Happy 500th Birthday John Calvin!

Tonight we celebrated John Calvin's birthday at a small Presbyterian church in Lancaster with friends from several different churches. Of course there was birthday cake - complete with a picture of John Calvin himself in the icing! The children played "Pin the beard on the Theologian" and colored pictures from the "C is for Calvin" page in the soon to be published book called "Church History ABC's" written by Steve Nichols and illustrated by Ned Bustard. Look for the book in bookstores soon! We know these men and are very excited about their project! It will be a wonderful book for children to introduce them to people and events in church history.

The evening also included art work and music in honor of the life of John Calvin and in praise and glory to God. We all sang a hymn written by Calvin from the Geneva Psalter called "I Greet Thee, Who my Sure Redeemer Art." This hymn speaks of the sweet grace found in Christ. I love the first and fourth stanzas best:

"I greet thee,

Who my sure Redeemer art,

My only trust and Savior of my heart,

Who pain didst undergo for my poor sake;

I pray thee from our hearts all cares to take.

"Thou has the true and perfect gentleness,

No harshness has thou and no bitterness:

Make us to taste the sweet grace found in Thee

And ever stay in thy sweet unity."

Summer Days

We love summer! It is a busy season, but it is by far the best time of the year! Our days are often full of spontaneous fun times, lazy moments spent with a book, sleeping in late, going on picnics... So much to do, but it's all good!

Here are some pictures of our summer so far. We already know the high-light of our summer! Seeing my cousin Brian.

We were so happy to see him after he was released from jail after his terrible ordeal. He and his younger brother, my cousin Jacob, came up here to visit us for a weekend. Here is Jacob, my mom, Brian and me. Don't we look happy?!! God answered our prayers in such an amazing way - so suddenly at an unexpected time. I felt like Rhoda in the book of Acts when I got the phone call that Brian was released!

Our vacation in the Adirondacks of New York was very relaxing and we really enjoyed our family time. We stayed with Mark's parents and had a great time visiting with Mark's sisters and their families. The cousins don't see each other more than once a year so those times are precious. Lots of time was spent out on the back porch - what a beautiful view they have!

This beautiful rainbow picture was taken from their back porch!

Joel and Ivy with cousin Jaime and Uncle Chad out on the porch
Jaden with his cousin Jonathan

We also visited some educational sites like all respectable homeschooling families would do! We've always wanted to go to Fort Ticonderoga and this year marked the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War so it was the perfect time to be there. We'll be studying colonial America in school this coming year so this field trip was a great introduction to the year!

Jaden thought the fife and drums corps were pirates!

Ivy would have been tall enough to join the Continental Army!

We also visited the beautiful King's Gardens

Jaden loved the school's playground near Nana and Grandpa's house. He even found a snake there in the grass!
Joel spent lots of time playing tennis with Mark and Uncle Chad and the cousins.

Here are some other pictures of our summer closer to home.

We love to go to Long's Park

We had a picnic lunch

The petting zoo was open that day so we were able to see the animals up close



Mark's big summer project has been re-doing our shed. He took off the old roof and put on a new one.




Now that the roof is replaced, he will replace the doors and paint the shed so it will look as good as new soon. My wonderful husband is always working hard for us! I am so thankful that he knows how to do everything - he's amazing!

Happy Summer everyone!

Sometimes I crack myself up!

Today I was reading forum posts at the Tapestry of Grace website and I read a post about planning for the year and setting up student notebooks. I really liked that post and thought how similar that was to how I set up our notebooks! What a kindred spirit! Then imagine my surprise when I read that she has children similar in ages to my children with the same unique spacing between the children!!! I was excited about that - there is someone else out there with the same family dynamics with a big age gap! Then I looked at the name of the poster, and it was ME!!!! I wrote that post a year ago!!! I am SOOOO glad that I didn't make a comment to it and really embarrass myself!!!!

Organizing our school

It's the time of year that I clean out all the files of the past year and re-organize in preparation for a new start. Yesterday, I spent the entire day working in the homeschool closet! But the results were worth it and I feel much better now that the job is done! I have two file cabinets in there - a drawer for each of teh following: homeschool subjects, family stuff, church things, and homeschool co-ops. On top of the file cabinets, I have racks of files for easy access for Joel and Ivy to put their papers in during the week. Some of these papers will later go into their portfolios. In this closet, we also have drawers of markers, pencils, color books for Jaden, art supplies, etc. The top part of the closet holds all our videos. We keep a ton of stuff in there!!!



Then I moved to the rest of the school room/family room. I tidied up the book shelves,and got my TOG volumes back in order. I emptied the student notebooks and made sure that all extra copied pages were put back in the right places in the volumes so that it is all ready for us in 4 more years! Looking at the space that my printed editions of Year 1 take on the shelves, I'm thankful that I will be using the digital edition for Year 2!!!



After everything was organized and cleaned out, moved to the next task: preparing for the upcoming school year. I love the customized booklist at Lampstand Press for my TOG books. I printed out a list of all the upper grammar and dialectic books I will need for our Year 2. Then I checked off any books we already own - always happy to see I own a few of them! Next, I went to the library site where I searched for all the books. I was very excited to find that the majority of the books we will need are in our library system. A few other books can be found in our church's library. Some of the books that are not in the library can be subsituted with other books from the "alternate" list that TOG provides. Several of those alternate books are in the library and will work for us. That only leaves us with needing to spend about $180 on additional books to use with TOG for next year. Not bad!

I printed the reading assignment pages (pages 4&5) from each week in Unit 1 to put in my binder. I really like having a printed copy of those lists so I can take them with me to the library or whatever. I also printed out the Lampstand list that includes the prices. Many times they offer the books at the same price or cheaper than Amazon, but I always compare to get the lowest price. I pencil in Amazon price lists in there too to help me compare and price everything before I order.

