I've just posted a poem from Teresa of Avila that is worth looking at. You can find it at:

www.spiritualsynergy.blogspot.com

Well after over 21 years, my family and I have relocated back to the USA from England. It has been one serious transition, and has taken its toll in many ways--physically, emotionally, etc. We felt it was time to move back to the USA, where we will still be doing work with Searchlight Missions, providing resources for Christians in countries around the world.

This is the first time my wife and kids have lived in the USA, so it has been a major adjustment. Everything is bigger, faster, and more hectic. We're getting used to the size of Walmart, the amount of restaurants in most towns, turning right on red, and the amount of churches that seem to be everywhere.

We have been delighted to find that in our area of the world--Brownsburg, IN--is a homeschool cooperative of nearly 120 families! In England, we had drive nearly an hour to find any other Christian homeschoolers. This will be a major change for us, but one that we're very excited about.

Now that we're getting settled in, I hope to get back to regular blogging as our new life unfolds back in my native land. Being out of the country for a while has opened my eyes to several things within the country. Hopefully I can make sense of it all and help my family to live the best lives we can here in the USA.

A couple of weeks ago I had to make a two-week flying visit to the USA. I was there for several meetings related to our missions work. While I was in the States, I was able to spend about two full days with the Suarez and Igarashi families at the nerve centre of "The Old Schoolhouse" family. I had a great time.

I had an amazing drive down from Indiana to Tennessee. Since it was the latter part of October, the trees in Kentucky and Tennessee were simply stunning. The day I drove down, it was sunny and mid-70s. The colours on the mountains made me realise again that, when it comes to art, God really is in a class all by himself. Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh--none of them come up with the colours and beautiful patterns that are everyday occurrences for almighty God.

When I finally arrived at the Suarez homestead, and the Igarashis came over to spend the evening, I felt that truly I was in the presence of homeschooling royalty. They were all so gracious and welcoming, and the meals were so incredible (I had forgotten just how much Americans put on the table!) that I immediately felt at home. The children of both families were wonderful to be with. I felt so comfortable with them, I was even persuaded to act a little silly myself a time or two. (grin)

It was a great encouragement to me to see that God is working with people in all kinds of places, in all kinds of situations, for HIS eternal purposes. It also helped me to keep a focus on what is necessary for the Christian homeschooling community here in England. By God's grace we'll continue to attempt to make a difference in the UK. And I am glad to be able to say that our friends in Tennessee will be one of our biggest sources of encouragement, advice, and wisdom. God's global network continues to astound me. He sure is awfully kind to us.

I know it looks like I rarely blog anymore, but the truth is I'm actually blogging every Friday at www.homeschoolblogger.com/livingheritageuk. We're trying to raise awareness regarding homeschoolers here in the UK, and that's where I'm putting in my effort. I will keep blogging when I am able here, but just in case you were wondering if I had fallen off the planet. I haven't; I've just fallen into livingheritageuk.

Bruce

A few days ago I found this photo of my son Josiah and me. The picture is about ten years old, and it is one of my favourites. It was taken near Aysgarth Falls in Yorkshire, England. Several scenes from Kevin Costner's "Robin Hood" movie were shot near the Falls, which are incredibly beautiful. On this occasion we had some friends visiting from the USA, and we were taking them to see the falls. Josiah decided he wanted to get there quickly, and I was in pursuit. Our friend managed to capture the moment from behind us, and I have loved the picture ever since. Just yesterday I changed my computer settings and made it my background photo. It reminds me of an important reality in my life as a parent. In the unknown paths that we are going to travel in our lifetime, my wife and my children are my highest responsibility, after my relationship with God.  The photo reminds me that I can be there for them--helping, leading, guiding, advising, and loving. It's so easy to get caught up in the daily "rat race" and forget "what it's all about." But the simple truth is it's about them, not me, and how we learn to glorify God as a family. The picture just brought it all back to me, and rekindled my desire to be the best husband and father I can be, with His help.

I bind unto myself today

The power of God to hold and lead,

His eye to watch, His might to stay,

His ear to hearken to my need.

The wisdom of my God to teach,

His hand to guide, His shield to ward;

The word of God to give me speech,

His heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ, be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ on my right, Christ on my left.

Christ when I lie, Christ when I sit, Christ when I arise.

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

Salvation is of the Lord,

Salvation is of the Christ,

May your salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

--St. Patrick

A new organisation for serious, committed homeschoolers in the UK is just getting started. We're excited about it, and we think there are lots of reasons to be excited. Drop by and say hello. The days ahead should be pretty interesting for British homeschoolers!

