Can you believe how rapidly the Holiday items appear in the stores? And why does Thanksgiving seem to be ignored and the great jump to Christmas??? Today, I went to find a Turkey on sale. I was inundated with Christmas food items and Christmas holiday stuff. Oh, for the simplicity of Thanksgiving without the commercialism of the world breathing down our backs. I remember when the boys were little, we would snuggle on the couch and read stories of the first pilgrims and even made a huge cardboard Thanksgiving tree. We would write things we were thankful for on paper leaves and pin the on the cardboard tree. Now that they are older, it seems we are just waiting for the "Meal"...Turkey Day! I guess I'm longing for a simpler more meaningful celebration. I'll let you know if we figure it out.
In August, our oldest son went away to a University...nothing causes more growth and change in a family than to have one member of the family embark on an adventure like that! We made our kitchen table smaller so that we wouldn't feel the impact of not having the oldest at our family mealtime gatherings. Cell phone calls and making care packages became things we cherished.
Almost instantly, I noticed a change in my oldest. He became the confident young man I knew he was capable of being. You see, when someone has been homeschooled since the very beginning, they wonder to themselves how they actually compare to the rest of the world. Sure homeschool mom's and dad's think their kids are way ahead academically...but the kid often needs to be convinced for themselves. For my son, it was not until he actually was in a classroom setting and found himself competing well with his peers did he gain that confidence.
The other day he urgently called me and asked me to "Pray!" because a class he needed to take in the spring was already filled to capacity. Then later he called me back and told me that at first he sent the professor an email and then actually went to a class the professor had just finished teaching, introduced himself and the professor allowed him to join the class roster. He said, "See Mom, a man needs to seize the moment if he wants to get some things in life." (I smiled to myself, knowing that he had come a long way in a few months, to actually have the confidence to present himself to the instructor and ask to be added to the class.)
Also, I noticed our 2nd oldest son begin to grow and mature over night. Sure, at first he tried to assert his new found position at the top of the son chain of command on his younger brother but the past few months has seen him begin to take control of his education. He is actually accomplishing more in a school day realizing that he is now preparing himself to be able to go to college one day.
That is what we hoped they would do, isn't it? To take charge of their lives. I am humbled and amazed that it seems to be happening in front of my eyes. I guess I really did think they would stay little forever.
Lately, I have hurt a number of family members by my insensitive comments....It seems that because I am used to saying what is on my mind with my children, I have opened my mouth to do the same to others and it has hurt their feelings. Not that anything that I said was bad in itself, but that the timing of the comments made and the people it affected, made my comments totally insensitive and hurtful to the hearers. Now I just want to crawl under a rock and hope the people affected will forgive me. Jesus is our Rock and deliverer and only He can make things right again in situations like these.
So all night long, I have tossed and turned and asked Him to forgive me and right the situation. Why do I feel the need to speak what is on my mind? Can't I trust God to work in other people's lives and keep my eyes on my own problems? When does caring and compassion cross the line and become mean and hurtful? Who am I to think I have the right to speak into others lives what I think they need to know? Time to go back to God's word and hide myself in Him....Please Pray for me.
Yesterday, I spent the day in the kitchen. First I made banana wheat muffins which turned out great. Then I made wheat bread which flopped. Next I made Cabbage Casserole which was a success and yet my Israeli Salad absolutely flopped! Finally, I canned 6 quarts of tomatoes and forgot to add Lemon juice to each quart! I learned these lessons:
1. Don't try to do too many things in one day.
2. IF you add 2 pkges yeast to a Rapid rise recipe and the flour used was self rising...it ain't gonna work!
3. Only use fresh vegetables in a fresh vegetable salad or the old ones will turn the salad bitter.
4. Don't try to do the canning and cook dinner at the same time - too many distractions! Can early in the day!
Sorry to get so behind in blogging! We have been busy graduating my oldest son from homeschool! What an amazing journey homeschooling for the entire time!!! Now he is preparing to leave for college in 3 weeks and I still have 2 sons at home to continue our homeschooling adventure. But I want to warn ya'all...It hurts. When you have never put your kids on a bus and you are a close knit family....I am already tearing up at the thought of him going away to school. God has a plan though and I have a need to trust in His plan and be still. His strength is new every morning and I am just starting to look toward the new school year with joy! (It is amazing how much junk a homeschool room can accumulate in just 2 months time.) I have a ton of curriculum to sort through and get down to basics since all my guys are now in the high school years. (Why I kept some of the elementary curriculum was because I enjoyed it so much!!!)