After I recieve the books I order, I will put a color coded sticker on the spines to help me locate them quickly and easily on the shelves. Last year, was Red, for Year 1. Books for this year will be labeled with a yellow sticker. I also write on the sticker what units the book will be used for.

Amazingly, I am very excited about the digital edition of Tapestry. I really, really like it! I love the freedom to print out what I need and never have to worry about it. No more need for page protectors! There are many things about the digital edition that are very convenient and I am having fun exploring it all! There is always a sense of excitement about the year ahead and I can hardly wait to dive in again! And Year 2, I think, will be my favorite year - I love it already!

Bowling for free!

Perhaps you have already heard of the Kids Bowl Free program, but if not, here it goes! If you would like to have your kids bowl for free all summer (up to 2 free games every day), go to http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/ and sign them up! There are participating bowling alleys all over the country. You can even get a family membership for all your kids and up to four adults for a small fee. We did that so that we could all join in the fun - even Grandma! We do have to pay for the shoe rental, but the games are free.

Music Camp

Every two years, our church conducts a Music Camp for children. This year, the theme was "Music for All Seasons" and the focus was on music through the liturgical year.... Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Asension, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time. For two very full days, the children had classes in which they learned about the significance of all of these special times and also some hands-on interaction with instruments, along with much singing! This was a pretty intense two days of music. Ivy really enjoyed it and she came home with the desire to join the handbell choir in the fall! She also loved learning more about the organ and watching a video that showed the inside of a huge pipe organ. All the children from Music Camp sang an arrangement of representative hymns from the liturgical year in church for the morning worship services yesterday. It was beautiful and also truly amazing how much music the children could learn in two days!

All the children had several sessions in the choir room singing together.

Sing Sing Sing!

Ivy really enjoyed playing the handbells.

Here are some of the children practicing in the sanctuary - this was practice for the 11:00 worship service choir. Ivy also did the 8:00 worship service too!

Portfolios and Evaluation Completed

The books are officially closed on another year of school! The portfolios are ready to be delivered to our school district today. They are huge volumes, weighing about 8 pounds each and containing a record of our school year. Inside are the daily entries of all our days of school, lists of books, pictures, field trips, special events, projects, drawings, subject summaries, samples of work, awards, service projects, and on and on! I love having this wonderful record of all we have done. I remember early on in my homeschooling career, begrudging the requirement of the portfolios! But now, as I have just completed our ninth portfolio, I am very thankful that I have these precious volumes. Our children do enjoy looking back through them over the years and remembering special times in their lives. They are like keepsake scrapbooks and they give us the opportunity to see in a very visible and tangible way the progress they have made in their learning.

Our evaluation was Wednesday morning and today is the due date for the portfolios for our township. In a few weeks, I will get a phone call when it is time to pick them up at the school and add them to our shelf in our school room. When I retire from homeschooling, we will have 31 of these on our shelves! (Yes, I plan on keeping them all!)

Today, I already started taking pictures for next year's portfolios! Ivy is at Music Camp today! She already has started her schooling for next year : )

PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!! BRIAN IS COMING HOME!!!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for all who have prayed on behalf of my cousin Brian! And praise be to God who has answered our prayers!!!! Our heavenly Father has heard our prayers and our cries and He has done this, in His perfect time. All charges against my cousin Brian have been dropped and he is being released today!!!! Praise God!!!! Thank you Lord!!!!

Tapestry of Grace

When our Year 2 Digital Edition Bonus Bundle arrived in the mail, I was so excited! It was quite a different package from last year's large bundles of printed material! I think I will really like the digital edition and the space saving aspect of it especially. I'm also happy that if something happens to the disk, it can easily and inexpensively be replaced without a problem.

Lampstand Press, the company that produces Tapestry of Grace is a wonderful company to do business with! Along with my Bonus Bundle, I ordered the Writing Aids. As I was looking through my book, I noticed that there was a printing error. I wrote to them yesterday telling about the problem with my book and my new copy will be on my doorstep today! The misprinted book is mine to keep as a back-up or to give away to someone who could use it. How nice is that!

I also want to let everyone know that I have become a Tapestry of Grace affiliate, which means that if you order Tapestry of Grace after clicking on the Tapestry of Grace from my blog, I will get some credit for the sale. Or you can order by phone or mail and give them my affilliate user's name which is "toggers3" or mentioning this blog site. Thank you!

Tapestry of Grace has been a blessing for our family. It is the kind of curriculum I would have loved to have written if I had had the time and ability to put it all together! I pray for God's blessings on the Somervilles and Lampstand Press that they will be able to produce Tapestry of Grace for homeschooling families for many years to come. I had never really known about TOG until last year when a friend shared with me about what she used with her family. After looking at the website and printing out the free samples available on the site, I knew very quickly that it was just what we needed. After using it for a year, I love it even more! So if you are considering it for your family, visit the website by clicking on my link and explore! I think you will really like what you see!

Tapestry of Grace/Digital Edition: Year 1
Tapestry of Grace/Digital Edition: Year 2
Tapestry of Grace/Digital Edition: Year 3

Portfolios....Evaluations....Objectives.....!!!

School is over, but my work continues on as a homeschool mom in PA! This is a busy month as I prepare Joel's and Ivy's portfolios of the year. Thankfully, I have finished Joel's and now I begin to work on Ivy's. These are huge notebooks packed with the daily log of everything we've done and samples of all the work they've done for each subject during the year in school. Also included are many pictures, momentos, and other projects. I like to write a summary for each subject and of course, there are long lists of all the books we have used this year. These portfolios are precious keepsakes of their year and so far, we have eight of these on our shelves! By the time I'm done homeschooling, we'll have 28 huge portfolios in our house!!!

