Busy, Dizzy and in a Tizzy?

BUSY, DIZZY AND IN A TIZZY:

Christian Contemplation for Moms and Other Frazzled Folks

Are you “busy, dizzy, and in a tizzy”? Is your life whirling so fast that you don’t have a chance to sit and think, much less nurture your soul? I would like to offer some simple encouragement for tending your heart-life amidst the myriad demands of a busy household.


OK, I know what you are saying: “I don’t have time to sit around and think deep thoughts about God! I’ve got lessons to prepare and grade, diapers to change, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to make, bathrooms to clean…” I hear you. I have ten kids. Granted that some of them are now very helpful teenagers, but I still remember having five little girls ages seven and under, with a husband working long hours. And we can find time for what is really important. It just takes some juggling and adjusting. You probably know by now that I’m on a lifelong quest to find the balance between being and doing. Remembering the story of devoted Mary and busy Martha in Luke 10:38-42, I want to “choose the good portion” while not neglecting my family.


As you read this article, keep in mind that the point is not to do something for the sake of saying we did it but to make a deeper connection with the God who made and redeemed us. The goal of this time is to come out more filled with the Spirit, to see more love, peace and joy in our daily lives as a result. Do you have more passion for the Kingdom of God? Are your delights and desires more in tune with his? If not, are you holding back anything in your heart from unreserved worship? O come, let us adore him! Here are more than a dozen ways I’ve found to make time for soul nourishment through the spiritual disciplines.


Remind yourself daily of the Good News of the cross. We always need to start with this foundation. If you don’t have a living relationship with Jesus Christ (which is not just about church attendance or mental assent), none of the rest of this will make any sense at all. I would be delighted to talk with you about this if you have any questions. We don’t deserve any of the blessings we have, least of all the immense treasure of fellowship with God. But because of his mercy, we can ask him to forgive our sins! “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). The Bible promises that those who have trusted in Christ's sacrifice for their salvation can confidently enter the Lord's Throne Room to find grace and mercy.


Be ready to focus quickly on the things of God during what little time you might have. Learn to lay aside “the cares of this world” and concentrate on what the Lord has for you. Yes, there will be a time to bring before him in prayer the issues that concern you, but your focus should be on his sufficiency, not on your troubles. He is so much bigger than our circumstances! We bring our problems, our confusion, and our weakness into the Throne Room of God. As we draw near to him, we will bring out his strength and wise answers so we will be equipped to deal with them.


Designate a quiet comfortable spot in your house. Set up a personal chapel where you can go sit every few hours to regroup and refuel spiritually. Mine is an easy chair in my bedroom next to a fully stocked bookcase. I slip in there several times a day for at least a few minutes and up to a half hour or so.  When my kids were babies, toddlers, or preschoolers, I might put them down for a nap in the same room or rock them on my lap.  My "quiet spot" is not completely quiet – I often have children wander in and out. And this is also not the only place I can have “devotional time” – I think about God throughout the day, whatever I am doing, whether it is washing dishes or stuffing laundry in the dryer. Taping up little cards with Scripture verses around the house can be a great inspiration, too.


Make a habit of daily Bible study. Keep a Bible handy at your “personal chapel” spot. Use book marks to keep the places you are currently studying so you can easily sit down and read a bit without fumbling around. Make a plan for what you are going to read so you don’t just flip open and see where you land. For example, if you read a chapter of the New Testament every morning, you’ll have read the whole thing within several months. You can also finish the Old Testament at the rate of two or three chapters a day, perhaps in the evening. Make a little chart to mark off your progress as you go. You can also go to Bible Gateway Reading Plans to select a plan for reading a daily portion in one of many different Bible versions or Bible Gateway Audio Bible to listen as you are washing the dishes or folding laundry. This web site also has a really good search function for doing topical studies.


Rather than just quickly reading the verses, take the time to meditate on them. What do they mean? How can you apply them at your house? It is good to sit quietly and think, but you can also meditate on Scripture as you go about the rest of your day, pondering these things in your heart. I read from Luke 16-17 this morning, and jotted down several application phrases onto a card to put in the pocket of my capris: Faithful in little, faithful in much. Serve one Master: God! God knows what’s inside your heart. Forgive others repeatedly. Don’t expect praise for doing your job. Thank God for what he has done in your life. Lose your life to keep it. Just feeling the crinkle of the card in my pocket as I’m sitting or walking reminds me of what I have read, and I do take it out once in a while to remember them. Occasionally, I will even write a poem based on what I have been meditating on in my times with the Lord. You can find these on my web site.


Try to read regularly from good solid Christian books to help you walk out your faith. Several of my favorite trustworthy authors are Gary Thomas, Andrew Murray, Elisabeth Elliot, Corrie ten Boom, and Amy Carmichael. Donald Whitney’s book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life has come highly recommended as a way to dig in to Scripture study, prayer, meditation, fasting, and other heart-nurturing practices -- as long as you don't make it legalistic or get overwhelmed. A good devotional book with short selections can be just right for a busy mom. My daughter found Charles Spurgeon’s Morning by Morning, Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest and Thomas a Kempis’ The Imitation of Christ for me at our library’s used bookstore a while back – nicely bound hardbacks for $1.50 a piece! You can find some of these resources listed on my Books to Feed Your Spirit page or read (for free) countless Christian classics on-line at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.  I also installed the Kindle app on my iPod touch and my laptop, and download a lot of free and inexpensive Christian books.  This is really good for the times I am away from home and have a few minutes while I am waiting for an appointment or for one of my kids to finally get out to the van so we can leave.


Take time to pray, to ask God to lead you in your own life, and to intercede for others. It may be helpful to write out a prayer list of various requests for family members, your pastors, friends, missionaries, current events, etc. You can the list in the back of your Bible or your journal so it is handy. Prayers don’t have to be clever or even original. Christians throughout history have prayed The Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This does not have to be a rote formula, as some have made it, but a way to acknowledge our humble dependence on him throughout the day. I often shorten it to “Sweet Jesus have mercy!” I also use prayers from Scripture, such as Colossians 1:9-14.  ("For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.")  Using Scripture helps me keep the focus on praying according to God’s will, rather than my petty desires. Sometimes I pray just sitting there quietly, other times while I am on my knees, and other times as I’m working around the house. “Pray continually…” He is always listening! Or, as Alfred Lord Tennyson notes, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” Oh, please remember that prayer is not just talking – it is listening for God’s still small voice speaking into your heart.


