An Old Taoist Story~
There was an old farmer who lived in a small village. One night the farmer's only horse ran away. The next day the farmer's neighbors lamented, "What great misfortune has befallen you!" The farmer only replied, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
The following morning the farmer awoke to find that his horse had not only returned, but had brought back 6 companion horses. The neighbors all rushed to congratulate the man on his great luck, to which the farmer simply replied, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
The next day the farmer's son tried to ride one of the feral horses, but he was thrown off and broke his leg. Having heard the news the neighbor's sympathized, "You will surely become poor now as you have no one to help you on your land! How terrible!" The old man smiled and said, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
The following afternoon a conscription officer of the army came to the village recruiting all young able-bodied men to fight in the war. The farmer's son was passed over due to his injury.
Giving thanks always for ALL THINGS unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; ~Ephesians 5:20
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
My Homeschooling Journey
“Nourish a child daily with loving, right, and noble ideas... which may bear fruit in his life.”--Charlotte Mason, 1842-1923
My homeschooling journey began 6 years ago when we had to decide whether or not to put my oldest son Jackson in public school. My husband was much more enthusiastic than I was about homeschooling. I was downright terrified. I didn't even know where to begin, and was afraid of failure. I knew if I failed, Jackson would pay the price. No pressure there!
I agreed with all of the many reasons my husband wanted us to home school.. one of which was the fact that the public school system in our county was poor, at best. And we were afraid more what he WOULD learn there, than what he wouldn't.
I began teaching Jackson kindergarten with the very respectable Christian curriculum Abeka, recommended by a friend. That first year I bought many more books than necessary. School was tedious, and boring. I knew there must be some way to make school fun, or at least tolerable for both of us..
A year or two later another friend of mine from church gave me the book A Charlotte Mason Education, by Catherine Levison. Finally. The light came on! THIS is what I had been searching for..and much, much more. I read the book and started applying what I had learned. Instead of agonizing over science textbooks, we took walks and learned about science and nature firsthand. Instead of math textbooks, we counted change, and added and subtracted with raisins and peanuts. Instead of cutesy children's books, I introduced him to fine literature. Yes, at 6-7 years old. We read Black Beauty, Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and many many more. I took him on the field trips that the public school system had to cut because of budget restraints. We attend museums, art galleries, the symphony, apple orchards, dairy farms, aquariums, working farms, and more.
Today, I am using a few select textbooks. But not one certain curriculum. I continue to use Abeka math, I find it to be less tedious than Saxon Math. I use Spelling Power for my older boys. They have learned creation from Dr. Kent Hovind, and Ken Hamm. Never again will they be confused by the nonsense and lies of evolution. For science text we use Considering God's Creation. For history we use TruthQuest. I adore Simply Grammar. I use a variety of "love to write" type of books, giving the boys much liberty in what they write about. Most importantly, 3 of my 4 children know the Lord as their personal Savior.
I have learned that little boys are not meant to sit in a classroom, for hours on end, doing paperwork. Boys need to run, and touch, and explore, and play. Even big boys!
Weather permitting we take frequent trips to the park and library. On cold winter afternoons we cuddle on the couch reading books, or watching science documentaries. And we fill our warm afternoons fishing, swimming and playing. The boys play violin, piano, baseball, and take taekwondo. Of course they love spending time each week with their friends.
Today I am seeing the fruit in the lives of my children--the result of good counsel, from Charlotte Mason and a Christian friend.
“Nourish a child daily with loving, right, and noble ideas... which may bear fruit in his life.”--Charlotte Mason, 1842-1923
My homeschooling journey began 6 years ago when we had to decide whether or not to put my oldest son Jackson in public school. My husband was much more enthusiastic than I was about homeschooling. I was downright terrified. I didn't even know where to begin, and was afraid of failure. I knew if I failed, Jackson would pay the price. No pressure there!
I agreed with all of the many reasons my husband wanted us to home school.. one of which was the fact that the public school system in our county was poor, at best. And we were afraid more what he WOULD learn there, than what he wouldn't.
