Fitting It In

Sunday morning the sermon at our church was about how we need to study God's word more. Well, it was really about more than just that--but that was a big part of it. We started off looking at Hosea 4:1-6. Verse 6 says: 


My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. 


There was more to the sermon, to be sure. But afterward, S and I talked about how we DO need to read...not just read but study...our Bible more. 


Let's get practical and think about how that can actually happen. Of course it's easy to say...but do? Much harder. 


How can I sit here and say that it is "hard" to read my Bible more? Look at this story. Now come back here and tell me how it is hard for me?


And another verse we read during the sermon Sunday: 1 Peter 5:8-9.


 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.


The devil is walking around like a lion, seeking whom he may devour? Makes me even more determined. 


This morning I grabbed my phone and we read Proverbs 15 at breakfast. I don't know how much of it got into their heads or hearts, but we read it. Sweetheart read her assigned reading during school. I read Little Bit's assigned reading out of a Bible storybook. We worked on memorizing scripture. There will be more study tonight. 


How can we say we are too busy? Have I been busy today? Yes. We must cook and clean and teach and run errands and do laundry. There are many things to be done during each day. But there is time. There is time to read and study God's word. There is time to get it into our lives. 


Folks, we have it so easy here in America right now. Not perfect...but easy. How do you know what kind of world your children will live in when they are adults? How much more will they need to have God's word in their hearts? 


Someone is seeking to devour us. And God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Not sinners. Not people "of the world." GOD'S PEOPLE are destroyed because they do not know.


A daily devotional calendar is not enough. 
An e-mail devotional is not enough. 
An encouraging blog post is not enough. 
Listening to Christian music is not enough. 
That Little Golden book about Jonah is not enough. 


Reading your Bible is not enough!!!!


We must study it. And know it. 


How can we do it? How can we fit it in? 


1. You have multiple Bibles? Store them around the house. Make it easy to grab one while you are at the dining room table and read it to your family. 
2. Make it a part of the school day. No if, ands, or buts.
3. You don't often let your kids skip brushing their teeth? Then set Bible reading as part of the daily routine and do not skip it. 
4. Use audio Bibles. 
5. Keep one in the car. Read while you are in line for something. 
6. Download an app on your phone. 
7. Take it to church. Look up the scripture during the sermon instead of relying on the verses on the screen. Trust me, it's not the same.


What else am I forgetting? How can we fit it in? 


Because it IS that important. 

In Which We Haven't Covered That Yet

The kids had an assignment from church last week. They all remembered when they walked in this morning. They were supposed to think of something Jesus or Paul did that they should do as well. (Coming off of Paul's words about if you have seen anything in him, imitate him....etc.) So the older girls thought of something and wrote it down. I was working with Baby Bee to think of something.

Me: Tell me some things Jesus or Paul did in the Bible.
Her: Jesus died on the cross. He rose from the grave. He walked on water. He gave a promise not to flood the earth. I don't know Paul.

:) Well...to be fair, we are still reading the Old Testament and she's only 3! We'll get there!

This week in school I have some goals. One of them is to, you know, DO school and FINISH things every day.

I know. Wow.

But the other is to keep up with Sweetheart, who was given some freedom and trust last week and decided to completely skip both Biology and Math all week! So, back to babysitting in a hard way. I surely wish we had another set up so that I could be beside all the girls at once. Need a bigger house! And not just because of homeschooling either. This floor plan just isn't working for us anymore. But...here we are. Until the Lord makes a way for us to move, we are here.

I've been brainstorming about rearranging but haven't come up with a solution just yet. I can assure you when I do, it will be easier to just do it than talk to S about it first. Even though we are going to have some major school work going on this summer, I am still getting in the mood to rearrange, paint, and fix things up around here! We don't have any plans to go anywhere much so I should have plenty of time!

I Want Tea

I really, really want some tea. But I have silent reflux. I was diagnosed at the ENT last April. He said it wasn't bad enough to treat, but gave me a diet to follow to help it. The diet included....or rather excluded...all caffeine. I. am. so. sick. of. water.

Please don't think I've gone since last April without tea or cokes. Please. But I've been really trying to do better lately and I miss drinking something else!! I would dearly love to heal this.

Because this is a busy week and I WANT TEA to drink while I run amok!

How is your Christmas season going?

Tomorrow after co-op, Sweetheart and I have to find dresses to wear the next day to our church Christmas dinner. And Little Bit needs black shoes. Then Saturday they are both performing at a Christmas party in a hospital before we head over to the church Christmas dinner.

Little Bit at her concert last year.

Oh and I have to buy toys to donate before that dinner. I guess I'll do that Friday as well while we are out and about.

There is more going on next week, but I'll save that for another time.

Little Bit was diagnosed with allergies in August. This has rocked our world. The hardest one to deal with has been the soy allergy. Soy is in pretty much everything. I say that to people but they don't GET it. Dear friends and family who have tried to cook/bake for us this season have found out what I am talking about. Some friend in our bookclub made cookies--and tried to make them soy-free---but realized after they used margarine, which has soy. My sister made some treats for Thanksgiving but then realized after she had sprayed the pans with cooking spray and...you guessed it...soy.

