First day of school

We just wrapped up our first day of school.  We're easing into it this year, so we aren't doing every single subject this first week, but this is what today looked like:

We woke the kids up at 7:45.  (This is the first time we've done this.  Every other school year we've let them all sleep until they wake and then we begin school-- which just meant that some days we were starting breakfast really late.)   This way we can maximize our morning time, which is when we do most of our work.

Breakfast was at 8:30, and Mark had asked the kids to do three things by the time they came to breakfast:
-make your beds
-get dressed
-have a 10-minute devotional time

We hope our kids will have a habit of spending time with Jesus before they leave our home, so we're providing a morning time for them to have devotions this year.

For the little girls (5 and 4):
I set out a basket in the living room containing children's Bibles along with some paper and colored pencils, and we showed them their "spots" on the couches last night and talked about sitting quietly and looking through the Bibles or coloring during that time.

For the older kids (11, 8 and 8):
They each took their Bibles and found a spot to read or pray.  Toward the end of that time I heard Ella singing some hymns from our bedroom (where she'd settled herself) and it so delighted me to hear that early on in our day.  :)  Isaac told me later he'd read the first chapter of Genesis, the first chapter of Matthew, and three Psalms.  Fabulous!  Isaias read the words to some hymns and then prayed.

I nestled in on the couch next to Audra with my Bible during that time, but ended up hearing all about every.single.picture she was looking at, which was perfectly fine with me.  :)  It was a sweet time.

I made pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins for breakfast-, and we also had bacon and hot cocoa (with whipped cream).  I set the table last night and had made some paper place mats for each of the kids, so they were excited to see those and they all ended up hanging their place mats on their walls after breakfast.  :)

Ella's place mat, now on her wall.

During breakfast we read from Hurlbut's and did narrations.  This is the way I've been doing narrations: I've assigned each child a colored bead and then I shake them in my hand and draw one.  For example, Ella's color is pink, so if I draw the pink bead, she begins narrations until I tell her to stop.  Then I draw another bead, and work my way through all five.  Sometimes I switch it up and have them draw a picture or make a little booklet of the Bible story we've read that day, or act it out- but those types of narrations take longer, so most of the time we just do a verbal narration using the beads for "turns".

I keep this by our table for easy narrations.  (Toothpick in a ball of playdough to hold the beads when we're not using them.)

We played some classical music while we did after-breakfast chores, and then the plan was that I would do storytime with the little girls on the couch while the older three finished up their chores.  But Ella, Isaac and Isaias all zipped through their chores so that they could be there, too, so we all gathered on the couch and read picture books from our latest trip to the library.

Then the older three headed to the table to do some math.  They're all doing Rod & Staff this year.  Mark and I decided to limit math time to 20 minutes.  This is to keep their lessons short and to keep their attention focused.  (I'm hoping this will limit the dawdling and doodling and staring off into space during math time.  So this year it's: "Here is your work.  You have 20 minutes to complete this lesson." - and it's their responsibility to be attentive and complete it in the time allotted.

While the older kids did math, I sat with the little girls in the living room and did 20 minutes of school with them.  We put stickers on a big letter A and Adelia and I practiced forming A's.  First we traced a sandpaper letter A and then formed A's on a rice tray, and then she wrote a couple.) 

Adelia is definitely behind Audra in these types of things, though she's a full year older.  Audra has been writing her name (and all sorts of other things) for well over a year but Adelia struggles to make one legible letter- and gives up easily and with frustration.  Generally she's quite too busy to sit still and work on anything for longer than 2 seconds, so that's part of it.  But I can tell it bothers her and I know she lacks confidence, so we're working on her letters, one by one- and with lots of encouragement.

some of our memory work pages

Then we all began memory work.  Instead of the memory work box we've done for several years, each of the kids now have their own memory work binder.  Each binder has a "review" tab, containing all of the things we've memorized over the years, as well as the new stuff we're memorizing.  The binders were a big hit.  The kids were amazed to see all they've memorized, and it's nice for the older three to be able to read along with me as we do so, and Adelia and Audra just felt pretty special that they had binders just like the big kids.  :)

memory work: catechism

Are you familiar with the Clarkson's Our 24 Family Ways?  Mark and I used that as a springboard to make our own family ways.  We used many of theirs but tweaked it a bit- adding some different verses, omitting a few and adding some of our own.  So we're introducing these week by week and discussing them.  We'll memorize verses to go with them for our new memory work this year.

