Wednesday, November 11, 2009 -
~25 Days of Gratitude~

... Posted in Quiet Time Thoughts

Today I am giving thanks...

~for men and women who serve our country, to protect my family and sacrifice everything for us.

~for sweet friends

~for lessons learned and re-learned....the Lord is gracious to continually teach this stubborn brain

~for His precious Words that fill our hearts and minds...

~for this blog post and this one...

and then if that wasn't enough meat to get out the steak knife for ....

I am grateful for this sermon....

No exuses for complaining....I am blessed!!!

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Nov. 11, 2009 -
Courtship in the 24/7 Era

My friend, Kim, has a saying on her Facebook, "A woman's heart should be so lost in God, that a man has to seek Him in order to find her." But this generation seems to be lost to Facebook and their cellphone making it way too easy not only to find her but everything about her too. The combination has made any rules of engagement (pun intended) obsolete.

David Brooks examines how cell phones have changed the dating game.

Once upon a time — in what we might think of as the “Happy Days” era — courtship was governed by a set of guardrails. Potential partners generally met within the context of larger social institutions: neighborhoods, schools, workplaces and families. There were certain accepted social scripts. The purpose of these scripts — dating, going steady, delaying sex — was to guide young people on the path from short-term desire to long-term commitment.

Over the past few decades, these social scripts became obsolete. They didn’t fit the post-feminist era. So the search was on for more enlightened courtship rules. You would expect a dynamic society to come up with appropriate scripts. But technology has made this extremely difficult. Etiquette is all about obstacles and restraint. But technology, especially cellphone and texting technology, dissolves obstacles. Suitors now contact each other in an instantaneous, frictionless sphere separated from larger social institutions and commitments.

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Nov. 10, 2009 -
Ode to the Mattress Maker

... Posted in Uncategorically Speaking

The greatest man-made invention, in my opinion, isn't the steam or gasoline engine, or the computer, or even airplanes. I think it's the mattress. The kind the would make Goldilocks very happy, not too hard, not too soft, but just right.

I'm incredibly fond of my bed, made up of a mattress. If I no longer had a computer I wouldn't cry. If flight became a thing of the past I wouldn't worry. If I had to start walking everywhere I would probably grumble and whine, but I would get used to it. However, if I lost the use of a good mattress, I don't think I'd ever get over that.

You may think that I'm a hard-core blogger, but I put more time and effort into being a napper. Sleeping at night is only intensive training for my napping, and like a runner after a good, long run, I find it to have been hard work but well worth it--it gives me a rush. It can be exhilarating and then my body is ready for a good nap to recuperate.

Before the modern bed was invented, people had to sleep on poky straw or feathers. Quite a problem for those with allergies and deadly for those with asthma. Before that it was soft dirt or hard dirt, but I doubt there was ever any "just right" dirt. That's why the bears lived in a house and slept in beds. It wouldn't have been the same story if Goldilocks had wandered into a cave and tested three different bear wallows.

I completely and totally love my bed and all of the cozy comfort that it has to offer. It's just fills my heart with joy to crawl under the covers and snuggle down. Waking up in the morning is most painful. At least I have naps to look forward to.

To whoever invented the modern mattress, I am truly grateful. I wouldn't be half the napper I am now without it.

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009 -
~25 Days of Gratitude~

... Posted in Quiet Time Thoughts

Today I am especially grateful for...

~His love....I am so undeserving He is so faithful and abundant in His love...

~a great night's sleep

~a warm shower

~a fun afternoon at a park with my 3 favorite girls...

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Nov. 10, 2009 -
A Conclusion to the Dilemma

... Posted in Single Moms as Keepers at Home

Any of you that have followed my blog for long have known my on going struggle with whether or not Christians should receive welfare.  Specifically, I have struggled with whether or not I should be in the system.  There is a myriad of voices around me with opinions.  The bottom line is that the only opinion that counts is Gods.

Several months ago, I finally, after much prayer, came to a point of resolve about this.  I just realized I never shared it here with all of you.

If I were married to an unbelieving husband, he would be my provider.  As long as he was willing to stay and did not ask me to do anything in violation of God’s word, I would be obliged to stay.  There would always be the chance that by my words and example of faith, that he might come to Christ.

The Lord spoke to my heart about the fact that I had married the government when I went into the system.  It was not His best choice for me, but I lacked faith and was disobedient, unwilling to trust Him totally.  Until God closes the door and ends our benefits, I am to remain where I am, for this season.  This is God’s provision for my family.  He wants me to stop struggling and trying so hard to do it on my own and to simply rest in Him. 

