Somewhat to my surprise, I awoke feeling better today. I woke with thoughts of "This is a new day. Something FANTASTIC could happen today!"
I don't KNOW of anything fantastic that's on it's way, but it's nice to believe that it COULD happen. Any number of good things could happen today!
I know without a doubt that these thoughts that are with me this morning are a gift from God~one that I don't deserve, by the way.
I've done quite a bit of whining to God lately, and I confess that there are still some "What is going on with this situation, Lord?" kinds of questions floating around in my brain; but, He is a good, and loving , and merciful God, and He has given me assurance that things won't always be this way, and that there are good things on the way.
Nothing spectacular has happened to improve my frame of mind. God's just good, that's all.
Have a great day!
Vicki
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
I know God is merciful because......
Well, there are COUNTLESS things in my life that make me KNOW what a merciful God I serve, but these are things that He brought into my life TODAY.
I know God is merciful because.....
My little girl REALLY wanted to have her cousin with her today when we went bowling with our homeschool group. We thought they weren't going to be here in time to go, but they got here a whole day early!!!
We only paid for 2 games, which turned out to be just enough for our munchkins.
I had one errand that I needed to do today, but was dreading. Just in time, I got a phone call telling me that the errand would not be necessary.
We had a "small" need today that needed to be met, but was going to put us in just a bit of a financial bind. The Lord worked it out so that the need was met without costing us a cent.
My friend's little girl had outpatient surgery today. I KNOW how scary it is to have one of your little ones in surgery, no matter how many times they tell you it's "minor" or "routine". The procedure went well, and my friends sweet little girl seems to be recovering well.
Today was "Poppy Day at Lake Winnie" for my kids. "Lake Winnie" is a local amusement park. It's big enough to have cool rides that everyone likes, but it's small enough that you can do it all in a few hours. "Poppy" (my Dad) takes all 6 of his grandchildren there once a year, pays for everything, including game playing, and lets them eat all sorts of junk food. He makes me, my dh, and my sister come along to help "corral" the kids. God showed His mercy there today by letting it rain on us enough to cool us off, but not enough to spoil anyone's fun. He showed His mercy to the adults by letting us find out after we got there that the park would be closing at 8pm (much earlier than we thougt) LOL! And, He was merciful to the kids in allowing us to get in all their favorite rides before the park closed. :)
So, the kids got to ride everything they wanted to ride, and us "old fuddy-duddy" adults didn't have to stay at the park until 10pm like we thought!!! See, I told you He was a merciful God!!! :)
Seriously, we had a good time, and I am so thankful to have a family that is so close that we can do things like this and love it. God is indeed good.
Goodnight, all!!
Vicki
I know God is merciful because.....
My little girl REALLY wanted to have her cousin with her today when we went bowling with our homeschool group. We thought they weren't going to be here in time to go, but they got here a whole day early!!!
We only paid for 2 games, which turned out to be just enough for our munchkins.
I had one errand that I needed to do today, but was dreading. Just in time, I got a phone call telling me that the errand would not be necessary.
We had a "small" need today that needed to be met, but was going to put us in just a bit of a financial bind. The Lord worked it out so that the need was met without costing us a cent.
My friend's little girl had outpatient surgery today. I KNOW how scary it is to have one of your little ones in surgery, no matter how many times they tell you it's "minor" or "routine". The procedure went well, and my friends sweet little girl seems to be recovering well.
Today was "Poppy Day at Lake Winnie" for my kids. "Lake Winnie" is a local amusement park. It's big enough to have cool rides that everyone likes, but it's small enough that you can do it all in a few hours. "Poppy" (my Dad) takes all 6 of his grandchildren there once a year, pays for everything, including game playing, and lets them eat all sorts of junk food. He makes me, my dh, and my sister come along to help "corral" the kids. God showed His mercy there today by letting it rain on us enough to cool us off, but not enough to spoil anyone's fun. He showed His mercy to the adults by letting us find out after we got there that the park would be closing at 8pm (much earlier than we thougt) LOL! And, He was merciful to the kids in allowing us to get in all their favorite rides before the park closed. :)
So, the kids got to ride everything they wanted to ride, and us "old fuddy-duddy" adults didn't have to stay at the park until 10pm like we thought!!! See, I told you He was a merciful God!!! :)
Seriously, we had a good time, and I am so thankful to have a family that is so close that we can do things like this and love it. God is indeed good.
