LOVE this. This sums up the whole "deliberate pursuit of holiness in light of grace" better than most anything I've seen.
Snippet;
"I talk a lot about "deliberate" living. This is why. "If you don't seek what is good on purpose, you will gravitate to what is bad by default." ... And this is exactly why we are saved by grace, taking NO credit for our own salvation, and are still commanded to "seek what is good", meaning, that it's OK to be concerned with "externals"!
Modesty on purpose, or immodesty by default....
good books on purpose, or bad ones by default...
virtue on purpose, or vulgarity by default.
(And while we're on the subject, building relationships on purpose, or TV junkies by default.)
The "default" is the baseness of our nature...that "flesh that wars within me" that Paul and all of us wrestle with.This isn't legalism. When Paul said, "Whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure...if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, THINK ON THESE THINGS."
Paul was saying,"LIVE DELIBERATELY." "LEAN TOWARD WHAT IS GOOD AND NOBLE."
Read this in it's entirety here.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Unplugging, to Get Plugged In.
Okay, I'm gonna be perfectly frank with you. Frank about my momma-hood failures. My friend Chris recently wrote a mother's version of "the things I hate, I end up doing' ala words of Paul in Romans. I can so relate. I won't go into morbid details, suffice it to say I have many character traits that require spiritual honing and polishing. What better way to face the facts than to bare my soul here, in black and white print which has a way of imprinting itself more indelibly on the pages of my mind than mere thoughts which sail fleetingly across my brain like passing clouds.
I am not good (read really bad) at prioritizing and letting things that can wait, wait. Once I know something needs to be done, I want to do it right away. Once I start doing it I want to finish it. If someone else (ahem- my children or husband) would like to converse with me or show me something, or have my undivided attention, I have a very bad habit of saying "just a minute" (it's never a minute), or "not right now", or "I'm busy right now". Okay, there are moments that this is justified. My frustration at having kids bantering at me while I am on the phone is one thing.... definitely not acceptable (I am a business phone-er, if I am on the phone it is *not* to visit, it's definitely taking care of business, very hard to take care of business with kids yattering away at you...)
That said, there are other times (most of the time) that it is not *they* who are behaving unacceptably, but ME. When I am replying to an email for instance, it's something that can and should be put on hold when a real life voice is asking for my attention. And yet, I can sit here, typing away, trying devotedly to answer someones email questions while my eyes glaze over at the questions or remarks coming from my own flesh and blood. Yuck. I like not this visual.
So, that's the problem, now for a solution. Since I have this horrible habit of becoming relationally unplugged when I am electronically plugged in.... I am going to cut the screen out of the scene when my husband and kids are around. I'm going to really structure my breaks at the computer to be only when my kids are having quiet time after lunch, or after they are in bed, or when they are fully occupied and not around. Frankly, this is going to be a big challenge and adjustment for me as our computer is in a central location and I usually visit it quite regularly in passing..... here's to improved relational attentiveness on my part in the upcoming week.
I am not good (read really bad) at prioritizing and letting things that can wait, wait. Once I know something needs to be done, I want to do it right away. Once I start doing it I want to finish it. If someone else (ahem- my children or husband) would like to converse with me or show me something, or have my undivided attention, I have a very bad habit of saying "just a minute" (it's never a minute), or "not right now", or "I'm busy right now". Okay, there are moments that this is justified. My frustration at having kids bantering at me while I am on the phone is one thing.... definitely not acceptable (I am a business phone-er, if I am on the phone it is *not* to visit, it's definitely taking care of business, very hard to take care of business with kids yattering away at you...)
That said, there are other times (most of the time) that it is not *they* who are behaving unacceptably, but ME. When I am replying to an email for instance, it's something that can and should be put on hold when a real life voice is asking for my attention. And yet, I can sit here, typing away, trying devotedly to answer someones email questions while my eyes glaze over at the questions or remarks coming from my own flesh and blood. Yuck. I like not this visual.
