Stones of Gilgal - Homeschool Blogger

Maybe a Life-Defining Moment ... We'll see

Mon, 7 Sep 2009 07:31:00 -0500

A couple of days ago, our worship pastor got a cancellation for Sunday’s offering solo. He’d heard our 10-year-old sing a few times when she tagged along with dad to worship team practice. So he sent a text message to Matt to see if Sky would be willing to fill in.

This was her first real public worship experience, and I was panicked! She had just two days to prepare. There’s no way, I thought. But Matt was totally confident. “She’ll be fine,” he said.

I guess he was right. Check it out, and decide for yourself.

Skyler Leads Revelation Song

That’s Matt playing electric guitar for her. I don’t know how he made it through the performance, seeing his baby girl up there, especially in light of the reaction of the congregation. For the most part, the congregation sits through the solo and is “ministered to.” On this day, most of the crowd was on their feet by the time the song ended. What a powerful move of the Spirit. I, of course, was a blubbering mess through it all!

I hope you are blessed today!

Friday Already? Where Did the Week Go?

Fri, 4 Sep 2009 05:51:00 -0500

This week has been a roller coaster, and I can hardly believe we're about to pull into the station, and this week's ride is almost over! How did it get to be Friday already?

The week started out great, as most weeks do. Monday I didn’t get up quite as early as I wanted, but I jumped right into the morning schedule, and we had a rockin’ first day of school. We accomplished every goal I’d set for the day, and every one of us went to bed feeling fulfilled.

Tuesday, with God’s amazing grace, I rose from the bed two minutes before my 5:00 am goal and started the day strong. I had an annual physical and pap smear (fun stuff!), so Matt had to take on the morning school schedule. He struggles a bit in that role. Skyler thinks it’s her duty to tell him exactly how to do everything, which in man-ish (you know, the undeclared official language of men) translates as, “You’re an incompetent idiot, and you need a 10-year-old to lead you.” She was appropriately corrected, but where her bossy ways left off, Seth and Sam picked up the baton to frustrate dad. Anytime Matt did something differently than I would have done it, those silly boys thought it was hilarious and burst into laughter. That didn’t go over well with dad, who was already feeling in over his head.

So a few behavioral goals for this year emerged from Tuesday morning’s events, and Matthew and I have committed to pray about this one and seek God’s wisdom on how to train the kids to honor their precious and amazing dad when he is leading lessons.

When I got back, I did a few afternoon lessons. At about 4:00pm we had some friends drop in. It was a nice time of fellowship, but I didn’t accomplish much after that. Matt went off to band practice, and I put the kids and myself to bed.

Wednesday was a mean bear of a day. The morning started later than I’d hoped, and Matthew and I confronted some worries. His pay is strictly commission, and this pay period is off to a very slow (as in not-moving-at-all) start. We have some big bills this pay period (namely, the rent), and we’re uncertain about how that will be paid if he doesn’t get paid. He went off to work, and the kids and I had a fairly good morning. Although, I’ve realized that I need to have everything prepped for our day the night before. I did a good job of that for Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday I thought, “Oh, I can do those one or two things done in the morning.” Bad idea – it’s an unnecessary time waster during the school day.

Matt came home that afternoon thoroughly frustrated and angry. He’d had a few very difficult sales calls, and one in particular was less than graceful. He eventually realized that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities and that our weapons are not carnal but spiritual and have the power to pull down strongholds. But it took some time.

That night was a busy one for sure. I dropped Matt and the kids at church in time for Matt’s sound check, and headed off to the Girl Scout Council meeting. I don’t like that the council meetings are on a Wednesday night. I covet that time in Bible Study, and the first Wednesday night of the month is communion at my church; I really missed being a part of it. After the council meeting, I headed back to church to get everyone. Skyler had the first Praise Dance practice of the year. So we didn’t get out until 9:30pm, but I had a nice time sitting with a friend and fellowshipping. Matt also had a good time talking with a friend while we waited.

Yesterday morning was a rough one! I got out of bed pretty early, but I felt terribly groggy, and every attempt to meet with my God ended in me dozing off. The kids spent most of the day on their independent work, and I put together the Parent’s Information Meeting for our new homeschool girl scout troop. The meeting was last night, and I really enjoyed it. I just love this group of parents, and I think the girls will enjoy each working together. I’m hoping that our oldest girl and our youngest girl will each recruit a few friends for them to work and fellowship with.