Anyway, I'm back and will hopefully update you on our journey to get ready for the new school year.
Well...I am hating the new computer!!!!! It is slower than the old computer and I have been on hold for technical support all morning! Why, oh, why do they make things so difficult?? Then I switched to earthlink from aol to see if it was faster for dialup and it is soooooo slow it is unbelievable! Needless to say, I expect to be on this thing all day long until I can get it to function the way it is supposed to. I'll keep you up - to - date! Kathy
We finally bit the bullet and bought a new computer...actually have it here, but not out of the box yet. There is a certain sadness about getting rid of this ancient computer we have been using since the beginning of time... First of all, I have a zillion favorites saved on this computer and haven't the slightest idea how to save them onto the new computer. This computer is as comfortable as a sock with holes in it. Yes, it has problems...but it still feels comfortable. It is familiar to me and I am afraid of the new technology and speed of the new computer. My sons are chomping at the bit for me to open the box and set up the new computer...They are longing for speed and new technology so they can soar faster over this invisible highway called the internet. I miss the days when they just wanted to play Lego Island or Sammy's Science House. Life's pace will pick up...I guess I won't have time to make coffee while I wait for a download anymore... and I will have to learn this new technology to keep up with the times. Oh, well...time to put this old machine to rest. I'll let you know once we are all set up and back online.
Some people have disappearing socks at their house...but at our house: PENCILS DISAPPEAR!! Whenever I ask everyone to grab their stuff for school, no one can find anything to write with. Now, ya'all don't judge me for mot buying them...I buy them every September. But by the end of October they have vanished from the face of the earth!
I once saw a Funniest Home Video about someone hiding a video camera to catch a thief...So I thought I would play detective and spy on the guys last week to see where the pencils where disappearing and here's what I came up with:
1.) We have one son fascinated with the electric pencil sharpener. It seems he likes to write with one inch tall pencils and sits there and creates one after the other.
2.) My boys like to take pencils with us when we take a drive...needless to say, I found a huge pile in our vehicles!
3.) Underneath the boys beds I found a treasure trove! It seems that they like to draw in their rooms at night.
Sooo, consequently, I bought some more pencils and have restricted the new ones to the scool room. Now we will see how long it takes for these to disappear!
Well, I added a photo of the boys and I when we went to Baltimore Inner Harbor. My oldest, Nate is 17, Aaron is 15 and Josh is 12. I am looking for a photo of Belle that I had on my computer but my husband often manages the files on the computer and I can't find it at all. Hopefully by the end of the day I'll find it. Belle is in rough shape. Hopefully our pastor will get a chance to visit with her this week to pray with her and encourage her. She is so tired of fighting and yet desperately wants to see her little girl grow up. My heart longs for her to be healed. I know that Jesus could do a miracle for her at any moment and the cancer would be gone...yet He tarries. We wait on Him to turn and be gracious unto us. Talk to ya'all soon.
My Sister-in-law, Belle, is going in for another de-bulking of her trachea this morning. (They go in and basically scrape all the cancer tumors out of the opening in there) She is in desperate need of a miracle. She has not been able to swallow even her own spit for the past 2 months. We are praying that God will open up the esophagus after the trachea is debulked....that would be a miracle. She was getting her esophagus widened periodically but that obviously made her esophagus close instead. Belle has cancer of the trachea, larynx, voice box etc. and has had it for over 9 years now. She has a stomach feedingtube and cannot sleep because she cannot lie down and every 15 minutes she has to spit because she cannot swallow the spit in her mouth. She is unable to breathe through her nose and often her head feels so much pressure and pain through her neck, jaw and up to her ears. Belle has an 8 year old daughter named Rebecca and her husband is named Tom. Please keep them in prayer today and ask God to do a miracle for Belle today. You can read more about Belle in other posts I have written on my blogsite.
