Luther, rock climbing, beer and homeschooling

Well, I can't believe summer is gone. No more garden produce (well I still have to plant garlic) no more swimming, no more casual days, (well it's still kinda casual here) no more Caleb running naked outside while he's learning to potty train : )For some reason that makes his uncles nervous but I think they chalk it up to incorrectly thinking and always stating that I am a hippie?

We did have a joyous summer none the less. I would have to say the highlights of the summer are too numerous to talk about here. I have pulled the kids into hiking more this summer/fall and it has improved their character and taught them more about God's creation. We were introduced by our lovely cousins from Utah to rock climbing and now the addiction runs deep. Here is a pic of my first climb! And, if you look at the bottom you will see many children running around. Anna prefers to boulder with no ropes, just my hands behind her so I can catch her when she falls. Caleb enjoyes throwing rocks down the mountain and watching them fall. Can you blame a little boy? Oh, and picking the pokeberries till their blood drenches his fingers is his other activity at the rocks. We have decided to build a climbing wall this winter. What a great way to stay active when all is dreary outside! The picture was taken at Crescent Rocks, just right here on Mount Weather. The best spot we visited was by far Elizabeth Furnace.

School with Anna has begun and I just loving getting into the routine with her and her books, not to mention the violin. Little ones making music must bring such joy to their Creator! Caleb incessantly follows everyone around asking "what is that, what is that, what is that". He's nosey and has to be involved in EVERYTHING.

October is upon us and Anna is full of questions about why we are not doing halloween. Explaining this to a 4 year old is quite difficult. She is not satisfied with simple answers! I decided to try and host a reformation day party. Beer for the adults...candy for kids (shocking, I know). And, a fun game with quotes from our Reformation Fathers! Maybe we will end the evening by watching the movie: Luther?

Our church's search for a pastor continues. Please keep Covenant Christian Church in your prayers. Only the LORD can send the right teacher/shepherd.

It's time to wake up the GOP

Amen and Amen and Amen! Republicans need to wake up. Let me remind you, listen to any of Bush's state of the union speaches and you will hear a socialist speaking for at LEAST the first half of those speeches. Tragically, even with the GOP, The question is NEVER: " should the government be involved in this?" but "how much should the government be involved in this?" Can someone answer the question as to WHY the government has grown, why spending has increased, and why public education programs have also grown with the GOP controlling all of Washington for who knows how long! (In reality you could say it's been more than 10 years!)

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Reagan architect declares war on GOP
Viguerie says withhold money, stop calling yourself 'Republican'

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Posted: August 8, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Richard Viguerie

WASHINGTON – One of the architects of the Reagan Revolution is calling on fellow conservatives to withhold support of the Republican Party establishment – including most GOP incumbents in Congress this year.

In "Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause," Richard Viguerie, the man who invented the idea of using direct mail as a means of going over the heads of what he considered to be a biased establishment press, says it's time for radical action to save the Republican Party from itself.

His plan includes the following actions, which would spell bad news for the GOP in the 2006 midterm congressional elections and in the 2008 presidential election:

• Withhold financial support from Republican committees and most Republican incumbents.
• Withhold support from all 2008 presidential candidates.
• No longer call yourself "a Republican" but rather a Reagan Republican or a Reagan conservative.
• And work for wholesale change in Republican leadership.

While not advocating GOP defeat, Viguerie says conservatives should not fear the loss of Congress in 2006, since the biggest gains usually follow a defeat. He points to 1976 when Gerald Ford's loss made possible Ronald Reagan's victory in 1980 and to 1992 when George H.W. Bush's loss made possible the Republican congressional victories in 1994.

Viguerie helped transform American politics by pioneering the use of direct-mail fundraising in the political and ideological spheres. Dubbed by some as the "Funding Father of the conservative movement," Viguerie motivated millions of Americans to participate in politics for the first time.

In his new book, Viguerie shows federal spending under the Bush administration has grown five times larger than that during the second term of the Clinton administration, painting the president as a traitor to his party.

Viguerie compares spending by the federal government, adjusted for inflation, during the Clinton years vs. the Bush years. In Clinton's first term, federal expenditures rose 4.7 percent. In his second term, they rose 3.7 percent. In the first term of the Bush administration, however, spending rose 19.2 percent.

"If ever there was a case for divided government, here it is," writes Viguerie. "The lesson for many Americans is that today's Republicans cannot be trusted with the keys to both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government."

No matter how you slice it, Viguerie says, Bush makes Clinton look like a spending piker by comparison. For instance, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University in New York keeps records that show how much the federal government spends on average each year for each person in the country.

When this standard of measurement is used, the comparison between the two administrations is even more pronounced.

