Seeking Understanding

"...We are all very anxious to be understood, and it is very hard not to be. But there is one thing much more necessary."

"What is that, Grandmother?"

"To understand other people."

"Yes, Grandmother, I must be fair - for if I'm not fair to other people, I'm not worth being understood myself. I see..."

From The Princess and the Goblin by George Macdonald

I was reading this to the boys today and this passage struck me. So much of the source of my grief in life has come from my pain at being misunderstood. When I was younger I tried not to care what other people thought (It's their problem!) then when that didn't work, I would decide to withdraw and just not open up any more. Neither option works when you desire to really take part in the life of the Kingdom of God.

Experience has taught me to be more careful, less hasty, and maturity has taken away some of that need to always have a say in the matter, to always prove my "rightness". These things have helped. But this passage hit me in a fresh way. To make it one's objective to understand others, to put that obective before your own need to be understood. Hmmm. I detect much food for thought here. I shall have to reflect on this further with a hot cup of tea, a cozy blanket and a fire in the fireplace.

A Virtuous Maiden, Who Can Find?

One of our favorite literary characters that demonstrates virtuous girlhood is Patience Heatherstone in The Children of the New Forest by Captain Marryat, first published in 1847.

Here's our favorite excerpt from a conversation between Patience and Edward, a young man who is in love with her. They have just had a small dispute between them.

"It is I who am in fault, Patience," replied Edward. "I have been dreaming for a long while, pleased with my dreams, and forgetting that they were dreams, and not likely to be realized. I must now speak plainly. I love you, Patience - love you so much that to part from you would be misery; to know that my love was rejected, as bitter as death. That is the truth, and I can conceal it no longer. Now I admit you have a right to be angry."

"I see no cause for anger, Edward, " replied Patience. "I have not thought of you but as a friend and benefactor; it would have been wrong to have done otherwise. I am but a young person, and must be guided by my father. I would not offend him by disobedience. I thank you for your good opinion of me, and yet I wish you had not said what you have. "

Imagine a young girl of today saying this to a young man who had just declared his ardent love for her. Then imagine this young man actually having his conscience pricked about declaring his love to this young maiden without speaking to her father first. This happens a few sentences on into the story:

"Here comes my father, Edward," said Patience.

(Edward) "Surely I have done wrong, for I feel afraid to meet him."

It is comforting to know that the seemingly radical stand we are taking in the approach of how we plan to give our daughters in marriage is not historically radical at all, but at one time was quite the normal procedure. This idea of daughters belonging to their fathers is to be found in quite a bit of old literature, including the Bible. Feminists will gnash their teeth at the idea, of course, but when we consider where their ideas have led us, we do not give their concerns any merit.

It is sad to realize how foreign these ideas have become to modern people. We plan to do our part in reintroducing these ideas to our culture. The divorce rate being what it is, we can not help think that it only makes sense to consider other alternatives, especially alternatives from times past when the state of marriage was not in such jeopardy.

For My people have forgotten Me,
They burn incense to worthlessness
And they have stumbled from their ways,
From the ancient paths,
To walk on bypaths,
Not on a highway...
Jeremiah 18:15

Look At Those Cheeks!!!

This is our cute little niece/cousin, Sarah, who is almost two months old now! We are all taking a part in "spoiling" her by taking turns running next door to hold her. Already she hates to be put down. I was lucky she was happy while I put her down to take these pictures! She loves to be snuggled and we are all only too happy to oblige.

History Reading

Here is Marvin Olasky's (of World Magazine) high school history reading list. We had many of these titles already and ordered the rest through amazon's used book service.

Now I'm just hoping for a long, cold winter!

Good or Bad?

We often depend on literature for moral lessons and examples of different kinds of character traits. Young children always want to know "Is he the good guy or the bad guy?" and it is sometimes hard for them to comprehend that people can do good things and bad things and it's not often possible to sort them into neat "good or bad" categories.

