Ramblings

What a week I'm having! (Do you remember this line from the movie, "Splash?"). I have spent just about every free moment studying. My knees and butt actually ache from the hours of desk time. On Friday, I got to stretch my legs when I had to go to the zoo to complete a Biology lab. I thought about bringing Benny, but the requirement was to observe animals for twenty minutes at a time. I was imagining all the whining I would have had to listen to, and decided to go alone. It is really fun to go to the zoo by yourself! I got to spend time observing the things my kids only spend a couple of minutes on, and want to see the next animal. I observed puffins, an elephant, tiger, Bay pipefish, purple sea urchin and an Anoa (an amazon cow). Let's say that the urchins weren't having any parties and the tiger was as dull as a rock, but the other things were fun. I even asked the zookeeper a bunch of questions about the elephants. Did you know they have a six-inch skull, and their trunk weighs 400 pounds? One of the elephants they have has actually killed a person. She is a very angry elephant, but the zookeeper says she has come a long way. I also observed plant life and recorded information about those. I actually love botany, so I was thrilled to observe Black Mondo Grass (it's really black!) and a little baby, Chinese Fir tree. Creation actually makes me appreciate and experience God on deep levels...

Once I got home from the zoo, it took me hours to type up the zoo lab. I had to list the phylums of each animal and talk about what adaptations (ahem) I observed that allowed them to obtain food, reproduce and avoid predators. Yadayadayada.....Not as fun as actually watching them.

This coming week I have three, count 'em, three finals! Prayer would be good.

Last night, I went to church with my family. I love going on Saturday night. The worship was awesome. The words of the songs they chose were all these things in my heart, and I poured it all out to God that night. How cool to worship next to my family in freedom, with their hands stretched up to the ceiling, seeing people praising Him, fully engaged, wiping tears away. No stiffness. That's big for me. I've been in churches that might have nice music, but there is a level of stiffness that is very noticeable. It's like there's some unspoken "rules" about how much you can let go and be engaged in loving God in the music time. Then, it sort of becomes more of a thing where people are watching a staged concert, instead of coming there to join with others to love on the Lord. It's like the people are so uptight, I get a feeling of being trapped and restricted in my expression to God. Eeeew......I don't want to give the impression that my church is wild and crazy or anything. There is order in the place. There is just not this sense of a hidden "fence law" about how a person should or shouldn't express themselves.....It's freedom.

OK. Back to other stuff. Amanda took the test in order to be accepted to the college, and passed! She is going to be attending college, so she can earn high school graduation requirements while earning college credit at the same time. She would like to graduate from high school with her associate's degree! I think it's pretty cool. She's the kind of kid who is mature, and gets tired of the high school drama. She will still take orchestra and a math class at her high school. Anyway, she is going to be getting her license this summer, so she can drive herself to school and stuff. We have the two cars available during the day, so she should be good to go.

Both girls are going to church camp this summer. I'm so excited for them. Camp is so awesome. I'm going to try to get Ben in a VBS as well. After my experience in Biology class, it is my goal to educate my kids this summer on the truths of creation. I purchased a DVD and a book so far, and I am excited at the prospect of preparing my kids for life in this way. I want them to be able to defend their faith and beliefs in an educated way - me, too! :) We will be exploring "The Case For A Creator" books and DVD. I highly recommend it.

I also set a date to read through my Bible in 90 days. Heck- if I can handle three college classes, I can handle doing this!! I'm excited to see what God is going to say to me over this time!! Maybe that will be the main subject in my summer blog posts....