I Just Have To

Every now and then I'm blessed with a more up close and personal glimpse of my children: their loves, desires, and their dreams. Welcome to my house, and the end of another day.

I open daughter's sketch book to find drawings, her efforts at writing in Arabic (to the best of her memory), and my favorite: her and her brother's future plans. Daniel has scrapped his plans to be an astronaut in order that he can become a carpenter and help his sister build their own farm houses.So here goes, her spelling and all.

What would we like to be:

Bethany. Meninite farmer.
Daniel. Mininite farmer and Carpender.

Where would we like to live:

Bethany. Wyoming
Daniel. Wyoming

Wish List:

Electric stove and oven.
Goats.
Cows.
Donkeys and mules.
Horses.
A Camel.
Sheep.
Pigs.
Guiny Pigs
Chickens
Rabits.
Dogs.
Cat.
Geece.
Ducks.
Water basin.
Big wooden tub.
99 acres of land.
Little wooden tub.
A barn.
Two log houses
A hunting licence.
Wooden fences.
Fishing licence.
Chicken coop.
A nice lake
Two under ground pools.
2 bikes.
A carpender shop.
Thick woods.
A garden.
2 farms.
A pine tree place.
12 adopted children (This one is my favorite.)
A T.V.-no cable.
A Telaphone.

I wouldn't change this list for anything. I wouldn't edit the spelling for anything. And I wouldn't trade my Heavenly Father's calling as Mother and Mentor for anything in the world.

An Honest Reply

One of my favorite Facebook pages is Training Children with Grace & Truth, the Facebook page of Grace and Truth Books. Throughout the day they post quotes from Godly men and women both past and present. As a reader, I am almost always heavily impacted by the weight of wisdom each quote holds. Today Vance Havner is quoted in saying:

"No man or woman ever had a nobler challenge or a higher privilege than to bring up a child for God, and whenever we slight that privilege or neglect that ministry for anything else, we live to mourn it in heartache and grief."

Convicted and tugged upon, I replied:

When I think of the "willfully" missed moments and opportunity with my children, it does cause me grief. Noble challenges and privilege are often coupled with seeming inconvenience; the inconvenience of dying to self to seize a teachable moment or to see discipline through to its desired effect. I thank the Lord for the grace to begin again with corrected vision.

The honest part of my reply is where I indicate the willfulness of my choices to disregard the opportunity and challenge to raise up a particular man or woman of God secretly disguised in a small person's body. Facebook, Google News, Emails, and Curriculum searches galore have often taken precedence over my own "created in His image" flesh and blood children. In Chapter 19:13, the Psalmist writes: "Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then shall I be blameless, and I shall be innocent {and} clear of great transgression."

This version uses the word, presumptuous, while others use the word, willful. Here's what Forerunner Commentary says about presumptuous:

The word presumption does not quite mean in Hebrew what it does in English. In English, it simply means "to assume," to take a matter upon oneself without considering all the factors and doing it. However, in the Old Testament, it carries the idea of acting arrogantly—of rebellion. In fact, it means to do something with audacity or to be headstrong. It refers to those who overstep their bounds or dare to act in a disobedient manner. A willfulness is implied in the word that is not contained in English, making it much more forceful.

In other words, a person who sins presumptuously is fully aware of what he is doing; he is fully educated and not in ignorance either of what he is doing or the potential cost of doing it, and he deliberately sets his mind to do it. It is an act of rebellion, an audacious setting one's will, despite all he knows, to go ahead and do it anyway.

I know I am not the only one "out there" who makes this same confession. While some may not have been walking with Christ during those child-rearing years, that is not my particular situation. I know the Lord, and I have learned His ways over the years. I can say there truly are times when I willfully, knowingly, and dare I say, rebelliously, have ignored a moment that may not come my way again: that moment to teach, disciple and mentor an observing and pliable piece of clay who lies within my grasp and sphere of influence.

What's in your earthen vessel? I challenge you (and me) to reach into your vessel, sieze the teachable moment and expose the treasure of wisdom from within. Make it easy to grasp for the one who would behold it, child or peer. Wrap it with mercy and tie it with grace and enduring love. Tell it to your children, and your children's children. Let one generation tell of His works to another. Don't skip out on or shortchange the next generation. We are now more desperate than ever for truth, wisdom, and a faithful wound. Repent with me, and rise up to finish the race laid out before us.

This Looks Yummy!

Here's a gluten-free recipe that looks fabulous! Check out this Carrot/Pineapple Salad at Hearts In Training. I'll be trying this salad for sure! It also looks like it could be tweeked to include a few extra things. For starters, I'm thinking of adding raisins. Thank you, Loni.

First Things First

One of the joys of homeschooling is also one of the greatest responsibilities; raising our children in the love, joy, knowledge, and fear of the Lord. I humbly admit that one of the things I seem to set aside, to attend to what I call our Core Subjects, is Bible.

Even though I have a subject header in my planner for Bible, it is more than a subject. For a Christian, the Bible and our living relationship with Jesus Christ is our foundation. By neglecting Bible I am teaching my children, indirectly, that it's "words on a page", and not The Living Word. As I said, I'm inadvertantly doing so. Does this neglect support my core value of raising my Children in the Lord? No. Rather than bend and yield family values to the pressure of the clock that is in sight, I remind myself that God's word, and having a living relationship with Jesus Christ, IS by far, the most important thing I can teach my children.

