Home School Book Fair Next Week

I don't know about you, but I get so excited about the Home School Book Fair every year. I love walking up and down those isles seeing all the new things there are and the old things that have lasted through the years. I usually have at least an idea of what I want to get. Last year I found the BEST curriculum EVER. It's called Trail Guides to Learning. They include every subject except Math. Which is fine for us because we have been using Math U See for the past 5 years and don't intend to stop now.

Back to our core curriculum. This school year we did Paths of Exploration. We enjoyed it so much. This kids and I both learned a great deal. I started homeschooling in 1997. I can honestly say this curriculum worked best for the kids and for their teacher. Next year we will be doing Paths of Settlement. They are coming out with the next in the series in August called Paths of Progress. Each set goes up a grade. They are planning on continuing all through high school, which thrills me to no end.

I have to be honest and say we only did a little over half of Paths of Exploration. But we are going to finish it up at the start of the next school year and then continue on with Paths of Settlement. I love homeschooling because of this very reason. We can always do more later if we do less now. Or we can do more now and less a little later. We just enjoy the learning process and keep it fun.

This year we finished Math the last week of March. Can you believe that? I can't. We were scheduled to finish in April but they just decided they would finish it up even earlier. I am not one to say no to doing more work that I require. Less, yes. But more? No way. Go for it. This next year JC will be doing PreAlgebra. Needless to say I am NOT looking forward to that. But I love this program so it is my hope that it will help me help him. It has so far.

I will be buying two years worth of school supplies because it is our hope that we will be sent overseas during this school year. I want to be prepared so that we can take it all with us instead of having to order it.

Although we are done with our basic school for this year I have added some things to finish out April and work through the summer. They are learning basic household duties and scheduling. It isn't running totally smoothly as of yet but it is a work in progress that I hope to carry on into the school year and beyond. We have a set schedule for laundry, what days we do what color clothes, and alternate which child does them that day to completion. We alternate who does the dishes each day and who helps cook the meals. I am teaching them how to make complete meals on their own.

We are bumping up our reading for the summer. They are having to read larger books in a shorter amount of time. We discuss the book as they are reading it and not just at the end of the book. It helps them to understand what they are reading and remember it. It is my intention to teach them how to do a book review like the ones I do on my writers blog. That will help them take the meaning out of the book that the author intended them to find.

We will be going on a HUGE "field trip" in June to East Africa. We are so excited about that. You can find out more information on that by reading our cross cultural ministry blog. I can't wait to share pictures from that trip.

I will be uploading pictures and information about our homeschool book fair trip next week. Thanks for stopping by.

Mission Trip Information

We would like to share with you an opportunity that we have as a family to join in a mission trip to East Africa June 9- July 3. Equip Disciples is a Christian ministry working in east Africa that equips local churches for ministry. An important aspect of this trip will be to test drill water wells in the area. Many of you may know that John has been learning the technology for providing low cost water wells for the poorest of the poor who have no clean source of water. We recently spent one week training in West Texas as a family.  You can learn more about our ministries and the water wells on this mission blog. You can sign up for updates on this blog. Check out these pictures of what actual water well drilling in those countries looks like and how happy the people are to have fresh water.

This area of East Africa is a half-Muslim area. Many of the local church leaders have not had any formal education. They have limited study resources. Yet there are many unreached villages and unreached people groups in need of a Christian witness. This mission is sponsored by Equip Disciples, which focuses on discipleship and building up the body of Christ for the work of ministry. Terri will be helping with the adult and children’s conferences. Jonathan and Jennifer will help lead the children’s conferences. John’s primary mission while there is to gather supplies and work on the test wells. There are several churches that are interested in bringing it to their villages.

Finally, as you might imagine, travel to Africa is quite expensive, and each volunteer is primarily responsible for paying their own way. With a family of four it is  great deal of money for airfare, passports, visas, food, lodging, travel insurance, immunizations, etc. We are trusting God to provide the resources we need.

