The rose as a symbol of God's kingdom

The rose ornament for the Jesse tree can be seen as a symbol of God's coming kingdom. In Isaiah 35, the Bible teaches that when God's kingdom and salvation comes the desert will blossom as the rose.

 ¹ The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them,
      And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;
       ² It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,
      Even with joy and singing.
      The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
      The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.
      They shall see the glory of the LORD,
      The excellency of our God.
       ³ Strengthen the weak hands,
      And make firm the feeble knees.
       ⁴ Say to those who are fearful-hearted,

      “ Be strong, do not fear!
      Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
      With the recompense of God;
      He will come and save you.”
       ⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
      And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
       ⁶ Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
      And the tongue of the dumb sing.
      For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
      And streams in the desert.
       ⁷ The parched ground shall become a pool,
      And the thirsty land springs of water;
      In the habitation of jackals, where each lay,
      There shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
       ⁸ A highway shall be there, and a road,
      And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.
      The unclean shall not pass over it,
      But it shall be for others.
      Whoever walks the road, although a fool,
      Shall not go astray.
       ⁹ No lion shall be there,
      Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it;
      It shall not be found there.
      But the redeemed shall walk there,
       ¹⁰ And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
      And come to Zion with singing,
      With everlasting joy on their heads.
      They shall obtain joy and gladness,
      And sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35, New King James Version)

What a beautiful picture of God's coming kingdom! It is fun to learn so that someday I can teach my son about these pictures of what God is doing in the world.

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The crown Jesse tree ornament

Today I started and finished the crown Jesse tree ornament. In this picture you can also see a couple of the beaded ornaments we purchased in South Africa. I love the angel in orange because it reminds me of the way African women dress!

The crown Jesse tree ornament relates to 2 Samuel 5:1-5, which speaks of David becoming king. We know that Christ fulfills God's promise that David's descendants would rule forever. Many biblical truths can come to mind when we look at this ornament. God has sent us his perfect king to rule over us forever. In our sinful nature we want to rule ourselves, but when we become Christians we choose that Christ will be Lord of our lives.

I used little beads I had left over from making other projects to represent jewels on the crown. I'm enjoying working with the soft felt, and it also seems like a child friendly fabric!

I hope that this ornament will give rise to some good teaching opportunities and discussions with Elnathan in years to come.

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Sunday at the Drews

Sunday at the Drew Patch has been happy and relaxing for the most part!

Elnathan had a ride on his Daddy's shoulders. 

Dave enjoyed one of his favourite activities, which is to water and observe the garden.

 

On the 20th of last month, the corn was tiny in comparison to what it is now . . .

After observing the growth in the corn, Elnathan turned his mind and hands to other matters . . . 

He has become quite the mango fan, and can suck a lot of fruit through his mesh feeder.

He can also hold his own cup! All these things seem remarkable to his parents as it seems like only a short while ago that he couldn't even hold his head steady!

This must be one of the happiest seasons of our lives, as we enjoy the smiles of our little person.

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Gregg Harris and Delight-Directed Study

We have been blessed to be able to borrow the "Households of Strength" teaching series by Gregg Harris. Dave and I listened to the CD "A Place of Delight-Directed Study" and appreciated its insights into home based education.

Key points

* Homeschooling is not a biblical requirement. It is what Gregg calls a "liberty garden" issue. Each person should be fully convinced in his or her own mind about what God's will is. To decide how to educate your children, you should look at the fruit of what others are doing. Ask yourself "What does the fruit look like in their liberty garden?".

* Leading children to delight in learning at home is important for all Christian families. All families can apply the principles of delight directed education.

* God calls us to delight in Him and in his works in the world. We can foster this delight through an appropriate mental hunger for good things. In order for this "hunger" to occur, we must avoid "snacking" on inappropriate mental food (e.g. trivial TV, endless pointless emails, formulaic novels). Instead, stock your home with excellent resources and get a library card!

* Appropriate companionship is vital. Foolish companionship hinders learning as children are taught that it is not cool to be excited about God and what he has done. Parents should seek out excellent mentors and companions for their children.

* There are two main questions worth asking about your child's education. How can I best foster delight in learning? How can I help my children have good companionship? After asking these questions, choose the educational setting which will facilitate these goals.

 Personal responses


* My parents are happy for us to have their piano, and we want to move it over soon so we can have musical instruments in our home. This may turn out to be a tool for delight in learning - we'll see!

* I personally want to exhibit greater delight in learning, and greater discernment about what is good.

* The fruit in some homeschooling families is not good (rebellion, discontentment, selfishness, pride). I have been asking myself what our response should be to this. If this was all we saw of homeschooling, should we reject it? This was my response for many years. Or is it a question of application? There are many ways to homeschool!