So for the church Christmas dinner, we will have to provide alternative food for her. That's OK. I don't mind. I just can't believe how little thought we used to put into things like this event and how much one little food allergy changes that. I called the restaurant who is catering the dinner and they said they rinse all their pasta in soy oil. OK thanks! They don't have any printed allergy info so I don't trust their other food too much either. We'll see. She can have tea. That much I know.

Mama is on top of things and has not lost her mind. I promise.

Trying to wrap up our school week around here so we can concentrate on shopping for clothes and toys, getting ready to perform, and partying.

Oh, and doing the dishes and cleaning the house and getting caught up on laundry and cooking meals from scratch and all that other fun stuff!

Early Monday Morning

S has been very helpful and supportive with my homeschool concerns lately. He's home enough now to see for himself the problems I have with keeping Sweetheart on task and on schedule and not distracted and not losing things, etc. When he had his mowing business he was gone a lot. I'm thankful that preaching-as-a-second-job allows him to be home so much more. He's very helpful!

It always surprises me when I give one of the girls a direction and they are whining or begging for some other thing and he cuts in with, "Go do it!" to the girl. Ah. So nice and refreshing to cut all that jabber and just have them go obey.

I know I could/should cut them off every time and have them obey like that, but honestly it is very tiring to always be the one giving directions. I think that's one thing about homeschooling that's exhausting---the directing all the time. To be the one constantly re-directing, checking on, getting on to, encouraging, instructing, keeping on task....

Does that tire you out too?

Maybe that's just parenting.

It's easier to ignore them and just think, "I don't hear any sounds of violence coming from their room so things must be good." It's easier--but not better.

So he said he would get Sweetheart up at 6 every morning so she can have time to get ready and get her physical therapy done. Her stretches and exercises take 45 minutes twice a day--a real time sucker! This morning Bee happened to call for me at 6:15 and that was the first any of us knew it was morning. Thankfully, I got her up and she got going. In fact, she's in the living room getting Bee dressed now. So nice for her to have time to get her stuff done AND be helpful!

Mondays are choir days for us. Choir is about 30-45 minutes away. We have to pack school work, choir stuff, lunches, toys for Bee, and stuff for me to do. It's an endeavor let me tell you. And then when we get home there is more school work to do.

Which is why I love Tuesdays. Tuesdays we stay home. ***big smile***

But first I must make it through today where I set the timer for every single thing Sweetheart does to keep her on track, assign homework for what is not finished, keep after her to pick up after herself following any activity, while also teaching a 4th grader and managing a 1 year old.

A one year old who scratched me on Sunday morning. I said, "Why on earth did you do that?" and she said, "I a tiger."

Then when we got to church she ran 15-20 laps around the auditorium. We were hoping that would tire her out for during church but ha ha. Needless to say, I made use of the cry room on Sunday and there was crying. And I wasn't even trying to make her sit! I was letting her play! Some days it just isn't happening. She was in such a fine mood. After church she walked across the big field by our church and then when she got back to the car she was hanging from the door handles saying, "I a ooh-aah!" (monkey). Oh it was quite a morning. I should have known after I took this picture Sunday morning before church:

One day THIS one will be my 8th grader.

And you know what? I can't wait.

 Because I love every single one....

 ...of these girls....

...so stinkin' much!

Even early on a Monday morning.

So I Think I Have Been Wrong

Actually, I'm pretty convinced of it.

And in the process, I believe I have probably confused my children for LIFE.

OK. Where do I start?

We've been at our new church for over a year now. Our old church was, shall we say, um...a bit more progressive than we were comfortable with. It was no longer anything like the church where we grew up. I will give more specific examples later. Our new church is very much more in line with our beliefs. (And with the Bible, in our opinion.)

Our new church makes us realize how really progressive our old church was.

Somewhere along the way, I missed learning this. Which would explain why I am just learning it at age 41.

Wow. I don't even know how to start explaining this to you.

So a few years ago, I started noticing a trend of Christians celebrating Old Testament festivals and feasts. Like Passover, for example. You can order things for these celebrations on Christian websites. The way Christians "do" these feasts and celebrations is a bit differently than how the Jewish people in the Old Testament did them, I think.

Honestly I don't know too much about why Christians would observe those days. My first thought was, "Well that's a strange thing to do----those things are part of the Old Testament and that doesn't apply to us as Christians." It has become trendy to do so, however.

And there is more to it than just celebrating something from the Old Testament---which New Testament Christians did not do. There's also the fact that it's all mixed up and crazy. This article I found on google will highlight what I mean....it's the taking of an old Jewish feast and mixing it up with Christian beliefs. It's assigning new "religious" meanings to traditions that may or may not have even been part of the original feast as ordained by God.

Basically, people are making up a holiday here.

The New Testament mentions nothing about Christians celebrating Passover. Or even a hybrid form of it. So should we be doing that?

So just know that those thoughts were swirling in my head.

THEN, I started hearing about how Christmas and Easter should have no religious significance.

What? How sacrilegious! How unheard of! Why would you take Christ out of Christmas? Why would you make the Easter Bunny more important than Jesus Christ?

Seriously, the whole idea of celebrating these holidays with no religious significance at all floored me.

