Book Study: Out of the Dust Week 3

Week 3- Spring 1934 and Summer 1934

Last week we introduced an art project, self-portraits.  In our hour long class, many students were only able to make it through the drawing of the face, so we  will continue working on this project this week at the end of class.

Review assigned Out of the Dust Study Guide pages from Progeny Press.  

This was a really tough week for readers.  Learning of the devastating accident Billie Jo's family experienced created a heaviness for the class.  I had one student tell me while her mom was reading, she began to cry.  Crying is a good thing.  As readers we're grieving along with the character.  In a sense, we've come to know and have grown attached to Billie Jo.  We've gotten a sense of the hardships she experienced with her family in Oklahoma during the 1930's.  It was difficult to read of yet another difficult time for this young girl.

Through reading a chapter like this the door is opened for discussion on dealing with unexpected accidents, death, and grief.  As an additional activity, students may research the grieving process more thoroughly.  This discussion also invites readers to examine the way the different characters handled the situation:  Billie Jo, her dad, the ladies who came to help.

Because of the heaviness of this week, I decided to make something that would lighten the mood a bit before students left the class.

Billie Jo talks of apples just about every week.  This week we learned of her mother's apple trees failing due to the harsh dust storms and weather.  Since it is apple season, I made Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze  (recipe following) and gave each student a copy of the recipe.  

The Bible verses from this week covered everything from speaking words of encouragement to a Biblical view on conservationism and environmentalism.  They are as follows:

Bible Verses for Out of the Dust Spring and Summer 1934

Proverbs 11:9

 ⁹ With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors,
   but through knowledge the righteous escape.


Proverbs 12:25
 ²⁵ Anxiety weighs down the heart,
   but a kind word cheers it up.


Proverbs 16:24
 ²⁴ Gracious words are a honeycomb,
   sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.


Proverbs 17:9
 ⁹ Whoever would foster love covers over an offense,
   but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.


Proverbs 17:22
 ²² A cheerful heart is good medicine,
   but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.


Genesis 1:28-30 

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
    ²⁹ Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Psalm 8:6-8

⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
   you put everything under their^[a] feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
   and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
   and the fish in the sea,
   all that swim the paths of the seas.

Leviticus 25:1-7

The Sabbath Year

 ¹ The LORD said to Moses at Mount Sinai, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. ³ For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. ⁴ But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. ⁵ Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. ⁶ Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, ⁷ as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

Leviticus 26:34

³⁴ Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.


2 Chronicles 36:21

²¹ The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.

Matthew 18:21-22

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

 ²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

 ²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[a]


Mark 11:25

²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Colossians 3:13
¹³


Matthew 7:1-4
¹ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
   ³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?


Ecclesiastes 9:11
 ¹¹ I have seen something else under the sun:
   The race is not to the swift
   or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
   or wealth to the brilliant
   or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.


Luke 13:1-5

Repent or Perish

 ¹ Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ² Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze
Makes 9 X 13 Cake

Apple Cake Ingredients:


3 cups all purpose flour
2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups finely chopped apples
1/2-1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Brown Sugar Glaze:

1 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoon heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 9 X 13 rectangular pan  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Stir with a whisk to mix everything together.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light in color and foamy.  Add the oil and vanilla and mix well.

Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir until flour disappears.  Do not over mix.  Add apples and nuts (if using).

Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

After removing cake from oven, make glaze.

Brown Sugar Glaze

Combine brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and heavy cream in saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook 3-5 minutes.

Spoon hot glaze over the hot-from-the-oven cake.  Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving.