Suffering

I think there is a common misconception in the Christian community that being a believer (one who has made a commitment to follow Christ) exempts you from suffering. This is especially true for premillenial dispensationalists and prosperity theologians, who teach that we'll be airlifted out of here before things really get bad and we'll be rich when we are. But make no mistake, God's kingdom is now. Satan is loosed on the earth now. And we, the people of God, will suffer.

Jesus said "I come not to bring peace, but the sword." He knows that faith and the commitment to follow him will cause division in communities, in families, and in churches.

Suffering may be physical: Many heroes of the faith were martyred for their beliefs. Peter was crucified upside down. Paul was beheaded. Matthew, John, Thomas, and James were murdered. Jim Elliot was murdered by the Auca people. Edith Stine was send to the gas chambers at Auschwitz. Rachel Scott and Cassie Bernall were shot point blank at Columbine highschool as teenagers.

Suffering may be emotional: We will have to watch as our country and our world fall into such moral decay that we can barely stand the agony. Our desire to practice our faith and worship our Lord will cause us to be mocked and ostracised. Our pro-abortion President and his cabinet recently passed a HHS law stating that every employer will be required to fund contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients, with a narrow-to-the-point-of-uselessness exclusion for religious beliefs. The Komen foundation recently made a statement that they would pull funding from Planned Parenthood, but faced such intense pressure from the organization that they recanted. Planned Parenthood ends the lives of over 1,000 babies a day through abortion. Starbucks recently announced it's support of same-sex "unions" in the state of Washington, joining ranks with many other corporations who have done the same. It's heartwrenching to watch, knowing that the people behind these decisions are lost and in need of a savior, and knowing that this is the world we will leave to our children.

Suffering may be spiritual: Blessed Mother Teresa has said in many of her writings that she never felt further from God then when she was doing his work. John of the Cross suffered his own "dark night of the soul", and even the warrior Joan of Arc felt distance from Christ in her last days. We often feel the most distance from God when we feel we are suffering and watching people suffer.

But there is good news! The good news is that everything going on in our world today is part of God's perfect plan. Does he want to watch his believers suffer? No! In fact he promises that he will be with us. He calls us to stand firm and to be unified. To know what we believe, to profess what we believe, to LIVE what we believe, and to tell others. To use our suffering to advance the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth, and to tell the world to make ready for the Bridegroom. To teach our children so that they will be ready to carry on for the Kingdom of God. Are we up to the challenge?

What Are You Afraid Of?

My girl's latest obsession is asking me what I am afraid of.

"Mom, are you afraid of thunderstorms?" No.
"Spiders?" Nope.
"Tornadoes?" Not Really.
"Snakes?" Nuh uh.
"Aren't you afraid of anything?" Nope.

At least not anything I would tell you. What am I afraid of?
I am afraid of God calling one of you home before me. Of things that hurt you that I can't prevent. I'm afraid of you being hit by a car. Snatched off a street corner. Of a fire in the house and I can't get all of you out. Large bodies of water you can drown in. Balconies you can fall off of. I am afraid of your daddy having a heart attack as he's mowing the grass, or of a random act of violence or a car accident on his way home from work. I am afraid of you growing up in a world that is more and more filled with hate and prejudice, where you will be persecuted and suffer for your faith. Those are things I am afraid of. So afraid of.

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle;
be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray:
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen

Lesson Planning (or not?)

I don't lesson plan. I feel a little guilty about that sometimes. Especially, when I see all of these fancy homeschool planners with their yearly, monthly, and weekly planning sheets. I have tried several, thinking they might help me plan, but they end up sitting unused. You would think it would be crucial to have a weekly lesson plan, and it is. I just don't have it all written out.

First, most of our textbooks are set up like this: Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3. Now, I could write it out again, one lesson per day, but this seems a little redundant. So for these books I just stick a bookmark in and we do one lesson after the other. Read aloud books? Again, bookmarks.

Some of our books have sheets to tear out. I used to keep them in workbook form, but realized that we don't always do every sheet (shocking I know). If one of my children grasps a concept and can get all or almost all of the problems on a math page right, does she really need to do 4 more pages of the same thing? I don't think so.

Then, there's the inevitable. I have a beautiful plan in place, all neatly written out, and a stomach flu blows through the house causing mass chaos and distruction. Then I still have my plan, but all the dates are wrong. And that....would drive me bonkers.

Now, don't get me wrong, it's important to have a plan. That's why I have my excel schedule. It's important to make goals for the year, and to reevaluate as needed. I also keep a list of books we read and areas that are giving us trouble. But written plans? They're not for me.

Prepositions

We like to use chants and songs to memorize facts. The girls have memorized the helping verbs and the linking verbs, but I had yet to find a good song to help memorize the prepositions. Until yesterday!



Thank you fourth grade student teacher, whoever you are! We appreciate it!

Dealing with Homeschool Burnout

This has been our most challenging year yet, mostly because of Baby Girl and all of her medical challenges, which it has made it very hard to get into any kind of a routine with schoolwork. The fall was a disaster. Fortunately we were able to get through Christmas and find our groove and we are starting to get caught up in most of our academic areas.

All homeschoolers deal with burnout, even without doctor's appts and surgeries. It makes us feel like we aren't accomplishing anything, like our kids aren't learning anything, and tempts us to hail the big yellow school bus as it drives by. What we need to realize is that it's normal. It happens to everyone, especially in February (repeat after me- I'll never make a school decision in February!). The dreary cold, snow, kids cooped up indoors, germs, illness, can make homeschooling seem unbearable. Sometimes all we need is to make a couple of adjustments, tweak some lesson plans, even add in some fun and things get back on track. Need some ideas?

