Posted in Commonplace Book

Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.  One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.  The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says:  'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.'  She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time.  The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.  The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'  He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.'

If you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that G-d has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.  I so needed to hear this today.

© Copyright 2009 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in Commonplace Book

I so needed to read this today:

When your Hut's on Fire

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island.  He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him.  Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming…Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.  One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky.  He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost.  He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, “God! How could you do this to me?”  Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island!  It had come to rescue him!  “How did you know I was here asked the weary man of his rescuers?  “We saw your smoke signal”, they replied.

* The Moral of this story: *

It’s easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn’t lose heart, because  G-d is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering.  Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground.  It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of G-d.

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in Commonplace Book

I was feeling a little down and then this came in my box: 

The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember... 

Noah was a drunk 
Abraham was too old 
Isaac was a daydreamer 
Jacob was a liar 
Leah was ugly 
Joseph was abused 
Moses had a stuttering problem 
Gideon was afraid 
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer 
Rahab was a prostitute 
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young 
David had an affair and was a murderer 
Elijah was suicidal 
Isaiah preached naked 
Jonah ran from God 
Naomi was a widow 
Job went bankrupt 
Peter denied Christ 
The Disciples fell asleep while praying 
Martha worried about everything 
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once 
Zacchaeus was too small  
Paul was too religious 
Timothy had an ulcer... 
AND 
Lazarus was dead! 

Now, no more excuses! God can use you to your full potential...

Besides you aren't the message,
you are just the messenger.

Posted in Commonplace Book

One of the producers speaking to Andy Griffith about Andy not wanting to create his own TV show because of how everyone was acting on the Danny Thomas show, "Andy, you have to understand that Danny likes to yell, so we all yell.  If you don't want to yell then don't yell and we won't yell."

The other night, I was watching a PBS show called Pioneers of Television.  Andy Griffith was telling about how he almost didn't go into the television business because of the chaos Danny Thomas created and this quote hit me somewhere deep inside (Andy Griffith first appeared on the Danny Thomas Show "Make Room for Daddy" and the Andy Griffith Show was a spin off of that show).  Yes, my family yells -- we tend to fly off the handle, a little too fast, and a little too easily.  Yelling is something I have always grown up with (hot Hispanic blood); not that I liked it, so I am constantly trying to change but it is tough when that is all you know.  Dh grew up with 6 brothers and sisters and you had to yell just to get noticed so it comes natural to him too LOL.  That's where this quote was just so profound for me -- "If you don't want to yell then don't yell .... and nobody will yell (said in a hushed whisper, almost like a secret LOL).  Well, DUH!  It is funny where and when G-d speaks to you.  Maybe G-d needs to yell at me sometimes LOL

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in Commonplace Book

"I'm destroying a village to save it.  In this case, a penquin," Berkeley Breathed wrote.  "...We are about to enter a rather wicked period in our National Discourse... bad enough to make what we're in right now seem folksey and genteel.  The ranting side of my cartooning impulse will destroy the thing that makes Opus comfortable for his readers.  And me."

On October 6, 2008, Berkeley Breathed, the cartoonist best know for the synndicated strip Bloom Country, announced that he would discontinue his cute socio-political penguin cartoon of Opus.  To say I was a fan of this penguin is a bit of an understatement in that I didn't always "get" his cartoon nor did I want to kill brain cells to figure it out.  My boys had just watched the movie Secondhand Lions where it appears that the young actor in the film is playing a young Berkeley Breathed and to me, that seemed to explain A LOT as to why I didn't always understand his comic strip (however, I have found no proof either way that this is true or false).  In my curious state though I did find out that the man is a hugely private, self proclaimed atheist - possibly an agnostic, a total animal rights activists and (duh) a vegetarian.  I found it quite amusing that even this type of person would see the signs of the times a'changing and of course a person with these beliefs would see the world in such a bad state because it would seem to be an awful big mess without Jesus and without His hope.  I agree that we are headed for some awful times, if we aren't already there.  I think we (myself included) have made a huge mess of the world and it seems at least in my mind, that the only one who is left to fix it, is Jesus and not some president or penguin.  I can't even imagine putting one foot in front of the other without having Jesus so I can totally read the fear or resignation, behind Berkeley Breathed's words.  My dear Opus: "breath" and remember: 

Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you."  Isaiah 35:4 NASV 

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in Commonplace Book

A man's wealth is measured by what he doesn't need.
H. D. Thoreau

This week I have had a major FLING session.  It was time.  My house had been body snatched by JUNK.  Here is the list:

FLUNG 2005 calendar (that had all the extended family birthdays in it – transferred dates to a practical place).  This is double points because normally I would cut up the calendar & use it for something else but the paper was too thick and they were really ugly pictures.