Start a journal and use it! I write my own observations and questions about life, some of my prayers, and plenty of Scripture verses and quotes from whatever books I am reading. This has been such a lifeline to me in the past year as I’ve been so acutely aware of my need for God’s mercy. I think of so many Christians through the ages who whose lives have been enriched by journaling. This may be a short paragraph, but I don’t want to underestimate the importance of this vital spiritual discipline.


Be appropriately aware of your emotions, especially as they can indicate your spiritual health. We are not robots! God made our emotions to help us respond to him and to life around us. You don’t have to be ruled by your feelings, but if you are anxious or irritable or depressed, find the spiritual remedy for that, rather than ignoring or suppressing these sensations. Ask God for wisdom in dealing with your emotions. It’s not a one shot deal, but continually offering up to him what is roiling around in our hearts. “Lord, I’m feeling so overwhelmed… Help me to see you as my strong tower, and please show me why this situation bothering me so much and what I can practically do about it.” God is not afraid of our emotions. With him at our side, we don’t need to be afraid either.


Play and sing worship music throughout the day. If you move from room to room a lot or spend a lot of time away from your house, load an iPod or inexpensive MP3 player with your favorite songs or other audio downloads, such as your pastor’s Sunday sermon if your church posts those on-line.  Set up a specific play lists of music for worship or comfort or challenge.  Listening while you do other things is a great way to redeem the time. I listen to worship music with headphones while I work out on at the YMCA. Even if you don’t have music playing, you can always sing in your heart.


Establish a regular devotional time with your children. Read the Bible, sing, and pray with them sometime during the day, which is a fantastic extension of your own time with God. This will not just be an academic exercise, but an opportunity for you connect again with your Heavenly Father as you bring your children to him for a blessing. (See Mark 10:13-16.)


Use your daily duties as object lessons of God’s truth and grace. When you are making dinner, think of the feast he is preparing for us in heaven. When you are washing dishes, be thankful for the abundant food you ate off of them, and pray for those who are less fortunate. When you are cleaning up your kids’ muddy toes, think of how Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. A yucky toilet, stubborn laundry stain, or dirty diaper can remind us of how he washes our foulest sins away: “white as snow.” This attitude not only inspires our souls with the holy character of God, but makes our work meaningful and less irksome. I find that, like Brother Lawrence, I can “practice the presence of God” no matter what I am doing, even if I am not kneeling in prayer or reading my Bible.


Think about God “in the watches of the night.” At times in my life, I have been a chronic insomniac, usually waking for an hour or more in the middle of the night. During these times, I would remind myself of the mercies of the Lord, pray for others, and think of Bible verses I had memorized. I also do this as I am falling asleep at night, and sometimes as I lie in bed trying to wake up in the morning. This is also a good practice for mommies who are night nursing their babies, as I did off and on for nearly two decades. “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.” Psalm 63:5-7


Enjoy your Sabbath! This is a time when I don’t have to feel guilty about laying aside many of my regular daily duties. I like to use Sunday afternoon as a time for leisurely reading and contemplation, as well as rest. What a precious gift from God! Summer is also somewhat of a Sabbath (or sabbatical) for home school moms since we aren’t so busy with lessons. Use some of this time for refueling your own heart for the year to come!


I hope these simple suggestions have been helpful to you. I don’t present them as a formula, but as a means to help our hearts be captivated by our Awesome God.


I close this post with a poem.  You can find more of my thoughts about this by clicking 

Invitation to Stillness to go to the original blog post...

Invitation to Stillness

Advent Poem 2010

by Virginia Knowles

Quiet your soul to ponder, wonder, 

   and worship the Amazing One.

In these still and focused moments, 

  embrace his everlasting love for you.
Savor his sacrifice: Heaven to Earth, 

  an infinite journey of grace
When he came to rescue, release, and renew you.

In sacred response, draw near with a whole heart, 

  a deepening communion.

Be still in his presence, be filled with his presence
Father, Son, Holy Spirit: God with us.

Day after day, time with him is your most precious treasure.

Be the fruitful branch abiding in the Vine.

Be the little lamb in the Good Shepherd’s tender care.

Be the beautiful Beloved in the Lover’s embrace.
Ask, and he will surely show you how.

Holy Available

Dear friends,

A while back I wrote a review of a book by Gary Thomas titled The Beautiful Fight: Surrendering to the Transforming Presence of God. I was on his web site yesterday and noticed that the name of the book is being changed to Holy Available: What If Holiness Is about More Than What We Don't Do? I love the new title; it really does capture the essence of the book. I also like the redesign of his web site www.GaryThomas.com
which includes several video clips of Gary speaking, as well as lots of articles.

Anyway, here is the review I wrote in November 2007 for my Hope Chest Home School e-magazine.

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You probably all know by now what an avid reader I am, as well as how much I appreciate books by Gary Thomas. They have been such vital manna to a very hungry soul this past year or so. That’s why I was so excited when he told me that his newest book, The Beautiful Fight: Surrendering to the Transforming Presence of God Every Day of Your Life, would be released this month. I’ve been reading an advance copy for the past several weeks, and I have certainly not been disappointed. What an insightful book!

The Beautiful Fight is based on the premise that Jesus ascended into heaven with his body, and that the church here on earth still carries out his work as his body. We are his eyes, mouth, ears, minds, hands, feet, and heart to each other and to the rest of the world! How we live in that truth makes all the difference! How can we be content to just “go through the motions” when we can instead be transformed into his likeness and do the things that need to be done to extend his Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven?

Let’s take this right to where we live. Can you imagine how your home schooling experience could be affected if, instead of mere academics, you taught your children how to be the “body of Christ” in your home and beyond? What if they learned how to see people how Jesus sees them? What if they spoke the words that Jesus would have them say as his ambassador? What if they filled their minds with thoughts from the very mind of God? What if they trained their hands and feet to serve others just as Jesus set us the divine example? And what if we did it, too? Gary makes it clear that this is not something we can ever do with our own strength. We need to be God-empowered. We need to be transformed into his likeness, day by day.

This book makes a difference in how I approach academics, especially as I teach the middle school English class at our home school co-op. I try to share with the kids how they need to be aware, to really notice with their ears and eyes what is going on around them and to pay close attention what they read and hear. Their hearts and minds will then be equipped to think it through with depth and excellence so they can actively respond with compassionate hands, feet, and mouths. As we read great literature, I don’t want them to merely fill in the blanks on Mrs. Knowles’s study guides, but to fill their whole lives with beauty and truth. With that in mind, we did an extended literature unit on the Old Testament: first Joseph, then Esther and Daniel. How can we live with their kind of courage and integrity? After that, they each chose an Old Testament character for a research report. Right now we are reading The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare, a novel which is set during the Roman oppression of Israel at the time of Jesus and addresses the question: Do we live for vengeance or for the way of love? How can we best be the body of Christ on earth?