This is the very thing I have fought against for many years!! We, as a new family, with very little thought to the consequences, started off doing things just as they had been done when we were growing up. We hunted eggs. The Easter Bunny left treats. Santa visited. We read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas....on and on. That's how our little family started doing things when Sweetheart was born.

But then, I started to feel guilty. I mean, these traditions have pagan roots for goodness sake! I read. I learned. Hunting eggs? Bad. Christmas trees? Bad. Every single tradition seemed to have a pagan root. I didn't want my children growing up thinking it was all about eggs and candy and Santa and presents! I wanted them to know the "real" reason for the holidays.

I'm telling you what I thought here.

So for many years now (probably 6 years), I have worked to make the "real" meaning stand out while minimizing all the pagan stuff. I got Resurrection Eggs. We stopped dyeing eggs. I gave the girls Bibles and Bible covers for Easter treats instead of "bunny" stuff. We learned the names of Christ and made ornaments out of them and hung them on a tree. We decorated with more nativity scenes and less Santa. We learned all about Christ's final week. We did crafts. We read Bible passages. We made this a part of our homeschool. A part of our evenings. And very much a part of our celebrations.

And now I think that was wrong. I was wrong.

During the time I was working to overhaul our holidays to the "real" meaning, our old church started doing some things I wasn't comfortable with. In our old church, there is a large wooden cross beside the "stage" for lack of a better word. It sits there 365 days a year. It's like part of the building and I really didn't even notice it all that much. Then a few years ago, they started draping black cloth on it on Good Friday. Then it would change to white on Easter Sunday. There was purple in there too. I didn't know where all this was coming from so I came home and researched and found out it was all related to Advent. Advent is not something we grew up doing. Or celebrating. Or whatever. And I don't read about it in the Bible so it's not something we do. It's made up, in my opinion and there's too much symbolism to keep up with!

Then they started "the flowering of the cross." Everyone would bring fresh flowers and they wrapped chicken wire around the whole cross and stuck the flowers in on Easter Sunday during the worship service. Where are we getting this stuff from???? This in NOT in the Bible!! We started going out of town on Easter. It was easier than trying to explain all these things to the girls when we couldn't make sense of them ourselves.

Later they started having "Good Friday" services at the church. We did not attend. Everything was getting really, really religious. But not really biblical.

I stamped my foot (inwardly, of course) and said, "This stuff is not authorized in God's Word! The church should not be doing this stuff!"

But I forgot to look at our own house. I'm sharing this with you, dear blog readers, because I have brought you along on my journey to overhaul our holidays. And now I won't be doing things the same way because I have come to the understanding that these holidays--they aren't in the Bible either.

Just as Advent is not taught to us by Jesus, and we have no record of the apostles or first century Christians doing such things, neither is there authorization for making the birth of Christ and his death, burial, and resurrection into religious days. These holidays are NOT found in scripture.

Of course I have always taught my children that December 25th probably wasn't Jesus' real birthday. But if God wanted us to celebrate that day, that event, He would have given us instruction on how He wanted that done. And when!

Now don't get me wrong....Christ's birth and his death, burial and resurrection are events I am VERY thankful for!! We have been instructed to remember Christ's death, burial, and resurrection on the first day of the week when we meet together. We have not been given instructions about remembering Christ's birth.

It isn't that I think remembering these things is evil...it's that they are not religious celebrations ordained by God in His word.

Folks, we have made some stuff up here. And it's all confusing and mixed up with pagan stuff. It's a mess. Just like those new "Christian Passover" feasts. There is this constant struggle between secular and Christian and it needn't be! Christians don't need to waste their time fighting to "keep Christ in Christmas" because He hasn't asked us to celebrate it anyway!

Now, about celebrating Christmas with no religious significance. How freeing!! I feel a huge sigh of relief coming on. No longer do I need to struggle with this. Christmas is simply a day to get together with our family and loved ones and give each other gifts and enjoy a meal together. And that's it! That's all it needs to be!

I don't have to spend the weeks before Christmas doing a countdown where we read a scripture each night about the coming Messiah from the Old Testament prophets. We don't have to crack out the Resurrection eggs and have a devotional all week prior to Easter.

I can quit trying to make these celebrations all about God because He hasn't asked me to do that anyway!!!

Because these are not celebrations He commanded us to keep.

Do you feel the huge weight lifted off my shoulders?

Now hear me...we are stil going to celebrate Christmas and Easter around here. Easter has never been a really big one with us anyway. Christmas I love. Thanksgiving I love. We celebrate Independence Day too. There is nothing wrong with having a day set aside to spend with your family and enjoy food and fellowship and gift-giving.

But we will no longer be celebrating them as religious holidays. I hope I have made sense in my explanation of why.

Because now I have to explain this to my girls.

Nobody Blogs on Saturdays

Do they? Well, this happens to be the time I can jump on here. Boy, having one more little kid really throws a kink in your blogging!

Tomorrow REAL FALL will come to Texas! Well, for a couple of days anyway. We decorated for fall at the beginning of September, but I haven't been able to burn my pumpkin spice candles because the ceiling fan keeps blowing them out. Welcome to Texas fall.

But tomorrow, and its already hit most parts of Texas, the cool front will be here and we will go to church in 50 degree weather. Can't wait!

