The Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ October 16, 2015

IN MY LIFE THIS WEEK

I just want more of the Lord. He must increase, but I must decrease.  I'm not satisfied doing it my own way. I'm not satisfied to "do" Church (only on Sundays) and walk away. I'm not satisfied living in yesterday's hour. I'm not satisfied to have the form but not the power. Where's the power of the cross in my life? Lord, help my unbelief.

IN OUR HOMESCHOOL THIS WEEK

Bible - These last 2 weeks, we've been learning and talking about how Jesus is the Rock, a firm foundation, the cornerstone upon whom we build our faith and lives. We've been memorizing Mattew 7:24 - ..Everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

History - We've been learning about George Washington and touched a bit on the French and Indian War and events leading up to the Revolutionary War. I don't know who is learning more, the children or me! (I have forgotten a lot of history). 

Science - We've learned how we get our seasons. We put a lamp in the middle of the table w/o its shade to represent the sun. We then moved the globe around the lamp, demonstrating the earth's orbit around the sun, thus showing how that gives us seasons. Granted, our earth size to the sun size was by no means correct, but this lesson certainly got the point across. Today, we are going to draw a tree outside, exactly how we see it. Then we'll go back to that same tree and draw it again in the winter, spring and summer. (I'll have to add notes in my curriculum books to remind myself to do that the rest of the year.)

Our Read Aloud

Language Arts - These children continue to amaze me with the way they can remember what they're being taught. Adelle's handwriting is coming along nicely. Poor Jonathan.... He's trying. 

Math - We started to learn how to add 9 this week. Those unit blocks are helping a great deal with that! I really like Math-U-See. 

Reading - As a read aloud, we are reading through Sarah Whitcher's Story. Little Sarah wanders away from her family's cabin into the New Hampshire forest and settlers come from all across the countryside to help find her. As the long days pass, the searchers grow desperate, but her father's trust in God holds firm. We're only in the 2nd chapter, but my children are quite engrossed!

MY FAVORITE THING THIS WEEK

I must say, I had fun helping the children make salt dough rocks. To reinforce that Jesus is our Rock, we made rocks, or paper weights, out of salt dough. I etched Jesus the Rock into the dough before we baked them. 

MY CHILDREN'S FAVORITE THING THIS WEEK

Adelle's favorite thing this week was making her "Jesus the Rock" paper weight. Jonathan's favorite thing this week was moving the "earth" around the "sun" in science. 

I'M READING

Voice of the Martyrs

I just finished reading Voice of the Martyr's book Hearts of Fire. It is a collection of testimonies of 8 women from different backgrounds and the struggles they each faced ringing with similarity. From Pakistan, India, Romania, the former Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, Nepal and Indonesia, these women shared similar experiences of hardship and persecution -- all for their faith in Christ -- yet they have emerged from adversity as leaders and heroines. Persecution of the Church is not new and it certainly still going on today. I don't normally read these kinds of books. It was free and when I got it in the mail, I put it away and it stayed in my drawer for weeks. One Sunday afternoon, I picked it up and began to read. I'm in my recliner sobbing at the first story yet I can't put the book down. I couldn't put it down for the next 2 weeks! The amazing thing that stuck out to me was the fact that each story talked about how God's peace filled these ladies as they were going through their persecutions. Maybe the Lord was trying to show me this fact about Himself through this book. I don't have to worry about what's going to happen to me b/c He is always there and He will give grace and peace to sustain me.

I know absolutely nothing about persecution. Nothing at all. In fact, I am quite embarrassed to call myself a Christian. If faith costs me nothing, is it even faith at all? That's not to say that I'm looking for torture, but is there hard evidence in my life that would make someone accuse me of following Christ at all costs? I should say not. Wretched indeed. 

I'M LISTENING TO

Tommy Walker

Hymns! Old and new. Back in January this year, I made a goal to learn to sing and play (on the piano and sax) hymns that I didn't know previously. I have learned several hymns this year. The lyrics of these hymns are deep and rich with theology. We can learn a lot from the old hymns and learn about God from them. These modern contemporary surface only songs do not compare.  

Matt Boswell

Selah does a fabulous job arranging the hymns. I just found an album by Tommy Walker called Generation Hymns where he has added choruses and even rearranged the melodies. I do
like a hymn with a great chorus added to it, a chorus that doesn't change the focus of the song. I've heard hymns that have been added to that just doesn't make sense.

Matt Boswell has also added to old hymns as well as written new ones. 

I'M LEARNING.... 

I'm learning all kinds of things in History that I had forgotten or that I didn't learn at all. I didn't know all the inventions and great work Ben Franklin achieved (from last week). I certainly have forgotten about the French and Indian War!

I'm also learning that this is a family, not a dictatorship. See the video below. I've been trying to rule in this home without developing relationships. Yeah, that's not right and it hasn't been working; nor have I been demonstrating God's character and love. Ggggrrrrrr.....

A QUOTE TO SHARE
"Rules without relationships lead to rebellion." ~ Josh McDowell

SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK
Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh [and died for us], arm yourselves [like warriors] with the same purpose [being willing to suffer for doing good for what is right and pleasing God], because whoever has suffered in the flesh [being like-minded with Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [having stopped pleasing the world] so that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living for human appetites and desires, but [lives] for the will and purpose of God.
1 Peter 4:1-2 Amplified Bible

Here is the latest hymn I've been learning....

Linking up with Fellowship Fridays