But I digress from this review… Right now I would like to share with you some quotes from the book that I jotted in my journal. When I am absorbing new information, I like to “Read, Reflect and Respond.” Journaling helps me do that because I have to read carefully enough to really think about the words, and then respond not only with my own words but with ideas for practical application. I highly encourage this approach to learning and living, not only for adults but for children. To help us with “reflecting” on the book, Gary has included a study guide in the back of it! But I digress again… On to the quotes, lots of lovely quotes, I promise! (I have included the page number in parentheses after each quote.)

“Incarnational spirituality – the living, reigning and ascended Jesus living through us and transforming us into different people – does not exist to uphold a few rules, but rather speaks of a process that creates an entirely new person who sees with new eyes, feels with a new heart, hears with renewed ears, and lives with a new passion. It is, I believe, the only life worth living.” (19)

“While I applaud the God-given desire to engage our culture, how much better it would be if we were first transformed. Then we could demonstrate to the world true, God-breathed creativity instead of cleverness, and familiarity with the Trinity instead of an obsession with proving how well we can read the latest cultural trend. We cannot compensate for being strangers to God by becoming friends with the culture.” (26)

“My most common prayer is this: ‘May the risen and ascended Christ manifest himself in me as I submit myself to be his servant today.'” (39)

“Let us discard the pride, the preening, the bloated arrogance of our opinions. Let us shun small lives of desperate people who try to make themselves large through frenetic activity and modern gimmicks. Let us quiet our hearts long enough to experience the restful, amazingly powerful, and compellingly pure passion of Jesus, changing what we see, tuning us to what must be really heard, and helping us to feel what God himself feels.” (44)

“People will regularly disappoint us. If our hearts aren’t ready for this, we’ll speak only with angry exasperation, our negative words tearing down people for their humanness, instead of using our tongues to cultivate redemptive transformation.” (82)

“For me, hearing God’s voice is one of the most precious parts of being a disciple. I crave God’s insight into my actions and motives. I desire with all my heart to know his particular will for me – not some general direction based on certain principles, but his particular application for my particular need.” (99)

“Another condition for hearing from God is a holy life. Sin may not block our salvation, but it does tend to stop up our ears. It leads us down a path of deception and hinders further understanding and direct hearing… If you haven’t dealt with your pride, your own voice and ambition will being sounding suspiciously like God’s. And if you haven’t gained mastery over your emotions, you’ll mistake your own moods for the Holy Spirit’s confirmation.” (101)

“Some Christians act as if they are helpless victims of their own thinking, as if they can’t stop certain fantasies, infatuations, negative thinking, rumination on fears, or hateful prejudices. This simply doesn’t square with a biblical worldview that tells us to “pivot” toward pure thought. We are to stop thinking about evil and start thinking about what is pure and admirable and excellent.” (118)

“When we talk about Christ making a real difference with our hands and feet, we must come to grips with the fact that, by God’s decision, we are forceful beings. We shape this world. We impact it. We mold it. In fact, it is impossible to walk on this earth and not make a difference of some kind.” (122)

“The qualities of a saint come at a premium price. We cannot wake up one day and suddenly see a saint looking back at us in the mirror. The tapestry of Christlikeness is laid down stitch by single stitch, as God weaves events, attitudes, relationships and personal affliction through our daily experience.” (203)

“Transformation is never about winning his favor but rather about revealing his presence.” (233)

Also in response to this book, I wrote my annual Advent poem: Corpus Christi.

If you click on Holy Available you can browse through the book on-line and download a free PDF chapter. The newly titled book is not available from Zondervan until May, but you can still order it at a discount from CBD under the old title: The Beautiful Fight.

Blessings,
Virginia

Our Little Melody

My three year old daughter Melody sure has been cute lately. (Mischievous, too!)

The other day, she complained, "Ben told me to shut up. He's stubborn!" I asked her, "And what are you?" She replied, "A hypocrite!"

A while back, Ben hurt himself, and as I was trying to fix him up with a bandage, Melody came and patted him on the arm and said consolingly, "It's all right, son!"

When two of the other kids were arguing recently, she planted herself right between them and yelled, "Guys! It's over! It's over!"

I have been trying to get Melody to stop sucking her thumb and Ben to stop sucking his fingers. Usually when we are sitting on the couch reading, I have to reach over and pull them out. Yesterday, I yanked Ben's fingers out, and Melody said, "Mom, take my thumb out, too!"

Joanna took the picture of Melody a couple of months ago. The pose is so typical of her!

Now she's trying to sneak out to the back porch with a cup of milk. There is a straw in it, and the milk is all bubbled up. I told her to come back inside, and she said, "I'm trying to make a milkshake!"

I have a whole bunch of blog posts about her on one of my other blogs.  Click here if you haven't had enough cuteness yet: Melody Moments.

Julia is sick in Bolivia

My husband Thad asked me to send out a prayer request for our 19 year old daughter, Julia, who is on a three month mission trip to southern Bolivia. She has had a throat infection all this week and has been miserable. The doctor had given her anti-inflammatory medicine to bring down the swelling, but that didn't help get rid of the infection. She has had fever and chills, and she finally went in to the hospital get a shot of penicillin. (She HATES shots!) They said she has tonsillitis. She may have strep, too, but they don't give tests for that. Please pray that she will get over this quickly, with no long term effects. Medical care down there in the town of Entre Rios is not exactly up to the standards of the USA. She has been sick on and off for the past six weeks with one thing or another, and she won't be home for another six weeks.

You can check her blog at http://www.juliaknowles.blogspot.com/. She is being a real trooper!

{Update on March 5: Julia was feeling well enough by the end of that day to get up and play soccer with the youth! She's off to Las Abras with Angela this weekend, which is a pretty strenuous trip.}

Honoring the 100th Birthday of My Grandpa, Jack Quarrier

Today I would like to honor the 100^th birthday of my paternal grandfather, Jack Weems Quarrier. Grandpa was born at home on February 27, 1909, the day after his mother's 20th birthday. Unfortunately he didn't live to see a full century of life. Grandpa passed away on August 6, 1977, when he was 68 and I was almost 14 years old.

