Happy is that people whose God is the Lord
I am really enjoying the art ideas and lessons from Scarlet Lime. Here is the watercolor potting bench I just finished. It was pretty relaxing to do 🙂
Little projects that only take a few days are very satisfying right now. Have a blessed week, friends.
I had the opportunity to ask Sarah Gunning Moser two questions that have been on my mind:
1. What’s the deal with teaching cursive first? That is, why not teach ball and stick letters to my preschooler?
and
2. Is the current fascination with teaching Latin in homeschool circles a profitable endeavor? Or is it just a fad?
Listen in. And be sure to listen to our initial conversation, too!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
We drive home from visiting the property we bought, where we’d been taking slow climbs over downed blackberry brambles and sweeping leafless maple twigs aside to map out where our house might fit. Tom had the 100 foot winding tape measure and a compass. He’d already figured out the corners of the potential house and it was our job—mine and two of the children— to follow directions and somehow get through the soft beds of downed pine and cedar branches to carefully place the worn orange cones in the proper places amongst the ferns.
Every now and then I paused to listen, and other than the snapping and cracking of our small group moving through the woods (we couldn’t sneak up on a bear if we tried), all I heard was the intermittent splats of rain on my slicker hood and the occasional creak of trees rubbing against one another. We finished ten minutes before sundown, and swaggered and swished our way back through the brush to the van, satisfied with the job done.
Back home I simmer chai on the stovetop and ponder everything. The land itself (is this property—in size and scope and location—what we still want?). The agonizing house plan decision (how can I build and achieve the small size we want for the extra large family we still have?). The uncertainty of economics and culture and community. My mind feels like it is swirling around within the frothing milk in my pot, round and round.
And then. And then the pandemic. Lockdowns. Upon lockdowns. Our own people storming the congressional building. The insistence of segregating every person into one identity or another while isolating them from their relations and businesses. Masks, vaccines, first amendment freedoms, the gymnastical knots of new demands on and definitions in the English language. The utter atmosphere of anger, fear, anxiety and helplessness that is Everywhere I Go.
I’m supposed to raise up a house and build a family in this environment?
Well…yes.
It’s one thing to intellectually understand that there is nothing new under the sun, and to know enough history to see clearly that every march towards “progress” at the consequence, isn’t. It’s quite another to continue to marry, bear children and plant gardens. Or make tea.
The children and I settle in to watch an episode of “Superbook” where the Israelites are freed from their oppressors and invited to trust the Lord for their every provision. We discuss how a trip that perhaps could have been made in less than two weeks ended up as a sad forty year plod. We talk about how the root sin of pride gave its evil fruit in Pharoah’s actions, but how that same root sin gave its fruit of grumbling in God’s people. Oh, Lord, I don’t want to grumble and plod!
It dawns on me, perhaps a tiny glimmer of flickering light. Invited to follow the Lord through this current day desert of faithfulness and truth, shall I be distressed about the paths He gives me to pass through it? Shall I turn my nose from His daily manna of Scripture, more eager to consume whatever the world chooses to feed my mind? Shall my love for Christ be so meager that I cannot continue in trust in this good and faithful Shepherd, who learned obedience through suffering (the likes of which I will never know), and to whom I owe my very life in every way? What, after all, is twelve days of troublesome travel when compared to an eternity of blessed rest and joy in every way?
I take the last sip from my mug and that is that. The world is mad, I think (or perhaps I simply remember), so I shall count it as so to be reckoned. I shall still build a physical house of sticks on this world’s sinking sands, but my greatest work is to love the Lord my God and to stand steadfast in the truth while I build a foundational home on the Rock. Already I can see His remnants across the landscape lighting their candles in the windows of their homes too, quietly working with their hands, minding their own business, baking bread, reading Dr. Seuss, folding laundry. I choose to light a candle, too. It’s going to be all right.
It is instructive to watch the response of our media, government, and population to this pandemic and to take note. Actually, to take many notes. But that note taking needs to be done calmly and rationally, and I hope that what I share here will help in some way.
As a herbalist I use food and plants for our nourishment and medicine, and as a member and chapter leader of the Weston A Price Foundation, I prepare food traditionally and mostly from scratch, using and benefiting from the Foundation’s wise and proven principles. I’m aware of the importance for disaster preparation, and although I am not as prepared as I wish we were (will we ever be?), I keep a good stock of first aid supplies and freeze dried foods, mostly made by Thrive Life (you also can order through my account or even become your own boss using my ID number 32981).
When you have your food and medicine and supplies at hand, trials feel a little less bumpy. If you are starting from scratch, read my last blog post and begin today to address each area in which you are lacking. You are not powerless; you know how to read and you can start.
But I do understand inertia, and it is very, very real. After we downsized from our big house and farmette with its established gardens and livestock areas, it was almost impossible to start any semblance of a garden anywhere else. I tried, planting a little here and there, but once I got my game back on after a postpartum period, we ended up having to move again. So, three houses in five years doesn’t help me to feel real motivated to get digging into the soil.
But here we are. Motivated or not, reality says a garden–any garden of any size–is better than no garden. I have knowledge and experience, and (some) seeds. I decided what made the most sense to grow, and yes that included cut flowers. I especially considered medicinal plants and other foods that I couldn’t necessarily buy from the grocery store, but would add variety to our diet and thrive in our growing zone. So I brushed off the two trays I still had and got started. And then, we headed outside.
The old orchard is a mess. I have zero idea when the fruit trees were last pruned, and there are suckers and shoots everywhere, not to mention a massive invasion of blackberry vines (but, yay, blackberries!). There is no real large area for a massive garden in the traditional sense, but with a little bit of thinking, I can see potential.
Here is an area that is mostly cleaned up. Do you see what I see? A well pruned cherry tree, and terraces. Good morning light that I know will extend into afternoon. An empty bucket begging for something to climb up the gateway. Potential. So even though I’m not spending my 50th birthday doing what I originally planned (sniff), I can do what I can do. And I can do this.
What can you do? Surely there is something, and you probably know what it is (am I right?).
In other news, here are some resources that you may find helpful in navigating how to prevent and address any virus at all. I feel blessed we can have access to books and the internet to help us learn and apply what we are learning. Stay home, stay cozy, and stay safe, friends.
FOOD:
From Sally Fallon Morell, How to Protect Yourself from Coronavirus
HOMEOPATHY:
The Banerji homeopathic protocol
These are well respected doctors who have been treating generations of patients with homeopathy and currently see around 6,000 patients a week in their clinic. This is their protocol for prevention. For treatment, symptoms would guide further remedy choices. You can also check out Joette’s blog and use the search bar for many symptoms and protocols to help you wisely choose remedies.
HERBS:
Rosalee de la Floret, Herbs to Consider for Coronavirus
Also check out her Herbal Recipes for Preventing and Addressing Upper Respiratory Infections (free if you are on her email list)
7Song is a botanist, herbalist, and runs a free clinic in New York. Here are his notes on the COVID-19 Virus. (scroll down to “specific health issues)
Stephen Buhner is a well respected herbalist and author of books such as Herbal Antivirals. This is his take on the coronavirus.
Another herbalist, Michael Cottingham of Voyage Botanica was contacted weeks ago from the cruise ship that was quarantined in Japan. Apparently he gave them this formula and they were able to make it for 3000 people on that ship. All of these herbs are easily available at any grocery store (unlike, say, Buhner’s recipes which may be more difficult to find and to create easily and quickly). Herbalist Bonnie Kuhlman shared Michael’s recipe with permission, and I have permission to post it here for your use as well. I find most herbalists (and fiber artists!) to be most generous with their recipes.
=========================================
BASIL LEAF (Ocimum basilicum) 1 teaspoon
OREGANO LEAF (Origanum vulgare) 1 teaspoon
THYME LEAF (Thymus vulgaris) 1/2 teaspoon
ROSEMARY LEAF (Rosmarinus off..) 1/2 teaspoon
GINGER ROOT – Ground (Zingiber off.) 1/4 teaspoon
TURMERIC ROOT – Ground (Curcuma longa) 1/4 teaspoon
CINNAMON BARK – Ground (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) 1/4 teaspoon
This is the amount to make 1 qt. You may also add a little sage. Use either fresh or dried ginger and stick cinnamon.
Method
Measure and place herbs in a teapot or other container.
Bring one quart of boiled or distilled water just to a boil.
Pour over herbs. Cover to steep. Keep warm while steeping.
This solution should steep for at least 1/2 hour. 1 hour is better.
Strain.
Keep clear solution available at room temperature for immediate consumption.
For make-ahead amounts, refrigerate covered after straining.
Rewarm gently for use as needed.
DOSAGE
The average adult when sick with a cold or respiratory infection could drink as much as 2 quarts a day. Usually, a quart a day for adults is probably enough.
One can drink a cup or two (adults) a day to stimulate the immune system when a cold is going around.
Children between 5 and 15, could use up to a quart a day if sick, but probably more like a 1/2 of a quart should be enough. Children under 5, maybe just a couple of teaspoons of the tea, several times a day.
=============
This tea is warming, it increases diaphoretic action (sweating) if you drink a lot of it. Increases diuretic action (more urination). Increases respiratory function so you get less congestion. This tea blend is relaxing, so you get deeper and more restful sleeps. It is very anti-inflammatory and reducing inflammation is always helpful when you have a cold or infection. The tea increases circulation which is extremely helpful in congestion and infectious states. This tea blend is extremely anti-viral and antibacterial.
BASIL – Basil has been used as a spice and medicine for centuries.. It has traditionally been used by herbalists to treat nausea, gas pains, dysentery. Research shows that it inhibits organisms that cause dysentery. It is anti-viral and antibacterial. Has been used to treat lung infections and to help clean up mucous membrane congestion. Basil is also considered to be an effective immune stimulating herb and has been used to assist the bodies immune system in fighting various types of viral and bacterial infections.
OREGANO – There are many different types of Oregano, but medicinally they are mostly the same. Oregano leaf is heating, spicy, and moving. It increases circulation and if you use enough of it, it will make you sweat (diaphoretic). It will also increase urination, which is extremely helpful when fighting an infection. This movement helps the body get rid of the cellular waste from an infection. A key to getting better when you have an infection in the lungs or mucous membranes is to create movement. Oregano really does that. Because Oregano contains a constituent called Thymol it makes it one of the premier plant medicines for fighting serious bacterial and viral infections.
