What a Week!

Zoey and her friend is a rare moment of quiet during a long afternoon of play.

This has been a week-- a crazy week. We have been fighting sickness, while beginning preschool, and helping out some friends too. I feel exhausted and ready to sleep for an entire day. However, I will instead take a sip of hot tea and try to make sense of this erratic week.

Preschool is going well. Zoey is enthusiastic about it and I am having a blast watching her learn. This week we were distracted by a cold that has now reached the entire family, but we still learned some fun things. We covered the letter "A" and colored lots of alligators. Zoey also pointed to and named many other words that started with "A." We also began some pre-writing sheets to help her get control over her marks to eventually begin to write letters. She does really well with this, but I am having trouble getting her to hold her pencil correctly. We also focused on the bible story of creation. She liked the part where God created the fish and birds and then when he created all the animals.

Thankfully, none of us got really sick. It was simply that head cold, stuffy nose, I don't want to do anything but sit here sick. I think I am getting it last so hopefully we will all be back to our silly selves by next week.

I read two books this week. Unfortunately I wouldn't recommend either of them to you. The first book was "Fallen in Love" by Lauren Kate (book 3.5 in the Fallen series.) I love the series, but this particular book was a collection of stories for each character. I thought it was lacking and unneeded. I am looking forward to reading the last book in the saga though, "Rapture." The second book I read was "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James. I have no idea what the hype was about. I didn't like it. It is horribly written and the story is lacking at best. You can read my review of it on "Goodreads."

Love Like Jesus

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Jesus is love. I believe most Christians can agree on that. He represents love in the most real sense. Not only did he protray the best of humanity's capability of love on earth, but he also depicts God the Father's unlimited, merciful love. Jesus loves believers as much as non-believers. He loves saints as much as sinners. He has the capacity to over power any temptation or sin with love.

As Christians, we are to walk in Jesus' footsteps, to strive to be more like the perfect example God sent to us.

"For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps" 1 Peter 2:21.

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So why do we refuse to love others as Jesus does?

It seems like such an easy thing, to love. Most of the time we have no problem loving our family, our kids, perhaps loving a friend that we like to spend time with. But what about loving those we don't get along with. What about loving that co-worker who gives us a hard time, or the acquaintance who always tries to be better than you, or the one who doesn't share you opinion on any matter. Let's take it one step more. What about loving those people who steal, who have abortions or who live a way different from yours. All of a sudden it isn't so easy to love is it?

But Jesus did.

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Jesus loved sinners because they were still God's creation. He loved prostitutes, he dined with thieves and he even anointed a tax collector as a disciple.

"But God showed his great love to us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners" Romans 5:8.

Inviting a thief to dinner does not mean I will begin to steal. Hugging a prostitute does not mean I will begin to work the streets. Doing these things does not even mean I condone the behavior--which I don't. However, it does mean I put my judgment in God's hands and continue to love the person behind the sin as Jesus did.

"Do not judge other, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. And why worry about a speck in  your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, 'Let me help yo get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye." Matthew 7:1-5

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In my devotional series "Beautiful Battle," I am exploring the idea of spiritual battle. Mary DeMuth states my opinion splendidly in her novel which my series is based on...

"And we give sin more power when we name it, focus on it, and forget about Jesus' power to overcome it" (DeMuth p53, "Beautiful Battle.")

Jesus is the one who resisted all temptation from Satan. Jesus is the one who sacrificed himself, the perfect lamb to cover the sins of all humanity. Jesus is the one who went to the grave and rose again to strip all authority away from Satan and doom him to the fiery lakes. Jesus has the power to overcome sin. By focusing on the Savior the details Satan holds so dear falls away. The cycle of judging others is one of Satan's many tricks to come between us and the outstanding power and love of Jesus.

"For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. For the Scriptures say, "God has put all things under his authority"...Then, when all things are under his authority, the Son will put himself under God's authority, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere." 1 Corinthians 15:24-28

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It is not always easy to love. It is difficult to look beyond the hurt someone has bestowed on you. It is complicated to look beyond someone's life choices to relate to the soul. It is challenging to relate to someone  who is completely different than you. However, that is our call. We are summoned to forgive sins, to counsel and reassure, to teach and comfort. Above all we are meant to love, as strongly and openly as Jesus did.

"I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of your more than he hurt me. Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough. Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him." 2 Corinthians 2:5-8.

