Posted in Parenting in the School Room

Well it is Monday one week after I began our behavior log. I have to say that I didn't keep up with it like I wanted to but I was however very much aware of all of our behaviors and took many more mental notes than ink. The last couple of night I have reflected over the logs and over the weeks behavior from all of us and found the many verses that I felt the Lord leading me to collect for my family. I am very excited about starting this memorization journey, I really feel that it is vital to our spiritual growth. If we starve it from the word we are not nurishing it as the Lord instructs us to. I have a lot more to say about memorization but for now I must start breakfast!! Have a great day!!

JOYfully in Him, Kelli

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

Today and all of this week I am going to be logging not only my children's behavior but also my own behavior. I think I saw this idea on Raising Godly Tomatoes or maybe on someone's blog but I can not remember.  I am doing this for two reasons:

1. To evaluate my own reactions to the behaviors of the people in my family and the situations that occur in order to get a better grasp on the attitudes and behaviors that are not pleasing in God's eyes and that are distructive to those around me.

2. To evaluate my children's behavior as well and put them into better perspective and enable me to see where the sin is in their hearts in attempts to better address them in the will of God.

Our behavior is the irritating way that our sin brings attention to itself. In both of these reasons the ultimate goal is to glorify God through finding the area's of sin that are plagueing our daily lives and get them under better control by treasuring or storing His word in our hearts. By evaluating our behaviors I hope to find the appropriate scriptures to arm ourselves with in order to fight off the evil one. (Eph. 6:13-18) His words will guide us in His righteousness each day they are a lamp unto our feet! (Psalm 119:105-106) I made a page to help me do this here is what it looks like if you are interested:

  Our Behavior Log

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

Person's Behavior/Situation                                    My Reaction                                   The Attitude

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JOYfully in Him,
Kelli

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

It occured to my husband and I last night that Superman may be a victim of Night Terrors. Since he was about 3 years old I can remember episodes at night where he would wake up screaming and would be sweating terribly but I just passed them off as night-mares. They eventually went from him screaming to him just jolting up in his sleep whimpering and whining and then back to sleep he went. I have walked in many times at night frightened at the sight of him sitting straight up in his bed. Being a parent I have always tried to consol him by trying to get him to talk to me about what was scaring him but I never would get a reply from him and he would always just go right back to sleep and then in the morning nothing was mentioned about the episode. I don't know how I have missed this diagnoses. Last night while I was trying to get T-Rex to go to sleep I experienced another one of Supermans episodes. He began wimpering and then he picked his head up off the pillow with his eyes wide open terrifyingly repeating something about letting him go or something. This breaks my heart to know that he is going through this and there is very little that I can do about it, I am thankful that they are not extreme where he is dangerously living out his terrors by running around possibly hurting himself. I saw an episode of a little boy who experienced these Night Terrors. The only possible helps for this is to keep them on a good sleep schedule, wake them before they occur and possibly taking them to the bathroom when they are experiencing them?

If you are interested in knowing more about Night Terrors go here or search it on the web.

JOYfully in Him,

Kelli

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

We were surprised yesterday while eating lunch by Superman exclaiming that his tooth hurt. I told him to come closer so I could take a look at it and found his front bottom tooth wiggley with another tooth coming in right behind it.  He became very concerned when we told him what was happening and a friend of ours announced the mythical creature that I hadn't even thought of, the Tooth Fairy. Here in our house we decided after much very deep thought and many conversations that Santa Clause would not be apart of our home, many people are extremely disgusted by this decision and just can not seem to understand why we don't allow him in. Truthfully we do let him in but he is know as St. Nicholas and we allow our children to get to know the real story behind SC but that is last month :0) we have now moved on to another amusing deception called the Tooth Fairy. At first thought I don't see what the harm would be in allowing him to believe in this little magical creature until I hear the word believe and then my mind goes immediately to the concept of lying to my children. I love fairies, I enjoy the thought of them very much along with dragons and other mythical imagnative creatures but I know that they do not really exist. As the parent of my children I can not justify decieving them into believing in something that does not truly exist, I am already asking them to believe in something that is truly real that they can not see. Trying to justify a lie because it is just fun or everyone does it is not enough to convince me to go against  God's word: Psalm 52:3   You love evil more than good,and lying more than speaking what is right. Proverbs 31:26  She opens her mouth with wisdom,and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. Proverbs 12:22  Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,but those who act faithfully are his delight. I wish to instill in my children that they can fully trust me to always tell them the truth in every case. There will come the day when they will find out whether I was being truthful or being decietful and I don't see that in anyway can me being deceitful have anything but a negative effect on them whether it be for just a moment in time or a longer period I never want to experience the dissapointment and let down that I have directly caused them just because it was fun for a little while.

