Adventuring Into Our 2nd School Year

It’s a new year of school for us! Our first week seemed to just fly by. The girls eased into things each day fairly easy and without grumbling and complaining. I am praising the Lord for their attitude towards school as I do not take that for granted one minute. I suspect their delightful attitudes may be from the familiarity of routine from us continuing with school to a certain degree throughout the summer and from the changes in some areas of our curriculum this year. 

As I mentioned in this previous post, we're delving into the Sonlight curriculum this year. While the structure of how Sonlight is executed is not drastically different from how we did school last year, there IS a lot of structure and pre-planning provided through the material that is being taught as topics are pulled together like a unit study. This year we're singing during Bible time, reading engaging, living books, watching videos that demonstrate science activities (before we do the activity/experiment so that we don't mess it up), and there are a lot of sensory materials available like maps and timelines that allows the girls to visualize as they learn. I'm thankful that God brought us through our first year and I'm trusting that He will guide us through our second.

My 5th Grader

 

My 3rd Grader

 

 Here's to another year!

 

 

A Lip Smackin', Finger Lickin', Taste Like More Wing Recipe

My Family loves to watch cooking shows. Besides them being pretty "safe" when it comes to there being a plethora of trash television options to watch, we get some great recipe ideas to try. While we were on vacation last week watching cooking shows, we came upon a wing recipe that looked so good we wanted to lick the tv screen.
 
You may have figured it out from perusing some of my other "Recipes That Even I Can Make" blog entries that my two favorite chefs to cook after are Paula Deen and the Pioneer Woman. The source of this recipe will surprise you because its not from either.
 
This one comes from the Neely's, a sweet southern cooking couple. They are pretty entertaining in the kitchen and the can cook up some pretty fantastic wings, let me tell you. I've attempted in my meek and pitiful attempts to put together hot wings for years like my family loves in the restaurants and I just haven't been able to get there with them.
 
This recipe got me there. All the way there. There wasn't a wing left in the bowl with this recipe. I had company over when I made these wings and while the kids were eating them they decided to hold a competition to see how many they could eat because they couldn't stop eating them. There was a lot of smacking and humming at the dinner table and you better believe it that I'll be making them again!
 
Ingredients: 

Peanut oil, for frying 

Kosher salt

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

3 pounds chicken wings, cut at joint

1/2 stick (2 ounces) butter

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 cup peach preserves

1/4 cup hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

 

Directions:

Preheat deep fryer with peanut oil to 350 degrees F.
Mix the 2 teaspoons salt, smoked paprika, and garlic powder together in a small bowl.
Add chicken wings and toss to coat.
Cook's Note: Let wings sit out at room temperature while you make the sauce to allow them time to absorb the seasonings.
Melt the butter in medium saucepan over medium heat with the garlic.
Stir in peach preserves, hot sauce, and soy sauce. Cook until syrupy and thick, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
Add the wings to the deep fryer and fry until cooked through and golden and crisp, 12 to 15 minutes. You will need to do this in 2 batches so you don't overcrowd your fryer.
Remove the wings from the fryer and drain on a paper towel-lined baking tray.
Add the fried wings to the large bowl of sauce and toss until well combined and wings are well coated. Using a slotted spoon, remove the wings to a platter and serve immediately.

A Gift That Keeps On Giving

I admire people who can quote scripture upon scripture. Not because it just sounds impressive, but because hearing them recite God's Word means that they have the living and active Word of God with them constantly. In a moment's notice they can refer to the Word that is able to save our souls. God's Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb 4:12). If we believe this to be true, then we hold a powerful book in our hands with the Word. It motivates, encourages, gives hope, calms a weary soul, and ultimately changes our sinful hearts in a way that propels us to act and live a life that glorifies God. When we memorize what it says, we are forced to contemplate the Words of God and in this examination of the text we have no choice but to respond and react.
 
"Instead of memorizing it, you can just open the Bible and read it", you may say, but that's not the same as having it in your mind and heart.
 
When you can't sleep at night because you're worried, wouldn't it be nice if this would just come to mind?

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?   But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt. 6: 25, 30, 33-34)

Just like that. You could recite it and could meditate on these truths concerning worry.  
 
Many times we run to the bookstore or library shelves to find the next self-help book to fix our problems. The wisdom that we can obtain if we would intently look at God's Word puts every self-help book out there to shame. The One with all wisdom has given us the answer to every problem we'll ever have, all in the Bible.