Last summer while we were reading English history in H.E. Marshall's An Island Story, the boys were constantly wanting to know who were the good guys. When issues arose between the English and the French they would ask, "Who are we going for?" I had to tell them that both their father and I had strong ties to England (my paternal grandmother came over on the boat on her 8th birthday) but that parts of my family were French (my maternal grandmother's maiden name was LaFleur). Discovering that there is an obvious family connection between their father's side of the family and a certain character in the King Arthur story, combined with the fact that An Island Story is written from the English perspective, they were happy to settle the question. They were going for the English.

One day riding in the truck, TheLittlestPrincess, who is now the proud age of five, asked, "Mom, was Abraham Lincoln a bad president?". She then informed me that Tigger said he was. I tried to explain to her that Abraham Lincoln did some things we don't agree with and sometimes gets credit that he doesn't deserve. She patiently listened to my examples and when I was finished said, "Yeah, but is he bad or good?"

I know partly this way of thinking is due to immaturity and as they grow they will see that this is not always a simple question to answer. I hope they will come to see that a benefit to studying people in history is realizing, as Charlotte Mason so eloquently says,

"...we know there is a great deal to be said on both sides of every question and are saved from crudities in opinion and rashness in action."

Seek and Ye Shall Find

We have been very thankful to Vision Forum for much encouragement over the years. This picture was taken at their Father/Daughter Retreat last spring.


AdventureQueen graduated, turned 18 this year and was struggling with pressure to go the accepted route for young women which included either college or career but most importantly - independence. It was amazing to her that even complete strangers would make it their business to question her about her plans for the future. With all of the many voices, even those of trusted Christian friends, it was difficult for her to find peace. Much of that lack of peace was her parents' fault. We had been sending her mixed signals about life as an "adult". Sometimes our parenting goes on automatic pilot and we say the things we either grew up hearing or repeat what we have heard from the world. Often we are guilty of reactionary parenting. We get on our knees in times of perceived crisis instead of seeking God for His ways and thoughts ahead of time. Of this, we repent and hope and pray to do better in the future.

After getting our answers through prayer and lots of time talking together, we looked to see if Vision Forum had any materials to strengthen us in our resolve and we found this book - So Much More: The Remarkable Influence of Visionary Daughters on the Kingdom of God. Here's the first paragraph from the book:

"The world is a mess and it's our fault. This is one of the most important things our father has taught us over the years. It sounds hard, but sometimes we need to hear hard truths. God has given principles for all people to live by. Christians are suposed to know exactly what these principles are and live by them, setting the example and upholding the standard. Yet Christians can be some of the most careless and ungrateful and forgetful people. We Christians can be responsible for leading the culture either away from God's design or toward it. Our father has taught us to confess our errors and admit our mistakes. We truly have been a part of the problem, because we have been careless with the standard."

This book is written by two young girls, aged 17 and 19, with additions by fourteen other young women. We have just begun to read it together and so far, it has been a godsend. Here's the last paragraph of the first chapter, which I have a hard time reading without tears:

"Feminists will say we're weak, but after struggling with feminism ourselves, we realize that being a woman of God will take more of our strength than trying to be anything else. It will require the courage and conviction of a martyr. This is not a book for the weak-hearted or peer-dependant."

This brings me to tears because I'm sad that it is so hard for young people these days. They face so many obstacles. But on the other hand, I'm excited because the ones that overcome will be strong in God and ready to be put to good use by Him.

View From My Computer Desk

The woods are so beautiful this time of year! I feel so blessed to have this gorgeous view while I sit at my computer. The leaves are not even at their peak yet but I'm trying to enjoy every minute because I know before too long they will all be gone and the trees will be settling in for their winter rest. Although I hate to see the woods so bare, I know that without the seemingly dead time of winter the other seasons wouldn't be appreciated as much. I'm so glad to live in a region where the seasons are so different!

Aren't They Cute!

