I realize I'm preaching to the choir here, but I just wanted to write this down.  I really need to start writing again.

It amazes me how many undisciplined children we have in church.  I just started helping with AWANA first and second graders, and it's like a zoo!  On any given night, you'll see a kid trying to climb out a window, another who can't stop bullying, and many more who just can't seem to keep quiet.  What do these childrens' parents teach them??

Nothing.  They expect the schools to do it all.

In the short span of three weeks, I have had to disciplined 3 boys, firmly but with no physicality, because I'm not their mom.  All I do is tell them that what they're doing is not good behavior, and then I have them sit on the floor next to me.  How hard is that?

And what have I gotten in return?  RESPECT.  Each one of these boys now comes up to me during church and gives me a hug and wants to tell me about something that is exciting to them. 

Moms and dads--please--discipline your children!  They won't hate you for it, they'll LOVE you.

Boy, oh, boy.

Right now I'm simply ashamed to live in Arizona.  This issue has been brewing down here for a while, but now the national media has picked up on it, and it's just a shame that now this is what some people will think of when they think of our great state.

Go to this website to read the whole story of our new disgraceful memorial "honoring" the victims and sacrifices of 9-11.

I just don't have the words. 

I just found the coolest website.

Whenever you look at your caller id and you see a number you don't recognize, especially a toll-free number, you can look it up on this website to see if it's worth your time, or if you should add it to your block list.

One word of caution, there is some cussword name-calling, so don't tell your kids to use this site for research.

Have you ever had so much to do, you stopped trying to get anything done?  Well, that's what I had been doing.  I got way behind on my housework, my kids' schooling, yard work, etc. to the point that I just gave up trying to get anything done.  It wasn't pretty. 

I knew I had to quit all the frivilous stuff.  I quit watching most of the TV I was watching.  I quit all my computer time except to keep up on e-mail.  I dug in on the house, it's clean now, manageable and presentable--even for surprise guests.  I'm almost done with the organization of my boys' rooms.  You should see the pile of stuff going to Goodwill!  Selfishly I think maybe we should have a yard sale, but we're so far out of town, we'd have to use someone else's house who lives in town, so I can't decide.

We started 8th grade and "official" preschool lessons at home this year.  On top of academics, we are now attending swimming twice a month, Tae Kwan Do once a week, Church & Sunday School, Sunday evening prayer service, AWANA every week, youth Bible study twice a month, Adult Bible study once a week, assorted field trips, library trips, church events, etc., and we usually end up spending one weekend per month camping or something.

Whew!!  You can see where I was having scheduling problems.  I was doing so much 'other' stuff, I didn't make any time for all the regular household chores.  And, amidst all the turmoil, we had 11 houseguests, and I had 6 old fillings replaced, and a root canal.  What fun that was.

As if that weren't enough, I also started a business.  I am now a Discovery Toys Consultant, and I'm trying to book 4 parties each month.  More to schedule. 

My decision to tell you about real life info in the blogosphere is a risk, but I'm going to do it anyway.  I like and trust the people I have met here.  If any wackos out there (strangers, not my friends from homeschoolblogger) try to use this information to try and find my family in the real world, well, let's just say we are extremely well protected.  I say this because I decided not to restrict who can read my blog, because I have a couple of good friends who don't belong to hsb, but visis my blog once in a while.

So, here I am, open to all:  you can visit my Discovery Toys page HERE to read more about the business and browse the catalog.  I'll just say that it is an awesome business for busy parents, and especially suited to the homeschool lifestyle.  I don't intend to make this blog a business blog.  I am toying (hehe-pun intended!) with the idea of doing a seperate blog for my business, we'll see what happens.

So, that's it in a nut shell.  I have found some time to write, but I'm not going to be visiting as many blogs and surfing aimlessly as I once did.  I find that since I have stayed away for a while, it's not so tempting to spend an entire afternoon on the computer.  I just jump on, do what I need to, and then jump right back off.   It also helps that the phone company has fixed the internet problem in my neighborhood, so I don't get cut off every 3 minutes, and pages load up completely now.

My name is Lisa, and I'm  a recovering time-waster.  Now if I can only become a health nut in place of that, I'll be all set.

Ugh!!

How in the world did we ever get so dependent on the internet?  And so quickly! 

You would think the world had ended, because I can't log on.  We've had major storms in our area in the last week, more rain than we have seen in almost 25 years, and there are phone company problems galore.  It has made my DSL seem like I'm using a 14k modem.  It takes me about 2 hours to read through 10 or 12 e-mail messages.  It's got me really cranky, I can't post for fear of the thing getting lost in cyberspace, or taking 30 minutes to load up.  I've got to wonder to myself, is it worth it? 

