Give-Away

I don't normally do this on our family blog, but this particular blog by Jerusalem had a give-away that is just delightful and I do love happy pictures like this! :)

Easter Pictures for Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles! :)

I'm not sure why it's doing this, but each time I post a picture it adds more space between them and I can't seem to get it fixed....oh well! :) Most of these won't interest most of ya'll (see, I haven't lost it yet! :) but here are some Easter pictures for grandparents. I'm not the best photographer and am well aware of that with all my photographer friends around! :) OF COURSE I forgot to take a picture of all our dinner guests - what a bummer!! We so enjoyed having the Hammond Family here with us as well as 5 students. i think that brought our total number up to 16 people! Between Beth and I, we managed to put on quite the Easter Dinner spread and that was a lot of fun! We're so thankful for our new friends here! The service at Winter Park Christian was wonderful and we so enjoyed hearing Pastor's Doug's message once again and worshipping there. We hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Resurrection Sunday Celebration as well!! Pastor Doug reminded us again that Christianity is the only 'religion' that isn't a religion because it's not about do's and don'ts and it's not something you can "join." You can become a Buddhist or Hindu by doing what they do and going to their temples. But you don't become a Christian by joining a church any more than you can become a car by living in a garage. The Holy Spirit makes you a Christian by changing your heart, giving you new life ("you must be born again" Jesus said!) and changing us from the inside out. I'm so thankful - because I get it wrong so many times! But it's not about me! It's about God, the Risen Savior that we serve and the transforming power of the indwelling Holy Spirit! That is good news to me! :)

Oh, and yes, it did snow yesterday! :) And it's snowing again today. The only difference between now and January is that the snow melts as faster than it falls - so we ARE beginning to see signs of spring - and I DID see some buds on some bushes on the way home from church yesterday! :) We're looking forward to our first EVER camping trip with the Timberline students and staff next week - heading for the sand dunes! :) Looking forward to change of scenery! :)

Snow White

You too were awake in the middle of the night, wrestling with God. You were a Man of Sorrows. Your friends...they must have been so afraid. The One they had followed, trusted, believed in - Dead.

Did the enemy whisper lies and half truths to You? To them? Words that our broken parts are so attune to? He questions whether You are who You say You are, whether I am Your child, because my actions might lead me and others to believe otherwise. And the broken parts inside us are only too willing to still listen.

You were Forsaken by those who had followed and loved you, even vehemently, fiercely, violently followed you, willing at first to defend You with a Sword, but later unwilling to acknowledge You with their lips. You were kissed by the one who betrayed Your Friendship. Yet - You were silent, as a Lamb led to the Slaughter You didn't open Your Mouth. In Anger or Retaliation. Even Righteous Anger. Instead You RECEIVED God's Righteous Anger meant for us, meant for me. You took upon Yourself what I deserved and remained silent in the face of Ridicule and False Accusations. And True Accusations - for You are King.

Your disciples standing, watching, waiting for You to do....Something Amazing ..... Something .... ANYTHING .... to stop this Nightmare from unfolding before them.

How disappointed, confused and hurt they must have been as they watched You lay down Your Life...and Die...and with You - the Death of their Dreams and Hopes and all they had lived for, all they have given up everything they had for. Dead..the sealed Tomb the final Nail in the Coffin of their Dead Dreams. And that was that. Silence. Nothing.

Until that Sunday morning when their Hopes and Dreams came ALIVE with a Faith never to be shaken again, and You proved once and for all that even Death is Not Final.

You give us Hope and Joy - to know that it is NEVER to late to trust in You. You are who You say You are, and we are who You say we are....Free, Forgiven, Cleansed, bought with a price from the Slave Market of our own making, the Shackles gone, under New Ownership, Dead to sin but Alive to Jesus Christ.

And we payed nothing for that Freedom and You paid it all.