I began teaching Jackson kindergarten with the very respectable Christian curriculum Abeka, recommended by a friend. That first year I bought many more books than necessary. School was tedious, and boring. I knew there must be some way to make school fun, or at least tolerable for both of us..
A year or two later another friend of mine from church gave me the book A Charlotte Mason Education, by Catherine Levison. Finally. The light came on! THIS is what I had been searching for..and much, much more. I read the book and started applying what I had learned. Instead of agonizing over science textbooks, we took walks and learned about science and nature firsthand. Instead of math textbooks, we counted change, and added and subtracted with raisins and peanuts. Instead of cutesy children's books, I introduced him to fine literature. Yes, at 6-7 years old. We read Black Beauty, Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and many many more. I took him on the field trips that the public school system had to cut because of budget restraints. We attend museums, art galleries, the symphony, apple orchards, dairy farms, aquariums, working farms, and more.
Today, I am using a few select textbooks. But not one certain curriculum. I continue to use Abeka math, I find it to be less tedious than Saxon Math. I use Spelling Power for my older boys. They have learned creation from Dr. Kent Hovind, and Ken Hamm. Never again will they be confused by the nonsense and lies of evolution. For science text we use Considering God's Creation. For history we use TruthQuest. I adore Simply Grammar. I use a variety of "love to write" type of books, giving the boys much liberty in what they write about. Most importantly, 3 of my 4 children know the Lord as their personal Savior.
I have learned that little boys are not meant to sit in a classroom, for hours on end, doing paperwork. Boys need to run, and touch, and explore, and play. Even big boys!
Weather permitting we take frequent trips to the park and library. On cold winter afternoons we cuddle on the couch reading books, or watching science documentaries. And we fill our warm afternoons fishing, swimming and playing. The boys play violin, piano, baseball, and take taekwondo. Of course they love spending time each week with their friends.
Today I am seeing the fruit in the lives of my children--the result of good counsel, from Charlotte Mason and a Christian friend.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Bad Attitude
By: Michael Pearl, No Greater Joy
In one of our recent seminars, a mother complained to Debi, “The children frustrate me so much...
...I tell them to do their school work, and they just piddle around. I tell them to clean up their rooms, and they fuss over who is to clean up what. They are always irritating one another. It frustrates me so much, trying to cause them to maintain a good attitude. They are always complaining and whining about something. I get frustrated and spank them, but it seems to do no good. They just don’t seem to care. They pick on each other continuously. I get so frustrated....” Debi interrupted her mournful complaints to answer, “Yes, it is an attitude problem.” The weary mother hastily agreed, “That’s it! They have bad attitudes.” Debi responded, “No, it’s you that has the bad attitude.” The mother’s widening eyes and gaping mouth expressed her dismay as she stood waiting for the forthcoming explanation.
Are you a frustrated parent? Is your brow drawn tight as if pulled by draw strings? If parenting is not enjoyable, be assured, you have a bad attitude. When your children look into your face what do they see? They are not fooled. They know what you feel toward them. Your face is a graph of approval or rejection. Verbal “positive affirmation” is not enough; in fact, it is worse than nothing if there is not genuine delight in your heart. Children can see through a parent who is made of muddy water. If they see disappointment and criticism they will answer in kind. Discontented parents breed discontented children. Your attitude is the root of the family attitude tree. A bitter root cannot produce sweet fruit.
Parental attitudes are highly contagious, and the children usually come down with a worse case. “More is caught than taught.” And children seem more highly susceptible to catching a bad attitude than of being taught to have a good one. They can catch the disease of bad attitude while being passive. On the other hand, they must exert themselves to have a good attitude.
Your children are playing follow-the-leader. They are deaf to your words, but they “hear” your attitude loud and clear. Example has always been more effective than theory. Where parents are constantly modeling the bad attitude; a good attitude is just a theoretical concept to the child. Try as they may, they can’t quite fathom the meaning of a good attitude—it has been so long since they have seen one. If you dress your children in tight pinching shoes, don’t blame them for having sore feet.
