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Sunday, 05 October 2008

Saturday, 22 March 2008

  • He Has Risen Indeed! Have a Blessed Easter!

    This video is of my husband, Erich, delivering a devotional at our Church's Good Friday service.  Obviously, Ava wanted to be a part of the video, too.  :)

    This week, we've been preparing our hearts for Easter.  We've gone through the story of Christ's death and resurrection by studying God's Word as well as using the Resurrection Eggs to help give us visual aids.  The girls got extremely sad when we went through certain details of what Jesus endured, but they rejoiced when we got to the final egg symbolizing the empty tomb.  We also read from The Very First Easter by Paul Maier.  I love this retelling of the Easter story because it stays biblically accurate as it includes scripture and also has gorgeous illustrations.   The girls are also excited about making Resurrection Cookies.

    I got an e-mail from a dear friend in Zambia, Africa who reminded me to "share the message of Easter with others".  I wonder if he knows that here in America, it's easy to celebrate Easter without Christ.  That it's easy for our kids to think that the focus is on candy, eggs, bunnies, etc. and some miss the entire message of Christ's death on the cross for our sins and His glorious resurrection proclaiming Him as Almighty God.  I pray that you and your family have a glorious celebration of Jesus's death and resurrection and that you are able to share the true message of Easter with others!  I pray also that we will train up our children in the true meaning of Easter and that their hearts are moved by His unbelievable demonstration of love.  He Has Risen indeed!  Have a Blessed Easter!

     

Thursday, 20 March 2008

  • Texas Snow in March

    We had an amazingly strange snow experience a couple of weeks ago.  As the saying goes, if you don't like the weather in Texas... wait a few minutes and it will change.   That's exactly what happened... the pics were so cute, that I couldn't help but share some. These are from Monday:

              DSC00598DSC00599DSC00601DSC00602

     

     

    Ava and Caroline are desperately trying to scrape the snow (more like ice) off the table in order to make their "giant snowmen" with a baby carrot nose and chocolate chip smile.  They were so excited to be able to hold their "ice sculpture"!

      DSC00604 DSC00605 DSC00606 DSC00607

     

     

    Next, we made "snow-made ice cream"  Daddy was the official taste tester!  Ava and Caroline put strawberry and chocolate syrup in theirs to make it extra yummy!  We topped off the night by getting in the spa... it was hilarious to see us run through the snow in our swimsuits and jump into the warm spa.  The girls had a blast!

    Now, Tuesday the "icy-snow" melted and Wednesday was a suprisingly warm 70 degrees!  But, because we live in Texas... this is what happened on ThuDSC00635DSC00647rsday:DSC00640

     

     

     

    Ava's writing in the snow, "I love Mom"... isn't that sweet?! 

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    Fly and Rocket get into the action, too!  I don't know what they were writing in the snow!  :)

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    Now, it's time to make a "real" snowman... or should I say snow-woman!  Caroline had such fun dressing her up that she got extra creative and made blue legs and a baby!  This was a wonderful "surprise" winter-wonderland!

Saturday, 08 March 2008

  • Nature Walks and Poems...

    DSC00180    DSC01236

    We've had fun going on Winter nature walks lately.  Texas Winter is not too cold at all, and the girls have loved seeing the changes in the seasons.  Hope you enjoy their poems that the nature walks inspired:

    Winter Sights

    by Caroline (1/29/08)DSC00193

     

    All the trees are bare

    There is not a sound in the air

    Just the waves of the trees

    And the whistling of the breeze

     

    Everything is so crisp and dry

    I frown when we’re passing by

    Everything used to be so lush

    And nobody was in a rush

     

    They listened to all the beautiful sounds

    Until they ran in leaps and bounds

     

    Soon Spring will come again

    And new life will start to begin

    But right now, people are all bundled up

    And sipping hot cocoa from their cup

     

     

    The Nature Walk in Winter

    by Ava (1/29/08)DSC00186

     

    It’s fun when you feel the breeze

    And the sun so bright

    I wish, I wish the summer came back

     

    It’s pretty outside

    But, I still wish it is summer

    I love it outside

    But, it’s too cold

     

    Well, no birds that we hear

    But the sun with it’s reflection in the pond

    I love it outside so much

    I bring things in the car

    to make sure I have what I need to draw

     

    The weeping willows only have branches

    So I wish it was summer

    and they would have leaves all over them

     

    DSC00201                                                                                    

    DSC01238 Ava smiling at the dock.

     

     

             Caroline    studying crabapples.

                             

Tuesday, 12 February 2008

  • Hodgepodge

    I came across a few links I wanted to share: 

    First off, for some creative viewing, here are the winners of the "What's cool about homeschool?" video contest. You can view all of the winners from the link at the bottom of the grand prize winner's video.  There are some very creative children out there!  :)

    I also came across a wonderful article from Jeannie Fulbright on A Mother's Musings blog.  Hope this is as encouraging to you as it is to me: 

    Academics Attack


    We all desire great careers and lives for our children. Yet, if our children grew up to be doctors and lawyers but didn't have a relationship with God, a heartrending pain would surely permeate our lives. Our relationship with our adult children, even if strong, would be marked with a deep, unutterable sorrow: both for their soul and because we couldn't talk about the most important thing in our lives. Certainly they would require us to curb religious discussions if we wished to continue a good relationship. Sadly, this is the case for those I know with unbelieving adult children - children that abandoned the faith of their youth when they left home to pursue their academic endeavors. I began my homeschooling journey with a deep conviction that this was God's call upon my family. Many of you felt that same calling. As I stepped out in faith, I discovered an exciting new world: a world of curriculum, educational philosophies, supplementary activities and courses, academic endeavors, field trips, and opportunities abounding for the betterment of my little protégés. With a thrill, I realized that I really could give my children a better education! Only one major problem existed: fitting it all in. So, if we were going to do it all, we had better get on the stick!


