Monthly Archives: March 2012

MFW Homeschool Highlights

29 Thursday Mar 2012

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Since we just recently started My Father’s World 1st grade curriculum, I thought it might be fun to share a couple things we’re doing to help making memorizing Bible verses easier and fun!

My oldest is a kynesthetic, “active” learner. Which means she learns best when her body is in motion! So, I’m trying incorporate more “motion” in our learning, especially since the 1st grade curriculum get pretty writing intensive later on.

One “game” I’ve created is called Stepping Stones. Each piece of paper contains one word, and the girls must step from “stone” to “stone” in order, while saying the Bible verse. The first day I make it easy, with them all in a line, and the second day I will spread the “stones” further apart, mix them up so they have to really look for the correct word, etc. (Our preschooler tags along behind.)

The last day of learning our Bible verse, I cut the words into small word cards, and then mix them up in a pile. The oldest is required to put them in order, and then we tape them together and make a “train.” Once we have the train, we use it to measure different things, like each other!

And this week, since oldest is begining to do copywork with the Bible verse, this is an activity I created to keep the preschooler occupied during this time. I hand her our bag of refrigerator magnets, and tell her to find the first letter of each word and then put them on the Bible verse hanging on the refrigerator.

If you’d like, you can also check out posts on other things related to our homeschool work in the past few weeks: Celebrating Purim, and our recent field trips  to the DC Cherry Blossom Festival, Ballet Magnificat! and to the US Capitol Building.

Be sure to check out what others are doing in MFW by heading on over to 2 Ladybugs and a Lizard.

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Visit to the DC Cherry Blossom Festival

24 Saturday Mar 2012

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Yeay! We finally were in DC at the right time and were able to visit the Cherry Blossom Festival!

Too bad the weather didn’t cooperate, though. I thought we could beat it, but the rain started about halfway through our visit.

If you have kids and get a chance to visit the Cherry Blossom Festival, be sure to see if the Park Rangers are doing a kids activity tent again! Our girls had a blast, and there were about twelve different activities to choose from.

First, we colored pictures of the four stages of the cherry blossom blossoming.

Then, because my girls love anything have to do with glue, we created our own “cherry blossoms.” This is easy to replicate at home, you just need glue and pink tissue paper!

We also did a leaf rubbing and colored pictures on a “friendship mural.”

My girls’ ultimate favorite part? Once you completed four different activities, you could find a park ranger, who would then administer an “oath” (which consisted of promising not to pick the cherry blossoms, really), and then give them Junior Park Ranger Badges! You should have seen them; their eyes got so huge, and you could tell that they were taking their oath very seriously! They wore their badges with pride for the rest of the day!

And here are a few activities we didn’t do for lack of time. But I wanted to include them for you here, in case you want to celebrate your own Cherry Blossom Festival at home!

Description: Japanese Paper Lantern

Directions: Japanese Paper Lantern

Kokeshi Dolls

Directions:

Planting seeds

Cherry Blossom History Hunt Quiz:

  1. Who first signed a treaty to build a relationship with Japan?
  2. When did the cherry trees come to America?
  3. What two events both happened in 1885 in the National Mall area?
  4. How many trees were burned because they were diseased?
  5. After the trees were burned, how long before healthy trees were planted?
  6. The building of what memorial caused protest in 1938? What were they protesting?
  7. What did Japan give the United States as a present in 1954?
  8. Who led the famous March on Washington two years before Lady Bird Johnson began planting more cherry trees?
  9. How many trees did Lady Bird Johnson plant?
  10. What event on the National Mall occurred from 1986-1988?

If you would like more information about the Cherry Blossoms trees in DC or the Cherry Blossom Festival, be sure to visit the National Park Service’s website.

Review: Ballet Magnificat!

20 Tuesday Mar 2012

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What It Is:

“Ballet Magnificat! was founded in 1986. Magnificat is Latin for “to magnify Him.” It’s derived from “Mary’s Song” of praise in the 1st Chapter of the Gospel of Luke when she first learned she was to be the mother of the Messiah. Ballet Magnificat! is an arts organization dedicated to presenting the good news of Jesus Christ to the whole world. Our professional touring companies perform nationally and internationally, ministering to audiences in the United States as well as Canada, Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Greece, Singapore, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico.” (from Facebook fan page)

My Review:

In short: I  LOVED it!

