Changed By Love

Changed By Love

Following the Lamb wherever he goes… Revelation 14:4

Dolphin Tale Unit Study

The twins and I have been doing the unit study that came free from Homeschool Movie Club on Facebook to go along with Dolphin Tale (you can find this free curriculum at www.homeschoolmovieclub.com). We saw the movie during its opening in theaters back in September, but I didn’t want to do the study right then because the twins didn’t seem very excited about it. They liked the movie, but they didn’t want to do any school work based on it. I had it all printed out and put in a folder and just waited until the “right” time. Well, that time seems to be now.

I’m getting ideas for extension activities, such as a book from our bookcase called Friendly Dolphins that just happened to be laying on our coffee table the other day. I picked it up and started reading it to the twins a little later that day. Then I found an episode of Flipper on Netflix, so I had the twins watch it. Then I realized that Blockbuster Express has Dolphin Tale now, so I rented it two nights ago, and we watched it last night.

Here are some of the worksheets that are included in the unit study curriculum from Homeschool Movie Club.

We made a water column. We added maple syrup and cooking oil to the water and observed where they collected. That part itself was fascinating. Then we started dropping other objects such as a rock, a packing peanut, a piece of tomato and some solid shortening. We drew a picture of where those things floated in the water on the Buoyancy Worksheet above. I forgot to take pictures of our jar. It was lovely. Take my word for it.

The twins were pretty good at figuring out the correct vocabulary words that went with the definitions.

Nematocyst – New vocabulary word for all of us. We had a real-life example of what these nematocysts are used for, thanks to Patrick. When he was at the beach, he was stung by a jellyfish, and he had some red marks and swelling on his leg that lasted a couple of days. I showed the twins how the tentacles are full of nematocyst cells which hold venom inside of them, and when they feel something, they send out a little harpoon and pierce the skin and pour venom into it. And that’s why Patrick’s leg was hurting and turned red and swelled. They were fascinated by that. Later that evening, Fiona drew pictures based on what she learned during the day. She drew a shark (we started a study on sharks that day, too) and a jellyfish. Out of one of the tentacles of the jellyfish she drew a nematocyst sending a harpoon. I showed it to Patrick later, and he said she should have drawn his foot right next to it. 🙂

These are the worksheets from the shark study that we’ve done so far.

Fiona drew the shark teeth from pictures we had. Garrett is having to write the names of the sharks they came from.

I’m learning more about sea creatures than I knew before.

I looked for books at the library to go with our study and found tons of books about sharks, but very few about dolphins. Huh, I personally like dolphins a lot better than sharks. But I’m finding lots of good information, thanks to Dolphin Tale and Homeschool Movie Club. You can also find out more about Winter, the dolphin that Dolphin Tale was about at www.seewinter.com. There’s a webcam set up so you can watch Winter. You can even watch her at night through night vision. How cool is that?

While watching this movie the second time, I was struck even more by the way this dolphin is touching the lives of disabled children and adults. God uses His creatures in amazing ways to save, heal, encourage and restore each other.

Fiona’s Art Gallery

Fiona has been drawing foxes for quite some time now. I think she drew this one in December of 2011, while she was still 7.

Jan. 2012 – Just turned 8 years of age

Fiona drew this without any fanfare. This is Tommy and Kimi from The Rugrats. I found it later and asked who did it. I was surprised that Fiona could draw this so well without something to look off of.

February 24, 2012 – Age 8

Age 8 - Fiona drew this on her own after we did a lesson about sharks. The day before we'd had a lesson on jellyfish and how they sting.

The thing extended from the one jellyfish tentacle is the little harpoon from one of the many cells on the tentacles called nematocysts that contain the venom and send out a little harpoon that penetrates the victim’s skin and then sends the venom into the victim. Fiona drew the harpoon extended to show how it works.

Releasing Your Children to God

I’ve been reading the book How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. for Your Kids by Rachael Carman, owner of Apologia.

I also joined in on the tail end of a book club discussing this book after being invited by Kelli Becton of Adventurez in Child Rearing. Her guest post on Chapter 4 of this book is here.

In Chapter 4 of her book, Rachael does a wonderful job of helping parents to realize that our children are really God’s children. She says that this is one of the ways we do right by our children. When I was younger, a friend of mine told me that she saw her children as belonging to God and that He had loaned them to her for a short time. I didn’t really get it. I kind of rejected that idea. But now I understand it a lot better – 15 or so years down the road.

I see a number of different ways of releasing children to God.

