A Heart That Prays

While doing my quiet time this morning I came across this poem in the book I'm reading (it's my favorite book ever, btw). Elizabeth George, in A Woman After God's Own Heart, is writing about how to have a heart overflowing with "Motherly Affection". She says, "beginning each day by praying for your children benefits them in countless ways even as it draws them deeper into your heart". May we all be women with "motherly affection" for our children and remember to pray for them daily!



Some have had kings in their lineage,
Some to whom honor was paid.
Not blest of my ancestors-but,
I have a mother who prays.

I have a mother who prays for me
And pleads with the Lord every day for me.
Oh what a difference it makes for me-
I have a mother who prays.

Some have worldly success
And trust in the riches they've made-
This is my surest asset,
I have a mother who prays.

My mother's prayers cannot save me,
Only mine can avail;
But mother introduced me to Someone-
Someone who never could fail.

Oh yes...I have a mother who prays for me
And pleads with teh Lord every day for me.
O what a difference it makes for me-
I have a mother who prays.

-Author Unknown

"...and a little child shall lead them"

Being a Christian, we are told that we will come under fire, endure trials, be mocked and laughed at, etc. Yet that does not make it easier when it actually happens. I know that by living in the U.S. we have been spared a lot of the persecution that goes on in other parts of the world. So when the persecution starts to hit closer to home it really gets to me. I am speaking of the news articles and polls that have come out recently in response to our homeschool science books teaching creation rather than evolution. I was forwarded a poll the other day (which I took) asking if people thought it was ok for us to teach creation as homeschoolers. This poll was generated by MSNBC so the results didn't surprise me to begin with. When I voted the count was about 3 to 1 against us being allowed to teach creationism. I read some of the comments and was just struck at the anger, resentment, malice that came from these people voting against creationism. There are some very angry and resentful people out there that would love nothing more than to force us into teaching evolution, which is one of the main reasons I homeschool.

Then in another email I received just this morning I came across this article from Fox News (the more conservative of the news networks) that made me angry again. In those news reports I listed above some homeschoolers who aren't Christians were complaining about the lack of non-Christian resources available on the market. I say, "yay!". Don't we live in a world that typically caters to non-Christian's? This is how we have to live daily. I'm glad we have a little section of society that caters to us.

After prayer and time alone in the Word with God here is what HE showed me this morning. (Isn't God so very faithful?!) I will need to break them up into a couple of posts because He showed me quite a few verses and I feel led to share them with you as well.

Isaiah 11 begins "there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit." He is speaking of the coming of Jesus. "And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth..." He is here and He is for us. He hasn't forgotten us and He will settle our disputes and the righteous will prevail.

I see something happening in our homeschooling generation. I wonder if God is raising up a generation that will follow Him and bring this country back to Him. There are untold millions of children that are being homeschooled right now (some reports say 86% are evangelical Christians) and are being taught God's ways, God's history, God's Word. Yes, they are able to perform in society even after they leave the home. Not only are they performing, they are excelling! These are the future leaders of our world. We have such a responsibility to make sure that they are taught the truth and taught to fight for the truth. God is doing some amazing work right now! Isaiah 11:6 says, "...and a little child shall lead them"! Wow!!!


Psalm 25 was the next passage the Lord showed me. "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous." This verse gave me hope, hope in the future grace that is to come, hope in the future world that will live in (either in heaven or in the NEW earth).

"Make me know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. leat me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long." (Psalm 25:4-5)

"Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies." (vs. 8-10) This is simple reassurance that what we are teaching our children is the truth and the only way to follow the Lord.

Remember I mentioned the hate that was displayed towards Christians in the poll comments that I read? Well, the Lord showed me this in response, "Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heard are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me. Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. Redeem Israel (I added America in my prayer), O God, out of all his troubles." (vs. 16-22)

The Lord is so faithful. He knows when we're burdened and He sees our worries and fears. He gave us His Word as a comfort and if we only look we will see the promises and remember that HE is in control.


more to come...