We happened upon a poster for Ballet Magnificat! recently, and I jumped at the chance to take my girls. First, they both love ballet and have not yet been to a professional performance. Second, they were performing “Deliver Us” the story of Exodus set to the music from the movie, “Prince of Egypt.” That will fit in with our homeschool curriculum, which is reviewing the major stories of the Bible this year. Third, Easter and Passover are in less than two weeks! What perfect timing!

I honestly had no idea what to expect, or if my girls would be able be still long enough to watch. But they were mesmerized, and thankfully there was a child-friendly audience and very patient people around us that put up with the sound of the million questions my girls asked during the show.

I expected to enjoy the dancing and the music. I did not expect to fall in love with the story all over again, or spend a night just praising God while watching these wonderful dancers worship through music. Really. Even the local groups, who performed two different preludes to the second act, filled the auditorium with just pure joy. 

And it wasn’t just that the Ballet Magnificat! troupe was technically proficient and did complicated and awe-inspiring dancing and lifts (though they did). It was that these performers FELT their performances. And they made you feel it too. Really, when was the last time you went to a ballet that wasn’t, well,  . . . cold? Ballet Magnificat wasn’t. Honestly, warmth and their love of performing just exuded from every fiber of their being.

Frankly, it made me wish I was younger, in better shape, and could just join them up onstage myself. I wish I had known about this fabulous group when I was younger and still performing (though, I honestly would never have been good enough to fit in with these extremely talented dancers).

With all that said, some parts were a little graphic for my crew, ages three and five. The scene with the slave-driver with a whip “beating” the Jewish slaves prompted a ton of questions from both, and my three-year-old is still asking, “But why were they beating the other? That was mean.” And I had no idea that the crucifixion was worked into the end of the story and would be so realistic. It’s not that I had a problem with either scene, but I do wish I had known and could have prepared my girls ahead of time. Nevertheless, we have been able to have very good discussions about it since. Which means the show left quite an impression, even beyond my daughters’ love of dance.

Here is their tour schedule, and if you’re one of my international buddies, be sure to check it out as well; they are touring internationally in the next few months!

Ballet Magnificat: Website, Facebook Page, and YouTube

Praying God’s Word: Believing God

19 Monday Mar 2012

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Forgive me for this being a shorter post! I have just fifteen minutes before waking the girls and getting us all ready to go to Ballet Magnificat tonight! I’m very excited, they have no idea and they are going to LOVE it.

Today I started the next chapter of Beth Moore’s Praying God’s Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds, which is entitled, “Overcoming Unbelief.”

This past week I have felt more open and my heart feels “softer” to God’s nudges. And I have felt less overburdened and “heavy” as well. All of this has led me to just fall at Christ’s feet in silent praise, because there are no words that can fulfill what my heart wants to say.  So, I continue to sit and worship there before Him, trusting Him to understand and make words of the song I don’t even yet know how to sing!

I’m not sure if it’s because of the progress and prayer from last week, or if this chapter is just “timely,” but this chapter of “Overcoming Unbelief” is meaty. Meaty with a side of potatoes and gravy – meaty. I thought I could get through it during one nap time session, and well, there is just no way. Too much to take in, ponder, study, and review verses. Beth (look at me call her by her first name!) has twenty full pages of verse/prayers here! So far, I’ve copied down about ten pages for me to print and scratch my thoughts all over.

So, while I work on this chapter this upcoming week, I would appreciate your prayers. I BELIEVEGod is trying to speak His Word to me. I BELIEVEit is the time for me to be released from some serious strongholds in my life and I am ready. So please, pray for me. Pray for openness, discernment, and understanding. And also, please pray for me because I’ve noticed that Satan’s attacks on me have intensified tenfold these past two-three weeks. So far, he has tried attacking my mind, my marriage, and my health. Satan is fighting my freedom, but is for this freedom that Christ has already set us free! (Gal. 5:1) (Underlining emphasis is mine.)

Okay, I hear the rugrats rustling around, which means my time here is done. Let me leave you with a few quick quotes from this chapter:

“Believing God is never more critical than when we have strongholds that need to be demolished. Believing God is also rarely more challenging.”

