Lost in Translation

There was a movie by this name a few years ago. It was pretty awful overall, but there was something about it I could really relate to and I loved that part of it.

Have you ever been far from home and all that is familiar to you? It can be almost surreal at times. I have some pretty strange memories that include dancing on a disco boat on the Sea of Gallilee surrounded by armed Israeli soldiers (This may have been the first and last time I danced! Can you blame me?) to sitting on the floor of a home church in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan singing praise songs in Russian while watching a turtle wander around the living room at liberty. (I'm sure they thought it odd that I was whipping out my camera in the middle of church, but I just had to capture that moment.)

There was also the time I was invited on a hike in Bavaria by a German speaking Filipino working in Italy on a US Army base and got back to my hotel over 8 hrs and 3 peaks later. You get the idea.

Back to Lost in Translation, the part that I liked was the unlikely camaraderie of two people who would have had nothing in common under different circumstances. These two Americans from different generations and walks of life seemed more alike than different in the midst of their strange Tokyo experiences. I guess there’s who you are and then there’s who you are. It’s a matter of how we identify ourselves.

As Christians we’re supposed to find our identity in Christ. We could avoid a lot of frustration if we would remember that the world is not supposed to understand or accept us. Jesus said, “Because you are not of this world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19b) Like the two unlikely friends in Lost in Translation, Christians should cling to one another on this pilgrim’s progress that is life. I’m so grateful for my family, our little church, the ladies I do Bible study with, and for this wonderful Christian blogging community. The world does not understand that God has chosen the foolish and weak things to put to shame the mighty and the wise (1 Corin 1:27), but we have one another, and for that I’m grateful!

Easiest Pumpkin Cake Ever!

The Measle informed me this morning that we were going to bake a pumpkin cake today. I like simplicity, so I searched the internet for easy pumpkin cake recipes, but couldn’t find one quite right for me. So, I took a little from this and a little from that, made a few substitutions so I wouldn’t have to go to the store, cut excess sugar and fat, and here’s what I came up with.

Easiest Pumpkin Cake Ever

1 yellow cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1 egg
1 jar of baby food size applesauce (4 oz.)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes in a 9 X 14.

Let cool and spread with cream cheese frosting. (I happened to have an unopened container of Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style cream cheese frosting on hand for just such an occasion.)

My 6 and 3 year olds helped me make it. Total prep time was under 5 minutes! Pictured is Measle enjoying a piece of the pumpkin cake that she made.

New and Improved Sonlight Homeschool Schedule

Thanks to Kim at Raising Olives who homeschools 9 children using Sonlight and has posted a series on multi-level homeschooling , I have a new master school schedule that should work at our house (for now). We made the switch to Sonlight curriculum this year and the kids and I absolutely love it. The challenge has been for me to arrange our schedule such that the older kids and I can have ~2 hrs per day of quality read-aloud time together, which requires we do this while Baby Lu is napping. She’s not a big napper and only sleeps for about an hour in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. Add to that our many activities and the kids’ other school requirements like math and language arts and it’s been quite a challenge to fit it all in.

Without further adieu, here is our new and improved Sonlight homeschool schedule.

7-8:00 am Breakfast with American Bible Society daily reading
Morning chores

8-9:15 am Mommy- morning chores and playtime with littles
Mr. Monk- math
Twinkle Toes-independent reading and piano
Measle- violin and handwriting/copy work

9:15-9:45 am Corporate break- outside play weather permitting

9:45-11 am M, T, Th, F Language arts and morning read-aloud time
Bible, Bible Field Guide, Favorite Poems Old and New, TAG memory work
(W = Community Bible Study)

11-11:30 am Lunch

11:30-12 pm Break time for kids

12-1:15 pm Mommy- read and play with littles (when not helping Measle)
Mr. Monk- independent reading
Twinkle Toes- math
Measle- math and vocabulary/spelling

1:15-1:30 pm Short break and clear off tables

1:30-2:30 pm T, W, F Afternoon read-aloud time (Story of the World and historical fiction)
Map and time-line activities
(M & Th Afternoon read-aloud 3-4pm due to ice skating and piano)

2:30-3:00 pm T, W, F Science read-aloud selections

What do you want to be when you grow up?

As we were driving along in the car this evening one of the kids started the topic of what they each want to be when they grow up. Twinkle Toes, obviously having given this some thought, immediately said that she wants to be a veterinarian. Measle also quickly spoke up that she wants to work at the grocery store and carry out groceries for people. I asked her why and she said so that she could keep all that money we give them when we buy our groceries. When I explained that the checkers don't actually get to keep all that money, she decided she wants to be a vegetarian. When the kids told Measle that being a vegetarian is not a job and it means she can't eat meat, she changed her mind again. This time she decided she wants to be a dermatologist and do people's make-up for them. Kids. Where do they get this stuff?

Mr. Monk wasn't so sure Twinkle Toes would like being a veterinarian, either. He told her she'd have to have a strong stomach. Measle misunderstood and kept asking why veterinarians have to have big stomachs. Twinkle Toes says she wants to be a large animal vet and that she won't mind pulling calves and foals(?) as long as they don't kick her. Mr. Monk and I were gagging at the thought. I get queasy remembering my deliveries and I wasn't on the receiving end!