We then worked on a little history- introduced the ancients and did a little reading about the Egyptians, and the kids all chose books from our history book bin on Egypt and looked at them for awhile, and then we were done for the day.

It was just after 11 when we finished so we played games: UNO, Apples to Apples, and a few of the kids started a game of Risk.

Next week we'll add in copywork, dictation, written narrations, science, picture study, poetry, some Shakespeare, notebooking, and geography. (And maybe a few other things that I'm forgetting at the moment.)

It was a wonderfully peaceful day, and I am thankful. Oh, and BONUS: I got all the ingredients for beef stew in the crockpot by 1:00, so we'll have yummy stew later tonight for dinner. 

Not super tasty-looking when it's all uncooked, but give it 5 hours and it will look good!

Ella ran out to the garden to get me some of her carrots for our stew, and she came in exclaiming that this carrot was "fair-worthy" so I took a picture.  :)

Fun links! (Printables!)

These (free!) printable Morning Routine Cards are cute.  I may print some of these out for the little girls!

And these (free!) printable ABC Scripture Cards are super cute, too!  What a creative mama! 

Honoring daddy

This morning we decided to take our theme verse* and run with it.

Our verse is:

Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

I told the kids that we were going to choose one person today and we would all think of one thing to do to honor that person. We chose daddy, and each of the kids listed off what they were going to do to bless daddy today.

Ella is going to make a card for him. She's going to draw birds and write I love you on the card.

Isaac is going to rub daddy's feet when he comes home from work. He also wants to scratch his back and tell him he loves him.

Isaias is going to greet him when he comes home with a hug and ask him how his day is going, and then snuggle with him.

They came up with those ideas on their own, and I helped Adelia by suggesting that she could either:
a) go potty in the toilet because daddy would be SO blessed by that (he truly would) or
b) be a cheerful obey-er today when daddy asks her to do something, to say, "Okay, daddy!" and run off to do it right away.

She of course agreed to do both, but she may need some reminders.

Mark stopped in for coffee a few minutes ago and the kids all flocked to the door to give hugs and kisses and ask him how he is and tell him how much they love him. It was very sweet. They are usually very loving but they were definitely doling it out *extra* today. :)

Next week we'll choose someone else. :)

{this photo is from another day when Ella honored us by surprising us
with sweet notes on our pillows!
Mark's note says: "Daddy, I love you. Your handsome and your fun."
Mine says: "Mommy, I love you. Your beautiful and your cute."}

*You can read more about our theme verse here.

Verses for a Two-Year-Old

[Caveat: The first verse is our theme verse, so each of the kids is memorizing it. Otherwise I don't think I would have chosen it for a two-year-old. Having said that, I think this will be an easy verse to learn, since we're all learning it together!]

For my little ones, I try to incorporate actions into their memory verses if at all possible. I've tried to note what I envision we'll do (having not yet learned all of these with Adelia) beneath each verse listed. Some of our actions will sort of evolve as we learn each verse, and for some of them I may just make up a little song to sing for it or something.

1. Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

2. Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Action: "Genesis 1:1" (Make 1's with pointer fingers), "heavens" (reach your hands way up) and "earth" (touch the ground).

3. Psalm 147:1
Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God!

Action: "Praise the Lord!" (both hands raised, head upturned)

4. Colossians 3:20
Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

5. Psalm 118:1
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

Action: "Oh" (touch fingertips together over head, forming an "O" with arms)

6. Proverbs 15:3
A happy heart makes the face cheerful.

Action: point fingers to a HUGE smile on your own face!

7. Luke 18:60
Jesus called the little children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me."

Action: "Let the little children come to me" (beckon/motion imaginary children to come)

8. Isaiah 55:12
All the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Action: Clap hands!

9. Psalm 95:1
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.

10. Psalm 149:3
Let them praise his name with dancing.

Action: "dancing" (dance if we're on our feet, make dancing motions if we're sitting)

Ten Verses cards

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11

Last night I listened to a sermon* by Voddie Bauchman, and he was exhorting parents to have their children read and memorize scripture. He said, "You've got to pour everything in there you can get in there! Get it in there. And when you think you've gotten it in there, just stuff a little bit more."

