Subtle Omissions

Today we finished reading Guns for General Washington by Seymour Reit. It is a highly recommended tale of Henry Knox's mission to bring heavy artillery across 300 miles of rough terrain from Fort Ticonderoga to General Washington outside of Boston. It was a wonderful living history book and we all enjoyed it thoroughly!

Afterwards, we read another chapter in The Sower Series book George Washington: Man of Prayer and Courage by Norma Cournow Camp. The chapter we read gave a brief account of the Knox mission and the ensuing events where the British were finally forced to retreat from Boston. While packed with wonderful, factual, inspiring information, this book is not as well written. At times I am frustrated by the disjointed way the author jumps from one event to another. It doesn't flow as well as I would prefer. Nonetheless, this volume is priceless because of the information that is included within its pages that simply isn't found in many other modern books.

For example, both Guns for General Washington and George Washington: Man of Prayer and Courage recounted the events that proceeded the return of Henry Knox with the canons. Both spoke of the colonial army's diversionary tactics, both described British Colonel Howe's surprise at seeing the cannons on Dorchester Hill, both described the hurricaine that prevented British troops from taking command of the hill; but the latter book included a few more pertinent details that were subtly omitted from the first book.

The first omission, with regards to this event, is (as Ms. Camp writes) Washington's order to set aside Thursday, March 7, 1976 as a day of prayer, fasting, and humiliation, "to implore the Lord and giver of all victory...that it would please Him to bless the Continental arms with divine protection and favor." (Camp, page 130) Hmmm. Do you think there might be a connection between this day that was set apart for prayer and fasting and humiliation and the results? Seems pretty significant to omit!

The second omission is Washington's response to the hurricaine. Norma Cournow Camp quotes General George Washington, "...the weather getting very tempestuous, much blood was saved, and a very important blow, to one side or the other, was prevented. That this most remarkable interposition of Providence is for some wise purpose, I have not a doubt."

Washington later wrote the General Assembly of Massachusetts,

"And it being effected without the blood of our soldiers and fellow citizens must be ascribed to the interposition of Providence...

May that Being who is powerful to save, and in whose hands is the fate of nations, look down with an eye of tender pity and compassion upon the whole of the United Colonies." (Camp, page 131)

That's interesting, I was always taught that Washington (and many of the other Founding Fathers) were Deists. His own words definitely contradict that notion and serve as strong evidence to the powerful faith he had in God. Tragically, over the years, the hand of Providence and the faith of so many great men and women of history has been subtly omitted from the pages of history texts. It takes a little more effort now to find the truth, but it's out there if you're willing to do your homework.

I highly recommend the Sower Series which fills in the gaps with the truth of faith-filled people and the God who governs all of HIStory. For a more indepth review of George Washington: A Man of Prayer and Courage, click here. I also recommend Bulletproof George Washington by David Barton. It will give you chills to read about how frequently and miraculously God protected the man who would eventually become the first President of the United States. There's no question that God's hand was upon this faithful man and that He had a very important plan and purpose for his life! And it's all documented in primary sources: letters, journal entries, historical documents!

The affect of these omissions of God's providence from history is significant. One of the major purposes of studying history is so that we can learn from it. If we omit details like days of prayer and fasting before battles, we fail to recognize the importance of acknowledging God as our King, of bowing the knee before Him and confessing our dependence upon Him. When we attempt to live life apart from Him, we are doomed to failure; both personally and as a nation. Politicians like to throw around the phrase, "God bless America," but first America needs to bless God. Just like George Washington did!

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD." Psalm 33:12

I challenge you not to accept what mainstream publishers and modern historians postulate. Slowly and subtly God has been removed from History, but we don't have to be content with the watered down, secular version that is being fed to us and our children! We can know the truth and learn from it and teach it to our children. God has been active throughout History. He continues to use men and women of faith today in our world. Just as He was faithful to our forefathers, He remains faithful to us. May we never forget!

Tomorrow, May 1, 2008 is the National Day of Prayer. As we've learned from the events in May of 1776, there is power in prayer. Let us not neglect this opportunity to join together in prayer, fasting, and humility as a nation.

"If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." II Chronicles 7:14

We have much to repent from: omitting God from our history, allowing the holocaust of abortion to continue, denying God as our Creator and perpetrating the lie of evolution, compromising on so many different issues,... How can we as a nation expect that God will bless us when we continue to deny Him?