Goodnight, all!!
Vicki
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
New School Year
This school year certainly won't be dull at our house!
This year, for the first time, all 3 children will be "official" students. Noah will start Kindergarten this year. What that means for him is that in addition to "sitting in" on his sisters lessons when he chooses too, he will have around 30 minutes each day of his own lessons.
Noah's lessons will consist of games played on his JumpStart Kindergarten cdrom, 1 lesson a day from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and one page a day from a BIG colorful workbook that I bought at Wal-Mart. It covers just about everything that needs covering in Kindergarten.
All 3 children will study science and history/geography through unit studies. On my last trip to our local used book store, I found copies of Abeka's 1st and 3rd grade history textbooks~the smae books I used in 1st and 3rd grades.
We won't be using these textbooks as such. I studied the chapter titles in each of these books, then shopped for "real" books to build unit studies about those topics.
I"ve done the same thing with science. I found a VERY inexpensive copy of Abeka's 4th grade science book at a used book sale~again, the same text book I used in the 4th grade. Then, I bought "real" books and other materials to build unit studies around the chapter topics.
The text books are for ME, not for the kids. They are my guide for building this year's units. I will probably only show the textbooks to the kids so they can see the pictures in them.
Both girls will practice reading aloud daily, and Noah will have his reading lessons as I mentioned above. Outside of that, I wasn't sure what to do about Language Arts for this year. I've always leaned toward a Charlotte Mason type of philosophy as far as the use of text books, length of lessons, etc. Charlotte Mason doesn't teach grammar as a subject unto itself until around 8th grade or so. Up to that point, children just "absorb" grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc, through copywork. I have no problem with that, but now Rachel, who is 9 and entering 4th grade, wants to do some writing on her own. To be able to do that well, she needs at least the basics of sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, etc.
So, at the recent curriculum fair, I wasn't sure what to look for. I looked at several grammar curriculums, but to me, they ALL looked dull, boring, and expensive! Then, I had the opportunity to talk to a Mom of 12 who has been homschooling for more than 20 years. She suggested I get my daughter some Mad Libs Junior books, and then some Mad Libs.
Do you remember Mad Libs from childhood? I do, and I loved them! These are silly stories with lots of blanks left in them. The child is instructed to insert a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc into each blank, then read the story. The difference with Mad Libs Junior is that instead of having to come up with a word on their own, the child is given a list of nouns, adverbs, etc from wich to choose. Each one is labeled as the part of speech that it is, so it's a great learning tool.
The Mom I talked too suggested starting out with these, then moving into the regular Mad Libs, and perhaps looking into a grammar curriculum for next year. She has successfully homeschooled 12 children, so my guess is that she knows what she's talking about! :)
We won't use a Bible "curriculum" but will use Day By Day Devotions by Karyn Henly, along with our Bibles, for our family devotions each evening. This won't be so much a part of our "school day" though. It will be something we do in the evenings when Roger is home. We will, of courseregularly attend Sunday School and church, and the children will most likely be involved in AWANA or some similar program.
So, that's the plan for this year. It will, of course, evolve and change as the year goes on. But at least for now, I think we've got a good starting point.
Blessings,
Vicki
This year, for the first time, all 3 children will be "official" students. Noah will start Kindergarten this year. What that means for him is that in addition to "sitting in" on his sisters lessons when he chooses too, he will have around 30 minutes each day of his own lessons.
Noah's lessons will consist of games played on his JumpStart Kindergarten cdrom, 1 lesson a day from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and one page a day from a BIG colorful workbook that I bought at Wal-Mart. It covers just about everything that needs covering in Kindergarten.