The bad news is that you are responsible for the condition of your children. The good news is that you don’t have to be frustrated over attempting to change them. You only need to change yourself. Since their attitudes are reflections of your own, you need only change your attitude, and the reflections will change.
I know you are only expressing your displeasure over their foolishness. You are using your disapproving scowl as a threat to induce them to shame. They are supposed to so crave your approval that they make great sacrifices to win your smile. It is not working is it? Actually, you are working against the very thing you desire to achieve.
There is a natural principle you must understand: Children living under condemnation are not motivated to good works. None of us seek to please someone who is condemning us. You have trained your face to display a nearly constant look of disapproval, disappointment, and frustration. You may nag or gripe them into relenting to your will, but you can never bad-attitude them into a good attitude. Children cannot be intimidated into positive character. To stand off and criticize their performance will not induce them to a rectifying shame. No one has ever been motivated to climb out from under a pile of disapproval to win the praise and affections of his or her accuser.
The law of human nature is such that condemnation and shame cause an alienation that only produces more disobedience. Paul said
“The motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death (Romans 7:5).” “Because the law worketh wrath... (Romans 4:15).”
But if you become so disappointed with their failure that you assume an air of judicial condemnation, they will unwillingly accept the blame, but THEY WILL NOT HAVE THE MORAL COURAGE TO CHANGE. Law and condemnation never produce righteousness. If you are always ready to show them what is wrong, but do not constantly exemplify what is right, they will cower under your judgments while continuing to grow into the likeness of your graceless bitterness.
The parental spirit of displeasure holds the child in “death.” A new spirit in the parent will allow the child to serve from a joyous spirit and not from the strengthless bondage of legal depression. In our relationship to God, it is called “newness of spirit.” “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter (Romans 7:5-6).”
Mother, if every time you looked at your husband you saw dissatisfaction and disappointment, if he sighed with defeat over what a lousy wife you are, would you feel inspired to make improvements? Absolutely not! You would withdraw. If your are spunky in spirit, you might fight back and give him further reason for rejection, but if your are broken in spirit you would quietly withdraw. You would then seek friendship and approval elsewhere.
Your children will begin to develop positive character only in an atmosphere of forgiveness and acceptance. The first step to recovery and the ground on which it continues is the parent’s smile. In our book, To Train Up A Child, we have a chapter called Tying Strings. Parent, you need to tie strings of fellowship through your smiles, strings of trust through a display of trust, strings of respect through mutual respect, strings of kindness, grace, and forgiveness. You can not disapprove your children into heart compliance, but you can example them in, smile them in, care them in, patience them in, and woo them in with a heart that exemplifies Christ-like character.
If “the joy of the Lord is our strength” surely the joy of the parents is the strength of a child. If fellowship with God provokes His children to holiness, what will be the result of a child’s fellowship with his parents? The best training is done under the supervision of a smile. There is a time for discipline, rebuke, spanking, and even controlled anger, but such should be temporary signposts on a path of communion that you walk with your children. If they see your delight and appreciation, they will have the courage to try to maintain that sweetness.
Parent, relax. Lay back. Slow down. Enjoy the trip. If you can’t train your children to meet your high standards, lower the standards until they can reach them. We are not talking about the law of God. We are talking about muddy feet, carrying out the garbage, picking up dirty clothes, doing school work, etc.. Put the bar low enough so that with the effort they are willing to give, they can clear the hurtle and finish each day a winner. Raise the bar a little at a time so they can improve, but will always be a winner. If you set the standard, not beyond their abilities, but beyond their willing efforts, you will cause them to cease trying. They will be like the kid in public school who is already behind two years. He cares so much, to keep from being further hurt, he pretends not to care at all. He is just killing time until he gets old enough to quit.
Find a place to confess your sins, and then go smile at your children.
