Rethinking Sacrifice at Lent

I have a confession, I've never giving up anything for Lent. I've been a Christian my whole life and I've never really understood the purpose of the practice. I mean from what I have been taught and believe Christ took my place and suffered for me so that I won't suffer so why should I go through this 40 days of misery?

And then I found this article on the Higher Things website. The whole article is worth a read but I posted a small section that spoke to me.

So if Lent is all about Jesus, why give something up? There are two main disciplines in Lent: Fasting and Abstaining. Fasting means not eating for a certain time (or eating less than usual – a kind of diet). Abstaining means giving something up or going without something you normally have. Why would you do these things if they don't matter to God? Does fasting or abstaining from something mean you're somehow more holy? That you get more sins forgiven? Of course not! Fasting and abstaining don't make the Lord love you any more or any less! The Lord’s love FOR YOU is a done deal in Jesus Christ.
So why fast? Why abstain from something? Simple: for the benefit of your neighbor. The truth is, our lives are filled with things which satisfy US, they make US happy, and provide enjoyment--for US! But to give up things that we normally do or use in order to use the extra time or money for prayer, for hearing and studying God's Word or for doing good to those around us--now THAT is something useful.

I really liked the idea that the focus doesn't end at my suffering but instead that my sacrifice might help another. I still probably won't commit to giving up any one thing but rather we will try to take this idea and be more mindful of the luxuries we enjoy during the season and use our time and gifts to the benefit of others.

Teagan 10 Years Old

When I have said my evening prayer,

And my clothes are folded on the chair,

And mother switches off the light,

I’ll still be nine years old tonight.

But, from the very break of day,

Before the children rise and play.

Before the darkness turns to gold

Tomorrow, I’ll be ten years old.

Ten kisses when I wake,

Ten candles on my cake!

-from Gateways by Wynstone Press

The cake came from a blog called Overwhelmed By Joy. I made it once before but this time my lovely and talented friend Katie made the fondant toppers for us. For all you muggles those are Hedwig the owl with post, the Hogwart's Sorting Hat, a wand, Doby's sock and scarves for each Hogwart's House. 

Man and Animal Block I

We wrapped up our Man and Animal Block last week and I must say it was much more challenging then I thought.
I struggled from time to time in grasping the full picture of what all the Man and Animal study was to encompass. I'm not especially interested in anthroposophy but I wanted to get to the why behind the block. What amazes me most throughout our homeschooling experience is that even if I feel like I'm running blind, she still learns. In fact this block was a real growing one for us.

 A hawk swooping in on his unsuspecting prey.

Teagan's Lion Main Lesson Book page. We've really struggled with our MLB work and she was extremely proud of this one.

Candlemas

Today is Candlemas. It's been called the Christian festival of lights and traditionally all the church candles were blessed on this day.

We started our day reading Luke 2:21-40, Jesus Presented in the Temple. After that we made a big batch of banana bread and dipped candles. It took some trial and error but in the end we had fun, we came up with some ideas to improve the process and we now we have some very interesting candles too!

The little's decided it sounded like more fun to play with their new blocks and Playmobil, so they did. But eventually the beeswax aroma lured them in for at least one candle:)

On the 12th Day of Christmas...

We went sledding!

Moving at the Speed of Advent

Like lots of other families we have our favorite traditions that vary from holiday to holiday. It's almost Christmas and I've begun to notice that though our traditions are the same the timing of them has been evolving each year.

Generally by this time of year our halls would be decked, Christmas tree would be lit and cookies baked in anticipation of the big day! But this year both by conscious effort and a sabotaging little stomach bug that has hit nearly everyone in the family, we have very little Christmas decorating done.

This wasn't due to some lack of holiday spirit but more so in a hope to preserve the holiday spirit throughout the whole holiday. Thanks in large part to our advancements in technology and marketing our society has come to believe that the Christmas season begins the day after Thanksgiving and ends the 26th of December. I remember as a kid thinking that the song the Twelve Days of Christmas referred to the 11 days prior to Christmas. We begin December with constant Christmas sales, 24 hour Christmas music and huge rushes and expectations to get all our decorating and baking and gift giving done by the 25th. But what happened to Advent?

Advent has always been a countdown to Christmas, a time of waiting and anticipating, with it's fun calendars and weekly candles to be lit, yet lately it is also running simultaneous to Christmas. That's kind of like sitting in front of the oven waiting for cookies to bake while eating a box of cookies! By the time the cookies are baked you just can't eat another one. It was the same for us with Christmas. By the time Christmas day came I had heard enough Christmas music, was done sweeping up pine needles and wanted to pack everything up but we had another 11 days to go till Epiphany! So instead of packing it all in I would continue to sweep up the pine needles, water the stupid tree and try not to curse when needles would shower down on me as I reached in with the watering can, and then sweep some more. And yes I am stubbornly holding on the the real tree!

This year we have moved much more slowly. We have pulled a few decorations out to help us get in preparation mode (but the tree will wait till the day or 2 before Christmas). Until then we have been busy cleaning house. We made some wood polish and have been cleaning and polishing our wooden toys and furniture. We have been moving furniture to make room for the festivities and the tree and cleaning out the dust bunnies in the corners.

So today as we begin to regain health and energy from our week long relay of illness we will pull out the steam cleaner and essential oils and refresh this home:)

Norse Myth Resources

I thought I would list some of the resources we have found for this block. We are having so much fun though that we've extended it for another week.

Our stories have been coming from the D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths. These stories have been a big hit and I love that there is a glossary in the back to help me with the pronunciation of the names:)

I also discovered a nice article on the day in the life of a Viking Family on the BBC website and living in a long house at Archaeology Hebrides.


More on Viking recipes at http://www.ydalir.co.uk/crafts/cook/recipes.htm and http://nvg.org.au/documents/other/vikingrecipes.pdf


And though I usually don't allow my kids computer time I made the exceptions for the Norsk Folke Museum web site. Teagan and I sat for a bit to play with their Panorama views of a farmstead and church.

Our favorites were Farmstead from Telemark, House from Hove in Heddal, Stave Church from Gol in Hallingdal, and The Collections of King Oscar II.
But you can check them all out at http://www.norskfolkemuseum.no/en/Experience/Panorama-views/.