This morning, the boys start Lego Club and Sky is going to a friend’s to sleep over. I plan to get a good day’s schoool work in between the two. I have to spend this weekend working on the e-zine for our homeschool group, but I also need to make sure I work hard at prepping our lessons for next week. And next week, I need to pay close attention to getting to bed early so I can wake up early

A Fun Way to Start the New Year

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:21:00 -0500

Griffyn, Skyler and Seth kicked off our school year tonight auditioning for the Christmas Musical. We're doing "The Best Christmas Present Ever" by Celeste Clydesdale. I'll try to upload some pics tomorrow. Sky audtioned for both drama leads. I think she's got a decent shot at one. Griffyn just blew it out of the water. I'm so proud of all of them, but with the daily limitations that autism had placed on Grif, I was just overflowing with joy tonight. About half way through the audition, after he'd read for a few parts and did one solo, the director paused and called me out of the room to tell me that she was so blown away, Griffyn could have any part he wants. What momma wouldn't melt at those words!?

Sethie did great too. For some strange reason that I may never quite understand, he wanted the part of the hairdresser. This is my hardcore superhero-amphibean-loving-tough-guy. Very funny. But he was insistent! I think he might get it too. He said he wants them to change the character's name from Emma to Evan. Too funny that boy!

Tomorrow we start school. So I'm off to prep the morning's lessons, clean the schoolroom and get everybody's clothes ready! Oh goodness...I have NO plan for dinner. I didn't start my school schedule yet, which has me shopping on Saturday. I think we're going to have to wing the food this week, and have Matt make multiple quick stops at the grocery store (it's right near his office).

But ready or not, 2009-2010 schoolyear, HERE WE COME!!!!

Preparing the Schoolroom for Take Off

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:36:00 -0500

We're getting all set up for the new school year to begin on Monday (August 31st).

Matthew built these custom cubbies for us. Each child has one of their own with all of their notebooks for the year and a bin for supplies (pencils, flashcards, whatever else they think they need). Our regular bookcases were not wide enough to accomodate all of the binders for one child on one shelf. Plus this gave us an extra surface!

I gave each child an "in-box" tray where they can collect copy work, and any other independent work I've prepared for them. They can also store any work that's still in progress. The top tray is labeled "Completed Work." I can go through it whenever I'm ready, make notes, assess progress and then return it to them so they can either make adjustments or store the final work in their binders.

On top of this table are the kid's bags for co-op. We've since purchased new backpacks for each kid (Walmart had a great sale!), and I stored them on top of one of the bookshelves in a large wash basin. The backpacks contain their co-op notebook, supplies, a small lunch bag and small water bottle. In place of these bags, I put two white dish basins on this table. One is labeled History Resources and the other is labeled Science Resources. Since we share a variety of books, supplies and tools for each history and science unit, I thought it might be helpful to keep those things contained and easy to access. We'll see how it works this year.

Drawers are labeled so we remember what goes in each.

The Best Laid Plans

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:15:00 -0500

Yesterday had it's bumps in the road, but by the time I laid my head on our soft, freshly scented, Egyptian cotton pillowcases, I had accomplished as much as God wanted me to accomplish.

I worked on the Israel unit as planned, feverishly typing as much as I could. By the time I'd left for Griffyn's doctor appointment, I had accomplished a good amount -- not as much as I'd hoped, but a good amount nonetheless.

We took the chocolate bars to Griffyn's appointment to try and sell a few more. Our goal is 20 boxes, which equals 1040 bars. A HUGE goal, I know, but it's for our homeschool group. We love our support group so much that we want to help raise as much money as possible! We sold just 5 bars at the doctor's office. Not as much as I'd hoped, but five closer to our goal.

On our way to the Opera House for the orientation and parent's meeting, the car overheated and we broke down. Matthew was teaching a guitar lesson and didn't answer the phone. Thankfully, a friend came to get us and brought us back to our house. We were able to take the van and make it for the parent's meeting, but we missed the training session for the placement vocals. It's okay, they told us. Skyler can just sing scales for her placement appointment today. Again...not what we'd planned, but still okay.

I picked up Matt and the other kids up at church, and we came home to a house that's messier than I like it to be. I could have stayed up cleaning, but I knew that it would thwart my early wake up. So I checked email and went to bed.