After the portfolios are completed, we have an evaluation with our evaluator, a school teacher who has graduated her own homeschooled children. She will look over their portfolios and talk to Joel and Ivy about their year and answer any questions I may have. She is a great resource of information about homeschooling through high school! Even though I am a certified teacher, I comply with this part of the homeschooling law because it gives added accountability and support. Also I love the feeling of accomplishment after putting those portfolios together!!!

Then I must write out the objectives for each of our children for all subject areas for next year and send that along with a notarized affidavit of our plan to homeschool and turn in the portfolios to the school district. There are many homeschool families in our school district so the portfolios really pile up in the office! After a couple of days, we may go and pick up our portfolios. I always wonder if they even look at them all!

Along with all the paperwork and the preparation of the portfolios, June is a busy time for us choosing and ordering our curriculum for next year. That's the fun part! I am very happy with Tapestry of Grace - we really learned so much last year! So this year, we will be doing Year 2, digital edition! Using the digital edition will be different for us, but I think I will like it. I also ordered Writing Aids and look forward to using that this year for the first time. We did the Bonus Bundle so we'll have the Map Aids again and the first unit Lapbook for Ivy. Year 2 covers the time after the fall of Rome right up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence! We'll be studying the Rennaisance, Reformation and Colonial America - all very interesting! I am so excited! And best of all, most of the books we need are at the library so there are very few that I will have to purchase this year!

For Math, we will be continuing where we left off in their Math-U-See books. And we will order new Language Lessons books from Queen Homeschool Supply. We love those! For science, Joel is going to complete his General Science book from Apologia He did half the book this year because Future City Engineering fulfilled half of his science requirement for the year. Ivy will be doing the Zoology book and she's excited about that.

We've decided to drop our Monday morning Homeschool group for next year. We loved that group and the classes were fantastic! However, it was too much for us to be involved with two groups. We'll continue the Thursday afternoon Hempfield Homeschool Group that we have been a part of for almost 8 years. I will be teaching classes there in the fall and spring semesters next year.

There is much to look forward to for next year and great memories to look back on from the year just completed. I love homeschooling! Soon, I will enjoy a nice break from it all and savor the summer. Oh I love that too!

A special day

It was such a joy for us to witness our son Joel being baptized yesterday morning and welcomed into membership at our church! We are so thankful beyond words for God's grace evident in his young life and to see his love for the Lord. He took the communicant members' class for the past 12 weeks, along with other young teens to study and understand the doctrines of the faith. There were several members of the youth group who stood together yesterday confirming their faith in Jesus. Joel was one of two who were baptized in that service, kneeling down and having the water poured onto their heads from the hand of our youth pastor. What a beautiful and meaningful service it was to us as his parents. Praise God for His wonderful saving grace!

Last night was also a special time for us. We went back to our former church to attend the commissioning service for our dear friends who are leaving for Bolivia next month with New Tribes Mission. It was a special time to share with them as they prepare to leave for this new chapter of ministry in their lives. We also were so happy to see many old friends there who we haven't seen in a couple of years. Even though God has led us to a different church, our friendships there are very sweet and precious to us.

So this morning, I am rejoicing and treasuring the blessings of God! How wonderful it is to be part of His family!

J.A.M. (junior-high adventures in ministry)

Our son Joel along with other junior highers and youth leaders from our church spent the weekend at Philadelphia Biblical University to participate in ministry to inner city kids. Approximately 200 kids came for Kids Day on Saturday. The "jammers" were each paired with a child for the day and had one-on-one time to present the gospel with him or her. 37 children accepted Jesus as their Savior! Please pray for the children that were there and that they would continue to grow in their faith. Joel's buddy accepted Christ three weeks prior so he was able to encourage him in his walk with the Lord and to share with others about Jesus. Here are some pictures of Joel and others from his team on the trip.

A picture of forgiveness

I just have to share what I learned in Sunday School yesterday! In a previous post, I wrote about forgiveness after reading the book Amish Grace. God is still teaching me more on this subject! Yesterday, in Sunday School, I learned for the very first time the significance of the items in the ark of the covenant and how that was a picture of God's forgiveness through the covering of Christ's blood.

Hebrews 9:4 mentions the items in the ark of the covenant: the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Have you ever wondered why those items were chosen?

This past year, in our Tapestry of Grace Year 1, my children and I learned about the ark of the covenant. Yet I never thought deeply about the contents! First,the jar of manna... God's provision for a complaining and grumbling people. It was the perfect food for them, yet they were discontent. Aaron's staff that budded....Numbers 17 tells the story about Aaron's budding staff. God had told Moses to get twelve staffs, on from each tribe. The staff belonging to the man He chose would sprout to "rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites" said the Lord. The next day, they saw that Aaron's staff had sprouted, budded, blossomed and produced almonds! Numbers 17:10 says, "The Lord said to Moses, 'Put back Aaron's staff in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign to the rebelious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.'" This was a picture of God's loving heart acting in mercy to His people to keep them from sinning with their grumbling. And lastly, the stone tablets.... Dueteronomy 10 tells us about these tablets. They were not the original ones - those were broken when Moses threw them down after seeing the people with their golden calf. God replaced the tablets and they were to be put in the ark.

Each of these items illustrate sin against God by His people. Yet, they each also show God's mercy and grace. The provision of manna, the guarding from sin, the replacement of the tablets help us to see His love despite the failures. These items, reminding the people of their sin were hidden inside the ark of the covenant.

Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would come and sprinkle blood on the lid of the ark with a branch from the hyssop plant. The ark represented the sins of the people and the sacrificial blood was to purify from sin. David wrote in Psalm 51 verse 7 "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." The fulfillment of this was later when Jesus offered His blood for our sins. What a loving, forgiving and gracious God we have! He never overlooks our sin, yet He provides a way for us to be made clean and forgiven.

