Spanish

We are beginning Spanish next year (which is probably why I forgot it earlier on the schedule). We've done Latin the last two years; the first, Song School Latin, and this past year Latin for Children. We loved Song School Latin - pretty much all vocabulary based with simple lessons and happy songs. This past year doing Latin for Children was just too much, too fast. We were spending so much time on noun declensions and verb conjugations which are things that will never be used in real life since no one speaks Latin anymore. I am sad to loose Latin for all the vocabulary and English roots (which we really enjoyed)...but in the spirit of wise time usage, Spanish seemed like the best long-term investment. We have a substantial migrant population in Wenatchee so Spanish is something the kiddos could use in our own area in addition to any future mission trips.

The kiddos have had an entry level Spanish class at VAL this year so they have some level of familiarity, but aren't ready for anything crazy high level. After searching around a lot on the Internet, I decided to go with a program called Risas y Sonrisas. It has tons of extras like games and music as well as teaching sign language at the same time-interesting, huh? I don't know anything else about it and haven't heard of anyone who has used it so will give a review about it sometime next year. Hopefully it will be a good fit.

Here's the new schedule. I decided to stick Spanish in the afternoon since there really wasn't any room in the morning and it should be a fun subject.

Lake Time

Dave's parents own a cabin on Lake Chelan and are very generous in letting us come up whenever we'd like. So yesterday till today was our first time up this year. Dave's parents and his brother's family were all up so we had a full house and lots of fun. The kids played and ran and spied and cracked walnuts and paddled around hours on end. It was a great first trip up!

These pics are from previous years as I didn't bring my camera and there really wasn't enough beach left to have a campfire this year.

Trailblazer Books

This series highlights a Christian Missionary/Famous Person in each of their titles and tells the story from the point of view of a young boy or girl at that time. Generally the young boy/girl is fictitious, but many of the main characters or events are not. I really love the idea and the kiddos have enjoyed the probably dozen books we have read. My one drawback, though, is that often much of the story goes on without a lot of interaction with the main character. I would still say the books are worth reading and a decent introduction to the characters, but not really a biography of the person's life (although it does have a synopsis at the end). I have most of the series, so if you see one you'd like to read, let me know and if we have it, I'll loan it to you. One of our favorites most recently was Drawn by a China Moon.


Totally separate side note - I realized in bed last night, I totally forgot about Spanish for next year's school schedule, so I'll post on that sometime later. :)

2010/2011 School Schedule

We chose our classes at VAL this past week and I was able to enroll both kiddos in all the ones I had noted in an earlier post. So, Tuesday is our day. I am really looking forward to just going to VAL one day a week rather than two. Less commitments make me happy. :) Since that's been completed, I decided to work on our weekly schedule for next year. I've liked the schedule we've had in place the last couple of months the best so have basically kept it for next year. Here it is. It does look full at the moment, and it is, but we so often take a day off to ski or do something with Dave or whatever, so getting a lot done on our "regular" weeks really helps in our more scattered weeks.

I've also pretty much kept the same curriculum for next year:

Math - Abeka 4 - I still don't particularly love this program, but it's the best overall for us that I've seen
Reading - Rod & Staff 4
English (means grammar) - Rod & Staff 4
Spelling - I'll probably continue with Spelling Workout by Modern Curriculum Press, but may perhaps go to Level E which is 5th grade - the kiddos just already knew most of the words this last year
Handwriting - A Reason for Handwriting - Transition for Josh and Level D for Hannah
Writing - Writing with Ease - Level 2, maybe 3 (I know this is below grade level, but we just started it end of April this year)
History - Story of the World - Year 4, last of the series
Science - Apologia - Swimming Creatures

For any of you who don't know Josh and are confused because I never seem to put down his level work, it's just because he works at Hannah's level in all subjects, save handwriting. Little boys and fine motor skills don't mix.

