When my husband told me about these audio podcasts at Focus on the Family last week, it immediately brought to mind what I had read in None Dare Call It Education by John Stormer, which I have been talking about a whole bunch lately. That's because it's on my mind and in my heart. Honestly, I feel like I am taking a really interesting college course, and finding all these different parts of my life that coincide with and add to what I am learning. That's the nature of life-long learning right?
In fact, I was talking to my friend yesterday about how scary this stuff is, and she reminded me of my own words -- talking about how God is in control of all of this; and He placed us here in the midst of a dying nation and we can trust Him. Okay, so I didn't say it exactly like that, but that is the gist of it!
Then as I was writing up a note for an e-mail group in which I participate, I recalled these verses.
Luke 21:32-36
"I tell you the truth, this generation[a] will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."
Matthew 24:12-14
"Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
Jun. 18, 2008 - None Dare Call It Education by John Stormer -- Take Two --
None Dare Call It Education by John Stormer
-- Take Two --
If you infiltrate the public education system from the top, teaching in universities and writing all of the teacher textbooks from a "sugar-coated" secular humanist point of view, you will deceive many teachers to believe some of the basics of socialist doctrine, even if they are Christian, moral people. (1915) If teachers who are almost socialists then teach children from socialist textbooks for 8 hours a day, those teachers will lead many children to grow up believing many socialist doctrines, even if the children come from good Christian homes. When these children graduate, they will be indoctrinated even more at the college level by the socialist elite and will present the second and third wave of socialist teachers (1950's and 1960's) adding more depth to the socialist doctrine already being presented in public schools. When the children indoctrinated by this second and third wave of socialist teachers graduate (1980 and 1990) they will completely reject all of the values of their parents and accept every part of secular humanist theory being presented by the socialist elite in colleges and universities, in every career field. When this final wave hits the public schools as teachers, the resulting graduating classes from 2000 to 2010 will be a completely socialist, secular humanist generation. Graduates will believe that Absolute Truth does not exist. Graduates will believe that everyone has to decide what is right in their own eyes. Graduates will believe that the government should have complete control of all human resource activities. (Health, education, childcare from the earliest ages, food production and distribution) Education will become a socialist enterprise.
Likewise,
When children who will become lawyers are taught from the early grades with secular humanist theories, you will eventually have a socialist legal system.
When children who will become doctors are taught from the early grades with secular humanist theories, you will eventually have a socialist medical system.
When children who will become politicians are taught from the early grades with secular humanist theories, you will eventually have a socialist political system.
When children who will become Supreme Court Justices and Presidents are taught from the early grades with secular humanist theories, you will eventually have a socialist government.
When the Socialist government takes over and starts telling us which jobs we must do, what we must eat, and how we must raise our children; some Americans will wake up and ask "How did this happen in America?"
Others will be happy, because tax credits are really fun to spend!
I wrote this brief essay about half-way through the reading of John Stormer's book, None Dare Call It Education. If you think I am making things up; please consult his book for documentation. Many of the documents he quotes are available in the public domain, which means you can read the material and judge for yourself.
Jun. 15, 2008 - None Dare Call it Education by John Stormer
I have just started reading this book (four chapters in), written in 1998; and frankly I am struggling to comprehend the intensity and documentation of the message in this book. I think every Christian parent should read this book. This book is not about home education. It is about the foundations of the society we live in. It is not just for home educators; it is for every parent who wants to be informed and prepared about the schools his or her child will attend. It is not just for parents of children in public schools, it is for every educator and every grandparent, and no matter where the family's children will attend school -- home, public, or private. This book is for every citizen who will ever vote in a general election at a local or federal level and cares about the future of the children in this country.
So far, what I am learning from this book is much more about myself -- how what I was taught (and not taught) in the public school system and how much that affects every part of who I am -- even subtle areas of who I am and how I view my world.
As soon as my children are old enough to comprehend this book, it will be required reading. So far, I only have a few books that will be required reading before my children before they graduate. Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss for my girls, A Chance To Die by Elizabeth Elliott, and None Dare Call It Education by John Stormer.