Jill

Wonderful History

As the children work on their Moses coloring I sit here and am reminded how truly blessed I am to be able to teach my children in the way that God has led me. We're learning about the Ancients this year. We're on Egypt right now and I love that I'm able to teach them the TRUTH. Our books are: the Story of the World, D'Aulaires book of Greek Myths, and A Wonder Book by Nathaniel Hawthorne (with some additional picture books thrown in every now and then). Now, I can imagine how confusing and twisted these books could get in a school setting. (Actually, we all know that they would not even be used at grades k and 2.) But my kids are eating them up! They are fascinated with the Egyptians and learning the actual places spoken of so much in the Bible. They love learning about the Greek gods and the heroes of Greek mythology. Yet, they know also that these are myths, fairy-tales if you will. I am with them step by step to guide them in what's real and what's made up. There is no confusion on their part and actually I sense them tiring of me telling them that some things are false. They have that, "Mom, we know that!" look on their faces. At least I know we're doing something right!

Thank you, Lord that I can teach my children the history of the world from a Biblical and truthful perspective. What a joy and blessing I've been given. May I always take my responsibility seriously to guide my children in Your ways and truths.

CM education in the Bible?

I love it when the Bible teaches me something new. Isn't it glorious that each time we read it, God can lay something special and specific on our hearts? This weekend He reinforced the method of homeschooling that He's led me too, Charlotte Mason.

My husband teaches a college SS class at our church. On Sat. night we were reviewing the lesson and something amazing struck me. The passages are found in Mark 12:28-34. Earlier in this chapter the Sadducees and the Herodians and the Pharisees had been trying to trap Jesus by asking questions that, no matter how He answered would make some people mad enough to want Him dead. Of course, Jesus answered perfectly "and they were amazed at Him".

Verse 28 picks up with one of the scribes who had an honest question and was really wanting to know the answer. He asked Jesus "what commandment is the foremost of all?" (Mark 12:28) Jesus answered him in verses 29-31 stating that "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "

Here comes the lesson: look at verses 32-34. In these verses the scribe narrates back to Jesus exactly what He just spoke and even added in some of his own interpretation to prove that he thoroughly understood the Lord's words when he said, "...is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."


Notice Jesus' response, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." Wow! Even Jesus taught this way. It struck me immediately that that was what Miss Mason says about narration. If we're able to repeat the passage, story, or lesson back and add some interpretation of our own, then we've truly mastered the content.

I am so pleased with the way in which God has guided me in our homeschool. He continues to show me daily where I need to pick up the pace, slow down, or switch all together. Daily I thank Him for this gift that he's given me, the gift of my children and the ability to teach them in His ways to the best of my knowledge.

Jill

Thoughts of the New Year

The worries of life sometimes get in the way of doing what you would like to do...such as updating my blog more. I don't and won't ever complain though. I may get tired, grumpy, and need to sneak away for a nice long bath every now and then but I feel blessed beyond measure that the Lord has provided a way for me to stay home with our precious angels and homeschool them.

I'm so in love with life. I love waking up in the morning cuddling with my babies, knowing that I don't have to rush out the door to get them to the school by some unGodly hour. I love the family breakfast each morning (well, minus Daddy) followed immediately by our Bible study and the rest of our school day. I love knowing that I don't really have to get dressed except for church on Wed. and Sundays. ;) I love seeing the light spark in my children's eyes when they understand a new concept or remember something we've already learned. I love the nap time that comes after a long day of teaching. I don't always get a nap but I do always have a rest time. I love the afternoons where we get ready for Daddy to come home and the kids help me make supper. I'm so blessed. Blessed beyond measure.

But most of all I love knowing that come 6 o'clock the man of my dreams is going to walk through that door and our family is complete. We've really taken the time the past couple of months to focus on our family and our family time. Our kids beg for "family nights" and the funny thing is...we have it nearly every night. Dh has just started a new family Bible study and we're having a lot of special moments with it. The kids gather at his feet and hang on his every word. Of course, this is after the wresteling, tickling, and giggling that goes on with Daddy the moment he gets home. He's their hero and the best Daddy ever. I thank God that our children have such a man to model their future husbands (for the girls) and themselves (for ds) after.

