The devotion was about today being “Freedom of Information Day.” It is celebrated on the anniversary of the birth of James Madison. Madison noted that knowing the truth and having knowledge were important elements in a free society. Jesus also taught that knowing the truth was essential to being free. Jesus is after all “…the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 4:16) Jesus’ perfect truth gives us the freedom to be all that God intends for us to be.
While I don’t like to think about my weaknesses the Purpose Driven Life spoke all about it. Today’s topic was “God’s Power in Your Weakness.” God uses our weaknesses for His glory. The first step for God using us is: 1. Admitting our weaknesses. (For me this means stop acting like I’ve got it all together.) 2. Be content with our weaknesses. (This will force us to depend on God.) 3. Honestly share our weaknesses. (Strengths create competition, but our weaknesses create community.) 4. Glory in your weaknesses. (Think of Jacob who wrestled with God and God dislocated Jacob’s hip. Jacob will forever walk with a limp, but he will never run away again.) *Moral from Rick Warren…If you want God to bless you and use you and use you greatly, you must be willing to walk with a limp for the rest of your life, because God uses weak people. On a great note I asked JD what he thought his biggest weakness was. I halfway expected him to say, "Having ADHD." But to my surprise it was, "Being afraid of the dark." Maybe he FINALLY sees it as a gift.
The internet was messing up so we did the social studies lesson next. It gave JD a choice to pick a place that he would like to visit. He picked Holly wood. So we figured out that it was 2,643 miles driving and it would take 1 day and 18 hours to drive straight through (without any sleep.) We decided taking a plane ride would be better than driving. He will be researching Hollywood and give facts, landmarks, and different information about it. He will also pick five cities and compare information about them like: biggest population, hottest/coldest weather, and oldest/newest city. He will award each city in each category. He’ll work on this for his next social studies lesson next week too. He did that lesson and then he took a test. He scored an 80% on the chapter quiz.
Just when I was feeling confident about measurements we closed that math chapter and moved onto geometry. I feel like a “cage fighter.” For those
of you that don’t know what that are. It is where two people are put in a 32’ x 32’ octagon type ring and it’s an ALL OUT BRAWL! Pretty much anything goes in cage fighting. I researched the rules and there are 33 “fouls” like: biting, eye gouging, butting heads, hair pulling, and the list goes on. I like watching cage fighting but never fantasized about “being in the ring.” Well today my worst nightmare came true. My opponent...Geometry! First the right hook…learning the terms of geometry. They were terms like parallel (lines that never intersect), perpendicular (these intersect to form a right angle), collinear (these are on the same lines), and coincident (these occupy the same space or point.) (You think I’m doing drugs don’t you? I can’t make this stuff up.) Ducking, bobbing, weaving, now comes the dreaded uppercut…practice identifying these lines on a graph. (Leave me in the fight coach…I can take him.) The knock out punch I never saw coming…the quiz! Together we scored a 70%. Not the lowest score ever received, but its right beside math “reasoning.” Speaking of reasoning…someone please tell me the reason I need to know geometry? Because in my 40 some years of blissful life without math I have NEVER done this line mess!
Language arts was fun. The 2010 Census paperwork showed up in our mailbox. So JD and I read it and filled it out together. It only took about 10 minutes to fill out. Could you imagine if “The Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe” received one of these forms? She would need a continuation sheet for all her young’ns. Have you received your form yet? Don’t freak out, but there’s space in that form packet for a dozen people! (Suppose what Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are going to THIS year? That’s that family with 19 kids! The last census they only had 11 kids.)
Last week in science it taught JD how to record the desserts observation using charts. It expanded on this lesson today with an experiment called “Behold mold.” We took four pieces of bread and put one teaspoon of water on each one. Then we put two in sandwich bags. The other two piece of bread went on a plate. Then we labeled them. 1. Refrigerate/no air (sandwich bag) 2. Refrigerate (on a plate) 3. Room temperature/no air (sandwich bag) 4. Room temperature (on a plate.) Then we put two in the refrigerator and two on the counter. We will be observing them everyday for two weeks and charting the presence of mold on each piece. (Yum!)
Email/snail was fun today too. It kind of branched off of the social studies lesson when we were looking at Google maps and zoomed in on 10019 Isaac Drive, Midwest City, Oklahoma (the house we lived in when JD was born) and 2118-4th Street Greeley Colorado (my childhood home.) Google maps allows you to view in satellite and it actually looks like you're driving right to the location. So we printed a real picture of each house and wrote down facts about each one. We "drove" around each neighborhood in Colorado and I showed him places I went on my bike. I showed him how far I walked to school and friend's houses. For the house we lived in when JD was born we "drove" around the road I walked nightly with him in his stroller. I showed him the fence extension Jeff and I built (that's falling down in the picture) and right where he received his first bee sting. It was cool to reminisce about childhood places and JD's first home. We had a great time sharing memories and disbelief (especially about how far I walked to school.)