Here's one of our grown-up kittens (I know that makes her a cat but we have a strange identification method.) and Wallace, my brother's puppy. Wallace is growing like a weed and has begun to endear himself to the family. He wasn't popular at first, especially when he was using the kittens as chew toys. But he's settling in now and finding other things to chew. Like the seat of a folding chair someone left on the deck. Then Grandma brought him over a sack full of chew toys that her dog had outgrown. Order has been restored.

Now, about our identification method. Many of our cats never really get names. They may be officially named at some point but I can never remember what they are and the kids are changing them too often so they are referred to as the older-orange-girl-kitten, orange-and-white-boy-kitten, etc. It's getting to be somewhat of a hassle though, so I may round the kids up and get some real names established. However, when the kids come up with a name for a cat like 'Smoochie Poochie' and it actually sticks, it makes me think I'd be better off with the color and gender identification method.

Favorite pets

This was one of SmokeyBear's favorite critter-finds this year. This snake was his daily companion. He even bought a small mouse at the pet store in order to offer the snake something to eat. We were very entertained to see the snake and the mouse be friendly with each other. The mouse actually made its bed in the middle of the coiled up snake and they slept together. I think they worked out a plan together, for in the morning great holes were chewed in the cage and both had escaped. Since then he has found several smaller snakes but none near the size of this one. While the smaller snakes make lovely live ornamental bracelets, they are not as impressive as his long lost friend. SmokeyBear is fortunate his mother does not have a snake phobia.

Narration on Henry the Eighth

From chapter 64 of An Island Story, which you can read here. Remember narration, as Charlotte Mason advocated, is the practice of telling back what one remembers after a single reading. This is 9yo Tigger's composition as dictated to me without any help or prompting. Try this: read the chapter only once, close the book and write out what you remember. You may be surprised and how difficult narrating is! ****************************************************
Henry the Eighth

He had a wife called Catherine and he got tired of her and she fell at his feet saying, "Please don't send me away. I don't want to go somewhere else." He still sent her away. Then he married Anne Boelyn. He told the Church to not look upon the Pope any more. He was the head of the Church and the State. All of the people that still looked upon the Pope, he put them in jail and then cut off their heads. And anyone who looked upon Martin Luther, he cut off their heads and burned them. Then he soon got tired of Anne Boelyn and he put her in prison and cut off her head.

So he married Jane and he loved her a lot. And she died and he didn't marry anybody else for two years. Then he saw a picture of Catherine and he thought she was very beautiful. So he sent for her and when he saw her, she wasn't pretty. She was very ugly and clumsy. He gave her large sums of money to go away and she did. She wanted to keep her head on her shoulders. Before he married her this guy told him to marry her and he cut off his head.

Then he married a fifth lady. Then he found out she was very evil but he was eviler but he didn't realize that. So he put her in jail and cut off her head and put a bunch of her friends in jail and cut off their heads. Then he married the sixth lady and her name was Catherine. She wanted to keep her head on her shoulders and Henry the Eighth almost cut off her head because she didn't quite agree with him. Catherine liked being called Queen of England.

The country soon rebelled against him. So England got a lot of men together.

And then he took all of the Bibles and put them each one in every church and tied them up.

Upcoming Performances of HISTORY: My Deliverer

For all of our friends and family who might like to attend the performance of HISTORY: My Deliverer, which is the life of Christ in dance and drama. Featuring contemporary Christian music and live singers. The following are the dates of upcoming shows which PearlKeeper and BLOCHhead will be performing in:

• November 10 11am and 7pm
  
• November 11 & 12 7pm
• November 13 2:30pm

If anyone would like to come to town for the show, I'm sure we can find room for you to stay with us, extended family or church members.

This has been an extremely powerful performance! Many people have been pleasantly surprised at how well done and professional it is. Several parts have received standing ovations. We would love for you to come!

Travel Journal

September 5th, 2005
Here we are in Washington, DC after a long trip from Tennessee yesterday! We arrived late last night at a nice family campground right outside the city where we plan on staying for the week. Today, we went to Mount Vernon, the home of our first president, George Washington. It was a beautiful place set on a rolling hilltop overlooking the Potomac River. We sat for awhile on that hill in front of the house looking out at the river and I could just imagine George Washington doing the same over 200 years ago. He'd be experiencing the same things I was: the cool breeze, the view, the contentment in knowing that he lived in a beautiful, free nation.

