Walk a Little Slower Daddy

Walk a Little Slower Daddy
Walk a little slower Daddy,

Said a little child so small.

I'm following in your footsteps,

And I do not want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast,

Sometimes they're hard to see.

So, walk a little slower, Daddy,

For you are leading me.

Someday when I am all grown up,

You're what I want to be.

Then I will have a little child,

Who'll want to follow me.

And, I would want to lead just right,

And, I'd know that I was true.

So, walk a little slower Daddy.

For I must follow you.
-- Unknown Author

My H does lots of things right; this little poem reminds me of one of his best qualities. He leads our children well. He just finished putting the kids to bed, something he does nightly. Every night he reads them the Word, prays with them and sings their songs. In the AM if they wake up and he is having his quiet time he does not shoo them away like I am prone to do he just begins to read aloud. My girls will be blessed to find a man who will be as loving a Father as they have and my son will do well to follow in his steps. Is this a good husband brag? Maybe. But whatsoever things are good and noble, think in these things... I am just thinking about my husband.

My only politcal post-- ever

The election is over, I am thankful for that. It ended as expected if not as desired. I am not very polical but as we watched it all unfold I heard statements like "the first truly Global President" and President Elect Obama described as "a Citizen of the World". Keep your eyes up. I heard a speech by Senator McCain that was gracious in defeat and it was the first time in the campaign I was impressed. I saw a sea of faces of all colors and backgrounds throng together to greet their newly elected President. I saw admiration bordering on worship, joy and relief. I saw white faces glad to be part of this day and black faces that had waited a life time to see it. That moved me. No, not politically, I am unmoved. I was moved that our country made this choice, some with no deference to skin color, some in spite of it and some because of it. Keep your eyes up. Every man did what was right in his own eyes. Look up. I heard a speech that ignited hearts and gave credit where it was due with One exception; he did not acknowledge God except to demand God's blessing upon the people and the country.

"Thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of heaven
hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, glory.”
( Danieln 2: 37 )

Look up God will not be mocked. God has allowed this man to become the next president of the United States of America.

President Elect Obama will take us closer to a Global Economy, Global Government and a Global Faith. I am not saying he will take us there but he will surely pave the way. Look up. He will be my President, like it or not and God's word, commands me to pray for him and speak no ill of him. Unless he is asking me to sin against my Lord I am called to pay him the honor that he is due.

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For
there is no power but of God. The powers that be are
ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power,
resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall
receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror
to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of
the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise
of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good.
But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth
not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger
to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must
need be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
For this cause pay ye tribute also, for they are God's ministers,
attending continually upon this very thing.”
( Romans 13: 1-6 )

"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the
Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme, or unto
governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the
punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do
well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may
put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. As free, and not
using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the
servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood.
Fear God. Honour the king." ( I Pt 2: 13-17 )


Pray for President Elect Obama, pray for his safety, wisdom and for his heart to hear God calling him to Himself. He needs Jesus as much as I do. Pray that God will do exactly that which will bring glory to Himself.

Change is coming, God's Word promises that but I won't put my faith in any government until the Prince of Peace is ruling here on earth.

Sunday Picture of the Week

We call this "Double Bass With Feet"

One of the best things about taking Isaiah to his bass violin lesson is getting to watch him carry the thing inside. You should see the looks he gets!

The program his is involved with is on the UTSA campus so there a lots of very "cool" college students and they are all very impressed. If you see him from behind all you see is the bass swinging to and fro (no hair pun intended) it is comical.

He is doing well by the way, he can take it as far as his desire to learn, hard work and those little feet can carry him. This week at worship practice he was able to play along with us for one song. I think it inspired him to know there is more to the 4 notes he knows than Jingle Bells and Hot Cross Buns. I was one proud Mama.

Kissing Bears

Here is some video and pics from our first ever CCNWSA Homeschoolers Field Trip! We went to the Wild Animal Orphanage here in San Antonio and we had a great time. It is a really interesting place, they get animal from around the country, around the world that have been mistreated, abandoned or just can't be cared for anymore. They take them to this place here in town to allow the animal time to adjust and to quarantine them for awhile. Then they take them to another facility some where within 100 miles of here where the animals live in a more natural environment. Now these are tigers and monkeys and bears OH MY! So I am not sure how natural these environments are but they do their best make these "retired" animals comfortable.

