Down on the Farm

Because I have recently been reading books like Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream and Saving Levi: Left to Die, Destined to Live, my heart and my mind are simply too full for my limited abilities of expression so I'm going to prattle on about farm life for a few moments.

It's lambing season here. We have 15 lambs fewer than 48 hours old with approximately 35 more ewes to give birth this week. Have you heard about the anticipated 10-16 inches of snow, below -0- temperatures, and biting winds we're expecting here in the Midwest in the next couple days? Hmmmm, wonder how that will work out.

One of the lambs is a triplet who got separated from his momma (by another ewe with over-zealous maternal instincts) and missed his chance to be claimed and nursed by her, so we are feeding him with a bottle.
Easton and Kiana are, of course, elated to nurse another baby animal and have dubbed this lamb "Snuggle." They love the way he eagerly sucks on their fingers and butts at them looking for milk.
I have to admit he IS adorable and his plaintive bleats effectively stir my sympathy. I might, just possibly, occasionally allow him to come into the house from his home on the back porch.
He's so stinking cute and just clomps along after me, nursing on my pant leg. I know, major pushover here.

And in other farm news, Jockey turned two last week and today was his last day of life.

Jockey
January 22, 2009-January 31, 2011
affectionately known as "Jerky" (BEEF jerky, that is!)

And I am such a bad blogger and family historian that I don't have a recent picture of him. Perhaps I can redeem this oversight, however--next week I'll show you the inside of my freezer!

In the Interests of Full Disclosure

After posting the fun highlights of our week educating our children at home, I remembered the most difficult aspect of the week and thought I should share/record it as well.

In short, I would have to say:
Math + Destry + Mom = Frustration

I sometimes think one of the above factors. . .(hmmm, what is the right word for the individual components of a mathematical equation? I think factors apply when multiplying. . .anyway. . .) needs to be removed in order to change the outcome. Mom and Destry are fine with other subjects, Mom is fine with math, but combine the three and things get complicated! We can't remove math from our education, so maybe it's Mom who's the problem. Volunteer teacher anyone??

I know one aspect of the problem is that I understand it almost intuitively and that perhaps makes me not good at teaching it. It seems obvious to me. And I know how frustrating that is as a student to have a teacher who is impatient with what seems obvious to them--that was my geometry teacher in high school. I never felt dumber than when in that class. I don't want to do that to him.

Another aspect of the problem is that my 13-year-old Destry tends to just "do his work." He is quite talented and can do many things satisfactorily without a lot of effort. He tends to 'get' math concepts well enough to quickly (and accurately) complete the worksheet. But he doesn't make that extra effort to *learn* the concept, to internalize it, and be able to apply it later when it shows up in a slightly different format. This came back to bite us this week in his algebra lesson. I don't want to think about how many hours we spent on the following problem:

Use graphs of inequalities to make inventory decisions. Tasty Water, Inc. sells two models of water purifiers. Because demand for model A is high, at least twice as many of model A are stocked as model B. One model A costs the store $200, and a model B costs the store $500. Management policy states that no more than $10,000 worth of the two models should be in inventory at any time. Also, at least five of model A and two of model B should be in stock at all times.

Write four inequalities that describe the inventory requirements.
Graph all four inequalities, using a different color for each.
From the diagram, give one legitimate solution for the numbers of A and B to purchase.

He has been learning about slope and the slope-intercept formula recently and had previously learned (supposedly!) graphing in general and inequalities. We had to back way up to review these things, which he knew how to do in the basic exercises, but couldn't apply when they were presented differently, as in the above program.

This is the most common area for us to butt heads--probably once a month, maybe twice. Any tips, y'all? I've considered switching programs, I've considered going back to Pre-Algebra in a different curriculum. . .but then I just keep going. On the one hand I figure if we do math roughly 20 days a month and have problems only 2 days at the most, we're still at 90% and that's not so terrible. . . :)

I was blessed in the middle of our working on this problem to flip the page of my perpetual calendar quoting from Stormie's "Power of a Praying Parent" and this was my prayer for the day: "Lord, I submit myself to You. I realize that parenting a child in the way You would have me to is beyond my human abilities. I know I need You to help me. I want to partner with You and partake of Your gifts of wisdom, discernment, revelation, and guidance." That was just what I needed!

Fun With All Ages

It's been a full week! There is no way I'm going to write a long enough post to address all that we accomplished this week (yes, you may thank me for that!) and in spite of Mama getting strep throat. Most of this post will focus on some fun preschool activities with the little ones, but I first simply must highlight one of our days from our continued reading of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

This particular chapter was called "Sexual Morality" and addressed the virtue of chastity--a particularly interesting chapter to read with my teenagers. I think Lewis did a wonderful job with this subject, as he does with so many. We get a kick out of his wry sense of humor and can almost hear him talking with an accent as we read the book aloud. He does such a good job presenting biblical principles and then addressing them from a common sense, logic-driven perspective. I simply don't see how anyone could argue (coherently, at least) with much of what he says.

