Modern conveniences

So for almost five years, we’ve had nothing but standard cable hook-up here at the house. Just $7.93 a month gets you something like ten channels to watch. Not too shabby. We’re always excited when we go on vacation because late at night we can watch Discovery, NatGeo, History Channel, Style, etc.

We’ve also had a Blockbuster on-line membership where we get all the movies we want for one set price a month. The problem with that is that we keep the movies too long or forget we have them and we end up having two movies a month. That’s no deal.

So, about two weeks ago, we decided to cancel the Blockbuster and cancel my Weight Watchers online account (since I reached my goal) and upgrade our Comcast. So we waited a week, they came out, added everything, and then…it wasn’t what we thought it would be. The channels they told us we would get didn’t come through. Now, grant it, we had a few more channels (even NatGeo and the Science channel) but it still wasn’t what they told us. I called. They said to be patient. It would take a few days for everything to come in. The technician even told us we would have On Demand. Cool! We waited still. I mean this was like waiting for a waitress to bring you a menu at Johnny’s. What we never had before wasn’t good enough. Finally, after a few days, I called back and spoke with someone who informed me that we didn’t have those channels we were waiting for. We didn’t have On Demand. In fact, for our added $20.00 a month, we were only getting the kid channels and maybe some news and sports. And my husband even lost his Ultimate Fighting channel. How sad.

So, one night, the door bell rings and Dan does to the door. Who is standing there? AT&T reps going door-to-door selling the new Uverse. We could get 200 channels, phone, Internet, and wireless for any computers in the home for the same price we were now paying after adding the pitiful Comcast channels. Yay! How exciting! So we waited for the day…they came out to install. You know, be there bewteen noon and 2:00.  The outside guy came at 11:30…early! That never happens. The inside guy came at 3:30. 

By 7:30, we were starting to worry. Why wouldn’t things work? Finally, by 9:00, he said he’d have to come back tomorrow because there was something wrong with the outside wiring and the guys had all gone home for the night. He said it had something to do with our street.  Could it be because we live in a twenty-year-old house? The guy was nice enough to hook back up our Comcast for us so we would have something to watch when the excitement around here lulled enough to need tv. 

So yesterday, the outside guys came back and were here and gone, here and gone, multiple times. It was like mysterious little elves out there working. I’d have phone and Internet, then I wouldn’t have phone and Internet.  So…I’m still waiting for my 200 channels. Maybe I should just go back to Egypt to my ten channels, huh?

Homeschooling for a lifetime

So, I still don’t know how twelve years goes by so fast. It seems like yesterday that I ordered my first box of A Beka books and Saxon Math. We were so excited to be teaching our daughter first grade and our son four year Pre-K. Everyone wanted to know how long we were going to do this thing called homeschooling. You know, we’re strange for doing such a thing, right? I mean, really, aren’t we taking our kids’ lives in our own hands? Quite the contrary. We were taking our kids’ lives out of the government’s hands and placing them into God’s hands.

After the first year, things got tougher. Teaching the curriculum wasn’t so bad, but dealing with attitudes and selfishness and budding personalities challenged me as a teacher. I was quite unprepared for having the kids home all day and having to play teacher. That’s the free spirit in me. I’d rather sit around and read or write or talk or watch movies than have to work. So, I have tried very hard throughout the last twelve years to make work as fun as it can be. Life is too short to be a stiff neck.

Of course, as we got into high school in our teaching phase, I realized that many things needed to be stepped up a bit. I have often felt inadequate and like I was leaving something out where it came to the kids and their education. But I’ve had many homeschooling mentors along the way encourage me to continue to teach and guide the kids to follow their hearts while chasing after God’s dream for their lives. 

