Thursday, May 17, 2007

What I did today...


Got our produce order in.

Took boys out shopping for Arielle's birthday! We got all the gifts covered. I'm on it - graduation is ready AND birthday. I'll need to get cake, paper goods etc for Arielle's birthday - but that will be easy.

Mailed books....twice...well tried to twice.

Bought shoes for Jared....and Nolan and Zander.

Delivered Jared at CAP.

Watched Mike's softball game with youngers.

Set up tables and baskets for produce co-op tomorrow.

Tried to finish Ch. 4 so I could post the quotes "on schedule" but that's o.k. GRACE.

SOFTBALL SEASON - OUCH

The younger ones and I went and enjoyed Mike's second softball game tonight. I really like this team he is playing on. Military intramural sports can be competitive. This team, however, seems to have fun and to be building camaraderie.
Anyway - we met Mike for dinner. Then dropped Jared at CAP. Then Arielle, Nolan, Stacia, Zander, and I went and watched softball. Mike is pitching. It was fun.....unfortunately....he got injured....finished the game though. His nose is caved in - but I'm guessing they can't cast a nose....so we'll see what it's like in the a.m.

Book Review: The Ministry of Motherhood, Ch 4 Questions

Gift of Grace Discussion Questions

I'm going to go ahead and post these questions before quotes from Ch. 4 - because I'm not done reading Ch. 4. {G} This will give more time to ponder these and comment on them between now and next week's discussion questions. Maybe you can pick one question a day to comment on? Be sure to note the number of the question you comment on.

1. Read Rm 2:4. According to this verse what leads us to repent? How specifically does God want you to extend his grace to your children so that his kindness, through you, will lead them to repentance?

2. Read Mark 14:66-72 and then I Peter4:8. Knowing that Christ gave Peter grace after he failed so miserably, how would he have you extend this kind of grace to your own children? What would this look like in your daily interactions?

3. The last night Jesus had with his disciples, he called them "little children" (John 13:33). Does this tell you anything about his attitude toward these grown men who were his most devoted followers? Read John 14:1 and see what his continued response was to Peter after he had confronted him with the fact that he would deny Christ. How does this show the loving grace that Jesus extended to his disciples? How does he want you to extend it to your children?

4. The Bible makes it clear that we are to discipline and correct our children when they do wrong. How do you do this faithfully while still giving them the gift of grace?

5. Write down what tends to irritate you about each of your children and sometimes keeps you from showing God's gracious love, pray for each child he has given into your hands and make a plan for how you will respond more graciously to him or her, especially in those irritating situations.

NOTE - this question makes me uncomfortable. Let's share in generic general terms if you choose to answer this one.....in other words don't name your children.....I tend to shy from these sorts of questions in ladies groups because I've seen so many ladies studies on marriage turn into gripe situations about husbands etc.....I DO THINK this is a great exercise to do and will do it...but I'm not sure about sharing it on the Internet. LOL

Early Morning Funny

This is an antique juicer that I have by our front walk.

This is what it looked like this a.m.
We have two rockers on the front porch and I've taken to spending some morning meditation time out here. I can watch the birds in our big trees, watch the squirrel raid the bird feeders, and best of all it's COOL in the early a.m.


This is my chair...

Across the entry I found this chair.

Ah, my Bible, journal, water and lots of light sabers. I was well protected this a.m. I chose to let them remind me of the angels camped about. {G}

SELLING ONLINE

I've not sold many things. Basically, I keep things to reuse. We write in our books and so there are no books to sell etc. I do buy online a LOT - but I don't sell online much.

BUT after the local used book sale here a few weeks ago I did have a list of things I was willing to part with. I had nothing priced over 70% - most at 50 - 60% off....decided I may as well list things on SHS.

I sold $230 something worth of curriculum - my TOG, all my Saxon, and a duplicate text I'd purchased....and the lady who bought TOG is sending me her Math U See Beta Teacher stuff in June when she's done with it.

So....today, I'm trying to package books...How do Chris and Dorothy do this day and day out? I don't like packaging books. I was standing in the long lines at the post office and noticed that the TOG box is addressed to Debbie....ARGH!!!!!! She ordered the Streams of Civ - Vol 2....I'm back home trying to re-wrap and address and thanking God that I noticed before I sent TOG to Debbie and Streams to the poor lady that paid for TOG. I didn't catch it at first because I AM mailing Deb's Streams in the TOG TEA box that I got.....

