Tidbit #21: Juggling Life Until Christmas
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>
THE HOPE CHEST
with Virginia Knowles
Tidbit #21 on December 13, 2003
Juggling Life Until Christmas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Hope Chest is a free e-mail newsletter with encouragement and practical teaching tips. The writer is Virginia Knowles, wife of Thad, mother of nine children, and author of Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade, and The Real Life Home School Mom.
Contact information:
- Web site: http://www.thehopechest.net
- Resource orders:
http://www.thehopechest.net/resourceorders.html- Personal E-mail:
[email protected]- Subscription:
[email protected]- Unsubscription:
[email protected]- To change your subscription, just unsubscribe from your old address, and subscribe from the new one. This will save me a lot of time!
FREE SHIPPING ON BOOK ORDERS THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2003!
http://www.thehopechest.net/ResourceOrders.html
[Virginias Note: Several of you lovely Hope Chest readers have written sweet notes or asked questions recently, and I havent replied to you yet. Please be patient with me! I have a full inbox and Im a little short of time right now. I read and enjoy everything when it comes in, but it make take me a little while to respond!]
Dear Hope Chest readers,
In this Tidbit you will find:
- Juggling Life Until Christmas
- House for Sale
- Recommendations for Lodging on I-95 Between D.C. and Orlando?
- Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball Recipe
- What's Wrong with my Heart?
Enjoy!
I will only be doing the Hope Chest bi-weekly instead of weekly from now on, due to my busy schedule!
In His Sovereign Grace,
Virginia Knowles
Juggling Life Until Christmas
At a small group home school meeting recently, the topic was What is your family doing in December? I had to confess that Im certainly not involved in much formal organized school work. Im too busy juggling the rest of life at the moment -- Christmas shopping, medical appointments, childrens events, etc. In a way, thats OK with me - I always plan a light teach yourself whatever you want or need to know load for December because I KNOW Im not going to have the time to focus on it. Even when school doesnt happen on schedule, true education can keep right on going. Its been fun to watch each one approach learning in their own way. Tonight at dinner, Micah (4) laid several cooked spaghetti noodles in parallel lines on the table --making an American flag design! He even bit off each noodle to the right length... Andrew (6) made a book for Joanna's birthday, and has been devouring the Box Car series. Lydia (9) is ecstatic over the French cassette and workbook I just gave her. Joanna (11) has returned to Saxon math after all. I saw Rachel (12) singing merrily as she did her Apologia Physical Science on Saturday -- she didn't know I was watching her! Julia (14) has been busy with basketball and Algebra, as well as assignments for her EXCEL class, which resumes in January. Tomorrow afternoon, Mary (16) takes her first college final exams in Freshman Comp and Basic Spanish.
Lydia and I decided to use several dozen Gospels of John (which arrived too late for the Christmas brunch) for a neighbhorhood outreach. We made up little packets that each contain a Gospel, a church invitation card, and a family Christmas greeting with two of my poems. They hang easily from doorknobs with a ribbon. Weve already distributed half of them on the next street down, and will do the rest on other streets in the next few days. (Yes, this takes a bit of gumption, but we are a rather peculiar family anyway.)
Shopping for our huge family has taken a whole lot of my time -- more than I would have liked! -- because in addition to groceries and Christmas presents, Ive had to stock up on warm clothes and travel amusements for our trip up north this week. I try to fit these forays in while Im driving children to classes and events. The girls help me with wrapping presents, which is another enormous job.
After typing our massive vacation packing list, Im not looking forward to loading the van. Well be stuffed in like sardines, but at least it will be a good education in space management. To lighten the load, we opened all of our presents to one another this afternoon. (Of course, many things I gave them are FOR taking on the trip -- like hats & gloves, books, and inexpensive personal cassette tape players with EARPHONES!)
We celebrated this evening with Thads older sister. Please pray for her while we are away! The holidays can be very tough for those who struggle with mental illness. It's even harder for her since my mother-in-law died a few months ago. We gave her a large gift bag with 12 wrapped presents -- one for every day until Christmas -- so she will know she is still loved even if we arent here. Were also still trying to find an adoptive home for her elderly diabetic cat, Charlie, since none of us are able to care for him and she is unwilling to have him put to sleep yet.
