Mon.-Went into school to practice for Recitatio. Came back home to try to reorganize a bit and then went back out to school for the evening program. Everything went very well. We sang songs and recited poems, etc. of Early America. K-2 sang "Yankee Doodle" and "Billy Boy." I accompanied them on the guitar. The last verse of "Billy Boy" answers the question, "How old is she?" The answer is "Three times six and four times seven, twenty-eight and eleven..." and our dear little Sebastian said, "She's 85!" He had done that spontaneously during a practice and we decided it was a keeper." K4 sang the alphabet song with the guitar as well and led the Pledge of Allegiance and also 'The Lord's Prayer.' Third and Fourth graders sang "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" with sign language. I felt like crying every time they sang the line, "See my mother on the other side...Alleluia." They also sang, "Joshua Fought the Battle..." The girls pushed the guys down at the end when they sang, "And the walls came a'tumbling down." 5/6 graders sang "Sarasponda" and "America"-the round. 7-12 grader boys sang "Blow the Man Down." They choreographed some very realistic looking blows and some of them were 'knocked down' at the end of the song. The girls joined them as did the congregation for "Amazing Grace." We tied in the story of John Newton and his life as a sailor and how his life was changed by God's grace. He wrote Amazing Grace. Then the girls sang, "Simple Gifts." They sounded like a ballerina music box and I kept fighting the temptation to dance in a circle while they sang. The whole school sang "I Love Thy Kingdom Lord" and "The Battle of New Orleans." The audience joined us for a thrilling rendition of "The National Anthem" at the end of the program. Phil's favorite part was the recitation of Psalm 119:1-60 by the 5th-8th graders. He also said that an older couple had their eyes closed during "I Love Thy Kingdom Lord" and they were visibly moved. Mrs. Shorter accompanied most of the songs on the piano and Mrs. Knaus played her own transposed version of 'The Star Spangled Banner.' Her second grade class made the paper chain flag that graced the back of the stage. Oh! Select Choir sang "Jerusalem, My Happy Home." It's a very old American hymn. They sang it in four part harmony and sometimes five. I am sure I am forgetting something. A number of people thought it was our best program ever and the teachers thought that the students performed better during the program than they had for the practices. We were home by 8:30. I am thankful for the sweet grandmother who loved the art lining the hallways. I am thankful that the prelude went so well, with it's guitar, sax, and piano pieces. I am thankful that no one got hurt during the two fall down songs. It was a concern.
Tues.-Enjoyed chapel this morning. Sometimes the words hit me in a new and profound way and this morning was one of those times. What a great salvation we have! What mercy and grace we have been given! We talked about the program during chapel and throughout the music classes. The seventh-twelfth graders appreciated their Klondike bars. I didn't give them as a bribe but when I found out that some of them felt humiliated in having to wear their sailor hats, I decided to sweeten the deal, and told them I was going to get them Klondike bars for wearing them. Some had forgotten I said that and were pleasantly surprised. Others had asked Susan if I really was going to get them kb's. Anyway, I got to eat three today since two different classes ate them and of course there was snacktime. We studied bass clef notes and came up with other sentences for the note names besides 'All Cows Eat Grass' etc. We sang some Easter songs from the hymnal and played 'freeze dance' or musical chairs. I am sure that one of the boys would need some pain meds because he was knocked around quite a bit. It is really hysterical to watch the older kids play musical chairs. If only Mozart could see how we use his music to have too much fun. Went walking with Tina after lunch. After school, Susan and I went to Dairy Queen with Doreen and Graham. Michael made some burgers for supper. Tidied the house. Did some wash. Susan cleaned up her room and gave the puppies baths. Naomi called and we made some shore plans. Whoopie! I am thankful that Angel wants to be back here with me while I write but I am not thankful that she is passing gas. Good grief! I am thankful for the soaring eagle on our property. I am thankful that Phil did not have to have exploratory surgery on his thumb and that he has an appt. in 10 days to see if his body rejected the pressure treated splinter. I am thankful for Lindsay and her freedom to ask.
Wed.-Great day at school. K-4 grade music classes picked songs from the Recitatio program that they wanted to sing. All of them wanted to sing and act out "Blow the Man Down" and they pretended to hit each other and then they fell down at the end of the song. The second graders wanted to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" and I told them they should pray for America whenever they sing that song. So, they took me literally, and when we started to sing it, they went up to the prayer rail and knelt on the cushions and closed their dear little eyes and folded their hands and I felt hope for America again. I've been thinking about how Jesus felt during that last week of His life and the amazing amount of teaching that He poured into His disciples, knowing that His time was short with them. I've been thinking about what I want the children here at CCA to know and it is this. Jesus loves me this I know. And He loves you too. And then after that, to love God and each other would be the other truths I want them to know and experience. But if they don't know His love, they won't be able to love God back or love each other. So, we sang songs about Jesus loving them and we sang a song that I put their names in and they laughed loudly whenever I sang a name. "Jesus, Jesus loves Noah, yes, He does..." So, one of the second graders is getting a new little sister from China this month, so we sang the song for her, "Jesus, Jesus loves Noemi, yes, He does.." Another child said, "I want to sing it for my baby sister" so we sang, "Jesus, Jesus loves Willow, Yes He does.." It was just wonderful and holy and sweet. After school, Doreen and I went shopping for Noemi at Millie's store while Graham and Susan got ice cream cones from Country Charm. I brought Graham home to go to youth group and I get a kick out of how he and Susan can have a serious conversation and yet act so goofy with each other. Lindsay, Jess, and I went to Ruby Tuesdays to celebrate Lindsay's birthday belatedly. We had spring rolls and cheddar fries and Jess ate some blueberry cheesecake. When we came back to church, I went in to check on my Emma and Adi and Emma told me that she loves Philip and is going to marry him and I asked Adi who she was going to marry and she said, "Daddy." And that sounded like a good idea to me. I am thankful that the puppies are so cute and that they growl, bark, and bite, as they pretend to fight with each other. I am also glad that they are sleeping through the night for the most part. I am thankful for my new blog friend, Shanda. Check out her blog "Pieces of Me."
