Sunday Reflections: A Week in Review
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Life at the Strauss House...
We have a unique living situation in our home. We combined households with my mother four years after my dad had passed away. It was also at a time when my husband was shifting from taking classes part time to full time at Dallas Theological Seminary. Long story short, he's since graduated, we still live with my mother (because we all love it), and our family ministry centers around our home. It's a bit unconventional, but we love it. He offers music lessons while I hang out with the moms, and my kids play with the siblings that aren't taking lessons. This week, I had a mom from my Classical Conversations community over to discuss the Challenge I guide when music students started arriving. She laughed and said, "People just keep coming in the door, and I haven't seen one leave yet!" This is the life God's laid out for us, and we're loving it.
Where I'm reading in the Bible...
I've been encouraged by a good friend that the book of 1 John in the Vulgate is a great entry point for reading the Bible in Latin. So I've spent my morning quiet times familiarizing myself with 1 John in English, so I can begin to dig deeper into the Latin. The cool thing is that you can listen to both versions on Bible.is: English and Latin.
What books we're reading...
Jason: My husband is an avid reader...I asked what he was reading this week, and didn't expect to get this list, but he loves to read, and he's a butterfly.
- The Odyssey by Homer, for the Circe Apprenticeship
- Norms and Nobility by David Hicks, also for his apprenticeship
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordian, because one of his students loves these books and asked him to read them
- Honor and Shame: Unlocking the Door by Roland Muller, recommended by a pastor friend that plants churches around the world.
- Practicing Affirmation by Sam Crabtree, one of the theme books for Classical Conversations directors this year
- Carry On Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham, as he prepares for Challenge A
Betsy: Nothing this week. Boo. I confessed this to my mother and she reminded me that I did read my Bible and that's the best book to read. She's such an encourager.
Will: Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare and Call of the Wild to get ready for class to start back up soon.
I love sitting by this girl when she's reading a book. She's to the final chapter of her book, and she can't hold back her surprise.
Grace: Five Little Peppers and How they Grew by Margaret Sidney. She loved the book, and now she is moving on to Five Little Peppers Midway (it was free on the kindle). There are 12 books in this series...I'll let you know if she keeps reading!
Ellen: The Fairy's Mistake by Gail Carson Levine. We've listened to this one so many times on Audible, she decided to go get the book and start reading it! Breakthrough for my littlest reader.
Nana: My mom is an avid reader. She didn't give me the full list of what she read this week, just the highlights.
- Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, because we just read To Kill a Mockingbird for book club and I had this one on my shelf to read. Her review was that reading the story through a cynical 26 year-old's perspective made the story dark and hard, as opposed to the first book where the innocence of Scout diffused many intense situations.
- Theater Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, Nana's a great one to read through the kids books that I don't have a chance to read! She loved this one.
- Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin, a Civil War historical fiction that she's reading for the second time. She highly recommends this one!
Steps towards a healthier lifestyle...
I got a Fitbit this week! What I've realized is that I live a ridiculously sedentary lifestyle. It's been good to have a reminder to get up and get moving. I hit my first 10,ooo steps...which seemed like a miracle. Despite the difficulty, I've found that I can talk at least one of my kids into going walking with me, and it allows for some great conversations.
This week's highlights...
Jason will be out of town this week and will miss Will's birthday, so we went out as a family early to celebrate. We spent the afternoon enjoying the Fort Worth Japanese Gardens and then ate downtown at Five Guys Burgers.
We had to take this picture because these were the fries "at the bottom of the bag". We ordered a large to share, and this is above and beyond! We ate every single one.
After some good food, we strolled through Sundance Square and enjoyed all of the updates since we'd been there last. Our favorite addition were the beautiful angel wings:
Sunday Reflections:
As I look back over the week, ten things I can thank God for :
- His provision with friendships
- His beautiful creation to enjoy
- Air conditioning for after we've enjoyed the great (HOT) outdoors
- His Word, the Bible, and how it has stood the test of time
- Two great sisters who model faithfulness in marriage celebrating their 16th and 19th anniversaries
- Kids that will go walking around the neighborhood to help me reach 10,000 steps
- Kids that talk to me - about all kinds of things
- My AC being restored in my car...it's been nearly two years
- Water - I'm drinking more of it and its so refreshing
- Friends that love to learn with me...we got together and watched the Worldview Detective seminar by Adam and Missy Andrews - a great training on how to identify the worldview presented in a book, and how to ask great questions to draw that understanding out of your students.
It's good to reflect back over our week and take note of the blessings. I look forward to a new week of experiencing God's grace and mercy.
The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.Numbers 6:24-26
Betsy Strauss is an unexpected homeschooler, mother of three, who is in a relationship with a sweet man for life. She loves reading books, drinking coffee, and learning anything with her kids.
LOVE