It's snowing again outside - You washed our sins as White as Snow

Warp Speed Writing at Easter

The other night I drove home from the grocery store at night (thanks to Lauren and Kate's help with the coupons, I saved $110 in groceries!!!). It had just begun to snow pretty heavily and as I was driving along our country road I felt like the truck and I had switched to warp speed, flying through the universe to a distant galaxy! :) This morning it is cold at 25 degrees - and it's been snowing on and off for several days now - as it is even now. The trees are covered in snow - always such a beautiful thing to look at as I feel like I'm staring out our picture window at a black & white photograph.

The past few nights I've been visited by my old friend insomnia. She had grown distant since moving here - I think our life has been so busy and our bodies have been adjusting to this high altitude, that by nightfall we've just fallen into bed, happy but exhausted. But sometimes in the business, even if we're spending time in God's Word, there is a distance that can ensue. And in my life I think God has allowed insomnia to visit me so that I would hear His call on my heart.

Associated with the insomnia have been various thoughts and sorrows too. And I'm thankful that one of the ways God comforts us is by giving us the gift of tiredness and sleep - and He has given that after a while. That hasn't always been the case, so I don't take it for granted.

I've been going downstairs into the living room, in the dark, with the fireplace on, sitting at the picture window and watching the Winter Flowers swirl down from the sky - it's almost hypnotizing at times, they way these white flakes swirl and dance in the wind before they land in the blink of an eye - I almost wish I could slow it all down into slow motion so I could see how they do it - is it a waltz? Is it a country dance? A menuette?

Anyway, along with insomnia, come other friends.....prayer, pondering, journal.... I've been pondering this whole idea of writing and what a writer is. I know many good writers - or at least have read their writings. I am not one of them and don't have any illusions of such. I am too wordy and don't have clever ways of putting vocabulary together. But I am compelled at times to put pen to paper, feel the nip of my fountain pen against the pages of my journal, formulate into words, thoughts and feelings somehow jumbled up in my brain.

I remember in 6th grade, having a writing assignment in class. The teacher asked after several essays had been read if anyone thought they had a better essay and I raised my hand. Not because I thought it was better but because I SO wanted to share what I had written. After I had read it out loud the teacher and students managed to tear the essay to shreds verbally - the strange thing is that I have no hurt associated with that memory. I knew it wasn't as good as the others - I had just so enjoyed the writing process I HAD to share it! :) I think that's part of what blogging is about for many.

So, anyway, one of my prayers during these bouts of insomnia this week has been about how to help my family prepare for Easter. Christmas is easier for me - family coming in, or we may go to see family. So much excitement, so many traditions. Easter has been more difficult and with each move and with each stage in life I find myself having to readjust thoughts and ideas. When the kids were little I would use little kids things, the Easter Eggs filled with the symbols of the death and resurrection of Christ (and they've either broken or gotten lost in the many moves), Miss Patty Cake (who will drive any sane adult to the bring of insanity - but the kids love her! :) , Veggie Tales....Jenna still loves those... but the other two have outgrown these and are needing a much different approach.

When I was in 6th grade, I attended St. Elisabeth in Friedrichshafen, Germany - an all girls Catholic School run by nuns of the Franciscan order. At Easter time, they rented out a theater and took us to see the Jesus Film. I remember being deeply impacted and just "getting" it. Realizing that Jesus died FOR me, for my sin and what a JOYFUL celebration His resurrection was. Since then the makers of the Jesus film have come out with a version for children (I wouldn't say for the really young ones) - that you can see for free on their website in various different languages. I could tell Julie-Joy especially was impacted by that this week. I find it neat that we're also studying Roman culture and history right now - perfect for Easter!

I haven't been as prepared as I would like to be and a lot of our "manipulatives" for Easter traditions would be packed away in a box buried deep in the garage. So most of our preparations are centered around conversations etc. I think this year I would also like to prepare a leg of lamb if I can find one. Never done that before myself. We shall see....

Anyway, last night there were some thoughts about the death and resurrection story that came to mind and I'll share those in a separate blog. Because this one....is long enough! :)

Links

A couple of links: 1. You Tube - Major Ian Thomas - Founder of Torchbearer's International - there aren't many of these I don't think, so it's neat to see this after all these years - God's Riches at Christ's expense! 2. Dan Thomas (Major's grandson and director of Timberline) - preaching at Winter Park Christian Church this past Sunday with some great insight into Palm Sunday. April 17th - I just checked and it's not up yet, but should be soon.

