So, you think that you are such a bad person that God can't use you?? Well, you haven't met my God. He used a toilet today to speak to me. :)
We were frantically trying to clean the house up and have things looking nice before Daddy arrives home. I ordered each child to a different room with a job. Bean, being the oldest was given the honorable job of the hall bath. Now, before you get your knickers in a knot, she doesn't clean the toilet, she just straightens up and wipes the counter area.
As I was giving out jobs, our youngest Daughter, our Ray of Sunshine runs up and exclaims that she must use the potty NOW! So I asked Bean to help her. That was the extent of my order. In my mind it was clear that I meant for her to put the potty seat on the toilet. End of story -- nothing more.
A few minutes later I hear Beanie chanting, "You can do it! Get that poo-poo out! You can do it, girl! Go Rachel - Get it out!" I laughed to myself and ask what she is doing. She replies, "Helping Rachel like you said."
Well, how sweet. She thought she was obeying me. She thought she was dong just as I had asked. I asked her to help and she was doing what she thought was needed. But in doing so, she was not doing the other things I had asked her...she wasn' doing her job.
This got my mind going. Was I listening to God? or do I talk too much...was I doing what I thought would help instead of what was asked of me? If I get confused, do I ask Him to clarify or do I just do whatever? Am I allowing the Holy Spirit to be heard or am I yelling so loudly over Him my questions and concerns that I can't hear His ever-so-soft answer?
Sometimes I know that I am talkign over Him...that He is clearly leading me one way and I just am not ready...or at least I don't think I am. But God knows best. He always leads me, gentley scolding me along the way. I must learn to follow Him more closely and not let my sin-filled heart take charge.
Yes, all of this I got from the potty. Haven't heard God speaking to you lately? I don't think it is that He has stopped talking. It might be that you are not listening, not seeking Him. God has spoken to me through friends, the Bible, sunsets, mountains, and now He has used the toilet.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Ok - So why do we homeschool...well, you may think the answer lies in the sometimes corrupt school sysem. Not exactly. Perhaps it is the fact that I want to shelter my children and not expose them to the lies of the world...not entirely. Maybe I am one of those people who believes that my faith is the right faith and only my God is the true God..Well..yes I am. But that isn't why I homeschool. We homeschool because right now we feel that is where God is leading us. It is that simple. When we feel the urge from God to move the kids to another way of schooling - we will.
Is homeschooling easy...never. We struggle daily. We never gets breaks away from each other. Having the same person as mommy and teacher is rough some days. Having the same person as child and pupil is sometimes harder. However, the struggles are growing us. Growing us together with God. Yes, I do like the idea of sharing my religious views with my children and no, i do not think that right now they need to be exposed to other religions on a daily basis. Oh..another hard-headed, "my way or the highway" Christian...YES! No other religion actively teaches their kids that the other may be rght or better suited for that kid. But only Christians are thought of as hypocritcal and close-minded. When it comes to my God...I guess I am closeminded.
I don't want my children exposed to it all just yet. They are randomly exposed to a lot. Going out to the store, at church with their friends, the TV...all of these entities bring questions to their minds and concerns to my heart. However, when the questions come I answer them...not liking the idea of the "Let's talk later" defense that results in the topic never being approached.
Have I lost friends due to homeschool? Sort of. I have friends who were once close but their views on homeschool are very apparent in the way they talk about my kids or other's. That wall gets built up stronger and stronger until I face the fact that I am no longer comfortable with that person. I don't like the way they look at my kids as inferior or pity them because they are so far behind their own brilliant child. When one child falls behind their answer is to stick them in public school so they can get "the help the need". When my child excels past their child, then I should put them in school so that their abilities are encouraged correctly. HELLO???? If I did, I might end up being their teacher...I am certified. Would that be wrong? Should my child not go to the school I teach at? I do get my feathers ruffled, don't I?