I did not know my grandfather very well, so several weeks ago, I asked my father, aunt, uncle and siblings  to share some of their memories.  I learned so many things I hadn’t known before. Even if you aren’t a relative of his, some of the historical details might be pretty interesting to you. This could also be an encouragement for some of you to find out more about your own family history while you still have the opportunity.

Grandpa’s father, John Chilton Quarrier, was the editor of a newspaper. His mother, Olive Blanche (Weems) Quarrier, was the daughter of a Confederate sharpshooter (sniper), Charles Chilton Weems, whose usual target was Union river boat captains. She was born on February 26, 1889, at her uncle’s Oak Lawn plantation in Bayou Teche, New Iberia, Louisiana. John met Olive when he was working as a telegraph operator for a railroad. My dad noted that there is a possibility that they were distant cousins since Chilton is a last and middle name of folks on both the Quarrier and Weems sides of the family. Also, in the 1700s, the Weems and Quarrier families both came from County Fife in Scotland, which is near the English border. (My dad has often reminded me that the Scots and English carried on their centuries old feud in America; during the Civil War, those of Scottish ancestry were quite often Confederates, reminiscent of the Scots’ desire for independence from English rule. It should also be noted that my Scottish ancestor Alexander Quarrier, arriving in the American colonies in 1774, fought for the patriots against the English during the Revolution.) In 1825, the Weems clan moved from Maryland to Louisiana to raise sugar.

~*~*~

Jack was born in Galveston, Texas, and was baptized Catholic. His paternal grandfather, Dana Ward Quarrier, had studied to be an Episcopal minister, but apparently Dana’s wife, Sallie Hogan Quarrier, was Irish Catholic. I'm not sure if he was raised Catholic, though. Jack had three sisters: Maxine (born in 1907), Geraldine (1913), and Olive May, nicknamed "O.M." (1919).

Jack actually grew up in Kansas City and lived there for the rest of his life. He attended Southwest High School there, but did not graduate. He left home at age 15 to work for the Associated Press as the world’s youngest commercial telegraph operator. I think he was based at the offices of the Emporia Gazette. Later, he switched to teletype operation from Morse code retransmit. Teletype had a paper tape punch which could be torn off, hung up, and put into another teletype machine to be read again. He eventually had to work on computer terminals, which annoyed him so much that he quit in the early 1970s, after nearly 50 years in the business. He had worked all the way through the Depression, which is quite notable.

Jack met my grandmother, Margaret Brazier, when he was working in the building that housed both the AP offices and the Kansas City Star newspaper, where she was a reporter. She had graduated from the University of Kansas in 1930 with a degree in Journalism. She was always very refined and proper, and thought that Jack himself would someday become a writer. They had three children, but divorced in 1945 when my father was 8. Upon her marriage to Dr. Driggs in 1948, Margaret and the three children moved to New York City, so my dad didn’t see his father quite as often. What I hadn’t known was that my grandfather also remarried from 1954 to 1956 to a bank official named Elleen Hobbs Moroney. My dad doesn’t remember ever meeting her. The picture to the left was taken at my parents' wedding on Christmas Day, 1957. Grandpa Quarrier is at the upper left.



My own memories of my grandfather are sketchy. When I was almost five, our family moved from Chicago (where I was born) to Kansas City, where my grandfather lived. I remember our family going out to dinner at a steakhouse with him several times. He came to my kindergarten graduation and gave me a lavender colored stuffed cow that played “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” when you pulled the cord.

One Christmas, Grandpa gave Dancerina dolls to my sister Barb and me. You could push on their crowns and they would dance. Barb recalls, “I VIVIDLY remember the Dancerina dolls. I wanted one SOOOO badly and was beyond thrilled when he gave them to us. I also remember going to a baseball game with him (KC Royals?) He was a huge baseball fan.”

I vaguely remember meeting my great grandfather, John Chilton Quarrier, when we lived in Kansas City, and only then because my brother John wrote that, “Our great grandfather did come to see us a number of times when we lived in KC. He bought me a trumpet and got me started with private lessons. He didn't have much of a lip left but I remember him playing "Red Roses for a Blue Lady."”

After we moved to California in 1971, Grandpa Quarrier would come to visit and take us to Denny’s, where I would order a French dip sandwich and Jello blocks with whipped cream. I think we once took a day trip to Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf, China Town, and other San Francisco sights with him, too. Barb says, “I remember a time he came to visit us in California, and we went to the Earthquake museum with him. There was a ride that made it seem as if you were in an earthquake.”



In April 1977, we moved to Maryland. That summer, my dad had to fly to Chicago for a business trip. Since my brother John was just then moving to Maryland from San Francisco, Dad suggested that they meet in Kansas City for a four generation reunion there with my grandfather and great grandfather. John noted, “When we got to see Great Grandpa his mind was not as sharp. He introduced himself to me and seemed quite confused that I had the same name. I'm not sure he ever really grasped who I was on that visit.” I had asked my dad if I could go with him on this trip to Kansas City because I wanted to see Grandpa. He said no, because Grandpa would be flying out to see us in August. I protested, “But what if he dies before then?” Ironically, Grandpa had a fatal heart attack on the airplane flying East to see us. We got the call when we had just arrived home from a full day at Dad’s company picnic and then seeing the movie “New York, New York.” We packed the car and left the next morning to drive to Kansas City for the funeral. At the funeral I saw my great grandfather, who died two years later. One random thing that I recall from that trip to Kansas City is that it was the first time I ever saw a bar code scanner in a grocery store.


We cleaned out Grandpa’s apartment while we were there.  The thing that struck me was that he had a bazillion books. We brought many of them home, marking each with the initials JWQ inside the front cover. I still have his Revised Standard Version Bible, which is now displayed on a bookstand in my front hallway. Grandpa may not have had much of a formal education, but he sure loved to read great books! He also enjoyed classical and jazz music and had quite a record collection.

I wish I could have talked to my grandfather more. There are a lot of questions I would have asked him. I believe in being aware of our stories, about our own lives and about those who have gone before us. In so many ways, it is where we have come from, even before own births, that shapes who we are, how we think, and what we pass on down to the next generation.

Virginia Knowles

The Wissmann Family in Concert

On Sunday night, Thad and I took the younger seven kids to enjoy a free Gospel bluegrass concert by the Wissmann family. Loren and Gloria Wissmann, along with 12 of their 13 children, have been on a southeastern tour these past two months, singing in churches and prisons. This talented family sang and played the hammered dulcimer, steel guitar, mandolin, fiddle, flute, and banjo.

