Spring

When you have been made to suffer being apart from something that you love for a long period of time, do you feel a sudden great joy when that thing is given back to you? That is how I feel after the long dreary winter has passed. Everything, during this time, is bleak, cold, and austere. Sometimes a thick blanket of snow will attempt to cover the barrenness of the landscape, and yet, more often than not we look out on a gray, cheerless world. Come March and April, however, there is a change in the air. We do not merely see naked branches, but little tiny buds all over the place, giving a reddish tint to the trees. Snowdrops appear, and are succeeded by the crocus. Then the hyacinth, daffodils, and tulips; or at least, that is how it goes in our gardens. Suddenly the earth is renewed. It is cleansed by Spring rains. The bleak atmosphere is washed away and replaced by warmth and cheer. Birds' songs echo through the trees, and they sing so sweetly, and so cheerfully, that it cannot help but banish melancholy and gloomy thoughts from the mind.

"There are some secret moving Springs in the Affections, which when they are set a going by some Object in view, or be it some Object, though not in view, yet rendered present to the Mind by the Power of Imagination, that Motion carries out the Soul by its Impetuosity to such violent eager embracings of the Object, that the Absence of it is insupportable." (Robinson Crusoe)

During this time of year I am apt to get intoxicated by the beauty of God's creation. I am not apt to worship the creation - nay, rather, it makes me bow in wonder of the God who made it! For if nature really is this beautiful - this sublime, then how much more powerful is the Hand that made it all, and how much more beautiful the Person who thought to make it.

These days make me burst with joy... after everything being dead for so long, it is finally become alive. I have drawn a line between Spring, and new birth in Christ. ..."And we were dead in the trespasses of our sins..." that is like winter. But when we are saved, and when we know Christ, everything blooms, and becomes alive.

This season should fill every mind with beautiful thoughts. How is it that buds on a tree can unfurl the splendor of a million leaves? Truly, this thought alone is amazing. Much less how a flower, so delicate, can push its way up through the soil, and nurtured by the sun, bloom and add so much color and loveliness to the world.

Let us not forget our blessings, and let us not forget to be grateful to Him who makes winter end, and gives us this gift of Spring.

(By the way, I've purposely abstained from using too much - or even not at all- words such as sublime, ecstasy, glorious etc, so as not to overwhelm my readers by my enthusiasm on this subject. :P)

Patriotic Sentiments

I was just "reminiscing" as some people call it, on a time a few months back, when I was in the most beloved and honoured (by me) town (or not so town-ish) Hickville. I remember that around sunset, Rachel and I "took a walk through the wilderness" as we call it. As we were coming back, we got a rather patriotic feeling within us, or at least I did, and we decided to belt out America's National Anthem. Alright.... Please don't think I'm strange when I say what I was feeling at the time, because I feel like I've gotta tell somebody, but I don't know which somebody to tell, (so why not tell everybody?) and besides, I wouldn't be able to put it in these exact words that describe the feeling as I am about to do now.... Wow, that was a really wordy sentence!!

So, we belted out the National Anthem. We really sang it out, as there was no one to listen but God and the birds around us. We looked across the vast land around us, so desolate, maybe, but so free, and so beautiful in the setting sun. What made the song more astounding, the view around us more spectacular, and being in the place itself more wonderful was the knowledge we had that we have a God, a heavenly Father in heaven, who is supreme over everything, who is all-powerful and in complete control of any little thing that happens. And if he cares for the life of a sparrow, how much moreso the life of his children! And also this thought.... the hymn O Worship The King says in the last verse, "Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!" If he is all those things, then he certainly will care for us in times of trouble or should disaster strike! Malachi 4:2 says, "But for those who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings." I feel that "we the people" have been very blessed, and have felt God's grace and mercy in giving us, and allowing us to live and flourish, in this free country.

Some people say that we don't have a very free nation... A good friend went to England this past year. She said that a homeschooling mother there said to her, "The law of England states that a superviser must be within our home to watch how we treat and raise our children. They never warn us when they come. Don't let, like we have, the simple freedoms that you posess slip through your hands, because we look and depend on you." I don't know about you, but when I heard that my mind bounced... so to speak. I almost got up and slammed my hand on the table saying, "That's it! First I'm going to the American Government and then I'm going to Parliament to do something!" If only it were that simple! Many of you might have read a post I wrote a few months ago entitled "pray!" I was about to say that the only way we can help our country is by being some great person of state that has great influence on our government. However, I was promptly reminded that, again, we can, and we WILL pray. Prayer is the greatest thing that we can do for our country.

But may I be so bold (in a good way, of course) to urge my brothers and sisters in Christ to pray without ceasing, and to never, ever be complacent! I'm not saying you are, but remember how many thousands of people died for a freedom that they had not yet obtained in the late 1700's! Remember how many sacrifices they made, and how hard they worked, and how constantly the fought for a freedom and a liberty and a country that they could call their own! And just think, after all that they had suffered to make this, our nation America, and after the thousands upon thousands who had died (not even knowing the end result), just think how ungrateful it would be, how entirely careless and thoughtless and defiant it would be to take all those sacrifices for granted, and to stand complacently by while this our country, one Nation under God, reaches a crisis! How in the world can we do that? We must not, and we cannot, stand passively and complacently by and watch the show.

So pray! And watch! And never be passive! (I would greatly appreciate it if y'all would help sharpen me and remind me to do the same thing.)