Only...we don't exactly have anything to wear for that weather. Sweetheart especially has grown a bushel and a peck since last year. We just finished pulling all the tubs of clothes out of Little Bit's closet and they tried everything on. Sweetheart has 2 pair of pajamas, 2 sweatshirts, and 2 long sleeved shirts that fit.

I actually did find a dress I think will work for her tomorrow, but the only shoes she has are these.

Ladies Size 9. MY size! Good grief.

And I think we can all agree those are pretty chilly in 50 degree weather.

So we will head out in a bit to find more appropriate shoes for fall church wearing. Little Bit and I both have boots from last year that still fit for now so we're good.

And Bee has tights. OH she is going to look so sweet in those tights. :)

So I'm sneezing from pulling out all the clothes. I don't know why that always sets my allergies off but it does. I guess pulling the tubs out of the closet kicks up enough dust to do me in.

Next week we have to be SUPER DUPER REALLY AND I MEAN IT serious about school. It's our last full week until we go camping later this month and I want to feel a little caught up and further along before we take off on a vacation.

And for those of you who get annoyed when people type in call caps...it's how I talk. Really.

Back on topic, I need to rifle through the school shelf and make copies and get organized for the upcoming week o' education at our house. I must do this now while Bee is sleeping. And we're home.

Anyone else tired of running? (Shut up Suzanne-stay-home-for-2-weeks. I'm not talking to you.) We SO need to stay home more this week. For school to happen. For Mommy to not have a headache. For rest. For sanity.

I'm off to plan. Must have a plan.

Life v. School

Schooling is a priority around here. I take my responsibility very seriously. But there are times when life is just too busy and other things are just more important.

Not that we drop school completely, but we let other things take priority.

Which is why I'm not going to get every single subject done this week. And maybe not next week. We'll see.

But we most assuredly ARE plugging along with school. Just not at 100%, that's all.

Some of the things going on?

• My uncle is in hospice care with terminal cancer. We suspect he will not live through this week. There will likely be a memorial service to attend very soon. 
• My dad has had these scary spells of confusion. We were really worried something was very wrong but the doctor seemed to think it was a UTI. Seems confusion is often the only symptom in elderly folks. BUT we've been waiting for blood work results since last Wednesday. So frustrating. Hoping it IS just a UTI and that he can get started on meds tomorrow. Mom has been afraid to leave him. 
• Assuming everything referenced above is OK, he will be starting a trial for his cancer. Prayers would be appreciated for both situations. 
• Our good, good friends are moving away this weekend. We're helping them how we can this week. And guess where they are moving? Pretty much in the path of the hurricane. 
• S will start preaching "full-time" this Sunday. I say full time in quotes because he will also have his regular full-time job. Two sermons a week plus one Wednesday night Bible study. Every week. 
• It's our month to clean the church building.

BUT. I always try to do what Philippians 4:6-7 says and present my requests with thankfulness. 

So, I am thankful for:

• My health. That I am home and well and able to care for my family.
• Baby Bee, Little Bit, and Sweetheart. I love them so much. 
• Our home, cars, my husband's income, food....we are so well provided for by our Heavenly Father. 
• That I've been married to my best friend for 19 years. 

When burdens seem heavy and there is so much going on you don't feel you can JUST focus on school....that's a good time to remember WHO you should be focused on anyway, right? 

Christmas 2011

Like that original, eye-catching title? Thank you. I came up with it all by myself.

It's over and I don't want to take down the decorations. Usually I'm stopping myself from taking them down the very next day, but this year I'm kind of not caring how long they stay up.

Christmas Eve we had S's sisters and their families over for a little party. We said "5:00" but apparently to the younger generation, that number was arbitrary. (Our niece and nephews are all adults on that side of the family.) They showed up sometime in the 6:00 hour. Hmm. Pretty sure that makes me old, but I would never have done that at their age. But we went ahead without them so no big deal. This is me probably listening to my brother-in-law tells some big story. I was really tired by the end of the evening but I think everyone had fun.

 We had to hurry and get the girls in bed (late) by the time everyone left. Had to make time for a story, though.

 This year, Sweetheart let us sleep until 7:00am. Well, 6:51....but that's good because it means she understands rounding. Then they tore open their presents.

 And we got ready for church. (Yes, I wore the same shirt, OK?)

 Look! My husband was there too! This picture was taken by Sweetheart and is far more centered than the one taken by Little Bit. Also, there is less looking up our noses. Little Bit maybe should stand on a stool next time. :)

After church, we all went to my parents' house and ate lunch and opened presents. I don't think we got any pictures from then, we just enjoyed watching the kids. We were blessed with some really cool gifts though. We got the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper from my parents, which I really wanted.

We also got a beach mat and a personalized soft-sided cooler with 4 water bottles and sandwich holders in it. Can't wait to get back to the beach!! I got some maternity shirts and my mom and sister couldn't resist buying little things for the baby. I don't have anywhere to PUT little things for the baby yet!

So S and I are feeling the pressure of 4 and half months left before life changes and took advantage of yesterday to do some cleaning/clearing out. He worked in the garage and shed and back porch and I worked in the laundry/sewing room. Today I will do the desk/office type things. I feel better already having those areas that were bad, organized again. And since I'm completely not ready to think about school, cleaning sounds better.

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas with your family!

