2010 in Review

Realizing that not everyone reads this blog wants to read our December newsletter (ministry update), but in the event you do - here it is.  :)

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2010 in Review (at least the last half) by John

Once again, this letter is sent with much weariness in the bones, as it has been a busy couple of months - but we are grateful for the activity and thankful for all of you who come along side of us. I returned from Rwanda and Kenya in mid-October, traveling across the world to minister along with my son and my mother - what a trip it was for us all! I taught through the book of John to a classroom of eager students that are preparing to be pastors in the Anglican Church.

Just as last year, they vigorously soaked up any information I could pass along. It was a great reminder of how much we have here in the USA - as most of these students did not even possess their own Study Bible (one of the most helpful tools a pastor could own). I gave away a few, as well as some marriage and family books, and had the joy of giving them a number of old shirts (last time I noticed that many students rotated the same two or three shirts over the two weeks I was there). I even had some old cloth diapers that Julie sent along - and one man was about to have a baby in the next month!

We traveled out to the national game park, then visited with the parents of a Rwandan student that we have befriended in Little Rock. We arrived in the village and were immediately surrounded by children. Everywhere we went; it was like being surrounded by a swarm of bees. Our friend later told us that some of them may have never seen a white person before. It was quite an adventure - John Isaac was even given a live chicken!

At the end of the trip, I became ill and was laid up in bed for a couple of days. I felt horrible - I just wanted to be home. I now have a better understanding of what it means for Christians to really long for heaven. When you are sick, you just want to be home. We are all infected with sin here on earth and should have a more intense craving for our true home. After listening to me whine long enough, Mom coaxed me out of bed to do our final money exchange - but I confess that I did NOT want to go. The Lord was gracious and sustained us (even while sweating profusely and covered head to toe with a funky purple rash). He allowed us to travel on to Kenya as planned where we met with the FamilyLife staff couple who work and live there. Not being fully recovered, I had to cancel a speaking engagement but we were still able to enjoy many fruitful conversations about the ministry there and the work I’m currently doing onThe Art of Marriage.

From Kenya we had a smooth trip home, punctuated by a very touching moment with John Isaac that caught Mom and I completely off guard. When it was time to go our separate ways in Chicago, John Isaac began to quietly cry very sincere tears, begging to continue on with his grandma, asking “Why does she have to leave?” It broke our hearts! I really don’t know how Mom endured it. It had to have been brutal for her. We finally persuaded him that it was necessary to part, and began the journey to our separate gates. At this point he twisted the knife already firmly planted in her heart by walking backwards for the entire length of the airport (in what must be the LONGEST airport hallway in the country), waving to her until she was completely out of sight, sniffling softly the entire time. A classic memory indeed!

           

I was so exhausted by the end of this trip that I vowed I would never fly again. Airplanes had become my archenemy - just the thought of entering the foul metal tubes left me twitching in fear. Yet this resolute doggedness lasted a mere two weeks, until our family packed up for a week of vacation with dear friends and old acquaintances in Phoenix, Arizona. Again we enjoyed many fruitful conversations about the gospel and ministry with our former pastor and his wife (whom we stayed with). Two weeks after that I flew on to Atlanta to attend the annual Evangelical Theological Society meeting - an important event for connecting with key leaders and thinkers in the evangelical academic world. Of course I was busy with many details of The Art of Marriage while there, detracting a bit from the experience, but it was still beneficial.  

The Art of Marriage

Our time on The Art of Marriage project is finally winding to a close. This week we expect to have everything wrapped up and ready to send to the printer to prepare for the events on 2-11-11. A big praise indeed! It is both exciting and difficult to see two years worth of work finally come to fruition in full form. I’m not sure I’ll be able to watch the videos or read the manual again for some time, as we have poured over it so many times these last few months. As Agassiz’s student said of the fish, what began as beautiful “has become loathsome!” Julie is becoming rather wearisome of hearing me quote lines from the vignettes - again, and again, and again. However I’m very proud of how this has turned out. Last week Dennis Rainey heard from an exec at Disney that this is “Disney Quality.” There really is nothing else like it out there - anywhere.

