Sunday Reflections: Finding a Family Rhythm

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Life at the Strauss House...

Starting off school last week, I had several kiddos sick, which made it challenging to really find a rhythm. This week, everyone is healthy, and it's been good to have a week of a regular routine. Our favorite part of our week has been our Wednesday afternoon culture outings. Wednesday evenings we drive out to church near Downtown Ft. Worth, so I thought that since we were heading that way weekly, I could capitalize on the location and take advantage of some of the great cultural offerings. This week we went to the Conservatory at the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens, the Kimbell Art Museum, and the Amon Carter Museum. It was lovely!

Where I'm reading in the Bible...

I'm in 1 John 1:5-7 this week. It's been a long time since I've taken the time to read really slowly through the Bible, and this year it's going to be the book of 1 John. This week I've been contemplating darkness and light. The Latin word for light is lux. It's a third declension noun, so the rest of it's forms have the root luc-. When I started looking up derivatives, I found lucid and then Lucifer (or the angel of light). This was pretty fascinating to me. Lucifer was the brightest angel, but in 1 John 1:5 it explains the difference between Lucifer and God. While Lucifer was the brightest, Deus est lux, or God is light. Lucifer was merely the greatest reflection, but never the source.

Tenebrae is the Latin word for darkness. When I looked up the definition, I found especially the darkness of night, or in poetic terms, the shadow of death, and gloom or darkness of the mind. Night, death, depression. That is darkness. The absence of the ability to reflect the light. The comfort is that if I am in the light, I should be able to reflect the light, even in the smallest reflective properties. I'm going to be thinking about these ideas more...oh the richness of the Word of God.

What books we're reading...

Jason:

Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace - we've started reading this at night. It's such a great encouragement as we start back into school. I love the title, and the idea of "unshakable peace".
Practicing Affirmation: God-centered Praise of Those Who are not God
Norms and Nobility
Crispin: The Cross of Lead - Chipping away at his Challenge A book list!
Honor and Shame

Betsy: .

Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace

Family Read Alouds:

The Magician's Nephew - We finished this one on Friday! On to the next in the series.
My Book House, Volume 2 - The kids have really been enjoying this collection of read alouds. Our favorite story from this book this week was

Will:

Johnny Tremain - We're entering into the American Revolution documents in our history, so this book is a fun way to get into the time period when those documents were written.
This Present Darkness - He's still planning his schedule to have time for fun reading, but I love that that he makes sure he gets his assigned reading done first!

Grace:

The Mysterious Benedict Society - she finished this one and has moved on to the next book:
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
Crispin: The Cross of Lead - She's reading this one to me for school. I love hearing her read to me.
Nature Anatomy - she carries this book around with her to read when she gets a chance. This one is one of her favorites because it combines science and art - two of her loves.

Ellen:

The Princess Test This is my favorite of the Princess Tales series. It's a twist on the classic "Princess and the Pea" fairy tale...and it's SO funny! I could listen to this one for a long time!!
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - She listens to this one on audible - it must be her 50th time. I love that she loves listening to good stories over and over again.

Nana:

Captive - I passed this one on to my mom after I finished it. She read it quickly too and was inspired by the amazing protection of God in both keeping Ashley Smith safe, but also to resolve the situation without anyone else being killed. The Captive giveaway only has a few days left, so there's time to enter if you haven't already!
Go Softly All my Years by Virginia Benson a WWII historical fiction from an author she's never read before. She says she has been pleasantly surprised by how much she's enjoyed it.

Steps towards a healthier lifestyle...

I feel like I'm making headway on adjusting my thinking...I'm at least contemplating my choices. At the movies the other night, I decided to forgo the popcorn that I really wanted because I'm enjoying how I feel when I eat well.

I'm also getting up a bit earlier. Walking at 6:30am is much preferred to walking at 6:30pm in Texas. The heat at night has not abated, and the morning is so refreshing. My husband walks with me on weekday mornings, and my kids on the weekends. I've found that these walks not only impact my physical health, but also bless the relationships with the most important people in my life. That makes all of the painful steps that much sweeter.

This week's highlights...

Jason and I attended our first prescreening of a movie! We were invited to see Captive - a movie based on the book I'm giving away on my blog. I love that I had read the book before I saw the movie because I felt like I could understand the thoughts behind the actions of the characters. However, my husband hadn't read the book, and he was just as moved by the powerful story of Ashley Smith who was held captive in her apartment by Brian Nichols who had just shot and killed four people before he found her to hide out. Without the hope of God, life is a continual connection of intense moments of fear, but this movie beautifully shows that even in the darkest moments of life, there is always hope. Go see it with your spouse, but it's pretty intense for kids!