“You must believe Him. Believe He can do what He says He can do. Believe you can do what He says you can do. Believe who He says He is. And believe you are who He says you are.”

“God wields incomparably great power for those who choose to believe. Read it again! (Ephesians 1:18-20) . . . God applies the same power to our need that He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead. . . . Believe Him, and when you don’t, cry out earnestly, “Help me overcome my unbelief!” 

My Homeschool Mother’s Journal

16 Friday Mar 2012

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The Homeschool Mother's Journal

In my life this week…  This week I started the week with big plans. Very few of them have gotten done. Including about 5 million blog posts, and oh, half of what was scheduled for homeschool.

I had another fit with my back, and the new chiropractor I tried was hopeless. I hate the beginning part of a move; where you have to find all new “service providers.” I had just gotten comfortable with the last ones . . . .

In our homeschool this week… We are finishing week four of living in a hotel. We have started our first grade curriculum and the girls are enjoying it. I’m still tweaking here and there a little to make it work better for us, but the girls are enjoying “new” stuff to learn! I’m trying to mix in field trips as much as possible, to take advantage of all that Washington, DC has to offer, but traveling downtown with small kids is such an endeavor. So far, we’ve visited the National Museum of Art and did a tour of the Congressional Building. I’m hoping we can get another nice, warm, Spring day next week so we can enjoy the cherry trees in blossom! (With plenty of allergy meds in tow, of course.)

My favorite thing this week was… Playing hooky one day so I could go get a mani/pedi and sit in the massaging chair because of my back. I figured it would be cheaper than a masseuse here in DC and it was AWESOME. Oh, and they used that new gel polish, so my nails haven’t chipped yet and it’s three days later. How miraculous is that?

Things I’m working on… This week, I’ve really been trying to focus on getting caught up with all my blog ideas and also get my pile of paperwork and clutter cleaned up. It’s better, but seems to multiply like gremlins in the night.

I’m reading… Beth Moore’s Praying God’s Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds.

I’m grateful for… Two girls who are taking the fact that we are living in a hotel really well, and being such troopers with all the insanity.

 A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Don’t forget to check out The Homeschool Chick for more Homeschool Mother’s Journals.

Practical Tip Thursday!

15 Thursday Mar 2012

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So this is my very first practical tip Thursday! Welcome!

If you want to share practical tips with me, please do! I’m always up for a new idea to make our lives easier!

To start with, here are a couple of items that I think are ESSENTIAL to have.

1. Rubbermaid Reveal Mop. — I love this mop! No icky “rope” mops, no icky sponge mops! I’ve tried both, and they just always look “icky” and make me think of germiness. With this mop, the pads are washable and reusable, PLUS you can use whichever cleaner you want in the bottle. I love that I can have multiple cleaners in multiple bottles (hardwood vs. tile, for example) and just switch them out! And did I mention the mop pads are washable and reusable?

2. Bona Wood Floor Cleaner. — This was recommended to me by the person who installed our new hardwood floors. It does do a beautiful job and makes them shine beautifully. I do not use “their” mop though, I use the Rubbermaid Reveal mop.

3. Swiffer Wet Jet. — Okay, so this isn’t a total “must have.” But sometimes I like the idea of being able to mop something and throw it away. Since I had this before the Rubbermaid Reveal, and had tons of extra stuff left over, I use the Swiffer on my tile floors, like the kitchen and the bathroom. This is great for spills and for weird ickiness in the bathroom, where you don’t wanna ask questions. You just wanna get rid of it and move on. (PS. My “wood floor guy” recommended that I never use the wood floor wet jet cleaner on my wood floors as it would dull them.)

4. Clorox Toilet Wand — To go along with my germaphobic- ways, I absolutely hate toilet bowl scrubbers. They are just NASTY. And in Europe, they leave it in a little holder beside the toilet, even in public bathrooms, and the holder is full of dirty water . . . Yeah. ICK. NASTY NASTY. I just can’t get over it.  So this toilet wand is great for this. Clean your toilet (with Clorox) and then push a little button and poof! the scrubbing piece drops right into the garbage can. No touching required.

So there are four of my best practical cleaning tips! Please feel free to share more with me, or pass them along for me to share later!