Apr. 1, 2008 - Start a Clothing Exchange at Your Church
Start a Clothing Exchange at Your Church
This week my church is hosting a Clothing Exchange. I am very impressed with this; because it is exactly what the New Testament church did -- giving to each other as they had a need. Everyone brings the clothing they don't need any more, and takes the clothing they do need! Everyone is very generous; I have seen beautiful Land's End swim suits and coats, Gap and Old Navy clothes, all in excellent condition. I am very firm with my children; we do not take clothes we do not need now! I took in two gigantic Home Depot leaf bags on Monday, all filled with adult clothing because I have lost a small bit of weight from all the surgeries in the past year. I brought home a couple of shopping bags filled with children's clothing -- things my children actually need. The church accepts donations Monday through Friday, and people who attend the church are welcome to come and help sort and take what they need. On Saturday, whatever is left is given to the people in the community. What a great witness! Please consider hosting a clothing exchange at your church...
Mar. 9, 2008 - Choosing a Church -- What Would You Do?
Choosing a Church -- What Would You Do?
Our family is in the middle of a church dilemna. For over a year, we have been attending a church about 40 minutes from our home. We have been driving to church on Sunday mornings, and back for AWANA on Sunday evenings. This has been the limit of our involvement, due to distance. We have found a church with a Worship policy we agree with, a preaching philosophy we agree with, a family-centered worship experience, (over 140 children in the service), support for both large families and homeschooling, and an excellent AWANA program. On the other hand, it is 40 minutes away, and we do not live near enough to any other people in the church to participate in any sort of ministry! We are not used to being so uninvolved. Recently, we also "upgraded" to a Suburban and guess what? It is now costing us $16 each trip to go to church. Now of course, that is just one more reason we are frustrated with our church situation. So, today, we attended another church about 25 minutes away, with many people in the church living within 10 minutes of our home; though we would still be out of the normal range of community. The church is also located on my husband's way home from work, meaning that weekday involvement becomes possible for both of us. Each round trip from home by mileage would cost us about $8. This church would allow us to "get involved" in a much more active way more like what we are used to. They also have a large homeschool population within the church, and actually have a homeschool coop we could be involved in. However, only twelve children attended the service and they were all older then ours, the worship policy allows for what I call "mindless repetition" of choruses, and the preaching was less then what we have come to expect. Then there is the close church -- five minutes away, $3 in gas round trip, better music, topical and often unscriptural sermons, no children in the service, mostly career Moms, two other homeschool families, all small families that look at us like we are out of our minds when we walk in with four kids. We attended this church for several months trying to make it work when we first arrived in our new home. What would you do? Would you stick with the church whose philosophies and families look most like your own? Would you be salt and light in a church near home where you have no one like yourself, and sermons are less then edifying? Would you go half way, driving some, to be in a church with at least some level of homeschool support and edification? I realize I have no way of really telling you everything about our church options, but I just am curious. What is your gut reaction? Leave me a comment and tell me what you think.
Feb. 28, 2008 - Television, Computers, Video Games -- Where is your line??
Television, Computers, Video Games -- Where is your line??
A few months ago, a started a conversation on an e-mail loop I am on regarding television, and the differences between videos and audiobooks. I encouraged everyone to read The Plug In Drug by Marie Winn. Most libraries have a copy. When my first daughter was born, my husband and I observed the other parents in our church limiting their children to one video per day. We thought this was a great idea. We did not necessarily limit ourselves though. Several years later, our television broke, and our entire family began to wean off of television. It was during this time that I read through The Plug In Drug the first time. It has been three years now since our television broke, and we have found that computers and video games have risen up to take the televisions place. We limit our children to 60 minutes total "screen time"; which usually includes 30 minutes of game play and 30 minutes of watching a dvd. However, the game play is limited to every other day during the week and alternates between players and watchers. Another rule we have is "No game time on Sundays ever." We watch DVD's on our computer screen or on a small portable dvd player we own. We seem to go through periods where they are definitely watching their one dvd per day; and then other periods where we don't watch any dvd's for an entire week because we are too busy having what I call "real" fun. Philippians 4:8 says
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." I believe this verse is a good standard by which to judge the videos my family will watch. If they are not educational or spiritually edifying, they do not need to be watched. So that's where we draw the line.
A few days ago, I received this noted from Hailey; and I thought she did such a great job of explaining what happens when you turn off the television. So I asked permission to share it with all of you!