By: Michael Pearl, No Greater Joy
In one of our recent seminars, a mother complained to Debi, “The children frustrate me so much...
...I tell them to do their school work, and they just piddle around. I tell them to clean up their rooms, and they fuss over who is to clean up what. They are always irritating one another. It frustrates me so much, trying to cause them to maintain a good attitude. They are always complaining and whining about something. I get frustrated and spank them, but it seems to do no good. They just don’t seem to care. They pick on each other continuously. I get so frustrated....” Debi interrupted her mournful complaints to answer, “Yes, it is an attitude problem.” The weary mother hastily agreed, “That’s it! They have bad attitudes.” Debi responded, “No, it’s you that has the bad attitude.” The mother’s widening eyes and gaping mouth expressed her dismay as she stood waiting for the forthcoming explanation.
Are you a frustrated parent? Is your brow drawn tight as if pulled by draw strings? If parenting is not enjoyable, be assured, you have a bad attitude. When your children look into your face what do they see? They are not fooled. They know what you feel toward them. Your face is a graph of approval or rejection. Verbal “positive affirmation” is not enough; in fact, it is worse than nothing if there is not genuine delight in your heart. Children can see through a parent who is made of muddy water. If they see disappointment and criticism they will answer in kind. Discontented parents breed discontented children. Your attitude is the root of the family attitude tree. A bitter root cannot produce sweet fruit.
Parental attitudes are highly contagious, and the children usually come down with a worse case. “More is caught than taught.” And children seem more highly susceptible to catching a bad attitude than of being taught to have a good one. They can catch the disease of bad attitude while being passive. On the other hand, they must exert themselves to have a good attitude.
Your children are playing follow-the-leader. They are deaf to your words, but they “hear” your attitude loud and clear. Example has always been more effective than theory. Where parents are constantly modeling the bad attitude; a good attitude is just a theoretical concept to the child. Try as they may, they can’t quite fathom the meaning of a good attitude—it has been so long since they have seen one. If you dress your children in tight pinching shoes, don’t blame them for having sore feet.
The bad news is that you are responsible for the condition of your children. The good news is that you don’t have to be frustrated over attempting to change them. You only need to change yourself. Since their attitudes are reflections of your own, you need only change your attitude, and the reflections will change.
I know you are only expressing your displeasure over their foolishness. You are using your disapproving scowl as a threat to induce them to shame. They are supposed to so crave your approval that they make great sacrifices to win your smile. It is not working is it? Actually, you are working against the very thing you desire to achieve.
There is a natural principle you must understand: Children living under condemnation are not motivated to good works. None of us seek to please someone who is condemning us. You have trained your face to display a nearly constant look of disapproval, disappointment, and frustration. You may nag or gripe them into relenting to your will, but you can never bad-attitude them into a good attitude. Children cannot be intimidated into positive character. To stand off and criticize their performance will not induce them to a rectifying shame. No one has ever been motivated to climb out from under a pile of disapproval to win the praise and affections of his or her accuser.
The law of human nature is such that condemnation and shame cause an alienation that only produces more disobedience. Paul said
“The motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death (Romans 7:5).” “Because the law worketh wrath... (Romans 4:15).”
But if you become so disappointed with their failure that you assume an air of judicial condemnation, they will unwillingly accept the blame, but THEY WILL NOT HAVE THE MORAL COURAGE TO CHANGE. Law and condemnation never produce righteousness. If you are always ready to show them what is wrong, but do not constantly exemplify what is right, they will cower under your judgments while continuing to grow into the likeness of your graceless bitterness.
The parental spirit of displeasure holds the child in “death.” A new spirit in the parent will allow the child to serve from a joyous spirit and not from the strengthless bondage of legal depression. In our relationship to God, it is called “newness of spirit.” “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter (Romans 7:5-6).”