So, that's the problem, now for a solution. Since I have this horrible habit of becoming relationally unplugged when I am electronically plugged in.... I am going to cut the screen out of the scene when my husband and kids are around. I'm going to really structure my breaks at the computer to be only when my kids are having quiet time after lunch, or after they are in bed, or when they are fully occupied and not around. Frankly, this is going to be a big challenge and adjustment for me as our computer is in a central location and I usually visit it quite regularly in passing..... here's to improved relational attentiveness on my part in the upcoming week.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thankful 127 & Counting
Sowing Seeds of Thankfulness to Reap a Harvest of Happiness.
I'm thankful for...
127. sunshine on flesh
128. my husband's caress
129. 12 years of wedded bliss
130. the love encased in a toddler's kiss
131. little girls hands rubbing sore muscles
132 little boys rolling in wrestling tussles
133 new green shoots in black garden soil
134 Prairie Guy's projects and concentrated toil
135 Talking with kids over iced tea and smarties
136 Saskatoon blooms and friends who throw parties ;)
137 all my family in good health
138 all our needs met by His abundant wealth
Every good thing and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon and stars, Who does not change like their shifting shadows. James 1:17
Please join me in giving thanks to the Giver of Good Gifts today!
I'm thankful for...
127. sunshine on flesh
128. my husband's caress
129. 12 years of wedded bliss
130. the love encased in a toddler's kiss
131. little girls hands rubbing sore muscles
132 little boys rolling in wrestling tussles
133 new green shoots in black garden soil
134 Prairie Guy's projects and concentrated toil
135 Talking with kids over iced tea and smarties
136 Saskatoon blooms and friends who throw parties ;)
137 all my family in good health
138 all our needs met by His abundant wealth
Every good thing and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon and stars, Who does not change like their shifting shadows. James 1:17
Please join me in giving thanks to the Giver of Good Gifts today!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Winsome Wednesday, Brag Book Edition
Winsome- charming in a childlike or simple way-attractive - pleasing to the eye or mind especially through beauty or charm.
Definitely Winsome 
Ditto
Doubly Winsome
Hunk a Hunk o' Burnin' Winsome 
Sittin' in the Garden Eatin' Worms
Perplexed Robin, Wondering Where all the Worms Have Gone?
Pooped
Precious
Did I say Precious?
Yep, You Guessed it... Super, Duper Precious.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Home Education; Quality of Education and Time Management
For previous entries in this series see here.
I understand the struggles some people face when they consider homeschooling. We are blessed to live in a wonderful community, with a wonderful school, where the majority of teachers and residents of our community are believers. I can count on a few fingers the number of homeschoolers in our general area. It's not a place where you choose to homeschool because you are looking for a solution to combat negative social influence. And that is often how home education is regarded. As a solution to a problem. That was not the case for us. As a means to combat something negative. Or on the other hand, home education might *not* be considered because it is seen as having negative repurcussions, or robbing children of certain aspects of childhood.
While it's true we struggled with the "socialization" myth initially (this was years before our oldest dd was even school age, when we first started evaluating choices for educating her). We struggled with the knowledge that she wouldn't get to "hang out" in the halls and schoolgrounds with "the other girls", or play on the school teams, or just "be" with and like everyone else. Those are not easy choices to make. But in the end, we had to realize that the choice we were making, was a choice about EDUCATION. When we boiled it down to that, and deciding how and where our daughter would get the best education at our disposal, there was no debate. Home education won hands down, an official knock out. Alright, so I'm biased ;-) I won't pretend I'm not... I'm not saying a child can't get a good or even great education in public school, but I am convinced that however well a child does educationally in public school, they would have flourished even more in a devoted home education environment. There are just certain logistics that make this inevitable.
My kids don't have unintegrated "classes" exposing them to dates and general figures and unconnected geographical locations, and abstract grammar and vocabulary lessons completely unrelated to other topics of study. They are not exposed to people, events and dates in the context of a factual paragraph in a text book that they are required to memorize for a time and then forget. They don't waste half of their school time on the bus, changing classes, doing busywork while they wait for other kids to catch up, in assembly, etc.
With the time we save, we are blessed to be able embark on a much more exciting adventure in education precisely because we don't have 30 other kids at 30 different stages and with umpteen different learning styles to worry about. We also can funnel our money to buy the best materials available since we don't have to worry about funding and salaries and the cost of running public schools. So instead of text books chosen by a public school system we can choose "real" books that tell the "real" stories of the people/places/events we are studying. We have time to read great read alouds that correlate with our history studies, to watch movies and documentaries that bring to life the things we are studying.