I loved the music (and bought their newest CD, Let the Rocks Cry Out) but the real delight was seeing the joy on their faces as they sang about Jesus, and watching the obvious affection that they have for one another.

I took the CD to our home school co-op yesterday and played a few pieces for the 7th and 8th graders. They need a taste of Americana culture, as well as good, wholesome Christian encourgament! The first song I played for them, "Mind of Christ," is actually one of my old favorite hymns, "May the Mind of Christ My Savior" by Kate Wilkinson. I remember singing it to my mother-in-law, Ann, shortly before she died. The second piece was "Let My Life Be a Light," an a capella (vocal only) piece with beautiful harmonies. And the third piece, the title cut, was the rollicking "Let the Rocks Cry Out," written by the oldest daughter, Rachel, who is 27.

I also showed my class a short video clip of a lady playing the hammered dulcimer, so they could get an idea of one of the many instruments the family played. I own a mountain dulcimer, but that is not the same thing. You can Google "hammered dulcimer" if you are curious.

If you live in the Orlando area, I believe that the Wissmann family will be in concert again this Sunday, March 1, at 10:45 AM at Powers Drive Baptist Church and at 6 PM in the evening at Palm Springs Baptist in Altamonte Springs. I encourage you to go experience their beautiful music and family testimony!

You can check the Wissmann Family web site, http://www.wissmannfamily.com/, for more information on their schedule and ordering CD's. I particularly liked reading the page that introduces each family member. They also have a blog linked to that site.

I will close with the words of that old hymn I mentioned earlier. (Note that the words are slightly different than this when they sing it. This is the original version.)

"May the Mind of Christ My Savior"
by Kate B. Wilkinson

May the mind of Christ my Savior
Live in me from day to day,
By His love and power controlling
All I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His power.

May the peace of God my Father
Rule my life in everything,
That I may be calm to comfort
Sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me,
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing,
This is victory.

May I run the race before me,
Strong and brave to face the foe,
Looking only unto Jesus
As I onward go.

May His beauty rest upon me
As I seek the lost to win,
And may they forget the channel
Seeing only Him.

New Songs and Old

Dear friends,

This morning on the way to church, the words of the Doxology (a.k.a. “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”) popped into my mind for some odd reason. We used to sing it every week in the Presbyterian church I attended as a teenager, but only rarely have I heard it since then. I started singing in the van, remembering as I did that this is actually the tenth stanza in Thomas Ken’s longer 1674 hymn, “Awake My Soul” which starts: “Awake, my soul, and with the sun / Thy daily stage of duty run / Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise / To pay thy morning sacrifice.” It turned out to be an apt start to the morning; I’ll tell you more as we go along. (Side note: Be sure to click the links to find more information! And you don't have to stop reading this if you aren't a particularly religious person. You might learn something about what makes us tick.)

Running a little late for the service, I slipped into the sanctuary with the kids just about the time the first song started. I hadn’t heard it before, but was instantly moved by not only the lilting violins and electric cello, but also the worshipful words. I grabbed my pen and paper as fast as I could to try to catch them in snatches. In my most hasty scrawl, I jotted down the chorus… “Oh to see you, Jesus, I can hardly wait to behold the One I love! Oh to see you, Jesus, know your sweet embrace. My heart is yours, for you I long.”
As it turns out, I hadn’t heard the song before because it is brand new! Several internationally known worship song writers had converged on our church in the past few days for a retreat, and this was one of the fruits of their labor of love. It was written by Ryan, Jonathan, and Megan Baird of the California band West Coast Revival, who also led worship. Bob Kauflin, Steve and Vikki Cook, Mark and Stephen Altrogge and others were in town for the conference, too. These fine musicians, all associated with Sovereign Grace Ministries, are working on two upcoming projects: a children’s album and one on the fatherhood of God. The saints of yesteryear still bless us with their heartfelt lyrics, but the saints of now are obeying the ancient call to “Sing a new song unto the Lord!”

Old songs and new! I love them both! My friend Phyllis Reinhardt is 74 and she loves them both, too. She sometimes plays vintage hymns for me when we visit her for speech therapy each week, yet on Sunday mornings she claps and sings right along with the modern praise and worship choruses, the ones with the electric guitars, synthesizers, and full percussion. And so, this morning, the songs continued, new with old, old with new. Sometimes they seemed to intertwine since the newer ones still cherish a hymn-like reverence and the older ones are jazzed up with new contemporary arrangements.

The next song this morning, “Jesus Paid It All,” always reminds me of my daughter Julia. The second time she was in Bolivia, in 2007, she sang it constantly. She is there again on a three month mission trip now (and feeling quite sick this morning), and I know she’ll appreciate the reminder, too. (I love you, Julia!) “Jesus paid it all! All to him I owe! Sin had left a crimson stain; he washed it white as snow!” It is no surprise that these words inspired her to outreach, because, as Matt Redman sings, “Let worship be the fuel for mission’s flame / We’re going with a passion for Your name / We’re going for we care about Your praise / Send us out!” (I first heard that song at Julia’s Bolivia reunion meeting in 2007 and bought the Facedown CD immediately.)

Next up? Another dance-in-the-aisles tune, “My First Love” by Stuart Townend, which starts, “My first love is a blazing fire / I feel His pow'rful love in me! / For He has kindled a flame of passion / And I will let it grow in me.” At this point in our worship service, a few folks in our church trickled up to the microphone to share whatever Biblical encouragement God had laid on their hearts. Daniel Howell spoke for a few minutes, asking, “Are your trials blessings or burdens?” and assuring us that “He will receive the glory and you will receive the joy!” Another man, whose face I could not see, ended his encouragement with, “Your life is hidden in Christ, and Christ has already won the victory!” And Stephanie Graham (who is in 5th grade) read Psalm 143 and said she thought God would want us to know, “We do not need to worry because he will bring us the word of unfailing love and show us the way to go.” (You go, girl!) You see, not all worship has music attached, and it is certainly not limited to a church sanctuary or a Sunday morning. Worship is a way of life!

