Tuesday, July 13, 2010

School planning

I still cannot believe we are midway through July already. It is so amazing to me how quickly summers go by. Even though we have continued to work through our school work this summer - at a very relaxed pace - it has still flown by. In one of my previous posts I mentioned organizing the school room and reading Charlotte Mason materials. Well, the school room is coming nicely. I am reorganizing all my book shelves and trying to recategorize some of the books. So far I am pleased - I still have a way to go, but I am much closer now than when I started =) !!

As far as Charlotte Mason goes . . . I have been reading the first volume in her Homeschooling series entitled Home Education. I have been mostly reading the sections on habit training as I feel there is a need in our home right now to recover this material!! I also have a preschooler again and so I will be reading those sections as well. I have spent a lot of time on the Ambleside Online site. It is a veritable feast of information for those who desire to follow Charlotte's homeschooling methods. I have also found a few more blogs that I have found inspirational in her concepts - A Healer's Geste, Living Charlotte Mason in California and an excellent article from Ordo Amoris on Homeschooling the Freeborn.

I guess I am one of those people who truly enjoy planning school. I wish I could say I was always as good in the execution of it =/ !! Ya'll have a blessed day!!!!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Members of One Body

I had the privilege several weeks ago to make the acquaintance of some folks that had been very instrumental in my daughter's survival last year. The meeting made such an impression on my life.

I do not consider myself a writer and only hope I can express myself well enough for your understanding.

As many know, last year my second daughter was in a devastating car accident. It could easily have been fatal. Just this morning I read of a similar accident - a single car running off the road for unknown reasons, over correction by the driver, rolling the vehicle several times - the older couple did not survive. I do not want to take any praise and glory away from my heavenly Father, whom I know was in complete control the whole time. But something else that has impressed me are the people - the body parts - if you will, that He used throughout.

Okay so back to our meeting . . . we have spent several months thanking folks and making visits to churches, etc. that were either praying for our daughter or offered some support during that time. On our list were the first responder folks to the accident. We had been trying on and off for some months, having trouble hooking up with them. But finally I was able to catch them both on the phone and set up a meeting.

We drove out to the country - not very far from the accident site - to go to the home of one of the responders and the other responder was going to meet us there. What we found was family!!! Not of the blood kin kind, but of an even stronger kind, an eternal one! Mr. Dake (the first responder) and his wife could have been my grand parents - wonderful, God-fearing folks. They were over joyed to get to "meet" my daughter, having assured us they would not have recognized her in public. Seldom do they get to see the "after" picture. Christy, the other first responder, met us at the Dake's home. She also lives out in this same community. Of course, they knew each other. As a matter of fact, I believe they were related distantly. We had a wonderful visit! I did feel like I was amongst family! These folks played a VERY IMPORTANT part in my daughter's accident. Had they not been serving this very small community (Mr. Dake for some 20 years) my daughter's fate could have been different. Regular, everyday people we pass on the street, not actors or sports icons - making a HUGE difference in lives around them - they did in MY life, in MY daughter's life!! My husband wrote an article during the time of the accident entitled "I Saw Jesus today!" I guess I have been reminded yet again that sometimes WE NEED TO LOOK FOR HIM A LITTLE HARDER EACH DAY!! He is indeed there - in the many "body" parts around us! And we NEED to APPRECIATE them MORE!!!!!!!!!