Adventure Calls!

Sometimes my sense of adventure overcomes my fear of going out with young children. The child inside me says, "Enough! Enough sitting around! Enough going to the same old places all the time!"

And then I go! 

Well, after hours of preparation.

The great thing about living in the age of the Internet is that I can research any major destination before going. The fewer unknowns there are before we leave the house, the better I feel.

The trip we took yesterday was to San Francisco to celebrate my sister's birthday. She wanted to visit the Comic Art Museum to see art work from the films 'Song of the Sea' and 'The Secret of Kells'. Since I don't like driving and parking in the city, and the last time our family took the BART train it cost us more than the admission fee into the museum, I planned for us to take the ferry!

On weekends, the San Francisco Ferry leaves from Oakland and Alameda and drops you off at the Ferry Building (near Pier 1) or Pier 41. Tickets are purchased after boarding the ferry (buy your tickets for the trip home too to save you time later) and collected as you leave. Inside the ferry, there are booths and tables, a snack bar, and a central place to park strollers and bikes (so helpful!). And there are three decks to choose from. My children of course chose the top deck. The ride from Alameda to the Ferry Building was a short 20 minutes. I chose that route in case we needed to hustle on home with cranky children. But the kids had such a good time, next time, we can take a longer ride! (Click here to learn more about the San Francisco Ferry.)

(Note for people with motion sickness: it was a beautiful, sunny day when we sailed. The ferry hardly rocked at all and none of us got sea sick. I hope that the waters are always so calm, but it would be more realistic to say that on windier or stormier days, the bay would be more rough and choppy.)

After the Cartoon Art Museum, we picnicked at the Yerba Buena Gardens. Now, here's great news for those of you who would love to visit more places but are afraid that you cannot afford it. Our library offers free passes to select museums! Both the Cartoon Art Museum and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts are on the list, along with the Lawrence Hall of Science and the Oakland Museum of California (which I wrote about last year in this blog post: Time for a Field Trip!) To find out if your library offers these passes, go to this site: Discover and Go Museum Passes. Be sure to read the fine print carefully; every museum offers its own discounts. And you are limited to two passes a year. Between my husband and I, that allows us four trips!

We made one more stop during our time in the city. As ou group meandered back towards the piers, my sister caught sight of balloons. We turned towards them, and stumbled across the San Francisco Railway Museum! The small museum and gift shop is admission-free. My children had an opportunity to "drive" a street car! Ding-ding-ding!

All in all, it was a great day. And I didn't even talk about our trip to the San Francisco Zoo on Friday! My legs are a little sore, but my children are still talking about our shared memories. And the child in me is already looking forward to our next adventure.

Hiding His Word in My Heart (Part 2)

Part of my bathroom mirror is now useless because it is covered by this:

Which is fine by me, because it means I'm spending less time looking at my reflection and more time reflecting on God's Word!

I am now memorizing the final verse of Colossians 3:12-17, and I am still excited about my new technique. I have never memorized so many verses with such ease! With each index card, I've developed more of my "style", and the end product is like a quilt of sorts. I love seeing the colors and lettering whenever I wash my hands or put on make-up.

And here's the best part! As I am practicing the words over and over in my mind, seeing the picture of the verses in my head, the words are becoming a part of me. When I was troubled by a relationship with a family member, I remembered "clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." When I was frustrated with my husband, "forgive as the Lord forgave you" came to mind. And my all-time favorite, a meadow of wildflowers in the middle of my quilt, is the reminder to BE THANKFUL.

I encourage you again to try Scripture memorization. Use my technique, or your own. Find a passage that is particularly meaningful to you right now, or is a favorite of yours. I already know that I want to memorize Philippians 2 next!

Scripture Memorization With My Children

Our "school" always ends the year with a performance in June, something similar to the public school's "open house." I display the children's art and writing from the year and each child decides on a dessert to make and serve. Then we invite family and friends to our home for a short evening of piano solos, singing, poetry recitation, scripture memorization and project presentations. Some years we've even added joke-telling and the Virginia reel (with audience participation, of course)! It's a great way to finish the year and share with others what we've learned!

