Home Education

More on home education...



For us, our guideposts through a day:

~Prayer, memorization, Bible Reading, hymn singing

~2 hours a day of Reading --especially before they are five

~Reading Living Books (history, science, geography, literature, poetry, art appreciation)
(for lists of living books see here: Ambleside Online, 1000 Good Books, Real Learning Booklist)

~Bluedorn's Ten Things to Do before the age of Ten was formative for us as we began

~ readings happen in Circle Time (and explore Kendra's circle time posts), or known as Morning Time (Cindy of Dominion Family mentored a small email loop long before blogs, and she was used of God to help shape what our homeschooling looked like... her morning time posts are priceless gems, worth printing out and praying over) ...

~Latin, math, grammar/writing/spelling
~apprenticing to real life: 2 hours of barn work daily, and then household chores

And at day's end, we think on our Seven Daily Rungs, the seven things which we endeavor to learn and do daily, to live holistically, our one-piece life.



And these books that have shaped our course... Possible readings for the summer hammock?

~Laying Down Rails --before embarking on any homeschool journey, regardless of paradigm or philosophy, may I humbly offer that this is where to begin. Because it is all about habits. What rails you lay down will take you somewhere. Lay them well. I will be re-reading my well-worn, much noted copy this summer.

~Seven Lesson School Teacher (available online by John Taylor Gatto, NYC Teacher of the Year and NY State Teacher of the year--see here for his acceptance speech)

~Real Learning: Although written from a Catholic perspective, there is much here to be gleaned, much to chew on, much to embrace--real learning in a real home. With a Charlotte Mason philosophy, this book sings with the joy of authentic living and joyful learning. Inspiring and practical, I'm rereading this also this summer. (Her suggested reading lists of living books throughout the elementary years can be read online here.)

~For the Children’s Sake: The summer of my third year of university, my sister-in-law loaned me this book. And God began to give a different vision of what our children’s lives could look like.

~Christine Miller’s Classical Christian Homeschooling: Our oldest was 4 when I found Christine Miller’s site. I had so many questions...

~A Charlotte Mason Companion, a very worthwhile guidepost that I revisit often and keep beside my bed...

~A wise homeschooling mother's memorable blog post deeply impacted our journey: "Homeschooling Heresies"...