Anybody who has ever heard me speak about the imbalance of Christian literature in the English speaking world as opposed to the rest of the world will know that I am about the last person who would recommend that Christians in the western world buy yet another Bible. However, this is one that I have to mention.

The Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible was recently produced by Richard Foster's ministry, Renovare. The editors include Foster, Thomas C. Oden, Gayle Beebe, Lynda L. Graybeal, Dallas Willard, Walter Brueggemann, and Eugene H. Peterson. Each book of the Bible also has a commentary by an eminent scholar on that book.

But the great thing about the Spiritual Formation Bible is its theme of "The With-God Life". Everything about this Bible is designed to lead the reader into a life of continual union with God, learning to practice the presence of God. It offers numerous helps as to how that can be accomplished, and often breaks into the text of Scripture to challenge the reader to reflect on a particular point and how it relates to "my life". There are a number of essays that show how the Scripture develops this theme of "The With-God Life" from Genesis to Revelation.  

The commentaries are not academic babble that will lose the average reader. Instead they are notes that point the reader to recognising the way that each particular text relates to their present situation. The comments are wide-ranging. I've seen quotes from Simon and Garfunkel songs, and I've seen recommendations to buy the book In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers by John Chryssavgis, as a starting point for understanding the spiritual discipline of Solitude. There are also excerpts from spiritual classics by writers such as Thomas a Kempis and Julian of Norwich.

One thing that may surprise readers is that the Inter-testamental books, or Apocrypha, is included. If you, like me, grew up in a conservative protestant home, you may think that the Apocrypha is not to be looked at, much less read. However, there is a great deal of valuable writing from that time, and the Renovare Bible, while not counting them as equal to the Scripture, certainly considers the apocryphal books as worthy of at least one reading. For example, I personally found the Greek rendering of the Book of Esther a great help as an additional text to the book by the same name found in the Old Testament.

All in all, this is a Bible I would highly recommend for any Christian who is serious about being transformed into the likeness of Christ. I think it is one of the greatest tools to be provided in a number of years.

A few days ago I was talking to my parents, and they told me that somebody in Indianapolis had called a talk radio station to say that they didn't understand what the fuss was about "this World Cup thing that's going on." The caller went on to say that surely the World Series was much bigger than the World Cup. With a large dose of good will and frivolity, let me enlighten those of you who don't understand all the fuss about the World Cup.

The World Cup is a football (soccer) tournament that is global. It occurs once every four years, like the Olympics. Virtually every country in the world, even tiny places like the Faroe Islands, enter a team in the hope that they will somehow make the finals of the World Cup. Qualifying matches start two years ahead of the actual finals, and only 32 teams make it to the final tournament, which takes close to five weeks.

Are people outside of the United States interested in the World Cup? Let me put it this way. Here in England, real estate agents were advising people who are trying to sell their house not to expect any visitors while the World Cup was going on. The final match of the World Cup, which Italy won for the fourth time, attracted a TV viewing audience of between 1-2 billion people (or approximately 5-6 times the entire population of the USA).

What is amazing about the World Cup is that all other matters in the geopolitical world seem to come to a halt when it is going on. For instance, this year, while the UN Security Council was trying to figure out what to do about Iran's threat of nuclear weapons, the same Iran had a team in the final 32. And they played right along with everybody else. In the past, nations at war have actually declared a one-day cease fire so that all the soldiers and population could watch their two countries play in the World Cup. It's that serious.

Another thing is that the World Cup is the great leveller. On the football pitch (soccer field) all countries suddenly become equal. It's all about what 11 men can do with their feet; economics, military might, size and population all mean pretty much nothing. For instance, this year the USA lost their last match to Ghana from West Africa. One American writer stated that the World Cup is the most intense sporting event in the world, because small countries can beat up big countries. And so it continues to happen.

I realise that with a primarily female blogging readership, my comments will be greeted with a sigh of "who really cares." :-) But I thought it worth the time to let people know that there are still some pretty major things happening out here in the rest of the world, and whoever that dear caller in Indy was, she should know that in actual fact the World Cup is much bigger than the World Series.

Last Sunday night, after church, we had to go pick up the two sons of one of our homeschooling friends. They were about to move to a new house, and we were watching the boys for a couple of days while they made the big move. We were also getting their almost new dishwasher that they no longer needed. To do all this we had to take both of our small cars (at over $8.00 a gallon for gas, small cars are a good thing). I got to bring back the dishwasher and my 9-year-old daughter Bethany.

