525,600 Minutes

"...moments so dear. How do you measure, measure a year?" The theme song to one of the longest running Broadway musicals, RENT. (Quick review from me: Don't bother seeing it - full of agendas and inappropriateness, but don't throw the whole baby out with the bath water and listen to some of the soundtrack...the music is quite good, especially when you don't know the story line.) Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7kX3E9aXfg if you want a version of this song that does not have images from RENT. And, I'm ready to take the heat for this...

So, yesteday was my birthday. It was a wonderful day. I had the great priviledge of attending a funeral, which may sound strange, but this service was a testimony to those of us who are followers of Christ to persevere through the trials of life and to bring honor and glory to the Lord in how we live. For those who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, the message was clear, you should definitely be alarmed. As one of our pastors stated, get your fingers out of your ears and stop thinking that everything is ok. You will die and your life and allegiences on earth do matter for eternity. Will you answer the call to repent of your sins, accept Jesus' death on the cross as a free gift of grace and begin to live a life that is glorifying to Him?

Check out these verses from I Cor. 15:

51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."[g] 55"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"[h] 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

There are only 525,600 minutes in a year and at any one of those moments, God in his soverignty may stop the counting and take you into eternity...think about it...

I think I'll move to Australia!

Dear faithful readers (all five of you)…Hi Mom! Hi honey! My son has the book, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." It’s a classic…

I think I can relate to Alexander today. It’s as if I woke up with a huge sign on my forehead (along with the huge painful zit by my lip…some of you noticed it this weekend, didn’t you) that read "DETERMINED TO HAVE A BAD DAY!" And, to be honest, I’m not sure if there’s anything I could do about it. I could blame it on hormones or circumstances like: the fact that Verizon started billing my credit card again for a service I don’t have, the fact that I actually said a curse word to the interactive voice response system, the fact that I told the Verizon representative that I call myself a "Verizon hater and that I feel like forming a coup against them", the fact that I’m hoarse right before a big Christmas musical I’m singing in, the fact that my girls’ room is ten degrees colder than the rest of the house because the builder didn’t insulate it well enough, the fact that the builder thinks it’s not an urgent issue, the fact that I have a friend who is struggling with a pattern of sin and is turning her back on truth, the fact that I have my own struggle with sin and am seeing more clearly each day some tough decisions I’m going to have to make…et cetera, et cetera, et cetera…

"I think I’ll move to Australia." (Isn’t it summer there right now?)

Well, friends, I’m sure you can all relate to how I feel, because let’s face it, we all experience bad days. You know, days where you want to crawl back under the covers and hide from the world. In fact, maybe we have more bad days than good in this life. That’s why we look forward to Christ’s return. To be honest, I’ve had worse. And, really, my day was extremely easy compared to a lot who are struggling with chronic illness, divorce, death, abuse, persecution, financial hardship, the list goes on…

I’m reminded that the Israelites complained just like me. They were sick of manna and quail. They wanted more choice foods (like mushroom bisque en croute, which was excellent by the way). They blamed Moses for their troubles, saying, "if only we had never left Egypt." Pretty pathetic. I certainly don’t want to wander around in the wilderness making golden calves and complaining.

The Lord gave me a verse last week that I’m still meditating on. Lamentations 3:25 says, "The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD." So, in the midst of what feels like a horrible day I can hope in God and He is good to me! The verses right before that one are familiar:
"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

Take heart, friends, the Lord is with us! It would do us well to trust Him. I’m going to work on that this week!

What language do they speak?

¡Hola! My kids and I are making an attempt to learn Spanish. We have this fun activity based curriculum by Living Language. Last year we worked through a simple Latin sticker book by Usborne. And, we’ve been learning more about India as a family, since that is the focus country for our church’s Christmas offering. As a result, our kids are becoming more aware of foreign language, which is wonderful.

Today, my son Blake asked if we could play a game where we take turns naming a country and the other person guesses what language they speak. "Great idea!" I said. "Let’s do it." He went first, "Brazil?" I said "Spanish", but quickly corrected myself when I remembered that Portuguese is the official language. Then it was my turn, "What about France?" I asked, thinking this to be way too easy for my son. I studied French all of junior high, high school and half of college and consequently have spoken many phrases to my kids. Blake said, "Hmm. That’s where Paris is and so hummm, Paradise? Oh, no, that’s the name for heaven. I don’t know, Mommy." Without laughing too much out loud I said, "French!" Blake looked at me and said, "Oh, yeah. Wow, that was a hard one." The game sort of ended there. Probably was a good thing since neither of us were fairing too well.

