And I shall now inflict upon my longsuffering readers...Part II :)

 I had hoped to post this earlier in the week, but don't want to get too far ahead of myself by posting the chapters too quickly.  Also, some technical difficulties (or maybe "operator troubles"?) prevented me from accessing the file for a few days, hence it being posted this evening.  I hope it is encouraging and an enjoyable read, despite the fact that I am a very amateur writer.  :)

Journeying in the Light- Part II

And with fear and trembling I...

     Post part 1 of my latest writing project!  This was originally supposed to be a short story for my blog, but it has been sort of growing...  At the rate I'm writing it's writing itself :)  it will be a full length book by the time I am through with it.  I am fully aware that this chapter is more of an introduction into the rest of the story, but I hope you still enjoy it.  May the Lord use it to bless and encourage at least one person who reads it.  After all, it's not about me, but about Him!  All glory to God!

The below link takes you to a Google docs version of it.  If you want PDF shoot me an email (or comment) and I will send you one.  Enjoy!

Journeying in the Light. Part I

A Lady of England: The Jewels of Charlotte Maria Tucker

      Her real name was Charlotte Maria Tucker, but her books were published semi-anonymously under the pseudonym A.L.O.E. - A Lady Of England. Born in England, her father was twice chairman of the British East India Company, and her family was well off financially. Her original writings were not necessarily always Christ-exalting, but later on her focus changed and she wrote always with a very clear purpose- to bring glory to God and encourage her readers, especially children, to trust and follow Christ with all their hearts. In nearly every book she clearly presents the Gospel, and always ties it to the necessary change which will take place in the life of a believer. I am not sure if she is reformed in her theology or not, but in every book I have read by her the plan of salvation is Biblical. I first ran across one of her books soon after we listened to our first Lamplighter Theater audio drama. I hunted around online to see if I could find any free ones, and found the first two episodes of The Robber's Cave (a continuing favorite of mine). I was disappointed when it turned out to be only a sample, because I desperately wanted to find out what happened. How did the story end? So I got on Internet Archive and hunted down the book. Of course I really liked it, and wanted to read more of her stories, but got distracted and kind of forgot about them. Then just recently I was reminded of A.L.O.E. when browsing around the Lamplighter website, and decided to find a few more of her titles online. Here are a few that I've found:

Doing Homeschool While Listening to Handel's Messiah...

A glimpse at The Feldman Academy of Life...

Welcome Anna Frances Feldman!

Born at 5:05 PM, May 17th, 2013- weight is 7 lbs, 8 oz.  I'm not sure how long she is...

A Busy (And Exciting) Few Days

Well, it looks like my resolution to blog once a week has gone down the drain already, at least, for a while.  The last few days have been very busy.  First, we finally have a new, and good, schedule.  That's great, the one difficulty for me is the manager.  Since Mama will be resting a lot after having the baby, someone else has to keep things moving, and it's not Daddy; he will be working.  So, guess who will be doing it- that's right- yours truly!  Actually I am glad for the experience and good education it gives me, but I'm not sure my siblings are.  :-)

Congratulations Evan!

     Well, Evan is officially done with high school!  He graduated, along with four other young people from our church last Lord's Day, May 5th, 2013.  We are so happy for him as he enters this new phase of his life.  His speech was an encouragement to all of us, and I am realizing more and more how blessed I am to have him as a brother.  We love you Evan!

Below are some pictures of the ceremony and reception.

Pastor Harding did not actually preach during the ceremony, but he opened, and closed it.

Book Review: Twice Bought, a Tale of the Oregon Gold Fields, by R. M. Ballantyne

Twice Bought: A Tale of the Oregon Gold Fields, by R. M. Ballantyne

Book Review: Michael Strogoff, Courier of the Czar, by Jules Verne

Book Review: Michael Strogoff, by Jules Verne

A Birthday Tea...

     Yesterday was my cousin Sophia's birthday, so Farrah and I put our heads together and planned a little surprise.

First I tidied and decorated the room, while Farrah did some cooking...

My First Short Story: Vision Forum Essay Contest: "Fight Hard and Hold Fast!"

     This is the story I sent in to Vision Forum for their  catalog front-cover essay contest in 2011.  The theme was "Fight Hard and Hold Fast".  The original version was much more rough and full of problems than this one, and, needless to say, it didn't place.  I was going to enter the contest last year too (2012), but completely forgot to send in my story.  Grrr....  Oh well, maybe the Lord just wanted my siblings and friends to be the only ones to read it.  :)
I was hunting all over the internet today looking for the original picture that the story was built around, but could not find it anywhere.  I have no idea why it has been apparently deleted from the web, but it is.  So... I have put in the photo which they replaced the old one with, and will have to leave the additional details in the original to the imagination of my readers.
      I know this story isn't the best, but I hope you all enjoy it, and will try to finish/ think up some new ones later on.  Next week I will be posting my first book review, so "stay tuned"!

(Quick note:  if there is anything said in this story that appears offensive against a nation or class of people, please forgive it, as it is purely the expression of the character(s), and I do not think so myself, though it may have been true at the time, and it was added solely to give more reality to the story.)

What We've Been Up To...

I know it's been a while since I've posted... Once more I have to apologize for not being more consistent with this poor little blog.  We have been very busy (when are we not!) and have made quite a bit of progress.  We are fully moved into our new house now!

Here are a few pictures that Savana took, showing some of our recent activities.

This was a great accomplishment for Bo- chopping down a tree, by himself, with his ax!

He and William cut it up with some help from Colin, a friend from Canada who's down for the winter with his family (they go to our church when they are down here).