FLUNG a pair of mule leather shoes that were uncomfortable

FLUNG a stretched out, old and very worn sling for the girls ;)

FLUNG a whole mess of preschool books (my preschooler is now 7!)

FLUNG Bingo blotters to church so they can use them for crafts in Sunday school

FLUNG lots of trash and broken toys

FLUNG a preschool picnic bench

FLUNG lots of recyclables – glass, cardboard, cans

FLUNG picnic bench

FLUNG 3 dead trees & a dead yucca

FLUNG 2 boxes of toys

FLUNG Styrofoam trays, egg cartons & cardboard rolls to church for arts & crafts

SOLD jogging stroller

SOLD 6 lawn chairs

FLUNG outdated encyclopedia set

FLUNG box of clothes

FLUNG box of vases and knickknacks

Posted in Commonplace Book

No matter where the problem is, how acute it may be, or how difficult the person may be, there is in the final analysis no one to change but yourself.   

~Joseph Murphy

Again it starts.  I just don't understand why this computer doesn't like me, especially since I give it so much attention LOL.  If I just leave it on 24/7 then it is fine but the minute I start turning it on and off, it starts acting like it wants to crash on me.  This problem comes and goes and I get an awful lot of advice on how to fix it but somehow the problem never gets fully resolved and I seem to fiddle with it often.  It is not a task that I take joy it trying to solve, as a matter of fact I actually get a headache working on it but nontheless I do end up learning more about my computer and how to do things I never knew how to do.  I often wish that "I" personally wasn't the computer savvy one in the family but alas I am the one and this is why this quote is so poignant right now.  I don't know what the problem with my computer is, how acute it is, or if in fact I can solve it but the final analysis is that no one else can try and understand or fix it but me -- unless I end up taking it somewhere which is pointless because if I have "fixed it" before I can "fix it" again so I am the point man.  I can't help but feel that once again it is G-d trying to tell me about my relationship with this silly machine and the amount of attention I do give it.  So any change will have to be done in that area as well, from within myself.  It is a huge learning curve both technically and spiritually.

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in Commonplace Book

"There is no getting around the fact that to give yourselves wholeheartedly to the rearing of children will eliminate you from a lot of activities your friends are enjoying and often from activities that seem to be obligations - not merely social, but perhaps church, family, business and civic ones.  You will have to ask God for wisdom to choose and the guts to stick to the choice. (Don’t pay attention to you-owe-it-to-yourself talk.  You own nothing to yourself, everything to God.)"

~  Elisabeth Elliot

This probably is unrelated but I found it interesting & it sort of goes with this quote.  We spent the morning helping our senator at his campaign office folding flyers.  It was something we could all do and it was interesting for the boys to see another side of a campaign.  The gal in charge at the senator’s campaign office also home schooled her kids until high school (many, many years ago - her kids went to a private high school for their upper grades).  She said she always found it funny that the question we always get about home schooling is about our children’s socialization but she was sad that nobody ever asked about "her" socialization (i.e. being home all day, and having very little adult contact ---- remember too, she home schooled about 30 years ago when home schooling was fairly new so it wasn't the network that we have going now a days).  I never looked at home schooling as “my” lack of socialization but it is true and this quote just made me realize that the "sacrifice" that I choose to make is sooooooo worth it for my kids but it is a sacrifice.  Just a pondering thought.

