Box Day!

Some of you may be unaware of this, but home-schoolers celebrate a unique holiday: Box Day. This is the day when the New School Books arrive, and it is a thrilling, wonderful, busy day.

Today was Box Day at our house.

Dad brings in the treasures...

Allyson can hardly wait to dive in...

Now, government school kids tragically miss out on this experience, which is terrible. I overheard Allyson say,"This is better than Christmas morning!" The boys are not quite as enthusiastic about Box Day as Allyson, but they are getting close.

Kenton checks out one of his new books, Five True Dog Stories

As with all Major Holidays, a big mess is usually imminent. After we pulled out all of our new books, dvds, cds, computer programs, and workbooks, each of us found something we just couldn't put down, and ignored the mess for a while.

What mess? Ooh-check this out, dad!

We had another Important Milestone today: Kenton, age six, lost his first tooth! It popped right out while we were doing math this morning. Kenton is very excited, especially since the pastor told him the Tooth Fairy always leaves at least $100 for the first tooth.
Kenton, showing off his fabulous new smile, and his tooth

Allyson has almost finished a book about Sheherazade, and took another book upstairs with her tonight. For a kid who has really been looking forward to the Christmas break, she's certainly diving into the new school stuff...of course, she hasn't had to write any reports on these new books...yet.

Happy December

The Christmas season is upon us! We have gotten all of the leaves raked, and we are ready for the snow to start falling. The kids are getting excited about Christmas, and about camp soon afterward. Today, it is snowing, and they spent a good part of the day out in it.


We put up our Christmas tree last night-Eric was amazed by it. He loves the ornaments-he'll take them off of the tree, snuggle them, and then try to put them back on again. It's adorable.








During school today, it was snowing pretty good, so we took a break after math and played outside (gotta love home-schooling). Eric filled up his dump truck with snow, and dumped it on Allyson.

When they came in, we had hot cocoa and spelling tests, and then cut out snowflakes for the windows. I love days like this. It has been full of those small special every-day memories that hopefully will be cherished as the kids get older.

The Lord has been good to us today, and He will continue to be good to us. Everywhere I look during this time of year, I see His blessings to me.

Thanksgiving

What a wonderful day we had yesterday! We travelled a couple hours north to Uncle Jamie and Aunt Phyliss' home and spent the day with their family. The kids played in the first snow (!) of the season and we upheld the tradition of sitting around watching the Detroit Lions lose, this time to Green Bay. (Is Brett Favre on Social Security yet?? That dude is OLD!)

A bummer-Jason was sporting a nice 102 degree fever when we got home, and is sacked out on the couch with Ally, who is also feeling a little rough. They are watching a Ninja Warrior marathon, and drinking hot tea.

Our sugar maples are totally baren now, and the cold weather is upon us. There are homes laden with Christmas decorations and lights already, and I am itching to have some hot cocoa. The kids are practicing and preparing for their Christmas Showcase at co-op next month, and also a Sunday School program.

It's Black Friday, and I have come to the wonderful conclusion that whatever participation in this day I can muster can be done from the comfort of my own home via the internet! Who needs the hastle of going out when I can fill my cart with a click and no line!

In all of the hustle and bustle of December, I am trying not to forget about yesterday-Thanksgiving. We have so much to thank the Lord for, and I know there is so much more He will bless us with.

Playing Catch...up

So, with all of this Harvest Carnival hoopla, home-school, piano lessons, Bible Institute, and something else...isn't there always something else?...I am a bit behind doing the laundry.

*sigh*

(By the way, I will gratefully accept all offers of help...just throwing that out there...lol)

The Harvest Carnival was a big success-we had lots of help, and lots of really cute kids: Kenton dressed up as Noah-complete with beard, hardhat, and tool belt. A little toddler girl named Allison came in dressed as the cutest chicken you ever saw, with a sign around her neck that read, "Have you seen Noah?" We all cracked up over that one.

Now that that big project is behind us, we will begin to gear up for the next one: Winter Camp! Winter Camp is such a shot in the arm for the teens-we really look forward to it each year. Man-I need a nap...pray for us!

I can't begin to describe the beauty of the fall this year-the trees are simply stunning-there is no other word. Sometimes, as we are driving around, I find myself just catching my breath-there is so much beauty in the fall. This October was glorious, weatherwise-today, it's in the 60's!

Well, the kids are waking up, and dinner won't cook itself, so I will leave you all for now...

Cool, crisp, and crazy

Fall.

Fall!

