Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Where You Turn | Feature Programs | Janet Parshall
Where You Turn | Feature Programs | Janet Parshall
I love, love this radio program! I listen everyday while I'm making supper for the family. The kids hear it by osmosis and I'm hoping they are picking up some wisdom in the process. Check it out for yourself. Very relevant and informational and most importantly biblical.
I love, love this radio program! I listen everyday while I'm making supper for the family. The kids hear it by osmosis and I'm hoping they are picking up some wisdom in the process. Check it out for yourself. Very relevant and informational and most importantly biblical.
Summer Vacation - Road Trip
We're back from our road trip vacation where we logged over 3000 road miles with three kids ages 16,12,2 and survived! We went to Minnesota first for a family wedding, then on to De Smet, SD to the Laura Ingalls Homestead (my favorite), to Rapid City, SD (Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Bear Country, Custer State Park, Ironwood & Needles Highways), to Cody, WY, and Yellowstone National Park.
We weathered tornado warnings, hunkering down with other guest in the hotel's main floor where we were staying until the storm passed.
We surveyed the damage as we drove through the path of the storm the next day. There were trees and branches down through the entire state of Minnesota and very wet conditions.
We experienced temperatures reaching 102 degrees in some cities on our trip. Dry heat they tell us is better than the humid heat we are use to, but hot is still hot in my book.
I am afraid of heights. Let me rephrase that, I am desperately afraid of heights. Driving through the mountains, with steep grades and drastic drop offs, was a life threatening experience for me. I was in tears at times driving through the Buckhorn mountains to Cody, WY. I should have known better when the highway signs approaching the route we were going to take offered up another route that was safer with less grade. Seriously, there were three billboard sized signs suggesting another route. I begged my husband to heed the signs. He finally did - on the return trip! I had to endure the unsafe route on the trip to Yellowstone but we took the alternate on the way home. I have no pictures of the trip west through the Buckhorns because I was glued to the middle of the car and both of my hands were hanging on for dear life. Now, I know why they put those little handles above the window in the Jeep doors. I was petrified!
Our second night in our cabin (in the wooded mountains right outside of the East entrance to Yellowstone and an hour away from the next town),a ten minute rain spell produced one lightening bolt that hit the transformer that powered our cabin and the lodge that supported us. Did I mention this happened right at dinner time. Remember, the next town is 60 minutes away, the territory is mountainous and curvy, and the route not one I want to drive too often, much less in the dark. I was slightly worried I might not get an evening meal. However, we had a perfect dinner in the dark with the other guest. They were able to grill anything we wanted because that required gas, not electricity. Worked out ok.
During the power outage, everyone sat outside where it was lighter, so we all either saw or heard the car accident that happened at the end of the lodge driveway. Everyone was ok although they did take the pregnant lady to the ER to make sure. It was quite the night of excitement for the girls.
At one of our stop over cities on the drive home, we had interesting pool guests. A couple, ex-hippies, I'm guessing, spent the entire day in a routine that looked like this. Drink a can of beer while sitting at the table, go outside and smoke a cigarette, dive in pool and swim three laps, hug each other a few times, slide the cooler to the hot tub and enjoy beer and hot tub, slide cooler back to table, enjoy another beer, go outside for a cigarette, etc. This went on like clockwork all day. Oh, there was the minor interruptions when the guy had to take the cooler back to the hotel room to restock the supply, otherwise the routine was fairly consistent. To me, it just looked like a death sentence waiting to happen. I could not have survived it myself.
Thank God for my husband's laptop and a million DVDs checked out from the local library! Keeping the two year old entertained was critical in preventing her from kicking her sisters in the face every five minutes. In a car seat, the only thing she could really move was her arms or legs. So, kicking and pulling hair helped her pass the time. You can just imagine how well teenage girls handle shoes to the face and their hair being messed up. Now, that I think about it, it was funny. At the time though, not so funny.
Anyway, all kidding aside, we had an amazing trip. We were blessed to see God's beautiful country, the diversity in landscape, the clouds form into storms, and meet people from all over the United States and Canada. It was truly a memorable experience. I'm a history buff and there's so much history in the towns we traveled through to see and experience firsthand. However, as a Christian we had to filter out all the references to evolutionary theory and the suggestion that it took millions of years to form some of the things we saw. How about one major flood caused by God's anger at the world?