All 3 children will study science and history/geography through unit studies. On my last trip to our local used book store, I found copies of Abeka's 1st and 3rd grade history textbooks~the smae books I used in 1st and 3rd grades.
We won't be using these textbooks as such. I studied the chapter titles in each of these books, then shopped for "real" books to build unit studies about those topics.
I"ve done the same thing with science. I found a VERY inexpensive copy of Abeka's 4th grade science book at a used book sale~again, the same text book I used in the 4th grade. Then, I bought "real" books and other materials to build unit studies around the chapter topics.
The text books are for ME, not for the kids. They are my guide for building this year's units. I will probably only show the textbooks to the kids so they can see the pictures in them.
Both girls will practice reading aloud daily, and Noah will have his reading lessons as I mentioned above. Outside of that, I wasn't sure what to do about Language Arts for this year. I've always leaned toward a Charlotte Mason type of philosophy as far as the use of text books, length of lessons, etc. Charlotte Mason doesn't teach grammar as a subject unto itself until around 8th grade or so. Up to that point, children just "absorb" grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc, through copywork. I have no problem with that, but now Rachel, who is 9 and entering 4th grade, wants to do some writing on her own. To be able to do that well, she needs at least the basics of sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, etc.
So, at the recent curriculum fair, I wasn't sure what to look for. I looked at several grammar curriculums, but to me, they ALL looked dull, boring, and expensive! Then, I had the opportunity to talk to a Mom of 12 who has been homschooling for more than 20 years. She suggested I get my daughter some Mad Libs Junior books, and then some Mad Libs.
Do you remember Mad Libs from childhood? I do, and I loved them! These are silly stories with lots of blanks left in them. The child is instructed to insert a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc into each blank, then read the story. The difference with Mad Libs Junior is that instead of having to come up with a word on their own, the child is given a list of nouns, adverbs, etc from wich to choose. Each one is labeled as the part of speech that it is, so it's a great learning tool.
The Mom I talked too suggested starting out with these, then moving into the regular Mad Libs, and perhaps looking into a grammar curriculum for next year. She has successfully homeschooled 12 children, so my guess is that she knows what she's talking about! :)
We won't use a Bible "curriculum" but will use Day By Day Devotions by Karyn Henly, along with our Bibles, for our family devotions each evening. This won't be so much a part of our "school day" though. It will be something we do in the evenings when Roger is home. We will, of courseregularly attend Sunday School and church, and the children will most likely be involved in AWANA or some similar program.
So, that's the plan for this year. It will, of course, evolve and change as the year goes on. But at least for now, I think we've got a good starting point.
Blessings,
Vicki
Thoughts That Are Keeping Me Awake Tonight
Here we go again. I SO didn't want to have to do this, and we hoped and PRAYED that we wouldn't have to do this, but we are, once again, like the children of Israel, wandering in the wilderness without a church to call "home".
This is SO weird for us!! We are NOT "church hoppers". My family has faithfully attended church since before I was born, and there has been only 1 time, when I was about 8 years old, that we left a church because of a "falling out" with someone. The other times we have changed churches have been due to a move or something of that nature. My children knew only one church their entire lives until my father retired from pastoring and that church closed its doors.
As you know if you read my blog, we searched long and hard for a "home church" after that. We thougtht we'd found one. Then, we thought perhaps the Lord was leading us elsewhere, but at the last minute, the Lord made it clear to us that His will was for us to stay where we were. Now, He has made it just as clear that it's time to go.
I won't go into all the details as to why we've left our church. You can read a bit more about the reasons in my post titled "It's Been A While".
So, here we are, searching again, and if I may be blunt, I hate it.
My earliest memories of church are of a VERY large, VERY legalistic church. This church believed and taught that ANY woman who wore pants ANYWHERE, let alone IN CHURCH, could not possibly be saved. They also taught that going to movies, going to any restaraunt that served alcohol, or shopping at any store that sold alcohol was a hideous sin.
These folks are in bondage. They don't realize the liberty that we have in Christ. I don't want to go back to a church like that, and I don't want to raise my kids in a church like that.