I just love autumn...I love the way the air feels more alive, the colors are just stunning and there's just nowhere you'd rather be than outdoors. The kids are wanting to be outside more than they want to play the new Star Wars xbox game dad got them. Ahhhhh....bliss.....

We are knee deep in preparations for the Harvest Carnival. This year we are going to do a trip around the world-a missions focus. The kids don't get to participate in the Mission's Conference and learn about the missionaries like the adults do, so it will be informative and fun for them. One week to go! Whoa! Pray!

Cold Case

I'm wondering when courtesy died.

Actually, I think Courtesy was killed. By Self-Absorbsion. Figures she's have a hyphenated name. I think when the mantra, "I just want to do what makes me happy" replaced "In God We Trust" as the national motto, Courtesy was pretty much sunk.

I wonder if Courtesy was killed in a fit of rage, or of she was the victim of a pre-meditated murder.

I think it happened sometime after WWII, although perhaps it was a bit more recent. Evidence of a WWII dating is the fact that all subsequent U.S. military missions have been met with an unbelievable amount of whining on behalf of the "we just want everyone to be happy" crowd. To hear them tell it, performing a sworn duty with honor can not possibly result in anything good.

The murder could have happened when prayer and the Bible was removed from schools, thereby effectively getting rid of seemingly outdated notions like, "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Phillipians 2:4).

It's possible that Courtesy was killed in one of the major battles in the War for Convenience, when the decision was handed down from the Supreme Court in the Roe v. Wade case.

In all of these instances, Courtesy's enemies, Selfish Motives, Selfish Pride, and Self-Absorbed Attitudes, grew ever more powerful. We are now seeing what happens when we live in a world without Courtesy:

People no longer listen to each other.
Respect for authority is out the window.
God needs to conform to man's image, instead of the other way around.
Children are spoiled, disrespectful, and rude, and grow up to be more so.
Manners are seen as weakness.
Hateful language, cursing, and yelling are commonplace in many homes, not to mention on television, the radio, the internet and the movie screen.
People tune out whatever is not entertaining them at the moment.

Courtesy is survived by Diligence, Faithfulness, Loyalty, Dependability, and Self-Control, who are all living in hiding, and are only seen out in public on very rare occasions, as they are fearful for their lives.

There is a small underground resistance that is seeking to protect the surviving family members of Courtesy. You can find them if you are searching for them, but they are often off of the Social Grid, so to speak-they don't often congregate at movie theatres, concert halls, internet cafes, around radios playing anything on the FM dial and most things on the AM dial, or even on government school property. They are quite conspicuous, however, because they say thing like, "No, you first, " and "Yes, sir," and "I'm finished, can I do anything else to help", and "No, you take the last piece of pie". They have an odd habit of looking people in the eye, and working on a project until it is completed, and completed well.

My family and I are a part of the Resistance. Shhh...don't tell anyone. You can join our little club. We hold our meetings on Sundays in churchs all over. Here's the secret password: "Be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32.

Cheer up, church...

Pastor Hitts went home to be with the Lord last night, just as Jason was about to take the pulpit and preach. For those of you who don't know him, Pastor Hitts was a living miracle, and a valient soldier for our Lord.

Pastor Hitts suffered terribly from diabetes, and the disease stole his legs. He went through the torture of dialysis weekly and had a zillion complications, pains, and demoralizing consequences that come with being in poor health, but the thing that I remember about him is how much he treasured church.

We whine and moan about getting up, having to iron stuff, and all of the other petty stupid things we complain about when it comes to getting ourselves to church, but Pastor Hitts, even in great physical agony, with the help of his amazing faithful wife, would come whenever he could, in a suit, with a smile, and sit in the front pew, in rapt attention to the service, from the opening hymn through the closing prayer, treasuring it all.

I remember hearing him pray, "Dear God, thank you for allowing us to be here today..." and try to hold back his tears. We pray that all the time, and don't really mean a word of it. He treasured church.

Pastor Hitts preached a couple of times before he died. The last time, he did it only by the strength and grace of God. It was a miracle to see. He was not able to physically do it-to stand there, to preach his guts out, but the Holy Spirit held him up, and truly empowered him to deliver the message God had given him to us, those privileged enough to hear it.

I will miss him. I will miss his example.

A song keeps ringing in my ears, and I'll post the lyrics here:

Cheer Up Church-written by Charlie Peacock

His was a voice fueled by truth
That spoke to us of god's grace
In a way we could understand
And take hold of.

His was a life defined by grace
For a time, and for a reason,
And so we pause, and give thanks to God
For the life of our brother.

