Sunday Afternoon Daybook :: July 17

in , , by sarahmfry, July 17, 2016
::Outside My Window::
An overcast, rainy afternoon.  Perfect for napping and blogging and reading and lego-playing.  I love storms! 

I had many, many, (many!)  kid interruptions this afternoon. (All of which I responded to with sweet and loving patience, of course.  teheehee.)  So now it is Sunday night and I see the glow of the summer sunset reflecting outside my window.

::I am Listening to ::
Jonathan Park is playing on the ipod in the boys' room. As usual.

By the way:  Investing in Jonathan Park recordings is one of the best things I have done for my kids.  They are dramatized stories about creation science.  My kids listen to them for hours and hours and hours.  And because of these stories, they are far better at defending (and articulating) our Creation beliefs than I am! When we recently went to the Smithsonian museum in Washington DC, we walked into an exhibit hall that turned out to be all about the evolutionary beginnings of mankind.  As we went from one exhibit to the next, we would stop and the kids would tell me why the exhibit was wrong - what presuppositions and false assumptions were involved in the evolutionary story that was being told. Not gonna lie.  It was an awesome mommy moment for me.    


The recordings are expensive, but in my opinion, they are worth it even if you pay full price.  But they run sales.  I got in on some kind of massive buy-it-all sale years ago.  Sign up for their emails and wait for a sale.  Ask for them from the grandparents (instead of more toys!)  Use them as birthday presents.  Whatever you have to do....get these!

You can buy them at 
Or at Amazon.com


::I am Thankful For ::
 My husband's safety.  Friday night, David and Bro. Mowery had a very dangerous and terrifying  high-speed off-road experience on their way back from Bus Convention meetings in Pennsylvania.  The state troopers told them that if their vehicle had come to a stop 200 ft. later, they wouldn't have found them for days.   They both walked away unhurt.  God would have been good if the story had ended differently, but I am thanking Him over and over for His mercies.

::I am Pondering ::
 Ok.  This one is super random, but it's my blog and I'll write what I want to. 

I am pondering the negative talk I've been hearing hither and yon about all of our Bible Colleges.  I'm not gonna dig too deep here, except to say that Bible Colleges are not magicians.  If a kid goes to Bible College selfish, or socially untrained, or lazy, or undisciplined, or unfocused, or bibilcally illiterate or un-burdened for souls, or hungry for money and fame, or all of the above.... there is no guarantee that the teachers will be able to miraculously change all of those things while simultaneously giving them a quality education.  Bible Colleges are desperately trying to teach incoming students the BASICS of BIBLE and THEOLOGY knowledge! 

Frankly, much of the freshman year requires things that kids coming from Christian homes and holiness churches should already know! (That's another blog subject for another time...)  And furthermore - I think in all of our philosophizing and complaining about how there aren't any good Christian workers (music, missions, preachers, I've heard it all....) coming out of our Bible colleges, we need to seriously consider what exactly it is we are asking them to do.    I don't know who it is that YOU know, but I know A BUNCH of Spirit-filled, incredibly gifted, well-trained Christian workers who are out there. Now. Working.  Loving.  Doing.  Obeying.  So maybe I just know the good people and you need to meet some of the people I know.  I don't know.  But I'm just saying.  Bible colleges are doing good, hard work.  And Bible college teachers are super heroes in my book!!  Please stop sitting around and griping unless you've been there and walked their worn, faithful, goodwill shoes for 30 years or so. These are real people you are criticizing while you sit around and complain! Not just paper cutouts in a PR booth.  And even if you think you have all the answers and you could run things better, I'm pretty sure you'd be human too if you were doing their thankless jobs.

 But maybe not.                     Guess we'll never know, will we?

Thank you very much for listening.  Moving right along....

:: I am Remembering ::
A wonderful week in Alabama.  David was an evangelist for the camp, and I got to spend some quality time with some of God's amazing ladies. It was like God closed us in.  His Spirit was powerfully sweet as He did His good work.   It was positively healing for me.  Thank you, friends, for the circle of acceptance, your amazing attention, and the many (ongoing) conversations. You know who you are!

I am also basking in a beautiful, beautiful service full of  His Presence this morning.  It is so good to be home with our own people.

