Sitting here wondering what is news worthy from this week, and the first thing that comes to mind is that I got dressed and did my make up today! I actually came out of the bedroom and told PJ he might want to take a picture because he wouldn’t see me look like this for another week. I saw some tips for surviving quarantine the other day, and one of them was to “dress for the social life you wish you had.” I had to laugh. As an introvert, I don’t devote much attention to my social life and am quite content, after today, to stay in sweats until we are ready to record our worship service for next Sunday.

As far as homeschool happenings this week, we completed term 2 exams on Monday and Tuesday and were able to take the rest of the week off before we dive into our third and final term of the school year next week. The kids were super excited about exams. I always get a kick out of that. Exam days feel like a celebration in our house, a chance to reflect and revel in all that we’ve covered that term. I’m afraid someday, exams of a different variety will be quite a blow to my kids. But for now, I’m quite content to keep them celebratory. I assign a few math problems, a passage from something they’ve read to copy in their neatest handwriting, a few written compositions for the older girls, and lots of oral questions to go through together. Each student gets a short story or a chapter to read aloud, unprepared, and Daddy critiques their delivery. We quote our memory work and sing our hymns and folksongs together, recording it for posterity. I also record all of the answers to the oral questions I go through with each student. The questions are fairly open ended and often give them a choice of what they want to talk about. It’s a chance for them to share what they’ve learned from their various subjects and books throughout the term. It always amazes me how much they remember! And those audio files have become a treasure, even in the few years since we’ve been doing this. They love to go back and listen to their answers from years before.

With exams over, they had some time for Easter fun. Thankfully the weather (until today’s snowstorm, that is) has been sunny and mild this week. Lots of time was spent riding bicycles, playing badminton, and drawing with chalk on the driveway. On Wednesday we baked and decorated some delicious sugar cookies. C-Bear has gotten in on the movie making fun and created a stop motion video of the Easter story with mine craft LEGO. It’s pretty cool!

Speaking of videos, I said I would share our church’s Holy Week videos here on the blog. So, here is today’s Good Friday devotional by PJ and a song by yours truly called “Son of Man.” It’s one of my favourites from an Eden’s Bridge songbook I have. Hope you enjoy.

I’ll leave you with a poem by Richard Crashaw (1612-1649) that really struck me this week.

And He Answered Them Nothing

O Mighty Nothing! unto thee,
Nothing, we owe all things that be.
God spake once when he all things made,
He saved all when he Nothing said.
The world was made of Nothing then;
’Tis made by Nothing now again.

I love how much food for thought Crashaw packs into such few lines. He takes us all the way from creation to redemption, contrasting how God spoke and created everything from nothing to how Christ answered nothing and accomplished our salvation, not with words, but with one supreme act of sacrifice. His death on the cross said it all! Good Friday blessings to you today!

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth.

Isaiah 53:7 (CSB)