because God is holy.  Don't listen to Madonna because she preaches filth, understand that Oprah is dead wrong about everything.  But don't expect the world to follow your lead.  We, who are bought and paid for by the blood of Christ alone, for the Glory of God alone,  are the strangers and aliens in this land. 

My eldest son detests poetry.  It confuses and befuddles him, especially figurative language.  Today he had to disect some for English (Rod & Staff) and was nearly in tears over why they would say that the moon was a flower.... Not that I am a huge fan of poetry, but Trent is a very literal kind of kid.  I am hopeful that metaphores and similes will not be enemies for the rest of his life. 

Here's your funny for the day... I came across this on one of the message boards that I read.  Steve and I got a good laugh from it.  Especially since he gets several of the responses from people at work.  I edited a couple of them, but for the most part it's in tact.

We had ladies bible study this morning.  Missus E. brought leftover german chocolate cake to share.  My affinity for chocolate is well known in these parts.  There is no difficulty in understanding how I can gain weight so easily.  Anyway, we sang a few songs and prayed today instead of doing our typical study.  The songs that we did are from the Valley of Vision cd put out by Sovereign Grace.  We read the prayer that each song was based on before we sang.  Good stuff!  The remainder of the cake got left at my house..... since I have 4 small people who will do almost anything for a piece of cake of any variety.  And we saved a big slice of it for Steve who loves g.c. cake more than any other dessert in the world.  Pity he wont read his wife's blog.  He could look forward to it all day long.  I asked him once if he ever read my musings, and he responded, "Why? I live it."  Profound, don't you think?  So much for my creative genius....

Speaking of creative genius, Trent is taking a photography class through our co-op.  He isn't exactly "proficient" with the camera, but he's learning.  One of his assignments was to use a lighting technic that is called "front lighting."  For this picture he decided to hang Darth Vader (with a twisty-tie noose) by the neck until dead.  Submitted for your viewing pleasure....

Man, this co-op on Monday's deal makes my week SO out of whack.  Tuesday feels like Monday as far as school work goes, and piano practice, and everything else.

It's cool today, and it was yesterday, too.  We had to turn on the space heaters.  Naturally, I found my boys huddled around it when I got up this morning.  The basement is actually still warm enough not to need the heaters turned on, but they inherited that from me, I guess.  It's as close as we get to sitting in front of a fireplace. 

I came across this on Slice of Laodicea today.  Ingrid... one of the moderators there posted this about Mahler's 3rd Symphony.  I love her perspective on it.  I need to go get out my CD's and see if I have Mahler's 3rd.  Steve and I had a really good friend in college who was consumed with Mahler.  He would put on recordings and open up the doors and let the music swell throughout the whole music building.  Only after class hours, of course.  I miss that aspect of life B.C. (before children for the uninitiated)  I would love to be able to go to concerts or even student recitals.  MSUB isn't exactly a hub for really great artistic perfomances, but the symphony there was actually pretty good, and I still was able to aquire a taste for it.  Sort of like the doctrines of grace.  Once you taste how wonderful and deep and rich they are, there isn't any turning back. 

Trent is perfecting the 3 notes he knows on the saxophone.  Oh my, can I just say that a beginning saxophone is a sound to behold.  Only slightly less squeaky than the clarinet, and perhaps a bit more moaning than a dying cow.  Oh well, he's excited about it, though, so I guess thats the important thing, right?  Maybe Max on the drums wont be as big of an issue as I thought it would. 

I don't think I mentioned that my boys both got new glasses last week.  Max's first pair, Trent's third.  Trent's aren't much different, and I was going to just put new lenses in his old ones, but they really encouraged us to get a new pair, so he would have a back up.  Max on the other hand, is about as cute as they come with his big ole eyes.  The glasses make them look even bigger.  Gotta love that about Steve's job.  It would have cost us a huge chunk of change to do eye appts and glasses for both of them.  Now what we all really need is a trip to the dentist. 

I was going to order my Tapestry of Grace curriculum this week, but I think that's going to get put off for another month.  We aren't quite ready for it yet, anyway, but I am enough of a planner, that I really want to have it in hand and be reading everything I can get my hands on for several weeks before we are ready for it.  We may take the month of December off entirely.... It really depends on the new baby. So, who knows, it may even wait until January.  I was thinking about doing a "unit" type study with all the kids on the different holiday celebrations... ie Hannikah, Kwanza, commercial Christmas (ie SANTA),  and CHRISTmas.  It would be fun to see how other countries celebrate Christ's birth specifically, and I want them to know what we believe, why, and why the other celebrations are meaningless to us as Christians.  I really still have no idea what Kwanza is.  I think it's an African thing maybe.

A good friend of mine called me the other night, and told me that she miscarried last week.  This would have been her second pregnancy.  She has sweet twins that are almost 3.  She, of course,  is bummed, but sees it as God's sovereign hand in her life.  Another of my friends recently went through miscarriage, and responded in the same way.  I love having God-centered friends.  It definately helps keep me on track.