Then this evening we drove to Annapolis Harbor, where we saw the U.S. Naval Academy and hundreds of boats!! We could feel the Labor Day holiday in he air as we moored around the docks along with many young people out celebrating their day free from work. It was a lovely evening and dusk was gathering as we climbed into a tour boat to take an evening tour. Beneath us, the water was shimmering and reflecting the multi-colored sky. People from the other boats waved as we passed by and though we could hardly see them anymore, we waved back. I guess the peacefulness of the evening made us sleepy because me and my seven brothers and sisters were all fast asleep when we pulled back into our campsite.

September 6, 2005
Today we took a trip via the subway into downtown Washington DC. We walked out of the station, still dazzled by the thrill of our first subway ride, and looked around us at our nation's capital. We had never realized before how very beautiful the sight was. Each intricately structured building and historic monument provided a pattern so perfect that it made me wish I could soar up like a bird to look down and take it all in at once.

After lunch, we went into the National Gallery of Art. Taking our time, we walked through each exhibit slowly. There were couches dispersed through multiple rooms and on some there were students lounging with notebooks studying paintings that apprarently had fancied them. My mom, sisters, and I walked through quietly studying each painting closely and marveling at the pure talent these artists possessed. With each painting, I longed to become like these artists and touch hearts with beautiful pictures for the world to understand and admire.

September 7, 2005
We went back downtown today to just stroll around and see the monuments up close. We went first to the Washington Monument. Even when we saw it far off, it was breathtaking but that was nothing compared to standing right next to it. If you had good balance you could look up and watch I seeming to sway back and forth while the clouds about it would circle 'round and form a sort of crown on its pointed top. We picnicked in the shadow of the monument and then made our way down the long winding sidewalk to the Lincoln Memorial. There we rested and read the inscriptions on the walls with the face of Abraham Lincoln looking sternly down at us. Turning around and walking back down the steps we could see the reflecting pool with the Washington Monument reflected right in the center of the water. Ducks were swimming in the pool and people were standing along the pathway resting or taking in the sights around them. The scene provided a one-point perspective of the pool, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol Building forming one line and getting smaller as they went.

September 8, 2005
Leaving at 9:00 A.M. we took a long trip to Williamsburg, Virginia today. It was a four hour drive to the Colonial town but the boring trip was forgotten as we began to walk around. We strolled at our own pace and walked in and out of small shops that had been built to function just as they would have in the Colonial era. Around us, people were dressed as if they had just walked out of the 1600s. One woman as even carrying a baby boy dressed in a white blouse and britches. The shop we stayed in longest was the apothecary shop where they displayed medicines and remedies from the 1600s. When we walked in, we saw endless rows of old bottles and jars lining the shelves. There was a soapy, sweet smell in the air and a smiling lady in a mobcap behind the counter. She was there to prescribe some sort of medicine or herb for whatever ailed you, in Colonial days, that is. But today, she was there to answer all our questions about sickness in the 17th century. We walked in and out of many places including the shoemaker, gunsmith, milliner, silversmith, and blacksmith. Every shop had its own special smell and feel. By the time we were ready to go back, each was convinced that he was born in the wrong time period and longing for the olden days again.

September 9, 2005
Our last day was spent at the beautiful Baltimore Harbor. We arrived around 2:00 P.M., parked, and began to walk. The first thing that struck us was that, like Annapolis, there were hundreds of sailboats and yachts in the water and tied to the docks. On one huge yacht, a family lounged on lawn chairs drinking lemonade and waving back to people who called hello. We walked in a half-circle around a small inlet area passing by tall skyscrapers and crowds of people. Once, we passed a man who was playing the guitar, a drum set and a harmonica all at once. Small kids jumped up and down to the beat of the music around him while grown-ups dropped money in his bucket. Continuing on after watching for a while, we also passed a few anchored old ships and even an old submarine that could be explored with tickets. But we were hungry for dinner by this point so we circled back to find a place to eat. The rest of the evening was spent at the Rusty Scupper eating delicious seafood and enjoying the incredible view of Baltimore Harbor from our table.