Fitting It In

Sunday morning the sermon at our church was about how we need to study God's word more. Well, it was really about more than just that--but that was a big part of it. We started off looking at Hosea 4:1-6. Verse 6 says:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

There was more to the sermon, to be sure. But afterward, S and I talked about how we DO need to read...not just read but study...our Bible more.

Let's get practical and think about how that can actually happen. Of course it's easy to say...but do? Much harder.

How can I sit here and say that it is "hard" to read my Bible more? Look at this story. Now come back here and tell me how it is hard for me?

And another verse we read during the sermon Sunday: 1 Peter 5:8-9.

 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

The devil is walking around like a lion, seeking whom he may devour? Makes me even more determined.

This morning I grabbed my phone and we read Proverbs 15 at breakfast. I don't know how much of it got into their heads or hearts, but we read it. Sweetheart read her assigned reading during school. I read Little Bit's assigned reading out of a Bible storybook. We worked on memorizing scripture. There will be more study tonight.

How can we say we are too busy? Have I been busy today? Yes. We must cook and clean and teach and run errands and do laundry. There are many things to be done during each day. But there is time. There is time to read and study God's word. There is time to get it into our lives.

Folks, we have it so easy here in America right now. Not perfect...but easy. How do you know what kind of world your children will live in when they are adults? How much more will they need to have God's word in their hearts?

Someone is seeking to devour us. And God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Not sinners. Not people "of the world." GOD'S PEOPLE are destroyed because they do not know.

A daily devotional calendar is not enough.

An e-mail devotional is not enough.

An encouraging blog post is not enough.

Listening to Christian music is not enough.

That Little Golden book about Jonah is not enough.

Reading your Bible is not enough!!!!

We must study it. And know it.

How can we do it? How can we fit it in?

1. You have multiple Bibles? Store them around the house. Make it easy to grab one while you are at the dining room table and read it to your family.

2. Make it a part of the school day. No if, ands, or buts.

3. You don't often let your kids skip brushing their teeth? Then set Bible reading as part of the daily routine and do not skip it.

4. Use audio Bibles.

5. Keep one in the car. Read while you are in line for something.

6. Download an app on your phone.

7. Take it to church. Look up the scripture during the sermon instead of relying on the verses on the screen. Trust me, it's not the same.

What else am I forgetting? How can we fit it in?

Because it IS that important.

Please Watch Divided!

I have been wanting to watch this documentary for a while now and thankfully I found out it is online free until September. Please go and watch it. Basically, it's about youth groups. But it covers so much more than that.

I already know many of my readers will agree with it. I would like to hear feedback. I'll probably write what I think about the whole thing next week. It's very good and very thought-provoking. It also really was interesting to us as one of the reasons we were looking to change churches before August was that Sweetheart is entering 6th grade and was going to be expected to "join" the youth group. Also, the part about the origins of Sunday school was very interesting. You may remember I blogged about that a while back, but this gives even more information that I did not realize.

Here is the link where you can watch it free.

Or here is the official website where you can also watch it.

Let me know what you thought! And also, will it cause you to change anything in your life?

Deep Thoughts and Thursday

I have many deep thoughts today but it's Thursday and my house is a mess all around the edges. Seriously, the kitchen table is clean, the living room floor is clean.....but all around the edges there are stacks and piles and mess and sacks to be donated or sold.

Piano practice with a partner.

I don't have time to be deep today. Plus, I'm still thinking on it. I e-mailed Carrie to rant about people (who go to church) raving about seeing a certain movie that did not sound....um, inspirational. I read the review for said movie at pluggedin.com and wow. I was floored. So I e-mailed Carrie about it and we got into a conversation about TV and movies and modesty and just where is the standard? Then we both went to church last night and guess what was talked about at both churches??? Weird. And then I got home and read a blog post that fit so I sent it to her and S and I spent all evening talking about these things.

Little Bit slept in the living room for weeks when her tics were so bad. She slept ALL over the living room!

And I'm still mulling it over in my mind. I have to do that for a while before I can write it all down for you.

But it's Thursday right now and my house is only clean in the middle. Also, I have to clean out the TV cabinet today so we can move the TV to the toy room and the cabinet to my homeschool room. Not that it will fit in there right now. We are finishing up school in the middle of a war zone in there, I'm tellin' ya. At some point we will probably  have to finish the year at the kitchen table because I started on this rearrange a bit early. Oh well.

I love sewing these dolls! Aren't they cute?

Hoping to remove mass amounts of stuff from my house today.....and mulling deep thoughts in the process....

What are you doing on this fine Thursday?

Inquiring Minds...

So I mentioned something about our new church in my Weekend Trivia post on Sunday. Some of you were curious about that. Let me tell you, it's a good story.

You may not know, but we've been at our church for our whole lives. Yes, there was a 2 year period where we attended somewhere else (which was a very encouraging time in our lives and much needed), but soon came back "home" and that was 7 years ago. It's home. It's family. We love the people there.

However, our church no longer resembles the church we grew up in. So many changes have taken place over the last 15 years that it's hard to even remember how things used to be. If you were to compare the worship services of my childhood with the worship services of today, you would not see one single similarity. And it's been grating on us.

