Hello Friends,
As I write this, we have 5 days left of our time in Charlottesville. I’m planning on taking my Hebrew 2 Final on Wednesday so I am forcing myself to receive a sabbath at the moment by writing to you instead of cramming in the Hebrew vocab. I truly enjoy writing to you! Thank you for being in this space. :)
Three things in this letter:
Information on the attached audio recording for the Psalms introduction!
A list of thanksgiving for our time in Charlottesville.
Some resources we are enjoying.
Introduction to the Psalms
I’m releasing the first teaching video and audio recording for the Psalms study this week to paid subscribers. The teaching is meant to go with Psalms: Sing to the Savior and you can still order that book and sign up for the videos here. But I’m sharing the first audio recording on this letter for all the subscribers. :) As a busy mom I have learned the blessing of audio everything for on the go learning and listening. I hope and pray this blesses you!
Here’s an outline for the teaching if you are interested in following along…
Main Point: God gave us songs to point to Jesus in every season.
Section 1: The Psalms are a songbook for God’s people.
How do the Psalms fit in with the larger story of Scripture?
What kind of Literature are the Psalms?
How were the Psalms written and organized?
Section 2: The Psalms lead us to Christ in every season.
Themes of the Psalms: Lament, Thanksgiving, Wisdom, Praise
Psalms 1+2 —The Psalms Introduction Pointing us to Christ.
Charlottesville Gratitude
I’ve been thinking about this for so long. It hasn’t been a perfect two years, but we have been so blessed. I need to write a concise list and then I’m sure these blessings will show up in my writing for years to come. Almost all of these are connected with our church and they are in no particular order.
Being Seen
I came here knowing we would likely only be here two years, so I was overly anxious to plug in. I tried every activity and program there was, and at our sweet (and large) church there were quite a few. But then, 3 months in, I realized we still didn’t really know anyone and nobody knew us. (And that’s a weary feeling when you’ve been striving so hard to be known). After a long season in our previous city of pouring out to others and trying to see them, I realized I just couldn’t anymore—I had come to Charlottesville so, so tired. One day after the kid’s music class I left so discouraged. I drove to pick Charis up from kindergarten and in the car pool line I just pleaded with God that someone would see our little family. And before I finished praying, a friend from church stopped their car, rolled down their window, and prompted me to get out so she could talk to me. She told me her family had moved a lot, too. She said, “We see you, and we want to be your friends.” I will never, ever forget this. Her family was such a treasure to me and to our kids throughout our time here and she has made our time in Charlottesville feel like a warm hug. It’s such a gift to be seen.
A Chance to Grow.
Charlottesville is a University town which means it’s brimming with new and different ideas. I have been so blessed by encountering people who are very different than me. It keeps me humble to know that whatever conversation topic I engage in, the person I am talking to likely has a different perspective or one I haven’t heard before. It has felt like the opposite of living in a “bubble” and it forces me to listen — I’ve enjoyed growing in this posture and I hope to carry it everywhere.
A Church to Grow with.
I could write a book about this, but we were so blessed by our church in Charlottesville. It’s example has given us so many things to look for in our next church like humility in the leadership, its partnership with other churches in the city, wise women and men and who have weathered seasons of suffering and who are eager to pour out Christ to the younger generations, to name a few. Of course there is no perfect church, but we had the chance to go through the honeymoon phase to the transition of discomfort when you realize what’s beneath the surface to the phase of wanting to be there through the thick and thin. Now we have to go, but we are leaving at a great place and we have loved it so much.
A Church to Serve in.
I was so blessed to be able to serve in our church through teaching even though we were there such a short time. I realized here how much I love being part of a team, how much I love leading a team, and how much I love serving with other people. This was a gift I don’t take for granted.
Community
We had so many sweet people who loved on our girls like beloved babysitters, older women in our church who say things like “I love children and I would love to give you a break sometime”, and fellow moms who treat your first graders like their own. I think one thing I learned in Charlottesville is that parenting is not meant to be done alone, and I don’t ever ever want to try.
Resources (For Me, and the girls too)
My favorite thing lately: Libro FM https://libro.fm
This is an Audible alternative that allows you to own your audio books as MP3s for download (which is great if your kids have Yoto players). Purchasing from this bookstore also supports local independent bookstores which is always great. :)
Favorite books of the past month
Yonder Come Day: Exploring the Collective Witness of the Formerly Enslaved. (This book is incredible and life changing and I think everyone should read it.) I’m still processing so many things, but here’s a summary from the publisher. “As our nation has experienced a renewal of reckoning with the reality of slavery in our past and the continued struggle for equality and liberation in the present, many previously untold stories have come to light. But not every story. Some histories remain shrouded, waiting for someone to uncover them and make them known. Incredibly, other stories have been hiding in plain sight for decades. Yonder Come Day brings many of these hidden histories into the light in an unconventional and powerful way. Drawing from the recorded interviews of more than three thousand formerly enslaved people from across the South, collected in the 1930s, Jasmine L. Holmes creates a compelling "collective memoir" unlike anything you've read.”
Surprised by Oxford
This is a memoir and testimony of Oxford student Carolyn Weber. It’s a really beautiful story that reads a little bit like a romance novel (it has the story of how she met her husband, a Christian at Oxford.) But it also has her thoughts and intellectual process as she goes from a non Christian, agnostic background to knowing and believing God. She articulates this so well. And any book that describes the magical place of Oxford in detail is worth reading and becoming a launchpad for daydreaming!
For the girls:
Abigail and the Great Big Start Over - We are using this series as our read-aloud this summer and our girls have loved it! It’s like a Christian version of Julie B. Jones that is aimed at older readers. (If I remember Junie B. Jones correctly). Abigail is a fourth grader trying to learn how to cope with school and friends and being a kid while growing her faith and love for Jesus.
As we shift towards “hybrid” homeschooling, I think I might turn into a year-round homeschool mom (with some slowness in the summer). Summer has always been hard for me (even before kids). This mama needs some routine. But at the same time, we love our slow mornings, and so the combination of slow mornings and reading/bible/math/handwriting lessons at a casual pace has been perfect for our summers so far. Here are some resources we have enjoyed the past couple of years for homeschooling with the girls.
The Gentle Feast: 100 Gentle Lessons in Sight and Sound
My goal for Elsie’s reading this summer is for her to have fun and grow in confidence. This has been great so far! It teaches reading based on nursery rhymes.
These books have BOTH my big girls asking to do math every day. It comes with a teachers guide, but honestly I don’t buy that and we just complete the workbook without it and it works great. (There are a couple of pages we have to skip) But for a laid back summer of math it has been really great.
Write the Word on My heart- This is a handwriting curriculum (probably for 1st grade and up) that uses scripture! I just have Charis do one page every other day.
Kick Start Kindergarten - Handwriting and letter practice for Elsie. We love “Handwriting Without Tears. :)
That’s all for now, I’ll leave you with some pictures and I’ll write again in Roanoke!
Warmly,
Angela Lee
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