Have you ever been struck down by this savage malaise?  I'm working hard to try to overcome a bout with this horrid disease!

I noticed it when I started to hear my children whining and complaining more than normal, using words that were shockingly reflective of things that I know have come out of my mouth.  And I was convicted.  I knew from whence this deadly illness had come--it had begun with me!

I guess I'm not the only one who occasionally suffers with this dreaded illness--the Israelites sure had major problems with it during their 40-year journeys through the wilderness.  Unfortunately, the knowledge that I'm not alone in this isn't very comforting.

Once you're struck with this ailment, it's not always easy to get over, especially if it has taken a while to discover the diagnosis.  You become accustomed to complaining, and get into the habit of looking at everything through a negative lens.  I recognized it a short time ago, but have still found myself seeming to wallow hopelessly in the muck and mire of my own lousy attitude.  Yes, I really struggled this time to get out, even after I recognized the problem.

What is the treatment?  A good strong dose of Romans 12:1-2: allowing the Holy Spirit to renew one's mind. 

A daily tablet of Philippians 4:8 goes a long way to both curing the ill, as well as preventing any future recurrence:

"Finally, my brothers (and sisters), whatever is true, whatever is honest, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, and whatever is praiseworthy, think about such things."

I decided to take a healthy dose of the above, and, as I went out today to run errands, I began thanking God for the time, energy and money to do them.  I enjoyed meandering through a surprisingly quiet and empty grocery store, selecting from a beautifully wide array of fresh fruits and vegetables and really fresh fish.  I was so pleasantly surprised to find no queue at the checkout, and no queue at the taxi stand. I was so thankful for the helpful taxi driver who got out of the taxi to help me to unload my shopping cart into the trunk of his car, and I enjoyed admiring the beautiful formations of the clouds in the sky as I rode home.  I wished the taxi driver to have a lovely day as I paid him, and chatted with my helper and children as we put away the groceries together. 

I am thanking God even now for helping me to begin the journey back to a healthy view of life through Christ-colored lenses.  Hopefully, this marks the beginning of the road to recovery for me... Have any of you been suffering from "stinkin' thinkin'" lately??

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I have been quite busy lately, but I must stop and count my blessings...

1. Over 300 salvations, and even more recommitments and rededications to Christ over the Good Friday/Easter weekend at our church, among our English adult and children's services!  What a party the angels must be having in heaven right now!

2. I was nominated  for the best geographical blog over at the homeschool blog awards.  (Thanks, TC, for your nomination!  What an encouragement!)  There are a lot of wonderful blogs out there, and I am thankful to be one of them, and even more thankful for the wonderful words of wisdom and encouragement, and the hands and hearts of friendship that have reached out to me from around the globe through the blogosphere.  If you haven't gotten around to voting yet, get over  to www.homeschoolblogawards.com and do it quick.  Voting closes in a few short days.  You never know what kind of encouragement you may be giving to someone!

 3. I'm so thankful for the blessing of my homebuilders' cell.  This bunch of ladies welcomed me just a few short weeks ago into their group, with a bit of fear and trepidation, with me being a pastor's wife.  But, once they realized that I'm just as human and vulnerable as they seem to feel they are, they have opened their hearts and lives to me.  Four out of the 7 ladies present today are married to pre-believing husbands.  As I listen to their struggles and heartaches, I am so thankful for the faith I share with my husband, and my heart breaks for their painful situations, even as I admire their strength, courage and faith in the midst of challenging circumstances.

4. I'm grateful for the blessing of my children.  I don't know how the conversation started, but over dinner the children were asking me to share with them the stories of their births.  They never tire of hearing about the day they were born.  As wave after wave of precious memories swept over me, tender memories of their baby days, I am grateful for this blessing of family.

5. I cannot even begin to express my gratitude for my precious Savior and friend, Jesus Christ, who came to earth and lived a life to show me what life can be, then died for my sins and yours, and rose again to defeat death with an unquestionable and resounding triumph that still resonates through the ages some two thousand years later.

Well, these are just a few of the countless blessings I'm thinking on today.  Take a moment and count a few of your blessings too.  You will be sure to feel much better after you do!

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We have been hosting friends from England in town this weekend.  It has been a delightful time of catching up with old friends, and reminiscing over the two years we lived in England. 

One of the things I miss is the land.  We lived on a 35-acre estate that had a lovely river bubbling through it, fields of bunnies, and seasons of flowers blooming one after the other.  We no sooner finished the crocuses than the daffodils were in full force.  Later there were lilacs, bluebells, and roses, just to name a few.  We enjoyed picnics, flying kites, nature walks and ball games.