I laughed out loud at that, and replayed it for Mark, because that is so my motto. :) Just stuff it in. Right now, when our children are literally sponges, when they are able to memorize and retain what they've memorized so easily, we want to pour God's truth into them.

In June, Mark and I each made a list of the top five things we value in terms of homeschooling our children, and "memorizing God's word" made it to the top of both of our lists. We want to stuff it in there. :)

As I set out to select our memory verses this year, I asked God to help me find verses that would suit each of our children. Instead of just choosing several verses that we would all memorize together, I wanted each child to have his or her "own" verses; verses tailored to their individual personalities and/or particular areas of struggle. I began by listing each child's name in my journal and then noting particular patterns of sin I see in them. For one child, these are the words that I initially jotted down: self-control, lies, self-worth, obedience, love. Then I found verses that dealt with those areas.

For instance, one of the verses that child will be memorizing is this one:

The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. (Proverbs 12:22)

Then I rounded out their "set" by choosing verses that are specific to that child's interests or personality. One of our boys is very imaginative and is always telling stories. I made sure that some of his verses contained illustrative language:

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. they were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen." (Revelation 7:9-12)

So at this point I had a handful of verses for each child, but I still wasn't sure how to put them all together for our memorization time.

Then I came across this "Ten Verses cards" post of Kendra's, so I shamelessly stole this concept from her.

I wrote out ten verses on a card (actually, it took two cards) for our four oldest children (yes! Adelia (2) gets her own set of verses, too!), and they look like this:


Everyone's verse #1 is our theme verse for the year. That space on the left-hand side is for stickers. When they learn a verse- and can recite it (with reference) to daddy- they get to choose a sticker and stick it next to the verse on their card. I showed them the envelope labeled: "10 Verses Stickers" that is tucked into our memory box. It's amazing to me how motivating stickers are. They were seriously enthused about the prospect of getting to choose a sticker. Kids are so great!



*Sermon link here, if you're interested. (And thank you, Cutzi, for the link!)

Memorizing our theme passage

You'd think with a degree in graphic design I could draw... somewhat-ish.

I cannot.

But do you know what? My kids don't care! :)

I am a visual learner, so this is naturally how I teach. And I think all children are very high visual/auditory learners- at least at this age- so often I add pictures and sound to help them learn, especially when it's memory work.

Here's what I've done to help us memorize our theme passage (Romans 12:9-21) for this year: (I'm only showing you the first few picture cards.)



Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the LORD.


Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the LORD. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I haven't drawn pictures on every single card; some cards are words-only. But this way, at least some of the cards offer a visual tie-in to the words we're learning!

What do you do to help your kids memorize Scripture?

Let me take a minute to plug (again!) my FAVORITE resources for Scripture memory:

1. My ABC Bible Verses


If you want to start memorizing Scripture with your kids, this is an excellent resource! Each letter of the alphabet has a corresponding Bible verse and is accompanied by a story to illustrate the scriptural passage. We read this book four years ago, and our kids loved it. They still remember every single one of these verses! I posted more about this book here.

2. Seeds Family Worship. They have five CDs available: Seeds of Courage, Seeds of Faith, Seeds of Praise, Seeds of Purpose and Power of Encouragement. We have all of these and every single person in our home enjoys them! When the kids ask me to put on a CD, I *always* choose one of these; they are just that enjoyable to listen to. (Each of the above links will let you listen to samples of the songs from that particular album.)

Memory work box

Our Memory work box is one of my favorite homeschooling tools, and I am so very thankful to Kendra for the idea! This box holds most of what we do for our daily Circle Time* (school we're all doing together).

Last year this is what we worked on:

Mon: verses, catechism
Tues: verses, 10 commandments
Wed: verses, states
Thurs: verses, landmark cards
Fri: verses, art cards
Sat: OT/NT books of the Bible (review)

I upgraded our Memory work box to a larger size this year, and I love it.

(Notice our theme verse, right there in front?)

Here is what lies behind those tabs for our 2010/11 school year:

Monday: Catechism questions
Tuesday: Ten Verses cards (also Kendra's idea. I'll share more about this in my next post.)
Wednesday: Romans 12:9-21, our theme passage
Thursday: Sign Language cards, and I am SO coming back to that topic, in just a minute.
Friday: The Apostle's Creed, and after we memorize that: some Family Rules Mark and I are working on.