As the new semester and new year starts I pray the Lord will let us continue to grow our family into a tighter, closer bond. Most of our day is spent in His Word or work and the kids expect nothing less. God is first in our lives. He is the reason for living. He is the rock our family relies on. As the college comes back and our responsibilities with that ministry increase I pray that above all else, we are where HE wants us and no where else. I pray that our special family time remains the constant in our lives and that we are able to balance our lives with the priorities that HE wants for us.

Thank you Lord that you are a God of love, compassion, forgiveness, mercy, and hope. May we always be focused on You.

Happy 2010 everyone!

Jill

Public Schools doing away with books?

My mom recently emailed me a copy of this article from the Tupelo, MS Public School District's website. They were praising the fact that by the end of this semester all children and teachers in grades 6-12 will have personal computers. Now instead of giving each child a text book to read during the year (which I have issues with anyway...) they will get a diluted form sent to them via email from their teacher.

The project will be largely paid for by money the district normally spends on textbooks and photocopies, Shaver said. Instead of providing textbooks for each of its students, the district will now just have a set of textbooks for each subject and classroom. Teachers creating handouts for students will now make those handouts into electronic documents, or PDFs, and email them to students.

I take serious issue with this. Why not let the children read for themselves? Why not let them make their own inferences and have their own opinions? I just don't see the benefit of having a personal computer in exchange for a book. Albeit, textbooks are horrible ways to teach anyway...but at least it's better than a teacher handout. Oh, let's add this article to the list of reasons that I choose to school my children in our home. Now, I'm signing off of this computer to go and read an actual book! Goodnight!

A Time for Family and God's Handiworks

Today we had another nature study adventure. These have honestly become our very favorite parts of the week. Even my dd2 talks about our nature studies. The other day we were playing on a playground waiting for Dd7 to get out of her enrichment school and Ds5 was playing on the swingset. He was swinging and looking at the playground surrounded by huge beautiful trees. He said to me, "Mom, this would be a great place to have a nature study!" Yes, it truly would. It warmed my heart that while playing on a playground surrounded by plastic structures on which to play he would be thinking of our beloved nature studies.

So today we went out. We worked on the Nature Study Outdoor Hour's 2nd lesson today. Yes, we've done about four nature studies but we're only on their second lesson (we sometimes do our own observations). Today the assignment was to be still, quiet, and listen. Out we went and I must admit that quiet does not always come easily in my house. But we did the best we could. I never realized that I could hear crickets so loudly in the middle of the day. My Dd7 first noticed them. We then heard at least three different types of birds. We heard the sound the wind makes as it's blowing through the bronze colored leaves still hanging barely onto the limbs in the trees above. We heard the way the leaves sound while rustling under our foot steps.

We decided to touch as well as listen. We noticed the difference in the way smooth living leaves feels as opposed to the dried, crackling feel of the dead ones. We saw a vine growing up a tree and noticed that it felt prickly and hard. We felt the soft figs that were growing in one of the trees (at least I think that's what they are...we're waiting on Daddy to make a definite determination).

We also saw the beauty of our God's world. We saw the robin eating his food from the ground and scurrying to his tree home when we came too close. We saw that a few leaves were still in the trees while most have fallen to the ground. We saw that some trees were in fact, still green.

This was a fascinating lesson for all of us and it only took a few quick minutes. We came back in and listed on three different charts the things we saw, heard, and felt. Then Dd7 copied our lists into her notebook.

I can honestly say that our nature studies have become something I look forward to, rather than dread. It's not "just another thing to do" for us but it's a stress free time to observe our Lord and His wonderful handiworks.

It's a Favorite time of the Year!

It's hard to believe that 8 weeks have already passed since we started school. I know some people are just starting but we're almost ready for a Fall break! Oh, Fall! I love Fall! It's my very favorite time of the year. The crisp chill in the air (which has yet to reach us, I might add), the beautiful colors of the leaves falling to the ground, the football games and candy apples! Oh, so many wonderful experiences to enjoy for us all.

I try to point out these changes in weather and nature to my children as much as I can. This is for their benefit as well as my own. I find that so many times I can rush through life and find that I've missed so much of life. I love our school days and I'm trying to make them less stressful for us all. I'm trying to have fun, do wonderful nature projects, and just enjoy the art of learning. Miss Mason has been teaching me this and I'm trying to put in into practical applications. I'll let you know how I do!

