One Day I'll Mount Up With Wings Like An Eagle - Homeschool Blogger

Licking It Clean

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:40:00 -0500

Facebook Bullies

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:17:00 -0500

I have many friends that are a part of Facebook. They love it. Some get on every once in a while, like once a week. Others are obsessed. I have a friend that keeps it open all day so she can keep tabs on what everyone is up to.

Although I see the lure of it, I am not a Facebook junkie. I’ve enjoyed finding long lost friends through DH’s account. DH is a youth pastor, and he finds Facebook almost essential in keeping up with his teens every day.

I like to keep up with people. Their pictures are fun to view, especially friends from high school. I have one friend from the internet whom I’ve never met, but I consider her a very dear friend. I love seeing pictures of her family on Facebook. It’s fun and addicting. One night I spent hours going from one old friend’s wall to another. People I would never have thought to look up were on there, and I got to read about them, see some pictures, and realize that they are still in contact with other people on there. So, I’d visit their page. This went on for so long that I realized that I was rubbing my eyes so I could see the computer screen more clearly. I hadn’t even realized how late it was. (Let me tell you: I was NOT the best mom the next day!)

This is why I do not have a Facebook page. I simply lack the self-control. I’m sure I would become like my friend who keeps tabs on everyone throughout the day. There’s a certain sense of anonymity when you’re looking at someone else’s page without them knowing it. It’s admittedly fun.

My problem with Facebook lies in the bullies out there. I have absolutely grown tired of people asking me if I am on Facebook. Some of them ask every time I see them. They don’t stop there, though. They proceed to tell me that I should be on Facebook. It’s a “try it, you’ll like it” form of bullying. One woman even asked me how she could contact me if I’m not on Facebook! REALLY?!?!?!

The next form of bullying comes by way of my e-mail account. I get requests from people through my e-mail to join Facebook. It’s a taunting “your friends are doing it, why shouldn’t you?” e-mail. This tells me that my “friends” have given Facebook my e-mail account so I am now in their “system.”

It doesn’t end there. The latest form of bullying has really irritated me. This makes me not only not happy with my “friends,” but also very angry at Facebook. In the last two days I have received, from Facebook, the same e-mail eight times. It tells me who my most recent friends are that have invited me to join Facebook. It names those friends, tells me how many Facebook friends they have, and gives me the names of other people on Facebook that I may know. Facebook is trying to strong-arm me into joining!

I don’t like being bullied. I enjoy catching up with old friends, but with five young children I don’t have time to keep up with everyone. Facebook causes me to forget about my priorities. So, I’ve chosen, for myself, not to participate. I’m not saying that Facebook is evil, or that no one should be on it. I’m just saying that I’ve chosen not to. So, for crying out loud, let me be, you Facebook Bullies!!!

Chore Charts

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:56:00 -0500

It's no surprise that when I walk through the grocery store with five children I get a lot of comments. I get some positive ones ("What fun to have such a big family!"), some negative ones (Oh, there's too many to list here. My least favorite was from an older man that asked me if I knew how I kept getting pregnant!), and some strange ones ("Do you want to take my kids too?") Throughout all of our public interaction, my prayer is always that we let our lights shine.

Last night on our way home from church we stopped at the store to get some essentials. I took the oldest three in with me while DH stayed in the van with the sleeping ones. We went to the register to pay, and the lady checking us out was asking us all kinds of questions. My kids are always quick to share that they are one of five, and last night was no exception. She told me about her two kids, where she lived, the chore charts she was trying to make up, how unorganized she is, where she was from, her family, etc. I could tell she needed a friend. She ended up asking what religion we were. I told her I am a Christian. She shared that she is a Mormon. Then she asked if she could give me her e-mail address.

Now remember, I am always asking God to make us a light. However, when she asked this, I thought, "Really, God? What do I do? How do I respond? She wants me to have her address. So, what do I say to her in this e-mail? I don't even know for sure why she wants me to e-mail her. God, HELP!!"

Now, this all happened in just a few seconds, and while it was happening I made sure to keep a pleasant face rather than the "deer caught in the headlights" reaction I felt. At least, that's what I hope I did. I'm not sure, though, because she quickly stammered in, "so you can give me a link to a chore chart." (I had told her that there were plenty of chore charts free online.)