This picture of God's forgiveness in the ark was a whole new concept for me. I thought it was just too good and exciting to not write about! I hope it was a blessing for you as well.

Apologia elementary science journals contest

It is the time of year that I start planning and purchasing for next year's schooling. I'm getting really excited and look forward to ordering our new books and materials! I was just reading Kelli's blog at www.thelandofboys.blogspot.com about a new contest to win a notebook journal for Apologia's elementary Botany or Astronomy books!! We have used the Botany book this past year and have loved it. The new notebooks to go with the text books look fantastic!! This contest is over May 29 - so enter right away if you are interested. Here is all the info.

Apologia is now producing notebooking journals that accompany each of the elementary science books. Both Botany and Astronomy are now available.
These journals are beautiful spiral bound notebooks that will save you time and money. You won't have to print and keep up with your child's notebook pages, buy and maintain page protectors, or purchase and compile binders...everything that makes notebooking time-consuming and labor intensive for mom. Also, your child will adore having their own notebooking journal.

Each of the notebooking journals include:
A daily schedule for those who like to have a plan or would like their children to complete the book on their own
Templates for written narrations, the notebooking activities and experiments
Review Questions
Scripture Copywork, with both print and cursive practice
Reading lists and additional activities, projects, experiments for each lesson
An appendix with beautiful, full-color, lapbook-style Miniature Books
Field Trip Sheets to keep a record field trips
A Final Review with fifty questions the students can answer either orally or in writing to show off all they remember and know at the end of the course.
See the sample pages here:


Botany: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=128


and


Astronomy: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=127


Jeannie is giving away four Astronomy Notebooking Journals and four Botany Notebooking Journals to bloggers who post about this on their site. Visit her blog to learn more about this contest: www.jeanniesjournal.com

All the Last Times

At bedtime on Sunday night, I gave Jaden a kiss and put him in his crib to sleep. Just like hundreds of nights before. What I didn't know is this: it was the last time I would ever put my child to bed in a crib!

Granted, he is nearly 3 and a half years old. Our other two children were out of the crib before his age and into big beds by age 3. We knew we really should be getting a big bed for Jaden, but we didn't feel rushed. I had slept in a crib at three years old - I still remember it! But Jaden is already 3 feet 3 inches tall and the crib was starting to get cramped. So when I was walking around the neighborhood yesterday at all the yard sales (it's an annual thing here on Memorial Day) and I spotted the perfect bed for Jaden, we bought it!

Mark went to work taking the crib apart and assembling the new bed in his room. It is a very nice bed - big storage drawers underneath for all his toys, a bookcase headboard. Just right for his little room! But seeing the crib dismantled and ready to be put into storage made me have a strange little lump in my throat. Good-bye crib!!! That piece of furniture and that stage of life has passed for us now.

Then I began to think about all the other things that I unknowingly did for the last time - all those times that passed un-noticed and unaware. All the first things are celebrated and recorded - first smile, first teeth, first steps... But the last things slip away silently and it is not until afterward that we notice they are gone......Like the last time I ever carried Joel in my arms. There was a last time, but who knows when that was? The last time I ever washed his hair... gave him a bath... helped him brush his teeth... wiped his nose...put him on time-out... walked him in a stroller... exchanged Eskimo kisses... buckled his seat belt? All those times have long passed. I never knew when I did any of those things for the last time.

When was the last time that I did all those things for Ivy? Rocked her to sleep... Held her on my hip... Fed her in the high chair... Kissed to make it better... Sprayed "No More Tangles" spray in her hair... Held her hand as we crossed the street... Let her stand on a chair in the kitchen so she could help stir... Played "hide and seek" with her? All those last times have all happened and I didn't know at those times it was the very last time!

One of the advantages of having a baby again after the other children were older is that I've realized more and more how quickly the stages pass. I've learned to treasure those moments along the way, all the "ordinary" times that later are looked at as being so tender and sweet in the memories. I've also experienced the blessings of having older kids and know that I have much to look forward to with Jaden!

Here are some pictures of some of those things that passed by seemingly unnoticed:

Holding Joel in my arms

Changing Joel's diapers on the table

Making Joel laugh with his favorite cow puppet

Joel riding horsey with Daddy

Our little family of four with toddler Joel and baby Ivy

Carrying Ivy in the sling

Mealtimes holding Ivy and Joel in the high chair

Giving Ivy a bath on the table

Ivy wearing an Easter bonnet!

Ivy snuggling up on Daddy's lap

Joel wearing a Cowboy hat and boots

OK - you get the idea! I could add about a hundred more pictures illustrating these things that passed by so quickly, but I'll stop here. Instead of grieving the passing of those things, I will embrace the moments today and look forward to the future memories that we will make!

Our busy month!

For our family, May is the busiest month of the year! I have been so busy that I haven't been able to keep up with this blog very well, although there have been so many, many things I have wanted to write about!

This month included choir concerts, a wonderful Mother-Daughter weekend retreat, Mother's Day with my mom, and my mom's birthday, Track and Field Day, our anniversary, visits from friends, Mark's parents visiting from New York, my Dad and his wife visiting from Arizona, yard sales at our house, several dentist apointments, completing the painting of the kitchen, putting away Jaden's crib and getting him a "Big Boy Bed" and next weekend will be Joel's missions trip to Philadelphia!

These are some pictures from this month.


Jaden loved helping Daddy and Ivy plant the flowers this year!

Ivy and I had lots of fun on the Mother-Daughter retreat! Here she is with some friends in the rowboat. Later, Ivy and I went out on the canoe together. We had beautiful weather and a great time.