The chapter is rich, addressing the difference between modesty and chastity, the theory that if man had never fallen, sexual pleasure would actually have been greater, faulty views towards sex, and the unequivocal statement that "surrender to all our desires obviously leads to impotence, disease, jealousies, lies, concealment, and everything that is the reverse of health, good humor, and frankness" (100). We had a delightful discussion about the marriage bed being honorable and God's desire for the BEST for us.

These kids are so much fun to discuss this book with! At the conclusion of the chapter, Destry volunteered that it had made him think of a scene from Pilgrim's Progress so he recounted the story of the two children, Passion and Patience. Both were in a room on chairs, but Passion was discontent and Patience was quiet. Passion received a bag of toys (or treasure) and laughed at Patience who continued to sit quietly. But Passion's toys/treasure were soon broken and ruined and Patience would later receive a better treasure which would never wear out. "He therefore that hath his portion first, must needs have a time to spend it; but he that hath his portion last, must have it lastingly." So Christian perceived "'tis not best to covet things that are now, but to wait for things to come."

What insight for him to apply that parable to this subject!! Giving into desires outside of God's perfect plan results in the cheapening of that treasure and robs us of the beauty and lasting treasure God wants for us. Similarly, Briana shared that it made her think of the biblical parable of the Prodigal Son who wanted his inheritance before it was time and squandered it, thus missing out on what would have been best for him in the long run. I'm loving this book discussion and hearing my children's thoughts.

We're doing a different book study with the little ones. We have long been fans of The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, and we have a surplus of snow, so it seemed a fun book to center preschool activities around this week. Just as the main character, Peter, walks in the snow with his toes pointing out and his toes pointing in, Easton and Kiana got to step in blue paint, then leave their own footprints. They loved this activity, of course, and we had to do it several times.

I think washing their feet in the tub full of soapy water at the end of the butcher paper might have been their favorite part!We also did a fun worksheet in which they circled the pictures of things that melt. Kiana first circled the things that melt, but was having so much fun circling, she went back to circle all the pictures, which reeeally bothered big brother Easton! He got rather excited and informed me that mittens and apples and bananas don't melt and SHE'S CIRCLING THEM! Oh the difficulties of being a four-year-old with a three-year-old sister.
Other than bringing a snowball inside to put in the coat pocket to see if it would melt like Peter's did, I think mimicking Keats' art style was my favorite project. We used construction paper and chalks to recreate her style and even the big kids had to get involved in the fun!
I helped Easton cut out rectangles and triangles, then he glued them down and topped them with white construction paper "snow". Destry had the most fun, I think, with his snowmobile and rider flying over snow-covered hills.
We read several other books about snow and animals in the snow, and I have more activities we'll do next week. But no reading of 'The Snowy Day' is complete without going outside to make your own footprints, snow angels, snowmen, and snowballs.

I bet Peter wishes he had a big brother to pull him around on a sled!! :)

Mom to Mom--Peace Now, Pay Later

I can't resist playing along. Missy says "I want your mom to mom tips--the things that you have found that make your life go a little easier."

So here it is, folks, my prime tips for mothers of preschoolers. When you are in survival mode, allow the messes (and pray no one stops by to catch this embarrassing moment). Survival mode is defined as any time that you just need the kids to play and leave you alone for a while. This might happen when the weather is nasty and they can't go outside, when you aren't feeling well, when you simply MUST get some homeschool project completed with the older kids. . . or maybe even when you realize the new year is three weeks old and you have completed only two books, both of which were started LAST year and you are simply dying to read a book.
For fun.
Ahem.

These activities keep little ones entertained for a really. long. time. You will have a mess to clean up afterward, but 10 minutes of clean up weighed against an hour (or so!) of peaceful, imaginative play. . .totally worth it!

