Doing the Next Thing

We traveled up to see my family for the holiday weekend. Though I've made a couple of trips up there with the kids, this was the first time in at least 18 months that all seven of us went as a family. We had a glorious time! When it's just me and a couple kids, and my husband stays here at home, I get homesick for my Georgia nest and love to flutter back to it. This time was different. Maybe because my husband was with me and I wasn't missing him. Maybe because we had the chance to do some classic Franklin/Nashville things. Maybe it was the precious time with family. Maybe it was the unforgettable experience of seeing U2 together. Maybe it was the gorgeous weather, highlighting the beauty of the land around the West Harpeth River. Whatever the cause, we suddenly became a little homesick for Tennessee. As Psalm 16 (my favorite Psalm) says, the lines have fallen in pleasant places for us here in Georgia. We are very attached to the covenant community we've fou...

I love Indelible Grace Music! They occupy more space on my iPod than even U2 - and that's saying something. Matthew Smith played an awesome concert at our church last fall and I'm hoping to catch them live in concert somewhere in Georgia this summer. If you want to know more or buy CDs, go to their site and check it out. Good stuff!

Who knew that driving home from Bible study last night would be an historic event? Enjoying a rare bit of solitude, I turned on NPR and was transported by the passionate horns in the last movement of Dvorak's "New World Symphony" - as I listened, I was thinking about how it would make a good soundtrack for an old-fashioned Western... Turns out I was hearing a replay of Tuesday's landmark concert by the New York Philharmonic - in Pyongyang, North Korea! Invited by the North Koreans, the orchestra helped put aside the stalemate over nukes for one night of beautiful music masterfully performed. It ended with a lively Gershwin piece. I found a bit of humor in it: The New York Philharmonic was playing "An American in Paris " in Pyongyang . Truly, the language of music is universal.

Our church had the privilege last night of hosting Matthew Smith in concert. Matthew is part of a community of musicians in Nashville, TN called "Indelible Grace." They take the lyrics to old, solid hymns and put them to new music. I have all four of their CDs and love them! This song is one of Matthew's originals, on his solo album. Good stuff. One of the reasons I love homeschooling is that we can follow rabbit trails and depart from our curriculum for a spell to study something that interests us. At the moment, that is sailing! No, we didn't just purchase a new boat (not much water left to sail on here in Georgia!) We're reading Swallows and Amazons for our read-aloud right now. It has nothing to do with our cur current history or science topics, but that's ok. The story has a lot of sailing jargon we didn't know, so we spent Friday defining sailing terms and sketching diagrams of catboats. Here are the results:(the pics are kind of washed out - click ...

Life has been full around here lately. Let me clarify - life is always full around here, but lately it has been more full than usual. On top of the typical activities for a homeschool family of seven, I have prepared for selling in a local consignment sale, attended a women's retreat, and had a visit from my Mom. Each time I get ready for a consignment sale, I wonder if it's even worth it anymore! The hassle of sorting, ironing, tagging - you know the drill. But this particular sale is low key and I actually enjoy shopping it. I usually find a few essential pieces for each of the 5 kids and make enough money to cover what I spend. So it's a wash - I just think of it as hand-me-downs that I select from perfect strangers. :) Today I actually found coats for 2 kids that desperately need them, an adorable Piglet costume ($2!) for my little one, and some "cool" clothes for my teen and pre-teen boys. I think I can say it was worth the trouble this time. The ...

Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures For in these, you say, your life will never end, Don’t be misled; the life you’re looking for Is found in Me, for I am found in them. And… "These are they, these are they, These are they which speak of Me.” copyright Jamie Soles 2001 Music that blesses us! Check out www.solmusic.ca for more info. We have several Jamie Soles cds and they are family favorites!