I feel so much better after saying all this.... :D

No Comment Except....

... Some hunter I'll make!!!

Ice-Skating

Thursday afternoon, the Clarkes homeschool group went ice-skating in Wheeling at Oglebay park. :D Sooo... Here's some pictures from that most enjoyable afternoon. :) (I'm kind of in a smiley-face mood... As you'll see below...)

This is Tabitha Simpson, the little sister of the Simpson girls (obviously) who I know. :) You gotta love babies... I do.

Me and Rachel on skates. Surprisingly, there aren't very many good pictures of us. But that just figures when neither one of us looks that great. :P

Beautiful Olivia, :)

Jack. He's actually a really good skater. But then he's also a boy, and boys are good at almost anything. :)

All us girls!! L to R, Emma, Olivia, Me, Jordan, Allison, Rachel.

Me Olivia and Allison. I really like Olivia's hat.

Me and Olivia dear.

Aww, Jordan!

The skating rink. It was actually a pretty good size, and there weren't tons of people there, so it was nice. I love ice-skating.

Emma and me. Ya know, I don't know why there are so many pictures of me and people. Rachel uploaded them all for me while I was playing card games with Mr. Clarke and Jack. :P

Wow, that just looks dumb. :)

And Mrs. Clarke and Catherine will end this beautiful little post. :D

Update

Let's just say that I'm at Grandma's right now, in New Wilmington PA, and there's something a little less than a tornado going on outside, that has made a HUGE limb of a pine tree break off with a terrific bombilation and fall RIGHT in front of our brand new van!!! In short, I'M SCARED!!!! :-( So, if you could pray that we get home safely tonight--or tomorrow, but most likely tonight--I would be sooo grateful! And if we all die, SEE YOU IN HEAVEN!!!!!! :-) And may the joy of the Lord be with you all. :)

Love,

~Ruby

A Few Days At Olivia's....

So at OGAL-BEE park, there was this pond... and these two trees, and Olivia really enjoyed having a photoshoot there. I was her victim—although, a most willing victim I must admit— and we took a lot of pictures, trying out different lights and angles, and pretty much practicing Olivia's photography skills. :P

Notice the reflection of the trees in the water. :)

Aww. :)

I think this picture is self-explanatory

On a Monday, the Monday before I left for home, we made a trip up to Cabelas. I was quite impressed by all the dead and stuffed animals, but it was so much fun, and again, their fudge is impeccable. :)

The statue in front of Cabelas.

Reorganizing is FUN!!!! :)

Well, it's okay, I guess....


Olivia doesn't know this yet, but I really like this picture. :)

I thought this one was a bit... odd, but funny, as Olivia looks very young, and I look very weird.


So, I'm over on another side of the room, when I hear this really loud laughing... it came from Olivia, of course, and she was laughing because she was taking the most absurd pictures of herself. Some were quite funny, but they will never make it to the blog. :) Actually, I thought this one was quite nice.

Girls will be girls...

Note: I don't actually use this cheap mascara... Fortunately, Olivia had already bought Maybeline Defin-a-lash by the time I arrived, so we didn't have to use the stuff you see advertised in this picture. :) Olivia and I agreed that the new stuff is much better than that ^ stuff. :) (No offense intended towards Olivia's previous mascara.)

I thought that this would be a good picture to end the post with.... :)

I Can't Think of A Title... How Droll

Okay.... So the past few days have been pretty hectic... Well, maybe the past week. On Saturday the Howard's had a huge yard sale, from eight AM to one PM. So Olivia (see here and here) and I got up at five thirty AM and made berry coffee cake for breakfast, then helped set up. Around eleven fifteen, I told Emma that I was going to go lie down for fifteen minutes. The next thing I know Olivia comes in the room and says, "Hey Ruby you might want to wake up... You've been asleep for four hours."

:P

Then on Sunday I took a two hour nap in the library... and on Monday I didn't have a nap because we went to Cabelas! Yay! :) That was so exciting. I'll have pictures up later, but I seriously was impressed, and their fudge is soooooooo wonderful!

That night we also went to Oglebay (I was corrected and told it is pronounced O-GAL-BEE ;) lol) Park. We got tons and tons of pictures by the pond, and Emma and I had loads and loads of fun rolling down this HUGE hill! I tell ya, if you haven't done that yet, do it, even though you might be 58 years old!!!!!! But the second time down, Emma got stung by a bee on her neck. Olivia got stung four or five times on her hip, and I rolled over a few roots of a tree on my way down the hill, which resulted in a huge black and blue and red bruise. Yuck.

Tuesday we went school supply shopping. I can't believe that season is almost here! You see, I stopped math this past Spring in the middle of a math problem and lesson. :P Bad me... But I am excited, because I want to go shop for binders and notebooks, etc., etc.. Yay! *excited*

Today was nothing eventful... We went on our daily walk (we've been walking 1-4 miles every day--no hyperboly) and took care of the kids and did the dishes, and made dishcloths, and then the Howard's dropped me off here! (At the Clarkes). Tomorrow morning I'll travel to Solon with Mr. Clarke, and my family will pick me up there at Mr. Clarke's office probably around lunchtime! I am so excited! But I thoroughly enjoyed my time here, and I think it was very good for me. :)

I will definitely be getting some pictures up for those of you who care... :P

~Ruby Jean

Wow We Look Stupid....