1. Tell them they can play in your shoes. Turn them loose in your closet and let them wear your tennis shoes, your high heels, your flip flops, and your husband's cowboy boots. Nothing is off limits. You might even throw in some belts, scarves, and hats for good measure!2. Straws. I know, weird huh? But a package of straws is less than two bucks. Give them to the kids on the kitchen floor and they are limited only by their imaginations. My kids build towers, houses, roads. . .then they bring in their cars and trains and little people and create an entire city. Big mess, but lots of fun.
3. I have two Pampered Chef Tool Turnabouts (because I used to sell the products) and they are filled with cooking utensils. Set these on the kitchen floor with aprons with pockets and a couple mixing bowls and let the kids go to town. To extend the fun, fill the kitchen sink with soapy water and ask them to wash them when they're finished. This motivates them pick up the utensils (which just MIGHT get strung all over the house!) but you'll have to mop the floor when you're done. Fair trade off!
4. Continuing along the water theme, anything with water is a guaranteed hit. Fill the bathroom sink with water, gather several different items, and encourage a little 'sink or float' science experiment. A couple towels to clean up the bathroom floor for later, and you're good! Or have them wash all their play dishes, or give them a pitcher and glasses or the stacking cups. . .or just let them take a bath!!! Water is always both entertaining and messy.
5. Suggest a grocery shopping adventure--and let them use all the food in your pantry to put in their shopping carts!!
6. Some day when you notice your refrigerator is depressingly close to empty, tell the children you need them to clean it for you. Tell them they get to take everything out (and put it all over the counters and/or floor), give them a couple rags and spray bottles filled with water, and let them go to town. The refrigerator will get surprisingly clean and they will be happily entertained.
7. My husband empties his pockets of change into a coffee can every evening. Every once in awhile I let the little ones 'count money'. They put the money into banks (we have one that sorts the coin into the appropriate column) or into their pockets or purses or backpacks. . .or make piles of it or play store. . .8. A less messy idea is to put in an exercise video--hey, SOMEone might as well be using it! Easton and Kiana just love to 'walk away the pounds' with their stretchy bands.
Now those of you who know me in real life know why I don't like unannounced visitors! Just imagine me on the couch with a Pepsi and a good book while water is being splashed all over the floor or our shoes are scattered all over the house or my pantry is emptied onto the kitchen floor! Who wants to get caught like that??

But here's a caution to apply with these tips: use them sparingly. It should take an entire year to use this list--they are for special occasions only. If you use them too much, they will lose their guaranteed entertainment factor. I'm just warning you--don't use them all at once or you'll regret it and I've got nothin' else to offer. . .

What To Do?

I've been in a rut with Kiana's hair lately and haven't tried any new styles. There's a little girl on a baby Einstein movie we have, however, who has fun parts all over her head with braids brightly ornamented. Kiana said she wanted her hair 'like that girl's' so we decided to try something a little different.
I'm not very good at making creative geometric parts, so I just started making random parts all over her head. I think it turned out pretty cute--I was pleasantly surprised! She loves the pink and white star beads (she picked out the beads she wanted) from snapaholics, and we put pink and white heart hair clips in the bottom. I've been trying to get away from the bands wrapped around a bead at the bottom of a braid because I'm afraid it's breaking the ends of her hair, but these clips keep sliding out. They are absolutely adorable, but it's not my idea of a good time to keep looking for them when my active three year old is bouncing them out of her hair and then have to put them back in. So, we'll see if I use them next time or not. . .

I don't know if anyone else has those moment with their child that they can't get a good picture. . .here is the best I could get as she was being a little TOO accommodating with a big, cheesy grin. It's a really cute little style on her anyway, and took less than an hour from start to finish. I think we'll try it again!

No Other Name

I keep thinking about the quotes from Aristotle and Lewis/Plato regarding a 'right education', and then I came across this quote written by Adam Clarke in the early 1800s as a commentary on Deuteronomy6:25. There is a lot of depth in this, and I appreciate Anne's discussion of the many thoughts woven throughout the quote and eagerly anticipate her continued discussion.

A most injurious and destructive maxim has lately been advanced by a few individuals, which it is to be hoped is disowned by the class of Christians to which they belong, though the authors affect to be thought Christians, and rational ones, too; the sum of the maxim is this: “Children ought not to be taught religion for fear of having their minds biased to some particular creed, but they should be left to themselves till they are capable of making a choice, and choose to make one.” This maxim is in flat opposition to the command of God, and those who teach it show how little they are affected by the religion they profess. If they felt it to be good for any thing, they would certainly wish their children to possess it; but they do not teach religion to their children, because they feel it to be of no use to themselves. Now the Christian religion properly applied saves the soul, and fills the heart with love to God and man; for the love of God is shed abroad in the heart of a genuine believer, by the Holy Ghost given to him. These persons have no such love, because they have not the religion that inspires it; and the spurious religion which admits of the maxim above mentioned, is not the religion of God, and consequently better untaught than taught. But what can be said to those parents who, possessing a better faith, equally neglect the instruction of their children in the things of God! They are highly criminal; and if their children perish through neglect, which is very probable, what a dreadful account must they give in the great day! Parents! hear what the Lord saith unto you: Ye shall diligently teach your children that there is one Lord, Jehovah, Elohim; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: and that they must love him with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might. And as children are heedless, apt to forget, liable to be carried away by sensible things, repeat and re-repeat the instruction, and add line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, carefully studying time, place, and circumstances, that your labor be not in vain: show it in its amiableness, excite attention by exciting interest; show how good, how useful, how blessed, how ennobling, how glorious it is. Whet these things on their hearts till the keenest edge is raised on the strongest desire, till they can say, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth I desire besides thee!”

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I find it particularly interesting that this idea of not teaching "religion" to our children, but rather letting them choose for themselves is an old idea--at least a couple hundred years old. And here I figured it was a relatively new concept.