It was about a 45 minute drive from their house to ours, and we were able to have a great talk. She was asking me about different things; we were watching an incredible sunset together. As we talked, I had one of those moments when it suddenly hits you that your little child is growing up, becoming more articulate, developing into a thinker, and the conversation is on a different level than it has been in the past. When we were nearly home, she just reached over and took my hand and looked up with a heart-melting contented smile. I thought to myself, "This is one of those timeless moments that I will remember for the next 20 years." My heart was full to the brim just because I had been able to spend some quality time with my wonderful daughter.

The next morning, when I was writing in my journal, I stopped to consider how it must touch the heart of the Father when we are willing to stop all the madness of daily life and just talk with Him. We can easily relegate our understanding of God to ethereal visions of invisible vapours in the sky, and we forget that He loves us, longs for us, watches over our every coming and going. I think, in some way that I don't fully understand and certainly can't adequately describe, that when we take a moment just to "hold His hand" it brings pleasure to the heart of the Father. It made me want to be sure to set aside time for communion with Him whose love is greater than any earthly father's ever could be.

A few weeks ago I followed a chain of links (which for the life of me I cannot remember) and ended up at an interesting article written by a man who had met a rather sad character on a business flight. Since reading the article a few thoughts have been buzzing incessantly around in my mind. The events went something like this. The author of the article was seated by a man who was extremely successful in the television industry. He owned several stations, etc. He was a self-made man, and the amazing thing about him was that he had not completed university until he was nearly 35, because he had stopped his studies on several occasions to go back to work to support his other brothers and sisters. He had made numerous sacrifices for others in the midst of his efforts for his own advancement. (The exact details escape me.) Anyway, he had just come from the graduation of one of his children (he had six from two marriages), and he was expressing his dismay at how spoiled and selfish his own child was. The author of the article listened to all the man had to say, then made a comment that went something like this: "It seems to me that after you had such an uphill struggle in making your own way in the world, you did everything in your power to protect your children from any need for sacrifice or hard work, and now you have raised children that you can't respect."

Ka-WHAM! This hit me right between the eyes! Is there any society in all of history that is so spoiled, that has things so easy? I don't think so. And I will be the first to admit that there are times when I make every effort to be sure that my kids "don't go without." I have to think that maybe in the midst of all the comforts and conveniences, we might be losing the development of character, which is more important than the others, by far!

I remember when I was younger and zealous and idealistic, and all that kind of exciting stuff, one of my favourite scriptures was David's declaration at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite: "I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing" (2 Samuel 24:24). There was an element of cost in our discipleship. If it didn't cost, what was it worth? We almost wanted it to cost, because we had grasped the principle that sacrifice brings blessing. I had to admit that this verse had not crossed my mind for way too long. Nowadays a lot of churches do everything in their power to make the message of the gospel cost as little as possible. "We'll make this as easy as we can. Just let us know if we offend you in any way, and we'll change things for you."

I don't want to turn this into a monstrous rambling on, but I have been stirred to consider how my wife and I are raising our children. Are we teaching them that following Christ will involve sacrifice? Are we preparing them for a life that willingly, even joyfully, gives up things so that others can have? Am I sacrificing myself for them and for my God in ways that are going to bring the blessing of God in the eternal, unseen realm--where it really matters? Sacrifice has kind of become a dirty and forgotten word in our affluent, over-indulgent society. I'm going to make an effort to get it back into our regular vocabulary, and into our daily lives, with God's help.    

Okay, I guess the geography website posting has sufficiently bored people to tears, if not to a mild form of insanity. I won't go into the details of the past couple of weeks, but suffice it to say that I've been staring down magazine deadlines, pursuing new publishing opportunities in Asia, and the church where I attend, which usually has me speaking once every couple of months has somehow seen fit to schedule me for four services in a row! But hey, no excuses in blogland, right? I just wanted to say that I'm still around and hope to be back on the blog with gusto next week. Thanks for the comments and those who dropped in to say "hi". Of course, jayfromcleveland continues to be the spur to continue on with the Paternal Alliance (we shall stand strong, Sir Jay!). Anyway, that's about it for today. I've got to go put the finishing touches on Sunday night's sermon (the first of four).  

jayfromcleveland posted an interesting set of statistics on American children and their lack of geographical knowledge. I'm afraid the same can be said for most British kids. We recently were given a great geography website by a retired headmaster who attends our church here in the UK. He is very interested in, and supportive of, our homeschool endeavours. The site is all free, and it offers amazing games for geography of the USA and all regions of the world. Our children use it almost daily. If you want to improve your child's knowledge of US states, or capitals, or countries of the world, this is a good place to start.