Lots of the animals are former circus or show animals, including a huge Russian Grizzly Bear that was forced to dance for his food. That food was not "bear food" it was like pizza, beer and what ever junk they had left over. This bear was not doing well when he got there but "Boris" is a whopping 900lbs now! He was beautiful. He is still a performer by habit and was doing a bit of his dance for us in hopes of getting a branch of his favorite treat, hackberry leaves.

The 2 bears seen here will hopefully be companions to Boris in the future. They are brother and sister and love to play as you can see.


kissing bears from Jennifer Velarde on Vimeo.

The kids caught lots of photos and videos some of the best were of the big cats here are a few.




This guy was born with a defect caused by inbreeding of the white tigers. from the front he looks great but his hind quarters are weak and he struggles to walk.

They also have lots of stray cats for adoption so please check them out if you are looking for a feline friend!

It was worth the cost to get in, knowing that all of the money goes to helping maintain this facility.

Homeschool Math Help(s)

I am no expert here, it is likely to be a short post but here are a few links to the places I go for math help. Most of this would be for the 5th grade and under crowd.

The Math Worksheet Site it is a great site where you can generate your own worksheets. It has a free side, I used that for a long time, we used the 5 minute drills everyday, still do. But last year I paid for a subscription and I was really pleased with the range of items I could print and how customizable they were. #1 Math resource for me.

Educational Card Games to Teach Math here is an article by Mary Peterson that helps make math fun...for free. After years of math torture with "I" I have taken an easier approach with "A" she is enjoying math games with a simple deck of cards and it seems to be taking. Reading this article has given me some ideas for "I" too.

A Complete List Here is a great list of resources...

Well I told you it would be a short! As I think of more I will post them I know there are more!

consenting and committed

I have received a complaint that my last post was a little, shall we say, shallow? I will refer back to the cold medicine and move on. I am feeling better by the way, thanks.

I read something this week from Pastor Skip in Albuquerque that has stuck with me all week. Quoting from his blog, he wrote "... there's a difference between one who believes in Christ and one who belongs to Christ's cause; there are many who consent to being a follower of Jesus, but then there are a few who are committed to becoming mature, discipling others and spreading His Kingdom." What am I? What are you? Are we believers, consenting to be His followers? Great, but there is more. There is growth, a "commitment to becoming mature". I know I am following Him, even when I find myself questioning I come back to this statement "where else could we go Lord? You have the very words of life?" There is nothing else for me but to follow Him. Consenting to who He is and what He has done for me implies a decision. Committing to becoming mature implies action. Commitment to spend time with Him daily, in His Word and in prayer. It is a commitment to allow my life to cross with others and tell them about the Father's love and what the Son did to save them. It is also a commitment to pour my life into those believers that also want to keep growing mature (Ephesians 4:14-15) so that we can encourage each other in Him. To me that is the heart of discipleship. I for one am renewing my committment to keep growing and I am looking out for those who want to encourage me and to be encouraged along the way.

Read the rest of Ephesians 4 for a reminder of how far we have to go and the road map to getting there.

google yourself

OK so here is a dumb idea, google yourself! I read someone else doing this on another blog and I thought I would give it a try, kinda funny. You are supposed to google your own name and tell 5 facts that are floating around the Internet about "you" (your name).

1. I am a fabulous purse designer out of Chicago (don't knock it, apparently Drew Barrymore carries one of my bags).
2. I went to Oak Bay High in British Columbia graduating in 1967
3. I have written and produced three of my own plays and hopes to continue doing so within the UCD theatre program, and I played the roll of Shirley in The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail
4. I am the Football Secretary for South Metro Youth Sports in Littleton, Colorado.
5. Did I mention the handbags, they are really popular, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner each carry one of my personally designed diaper bags.

OK so that was fun. If you are on cold medicine (like me) and have some time to kill, google yourself and tell me what you find out about you!

JUST IN CASE...none of those things are really about me. Just people across the country with whom I share my name...you never know.