Rainy Days and Mondays

Heart Whispers
It was gray and rainy outside when I awoke this morning.  For a second, I wondered if my mood might match the day, but then I remembered I didn't have to choose that.  The decision was mine.  It's nice to have choices, isn't it?

As I gazed out the large windows in our school room, my memory took me back to my own elementary school.  I don't know how it is now, but back then it was a great school.  Most of the classrooms looked very similar to one another, with huge windows which were divided into sections.  There was a lower section that opened (if I'm recalling correctly), a middle part that did not open, and a high section which required a long pole with a hook to open and close.

Thick gray drapes closed to cover the windows during filmstrips or reel-to-reel movies (yes, that's what I said. lol) and opened to let the daylight in most other times.  What I found myself thinking about most this morning were the times it would storm while we were in school.  Not the dangerous storms when we would have to go out in the hallway and sit with our heads down toward the wall, covering our necks/heads with our hands, but the kind of storm that darkened the sky and made the lights inside seem all the brighter.  I remember feeling so safe and content in the warm, dry, bright classroom inside while looking out at the dark, stormy outside.

As an adult, spiritually speaking, I'm in the safety of God's family--not because of any good thing I've done, but because of my faith in Jesus Christ who is good for me.  I'm more secure than I ever was in any classroom at Carl A. Sward Elementary school as a child.  Yet I don't always feel that way when I look out at the darkness, the injustice, the utter disregard for God and His ways, the rebellion, the storm if you will.  When I turn my eyes in those directions and lose sight of the One I'm supposed to be following, I panic.  Big time panic!  Panic attack sometimes!

It's fine and good to feel concern for the darkness and especially the people who choose to walk in it, but not to be blinded by it.  Once again, I have a choice.  Sometimes I forget and feel imprisoned.  But I am free!  I need to walk in that freedom!

School Room Whispers
Today began our 2nd week!  We are talking about money management, and LM "made" 3 banks today--one for saving, one for spending, and one for "sharing" (tithing).  I just gave him some disposable containers and he decorated them with stickers (don't tell anyone, but I think he enjoyed using stickers again, which he hadn't done in awhile.  wink, wink).

 

 Also, we talked about erosion and the effects of Noah's Flood on the earth.  He liked the demonstration involving soil, gravel, and a plant (ok, a weed!) in a jar, followed by a bunch of water and, with the lid tight, lots of shaking of said jar and observing what happened.  It's amazing when  you really study how the Flood changed the earth (think Grand Canyon and fun things like that!).  The power of God is amazing!

For Creative Writing, he wrote an imaginative itinerary for Noah and their family for when they exited the ark. lol

He is currently reading King of the Wind for reading "class."  I let him start out with something easy. ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Wind

Besides social studies, penmanship, spelling, vocabulary, and typing, he is also keeping a Nature Notebook and a Writer's Notebook each day.  A busy boy (and mom!) indeed! :)

The butterfly bush outside a schoolroom window appears to be dying down for the season, yet is still attracting lots of humming birds!  We love to watch them but haven't yet caught them on camera.

Kitchen Whispers
Not much going on in the kitchen tonight.  I need to get to the grocery store!  Tonight it will be pancakes.  Breakfast for dinner.  Nobody minds. :)

Blessings!
Laurie

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