Many of the plants in this tea blend contain Thymol – Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary and sometimes Basil – here is a short wikipedia description on this powerful constituent:
“Thymol has been used in alcohol solutions and in dusting powders for the treatment of tinea or ringworm infections, and was used in the United States to treat hookworm infections. People of the Middle East continue to use za’atar, a delicacy made with large amounts of thyme, to reduce and eliminate internal parasites. It is also used as a preservative in halothane, an anaesthetic, and as an antiseptic in mouthwash. When used to reduce plaque and gingivitis, thymol has been found to be more effective when used in combination with chlorhexidine than when used purely by itself. Thymol is also the active antiseptic ingredient in some toothpastes, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Euthymol. Thymol has been used to successfully control varroa mites and prevent fermentation and the growth of mold in bee colonies, methods developed by beekeeper R. O. B. Manley.[Thymol is also used as a rapidly degrading, non-persisting pesticide.Thymol can also be used as a medical disinfectant and general purpose disinfectant.”
If I were to give a ranking to Oregano in my personal materia medica of the plants I use and consider vitally important – I would rank Oregano in the top 10. It’s antibacterial and anti-viral potential could be life saving.
THYME – Thyme contains a lot of Thymol making it a very powerful antibacterial and anti-viral plant medicine. Both major components of the volatile oil – thymol and carvacrol have been highly researched and are shown to be antibacterial and anti fungal. Thyme in large amounts has been used to expel worms, especially hookworms and ascarids. As a gargle or mouthwash Thyme is an excellent remedy for sore throats and infected gums. A hot tea of just Thyme is sweat-inducing making it effective against the common cold. Its volatile oils are excreted through the lungs making it excellent to use in bronchitis, whooping cough and pneumonia. Thyme is an excellent expectorant causing the coughing up of thick infectious mucus. An ointment made from Thyme has been used to treat shingles (Herpes zoster). * Large amounts of Thyme should be avoided during pregnancy. While a common kitchen spice and a small pinch is used to flavor foods … larger amounts become a very serious medicine.
ROSEMARY – Another plant medicine that can contain small amounts of thymol, but also contains thujone, camphors, and other strong constituents. Rosemary is an excellent remedy for headaches and is considered to be an herbal nervine. It is a relaxing and vasodialating plant medicine. Good for lowering stress and calming down. It is antibacterial and antifungal. Topically the oil has been used to treat ringworm. The herb reduces flatulence and is stimulating to the digestion, liver and gall bladder increasing the flow of bile. It has been used to treat painful periods. Rosemary also improves the circulation and helps to strengthen fragile blood vessels due to its flavonoid diosmin. I consider Rosemary another one of my top 10 most used plant medicines. Having used it with thousands of people in hundreds of different ways. There is 2000+ years of historical uses for this great medicine plant. Much has been written about Rosemary!
GINGER – Ginger has been used as a plant medicine for many thousands of years by many different cultures. The roots of Ginger have long been prescribed for colds, coughs, flu, and promoting better digestion. It is one of the finest herbs for improving circulation. It is anti-viral and is an excellent respiratory plant medicine helping to expectorate stuck infectious mucus from the lungs. In this tea blend formula Ginger Root helps to move all the other herbs through the body more effectively. It helps to move waste from an infection by stimulating sweating and urination.
TURMERIC – This is probably one of the most researched of plant medicines with over 800 scientific papers to date. It is a premier anti-inflammatory. An action you want in most formulas. When you can reduce inflammation during an infectious condition your chances of recovery are greatly enhanced. Some research shows that Turmeric Root inhibits bacteria and fungal growth in the body. It has been used to help better digestion, especially with poor digestion of fats. This can make the blood less thick, which means less polluted blood, especially during infectious conditions. It is known to stimulate better lymphatic drainage which also aids the immune system. One could literally spend days and days reading about the amazing medicinal history of Turmeric.
CINNAMON – Cinnamon has been used to warm the body, treat cold conditions and colds, to warm digestion and to ease flatulence.. Used to ease menstrual cramps and is antispasmodic to hectic lung coughing fits, easing the bronchi spasms. Cinnamon is extremely antibacterial inhibiting E.coli, Staphyloccus aureus, and thrush (Candida albicans). Used for thousands of years as a medicine plant, with a rich history of written uses and applications.
Keep in mind, that there are hundreds of books and thousands of internet pages that describe in great detail the plant medicine/spices in this tea blend. All of them have a rich history of use and all have been used for thousands of years. Even though most people know them just as spices to be used in cooking various dishes, in reality they are some of the most researched and important herbal medicines in the world.
This is a tasty tea that actually works to fight viral and bacterial infections, improve overall circulation, which helps to keep the lungs free of congestion and stimulates the immune system in time of need. This makes it useful in everything from the common cold, to a viral pandemic where there is no help to be found. If there ever was a time when higher medical care was not available or higher medical care was not able to help do to an overwhelming break down of the medical system, than this tea might just be enough to help you make it through such a terrible time.
Many of the spices or plant medicines in this tea blend have already been used in both bacterial plagues and viral pandemics. History is filled with their successful stories. It is ironic that so many people lay in bed suffering from a cold or a more severe viral infection, meanwhile in their kitchen, in those tiny spice jars are the historic answers to their suffering. A pinch of knowledge might just save your life!
=========================================
Blessings,
Perhaps, you too, have found yourself sitting on the living room carpet, piles of laundry and toys scattered about, toddlers in various stages of dress and feed while Baby Signing Time loops on the screen and baby is cooing (or squawking) away down the hallway waking from her nap. It’s dumping rain, maybe you’ve got the cramps or the sniffles, and hubby just texted over the podcast you’re listening to that he’s going to be home late. Again. Which is a good thing, because you’ve haven’t even begun to think about what’s for supper.
At this moment, are you feeling the joy, joy, joy, joy down in your heart?
You might be thinking how far from your expectations your life has really strayed. And what were those expectations? I can’t say what those may have been, or are currently, but does this come close: a beautifully appointed, kept and well run home with happy obedient Jesus-loving children eager to learn Latin (and finger knit!) at your feet while they grow robust in health and vitality, under the headship of a father who provides not only money from his good, hard work, but also emotional, spiritual, and coaching support…so we can be all that we can be, beautifully styled and following our passions and dreams to Make Our Mark in the world with power and purpose for the cause (we say) of Christ.
Yes?
The trouble is not necessarily in those particular individual desires, per se. The trouble comes when we find ourselves disillusioned on that living room floor because those desires have become expectations, what we “deserve”. And then those expectations, prodded and fertilized by sin, grow to become wants and demands. And then, those wants become needs (uh oh), which lead to disappointments, which lead to resentment and anger and too much comparisons on social media (raise your hand here) and before you (and I) know it, we are glassy eyed staring through the kids and out rain streaked windows wondering what’s happened, what’s wrong with us, we must have made a terrible mistake, why we can’t seem to fix it…whatever the “it” happens to be at the moment, which we can never seem to pinpoint, really.
The reality is that we are a selfish and sinful people, and our hearts, the world, and the devil are constantly leading us astray (this is true even for the Beautiful People we admire). Without this acknowledgement, a real joy is simply not possible, as we will constantly be trying to make amends with our condemning consciences through sinful means, simply heaping more distress unto our souls. We must admit our own weaknesses and error and make no excuse for them, humbling ourselves to a Holy and just God. This isn’t about becoming power-less; it’s about recognizing where real power is. And real is real, not subject to what we say or think real is.
When we are not so interested in glorifying God (or in bowing the knee) as we are in meeting our own wants, we too easily slide from sadness or disappointment (not necessarily sins) into grumbling and complaining (which are definitely sins). Add to that the guilt from how we are presenting Christ by our lowly attitudes, and depression—even despair— is definitely knocking at the door. We must desire to glorify God more than keep a perfectly clean house. We must desire to glorify God more than to have–or be–a perfect spouse. We must desire to glorify God more than to have the new car, a million followers, or all of the me-time we crave.
I know we don’t always want those things: the humility, the servant-heart, the road of suffering. But there is hope.
First of all, let us come to grips with reality. The reality is that we HAVE failed. Not only have we failed, we are failING. Daily. So the next time you want to beat yourself up for being a failure, agree with the Bible (and the devil and the flesh and the world) that, yep, we are and we do. But don’t stop there! Complete the thought as you have it! Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. I do fail but while I was yet failing, God loved me and died for me. He didn’t wait for me to not be in a state of failing. He knew I failed, He knows I am failing, He knows I will fail. And He still took my failings, my sins, upon Himself and gathered me to Himself and calls me not only His child, but His friend. When He sees me, He sees Jesus in me, not the list of failures. And I am no longer condemned in His sight, the only sight (the audience of One) that matters.
2 Corinthians 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. I am not perfect and I struggle with not doing what I need to do and doing what I’m not supposed to be doing. But I am God’s handiwork, and it is His Holy Spirt renewing me day by day. It is not my own doing; it is His, by His grace. He takes everything I do, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and turns it all into means of growing me in holiness and strengthening me in every fruit of the Spirit. Nothing is wasted, and I cannot personally hinder or derail this holy work of His. Neither can tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword separate me from His love.
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ… What God has started, He will not only continue the work in, but He will complete it. I can rest in His sovereignty and in His sufficiency to provide for me everything I need to grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ, not just the blessings in my life, but the trials and challenges as well. He knows my frame, that I am but dust, and He knows my heart, both good and bad. He knows the dreams I dream; after all, He is the One who formed me in the womb! So I have confidence and peace in His good work in me, so I can then focus on the good work He’s prepared for me to do right now, in service to my King. Like praise His name, get the baby up, brush my hair, and go cook a wholesome and nutritious meal for my family.
More to come…
Blessings,
Ever since downsizing from the McMansion, I’ve struggled with this blog. With the big house and beautiful gardens and silly goats, I had a multitude of projects and Pinterest-worthy photographs to highlight and share, and I did. But two years in our little uninsulated cabin, followed by two and a half years (so far) in our HOA-controlled rental left me kind of stumped. What do I talk about? The persistent flooding? How I’m dying to paint the kitchen cabinets…but can’t?
A lot of days, it felt simply like survival. A lot of days, it still does.
Because I’m still in the thick of diapers, Down syndrome, homeschooling, and meal preparations. I still fold laundry (a lot) and spend time listening to my children and husband (a lot). My days are full and yes, even satisfying, but in my eyes, I guess it simply felt anything but noteworthy. You know, boring. Mundane. Even isolating and lonely at times. Who wants to see a photograph of that? Raise your hand if you can relate.
But here is what I understand.