We are all getting up a little slower than I anticipated in my scheduling but so far so good with keeping us on track otherwise. Instead of starting at 8am, we pushed it to 9 am. But the best part of the day has been opening up the Word with the boys. This week have been in 2 Chronicles Chapter 1-7. I pointed out to the boys that Soloman did not keep the law that God had prescribed for His kings to keep and that was one of the reasons the kingdom of Israel was divided. He married numerous foreign wives, multiplied silver and gold and chariots from Egypt for himself, and did not make a copy of the law in his own handwriting...All of those things were spoken against in Deuteronomy Chapter 17: 17-19. This reminded us of the words that Jesus said in John Chapter 15 that we are to "Abide in Him". Read His Word, know what He requires of us and spend time talking with Him in prayer. Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abided in me and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you." (John 15:5-7)
Oh, may we spend more time with him and learning from Him each day!
Well, I'm having one of those nights where you go to sleep as soon as you hit the bed ...but then you wake up 2 hours later - WIDE AWAKE! So, after tossing around like a salad on my bed for an hour, I decided to get up and tackle some things before the morning. One was to check my email and the other my blog. I am so excited about our new homeschool schedule that I think I'm in "think mode" instead of sleep mode. Anyway, been on here long enough, gonna rehit the hay.
FINALLY! I just finished a daily homeschool schedule for our family! Whew! It was hard to figure out who would do what when but I think this will work. I have a 12th grade son, a 10th grade son and a 6/7th grade son. (Actually the 10th grade son is probably 9/10 too...they are both September birthdays and tend totake their time more than my 1st one did.)
I don't know if I can figure out how to share with all of you what I did because I'm not computer literate and so I made a five columned paper and wrote it in with colored markers. I made a copy for each of us so we all know what to do. Tomorrow will be our trial day and I'm hoping it will not need tweaked but will flow smoothly. You would think that after homeschooling since the beginning of time I would have this figured out.....! It just seems that each year I need to relearn lessons that I should have figured out years ago. I cannot begin to tell you why I do it but my whole entire homeschool experience has been one of two steps forward, three steps back!
How else would you explain why I use a curriculum successfully one year, change curriculum the next year...then go back to the original the following year because I realized my mistake! I tend to do this over and over. Why do we second guess ourselves? My prayer this year is that I will stay at my Father's feet and not change anything until I have bathed it in prayer. This entire year has been soaked in prayer and so far I can already see the difference from the years that I have flown by the seat of my pants. I just got a book by Jim Cymbala called "Breakthrough Prayer". It is a compilation of the things Pastor Cymbala has learned on his journey through prayer over the years. I love that! I know I have been on a journey reading all I can and underlining every verse possible relating to prayer and to think of a Pastor on the same journey...that is exciting!
Well, I'll let you all know how our day goes tomorrow!
Guess what?! My husband is sending my oldest son and I to Israel this spring with a group from our church!! I am so excited but I am truly humbled because now I need to figure out how to come up with the funds. My son wants us to do a mission letter; but I really think of it as a pleasure, sightseeing kind of a trip and am not sure how to make the additional funds necessary. We have been trying to get out of debt this year and got rid of all our credit cards so now I have to trust that I can save the funds and not borrow. Pray for me as I try to come up with ideas. My first thought was a bake sale...so I need to plan ahead a bit and see what the next step is.
This trip has been a heart desire for me since I was 18 years old. I was all set to go to Israel with Christian Ministry for the Jews when trouble broke out in Israel and my parents would not let me go. Since then I have longed to visit Israel and have taught my children to love Israel and the Jews. In fact, we celebrate all the feasts and have celebrated Sabbath in our family since the kids were little. This past week we celebrated The Feast ofTabernacles with about 26 people from our church. It was such a blessing! I am amazed at how many Christians I have been meeting lately with a heart for Israel and who long to know more about the Jewish Roots of their faith. We live at an exciting time in the history of the church. God is doing mighty things in our midst and I am in awe of Him.
My dad had a heart attack at the end of August and it sent me into a tailspin when I should have been getting our school stuff ready. (Thankfully he is o.k. now!) I can't believe how fast the first 3 weeks of homeschool have gone by! Yet, we are still barely scraping by! I find myself re-copying the work not completed over and over! But on Friday I finished our new chore chart for the school year...that alone should speed up the organization process around here. Being the only woman in a house full of men is hard because they have no problem letting Mom do all the work unless we have the chart up and enforced. Also, while all my guys are watching the movie "Gettysburg" today, I hope to plan our daily school schedule. It has always helped us to have our days somewhat structured. Whenever we fly by the seat of our pants it seems that only the bare minimum gets done.