"May that Being who is powerful to save, and in whose hands is the fate of the nations, look down with an eye of tender pity and compassion" upon the United States of America

As we draw near to the throne of grace with confidence, may His truth penetrate our hearts, may we be convicted of our own sin and the sin of our nation, and may our hearts be turned anew to our Creator sparking revival and reformation across our land.


Grace and Peace,

Angel

Briefly

I survived last week's busyness; this week promises to be much quieter!

We harvested the first fruits of our garden last week and enjoyed the tasty asparagus for dinner. None of us really cared much for asparagus until we acquired a taste for it fresh from our own garden. It's amazing how much better fresh grown food tastes! There is so much work to do to get the garden ready for planting, but I'm excited! It's always nice to have one year under your belt. I still don't have a lot of confidence, but I have more than I did last year. At least I know we can grow tomatoes! :)

Today was a rainy day; just what I needed. A flaky wireless router meant no internet and no phone; which were condusive to a productive day catching up on laundry, read-alouds, and academics. I even managed to throw together a very simple art lesson complete with Beethoven in the background.

Tonight we're off to a Boy Scout Court of Honor which means that I don't have to make dinner. :)

I pray all is well with you!

Grace and Peace,
Angel

Encouragement from a Home School Graduate

A couple of months ago, my girls were invited to participate in some art classes that were being taught by a young lady around the corner from my house. They'd already been meeting for a while and all the other participants attend the same church as the instructor, so my daughters were the only ones that she didn't know. Yesterday, they met for the last time and the art teacher was gushing about how glad she was that the girls had joined her, and how she hoped to offer more classes in the fall and that the girls would participate again.

As I chatted with her a bit, I found out that she had been homeschooled through high school, has 4 or 5 older brothers, 2 younger brothers, and a sister. The range of ages is from 32 to 8. Her mom began homeschooling 23 years ago and one of her older brothers is a doctor and another is an attorney or an engineer or something (I had a hard time keeping track). She is currently taking classes at the community college, and spent some time in China teaching English.

As she talked about homeschooling, she shared how thankful she is to have been homeschooled. The main reason she gave for this gratitude is the deep relationships that she has with her siblings. Even though she was surrounded by brothers and is 10 or so years older than her only sister, she still said that she cherished the relationships with her family. They are very close. It's a beautiful benefit to homeschooling. You have to learn to work things out with your family because you're with them all the time and in the process of spending so much time with eachother, wonderful friendships are formed.

As she shared about the closeness in her family, I couldn't help but contrast it with my own family situation. Last week, I went to TN with my parents, one of my sisters, and her husband. Despite the fact that my sister and I are only 21 months apart, we really aren't close. We get along most of the time, but we are not best friends. She has a few best friends, I have lots of friends, and we're sisters. She doesn't really confide in me, and when I confide in her, she often mocks me. She doesn't understand me, she doesn't agree with all of the choices I've made, and that's the way it always has been. I've always been closer to people outside my family, and I know that it's the same way with her. That saddens me. I really wish we were closer! And of any of my four siblings, she's the one I'm closest to.

It's not that it's bad to have other friendships, but family is really who you have for life. I think back to my best friends in high school, the ones that I'd rather spend my time with than my siblings; where are they now? I'm not close to any of my high school friends. How much better would it have been to invest myself in the relationships with my sisters! It's definitely one reason that I homeschool and it's something that I emphasize to my kids all the time. They all have friends outside of the family, but my desire is that the best friendships be the ones that they have with one another and eventually, with us.

It's always encouraging to me to talk to someone who has graduated from homeschooling and is godly, accomplished, social, intelligent, warm, caring, and thankful for the choices that her parents made. I am encouraged that God does answer prayer, and that homeschooling can produce beautiful results.

Hit the Ground Running

Why is it that every time you return from vacation, it feels like you need one?

A week ago at this time I was enjoying this view.


I would love to have another week just to

• take my time unpacking,
• wash laundry,
• upload photos (there are only about 500 some),
• take more pictures of all my beautiful spring flowers,
• blog about all the fun we had in TN,
• catch up with all of your blogs,
• enjoy the perfect spring weather by curling up in the hammock with the book I never had enough time to read while on vacation,
• do my spring cleaning at leisure,
• clean out flower beds & begin to prep my vegetable garden,...

