10/13/06 Friday Ramblings

It's been cold and chilly the last couple days. A good deal of the leaves fell from all the wind and rain we had yesterday, but there's still lots of color.

I feel good about all the schooling we got done the last couple days. We started doing art appreciation through a website called Garden of Praise. Here's the url: http://gardenofpraise.com/art.htm

For each painting, you read a short bio of the artist, study the painting, explore a link or two, print and do the work sheet, print and color or free-hand draw the painting, then there's a link that takes you to a jigsaw puzzle to put the painting back together-that's fun! It's perfect for Jonah, but I have Hannah go a little bit more in depth with research.

Here's a poem we read this week that we all loved:

It Couldn't Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn't be done,

But, he with a chuckle replied

That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one

Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.

So, he buckled right in with the trace of a grin

On his face. If he worried he hid it.

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

That couldn't be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;

At least no one has done it";

But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,

And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,

Without any doubting or quiddit,

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,

There are thousands to prophesy failure;

There are thousands to point out to you one by one,

The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,

Just take off your coat and go to it;

Just start to sing as you tackle the thing

That couldn't be done and you'll do it.

by Edgar Guest

My MIL called me today. She is on some commitee for MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) and they want to know if I will SPEAK in front of PEOPLE at a mops meeting (something I've never gone to) about contentment!?!?

She told me (after I said, "on WHAT???) the topic was contentment or it could be whatever I wanted to talk about.

I don't do public speaking. I don't like to even speak out while sitting in a chair at a Bible study with people I know.

The thought of it gives me hives. I told my MIL I don't do public speaking as she already knows, but she told me I should pray about it and if the Lord wants me to do it, I should. She's right, of course.

So, I will pray about it, but the thought of doing it terrifies me. I have no idea what I would say about contentment anyway-how do you talk about something you haven't attained? I maybe gain about an 1/8 of an inch of ground on that each year and lose 1/16 of an inch the same year.

Please, if anyone would like to, pray for me for guidance!

I was just reading an article by Jeannie Fulbright on public speaking yesterday, too. She said that most people will say they'd rather jump out of a plane than speak in public. How true! She encourages HS Moms to teach public teaching to our children. She suggests an informal speech co-op every other week just so the kids can speak in front of others. It's a good idea! Here's a link to a free lesson she offers on public speaking. http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/Speak_UP.html I'm going to have the kids practice in front of us as a family and then maybe someday we can implement the speech class. I'm downloading the lesson today. The whole ebook is only 7 dollars, so maybe we'll buy it after we see the sample.