Vaughnshire Farm

We decided to take a weekend family trip close to home. Our goal was to get out and relax a bit…unwind. We had a great time and saw some neat …and unusual things.

Part one:

One of the interesting things we saw on our weekend vacation. Not your typical sign. This sign can actually can make the modern mind think, “What actually does that mean? I don’t understand? ” So in case your wondering…I took some more pictures.

Not your typical parking lot.

Can’t quite read the sign in the distance….

That’s better…. Just your typical Amish Parking spaces at the local Wal-mart Supercenter. Seriously.

More weekend vacation stories and pictures to be continued…….

Hmmmm….

I glanced outside and a massive amount of cut up cardboard box pieces caught my eye.
The debris was scattered all over the deck along with the missing pair of scissors I had been looking for. I walked outside and saw some of the children in the field. One was attaching a cardboard cut-out of a deer to the tree. The other was hammering a stake into the ground with a metal bat. He had duck-taped his cardboard cut-out deer to a stake.

With bows and arrows in hand, these boys proceed to target practice in their own creative way.

Ingredients: A few creative boys, cardboard, tape, scrap wood or sticks, bows and arrows = hours of uninterrupted play.

Some dear (no pun intended) friends of ours, the Carpenters, raised this deer from the time it was a newborn –handfed, bottle-fed. Her name is Fern and now she is a year old. She stays around/near their 20 acre farm in the Tennessee Hills. We were over visiting and as the children were romping and playing in the field, Fern showed up and romped and played with them.

There is a dearth of creative play in the life of a modern child. Children are surrounded by plastic, noise-making toys. Is it any wonder that the Art of Play is lost? Fostering creative play is not that difficult. Most children are busting at the seams with creativity. All they need is the encouragement to use that creativity that God put in them. Limiting T.V., video games, useless plastic toys and exposing them to a wide variety of creative building tools builds a creative thinker. What are these creative building tools? Simple things…. like a cardboard box….dirt…..rocks….water or old clothes, a flat sheet, pots and pans.

A Creative Play Picture Journal

The Pioneer Princess and her sister Princess Patchwork enjoy a early summer day on the grounds of Vaughnshire.

Up hops, Prince Patrick, who has been turned into a frog for many years by the evil Motimer, dragoon of Syphony. Princess Patchwork kisses the frog.

Prince Patrick fights a battle with the evil-one-eyed Motimer.

One-Eyed Mortimer fires a flaming arrow at castle Vaughnshire.

Close-up of the one-eyed Mortimer, feared dragoon of Syphony Tower.

Joyful Maiden Princess Patchwork just before her capture.

The fight to rescue Princess Patchwork from the evil one-eyed Mortimer.

The fight continues…Princess Patchwork screams in fear…Sir Stirling of Vaughnshire wards off the evil dragoon…..at last… Princess Patchwork is…..

Finally, returned safely to her home.

All in the Kingdom rejoice of the valiant bravery displayed by Prince Patrick and Sir Stirling and the great battle for the Patchwork Princess was told for generations.

Watch the new TV campaign ad here.

http://vbuttons.com/ec/6225/index.php?em_id=6710703

Also view a JosiahProject.com Flashback published during the original trial.

The Cookie Cutter Approach is the basic, all-inclusive, one-size-fits-all approach to education that dominates the American education system.  Just picture a factory assembly line.  Picture young impressionable children lined up on the factory conveyer belt.  One by one, they are indoctrinated not only with an anti-God worldview, but also molded and shaped into gender-neutral people that are easily swayed and controlled.

We see the moral decline and decay eating away at our Nation and our Churches, yet many professing Christians maintain a synchronization with the world in most areas of their lives. God and Biblical living are pulled off the shelf only when necessary.  To most people, education is considered a neutral subject consisting only of facts and figures.  However, neutrality in education is non-existent.  It is first and foremost a biblical mandate for fathers and mothers to educate and train their children with a distinctly Christian approach (Deut.6, Ps.1).  Scripture tells us not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful but that we are to delight and meditate in the law of the Lord day and night.  Scripture also tells us that we are to diligently teach our children in the ways of the Lord.  In the training and education of our children, parents are given a great responsibility.  Too many times, parents shirk this duty off to worldly educators and expect someone else to do the job that the Lord has given them to do.

In the newly released book So Much More, it states,

“The line is drawn between the two competing types of educational priorities at the very beginning of the Bible.  As Tom Eldredge points out in the book Safely Home, ‘The first conflict in recorded history was a battle over education.’  He explains that Adam and Eve were given a choice between knowing God and walking with Him, gradually discovering more and more of His truth and wisdom or a shortcut to instant knowledge — to eat the fruit and know everything, good and evil.  These two education philosophies — the empty shallow knowledge centered around man, and the wisdom of God which comes only through knowing and fearing God are still at war today.”  It goes on to say, “In a culture devoted to the pursuit of wealth, pleasure, comfort and entertainment, shallow man-centered education is now higher education.  Academic qualifications have become a goal that has nothing to do with learning or wisdom.”

What is a distinctly Christian education?  By distinct, I mean, identifiably Christian.  The Bible should be the foundation from which all knowledge flows.  It is impossible to teach Truth in regards to Science without the understanding of Creator God.  A foundational belief in the 6 days of creation is inseparable from Science.  Likewise, history is inseparable from the providential hand of God.  God is not even silent in the realm of mathematics.  But more than academics, the late scholar R.J. Rushdooney said, “the purpose of Christian education is not academic: it is religious and practical.”  Why would we as parents even consider placing our most valuable gift in the hands of the pagans.  We should fear and tremble at the thought of a god-less system teaching our children anything.  Truth can only be taught with a Biblical worldview because all truth comes from God.