We ate s'mores after roasting marshmallows over the fire in the lodge.

We went on a sunrise hike - a very early morning, but it was nice.

My beautiful daughter

Grandma reading stories to Jaden on Mother's Day

Mark cooked lunch for us on Mother's Day. He grilled chicken and made everything to go with it too! Yum!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Jaden loves to help me make pancakes on Saturday mornings! I also wanted to show the kitchen door before it was painted.

Ivy found baby bunnies in the backyard. She kept them for a little while, thinking she and her friends could "adopt" them. They had them up in the clubhouse, fed them milk from an eye dropper and named them all - until I found out about it and insisted they be taken back to their nest and their mama!!!! Thankfully everything worked out well and the mama rabbit was happy to see them again.

Pictures of our completed kitchen! Everything painted, new floor, new ceiling, new tile board, new trim, crown moulding, etc. I love it! Thank you Mark!

My Dad and his wife Ginny from Arizona.
Daddy reading Jaden some Bible stories before bed - on his brand new bed!
Jaden's first time going to sleep in a big boy bed!!!! He told me he thought it was very nice, but he liked his crib better! Silly boy!

Differing perspectives on forgiveness

October 2, 2006 was a beautiful sunny Monday. I remember turning on the radio as I began to prepare lunch that day and heard the report of a stand-off at an Amish school. There are numerous Amish schools in Lancaster County, one less than five minutes from our house. Immediately I turned on the tv for more information. Quickly the news spread that the Amish school in Nickel Mines was the scene of a horrible tragedy after a gunman walked in and shot 10 little Amish girls leaving five dead and five seriously wounded and then killed himself. I gathered my children close to me and we prayed. We felt so very, very sad. Who could have done such an evil thing? Why would anyone want to kill sweet young children? A school shooting in an Amish school was unthinkable before that day.

It wasn't very long until the killer was identified. That brought more shock and more unanswered questions. He was a quiet man with no criminal history, no understood motive beyond the fact that he had bitterness in his heart to God because of the death of his baby girl nine years before. He was from a Christian family, was homeschooled growing up, had a good wife and children. And we shared a connection with his parents that I will not specify here, but it made the news a little bit more personal and tragic.

Perhaps the biggest story in the aftermath of the tragedy was the forgiveness demonstrated by the Amish. Even though the murderer of their children was dead, they forgave him in their hearts, choosing not to hold on to bitterness. They extended kindness and compassion to his family. Many news stories circulated with interviews, telling of acts of kindness, care, reconciliation..... it was truly inspiring and miraculous.

I have been reading the book, Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy by Donald B. Kraybill, Steven Nolt, and David Weaver-Zercher. This book has been very interesting and has given me an even greater understanding of the theology the Amish embrace. I deeply respect and admire the Amish in their reactions to the unthinkable tragedy they suffered. My heart hurts thinking of the pain they experienced and still continue to live through.

Their theology, however, is deeply rooted in trying to gain God's favor through their good deeds, including forgiving others. The Amish believe that if they do not forgive, they will not be forgiven, using the Matthew 6:14-15 ("....For if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.") And the Lord's Prayer includes "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." By forgiving others, they can rest easier knowing that they will be forgiven and perhaps receive eternal life in heaven one day. The thought of not forgiving someone brings terror into their hearts because they believe they would be in danger of hell.

Generally, Protestants hold to a radically different perspective and motivation for forgiveness. We forgive because God forgave us. Not with the uncertain kind of hope that maybe He will forgive us IF we forgive. Rather beacause we have been forgiven, His grace makes it possible for us to forgive others. Our motivation is one of gratitude for the forgiveness we have already received. Ephesians 4:32 and 5:1 instructs us to be "forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." We are to be imitators of God, as His dearly loved children. So forgiveness is an outpouring of the forgiveness and grace we received from God in Christ. It all originates with God! We cannot gain God's favor by our good works, or our forgiveness of others. Without His forgiveness and grace, we were dead in sin, unable to save ourselves. No amount of good deeds could make us right with God! Isaiah 64:6 says, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." Titus 3:5 says, "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy." We know that we have eternal life, not because of anything we have done, not because of good deeds or forgiving others... but because we have been saved by grace (Eph. 2:8-9).

These two different perspectives and motivations for forgiveness have been on my mind for the last two weeks. And God used this in His wonderful wisdom to prepare me for the lesson I was given to substitute teach the fifth and sixth grade girls' Sunday School Class today! I was asked to teach an overview of the books of Titus and Philemon to the class with the emphasis on forgiveness! How appropriate was the timing!

Our anniversary

Today Mark and I celebrate 18 years of marriage! We were so very young - Mark was 22 and I was only 20! Over the years, our love has deepened and grown with the passing of time and so many life experiences together. Our life together has had bumps and surprises, twists and turns, but what a wonderful ride it has been! I am so thankful for our marriage that has only grown sweeter over the years. It is a blessing and joy to be Mark's wife! In honor of the day, I thought I would share some pictures from our wedding day - May 18, 1991 at Faith Bible Church in Sterling, VA.

Running at a very fast pace!

I guess you can tell I've been busy! This has been the longest break in the blog so far! This is the season of the year that our family seems to run at a very fast pace. And speaking of running and fast paces - today was the annual Track and Field Day for Hempfield Homeschoolers! Ivy participated in 7 events - tire run, obstacle course, hurdles, long jump, high jump, softball throw and soccer kick. She had a blast and won a few second and third place ribbons! I was the guide for the 11 year olds so I got to record the times and help with the ribbons. Joel was too old to participate this year so he helped with the 100 yard dash - timed the races. Afterwards, we all enjoyed a picnic lunch and brought some friends of Joel and Ivy home for the rest of the day! They played a long game of Life and ate lots of pizza.