Amy and Friends,
I just wanted to let you know how things went with my desire to
cut down the amount of TV my child watches on a daily basis. She
had a habit of watching up to two hours in the morning and one while
I was making dinner at night and I was worried that it was not good
for her. Amy suggested reading the Plug In Drug and I have to say
the book was fascinating. I learned so much about what sorts of
problems tv can cause in the brain and learning processes, even
though I thought I already knew it all, LOL!
So, essentially, the book scared me straight! I told Grace TV was
bad for her brain and we turned it off. DH and I are only watching
at night after she goes to bed. For the first few days she needed a
lot of attention and she did not like it, but she understood me when
I said it was bad for her. I read a lot more books to her in those
first few days while she made the adjustment. Now she is much
better at entertaining herself. My house has toys strewn all over
it in odd places, but she is not watching TV. Now that it's a bit
lighter outside in the evening I have been having her play outside
in the backyard while I make dinner. I can peek out at her and make
sure she's ok, it's fenced in, and I don't have her underfoot as I
am cooking.
I think we have been pretty successful with our experiment. She
went from reading about 6-7 books a day to 11 plus, which must be
good for her. Also, she seems better at self initiated play, and
really does seem calmer throughout the day without the distraction
of TV.
There is also an interesting article on NPR regarding children and
imaginitive play. It sort of bounces off what the author of Plug In
Drug had to say and discusses some interesting differences in the
attention span abilities of children today versus children from the
1940's. Here's the link:
I promised a glimpse at my "needs list", which God has gradually been providing throughout this year as I purposed to stay within my homeschool budget. I sat down and made a list of everything I might "need" for this year between September and May. Even I freely admit that most of these items, I could teach without. I cannot find my scratch list anywhere, so I am going to compose this list from memory. Even those items my feeble mind can remember have been a huge blessing!
Math U See Delta Teacher's Guide and Video $20
Classical Writing Aesop B, Teacher's Guide and Student Guide $20
What Your First Grader Needs To Know $1
What Your Second Grader Needs To Know $1
What Your Third Grader Needs To Know $2
What Your Kindergardener Needs To Know *FREE*
Math U See Beta Test Booklet *FREE*
Memoria Press D'aulaires Greek Myths Teacher Guide and Student book, $30
D'aulaires Book of Norse Myths Hardcover $12
Math U See Delta Student Work Book and Test Booklet $15
A Child's Story Bible $2
Golden Children's Bible $3
By the way, all dollar amounts include shipping costs if the item was an internet find or purchase from a friend; so you are truly seeing my costs!
And A Few Wants I call my Gifts from God, which I thought I would share as well!:
Complete Hardcover Elsie Dinsmore 12 book set -- $75 -- almost 50% off! A Christmas/Birthday gift for my daughter.
Educating the WholeHearted Child *Free*
Pocketful of Pinecones *Free*
Homeschooling For Excellence *Free*
The Homeschool Father *Free*
As I think of more things, or if I find my scratch list... I will update this post!
Jan. 21, 2008 - Bible First -- Faithfulness To God is the HIghest Aspiration
Bible First -- Faithfulness To God is the HIghest Aspiration
One thing I have insisted on this year that I have ended up loving is this:
Everyone does Bible first — Every Day! No Exceptions, Bible always comes first. On days when we have COOP; or dentist appts., or whatever — Bible may be the only subject we get done at home that day. When my kids have tried to alter this I say, “No, Bible is the most important thing you study; and I want to make sure that no matter what else happens today you have studied your Bible lesson.”
I don’t say it (most days), but I am always thinking this: “No matter what else you accomplish in life; Loving God is the most important thing I am trying to teach you. I am not very good at it, but I am trying. If you can’t spell, you can’t write, you work a factory job for minimum wage every day for the next 60 years; but you love God every day and serve Him faithfully every day, I will be one happy Mama. Faithfulness to God is the highest aspiration.”
Obviously, I do want my children to aspire to their best; but God must come first.
Our TV broke 2 years ago; and while we occasionally are “tempted” to replace it — we remind ourselves how much time was wasted when we had it. Now, we have a portable DVD player and allow the children to watch at most 1 video per day. They often go four or five days without watching anything though. It is not a habitual part of our lives; and we get so busy playing and reading that we forget to request the one allowed video. We do also enjoy a family movie night every other weekend or so. We usually prefer a family game night; and have recently been enjoying dominoes.
