Jan. 10, 2008 One More Thing about the Accidents
I wondered when my husband bought those cars. Sure, he got them at an auction and consequently got a great deal, but what does a kid need that kind of car for? Shouldn't they drive a clunker?
In case anyone is wondering, both accidents were in Chevy S-10 Blazers. My husband had a GMC Jimmy for years--same car. We found a Jimmy at an auction right after my son's accident, and we'll be watching for another Jimmy or Blazer. As my husband says, "We crash tested two of them in the last month!" and "Things can be replaced, people can't."
*******
Dear God,
Thank You for giving my husband wisdom in this area, and for directing him to the right vehicles.
Thank You for the ordeals my children have been through, and for preserving them through bad weather and inexperience.
Thank You that my husband was able to get to my son within a short time of his accident here in town.
Thank You that my daughter was not alone out in the country, two hours from home. And thank You that my husband hadn't left for work yet, and my other children were able to get home quickly, so we could all go on short notice. Thank You that the parents of the twins who were riding with my daughter were also able to get there shortly after we arrived.
Thank You for all five of my children, for each trial they will traverse, for Your love for each one. Thank You for the calling You have placed on each one. Help me to be patient as You carry them through trials, or fears, or doubt. May each adversity only make them stronger and more tenacious. Lead them to truly be Christ followers.
Amen |
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Jan. 10, 2008 Gratitude II
Have I mentioned being grateful recently? Oh, that's right, I did. Shortly after my son's accident on December 9, 2007. In case you didn't read that blog, it detailed the accident that totalled his car.
I'm grateful again. Always, I hope, but this week again that gratitude is bursting within me.
On Monday, January 7, my 18 year-old daughter was driving back to school after Christmas break. She was in 4-wheel drive and had studded snow tires. The car hit a patch of slush and slid right. She corrected and it slid left across the on-coming lane, into a ditch, rolled, and finally righted itself. All three passengers walked away unharmed.
Well, they didn't exactly walk away. Rescue workers arrived at the scene to find the girls still strapped in. Because all had bumped their heads against the ceiling during the roll, they were strongly urged to go to the hospital to be checked out. They were then strapped to gourneys with neck braces on and taken by ambulance. The hospital found no injury, but counselled that they should expect headaches and stiffness for 72 hours. The next morning, all awoke rested, never having had any pain or stiffness.
Truthfully, there were two injuries from the accident. My daughter received a miniscule scratch on her finger after the accident, as she picked pieces of glass off her lap. And the car? It's a goner.
*******
Again, dear Lord, you have proven Yourself faithful as I open my hand and allow You to carry my children. I know they must face challenges as You grow them, but I am so thankful that physical injury was not the medium of that challenge at this time. Thank You, that again, had You taken her, she was ready to meet You. And thank You for the call You placed on her life before she was born, the work yet to be completed. Carry her through this semester, as You did the last. Work in her and through her as she shines her light on campus. Amen.
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Gratitude is what a mother feels when she hears her 17-year-old son has been involved in an accident and walked away without a scratch.
Gratitude is what she feels when she hears someone in a neighboring trailer park vaulted a fence within 10 seconds of the crash to make sure her son was okay and offer him a pair of gloves to wear while he waited.
Gratitude is what that mother feels when she learns the car slide out of control on a patch of ice and careened into a power pole--and that the pole was designed with sheer-off bolts, so it gave way rather than stopping her son's car short.
Gratitude is what she feels when she learns the combination of hitting the pole, spinning, flipping on to the driver's side, and righting of the car resulted in the insurance company considering the vehicle totaled...
...but no airbags deployed...
and did I mention the boy didn't have a single scratch, ache, or pain?
I am that mom.
*******
Thank You, Lord God, for Your mercy and protection over my son. Thank You that the only damage was to stuff. Thank You that, if we had lost him, he was ready to go. Thank You that You have preserved him for a future and a hope. You are so good!
Amen |
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Life this autumn has flowed quickly. Consequently, it has been nearly three months since I wrote.
Do you ever feel your homeschool journey would be more enjoyable if...? Educational pursuits are both a joy and a thorn for us. It seems we always struggle with lack of schedule. Between my dear husband's work hours and the public school schedule of the older children this is unavoidable. Often finding the portion of time I need to have by myself each day means staying up very late after being up early to see the older ones off. How do you spell "Sleep deprivation!?" We have also found many character-building opportunities trying to keep children from banging, bumping, yelling, arguing, laughing out loud, dropping toilet seats, slamming doors, etc.--basically staying quiet-- so Daddy can sleep. It's amazing how fast someone sleeping can become a foreign idea to an active child.