Here is what wikipedia says about the Spanish language:
[Spanish is the second most common language in the United States after English. There are more Spanish speakers in the United States than speakers of French, Hawaiian, and the Native American Languages combined. According to the 2000 United States Census, Spanish is spoken most frequently at home by about 28.1 million people aged 5 or over. The United States is home to more than 40 million Hispanics, making it the fifth largest Spanish-speaking community in the world, after Mexico, Columbia, Spain and Argentina. Roughly half of all Spanish speakers in the US also speak English "very well."]

So far we’ve learned the rooms of our house and furniture. Next we’ll learn weather phrases. I already knew the alphabet, colors and greetings from the six weeks of Spanish I took in junior high. And, thankfully there are many words with Latin roots that are similar to French. So, long live Español!
¡Adiós!

Filet Mignon

Check out the menu for the St. Vincent Hospital's Gala. Lucky for me, they just happen to be my husband's employer and we just happen to be free on the date of the big shin-dig. So, here goes:

Wild Mushroom Bisque en Croute with Boursin Cheese Dumplings Duet of Petite Filet Mignon Served with a Merlot Demi-Glace & Lump Crab Cakes Served with Cucumber Relish and Lemon Butter Sauce. Accompanied by Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus, Baby Carrots & Roasted Butternut Squash. Chocolate Truffle Torte.

Just what is a "Merlot Demi-Glace" you ask. Well, "demi-glace" means "half frozen" in French. And, a demi-glace a sauce is made from some stock (or wine such as Merlot) and espagnole, which is a dark brown roux that is commonly made ahead and frozen for later use. So, half stock and have frozen stuff. I guess the wild mushroom soup will be in a "crust" and the dumplings will be made with Boursin cheese and there will be two pieces of meat. All the other items should be self explanatory. Bottom line...finger lickin' good. Although, I will not be licking my fingers or my plate or anything else at such a formal affair. No, I will be wearing my black dress with my napkin in my lap. Can't wait to dance with you, honey!

Sweatpants and Starbuck's

I woke up this morning to the sound of my daughter stating, "I threw up in my bed and it’s all yucky." Just the words a mother wants to hear at 6:30am. Shortly after, her little sister, who had been sick with a respiratory virus the day before, awoke with a fever and coughing fit. After rocking her for a few minutes to monitor her breathing, I began contemplating how I would be able to take her to the doctor without my daughter vomiting in the office. "Not going to happen today," I thought, "unless it’s bad enough to call daddy home from work." I laid both girls in my bed (I know, not within the infectious disease guidelines at all), determined to take a quick shower before washing the bed linens and spraying disinfectant everywhere. I began to obsess about a cup of coffee. I remembered that we used the last of our pecan praline creamer over the weekend. (That, I’m sure, was the enemy attacking.)

Wouldn’t you know that while I was in the shower my daughter threw up in my bed! I really should’ve seen that one coming. Two loads of laundry, at least. That’s ok. I’m a stay at home mom. I’m still very much in control. This can get done. Quickly, I was dressed and ready for the day.

The next thing that I heard was moaning from outside my bathroom door. My son, might I add my eldest and very smart son, was saying, "My head hurts so bad." I saw my husband out of the corner of my eye make a gesture that he may be faking it. Of course, I rubbed my son’s head. All of a sudden I heard some really loud sirens outside the window. For a brief moment I thought, "This is it. Today is the day that Christ is returning." My husband and I agreed that our eternal hope in Christ would be our motivation on a day like this. My son said, "Since we are all sick today, do we have to have school?" These are the words that every homeschooling mom wants to hear. I promptly reminded him that he would do what he was told today and that those instructions would most likely include school work.

It was at this moment that I marched very confidently into my closet, took off my jeans and put on my favorite gray sweatpants. I’m sure that my sweatpants are up there with "putting on the full armor of God." I mean, if I’m going to resist Satan’s condemnation and evil schemes, I have to be comfortable. I heard my son say in the background, "I'm freaking out cause you're not taking care of me." I don't know where he learned to talk like that. I took time to do my hair and clean my glasses. And, the first load of laundry is spinning in the washer as I type.

Well, it’s 9am and my coffee is brewing. It will taste great with a little sugar and milk. And, I just heard the toaster oven ding…my bagel is waiting. Life is great and I’m ready to tackle the day. I love my kids and wouldn't trade them for anything - not even a cup of coffee. Ahh, sweatpants and coffee…why doesn’t Starbuck’s deliver?

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:3-14

Hedonistic Worship

Here's an excerpt from a sermon by John Piper entitled, "Worship: The Feast of Christian Hedonism." I know there is some discomfort in Christian circles about the use of the word "hedonism." Here's a good definition:

1. the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the highest good
2. devotion to pleasure as a way of life

Application of that definition to my life pursuit of Almighty God is overwhelmingly encouraging to me! May God "open the eyes of my heart" and give strength through His spirit that I may follow hard after Him. I hope this encourages you today!

