Wacky Wednesday

I stayed home from PWOC today as I needed a down day to focus on school....but it didn't work out that way. 

I agreed to run Arielle to the DMV (which IS school) - only to find she has to finish a driver's ed before she can get a permit. I went back in again to ask how she was supposed to do the driving portion of driver's ed without a permit? This was an honest question as everywhere I've driven you don't drive in driver's ed without the permit. I was told she needed a pink slip from "the school"  - you can see where THIS went. They saw our Driver's Ed curriculum but want a certificate - so we'll deal with this and go back. 

We headed to Lowes as we were out....and Michael was with us.  We heard from Jared that his appointment with the cardiologist was delayed due to an emergency. 

What can it be? Microwave or Toaster oven? 

Yep - this was my biggest decision at this point of the day. Inside is a wrap with humus, orzo, rice, garlic, shredded carrots, pepper and nutritional yeast...yum.

Look what came in a huge UPS box - Yuuki's science diet

About this time we heard from Jared. The doctor shared the most recent test has shown the blood flow to his heart is restricted; when he works out it's nearly non-existent. This is not good. They are doing a heart catheterization on Friday. If that is all that is needed, he'll be up and in class by Monday. They may need to put a stint in if it is congenital and do the balloon treatment if they find plaque in his arteries. Either of those will probably lead to a bit longer recovery time.  They plan to find out what is restricting the blood flow. He said something has narrowed the arteries....either congenital or plaque. May I say how happy I am that Jared requested a stress test - which seems to have led to him being assigned a new cardiologist? He has a much better rapport with this doctor. This cardiologist says it's not normal for a 19 yo to have his symptoms and they need to explore...so they did. Praise Jesus.  I find it hard to believe he'd have plaque - we do not eat the Standard American Diet around our home, he works out, he's not overweight, his labs are normal....congenital I can see....he's had light headedness and pounding headaches when working out hard for years. We've seen docs several times and been told, "Buck up - that's sports" and that his blood pressure was fine.  The freak injuries he got at the start of every season the last few years may well have been the hand of a gracious God making sure he was where he could get treatment before passing out on a field.  Or maybe he's been sneaking big macs, fries and shakes on us....we'll soon know. 

This call led to lots of mayhem. I have a one way ticket to TX.....we tried to figure out how to get the kids there with me - but it won't work.  Josiah and Shelby have offered me lodging. Margie, a friend in San Angelo, has offered me the use of her van. I will fly out of Sacramento early tomorrow and arrive in TX late tomorrow night. 

Packing is not my thing. I loved Stacia's observation as she helped me pack tonight, "I'm not familiar with your style of packing."  

Arielle cooked dinner tonight. I'm lining her out with dinner ideas and lesson plans. Well.....o.k. this is what I lined her up with....I called things out to her and she made note of them on the board. 

Look what Michael made for me! He'll make two more to put on the wall in the middle.....this is in our butler pantry. It's shaping up. 

Which reminds me I should go pack some tea....To think Toaster Ovens were my big focus earlier today....so much to be thankful for.....flight connections, transportation and lodging, a doc who kept looking, being able to be with the boys on Friday, a home that feels like home (yes, it happened)....it's good, really good....and God will continue to watch over my Gherkins. I know He will. 

A dear friend has pointed out how God watched over them when I was stuck in Tokyo and they were experiencing a giant quake and such.....He's still watching over us. Yes, He is. 

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

Family Circle - Help Us Brainstorm

We've toyed with various methods of "family devotions" or family circle through the years. It's been hard to find something with depth which fits the age ranges of children we have.  It's also a passion we have to make sure our children know how to study the Bible, to find and verify truth. We've overwhelmed our kids; we've underwhelmed our kids. We've not been impressed with many of the sugar coated devotionals written for the young, proof texting gives Michael and me hives, and many of the resources currently available for Bible study don't  teach a person to dig out truth for themselves (adult Bible studies included). Many of the more inductive studies are too far above a young child's ability and/or will bore one to tears. Our lofty ideals have moved us to inaction more often than I'd care to publicly admit.

2008 - Westcliffe, CO - all 9 Gherkins

We LOVE to inductively work through a book of the Bible  in a small group. We've tried that with varying measures of success in family circle - the ultimate small group. We realized a chapter a night was too much for Stacia's attention span...and to study well. We slowed down - read, observe, interpret, apply....lots of discussing.  The pros of this is  it allows us to tailor our discussion to the ages in our family circle. Michael, our resident theologian, and myself (Precept trained Bible study leader for over 20 years) are fairly familiar with the Bible and have been able to lead without much hubbub.  It's been better than the prepared things we've tried. It's getting the kids into the Word for answers instead of studying what another tells them the Word says.  It was a bit haphazard and we wanted more structure. 

