The San Antonio Christian Film Festival

Sorry for not blogging recently. I'll try to get back on the blog, now. Thursday night was the beginning of the film festival. (Before I go on, I must say that I didn't go to most of it). My sister, Cara was volunteering, my brother Tim was working staff, and my dad was also doing some work. My mom and I stayed home while they were away. Some of the time was taken up by my grandfather, who was having a problem. That night I didn't get the best night's sleep, being woke up when my Dad, sister, and the different friends who are staying with us right now, got home. (My brother was staying at a hotel to be closer to the convention center where the film festival was being held). The next day, I went with my dad to drop off Cara, Lydia, her brother Micah, and Nathaniel. (The last three are the friends who are staying with us. Mark Stubblefield was also supposed to stay here, but he found lodging elsewhere). After we had dropped them off, I went with my dad to work at Vision Forum. They've started their busy season, so I had plenty of work to do. I heard we sent out more than four hundred boxes that day! That afternoon Vision Forum closed early, to let people get ready to go to the world premier of "The League of Grateful Sons", also known as the Faith of Our Father's project, at 6:30 P.M. It was exciting to see the movie that had taken so long to make. It was worth the wait! It was an excellent film, dealing with the experiences of several families, and lost loved ones in the war, and also the return to Iwo Jima. It was a faith building time. We heard beautiful music on the harp from the two Bodkin girls. We also heard Mr. Phillips, Col. Henderson, and others talk about the making of the film. We got home pretty late, and I didn't get to bed until sometime around 12:00 A.M. The next day was Saturday, the last day of the film festival. I didn't go at all that day, but stayed home with my mom. On Sunday, we went to Church at the Gonzalez center, (where the film festival was held), and listened to a sermon from R. C. Sproul Jr. It wasn't nearly so long as most of our services, but there was a long time afterwards of people saying good-bye to each other. That afternoon we had some of Tim's friends come over, ( although Tim himself was on our couch, sleeping through our talking about him, and then some rousing games of fooseball). It was great. That night we were to have over the Haydens, from Kansas. They had come for the film festival, and Caleb is a great friend of Tim. I had a good time meeting Nathan Hayden, (I have a link to his blog with the other links), and playing army men, fooseball, and some other stuff. That night I didn't get to sleep until, again around 12:00. Well, today is Monday, (as you probably already know), and I'll have to get off the computer soon and go do school.

What I've Been Doing

It has been delightful over the past few days. For the first time I've finally had to put on a long sleeve shirt and long pants to get warm. It was great! We've had a cold, (wait, not cold, colder) front. This week is going to be very busy. We are having several people stay with us during the film festival. Today I was doing history with my sister, and I had to write a small essay on Deborah. So here it is.



Deborah was a judge of Israel at around 1300 B.C. To read the full account, turn to Judges, chapters four and five. At that time, the children of Israel sinned against the Lord. Because of that, the Lord gave them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan. The captain of his army was Sisera. For twenty years he had been oppressing the Israelites sorely. Deborah called Barak, and told him that God wanted him to take ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun. Barak was to lead them to the mount Tabor, but Barak said that he wouldn’t go without Deborah. So they went to attack Sisera and the Lord went before them, killing all their enemies. Sisera fled to the tent of Heber, because they were friends. But Jaal, the wife of Heber, killed Sisera with a tent pin while he was sleeping. Deborah wrote a song, telling of the victory, praising the Lord, and mocking the house of Sisera. And after that there was peace for forty years.

The Sinking of the Titanic

While the Titanic went,
It rapidly neared,
A towering iceburg,
Which those aboard feared.

Soon it would strike,
On an iceburg hard,
And become, a ledgend,
To be sung by a bard.

And though not head on,
It would to them be,
Fatal indeed,
As they would soon see.

As rivets popped,
Along the massive hull,
The Titanic charged,
Like a massive bull.

To the ocean's depths,
To remain for 'eer,
And to become the fishes,
Home and lair.

Prayer For This House

I have been memorizing this poem for school. Though the meter is a little off, it is still a good poem.


Prayer For This House
By; Louis Untermeyer

May nothing evil cross this door,
And may ill-fortune never pry
About these windows; may the roar
And rains go by.

Strengthened by faith, the rafters will
Withstand the battering of the storm.
This hearth, though all the world grow chill
Will keep you warm.