Three Ways the Heart Responds in Worship
Worship is vain, empty, nothing, where the heart is unmoved. And I think it's possible to describe in general the experience of the heart in worship. There are three general ways that the heart can respond in worship to God, and they usually overlap and coexist.
1) The heart can delight in the wealth of God's glory.
My soul is feasted as with marrow and fat, and my mouth praises thee with joyful lips, when I think of thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the watches of the night. (Psalm 63:5, 6)
2) The heart can long for that delight to be deeper and more intense and more consistent.
As a hart longs for the flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? (Psalm 42:1, 2)
3) The heart can repent in sorrow when it feels neither the delight in God nor a longing for delight in God.
When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee. (Psalms 73:21, 22)

My life...a book?

One of my crazy dreams has been to publish a memoirs type book about my life. I suppose it's probably a fairly common thought. Doesn't everyone want to write a book about his/her life?

I'm so thankful that God has already written the book for me and that I get the privilege of living out the stories on the pages. I'm reminded of the verse from 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. " So, I am writing a book as I daily seek to passionately pursue Christ!

Even with such encouragement as this, the stubbornness in me still wants to record the details of my life. What would I write? Perhaps I would touch on the highlights like birth, graduations, marriage, when my kids were born. In fact, in some ways I only want to record the happy, fond memories and leave out all of the disappointments and failures. But, that would give a very unrealistic picture of Sherri, wouldn't it?

I plan to take the next few entries and pay tribute to some important people in my life, remembering good and bad, laughter and tears and how God has soverignly used them to impact me. Stay tuned...

Great books, great kids...

Because I get lots of homeschooling curriculum questions, I thought it best to have my resource list posted so that others might benefit from our research. I've tried to pick the best of the best and there's not a book here that I don't highly recommend. My kids will second these recommendations! :) So, here's what we're using this year. I plan to post a more detailed synopsis of how we use these books in our curriculum soon.

2007-2008 School Year Resource List

Blake:
Handwriting Without Tears " My Printing Book" by Jan Olsen
Phonics Pathways by Dolores Hiskes
First Language Lessons by Jessie Wise
Math-U-See Alpha by Steve Demme
Awana Sparks Handbook

Grace:
Handwriting Without Tears "Get Set for School" by Jan Olsen
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Engelmann/Haddox/Bruner
Awana Cubbies Handbook

Both Children:
Leading Little Ones to God
Ergemeier’s Bible Story Book
Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks
Usborne's Science with Water and Science with Plants


Read Aloud Books:
James Herriot’s Treasury for Children by James Herriot
The Four Seasons of Brambley Hedge by Jill Barklem
North American Indian Tales by W.T. Larned
The Canada Geese Quilt by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
The Tale of Brownie Beaver by Arthur Scott Bailey
Aesop’s Fables
A Children’s Garden of Verses
Just So Stories
Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Hollings
Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Hollings
Tree in the Trail by Holling C. Hollings

funk

Sidekick to the Expert Blogger

The sudden publishing of this blogspot brings with it numerous questions. Namely, after all the cynacism and jest toward this method of communication, why in the world is Sherri blogging? My husband, Ryan, is the expert blogger. I respect his method of organizing his thoughts and responding to comments, some of which are just written to elicit unfavorable emotional responses.

Maybe that’s what made me so sure that I would never be vulnerable enough to publish my thoughts and ramblings for the entire cyber world to see. But, the truth is that lately I’ve been in a FUNK. I realize that this word falls under the category of slang as far as vernacular is concerned so please allow me to define it for you:

funk [fuhngk]
noun
1. cowering fear; state of great fright or terror.
2. A dejected or depressed mood

Would you believe that "funker" is another form of this word. I suppose it means, "one who funks." Anyway, this state of my heart/soul/mind has led me on a very valuable and meaningful journey. My quest is threefold:

1. to passionately pursue the God of the universe and His son Jesus Christ by studying, memorizing and living His word ,
2. to engage in daily acts of worship and sacrifice that glorify Him and represent a life "worthy of the calling I have received" through the power of the Holy Spirit, and
3. to intentionally and joyfully get involved with what He is doing in my midst , while finding my satisfaction in Him and making Him my most glorious pursuit.

I don’t think I have to explain to you that this all-encompassing list represents heart wrenching, soul-searching and mind boggling resolve. I don’t have all the answers. The foolishness of God is wiser than my wisest thought, for sure. But by the grace of God I’m pressing on. I am eager for what lies ahead.

Here is where Ryan would insert a Latin phrase "Lucent en Tenebris" which is the Moran family motto, "They shine in darkness." Maybe next time I will have a signature phrase of my own. I suppose I’ll just sign this entry, simply and honestly, funk.