~And this profound article, on how to avoid pitfalls in homeschooling which I read again, and again, and so wish I had in the beginning.

~~~

To delve deeper, we've been blessed by:

~this complete Charlotte Mason curriculum, the PNEU curriculum for gr. 1-12--inspiration!

~ the Ambleside curriculum

~ Veritas Press' curriculum, and their online scholars program for our upper elementary learners, along with the Teaching Company courses

But really, curriculum is not the road on which homeschoolers travel. Whether what lines the shelf is of a Charlotte Mason bent, or classical, Abeka or Sonlight, Tapestry of Grace or Bob Jones is of secondary importance.

We travel on The Way. We live and breathe in Him. He is our road, He leads us on, He is a guide worthy of our trust.

Lean on Him.

(More about our personal homeschooling journey)

Photos: young learners in our home...

Begin Homeschooling

From the inbox....

"I am from Romania... I am stirred for homeschool. I started to pray, I looked on line for homeschool curriculum, but I felt overwhelmed by the immensity of information! I do not know how to start. I would greatly appreciate your effort in enlighten for me the new path of homeschool."

Corina
~~

"I am still struggling with how God would have me home school our children – trying to develop our home school philosophy, if you will. If you have time to share your thoughts it would be greatly appreciated... "

Alli

I remember that place, that deciding place. I remember its weight.

I recall standing there with pudgy hands wrapped around my leg, peering down that road diverged in the yellow wood. Unsure of the next step, the faint whisper from a faint heart came, “Which road for us, Lord?”

Please know it is alright to stay there awhile. We did, waiting, asking, listening. And yes, from experience, His voice on how to educate the children bestowed is best heard on one’s knees. He will speak: Keep your nose in the Book.

There on your knees, waiting for the Word, it is sometimes easy to forget that He loves these children even more than you do (for they are His)---He does have a unique, individual plan for each of them that He will faithfully reveal.

He called this family to take up the road less traveled, the one marked “Home education.”

Though many had gone before, winnowing a worn and true path, I confess, we felt like pioneers, forging new ground.

(But isn’t each family pioneers in their own right? We are each father, mother for the first time, traversing the parenting prairie with these children for the first time. Where are we going? How do we get there and what do we need for the trek? Raising up children is new territory for each of us.)

You wrote, asking for some markers we found on our homeschooling trail? I can share guideposts we found along our journey, but I understand that you begin from a different destination with a different past….and you may have different vistas in mind…so yes, use the postcards of our journey only to inspire your very own.

And may I share a word before we visit the places we’ve passed? Whichever trail you set your foot to will decide your landscapes and views. Be it home education and the myriad of paths therein, or other educational routes, a family grows out of the landscape of the path which they tread.

That trail becomes a way of life, a way of seeing, a way of being. Consider, dear Mama, which landscapes and vistas He has put in your heart to see… and embrace that path and its lifestyle. The journey, whichever one, encompasses the travelers.

Here is how I might suggest you begin the journey into Homeschooling:

Authentically.
Live your life. Invite your children to join you! Read together. Pray together. Sing together. Work, bake, garden, chore, clean, sew, fix, build together. Don't fabricate artifical demarcation lines between schooling and living. Live a one-piece life. Live holistically.

Joyfully.
Explore! Be awed by His World! Restore Wonder! Be a creative, thinking, exuberant person who spills with the joy of learning. Your zest for learning and life will be contagious--the children will catch it!

Curiously.
Read, read, read. Fill the house with library books. Play classical music. Post the art of the masters about the house. Go for walks in the woods. Learn a new language, a new culture, a new poem. Everyday set out to discover again, and again, and again. The whole earth is full of His glory! Go seek His face...

Consistently.
Consistently read. Consistently pray. Consistently keep the routine. Consistently live an everyday liturgy.
Children thrive in routine. So do households. Have hardstops: times that you fully stop to pray, to read, to write. Regardless of what isn't done, what isn't finished. Make a full stop, do the needful thing, then return to meals, laundry, household management.
Consistently be consistent.

That's all. The curriculum doesn't really matter, so much. Use what works for you, how He leads you.

Just make it part of your real life, make it a joy, make it all a discovery, and prayerfully make it consistent.

More education thoughts tomorrow...
Photo: our well worn dictionary, atlas

Good Teachers Connect

"Good teachers join self and subject and students in the fabric of life.

