Rachel's Pies

Flowers

Last fall Mommy and I planted over 100 tulip and daffodil bulbs in front of the white fence in front of our house, which runs along the road. We love enjoying the spring flowers that God created, and they remind us of the new life we have in Christ each spring. Joshua took the photos and edited them a bit.

Cocoa & Diesel

Recently we got two dogs, Cocoa and Diesel. We haven't had dogs for a long time, and we were planning on getting a dog after we moved. They are a German Shepherd, Collie, and Labrador mix. They are a brother and sister from the same litter, and they are three years old. The black and chocolate dog is the male named Diesel, and the tan and white one is the female named Cocoa. They are both very sweet dogs, and love attention. Right now they are on our back porch, but we are going to set up a trolley soon.

Diesel

Diesel again

Cocoa

Cocoa again

Reformation Celebration Dinner

On Friday October 31 our church had a dinner celebrating the reformation at Forks Cafeteria, in Wake Forest. We ate dinner and then five of the young men at our church talked about the five Solas of the Reformation, which are: Sola Scriptura, which means by Scripture alone, Solo Christo, which means by Christ alone, Soli Deo Gloria, which means Glory to God alone, Sola Fide,which means by Faith alone, and Sola Gratia, which means by Grace alone. After one of them talked, Mr. Brown led us in a song about the Sola, and then Daddy talked about how it effects us today. After that we had a time where the people could share what they were thankful for, and then people fellowshipped until it was time to leave.

One way that we have benefited from the reformation is that we can have assurance of our salvation by the gift of faith, and not live in superstition and fear like the Roman Catholics. We can be thankful that we do not have to rely on our good works for salvation, because we would never be sure we had done enough. Daddy also said we have light bulbs and electricity today because of the Reformation.

Character Qualtities of Lucy Buck

Rachel in front of Bel Air, Lucy Buck's House

During the Civil War, Lucy Buck lived in Front Royal, VA. She kept a journal, which contains a good description of the battle of Front Royal. Since there are few examples of godly characters today,we should look at what some of her character traits were, and also the biblical basis for those traits. We will discuss her love of family, bravery, and trust in God.
One of her character traits is her love of her family. This is a biblical trait to have, because the Bible says in John 13:35: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."1 One example of that in her journal is how much she enjoyed the letters from her brothers while they were fighting in the war, like when she wrote,
We were sitting by the candle in Grandma's room tonight when Father came from the office bringing a paper and two letters ... I was almost beside myself with joy at their arrival particularly when upon reading Irvie's we learned that he had been promoted to the rank of captain ... Dear boy! I hate the idea of his being exposed to the dangers conseqent upon active service and am so sorry he and Alvin will be seperated, but he has one kind Protector as Omnipotent to save on the field of battle as in the quiet of home, and as Alvin has gone onto Bragg's army ... I sincerely hope he may succeed for he richly deserves it to, I'm sure.2
This also shows her trust in the sovreignty of God as well as her love for her family. We see another example of this is when she wrote,
Father came in this evening bringing a letter from dear Irvie ... Poor fellow, he was in the late dreadful battle – how glad I am thatwe were unconscious of it till it was all over. He writes very despondingly and seems almost to wish himself back with Alvin whom he says has returned thither. He says our friends all escaped unhurt and almost as if by a miracle. The battle must have been much more deadly than we had thought for. Must write to him soon.3
This show that she was not only concerned for the safety of her brother, but also for her friends. From these examples we see how important her family was to her, and her love for her brother.
Another character trait we wll discuss is her bravery. God frequently reminds us in the Bible not to fear because he is our protector, such as in Deuteronomy 31:6:
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.4
Here we see why it is good to be brave and have courage. An example of Lucy Buck's courage and love of strangers is when after the battle of Front Royal happened she wrote,
We descended all of us to the basement for protection ... The house was exposed to a cross fire and we were all really in much more danger than we were at the time aware of – at any rate I could not bear the idea of being entombed ingloriously in the cellar while our deliverers were gallantly endangering their lives in our defense – it was not to be thought of for an instant – I must witness if not assist in the struggle. So Nellie and I went on the porch with a pitcher of water with the contents of which we refreshed our soldiers as they would ever and anon stop in their chase weary and thirsty ... I did not feel the least fear as the missiles of death screamed and shrieked around – the sound was rather pleasantly exhilarating and I watched the discharges with positive enjoyment – did not for one instant doubt our success in driving the varmints out.5
Here we see that she was not afraid even in times of great danger, but was ready to comfort the soldiers as much as she could.
The last trait we will discuss is her trust in God. This is a good character trait because God is our protector and defense, so we should trust in him like the Bible says in Psalms 5:11:
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. 6
We see how Lucy Buck exhibits this when she said,
Our army seemed to have melted away or were within the coils of a mighty serpent that must soon crush them – oh it was all disheartening enough! – and I have wondered how we ever struggled through such depths of gloom. But the day I trust has gone on our midnight, how it has all so changed I do not understand, but surely God has been with us. 'Tis he that arrested the tide of Union successes and nerved and inspired our men to such deeds of daring heroism. Oh! – may we never forget to whom we owe it all and weakly give to erring impotent man the need of thanksgiving and praise that belongs but to the Maker!7
Here we see that she is thankful for what God has done, and realizes that it could not have been done without his help. This is clearly an example of her belief in the sovreignty of God.
We have seen how Lucy Buck exhibits three specific charachter qualities which are love of family, bravery, and trust in God, through her words penned in Sad Earth, Sweet Heaven. These are important qualities to have because of their biblical basis, which we have also discussed. Young ladies should try to emmulate these qualities in their lives today.