The James Precept Study that I've been doing has a scripture memorization portion that I've been making a concerted effort to do each week. What I've found in both studying and looking intently at the Word is that as I memorize scripture and recite it back to myself, I am encouraged. Our flesh can be carried away and enticed to become discouraged and defeated in life, but with God's Word we're equipped for all matters in life.  How can we combat the problems of life with the Word if we don't know what it says? And, for those that may be pretty well versed on what it may say, wouldn't it be nice to have these Words within your mind to ponder over, wrestle with, and ultimately be equipped with for all matters of life? 
 
So, what's the excuse? It takes time, energy, and brain power to commit God's Word to memory, but for just a few minutes a day it can be done. Some people have the ability to retain large amounts of information at a time and can retain it well. I am not one of those people. It takes time and repetition for me to retain information in my head.
 
So, if you're like me, find yourself a notecard and jot down a memory verse. You don't have to try to commit a large passage all at once to memory. Start small and write down just one or two verses and spend time everyday reciting it back to yourself. The nice thing about practicing to recite scripture is, you can do it anytime. You can practice on the way to work, while eating breakfast, while changing a diaper, in a business meeting when you're bored, and when you can't sleep at night. Whenever your mind wanders, you can practice. For large passages, as you find yourself being able to recite a few verses at a time, tack on another verse, and then another. The rewards of memorizing scripture are truly priceless. You will gain and retain wisdom that has come from the Lord and be equipped for life.

See, even those of us that use the excuse that we're awful at memorization, CAN memorize scripture.

We have no excuse my friends. So, let's get to work!

Summer Vacation... Here's Where I'll Be!

When it comes to taking a vacation, collectively my family is the adventurous type. They love activity, adventure, and lots of physical movement. It could be swimming, zip lining, hiking, biking, you name it. We are the family on the move for vacation.

That would be Lea whizzing by

The girls just can't get enough of the pool

Lea at an Adventure Park

The girls surprised us with their strength on the rock wall

Stopping for a Breather on a Bike Trail

 

Trey on His First Bike Ride

My sweet dear 9 month old was even in on the action this summer for vacation, just humming along as he tagged along on his Dad's bike for a spin.

While as a family we don't let the sun go down without sweat on our brow, all left to my lonesome here's where I'll be... Curled up pool side with a good book!

Regardless of where the summer may take you with your family, the priceless gift is being "with" your family, having quality time laughing, talking, listening to each other, and being blessed by their company.

Love is spelled, T-I-M-E

Love the Ones You're With



A Simply Divine Cake That We Pretend Is Healthy

Zucchini is apparently plentiful this season among many garden growers. It has been given to us from multiple green thumbs, so we embarked on finding ways to digest it tastefully.

We happened upon a Zucchini & Pineapple recipe that is simply divine. We ate this one up in no time. Its moist, full of flavor, and it can't be too unhealthy with all the zucchini in it! Just don't read the calorie count on the box of cream cheese and confectionary sugar for the icing.

Preparing for Next Year

I'm getting pumped for the 2014-2015 school year as we're going to be delving into new curriculum material. The kids seem to be excited too. When the curriculum box of books arrived in the mail the other day they asked if we could start school that day.

 

In our first year of school I kept things pretty open with the girl's curriculum because I wanted to see where their interests, strengths, and weaknesses were. It became evident within the first few months that they have a strong foundation in reading and truly enjoy reading, so I'll be leveraging off of that with the Sonlight curriculum. I've chosen a core that will enable me to instruct the girls together in both history and reading with Love reading a set of Advanced Readers in addition to the Readers that her sister will read.  In our first year we pulled from Book Lists in both history and for reading comprehension. While this gave us freedom to read what we desired, it required additional work on my part to select and find library books based on varying themes and topics that I wanted the girls to study. I'm looking forward to having a guide this time around along with all the assigned books right on the shelf. 

 

 
My prayer throughout our school year is that the Lord will enable me to instill in the kids a love for learning. As a homeschooling parent its difficult to gauge when you've taught a subject "enough" and selected just the right curriculum for their education. By instilling in them a love of learning, my prayer is that whatever shortcomings that exist in my own abilities to teach them will in time be filled by each of the children individually as they grow and learn how to be a person that self educates through their interests and personal passions.
 

Isn't that what being educated is all about? 

 

Education (def.): the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.

(www.dictionary.com)

A Rich Blessing

I'm in my fifth week of the James Precept Study and its been a rich blessing to study through this book at a time in my life that I'm striving to be patient and waiting on the Lord as we journey towards our next home. Go here to read up on the latest status.
 