Good teachers possess a capacity for connectedness."

~The Courage to Teach, Palmer Parker (HT: Marcus Goodyear)


(Related: "Making Connections" this month's column at Christian Women Online .... about gaps in learning, holes in relationships, and how to make connections.")

How to Homeschool

“Gather and knot.” That’s all I ask them.

It’s all anyone will ever ask of them, really.

So they try.

Continue reading this month's column at Christian Women Online .... about gaps in learning, holes in relationships, and how to make connections.

If the Heavens Declare....

Let's get out there....

It's Saturday... There's time.

Shadows and light play outside our door, sun pulling at cloud drapes.

We pull up a chair and watch this scene.

For every day He writes wonder,

beckoning us to enter it all, to come smell, dig,

see,

the light and shadow falling,

nature a trinity of petals, leaves, brilliance,

all applause.

From front row seats, faces up to window, watching,

a child whispers in the midst,

"I think Grosbeak wears the gospel:

black sin, washed red in blood, making him snow white.

See?"

The heavens declare.

We have time.

May and June's Nature Calendar...(Click to enlarge for your own calendar of glorying in the Creator...Calendar from: Natural Science Through the Seasons: 100 Teaching Units)

Knee Travellers

Most mornings find us here, ringed around this farm table, blocks and chunks of sunlight bejeweling faces. We've slept in beds but a few steps away, done chores before dawn in that barn on the other side of the lane, and now gathered here, some still eating their toast, crumbs falling on the table into squares of golden light.

We stay here and open pages, read of other places, different times.

And so it is we meet historical Gustavus one morning after Emily Dickinson's poetry, his sure and steady voice calling across the centuries. It's the 17th century, words have taken us to Sweden, and we listen to King Gustavus’ standing in the great hall of the Diet in Stockholm, passionately addressing his government on May 20, 1630. With the slaughter of brethren in the faith throughout Europue, he anguishes for “our religious brethren who sigh for deliverance. With the help of God, they will not have sighed in vain.”

The words of Gustavus’ ardent plea catch in my throat. Nearly 400 years had passed since those words rang out; an ocean and near-light years away. And yet, was there not still a collective sigh escaping from our persecuted brothers and sisters around the globe…at this very moment?

We are just here, rising every morning, serving breakfast, praying, opening our books... entirely oblivious, generally apathetic and indifferent to the countless, innumerable cries of imprisoned, oppressed, tortured men and women for do what we do every day: talk to Jesus as Savior and Friend.

Even if I had ears and heart to hear, I wasn’t Gustavus. I simply could not abandon spouse and children to deliver my brethren in the faith. While a husband and father, Gustavus was a king. We are simply, merely, a homeschooling family of a half dozen kids and a mom and dad trying and praying to hold it all together.

We turn the page of Gustavus’ story, the children and I reading as Swedish troops waved farewell to hearth and home and sailed for mainland Europe, risking their lives, the only ones they had, so that unknown siblings in God’s family might worship freely.

After five wave-tossed weeks at sea, Gustavus and company landed on the coast of Germany. Falling heavily down on the sandy beach, Gustavus led his weary army in prayer, “My Lord and my God, You who rule the winds and the seas, I give You thanks from the depths of my heart. You know, O Lord, I haven’t come for my own glory, but to help Your oppressed church. Protect us and bring us victory in this sacred work.”

Standing, Gustavus observed tears in the eyes of his brave men.

Reading the story, my own emotions well close. Hope-girl, seated beside me, softly wishes, “Too bad we couldn’t go help the oppressed church like that, Mama.”

Gustavus stirred hearts, ancient and present, with truth, “Weep not. Pray to God with all your heart. To pray often is almost to conquer.”

I whisper his words again, “To pray often is almost to conquer.”

I look at the children circling our table, Caleb with face in hands, Hope with intent eyes, Joshua and Levi pressed together, leaning close. We could not go to China. Or Sudan. Or Iran. Our family of eight would never, in all likelihood, step foot in Saudi Arabia where discussing the Bible would toss you in a barren jail cell for 4 years and include a sentence to lashing—750 stinging, biting strokes. We would never fellowship in the dark of a damp underground church, or defend sisters in Christ from a flurry of fists and sticks for singing hymns on Sunday morning. No, we were simply a family. But might we too go into all the world, freeing the oppressed?

Gustavus echoed across time to our family gathered around the table: “To pray often is almost to conquer.”

This family could go. The oppressed church need not sigh in vain: we could pray.

Often. Daily. God would hear…does hear. Our prayers would be as going, as conquering, emancipating our persecuted brethren, releasing those held captive to the dark.