It's really beneficial to get the kids out into God's world and out from behind a textbook for a while. We were able to see things we had learned about in books and they came alive for us in a whole new way.
Hope you all are having an educational, relaxing, interesting, exciting summer vacation yourself.
We weathered tornado warnings, hunkering down with other guest in the hotel's main floor where we were staying until the storm passed.
We surveyed the damage as we drove through the path of the storm the next day. There were trees and branches down through the entire state of Minnesota and very wet conditions.
We experienced temperatures reaching 102 degrees in some cities on our trip. Dry heat they tell us is better than the humid heat we are use to, but hot is still hot in my book.
I am afraid of heights. Let me rephrase that, I am desperately afraid of heights. Driving through the mountains, with steep grades and drastic drop offs, was a life threatening experience for me. I was in tears at times driving through the Buckhorn mountains to Cody, WY. I should have known better when the highway signs approaching the route we were going to take offered up another route that was safer with less grade. Seriously, there were three billboard sized signs suggesting another route. I begged my husband to heed the signs. He finally did - on the return trip! I had to endure the unsafe route on the trip to Yellowstone but we took the alternate on the way home. I have no pictures of the trip west through the Buckhorns because I was glued to the middle of the car and both of my hands were hanging on for dear life. Now, I know why they put those little handles above the window in the Jeep doors. I was petrified!
Our second night in our cabin (in the wooded mountains right outside of the East entrance to Yellowstone and an hour away from the next town),a ten minute rain spell produced one lightening bolt that hit the transformer that powered our cabin and the lodge that supported us. Did I mention this happened right at dinner time. Remember, the next town is 60 minutes away, the territory is mountainous and curvy, and the route not one I want to drive too often, much less in the dark. I was slightly worried I might not get an evening meal. However, we had a perfect dinner in the dark with the other guest. They were able to grill anything we wanted because that required gas, not electricity. Worked out ok.
During the power outage, everyone sat outside where it was lighter, so we all either saw or heard the car accident that happened at the end of the lodge driveway. Everyone was ok although they did take the pregnant lady to the ER to make sure. It was quite the night of excitement for the girls.
At one of our stop over cities on the drive home, we had interesting pool guests. A couple, ex-hippies, I'm guessing, spent the entire day in a routine that looked like this. Drink a can of beer while sitting at the table, go outside and smoke a cigarette, dive in pool and swim three laps, hug each other a few times, slide the cooler to the hot tub and enjoy beer and hot tub, slide cooler back to table, enjoy another beer, go outside for a cigarette, etc. This went on like clockwork all day. Oh, there was the minor interruptions when the guy had to take the cooler back to the hotel room to restock the supply, otherwise the routine was fairly consistent. To me, it just looked like a death sentence waiting to happen. I could not have survived it myself.
Thank God for my husband's laptop and a million DVDs checked out from the local library! Keeping the two year old entertained was critical in preventing her from kicking her sisters in the face every five minutes. In a car seat, the only thing she could really move was her arms or legs. So, kicking and pulling hair helped her pass the time. You can just imagine how well teenage girls handle shoes to the face and their hair being messed up. Now, that I think about it, it was funny. At the time though, not so funny.
Anyway, all kidding aside, we had an amazing trip. We were blessed to see God's beautiful country, the diversity in landscape, the clouds form into storms, and meet people from all over the United States and Canada. It was truly a memorable experience. I'm a history buff and there's so much history in the towns we traveled through to see and experience firsthand. However, as a Christian we had to filter out all the references to evolutionary theory and the suggestion that it took millions of years to form some of the things we saw. How about one major flood caused by God's anger at the world?
It's really beneficial to get the kids out into God's world and out from behind a textbook for a while. We were able to see things we had learned about in books and they came alive for us in a whole new way.
Hope you all are having an educational, relaxing, interesting, exciting summer vacation yourself.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Why Homsechool? - An article explains for me.
Below is an encouraging article published in the Homeschooling Helper email I subscribe to that describes perfectly the reason we decided to homeschool. We can give you a list of reasons that we have discovered through our process to get here but the only one that truly matters is the fact that God has called us to it. This article explains it much better than I could ever do. Only he knows the plans he has for us.