The educational philosopher and advocate of "Great Books" and "Great Ideas", Mortimer Adler, said in his book, How to read a book, that the well-read person is not necessarily one who has read lots and lots of books on all manner of subjects, but rather one who has become so intimately acquainted with four or five authors that he or she now knows those writers and their ideas intimately. Running into one of my "old friends" a few days ago got me thinking about this whole matter of being "well read" again.

Our church housegroup is currently reading a book from Richard Foster's "Renovare" that explores excerpts of great Christian classics over the past centuries. We were looking at the idea of the church as community, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book, Life Together, was the selected reading. When I was doing my Biblical Studies degree 20 years ago, Bonhoeffer and I became intimately acquainted. My final paper was on his approach to Christianity in the 20th century. I think I have a copy of everything he ever wrote that has been translated into English. Reading parts of his great little book again reawakened my appreciation of his genius, his spiritual insight, and his desire to be obedient to Christ and his call to a life of discipleship.

Around the same time, I pulled The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis off the shelf and read that again for the first time in a lot of years. My reaction was, "Man, why have I left C.S. alone for so long?" I had a semester class on Lewis at university and was thoroughly immersed in him. I am now in the process of reacquainting myself with his classics and some of his lesser known essays. It's all great stuff.

My other old friends include John Wesley and Oswald Chambers, who I believe is one of the greatest spiritual thinkers of the 20th century. I also love Hudson Taylor when it comes to missionaries and missionary philosophy. I have more biographies of him than I could accurately mention. Recently I have been reading the early church fathers, so I can add John Chrysostom and Athanasius to my list of new friends. Because I have been exploring the spiritual writings of the Russian and Eastern Orthodox church lately, I am also developing a good relationship with a man named Theophan the Recluse who has some great thoughts on the Christian life and living in union with God.

When it comes to literature, my bestest buddies are Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, John Steinbeck, and of course, William Shakespeare. It's now fun to see my children build their own literary friendships. My son is totally into J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and my daughter is developing a love for L.M. Montgomery and Louisa May Alcott.

It's good to take a minute and remember the spiritual and literary influences we have had over the years. I think the retrospect gives us a sense of where we've been but also where we're going. Those foundations are what we build upon. Who are some of your "old friends"? Who are some of your new ones? What impact have they had on your life?

I sit here today while it's pouring rain outside, and I have to confess to being in a rather contemplative mood. Days like this in England tend to turn everything grey anyway. Maybe the whole atmostphere is more conducive to meaningful cogitation, or maybe not. I really don't know. Over the past few days my thoughts have been centring on Christian home education in the United Kingdom--where is it going? what kind of testimony are we displaying? what do we hope to accomplish for our children and for our God?

I look at the USA that is probably 15-20 years ahead of us in the whole homeschooling exercise, and I now see that home educated children are, on average, years ahead of their peers. I see that the major universities are now aggressively recruiting home educated children because of their academic abilities, their character, and their habits of self-discipline overall. I see a generation of young leaders that are beginning to influence their respective fields and their world with a living testimony to the power of the message of the gospel of Christ. I see a Christian homeschool community that is rapidly growing because people are seeing the "proof in the pudding" when parents take responsibility for their childrens' education, life-purpose, and eternal destiny. Undoubtedly there are things still to be improved, and I know that everything isn't roses and daffodils, but overall the system seems to be working.  

Here in the UK there aren't so many Christian home educators. There aren't big networks and supportive homeschool communities on every corner. We seem to be fragmented, and many feel isolated and often discouraged. Many people that are home educating are doing it for what I call "negative" reasons rather than "positive" reasons. The biggest reason that people in England home educate is because their child has been bullied at school in some way. There are other similar reasons that indicate that parents haven't necessarily wanted to homeschool their child; they just don't want them in school any longer. This means there is no real sense of eternal value in their motivation.

I have to wonder, is it time for Christian home educators in the UK to start to give a positive lead? Is it time for us to get serious about the future of our children and how they can affect their family, their church, their neighbourhood, their world? Have we caught the vision that we can be preparing them to be lights of God's truth in this world that is increasingly looking more and more like the "techno-consumed dark ages"? Are we really considering our role as home educating parents as a call from God not only for our children but also for all those they will influence in their lifetime?

