And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers

Rivers never ceases to amaze me in her writing.

I picked up her book, "And the Shofar Blew", a week ago and wasn't too impressed with the cover of the book. I'm one of those superficial readers when it comes to picking out a book based on the cover. I have the tendency of gravitating towards beautifully illustrated covers that attract my eye as I walk library aisles. This book was published in 2003. Perhaps Rivers wasn't took keen on impressing readers back then with the book cover. Whatever the reason, I didn't pick this one because of the cover. I chose it mostly based on the reviews and the book description.

Many of the Rivers books that I've read so far have a love story that entangles the reader and beckons you to turn page after page as you hold out to see what happens in the end. While this story does tell a story about the love between a man and woman, its not the main theme that drives the story. This book instead tells the story of the Church. God's Church that is and the struggles the Body of Christ can experience when sin enters the pulpit.

The state of the Christian Church is hotly debated today. Topics such as church growth, prosperity, and the degradation of how the gospel is presented across the pulpit fill the conversations of Church-goers. Rivers takes these topics and weaves in God's view of them with a story that grips the reader and makes them ponder over their own view of the Church and what's truly important as one seeks out a Church. If you're looking for a book that is a change from the typical man meets girls and then live happily ever after, check out this book and read about how a man (Christ as the Groom), desires his Bride (the Church) to be a light in the world.

Growth

Our second year of school is drawing to a close. We exhaled after our week of testing and then later rejoiced over how well the girls performed on their tests. It’s amazing that our second year of homeschool has come and gone! Just yesterday it seemed that I was canvasing the internet, googling the words, “how to homeschool”. I can still remember the flutter of butterflies in my stomach at the thought of spending my every waking moment with my children and standing before them to teach concepts that I hadn’t seen since grade school. The fears were very real back then, but was so my God.

With each wakeful night that I found myself staring up at my bedroom ceiling pondering over what the years ahead would be like as a “homeschool Mom”, God was my constant strength, my rock, the one thing that remained steady and firm in my journey. When others questioned, “why do it?” the only question from God seemed to be, “why not?”

The girls continue to learn, grow, and thrive in this home environment where we just happened to do school. While there is lots of growing going inside the walls of our home, there is some growth outdoors as well!

Yes, there is much more than dirt and trees outside my windows these days. About a week ago, our Excavator completed grading our yard, which prepared our land for grass seed. Our ground is now beginning to compliment the beautiful, whispering pines in the surrounding woods. We’re also laying out our sidewalk and preparing to fill up our flower beds.



The past few months have surely been a time of growth as God has been faithful to provide for us as we seek to honor Him. We’re looking forward to summer days. We won’t tread too far from the world of education as we continue math drills, reading, and  maybe even a little science in the summer, but we’ll work in some much needed mental rest too.

A New "Home" for our School

My hubby is blessing us with a special treat, hopefully to be in working order by the end of summer.

 

A new, dedicated space for our homeschool!

 

Walls are now up and just about ready for a coat of paint.

 

Since moving in our home we've been quite comfortable having school at the kitchen table and the living room. It's been very convenient having the children do their schoolwork so close to the kitchen, making it easy to break for lunch and then jump right back into schoolwork. The only downside to not having a dedicated space is having to store away all of our school materials everyday. It will be nice to be able to setup our "school room" once and not worry about packing it up at the end of the day.

Spring Times

It's sort of felt like spring this past month. We've had a few whiffs of spring weather, but the rain and cooler days have made it feel still more like fall. We know that it's slowly coming. On the warmer days the woods have been beckoning us outside for long walks, rides on the 4-Wheeler, or just simply playing in the dirt. Springtime also means softball season for my hubby who plays with a league of men from Church. I look forward to a weekly outing with the family, watching my man still work his magic on the softball field.

My oldest and I have been in the kitchen as well trying up a few new recipes. Here are pictures of our latest dinner rolls and skillet apple pie. They were both easy recipes and very tasty. These will definitely be repeat recipes for our kitchen.

 

I can already tell that my little guy loves Spring. He can't get enough of being outdoors, especially with Daddy on the tractor. He's just learned how to go down the slide at the playground by himself.

 

Oh, what joy Spring brings!