Making challah

Life lessons

Peter and I were watching a program on drawing. It was a wonderfully instructive program in many ways. As the artist was showing us how to "see" what we want to draw, and then what we have drawn, he kept saying,
"now stop . . .
look . . .
ask yourself, what do I see . . .
do I need to make any adjustments?"

Another lesson ~ if you use a very light touch, the lines are then light, so that if a correction needs to be made it is easily done.

As I was pondering these "lessons" and how they apply to life as a whole, I read this in an article by Rabbi Wein:

The rabbis taught us in the Talmud “Attempting too grab too much too soon means that one will eventually grab nothing.” Grabbing less, wisely, with patience and a long view of things always is a better policy. Haste and impatience, overreaching and unrealistic assessments of the situation, always lead to, at the very least, painful backaches. (emphasis mine)
For Rabbi Wein's whole article click here.

Nature, computers, and

imagination!
In addition to the typical benefits of our nature walks and all of the great pictures we've been taking, Peter has been inspired to take all this natural wonder a step further.
He has been taking photos, ones he's taken of nature as well as ones he's taken of his paintings, and then bringing them into Poser, a 3D modeling program, and adding images. He then saves the new images and prints them out onto a photo printer. Sometimes this process requires more than one computer, saving files onto portable hard drives, and using multiple software programs. Cool!

Why?

Ok, so why do we do it? Why do waste our very precious time being upset about what we aren't doing? Who makes the rules, anyway? Who says that we should be doing certain things at certain times in a certain way? And why do we listen?

We are all unique. I am unique. My family is unique. The Lord disciples each of us uniquely. He leads me where I need to go to do what I need to do. He teaches me what I need to know. He provides what I need each day. I have the family that I have, each person with unique personalities and abilities, and the home that I have, located in the place that it is because it is what I need, to walk out the call on my life that is unique and special. So why and how do I slip into self condemnation?

And why do I get so upset with myself when the plans I've made, the rules I've imposed on myself get set aside?

Each day is new, different, unique. Routines and plans are fine, but being open to what the Lord wants me (and my family) to do with each day is so much more important and so very much more fulfilling.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good, not for disaster, to give you a future full of hope.” ~Jeremiah 29:11-15

Journey

the journey ~ the journey itself is important, not just the destination. The journey is, “the life which I now live.”

You must live in the moment, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Light

The dark can be a cocoon of sorts, hiding the less pleasant things from our eyes. Or it can be a fearful place . . . noises we can't place, thoughts that race to unbidden places.

Then the light comes with its revelations . . . noises are now easily explained, the shadowy thoughts are shown to be just that and the cold, icy fear is dispelled and replaced by the warmth and the brightness of the light.

May the light of Christ, rising in glory, dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.

Count it all Joy

Joy. “The joy of the Lord is your strength,” says Nehemiah.

I’ve been thinking a lot about joy. And about the word eucharist and its meaning ~ word origin for Eucharist~[Middle English eukarist, from Old French eucariste, from Late Latin eucharistia, from Greek eukharistiā, from eukharistos, grateful, thankful : eu-, eu- + kharizesthai, to show favor (from kharis, grace; see gher-2 in Indo-European roots).]

I’m still fleshing these ideas out and I don’t know where it all is going to take me.

I see a connection. I keep thinking that the more I understand His grace, the more grateful, the more thankful I become. Then the more joyful, full of joy, I will become. Since the joy of the Lord is my strength, this is important.

Spurgeon said, “The man full of joy within is quiet.” Quiet . . . within.

I’m not quiet within. Why? I don’t think there is a quick and easy answer, but while pondering that thought, I came across some posts that really struck a chord.
It's All Too Much in the Homeschool
Sing a New Song
Every Face I Look at Seems Beautiful

Counting my blessings

On this Holy Thursday, we’re reflecting on the events of the last few days of our Lord’s earthly life. Dayenu ~ “it would have been enough,” keeps going through my mind.

The gift of Himself, the gift of salvation, restored fellowship with the Father, eternal life, it is so amazing, so awesome. It would have been enough . . . but there’s more. There are all the daily graces; the seasons, family, perfume on the wind, a surprise group of flowers, a grandbaby’s beautiful eyes, a good friend.

What Love, what love.

Thankfulness

  Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
  And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” ~Matthew 26:26-28

  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. ~Ephesians 2:8

So now ~
  Sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.~Colossians 3:16-17
Icon by Simon Ushakov

The weather outside is frightful

But the fire is so delightful . . . the fire in the oven that is. Peter and I made Irish Brown Bread today. It was so much fun and oh, so yummy. Then we snuggled up and read about Mary anointing Jesus in “Bible Stories for the 40 Days” and then finished our book about George Muller.

Michael took some pictures of one of the branches we brought indoors to watch bloom.

Then he spent a while repairing a radio/flashlight.

Now, I’m off to see what everyone else has been doing today.

Blessed is He

[Christ's] love for man will never rest until he has raised our earthbound nature from glory to glory, and made it one with his own in heaven.
So let us spread before his feet, not garments or soulless olive branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but ourselves, clothed in his grace, or rather, clothed completely in him. We who have been baptised into Christ must ourselves be the garments that we spread before him. Now that the crimson stains of our sins have been washed away in the saving waters of baptism and we have become white as pure wool, let us present the conqueror of death, not with mere branches of palms but with the real rewards of his victory. Let our souls take the place of the welcoming branches as we join today in the children’s holy song: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.
~From a sermon by Saint Andrew of Crete, bishop
Artist: Giotto Scrovegni

We’re seeing green!

It’s St. Patrick’s Day. So, in addition to the book, “The Bandit of Ashley Downs: George Muller” that we’ve been reading, we read “St. Patrick’s Day in the Morning.”

We looked at and reviewed the St. Patrick lapbook that we made last year and talked a bit about Ireland.

This afternoon Peter took full advantage of the spring like weather and spent quite a bit of time outside becoming more proficient with his remote controlled car.

Thanks to Dawn it looks like we have a great project for tomorrow, Irish Bread.

A Walk in the Woods

Just to show that we are, in fact, getting outdoors and enjoying the change in weather, here are some photos Michael took on our walk today.

We gathered more branches to bring indoors to watch bloom.

And we found the most wonderful old groove of trees off of a dirt road. It was so other worldly, like a very old forest, all overgrown, with hundreds of birds and a surprise of brightly colored red-leafed trees. We just stood and watched and listened for several minutes.

A beautiful yellow daffodil greeted us as we rounded a bend in the road.

We saw and heard so many different birds. Michael took pictures of quite a few so that we could identify them using our bird guides when we got home. Grey and red squirrels both entertained us with their antics. And not to be left out were the geese that greeted us on our return home.

Peter couldn't resist a picture of this reminder of the fall colors.

What a nice walk.

His Wonders

Blessed be the LORD God,
Who alone works wonders.
And blessed be His glorious name forever;
All earth brims with His glory.
Psalm 72:18-19