The Practice of Sacrifice

14 Wednesday Mar 2012

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I didn’t grow up in a church that taught Lent or giving up things as a sacrifice. So, when I decided to participate in it this year, my husband was a little . . . surprised.

I gave up TV for Lent.

I love TV, I love watching “stories” as much as I love reading them. I love getting involved with the characters and know there is another “chapter” next week (If it’s a good book, it always irritates me when stories end.) Not to say I don’t have my standards, but having a plot and good quality writing are the main two prerequisites.

What I realized has happened though, is that I’ve gotten far too attached to those stories. When I’ve been living a currently stressful life, watching some of these shows just send my stress levels and blood pressure through the roof. (For some reason, most of my favorite shows this year are “suspenseful.”) I get too wound up watching them, and it takes me forever to calm down enough to sleep. And let’s not talk about the crazy “Fringe”-induced dreams!

Somehow, my emotions and anxiety levels have forgotten that those folks on TV aren’t real! Dude, it’s an actor on a set, saying someone else’s words and faking a nonexistent life! So yeah, taking a break is probably a good idea to do. Even if not knowing what is happening on some of my favorite shows is driving me bonkers.

Recently, I came across this book, Shall I Pray or Watch TV by Vic Zurly. (Note: very poorly written, goes off on tangents all the time, but makes a couple good points. And oh, it’s free, and I was desperate for something new and different to read.) If you can get past the poor writing, it actually convicted me quite a bit.

  • How much time per week am I avidly watching TV?
  • How many of those shows are “have to watch” because I’m just “dying” to know what happens next?
  • How much effort, time, and money are we putting into making sure we don’t miss anything? (I’m talking rearranging our schedule to watch certain things, paying for DVR on the TV, spending time programming recordings, etc.
  • How much time do we spend talking about TV, what we saw on TV, or wish we saw on TV?

Those are the practical questions. The ones we know the “proper” answer to.

Now here are a few, that I’ve had to start asking.

  • How are these shows affecting me?
  • How am I using TV? Or perhaps, am I actually using TV, or is TV using me? What am I avoiding, ignoring, or replacing?
  • What kind of influence does TV have in my life? Specifically, my spiritual life?

I guess what is really poking at me during this Lent sacrifice of TV goes back to my Pastor’s message on priorities. Am I giving this electronic box too much power over my life? What could I be spending that time on that would have eternal value, instead of temporary or little (or, for some shows on TV, LOL) or no value? How could I be making positive, lasting, differences in the lives of our families or others during this time?

Even more, my husband and I have been talking about what “the world” is trying to tell our girls. We’re already very strict about what we let them see on television. But why are we that strict with our selves? Sure, we’re older and tell the obvious differences between fiction and reality . . . but are we truly wise to the subliminal lessons that “the world” is trying to infect us with, and protecting our own hearts and minds?

None of this is to say that I’m ready to cut the cord and get rid of the television completely. Not yet, anyway. It’s still quite a powerful bond, and I admit that I’m looking forward to this being over! It hasn’t been very easy. No one else in my family is participating by giving up TV and we’re living in a hotel room. There just aren’t that many rooms here for me to escape to, so I’m having to work extra hard and make strong conscious decisions in the evening when my husband is home to ignore whatever is on. (Thankfully, it’s been a lot of basketball, which I am more than happy to ignore.)

And it’s quite as easy to give the TV addiction up and insert another one, like Facebook. I need to put much more effort into using that time more wisely and productively.

What I am enjoying about this Lenten fast – getting to sleep at a decent hour is so much easier. And after hours of nonstop girly time, I treasure the peace and quiet and SILENCE that comes after they are in bed!

Review: Beyond Molasses Creek

13 Tuesday Mar 2012

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Book Description

“Having traveled to the ends of the earth as a flight attendant, Ally Green has finally returned to the Lowcountry to bury her father as well as the past. But Vesey Washington is still living across the creek, and theirs is a complicated relationship–he was once her best friend . . . and also part of the reason she’s stayed away so long. When Ally discovers a message her father left behind asking her to quit running, it seems her past isn’t through with her yet.

