Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Christ Church Academy

Christ Church offers college-level classes on Biblical and/or Theological topics. They are offered one weeknight a week, three hours per class, for the duration of a semester. I am excited to take Old Testament Survey this fall. I know I'm kind of a weirdo in how much I love the Old Testament. I enjoy getting swept into the narrative, and I'm eager to learn more about the cultural background and textual interpretation. I took OT Survey in college, but wasn't as excited about it at the time. I'll learn more this time around since I'm more interested in the subject. Take it with me and we can study together!

You can just take random individual classes, like I am. Or there are non-degree "certificate programs," for those who wish to further their education without going to a formal seminary.

Intro to Greek will also be offered this fall. Ever wanted to read the New Testament in its original language? Need a foreign language option for your homeschooled high schoolers?

We look forward to expanding the options. I would love to see more and more classes being offered, including some for younger children. Stay tuned for that...

Go check it out and sign up with me! Christ Church Academy.

(Who's a bigger nerd: Me for being excited about taking Old Testament Survey, or my husband for teaching it??? Don't answer that.)

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Community of Women

I so relate to this post (again a Sally Clarkson posting). A few selections:

I need real, velveteen rabbit sort of relationships--where you are old and worn out together and dirty from sharing life--but it has made you all the more precious to each other.

Sometimes I am so used to being strong and keeping going that I don't even recognize my need for other women. In days of old, people were born into and lived in their community their whole lives......Now, we live apart. ....So, we become used to fending for ourselves--taking care of all the details of life alone--and then suddenly we poop out and wonder where God has gone.

And husbands cannot fill all of our need for love that was meant to be filled by a community of people who loved us and by a gaggle of women who could share in all the feminine things of life--getting pregnant, bearing under morning sickness, living through the sleepless nights, nursing our babies, raising our children--cooking, cleaning, living loving--all to be shared with Titus 2 women who could come alongside us in love, friendship, spiritual and emotional and practical help.

What pressure we put on our husbands to fill us up and meet all of our needs for love, when God never intended one person to be able to do all of that!


"A gaggle of women"---I love that! One of the things I find most interesting about primitive cultures, such as in rural African villages, is the community of women. They live together all day, with the children together, doing chores alongside one another. Sounds kind of nice, doesn't it? I don't mean to romanticize it; modernity certainly has its advantages. But I can stand to learn much from my sisters there...

Let's not forget what Jesus prayed for us (JESUS PRAYED FOR US!) in John 17 (emphasis mine):

20"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, SO THAT the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

This passage is one of my favorites. I blogged about it here.

I love and need this type of community, and would like to see more of it especially with my women friends. You are beloved, but the stuff of life gets in the way all too often. May God grace us with perspective and time together.

Blessings.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

This I've Got to Hear

Want to hear my husband refer to me (in all sincerity) as an "African American"?

Go listen to his sermon titled "Christ Church and Africa."

I love that man.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Kenya

Justin is in Kenya, teaching Bible classes at Kenya Baptist Theological College. See his blog for pictures and videos.

He is with our friend's ministry, HaMoreh. This is a fantastic organization. From their site: "Our heart and hope is to be used by God in helping people around the world to enjoy God more through being transformed by the renewing of their minds." HaMoreh is Hebrew for "The Teacher." The ministry primarily teaches Bible and theology classes in African seminaries, and mentors and equips local Bible teachers and seminary professors. "We invest in the lives of those who will then go on to invest in the lives of many more." There is a helpful video here that explains the ministry very clearly.

As much as we hate being apart, I am so proud of my husband. He's doing amazing, important work. This was sort of a scouting trip, to see what ministry opportunities there may be for us as a family in the coming years. I look forward to those possibilities with eager anticipation.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Go Play!

I have a question for you.

How do you play with your kids?

Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? I'm really giving this some thought. I have generally given my kids lots of free play time, which I think is good for them. But I think I've gone too far in that direction, and they're needing more "mommy and me" playtime. This post by Susan Wise Bauer (classical education guru) asks the question "Does go play = go away?" and to be honest, for me, sometimes it does.

I read to them a lot, and do school stuff. But we need Official Play Time.

Here's the rub: Hide and go seek is getting real old, real fast. Honestly, y'all, I just can't. I'll have good intentions of building something with blocks, or another round of go fish, or what have you, and I last about 10 minutes before I get bored.

Does anyone else do this? I know I'm not Mother of the Year here. But I can't be the only one?

So I think some new play ideas could freshen things up. "Just the shot in the arm that our relationship needs," for any Buster fans out there.

I thought about acting out Bible stories with them, complete with props and makeshift costumes. And it can't be David and Goliath, with me as Goliath, every day. Just sometimes.

Swimming was a big hit last summer, but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do that with the little mister around....maybe during his naps.

We've been fishing for crawdads a lot lately.

I need ideas here! This is when my old "not naturally much of a kid person" thing is made painfully obvious. Help a sister out. Do you have board games or card games that you particularly enjoy? Other ideas?

How do you play with your kids?

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Seven years and counting

Happy anniversary, honey.

Our story, as told by a brief smattering of photographs.
























Happy Birthday, Jonas

Sweet Jonas, you are six. I told you to stay five, and you wouldn't do it.

I saw a story on the news the other day about an eleven year old boy whose mother was being attacked by an intruder with a knife. The boy punched the man in the face, fought him for awhile, and then called 911. The attacker ran away and escaped.

I wept because I knew, deep in my bones and without having to even think about it, that you would do the exact same thing.

For better or worse.

Your response when I showed you the news clip? Fear? Intimidation? Awe?

"It's too bad the bad guy got away. I would have tied him up until the police got there."

..........................................................







Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Easter

I know, I'm behind. I'm not really used to this "having 3 kids" thing yet.



Look, a family picture! That I'm actually in! It's an Easter miracle.


Cousin Harry holding Henry.

Cousins Wilson, Jack, and Harry.


I dressed my boys alike. They can hate me later.

Boys will be boys. Wii in the background, iPhones in hand. Look at Justin's Mii on the TV. Doesn't it look just like him?



Jonas couldn't stop eating the candy from the eggs as he came to them....

....as a result, he ended up with considerably fewer eggs than Betty. He was a little disappointed about that.