It's just like God to make
A hero from a sinner.
It's just like God to choose
The loser, not the winner.
It's just like God to tell
His story through the weak,
To let the Gospel speak
Through the life of a man
Who would be the first to say,

"Cheer up church.
You're worse off than you think.
Cheer up, church
You're standing at the brink.
Don't despair, do not fear,
Grace is near."

We certainly are worse off than we think. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Couple's Retreat

We had such a nice time at the camp this weekend. We went for our church's couple's retreat. Of course, we brought our kids along, so, for us, it was a sort-of family/couple's retreat.

The weather was magical, the food was great (steak on Friday night!), the Gilliams were super-as usual, and the preaching was just what I needed. Dr. David Carr from Midwestern was our speaker.

We actually did get to spend a lot of time together as a couple, due to the fact that our kids and the Gilliam's kids are pretty much inseperable when they are together. They played, and we hung out-it was ideal!

One of our "assignments" was to see how many different types of leaves we could collect, so we went for a little walk in the woods. Leave it to Jason to be the only one who can go for a walk on a 100+ acre campsite, and end up on someone elses' land! He was never lost, mind you, and we were only 15 minutes late for lunch! After all of that walking, we lost the leaf project: Pastor and Mrs. Debbie had all of their leaves labelled. Pretty impressive. And-Jim and Glenda had stuff like lettuce and decorator plastic fall leaves from off of the tables in their collection.

After lunch, we rode in the Geo. Jason drove-blindfolded. I told him where to go. For some reason, I kept pointing. "Go THIS way!!" Ha! I'm an idiot! We drove through an obstacle course-it was so funny. Jason couldn't even tell if he was moving or not-weird, huh?

On the way home, we went to Rockford. Every fall, Rockford has their outdoor farm market. We got blackberries the size of cherries-oh. my. word. Yummy is all I can say. We ate at Arnie's-the converted old mill, and it was delicious. After that we got an icecream, which Eric promptly decided to wear. Rockford is such a charming town-if you ever get the chance, go spend a weekend there.

We are back home, back to school, back to regular old real life: Meatloaf for dinner, and long division. Regular old real life is really not so bad. Even my meatloaf is pretty good!

Quotes...

One of the things I love doing as a youth pastor's wife is the classroom bulletin board. For this month, Jason asked me to do something "back-to-school-ish", so I did a board that looks like a classroom, with a bulletin board. I pinned some thought-provoking quotes I found on the "pretend" board that I thought some of you might enjoy:

From Hudson Taylor, English missionary to China:
"It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China. With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home."
That statement was so convicting to me...I think we look at being called of God all wrong. The Lord called us all-we just need to ascertain where we are to be fullfilling His Great Commission.

Here's another, from the great preacher Charles Spurgeon:
"We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives."
Well, duh. Sometimes the most powerful statements are the obvious ones.

From my favorite old preacher, Billy Sunday:
"The reason you don't like the Bible, you old sinner, is because it knows all about you."
I love this one, but old Billy rips too hard even from the grave to be posted on the teen class bulletin board. Man, we need more preachers compassionate enough to tell us what we desperately need to hear.

"The only way to learn strong faith is to endure great trials."-George Mueller, the English and evangelist.
It is said that Mueller prayed in over $7,000,000.00 for his orphanages and ministries over the sixty years of his ministry. Often, he'd sit the children in front of a bare table, pray and thank God for the food they would recieve, and sure enough, God would provide.

From D. L. Moody:
"I prayed for Faith, and thought that some day Faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But Faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, 'Now Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.' I had closed my Bible, and prayed for Faith. I now opened my Bible, and began to study, and Faith has been growing ever since."
Moody is a giant of the faith, and this simple truth will cause actual revival in our churches if folks actually applied it to their lives. Faith comes directly from the Word of God.

Then, I found this anonymous quote:
"Sin would not be so attractive if its wages were paid immediately."
'Nuff said there.

By just looking for something witty or interesting to put up on the board, I found myself convicted and encouraged. I think we can all benefit from these men of God from the past. The names Taylor, Moody, Sunday, and Mueller should be household names. Even now, we can benefit from their close walk with the Lord.

And we're back...

We enjoyed our time up at the camp so much. There is something so relaxing about being someplace where you can see stars, I mean really see them. That phrase in the creation account, "and He made the stars also", is astonishing when you can see millions upon millions of stunning lights in the night sky.

