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Families Again
Thursday, 29 April 2010
We've Up and Done it Again!
Mood:  happy
Topic: Compassion International

Yep, we've up and done it again! We've adopted another Compassion International child.  Oh, don't worry, he's another correspondence child. Remember, a correspondence child is one that someone else sponsors but for some reason they either don't want to or are unable to write to them. Writing is a very important part of the Compassion program. It ranks right up there with the sponsoring. Feyber and Somi are our other correspondence children. Marcelo is the only one that we sponsor at this time.

Anyway, his name is Emmanuel (Isn't that a neat name! Emmanuel - God with us!). And, the exciting thing is that he is from an area of the world that we don't sponsor any other child from - Africa! Tanzania to be exact! And, the other really neat thing is that he is an older child. In fact, on his next birthday he will be 19 years old! The boys are excited to have an older brother, and we are excited to have an older son. I have already sent off one of the email type letters to him. Remember, the email doesn't go directly to him, but is sent directly to Africa where it will be printed out and translated - it doesn't have to be sent through the main headquarters in Colorado first. The email is quicker, but doesn't allow us to send anything to them. We have packets of things almost all ready to go for our other three boys. Now we have to get a packet ready for Emmanuel as well. Please pray with us as we try to help these impoverished children from around the world. It is exciting but also sobering for us to think that these boys respect and really value the advice and guidance that we give. Please pray that we will give good, Godly advice to them.

 

Please be in prayer regarding sponsoring a child through Compassion International. If you are interested, just click here or on the flashing sign way at the top of my blog. If you have any questions, I would love to answer them. Feel free to ask. My email is tink38570@yahoo.com. It is a very rewarding experience.

By the way, for those of you who have been waiting patiently for the new Men's Monday Meme question, it will be posted tomorrow. And, it will be a doozy!


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Posted by tink38570 at 11:51 PM CDT
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Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Lesson Planet - This is a Poor Sad Story
Mood:  blue
Topic: Homeschool Product Review

Let me tell you a story...a poor sad story. 

There was once a poor homeschool parent whose son was studying United States History. This son loved to read. He read almost everything that he could get his hands on...when he wasn't playing his video games of course. This wise parent thought that, since his son liked to read, he should try to use curriculum that involved interesting books. He found a fantastic history curriculum that did involve reading good novels and doing some unit studies. But...alas...this parent couldn't buy all of the materials for the poor pitiful son that so needed them.

"Not to worry," the father said to himself. "I can make my own unit studies to fill in the gaps. They can't be that hard to put together."

But oh how mistaken he was. Try as he did, he could not find anything but bits and pieces of unit studies to use with his knowledge yearning child. He found what he could and presented it to the boy. The poor child dove in to what his father gave him, but, like a hungry urchin that is only given a few tasty morsels to eat, he longed for more. Alas, the father could find no more, nor could he afford to buy the expensive food for thought that was recommended. The child would just have to wait and make do with what he had.

Then one day, along came a stranger. This stranger was no ordinary stranger. Her name was Brenda. It was her job to assign new and exciting homeschool items to a group called the "TOS Homeschool Crew". She reminded this poor father and his son that they indeed were part of this TOS team and should cheer up for help was on its way. She then proceeded to hand them a package. It looked just like an ordinary package on the outside, but to this poor homeschool father and his son, it was like holding a package of gold. For inside the wrapper was a piece of paper. On this paper were two words, both of six letters. The two words were "Lesson Planet". With a quizzical look on his face, the father looked up to ask Brenda what these peculiar words meant. But, she was gone. Gone like the wind to help another struggling homeschool family. 

But what was the father to do with these words? How could they help in his dilemma? After much thinking his highly intelligent son suggested Googling the words on their computer. Soon he typed in the twelve letters and clicked on the first entry that came up. When he did, the most amazing thing happened. It was as if this poor man and his lad had lived their life in black and white and everything was transfigured into a colorful new world.