For example, this past year our oldest dd (8) studied american history from Amerigo Vespucci to the civil war. After being exposed to this time period in elementary school I would have been able to repeat the names of Lewis and Clark, and the Erie Canal, have a most basal understanding of the american revolution (that the americans wanted to break free from the british, and the british wanted to keep America as a colony) and told you that Sacagawea was an Indian guide on the Lewis and Clark expedition. These facts I would have gleaned from a textbook paragraph and a few black and white line drawings. Whatever I learned was abstract, usually dry, relatively boring, and definitely disconnected from my real life and interests.
My dd on the other hand dresses her younger siblings up as red-coats or blue-coats and be-feathered indians to re-enact the french indian war. She recounts the story of the kidnapping of Sacagawea and Naya Nuki from their Shoshone tribe and they play act the escape and 1,000 mile journey of Naya Nuki (9 years old) as she finds her way back home to her tribe. She dialogues with Prairie Guy and I about the ins and outs of the American Revolution, and brings things to the table that even we find enlightening. She can trace out the path that Lewis and Clark travelled on their expedition and recount wonderful adventures and trials they met along the way. When she plays in the fields and in the bush she is able to envision the history that happened on these plains hundreds of years ago.
One of the biggest bonuses to home education in my eyes is the ability to integrate all areas of learning. We get to read great literature that captivates us and gives us visual to the time, place and event we are studying. We trace out routes and locations on the globe or map as they come up, bringing geography to life. We write out vocabulary words as they come up in the context of our reading, and practice spelling and grammar by dictation assignments (savoury sentences as I like to call them) taken straight out of what we are reading. When we learn about nature or elements in science, we don't sit at a table talking about it, we get out there and look for it and experience it in real live color and depth.
We sink our teeth in, we go deeper, we go farther, we study all angles, how did the indians feel when... how did the americans feel when.... what would it have been like to be an american soldier at the Battle of Valley Forge, freezing, starving, fighting for what you believed was right and fair. Dd writes stories and poems based on the topics we are learning about, she paints pictures, she reads books in her spare time that correlate. And all this, in less than half the time a child spends in and between classes in a public school setting, not to even mention the time they are required to work on homework.
I feel the need to stipulate that the purpose of this series was not and is not to bash public school education, it is rather a detailed outline of why we choose to homeschool for those who wonder, and for those who are considering the option for themselves. It is not an easy choice and there are so many elements to consider. To those of you who are tentatively standing at the crossroads, I pray that God will give you wisdom and guidance and courage to follow the path He has outlined for you, whatever that may be.
"I have chosen him. He must direct his children. He must see that the members of his family after him live the way I want them to. So he must direct them to do what is right and fair. " Genesis 18:19 NIRV
I understand the struggles some people face when they consider homeschooling. We are blessed to live in a wonderful community, with a wonderful school, where the majority of teachers and residents of our community are believers. I can count on a few fingers the number of homeschoolers in our general area. It's not a place where you choose to homeschool because you are looking for a solution to combat negative social influence. And that is often how home education is regarded. As a solution to a problem. That was not the case for us. As a means to combat something negative. Or on the other hand, home education might *not* be considered because it is seen as having negative repurcussions, or robbing children of certain aspects of childhood.
While it's true we struggled with the "socialization" myth initially (this was years before our oldest dd was even school age, when we first started evaluating choices for educating her). We struggled with the knowledge that she wouldn't get to "hang out" in the halls and schoolgrounds with "the other girls", or play on the school teams, or just "be" with and like everyone else. Those are not easy choices to make. But in the end, we had to realize that the choice we were making, was a choice about EDUCATION. When we boiled it down to that, and deciding how and where our daughter would get the best education at our disposal, there was no debate. Home education won hands down, an official knock out. Alright, so I'm biased ;-) I won't pretend I'm not... I'm not saying a child can't get a good or even great education in public school, but I am convinced that however well a child does educationally in public school, they would have flourished even more in a devoted home education environment. There are just certain logistics that make this inevitable.