As Ally’s wandering spirit wrestles with a deep longing to flee again, a young woman on the other side of the world escapes her life of slavery in the rock quarries of Nepal. A mysterious sketchbook leads Sunila Kunari to believe there’s more to her story than she’s ever been told, and she’s determined to follow the truth wherever it leads her.

A deep current intertwines the lives of these three souls, and a destiny of freedom, faith, and friendship awaits them all on the banks of Molasses Creek.”

MY REVIEW:

At first I didn’t like this book at all. I couldn’t get into it, and honestly it didn’t even want to finish it. I only kept going because I had promised to write a review.

Here is what I didn’t like. First of all, the “voices” of the story. Most of the story is written in first-person. And I never felt like the voices were “real.” A large part of the story is set in the South, and the two major characters, Ally and Vesey, didn’t sound “authentic.” While this might be a small thing, as a Southerner, this is one of my biggest pet peeves. I also didn’t hear the difference as the characters aged throughout the story, as the times (from pre-segregation and Civil rights era South to modern-day) changed.

Then, slightly past halfway through the book, all of that changed.

And I couldn’t put the book down. 

I stayed up until 3 am to finish it.

Sunila has become my favorite character of the story. Her struggle to find the truth of her identity to her rebirth as her “new” self, I was extremely touched by her courage. Frankly, it didn’t matter to me that I couldn’t “hear” her “voice” in my head. Her emotional journey gave her the authenticity I needed to believe in her and feel for her.

And as Ally’s story was woven in, I began to fall in love with this character as well, truly understanding her emotional journey as well.

As for Vesey, while he was an extremely likable character, I do not feel like this part of the storyline really served the true message of the book. I can see where Ms. Seitz was going with this concept, it just didn’t connect well with me. It’s as if I was reading two completely different books at the same time, and the connection of all three characters at the end — well, I didn’t buy it. 

Vesey never felt very real to me. Even in his “inner monologue” parts of the story, he just spoke entirely too well for a black man who was a product of the pre-integration South, who ended up not finishing school and working his life on a farm. I really appreciate Ms. Seitz’s attempts to write about this period of history, it just didn’t feel real.

What I did love about this story: the ending. The love and the redemption and healing. The connection between the last three characters on the last few pages. That was the great emotional payoff that I needed, as a reader.

I would give this story three stars, and a recommendation to read it, with the caveat that you really have to get past the first have of the book to “get it.”

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I review for BookSneeze®

Praying God’s Word

12 Monday Mar 2012

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I’ve begun a study on Beth Moore’s Praying God’s Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds this past week. I had the book sitting on a shelf for ages, lent it out to a friend, finally got it back, and decided to finally start reading it myself.

As you can tell from past posts on my blog, I’ve really been wrestling with  strongholds that have been revealed to me through the past year – some of which seem to be generational. I have had a great burden on my heart to break these strongholds in my own life, and also to break the chain of bondage before it starts in the next generation – my girls.

Beth Moore defines a stronghold as “anything that steals, kills, or destroys the abundant, fruitful life of a believer can be considered a stronghold of the enemy.” She also says, “Strongholds are thoughts taken captive to anything but Christ.”

The first chapter covers idolatry. “In one way or another, something else has become “god” in our lives – the object of our chief focus. . . . Until we turn from our idols to the one true God, we will never find liberty, for ‘where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’ (2 Cor. 3:17). One missing link in almost every captive life is the spirit of God’s lordship.”

In the introduction, she talks about “believers who live in daily defeat.” Oh, how I have struggled and fought and battled and wearied over that daily defeat! I have this running commentary recording going in circles in my mind, which I now realize is not “me” but Satan using these strongholds to pull me under and drown me. That broken record player actually became a stronghold of its own, because “as long as our minds rehearse the strength of our stronghold more than the strength of our God, we will be impotent.”

And impotent I felt – through prayer, business, physical health, everything. It was as if the more I tried to do anything the more defeated I became, until that recording became so loud and so insistent that I could hardly hear anything else.

Last week was BAD. BAD. I knew that I’ve been under attack for months and my husband was under attack for months, but it wasn’t until last week that I truly understood how bad it really was. Is it a coincidence that the attacks amplified exponentially last week, when I finally committed to begin this study? Or that God opened my eyes to see depth of the battleground? No, I think not.