Peace shall walk softly through these rooms,
Touching your lips with holy wine,
Till every casual corner blooms
Into a shrine.

Laughter shall drown the raucous shout
And, though the sheltering walls are thin,
May they be strong to keep hate out
And hold love in.

Common Word In Fooseball

The most common word (if you can call it a word), said playing fooseball is AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! It's most usually said when you just scored on yourself, or you just watched a ball go right past all of your men into your goal.
(_**_)

The New Jersey beach! 

Another Poem Is Near

Two nights ago I came down with a cold. However, I am not throwing up, and I can still type on the computer. Several days ago I had an inspiration for a poem. The poem goes very well on a blog, as you shall see.

A Blog

A blog shows little moments,

That come along the way.

Like cutting trees; or bringing in,

Some ragged bales of hay.

They can be just,

A simple thought.

That others would,

Think naught.

It could be just,

A little something.

Or song, that you,

Could sing.

A moment to jot down,

For some, other time, to write.

But that's the way I like it,

Just out in my plain sight.

I hope you enjoyed it. See you later.

10:00!

Today was not a typical day. I slept in this morning until 10:00! When I woke up I wondered why my mom or my sister hadn't already woke me up. When I went downstairs I found out why. My sister told me that my mom was in bed because my grandfather, (who has alztheimers), was up all night, and when he is up, my mom has to get up with him. My sister had decided to let me sleep in. Because of this, I didn't finish my school until around four o' clock in the afternoon. Of course, that's counting a few breaks. Well, right now I'm just snatching a little bit of time before I go downstairs and feed the animals. Goodbye until I return again!

Tim's Back!

Finally my brother Tim has arrived, from back in the east. He has been spending two weeks in Cherry Hill, and Philadelphia, first for a HSLDA conference, (Home School Legal Defense Association), and then for the annual Faith and Freedom tour that his company Vision Forum holds every year. From his accounts it sounded like it was a good learning experience. It's nice to have him back after not seeing him, for, it seemed like ever! We're finally pretty much settled in at our new house, and I started school, (as I said in a previous post), two weeks ago. I've been a little rusty after the long summer, but I'm getting back into the hang of it. Well, I guess that's all for now! Good-bye 'till next time.

"Texas Tom"

This Weekend

I spent this weekend doing many different things. On Friday, I went into work at Vision Forum's warehouse with my dad. He is the assistant warehouse manager, and it was my first time in since he has worked there. It was not a very busy day, so I didn't have to much to do. In the morning I worked on different things, and then late afternoon I spent a little time having a dart war with a crossbow. It was fun! That night we watched Life With Father, a hilarious movie that I recommend. On Saturday we left early to leave for Fredericksburg. It was interesting, walking around and looking at the different shops. It was founded by Germans, and there is still a strong German influence. Then that night I went over to the Siratt's house for dinner. We had the best chicken and some other very good foods, also. Then we played some air hockey, and catch phrase, while our parents talked. It was quite a fun night! Sunday was Church. We had a very good sermon from Mr. Gill, about James. The Church has been working on memorizing the entire book of James. Since my family came in late, we were a little behind in the memorization. However, we are starting to work on it now, and I have memorized through chapter one, verse eleven. That night we did different things, one of which was sitting out in our backyard, enjoying the breeze. We are finding out that Texas is really getting cooler after all! Well, that's our weekend, good-bye for now. I recommend to look at my family's blog, which I have posted a link to this afternoon. Due to lack of communication, I did not find out we had one till then. See ya'll later!

Back to the Blog!

Hi, this is John and I'm back to the blog! Sorry for not writing for so long, but I just wanted you to know that I'm still here. We've finally made it to San Antonio, (about two weeks ago,) and we're starting to get settled in. Yesterday was my first day of school, and I'm slowly making progress. I have been working on memorizing some of James, and other such things. The time in the car coming out here was quite interesting. I rode in our van on the way out, and it was quite cramped, having three animals in their cages. But, I've finally made it. We all love our new house and I'm having some fun in the yard. Oh, I have to correct something in an earlier post. The wall in our back yard is more like six feet instead of three. I've also enjoyed listening to the latest Jonathan Park, a creation science radio drama. It has been quite exciting.