11-11-09

I remember after the fact that it's a good idea to carry a paper PDA (aka a 3x5 index card) in your pocket so you can write down those random thoughts that will be lost to the fatigue fog of trying to blog at bedtime... But here we go!


Let's start with the big obvious one: One of my favorite veterans and former Marines whom the Lord brought home from two deployments still in one physical piece. My nephew Max, who was released (Is that the right word? I am not a Marine Mom.) from active duty on July 4 of this year.


What else was I thinking about today. It all seems pretty petty compared to that young man's soul that could have been sent into Eternity in the hills of Afghanistan last year.

Well, just tonight on the way home from church, I was thinking about how thankful I am for my husband who usually is the driver when we go to church. How I have been missing him now that he's been solidly occupied with the harvest of many, many acres of corn! :-( I have been saying for the past 8+ years that we've attended this particular church which is 20+ miles away how it's *always worth the drive* Hmmm, it is, it still is. But my body is ready for him to be my chauffeur again, thank you very much. Sorry, I'm tired tonight, so I'm sorta whiney.

And that beloved Man of Mine is Home! =) Time to get off the computer! So I guess I'll have to leave you with that.

TruthQuest History

Someday, somehow I *will* learn to hyperlink without an extra bzillion steps to remember how... but what I really want to tell you about is possibly the only GOTTA HAVE IT curriculum in my house.

I *l*o*v*e* TruthQuest History!

Since I am a queen of cut/paste, here's a blurb from the website to tell you in 'official' words about this wondrous blessing that I am so thankful for - every day!

The exploration of history, then, should reveal God and His truth, not glorify the achievements of mankind. Indeed, the kings, artists, philosophers, writers, and scientists cannot even be understood until seen for who they are – people motivated by basic beliefs about God, whether true or untrue. The consequences of beliefs are displayed in history...and teach us all. Let us, then, not be found teaching humanistic history. Let us learn of civilization in a way that reveals the God whose name is Truth. Your children will realize the only source of freedom is God's laws, and the only source of human worth is God's love for us. Once common knowledge, our society now thinks the opposite...and suffers for it.

And here, of course, I was tryyyyyyyying to put in an image of the lovely TQ guide. But my understanding of Html is just plain pathetic. BUT what is that in the scheme of things eternal?! NoT MucH. {even if I did figure it out ...again... before I finished the post? God is so good to me!}



Instead let me explain that we are in our sixth year with TruthQuest History guides, which were written by Michelle Miller. We are headed into modern history - pretty much plunging into the early 1900s. The Age of Revolution guides cover history for America and Europe and are written for students in grades 5-12. SOoo, if you stop and consider the issues of the last 100+ years, this can be pretty heavy stuff beyond Little House on the Prairie. And since I did NOT learn this in my own childhood education (didn't take ONE history course in four years of college, thank you), I am having quite the time myself with trying to take in all this from a CHRIST-centered point of view. But I am loving it. And I am so very thankful that God used Michelle Miller to bless so many families with these thought-provoking guides!

I am so thankful that my children are better prepared already to wade into this world and hopeful that they will be able to influence and bless others with their biblical worldview, thanks in part to our study of HIS-story with TruthQuest.

Here's one more quote from the actual AOR3 guide:

The quest for truth is the issue of history."In the beginning” God expressed Himself, and He is Truth. He especially showed the truth that we’re created by Him for relationship with Him. The rest of history, starting with Adam and Eve’s desire to know the secret ‘truth’ which the serpent hinted God was keeping from them, is all about mankind’s search for truth. However, mankind usually rejects God’s expression of truth and tries to make his own. Since God is truth, every time mankind declares his own truth he is trying to be God! This is the heartbeat of history. God towers at the center of all life. Picture a teeny ant scurrying around Washington Monument, emphatically denying the monument’s existence. Ah, the silliness of humanism.

God's mercies are new every morning

... and THAT is something to be thankful for!

I have been enjoying my diversion into the Psalms lately. Here are some sweet verses from yesterday's and today's reading...

"Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning;
for in thee do I trust:

cause me to know the way wherein I should walk;
for I lift up my soul unto thee."

(Psalm 143:8)

"The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion;
slow to anger, and of great mercy...

The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him,
to all that call upon him in truth."

(Psalm 145:8, 18)

When I read this and remember how gracious the Lord is to me, I'm again challenged to be more like Him -- especially toward my children!


