The Davis Family

Archive:
*2020-2021 School Curriculum
*2019-2020 School Curriculum and Review
*2018-2019 School Curriculum and Review
*2017-2018 School Curriculum and Review
*2016-2017 School Curriculum and Review
*2015-2016 School Curriculum and Review
*2014-2015 School Curriculum
*2013-2014 Review

Anna – 7th Grade
Writing – Institute for Excellence in Writing, level B We all liked this! The only con (and it’s significant if you don’t have much time) is that it was challenging to figure out what to do on each day. The program is not set up with the teacher manual, student guide, and DVD all easy to sync and follow each schoolday. HOWEVER, this was the best writing program and it was worth the price tag. We followed the program (with hiccups due to the problem mentioned above) and Anna’s writing TOOK OFF. By mid-year, my hesitant writer was writing multi-page responses where only 3 paragraphs were required and had launched into a novel that she actually finished! (It’s not formatted or edited, but it’s incredibly long and it’s interesting and engaging to boot.) We didn’t finish the program, because we made time for her novel. Next year, I’m going to have her go through it again, with a focus on improving and controlling what she’s learned. That is, I told her she has to also learn how to write short things. Anyway, I’m pleased with it and proud of her.
History – Sonlight D (American History 1 of 2) Because of the failure last year, I spent a few hours during the summer and made a chart lining up all of the parent reading, student reading, historical fiction, and my other supplemental materials so that Anna could follow the schedule and do her history independently. It was successful! Some valuable adds were season one of How the States got their Shapes and Liberty Kids.
Math – Teaching Textbooks 7 We still like Teaching Textbooks. It’s not math that will inspire excitement, but if a child bogs down while using this program… they’re probably not ready for the material. Anna started this program last year and she is finishing it without stress this year.
Social Studies – Christian Light Education level 5 (American History) This was a great program to combine with the Sonlight American History. It covers more modern years, but Anna has learned so much. She knows more than me about our history and geography now!
Science – Christian Light Education 6 This went over great with Anna. She has enjoyed most of the subjects and has learned a lot of great foundational science facts and vocabulary. We did not do hardly any experiments… if any… so that’s something she’ll need in the future, but I think they were in the books… we just didn’t do them, because I was unavailable as a guide and experiments are way better with a knowledgeable helper. I have some ideas for next year.
Spelling – N/A
Occupational Education – Cooking, Housekeeping, Babysitting, Money Management and Budgeting, Dog training Cooking, housekeeping, babysitting, and money management went GREAT! Dog training and budgeting could use some work. It’d help if she had more expenses worth budgeting.
Language – N/A
Health & PE – Ballet, English Country Dancing, It’s Not the Stork, It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health Went fine.
Reading – N/A
Art & Music Appreciation – Art class & homework Went great!
Bible – Experiencing God, Youth (9 weeks) and Priceless: Who I Am When I Feel… Anna liked Priceless a lot. She was not a fan of the tone of Experiencing God. It did provide good discussion opportunities, though.

Maggie – 4th Grade
Writing – Institute for Excellence in Writing, level A See above for cons. This was a good fit for Maggie. Having the material given to her to absorb and re-write in her own words overcame many of her personal writing hurdles. Mr. Pudewa, despite his appearance and the sterile environment he teaches in… is funny and engaging and likeable. So glad we found this program as it took a struggling, reluctant writer and gave her some tools. We got about halfway through and will go back and redo it next year and I think she’ll be ready to master it much more.
History – Sonlight D (American History 1 of 2) See above.
Math – Teaching Textbooks 5 See above… good program and we’re sticking with it.
Social Studies – N/A
Science – Unit Studies by choice (Reptiles, pets, birds, ferns forests, knots, etc. Read/Watch/Projects/Observe/Report) This started great and then kind of fell flat. I really need a structure of prepared material to lean on.
Spelling – N/A
Occupational Education – Cooking, Housekeeping – I liked this cookbook! Maggie made several things and she is growing in skill and confidence in the kitchen.
Language – Growing with Grammar 2 Anything that makes grammar seem like an easy subject, without actually dumbing down the material is golden in my book!
Health & PE – It’s Not the Stork, The Care and Keeping of You , Tae Kwon Do – Success
Reading – N/A
Art & Music – Art class and homework – Success
Bible – The Purpose Driven Life Devotional Easy daily devotional that wasn’t a waste of time either.