Remember that we are praying for 1,000 churches to sign up to host the event on 2-11-11. Right now we have almost 200 signed up and many more having expressed interest.

Please pray about how your church might host such an event.

I think you’ll find it to be a refreshing approach to a video marriage conference.  Watch a trailer and learn more about how to get involved.

           

Looking ahead to the spring: First we will test some ways to customize The Art of Marriage content for use in small groups. I also hope to finish up the last (or first) chapter on my book and get it self-published and in the hands of men who need encouragement for leading their families spiritually. {UPDATE: a church has asked to have copies for their men by February 5^th. I’m going to try and have it done by then. Pray everything falls in place!}

Teaching Bible Study Methods

One other event I just signed up for right after the New Year is to travel to Fiji to teach a Bible Study Methods course to Campus Crusade staff from all over the Oceana region (South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand). This is the same course I’ve been involved with in the U.S. for the last three summers. I know, I know, you’re thinking “Fiji? Wow… really slaving for the Lord there Majors!” Ok, I’ll try to make it sound worse by saying there are poor parts to the Island, and that’s where I’ll be, but that probably won’t win any sympathy. I will say that the drama ensuing around the decision to go to Fiji was a good indicator of the need of the work there. There was another teacher lined up for this course, who had to cancel due to family illness, so they asked me to come, saying “If you can’t, we’ll have to cancel” (can you feel the pressure?) After accepting the opportunity, the man organizing the event said “You have no idea how important this course is. The staff desperately needs this because they have very weak theology. The churches here are not strong and they just did not grow up with a good understanding of what it means to study, understand, and teach the scriptures to others.” What a praise, as I cannot think of a better way to spend my life than teaching others to do this very thing.

Of course, there are many challenges to this trip for which I need your prayers; the first being that I will be away from my family for over two weeks (Depart Dec 30^th and return Jan 16^th). Also, this is the first time I will teach the entire course and organize and lead the coaches (while also preparing 8 lectures over the 10 days of the course). This is a significant increase in responsibility from my role with the summer courses in Orlando and Colorado. Time is short, so your prayers are needed to ensure I am fully prepared.

Also pray for Julie during my absence, as we experienced a break-in at our home in early November. Julie came home in the middle of the day to find the front and back doors wide open with our computer, camera, iPod, and an old cell phone ‘liberated’ from our home. The house was ransacked, though the damage was rather minor (outside of a broken bedroom window that the landlord promptly replaced). Pray for a peace of mind for and for details to work out for family members to be able to stay with her during those weeks.

Finally, we also ask for your prayers for Julie’s father, who found out in November that he has cancer (lymphoma). He began chemo the week after Thanksgiving, and the doctors are giving him a 40% chance of survival. He seems to be handling everything very well, but please pray for him - for his healing and for his comfort during all the painful stages and tests related to treating cancer. He had a close friend die recently from a very similar type of cancer and is very aware of the urgency of the hour in his life.

On a personal/family note: It has been an interesting year - being re-settled in Little Rock for the first full year, yet busier than we can ever remember in our married life. God has blessed us with a daughter this year - in whom we can already sense a bit of shyness at 7 months old and who is very observant and full of joy.  And we’ve been amazed to continue to watch John Isaac grow into a very energetic young boy with a creative mind and enthusiasm for life. His reading skills have grown significantly this year (as well as his interest in good books - we’ve been reading through The Lord of the Rings, Pilgrims Progress, and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea) and he seems to have a natural knack for math and a good memory. We continue to pray for both of them that the gospel of Jesus Christ would be their greatest joy and significance in this life. Last week we ‘dedicated’ Caroline during the morning church service. The verse we chose for her is Proverbs 31:30 “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she is to be praised.” In a world where charm is worshiped and beauty is valued far above personal character, our prayer is that Caroline (and John Isaac) would develop a healthy fear of the Lord and walk faithfully with Him for a lifetime.

Julie has been hard at work continuing to help women change the way they eat and care for their families’ health. She has a blog (realfoodlittlerock.blogspot.com) and had great success connecting families with a local farmer that supplies nutritious food to these families. Plus we’ve enjoyed the community that has grown up around this group of ‘foodies.’