Also, just as a side note, I purchase most of my books through Amazon Used or Ebay (although rarely workbooks). VAL does pay for any non-Christian materials I use, but most of mine fall under the religious title. I do chose ones that are in good condition and have been very pleased so far with what I've bought.

Patience

If I could just conquer that one little word, life would be so much better. Many years ago, before I had kids, I used to believe I was patient. The interesting thing is, adults don't require as much patience as young kiddos constantly do (at least most of the adults in my life :)). I know one of the reasons God gave me children was to have me learn more about patience. It is always a sobering reminder to me that the first attribute of love is patience in 1 Cor 13. I would easily say I more than love my kids, but my so frequent lack of patience shows I am more about loving myself than them. One of the biggest helps to me in this, that I sadly don't often remember at the needed moment, is God's infinite patience to me. Every day I sin and stumble along, but He is always patient and faithful, convicting me in His love, desiring me to grow more like Him. That is what I need to be doing more with my children.

Here is a helpful quote by JR Miller:

Life is too short to spend even one day of it in bickering and strife. Love is too sacred to be forever lacerated and torn by the ugly briers of sharp temper. Surely we ought to learn to be patient with others, since God has to show every day such infinite patience toward us. Is not the very essence of true love the spirit that is not easily provoked, that bears all things? Can we not, then, train our life to sweeter gentleness? Can we not learn to be touched even a little roughly without resenting it? Can we not bear little injuries and apparent injustices without flying into an unseemly rage? Can we not have in us something of the mind of Christ which will enable us, like him, to endure all wrong and injury and give back no word or look of bitterness? The way over which we and our friend walk together—is too short to be spent in wrangling.

The entirety of the quote is here if you'd like to read it. FYI - I pulled it from my dad's website www.gracegems.org which has many excellent quotes on pretty much every subject. He also sends out a daily quote via email for any who are interested.

Robinson Crusoe

We just finished a very quick read-a-loud which the kids could have easily read on their own called Robinson Crusoe. I knew that it was kind of a classic, but had never read the story for myself. I would say it was alright. There was quite a lot of killing and cannibalism which I'm sure has some level of accuracy for exotic islands, but still a bit more than we are used to. We finished up Swiss Family Robinson (this isn't the exact one, but similiar, I think) a couple months ago which I would recommend much higher-although also a more difficult reading level. Great stories about how the family survived on an uninhabited island and their ingenuity in adapting. In the version we read, there were many words I didn't know so we also added to our vocabulary.

I buy lots of books over the course of a year and most of them I purchase either at yard sales or Goodwill/Salvation Army. It's great to feel free to buy whatever books you want for a quarter rather than multiple dollars for new.

14 Years

Well, 14 years ago today, Dave and I said our wedding vows in front of about 50 people in Northridge, CA. We wrote our own vows and had a simple wedding. I was 19 and Dave was beginning med school in a couple months. Statistically, our marriage should not be as strong and wonderful as it has been. So, today I was thinking about how we've enjoyed 14 overall delightful years of marriage. Here's what I came up with:

1. Same foundation - we are both believers in Jesus Christ and look to scripture as the answer to any issues that arise.

2. Acceptance of Roles - I know this is so politically incorrect, but we both accept our unique places in our marriage - Dave as provider and me as household manager (pretty fancy sounding, huh? :)). He is the leader, I am the help meet. I don't generally try to control and Dave tries to keep my best interest in mind.

3. Not holding grudges - we don't let grievances build up for any length of time - we are very open in our communication about what we like and don't like.

4. Being easy going - there are very few things in life worth getting worked up about and causing a rift in our marriage. We're both pretty reasonable about our expectations for each other.

5. Knowing what is important to the other - Dave appreciates the house generally tidy, clean clothes, and a decent meal. Since I know that, I try to fulfill that for him. For me, appreciation is such a huge affirmation to me and Dave is great about that.

I guess that's all I've come up with for now, although I'm sure there are many more. I'm so thankful I can say that I've married my best friend and am looking forward to many more years together.