I'm re-thinking my priorities right now, wondering just what the worth of blogging is.  No digs toward anyone who loves to spend time doing it, I'm just in this spot right now.  Contemplating. 

I'm starting a new business and it's taking a lot of my time.  I'm also getting really into reading the classics with Jessica and the group, and we're starting a brand new year homeschooling.  8th grade.  I can hardly believe that. 

I'm thinking I'll keep reading the blogs I really enjoy reading, and maybe blog here about once a week, to get those really important rants out of my system.

What are your thoughts on the matter?  How do you fit it all in? 

I have always liked our pastor.  We’ve felt comfortable in our new church since the very first day we visited.  The pastor is a solid Bible teacher, he doesn’t add anything, and doesn’t remove anything, he just teaches straight from God’s Word, gives us historical references, Hebrew and Greek word definitions, etc.  All as it should be.  The pastor and his wife are homeschoolers--another plus in my book! 

Now, we have yet another reason to admire his teaching style.  He has always wanted to promote small groups at the church, but struggled as to how to implement it without making people feel like they had “yet another book to study, more homework to do, blah, blah, blah” (people can be so lazy, can’t they?).  So, the pastor decided to start a classical style bible fellowship. 

Here’s how it goes:  On Sunday, the pastor teaches his message.  Let’s say it’s from Luke, chapter 11, verses 1-13.  We are expected to take notes, and encouraged to underline, highlight, and write in our Bibles.  On Monday evening, small groups of 3-4 couples will get together to discuss the passage, the pastor’s message, the notes we took, lessons learned, etc. 

Now, this is not meant to be a touchy-feely, “what does this passage mean to you” type discussion.  Those discussions tend to drift away from Bible Truth very quickly and gravitate toward what’s comfortable and easy for people, and they don’t lead to any meaningful type of growth.  In fact, I have personally witnessed a person falling into 'race supremacy' thought when one tries to interpret the Bible alone.  But that's another story. 

These discussions are meant to be between very mature Christians (mentors) and less mature Christians, for the spiritual growth of all.  If things drift off toward feelings or amateur interpretation, things can quickly be brought back to task by the leading couple. 

We are currently being taught along with 11 other couples to become small group leaders.   I’m already thinking about introducing The Well Educated Mind principles to the group.  In fact, I just stepped away to pour another cup of coffee, and had a brainstorm—I will write a brochure entitled Reading Your Bible Classically:  How To Get The Most From The Word.  It will be based on my notes taken from The Well Educated Mind, and How To Read A Book. 

Tell me your thoughts.

I always knew that the Netherlands was a liberal Mecca, but this latest event wins the prize. I'm sorry to say it, but they are now reaping what they have sown over the last 30 years.

This article is from the Center for Arizona Policy, written by Cathy Herrod:

Dutch Court Approves Pedophile Party

 

Yesterday a court in the Netherlands gave the go-ahead for pedophiles to create their own political party. The Brotherly Love, Freedom, and Diversity Party aims to lower the age of consent for sexual relations from age 16 to age 12, and to legalize both bestiality and child pornography. Even the Dutch people, who live in perhaps the most socially liberal country on earth, are shocked, and an astounding 82 percent of the people object to the existence of the party. But their resistance to this begs the question, “Just where do you draw the line?” The Netherlands has tolerated casual drug use for at least 30 years, has grown comfortable with both physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia over the past twenty years, and has lived with same-sex marriage look-alikes for the past five years.

 

What is the lesson for us? When a nation starts to give ground on any moral issues, it quickly gives up the right to object to anything. The Dutch should not be surprised at what is happening in their country, but there is still time to keep this moral drift from taking place in Arizona and in the United States. Now, more than ever, is the time to fight for marriage, family and the sanctity of life.

 

I can't believe they are shocked.  They thought they could have their cake and eat it too, I suppose.  Well, surprise!  It doesn't work that way.

This sort of thing happens all the time here in the US on the parenting front: parents give in and say, "Okay, you can drink, but only at home, and you can have parties here with your friends." where does it end?  Teens will push the boundaries, go partying elsewhere, try illegal drugs, experiment sexually, join a gang, maybe be arrested, go to jail, or worse, kill others or be killed, and then those parents sit back and wonder what went wrong...

I guess all we can do is pray that God will cause them to finally see the light.