In all of this, the Lord has answered my prayer for a full-time ministry from home.  In my home state the welfare system requires that you be working, looking for work, going to school or volunteering in order to be eligible for benefits.  My state homeschool organization qualifies as an acceptable organization to volunteer for.  I can work to support homeschooling, ministering to others, while homeschooling  my children.  It also has given me the opportunity to go back to school and do the necessary work to complete my teaching certificate, not so much for me to be able to seek full time employment, but so that I can do assessments for homeschooling families.  There is a seeming lack of homeschool friendly certified teachers in our state.  I hear horror stories every year about teachers that did assessments, but really didn’t understand what they were doing or reviewing.  The Lord is opening up an amazing door there for me to have an ongoing ministry to homeschooling families, because who understands it better than someone who is doing it every day.

It is my prayer that this season in our life may be coming to an end.  It’s going to require a lot more faith and trust than I have now.  It’s also going to require contentment with what the Lord provides.  It is going to require caring more about the Lord and His leading than what people around me think of what I’m doing.  I can’t do it alone.  It will only be by His grace and for His glory that we will succeed. 

I should add an end note here, that while we have less financial support than every before in our homeschooling, we are able to do so much more with it.  It is the kind of thing that only God could do.

Blessings, MaggieRaye

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Nov. 10, 2009 -
Reaching Homeschoolers

At a homeschool convention last year, another vendor and I struck up a conversation. He had a lot of energy but seemed a bit uptight; however, he readily admitted that he felt totally out of place because he didn't homeschool and this was definitely not his "typical convention." Not really interested in finding out what his "typical convention" was like, I smiled and assured him that we all knew he was out of place the minute he walked in the vendor hall, but we're a polite group and so we didn't point or stare as we talked about him to each other. He grinned and relaxed a bit.

"Obviously, you're a pretty direct person," He said. "So I was wondering, how does a guy who knows nothing about homeschooling sell his product to homeschoolers?"

Ignoring the fact that this out of place "greedy capitalist" was there just to make a profit, I chuckled and asked him, "Why do you think homeschoolers would even want to buy your product if you know absolutely nothing about us?"

He didn't seem to want to answer that, so I continued, "Get to know us a bit and you'll figure out it's not that hard to sell to us. We're pretty frugal but can be gullible in the right circumstance with a promising product, especially at a homeschool convention."

"Fair enough." He replied. "Then I'd like to show you my stuff and see what you think. But first there's one thing I've been wondering about homeschoolers for quite a while now."

"Oh, and what is that?"

"Why do you homeschoolers have so many kids?"

"Umm, gee, maybe it's because we have more exciting things to do than watch Jay Leno after the kiddos go to bed?!?" (Okay, I didn't really say that but I did think it.)

Instead, I politely tried to explain that for some of us homeschooling isn't just an educational choice but a life decision based on a belief that children are as a blessing from God. He wasn't getting it and I was getting hungry so the conversation quickly died of natural causes.

If I ever run into him again, however, I'm sending him over to Ethan Demme (of Math-U-See fame) who gives a much more thoughtful and complete answer to the question, How do I reach the homeschool community? His post is directed at politicians but he starts from the same premise that you have to know something about us, past and present, in order to reach us.

As a homeschool grad and marketing guru, Demme provides an excellent round-up of information and resources to understand this growing but changing movement of homeschool radicals who actually believe they can teach their children at home and live to blog about it. Check it out and keep in handy if you ever run into my vendor friend at your state homeschool convention.

(Note to Demme: Please add a paragraph on fecundity and homeschoolers, thanks in advance.)

-Spunky

Cross-posted, with permission, from SpunkyHomeSchool

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Nov. 10, 2009 -
Tightwad Tuesday ~ Save In Piggybacking

... Posted in Tightwad Tuesday

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Save In Piggybacking

In all the changes that I have made this year I have been learning the importance of "piggybacking".  Piggybacking is when you butt one thing after the other and save because it is already heated up.  For example... to dry one load of laundry after the other and save because the dryer is already heated up.  Another way I have piggybacked my savings is when I roast my coffee beans.  I roast what I need for that week...one batch after the other. A third way that I can think of right off the bat is piggybacking while baking or cooking with the oven.  Get the biggest bang for your buck by baking several things together and right after the other.  In the winter time it is also a nice way to raise the temperature a little in your house.  I guess you can say it is like multi-tasking your energy use and save.   .

Now to join in the fun of Tightwad Tuesday....

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  Link your TWT post click on MckLinky and give exact the URL of your post.   (each Tuesday that  you join in on the fun)  

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example of a URL ...

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Canadagirl/693425/

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  Now go ahead link and read and comment on all these other's wonderful TWT's. 

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 Lets save our pennies, nickles, dimes, and dollars  together !

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"There are only a few big ways to save money but there are many small ways ....that all adds up."

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Monday, November 9, 2009 -
~25 Days of Gratitude~

... Posted in Quiet Time Thoughts

Today I am grateful for.....