1 John 13:35, KJV
2 Buck, Lucy Rebecca Sad Earth, Sweet Heaven (Buck Publishing Company, Birmingham, Alabama: 1993) p. 158-159
3 Ibid p. 171
4 Deuteronomy 31:6 KJV
5 Sad Earth Sweet Heaven, p. 79
6 Psalms 5:11 KJV
7 Sad Earth Sweet Heaven, p. 138

Day 14 - Zeebrugge, Belgium

The next day we docked in Brugge and we took the train to Zeebrugge. Zeebrugge is a canal city in Belgium. The canals used to be used for transportation, but now they are only used for tour boats. We did a walking tour of the city, and then we went to a waffle shop and ate some Belgian waffles with powdered sugar on top. Then we took the train back, and got on the ship, and packed and ate our last dinner.

The powder tower in Zeebrugge

One of the many swans in the city

Day 6 - Cagliari

On this day we went to the town Cagliari on an island called Sardinia, which is right off the coast of Italy. We did not have anything that we really wanted to do in the town, so we did not get up very early. After we ate breakfast, we got off the ship, and decided to walk up to the castle on top of the hill, because that was really the only interesting thing there. There was not really a whole lot to see in the castle, it was pretty big, but there were really only four walls. The castle had a good view from the wall, but where we spent the most time was going to a museum inside of the castle. The museum had things from the island that were collections that people on the island used to own. There collections were tapestries, lace, dolls, and a couple of suits of traditional outfits. After we saw that part of the museum, we went down into the basement, where there were models of the castle and the town from 3 different time periods, and cisterns from the Roman empire. After that we went back to the ship, ate lunch, and went swimming (there was a water slide in the pool), then we ate dinner.Joshua, Rachel, and Stephen in the pool

The water slide was a lot of fun!

This castle has a lot of steps

The model of the castle in the museum.

A suit of the full-sized clothes.

Handwoven donkey blankets

Mommy and Daddy walking at the wall of the castle.

The dolls were dressed in clothes like they used to wear.

Snow for the Third Time!!

On Monday we got a bigger snowfall than ever this winter, and about four inches accumulated. The weather report said that we got seven inches, but probably the first three inches melted when it touched the ground. This was not very good sledding snow, but it was good packing snow, so the boys had some snowball fights. It was right around freezing outside both Monday and Tuesday, so the snow didn't really melt until Wednesday (except on the road). Here are some photos:

The beautiful snow on the trees.

Joshua liked to kick the snow off the trees, and make it look like it was "snowing" again.

Stephen eating the snow off the trees.