Instead of the tooth fairy around here we will just have a little parental magic.....he is still going to put his tooth when it falls out under his pillow and then in the morning there will be a special surprise in its place........he is still very much excited about this idea. I know that if we told him of the TF he would tell us that they are not real anyway and I am definetly not going to try to convince him of a lie.  I don't see anything wrong with allowing him if he wants to entertain the thought of the mythical so long as he knows the truth which is kind of what he did this Christmas with SC.

JOYfully in Him,

Kelli

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

Have you noticed more than a hint of anger creeping into your parenting style? Do you parent more with your vocal chords than you do with your heart? Are the typical frustrations, annoyances, and irritations associated with parenting beginning to get you down? Are you feeling like you need a two week vacation from your children? If your answer to any of these questions is "yes," you may need the gift of grace-full parenting.

Grace-full parenting is parenting that comes from the heart. It holds children in a state of grace, even as they are held accountable for their behaviors. It communicates love and caring while simultaneously implementing necessary discipline strategies.

Described below are 12 strategies for infusing grace into your parenting style. Consider using them to become an increasingly grace-full parent. (Read the rest of this article by clicking HERE, you may not agree with all of it but it is good thoughts to chew on)

Is there ever such a thing as too much love? Well the next question is what is love? I am talking about in raising our children of course. One of the best things about being a woman and having many women friends is we get to TALK alot about things, and one of them is love and discipline of our children. I am always intrigued to learn about how people go about this with their kids. It can be a touchy subject. It can also be very insightful, but the best is to be able to observe what others do. (To gain insight from Trina's Love is Discipline and Discipline is Love post click HERE, you will be inspired to add a little more Love to your Discipline)

A good site with good articles can be found at:

The Patriarchs Path

Credenda Agenda (Childrearing) by Douglas Wilson

Ladies Against Feminism, Teach Your Children Well

A Christian Home, Parenting and Motherhood

A few good books that I have enjoyed emensly on the subject of Childrearing:

Don't Make me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman

Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp

Praise Her in the Gates by Nancy Wilson

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

What a gorgeous day today has been! Today seemed like one of those perfect days that I want to hold onto for as long as possible. This morning we all, Superman, T-rex and I that is, cleaned the majority of the house with no complaints. First Superman and I went through his Things To do chart:

I debated on whether Pray should be on there or not but after much thought I found it a good way to instill the habit of prayer and the necessity to do it first thing each morning. After we finished going through the chart I started my in depth cleaning while they played outside. I had to make them play outside!! I told my oldest son that if he didn't go play outside he would have to help me clean up.......he ran for the grass :0). I don't know why somedays they don't want to play out there. It was so beautiful I couldn't allow them to miss it. After I finished up it was time for class. I went outside to go get them and was faced with the guilt of now making them come inside out of the beautiful weather I made them go out in so I went in my room and got out our outside blanket to brought class to them. It was so refreshing, I totally recomend it! 

The mosquitos decided they would join us unenvited and ironically they are what we studied about in our Nature Reader! While Superman and I had our class on the blanket T-Rex had his own class inspecting the exhaust pipe on our Honda!

It was a wonderful morning. We are all now getting ready to go venture through a Pumpkin Patch!! I am so excited and I am bringing my camera so I will have many pictures to show off!

JOYfully in Him,

Kelli

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

Points 19-20 Chapter 2

Do not let them have their own wrongheaded way when they cannot speak yet, because it is on account of the corruption and evil that works in them that they want to have their own way.

When children begin to speak, even though it is but stammering, teach them a few good words that they can use in part by means of gestures and by garbled speech.

These two points were good reminders for me and encouraging for me in training my T-Rex. For 2 weeks we have been keeping a really tight leash on his temper. If something didn't go exactly his way, his wrongheaded way, he would throw himself on the floor and roll around screaming. I was not sure as to what to do with him so I basically did nothing. I tried some spankings, time outs, and resorted to the ungodly yelling. I was not consistent thankfully for the last one and after reading this I realized I couldn't allow these fits of rage to continue anymore and was immediatly reminded of Proverbs 29:15 The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother and 17 Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul. I am commanded as his mother to discipline him. In verse 11 it says: A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control. Can I allow my son to grow up living as a fool? Allowing him to give full vent to his anger? Or should I train him to be a wise man? Keeping himself under control....a fruit of the Spirit?

