Can you be an unschooler and a Christian at the same time?  Can you be a radical unschooler and a Christian?  This is a question posed over on my friend Dana's blog recently.  There is some great discussion.  Go take a peek!   (I don't consider myself to be a radical unschooler.)

Dana asked me to put my .02 in, but I am still thinking about it.  I believe that as an unschooler (in the sense of non-institutional type learning experience) I am still a Christian first, unschooler second.  Or third, or whatever. 

 I believe that the Lord expects us to direct our children in the way they should go (their aptitudes) by what He has put in them (their talents) and through HIM, (the Theology without which any of this would have any validity.)  So to raise them without any input, direction or guidance of any form would be no less than neglectful.  How can you have a relationship with your children without having a................relation-ship with them?

God designed it, I didn't, I can't and I won't try to re-invent it.  I think I will just do my best to enjoy it, learn from it and trust Him for the outcome. 

Nancy

Hi Friends!

Do you ever sometimes mull stuff over again, and again, and again.....things that happened in your life but you really wished you could rewind, erase and start over again?  Stuff that you just can't get off of your mind?  I do.  I hope I'm not the only one who does.  Not that I would wish it on anyone, of course!  I just hope my brand of crazy is the generic brand. 

At any rate, I have been finding peace in the midst of the muddle, and love in the midst of the storm.  How?  Only through the Word.  Only through HIS word am I able to do this.  I hope you can find this truth too my friend!

Last week the kids and I had an impromptu lesson that really turned out to be a goodie.  We first read Psalm 8, and what stood out was the Excellence of the Name of the Lord, in all the earth.  From there, we got to discussing (once again) how we must get His Word into us, or we are sunk.  That is the bottom line.  Of course, we must have His Spirit in us, but I really think that having His Spirit, and His Word are pretty synonymous. 

So during our lesson, just for a fun visual, I wrote out "WORD"  and "WORLD" on a small white board, and we discussed what the obvious difference was; just one letter.  An "L." 

WORD

WORLD

 From there we got out our Webster's 1828 Dictionary, and a few more modern versions and we looked up words that begin with "L" that might in some way characterize a person who is in the World, but not in the Word.

  You can imagine that we came up with several wonderful examples.  I will wait and share them with you later....but I must say that we also came up with some humorous examples too.  You can use your imagination on that one.  (Humorous to us, but maybe not to say, certain political persuations....and some Hollywood characters too.)  At any rate, we had a very good time learning new words, talking about the differences between a Word-y person (God's Word) and a World-ly person. 

In the middle of the night (stuff hits me at that hour quite frequently) the Lord brought to my mind one "L" word that we hadn't thought of that encompassed ALL the other "L" words that we thought of.

Can you guess what it was?

Leave me a comment if you can guess.

Blessings Dear Friend! 

Praying that YOU find Love in the Storm today!

Nancy

p.s. Go to the front porch on Valentine's Day and check out my post. Warning; it's a re-blog from last year, but you won't go away disappointed!

What a wonderful video Jojo over at Art of Eloquence posted today.  Have you been reading my mail??

This really blessed me and touched me in a "mountaintop" kind of way

I had the video posted here, but it "morphed" on me and turned into a different one.  I was told it was good, but I didn't want it here.  So go check out the link above, you will REALLY like it.

As a reminder of God's love for me, I thought I'd post a picture of myself on a real, glorious mountaintop that the Lord created.  Check out that view! 

(Not me, the Grand Canyon, silly!)

Blessings,

Nancy

Hey there!  I can't believe I have been away for so long!  I have missed you all, my dear faithful friends.  Thanks for all the kind notes of encouragement.  There certainly is a time for everything, and we have been through a lot lately, but it is all "in its season." 

If you have a chance, tomorrow you can read my front porch post and get a bit of an inkling about what is important to me right now.  Being HOME for one thing, and just happy to be alive and loving my family.  Many lessons are being learned right now.  Thankful for the Grace of God!

 I was away on my birthday!  Rats!  That means I didn't get to notify everyone in advance and then get a whole slew of crazy birthday poems.  Oh well!  At least I have last years on file!  :)

This was an amazing birthday gift however!  Take a look at this:  Brandie posted the most wonderful review of my hair cutting e-book!   I tell you what, that was a super nice birthday surprise.  Didn't she do an awesome job on those haircuts?  Way to GO Brandie!!!  Thank you so much for your WONDERFUL review.  May the Lord heap blessings upon you and your lovely family!  I just can't thank you enough. 

