Of course, in all the fun and excitement of planning a course of education and remembering how fun it is to learn and how many cool things there are to learn, my prayer is that I will not lose sight of the real purpose behind it all. Matt and I listened to some comments by C. J. Mahaney this weekend about family and the church, and one point he made stuck out to me in the midst of school stuff...we are preparing our children for eternity. Math and reading and science and history, homemaking and exercise, everything else is useless and meaningless to our children if they do not get the reason behind it all, the purpose for learning all of these things, the One who created all of these things and holds them together and makes them work...they need to be prepared for eternity, not just to live and work and function on this earth. Education is important, but it is because it shows us multiple facets of our Creator, it points us to Him in His glory, His beauty, His otherness; it reminds us that we are but human and cannot know anything fully, but it also reminds us that He is God and can be known BY US! I want my purpose to be that of the Apostle Paul, who says:
"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Col. 2:2-3)
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me." (Col. 1:28-29)
And the encouragement is that it is His energy that will work in us! So, you will know how to pray for us this school year! And we certainly appreciate your prayers!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Thoughts on School
And the encouragement is that it is His energy that will work in us! So, you will know how to pray for us this school year! And we certainly appreciate your prayers!
Of course, in all the fun and excitement of planning a course of education and remembering how fun it is to learn and how many cool things there are to learn, my prayer is that I will not lose sight of the real purpose behind it all. Matt and I listened to some comments by C. J. Mahaney this weekend about family and the church, and one point he made stuck out to me in the midst of school stuff...we are preparing our children for eternity. Math and reading and science and history, homemaking and exercise, everything else is useless and meaningless to our children if they do not get the reason behind it all, the purpose for learning all of these things, the One who created all of these things and holds them together and makes them work...they need to be prepared for eternity, not just to live and work and function on this earth. Education is important, but it is because it shows us multiple facets of our Creator, it points us to Him in His glory, His beauty, His otherness; it reminds us that we are but human and cannot know anything fully, but it also reminds us that He is God and can be known BY US! I want my purpose to be that of the Apostle Paul, who says:
"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:2-3)
"We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me." (Col. 1:28-29)
Of course, in all the fun and excitement of planning a course of education and remembering how fun it is to learn and how many cool things there are to learn, my prayer is that I will not lose sight of the real purpose behind it all. Matt and I listened to some comments by C. J. Mahaney this weekend about family and the church, and one point he made stuck out to me in the midst of school stuff...we are preparing our children for eternity. Math and reading and science and history, homemaking and exercise, everything else is useless and meaningless to our children if they do not get the reason behind it all, the purpose for learning all of these things, the One who created all of these things and holds them together and makes them work...they need to be prepared for eternity, not just to live and work and function on this earth. Education is important, but it is because it shows us multiple facets of our Creator, it points us to Him in His glory, His beauty, His otherness; it reminds us that we are but human and cannot know anything fully, but it also reminds us that He is God and can be known BY US! I want my purpose to be that of the Apostle Paul, who says:
"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:2-3)
"We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me." (Col. 1:28-29)
First Day of School!!!
Well, our long-awaited, much-anticipated first day of school was today! Katy is officially kindergarten age now, and Darsie is doing K-4 stuff. We resumed our chore charts this morning after a summer hiatus (unintentional), so we actually have all of our beds made up and the dining room table and floor are clean!
The day started after devotions with hurrying to get their hair done and teeth brushed so that we wouldn't be late in meeting the school bus at the curb. Then, we hustled outside and stood at the street watching for the bus. Sure enough, there was bus-driver Jim-Bob coming down the street. He gave the girls the usual "no standing, hands to yourself, keep your voices down" speech, and then they were off with big grins on their faces. After several more stops (funny how all of the other children missed the bus this morning!), bus-Driver Jim-Bob remembered that he had forgotten to eat his breakfast and begged pardon as he made one more impromptu stop. We then headed on to school and were dropped off at the curb. Once inside our classroom, we enjoyed a nice "first-day-of-school" snack of donuts (hence the earlier stop!).
Principal Matt then introduced himself and prayed for our school year. The girls observed that he and bus-driver Jim-Bob bore strange similarities to each other, the only difference actually being that Principal Matt didn't have on the too-small baseball cap that bus-driver Jim-Bob had worn.
We then began our day with chore training, then on to math, letters, reading together, learning about the first clothes and making mammoth tusk necklaces (who knew you could buy mammoth tusks??!!), then charting our trip from Philly to Sarasota, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Athens, Greenville and home on our wall maps upstairs. (Forgot PE, didn't get to other things today, oh well...)
After all of that, the real fun began for the girls (school was over for the day!). Because they have so many stuffed animals and dolls, we had filled two bins to put in the basement and let them each pick out 10 to keep upstairs. Well, today was the first day I actually remembered to let them re-pick out their toys. So, we brought all of their animals and dolls downstairs and the bins upstairs from the basement. You would have thought it was the greatest reunion ever, with the girls runnning to me with each new "friend" that they had rediscovered. They were having so much fun that we decided that today they could keep ALL of the toys out until time to clean up. So, they have planned the biggest party ever, a fun school day for the kids, a tea party and who knows what else....Here's the picture...
The day started after devotions with hurrying to get their hair done and teeth brushed so that we wouldn't be late in meeting the school bus at the curb. Then, we hustled outside and stood at the street watching for the bus. Sure enough, there was bus-driver Jim-Bob coming down the street. He gave the girls the usual "no standing, hands to yourself, keep your voices down" speech, and then they were off with big grins on their faces. After several more stops (funny how all of the other children missed the bus this morning!), bus-Driver Jim-Bob remembered that he had forgotten to eat his breakfast and begged pardon as he made one more impromptu stop. We then headed on to school and were dropped off at the curb. Once inside our classroom, we enjoyed a nice "first-day-of-school" snack of donuts (hence the earlier stop!).
Principal Matt then introduced himself and prayed for our school year. The girls observed that he and bus-driver Jim-Bob bore strange similarities to each other, the only difference actually being that Principal Matt didn't have on the too-small baseball cap that bus-driver Jim-Bob had worn.
We then began our day with chore training, then on to math, letters, reading together, learning about the first clothes and making mammoth tusk necklaces (who knew you could buy mammoth tusks??!!), then charting our trip from Philly to Sarasota, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Athens, Greenville and home on our wall maps upstairs. (Forgot PE, didn't get to other things today, oh well...)
After all of that, the real fun began for the girls (school was over for the day!). Because they have so many stuffed animals and dolls, we had filled two bins to put in the basement and let them each pick out 10 to keep upstairs. Well, today was the first day I actually remembered to let them re-pick out their toys. So, we brought all of their animals and dolls downstairs and the bins upstairs from the basement. You would have thought it was the greatest reunion ever, with the girls runnning to me with each new "friend" that they had rediscovered. They were having so much fun that we decided that today they could keep ALL of the toys out until time to clean up. So, they have planned the biggest party ever, a fun school day for the kids, a tea party and who knows what else....Here's the picture...
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Swimming Lessons Were Worth It!
On to Ponte Vedra Beach in Jacksonville with my Grandmother. This is the water slide at the beach, and Darsie did nothing else the whole time that we were at the pool than slide, over and over and over again!
I still cannot believe that, three weeks ago, they had to stay at the steps in the pool or use floaters and now they can swim all over. Katy swam the whole length of my grandmother's pool yesterday with her face in the water (almost under water) saying that she was a mermaid. Darsie can jump in the deep end and swim to the steps! Amazing!
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