I'm reading "Third Culture Kids" and having a great time with the book. This a.m. I'm considering that I may define words differently than the majority of Americans because of my background. An example was given of a lady whose friends were upset that she said "sorry" all the time. The book went on to say that in many cultures the word "sorry" encompasses far more than an apology.. She said that to most Americans when they hear you say "sorry" it means you are saying "I apologize". I honestly couldn't believe THIS and so I asked Mike. He assured me that that is what he thinks of if someone says "I'm sorry" without added words for context.
Wow. I queried further. I told him I say "I'm sorry" a lot of times and I'm thinking sympathy, empathy and I have no reason to apologize! He said he noticed that about me and often wonders "Why is she apologizing to that person? She had nothing to do with the situation." I suppose I assumed the hearer would KNOW when a person is expressing sympathy or apology....but it seems that I may be reading into this. {g} He said if there is added context that he includes sympathy as a meaning but if a person simply says "I'm sorry" he FIRST thinks of "I apologize".
I'm still surprised by this. I've had friends mention this “apologizing/guilt” thing to me for years. I remember a dear friend, Susan, in Hardin who told me I was the "most guilt-ridden Protestant" (she was Catholic) she'd ever met. She called us the "guilt-sisters" and it was because I said I'm sorry lot - I never really understood why saying sorry made me guilt-ridden. WHY would sympathizing with someone make me a guilt sister?
As recently as Elmendorf AFB Carleen would often tell me to "quit apologizing" and I never could figure out WHAT she meant. I don't remember apologizing when I teach. But now I'm thinking - it's this issue again. I say "I'm sorry" and I'm thinking I sympathize with your thoughts and feelings on this and she heard "I apologize for my belief" which isn't at all what I thought I was communicating and would explain why I never could figure out why she wanted me to quit apologizing....I didn't think I WAS apologizing. {g}
The advantage to this is that many probably think I apologized for things I had no intention of apologizing for - thus avoiding conflict? The disadvantage is that those I was sympathizing with may have been totally confused and think I'm a flake. Or maybe THEY were raised overseas too and understood exactly what I meant. {vbg} To further complicate the issue *I’M* teaching 9 children how to say they are sorry. I think I’m going to ask *them* what the word means.
If this is boring you to tears, "I'm sorry". :::snort::::
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
Not Crawling but...
She’s not crawling but she discovered today that trying to crawl can GET HER PLACES…she scooted and rolled across the living room to the dining room……I do believe she’ll be crawling by the end of February.
Going to the BIRDS
We spent a bit of time this a.m. updating our Zoology notebooks. Arielle and Nolan made their bird maps.
We hung our suet hanger. I decided at less than $2 it was smarter to BUY the suet than buy the ingredients and make smart suet. {g}
Our first chore was to fill the feeders.
Josiah went after the project with a hose, a hammer and a piece of wood. He broke the wood but got the feeders moved.
Now we are just waiting for birds to visit. Yes, it does seem strange to be preparing for BIRDS in January.
We hung our suet hanger. I decided at less than $2 it was smarter to BUY the suet than buy the ingredients and make smart suet. {g}
(Nolan hangs Suet basket)
We also began our 3rd experiment of this book We are going to watch and track and see what type of bird feed the birds in our yard like. To eliminate variables we needed two feeders exactly alike. Girls, you will remember we made feeders in AK – but I bought two because none of our are “exactly alike”.
Our first chore was to fill the feeders.
We’d decided to hang them side by side on my Shepherd’s Hook. Jared found it hard to move the feeder. We thought this would be easy…..this should have been a hint of things to come. We couldn’t get the Shepherd’s Hook into the brick-like TX soil.
We settled for moving it back to the original spot and planned to ask Mike to move it to the other side of the yard tonight. The kids want the feeder by the tree so that they can watch it while eating.
Josiah went after the project with a hose, a hammer and a piece of wood. He broke the wood but got the feeders moved.
Now we are just waiting for birds to visit. Yes, it does seem strange to be preparing for BIRDS in January.
Homeschool Panic
We’re beginning unit 3 today. I’m so happy with the way the year is progressing. I began to stress this weekend because all the books I wanted to order were “special order” or “out of print”. I tried to see what the library had and their site was down. I posted my frustration on a TOG yahoo list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TOGLooseThreads/ It was quickly pointed out to me that I could use internet links for the Crimean War (the subject I can find nothing on) or the boys can read the Teacher’s notes. I then checked to see and have a lot of “Sonlight Books” – which are really just great books we used in that curriculum that I can substitute for the ones I can’t find. For instance I can’t find THE book on Hudson Taylor that I needed for this week but I did have two on him “Shanghaied to China” (even listed as a choice in TOG) and “God’s Adventurer”. I also have “Hero Tales” which has a section on Hudson Taylor.
The library website came back up. I’ll be able to find plenty of books on the topics we are studying – except The Crimean war. I remembered that we’re only studying the Crimean war for ONE week…it won’t matter if we don’t have lots of books for that one week. I still have Chris’ book lists from Read It Again books to check out…. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ReadItAgainBooks/
The younger ones have really enjoyed me reading bigger fiction books and biographies to them in the last unit. I’ve decided to keep that up. I’ll read “Shanghaied to China” this week and maybe one on Eric Liddell next week…or maybe I’ll read the “Boy in the Alamo” even though we are past that spot in history because I still plan a trip to the Alamo in the next month or two.
All in all there was no reason to panic. It seemed the thing to do at the time.
The library website came back up. I’ll be able to find plenty of books on the topics we are studying – except The Crimean war. I remembered that we’re only studying the Crimean war for ONE week…it won’t matter if we don’t have lots of books for that one week. I still have Chris’ book lists from Read It Again books to check out…. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ReadItAgainBooks/
The younger ones have really enjoyed me reading bigger fiction books and biographies to them in the last unit. I’ve decided to keep that up. I’ll read “Shanghaied to China” this week and maybe one on Eric Liddell next week…or maybe I’ll read the “Boy in the Alamo” even though we are past that spot in history because I still plan a trip to the Alamo in the next month or two.
All in all there was no reason to panic. It seemed the thing to do at the time.
Full Weekend!
It’s been a full weekend. Time seems to fly by so much quicker on Saturday – the only day of the week that we’re “off”.
Mike took me out to lunch at Schlotsky’s. This is the first time we’ve gone out alone all month. Well….we did have Stacia with us. The other times we’ve tried to go out we’ve ended up taking 3 - 5 children with us. {grin} We enjoyed our lunch - mostly being able to catch up on the various events we are involved with.
This was the first Saturday this month that we’ve not gone geocaching. It was very windy. During lunch we decided to go check Academy to see if they had a backpack I could carry Stacia in. We have one…but its 20 years old and technology has changed. It doesn’t feel very “safe”. They had no backpacks but we were able to check local prices for GPS units. Mike also finally talked me into trying a new pair of shoes that he’s heard are good for folks with high arches. I still have good and bad days with my feet. These are Saucony brand. I’m not sure they feel much different but my trusty New Balance were over 8 years old and splitting at the seams. We laughed that I needed a smaller size shoe and that the best fitting ones were ½ the price of the other choice.