Now. The sign language cards: I am super excited about these, so if you'll bear with me I'm going to rant about them for a minute. I wanted so much to have something visual for the kids in our memory work box because of how much they really enjoyed the pictorial Landmark Cards last year, but I couldn't think of anything similar to that for *this* year. I briefly considered doing a Greek or Hebrew alphabet, but I just couldn't really get pumped about that. Then I wondered: "...Maybe I could find some sign language alphabet flash cards..."

Imagine my delight, then, when not only could I find some sign language flash cards, but I found SIGNING TIME flash cards (!), with pictures of Alex and Leah and Hopkins and Rachel on them, no less! Which thrills me to no end because not only do my older kids adore Signing Time (and have for years), but even Adelia (2), is into them. The faces of Alex, Leah and Rachel are pretty beloved around here, so they are going to LOVE these!!! (But shh! It's still a surprise to them, so don't say a word!)

I bought two sets.

I just now remembered that I had planned to post a bit more about our theme passage in this post, but it's late and this is already a long post, so I'll get to that next time.




*The whole concept of Circle Time came from Preschoolers and Peace.

*More about what Circle Time looks like in our home, here. (Or you can just click on the "Circle Time" label on the sidebar and it will bring up any other posts I've noted as Circle Time posts.)

Still memorizing...

I know I haven't posted my verses in awhile, but I am still memorizing two verses a month- through the initial encouragement over on Beth Moore's blog. [For those of you unfamiliar with this, it's a goal to choose two verses per month of the year to memorize, totaling 24 verses for the year.]

I love this habit, although I have found myself struggling to actually memorize these past several verses.

What usually happens is this:

>Find an appropriate (meaningful) scripture for the two-week period? Yes.

>Write it down in my journal? Yes.

>Post it up in my shower, where I'll see it every morning? Uh... I haven't posted a verse since Verse 13. I'm now on Verse 18, so clearly I'm lagging behind.

>Recite the verse over and over again? Not if it's not posted in front of my eyeballs in my shower, I'm finding.

So. I could choose to get very discouraged about this and throw in the towel (Considered. Rejected.) OR I could tell myself that I'm doing much better on the memorizing front than I would be if I weren't doing this, and I am thankful for that. AND regardless of whether or not I know these verses by heart, I am meditating on them and praying through them, [at least initially]. I just may need a few extra months to get them actually memorized. :)

Oh, and at least for the time being, I'm posting the current verse I'm memorizing on the sidebar of my blog.

Hope

I feel compelled to get a little transparent with you today, so bear with me as I try to sort out what I should say.

There have been times when I have alluded to struggles with one of my children before. I have not said much more than that here on the blog- for several reasons- which is truly ironic because it is a major part of my life and thoughts and prayers and cries to God. My journals are full- for the past couple of years- of prayers surrounding this boy and my relationship with him.

In a nutshell, there is a lot of pain and hurt in him. Our relationship- especially his and mine- has been rough, to say the very least. Mark and I are convinced that he has some level of attachment disorder and it is a difficult road.

I am quick to become fearful of what lies ahead. From one of my journal entries this past year:

"So often when I look at this relationship and the distance there and the lack of affection, I feel hopeless. I feel discouraged and I give in to all the fears and the what-if's and all the negative what-it's-probably-going-to-look-like-in-the-future in addition to the frustration of me not getting it right, ever. Why can't I be transformed? Why can't I actively obey and love and hold and be affectionate and simply BE what I don't FEEL? And I feel guilt and doubt and sorrow and the despair that things will not get better."

That brings me to the reason for this post.

God has been so faithful to me; to us, through this journey. A couple of months ago I was running errands and a song came on and He used it to speak to me about His power.

He reminded me of who He is. He is bigger. So much bigger than all my what-if's. He reminded me of His faithfulness so many other times- not only in Scripture but in my life. He woke me up to the reality of Who I'm dealing with, of Who holds all of this. And, for the first time in a long time, I felt buoyed. It was like, "Yeah. Look who I've got on MY side! Look who is here, fighting on my team."

And hope crept in.

The challenge for me is to remain there, in that place of trusting Him to accomplish what He has set out to do.