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter weekend celebrating our risen Savior!

Saturday was a day of final preparations for the holiday, shopping, meal preparation and a favorite activity for our kids - coloring the eggs! Jaden thoroughly enjoyed this. Somehow I was the one who had the most stained fingers!

Sunday morning was absolutely beautiful. We all went to church for the early service since Mark was singing in the combined choirs for both services. During the second service, I had to serve in the two year old nursery. I love serving in there, however I was sad that I would have to miss Mark's solo - he was singing his song in the 11:00 service only. I didn't mention this to anyone. But God allowed a wonderful blessing to me through a sweet older woman. She came to the nursery where I was and asked if she could replace me while I went to listen to Mark sing his solo! What a sweet, thoughtful thing she did for me! And we barely know each other and I still have no idea how she knew I was in the nursery and would love to hear Mark sing! So just in time, I was able to slip into the back of the sanctuary and hear Mark sing his song. He sang it beautifully - "Love Crucified, Arose," an old favorite song by Michael Card.

This was the prayer that we recited on Sunday morning:

"Father of Glory, we continue praising you for raising your Son from the dead. This miracle was all your doing! Now we seek the life-giving consequences of his new life in ourselves. Establish our assurance that the blood of Christ cleanses us completely. Fortify our hope in time of death, of a resurrection body one day.

Grant us, O God, faith to live upon the wealth of our eternal fortune, not the crumbs of temporary possessions. Banish fears and discouragement that overtake us even in the midst of worship. Renew our hope in Christ's next great appearing: Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen."

A "new" old hymn

Last night at the Holy Thursday service at our church, we sang this old hymn written by Johann Heermann, 1630. I had never heard it before, but found it to be both beautiful and theologically rich. This morning, I read again the words as I reflected on Christ's suffering and death.

Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended

Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended,
That man to judge thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided by thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.

Who was the guilty who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee.
Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee;
I crucified thee.

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered:
For man's atonement, while he nothing heedeth,
God interceedeth.

For me, kind Jesus, was thine incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and thy life's oblation:
Thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,
For my salvation.

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee,
Think on thy pity and thy love unswerving,
Not my deserving.

An afternoon at the park

One of the best things about being a homeschooling family is spontaneous trips to the park after lunch on sunny afternoons! I may be 38 years old, but I still love to swing on the swings! I'm so happy that we have a three year old and can still go to playgrounds! Here are some pictures from our beautiful day at Amos Herr Park.

I love this picture of Ivy on the swing!

Jaden being a cowboy
green!

Jaden loves his trike

and Ivy's scooter!

Joel can never be near a baseball diamond without hitting some balls!

We walked around the Amos Herr homestead.

I love magnolias.

Spring is so pretty.

Ivy near the garden

There is a nice trail around the spring house.

My two boys on the see-saw!

Eyes at the Window

Last night I read the final pages of the historical novel, Eyes at the Window by Evie Yoder Miller. It tells the story based on a true event involving several Amish frontier families in PA and OH from 1810-1861. Each chapter speaks with the voice of a different family member allowing the reader to know the inner thoughts of each character as the tale is unwoven. An Amish baby was murdered and the case went unsolved for more than 50 years.

The themes of judgment, suffering and forgiveness are woven through the book. Although this was Miller's first novel, it is an uncommon, striking, well-written book. Admittedly, I am a very critical reader and generally shun novels written about the Amish, but this one is completely different than the plethura of others. It is rich and lyrical, haunting, deep and penetrating. Definitely not mindless "twaddle"!!! I know that I will always remember this story and the characters that became so real in my mind. I will perhaps read it again as there is much on which to ponder and reflect. Because the characters speak honestly about marital relationships and adult issues, I do not recommend this book for younger readers.

Hempfield Homeschoolers' Spring Concert and Learning Fair

Last night we enjoyed a beautiful concert by the choirs of the Hempfield Homeschoolers. Ivy is in the 4th - 6th grade choir and they did a great performance! They have been practicing every Thursday all semester and it paid off well. I am so thankful for the wonderful choir directors and teachers in our homeschool group. What a blessing to be a part of it for the past 7 years!

Above is the combined K-6th grade choirs.

This is Ivy's 4th -6th grade choir. She is in the middle row, 5th from the right.

After the concert, the gym was opened up for the Learning Fair. Ivy's Art classes displayed some of the students' work and there were many other projects on display including several science projects. All the kids did a fantastic job showing things that they learned throughout the year.

Ivy's paper is displayed on the top right. Below is her dolphin painting.

Joel's Future City Engineering Team showed off their model and did the oral presentation that they did for the competition in January. Next weekend, they will be going as invited guests to Philadelphia to present their model and presentation to the Electrical Engineering Institute at a dinner and reception. Way to go Future City Team!!!

Here is Joel on the left during the oral presentation. The model city is on the table in front.

It was a wonderful evening and I was very proud of all the students! There were a couple of bad moments though...... In the middle of the choir concert between songs, Jaden yelled out, "I'VE GOT TO GO PEE!!!!!!" We were sitting up in the balcony and his outburst seemed to reverberate through the whole sanctuary!!! The teenagers were sitting across the aisle from us and they laughed so hard I thought they were all going to burst!

Then during the learning fair, Jaden was knocked over by an older child who was running in the Fellowship Hall and he fell flat on his face - WHAM! right on the hard floor. He cut his upper and lower lips and had blood covering his mouth and nose. Poor thing! I was in a different room and didn't see it happen, but thankfully Ivy was nearby and scooped him up and found us. He had a bruise on his forehead too but he's doing fine. He sure got a lot of attention last night!!!! And every last born child loves that!

incarcerated and innocent

There was a news story this week that touched my heart for obvious reasons. A 28 year old Lancaster Bible College student named Clark was arrested for holding up two female clerks with a knife and robbing a Turkey Hill Minit Market. He had been in trouble years ago and spent some time in jail before becoming a Christian. After looking at the surveillance video, his parole officer thought the robber looked like Clark and so he became a suspect. The employees identified him as the guilty one. So Clark was sent to jail and was awaiting trial.