Posted in Commonplace Book

“Presents become less important when the family traditions are rich in other ways” Esther Leisher

I don't know.  Maybe dh and I have been listening too much to Dave Ramsey.  All I know is that the both of us were really starting to stress out about the gifts or rather lack of gifts, under the tree for eachother and the boys.  One look at our bank account and you will see that the block wall around our yard is why but that still doesn't make it any easier.  You know it was all quite simple until we started watching TV again.  I can't believe what a guilt trip I have gone through about staying on budget, within budget all because of stupid commericals.  We are determined this year to not go into debt over Christmas.  We discussed the whole matter with the kids and they were as understanding as kids can be but they don't know.  I didn't want my kiddos to think that being broke was a life sentence though.  In their lifetime they will have difficulties and I want them to see glasses half full of possibilies and that G-d stustains us.  I know that what they see us do now, as the adults and parents, will be important to them in their future.  So while we aren't giving each other "new" gifts this season, we are giving each other gifts -- Silly Gifts as my ds6 so proudly announces. 

What you ask are Silly Gifts?  Well, silly gifts are the things you already have sitting around the house.  They can be something that one of us loves (like a jar of peanut butter) or some sort of service (like a dh's polished work shoes wrapped in a box) or something corny (a jar of applesauce with "Your the Apple of my eye" written on it) or a wish for that person (like the half eaten bag of corn chips with a note saying "I hope you get to watch more football this coming year").  Silly - really silly - down right goofy to the point that I think we will be giving Silly Gifts from now on. 

My point was to make sure that my boys understood that we are already soooo very blessed in so many ways and that we need to see and find JOY in EVERY situation.  It is commanded of us.  It is also commanded that we be good stewards of our things.  So until the 25th I can't tell you what silly gift I got but I can be sure that we aren't in debt over it and that we probably started a new tradition LOL.     

Posted in Commonplace Book

Happiness is making the most of what you have. 

Rosamunde Pilcher

This year money is tight – nothing new with most homeschoolers – but a much needed break is desired in my house, a break from the everyday, a break from the bickering and a break from the heat.  We really can’t afford a real vacation but we are fortunate that we are less than 2 hours away from civilization and we can head to the mountains to “experience nature”. 

Now I am not exactly the “nature type” – I don’t mind camping as long as I have a soft place to sleep, warm water and warmth when I am cold – I don’t think I am asking too much LOL.  We will head out camping this summer as often as we possibly can to get that “vacation” feeling.  I’m not super excited about it all but I will find “happiness in making the most of what I have” and what we can afford to do.  I’m sure God will show me even more happiness by just being willing to “experience nature”. 

Posted in Commonplace Book

Though some went to a university, the following great ones, with stimulation, of course, largely taught themselves at home: Michelangelo, Stonewall Jackson, Henry Ford, Robert E. Lee, Douglas MacArthur, George Patton, Alexander Graham Bell, Cyrus McCormick, Claude Monet, Leonardo da Vinci, Andrew Wyeth, John Wesley, John Quincy Adams, William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln, James Madison, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, George Washington Carver, Pierre Curie, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, William Penn, Hans Christian Anderson, Pearl Buck, Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, C.S. Lewis, George Bernard Shaw, Bret Harte, Charlie Chaplin, George Rogers Clark, Andrew Carnegie, Sandra Day O'Connor, John Burroughs, Albert Schweitzer, Noel Coward, Charles Steinmetz, John Paul Getty, Bill Gates, and Einstein who ''was slow to learn to speak, could not stomach organized learning, and loathed taking exams.

I'm also under the impression that John Hobbes, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and Louis Pasteur did most of their learning on their own -- along with the average American child who spends 91 percent of his/her life outside of the school building.

And in all the history of the world through 1969, only three great creative thinkers, Edwin J. Land, Noa Chomsky, and J. Robert Oppenheimer have done well in school.

In addition, Thomas Alva Edison's mother pulled him out of school in the first grade when his teacher called him "addled; Winston Churchill was called "hyperactive with poor peer relationships and the naughtiest small boy in England;" Sarah Bernhardt was expelled from school three times, once for throwing stones at the Royal Dragoons; Will Rogers was incorrigible at school and ran away from home; Orville Wright was suspended from school because of his mischievous behavior; Pope John XXIII was sent home with a note saying he continually came to class unprepared; he did not deliver the note; Beethoven was rude towards his friends and subject to wild fits of rage; Toscanini was obstinate and disobedient; Louis Armstrong spent time in a home for delinquents; Paul Cezanne would stamp his feet in a hysterical rage whenever he felt thwarted; Wm. Wordsworth was a ''stubborn, wayward and intractable boy; N and Arthur Conan Doyle was aggressive and continually involved in fights; he would break rules deliberately so he could show how well he could take the punishment".