I agreed to accept her address. She wrote it down, and I felt this prodding to give her my e-mail address. I can't imagine why I did this, but I borrowed her pen from her, wrote down my e-mail address with my name, and told her I'd send her the link. Of course, I know that the Holy Spirit leads us to do things that we normally would not, or could not do on our own. Such was the case last night.

When I handed her my address, the look on her face was priceless. It was as if we were on the playgrond, and she had no one to play with, and I had asked her to come play with me. She got almost giddy. I know that no one is that excited about chore charts!

But here are the links that I sent to her. This one is a favorite because we can personalize it with characters. We have a few super hero fans at our house, and they love having their favorite remind them to do their work. Here is another great site. There are charts with point systems, charts with pictures for the younger kids, and charts for just about every room.

Contest

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:39:00 -0500

Well, there's a great contest to be had over here:

candacemercyisnew

Check it out!

Selfish Rebel

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:41:00 -0500

When I was in high school my mom got me in the habit of reading the "Proverb of the day". (Whatever the date is, that's the Proverb you read.) I've done this for years now, and still I find something new that hits me one month, even though it may not have a previous month.

Todays Proverb hit me so hard I haven't been able to let go of it all day. I didn't even need to read past the first verse.

"One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment." (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Sometimes Scripture just has a way of punching you in the gut to make you realize how foolish you've been. As you can see from just a couple of posts ago I love to isolate myself. I love to be at home with my family. However, I am learning day by day that not only can I be blessed, but I (and my family) can be a blessing.

And I certainly don't want to be a selfish rebel!

More Thoughts on My Purpose

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 06:12:00 -0600

I am slowly learning to submit my life over to my God. It's such a long process. If I would just learn it quickly God could use me even more. I find I am such a stubborn individual!

DH is a youth pastor. When our kids were fewer and smaller (2 kids aged 3 & 1) I loved being a part of the youth ministry. Our youth are like extra kids to us. We love and adore them. It's so fun to watch them grow physically and spritually. I love to go to graduations and weddings (even though that does make me feel quite old!) More than that, though, I love being a part of helping them to grow spiritually. I love to get together with them. I love going to events. I love being a part of their lives.

Fast forward a few years. I now have five children ages 8, 6, 4, 2, & 1. When I first got married I didn't want children. Then I thought two might be OK. DH thought that wasn't enough, but didn't want three. (He's a middle child.) And so I agreed to four. That was it, though. God had changed my stubborn heart three times already. I wasn't going to let him change it again! We had our four, and I was happy. DH wasn't. He insisted that God had different plans for us than I had. As I prayed about it I slowly allowed my heart to soften. Finally, one day, I told God that I wanted to obey Him. I prayed that He would allow whatever His will was for our family to take place. A burden was lifted! That night I began having my first pregnancy symptom (my feet always itch unbearably!). I took a test, and realized that God answered my prayer much quicker than I was accustomed to! (Sometimes it feels like I pray and search for months before I get a clear answer!)

As much as I would love to do an over-nighter with the youth, or go to all the concerts or attend conferences, I suddenly have a new ministry. My ministry is at home. That's hard for me to swallow some days. Before kids I was always at the church. (I still am - it's just that with five kids in tow I'm a bit slower.) I played a large role in the music ministry. I was able to go and do. I now play more of a behind-the-scenes role. That is not my personality. Once again, though, God is changing my stubborn heart.

There are many days that I throw a pity party. I often feel insignificant and worthless. In my head I know all of the answers to combat this feeling. I know that I have worth. I know that my ministry is raising up new soldiers for Christ. I know that I have a purpose. But you know the feeling I'm talking about. The "is this it?" feeling. The "do I really have to sing another silly song?" thought. The "doesn't anyone care that I have needs too?" view. These are the days that instead of going to God with the right attitude I approach Him in the whiny tone that I always tell my kids to get rid of.

My conversations go something like this:

Father, I want to be used. Child, I am using you.

No, God. I want to be used for something BIG! You have no idea the way you are impacting the future. I am already in your tomorrows. I need you to obey today.