Clark maintained his innocence. Yes, he had been guilty before, but his life was different now. He had been asleep in his apartment the night of the robbery and had nothing to do with this. Could this really be happening to him?!

While he was in prison, he was determined to use his time to minister to the other inmates and share the gospel to as many as he could. After all, he was at LBC to get training so that he could be used by the Lord in prison ministry!!! God always has a plan and a reason for everything that happens and can even use our suffering to bring about good.

Then one night, the real robber struck again! Obviously it could not have been Clark, who was in his jail cell! The charges against him were dismissed and he was released. It was a case of mistaken identity.

Was Clark bitter? No. The news story said that he forgave the police officers who arrested him. Is he going to sue? No. Although he lost several weeks and will have to make up this whole semester which will be very costly. He also lost his job and had his reputation tainted again. But he is so happy now to be a free man. The newspaper reported him saying, "I just want to praise God. Hallelujah, hallelujah."

I can't wait to tell this story to my cousin who also is in jail for a crime he did not commit. Sadly, I don't think that these things happen as rarely as people think. As long as there are humans involved in the "justice" system, there will always be injustice. How comforting to know that even in the affairs of men, God is in control and He is just!

In his statement to the police, he wrote the following verses, which I will pass on to my cousin Brian:

"You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free"

John 8:32

"If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."

John 8:36

Picking Cotton

One of the blogs that I follow is http://www.challies.com/ You can always scroll down the page and click on the link to go to Tim Challies' blog and read his insightful posts. Today's post, called "Picking Cotton" was a review of the book of the same title. The book tells a story that is both heart-breaking and inspiring.

Tim makes it clear that he is not endorsing or recommending this book because of the graphic content. But the story is worth telling. Back in 1984, a young woman was raped by an intruder in her house. She identified the man as Ronald Cotton, and he was convicted and sentenced to prison. After serving for 11 years, he requested a DNA test which was becoming more in use at that time. The test proved his innocence! For 11 years, an innocent man was in prison. (Thankfully the real rapist was found, tried and convicted later).

The most amazing part of the story is not that an innocent man served 11 years, but that he was able to forgive the woman who mistakenly put him there. He held no bitterness or anger towards her. And those two individuals were able to form a friendship! Complete reconciliation and forgiveness is a beautiful thing. A little glimpse of God in sinful humanity.

My heart was drawn to this story because of my 23 year old cousin Brian. People who know me know that my cousin has been in jail for a year and a half for a murder he did not commit, and is awaiting trial in July. Before this happened to my cousin, I had so many false presuppositions. I assumed that people in jail must have done something wrong! Perhaps I would have agreed that there were rare occurrances of an innocent person being in jail..... but I thought that would be very rare, and surely, they must have done something to get arrested!

How much I have changed in my thinking. I've become much more aware of false charges, mistakes, wrongful arrests, injustice, and unfairness. I've also become much more sympathetic to those in prison or jails even if they are guilty. So many times inmates are dehumanized and denied basic human rights, like fresh air and sunshine. I never knew that before. My thinking was so wrong.

As for my cousin Brian, he is doing well under the circumstances. His letters don't convey any anger or bitterness. He seems to be accepting this as part of God's plan and purpose for him right now for whatever reason. Sometimes the path of life involves suffering. He is suffering, but there is a peace there too. We are praying for justice and that he will be released soon - even before this goes to trial. We are also praying that God will bring good out of this experience and that He will get the glory.

For those of you who would like to be a blessing to Brian during this time, he would LOVE to get some mail! Just writing him an encouraging Scripture verse would make his day! He is in a cell with nothing to do but read the books we send him. No TV room, no going outside, no windows to look out.... so notes are very precious and encouraging to him. His address is:

Brian Lamb

Dallas County Detention Center

204 Poplar St.

Buffalo, MO 65622

Matthew 26:40 says, "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Remodeling

We are in the process of fixing up our kitchen! In the summer of 2006, we bought this home and we've been slowly redoing everything. Much of the work on this house was done by Mark with help from his dad before we even moved in. New walls, new carpet, new flooring, electrical work, and many, many, many other details. What a long process it has been!!! So many projects have required more time, more money and more patience than we had to give so we've had to go at a slower pace. I've been very eager to have the kitchen projects completed and we are finally making progress in that room again! When we are finished, we'll have freshly painted walls, trim, and door, new tile wall paneling, new trim, removal of old cabinet over the microwave, new flooring, new ceiling, and hopefully a new dishwasher! I am so thankful for a husband who knows how to do EVERYTHING!!!! He is absolutely amazing.

So if you were in our house now, you would see dust all over the place from sanding the spackling, plastic hanging from the cubboards, our dining room table covered with kitchen things, and it is a mess!!! But because I know how nice it will look when we are done, it's OK! It is worth the inconvenience, the dust, the mess to have a pretty kitchen.

That thought reminded me of my children today. As a homeschooling mom, sometimes our days are long and we struggle with attitudes with our teen and tween and math and assignments.... Sometimes I wonder, "are we making progress???" and "are these kids going to turn out OK?" and fear and doubt try to enter my head when it's not smooth sailing. But when I keep my eyes on the reasons we are homeschooling and the investment we are making in their lives, I realize that despite "messy days", this is all worth it! The teaching and training of my children is not easy, but it is very, very rewarding and worth all of the time, effort and challenges it brings.
After all, whether it is just a pretty kitchen or something far more precious like great relationships with my well educated children - these things require inconvenience, mess, sacrifice, and time, but the results are wonderful!!!

