Nature's Fury {100 Themes}

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Matthew 24:6-8, KJV.

I know there hasn't been a whole lot of national coverage of the catastrophic flooding currently occurring in south Louisiana and southwest Mississippi, so you may not have even heard about it. Let me tell you, though, it is devastating!

Basically, it began raining near the beginning of August, then about a week ago, it began raining torrentially, causing flash flooding. Major interstates were closed; serious damage has been done to many roads. Motorists were stranded on the interstate for hours! 

We have family, friends, former schoolmates who live in the most-affected areas. It truly makes one feel helpless!

I will share just a little of the coverage I have gleaned from the internet, mainly pictures and videos. Here is a YouTube playlist I compiled:


This was taken at our house:

Fortunately, our house is on a hill, so the house is fine! No water in it at all!


This is the Bass Pro Shop in Denham Springs:

Unfathomable, isn't it? 
Here is a look at the rainfall stats, as recorded on August 13, I believe:

My husband lived in Watson before we were married (Remember? Hurricane Gustav dropped a huge oak tree on his double-wide mobile home!) 

Gloster is the town my oldest son lived in before he moved to Florida last spring. A nearby town, Crosby, was nearly totally evacuated. 

Here is another video, from a road heading out of the town where our house is:
 
You will also want to see this Flipgram, which was shared on Facebook.

I hope this will help make you a little more aware of what is going on in our little corner of the world. Please pray for the people of south Louisiana and southwest Mississippi. It is being called a 1000-year flood. 

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R is for "Reflections" {100 Themes}

I'm sharing another poem this week, written in the fall of my junior year of high school.

Reflections

A tiny little pond, so very plain it is, 
Reflects a glorious sunset, and all its colors;
The fluffy orange clouds, changing to gray, 
Set against a pale blue sky
Made doubly splendid by the pond.

A wet, mopped floor of a patient’s room
Reflects the scene thru the window;
Tall, Autumn-clad trees reaching up
To a clear, cloud-studded blue sky
Seen more plainly in both floor and sky.

A happy, smiling face of sunshine
Reflects the love of the Master;
Just a lowly human, so very unworthy,
But having received pardon and peace
Made plain to all who come in contact with Him.

WendyKAR
October 9, 1979

This is shared as part of the Blogging Through the Alphabet, as well as the 100 Themes.

Blogging Through the Alphabet

Please add your 100 Themes post for Reflection:

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COPYRIGHT 2005-2016.
All rights reserved. All text (including my poetry), photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. 

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G is for Gateway {100 Themes, link up}

*This post will serve two purposes: Blogging Through the Alphabet, and 100 Themes.*

I guess the purpose of this post is to possibly tie "gateway" and "graduation" together in some form. I've been thinking about graduation, because in the Homeschooling High School Blog Hop, that is our topic for this month.

I won't go in to that right now; you'll have to come back on the 30th for that. <grin> But I'll talk a little about that gateway.

One of my favorite online resources is BibleGateway. I use it often, to look up passages, to do some of my Bible reading (because the font is larger than in my large print Bible), and it's handy if I want to copy and paste Bible verses in to my blog post or something like that.

I just learned that "gateway" is mentioned several times throughout Ezekiel, chapters 40-47, as well as a couple other places (in the New King James Version).

There is also this reference: And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now she is turned over to me; I shall be filled; she is laid waste.’ Ezekiel 26:1,2, NKJV. But God's response was: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.  And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.  It shall be a place for spreading nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God; ‘it shall become plunder for the nations.  Also her daughter villages which are in the fields shall be slain by the sword. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.’ Ezekiel 26:3-6, NKJV.

Aren't we, as parents, protective of our children, as God is of His children (us)? Only, He is even more so.

We homeschool parents teach our children, prepare them for life, both here on earth, and for eternity. Those of us who homeschool through the high school years, then face that graduation day, that gateway, to their futures independent of us. They begin college, or jobs. They move out on their own. Eventually they may marry, and have homes and families of their own.

As they pass through that gateway, all we can do is pray, and be there for them if they need us. And continue to love them with all our hearts!

Blogging Through the Alphabet

100 Themes link up:

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A Moment in Time {100 Themes} with link up

Welcome back to our "100 Themes." Thank you for stopping by.

In the summer of 1990, I had the privilege of visiting Alaska with my parents. We went up there on a mission trip. We held two Vacation Bible Schools, and a Bible camp.

We flew in to Anchorage, and were met by our pilot from the mission in Kotzebue. We first flew to Selawik, where we stayed at the mission at which we held the first Vacation Bible School. During that week, we also were flown to Shungnak to attend a funeral. Then we spent a week in Kotzubue, where held the second Vacation Bible School. After that, we spent about a week in Nome, we had Bible Camp.

We also had some time site seeing in Nome, Fairbanks, and Anchorage, which included a trip to Portage Glacier. While we were driving from Fairbanks to Anchorage, we took a day out for Denali National Park. That was breathtaking!

I flew in to Anchorage on June 10, and flew out July 5. As my dad says, we were there for 25 days, and 3 nights, because the sun never set while we were above the Arctic Circle.

