THE MASTER'S GIFT by Anna,7

Once upon a time ,in a enchanted palace, there lived a old Master and he was kind to everybody he met. (now let me tell you the story) one day while he was walking along he came by a creek bank, Suddenly a beautiful lady Appeared, Greetings! said she I bring you good news! what news? cried the Master was surprised,! I will give you this Lucky charm , Narrathon Narrathon called the lady. Yes, I have a warning what is it? asked the master.well, said the lady if you are evil this charm will take away your goodness , and you will remain evil Take Care! and the lady disappeared. Then the master began to be Afraid, he said, I can't go back to the Palace the king will be angry and put me in Prison!Back at the Palace the king got Impatient where's Narrathon? he said, he sent Messengers to find Narrathon, Find him at once! or I will throw you in prison! S0 while he was walking along, He saw two strange men riding Horses.(These men had come from Scotland.) They were wild fierce men and lived on water and meat, When he drew his sword and Began fighting. and the wild men Won, and rode away saying to his horse Giddy up! Giddy up!''. Sammy boy!". Then Narrathon came to a Rose Patch! And there right before his eyes was a beautiful woman. He asked her what her name was, she said her name was Ruth. So he made friends. THE END.

Not Forgotten

Emmanuel

We are blessed to have you dear Emmanuel and all four cousins here welcome you. Anna made the card.

Emmanuel

our God is with us

and if God be with us

Who could stand against us

Our God truly is with us...Emmanuel!

Michael Card has an excellent song about the Christ who is with us.

It is Before Christ {BC} and in the Year of Our Lord {AD}

Why are we trying so hard to turn BC into BCE? Are we trying to hijack an era from the one who hijacked the mighty Roman Empire symbol of punishment and death into the worldwide symbol of forgiveness, mercy and life? As spongebob would say, "we are gonna be trying for a loong time!"

LITTLE MEN AND LITTLE WOMEN by Abigail,9

There was once a kingdom, and there was also a very royal palace. There was also a wicked king who lived there. England was not free, and there was a wise woman named Samantha who begged the King to give her some clothes, food, and water. ( for she was a poor woman, who wore nothing but sackcloth.) but the King grew so tired of this, that he did nothing but sent her away. A wise man named John told the King to come out, but the King refused.

So John got a sword and hid it and said kindly, "As for a reward for you, I will give you a sword to kill me and all that are against you. So he told the King to relax and sleep. So after an hour, the King went to sleep. Then John took out the sword and cut the tyrant's back. Then he went to go meet his friend Peter. Peter told him,"You should become King." " You know a lot." " I have been watching you." Then John said "You really want me to become king?" "I will see what the people say." So on March 25, John became King. He told Samantha to go meet Rose But instead of going there, she ran away. (For she was an evil lady, that all ladies were afraid of.)

Then Abigail (a very nice lady she was) said "Oh! where is Samantha?" And Amy said "Well what about my sister Rose?" So Amy went where Rose was working, while Abigail went to go find Samantha. Samantha was lost. She should have listened to the King when he told her to go meet Rose. When the King heard that Samantha ran away, he burst out in anger. He called his servants and told them to go and find Samantha and then told his messengers that when Samantha came back, they should tell the commanders to teach her not to run away. After an hour, Samantha came back. And when she came back, the messengers forgot to tell the commanders to tell Samantha not to run away.

The King did not forget his command all that long time. He called his messengers once again and told them "Why haven't you people called the commanders yet?" "Go!" So they went. The commanders brought Samantha back to the palace. The King said "Why did you run away?" "I heard all about it because the messengers told me." Samantha lied and said, "I was to tired to travel any farther so I decided to go home." The King looked at the commanders and looked at her again and said, "Is this true?" And Samantha said, "I'm afraid not." Then the King said, "Go away!" "And never come back again!" Then he told the commanders "Go with her, and while you are there, start to command her." Then he told them," I want you to go to California. When you get there, find the perfect spot to dig a pit and throw her in it. And, keep her in there until July 17." At the bridge, they were waiting for the ship. It took one hour for the ship to come. At last, the ship came. They carried all their boxes into the ship.

