Nostalgic, maybe. Serious, not so much.
That can be a heavy question. One my husband probably has this neatly boxed answer to, that wraps up every little wisp of argument so all I can say is, "Yeah, okay, that's right." EJ's answer probably isn't too far away from his daddy's. EJ's answer is: "Jesus Christ. And reality. Those are true." And while I agree with him 100%, I don't want to be quite as serious today.
Nostalgic, maybe. Serious, not so much.
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The other day, we went to the zoo with some friends. I saw the sign about wristbands, which allows you to visit the dino exhibit and ride the train, among other things I knew we wouldn't do. I asked the lady about them, but they cost a lot more than either I or my friend were willing to pay. So we got the general tickets, and when the lady gave me my receipt, she slid 5 armbands to me and said, "Have a blessed day." Well, thank you very much I think I will! So after we ate (seriously, I didn't see the "no outside food" sign until we were walking away) we made a bee line for the dino exhibit. EJ took these pictures:
I tell you what, my heart has never been so warmed to hear those words as it was this morning. Yesterday, EJ finished the book of Romans in his devotions, and we have this Bible book that I've really wanted him to work through. The book is actually a textbook, and he did the first few lessons this past summer. I knew now that he was doing actual school work, he wouldn't finish it, and by next summer, it would be a little young for him. So when he finished Romans, I thought how perfect it would be to have him finish the book as his devotions.
I talked on the phone for over an hour this morning. I don't normally do that. But today, it happened. EJ likes to be with me, but he knows he has to be quiet when I'm on the phone, so before my conversation got too deep, he obtained permission to cut up some of my cardstock. I had fun watching him work, and it wasn't until he was finished that I realized what he had made.
Here he is making the bottom of the ship. I'm not sure why it's wrinkled, or why it's pointy. The mast of the ship is his shark head grabber toy that he got with some of his tickets from Hoover library. A couple days ago, I read a blog post about why young adults were leaving the church. Actually, in the last month or so, I've read a bunch of posts on that topic. But this particular one declared that the reason college graduates weren't finding a church in their new town was that they had been exhorted to be like the characters in the Bible.
My first thought was, What? Shouldn't we want our sons to be like David, and Paul, and Abraham? Shouldn't we want our daughters to be like Ruth, and Deborah, and Lydia? Shouldn't we strive for that ourselves? Betrayal. Not a fun word. Definitely not a fun experience. But life is such that everyone, at some point in their life, has been betrayed. Some people might just take it in stride (like my husband--he claims that as long as he knows he's doing what's right, he doesn't care what anyone else says). Others take it personally. Some let it ruin their lives. Some find a lesson to be learned and go on.
I tend to take it personally. I try not to let it ruin my life, but when someone betrays me, I feel like I must have done something to change their feelings for me, or else why would they have done that? Last year (yes, it really has been that long) I did a project to help us pray for people during our evening family devotions. As he was growing up, my husband and his siblings learned a verse every week, then his dad would pull out a new missionary every night that the entire family would pray for. We always had a Bible lesson and just prayed (prayer for missionaries happened at meal time). For our new little family (once EJ was old enough to actively participate) we made our own routine.
Every night, EJ gets a verse to memorize, and we stay on that verse for about 4 days. I wanted to pray for specific people every night, and I also wanted to pray for missionaries we knew. So I made prayer sticks. School is upon us again! I love homeschooling. This will be the second "official" year with a cover school, but except a year of Christian school when he was 4, EJ has been learning at home since he was 2.
Beginning the trek down the homeschool path can be scary. I know lots of people who homeschool their kids for every different reason. Private school tuition costs too much; they want to be in control of what their kids learn; they don't think anyone else can properly teach their kids; they just couldn't imagine being away from their kids all day. Okay, that last one I've only heard one person say, and yes, that person was me. Really, if you knew EJ, you'd say that too. :-) I've been asked by several people for my opinion/help in selecting a cover school. First, let me say, in Alabama, if you homeschool and are not a state licensed teacher, you must have a cover school. The reason is truancy. When you take your kid out of public or private school, that school sends a letter to the Superintendent saying "this kid isn't in our school anymore." If he doesn't get a letter from another school saying "this kid is in our school now," he will come knocking on your door, possibly with DHS (or whatever the acronym is in Alabama for the child welfare social worker department). After you enroll in a cover school, they will send you a letter they have signed. You sign it and send it to the Superintendent. Scary embarrassment averted. Second, cover schools cost money. I know it stinks. You homeschool so you don't have to pay tuition, but then you turn around and buy an entire curriculum and shell out extra for a cover school. I have to say, this year, I was not AS nervous as I was last year. Probably because I knew he'd done this before, and he had done just fine last year! EJ sang with the 1-6 grade choir to open the service (this is not MY recording--someone had their camera right in front of EJ's face the whole time, so I got her recording!): I have a huge regret regarding this. The kids stood up there for about 5 minutes before church started--the leader wanted to make sure she got everyone in place correctly and all that. EJ and the taller boy next to him were hilarious during those 5 minutes! They made faces at each other and were just generally acting like silly little boys. I loved it (other than the fact that they were standing in front of the entire church!). I found out later that they both like the same girl and they both think they are going to marry her. We'll see how their friendship weathers the teen years! :-) Next, EJ preached. It wasn't an option on the sign up sheet, so I just asked about it and they said he could. It's kinda hard to understand him, but he did an awesome job! I'm so proud of him. (And I didn't know he would pause like that to make sure everyone had time to turn to his passage!)
There is a Bible Methodist church around the corner from our house that I've been wanting to visit for a while. Any time we see people outside, they look really nice. So when I noticed their banner for VBS this week, I decided now would be an awesome time to visit. So Thursday night through Saturday night, EJ and I went. It was from 6:30 to 8, and I know EJ had a blast. I took pictures, because that's what I do, but I didn't want to advertise it with a flash, so some of these are a little blurry.
First we sang songs like "The Dog Song" (in the chorus you "bark bark bark Hallelujah") and "My God is a Big Ol' God" (EJ is helping with the motions for "I've got peace like a river" here--we also sang "I have decided to follow Jesus" and an Old West verse of "I may never march in the infantry"): |
Who am I, you ask?
In 2006 I had a stroke, and every day my husband encourages me to use my remaining brain cells to the best of my ability. I love to organize, make crafts, and go on adventures (safe ones). I hope that through my blog posts, you will be encouraged to accept and make the best of challenges God throws at your life. Categories
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