One of them is a gradual releasing that involves letting children start to make decisions for themselves. We raise them to pray about everything so that their decisions will more likely be God’s will for their lives and will lead to good things happening – the right things. We teach them to pray for direction and listen to what God is saying.

Another is letting God lead in their education. When we finally got settled at least temporarily in Kansas City (after traveling around from state to state and hotel to hotel), I asked my oldest son what he wanted to study. He said he just wanted to study the Bible. I was surprised. I wanted him to do a little more of some academic subjects, too, so I asked him to write about what he learned from his Bible study, and I asked him to do some math and science. But I have had to let go of lots of things and let God lead them in their studies because of the number of children I have and the constant changes we have gone through in the last 6 years. They have learned many new skills and developed interests that I have not been able to direct or even observe at times.

Another is to release them when they get older, and it’s time for them to do the thing that God has called them to do. We have always prayed that they would discover God’s will for their lives. I prayed for them when the older ones were young that God would reveal to them their gifts and talents and how He wants to use them to glorify Him.

The hardest is to say to the Lord, “This is your child. Do with him as You will. Not my will, but Yours be done.” I did this when they were younger when I dedicated them to the Lord. I consecrated each of my children to God for His plan and purpose for their lives. I put them in His hands. I have had to seriously consider letting my older children go and actually leave our home lately, and I must admit, it scared me. They’re not ready, and it’s my fault. I don’t know what they will do if they leave the safe haven of our home.

My husband is stepping in to suggest or demand some things that I haven’t made them do so that we can make sure they’re ready for life in the world. I hate to even think about such a thing. It’s ironic that I am experiencing this at the time that I’m reading this book. Some of the choices they are making and the things they’re becoming interested in are not what I would have chosen for them. But I’m just praying for God’s will to be done in their lives and that He will guide them in the way that they should go. I have had my faith tested yet again. This is probably the hardest test so far. But I trust God to take care of my children even when they leave my home and my care. I have had to face the real possibility in the last few days. Once again, I gave them to the Lord and said, “Yes, I trust You, God.”

Releasing our children to God is not a one-time thing. I have had to do it many times throughout the years. I release them to God, but I don’t release them to satan or the world. I will not turn them over to the godless educational system or to anyone who tries to draw them away from God. But the final release is up to them. When they are old enough, I will trust them to stay true to the Word of God which they have learned in our home and to seek His will for their lives. And I will trust God to equip them and carry them the same way He did for me when it was time. But not until it’s time.

*********************************************************

I have linked this post to Women Living Well Wednesdays. Visit Courtney’s blog and see what other women bloggers are sharing about family, faith, marriage, parenting, etc.

Precious Jewels

David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011]

Listen to this prophecy from Isaiah:

“O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you”
(Isaiah 54:11-14).

What an amazing prophecy! The “colorful gems” mentioned in verse 11 are jewels. If you know much about jewels, you know that a diamond was once a piece of coal that has been worked on for years by the elements. God’s Word is telling us: “Your afflictions are meant to change you into something beautiful—something precious to Me!”

The “pinnacles [windows] of rubies [agates]” mentioned here are a type of quartz, made transparent by fire. The “windows” aspect has to do with eyes or vision. God is saying that trusting Him through your afflictions will give you clear vision and discernment. It will allow you to see into the unseen with crystal clarity.

Many scholars believe the phrase “gates of crystal” reads more accurately as “gates of pearl.” Pearls are formed from a grain of sand in the belly of an oyster. The grain is injected with fluid, then grated and irritated until it becomes a pearl.

Think of all the grating, irritating friction in your life. What is God doing? He is making a pearl! Every pearl is a memento of suffering, pain, friction.

I believe Isaiah is talking about the beauty of Jesus Christ in this passage. In other words, affliction, when allowed to accomplish its work, brings about a people who shine forth the beauty of Christ’s character. It makes us more and more like Jesus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the beginning of our Journey of Fire, I noticed that God would always take me to this passage whenever I opened my Bible. I read it over and over again. I knew it had something to do with God wanting to make something beautiful of my life, but I could never get much clarity beyond that. And the part about my children being taught of the Lord and having great peace was very comforting to me.

This explanation of the meaning of the passage helps me so much. It gives me that clarity I needed. I feel like I’m starting to come out of a fog.

And I’m taking hold of the promises concerning my children stronger than ever right now.

If you feel like all you ever experience is affliction, be encouraged. There’s a reason for it. You are becoming more beautiful and more like Jesus through it. It will be worth it!

I want to be beautiful for my Jesus, don’t you?