One More Gift

Dinner was ODD....I had made a Sweet Potato Casserole to take the PWOC's Thanksgiving celebration but by the time evening arrived I just couldn't drive the back roads.....I was up at 0330 as Michael was worrying I'd ordered the wrong camera for his birthday....seems my comment about "Amazon never failing me before," left him thinking I ordered a kit other than the one he'd wanted. ::snort::  Anyway, at dinner we had salad, fruit, pasta and sweet potato casserole. ::snort:: 

Michael had thought his camera wouldn't arrive until after Thanksgiving. I knew it had left Oakland Saturday night...and today it arrived on our door.  We had a bit of fun with  presenting it.....

We discussed John 9 in family circle. We talked about the man born blind, Jesus healing him and reaffirming Himself as the Light of the World. I informed all we were going to act this one out. The kids had their parts. Michael was the blind man. 

Stacia (Jesus) prepares to welcome him back from the pool of Siloam (BTW the spitting into mud was quite fun). He's hamming it up - he can see......

 Took him quite a bit of time and I finally got him directed towards the box in the center of the room that he wasn't noticing as he "saw" all sorts of new things. ::grin::

Nikon D610 and stuff  

 Unfortunately between the two of us we neglected to get a couple of things he needs....so a bag and flash will be on the way soon. He really is thrilled......this is Michael's I'm over the moon thrilled look. ::snort::

The above was taken with my Olympus and the below with the new Nikon. 

Of course, none of us will be safe as Michael explores the new camera. 

Yuuki says, "Enough already." 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Happy Birthday Michael

Early this a.m. Arielle brought out the birthday decorations.  Michael was able to Skype with Jamin  this morning,  Josiah and Shelby later this evening, and I think he managed to text everyone else.

Stacia hid in the pantry for an hour waiting for Michael to come downstairs.

There are a couple of fields on the way to Beale which are flooded. We've wondered WHY....and we still aren't sure...but maybe this is why.....In any event we loved the variety of birds on the way to base today. 

It was fun that Joretta was preaching this a.m. and Michael had the day "off." It was a great sermon on being a giving people. Loved it.  Besides Michael's birthday, today is also the collection day for Operation Christmas Child. 

Michael chose Dancing Tomato for his second Birthday Dinner. We tried to convince him to get them sing Happy Birthday - but he really did NOT want the attention....so we enjoyed our quiet lunch.

Arielle's card was classic, "Here's a button to show others what a great father you are."

"Real life Angry Bird game" from Arielle

3 D tower puzzle from Nolan 

Stacia loved this Darth Vader alarm clock

 
Michael's main gift will be here before Christmas - a combo gift....but I got him a few things anyway...some cologne, a fun ring toss hat and a new cape....Stacia cracked up everyone within hearing at Walmart when she saw it. "Mom, that will match the............." and I agreed and bought it.

I "suggested" this be done outside

Placing candles in an ice cream cake covered in hard shell is difficult...finally they were all lighted....UNTIL Arielle blew out the candle she was using to light candles - along with 1/2 the candles on the cake. ::snort::

Zander got Turbo for Michael so we're ending the day watching that and blogging. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Day of Preparation

The kids began the day with Japanese lessons while the rest of us lounged around. LOL We continue to hope and pray this is preparation for returning to Japan.

We spent the rest of the day in preparation. We went shopping for the kids to get Michael some birthday gifts. His main one is ordered but won't be here by tomorrow.

We added to our CA Walmart stories. ::snort:: Today a woman BARKED at me. I haven't a clue why. She was  riding up and down the aisles on a scooter barking at people.

We also heard a FIRST in the way of name slaughtering. Those who know our last name will get a kick out of this. "Michael Joker your vehicle is ready in the auto shop." Too funny.

On the way home we told Michael to pick his first birthday dinner. He chose Chipotles....it was yummy. Arielle and I finally figured out the secret - we split a burrito and it was just right. LOL 

I've got a turkey and a ham (covered the bases) for Thanksgiving. Today we got these kits so we can make a Gingerbread village when everyone is here. 

We also started learning how to play Rook so we can play with Grandma and Grandpa T. 

We prepared for tomorrow by finishing up our Operation Christmas Child boxes. We paid online and added the tracking numbers to each box...along with a small bag of candy. 

 We worked it into Family Circle as we talked about followers of Jesus being His light in the world. This is one small way we can be a bit of light. We planned to pray over the boxes. Stacia emphatically agreed this was a good idea. It seems her teacher said it was VERY important to pray OVER the boxes....glad Michael got a shot of her literally praying OVER the boxes as instructed by her teacher. ::snort::

The boxes are stacked by the door ready to take to church.  The bulletins are folded and by the door. We watched the last few episodes of Duck Dynasty season 1 so we can return the DVD tomorrow...a good day of prep. Family verdict on DD is out....yes, they're funny...but there are a few things that bother us for our younger ones if they are going to watch them repeatedly - or repeat the conversations as Zander tends to do with movie lines.   

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Lazy Friday

Today was a minimal manning day on base. The kids worked hard to have their school work done so they could play with Michael at home - but he went to work at noon. ::snort:: We had a LAAAAAAzy day....and enjoyed it.

Arielle gave Stacia Minnie Mouse ears today 

Michael's birthday is Sunday so the girls and I worked on making his dream ice cream cake......

Then we created a vegan Cashew Banana Ice cream cake for US to enjoy during the party.  This is the small vegan yummy.

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Context is King

Part of what we are trying to do in family circle is teach the children Bible study tools. We want them to know how to look for answers to their questions and how to mine the treasures of the Word for themselves. 

