The Present Moment - April, 2016

The mind would rather fret about the future or pine over the past -- so the mind can cling to its own illusion of control. But the current moment? It cannot be controlled.

Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts Devotional

Our God is the great I AM. God in the present moment.

Only at the present moment can I come into the presence of God. Only at the present moment can I teach my child. Only at the present moment can I submit to His will. Only at the present moment can I give thanks. Only at the present moment can I slow down and savor my blessings. Only at the present moment can I be faithful. Only at the present moment can I build my cathedral.

I want to encourage you to not rush or merely get through your day, just checking things off your list, but to live in the present moment. Savor each moment. You are building a cathedral.

Embracing His Instructions - February, 2016

We have just completed the first week of our new school year. (Fifth grade. Where does the time go?) We had a lovely first day. On day two, however, K. became belligerent during Bible and then decided she was not going to do her math. This was not the way I had planned my day.

I am being reminded in Sarah Mackenzie's book, Teaching From Rest, that "whatever that intrusion into your grand plan for the day is, it's also an opportunity to enter into rest."

I should not expect the day to go as I have planned. I should expect that we will experience struggles with her studies and antagonistic attitudes, after all, I am teaching K. new things and we are both sinful humans.

When things don't go as I have planned, it isn't a stumbling block in the schedule, it is God imparting the instructions for the day.

When I embrace those instructions, knowing we are right where He wants us, I experience unshakable peace (rest), and am able to give K. the love she needs and guide her with grace.

However, when I fight His instructions, bulldozing over my daughter to get to my grand plan so I can check off the lessons for the day, I crush her spirit and miss teachable moments. After all, God does not ask me to check off everything on my to-do list. He asks me to be faithful.

I pray you will embrace His instructions for you and each of your school days and experience His unshakable peace as you are faithful to Him.

Fifth Grade, History, Set Two

This Set, we are covering World War II. Here is a list of books we read, books I really wanted to read, and books that would have been nice to read, if we'd had the time.

Basic Information on the war:

• A Child's History of the World -- chapters 86 and 87
• An Interactive History Adventure Series
• World War II Infantrymen by Steven Otfinoski
• World War II by Elizabeth Raum
• World War II on the Home Front by Martin Gitlin
• World War II Spies by Michael Burgan
• World War II Pilots by Michael Burgan
• World War II Naval Forces by Elizabeth Raum

People:

•  Who Was Winston Churchill? by Ellen Labrecque
• Franklin and Winston: A Christmas That Changed the World by Douglas Wood -- picture book style with lots of good information
• War Dogs: Churchill & Rufus by Kathryn Selbert -- picture book style book that takes you through the war with Churchill and his dog.
• Douglas MacArthur by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson -- History Makers Bios Series; this was the first book we had read in this series, and I really liked it. The author presented his life story with a lot of detail without getting bogged down or boring.
• Dwight D. Eisenhower by Elaine Marie Alphin and Arthur B. Alphin -- also a History Makers Bios Series
• Harry S. Truman: Thirty-third President by Mike Venezia

Japanese Internment and Racial Discrimination

• Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss
• Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban
• Sylvia & Aki by Winifred Conkling

Books we didn't get to, but I really wanted to:

• Pearl Harbor by Andrew Santella
• Why Did the Whole World Go to War? and other questions about . . . World War II by Martin W. Sandler
• World War II: Early Battles by John Hamilton
• The Great Depression and World War II: 1929 - 1945 by Susan E. Hamen
• World War II by Sean Connolly -- Witness to History series
• Escape from Warsaw by Ian Serraillier
• A Father's Promise by Donna Lynn Hess

Other books we didn't read:

• Hiroshima: The Shadow of the Bomb by Richard Tames
• Dwight D. Eisenhower: A Man Called Ike by Jean Darby
• World at War: Battle of Okinawa by R. Conrad Stein
• Dead in the Water by Chris Lynch -- historical fiction dealing with racial discrimination
• European Land Battles 1944-1945 by Trevor Nevitt Dupuy
• Blitzkrieg by Wallace Black
• Along the Tracks by Tamar Bergman -- Jewish family fleeing Nazis
• Behind Barbed Wire by Lila Perl
• The Tuskegee Airmen by Philip Brooks