Cumulative growth in federal expenditures, adjusted for inflation, during the Clinton years actually shrunk by 1.1 percent. Yet, in the Bush first term, it rose 15 percent.

"During President Bush's first five years in office, the federal government increased by $616 billion," Viguerie writes. "That's a mammoth 33 percent jump in the size of the federal government in just his first five years! To put this in perspective, this increase of $616 billion is more than the entire federal budget in Jimmy Carter's last years in office. And conservatives were complaining about Big Government back then! How can Bush, (Dennis) Hastert, (Bill) Frist and company look us in the eye and tell us they are fiscal conservatives when in five short years they increased the already-bloated government by more than the budget for the entire federal government when Ronald Reagan was assuming office?"

Running the race

Paul talks about us running the race. He says in Hebrews:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
I don't think I have fully appreciated these words or understood what they really mean. All that running and training last summer helped, I think, in showing me what this means and how it feels. I've started to apply that training and the things I learned during it to strengthen my faith, my calling as a wife and my calling as a mother. Life can get tedious, that's for sure! Faith can wane, frustrations can boil over, we can begin to loose our focus on the King. But, if you think about running the race... there are days when we kind of coast, we don't go uphill or go downhill. In my running I have found these times the most difficult. There is no rush or challenge because you are not going uphill, there is no break, or "high" when you aren't going downhill. Keeping up the pace when the road is flat is the most difficult. There are so many distractions: Discontent, lack of faith, lack of joyous thanksgiving, bitterness, idleness, pursuit of other things to fill us up so we feel like we are taking a "break" from running the spiritual race, these are all things lurking during the straight and flat part. These are also the times I think God can do a WONDROUS work in us. Learning to be content with the typical day, typical vocation we find our selves in and really, really working in that with all our heart for the Glory of God can bring great satisfaction. We begin to see the Lord taking hold of every part of our life when we submit these little things to him.

The kids have been such a blessing to my walk. Praying with them daily, throuout the day, singing and teaching them hymns and songs, memorizing scripture with them, being in the Word constantly, has caused a revival of heart! It's amazing the accountability I feel knowing that I have to teach a little one or two how to run that race. They have drawn me closer to the Word and the Lord more than I could have ever imagined. Maybe that's one of the purposes God has in those cute little rug rats : )

Highlights for journaling sake:
Anna continues to battle (she's winning) sucking her thumb. Got to get to Chuck-E-Cheese
She has finished the first two songs in the Suzuki violin book! Suzuki has been great for improving listening skills and work ethic. "You vill play thiz and you vill likee iiit!"
Josh finished his first week since we've been married where he has run more than me! I'm slacking off! I hope we can get into biking more this fall again. We have talked a bit about taking a river trip in Alaska.....if I can ever save for that canoe. Anyone want to buy an electric guitar? I have one for sale.
Caleb loves to command: "can I have some of that please", "I want up NOW, please", "blankie probably downstairs" and if he has a little gas from all that fruit he is quick to say "bump" maybe that's what that feels like, a bump... LOL off to bed.

In Christ Alone

by keith getty and stuart townend

In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease.
My comforter my All in all, here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless babe! This gift of love and righteousness scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on the cross, as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied, For every sin
on Him was Laid; here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain.
Then, bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory, sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the powr of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He re-turns or calls me home, here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand!

hummm

A nice quiet afternoon is here and so I must pounce upon it and write another entry for my blog. A thousand things are screaming at me: laundry, more cooking for tonight,

Garden planning in the fall, finishing my real-estate book, planning the Great Books

Curriculum for the fall, well I’m sure there are more things but this is why I find it hard to keep up with this blogging thing. Did I mention laundry? I have a bone to pick with whoever invented the internet, it steals my time.

What a fantastic week this turned out to be! ( you can see I’m greatly in need of a thesaurus! ) Caleb’s 2^nd birthday was celebrated on Saturday. We also had our wonderful friend, Mr. Andrew Sandlin (www.christianculture.com) come and visit us Sunday afternoon. Poor Andrew, we had a great time picking at his brain with all our questions.

I had a brief meeting this week with Heather Clayton, and we are going to begin putting some guitar and piano together! Now, convincing Heather to get a bit funky with her beat, or get the groove on will be a challenge (she knows : ) ) but I think we will eventually get there! Now the grand finale of the week: my potatoes are ready for harvest! I know, it’s a boring life but there is nothing like taking those potatoes out of the soft, dark soil and seeing the fruits of your labor right before your eyes.. and tasting them in your mouth.