But, God! I want to feel significant. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

Silence. (Usually in an argument if I know I'm "losing" I'll withdraw. I have to really think of the right words to win this one!)

God. I want to be something - for You. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

I want to feel your presence in this so-called ministry. I don't always feel it. I (He) tend(s) my (his) flock like a shepherd: I (He) gather(s) the lambs in my (his) arms and carry(ies) them close to my (his) heart; I (he) gently leads those that have young.

OK, Lord. My tasks for today seem so menial to me. Take me. Use me. What do YOU want me to accomplish today? To do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God

I am so sorry, Father. Please forgive my short-sighted selfishness. Come to Me, and I will give you rest.

Purpose

Sat, 7 Feb 2009 05:42:00 -0600

It's time for co-op again! I have a confession to make about co-op: I was dreading it a little. I've become a "home-body." I'd love to just sit at home all day with the kids. Most days I wish we never had to leave home. That's not always possible, though. And I'm not sure how I can be a light in the world if I'm hiding it under my bushel. No! I'm gonna let it shine.

The Lord is teaching me lately that not only does He have a purpose for my life, but I need to be sure that I have a purpose for my life as well. Oh, I know the basics: wife, mother, Christian, daughter, friend, etc. But do I have an answer for everything I do? I tell my kids that they need to always have an answer as to why they are doing what they are doing (1 Peter 3:15). If they have an answer, then they have already thought out the purpose.

Am I really living out what I teach them? I feel often as though I simply do things because that is what I'm supposed to do. Am I folding laundry because that is what I am supposed to do? Or is it because I love my family; my family needs clean clothes; my family needs order in our home, etc.? Sure, all of those things are true, and I can give out those answers easily, but I often lose my focus while I am doing them - perhaps even grumbling and complaining instead.

Ryrie has a note on Hebrews 2:18 that says that "Christ not only was tempted by trials that befall humans generally but also by those that were designed to sidetrack Him in the purpose of His coming to earth." Satan wants to sidetrack us from our purpose!

One of my greatest purposes is to prepare my children so that they can let their little lights shine. Do I realize that when I'm scolding them for being too loud? How am I teaching them to know more about God when I am grumpy and undesirable? Worse, are they truly learning how to let their little lights shine from me when I hide in my house?

Thankfully, my High Priest can sympathize with my weakness (Hebrews 4:15). He gently reminds me why I go out into the world. He reminds me that I am teaching my children to go somewhere on time so that others will see Jesus in us. He shows me that the people with whom we come into contact need encouragement and hope. He even makes it fun for us sometimes!

KONOS

Sun, 4 Jan 2009 20:31:00 -0600

For years I have been interested in KONOS. Does anyone use it that can tell me all about it? I think I want to make the leap.

Homeschool Questions

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:47:00 -0600

Last week I met a woman in a survey group who slipped me a note asking if she could contact me about homeschooling. She has 2 young boys, and is considering taking on this adventure. I gave her my e-mail address, and she sent me some questions that she had. I know nothing more about her except that she also often buys bagged salads for her family. (The group was being asked about Dole Salads.) I decided that although my response to her was quite lengthy I would post it on here.

Here were her questions:

1) Why do you homeschool? Religious Beliefs, Concerns for public school, Ease of having children home...
2) What curriculum do you use?
3) What age do you start homeschooling?
4) What do you do for gym and extracurricular activities?

Here was my long-winded response:

My husband and I are Christians. We both know that homeschooling is something that God desires for our family. I say that we both know because not all couples agree on the issue, and this makes the homeschool experience even more difficult. When we have hard days (and they do come) I can fall back on 2 things: 1) If God desires it for me, then He will provide the strength to accomplish it. 2) Because my husband supports my efforts, he is often the source of strength that God provided. He will often take over teaching when my daughter and I don't seem to be communicating properly. He can be much more effective with her at times.

I also am not happy with the public school system. I think they would do my children an injustice. I truly feel that they are teaching socialism, and training them how to follow that system. I feel that the school system would be teaching my kids how to waste time (i.e. line up, bathroom break for everyone – whether you have to go or not, etc.). I hate that if my child didn’t understand something the class (or teacher) wouldn’t wait for him. I hate that if my child does understand something she couldn’t move on to the next “chapter.” I hate that there’s a 30:1 ratio (or worse). I said public school system, but all of this is true in a private school as well. I don’t want my children exposed to other children’s problems. The last time I was in our local elementary school building I heard the school counselor talking to a teacher about how a little girl was very obviously being abused at home. Our little neighbor boy is beat up every day for his lunch money. We don’t live in a bad area! My kids don’t need that stress.

