Relay For Life Event

Dear Beautiful Grace Readers,

I have been invited to speak at a Relay For Life event at Wilkes University on April 18th.  My story of breast cancer will be expressed to students, professors and community participants highlighting the power of God to empower to climb any mountain as an Overcomer!

I humbly ask that you would pray for me to be BOLD and to SPEAK CLEARLY about the wonders of God's love.  Pray that every heart would be touched by His Spirit and encouraged to face and conquer whatever mountain is faced with Him!!!

Love you all!

Beautiful Grace

http://www.wilkes.edu/news/today-at-wilkes/2015/march/relay_for_life.aspx

I'm So Excited, and I Just Can't Hide It!!!

Our microscope was delivered to day, and I'm just so excited!! 

Fire and I will be studying human anatomy and physiology this fall,

therefore purchasing a good microscope was essential. 

To my delight,

I was able to use my digital camera to capture these shots. 

Let's play a game! 

Who can identify the most microscopic images?

Contestants must be under 18 years of age.

You may leave your answers as a comment to this blog,

but I won't post them until the winner is announced.

Game ends June 30, 2010!

The winner will get a prize!!!!

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I love playing with the microscope. 

I feel like a little girl at Christmas. 

God has woven into me such an appreciation for His creation. 

My Heavenly Dad is totally AWESOME!!!

New Creation Warriors

Calling all home schooling families. If you are looking for a family-style co-operative, check out New Creation Co-op, which offers both academic and enrichment courses.

Consecrated Starts Third Term

Consecrated finished the first week of his third term yesterday! He is doing well and has maintained honor list standing. He received a congratulatory letter from the dean of the Art Institute of York yesterday; he also was awarded with a certificate for perfect attendance in the second term.

We're proud of you!!!!

Plant and Animal Cell Drawings by Fire

Fire's assignment was to draw a plant cell and an animal cell. I'm pleased with his work (so is his biology teacher)!

All Your Pretty Leaves Have Fallen to the Ground

Below is a repost of an article written by one of my biology students. Read her heart and "see" the awesome insight of one so young. I am privileged to be able to speak into her life.

Have an awesome day!
Beautiful Grace

Reposted by permission of author, Sarah.

"all your pretty leaves have fallen to the ground"

on sunday i was taking a walk with my amazing little brother. i'm serious. my little brother is amazing. annoying, yes, but more amazing than annoying.

so anyway, we were walking together and talking about God and stuff, and i came up with the most amazing analogy! :)

or, i didn't come up with it. God gave it to me. i don't make this stuff up, folks. lol..

leaves look the same. they do. if you hold two leaves from the same tree next to eachother, they both look the same. but they AREN'T the same. they have slightly different shapes and their little leaf vane thingies are at different spots on the leaf, you know? leaves LOOK the same, but the AREN'T the same. and eventually they will all fall off of whatever tree they live on, and they will land on the ground. and these very similar leaves will be at spots that are perhaps very close to eachother, but they won't be at the same spot. they might be next to eachother, but they can't both be at the exact same spot in space.

this kinda reminds me of the body of Christ. the world is full of people. people in general look the same. we all have eyes, noses, mouths, hair, arms, legs, hands, feet. some of us share the same interests and talents. but does that mean that we're the same? no. people are most definitely NOT the same. some of us might LOOK the same, but we're NOT the same.... and God has plans for all of us. it says that in Jeremiah. i forget where, but it says that God has plans for us to give us a hope and a future. and God calls us all to do different things for Him, right? and some people will do the same thing. there's naturally gonna be more than one missionary and more than one pastor and more than one of everything. and anyway, just because you're doing something that's extremely similar as your brother or sister in Christ doesn't mean that what you're doing is unimportant. what you're doing is IMPORTANT, kuz God told you to do it. think about the leaves again. the leaves fall off the tree and land really close to eachother! the leaves falling off the tree is kind of like when God calls you to do something, and you go do it. and... like, what if one of the leaves wasn't there? even though they're next to eachother on the ground, they both still cover up a piece of ground. if one of the leaves wasn't THERE, there would be a blank piece of ground, right? and that's no good. just like, it's no good if there's two pastors who are sitting here being jealous of eachother because they're doing the similar things. it doesn't matter that you're both doing the similar things. the point is, God called each of you to do that thing, right? so DO it. if it wouldn't work, God wouldn't have called both of you to where you are, so get over yourself already. and when leaves fall off the tree, they don't sit there going, "ew, you're touching me, go move somewhere else and do your own thing." no. they don't say ANYTHING... mainly because they're inanimite objects. heh. but for real. be like leaves. land where God tells you to land, and don't pick on other people for landing where God told THEM to land. even though you're both doing similar things, you can't do the SAME thing that the other person is doing. like if pastor A tried to be pastor B, it wouldn't work, because pastor A is a different person than pastor B is. pastor A adds his own personal touch to his ministry, and pastor B has a completely different personal touch to add. and neither of these pastors could do what the other person is doing, simply because they're not them. they're themselves.....