Thanks for your friendship and your prayers.

In His Service and Love,

John & Terri

We did our first week long training with Water for All International in Paint Rock, TX. We trained with 6 others that week. It was a great time of learning and fellowship. The kids and I hung out at the house most of the time but there were times when either all or one of us went to help out at the drilling site. 

They are setting up the tri-pod up the first day. Then they kept on drilling. You can see part of the team pulling the rope on the left. The rest are working to get the tri-pod even so they will drill straight.

After you get to the water you have to pump the water for a bit before you finish out the well. Even Jonathan had a go at it.

After the well has been cased and cemented in you can build a frame around it and pour cement in it. You smooth it out and form an angle down the side for the water to run off. 

The spent much of their time building the parts that are needed to drill and finish out the wells. It was a very thorough class. But we know there is always more we can learn.

Until next time...blessings to you.

The Lord is My Strength - Guest Post

I don’t know how you see God at work in your life, but in mine He seems to reveal His will to me in a re-occurring fashion. Whenever I find myself passionate about a ministry opportunity and begin the steps of faith to move in that direction, I find myself being reminded that God has been preparing me for it from my past. I typically don’t see this right away but more as a confirmation afterwards. As Terri and I continue in our training for cross-cultural mission to unreached peoples, the opportunity that we sense God is leading us towards is one that will require great physical stamina. To fully serve the Lord in His calling we must prepare in mind, spirit, and body.

               
Growing up I was tall, thin, and terribly un-athletic. I was the slowest kid in junior high coming in last in the 100 yard dash. I remember the coach just shook his head when I finally crossed the finish line. In high school, I dropped out of football on the second day because I was too sore to move after the first day of training. After graduating high school I took a very physically demanding job as a roughneck on a drilling rig in south Texas. The experience taught me that while I lacked speed and strength, I found I had great determination and endurance. I stayed the course for 5 years, after which, I left the physical demands of the oilfield and took a job in the printing industry.

At age 30 I weighed 145 lbs. and allergies kept me sick most of the time. I actually thought I was dying. Determination kicked in and I decided that I wouldn’t go without a fight. I joined a gym and began working out. I went almost every day. I read books on weight lifting, drank gallons of weight gainer and protein drinks, and developed a very rigorous workout routine. Once again, I stayed the course and at age 33 I had an athletic build and weighed in at 180 lbs. I spent the few years training in different gyms until I took a job in management. The time required for my job took me away from the gym and basically ended my workout routine. Several years have passed since I’ve seen the inside of a gym.

Now at age 48, there is stirring in me the desire to get back into shape. I have to admit that my earlier motives were entirely selfish. Now, having hopefully grown in mind and spirit, my desire to be more physically fit are rooted in Kingdom purposes. As Terri and I have began working to get in better shape, we realize that it is not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of those whom we are called to serve. The front room of our home is now the training ground for the physical demands of cross-cultural missions. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed a good workout. All of my past experiences are coming back as I develop a routine for better fitness. It is like coming full circle but with a new perspective, His perspective.

I hope you find encouragement from this brief testimony of how the Lord has been working in a very practical way in our lives. More importantly is how He has been working inwardly to show us His heart and desires. As Terri and I continue to prepare we know it is not in our strength but in His. Our service is founded in our love for our God. Psalm 18:1 says it very well, “I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.” We are learning to lean upon Jesus as our strength and reminded how He can take the fullness of our lives and use it for His glory. So how has God been using your past to prepare you for His future?

~John

Happenings

While so much has been going on, I can honestly say that we are still taking baby steps most of the time. God is showing us only small bits at a time. He has been opening some doors for us and we are being faithful to walk through those open doors. So much is also still unclear. I believe God is doing that so we can show Him we trust Him and believe that He will bring about the purpose and direction in our lives in due time.