[As a side note, it seems an incredibly crazy thing that He has chosen me to be a part of whatever He's going to do, here- because I am a pathetic excuse for a team member. Nothing in my life has brought me more humility than my role as a mother to this boy. I royally suck at it. I cannot seem to do it well or right or God-honoring, ever. You might think I am exaggerating, but I am so not.]

Anyway, as I was saying- it is a continual challenge for me to remain in that place of trust. The enemy would have me stay in that place of doubt and fear- and often I listen to the lies and tuck myself away and remain there in that place of discouragement.

I have to fight to keep that hope and hold it close. I want to claim it and proclaim it: that He is mighty to save, that He will do a good work here- in me and in him and in us.

One of the first verses I felt led to memorize this past year was from Isaiah 43:

Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
"Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert.

(verses 18 and 19, NAS)

Today, again- I spent time asking God to show His glory in this troubled relationship. I repented of my many, frequent sins- and asked Him to speak to me, and the above passage is what He reminded me of all over again.

That I am not to dwell on the past- on the heartache of what has been. That He is going to do something new. That He can make a roadway in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. That He can do the impossible, the miraculous. That nothing is too great for Him to accomplish, and that no one is so sinful (even me) that He can't use to accomplish it through. He reminds me of His power and His might and His ability- no, His willingness, His desire- to do just that.

And hope is right there.

That's where I'm at today.

I don't know where you're at, or why I feel like God wanted me to share a little of this today... but I hope that somehow you'll be encouraged that whatever your situation is- it is not too difficult for God. He can do all things.

I am trusting in Him, waiting on Him, and remembering to *hope* and not to lose heart. He is mighty. I am expectant, and I am anticipating what He's going to do in this situation. Surely He has great things ahead.

Verses 9, 10, 11 & 12!

It dawned on me today that I haven't been recording the verses I've been memorizing, so here they are. It helps to post them here because it's a form of accountability for me.

Also, you stopping by to read my blog and getting to read God's words instead of mine is just way better. [And wouldn't it be just like Him to use the verses I happen to be memorizing to encourage your own spirit?]

Verse 9

The wise in heart are called discerning,
and pleasant words promote instruction.
~Proverbs 16:21

Verse 10

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
~Deuteronomy 7:9

Verses 11 & 12 (for the month of June)

(11)Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

(12)Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
~Psalm 100

Pleasantries

Had I found this verse a few days earlier, it would have been my choice for Verse #8:

The wise in heart are called discerning,
and pleasant words promote instruction.
~Proverbs 16:21

Then, three verses later: "pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."

I love that. Pleasant words promote instruction. How often are my words to my children -in an effort to promote instruction- harsh, critical, impatient, cold, even sarcastic?

Pleasant words. Sweet and healing words. God's Word is so good; so true.

Lord, give me pleasant words today. May these lips promote instruction with pleasant words. Help me to obey you; to choose pleasant words in place of critical ones. And may they be fruitful in promoting instruction here in our home, with our children. Transform me, Father.

Working on that today and for the days to come. May it encourage you, too- as you lead your little ones!

[And how handy that I've found my next verse already?]

Verse #8

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

{Always needing work on the joyful thing. Praying continually is a great goal. Being thankful in all circumstances ought to help the whole joyful thing. And I need a good reminder that all of it is God's WILL for me. Yep, this is a good one.}

Verse #7 (and our new habit)

In all honesty, I feel a little cheaty about choosing this verse to memorize. Not that "cheaty" is a word. [In fact, spell check is clearly telling me that it's not. Spell check would prefer that I use the word chesty, actually, but I'm ignoring that and moving on.]

Well. Here's the verse, and then I'll tell you why I feel cheaty about it.

A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)

A good verse. And I need it. The cheerful heart part. I really struggle lately (okay, maybe always?) in sounding like a drill sergeant with my children, and I want so much to be a joyful, fun, smiling mama. [This morning I literally thought about hanging up a big sign for myself that says, "Lighten up."]

But the cheaty part is that I already know this verse. Not that I've actually taken time to memorize it before, but it's just one of those verses that I've heard so many times that I know it already. I don't know the reference, though. So I will be memorizing that.

But even though it feels a bit cheaty, I'm going with it, anyway. I'm still working on memorizing the last two verses, and because, like I said: I need the cheerful heart this verse speaks of, and it will be good to meditate on the verse and pray toward that end.