Carrie – 1st Grade
Writing – Penmanship (my choice) and Cursive (her choice) I liked this penmanship book! The little facts that went with each page engaged and interested Carrie and made boring penmanship practice more bearable. They weren’t too long, too hard or too easy or short.
History – Sonlight D (partial) We dropped this for her, except for reading some of the historical fiction.
Math – Singapore Math 2A and 2B – This was much harder than expected, especially once she got into 2B. It includes multiplication, division and introductions to algebra! In second grade! She won’t quite finish it, because she’s had to go somewhat slow, but surprisingly… she’s continuing to move forward and understand it! She’s 95% self instructing with math and is learning loads of great conceptual math. She’s switching to Teaching Textbooks next year for the improved instruction and I think she’ll be overprepared.
Social Studies – Christian Light Education 2 I liked this! A little easy for her, but longer reading stretched her attention span and the questions forced her to learn how to look back at the reading and find the answers to the questions. I love both the format and the content for preparing her for higher education.
Science – Unit Studies (Doctor-related books, kits, shows, etc.) Didn’t get into much.
Spelling – N/A
Occupational Education – Cooking, Housekeeping – Carrie is also improving in the kitchen, but did the least formal cooking practice.
Language – N/A
Health & PE – Tae Kwon Do – Doing great!
Reading – Christian Light Education 2 This is a great curriculum for learning a little grammar, a little spelling, and a lot of reading to yourself and out loud and answering questions from the reading. The stories are relevant to moral dilemmas of kids her age and are engaging and show sweet family interactions. I find it a safe and wholesome reader and it doesn’t bore Carrie for it’s homeyness.
Art & Music – Art class and homework – Success!
Bible – Christian Light Education 2 – She liked this, because it was so easy. I wish it had more actual questions, but it’s one page of reading followed by a word find or coloring page or other age-appropriate busy work.

Jordan – 5th grade w/ IEP
ABA 20 hours/week at home – this has been GREAT for Jordan! He’s learning how to use PECS to request a snack and is practicing a couple basic signs.

Daniel – 1st Grade w/ IEP
By mid-year, Daniel showed signs of being ready for instruction, but we didn’t do any formal learning. Next year. He’s learned how to spell some words, can count to 100, is learning to draw simple pictures of cats, people…. and especially CLOCKS. With cords. He’s so funny.

Archive:
*2020-2021 School Curriculum
*2019-2020 School Curriculum and Review
*2018-2019 School Curriculum and Review
*2017-2018 School Curriculum and Review
*2016-2017 School Curriculum and Review
*2015-2016 School Curriculum and Review
*2014-2015 School Curriculum
*2013-2014 Review

Anna, 6th grade:
Sonlight American History, Advanced Readers 1 We started this, but didn’t get far, because of the parent reading. Getting three children to be ready at the same time was highly challenging and sapped us for the rest of our school day. One kid would still be doing chores, one would be in the middle of math, and one would be stressed out, because they couldn’t find their favorite coloring pencils when I was finally done changing diapers and feeding little brothers and called them to come sit with me and listen. We’ll try it again next year. I’ll make a chart to guide the kids in reading to themselves. Their comprehension will probably be less this way than if I read, but it’ll be way better than not doing it at all!
Teaching Textbooks Math 7 Still like this program. The pacing, the lesson lengths, and the material is top notch. The ability to see every problem worked out individually as needed and the automatic grading are fantastic. It hasn’t given a love of math to any of my children, but it hasn’t caused a fear or hate of the subject either. Somewhere mid year, Anna started struggling, so we pushed the pause button and she will repeat next year instead.
Handwriting Without Tears, Cursive Success I liked this. I feel like Anna’s handwriting improved and there was no stress.
All About Spelling 2 This is a fantastic program. Unfortunately, we only go through several weeks before having to shelve it, because it’s heavily parent-led and we had the same problems with this as we did with History. I still feel like we gained ground in the small amount we covered.
Daily 6 Trait Writing, Level 5 We liked this… it gave us a little traction on a subject that Anna has anxiety about. Not stellar, but some movement.
Christian Light Publications Science 6We had too much on the plate – this one got shelved for next year.
Growing with Grammar 4 I love this program and I love doing it a few years late (4th grade curriculum in 6th grade). This program has small bites of clearly-presented grammar material. Anna is learning the material to mastery, despite a relatively small time and energy investment. I’ll probably have her do one more grammar in a few years… and I feel like she’ll be well prepared, except for fine-tuning commas and learning research paper grammar.
Art – undecided I’m doing this review more than a year later and I don’t remember what we did!
Extra Curricular – tbd
Extra:
Wordly Wise A/B/C Anna enjoyed this as “easy” school. Probably helped with some vocabulary.

