Church Special...

Quote of the Day:

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble." -Helen Keller

I struggle with this sometimes. I wish I could do something great. The Bible says in Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men". Since the only things I can do right now are small tasks, then I need to put all my effort into doing these everyday things, and work with a good spirit.



I mentioned in my last post that I would be singing a special with my sister for our church this last Sunday. It went amazingly well, and only God could have planned it out as well as He did! When we got up to sing the song, Abba, Father, Hannah and I had only practiced together 2 or 3 times. I still hadn't been able to practice with our pianist, and Hannah had only met with her once. We did a fine job at the song (although it wasn't anything especially great). What's so wonderful about all that? Well, after church, the leader of the group, as well as some of the kids from the The Academy of Arts (remember that they were visiting and preforming for our church) came up to Hannah and I. They told us that Abba, Father was their group's song, and we really blessed them by singing it! They told us we did an amazing job at it and wanted to know if they could get a copy of the arrangement. (We had worked it out that we took turns singing solo, singing in unison, and singing harmony) Hannah and I just decided to do the best we could, and God used us to bless over 50 people!

I'm so happy right now that I went out and found the biggest smiley face I could find! (and then made it bigger)

The Summer of YHard Work...

Quote of the Day:
"There is no substitute for hard work."
-Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison was right. He also said that success was 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration. If you are going to succeed at anything, you have to be willing to work hard. Many people (especially teens) in America today are afraid of working hard! But I'm going to tell you that there is nothing to fear from hard work, and you actually get a great feeling when you are finished with the job.

I've decided to nick-name this summer "The Summer of YHard Work". Goofy, I know. It's kinda a takeoff of "Hard Work" and "Yard Work".
This last Monday and Tuesday in 90* weather I mowed our entire yard (it's not little either), and weed-whacked all around the hog pen (sometimes the weeds get caught in the electric fence and pull it down. I got zapped 3 times!), paths through the woods, trees in the yard, and the rocks bordering the garden. Whew! I was so tired on Wednesday that Mom said I could stay home another day (besides, I was behind on the kitchen jobs). When Mom was teaching the younger kids I took a "little" nap (more like 2 1/2 hours) :D I felt much better after that, and woke up the next morning well rested (but still sore)

Hannah and I are singing together for church tomorrow! *swallows nervelessly* I hope it turns out good. It was a last-minute thing. The lady who is planning out the special music for this month came to us last Sunday (only a week to prepare!) and asked if we could help her out. She was in kinda a tight spot. And we said yes. Because we're pinched for time, I still haven't practiced with the piano! Yikes! I'm especially nervous because a group from The Academy of Arts is coming to preform later in the day, and will be there to see us. When I post next time I'll tell you how everything went.


The goat kids are doing great. Momma Bessie finally learned that she is supposed to let them nurse! Yay!

Thoughts, Timelines, Geometry, and Goats

Quote of the Day:
"Change your thoughts, and you change your world."
-Norman Vincent Peale

I once wrote a paper on this subject for my duel-enrollment class at the university. I included story of something that happened to me. A few years back I used to have trouble with remembering people's names, but one day I started telling myself that I was getting better and better at remembering. Within a month and a half I was able to meet someone once and remember their name even if I didn't see them again for a few weeks. What you think will affect everything in your life!



The past 6-8 weeks I've been working on a liner timeline. It will go from creation to the present. As I'm building the timeline, I am also reading books on the different topics. I just finished one about the four voyages of Christopher Columbus. Did you know that the names of his ships in English are: girl (Niña), spot or point (Pinta), and Saint Mary (Santa María)? I didn't find that out in the book though. I've been studying Spanish for several years now.

I've also been studying geometry (because I didn't do it when I was supposed to). I'm actually enjoying geometry. I like that I can see the problem I am trying to solve, instead of just figuring it out.

My doe (female goat) finally had her kids this last Tuesday! She had buckling and a doeling. The doeling at first glance just looks all-white, but if you brush her fur backward then you see that her hair is black underneath (just like her momma!). The buckling is black with white legs, tummy, and two white stripes down the sides of his face. I would post pictures, but I don't have access to a camera right now. They look a lot like these^ kids. Only with really, really short ears (their breed type), and the buckling has more white on him.

Imagination and the Love of Learning

Quote of the Day:

"Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
-Albert Einstein

It wasn't knowledge that invented great things. It was someone with imagination, vision, and a goal (and a little knowledge)



One thing my Mom always says is: "I'm not trying to teach you facts. I want to give you a love of learning. With the desire to learn, the facts and knowledge will come." I know my Mom is no "Albert Einstein", but the things she says are true, and often powerful.

If a kid's head is just crammed full of facts and knowledge, they will forget most of it as quickly as they can. They also might not know how to learn new things when they are an adult.