Well, this is short and I really have some wonderful stories to tell you and some photos to post, but I am so tired and just need to get some needed shut-eye.  Hope you are all well!  Enjoy your kids, they grow up so fast!  Love your husband, and most importantly,

Praise God for ALL things,

Nancy

Wow, if blogs are good for one thing, they sure are good for knowing what you have been up to!  I can go back and check up on myself without having to try to muster up some working brain cell recall.  It's all right there in the archives! 

And then there is the infamous Christmas Newsletter!  Those are a good summation of our year.  I love reading those from the past, and I love getting them from friends so I can see all the cool things they did.  Did anyone out there do one?  I love to hate those things. 

I almost always write one, but usually only a few actually get mailed.  This years attempt was fraught with problems.  I tried to add too many photos which made too many MB's, trying to put a PDF of one together for my dear friends to download.  Gee, I should have just sent them my BLOG link! (Hitting self on forehead) Why didn't I think of that before!!???

I have a basket full of old holiday magazines and books, and I read this lovely old Erma Bombeck column about newsletters.  It was riotous!  I might have to dig it out and post it. I know I couldn't do justice in trying to do my own humorous letter....but I might just have to try.  After all, it's 1:28 AM, and me spelling and me grammar are bad enough as it is :)

 Here goes noth'in!

Greetings from the Baetz Family!

It has been a fruitful year here at our home.  At least one of our children has passed us up in height and is scaring us to death.  Hopefully none of them will pass us up in weight, although our dog is gaining on us. 

Speaking of our dog, she got to spend the night in a very expensive hotel recently, complete with catered meals.  She escaped from our compound and got a limo-ride to the place.....and although we did get her back, she brought home a nasty virus that she picked up from the other revelers.  Thankfully, now she is on the mend and so is our pocketbook.

We had a wonderful holiday and bought all our kids power tools.  Hopefully, there won't be any serious injuries while they work on remodeling our home while I write blogs about it.  We have decided to give them one last chance to redeem themselves and if they can't get it done this week, we will be putting them in the local school.  Ahhh, to be free from the hustle and bustle of kids and all their selfish demanding ways!  No more of this "Mom can you read to me?" or "Mom, what is for dinner?" stuff!  I will enjoy my time here with a clean, quiet home that is NOT overrun with science experiments (not the ones in the refrigerator) and paper mache' and scraps of fabric, paper, and glitter on every horizontal surface.

Thanksgiving was a blessing....we went to someone elses house so we only had to cook a few pies and opened a can of green beans.  Our 17th Anniversary was memorable, and my husband thanked me for 16 good years!  He's a keeper!

Halloween was a no-brainer this year, we didn't even bother to turn out the lights.  One group of kids showed up and I just told them sorry, we don't have any candy to share.  Columbus day came and went and we taught the kids the song we learned when we were kids. (It is the only thing we can remember about it!)

Several of our kids got another year older and we endulged them on their birthdays.  Some of them got more gifts than the other ones did, but we just told them we liked the other kids better.  Get over it! 

Summer came and went and was hotter than the dickens!  We are SO mean that we didn't even get a kiddie pool this year.  No matter that the kids are all too big for those things.  We did however, enjoy a sprinkler and one water balloon each.

Fourth of July was a blast.  :)  We must have had a really good time, but we can't remember it---it was six months ago!  (Note to self:  Check blog archives for July 4, 2006) 

Spring.  Kids spent a lot of time playing in the dirt.  Oh yes, now I remember.  Planting! 

Let's see....we did have a few months before that.  They must have been good or ....hmmmmm, I do remember the whole family getting sick......

Gee, why is it we seem to remember the worst things..........gotta make a change this year!

New years resolution:  Forget those things that lie behind, put your hand to the plow and don't look back!  

That sounds familiar....wonder where I read it??

(click on those resolutions and find out!)

Blessings to you all in 2007! 

Happy Homeschooling!!!!

Nancy

Homeschooling Is Life!

(c) Nancy K. Baetz,  2007

I have a "Google alert" set up so I can be notified if there is ever a mention of "unschooling" around the world......amazing what technology can do for us.  I have actually had a few pop up lately. 

I love to read these articles just to see how other families around the globe are homeschooling and how sometimes the press can be so worried about this misunderstood term we sometimes attach to our homeschooling style.  Tonight, I was blown away by a story out of the Jerusalem Post.  The words in my title above, were used by a homeschooling parent to describe what they do.  I think this is one of the most encompassing definitions I have ever read, and I loved it.  

"limud l'ein shiur"

 "this means both learning without classes, and also learning without measure"

Don't you just love that?  It really sums it up for me, although we may take an occasional class, our lifestyle here is certainly learning without measure.   Read the whole article here.  

