...um, the next Keepin' It Real Extravaganza that is, will be held near the end of May. I keep seeing other folks posting their own KIR posts--which is SO cool! Hope you all will join in on the next KIR Extravaganza. More details later, but I'm thinking of offering a theme to go off of, if you want. Or you could just do whatever you want too. I won't be bossy.
In the meantime, here's the latest post I found. Thanks for playing along, everyone!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Shaping Me
God has changed our family A LOT over the last 3-4 years. Thus, the name of this blog. The changes have been exciting....and I kind of thought they were mostly over. Silly me. Then I starting reading Voddie Baucham's book Family Driven Faith. I've been wanting to read it for several months and I finally just went and bought it the other night. I read the first few chapters and went to bed thinking to myself, "Dadgumit, Voddie."
It seems God might not be finished with revisions around here. Really, it's not Voddie's fault. But I can tell this book is going to challenge me even further.
He speaks about a "biblical worldview" in the book. This is a fairly new phrase to me. The more I learn about it, the more I realize that for most of my life I have NOT been operating under any such view. I have been pretty good about staying on the prescribed path our culture (the world) has laid out for me. Start dating in high school, graduate, go to college, get engaged, graduate college, get on birth control, get married, start career, decide I'm "ready" to have children, have 2 children, return to work after each one...
...and here's where it starts to get interesting. But first let me say that not everything I listed above is evil and sinful and should never be a part of any Christian's life. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that I never thought about doing anything differently. I read the Bible and applied it to my situation as it benefited me to do so. I never read God's word and allowed it to determine my course of action. I never got off the path....or even thought about getting off, really. That's why I am so in awe of homeschoolers from the 70's and early 80's. Really? Keep the kids home? How did it ever occur to them to do such a thing?
So anyway, a good friend of mine was keeping my girls while I was at work each day. She had been keeping Sweetheart for about 2 1/2 years and Little Bit for 3 months. When I picked the girls up one day, my friend told me she didn't want to babysit next year. "OK," I replied. "Don't worry about it. God will provide another babysitter." I started praying all the way home. But the thing is...He didn't. A few months later we still had not found an arrangement that would work and I told S, "I'm qualified to keep them." Then we just kind of looked at each other.
It was a scary, scary decision to lose around 50% of our income. We knew we could make it for one year. But if I quit and it didn't work out, it's not like I could go back to my old job. I would have to find a new one...and we would still have to find child care. But we did it. Talk about a step (or leap!) of faith.
But I wasted the whole year by sending Sweetheart off to Kindergarten ten days before she even turned 5, (why didn't I keep her home with me?) and worrying over money. Our situation had changed, but my thinking had not.
Then I read a book by Debi Pearl. That book shifted my thinking on marriage. I got it! I understood the way God intended things to work. I must say, it's interesting to me now....looking back...that God began re-shaping our family by working on our marriage first. Hmmm.
Tomorrow...the next revision.
It seems God might not be finished with revisions around here. Really, it's not Voddie's fault. But I can tell this book is going to challenge me even further.
He speaks about a "biblical worldview" in the book. This is a fairly new phrase to me. The more I learn about it, the more I realize that for most of my life I have NOT been operating under any such view. I have been pretty good about staying on the prescribed path our culture (the world) has laid out for me. Start dating in high school, graduate, go to college, get engaged, graduate college, get on birth control, get married, start career, decide I'm "ready" to have children, have 2 children, return to work after each one...
...and here's where it starts to get interesting. But first let me say that not everything I listed above is evil and sinful and should never be a part of any Christian's life. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that I never thought about doing anything differently. I read the Bible and applied it to my situation as it benefited me to do so. I never read God's word and allowed it to determine my course of action. I never got off the path....or even thought about getting off, really. That's why I am so in awe of homeschoolers from the 70's and early 80's. Really? Keep the kids home? How did it ever occur to them to do such a thing?