Here's some pictures of the pictures from that day. Bear with my poor photo abilities, but I didn't know how to not get the flash in the middle. :)

Wacky Cake

Here's our staple birthday cake recipe at the Webers. It is rich chocolate cake that everyone enjoys. Interestingly enough, I originally received this recipe from my grandmother at my wedding, but the Webers have also been using it for their birthday cake of choice for many years.

Wacky Cake

1 ½ c flour
1 c sugar
3 Tbl cocoa
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all those ingredients together. Then add:

1 Tbl vinegar
6 Tbl melted butter (not too hot)
1 c cold water

Mix well. Pour into ungreased 8 or 9 inch square pan. Bake at 350 for 40 min. Double recipe for 9x13 pan.

Seven, Part 2

Here is a gift that Josh received from Uncle Jeff and family. It's pretty crazy and fun. The kids loved it; Dave and I are just concerned about them going over the hill. :)

Seven

Josh turned 7 today! He had a great day starting off with Lego fun from Auntie Becky in CA. He then had bacon and Pop-tarts for breakfast. (very healthy)

After church and a lunch of tuna fish and a smoothie, Dave put together a treasure hunt for him. Here's one of his clues:

It ended up with a new bike. Josh is a great rider and had outgrown his other bike.

For dinner, he requested tacos, and we enjoyed them with Dave's family. Here's his frog cake:

Streamer Mania

Do you ever wonder what the Webers do on a quiet Saturday afternoon?!?!? Well, here's your answer...Streamer Mania! The kids decided to decorate their rooms with streamers, lots and lots of streamers. It is quite festive and happy.

Hannah has been taking a sewing class at VAL and here is her latest creation...a horse valance. She loves anything horse and she's been looking for window decorations unsuccessfully. So, she made some.

The Emergent Church

The Emergent Church (Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, Rob Bell, Tony Jones to name a few key names) has popped up in Dave and my conversations with people a number of various times in the last couple years in a surprising variety of places. It has frequently come up in regards to people I wouldn't expect and with people who I generally think have a solid, biblical foundation. It is basically a post-modern approach to Christianity that doesn't like being dogmatic about doctrine and is more concerned about having a conversation and living like Jesus lived than addressing the Christian life the way the bible lays out. Anyways, I just finished reading the book Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be). It was very enlightening and in many ways concerning to read. Although on the surface the Emergent Church sounds great - break away from boring, traditional, critical church to a people-embracing, life-enhancing, society-helping church. But, sadly, when you step away from the so very important and required truths of scripture, you lose the gospel message and just become a religion of morality. So, if you want to find out more about this new and growing movement, I'd highly recommend this book.

VAL 2011 Schedule

Well, VAL came out with their schedule for next year yesterday. So much of today I've been aligning, crossing out, figuring, and switching around to get a section of classes that work for both my kiddos. I don't believe in going into town for short periods multiple days as I find when my day gets broken up at home, it's hard to get it back together. Just committing one day works best and it seems like for next year, it'll be Tuesday. So, here's the plan, at this point:

Hannah - 4th Grade
Sewing - she's done this class this past year and really likes it
Piano - also a new class for us this past year, she has a love/hate relationship with it
Artz Experience - a multi-faceted, different mediums art class
American Girl History - I'm not a real lover of American Girl, but think it will be a pleasant way to do history and other related projects
Math Fun & Games - you can always use better math skills
PE - this class was one Hannah really wanted to do as Josh has liked it this past year

Joshua - 2nd Grade

Kids in the Kitchen - Josh likes snacks

Math Manipulatives - he wanted this rather than an art class which surprised me, but math skills are helpful

Karate - he has friends in this and thinks he'll like it

Science - good, solid class
PE - he loves running and activity
Across America - kind of a learn about the various States class

Here are some pics from the end of last school year of what the kids did in their Artz Experience class (maybe a couple from another class). We always take a pic and then only keep the things they particularly like. (I'm not a keeper)