My kids don't have unintegrated "classes" exposing them to dates and general figures and unconnected geographical locations, and abstract grammar and vocabulary lessons completely unrelated to other topics of study. They are not exposed to people, events and dates in the context of a factual paragraph in a text book that they are required to memorize for a time and then forget. They don't waste half of their school time on the bus, changing classes, doing busywork while they wait for other kids to catch up, in assembly, etc.
With the time we save, we are blessed to be able embark on a much more exciting adventure in education precisely because we don't have 30 other kids at 30 different stages and with umpteen different learning styles to worry about. We also can funnel our money to buy the best materials available since we don't have to worry about funding and salaries and the cost of running public schools. So instead of text books chosen by a public school system we can choose "real" books that tell the "real" stories of the people/places/events we are studying. We have time to read great read alouds that correlate with our history studies, to watch movies and documentaries that bring to life the things we are studying.
For example, this past year our oldest dd (8) studied american history from Amerigo Vespucci to the civil war. After being exposed to this time period in elementary school I would have been able to repeat the names of Lewis and Clark, and the Erie Canal, have a most basal understanding of the american revolution (that the americans wanted to break free from the british, and the british wanted to keep America as a colony) and told you that Sacagawea was an Indian guide on the Lewis and Clark expedition. These facts I would have gleaned from a textbook paragraph and a few black and white line drawings. Whatever I learned was abstract, usually dry, relatively boring, and definitely disconnected from my real life and interests.
My dd on the other hand dresses her younger siblings up as red-coats or blue-coats and be-feathered indians to re-enact the french indian war. She recounts the story of the kidnapping of Sacagawea and Naya Nuki from their Shoshone tribe and they play act the escape and 1,000 mile journey of Naya Nuki (9 years old) as she finds her way back home to her tribe. She dialogues with Prairie Guy and I about the ins and outs of the American Revolution, and brings things to the table that even we find enlightening. She can trace out the path that Lewis and Clark travelled on their expedition and recount wonderful adventures and trials they met along the way. When she plays in the fields and in the bush she is able to envision the history that happened on these plains hundreds of years ago.
One of the biggest bonuses to home education in my eyes is the ability to integrate all areas of learning. We get to read great literature that captivates us and gives us visual to the time, place and event we are studying. We trace out routes and locations on the globe or map as they come up, bringing geography to life. We write out vocabulary words as they come up in the context of our reading, and practice spelling and grammar by dictation assignments (savoury sentences as I like to call them) taken straight out of what we are reading. When we learn about nature or elements in science, we don't sit at a table talking about it, we get out there and look for it and experience it in real live color and depth.
We sink our teeth in, we go deeper, we go farther, we study all angles, how did the indians feel when... how did the americans feel when.... what would it have been like to be an american soldier at the Battle of Valley Forge, freezing, starving, fighting for what you believed was right and fair. Dd writes stories and poems based on the topics we are learning about, she paints pictures, she reads books in her spare time that correlate. And all this, in less than half the time a child spends in and between classes in a public school setting, not to even mention the time they are required to work on homework.
I feel the need to stipulate that the purpose of this series was not and is not to bash public school education, it is rather a detailed outline of why we choose to homeschool for those who wonder, and for those who are considering the option for themselves. It is not an easy choice and there are so many elements to consider. To those of you who are tentatively standing at the crossroads, I pray that God will give you wisdom and guidance and courage to follow the path He has outlined for you, whatever that may be.
"I have chosen him. He must direct his children. He must see that the members of his family after him live the way I want them to. So he must direct them to do what is right and fair. " Genesis 18:19 NIRV
Monday, May 26, 2008
Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
Prairie Guy and I are celebrating 12 years of marriage. What a blessing to look back and see how far we've come, and look forward with hopes and dreams of the road we are yet to travel. Truly we are blessed and I have been contemplating the "why" this past week. We are not blessed because we have it all together, or because we've truly learned the art of romance and relationship, or because we are such good communicators with one another (hah!) or because we've learned to put one another first all the time, or, or, or....
Nope. We are as human, selfish, tired, whiny, demanding and unreasonable as as the next couple. We are blessed because despite our shortcomings and failures, HE is what draws us, binds us, holds us together and brings us through, better, stronger, a little LESS like our sinful, self-centred selves and a little MORE like His loving, sacrificial self with each passing year. When I look at failing marriages, and succeeding marriages, I realize more and more that success in this Crazy Little Thing Called Love boils down to how much a person is willing to die to self.