The Compelling Purpose of Homeschooling
By Carole Adams
From the Homeschooling Helper
Parents choose to bring their children home for many reasons, which increase as secularism's rising tide assaults the family, children, and the nature of American education. When a neighbor asks why you homeschool, it is often difficult to state one major reason your family decided to create a handmade school when the neighborhood schools are "free" and convenient. Sometimes the quizzical looks remain in your mind, particularly on days when educating your children seems harder than other days.
The Real Reason Your root motivation to homeschool is the only sustaining reason to continue; you are educating by God's providence-by His calling, His preparation, and His purpose. What our faithful Father calls forth, He faithfully enables. He has led your family off destruction's path to a higher, often challenging, route for His supreme and eternal purpose.
The theme in the May/June 2010 issue of Homeschooling Today is the ark-the metaphor for God's move in this generation to bring millions of families "into the ark" of educational preservation. How exciting to be part of this historically significant movement. We cannot yet know the greater plan; however, like the sons of Issachar, we can see the signs of the times.
You and the Ark "But with thee, will I establish my covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. . . . Thus did Noah: according to all that God commanded him, so did he" (Genesis 6:18 and 22). God called Noah to build the ark, and He prepared Noah with specific instructions on a timeline. Noah was aware of God's requirements (like you when you began homeschooling). The Scripture says he was righteous and "walked with" God. Was it only to reward Noah that God called him and made His covenant with him? I don't believe so, because God always works generationally within His purpose for man's redemption. Noah knew he was playing a role in a larger purpose. In this case, the necessity of eradicating the overwhelming evil in the world imposed the equal necessity of saving a remnant. God's purpose of preserving righteousness from the "waters of the flood" remains today. Your homeschool, like Noah's ark, is an instrument in the great design of the Gospel; it is God's purpose in this generation.
That idea is large enough to sustain home-educating parents. We cannot maintain the effort only for escaping a hostile culture; the effort is too arduous and lonely. Let's consider the definition of ark.
Ark: "A small close vessel, chest or coffer, such as that which was the repository of the tables of the covenant among the Jews. . . . The vessel in which Moses was set afloat upon the Nile was an ark of bulrushes. 2. The large floating vessel, in which Noah and his family were preserved during the deluge" (Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary).
The imagery is inspiring! Your homeschool is a repository of the covenant and a vessel to preserve it. The word preserve raises further questions. What exactly is God preserving? A look again at the definition gives further understanding:
Preserve: "To keep or save from injury or destruction; to defend from evil. 2. To uphold; to sustain. 3. To save from decay; to keep in a sound state; as, to preserve fruit in winter. Salt is used to preserve meat. 5. To keep or defend from corruption; as, to preserve youth from vice" (Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary).
"And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood" (Genesis 7:6-8).
Preserving What God Values
Your homeschooling preserves the words of the covenant when you teach them to your children. "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7, NKJV). Jesus, God's instrument to redeem mankind, stands quietly at the center of this generation, misunderstood and often unnoticed, but nevertheless, the dominant figure in history for the past twenty centuries. In Jesus alone, your children will find answers to the confounding questions of life. He alone satisfies the soul's awesome need for relevance, meaning, and completion at the deepest level. You have the calling, preparation, and purpose to preserve the covenant by teaching Jesus-the Word of God and the Bread of Life-to your children.
Noah Webster, in his 1823 "Letter to a Young Gentleman Concerning His Education," says the "first questions a rational being should ask himself, are Who made me? Why was I made? What is my duty? The proper answers to these questions, and the practical results, constitute . . . the whole business of life." He explains further that God's Word alone can give answers to life questions. Jesus alone has the proven ability to speak to, heal, and empower the individual to wholeness, strength, eternity, and the life we hunger for-the life that makes sense of human existence.
The Ark's Promise
"The Lord will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 22:5 NKJV). As the old preacher says, we know the end of the story because we've read the book; it ends in victory! There is certainty in God's Word. It remains forever and never changes when trends, fads, styles, and fashions fade away. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8 NKJV).
This is the surety of the covenant when life is unsure. Your homeschool's mission is generational, Gospel-driven, far-reaching, and full of promise. Do your children know what they are part of? Do they understand that they are preserving the covenant for the ages? Do they realize that beyond grammar and penmanship they have a story to tell about God's providence in their lives?
