Thoughtful Thursday: Idols of the Heart...

I saw that Emma had written this on her decorative chalk board.  It brought tears to my eyes.  Considering that she's parented by two people that struggle with perfectionism...who are both constantly being sanctified by God in many areas...I'm grateful, that some of our lessons to ourselves and to her have gotten through.  God is good.

I'm glad that she knows where her focus should be...above all!  

It is good to examine our hearts.  Fill in the blank for yourself..."I may love to be _______, but I love God more."  If you can't put something in that blank...then it's probably an idol.  

We also ask ourselves and our kids...How do you know if something is an idol (ie. that it's being worshipped above God in my life)?  

Ask:  Would you sin to get it?  Would you sin if you didn't get it?

So, per her very own example, Emma struggles with wanting her room and things to be neat...just so. When she did not get this...(she had to go to bed or school without having time to do this)...she became angry and anxious...which pointed to something wrong in her heart...which pointed to what was controlling her heart (her desires for neatness and control) ....So, we talked about it and she repented of that idol and asked God to help her love him more...more than having things just so and more than she wants to breathe.  So, now the focus is..."I may love to be neat, but I love God more!"

Sardines & Saltines

One of our favorite easy and cheap lunches!  I really think Emma might go into the medical field...She loves dissection!  "Oh look!  There's it's spine!"  Hilarious!  This always makes us think of Grandpa D too...as this is a favorite activity with him!  They pointed out that he usually has smoked oysters too!  Ha!

Playdoh Day

Broke out the playdoh...it’s so cold nobody can go outside!  

Caleb made snakes and pickles...er, yum.  Emma made cupcakes!

Multitasking Em

She cooks...she reads...she cooks & reads!

Poor Little Man

 Ca-lubby has been down with a true flu virus.  My poor sweet baby.  He just returned to school today!  Praying he makes it through the whole day!

Field Trip: Feast of the Hunter's Moon

 Since I'm so behind on blogging I should have lots of pictures to last me a while.

 I love chaperoning field trips.  This one is a re-enactment of a feast time between the Indians and French/English trappers.  The kids got to play old fashioned instruments.

 See blacksmiths...making weapons and tools.

 Learn about soap making.

 Learn about cheese making...goat cheese!

 Check out animal pelts!

 Saw one of our deacons, Fred, from church...dressed as a French militia I think.

 His knife pouch was made from chewed porcupine quills.  Very cool!

 And he had an antique hatchet!

 Saw some "Indians"...

 The original log building on the site.

 How wooden whistles are made on a manpowered lathe.

 Drum and Fife groups were all over.

 In the Indiana village...

This guy lit his pipe with a piece of glass...which was really cool.  Not that we want to teach that smoking is cool or anything but...it was definitely interesting!

Artistic Emma

 God has really blessed Emma with artistic ability.  She went above and beyond on this map making unit.

 She and her brother spend a lot of time creating dragons with all their various stats, etc.  It was only natural that she would develop a land for dragons to live.