I was also especially struck by his assertion that when we subscribe to this theory, we are revealing our lack of commitment to our own religion. If we don't really value christianity, if we find Christ's death and resurrection to be of little use in our own lives, we certainly won't deem it urgent to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We will 'leave our children alone' which results in a mother's shame (Proverbs 29:15). We will allow their appetites to be shaped by the world with no balancing influence if we think the choice doesn't matter--that all options are equally valid--and all roads lead to HOME.

Acts 4: 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Plugging Along

One bad thing about homeschooling is we don't take snow days. I figure we might as well get a bunch of work done when the weather isn't fit for anything else, but it's a little difficult as facebook lets me know about all those lucky people getting the day off.

But the good thing about homeschooling is we take "beautiful weather" days!! :) So we plugged along through this week thinking about those gorgeous couple days we'll get the end of March when we are really tired of doing school when we'll leave the books on the shelves and go outside!!

I'm afraid we didn't have a very exciting week. We got lots accomplished (we even logged 31 hours if you count the three-hour viewing of Return of the King at the completion of our Lord of the Rings unit!) but it wasn't a lot of fun stuff that I took pictures of. I was very happy with our final exam over the Lord of the Rings and the kids earned grades of 96% and 85%. Next week they'll finish polishing their essays and deliver a speech and it will all be over. They are already talking about diving back into the trilogy to read it "just for fun". I'm glad I didn't kill their enjoyment with the endless vocabulary words, literary terms, discussion, essays and tests! I would go on and on again about how thrilled I was with this curriculum, but I see the eyes starting to roll already as I've gushed quite enough.

I am excited about Briana's quilting class and the fact that she finished the top of her first quilt! I think it is simply beautiful, and she's really happy with it too. It's a nine patch baby quilt and she is really excited to learn the quilting process. I don't sew (at all!) but I love that she has discovered and pursued her own interest in these crafts like sewing and knitting.

The big activity for the little ones this week was crafts, crafts, and more crafts! I stocked up on pom pom balls, feathers, googly eyes and all sorts of fun stuff to get their creative juices flowing. We've been cutting and gluing and painting like nobody's business. Easton wants to do crafts every day.
My favorite part is listening to their creative explanations and descriptions of what they've made. Each piece of artwork is also designated for special people in their lives (if I ever get around to mailing them!)
Easton even ventured outside with spray bottles filled with water and food coloring to make designs in the snow.
I was a little hesitant about buying the Design & Drill set as I thought it was rather pricey, but I just had a feeling it would see lots of use from our three little ones. I now don't regret a penny of that purchase.
Easton especially loves to play with it and it's a great toy to keep him productively entertained while I'm working with the older kids. He just needs a little help here and there, and was very proud of the flag he made this week.
His new chore is to fill the humidifier. We have found this especially necessary for Kiana and Tyrell's skin, and it seems to help everyone with winter cold symptoms. I love his diligence in carefully filling it every morning. He thinks he is really big stuff!

Feast or Famine

I'm really more of a hamburger girl.

My husband and I have observed that his family when he was growing up either had beans or steak. When things were going well financially, they ate steak and raised their standard of living. When things weren't going so great, they ate beans and used sandpaper toilet paper. My family, in contrast, pretty much had hamburger (and bought Charmin--the important things in life, ya know!).

Our standard of living was consistent regardless of the income. If there was extra money, instead of blowing it, it was tucked away for a rainy day. When things got tight, the ant was able to eat hamburger off what had been stored up (Proverbs 6:6-8; 30:24-25).

That lifestyle just makes sense to me now. Financially, one can make hamburger work.

But I think it's interesting how often there are times of feast or famine in other areas of life. When one lives close to the land, it's easier to be in tune with the seasons. It seems we either have 10 dozen eggs in our refrigerator or we're out of eggs (right now we're in the famine season). We either have so much milk I'm making yogurt and cheeses to make jars available and giving butter away to friends and family to make room in my freezer, or the cow is dried up (again, we're in the famine season). We either have cucumbers and peppers coming out of our ears (okay, out of the garden!) or I stand in the produce aisle trying to decide if I really want to pay 89 cents for ONE cucumber or if we can just do without it.

We are either experiencing wonderful health and blessing in our immediate and extended families or everyone is sick or experiencing strife or serious trials and disappointments. We are either so busy we never have a night home together as a family or we have nothing going on and almost get bored with staying home night after night. We either have so many friends and so many relationships to maintain that we feel like a juggling act or we feel like we have no friends and don't even know who to call--and no one calls us. We either have so many opportunities for spiritual food that we can't decide which to take advantage of, or we feel dry and starving in a desert. We are either filled with joy and happiness and exuberance or we're down in the dumps and in tears.

My husband is really a pretty even-keeled man. He is steady and calm and doesn't get worked up about much. As someone who appreciates the reliability (security?) of hamburger, I sometimes envy his consistent temperament--especially when my highs can be really high and my lows can be really low.

