Review: Promptings of the Spirit

Promptings of the Spirit by Errol R. Fish
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Background Info:

This book was written by my uncle. I helped to format this book and get it ready for printing. I've had it on my shelf since 1991 and have begun to read it several times. I am finally getting through the entire book. I'm finding it much more insightful than I thought I would. It was difficult to reconcile the man I knew with the author. He just did not seem like a spiritual giant to me as a youth. My uncle died when I was 20 years old, just shortly after this book was published.

The book was self-published. My uncle submitted it to Desert Books but it was declined. My uncle knew he was dying and so rather than go through a lengthy process of re-writing and submitting again, my uncle and my grandparents published the book themselves. There was only one printing.

Review:

Many of the chapters in this book are very insightful and helpful in delving deep inside oneself in order to better understand interpreting the Holy Ghost and what promptings of the Spirit feel like. However, I felt that some of the chapters were rushed or somewhat incomplete. Maybe that is because promptings of the Spirit are such personal feelings, or maybe the author did not have enough knowledge of the subject.

I found much of the book to be "true", but there were a few things that I was not positive on, leaving some ares of grey to me in the case of "true" or "false". I have questions still about this book. Maybe if my uncle would have lived longer he could have perfected the book. My personal belief is that he rushed to get it published before he died, knowing from his own personal revelation that his time on this earth was short.

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Week 19

Ok - I've been very bad about keeping up on my homeschool posts with moving and all. But, it is never too late to get back on track...forgot to post this one on the right day.

Christian - King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Sir Thomas Mallory, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (Playaway) - We let Christian go out-of-town with cousins for most of the week, so he did not get as much done this week. He did take a couple of classic books with him on Playaway.
Marlayna - Owl in Love by Patrice Kindl, Mariel of Redwall by Brian Jacques, The Shamer's Daughter by Lene Kaaberbol,
Me - Books - Emily Post's Etiquette and started Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - Audio files at LDS-HEA - Darla Isackson, Paul Mero, Reed A. Benson, John Taylor Gatto, etc.

Do Together -

• Devotionals - Let Him Ask of God pg. 143 thru147
• Read Aloud - Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingals Wilder
  
• Government and Freedom - Mandate video on the President's of the United States, Civil War, and The New Deal
• Mathematician - Mathematicians are People Too "Galileo" pgs.45-51
  
• Musician - Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers pgs.27-34
  
• History - "Roman Empire" - Story of the World Vol. 2 pgs. 1-5 and Usborne Encyclopedia of World History pgs. 182-191
• Genealogy - Worked on my side of the 15 Generation Chart - See Mom Notes below.
  
• English and Grammar - Winston Grammar (we skipped school this day)
  
• Artist - (we skipped school this day)
  
• Science - "Ears and Eyes" - Usborne Science Encyclopedia pgs. 370-373, How the Body Works, Human Body Coloring Book
  
• Words of the Day - irreverant, meticulous, vindicate,

Mom Notes - We are loving the 15 Generation Chart! It has been so exciting to write in all the names of the ancestors we have information on. It makes it easy to see where work needs to be done. Also, we decided to highlight those born in other countries. Each country has a color - England, Canada, Ireland, France (American born are not highlighted at all) - so that we could get a visual picture for what percentage we are of each culture. We discovered that my mom's side of the family is American clear back for 9 generations! Also, I am a 4th generation Arizonan and my children are 5th generation Arizonan. How often do you find that?

April Showers? or Just Windy?

April Showers Anyone?

Where are the April Showers? We have either had snow or blasting wind that closes highways and rattles windows at night. I do not remember so much wind the last time we lived here. I know the weather patterns seem to have changed a little bit in the last few years...but this is ridiculous! I hope we get a few showers in to help keep the forest green over the summer. We saw a lot of smoke yesterday due to a forest fire.

Finding Joy!

It was one of my goals this year to focus on happiness and joy in life. I can say that I am happy, even through the trials and tribulations. I have learned, thanks to previous trials and tribulations, to be patient and realize that things could be a lot worse. Really, things are very good! After watching April General Conference, I felt that despite our economic hardships, everything else is really, REALLY GOOD!

We are very busy in our new home with getting the land "fire safe". The previous occupants let the back 3/4 acre become very overgrown. We have worked on the weeds, but the wind keeps blowing our neatly piled weeds around. We have tried to burn the weeds but cannot because of high winds, I had to get a burn permit and I call every day to see if we can burn. So, we stopped working on that for now and pray that the winds will cease long enough for us to get the weeds gone!

The flower bed is planted with seeds and Marly diligently waters it every day. Our eight chicks have more than doubled in size and are now living in their remodeled coop. We do not let them outside much yet because we are afraid they will blow away! They are not big enough to handle the wind yet.

We found a local homeschool group...there are five other homeschool families in our ward alone. We have been excited to have so many "close by"...meaning within 20 minutes drive. LOL! There are TONS of teens here. There are 40 young women and about 15 young men in our ward. They have all welcomed Marly and Chris with open arms and invited them to lots of things already. The boys are particularly happy to have another boy so they are not so outnumbered.

I hope to get some more pics up soon. I have just been so busy...

The Nativity Story

I picked up the movie "The Nativity Story" from the library this past week and we watched it today. We are sick today and so this movie was kind of church for us. I was fascinated by the politics, realistic settings, and portrayal of the customs of the time when Christ was born. I was deeply touched by the relationship between Joseph and Mary. Mary was shunned by her village for the pregnancy, while Joseph also made the decision to allow people to believe the child was his rather than allow Mary to be put on trial and most likely stoned to death.