While the world is celebrating death and cultivating confusion, my home is speaking life and keeping order. Even if I am not growing a garden, I am planting and watering and nourishing something far more profound: a family. And this family, while it goes about the business of serving one another and serving our community, grows its roots deeper and deeper into the truth of who God is and what He has done on our behalf, and it displays Him by our love. Yes, even on those days when bickering and whining seem to rule, in the end love shows.
I have sensed the world hacking away at the family base for a long time, and now as a middle aged woman I have seen it plainly. Despite the damage and its casualties, there is increased insistance to bury this base of every good society and civilization. As Tom mentioned in his recent talk (you can listen to it here), homemakers are in the crosshairs because they stubbornly plant their feet at home, refusing to trade truth with trinkets.
Homemakers are not honored or exalted, to say the least. But all of the shunning (at best) and persecution (at worst) is doing nothing more than pruning, pruning, pruning. What happens to plants that are pruned? Their roots grow ever deeper and their fruit is ever stronger and more beautiful. Your roots do the same when your feet are stubbornly planted, too.
As it turns out, blogging or otherwise, I don’t have to say much at all. Quietly cultivating a simple life, deliberately choosing to stay home with my babies, growing in love and respect for my imperfect husband and honoring the time and resources that I’ve been given by joying in them…all of this speaks more loudly than I could ever know, testifying that the grace of God has indeed appeared. That’s true in your home, too, regardless of how mundane it feels.
God saves and calls us because of His own purpose and grace, and it is through our gratitude for Him that we continue the good work on the home front He has set out for us to do. It may not be worthy of Pinterest, but it will be worth the crown of life.
You are not alone and although your home life may at times feel lowly, recall and rejoice that the resurrection is real, and that you are, indeed, doing a good work in the Lord, and that does say something. In fact, it says everything.
Blessings,
Raindrops are running down the window in front of me, and I find myself tracing the trails with my eyes. It sounds like marbles are drizzling down the gutters bumping around loose leaves and debris. It’s quiet. For the first time all day, it is quiet enough for me to hear the slight crackles coming from the woodstove, and the occasional sniff from a child snuggling into slumberland. I breathe deeply. I think, “Did I even remember to breathe today?” It was a day of rushing. Rushing to get to music lessons. Rushing to get the shopping finished. Rushing to get home, to start the fire, to begin supper, to ply away the soggy things from our bodies. And then, rushing to rescue our poultry from flooded pastures and our goods from flooded storage areas, rushing to fix the septic overflow (that’s a lot of rain, folks), and, at the end of it all, rushing to get the babies into bed so I could have this: A Moment of Quiet (all of you mamas out there can nod and “mm-hmm” with me).
I think I need a spot of quiet as much as I need sleep, so I am tempted to stay up until the sky glows blush with morning, just for the chance to putter in my thoughts uninterrupted for hours and hours. But that would make for a very unhappy mama tomorrow, so “no” to that idea! I am also sorely tempted to head to bed in my shroud of disappointments from the day. But that seems about as good of an idea as staying up to (pity) party all night.
Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines “disappointment” as a “defeat or failure of expectation, hope, wish, desire or intention…” Boy, I’ll say! Back in our old McMansion (which I have since learned is really defined as a 6,000-10,000 squre foot house…which ours wasn’t, but *felt* that way to me…but I digress…), I had many desires and expectations that met with defeats and failures for a variety of reasons. It feels that way here in our downsized cozy cabin sometimes too…for example, a tree fell on us AGAIN. This time a bit through the roof, into the kitchen ceiling. Your place or dreams can disappoint, too. Dare I say they WILL disappoint, depending on the amount of hope you and I have invested into their flowering and bearing fruit.
And people. Yes, people can be pretty disappointing. Like when they want you to be someone you’re not, and anything less is, well, lesser. So you feel disappointed because you’re just not Right Enough for their hand of friendship. Or maybe you’ve had yet *another* moment of smacking yourself upon the forehead…why did I do that/say that/think that… You can disappoint yourself!
And then there are the sad events. Like horrible things going on in the world, in our country, in our neighborhoods. Or closer to home, like a pet dying. Or, worse, people dying and not even having the emotional space to bake cookies for the service.
So, I’m watching the raindrops. Because (did I mention?) it’s finally Quiet. And I’m contemplating disappointment and if it’s a sin to be so. And I’m pondering this quote by Noah Webster:
We are apt to complain of the disappointment of our hopes and schemes,
but disappointments often prove blessings and save us from calamity or ruin.
It sounds a little like the verse that is generally given as a there-there sort of patting, and yet, well, it’s truth:
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
I figure there is where it lies, as in the sort of rubber and road coming to meet with one another, hopefully in a grip and not in a sliding sort of pell-mell accident. And on that road of grappling realities with disappointments, I must grip this: that God is sovereign, that He is about the business of sanctifying me, and that He knows where and when to do the pruning. Whether that be expectations, hopes, wishes, desires, or intentions. Whether that be material goods, beloved animals, or people I care about. Jesus paid it all, so all to Him I owe. I am learning to live more open-handedly, more open-heartedly, more grateful for the simple things and more generously. At least I think I am–ask me in a decade and we can chuckle then over how little I’ve really learned at this time.
Disappointments never feel good, and neither does the pruning that it entails. But the Gardener is Good. He only sends the rain to accomplish His purposes, whether that be actual water from heaven or in the various disappointments that make our hearts feel soggy and limp. He uses them all to bring about better things.
Isaiah 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater…
The rain is still plucking on the rooftops. I think I can sleep well, now, lulled by the water and yet reminded that my Shepherd is fully awake and watching over me. Take my disappointments, Lord, and exchange them for more of You.
Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Blessings,
As I look out my sweaty single-paned windows, the sky is gray, tinged with coral. The school bus is due to pass by my front door in twenty minutes. I’m up, showered and dressed, and with the baby. The rest of the house is quiet. Seven other children are either sleeping or still lounging in their beds, stretching under fluffy comforters or doing their own reading. What’s *not* happening is a full-blown rush to get everyone dressed, everyone fed, everyone’s books in order, and everyone out the door. That only happens on Sundays 😉
My eldest is turning 18. She recently asked how much more schooling she would need to do before she graduated. My mind flew to all of the subjects and curriculums that were incomplete or unattempted. I thought about all of the things I still wanted her to learn. Like Latin. Like French. I thought about creating her perfect transcript, even though she has no intention at the moment to attend college (shock and awe, I know…I’ll give you a moment…). But when I consider the point of education, I had to admit, she was ready to be on her own Life Pursuits.
What IS the point of education? To me, it is to be equipped and ready for LIFE. It means having had enough experiences and learning that my child is able to not only read on a wide level of topics, but to write well in order to communicate, and to have enough math skills to do the basics of everyday living. It means that my child knows how–no, WANTS TO–keep learning as a lifelong pursuit. It means my child has shown the character needed, the maturity, to respectfully interact with people of all kinds. It means my child knows the gospel, and continues to witness how a relationship with God plays out in real life.
I’m afraid none of that would have happened if I treated my homeschool as the destination of that yellow school bus. I know, because I, too, was an elementary school teacher, a project leader, a Language Arts consultant. I was well embedded in that system and know it well. And I knew it wasn’t the best for my children.
I’m not even talking about the subjects taught, although the slide away from focusing on reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic has become more like tobogganing down an avalanche into an unknown abyss. I’m talking about running a child’s life like a machine, where every 45 minutes a bell goes off and *beep* turn off your Spanish Two mind and *beep* turn on your Algebra mind and *beep* whoops there’s a fire drill and *beep* Turn your books to page 42…. All the while dealing with peer pressure, a lack of discipline, and trays of factory produced pizza and chocolate milk.
There goes the bus…
So, when my daughter asked about graduation, I had to consider this. I decided to have her go through a test preparation book, so that we could see where, if any, of the holes were. Not surprisingly, she needed a little help in her math. Four months later of working with her dad on problems, she finished it with a flourish. So the cap and gown has been purchased, the cake ordered, the diploma printed.
What did she learn? I don’t know all of it…that’s the thing with slow schooling; children end up teaching themselves far more subjects than planned, expected or tested. But here is a little list of things I can remember:
English: grammar, spelling, composition, and a wide range of literature
public speaking
maths of all kinds
sciences, everything from general science to botany to astronomy to vet medicine
Bible, memory work
homemaking: gardening, baking, laundry, food preserving, diapers, cleaning
history: American, world, church
music: violin, flute, viola, piano
art of all kinds
milking dairy goats, driving a stick shift
archery, rabbitry, hospitality and ministry
basket weaving, rug making, knitting, sewing (tailoring, actually)
Ultimately, what matters most are not the things that can be put on a transcript. What matters most is the character that comes from loving God. What we have now is a beautiful, young lady not only well-rounded in her education, but someone who is mature, eager to keep learning, and ready to embrace life with her own goals and dreams. She is a sweet daughter, a good friend to others, kind, compassionate, funny, and polite.
Are you operating out of the fear that doing something out of the cultural norm will hinder your children? Well, maybe doing something outside of the norm will save your children. I suppose only time will tell for us–this is our first graduate–but as sleepy footsteps now tenderly move through the house, I can honestly say I have no regrets. And I am proud of the adult my daughter has become.
Blessings,
I’m sitting here on the bed with a baby playing nearby. She’s laughing when I look at her and sucking her thumb when I’m not. I’m not looking at her much at the moment. My fingers are on the keyboard and my eyes are on the screen. I’ve done a lot of blogging with babies nearby, about 8 years worth.
(pause to put baby to bed….)
So I’m sitting here thinking I need a break. It feels right to take one, anyway, now with my book released. All these years of blogging, all these posts relating different areas in which I endeavor to be present in my life, and here I am full circle thinking…maybe my blog needs a nap. The archives are full, however, so you may not even notice my absence if you want to go back and catch up. I do plan to keep podcasting as long as my husband wants to do that, so those will show up here. Like I said, a blog nap. Not a hibernation 🙂
I’ve been pondering all of the things I want to do this upcoming fall, and I finally made a list. Everything on this list is fodder for photographs and blog posts. I’m even tempted to give you the list! I guess I’m ready to be released from that for a while, and just do the thing or another, sharing with friends and family in person or in letters. I consider many of you, my readers, friends. I want to write you letters, too. That project is coming…and I will pop in here and let you know how and when and so forth. Plus I need to tell you when the audiobook is released! (Soon!)
One thing I definitely want to do is go through the Present Journal! It’s now available!
The “look inside” feature on Amazon isn’t very good (we didn’t get to choose what to show or not). For a better look, and for some sample pages, click here and scroll down to the Journal. I love this Journal! It’s full of good questions that will help anyone serious about pondering their own Present Life to think, plan, dream and work towards a more meaningful and joy filled life. I really believe this. The book, Present, was about my own journey. The Present Journal will be about yours. Plus the paper feels good to write on. Plus my doodles decorate the pages. If *I* can doodle silly little drawings, so can YOU.