As we've worked through the I Am Sayings of Jesus in John we've stressed context/background. What was happening before the verse we're studying? What happened after the verse? Was there something  in the culture to make the illustration meaningful? How did the audience respond? Who was the audience? Why did Jesus choose this illustration? (Many questions of interpretation and application follow but this is a post on context.)  We noted there is a miracle/sign before each new message/revelation.  We've studied, "I Am". We've studied, "I Am the Bread of Life." We are working on, "I Am the Light of the World."  We've had a lot of fun skirting John 8:12 with an activity Tuesday night and a wonderful illustration from Michael about WW2 and his Dad's time in the Marines. Tonight we were going to develop context. I started by reminding them context rules...context is king. 

I asked, "Who can tell me what context means? It's two Latin words and when you put them together you get the word's  meaning." 

STACIA jumped in. YES - our EIGHT year old is learning Bible study tools! I was happy she remembered past conversations though I realized we hadn't clearly defined the meaning of context. 

"It means texting with contact." ::snort:: 

photo credit: moriza via photopin cc

We backed up. We talked about Chili CON carne - chili WITH meat. 

They hit upon "with the text" -  an easy working definition. I gave an example from life and one from the Bible where meaning/interpretation is obscure without context.  They got it - even our eight year old. ::grin:: 

By the way - check out the first time in John that Jesus reveals himself as the Light of the World. I thought it would be after a healing.....I discovered Jesus repeats the claim of being the Light of the World in John 9 after healing a blind man....but chapter 8 is the first revelation of being the Light we see in the book of John.

Check out the context. It was the Feast of Booths (or Tabernacle). Part of the feast was the nightly lighting of two GIANT lamp stands which were in the Women's Court of the temple. Several commentators mention, as the temple was on a hill, the light could be seen throughout the city. During the feast of the booths people slept in tent-like booths on their roofs. They remembered God leading them through the wilderness as a light - a pillar of light. Nightly they saw two giant pillars lighten the darkness from the temple mount.  During THIS festival Jesus was teaching in the woman's court (Read 8:1-11 and you'll see how I reached that conclusion) where there would have been two giant  lamp stands. Read the unexpected sign. I'd never made the connection. 

photo credit: Fr. Stephen, MSC via photopin cc

Into this scene the Pharisees bring a woman caught in the "very act of adultery." I've heard this preached about but no one ever read verse 12. You know the subtleties.  The Woman's Court is to be a place of mercy and worship - but they've brought this woman to the temple to find condemnation. Jesus instructs the one without sin to cast the first stone. No one can. They leave. He looks at her and tells her to go and sin no more and then he looks at the gathered crowd and says, "I am the Light of the World. He who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life." 

WOW - context! She found mercy. She found forgiveness. Not ONE of those who accused her, not one of us, could cast the first stone. We all WALK in darkness until we FOLLOW Jesus. He is the light who dispels the moral darkness and sin in our lives. 

Anyway - I am excited about the context of this verse and excited to see the kids grasp this Bible study element.  Tonight we'll look at the miracle of a physical healing and Jesus' repeated claim to be the Light of the World. 

Another night we'll consider how Jesus says WE are to be the lights of this world and what that means....and then we'll move on.....

As I end this I think it's "nearly profound." I was sharing with someone this week I used to try to be profound on the blog and nearly quit writing...then Michael asked me to focus on a family journal. Now I'm profound about once a year.....this is nearly profound. ::snort:: 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

WIN!

We had a wonderful at home day.

We finished The Door in the Wall - which I loved as much this times as the previous three times I've read it to kids. Zander read a chapter out of Fine Print and did GREAT. He also read 1/2 a chapter in Lord of the Rings. This proves a person CAN teach themselves to read if you let them go at it in the way that seems right to them. I am currently teaching him some drills and rules to make his reading quicker and to help him win the phonics games we play on Fridays. ::wink::

If you look closely at her feet you can tell Stacia was jumping for joy when I took this photo. She KNEW her new math texts were in that package. In her mind this means she is transitioning into third grade. Since this little 8 yo is taller than many 5th graders she's VERY excited to be "growing into taller grades." Um....yeah...still working on that image thing.

THIS was the big win of the day! I made a totally vegan  meal.  Everyone LOVED it....loved it. They all said I could make it every week. I took the  Lentil Mushroom Spinach Roulade filling Arielle and I love...and turned it into Hot Pockets. I added a bit of extra fennel and generous splashes of lemon....left out the nuts and nutritional yeast - because I forgot.

Another win of the day was 50 min on the elliptical and the sculpting session from P90....followed by a leisurely soak in the hot tub.....totally onsen like....just needed a friend or two to join me....In time....

Clean up is done and it's time for Family Circle....I'm ahead of schedule to have blogged before bed time....another win.

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Science @ PWOC

I wrestled with taking ANOTHER day of school off  in an already short week of school. God smiled. I planned to send some food in with Michael today as our class had hospitality.....then I got a call from our facilitator about stepping in for her today. It was my joy to do so.....God smiled. 

The kids would have missed much if we stayed home. They dissected owl pellets in the home school room. Stacia found a vole skull in her pellet.

The lessons continued at home throughout the afternoon. They got lots of school in today. They were thrilled as we are studying Flying Creatures (Apologia Zoology) this year.

They even got Arielle to take a look. She wasn't thrilled when I told her she'd be doing the same in a month or so. 

I enjoyed a nice visit via phone with BreAnne. 

Michael and I enjoyed a quick talk before dinner was ready to come out of the oven. We were perplexed as we couldn't find Arielle. We didn't see her in the family room, we didn't remember her passing us on the stairs.....guess where we found her? 

Yuuki faithfully guards the oven! 

Choosing Joy!

©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...