One lady, after Julie gave her some simple, healthy recipes for her family, said (and I’m paraphrasing here…) “You have completely changed my life and brought peace to our home. Before, we ate out MOST NIGHTS OF THE WEEK, which led to chaos every evening because we were always short on time. Not to mention that restaurant food is not the healthiest. Now there is peace in our home and we are enjoying time together around the family table.”

There’s no coincidence that time spent together over an evening meal is one of the greatest indicators of the health of a family. It’s not just the food - it’s where life, passions, and values are shared, it’s where Chuck Swindoll says, “life makes up its mind.” It’s where children learn to converse with adults and act like adults, where they truly learn to socialize in a way that is respectful of others. And it’s often the one place where the family members really spend time talking to one another and taking interest in one another. At six years old, we can already feel the tug on our son to be busy during the dinner hour (part of the reason we passed on football this year - saying no to three nights a week of practice - for a six year old!) I can only imagine what the teen years hold. But we want to establish the pattern now that this time together is sacred.

Thanks again for all your prayers for us. If your family sends a year end letter, please add us to your list. We enjoy hearing updates from you. We deeply appreciate you!

Preschool Art Group

In preschool art group this week, they painted the salt dough ornaments from last week.  I was brave (or silly) enough to let them use acrylic paint.  To my great relief, wasn't that bad.  They really had a good time painting and chatting. 
With minutes before the other children were to arrive, I realized I hadn't followed my golden rule: ALWAYS make the craft before starting.  So, I quickly tried this idea and decided to tweak it.  Instead of using glue and foil, I gave them contact paper.  Actually, I tried it with liquid starch.  The tissue paper stuck to itself, but when dry, it came off the foil.
Lastly, they practiced sewing a popcorn garland with a real needle.  No blood drawn, or causalities I promise!  Along with the popcorn, I let them count out ten mini-marshmallows.  They had the option to eat the sweets or put them on the garland.  Only one (of the 30) survived to the garland.  And, I think they all tasted a cranberry.  Wish I had my camera ready for those puckered faces!

As you can see from the end results, their attention spans were a bit short.  I think Lucas would have lasted longer if the other two could have glued themselves to the chair.  Julia, we missed you - hope you're feeling better soon.

Preschool Art Group

Salt dough ornaments were on the docket for this week's preschool art group.  This week we made (and baked) the ornaments.  Next week we'll paint them.

I tried to steer them towards the creation of something "Christmas-y."    We even talked  about pictures and symbols that reminded us of Christmas.  However, the bulk of my cookie cutters were along the lines of transportation and shapes.  And so shall the ornaments be.

After the art time the kids quickly transitioned into free play and

 finding a few rolls of masking tape.  They made a wonderful web in the living room that  morphed itself up the stairs.  It was fun to watch them enjoy and create.

All was not lost during clean up time.  Mr. Intensity rolled it into a ball then took it to show Dad.  It's the size of his head.

Of course they had to play a quick game of catch.

Thanks again, Shelley for the tape!

Solo Art Group

Preschool art group this week was quite sad boring.  Levi's family left for Kenya, Julia's mom was sick, and Destany & Lucas just needed home-time.  So, that left me and Mr. Intensity.

We started the day by making a turkey.  He loves using the stapler, and he bammed a few feathers into a paper plate.  Lovingly he affixed a beak and legs then scribbled more feathers.

The next craft was copied inspired by Chrissy & Annabelle: blowing paint onto paper in the shape of a turkey.
He then requested a paint brush.

And this picture of his mid-morning snack was taken by Mr. Intensity.  Downloading my pictures is a treat.  I usually find a random picture surprise.  Or, at least I don't remember taking a picture of cheese and crackers.

Preschool Art Group

Today's preschool art group theme was Thanksgiving with tribute to Native Americans.  First the kids painted paper sacks to make vests.

Whew  - they were WILD by clean-up time.  Two words: paint everywhere.

Mr. Intensity was banished to his room for spitting on another child. The other children asked, "What will happen to him?"  

I told them, "At our house, we follow God's word in the Bible that says, 'He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.' So that means..."