We homeschool beacuse that is what God has planned for this period of our life. I hope that if your kids are in public school, that they are there because it is God's plan and not just because it is easy for you. If your child is in private school, I hope it is due to God's planning and not because you feel it best. if God is not at the center of such a BIG decision...pray about it. It may be that you are doing right but you are doing it for the wrong reasons. Or, your life may take a dramatic turn.
Homeschool for us is difficult. It carries more tears, uncertainty and heart aches than you can imagine...but it is the path for us right now. I pray that my friends can accept it. Oddly enough...I think they have the idea that I feel I am better than them because we homeschool. They react in a negative way which gives me the idea that they feel superior...if only we could just accept that God has different things planned for us all.
Is homeschooling easy...never. We struggle daily. We never gets breaks away from each other. Having the same person as mommy and teacher is rough some days. Having the same person as child and pupil is sometimes harder. However, the struggles are growing us. Growing us together with God. Yes, I do like the idea of sharing my religious views with my children and no, i do not think that right now they need to be exposed to other religions on a daily basis. Oh..another hard-headed, "my way or the highway" Christian...YES! No other religion actively teaches their kids that the other may be rght or better suited for that kid. But only Christians are thought of as hypocritcal and close-minded. When it comes to my God...I guess I am closeminded.
I don't want my children exposed to it all just yet. They are randomly exposed to a lot. Going out to the store, at church with their friends, the TV...all of these entities bring questions to their minds and concerns to my heart. However, when the questions come I answer them...not liking the idea of the "Let's talk later" defense that results in the topic never being approached.
Have I lost friends due to homeschool? Sort of. I have friends who were once close but their views on homeschool are very apparent in the way they talk about my kids or other's. That wall gets built up stronger and stronger until I face the fact that I am no longer comfortable with that person. I don't like the way they look at my kids as inferior or pity them because they are so far behind their own brilliant child. When one child falls behind their answer is to stick them in public school so they can get "the help the need". When my child excels past their child, then I should put them in school so that their abilities are encouraged correctly. HELLO???? If I did, I might end up being their teacher...I am certified. Would that be wrong? Should my child not go to the school I teach at? I do get my feathers ruffled, don't I?
We homeschool beacuse that is what God has planned for this period of our life. I hope that if your kids are in public school, that they are there because it is God's plan and not just because it is easy for you. If your child is in private school, I hope it is due to God's planning and not because you feel it best. if God is not at the center of such a BIG decision...pray about it. It may be that you are doing right but you are doing it for the wrong reasons. Or, your life may take a dramatic turn.
Homeschool for us is difficult. It carries more tears, uncertainty and heart aches than you can imagine...but it is the path for us right now. I pray that my friends can accept it. Oddly enough...I think they have the idea that I feel I am better than them because we homeschool. They react in a negative way which gives me the idea that they feel superior...if only we could just accept that God has different things planned for us all.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Occupied
Well, there are so many protestors around the world protesting the inequities of our country. They claim to be the 99% of the people who pay the most taxes and who have no jobs. Perhaps one reason you have no job is because of the fact that you feel entitled. Americans feel entitled. We feel that we should be able to buy anything we want. What?? You don't have the cash for this? Oh, well here, put it on your credit card. We feel that we are enitled to have certain things that are not rights, not needs. We must always have a cell phone AND we must always be connected. Just this week I heard about the CRASH of 2011. I thought for a moment that the stock market had crashed and people were committing suicide like they did years ago when the market would crash...nope. I thought perhaps another 911 typed scenerio...not quite. So what was the CRASH of 2011 that forced the Occupiers out of the headlines for a moment?? Oh, the Blackberry system crashed. Oh, well how did I not knw about that tragedy? How did I not realize that people all over the world were unable to pay their bills using their phones or get emails RIGHT THEN! Oh the tragedy!! Well, I didn't know becuase I am not a Blackberry user. I know, hard to believe. I just don't do the Blackberry thing. So, this horrific CRASH of 2011 wasn't even on my radar.