I remembered a site that I have visited many times before for advice on training my chidlren and so I went there for some Godly advice as to what to do. Here is what I learned from Elizabeth at Raising Godly Tomatoes:

I do not allow him throw a fit, I am constantly watching him and am ready to chase him when he runs out of control, ready to catch his fall. I make him stand up and repeat to him to "stop it" with a few little spanks to remind him that I mean business and then I outlast him until he obeys me. When he finally does I have him give me a little hug. Fifteen minutes was the longest that one of those lasted.

When teaching them a few good words I ran into two 40 minute battles! Both of them were in the cases of trying to get him to tell Momma "please" or "yes, mam" I was amazed at his hard core stubborness! It has been 2 weeks and today anytime I asked him to say "yes, mam" or "please" he didn't hesitate and he even says them volentarily at times. Maybe these don't seem like a big deal right now...........to have him say "yes mam" and "please" but if I had not corrected him when he defiantly disobeyed me when I said to say them then in the later years I would be dealing with a defiant "No" to my commands. Take hold of you little ones right now in their little years because when they get older it will be harder. Each year they get older, bigger, and they gain more independence and if we wait to late we will be in deep regret for the loss of their souls and the pain of watching their miserable lives. Hebrews 12:11 says For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Amen!

I know that disciplining your children is hard and you don't look forward to it but remember that the fruit of your efforts for the Lord will begin to show through in due time. Find your peace and comfort in the promise of God....He is faithful.

JOYfully in Him,

kelli

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

Point 18, Chapter 2

Let their hands be folded and let them for a short while be very quiet when something is being prayed for so that at a very early age, before they themselves begin to pray, a quiet reverence may be instilled in them with respect to prayer.

I love the little image I get when I read this sentence. It was at first the picture you often see of the praying little boy beside his bed, but now it is the image of my T-Rex during any prayers that we are dwelling in. He is only 2 but has been doing this for awhile. When we pray he holds my hand and his brothers hand and looks around at everyone for a moment and then bows his little head and closes his eyes real tight for a few seconds then he looks around again to see if everyones eyes are still closed and then he closes his again real tight. Sometimes he will do this the whole time, other times he will just watch us patiently and quietly. At first when he was real little he was not included in our prayer time we just let him roam while we prayed but something about that began to bother me, for one I did not give him enough credit to beable to sit with us while we prayed. It was a difficult process when we did decide to include him but one that was well worth it, now he climbs in mommas lap and embraces the time of prayer and for a little while has a quiet act of reverence. The other day while we were outside after a church volley ball game we all gathered in a circle to pray, well my little T-rex happen to be in the middle and I was curious as to what he would do, would he run away and play on the playground behind us, would he throw a famous T-rex fit, or would he close his little eyes and try to pray with us, well he did the latter and it was a very special moment for me as a mother.

I encourage you mothers of little ones beginning at age 0 to include them in your prayer time. You might think that they will think of it as punishment if you "make" them sit there with you while you are praying but I belive that to be a decieving thought. They will, like mine, learn to love it and cherish it. Prayer needs to be set in our childrens minds as something sacred and something vital. They need to not only see us from a distance in prayer but they need to be apart of that prayer. Do not let them cherish their toys and playing over prayer, teach them at an early age that they will not find their true satisfaction and joy there but only in the the Lord.

JOYfully in Him,

Kelli

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

"Imagine what a great joy it will be for you to note in your children sure indications and signs that they will live above in everlasting blessedness and that you will see and meet them there before God's throne. " *

"On the other hand, what a constant and acutely painful source of grief it will be to see your children display no signs for good, namely, that they love the Lord or are loved by Him! How utterly wounded you will feel and tormented to the point of death(if your eyes have been opened to see the misery of the unconverted) to observe in your children the signs that, being eternally ****ed, they will lie amid demons and be cast out from God's presence."*

Do you hear the reality of your calling as your childrens mother in those two statements above? I am always given a reality check of the severity of my calling as my childrens mother, I can not help it. I think that it is rather easy at times to loose sight of our ministry to our children to the true calling of motherhood. It is to train them up in His righteousness so that they can be a light for the gospel and so that they may have everlasting life in heaven with our Lord. That is the deep profound duty we have as mothers and fathers. Each day we are given opportunities to display Christ to our children through our actions, to point them to Christ, to help them to understand their sin, to guide them to make the right decisions; decisions that glorify God, to show them the need for prayer, to............well you get the point. If we keep this perspective of childrearing, of training them up in His righteousness then we wil have better control of our selves through out the day. It is not just about having well behaved children, children who don't embarass you in the grocery store, or that you have to yell at to get their attention. This is not the point nor should it be our number 1 focus when disciplining. We have a high, holy and crucial calling of being the parents of our God given children.