 While I was on that page, I happened to notice an advertisement for an amazing development in the Negev.  I couldn't help but be reminded of a verse or two from Isaiah 35:

Isaiah 35

1 The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them,
      And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;
       2 It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,
      Even with joy and singing.
      The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
      The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.
      They shall see the glory of the LORD,
      The excellency of our God.
       3 Strengthen the weak hands,
      And make firm the feeble knees.
       4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted,

      “ Be strong, do not fear!
      Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
      With the recompense of God;
      He will come and save you.”
       5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
      And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
       6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
      And the tongue of the dumb sing.
      For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
      And streams in the desert.
       7 The parched ground shall become a pool,
      And the thirsty land springs of water;
      In the habitation of jackals, where each lay,
      There shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
       8 A highway shall be there, and a road,
      And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.
      The unclean shall not pass over it,
      But it shall be for others.
      Whoever walks the road, although a fool,
      Shall not go astray.
       9 No lion shall be there,
      Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it;
      It shall not be found there.
      But the redeemed shall walk there,
       10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
      And come to Zion with singing,
      With everlasting joy on their heads.
      They shall obtain joy and gladness,
      And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

God Bless your weekend and God Bless Israel! May we all live to see those streams in the desert.

Shalom,

Nancy

©Nancy K. Baetz

Homeschooling Is Life! 2006

Oh, you just have to go and read this one.  This is one line you need to memorize.  If all your homeschooling and mothering efforts seem empty and trying, or even non-productive and selfish, then you need to do some Mom-schooling today. 

Here is your first lesson:

Read This Blog.

(God Bless you my friend, ADDMama!)

Nancy

©Nancy K. Baetz

Homeschooling Is Life 2006

There is so much to do----I am talking about helping the flood/hurricane victims still.  Don't stop now.  Keep praying, keep giving, keep blessing!  Here is a super easy way to help:  Go to this blog entry from Lorrie at TEACH Magazine.  This is a wonderful way to give a little that will help a lot!

You will be so glad you did it!

Nancy

Be sure to go and read this, it is a nitty, gritty, detailed, true life account of a woman who went down to Biloxi area to help with the relief effort there.  She has a couple of postings, and I encourage you to read them to your kids.  It will help them get an idea of what things go on behind the scenes of taking aid to disaster areas.  Somtimes it just seems like grueling monotony, but there are highlights, laughter, and a lot of introspection going on.

Click here for her story and please, if you know of any other first person accounts, please post them here for us to read, okey dokey?

Blessings!

Nancy

A few years ago (2 1/2) I wrote an article for our local support group newsletter called "Homeschooling and Diabetes."  You can read it under the articles section of our website. 

I am not even sure where to start this entry tonight.....it's almost midnight here and I am in desperate need of a couple of toothpicks-----you know, to prop my eyelids up.  I am really tired.  But it has been a very emotional day.  My son who has diabetes has been battling his blood sugar all day long.  He is on an insulin pump, which we thought was going to be our panacea for this horrid interuption to our lives

Psalm 19:14 is my blog motto: "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."  (KJV) 

I have decided that it's ok for me to have a little whine tonight.  Actually, I had most of this post done, and had saved drafts and all---then my computer started acting up.  So I lost all those profound thoughts and words I was just writing. 

Well, maybe the Managing Editor decided to cut some of it.  But I suppose since there is an entire book of the Bible dedicated to lamenting, that it gives me a license to do some too.  One way or another, I am going to say what is on my heart tonight---or actually, today.  And by the way, it is now officially my birthday.  (Even though I realized recently that my profile says it was yesterday.  My mistake.  Today is the eventful day, honest.)

So, back to Nancy's Lamentations:

I am stuggling tonight to see my little boy go through all this.  I want his healthy life back.  I can't hardly stand to see him on days like this, where he is SO sad and frustrated by this disease.  You just don't know what this is like---it has completely taken over our familiy life for close to three years now.  Sure, we rallied and have learned what we needed to and done what we have to do to keep him healthy, but the battle is daily.  It is a battle between us and the disease, a battle between my son who just wants to forget he has this ball and chain.............but can't get rid of it and the knowledge that He has to become responsible to deal with it on his own.  It will be totally his responsibility some day.

  He is the most precious little guy---but when the glucose builds up in his little body it makes him so angry and frustrated.  And I get the same way, and tempers flare. 

And we pray and cry together.  And all I can say is that I hate this disease.  I know I need to be thankful for all the modern medical miracles that get us through on a day to day basis.  And I am.  But I still  will hate this disease until the day I die, or until a cure is found.  Or until the Lord decides to heal my son.

N.