Some of us are clearly not meant to sell used curriculum....I do far better just giving it away! ::snort:: But really, this is a nice chunk of change, combined with the affiliate fee I've earned, towards my TOG for next year.....I shall persevere. And I must remember to go deposit checks this afternoon.

Scrapbooking Question

I know many of you are consultants (Cindy, Sherri, Mary et al) and many are scrapbookers extraordinaire (Lisa, Liz, Jen et al) so HELP ME here.

I went ahead and pulled photos Cy had chosen (and a few that I simply think are too precious not to pick ::smirk::) out of our magnetic album and put them in the front of the "graduation album" that I had put together for him. I will later copy or scan them and give him his set...put mine back in the magnetic albums until I reach that point in transferring. The photos from the display board will go in his graduation album too. I'm still rejoicing at how easy it is to make a keepsake....Debby (my NY partner in simplicity) - are you still rejoicing? There is hope sister!

The problem? The photos in my scrapbook albums are awful to get out. Those tape runners simply don't let up. It's impossible to get the photos out without either tearing the page or the photo (tiny tears - but tears). I figure I can put them back in and cover the tears - mostly.... but what have you all done? Do you never take photos out for things like THIS - to make copies for duplicate albums, to put together displays? How do you copy or scan them if they never leave your scrapbook????

I've got a three year gap in his graduation album because I learned about the tearing when we were trying to remove photos to scan to make the slide show.

Liz told me about the CM albums that are sleeves.....I may check those out after I use up all my post albums...which may take years, really. LOL

Stacia is running around with the album saying "Sighhhh, Sighhhh". She's been learning everyone's names but Cy is still the one she reverts to when in doubt. "Zander" is giving her fits. "No" (Nolan) is easy. "L" is Arielle. "Jayyyyy" is Jamin and Jared is tough for her but if you KNOW that is what she is saying you can make it out. We've even been teaching her Bre and Krista so she knows them this summer. She calls them both "Bres".

Book Review: The Ministry of Motherhood, Ch 3

Chapter Three Quotes - The Grace of Encouraging Words - my comments italicized
"Encouraging and affirming words - words of life, as I like to call them - have the power to give hope, to strengthen others to keep growing in righteousness. And if I, a grown woman, need them to keep going through hard times, my children need them even more." p 41
Shew - I need to remember not to just THINK good things about the children but to say them more often!
"Thinking good thoughts about someone doesn't really bless that person. We have to take the initiative actually to say the words - in person, through a card or e-mail, or even through a phone call." p 42 ::snort so simple/so profound.
"But the Lord's loving, encouraging words were not reserved just for Jesus' disciples. They are preserved on the pages of God's Word to lift us up today. The Whole Bible is filled with words that have given strength, encouragement, hope, faith, and forgiveness to believers in all times and all ages. God's encouraging words are so powerful, in fact, that untold numbers of people who read them have loved God, served his kingdom purposes, and died for his cause." p 44
YES - and really it doesn't matter HOW you get into the word (devotionaly, inductively, topically) just get into the Word...for your sake, for the kingdom's sake, for your children's sake.
"How important it is, then, that we mothers shepherds of our children's lives and hearts, choose our words to them carefully. We must deliberately aim our words at their hearts in such a way as to give our children hope, faith, strength, and also to point them toward the redeeming love of Christ. We can become the affirming voice of God to our children, just as we become a picture of his redeeming reality in their everyday lives. In this way we extend the gift of grace." p44. Starting to catch a glimpse of the giant responsibility and ministry there is raising children? LOL
"But a parent who would NEVER use words in such extreme ways can still "curse" a child with words. For instance, we can be so committed to training our children that we use most of our words to correct and admonish them.....Words of instruction and training are indeed necessary to our children, but we must be careful not to discourage them through nagging, criticism, and reprimands. Even more important, we must BALANCE our correction with words of encouragement and affirmation, words that our precious little ones will treasure in their hearts throughout their whole lives. " p 45.
From the prayer "Teach us to extol their positive characteristics whenever we can and to resist the temptation to use words only for correction."
This is a good reminder for me. Maybe you don't have the problem that Sally describes....seeming to use mostly words of correction. I know that in our family - with lots of young ones still in the early training stage - this is very easy to let happen. I also know that with youth - if not careful, if I don't run after their hearts and engage them it is easy only to interact with them when I'm instructing them. I love that Sally brings out that this is about BALANCE....not wrong to instruct and train...but also encourage...and make our words a blessing to our children. THINK about where we are aiming our words. I've shared before about my prior anger and the way I would talk to my children....what a great reminder to keep this issue before the Holy Spirit.