We left Academy and ventured to Toys R Us. They are going out of business. I hate it when businesses leave an area. They have things marked down and so we checked. THEY had a great back pack which Mike purchased for Stacia and me. I shared my parking lot revelations below. {G}
Saturday night ended with all of us walking to a park. The older boys (and Arielle off and on) played HORSE at the basketball court, the younger ones enjoyed the swings and merry-go-round and I (with Stacia on my back) walked about a mile around and around the playground. It works. We came home and I began the cooking saga…what to take to potlucks the next day. I settled for some brownies and some Chocolate-Almond Gooey Butter cake.
Sunday was “FIFTH SUNDAY”. This means that we have two pot-lucks to attend and Mike preaches in all three services. The last few months the kids and I stayed for services and the second pot luck as well. This Sunday the kids were so tired, we’d had a hard week with one of the children behavior wise and were starting a new unit in school today. I asked Mike if I could just go home and work on lesson plans and take the kids out for some fun. He agreed. I feel badly about it now. I don’t think I planned it out well. I SHOULD have sent the kids home and stayed for the services with Mike and Stacia…but yesterday I was tired and in pain and wanted to come home to my bed. (I never made it to the bed anyway). {G}
That’s the weekend. Now on with the week!
Mike took me out to lunch at Schlotsky’s. This is the first time we’ve gone out alone all month. Well….we did have Stacia with us. The other times we’ve tried to go out we’ve ended up taking 3 - 5 children with us. {grin} We enjoyed our lunch - mostly being able to catch up on the various events we are involved with.
This was the first Saturday this month that we’ve not gone geocaching. It was very windy. During lunch we decided to go check Academy to see if they had a backpack I could carry Stacia in. We have one…but its 20 years old and technology has changed. It doesn’t feel very “safe”. They had no backpacks but we were able to check local prices for GPS units. Mike also finally talked me into trying a new pair of shoes that he’s heard are good for folks with high arches. I still have good and bad days with my feet. These are Saucony brand. I’m not sure they feel much different but my trusty New Balance were over 8 years old and splitting at the seams. We laughed that I needed a smaller size shoe and that the best fitting ones were ½ the price of the other choice.
We left Academy and ventured to Toys R Us. They are going out of business. I hate it when businesses leave an area. They have things marked down and so we checked. THEY had a great back pack which Mike purchased for Stacia and me. I shared my parking lot revelations below. {G}
Saturday night ended with all of us walking to a park. The older boys (and Arielle off and on) played HORSE at the basketball court, the younger ones enjoyed the swings and merry-go-round and I (with Stacia on my back) walked about a mile around and around the playground. It works. We came home and I began the cooking saga…what to take to potlucks the next day. I settled for some brownies and some Chocolate-Almond Gooey Butter cake.
Sunday was “FIFTH SUNDAY”. This means that we have two pot-lucks to attend and Mike preaches in all three services. The last few months the kids and I stayed for services and the second pot luck as well. This Sunday the kids were so tired, we’d had a hard week with one of the children behavior wise and were starting a new unit in school today. I asked Mike if I could just go home and work on lesson plans and take the kids out for some fun. He agreed. I feel badly about it now. I don’t think I planned it out well. I SHOULD have sent the kids home and stayed for the services with Mike and Stacia…but yesterday I was tired and in pain and wanted to come home to my bed. (I never made it to the bed anyway). {G}
That’s the weekend. Now on with the week!
Parking Lot Revelation
I sat in the Toys R Us parking lot feeding Stacia and enjoying the sun and wind. I idly watched a blue SUV pull in next to a very nice Truck. The truck was parked far away from other cars. He had backed in to protect his tail?
One door of the SUV flew open – very windy and smacked right into the nice truck. The mother and daughter got out. They inspected THEIR vehicle and went inside. Never ONCE did they inspect the truck to see if they had damaged it.
Mike came back out to report that Toys R Us did in fact have baby packs. He wanted me to come in and see what I thought about the one he’d picked out – I loved it. While I finished feeding Stacia, I pointed out the truck and SUV and told him my story. I told him I thought it illustrated our society. VERY concerned about OUR things but not a thought to other’s things or the damage we may have caused them…..even concerned about ourselves but not much concern for others. As we finished talking I got out of the Honda. I carefully opened the door. I waited a few seconds to make sure it was secure. Mike got out of the car and a gust of wind hit (same moment) and the door blew just enough to hit the very nice and fancy car next to us. I’d smiled at the elderly couple as they went in. Can you believe THIS? {snort} We checked their car and had made a small dent that Mike thought would buff out. He left an explanation, our name and phone number on their wind shield.
By the time we got home they had called Josiah. They were thankful we’d left a note and didn’t want us to worry about it at all.
The best and worst of our culture? There are still folks out there who are NICE.
I’m being very careful with doors from here on out.
One door of the SUV flew open – very windy and smacked right into the nice truck. The mother and daughter got out. They inspected THEIR vehicle and went inside. Never ONCE did they inspect the truck to see if they had damaged it.
Mike came back out to report that Toys R Us did in fact have baby packs. He wanted me to come in and see what I thought about the one he’d picked out – I loved it. While I finished feeding Stacia, I pointed out the truck and SUV and told him my story. I told him I thought it illustrated our society. VERY concerned about OUR things but not a thought to other’s things or the damage we may have caused them…..even concerned about ourselves but not much concern for others. As we finished talking I got out of the Honda. I carefully opened the door. I waited a few seconds to make sure it was secure. Mike got out of the car and a gust of wind hit (same moment) and the door blew just enough to hit the very nice and fancy car next to us. I’d smiled at the elderly couple as they went in. Can you believe THIS? {snort} We checked their car and had made a small dent that Mike thought would buff out. He left an explanation, our name and phone number on their wind shield.
By the time we got home they had called Josiah. They were thankful we’d left a note and didn’t want us to worry about it at all.
The best and worst of our culture? There are still folks out there who are NICE.
I’m being very careful with doors from here on out.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
READING
As I race on to finish these ½ read books by the end of January Mike is finding occasion to tease me. I tend to DEVOUR my books. The non-fiction, however, I often mark quite liberally. The most recent books to receive this attention are “Men in Black”, “Third Culture Kids” and “Experiencing God in Prayer”. I highlight, I make asterisks, I fold down pages and I even write comments in the pages. It’s not uncommon to pick up a book after I’ve read it and see comments like these in the margin: “Great comment!!!”; “Whoa – bias showing”; “WHAT – big leap”; “NO WAY” or references to other books on the topic, Scripture references that either support or refute what the author said, and BIG QUESTION marks on issues I want to study further. This has advantages and disadvantages….Mike can read the highlights and get the gist of a book that interests him after I read (so can the boys and I must remember this when pre-reading school books LOL); on the other hand there have been books I’ve not wanted to loan out after reading because my comments made me vulnerable to that person.
I don’t mark library books. I am very careful with books I borrow. If I find the urge to mark a book heavily I often buy it so I can do that. {g} Mike looked over last night and said “You’re really marking that up”. This a.m. I followed a link from Laura’s blog and found an article by Mortimer J Adler titled “How to Mark a Book”. And I quote: “I contend, quite bluntly, that marking up a book is not an act of mutilation but of love. You shouldn't mark up a book which isn't yours.” This whole article was great. Here’s the link if you want to read it in full. http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/adler.html What a timely post on Laura's blog. {G}
I can barely refrain from waking Mike to show him this article – or at least have him read this blog entry. I will continue to happily read with my highlighter and pen. I’ve been vindicated by a “great one”.