Our favorite holiday music this year is the City on the Hill "It's Time for Christmas" CD. Good stuff! I'm trying to figure out what kind of music it is -- it's Christian, it's folk, and it's contemporary all rolled into one.
House For Sale!
Thad put his mom's house up for sale last weekend. Are you interested in seeing a lovely four bedroom, two and half bath, colonial style home, with a pool, in a pleasant suburban neighborhood close to a GREAT library? E-mail me or contact Nancy Koo of Watson Realty at 407-673-4200. The address is 1226 Cambridge Road, Maitland, FL, 32751. You can also go to http://www.realtor.com, click on More Search Options under the Find a Home section, go to the bottom of that page, and type in an MLS number of 4522508. (Note: This is not in the city of Maitland, but in Seminole County.) I will still check my e-mail from my parent's computer while we are away.)
Recommendations for Lodging on I-95 Between D.C. and Orlando?
We'll be driving up and back along I-95 between Orlando and the Washington D.C. area. We already have hotel reservations at the Wingate Inn near Florence, South Carolina, for our drive up. At Grandma's house we'll be doing floor space. Now we're looking for recommendations for economical suite style rooms for our return trip. These are a little difficult to find, as our family of 11 technically needs two adjoining suites because of fire codes. Do you all have any favorites along I-95?
Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball Recipe
Mary and I went to a "Homes for Christmas" event last month, and one recipe we sampled was so delicious that Mary made it to take to a friend's surprise birthday party. It's not exactly the healthiest recipe in the world, but yummy! To cut down on calories, you can try a reduced fat cream cheese like Neuchatel. This recipe came from Charity Bianchi, who also gave us the Spinach Balls recipe that I included last month.
Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball
Ingredients:
- 1 package (8 ounces) softened cream cheese
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter (no substitute)
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
- graham crackers
What's Wrong with My Heart?
I went for a physical last month after having some mild chest pains. I found that I had actually gained some weight since Ben was born -- and my triglyceride level is double what it should be. I had an EKG and a chest X-ray to check the heart, and everything looked OK, but just to be on the safe side, I asked for a cardiology referral. After I had my treadmill stress test and a thorough exam, the cardiologist said my heart looks fine. I do need to lose weight -- about 60 pounds, to be exact! Since my first appointment with the family doctor last month, I started walking briskly for a half hour about four mornings a week, and have cut back on empty calories. I've already lost six pounds in four weeks, so something must be working. I am taking the nutrional approach found in Pam Smith's book Smart Weigh, which seems pretty balanced. It's also been great having a walking buddy. This is another story of God's providence: a Christian acquaintance, Jane, who lives several blocks away, happened to be taking her trash out around 6:45 one morning as I passed her house. She's been looking for a walking partner for years, so we are each other's Godsends. Now we have extra motivation to get out of bed and go walking each day, and Jane has become a good friend, rather than just an acquaintance! Isn't God good?
Really, though, there IS something wrong with my heart, but it's not my physical heart. God had put me through his own stress test lately, and I didn't exactly pass with flying colors. Using circumstances in my life, the Lord has shown me areas of pride, selfishness, laziness, and other icky things in my heart. Yes, I've taken the opportunity to do some good things this month, but the moment I get self-righteous about it, they become filthy rags in God's sight (Isaiah 64:6). My friend Doreen Morgan, who owns Faithful Bookshop, reminded us at that home school meeting that Christmas is not so much a time for us to focus on giving, as good as that is, but on how needy WE are to receive from God. I am so in need of his mercy and grace! How good God was to send his only Son to die and pay the penalty for our sins, of which mine are many. What a Savior! My comfort is that he does not despise a contrite heart. Instead he wants to PURIFY my heart. I know this doesn't seem much like a cozy Christmas Scripture, but read the reality of what Psalm 51 has to offer us:
PSALM 51
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
~*~*~
May God give us all the gift of purified hearts as we, like the wise men, seek the Savior.
In His Sovereign Grace,
Virginia Knowles