Psalm 51:7 says, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." KJV

Lexington and Concord Essay

Lexington and Concord

by Rachel Horn

In the book, Paul Revere's Ride, the author, David Hackett Fischer, gives a detailed account of the battle of Lexington and Concord, including the events leading up to and following the battle. The British were tyrannizing over the Americans, and the Americans were getting angry, so when General Gage sends his men out to take away the Americans' weapons of war in Concord, the Americans prepared to fight them. This battle was a very important battle, so we should know who really got the victory at this battlefield, because both sides said they did.

One would first start with who won the first part of the battle, which is the battle of Lexington. The British were ordered to start marching on the evening of April 18, 1775, but they were not told where they were going, or why. They reached Lexington early in the morning of the nineteenth, with about 250 men, who were commanded by Major John Pitcairn. The Americans who were gathered at Lexington had between 60 and 70 men, commanded by Captain Parker. Both sides were told by their commanders not to fire unless they were fired upon, so after the first shot was fired, the British infantry just started firing without orders. They did not fire for very long however, before they recklessly charged the Americans. Most of the Americans did not fire, because they did not have orders, and because things were happening very quickly. The Americans were told by their commander to disperse, but many did not hear, and some of those who did were shot. The British had conquered the Americans, because the Americans had retreated out of the city. The Americans had lost more men than the British also, and they knew they were defeated. They were not totally discouraged however, and they started marching to Concord to fight the British again.

The Americans were preparing for the British to arrive. The Americans withdrew out of the city to wait for more men, who were quickly arriving. They now had about 500 men, and the British had about 115. The British followed the Americans, and did pretty much no harm to the undefended city. The Americans had crossed the North Bridge, just outside of Concord, and when the British crossed it the British started to destroy it. The Americans marched down to stop the destruction, and the British fired a couple times, then fled into the city. The Americans were surprised at how quickly they fled. During this battle, Colonel Smith was sent to for reinforcements. While his men were marching, they met the rest of their soldiers running down the road, away from the Americans. The Americans then marched toward the town, and took a defensive position behind a stone wall, and waited for the British to come up. The British came up, but they did not get very close until they halted, and stayed where they were for a few minutes, and then marched back to the town. While marching back, the british went under the fire of the Americans, and lost some more men. The Americans began to move over the hills, threatening to cut off the road from Concord to Boston. Colonel Smith sent some men to keep the line of retreat open. The Americans were on the hills surrounding the road, and they were ready to shoot at the British. The Americans made a circle around the British column, and kept shooting until the British made a camp to stop in for the night. The British had sent for more troops, and those started marching from Boston on the morning of the twentieth, and they reached the battle too late to be of much help. The Americans soon made them retreat with the other British. The British were under incessant fire, and by the time they reached the safety of Charlestown, they had lost most of their men.

We now see how the British won the battle of Lexington, and how the Americans won the battle of Concord. The Americans forced the British to retreat into safety, and they lost most of their men at Concord, so we say they won. So, even though the British had won Lexington, and both sides said they won the battle, the Americans really won because they had the final victory.

Click Here to Buy the Book: Paul Revere's Ride

Baseball Game

On Tuesday August 25 we went to a baseball game with Shea, Stephen, and Mr. Breagy. The game was at the Durham Bull's stadium, and they were playing against the Indianapolis Indians.

Shea, Rachel, Joshua, Stephen, and Stephen

We ate dinner at the baseball game, and we got cotton candy too. The Durham Bulls beat the Indians at the bottom of the 10th inning. It was a really close game! We had a lot of fun since it was the Breagys first time going to the Durham Ball Park. They really liked the bull snorting when the Bulls hit a home run!

This is the player who hit the home run.

The bull snorting after they hit a home run.

We did not stay for the whole game because it was going so long, but the Breagys didn't leave right when we did, so they heard when the Bulls won. We tried to find the radio station to listen to on the way home, but we couldn't.