Maggie, 3rd grade:
Sonlight American History, Regular Readers 1 See above.
Teaching Textbooks 4 and/or 5 See above.
Handwriting without Tears, Cursive Handwriting See above.
All About Spelling 2 See above.
Daily 6 Trait Writing, 2 See above. I’ll add that Maggie struggles a LOT with the decision-making and launching part of writing and she was able to be successful with this. She still claims she hates writing, but I think it’s as much a function of hating hand-writing as much as it is the difficulty of isolating her thoughts for written communication.
Christian Light Publications Science 3 This was easy and enjoyable for her. It introduced a lot of scientific vocabulary and did a nice overview of subjects.
Growing With Grammar, 2 I don’t think we used it this year.
Art – undecided
Extra Curricular – tbd
Extra:
Wordly Wise A/B/C See above

Carolyn, 1st grade:
Sonlight American History 1 (listening) See above
Singapore Math – (Primary 1A/1B?)Singapore math is definitely more advanced than Teaching Textbooks for this grade. It seemed like there was a big jump between 1A and 1B. Carrie mostly does math self-led and this course was GREAT for learning to “think” math concepts. It’s unclear to me if she is naturally skilled at math or if this curriculum was that great, but she impressed me and did very well, despite minimal support and guidance. I definitely prefer this to the Horizons math that Anna and Maggie started with for their early elementary math. The material is less dry/academic looking math problems and much better in conceptual education of math as well as mental math.
Christian Light Education Science, 1This was very easy and elementary for Carrie, but the sense of pride and self accomplishment while learning the format and process of working through workbooks was valuable. She read very easy material and had to recall it to fill in the blanks. The material was too easy…. but… well, she’s a little kid, so I guess it’s okay.
Christian Light Education Reading, 1 (will start by reading the “Primer” books without any workbooks) It was a pleasure to watch Carrie start the year needing support with the Primer books (very easy reading) and then take off and be able to read the regular level one books on her own. The stories are wholesome without being irrelevant or dull. The practice with reading to herself and reading out loud (Reading out loud took Carrie some practice to get the pauses right! She didn’t “hear” the periods or transitions between narration and dialogue easily.) were wonderful and then the workbooks practice recall… not to mention practice with writing by hand.
Handwriting Without Tears, Printing Power PlusLoved this. Was not stressful and was more clear instruction than some others we’ve used. Having repetitive concepts was helpful to us (such as the “magic c.”
Art – undecided
Kumon: Jigsaw These were easy and fun. She actually didn’t think they were as fun and awesome as I expected, so we didn’t do many. She prefers self-led arts and crafts.
Extra Curricular – tbd

Daniel, Kindergarten:
Turns out that Daniel was learning like crazy, but was not ready for following instructions and doing table work. He learned his letters and numbers and counting and a lot of sign language and many other things, but we didnt’ do formal schooling.

Jordan, 4th grade:
I took too long to review this and I don’t remember what we did this year for Jordan!

Archive:
*2020-2021 School Curriculum
*2019-2020 School Curriculum and Review
*2018-2019 School Curriculum and Review
*2017-2018 School Curriculum and Review
*2016-2017 School Curriculum and Review
*2015-2016 School Curriculum and Review
*2014-2015 School Curriculum
*2013-2014 Review

First of all – can’t believe I’m writing those years, much less living them!

Secondly – this is a living document – it’s where I type and list what I’m developing for next school year. Sometime around August it’ll stop changing, because I’ll have made up my mind and purchased the materials.