Our friend Regina Brown, who has a hearty “gospel music” voice, sang a solo introduction to “It is Well With My Soul” by Horatio Spafford and Philip Bliss. I don’t know if you are all aware of the story behind this venerable old hymn; according to Cyberhymnal, “This hymn was writ­ten af­ter two ma­jor trau­mas in Spaf­ford’s life. The first was the great Chi­ca­go Fire of Oc­to­ber 1871, which ru­ined him fi­nan­cial­ly (he had been a weal­thy bus­i­ness­man). Short­ly af­ter, while cross­ing the At­lan­tic, all four of Spaf­ford’s daugh­ters died in a col­li­sion with an­o­ther ship. Spaf­ford’s wife Anna sur­vived and sent him the now fa­mous tel­e­gram, “Saved alone.” Sev­er­al weeks lat­er, as Spaf­ford’s own ship passed near the spot where his daugh­ters died, the Ho­ly Spir­it in­spired these words. They speak to the eter­nal hope that all be­liev­ers have, no mat­ter what pain and grief be­fall them on earth.” And so Spafford wrote, “When peace, like a river, attendeth my way / When sorrows like sea billows roll / Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say / It is well, it is well, with my soul.”

We also sang Graham Kendrick’s worship song “To You O Lord” and, after the sermon, “Blessed Be Your Name” by Matt Redman, which echoes the same themes as in “It Is Well With My Soul.” (This must have been British morning, since Graham Kendrick, Matt Redman and Stuart Townend are all from the UK!)

I’ll bet some of you are wondering how I remember all of this. I usually take notes during the sermon, but I’m also trying to cultivate the habit of writing things down beforehand, too. This might include names of people I have just met, or a prayer request someone has shared with me, or a word of encouragement, or a reminder to myself to call someone or bring them a book next week, or whatever. And this morning I actually kept a running commentary on the music!

But I’m not done yet! Bear with me a few paragraphs longer. As I mentioned, several noted songwriters were in town for that retreat. One of them is Mark Altrogge, who pastors the Sovereign Grace Church north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (I remember singing his classic “I Stand in Awe of You” many years before we even came to Metro Life Church.) His sermon this morning, titled “The Kind of Sacrifice God Desires” was based on Psalm 50, especially verse 23: “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me” (English Standard Version). Mark exhorted us that it’s not enough to go through the external duties of Christianity. We must have thankful, glad hearts! As he said, “Pigs gobble down the acorns without looking up at the tree,” but we are called to look up and offer our wholehearted praise to the one who has blessed us so abundantly! Yes, even when we are going through times of trial! He quoted Matthew Henry, who had been robbed by highwaymen, as saying in response, “Let me be thankful first because I was never robbed before; second, although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because, although they took all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, and not someone else.”

If we are struggling with our attitudes, we can always ask God to fill us with joy and thankfulness. Giving thanks is not so much a matter of feelings, but of choosing. As Mark reminded us from Hebrews 13:15, “Through him (Jesus) then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” And so we are back to the first song of the morning, the one in the van, “Awake, my soul, and with the sun / Thy daily stage of duty run / Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise / To pay thy morning sacrifice.” The most important gift we can give to the Lord every day is our praise. That is what worship, musical or otherwise, is all about.

~*~*~

You can download the audio for Mark’s sermon at the http://www.metrolife.org/ web site.


I guess that's about it!

The Beauty of Humility

Dear friends,

A friend remembered that I had compiled a list of Scriptures on pride and humility a few years back and asked if I could send them to her. I also found these two quotes along the way. This could make a very profitable Bible study over a period of weeks.

In 2006, I wrote an article for Making Home Magazine called, "Be It Ever So Humbling, There's No Place Like Home". It is now on my web site (click the link above), and it has the full Scripture texts at the bottom as well.

~~ Blessings, Virginia

"All gracious affections,

which are a sweet odour to Christ,

filling the soul of a Christian

with a heavenly sweetness and fragrancy,

are broken hearted affections.

A truly Christian love, either to God or men,

is a humble broken-hearted love.

The desires of the saints,

however earnest, are humble desires;

their hope is an humble hope;

and their joy, even when it is unspeakable and full of glory,

is a humble, broken-hearted joy,

leaving the Christian more poor in spirit,

more like a little child,

and more disposed to an universal lowliness of behavior."

Jonathan Edwards, preacher of the Great Awakening

"I am sure there are many Christians who will confess that their own experience has been very much like my own in this, that we had long known the Lord without realizing that meekness and lowliness of heart are to be the distinguishing features of the disciple as they were of the Master. And further, that this humility is not a thing that will come of itself, but that it must be made the object of special desire and prayer and faith and practice. As we study the word, we shall see what very distinct and oft-repeated instructions Jesus gave His disciples on this point, and how slow they were in understanding Him. Let us, at the very commencement of our meditations, admit that there is nothing so natural to man, nothing so insidious and hidden from our sight, as pride. Let us feel that nothing but a very determined and persevering waiting on God and Christ will discover how lacking we are in the grace of humility, and how impotent to obtain what we seek. Let us study the character of Christ until our souls are filled with the love and admiration of his lowliness. And let us believe that, when we are broken down under a sense of our pride, and our impotence to cast it out, Jesus Christ Himself will come in to impart this grace too, as a part of His wondrous life within us." ~~ Humility by Andrew Murray, South African preacher of yesteryear

A Small Sampling of Scriptures on Humility

• Genesis 3:1-13; 11:1-9
• 2 Chronicles 7:1-4; 7:11-16; 26:1-23; 32:20-33
• Psalm 25:1-22; 51:1-17; 52:1-9; 115:1, 123:1-2; 131:1-2; 138:1-8
• Proverbs 3:5-8; 11:2; 12:1; 15:33; 18:12; 21:4; 22:4; 25:6-7; 29:23
• Isaiah 6:1-8; 29:13-24; 57:14-21; 58:1-14; 66:1-2
• Lamentations 3:19-33
• Daniel 4:28-37; 10:1-2
• Micah 6:6-8
• Zephaniah 2:3; 3:9-20
• Matthew 3:1-12; 11:28-30; 18:1-4; 20:20-28; 23:1-12
• Luke 1:38-55; 14:7-11; 22:24-27
• John 3:23-31; 13:3-15
• Romans 11:17-36; 12:1-3; 12:16; 14:10-12
• 1 Corinthians 1:25-30; 13:4-6
• 2 Corinthians 7:9-10; 12:1-10
• Ephesians 4:1-6; 5:22-24
• Philippians 2:1-18
• Colossians 3:12-21
• Hebrews 12:18-29; 13:12-17
• James 1:19-21; 3:13-18; 4:1-17
• 1 Peter 3:1-9; 5:5-11

Suffering: What Does it Take to Forge Our Character?

