I'm in Love With My Lord

My son just returned from a dinosaur dig with Joe Taylor, a renowned Christian field paleontologist, and his team, the Mt. Blanco dig team. Joe's buddy, Henry Johnson, was like a father to Joshua for ten days. What a blessing these two older men were in the life of my son for a few days. They taught him about digging for dinosaurs and petrified trees, about roughing it like real men, about creation science, singing around the campfire in the evening, and about real life. But mostly they taught him about loving the Lord. When Joshua was telling me all about his trip out west, he kept saying that Henry would just talk to the Lord in the middle of whatever they were doing, and God would just answer. Or he would tell about the sermons they listened to. Or the music they sang. Or how they would just naturally talk about God or creation science.

On the way home, we were listening to some of Joe Taylor's music. Joe wrote and recorded, "I'm in Love With My Lord." At the end of the song, I turned to Joshua and asked him, "Do you think Joe and Henry are in love with their Lord?"

With a wide grin spreading across his 14-year-old face, he answered, "Oh, yeah!" What a testimony! If that was the only thing Joshua learned on this trip, it would be time well spent. I thank God for friends who are in love with the Lord and are willing to share that with us.

Henry, Joshua, Joe Taylor

"I'm in Love With My Lord" was written and recorded in 1972 when Joe lived in Hollywood. The girl singing with Joe is Terri Ketchum, now Reiser. They did lots of concerts in LA area Christian coffee houses. Terri has worked for a pro-life group for a long time and she and her medical doctor husband have written books on health.

If anyone is interested in a CD, you can e-mail Joe Taylor at mtblanco1@aol.com. CDs are $9.00 plus $1.00 shipping.

Field Trip Review: Homestead Heritage

Thanksgiving weekend is my very favorite time of the whole year! It actually has very little to do with Thanksgiving itself, although I enjoy Thanksgiving. It is the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving that I love! For seven years now, we have gone up to Waco to visit Homestead Heritage, a Christian, homeschool, agrarian community that opens its doors to anyone who wishes to come visit for this weekend. This festival is called their Craft and Children's Fair, but it is far from child's play.

This community of believers leads simple lives, although they work very hard at everything they do. Quality is far more important than quantity. They have a strong emphasis on craftsmanship, of which they give numerous demonstrations during the weekend. One year, we watched them shear the sheep, card and wash the wool, dye the wool, spin it into yarn, weave the yarn into material, and sew the material into usable items such as clothes and blankets. The annual barn raising seems to really attract the men. They give demonstrations on making pottery (plates, serving dishes, cups, everything imaginable - almost perfect quality), candlemaking, soap making, basket weaving, broom making, quilting, all kinds of homesteading and homemaking skills. One year, we went to the cheese making demonstration. They had made a large demonstration board with a picture and instructions for each step of the process. Step #1 was "Milk the cow." There is beekeeping, herb and vegetable gardening, boat building, the grist mill run by a water wheel, hay rides through the community, many historic buildings, rope making, bread baking, goat milking, horse farming, and lots of homeschool work displayed as well. Here are a few demonstrations we saw this year.

Demonstrations

Mike showed us how to use a lathe to make a wooden bowl.


Paul demonstrating woodworking with hand tools, some of which were 150 years old.


Last year, we commissioned them to make this solid-wood cherry bed for us, all with hand tools.


Here is the headboard detail, the Texas symbol. Each half-point of the star was inlaid separately, and the wreath is hand carved.


Pounding in the sand for the mold for metal casting to make tools.


Rip, the border collie herding goats.

Music

The quality of their two daily musical performances is outstanding. Writing their own compositions or making changes to familiar ones, Homestead Heritage's concerts are an incredible delight. Using a wide variety of style, from bluegrass to gospel to folk (but all in a manner that glorifies God), they are unashamedly Christian in all their music and quite talented. I figure I go to the symphony or some other musical venture about once per month, but this latest adult concert by Homestead Heritage was probably the best I've ever heard. Their "Dueling Banjos" piece, which is normally a guitar being copied by a banjo, was greatly expanded to include each section of the orchestra as well. As one section would begin to imitate first the guitar and then the banjo, each section in turn would begin to imitate as well. The trick was that the guitar would then begin on a new segment, or maybe the banjo would take the lead. By the time they were in full gear, each section was playing a different segment, yet they all complemented one another. I'd never seen a symphony do something that difficult - and pull it off!


With about 75 in the adult choir, there were always great accompanists, many of which made their own instruments.