Anna – 8th Grade
Writing – Independent journaling and story-building
History – Sonlight E (American History 2 of 2) – 4-day
Math – Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra
Social Studies – Studies of: France, Race and America, Modern Race Issues, Social Intelligence, and Faith Heroes
Science – Supercharged Science – Astrophysics and Earth Science
Spelling – N/A
Occupational Education – Foundations in Personal Finance: Middle School by Dave Ramsey
Language – French, Growing with Grammar 6
Health & PE – Ballet and The Whole Story, 13-15
Reading – “Parent Classics” reading list
Art & Music Appreciation – Online: Piano, Voice, Photography
Bible – 40 Days of Bible for Personal Growth

Maggie – 5th Grade
Writing – Independent journaling
History – Sonlight E (American History 2 of 2) – 4-day
Math – Teaching Textbooks 6
Social Studies – Studies of: the Netherlands, Race and America, Modern Race Issues, Social Intelligence, and Faith Heroes
Science – Supercharged Science – Matter, Chemistry, and Magnetism
Spelling – N/A
Occupational Education – Learn to use a weekly planner
Language – Dutch
Health & PE – Taekwon Do, The Whole Story, 10-12
Reading – “Parent Classics” reading list
Art & Music Appreciation – Calligraphy and Online Piano, Voice, Chess
Bible – 40 Days of Bible for Personal Growth

Carrie – 2nd Grade
Writing – Penmanship (Cursive Jokes)
History – Sonlight E, partial
Math – Teaching Textbooks 3
Social Studies – Christian Light Education Social Science 3
Science – Supercharged Science – Second Grade Science
Spelling – N/A
Occupational Education – Typing and Word Processing
Language – N/A
Health & PE – Taekwon Do?
Reading – Christian Light Education Reading 3
Art & Music Appreciation – Journaling, ChessBible – 40 Days of Bible for Personal Growth

Daniel – 1st Grade with IEP
Reading – Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and listening to picture books being read to him
Writing – Practicing letters with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Math and Following Instructions – Beginning addition and subtraction (Workbooks)
PE – Learning to walk independently, Going through medical procedures on his feet

Jordan – 6th Grade with IEP
Learning to use up to five PECS and getting outdoor exercise (walks)

Hello from self quarantine, self isolation, social distancing, stay home – stay healthy, or whatever other new vocabulary I’ve learned in the last month. Has it only been a month? I began hearing about something called the Coronavirus back in February or March… I remember, because my brother’s work trip to China was cancelled which was actually really helpful in making a birthday celebration for my dad successful. When was that? February 23rd. A week before that, we were at a highly crowded social dance. Less than 3 weeks later, (March 13th) we decided it was time for our family to lock down… and over that weekend, the schools started closing. Later, nonessential businesses closed, Brian started telecommuting, and here we are now… schools closed until next fall. Other than a few grocery trips and take-out restaurant orders, we’ve been home for four weeks.

So, what have we been doing?

Well, amazingly, an awful lot has not changed at all! There are still five children living here and our school year was not cancelled or even changed much. Art, Taekwon Do, and Ballet were our regular outings (besides visiting family and friends, running errands and so forth.). Art class stopped for the year, but ballet and taekwondo hardly missed a beat and switched over to live video classes! I am so impressed! The teachers have been wonderful. I’m a little worried that ballet might start back up again (in person) before we can lift our isolation… they are pushing for early opening, but I lean towards the conservative end of the isolation situation. But anyway, things are going really well right now and this is a situation that’s been best to take one single day at a time. More than usual.

Brian is growing a beard. He’s wanted one many times over the years, but he’s just not a particularly hairy man! But finally, at age 37, he has the necessary follicles for growing a handsome blond beard. Know something that’s surprising? Seventeen years ago, 37 sounded really up there. And now that we’re here… well, I’m still surprised how we are the mature, older-parent people now. Not parents of college kids or even high schoolers yet, but we have the confidence and experience that comes with so many more years alive. Interestingly…. it comes with an equal measure of being aware of how little we know. There are so many things that we can do now and deal with, on a practical level, intuitively and on autopilot that we couldn’t do at all early on. Managing the grocery-food thing for all these different people and needs, chores, homeschool, errands, lessons… it’s really an astronomical weight of impossible-to-remember-it-all-much-less-do-it-all dimensions, but we just keep doing “the next right thing” (Thanks, Frozen II!) and it’s been enough.