Alas, this week proves to be quite busy and I have time for none of the above. Rather, in addition to the unpacking and laundry and the academics, the schedule looks like this

Monday:

• slowly begin to adjust to normal life,
• clean out my inbox (I started with 1600+ unread messages, now I'm down to 170),
• reply to e-mails,
• nature study in the yard with the kids,
• girls' last art class,
• random visit by my little brother,
• Scouts Meeting,
• begin looking at Botany material for Wednesday's co-op,
• finally watch the last episode of Biggest Loser,
• torture my husband by causing him to stay up until 1am trying to figure out the incompatibility between Windows XP and my Canon 40D and how I can upload pictures without having to disconnect my scanner/printer. Poor guy!

Tuesday:

• unpacking & laundry I didn't do Monday,
• phone calls to find family doctor (would you believe we've been here 1 1/2 years and I still haven't done this?!? Praise the Lord we've been healthy!)
• girls' ballet,
• visit library,
• prepare for Botany Co-op,
• clean the house,
• grocery? (can I get there and back before 4pm)

Wednesday:

• more laundry
• more cleaning
• last minute preparation for Botany co-op
• host Botany co-op
• prepare for visit from brother-in-law and wife
• prepare to lead worship Sunday morning

Thursday:

• final preparations for Aunt K & Uncle R
• grocery- if I didn't make it Tuesday (and I probably didn't)
• Aunt K & Uncle R arrive sometime in the afternoon

Friday:

• Aunt K & Uncle R visiting
• host Home Fellowship

Saturday:

• Aunt K & Uncle R leave
• Farm Tour
• older girls go to friend's b-day party
• prepare to lead worship Sunday morning

Sunday:

• church; lead worship
• rest

So if it's a little quiet around here, you know why. I wish it wasn't so. Hopefully I can motivate myself to work dilligently with the reward of blogging. :)

Lookin for a moonshine still

I've had years of cramped-up city life

Trapped like a duck in a pen

All I know is it's a pity life

Can't be simple again

There's absolutely no time to post the picture of the mountain of suitcases we worked so hard to pack yesterday, nor the almost completely checked off to-do list. It doesn't really matter anyway. Those of you with only 2 kids would look at it and think, "Wow! How do you do it?" Those of you with 6 kids would look at the pictures and think, "That's nothin'!" It's all relative.

You'd think that as often as we travel, I'd have things down to an efficient, stremlined, art. Wouldn't that be nice? Nope. Every time it's just as much disorganized, chaotic, work. I'm always sending off e-mails at the last minute, and we're always stopping at the library on our way out of town to drop off all of the library books we didn't have time to finish reading in the hopes of avoiding fines. I'm always packing just one more book that I won't really have time to read, or just one more outfit, "just in case." And I always forget something anyway. There are always things I meant to do and didn't, and things that will just have to wait until we return home. But at least we got our taxes filed! Kudos to dh for that!!!

It's a lot of work and can be quite frustrating, but when we're on the road, and our troubles are behind us, it's all worth it. I've been eagerly anticipating this trip for months. And despite the frustration that the timing of this trip causes us to miss many other important events (like the Homeschool Convention and Boy Scout's Spring Camporee), I'm glad to head to Tennessee. I can hear them playing my song. Good ol' Rocky Top will be home sweet home to me for the next week. Ain't no telephone bills; and as far as I know, ain't no internet either. I'm praying for a blessed time with my family (including my parents, sister, & brother-in-law). And I'm hoping it works out to make another IRL friend. Wait and see!

I appreciate your prayers for safe travels and health and peace. I'll be praying for you all too! Have a wonderful week!

Grace and Peace,
Angel

You Have to Show Up

One of the most valuable lessons that I have learned in my life is that I have to get over myself and stop waiting on other people to read my mind, see my need, and help me. To sit in my corner and host my personal pity party accomplishes nothing. Sure, sometimes, there are people who go out of their way to make sure I'm okay. But these precious friends are few and far between. EVERYONE's life is busy. Everyone has their own issues. And sometimes most of the time, we're all so caught up in our own drama that we're not necessarily looking to help someone out with theirs.

The solution is not to become a hermit and feel sorry for yourself that nobody cares. No. That is a lie from the pit of hell! More often, the best thing you can do is step out and be vulnerable. You can't wait for the phone call. You can't expect others to know that you're hurting and reach out to you. You need to reach out to them!

An amazing thing has happened when I've let go of my pride, gotten over myself, and been vulnerable. People respond. You have to be wise, because sometimes that response is not what you need, but if you select the right person or people in whom to confide, godly people, their loving and compassionate response can blow you away. When they know your need, and they know that you are looking for someone to help, they are able to become God's vessels and allow Him to bless you through themselves. They can't always do that if you don't tell them.