On the up side, we just completed Dorian Holt's unit study, A World of Adventure (AWOA). Designed to take one year, we stretched it out over nearly 3 1/2 years (Don't ask. Lots of interruptions, and several educational goose trails!--actually, two years is not at all uncommon.). We are now starting A New World of Adventure (ANWOA). The first read-aloud is Armstrong Sperry's Call it Courage, and this term's science is entemology--yea bugs! After spending time in Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation, and Age of Exploration, we will now focus on the Americas.
Another up side of our homeschool is that my boys are finally learning to read. My three older children (g17, b16, g13) are avid readers. The 16 year old didn't like reading instruction. I quit trying part way through 1st grade when he really bogged down. He did like his phonics program, so we continued that. In late second grade I found him on his bed reading something, so I knew it was time and we picked reading up again. My two younger sons, now 11 and 9, were much slower to catch on. Over the summer, my 9 year old finally took off. He still spends time each day reading to me, but he will also read on his own and is gaining rapidly in fluency. He has passed my 11 year old son. However, the 11 year old is also finally gaining some fluency. He doesn't enjoy reading yet, I don't find him with his nose in an unassigned book, but he doesn't balk about doing his part when we are reading the Bible, he reads directions for himself on food or toy packaging (mostly), and he is gaining self-confidence as he sees more and more success.
The problem with delayed readers is finding materials at their reading level that interest them. Most easier material seems babyish. However, we did just stumble on a series my boy and I are enjoying reading together: Adam Sharp. We get these books at our public library. Adam Sharp is an 8 year old secret agent. He gets called out of class by the "Gifted and Talented teacher." There is no G and T program at his school; it is a cover for IM-8, the agency for which this Bond-like character works. The books are 6 chapters long and on about a second-grade reading level.
This is the song that never ends. There is always more to write about. However, with drooping eyes (it IS after 1:00a.m.) I must sign off.
*******
Dear God,
Thank you for my husband and each child you have entrusted to my care. Please help me be a better wife, and a better mom to each of my brood. You know their needs; help me to sort those out from all the noisy wants and desires. Help me to bless each member of my family all day.
In Christ's name,
Sharron
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Jul. 30, 2006 Lessons from Tackweed
What I've Learned About Tackweed
OR
How Tackweed is Like Sin
What
a pretty little plant! Low growing, spreading a mat of tiny, bright
green leaves punctuated by small yellow flowers, and--ouch!! Speaking
of punctuated!
Tackweed, puncture vine, Mexican sandbur,
goathead thorns, bullhead, Texas sandbur. By any name, it is a scourge
to barefeet and bicycle tires and potentially dangerous to livestock.*
(Several symbols are used as footnote markers. Sorry! No superscript
available.)
I've learned a lot about and from tackweed. My first
encounter was outside a fenced yard in a dirt driveway in Ontario,
Oregon. We learned there to carry the kids' bikes to a nearby parking
lot and to never walk outside the yard in bare feet. We also learned it
is almost impossible to eradicate. Then we moved to Tri-Cities,
Washington. Good! Perhaps we left those goathead thorns behind forever.
But not a chance. They are as persistent here as in Oregon.
How Tackweed is Like Sin
1. Tackweed is cute on the surface, but ugly underneath.
Isn't
that like sin? We don't go out, see a sin for what it is, and then say,
"Oh, I want to do that ugly thing." Sin is attractive on the surface.
Only after we wade in do we realize the harm that is lurking there.
2. Tackweed spreads.
Sin
doesn't stay in one small place, either. Like tackweed, it reaches its
branches, enlarging its territory, intertwining itself in other parts
of your life, enlarging the area into which it will drop its seed.
3. Tackweed only propagates by seed, but the seeds remain viable for years.
Sin
propagates by seed, also. That's how negative peer pressure works.
Someone else can't sin for you; but they can certainly plant the seeds
of temptation in your life.
AND even when you overcome a sin,
residual seed from that sin lurks in the soil of your life for a
long time, waiting and tempting you to allow it to spring to life again.
4. It IS possible to overcome tackweed!
And
it IS possible to overcome sin! Of course, the best way to overcome
tackweed or sin is to never let them take root in the first place. But
working to overcome them is the point I am at in my own life.
My Tackweed Story
Once upon a time (last summer, actually),
there was a girl (hm., I was actually in my '40's, but still feel like a girl inside!),
who bought a piece of land.
She dreamed of the home that would be built there,
and envisioned lush and lovely gardens and pastures.
Then she found tackweed.
