#11-2 Addendum: With MORE Beauty and Justice for All

#1 · February 27, 2008, 11:02 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on February 27, 2008, 11:02 pm
Posted by: hopechestnews <hopechestnews@...>
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The Hope Chest with Virginia Knowles
#11-2 Addendum: With MORE Beauty and Justice For All
February 27, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Hope Chest friends,

After I sent out the Hope Chest early this evening, I got a call from my sister Barb, who has been suffering migraines. She said that her surgery for an implanted nerve stimulator, originally scheduled for Monday, has been moved to tomorrow, which is her 47th (not 48th) birthday. So please pray for her!

Also, I realized after I sent it that I had started to type a sentence about planting strawberries, and then totally left it there in the middle, ending with a comma! What a typo! What I wanted to say is that I had planned to plant them yesterday, but there was a tornado warning, and then I was going to plant them today, but there is a freeze warning for tonight. (We live in Orlando.) In the meantime, my little daughter Naomi drew a really pretty picture of me planting them, with the caption, "I love strawberries!" She doesn't like strawberries at all, so I think she was putting some very true words in my mouth. And I was thinking of how kind the Lord is to give us beauty for our tastebuds. We could all be eating grey tasteless cardboard, yet he gives us ripe red sweet juicy bliss! Isn't he good?

When Barb called about her surgery, I was on my way to a youth meeting at church with two of my teens, Rachel and Joanna. As always, I was blessed by the worship time, and reflected on the fact that all seven of the youth musicians who were leading worship were home schooled. I am thankful that their parents considered music to be a vital part of their educations, because now they are turning right around and blessing others with the God-given gifts that they have nurtured in their homes. Among others, we were singing some music by Matt Redman (www.MattRedman.com) -- I love his Facedown CD, which is another favorite on my MP3.

A couple of weeks ago, our home school co-op's middle school science teacher was sick, and the substitute teacher brought in the See the Morning DVD featuring Christian musician Chris Tomlin (http://www.ChrisTomlin.com/) along with speaker Louie Giglio. One segment of the presentation was about the majesty of God's creation in the universe and in the human body. I was awestruck by it. My friend Rowena said she had gotten it at Target -- the DVD was bundled free with the CD. I highly recommend it!

I should also mention that Sovereign Grace Ministries is selling their music CDs for $6 each with free shipping -- up until Friday, February 29. You can check it out at www.SovereignGraceMusic.org. Think Bob Kauflin, Mark Altrogge, and all of those great guys...

Again on the theme of justice, a brief excerpt from my book The Real Life Home School Mom: "Justice and mercy are so close to God's heart. If we want to reflect his image, they must be close to ours as well. British ministry leader Mike Pilavachi encourages Christians to not turn away from news about injustice or oppression or poverty, but to act. "Because the truth is, if we don't look properly, we'll never cultivate a true heart of compassion. If we want our hearts to be changed, then we need to get involved. Often I think we're afraid to see things fully because we know that once we have, we can never plead ignorance to God; we'll have blown that excuse out of the water." He quotes Martin Luther King, Jr. as saying, "We will have to repent in this generation for not merely the cruel words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." So I plead with you, my fellow home school parents, as you rightly shelter your children in some ways, don't isolate yourself or them from the needs of the world that God has called us to serve in his name. If we don't, who will?" (Mike Pilavachi quotes are from his book When Necessary Use Words: Changing Lives Through Worship, Justice and Evangelism, published by Regal Books. I believe that Mike often collaborates with Matt Redman, who is also British, on ministry projects.)

And finally, a word from the Good Book:

"He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Micah 6:8

OK, that's enough for this addendum! Let me know what has been helpful to you.

Blessings,

Virginia Knowles

www.VirginiaKnowles.com
-- To subscribe, send ANY message to: [email protected] To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: [email protected] Visit my web site at www.VirginiaKnowles.com  

Posted by: hopechestnews <hopechestnews@...>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Hope Chest with Virginia Knowles
#11-2 Addendum: With MORE Beauty and Justice For All
February 27, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Hope Chest friends,

After I sent out the Hope Chest early this evening, I got a call from my sister Barb, who has been suffering migraines. She said that her surgery for an implanted nerve stimulator, originally scheduled for Monday, has been moved to tomorrow, which is her 47th (not 48th) birthday. So please pray for her!

Also, I realized after I sent it that I had started to type a sentence about planting strawberries, and then totally left it there in the middle, ending with a comma! What a typo! What I wanted to say is that I had planned to plant them yesterday, but there was a tornado warning, and then I was going to plant them today, but there is a freeze warning for tonight. (We live in Orlando.) In the meantime, my little daughter Naomi drew a really pretty picture of me planting them, with the caption, "I love strawberries!" She doesn't like strawberries at all, so I think she was putting some very true words in my mouth. And I was thinking of how kind the Lord is to give us beauty for our tastebuds. We could all be eating grey tasteless cardboard, yet he gives us ripe red sweet juicy bliss! Isn't he good?

When Barb called about her surgery, I was on my way to a youth meeting at church with two of my teens, Rachel and Joanna. As always, I was blessed by the worship time, and reflected on the fact that all seven of the youth musicians who were leading worship were home schooled. I am thankful that their parents considered music to be a vital part of their educations, because now they are turning right around and blessing others with the God-given gifts that they have nurtured in their homes. Among others, we were singing some music by Matt Redman (http://www.MattRedman.com) -- I love his Facedown CD, which is another favorite on my MP3.

A couple of weeks ago, our home school co-op's middle school science teacher was sick, and the substitute teacher brought in the See the Morning DVD featuring Christian musician Chris Tomlin (http://www.ChrisTomlin.com/) along with speaker Louie Giglio. One segment of the presentation was about the majesty of God's creation in the universe and in the human body. I was awestruck by it. My friend Rowena said she had gotten it at Target -- the DVD was bundled free with the CD. I highly recommend it!

I should also mention that Sovereign Grace Ministries is selling their music CDs for $6 each with free shipping -- up until Friday, February 29. You can check it out at http://www.SovereignGraceMusic.org. Think Bob Kauflin, Mark Altrogge, and all of those great guys...

Again on the theme of justice, a brief excerpt from my book The Real Life Home School Mom: "Justice and mercy are so close to God's heart. If we want to reflect his image, they must be close to ours as well. British ministry leader Mike Pilavachi encourages Christians to not turn away from news about injustice or oppression or poverty, but to act. "Because the truth is, if we don't look properly, we'll never cultivate a true heart of compassion. If we want our hearts to be changed, then we need to get involved. Often I think we're afraid to see things fully because we know that once we have, we can never plead ignorance to God; we'll have blown that excuse out of the water." He quotes Martin Luther King, Jr. as saying, "We will have to repent in this generation for not merely the cruel words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." So I plead with you, my fellow home school parents, as you rightly shelter your children in some ways, don't isolate yourself or them from the needs of the world that God has called us to serve in his name. If we don't, who will?" (Mike Pilavachi quotes are from his book When Necessary Use Words: Changing Lives Through Worship, Justice and Evangelism, published by Regal Books. I believe that Mike often collaborates with Matt Redman, who is also British, on ministry projects.)

And finally, a word from the Good Book:

"He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Micah 6:8

OK, that's enough for this addendum! Let me know what has been helpful to you.

Blessings,

Virginia Knowles

http://www.VirginiaKnowles.com

-- To subscribe, send ANY message to: [email protected] To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: [email protected] Visit my web site at www.VirginiaKnowles.com