ECC Week 2 in Review

So...2 wks are gone!

I have to say, I think I'm finally in my groove with homeschooling (for now). In my opinion, it takes 2 years to start to kind of know what you're doing. It's probably my opinion b/c that is true for me. LOL! It's like the children know what is expected of them, they know the schedule and the agenda so we just get it done while having fun! I seriously can not even believe how much I am enjoying this journey! If you talked to me a few years ago, I was in tears at the fact that homeschooling was going to be my reality. But, the Lord definitely knows what he is doing! I can't imagine our days any other way! I definitely know homeschooling is not for everyone and I would never want anyone to choose it unless it was something they felt led to, but I'm so thankful I listened to the call the Lord had for our family! Even if I started out kicking and screaming ;-)

THIS WEEK WE LEARNED:

Bible

-How people began to speak other languages

-There is only one God for the whole world

-The good news is for EVERYONE

-Judaism

Geography

-Elevation and depth

-Difference between physical and political maps

-The names and locations of the oceans and continents

-We made and enjoyed our world cake

-Definitions of ocean and ocean ridge

-We reviewed our address and phone #

Science

-Biomes around the world

-Leaf and Bark rubbings

-Nature walk which ended with Joseph getting stung by 3 bees :(

-Oxygen and Water Cycles

Art

-We created paper dolls that were from around the world. Our creative juices were NOT flowing in this project ;-)

Read Aloud

-We started Kingdom Tales (I'm loving this book)

We also have Grammar, Spelling, Spanish, Math, Reading and Music but nothing too interesting to report. We did join a Lego group on Thursday that meets once a month. The kids had a blast. My kids LOVE Legos! What was funny though there was a group of girls playing dolls while Abi and another girl were the only ones playing with Legos. Here are a few pictures from our week.

Week 1

Our first week of school was AWESOME! Way better than I could have imagined! The KEY was for me to have time with the Lord before even beginning! Imagine that. A crazy, unique idea right?! My heart and my head needed to be in the same spot!

Like I've mentioned before we are using MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures (ECC)! This is the intro year before starting the four year history cycle. In ECC, we will be studying diverse cultures around the world, geography, and learning about different missionaries.

Anyways, our first week was pretty much an introduction for the year. So, we started out with our memory verse John 3:16. As we "travel" through out the different countries we will be learning this verse in the different languages. We also had an introduction to maps. We learned N, S, E, and W as well as hemispheres, distance, and scale. In science, we started learning about ecosystems, environments and studied our backyard habitat.

In music we learned a new song called "Hello to All the Children of the World" which teaches them the word Hello in several different languages. I'm NOT a fan of the cd's with children singing but the kids seemed to love it! LOL!

We also did our "real" school work with math, reading, phonics, writing, and Spanish. Next week we are adding spelling.

I'm really pleased at how smoothly the days went. Even with the toddlers. It really helped to schedule time for the big kids taking turns (20 min-30 min) playing with the babies. I was able to focus on the individual needs of Elijah and Abi with their help!

I know I'm a little late posting week 1 since we are 1 day shy of completing week 2 but better late than never!

Join The CAUSE! Please!

The statistics of human Trafficking are HEART WRENCHING! Imagine.......your precious child TRAPPED in a life she or he never even imagined or even knew exisisted! We have GOT to do something! We can't hear the cries for help and turn a deaf ear!

Psalm 82:3-4 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor. RESCUE the weak and the needy; DELIVER them from the hand of the wicked!

PLEASE WATCH!

PLEASE click HERE and join the cause. The link will take you to The A21 Campaign cause site and you can click JOIN there!

Jose and I are working on a few things behind the scenes to help the cause! Stay tuned for more updates and information!

Christine Caine (Part 2)...

that should really probably be part 1!

SO MUCH to say about such an AMAZING woman of GOD!

But, to start, I heard of Christine Caine a few months ago when a few of the leaders from Seacoast's women's ministry came back from hearing her and they were SO passionate about what they experienced while hearing her in Florida! The leaders were on FIRE and created and implemented a local summer outreach called Summer2Serve! It was a true blessing not only for the women who participated but also for us who volunteered! All that to say, that was the ONLY thing I knew of Christine Caine. I never heard her speak. I never heard her story. I never heard about her ministry until this past weekend.

WOWZERS! Her speaking ability incredibly engaging! Her story, in her words, she was unwanted at birth and was given a number instead of a name and then suffered years of abuse. BUT! BUT! BUT! Praise God that is not the END! The Lord transformed her life in unbelievable ways and she is living proof that our God is BIGGER than ANY circumstance we started out in! Finally, her ministry! My heart was broken! My eyes were completely opened to a whole different world I can't comprehend existing today!

Four years ago Christine's eyes were opened to the tragedy taking place around the world! HUMAN TRAFFICKING! I saw the movie Taken and I've heard of it before but I thought it just involved a few people! I was SO WRONG!