I don’t mark library books. I am very careful with books I borrow. If I find the urge to mark a book heavily I often buy it so I can do that. {g} Mike looked over last night and said “You’re really marking that up”. This a.m. I followed a link from Laura’s blog and found an article by Mortimer J Adler titled “How to Mark a Book”. And I quote: “I contend, quite bluntly, that marking up a book is not an act of mutilation but of love. You shouldn't mark up a book which isn't yours.” This whole article was great. Here’s the link if you want to read it in full. http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/adler.html What a timely post on Laura's blog. {G}
I can barely refrain from waking Mike to show him this article – or at least have him read this blog entry. I will continue to happily read with my highlighter and pen. I’ve been vindicated by a “great one”.
Friday – 27 January
I remembered the camera today but forgot the memory stick! What a total bust. I will get this right next week.
Melody, who you may remember is a homeschooling Mom whose husband works with Mike, and I had made plans to take her children and mine bowling on Monday. She now has piano students (Go Melody!) and so needed a day other than Monday. We settled on today – Friday. She gave me the freedom to invite some others with children the ages of my older boys. I did that at park day yesterday.
What a blast we had at the base bowling ally. We stayed much longer than I’d anticipated and the day got long for Zander. At one point I calmly told him that if I had to talk to him about his behavior again I would take him home. He acted up again. He’d already bowled 2 games. Jamin was at home because he wanted to finish school work (he’s got his hands full with Algebra 1 and Biology). I decided since we’d been gone over 2 ½ hours he was probably done with school and so I took Zander home. Poor boy. BUT he is learning that though he’s louder than I – my word is to be trusted and there are consequences to misbehaving. In other words he may be a screamer and I’m not – but I’m the mom. {g} When I got back to the base to pick up the other kids some of the families had decided to go down to Kids Kingdom. I phoned Mike and he said that he had a couple of hours left at work so we joined them.
We got to discussing that it’d been 24 days since we met these families at this very park. I’m reading “Third Culture Kids” and seeing that in the phase of transition I’m moving into the “entry” stage. This is good…shortly I may feel “involved” again.
Stacia’s been on this “new” funky formula for a week. We’ve now tried them all EXCEPT the new Sam’s Club has a generic that is cheaper and I’m trying it before going back to the original formula. None of them have seen to make much difference in the amount of her spitting (though I won’t discuss the finer points of consistency, smell and bowel movements here {vbg}).
We got a late start on our Pizza and Movie night – but we are pressing ahead….
Melody, who you may remember is a homeschooling Mom whose husband works with Mike, and I had made plans to take her children and mine bowling on Monday. She now has piano students (Go Melody!) and so needed a day other than Monday. We settled on today – Friday. She gave me the freedom to invite some others with children the ages of my older boys. I did that at park day yesterday.
What a blast we had at the base bowling ally. We stayed much longer than I’d anticipated and the day got long for Zander. At one point I calmly told him that if I had to talk to him about his behavior again I would take him home. He acted up again. He’d already bowled 2 games. Jamin was at home because he wanted to finish school work (he’s got his hands full with Algebra 1 and Biology). I decided since we’d been gone over 2 ½ hours he was probably done with school and so I took Zander home. Poor boy. BUT he is learning that though he’s louder than I – my word is to be trusted and there are consequences to misbehaving. In other words he may be a screamer and I’m not – but I’m the mom. {g} When I got back to the base to pick up the other kids some of the families had decided to go down to Kids Kingdom. I phoned Mike and he said that he had a couple of hours left at work so we joined them.
We got to discussing that it’d been 24 days since we met these families at this very park. I’m reading “Third Culture Kids” and seeing that in the phase of transition I’m moving into the “entry” stage. This is good…shortly I may feel “involved” again.
Stacia’s been on this “new” funky formula for a week. We’ve now tried them all EXCEPT the new Sam’s Club has a generic that is cheaper and I’m trying it before going back to the original formula. None of them have seen to make much difference in the amount of her spitting (though I won’t discuss the finer points of consistency, smell and bowel movements here {vbg}).
We got a late start on our Pizza and Movie night – but we are pressing ahead….
Friday, January 27, 2006
THURSDAY 26 Jan 2006
I’m going to have to remember to take the camera to the park!
Today was another homeschool park day. I’m finding that there aren’t that many things the co-op offers that I feel a need for – but Park Day is great. The kids are making friends. I’m able to meet and visit with other moms. They wear off LOTS of energy. This group is really into light sabers. I must remember to take the camera and document 17 year old boys having a great time with 6 year old boys.
Adrienne (a mom of 7 with a little one just a month younger than Stacia) and I did laps around the park and that was WONDERFUL! Adrienne reminds me of Carleen from AK. She’s never met a stranger. She grew up in Eagle River, AK. I got a kick out of meeting women today (this is my 3rd official park day). One said “I only have 4 kids” and I had to laugh. I said, “Have you heard I have 9 kids?” {grin}
I heard good comments about the boys. Jared is known as “Clean Guy” because some of the kids were talking bad about one of the moms one week and he spoke up and said, “Guys, we shouldn’t be saying bad things about a Mom”. I was thrilled to hear that he is showing leadership skills with his peers. It’s often hard to learn those skills as the 5th child. Nolan made friends with boys who live on 11 acres and they plan to invite us all out before the next “official” park day in two weeks. Josiah and Andrew continue to enjoy each other’s company…and both have little sisters the SAME age (2 days different). Both are so good with the little ones. Jamin stays home to do school – but Jamin is a driven type.
After park day, I had to get my van inspected. I found a place but the young man was sure I need to register the van in TX and I was sure that wasn’t going to happen. I finally asked to talk with the owner and he agreed that you can put a TX Inspection sticker on an AK van. {g}
I quickly ran to Wal-Mart for supplies to make two bird feeders, smart suet and snowflake crystals…It didn’t take long to realize that I could BUY suet cheaper, I could BUY two identical bird feeders for our experiment and I’m not sure they’d BE identical if we made them and so I bought the finished products for Friday’s experiments.
The day concluded with a trip to Sam’s club. I couldn’t believe that a big, red truck, with military stickers, pulled up right on my bumper so that I couldn’t open the doors to load groceries. I debated what to do. I could have him paged. I could wait with my groceries until he arrived and ask him to move his truck so I could open my door…..but the kids were at home waiting for the Pizza. I decided to load it into the side (hard work). I considered a note that said (imagine the tone and attitude) “Do ya think you could have gotten a LITTLE closer? I could still fit my visa card between our bumpers.” I realized that folks around town already are learning who I am by my van and I’d best not do that…and was convicted that what comes rushing in these moments will reveal if I’m walking in the flesh or walking in the spirit….so I grumbled in the spirit for about 10 seconds and then shrugged it off and went home.
We did get speech and school done as well. Tomorrow is FRIDAY.
Today was another homeschool park day. I’m finding that there aren’t that many things the co-op offers that I feel a need for – but Park Day is great. The kids are making friends. I’m able to meet and visit with other moms. They wear off LOTS of energy. This group is really into light sabers. I must remember to take the camera and document 17 year old boys having a great time with 6 year old boys.
Adrienne (a mom of 7 with a little one just a month younger than Stacia) and I did laps around the park and that was WONDERFUL! Adrienne reminds me of Carleen from AK. She’s never met a stranger. She grew up in Eagle River, AK. I got a kick out of meeting women today (this is my 3rd official park day). One said “I only have 4 kids” and I had to laugh. I said, “Have you heard I have 9 kids?” {grin}
I heard good comments about the boys. Jared is known as “Clean Guy” because some of the kids were talking bad about one of the moms one week and he spoke up and said, “Guys, we shouldn’t be saying bad things about a Mom”. I was thrilled to hear that he is showing leadership skills with his peers. It’s often hard to learn those skills as the 5th child. Nolan made friends with boys who live on 11 acres and they plan to invite us all out before the next “official” park day in two weeks. Josiah and Andrew continue to enjoy each other’s company…and both have little sisters the SAME age (2 days different). Both are so good with the little ones. Jamin stays home to do school – but Jamin is a driven type.
After park day, I had to get my van inspected. I found a place but the young man was sure I need to register the van in TX and I was sure that wasn’t going to happen. I finally asked to talk with the owner and he agreed that you can put a TX Inspection sticker on an AK van. {g}
I quickly ran to Wal-Mart for supplies to make two bird feeders, smart suet and snowflake crystals…It didn’t take long to realize that I could BUY suet cheaper, I could BUY two identical bird feeders for our experiment and I’m not sure they’d BE identical if we made them and so I bought the finished products for Friday’s experiments.
The day concluded with a trip to Sam’s club. I couldn’t believe that a big, red truck, with military stickers, pulled up right on my bumper so that I couldn’t open the doors to load groceries. I debated what to do. I could have him paged. I could wait with my groceries until he arrived and ask him to move his truck so I could open my door…..but the kids were at home waiting for the Pizza. I decided to load it into the side (hard work). I considered a note that said (imagine the tone and attitude) “Do ya think you could have gotten a LITTLE closer? I could still fit my visa card between our bumpers.” I realized that folks around town already are learning who I am by my van and I’d best not do that…and was convicted that what comes rushing in these moments will reveal if I’m walking in the flesh or walking in the spirit….so I grumbled in the spirit for about 10 seconds and then shrugged it off and went home.
We did get speech and school done as well. Tomorrow is FRIDAY.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Men in Black
by Mark R. Levine. I finished another book. I set the goal of finishing all the 1/2 read books on my night stand by the end of January - before I started any new ones. The problem is that the 1/2 read books are not the "twaddle - relaxing" books. One more down. I told the ladies on SHS today that I realized I could move the remaining books from the nightstand. I think I only have one left and a week to go...maybe...
From the afterword by Edwin Meese III
"Men in Black not only discusses the background and current threat of judicial tyranny, it also points to several innovative approaches for addressing it, including term limits for Supreme Court justices. They're both serious and thought- provoking. It is well past time for a thorough examination of this gathering constitutional crisis. This is a debate we must have, and a topic the American public must begin to udnerstand - lest the country we bequeath to our children barely resemble that which the framers established for us. And there is no better source for understanding and grasping the seriousness of this issue than Men in Black.
We found this to be a timely and informative book on the history of the Supreme Court and the state of the court today. Josiah and Jamin finished it months ago {blush} but I did finish it. {g}
Language Confusion???
Ok imagine this in a Speedy Gonzales cadence.....
Zander and Nolan (almost 4 and 7) are running around the yard (it's lunch break).
Nolan is yelling, "Lasagna, Lasagna"!!!
Zander corrected, "No, brother Nolan, FA-JITA, FAJITA".
Zander and Nolan (almost 4 and 7) are running around the yard (it's lunch break).
Nolan is yelling, "Lasagna, Lasagna"!!!
Zander corrected, "No, brother Nolan, FA-JITA, FAJITA".
Tapestry of Grace this week
Lately, I've been asked how exactly TOG (see side link) keeps everyone on the same topic. Maybe it will be helpful to see a glimpse into our history and literature studies of the week. Arielle and Nolan are in 2nd and 1st grade. Jared is in 6th grade. Jamin and Josiah are in 9th and 11th grade. (OK I can't get the cute little pictures to upload but they look great on my harddrive. LOL)
Read Legend of Freedom Hill by Linda Jacobs Altman, with Arielle and Nolan yesterday.. The story is set during the CA Gold Rush. It revolves around two little girls living in a mining camp. Both are outsiders one an African American girl and one a Jewish girl. I don’t want to give away too much but they end up hatching a plan to buy the freedom of one girls mother and several other slaves. The art work is great in this book. We loved the drawings of the Sabbath celebration.
Arielle is reading by HERSELF/INDEPENDENTLY Annie Oakley: Young Marksman (Childhood of Famous Americans series) by Ellen Wilson. She’s making steady progress. This is one I added in.
(no picture) Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of the Pony Express, by Conrad Stein I threw this one into our school line up this week. I’ve now been asked to research more biographies of the pony express (along with the OR Trail journals).
(no picture) Cornerstones of Freedom The Story of the CA Gold Rush
(picture won't upload) This was another big hit with all my kids (yep even the high schoolers). Voices of the Alamo by Sherry Garland follows one plot of land that comes to be known to us as “The Alamo”. She follows it through the years and from various perspectives. We are probably going to buy this book as we’ve lived in San Antonio and know the Alamo well. The little ones don’t remember the Alamo so we are in the process of planning a trip down there since we are finishing up on the Mexican War.
I was scheduled to read Little House in the Big Woods a few weeks back with Arielle and Nolan. The past two weeks have had those little “my first Prairie books” scheduled. They begged me to read the next Little House book so we are reading Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
While we’ve read these Jared has added a few.
This seems to be well-tolerated by the boys. The Boy in the Alamo by Margaret Cousins. I may get around to reading this to Arielle and Nolan before we go visit the Alamo.
Jared was NOT interested in reading any Little House books but this week I suggested he give The Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder a try. He likes it – or tolerates it…
The two older ones have been reading:
The Mexican War: How the United States Gained Its Western Lands (Proud Heritage – the Hispanic Library_, by Carrie Nichols Cantor.
The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx
Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. This is their final week on this book. Since I knew they were reading some “heavy” stuff I let them read Voices of the Alamo and Boy in the Alamo along with The Mexican War and called it good. We are fairly well versed in this segment of history.
For those who are wondering: No – I did NOT make it through the unabridged version of Les Miserables….maybe when Jared hits rhetoric level. I did get over ½ way so I have a good start.{grin}
Read Legend of Freedom Hill by Linda Jacobs Altman, with Arielle and Nolan yesterday.. The story is set during the CA Gold Rush. It revolves around two little girls living in a mining camp. Both are outsiders one an African American girl and one a Jewish girl. I don’t want to give away too much but they end up hatching a plan to buy the freedom of one girls mother and several other slaves. The art work is great in this book. We loved the drawings of the Sabbath celebration.
Arielle is reading by HERSELF/INDEPENDENTLY Annie Oakley: Young Marksman (Childhood of Famous Americans series) by Ellen Wilson. She’s making steady progress. This is one I added in.(no picture) Cornerstones of Freedom: The Story of the Pony Express, by Conrad Stein I threw this one into our school line up this week. I’ve now been asked to research more biographies of the pony express (along with the OR Trail journals).
(no picture) Cornerstones of Freedom The Story of the CA Gold Rush
(picture won't upload) This was another big hit with all my kids (yep even the high schoolers). Voices of the Alamo by Sherry Garland follows one plot of land that comes to be known to us as “The Alamo”. She follows it through the years and from various perspectives. We are probably going to buy this book as we’ve lived in San Antonio and know the Alamo well. The little ones don’t remember the Alamo so we are in the process of planning a trip down there since we are finishing up on the Mexican War.