So we bow heads, holds hands, and ask, “Father, today be with Pastor Van Thong, imprisoned in Laos for attending meetings with Western Christians. No one is allowed to visit him Lord and he is being held indefinitely. We cannot go to Laos and implore the government for Pastor Van Thong’s release. But we can pray, Lord, for his comfort, his encouragement, and his glorifying You in all these things. And may Your Spirit and Your good and perfect will reign victorious, Father, in Laos…and all the world over.”

A little hand squeezes mine and we know: To pray is almost to conquer.

So we travel into the world on our knees.


Related:
Persecution.org
Prisoner Alert
How to teach geography and go...

Post adapted from a column piece no longer available at Christian Women Online
Quotes of Gustavus from Trial and Triumph

Support System

Turbulence shakes his balance, and his hand flashes for steadying,
something sure, like a seatback,
but my shoulder, curved and strong too, will do.

Never turning or noticing the feel of bone, he presses hard, and I know purpose,

a body made like a staff.

Lord, who today would You have me undergird, uphold?

(Photo: collecting luggage, cluster of thoughts, in Detroit airport)

I left on a jet plane... and am back again, the bags unpacked, mind settling. Now to collect thoughts, offer thanks for the grace ... grow. Thoughts from the journey....

Slowing to See

Going on a God hunt....

little feet looking for big puddles,

and pools of spring,

down in the woods, where winter keeps hanging onto her skirts.

Going to catch a big one... boy and dog and swamp melting into life

with eyes wide open.

Found! Come sit in this patch of sun with me, and puddle splash?

And see! Spring friends are coming to join us too!

If the heavens declare.... let's get out there!

Take time. Only a few minutes a day. Look. Pause. Breathe Deep.

Slow to See.

Step outside. Go for a walk.

Give glory.

Grace. Gratitude. Joy.

April's Nature Calendar...(Click to enlarge for your own calendar of glorying in the Creator...
Calendar from: Natural Science Through the Seasons: 100 Teaching Units)

Feathers for the Nest

(Thoughts He keeps bringing to mind daily, changing me...)

An excerpt from my column this month at Christian Women Online:

"...When will I learn that down sacrificed settles and soothes? For scraps won’t suffice. Snippets of time, leftover me, a trinket, a diversion, tossed.

Mother ducks don’t line nests with feathers, dirty and trampled, the molted and unnecessary. Why would I?

Nests need feathers fresh, warm with mother’s life...."

To read the complete article, Feathers for a Nest

(I hope you'll take a moment to pop over)

Art: The original Koester painting, "Moulting Ducks," is part of the collection at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle www.fryemuseum.org

Beowulf the Book

Though it is recommended reading for youngsters, I had avoided it. Beowulf seemed... pagan? gory! This volume caused regret for skirting the classic poem for so long.

Our copy of Beowulf: Grendel the Ghastly is growing worn and real with re-readings.



Doug Phillips says:

"The beauty of Beowulf is not only its literary brilliance, but its rich Creationist theme, which dominates the epic from its discussion of Cain and Abel and references to the Nephilim of Genesis 7, to one of the antagonists of the story, the dragon, a clear, historic reference to dinosaurs living contemporaneous with man. For these and other reasons, it has long been my view that Beowulf is one of the ten most important works of Christian literature in history."

The oldest epic in the English languages, written anonymously around 700 AD, and the basis of modern hero tales, Beowulf, though a pagan hero, the Anglo-Saxon poem is that of a Christian, as the introduction of the Norton Anthology of English Literature posits:

"The poet [author of Beowulf] was reviving the heroic language, style, and pagan world of ancient Germanic oral poetry [...] it is now widely believed that Beowulf is the work of a single poet who was a Christian and that his poem reflects well-established Christian tradition."

A glance into this stunning volume, the roots of every word in the book researched by author Michelle Szobody to use only words with Anglo-Saxon origins:

"Beowulf boasted as he took off his armor. "I have faith in my hand-grip as the monster does in his. I will fight my foe without weapons. May God in His wisdom give glory where He sees fit." The leader lay down, and his band fell asleep.

Then from the marsh-mists the monster came slinking...."

And when we read the last words of this hue-saturated, lyrically rich book and turned the final page, the still sat for a moment... until a young voice asked: "How soon until we read the next Beowulf book?"

Ah, the sign of a book well-loved. When will the next word-feast be served?

(Grendel the Ghastly relates the first third of the epic poem of Beowulf. Two more volumes from the same author and illustrator are keenly anticipated. Discernment in reading to younger children encouraged. The artistry of this 26 page, hardback volume is rich, beautiful and vivid-- it may be best to wait until particularly sensitive children are older.)