* I'll have to try out the principle of fanning the flames of intellectual hunger before having much idea of how it will work in practice.

* Our family needs to continue to seek God for good companions for us as a family. God is the one who provides helpful relationships. We are blessed in many ways, but we don't know what will come up in our years of child rearing and we need to be prayer for God's provision at every stage.

You can read more about Gregg Harris onWikipedia.

You can download Gregg Harris' seminars online.

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Happy Advent!

Dave and I can hardly wait to put up our Christmas tree each year! This year we put it up on on November 29th, four Sundays before Christmas. This is the first Sunday of Advent.

It was more fun than ever because we had a tiny person to do it with! Elnathan tried to grab everything and put it into his mouth.  Having a tiny baby gives us an extra opportunity to contemplate the miracle of God becoming man. Isn't it wonderful that God was faithful to provide us with a Saviour from our sins so that we can have eternal life! We sent some of these pictures and more to relatives overseas today, and hope they take some of our joy in Christ with them. I've also been scrapbooking our Christmas tree decorating this afternoon - fun!

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Room time

Some child training books recommend that children start having time in a playpen at an early age, and then move onto "room time" when they are toddlers. It seems that this is as much for the parents as it is for the children, so they can have a set time each day to get something personal done. The idea is that a child will stay in his or her room and play with the toys the parent has determined, for a set amount of time. You can read about it in the book Terrific Toddlers. Personally, I don't want to clutter up my small (by Australian standards) house with an ugly play pen. I may feel differently once baby can move, but right now I don't want yet another piece of baby equipment! So I've started giving Elnathan 10 - 15 mins "room time" while I shower and get ready for the day. I put on a praise music CD, get out some toys, and put a pillow behind him to make sure if he falls over he doesn't conk his head on the drawers! He plays quite happily. I can see this working (with a gate across the open doorway) when he crawls as well, because there is nothing dangerous in his room.

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Quietness of Mind and Singleness of Purpose

My mother Lorraine with her grandson Elnathan

I am blessed to have a mother who has faithfully followed Christ for many years. She is an example of godly womanhood. Those who know Mum value her steadiness, quiet spirit, deep relationship with God, constant prayer, and faithful training of her children. I asked Mum to share her advice for mothers of babies, just starting out on their journey of educating their children.  

From the time you first cuddle your baby, speak to him and nurture him, he is beginning his education as God planned it. With quietness before God and steadfastness of purpose you can bring your baby into an awareness of the fountain of life and truth, the Lord God Almighty.

Reflecting on my own experience as a mother of four children and grandmother of eight there are things which I know are vitally important.

1. Cultivate the habit of continual quietness before the Lord. This takes decisive effort- too much to do, lack of sleep and crying babies are challenging to your walk with God. I worried too much about how to look after my babies and fretted over many things instead of taking them to the Lord. My mind was constantly churning over possibilities instead of going quietly to the Lord and asking His Spirit to convict me. This anxiety is a sin. My prayers were too hurried and my mind constantly fatigued. He loves you and He gave you this baby, therefore He will direct your path. A quiet spirit trusting in God shows your baby that life has a peace which comes from the Father.
2. Read the Word of God aloud once a day as you feed your baby. He will come to love the Word as you do and it will nurture both of you. Include your baby in your daily family worship, so that it becomes a habit of life for him.
3. Sing spiritual songs as you look after your baby. Worship the Lord as you go about your chores. Your baby will come to know that the Lord is your home and that all things are under His control. You are a door opener for your child to grow in all areas- physical, mental and spiritual.
4. Decide on how you want to run your day and do not waver from the principles God gives you. You decide what is best for your baby and do not let him become demanding. From about six months onwards he must know that you decide what is best for him. Mealtimes and sleeptimes should settle into a routine which gives a rhythm to his life and helps him be more content. He has a foolish, self-centred heart and mind and must learn early to obey and accept Mum’s and Dad’s wise authority in his life.
5. Take your baby outdoors on every fine day for a short time to experience and enjoy nature, to listen to the rustle of the leaves and the happy singing of the birds- this is God’s amazing world!
6. Cultivate a loving relationship with your husband so that your baby will see love in action in the family.
7. You will sin every day and sometimes you will feel down and exhausted but you can go to the Lord and confess your sin. He loves you, He understands your situation and He will forgive you. He will also help you grow and change.
8. Look after your baby yourself and if you do need someone else occasionally to take care of him, let it be a relative who loves him and has the same vision for his life as you do. He is precious and should never be put in the care of those who do not love God and who do not have a living relationship with Him.
9. Sometimes my selfish heart would rebel – this baby seems to consume all my time and energy, but the Lord is calling each of us to sacrifice and die to self to bring up this baby to His glory and for His Name’s sake.
10. What a privilege you have!!

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