The devotion today was in memory of George Washington. Today is his birthday! They quoted, “I cannot tell a lie. I chopped down the cherry tree.” Telling lies can spin out of control so quickly. It encouraged readers to tell the truth even though it could result in a punishment or the loss of a friend. But more importantly telling the truth is obeying God.
The Purpose Driven Life reading was about being "transformed by trouble." This is a tough pill to swallow for some people. Some people think God causes things to happen. The truth is God allows things to happen to grow us. Two of my favorite bible verses were in today’s reading. One was Romans 8:28, “and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” And the other was Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Knowing those two verses were God breathed makes me more confident in the trials I will face in my life. This is where I usually give a visual to people I speak with about the trials they have faced. Everyone looks at the rose and smells it and glorifies the rose bud. But no one even thinks to thank God for the thorns. I love the thorns. They teach us, and refine us, and help us to mature. (The thorns of course are the trials and troubles in our pathway.) While I dislike situations I am uncomfortable with I know God is going through them WITH me. Thanks God!
Today in algebra we learned how to add and subtract whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. (Come On! Again with the fractions?) But it was easy enough to learn. Example: w + ½ = 1 ½. All we had to do was the opposite to figure it out. Now it’s 1 ½ - ½ = 1. So w = 1. (Yeah, go Cheryl, I mean, go JD!) A follower made the comment, “That math stuff makes my head spin.” It makes mine spin too, but the website I use makes it all so simple. It’s a matter of being a good note taker. This has been my saving grace. Now ask me how to do what we learned the first month and I"ll tell you to wait a minute while I find my notes.
Keyboarding and journal were somewhat combined today. JD did a “sandwich outline” to gather his thought for his journal entry. It had a top bun (topic sentence), tomato (1st writing point) lettuce (second writing point), meat (3rd writing point), and the bottom bun (conclusion.) This helped him keep all the tomato details together and separated from the lettuce and meat. He did pretty good with the outline. When it came time to type it he stalled. He only had small phrases in the tomato. For example: Presents - 1. want 2. need 3. don’t want. He then had to compile a complete sentence for each detail. He required a lot of help, but successfully completed the keyboarding. Writing is such a tough area for him. It takes so much longer for him to formulate sentences than I would like, but he does finally do it. **Funny note: Under presents he doesn’t want…“a letter.” Here’s the specific paragraph…“What I really want for my birthday is the Axis and Allies game. What I need for my birthday is some money to buy some toys. What I don’t want for my birthday is a letter.” **So if you sent a card (not a letter) with money in it, you’re doubly in there! (Score!)
The website I subscribed to added a new lesson block to the curriculum. Thank goodness for the new art lessons. I was running out of lessons. (I’m pretty crafty but artsy not so much.) Today he learned about museums. I thought he would only spend a few minutes on it but he kept clicking and explored the whole (45 minute) lesson. Good for him. Today he learned King Tut was only nine when he became King and Leonardo da Vinci, the painter of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder was stolen in 2003 and recovered in 2007.
Today I developed my own spelling list of words that we will be using all week. Usually I pull the lists off the website. JD wrote all ten of his sentence cards and then I had him hang them off his bathroom mirror. This should help him remember to study them without me reminding him to.
So overall today was a good day but it got even better. Today I received a wonderful and encouraging email. As a matter of fact I was just thinking about the topic yesterday. I thought I fell off the radar screen. Lifeway contacted me about the application I submitted mid January. Remember I had to write numerous samples? Well I must have typed something right because I’m now a stage 2 applicant! They said, “Thank you for sending us information about yourself, along with a writing sample for Children's (School Age) Curriculum Materials. I have reviewed the information and sample and would now like to ask you to write additional sample materials for our evaluation.” I’ll have six weeks to complete the assignments. I know I’ll have it in MUCH sooner than that.
The Purpose Driven Life reading was about being "transformed by trouble." This is a tough pill to swallow for some people. Some people think God causes things to happen. The truth is God allows things to happen to grow us. Two of my favorite bible verses were in today’s reading. One was Romans 8:28, “and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” And the other was Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Knowing those two verses were God breathed makes me more confident in the trials I will face in my life. This is where I usually give a visual to people I speak with about the trials they have faced. Everyone looks at the rose and smells it and glorifies the rose bud. But no one even thinks to thank God for the thorns. I love the thorns. They teach us, and refine us, and help us to mature. (The thorns of course are the trials and troubles in our pathway.) While I dislike situations I am uncomfortable with I know God is going through them WITH me. Thanks God!
Today in algebra we learned how to add and subtract whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. (Come On! Again with the fractions?) But it was easy enough to learn. Example: w + ½ = 1 ½. All we had to do was the opposite to figure it out. Now it’s 1 ½ - ½ = 1. So w = 1. (Yeah, go Cheryl, I mean, go JD!) A follower made the comment, “That math stuff makes my head spin.” It makes mine spin too, but the website I use makes it all so simple. It’s a matter of being a good note taker. This has been my saving grace. Now ask me how to do what we learned the first month and I"ll tell you to wait a minute while I find my notes.
Keyboarding and journal were somewhat combined today. JD did a “sandwich outline” to gather his thought for his journal entry. It had a top bun (topic sentence), tomato (1st writing point) lettuce (second writing point), meat (3rd writing point), and the bottom bun (conclusion.) This helped him keep all the tomato details together and separated from the lettuce and meat. He did pretty good with the outline. When it came time to type it he stalled. He only had small phrases in the tomato. For example: Presents - 1. want 2. need 3. don’t want. He then had to compile a complete sentence for each detail. He required a lot of help, but successfully completed the keyboarding. Writing is such a tough area for him. It takes so much longer for him to formulate sentences than I would like, but he does finally do it. **Funny note: Under presents he doesn’t want…“a letter.” Here’s the specific paragraph…“What I really want for my birthday is the Axis and Allies game. What I need for my birthday is some money to buy some toys. What I don’t want for my birthday is a letter.” **So if you sent a card (not a letter) with money in it, you’re doubly in there! (Score!)
The website I subscribed to added a new lesson block to the curriculum. Thank goodness for the new art lessons. I was running out of lessons. (I’m pretty crafty but artsy not so much.) Today he learned about museums. I thought he would only spend a few minutes on it but he kept clicking and explored the whole (45 minute) lesson. Good for him. Today he learned King Tut was only nine when he became King and Leonardo da Vinci, the painter of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder was stolen in 2003 and recovered in 2007.Today I developed my own spelling list of words that we will be using all week. Usually I pull the lists off the website. JD wrote all ten of his sentence cards and then I had him hang them off his bathroom mirror. This should help him remember to study them without me reminding him to.
So overall today was a good day but it got even better. Today I received a wonderful and encouraging email. As a matter of fact I was just thinking about the topic yesterday. I thought I fell off the radar screen. Lifeway contacted me about the application I submitted mid January. Remember I had to write numerous samples? Well I must have typed something right because I’m now a stage 2 applicant! They said, “Thank you for sending us information about yourself, along with a writing sample for Children's (School Age) Curriculum Materials. I have reviewed the information and sample and would now like to ask you to write additional sample materials for our evaluation.” I’ll have six weeks to complete the assignments. I know I’ll have it in MUCH sooner than that.
Wonderful!
ReplyDelete