~Answered prayer...I have been praying about something for a long time.  This weekend I finally got the fact that I was standing in the way of God answering my prayer in His way.  I kept trying to fix/solve the problem.  Within hours of surrendering it to the Lord, He answered my prayer in a great way. 

~Great husbands.....my is the best!

~Grandparents....We had a fun time with Grandparents at our Keeper's Grandparents luncheon.

~My dog Belle....She is such a great dog and she likes me best!

Sleeping on my leg.

Poor dear, Grace dressed her up! 

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Nov. 9, 2009 -
Gleaning the Harvest

... Posted in Single Moms as Keepers at Home

It's been quite awhile since I've been here to add anything of substance.  The Lord had me keep silent, deal with some sin in my life, processes through some anger and forgiveness issues.  I just couldn't write.  I'm not sure I can yet, but I will soon be drafting some articles for Gleaning the Harvest and thought it best to try to get back on track here also.

So many things in my life have changed in the past year.  Through it one thing remains constant.  I NEED to be at home with my children.  Yes, they are older, but this is where the Lord has called me to be.

I'm so sad for those who don't understand, or don't want to understand how important it is for all mothers, but especially single mothers to be at home with their children.

So, watch here, and at Gleaning the Harvest for forthcoming articles.

Blessings, MaggieRaye

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Nov. 7, 2009 -
Grandpa and the Skunk

My grandpa, my Papafather's dad, was a country vet. He had a little office off the side of the house where he did small animal surgery, and exams. He made house calls all around the country, some trips taking him an hour or more to reach the animal in need of help, be it cow, horse, sheep, or pig. Very often he would have one of his children in tow. He had 10 of them so there was no shortage of helpers. It all sounds very James Harriot like, and in a way it was. James Harriot's stories are popular with that side of the family and each story reminds them of one like it that grandpa experienced.

Grandpa's office was, as I said, just off the house. Just off the kitchen to be exact. My grandma had a dutch door put in so that she could just open up the top half to talk to him and yet keep the little ones inside. Think about that. A vet's office, just off the kitchen. Do you recall how a vet's office smells? That smell still lingers in that office to this day and it's been over 10 years since my grandpa died.

Aside from the smell, I never gave grandpa's office much thought. We would traipse our way through it on the way to play outside, to gather in the clothes from off the line, to pick grapes, collect eggs, or to find grandpa. The office doubled as grandma's laundry room so I suppose that's why it didn't seem like a room that needed much attention. I never spent any time in it other than to get from point A to point B. Which is strange now that I think about it, all those fascinating instruments, chemicals, medicines, and the like just within reach. I never touched them or was ever tempted to do so.

One temptation I did give in to was a special barrel out back that held two skunks. Grandpa would warn us to leave those skunks alone. My numerous cousins and I would stand around the barrel peering in, and those skunks would peer back. The lot of us cousins would look for only a moment and then run away as fast as we could before we got sprayed. I didn't find out until I was much older that those skunks couldn't spray because my grandpa had "deskunked" them. I don't know if my cousins were aware of this at the time or not, they ran just as fast as I did. Grandpa's warning hadn't been for us, he had been worried that we would torment the skunks.

Skunks actually make a great pet and are positively darling, if you can legally keep them. My uncle kept one for awhile. She was just like a cat, had a litter box and everything. Her name was Rosie, and then some, but I won't repeat that part.

We have a family story, told every couple of years or so I guess, about grandpa and one particular skunk he was de-scenting. While in the process of removing the gland that contains the hideous skunk musk, it was ruptured. It squirted all of its contents right in my grandpa's face. He came into the kitchen to clean up and the only thing he said was, "It's such a beautiful color." Apparently skunk spray is an amber color, and my God fearing grandpa could still recognize the beauty of God's handiwork even in a skunk's musk.

Funny, while my aunts and uncles roar with laughter about this story every time they tell it, I don't remember anyone talking about the smell lingering in the kitchen or what on earth my grandma said or did. I'll have to ask them about that.

After the laughter dies down, someone will always mention how my grandpa was such a quiet, gentle, and patient man. Oh he had his moments when a cow would stomp him, but how many men do you know who would take it from a skunk and only comment on it's beauty?

Update: I asked one of my aunt's if she remembered grandma's reaction to grandpa coming in smelling of skunk that badly. She didn't really remember, she figured grandma probably dealt with it in stride. Believe it or not there are a lot worse smells a vet can have lingering about his body. My aunt remembers one smell that caused everyone near grandpa to be physically nauseous. Grandpa had to clean out a cow whose calf had died inside her at near full term. The calf had become a decaying mass of jelly, with only bones left. The smell lingered on grandpa for quite awhile--no matter how often he washed or what he tried, the smell wouldn't go away. He actually got infected pores on his arms from cleaning that cow out.

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