i hope that made sense. sorry if it was disjointed or whatever... my family is watching a movie in the other room and the noise is carrying over, which makes it hard to think. slightly.

im gonna go knit. yuns have a great day. :)

peace,-Sarah

This One's For Scarlett: The Wonders of Kingdom Protista

Because God created a multitude of living things, scientists have devised a way of grouping them by similar characteristics. The classification scheme most widely used today is the Five-Kingdom System, which includes the Kingdoms...Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia.

If you remember my post, "Didn't Your Mom Tell You to Wash Your Hands?," you learned about the organisms (the fancy term for living things) in Kingdom Monera. Today, I want to share the glory of God through His creations in Kingdom Protista.

Kingdom Protista, with its numerous and diverse life forms, are split into to Sub kingdoms...Algae and Protozoa. The organisms in Sub kingdom Algae are more like plants (yet, not really plants) and the organisms in Sub kingdom Protozoa are more like animals (yet, not really animals).

The picture below was taken by me with that cool microscope, while I was looking at a drop of pond water.

My opinion is that the strand we are looking at is an example of an organism from Sub kingdom Algae from the Phylum Chlorophyta (a phylum is a smaller grouping of organisms with similar characteristics).

The clear square shaped objects may be examples of organisms known as diatoms, Sub kingdom Algae, Phylum Chrysophyta. Diatoms are responsible for the majority of oxygen in our atmosphere, not trees and other plants as most people think. Another interesting fact about diatoms is that their cell walls (the outside covering of the cell) are made of silicon dioxide, a principle component of glass. The bodies of diatoms stay around long after the actual organisms have died. Large deposits of diatom remains make up what is called diatomaceous earth. Diatomaceous earth, among other things, is used as an abrasive in toothpaste!!! Think of that the next time you brush your teeth!!!!

The upper left corner shows a oval-shaped organism that I believe to be a paramecium...Sub kingdom Protozoa from the Phylum Ciliophora. This guy likes to eat algae, so my bet is that he's heading for lunch in the picture. He moves by hairlike extensions called cilia encircling his single-celled body. You really can't see them in this picture because they are clear and very small.

The next picture shows a prepared slide of Paramecia (plural of paramecium). Notice the pretty colors? That's not natural; these little guys were dyed so we could see them better. Notice the dark areas inside their bodies. They are organelles ("little organs") which help the cell performs the tasks needed in order to live.

This picture shows a paramecium that I saw with the "cool microscope." Several years ago, while teaching biology at Home Scholars, our class saw a paramecium eating algae. It was extremely cool!! We actually could see the green algae being swept into the oral grove (kind of like its mouth) of the paramecium. As it entered the body of the creature, we could still see the green algae as it moved throughout the animal-like cell. My students didn't want to leave when the class period was over; seeing God's creation do what it was created to do was AMAZING!!!! That should spark us to do and be who Jesus created us to be, because it glorifies Him!!!!

The next picture shows another example of algae.

The more we learn through science, the more we can actually see the glory of God through His Creation!!!!! That's why I'm a "Science Gal."

All photos are original.
You have permission to use them,

if you provide a link back to my site.
Also, please be aware that I am not a trained microbiologist.
The interpretations of the pictures listed

are the opinions of "Science Gal"

who holds a nursing degree, not a biology degree!
Thank you! :)

Didn't Your Mom Tell You to Wash Your Hands? The Wonders of Kingdom Monera

Did you ever wonder why you Mom told you to wash your hands before eating? Well, my biology students at New Creation Co-Operative found out the answer to that question this past Tuesday.