But even more wonderful is the fact that God is doing the work with our children! I need to be faithful in teaching them and Mark and I need to do our best with nurturing them in the Lord, and training them to be disciples. God is the One who is ultimately working in their lives, sanctifying them so they are more and more like Christ. It is a life-long process for all of us.

Here are the verses I shared with my children today from I Thessalonians 5:22-23

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.

May your whole spirit, soul,and body be kept blameless at the

coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The one who calls you is faithful and HE WILL DO IT."

Here are some pictures of our kitchen project to share with you!

Mark had to cover the cabinets with plastic to protect everything inside from the dust. See the wallpaper we had to remove on the far wall?
Then he took down the microwave and this cabinet off the wall. We don't need the cabinet and we are going to have a shelf there instead after the wall gets painted.
This is the wall where the cabinet and microwave were (and the stove and refrigerator goes). Mark's least favorite task is spackling and sanding, spackling and sanding.... so much prep work before painting!

Afternoon on a Hill

Edna St. Vincent Millay

I will be the gladdest thing

Under the sun!

I will touch a hundred flowers

And not pick one.

I will look at cliffs and clouds

With quiet eyes,

Watch the wind blow down the grass,

And the grass rise.

And when lights begin to show

Up from the town,

I will mark which must be mine,

And then start down!

10 more weeks to go!

This has been a really good school year - our first one with Tapestry of Grace! But I must admit that I'm getting eager to finish! Ten more weeks, 50 more days.... Each day I pray for fresh diligence and cheerfulness in our studies. Why does our first semester always seem to go so quickly and the second half of the year drag so slowly?!? I want to finish well, with enthusiasm. I do not want us to coast half-hearted to the end. Does anyone else struggle with this?

What does help us is a varying of our routines. Although, I know some families like to start at exactly the same time every day and have a schedule almost written in stone - and that works out great for many! But for us, we are much more flexible in our daily rhythms. Sometimes what works best when we get the school doldrums is to shake it up a bit and do things out of the regular order. Or in a different room. Trying to keep a sense of humor helps too! Let out some silliness and music! Leave the books and take a walk and then come back with better focus..... I'm thinking of ideas as I type this!

Even in our flexible routines, I think it is best for us to begin our school time with prayer. We pray for diligence and cheerfulness each morning and read the Word together and sing our song of the month. That does help in setting the tone for the rest of their studies. It's still hard sometimes, but it does help!

I would love to hear some suggestions on keeping school fresh for the last weeks of the year. My son just read this over my shoulder and said, "Field Trips!" Any field trip suggestions for Classical Greece and Ancient Rome?

As I close this post, I am reminded of Paul's assessment of the Thessalonians in verse 3 of the first chapter of his letter to them. Notice the motivation they had in their work - it wasn't duty, or obligation, or fear, or selfishness. It was faith, love and hope!!! This is my prayer for all of us who feel tired as we finish the last several weeks of the school year with our children:

May OUR work be produced by faith,

OUR labor be prompted by love,

and OUR endurance be inspired by hope

in our Lord Jesus.

(my paraphrase)

Family history

Sitting on my desk is a page with the names of 24 couples who I decended from, consisting of just one branch of a huge family tree. This particular page of names from my maternal grandmother's family goes back to Jonas Weed who came to America on the Arabella in 1630 and settled in Stamford Connecticut in 1642. I am 11 generations down from him! Another branch from my paternal grandmother's family goes back even farther - 14 generations to Henry Collins who was born in 1606 in England.

Thanks to the many historians in my family tree, I have extensive listings of geneologies from several branches so that a computer printed paper copy of my family tree takes up half of the family room floor!

Looking at the names of well over 100 couples who I descended from makes me feel so incredibly blessed to even be alive! All of those couples had to have met and had a child who had to have a child......or I wouldn't exist today! It makes me so thankful for God's sovereignty and creation of each human life. I don't believe that we exist by chance! God knew about each of us before the foundation of the world and each of us is a miracle! Each generation has TWICE the number of ancestors as the previous one and that is amazing too! Think about that!

So many of my ancestors were the 8th or 9th or 10th child in the family! Some of my ancestors were the products of a second marriage due to the first spouse having died. At least one couple that I know of several generations back was not even married! It is simply amazing that I am here today!

The stories are fascinating. Some of my ancestors lived in Boston and were neighbors of Paul Revere. Several ancestors faught in the Revolutionary War. One of my ancestors was instrumental in the capturing of a British man-of-war in the Potomac River during the War of 1812. Several fought in the Civil War. Some traveled west in covered wagons. One was a Methodist circuit rider preacher. I am very thankful for the Christian heritage that is evident for many generations back on many branches of the tree.

And there are mysteries as well, the Cherokee ancestry of my paternal Grandfather, the possible family relation to Alfred Lord Tennyson, and questions about the parents of one of my great-grandmothers - was she a secret daughter of the infamous Charles Taze Russell? I would love to know the answers!

Those of us who have children will be the ancestors of future generations. I want to live my life so that those who come behind me will find us faithful, like my favorite song says. As a mom, I know that I am very involved in shaping the next generation! What an awesome task that is.

Be encouraged today - you are a miracle! Your existence was planned by God! And if you are a mom, you are making an impact for your descendents to come!

"...what we have heard and known,

what our fathers have told us,

we will not hide them from their children;

We will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,

His power, and the wonders he has done.

He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law

in Israel which he commanded our forefathers

to teach their children,

so the next generation would know them,

even the children yet to be born,

and they in turn would tell their chidren.

Then they would put their trust in God

and would not forget his deeds

but would keep his commands."
Psalm 78:3b-7