Our personal lives and those of our children seem to go from good to bad and back again on a minute by minute basis. While so many things seem to be falling apart we can't help but look on it as a possible "fresh start" and a time to begin again with a clean slate. John called a "family meeting" two weeks ago so we could sit down and share with each other where we were in life. It was mostly for the four adults in the family (did I say 4? Wow, when did that happen? In a blink of an eye, we have two grown children in our family. Time passes so quickly. Enjoy each precious moment of your children's childhood. Then have a blast with them as adults.) because the two younger kids just kind of listened and Star Princess feel asleep in my lap. "Dad" shared the things going on in our life with the mission stuff and with his work. Our older two are going through some hard times, major growing pains. But we took each one and tried to find some positive things that could be done and to look at it as an adventure. Also, some things we needed to pray about as a family for each other. He wanted them to know that we are a family, always will be a family AND will always be there for each other, no matter where we live. It is my hope that we will continue these and even when we are overseas, maybe we can S*kype our family meetings.

While we wait upon the Lord to open more doors and make more things clear on the mission side of our life, there are things that I know I must get done. We are always working on school for the kids. Plus, I have many things around the house that must be done. Part of my downsizing is to get the extra scrapbook supplies and fabric cleared out. But not in the way you might think. I am not just getting rid of it. I am using it. I have many pictures that need in books to prepare for storage. I have much fabric that needs to be made into things instead of stored. I have promised quilts to each of my children. Those MUST be made before we go overseas. I have set that as a goal. I can't wait to work on them and post pictures of each.

My writing has been non-existent with the exception of my blogs. That is my own fault. I just have not taken the time to sit down and work. It is work. Anyone who believes writing is easy is in for a shock. But it is still something that is inside me trying to get out. I must obey that command at some point and let the voice inside me speak. I pray I can overcome the barriers that hold me back and that the voice will be free to venture forth to share with all of us what messages God has given it.

Our "next step" is a training class coming up in March for a week. It is for water well drilling. I may or may not get to go. I have to find "childcare" for the two younger kids and so far, I haven't. Then I need to raise money somehow (be it donations, garage sales, etc...) for a mission trip for all four of us, which can be pretty pricey. We would need about $1,500, which would include the trip, passports, visas, shots, etc...  That is something we are required to do before we are commissioned by our church to go out. If you have any fund raising ideas for me, feel free to email me the details. We need all the help we can get. Of course, once we do that, it will be time to start raising the money for long term. God is good and will provide, I have no doubt.

Until next time...blessings to you. 

Our Daniel Boone Unit

This school year we have been using a wonderful program, Trail Guide To Learning: Paths of Exploration. We have fallen in love with this program. It is great for me, the teacher, because everything is laid out so clearly. Everything comes in your "backpack" of supplies with very few exceptions, like colored pencils and the like. For the kids it is great because it is fun and interesting. It includes all the subjects but math. We are able to do so many extra things with each unit. There are six units that take six weeks each. This year we are learning all about exploration of the United States, starting with Christopher Columbus. Next year we will be doing Paths of Settlement. They are supposed to keep making more to this series that will continue all the way through high school. I think that is awesome!

We are having such a great time with our Daniel Boone unit. We have been doing lots of reading about him and I purchased a DVD with some of the Disney TV shows from long ago. We watched one of them last night. It was different from the true story in a lot of ways but truth was mixed into the story line. I could tell where they changed it but still kept truth in it as well. For instance, he had a new child almost every couple of years, but on the show he only had two kids.

We have learned how Daniel Boone lived and explored many different places in the United States. We also learned a great deal about how the battle for independence impacted the settlers in ways we never knew. The British paid the Native American's to kill the settlers because they were trying to gain that independence from them.

We are also learning a lot about honey bees. Did you know that they are disappearing? And if we can't find a way to get them back and keep them we will lose a lot of our favorite fruits and veggies? I am not sure what we can do about it. We found the information by looking up Colony Collapse Disorder, which was first realized in the U.S. in 2006. If you and your kids are studying bees, this would be an awesome subject to check out. The reason we are learning about bees is because when the settlers got to America there weren't any honey bees. I didn't know that.

