Blog of the Week 3-27-2009

This weeks blog is
The Tie That Binds Us
I enjoyed reading the Homeschool History Buffs Carnival posts. I love history :) Enjoy this weeks blog! Let me know if you like it. Blessings! ~ Nikki

BFS #126 - Can You Hear Me Now? (Verizon Wireless)

Memory Verse: Mark 12:28-34

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

(Mark 12:28-34 KJV)



Intro: When Jesus starts his response with “Hear O Israel”, he’s referencing back to the Shema - from Deuteronomy 6-4 - Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One and Only, Blessed Be his Glorious Sovereign Name for ever and ever. Jesus says this is His greatest commandment.  Like.. if you asked your child(ren) to clean a room.. and it wasn’t done.. they responded to you and said.. I heard you. What good is it if they heard you.. but didn’t DO it. So for us to say, we heard God.. but ignored his instructions.. that’s not good enough.

Assignment: What does God mean when he says HEAR.. he says it often.. if we don’t have an auditory reception of His voice. why is he saying HEAR.. what does it mean, what are we losing in translation? The word Shema doesn’t just mean Hear.. like what your ear receives.. it means more. Tell in your assignment what you think Shema means whether it’s active hearing or auditory hearing.  I’m very anxious to read your thoughts on this.  I hope you will all enjoy doing this assignment, as we are trying to dig deeper into the Word and have a better understanding of what the Bible really is about.

Well first of all I'm glad to be back on board with everyone. I love this assignment! For the last few years we have been using the HolyLand Adventures VBS at our church and of course the Shema is the center of the curriculum. The Shema is based upon Scripture in Deuteronomy 6:4-9



Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

(Deuteronomy 6:4-9 KJV)

Clearly God intends for us to do more than listen to what He is saying . This Scripture is a call to action. Just like when we tell our children to clean their rooms. Its more than just instructions, its an order to be carried out. It is a command to begin action. Christians do way too much "listening" and not enough "doing". There is a big difference between "hearing" and "HEARING".

Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.
Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

Isn't that beautiful ? Blessings! ~ Nikki

Website of the Week 3 - 22- 2009

Spring is here and the birds have arrived so what better time to notebook or lapbook about birds. Here is a link to some bird coloring pages. Enjoy ! Blessings! ~ Nikki
Bird Coloring Pages

Happy Blogaversary to Sparrows Pearl ! My lovely DD!

Be sure to hop on over to my dear daughter Baby Girl's blog. Today is her 2 year blogaversary and she is giving away some great avatars. She is very talented! If you or your kids are Narnia, LOTR, POTC or Jane Austen fans you will love her avatars! The winner gets to choose which set they like so head on over and comment! ~ Blessings! ~ Nikki

Blog of the Week 3-20-2009

I have found this awesome blog that is packed full of great stuff.
A Path With Promise is Jessica's blog. She has some great freebies listed on her site plus she has "Homeschool Blog and Tell". Be sure to stop by and visit and leave her some encouraging comments. Leave me a comment too if you liked this weeks blog.

Roosie's Birthday

Today my "baby" will be 9. *sigh* Where does the time go? Happy Birthday Beautiful! I love you!
At last Spring is here. I am so ready for warm weather and flowers :) Blessings! ~ Nikki

Spring Cleaning

It is that time of year again ! Spring cleaning time! Yay ! Not! Well it must be done and actually this year I am enjoying getting some of the clutter out. I want more space and to make cleaning easier. For that to happen some things must go. I will also be taking some school books from our overstuffed shelves. I have added a little "Rummage Sale" area to my left sidebar if you would like to check it out. I will post some of our books we are getting rid of there. Right now I don't have time for a big yard sale and I hate to toss out good , usable books so I will offer them here. I will be adding a neat video of a coyote I took in Cades Cove to the Nature Nook if you want to check it out. Well have a great day ! Blessings ! ~ Nikki

Happy Spring Everyone !

I certainly hope that the last month has been great for everyone. We are all doing great ! I just felt the need to step away from my blog for a little while. I wont be trying to play catch up on things. I will just pick up where I left off . Spring has come to our neck off the woods and it has been great ! I love the sound of the dawn chorus and watching everything become green again. This also means there will be tons of stuff going on in the yard . Our nature studies take off in Spring. To help document our nature happenings I have created a new network on Ning. It's called The Nature Nook . Please come check it out . If you have a nature blog or are just a nature nut then together we may create a new treasure chest of ideas and stuff. You will find a link to the site on the right sidebar. blessings ! ~ Nikki