Crazy times

Well, this is going to be a fun and hectic weekend. We are going to the airport tomorrow to pick up another grandparent and then Allie will have two grandmothers to entertain and play with. She has been putting on quite a show the last couple of days with my parents here. I am not sure who is enjoying this more. The kids, the grandparents or the proud parents who get to revel in the show.
We have the time for Amelia's surgery. She has to be at the hospital early in the morning on Monday so please pray for us. We have to leave the house about 3:30 AM or so because she has to be there at 5:45 AM. Please keep us all in your prayers. The folks will be holding down the home fort here with the kids while we are down there. I will be doing a lot of shuttling back and forth probably(maybe not too much with gas prices where they are). I am preparing a sermon on the Biblical calendar. I have been writing a lot about my studies into Hebrew roots of the Christian faith at my other blog, which I recently migrated to a new address. You can check it out at http://jeofurry.wordpress.com. In the meantime, I will try and keep updates on the surgery and recovery and other family happenings.

Important Dates

It could be because of my newfound fascination with the Hebrew calendar and my new awareness of it. It could just be that we all attach ourselves to certain dates like birthdays and anniversaries and such. Maybe it is because we have a babysitter to watch the kids for a few hours on Saturday. Whatever the reason, I am looking forward to our anniversary this weekend. This will mark 12 years of marriage for Amelia and I. It isn't one of those milestone numbers(except for a baker maybe), but I am amazed at what God has done in our lives in these years. There are a lot of changes on the horizon for us as well. Please continue to pray for us as you think of us and our ministry here in the great Northland.

Homeschooling

Every once in a while, I have someone ask why we homeschool our kids. There are lots of reasons really, but here is another good one.
Under the question, what do kids do in school all day is this little tidbit

Well, several recent research studies have shown that for every 50 minute class period, only 28% of that time is spent in engaged learning. That means that for every subject in school, the students only spend about 14 minutes being taught or involved in learning activities. The rest of the time is wasted on lining up, changing classes or rooms, taking books out, putting books away, dealing with discipline issues, answering unimportant questions, handing out papers, handing out assignments, giving homework assignments, explaining what is expected, and lecturing on topics unrelated to actual academic learning.
The subjects covered in school are math, social studies, science, physical education, language arts, foreign language, health and arts. Generally, arts and physical education alternate, as do science and health. Thus, in a typical school day, the students only have 84 minutes of actual learning time, that's less than an hour and a half each day. They are gone seven hours to receive less than an hour and a half of instruction and actual learning.

I think back to my academic career in public school and this probably rings true for the most part. In fact, we prided ourselves on ways to distract and sidetrack our teachers in school.

Odds and Ends

Just a bit of catching up for those who follow our family goings on here. Things are getting ready to get really crazy. Amelia's surgery is in just two weeks and we are trying to prepare for that. We have help on the way for that time, so that is a good thing. I have registered for my first two classes for my master's degree. I can't remember if I posted that I have my Bachelor's Degree now hanging proudly on the wall. It feels good to have finished. I will admit that I wondered if it would ever happen. I have been blogging more on my other site as well. I am getting more and more energized by some new studying and insights on our Hebrew roots.
We have some flowers blooming around the house and a new patio set in the backyard that I bought for Amelia as a mother's day/anniversary present. Our anniversary is less than a week away. It will be 12 years since our wedding day. 12 years, three kids, countless moves and three states later, we are excited at all that God has done in our lives. Thank you to all of you who read here and have contributed to our lives and ministry. We are so blessed.

Springtime

Well, it is springtime and some days it actually feels springlike here. On Sunday, we had a picnic/cookout at the home of one of our deacon's family to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. It was a lot of fun. The sun was shining and it was in the 50s. Felt warmer to me with the sun shining. Actually, we all ended up a little bit pink from the time spent in the sun with no sunscreen. The kids loved running around playing in the yard there. One of the familys brought some lawn games and they played Bocce and then later Croquet. It was fun watching the kids play croquet. It reminded me of playing it as a kid. I don't know if that old croquet set is still in the basement at mom and dad's house or not. It may be missing a few parts if it is. It was a lot of fun though. We are preparing for a busy summer. It is hard to believe that May is already almost half over.
I got me degree from Liberty in the mail yesterday. It feels a little more real now that I have it in my hands. It is hard to believe that I finally did it.
Please pray for us as the next few weeks will be very hectic and crazy. I am trying to sell my scooter since I really don't need it anymore. Please pray that it sells here. I listed it online as well, but that would be a bit of a hassle to do I think. There have been a couple of people who have asked about it here so I hope that pans out.

Picture Time

I need to catch up the blog with a few pictures. It is hard to keep up sometimes. I always seem to be doing something all the time. I know I am not the busiest person. I know this for a fact because I know busier people. Even still, time does get away from us all. Here are some pictures.

This is game time at AWANA. You will recognize Jonathan in the line. The young girl looking at the camera with her arms crossed is one of the girls in Amelia's class. She is the girl that prayed to receive Christ as her Lord and Saviour earlier in the year.

This is a picture of Bro. Mike the day we went to Canada for a brief whirlwind sightseeing tour. He is standing at the border marker directly north of here.

I thought Dad would like to know how to take a picture where you can see the squirrel. Amelia took this one for us. She might be willing to give lessons when you come to visit next.

This is the cake that Amelia made this weekend for our church potluck. She loves to be creative and the idea of making a piano cake was simply too good for her to pass up.

AWANA

Well, my first year of work with AWANA has come to a close. It was a good year. I am still amazed at how many lives are affected by this program. We have seen several young people make decisions for Christ this past year. The program tonight went really well. I know the kids enjoyed the slideshow DVD. The young lady that put it together has a real gift for working with photos and media. I know how much work goes into those things and I am just impressed with the great job that she did. This month will be kind of a lull in the action before the summer schedule jumps into full swing. Kind of the calm before the storm if you will. Be praying for us as we jump into summer. We have a lot on our plate. In the meantime, we are continuing Thursday night Bible study as well. Right now I am taking the group through the Way of the Master foundation course. Last week, I gave out some of the million dollar icebreaker tracts to those that were there. It was a lot of fun.