The Jobe Journal

This blog has been on a long extended break of activity. I, however, haven’t. It has been a busy semester. I had full intentions of posting often about our new Tapestry of Grace homeschool co-op. I’d had intentions of keeping up with my 1,000 Gifts list. I’d wanted to post cute videos and pictures and have this little spot on the web be my online scrapbook for all of my 5 readers (like my mom, mother-in-law and sis). However, while I have been busy, this blog has been quiet.

So dear readers, welcome to my quarterly post

Here are some things I do wish to accomplish in 2012…

Read the Bible daily

Exercise regularly

Spend more one-on-one time with my children

Read more books

And that is it. I’m not much on New Year’s Resolutions. I don’t like to set myself up for failure. However, I love spending time with my kids. I just need to be more intentional. I tend to think the special times will happen as I grab one and go to the store but such is not the case. So, I want to go on breakfast dates and really get them alone. I’m looking forward to this. I also love exercising and plan to get a little in daily. As far as books, I used to read lots of them. Sadly, computer time has replaced much of my book-reading time… and I miss it.

Two books I really enjoyed last year are 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp and Made to Crave by Lysa Terquist. What were your favorites? I’d like to make a reading list for this year and I’d love suggestions.

Happy 2012. Maybe this year I’ll post more than every 3 months. Then again, if I really stick to my list and keep teaching and feeding all my kiddos, maybe not

It has, without a doubt, been an incredible first 9 weeks of school. We’ve been studying Tapestry of Grace Year 1 in our co-op, and I’m shocked with how much we’ve covered in just 9 weeks. We’ve studied ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and the history of the Hebrew people. The children have read about and studied the Jewish holidays, the tabernacle, passover and focused on creation, Moses, Abraham and Noah. They’ve read through the first three books of the Bible. I must say, studying these books within their historical context has been eye-opening. I wonder how many times I’ve read about the exodus of the Hebrew people out of Egypt. This time I felt as if I was there. I struggled with their rebellious nature. I identified with it. I thanked the Lord for their history and wrestled with it being mine. (more on this later)

The very week we  read about the passover and tabernacle, we were able to participate in a tabernacle exhibit/presentation as well as attend the ballet “Deliver Us” by our favorite dance company, Ballet Magnificat! – all in one day. Pictures speak louder than words about the awesomeness of these two events…

Pictured above is a small scale model of the tabernacle, the high priest, our group in front of the holy of holies, table of showbread, incense, and the Ten Commandments. God was very specific in his instructions for the tabernacle. In the past, I skimmed as I read all the many details of its construction and use, dimensions, purpose, etc. However, this setup informed the Israelites that they could only come to Him in the way he commanded.  I don’t think any of us will soon forget the smell of incense that burned as we listened to tabernacle presentation. As we sang and the smells surrounded me, I tried to picture the altar of sacrifice… and the blood and ceremony that would entail.

And then later that night, our group travelled an hour away to watch the story of Israelites’ freedom from oppression. While slaves in Egypt, they were given a powerful leader, Moses, who was chosen by God to lead them out of their captivity.

He spoke to Pharoah, but Pharoah refused to release God’s people… until the plaque of death took the life of his son.

The plaque of death passed over the homes of the Israelites. They were instructed to paint their doorposts with the blood of a sacrificed lamb… and that blood spared the lives of their sons.

After the powerful passover scene of the ballet, I expected to see the deliverance… the exodus… the march through the Red Sea. However, Ballet Magnificat! instead portrayed the crucifixion of our Lord. I fought the tears and held my breath as I watched.

And then a company member spoke. “You may wonder why we went from the passover to the crucifixion of Christ. God commanded blood for the forgiveness of sins. The Israelites were in bondage and they received deliverance from Egypt. The spirit of death passed over their households because of the blood of the sacrificed lamb. Jesus Christ is our passover lamb. He is our deliverer from the bondage we have to sin. The story of the Israelites is also our story. Christ is our deliverer.”