So, by God's grace, our school day began at 10:15, and I have to say that we had a most wonderful time recalling the story of Joseph. The passages in Genesis 37 & Genesis 45 provided the backdrop of a great lesson on forgiveness. God gave me a wonderful example of demonstrating forgiveness and unforgiveness. We had an empty laundry basket (a modern day miracle) which the kids had fun lifting up, up,up, and over their heads. Then, we piled in Danny's work bag - a nice, cube-shaped monstrosity, and a few other items such as a Windex bottle and a Star Wars light saber. Some items (offenses) were small, and some were HUGE. When they picked up the laundry basket, well, there was no more up, up, UP, because they couldn't carry it. I explained that God didn't design us to carry those offenses. Their faces lit up as they enjoyed their own understanding of the object lesson.

Then we had an activity where we drew a picture of a cross, wrote in our sins that we remembered, and then we colored over them nice and DARK so that they couldn't be seen, just as Jesus covered OUR sins on the cross. Then next to the cross, we drew a heart, and wrote something in it that we needed to forgive someone for, and then also colored over it with a dark color . That demonstrated our forgiveness of that person as Christ in God has forgiven us (Eph. 4:32). What a wonderful time we had. And now on to Math & Language Arts.

Whether or not we were homeschooling, a growing understanding of God's word & having a living relationship with Jesus Christ is more important than anything else we could attend to. How often do we allow the clock to dictate our priorities, rather than a God who made us for relationship with Him. In summary: guilty, but redeemed. Missing the mark, but continually refocusing my vision.

Don't Ever Link to This Post!

Before you read further, allow me to caution those with weak stomachs. The pictures are graphic. They're personal. They're plum pathetic. That said, it took me 30 minutes to upload the photos from my phone, so I'd appreciate atleast a glance.

These pictures could be mistaken for aerial photos of a tornado, but ladies, they merely reflect the contents of my purse. You're not going to believe what was in there, and I promise, there is a good explanation for the dogfood. So, here's my list:

9 tubes of lipstick/lipgloss (That's the pathetic part!)
1 tube of concealer
1 brow pencil
1 lip liner
1 Tube of Mascara
1 compact
1 hand lotion
1 body spray
1 pocketpac Antibacterial Hand Gel
3 cross necklaces (gifts for me and the children)
1 pair of earrings
1 broken necklace
1 miniature can of V8 Juice
1 small flashlight
1 highlighter
2 pencils
5 empty communion cups (we like to use these to simulate the sounds of a visit to your local chiropracter!)
1 CD
1 box of toothpicks
1 set of Danny's missing keys (sorry, honey!)
1 lense from a broken pair of sunglasses
4 perfectly fine pair of sunglasses
Probably 15 or so crumpled receipts
Dental floss (not used yet)
Dogfood (we try to keep healthy snacks around)
and of course, a tube of ibuprophen.

Can you believe it?  (I promise it's not usually this bad!)

The dogfood made a memorable impression when it exposed itself during a recent check out at a local Barnes and Noble location. Call it: camping, selling a  home, homeschooling, etc. Call it an emergency. Does the President know about this?

The Great Detective Agency

I wish you could be in my house right now.  Detective Bethany and Detective Daniel are hard at work on their first official case. There's whispering, secret meetings in the hallway near the pantry. Case: To find the source of the clattering of pans we heard while homeschooling this afternoon.


So, how does one become a detective in the Great Detective Agency? Well, you have to have a case first. Then, you have to have a sister who is very very curious, or someone who is curious, and that someone may be YOU! Do you have a notebook? You know, a place where you record your classified, whispered information? You have to have one. And, if you do not, then perhaps that other curious someone will make one for you. What a lucky fella that Detective Daniel is!


Make sure you write the name of your agency at the top of your paper. And here's how that conversation went: "Bethany, how do you spell detective?" They talk, he writes. Detective D did his dead level best, and at that Bethany says in her nicest tone (that is almost all of them, by the way), "No offense, but your handwriting is not very neat!" Daniel aptly replies, "No matter how you say it, that can be offensive!" So, it is agreed that Detective B will record the title in Caps, I might add, at the top of the page.


So there's a rustling of denim on the tile floor, "And how do you spell cabinet?", quiet in the house, the sound of pencils listing things on paper, notebooks scooting, and the investigation continues. Will they find the source of that noise, "How do you spell fridge?" (at this point I can't help correcting that one word!).


May I please stop the hand of time here and now? I am loving this moment.

Fun Stuff!

It's been awhile since I've posted: Camera batteries that need charging, a house on the market and keeping it clean while lived in, making up for lost school days, and then of course sleeping, eating, and breathing!

There's always time to browse a website or two, and of course, I love browsing Homeschooling websites. A grammar curriculum I am intrigued by happened to post this list of funnies, and so, I pass them on to you. Enjoy, be blessed, and let us remain prayerful for one another. Much love!

KATHY

JUST FOR FUN
The English language is full of ambiguities that can lend themselves to humorous interpretations. What follows are a number of questions with some clever twists. Enjoy.


If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?

Can an atheist get insurance against acts of God?

If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done?

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?

If a turtle lacks a shell, is it homeless or naked?

Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?

Where do forest rangers go to get away from it all?

If a parsley farmer is sued, do they garnish his wages?

Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?

How is it possible to have a civil war?

Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machine?

If you ate both pasta and antipasto, would you still be hungry?

What if there were no hypothetical questions?