Dear friends,

This morning, my husband Thad and I were reading together in the The Message of Hebrews, a commentary that our pastors at Metro Life Church recommended for home study during our current sermon series. There was a certain passage that he thought might be really encouraging to our 19 year old daughter Julia (who is growing through adversity on her three month mission trip to Bolivia). He put a star by it and asked me to send it to her. As long as I have it typed in, I thought you all might like to see it, too. Here it is, along with an essay I wrote a few years ago called "What Does it Take to Forge Our Character?"

"Sufferings introduce a new perfection, a perfection of testedness... For Christians, as for their Master, there is a perfection in suffering. Little as we may like them, the fires of affliction are the place in which qualities of Christian character are forged. No one wants to suffer. No one looks forward to suffering. But the Christian cannot regard suffering as an unmitigated evil. He can agree that it is an evil, but he knows also that, borne in the right spirit, it is the means of an increasing Christlikeness." (Leon Morris, as quoted on page 62 in The Message of Hebrews by Raymond Brown.)

~*~*~

A few years ago, I wrote an essay called "What Does it Take to Forge Our Character?" for my English students when our literature selections focused on the theme of growing through adversity. Here it is:

"What does it take to forge our character?" Does that seem like an odd question? Well, let's think about our goals in life. If the goal in life is to have an easy, fun time and to please ourselves, then we have no hope. There will always be things that get in our way, and we will be continually frustrated and angry. But if the goal of life is to grow to be strong, solid and mature in our character, that's another story, and it's filled with hope. You see, we have all the opportunities we need to help us grow up this way. These opportunities come in the form of troubles, trials, and other tough stuff like work and relationships with family and friends. That's what it takes to forge our character! So we can really see our difficulties as gifts that are custom designed by the Lord to make us strong. However, our response makes a huge difference. We must respond well to our challenges in order to make the most of them. If we fight against them or get bitter, it's not going to help at all. In fact, God is likely to "increase the heat" even higher until we get the message to rely on him and accept what he is doing in our lives. If you think about it, the natural physical world provides so many examples of how difficulties bring about strength.

Diamonds are born from lowly carbon, transformed by years and years of intense heat and pressure dozens of miles under the earth. Diamond-bearing rock is brought to the surface by volcanic eruptions, not exactly a happy occasion. But a "diamond in the rough" is not worth much until it is chiseled and shaped by a master craftsman. Then the facets radiate with beauty.

Gold, silver, and iron must be hacked out of the ground, then liquefied over fire until the dross floats to the top and is burned or skimmed away. The process is not done until the refiner can see his face reflected in the molten metal. Then it is pounded and pounded and pounded with the hammer on the anvil until it takes on the shape of what it is destined to become. Not a pleasant process, is it?

An athlete must exercise and practice, straining his muscles and training his reflexes just when he would rather be back home in bed or eating Twinkies. He undergoes discipline so he can compete and win.

When we talk about writing, we discuss the revision process. Think of yourself as a rough draft, and God as the author. He is going to make many changes in your life before you reach the final version. The Bible says he is "the author and the perfecter of our faith" and that "he will be faithful to complete the work he has started in you" (Philippians 1:6). So, think of yourself as in the revision mode!

In the novel Johnny Tremain, several things happen to test and transform Johnny: a hand injury, his relationships with others, trying to find suitable work, living in wartime, and even learning to ride a skittish horse. Even the symbolism of silver smithing reminds us of the process used to break his pride and bring him to manhood.

The poem "The Village Blacksmith" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow includes many references to the process of growing strong through adversity. First, we see the blacksmith has strong sinewy muscles, developed through the hard physical labor of swinging his sledge. Second, we see that he has endured the grief of his wife dying, yet he still faithfully worships God in church with his children. (Remember that Longfellow himself lost two wives to tragic deaths.) And third, we see the picture of iron that is forged and formed by fire and anvil. The last six lines sum it up:

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,

For the lesson thou hast taught!

Thus at the flaming forge of life

Our fortunes must be wrought;

Thus on its sounding anvil shaped

Each burning deed and thought.

The Bible, too, reminds us how suffering shapes our character:

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

I hope that these thoughts have been an encouragement to you to not only endure, but actually embrace the hard times in your life – as gifts from God for your good and his glory. Perhaps this will even help you to be patient with other people (who are in the forging process, too) as God uses them as tools to chisel away at your character.

~*~*~

One last little word of grace from Scripture...

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. " 1 Peter 1:6-7

Blessings,

Virginia Knowles

P.S. If you have kids, you may want to read a related post called Preparing Children for the Storms of Life, which I wrote a while back.

P.P.S. Here is a little more complete information about the Hebrews commentary I mentioned above, along with a blurb from the Christian Book Distributors web site.

The Message of Hebrews, The Bible Speaks Today By Raymond Brown / Inter-varsity Press Times were hard for the first readers of the letter to the Hebrews. Many had been exposed to fierce persecution. They had been assaulted, their homes plundered, and some had been cast into prison. To such people this letter came as an encouragement. The writer of the letter turns their eyes to Christ, shows how he fulfills the hope expressed in the Old Testament sacrifices, and calls his readers to a steadfast faith that will take them through the hard times they now face. Blessings, Virginia

The Greatest of These is Love

FROM MY HEART TO YOURS:

The Greatest of These is Love

by Virginia Knowles

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13

If there is one thing that every home school family needs more and more, it is LOVE. A loving mother responds with gentle words and an offer of help when a child is frustrated about a difficult lesson. She doesn't embarrass her children by comparing them against the godly genius in the support group, nor does she breed insecurity by setting them up on that wobbly old pedestal. In her home, she isn't so smitten with her position of authority that she fails to listen to her children talk about what is bugging them or what they want to do different. Instead, she has the humility to realize that sometimes she is the one who needs to change. She doesn't insist that her way is the only way. She tries to teach her children not to interrupt, but when they do, she doesn't lose her temper or act rude in return. When she feels overwhelmed, she tries to stay calm instead of snapping at people, and she refuses to nurse a grudge. When there is some sort of transgression -- and there usually is -- she deals with it quickly, because she doesn't want it to linger all day. She doesn't laugh with the child who makes a really witty but hurtful remark about a brother or a sister, yet she does smile on the one who makes an attempt -- successful or not -- at something noble and true. She wants her children to build healthy relationships with one another, so she works hard at training them, by instruction and example, to speak sweetly and serve sacrificially. She checks up on the ones playing outside with friends, to make sure they are safe -- not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually. When her child has been irresponsible or disloyal, she quickly gives him a chance to prove himself in some small thing and thus begin to regain her trust. She has a hope within her that God will work in her children's hearts to transform them in ways she cannot fathom. When she is tempted to give up, persevering love keeps her committed. When she feels that her family life is ready to wither and die, a fresh dose of divine love is what will make her bloom and flourish at home with her children.