And as he spoke, I thought about the tabernacle. God was specific with the way in which He was to be worshipped then, and he is specific now. The Israelites could only come to Him in the way He prescribed, and we can only come to Him one way now – through Jesus Christ.

“We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. …By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. …And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.” (Hebrews 10:10, 14, 18)

On the way home from the ballet, I listened to a van full of girls sing “Give me Jesus.” Many of them take choir together so they beautifully sang in harmony. I thanked God for the way He orchestrated our day. I prayed it meant half as much to the children as it did to me and a question interrupted my thoughts. “Mrs Jobe,” asked one of the girls. “Do you think God possibly put together this field trip just for us? I mean what would the chances really be of seeing a Tabernacle display and then a ballet on Exodus just as we’ve finished studying this?”

I answered truthfully, “Yes. I have no doubt God put this day together for us!”

And then the girls continued in their song:

Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.

I listened and wept tears of thankfulness. Because I have Jesus, I can enter the holy of holies. The animal sacrifices of the Israelites were temporary. When new sins were committed, new animals were killed. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, came as the ultimate and last sacrifice for humanity when He offered up His life.

Thank you, Jesus, for a powerful visual reminder of what you came to earth to do!

Today is September 19th and today Daniel and I have been married 19 years. My children call their birthday like this their “Golden Birthday.” (This year Sarah turned 9 on August 9th. Most of the children (all but Esther) won’t have goldens until they are in their second decade.) While Daniel and I aren’t even half-way to our what is typically thought of as a golden anniversary (50 years), this anniversary – 19 on the 19th has a special-ness to it for me. I’m calling it our pre-golden anniversary. In honor of 19 on the 19th, here are 19 things I love about my wonderful husband.

1. He loves God. Plain and simple. He models spiritual disciplines for me. He reads the Word. He reads the Word to our children. (Yes, I’m cheating. These are really 4 already but I have a lot to list

2. He fills our home with music. For those of  you who’ve heard my husband sing, you know what I’m talking about. Evenings when he pulls out his guitar and practices Sunday morning worship songs are like a bit of Heaven on Earth. I’m blessed and thankful God saw to it that our children inherit their Daddy’s musical genes

3. He loves me. On our wedding day he was captured on video saying, “I think I love you now, but I know I really don’t even know how. I look forward to spending the rest of my life learning how to better love you.” For 19 years, he has done just that – even when I’ve been pretty unlovable!

4. He loves people. The man I married in not critical. He sees good in everyone. People sense this. So often folks will tell me, “Your husband is so sweet and gentle. ” That is because they genuinely feel liked by him (and they are.)

5. He works on his weaknesses. Everyone has them. The man I married is 19 years sweeter and gentler than he was when I married him. (And he wasn’t bad then.)

6. He loves our children. Yesterday our pastor said that many men (maybe the average man?) spends an average of 60 seconds a week communicating with his children. Unfathomable.

7. He is efficient and organized. Daniel makes me look good in this way. My true friends know I’m disorganized by nature – yet thanks to him, I have color-coded (by family member) calendars on my iPhone and an integrated shopping list (he can add it/ I’ll get the memo while shopping). Everything techi works beautifully in this household. If up to me, we’d be the only family on the planet without a home computer.

8. He makes my coffee every morning and flavors it just right.

9. He says thank you a lot and asks the children to do the same.

10. He sees when I need a break even when I don’t see it myself. While I always feel some child should run errands with me (suffer from the “I don’t give individual time enough” syndrome), he’ll often insist I go alone. Same for women’s retreats, friend time, etc. Never has he encouraged me to stay home when he feels a time away would benefit me.

11. He is a good disciplinarian – very balanced and fair, yet he has high expectations. The children do not argue with him. I’m not as consistent and prone to changing my mind. I’m the one who’s read every parenting book written. Not Daniel. He doesn’t need to.

12. He tells me I’m pretty, often when I need to hear it most.

13. He loves his parents and mine and all our extended family. He’d do anything for them. He is extremely loyal.

14. He smiles at young children and babies.

15. He reads to the children. Most importantly, he reads the Bible and devotions to them. However, we’ve enjoyed the entire Narnia series as a family as well as countless missionary stories and historical fiction.