Turn off the TV. No homeschooling family watches TV, of course. Right. The easiest thing to do when the kiddos are getting on our nerves is to pop in a DVD (maybe and educational one- but still). The best chance for a quiet morning? Turn on some cartoons. The problem with this is that it becomes a habit, and the more TV they watch the less they read, play, or show interest in learning on their own. It actually makes them more likely to climb the walls and more likely to fight, bicker, and complain of boredom. So turn it off and give them ideas for things to do. Give them stacks of library books, board games, and crafts. The more you do, the better they will play with each other (and not bug you). If they play with each other, read on their own, and play games, they are learning! Even if you aren't teaching them at that moment.

Set up a Schedule. It sounds restrictive. But blocking your academic time out in blocks on a schedule makes it much easier to stay on task. I created my schedule in excel and was completely overwhelmed at the sight of it, but the next morning I jumped in....and it worked. Not only did it work, but we actually ran ahead of schedule. We accomplished everything we needed to accomplish, the kids all got some time with me, and I even got time to myself. Try it. (and if you would like a copy of my schedule as an example, leave a comment with your email address- I would be happy to send it to you).

Tweak your curriculum or philosophy. We use the classical model in our homeschool, but with all of the stress of the fall we were relying on workbooks. I came to realize that I was missing opportunities for real learning through good books and interesting topics because I was worried about getting the math pages done. I tweaked our curriculum to add in some Charlotte Mason method, allowing time in our schedule to read good books and narrate them orally. I dropped a lot of the written work. It has provided a nice change to our schoolwork and it has opened up opportunities to read and learn interesting things together.

Make time for fun. We are homeschoolers. We are blessed to be able to have fun and be flexible with our school days. When the weather gets crummy, pile everyone in the car and head for a museum, a matinee, or the library. Sometimes the best way to get back on track is to take a little break and come back to it the next day.

Make time for yourself. We don't get a lot of it. While most moms put their kiddos on the bus or drop them off in the carpool line and head to Starbucks, we get the privilege of being home with ours. A blessing, and sometimes a hardship. Sometimes we just need a break. It's important if you start to feel this way that you get one. Set up a time for your husband to watch the kids, or grandma, or even a sitter. Get out of the house, get a quiet coffee, read a grown up book, and take a few deep breaths. A little space can do us a lot of good!

Burnout is hard. It is frustrating and stressful, but it will pass. Try making a couple of small changes, and see if that doesn't breathe some fresh air into your homeschool (and if you have any great ideas to share- leave a comment- I would love even more ideas!)

Social Network Etiquette

Facebook seems like the perfect choice for your platform. Right? Think about it, hundreds of your closest friends, family, not so closest friends, friends of friends, you can "speak" to them all in one status. But should you? I think we need to be very cautious about sharing political, religious, or social views on facebook and twitter. I don't walk into a party and announce "Rick Santorum for President!" or "Stop Planned Parenthood!" or "Protect Marriage!" or "So, how much does your husband make?", because it's not appropriate conversation for a social gathering. Facebook is a party!

Be Respectful: It's important to treat your facebook "friends" the way you would treat your friends face to face. Many of my facebook friends believe the same things I do, but some of them don't. I would rather not say anything than risk offending the few that I would offend.

Be a Witness: Often we are a better example of Christ if we don't say anything than if we do.

Don't Cause Another to Sin: If I post a status that another finds offensive they will be tempted to comment. That has happened to me, many times. One hard facebook rule is if you don't want a comment, don't post. I think that's a great rule, but some people do want comments. They want to start a debate, and my weak heart and soul stumble right in and say something that should not have been thought, much less said.

So what can we do?
Think hard about what we post. When you post a status, think about who will be reading it? Do I want my boss, my mom, or my daughter's ballet teacher to see it (We love you Miss Emily!)? If that's a no- then don't post it. (And this also applies to certain baby related posts- bodily fluids come to mind :) ).

Create a Page. If you feel strongly about a current political event in your community or the plight of the Bengal tiger, create a page for it. Then people have a choice whether they want to "friend" that cause or not.

Use Twitter. I have found it to be a much better forum for politics, ethics, and other agendas.

Blog It. Again people have a choice whether to read.

I am by no means perfect at this. As I said above, I have been pulled into commenting and always feel horrible after I do. I am also guilty of posting strong political and ethical statements. It is a daily struggle. Just be careful. Politics and ethics are not worth losing a friend.

'Tis the End of the Season

The king cake has been eaten, the house has been covered in prayer, the door has been symbolically marked with the sign of the three kings, and the 12 days of Christmas is officially over. This always brings a sigh of relief, mixed with just a hint of sadness. January is one of my favorite months, with the refreshment of a new year mixed with the first signs of really cold weather (and we're not tired of the cold yet!), but there is a little holiday let down as well. The lights, sounds, tastes, and joy of Christmas give way to torn up wrappings on the floor, broken bulbs under a drying tree, and a few extra pounds around our waist in the New Year.

But for the Christ-followers, the celebrators of the Christ-Mass season, the joy continues. It is wrapped in the swaddling clothes of a baby, born in a stable, sent to redeem the world and offer the promise of eternity. We can continue to celebrate every day, offering holiday joy to those around us, the promise of a savior, a gift of hope and peace 365 days a year.

Do I allow the light of Christmas to shine in me all year round? May that be a New Year's Resolution for all of us who have received this gift-to share the light of Christ with those whose joy rests in the things that will pass away and show them that hope, peace, and even celebration is a free gift, offered to any who choose to accept it.

20+C+M+B+12 Christius Mansionem Benedicat May Christ bless this house, and all who enter it.