Elena 
1. I have been very on-edge, cranky, and on the edge emotionally this week. Mr. Pete keeps asking me why I’m in such a bad mood and to just snap out of it. I think it’s a two fold thing- the busyness of everything going on this week – and that the 22nd is there next week just looming. The second anniversary of my mother’s death.
2. My three younger kids and I spent most of the day yesterday at the homeschool convention. There is a decidedly gentle spirit in the air in this convention. It’s hard to put a finger on it but these folks are mostly there to sacrifice for their children and to keep their families strong – all of this while trying to love and serve the Lord. I just feel safe, warm, and enveloped in the spirit at this convention every time I go although…
3. this convention is most definitely Christian but not Catholic and a few times I’ve had to take my children aside and clear up a few confusing points.
4. For example – one of the speakers talked a lot about not feeding her flesh. She said that she sees “the flesh” as this big fat, hairy, greasy blob that follows her around that she has to sacrifice to avoid feeding it. Well… I get her point, but our flesh is our flesh – our bodies. And our bodies are temples of the holy spirit too. I think the trick is to find a balance between the flesh and the spirit, at least in this world. I think focusing on a big fat, hairy, greasy blob as the flesh would be unbalancing for me. At least I personally didn’t find that image helpful.
5. This speaker also talked about even when she sits down for a minute she knows she is feeding the flesh and she forces herself to get up. Well, even Jesus took a break. Even drew in the dirt! I talked to my sister about this. My sister is amazing. She has worked in human resources for decades and she is pretty good about pegging people. She asked if this woman was energetic, small and “busy” and indeed she was! That lady has a propencity for being up and energetic. Maybe her cross would be to sit and be still more? I don’t know. But I don’t mean to overly criticize this speaker because she really did exude a love for the Lord and for her family. These were just a few little points I had some trouble with.
6. A talk that really impressed Izzy and Noah was one on purity by a young, Felicia Alvarez, a young woman who is a homeschool graduate as well as a college graduate. She talked, not so much about avoiding sex, but about not speaking out for your principals. She gave the example of getting a dream job as a model for a “Christian” group and then being asked to pose provocatively. She knew it ws wrong and she felt uncomfortable about it, but she let the peer pressure keep her from speaking out against it. She also talked about the time in a speech class that her classmates were giving her topics to speak about that were sexual and inappropriate in a classroom setting. She did complain to the professor about that and now, even 5 years later, he tells students that if they are in anyway uncomfortable to let him know. So her outspokenness is still bearing fruit in that way. She was a delightful speaker and it was a great presentation.
7. Interestingly, I spent the end of my day working with a group of Catholics who didn’t know their faith and tended to be a bit verbally abusive. Kind of a downer after an otherwise uplifting day.
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