Last Friday night, a couple came to our Home Fellowship group. They haven't been coming faithfully this year. They're in a different phase of life with an active teenager, and Friday night is not always the best time for them anymore. Plus, there have been health issues. In fact, the husband had surgery today. Everyone knew that he was sick, and some people (my husband for one) had been trying to stay connected and minister to their family. I knew I should. I meant to call my friend, his wife. I thought about making a meal. But you know how life is. I got absorbed in my own craziness and didn't. I should have, but I didn't.

But when they showed up on Friday, there were no other distractions. This was a time set apart to meet with one another, fellowship, and bless one another. And as a group, through our study of God's precious Word, that took place. There were issues that the wife was dealing with that God spoke to directly through His Word. It was a powerful thing. And after our study was completed and we were sitting around talking, another woman and I were able to sit down with her and plan out logistics of how we could help them out practically during the surgery. With as many different modes of communication as we have, face to face conversation is still the best, and often most efficient method. So now, her kids are sleeping upstairs, I have plans to make a meal, and all because they showed up.

It was obvious that our friend was in pain for most of the evening. He had every reason to stay home. But he knew that they needed to be at our house instead. In addition, they decided to take our son home with them to spend the night, and when we picked him up Saturday, we had another opportunity to talk and I was able to speak to her about the lessons I've learned about forgiveness. I spoke God's truth into her life. The Holy Spirit spoke through me, and blessed her. We've been talking about getting together for coffee for months, but it never has happened. But because they'd showed up at small group, and she was open about the situation she was dealing with, and then took home our son spontaneously, we finally had the opportunity for that conversation that we needed so much. You have to show up.

I'm convicted that I am far too often so self-absorbed that I don't notice the hurting people around me. I need to be more sensitive and more pro-active. I need to heed the Spirit's prompting when He lays someone on my heart. I need to always have the ingredients in my pantry for a meal so that I can take one to someone at a moment's notice. There's a long way I need to go, and I know I'm not alone. But sometimes, people need to show up. They need to take advantage of the opportunities for fellowship. They need to reach out and inform others of their needs. They need to cry out for help.

What about you? Do you show up? Or are you too busy? Do you allow the enemy to fill your mind with excuses? Do you listen to his lies? Are you vulnerable? Do you share your needs? Or are you always "fine"?

Maybe you're like me, and you need to lift your eyes to the people surrounding you. Sure you're busy, sure you've got a lot on your plate, sure you've got a family that needs you, but is God laying someone on your heart? Can you send a note? an e-mail? Can you pick up the phone and call? Are you really praying? There are a lot of one another verses in the Bible. How are you doing with those?

I think there's so much more that God intends for His church. I can tell you that when a body of believers comes together and loves one another, it's an amazing thing. It's a tremendous thing to be a part of God's plan to minister and provide for someone in need. It's also an amazing thing to be the recipient of the love and compassion when you cry out. I know; I've been on both sides.

What about you?

Indiana: Going Local

Hey, Indiana Friends!

When I was searching for information on the Taste of Hancock County Farm Tour, I stumbled upon a great website with information on how we can Buy Local.

It is very well organized with a great list of links on the left side-bar. They have an Indiana Going Local Food Guide, information on Farmer's Markets, Community Supported Agriculture, Local Food Festivals and Events, and so much more. I've only briefly perused the website, but it looks like a great resource. Be sure to add Going Local to your feed-reader.

Grace and Peace,
Angel

Consider this Your Warning

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12)

For many years, I've longed for one toy in particular. This weekend, my dear husband spoiled me and totally filled up my love tank, and now he's even figured out why I couldn't upload the pictures and how to fix it (or get around Window XP's issue). So now I get to share my excitement with my wonderful blog friends.

I'll warn you though, you may soon tire of pictures of

one who is no longer a boy yet not yet a man

one whose natural beauty takes her mother's breath away

one who has a cute as a button nose and smiling eyes

one who wants to be in every picture unless she doesn't and one who thinks he's a prince

and one whose sad puppy dog eyes melt away the exasperation of her disobedience.

Even more so, you'll tire of pictures of

flowers

and more flowers

and even more flowers

I still have so much to learn,

like how to make carpel and stamen into a beautifully work of art

Yes, a long way to go!

But I'm excited to have the opportunity and the proper tools to grow in aptitude and continue my own home-education. Hopefully I'll get better and better at taking pictures of the things that I absolutely love love love.

Even more so, I pray that I can glorify my King and bless others in the process.