I was scheduled to read Little House in the Big Woods a few weeks back with Arielle and Nolan. The past two weeks have had those little “my first Prairie books” scheduled. They begged me to read the next Little House book so we are reading Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.While we’ve read these Jared has added a few.
This seems to be well-tolerated by the boys. The Boy in the Alamo by Margaret Cousins. I may get around to reading this to Arielle and Nolan before we go visit the Alamo.
Jared was NOT interested in reading any Little House books but this week I suggested he give The Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder a try. He likes it – or tolerates it…The two older ones have been reading:
The Mexican War: How the United States Gained Its Western Lands (Proud Heritage – the Hispanic Library_, by Carrie Nichols Cantor.
The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx
Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. This is their final week on this book. Since I knew they were reading some “heavy” stuff I let them read Voices of the Alamo and Boy in the Alamo along with The Mexican War and called it good. We are fairly well versed in this segment of history.
For those who are wondering: No – I did NOT make it through the unabridged version of Les Miserables….maybe when Jared hits rhetoric level. I did get over ½ way so I have a good start.{grin}
Guess the Date
This was Stacia's birthday gift to me. She is diligently trying to learn how to crawl. She was moving her legs in various positions, laughing and having a great time but hasn’t quite figured it out. We’re taking guesses as to how long it will take for her to learn the trick. Mike says 2 weeks. The rest of us haven’t committed. Any guesses?
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Texas Phrases
A friend here sent these to me and I thought they were cute. They may be helpful if you hear one of us say something you can't comprehend. BTW it's so dry here the trees are bribin the dogs. {grin}
Saying: The engine's runnin' but ain't nobody driving.
Translation: Not overly-intelligent.
Saying: Tighter than bark on a tree.
Translation: Not very generous.
Saying: Big hat, no cattle.
Translation: All talk and no action.
Saying: We've howdied but we ain't shook yet.
Translation: We've made a brief acquaintance, but not been formally introduced.
Saying: He thinks the sun come up just to hear him crow.
Translation: He has a pretty high opinion of himself.
Saying: As welcome as a skunk at a lawn party.
Translation: (self-explanatory).
Saying: S/He's got tongue enough for 10 rows of teeth.
Translation: Talks a lot.
Saying: It's so dry the trees are bribin' the dogs.
Translation: We really could use a little rain around here
Saying: Just because a chicken has wings don't mean it can fly.
Translation: Appearances can be deceptive.
Saying: This ain't my first rodeo.
Translation: I've been around awhile.
Saying: He looks like the dog's been keepin' him under the porch.
Translation: Not the most handsome of men.
Saying: They ate supper before they said grace.
Translation: Living in sin.
Saying: As full of wind as a corn-eating horse.
Translation: Rather prone to boasting.
Saying: You can put your boots in the oven, but that don't make 'em biscuits.
Translation: You can say whatever you want about something, but that doesn't change what it is.
Saying: The engine's runnin' but ain't nobody driving.
Translation: Not overly-intelligent.
Saying: Tighter than bark on a tree.
Translation: Not very generous.
Saying: Big hat, no cattle.
Translation: All talk and no action.
Saying: We've howdied but we ain't shook yet.
Translation: We've made a brief acquaintance, but not been formally introduced.
Saying: He thinks the sun come up just to hear him crow.
Translation: He has a pretty high opinion of himself.
Saying: As welcome as a skunk at a lawn party.
Translation: (self-explanatory).
Saying: S/He's got tongue enough for 10 rows of teeth.
Translation: Talks a lot.
Saying: It's so dry the trees are bribin' the dogs.
Translation: We really could use a little rain around here
Saying: Just because a chicken has wings don't mean it can fly.
Translation: Appearances can be deceptive.
Saying: This ain't my first rodeo.
Translation: I've been around awhile.
Saying: He looks like the dog's been keepin' him under the porch.
Translation: Not the most handsome of men.
Saying: They ate supper before they said grace.
Translation: Living in sin.
Saying: As full of wind as a corn-eating horse.
Translation: Rather prone to boasting.
Saying: You can put your boots in the oven, but that don't make 'em biscuits.
Translation: You can say whatever you want about something, but that doesn't change what it is.
REAL GLIMPSE OF HOMESCHOOL {grin}
Zander has locked himself in my room. I don’t hear any ominous sounds from behind the door. He is quiet and enjoying himself. I hear a movie – which is a treat for him when we are doing school. When I first noticed the door was locked I asked him to let me in and he said, “I’ll be right back, Mom”. Then I began to consider: he’s safe, he’s quiet, he’s contained…why not leave him in there and finish school?
To think that when BRE and KRISTA locked themselves in a room at this age Mike came rushing home from work with the head pastor and they took the door off the hinges….Maybe I’ve been parenting to long?
To think that when BRE and KRISTA locked themselves in a room at this age Mike came rushing home from work with the head pastor and they took the door off the hinges….Maybe I’ve been parenting to long?
Birthday Reflections (in random order)
Bre did get through and we talked until 11:30 p.m.
I noticed that yesterday was a really good day and realized last night that it was a totally pain free day. No wrists, hip, foot, arch pain at all. Thank you God. We could continue this trend, maybe??? {grin}
I don’t mind turning 42 at all. I find that I’m much more confident in my God, my beliefs, my ministry, my parenting than I have been previously. Each year is an adventure with God and I’m thankful that He has blessed me with another year. I pray to grow in Him more with each year. There are certainly new seasons of life that we are entering…ones that I’m not finding pleasant. I don’t enjoy the kids leaving home. However, Debbie writes of a daughter getting married and Evelyn has those cute grandbabies…so really there are more great seasons to come that wouldn’t happen until after the leaving home season.
Nolan’s speech therapist came out yesterday and told me that Nolan wanted her to say “Happy Birthday” to me. I think he wanted her to sing but we settled for the greeting. {grin}
Life is good.
I noticed that yesterday was a really good day and realized last night that it was a totally pain free day. No wrists, hip, foot, arch pain at all. Thank you God. We could continue this trend, maybe??? {grin}
I don’t mind turning 42 at all. I find that I’m much more confident in my God, my beliefs, my ministry, my parenting than I have been previously. Each year is an adventure with God and I’m thankful that He has blessed me with another year. I pray to grow in Him more with each year. There are certainly new seasons of life that we are entering…ones that I’m not finding pleasant. I don’t enjoy the kids leaving home. However, Debbie writes of a daughter getting married and Evelyn has those cute grandbabies…so really there are more great seasons to come that wouldn’t happen until after the leaving home season.
Nolan’s speech therapist came out yesterday and told me that Nolan wanted her to say “Happy Birthday” to me. I think he wanted her to sing but we settled for the greeting. {grin}
Life is good.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Happy Birthday to "me"
My birthday was today (24 Jan)! I was a bit unsure if this would be a “happy “birthday with two of the chicks gone from the nest. It turned out to be wonderful. The day began with e-cards from Darshia and from Rev. Al and Star. It’s always nice to hear from friends who are no longer “here” and I was amazed they remembered. Then Melody had heard it was my birthday from her husband John, who works with Mike at the chapel. She sent me a sweet email. Krista called early in the a.m. which was a wonderful treat.