Mr. Sandlin’s sermon Sunday morning made me realize something and posed a somewhat scary question in my mind: Why are reformed people afraid of Jesus? His holy name is just not spoken with the kind of fervor, love, fanaticism, and frequency one would expect from such a fanatical group. Yes, we’re fanatical but maybe our fanaticism is more directed at Calvin and the Westminster Confession. Sometimes there is an akwardness in speaking about Jesus, we don’t want people to think we’re charismatic or baptistic or something. But, if we speak not the name of Jesus, then what do we have to boast in? Surely I have been guilty of boasting in theology, or a church father, or a modern day writer. This is not all bad, but boasting in Jesus Christ and his work on the cross, AND the resurrection trumps every theologian, every preacher, every man-written book that has ever existed or ever will exist. I love theology, books, and Godly preachers, but our, the church’s, zeal has to be about one thing first and foremost: Jesus Christ, who is alive and living in every one of his precious children. So, to quote a totally hip euro: “How shall we then live?”…. as a church, as a preacher as a nation, as fathers and mothers, as husbands and wives, as children, as artists, as scientists, as teachers, as disciples to each other, as……..well I do need to go finish that laundry.

summer love

I can't believe it's June. I have been behind in my blogging and I know you all are just dying to read another post. Can you hear the sarcasm dripping thickly? This summer has been going wonderfully. Anna has started violin and every Tuesday we make the trek to Winchester to grocery shop, partake in violin, swim and garden. I decided to put a garden in at Josh's parents house. Judy has more than enough space and is generous enough to share as much as I need. What a blessing it has been, both as a space to grow some food and as an object lesson for Anna and Caleb. They can see how the Lord must provide food through rain and sunshine, heat and bugs. Anna can't believe that Jesus created all those vegetable plants and friut and that they have been growing all over the world since Adam and Eve. To think how large the plants must have been, thriving in the glory of living in a world with no sin. Caleb enjoys helping to mulch the potatoes and dig in the empty beds, making sure no weeds are able to come up and show their faces to him.

Sunday we heard a sermon on Job. I must say it cut me deep. Job had great wealth, many children, and such a comfortable joyous life. When Satan came to the LORD and wanted to test Job, surely he thought Job would "curse God and die". But when Job heard the news about his cattle, children, and servants (all his wealth and family) and how they had been destroyed......."Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he FELL TO THE GROUND AND WORSHIPED. And he said: Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD. (Job 1:20-21)

When I have come to difficult situations there are times when I think woe is me. The fact that I would do that is sad.. to see what Job went through and how he fell to the ground and worshiped God when we sometimes can't accept God's plan in our lives when it comes to small things is tragic. I am thankful that despite having nothing good in me, not even the ability to call on the name of the LORD, He called me to be his child. Now, we are his children and he demands a holy life from us, set apart from the world, and one that is glowing hot with the gospel of Christ!
Taking dominion always, with our thoughts and actions, teaching our children in the way of the LORD, this is my prayer.
Psalm 32: Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteour; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Snow fall softly

Snow fall softly now. I am ready for your fluffiness to envelop me. Wind, rain and the gray colors of winter are here. I suppose the trees are still lookin' a bit spiffy but let's ignore that, I'm in a poetic mood. I want fluffy snow. That being said...Thanksgiving is almost here. We had a meal at my parent's house last Saturday with my parents, Travis, Erin and Herb. Our turkey and it's accesories were scrumptious. It's nice to enjoy and remember how our country began back with that first meal in 1621. God has done wonderful things for our country but how fast we forget them.

It's interesting to note that the Pilgrims did not like the Church of England. Thus, they left it and became the separatists. Whatever the reason, be it right or wrong, they were independent thinkers, people who were guided by their convictions and desire to live a life in the world but not a life that was of the word.

People have so many misconceptions about Pilgrims (puritans). We think for instance that they wore drab, unfashionable, boring clothes. We think that the puritans were against sex. The list goes on and on but I just picked out these two things. I think it's easy for Christians today to forget what the puritans stood for and really lived out. We like to put on our pietistic faces, dress in ultra-conservative or unfashionable clothes, look down on others sins and think how righteous we are in these works. The puritans were anything but unfashionable. Granted, the women's bellies and boosoms were probably not falling out of their clothes but they were fashionable and well dressed. They didn't go around in drab black clothing, that was just for Sundays. They dressed in the clothes and styles that were popular then: colorful clothes, powdered wigs, fancy coats and shoes. How about the Puritans and their view of sex? An influential Puritan leader said that sex was "one of the most proper and essential acts of marriage". There was a case of a Puritan woman complaining to her pastor and then to the whole congregation that her husband was neglecting their sex life and the church proceeded to excommunicate the man! Thomas Hooker wrote: " The man whose heart is endeared to the woman he loves...dreams of her in the night, hath her in his eye and apprehension when he awakes, museth on her as he sits at the table, walks with her when he travels...She lies in his bosom, and his heart trusts in her, which forceth all to confess that the stream of his affection, like a mighty current, runs with full tide and strength."