But
it wasn't too bad. Only along the edge of the property, near the main
road. So, she came out one beautiful morning in late summer (Wow! The excavator was breaking ground when I arrived--how exciting!),
gloves and garbage bag in hand (one of those white plastic shopping bags from any shopping experience),
and determined to wipe out the small infestation before it took hold too strongly.
She
carefully gathered up the few plants she found, smugly confident that
she had done a good job of it. As she walked farther along the roadway,
she came to the neighboring property--purchased but still vacant, and
alas! She discovered tackweed there, too. Being a good neighbor (Well, partly, but also because I didn't want a neighbor's infestation to get back into my carefully cleared lot),
she proceeded to pull that, too...
Until she pulled her back, landed in bed for a day or two, and had to hobble around for a week!
ASIDE
Now,
granted, I could just as easily have hurt myself pulling my own
tackweed, but the fact that I injured my back on my neighbor's property
adds well to my comparison. How many times do we hurt outselves trying
to pull sin out of our neighbor? There are times when God's Spirit
urges us to say the right words or in some way be His instrument in
reaching our neighbor, but God gave each of us free will. He will never
forcefully pull sin out of us, unless we give Him permission to do the
surgery, and if He won't do it Himself, how much less is it my job!
Besides, I have enough work just trying to exterminate the sin that
creeps into my own life! **
Back to the Story
A
blissful year passed. The girl moved into her new home, began to
cultivate her garden, and saw no new tackweed plants along the road.
Then she went on vacation and left her land to its own devices. When
she returned, where no tackweed had been there was now a huge forest! (Well, if 1/2 inch tall plants carpeting an 8' x 10' area can be called a forest).
Mindful of her back (and the 100 plus degree temperatures),
the girl carefully removed the new infestation, filling a large black yard-and-garden garbage bag (note the need for a MUCH larger container this time!).
She
also carefully wiped the thorny seeds from her shoes and into the
garbage bag each time she brought more plants to it. Multiple weeding
sessions later, she finally had conquered the new growth. She knew
there was still seed out there, and she would have to keep at it as it
emerged, but at least...wait a minute...what is that? Ugh! More
tackweed plants!
ASIDE
Sin,
like tackweed, comes back year after year from the seed that is left
behind. Both are also tricky. Because tackweed is low to the ground, it
sometimes hides under other plants, blends in, and is hard to see until
it becomes a big problem. Hm, sounds familiar. How does your "besetting
sin" camouflage itself? ***
Today,
the girl looks forward to several more sessions of weeding tackweed
from the roadside. She recently received good advice from friends who
have fought long and hard in the tackweed war.
ADVICE FROM FRIENDS ABOUT REMOVING TACKWEED:
1.
Work together. Rather than just trying to pull it alone, work together
to dislodge and bag it. **** It helps to work together in weeding out
sin, too. Invite a friend to help hold you accountable, to distract you
at times of greatest temptation, to help you get back up when you fall.
And God Himself provides the third strand in the rope!
2. Be
persistent. Seed is viable for years--I've heard 5 and 7 years. You
can't give up after the first pulling. Even as perseverance pays off in
the horticultural world, so in the spiritual world. /*/
3. A
general herbicide, like Round-up, works if you spray when the plants
are young and use several applications over time to keep the plants
down before they go to seed. Catching temptation before it becomes sin
is important, too. */*
And my final observation:
Catch
tackweed--and temptation--before it takes root. If it gets to the point
that you have to use Round-up, you may go through a barren
time--Round-up is no respector and kills everything. Broad measures to
exterminate rampant sin in your life may leave consequences that
separate you from ministry opportunities, people, or things that are dear to you. */*/*
*******
Dear Father,
Thank
you for tackweed and the illustration it gives me of the effect of sin
in my life. Help me to keep the seeds out whenever possible. When seeds
make their way to the fertile soil of my heart, help me to be diligent
in spraying them with the precious Blood of the Lamb, that they might
never grow to bear fruit or drop seed in my heart.
Amen
*******
Footnotes:
*
For pictures and a more thorough description of history, habitat, and
control of tackweed, check out
http://www.agdepartment.com/noxiousweeds/pdf/Puncturevine.pdf. I'll
also add that as a link in my sidebar--can't seem to get links to
appear in my text.
**Matthew 7:1-5
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge
others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be
measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of
sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your
own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and
then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
*** For more one besetting sin, see Oswald J. Smith's The Man God Uses.
**** Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work;
If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
/*/ James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has
stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised
to those who love him.
*/* James 1:14-15
...but
each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away
and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
*/*/* 1 Corinthians 10:12-13
So,
if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No
temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is
faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But
when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can
stand up under it.
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