I'm not saying change is bad. I'm not upset because I prefer things to stay the same. It isn't that. But the changes have been coming rapid fire specifically in the last 5 years or so and some of them really caused us to stop. And study. And we realized at some point that we truly, biblically, did NOT agree with many of the changes.

That's a game changer folks. You want to put the song lyrics on a slide instead of using the hymnals (early 90s)? OK. I can hang with that. Small change.

You want to do things that God's Word says not to do (although I believe they do not think they are doing wrong)? No. Can't do that.

So that left us in a bad place. Loving the people there and still earnestly desiring to minister in that church....but having a horrible feeling in the pit of our stomach every Sunday morning. At first, in the name of unity, we hung on. Yes, we disagree but we can handle it in order to stay and minister and do good in that place. After all, WE aren't specifically doing the things we disagree with. But we are sitting there while they are done.

Sorry I'm not being more specific, but I'm really NOT about bashing our church. We love that church. I'm just trying to tell you our struggle we've been going through.

Here's what really got to us. We can handle it. S and I. We can sort out what's right and what's wrong and take the good and leave the bad. But we have 2 little girls sitting next to us who cannot. We realized that they are growing up seeing the very things we disagree with. And it is their normal. And we don't want that to be their normal.

Also, we are facing down Sweetheart entering 6th grade in August. Which, at our church, means you go to the youth group. Only we don't want our children in a youth group. We have many concerns about that. "Just keep her with you" wouldn't work either because our adult classes are not Bible classes but rather discussion groups and there isn't much learning in that setting. A lot of opinions, but not much truth. That's not a good setting for a 12 year old.

What to do?

We've lived in this town our whole lives. We've visited every church we would consider going to. We were out of options. And then one day I met a friend at the park.

As I was driving to the park, I passed a church I had never seen before. Hmm. I mentioned it to S and we looked it up online. It looked interesting. It looked very small.

We visited. We liked it.

Get this. The church we visited does not have Bible classes. I had heard of this kind of church before, but never been to one. Family Integrated churches do not have Bible classes either and it's for some of the same reasons. They believe the father...the parents...are to teach their children. Not hand them over to someone else to do it. That's one reason.

And we found that actually really refreshing. That means no youth group. No handing my 12 year old over to a youth minister for her spiritual training and Bible learning for 7 years. Just families coming together to worship. Together.

We have felt very welcome there. We have enjoyed visiting. We haven't placed membership yet as we still have some commitments at our old church. Soon. And before August (and the impending youth group decision) which was our very earnest prayer. God is good.

I hope I haven't sounded negative in this post. Some trendy things are just trendy and some trendy things are wrong. We came to that conclusion through study. It is not a decision we take lightly.

But we are very thankful for what appears to be the answer to "Lord, where do we go?"

And for those of you struggling with where to go to church, I encourage you to keep praying. I understand why so many families are deciding to home church. I really do. Anyone else struggling with this?

In the Parking Lot at Church

That's where Little Bit and I spent our time last night during Bible study. Part way into class she came over to me and whispered that she needed to scream. So we went outside where she could.

These vocal tics are new to us. To be diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome, you must have motor tics and at least one vocal tic for a year. When she was diagnosed she probably only had one vocal tic---clearing her throat.

But this is something else entirely. She says words over and over again (oy-uh, cup, etc.) and then there is the screaming. So she screamed and said her words and we did all sorts of things to keep ourselves occupied in the parking lot. S came out to check on us and gave Little Bit a hug. She kept saying, "Sorry Mommy. Sorry you can't go to Bible class." She even told me I could go in and she would stay outside. I made sure she knew that it was no problem for me to sit with her outside.

I know if you have never dealt with TS you might be thinking, "Really?" Because I know it sounds so weird. You HAVE to? That doesn't even make sense! Just close your mouth and don't do it! You are in control of your body!

I know. I've thought the same thing. It's strange. But here is how Little Bit explained it to me. There is this tic she always "needs" to do that is physically impossible. It has to do with her knees. She told me the tic tells her to do it, and it travels down her body to her legs. Or, she said, if it's a "hand tic", it travels down her arm to her hand. I told her that makes sense if the tics come from her brain and the brain sends messages to the body. She agreed.

Then I told her she should write a book about Tourette's. She was very excited about that! She had many questions. She wants it published. Well OK then.

And last night I started researching ways to help with these vocal tics and stumbled on more information about vitamins and diet and supplements than my brain could even take in. Yikes. It'll be worse than learning about diabetes. But I know we can clean up our diet more and I will try that for sure. Even though we highly suspect the reason the tics have been bad this week has to do with Grandpa being in the hospital for 6 days.

The real thing we must do and do right now, is learn to cope with them. They are here. We still must live. So after a while in the parking lot, Little Bit told me she needed to visit the restroom. Just before we went in I said, "OK--one more time." and she screamed. Then we went in. She immediately clapped her hand over her mouth and walked to the restroom. When we were washing our hands though, she couldn't hold it in any longer (it's like when you need to sneeze). So I slapped a paper towel over her mouth and said, "Not too loud, OK?" And she screamed into the paper towel. Worked great. She took the paper towel from me and said, "Let me just keep that."