And from Pastor's sermon last night, I am challenged to be more faithful in my witness of Christ's saving power -- and to pray for the Holy Spirit's working in the hearts of those who are lost. There is no sin too big/hard for God to forgive!

"Verily I say unto you,
All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men..."

(Mark 3:28a)

So today I am thankful...

• that my kids were well enough to go to choir and church last night
• for their choir director and the God-honoring music we enjoy in our church
• for continued glorious weather so that my husband can conquer more acres with the combine this week (and finish??)
• for the T-Tapp Basic Work-Out that only takes 15 minutes to accomplish
• for Laura's Sugar-free Challenge (from Feb'08?) that I am determined to take up this week(!)
• that we accomplished most of the basics this morning... even if our morning didn't end until 1pm ;-)

special sunday

I'm home today with my runny-nosed littles (who are not so little). We've been playing Mexican train dominoes =) (Did you ever wonder why someone gave it that name?)


Earlier I posted this on my FB status:

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast-bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray.
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me!

...celebrating God's salvation of my soul 11-8-87
and His continued work in my life!

Happy Day! =)

super sunny saturday

Here in central Iowa the weather was glorious today! We even had to open some windows because our solar-design home takes in southern sunshine really well. I was thankful for the oven in the basement so I could do some bread-baking. =)

I also took a quick outside tour of the new house...
We have some dirt work to do! That is a pile of dug-up dirt in front of the house that will easily disappear when we backfill and grade up to the house elevation. The black water-proofing material is meant to have dirt covering it. The garage on the right needs a LOT of fill before we can put a floor in there. (Remember it's just the basement walls up so far.)





The Well Crew came this week, and it appears that we have water ready to connect =)
Have I ever said how much I love water? It's got to be one of my favorite things...



And the Builder Crew and Mr. Plumber (Jacob to my readers who know him) have also been busy getting the works ready for the basement floor. In-floor heat for the basement- Yay! Maybe they'll pour the floor on Monday(??)

And the BEST news of the day for me:::

My combine king is coming home for a late supper with us!!! Hurrah!

=)

(nice pic of him from the bank's website, eh? I'm turning into a regular i-net hacker...)

beautiful friday

...Always so much to be thankful for...

• This week's beautiful weather (dry!) = good weather for progress on both house-building and corn-harvesting =) And hopefully tomorrow we (the kiddos) can .f.i.n.i.s.h. with the leaf clean-up! And hopefully I will get my camera back from my DH to take some more pictures to dress up my posts ;-)
• Yesterday's good meeting with our homeschool supervisor, who is better known as a very good friend! The kids have continued the game-playing this week, adding Boggle since playing it yesterday with Jill ;-)
  
• Today's piano lessons -- I'm always thankful for the hospitality of our piano teacher's whole family =) They are always a blessing to us.
  
• Grocery shopping - what?! Yup, kept the total under $100. Gotta like that.
• Tonight's supper with homemade salsa, guacamole, taco meat, and cheese sauce for some really yummy nachos.... followed by Perfect Brownies. (still *thinking* about a sugar-free challenge... someday)
• Thinking of sugar... and Laura's November Gratituesday Challenge... The kids really enjoyed her recipe for whole wheat Snickerdoodles that I made yesterday =)
  
• And now, a good history lesson via DVD with Francis Schaeffer's How Should We Then Live? (currrently on episodes 5 & 6: 'The Revolutionary Age' & 'The Scientific Age')
  

living in modern Babylon

I read these verses yesterday morning. I wish I had rehearsed them again last night. I was too overwhelmed by a crisis that I have no control over (the usual sort?)... thus my late, brief effort at thankfulness last night. I am truly thankful for many other things, people, but cannot express it all in a way that makes sense to those I cannot share the reasons why...

But I love how the difficulty of life in Babylon is answered in the very next Psalm.

How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?
(Psalm 137:4)

I will praise thee with my whole heart:
before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.
I will worship toward thy holy temple,
and praise thy name
for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth:
for thou hast magnified thy word

above all thy name.
(Psalm 138:1-2)




In the day when I cried
thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me
with strength in my soul...
The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me:
thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever:
forsake not the works of thine hands.
(Psalm 138:3, 8)

I am thankful for friends who share the desire for God to be glorified in our lives.

I am so thankful for my very own Mr. Right, who is such a picture of God's grace in my life. I am thankful for the missions preaching conference 16 years ago this month, where God got a good grip on his heart and has never let him go. That's what makes him the best husband and father and friend.