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Families Again
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
I Feel Like I'm Playing Tag!
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: General

Schoolplein in 1934 / Schoolyard, 1934 

I'm the good looking one on the far right Cool! 

Well, hopefully I got my blog fixed. For how long I have no idea. Since Families Again has been down for a couple of days, and since I have not idea what might happen next, I thought I would try to play to play catch up on a few things really fast.

  1. First, I'm not going to put out a new Men's Monday Meme this week. No one has responded to the last one Cry, so I am just going to leave the same question up for another week. I'm sure it's just the summer heat and the getting ready for back to school that's keeping everyone from joining in Laughing.
  2. With all of these blog problems, I'm really thinking about changing blog platforms. I'm not doing it yet, and I'm not sure I will do it at all, but if I do, I will give you plenty of warning so that you can find the new blog. I will probably double post for a couple of weeks so that you all will have a chance to switch over, etc. Like I said, I'm not sure I even will yet, but I'm thinking about it.
  3. Whether I switch or not, I have a couple of really exciting announcements to make in the near future. One I will make tonight in point number four! So, what is it? Here it is Wink.
  4. I am now, not only reviewing homeschool products for the TOS Homeschool Crew, but I am also reviewing Download-N-Go Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett! I am really excited about this, because Joshua especially likes these studies, and, perhaps the best part, for every study I review, I get to GIVE ONE AWAY! Now that's really exciting!
  5. Just a small note. You may have noticed that my Money post that I wrote last Sunday was gone for a little while. I had posted it right before my blog went down and thought that it might be the cause of my problems. Well, it wasn't. But I didn't know that. I just reposted it. If you haven't read it yet, please do. I have begun a new category for it called "The Purple Files". If you see a post where "The Purple Files" is the category, you can be assured that it is from the heart, and I have sought God's leading in it - hence the color purple for royalty - God. I hope to insert a "Purple File" post in once a week or so. I feel like that in recent months I have been pulled away from my what I really began my blog for - to share my heart and to allow God to use my blog to help my family and others. I enjoy doing the reviews that I do, but I want God to be central in my blog, and hopefully "The Purple Files" will be a way for that to happen.

That's it for now. Thanks for putting up with all of my blog problems, and, if you would, please pray for God to lead me in what to do, whether to change my blog platform or not.

Thanks,

Tim


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Posted by tink38570 at 10:26 PM CDT
Updated: Tuesday, 3 August 2010 10:46 PM CDT
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Monday, 2 August 2010
Hello Out In Cyberspace!
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: General
If you can read this you are a lucky one! I am having problems with my blog platform and can't see my blog. I can write a post and hope that it appears somewhere but I can't see it myself. Most of my blogging friends have posted that they can't see my blog either. I have a request out to my blog platform to see if they can fix it. Don't know what I've done! I'm just a bit irritated at the moment! Hope to get it fixed and be back on soon.

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Posted by tink38570 at 10:40 PM CDT
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Sunday, 1 August 2010
Money...What IS it really all about?
Mood:  not sure
Topic: The Purple Files


I've been thinking about money lately. I think about it off and on, but this bout began the other day. I was driving to a neighboring town to take one of my kids to therapy when I passed a pet grooming business. It got me to thinking about all of the people who actually take their pets and spend 20, 30, 50, perhaps hundreds of dollars a year. For what? For someone to comb their pets fur and put pretty bows in it? Now, we could go on and on about the benefits of having a pet and how therapeutic they are, etc. I am not against having a pet. We have a cat and a dog ourselves. But is that really the best use of our money? A use that would be glorifying to God?

Perhaps it's because we work with low income families and support kids through Compassion International. I have seen what it's like to live with little money here in the United States and I've read about and corresponded with children who have next to nothing in life. But, I've never seen or experienced extreme poverty before. My wife and I were talking about this just today. She made the comment that perhaps one of the reason God sends us on mission's trips is to jolt us back into reality when we get back. To make us realize what is really important in life.

A blogging acquaintance of mine, Kristen, from We are THAT Family has experienced just that. A few months ago Kristen was on the blogging team that went to Kenya with Compassion International to write about what they saw and post it on their blogs. You can read their amazing posts by clicking here. I could never verbalize it in the excellent way that Kristen did, but her Kenya trip had a profound impact on her. She came back a totally different person. So much so that her husband commented that he wasn't sure that he knew her anymore. To which Kristen commented back that she wasn't sure she even knew herself. Things just seemed so empty when she got back...so odd.