Introduce your children to Noah Webster, father of American Christian education, and let them grapple with the three questions he says are the "whole business of life." Something happens to us when we lift our eyes unto the hills toward God's governance of the universe and His perspective. Give your children this view and your homeschooling daily business will be elevated to a true mission, cooperating with the Holy Spirit according to God's purpose in your family. Your homeschool is an ark in this generation. God calls you, prepares you, and gives you a purpose. Count it a privilege!
The Compelling Purpose of Homeschooling
By Carole Adams
From the Homeschooling Helper
Parents choose to bring their children home for many reasons, which increase as secularism's rising tide assaults the family, children, and the nature of American education. When a neighbor asks why you homeschool, it is often difficult to state one major reason your family decided to create a handmade school when the neighborhood schools are "free" and convenient. Sometimes the quizzical looks remain in your mind, particularly on days when educating your children seems harder than other days.
The Real Reason Your root motivation to homeschool is the only sustaining reason to continue; you are educating by God's providence-by His calling, His preparation, and His purpose. What our faithful Father calls forth, He faithfully enables. He has led your family off destruction's path to a higher, often challenging, route for His supreme and eternal purpose.
The theme in the May/June 2010 issue of Homeschooling Today is the ark-the metaphor for God's move in this generation to bring millions of families "into the ark" of educational preservation. How exciting to be part of this historically significant movement. We cannot yet know the greater plan; however, like the sons of Issachar, we can see the signs of the times.
You and the Ark "But with thee, will I establish my covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. . . . Thus did Noah: according to all that God commanded him, so did he" (Genesis 6:18 and 22). God called Noah to build the ark, and He prepared Noah with specific instructions on a timeline. Noah was aware of God's requirements (like you when you began homeschooling). The Scripture says he was righteous and "walked with" God. Was it only to reward Noah that God called him and made His covenant with him? I don't believe so, because God always works generationally within His purpose for man's redemption. Noah knew he was playing a role in a larger purpose. In this case, the necessity of eradicating the overwhelming evil in the world imposed the equal necessity of saving a remnant. God's purpose of preserving righteousness from the "waters of the flood" remains today. Your homeschool, like Noah's ark, is an instrument in the great design of the Gospel; it is God's purpose in this generation.
That idea is large enough to sustain home-educating parents. We cannot maintain the effort only for escaping a hostile culture; the effort is too arduous and lonely. Let's consider the definition of ark.
Ark: "A small close vessel, chest or coffer, such as that which was the repository of the tables of the covenant among the Jews. . . . The vessel in which Moses was set afloat upon the Nile was an ark of bulrushes. 2. The large floating vessel, in which Noah and his family were preserved during the deluge" (Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary).
The imagery is inspiring! Your homeschool is a repository of the covenant and a vessel to preserve it. The word preserve raises further questions. What exactly is God preserving? A look again at the definition gives further understanding:
Preserve: "To keep or save from injury or destruction; to defend from evil. 2. To uphold; to sustain. 3. To save from decay; to keep in a sound state; as, to preserve fruit in winter. Salt is used to preserve meat. 5. To keep or defend from corruption; as, to preserve youth from vice" (Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary).
"And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood" (Genesis 7:6-8).
Preserving What God Values
Your homeschooling preserves the words of the covenant when you teach them to your children. "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7, NKJV). Jesus, God's instrument to redeem mankind, stands quietly at the center of this generation, misunderstood and often unnoticed, but nevertheless, the dominant figure in history for the past twenty centuries. In Jesus alone, your children will find answers to the confounding questions of life. He alone satisfies the soul's awesome need for relevance, meaning, and completion at the deepest level. You have the calling, preparation, and purpose to preserve the covenant by teaching Jesus-the Word of God and the Bread of Life-to your children.
Noah Webster, in his 1823 "Letter to a Young Gentleman Concerning His Education," says the "first questions a rational being should ask himself, are Who made me? Why was I made? What is my duty? The proper answers to these questions, and the practical results, constitute . . . the whole business of life." He explains further that God's Word alone can give answers to life questions. Jesus alone has the proven ability to speak to, heal, and empower the individual to wholeness, strength, eternity, and the life we hunger for-the life that makes sense of human existence.