The real festivi
ties began after I returned from Speech therapy. My hutch had arrived in town last week and was delivered today. I came home and it was in place – complete with balloons and our birthday “party animal” hat. The boys had also decorated while I was gone. When Mike came home we ALL went to dinner at Logan’s Roadhouse. This is one of those places where you can throw peanuts on the floor….the main attraction to our little ones…and they brought us basket after basket of fresh yeast rolls and we had never-ending soda. I really try to consciously stop eating when I’m no longer hungry….and so I end up brining most my meal home and filling up on drink, bread and salad. That’s fine – last time my leftovers took care of two meals. {grin} When we got home Mike took me into the room so the boys could get some other surprises ready.
I came out of the room looking for the gift because there must be SOME reason I had to go away…..finally noticed the antique pretty goblets that I’ve had my eye on since July. I had told the lady that FIRST I had to pay off my china…then I had to have a hutch…so it is great that they both arrived at the same time. Mom and Dad had purchased these when they were here in December. Thank you! I’m sorry you couldn’t get through. We hear from quite a few people that when they call they get the “fax machine noise”. I’m betting that is why Bre couldn’t call either.
The guys had bought one of those multi-variety cheesecakes from our new Sam’s Club. They even had a “42” candle. The candles were trick candles. They all sang and I began to laugh thinking how pathetic we sound without Bre here to keep up on tune. I looked at CY and he laughed and I noticed he had a can….WHEN….bammo….spray string confetti all over me….I shrieked as the three of them pelted me and backed up. Zander broke out in terrified and terrifying screams and went racing from the room for his bed…this woke Stacia up who began screaming too. We finally remembered the candles were still burning and got them out. What fun. The boys had even bought a little crown to go on the pig head that I was forced to wear.
Gifts were great! A Casting Crowns CD from Jamin; Nichole Nordeman from Josiah. The little ones went together and got me a bear that is holding a salmon and says “welcome”. Mom and Dad G sent some $ and I THINK I’m going to use it for Mike and I to go out alone and have a French Silk Blizzard…that’s my plan at this point. Thank you! The hutch is my Christmas, Birthday and very likely Anniversary gift . . . maybe for several years. I was thrilled it arrived on my birthday.
Pictures :
The real festivi
ties began after I returned from Speech therapy. My hutch had arrived in town last week and was delivered today. I came home and it was in place – complete with balloons and our birthday “party animal” hat. The boys had also decorated while I was gone. When Mike came home we ALL went to dinner at Logan’s Roadhouse. This is one of those places where you can throw peanuts on the floor….the main attraction to our little ones…and they brought us basket after basket of fresh yeast rolls and we had never-ending soda. I really try to consciously stop eating when I’m no longer hungry….and so I end up brining most my meal home and filling up on drink, bread and salad. That’s fine – last time my leftovers took care of two meals. {grin} When we got home Mike took me into the room so the boys could get some other surprises ready.I came out of the room looking for the gift because there must be SOME reason I had to go away…..finally noticed the antique pretty goblets that I’ve had my eye on since July. I had told the lady that FIRST I had to pay off my china…then I had to have a hutch…so it is great that they both arrived at the same time. Mom and Dad had purchased these when they were here in December. Thank you! I’m sorry you couldn’t get through. We hear from quite a few people that when they call they get the “fax machine noise”. I’m betting that is why Bre couldn’t call either.
The guys had bought one of those multi-variety cheesecakes from our new Sam’s Club. They even had a “42” candle. The candles were trick candles. They all sang and I began to laugh thinking how pathetic we sound without Bre here to keep up on tune. I looked at CY and he laughed and I noticed he had a can….WHEN….bammo….spray string confetti all over me….I shrieked as the three of them pelted me and backed up. Zander broke out in terrified and terrifying screams and went racing from the room for his bed…this woke Stacia up who began screaming too. We finally remembered the candles were still burning and got them out. What fun. The boys had even bought a little crown to go on the pig head that I was forced to wear.
Gifts were great! A Casting Crowns CD from Jamin; Nichole Nordeman from Josiah. The little ones went together and got me a bear that is holding a salmon and says “welcome”. Mom and Dad G sent some $ and I THINK I’m going to use it for Mike and I to go out alone and have a French Silk Blizzard…that’s my plan at this point. Thank you! The hutch is my Christmas, Birthday and very likely Anniversary gift . . . maybe for several years. I was thrilled it arrived on my birthday.
Pictures :
My surprise at goblets IN the hutch 
Laughing with Cy over the sounds without Bre (I THOUGHT) and THEN...(the pig hat is a family tradition and is worn at EVERY party...the poor Party Animal is showing it's age and we may need to find a substitute tradition.)
Boys pulled out spray cans and got me good
Blowing out those trick candles
Jared, Arielle, Nolan, Zander & Stacia gave me this bear...we discussed if he'd be safer outside with the wind or inside with our mighty bear hunter...for the time being he's inside
MONDAY – AGAIN!!!
The busiest day of the week around here! We try to do a LOT of reading and school on Monday and Tuesday so that we can do more hands on and outings on Thursday and Friday.
We’re off to a good start. Stacia is sick today. It seems that though no cold showed up Sunday – Saturday may have been to much for her. Poor thing.
Mike and the older three boys went to see “End of the Spear” this evening. This is the story of Jim Elliot and Nate Saint….narrated through the perspective of Nate Saint’s son – Steve. I am not sure if it will be here beyond Thursday; I’m determined to find the time to go see it….but didn’t want to take Stacia out at night. We also didn’t want to take our younger ones (8,7,4) because of the intense topic so we couldn’t all go at once.
I’ve not been able to talk with Mike or the boys and get DETAILS…they say “yeah – it was good”. MEN!
We’re off to a good start. Stacia is sick today. It seems that though no cold showed up Sunday – Saturday may have been to much for her. Poor thing.
Mike and the older three boys went to see “End of the Spear” this evening. This is the story of Jim Elliot and Nate Saint….narrated through the perspective of Nate Saint’s son – Steve. I am not sure if it will be here beyond Thursday; I’m determined to find the time to go see it….but didn’t want to take Stacia out at night. We also didn’t want to take our younger ones (8,7,4) because of the intense topic so we couldn’t all go at once.
I’ve not been able to talk with Mike or the boys and get DETAILS…they say “yeah – it was good”. MEN!
Goals Realized!
The day began with chapel.
The older three boys had a youth game day in the afternoon.
The younger four children, Mike and I decided to go out and look for the four we missed yesterday. We figured with the additional hints from geocaching.com we’d be able to find a few of them. We kept Stacia in the car as it is 48* today – down from 85* two weeks ago.
We found all four caches. We reached our goal. We also discovered that we could have driven to all of them and saved ourselves 4 miles of hiking through brush….but hey….we like the hiking stuff anyway. In the future, however, when alone with the kids I will remember to look for the road or train rather than taking off across a mile of dry lake bed etc.
PHOTOS:
Things are looking up…3 more to find
Twentieth FIND
Saturday, 21 January – a GREAT day
Sam’s Club opened and we were there (as you can read below) BUT we also went Geocaching in the state park. Our goal is 20 finds by the end of January. We “found” 8 spots…but only 4 caches today. Yes, we experienced our first no finds. The GPS units were beeping…we were sure they were there….but there were concrete docks or nothing or what not. Oh well we found 4 and are at 16 now. We have next weekend to try to find 4 more caches.
