Printable Mega Wall Maps for Homeschool or Just Plain Fun.

I love this idea!  Click on this link to Your Child Learns website which provides free printable maps of all sizes.  There are so many possibilities here!  Has anyone tried this?  I'd love to know how it worked.
Here's a quote from the website: "By coloring and writing on the map, students make it “their own”. Map work moves from rote to fun. The larger map format not only allows more detail because of its larger scale, it also makes it easy for several student to work together on one map. Students can each have a small map, while the teacher explains material on a larger map at the front. Maps to complement a variety of lessons. Have your students learn WHERE it happened."

Confessions of a Serial (plant) Killer

I'm starting to feel better about killing house plants.  I used to have some pangs of guilt after purchasing a hapless violet or a thriving schefflera at Home Depot knowing that once it was in my posession, it was toast.  Some people, like my grandfather, are born with a green thumb but I unfortunately, was not. I've always known this about myself and yet I can't help getting sucked in every year by the spring hyacinths and the poinsettias at Christmas.  They're all doomed once they are placed in my shopping cart, of course.  I pretty sure I've heard them let out little cries for help as they're wheeled out into the parking lot.

My latest victims are two 4 inch pots of fresh basil.  I found them at the grocery store on an end cap in the produce section. With an eye toward pesto,  I carefully selected the two most promising plants; both were wrapped up in cellophane and looked incredibly healthy.  How hard could it be?  I thought to myself.  I believe I can keep them alive for at least a few months.  Well, perhaps a few weeks.  Is that too much to ask?

You must keep in mind that I live in Hawaii where everyone feels good about their green thumb because things grow outside without any effort at all.  I have literally thrown "dead" plants out into the back yard only to have them come back at me bigger, better, and with blooms in just a few short weeks.

Unfortunately, as you no doubt already gathered from the title of my post,"bigger, better, and with blooms" was not to be the fate of my basil.  Despite my attempt to water it regularly and put it in a cheery spot on my windowsill, it croaked within about a week and a half of living under my roof.

C'est la vie.

I said I was feeling better about killing house plants.  I suppose that's a sign that I am, indeed, a certified serial (plant) killer.  A run of the mill plant killer feels more remorse than this I think.  It's starting to get easy for me.  In fact, I'm planning another trip to Home Depot tomorrow.  I hear they've got gerber daisies in.

Through Gates of Splendor

"The will of God is always bigger than we bargain for."  Jim Elliot 1952


There are certain books that I feel close to- like family.  Through Gates of Splendor is one of those books.  It was written by Elisabeth Elliot, wife of Jim Elliot and missionary to the Auca Indians of Ecuador.  In it she recounts the story of five missionaries, who because of their passion for the gospel, and their love for people, boldly flew into the jungle to share the message of hope to an unreached tribe.  All five men were martyred for their faith on that fateful day- January 8, 1956.  That was 57 years ago.

Before I read Through Gates of Splendor, I read Passion and Purity: Learning to Bring Your Love Life Under Christ's Control (also by Elisabeth Elliot).  Both books had a profound and lasting effect on me in high school.  Elizabeth is a gifted writer and communicator and she was able to clearly convey  her thoughts on dating, courtship and marriage in a way few others had done before.  Her relationship with Jim was a model for me as I formulated my ideas about finding and being a God-honoring mate.


If you have a middle or high school student these two books should be high on the reading list for them.    They inspire Christians to live with holy abandon.  Enjoy!


"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."