I noticed after church she was playing with her friends and their baby sister in the cry room and she would put the paper towel over her mouth and scream quietly ever so often. Awesome. And then on the way into the hospital to visit Grandpa she asked if the hospital would be a good place to do her tics or not. But it didn't matter. She climbed up into Grandpa's lap and they started to melt away. All was right.

And I guess now I will begin my research on cleaning up our diet. I may want to scream myself before I'm through.

I Looked It Up

Isn't that what you are supposed to do when you want to know something?


Last week or maybe the week before that, who can remember, I asked you all "What does reverence in worship look like?"

We had a little conversation in the comments section about it. It's still been on my mind. Maybe part of it is because we visited at a church on Sunday with a much different "worship style" than our own church. The difference was stark.

No, it's been on my mind for weeks and weeks now. Reverence in worship. Are we reverent in the way we act/behave/approach the Lord during church?

Well, it turns out I was asking a redundant question.

Merriam-Webster defines worship (n) this way: Reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power.

For Bible words, we like to use Webster's 1828 dictionary. Just to see if meanings have changed. Here is what the old Webster's said about worship (v): To adore; to pay divine honors to; to reverence with supreme respect and veneration.

Everywhere we looked, the word worship was directly tied to reverence. In fact, one might argue it is the definition of it.

So it turns out I was asking a dumb question. And yes, worship is a way of life. It is how we live. It is not a song service.

I think these definitions really drive that home.

Any thoughts?

I Looked It Up

Isn't that what you are supposed to do when you want to know something?

Last week or maybe the week before that, who can remember, I asked you all "What does reverence in worship look like?"

We had a little conversation in the comments section about it. It's still been on my mind. Maybe part of it is because we visited at a church on Sunday with a much different "worship style" than our own church. The difference was stark.

No, it's been on my mind for weeks and weeks now. Reverence in worship. Are we reverent in the way we act/behave/approach the Lord during church?

Well, it turns out I was asking a redundant question.

Merriam-Webster defines worship (n) this way: Reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power.

For Bible words, we like to use Webster's 1828 dictionary. Just to see if meanings have changed. Here is what the old Webster's said about worship (v): To adore; to pay divine honors to; to reverence with supreme respect and veneration.

Everywhere we looked, the word worship was directly tied to reverence. In fact, one might argue it is the definition of it.

So it turns out I was asking a dumb question. And yes, worship is a way of life. It is how we live. It is not a song service.

I think these definitions really drive that home.

Any thoughts?

Reverence

I have a question:

What does reverence for God look like in worship?

Fire away...

It's a Pretty Low Number, I'm Thinking

I finally got around to reading Dumbing Us Down The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling  by John Taylor Gatto. It's been on my wish list at Paperback Swap for a long time. It's a short book--just over a hundred pages.

But it's a little outdated. And that's sad because I think some of the things he talked about are actually worse now. First, let's look at his numbers and then we'll talk about what might have changed in the last 21 years since he spoke these words.

(from a speech given in 1990)

"Out of the 168 hours in each week my children sleep 56. That leaves them 112 hours a week out of which to fashion a self.
According to recent reports children watch 55 hours of television a week. That then leaves them 57 hours a week in which to grow up.
My children attend school 30 hours a week, use about 8 hours getting ready for and traveling to and from school, and spend an average of 7 hours a week in homework--a total of 45 hours. During that time they are under constant surveillance. They have no private time or private space and are disciplined if they try to assert individuality in the use of time or space. That leaves them 12 hours a week out of which to create a unique consciousness. Of course my kids eat, too, and that takes some time--not much because they've lost the tradition of family dining--but if we allot 3 hours a week to evening meals we arrive at a net amount of private time for each child of 9 hours per week." John Taylor Gatto, Dumbing Us Down page 29.

Several things occurred to me while I was reading this. First of all, the "recent reports" are not recent any longer. I wonder what the average amount of T.V. watched is now? More than that, this was written before the Internet splashed into our lives. With the addition of computers, cell phones, handheld games, etc. what do you suppose is the new number devoted to "TV and other media" these days?

My guess is it's pretty substantial. The little 4th grade girl who lives across the street came over to jump in the leaves with my girls the other day. She held up her phone and asked where she could put it while she jumped.

I've also noticed that the school day is extended for a lot of students. There is after and before school tutoring, clubs and organizations after school, etc. The local middle school by our neighborhood has children still hanging out at the building well after 5:00pm. Why???

Then there is the homework number. I think it might be higher but it depends on what grade your child is in, what school they attend and also who their teacher is that year. Homework varies greatly. What would you say the average number of hours a week would be?

I can only imagine. Sweetheart only went to public school through 1st grade, but they had us busy. Boy did they ever! The thing is, this quote from the book sounds so grim. How can my child go to public school and still turn out OK? I don't think it's any secret that I'm not too fond of public school or its results. Most of my opinion changed when I changed from being the teacher to being the parent. That was a whole new perspective. When your child is in public school, you just have to spend so much energy making up for the deficits. And wondering about the what might have beens.

The funny thing is, I don't believe this is solely a public school issue. I know homeschool families who are involved in absolutely everything imaginable. Sure, the homeschool crowd may be a bit more gentle and easy-going, but if your child is spending so many hours a week in group activities and scheduled time...there are still repercussions.

As Americans, I think we are just too busy.

And I couldn't help but think about church while I was reading all this. Church activities can suck the time away from a family faster than anything.

