Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Why Did Jesus Weep?
I have realized over the years, however, that this short verse also carries huge significance. Those two little words have puzzled people over the generations. Jesus wept. Why did He weep?
The context of the story is that Jesus just found out that His good friend Lazarus had died. Lazarus's sisters had sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick, undoubtedly hoping that after He had healed all manner of the dregs of society over the past months, He would certainly rush to heal His good friend. I mean, there should be some perks to being good friends with the greatest Healer of all time, shouldn't there? Jesus, however, stayed where He was for two more days, and by the time He got around to heading to their home in Bethany, Lazarus had died. This part Jesus later explained to His disciples. He waited so that God could be glorified when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in a foreshadowing of His own resurrection.
What I don't get is why did Jesus weep? It was His plan to wait until Lazarus died before He went to him. He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Why was He sad when He knew that He could and would resurrect His friend? Some people have suggested that He wept because He was sympathetic to the grief of Lazarus's sisters, His good friends Mary and Martha. Maybe that was part of it, but I don't buy it. If I could raise people from the dead and was on my way to resurrect my grandmother, and on the way I ran into my cousin who was crying, I wouldn't stop and cry with her. I'd say, "Hey, don't cry, I'm going to raise Grandma from the dead, and everything will be fine!" Why didn't Jesus just say, "Hey, Mary and Martha, don't cry, I've got it under control?" That's basically what He did in Luke 8:52, when He raised Jairus's daughter. So maybe some of it had to do with the fact that in His human life, He was very good friends with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Others have suggested that Jesus wept merely to let us know that it is OK to grieve as humans. Maybe that was part of it. But I think there is more.
I think Jesus wept because Death is not natural. We've all been taught that it is. Death is a natural part of life. Everyone dies someday. The only things we can be sure of are Death and Taxes. The truth is, we only think Death is natural because it has happened to almost everyone in the past 6,000 years. But it wasn't part of God's original plan. God did not create people to die. He created us to live forever with Him. Death came to the first man and every one since (except for a few exceptions like Elijah and Enoch - yeah, I think they are the only ones) as a result of sin entering the world. It is a punishment that we brought on ourselves, one about which God warned us and which He allows us to suffer, but not one that He wanted. It was not part of His original perfect plan. And so when Jesus encountered it as a human, He wept. He wept because it made Him sad that people had to die, He was sad for the other people who were affected, and He was sad that He would have to undergo it Himself in order to pay the punishment for our sins. It is a horrible separation from God and from our loved ones that truly made Him sad, just as it makes us sad, even though He knew that He had power over it and would eventually conquer it.
My grandmother died this morning. She was 90 years old. She was a lovely, strong woman. She lived a good, long life, and there is nothing for us to regret. We know she is in a better place. So why are we so sad? Because we miss her - that's part of it, of course. Our grief is more for ourselves than it is for her. But we also grieve because Death is, by its nature, sad, and it causes grief. We long for the Day when it will have power over us no more. We long for the Grave Robber to come like a thief in the night, when Death will finally die.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory." I Corinthians 15:54 NIV
There's a step that we all have to take alone
An appointment we have with the great unknown
Like a vapor this life is just waiting to pass
Like the flowers that fade, like the withering grass
But life seems so long and death so complete
And the grave an impossible portion to cheat
But there's One who has been there and still lives to tell
There is One who has been through both heaven and hell
And the grave will come up empty-handed that day
Jesus will come and steal us away
Where is the sting, tell me where is the bite?
When the grave robber comes like a thief in the night
Where is the victory, where is the prize?
When the grave robber comes and death finally dies.
--Grave Robber by PETRA
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Radio Interview for Amazing Animals by Design
The radio interview for my first published book, Amazing Animals by Design, went great. The kids got to come into the studio with me, and they each got their own microphone. When I told the talk show host, Ben Ball, that one of my daughters wants to be a talk show host some day, he gave her a chance to ask me some questions on the show. Living out the dream at 8-years-old!
Friday, March 9, 2012
"Snack Attack" by Dandelion Dust Designs
Almost midnight and I feel that snack attack coming on - oh, but let's not scrap THOSE pictures! We'll scrap the ones of the kids!!
The "Snack Attack" kit by Dandelion Dust Designs is perfect for scrapping your snacks, picnics, BBQs, and cravings! Available exclusively at ScrapDelicious.
Grab your free QPs from Mediafire by clicking on the images below! PU only.
Happy Snacking, I mean, Scrapping!
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the "Snack Attack" kit in exchange for layouts.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
TOS Review: K5 Learning
The past several weeks, we have been given the opportunity to review K5 Learning. K5 Learning, found at http://www.k5learning.com/, is an online supplemental study program for kids in kindergarten to grade 5, to build reading, math and study skills. It can be used as a homeschool supplement or as an after-school program.