We can look at life two ways. Through the eyes of present gratification (worldly gain) or through the eyes of eternal glorification (spiritual gain). Many, many times, you have to lay the first on the altar in order to experience the riches of the second. Interestingly (and wonderfully) what people seem to often forget is that "laying something on the altar" does not guarantee it is lost to you forever (think of Abram & Isaac). On the contrary, the blessings poured out after are often many times multiplied.
Love is not about being happy. love is not about having your needs, wants, and desires met by a human body. Love is not caresses and candlelight, roses and laughter. Love is alot of hard work, alot of dying to self, alot of service, alot of sacrifice. The first elements may or may not be by products of the second. We all know what the Bible says about love, but do we *really* think about the depth of meaning encased in "the love chapter"? I don't think we realize what an oxymoron it is to say "I love him but....." or "I really tried to make this work but...." I don't see any "buts" or "unlesses" here...
Love is patient
and kind.
Love is not jealous,
it does not brag,
and it is not proud.
Love is not rude,
is not selfish,
and does not get upset with others.
Love does not count up wrongs that have been done.
Love takes no pleasure in evil
but rejoices over the truth.
Love patiently accepts all things.
It always trusts,
always hopes,
and always endures.
Love never ends.
Now these three remain, Faith, Hope and Love
But the greatest of these is Love.
I had half an idea to write up a Post Modern 1 Corinthians 13, but I won't. You can imagine it for yourself (Love is patient until enough is enough... love patiently accepts all things until someone crosses *the* line... until death does us part or until you drive me to the point of wanting to kill you)
"I've spent (wasted) years hoping and praying he would change... I just can't spend the next X number of years hoping for something that may never happen."
Love is patient. Love patiently accepts all things. Love always hopes. Love always endures (never gives up).
"I never want to go through *that* again... I really gave him a chance to change, I just don't feel safe, loved, understood, cherished with him."
Love is not selfish. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love always trusts. Love always hopes.
Love is not about getting what we want. It's about giving what God wants. It's about LIVING 1 Corinthians 13, not about EXPECTING it to be lived out for us.
I hope and pray that God shakes our nation, our churches, our lethargic consciences to realize that the road to holiness is paved with blood, sweat and tears, and crowned with glory and victory that comes only through the cross and the bliss of learning that dying to self means living in Christ, which is a standard of living so much richer and more meaningful than anything we may desire or hope to gain on this earthly plane.
May we love our spouses with the love that Christ loves us. A love that took up the cross, stumbled wearily through jeering crowds, laid itself down, took the nails, and carried the weight of all our wrongdoing to the grave. A love that truly encompasses and lived out 1 Corinthians 13 as the example for us to follow.
To my amazing husband, I thank God for you. Like we said last night. We are imperfectly perfect for one another, and He knew. I thank God that you have the same convictions I do about this Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and for the knowledge that we are in this together, with Him, till death does us part. I love you.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Around the Farm
Celebrating Family, Fellowship and Fun on the Farm...
It's been a busy week around here, fatal for hundred year old trees, 50 year old sidewalks, and unharrowable fields. Disclaimer, these are not my usual "pretty" pictures. These are the nitty gritty "before" pics that are necessary ir you are to truly appreciate the "after" pictures to come!
"The Tree" (hundred year old poplar that sent Prairie Guy into allergic fits come June) Is Down.
Before
After
During
The Sidewalk is Gone
Before
After
The Fire is Out
This field is right across the road from us!
Those are our trees to the left of the road!
This is looking from our yard, through our trees, at the fire!
The Fence is Up
Wow. I'm exhausted, and all I did was take pictures ;-). Actually, while the men were busy demolishing, I was busy planting new life. I finished planting the garden and got all my annuals transplanted in between breastfeeds and barbecuing... All in all a very productive and interesting week! I'm excited about all the up and coming projects on the house this summer!
It's been a busy week around here, fatal for hundred year old trees, 50 year old sidewalks, and unharrowable fields. Disclaimer, these are not my usual "pretty" pictures. These are the nitty gritty "before" pics that are necessary ir you are to truly appreciate the "after" pictures to come!
