Giveaway Alert!

There's a giveaway at a fantastic homeschooling blog that I found. The giveaway is for the Itty-Bitty Bookworm curriculum. That's right, an entire curriculum. This is literary activity curriculum for kids ages 18 months- 5 years. I'm so excited to know about it! Head on over to http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/ to see examples of the lesson plans and to enter yourself a chance to win it.

For every Sister out there

Someone in my homeschooling group sent this to everyone and I just had to share it with you all. So beautiful and inspiring.

Just gotta do it....

I feel this is the only way to positively express my outrage at the whole situation with HBO.

The strep runneth over

We are now in the 4th round of strep throat for the season and the Tank has just become our 4th victim. I was the first one to catch it this time, then Tweedledee and Tweedledum. I really hope the Bug doesn't catch it. The Tank has been the most pitiful.

On the upside I am loving my new grocery shopping system! Everyone has to go over to www.theobsessiveshopper.net and check out everything she has. I got boxes of Fiber One bars for 50 cents each! And I'm going to go stock up on my favorite shampoo (Herbal Essences) at Rite-Aid for $1 a bottle. I know, I really have got to pare down my expensive tastes.....

Another high note, I found someone to help me get my house in order (literally). I've never been a great housekeeper but lately it's gotten really out of control. Tom, I apologize profusely again. I'm convinced that I could get rid of half the stuff in our house and everyone would function just fine. We start pitching next Wednesday and I hope to post the progress as it is made. I hope everyone else has a great week!

Not my best work ever...

But it was better than a zero.

For this week, write about a half-page each (no more than one page total) on the books of Daniel and Esther. You will need to answer how each book helps to shape Israel’s life and faith, especially given the difficulties they are facing. Why does Esther not mention God? Why is Daniel located in the writings rather than in the prophets? Include some reasons why you think each book is important and its reason for being included in the Scriptures.

I think that the difficulties facing Esther and Daniel were essential for the Israelites to continue in their faith throughout their trials at the hand of those who reigned over them. Both the stories of Daniel in the lion's den and Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego being cast into the furnace show the power of God to those who believe in him doubtlessly. To have continued faith when faced with a den of hungry lions or being burned alive, shows remarkable encouragement and puts the daily trials for someone else into a different perspective. I think that Daniel is included in the scriptures to show the Israelites that God does not forget any of his children. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were most likely seen as ordinary men, yet God protected them when they showed absolute faith in Him.

I think that Daniel is included in the writings, and not with the prophets, because the stories it tells are not foretelling of the future. They don't predict a great destruction that will take place if the people don't listen to what Daniel has to say. They are stories of faith and absolute obedience to the Lord. I can speak from personal experience that following dietary guidelines is easy when you are with peers of the same belief. But when you are the minority and must withstand pressures to forego what you believe to be right, it is much harder to stand your ground. I was never faced with imminent death, but it can seem that way when you are a teenager.

The story of Esther shows the Israelites that God rewards those that do not deny their faith, even when faced with death. Not everyone who refuses to deny their religion may be saved from physical death in this life, but they will most certainly be saved from a spiritual death if they have a pure heart with real intent. Esther had to survive a physical death so that she would succeed in saving the numerous lives of those, her people.

I think that the story of Esther is important because it shows loyalty to one's faith and God. I think that Esther's belief is so implied by her actions that deliberate mentioning was not necessary. The story talks about her being a Jew because those are "her people" that she must save. Esther's story shows courage when the easy thing would have been for her to keep silent and not risk her own life. She was rewarded for her courage by not only saving the lives of her fellow Jews, but her own life was spared by the king.

Job

The book of Job is the only book in the Hebrew Scriptures where the main character is not a patriarch or an Israelite. Briefly summarize the book of Job, noting the main ideas it contains. Then state why you believe it is included in the Scriptures, despite Job not seemingly being a part of Israel. What value does it add to the Hebrew canon? Would there be a “hole” without it?