    Arctic Peace
  I lie here in bed
listening to the sounds
of a new Arctic day.
  Actually, it seems
yesterday's extension,
for the sun does not set.
  Nearby a dog team
begins its morning choir;
I recall my childhood.
  A bird is singing
a sweet little solo,
praise to our Creator.
  Occasionally
four-wheelers buzz along,
like giant bumble bees.
  In summer, they are
the villagers' transport;
there are few vehicles.
  Sombody goes by
with radio blaring,
ripping morning stillness.
  But in the quiet
God softly speaks to me
and I commune with Him.
  My love for the North,
and God's children found here,
grows quietly stronger.
  "Give me a burden;
show me how to serve You,
I pray, Father, today."

                Wendy KAR
                 June 25, 1990

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COPYRIGHT 2005-2015.
All rights reserved. All text (including my poetry), photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author.

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Stirring of the Wind {100 Themes} with link up

Welcome to another week of "100 Themes." Thank you for stopping by.

When I was a girl, in early elementary school, I began writing poems. True, while I was very young, they were quite simple little poems. My skills matured as I did. I was most prolific in my poetry writing during my high school years in to young adulthood. After my children began arriving. my poetry writing basically came to a halt. I haven't written any in...well, probably a couple decades now.

Throughout these "100 Themes" I will share my poems on occasion. Maybe I'll even become inspired to write a few new ones!

My Stronghold

The wind blew fierce,
driving the snow
Into hard-packed drifts.
It whistled and moaned
Around the building’s corners.

The weeds bent low
under the force.
The trees whipped and creaked,
skeletons against the
Grey, bleak sky.

There in the sky
hung a bird,
Skillfully riding the currents.
So free, was he,
From the turbulence around him.

All about me
beat the winds of strife,
Threat’ning to overcome me.
I cry for help
To my mighty Stronghold.

He holds me safely
in His strong hand,
And gently carries me through.
Listen my dear friend—
For He’ll do the same for you.

by Wendy KAR
written December 8, 1982

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Introduction {100 Themes} with link up

A week ago, my middle son began a blog, Daniel's Writings. He plans to blog through this list of themes. I thought I'd do likewise here on my blog, probably once a week. I'll keep a running list under the "100 Themes" tab, marking off the ones I complete. I hope you'll follow along week by week, and even join in!

While you will find my introduction here on the blog, as well, I'll go ahead and make an introduction here in this post.

My name is Wendy (in case you didn't already know that). I am in my mid-fifties (oh, joy!), and plan to attend my 35th high school class reunion in April, 2016. It was a small, Christian, boarding school that I attended, with only 20 in our graduating class. Most of us have remained in contact with one another over the years.

I am mom to four amazing young people, who have all grown up way too fast for me. I am in awe of the special young adults my oldest two have become, and my younger two are becoming. We are now in our 19th year of homeschooling, with several more to go. I am thankful God has allowed me this privilege.

Several years ago, in autumn of 2006, I received my Bachelor's Degree in Visual Communications: Graphic Design. Someday I'd like to earn teacher certification, either in history/art history or English. Sometimes I feel as if I need/ought to have teacher certification in special education, or become a speech therapist.

A few of my main goals for this blog are:

• to share our homeschooling adventures
• to sometimes share how-to-homeschool information
• to share some of my photographs
• to share some of my poems and other creative writing, occassionally
• to share recipes, sometimes health "nuggets"
• to encourage others in their walk with our Lord Jesus Christ

Thank you for stopping by today! Please join in by linking up.

100 Themes
1. Introduction
2. Complicated
3. Making History
4. Rivalry
5. Unbreakable
6. Obsession
7. Eternity
8. Gateway
9. Death
10. Opportunities
11. 33%
12. Dead Wrong
13. Running Away
14. Judgment
15. Seeking Solace
16. Excuses
17. Vengeance
18. Love
19. Tears
20. My Inspiration
21. Never Again
22. Online
23. Failure
24. Rebirth
25. Breaking Away
26. Forever and a day
27. Lost and Found
28. Light
29. Dark
30. Faith
31. Colors
32. Exploration
33. Seeing Red
34. Shades of Grey
35. Forgotten
36. Dreamer
37. Mist
38. Burning
39. Out of Time
40. Knowing How
41. Fork in the road
42. Start
43. Nature’s Fury
44. At Peace
45. Heart Song
46. Reflection
47. Perfection
48. Everyday Magic
49. Umbrella
50. Party
51. Troubling Thoughts
52. Stirring of the Wind
53. Future
54. Health and Healing
55. Separation
56. Everything For You
57. Slow Down
58. Heartfelt Apology
59. Challenged
60. Exhaustion
61. Accuracy
62. Irregular Orbit
63. Cold Embrace
64. Frost
65. A Moment in Time
66. Dangerous Territory
67. Boundaries
68. Unsettling Revelations
69. Shattered
70. Bitter Silence
71. The True You
72. Pretense
73. Patience
74. Midnight
75. Shadows
76. Summer Haze
77. Memories
78. Change in the Weather
79. Illogical
80. Only Human
81. A Place to Belong
82. Advantage
83. Breakfast
84. Echoes
85. Falling
86. Picking up the Pieces
87. Gunshot
88. Possession
89. Twilight
90. Nowhere and Nothing
91. Answers
92. Innocence
93. Simplicity
94. Reality
95. Acceptance
96. Lesson
97. Enthusiasm
98. Game
99. Friendship
100. Endings

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