"The Tree" (hundred year old poplar that sent Prairie Guy into allergic fits come June) Is Down.
Before
After
During
The Sidewalk is Gone
Before
After
The Fire is Out
This field is right across the road from us!
Those are our trees to the left of the road!
This is looking from our yard, through our trees, at the fire!
The Fence is Up
Wow. I'm exhausted, and all I did was take pictures ;-). Actually, while the men were busy demolishing, I was busy planting new life. I finished planting the garden and got all my annuals transplanted in between breastfeeds and barbecuing... All in all a very productive and interesting week! I'm excited about all the up and coming projects on the house this summer!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thankful 120 & Counting
Sowing Seeds of Thankfulness to Reap a Harvest of Happiness.
120. For fresh cut grass and budding trees, Father I thank you,
120. For fresh cut grass and budding trees, Father I thank you,For rich black soil and vegetable seeds, Father I thank you.
121. For peony shoots and day lily sprouts, Father I thank you,
For a yard that rings with kids happy shouts, Father I thank you.
122. For friends who rejoice at the birth of my babe, Father I thank you,
For family close by to help celebrate, Father I thank you.
123. For home cooked Italian cuisine every day, Father I thank you,
For a husband who blesses me in so many ways, Father I thank you.
124. For a nine year old daughter so tender and sweet, Father I thank you
For a 6 year old daughter whose humor can't be beat, Father I thank you.
125. For a 4 year old son who chatters away, Father I thank you
For a 2 year old son who'd snuggle all day, Father I thank you.
126. or my smallest sweet babe, two weeks old today, Father I thank you
For Your love and mercy, new with each day, Father in heaven I thank you.
Every good thing and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon and stars, Who does not change like their shifting shadows. James 1:17
Care to join me in giving thanks to the Giver of Good Gifts today?
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Thankful 111 & Counting
111. Boys with toys and the first mow of the season.
112. Bare feet on freshly mown grass.
113. Evening sun and the first day of summer clothes.
114. Sunglasses and bare skin.
115. Little, happy, dirty feet.
116. This face and those hands
117. Those toes
118. The whole sweet kit and kaboodle
119. Three sleeping boys after a hard day's play.
112. Bare feet on freshly mown grass.
113. Evening sun and the first day of summer clothes.
114. Sunglasses and bare skin.
115. Little, happy, dirty feet.
116. This face and those hands
117. Those toes
118. The whole sweet kit and kaboodle
119. Three sleeping boys after a hard day's play.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Sunshine Mountain
I wish for the days when I was strong, when God's close friendship blessed my house. The Almighty was still with me, and my children were all around me. It was as if my path were covered with cream and the rocks poured out oil for me. Job 29:4-6
Hind sight is 20/20. Ever had to find yourself walking through a valley of darkness before you realize that the hill you were previously climbing was actually a wonderful place to be? Life is an uphill battle, there's no doubt about it, if we are to come any nearer to Him, we will have to keep climbing. Sometimes the climbing wears on you, wearies you, sometimes you have the wind at your back and the sun is not scorching, and you keep climbing, and even manage to enjoy the view along the way, other times the wind pushes against you each step of the way and the sun beats down on you draining every ounce of inner energy and the going is tough. What we don't realize in moments like these how relative things are. Until we find ourself in a dark valley, with storm clouds suffocating us and miry clay sucking our feet in at each step and making progress excruciatingly frustrating... then we realize that the breeze and the blue sky on that mountain climb of ordinary life were actually things to be delighted in compared to this hole, this well of despair, this place of darkness.
If you have never suffered from depression you might think I am using hyperbole and exaggerating, but surely each of us has been in that "dark" place at some point and you sense what I am driving at. I say all this to lead up to a little glimpse into Who I Am and Why I'm That Way.... I've been pondering my blog, and comments that have been made to me here and by private email. When I hear things like "your life looks so romantic, like a dream that so many people would love to live, you must be a wonderful mom, your kids must adore you, etc. I have to stop in my tracks and ask myself why people think that, when I am just an ordinary Prairie Chick, married to a (wonderfully) ordinary Prairie Guy, with 5 (marvelously) ordinary Prairie Chicklets living on a (spectacularily)ordinary, run of the mill Prairie Farm. Then I *got* it.