I must admit that we tend to hide indoors a bit more here in hot, humid, tropical Singapore.  While the weather is a LOT more sunny than it was in gray, rainy England, the tropical sun burns my skin easily, and we get uncomfortable a lot more easily with the high humidity and heat.

Here are a couple of my favorite photos from our lovely days in England...

This is one of only two snowfalls we had the whole two years we lived in Surrey.  That's the main house of the estate where we lived behind the children.

During our first year in England, we took a 10 day road trip through the lake district and up into Scotland, where we stayed in a lovely little cottage on the grounds of a castle in Inverness, near the famous Loch Ness.  This was on the grounds of the guest house we stayed at in the lake district.  It was springtime, and everything was so green!

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Recently, I've been really busy.  If you stop by this blog regularly, you've probably noticed that my entries have been a bit sparse lately.

I was sharing with a friend today about my busy schedule, and she shared a few great nuggets of wisdom, so I thought I'd pass them on to you.

There needs to be a balance between what fills us and what drains us.  Some activities fill us up, spiritually, emotionally, or even physically, while other activities drain us.  For example, I'm an introvert, and my husband is an extrovert, so what fills me up may be different that what fills him up.  Take cell, for example.  My husband's role as a congregational pastor requires him to visit the various cells within our congregation.  Now, for him, being an extrovert, meeting up with new people every week and getting to know them a little bit better is great!  He comes away from a meeting like that energized and excited. 

Now, me, on the other hand, I am an introvert.  I draw my energy from time alone.  Going to visit a different cell every week, and walking into a room full of new people that I don't know, and enduring a whole evening of meeting new people, answering questions about myself, and chit-chatting with others--well, let's just say that to me that is sheer torture!  It is extremely draining on me.  I am energized by an afternoon alone in the quiet of my room, reading, surfing the internet, listening to music or a good teaching podcast.  That makes me come alive!

In order to run at my best in this busy time, I need to make sure that I can balance those activities that drain me with those activities that fill my tank.  If I'm doing more draining things than filling up activities, I'm headed for burn-out or breakdown.  Likewise, if I'm heavy on filling up activities, and am not giving out somewhere, I'm also in danger of physical, emotional, or spiritual obesity, which has its own set of problems and is just as unhealthy as overdoing it on the draining activities.

Makes sense, huh?  The key is balance.  So, I need to examine my life and schedule and see what activities are filling and which ones are draining.  Am I balanced, or am I getting too full or too empty?  That's where I'm at right now--the examining stage. 

Lord, teach me to live in balance.  Help me to make time in my schedule to fill my tank.  Then, help me to give all that you have blessed me with to bless others.

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Being a blessing to all the peoples of the world.  Sound familiar?  It comes from Genesis, God's covenant with Abraham, when God promised Abraham that He would make his descendants as numerous as the sand on the seashore.  God also promised Abraham that his descendants would be a blessing to all nations.  What does all this have to do with me?  As believers, we are all spiritual children of Abraham.

We are undertaking the Old Testament Challenge right now in our church.  By the end of this study, which will take us most of this year, we will have read through the entire Old Testament, listened to weekly sermons on it, and discussed it in our small groups.

Today, as my homebuilders' small group met, our leader asked us to think of a personal application for this.  How can we be a blessing to all the peoples of the world?  And the Lord just dropped a word in my heart for us, homebuilders, or homemakers.  We can be a blessing to all the peoples of the world by raising our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

Sometimes, as stay-at-home moms, we are made to feel inferior, that we almost have to apologize for what we do.  But, we have such an important purpose: raising our kids.  As we teach our children godly values in a sin-sick world, we are preparing them to make a difference, each in his or her own little corner of the world.  And, who knows what our children may become?  One of us may be raising a future President of the United States, or a future evangelist like Billy Graham, or a future judge or senator.  We may be raising a missionary or pastor who will lead thousands to Christ, or who will be involved in the start of a great revival that will sweep across the world.

We do not know what our children may one day become.  We do not know what our children may do one day.  But we have them today, to love, to influence, to nurture.  And as we, raise thse children, one by one, all over the world, to be Kingdom people, they, in turn, can rise up and become a mighty army of influence in our world.

