Worship Sunday: Jesus Paid It All

Ephesians 2:8-9
⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.

Romans 3:21-25a
²¹But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²²This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

Thank You for bringing me from death into life
All my works led only to more chains
Your love sought me
Your love redeemed me
You fought for me that day on the cross
When the blood and water flowed
I was then set free
I am free
It is only by Your grace and mercy
I am set free
I am free
Dead in my works
Bound and a slave to this world
You showed me Your truth
You led me in Your light
You brought me to the foot of Your cross
I am set free
I am free!

This and That Tuesday: Arachnophobia

Have I mentioned that I don't like spiders?

Here are a few reasons why!





And I hate walking into these!



I have a real fear of spiders! I do my best to avoid them at all costs, I won't even get close enough to kill them! I can't imagine why anyone would! And the fact that they have thousands of babies is all the more reason to fear them!

DISCLAIMER:(this is a very scary video of baby spiders)


And what gets me, is that spiders can even float on the air! Today at the park we were doing some school work, when all of a sudden Caeli looks up and says there is a spider hanging in mid air! It just doesn't seem fair that unsuspecting people can be bombarded by free floating spiders! I mean, I can understand seeing a spider in the corner of my house by the front and back door. I mean everytime the door opens, it seems a fly makes his way inside. The spider is just thinking free food! And crawling in grass in my backyard, I can even understand and deal with. But floating through the air? How am I supposed to prepare myself for such an aerial assault such as this? I can't! And that is why my two children watched in confusion as their mother did the freak out dance today! Needless to say, our outdoor schooling was cut short.

Sunday Worship: Before the Throne of God Above

Before the Throne of God Above



Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can big me there depart
No tongue can bid me there depart
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Behold Him there the risen Lamb
My perfect spotless righteousness
The great unchangeable I AM
The Kind of glory and of grace
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God!
With Christ my Savior and my God!


Hebrews 7:25-28
²⁵Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.²⁶Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Experiments

What I love most about Caeli's science this year, is the experiments! There are several small easy ones, and a few more in depth ones. In the first lesson, Caeli was learning the importance of experiments; to test theories. She peeled two apples (with my help of course) and then put one in a preserving mixture of salt and baking soda, and the other she left out.






I think some air still got to the apple in the mixture, it still turned a dark brown, but at least there was no mold.

Today we finished up the project that Caeli has been wanting to do since we started school. Edible Cell! This week we have been learning about the parts that make up a cell, she is doing so good, and the book (Apologia Science), explains it so well! She drew her own cell in her science journal, but today, using candy and jello we made our own cell!

The Ingredients: Candy
Jello
Gelatin
Jelly Beans
Skittles
Twizzlers
Cake Sprinkles
Fruit Roll Ups
Smarties
Chocolate Truffles
They all sorts of options, but I let Caeli choose what she wanted to use.

Can anyone say sugar rush?

The Jello mold!

And the final result:

Okay, so they didn't exactly turn out looking like cells, but Caeli knew what each piece of candy represented, and we had fun doing it! Alylvia even did her own. Now, they are begging to eat them!

The School at Home

This was Caeli on her first day! It was an adjustment those first few days, trying to find a good rhythm. Now that we are in our second week, we are finally smoothing out!



Alyvia has been eager to get started from the beginning. She has enjoyed her workbooks, but doesn't like having to wait her turn to learn.



This is my small corner. I have the desk so I can take the laptop and work if I want or need to. So far, I haven't found anytime to do that!



The keyboard was added to the room, my plan is to add some music lessons to the day. But I have decided to wait to till we get a little more accustomed to our new routine. Too many adjustments at once can overwhelm me, much less the girls



I didn't want to make the classroom too boring. I want to encourage the girls to play and learn at the same time. In the closet is all of the toys and games.



This was Caeli's first science experiment. Nothing too indepth, but she was so excited to be doing it! So far she loves her science book.



Caeli's books. I decided to not stick with one set unit, but to get different books from different styles. Most of the books follow either a classical or Charlotte Mason style of teaching. I love it! It is more reading and less workbook. It requires more thinking and narration.



Alyvia's books! Rod and Staff pre-k curriculum. These are simple workbooks, but she is learning so much from them, mostly to slow down!

Beautiful

You're Beautiful by Phil Wickham



Isaiah 52:7
⁷ How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."

Isaiah 61:1-3
¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

² to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

Broken Keys

If You Want Me To
Ginny Owens




The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to

Chorus:
Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

ya oh oh no

So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley If You want me to

Sometimes I feel like the piano in that picture. Broken, beyond repair, and that I can't be used any more. I feel like I'm in a valley, and I'm low and unreachable. But God reminds me that He is always with me. No it may not be comfortable or fun or a mountain top experience, but like the Hebrews roaming around in the wilderness, God provides for me all that I need, and there may even be a river at the bottom of the valley, where I can be refreshed and renewed.