You can pick up a copy of the Journal here. I would love to hear how it goes for you!
May you be blessed, my friends, in your many endeavors to be fully attentive to the life you are in.
While I was pregnant last fall, I had a woman ask about the number of children I had, and my age. I told her (smile). She shook her head when she inquired about homeschooling, proceeded to lament her teen son’s apparent lack of educational ambitions, and then said, and I quote, “If I were pregnant again you’d have to take me out to the woods and shoot me!”
Well. That’s sad, on a whole lot of levels.
I wonder if sometimes having any children at all is just a matter of having something to check off on the list of life. Then we push them to grow up as fast as possible so that we can get to doing whatever it is we want to be doing instead of being with our babies. Or maybe we keep them home and homeschool but then we still push them to finish the textbook within an allotted time-frame so that we can get them to the next one this September so that they could hurry up and graduate and go to the proper college to get the job that will, again, allow us to get to doing whatever it is we want to be doing instead. (You can ask your kid to diagram that last sentence. You’re welcome.)
How come just being with these little people isn’t enough?
I guess I’m wondering what the point is. Is the point just to have children, get them educated, and then…whatever….? What’s the rush? And what’s wrong with a 40-something year old woman having (a)nother baby? (Or does that only work if I put in 20 years into another career first?)
I’m wondering why learning can’t just be another aspect of living. Like eating. Can you imagine finishing up a good lunch, and before your lips swipe the napkin already fretting about the next meal, when it will be, how much time it might take, if the ingredients are all there, and *what if* it doesn’t assuage your hunger? But there we are as homeschoolers, already plotting and planning the curriculum for the next umpteen years even as our babies are just learning to read, fretting about *what if* we mess up their lives by choosing the wrong math book.
Are you struggling with this? I don’t have a website or book or method to recommend. You might laugh at what I recommend, and it is this: relax, already. As in, just park for a few minutes a day and read a book to your child without wondering if it’s on the list of must-reads in order for your 8-year-old to set sail for AP English later on. Because, frankly, your child might not want to go to college. Your child might want to run a landscaping business because he likes the outdoors. Or maybe swing a hammer. Or be a farmer. You do like pretty parks, right? You like living in a house? You like eating? Someone had to plant the plants, build the house, grow the food. Why not let your child bloom into his or her own interests?
Too many times, too many years, we press them into our own educational biases before we give them a chance to learn about what they’re interested in. Or we drag them to this and that when they just want to stay home or go fishing.
Many people ask about our homeschool, and I guess I’ve hesitated in sharing because it can be a contentious subject. But I think I’ve outgrown the comparison dance and my skin’s grown thick enough to withstand the withering opinions of others. We do other things than just “schoolwork”. We play. We play music. We do chores, bake, and take care of chickens. We ride bikes, play with Legos (a lot), and keep the sewing machines humming. Sometimes we act in theater productions, sometimes we dissect frogs with friends, and we are constantly putting books on hold from the library. And reading them. In other words, we just live life. And, somehow, perhaps miraculously, they learn stuff. And I have the test results to prove it 😉
I’ve dabbled in many different schooling methods over the years (my eldest is now 17 1/2). First of course was the school-at-home method, because that is what I knew both from being a graduate of AND an educator in the public school system. That was insanely stressful, because everything else in our lives rotated around the schoolwork. I wanted learning to be in every part of our lives, not just from this hour to that one. Recently, maybe it was the downsize, maybe it was the massive decluttering of not just stuff but of our lives, but I like where our homeschool is nowadays. It is, for lack of a better word, relaxed. Comfortable. Easy-going, and yet very productive and fun. It feels right. It is furthering one of my Big Goals: raising kids who not only know *how* to learn but *want* to learn. That will fit them for life rather well, I think.
Each of my kids has a planner. I ask them at the beginning of the day what they are *planning* to do that day. It’s a good way to check on chores (laundry day, for example), and I can also keep them moving along with whatever subject (“let’s see a couple of math pages done today”). Just the act of writing down their *plans* means that it is all more likely to get done. They’re aware of the day and their goals, and it keeps them on track. I also like that it puts the onus of learning on THEM. What I say around here is that it is MY responsibility to provide materials and to teach, but it is THEIR responsibility to learn. Furthermore, once a kid gets an idea they’re excited about (“I want to work for NASA!”), then the planner is a slam dunk: “Ok, then, let’s look at what their requirements are…oh, you need a degree in something like mathematics…which means, you’ll need to take these classes…”. Then, when we’re dealing with an unmotivated slug, I can shrug and say, “That’s ok…it just means it will take you longer to get to NASA…and do your math anyway…”
We try to get some homeschooling done every day, all year round. I could say, not including weekends, but that would be false, because my kids love to read and learn and I’m not about to ban them from books on certain days of the week. Like I said, it’s just living. Like eating. We eat on weekends, too.
So I guess my method right now is “slow school”. I dunno if that’s trademarked yet, but you (maybe) heard it here first 🙂 Here are some things we do in our homeschool, and some ideas for you to consider. Every day is blessedly different, and I don’t fret if we do less on one day than another. It just sort of all works out and I’m not spending a bazillion hours anymore “planning”.
Ideas for Daily Slow School:
Bible: proverbs video, independent study (Kay Arthur’s materials or Studying God’s Word), Scripture Memory Fellowship…
Read aloud: lunch time (currently reading Swiss Family Robinson and The Fallacy Detective)…we will pull out unknown words and assign them for looking them up in that old-fashioned thing called a dictionary
WOD: (word of the day)…one word, discuss Latin/Greece roots, definition, etc.
reading
math
spelling (we use Spell to Write and Read)
journaling
personal study on whatever topic (which is usually science or history related)
grammar/handwriting: read aloud passage, copy or dictate, check & rewrite as needed, Webster’s dictionary work, diagramming, project or report
animal husbandry
homemaking chores (why is learning how to do laundry less important than algebra?)
Ideas for Weekly Slow School:
research topic…we’ve been picking topics out of a box, researching and writing reports, and then presenting them to our family. If you ever want your kids to really learn something, have them try to teach it!
handwriting: write out memory verses, make grocery lists, etc.
math games
knowledge questions (5)….put up 5 trivia questions, such as “What is REM sleep?” or “How many teaspoons in a tablespoon?”
draw a topic out of a hat–talk on it immediately for one minute
write a letter
play board games….and turn off those screens
science experiment/lab
art/craft
You know, you only have today. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is just a wish. And children are a blessing, and that means even while they are at our feet…or in the womb. Enjoy them! And no, I’m not *announcing* anything 😉
Happy (and relaxed) learning!
When nothing is sure, everything is possible.
Margaret Drabble
Downsizing isn’t finished around here and has become more difficult. What to keep? What to get rid of? I crave the space but cling to the craziest things…like my lesson plan books I used when I was teaching 17+ years ago! But they were so good, I think, it was so fun… But I have never used any of those things in homeschooling, and even if I were to go back to teaching in a public school (not likely), I would do things differently.
But there they were: notebooks of photos, lesson plans, schedules, etc. and etc. (and etc.) I thought about giving them to someone and I thought about making up some nifty ebook about *whatever* from it all, but I finally just chucked them. I’ve also been going through all of our homeschooling books and curriculum. I have used so many different approaches, different books, different work texts…it just made up for a lot of books and things that not only took up space, but collected dust (literally). A friend taught me how to sell books on Amazon and woo-whee have I been making a lot of trips to the post office to mail books! I tell you what: it doesn’t hurt as bad to get paid to downsize! Slowly, slowly, I am consolidating my books to the ones I reference often, or reread. I figure if it’s just attracting more dust, I am blessing my children ahead of time with less to deal with later when I die.
Here are some other areas I am consolidating. Consider this a “7 Tips To Downsize!” with “BONUS 3 more for free!” without the annoying ads or pleadings to join my email list. (You’re welcome. But do join my email list :))
One thing we just consolidated was the time we spend on our hens. I get the great idea of a chicken tractor and we’ve used one for many, many years. But it is falling apart, and it is daily work that takes time. I was ready for a simple coop with access to the outside pasture. Thankfully, we were blessed with a gentleman that gave us his labor and time in exchange for playing with his baby (and such a sweet baby!). So, he put up some gates in our yards to keep our toddlers safe and then built us a small coop to put the hens in at night. He also relieved us of our wasted feed problem. I am immensely grateful to him and wish he could continue to work for us, but he has his own homestead to work on.
Here is our easier chicken work load; isn’t it pretty? The duck house is in front of it; we brought that from our old house. The ducks free range, too. Having a livestock guardian dog is a very nice way to keep predators away.
The inside has crates for the nest boxes which will be far easier to clean than the wooden ones we had in the tractor. And there is PVC pipe for a continuous, clean, non-waste feed source, and branches for the roosts. We still need to set up a watering system, reinforce the bottom to discourage digging varmints, and put in bedding for the bottom.
I can’t say I love downsizing. The *idea* is great, but the work is hard. It’s not the difficulty of taking stuff out, although there is work in that. It is more of a mind and heart work, and a very stimulating and provoking challenge to where my treasures really are. I’m keeping my eye on the prize.
Blessings,
Is this a restful season for you?
I was thinking of this as I was putting the kitchen gardens to bed for the winter. The garlic was long ago planted, and everything else has been either pulled up or pruned, and a nice thick layer of mulch put on top. It doesn’t feel like bracing for winter; it feels like tucking in children underneath warm coverlets and watching them fall asleep, snuggled in safely. My gardens are ready for rest, for a pause in the work of taking in sunshine and putting forth roots and growing and expending energy to fight pests. In a similar pause, my work of cultivating and harvesting and weeding also pauses. As I stood with my trowel at the end of the cleanup, I thought, “now my garden can rest.”
And the next thought was, “now…..can you?”
Well, of course not. Because the inside work continues. I still must cook, clean, do laundry, homeschool. But during this time of Advent, it seems the races are on to do ever more: fill out the calendar with events, plan extra baking, create or purchase gifts, and so forth. But I do wonder if on those Advent days it might be worthwhile to set aside time to daydream, watch the sunset, call out the owls, and take walks. Sometimes creation just beacons.
