Linda's Thoughts

In 1959 English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter:

'When we lose one blessing,
another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.'

Here's a site which will help you teach your teen how to drive. The course is from AAA.

There are several sites on the internet that can work together to help you get the best prices on Bob Jones Christian Learning Curriculum.

The BJU Press site gives you the list for each subjects. There are also kits available. For example, a Sophomore distant learner would use this kit.

The site Christian Book Distributors provides info and prices.

Half.com is a good place to start looking for reduced prices. You can search for your book by ISBN here.

Then there are some many other good sites which offer a big variety of homeschool curriculum such as ThisLittlePiggyStaysHome.com and HomeschoolClassifieds.com.

Recently, a story came out of Egypt similar to the loaves and fishes story of the Bible where Jesus blessed the food and it miraculously multiplied so that everyone would get enough to eat!

The story is from World Net Daily.

Taken from Leaves of Life @ OnePlace.com

Heaven overreaches you and me,
And all earth's gardens and her graves.
Look up with me, until we see
The day break and the shadows flee.
What though to-night wrecks you and me
If so to-morrow saves?

Our family awoke at about 5:30 this morning. We had a big morning ahead. We were running a 5k. There were grumbles and not wanting to go but I knew when the race was over we could all feel good about the run.

Danny fixed scrambled eggs. Three of our kids didn't eat. They wanted something different and it didn't bother them that they needed some fuel for the 5k.

It was the Riverside5000. Adults cost $25 and got a cool runner t-shirt. All four of our kids were free because they were under 18. They didn't get the shirt.

The OkRunner site is handy for finding 5ks to run in the Tulsa area.

Here are a few interesting ones:

Escape From Turkey Mountain on August 23, 2008 @ 7:30 AM
Cost $25 online registration

Walk/Run for a Drug Free Life on September 6, 2008 @ 8:00 AM
This event is absolutely free with a t-shirt!

Route 66 CPA Run on Saturday, September 13, 2008 TBA:08 AM
$18 early registration, 17 and under free

Pryor Fever 5k and Mud Run on September 27, 2008 @ 9:00 AM
Pre-registration online for the MudRun is $15

28th Annual Woolaroc Road Race on October 18, 2008 @ 8:30 AM

YMCA Chili Chase on October 18, 2008 @ 10:00 AM in Okmulgee

Tulsa's Mock Marathon and Half Marathon on November 1, 2008 @ 8:00 AM
No cost

I found this Bible passage on Heartlight. It was used by David and the people of Israel to give praise to God for His majesty. It is similar to passages found in the Psalms. :) (New American Standard version) It is a Psalm of Thanksgiving.

I Chronicles 16:7-36

7 Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the LORD.

8 Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;

Make known His deeds among the peoples.

Taken from Heartlight.org.

“Things won are done, joy's soul lies in the doing.”

— William Shakespeare

Taken from the website emule.com

My husband pulls old tv shows from the internet. Lately we've been enjoying The Waltons. John Boy was reading to a couple of his young siblings and he read them this poem:

The Little Orphan Annie

James Whitcomb Riley

Little Orphan Annie's come to my house to stay.
To wash the cups and saucers up and brush the crumbs away.
To shoo the chickens from the porch and dust the hearth and sweep,
and make the fire and bake the bread to earn her board and keep.
While all us other children, when the supper things is done,
we sit around the kitchen fire and has the mostest fun,
a listening to the witch tales that Annie tells about
and the goblins will get ya if ya don't watch out!

Once there was a little boy who wouldn't say his prayers,
and when he went to bed at night away up stairs,
his mammy heard him holler and his daddy heard him bawl,
and when they turned the covers down,
he wasn't there at all!
They searched him in the attic room
and cubby hole and press
and even up the chimney flu and every wheres, I guess,
but all they ever found of him was just his pants and round-abouts
and the goblins will get ya if ya don't watch out!!

Once there was a little girl who always laughed and grinned
and made fun of everyone, of all her blood and kin,
and once when there was company and old folks was there,
she mocked them and she shocked them and said, she didn't care.
And just as she turned on her heels and to go and run and hide,
there was two great big black things a standing by her side.
They snatched her through the ceiling fore she knew what shes about,
and the goblins will get ya if ya don't watch out!!

When the night is dark and scary,
and the moon is full and creatures are a flying and the wind goes Whoooooooooo,
you better mind your parents and your teachers fond and dear,
and cherish them that loves ya, and dry the orphans tears
and help the poor and needy ones that cluster all about,
or the goblins will get ya if ya don't watch out!!!

Here are a variety of games to give your brain some exercise on About.com.

Taken from Streams In The Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman @ Back To The Bible.org

I have all, and abound" (Phil. 4:18).

In one of my garden books there is a chapter with a very interesting heading, "Flowers that Grow in the Gloom." It deals with those patches in a garden which never catch the sunlight. And my guide tells me the sort of flowers which are not afraid of these dingy corners--may rather like them and flourish in them.

And there are similar things in the world of the spirit. They come out when material circumstances become stern and severe. They grow in the gloom. How can we otherwise explain some of the experiences of the Apostle Paul?

When we consecrate ourselves to God,
we think we are making a great sacrifice,
and doing lots for Him,
when really we are only letting go some little, bitsie trinkets we have been grabbing,
and when our hands are empty,
He fills them full of His treasures.

~Betty Stam

Here is a picture and the story of Helen Priscilla Stam, daughter of John and Betty

Taken from a website called Glimpses of Christian History. A site worth exploring.

If they had been willing to recant their Christian faith, their lives would have been spared. Given their commitment to Christ, such a choice was unthinkable. They placed not only their lives but the life of their baby, Helen Priscilla, in the hands of God, confident that God could protect them if He chose, and, if He chose not to, it was safer to be in those hands than anywhere else in the universe.

A great influence to Christian missionary, Elizabeth Elliot was Betty Stam. Here is a devotional from Back to the Bible describing her life.

I researched further and found a website of a relative to the Stams. That gives more details to their story. The info is at CarlStam.org. Notice their gravestones.

Here's the free stuff @ Craig's List in the Tulsa. Here's his list!

This Saturday, August 30, Tulsa new arena where large amounts of people can meet to see famous entertainers is finally opening.

The free Labor Day weekend festivities kick off with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10:00am. The center will be open for all to view the inside. Even the dressing rooms! Samples of the concession foods will also be available for just $1 per item. All the local news stations around town are covering it. The actual ribbon-cutting at the Grand Entrance located at 3rd Street and Denver Avenue. Free parking is available at 100 West Parking Lot which is located between 1st and 2nd Streets on Cheyenne. Here are some more details.

Here are some sneakpeak videos.

KTUL
KJRH
KOTV
BOk website

We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us;
we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.

~C.S. Lewis

Taken from the website Beyond the Loneliest Star.

Learn more @ OkRunner.com

World's Highest Hill 5 Miler on November 8, 2008 @ 9:00 AM

39th Annual Tulsa Zoo Run Presented by New Balance Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday, October 04, 2008 @ 7:00 AM