Barack Obama's House. Mark 2400, Flckr.

Life can get wild when you live and move in close proximity to famous people.  Our church gathers at the KAM-Israel Temple directly across the street from Senator Obama's private residence.  Here's a note I just received from our church office as it regards parking on Sunday:

As most of you know, we have agreed to terms with the United Church of Hyde Park to move to their building at 53rd and Blackstone for our Sunday services the first week of October.  However, until then, there has been increased security surrounding the Obama residence which will affect getting to/from the KAM building ongoing.
 
Starting today, Greenwood Ave. at Hyde Park Blvd. will be closed to vehicular traffic . Through traffic on Hyde Park Blvd. will not be affected.  To reach KAM's parking lot by car you will have to approach from the north.  There will be a Secret Service check point at the corner of 50th St. & Greenwood Ave. where you will be asked for identification.  A state or federal issued ID (i.e. drivers license, state ID, passport) will suffice.
 
If you are arriving on foot you will have to go through either the check point at 50th St. & Greenwood or one that will be set up on the sidewalk on Hyde Park Blvd. at University Ave.  Again, identification will be required.  Children will not have to show identification.
 
Your ID card will be checked against a list of names that HTC has provided to the Secret Service.  If a name is not on the list, an HTC representative will be standing with the Secret Service agents to check you in.
 
VERY IMPORTANT: If you have any visitors joining you on Sunday, please provide all names to the church office ASAP.  We can add names to our approved list at any time.  It will be much easier to pass through when the name is on our list.
 
We apologize for the inconvenience!  We look forward to the move in just a few weeks.  Please be sure to bring your state or federal issued ID (i.e. drivers license, state ID, passport) on Sunday.  We look forward to seeing you then.

Looking for a place to attend church, anyone? :D


fom Titus 2:

6 Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, 7 in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, 8 sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

The Fortnight Before.  August, 2008.

I took this picture only to see if the camera card was working.  I almost trashed the photo, but in looking at it now, I can hear it speaking volumes.

It's dark, which means it's night.  Probably late, after the kids are in bed: the house is clearly not "lit up like a Christmas tree!"

The glow of the lamplight gleams, reflected, from the darkened screen of my laptop computer.  The computer seems somewhat precariously perched where it is, which means that it is tethered to the printer, and even that seems to be at rest.

The dining room table sits in silence, muffled by the stacks of books and papers, despite the couple of coffee mugs in their midst.  Clearly, the moment of rest in this picture is interrupting something much larger.

You can probably guess what sort of thing that might be.  On the table sits a copy of a republished historical narrative, accompanied by a digital collection of primary source material from ancient history.  There's the spreadsheet print-out of key events and developments in ancient Rome, and a Bible, in which is found our only hope of understanding why the nations rage.

These are just a few of the books I juggle for just this one part of our year's course of study.  As so many other worthy women know, it takes a lot of preparation to chart it all out, and that, in case you hadn't perceived it by now, is precisely what I interrupted to take this picture.

This year I laid out as much of each child's full 36 weeks as I could.  It was a pretty big undertaking, and I'm afraid I still have to revisit it with a vengeance when we transition out of our ancient Rome studies and into our medieval ones.

But for now I consider my task accomplished, and now the tables have been turned:  as I write, our Greek syllabary, the sole lesson book on the dining room table, is interrupting the peace which otherwise rests in our quiet home tonight.

Happy Labor Day.


Psalm 127:

 1 Unless the LORD builds the house,
         They labor in vain who build it;
         Unless the LORD guards the city,
         The watchman stays awake in vain.
 2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
         To sit up late,
         To eat the bread of sorrows;
         For so He gives His beloved sleep.
         
 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
         The fruit of the womb is a reward.
 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
         So are the children of one’s youth.
 5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
         They shall not be ashamed,
         But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

Blinding Snow.  December, 2007.

In C. H. Spurgeon's commentary on Matthew 13:

Those who refuse to see are punished by becoming unable to see.  The penalty of sin is to be left in sin.

from Matthew 13:

13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:


      ‘ Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
      And seeing you will see and not perceive;
       15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
      Their ears are hard of hearing,
      And their eyes they have closed,
      Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
      Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
      So that I should heal them.’

16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Not My District...Barely.  from nationalatlas.gov

My Notebook.  June, 2008.

Before dissecting all the best parts of our Great Lakes Road Trip 2008, I thought I would follow the model of all modern anatomy units by preceding it with an explanation of origins.  Except I won't have to speculate myself into error. 

For the past several years, Paul has been on faculty at the Moody Bible Institute.  His fall and spring semester schedule has allowed us all a certain amount of flexibility to do all sorts of neat things in the summer, but this summer the biggest agenda  was not recreational; Paul had been hired to produce a video project which desperately requires his energy and attention.

However, this past spring he decided to leave the faculty so he could return to his field of practice.  He is again employed by Moody Radio, this time to produce 6- to 8-minute features for the afternoon drive program.  His faculty obligations were fulfilled by the end of May, and his radio production job began July 1.  Summer vacation now a thing of the past, this meant that he needed to get as many interviews filmed as possible in the intervening 30 days.

As he sat down to schedule interviews, mapping their locations across the continent, two thoughts occured to him almost simultaneously.  "I don't want to spend all this time away from my family when we're already losing our summer days together," and, "These locations seem to be spread out in such a way as to suggest a reasonable road trip."

It didn't take long to test those waters before we jumped in.  We'd already been to Lake Superior this year; let's fill it out by getting all the other Great Lakes, too!  Enthusiasm grew as we explored the option.

I would eventually spent a lot of time plotting our path, but God had all the pieces ready to fall into place.  We would drive through Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ontario, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, over 2,000 miles in 9 days, stopping along the way for some great sights and activities.  And for the most part, we were able to keep our uninterrupted time in the van within reasonable limits.


from Proverbs 27:

8 Like a bird that wanders from its nest
      Is a man who wanders from his place.