The Lord has really put child rearing on my heart and He has lead me to this book by Jacobus Koelman and Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Trip. I have read over half of The Duties of Parents and all of Shepherding a Child's Heart but have not really soaked up what they had to say and instead just read them and then put them down. Here is a list of things that I look to do in order to put my hearts desires into action:

1. I need to make a Training them up in His righteousness Chart

2. I need to be in constant prayer for my children (constant meaning habitual, set up a time each day and pray deep heartfelt biblical prayers for them)

3. Make a list of verses for my oldest to memorize and for myself

4. Make a set of rules for me

5. Set up a training time each day for each child and the areas they both need to be trained in

6. I need to grab them and pray for them each day

There are more but these are what I am working on now, later I will share the others.I have so many thoughts on this that I would like to share and get your thoughts on. Today I will leave you with this thought from Koelman:

"Do not neglect the work you have to do for their souls in this process, nor be careless in doing it. Take the greatest care, and be utterly diligent to teach them the basic doctrines of the truth and of godliness."*

JOYfully in Him,

Kelli

*taken from The Duties of Parents by Jacobus Koelman

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

Home Sweet Home....where there is laundry to be done, dishes to wash, toys to put away, suitcases to unpack, cooking to start, training my boys and many other joyful duties. After a 71/2 hour trip from Galveston to Dallas I am sitting here looking at my home which is full of *stuff* that needs to be put away. Last night though on the way home we, husband and I, had a good talk about getting organized and disciplined in the area of training our children in the Lord's righteousness. This week is going to be dedicated to Superman and T-Rex  training boot camp. Well, the fact of the matter is we should always be training them even when we are on vacation. Because we slacked off or ignored their ungodly behavior now we are having to work double time. I have been reminded of the why I discipline my children, it is not because their behaviour in public is embarrassing or because the family over there have perfectly behaved children, but because the Lord first and formost commands us to. There is a severity in the consquences of us on parents if we do not obey the Lord's command in training them up in His righteousness. I feel as though I get stuck in the worlds view of discipline or rather their excuses of not disciplining such as: oh they are just tired, it is normal, it has been a long day, they are away from their home and in a strange envirement, it is just a stage, it is just the terrible twos, they will grow out of it, yada yada yada. Yes though these might all be true to some extent they are still all areas where we must not just allow their ungodly behaviour to continue but rather must discipline and instruct them away from for the sake of their souls. If we allow the folly to continue to dwell in their hearts then they will continue in its path that leads to distruction. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. Proverbs 5:23 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. Proverbs 22:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, but left to himself brings shame to his mother. Proverbs 29:15

I have been convicted by the Lords words this morning and He is using The Duties of Parents by Jacobus Koelman to open the eyes of my heart to the severity of my idleness in disciplining my children. I am starting it over and taking notes.

JOYfully in Him,

Kelli

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

Well, I missed my blogging time this morning so I didn't do my to dos and devotional.  We are having our Valentines today since hubby got home late last night.

Whenever Superman comes out of a sickness it is so hard getting him back into his routine of obedience and really just trying to make the right decisions.  It is always a huge step back for us when he gets sick. We have a lot of training to do with him this week and with our little T-rex as well. Being that he is only 18 months he is coming into the age of it is my way or I will scream and throw a huge tantrum on the floor. He has some big time training. I thouroughly enjoy a site called Raising Godly Tomatoes, it has helped me to understand how young you need to start with your little prone to disobey angels. Right now I am Tomato Staking and teaching First Time Obediance to T-rex well and Superman in some areas that I have let slide.

