Islamic Demographics

Thanks to Lisa over at A Second Generation of Homeschooling for the following video:

Got TEA?

We took the kids to a TEA (Taxed Enough Already) party at the Harbor. It was nice being near water as they got the full effect. The men were throwing "tea" into the water--what a visual for the children. It was pouring down rain and we were soaked by the end of it. The photo below doesn't really show how wet we were! The blanket on Isaiah is drenched, Ashley's pants were soaked to her knee, Abi seemed to be the best dressed, we tried to cover Daniel as much as we could as he was asleep when we transferred him to the stroller and John just marched along stomping in puddles. It was so worth it! I wish Peter were in this photo. He was soaked through as his jacket was not as water proof as we thought. He is so good to me to take a photo of the 6 of us. Sweet man.

I was surprised to see other children there today. I did not take their photos, but it was refreshing. We also passed another van with a great homeschooling bumper sticker. I sure love homeschool field trips!

This man had a thousand bumper stickers made to pass out. Needless to say we now have a new bumper sticker for our big van.

These men were shouting different things and several of them were dressed up in period clothing. Their small vessel behind them them was full of "tea."

Today was an education for my children. It was a history lesson as well as a current events lesson. They did so well as we explained why we were there and how we don't want them paying tomorrow for what our government is spending today. They continue to be amazed as we explain where our tax dollars are going. My children's response is wide-eyed and questioning. We just completed our KONOS Obedience Unit. The children understand the difference between a Democracy and a Monarchy. My husband explained that we are close to having a king rather than a democracy. They knew what he meant. How little did I realize that when we were studying that we would have application so soon!

It's All Good

I have a problem with the title Good Friday. I know it is good. But I have a hard time calling it Good. How can it be good when my Lord and King suffered and died on a cross for my sins? That is exactly it. It is good because he hung there for me, for my sins, for my redemption. But the Good news doesn't end there. Hallelujah! In three days, He rose again, conquering death, proving himself Lord and is seated at the Fathers right hand. Do you know him? Have you not heard? Below is the beginning of the story of the next three days... Read it and know what He has done for you, how He can wash you white as snow and how there is nothing that is too big for Him to forgive. He has already died for you and for any sin you have committed. Accept Him and know Peace.

Matthew 27

Judas Hangs Himself

¹Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. ²They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

³When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴"I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."
"What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."

⁵So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

⁶The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." ⁷So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. ⁸That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, ¹⁰and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me."^a]">[a]

Jesus Before Pilate

¹¹Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

¹²When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. ¹³Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" ¹⁴But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

¹⁵Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. ¹⁶At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. ¹⁷So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" ¹⁸For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.

¹⁹While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."

²⁰But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

²¹"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.
"Barabbas," they answered.

²²"What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked.
They all answered, "Crucify him!"

²³"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

²⁴When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"

²⁵All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"

²⁶Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

²⁷Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. ²⁸They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. ³⁰They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. ³¹After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

³²As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. ³³They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). ³⁴There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. ³⁵When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.^b]">[b] ³⁶And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. ³⁷Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. ³⁸Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁹Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"

⁴¹In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ⁴²"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " ⁴⁴In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁵From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi,^c]">[c] lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"^d]">[d]

⁴⁷When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."

⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."

⁵⁰And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

⁵¹At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. ⁵²The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

⁵⁴When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son^e]">[e] of God!"

⁵⁵Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. ⁵⁶Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.

The Burial of Jesus

⁵⁷As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. ⁵⁹Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. ⁶¹Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

⁶²The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ⁶³"Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' ⁶⁴So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."

⁶⁵"Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." ⁶⁶So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

*The above scripture was found on Bible Gateway.

What's grosser than gross?

Walking in to the bathroom and noticing your two year old has removed the drain plug from the sink and is sucking the black mold off the side and bottom. Blaaaaaaa.

One positive, you realize you need to remove that part and clean it more often!