Most people had a snow day today because the weather is so odd for Texas. It has been below freezing and snowing lightly all day. The kids have gone out twice although I don't see how they can stand it. I stand at the door to check on them and freeze within seconds. Kids are so funny that they can stand things we can't. I am glad they are having a good time but hoping they don't lose any fingers while they are having fun. I'm telling you...it's cold! We did have our school time today. They got their math done before they went out the first time. Then they came in for lunch and our Unit Study time. Now they are back out there freezing. I took these pictures of them when I braved the cold for the few minutes it took me to get them to come off the playground to pose for it.

That is our progress report for today. Thanks for stopping by. 

Doors of Opportunity

The beginning of a new year holds so many adventures. Of course there will be hardships and downs to go along with the ups in our lives. But I choose to see the glass half full. I choose to see the positive things that come along and not dwell on the negative. So what positive things are presenting themselves as possibilities for 2011? I can't wait to tell you.

We are finishing up our Intro to Panorama this month. The holiday busyness got in the way of our finishing in December. We are meeting with the Direct Mission Sending Council in a couple of weeks to make the transition from the inquirer stage to candidate stage. We start the Advanced Panorama in February and should be finishing it up in June or early July.  We will be working on building our advocacy teams and prayer support teams. We will also need to begin working on financial support during the next several months and beyond.

We will be going to San Angelo, Texas in March for a week long training with Water for All International. At first we thought John was going alone but they asked me to go as well. I am really excited to be included. It makes sense that we get to know each other because it will be a team effort for our family, not just John.

John has been searching the Internet for sources on making parts of the well on his own, like the pump. He is learning the many different ways you can make them. He has made a few different models in the garage. Jonathan has been quick to volunteer to try them out and pump the water out of buckets.

The Water for Christ team has a couple of people going to Niger this month to do some ground work in that area. They want to see what they are dealing with and how they need to go about gathering the resources needed for the wells there. Then they will make plans to go back over there in teams to drill some wells.

We may have the opportunity to go with Water for All International to Bolivia for part of the summer to work with them drilling wells there. They have asked us to be a part of that if we are able. Right now I don't see the provision for our bills and the trip. But we trust that if God wants us to do this, HE will keep the doors open and provide the provisions we need to do it. We would be thrilled to have the chance to go for whatever length of time provision is provided for. They will be there from June through August.

A few months ago we started a monthly prayer meeting in our home for The Water for Christ ministry. We hold that every third Thursday of the month. Anyone is welcome to join us that wants to be a part of praying for this water drilling ministry.

John and I are working on building prayer teams. That is going to be one of our main goals in the months to follow. Those teams are something we will continue to build all throughout our ministry. If you would like to be a part of that, please join us. There is nothing like prayer. We will keep in contact with the lead person of each team and allow them to share the information with the others. We would like for those teams to share their prayer concerns with us so that we can pray for them, too. At the bottom of this post, on our newsletters and on our Partner With Us page you will find a list of updated prayer needs. Please continue to lift those up. --Terri

     Just for fun: Jonathan staged this pose the day they were out drilling.

Specific Prayer Request

• Pray a hedge of protection around each of us. Spiritual warfare is very real.
• Pray for financial provision on upcoming training and mission trips throughout the year.
• Pray that all debt (car debt, student loans & medical bills) are able to be paid off quickly. The sell of the land would take care of a great deal.
• Pray for provisions for downsizing our income again as John plans to move into a day position that is a lot less pay.
• Pray for our 23 year old daughter as she continues to seek God's direction for her life.
• Pray for our 18 year old son that he will find a way to be self sufficient.
• Pray for our younger two children, ages 11 and 9, as they also prepare to serve with us.