Maybe it’s not creation calling after all. Maybe it’s Jesus. And maybe He knows that if I take time to watch the wind blow through the firs He will find a more ready ear. You know how sometimes you (or maybe it’s just me but I doubt it) open the laptop for “just 5 minutes…” and then it’s suddenly two hours later? I’m just wondering. How come that doesn’t more readily happen in prayer? Or Bible reading? Or in meditating on His Word? Like, “Oops! Spent too much time with You, God!”
Sometimes I am like this empty greenhouse. Ready for the Potter but I don’t make the capital T Time for Him to start planting more. So the spirit stands ready but the body and mind are operating like whirlwinds in a pinball machine, simply hitting things and making lights bling and bells sound but not really accomplishing anything. Not really.
Sometimes God will use a trial to draw you. Maybe you don’t have enough money for the gifts you want to buy. Maybe you don’t even have enough to fill the gas tank. Maybe you just got a divorce or your daughter was rude to you or the invitation to the party didn’t come or the doctor’s news wasn’t good. Sometimes a little navel gazing is good, to examine ourselves. Mainly, this too is an opportunity to draw near to Christ. There is nothing more important in times good OR bad than to draw near to Christ. But sometimes it takes a hard thing in our lives to even acknowledge Him at all. And to remember how we accepted good things–no, expected good things–because…well…we breathe air. But even the air we breathe is a gift. Advent is a good time to practice gratitude.
The fruit trees are pruned and the barn is quiet. Surely there are times of the Lord taking away from us. What probably hurts most are the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) idols we have put before Christ. There is a reason and a season for any loss, but in the end we have His promise that He which hath begun that good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (see Phil 1:6). We can trust Christ to order our steps, so we can rest in Him working all things out. Advent is a good time to contemplate and reminisce of all of the times past He has given each of us rest, even from some things and people we thought were so important to and in our lives. And because He is faithful, we can cultivate trust this season by spending time, even extra time, reading and studying His words, in His Word. And, really, what’s really more important than that?
Resting is good for the soul. It is good for the body and mind, too. Winter here brings us to darkness around 4:30 in the afternoon. But the curse of electric power is the ability to stay up later and longer. Sometimes we are too smart for our own good, trying to get in extra chores, extra reading, extra (fill in the blank) long into the night, until we at last literally collapse into our beds, exhausted. And yet the list is not in actuality crossed off, for in the new day a fresh one appears. And appears. And appears. And we must gain some measure of accomplishment, some pride over doing our duties well and diligently, if we forsake sleep(s) to do so. And yet, God grants His beloved sleep (see Ps 127:2). Perhaps if more candles were lit and blue screens blown out, our bodies would know proper rest. Perhaps we take advantage of the earlier darkness to close our eyes sooner this Advent?
I allow my animals to rest, too. I cannot bring myself to give my hens supplemental light. Sentimentality, perhaps. But I’ve yet to have an eggless winter, even if the quantity decreased. The Lord provides in times of quiet, too. Perhaps if you are caring for animals, there is some way to lessen the workload. Maybe a season off of breeding, or insuring a winter load of hay is in the barn so to avoid frequent trips to the supplier, or even downsizing. There are seasons for everything, yes?
Advent can be a time of gaining new awareness, of practicing observation and opening our eyes more and tuning our ears. It is one thing to see and hear of a need and to jump up and volunteer to help. It is another to first take those needs to the Lord, diligently pray for them, and to wait. Maybe we are called to serve in that need. But maybe we aren’t. And we don’t have to do every traditional craft or event we always have done, just because we’ve always done it. Following Jesus throughout this season–and in fact every season–being yoked with Him, is never a burden, never harried nor heavy. It is a joy that we often do not take the time to pursue because we are too busy with our hands into too many places and our minds onto too many things. “Resting” just sounds, well, not very *productive*. Perhaps this Advent is a good time to challenge that thinking.
My family has a lot of decisions to make this upcoming year. In fact, I’m calling it “the year of decision”. The choices are laid before us and we wait to hear from the Lord so as to follow Him. As we wait on Him, and ultimately wait FOR His coming, His return, He commands us many, many times in Scripture to rest, to be at rest. Do you? Are you?
I am still a student at this and still rise too early, stay up too late, eat the breads of sorrows. I know it is difficult to put aside the clamor of our current lives and lifestyles. But I do believe it is a worthy endeavor to spend some time contemplating how our manner of walking in this world goes, and if it matches well to that of our Master. What is Advent really for, if not to prepare for His coming? And if He calls us to rest, ought we not to consider our ways, repent where needed, and obey?
Again, is this a restful season for you? Do you need to rearrange anything in heart, mind or time to allow yourself to have that rest?
Matthew 11:28-29 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Blessings,
Nothing brings out true colors like the palette of suffering. I wrote about this earlier and it still remains one of the most popular posts. Suffering is an excellent schoolteacher, both in your own life and in the life of others.
I took a wrong move on a horse–she went zing, I went zam–and soon enough I was introduced to sciatica. I knew about sciatica, but I did not know sciatica. It is an intense electrical leg cramp from the thigh down, numbness crawling through my calf and toes, the damaged nerve angry and slow to heal. Thankfully, it is expected to heal and I can already see a lot of progress.
Not much gets our attention like physical suffering. This sciatica pain is hard to ignore! One thing that this pain is teaching me is what I really think about health and healing. As a Christian, I believe God made our amazing bodies to be self-regulating (it can throw a fever when needed) and self-healing (it can repair its own cuts). That doesn’t mean every physical ailment will be healed this side of the veil, but in a perfect world (someday!), that is how our bodies were designed to operate.
I also believe that God gave us herbs to use for healing; it is His gift to us, His medicine. We lack so much knowledge in that realm because, truthfully, plants can’t be patented. So we steal from God’s design, formulate pharmaceuticals based on them, and then not only provide an inferior product, but charge exorbitant amounts for it. And then tax everyone to the grave to pay for it all instead of teaching things like how to dig up a dandelion and make a tincture.
I know this. And yet I STILL cried like a baby for a drug, any drug, get me a drug! All it took was this very light and very momentary pain (my spirit knows this to be light and momentary even though my body begs to differ) to show for how little I was willing to throw out my beliefs about healing. I took a couple of doses of supposed painkiller and it did nothing except hack through my liver. And I am glad for it! What has helped me the most, what has led to fluttering through the numb areas and more time up and walking rather than writhing on the ground, are two things: chiropractic, and homeopathy. In other words, health care that at its core vibed with my previously stated belief that our bodies were meant to be self-healing and self-regulating, and supporting its effort to do so is what I really want to do.
Why does this matter? Because conflicts clarify! You may *think* if such-and-such physical ailment happened to you, you might do this-and-that. But sometimes all it takes is a dose of reality to really (a) support and strengthen your beliefs, or (b) mash them around and come up with some new ones. For me, going through this pain very much strengthened how I wish to support this earthly body.
Besides clarifying health care beliefs, physical pain also gives you an opportunity to show how self-centered you really may be. When you are sick, do you deserve the care you receive, or do you accept it with humility and appreciation? Are you annoyed when “proper care” is not forthcoming? Do your needs trump everyone else’s? Joni Eareckson Tada gave an excellent message sharing her story of how God used (and uses) her physical ailments to heal the things that concern God the most, and it is not always the physical problem.
The spotlight on idolatry is at hand with emotional pain. Whether someone has hurt your feelings or you’ve been at the end of unjust accusations, what is revealed is to where or to whom or to what you run to to ease the suffering. I’ve been known to reach for the bag of chocolate chips (you know, the kind I keep on hand “for baking”) when I’m frustrated or mad. This is a far cry from departing to a quiet place to speak to my Father, which was the example Jesus left for me. Other folks try to salve their inner wounds with alcohol (deadening the pain), too much exercise (pursuing the endorphin rush), or with controlling others (exalting themselves). Some overeat, some overreact, and some hide behind excess laughter or flattery.
When we run with our heart-hurts to somewhere other than the cross, we are showing with our feet where our spirit is lost.
Emotional pain is just another tool in the Master’s hand. He will use it to chisel away and reveal any hypocrisy or idolatry. He will use it to bring greater humility and a compassion for others groaning under similar conditions. And He expects the church to minister to even in emotional pains, to offer support and counseling on a foundation of Biblical truth. Even if our physical bodies fail us (and they will), even if our minds rust or our emotions crack (yep), our spirit is being renewed day by day and we can hold fast to that.
2 Corinthians 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
Pain in the life of others is for your benefit and instruction as well. How you respond to another person’s suffering clarifies the condition of your heart, and in essence holds a mirror up to it. Many people are grieving over the fall of Doug Phillips. But there is also much glee (which I won’t link to).
To have any sense of smug satisfaction because of the pain of another is a reflection of how little the Gospel is understood. There ought to be no self-righteousness, no pride, no thought of how much better our own lives are because of, we believe, our own efforts or that we are more faith-filled or more knowledgeable or more careful. Instead we put our hands to our hearts and mouths, there but for the grace of God go I. Not only that, but we all in some manner HAVE been there, done that.
1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…
To have any ugliness at all in our hearts reveals that we believe we are, in essence, pretty good and decent people (unlike, say, some *others* we are not as bad as). We’ve replaced the mirror of the ten commandments with following our own hearts to hell.
Jesus answered to those that may have any semblance of haughtiness at all:
Luke 13:2-3 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
1 Corinthians 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
Run to the Father. FIRST. Cry to Him for mercy, pray for discernment, allow Him to reveal to you what lessons He intends through this. Yes, you can even pray for healing! Do not be as a donkey, having no understanding and needing the bigger bit; let Him reveal to you what He sees in your heart, and deal with any ugliness at the cross.
John 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Remember that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Even creation groans. It is one thing to know we live in a fallen world; it is quite another to physically or emotionally enter into that understanding in a whole new way. Let your suffering remind you that we are not to set our affections on things here below, but on things above. Remember that in eternity, our time here really is as a vapor, and our afflictions are really light (compared to the afflictions Christ bore on our behalf) and momentary. Praise the Lord that He works everything for our good!
Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Reflect on what your suffering and the suffering of others is revealing to you about YOU. Conflicts do, indeed, clarify. And compassion for others flows when we understand our own failings and know that we are all sin-filled and worthy of eternal judgement, not just temporal and earthly pain. Repent, and thank God for the gift of repentance.
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…
Don’t waste your pain. Take the lessons you learn from it and not only strengthen the body of Christ but use it to make clear the gospel. Others shall surely suffer from the same affliction(s) as you; you are called to minister to them, to pray and meet what needs you can, and to gently turn them continually to the cross.
Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Suffering is a hard education, but it is one that God uses to spur us to holiness. In this way, we can even give thanks in this time of pain.