Modesty

Just because I did it, doesn't make it right. That is my thought as I continue to train my girls to be virtuous, modest, pure young women. Summer is approaching and we are entering that time when we will spend hours by the pool. As a teenager I wore bikinis. Just because I did it, doesn't make it right. I could still be wearing bikinis, but that is not what God has called me to. He has called us to be modest and to do whatever we can to help our fellow brother to not stumble (men to look, women to compare themselves-you know you do it!). Last year the girls and I wore skirted swimsuits and the girls had swim shirts as well. Although they are only 11 and 8, they need to be trained to be modest from the beginning, not just when their curvier parts start to really be noticed!

The following is a section of the February 24 post from Is This Modest. To read the entire article click here.

"I saw them, front and center, in my local retail store last week; those small colorful pieces of material that masquerade as clothing. The articles of clothing that somehow cause even Christians to justify undressing with the rest of the world simply because they have sand under their feet. Yes, you know what I’m talking about: swimsuits!

I must admit I felt a little dread inside when I saw them out of the corner of my eye. Now, most Americans that find swimsuits distressing find them that way because they don’t like how they look in them. Me, I found myself feeling unsettled when I saw them because this year I have a different decision to make than past years. You see my journey to modesty began just 4 months ago. In the past couple years I loved swimsuit shopping and the only decision making involved was what one complimented my figure and drew the most attention to the assets I wanted to draw attention to. Well, much has changed in the past few months. God showed me how impure my thinking was and how much the motives behind my clothing choices had been corrupted by the thinking of the world. I now embrace a new, modest standard of dress that brings me to a new decision to make: Is there even reason for me to own or wear a swimsuit this year? Certainly none of them I have seen meet the standard of coverage God has put on my heart. I wonder do I even need one?

You would think swim suits would be for actually swimming in..."

Quiznos, Hersheys, Pepsi, Southwest...

Who will be the next company to throw God out and bombard our children with negative, anti-God advertising? As for me and my house, we unplugged ourselves from pop culture television years ago. We have a TV, but it is for playing Wii and watching videos. We screen every Wii game and have come to the conclusion that many of them are teaching our children about negative behavior and inappropriate clothing. So, we play Daddy approved games: no Guitar Hero or American Idol. We are hopeful for the day when someone creates a Christian Guitar Hero for Wii. As for the videos, they are also only Daddy approved. My kids love Bible Man, Veggie Tales, Little House on the Prairie and several others. We do all this protecting from the evil that the world is trying to tempt them towards and yet it still comes. Usually at church or from TV at someone else's house! Sometimes it can be difficult to be in the world but not of it. So, make wise choices and don't leave home without your armor!

Hands and Heart

Anytime we go to Sam's Club we take the whole crew. When I say whole, I mean The Daddy, The Mommy and The Five Little Munchkins, (not the dog, the lizards, the hamsters, the ants and the fish) which puts us at a small intimate grouping of 7. And anytime we go to Sam's Club we time it around dinner so that we can eat cheap pizza, drink large sodas and each have a hot dog. Did I just say that outloud?! Wow, that really sounds like a lot of food, but hey, there are 7 of us. You know 7 is such a huge number and all. And anytime we go, as it is with anywhere we go, someone is bound to say, "Boy, you have your hands full." To which I always reply, "You should see my heart!" But not yesterday. Yesterday, at Sam's Club, when the lady said, "Boy you have your hands full Lady!," (after she had to wait behind us as we were having our receipt looked over) I just smiled. After all, yesterday my hands may have seemed full...of big sodas, leftover pizza, a few small children and two large shopping carts. But she really should have seen my heart...

And anytime time The Daddy and The Mommy look at the picture of the 7 they always say, "Wow, Five really isn't that many is it? Several someone's are still missing." I wonder, how much can a heart really hold?

And, by the way, I know sentences are not supposed to start with and, but I just couldn't help myself. And don't worry, I teach my children that sentences cannot begin with and or end with and.