Anna is turning thirteen years old next week! She’s amazing. It’s amazing to watch her develop her gifts and interests. She’s exploding in her independent capabilities. Yes, the moodiness, intermittent frustration, and quite frequent groans are present as you might expect with a non-emancipated older child, but the resourcefulness, kindness, and curiosity are there too. She’s a lovely dancer, a wonderful painter, a great gift-giver, and thoughtful daughter. She can often be found cooking (and often even cleaning up!) and even more often can be found painting. If she’s not doing that, she’s reading… going through huge numbers of novels. Since the quarantine has started, she has discovered that I wasn’t making things up when I said that phone calls can be fun for kids her age. Just three phone calls (about one a week) so far, but I think over 6 hours logged between them.

Jordan is turning eleven soon and he’s doing fine. He’s a bit bored with being home all the time and he prefers to be alone in his room. We drag him out to eat and toilet and invite him to hang with us a few times a day, but he doesn’t usually last very long before wanting to go be in his space again. I’m looking forward to him being able to access ABA therapy again soon as things open up. Not that I really want the pace to pick up at all… but it’s a way to push him out of his shell successfully. He’s enjoyed the sunshine this week (so thankful for a break from the rain!) and will play in the grass and rocks for a long time, before signaling he’s ready to go back inside by being naughty… usually by eating things that are unsafe. (Now I’m the one rolling my eyes! It’s not limited just to teens.)

Maggie is ten years old and bright and eager as ever. She has strong curiosity, a strong sense of justice, strong food aversions, strong loves for things that are lovely and wild, and loves to get deep into invented adventures with Carrie. She has two garter snakes that are faring very well… she’s collected so many snakeskins from them over the winter. She also now has two Northern Alligator Lizards, but I’m growing concerned that they may not be eating well. Not sure. We may have to release them again. She is missing doing Taekwon Do in person, but is persevering to keep her skills up so that she can test up to the next belt as soon as we get back to class. She is a capable cook and made her first muffins the other day.

Phew – I’m getting tired. Let’s see if I can write a bit more before signing off.

Carrie is seven and you know that if a child is running toward you, it’s her. She doesn’t walk much… she’d much rather run. She loves to talk, snuggle, create, explore, play, and talk some more. She’s very smart and capable and is often the first done with her schoolwork. She loves playing Minecraft and is growing more competent in creating more elaborate creations. She also reads a great deal, though lately she’s decided that she prefers comics and does not like chapter books any more! Ah well, she’ll be back when she’s a little older and can enjoy some of our family’s favorite series.

Speaking of reading – since the quarantine started, when we need an hour of something “special” to cheer us up in the interminable sameness of each day, we’re reading the first book of The Lord of the Rings together out loud. It’s been nice. I also ordered a few craft supplies to make sure we’re able to keep creating. A few paints, two wood burners and a few wood things to make projects on.

Daniel turned seven years old this week! Hard to believe! He’s a funny kid – sometimes very intense (as one would expect from a kid with a hard background) and often very focused (as is unsurprising for a person with autism) and very much mobile. He’s not walking independently yet… he really resists letting go and walking without holding on. Brian and I have been too tired to add home therapies to our list, but he’s learning and able to go all over the house. He will walk eventually and he’s weight bearing significantly enough that his bone health should be fine. We were supposed to leave tomorrow (Easter Sunday!) to take him back east again for more treatment of his feet. Alas, that was all postponed to be rescheduled after COVID-19 calms down. He’s drawing and writing better – making endless little drawings of clocks, including the numbers, the cord, whether it’s AM or PM and other various details I never noticed before about clocks. He remembers how to spell things if he listens when you tell him… so I think it’s probably time to buckle down and try to teach him to read more formally. Not sure… he is not one for following instructions or sitting still, so that would be challenging!

Speaking of challenging, Brian and I struggle regularly (or you might say chronically) with fatigue. You know, for years. We know we’re extra tired if we get the body aches or I get migraines now too. It’s not unusual for me to not be able to function very much at all past early afternoon. Sometimes all I get is until lunchtime and then I limp through the rest of the day. Sometimes depression and/or anxiety kick my butt too. We’re not the giving up sort, though, so we just do what we can and it’s gotta be enough.