Some falsely teach that a happy home is painless, that with a word or a decision you can just be happy. And many people come here searching for how to make that “happy home” because in some way suffering has entered their lives (I am glad you are here, by the way). I must tell you, however: it is not that a happy home will never grieve, never fight sin, never see physical pain or financial ruin. A happy home is never based on our circumstances, it is based on the Word of God, and He says that a happy home has Jesus as Lord. In the midst of suffering, and suffering WILL come, lift your heart to praise God. He still reigns and is still working all things for our good and His glory, and that is what matters the most in this teeny amount of time we have here.
John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Psalms 144:15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea,happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.
Blessings,
I’m very pleased to bring you this podcast regarding the state of literacy in our nation today and what we, as mothers and fathers can do about changing that tide beginning with our very own families. This is not content just for homeschoolers! Sarah Gunning Moser is a wealth of information and insight; I’m sure you will gain much from her.
Besides writing, Sarah Gunning Moser has been married over twenty-five years. She is an Endorsed Spell to Write and Read Trainer and experienced classroom teacher, tutor, homeschooler, adult instructor, speaker, and business owner. Sarah moonlights in Seattle as a professional theatrical dresser and is a former manufacturing engineer in aircraft production.
Her passion and dream: to see America’s historical literacy restored and to introduce people to the richness of our language. Sarah dedicates her work to Jesus in this hurting world, and hopes by encouraging others she will improve their lives and knowledge of Christ through a deep love of reading.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Here is the list of resources mentioned on the podcast:
SWR program (you can get this through Sarah or from the link below)
The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read, by John Corcoran (you can get this through Sarah), ISBN-10: 1427798303, ISBN-13: 978-1427798305
America: to Pray? Or Not to Pray?, by David Barton (you can get this through Sarah)
McCall Crabbs: Standard Test Lessons in Reading, Books A-E [Hardcover],ISBN-10: 1880045257, ISBN-13: 978-1880045251 [published by Back Home Industries – must be this one to be accurate], (you can get this through Sarah)
The Bridge to Literacy, by John Corcoran, ISBN-13 # 978-1-4277-9830-5
The Harsh Truth About Public Schools, by Bruce N. Shortt, ISBN # 978-1-891375-23-1
The Ayres’ List: A Measuring Scale for Ability in Spelling, ISBN-10: 0880620390, ISBN-13: 978-0880620390
The Writing Road to Reading, by Romalda Spalding (blue book), ISBN # 0-688-10007-4
IndoctriNation DVD, ASIN: B006074Q3O
The Latin Road to English Grammar (this company also sells an excellent phonics program but it is video based. That being said, if video is what would work best for your family, this the one to get! It is based on the very same research as SWR)
1. Thomas Nelson Publishers
2. WaterbrookMultnomah
3. Bethany House (includes Baker Publishing and Chosen Publishing)
4. Several other smaller publishers
I also prepared some herbal tinctures. The black cohosh is an excellent help for late pregnancy in stimulating contractions, and the crampbark will be useful after the birth is over to help relieve any uterine cramping and pains. Two different herbs with two very different and helpful uses. (Note: I am not licensed to give medical advice and you should never use anything your practitioner would not recommend).
I like to make and use an herbal bath tea after the baby is born and I am able to get into the tub. Basically I make a very strong tea with this and then strain it all into the tub; it is NOT for drinking. My mix includes: comfrey, uva ursi, shepherd’s purse, myrrh, and arnica. Ruby was so hard to nurse that she left me incredibly sore after breastfeeding; I used this tea just to dip my chest into on hands and knees for relief.
For the bath, I add to this tea mix two cups of bath salts with three to four drops each lavender and cypress. It is wonderful.
I have specific essential oils ready for birth also. I’m now a member of Young Living Oils because I am so impressed with their “seed to seal” process AND how incredibly potent their oils are. It’s like the difference between store bought garlic powder (from who knows where) and making your own from your own garden. Oils I keep on hand specifically for childbirth are lavender (relaxing), cypress (healing), cistus (internal healing, especially for hemorrhage) and clary sage (to strengthen and regulate contractions). You remember reading I’m not a *doctor*, right? These are my own helps.
I also have on hand plenty of homeopathic remedies for whatever shows up. That’s our medicine cabinet in a nutshell: herbs, oils, and remedies. We stay healthy.
I spent the day getting ready for baby, too. I used the casserole basket I made to store the cloth diapers and wraps, and folded up the swaddling linens. Baby’s gowns and onesies are in a drawer. There is a jar of homemade baby powder I made with arrowroot powder and herbs (powdered calendula, lavender, chamomile). Once baby starts moving around more, he or she will be changed on a bigger bed and ultimately the floor. I’m not about to buy a “changing table” now, at baby number seven! Can you tell we’re in my closet?
My birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and I told my family all I wanted was some flowers. Aren’t these orchids beautiful? They’ll be lovely to look at if I spend any time laboring in the tub.
I got the bedding ready also. What you see here is a bentwood cradle that once had my husband in it; isn’t it gorgeous? I love it! On the floor is where baby will sleep though, in the little Moses basket I’ve put all of my babies into with a sweet cotton blanket my sister in law gave me for baby number one. The basket has a lovely cotton and wool filled mattress a dear woman made for me, no plastics whatsoever. The pumpkin colored knitted wool blanket I finished awaits in it, too.
That’s it, I think. Now we just need the baby to arrive! I think I am mentally ready for the hard road of labor ahead, but of course it is never a “fun trip”. I am praying for a boring, uncomplicated labor and birth with a beautiful baby. If the Lord brings it to your heart, might you join me in that prayer?
Blessings,
Not ignorance, but the ignorance of ignorance, is the death of knowledge.
Alfred Whitehead
I just finished reading The Help, which I am sure by the sheer amount of reviews and whatnot many if not most of you have already read or seen on screen. Amazon, so far, lists more than 5100 reviews for this first time novelist, most of them positive. I was curious who would plug in a rating of “one” and what they would say, but was afraid my worst fears would manifest itself with a plethora of “Hilly”s taking to the reviews while they were setting their hair and waiting for the good ol’ days to return.
Mostly, I just sort of sat sober when I was finished. One, that this history was incredibly recent. Two, that I was so clueless about it. And three, that I was so naive to be really stinkin’ annoyed by people who assumed that because I was white, I was racist. Well, I’m not. Racist, that is. But fool enough to be that clueless, I suppose so.
I spent half my growing up years in England growing up not only among Brits, but among other “Yanks” from all over the states (and thus cultural areas). I guess that afforded me the blinders. Even when I putzed in the states every so many years, I lived in places like California, where my first “very best friend in the world” was Jocelyn, who was black, and that didn’t turn a single head.
I remember only two events that nicked my blindspots while growing up. One, was an argument with a relative about how yes I would certainly marry a black man if that’s how it worked out. I don’t even remember why that conversation came up but I do remember being so angry! The second event was meeting one of my husband’s relatives, and how she narrowed her eyes asking all about the Greek in me (my mom is Greek) and how her neighbors were Greek and what *those Greek folks* were like. All I can say is that I still loved those women during those conversations. But sheesh.
The other book I recently read was this one:
Where I live, people are white (and I’m not just saying that because the sun doesn’t shine here enough to tan). The fact is, once you cross over the mountains to the east and head into valleys where all of our major farmlands are, most of the farmhands you see are…Hispanic. They pick the fruit, they clean the houses, the raise the children…of white people. I see it more now.
I guess I just pray. Because only God can change hearts and I think it somehow begins with hearts that already love the Lord. I pray for courage, for the devil’s grip on our nation to loosen, to see somehow in my lifetime on earth a taste of that grand banquet to come, where God is glorified not only by our marvelous differences but for our love and fellowship for one another and for the similarity of being in Christ. I guess if that makes me a foolish white woman, then that’s where I am right now.
May God grant me the courage to keep my eyes and heart open.
Blessings,
Not too long ago I set words to my ponderings and since then it seems I’ve done nothing else other than add more. The problem with contemplating so many possibilities for so much is that it builds on a foundation that presupposes a right answer or direction is possible–if only there was enough time to think, read, research, argue, plan and purpose. And I’m not sure that this is the way to go about deciding which horizon is the one I ought to set foot towards. Oy. Pondering about my ponderings….Pooh bear would be so proud.
And, naturally, how my life is lived affects others for better or worse (or, perhaps more pathetically, with no effect at all). Choosing a direction, whether it is a lifestyle or haircut or even an opinion, leaves me open to either praise (causing me to battle my pride) or flat out character assassination from either frenemy fire or the devil himself (causing me to battle my co-dependent tendencies).
So I suppose I could just do, say, create, be nothing (is that even possible?). Or I could pursue everything, being all things to all people or swimming in so many projects that none of them bare a righteous harvest. What is the balance? How to choose the good, and to know peace through them regardless of the success…or fallout?
I am learning. And I believe the question I (we all?) need to ask more is this:
I really feel for Ananias. There he was, just minding his own business, walking with the Lord the best he knew how, and God impressed upon him to do something that made him tremble. And the man didn’t sit and ponder in his thoughtful place for days (decades?). He simply obeyed. That, methinks, took a lot of faith and courage. AND an ear that was tuned to begin with.
Will the Lord not lead our homes, our families, our projects, our dreams (and ourselves)? Is His arm too short to direct, His Words too few to hear, His Holy Spirit unable to give us direction? No. But we either run ahead making our plans and setting our opinions and crafting new projects and buying new books, OR sit in a puddle of self-defeat not trying anything at all, and then either lament our failures or find security in our successes before we ever think of inquiring, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Just because something *prospers* doesn’t mean it’s blessed of God (read those proverbs). And just because something *fails* doesn’t mean it wasn’t something the Lord foresaw and planned to use for something better.
Maybe, like Ananias, His answer would make us tremble. Maybe He would take away something we love to do or are comfortable with. Maybe He would ask us to detach from someone or something or somedream we dearly loved. Maybe….maybe He would ask us to be His hands and feet, to go and make disciples…and to do that in a way we would never choose for ourselves or in a way we do not see the point of (or the results of). Maybe whatever it is would tick folks off and you’d have to get cozy with their eyeball rolling or false flattery or secret/open disdain. I dunno. But if God Himself is leading….does it really matter? Who do you want to serve, really?
To let God lead, we must allow Him to shape our appetites and what we want to pursue (see Hebrews 2:8), and not pass it through the lens of our flesh or our emotions that, hello, are so deceitful (“hmm….I think that sounds right…feels good…seems like a good idea…..is validated by those so-n-so’s….would grant me favor….give me peace from my enemies…aligns with what I already believe…”)
Are you pondering the tasks you’re about? The projects you’re pursuing? The books/websites/blogs you’re writing/reading/visiting/planning? The housework/marriagework/parentwork? The time you spend on what you’re spending it on? The people you love/hate/lovetohate/hatetolove and how to respond and relate to them?