Have y'all (still Suthun, cain't hep it) seen that shirt that says, "Eat. Sleep. Fish."? Well, that was our va-ca schedule. It was fabulous to have no place to go, no one to call, and nothing to do but relax and hang out with the kids. Jason got to spend time with the kids individually-a rare treat for him. He took the two older ones out on the boat-Kenton caught himself a nice 10" bass!-and they had a wonderful time. We cooked fish, grilled steaks, hung out with Jimmy and Marie and their kids, and Chris-who is doing very well.

On the way home, Jason took us through the area he used to live in, and we ate at the Pixie in Mt. Pleasant-yum!! We had a wonderful time. Jason said he needed about "10 more days just like this".

Va-ca Update

Well, plans get made, and then they get broken. Such is life. Our van, which was truly a Gift From God (no lie) needs four new tires in order for us to make the cross-country trek to H-Town. That pretty much put the ki-bosh (if any of y'all reading this are spelling geniuses, feel free to correct that word!) on our trip. You should have seen it when we told the kids. Jason hated to have to tell them at all-they have been looking forward to this trip for awhile. He tells them, and they were very cool about it-no fits, no "whhhhyyyyyyyy????" Instead, they said stuff like, "Well, maybe we can go another time?" Sometimes (no, all the time) our kids are such a blessing. And, yes, we did take them out for ice cream that night.

We will instead go up to Fort Faith Camp on Thursday. We'll do some fishing, hiking, and outdoorsy type stuff. We'll try and get lost in the woods, set stuff on fire, get dirty, hunt for snakes, drink camp coffee, and it will be wonderful. God is good, and He knows what sort of break we need. I wonder if maybe He had Jason notice that tire situation so He could give him a quiet vaca in the woods, instead of an every-minute-we-must-be-running-to-visit-someone-we-have-not-seen-in-ten-forevers vacation that would be great, but not very restful.

It will be hard (real hard!) to wait until God provides the time and resources for us to visit our family and friends down South, but we will. I am getting to where these types of obstacles are almost fun, I find myself thinking, "Well, Lord, it's gonna be fun watching You work out this one!" And so, we will pray, work, and watch the Lord provide for our every need, as He has always, always done.

Further Proof

...that Jesus loves me:

I rode around in one of these today! Can you even believe it? It's a '68 Chevy Malibu, praise God, owned by a wonderful lady at our church, who, quite fearlessly, let my husband drive it. Man, he was like a little kid! It was wonderful. He said, "I am smiling like when we got married!"

We were at the church Labor Day picnic today, and it was a wonderful time. The spirit of the people was so warm, the food was unbelievable, and the weather was perfect. I think God left the bugs just so we'd know we weren't in heaven just yet.

That God would a) give people the ability to build such a marvelous machine, and b) place me in the general vicinity of someone who owns one, and c) have said vehicle be owned by someone who is so gracious and willing to share the joy of it, is just amazing. It's the little blessings that really get me sometimes, you know.

I sat in the back seat with Kenton and his friend Jonah for one of our little spins. Their absolute glee was so great to be around. Boys and their toys...lol!

Look for little blessings this week. They are all around you.

School is in Session!

Well, school has started. We had an "ease-in" day yesterday, and today we jumped in with both feet. The kids are doing well, and really, they have great attitudes. I am so proud of them.

Ally and Kenton being silly...

Vacation

Jason and I were trying to remember when we last had a vacation. Apart from the funerals of dear family members out of state, it has been four years since we have taken any sort of break. During that vacation, we spent Christmas in Houston with Jason's parents, saw my sisters and their children and many dear friends down south. It was a wonderful time, and full of great memories.


We are so blessed to be busy in the work of the Lord. If you are busy serving Him, that means He has an opportunity to use you, and we pray the Lord has been able to use us where we are in our dear church. It is sort of odd for Jason to view the ministry as work, though as his wife, trust me, he's working harder and longer than he ever has at anything else, but because it is what he loves to do, and he is serving with a man he loves and respects, the bad connotations of the word "work" don't apply. There are tough days, and heavy loads to bear, but he loves it all, as does the Pastor, and they make a very good team.


So, he's never really thought about taking time off-he would hate to miss church! But, he is in need of a rest, and the Pastor has been so gracious in allowing him to take this break. We will once again spend the time with our family in Houston, and we are so thrilled to be going.


Pray for us as we travel-we will drive, and Jason will want to get there as quickly as the law allows. Pray for our pastor, his wife, our teens and the church as we are away.

We will post some fun va-ca pics asap! God is so good!

Reason #738

Sometimes folks will ask why I homeschool my children. This is reason #738.