Finally, I love my kids! I love their personalities. I adore their imaginations. I think they are really cool kids. I like being around them. I like playing with them and teaching them. I have many friends who can’t wait for their kids to go off to school. They hate the summer break. I have never felt that way. In fact, we don’t quit learning in the summer. This year we did a “unit study” on bees. In the spring my kids decided they were scared of bees, so we decided to learn about them. By the end of the summer we were amazed by the little creatures. Instead of running from them my kids were looking for them. (If they're not fuzzy, they're not bees!) We would watch them on the flowers – how they used their legs, how hard they would work, how many flowers they visited. We now appreciate our honey (we buy local honey now because it helps reduce allergies – learned that this year!). And we are careful not to kill bees (One bee makes about 1/8 teaspoon of honey.) We need all the bees we can keep if we want to keep eating honey.

I love the freedom homeschooling allows our family. We’ve been to Gettysburg to learn more about our country. That was one huge field trip! We make life our school. My daughter wrote about our experience. My sons drew about it. My daughter learned how to scrapbook with the pictures we took there. They figured out on a map where we were compared to where we live. The boys counted things. My daughter also worked on subtraction. How many men gave up their lives for our country? We climbed hills. We discovered different animals that live in PA compared to our state. We heard music from that time period. We looked at artwork. We visited the National Cemetery. We read the Gettysburg Address. We did all of this as a family. We covered every single school subject, and never sat at a desk. That’s how we like to learn, and how we learn best. But my daughter also loves worksheets, so I’d give her a few to do – for the fun of it. Yes, she thinks learning is fun! Imagine that! J

We began homeschooling when my daughter was around 2. http://www.brightervision.com/ was so fun for us. We really enjoyed what they sent us. We also used http://www.letteroftheweek.com/index.html . This is such a fun, well-put-together learning curriculum. And, of course, free is great!

When my daughter was in Kindergarten 2 years ago I followed a curriculum by Ann Ward called Learning at Home. I took out of it what I wanted to. I skipped the parts she didn’t need work on. We enjoyed it. A friend of mine tried it the same year and abandoned it rather quickly. It didn’t suit her. She went to Abeka and loved it. She still uses it. It's fun to find what suits your family. Since then we’ve been very eclectic. I beat myself up my daughter’s first grade year. I purchased Sonlight’s curriculum – used. My daughter didn’t like it – the reading seemed beyond her. She could read the words, but not comprehend the stories. That frustrated her. I thought it was terrible that we were changing in the middle of the year. My husband reminded me that that was one of the beauties of homeschooling. We got to fit school around our children. That changed my perspective tremendously. I decided to keep that curriculum even though I wasn’t using it for her. She’s the oldest of 5 children. Who knows what the other kids will need to use?

Currently we are using http://www.sonlight.com/ . We did take a break, though, because my daughter is into horses. A friend is giving her riding lessons. We decided to study horses. So, our history, reading, language arts, science, and handwriting are all based around horses. (When I said “unit study” earlier this is what I meant by that.) Sonlight covers our language arts, history, reading, and Bible. We use library books for science (we like experiments!). I like http://www.hwtears.com/ for handwriting. I love http://www.mathusee.com/ for math, and can’t say enough about it! I really like http://www.drawyourworld.com/ for art, and we also experience a lot of art appreciation. I was a Music Ed. Major in college, so music comes easily to us. For younger kids PE is fairly simple. My kids love getting out one of Daddy’s 4x4’s and learning to balance. My 4-yr-old has recently learned to hop on one foot all through the house. Jump rope, relay races (with no winner, just learning teamwork), animal walks (I never knew a 3-yr-old could actually project himself on the floor like a snake!), Simon Says, Twister (with a twist – you have to jump or hop to the color), Dancing to Music (We’ve made up quite a few good moves, and I’m glad we don’t have close neighbors because the kids like to do this one out on the deck!), trampoline jumping (for literally hours!), kicking balls back and forth, racing the dog, throwing balls (or even big stones – my husband competes in Scottish Highland Games). I used to worry about PE. But I’ve learned that if you don’t use the television or video games as a babysitter the kids will develop their own imaginations, and love using their bodies. (This is not to say that I haven’t done this before. After my third child I was so sleep deprived that I would turn on PBS in the morning. They would watch while I slept. My daughter would wake me up every half hour to tell me what was coming on next.) I’ve never seen my kids spend more than 5 minutes willingly on the couch unless they were listening to stories, asleep or sick. My daughter has taken dance through a community center. We’ve done gymnastics through a homeschool group. The YMCA has homeschool gym classes. And, of course, there are community sports teams if you want to go that route.