Yet at other times I appreciate my wider scale of emotions. When I am silly and happy and (let's face it) loud (!) I am really, really happy and having a ton of fun. And when I am sad and mopey and discouraged--ugh, I'm really down. But the truth is, my 'down times' really make me appreciate the fun I have at other times. When I have the flu or a sore throat, all I can think about is how much I appreciate my normally healthy constitution. I wonder, if I felt the same all the time, would I appreciate it? Or does the very existence of sadness, illness, and want give us the opportunity to fully appreciate and value happiness, health, and plenty?

Perhaps beans make the steak taste even better! Or perhaps hamburger is more versatile than the extremes and we should take better advantage of its flexibility by managing our finances, emotions, health, and time more effectively. What do you think?

Growing Pains

There are so many wonderful lessons from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but the end has been especially poignant for me. I think it's because I just keep thinking of growth and the inevitable growing pains that accompany spiritual growth.

In summary of the storyline, Frodo starts out as a normal little hobbit living his life in the Shire, far removed from the big and important goings on of Middle Earth. Throughout the trilogy, however, he is forced out of his comfort zone and is instrumental in the battle between good and evil which directly affects every individual in Middle Earth, even as many are so consumed with their own lives they don't even realize a battle is being waged.

Is it possible we all have our own little Frodo moments? Might we all play some role in the spiritual battles if we allow ourselves to be pushed out of our comfort zones? Might we all experience incredible growth we could never have imagined. . .and suffer growing pains in the process?

Our choice is to accept the trials, trust in God, and allow the growth while looking for the blessings that come through trials. . .or to rebel at the trials. . .or complain and whine through the trials. . .or avoid and ignore the trials leaving them to someone else to endure. . .or give in to the trials and allow them to overcome us. . .or grow bitter. . .or rejoice and gain perseverence and wisdom. . .

Once we've experienced growth and trials and wounds, we are changed. We simply cannot go back to being who we used to be. We might not fit in with the world around us, and our sacrifices might not be recognized. It might seem easier to stay the same, but it's never better--neither for us nor for others.

"There is no real going back. Though I may come to the Shire, it will not seem the same; for I shall not be the same. I am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden. Where shall I find rest?"--Frodo (268)

"I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them," said Frodo. (309)

We tend to be so consumed with ourselves and our small little worlds we don't even know what is going on in the big picture. There might be a huge spiritual battle going on that will affect millions--indeed, even ourselves in ways we can't imagine--but we don't know or care because we are too worried about some mundane inconvenience in our lives. We are so consumed with our physical world that we frequently can't even conceive of the spiritual world--and it might just be pointless for someone to try to make us see or understand. I can't imagine how Gandalf and Frodo must have felt as they returned home to Butterbur and his litany of complaints over the little annoyances he had experienced while they faced worse than death. They didn't even try to make him understand because he simply could not step out of his own world and selfishness in order to begin to relate to their experiences. Indeed, the only way he and his fellow residents of Bree had any interest in Frodo's story was in how it related to them. How often are we just like the citizens of Bree?

Butterbur listed all the troubles they've had and said "It's been very disturbing, if you understand me."

"I expect it has," said Gandalf. "Nearly all lands have been disturbed these days, very disturbed. But cheer up, Barliman! You have been on the edge of very great troubles, and I am only glad to hear that you have not been deeper in."

"I should have warned you before that all's not well in the Shire neither. . .Funny goings on, they say. But one thing drives out another, and I was full of my own troubles," said Butterbur.

(Frodo) promised to deal with the amazing events at Bree, and so give a bit of interest to a book that appeared likely to treat mostly of the remote and less important affairs 'away south'. (pp 273-274)

So what is our reality? We have to choose whether our citizenship is in heaven or if it is here on earth. We have to live as if we are spiritual beings temporarily inhabiting earth, or live as if we are earthly beings who may or may not have a spiritual destiny. Are we moms or teachers or nurses or businesspeople who happen to be christians, or are we christians who happen to spend our time serving as moms or teachers or nurses or businesspeople? What a perspective to see the mundane details of life as the time of sleep and the service to God as the only time we are truly awake and living!

(Upon returning to the Shire after the life-changing battle, Frodo's loyal companion observes)
"We have left all the rest behind, one after another. It seems almost like a dream that has slowly faded," said Merry.
"Not to me," said Frodo. "To me it feels more like falling asleep again." (276)

And as they find their countrymen enslaved by the residue of evil (even though evil has been soundly defeated by good--death, you see has been swallowed up in victory, all enemies have been put under His feet--is this sounding familiar to anyone??) Merry and Frodo and company take on the task of rousing their fellow Hobbits to throw off the chains of sin and complacency and claim that victory which has been won for them.

"Raise the Shire!" said Merry. "Now! Wake all our people! They hate all this, you can see. . .But Shire-folk have been so comfortable so long they don't know what to do" (286).