So I suppose I am a romantic of sorts, it's not that I don't *see* the ugly (my grumpy-at-times Prairie Guy, my whiny-at-times Prairie Chicklets, my old in-need-of-much-repair prairie farm house and my run-of-the-mill in need of much clean up and landscaping prairie farm yard).... it's just that I choose to look past it. Choose to find the beautiful in the every day, choose to focus on the positive. I spent too many years of my life being the type to be fixated and irked by the heap of scrap metal out in the yard, or the wood siding on the south side of our house that has been sitting half scraped and half unscraped since we bought the place, waiting for new siding which is waiting for new windows, which is waiting for the new porch which is waiting for pilings which are being drilled in the next few weeks.... or the unfinished, uncovered hardwoods in half of the house, or, or, or.
Life is too short. I choose to zoom in on the beautiful things and past the ugly. I'm not naive, my life is not a fairy tale, I know the Emerald City is not made of emeralds, but I know that God delights in a cheerful heart, so I choose to rejoice.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Home Education; Socialization
My Most Recent Reflections on Marriage, Motherhood and Ministry.
Home Education. Why?
For previous posts in this series see here.
Socialization
Yes. You read that right. Socialization. A reason *to* homeschool. Huh? You might say.... isn't that one of the "downsides" to homeschooling? Isn't socialization a good reason to send your kids to public school? I mean, that's more "social", right? Wrong. While it is true that some of the pioneers of the homeschooling movement were rather reclusive and anti-social, statistics show that a balanced (and much more common) approach to homeschooling results in BETTER socialization skills in homeschooled versus public schooled students.
Some people that don’t understand home schooling believe that it is confining rather than socializing. But those individuals that believe that are stuck in thinking about the stereotypical socialization of an age-based classroom. Children that are home schooled are exposed to social situations in a mixed age range.
Many home schoolers feel that their children need to be exposed to the appropriate ways to behave not inappropriate. They feel that their child should be exposed to the model behavior of people who have learned to make decisions and handle themselves in various social settings. By being exposed to appropriate modeling of social behavior, home-schooled children will learn how to act appropriately.
Parents of home schooled children can also see when their child “gets-it” when they model for a younger child appropriate behavior.
Home-schooled children get a reality based social lesson. On a daily basis they see adults they know, love and trust manage and balance life day to day. Modeled for them is academics balanced with real life chores; caring for a sick friend or neighbor, shoveling the driveway and walkway, doing the grocery shopping and dropping of the dry cleaning, cooking dinner while folding laundry, putting laundry away and talking on the phone with Aunt Sara. These are real life situations that home schoolers are exposed to and public school children are often sheltered from or are privy to a controlled school environment.
Quote taken from statsheet.com (not a homeschooling promotion site either!)
I have found this to be so true with my own children. They interact with people of *all* ages, and are just as interested in and comfortable with a newborn or someone years their minor or 80 years their senior as they are with children their own age. They also are strong independent thinkers since they have never been subject to the pressure to conform in order to be "acceptable" in a group of age segregated peers. They just are who they are and gravitate towards people of all types and are very innocent and sincere in their approach to people. They have no fears of being rejected, and would never dream of rejecting someone.
I have to smile inwardly when I hear people pull the "socialization" card out in favor of public education or other age segregated activities. In reality all of the segregation that happens in all segments of our society is more of a prohibitor than a contributor to healthy and well rounded socialization skills.
More on this topic here.
To Be Continued.... Home Education: Why?
-time efficiency (time spent versus amount learned)
-quality of education
"I have chosen him. He must direct his children. He must see that the members of his family after him live the way I want them to. So he must direct them to do what is right and fair. " Genesis 18:19 NIRV
Home Education. Why?
For previous posts in this series see here.
Socialization
Yes. You read that right. Socialization. A reason *to* homeschool. Huh? You might say.... isn't that one of the "downsides" to homeschooling? Isn't socialization a good reason to send your kids to public school? I mean, that's more "social", right? Wrong. While it is true that some of the pioneers of the homeschooling movement were rather reclusive and anti-social, statistics show that a balanced (and much more common) approach to homeschooling results in BETTER socialization skills in homeschooled versus public schooled students.