Whatever you are pondering, let me encourage you to STOP and be quiet a moment (or three). And truly, ask the Lord (if He is your shepherd), “what wilt thou have me to do?” Make reading, studying, and meditating upon His Word a priority so that you can do what you were created to do: hear His voice, and follow.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me…
You can check out the other High Five Mom blogs in the next few days with their ideas on letting the Lord lead, too. Tell them I sent you!
Blessings,
I just finished a linen bed cover topped with handstitched woolen flowers and vines. I love the look of it and the weight of it too. It’s backed with smooth cotton. I decided not to quilt it because I liked the motion already there on the piece and didn’t want to detract from it. It feels good to finish this project; I’ve been needing the encouragement of the “here-a-little, there-a-little” adding up to, yes, a completed vision. It makes me feel like other things will also come to pass. I like also that it’s not so obvious in color; you have to really look to see its beauty. Some folks never look for the beauty beyond what seems plain to them.
I really enjoyed handstitching this. I love growing and using herbs and flowers, so this project fit in perfectly with the other parts of me. I signed up for an art drawing class coming up, on botanical subjects of course. I dream of drawing my own pictures and translating them into stitchery, or mixed media art of somesort. I also joined a county writer’s group. I want to cultivate the things I like to do more.
The year on this is important. I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching and reintroducing myself to me while shaking up everything in my house and redoing and decluttering it all. As it turns out, I’ve discovered I can suffer loss and survive, feel betrayal and still hope, and continue to love mercy and walk with my God through it all. My life is ridiculously short. To have peace with God is to have life, and to have life….well…then I can offer that to others around me, too! I’m coming full circle: it’s all about the Lord, and He is worthy of it all.
If you like this pattern and/or similar projects, I got this one from here:
Outside this year, much of the garden lay undone and unseeded. What was seeded went ignored and unweeded and then, as it does, seeded itself before I could pull it out. The poultry got into everything, including my front “fenced” garden, and the blackberries and scotchbroom took advantage of the whole thing and crept over rock walls and raised beds. I sighed a lot looking out at it all. But I did get some grace here and there, too. Like blackberry pie. And hollyhocks. God’s little kisses when the weeds threatened my eyesight.
Inside, I let my Russian sourdough starter lapse and die. I almost lost my kombucha starter. My household ran out of soap, and I had to buy some from the store. I realize these aren’t tragic things, but they were out of the norm for me. Slowly, however, a few friends coaxed me back into the land of the living. They let me just weird out on them for a while. A couple of days ago, I made an oat-coconut-pecan pie. It was like a warm welcome from the oven, its scent reminding me that sweet things still matter.
God is faithful, and He is still good, all the time. He walks us through the times that seem (or are) dry and provides plenty of His little angels to minister along the way. I am thankful for it all. Joy is real.
Blessings on your road, wherever you are,
Rearranging the house, painting furniture, zealous decluttering happening around these parts. And a massive garage sale coming on Saturday morning. It is slow, room by room, drawer by drawer, but the house is getting a huge fresh breath of air. For too long I haven’t wanted to really invest in my home this way because (1) I didn’t *deserve* a big beautiful house and (2) we had (have) no money to do anything major. Ahhh but grace abounds and re-decorating with what I have is free. Besides, selling stuff makes money, and as it turns out my kids love to paint (praise the Lord because I don’t!).
My closet got a makeover as well. First I removed absolutely everything out of it. And then I painted the wall and my husband’s childhood dresser, and then I refused to put anything back in that didn’t fit or made me feel frumpy or was just plain old. Yes, that emptied my closet!! I am slowly filling it with a purchase here and there, and it is amazing how much better it feels to have a small wardrobe and to know everything there will be something nice that fits well. I have the perfect little new dress to wear for my 19th wedding anniversary coming up on Monday.
I love my letter friends and pen pals! It is so nice to get a letter (thank you!) and to carefully pry it loose it during a quiet moment (OR to rip it open in the car outside the post office!). I love just listening to the handwriting and contemplating the words of these other faithful women just making their way like I am. I think every woman needs a letter-writing friend. It fosters slowness. Observation. Exhaling.
I’ve also been journaling, re-creating my habit of writing every day. It’s been like meeting myself, all over again!
Slowly stitching my way across my linen and wool bed cover. I’m working on the border now. A couple of days ago I was threading through the pieces thinking how I need to make more time for this, not just for me but for my children as well. There’s far too much time in academics and chores and I think we need more balance in the visual arts, at least to allow them to express their creative sides more. I tend to worry more about finishing grammar work than if they got anything even remotely related to art begun or finished. I bet we could listen to audio books and whatnot while we worked on projects. I’ll be praying on this while we make out our new autumn schedule.
I did finish my basket! I made it the perfect size for carrying a casserole dish in, and deep enough also for two dishes. My husband said he would make me a little tabletop to separate the two layers. A friend of mine sewed up the liner for me in exchange for herbal tinctures, and we are both very happy with that trade!
The garden is blooming, and it is wonderful to look out the kitchen windows to see the crazy purples and oranges and blues and of course green everywhere. The nice thing is that most of it is just perennials coming back, and I let the surprises just be where they wanted for the most part: poppies in the path, borage throughout, calendula seeding elsewheres. I haven’t even minded the hens coming in. If I have salad greens (and I do!) it is a plus; if I don’t, I figure it’s an excuse to go to the farmer’s market. I have corn, squash, beans, and tomatoes out front this year, too, but I’m not too stressed about keeping the weeds down. Maybe I should be. But I’m not.
Between my road trip with my friend, and the vacation at the beach with my family we just had, I’ve got a little stash of artist playthings going. Wool felt, ribbon, fat quarter fabric, scrapbooking paper, stickers, a rubber stamp, paint. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it all. But right now I am enjoying them all on my desktop, just looking pretty. Maybe inspiration will come.
I’m learning that I don’t need to necessarily have my act together (according to me, my biggest critic) before embarking on creative pursuits. I just need to start them, and to cultivate habit and routine to see them through. The arts can become just another aspect of homelife, weaving in through homeschooling, homemaking, playing and dishes.
What did you like to do when you were young? What arts do you most enjoy? Try a little nibble if you’re feeling a little dry, and maybe that seedbed will stir into something beautiful.
Blessings,
One thing I am quite passionate about is natural health, that is, strengthening the body via means outside of chemical methods and drugs. The same thought applies to what I put on my skin, whether it is lotions, makeup, cleansers and shampoo. Generally speaking, I want the assurance that for the most part (“generally speaking…for the most part”…wow, am I wishy-washy today) what I am using is nutritious and won’t upset my body’s self-healing and self-regulating ways that God in His wisdom formed to me in the womb.
My hair has taken up wayyyyy too much of my attention lately (see the last post!) and as a good friend once told me while I was struggling with hair *issues*, “it’s just hair. Whatever.” My trouble was that I knew what I wanted: soft, healthy, strong and shiny hair. What I had was coarse, dry-ended hair that came out too much in my hairbrush, and it felt that way even before I let the gray grow out. I knew that what I ate and drank made a difference and honestly could not come up with a change I thought was needful. I actually stopped to talk with people in grocery stores about their beautiful hair (one day I’m gonna have to write about the “stopping to talk with strangers” thing).
And then I read about “no poo.” I learned that shampoo hasn’t even been around more than half a century or so (how did people keep their hair clean before that?!), that it (along with other hair products) can put your hair on a cycle of drying it out (followed by conditioning) all of which upsets the natural balance and causes hair to be *yuk* sometimes within the very same day. And I had a friend that began her own journal to natural hair. And between Twitter messages we conspired to do the culturally-unacceptable with regards to our hair. Because when it comes to bucking the norm, we are peas in that friendly pod! (xo!)
I had already given up on conventional shampoo; I didn’t know what all of those 18-long words were and what they would do to my hair and scalp so I began making and using my own shampoo bars. Well, I will tell you that they worked just as well if not better than store-boughten shampoo and each bar was cheap to make, not to mention now I had no more plastic to deal with (look at me! I’m going green! Now that is “culturally acceptable”!)
But my hair still wasn’t soft, even though I was using an apple cider rinse, which did help.
So April 4th I used my shampoo bar for the very last time. And I let my hair go truly “au natural”. I kept my hair up most of the time and I remember that yes, it did go through a *yuk* stage of feeling greasy. I just kept reading experiences via blogs and trusted that my scalp would figure it out and stop producing so much oil. And, it DID.
After a couple of weeks, I did decide to try cleansing my hair of the extra oil with a small bowl of baking soda and water (to make a paste), and it felt pretty gritty as I tried to rub it into my scalp and hair. But wow when I washed it out and then rinsed with apple cider vinegar, everything was soft. I was incredulous. I also felt ripped off by the whole hair product industry.
After about 5 days or so, of “no poo” I went out in public for the first time. I was so self-conscious! I thought people would notice, but nothing was unusual. I actually had a friend once just lovingly (and unknowingly) comb her fingers through my hair like it was no big deal. The real test came at my hair cutting appointment several weeks later because this lady of decades of experience was going to rake her fingers through my hair. She said nothing amiss and when I shyly asked how my hair was feeling she said (and I kid you not), “Oh, it feels SO much better, less dry.” She said to just keep using what I was using; I was floored! And no, I did not tell her!
Other than my bloggy friend, I told no one, not even my husband (who wants to gross out their husband?!). Finally, well into 6 weeks later, I told him. He stared at me (like, *EW!*). I laughed because he admitted he had no clue all this time. Then he grabbed a fistful of my hair and buried his nose into it. I asked how it smelled. He said, “I dunno. Like hair.”
“Not dirty?” I asked.
“No. That’s so weird!” he said.
Since my little experiment, I’ve discovered that my wavy hair doesn’t really need more than a gentle cleanse more than once a week and I try to time it with a good sunny day to dry it naturally. I decided to buy a shampoo that smells delicious (and yes, it still has 18-letter long words in it but sometimes I am a sucker for a good natural scent) and it has lots of good oils in it. There are actually quite a lot of “no poo” hair products on the market that won’t strip your hair and scalp of needed oil balance. Right now I’m alternating this cleanser with my baking soda cleanse. At the rate I use it, it should last me at least a year!