Influence

Hannah is much more likely to be influenced by others, it seems, than Josh. I was reminded of that last night watching her at the dinner table eating pancakes. It was my mom's last night here and she likes to separate her pancakes out across the plate rather than in a stack. So, there goes Hannah laying her pancakes out the same way rather than in the stack she had been served. Although that is a pretty meaningless example of being influenced, it made me think about how I am looking forward to my parent's influencing my children in much more valuable ways. They both greatly love the Lord and desire, like Dave and I, to have Hannah and Josh know more of Him. I know they will support our efforts to train our kiddos in things that are oftentimes contrary to what the world thinks are important. And, I know they will spend time doing things with them so the relationship will be there when questions come up that maybe they don't feel comfortable talking to Dave and I about. Influence can definitely cut both ways and I'm thankful my folks are moving out this way to be part of their lives.

This picture was taken a number of years ago...

Moving plans

My parents are moving to WA! Maybe that's a bit premature to say for sure, but at least that's the plan. My mom has been visiting with us this past week with the intent to find a house or property to purchase. And, today, their offer was accepted on a beautiful piece of land less than 10 minutes from us. There are still all the usual tests and such before purchase, but the hope is that all will go well. Here's a picture of part of their lovely view:

Parenting is hard...

and often discouraging...I don't think of myself as someone who is frequently "down in the dumps" or perpetually negative, but of all things, parenting is what gets me there the most. When I really stop and think about it, it is most often because my kiddos are not doing/being what I want and just acting as you would expect a sinful human to be acting. Instead of being surprised at disobedience and kiddos putting themselves first, I should rather be surprised with kind, compassionate, other-centered actions because that goes against our sin nature. 

One of the most helpful books for me on parenting is Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit. I know it says homeschooling in the title, but it is helpful for any parent. Here is a pieced together excerpt from her chapter on anger that was so very perspective altering to me:

I can almost be assured that if I become angry with a child, it is because my expectations match my goals for him. It is essential that we have high, godly goals for our children...However, in this process of moving toward the goals, we must keep our expectations lower than those goals. When I expect my child to have reached a high goal, then I am likely to become angry with him if he hasn't. On the other hand, if I expect my child to have not yet reached the goal, then my spirit is at peace with the training and teaching process as we strive to reach those goals...Another area of anger that needs to be dealt with is our whole mindset toward issues with our children that require training and discipline. Anger creeps into these situations when I am more concerned about my inconveniences and difficulties than I am about my child's long-term character growth. Otherwise, each time there was a problem, I would be happy for the opportunity to work on the character issues that the Lord is bringing out in this child.

I would encourage you to check out their website if you are looking for any materials on homeschooling, parenting, chores, scheduling, etc. They are very conservative, more so than I would agree with, but they also have many very helpful resources.

Monkey Bread

I made this recipe yesterday morning. It's something from my childhood and since my mom was visiting, we decided to make some to enjoy.

Monkey Bread

2 loaves frozen bread dough
1/2 c butter melted, but not hot
1 c brown sugar
1 large package Vanilla Cook and Serve Pudding (not instant)
2 Tbl milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c chopped walnuts, optional

Thaw the bread dough, but don't let it rise yet. Grease/spray bundt pan or 9x13 pan. Tear pieces of dough into small chunks and roll into balls, drop into pan. Add all other ingredients into bowl (not second loaf) and mix well. Pour sauce over first loaf of bread-this makes your caramel. Now, tear up second loaf of bread dough, rolling into balls and placing over sauce. Let rise 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I let mine rise overnight in the fridge and then sit out for a half hour or so in the morning. Place in 375 degree oven for 30 min. Let cool for 15 minutes then turn onto a plate or something that will catch all the caramel.

Super, super yummy!

Robin Hood

We finished a read aloud today called Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest. It was a fun and pleasurable read. Lots of Robin Hood's antics and, in the end, how he was pardoned by King Richard. It had more aspects of Robin Hood's life than the Disney movie portrays. 