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This is not an easy charge. We are not perfect. As humans, we falter, we sin, we fall short of the glory of God. The beauty is, Jesus is right there picking us up, brushing us off, forgiving our sins and sometimes literally carrying us forward. Love is a powerful thing. It is so strong that it can lift someone up and tear someone down at the same time. To love one that the world tells you to hate is hard. Jesus shows us the way, he whispers inspiration and strength into our hearts. All we have to do if focus on him and let Satan and  the outside world fade away. All we have to do is love like Jesus. It is as simple and as difficult as that.

"A new command I give you! Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34.

Wordless Wednesday: Bug Eyes *Linky*

Bug Eyes

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Too Much (Forgotten Poetry)

As I was organizing and going through some old piles (finally!) I came across this poem I wrote...

Too Much

Sometimes I'm mad,

but I love too much to hate.

Sometimes I'm tired,

but not in a way that needs sleep.

Sometimes I'm sick,

but nothing medicine can heal.

Sometimes I'm busy,

but have nothing to do.

What do you do,

when you don't know what to do?

Where do you go,
when you want to be in a crowd alone?

How do you manage,

when you don't even know the words?

When do you say,

I am me again?

Amanda McCusker

5-30-10

The funny thing about writing is that many of the issues you deal with come back around again. I could have written this poem today and it mean the same thing. I feel all of these emotions right now. 

May of 2010 was the year after Zoey was born. I'm sure I was dealing with a bit of cabin fever since that was my first year staying home with Zoey. She wasn't even a year old yet (about 9 months old) so I'm sure I was dealing with her transitions. Thankfully, she would have been already sleeping through the night. However, I remember not being able to sleep very well for a few months even after Zoey began sleeping all night in her own room. 

These are just guesses, I'm not one hundred percent sure what I was dealing with at that moment of my life. The important thing is -- I got through it. The fact that I can't recall the details behind this poem prove that I was able to work through what ever was troubling me triumphant.

Finding this poem is a sign. It shows me that I have been down this road before. I know I have strengthened in spirit, trust, love and knowledge of Jesus. I didn't have any doubts, but it proves that I will be victorious in my spiritual battles. 

Getting Ready for Homeschool!

I am so excited about doing homeschool preschool with Zoey. She is excited too. She looks at the shelves where all of the activities and supplies are set up and says, "For preschool."

Next week begins homeschool for us. I love the flexible schedule. This week is a major prep week for us. Zoey is having a birthday party for all of her friends (and ours) in the area on Saturday. Which she is also very excited about. Then preschool will begin the next Monday. I have a lot to get done.

Zoey drawing on the table we will use for homeschooling most of the time.

There are still many details I have to prepare for our homeschool, but I have the major look down. I have a shelf (a re-purposed baker's rack) that holds the majority of our school supplies including our workbooks and some crafts. She has a pencil box for pencils and one for crayons. We also have buckets for markers, glue/scissors and stamps. All of the other crafts supplies, including paints, are tucked away in the buckets. I have my workbooks and lesson plans at the ready as well as lots of extra paper and construction paper for spontaneous creations.

The table set up of our homeschool station. Everything at our fingertips!

I am still working on getting the morning planner set up, but I do have the weather board up. I will add a calender and a countdown at least. It will be where we start our day to discuss what we are going to do that day. I also have a large whiteboard that will be part of this activity that I have to add hangers to so I can add it as well.

A baker's rack transformed into a house for school
supplies. All our crafts are in the buckets.

The biggest project I need to work on, besides continuing my lesson plans past the first week or two, is setting up the crafts before the lesson. I know most traditional teachers have to do this step to accommodate many children in a class. I'm sure most homeschooling parents also have this set up easily. For some reason, this is one of my weak points. I have all the materials prepared and even the worksheets, but getting the necessary crafts set aside ahead of time is something I am going to have to focus on.

The weather chart to begin our morning planner.
The rest will be added this week.

Our homeschool preschool includes all of these wonderfully made plans and projects. But I believe one of the most important things we can teach our children is about how we live. Our "schooling" won't just be at a table. I plan to adventure outside, encourage Zoey to cook, clean and play with me. We also add a lot of multimedia to our day, including educational TV and even video games. These are wonderful ways to learn that Zoey already loves. We will also add a biblical portion to our homeschooling. We will read and study stories from the bible and learn how to include those lessons into life.

Learning goes beyond the school room and includes all of life and play.

I am very excited for our homeschool preschool. I can't wait to begin and see what all we can accomplish this year. Zoey is also very excited. She is the reason I began this endeavor in the first place. She has a true love for learning. I wanted to harness that in a focused as well as play environment. I hope to keep that love of learning alive forever really. I still have that itch to learn and grow, which is why I am so excited about homeschool as well. It will be a wonderful adventure for both of us!