It wasn't their physical world that had been transformed, however, it was their homeschool world. You see, Lesson Planet is a lesson plan site, that had lesson plans for everything! Quickly the father typed in Canada. Canada was one of those pitiful unit studies that the diligent father tried but failed to put together for his son. Immediately after typing the words, 5976 lesson plans came into view, along with 425 worksheets and 90 websites about Canada. And the lesson plans were diverse! They had studies for all grades and all levels. They had lesson plans for Canada in general or for specific things regarding Canada. There were plans for Canadian geography, history and social studies. There were worksheets for famous people or national parks of Canada. They even had things that talked about the agriculture, forestry or farming in that great country that is to our north. The man was amazed, and soon his son became excited as well. Next they looked up World War One and World War Two and got similar results. A search of South America was just as fruitful. And it was all organized so nicely.

They searched and they looked and they dreamed all day. His father had never seen such joy and excitement in his son. Until, suddenly, the father noted that his boy was silent. As he glanced around he noticed tears trickling down the lads face. "But Father," the poor boy said softly "how much does all of this cost? We surely could not sell nearly enough eggs at the market to afford such luxury." Sadly the father nodded his head, clicked off the computer and they slowly went off to bed. They never expected to see the wonders of Lesson Planet again.

That night, however, the father had a dream. He tossed and turned in bed and kept hearing voices. They were the soft voices of Brenda and her kind boss Heidi. They kept saying "Check the price! Check the price!" Finally the father could stand it no longer. He quietly got up, went to the computer and clicked it on. He typed in the name of the wondrous Lesson Planet website and fearfully clicked on the pricing information. For a moment he couldn't fathom what was staring him in the face. He adjusted his bifocals to make sure that he was seeing it correctly. But, no, he wasn't incorrect! It was true! The price was only $39.95 a year! "Why," the father thought "that is well within our meager homeschool budget!"

Suddenly the father heard a sound behind him. It was his son. "Father?" the boy asked with a concerned look. Quickly the father got up and embraced his son. There were again tears, but this time they were tears of joy. And they were streaming down both of their faces. Finally, a miracle has come. A miracle that could now enable the son to have the education that he so richly deserved. An education that would allow the son to go on to college and bring his poor family out of the impoverished state that they were presently in.

Later, the father went back to bed. This time he slept peacefully and had wonderful dreams. Again they were of our heroes Brenda and Heidi. They were giving the father a command. "Tell them!" they said. "Tell the world! Tell them that they, too, can be blessed by Lesson Planet. All they have to do is click here or on one of the hi-lighted links above. Tell them that we have also spread the joy of Lesson Planet to other members of the TOS Homeschool Crew and you can find out what they think by clicking here." And so the father did. He spread the news far and near. Over hill and over dale. And he and his son lived happily ever after.

The End

The story you have just read is true; the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
 
Oh, all right, the story is about me and John Allen. There were no dreams, there were no tears and we don't sell eggs at the market Frown. The rest is true, however. At least almost Wink. Happy Homeschooling!
 
As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I was given a free limited time membership to Lesson Planet in order to try out and review on my blog.

 


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Posted by tink38570 at 11:57 PM CDT
Updated: Thursday, 29 April 2010 8:38 PM CDT
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Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Thursday's Child - Heroes Don't Always Wear Capes
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Compassion International

I know it's a little early for Thursday's Child, but I wanted you to read this post. Digest it tonight, then I will post a follow-up post tomorrow. The follow-up post may not be what you expect. In fact, if you follow me on Facebook, you will get a hint of what tomorrows post will be all about. What I want for you to do tonight, if you will, is to read the following post, pray about what God would have you to do with it, and then stop back by tomorrow for the follow-up. Here's the link. Because of copywrite issues, I can't just copy and paste it here. Sorry for any incomvenience.

http://blog.compassion.com/not-all-heroes-wear-capes/


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Posted by tink38570 at 8:40 PM CDT
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Monday, 26 April 2010
The Tinkel Spring Ministry Newsletter
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Ministry
Hi all! Sarah just finished a new newsletter and I have posted it on our newsletter blog. Click here for the link. Most of you know that Sarah and I are full time missionaries and direct a ministry to the low income folks that live in our town. You can access all of the newsletters that Sarah has written since we began this blog by clicking on the Prayer letter link to the left.