Without Biblical wisdom and understanding, we are nothing but educated fools with a skewed worldview.  As parents desiring to give our children a distinctly Christian education, the cookie cutter approach is detrimental.  Taking education out of the all-inclusive, one size-fits-all approach is vitally important if we intend on producing vivacious learners and visionary leaders with a Bible centered worldview.

All 4 months of her…

It’s rare indeed to have two articles in one week that are fair an unbiased, but it appears that is the case today.  Below are some excerpts of a great article by Kim Chandler a staff writer for The Birmingham News about Judge Roy Moore and his bid for the Republican nomination to be Governor of Alabama.  Read the entire article here or enjoy the excerpts below. 

Also if you missed the previous article it is worth the read as well.

GALLANT - Covered in dirt and sawdust, Roy Moore is spending this
Saturday not on the campaign trail, but restoring a dilapidated barn
that will one day house a horse for his wife.  

Using an old bucket for a seat, Moore sits down to explain that he
doesn’t really like politics. It’s a peculiar statement from the man who
wants to be Alabama’s next governor.

What Moore says he likes is a good fight. It seems he has been fighting
against one thing or another all his life.

“I am firm about my convictions in right and wrong,”

… 

“Born on Feb. 11, 1947, Moore sprang from the foothills of Appalachia in the northeast corner of Alabama. He grew up in a house that did not have indoor plumbing, worked in the school cafeteria to earn lunch money and bagged groceries to supplement his father’s income as a construction worker.Moore graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a place he had dreamed of attending since watching the movie “The Long Grey Line” in the ninth grade.”

… 

“I find it very strange that people have such a misunderstanding of the First Amendment and the Constitution,” Moore said.The monument wasn’t an establishment of religion, but an “acknowledgment of God,” he said. Moore contends his removal as chief justice was unnecessary. The federal judge could have commanded someone else to remove the monument, he said.”

… 

“But his main theme on the campaign trail has been lambasting an executive order from Riley calling for every county to reappraise property values every year. Riley has said the administrative order was necessary to comply with a court order.”This administration raised the taxes on every property owner in this state. The people are not going to be deceived about that,” Moore said.”

… 

“We have absolutely no confidence in these polls,” Moore said.

On the campaign trail, it’s easy to understand why Moore thinks that way. The people who seek him out often treat him not like a candidate, but as a celebrity.He signs autographs. A police officer shakes his hand and says, “Judge, I want you to know we’re all with you down here.” A home-schooling mom grins and poses for a picture with him.

Marty Connors, former chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, said he thinks Moore’s popularity is somewhat higher than indicated by polls that target likely Republican voters.

“Moore voters tend to be more rural, less party-identified, more ideologically identified,” Connors said.

… 

But as governor, he would be listed as a defendant on many lawsuits filed against the state. Would he defy another court order if he felt it was contrary to the Constitution?

Maybe, Moore said.”I would have to get the specific situation. But say the acknowledgment of God? I would acknowledge God,” Moore said. “The big issue in the country today is whether or not you say there is a sovereign God.”

Gavin said he sees similarities between Moore and former Gov. George Wallace. Both were boxers with fiery personalities and a history of standing up to the federal government. For Wallace, the issue was race. For Moore, it’s “values,” Gavin said.

…

Read the entire article here.

Heavenly Father, I praise Thee for Thy mercy in giving me a good home. When I was a helpless little child my parents cared for me, and by their love all my needs have been supplied. May I never forget the hands that have toiled for me. When I am tempted to be impatient of the restraints of my home, help me to remember Jesus who was subject to His parents. Keep me from a sullen and ungrateful spirit. Show me how I may help to make my home a blessing to all who come to it, and let the law of kindness rule my life. For Thy name’s sake. Amen.

The work is great I’m called unto,
Yet nothing’s left for me to do;
Hence for my work heav’n had prepared
No wages, yet a great reward.

To works, but not to working dead;
From sin, but not from sinning freed.
I clear myself from no offence
Yet wash my hands in innocence.

My Father’s anger burns like fire,
Without a spark of furious ire;
Though still my sins displeasing be,
Yet still I know He’s pleased with me.

Triumphing is my constant trade,
Who yet am often captive led;
My bloody war does never cease,
Yet I maintain a stable peace.

My foes assaulting conquer me,
Yet never obtain the victory;
For all my battles lost or won,
Were gained before they were begun

I’m still at ease, and still oppressed;
Have constant trouble, constant rest;
Both clear and cloudy, free and bound;
Both dead and living, lost and found.

Sin for my good does work and win;
Yet ’tis not good for me to sin.
My pleasure issues from my pain;
My losses still increase my gain.

I’m healed even when my plagues abound,
Covered with dust even when I’m crowned;
As low as death, when living high;
Nor shall I live, yet cannot die,

For all my sins my heart is sad
Since God’s dishonored; yet I’m glad
Though once I was a slave to sin,
Since God does thereby honor win.

My sins are ever in His eye,
Yet He beholds no sin in me,
His mind that keeps them all in store,
Will yet remember them no more.

Because my sins are great, I feel
Great fears of heavy wrath; yet still
For mercy seek, for pardon wait,
Because my sins are very great.

I hope when plunged into despair,
I tremble when I have no fear.
Pardons dispel my griefs and fears,
And yet dissolve my heart in tears.

Erskine’s Sermons and Practical Works.
Aberdeen: A. King & Company, 1863 VII:177-178.