Thurs.-CCA for a day. Families are coming through the school, visiting the classrooms and signing up for next year. In art today, we are making little bird's nests out of melted chocolate and pretzel sticks. Then we are putting on colorful marshmallow chicks and jelly beans and the second graders are mounting theirs on branches and adding crepe paper blossoms. They are so beautiful. We took some pictures and it will be in the Times Virginian next week.Today in chapel, the kids sang, "Savior, He can move the Mountains" and I was overwhelmed again. It was one of my best days at school. We had a shower for Allison and a cake and the idea that she is going to be flying to China tomorrow with her husband to meet a child that is born from her soul but not her body is also overwhelming. I am thankful for rotisserie chicken and how easy it is to make a supper from the same plus tortillas and shredded cheese, black olives, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, sour cream, guacamole, and a quesadilla machine. I am thankful for my mother's kind words about our family in her email letter. I am thankful for CCA and the way it made me feel at home in Virginia.
Fri.-On the way to school, Susan told me that she is going to get a tattoo as soon as she turns 18. I said, "No, you're not." And she said, "April Fool's!" And I said, "That's good, because your liver turns the color of your tattoo." And she thought that would be cool."Dude! That would be awesome!" were her exact words. Went to my dentist all by myself with Lindsay's good directions. Everything is going well with the implant. The tooth that has been bothering me since Super Bowl weekend is still bothering me and I can't get in to the specialist until May to have it taken care of. Hopefully, they'll have a cancellation before then and they plan to call me. Went to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's and people are not nearly as nice in Richmond as they are in Farmville and Appomattox. I guess it's the city. I feel badly writing that but there was such an obvious difference in attitudes. Phil picked up Susan from school and took her to Dairy Queen. She loves her daddy so. I came home and took a nap. Phil went with some men to Bug's Island. He'll be back home later tonight. I am feeling so homesick for him. Maybe I am worried about his hand. I realized how quickly something could go wrong the day he woke up with two red streaks going down his arm and his neck was all stiff and his body was in so much pain. A little chemically pressure treated splinter into his thumb and zoom...his whole body basically shut down. Susan went down to the river and took some beautiful black and white pictures of the bluebells using the one color feature. Black and white and blue. Stunning. She takes some of the best pictures I have ever seen anywhere. Angel follows me and settles down next to me with a sigh. I think she can feel my sympathy. The puppies are so big and are walking for real. They bark and growl and yelp when they are hungry. Their eyes and ears are open and I try to walk quietly by without waking them up. Susan and I are going to watch a movie tonight and hold a puppy. I really want to sleep with one but I am worried they will pee into my tempurapedic bed and that would not be good. The house smells terrible and there is hair everywhere. The floor is so dirty. Hopefully, I'll get to it tomorrow. Philip is somewhere playing volleyball. Michael is in Richmond training for Cutco. Freeman and Alli are at the Gibb's for a couples dinner. Gil is taking care of the girls and Lindsay is away on a Minister's retreat. I am thankful for family. I am thankful for the sweet friendliness of small town USA. I am thankful for the second half of the barn roof going up. I am thankful that Freeman helped Susan sight in her rifle for tomorrow's turkey hunt. I am thankful for Annie's call last eve. and for her homesickness for us and how we're going to fix that.