Here are the CRAZY stats:

• Trafficking in women is the second largest global organized crime today, generating approximately US$12 billion a year.[2]
• There are 1.39 million victims of commercial sexual servitude worldwide.[3]
• Over 25 percent of sex trafficked victims are trafficked from Southern and Eastern Europe.[4]
• 90% of victims trafficked into EU member states end up in the sex industry.[5]
• There is an estimated 20,000 women and girls trafficked into the Greek sex industry, earning Greece the title: "the center of trafficking in Europe."[6]
• One study reveals that one in every 10 Ukrainian persons knows someone in their community who has been trafficked.[7]
• Tragically, only 1-2 percent of victims are rescued, and only 1 in 100,000 Europeans involved in trafficking are convicted.[8]

When I was sitting in the audience hearing what IS going on, my immediate thought was my precious baby girl! I thought, what if my precious child was trapped in this industry? I would most definitely do anything and everything I could to get her back and get her safe because she is my daughter! There are MILLIONS suffering daily in this horrific darkness and they need to be rescued and redeemed! We CAN do something! We MUST do something! This past weekend Christine spoke at Seacoast and she shared the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). She said when we hear these stories and get emotional that is NOT compassion! Too many times we confuse empathy and apathy with compassion! She said compassion is what the good Samaritan did. He saw the hurting man and he crossed the street to help! Compassion was an ACTION!

Christine and her husband started The A21 Campaign ! They are putting into action what Jesus calls us to do! Here you can find 21 ways to get involved or help! All of us can do at least 1 on list of 21! They are making a difference in THIS vapor of life that is/will have an impact on thousands if not more!

Christine Caine! (Part 1)

WOW! Last night I had the privilege of hearing God's word through Christine Caine! She was AMAZING! One thing that struck me like lightening was

James 4:13-17 (NASB)

¹³Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."

¹⁴Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that."

¹⁶But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

¹⁷Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

She hit on the fact that we are here in this moment in time, in this place for a mere vapor when compared with all eternity. I've heard it plenty of times and in fact it's such a cliche when you hear people say live like you were dying yada yada yada yada. But, truly last night it hit me. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Our life, however short or long is just a blink! SO what am I going to do with the small vapor I have? So many of us, including myself, have plans! Good plans and good goals and then we try to fit God into them! So we have our nice house, car, kids, life and check off our church box on Sunday etc. But what are we (me) really DOING for the kingdom of God????? NOTHING! We are satisfied with being comfortable checking off our church box living our mundane day to day life while the world around us is hurting and dying!

I mean really! In light of eternity, does it matter? Do I have to have the latest and greatest "STUFF" this material world has to offer? When all is said and done, do I want my legacy to be Jessica-A good mom, who loved Jesus, her family, and the Bachelorett but offered NO hope or compassion to hurting or lost friends, neighbors or the world. Her faith was silent without works. Her Children don't know Jesus because she only spoke of Him and did not SHOW them the example of Jesus! NNNNOOOOOO! That is NOT the legacy I want to leave with my vapor of life!

I want to be a daughter of the greatest king who is fully abandoned to HIM and HIS WILL for my life! I want to be selfLESS and giving! I want to "cross the street" and be the compassionate follower! I want to set the Jesus example for my family! I can't do any of that if I'm okay with being comfortable with my easy life!

Well..... I am challenging myself to let God be the GREAT and AWESOME God He is! Who has great plans for my life (if I will let Him lead) who wants to give me more (not material wise) than is beyond my comprehension. I want to really mean the words in the song "Awesome is the Lord Most High" when I sing "Where you send us, God we will go!" Whatever that means and whatever that takes. Whether here, there or somewhere I want to see His plan unfolded in our lives!

There is SO much more to this life than just living and dying!

First Day!

Well...Today was our 1st day of school! I can not believe we are starting our 3rd year homeschooling! CRRRAAAZZZY! I'm amazed everyday at what God has done in our lives and in our family! If you don't know our homeschool story, you can read it (short version) here. Trust me when I say we were NEVER going to homeschool because "those people are weird"! LOL!

Anyhow....my plan has been, (I made a great "schedule" with the help of Managers of Their Homes) to wake up at 5:30AM to have quiet time, exercise, shower, brew and drink coffee, all before the children wake up. So you ask..."How did you do today?"....I FAILED!!!!! I woke up at 7AM (but I do get bonus points because the kids were still sleeping) and I had quiet time. NO exercise, NO shower, NO coffee was brewed or drank before the children woke up at 7:30 BUT at least I got the most important thing accomplished:-)

After everyone woke up and got dressed I made the kids take "First day of school pictures". I decided to start a new tradition this year and made tiny posters that had the date, grade, height, and weight written on them. I'm planning to take me picture at the end of the year to see the change. Here are a couple of our pictures.

Our day started with the kids favorite place to eat...

Then we got home and got to work ;-)

Here are a few pics from the rest of the day.

It was really a great day!