"What consistency really means is that every single time your child needs to be corrected, you get up and do it (and you stay there and keep doing it until the message gets across).  I remember talking on the phone one day, and telling the person on the other end of the line that I could hear my little daughter jumping on the couch in the other room, and that I "really should go stop her, but........"  Then it hit me.  Yes, that was it.  That's exactly what I needed to do.  I needed to stop talking on the phone and go correct my daughter.  And I needed to do the same thing every time she misbehaved.  Now that is consistency and that's what was lacking in my parenting." ~Elizabeth (Raising Godly Tomatoes)

I have so been lacking in the consistency area one of the vital areas of parenting.  It is an area in which I need to stop what I am doing and deal with the disobedience or simply a bad or wrong attitude while it is taking place no matter what I am in the middle of. It is hard it just takes a little self denial and discipline. Imagine that.....it takes discipline to discipline correctly.

Blessings,

~kelli

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:11

This verse spoke to me in my training and discipling my children. There are times that I desperately do not want to discipline my children but the Lord, if I am to discipline them in the instruction of the Lord, tells me to displine them in order to save them from their foolishness.

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
       but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.

Proverbs 22:15

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

Today I read an article by Nancy Wilson called Perfectly Domestic and it enlighted me to see that things don't always have to be perfect in a man defined way. God's definition of perfect in her article is soothing and comforting to me as a mother, wife, and manager of the home. God is perfect but He is not a perfectionist......Praise Him! It is a worthy article to take 5 minutes of your busy day to read, I promise!

Have a Blessed Day in the Lord, and rejoice in it!

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

Do you communicate with your children? Your 3 year old, 5 year old, or 10 year old? Not talk to them but with them. I have been pointed to my own lack of communication with my children. I have many opportunities everyday to talk with my children and yet I more often then not I seem to miss them or I instead of talking with them talk to them. Listening to our children is so important in their spiritual growth.

The finest art of communication is not learning how to express your thoughts. It is learning how to draw out the thoughts of another. Your objective in communication must be to understand your child, not simply to have your child understand you. Many parents never learn these skills. They never discover how to help their children articulate their thoughts and feelings.

There is a certain irony in all this. When children are little, we often fail to engage them in significant conversation.  When they try to engage us, we respond with uninterested "uh huh's." Eventually, they learn the ropes. They realize that we are not interested in what goes on in them. They learn that a "good talk" for us is a "good listen" for them. When they become teens, the tables turn. Parents wish they could engage their teens, but the teens have long since stopped trying.

Tedd Tripp has opened my eyes to communication and many other things in his book Shepherding a Child's Heart. I am amazed at the reverence for God in Tripp's words on disciplining my children . He constantly points my eyes to the cross of Christ and the Glory of God being my goal of my disciplining. I am not yet finished but I just can't put the book down! Off to read some more, Blessings in Christ!

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

I just started Sheperding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. I have only read the first 4 pages of it and already I am feeling deeply inspired and convicted to take a hard look at my parenting. Listen to what he has to say about parenting:

"When we miss the heart, we miss the gospel.  If the goal of parenting is no more profound than securing appropriate behavior, we will never help our children understand the internal things, the heart issues, that push and pull behavior.  Those internal issues: self-love, rebellion, anger, bitterness, envy, and pride of the heart show our children how profoundly they need grace.  Of the problem with children is deeper than inappropriate behavior, if the problem is the overflow of the heart, then the need for grace is established.  Jesus came to the earth, lived a perfect life and died as an infinite sacrifice so that children (and their parents) can be forgiven, transformed, liberated and empowered to love God and love others.

When we miss the heart we miss the glory of God.............We know that the greatest delights our children can every experience are found in delighting in the God who has made them for his glory."

These words of Tripps really dug deep in me as I read them tonight. I just wanted to share them with you.

Love in Christ

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

I went to JeniG's place today to read what everyone else is raving about and found an awesome reminder of how not to waste my days with my children. To not forget my priorities. I find myself most often than not tucking my children into to bed and reflection over their day from their point of view and I hurt when I see that for the most part the day was lonely and spent begging for attention. It really hurts me when I realize that I wasted not just my day but their day. I allowed my priorities to get mixed up and find that I have put my household duties above my children. This is not pleasing to the Lord, He sees me pushing my children aside for a pile of laundry or a sink full of dishes, when I should be pushing that pile of laundry and sink full of dishes aside instead. When are we mothers going to see that our children desire nothing more than to just be right there beside us even if it is cleaning the bathtub, wahing dishes, dancing, singing, playing action heros or cars.