What we woke up to this morning, April 14th, 2011

Day-To-Day

So, a few people and family members have asked what our day looks like now that we've moved. It has changed quite a bit from before and this'll be fun - for me anyway! And probably not too interesting for anyone else but family members, but here we go. Every day is different but here's kind of what we aim for:

5:30 Jen is up working for Dawn (I tried having quiet time earlier and the truth is, I think my Father prefers for me to wait until I'm wider awake - just not there yet as 5:30 is pretty early for me anyway for those that know my past struggles with sleep) - http://www.dawnsmithjordan.com/

So Reid gets up sometime around then too, gets a fire going in the fireplace downstairs and even brings Jen a cup of tea (I know! WHAT A GUY!).

6:15 Kids get up, eat breakfast, Ian gets ready for school Reid has some quiet time with them

7:15 Reid and Ian leave for school which starts at 7:30 and then Reid head over to Timberline

8:00 Jen is done working, answers some emails, gets ready for the day, cleans up the kitchen, while the girls start spelling online and practice Geography and Math multiplication tables (or in Jenna's case, she practices addition).

Reid's day varies but of course he's busy with budget, payroll, all kinds of things, and many, many staff meetings, impartations, staff devotions etc.. Monday or Tuesday (depending on what's going on in the school year), we also have Family Breakfast at 8:00 and then All-Community worship with all the staff and students at 10:00am where we have a time of worship and then staff members and students take turns sharing their Faith Stories and how God has brought them to where they are now.

If we're not joining All Community worship, Jen and the girls work away on homework, math, writing, history, science. Sometimes a student or lady staff member will come over for a cup of tea after lunch and a chat.

Wednesdays the girls have gymnastics in the afternoon

3:15 - one of us leaves to get Ian from school and run errands in town

4:00 - we're back home, snack time and then homework and time to practice piano and review Latin

5:45 is supper at Timberline and we generally eat there with the students a couple of times a week. The kids absolutely love this time and get to catch up with their friends (other staff kids).

We have the opportunity to attend lectures in the evenings if we want to (the students are in lectures in the morning and evening), and Reid's already taken advantage of that this week with Jim Wildman being in town and teaching on the book of James. We hope to take turns from time to time in the future - and it's something I enjoyed doing as a teenager at Klostermuehle and Bodenseehof, so I look forward to the kids maybe doing the same one day! :)

We're early to bedders these days so the kids are in bed by 7:30 and we're heading there around 8:30 or 9:00 ourselves.

Fridays the schedule is different as Grand County schools are out and the ski resorts provide free lift passes during the winter. We cover piano lessons and latin lessons in the mornings and then do our best to get to Winter Park or Sol Vista after lunch for a few hours of PE! :)

Saturdays are our days to clean the house, work around outside (shoveling snow). We haven't been to Denver as a family since we moved here in January, which is a bit unusual I think, but having been small buisness owners, we're huge supporters of buying locally when possible, so we tend to stick around. Once the weather warms up we're looking forward to exploring a little more and maybe finding a good fishing spot for the Reid and Ian.

We're also looking ahead to some possible camping trips with the students and staff for debriefing and also for the staff to have a time to draw together and just see how everyone is doing. Never been camping before...could be interesting!

Sundays we're enjoying attending Winter Park Christian Church and have been participating in the Life and Legacy class (essentially their membership class, though WPCC has no membership). So, that's life in a nutshell.

I'm always reminded that no matter what you do, or where you live, there is this aspect of the ordinary, the daily grind so-to-say, that doesn't escape anyone. There are days that I just want to do something different, days when the day-to-day gets to me, days when I don't see the mountains in front of me, I'm sad to say! :( But God constantly brings us back to the place of reminding us that it's not about where we are or what we're doing. I can be downtown LA and be perfectly at peace or on top of Mt. Everest and perfectly miserable (I probably would be if I attempted that). What it comes down to is the indwelling Life of Christ IN us, the source of joy no matter what our circumstances. The normal Christian life, Major called it. May you have a normal day today! :)

Another Honorable Mention!