So anyway, a good friend of mine was keeping my girls while I was at work each day. She had been keeping Sweetheart for about 2 1/2 years and Little Bit for 3 months. When I picked the girls up one day, my friend told me she didn't want to babysit next year. "OK," I replied. "Don't worry about it. God will provide another babysitter." I started praying all the way home. But the thing is...He didn't. A few months later we still had not found an arrangement that would work and I told S, "I'm qualified to keep them." Then we just kind of looked at each other.
It was a scary, scary decision to lose around 50% of our income. We knew we could make it for one year. But if I quit and it didn't work out, it's not like I could go back to my old job. I would have to find a new one...and we would still have to find child care. But we did it. Talk about a step (or leap!) of faith.
But I wasted the whole year by sending Sweetheart off to Kindergarten ten days before she even turned 5, (why didn't I keep her home with me?) and worrying over money. Our situation had changed, but my thinking had not.
Then I read a book by Debi Pearl. That book shifted my thinking on marriage. I got it! I understood the way God intended things to work. I must say, it's interesting to me now....looking back...that God began re-shaping our family by working on our marriage first. Hmmm.
Tomorrow...the next revision.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
They Didn't Mention This in the Curriculum
As the academics are winding down (as they tend to do in the Springtime!), I find myself thinking about how we will spend our extra time this summer. It's not hard to do. We have a LOT to learn around here---and none of it has to do with "school."
My girls' morning chores consist of personal care and their rooms. It can take Sweetheart upwards of an hour to get her room in order some mornings. Sometimes I get very discouraged because I have worked with her on this skill so much. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed sitting in the middle of my mess as a child not knowing where to start or what to do. So I have done everything I can think of to help my daughter.
I bought her a book and taught her to do the method, I check in every few minutes and make a suggestion of what to tackle next (she likes me to do that), we have cleaned it together countless times, and we even took pictures the other day. I said she should make it into a book so next time she is cleaning and thinks she is "done" she can check the book and see what clean really looks like.
But still we struggle. Still her room resembles something the news ought to be covering.
So I realized something. It isn't the method I use to teach her how to clean. It isn't the inspirational speeches I give. It isn't a book or a reward or a system.
It's the plain old everyday-ness that is going to do the trick.
We will continue to work on this every day. She will improve. She will learn. One day, I will walk down the hall and without any effort on my part...the room will be wonderful. It has to be because it is my job to train her. I am the older woman to her younger self spoken of in Titus 2. So we will keep meeting each morning to clean her room.
And with just as little fan fare...God's word can be instilled in my children. It isn't a curriculum. It isn't a certain church. It isn't found in which Bible we read with them. But our children will grow in knowledge and love for the Lord in part, simply because of the everyday-ness of our efforts.
There's something to be said for the plain old every day things.
My girls' morning chores consist of personal care and their rooms. It can take Sweetheart upwards of an hour to get her room in order some mornings. Sometimes I get very discouraged because I have worked with her on this skill so much. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed sitting in the middle of my mess as a child not knowing where to start or what to do. So I have done everything I can think of to help my daughter.
I bought her a book and taught her to do the method, I check in every few minutes and make a suggestion of what to tackle next (she likes me to do that), we have cleaned it together countless times, and we even took pictures the other day. I said she should make it into a book so next time she is cleaning and thinks she is "done" she can check the book and see what clean really looks like.
But still we struggle. Still her room resembles something the news ought to be covering.
So I realized something. It isn't the method I use to teach her how to clean. It isn't the inspirational speeches I give. It isn't a book or a reward or a system.
It's the plain old everyday-ness that is going to do the trick.
We will continue to work on this every day. She will improve. She will learn. One day, I will walk down the hall and without any effort on my part...the room will be wonderful. It has to be because it is my job to train her. I am the older woman to her younger self spoken of in Titus 2. So we will keep meeting each morning to clean her room.
And with just as little fan fare...God's word can be instilled in my children. It isn't a curriculum. It isn't a certain church. It isn't found in which Bible we read with them. But our children will grow in knowledge and love for the Lord in part, simply because of the everyday-ness of our efforts.
There's something to be said for the plain old every day things.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The First Ever "Keepin' It Real" Extravaganza!
