Tonight the little boys and I practiced headstands in my room. Daniel's got down the slow controlled raise to headstand.
It's fun. I want to learn a press handstand and the splits as soon as possible. I need a coach. Maybe the boys and I can join a tumbling class.
Today I went to Walmart for a few things for Family dinner on Saturday. For the past month I've been trying to decide when to have it - I'd prefer Sunday, but that won't work cause we'll have people over after Wesley's homecoming. I thought maybe Monday/President's Day, but Hyrum and Wesley will have left already, or we might go skiing. So, Valentine's Day it is. I texted out an invite to the kids on Saturday Feb 7. It will be this Saturday at 2.
Pretty K today - I ordered her some sparkly clip on earrings, fun!
Hmm, do K's eyes look a little crossed? I shall be watching.
Ok, now it is past midnight (12:45am). Corey's in bed, and I just thought I'd write for a moment, cause no one has school tomorrow so I can sleep in. Corey's got a heavy load on his shoulders and it's hard and stressful and frustrating and scary. Around 10:30, after I got the kids ready for bed (teeth brushed), he said he wanted to work a little bit more and asked me to read something to him as he worked that could distract his mind from his worries. He's been reading Shackleton on Sundays, and I asked if he wanted me to continue where he was at in that? He didn't say yay or nay, I looked over a few other books - Pres Oak's biography? And then I saw it - 1776. "That's the one." (- Napoleon Dynamite) I had just read a few pages of 1776 to the kids a few weeks ago on a night when Corey was working late. I was sure that the story about the Battle of Brooklyn and Kips Bay were gonna hit the spot. I read to him for 90 minutes, from page 182 (starting at the III) to 219. There's too much there to recap, so go read it. All of these phrases from page 182 started us off and really resonated with Corey - "the situation faced by Washington and the army was critical." "They were now hemmed in at Brooklyn" "Brooklyn was a trap ready to spring" "...he did not comprehend how perilous his position was." Page 184 - Washington's men were much "distressed" haha that's putting it mildly! "Yet for all the miseries it wrought, the storm was greatly to Washington's advantage." Sometimes our problems are helping us (like the freezing temperatures before the victory at the Delaware helped freeze the ground and thus aided them in transporting the cannon they needed for victory.) Corey also liked hearing how they made stupid mistakes, like not securing the Jamaican Pass (bottom on page 193). Page 193 "For Washington, almost nothing went as planned." We know how the Revolutionary War ends, so we see Washington as victorious and a hero, but when he was living through that, he did not know the ending! It had to have been so nerve wracking and stressful!!! Oh, this at the top of page 185 "With the situation as grim as it could be, no one was more conspicuous in his calm presence of mind that Washington, making is rounds on horseback in the rain. They must be 'cool but determined,' he had told the men before the battle, when spirits were high. Now, in the face of catastrophe, he was demonstrating what he meant by his own example. Whatever anger or torment or despair he felt, he kept to himself."
I also liked how, after the retreat from Brooklyn, some papers were calling the people to repent. From the Massachusetts Spy - the defeat on Long Island and consequent distress were "loud speaking testimonies of the displeasure and anger of Almighty God against a sinful people." ~
We have thought God was for us, and had given many and signal instances of his power and mercy in our favor, and had greatly frowned upon and disappointed our enemies; and verily it has been so. But have we repented and given him the glory? Verily no. His hand seems to be turned and stretched out against us - and strong is his hand.
Give God the glory, give him thanks, turn to him and trust Him. I also liked reading that the Hessian's were singing hymns before the attack at Kips Bay, page 211 "the Hessians, unaccustomed to this water business and fearful of being fired on when packed so closely, began singing hymns, while the redcoats responded in their own fashion 'by damning themselves and the enemy indiscriminately with wonderful fervency.'" (tsk tsk!)
The statement of the night was the quote by Henry Knox at the beginning of chapter six, page 201:
"We want great men who, when fortune frowns, will not be discouraged." - Henry Knox
Like Shackleton taught through his example, we have to be optimistic, despite the challenging circumstances we may find ourselves in from time to time (or almost constantly, as in the case of Washington and Shakleton!) We will pray for the strength to endure more and overcome through Christ, our Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment