bread&tea

As much as I now appreciate sunrises, sunsets still hold more sway with me. Most importantly, it's a lot easier to be awake to see them. Building on that, it's also a lot easier to think during them :-) To get right out with it, sunsets are just another way I witness God's glory; as is so in many other situations. The fact is, I cannot get over how beautiful, intricate, and gorgeous sunsets are so often. And maybe it's cliche, but the fact is I cannot get over how beautiful, intricate, and gorgeous the God who paints the sunset is. Here's something to try the next time you watch a sunset. Look for a few moments and then look away. Try to picture the sunset in your mind. Now here's the best part, look back at the sunset! It's so much better than what my mind can remember, that it's like being amazed all over again. While that is fun in an earthy sense, I find that I look away from the sunset all to often, for an earthy reason. I like to think that God le...

I'm not the type of person that gets up early enough to see the sunrise. Because of that, I've seen very few sunrises in my life, and none of them seemed to amazing. This only dampened future efforts to observe the sunrise. However, a few nights ago I was camping outside and having a hard time sleeping. When I looked up, the sky was a gorgeous red. Due to grogginess, it took awhile to process what this meant. My thoughts went something like this. "Bluh....wait, wha? Why is the sky red? It's five-thirty....it can't be the sunse...whoa! That's the sunrise!" Since I couldn't sleep anyway, I decided to watch the show in full screen mode, by a tree. It wasn't to cold, but there was a chill wind. My solution? Turn my construction-worker orange and black mummy style sleeping bag upside down, and wrap that around myself like a coat. Worked like a charm. Still, I was hoping no one would go by on the gravel road and mistake me for a giant orange mutant cater...

So to continue, previously I said that a lot of homeschooling strengths are also its weaknesses. There is a lot of freedom in how to use the time in homeschooling, and this is really what makes or breaks the system. See, you either (a) are able to use that time efficiently, or (b) everything falls flat. Choosing good curriculum for courses is a part of being able to use the time well, but it is vital to not go overboard with all the options available. It's a jungle out there and the student needs a simple machete, not a chainsaw. Maybe that didn't make any sense, so let me try again. The basics are math, language, science, history, and a few others. These are the framework of the education tower, but by choosing too constricting of a course, or by being overly controlling, that tower quickly turns into a pillar, full of coursework. A pillar is a whole lot less fun to climb. And when it's not fun, you might still do it, but you probably won't like it. If you don't l...

Tis' Graduation time! I, fortunately and unfortunately, have one more year yet. While I was thinking of my friends graduating this year, I came around to musing on the differences between public and homeschool educations. Many people, upon finding that I'm homeschooled, ask how it works, and what the advantages and disadvantages are, and so on. I therefore decided to have a go at explaining some of this subject. If you are interested in some of how homeschooling works, stay tuned! While I don't know all the ins and outs of the two, here are some things to think about, if you want. Homeschooling certainly has some big strengths going for it's benefit, but interestingly enough, a lot of homeschooling strengths can turn around and become the biggest cripplers as well. Foremost, the time available. Both education systems have all day. But public education, because of the many students, works with a fairly rigid, linear learning path. There's nothing wrong with that real...

I don't recommend eating ramen noodles as a daily meal. They are, however, pretty good on a cold, blustery and rainy day. From that sentence you may have guessed, today I was eating ramen noodles for lunch. While I was doing so though, I also listened to music and read some history. All of the senses were used: I could taste yummy noodles, hear pretty music, see the words and feel the paper, and smell the aroma of the noodles. But I realized I was eating somewhat quickly, only subconsciously hearing the music, only getting the gist of the history, and only vaguely registering the other senses. So, I tried something different for a few minutes. I just read the book. I could see the pale beige pages, and and feel their soft, sandpaper texture. The black ink letters conveyed more knowledge, and I found the book more interesting now. I tried the music next. It wasn't pretty now, not because I changed the song, but because it sounded beautiful. The harmonies and strings were woven t...

This is a parody of the Weezer song "Beverly Hills". There are some additional background vocals I didn't add, mostly towards the end. Enjoy! Where I come from isn't all that great, My natural state is a piece of crap, My sense of good was a little whack, And my friends all just as fooled as me, Nobody could satisfy me, They all walked out ever-ry-day, Why shouldn't they, I ain't nobody, Had nothing in my heart, yeah, (Chorus) Heavenly Hills...That's where I want to be! Living in Heavenly Hills.... Heavenly Hills....cared for like a precious child! Living in Heavenly Hills... Look at all those pretty stars, They're all so beautiful to see, But when Heaven comes it'll sweep the skies, It'll fill the space with a brand new scene, I wanna live a life right there, I wanna be just with the king, Filled with love and joy and peace, 'Cause I'm with the big king, Chorus Truth is....I don't stand a chance myself, It's something that you...

I was reading a book about John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, as I came across an intriguing section. It was an innocent enough situation, where two boys had run away from home after their parents death. Johnny had gone out to bring them back, and when he had found them this conversation ensued, (this is partway through the conversation) (little boys first) "Well, when Pa died we all hurt bad inside. When Ma got sick, we all prayed for her to get well. You always told us that God is listening and answers all our prayers." "That's true, I believe that He does and I share the word with others." "Well, we prayed to God that our ma would get better, and then she died. God didn't answer our prayers. He didn't listen." "Oh yes, lad. God listened. But sometimes, just sometimes, God has to say no." Sometimes, even though I already know, having someone else tell me the truth really makes it sink in. I can be walking along with som...

This past Saturday I was blessed enough to be able to spend the day out at Bethany Camp, which is a farm converted for conversion. As the day was ending a couple of others and I drove out on a gravel road to watch the sunset. On the way back, however, you could see camp across a few valleys. This is when I thought of everything that had been accomplished there that day. It was a lot, but at the same time was it anything at all? So often I desire to have an impact in what I do. Who doesn't? Yet looking at what was only quarter-sized from this distance, the fact that what we do ourselves can never have much impact, really stood out. It is simply impossible to work hard enough. Sure, we accomplished some projects, and half started a pile more, but that was all on a patch of this earth only a few acres in size. What about the rest of the world? It's not real hard to move that over there, clean some stuff up here, build something next to that or whatever. But impact and change only ...