The hardest thing I found was finding things to fill the need of keeping the children occupied while I cook supper. Now what we do is only allow play dough during that time; and also I trained the children to sit quietly and read for 30 minutes whenever I needed organized quiet. I trained them simply by setting the example; we practiced for a week or so and I read to myself at the same time. I would say, “Everyone Find Four Books and Your Own Couch or Chair.” Those who did not want to sit quietly and were disobedient were given extra little errands or chores. They learned pretty quickly to enjoy that time; and now look forward to it. When I trained my older children to do this; they were not avid readers at all; so it was really sitting quietly and looking at a stack of pictures books. Now they are reading fluently and constantly; but they still enjoy this time, because it is one of the rare times when the youngest members are also quiet!
We have never had cable; and once we had been “away” from prime time television for a few months we realized how raunchy, disrespectful, and downright sinful the humor had become. We found we no longer had an appetite for shows that portrayed disrespectful spouses, disobedient children, or under-dressed women in the workplace.
It has been an interesting journey, and we still look at television ads in the newspaper occasionally with wistfulness. One thing that helps me a great deal is keeping a copy of The Plug-In Drug: Television, Computers, and Family Life on my shelf and re-reading it every once in a while. It is fascinating and powerful. It has been reprinted and is now available from Amazon for about $12.
Finally Brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Phillipians 4:8
I saw links to the Training Hearts blog on two different blogs I frequent today; and so I thought -- why not? I am so glad I did. Tamara, the author of Training Hearts is offering this lovely Training Hearts Award for all those of us who will agree to this pledge; which I do. I will enjoy having this beautiful reminder of my pledge. Thank you Tamara,
“Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!” Deuteronomy 5:29
Committment Pledge:
We are a Christian family desiring to raise our children with the primary focus of Training their Hearts!
“I have no greater joy, than to hear my children walk in truth..”III John 1:4
“Train up the child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”Proverbs 22:6
“Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!” Deuteronomy 5:29
Tired? Worn out? Cranky? Those adjectives described me almost every school day last fall and winter. Illness and stress were just wearing me out; and reflecting in my attitude. This week, I have experienced again an antidote for the Stay At Home blues; and I wanted to share the blessing with you.
Spend A Day With A Friend!
Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel. Proverbs 27:9
What a blessing and privilege this week has been for both myself and my children. First, meeting an internet friend and my upline Usborne supervisor In Real Life on Monday, then hosting another dear friend and her family at our neighborhood pool on Wednesday, and finally spending the day today at another friend's neighborhood pool and house for lunch on Friday!
What encouragement can be had just by talking with people who are like minded, people who are friends, people who like you in spite of yourself. Meaningful grown up conversation -- in person -- is a huge helping of attitude adjustment for me. What a blessing for your children to build friendships as well!
Summer is the perfect time to meet up with friends or acquaintances you would like to know better. Parks, pools, even libraries are great places to get to know a family better. Hikes are bonding activities! Museums and zoos are great for winter, but during summer picnics and swing sets and sprinklers in your backyard are welcome diversions. Use the summer months remaining to build friendships with other homeschooling families. These friendships will bring sweet warmth into your home and homeschool all year long!
If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Ecclesiastes 4:10
Towards the end of our walk through the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, we walked into a long, thin, poorly-lit room shaped like a hallway. Along one wall were benches and on the opposite wall hung the art, great globs of twisted wire. “This is art?” I asked. “Just wait”, I was told. We sat down and waited. After a couple seconds, lights came on. The lights cast a shadow behind the wire sculpture. Still, I didn’t see anything remarkable. Shine light on globs of wire and it casts a twisted wire shadow – big deal. Again, my husband said, “Just wait.” Thank goodness he has a habit of reading the program notes at these places. Now the lights dimmed again, and were replaced by lights shining at a different angle. I sat straight up and started examining each one. Now the globs of wire were interesting. The difference? With this new direction of light; the wire globs were casting beautiful shadow drawings onto the wall. Each wire sculpture glob cast a different picture drawing onto the wall. One showed a mother holding her child. That was my favorite. Wow! How did Larry Kagan do that? I looked and looked at the wire globs on the wall. I could not find the mother holding the child in the twisted shapes of the wire. But, the evidence was in the shadow.