Of course, Mr. Monk wants to be a Navy Seal, but this is the Scout that I only let sell popcorn around the neighborhood when his little sister's with him to keep him from getting lost! He is a good swimmer, though, so hopefully his sense of direction will kick in later.

I have no idea what our little American Boy wants to be when he grows up, but if the above picture is any indication I think he wants to be in entertainment. He does ask me to take his picture an awful lot and is quite a ham. And if Baby Lu continues in her present occupation, she's going to be a famous explorer someday, I'm sure.

It's fun to dream. What do you want to be when you grow up?

And the Winners are...

My beautiful assistant pulling the first name out of the bowl.

Congratulations, Diane! You're the first prize winner! You won both volumes 1 and 2 of The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer. Send me your address at spidel@suddenlink.net.

And congrats to QueenMommy911, our second prize winner! You won The Story of the World volume 1. Please email your address at spidel@suddenlink.net

Thanks to Valerie not entering this one, we have a new crop of winners!! Just kidding, Valerie. You keep entering and let the sovereignty of God prevail in choosing the winners!

Getting out the Brushes

My children are such a blessing! They're smart and funny and generally do their best at everything that's required of them. But there are frustrating times, too. We've been struggling in a few areas lately. Mr. Monk has had a hard time with self-control. Twinkle Toes needs to be reminded of the importance of truthfulness. Measle struggles with cheerful compliance and American Boy is trying to learn to use his words and to be flexible rather than crying every time something doesn't go his way. Even Baby Lu is trying Mommy's patience these days. It seems like overnight she went from being this cute, docile baby to a strong-willed, shrill-voiced bully. So I've been revisiting the parenting books. I love this quote from To Train up a Child by Michael and Debi Pearl.

"If you have painted a picture you don't like, don't blame the canvas. Get out the brushes and paint something better over the mess you made."

So simple, yet profound! I'm fortunate my children are so good natured and want so badly to please me. Whenever I learn something new and want to implement it, they're always game. They really adjust well. When we took their tv away a year or two ago, they didn't protest. When a friend came over and packed up 4 bags of their Barbie stuff, the girls didn't fuss one bit. Twinkle Toes even helped her to the car with them. When I decided after reading the Duggar's book Twenty and Counting that I wanted them to start saying "yes ma'am" every time I asked or told them to do something they really got into the Yes Ma'am Game. They've never had an allowance like most other kids and they don't complain about it. They're good and precious children, but they are children and Big D and I are supposed to be teaching them and training them so that their lives will glorify God.

I often stop by the Internet Cafe Devotions and this morning we were asked if there was one request that God would grant you, what would it be. Immediately I knew the answer. My greatest desire is to one day look down from heaven and see thousands of my grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, etc. serving the Lord in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. This requires that Big D and I have a multi-generational view of our family right now. The parenting decisions we make now will have long lasting effects, either for the good or bad. A godly heritage is the proverbial gift that keeps on giving. Likewise, neglecting to instruct and discipline our children now will be the curse that keeps on taking.

So at the recommendation of the Pearls, I'm getting out the brushes. There's much I love about the portrait that is our family life. It's not a complete mess, but it can be better.

(By the way the beautiful illustrations for tonight's post are The Measle's and Twinkle Toes' interpretations of Kandinsky.)

Swinging

I was watching my girls swinging today and it got me to thinking. What goes up must come down. It's a law of nature. None of us is immune. None of us escapes the pull of gravity. Baby Lu is still getting used to the concept of swinging. Just when she's flying high with a big smile on her face, her forward momentum comes to a stop and she starts falling backwards, unsure of what's happening. Then the smile returns as she rises on the other side.




Do you ever feel like that in life? Two steps forward, one step back? Just when you think you've got some momentum, you begin losing ground? What about your spiritual life? Just as we're all under the physical law of gravity, we all begin life under the spiritual law of sin. We're powerless to overcome it. We can no more conquer sin than we can gravity. Christ changes that for us and in Him we can overcome sin, since He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).


We're still swinging, though. We have our ups and our downs. Paul did. Peter did. I suppose that should make us feel better. Peter says, "Do not think it strange, this fiery trial that is before you." Paul gloried in his infirmities, that Christ might be magnified in his weakness.



I just love feeling the wind in my hair! I love forward momentum! I do not like standing still! And I hate going backwards! But, the great thing about swinging is, for each arc of the swing, there are two ups for every down. I know in my life I've had many more ups than downs. In fact, the ups have been innumerable so that I tend not to even keep track of them, whereas, the downs have been few and far between. Somehow the downs get remembered, though. Why is that?

Keep in mind, as long as you're swinging, a down will always follow an up. Be encouraged! But on the bright side, an up will always follow a down, so hang in there! And if you're a Christian, no matter how much of your life seems to be lived in the "downs", remember that all eternity in the presence of Christ will be an "up", unlike any you've known. I think this is what Paul meant when he said that "the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Rom 8:18) And again in 2 Corin 4:17 when he referred to his many trials and persecutions as "light affliction, which is but for a moment" that "is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

And I'm grateful that the Lord is able to turn even my downs into ups for His glory! So I keep swinging, trying to keep better track of my many ups, trying to more fully enjoy the wind in my hair and the forward movement He gives me, and remembering during the downswing that this is not a surprise to God, that it's not an anomaly, and that another up will follow, whether in this life or the next.