Most people who think they couldn’t do it don’t realize what a joy it really is. I adore the “aha!” moment on my kid’s faces when they understand something. And I love teaching my kids how to research when they ask me a question I don’t know the answer to.

I actually went on longer, but cut out some of it for here. I would love to know if anyone else has anything they would have added.

So Cute. . .

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 15:46:00 -0600

I couldn't resist sharing it. . . .

My husband and I had been happily married (most of the time) for five years, but hadn't been blessed with a baby.

I decided to do some serious praying and promised God that if he would give us a child, I would be a perfect mother, love it with all my heart and raise it with His word as my guide.

God answered my prayers, and blessed us with a son.

The next year God blessed us with another son.

The following year, He blessed us with yet another son.

The year after that we were blessed with a daughter.

My husband thought we'd been blessed right into poverty. We now had four children, and the oldest was only four years old.

I learned never to ask God for anything unless I meant it. As a minister once told me, "If you pray for rain make sure you carry an umbrella."

I began reading a few verses of the Bible to the children each day as they lay in their cribs.

I was off to a good start. God had entrusted me with four children and I didn't want to disappoint Him.

I tried to be patient the day the children smashed two dozen eggs on the kitchen floor searching for baby chicks.

I tried to be understanding when they started a hotel for homeless frogs in the spare bedroom, although it took me nearly two hours to catch all twenty-three frogs.

When my daughter poured ketchup all over herself and rolled up in a blanket to see how it felt to be a hot dog, I tried to see the humor rather than the mess.

In spite of changing over twenty-five thousand diapers, never eating a hot meal, and never sleeping for more than thirty minutes at a time, I still thank God daily for my children.

While I couldn't keep my promise to be a perfect mother - I didn't even come close -
I did keep my promise to raise them in the Word of God.

I knew I was missing the mark just a little when I told my daughter we were going to church to worship God, and she wanted to bring a bar of soap along to "wash up" Jesus, too.

Something was lost in the translation when I explained that God gave us everlasting life,
And my son thought it was generous of God to give us his "last wife."

My proudest moment came during the children's Christmas pageant.

My daughter was playing Mary, two of my sons were shepherds and my youngest son was a wise man. This was their moment to shine.

My five-year-old shepherd had practiced his line, "We found the babe wrapped
In swaddling clothes."

But he was nervous and said, "The baby was wrapped in wrinkled clothes."

My four-year-old "Mary" said, "That's not 'wrinkled clothes, silly. That's dirty, rotten clothes."

A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd, and was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost her left wing.

I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped the doll representing baby Jesus, and it bounced down the aisle crying, "Mama-mama."

Mary grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up and held it tightly as the wise men arrived.

My other son stepped forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown, knelt at the manger and announced, "We are the three wise men, and we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense, and fur."

The congregation dissolved into laughter, and the pageant got a standing ovation.

"I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this one," laughed the pastor, wiping tears from his eyes. "For the rest of my life, I'll never hear the Christmas story without thinking of gold, common sense and fur."

“My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest blessing," I said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.

Jesus had no servants,
Yet they called Him Master.

Had no degree,
Yet they called Him Teacher.

Had no medicines,
Yet they called Him Healer.

Had no army,
Yet kings feared Him.

He won no military battles,
Yet He conquered the world.

He committed no crime,
Yet they crucified Him.

He was buried in a tomb,
Yet He lives today.