A Fresh Perspective

I love how a comment can make me look at a concept in a fresh new way.

"If we think about the fruit of the Spirit revealing the presence of God in our lives, wouldn't it also be true that if the opposites are evident, we are quenching the Spirit and not allowing God to work in our lives?" asked a sister in our Bible study yesterday.

This prompted a fresh examination of Galatians chapter five for me in my Bible study today. I reviewed the fruit of the Spirit, considered the opposites, and examined myself. I thought someone else might also benefit from this fresh perspective that has helped me as we strive to be led by the Spirit and to walk by the Spirit.

LOVE

• hatefulness, criticism, indifference, selfishness, jealousy
  

JOY

• sadness, unhappiness, discouragement, discontentment
  

PEACE

• anxiety, stress, worry, fearful or strife, dissension

PATIENCE

• impatience, irritation, frustration
  

KINDNESS

• meanness, cruelty, inconsideration, insensitivity

GOODNESS

• evil, association with things/people of bad reputation, gaining pleasure from sin (of self, others or a portrayal of sin), corruption, immorality
  

FAITHFULNESS

• unfaithfulness, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, instability, putting something before God
  

GENTLENESS

• rough, harsh, inconsiderate, prideful, unmerciful
  

SELF-CONTROL

• overindulgence, unbridled tongue, temper tantrums, debt-ridden, undisciplined, rash
  

First Week Back to School

I'm glad it's Friday night. It was a good week, but I was out of shape. During our break the schedule had been thrown out the window and things had gotten a little loose, so we were feeling it. And while it was good to get back into a routine and the week went well, I am absolutely wiped out!



We finished the Lord of the Rings series this week (because Briana and Destry kept doing it through our break since they couldn't wait to see what happened!), which was wonderful because the book has a great ending and we've been working on this literature unit for five months, but it was also sad because, well, it's over! The kids are completing one last essay for the study, and we have some supplemental studies to do next week, and then we will take the final exam. It's been a fantastic study. The books are so rich and Tolkien's writing is so masterful we marveled at some of the timeless and deep themes sprinkled throughout the story. I may have to share a few quotes from the end that especially affected me in another post.

We had some fun playing an art appreciation game this week which we like because we can all play together. Easton and Kiana are learning to look for some of the details in the paintings as they match the small painting to the pictures on their "Bingo" card while Briana and Destry are learning the artists and some of their trademark techniques.Art appreciation is one of those things I tend to drop when the day gets long or I get tired, so we played it right after Bible study and math Monday morning. I really need to take the time to do a little each day because all the kids love it. The problem, however, is we have a hard time keeping it to a small time slot. Once we start art, they want to let it take over the day.
For example, while Briana and Destry moved on from art appreciation to grammar, Easton and Kiana decided to paint pictures. One of Kiana's paintings, according to her, was inspired by a 19th Century American painting Watermelon on a Plate.Another highlight from our week was our overview of Chile and Bolivia in the culture studies portion of our Spanish curriculum. We made empanadas de queso while learning about Chile and we pronounced them good!
I was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to make. The kids just mixed the ingredients to make a dough, rolled the dough into strips, and placed little chunks of cheese along half of the strip.
Then they folded the strip onto itself and cut into small pieces and pressed the sides of the dough together.They cooked very quickly in hot grease, and we all enjoyed them for lunch along with burritos.
I think my very favorite part of this week has been our continued reading and discussion of Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. It has been so much fun to discuss morality and its various levels and sources. I love hearing their insights and thrill at their quick grasp of his analogies and their application of the principles both to our immediate lives and to our study of ancient Rome. I just can't express the joy I feel listening to them as inwardly my heart sings "This is it!! This is why I do this day after day and year after year!" I feel like dancing and shouting and embracing them while giving them gold stars each time they say something. Instead I sit on the couch as calmly as I can, asking them questions, encouraging them to flesh out their thoughts--but they know the sparkle in my eyes for what it is, and after we come to a particularly outstanding realization, we all share conspiratorial grins with the fun of it.

Tyrell's highlight of the week was learning to sit up all by himself. He sits there for quite some time before falling, but I frequently still put pillow around him to catch him when he falls. He's pretty proud of himself when he sits up and has a whole new view of the world around him.
As usual, the little ones spent hours this week reading books. I read to them, Briana and Destry read to them, they examine books individually. . .or Easton assumes his role of 'big brother' to read/quote a book to Kiana and Tyrell.
There you have it, our first week back to school! Is it time for another break yet? I don't feel quite 'back into the routine' yet. Maybe by Monday. . .

Shocked and Appalled

You should have seen my face.

I imagine my eyes looked like I was insane! My eyebrows surely disappeared into my hairline. And I had to make a conscious effort to bring my jaw back to its normal position.

In the sense of "the misuse or desecration of anything regarded as worthy of extreme respect", it was sacrilege.