The reasons I began homeschooling seem to have faded as time has gone on, replaced with newer, more urgent reasons. At first, I wanted to protect my children from the influence of the world. Later, I wanted to make sure they received an education worthy of having. Now, that the first leg of my journey is complete and I am finished teaching my daughter her high school work, I see that there is so much more to teach this budding young woman to prepare her for the future God has in store for her. I see that my role in her life as homeschool teacher of math and english and science and history may be finished, but a teacher I will remain for as long as I live and as long as she is willing to listen. With only a few years left to homeschool my son, I see that there is so much more to teach; so much more to learn. And I fear that it cannot be done in three years. Even after he has walked down the aisle of homeschool graduation, real or hypothetical, he will still need to be guided by his dad and by me.

Even when we’re faced with an empty nest, I seriously doubt that it will remain unvisited by our two. For you see, investing twelve years of your life in a child’s education and maturation, spending every day together, yields rewards that will be seen and heard and felt for many generations to come. Every time I start to think that my kids may have missed out on something like the prom, or being socialized, or being in AP classes, or being class President, I am reminded by a non-homeschooling friend that my kids are pretty great, by nothing more than a casual compliment of how special they are. So, while my kids may have missed out on some of the above, they have been spared from repeated broken hearts, the need to fight for the attentions of the opposite sex, compromised values, bodies soiled by drugs and alcohol, and so much more.  

Homeschooling becomes about more than just reading, writing, and arithmetic. It becomes about life skills, matters of the heart, discernment, teaching kids to be leaders for the Lord regardless of the rewards or penalties, and so much more. I see that while we do have to get them prepared for the “real world” or working and surviving, etc., our main goal should be preparing them for their life’s call. Although knowing how to solve a trigonometry problem by using the law of cosines is important in trig class, it probably won’t be used much later in life by the average person. Knowing how to diagram sentences will help us all to be better communicators, but if we’re not communicating the message of Christ to the lost and to our wayward friends, then it doesn’t matter how well our words are spoken.

It hasn’t always been easy, but looking back, I can see that it was totally worth it.

Always Homeschooling

One thing I love about homeschooling is that we always seem to be in a perpetual state of learning. Even when we don’t think we’re learning and we don’t care to learn, we learn.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband found some eggs hidden in the soil of the garden our church has planted for the community we live in. He brought them home to hatch. Of course, I was sure that they were snake eggs and didn’t want anything to do with them. He placed them in a fish bowl, covered it with plastic wrap, poked a few holes for air, and then just watched them. Nothing happened. Until last night, that is. Suddenly, we discovered little skinks hatching out of them.  They were so cute!

This came on the coattails of the fish tank full of tadpoles my husband collected from our pond… 

Today, my daughter and I were releasing the little skinks at the edge of the woods by our house when she sat back on the ground onto a yellow jacket!!! We thought she had sat on a pinecone at first. Within minutes she was having an allergic reaction and it scared us to death. Her eyes swelled and she broke out in hives, etc. A few Benadryl did the trick, though.  She’s sore and drowzy, but okay.

Tonight while my husband was working in our garden, he found a shrew.  Of course, he captured it!  He brought it in and my son began playing with it.  Until it nipped at him. No blood drawn, so that’s good. We put the little booger in an old hamster cage and fed it some earth worms. It was really cute. When my daughter got in, my son proceeded to show it to her.  What an exciting event…until it escaped through the bars of the cage.  Praise the Lord we were able to get the cage outside and release the little guy before he turned his teeth on my son again.    Imagine if we had gotten up in the morning to find the cage empty!!!!

So, I guess we can just say this is a day in the life of a homeschooler, huh?  Even when your kids are 14, 17, and 43, I guess they never stop liking little creatures and exploring the great outdoors…yellow jacket stings and all.

Seeing God in Everything

Seeing God can seem hard to do at times, but not if we try to look for him with our spiritual eyes. 

This past week has been a whirlwind of emotions for me.  My mother-in-law left for her very first mission trip; she went to Romania.  That was frightening and exciting at the same time.  She had never left my father-in-law before, so we knew this would be difficult for the both of them, yet rewarding, at the same time.  She has watched our daughter be so passionate about her “homeland” Jamaica and wanted to catch that vision.  I think she did.

While she was in Romania, our daughter was at church camp.  My son didn’t go because many of his friends weren’t going.  Also, it was at the beach, and he doesn’t like to stay out all day, so he made the decision not to go.  Well, let me just say that he regretted that decision before the campers even left for camp (because most of his friends accepted last minute scholarships and went)…and I regretted not sending him.  This was a tough lesson for him to learn about the consequences of your decisions.  It was also a learning experience for me for several reasons.  First, I initially tried to find a way to send him to camp even after eveyone had already left. I tried to find someone he could ride with. Then, I realized that MOMMY didn’t need to fix this.  I can’t always rush in to save the day.  Also, I learned about not letting someone else’s bad mood bring you down.  Much quality time was lost this week because of grouchy behavior and because two second-born children (my son and I) each refused to bend.  We did spend some time playing Battleship and it was fun to beat him!!!

Also, we had a water pipe to burst and our air went out!  Praise the Lord the air was just something my husband had to work with when he got home from the office…but not before my son and I had to be in an 89 degree house all day.  The water pipe is being repaired today by my husband…ugh. 

A friend gave me an old laptop this week, and that was so sweet of her to think of me.  She knew that mine had crashed and died last year, leaving me without any way to get off by myself and work on my novels/Bible studies in quiet.  Well, that’s not entirely true…I can do it the old fashioned way and use a pad and pen.  I just don’t often have the time to write these days because I work from home and homeschool.  So I had come to the conclusion that even though I wanted a laptop, I didn’t really need one because I didn’t really have any current goals set for my writing these days.

THEN….I got a book contract!!!!!  Yes, you heard me!!!  A publisher accepted one of my novels this week.  I had just about lost all hope of ever seeing this happen.  I submitted my proposal to them last June!!  I’ve had so many rejections over the years, that after a while you just send proposals and forget about them.  That’s pretty much what I had done.

So, this week, I’ve had ups and downs, crazy days and lazy days, joy and heartbreak.  But (in looking back) I found myself giving glory to God even in the rough times.  And, I think he keeps rewarding me for that faithfulness.  I feel truly rewarded because even though my husband is digging up the yard, I’m trying to pay big bills with a small pocketbook, and there’s so many things I want to do and can’t find the time to do them, I’m healthy, safe, blessed, and content.  So, I’m rewarded.

A Legacy

This week one of my aunts passed away; a younger sister to my mom.  I didn’t know her well, even though I have known her my entire life.  It’s weird how you can be related to someone and not really know a lot about that person.  This aunt was someone who I saw twice a year at Easter and Thanksgiving and someone to whom I exchanged the typical pleasantries. But that truly was about it.  When my cousin gave the eulogy, I realized that THE woman she spoke of was not a woman that I knew. 

 

My mother was the second born out of four girls.  She was closest to her older sister.  My aunt that passed was closest to the baby of the family.  Therefore, I was closest to my cousins who were the children of my mom’s older sister.  My aunt who passed also worked full time, so we did not get together with her much when I was a child.  I did not know about my aunt’s salvation experience or even if there was one. I didn’t know what her hobbies were. I didn’t know much about her except that she was a faithful employee of the same company for almost 40 years. I guess I could have tried harder to get to know her after mom died, but there were obstacles that I didn’t take the time to move out of the way.  My life was busy and so was hers.  I guess it just never occurred to either of us.  I realized at the funeral that often times we say we know someone, but we don’t really know them.  The people that do know them are the ones who are with them day in and day out. 

 

I have tried to be purposeful in getting to know my niece; she’s the only one I have. I want to make sure that she really knows me.  I want her to know I’m not perfect (it doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out) and I want her to know that I love her even though we don’t get to see each other more than a few times a year.  We do communicate through email and we talk on the phone every few weeks.  I want her to know my hobbies, my interests, my goals in life…I want her to know as much about me as she wants to know.  I want to remain friends with her even after my own children have left the nest.  I think it is important to pour ourselves into the lives of others and for others to pour themselves into us. 

