Christ is Risen!

Amy's dress is the only one I had time to make this year. I was not able to find a dress for her in an inexpensive way, so I took some cloth and a pattern that I got from my Grandma, and I turned them into a dress.

Easter was beautiful again this year. It was the first sunny day we had had in a while, and the air was warm. The music at church was very good, and the sermon was uplifting. Jesus is such an awesome reason to celebrate every year. He is alive, and His resurrection makes eternal life possible. Praise God for His power and victory over sin and death. The rest of the day was fun and enjoyable with family and friends. It will be a good day to remember.

Graduation Announcement

The President, Faculty, and Graduating Class of

Lutheran Brethren Seminary is pleased to

announce that

Ethan Joel Larson

is a candidate for the degree of

Master of Theological Studies

at the Commencement Exercises

on the fourteenth of May

two thousand eleven

at one o’clock in the afternoon

Bethel Lutheran Church

Fergus Falls, MN

Reception following the ceremony in the Fellowship Hall.

You are invited to join us at an Open House in honor of the graduates at the Lutheran Brethren Seminary building from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. A light supper will be served.

Double Digits!

Happy 10th Birthday, Gretchen! We got her ears pierced for her birthday. She's grown so big and is such a joy to our lives.

Spring Seeds

In the midst of a trying time with colds spreading throughout the family and now a sinus infection, I managed to transform our living room into a greenhouse the past few days. The ugly long table came in from the garage and the pots of dirt began to be filled with seeds. I planted several flower seeds (nasturtium, marigold, alyssum, petunia, impatiens, coleus), two kinds of tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and a tray of whatever each of the kids choose for their flowers/herbs/vegetables. Most of the vegetables need to be directly sown into the spring soil outside, so we are waiting to plant those, but these flowers and such will be such a blessing and a financial savings as we approach the summer season.

The Garden

“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:42

Christ’s Death Fulfills God’s Will

⁵ Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:


“ Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
⁶ In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
⁷ Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’”^[a]

⁸ Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them ” (which are offered according to the law), ⁹ then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.”^[b] He takes away the first that He may establish the second. ¹⁰ By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:5-10

The agony in Gethsemane is the agony of the Son of God in fulfilling His destiny as the Saviour of the world. The veil is drawn aside to reveal all it cost Him to make it possible for us to become sons of God. His agony is the basis of the simplicity of our salvation. The Cross of Christ is a triumph for the Son of Man. It was not only a sign that Our Lord had triumphed, but that He had triumphed to save the human race. Every human being can get through into the presence of God now because of what the Son of Man went through. --Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Hightest, April 5th

My Favorite Learning Websites

Starfall.com was a great tool in teaching my daughter, Lizzy, to read. It is fun and has some wonderful phonics songs and games for early learning.

If you have a Minnesota library card, you can access ELM online: www.elm4you.org. It has thousands of ebooks, encyclopedias, and articles online to access for research and any information.

My local library has an interesting link to Tumblebooks. Go to the Fergus Falls library website to access it: www.fergusfall.lib.mn.us Click on the image that says "Tumblebooks." It has many audio books with illustrations online. Some of the books are just fluff to me, and I sometimes have my kids turn off certain books. However, there are some excellent learning books including some great non-fiction and some very fun fiction books. Our kids' favorite story is "Marsupial Sue presents 'The Runaway Pancake'" narrated by John Lithgow. They also love the Arthurian medieval stories that teach about math: Sir Cumference and the First Round Table and Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland. These books are FANTASTIC tools to teach geometry concepts.

For some fun, innocent games without licensed characters Highlights Kids at www.highlightskids.com has some wonderful hidden pictures games and fun art games. They also have stories and non-fiction articles and pictures for learning.

Wikipedia still remains a great resource!

Refresher Course in Long Division

The teacher in this video teaches long division in the exact same way that I learned it in fifth grade in Minneapolis. My daughter is now learning long division, but the curriculum we are using (Math U See) teaches it using place-value notation and includes several extra steps. She has to add many zeros, thus making her very mixed up. I see what Math U See is trying to accomplish by teaching the children the "reason" behind long division. They are learning problem solving also by including the place-value notation, but I find it too cumbersome. Therefore, after watching this Math Mammoth video, I am going to start teaching her the way I learned. It is so straightforward and very understandable to me. If you need a refresher course in long division, I recommend watching this video.