The children enthusiastically filled in the blank and actually cut me off by saying, "He gets a spankin'!  We do too!  That's what my Mom and Dad believe, too!"  And they took turns telling me (funny to me) details.
After the momentary affliction, Mr. Intensity re-joined the group to make a head dress.  When I told the kids we were making a "head dress" one of the boys said, "Boys don't wear dresses!"
While they made their feathery creations, I told them a story from the book I'm giving away.
And ended the story by making popcorn, since the Natives showed the Pilgrims the wonder of POP!  This simple treat made me the most fun mom, ever.  I'd planned to add a bit of real maple syrup (again, like the natives showed the Europeans) but the kiddos seemed perfectly content with bland pop corn.  So I skipped the sweet.  They were wired without it.

Wanna guess who's kid is crying?  It really was a good morning, I promise.

Making Cards

In lieu of art group yesterday, Mr. Intensity and I pulled out the watercolors and oil pastels.

Afterwards, I cut the page into smaller pieces and used them on cards that we're sending as thank-yous to family members.

Preschool Art Group

Today's art group was rather uneventful.  I didn't do my normal planning since I had a super-splitting headache Tuesday night and went to bed at 8pm.  Last week, we didn't "do-art" for various reasons.  Instead we went to the Children's Museum; so this week's art was planned last week so I could participate in the Unplug Your Kids' theme- wax.

The children grated crayons with my mircoplane onto wax paper to make these stunning leaf shaped "sun catchers." They were quite enthused that the iron would cause the wax paper to stick to itself. Note to parents: make sure to

 cover the wax paper with newspaper so as not to ruin your iron. 

They also used oil pastels and watercolors since Lucas and Destany weren't with us the day we initially used them.

And, since Lucas didn't get to use the stencils two weeks ago, I pulled them out today.  It surprised me that Destany and John Isaac wanted to use them, too.  They all really enjoyed the oil pastels.

Preschool Art Group

The theme for the day was geography with an emphasis on Christopher Columbus (who is honored in many North American countries this time of year).

Last week, I shared how out-of-control-excited Mr. Intensity was, when friends were here.  [Sunday he was very disruptive at church, both in Sunday school, as well as Jr. Church.  Both sets of teachers had to talk to us about his behavior!]  So, today I tried to coach him (before the kids arrived) to hop like a bunny when he felt excited.  It worked!!  On several occasions I saw him hopping!  I'm thankful for The Spirited Child book that has helped me see into my child's life.

Side note *I just have to share this:*  Last week, I was complaining to Hubby about Mr. Intensity's intense, and sometimes out-of-control behavior.  I tried to get Hubby to brainstorm with me as to how to help Mr. Intensity self-soothe, or calm himself.  I shared the following story - (scroll down to the rest of the art group pictures if you don't care about this parenting problem of mine.)

On Thursday two kids came over to play while their mom took the baby to the doctor.  I heard a loud "thump" like a slamming of a door (which is against the rules at our house.)  I waited a few seconds to react, to see if it was an accident.  The same noise came again from Mr. Intensity's room.  By the time I made it to the top of the stairs, I heard the same LOUD noise a third time.

Upon entering his room, I asked, "What was that loud noise?"

He says, "I didn't hear a loud noise."

"Really?!  I heard a very loud noise, like slamming of a door.  Did you slam the door?"

"Nope."

At this time, one of the other children piped up to say, "He was running across the room and throwing his body against the door."

What the heck is wrong with this child?!!

So, I'm telling Hubby this scenario and he replies, "I remember in the 7th grade, being so excited that I was around my friends, I would bang my book against my head.  It made a cool sound and it felt good."

ACK!!  I have 8 more years of sensory integration?!!   [Pam, I asked if you knew this info - he said, "No, I only did it at school when I was with my friends."]

whew.  thanks for letting me dump.  I just wanted y'all to have a bit of insight into my world.  It's chaotic most of the time. 

Back to our regularly scheduled program.

Below you'll see Mr. Intensity working with the cheap creative mom's version of metal insets.  They're made of styrofoam chip board (not sure of the technical name.)