Sometimes, it's hard to see the big picture because of all the little puzzle pieces.  Don't lose sight of it!  We have a powerful part to play in the Kingdom of God.  Already, our children are having an influence in their own little corner of the world, as they think, speak, and act in a way that brings glory to God as they interact with their peers.  And God has chosen us, Moms, to play this vital role.  We have the privilege of being a part of God's plans and purposes in this very unique and special way!

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We've just returned from a short stay in the historic seaside town of Malacca in West Malaysia.  I love Malacca!  I love the distinctive red historic buildings.  I love the quiet, sleepy town (at least compared to Singapore) with its rich history and culture!  Malacca was originally home to a large group of the Straits Chinese, or Paranakan people.  It later became a Dutch and Portugese colony.  Still later, the British took it over.

While we were there, we visited Christ Church, which was built in 1753.  No photography was allowed inside the building, but there was an amazing fresco of the Last Supper at the front of the church, behind the altar.

 We also saw an old Dutch fort that was partially destroyed by the British, but Sir Stamford Raffles was wise enough to preserve it.  (That's Dancing Queen in front there, checking out the old cannon.)

 We also climbed to the top of a hill and visited these remains.  Inside were a lot of ancient tombstones, many of them seemed to be in Dutch, though some were also in English, so I think it was either another old church or a mausoleum of some sort.  These tombstones dated as far back as the 1600's and on into the 1700's.  One sad tombstone marked the tombs of about 6 family members, all of whom died within a few days of each other in the mid-1700's.  Most were babies or small children, with one 24-year-old woman.  I suspect they must have died from some sort of epidemic.  It was placed there by their loving father and grandfather.  Life must have been so difficult in those days with all the tropical diseases like malaria, dengue (yellow) fever, and influenza!  No wonder the Chinese still have a tradition of celebrating a newborn baby's one month birthday.  I guess many newborns didn't survive their first month.

Malacca is well known for being a center for Paranakan culture.  The Paranakans were also known as the Straits Chinese, a unique culture group that developed when migrating Chinese intermarried with the local Malays.  They are famous for their tasty, spicy food.  We had lunch one day at a Paranakan restaurant in the hotel where we were staying--delicious!

We enjoyed a chicken stew in fermented soya bean sauce called Ponteh, stir-fried okra or, as they call them locally, ladies' fingers, squid fritters (calamari), seafood curry and an omlet with steamed rice.

Here's Dancing Queen enjoying a local dessert--ice kacang.  It is the local version of a snow cone: shaved ice over red beans, corn and sometimes jelly, over which coconut milk, rose syrup, gula melaka (brown cane sugar) and another green-colored flavoring  are poured.  It is both colorful and refreshing on a hot day in the equatorial sun.  Yeah, I know.  The Chinese have weird ideas of what makes a good dessert.  Around here we have corn, red bean and yam-flavored ice creams, to name a few of the funny things we eat for dessert.  Thankfully, with the wonders of the 21st Century, we also have Ben and Jerry's!

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Today is my little Bubbles' birthday.  Five years ago, she came into the world at the Royal Surrey Hospital in England after 17-1/2 long hours of labor.  This was not the ordinary for me!  My first two children were born after 4-5 hours!

Bubbles was an unexpected blessing.  When I first found out I was pregnant, I was shocked!  We were living in England at that time, serving with a ministry that lived by faith.  We had very little money, and dipped into the income from the rental of our Singapore home each month just to make ends meet, and I wasn't sure how we would manage to feed and clothe another child.  Just before we moved to England the previous year, I had given away all of our baby things.  After all, my baby was 3-1/2 at the time of the move, and I had no plans to have any more.

With financial worries, and my youngest just getting ready to start school when he turned 5, I was looking forward to being able to have some freedom to work, when I discovered I was pregnant.  I went into a deep depression.  I confess: I did NOT want this baby.

But God began to work in my heart, and as my baby grew within my womb, I began to fall in love with her.  I knew that she was a blessing from God, even though I wasn't sure exactly what God was doing when He chose to give her to us.  By the time Bubbles was born, I was excited and looking forward to her arrival.  She was due right around Valentine's Day, but, being quite comfy where she was, she decided not to make an appearance quite so soon.  On February 26, around 10pm, my water broke at home, and contractions were 4-5 minutes apart.  Since my first two children were born pretty quickly, we made our way to the hospital, expecting her arrival sometime in the night.

But Bubbles had other plans.  She must have really liked it where she was, because when my contractions got to be about 1 minute apart, they stopped completely for a couple hours.  Then they slowly started up again, all the way back at 5-6 minutes apart.  This happened 3 separate times!!  I was beginning to think this baby of mine would never come out!  Finally, around 4pm, little Bubbles made her appearance into this world, big and beautiful!