Sat.-Wonderful day to be at home. Freeman called some turkeys in early this morning and Susan shot her first Tom Turkey. Phil was with her. Freeman, Alli, and Susan took it to the taxi-dermist. Windy, cool, and sunshiney. Cleaned the house with a lick and a promise to do more once the puppies are out and about. Made the best potato soup with pieces of asparagus in it. Also made pureed vegetable soup. Janelle dropped off Buddy and she, Micah, her parents, her Aunt Carol and cousin Roydan, went to see 'Ben Franklin' and fly a kite. They stayed and visited for awhile when they came back. Micah had fun with the puppies and when they went to leave, they couldn't find Buddy anywhere, so they went home without him. A crowd of Philip's friends are here for a party. There's probably 20 people here! He bought a big iron kettle at an auction today and made chili over an outdoor fire. They made hot dogs, hamburgers, and s'mores, etc. Now they are in the house playing some board/card games. Phil brought in an extra table. The girls are holding the puppies. It's nice to see the Harvest/Calvary Chapel kids whose parents we have known for such a long time. They are all so grown up. Some of them just got back from a life changing trip to Haiti. This will be a night that I can go to sleep listening to the sounds of talking and laughter. Angel wanted to be out with them so she wasn't that interested in feeding her puppies. We gave one of them some milk from a bottle. He's the biggest one and so he's the hungriest. I am thankful for the faithfulness of God and His provision of friendships. I am thankful that Susan had great hunting success and that Freeman has quite a story to tell. I am thankful for Alli's chocolate covered whatchamacallits-oreo cookies smashed with cream cheese, rolled into balls and dipped in chocolate. I can't think of their names but they were amazing. Bon-Bons!
Sun.-I didn't sleep really well last night. Micah's dog, Buddy, disappeared some time after Janelle's troupes arrived last evening. He is nowhere to be found. I asked for prayer for him in SS class. It's such a mystery. Where could he be? Chris and Alethea did a fine job teaching SS class. I love when people share about their lives. It helps me understand them. We got on the topic of special days, such as Valentine's day, and it seemed to be the consensus that the women desired being treated kindly all year round instead of receiving a special bouquet that will die within the week. I thought of that during worship time. It is important that we worship and love God all year long,-all week long. Why give Him special flowers on a Sunday that will die within the week? Integrity in worship has to do with how I worship Him when no one else is around. Who can judge anyone else's love and worship of God? Who can judge what is done in spirit and truth but the one who Himself is Spirit and Truth?
Pastor Frank shared Job's proclamation in Job 19:25,26-"For I know that My Redeemer liveth, And in the end He shall stand on the earth. Though my flesh be destroyed, yet with my eyes I will see God...How my heart yearns within me.."
He preached on Galations 5:13-26. Walking in the Spirit. We are at war. There are two forces at work; the Spirit of God that raised Christ from the dead is at war with our sin nature. John 4:4-Greater is He that is within us, than he that is in the world. If we surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The Word of God is meat to us, and our guide, but we must also engage with what the Holy Spirit wants to do in our lives. He told the story of a plane in flight and how the pilot decided to cut off the flow of gas to the engine. The law of gravity took over and the plane plummeted. So we must also feed the work of the Holy Spirit into our lives and not cut off its flow. When we hinder the work of the Holy Spirit, we end up needing to manage 'the crash' and our energy goes into damage control rather than growth. We also will make up lists of do's and don'ts and become religiously controlling of our own behavior as well as others. There are three present active verbs that describe how we are to relate to the Holy Spirit. Walk. Led. Live.
1. If we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, which according to verses 19-21 are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions-biting and devouring one another, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. We may think that we would never kill someone but we would talk nasty about them and both sins are listed as sins of the flesh. It is important to walk in the Spirit and stay close to God and remain in His love. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
2. If we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law. Kittles commentary says that 'Led' means 'the process of being prompted by God.' It is our daily duty and privilege to be watchful for the promptings of God. That 'ping' in our spirit when we are engaging in a fleshly activity such as watching certain movies, or saying certain things, is God in our hearts, trying to keep us from doing something that will feed our flesh, and make it harder for us to walk in the Spirit. We're going to feed one or the other. The fruit of the Spirit is much more powerful than the rewards of the flesh could ever be. Feed your Spirit and engage the light instead of fighting the darkness. We engage the Spirit where He is the strongest instead of feeding on the flesh where we are the weakest. When you feel broken, dark, and discouraged, begin to pray in the Spirit and worship Him and in engage in the act of the Holy Spirit at work in your life. You are at war and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through the Holy Ghost.
3. Living in the Spirit-'Living' means what we are doing 'right now.' "Keep in Step" with the Spirit. "Being empowered" by the Holy Spirit. We have a life assignment and we cannot fulfill that assignment without the Holy Spirit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Philip had a date with Emma today in church but she wanted to go to Children's Church with a younger man-Jack. So, he went down to work in Children's Church. He stood her up one week and now she's even. Maybe they'll get it together another Sunday. We went to Country Cookin' with Susan and Kelli and then came home. The girls went hiking, looking for Buddy, and I drove around in my gator looking for him as well and spent some time in my chapel sorting things out. The bluebells and the river help restore my troubled soul. I drove the girls over to the other property to see the bluebells and redbuds. Still no sign of Buddy. Made Gil's ice cream cake and froze it. Went to church in eve. Restless night. I am so thankful for God, who is my glory, my righteousness, and the Lifter up of my head. I am so thankful that when my heart condemns me or other's words condemn me, that He is greater than my heart and their words. I am thankful that it is while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us and that there is no greater love than this-to have Him lay down His life for me. I am thankful that Michael got home from Fairfax around 4 and that he had time to go fishing with Philip. Mitch and Mickey came by while we are away and stayed for awhile to visit with the boys. They brought a check for Susan's trip to NYC and Mitch held the puppies.
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