Just Sharing…
Okay, I admit it. I have a soft spot for kids’ music.
As much as I love the classical stuff (particularly works of the Baroque period, chamber music, and 16th century motets), there are some excellent musicians who make quality music for children, as opposed to regurgitating tired tunes with trite new lyrics, or write simple melodies embellished with synthetic instruments.
One of Jacob’s favorites is “Pop Fly” by the talented Justin Roberts. Not only is the song about baseball, it’s just a cool song. Listen:
School’s in Session
Today was the first “official” day of the 2008-2009 school year for Jacob and I. I say official because we school all through the summer – somewhat inconsistantly, an hour here, a math drill sheet there, fieldtrips, educational games, nature walks, and reading galore – but the last week in August is our “drag out all the books and start keeping records for the school district” start.
All in all, it was a good day. Jacob’s penmanship wasn’t nearly as atrocious as I feared it would be from several months of little practice, and he declared, “I love doing fractions and multiplication and word problems – not just boring fact sheets.” He also didn’t even realize we did history (his most hated subject), as the reading was so engrossing, he simply thought it a fun story. Of course, he begged to do science, and promptly pulled out his 501 Science Experiments book and mixed sugar, flour, and salt into glasses of water to see in which one an egg floated. He then proceeded to flood the counter and floor with water, pepper, and dish detergent when another experiment went awry. Ah, science!
The best part of school, however, was Jacob’s discovery of a caterpillar. He came darting into the house, the screenless screen door banging behind him, and rummaged through the pantry for a cup to catch the fuzzy beast. “You know how much I love nature,” he shouted as he banged back outside, returning moments later with a caterpillar not more than an inch long. We filled the little “critter house” I keep for such occasions with leaves and mulch and sticks, and went online to find out who our little friend was. Turns out he’s a Milkweed Tussock, and given the fact that we have no milkweed or dogbane anywhere in our yard – or any of the other yards around us – he surely would have starved to death if Jacob hadn’t found him (and I’m still quite curious to know how he ended up under our crab apple tree).
So, we clamored into the car and drove to a place I knew had milkweed - the garden at my mother’s boutique – and picked a plant for our caterpillar. He’s busy chomping away, and we’re hoping to raise him until he metamorphosizes into a Milkweed Tiger Moth.
Now, that’s education.
Simply In Season
We plant a garden every spring, and this year the our vegetable basket is overflowing with zucchini and tomatoes. Our summer has been cool and rainy, though, and the rest of our veggies have suffered – a few eggplant and green peppers, a handful of green beans, three cucumbers (much to Jacob’s disappointment, as they are his favorite), a few sweet peas. It doesn’t matter; there’s at least one farmer’s market every day of the week, in some town bordering our own. And every few miles there is a little family farm stand, in driveways, and parking lots, and on front lawns, many of them on the “honor system” – a scale and price list and money box left unattended most of the day. I’m blessed to have such abundance around us, and my family strives to eat locally and seasonally as much as we can.
Easy in the summer.
Not so easy in the winter.
This year, however, a dear friend sent me canning supplies, and I’m working on preserving the local harvest. I’ve also been finding many things to do with zucchini – bread, cookies, quiche, soup, even slicing the squash for lasagna noodles – and freezing them. Reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (another thoughtful gift from the same friend) has given me a new appreciation for supporting area farmers, something I’ve always tried to do but now am being more purposeful about.
When I was at the International Christian Retailers Show in Orlando, I passed the small booth of a Mennonite publisher, Herald Press. A brightly-colored book had caught my eye - Simply In Season Children’s Cookbook. Since Jacob loves to cook, I ordered it, and he’s had great fun picking fresh mint from our herb garden to make Orange Minty, and chopping his tomatoes for veggie kabobs. He takes his green wire basket to the garden each morning, then leafs through the cookbook to find a recipe that uses that day’s bounty. It gives him a sense of responsibility for the meals he eats, and also helps him understand the hard work that goes into producing food; it doesn’t just walk into the grocery store.
Other cookbooks in Herald Press’ World Community line (I have all three and use them several times a week):
Simply in Season – the adult counterpart to the children’s cookbook I wrote about above; recipes are divided into seasonally-available produce.
More-with-Less – many of these nutritious recipes come from missionaries who often need to do what the title says, stretch the food they have.
Extending the Table – international recipes calling readers to reduce their consumption and share resources with those around them.
Know a Hip, Young Seeker?
Vintage Jesus is the book for them, explaining the basic beliefs of the Christian faith in a modern, culturally-relevant way.
When I was in Orlando at the International Christian Booksellers Convention, I received a free copy of this book. On of the authors, Mark Driscoll, was there signing; I spoke to him for a few moments and moved on, but not before commenting on the great cover of this book. It is attention-grabbing – from the title, to the dust jacket, to the montage of Jesus imagery on the hard cover – but the content is solidly orthodox.
Pastor Mark Driscoll’s name has been attached to the emergent/emerging church, but in recent years he has moved away from many of the “conversations” within the movement. From Driscoll’s blog:
In the mid-1990s I was part of what is now known as the Emerging Church and spent some time traveling the country to speak on the emerging church in the emerging culture on a team put together by Leadership Network called the Young Leader Network. But, I eventually had to distance myself from the Emergent stream of the network because friends like Brian McLaren and Doug Pagitt began pushing a theological agenda that greatly troubled me. Examples include referring to God as a chick, questioning God’s sovereignty over and knowledge of the future, denial of the substitutionary atonement at the cross, a low view of Scripture, and denial of hell which is one hell of a mistake.
Since that time I have frankly not known what my place is in the greater church. I am part of no denomination and in a city where the evangelical heterosexual male pastors could have a meeting in a phone booth. Theologically I am an old school Bible-thumper, and culturally I am a progressive because my heart burns for the church to be an effective missionary to the culture for the gospel.
Driscoll founded Mars Hill Church in Seattle, and his Acts 29 Church Planting Network has a church not far from me in Troy, NY called Terra Nova. Reading the doctrinal statement of Acts 29 will make it clear that Driscoll is grounded in a traditional, Reformed-leaning theology, and that is where Vintage Jesus stands. There are chapters explaining each of the basic Christian tenets – the Trinity, the Virgin Birth, the Cross – and a “frequently asked questions” segment after each topic. Some may find a bit of Driscoll’s culturally-engaging commentary irreverent (I didn’t), but for a Gen Xer or Yer who might be put off by either a more academic or an overly-simplified read, this book is an excellent introduction to Christianity.
Voice of the Martyrs Action Pack Update
I wanted to take a moment to update last month’s Second Tuesday post about the Voice of the Martyrs Action Packs.
Because of a recent hacker attack on the Voice of the Martyrs’ Web site, several of the links in this post have been changed. I’ve updated what I could, and removed others while the VOM site is being revamped and strengthened. Please pray for VOM as it does this work.
Also, the Iraq action pack program is up and running. Items needed are no longer listed on the site, but will be included when you order the vacuum bag.