Some people that don’t understand home schooling believe that it is confining rather than socializing. But those individuals that believe that are stuck in thinking about the stereotypical socialization of an age-based classroom. Children that are home schooled are exposed to social situations in a mixed age range.
Many home schoolers feel that their children need to be exposed to the appropriate ways to behave not inappropriate. They feel that their child should be exposed to the model behavior of people who have learned to make decisions and handle themselves in various social settings. By being exposed to appropriate modeling of social behavior, home-schooled children will learn how to act appropriately.
Parents of home schooled children can also see when their child “gets-it” when they model for a younger child appropriate behavior.
Home-schooled children get a reality based social lesson. On a daily basis they see adults they know, love and trust manage and balance life day to day. Modeled for them is academics balanced with real life chores; caring for a sick friend or neighbor, shoveling the driveway and walkway, doing the grocery shopping and dropping of the dry cleaning, cooking dinner while folding laundry, putting laundry away and talking on the phone with Aunt Sara. These are real life situations that home schoolers are exposed to and public school children are often sheltered from or are privy to a controlled school environment.
Quote taken from statsheet.com (not a homeschooling promotion site either!)
I have found this to be so true with my own children. They interact with people of *all* ages, and are just as interested in and comfortable with a newborn or someone years their minor or 80 years their senior as they are with children their own age. They also are strong independent thinkers since they have never been subject to the pressure to conform in order to be "acceptable" in a group of age segregated peers. They just are who they are and gravitate towards people of all types and are very innocent and sincere in their approach to people. They have no fears of being rejected, and would never dream of rejecting someone.
I have to smile inwardly when I hear people pull the "socialization" card out in favor of public education or other age segregated activities. In reality all of the segregation that happens in all segments of our society is more of a prohibitor than a contributor to healthy and well rounded socialization skills.
More on this topic here.
To Be Continued.... Home Education: Why?
-time efficiency (time spent versus amount learned)
-quality of education
"I have chosen him. He must direct his children. He must see that the members of his family after him live the way I want them to. So he must direct them to do what is right and fair. " Genesis 18:19 NIRV
Friday, May 16, 2008
Celebrating Spring
Of Family, Friends, Fun and Fellowship
So last saturday we celebrated our annual spring treasure hunt, the one I boycott at Easter because 1. I am a non-conformist who despises the syncretism of mish-mashing the death and resurrection of our Lord with bunnies and eggs and chocolate (no offense intended to those who see things differently).... and 2. because when we celebrate the wonderful gift of spring, I want it to actually BE spring. (We still have snow and brown and freezing winds at Easter).
Ahem. Stepping off my soap box now to say I had such a wonderful time preparing this special hunt for my kids and a few neighbour friends they invited over, I can't think of a nicer way to enjoy the mother's day weekend than just enjoying the ones who have *made* me a mother. I had found some wonderful Easter Confetti Musical Globes at the second hand store a few weeks before (someone must have paid 10-15 bucks for these new at Easter and I managed to get them for 2 bucks a pop a few weeks later, another bonus to celebrating things in post dated fashion ;-)
Anyway, a wonderful time was had by all, and if you live in my approximate vicinity mark the saturday of mother's day weekend on your calendar for next year and plan to be part of the fun!
So last saturday we celebrated our annual spring treasure hunt, the one I boycott at Easter because 1. I am a non-conformist who despises the syncretism of mish-mashing the death and resurrection of our Lord with bunnies and eggs and chocolate (no offense intended to those who see things differently).... and 2. because when we celebrate the wonderful gift of spring, I want it to actually BE spring. (We still have snow and brown and freezing winds at Easter).
Ahem. Stepping off my soap box now to say I had such a wonderful time preparing this special hunt for my kids and a few neighbour friends they invited over, I can't think of a nicer way to enjoy the mother's day weekend than just enjoying the ones who have *made* me a mother. I had found some wonderful Easter Confetti Musical Globes at the second hand store a few weeks before (someone must have paid 10-15 bucks for these new at Easter and I managed to get them for 2 bucks a pop a few weeks later, another bonus to celebrating things in post dated fashion ;-)
Anyway, a wonderful time was had by all, and if you live in my approximate vicinity mark the saturday of mother's day weekend on your calendar for next year and plan to be part of the fun!
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