Preparation for this year's performance has already begun. But I didn't realize until earlier this week that we needed to start our Scripture memorization! Then I thought, "What a perfect  opportunity to try my new method of Scripture memorization with my children!" (See my post Hiding His Word in my Heart if you don't now what I'm talking about.)

So I divided Psalm 121 into four sections and allowed the older children to choose which two verses they would like to write out. (This took a little finagling, since my son and daughter both wanted verses 1-2.) I myself took the section that no one wanted. Then I gave a short lesson on how to write out the verses, using my own examples from Colossians 3.

Here is what my children came up with:

I love seeing my children's ideas! They thought of things I wouldn't have thought of, like the crown above the word 'Lord.'

Colossians 3:16a (which I'm memorizing right now) comes to mind:

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom.

Next step, tape our illustrations to the living room wall to serve as tools in our scripture memorization and as decoration and lovely reminders of God's wonderful words!

I Am

I am a daughter, a sister, a niece.

I am a wife, a mother, an aunt.

I am a teacher, a musician, an artist, a writer. I

am a dreamer.

I am a giver and a peacemaker.

I am a crier and an empathizer.

I am a questioner and problem-solver.

I am a neighbor.
I am a mentor.

I am a friend.

But above all these

I am a sinner

Above all these

I was rescued by True Love

Above all these

I was given grace and mercy

And the chance to become who I was meant to be

a child of God

    a disciple of Jesus     

         an anointed of the Spirit

              a saint marching in    

                  a member of the Body

a follower 

of Christ

I AM

I am all that I am

because of Him.

Use Me Here

When I was in high school, I couldn't wait for college. When I was in college, I couldn't wait to graduate. While working part-time, I wanted something full-time. And when I was single, I wished I was married. 

One of the few regrets I carry with me now is that I wasted so much time when I was younger. Rather than seeing what God had for me in the present, I was always looking to the future. I can't honestly say that I helped any of my friends in high school. In college, I didn't point people towards Christ. And when I worked as a studio piano teacher, I taught with little expectation and little passion. Week after week, students came and went. We practiced the same scales, the same songs, and I always said, "See you next week!" while thinking "When do I get to go home?"

One day, "See you next week!" never happened. One of my adult students never came back, because she had suddenly passed away. And that was when it hit me.

I had missed my chance to be an influence in this woman's life. I had had several weeks of scheduled time, and I could have made the most of my weekly thirty minutes with her. But I didn't, because I was taking it all for granted. I was praying, "God, move me onto to something else," when I should have been praying, "God, use me here while I am here."

After that incident, I never looked back. I started seeking opportunities to show God's love, from simple notes to encourage people to great sacrifices of time and money. And now, though I have moments of wanting a break from my duties as mom and housecleaner, I don't spend my time pining for the days when my children will be grown. I love homeschooling. I love mentoring new moms, young single women, and newly-weds. I love asking the check-out person, "How's your day going?" I love cooking for people in need and people coming to visit. And I love sharing our home to people. God has given me so much, and I want to pass it ALL on.

Oftentimes, we forget that at every stage of life, God has a purpose for us. Maybe it's in our nature to be discontent. When we're young, we want to be older. When we're old, we want to be younger. Or maybe it's because we are bombarded by messages like "It'll be great when you retire!" or "Wait until the kids are out of the house!" Even when we are young, adults ask us, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" We tell our children to strive for graduation, a driver's license, a job, an award– all ways of saying, in the most subtle way, "When you reach this goal, then you are ready to contribute!" My husband and I tell our children that they can contribute NOW, that sharing God's love, joy, and peace is not limited to those 18 and older, that they can always be on the lookout for opportunities to shine God's light.

And that's a good reminder for us adults too, that God can use us, whatever age we are. I hope that when I am in my forties, my sixties, and even my eighties, I will not waste the time God gives me, and that I will ALWAYS pray, "God, use me here while I am here."