We started a study of the Parables of Jesus this year. We thought it would take about 9 weeks. Our original thought was to use this time to research to find something published which met our needs.  Um.....we added things in, spent a bit longer here and there and certainly didn't make it six nights a week. Have you noticed how you must CONTEND for evenings at home these days? There is nothing "magical" about evenings - other than its the time of day we're all semi-conscious and at home together (if we contend for the evenings). I feel it important to do this as a family, and not simply add it to school.

We used this chart. We began by discussing how to accurately interpret a parable. This was info Michael and I had at our fingertips from Bible school and Precept training...but it's readily available online. Simply put, we discussed how one can get "way off" if they try to apply each element of a parable, or come up with new doctrines based on each element of a parable. In each parable we looked for the main point Jesus was making.  We took a night to discuss WHY Jesus taught in parables.

Our format was simple: read a parable, discover the main truth being presented, discuss that truth and what the original audience may have thought Jesus  meant, determine what walking out that truth in OUR lives would look like.   A few notes about the chart: I haven't read the site - I was simply looking for an easy list as we began.  I have NO IDEA of their doctrinal bent. We didn't always think they'd started and ended the reading in logical spots (anyone who has been in Bible study with us will not be shocked at that). Context is king and we took time to develop the context of each parable....read before and after the text.

This worked. It wasn't too much for our younger ones and it was meaningful for young adults and adults. The end of the list of Jesus' parables drew near and we'd still not researched nor found the published format which would work for us.

1991 - Hardin, MT Bre, Krista, Cy, Jamin 

We've decided to continue our format. We are spending the next eight weeks (at least) looking at the "I Am" sayings of Jesus from the gospel of John.  I will flesh it out a bit more than we did with parables. Our goal is to spend a week on each saying. Michael will help me with background material and resources, but he's busy at work so much of the prep will fall to me. We will continue with our inductive reasoning of the passage, we'll discuss what it meant to the audience and what it means to us, I'll give the kids homework on some nights to bring back to the following family circle, we'll add in activities, video clips, games.... The older kids will be assigned parts of the study to facilitate - this teaches them how to dig in with the purpose to share. We're slowing the pace as we believe these sayings will introduce Jesus to our children in a meaningful way - and we don't want to rush that introduction. It's always exciting for mature believers to stop and take a fresh look at Jesus as well. Nothing beats multi-generational small groups for fresh discussions.

If you happen to have resources which you think would go along with our study, please share them! This won't be perfect, but it's the next step in our family circle.  Here's the working out line....I'm currently finishing week one and looking ahead to ideas for activities, videos etc for Week 2 and following weeks - and studying cross references etc. Again - I'd love your input.  I'm sure there are published studies out there that may do the same thing....but this is working well for us at this point. BTW I realized there are seven signs in John which point to the seven I am sayings.....we'll fill our time.

Week 1 - I Am - Main point - Jesus introduces God in the flesh to the crowds
  Purpose of Introductions
  Kids present list of I Am statements about themselves
  Look at the audience
  I AM in the Old Testament
  I AM in the New Testament
  * I would like to have the kids do a scavenger hunt (mainly for fun) with I AM statements which need a signature..... I AM a nurse; I AM a Mom; I AM a native Californian.....but we are wondering if this activity is safe in a civilian community in CA? I know we did it on base, in a small Texan town? Opinions?

Week 2 - I am the bread of life

Week 3 - I am the light of the world

Week 4 - I am the door/gate

Week 5 - I am the good shepherd

Week 6 - I am the resurrection and the life

Week 7 - I am the way the truth and the life

Week 8 - I am the true vine

We may throw in a couple of other sayings I am King (John 18); I am the Alpha and Omega (Rev 1)...

I'm thinking a unit on How to Study the Bible may follow this but we have eight to ten weeks to contemplate the next phase. 

Seriously, I need to go study I AM and not blog any more this a.m. 

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

Tremendous Tuesday

The day wasn't all about Jamin so let me begin by saying this:

We did a bit of school. I attended a staff lunch (Greek feast prepared by Mrs. S). I tried out an elliptical. I picked up meds. Michael worked. Kids received this week's produce. Jared took his hardest mid-term. Please continue to pray for his focus as he attempts tests in the midst of doctor call backs and medical tests. I threatened Jared to take one of his brothers to his next cardiologist appointment or I would call in either Deja or Roy to accompany him.   ::snort::

But today - Jamin RAN. We had hoped he'd break the university course record....and he ran well...but it was muddy.... he tripped right at the end so didn't take first - but DID come in second. He almost broke the course record......this is his senior year.  Jamin has a great attitude, "all things considered, I'm pretty happy with my race. Couldn't have asked God for much more than a competitive race against one of the best milers in the conference."

I always told him his tendency to OCD was a character strength God would use for His glory. It's paying off with  training.  He has now finished in the top 10 in every meet this season.

On to conference - 10 days! I think the experts are predicting the team to get 2nd or 3rd in conference.

Proud of his season - and he's running with a training injury - which will be taken care of after the season ends.