Job was a man who was described as "perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil." He was perfectly faithful to God and had everything that would define wealth at that time, a wife, children, animals, land and friends. Satan wants to make a wager with the Lord that Job is only so faithful because of all the goodness he has in his life. God agrees to test Job and let him become subject to the Adversary. Job loses everything but his wife. His children and animals die, his body becomes covered in boils and his friends forsake him. But in all that happens to him, he never loses his faith in God. He never blames God and turns away from Him.

I believe the story of Job is included in the scriptures because of the hope and reassurance it gives to its readers. Even though Job does not seem to be a part of Israel, he still shows his faith in God. In the case of Job, God really had become silent but we know that in our darkest hours we are not alone. We always have God there, waiting for us to talk to Him and ask for His help.

I believe there would be a "hole" without the story of Job. In no other story in the Bible does a person lose everything, through no fault of his own, and not curse God. Job's losses were not the result of bad choices that he had made. He was tested because of his goodness and love for the Lord. What other story teaches us of the faith that we are capable of even when we have been afflicted physically, spiritually, psychologically and temporally?

The value that the story of Job adds to the Hebrew canon is equal to the value of the story of Adam and Eve. The book of Job not mentioning Abraham or Moses does not reduce the value of its message. The lessons we can learn from Job's trials are just as essential as those we learn from the prophets, if not more so. The story of Job shows us a man who does not have any prestige in the government or as a leader of the people. He is a common person who is living the way he was taught, most likely by his parents and other family members.

Jonah essay

Pick one of the minor prophets (or two if there is not enough information in one), and write a page summarizing the prophet’s message. Include his target audience, date of composition, and, if possible, where the prophet lived. Include in your paper if the prophet’s message was personally meaningful and how.

One of the most well-known stories of the Old Testament is that of Jonah. In addition to having his own book in the Old Testament, he is mentioned previously in the second book of Kings. In chapter 14, verse 25 reads that the king of Israel, Jeroboam II '….restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath unto the sea of Arabah, according to the work of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was of Gath-hepher.' Gath-hepher was located in the tribe of Zebulun according to Joshua 19: 10-13. According to monastic tradition of area, this town is now El-Meshed, a present Arab village which is located three miles northeast of Nazareth. Because Jonah is mentioned at the time of Jeroboam II we can place his lifetime at 788 B.C.

Jonah is commanded by God to go and preach repentance to the people of Nineveh, which was a great city in Assyria. Jonah was not surprised by the fact that he had received a call from God, but in where he was to go. Jonah was a Hebrew and the inhabitants of Nineveh were Gentiles so for Jonah to be sent to the heathen enemy and give them a chance for repentance went against everything that Jonah had been taught of his people. The thought that everyone was given a chance to repent, and not just those who were God's chosen people, was shocking for him and very difficult for him to follow.

Jonah boards a ship bound for Tarshish, which was in the opposite direction of Nineveh. God sends a great storm, threatening the ship and every life on it, and Jonah offers himself to be thrown overboard because he knows that he is the reason for the storm. The other men on the ship plead with Jonah for any other answer before finally giving in to him. Even after they do so, they plead with the Lord to forgive them for what they view as the shedding of innocent blood. Jonah is swallowed by a whale and sits in its belly for three days. Jonah offers a sincere and meaningful prayer of repentance to God and vows that he will fulfill the mission that had been given to him. The whale is directed by God to expel Jonah onto the dry land.

Jonah enters Nineveh and cries repentance to them, proclaiming that in 40 days time that they will be destroyed if they do not change their wicked ways. Everyone in Nineveh believes Jonah and repents, dressing themselves in sackcloth and ashes to show their humility. Jonah is furious that God has forgiven them their trespasses, not understanding God's love for all of His children. God provides a gourd for Jonah to give shelter from the sun and heat of the desert. During the night God causes a worm to enter the gourd, destroying it and creating pity for the gourd from Jonah. God then asks Jonah how he can have pity for a plant whose creation he had no part in, but none for thousands of God's children who had never been taught right from wrong.

The lesson to be learned from Jonah is that our charge is to be humble and charitable to all of God's children. Regardless of their knowledge of Him or not.