Six years old is when each child in the community joins the choir. The 6-9 year olds learn to sing solos, hit the right notes and stay on the beat. What great training at a young age.


The 10-13 year olds sing two-part harmony and rounds.


The 14-17 year olds sing 4-6 part harmony and are quite professional by this stage. If my children could have the opportunity to participate in praising the Lord this way, I'm sure it would fulfill that inborn need each of us has for music - music that glorifies God. The cows mooing in the meadow next door really added to the ambiance.

Food

I won't normally buy fast food or fair food, but we make an exception here. Although they sell "typical" fair food, such as pizza and hamburgers and ice cream, there is a slight difference - it is all grown right there and home made. So, a cheeseburger, for instance, would be organic, free-range beef with raw, organic cheese on a whole wheat homemade bun. Their ice cream is all organic, made fresh right there, and sweetened with their own sorghum syrup they grow right there.

Amenities

We always camp overnight when we go here. They just let us use part of their land to set up a tent and provide a port-a-potty for us. Less than a mile down the road was a "real" bathroom. No official campsites, no tables or anything, but lots of fellowship. There were about 30 families camping together. It's not a requirement to be a Christian to come visit, but there are lots of Christians who come to get a vision of what "church" should really look like, what living in a community is like. It was so refreshing to see families gathered separately and in groups having devotions together all over the campground, or just singing hymns and praising the Lord.

I read a little bit in a book about why they live in a community. Church is not about meeting together on Sunday, they say, but about living life together. They don't keep out the world from their community, they invite them in six days a week. But even though there was no sermon and no "love" offering, I knew that I would give almost anything to live in a community like this, except my biblical beliefs.

Field Trip Review: Texas Renaissance Festival

We've been wanting to go to the Renaissance Festival for years now, but heard that there's plenty of an undesirable lifestyle associated with it, so we'd never gone. This year, we decided to try it on "School Days," where the focus was on children instead. There was so much to do, though, that we couldn't begin to fit everything in one day! There were plays and soliloquys, dancing and sword classes, demonstrations of everything imaginable to the time period, and more than one hundred shops selling renaissance-type clothing, knick-knacks, weapons, food, hats, jewelry, and many other items.

Everyone who worked there was not only in costume, but played the part of the time period as well, addressing us as "My Lord" or "My Lady." What a shock it was to order a Gyro and the young man behind the counter said, "Good Day. What can I do for you, my lady?"! As we were leaving, another one would say, "I bid thee farewell, my lady."

We don't know exactly what this creature was, but it attracted much attention!

Will Shakespeare at the Globe Theater, explaining his love life. "Where there's a Will, Anne Hath-a-way."

Teaching proper sword etiquette.

The costume rentals were fantastic! Natasha had her picture taken and was asked for her autograph and for directions many times over. The girls did not want to leave the costumes there!

The dance instructor even thought Natasha was her new assistant!

By the end of the day, we were cold, tired, soaked to the bone, and covered with mud (we forgot our umbrellas!), but it was a GREAT day and we plan on going back for all 3 school days next year! Highly recommended for $5.

Field Trip Review: Houston Aquarium

We went to the Houston Aquarium yesterday. Although it was not at all what we expected (we were a bit spoiled by the Monterey Bay Aquarium), it was still a great experience. They couldn't resist starting off the tour with evolution propaganda and it was all decorated with Halloween decorations this time of year, but was still otherwise quite enjoyable.

Each room had a different theme, a different time period, or a different location from around the world. There was a distinct focus in each room, such as nautical history, freshwater fish, the jungles of the Amazon, the Aztec ruins, or reptiles such as the reticulated python.

This eel slithered in and out of his cage - very evil looking!

Rare Arabian White Tigers. We watched them for a long time!

We took a "train" through a tunnel of sharks. It was interesting to be totally surrounded by lots of man-eating sharks.

Across the street was the President Bush (the elder) memorial, where we had a beautiful picnic lunch.

We very much enjoyed the aquarium, although it barely took 2 hours to go through. We were planning on an all day adventure. We wouldn't recommend getting the day pass for rides, which included a carousel and ferris wheel. It wasn't worth the extra money.

Field Trip Review: Cascade Caverns

Today we went to the Cascade Caverns up in Boerne. Although it was nearly 100 degrees out when we arrived, as we started down into the cave, there was a sudden downshift to 68 degrees, but still very humid.


Here is the original opening of the cave, where people were lowered in buckets with a pulley. A fugitive hermit lived here for many years!