I think stories like JeniG's is a good reminder and piercing for us as Gardeners, nurturers, mothers because we are with them almost 100% of the time or at least we can be. Lets really be "with" them and not just with them. These are precious moments that we are missing, that we are saying "pass" too. When we say "not now..." we are ultimately saying "I pass" on this precious moment, this pile of clothes is more important than you right now. Of course none of us think this outrightly but this is the message that they get. Let's next time we even think of saying that to our children smile and put that "pass" thought down and embrace the child standing beside us desiring just our time.

This is my desire. I thank JeniG for this encouraging and eye opening post.

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

Have you ever read something that just seem to peirce your heart and convict your soul. Today I visited Nancy Wilson's site Credenda and read an article that for me pierced and convicted. I so often forget that I have a lot of power in my house and that I am nourishing my children everyday with every action and word that I convey and speak to them. My children are more than little boys running around here they are little souls that need to be nutured and tended to constantly or their souls will begin to wither for lack of the nurishing they need. It is very good I encourage you to visit this link http://www.credenda.org//issues/17-3femina.php  and read this article I promise it will encourage you today. Read the verse at the very bottom of my page that is scrolling across and take joy in your pruning and in pruning your little ones as well. And the next time you are talking to, playing, training, or disciplining your little or big angels remeber that you are nuturing their souls and do it to the glory of our Father in heaven.

A  verse from this article that I enjoyed and am going to hide in my heart:

Psalm 144:12, "that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth."

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

What is the purpose of education? For our children to get good jobs when they grow up, to help children to learn to get a long with eachother, or an appreciation for adversity. I wonder what most parents anwser wound be. You would have to notice that the anwser for homeschoolers and public schoolers would be more than likey greatly different. Or at least it should be. 

First in order to anwser that question adequetly we should ask what is the definition of education?  Here are some synonyms for the word education:

apprenticeship, book learning,  civilization, coaching, direction, discipline, drilling, edification, enlightenment, guidance, improvement, inculcation, indoctrination, information, knowledge, learnedness, learning, literacy, nurture, pedagogy, preparation, reading, rearing, refinement, scholarship, schooling, science, study, teaching, training, tutoring.

The activities of educating or instructing or teaching; activities that impart knowledge or skill is the definition of education. Now the question is what is your main goal as the teacher, educater, instructer of your children? We are in control of the end result of our childrens education. In the end if our children become successful bussness men or women and yet have not God what have we taught them? In the end if our children are maybe not as successful but have God what have we given them? What a big difference. Of course we all want our children to be successful in this life but if they have not God then be assured that they will not be truly successful in this life nor the next.

Here are some quotes:

"Every line of true knowledge must find its completeness as it converges on God, just as every beam of daylight leads the eye to the son."  Robert Louis Dabney

"The end of learning is to repair the ruin of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love Him, to imitate Him, to be like Him." John Milton

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 11:18-19

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Epessians 6:4

My thoughts on education and the purpose of it could run forever for I feel so strongly that if God is not the main focus the center of which everything we teach revolves around then it in the end will have turned out pointless and we have failed as God's instructers, teachers, educaters................His Gardenars. Our instructions come from God on how to instruct and teach our children so in alll we do put God first, bring Him the glory, and don't forget the goal, the purpose of why you are educating your children at home.

Posted in Parenting in the School Room

As parents we need to realize that we are being watched by our children, every second of everyday, every move, every word, every look, in every situation. Our little sponge learning shadows follow us around constantly observing our every move. They will begin to imitate us even if we don't notice it, but watch them closely for a day, how they handly things and I bet you could point out things about them that seem all to familiar to you.

We all have someone we have come to imitate whether we have noticed it or want to notice it, it is inevitable when you are around someone for long periods of time. I know that for me I have realized reluctantly over the past few days that I have imitated a lot of my mother and grandmothers ways. Both of which were huge parts of my life. Do I like my imitations.........no and I am now having to try to replace those. These women were not neccessarily women I looked up to respectably in accordance to the word of God but all the same I became little them as the years progressed.

More than likely most of us have imitated things we have come now to dispise and are trying to replace, for now we have a new and perfect example that we are called to be an imitator of, Christ. As Christians we are called to imitate Christ, as parents we should be displaying His character to our children so that in 20 years or so they will not have to be faced with so much fine tuning on their character. To be translucent is a good word, I want to be translucent where Christ is seen directly through my every move in every situation. For me it is to late my ungodly imitations have set in, not to say that they can't be overcome, but just that they have become a part of me that I must now fix. Now for my children, ah hah! I can nip it in the bud!

So the question at hand is Who are we imitating to our children?