Regrets

What do you do with regret? Regrets?  At what point and how do you let go of those regrets?  A dear Christian friend of mind posted recently about a regret in her own life, a hefty and hasty decision she made. I understand regrets. I have some of my own.  Here was my reply written not in a scolding or reprimanding manner whatsoever, but just a reply because her words brought the question forth in my own heart.

"I'm asking this question only to ask but for no other reason: When we pause and reflect at a place of regret in our lives, where would our Forgiver have us turn our gaze? It is wise to pause, but only to pause, and then we move forward or at the least, turn our eyes upward, tear-filled though they may be, whisper our unending gratitude, receive His grace, and keep giving thanks as we ponder the depth of the cross and the power of what took place then and afterwards. Hmmm.....just thinking here because we must."

If you want to take a closer peek at our homeschooling world and some of the things the Lord is putting on my heart to share, please wander on over to Bright Hope Passage.  It'll be my thinking spot, my reflecting place with more of an open door-type look into what God is doing in my heart through homeschooling. Please come by any time.

Finding the Edge of Your Skeleton

Today I had this conversation with my son:

"Mom, you know how in a skeleton there're holes for the eyes?" Me: "Yes?" "Well, I just found the edge of my skeleton. (I loved that!) See....???" Son proceeds to rub his eyes and then we talk about why the skeleton is needed and how it protects the eyes. All in one swift moment brought to me by the beauty of homeschooling. Thank you, Lord. 

In homeschooling, and in living, each day may be  filled with seemingly ordinary moments about common things of which you may know much about.  Today, however, the commonly known  becomes the launch pad for my question. Have you found the edge of your skeleton? Of course, I'm speaking metaphorically.  To be more specific, what is the most recent ordinary and common thing for which God, your Creator, has given you a fresh appreciation?  I'd love to hear about the edge of YOUR skeleton!  

Ask the Lord to show you a new and fresh detail of an aspect in your everyday life  that often appears mundane and routine, and then give Him great thanks!

Family Glue

1. loyal, 2. admirable 3.faithful 4. stubborn 5. nice 6. loving 7. Godly 8. bold 9. obedient 10. stick-to-it-ness 11.laughs 12. smiles 13. strength 14. fast runner 15. fast jogger 16.steady 17. willing 18. alert 19. attentive 20. unbowing.

Tonight, I had Daniel make a list of 20 things he admired about his sister. This was my idea of a gluing exercise. Sometimes our reactions are snapshots of our own coming unglued, and as quick as God gave me the thought, I had him make out a list to snap him out of it. Even in the depth of his irritation, this is what he came up with. I especially loved #20: un-bowing.  This is actually a pretty decent list. I could take issue with the fast-jogger thingy as I wasn't sure *how* someone could be a fast jogger??? but I loved the rest too much. Admired Bethany. Learning and loved Daniel. Thanking God tonight for His wisdom and the assurance there's more where that came from.

Lesson planning: One of my strategies is to plan the hardest subject first. By that I mean, plan the subject or subjects that are most often pushed to the side. At our house that includes science. We meet weekly in a co-op and often find ourselves scrambling at the last minute to finish our notebook journal, or in my case, the lesson plan if it's my week to teach.

 Next up to plan will be Latin. We are working with a new curriculum and I can't wait to sink our teeth into Visual Latin! Writing keeps giving us a run for our money as well, so I need to make some decisions on that.  For History, Bethany is creating and monitoring, I should say, her Ancient History reading and notebook activities on her own, but tonight, I'll make some suggested reading assignments to help her along. Daniel's history is planned out (Notgrass's "America the Beautiful"), so I'll be checking his answers and making sure my planner is up to date with assignments completed and those to come. The children's math and english are mostly planned, and it's a matter of me reviewing the week's upcoming lessons and making a note in the planner of the lessons they'll work on this week.   

I also make a note of the week's appointments and activities to make sure I don't double-book any where.  For the record, I've done that before!  I always say that I don't plan because I am organized, but that I plan because I'm not naturally organized.

Have a great week, and may the Lord crown our efforts with His measurement of success!

Last Night I Dreamed That...

Last night I dreamed I had comments waiting to be moderated on my blog! {insert smile.} And while you're imagining that, here's a brief timeline of the good news of the gospel in video form.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

Honesty Monday

This is my brain on  a Philippians 4:13 Monday.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (That's the Philippians 4:13 part.)
I can teach language arts. (I love language arts!)
I can decide between Analytical Grammar Jr. for my 5th grade son OR First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind.
I can pick up the phone and call CBD and ask about their return policy. (Did it!)
I can place the order for both with full knowledge that one will be returned.
I can then choose the best course for my son.
Then I can TEACH that course and return the one we choose not to use.
I will not let this frustration and apparent obstacle deter me from my mission of teaching my children, and how I love the mission!
The end. 