And, yes, God did provide for all of our needs.  We never lacked for anything we needed, from car seat to stroller to crib, clothes and diapers, God supplied everything at just the right time, sometimes from the most unexpected of sources.

For a child that began as unwanted, I cannot thank God enough for putting Bubbles in my life and in our family.  She is such a joy!  This child is full of life and enthusiasm.  From the moment she wakes up in the morning, she is a ray of sunshine.  She keeps up busy, and she keeps us laughing.

I love her funny ways, and her "Bubble-isms" (her mispronounced words).  Even though she is starting to outgrow some of her mispronunciations, they are such happy memories of her early childhood.  One of my favorites is, "Blah, blah, black sheep," and "Carrots of the Bean" (Pirates of the Caribbean) is another family favorite.

So, Bubbles, happy birthday!  I am so glad you are a part of my life.  You are truly a gift from God!

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Well, it's been about 7 weeks since that dreaded annual health check that got dh and me up off our bottoms and exercising more.  Just to keep you posted, even with the Chinese New Year holidays that usually mean feasting from morning til night and munching on lots of fattening holiday goodies, we have maintained our walking schedule and really watched what we ate during the holiday season.

So far, I've lost 9 pounds, and dear hubby has also lost at least that much, but probably more.  He's not so precise, so I'm not sure how many pounds he's lost, but it's obvious that he's losing.  We continue to walk just about every day, and it's rare that we miss a day, even during the CNY public holidays.  So far, so good!

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One of our favorite homemade homeschooling games is based on the TV game show, "The Price Is Right."  This one takes a bit more planning and organizing to set up, but it's a fun way to assess and review your kids' studies, especially their math skills.  The thing that makes these games extra fun is that I really try to act like a game show host, rather than their mom or their teacher when we play.  So, from the very outset, the kids know this is light-hearted, fun and probably even a bit silly.

Now, when we play "The Price Is Right" (TPIR), we forego the beginning part of the TV game show, where contestants bid on an item, and the closest bidder without going over gets to play the game to win a prize.  We go straight to the games, and, as in "Let's Make a Deal" the youngest goes first, and each child gets a turn with each game.  Sometimes we use prizes from our surprise box, but with this game, we have so much fun in the playing, that prizes don't really matter.  Anyway, our prizes are very small and simple anyway, like a new pencil or eraser or a coin or a sticker or small sheet of stickers, so they are not really all that important.

We get out an old toy golf set, and play the putting game.  I set up the cup at the end of our hall, and the child stands at the other end.  I will ask the child questions from his or her recent studies, and with each correct answer, they get to take a step closer to the cup to make their put.  If they miss a question, they are not allowed to step closer, but must remain where they are.  After 3-5 questions, depending on how far away we start, wherever they are, they get to take a put and try to get the ball in the cup.

We do a similar game with a toy bowling set.  They answer questions to be able to move closer to the pins before they throw.  Of course, the goal of the game is to get a strike.

You could do a similar game with a velcro ball and target or a dart board, or other kinds of hit the target games.

My son has struggled with the value of money and how much things cost, so sometimes we play the higher or lower game.  I cut out a picture from a magazine or catalog of a toy or something he would be familiar with.  Then I set the clock for 60 seconds, and he must try to guess the price of the item, rounded to the nearest dollar.  Whenever he makes a guess, I tell him "higher" or "lower" to clue him in on his next guess.  If he can guess the price within 60 seconds (which for him was a real challenge!) he wins.  My daughter also plays this game, but we try to guess the price of 2 items within the 60 seconds, like the TV game show does.

We will modify other games from the TV show to suit our educational needs.  In one game, Beat the Clock, contestants must match prices to the correct items before time runs out.  We may play a similar game where the contestant must match answers to the correct questions.  This works with math problems, vocabulary words with their definitions, historical dates, state capitals, famous people, etc.

In the dice game, players try to roll the numbers in the price of a car, and then if the number rolled is incorrect, guess whether the correct number is higher or lower than the number rolled.  Well, we roll the dice and add or multiply the numbers on the dice, sometimes I add the challenge of trying to get as close to a certain target as possible.

In other games, contestants must unscramble the numbers in the price of an item.  I may give my children a more complex math problem to solve, such as adding 4-6 digit numbers, and have them unscramble the numbers provided (I write the numbers on index cards) to find the answer to the problem.

