The Electric Company

Remember the public television show from the 70's designed to teach children to read? I used to love it! Now, thanks to DVD box sets, I can enjoy these programs again, and my children can discover and enjoy them too!
My favorite? Easy Reader, of course. Some of the segments are truly "groovy". Josiah is watching an episode now, which is what has prompted this little foray down memory lane.
We have been sick, and it has been hectic around here.
Easter was great! This was Daniel's first. He looked like such a little man. And of course the older boys were handsome as ever.

We had a coffee and pastry bar at church before service to raise money for the school. Yum. It was a great opportunity to chat and connect with friends before coming together to worship.
Worship was amazing, and then we saw a monologue from the perspective of Jesus -- very moving.
After church, we had friends over to help celebrate life in Christ.

It was early to bed Sunday night, as it would be early to rise Monday morning.
And rise early we did. School started Monday after a week off for Spring Break.
I love school. I love teaching and being able to be with my children throughout the day. It certainly keeps me busy though, which is why blogging has slowed down a bit.
Over the break, I learned about lapbooking. Where has that been all my life? I am quite excited about this new (to me) learning opportunity and experience, and I started my students on lapbooks right away.

The Latin students are on Ch. 19 in Latina Christiana I. It's about the constellations, which is perfect for this kind of project.
My Rhetoric students are doing a lapbook on fables.
They will be first attempts.
Hopefully, I will learn more about how to create and use these fun resources in the near future. I think they can be a great learning tool.
After school, Josiah helped Daniel discover bubbles. It's so awesome to watch your child see something for the first time.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. Spring, I think, has finally sprung!

Today was filled with doctor visits and medical tests.
A few weeks ago, at homegroup, Scott talked about the miraculous and asked why we don't expect it in our daily lives.
I thought about that as I drove from doctor to doctor today.
I prayed for Daniel and Isaac and Josiah and Joe.
I remembered that by his stripes we are healed. He died not only to save us (which I believe with all my heart), but to heal us.
Heal us, Jesus.

A Resurrection Life

"And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who lives in you." Romans 8:11 NIV

These are my thoughts as we head into Easter Sunday:
Through the work of Christ on the cross, I am living a Resurrection life.
A life free of the bonds and guilt of sin and the threat of death and hell.
A life promised to eternity.
A life of communion with God through Jesus Christ.
A life indwelt with His Holy Spirit.
A life of healing.
A life of joy and peace.
A life of purpose and passion for His purposes and passions.
And in my not-so-resurrection moments, like when I was frustrated with my children earlier today, there is the possibility and the hope that the very next moment can be, will be one of rising again from death to myself unto life with Him.
I must choose to die to me -- my wants, my dreams, my comforts -- so that I can live in the dream of God.
The resurrection life of God, who raised Jesus, dwelling in me makes it a possibility, a reality.

Today was relaxing.
The boys slept over a friends house (a very rare treat!), so it was quiet this morning. I missed them so much I could hardly stand it.
Finally, they arrived home in a flutter of ruffled excitement, unrolled sleeping bags sweeping behind them as they burst into the house. I was making muffins for the Easter Breakfast fund-raiser, and they piled into the kitchen, wanting to eat the warm, soft muffins steaming and fresh from the oven. They had so many stories to tell.
After a bit, we all went to the church to see how the Easter production was coming along. It is quite powerful, and I am looking forward to seeing the whole thing tomorrow.
When we got home, we played a new game I got for the boys called In A Pickle.
What a fun game. Here are the basics of play:
There are like, a jazillion word cards (320 really) with "nouns of all shapes and sizes" on them.
Each player gets five, and then four cards are laid out N, S, E, W fashion, with a word facing outward.
Players determine if they have a word that is smaller than any of the words in play (which then get played behind the appropriate word card in play) or larger (which then gets played on top of the appropriate word card in play).
The player to lay the fourth card on a "row" creates a "pickle round" in which each player is allowed to trump his/her card with a larger word card.
The effect is something like this:
leftovers
refrigerator
office
New York
You are encouraged to be creative, but another player can challenge your word choice. You can defend it, but in the end, a vote among the other players decides if your word stays or goes.
In the end, the player with the most word rows wins.
Are these instructions clear as mud, yet?
It took us a few "rows" to get the hang of it, but then we got going and we had fun.
Isaac loved it, even though he was losing, which, as a 9 year old boy, is hard for him.
Josiah didn't like it so much because he had difficulty reading some of the words. He ended up helping Dad so as not to become frustrated. His final comment on it, "I liked it a little and I didn't like it a little." There you go.

I thought it was a great game; fun and challenging. You really have to think about where to put your words.
Joe won.
We had some frozen pizzas for dinner, and after baths, we dyed and decorated some eggs to share with family and friends tomorrow.



Daniel has been into everything all day, and looks like he's been caught "red-handed"!

This one's from yesterday. I couldn't resist. Sportin' that squash 'stache!

Now I must make my way to the kitchen to clean up the cups with the multi-colored dyes in them.
"Where is the resurrection life in that?" one may ask.
"All our acts have sacramental possibilities." (Freya Stark)
Everything we do, including cleaning the kitchen, may be done with purpose and joy, in servanthood, laying our lives down for our families, our friends, the kingdom. The common made holy through dying to ourselves daily so we can rise with Him in the power of the resurrected Christ.
I love this song, and found this video on YouTube. I think it says what I am trying to, only better. Enjoy.


Happy Easter, everyone.

Agnus Dei . . .

qui tollis peccata mundi.
We learned this in Latin a few weeks ago.
It means, "Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world."
I have been thinking about this a lot lately, as I meditate on the coming Easter weekend, and what it means to me.
I was reading some of C.H. Spurgeon's sermons, and I came across this passage from a message he preached on Oct. 8, 1893.
I would like to share it with you.

What did John mean by saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God?" In the Latin, ecce, is a note of admiration, of wonderment, of exclamation. "Behold the Lamb of God!" There was nothing of greater wonder ever seen than that God Himself should provide the Lamb for the burnt offering, that He should provide His only Son out of His very bosom, that He should give the delight of His heart to die for us. Well may we behold this great wonder. Angels admire and marvel at this mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh; they have never left off wondering and adoring the grace of god that gave Jesus to be the Sacrifice for guilty men. Behold and wonder, never leave off wondering; tell it as a wonder, think of it as a wonder, sing of it as a wonder at this glorious Lamb of God.