Ocean Day: Enjoying God's Beautiful World

This is my Father’s world, And to my listening ears,
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world,  I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas-
His hand the wonders wrought.


Shanda and Kathy              June 16, 2006

The ocean displays the glory of God: 
“Fear ye not me?  saith the Lord:  will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree,
that it cannot pass it:
and though the waves thereof toss themselves,
yet can they not prevail;
though they roar,
yet can they not pass over it?”                          Jeremiah 5:22


Davy and Emmy


“Can I take a picture of your shells, Caitlyn?”


Suddenly, the words “to the oceans white with foam”, from the song “God Bless America”, became clear to David.  And he sang them with gusto.  I asked David if he liked going to the ocean and he said, “Yeah. . .  . . . .I want to go there again sometime.”


I noticed this elderly lady standing and looking out over the ocean.  She stood there for so long, I wondered what she was thinking about.  She even ventured out into the waves for a few minutes, then turned around and slowly made her way back to her friend.  The sandy hill was too steep for her to walk up. . . . .she had to walk down the beach a little to find a way.  Part of me was sad watching her, but part of me thought—what a woman!  I hope I’m as brave and interested in God’s creation when I’m her age. . . . . . .


Jacob

For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
over and around us lies:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

“What in the world IS this stuff?”  ~Caleb


Ethan

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
and were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
and every man on earth a scribe by trade;
TO WRITE THE LOVE OF GOD ABOVE
WOULD DRAIN THE OCEAN DRY;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Tho’ stretched from sky to sky.


Lilly

“What manner of man (Jesus Christ) is this, that even the WIND AND THE SEA OBEY HIM?”      Mark 4:41

I remember Grandma’s Roses

As little ones, we used to run around Grandma’s  rose bush. . . . . .



. . . . . . they smelled so good. . . . . .



The thorns were very sharp!



I want to slow down long enough to smell the roses, I want to look at them, touch them, and remember Grandma.  I am thankful that my mom gave me a piece of her rosebush.  It’s a tiny thing, but loaded with buds.


Family, do you remember when Grandpa cut the rosebush down?  It grew back. . . .I don’t know what kind of roses these are, but they sure do love to grow!

I remember Grandma's Roses

As little ones, we used to run around Grandma’s  rose bush. . . . . .

. . . . . . they smelled so good. . . . . .

The thorns were very sharp!

I want to slow down long enough to smell the roses, I want to look at them, touch them, and remember Grandma.  I am thankful that my mom gave me a piece of her rosebush.  It’s a tiny thing, but loaded with buds.

Family, do you remember when Grandpa cut the rosebush down?  It grew back. . . .I don’t know what kind of roses these are, but they sure do love to grow!

I'M STILL TIRED

Shanda’s recipe for a Good Night’s Sleep:


(Do all with at least 5 children)
Weed garden
Give Grace a bath
Go shopping(with Grace and Abbie, A. watched boys)
Get van battery changed
Come home, Say goodbye to Amanda and Abbie
Serve lunch
Keep house clean
Bake chocolate chip cookies
Go buy bubbles at family Dollar
Go to Geissler’s for groceries
Come home, put groceries away, get out grill
Grill hamburgers and hot dogs & boil corn on the cob
spill boiling water down leg and on foot
give yourself first aid–cold water, ice, then try to forget the pain
Clean up grill, put away grill, put away leftovers

Give David and Caleb a bath.  Spank D. for kicking C. over in tub
Put all kids to bed except J, have him help clean
Clean the house (*again*)
Read book on couch
Send Jacob to bed
Husband home at 9:30, finds 2 boys wide awake in their beds . . . . . but,
Mommy sound asleep in her bed.

Caleb is starting to get creative.  It appears that I now have yet another boy to keep my eyes on at all times!  I went out of the room and when I came back, this is what I saw:

 

                                                                                                               

Here are some pictures of Amanda and Jason’s House:

Dining room looking into Living Room:

Upstairs Office:

Porch:

Yard:

I don’t know why I didn’t take pictures of the kitchen, livingroom, or the girl’s room.  The whole house has oodles of potential and I think they are going to have so much fun fixing it up the way they like.  I’m very happy with the location.  And now when we want to see the 4th of July parade we can park in their driveway!~

Update

 

For those of you wondering how my weekend was,  I can’t emphasize enough how blessed I was.