This was my process of re-writing these verses into my own words. I used Bible.com to copy and paste each verse into Word. I read through them, highlighting and underlining parts of verses that struck me. After a while I realized that several things seemed to be repeating and a certain chord started to strike out at me, when I went to underline each verse, which led to a personal revelation: I had been blaming God for things he “allowed” to happen to me!

This is a sin that was holding me back from God. My hubris – that I had done everything right, so I didn’t deserve ______. Why would he do ______ to me? I had been trying to suppress it, but there it was. And as soon as I allowed it to lay out in the open, figure out why it was there, and deal with it, I was able to ask forgiveness.

Besides, as I’ve told a friend before, we deservedeath. We have no true rights under God. It is only because of his forgiveness and Christ’s blood that we are anything at all, and he made us adopted sons at that!

Below is my compilation of verses taken from this chapter. I’ve reworded them only just slightly to personalize the passages. I do love how they all came together. I plan to review this verses every day and pray over them. Perhaps taping them up on my mirror as a reminder.

(From the New Living Translation.)

Lord, You are a warrior, Yahweh is Your name! (Ex 15:13) My help comes from You; You who made the heavens and the earth! (Psalm 121:2) Those who fight against You, Oh Lord, will be shattered. You thunder against them from heaven, You judge throughout the earth. (1 Sam. 2:10) Lord, You do not give Your glory to anyone else, nor share Your praise with carved idols. (Isa. 42:8) You alone are God. You preserve us all. (Neh. 9:6)

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on the earth is Yours, O Lord, and this is Your Kingdom. I cannot see the whole scope of Your work from beginning to end. (Ecc. 3:11) God, You are greater than I can understand. (Job 36:26) Your thoughts are nothing like my thoughts, Lord, and Your ways are far beyond anything I could imagine. (Isa. 55:8-9)

You alone are my Rock and Salvation, my Fortress where I will not be shaken. (Ps. 62:6) You are the Lord and there is no other. (Isa.45:18) Christ, You are the visible image of the invisible God. You hold all creation together. (Col. 115:17) Everything You do reveals Your Glory and majesty. Your righteousness never fails. Ps. 111:2-4

God, you are not man – you do not lie. You are not human, so you do not change Your mind. You have never spoken and failed to act. You have never promised and not carried it through. (Num. 23:19) For Your Word holds true and we can trust in everything You do. Truly, You do not do wrong. You do not twist justice. (Job 34:12-15) All You do is just and good, and all Your commandments are trustworthy. You are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity. (Ps. 111:7-8) Lord, You are righteous in everything You do. (Psalm 145:17)

You are the faithful God who keeps your covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes Your unfailing love on those who love You and obey Your commands. (Deut. 7:9) You love what is just and good. Your unfailing love fills the earth. (Psalm 33:45)

I will not tremble, I will not be afraid. Did You not proclaim Your purposes for me long ago?  (Isa. 44:8)  You are the One who says, “You are my people.” (Isa. 51:16) First you predicted my rescue, then you saved me, and proclaimed it to the world. (Isa. 43:10-12) You know the plans You have for me. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give me a future and a hope. (Jer. 29:11)

I am your servant. I have been chosen to know you, believe in you, and understand that You above are God. (Isa. 43:12) Yet, my human hands can’t serve Your needs because You have no needs. You give life and breath to everything and You satisfy every need. (Acts 17:25)

I am Your witness: is there any other God? No, there is no other Rock – not one! (Isa. 44:8) You are the Rock, Your deeds are perfect. Everything You do is just and fair. (Deut. 32:4) Lord, You always keep your promises. (Ps. 145:13) I can never escape Your Spirit! I can never get away from Your presence! Everywhere I go, Your hand will guide me and your strength will support me. (Ps. 139:7-10) And You have put Your words in my mouth and hidden me safely in Your hand. (Isa. 51:16) Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on the earth. (Isa. 73:25) I adore You; You’re the One over all things. (1 Chron. 29:11)

I know there is only one God, You, and I live for You. (1 Cor. 8:6) I know the greatness of You, Lord – that my God is greater than any other God. (Ps. 135:5) O Lord my God, You have performed many wonders for me. Your plans for me are too numerous to list. You have no equal. (Psalm 40:5) You give power to me when I am weak and strength to me when I am powerless. When I trust in You, Lord, I will find new strength. (Isa. 40:29,31) Let me be thankful and please You by worshipping You with holy fear and awe. (Heb. 12:28) And your Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His Wings for me and those that fear Your name.  And I will go free, leaping with joy. (Mal 4:2)

Lord, You have always been my home. Forever, You are my God. (Psalm 90:1-2) I make this choice to love you, O Lord my God, obeying You and committing myself firmly to You. This is the key to my life. (Deut. 30:20)

 

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First Things First – Update

12 Monday Mar 2012

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I wanted to follow-up on last week’s “First Things First” post.