The positive impact of Christian home education is being seen in other places, so now I have to ask the question: Why not here in the UK? Why not among the Christian home educating community? Why not us? Why not now? 

"What shall we give in return to the Lord for his gifts?

For us he became human

and on account of our corrupted nature

the Word became flesh and dwelt in our midst.

He was the benefactor to those who were ungrateful,

the liberator of those in bondage

and the sun of righteousness to those who dwell in darkness.

He who was incorrupt ascended the cross,

the light descended into hades,

the life suffered death,

and he was the resurrection for those who had fallen.

Let us sing to him: Our God, glory to you!"

C.S. Lewis used to say,  "There is no story we would rather have true." By death he has conquered death. He is risen!

On the Crucifixion:

"You lived on earth, King of Heaven, to lead me to heaven--I who had been cast out of paradise.

You were born in the flesh of the Virgin to give me birth in the spirit.

You suffered insults to silence the mouths of my enemies who denounced me.

You abased yourself, you who are higher than all honours, in order to honour me, the dishonoured.

You wept to wipe the tears from my eyes.

You sighed, grieved, sorrowed to save me from sighing, grieving, suffering pain through eternity, to give me eternal joy and gladness.

You were sold and betrayed that I might be freed, I who was enslaved.

You were bound that my bonds might be broken.

You were submitted to an unjust trial--you who are Judge of all the earth--that I might be freed from eternal judgment.

You were made naked in order to clothe me in the robes of salvation, in the garments of gladness.

You were crowned with thorns, that I might receive the crown of life.

You were called the king in mockery--you, the King of all!--to open the kingdom of heaven for me.

Your head was lashed with a reed that my name should be written in the book of life.

You suffered outside the city gates in order to lead me, one who had been cast out of paradise, into the eternal Jerusalem.

You were put among evil men--you who are the only just one--that I, the unjust, might be justified.

You were cursed, the One Blessed, that I, the accursed, should be blessed.

You shed your blood that my sins might be cleansed away.

You were given vinegar to drink that I might eat and drink at the feast in your kingdom.

You died, you who are the life of all--in order to revive me, the dead.

You were laid in the tomb that I might rise from the tomb.

You were brought to life again that I might believe in my resurrection."

--St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

I always find it amazing that throughout the New Testament, when the word "crucified" or "slain" is used of Jesus Christ, it almost always in the present perfect tense in the Greek. In other words, "the Lamb who was slain"  (Revelation 5:12) is a perpetual descriptive characteristic of the Son of God. Paul could say to the Galatians that "Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified" [present perfect] (3:1). It wasn't just a one-time thing; it is who He is for all of eternity!

When John is taken up to heaven while being shown the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the first representation of Christ that he sees is "a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain [present perfect--indicating a continuous state], standing in the centre of the throne" (5:6). And the praise that is being offered up by the heavenly beings is not because "You have taken dominion over the earth" or "You have judged all the wicked" or even "You have risen and ascended." No, the heavenly accolades centre on one all-important aspect of Christ's work: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9).

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and power!"

I've been a little out of touch in blog land due to some guests from America who shall remain nameless (due to the fact that one of my UK so-called "friends" has accused me of name dropping on other blogs.   What can I say, these were extremely famous, or infamous, people!). Anyway, I've been wanting to write about a trip my family took to a rather unusual Shakespeare production, so here goes.

I should start by saying that we are fairly faithful Charlotte Mason disciples, and because of that our children have been going to full-scale Shakespeare plays since they were about four years old. My own composition and literature advisor at university (Cultural explanation #1: In the UK, there is a definite distinction between college and university. College is more of a prep for university, or it is a vocational school of some kind, so anybody who has a degree like a B.A. or B.S. will clarify that they have been to university, rather than lumping them all together, as is done with places like Boston University or Boston College. The Australians tend to stick with "uni", but the Brits like to go for the full "university"--more prestigious I guess.) had his Ph.D. in Shakespeare, and through a semester course of "Studies in Shakespeare" plus numerous talks in his book-cluttered office, I developed a love for the British bard as a superb writer and as a man who used sublime language and expression to communicate powerful messages. Because of this, I was anxious for my children to see "Macbeth".

Before going, my wife had read through the story with them in Charles & Mary Lamb's classic work "Tales from Shakespeare". I had talked through the various themes that run through the play--temptation, selfish ambition, giving oneself over to evil, and the destructive power of a guilty conscience, etc. I was excited to see how they would respond.