So, this may appear infantile and ridiculous, so yes, I'm a tinge blushed to admit  that these are the kinds of conversations I have every now and then. Yep, honesty can be humbling all right!

"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!' Matthew 25:40

Excess, Extravagance, and Simplicity

Three words: excess, extravagance, and simplicity, and they're all related. In my life I see excess. At times I trip over it, and other times, it is distracting and becomes the fastest shortcut  to a divided heart. It's in those moments where I become lonely for what drew me to Jesus to begin with, and that is the extravagance of His expressed love. There's not enough excess of material things in this temporal world  that could ever compare to the  beauty and the wealth of the eternal extravagance of Jesus. I look again at the excess  in my life, and I become aware that my tendency toward it is an arch enemy to being able to receive the extravagance of the Lord. I cannot receive His extravagant love when I'm so preoccupied with excess.  In the process of the glance upward to Him and then over here and over there, viewing the much, my heart then longs to simplify. When the much is used to fill the place reserved for  His simple extravagance alone, then it must go. This process; the return to simplicity on all fronts,  becomes that wide open basket where He can place the extravagance of His greatness, His love, and His presence.  It's  an act of grace. It's His loosening of my roots out of the material world that causes me to hear better, to see better, and to live more purely in a place that is really not my home.

Random Thoughts for a Saturday

1. Whether or not I'm rested, take a shower first thing. My day will most certainly be more productive.

2. Today I'm not rested, and I haven't accomplished much. That tells you how I came about to the conclusion I've listed in number one.

3. God's grace is sufficient. This is one 24-hour period that I'll not be able to do over again. No sense stressing over that. It's going to be okay.

4. Fast food drive-through's are very cool, and should be easily accessible on days such as today.

5. Children can sweep and scrub too.

6. Tomorrow is a brand new day.

7. Jesus' Lordship isn't dependent upon my sleep. Amen to that!

Today I'm posting an article from Simple Homeschool.  As a family, we've made an effort to not allow pride to be a part of the reflection on our decision to homeschool. We've not desired to isolate our  friends  who do not share a conviction to homeschool. I will say, however, that I've had moments of giving thanks more profusely than others about our choice to homeschool,  and the day of the Newtown, Connecticut school massacre was one of those days. The author of this article writes from the perspective of an event that, for them, hit very close to home. Key word: community.

"Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." John 13:35

Antartica

In our homeschool we're finishing up our study of  My Father's World's "Exploring Countries and Cultures" this week, after a year and a half of study.  We could've completed the study in a years time, but  we were not always consistent with doing geography each day. I'm okay with that!

Bethany has always loved Geography and has an excellent working knowledge of the world and how God laid it out. She can name way more countries than I can. Easy.  Daniel didn't used to like maps or geography, but as a result of our studies, he's become much more informed and curious about the world he lives in.  I've loved watching him grow in his knowledge of the world, and in his abilities to use the tools we have to learn more. 

We'll watch this movie to see the Emperor Penguins of Antarctica. I thought the children would really enjoy this film.  Here's yet another video. I'm wondering what makes the penguin decide to walk or slide?  Here is a glossary of penguin terms that may be helpful. Oh, gee whiz, just pop some popcorn and call it a movie day. Here's another video.

The first movie is about 10 minutes long. Watch it if you're curious. There's no dialogue, rather there is plenty of footage of penguins being penguins. You may want to put on your sweater though. It's chilly in Antarctica!

We'll do some mapping activites, and we'll also do some crossword puzzles and word searches. The children love those.  Here's the link that we're using for the puzzles and word searches.

We love the resources that My Father's World has provided for our studies. After this more specific overview of what we'll be studying this week, I am remembering all of  the fun we've had learning through Exploring Countries and Cultures.

This Is Why

How we spend our time has a silent ripple effect. Though the pebble makes a slight noise when it's first dropped into the water, the ripples continue outwardly from where the pebble first dropped. As we began our day of rain, reading, and breakfast - all together in the living room, I couldn't help but stop and ask what affect this would have? What contribution is this one solitary moment destined to make in the future of the children who are sitting with me? I cannot know the answer. But I can be very sure that it will be of affect, and that fills my heart with immeasurable joy. I nearly feel unworthy to have this time, but the gratitude I have outweighs the consideration of worth having anything to do with this. I had to stop to consider this and to make a note of it as I did not want the moment to pass with no record of it.

This is why we homeschool.