Connor, Ashley & Hannah -- standing behind Grotto Falls...

Daddy and Daniel -- Grotto Falls...It's unusual to have the experience
of walking behind waterfalls safely!  The kids loved that!

 

You've got to be kidding!  A real outhouse...and my family actually used it
(desperate times call for desperate measures)!





Heavenly Father, I stand in awe of You and of Your creation...
You are awesome and mighty, God!  We worship You!



Lots of wild turkeys...

 

Elk??!!  Who knew??!!  Elk...east of the Mississippi...
For a moment, I felt like we were out west...
Smoky Mountain National Park re-introduced elk in 2001...



I love this rustic stone fireplace in the visitor center...



Lots of beautiful, old structures and homesteads are located throughout the park.



Ahhh...Home away from home...Passion City Church, Atlanta, GA...
Our first time in their "new" building (a renovated Home Depot)...
On fire for Jesus...Inspired by Louie's teaching on "The Boys of Babylon"...
ie, the book of Daniel...

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"But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way.  Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel....To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning.  And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds....The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah...In every matter...he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom."  --- Daniel 1:8-20

"...'Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are His.  He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them.  He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.  He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.  I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers:  You have given me wisdom and power, You have made known to me what we asked of You, You have made known to us the dream of the king.'" --- Daniel 2:20-23

"Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king.  But even if He does not, we want you to know O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.'"  --- Daniel 3:16-18



To the mountains for a break...(trouble with this post -- pics are out of order)

First stop...Appomattox Court House...perfect field trip for our Classical Conversations memory work this year!

Beautiful farmhouse...perfect weather...grateful...

Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church



John Cable Grist Mill -- Cades Cove

So excited!  I literally had prayed on our way up to this spot near Rainbow Falls that God might be delighted to give us "a great bear experience".  He did!!!  Sooooo thankful!!!  We had the privilege of a mother bear and her cub lumber in front of our car the night before, but I couldn't get any good photos of them.  I grew up travelling to national parks and getting up early to look for wildlife...the tradition continues...

Waterfall near the Sugarlands Visitor Center after a ranger-led short hike...
We spent the nights at a hotel in nearby Gatlinburg...

He's coming down!  At this time of the year, the bears are trying to fatten up on the acorns, and wild berries and grapes that grow on vines in the tops of these trees.

The sun is starting to set as we hike down from Laurel Falls.  A black bear had crossed the trail just before we rounded a curve and we could barely see him in the brush below.




McLean House -- General Lee surrendered to General Grant in this house, not in the nearby courthouse as many people misunderstand.  This is a beautiful small community...

He is so beautiful!  Thank you, Lord, for your creation! 
You spoke it and it came to be!



Next stop...Go Hokies!  Back to our old stompin' grounds - Virginia Tech.  My, how the campus has changed!  The stadium is much larger and fancier than when Scott and I were here.

I was made to worship...Whom/what will I choose?

louiegiglio Louie Giglio

Thou shall not cheer more passionately in football stadiums today than you will in the church of the Risen One tomorrow.

1 Oct

One of my favorite links - Chris Tomlin teaching about worship...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFfK6q6OCWE

Powerful...From what I know about God and His Word, I think heaven might be a little something like this...Why are so many churches so dead today?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fsrQFWb-xc

I had never seen anyone lift hands while playing piano!  Love it!  How Great is Our God!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ8q7q5egus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3OEGnH5x8g  Christy Nockels -- Waiting Here For You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKRF8UihM5s&ob=av2n  CT - I Will Rise -- I will never forget first singing this in Baltimore with Chris leading  --  wow...What a promise and hope we have in Christ!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb4VvNq8WEM  Kristian Stanfill -- Always ... I will not fear...He will not delay...My help comes from the Lord...

I choose to worship Jesus...

p.s.  I don't support any of youtube's ads

Persuaded...

louiegiglio Louie Giglio

A rare KJV tweet--I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able.... (2 Timothy 1:12)

27 Sep

 

...from Passion's LiveLink this past Monday...headed to the Dome in January!