I'm working toward getting back to a 5am wake up time. The lazy days of summer saw me sleeping until 7:30 -- 8:00 am. Yesterday I got up at 6:30. Today 6:20. My goal is to reach 5 am by Monday when we start school, but the lesson of yesterday taught me that my plans are not always God's plans. I'll work hard and trust His grace to take me wherever he'd have me be.

Goal for today -- finish entering information for Isreal unit and begin organizing it. Sam has a dermatologist appointment, and Skyler has per vocal placement for the Opera House. Matt is going to take the kids through the neighborhood tonight to sell chocolate bars, so that should give me some time to get work done.

New Year New Blog

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:43:00 -0500

I'm still not sure why I want to blog, but I do. And whenever I think about this poor, ailing blog, I am wracked with guilt. So, this new school year comes with a New Year's Resolution...I am going to make a renewed commitment to this dusty corner of cyberspace.

We officially begin our 2009-2010 school year on Monday (Aug. 31). This week is all about preparation. We've got a host of doctor appointments. Skyler's orientation at the Sarasota Opera House is today. Tomorrow she sings for them and gets placed. Sunday is auditions for the Christmas musical. Skyler is trying out for both leads. Griffyn is auditioning for a speaking part and a singing solo. Seth is auditioning for a small speaking part. That means lots of practicing this week.

My goal for today is to finish adding all of the information to the first unit of the history curriculum I'm writing. Tomorrow I plan to organize it, and Friday I'll proofread. Whew...time to get back to work.

Follow the Leader

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 07:26:00 -0500

Wow...time flies, huh? My husband just got a new job (in the Promised Land analogy, this might be akin to victory in the many battles toward Jerusalem!), but the training is INTENSE, and time for me to write is limited and usually occupied with writing and editing articles for our local homeschool group newsletter. With Matthew working long and late hours, I find that I'm more focused in the evenings on preparing for the next day. The house is clean, dishwasher's empty, and I can't put together a full load of laundry until the kids get dressed and hand over last night's jammies. Our homeschool agenda is already listed on the dry-erase board, and all the lessons are prepped and ready to go, so I have a few short minutes to continue my story.

Okay, so our first practical step (after learning that we'd have to move) was to explore our own area. We were just minutes outside of Manhattan, and it didn't take long to realize that we were not going to find anything affordable within a 2-hour radius. The cheapest rental we could find (a three bedroom, one bathroom apartment in a bad neighborhood) was $1600 a month, not including utilities. Uh...NO!

Good friends of ours had offered Matthew a business partnership. They lived about an hour north in a beautiful part of the Hudson Valley, New York. The husband owns a general contracting company and offered Matt the opportunity to buy into his company. Matt’s equipment and expertise would allow the company to add seamless gutters to the mix, and when there was no exterior work, they would partner on interior jobs to increase their volume. The wife of this family is one of my closest friends, and it would certainly be fun to be closer to them.

We prayed over the offer, and although we knew we wouldn’t be able to find a rental through a realtor or the newspaper, we trusted that if it was God’s will, he would open a door for us. A number of kind and generous people in our homeschool group offered us temporary housing solutions, but nothing permanent presented itself, and so we knew that this was not the plan God had for us.

Another couple that we’ve known since before we were married encouraged us to consider Sarasota. Again, we just lifted it up to God and waited to see what He would do. Not too long into this process, our Sarasota friend was taking a brisk walk around her neighborhood and saw a rental sign. She called me with the number, and I contacted the owner and discussed our situation.

I was open and honest, explaining that we weren’t even sure if we were going to end up in Florida at all. I explained that we had five children and a host of pets and hadn’t secured a job in Sarasota yet. Clearly, we were not the best rental candidates! But he sent me an application anyway, and I filled it out. Before mailing it back, I felt lead to include a photo introduction of our family. Using a basic layout program, I printed a family picture, along with a picture of Matthew and I together and one of each child, captioned with their names and ages. Shortly after receiving our little packet, the landlords called and said they felt a strange connection to our family and were willing to hold the house for us.

With housing out of the way, we figured we’d need a job ready for Matt if we were going to live in Sarasota. Matthew has some experience in all areas of contracting, and although his expertise is really in aluminum (gutters, fascia, soffit), he felt lead to look up roofing companies. The very first one caught his attention, and he called them. In deed they were hiring, so Matthew sent a resume. Before the end of the day, they called him, and again, he was open with them and explained that we weren’t entirely sure we’d be moving to Sarasota (although it was looking more likely everyday). They said that something about him seemed right for their company, which was strange because they were a roofing company, and his resume didn’t include much roofing experience. They told him to keep in touch with them, and let them know what our plans were.