View more sample pages and reviews here. A volume worth seeking out and reading... again and again.

Related: Linda Faye's Enjoying Beowulf --recommended

Beowulf and Courage--thoughts from Tolkein and Chesterton
Beowulf recommended by Ambleside
Ambleside's Beowulf's guide
Beowulf recommended by Classical Christian Homeschooling

See Children's Book Monday for more children's book reviews

Homeschool Grammar, Rod and Staff, Helps

Welling tears today as growing young minds waded further out into the deeps of intransitive and tansitive verbs, gerunds and participles. Some felt like they were drowning.

This brought relieved smiles and cries: "We can do this!"

Online grammar Jeopardy, games, and quizzes from Quia
(for more and similar, click on Quia's "Shared Activities" (top toolbar), click "advanced search," then search for author name "Salona"-- eureka!)

For further helps for upper level grammar, see "The Tongue Untied" for explanations, clear definitions, homework and quizzes with answers -- an online ten week grammar course from the University of Oregon.)

Flourish

Soak in water

to grow roots

tender shoots

of veined green

tendrils twining.

"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow."

1 Corinthians 3:6

Grow your own sweet potato
Photos: Levi's sweet potato since January

If the Heaven's Declare...

Let's get out there....

Take time.
Only a few minutes a day.
Look. Pause. Breathe Deep. See. Step outside.
Go for a walk.
Give glory.

March's Nature Calendar...(Click to enlarge for your own calendar of glorying in the Creator...

Calendar from: Natural Science Through the Seasons: 100 Teaching Units)

Behold the Lamb... Let Loose!

A series preparing hearts for Easter... (Day 5)
We pause to listen to His Word, linger, lift up voice in prayer...then go live the Word.
Perhaps gather family to join, cutting out the accompanying artwork and hang symbol on an Easter Passion Tree.


Listen to His Word (lectio/read):

From the Message:

8-12 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."

13-14 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

15-18 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

19-20 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!

Linger (meditatio)..silently meditate on His Word:

"Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master.

(Join children in closing eyes and envisioning the passage, re-read again... again...linger.)

Lift up voice in prayer, responding to His Word (oratio):

Father! You've come! God in the Flesh! The Fall Mess is swept away by the the Faithful Messiah! We too set off at a run, wanting to see! Believe! Hear us let loose! We glorify and praise You for everything we've heard and seen. It's turned out exactly the way You said: You came to crush the serpent. AMEN!

Live the Word (contemplate it so long that it settles down into heart, hands, feet):

Today we can't help ourselves. We are spilling with the good news: we must speak, announce, that great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide! Who is one person that you could tell today that a Savior has come, a Savior who is Messiah and Master? Call them, write them a note, drop off a treat for them--and tell them the glorious news!

Print, mount, cut, hang art symbol on Easter Tree

Behold the Lamb... Cure for Discontent

A series preparing hearts for Easter... (Day 4)
We pause to listen to His Word, linger, lift up voice in prayer...then go live the Word.
Perhaps gather family to join, cutting out the accompanying artwork and hang symbol on an Easter Passion Tree.

Listen to His Word (lectio/read):

From the Message:
Numbers 21:4-9

4-5 They set out from Mount Hor along the Red Sea Road, a detour around the land of Edom. The people became irritable and cross as they traveled. They spoke out against God and Moses: "Why did you drag us out of Egypt to die in this godforsaken country? No decent food; no water—we can't stomach this stuff any longer."

6-7 So God sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit them and many in Israel died. The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke out against God and you. Pray to God; ask him to take these snakes from us."

Moses prayed for the people.

8 God said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it on a flagpole: Whoever is bitten and looks at it will live."

9 So Moses made a snake of fiery copper and put it on top of a flagpole. Anyone bitten by a snake who then looked at the copper snake lived.

Linger (meditatio)..silently meditate on on His Word:

Whoever is bitten and looks at it will live.

(Join children in closing eyes and envisioning the passage...linger.)

Lift up voice in prayer, responding to His Word (oratio):

Father, we repent of our grumbling, our complaining, of all the stuff we wail that we can no longer stomach. We've been bitten by the snake of discontent. Cause our eyes to look on Jesus and live. With Jesus, we have more, more, than enough.

Live the Word (contemplate it so long that it settles down into heart, hands, feet):

Today, keep tongues from the sin of ingratitude. When the serpent of discontent bites, choose to look to Jesus Who hung on the tree to give us everything we need. He is our life.