Our lives are like the twisted globs of wire. Before we meet God, our lives are like the twisted wires without light – bent out of shape by sin and pain, without purpose. After we meet God, our lives begin to reflect the beauty of what He shapes (and has shaped) us to be. Of course, we have to be willing to let Him do the shaping! The result is growth, which is evidence of Christ. As the shadow we cast changes, those around us will stop and watch in amazement or disbelief. Others will be drawn to His light. And our own lives will be changed forever.
Our journey begins by continuously committing our lives to Christ and then seeking God’s purpose for our lives. We have to turn our twisted lives over to the master artist and seek His vision. How do we seek that vision? We spend time talking with God through prayer and we intentionally turn over more and more of our lives to Him so that we will have an increasing confidence in Christ, commonly referred to as faith. Finally, we recognize that growth is change, and that the change comes from the inside out. The change comes from allowing more of His light to shine through us and cast the beautiful images that He intended, not just meaningless blobs. The book of Romans makes it very clear that we are expected to pursue righteousness – to pursue change. The wonderful truth Romans also makes very clear is that God will meet us more than halfway. The Master Artist makes the change happen. Our righteousness--our changes toward righteousness--will come from Him! How can you allow God to shape your life? How can you allow Him to reflect His light through you? What will God do in your life to facilitate growth as you pursue righteousness?
Training for Life by Seeking Answers through Scripture
Colossians 3:1-4, 16-17
“…Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. … Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through Him. “ (NIV)
What are you setting your mind on? I don’t know if you have observed this in your life as I have in mine; but I find it incredibly difficult to set my mind on things above. I have so many other important things that need concentrated on right now –like keeping up with my dishes and housework inspite physical difficulties, raising obedient and beautiful-inside children, and keeping my marriage alive inspite of Dan’s harried work schedule. Sometimes, just breathing has become a struggle. With all of this stress, how in the world am I supposed to set my mind on things above? I believe in my heart that one of the best ways to set your mind on Godly things is to fill your mind with scripture. This is brought out in vs. 16 of the scripture quoted; which says to “let the Word of God dwell in you richly.” The word "richly" jumps out of me. As Americans, we associate this word with money---lots of money. I think we can translate it here as lots of God’s Word dwelling in our hearts. This can only happen one way that I know of – we have to study the Scripture.
There are several ways to accomplish this. Those that come to most of our minds immediately are 1) daily personal Bible study, and 2) attending Sunday morning services. These are great ways to set our minds on things above, but they are not the only ways to injest rich amounts of Scripture into our souls. Other methods might include listening to an audio recording of the Bible on our way to and from church, attending midweek Bible studies at church or in a small group where accountability is encouraged, sharing time with our spouse studying God’s word, listening to valid Christian radio programs, or my personal favorite – teaching our children. It is amazing to what length you will go to understand a portion of God’s Word correctly when you realize you need to teach your child that specific portion.
In our home, the truth of this was revealed to us when Clara was 5 years old and attending a Bible study where baptism was not included in the method of salvation. She was specifically told that all she had to do was invite Jesus into her heart and she would be saved. Dan and I have a big problem with that. First of all, we believe Jesus is already with her; though not necessarily in her heart and we believe that salvation is already hers for now– since we believe that she has not reached an age of accountability yet. Secondly, we also believe that baptism is an integral part of the salvation experience. Thirdly, we recognize that most children cannot understand abstract concepts like baptism until at least 8 year of age; and we were concerned that Clara would consider herself already saved and never realize at an older age that baptism was supposed to be part of that experience. So, what does this have to do with studying the Scriptures? For almost three years before that day, Dan and I had been embarking on a thorough and intense study of baptism because we wanted to know exactly what we believed and why before our children were old enough to need to know! It took us three whole years to clarify exactly what we believe about baptism and salvation and why. We read and studied and sought wise counsel from other believers. Not only did we need to study and clarify this issue – God knew it a full three (million) years before we did!