Some would say these words are only platitudes. I certainly don't consider myself to have attained them -- not by a long shot! -- but this is what is on my heart for my family this year: to let the love of God break through our hearts and fill us with compassion for one another. Though I am far from seeing the reality of God's high standard of love, I will keep persevering, with faith and hope, until I do!

The poem "Love Through Me" from Amy Carmichael's book Toward Jerusalem, reflects my thoughts right now. (Amy was an Irish missionary to India, and founded the Dohnavur Fellowship to rescue girls from temple slavery. Though she never married nor bore children from her own womb, she was a spiritual mother to thousands!)

LOVE THROUGH ME

Love through me, Love of God

Make me like Thy clear air

Through which unhindered, colours pass

As though it were not there.

Powers of the love of God,

Depths of the heart Divine,

O Love that faileth not, break forth,

And flood this world of Thine.

Valentine's Day Unit Study

UNIT STUDIES AND MORE:

Valentine Mini Unit on Love

by Virginia Knowles

LANGUAGE ARTS

♥ Have your children find several poems that convey love and affection. Copy them into your notebook. (This is a great idea for those who are easing into a Charlotte Mason style of education.) The Book of Virtues is a great place to start.

♥ Write original poems to copy on to cards, using your very best handwriting.

♥ Write an essay about love.

♥ Write letters to family members and make sure you send them on time so they will get there on or before February 14.

♥ Practice spelling words like: love, heart, Valentine, compassion, charity, kindness, cardiology (or any word with root "cardio", which means heart), etc.

♥ How about a little educational game? Let your kids write a list of words using the letters in the phrase "Valentines Day" -- like "daily", "live", and so forth. You can't use a letter twice unless it appears in the phrase twice ("a", "e", "n"). You can't make a new word just by adding "s" to another word. This is obviously a spelling and vocabulary game, but here are some ideas to extend it into a GREAT math activity. Try writing the words in columns marked for one letter words (1 point each), two letter words (2 points each), three letter words (3 points each), on up to 8 letter words. Yes, there are at least four 8 letter words! To score, count the words in each column and multiply by the points for that length of word. Then add the column values together to get your total. (I dare you to beat my score of over 950! Let me know if you do.)

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY

♥ Find out who St. Valentine was, where he lived, what he believed, and why he died.

♥ Research the history of the Valentine's Day card and how people celebrate it around the world.

♥ In other cultures, the heart is not considered to be "the seat of emotions." It could be the kidneys or some other body part! Find out more about this! (But don't ask ME where, because I don't know! I just remember hearing about it because Bible translators have to take this into consideration when working in different places!)

SCIENCE AND HEALTH (THE HUMAN HEART)

♥ Learn about the anatomy of the human heart and how you can keep it healthy. Those of us who have had children with heart defects have learned a lot from the web about this!

♥ Study what kind of nutrition is best for the heart -- one low in saturated fats, cholesterol, etc. Plan a week's menu with heart healthy foods and talk about how cooking wholesome foods for your family is a great sign of love in action! (OK, so you can still have some chocolate on Valentine's Day!)

♥ Sign yourself or your older children up for CPR classes. These are offered by the American Heart Association, local hospitals, the fire department and other organizations. My four oldest daughters all took a combination CPR / First Aid / Babysitting class from Florida Hospital. If you already have a CPR manual, REVIEW IT RIGHT NOW!

MATH

♥ Count out candy hearts, combine groups of them to show addition, put them in rows and columns to teach multiplication, divvy them into piles to do division, and then eat them to demonstrate subtraction!

♥ Calculate how much postage you will need to mail Valentine's cards, or how much you will save by sending e-mail and web cards!

BIBLE AND CHRISTIAN CHARACTER

♥ Read 1 Corinthians 13 and answer the question, "What is love?"

♥ Look up some of these Scriptures: Matthew 5:43-46; Matthew 26:36-40; John 3:16; John 13:34-35; John 14:23-24; John 15:9-17; Romans 5:6-8; Romans 8:35-39; Romans 12:9-13; Romans 13:8-10; 1 Corinthians 8:1; Galatians 5:13-15; Ephesians 3:16-19; Ephesians 4:15-16; Philippians 2:1-4; Colossians 3:12-14; 2 Timothy 2:22; Hebrews 6:10; Hebrews 10:24; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 3:1; 1 John 3:10-20; 1 John 4:7-21 (I know this looks like a lot, but it's only a small sample of New Testament passages with the word "love" in them. You can find more if you have Bible software on your computer. You can look them up first before deciding which ones to share with your children. You could pass out little slips of paper and have your children look them up and read them aloud for the family. They could each choose some short verses to copy, too.)

♥ If you know any Christian songs about love, sing them together! There are some great ones on Steve Green's Hide 'Em in Your Heart Scripture memory song albums. Others are "Oh How He Loves You and Me" and "Oh How I Love Jesus."

♥ Talk about the different kinds of love (romance, friendly kindness & affection, and unconditional "agape" love) and when it is appropriate to show each of these.

♥ Ask your older children, "What is the best way to find a mate?" Compare how our culture views romance with what the Bible says about marriage. (See Ephesians 5:21-33, 1 Peter 3:1-10, Titus 2:3-5.)

♥ Find the lyrics of love songs -- good and bad! -- and discuss them with your children. Which lyrics you choose to discuss will depend on the maturity of your children and what they have already been exposed to. Hopefully, this will help them to learn discernment as you help them see what is wholesome and what is not!

♥ Show your children your wedding photos, and talk about how you met your mate.

CREATIVITY

♥ Make fancy valentines for relatives, friends, neighbors!

♥ Bake cookies and bring them to a shut in.

♥ Prepare a special dessert for Daddy, such as a decorated cake.

♥ Make the felt Heart Full of Love.

    If you know of any great links for Valentine activities, please leave them in a comment below!

     This unit study originally appeared in my Hope Chest e-magazine in the late 1990's.  I'm still publishing the Hope Chest every month or so, and you can subscribe by sending any e-mail to:
            hopechest-subscribe@associate.com