BUT.....
What we are finding in a lot of churches now is that the pendulum has swung TOO far in the other direction. Everyone wears whatever they want to wear to church, wich for most people means that they dress for church exactly the same way they would dress for a ball game. There seems to be an ultra casual, anything goes type of atmosphere in a lot of churches today.
I don't want to raise my kids in a church like that either.
I know that God doesn't care what we wear. That's not what I"m talking about here. What I am feeling so sad about right now is the almost complete lack of reverence for God that I see in a lot of churches now. Many kids today, and adults for that matter, see church as just one more thing to fill in a day on their social calendar. It's not "special". We don't have to wear our best clothes, and we don't have to be on our best behaviour. That is just sad.
I think we should wear our best to church. Now, our best may be a nice pair of blue jeans, or a pants suit. I'm not saying it has to be a dress. I"m just saying that I don't want my kids wearing the same clothes for church that they would wear to go to the park.
I mean really. If I got an invitation to the White House to visit the President, I wouldn't just drop whatever I was doing and run over there in my torn jeans, stained t shirt, and hair pulled back in a ponytail. I would shower, fix my hair as best I could, put on a little makeup, and put on something nice. It might not be a dress, it might be pants, but it would be the nicest thing I had in my closet.
I would also behave myself carefully at the White House. I would want to be sure that I showed the President the proper respect, while still showing my joy and pleasure in being there.
Isn't that how church should be? Shouldn't it be someplace "special" to go? Shouldn't we dress in our best? And shouldn't we express to our Heavenly Father our praise, and our thanks, and our joy at being welcomed into His house, while still teaching our children that a church should nto be treated like a playground?
I"ve seen both ends of the spectrum, and I don't like either of them. I've been in churches that were so stiff and solemn that anyone even daring to say "Amen" was stared at. I've left a church service feeling like I"d been to a funeral.
Then, I've been to church services in wich the pastor's sermon was taken entirely from the latest book of christian pop psychology instead of the Bible, and the whole thing felt much more like a contemporary concert than a worship service.
What we're looking for is a happy medium. I have begun to wonder if it even exists.
Vicki
This is SO weird for us!! We are NOT "church hoppers". My family has faithfully attended church since before I was born, and there has been only 1 time, when I was about 8 years old, that we left a church because of a "falling out" with someone. The other times we have changed churches have been due to a move or something of that nature. My children knew only one church their entire lives until my father retired from pastoring and that church closed its doors.
As you know if you read my blog, we searched long and hard for a "home church" after that. We thougtht we'd found one. Then, we thought perhaps the Lord was leading us elsewhere, but at the last minute, the Lord made it clear to us that His will was for us to stay where we were. Now, He has made it just as clear that it's time to go.
I won't go into all the details as to why we've left our church. You can read a bit more about the reasons in my post titled "It's Been A While".
So, here we are, searching again, and if I may be blunt, I hate it.
My earliest memories of church are of a VERY large, VERY legalistic church. This church believed and taught that ANY woman who wore pants ANYWHERE, let alone IN CHURCH, could not possibly be saved. They also taught that going to movies, going to any restaraunt that served alcohol, or shopping at any store that sold alcohol was a hideous sin.
These folks are in bondage. They don't realize the liberty that we have in Christ. I don't want to go back to a church like that, and I don't want to raise my kids in a church like that.
BUT.....
What we are finding in a lot of churches now is that the pendulum has swung TOO far in the other direction. Everyone wears whatever they want to wear to church, wich for most people means that they dress for church exactly the same way they would dress for a ball game. There seems to be an ultra casual, anything goes type of atmosphere in a lot of churches today.
I don't want to raise my kids in a church like that either.
I know that God doesn't care what we wear. That's not what I"m talking about here. What I am feeling so sad about right now is the almost complete lack of reverence for God that I see in a lot of churches now. Many kids today, and adults for that matter, see church as just one more thing to fill in a day on their social calendar. It's not "special". We don't have to wear our best clothes, and we don't have to be on our best behaviour. That is just sad.