So, I’m coming out of the hair closet. What I continue to learn is that what is “normal” for the time and society we are living isn’t necessarily necessary or prudent, and that truly, it is all right to pick and choose the parts of which you are going to participate in for reasons of your own. If that’s not intentional living, I don’t know what is.
Life is short. Live it to the glory of God!
Isaiah 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
Are the reasons to send a small child off to school valid? How important is it to utilize preschool and kindergarten programs? If you’re wavering between sending your child off, or keeping him or her home, this is an important listen for you.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Thoughts to consider:
Links to read and consider:
Early Education Shows No Benefit
Mandatory ‘gay’ day for K-5 Students
I Would Prefer Not To
You can also go to my links page, and scroll down to the “Preschoolers” section for a lot of very helpful links and books to help you with your wee ones.
I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving them on the hearts of youth. I would advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not supreme. Every institution in which men and women are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must be corrupt.
–Martin Luther
I would rather my child had a limited curriculum and access to limited educational resources, and yet learned by basking in the atmosphere of someone who had true pleasure in the books that were pursued, than that he should go to some well-equipped and soulless situation where, theoretically, he could ‘learn’ at optimum speed.
–Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
The perfect environment in which to learn will depend less on the rooms you decorate than the atmosphere you cultivate!
–from a post from Home Hearts blog
Isaiah 54:13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
Proverbs 13:20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Psalms 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom…
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge…
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
The Lord bless you as you endeavor to raise your babies in the ways they should go.
It’s harvest time, for whatever there is to actually harvest this year. We’re enjoying salad from the garden, at least. One of the things I enjoy doing is drying the seasonings I want to use in the kitchen throughout the year, but it is a little bittersweet. Is it too much to ask that someone will buy my home and LOVE the herb garden I planted and tended? Perhaps. But I ask anyway. Here is how I dried my Greek oregano:
I trimmed my oregano plant as it was flowering. I didn’t want the flowers to go to seed, because I didn’t want it to spread anymore. It’s best to trim herbs and flowers at the beginning of the day rather than in a full hot sun (ha ha…like we have that!).
In any case, I was very, very pleased. I set them in a shady spot in the barn to cure, which will take about a month or so. Then I will powder them.
The more time I spend in the kitchen, the more I figure out that a lot of the foods I buy at the market are overpriced, tasteless, and full of stuff I don’t want in my body. I couldn’t believe it the first time I figured out how to bake bread. The loaves coming out of my oven were warm and heavenly dripping with butter. The loaves I still brought home from the store….began to taste like metal. And then I figured out that buying *real* bread from the market (fresh, made with wholesome ingredients) was going to cost me $6 a loaf 
.
I slowly began realizing that just about everything I could buy from the market, I could make at home. Except I could skip all the pharmaceutical acronyms and anything else I didn’t want in my food. I’m not saying I don’t ever buy the processed product. I’m just saying….I don’t have to.
So I made marshmallows recently. And no, I didn’t go dig up my marshmallow roots and extract the sap (but don’t put that past me). In fact, I didn’t even use a substitute for corn syrup (*gasp!*). The great thing about making this sort of thing from scratch is….I don’t make it from scratch often enough to worry about it. I figure it’s like fast food. As long as it’s not a daily diet, I’m probably going to live through it.
I’ve made marshmallows before, and this recipe was definitely easier. And yes, I printed out and read all 58 pages. There are a lot of variations, including different sweeteners and so forth. I would love to try using rosewater for a sweet pink and flavor someday. This time, I just went “basic”.
After preparing a 9×13 inch pan with powdered sugar, I put 1/2 cup water and 3 TB unflavored gelatin into the bowl of my mixer. Do NOT use beef gelatin! Unless you want your marshmallows to taste like beef. Which my first batch did. Y-U-C-K!!!
I closed up my Facebook account. Again. This time I’ll be wise and not go “check to see if I’m still there”. In case you didn’t know (or care), once you’re signed up, you’re forever signed up. They just keep you in their back pocket for the day you return, and when you do, voila! Every setting you had is brought right back up! I find it creepy, but there it is.
I’ve been sitting on a blog post about why I left, mostly to explain to whomever “friend” decides to stop by here to figure me out (hello!). It’s a hard thing, though, explaining why I don’t find it a blessing without stepping on the toes of part of the 400 million people that apparently do. So…it’s just sitting here, waiting. For whomever cares. It’ll come, but not tonight.
I also cleaned out my email box of newsletters, groups and so forth. None of it was bad; it was all great! But, they added to my computer load of little foxes, stealing from the vines of my time. I also recommitted my blog’s “no comments” policy. I tried to offer them (and thank you for those of you that commented!), but they once again became stumbling blocks for me.
I have to realize that the time I have is short, and I can’t do it all, even though I want to belong to the “everyone’s doing it” club. It is all right; I’m the only one that has to live my life. No one’s reading this blog by compulsion 🙂
Decluttering my time has been good. I’ve been able to do many things “instead”. Like taking the time to write not one, but two friends who are either contemplating or trying to divorce. I think they knew I would say hard things (though I tried to be loving about it). But it’s still hard. I want to belong to the “I want to be everyone’s friend” club, too. Sometimes principles and people cross. Besides, I think that friends that don’t tell you the truth are not friends at all. Do I nod approval to maintain friendships? If I fear losing a friend, then I am not loving at all, but rather self-centered on my own needs to have that person in my life. It is a sad thing, all around. I don’t know if I’ll hear from either one again. I pray for their families to be restored.
In my “instead” time, I took up crocheting. I really like it! I thought I’d crochet a scarf so that I can really learn the basic stitches (over and over and over….). At the rate I’m going, it may be finished by fall. It’s made with a lovely green alpaca yarn that feels so delicious!
Instead of computer time, I’ve gotten some books read, and projects finished….and some books bought and projects planned (it’s an ongoing illness ha). New life is pumping into homeschooling and homemaking, and that is a blessing as well. Here is my finally finished Civil War reproduction-fabric quilt! I think it just looks beautiful, and I was pleased to put it over our player piano. My husband says it’s one of his favorites. Mine, too.
It is a blessing to be home, and to make a house a home. My ongoing challenge is to not let the distractions become fodder for neglect. Sometimes, the “instead” things are truly better.
Blessings,
There sure is a lot of junk going on in the news these days. There are people “out there” who want me to pay double or triple what I already pay for a pound of ground beef because of “global warming” of course, what with the passing gas all those moo-moo’s do. They also want our family to pay more for the energy we consume because it isn’t fair to third world countries that we are comfortable in our home, and besides that, we’re overpopulating the world with our footprints. In addition, we need to give our children their “right” to on-demand contraceptives (and of course a “recourse” for failures of such), and get in line for nanny-state-run so-called “health” care whether we want it or not. I’m sure pretty soon we’ll be expected to burn our Bibles too, what with all the hate-inciting-speech within its pages.
But you know what? All of this garbage is NOTHING NEW.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
I think we have experienced God’s grace and mercies for so long now (all my life, at least) that we beat our chests and demand all of our liberties to continue irregardless of our culture’s (and our own) flat out dismissal of Biblical knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Somehow instead we’ve managed to find an extra 68 hours in our month to spend online, but the time for personally meeting with Jesus is a quaint desire that nothing but catastrophe would move us to.
So, I think we’re just, as a whole, going to have things our own way, which is always a disaster. But we’re too smart to repent, and too intelligent to grant God His due, much less acknowledge Him as He has revealed Himself.
So, while I’m not advocating sticking our heads in the sand (don’t skip voting!), I would like to share some thoughts about what our responses as Christian homemakers may look like.
First, realize that none of this took (or takes) God by surprise, He is still on the throne, and still raises up kings (and presidents) for His own work and for His own glory.
Second, accept that we are no more worthy to escape hardship and calamity than any of the other millions and millions of faithful women that have gone before us. Would you think it better to have lived under the reign of King Herod the butcher? Or during the Babylonian captivity? Or, even now, in a country where persecution is yours should you dare to own a Bible or to be pregnant with a second child or to teach your own children about Jesus, lover of their souls?
Third, it is good to be prepared. Learn how to preserve food and fill your pantries. Learn simple first aid, and know how to use medicines to care for your family. Read plenty of nonfiction, and try your hand at many things. But please do not fall into the hole of believing that your family’s well being is ALL UP TO YOU. It is not. There will be things out of your control, but know it is never outside of God’s.
Lastly, do study to be quiet. It is a command, for our own good.
1 Thessalonians 4:11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you…
One of the ways I do this is to do handwork and crafts. My hands stay busy, and it is a good time to pray or listen to encouraging music or a good sermon. One woman quietly rolling out a pie crust for her family’s meal is better for the world than another Henny Penny running amok.
These are hard and uncertain times, and many of us are rightfully burdened with the worries of it. However, as Christians, we have access to the Prince of Peace, and in staying near to Him we may find that even the folks “out there” cannot move us from the quietness we have within despite the cacophony without.
Proverbs 1:33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Shalom,
We ought to measure our actual lot, and to fulfill it; to be with all our strength that which our lot requires and allows. What is beyond it, is no calling of ours. How much peace, quiet, confidence, and strength, would people attain, if they would go by this plain rule.
Henry Edward Manning
I realized as I was slowly plowing through all of the homeschooling lists, books, and curriculum for the upcoming year that a lot was left undone in the previous one. And, in looking at all of what I had in front of me, it looked like I was going to do that again. What is it about starting a new school year and making crazy goals like assigning all of the literature that such-n-such catelog says is needful for the 4th grade?
I know what it is. It is the fear of missing a key piece, a chunk of importance in the the academic lives of my children. As an example, I can’t wrap my head around teaching Latin to my children even though it is very popular to do so nowadays and there are lots of great curriculum out there to help me do it. It’s not that I don’t think it would be useful, but adding that would be as adding too liberal a heaping of salt to the soup pot. But……..what if they miss it?
Well, I guess they would just miss it. It would just become another unrealized goal this time next year, and you know what? That’s all right! My time has NOT been wasted in spending time with our children teaching them other things. It is not as if we were doing nothing while the last third of the spelling workbook lay untouched.
I’m realizing that though teaching my 5yo to read is extremely important, it takes a backseat to establishing a tight relationship and molding her character to be obedience, pleasant, and kind. Teaching my 9yo that completing an English assignment with perseverance is a worthy goal, but if it’s accomplished by my nagging all he’s really learned is how to get browbeat, not how to diagram a sentence.
Planning for the homeschool year is important. But let us not do so at the expense of cultivating what really matters. Let us ask God for His goals for our children, and chase after those. And then, perhaps, even Latin will find room in our lives.
Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul…