My response to it...WHO CARES! GO BACK TO THE PROTESTORS!!!! So once the media realized that the Blackberry users who were all over the news were not longer able to comment beacuse they had to catch up on all those emails and pay those bills, they returned to the dirty streets of NY and other cities around the country to get the story on the 99%. Now, the protestors have been living in the streets...eating there, sleeping there, pooping there?? GROSS! I thought NY had rules against vagrancy and people laying on benches and having their stuff everywhere. When interviewed- they all want equality...but just equality that means they get someone else's money. So, if we use a trickle down effect then the richest should give to the rich who give to the middle class who give to the poor who give to the poverty stricken. So then we would all be middle class so it wouldn't change their own financial state...hmmmm... I know, they want the taxes to be fair but let's be honest...how many of the occupiers would be guilty of fibbng on their taxes?
It just won't end. What these people really want is to take the money from people who may or may not have earned millions and give it to themselves. It just doesn't work that way. We need to realize that we have to work harder. We must save. We are not all going to be priviledged with a large inheritance. We won't all be shrewd business managers who can honestly or dishonestly make millions. However, we can go out and find a way to make money honestly. We can save. We can put down our gadgets and smart phones and not have that bill to pay each month. We can sell what we have that isn't really a necessity. It could be done and it will be hard. Those who are out protesting..fine. But equality! If the Hobo's can't legally sleep in the park neither can you. Did you really loose your money through faulty schemes or were you trying to make a quick buck? Did you loose your job because of the economy or did you loose it beacuse you are lazy? Is your current financial trial because you were honestly swindled or did you get in over your head with those nasty credit cards? Did you loose your home in a foreclosure or did you take out a mortgage that you knew you could not afford and so you lost the building of your dreams that should have never been a reality? Entitlement...
Oh and the celebrities that make appearances for the portestors..HA!!! They are the rich! They don't pay for most of what they wear or eat so we make up for that. Also, they are not sleeping on those benches. They are going home to lush apartments and enjoying life. Celebrity endorsement really don't help the Occupiers...it makes their cause seem...silly.
So, what we need is to get the WORD out. We really need some teams of Christians to go into the Occupiers and speak to them about God while they are there. That is what they need. They need to hear that God is there to take care of them if they will change their ways. I am rich. I will be getting a large inheritance...not the kind they are yelling for though. But my Father is a King. and according to His plan, the squeaky wheel does not get the oil. Only the wheel that does what He asks. The wheel that is working. The wheel that pleases Him. The squeaky wheel that demands the oil but refuses to listen and obey...well that wheel is going to be thrown aside and eventually destroyed. No, I don't believe in a works centered salvation...it is by God's Soveriegn Grace but once saved, we must obey...we must. And if we are about the Kindgdom work...I don't think we would have time to Occupy the streets. We will be too busy being occupied by the Spirit.
My response to it...WHO CARES! GO BACK TO THE PROTESTORS!!!! So once the media realized that the Blackberry users who were all over the news were not longer able to comment beacuse they had to catch up on all those emails and pay those bills, they returned to the dirty streets of NY and other cities around the country to get the story on the 99%. Now, the protestors have been living in the streets...eating there, sleeping there, pooping there?? GROSS! I thought NY had rules against vagrancy and people laying on benches and having their stuff everywhere. When interviewed- they all want equality...but just equality that means they get someone else's money. So, if we use a trickle down effect then the richest should give to the rich who give to the middle class who give to the poor who give to the poverty stricken. So then we would all be middle class so it wouldn't change their own financial state...hmmmm... I know, they want the taxes to be fair but let's be honest...how many of the occupiers would be guilty of fibbng on their taxes?