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

Marvelous Monday

Today is a Federal Holiday and Michael had the day off. We took advantage of it to meet Matt, Rachel and Kids at Bishop's Pumpkin Farm.   The morning was cool and we could  pretend it was a typical fall day...for a couple of hours. ::grin:: 

This was a day of firsts! For all four of these it was their first trip to a pumpkin patch or corn maze. It was Stacia's first trip to a petting zoo - well the first she remembers; we didn't make it to petting zoos in Japan. 

We started the day wandering through the petting zoo. 

This boar was fun. He was making alarming sounds, which I mimicked. He responded. 

I told everyone we'd reached an understanding...I promised not to eat him or his relatives and he promised not to eat us. 

Classic family shot....two looking normal, one picking her nose, one looking the other way and I have no clue why I'm laughing.

We even enjoyed the train. This little train takes you around the grounds - which was a fun way to see it all.

It's been 14 years since we've lived near a real pumpkin patch or corn maze. I told them I need photos of them in the Pumpkin Patch since we'd missed those infant shots. 

Stacia (8)

Nolan (14)

 

Ours with the S's boys - Joy had run off

Um....who needs spelling for leadership? 

Stacia (8)

Zander - 11

 Joy discovers hay is lots of fun

Arielle likes it too

The big kids tried jumping....

Then everyone did....Seth and Nathan sort of face planted in the hay

The apple cider is awesome....but these aren't ALL mine...mom's job is to hold the drinks 

Next up was the corn maze! I am SO glad we had Matt and Michael with us. I'm not sure Rachel and I would have found our way out. ::snort::  I was sorely tempted to pluck a few ears of corn. 

Nah, we would have found a group to follow...but it was very comforting to know  no matter which way we went the guys would be able to figure out what this map meant.  I wish there had been an observation tower so we could have seen the maze from above as we did the tanbo/rice art last year in Inakadate. 

Here's a shot I found online - but I don't think it's this year's. 

Moment when the men took over navigating from the kids

So fun to have little ones to carry

We see the exit! We made it! 

A hay ride was the perfect way to rest our weary feet. It also showed how expansive the farm really is. We let the kids each get a pumpkin to bring home in honor of the first trip to a real patch.

I want a truck like this

A funny thing happened in the corn maze, on the hay ride, in the pumpkin patch....it seems my phone was self-dialing and calling all sorts of people. Oops. I apologize if you are one of them.

It was a lovely day. Spending time with Matt and Rachel's family reminds me of what it was like when we had 8 kids at home....their kids stair step right below ours...giving our younger four the opportunity to be the older four. LOL

Back at home all but Zander tried and approved of Caramel apples. I discovered  we've not tried many pumpkin or caramel things - they aren't Michael's favorites....but maybe I will explore for the rest of us. LOL

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

Spectacular Sunday

Michael preached this a.m. from Mark 10:13-16. Good stuff. 

Our family tradition for eons has been to eat out on Sunday to give all of us a "day of rest."  I felt a relaxing family day at home was in order, so I suggested we pick up rotisserie chicken at the commissary and take it home. I had all the go withs ready. This was a great idea - except this commissary doesn't sell rotisserie chickens. ::snort:: We settled for a couple of boxes of Banquet chicken. We pulled up and our land lord and his friend were here. I'm glad we came home.  Michael mentioned the smoke alarm had gone off twice - they're all wired together - it's LOUD and bright as lights flash with them. We disconnected it until I could contact him.  He's a fireman and went right out and got another one.

Other lazy day activities....games....eating....planting mums Mum forgot she purchased....

Emptying and cleaning the hot tub for the first time....

The amazingly perfect (low 80's) days beg for one to sit outside...and knit?

Stacia has been asking endlessly for a Star Wars marathon. I've not watched Star Wars for years. I lost interest in Star Wars as I couldn't follow the plot line. We determined to watch from Episode 1 and see if that would help. We watched Episode 1 and took a popcorn break. I dreamed up a popcorn/chocolate/cashew mix during that episode and they enjoyed.

We watched Episode 2 and took a break for ice cream. I was figuring this out and excited to see how the storm troopers become the bad guys.... THEN I was told we don't HAVE Episode 3. Why? It's a dark movie...."everyone dies or turns bad." Um - THAT'S the episode I NEED to watch to understand this thing. Neither Netflix nor Amazon had it available for streaming.

We watched Episode 4 - but I'm not excited any longer as I realize I'll STILL not know what happened.....and they won't tell me as they don't want to ruin it. Um.

We checked facebook and found the status update we'd been expecting to see in the near future. Bre is "in a relationship." Yep, Izaak and Bre are officially dating. Here's a photo of Izaak and Bre.  God things (and good things) come to those who wait. We look forward to getting to know Izaak and Dakota (his son) more.  We already know Bre fairly well.

Why did we stay up till midnight watching Star Wars? Because tomorrow is a day off! Viva La Columbus!

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