Levi with the number rods.
Destany with the knobbed cylinders.
Mr. Intensity working with materials from Handwriting Without Tears.  The letter focus of the day was N, S, E, and W (letters on a compass).  There was also a station prepared with the sandpaper letters and a tray of rice with these same letters.
Before painting, we played a quick game of "Where's North America?"  I took the NA piece from our Melissa & Doug puzzle and hid it. While pretending to be explorers and searching we sang (to the tune of One little, two little, three little Indians):  Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria (3x's) These are Columbus's ships. For more Columbus day ideas, look here.
Above you see the children painting their maps (on the back of paper grocery sacks that I'd singed the edges and crumpled to look old).  On the wall, I hung maps of the world, US, and Arizona.  You'll also see N, S, E, & W in their proper locations.   I had a Phoenix map in the car that didn't make it inside.  I also forgot to mention the location of Kenya - Levi and his family are moving there next month.

Below is our attempt for a ship in a bottle.  It's blue water and vegetable oil with glitter/confetti in the center as ships.  The kids thought these were totally fab.  I added a bead of hot glue around the cap to keep it on. 

Last, but not least - the SHIPS!  They're made from egg cartons, toothpicks (sails) and play doh to anchor the sail.  There was enough material for each child to make 3.  However, by the time we made the ships the kids were toast and so was I.  We stopped at one ship, each.
After art group, we ate lunch at the park. Then we went to Madison Camelview Elementary to volunteer for Good News Club.  Some ladies at my church have been doing this for years.  Last year, Hubby went with us and got a seminary credit for volunteering.  Mr. Intensity loves singing songs, hearing the stories and eating sweet treats!  

[as I type, Mr. Intensity is laying in bed singing Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria!]

Art Group

The themes for preschool/art group today were darkest to lightest, tallest to shortest, biggest to smallest and a bunch of descriptive words in between.  I tried to use a variation of verbiage like big, bigger and biggest, larger (or smaller) than, etc.

When the children arrived, we spent 45 minutes doing Montessori type activities.  I wasn't planning for it to take so long.  Then again, I didn't think about how the materials were new to Levi and Julia (Mr. Intensity was totally bored with my explanations and was quite distracting.)  There were 7 prepared activities from which they could choose.

Below you'll see that Levi was quite please with himself, building the (not so) pink tower.  The only mats that I own are being used by the doors; improvising I used towels to help define the space.

Mr. Intensity working with the number rods.  Over his left shoulder you'll see the dressing frames.  The boys totally ignored them.
Only one set of the knobbed cylinders was presented today.  Maybe next week there will be more.  Mr. Intensity is such an extrovert and so excited that other kids were here today that he had a hard time controlling himself and settling down.  Think: preschooler with too much caffeine, sugar, ADHD, pure boy, super excited with extra wiggles sprinkled on top!  All this to say that he tends to be rough with things anyway and with the extra kids here, I had to remind him SEVERAL times to be gentle and respect the materials.  When constructing his pink tower it toppled seconds after he completed it then was frustrated it fell.  It fell because he unknowingly knocked it down from his extra energy.  [At times I wanted to pinch his little head off!  Good thing he's my kid, or he probably wouldn't be invited back!  :)]

Below, you'll see Levi concentrating so well.  He worked very hard to assemble this cube.  Eventually I stepped in to help him so that he could experience the other stations. 

Julia stepped up to the (not yet painted) red rods and said, "oh, this one is much too hard!"  But she mastered it - as with the other activities.  She was a very diligent and patient worker.  I think she performed all the tasks without any coaxing or prodding.  
The matryoshka dolls were enjoyed by all the children. 
From the living room, we moved to the kitchen.  After showing the children a handful of candy corn, I asked about its shape and colors.  Then gave them Elmer's glue and a Q-tip to spread it.  With baby spoons they sprinkled yellow and orange lentils and a bit of white rice.  They all did rather well keeping the stray kernels on their trays. 
Julia's baby brother even got in on the action!  