While although waiting on the Lord isn't new to me, it doesn't get easier each time God brings me to a place of waiting on Him. We went through a time of waiting to come to the place where I'm at today of being home with my kids. During that trial of working while wanting desperately to be home, God taught me so much. Many of the things that I learned prepared me for homeschooling. I learned how to remain persistent in prayer, how to endure in difficult relationships, and how to trust God when your circumstances seem to be working contrary to God's Will. With each period of waiting I develop a deeper amount of patience which is interesting because as a young believer in my early 20s I would've considered myself the most impatient person anyone had every met!
 
Trials in a Christian's life are any number of circumstances that they may find challenging, uncomfortable, or stressful. Trials break the pattern of peace, comfort, joy, and happiness in one's life. It's an experience that they find they are not able to go through with ease or they experience difficulty in it. Trials may impact your emotions, your physical body, your finances, and your relationships. A trial could be something as simple as trying to get through the day without losing your temper or something as challenging as experiencing a life threatening disease. They occur within a Christian's life to test them and prove the very nature of their faith.
 
Do lost people have trials? Yes, but as a Christians we're accountable to God for our response while going through trials. Our response shows us what our faith is made of and to the outside world what and whom we put our trust in. Trials are a test of our "genuineness" as a believer. If we crumble and forsake God in a trial, the question is were we a believer to begin with? A believer's faith in a trial stands and is strengthened, it does not crumble. 
  
There are so many practical lessons just in the first Chapter of James:
 
1) We should consider it all joy when we go through trials.
If the purpose of a trial in a Christian's life is to make them more Christ-like, we should be joyful that the Creator of the Universe has orchestrated the events that are trials in our life to mold and shape us. Yes, they are uncomfortable and not very much fun at all, but the fruit that they produce far outweighs the momentary afflictions that trials produce.
 
2) Trials test our faith.
If you think to grade school to "test day" and how nervous you may have been to get that graded test back. After staying up late night after night reading and studying for the test you would reach the day when the teacher would hand back the graded test. What grade did you get? No matter how much or how little you studied, you wanted the final grade to be good.

Its the same with our faith. When we stand before the Lord and give an account of our life, we want our Heavenly Father to say that we've done well at serving Him and honoring Him with our life. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6) and He is pleased with a faith that trusts in difficult times. If our faith is not tested, then how can it be trusted to be a genuine faith.

3) Trials in life produce endurance in us.
Over the course of my life as I've "attempted" to stay in shape, I have made many attempts of gaining enough endurance to be able to run long distances and for the life of me I just can't build it up enough. I think the farthest that I've come with running is about a full mile, but let me tell you, I was a tired fool by the time I made it to the 1 mile mark.  Every ounce of my inner being yells at me to "stop, stop, stop running" when I try to run. I don't think I'm cut out to be a runner.

Trials are like stepping out on the track over and over again. As your heart, lungs, and legs are exercised around the track, body parts are strengthened to withstand even longer distances each time that you run. Your flesh may not like act of running, just like your fleshly body and emotions don't like the stress and pain that comes with trials, but your are strengthened and drawn closer to the Lord in it. 

4) As we suffer within a trial we are made complete, perfect, and lacking nothing as God transforms us into His image.
What a beautiful promise!
 
5) If we don't know what to do in a trial, God instructs us to ask God for wisdom and He promises to give us wisdom generously.
God does not leave us chasing the wind in a trial, not knowing what to do. He instructs us to ask Him for wisdom and He gives us the wisdom we need in a trial generously. There is no better place to go for wisdom then the Creator of Heaven and Earth.
 
6) When we ask God for wisdom in a trial, we are to ask in faith and not doubt that God will answer us.
As we ask for wisdom, our flesh may be tempted to doubt that God will provide us the knowledge we need. We must ask in faith and not worry later that we won't get an answer.
 
7) A believer living in humble circumstances should rejoice in the fact that they are rich in Christ.
 
8) We should never think in a trial that God is tempting us to sin.
We are tempted when we're enticed and carried away by our own lust. This lusting after our own desires gives birth to sin and leads to separation from God.
 
9) We should examine ourselves daily to see if there is any sinfulness in our lives so that we can humbly receive God's Word into our hearts and be changed.
 
10) As we intently look at God's Word, we are changed.
Its not a surface level change where we look at the Word in agreement and then live however we feel. A heart change takes place on the inside where we're beckoned in our inner being to be obedient to the Lord in whatever way He calls us. 

This call may beckon us into a trial that tests us beyond what we think we can handle. God promises though that He won't allow us to be tempted beyond what we're able to handle and he will provide a way of escape so that we may endure (1 Cor 10:13).
 
So, let's count it all joy as we endure in this life...