Print, mount, cut, hang art symbol on Easter Tree

Behold the Lamb.... Gift of Rescue

A series preparing hearts for Easter... (Day 3)
We pause to listen to His Word, linger, lift up voice in prayer...then go live the Word.
Perhaps gather family to join, cutting out the accompanying artwork and hang symbol on an Easter Passion Tree.

Listen to His Word (lectio/read):

From the Message:
Exodus 12:21-30

23 Moses assembled all the elders of Israel. He said, "Select a lamb for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the bowl of blood and smear it on the lintel and on the two doorposts. No one is to leave the house until morning. God will pass through to strike Egypt down. When he sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, God will pass over the doorway; he won't let the destroyer enter your house to strike you down with ruin.

24-27 "Keep this word. It's the law for you and your children, forever. When you enter the land which God will give you as he promised, keep doing this. And when your children say to you, 'Why are we doing this?' tell them: 'It's the Passover-sacrifice to God who passed over the homes of the Israelites in Egypt when he hit Egypt with death but rescued us.'"
The people bowed and worshiped.

28 The Israelites then went and did what God had commanded Moses and Aaron. They did it all.
29 At midnight God struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, right down to the firstborn of the prisoner locked up in jail. Also the firstborn of the animals.

30 Pharaoh got up that night, he and all his servants and everyone else in Egypt—what wild wailing and lament in Egypt! There wasn't a house in which someone wasn't dead.

Linger (meditatio)..silently meditate on His Word: (Join children in closing eyes and envisioning the passage...linger.)

"It's the Passover-sacrifice to God who passed over the homes of the Israelites in Egypt when he hit Egypt with death but rescued us.'"
The people bowed and worshiped.

Lift up voice in prayer, responding to His Word (oratio):

Father, we paint ourselves red with Jesus' blood so that satan cannot enter into this soul place to wrack ruin and death, but that You would come through the door of our hearts... that we would come through Jesus, the door, and into Your Presence. We are rescued. Rescued! Passed Over! We bow down.

Live the Word (contemplate it so long that it settles down into heart, hands, feet):

Today, we wear a necklace, a bracelet, a scarf, some visible reminder that we have chosen to clothe the lintels of our souls in You. We choose You. Because of Jesus we are passed over. We live a day of worship: gratitude for the Gift of Rescue.

Print, mount, cut, hang art symbol on Easter Tree

Behold the Lamb... Ram in the Thicket

A (20 Day?) series preparing hearts for Easter... (Day 2)
We pause to listen to His Word, linger, lift up voice in prayer...then go live the Word.
Perhaps gather family to join, cutting out the accompanying artwork and hang symbol on an Easter Passion Tree.

Listen to the Word (lectio/read):

From the Message:
Gen.22: 1-14

1 After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, "Abraham!""Yes?" answered Abraham. "I'm listening."
2 He said, "Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I'll point out to you."

3-5 Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants and his son Isaac. He had split wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God had directed him. On the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham told his two young servants, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there to worship; then we'll come back to you."

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to Isaac his son to carry. He carried the flint and the knife. The two of them went off together.

7 Isaac said to Abraham his father, "Father?"
"Yes, my son."
"We have flint and wood, but where's the sheep for the burnt offering?"

8 Abraham said, "Son, God will see to it that there's a sheep for the burnt offering." And they kept on walking together.

9-10 They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son.

11 Just then an angel of God called to him out of Heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Yes, I'm listening."

12 "Don't lay a hand on that boy! Don't touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn't hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the altar for me."

13 Abraham looked up. He saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

14 Abraham named that place God-Yireh (God-Sees-to-It). That's where we get the saying, "On the mountain of God, he sees to it."

Linger (meditatio)..silently meditate on the Word:

Abraham said, "Son, God will see to it that there's a sheep for the burnt offering."... Abraham named that place God-Yireh (God-Sees-to-It).

(Join children in closing eyes and envisioning the passage...linger.)

Lift up voice in prayer, responding to the Word (oratio):

Father, You see-to-it. Whatever "it" is. You always have a ram in the thicket. Even when "it" is the destination of my soul. Even if the ram in the thicket is Your Only Beloved Son. We fearlessly fear you, our Jehovah Jireh, for being our Provider, the One Who sees to "it"--- everything. For really, what is there then to fear?

