The Quilt of Life: Zealous Attempt to Catch Up and a Zip Line

Sonlight! We are all over the place, working off of weeks 5 and 6 schedules this week - Antarctica and Japan for the most part.

Alexis had been sick again this past week with a bad cold, and we also had a field trip that took the entire day Friday. My goal for next week is to try and get her back to the normal SL schedule – whichever week that turns out to be…

Math is getting a little harder, so she is slowing down a bit with it. I am still happy we are only using SL Language Arts. I have not yet felt the need to use our additional LA resources (Rod and Staff) that I had purchased at a used curriculum sale, "just in case." Science is going well too. I’m glad we are using Dinah Zikes Great Science Adventures to go with Sonlight’s Core 5 science books. It is a good fit for us.

Last week I mentioned that I had started watching "Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey" from Netflix. Alexis thankfully was not interested in watching it, so I viewed it on my own. It took forever for me to carve the time out of my life to finish seeing this, as it is 290 minutes in length, (that is just Part 1,) but I was able to take some time yesterday evening to view the rest of the documentary.

Alexis not wanting to see this dvd truly ended up being a God thing. There were some – let’s just say, bare scenes. That was not something I wanted her to view, but believe it or not, the nudity is not what disturbed me the most. What was hard/painful for me to process was to see how unreached many of these islanders were, and I am certain, still are. The brothers who produced this film spent a decade island hopping through the Indonesia's chain of volcanic islands, and embracing the religious cultures they filmed along the way. I was stunned to witness the evil forces present in these areas. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such raw emotion about a cultural presentation before. It has given me a new found respect and perspective for missionaries who spend their lives working to communicate the Truth of Jesus to people who seem so lost. I am in awe of what they are willing to do for His kingdom, as it is clear to see that they may face unadulterated evil in the most grievous sense. There is one particular religion represented in the film that presents itself to today’s Americans as a religion that pursues peace and focus. After watching this film, (again, from the perspective of men who embracing the culture,) I can truly say that this particular doctrine (calling it a religion now bothers me) is anything but peaceful to the soul, and although they may become focused, that focus is in no way harmless. I was shocked to witnessed the demonic forces behind this belief. I am glad I watched it, and probably will see the 2nd dvd – later. I need time to digest this hard content more before I do. I will not allow Alexis to view it. At least not for another 5 years or so…

In addition to school, we had our 3rd week of co-op. Alexis is having fun with that, and will miss it when we take a break. It is nice to visit with many of the moms there. Some I only get to see while co-op’s are in session.

Keeper’s is going well too. Another mom has taken over setting up the badge schedule for moms and girls. I am slowly backing out of my leadership responsibility there, as my Home Educators group leadership responsibility has increased somewhat. The girls are working on their scrap-booking badge. Alexis has done this before, but it was a little different. The first time around, the girls focused on their photo and decoration presentation. This time the emphasis is on journaling.

We had a great field trip experience last week. Alexis said it was her favorite field trip ever! It was fun, and unexpectedly, I participated too! (One of the families who had signed up did not go, so there was an extra mom ticket.)

Originally I planned to sign up to go too, but the mom in charge of the field trip sent this You Tube Video of what the field trip experience would be like before I registered, so I chickened out and did not add my name to the list. After we got there, I regained my confidence in tree climbing and went for it. We had a blast!!! The video is only Course #1. Our trip included the 2nd course, which was higher in the trees, and a more challenging course with an extra zip line.