A Copycat of Olive Garden's Hot Artichoke & Spinach Dip

This recipe is SO good! Many people think it is better than Olive Garden's. I have used it many a time to bribe friends and family. We like it with tortilla chips. Be prepared: it never lasts long!

Add hot wings (I just follow the recipe on the RedHot sauce bottle) and you have a feast of flavors fit for any football or evening get-together!

Welcome Sarah Faith!

Our new little niece/cousin was born at 8:35 October 10, 2005. She weighs 7 lbs. 3 oz. and is almost 20 inches long.

After a night of mild labor, things started picking up around 6am. After an hour in the hot tub everything began moving quickly. My sister did an amazing job! And our beloved friend and midwife did a stupendous job; what would we do without her?

She made her debut into the world on Grandpa's favorite leather LazyBoy chair (which was protected of course)! She knows how to arrive in style!

So far, she has been the most peaceful , content baby and is already sucking her fingers. Her sister and brothers couldn't be more pleased!

Life Out of Death

About two weeks ago, I received word that my grandmother was probably dying. My sister, my oldest daughter and I left within a hour of the news and drove all night to Michigan to try to see her one last time. She was a phenomenal woman and I plan to write a post just about her soon. But something very exciting came out of the trip and I know she would have preferred for his news to take precedence over her own story.

Even though we didn't make it in time to see Grandma, we had a wonderful opportunity to see one of my younger brothers, Judah. He asked to come home with us for a visit, feeling that he had a real need in his life and feeling that coming home with us would set him on the path to filling that need. The ten hour trip home never seemed so fast! We talked the whole way, laughing at family stories and also serious conversations about life with God and the Body of Christ. We did take one break from talking to play a Jeremy Camp CD for him and he couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

It just so happened that our church was in the middle of our Feast of Tabernacles celebration which means we were camping out and having meetings every night. This is always a very special time of year for us but this year Judah being with us made it extra special. The first night home Judah asked for prayer and surrounded by many caring people, he was moved to tears of repentance. The second night he announced he wanted to rededicate his life to God and the third night he asked to be baptized in the creek on our church property!

Since then he's made a trip to his home state to tie up loose ends and now he is living with us and planning on starting a new business with my brother-in-law. He is teaching AdventureQueen how to play the guitar and they are having special times talking and worshipping together.

There is so much to this story but I want to share about the meaning of his name. I have always been told Judah means praise. I wanted to research a little further so I consulted my Strong's Concordance and here's what I found:

• (Judah) Yehuwdah comes from a primary root Yadah which means literally to use (ie. hold out) the hand; especially to revere or worship with extended hands

I was amazed because I had already loaded these pictures onto this post before I looked this up!







I am so thrilled to have been a part of all of this and so thankful to have my brother with us!!!!

A Good Quote Does The Heart Good

"...love is the proof of God, and forgiveness is the proof of love."

From Levi's Will by W. Dale Cramer

Separation of Church and State - HA!

Just wandering around Washington DC gives ample evidence against the modern notion that the Founders advocated the current interpretation of separation of church and state. Someone needs to create a book and a video documentation of all of these sort of references!

Just one example is the Thomas Jefferson Building (of all places), which is part of the Library of Congress.

Not only is there a statue of Moses and St. Paul among other prominent figures that decorate the circular Main Reading Room, there are these quotes along the top of the walls:

• Above the figure of History: "One God, One Law, One Element, And One Far-Off Divine Element, To Which The Whole Creation Moves." from In Memoriam by Tennyson
  

This struck me so strongly that I grabbed my little blank book which I had just purchased at the National Gallery of Art and copied it down. I plan to read Tennyson's poems in the collection of In Memoriam. From what little I have researched, I have already found some interesting things.