I am convinced that the Lord led me to this homeschooling conference at just the right time.  Truths that He was speaking to my heart about were “brought home” and verified within my soul.  I am specifically thinking about family togetherness and keeping my child’s heart.

Today was spent buying Jacob’s entire curriculum for next year.  Also, I spent more time walking around the book tables and trying very hard to control my spending, with some success.  I did end up getting a couple of Bible workbooks and some reading books for all the children to use.

The two seminars that I went to today were: Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit, and Managers of Their Chores.  I will share my notes on those topics some other time.  They were both extremely helpful and even if I wasn’t homeschooling at all, I still needed to hear these 2 messages.

I am surprised at how excited I am.

Some of my new goals are:
Schedule, Schedule, Schedule
Continue on in my own personal Bible study and Prayer
Take away time from my lesser priorities in order to give more to my greater priorities.
Do things “Little by little, inch by inch” so that I don’t get overwhelmed.
Enjoy my family

In a nutshell this is what I did this weekend:

Bought curriculum, figured out violin lessons for Jacob, decided NOT to send J. to a Christian camp, learned so much from the Maxwells that my brain is tired, bought a membership to TEACH, joined the HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association), decided that we would give the public school a notice of intent to homeschool (it’s optional), and bought myself several good and helpful books.

And I told Rich and my mom all about it when I got home.  

Rain again. A short, sloppy, account of my day so far.

Okay, I love the rain and I love rainy days.  But, rain, rain and more rain d oes  notmix with      5 children!  3 of whichjm  are g bojyu s big enough to get b e b res6ftless. 

So, we went outn   today to Costco. c  That was funv .  

Caleb is sitting on myhly lap if you havn ‘vth guess edbl.

Okay, I put him down.

This one didn’t turn out as well, but I only took ONE shot and I didn’t edit it at all, the whole process took about 4 minutes. This is what my children are running around looking like.  Notice D.  He was completely dressed 10 minutes ago.  He’s lost his shirt somewhere.  Grace makes me laugh.  And, you guessed it, this was RIGHT BEFORE C fell off the step.  He’s okay now.

I read in Psalms today.  What an encouragement!

The first day of summer vacation was yesterday and by the end of the day I wondered if I would survive.  Today is better, I was thinking this morning:  well, who ever said having 5 children would be easy?  It’s NOT easy, but it IS worth it.

Tomorrow a babysitter is coming to watch all the children all day long. I am going to a homeschooling convention by myself.  I am very much looking forward to this experience.  I am going to take my notebook and some money.    I feel a little strange going alone, I usually have a child, a friend, or my husband along with me wherever I go.  But, this will be good for me.   Perhaps I will make new friends!  Certainly I will at least learn new things, and that is ALWAYS a good thing.

I am trying to drink more milk. 

I am reading a lot (when the kids are sleeping).

I am trying to stay focused on my priorities.

I am figuring out a schedule.   2 things are for sure.  They aren’t getting up until 7 and they’re all going to lay down and rest at 2 every day.

I can’t believe that tomorrow is FRIDAY!

————————————————————–

Like as a Father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.  For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.  As for man, his days are as grass:  as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.  For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments and do them.  Psalm 103:13-17

 

Rainy Day

Baby C. is still sick.  He woke up at 4:30, whimpering, he was trying to go back to sleep on his own but I went upstairs and got him.  He was hot so I gave him a drink of water and some infant tylenol and put him back to bed, which he submitted to without any protest.  I hardly went back to sleep after that, I was thinking about the rain and hoping I didn’t leave my “Country Living” magazine outside in it.  (I didn’t)

Rich has to work late tonight so I don’t know how I’m going to get to church w/the sick baby.  Maybe I can come but keep him with me.  We’ll see.

I just read this quote this morning about Love:

“True love is not manifested by indifference,
but by a mature possessiveness,
and intense concern for the one we love.”

It made me think:  when I know for a fact that someone I love is having a difficult time, do I stand by and say/do nothing?  Okay, so I AM praying for that person. . . but,  do they KNOW I am praying for them?  Or do they assume that I am “indifferent”.  When someone we love is physically, emotionally, or spiritually sick and struggling, we should all be rushing around that person in love.  Our first reaction should NOT be for solutions, but for LOVE, CARE, and INTENSE CONCERN.  

Enjoy your day today!  Love, Purple