:: I am looking forward to/Dreaming of :: 
Hmmm...what I am dreaming of......
I dream of someday traveling the west with David in a jeep with two kayaks strapped on top.
OH!  And I can't wait to go ziplining soon!

:: Some of what I've been reading::
I have wanted to read through the books in The Well-Educated Mind.  But knew in this season of life, with all the other books I want/need to read, I would not be spending the hours it takes to ingest all of those books.  So I got the idea to start listening my way through the audiobooks.  Many of them are available for free on Librivox.com.  So I'm starting with my very first ever Jane Austen novel!  I am actually excited about branching out and reading some novels.  I have read relatively few in my lifetime, and I think it will be good to listen to something that is story based rather than information-based.   I enjoy listening to audio books while I do laundry and work around the house.  I have invested in some good bluetooth headphones and a speaker that plays loud enough to hear my audiobooks over the roaring sound in my busy laundry room. : ) 

::From the Kitchen::
 I am thinking about starting Trim Healthy Mama.  But it doesn't seem like a simple, stream-lined system.  It looks like a complicated, make-everything-brand-new-with-weird-ingredients-my-family-will-hate system.  I can eat anything.  But what I don't need is complicated.  Guess I'll just have to read the book and see for myself.

::I am Thinking::
 I am thinking I'd better stop blogging and get my junk together for family devotions.  I forgot that we are starting our Answers for Kids series tonight. 

::I am Creating::
 I've been enjoying these coloring cards:  Kayla loves them too.  She used them as her thank-you cards at band camp. I especially like them because they are small enough to finish in one setting.  I usually don't get to finish a whole grown-up coloring book page at one time.

:: Towards raising hungry learners::

Here are some of our current resources:
Image result for rosetta stone images         Audible Audiobooks     



::Towards Rhythm and Beauty::
 Ah!  Rhythm!  I can't wait to have some normal weekly home rhythms these next two weeks!

::To Live the Life ::
God has been answering prayers and working miracles for me.  More on that later...

::I am Hoping and Praying::
 Just so thankful for SO many answered prayers!!

 :: In the Garden::
 My flower pots didn't die while I was gone for two weeks!  I'm so excited!  
Meanwhile - the back yard bed looks like a tropical jungle!  I was thinking today I'll probably just mow the whole thing down. (Sorry, Mom....It's beyond my scope of abilities.)

 ::Around the House::
 I am hoping that the weight of what I need to accomplish doesn't weigh me down this week....hoping for buoyancy, efficiency, and know-when-to-quitiency!  (I made that last word up.)

 ::One of My Favorite Things::
 Iced mint green tea

::The Kids::
 They are eating after-church ravioli and laughing their heads off at something funny they are watching.  I absolutely love to hear them belly-laugh.

:: The Man of the House ::
I'm just thankful he's here.  So very thankful. 

::A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week::

 Monday:  (Date Day/Family Day)  
Finish unpacking some odds and ends. Cleaning.  Finish Camp Laundry. Date or family fun.
Tuesday:  (Desk Day)  
I need a good, long desk day.  I need to catch up on our Mvelopes system,  do menu planning, and I have lots of papers to sort, file and throw away. Oh! And about a thousand dog food rebates.  Icky-Uggh
Wednesday:  (Errands Day)  
Returns Day!  I put this off because it involves lots of store ins-and-outs and is tough to do dragging 6 kids in and out of the car.  I'd love to make this an alone-time getaway, but Ha!
Thursday:  (Summer Project Day
Trying to decide which big project to tackle this week.  There are so many.  I think I'd like to tackle the attic.  But it's probably gonna be deathly hot.  Maybe the craft closet?
Friday:  (Kids Day/Church Prep) 
Corin's Birthday.  Gideons International Pastors Banquet in Indy
Saturday:  (Cleaning Day)  
We do an end-of-the-week family cleaning hour.  It is delightful.  Just ask my kids.  Going to dinner at our friends' new home!
Sunday:  (Worship & Rest) 
(That's when I get to say howdy to you!)

:: Love this Quote! ::


:: A Picture from our world::

We just sold two litters of these beauties:





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