"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men."

  ~St. Francis of Assisi

As you know, we've been working with St. Francis lately.  I have to say, I think he was just plain awesome.  A 12th/13th century version of the modern day hippie that is ME.   He loved God.  He loved animals.  He loved nature.  He loved peace.  He was honest and good.  He did not value worldly things.  He taught us to give thanks to God, and God alone for all that He has given us.  I think St. Francis rocked!  

So, the past two weeks our stories relating to St. Francis have had to do with birds.  Last week it was the story of how St. Francis talked to the birds.  He told them to be thankful to God because God had given them so much ~ feathers to keep them warm, free food all around, wings to fly, etc.  He told them to sing songs of praise to God each day, wherever they were.  And, as you know, they do.

This week we are working with the story of St. Francis and the proud crow.  St. Francis helped the crow to learn about how jealousy and envy do not serve us well.  The sparrow in the story taught the crow about love and the crow learned to appreciate the freedom God gave him in the way that he was marvelously made.

In honor of our Sisters, the birds, the girls and I made bird feeders today and hung them around our yard.  We'll see if we have any visitors ... and, if we can hear them singing their songs of praise!

Happy homeschooling!