Uphill from there…

**Side note** We got more snow Friday night. But it quickly disappeared Saturday by lunch. JD went out and played but I stayed indoors working on the kitchen wall.

(I know most of my readers are from the Appalachian Mts but I love my Colorado Rockies.)

Today was supposed to be a day off from school for public school, but Harnett County turned it into a snow/ice make-up day. I was also thinking since Friday will be a travel day that we should not get too far behind public school. This news did not settle well with JD. It started out good but once his bottom hit the chair for math the attitude button was engaged. There was no real reason JD could tell me for this negative attitude, but I strongly suggested he change the attitude for the second math lesson. It was all uphill from there. (As if trudging through four foot of snow with a VERY strong headwind.)

The devotion today was about Susan B. Anthony. She faced much opposition in her life but courage pulled her through every detail of it. Then it asked us to be a person of courage. We can do this by speaking up for friends and telling people about our faith even though it’s unpopular.

We are now on purpose three of the Purpose Driven Life book. Purpose one if you’ll recall was “Planned for God’s pleasure.” (Okay, that’s easy enough; make God smile.) Purpose two was “Formed for God’s Family.” (Okay, got it.) Purpose three is called “Created to Become Like Christ.” (Whoa! This is out of my comfort zone.) I instantly want to regress and say, “That’s too hard. Can’t we try something else?” The bad news is “No.” The good news is the Holy Spirit is there all the way with us. But, (there’s always a ‘but’ right?) but, we need to be willing to cooperate with him and his work in us. God uses multiple ways to mold this Christ-like character; they are: His Word, other people, and circumstances. I’m such an impatient person. It’s like I expect God to do a superwoman change on me. One second I’m “pre-Christian Cheryl” and the next “Christian Conquer the World Cheryl.” Forget the whole transition time from baby Christian to mature Christian. Just change me already! LET’S SAVE THE WORLD! Reality check…becoming like Christ is a long, slow process of growth. (Bummerrrr…) Truth be told, today’s study was so in depth I’ll need to take some “me” time to study it. JD actively participated in this discussion. It was like speaking to a young adult. (I love these moments together.)

There are only two days of fractions left in math. Today we managed to tackle one of those days. While it was a difficult first lesson it seemed to level out on lesson two. We learned converting fractions into decimals and back again. Then we learned fractions to percentages and back. Then we compared fraction, decimals, and percents to see which one was bigger. (Head spinning…stop the room please.) Lesson one and JD’s frustration level delayed the lesson BIG time. It delayed us so much I had to drop keyboarding and art. It was just that kind of day. I kindly asked JD to come back to the second lesson without the attitude. After going through ALL those fraction’s lessons I’ve forgotten most of them and had to write a cheat sheet for myself. I’m only a ¼ of the way through writing it.

Since JD was frustrated, discourage, and angry during math I used this opportunity to take a “feelings” check. I pulled 34 “feelings” words and picture faces off the internet and asked him was he feeling any of these at home, school, church, and with friends. It didn’t reveal anything I didn’t already know. He thinks people blame him even when he knows he’s trying to help or be nice. The lack of friends climbed into many of the pessimistic words from the list. And finally, he gets frustrated with school work. When asked about the word “disgusted” he answered “meatloaf.” To try to change the negative mood I had him write about what makes him happy, feel loved, and what makes him smile.

New spelling words were handed out. They all end in “O.” (Raise your hand if you have a hard time spelling “potato.”) Ok, I’ll be the first to admit it. (I‘m stuck on the VP Dan Quail “OE?” train.) Tomorrow is a new day, and I’m so looking forward to it.