We knew that the play was intentionally geared for children, but I hadn't really given it much thought. Man, I wish I had given it much thought! The plays started, and the three wierd sisters came out, and began a SONG AND DANCE NUMBER! It was like the Dixie Chicks having a really bad hair day. I know a lot of people aren't very comfortable with the three wierd sisters (or witches), but they make the evil side of temptation very real. At least normally they do, but in this production, they were dancing all over the stage. They message of the text was lost completely. I couldn't believe it. The rest of the play followed suit. Shakespeare's classic dialogue was thrown out the window and replaced by numerous poor show tunes somehow telling the (so they said) story of Macbeth. Disbelief was quickly followed by disappointment as it dawned on me what we were in for during the next two hours.

Then, to take it to another level entirely, about 30 minutes into the first half, a guy claiming to be Macbeth's porter came out on to the stage and did about ten minutes of pantomime. (Cultural explanation #2: Pantomime is a rather unique form of theatre that I had never seen before I came to live in England. America has nothing remotely like it. It relies heavily on  knock-knock jokes, lots of yelling from the audience, visually silly humour, and large amounts of coarse behaviour.) The children in the audience, most of whom were from local schools, were loving it. I glanced over at my kids, and they were not enjoying it. (Great relief on my and my wife's part!) At about this point, my nine year old daughter leaned over to me and said, "Dad, this is going to turn our brains to mush."

We made it through the hour-long second half, with more singing and even less actual Shakespearian dialogue. Had we not been there with a group of other homeschoolers, one of whom had kindly made the effort to get the tickets for us all, our family probably would have left at the intermission break. I left thinking that all those children had spent an afternoon thinking they had seen Shakespeare, but in actual fact they had seen hardly any Shakespeare at all. Out of two hours, I think there was maybe 30 minutes of dialogue, the rest of the time was filled with songs. One of the other homeschool mums leaned over and said to me, "West Side Story is based on Romeo and Juliet, but nobody presumes to call it Shakespeare." I thought it was an appropriate observation.

I left with a few thoughts running through my mind. First of all, I was saddened at the level of dumbing down that is occurring in every area of education and society. I realise I'm preaching to the choir, but it was a rather emphatic example of just how far things have slipped.

On the positive side, I was glad that my kids had really not liked it. Two of Charlotte Mason's principles bounced around in my mind as we drove home: 1. Expect a lot from children and they'll give a lot. We often don't stretch them as much as we should. They are capable of taking in much more than they are given in many circumstances. 2. She always talks about letting the child's education develop naturally. Don't make the associations for them, but let them develop the ability to make appropriate connections and to become discerning learners on their own. The fact that my own 9 and 11 year old had been discerning about the play gave me cause for great encouragement.

Whether it be through Charlotte Mason's principles of learning (highly recommended) or however we may choose to teach our children, we are to educate them to be discerning lovers of the good and the laudable, not to be content with simple mindless dumbed down "twaddle". And if we're going to give them "twaddle", please let's not call it Shakespeare!

"The supreme end of education is expert discernment in all things--the power to tell the good from the bad, the genuine from the counterfeit, and to prefer the good and the genuine to the bad and the counterfeit."-- Samuel Johnson 

Okay, I've been tagged for the first time by debdillon. I just hope I do this right. Here goes.

1. How many Bibles are in your home?

I would guess between 25-30.

2. What rooms are they in?

Every room in the house except the bathroom and kitchen. Most are in my office.

3. What translations do you have?

New International Version, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version (Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible), Newberry Bible, Darby Translation, The Message, New English Bible, Chronological Narrated Bible, Moffatt Translation, Young's Literal Translation, Septuagint (Greek OT), Spurrell's Translation of the OT, Greek NT, JB Phillips NT, Williams NT, Weymouth NT, Rotherham NT, Polish translation, Chichewa translation

4. Do you have a preference?

Lately I'm using the New Revised Standard, but I work out of the NIV most of the time because so many of the people we work with do not use English as their first language. It is fairly easy to understand, so it works well.

5. Nominate an interesting verse:

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."--2 Peter 1:3-4.

I don't know if "interesting" is the right word. "Astounding" works much better. This verse continually blows me away and urges me to set my sights of knowledge of Christ higher and higher. To actually participate in his nature seems beyond our comprehension, but I guess that reality is the ultimate pinnacle of the good news of the gospel.

I think I'm supposed to nominate people, so I'll nominate Jane, Jay, and Mark (because he could use some stuff to put on his new blog, and I want to get people visiting another UK dad's blog!). They, of course, can ignore the nomination if they want to. I know everybody is busy. I hope I did this correctly.