Grace and Peace,

Angel

Not Really a Post

Hey, friends!
I'm still here and alive; just haven't felt like blogging much lately. I've been serious and pensive lately, and I'm not sure you really want to read my thoughts at the moment, even if I could compose them coherently. That doesn't mean I won't post them inevitably, but serious concerns about Oprah, contemplative meditation, and the like don't necessarily make light-hearted, pleasant bloggy reading.

About the only light stuff going on in my head is related to my long awaited new toy, but despite my attention to detail and compulsiveness in following directions exactly, it hasn't been working like it's supposed to. Unfortunately, my hunky tech support has other people who actually pay him to figure out their computer woes, and I can't always compete with them for his attention, so you and I must be patient.

In the meantime, I'm going to encourage you to go visit my dear friend Cindy and then go vote for her friend after you read this post.

Grace and Peace,
Angel

Horton Hears a Who: not the typical glowing review

We went to see Horton Hears a Who this weekend. Like most larger families, we rarely go to the movies; maybe once a year with the kids, sometimes another time just as a couple. As a result, I'm very selective about the movies that we do go to see at the theatre. Either they're the summer blockbusters that are best seen on the big screen, or I'm using the purchase price of a small farm to make a statement of appreciation to Hollywood and encourage them to make more truly family friendly movies.

I'd heard really really good reviews about Horton, and after a couple of dreary weeks/months, it seemed like a good pick-me-up for the entire family. It was a very funny movie: clever, well-done, cute animation, all-star cast, and amazingly had only one very minor instance of potty talk. (Do you know how much I detest potty talk and how many movies my kids are not allowed to watch because of the excessive potty talk? My peers think I'm weird.) Anywho. The message of faith was phenomenal, and undiluted which is nothing short of miraculous coming from Hollywood. Well done!

Overall the family enjoyed it. It got a little intense for my youngest, but all she needed was the security of Daddy's lap to soothe her. I, however, did not completely enjoy it. I thought I would. A person's a person no matter how small is one of my favorite lines from any storybook. I think it's a perfectly pro-life sentiment laden with so much Truth, and I wish more people would consider it before passing through the doors of the local abortion mill, and that more congressmen (and presidential candidates) would read this Dr. Seuss classic and act on it.

But, there was one thing that bothered me from the very beginning. Did you realize that the villain in the story is a mother kangeroo who Pouch-schools?!? A pouch-schooler? That's clever, I chuckled for a second, but it didn't take long before I was offended. As Carol Burnett's voice annoyed me, I was even more annoyed by the perpetration of this untrue stereotype that truly breaks down upon careful examination.

As the crusading pouch-school mother fights against Horton's negative influence on the forest children, I couldn't help but cringe. Is this what the world thinks about us? Horton's encouraging the children to use their imaginations! He has to be stopped! The producers have obviously not read my blog if they think we homeschoolers don't encourage our children to use their imaginations! This post barely makes a dent in the imaginative endeavors that are encouraged in my homeschool.

Further, the over-protective pouch-schooler was adamant that unless she could see it, touch it, hear it, it didn't exist. I'm sure that there are post-modern atheistic naturalist homeschoolers in our diverse community, but the vast majority are people of faith who worship a God we can not see and hope for that which we can not see. Like Horton, we are vilifiled when we argue that there is a Creator who made the world from nothing in 6 days. Everyday, ACLU activists fight against those who share our beliefs to keep these things from being taught in the public schools. Yes, I'm pretty sure that hollywood got their characterizations mixed up when they pit a "pouch-schooler" against Horton!

I was even more annoyed that the salvation of the speck was dependent upon the defiance of the joey. It always irritates me when the adults are made to look like idiots while the children come through as heroes. The same thing happened over in Who-ville where the mayor was completely out of touch with the passions and desires and unique giftings of his only son. That's a tired story as well. One of the most inspiring homeschool families that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting was a family who did just the opposite, and capitalizing on the freedom of homeschooling, encouraged their children in their unique passions. You've got to be really blind or dense to remain ignorant to what your children really want to do with their lives when you're with them all day long. Maybe if the mayor...

Sigh! As you can see, the whole "pouch-schooler" thing really spoiled the rest of the movie for me. It was just so so frustrating to me. Otherwise this really was one of the best movies I've seen in a long long time with virtually no objectionable material and an excellent emphasis on faith. But leave it to hyper-critical me to take issue with the slightest offensive material! Seriously, it was totally unnecessary and although most people won't bat an eye, and will in fact find it adds to the amusement; I was irritated that I had spent so much money to watch a movie that mocked what I do for a living.