16. He enjoys giving. Very often, he’ll ask, “How much should we send to (a missionary, ministry, friend, need, etc)?” Almost always, his desire is to give more than I. I am challenged by that and so thankful to be married to  such a cheerful giver.

17. He is punny. I mean funny. Few folks enjoy a play on words more than Daniel. The children think his ability to make puns off the top of his head is brilliant

18. He loves traditions.

19. On every anniversary he tells me, “I’d marry you again, but I’m glad I don’t have to.”

This post took me exactly 18 minutes to write. Sorry it’s unedited. It’s a crazy Monday – a day I leave the house at 8 and won’t be home until 9:30!

Happy pre-golden anniversary to us!

For the past several years we’ve attempted studying a Classical curriculum called Tapestry of Grace. Regretfully, this very rich and thorough material has been little more than a reading list for our family. Good intentions are there, but I simply don’t have time to engage my high schoolers in Socratic discussions in literature, history and philosophy and simultaneously teach my younger children to read, spell and perform basic math operations. Thus, we’ve read some Tapestry recommended books while many books, those that demand explanation and discussion, have collected dust on my overflowing bookshelves.

Last year I knew something had to change with our homeschooling. Four out of six of my children had moved beyond the early years where I felt comfortable “sticking with the basics” and “dropping the extras.” The problem was, they simply lacked the motivation to study the more difficult subjects. Don’t get me wrong. My children are excellent students, but tackling high-school-level courses was just plain hard for them. No longer did my bragging on them to dad and grandma provide extrinsic motivation and the intrinsic motivation for Algebra and Literature Analysis just wasn’t there.

In our small town, we do have a high school learning co-op that is excellent. However, I could not justify spending two days a week driving around town during school hours for two children. While my high schoolers would benefit for sure, the other four would be stuck in the van. Not good.

So, my husband I began praying. Should we put our three grade-school/jr. high – aged children at our local Classical private school so I could have more time for my older children? Should we investigate the many online high-school options? Could we possibly find ways to help our older children “own” their education and become intrinsically motivated, even with those harder courses? None of these options were bad ones, but the expense of private school or multiple online classes seemed prohibitive. My high schoolers love home schooling but they admitted that they struggled to memorize vocabulary and study history when their musical instruments, hobbies or even their little sister continually called their name.

Over several months, the Lord put together a new adventure for our family. Several friends of mine were experiencing the same homeschooling frustrations. Out of that, a new idea was born… a Tapestry of Grace co-op! Two of my friends had used the curriculum with more success than I, but they both agreed discussing the material in a group would be extremely beneficial. For me, having ALL my children engaged in age-appropriate classes was important. So, this year, once a week, all of our children head to our church for a 5-hour co-op. Esther loves her new preschool classes. Sarah is delighted to not only discuss history and literature, but to have art, science and Latin. My twins are dialectics (junior high) and they now have motivation to finish the history and literature selections as well as memorize their Geography. After all, they will discuss everything in class! Anna and Christina are writing essays and participating in excellent Socratic discussions. Knowing they must come prepared on Mondays is making a huge difference!

The other day, I found this on our coffee table in the den:

I consider pyramid sketchings during free time a good thing And there is more…

Last weekend,I requested the children watch an ancient history documentary during our family movie time. Yes, they groaned. But… after turning it off because it was getting late, Nathan requested to wake up early so he could finish it

Our geography teachers have been using wipe on/wipe off maps of ancient Africa. My non-geography (in the past) girls asked if it would be too expensive for me to purchase a set of these maps so they can practice at home. (I said yes, of course!)

Bethany met two friends at the library today so she could work on a bonus history assignment.

The only down side so far is that my natural self is a bit lazy. With all this accountability comes work at home. Yes, we are having to get up a little earlier so we can get this work done! However, this is exactly the change I felt was needed last year.

I am excited about this new learning adventure with some very special people. There is much, much to learn, and we’re off to a great start!