Hey guess what?! We got rid of the satellite television in August! I cannot begin to tell you how that affected our school year last year...and not for the good, I am sad to say! I prayed long and hard for our deliverance and after one year of t.v. subscription we are free again!!! Now the evenings find us enjoying the serenading of my youngest on harmonica or oldest two on piano, guitar or violin. The guys don't sneak down to the t.v. all day long to watch the zillion shows they had taped on the dvr. PTL!!!!
SO, I look forward to really hitting the books hard next week and holding the guys accountable to finish their work or do homework in the evening to make sure their finished. I'll let you all know how it goes! Kathy
My son went on his first mission trip 2 weeks ago and I have been a blubbering baby! We have homeschooled for his entire life. He is 17 and I have two other sons at home to keep me company; but whenever he calls or I see him or have to say good-by...I am a cry baby! Thankfully, he is still in our state with a touring mission choir and I have been able to see him but I wonder if other homeschool moms have gone through this? I mean, maybe because I never put him on the school bus when he was younger...it might be harder to do as they get older. I keep thinking to myself "Get a grip woman!" Really, I don't know how moms of soldiers make it...
Anyway, I just wondered if other homeschool moms have felt this almost mourning feeling? I know it will only get harder in the future to deal with my sons growing up and embarking on their own lives. I can't even try scrapbooking as a hobby because I know that looking at baby pictures makes me sad. Do you know what I miss?? Naptime snuggly sleepy heads with tiny toes and baby feet. (All my sons have feet bigger than mine by now!) I miss chocolate milk moustaches...they are now becoming replaced with the real thing. Maybe I am just in a 40's crisis time of my life? Maybe I need to corner my husband and convince him that I need another baby around here? Maybe not... I am just thankful that I still have my three boys and I still need to live in this moment and trust in God to take care of these feelings when I commit my way to Him. I know I can trust in Him to bring to completion the work he has started in all our lives. Just keep me in prayer ya'all. I'm gonna go get another kleenex.
Well, I got a great book at the Walmart yesterday! It is called "The Dangerous Book for Boys". The book's author's want to bring back the days before video games and I-pods; when boys built tree forts and read stories of courageous men. I hope to use it with my boys this summer. It should be a fun read this summer with the guys. I also bought each of us a notebook that has a date space at the top for our devotionals. So far, I feel God is leading and directing our plans. I am starting to get excited!
The berry season has started at our house and we have been out picking blackraspberries and blueberries in the woods by our house. My freezer is beginning to fill up with the bounty. We love to find berry covered turtles munching the berries. Every year they seem to find their way back to the bushes. If my dog finds them she goes wild with joy as though she just found the greatest treasure and has to tell us all. Then we have to hide the turtle from her or she will try to keep it.
My oldest son is getting ready to go on a missions trip on Friday and I know I will feel a bit sad when he goes because he has never been away from home before. Yet, I am so excited for him to have this opportunity to grow in the Lord and experience serving the Lord in this way. I know we will both grow through this experience.
My sister in law, Belle is in desperate need of prayer tonight. She has struggled with cancer for 9 years. she has cancer of the trachea, larynx, voicebox, esophogus, etc. She had a debulking surgery done on Thursday and has not been doing very good since. She cannot speak and she cannot swallow and has been in alot of pain so is not getting sleep. She is trying to have a procedure done by the end of this week where they will expand her esophagus so she can eat food and swallow.
For Belle, getting a feeding tube would break her spirit. She definately does not want to get one but has not been doing well at all. She had one years ago and it hurt very much so she has wanted to avoid getting one. Please pray for her healing and deliverance from this tonight. She is such a wonderful witness with her life. She daily sits at her Savior's feet and being in her presence you can feel His. I know you would all love her to pieces. It is so hard to realize she is suffering like this and yet you feel so unable to help other than to pray. Again, please pray for Belle tonight.
grade son. (Actually the 10th grade son is probably 9/10 too...they are both September birthdays and tend totake their time more than my 1st one did.)
It just seems that each year I need to relearn lessons that I should have figured out years ago. I cannot begin to tell you why I do it but my whole entire homeschool experience has been one of two steps forward, three steps back! 