All the Women of the Bible

Today I was studying 5 women from the Bible. I used the book All the Women of the Bible to find out information about these women. I read about: Lot's wife, Jochebed, Abigail, Jezebel and Phebe (or Phoebe).

When I was reading about Lot's wife, I ran across these interesting words:

"She [Lot's wife] still stands as a permanent symbol of the woman who looks back and refuses to move forward, the woman who, faced toward salvation, still turns to look longingly on material things she has left behind."

After I read that sentence I thought, "Would I have been like Lot's wife and looked back". I hope I wouldn't have. But, is that how I am today? The Lord supplies salvation, but I'd rather have the material things over the immeasurable gift of God? May we, whether we are men or women, never choose material things over God's gift of salvation.

Also, when I was reading about Jezebel, I found this interesting:

"Jezebel's name even appears in the dictionary as a term of reproach. Certainly no woman's name in history has become so commonly accepted as a synonym for wickedness."

Jezebel is remembered as an outstanding example of what every women ought not to be. Instead, we women should strive to be like Jochebed, Abigail and Phebe. Holy, committed, humble, faith-filled, courageous, wise, gracious, nobble, pure and gentle.

Jobs of a Godly Wife/Mother

I had as an assignment for High School (I'm using Far Above Rubies) to make a collection of photos that show the different tasks of a full time homemaker. I thought I'd share it with you. As you know, these are not even all of the tasks a full time homemaker has, but just a tiny fraction of them! Thank you to Johanna for being my model for the pictures.

Along with that assignment, I was supposed to see how much a homemaker's yearly salary would be if she was paid for each task she did. My very ruff estimate was: $360,984. She would be a millionaire in 10 years! :) Of course, she isn't paid for any of the work she does.

Also, I found out that the average salary for women in the US today is: $32,500~.

The point of my little assignment was to see if being a full time homemaker is more productive than working a 'normal job' (as most women do now-a-days). What do you think?

I also found (as I had noticed before) that you can be a nurse, chef, maid, teacher, seamstress, manager, dietitian, counselor, referee, law enforcer, judge and entertainer just by being a mother/wife! Is that boring, or what?!

The School Room Responsibility Act of 2009

Caleb is working through "Blessed is the Man" (a 2 - 3 year workbook for young men), and one of the assignments was to write a bill. So he wrote this "bill" (a little humorously), and got it passed into law (actually it was already law!). He had fun writing it, and it's a good reminder to keep the schoolroom clean and organized! You'll get a good laugh out of reading it! :)



[Scanned] picture number 1


[Scanned] picture number 2.

My favorite books

Here is a list of some of my favorite books that I have read:

- The Courage of Sarah Noble By: Alice Dalgliesh
- Carolina's Courage By: Elizabeth Yates
- Amos Fortune Freeman By: Elizabeth Yates
- Betsy Ross By: Ann Weil
- Benjamin Franklin By: John Tottle
- Heidi By: Johanna Spyri
Courtship Series
- The Courtship of Sarah McLean By: Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Castleberry (the Castleberrys' books are fantastic!)
- Jeff McLean: his Courtship By: Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Castleberry
- Waiting for Her Isaac By: Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Castleberry
- Journey of the Heart By: Jeannie M. Castleberry
Farm Mystery Series
- Footprints in the Barn By: Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Castleberry
- The Mysterious Message By: Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Castleberry
- Midnight Sky By: Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Castleberry (can you tell I like the Castleberrys' books?! ;D)
- Who, Me? By: Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Castleberry
- Weighty Matters By: Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Castleberry
- Where there's Smoke By: Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Castleberry
- The History Mystery By: Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Castleberry