Does the modern reader truly have no discernment? Must we really 'dumb down' everything of value?

I almost had a fit right there in the aisle of Hastings. I was almost speechless. I still am.

Have I mentioned that Little Women makes my list of all-time favorite books? Did I ever tell you I read it at least once a year from the time I first read it until I graduated from high school?

This has been one of my favorite books to read with my daughter. This is one of those books that leads the reader to affect the speech of the characters. The closeness of family, the themes of sacrifice and work ethic, and the value of people more than materialism are just a few of the gems from this book. This book beautifully portrays the simplicity and innocence of days gone by, when children used their imaginations in forming clubs, writing newspapers, and writing and performing plays.

The days when people didn't change the cover of a book to make it more 'relevant' or 'appealing'.

Hmmm, making the outside conform to what the world likes and expects. . .a cover which doesn't accurately reflect what is on the inside. . .where could we go with this?

Humility: Special Focus

The next couple chapters of Humility: True Greatness did a little jig on my toes--and I think it was wearing wooden clogs! Applying the tips to the beginning and ending of my days has been very helpful to me and has made me more conscious of a constant need to cultivate humility. But Mahaney takes us even deeper in the upcoming applications.

First, he suggests doing special studies on a few specific studies to cultivate humility and weaken pride.

• Study the attributes of God, such as infinite, omnipresent, self-existent and self-sufficient--those attributes which we simply do not possess. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it" (Psalm 139:6) will be our involuntary response the more we begin to know God.
• Study grace and sin. Some of Mahaney's comments about these topics have a Calvinistic tone, but the study itself is a sound suggestion. When we begin to understand grace, it leaves "no room for self-congratulation, no room for self-glorification" (90) and the effect will be humility. Similarly, a study of sin helps us realize where we have fallen short of God's glory and makes us more aware of its presence in our lives. "Hebrews 3:13 tells us to guard against being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. . . and the ultimate effect from such hardening by sin is that grace, for the Christian, is no longer amazing" (93). Certainly a study of sin and sober self-examination will produce humility.
• Mahaney also suggests a couple of lighter remedies to pride: playing golf and laughing often, especially at oneself.

Once we have completed the above-mentioned studies, Mahaney suggests we begin looking at others as a way of cultivating humility. But it's not the way you might at first think. He suggests we look at others with the intention of identifying evidences of grace in their lives--"actively looking for ways that God is at work in the lives of other people" (98).

I think we all have to admit it's easier to see faults, to criticize, and to be pessimistic when we look at others. The sad truth is that this tendency is a manifestation of pride--of self-exaltation. It's horribly ugly and it's simply wrong. And I am oh, so guilty!

To top it off, he begins with the example of "identifying evidences of grace in others who need adjustment" (100) and his perfect example is the church at Corinth. I recently read the first letter to the Corinthians, and do you know what was going on there? There was immorality and tolerance of it. There were divisions and false teachings and doctrinal error and lawsuits. They were rebellious against Paul's apostolic authority and their worship was actually detrimental (not for the better but for the worse)! Yet Paul started the letter with thanksgiving for them and the grace God had given them. There are others it would just be a lot easier to detect fruit in, do you hear what I'm saying?!

So, in order to identify evidences of grace, he says to look for the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and the gifts of the Spirit (Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4:11, I Peter 4:11) in the lives of those around us and point it out to them. "We will motivate others by grace when we perceive where and how He is at work in their lives and humbly let them know" (104). I thought this was an outstanding point, and am really motivated to purposefully LOOK for what God is doing in the lives of my family and friends and church family. Not to build them up with pride, but to help them continue on and not grow weary in doing good. Sometimes we are oblivious to the ways God is working in us and see only our weaknesses.

"And in the process, we'll be cultivating authentic humility--a heart more concerned with God's glory than our own, and more intent on serving others than ourselves" (109).

Finally, there is an entire chapter about encouraging others with our speech. I was going to share notes from it along with identifying evidences of grace, but there is just too much to cram it into this already long post. So for this week I'll be studying the attributes of God and looking for evidences of God's working in the lives of those around me. What wonderful ways to cultivate humility in our lives!

The Right Education

My friend Trinity recently told me babies have to be taught appropriate responses, such as smiling or laughing. It makes sense to me, particularly as I've heard many accounts of children in orphanages learning not to cry when they have a need because no one comes to take care of them.

Aristotle thought we should be raised "so as both to delight in and to be pained by the things that we ought; this is the right education."

"Plato before him," writes C. S. Lewis, "had said the same. The little human animal will not at first have the right responses. It must be trained to feel pleasure, liking, disgust, and hatred at those things which really are pleasant, likable, disgusting, and hateful."

I am reminded of the times my oldest son ate dog food and. . .other disgusting things I'd rather not divulge. Surely we all know people who have no perception of social cues. For every good or natural desire there seems to be an alternate perversion of that desire.