Reformation Day

On October 31 Hope Baptist Church had a Reformation Day celebration at the Brown's farm. The first thing we did was to eat hot dogs for dinner, and then we gathered in the Brown's tent and sang A Mighty Fortress is Our God. Then there were different families from our church that discussed five great reformers: Jan Huss, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, and Oliver Cromwell. We were going to burn Jan Huss in effigy, but there was a burning ban because of the drought so we couldn't do it, but one of the men from our church, Mr. Sides spoke about him, and all the things he did, what he preached about, his imprisonments, his trial, and his burning. He spoke against the Catholic church and was imprisoned for his denouncement of selling indulgences. Before he was burned, he said, "in 100 years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot be suppressed."

Mr. Sides acting as Jan Huss.

Then another family, the Breagys, did a skit about Martin Luther. First they had Shea and Claire walk around the stage with big signs with the city and the year on them. Then they had Stephen Breagy, who played Martin Luther, nail the 95 theses to the church door in Wittenburg, Germany.

Claire holding up a sign in front of the church door.

Then they had Grace, Shea and Claire come up and ask Stephen some questions about what he was preaching, what was wrong with indulgences, and things like that. Then Stephen read a short paper that he wrote, and Grace sung a song that he wrote, based on the 46 th psalm, to the tune of A Mighty Fortress is our God.

Grace, Shea, and Claire interviewing Stephen Breagy.

Next Timothy Orr came up and read a paper that he and his brother Josiah wrote about John Calvin, about his life in Geneva, and his preachings and doctrine. He is most noted for his commitment to the absolute sovereignty and holiness of God, and the doctrines of predestination, election and grace.

Timothy Orr reading his paper on John Calvin.

Then Mr. Tsantles came up and did an overview on Oliver Cromwell who was an army general, a member of Parliament, and a great reformer. Then two of his children, Allison and Taylor, read two of his letters to his daughters, one to his wife, and one to a friend.

Then our family came up onto the stage and did a reenactment from the writings of John Knox from a conversation between Mary Queen of Scots and himself. Joshua was John Knox, Stephen was a guard, and I, Rachel, was Queen Mary. Stephen brought in Joshua for me to discuss with him what he said about me. Then he talked to me for awhile, and then Stephen said that dinner was served, and took Joshua away.

Stephen, Joshua, and I on the stage.

Then Daddy came up and talked about why we should remember the Reformers, then we sang It Is Well With My Soul, then we had dessert, and then everybody left.

Scotland - Day 12

Today we went to Culloden and Fort George. The battle of Culloden was part of the 2nd Jacobite Rebellion. That rebellion occurred in 1745. Price Charles Edward Stuart, also called Bonnie Prince Charlie, was in the family of Stuarts. He wished to become king, and was trying to convince the French that they should help him. They sent him with a fleet of ships to England in 1744, but it was scattered by a storm. If that fleet had landed in England, they would probably have took over England and Scotland.

The next year he left for Scotland with only two ships, one of which was attacked and forced to return home on the way. He landed in Scotland and raised his standard at Glenfinnian on April 19, 1745. He moved south and his forces grew to 3,000 men. He began a march to take over the capital, London. His army came within 125 miles of London, but the generals decided to return to Scotland.

They fought the 2nd battle of Falkirk Nairn on April 14, 1746. The Scots planned a night attack, which failed. The English came out on the 19th of April, 1746. Their army was about 9,000, and the Scot's was about 5,400. The Scots formed 2 lines, and the English 3. There was a short exchange of artillery, and then some of the Scottish clans decided to charge. Charles gave the order, but the McDonalds on the left refused to move because they were not positioned on the right. Those who did charge were forced to avoid some boggy areas, and were defeated when they hit the English. The Scots lost about 1,250 killed, 1,000 wounded, 558 captured and the English only 52 killed, 259 wounded. After the battle the English killed all Scots that they could find.

A flag Jacobite at Culloden.

This is the Battlefield looking towards the Scottish line.

This is what the soldiers would have looked like: British (left) and Highlander (right).

This was the last Jacobite Rebellion. After Joshua told us about the battle at Culloden and we walked to all the corners of the battlefield, which took about 3 hours, we left and went to Fort George. The building of Fort George was started in 1748 by William Skinner, who was the king's military engineer of North Britain. By 1757 the main defences were completed and the internal buildings were starting to emerge.

