An Unexpected Conversation Starter

This summer we are heading to the Creation Museum in Kentucky.
I had no idea how controversial that would be!

This is the only Museum I have experienced where people actually have a love or hate relationship! I can only assume this is because it is not about a tourist attraction, but about a worldview.
It, like a beacon, exemplifies the Biblical Worldview vs the Humanistic Worldview.
It, like nothing else I have ever seen, shouts out a clarion call to how Christians and non-Christians alike view the authority of God's Word.
It, like nothing else I've witnessed, stops us in our tracks and forces us to confront our own beliefs.

"What are you doing this summer?" has become a most unexpected conversation starter!
Or stopper!

Just Because...

One of my favorite things is when a family member calls me to come join them in appreciating something God has made.
Last night, I got the call from Anna-Lee - Mom come look at the moon!

Just because...

Choked up with Pride

It started by singing "O Canada," and snowballed from there.

Last night was a very emotional experience. Dave, Anna-Lee and I went to a high school graduation...
...unlike any other I have experienced.

Unlike my high school graduation (formal), or my oldest daughter's high school graduation from homeschooling (pleasant and personal), this one was a celebration of perseverance and victory.

It was a graduation of 102 students from 4 adult high school campuses in Western Ottawa District. All ages, all different stories, all different futures.

It was a night of celebration for each and everyone who walked that stage with their own unique story that was briefly told. It was a night where family and friends and teachers joined to hoot and holler, clap and weep for every single fought for diploma.
It was a night of overcoming huge and seemingly insurmountable obstacles that weren't insurmountable after all.

And it was a night to celebrate with my almost 69-year-old friend who chose after working for decades in a variety of careers (including as a teacher's assistant for special needs kids),  to obtain her high school diploma.
AND then the added bonus of seeing her receive an award for the "Student with the Best Attitude toward Learning. "

Diana receiving diploma

Receiving her award

Clarinet Recital Videos

If you've read my profile you've seen that my favorite music is listening to my daughter play her clarinet.
I thought it time to share.
Attached are two videos from her last recital - the day before her grade 4 RCM exam. These are the two accompanied pieces she played for her exam. The exam also included 4 studies, sight reading, intervals, and scales.
The first piece is called "The Swan," from "The Carnival of the Animals."
The second piece is called "The Carnival of Venice," a traditional piece from Italy.

Hope you enjoy... 

The Swan

Carnival of Venice

Summer Activities

Many of you know Anna-Lee plays the clarinet.
A few weeks ago she chose not to take the music summer camp she's been a part of the last couple years, but instead take some clarinet improvisation lessons over the summer.
Sounds good.
So we registered her for some jazz, blues and  different genres that have an improv focus.
Then, she had her clarinet recital and RCM exam and all of a sudden, she now wants to also do the music camp!

And, learn a new instrument for fun!

Yep, we rented a cello for the summer months!

Immersion

Not sure what you think of when the word "immersion" is mentioned.
French immersion
Cultural immersion
Water baptism by immersion...

A few weeks ago I mentioned to my husband that our youngest was having some difficulty retaining some math concepts. She'd seem to get it, so we'd go on to the next lesson, then we'd have a review and it would all be gone! Frustrating.
My husband suggested I immerse her in math. Help her become fluent in the language of numbers. Give her math sheets coming our of her ears with reviews of every concept. Full numeracy immersion.

It has worked. 
She has gone from dismal to exceptional.
So we continue to immerse. And the wonderful thing is there are no complaints from our young student - likely because she is now "getting it." She is becoming fluent.

We see the same with music immersion as well. Practice each day is better than a huge hunk of time once a week.

But most beneficial of all - spiritual immersion.
How incredibly effective it has been to immerse ourselves in God.

The vine and the branch.
 

No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:4,5