We must train our children to eat those things which are food and good for our bodies. We know it's necessary to train our children in proper social etiquette such as leaving a host's home in a timely fashion, responding appropriately to the receiving of gifts, proper treatment of borrowed items, and consideration for the convictions of others so as not to cause offense. Similarly, we must train our children to love that which is good and abhor that which is evil.

It seems to come back to appetites, once again. We cultivate appetites in our children, whether consciously or unconsciously. If we read and provide wholesome, living books, our children will enjoy good literature and not be attracted to trash. If we provide opportunities to work and serve, children will find pleasure in a job well done rather than being lazy or seeking always to be entertained. Children will find funny those things we laugh at. Little boys' eyes will eagerly seek that which catches daddy's eye, or they will avert their eyes from that which daddy finds shameful.

I find it incredibly frustrating every time I hear someone proudly proclaim "I'm not going to teach all these moral or religious beliefs to my children. I'm going to give them the right to choose their own beliefs." Truly, they are making the choice for their child with that act. Left without guidance, a child will eat dog food. The right education teaches what is right and wrong. The right education develops an appetite for that which is good. From there, the choice is up to the child.

Reflections on Blessings

“God has no grandchildren, only children,” observes an old maxim. This wise saying teaches those of us who are blessed to be raised in God-fearing homes the necessity for self-evaluation in our relationship with the Lord. While being raised by parents who love the Lord blesses us with Bible knowledge and protection from the consequences of many sins, we can also be more susceptible to equally ugly temptations such as pride, self-righteousness, and a focus on works unless we secure our hearts in the Word (Psalm 119:9-16) and rely on our relationship with God instead of the relationships our parents have with Him.

When I was asked to write to young ladies about growing in their spiritual walk as they are being raised in Christian homes, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own upbringing. I am exceedingly grateful to those who taught me Bible stories, listened to my recitation of Bible verses, took me to meetings of the church, and guided me through the choices of my teenage years.

Yet being raised in a “Christian home” is not what saves us. As my own faith and relationship with the Lord have grown I have realized that Satan is just as effective at pulling people away from God with temptations of superiority and making the cross common as he is by premarital sex or drug and alcohol abuse. We must guard ourselves against all such temptations and that begins with awareness of their presence.

When I had an opportunity to study the Bible with women in jail, I faced the realization that I am not one bit better than those women were. One woman in her early 20s had never been married but had four children with four different daddies and had learned to make drugs for her mother when she was 8 or 9 years old. How could I possibly think I was superior to her when I had never faced such a life? If I had been raised in those same circumstances, without the Lord, I might have made those same mistakes. Only through God’s power and the sacrifice of His Son do we have any hope, and only in the cross can we boast (Galatians 6:14)--not in our own circumstances, and not by comparing ourselves to others (II Corinthians 10:12).

There was no reason for me to be shocked that she didn’t know the difference between Daniel, David, and Jonah just because I had been hearing those stories since before my ‘formal education’ began. Indeed, her excitement and amazement as she learned the Scriptures brought a fresh appreciation to my readings and her frequent questions brought about growth in my life as I dug into the Word with her.

Through these experiences and the growth Christ has worked in my life, I am learning humility and compassion as relationships develop. I am learning to be more patient and extend the grace God lavishes on me instead of judging and criticizing the choices others make. I have learned the importance of praying for God’s love to fill me and spill over on others and to look at myself in relation to God rather than in relation to others.

I would like to encourage you to spend much time in the Word now when you don’t have the responsibilities of adulthood, and allow the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—Galatians 5:22-26) to fill your hearts as you encounter other young ladies who haven’t had the benefits of a God-fearing home. Realize now that you can claim no credit for such blessings and while God is misrepresented by self-righteousness, He is glorified by humility.

Big Stuff

Some boys around here are getting a little big for their britches! The above picture is of Easton playing with his remote-controlled car. Okay, it doesn't go with the theme, but I just love that grin and had to squeeze it in here because it makes my heart happy.

I've mentioned before how much Easton loves his baby brother. With supervision, he is occasionally being allowed to carry Tyrell. Tyrell grabs hold of Easton's shirt while Easton tightly wraps his arms around his brother and off they go to a nearby destination. Easton thinks he is VERY big when allowed this privilege.
Tyrell is also seeing how big he can be by drinking out of a cup. I know this sounds crazy for a five month old, but when he sees a glass he gets excited and leans toward it and if you don't give him a drink he cries! Silly boy. When you bring it within reach, he eagerly reaches out to grab it and bring it to his mouth where he nearly tucks his entire face in to get a drink. He's quite neat about it, too, literally drinking the milk rather than wasting it down his chin and front.Finally, Easton loves to build with Legos, closely following big brother Destry and Daddy. He was so very proud to make this dump truck by following the directions in a small kit. I was amazed he could finish it, but considering the tutelage he's had, I shouldn't have been surprised.Why are they in such a big hurry to grow up??