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Posted by tink38570 at 4:07 PM CDT
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Tales from Terrestria - Quest for Thunder Mountain - Review By John Allen Tinkel
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Homeschool Product Review

 

Okay, so it's not totally by John Allen, but most of it is! This review was actually due while we were away at the Midwest Homeschool Convention. While there, it was suggested that since John Allen read the book, he could help write the review. We both thought it was a great idea!

Now, I'm going to be honest, when John Allen first handed me this review, this very cynical father thought he had copied it from someplace. I mean, it was just too good! However, after much questioning, a little looking around, and a little thinking about it, I realized that there was no way that this was written by anyone else but him. First of all, there were too many spelling mistakes. John Allen is smart, but not that creative to misspell all of those words on purpose. Second of all, no matter where I looked I couldn't find anything that even looked remotely like that review. Oh ye of little faith. I was flabbergasted then, and as I reread it, I'm flabbergasted again. 

Anyway, when the TOS Homeschool Crew heard we were reviewing some of Ed Dunlop's Terrestria books, the Crew forum lit up with excitement. I had never heard of them before, but so many of my fellow crew mates had not only heard of these books, but they or their kids had read them. They raved about them. They were all excited. Not only were they excited, however, John Allen was as well. Although he had never read any of them before, the description of these books seemed to be right down his alley and, true to form, they were. He was totally immersed from the start. He loved them! We received books 1 and 4 from the "Tales from Terrestria" series. The books in this series compliment "The Terrestria Chronicle" series. Some of the Crew families got books from the "Chronicle" series...a series that you need to read in order, and some got books from the "Tales" series. Those books don't need to be read in order. 

When a parent doesn't have to tell his child to read a book, when that child just reads without asking, then you know the book has to be good. And read he did! He read and read and read! And wanted to discuss every chapter with me that night! I figured that these have to be good if he wants to do that. A thirteen year old wanting to discuss a book with his father? How unreal is that. Anyway, this is just his review of the first book in the "Tales From Terrestria" series. The review from the fourth book, "The Isle of Dragons", will be coming soon.

So, without further ado, here is John Allen's review:

Tales From Terrestria - Quest for Thunder Mountain is a book I read for school this year. It is about Gavin (A young minstrel) who takes a journey to Thelma Mountain to find the will of his king (King Emanuel). The Quest is very adventuresome and interesting. As you go along you will find that Gavin meets 3 friends along the way, and some enemies also. As they go along the enemy (Argamer) makes many attempts to stop them. This book has every thing a young reader wants: adventure , action, comedy, and even romance. It also has many enemies and monsters like solders, dragons, castles, robbers, and even slaves, but they trust in King Emanuel, his book, and the Dove to keep them on the right path and keep them safe. This book is great for a young Christian reader, and their parents to. It is a chance for them to learn about God in an interesting way.

Now, when I was in seventh grade, I don't remember writing anything like that, but I'm a little partial Wink.

The "Tales From Terrestria" series, and "The Terrestria Chronicles" series are both available by clicking here or on any one of the hi-lighted links above. The individual books from both series are sold for $7.99 each. You can also buy the three available books for the "Chronicles" for $19.99. Visit the website to find out about other great series of books by Ed Dunlop along with coloring sheets to go along with both of the Terrestria series. Here is the link to find out what the rest of the TOS Homeschool Crew had to say about both of these series.

Stay tuned for John Allen's review of "The Isle of Dragons". Until then, Happy Home Educating!

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I was sent a copy of books 1 and 4 of the "Tales From Terrestria" series in order to read and review on my website.

 


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Posted by tink38570 at 3:10 PM CDT
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