Daniel 7 vision

Daniel sees a vision during the first year of King Belshazzar's reign in Babylon and recounts it in chapter 7. He describes four beasts that come out of the sea, with the last of them being 'terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet.'

The four beasts represent four world powers. If I understand it correctly, the fourth beast will be the strongest and will devour the world. It will have ten kings who will rule kingdoms or empires. From them will come one additional king who will subdue three of the original kings, defy God, oppress Christians, and change religious festivals and laws.

I am definitely going to have to dig deeper.

What we should be doing in America

May God be merciful and bless us.

May his face smile with favor on us.

May your ways be known throughout the earth,

your saving power among people everywhere.

May the nations praise you, O God.

Yes, may all the nations praise you.

Let the whole world sing for joy,

because you govern the nations with justice

and guide the people of the whole world.

May the nations praise you, O God.

Yes, may all the nations praise you.

Then the earth will yield its harvests,

and God, our God, will richly bless us,

and people all over the world will fear him.

Psalm 67

3 Weeks of School Completed

We have now successfully completed 3 weeks of school. I have a little bit of tweaking to do with our schedule, but things have been running very smoothly. I am so pleased with myself for keeping up with history discussions and grading. We are continuing to use the workbox system, which is keeping me accountable on a daily basis to get things graded, recorded and prepared for. Another big help was to enter all of the assignments for the year into an Excel spreadsheet for grading purposes. I can now open that up and see at a glance what I need a grade for. It is a visual reminder for me, which I find extremely helpful.

My biggest problem right now is how best to utilize our science lapbooks. We started with Ecosystems from Hands of a Child. I got this one for free several months ago, and went on to purchase lapbooks on Sled Dogs, Chocolate and the Holocaust. Dd is not enthused each week to continue with her lapbook. Right now there has been a lot of writing involved and she typically does not like to write things by hand. HOAC does have many of their lapbooks available as "Type It In". I purchased at least one of our lapbooks in that format so we will see if she likes that format better.

I signed up to be the coordinator for the middle school field trips for our local homeschool group. It is a lot of work since I have never coordinated field trips before, but I hope it will be incentive for me to get out of the house on a monthly basis and do something fun. It is suggested that we do one educational and one social event per month, but that is not strictly enforced. I already have us scheduled for a scavenger hunt downtown (complete with tours of the Powder Magazine and the Heyward-Washington House), a trip to the state museum and a living history day at Boone Hall. That will take us through the end of the year on the educational front.

Freshman Orientation

Ds and I spent Saturday morning from 7:45AM-12PM at his new high school for Freshman Orientation. We were split up with the parents sitting in the auditorium and the kids going off for what sounded like a pep rally (with lots of screaming and noise), a tour of the school, and small groups. I learned a lot during the first half of the morning and passed on the info to ds when we got home. Here is a snapshot of what I learned:

1. They need to have 17 credits in order to advance as a senior. They may be in their 4th or 5th year of high school, but until they have 17 credits they are considered a junior and do not receive senior priviledges.

2. GPA's can now be higher than a 4.0-AP, IB and Honors courses are weighted heavier than regular courses, so it is possible to graduate with a GPA of 5+.

3. 'Busting a sag' is not permitted and the school has zip ties to cinch belt loops if needed.

4. Underwear and excessive skin is not allowed to be shown. The school has 'high fashion' clothing available for the students to wear if their parents cannot bring them a change of clothing.

5. Cell phones are not permitted and will be confiscated. Parents must come in to retrieve them and are charged $25 (which I would pass on to my child). The school uses that money to offer rewards to solve crimes at the school. Last year they gave out almost $2,000.

6. Hats, hoodies, bandanas and sweat bands are not allowed as they obscure the face from the numerous cameras in the hallways and around the campus.

7. The school has 2 uniformed police officers and 1 security officer for roughly 2,300 students.

Do I feel comfortable sending my son to a public high school? Not really, but I am trusting that God will keep him safe until he gratuates or my husband is convicted in his heart to bring him home.

Church News

Dd just moved up to the middle school section at church this morning and loved it. She had not been happy in Kids Church, but her face was shining this morning when I picked her up after the service. I had been praying God would show us where He would have us worship and where we would all feel comfortable. We are returning again tonight for Sunday evening classes and on Wednesday evening they break into small groups where they can go in depth on different topics.

Ds 'graduated' from the middle school section to the high school section and will be attending that service tonight for the first time. I am so excited to finally feel like we are 'home'.

Successful Plane Ride

Dd made it home in one piece and very happy. She was taken to the unaccompanied minors room at the layover airport which had snacks, a movie and board games. She said it was nice to fly solo because you don't have to talk to anyone. For all of you who know my dd, that statement is hilarious! I don't remember a time when dd did not like to or desire to talk, and talk, and talk. Ds and I barely made it to the gate on time as her flight arrived 20 minutes early. I could have just waited at security and they would have brought her to me, but I wanted to meet her at the gate and had to get a special boarding pass to get past security. We picked up pizza on the way home and had a great, relaxing evening.

First Solo Plane Ride

Dd will be taking her first solo plane ride today. She is flying from Kansas to South Carolina. Our ds has done several solo trips, but this will be dd's first. I am nervous to say the least. We paid dearly for her to fly as an unaccompanied minor, which means she will be escorted from plane to plane and we will have to show ID and sign for her on our end. Grandma and Grandpa will be allowed to go with her to the boarding area and will not leave her until she is under the care of one of the stewardesses. She has her cell phone and has been instructed to call us when she boards both planes, when each plane lands and during her lay-over. Please pray for my nerves and her safety. I know God is in control and He has His hand upon her.