 

I pray that when it is my time to go, the funeral home will be busting at the seams with people coming to remember what a crazy, funny, sweet, deep, and loving person I was.  I hope they will forget about my flaws, for they are many; or at least be able to laugh at them as I do.  Most of all, I pray that it is said of me that I lived my life in reckless abandon for the Lord, that I stood my ground on moral issues and didn’t lower my standards when it came to my values, and that people feel closer to Him because they knew me.  (I sure hope I have at least sixty more years to accomplish that goal because I’m a long way away from it.) 

A Message from Proverbs today

I try to read a chapter of Proverbs everyday.  Some days I read something else and then go back and read several chapters at a time.  Today, I started over with Proverbs for the month…a day behind already.

Proverbs 1:8-9 says: Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.  They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.

I’ve always read these verses and thought to myself, “Yeah, listen to your father. Don’t forsake your mother’s teaching!”  As a homeschooling mother, you know, I thought these verses were like a ball in my court.

Today, as I read this, I thought, “Hey, you know, that’s a lot of pressure on a parent.”  I mean, we have the responsibility of actually giving the children some instruction to listen to and some teaching that’s worth not forsaking, right?  Wow!  It really makes you stop and think about what you’re doing on a daily basis; how you’re walking with the Lord; is it something the kids would want to mimic?

I pray that as I seek the Lord daily, he’ll light the way for my kids to follow in my footsteps. Hopefully, my footsteps will be inside the footsteps of Jesus.

 

High prices and collection agencies

Last year I went to the local hospital to have the dreaded mammogram.  Ouch!  Well, as it turns out, the insurance we had at the time did not consider that a necessary expense, so I was billed for the entire mammo.  No problem, I thought. I’ll just make payments to the hospital.  So, I made my usual payments.  After so many days, it was turned over to a collection agency.  No problem, I thought. I’ll just keep making the payments.  So, in April, I sent in my payment as I had been doing. I received a letter back a week later with my check enclosed saying that my payment did not meet our agreement.  Okay, whatever. I didn’t make an agreement with them.  But, I decided to send them another check with a little bit more added.  It’s not like I don’t want to pay it. We just have many other bills, you know?

 

So, before I could even send an additional payment, I received another letter from them that, in my opinion, bordered on harassment. It contained multiple words in capital letters basically attacking my character for not sending in a payment.  Of course, I did send in a payment and they rejected it.

 

What really cracked me up was a question they posed that said: Where would we be in today’s economy without the privilege of saying “Bill Me”?  In answer to their question, here is what I said to them… ”I think this entire country would be much better off if we had never accepted credit extended to any of us.  We would be living debt-free and probably would not have to deal with exorbitant prices from healthcare providers, grocery stores and retailers. But, of course, creditors like you would be out of business.  I must also add that I do not feel like hospitals and doctors should be lumped into the category of credit.  If their prices were not so inflated and health insurance not so poor, people would be able to pay their bills.”

 

So that’s what I said. That’s how I feel. 

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine 2008 Promo includes 25 gifts!!!

If you haven’t heard about the Old Schoolhouse Magazine, it’s a great one.  There are always plenty of encouraging articles to help homeschooling moms throughout the year. 

They are gearing up for their Spring promo and asked me to share the below link with you.  I thought some of you might enjoy the magazine.  Click the link below to find out more about it. 

http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_60&products_id=1542

 The above link will show you the pictures of your free gifts plus give you all the details. 

 

 

Stewardship

I’ve been trying hard to be a good steward of everything God has given me:  time, talents, money, etc.  Sometimes it’s so easy to fall into the trap of expending all of your energy and resources on things that aren’t best for you.  Sometimes it takes a while for you to recognize that you’re not using everything to the best that it could be.I was recently invited to speak at a convention that I spoke at last year.  Although this was a growing experience for me and quite enjoyable, it was not a financially profitable experience.  This was a small conference with only a few known exhibitors.  The turnout was low due to various factors.  I hesitated returning to this conference without first knowing what other exhibitors would be there, who the other speakers were, and how much advertising had been done.  This year it seemed the coordinators had done more advertising, but there would still be no guarantee of a big turn out.  I know it’s not all about the money, but I began weighing the costs (literally) to determine if it was something I could do again.  I have deliberated and prayed and sought advice.  I know it shouldn’t be such a hard decision, but it is.  You see, I do not want to cause any further debt on my family where launching the ministry is concerned.  I do not feel it is right to spend money that we really do not have on lodging, gas, food, and the exhibit booth and risk not even breaking even.  Forgive me if that sounds selfish.