As easy as it was to find housing and work, that’s how easy it was to find a church and plug into a great homeschool group…all from New Jersey. The youth pastor at the church I spoke to said that although they didn’t have a special needs program in place to help our son, they’d be open to starting one, and after chatting for a while, it came up that Matthew plays guitar. The youth pastor said one of their best guitar players had just moved, and they needed someone to fill the spot.

Sarasota seemed to be welcoming us with open arms, but there was still a journey ahead, and if God was in it, He was going to have to provide a substantial sum of money to move our family of seven 1,300 miles.

Because we have quite a few pets, who would have to travel in the car with us (turtles, a snake, a gecko, cats, a bunny, and a dog), we knew we’d have to drive straight through the night without stopping. That meant we’d have to take turns driving, and we couldn’t split off to have one person drive a moving truck and the other drive the van. So we had to find the most inexpensive way to get all of our belongings to Florida without renting a truck.

After adding up the cost of moving, gas for our van, tolls, food for the road, a complete car tune-up and new tires for the trip, deposits for the house and utilities, money to restock the refrigerator and pantry, and enough to live on for about three weeks to allow time for the move and for Matt’s first paycheck, we calculated that we would need far more money than we could put together in our own efforts. We needed Jehovah Jireh (the God who Provides), and we knew that if He put this amount of money in our hands, we could be sure that this was His plan for us.

Over the next four weeks or so, we watched in complete amazement, as the money began to pour in. It came in a variety of ways – some from the loving and generous people who just wanted to help, some from large jobs that Matt was offered as we planned and packed, some from the sale of machinery that we would not be taking with us – but it all came, exactly when it was needed.

On September 8, 2008, we packed a large moving container with all of the furniture, clothing, bedding, books, dishes and house wares that we had not sold at the yard sale, and we waved goodbye as the driver came to get it take it ahead of us to our new home. That night, we all camped out on the empty floor of the bedroom Matthew and I had shared for the previous three years, in the empty house where my precious husband had spent all of his childhood. It felt adventurous and exciting, but also sad – we knew we’d probably never see the inside of this house again; the house Matthew’s mom had brought him home to as a newborn baby.

The next morning we awoke, showered and got dressed. We spent the day with some friends, letting the kids run around and expend as much energy as possible before the monster drive ahead of us. My mom and Matt’s mom joined us for dinner, and helped us get the kids ready and pack the car. We said goodbye to all the neighbors and hugged our moms tightly, and then got right on I-95, the road that would take us all the way to Florida. Twenty-three and half hours later, which seemed to go much faster than we’d expected, we arrived in Sarasota. We’d never been in Sarasota before arriving that Wednesday night, but instantly we knew we were home, and we God was with us.

The last leg of our trip was I-75, which we’d picked up in Tampa. As we neared our exit, we saw something in the distance. It was some of kind of tall tower, and it was changing colors. The kids pointed it out, and we all wondered what it was. As we got closer, we saw a cross and figured it was a church. Just as we passed by, I saw the name of the church lit up in colorful stained glass. It was the church I’d spoken to from NJ, our new church home! God had led us here, and a new life in Him had begun.

It was as if we’d just crossed the Jordan and entered Gilgal. Many battles awaited us as we journey toward our Jerusalem, and many victories were still in store.

Thanks for joining me so far…I’ll be back soon to tell the amazing story of how God filled our home with beautiful furniture for just $7.00!

Journey to The Promised Land � A Tip From Hezekiah

Mon, 9 Feb 2009 06:56:00 -0600

On July 21, 2008, our life changed forever. In hindsight, I think it was the day that God told us to consecrate ourselves to Him because he was about to do wonders on our behalf (Joshua 3:5). Six weeks later, on September 9^th, we left the desert of our life and crossed our own Jordan into a new life – a life of promise.

Five months later, to the day, God is continuing to work mightily, clearing the land on our behalf, and leading us slowly toward the “Jerusalem” of our Promised Land. We’ve faced uphill battles and seen God crumble walls. But the message has remained constant…seek Him first, heed His voice, and He will bring the victory.

I’ve written a little in this blog about the challenges we faced and the changes we were facing, but today, nearly a half-year later, I thought our experience might bless and encourage someone who feels like they’ve been wandering the desert for far too long.