The giant molar!


Stalactites dripping into a mineral-rich, 98% pure water lake. There was water and/or mud everywhere.


The end of the cave was lower and about 48 degrees. This room was used as a church sanctuary during World War II. I could just imagine "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" echoing and booming throughout the cave as they sang their hearts out.

This visit to the underground world was well worth the trip. We saw a woolly mammoth tusk that had neither petrified nor disintegrated over the years, but was fully preserved. We saw other evidence of woolly mammoths, clams and other sea creatures (complete with evolutionary commentary, of course!). We saw all kinds of cave rocks, minerals, and formations. We ducked and slid and got a little muddy, but it was a great time!

Although this cave has the potential to be a great tourist attraction, the business end of it was a bit lacking. The facilities were old and run-down and, quite simply, very trashy. It might be good to be aware of that before you arrive. The signs weren't always easy to follow to get there.

So, above ground, they need a lot of work, but underground, it is a wonderful tour, especially on a hot summer day!

Field Trip Review: Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch

For my husband's birthday last week, we decided to study some history together as a family, so we took a beautiful drive up into the Hill Country to visit the Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch. Although he was not a president of our values, necessarily, we thought it might be interesting to learn about him anyway, since he lived so close (about 1 1/2 hours for us).

As instructed on the website, we first stopped in Johnson City at the visitor's center (a very small sign on the main road - good thing we were searching for it!). They showed a couple movies, one about Lyndon B. Johnson's life and politics, and the other about his wife, LadyBird. We only had time for the one about the President. We were surprised to learn that what we thought we knew about him wasn't really the whole truth! The visitor's center is very nice, with some museum-like articles and a great bookstore. (Museums usually have the greatest bookstores, especially for homeschoolers! I have a hard time keeping my spending down there!) They told us a bus ranch tour was starting soon, so we headed 14 miles down the road to the main ranch.

The bus tour was $6 for adults and $3 for children (cash, please), money well spent! The tour lasted about 1 1/2 hours, with many stops. We did get out once for 20-30 minutes to visit his birthplace and burial place, located yards from each other. What an unusual story that was. We saw the Texas White House, the one-room schoolroom where President Johnson got his start in life. We waved to the Secret Service as they watched us from behind very dark windows, while guarding LadyBird, who still lives there. We saw several of his cars and and got out again to see his still working ranch. Our tour guide did an excellent job! The beauty of the whole place was well worth the trip alone!

What a fascinating personality Lyndon B. Johnson was! We would like to go back and learn more, and maybe have time to learn about his wife next time, too!

While there, we had a picnic under the gorgeous trees at one of several picnicking areas. After lunch, we went to the Sauer-Beckman Farm, which is a living history German farm set in 1918 that is still a working farm, on the Johnson property. They had chickens and roosters and turkeys running around under your feet, with brand new baby chicks! The sheep had just had a baby lamb 4 days ago. There were horses and cows and pigs as well as a large growing garden. We had a personal tour of the two houses that were used on that farm, about one hour of just the tour guide and our family. We learned so many details about life at that time, including seeing how they kept food, such as raw milk, fresh daily, from spoiling in the heat. They have a special living history day every year, usually on June 17, which we went to last year, and HIGHLY recommend it.

Exponential learning at its best!

Field Trip Review: Body Worlds

We went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science last week to view the Body Worlds exhibit. I realize it can be quite controversial to cut up dead bodies and put them on display for others to gawk at, but there really is no better learning experience for studying the human body that I know of! Even medical students flock to this exhibit to learn more about the human body here than they can with a cadaver.

Using a process called plastination, bodies are not only carefully preserved, but still moldable, so much can be done to show the body in motion, as well as the many intricate details of this amazing machine God has given each one of us for our time here on this earth. All bodies used are donated specifically for this research.

Although this exhibit was considerably smaller than the original in Germany, which we saw about ten years ago, it was still a great exponential learning opportunity. We were able to easily observe each of the major systems of the human body, separately. Most people have seen a skeleton, but have you seen the nervous system - just the brain, the spinal cord, and all the attached nerves - nothing else? Or how about the circulatory system, with nothing attached? And then there were the many poses showing different muscles being used, as well as tendons, ligaments, etc. There were two digestive systems side by side: one was just as it would be inside one's body, all squished together, and the other was stretched out the length of a human body. What a contrast!