When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment in God’s Law, He responded with a two-part answer. According to Matthew 22:35-40, Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like the first. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
We as Christians are expected and even commanded to love God and others. How do we accomplish this task? How does God experience love? How do we go about loving Jesus? How do we love those around us? Loving God and loving those around us is a key component of being a Credible Witness. According to Jesus, unbelievers know that we are His disciples by our love. Others will notice the difference.
When we first got married 12 years ago, Dan and I purchased a book called Love is a Decision by Gary Smalley. We were intrigued by the title I guess. That book was one of the best marriage books I have ever read. The truth is that love is many things. Emotion and romance certainly play a part. But deep, lasting love is all about commitment. Every morning when you wake up you can decide again to love your spouse. Every morning you can renew that commitment.
Since individuals interpret love in many ways; a commitment to love your spouse means looking for ways to actively show love them. It might mean cleaning the kitchen before they get home; and it might mean calling them from work to say I love you. It could mean you need to spend time on the couch talking in the evening, or it could mean a back rub. For inspiration, you might look at the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Gary states that the five languages in which we can give and receive love would include words of encouragement, quality time, gifts, physical touch, and acts of service. Each of us has one or two love languages that we prefer. This is another book that rates high on our list.
As you consider the topic of love in the context of loving Christ and loving others
this week; remember there are many parallels between marriage and our relationship with Jesus. Even if you are not married, you can look to the examples (both good and bad) around you and draw your own conclusions. Marriage is in fact our God-given example of how Christ relates to His church. Could you wake up every morning and decide again to love Jesus? What does He expect from us? How does He receive our love? How can you show tangible love to those around you?
“It wonders me, it wonders me. How beautiful a day can be. How green the field! How blue the sky! How red and gold the maple tree! It wonders me, it wonders me.*” The words to this song can be interpreted from two very different perspectives.
Pure bewilderment. This is the response of the person without any knowledge or acknowledgement of God. How in the world can the world be so beautiful? Everything has been created randomly, so how did the grass become so green? How could red and gold happen together on the same tree by chance? It is all so beautiful and pointless and I can’t figure out why.
Pure praise. This is the response of the person who knows the reality of God. “God, your world fills me with wonder. The world you created is beautiful and green and blue and the blend of colors is amazing. I do not know how you did it God; and I praise you for what you have done! You wonder me.”
The difference between the two perspectives is called worship. Many people act out of the understanding that worship is just participating in God-focused music together on Sunday morning. That is a false belief.
Any action that is motivated by the purpose of glorifying God is worship. Anything that by your motivation could glorify God either privately or publicly could be worship. Worship might be interpreting music together, but it could also be thinking, cleaning the dishes, reading aloud to your children, walking for exercise or loving one another. Paul says “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do—do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31. If we were truly focusing on God’s amazing being, every moment of our day would become a moment of worship. Private moments would become private worship –just between you and God. Public moments would become public worship --- a credible witness of God’s glory to all those around you as you love one another. How do you live your life --in bewilderment or in praise?
While in college, I was challenged by a professor to keep a “worship journal”. In this journal we needed to make four entries a week recording personal worship. That was the only explanation we received. This journal changed my understanding -- my perspective about worship. The first few entries were easy. I wrote poems and songs and responses to chapel services. After a while I began to struggle. That is when I began to find moments of worship in every part of my day. Sometimes we forget to be motivated by a desire to glorify God. To encourage you in this motivation, I am passing my professor’s challenge on to you. All you need is an empty notebook and an ink pen. For your first entry, record your response to the scripture for today. Remembering that true love is a decision to put another first (and not just an emotion), how will your relationships and actions change when your motivation becomes Glorifying God? Who will benefit when your interaction with others becomes worship? Why is a motivation to glorify God particularly difficult when it involves our response to other people in our lives?
*It Wonders Me was written by Hague for the musical “Plain and Fancy”
The bottom line is; We try not to insist on parent-led learning or gravitate toward child-led learning. We try instead to focus on God-led learning and ask for His input and perspective on every aspect of our home school. That way, when others fuss about what Dan and I are doing and make me second guess our decisions -- I can go back to our decision process and find God's fingerprints, reminding me that this is His way.
on my shelf and re-reading it every once in a while. It is fascinating and powerful. It has been reprinted and is now available from Amazon for about $12.