Other than a few ballet posts, I’ve been pretty quiet this summer. That is not because we’ve not been living life What a wonderful summer this has been! One of the most exciting “time consumers” of this season has been a new Tapestry of Grace co-op I’ve helped organize. Tapestry of Grace (ToG) is a Classical curriculum that I’ve used sporadically over the past few years. I love it! However, a good Classical curriculum must utilize Socratic discussion, and that is where I’ve failed. Our new co-op will change all that. I’m so excited. There are 13 families participating and I know it is going to be a fantastic year! All ages (preschool through high school) are included. The enrollment is closed for this year because the structure demands a planning weekend to organize. While the tuition is free, all participating parents must teach and assist the classes. Yet, it has all come together and I am so excited about our new academic learning adventure.

These pictures are primarily for those trying to get their notebooks organized for our co-op. I stayed up until 3 am last night putting 5 of these together (only because I was determined they’d be done before Daniel and I leave for a conference.) Some of the structure I adapted from Marcia Somerville’s training talks. Keep in mind this is not THE only way to do this, but if it helps – go for it!

So, I basically divided the SAP’s into the 9 weeks and printed all the geography and evaluations for the first unit. I put them behind the 1-9 tabs. In the past, I’ve found if don’t assemble all the papers the children need, I end up skipping them. It seems it should only take 5 minutes to make a copy… but those 5 minuts have been the end of our school day at times. The geography maps could go behind the #1-9 as well, but I separated them because I liked the way the sleeves looked in their own section. I did clearly label on each sleeve what week each map would be used. Also, the #1-9 is new for me this year. In the past, I’d file each sheet behind subjects. The problem I found was that my children misfiled them. I like the idea of all the sheets for each week being in one place.

I may put a zippered plastic sleeve in the front with pencils, erasers, a small ruler, dry erase marker, etc.

Hope this helps some of you ToG moms! Happy planning!

Anna was blessed to be able to attend Ballet Magnificat‘s summer dance intensive this past July. She learned so much, made many friends and most importantly, was challenged in her walk with the Lord. Not surprisingly, she desires to attend again next summer and would love to stay a month. Because this was her first time away at a dance intensive, she had no idea what to expect. With a blistered foot and a nervous “newness,” she placed in a level 6 – just about right in the middle of the skill levels. While not at all upset with her placement, she’d love to work hard this year and place higher and stay longer next year. However, staying a month is out of our budget. So, since Anna’s return, we’ve been brainstorming ways for her to raise a little extra money this school year. One idea mentioned on the Ballet Magnificat! website is hosting ballet birthday parties. We are so thankful for Ms. Wendy, the owner of Northwestern Studios where Anna takes here in Boone. She is such an encourager and has offered Anna Northwestern Studio to host ballerina birthdays. So, with the help of her sisters, Anna has a new little business! With all the ballet party talk, Sarah, who turns 9 on Tuesday, decided she’d like to give the ballet party a test run – on her! Thus, on Friday, Anna hosted her first party. It was great fun, and we have Christina to thank for this video. Enjoy!

Another year of dance has come to an end. Anna and Bethany were my only participants in this year’s recital, Hansel and Gretel. Compared to last year, with four dancers and multiple costumes per dancer, this year involved very little stress. Both of my sweet girls danced beautifully, and yes, I was a very proud mommy. I have some dance pictures that I must share.

This past week was strawberry week. Of course, it also was dance recital and hubby’s birthday week, but this post is about strawberries. Every year the children and I travel off the mountain to the nearest strawberry patch and pick and pick and pick and pick WAY more berries than anyone should have to deal with in a week. However, because the pickin’ place is an hour away, we can only go once a season and we overdo it. This year was no exception. We came home with 20 gallons of berries – especially ripe ones – so ripe they needed to be frozen or refrigerated that very day.

The children and I rinsed, capped and drop- froze 12 gallons and refrigerated 8. Two shortcakes, a recipe of jam, 24 muffins and three breakfasts of Wheaties and berries later, we realized we needed to freeze the remaining berries in the fridge. With Daniel’s family coming for the recital, I looked around for a yummy dessert recipe and found one in one of my favorite books.