On her trip Kristen experienced traveling through one of the worst slums in the world. So bad was this slum that they had to split up into groups of three or four and have a personal body guard. They were told not to stare and to refrain from taking pictures while traveling on foot to get to the Compassion project in the middle of the slum. One lady, a professional photographer did take pictures however. She took them from her hip from under a jacket. Those photographs are amazing to look at but disgusting as well. You can find them by clicking on the posts of the bloggers that traveled through this filth called Mathare Valley. Read more of Kristen's story appropriately titled "Today, I Went to Hell" by clicking here.

Kristen had experienced extreme poverty. This isn't the government housing area that Sarah and I work in, or the one in your town...this is EXTREME POVERTY! When she got home Kristen felt lost. She made the comment that she wanted to sell everything and live in her garage. She struggled with coming to terms with what she had seen in Kenya and what she came home to in America. She is still dealing with this and it has had a profound impact on how she and her family now live. I encourage you to click here and go to her blog to see what she and her family are doing now. It's amazing.

The stories that these bloggers told really had an impact on me. Since experiencing the poverty in Kenya through their blogs, I've been contemplating money a lot. I've been contemplating a lot of things a lot. And, no, it's not my depression this time. As some of you know, I've suffered from depression in the past. This time, however, it's God. God has been talking to me lately. I mean really talking to me. About a lot of things. This is just one of them. The other day I posted about another. I'll post more of my thoughts on this and other things that God is revealing to me in the future as well.

Money is just one thing that God has been dealing with me on. Don't get me wrong. I don't begrudge people that have money. Many great Christian people have had money. It's what people do with their money that frustrates me. It's what I do with my money that frustrates me.

I Timothy 6:10 says:

For the love of money is the root of all evil...

Notice it doesn't say that "Money is the root of all evil". It's not money that is evil, it's what you do with your money. Are you frivolous with what God has given you? A dear friend of ours who tragically died in an auto accident used to say "Hold on to things loosely". Don't allow things to get in the way of what is right and what is true in life. Contrary to what some people think, money cannot buy you happiness. In fact, most of the time it is just the opposite. Hold on to what you have loosely. Use your money and your talents to help others. Use them for the Lord.

Lord, although you haven't given my family much, thank you for what you have given us. Thank you for providing for all of our needs. Lord, please help us to "hold on to things loosely" as Betsy used to say. Help us to use what you have given us to further your kingdom. Not just the money that you give us, but everything that you give us. Out talents, our home, our ministry, our time, everything, Lord. Help us to use it for your glory. In your name I pray. Amen 

The following is a video of a group of Mathare children singing at the compassion project. Below the video are the lyrics.

Kenyan Song in Mathare from Ryan Detzel on Vimeo.

 

Adhi e dala malo
Am going home on high

Dala gi yesu Ruodha
The home of Christ my Lord

Dala mar auma
The home of splendour

Tinga malo adhi anee dala
Lift me up, so I may see my home

Neuru achako achako wuoth madhi ka wuonwa
I have began, began this journey to the father

Gimaneno ndalo mabiro piny ni rumo
I realise that this world is soon ending

Neuru achako achako wuoth ma dhi ka wuonwa
See I have began this journey to the father

Gimaneno ndalo mabiro piny dong’ gunda
I realize this world will soon be uninhabited

Adhi e dala malo
Am going home on high

Dala gi yesu Ruodha
The home of Christ my Lord

Dala mar auma
The home of splendour

Tinga malo adhi anee dala
Lift me up, so I may see my home

Tinga malo tinga
Lift me up lift me

Tinga malo tinga
Lift me up lift me

Tinga malo tinga
Lift me up lift me

Tera adhi anee dala
Take me to see home

Wach ni awinjo
I hear this message

Wach no aneno komaka gi wuoro
This message feels me with awe

Omaka gi wuoro
Feels me with awe

Gimaneno ndalo mabiro piny ni rumo
I perceive this world is ending soon

Wach ni awinjo
I hear this message

Wach ni aneno komaka gi wuoro
This message feels me with awe

Gimaneno ndalo mabiro piny dong’ gunda
I realize this world will soon be uninhabited



Courtesy of Compassion International: http://blog.compassion.com/mathare-community-outreach-talent/#ixzz0vQ9FmI4Q

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Posted by tink38570 at 12:01 AM CDT
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Saturday, 31 July 2010
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: General