Then it was time for the passengers to go in. While they were on the ship, they began to see a desert. (That meant they were near California.) When they reached the desert, the captain said it was their stop. Then they began to carry their boxes out. Then they found the perfect spot to dig a pit. Then they threw Samantha into it. Then Samantha screamed "Get me out of here!" "I won't do it again!" "I promise." But the commanders answered, "Not until July." Samantha felt miserable. She walked around the pit saying, "I promised, I promised, I PROMISED! In July, she was tired, hungry, and miserable. She couldn't walk anymore. Then she thought she would stay in there forever. Suddenly, somebody opened the lid of the pit, and threw a ladder into it and yelled,"Climb up!" Samantha said,"I don't have enough strength to climb." So instead, the stranger threw a rope into the pit and he said "Grab on and I'll pull you up! Samantha grabbed hold of it and held on tight as he pulled her up.

When she was up, he dusted off her clothes and he was just about to put her into a carriage, when two robbers jumped out at them. Their names were Daniel and Jonah. Jonah said, "What are you doing here?" Peter said "Um, just helping this lady here." Daniel said," Jonah and I have already told you not to be helping people." "And if I see you helping anybody else your going to the pit." Then Samantha recognized the man that was helping her. It was Peter! When they got into the carriage Peter whispered something special. He said, "Did you know that I'm going to marry you?" Samantha said that that was wonderful.

When they got home the King said that he was sorry for his cruelty. He also said that there was a surprise waiting for them. When they got outside the palace they were having a wedding! All of their friends and their family was there. After the wedding, England was set free, and around August Samantha had a baby and they had lots of other children and they lived happily ever after THE END

Of laying down your life for another

Just finished reading Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. A story about one man laying down his life for another set in the bloody period of the French Revolution and the reign of "Madame la Guillotine" Of course Sidney emerges as the unlikely hero of heroes worth more than anyone else in the whole story and we all cry and fall in love with him of course: can it be helped?

But the impossibility of laying down your life for another is unfathomable at best. Sidney counted his life as not worth having and laid it down for one he judged better. Towards the end he says to himself over and over the words of Jesus from John, 11:25:

"I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."

But there is a man better than we all, who laid his life down and took it up again for the entire human race. There is no greater love...

John 15:12-16

" This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."

Chosen and Beloved. His father loved him and he loved us enough to lay down his life for us.

John 10:17-18

" Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."

So simple, yet so very profound and which of us can lay his life down for another or accept the life laid down for us? Praise to the Christ who so loved us and whose sacrifice for us was accepted and enough!

May 21st update: So here I am trying to read ahead on year 7 for our home-school etc. And between reading "The Scarlet Pimpernel, A Tale of Two Cities, A lecture on Liberty and it's price: Understanding the French Revolution by Prof. Donald Sutherland I have had some rather "bloody" days and weeks already. Has humanity really changed? and can the things that drive entire populations to such extreme measures of purging whatever gangrene ails them ever be eliminates? Or do we just exchange one brutality for another more subtle one? Those masaccared during the French Revolution are nowhere near those who perished at the hands of the Soviet regimes. Yet how many perish today while the worlds that can help look the other way? How many women yet have to be driven to despair for want while a rich politician lives in finery and excess? When does a human life become a means to be discarded to your end? The lessons of the French Revolution are complex and jarring; but fairness and humanity is simple-yet somehow we manage to turn enough into excess on the backs of those less fortunate, without a name or a heritage to propel them forward.

Your fellow human being could be you should you become the fellow human being. EMPATHY.

Update: June 5th...Okay, I got carried away in all the mayhem and I am now workig my way down the legend that was Napoleon Bonaparte.