You may be a home educator if.......

*You teach your children to love God
*You teach your children obedience
*You teach your children to love and respect others
*You teach your children manners
*You teach your children how to do chores
*You teach your children to give
*You read to your child
*Building family relationships is very important to you

You are a home educator if you are intentional in your efforts to “teach a child in the way he should go”.

Somehow, we get caught up in thinking it's all about academics.

Are you a home educator?

Are You Raising a Leader?

Your two-year old daughter is telling you what to do--again. Your four-year old son has a better idea on getting the job done. They are bossy, opinionated, argumentative and exasperating. Welcome to the world of roller-coaster parenting.

You are raising a strong-willed child. You are raising a leader.

Those very behaviors you never imagined your child exhibiting are the characteristics and personality traits that God placed in him. These are the virtues, that when directed and challenged, shaped and molded, will someday make him into a strong leader.

Recognize the tendencies of rebellion and rethink them as strengths of character that need redirection. See the challenge your child gives you to your way of doing things as a God-given gift of leadership and train it with the truth of God’s Word.

God gave you that particular child because He knew you could direct him into the person God called him to be.

In the meantime, you may discover some very revealing things about your self. Enjoy the ride!

Have any future leaders in your home?

Lessons from.....

A Compost Pile

I keep a compost pile. It’s where my fruit and vegetable scraps go, along with grass clippings and many oak leaves. It sits on the north end of our house and heats up to a great soil. And each spring I ask my boys to take several loads of rich, loamy compost to our vegetable garden.

This year, we had a vine begin growing from an almost finished compost heap. It was lush, with dark green leaves. Curious person that I am, I allowed it to grow. And grow. And grow. It took over most of the yard at the end of the house. And it began producing many yellow flowers, which turned into beautiful butternut squash. Thirteen of them!

This was the best growing vegetable we had all year. And I didn’t have to do anything to it but keep it supplied with water. It never had any insect problems; I never had to feed it. It just grew.

Isn’t that how it is with our lives? Out of the garbage, God can make something beautiful. And fruitful. All we need to do is supply the water of the Word, and leave the rest up to him.

I guess we just need to be willing to let go of the garbage.

THANKSGIVING!!

This is Dirk’s and my favorite holiday.

Here are some reasons:

The meaning and purpose
Family
It hasn’t become all “junked” up

Some memories I have:

Walks to the park when I was a kid
My dad always smoked a turkey (in the smoker--he liked that joke); Dirk has now taken on that responsibility
For many years the kids always colored pictures of The Mayflower and always made “hand” turkeys. We did the "I'm Thankful" papers and wrote poems about Thanksgiving. I miss those kids’ crafts. Maybe I’ll make some with the grandkids this year!

Some fun things we do:

Invite anyone who doesn’t have a family to come join us. There are so many of us already, a few more just makes it more fun. This year Anna is bringing a single friend and Erin has invited a family!

Wednesday nights before Thanksgiving have become family night; we eat soup and play games. This year we will miss Jon since he is in Iraq. (Last year we enjoyed him being "Miss America" during a charades game).

If your holiday time is not filled with family, friends, and fun, consider making some changes this year. Make some new memories. It all begins with a heart of THANKSGIVING!

PS – I’ll be busy cooking tomorrow, spending time with family on Thursday, and shopping with my crazy girls on Friday morning (they asked me to come with them again!!). I’ll be back on Monday, November 25. In the meantime, read Anna’s or Scott’s blog—they’re going to keep writing this week.

A Mother's Prayer

For years, I have kept this prayer on the mirror in my closet where I can see it every morning. I remember plenty of times when I needed to sneak back to my closet to read it again, for my sake and the sake of my children!

Oh give me patience when tiny hands

Tug at me with their small demands.

And give me gentle and smiling eyes;

Keep my lips from sharp replies.

And let not fatigue, confusion or noise

Obscure my vision of life's fleeting joys.

So when, years later, my house is still--

No bitter memories its room may fill.

~Anonymous

Do you have any special prayers or scriptures hanging where you can see them often? Share them!

100 Years

Today is Centennial Day in Oklahoma---100 years! In honor of the day I’m sharing some statistics for the year 1907.


*Only 14% of homes in the US had a bathtub
*A 3 minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11
*The average wage in the US was 22 cents per hour
*More than 95% of all births took place at home

*Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo

*Sugar cost 4 cents a pound
*Eggs were 14 cents a dozen
*Coffee was 15 cents a pound
*A gallon of milk cost 31 cents
*A house cost $4,500.

*The population of Las Vegas was 30
*Two out of every 10 adults couldn’t read or write
*Marijuana, heroin and morphine were all available over the counter at the local drugstores. Heroin was said to clear the complexion, give buoyancy to the mind, and regulate the stomach and bowels
*My grandmother, Eva Maude McMurtrey Swingle was 7 years old as was her twin, Ava Mildred

I wonder what life will look like in another 100 years?

Things

Things I’m pretty good at

Sewing
Cooking
Singing and playing piano
Meeting new people
Typing
Spelling
Gardening
Taking lots of pictures


Things I’m really bad at
keeping my refrigerator, closets, and drawers neat and orderly
memorizing
baseball
remembering names
keeping scrapbooks and baby books
organizing and framing new photos
remembering to take my vitamins
(there seems to be a “memory” theme here)
making my bed every day


Things I’m getting better at
Being lighthearted
Having fun
Really enjoying life
Not worrying
Letting go
Getting wrinkles

Come on---share your things.