Very Random....

We had our Spring Break a little early because my parents and their best friends (my surrogate parents) came down to visit for about ten days. We had a wonderful time, hanging out at the beach, sitting on the lanai sipping hot coffee on cold Florida mornings, going out to eat seafood, which my dad loves, and shopping at The Best of Everything, which my mom loves! It was such a fun break from school time for the kids - and for mom!

Our little wild man had another accident last week and busted his chin wide open on his motorized scooter! Yes, he had on his helment and we are thankful for that. The doctor glued his chin, but it didn't really hold so now we are looking at a pretty nasty scar. He is quite proud of his battle wounds though and I anticipate a few more before my task of raising this child is through.

We are back at school now on this Monday. So far we have accomplished Bible time, reading, and math with Graham and Bible, spelling, vocabulary, and some math with Lyndsey. As I type, she is taking a Math test and asking me a million questions that I suspect she knows the answer to! After this, we will go get some lunch, because my grocery supply is really low after company and then this afternoon we will sit outside and read.

On the reading list for today is Kildee House for Graham, which I have already read one chapter of today - great book for boys; Joshua still likes it. To Lyndsey I am reading Johnny Tremain, no child should study the Revoluationary War without reading this book - it is one of our favorites.

Joshua and Bryce read most of their books to themselves now. I still love to sit and read aloud to them, but with two other kids that I am trying to introduce to great books, I don't get to read aloud to my almost adults as much as I would like. Today, however, we are reading some things from our curriculum that I want to read alound and discuss. One of the things we are going to read this afternoon is a sermon by Jonathan Edwards entitled "Sinners In the Hands of An Angry God." We have read this sermon before, but it has been awhile and as I read through it myself I thought it was something we should read and discuss again.

"But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow."

Wow. As I'm reading through a sermon written over a hundred years ago, I can't believe the similarities to our world today. Throughout the sermon, Mr. Edwards talks about the "slippery slope" that man walks on when we are walking in sin. Without the restraining hand of God we would tumble to our doom. Scripture tells us that in "due time" we will fall, and if we have not come to the point in our life that we have accepted Jesus' sacrifice on the cross we will tumble straight into hell. "Death waits for no man" is a quote that I have often heard....I don't know who said it but I know it is true. As much as people try to find solutions to the aging process, no one has been able to do it. All men die. That is the simple fact of life. Men from all walks of life die - some die young and some die old; rich or poor, you can not prolong your life when the Almighty pulls back His restraining hand. It has literally NEVER been done!

Yet, as the above quote states the foolish children of men continually put their confidence in their own stregth and wisdom. This is foolish misplacement of our trust - we are trusting a shadow. We can not save ourselves. Not literally and not spiritually. God has no obligation to prevent us from eternal destruction. We have sinned against Him and we deserve hell. The awesome part is that He wants to save us. He wants to prevent our feet from slipping down the slope of destruction.

We must make the decision to allow Him to be the Lord of our lives. We must embrace the gospel with no restraint. We must allow Jesus to lead us, and we must follow.

As I read through this sermon with my fifteen year old children this afternoon, these are the questions I will ask them as they enter adulthood. Do you understand the effects of unrestrained sin? Do you understand what humans are capable of? Have you allowed Jesus to rescue you from yourself?

Have you?