While in the park, we got the brilliant idea of going camping some Friday night and spending the whole day exploring the park for finds….we are driven to find all 45 hidden in the State Park. One we found today had this in the log book “found it – also found RATTLESNAKE”. This brought back memories of the 8 foot rattler I saw this summer in the park. Mike said he had hoped we saw a snake because he missed hearing the chattering from Mom. All say I sounded like a chipmunk as I pointed and tried to explain what I saw. I think it’s a good idea to do the hiking and camping in the winter around here. Today WAS cool….and I’m hoping Stacia didn’t get to cold. We had her in a snowsuit.
We had thought that maybe the four we didn’t find were archived but – no – someone else has found them in the past week. At the park you are only given coordinates but on the website you get a bit of a “description” and even some encrypted hints if you need them. We’ll try to find those four we missed again. I also printed off about 4 hidden caches along the river walk so the kids and I can give that a try one of these days. I’m fairly sure we’ll reach 20 finds by 31 Jan.
Photos from the day:
Arielle found this one – Jetty – DRY LAKE – all that brown behind us is supposed to be LAKE.
As we wait for the others to FIND us the little ones reenact Aslan at the Stone Table…found this table in the middle of no-where…
Zander prefers to ride on shoulders (Mikes, Cy’s, Jamin’s)
THE FIND…an AMMO can….
Cy has learned to dodge sticks, granola crumbs and flying rocks…he’s the ultimate Cuya.
Texas Charly Brown Christmas Tree…I think we’ll decorate this one with food for the animals next year…
Note the mistletoe in the tree…gotta love TEXAS.
Stacia – the trooper! The end of the day!
Signature Item
A surprising amount of time has been spent this week trying to make a signature item to leave in cache’s we find. I got it right on the screen but getting the shrinky dinks to do their “thing” was illusive. Finally, we did get a number that are “OK”. I need to find our embossing gun and give that a try.
Here’s Nolan carefully watching yet another batch of signature items.
Here’s the graphic from our signature item…and across it I have typed Not2Many…Found…It! It turns out ½ this size and hard plastic…sometimes curled on the edges….
Here’s the graphic from our signature item…and across it I have typed Not2Many…Found…It! It turns out ½ this size and hard plastic…sometimes curled on the edges….
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Thorn Bushes
We’ve been talking for weeks about the ferocious thorn bushes in West TX. Here is a rather spindly one. Note that it is taller than Nolan (7) and do you see the thorns? They cover this thing. Each branch ends in a thorn.
Friday I asked the museum curator what the scientific name for the thorn bushes everywhere is. She told me it was MESQUITE! I couldn’t believe it. They grow into huge trees and the trees also have thorns…..I say cut it all down and smoke your brisket with it!
Here's a shot of Mesquite from our caching yesterday....more photos later.
Sam’s Club
Finally. Sam's club has opened in San Angelo, TX. I’d have a picture but even *I* thought it would be a bit strange to take pictures at the opening. Technically the grand opening will be Thursday but they opened their doors “quietly” on Saturday. We got a call from a mom I’d met at the park to let us know that she had heard it would be opening. It was WONDERFUL to see big quantities again and to see some cheaper things. Milk is a full .50 a gallon cheaper and butter and cheese, cream cheese…all cheaper! It makes this feel more like “home”. {grin} They opened just when we’d started our daily count down. {big grin}
Saturday, January 21, 2006
OUR BELOVED DOG
Our beloved dog, Beatrix Jamima Puddleduck Potter G! Yes, we adopted her from the dog pound in Hardin, MT many years ago when the children were in their Beatrix Potter phase. I don’t really mind the strange name…it serves as a daily reminder as to how fast children grow and change. {grin} Bea is Josiah’s dog. He fell in love with her on first sight when he was 4 years old. We’ve had her for 12 years now. When we got her we were told she wouldn’t fit with our family because she was timid and we had 5 young children at the time. She’d been in an abusive home. We gave it a shot and she adapted marvelously. She used to follow the kids around and if they went near the gate in our back yard she’d bark to alert me. The kids hated that. She’s older now. She really doesn’t follow the new batch of little ones around much. She does insist on being outside with them. She also insists on sleeping under Stacia’s crib. We don’t think she hears real well any longer…she used to LOVE to chase birds and cats and now doesn’t even seem to notice them unless they happen to pass 2 feet in front of her. We all age. Above she’d somehow gotten Nolan’s bike glove attached to her paw. Not a great picture – but a great companion and member of the family who hasn’t had her share of photos on the blog. {grin}
Power-Walk Progress
So, how am I progressing on my goal to power-walk through the Word this year? Frankly, not as well as I'd hoped...but still I am progressing. I had hoped to be able to "triple pace" through the plan in my Bible but I've found three weeks into this that I'm double pacing. I don't think I'll cross the finish line in a year - probably more like 2 years - but that is FINE. If I weren't doing 2 local studies I think I could do this in a year. The local studies are awesome and I wouldn't trade them for the world.
I love my time in the Word. I'm fighting the propensity I have to crawl through the Word. I'm reminding myself that THIS year God led me not to race through or to try to crawl through the entire Word.
In three weeks I've made it through Galatians. What a great book of the Bible. See my summary below - if you are interested. Hmmm…that will be below if I did this right or above if I got mixed up.
If you are totally confused as to my analogies read "Racing, Crawling and Power-Walking" a post from 31 December . . . it's in the archived posts to the right of the screen. Simply click Dec 2005 and it will pop up on your screen. {grin}
I love my time in the Word. I'm fighting the propensity I have to crawl through the Word. I'm reminding myself that THIS year God led me not to race through or to try to crawl through the entire Word.
In three weeks I've made it through Galatians. What a great book of the Bible. See my summary below - if you are interested. Hmmm…that will be below if I did this right or above if I got mixed up.
If you are totally confused as to my analogies read "Racing, Crawling and Power-Walking" a post from 31 December . . . it's in the archived posts to the right of the screen. Simply click Dec 2005 and it will pop up on your screen. {grin}
Power-Walk - Galatians
Theme: It was for freedom that Christ Set us free (5:1) or Gospel brings freedom
Author: Paul (1:1, 6:11)
Date: After the first or second missionary journey
Purpose: Correct errors in the church; (1:6-9;3:3;4:9;5:1,4) – “Having begun by the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Segments of the church had believed the teaching that one must add the law to grace in order to be saved. Paul spends this letter showing that WE died to the law (2:19), that we are now to “live the life we live in the flesh by FAITH in the Son of God” (2:20), in short that we are not to try to be “perfected” by our works.
Chapter Themes:
Chapter 1 - One Gospel (Paul’s 1:6-9)
Chapter 2 – Defense of Paul’s Gospel
Chapter 3 – Gospel Explained (by faith alone) (3:8,11; 2:16)
Chapter 4 – Gospel makes heris/sons (4:1-7; 4:21-31)
Chapter 5 – Gospel is to be walked out in liberty (5:1), love (5:6, 13-15, 26) and the Spirit (5:16-25)
Chapter 6:- Gospel to be walked out in service and separation from the world
Key Words:
Grace
Gospel
Spirit
Law
Justified
Faith (believe)
Promise
Covenant
Heir
Flesh
Circumcision
Cross
Boast
Verses that leapt out to me:
1:10; 2:19 – 21; 3:3; 4:9; 5:1, 13, 16, 18, 25-26; 6:2, 9-10
2:11 – Paul opposed Peter and yet Paul states in 5:6 that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything – but faith working through love. Conclusion – sometimes confrontation is the most loving thing we can do (compare with notes from Grace and Truth paradox)
Salvation by grace alone and saving faith is expressed as living faith!
Author: Paul (1:1, 6:11)
Date: After the first or second missionary journey
Purpose: Correct errors in the church; (1:6-9;3:3;4:9;5:1,4) – “Having begun by the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Segments of the church had believed the teaching that one must add the law to grace in order to be saved. Paul spends this letter showing that WE died to the law (2:19), that we are now to “live the life we live in the flesh by FAITH in the Son of God” (2:20), in short that we are not to try to be “perfected” by our works.
Chapter Themes:
Chapter 1 - One Gospel (Paul’s 1:6-9)
Chapter 2 – Defense of Paul’s Gospel
Chapter 3 – Gospel Explained (by faith alone) (3:8,11; 2:16)
Chapter 4 – Gospel makes heris/sons (4:1-7; 4:21-31)
Chapter 5 – Gospel is to be walked out in liberty (5:1), love (5:6, 13-15, 26) and the Spirit (5:16-25)
Chapter 6:- Gospel to be walked out in service and separation from the world
Key Words:
Grace
Gospel
Spirit
Law
Justified
Faith (believe)
Promise
Covenant
Heir
Flesh
Circumcision
Cross
Boast
Verses that leapt out to me:
1:10; 2:19 – 21; 3:3; 4:9; 5:1, 13, 16, 18, 25-26; 6:2, 9-10
2:11 – Paul opposed Peter and yet Paul states in 5:6 that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything – but faith working through love. Conclusion – sometimes confrontation is the most loving thing we can do (compare with notes from Grace and Truth paradox)
Salvation by grace alone and saving faith is expressed as living faith!
Friday, January 20, 2006
FIELD TRIP
We left early this a.m. to pick up Melody and her children and head out to the Barrow Museum in Eola, TX. Our first stop was a gas station to wait for other members of the homeschool group. Melody was the coordinator for this month’s activities.
This museum is cool. It’s still a working Longhorn ranch and the profits from the cattle are invested into the foundation that runs the museum. It began as one couple’s love of collecting things. They eventually built a barn to house their collections and then it GREW. There is now a house you can tour, a big barn of antique cars and farm machinery, a caboose, a HUGE barn of antiques and thousands (Jared thinks over 14,000) of arrowheads, a building of pianos and instruments and a tipi used annually in reenactments. The weather was beautiful – perfect for our picnic lunch! The only down side to the day was the dueling babies on the ride home. Rowan and Stacia decided to have a vocal competition…possibly inspired by the antique organs and pianos they had witnessed.
These museums really defy “categorizing”. There was china, crystal, old clothes, old toys, rocks, coral, lots of “dead heads” (taxidermy specimens), a giant AK King Crab, combines, currency from around the world, weapons and military uniforms various time periods and countries…amazing! Jared’s personal favorite was the 1935 Morris Eight car.
Here are some pictures of the day (some of my favorites won't upload)!
We began at the tipi – here are Noah, Shiloh, Nolan and Arielle inside…note the paint with “Indian Paint”. The guide participates in reenactments and shared lots of great info.
Shopkeeper Noah
This ones for you, Mom! {grin}
This ones for you, Mom! {grin}Lunch counter - check out the prices
Various pendulums making various shapes
Melody & Shiloh
Farmer Noah!
Farmer Nolan!
Girls can be farmers too!
Jared's favorite was this 1935 Morris Eight
Awesome carving on this clock from Black Forest, Germany
Book Review - The Grace & Truth Paradox by Randy Alcorn
Finished another book – a small one – but a book! I’ve determined to finish all the ½ read books around here before I begin another and then to keep reading this year…..I need to read…it’s relaxing. {grin} No, I won’t write a review for each book – more of a reaction, or favorite quotes or well – let’s see what I end up doing over the year. {snort} In any event...here's the first one.
We began this little book in the fall in our Chapel Adult Sunday School Class. I would recommend the study for groups looking for a “light study with a heavy punch”. This book comes with a study guide that could easily be used for a 4 week class…However, we stretched it from Sept – 22 Jan. This would make a great Ladies Summer study or even Sunday school for High School. It would also be a good study (using the workbook) for a mentoring relationship. This is a short book. I felt this was a very balanced view of grace. This is a topical study vs. inductive study but it is a very good covering of the topic. Timely to many.
The basic premise of this book is that Jesus was FULL of grace and truth (John 1:14). We are to be like Christ. We tend to lean towards either grace or truth and need to aim for a balanced manifestation of both. Grace is what sets Christianity apart from all other religions (p 68). Dare I admit that this point is brought home so many ways and so effectively that there were a few times when I thought “I’ve got it, I’ve got it!” {blush}
“The two (grace and truth) are interdependent. We should never approach truth except in a spirit of grace, or grace except in a spirit of truth.” P 16
“Truth without grace breeds a self-righteous legalism that poisons the church and pushes the world away from Christ. Grace without truth breeds moral indifference and keeps people from seeing their need for Christ.” P 18
“If we accurately demonstrate grace and truth, some will be drawn to us and others will be offended by us – just as they were by Jesus” p. 20
“The Christian life is far more than sin management. Behavior modifications that’s not empowered by God’s heart-changing grace is self-righteous, as repugnant to God as the worst sins people gossip about.(authors emphasis) Children who grow up with graceless truth are repelled by self-righteousness and attracted to the world’s slickly marketed grace-substitutes.” P 37
“Our culture views truth as something inside us, subject to revision according to our growth and enlightenment. Scripture views truth as something outside us, which we can believe or not but can never sway.” P 39
“I wanted to minimize the truth of human sin. I wanted to pass truth and go directly to grace. Yet without the bad news, there can be no good news. Without the truth of God’s holiness and the stark reality of our sin, Christ’s grace is meaningless.” p 60
A little girl’s prayer “Lord, make the bad people good and the good people nice”. P 61
“Grace never lowers the standard of holiness. Jesus didn’t lower the bar; He raised it!” p 66
“The ancient, historical Jesus came full of grace and truth. The modern, mythological Jesus comes full of tolerance and relativism.” P 72
“Without truth, we lack courage to speak and convictions to speak about. Without grace, we lack compassion to meet people’s deepest needs”. P 72
“Being a good witness once meant faithfully representing Christ, even when it meant being unpopular. Now it means “making people like us.” By that definition Christ wasn’t always Christ-like”. P 73.
Randy gives a great illustration from a child who spent 6 years in a prison camp with Eric Liddell. Awesome example of grace and truth working in a person’s life…but far too long to explain here (Chapter 9). Another great example was of his plane crash in AK.
“True grace undercuts not only self-righteousness, but also self-sufficiency.” P 83.
“God’s grace to us is lightning. Our grace to others is thunder. Lightning comes first; thunder responds. We show grace to others because He first showed grace to us.
“Truth without grace crushes people and ceases to b truth. Grace without truth deceives people and ceases be grace.” P 88
“Truth without grace degenerates into judgmental legalism. Grace without truth degenerates into deceitful tolerance.” P 88.
I know – many think I tend towards truth but looking over my life I can see a lot of unwillingness to speak the truth. I can think of one situation specifically where someone hated Christians and I was proud that they liked me…but it was because I was a pastor’s wife who kept my views to myself. God forgive me. That balance can be a challenge to find.
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