The Ark's Promise
"The Lord will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 22:5 NKJV). As the old preacher says, we know the end of the story because we've read the book; it ends in victory! There is certainty in God's Word. It remains forever and never changes when trends, fads, styles, and fashions fade away. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8 NKJV).
This is the surety of the covenant when life is unsure. Your homeschool's mission is generational, Gospel-driven, far-reaching, and full of promise. Do your children know what they are part of? Do they understand that they are preserving the covenant for the ages? Do they realize that beyond grammar and penmanship they have a story to tell about God's providence in their lives?
Introduce your children to Noah Webster, father of American Christian education, and let them grapple with the three questions he says are the "whole business of life." Something happens to us when we lift our eyes unto the hills toward God's governance of the universe and His perspective. Give your children this view and your homeschooling daily business will be elevated to a true mission, cooperating with the Holy Spirit according to God's purpose in your family. Your homeschool is an ark in this generation. God calls you, prepares you, and gives you a purpose. Count it a privilege!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Summertime Pictures
Baking Day!
Chocolate Pudding Cake (Father's Day Gift)
&
White Chip Lemon Strudel Bars
My Birthday!
One of my daughters got up very early to arrange this breakfast for me. She decorated with all of my birthday cards and a flower. Orange juice was served in a very fancy blue glass ("like in a hotel", she said)
Homeschooling!
Ali may not be able to really read that book yet, but she is learning to want to read it!
By the way, summer homeschooling is going wonderfully!
What summer day is complete without a little cat nap?
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Defeated Parenting
Overheard at a Restaurant:
"I told my daughter I don't want her to have sex until she is married but if she decides for herself that she cannot wait and that she absolutely must do it sooner then I want her to be smart about it. If she can't talk to me then I told her to talk to my best friend, who I trust will give her solid advice on what to do."
What message do you think this daughter received from her well meaning but misguided mother?
I think the daughter received more than one message and probably none of them were the ones the mother intended to send.
Incorrect messages given:
1. A girl has the right to decide for herself when she should have sex. (God's Word on the subject wasn't mentioned, nor was his authority over her discussed).
2. We cannot be expected to exercise self-control over our desires (no direction given on how to have an exit plan or avoidance plan to help with the self control issues, nor how pleasing God should always have precedence over pleasing self).
3. Avoid consequences when doing something you shouldn't (ie. pregnancy, STD's) (Only the outer consequences were addressed. No mention of the inner consequences of the heart and mind that occur whenever we live outside of God's plan)
What if we were talking about murder instead of sex outside of marriage? Would you tell your daughter, "I don't want you to murder anyone but if you decide for yourself that you must, I want you to be smart about it. Talk to me, or so-and-so, to get advice on how to do it without getting caught."
Okay, some of you are saying that murder and sex aren't on the same par with one another so my analogy is unfair. Well, let's take it down a notch, then.
What if we were talking about cheating on a test at school? "Honey, I really want you to do your own work but if you choose not to, and instead decide to copy someone else's work, then please talk to me about how to do it without the teacher seeing you."
We wouldn't say that in any other circumstance. Wrong is wrong! Consequences are there to reinforce wrong is wrong. Avoiding the outward consequence doesn't make wrong right. Secret sins don't nullify the sin.
I think Americans are so bombarded with sex and sexual undertones that parents feel they are fighting a losing battle. Majority has changed the scale of morality, and following the crowd seems to be human nature and parents feel defeated in trying to stand against the culture - for themselves! Thus, this defeated attitude in their own behaviors/thinking comes out in their parenting. They failed so they think it natural their kids will fail, too!
Folks, the culture has been on a downward slide for quite sometime and we are in need of a counter balance to tip it the other way. Christians need to step up to counter the cultural shift.
Christians need to understand what God says about all subjects of life and communicate those to our children, along with the expectation God has for obedience. We cannot be too busy with careers and self-fulfillment activities to neglect parenting our children in the fear of the Lord. We can not water down God's truths. We cannot lower God's expectations. We need constant soul revival of our own through God's Word to transform our thinking, strengthen our resolve to obey, and teach God's truths wholly and correctly in all areas of life.
When we fail to do these things we leave our children vulnerable to Satan's lies and deception! If we're not paying attention, you can bet Satan is! Don't let him tie you up in defeated attitudes, busyness, and the lie of following your own self-fulfillment activities. These all prevent you from training up your children well in the ways of the Lord.
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