Hi All. I just wanted to pass this great sale on to all of my readers. I don't advertise the companies that I am an affiliate with much. I really should do that more I suppose. Not because I want to make money from them, but because I only become an affiliate with companies that I really believe in. The Old Schoolhouse is a company that I truly do really believe in. It's always been a company that I have admired, but since working with them on the TOS Homeschool Crew, I have gotten to know and love the company and the people that work for the company. You can be sure that what they produce is good, honest, quality, stuff! From their homeschool magazine to their ebooks, to their Download-N-Go unit studies. All are great! They are having a great sale on their magazine right now and the deadline is tomorrow. Please catch it while you can! It's been a fantastic hlep to many homeschoolers - including me! Don't miss out. Below are the details! After you read the description, just click on the magazine and it will take you to the subscription page if you are interested.

 

Homeschoolers come together in a community called TOS, and we are so much more than pages in a magazine! Join us and have all these things and more! Within each issue you’ll find amazing resources, candid interviews with business owners, glimpses into the routines of other homeschools, articles from the experts in homeschooling, as well as up-and-coming innovators helping our days run a little more smoothly. Find them all in our pages along with their insight, expertise, and honesty as we all homeschool together! Educational experience, edification, and excitement are available for you.

Act now and receive the Turning Points E-book ($12.45 value) with one-year new and renewal subscriptions (U.S. and Canada only), and the Turning Points E-Book and the Expo to Go ($19.99 value) with any two-year subscription (U.S. and Canada only).

Turning Points E-Book text ($12.45 value):

 

Whether you're trying to get your bearings as you consider homeschooling or looking for encouragement to stay the course, you'll find both in this new E-Book from The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.

Turning Points in Homeschooling offers ample support and incredible insight that will help answer many of the troublesome questions you may have.

When confronted with difficult decisions and circumstances, don't follow the pull of a worldly compass that will lead you off track. Instead, search for and follow what is authentic and true. Let God's Word be your compass, and be assured that you can trust His guidance for your family.
 

Schoolhouse Expo to Go text ($19.99 value):

Our first ever Schoolhouse Expo, held May 12-14, 2010, was a huge success! We had wonderful speakers, topics, free gifts, and door prizes that helped to bless and encourage attendees from around the world.


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Posted by tink38570 at 10:09 PM CDT
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Thursday, 29 July 2010
A Letter from One of My Kids - Thursday's Child
Mood:  happy
Topic: Compassion International

Can you believe it? I actually posted something on the day it's supposed to be posted on! Usually my Men's Monday Meme is posted on any day but Monday, and Thursday's Child is normally Wednesday's or Friday's Child. Finally I get it right!


Anyway, I very rarely do this, but thought I would today. I normally don't post the letters that I get from my kids. Why? Well, one, they are personal. My family loves each and every one of our Compassion kids. We often write personal things to them. Things that are from our hearts just to them. They in turn often share their hearts with us. That brings me to reason number two. I would never ever want to betray their trust. They trust us with their thoughts, their hearts, their wants, their needs, their hurts, their anger, their joy...their lives. Even thought we have some kids that have never ever seen a computer, let alone know what a blog is, I still would not want to hurt them.

So, why am I choosing to post one of the letters today? Well, because Somi is very young, just turned 10 to be exact. He doesn't even write his own letters yet. Someone from the Compassion project that he attends helps him write them. And, the letter that I'm about to share just gives you enough of an idea of what sponsoring and corresponding with a child is like. Enjoy!

Remember, Somi is from Indonesia and lives in a home that has a dirt floor, wood walls and a thatched roof made of grass or leaves. This letter  has been translated for us. Therefore, some of the language may seem awkward, but that is often the fun of getting the letters. Remember also that some of these kids, including Somi, have never received or written a letter in there lives.

Hello! I'm here in a good health.

Thank you very much for the letter you sent me. I read in your letter that Joshua got a little accident! I pray for Joshua, hope he gets well soon.

It's often rainy here.

I prefer play outside to stay at home.

We got a small flood last week.

Please keep praying for me, my family and friends from ID-412 project.

I'm still going to the project, school and Sunday school regularly.

I always pray for you and family.

May God bless you all and your ministry too.

Somi

Have you ever thought of sponsoring a child with Compassion International. Please pray about it. For the price of a meal out with you family you could be helping a child like Somi. It is a joy to sponsor. Just click here to get to Compassion's web page to find out more.


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Posted by tink38570 at 10:10 PM CDT
Updated: Thursday, 29 July 2010 10:57 PM CDT
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