So, let's be like the Puritans..let's live in the world. On the surface the Puritans looked like anyone else you may see walking around (um, except for the Indians, and for the fact that they were in the wilderness of America alone.) but talk with them and look at their families, their way of living, their ordering in the home, the way they educated their children, their Sunday activities and you would see a stark contrast between them and the world they lived in. Oh, and most of this stuff I brought up is from a fantastic book: WORLDLY SAINTS: The Puritans As They Really Were by Leland Ryken. It's a fantastic book sure to inspire and encourage everyone in their faith while living in this world.

ah, the chillins

I will say, learning is so much fun. When do kids loose that attitude? Anna certainly isn't coming even close to loosing it. When a little one begs you to read to them and teach them their lessons, it just sends a little spark shooting through your whole being. We are trying phonics again and it's going quite well. It's so awesome to see them sounding their sounds and first words out. She's taking a Science class at the Cottage School and has made some wonderfull things like the Body Book..pictures of bones, organs and muscles..and yesterday she made a nerve necklace. When she got into the car she was proud to inform me that nerves talk to each other. I took her to the Chiropractor the other day and she drew a cute little spine, with a head, hip bones and 2 legs!!! The artist has arrived. That seems to be her big thing she LOVES.
Caleb is fascinated by 2 things: talking and moving around. Does that sound familiar?? He loves to walk to the vitamin drawer first thing in the morning and point saying: "viiimeen, viimeen!!" I think he likes the Vitamin C's. Then he walks to the fridge and says"apo, apo!" (apple for those of you not fluent in baby-eese) then he likes to go and say "cheero, cheero" (cheerio)
Let's see, some other words he's been jabbin' for a while are: mamma, dadda, ball, milk, juice, "anna!!", no no, mine, down, c'mon, doggy, sasa (salsa), thank you, please, more, book, bible, and amen. I don't remember seeing kids talk so much so young, it's probably because Anna talks at him so much along with everyone else. He is the biggest ham in the world though and thinks he can get away with anything cause of his looks. HA!

blog about schools

Well, I'm already falling behind on my blogging. Now with a new schedule it should be a bit easier to keep it up.I have an hour or so of free quiet time in the morning now! Josh has decided to leave at 6:30 a.m for work every day to beat the traffic....which brings me to my blogging subject today. You see, we have a problem with traffic in Northern VA. Lots of development, lots of change. Now, there are those who wish to stop/curtail/restrict development mostly because of the congestion and a need for increasing public services..and this of course raises taxes. Wait!!! Did I say a need for increasing government services? What might these services entail? Government Education. We CANNOT have children learning in crowded classrooms or in *gasp* trailers!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nevermind that our Founding Fathers who were well-educated, principled, hardworking statesmen didn't have nice brick school houses with state of the art equipment, atriums and giant football fields. I guess it is because in 2005 education has everything to do with WHERE something is taught and not HOW it is taught. The schools in Loudoun county are very good...just look at them, they are nicer than my house! I'm sure they must be providing fantastic education to their customers.
Let's remember-MORE MONEY DOES NOT EQUAL A BETTER EDUCATION. Contact me and I can get you figures. Moreover, why should I have to pay for people to educate their children the way they want, I would certainly never expect them to pay for educating my children in the manner in which I choose.
A side issue to all this is that this monster, known as Public School, is growing and demanding so much money, it is affecting God's people carrying out the dominion mandate. Taxes are out of control. When do you think Republicans will stand up to that challenge?? Probably not.
As Martin Luther said: "I am afraid that the schools will prove to be the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the hearts of the youth". Why can't our representatives in the political arena grasp these words and stand up to make a change?...hundreds of dollars a month in taxes for government schools is unacceptable.

blog it up

blog it up

Blog It Up!

Hum, well here goes my first attempt at blogging. I don't really understand the point of blogging, especially if you aren't a well known, well respected person. Who really cares what I think? Maybe this is a result of our country's overly-fat sef-esteem issue. We think everyone wants to read what we have to say so we blog it up as if the whole word is waiting to read our opinion. Probably not. It may seem as though I am rather negative when it comes to blogging but here I am participating fully. Seems rather hypocrytical don't you think?

Truth be told, this is a great way to journal. I will admit, I can say more outrageous things because I can type much more than I can write in the same amount of time. This too provides ample incentive to Blog it Up.

Josh is at a Redskins game this evening. When children come along it's amazing how much you can enjoy quiet afternoons and evenings and not care if it's just you, a guitar, a piano, and a new blogspot. So, stay around, this will be the most exciting and fascinating blogspot you could ever lay your desperate little eyes on. And when you are done here check out www.worldnetdaily.com for your daily dose of what's REALLY going on in America.