Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

#1 · September 9, 2004, 11:57 am

Quote from Forum Archives on September 9, 2004, 11:57 am
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>
Hello friends,

In Christ alone, my hope is found

He is my light, my strength, my song.

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease,

My comforter, my all in all

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

   (by Stuart Townend)

We sang this song at home group last Wednesday night before we left town to avoid Hurricane Frances. It's been running through my head ever since! God has been good to our family, and I thank him for it.

As most of you know, our family decided to skip town last Thursday afternoon. I had been scheduled to fly out with two of the kids on Friday for my brother's wedding, but decided to drive out with the rest of the family on Thursday instead -- a good thing since my flight got cancelled anyway! It was great to have the whole family there, since it is rare that so many of my relatives, including all three of my living grandparents, were there! My mom's parents came up from Florida after their apartment was badly damaged by Hurricane Charley. My brother John, at his wedding reception on Sunday, quipped, "I'd like to thank Charley and Frances for bringing so many people to our wedding."    It was truly a lovely time, and I'm glad we could be there en masse.

We decided to leave Maryland on Tuesday morning so that Mary could get home in time to go back to her classes at Valencia Community College today. Our travel went pretty smoothly, although we hit lots of rain along the way. We arrived home yesterday (Wednesday) evening. Our house has more shingle damage, which means we are going to need a new roof soon -- along with everyone else! Other than that, we didn't have any broken windows or downed trees, though there are plenty of those in our neighborhood. We do have power (it came on Tuesday) and clean water, though officials have requested that we restrict water use.

Unfortunately, now we have to gear up for Hurricane Ivan, which has been fierce and deadly in the Carribean so far. Some of the projected paths take it straight up through Florida, possibly arriving in Orlando next Tuesday. I am really hoping that we don't have to hit the road again, but it looks like we might need to do just that. Gas is in very short supply. Thad couldn't find any this morning so far when he went to get the van headlight fixed. Anyway, I just repacked the kids clothes in a suitcase, and we are leaving the boards up on the windows for now just in case...

My next Hope Chest issue (who knows when it will come out? -- no time now!) will include reviews of three books, including Diana Johnson's When Home Schooling Gets Tough. Trust me, ladies, home schooling can get really tough in the middle of three closely spaced hurricanes. Actually, to be more accurate, it's been almost non-existent! Yes, we did bring along workbooks on our last trip, in case we had stayed up in Maryland longer, but it's well nigh impossible to get anything done in a noisy, crowded van with the windows open.   Sigh... That's real life! My one comfort about missing so much school time is that the public schools have already missed 10 days. Local school officials are begging for a delay in the state FCAT standardized testing, which causes a huge amount of stress around here. At least we don't have to worry about that!

Meanwhile, I am also preparing to teach high school and middle school world history and literature in our co-op on Monday. It remains to be seen whether classes will actually be held this week!   I've been really pleased with teaching because the kids are great and we've been able to pack in some pretty meaningful discussions about the Reformation and Renaissance. I'll have to share some of it with you in a future Hope Chest issue.

I'll sign off for now!

In His Sovereign Grace,

Virginia Knowles

www.TheHopeChest.net
  --  To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: [email protected]  

Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

Hello friends,

In Christ alone, my hope is found

He is my light, my strength, my song.

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease,

My comforter, my all in all

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

(by Stuart Townend)

We sang this song at home group last Wednesday night before we left town to avoid Hurricane Frances. It's been running through my head ever since! God has been good to our family, and I thank him for it.

As most of you know, our family decided to skip town last Thursday afternoon. I had been scheduled to fly out with two of the kids on Friday for my brother's wedding, but decided to drive out with the rest of the family on Thursday instead -- a good thing since my flight got cancelled anyway! It was great to have the whole family there, since it is rare that so many of my relatives, including all three of my living grandparents, were there! My mom's parents came up from Florida after their apartment was badly damaged by Hurricane Charley. My brother John, at his wedding reception on Sunday, quipped, "I'd like to thank Charley and Frances for bringing so many people to our wedding." It was truly a lovely time, and I'm glad we could be there en masse.

We decided to leave Maryland on Tuesday morning so that Mary could get home in time to go back to her classes at Valencia Community College today. Our travel went pretty smoothly, although we hit lots of rain along the way. We arrived home yesterday (Wednesday) evening. Our house has more shingle damage, which means we are going to need a new roof soon -- along with everyone else! Other than that, we didn't have any broken windows or downed trees, though there are plenty of those in our neighborhood. We do have power (it came on Tuesday) and clean water, though officials have requested that we restrict water use.

Unfortunately, now we have to gear up for Hurricane Ivan, which has been fierce and deadly in the Carribean so far. Some of the projected paths take it straight up through Florida, possibly arriving in Orlando next Tuesday. I am really hoping that we don't have to hit the road again, but it looks like we might need to do just that. Gas is in very short supply. Thad couldn't find any this morning so far when he went to get the van headlight fixed. Anyway, I just repacked the kids clothes in a suitcase, and we are leaving the boards up on the windows for now just in case...

My next Hope Chest issue (who knows when it will come out? -- no time now!) will include reviews of three books, including Diana Johnson's When Home Schooling Gets Tough. Trust me, ladies, home schooling can get really tough in the middle of three closely spaced hurricanes. Actually, to be more accurate, it's been almost non-existent! Yes, we did bring along workbooks on our last trip, in case we had stayed up in Maryland longer, but it's well nigh impossible to get anything done in a noisy, crowded van with the windows open. Sigh... That's real life! My one comfort about missing so much school time is that the public schools have already missed 10 days. Local school officials are begging for a delay in the state FCAT standardized testing, which causes a huge amount of stress around here. At least we don't have to worry about that!

Meanwhile, I am also preparing to teach high school and middle school world history and literature in our co-op on Monday. It remains to be seen whether classes will actually be held this week! I've been really pleased with teaching because the kids are great and we've been able to pack in some pretty meaningful discussions about the Reformation and Renaissance. I'll have to share some of it with you in a future Hope Chest issue.

I'll sign off for now!

In His Sovereign Grace,

Virginia Knowles

http://www.TheHopeChest.net

  --  To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: [email protected]