It just won't end. What these people really want is to take the money from people who may or may not have earned millions and give it to themselves. It just doesn't work that way. We need to realize that we have to work harder. We must save. We are not all going to be priviledged with a large inheritance. We won't all be shrewd business managers who can honestly or dishonestly make millions. However, we can go out and find a way to make money honestly. We can save. We can put down our gadgets and smart phones and not have that bill to pay each month. We can sell what we have that isn't really a necessity. It could be done and it will be hard. Those who are out protesting..fine. But equality! If the Hobo's can't legally sleep in the park neither can you. Did you really loose your money through faulty schemes or were you trying to make a quick buck? Did you loose your job because of the economy or did you loose it beacuse you are lazy? Is your current financial trial because you were honestly swindled or did you get in over your head with those nasty credit cards? Did you loose your home in a foreclosure or did you take out a mortgage that you knew you could not afford and so you lost the building of your dreams that should have never been a reality? Entitlement...
Oh and the celebrities that make appearances for the portestors..HA!!! They are the rich! They don't pay for most of what they wear or eat so we make up for that. Also, they are not sleeping on those benches. They are going home to lush apartments and enjoying life. Celebrity endorsement really don't help the Occupiers...it makes their cause seem...silly.
So, what we need is to get the WORD out. We really need some teams of Christians to go into the Occupiers and speak to them about God while they are there. That is what they need. They need to hear that God is there to take care of them if they will change their ways. I am rich. I will be getting a large inheritance...not the kind they are yelling for though. But my Father is a King. and according to His plan, the squeaky wheel does not get the oil. Only the wheel that does what He asks. The wheel that is working. The wheel that pleases Him. The squeaky wheel that demands the oil but refuses to listen and obey...well that wheel is going to be thrown aside and eventually destroyed. No, I don't believe in a works centered salvation...it is by God's Soveriegn Grace but once saved, we must obey...we must. And if we are about the Kindgdom work...I don't think we would have time to Occupy the streets. We will be too busy being occupied by the Spirit.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Home Schooling....
How do I know that Home School is working? I get asked this a lot. I know it works because I get to see the lightbulb turn on when my kids finally figure something out. For most moms, their kids come home from school and can count to ten. They are excited and they count it out over and over. For us, I am the one who makes then recite their numbers and look at flash cards and count lady bugs. I am the one who cries secretly because it has been two weeks and the kid still goes from three to six. However, I am also the one who is sitting there leading a lesson when my child counts from one to ten correctly and stands up with their hands raised above their heads shouting "I did it!! I did it!" and we all clap then have them count again. So I gladly trade two plus weeks of tears and self-doubt for ten seconds of joy. It means more to me becuase I see the struggle they go through. Counting to ten or whatever the lesson was seems to be a blip on most people's daily lives but on the map of my life, each little blip is a moment of rejoicing in the Lord because He has opened their eyes to something new.
But you want proof....okay. I will give you a quick glimpse into the brains of my children...BE WARE - this may cause you to run to your local school, yank your kids out and teach them yourselves.
My Ray of Sunshine's alphabet- __________ and _____________ sitting in a tree. K I S S I N G H I J K LeMeN O P T U V W Y Z
But you want proof....okay. I will give you a quick glimpse into the brains of my children...BE WARE - this may cause you to run to your local school, yank your kids out and teach them yourselves.
My Ray of Sunshine's alphabet- __________ and _____________ sitting in a tree. K I S S I N G H I J K LeMeN O P T U V W Y Z
Bean's Columbus day Theory - Teacher(me) - So, if Christopher Columbus sailed such a long time ago, is there anyone alive today who was alive when he was sailing? Lilly - Yes, Grandpa Stone.
Buddy recognizes his numbers - "Mommy, look at that sign, I know what letter that is!" I reply
"Oh, wonderful! What letter is it?" Daniel proudly states "Mommy, that is the letter zero!"
Ella Cate singing the Grin Again Gang song - "Green Green Gabels, Smile Sweetly Satan go away...and that is all I know"
So see people - these children are the furture! and you too could have amazing results just like these if you wish just by keeping your kids at home and filling their heads wth all the stuff you know and hoping that at some point in their lives they meet someone else who can fill in the blanks and put the facts in order.
But seriously - I do intend to come back to my computer tonight and write a serious story about how home school is changing our lives. But with five kids at home with me 24 hours a day - I can't always be serious!
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