I was struck by this section needless to say. I feel afresh the need to protect my children's time and to prayerfully consider activities they will be involved in.

What do you have to say about all this? What do you think the numbers would be today?


**Don't forget to check in on my kitchen! Go see what's new and shiny and what I think about while I cook.**

Just So You Know

We gave the girls fair warning tonight:

There are going to be big changes around here come the new year!

Like:

Not going out to eat whenever. It will be rare, OK? We've been kind of lax on that this month.

The budget will be set and abided by. Money will be saved. Funds will be started. Frugal will again be a way of life--EVEN if we don't HAVE to. (Which we mostly do.)

Bibles will be read daily. And studied. And children will be taught at home. Family Bible time will happen one way or another.

Other changes may be made but we can't discuss those with you or them just yet. They aren't exciting or anything. Don't worry--you aren't missing out.

Lately I feel like many things have been brought to our attention. Are they warnings? Is God trying to tell us something? Why do I keep finding out stories about how kids turn out? With results I don't like?

What do we need to do differently in parenting our children? I don't want the same ending!

Between now and then we have to figure some things out.

I have other questions too.

Like:

Why did my kid come home from church today singing Three Dog Night?

What am I going to do with any additional Christmas cards now that my coat closet door is full?

How can I swing it where I can stay home some this week? Without sickness or the breaking down of vehicles I mean. Just--not busy stay home?

What are we going to eat this week?

Will you make my menu plan for me?

Will you grocery shop for me too?

Can you help me get that stupid Three Dog Night song out of my head?

Keep Praying!!!!

From Julia's blog Micah Six Eight:

I know that many of you have been praying around the clock for the vote coming up in Aaron's former country...

The good news - it has been postponed until next week. That means that a few more kids are going to slip under the wire - PRAISE THE LORD! Right now every time I hear that a family has their final paperwork in hand, I want to shout Victory to those who chose darkness and despair for these kids.

The other good news - there have been MAJOR efforts to get the wording changed so that adoptions will continue as they work towards reforming the system.

Again - IF THE WORDING IS NOT CHANGED AND IF THE VOTE PASSES - ALL ADOPTIONS STOP. No matter at what point in the process. If the family does not have birth certificate in hand - they are out of luck. Those in country go home - without their child. I can't even bear the thought. So we need to keep storming heaven. Pray. Pray. Pray. I KNOW God is big enough to move this mountain. After all - HE IS GOD!

So pray, Dear Church. Pray.

Autumn and Josh are there right now to get 2 boys they are adopting. Please pray they will make it home with them and that nothing will get in the way!

Little Bit is Sick Today...

...and I cannot imagine her being sick and having no one to comfort her. I've been thinking about these things a lot lately.

We live in a fallen world.

Several months ago I found Adeye's blog. I found her blog when she was still in the Ukraine gone to rescue her precious Hailee and Harper. I spent hours one weekend in her archives reading the back story on these two little girls. (And her other two girls!) I have greatly enjoyed reading her blog since then. I rejoice with every new pictures of Hailee and Harper and how their lives are so very different now and the joy they have brought with them. 

From Adeye's blog, I found other blogs of parents who have adopted or are adopting other special needs children. I have seen other sights. I have visited Reece's Rainbow. So many children are waiting. It's sort of overwhelming.

There are so many wonderful stories.

There is so much that is hard to hear about.

There is so much that is happening RIGHT NOW. 

There is a vote that will be taking place soon in one of the countries that could end all adoptions. Family busy filling out paperwork to get a child? Stopped. Family making travel plans to go pick up their new son or daughter? Stopped. Family ALREADY THERE to get child? Stopped.

I do not know all the details about this country or about the vote. But I have been praying for God to grant this one victory for these children. That they would be able to be adopted. That godly families would pound down the door of any country where there are children waiting. That the church would get serious about "taking care of widows and orphans."

 There are so many waiting. So many.

It's because we live in a fallen world. They wouldn't be there if their parents had been perfect people living perfect lives in perfect situations. There would not be special needs children cast aside from birth. It just would not be.

I know the care takers at Hailee's baby house have taken notice of what is going on. In a matter of months THREE of the 6 children from her old room are being adopted. The most severe from that baby house are being scooped up and wanted. They are taking notice I'm sure. I know someone else who is taking notice also....the Enemy.

Perhaps Satan thought it was no big deal if a few special needs kids that no one has ever heard of get adopted. What power do they hold? How will they ever advance the Gospel? I'll tell you how. Because in every situation, God is getting the Glory.

I've been praying for the Lord to fight and win this battle for these children. For the families who long for them and are working hard to get to them.

It doesn't make any sense, you know. Why would a king want for his kingdom the weak, the feeble, the simple-minded, the sickly? How would that make his kingdom look powerful? How would that show his strength?

Wouldn't a king rather gather for himself the strongest, the most powerful, the smartest, the best trained? Wouldn't that make his kingdom seem the best? What king wouldn't want the best warriors that were to be had?

But our Lord does not work that way, folks. The least of these are the greatest in His Kingdom. Praise the Lord! His power is made PERFECT in weakness.

I pray that the Lord will show his power now more than ever. The weak we have....His power is what we need.

Will you pray with me?