But I urge you, as you venture into this new season, look for the things and experiences that make Fall different from any other time. Explore those and come up with some of your favorite fall activities or observations. This will make your children, as well as yourself, take time to explore all that God has created and be appreciative! Happy Fall!

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival!

I am so excited! I am in my very first CM blog carnival this week! What is a CM blog carnival? It's a place where anyone can visit to find lots of different CM articles and blog entries to read. I often try to find new blogs that are using the CM style of education, yet it's hard just doing a blind search. Now all of the work is done for me and I can just go from one blog entry to the next learning all different kinds of wonderful CM wisdom. This week's CM Blog Carnival is hosted by Rose Cottage. Check it out...I know I will. And thank you to Blessed Mommy who suggested that I enter my post for the carnival. I love making new friends!

Jill

How to fit it in!

The school year is just beginning. We're in week 4. Well, actually we're almost done with week 4. Is anyone else finding it hard to fit it all in? I've been hearing this so much recently and it makes me feel a little better knowing that I'm not the only one. So what do we do about it? How do we find more time?

For me, I have to realize that my goals are still being met even when I don't have time for everything. There is SO MUCH GOOD and wonderful material that I'd love to teach my children. I find more everyday.

Through prayer I pick out what I feel God is leading me too on the major subjects. He led me to a wonderful Bible story book, Egermeier's Bible Story Book. We begin each day reading a story from the book and my dd7 draws a picture to go along with the story. We started this last year and she has a beautiful portfolio of her drawings over the past year that I know I will treasure always! This is how I test what she's learned from each story. It's amazing to see what she decides to draw. She'll find the little things in the story sometimes and draw about those. Or other times she'll draw one big picture about the main theme.

We also make sure each morning to go over our Bible verses and Key Passages from the Bible that we're learning for Bible buddies. Bible buddies is the class that comes before Bible Drill in our church and the children have a list of verses and Key passages to learn each year. Once we're done learning those I'll add more to our morning routine.

For me, those are the major, most important things to get done each day. Teaching my children about the Lord and bringing them up in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord" is my #1 goal. All else will come as a blessing from God for doing those things.

Now I'm not saying that that's all we do! Not by any means. What I'm saying is that that is my PRIORITY! Language Arts, Math, Science, and History, Handwriting, and Copywork always follow...but if there is a day that I can't get one of those done then I know I can make it up.

We really love doing art, picture study, and our AO readings in our home. To me, these are some of the things that set us apart from a regular school. What are you doing in your homeschool that sets you apart? What is something that you do with your children that they wouldn't get if they were in a public school? Focus on these positive aspects of your school. No, we don't get to our picture study or art everyday or even every week (which is what I have it planned for). But it's there and we love it when we can do it. It's o.k. It's o.k. to not fit it all in.

Keep going, don't give up, and most importantly pray! Pray that God will give you a peace about what to teach and what's o.k. to save for later. There will always be more that we'd like to teach our children than time in the day to get it accomplished. Focus on doing what you can do with all of the energy and love that it requires. Remember, quality-not quantity!

I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for all of us this year!

Jill

Welcome!

Welcome to my new endeavor! For quite a while I've been wanting to begin a new blog...a blog relaying my adventures and thoughts on a subject very personal and dear to me, homeschooling. I am beginning my fourth year as a homeschooling mom and this year will be extra challenging. Up until now I've been homeschooling only my 7 year old daughter. She will be starting the second grade next week. But new this year will be my son, who will be starting Kindergarten. This will be the first time I've schooled two of my children on differing levels. While we will do a lot of the activities together as a family, I'll be doing math, language, and reading with each child on their own. Added to the chaos is my almost two year old daughter! And she is definitely my most active and curious child. This should be interesting! But most importantly, I'll have my loving Savior and Lord guiding my every step. He called me to this precious journey and I will trust Him to bring me through. Who knows what this blog will become. But if nothing else it'll be a great place for me to store my thoughts, plans, and resources on homeschooling. Enjoy!

Jill