Another section showed each organ separately; some were healthy, some were diseased. We observed cirrhosis of the liver, smoker's lungs, cancer, spina bifida, and many other diseases.

We saw a 3 week old fetus. That was amazing!

This horse and rider gave us a new appreciation for both the horse and how we are created in God's image. There are a LOT of differences here.

There were audio tours available, if you desire, that explain in great detail about how each part of the body works as you are looking at that particular part. It was very informative, but I didn't like the fact that it drew you into your own little world, and even though we were there as a group, we were all listening to our headphones separately. I would love to have a tour guide talk us through instead.

We watched a planetarium show and an IMAX about the human body to maximize our science day. They were both fairly good. The museum human body bookstore was outstanding! I picked up several things there that I have not seen in the homeschool community. Good stuff!

Body Worlds will be on display through September 4. I recommend going in late August.

On another note, we were listening to Jonathan Park in the car on the way to Houston and when we arrived, we were about halfway through the episode where they discover the hidden treasures of Ur of the Chaldees. When we stepped into the museum, the featured traveling exhibit was "The Royal Tombs of Ur: Ancient Treasures from Modern Iraq." That was a God thing! It briefly mentioned Abraham, and it was quite interesting.

Lesson learned: don't plan a field trip when 50 public school buses are going to the same place! The noise was deafening, but after 2 p.m. it was quite enjoyable!

Exponential Education

I have recently discovered something about education.

Do you remember learning about exponents in math? I don't suppose I can actually show one here, but it was a smaller font number to the upper right corner of another number, such as 3 "to the power of" 4, whereas 3 is the main number and 4 is the little number in the corner. These always fascinated me. If we were just to take 3 X 4, for example, the answer would merely be 12. However, with exponents, you multiply the number times itself for however times the exponent says to. So in this case, we would multiply 3 X 3 X 3 X 3, which would give us 81! What a tremendous difference!

So what does this have to do with education? I have recently applied this same principle to learning. As we have increased our field trips, our museum trips, our hands-on learning, I have noticed that our learning has increased exponentially as well. You know that old saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Oh, how true that is! An educational picture, of sorts, can dramatically speed up learning. (And likewise, the evening news can dramatically speed up learning as well, but those are not the kinds of pictures I want my children to have seared upon their brains. I want to be very careful what "impressions" I put upon our minds.) So I feel good about "investing" in the IMAX theater for a great educational movie, which may take many, many hours of reading a great book to get the same educational impact.

Now, if just seeing something has such an exponential educational impact on our brains, I started thinking about what else learning could do. Several years ago, I heard a great Sunday School lesson that forever changed my life (don't you love those memorable lessons?). The man was talking about reading God's Word and he started with talking about just reading the Bible, where the only sense that is used is seeing. Then he talked about reading God's Word out loud. Now, we not only see the words, but we are saying them and hearing them also! Wow! That was an exponential leap! In the same amount of time, we can now see, hear, and say the words of God! As I started experimenting with this, I noticed that my disabled daughter would come and join me every morning, so that she could hear God's Word, too. I am not reading to her, but she is able to hear the word of the Lord. What an extra blessing! (Moms, don't push away your little ones when you are spending time with the Lord. They can learn, too, although you are not speaking to them.) A little while later, I discovered even more exponential learning from God's Word, which I will cover in a post entitled "The King's Assignment," coming soon!

We have never done too many field trips, but this last year we incorporated quite a few of them into our schedule. We don't go for the ones that are more for amusement (muse = think; a = not or without; a-muse = not thinking; without thinking), but there are lots of great educational opportunites out there. Have you ever studied something in a book, and then gone to see it, or do it? It's that "Aha!" feeling, isn't it? Before we went to Sea World a couple years ago, for example, we always liked dolphins, we read about them, we looked at pictures of them, we'd even seen them afar off. But when we were able to spend an hour with the dolphins with almost no one else around, to play catch with them, to pet them, to feed them, to play with them, to laugh with them - our learning about dolphins increased to tremendous exponential proportions. No amount of book learning, and I'm all for book learning, could match this one hour experience!

So, I will be giving field trip reviews on this blog now, for my local readers especially, or maybe those who would like to come for a visit!, but we do like to travel once in a while, so I will write field trip reviews for wherever we might go. I hope these reviews will encourage you to exponential learning, no matter how old you are! The day you stop learning is the day you grow old.

Exponential learning also includes science experiments, gardening, cleaning house, a walk in nature, seeing the baby ducks grow up, and a million other areas of life. Explode your learning with exponential education!