One of my awesome students, ZD, volunteered to have the microorganisms (a living thing too small to be seen with the naked eye) on his hands cultured (placing an microorganism on a nutritive plate to encourage its growth). We allowed the growth of the microbial colony for one week and wow...the amazing microscopic world of God's creation.

I'm not a microbiologist, but I'm thinking the pictures you see below are Staphylococcus aureus, the bacteria which live on our skin. This "germ" is the culprit for a myriad of minor skin infections including, but not limited to, pimples, impetigo, boils, cellulitis folliculitis, furuncles, carbuncles, scalded skin syndrome and abscesses to life threatening diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, osteomyelitis endocarditis, Toxic shock syndrome (TSS), and septicemia (Information from Wikipedia).

You may have heard about MRSA or the "Superbug" on the news. This virulent strain of S. aureus, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, resists traditional antibiotics and is difficult to cure concerning those in the medical field. As a former infection control nurse, it was my responsibility to monitor this type of infection and insure proper handling of it to prevent spread to others.

But what can we do to protect ourselves?

#1. Do as your mother said and wash your hands. Hand washing is the most effective way of dealing with this little culprit.

#2. Follow your doctor's instructions in taking antibiotics. Always complete the course of treatment. By only taking enough antibiotics to make you feel better, you risk only decreasing the bacterial population. The bacteria that remain have ways of "learning to" resist the antibiotic in the future.

#3. If it's wet and it's not yours, don't touch it! I learned this humorous statement in nursing school and it has stuck. It was drilled in our heads to WEAR GLOVES in this type of situation.

These beautiful golden spheres are magnified 600x.

This image is without stain.

Magnified 600x with methylene blue stain applied

A huge thank you to Mrs. Knowles for allowing our class to borrow her cool microscope with a camera!!!

Also, thanks New Creation biology class for your co-operation and interest. We're going to have an awesome year learning about God's creation!!!!

We Are a New Creation

"Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

When God instructed me to Home Educate my sons, I was filled with many reservations..."I'm not a teacher," "How do you teach another human being to read?" "Oh, my gosh, ALGEBRA!!!!" But the most heart-stirring question remained..."What about relationships with other kids?" Yet, I trusted God knew what was best for my boys.

God, Most Faithful, responded to all of my reservations and many more of them that have crept up over these last dozen years. One of His provisions has been making available New Creation Homeschool Co-operative.

A co-operative wonderfully fills the needs about which I cried out to the Lord. I can use my background in the life sciences to teach general science and biology, and my sons benefit from taking classes from other moms who excel in subjects such as, ALGEBRA!!!! But a co-op mostly fills the deepest desire I had for my sons...Christian friendships.

Thank you, God, for calling, empowering and providing for everything we needed. You receive all the glory for these last 12 years!!!

The picture above shows myself and two of my New Creation general science students. I love to speak of the glory of God's creation through science, and I love that I am able to form relationships with awesome, godly students!!!

If you are interested in what New Creation has to offer, you are gladly invited to attend our Open House on March 18th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at South Mountain Church in Dillsburg.

Of Bread Baking and Microscopes

A few days ago, I was taking freshly baked whole wheat bread out of the oven as Teddy Bear (our neighbor) and Fire were eating lunch. Teddy Bear remarked how good the bread smelled. I told him it would be cooled enough to try it out after lunch.

The bread had cooled sufficiently in time for dessert, and as I grabbed for my electric knife, my finger scraped the blade cutting it in four places. "Ouch", I cried, as I showed the boys blood dripping from my finger.

I thought, "Why waste all this good blood...let's look at it under the microscope." Teddy Bear and Fire were excited at the thought. As we ran downstairs, I tried not to drip the blood on the floor. The boys grabbed the microscope, slides, and cover slips. I then demonstrated how to prepare a wet mount slide.

We were amazed at the tiny little disk-shaped cells coursing through channels of invisible fluid (plasma). The specimen showed cells upon cells proving to us that the tiny microscopic world definitely does have three dimensions.

I then prepared another slide with much less blood. By that time, the blood had begun to clot. It was interesting to note the differences between the first and second slides. (Who says learning has to be boring, anyway?)

Consecrated came downstairs in the midst of all of this unplanned excitement. He encouraged me to take care of my cut, which by that time had already clotted off.

Anyway, Teddy Bear finally did get his bread and he said it was yummy!!!