I think we should wear our best to church. Now, our best may be a nice pair of blue jeans, or a pants suit. I'm not saying it has to be a dress. I"m just saying that I don't want my kids wearing the same clothes for church that they would wear to go to the park.
I mean really. If I got an invitation to the White House to visit the President, I wouldn't just drop whatever I was doing and run over there in my torn jeans, stained t shirt, and hair pulled back in a ponytail. I would shower, fix my hair as best I could, put on a little makeup, and put on something nice. It might not be a dress, it might be pants, but it would be the nicest thing I had in my closet.
I would also behave myself carefully at the White House. I would want to be sure that I showed the President the proper respect, while still showing my joy and pleasure in being there.
Isn't that how church should be? Shouldn't it be someplace "special" to go? Shouldn't we dress in our best? And shouldn't we express to our Heavenly Father our praise, and our thanks, and our joy at being welcomed into His house, while still teaching our children that a church should nto be treated like a playground?
I"ve seen both ends of the spectrum, and I don't like either of them. I've been in churches that were so stiff and solemn that anyone even daring to say "Amen" was stared at. I've left a church service feeling like I"d been to a funeral.
Then, I've been to church services in wich the pastor's sermon was taken entirely from the latest book of christian pop psychology instead of the Bible, and the whole thing felt much more like a contemporary concert than a worship service.
What we're looking for is a happy medium. I have begun to wonder if it even exists.
Vicki
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Stuff I Do Just Because I Can
Buy new crayons for EVERYONE in the family, including me and Roger, because Wal-Mart had them for 20cents a box today.
Watch a baseball game and SCREAM at the tv!
Let my kids have Bubble Gum ice cream cones for lunch~yeah, I really did that today.
Watch Hannah Montana with my daughter, laugh my head off, and sing along with all the songs~yeah, I know all the words, and yes, I know it's juvenielle and silly, but I also know that I would have given my right arm to have had something like that for my Mom and I to enjoy together when I was 9!!
Incidentally, that is where my love of Major League Baseball came from~my Mom caught the "baseball bug" from her father in law(my grandpa that I loved dearly) and I caught it too, so my Mom and I "bonded" over baseball. Kinda weird, since that's TOTALLY not a 'girl" thing, but it worked for us!! Now, back to the list~
Walk into the living room at random times and yell "Mommy needs huggles and snuggles!" Huggles and Snuggles are, of course, always accompanied by giggles!
Call my husband in the middle of his workday and say "I love you more than you love me! Haha! Tag, you're it!" then wait for him to call me back.
Call my Dad for no reason and say something to make him laugh.
Find funny cards to send to my sisters and my best friend for no special reason.
This is the great mystery that is me, LOL! and these are some of the things I do just because I can.
So, if you didn't think I was a nut before, you're over that now, right? LOL!
Vicki
Watch a baseball game and SCREAM at the tv!
Let my kids have Bubble Gum ice cream cones for lunch~yeah, I really did that today.
Watch Hannah Montana with my daughter, laugh my head off, and sing along with all the songs~yeah, I know all the words, and yes, I know it's juvenielle and silly, but I also know that I would have given my right arm to have had something like that for my Mom and I to enjoy together when I was 9!!
Incidentally, that is where my love of Major League Baseball came from~my Mom caught the "baseball bug" from her father in law(my grandpa that I loved dearly) and I caught it too, so my Mom and I "bonded" over baseball. Kinda weird, since that's TOTALLY not a 'girl" thing, but it worked for us!! Now, back to the list~
Walk into the living room at random times and yell "Mommy needs huggles and snuggles!" Huggles and Snuggles are, of course, always accompanied by giggles!
Call my husband in the middle of his workday and say "I love you more than you love me! Haha! Tag, you're it!" then wait for him to call me back.
Call my Dad for no reason and say something to make him laugh.
Find funny cards to send to my sisters and my best friend for no special reason.
This is the great mystery that is me, LOL! and these are some of the things I do just because I can.
So, if you didn't think I was a nut before, you're over that now, right? LOL!
Vicki
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