Earlier blog entries detail the events that led our move. Urgent Prayer Requests Needed, dated July 25, 2008 tells of the crisis that triggered it all. The following day, I added Moving Crisis Update, which first mentions the possibility of Sarasota, FL. By August 6^th, the course was pretty well set (see Sarasota), and on 8/11/08, I wrote a quick update about the house. There’s a neat pictureof our local beach, here in Sarasota, in the 11/09/08 entry.

The move was exciting, exhilarating and life-changing, and I believe some of our experiences could be helpful to others who may be seeking God, and wondering if they’re destined for a life of promise or a life of struggle.

As is the case with most homeschool moms, I don’t have much time to write. We have five little ones, and I publish the monthly newsletter for our local support group, plus I’m helping my husband build a business. I’ve set aside about an hour of writing time in the morning, so it may take a few installments to tell our story, but I do have one golden nugget to share for today…

Perhaps the greatest lesson we’ve learned so far is something we’ve found ourselves applying again and again since 7/21/08. On that day, when the great blow was delivered and crisis was upon us, God led us to do a few practical things that made all the difference.

First and foremost, we took that paper from the Sheriff’s Department and spread it before God. If you get a chance today, read Isaiah 37:14-38. It’s a great picture of how to handle bad news. King Hezekiah receives a disturbing letter from his enemy, and he takes it into the house of God and spreads it before the Lord, asking God to save him. God responds mightily on Hezekiah’s behalf, slaying 185,000 in one night. I encourage you to read the account for yourself – it’s a powerful example of God’s willingness to work on behalf of those who seek Him.

After praying and trusting with all our hearts that God was in control and that He would lead us and provide for us, we sought out scriptures to stand on through the journey. We knew we needed a few key things from God: wisdom, guidance and provision. So I went to google and typed, “scriptures about wisdom,” “scriptures about God’s guidance,” and “scriptures about God’s provision.” We printed them, and poured over the lists, highlighting those that quickened our spirits. I wrote some of them on index cards and carried them with me in a small, vinyl photo album, reading them, praying them over and over, and in doing so, I was most definitely hammering in my faith.

Within those first couple of days we also raised a prayer army. I wrote out exactly what had happened and what we were facing, and emailed it to every Bible-believing Christian I knew. Then I went to every Christian-based website that I could think of and submitted a prayer request.

An interesting thing happened. I began receiving all sorts of prayer requests in return. So I got a notebook and wrote them all down, interceding daily for the needs of others, as I continued to meditate on the scriptures and listen for God’s voice.

There were a few possibilities that presented early on. We followed up with each one, praying over them, and asking God’s direction. Then we took small steps toward each possibility and waited to see what God would do.

And that’s where I’ll end today.

To be continued…

Technical Difficulties Be Gone -- Take 2!

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 09:59:00 -0600

Just shortly after my last entry, I tried to log in to my blog, and I was locked out. I posted messages on the forum, sent messages to the help center, but to no avail. After trying all of the suggestions, it still wouldn't work. My kids couldn't get into theirs either.

Finally, I received an email from a very helpful fella (thanks Shawn), suggesting I use a different browser. We downloaded Firefox (which I'm really enjoying, by the way), and voila! Here we are. Hooray!!!

Okay, I think I'm back on for real this time. LOL!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

I figured it out! Technical Difficulties Be Gone!

Sun, 9 Nov 2008 07:54:00 -0600

I've seriously neglected this blog, but I had good reason. Every time I tried to add an entry, there were no editing tools. I would cut and paste an entry from Word, like I had always done, but instead of seeing all my neat little buttons and icons to insert pictures, change fonts, etc., it was just a blank text box. Without html code, I couldn't even get the most basic formatting of spaces and line breaks to work. My lines were just all mushed together.

I tried to get some help on the forum, but to no avail.

So in my frustration, I took a homeschoolblogger time out. Then today, out of the clear blue sky (and here on the gorgeous west coast of The Sunshine State, the sky is clear blue!), it dawned on me...

Up until August, when the problems began to happen, I had been using Internet Explorer. My techy husband decided he liked Safari better, so he changed my default browser. I customized it with all my favorites and got acquainted with the new, more stripped down browser that did seem to run faster and more efficiently. All was fine...except...homeschoolblogger's entry editor doesn't seem to be compatible.

This morning, I decided to try crafting an entry in Explorer, and voila! It's back. And so am I.

I'll write more soon about our adventurous move to beautiful Sarasota...Stay tuned!

Sunset at Siesta Key (our local beach)