The kids are memorizing it, too. Cheerfulness is the new habit we're practicing. They're far quicker than I am at learning, and I figure if they "get" it and walk around all cheery and smiling, it just might be contagious. I've also bribed them just a bit, by telling them that the cheeriest child gets a jelly belly at the end of each day. [That may not seem like a lot to you, but to our children who rarely get candy, one jelly belly is ALL it takes.]

Verse #5 & #6

Before I get to the subject of this post, I just want to thank all of you for your responses to my last post. Not only did many of you give practical suggestions, but you also gave me great support and encouragement. It heartens me to hear from those who have had similar experiences and have DONE it, or from those of you who are just positive that I can do it! :)

~thank you~

***

March 1st was the date to select Verse #5, and that happened to be just a week after I had Audra, so I sort of skipped that one.

For the second half of this month, I decided to choose a passage that consists of two verses to memorize so that I can catch up on Verse #5 and tackle Verse #6 all at once.

From Isaiah 43, verses 18 and 19, NASB:

Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.

My shower wall is getting crowded!


Speaking of catching up... the whole Bible reading plan I was all gung-ho about? I am weeks behind. I have not yet given up, but things are not looking good. Maybe this was not the year to commit to that?

Verse #4

Verse #3: Memorized.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
Psalm 143:8

Now I'm on to Verse #4, which is:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

As for the Bible reading plan? I'm a few days behind at the moment (and this is not even the first time I've been a few days behind in the past 17 days!), but I'm hanging in there and determined to keep reading and get caught up!

Are any of you still memorizing? How's it going for you?

Verse #2

Memorized.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,
but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Ephesians 4:29

And now I'm off to post my next verse in the shower.

One other thing I'm doing to be in the Bible more faithfully this year: The Discipleship Journal Bible reading plan. I've talked Mark into doing it with me, and I'm excited to be reading the same thing together each day and be able to share what God is speaking to each of us through those particular daily passages.

Also, I think it will be helpful for me to have something "set" for me to read each day, especially this year of my life with two little ones.

I've never been one to make it through the One Year Bible-- I usually start well, end up getting behind by a day or two... then a few more... and finally, so many days behind that I bag the idea altogether. I'm hoping that with this plan (with a brilliant 5 catch-up days each month!), and the accountability of Mark reading it, too- I can do better. [Thank you, Kendra, for the link to the plan!]

Verse #1

I'm not big on resolutions for the New Year. Oh, sure-- sometimes I make a list in my journal of things I'd like to accomplish or grow in in the coming year-- but that's about it.

When I asked Mark at the beginning of this month what his New Year's resolutions were, he said, "To be a better man." We both laughed, because that pretty much encompasses it all, now, doesn't it?

One thing I am committing to doing this year that I'm really excited about is memorizing Scripture. I can't think of a better goal for the year than to be meditating on and memorizing God's word throughout the days, weeks, and months of 2009.

On Beth Moore's blog, in this post, she invited her blog readers to join her in her goals of memorization: Two verses, every month- one chosen on the 1st, another chosen on the 15th, for the entire year. 24 verses total, by the end of 2009.

Today is the 15th, and I've got my first verse down:

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline.

Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.

And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Colossians 3:12-14, The Message

I wrote it on an index card, "laminated" it with clear contact paper, and taped it up in the shower. Every morning (with maybe one or two exceptions) I've said it, and then prayed it, and several times have copied it down in my journal as I've learned it, and now I know it. One verse down, 23 to go. Moving on to choosing verse #2 today.

Does anyone want to join me? The idea is to choose a verse you need; for you [ie: I especially need compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. I need to be even-tempered, quick to forgive.... You may need something else entirely. Choose it. Begin to memorize it. Head on over to Beth Moore's blog and sign in with your verse (but tell me, too- if you are doing it- because I'd like to know!)

Scripture memorization

"My philosophy has always been that my job, since I am NOT the Holy Spirit, is to give the children lots of hooks in their hearts so that when God is working on them he will have something to grab."

~from Dominion Family blog

Don't you just love that description? Hooks in their hearts.