A cannon at Fort George.

The whole fort was completed in 1769, well behind schedule. Fort George was made to have all the provisions of a small town. Fort George is very large, 42 acres. Joshua enjoyed it very much.
The walls are very thick:Fort George is still in use today. We saw some snow flurries even though it was very sunny, but it was cold and windy. We spent about 2 1/2 hours at Fort George, then we went back to the condo.

Scotland - Day 10

This day we went to St. Andrew's Castle and Cathedral and the Discovery, which is a ship that was built in Scotland and then went from there to Antarctica to explore. First we went to St. Andrew's Castle.

This is a sketch of St. Andrew's Castle.

A castle was at St. Andrew's at least in 1189, and maybe before. The castle was taken by the English in 1296, but then recaptured by the Scots in 1314. The castle was once more taken by the English in the 1330's. The English were strengthening the castle around 1336, and then Sir Andrew of Moray recaptured it after a three-week siege. The castle probably remained in ruins and deserted until Bishop Walter Trail started rebuilding it.

This is a picture of the Castle from the Cathedral.

The castle was completed about1400. Bishop Trail died there in 1401. There was a mine and counter mine built there when the castle was being sieged between 1546-7.

A picture of the mine in St. Andrew's castle.

We spent about 1 1\2 hours there and then we left and went to St. Andrew's Cathedral. St. Andrew's was first built as St. Rile's church, and was very small. The church was claimed by the Augustinians, and soon they decided it was too small for what the bishops desired. They started making it bigger and ended up building Scotland's largest cathedral. The work actually took 150 years to complete. Shortly after the cathedral was completed, half of it was blown down by a gale. When John Knox preached a sermon there the people got so angry they started destroying the furniture. Later the cathedral was destroyed by siege.

This is a sketch of what the cathedral might have looked like.

After we had been at the cathedral for 1 1/2 hours we left to go to the Discovery. The Discovery was built in Dundee in 1901. Captain Robert Falcon Scott took Wilson and Shackleton with him. They headed for Antarctica and reached it in 1902. The Discovery was frozen in ice until 2 rescue ships went out there to rescue them. We spent about 1/2 an hour there since they were about to close.

Captain Joshua trying to sail the ship

I really liked the Discovery because it was like the real ship, and because you could actually go on it. We ate dinner at a hotel on our way to the condo outside of Inverness in Aviermore in the Highlands of Scotland.

Scotland - Day 7

Today we went to the city of Glasgow which is the capital of Scotland. We went there to see the Glasgow Cathedral, the John Knox memorial, and the David Livingston memorial there. When we went there they were having a school service, so they told us to come back in about 15-20 minutes. We got to hear the pipe band playing for the service. While we were waiting we saw the David Livingstone memorial in front of the cathedral. David Livingstone was a Scottish Missionary who went to Africa.

This is a picture of the statue of David Livingstone at Glasgow Cathedral

After we looked at this memorial and read everything on it, we went to the Necropolis (which is a graveyard), and we walked up to the top of the hill to see the memorial of John Knox, who was a great preacher in Glasgow and was one of the great Reformers. John Knox helped write the commentary notes in the Geneva Bible, which is the Bible the Pilgrims brought to Plymouth. His statue is on top of the hill looking over the city of Glasgow.

This is a picture of the statue of John Knox preaching to the city of Glasgow

Then we walked back down the hill, looking at the graves until we got to the bottom, and then we started walking towards the Cathedral. When we got to the Cathedral there was almost nobody there, so we went in. We walked around the Cathedral until they told us to leave because they were having a wedding. We got to see the wedding party arriving dressed in kilts. We spent about 1 1/2 hours in Glascow and then we went to Bothwell Castle. Bothwell Castle was one of my favorite castles because it was the biggest castle we saw.

This is a picture of the outside of Bothwell Castle

The construction of Bothwell Castle was started in about the middle of the 1200's, by Walter of Moray. The castle was never finished, but many people built on it. it was seiged several times by King Edward I. We spent about 1 hour at Bothwell Castle. We had walked around the outside of it the day before because we had arrived at closing time.

This is a picture of Joshua playing on Bothwell Castle