If you teach a kid to love learning, they even in their spare time they will learn. I know this for a fact. Many homeschoolers I know will read in their free time. They will also ask themselves questions, ponder them, then go find out the answer. One of my favorite things to do is debate. I love talking to some that doesn't agree with me on a subject, and then trying to change their mind (or at least take my side seriously) by using reasoning and logic.

I know I haven't really talked about my "life" in this post, but I told you a little about the way I think. That's even better!

Family

Quote of the Day:
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched...but are felt in the heart." -Helen Keller

This is so true. You can’t see or touch God, but He is the most beautiful thing. You can’t see or touch love, but love is precious, and you feel it in the heart. And this quote goes along perfectly with what I’m going to write about today! I want to write a bit more in detail about my family. First off, we are a big family (and I mean BIG). Five boys, four girls, Mom and Dad, and a little baby in heaven. 12!

-Andrew is the oldest at 21. He just left yesterday to spend the summer in Arkansas with my grandma. He is thoughtful, quiet, and kind. He is the perfect big brother. I often wish I was more like him. Andrew graduated from a two-year bible college this last spring. We are so proud of him!

-Josh turned 20 last May. He is spending the summer working/volunteering at a camp a few hours drive away. Josh is energetic, commanding, and lots of fun to be around. We used to fight a lot as kids, but now he is one of my best friends. I can talk to him about almost anything.

-Then there is me. As the oldest girl I’ve had to do a lot of the house work over the years (with the help of my sister of course!) This spring I finished up my second semester as a duel-enrollee. I now have 12 college credits. The classes were challenging, but also a great experience.

-Hannah is not only my sister, but my best, best friend. It’s hard to believe that she is 16 already! :o She spends a lot of time taking care of her goats and helping Mom around the house.

-Selima is the sweetest 10 year old you could ever hope to meet. She went through a big ordeal a year and a half ago, and spent 5 ½ weeks in the hospital. Even now she isn’t completely better, but I will talk more about that later.

-Daniel is usually a very happy 9 year old boy. Sometimes life gets him down, but he knows to turn to God with his troubles. We found out this last year that he has “lazy eye”, and now he has to do therapy like Selima (only for his eye)

-Nathanael is a quiet young man that thinks through things before he acts (usually). He will be turning 8 on his birthday is later this week, and he is very excited about eating cake!

-Gabriel is 5 and full of energy! Everybody is his friend, and he can always find something to talk about. He main interests are: playing with Legos, eating berries, meeting new people, and playing with guns and swords (AKA sticks).

-At the age of 3, Marnina is the youngest. She found out a few months ago that she has the same middle name as Mom. Now she goes around the house saying “the two “Lynns” are cleaning the room” or “the two “Lynns” are going to go shopping!”


So there’s a bit about my family. They mean more to me than almost anything else in the world, and I know God loves them even more. :)

A Sample Day

Quote of the day:

"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, either way, you're right!" - Henry Ford

-Your mind is much more powerful than you think. Try this: take something you don't think you are good at, and every time you think about it say "____ is one thing I am getting getting better at every day!"



OK! Since this is my first blog post (ever), I thought it would be a good time to give an example of what a typical day is like for me.


6:15
The alarm clock goes off. I get out of bed, get dressed in "barn" clothes, and get a drink of water to help me wake up.

6:30
Time to take care of the animals! I spend the next hour and a half giving water and food to my animals, working with (training) my hogs, and milking the goats.

8:00
Now it is time to come in and get cleaned up for the rest of the day.

8:20
Family Bible reading! We are working our way through Genesis right now.

8:30
Time for breakfast. Cooked millet, eggs, and a nice cool glass of kefir. (if you don't know what millet and kefir are, look them up!)

8:45
Dad leaves for the store about this time everyday. Either I go with him and spend the day greeting customers and working on school work, or my sister Hannah goes. If I'm home, I spend the next 45 minutes or so making sure all four of the "little ones" finish breakfast, take their vitamins, brush their teeth, and feed their animals. (the dog, cats, goat kids, and rabbit)

9:30

Lately we have been doing a lot of work outside, so that's where we will probably go next. The gardens always need weeding!

12:00
Time for lunch! Sandwiches or leftovers.

1:00
We pick up in the house, do dishes, and lay the youngest, Marnina, down for her nap.

2:30
The kids spend the afternoon working on school, playing in the yard and woods, reading books for the summer-reading-program, and just relaxing. I'll work on my school, or maybe (if I'm lucky) take a quick nap

5:00
Dinner is cooking, and I usually go out and cut the grass or work on a project in the barn. Unless we have church or a 4-H meeting this evening

9:00
Dad is home by now, and we have eaten dinner. Now Hannah (actually whoever was at the store) gets all the little kids get ready for bed while I clean up the kitchen

11:00
After cleaning the kitchen and taking care of the animals for the night, I aught be in bed by now.