There is still, of course, the subtle approval of stealing because it is for a good cause. I don't particularly like that aspect, but he is definitely shown as someone who is upright and honorable in all other areas. 

If you live near me and would like to borrow any of these books I mention, just let me know. :)

And, since there haven't been too many pictures lately, here are a couple I like just for fun.

We love the smell of plumeria

Love to God

I was just working on my Fundamentals of the Faith questions for this Sunday and came across this verse:

Heb 6:10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

It always amazes me to think that things I do for God's people are a blessing to God Himself. How wonderful that the God who enables us to do good works also remembers what we do for Him. May we be spurred on more and more to seek opportunities to help others and, in that way, show love to God.

Eternal Life

I actually got up early this morning and took a lovely walk around my neighborhood. For those of you who know where I live, that isn't for the faint of heart. :) One of these days, I'll have to take some pictures to show how absolutely gorgeous it is up where I walk. If you don't already know this, the picture at the top of the blog is taken from our deck.

Anyways, I like to listen to sermons as I walk to make the time more productive, and today I listened to a sermon by MacArthur on Eternal Life from Matthew. He points out how Christ evangelized so completely different from how we do today. That our greatest focus is typically getting the verbal commitment from a person whereas Christ completely focused on the real issues of heart. Here's a portion of the sermon I really appreciated and something I hadn't specifically thought through:

You see, people, you cannot bring people to Jesus Christ simply and only on the basis of psychological needs or anxieties or lack of peace, or lack of hope, or lack of joy, or lack of happiness. They must understand that salvation is for people who want to turn away from the things of this life and turn to God, who see that they have lived in violation and rebellion against holy God. And they want to turn around, confess that and affirm their commitment to live for His glory. You see, God has to be involved. Salvation is not a psychological thing. God has to be involved. A man must know that unless he is willing to forsake all of the things in this life and come to God, he can't be His disciple. All he (Rich Young Ruler) felt was a personal need. All he felt was personal anxiety. All he felt was the lack of stuff in his life. And that is not substantial enough.

Science

Well, science is our second completed subject for the year. We finished it on Tuesday and will end up the year doing miscellaneous experiments and such. We use Apologia which I just love. This is our 3rd year and we are in Flying Creatures. It is a Christian based curriculum that believes much more in the inch wide, mile deep philosophy rather than the mile wide and an inch deep. Lots of other curriculum out there covers such a huge range of topics that the kiddos think they know everything about say, the universe, even though they've only completed a chapter. It is definitely high level and, like history, I don't get bogged down in having my kids know everything it covers. It is Charlotte Mason in approach with the notebooking and narration type questions. One of the things I am particularly excited about is that they just added a book on the Human Body. Here is a page from each of the kid's notebooks:

Dragonfly - insect attributes

Types of nests

 

By the way, the face paint is because they were playing Indians with some bows and arrows Gramma gave to them. :)

VAL Monthly Progress Reports

Another requirement for participating in VAL is that we submit monthly progress reports showing what we have accomplished (or not accomplished as it feels some months!) over the past month. They are subject specific and are meant to document for the state that we are moving along in our learning plan. Here they are for the last four years:

3rd Grade
2nd Grade
1st Grade
Kindergarten

Just a note...to me, when I read back through those reports it sounds like we did amazing things and my kids must know so much...but please realize that although we did indeed read about/do whatever I wrote down, that doesn't mean that the kiddos have complete recollection of all of it. I don't even have recollection of all of it! :) Most of it has already gone by the wayside, but my hope is that next time around, the subjects they have covered with be a bit more familiar when we see them again.

San Juan Islands

Here are some pics from a wonderful and unique trip we took back in early March. Dave's good friend from high school was surprised by his wife for a 40th birthday trip on a Catamaran. She graciously invited us to come along. What fun! We spent two nights on board and cruised around the San Juan Islands stopping to check out some different areas. 