Today, I resolved that I would not participate this year.  I’m okay with the fact that this may not be the right time for such a thing. Possibly I’m not even supposed to be working exclusively with the homeschool world.  I feel it is time to rest in the Lord, continue to write what he gives me, and watch him move.

Well……….This afternoon, I received an email that a popular homeschool catalog wants to carry three of my items.  Imagine my shock!  I couldn’t help but laugh inside because God’s timing is so funny.  I feel like he was waiting on me to make the decision about whether or not I would bring further debt on my family (just so I could go speak at a convention and promote myself) before opening up another door.  Isn’t God good?

 

Why I’m Not Blogging Anymore

Not really!!!  That was the question posted, so I thought I’d give a little cliffhanger title to freak you out.  (That one’s for you, Michele.)

I’ve been thinking a lot about friendship.  What is it?  What its requirements are?  How much should a friend expect from us as a friend?  How much should we expect from that friend?

I’ve wondered why is it that we call someone a best friend and love all her quirks and faults and say that’s who she is and that’s why we love her, but then…when we need her to be “there” for us, or to apologize, or to be more intuitive, or something else that’s probably outside of her personality, and she’s not, we throw up our hands in the air and crush that friend with hurtful, hateful words? 

Why is it that what we need we don’t often express until we are in a desperate moment and then we hurt those whom we love because they don’t infer what our problems are or that we even have problems?  Why is it that we expect that friend to meet those needs?  These are the questions that have been flying around my house for the last few days.  Praise the Lord I haven’t been the object of the questions…this time around.

When you first make a friend, there is something about that person that attracts you.  You don’t look at the flaws that person has.  You simply love whatever THAT quality is that attracted you.  You make her your friend, for better or worse.  The flaws don’t matter.  You may have different friends that you have different things in common with and you call on that friend when you want to do that particular thing.

So, why is it that when we start to notice that our friend doesn’t listen enough and talks too much (I’ve never been accused of that), or doesn’t say thank you, or is late all the time, or doesn’t do any number of things we may want her to do, it then starts to bother us?  After all, we want that friend to do what we need her to do precisely when we need her to do it.

It’s selfishness that causes this. When we start focusing on our needs and how someone isn’t meeting them, we’re being selfish.  When we say she is selfish, we’re being selfish for saying how selfish that person is.  Isn’t that an oxymoron? I have been guilty of doing this numerous times.  Also, jealousy usually is a factor in the equation.  The things that we support our friend in is suddenly the thing we resent her for and we call her boastful, on a powertrip, and more.

So, I have figured out the true meaning of friendship.  Friendship is when you accept someone for her flaws. You don’t expect her to be your everything. You remember that her love is shown to you simply by the act of being a friend.  And, you try to be sensitive to her needs, while remembering that you’re not the one who can satisfy all needs and she can’t satisfy yours, and you’re not supposed to.  Only the Lord can do that.  If your friend gives you a quirky little gift that you don’t really like, what do you do with it?  You save it because it came from her, right?  So, why is it that when the disagreements come, you think about how she never shows love in your “love language”?  You can’t do that.  You can’t throw things like that up.  You take the token of friendship, no matter what it is, for what it is…love.

Remember, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of your life.  When making friends, remember not to be all-absorbed with that person.  It’s too much.  Remember that there is supposed to be equal give and take with friendship, but if your friend isn’t in a place to give right now, that’s okay.  Cut her some slack.  Show some grace.  AND…if you make a friend more to you than your Savior, then you’re setting that friendship up for failure.