Other distinguished adults who were difficult or restless children include William Randolph Hearst, Enrico Fermi, Huey Long, Jan Paderewski, Vincent Van Gogh, John Keats, Charles Darwin, Mary Baker Eddy, Florence Nightingale, and Friedrich Nietzsche.

Meanwhile, the average child, rich or poor, learns like a genius for the first 3, 4, or 5 years -- until they go to school or daycare center. That is, they have (in addition to a zillion other things and despite TV, video games, and computers) taught themselves, without any formal teaching whatsoever, an extremely complicated language, the most difficult thing they'll ever learn no matter how long they should live. But between disconnected parents and addiction to the various screens most are learning how to hold a good conversation.

And now we also know why the home-schooled child, who is not only more confident and sociable, is eight times more likely to become a National Merit Scholar than is the one who goes to school.

March 2000 Robert /. Kay, M.D.

Posted in Commonplace Book

"My home is a seed to the gospel."

Marilyn Rockett
author of Homeschooling at the Speed of Life

We have been Flinging as much of the excess that I can part with.  This isn't an easy task for me and I’ve been thinking a lot about why getting rid of the extra S.T.U.F.F. in my house is sooooo important.

Today, I will be attending the funeral of a dear man who has been such an inspiration to my husband & I. This man has lead an amazing but ordinary life and yet each of his children are all such wonderful examples of what a Christian life looks like because he was the example that they modeled.  His children are never shy about giving or reminding one of God’s love; they took after their dad. I want to take after my “DAD” - that is why I NEED to Fling the Junk so I can be the example that my children can look to.
 
My home is a "seed to the gospel" & I want God to use it in whatever way he wants (since it really belongs to Him anyhow). I want my home to be a witness, not only to my dh & boys but also to my immediate (unsaved) family and really anybody who enters it. I want God to plant His desires in my home.  I want my home and its lack of clutter to be ready at a moments notice to be offered up in service to the Lord and I don’t want my S.T.U.F.F to waste my time or take up a moments worth of space that God can use. The more I Fling the easier it gets. I think it is a gradual trusting that God will give it to the right person and that God will teach me something amazing by letting go AND THEN I will be free for God to use me for His Witness and His Glory.

Posted in Commonplace Book

This was soooooo good that it needed to be repeated.  This is what listening looks like in case I forget while I am blogging, while I am answering emails or while I am cooking dinner:

“Stop, Drop, and Roll.”
Stop whatever you are doing.
Drop, or set down, whatever you are holding.
Roll, your eyes and body toward the speaker to let them know that you want to hear what they have to say.
 
Don’t talk but make listening noises. Don’t say anything. Just try to look like you want to listen. Do use noises that show you are listening, “I see,” “Oh,” and “Uh Huh.”

Read your child’s nonverbal communication. Sometimes it will tell you things that they won’t say out loud. Do they look angry, sad, apprehensive, or happy? 

Open up more by asking questions or giving simple commands like, “How did that make you feel?” and “What happened next?” Be encouraging and listen behind the words for feelings that might not eve n be identified by your child, “You seem very excited about that!” or “I bet that made you angry.”

Pray with them to help them solve their problems as you feel they need it. Always direct them to pray first by asking, “Have you prayed about this?” Then help them think about future actions by asking things like, “What do you want to happen next?” or “What do you think she feels like?” or “Did you say you were sorry for your part in this?” Don’t try to come up with a solution but encourage them to think it through on their own. Look for biblical or personal illustrations that might point out how to achieve a good outcome. Remember, listening is what this is all about.
To wrap it all up in a nutshell, open your ears and shut your mouth.