I can't say enough about memorizing Scripture. I want to give my children as many hooks in their hearts as I possibly can! Here is the list of verses we have memorized over the past year:

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule."
Exodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother.
Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.
Job 37:14 Stop... and consider the wonders of God.
Psalm 33:5 The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.
Psalm 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil.
Psalm 68: 5-6a A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families.
Psalm 75:1 Unto Thee, O God, do we give thanks.
Psalm 95:3 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all Gods.
Psalm 118:1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
Psalm 119:11 Thy word I have treasured in my heart.
Psalm 139:14 Oh Lord... I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 145:21 Let every creature praise His holy name forever and ever.
Psalm 147:1 Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God.
Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath.
Proverbs 20:11 Even a child is known by his deeds.
Proverbs 29:11 A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.
Proverbs 29:17 Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while He may be found.
Isaiah 58:13-14 If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day,.. then you will find your joy in the Lord.
Jonah 1:9 I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Matthew 5:42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters.
Matthew 18:3 Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kindgom of heaven.
Mark 16:15 Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Luke 2:8-14 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appearted to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby, wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests."
Luke 19:5 Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
John 13:34-35 A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth and the life..."
John 15:14 You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.
Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.
Philippians 2:14 Do all things without complaining or disputing.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
1 Peter 5:8-9 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.
1 John 1:5 God is light. In Him there is no darkness at all.
1 John 3:10 This is how we know who the children of God are, and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in action and in truth.
1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.
Revelation 5:11-12 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang, "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

Another post on Scripture memory:
Our memory verses

Our memory verses

There are few blogs that I check every day. Preschoolers and Peace is one of them. (Oh, I know... if you read our posts at all this is already pretty apparent.) I feel like I'm always linking to Kendra's site! The fact is, she has so much wisdom to share.

I am a big-time gleaner of great ideas. Here's one she shared awhile back, that I immediately (as in, the following day) put to work in our own home. Here's our own memory work box.

The first thing I did was purchase a box, index cards, and dividers. Then I copied all 26 verses we'd memorized when we went through ABC Bible Verses. (I bought some fun alphabet letter stickers, too.) I made five sections for Monday through Friday, and divided those 26 verses up between the five sections.

As we learn additional verses, I keep those cards in the front and we go over those daily, in addition to whatever is in our section for the day. When I feel like we have those down, I move them to their respective section.

Once a day, usually at breakfast (but if we forget, at another meal; as the box resides on our table) we review the days verses. On the weekends, we review those verses in the front we haven't quite gotten down to memory. (Or, if we missed a day throughout the week, we can cover that day.)

One thing that we liked so much about the ABC Bible Verses book was that the letter of the alphabet triggered our kids' memory for the corresponding verse. I noticed that if my daughter was having trouble remembering the verse, she would look intently at the big letter printed in the book, or at the picture, and try to remember the story that went with it.

I've tried to utilize that concept for our own memory verse cards. For each verse I've drawn a picture or symbol on each card. A few examples:

In the picture above, our verse was Psalm 119:11 "Thy word I have treasured in my heart." On the card, I drew a heart to help trigger their memory.

For the verse "God is light. In Him there is no darkness at all", I drew a little light switch on the card.

For the verse in Job, "Stop.. and consider the wonders of God", I drew a stop sign.

For Proverbs 29:11, "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control", I drew a picture of a little angry girl. (Or I tried; notice that's not one I'm showing you a picture of! But my children know it's an angry girl! :))

This is also handy because we can then use those real-life symbols to remind of us of the verses we've learned. Like when we stop at a stop sign, or turn on the light, or see a little angry girl or boy!

I realize this may get more difficult as we learn more verses (to come up with enough pictures and symbols), but for now this is working well for us!

Revisiting my 18 in 90 list

A little over a month ago, I made an '18 in 90 list'. This is a much smaller version of the 101 in 1001 that I read about on Kendra's site. I couldn't bring myself to make a list of 101 things to work on, so my list contained 18 areas to work on in a 90-day period. Amy and I came up with this plan to go through each room of our house to determine the 18 things. See here for more details on the 18 in 90 plan.

Well, it's been a little over a month so I thought it was time to revisit my list and see how it's been going. Will you join me? I'm going to list my original "plan" (in bold type) and then comment on how I'm doing. (This is a bit humbling for me to let everyone in on the fact that I'm not doing too well, actually. Oh well.) Here goes:

Closet
-Memorize Isaiah 40 What was I thinking?!?!? Does anyone realize this is 31 verses? Could I not have started with, maybe, 5 verses? Goodness! At one point I had verses 1-3 memorized (that’s all the further I got), but I think those have since faded from my brain. Any memorization tips? Sigh... something to work on in the next 2 months, anyway...