This cookbook, Food That Says Welcome, is authored by Michael W. Smith’s mother, Barbara Smith. It was given to me several years ago by my sister-in-law and I just love it. While I’ve not tried everything in it, most everything I have tried has turned out beautifully. Not only that, but most of the recipes Barbara uses take less than 30 minutes to prepare. No, it’s not the healthiest cookbook, but it’s full of crowd- pleasing, yummy recipes and sometimes that is just what I need… like last week with my last 2 gallons of very ripe berries in my fridge.

I decided to try an easy pie recipe and it was a HUGE hit. I made 6 pies, thinking we’d enjoy them over the next few months. That was Thursday and it’s Sunday evening. 5 are gone. They are that good. So, if you have berries to use up, try Barbara Smith’s

Strawberry Cream Cheese Oreo Pie:

Mix 1 stick of cream cheese with 1/2 cup of sugar. Add 12 ounces of Cool Whip. Mix well. Fold in 4 cups chopped, fresh strawberries. Pour evenly into two Oreo pie crusts. Freeze. Before serving, set out about 40 minutes to thaw a bit.

That’s it! Easy-peasy! Enjoy!

I’m just three days shy of one month with no blogging updates. I don’t have writer’s block. Everything is ok. I am just ending the month of madness – and I’m not talking about basketball.

Since Easter we have:

Visited family in Greensboro

Danced in a ballet recital

Celebrated Christina’s 14th birthday at Carowinds

Continued with church activities including youth, worship practice (Daniel), MOPS mentoring (me) and babysitting (girls) and hosting small group

Endured end-of-grade testing

Played in the end-of-year band concert

Celebrated Mother’s Day

Wrapped up co-op classes, including the two classes I taught

Secured a braces date for Nathan

Continued private music lessons and ballet

Delivered a few meals to friends recovering from illness

Continued with swim practice for Nathan

Cheered Anna on as she got her learner’s permit

Exercise myself with some consistency

Gone to Carowinds again!

Met with a planning team for some educational classes for next school year several times.

Cleaned out our attic (a huge undertaking for a busy month! But yeah! So glad it’s done before it’s too hot to work up there!)

Celebrated the graduates of our homeschool group

Rejoiced in the marriage of two dear friends

May events still to come:

A piano recital for Christina

A tonsillectomy for Nathan

A huge dance recital for Bethany and Anna

A birthday for Daniel’s

And then, finally, summer

For the past several years, May has been exceptionally busy. Every class has an end-of-the-year recital or party. We must test the children. Folks graduate. We celebrate. And I end the month a little tired but so thankful; thankful for the academic and spiritual growth of my children; thankful for our church family; thankful for teachers investing in my children’s lives; thankful for dear ones graduating; thankful for the blessings of homeschooling; thankful for God’s grace throughout another school year and thankful for the summer weeks ahead.

Anna danced this evening at our Good Friday service to a piece she choreographed. What a beautiful service and what a blessing for her to be a part of it.

Lyrics to “The Look” by Sovereign Grace

I saw one hanging on a tree
In agony and blood
Who fixed His loving eyes on me
As near His cross I stood
And never till my dying breath
Will I forget that look
It seemed to charge me with His death
Though not a word He spoke

My conscience felt and owned the guilt
And plunged me in despair
I saw my sins His blood had spilt
And helped to nail Him there
But with a second look He said
“I freely all forgive
This blood is for your ransom paid
I died that you might live”

CHORUS
Forever etched upon my mind
Is the look of Him who died
The Lamb I crucified
And now my life will sing the praise
Of pure atoning grace
That looked on me and gladly took my place

Thus while His death my sin displays
For all the world to view
Such is the mystery of grace
It seals my pardon too
With pleasing grief and mournful joy
My spirit now is filled
That I should such a life destroy
Yet live by Him I killed

“The Look”, Original lyrics by John Newton. Music and alt. lyrics by Bob Kauflin.
©2001 Sovereign Grace Praise(BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries.
From Songs for the Cross Centered Life and Upward: The Bob Kauflin Hymns Project.