Except from Lorrie Flem at Teach Magazine:
http://www.teachmagazine.net/Lorries_Blog.php?blog_id=9&frompage=latestblog

Posted in Commonplace Book

Posted in Commonplace Book

"Greatness isn't the work of a few geniuses, it is the purpose of each of us.  It is why we were born.  Every person you have ever met is a genius.  Every one.  Some of us have chosen not to develop it, but it is there.  It is in us.  All of us.  It is in your spouse.  It is in each of your children.  You live in a world of geniuses.  How can we settle for anything less than the best education?  How can we tell our children that mediocre education will do, when greatness is available…Our generation, and that of our children, will face its share of crises, just like every generation in the past.  When those calls come, will we be ready?  The answer depends on how we educate the next generation."           - Oliver DeMille

My Thoughts:

This just about sums up how I feel about my kids and their homeschool education.  It is sometimes tough to remember when the dog is chewing on the couch, one child is crying because he can't get his mulipication facts down, perfectly, the other doesn't want to write his narration and the final one is asking you to read to him while dinner is burning (can you tell the day I have had?).  But I must remember that I am schooling for greatness, for His greatness and to be ready for the time when He calls and asks if my genius children are ready for the Lord's return?

Posted in Commonplace Book

"If you don't make the shift from spender to saver at some point in your lifetime, you are dooming yourself to poverty or having to work forever."   - Tom Benna, Father of the 401k

My Thoughts: 

Over the last year, my dh and I have had an entire attitude shift toward money and what it means and how it should be spent and saved.  God has really been speaking to us to get out of mortgage debt now that our other bills (cars & credit cards) are paid off.  This has been a difficult adjustment for our immediate families to understand because this is such a different way of thinking about money and they are so caught up in the worldview of commercialism and materialism that it is hard for them to understand the idea of not spending but saving instead.  I get the feeling that they look at us and think we are just bazaar but we look at them and think "they just don't get it".  This quote just helped to remind me why we are fighting the opinions of everything around us, including our families. 

Posted in Commonplace Book

The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs... one step at a time.
Joe Girard

My Thoughts

I, like so many others struggle.  We all struggle with something.  For me some days are better than others but I am blessed to be given a new start & a new chance, to a new day each and everyday from my Heavenly Father.  So many times I want the elevator to work because I'm weary, tired and weak.  However, more often than I care to admit, I'd rather take the elevator because I'm just plain being lazy and slothful.  I liked this quote because I CAN take the "stairs" in ALL circumstances because of Him who strengthens me and because it is only one step at a time.  May you be encouraged to take it one step at a time. 

Posted in Commonplace Book

By ONE vote:

• In 1645, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England.
• In 1649, one vote literally cost King Charles I of England his head. The vote to behead him was 67 against and 68 for -- the ax fell thanks to one vote.
• In 1714, one vote placed King George I on the throne of England and restored the monarchy.
• In 1800, when the results of the electoral college votes were opened by both Houses of Congress, there was a tie vote for President between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. That threw the election of President into the House of Representatives where Thomas Jefferson was elected our third president by a one vote margin.
• In 1868, one vote in the U.S. Senate saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
• On November 8, 1923, members of the then recently-formed revolutionary political party met to elect a leader in a Munich, Germany beer hall. By a majority of one vote, they chose an ex-soldier named Adolph Hitler to become the Nazi Party leader.
• In 1941, the Selective Service Act (the draft) was passed by a one vote margin -- just weeks before Pearl Harbor was attacked.

To find out when you vote, where and what is on the ballot (when avaliable):

Value Voters

Sources for making an informed decision:

Project Vote Smart

Vote - USA

Wallbuilders

"Vote, America" and "Vote Your Values" 
 iVoteValues

I Vote Values

To keep abreast of what is happening on the political front:

Center for Reclaiming Christ for America

Alliance Defense Fund

American Center for Law & Justice - ACLJ

Ready to do even more than just vote?

National Day of Prayer

Presidential Prayer Team

World View Weekend

Posted in Commonplace Book

Ineffective Mom's:

Effective Mom's:

Source Living On a Dime

WOW!  Did these two types of mom's speak to me.  How many times do I bark orders, making everybody feel guilty and criticize their every move, all in the same breath.  Yikes!  I need to change that and quick, especially the one that says not to fix everything that isn't perfect (soooo FlyLady) but to TRAIN the child (or dh  ).  Gosh that is so CM in every aspect.  Re-alignments are good.

Posted in Commonplace Book

Twenty years from now you will be more dissappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the things that you did do. 

Mark Twain