Mother, if every time you looked at your husband you saw dissatisfaction and disappointment, if he sighed with defeat over what a lousy wife you are, would you feel inspired to make improvements? Absolutely not! You would withdraw. If your are spunky in spirit, you might fight back and give him further reason for rejection, but if your are broken in spirit you would quietly withdraw. You would then seek friendship and approval elsewhere.
Your children will begin to develop positive character only in an atmosphere of forgiveness and acceptance. The first step to recovery and the ground on which it continues is the parent’s smile. In our book, To Train Up A Child, we have a chapter called Tying Strings. Parent, you need to tie strings of fellowship through your smiles, strings of trust through a display of trust, strings of respect through mutual respect, strings of kindness, grace, and forgiveness. You can not disapprove your children into heart compliance, but you can example them in, smile them in, care them in, patience them in, and woo them in with a heart that exemplifies Christ-like character.
If “the joy of the Lord is our strength” surely the joy of the parents is the strength of a child. If fellowship with God provokes His children to holiness, what will be the result of a child’s fellowship with his parents? The best training is done under the supervision of a smile. There is a time for discipline, rebuke, spanking, and even controlled anger, but such should be temporary signposts on a path of communion that you walk with your children. If they see your delight and appreciation, they will have the courage to try to maintain that sweetness.
Parent, relax. Lay back. Slow down. Enjoy the trip. If you can’t train your children to meet your high standards, lower the standards until they can reach them. We are not talking about the law of God. We are talking about muddy feet, carrying out the garbage, picking up dirty clothes, doing school work, etc.. Put the bar low enough so that with the effort they are willing to give, they can clear the hurtle and finish each day a winner. Raise the bar a little at a time so they can improve, but will always be a winner. If you set the standard, not beyond their abilities, but beyond their willing efforts, you will cause them to cease trying. They will be like the kid in public school who is already behind two years. He cares so much, to keep from being further hurt, he pretends not to care at all. He is just killing time until he gets old enough to quit.
Find a place to confess your sins, and then go smile at your children.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Happy Valentines Day!
It really was.. Savannah is pretty much over the crud..or the measles..or whatever it was. A full 7 days of fever, cough, red eyes, runny nose and the the rash.. thank goodness that's over. Now I have something.. probably the same junk everyone seems to have.. sore throat and head congestion. Boo Hoo. :)
So, what did I do for Valentines Day? Hubby worked 8+ hours.. I painted my kitchen with the kids help.. and it looks FABULOUS! if I do say so myself.. I took down layers of outdated wallpaper and border, it was sooo overdue. But when we moved in, I had to paint literally every room in the house, the kitchen wallpaper was the least of my worries.
My Valentines day gift you ask? Jeremy bought me a new blender! :D I know to most people this sounds rather unimpressive, but to me.. it was awesome. My former (cheapo) blender exploded yesterday trying to make smoothies.. and he knows I cannot live without my green smoothie fix these days. What did I buy him? Pistachio ice cream. His favorite. :) We rarely buy each other traditional holiday gifts.. we usually go for practical.
It really was.. Savannah is pretty much over the crud..or the measles..or whatever it was. A full 7 days of fever, cough, red eyes, runny nose and the the rash.. thank goodness that's over. Now I have something.. probably the same junk everyone seems to have.. sore throat and head congestion. Boo Hoo. :)
So, what did I do for Valentines Day? Hubby worked 8+ hours.. I painted my kitchen with the kids help.. and it looks FABULOUS! if I do say so myself.. I took down layers of outdated wallpaper and border, it was sooo overdue. But when we moved in, I had to paint literally every room in the house, the kitchen wallpaper was the least of my worries.
My Valentines day gift you ask? Jeremy bought me a new blender! :D I know to most people this sounds rather unimpressive, but to me.. it was awesome. My former (cheapo) blender exploded yesterday trying to make smoothies.. and he knows I cannot live without my green smoothie fix these days. What did I buy him? Pistachio ice cream. His favorite. :) We rarely buy each other traditional holiday gifts.. we usually go for practical.
Monday, February 02, 2009
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