It's that time. Lift up the edges of those rugs Ladies and show us what you've swept under there. We all know the best of our thoughts and moments make it to our blogs, but what about the other stuff? That stuff we'd rather not share?
As Jess once said, we don't mean to project the image of Mary Poppins (Practically Perfect in Every Way) to the blogosphere....it just sort of happens. So if you do consider yourself to be a flawless wife, mother, homemaker, homeschool mom, cook, etc....well, you're still welcome here. May we all be encouraged by what we read today as we discover that everybody's got something.
OK, I'll start. My name is Brenda and this is my blog. You can start here and then move on down to the Mr. Linky to read more of the fun stuff. Enjoy and join in if you like!
Keepin' It Real: Why There Is No Reading List On My Blog
Sometimes I feel so illiterate. All these blogs have "What's on My Nightstand" or "My 2008 Reading List" in the sidebar. Some bloggers even use the little strikeout feature to show all the books they've already read. It's a pretty common thing. Helpful too, if you like book recommendations.
Except here's the problem. This is my nightstand:
That's a Bible laying there although that really isn't the one I read. Also I don't read in bed much because my husband spends the entire time blowing at my light as if it were a candle. His way of hinting that he likes to go to sleep with the lights off. I keep explaining that when you close your eyes...well. Anyway. And that's a picture of my sweet husband when he was 1. Check out those threads! He has a baby picture of me on his nightstand. They're from our wedding. And those are MY golf clubs on the right. I'm so athletic. And I'm not entirely sure what that piece of tree is doing there. But that doesn't have anything to do with this post.
So, no reading in bed limits things a bit. But by golly, I read!!! I read lots of things. I will not be out-done! Here is what I've read in the last few days:
As Jess once said, we don't mean to project the image of Mary Poppins (Practically Perfect in Every Way) to the blogosphere....it just sort of happens. So if you do consider yourself to be a flawless wife, mother, homemaker, homeschool mom, cook, etc....well, you're still welcome here. May we all be encouraged by what we read today as we discover that everybody's got something.
OK, I'll start. My name is Brenda and this is my blog. You can start here and then move on down to the Mr. Linky to read more of the fun stuff. Enjoy and join in if you like!
Keepin' It Real: Why There Is No Reading List On My Blog
Sometimes I feel so illiterate. All these blogs have "What's on My Nightstand" or "My 2008 Reading List" in the sidebar. Some bloggers even use the little strikeout feature to show all the books they've already read. It's a pretty common thing. Helpful too, if you like book recommendations.
Except here's the problem. This is my nightstand:
That's a Bible laying there although that really isn't the one I read. Also I don't read in bed much because my husband spends the entire time blowing at my light as if it were a candle. His way of hinting that he likes to go to sleep with the lights off. I keep explaining that when you close your eyes...well. Anyway. And that's a picture of my sweet husband when he was 1. Check out those threads! He has a baby picture of me on his nightstand. They're from our wedding. And those are MY golf clubs on the right. I'm so athletic. And I'm not entirely sure what that piece of tree is doing there. But that doesn't have anything to do with this post.So, no reading in bed limits things a bit. But by golly, I read!!! I read lots of things. I will not be out-done! Here is what I've read in the last few days:
I started by reading some library books. See? There's even a CHAPTER BOOK in the lot!
But I needed something more realistic. So I moved on to this:
(Ug. Please help me. I'm only doing it so I can go camping with my daughter rather than send her off with strangers.)
But that was too dry. So then Goldilocks tried this:
And it was JUST RIGHT!!! (I highly recommend the Pink Pie.)
Still, I minored in English in college for goodness sake! Surely I can handle more reading material than this! Then I opened my mailbox and saw this:
So that is why you will not see me posting my exciting reading list in my sidebar, or launching a new blog to review the books I have read.
I used to read. Honest, I did. I read real live grown-up books. Long ones. I promise. But what can you expect when your "reading room" offers toilet paper and a hand towel?
OK, now it's your turn! Help us "Keep It Real!"
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