There were pros and cons to the K5 Learning program. I tried to use it with both my 3rd-grade daughter and my 1st-grade son. The program starts with an optional assessment test in both math and reading to see where your children would best be placed in the program. I wanted to do the assessments because since we often work with homeschool materials from different grade levels, I wanted to see where my students would best fit into this particular program. I started with the reading and math assessments for my daughter, and they did not go well. The program lost her work several times so that she had to start over. I contacted the company and was assured that the program had gone through extensive use and testing and should not have malfunctioned, so my daughter must have taken a long break without saving her work or must have done something else that caused the problem. After my daughter had taken the test 3 times and was becoming very frustrated, I finally just took it myself. The program lost my information as well. After several attempts, I was able to convince the company that the problem was on their end, and they started a new account for me, transferring my children's information over. After that, things worked fine, and I appreciated the customer service I received at that point, but I felt like it was a long time coming and that I really had to argue to get help. My daughter was quite frustrated with the program and did not want to do it any more, so I used it with my first grade son.
The assessments went fine with my son and probably placed him at a level that was slightly too easy for him, but that is fine because it is not a problem to move him up, and he could always use some review. The program contains lessons in math, math facts, reading, spelling, and vocabulary. The lessons are material-based, not game-based, so they are good for someone who really just wants to drill the facts and not waste a lot of time on games. They do, however, contain fun colors, sounds, and graphics, so they are able to hold my son's attention and appear "fun." There were a few isolated things I did not like. One was that when he started the math lessons, the character on the screen introduced herself in Spanish ("Hola. Me llamo ____.") My children are learning Spanish and I suppose that could be a good way to reinforce the lessons, but I try to keep Spanish separate from their other subjects so that they do not get Spanish and English words and grammar mixed up. I prefer not to have something introduced in Spanish unless the entire lesson is in Spanish. Another problem was in the vocabulary words. You can press a "hear word" button to hear the pronunciation of the word, but the pronunciation is often so fast that it is difficult to understand. One word was "the first note in the diatonic music scale. . . equivalent to the tone C." The screen shot is below. The answer, of course, is "Do," pronounced with a long "o." When I pressed the "hear word" button, however, the computer voice pronounced the word "do" that sounds the same as "doo," as in, "I DO like your hair." This was just incorrect and misleading to the student.
K5 Learning is designed for Kindergarten through 5th graders. If you are interested, I would recommend getting the free assessment for your student and then trying the 14-day free trial. If you do like it and wish to continue, pricing is as follows:
Pricing
Monthly Subscription
First Child.......................$25
Additional Children..........$15
Annual Subscription
First Child.......................$199
Additional Children..........$129
To see what other TOS Reviewers thought of K5 Learning, click here.
Disclaimer: I received a free subscription to K5 Learning for the purpose of a fair review. No other compensation was received, and all opinions are my own.
Friday, March 2, 2012
TOS Review: Reading Eggs
The Reading Eggs website is a fantastic place for kids ages 4-7 to learn and practice phonics skills and reading lessons. The variety of playroom activities, arcade games, puzzles, "driving tests," music, the "Storylands," and even creative writing practice keep my son busy for hours if I allow him to stay on the computer that long. He earns "Golden Eggs" for his achievements, which he can then exchange for games and other "stuff." He tries to convince me that Reading Eggs is the only schoolwork he needs to do each day! His reading has improved dramatically since we have been using this site.
I also love the easy feedback I get from Reading Eggs. With one quick glance at the dashboard on the website, I can see how many of the 100 lessons he has completed, how many golden eggs he has, his estimated reading age (i.e. 6.5 yrs means he's reading at the level of an average 6 1/2-year-old), how many of the 237 phonics skills he has mastered, and how many of the 200 sight words he knows. Notes further down the dashboard give me a quick overview of the content he has just learned, as well as some statistics about his activities.
My older daughters, although they read well, also became very interested in these games. I have to watch them, because my little guy will gladly let them work on the website to earn more Golden Eggs for him, and they will gladly do it, thereby skewing the reports on his reading age, phonics mastery, etc. (I know he isn't reading anywhere close to a 10-year-old level, so if he appears to be reading on the level of a 10-year-old, then there is probably a 10-year-old pretending to be him on this site!) So we were excited to find that the company is continually adding to their site. My older girls have been enjoying the games to further practice their advanced reading and comprehension at the gym, mall, stadium, and library on Floating Island in Reading Eggspress. They each have their own account now!
Reading Eggs is for ages 4-7 and can easily be used for younger children who are ready to start or for older children who could just use some more practice. There are also worksheets that match the lessons that can be printed off, so this could be an entire early reading curriculum or a supplement. Reading Eggspress improves spelling skills and builds reading comprehension when used as a supplement for 7-12 year olds. You may sign up for a FREE two-week trial for each child here. When you find that you love the site and can't give it up, you may subscribe for one year for $75 - that's only $1.40 per week! That includes the Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress parts of the website, so when your child is ready to move up, he may do so at his own pace. A 6-month subscription is only $49.95, and there is a family discount, something we homeschoolers are always looking for! If you add a second or third child at the same time as you set up your first, you will receive 50% off their subscription price. Finally, if you just want to take it a month at a time, you may do so for $9.95/month, and you may cancel at any time.
Find other Reading Eggs products here. See what other TOS members thought of Reading Eggs on the Homeschool Crew Blog.
Disclaimer: I received a free subscription to Reading Eggs for the purpose of writing a fair review. No other compensation was given, and all opinions are my own.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Guardian Duke Giveaway WINNER
The winner of The Guardian Duke Giveaway is Kympossible!! Send your full name and address to noteablescraps (at) gmail (dot) com and I will have the book sent to you. Congratulations!
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