While I don’t like to think about my weaknesses the Purpose Driven Life spoke all about it. Today’s topic was “God’s Power in Your Weakness.” God uses our weaknesses for His glory. The first step for God using us is: 1. Admitting our weaknesses. (For me this means stop acting like I’ve got it all together.) 2. Be content with our weaknesses. (This will force us to depend on God.) 3. Honestly share our weaknesses. (Strengths create competition, but our weaknesses create community.) 4. Glory in your weaknesses. (Think of Jacob who wrestled with God and God dislocated Jacob’s hip. Jacob will forever walk with a limp, but he will never run away again.) *Moral from Rick Warren…If you want God to bless you and use you and use you greatly, you must be willing to walk with a limp for the rest of your life, because God uses weak people. On a great note I asked JD what he thought his biggest weakness was. I halfway expected him to say, "Having ADHD." But to my surprise it was, "Being afraid of the dark." Maybe he FINALLY sees it as a gift.The internet was messing up so we did the social studies lesson next. It gave JD a choice to pick a place that he would like to visit. He picked Holly wood. So we figured out that it was 2,643 miles driving and it would take 1 day and 18 hours to drive straight through (without any sleep.) We decided taking a plane ride would be better than driving. He will be researching Hollywood and give facts, landmarks, and different information about it. He will also pick five cities and compare information about them like: biggest population, hottest/coldest weather, and oldest/newest city. He will award each city in each category. He’ll work on this for his next social studies lesson next week too. He did that lesson and then he took a test. He scored an 80% on the chapter quiz.
Just when I was feeling confident about measurements we closed that math chapter and moved onto geometry. I feel like a “cage fighter.” For those
of you that don’t know what that are. It is where two people are put in a 32’ x 32’ octagon type ring and it’s an ALL OUT BRAWL! Pretty much anything goes in cage fighting. I researched the rules and there are 33 “fouls” like: biting, eye gouging, butting heads, hair pulling, and the list goes on. I like watching cage fighting but never fantasized about “being in the ring.” Well today my worst nightmare came true. My opponent...Geometry! First the right hook…learning the terms of geometry. They were terms like parallel (lines that never intersect), perpendicular (these intersect to form a right angle), collinear (these are on the same lines), and coincident (these occupy the same space or point.) (You think I’m doing drugs don’t you? I can’t make this stuff up.) Ducking, bobbing, weaving, now comes the dreaded uppercut…practice identifying these lines on a graph. (Leave me in the fight coach…I can take him.) The knock out punch I never saw coming…the quiz! Together we scored a 70%. Not the lowest score ever received, but its right beside math “reasoning.” Speaking of reasoning…someone please tell me the reason I need to know geometry? Because in my 40 some years of blissful life without math I have NEVER done this line mess!Language arts was fun. The 2010 Census paperwork showed up in our mailbox. So JD and I read it and filled it out together. It only took about 10 minutes to fill out. Could you imagine if “The Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe” received one of these forms? She would need a continuation sheet for all her young’ns. Have you received your form yet? Don’t freak out, but there’s space in that form packet for a dozen people! (Suppose what Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are going to THIS year? That’s that family with 19 kids! The last census they only had 11 kids.)
Last week in science it taught JD how to record the desserts observation using charts. It expanded on this lesson today with an experiment called “Behold mold.” We took four pieces of bread and put one teaspoon of water on each one. Then we put two in sandwich bags. The other two piece of bread went on a plate. Then we labeled them. 1. Refrigerate/no air (sandwich bag) 2. Refrigerate (on a plate) 3. Room temperature/no air (sandwich bag) 4. Room temperature (on a plate.) Then we put two in the refrigerator and two on the counter. We will be observing them everyday for two weeks and charting the presence of mold on each piece. (Yum!)
Email/snail was fun today too. It kind of branched off of the social studies lesson when we were looking at Google maps and zoomed in on 10019 Isaac Drive, Midwest City, Oklahoma (the house we lived in when JD was born) and 2118-4th Street Greeley Colorado (my childhood home.) Google maps allows you to view in satellite and it actually looks like you're driving right to the location. So we printed a real picture of each house and wrote down facts about each one. We "drove" around each neighborhood in Colorado and I showed him places I went on my bike. I showed him how far I walked to school and friend's houses. For the house we lived in when JD was born we "drove" around the road I walked nightly with him in his stroller. I showed him the fence extension Jeff and I built (that's falling down in the picture) and right where he received his first bee sting. It was cool to reminisce about childhood places and JD's first home. We had a great time sharing memories and disbelief (especially about how far I walked to school.)
What a fun experience for you both.
ReplyDeleteNow the Math thing, oh my.