Hannah coming up through one of the hatches

Can you believe the size and color of these starfish!?!?!?

And there were also cute, little crabs.

Francis Chan

As I was writing that last post, I'm hearing Francis Chan in the background as Dave is listening to a sermon by him. For any of you that haven't heard about him and like to listen to challenging messages, you should check him out. One of the main focuses of his ministry is to call us as Christians, especially American Christians, to actually live the life that is spoken of in scripture. He is very engaging, very personable, and very convicting.

VAL Learning Plans

For all my VAL friends, or anyone who is interested in seeing our goals for each year, here they are for the last four years. At VAL we are required to put together goals that show the kiddos are progressing at an appropriate level. Then two times per year we meet with our assigned counselor and talk about how we are doing. I basically just pull out my stack of curriculum and go through the table of contents to show what we cover. Another thing to mention is that I typically do the minimum to satisfy the requirements, and then just cover whatever we want above and beyond that. The first year I charted for way too much and then was responsible for it.

3rd Grade
2nd Grade
1st Grade
Kindergarten

CA Visit

I think blogs should have lots of pics, so here are some from our somewhat recent trip to see my sister's family in So. Cal around Easter. We had a fun time at the science center.

Homeschool Schedules

One of the things I wanted to do with my blog was to make my homeschool info accessible to anyone who is interested. So, in light of that, here are the schedules I have created over the years.

This first one was just put into place a couple of weeks ago. I decided to group my academics more completely in the morning and do more chores, computer, activities, etc. in the afternoon. I also did it so that each Sunday I update it to reflect the current week. It helps me stay on complete track and the kids look forward to the activities that are on it. It's also been good for me to go into the week knowing which days we will be completely home and which will just have short school days.

Weekly Schedule

These other ones are from years past. You can see the different year choices on the tabs at the bottom. I had color-coded them by subject type to help me quick reference. There is also a blank one there if desired.

Daily Schedule

Entitlement

I sure love these kids...

One of the things I struggle with is the feeling of entitlement. Especially on these kind of holidays where I feel like I "deserve" to have all the wonderful things I envision done for me by my family. We, as Americans, are bombarded with messages that it is all about us and we deserve everything we want. That is so contrary to the way we should think as Christians. God has been working on me over the years so I that I am more willing to serve than to be served; that I am more willing to give, than be given to. I find that when I embrace my calling as a wife, mother, helper, organizer, etc. I am so much more happy because my focus is where is should be rather than on myself. I still have a long way to go, but I'm thankful that God is slowly changing me to be more like Him. Here's a great quote I came across a while ago that I hope encourages you to persevere as well:

Nancy Wilson once explained wisely that there is something wrong with a wife and mother who thinks there is something wrong when she falls into bed exhausted after a hard day's work. She encouraged those who so think to understand that such is a good thing, a sign of diligence and hard work... What do we need? To stop worrying about what we need, to pick up our cross, and follow Him. What we need is to lose our lives. And then, and only then, will we find them. Only if we seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, will all these things be added to us. Then we will finally escape the vanity, for it will be the Lord who builds our houses.
R.C. Sproul, Jr.

My favorite blog

I wanted to share this blog with any of you who don't already read it...it has been a continual blessing to me and almost like a daily devotional. Ann writes so beautifully and constantly lifts your eyes to God. She writes how I believe Christ taught...taking the everyday things and turning them into spiritual lessons. Her post today challenges us as moms to make our kids a higher priority than all the other secondary things that pull at us.

Rosemary Bread

We had some friends over for dinner this evening and I made one of my favorite breads and wanted to share the recipe. It is a Rosemary Bread that is made in your bread machine so that makes it quite easy and quick. It takes about 2.5 hours total time. I cut down the salt a bit and do a double batch so I get two loaves at one time. Happy Baking!

What do I want for Mother's Day?