 

Dino -- what in the world are you doing?!?!?

"Who, me?  Well...I noticed this nice, tall, green grass on the other side of the fence that you won't let me eat.  I was leaning over the fence this morning to munch on some breakfast and suddenly the fence rail just came undone.  Being the quick learner that I am, I decided to knock off all the top rails so I can eat this yummy grass a lot easier.  This way my neck doesn't hurt so much."

Eight top rails later and I finally decided I'd better let him in the front pasture before he knocked down the entire fence.  Scott was in Virginia Beach Monday through Thursday, so I needed a temporary solution until he returned home.  Dino had free reign and an "all-he-could-eat buffet" for a few days...until Scott got home.  Dino is not very happy right now since Scott immediately put up electric tape along this side of the fence too.

Dino has worn a trail along the fence line...We think he'd be much happier and content if he had a horse friend...We've learned that horses are herd animals and most of them prefer company.  And...this 40 year old fence is no match for this eight year old, massive -- and mischievous -- equine!  His owner just mentioned to me the other day that really he could jump all three rails with no problem.  They (Dino and his owner) used to do it all the time before his injury.  Let's hope he doesn't want to make the effort!  Fortunately, she doesn't seem worried...

This boy is wearing us out and ... this is not his first naughty deed.  We drove up to my parents' house this past Saturday for a family reunion and returned home late that night to find that Dino had broken a rail and loosened a post near the barn.  We decided he was safe and we would take care of it after church the next day.  The next morning we were driving past the pastures on our way out to Sunday school and noticed that he had somehow gotten on the other side of the electric fence.  So he was stuck in a 9 foot wide strip between the electric tape (which wasn't working) and the neighbor's fence. 

We presume that lightning struck our new electric box because it was dead after only one week of use and we recently had a big lightning storm, but we didn't think Dino would test it.  Well, he figured out that the tape wasn't zapping him and he wanted to be next to his friends (the neighbor's horses).  Ugh.  I trudged over to him, put his harness on, and led him to the front pasture.  We then drove to Lowe's to buy a new box and returned home to install it.  Dino was not happy.  He "charged" the barn at full gallop from the opposite side of the pasture a few times.  It was all a bluff -- he didn't hurt anything.  We made it to church just before our pastor started the sermon -- a little dirty.  Oh well.  The joys of "farm living".  I wonder if I smelled like a horse?!?  ;-)  We're definitely not making money on this deal!  Just gaining lots of experience!

Daniel's Gotcha Day (late posting) -- September 22, 2011

Wow -- three years already!  We celebrated Daniel's Gotcha Day on September 23 this year (due to schedule conflicts) which is the day we all entered the United States (Atlanta) from Seoul, South Korea.  We actually "got him" the day previous, September 22, in Seoul.  We enjoyed ice cream at Ben & Jerry's -- yummy "Phish Food" (my, the price of ice cream has gone up!)!  We thank God for you, Daniel!  He has great plans and purposes for your life!  We love you!

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."  ~ Deuteronomy 6:5-7

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"...when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.  Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.  Do not test the LORD your God...Do what is right and good in the LORD's sight, so that it may go well with you..."  ~ Deuteronomy 6:11-18



Homeschool days...

Connor with our two gliders for our science experiment on flight...

Getting ready to fly the first glider...

Recording the results -- ie, distance flown.  Our variable is wing dimensions.

Our first field trip this school year -- New Market Battlefield (Civil War). 
We love the Virginia mountains.  Beautiful day trip -- a much needed day of rest.

19th Century Bushong Farm

Going to "class" -- our first year at Classical Conversations which meets at a nearby church every Tuesday.  We love it!  One of our big projects for this year is memorizing 192 history timeline cards in order -- wow! 

*******

"The purpose of education is to know God and to make Him known."
(CC's purpose statement)

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"The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the LORD;
so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered."  ~ Jeremiah 10:21

"I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps." 
~ Jeremiah 10:23