• Above the figure of Religion: "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" from Micah 6:8

• Above the figure of Science: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork." from Psalms 19:1

I find this quote above the science figure to be extremely ironic, being that our nation currently forbids the teaching in it's government schools of God as the creator, let alone that the natural world shows His glory and handiwork! How can a people be so deceived? By the old adage that goes something like - Repeat a lie often enough and eventually it will be believed. When will the American people wake up to all of the inconsistencies of our modern American worldview???

It puts me in mind of Proverbs 22:28, "Do not move the ancient landmark which your fathers have set." With all of the push for separation of church and state, I can not help but worry over these ancient landmarks. Surely they will be next in the line of fire to remove all references of our heritage from the land. I pray that God has raised up the home school movement in order to combat this foolishness. May we be diligent to teach our children the truth!

Speaking of Pigeons

Believe it or not, this little pigeon was the object of our visit to the American History Museum. While reading about Cher Ami and then seeing The Lost Battalion when we were studying World War I last year, we found out he was in the Smithsonian and we knew we had to see him.

Nature Study in D.C.

A highlight of the trip for SmokeyBear was feeding the pigeons. As we tromped through museums he kept asking, "When can we go feed the pigeons? You promised we would!" To his delight, they were so tame he was able to catch several of them.

We lugged our cooler-on-wheels around DC to save money on food. This second day we plopped down in the Mall and had our lunch. Somehow a peach managed to escape our picnic area and this squirrel had a feast. Tom was able to get close enough to him to gently take the peach from him and then offer it back. The squirrel gently took it back and resumed eating! The squirrel encounter was called to halt when MamaLion saw what was going on because she didn't want to rush anyone to the hospital with a squirrel bite!

Les Grand Vacances

The Big Vacation! This has been my favorite phrase from our French program Le Francais Facile (The Easy French). For some reason, I found particular pleasure reciting this phrase around the house while planning our long-awaited trip to Washington DC. For the last year and a half, the whole family has been putting money in the designated vacation tin. The last few months, Mr. Potts gave extra incentive by promising to match any funds put in by the children. A good friend of ours, who grew up in the DC area, gave us a suggested list of places to visit. We looked over the list, visited a few websites, and came up with our goals of places to see in the week of our sojourning.

The kids were amazing, especially the younger ones! We did so much walking! The band-aids in our first aid kit came in handy to cover the blisters on our feet. Even the boys begged to go to bed each night!

We visited Mount Vernon, The Mall, various monuments and museums, the Capital Building, The Library of Congress, Annapolis and the Naval Academy, Arlington, Baltimore Harbor and Williamsburg and drove by VMI and Scotchtown. Even though we were up at the crack of dawn, we still did not even make a dent in everything we wanted to do. We wished we had more time to spend at each place, not to mention the many, many other places we wanted to see. Our comfort came with promising ourselves that we would come back some other time.

Learning to ride the Metro was interesting. Fortunately, the first time we boarded it was almost empty with the exception of some kind of security officer. We didn't even know where to get off and how we would know where to get off until we asked his advice. That evening was quite a different story! When we boarded to come home there was standing room only. It was still uneventful and quiet until a young man standing in the aisle started rapping a song with foul language and lyrics about blowing people up. Everyone around us looked unconcerned so we tried to remain composed. We breathed a sigh of relief when he got off. The second day, we were beginning to get the hang of how the system worked and felt much more confident.

Grandma & Grandpa joined us on the 2nd day and spent the rest of the week with us. It was especially nice to have them with us since they have been away all summer. I grinned as I watched the oldest girls scramble to walk beside Grandpa and discuss history and current events. It was nice having someone with us who had experienced more of our nation's history and could lend first hand accounts. The girls also enjoyed visiting with Grandma in the camp bath house and making fun of how fast I am while they all took their sweet time getting ready for the day. After so much observation of their mother all week, they have decided I have A.D.D. Thank God, I was raised in an age before labeling and ritalin!!

We will be posting more pictures and accounts of our travels over the next few weeks.