Since the new year, I’ve set myself a few personal goals. Since I was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome last fall and have learned more and gotten doctors’ advice, both my fitness and my healthy weight goals have become more important. The doctor’s orders for exercise combined with my now seven year history with depression means that I have been looking very seriously for how to be successful with this whole personal health thing. Last fall I went to physical therapy regularly and started Taekwondo. But in February, I got myself psyched up and set up for daily, sustainable exercise. I have a chart I made that I’m filling out and I’m rotating a careful 30-minute strength training routine with a 30-minute walk/jog. It’s set as higher priority than even homeschooling and I am doing one of these things about 6 days a week! I’m proud! I keep gaining weight also, which is putting pressure on already-fragile joints, so two weeks ago I made a reward chart for myself for some attainable food-related goals. Turns out, I’m money motivated, so I’m paying myself what I would have been paying to a physical therapist. It mostly keeps me from the need for a talking therapist too, so that’s $$ too. I’m only new to the food-related goals and no weight lost, but no weight gained, so I am content.

The money is partially motivating, because I am feeding some personal hobby interests with it! Leatherworking and home alchemy stuff mostly… like lotions and candles and stuff.

Okay. I have just a little time left and I want to watch an episode of a tv show. The kids are all having their screen time now and the boys are content… so – goodbye!

Psalm 3

1 O LORD, I have so many enemies;
so many are against me.
2 So many are saying,
“God will never rescue him!”
Interlude
3 But you, O LORD, are a shield around me;
you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.
4 I cried out to the LORD,
and he answered me from his holy mountain.
Interlude
5 I lay down and slept,
yet I woke up in safety,
for the LORD was watching over me.
6 I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies
who surround me on every side.
7 Arise, O LORD!
Rescue me, my God!
Slap all my enemies in the face!
Shatter the teeth of the wicked!
8 Victory comes from you, O LORD.
May you bless your people.
Interlude…

It’s easy for me to read the above kind of hurriedly and not be stirred in my heart. But Psalms is the book of God’s poetry. It is often the guttural cry of his people as they suffered, crying out for deliverance. It is meant to move me, to break the dam around my feelings, and cause me to bring them to my God, and receive His comfort and truth in return. To let Him strengthen my heart and resolve.

This Psalm has a heading:

A psalm of David, regarding the time David fled from his son Absalom.

For some reason I read that slowly today and it landed like a sucker punch.

Absalom, David’s son has been secretly forming a rebellion against his father for years. Some of David’s advisors, his friends, have turned on him. The whole country, David is saying, has lost hope in him. They’ve gone over to Absalom. David has too many enemies. He’s become irrelevant and outdated. He is old. He screwed up raising his kid. David must have felt the ache of loneliness and abandonment, the twisting knife betrayal. He must have been angry, furious, that the kingdom he’d literally built of sweat, tears and blood was taken from Him. Maybe he was racked with guilt that he raised a son so greedy for power that he’d stab his own father in the back. He was probably worried about what will happen to his beloved people. He’s just had to escape the city he loves, the temple and ark left behind. He probably feels that God has given up on him.

2 Samuel 15:25-26

“If the LORD sees fit,” David said, “he will bring me back to see the Ark and the Tabernacle again. But if he is through with me, then let him do what seems best to him.”

2 Samuel 15:30

David walked up the road to the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered and his feet were bare as a sign of mourning. And the people who were with him covered their heads and wept as they climbed the hill.

Pause and consider how David felt.

But God is a shield. When my soul is committed to Him, there is a part of me, the eternal part, that is untouchable, incorruptible, invincible. No disease, no guilt, no shame, no hurt, can stick to that part of me. God is my true glory, true righteous. He is my “anchor within the veil”. What I do and what is done to me cannot change the fact that God holds me up. Here is the toehold, that brings David back from the brink of despair. He cried out and God answered him.

Cry out to God, pause and listen for His answer. Hear it come down the ages.

Oh my soul, rest in the peace and security of God holding you. Do not be afraid of the dangers and enemies surrounding you. These are small and passing, but God is eternal and holds the future. As David walked up the Mount of Olives, he wept. What he was going through was brutal. I’d venture to say he felt hollowed out and utterly defeated. His world was falling into a chasm of disaster. But as he wept and prayed he brought his heart back around to it’s foundation. In the beginning he’d called for God to rescue him and now he’s calling again. Rescue is something we need daily… we look forward to the day when His rescue will be final.

Many years later another King wept on Mount Olives. He faced betrayal there. He was surrounded by enemies. He told them His name and they all fell down. But then He went with them and faced our enemies for us. Though David prayed for God to “slap the face of my enemies”, Jesus let His enemies slap His face. The teeth of our true enemies, sin and death, were shattered by the King who won the victory.

Be still, my heart, pause, and remember.