Hymn - And Can It Be That I Should Gain?

St. Peter Freed from Prison by Pier Francesco Mola

Written by Charles Wesley http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biorpcwesley.html

(Listen here on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQeIGbKqiw8 )

And can it be that I should gain

An interest in the Savior’s blood?

Died He for me, who caused His pain—

For me, who Him to death pursued?

Amazing love! How can it be,

That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Amazing love! How can it be,

That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:

Who can explore His strange design?

In vain the firstborn seraph tries

To sound the depths of love divine.

'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,

Let angel minds inquire no more.

Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;

Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above

So free, so infinite His grace—

Emptied Himself of all but love,

And bled for Adam’s helpless race:

’Tis mercy all, immense and free,

For O my God, it found out me!

’Tis mercy all, immense and free,

For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,

That whispers all my sins forgiven;

Still the atoning blood is near,

That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.

I feel the life His wounds impart;

I feel the Savior in my heart.

I feel the life His wounds impart;

I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;

Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;

Alive in Him, my living Head,

And clothed in righteousness divine,

Bold I approach th’eternal throne,

And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Bold I approach th’eternal throne,

And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Depression Era Cooking

Growing Up During the Great Depression

Clara hopes that none of us ever have to experience what she did during
the depression.

Over the years Clara has imparted her Great Depression experiences to
her grandchildren as she cooked meals from the era. The meals were simple and
delicious, the stories were a mixture of misfortune and comedy, and in the end
Clara kept us both entertained and stuffed to the gills.

The magic of Clara is that she can turn lemons into lemonade and
potatoes into just about everything else. She had a childhood that most of us
can’t imagine, but she was able to make the best of it and turn those trials
into lessons we can all learn from.

Click here http://www.youtube.com/user/DepressionCooking to see the videos of Clara on YouTube as she prepares meals and shares stories with us.

She reminds me of my grandma except my grandma was Irish. She died at the age of 94 when I was 28 years old. I miss her.

Hymn - My Hope Is In The Lord

Author:
Norman J. Clayton, 1903-1992

My hope is in the Lord
Who gave Himself for me,
And paid the price of all my sin at Calvary.

Refrain:
For me He died, For me He lives,
And everlasting life and light He freely gives.
For me He died, For me He lives,

No merit of my own His anger to suppress.
My only hope is found in Jesus' righteousness.

And now for me He stands Before the Father's throne.
He shows His wounded hands and names me as His own.

His grace has planned it all, 'Tis mine but to believe,
And recognize His work of love and Christ receive.


http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1676_if_you_want_to_become_a_christian/

http://stonesofremembrance.blogspot.com/2007/09/my-hope-is-in-lord.html

Hymn - How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/s/hsweetnj.htm

By John Newton http://www.reformedreader.org/newton.htm

based on Song of Solomon 1:3 “Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth.”

1. How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
In a believer's ear!
It soothes his sorrow, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

2. It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;'
Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest.

3. Dear Name, the rock on which I build,
My shield and hiding place,
My never failing treasury, filled
With boundless stores of grace!

4. By Thee, my prayers acceptance gain,
Although with sin defiled;
Satan accuses me in vain,
And I am owned a child.

5. Jesus, my Shepherd, Brother, Friend,
My Prophet, Priest, and King,
My Lord, my life, my way, my end,
Accept the praise I bring.

6. Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I'll praise Thee as I ought.

7. 'Til then I would Thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath,
And may the music of Thy name
Refresh my soul in death.

© Bill Moore Music. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Bread

I never liked cooking. I still love to go out to eat, I never get tired of it. But now after being married 15 years I am starting to get the hang of cooking (meaning I'm starting to not burn everything and I'm making more things from scratch!!!) and actually enjoying it. Thanks to a few friends and the Food Network.

I just read this post http://suzannemcminn.com/blog/2007/12/19/the-keeper-of-the-bread-2/ and it made me want to blog about baking bread.

I was an art major in college. My favorite class was pottery using the wheel. I loved creating pots with my hands. Even though I loved it I didn't have the discipline to get good at it and I always felt like I was creating more clutter. I guess I'm too practical to be a true art major. Anyway! Now I find my satisfaction in weeding and planting lettuce which is another post all together. Most recently, this past year, I have found immense satisfaction in baking bread. So far I only have one recipe http://busycooks.about.com/od/yeastbreads/r/honeywheatbr.htm that has turned out great every time.