After the candy corn collage, they were given other colors of lentils and rice with which to be creative.  (Look how intense one little boy is, using the glue...)The favorite activity: counting candy corns!  They were all given a treat bag with numbers 1-7 and 28 candy corns.  If they completed the task, they could eat 5 (and the rest after lunch.)  Over Levi's shoulder you can see the tray where I demonstrated how to "pair" the even numbers.
Then we worked on the concept of darkest to lightest with the homemade color box.  They zipped through it.
Last, but certainly not least, they painted! I bought the orange washable paint thinking about...well, you know, I have a boy.  When practicing last night with the paint I was sorely disappointed in its quality - it's very water-y and the color isn't very bright.  I won't buy that brand again.  I'll probably stick with the brand of white tempera (pictured).  I've not had a problem getting it out of his clothes as long as I wash the day of painting.

The children loved painting - and adding white to orange to make lighter orange.  
After art group, we ate lunch at the park.  The boys found the shovels on the patio and were ready to whack somebody dig.  It was only 101* today and will be 74* tonight - autumn is coming to Arizona -  Yay!

Montessori Color Box

We own a poor creative man's set of the color box; they're free from Home Depot.  About a year ago, when I started my Montessori kick (and when I knew nothing about Montessori), I presented these to Mr. Intensity.  It flopped.  We both were frustrated.  I still don't know a lot about Montessori, but thanks to the world of blogs, I'm learning.

Today's "game" with Mr. Intensity started with giving him scissors and asking him to cut along the white lines.  It's not perfect, but I think he did a smashing job.

I'm thinking of doing a variation of this activity with the art group, so I thought I'd let him give it a whirl today to see where the activity needed revisions.  

I showed him how the colors are lighter at the top.  "The colors are dark at the bottom and as white is added it gets lighter."  I wasn't sure if this explanation was adequate but when I looked at his face, he was totally trackin' and digging it!  We went through all seven colors, pointing first at the dark bottom and saying, "add a bit of white and we get this color." 

After he cut them all apart, we mixed them into a big heap.  He separated them into color piles then organized them lightest to darkest.  I was mucho impressed.  A few of the swatches are hard to discern (esp. the two lightest yellows.)

The first time he completed the activity and checked his work against the "control" (which was a paint chip still in tact) he needed to correct 3 colors.  Then it was my turn.  :) 

The second time he completed it he didn't need to make any changes!  I love watching him learn and grow.  Next, I want to try the sunburst.

UPDATE:  used these in preschool art group.

Art Group

I love art group.  I love the planning and observing the children.  While they're here I feel a bit looney but it is fun.  Today we started outside with sidewalk chalk (to get out some wiggles right off the bat.)  One of the girls immediately said, "It's hot.  Can we go inside?"  I was surprised.  In all our 3 years here, I don't remember Mr. Intensity commenting on the heat.  In her defense, it was 106* today.

Thinking the gal must be bored with chalk, I whipped out the shaving cream.  The boys loved it.  Love, love, LOVED it.  The girls, um, not so much.  The picture above is the epitome of the activity.  The boys eventually turned the sidewalk into a slip 'n slide.  And were covered head to toe with shaving cream.

I didn't really think they would enjoy it that much.  I've only done it inside... with one child.  The boys had to change clothes before continuing with art group.  I should have saved that activity for last.  Live and learn, 'eh?

Since it has been a few weeks, we reviewed primary colors.  Then mesmerized them with this milk trick.  Drop food coloring into milk (with fat) then add drops of dish soap for a fireworks effect.  I should have heated the milk a bit - as I was reminded yesterday that warm molecules move faster.
They worked on counting 1-10 with clothes pins.
...and everyone loved the pumpkin rolls. We talked about the parts of the pumpkin since we added a stem, vine, and a leaf. Because we used toilet paper, there was a bit of bathroom humor at the table (from the boys, of course!) 

Lastly, we reviewed the seasons and made scarecrow puppets.  On the wall were the puppets we made yesterday.  I don't really think of the scarecrow puppets as art but rather an exercise in listening and following instructions.  They had freedom to make the facial expressions, etc. as they wanted.  I explained how I made mine then gave them materials.  I think they enjoyed crumpling the paper to fill the scarecrow the most.
A few minutes before we were to begin, a realtor called to see if she could show my house from 9:30-11am.  The time of art group!  Ack!  Not wanting to turn anyone away, I said, "Sure! C'mon over!  It's gonna be FUN!"