- Ellie By: Mary Christner Borntrager
- Daniel By: Mary Christner Borntrager
- Ten P's in a Pod By Arnold Pent III
- The Greystone Lodge By: Author Unknown
- Show your Colors By: Author Unknown (a well known author, right?! ;D)
- Clean Hands and Circulating Decimals By: Isabella Alden
- The Second Reader By: The McGuffy reader
- Carry on Mr. Bowditch By: Jean Lee Latham
- They Gave us wings: the Wright Brothers By: John Hudson Tiner
- Trail Blazer of Science: Robert Boyle By: John Hudson Tiner
- Inventor, Scientist, and Teacher: Isaac Newton By: John Hudson Tiner
- My Country Tis of Thee: Samuel Francis Smith By: Marguerite E. Fitch
- Alone Yet Not Alone By: Tracy Michele Leiniger Cravens
- Adam of the Road By: Elizabeth Jane Grey
- The Hiding Place By: Corrie ten Boom (not recommended for younger children)
- Prison Letters By: Corrie ten Boom (not recommended for younger children)
- Tramp for the Lord By: Corrie ten Boom (not recommended for younger children)
- A Gown of Spanish Lace By: Jeanette Oke (not recommended for younger children)
- Twig the Collie By: Craig Massey
- Wisdom and the Millers By: Mildred A. Martin
- Prudence and the Millers By: Mildred A. Martin
- School days with the Millers By: Mildred A. Martin

Hope you enjoy this!!!
~Johanna

The 50 States of the USA

I just thought of something to do on our blog. Another guessing game, of sorts. I thought of this because we did this sort of thing in our "Geography" class yesterday. This may be so easy for everyone, but I'll do it anyway.

So...here it is:

Can you match the 50 States of the USA to their Capitals or the Capitals of the 50 States to the correct State? I'll start off with 5 mix match and do 5 more mix and match later on, etc. Here it goes:

1. Illinois, ______________
2. ___________, Annapolis
3. Nevada, _____________
4. North Carolina, __________
5. ___________, Salem

To guess, just click on comment at the end of this post, and leave your guess(es)

- Phoebe

Dolphins!

"Dolphins" - by yours truly

Learning to Work Together

Here is an article that I was assigned to write in my English class a few years ago:

Written: 11/3/05

Learning to Work Together
By
Phoebe Kautt (age 10)

Once upon a time, there lived a bat in a beautifully colored tree beside a river, which was called, by all that lived in the city, Li. The bat was a wise little bat. There also, in that same tree, lived a nightingale. The nightingale was prideful, because she had a beautiful voice. The nightingale had such a beautiful voice that the Emperor and all his royal court would come every night to listen to the beautiful voice. While she would be singing, the bat, without being seen by the Emperor and his court, would gulp up the mosquitoes. One night the nightingale asked, "Are not you ashamed of yourself, swooping about, consuming mosquitoes, not even singing just one note? What kind of life do you live?" The bat did not answer, for he caught sight of a mosquito flying about. He swiftly swooped and caught the mosquito and gobbled it down. Then he replied, "It is a very, very important life I live." Once he answered he was off again catching another mosquito, and into the thickening dusk. "You call that an important life!" Screeched the nightingale. "Just look at my life. I sing for the Emperor and all his royal court." She preened her feathers proudly and then exclaimed again, "What is catching mosquitoes to that?" The bat flew by once again chasing another mosquito, but as he flew past intoned, "If it were not for me the Emperor and all his court would never come to the river bank." "What nonsense!" Cried the nightingale, "He does not come here because of you, but he comes to give heed to my singing."

The bat did not reply, but smiled to himself. Then the very next night, a very warm and sticky night filled with mosquitoes, the bat did not go out chasing mosquitoes, but instead sat in the beautifully colored tree listening to the nightingale sing. It was so beautiful, so magnificent, gorgeous, it made the bat sad. But right at the most gorgeous part the swarms of mosquitoes were biting the Emperor and his royal court, so they started getting restless and shifting from one foot to another. The Emperor finally fled for the palace because of those biting insects. They were tripping over their royal robes as they slapped mosquitoes and jogged away. Only the bat stayed to hear the nightingale’s magnificent performance.

The nightingale sprawled quietly in the beautiful tree; just then she recognized the importance of the bat’s job. From then on they both worked together in harmony. The Emperor and his royal court came back, because the bat and the nightingale both worked together in harmony. The bat and the nightingale both have important jobs that they need to stick with. So the moral of the story is simply that the two cannot work without each other.

Cleaning

Today we are cleaning our school room. It was so dirty! We had wet rags to clean with. It was pretty fun, if you call cleaning fun. :) We still are not done. I like cleaning.
Johanna (9)