I’ve created some templates to help me get organized with my blog writing. Of course, I have yet to use them, so I’ve got to play around with them a bit and tweak them until I get everything “perfect.” Once I get them the way that I want them, I’m going to print them out and take them over to Staples or Office Max and get them bound together, like a “real” organizer. Heck, maybe I will even put a pretty cover on it, LOL!

I also thought quite a bit about how to get my days “in priority.” And I had a bit of a lightbulb moment: If I want to start “living in priority,” shouldn’t I start teaching the girls and modeling that for them, too? And if we’re going to do that, shouldn’t our homeschool work reflect how we want them to live their life? Heck, isn’t that why we started homeschooling in the first place?

It was such forehead, slapping, “Duh!” moment. Sometimes I wonder why God doesn’t ever despair of our dimwitted-ness, you know?

So, I have decided to rearrange our school routines. Instead of our Bible work getting pushed to the side and shuffled through at the end, we are now going to spend Monday morning on Bible-related activities. Only after all of this “work” is done will we move on to regular school work.

This morning went a bit long, as I finally finished up a few straggling ideas that I had run out of time for in the past. I added in several practice activities to start learning our new Bible verse for the week, and we started learning our new Bible song for the week. We did several related craft projects, which helped keep the girls’ interests (and I will post about them soon, I hope). We created our prayer basket, our study of Esther to finish up our celebration of Purim last week along with stick puppets to help us tell the story, and finished decorating our lapbooks all the way from Valentine’s, so I could declare those done. Little things that had been lagging and lagging and I feel so much better I don’t have to think about them any more.

In between and any time I could catch a few minutes while the girls were coloring or doing worksheets, I sat over at the table and tried to work on my own devotional study, that I had tried to get through all last week. I snuck two minutes here and five minutes there, but I’ve finally gotten some really productive progress made and will be able to blog about that this afternoon.

So, this style I think will work well for us. I need to re-tweak my school organizing grid a little bit more, and some of the normal “Monday” work like science might have to get pushed to Tuesdays on days where our Bible time goes too long. But that flexibility is why homeschool is so great, right? And I feel much more comfortable pushing science back because Bible went too long instead of the other way around.

New Firsts I’m Focusing On This Week:

1. First of Our School Day

I’m also going to push Bible time to first in our routine. I usually do math first while my daughter’s focus and patience was the best, but again, that’s not giving God our “best,” but “leftovers.” So, hoping to model “living in priority” for our girls will hopefully teach them by osmosis about putting first things first,andwill give me a chance to put devotional time first as well, even if it’s “child-focused” devotional time and not always “personal” devotional time. Plus, I’m hoping that making devotional time my focus on Mondays, that I will be able to set it up so that I can snatch time during the day each day to do my own devotional time. We’ll have to see how it works out this week.

2. First of the Morning

I am NOT a morning person. Just not. In fact, I have a running joke that there is no point in me going to the early service at Church, because God doesn’t speak to me before 10am. He knows I’m not really awake, so He doesn’t even waste His time!

I don’t know about you guys, but my first new moments each morning feel like they are begin with blearily peering through half-open eyes while trying to break up girly squabble and getting my turn in the bathroom. It takes no time at all to start my day in a cranky, stressed-out, frazzled mom-mood, wondering where the coffee is and why does morning come so fast? It is not the way I want to start my day each day, because it colors my day with those colors the rest of the day.

So, I’m going to attempt to implement a new habit this week – by giving God my first few moments of each day before the insanity starts. At the very least, I can review a quick verse and say a short prayer, even if it is just, “Lord, please help me make it through the day.”

So, that’s my update.