Live the Word (contemplate it so long that it settles down into heart, hands, feet):

Today, live in trust, knowing He will see-to-it. All of "it." If He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things (Ro. 8:32)?

Today, what worry, fear, anxiety can we lay down? We choose to walk in faith, knowing that there is a Ram in the thicket. And His name is Jesus.

Print, mount, cut, hang art symbol on Easter Tree

Behold the Lamb.... Where Are You?

A series preparing hearts for Easter... (Day 1)
We pause to listen to His Word, linger, lift up voice in prayer...then go live the Word.
Perhaps gather family to join, cutting out the accompanying artwork and hang symbol on an Easter Passion Tree.

Listen to the Word (lectio/read):

From the Message:
Gen.3: 1-15:

1 The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: "Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?"

2-3 The Woman said to the serpent, "Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It's only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'Don't eat from it; don't even touch it or you'll die.'"

4-5 The serpent told the Woman, "You won't die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you'll see what's really going on. You'll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil."

6 When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she'd know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.

7 Immediately the two of them did "see what's really going on"—saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.

8 When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God.

9 God called to the Man: "Where are you?"

10 He said, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid."

11 God said, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?"

12 The Man said, "The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it."

God said to the Woman, "What is this that you've done?"

13 "The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."

14-15 God told the serpent:
"Because you've done this, you're cursed,
cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals,
Cursed to slink on your belly
and eat dirt all your life.
I'm declaring war between you and the Woman,
between your offspring and hers.

He'll wound your head,
you'll wound his heel."


Linger (meditatio)..silently meditate on the Word: When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God.
God called to the Man: "Where are you?"

(Join children in closing eyes and envisioning the passage...linger.)

Lift up voice in prayer, responding to the Word (oratio) : Father, You are calling for us, calling us out of hiding. In the messy fall at the beginning, You promised the perfect ending. The serpent's head is crushed and we come out of the shadows. And into Your presence.

Live the Word (contemplate so long that it settles down to heart, hands, feet): Today, because of Christ's crushing satan, don't hide from Him who is calling, "Where are you?" Enter into His presence today: sing hymns, pray the psalms, go for a walk and praise Creator, light a candle and give thanks.

Print, mount, cut, hang art symbol on Easter Tree

Make an Easter Passion Tree

You hung on a tree, Lord.
Because of Your passion for all humanity.

We remember.
And make our own Passion Tree.

An old sap bucket, a patina of rusted green, hangs on the end of the gnarled wooden beam of the fireplace mantle.

Red dogwood branches from Christmas fill the bucket, remembrances of Your birth, Your Glorious Coming. Last year, it was pussy willows that Caleb carried in from the woods. We too could cut branches from a forsythia shrub or cherry tree, forcing them to open by placing them in water.

I suppose we could spray paint the branches in white or a pastel color...but I think I prefer the red of the dogwood branches. A vivid reminder of Your Passion.

We've hung some daintily painted eggs, attached with pastel ribbons, to the branches. You, Your Passion, is making all things new.

We'll be reading the Passion story, from the Beginning of Your Word.

We'll hang the symbols. We'll meditate. We'll remember.

And be transformed, a tree bringing forth new life.

What Do I really Want....

The moon floods her walls, quilts and face with light, reflected and brilliant.

And she, with that two-year-old voice that warms me, lights me, whispers before prayers, “I say it again for you, okay Mama?”

I nod, and squeeze her little hand, and she takes a deep breath, her eyes rolling high, looking for words, and plucks petals from her memory.

“The Lord is my Shepherd and I want Him, and... and... and I want Him so I shall not want.”

The words tumbled out and jumbled into this odd order, and yet oddly they seemed to mean much, and I smile in the dark and kiss her goodnight and pray that prayer for me too who strangely wants cheap tinsel and thrills when what I'm made to want is only Him.

He who made me to fit into Him so He could fill all my empty places that I keep stuffing with meaningless stuff--wads of words, crumpled desires, scraps that I must, seemingly, consider evidence of personal worth.

Why doesn't the flock just want the Shepherd?

Photo: Shalom sleeping in her Daddy's arms