Sometimes contestants must "buy" selected grocery items to get as close to a fixed amount of money without going over, usually something like $20.  This is a great life experience practice for the kids, as they do help me with the weekly grocery shopping.  I lay out a number of grocery items on the counter, and they must try to buy any amount or combination of items to reach a certain amount of money, without going over.

The TV show has a mountain climber game, where the contestant must guess the prices of items and for each dollar off, must give up one of $7 given to him at the start of the game.  To win the game, he must have $1 left after guessing 3 or 4 items in order to "buy" the prize, usually a car.  I modify this game too, again trying to help my son understand the value of money and the cost of various items.  We use catalog pictures or household/grocery items for him to guess the price, and he tries to have a dollar left at the end of the game.

I'm sure there are other games on the show that could be modified to be used in our homeschool game, but I think this gives you an idea of what we do.  Let me know if you try it and how you like it. 

Because board games are extremely expensive here in Singapore, we tend to stick with the ones we have brought from America, or make up our own.  (A Monopoly or Scrabble game can cost around $40!)  So, if you think of any other great TV game shows to modify for our homeschool setting or have suggestions for great homemade games, drop me a note!  I'd love to hear from you!

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One of the things both my children and I enjoy about homeschooling is the ability to call for an occasional "Games Day".  I have used games a lot in our homeschooling, especially for my hands-on learner.

Games can range from Uno, Monopoly/Monopoly Jr. to Boggle, Scrabble and other board games, as well as a lot of homemade games.  In fact, our favorite games are homemade.

One of the kids' favorite games is based on the old TV game show "Let's Make a Deal."  This is a really old show I saw as a little girl, so if you've never seen it, don't worry, I'll explain it in detail below.  I especially like to pull this one out once in a while to review what they've been learning, so this game acts as a sort of assessment for me.  The equipment is all homemade, and set-up can be arranged in just moments, so this game is great for even spur-of-the-moment game times.

First, I ask the kids to bring me all their schoolbooks.  (This was a lot easier when they were using a workbook-based curriculum, but anyway...)  Then we get out 3 large hardcover picture books that are roughly the same size, a handful of loose change, and our surprise box.  The surprise box is a small container that holds stickers, stationery items, and other small gifts and prizes.  The kids often collect these items themselves when they receive small gifts at church, birthday party favors, etc. and choose to donate them to our surprise box.

If you've ever watched "Let's Make a Deal," you probably already know how this works, but for those of you who don't...

Stand the 3 picture books up on end, with spines facing out toward the children.  Teacher stands facing the pages side of the books so she can see what's behind the books, but the children cannot.  Place a small prize behind each book.

Then, beginning with the youngest child, select a subject and ask a question based on the child's recent lessons in that subject.  For math, I will usually give the child a problem to solve similar to those he's been solving in his math book.  For spelling, I will give her a word she's had in her recent spelling lists, or a word I've noticed she has misspelled in recent writing.  For English, I may ask a grammar question.  For literature, I may ask a question about the plot of the story the child has been reading, or from our read-aloud.  Science may include definitions of words learned recently, or other factual questions about the recent lessons.  Social Studies may be questions from history, geography, etc., depending on what we've been doing in our lessons.  And so on, through all the subjects.  Usually I will try to ask questions from the same subject for all the children in their turn before switching to a different subject.

Now, here's where the game show concept comes in.  In the old TV show, the host would always make a deal with the participant, "I'll give you a hundred dollars if you can find a paper clip in your bag" or "I'll give you $500 if you can answer this question."  So that's what I do: "I'll give you ten cents if you can answer this math question correctly" and I hold up the ten cents from the handful of loose change.  If the child answers correctly, he can either keep the money, or he can choose to trade it in for what's behind "Door number 1, Door number 2, or Door number 3" (the "doors" are actually the books standing on end with the small prizes behind them.  Most of the time, my kids will opt for what's behind one of the doors, but there are occasions when they would rather have a little extra pocket money.  If the child gets the answer wrong, he has to wait for his next turn to try again, and it is now the next youngest child's turn.

As I said, this game is one of my children's favorites, and it is a fun way for them to review with me what they have been learning.  By the end of the game, they feel rewarded with their little trinkets and prizes and pocket change, and I have a very clear idea of how well they have assimilated the material they've been studying.

In my next post, I'll talk about another of our favorite homemade TV game show homeschooling games: "The Price Is Right"!

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