I read a...gracious, I don't know quite how to characterize it...a sad/alarming/hilarious/tragically believable article on WorldNetDaily today about a teen beauty queen. Here's a link, for your perusal: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/staticarticles/article57350.html .

By her own admission, she carries a 3.5 gpa, is a "student leader", whatever that means, and a varsity athlete. Her train of thought, however, was apparently still boarding at the station, because this chic had trouble finding two brain cells to rub together to answer a (really, really sad) question about the state of the American public education system.

Her bizarre answer is all the commentary we need to read to prove that our schools are bottomless pits of mediocrity and a vast waste of time for most of the poor kids who wander through the dangerous hallways and loud classrooms of today's schools.

This girl is one of the "smart ones"! Oh, she has her excuses for why her response was both unintelligible and totally off topic. We are real good at excuses today, but not so good at original thought. Student leader-oh my. Leading where, I wonder?

Now, I know that there are gifted, brilliant even, educators out there on the front lines of the public education battlefield (and make no mistake, it's a battlefield, people), and they invest not only in their students, but in their communities, their churches, and their own homes. But, anymore, they are becoming a rarity.

The Bible says, "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren..." and then it instructs us, and teaches us. I don't know what is going on at most schools today, but instruction on things like writing well, effectively communicating, comprehending a great book, being able to do a geometric proof, understanding the human nervous system, and learning about great people from history like Sacegewea or Winston Churchill or Stonewall Jackson or Alexander the Great, and being able to find Oman on a map are not amoung the educational priorities in government schools today.

For me, I will teach my children as Jesus taught his disciples: by being a one-on-one tutor, available at any moment for them. I will endeavor to learn as I teach, and teach them to love to learn. And I will pray fervently for those who strive to teach things of value in the public education system.

Revival!

This week is our church's annual tabernacle revival. It is one of my favorite times of the year because it is almost like a time warp. Back in the day, believers met outdoors in tents and tabernacles. The outdoor meeting feels much more like a family gathering, and I love that.

There are folks who take hours setting up for the meetings, and then these very same people are the ones who clean everything up. Some of the most beautiful service to the Lord and His church is done by folks like this, who could care less if they ever get any recognition on earth, but are truly seeking to be a blessing to the people, and a servant of the Lord.

The preaching is powerful. There is something about hearing the word of God outside in the midst of His creation that makes it so vivid. Dr. Hamblin is always in tune with the needs of our church, and always brings us what the Lord would have for us to hear.

If you are ever privileged to attend a tabernacle meeting, go. Sit in the front, and take it all in. There are so many blessings for us, if we would only take the time to appreciate them.

The B-I-B-L-E

Oh mercy, we have a cute kid video to share. Grab your popcorn and prepare to be dazzled by the singing stylings of Eric Little...

Home Alone with the Boys

Well, the boys and I have been home alone all day while dad and Ally go to Cedar Point with the teens. Boys, let me say, are a riot.

At breakfast, Kenton only spilled half a gallon of milk "trying to help" Eric. He very thoughtfully wiped it up with one of my nice towels, although he said "It still needs to dry."

At the grocery, they pretended to be the Hulk together. While this is rather funny and endearing to me, apparently the rest of the Meijer shoppers were not amused.

They made guns out of everything. Everything! Their building toys, their lunch, their gaming controllers, everything.

They ate. All day. As soon as the plate was cleared, I heard, "I am still hungry!" I went to the store this morning, and I'll need to go again tomorrow! I am getting a bit nervous about the teen years.

They played video games (I gotta tell you, watching a 2 and 6 year old play X-Box is a riot), played in the pool, got messy, dug some holes, were unbelievably loud, and messy, all day.

What a blast!

There is nothing more wonderful than a couple of little boys, unencumbered by girls, and left to their own devices.

By the way-Allyson rode the Maverick today! People, this is a big deal!

And We're Back...

You ever been too busy to talk to yourself?

That is pretty much what blogging is for me...talking to myself. I haven't been here in so long, but a friend just started a blog, and I said, "Hey, I think I have one of those...yeah, I do!"

And here I am.

The school year is almost finished and camp season is upon us. The prepartions will keep Jason and I on our toes and we'll stay there like hyper ballerinas until August, where we'll get a short reprieve, and dive right into VBS. Life flies by...

The kids are great. Big. Loud. Funny. Growing. Don't let the ties and combed hair fool you-they are all kid all the time. And fun! You know, the kids really are a lot of fun.

Well, time to check on Ally's report. And fold yet more laundry.