Dave asked me this question this morning. I kind of shrugged and mumbled something not very specific. I'm never good at thinking of gifts for myself. Well, a little later on in the day after I had gotten frustrated with the kids and they were outside playing on the trampoline I saw a gift bag they had made at VAL yesterday for Mother's Day. It made me think of how much they love me even though I am so undeserving...it then also made me think of what I really wanted for Mother's Day. I really just want one day where:

I respond in patience after repeated disobedience

I respond in love to an unkind word or attitude

I respond with grace regardless of the choices made

I respond with kindness even though undeserved

I respond with self-control to whining and complaining

I respond with joy even after the fifth or tenth reminder to be diligent

I respond with peace to yet another mishap

Do you think they sell that package at Target?

Thankfully, I know I can become that way as I look to Christ...2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

History

We finished our official history program today. Hooray, hooray - first subject complete for the year. We'll still do some book readings over the next month or so, but the text is complete. We use Bauer's Story of the World. Although it is not a Christian text, we have enjoyed it and feel that it is a fair account of history. Many people wonder why I don't use a Christian text for this subject and that is basically because I have not found a decent text that doesn't just cover extremely basic information or is not teacher intensive.

The kids love the activities and coloring the pictures while I read. We try to do at least one of the activities each chapter. I must say that I do not put a lot of effort into making sure the kids completely know the material we have covered. Since we are doing a somewhat classical approach, I figure we will go over these lessons again in a few years. This year we completed Early Modern Times. Next time around I am looking forward to using Mystery of History which is a Christian based curriculum.

Here is a smattering of the projects we've done over the year:

Productivity

Last night we were invited over to a couple's house from our church. After a pleasant dinner, the wife and I spent some time in the kitchen handwashing the dishes. I have not done that for a long time...but what it made me realize was how much I enjoy being productive while I am spending time with someone. I'm not trying to say that I don't enjoy the occasional coffee or lunch with a friend, but I so much more enjoy accomplishing something as well. There have been times where I have pulled weeds, folded clothes, chopped veggies, trimmed roses, or gone for a walk with a buddy, and to me, it makes the time doubly enjoyable. I don't believe work is a four letter word and we need to do all we can to avoid it, but rather that we should enjoy the opportunity to create order and redeem the time. One thing that was interesting for me to realize was that work was instituted before the Fall (although without the same level of strife). That obviously means that it is not the product of sin and that it has value.

Proverbs 14:23 23 In all labor there is profit...

What we should really be doing

I was reading in my One Year Bible last night and came across John 4:34 which reminded me of this great excerpt from Nancy Leigh DeMoss, in Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free.

Here is the secret Jesus showed us, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” Jesus didn’t finish everything the disciples wanted Him to do, the multitudes wanted Him to do, but He did finish the work God gave Him to do. There is virtually never time in a twenty-four-hour day for me to do everything that is on everyone else’s “to do” list for me. There is seldom time to do everything that is on my own “to do” list. The truth is that all I have to do is the work God assigns to me. What a freedom it has been for me to accept that there is time for me to do everything that is on God’s “to do” list for my day, for my week, and for my life. The frustration comes when I attempt to take responsibilities that are not on His agenda for me. When I establish my own agenda or let others determine the priorities for my life, rather than taking time to discern what it is that God wants me to do, I end up buried under piles of half-finished, poorly done, or never-attempted projects and tasks. I live with guilt, frustration, and haste, rather than enjoying the peaceful, well-ordered life that He intends. Frustration is the by-product of attempting to fulfill responsibilities God does not intend for us to carry. Freedom, joy, and fruitfulness come from seeking to determine God’s priorities for each season of life, and then setting out to fulfill those priorities, in the power of His Spirit, realizing that He has provided the necessary time and abilities to do everything that He has called us to do.

Creative Kids Part 2

Here are a couple other projects the kids have been working on. The top two were little critters that you pull on a string and they roll. The bottom two are push pin boards for people to leave notes to the kids. Dave was talking a couple of weeks ago in Sunday School how creativity is one of the ways we are set apart from the other creatures God made.