I should not fail to add Mama June - who also guessed what a Sopwith Camel was due to her love for Peanuts Cartoons and Snoopy's adventures! :)

Honorable Mentions, Tank Insanity and Beatrix Potter

DRUMROLL PLEASE.....my father-in-law - Rufus, and my brother-in-law - Sharkey, guessed correctly! :) A Sopwith Camel is an airplane - more precisely a WWI fighter plane....Ian read a fictional book about a boy who used his father's Sopwith Camel to attack the Nazi's during WWII on Guernsey....and he and Reid were busy this weekend making a book float for his school library. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product but will try to do when he brings it home - if it comes back in one piece! :) I didn't end up taking any pictures of our outing as we went to the Granby library instead of exploring around Byer's Peak. Got some good books. However, we did learn an interesting story that happened to the Granby library (video footage) - when a guy built a tank and destroyed the library and city hall and a bunch of other buildings several years ago...insanity.... One more thing - I picked up two books by Susan Wittig Albert that my mother-in-law recommended. One called The Tale of Holly How and one called The Tale of Applebeck Orchard. I started the first one last night - it's a delightful fictional series on the life of Beatrix Potter and (including conversations of her favorite little animals). I don't often read fiction any more - but these are perfect with a cup of tea and remind me a little of the Midford series for some reason. Well, I have a little girl looking over my shoulder who can hardly wait to get to work on her spelling lists (and if you're homeschooling and haven't heard of spellingcity.com - you need to check it out!! :) AWESOME free tool for practicing spelling lists!!). Later Taters!

Sopwith Camel

Our Saturday project - working on Ian's book float....if you can tell me what a sopwith camel is (without looking it up!) you will have my forever respect and receive and honorable mention on this blog! :) And here's a hint - it's not an animal! :)

So that's been our Saturday morning for you...and the girls had fun watching! :) Hope to take some more pictures this afternoon during our family outing....and in the mean time - adios! :)

Time Out

I haven't posted a lot of pictures lately....mainly because I'd be posting pictures of the same thing....SNOW! :) You see it's spring time here...which means we get more snow...except it melts faster than it did a couple of months ago! :) But we're still surrounded by it. Reid surprised me with an evening trip to Denver with our friends Zane and Rachel Black. The first thing that struck me when we got down there...no snow and it was WARM in the evening (in the 50's - we walked around without our winter coats!). It was nice to have a couple of hours just to spend time with our new friends and hear some great music (Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels, and hear Louie Giglio speak). Meg, who works on staff at Timberline as well, was so sweet to offer to stay with the kids and I think they enjoyed the break from Mom as well! :) It's Ian's spring break this week so we're trying to catch up on a few homework type things (spelling lists, multiplication tables, Latin and piano) but also have fun. It's been nice to have him home during the day as well....he is growing up SO fast and is almost as tall as I am....amazing! All that to say - I realize that blog entries without pictures just aren't as fun so I'll try and take some more over the next few days and post them. The bibleschool students are currently on spring break. They return Thursday I believe and then we all hunker down for a few more weeks of classes and regular schedule until graduation week in May. It's always a sad and exciting time all mixed together. I remember as a kid, struggling each year when it was time for the students to leave - and being very excited in the fall when the new group came in. We're making some decisions regarding school for Ian in particular over the next few weeks and would appreciate your prayers for that as well. We're pretty certain that he won't be attending the local middle school, for various reasons. Ian really wants to attend the Christian classical school at the church we attend. They participate in a yearly history competition that he's very interested in learning more about. We're waiting to see what doors God opens up over the next few weeks. On our house that we're renting/house-sitting here in CO, our landlord told us that it looks like the sale to the interested buyer will go through but that it will probably be 4-6 months or so before it is final. So we are here for the time being and trust the Lord to show us the next step. We did have someone look at our hosue in Columbia yesterday and are waiting to hear if they were interested. Thanks for your prayers! Love, Jennifer