-Pray for Mark daily (using Power of a Praying Wife as a guideline. Wow, wouldn't it be cool if I selected 30 specific things to pray for him for and then did that 3x over (over the course of the next 3 months?! Hm... maybe I'll try that.) See here for the list I made. I posted this by my sink, but kept forgetting to check it. I posted a second list in the shower, so that I could be reminded first thing each day what to pray for. This is working better, but there are still days I forget. Not quite in the habit yet. But I do love this focused prayer when I remember! I will keep this up!


Bedroom
-Organize & declutter clothing (in drawers, closets & bins under the bed) Check! I have done this. A few weeks ago I got rid of MANY clothes (4 garbage bags full!). I also went through my closet and drawers and pulled out all my wintry clothes and brought out all my spring stuff.

-Plan romantic evenings, 2x per week Yes. Doing fine here, too


Kitchen
-Work on kitchen clutter areas (by phone, on top of dishwasher, 5 minutes per day) HA! I haven’t done this once. Well, no. I think I did do this ONE time. So, maybe instead of 5 minutes per day, I should change that to 5 minutes per MONTH?!?! Arghh.

-Practice hospitality by having guests over for a meal (1x per month) Uh, no. We haven’t had anyone over for a meal. We have had people over for desserts and snacks. But… no meal. This actually makes me really sad because I love having people over and I want to grow in the area of hospitality. How do some of you others do this? Is there one day a week that you set aside for having guests over?


Bathroom
-Clean out & declutter & reorganize cupboards (throw lots of stuff away!) Um. I started this one day. Everything came out of the bathroom cupboards so that I could go through them all and decide what to keep, what to get rid of. And then I ran out of time to do it that afternoon. Everything sat on the bathroom floor for a day or two until someone dropped by one evening and I went straight to the bathroom (in an effort to quickly clean!) and pulled the stuff (bins, bags, boxes, etc…) off the bathroom floor and sat the pile in my bedroom, on the floor. And there it sits. The bathroom cupboards look great, though. Just not my bedroom floor.

-Use shower time to pray for the day/activities ahead. Yes. I like doing this.


Kids' Rooms
-Clean room WITH them, teach them how to make their beds (1x per week) Yes on the making of the beds. Each day they’ve been making their own beds, and I’m very pleased about this! As for the cleaning of the room?…This has happened a few times. We were in a good routine for a few weeks and then the accident happened and all routine is off. We’ll do this again though!

-Extended prayer time for each child by their bed, while they're sleeping (1x per week) I have done this only twice, honestly. And I’m ashamed to say it because this is one of my favorite things and rather than doing this once a week, I would someday like to be doing this every night!...


Living Room
-Clean out desk drawers Yes! Did this. And boy, do I love cleaned-out-desk-drawers! It was long overdue, let me tell you!

-Sunday service training (each Saturday evening on couch) We’ve done this 3 times, I think… and it’s been great!


School Room
-Make Chore Chart for E & I Check! See here if you missed it.

-Individual time with each child (14 minutes per child, 3x per week)
*E- alphabet pages, practicing writing her letters
*I- puzzles, cutting or coloring together, play w/ little cars
*I- sing action songs, read board books
We’ve done this a few times (3? 4?) and I really loved it (as did my children!), so… when things pick up around here again will get back into it! I love having this built into the schedule.


Outside
-Purchase gardening gloves, practice weeding, which I dread Yes. I actually turned over our garden this year (since Mark couldn’t). Only because I had to, though. Otherwise, I don’t think this would be a check!

-Weekly walk with the kids, just for the fun of it (ie- not 'on the way' to get somewhere, but taking our time!) Ahem. Twice, we’ve done this. My poor children. They love to go for walks! What is my problem?!


Laundry
-Set specific (weekly, or twice/week) laundry day(s), and stick to it Yes. Mondays and Tuesdays are my laundry days- and I love this! One of my favorite changes!

-Have E & I help with folding and putting away laundry Yes. They love this, as do I!

So. There it is. Not too bad, then. There are a few 'yeses' as I skim over it. Making some progress. And, much more progress than I would have made had I never made this list to begin with, so that's a good thing! :)