My kids kept looking at me and asking, "Why are you crying?" I was so deeply moved by the scenes of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem and their desperation to find a place for Mary to give birth. Maybe it is partially because I'm a mother, but I just can't think of how difficult it must have been for Mary.

Of course, the main element missing in this portrayal of the Birth of Jesus Christ is the lack of what took place on this continent. The Book of Mormon references to the signs seen in this land and testify that there were many others looking for the sign of the Savior's birth. However, I feel this movie can greatly enhance educating ourselves and our children about what the scriptures say and understanding the times and circumstances of when Jesus Christ was born. I often wonder why the Savior came at that time rather than another period in history. It will be one of the questions I ask in the next life.

Spreading the Wealth?

Over the past few years I have worked to be more politically aware. This change was greatly influenced from reading The Five Thousand Year Leap by Cleon Skousen, a seminar I attended on the Constitution, and a desire to know more about the world, especially this great country we live in. I am very concerned about the current choices for President and the difficulties our nation, and the world for that matter, are facing in attacks against family values.

Today, I saw an elderly gentleman working at a farmer's market we sometimes go to for produce. He was very old, with blackened fingertips from deep bruising under his skin. He was bagging groceries and all I could think was, "This is what the Law of Consecration is for so that the elderly and sick do not have to work like this." Chris and I both wanted to do something. But, what do we do? Do we hand him money? Do we try to work his job for him? I wondered, "Where is his family? Does he have anyone who can help him?" I left the store deeply troubled by this. We did not know exactly how to help this individual man.

I then thought of Barrack Obama's promise to "Spread the Wealth." This troubles me even more because the government does not need to take from the rich to pay the poor. People need to donate their own money and time to help the needy. The Law of Consecration is for this very purpose - that we willingly give of our time, talents, and possessions to help others. Chris was thinking along the same lines as I was because he asked me, "Was Robin Hood a good or a bad man?" It was an opportunity to discuss the right and wrong ways to change our society. I firmly believe that Obama's way is wrong...deeply wrong...and that we need to do all we can to protect our freedom from tyranny, especially governmental control over wealth.

Although I did not help the man at the store today, I realized that I can do much more to help others. I know one thing that I can do and that is to add this man to my prayers. I wish I had gotten his name - but I'm sure Heavenly Father knows who he is.

LDS Notebooking Pages

I found these awesome free Notebooking pages at LDS Notebooking Pages. For an explanation on notebooking click here, it is kind of like scrapbooking. These notebooking pages are great for Family Home Evening and home schooling. These are PDF files that have full-color pictures and room to write about the story or prophet.

LDS Prophets Notebook Pages - 100 pages - (go down to the bottom of the page) Very nice notebook with room to write about each Prophet.

Book of Mormon Notebook Pages

Stories included to date:

• Lehi
  
• Nephi
• Lehi Leaves Jerusalem
• Nephi and the Brass Plates
• Daughters of Ishmael
• Lehi's Dream
• Liahona
• Nephi Builds a Ship
• Nephi's Rebellious Brothers
• Lehi Arrives in the Promised Land

Homeschooling 4 - 5 Kids

Adventures in Homeschooling! My sister-in-law, who also homeschools, is on mandatory bed rest for a few weeks. She is pregnant and there is a hole in the placenta. They lost a baby in August 2007 also. So, she is an at-risk pregnancy in a couple ways right now. I offered to take her kids for the next few weeks to homeschool along with my own. Sam was home because she had her wisdom teeth out (poor baby!) and she schooled right along with us, working on an online world history class and studying for her other classes.

It is easier than I though it would be. I feel comfortable enough in educating the kids that it was easy to find things for everyone to work on and they have a great time!

I used to stress myself out with complicated curriculum, both public online school and curriculum I purchased. Now I've worked to simplify our education by focusing on a good math program, classic reading materials, and the interests of the children in science, history, and PE. My children are becoming more focused on their own education and actually OWNING it, rather than doing it because they were told to. They chose their own reading materials from the classics list and from the racks at the local library. I have some unit studies and lapbooking materials for times when they just need a creative outlet to show what they are learning.

Here are what we are educating our children with right now:

• Teaching Textbooks - Awesome math program!
• Classics list #1 - Thomas Jefferson Education List
  
• Classics list #2 - 1,000 Good Books List (by grades)
  
• Old Testament Lapbook - (history)
  
• Book of Mormon Lapbook
  
• Discover the Scriptures - Book of Mormon & Life of Thomas S. Monson
  
• Science Kits - Electronics Snap Kit, Froguts, Astronomy for Kids, and the Science Channel.
• Kid's personal projects - Chris is working on a website and Gamemaker. Marly is working on knitting, cooking, and crocheting. Sam is sewing her clothes for an upcoming Pioneer Trek reenactment.
  

LapBooking - the FUN way to Learn!

I heard about LapBooking a few months ago, but had no clue what it was. Someone suggested it recently for one of my "hands-on" learners. I looked into it and we decided to start with a pre-made master for the Old Testament from Homeschool In The Woods.

It did not go exactly as I planned. Chris, my hands-on learner, hated the idea and Marly would rather read books than cut out paper. The one who latched onto the project first was actually Sam who is 16. Now my other two are interested in doing it after seeing the finished project. Isn't it nice looking!

Sam liked it so much that she and I are working on creating our own LapBook for the Book of Mormon. We decided to follow the Primary 4 lesson plans for each mini-book, which is easily found on the www.lds.org website. Our plans are for 3 LapBooks since there is so much information to cover! This would make a great Family Home Evening project.

Our first mini-book is: Nephi follows his father, the prophet.