Here is what I want to try next: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx

Farming Videos

This is a list of videos of people who are inspiring us to farm.

Joel Salatin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5496QhWIWU
We went to his farm twice. He was the reason we got moving from talking about wanting to farm to actually starting. Here is his web site: http://www.polyfacefarms.com/

Joel Salatin on how to eat well and save our planet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2FHc0tjMuk

A demonstration of the Whizbang Chicken Plucker *don't watch if you are squeamish!* : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OMO73yFZ4s You can get the plans here: http://whizbangbooks.blogspot.com/ Here is Herrick's blog: http://www.thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/

Part of the movie The Real Dirt on Farmer John: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ8arrB_MzU and his web site: http://www.angelicorganics.com/index.html

The Urban Homestead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIFPFpxBFVE Here is the Dervaes' web site: http://www.pathtofreedom.com/

Here is a short video on Will Allen's Growing Power http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHE_rVBG4CE and the web site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHE_rVBG4CE

Who is Charlotte Mason and what is her Education Philosophy?

“Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life.” -Charlotte Mason

My idea for this series of posts is to send you to different people who are using the Charlotte Mason method in their homeschool so you can see their method in action. But I want to give you some background on what I am going to be talking about.

I first learned about Charlotte Mason when my oldest son was 2 years old; he is now 10 years old. Every year has been a progression in understanding this method. The reason I say that is because I was so excited with the ideas that I wanted to skip the why and get right to the “how to” and in doing that I was missing the whole reason why I was attracted to Charlotte Mason in the first place.

I know trying to learn the method is overwhelming at first because it is a way of life, it doesn’t fit into a block of time during your day, but it is worth it. Even if you just start with one subject or point (which you will learn soon) and gradually take on anther one or two as you become comfortable, you will see why it is worthwhile to take the time to understand the philosophy behind the method.

What have you come for?

“I have come to learn to teach.”

You have come to learn to live.

–Charlotte Mason

The first place to point you to is the source, of course. Charlotte Mason wrote a 6 book series called The Original Homeschooling Series. You can read it online here: http://www.amblesideonline.org/CM/toc.html Notice that you can read it in the original language or our modern language, plus there are a bunch of other options.

Which has to lead into introducing the wonderful ladies at Ambleside Online http://www.amblesideonline.org/AOstory.shtml who are homeschool mothers that have volunteered their time to help each other and us learn how to use this method. Here is their introduction to Charlotte Mason: http://www.amblesideonline.org/WhatIsCM.shtml and one other page about what a Charlotte Mason education is and is not: http://www.amblesideonline.org/FAQ.shtml#aboutcm

Charlotte Mason listed 20 principles that summarize the foundation to her method: http://www.amblesideonline.org/CM/20Principles.html

Lindafay at Higher Up and Further In has been a huge inspiration to me and here is her explanation of why she has chosen this method. http://higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com/2006/06/why-charlotte-mason-education.html

Deborah Taylor-Hough and Catherine Levison at Charlotte Mason & Home Education give us a good summary of Charlotte Mason: http://charlottemasoneducation.wordpress.com/charlotte-mason/who-is-charlotte-mason/

Jessica at Established Works tells us How I found Charlotte Mason and Why we use it: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Creativemommy/651515/

Lynn B Hocraffer gives us her notes as she read the original Charlotte Mason Home Education Series. Here is her introduction and some history on Charlotte Mason: http://homepage.bushnell.net/~peanuts/SeriesStudy.html

Art, a homeschool Dad, reflects on how a Charlotte Mason education has affected him: http://childlightusa.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/a-dangerous-adventure-by-art-in-kenosha/ You can read more of his thoughts at Le jardin Feerique: http://lejardinfeerique.blogspot.com/

Here is a brief summary of the why and then the how of a Charlotte Mason education. It is an article by Cindy Rushton. http://www.texashomeeducators.com/acharlottemasonprimer.htm

There are many more articles I could post but this topic can be overwhelming so I will stop here. I hope this gives you a good start to understanding the big picture of what it means to use the Charlotte Mason method in your homeschool, pubic or private school.

Update 8-1-09: Here is another good resource http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/