    Can you guess what fell by the wayside in our zealous efforts? Bible reading, morning devotions, deep spiritual discussions, heart training, and even our dear Lord Jesus. Sadly, I caught a terrible case of "Academics Attack", a malady that strikes many a homeschool mom. Indeed, my quest to provide my children the "best" education and the "best" enrichment resulted in an attack on our true purpose for homeschooling.


    Though I believe God desires our children to do all things with excellence and to infiltrate every arena with light, including fields of study and trade, we must intentionally bear in mind our true purpose as home educators. If we are not proactive, we'll pave our homeschool highway with good intentions unfulfilled. There is a way that seems right to man, and focusing on academics and achievement would seem to provide a bright future for our offspring. Yet, in God's economy, we must continually seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness and all these things shall be added to us as well. Seek ye first.
    Our first priority should be training the hearts of our children to love the Lord, to love others and to really, really know God. We should be diligent to make heart training the important first in our day - a quest we purposefully and actively pursue, rather than just waiting and hoping for teachable moments to arise.

    Frankly, academic or extracurricular interests can quite easily become an idol to our hearts and to the hearts of our children. We find ourselves devoted to these pursuits, dedicating most of our thoughts and attention to these things. It's quite a task to make heart training a priority, but God promises that our diligence to do so will yield tremendous results: He will take care of everything else on our behalf - He will do it. He will fulfill His promises (Psalm 138:8).


    When a love for God is truly cultivated, everything else, including academics and other endeavors, will fall into place. In fact, if we neglect the spiritual training, the other pursuits won't yield the fruit that God intended.

    I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
    John 15:5

    Apart from God, all our efforts come to naught. Nothing. Zip. Zero. A law degree? Maybe. But in God's eyes, it's worth nothing apart from Him. If we genuinely focus our homeschooling on spiritual training, it will produce fruit, fruit far superior to that which we could ever manufacture through our own efforts. Spiritual maturity produces academic success with less effort. Spiritual Maturity allows our students to be led by their Maker into that which they were created to be, and it's always better than what we could plan or hope for.


    After a year or two of relentlessly working to provide the best education and enrichment for my children - putting spiritual maturity on the back burner, I was at the end of my rope. I found myself driving slowly by the public school. Needless to say, things were not going well. My kids were fighting constantly, no one enjoyed school - including me. I realized that all the field trips we took were just an excuse for a day off and no one learned anything, no one wanted to do their work. Each day we were frantically rushing through the school work because we usually had somewhere to be in the afternoon, and anger was the flavor of ice cream I served up on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. Yum.

    Finally, in silent desperation, I did what we do when we find ourselves in a deep, dark pit: I gave up and fell on my face before God. With fresh revelation, I got up with a new plan - morning devotions instead of school. Yes, for a while we just gave it all up and only did devotions. We did them for more than an hour every day.
     
    Within a short time, our entire family life changed. Peace reigned where chaos was once our dictator. Kindness marked our attitudes, and diligence began to sprout in my children's little hearts as they completed their assignments and did what they were asked. When I said it was time for school, I no longer heard the familiar groans. No amount of begging, pleading, rewarding, or threatening to call dad could have produced this behavior. It was the fruit of my children's renewed walk with God. Their faith grew as their prayer lives matured; they began to regularly pray on their own - in every situation, especially before subjects that were the most difficult.

    There have been times over the years where we have fallen out of the routine of devotions - either we couldn't find a good devotional book to read, or we went on vacation and couldn't get back in the groove, or I just allowed busyness to distract us. Invariably, within a short time of neglect, things would begin to crumble again. Unfortunately, we simply can't coast on the manna we received last month - we'll ramble along for a bit before we begin to slide downward into another "Academics Attack."

    If I could tell moms only one thing that would help their homeschooling, having regular morning devotions would be it. Truly, nothing else has blessed our homeschool experience more.

    Over the next few newsletters, I'll be sharing ideas for implementing devotional times and how you can use these ideas to make your morning devotions special. Look for these tips and ideas in the articles entitled Daily Devotion Ideas.
    I'll also be sharing about various devotional materials our family has enjoyed and giving "curriculum" (devotional and Bible study) reviews. Also, if you have any great devotional ideas or books you would like to pass along, please email me at: jeannie@jeanniefulbright.com

    Believing God's Word for Our Children Being the primary educator for our children sometimes fills us with fear and trepidation. The enormity of that responsibility could overwhelm even the most faithful servant of the Lord. Yet, we don't have to experience fear because God has given us many promises for our children.
    The question we must ask is: Do we believe God or do we believe our doubts and fears?
     
    Let's look at some promises God has given us to stand on:
    1. God thought about our children even before He created the world. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Eph 1:4
    2. God knows our children and has already planned and purposed what they will do and be. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph 2:10
    3. God loves our children and will guide us daily as we seek to raise them in His ways.
    For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end. Psalm 48:14
     
    Don't let fear and doubt rob you of the peace, joy and confidence God wants you to have in your homeschooling. He has great plans for your little ones. Let us not put our faith in our fears, let us put our faith in God's truth instead!
    "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever"
    Psalm 138:8

TeacherBritt

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