Getting Dressed

Last night during our family worship time, Jeff read to us from Colossians 3 and 4.  This verses from chapter three, though, really stood out to me.

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another;  even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body;  and be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through Him.   Colossians 3:  12-17




As he was reading I could see each one of us getting dressed each morning and adding on each of these qualities layer upon layer.  How good and pleasant would it be if we could just go to our closets or drawers and physically PUT these qualities upon our bodies.  Oh, if it were as easy as that!!  Dressing ourselves each day with all of the following traits:

          -tender mercies
          -kindness
          -humility
          -meekness
          -longsuffering
          -bearing with one another
          -forgiving one another
          -love
          -peace
          -be thankful
          -grace

Sounds almost impossible, doesn't it?  And it is!   It is only through Christ's righteousness that we can exhibit any of these qualites and even then it isn't always easy.  I fail. every. single. day.  At the end of a busy day of homeschooling, cooking, cleaning, errand running and child training it is so easy to think only of myself, to get tired of answering just one more question, of listening to one more piece on the piano, to hear the constant drumming, banging, snapping that one son MUST do (he has so much music and rhythm within him that it MUST come out!), one more dish to wash, one more load of laundry to fold....It's tiring and I snap, fail.  But then I remember that even though I do struggle, I do not depend upon my own works for salvation.  I can rest on HIS righteousness and not my own weak self.  How wonderful and precious is that?

The following poem, written many, many years ago by Charitie Lees De Chenez is so special to me.  I cannot get through singing it at church without tears, but the third stanza is generally where I break down.  Yes, I will strive to clothe myself in all the qualities listed in Colosians 3, but will daily remember that Christ has paid it all and has clothed me, even me, with His righteousness.

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea,
A great High Priest, whose Name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.


My name is graven in His hands.
My name is written on His heart;
I know that, while in heaven He stands.
No tongue can bid me thence depart.


When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.


Because the sinless Saviour died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him, and pardon me.


Behold Him there! the risen Lamb!
My perfect, spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace!


One with Himself, I cannot die,
My soul is purchased by His blood;
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, my Saviour and my God.

Ode to a Mouse

There once was a mouse

Running through my house.

Poison from town

Slowed that mouse down.

In the laundry room

The other afternoon,

That same mouse

Made me run from the house.

My eldest son

Is now my number one.

He removed that mouse

Straight out of the house.

Yes, I wrote this all by myself!!

Thoughts to Ponder and a Giveaway Reminder

Just wanted to remind you all that the giveaway for Victoria Botkin's Curriculum Advice vol. 1 and 2 ends tonight at midnight!  Click here to sign up in the comments.

Things are a little chaotic around here with some croupy sounding coughs and little boys who need help with shoes and snacks and jackets and, well, pretty much everything!  The following quotes were posted on FB this morning and I thought I would share them very quickly for you to ponder today. 

Now I am off to take care of some kitchen duties that have been piling up all week.   I also noticed that there are a few piles of laundry that have accumulated in the hallway and lots of muffin crumbs in the dining room and, well, you can imagine what all there is to do today after having a quick dinner last night before heading out for piano recital and then home to quickly get the dishes done and then piled the little ones in the beds.  Twelve people make a little more mess than eight people...especially when three of them are three and under!  I know that the work I do in my home is not only for my benefit, but for the benefit of my family and, if done well and with a thankful attitude, brings glory to God.

"Feminism is mixed up with a muddled idea that women are free when they serve their employers but slaves when they help their husbands." ~G.K. Chesterton

You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, and training them up in God's fear, and minding the house, and making your household a church for God, as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of hosts." -Charles Spurgeon.

Why We Do What We Do

Deuteronomy 6:  4-9  


Hear, O Israel:  The LORD our God, the LORD is one!  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.


And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.


Many, many years ago Jeff and I were traveling I-20 from Mississippi to Texas on our way to visit Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to determine whether or not Jeff would continue his music and ministerial training there.  As we were traveling we listened to Christian radio and heard Marlin Maddox interview Raymond and Dorothy Moore.  They were discussing homeschooling that day.  Jeff and I already had one child at this point and we were intrigued with the idea of homeschooling.  Jeff asked me to write down the Moore's name and we decided then that if it were ever possible for us that we would like to homeschool.  At that time, however, it didn't seem probable as Jeff would soon be enrolling as a full- time seminary student.  In the next couple of years, I completed my master's degree in music education and we added a second child to our family.  When baby number two was just 6 weeks old we packed up and moved to Ft. Worth, TX.

Prior to moving to Texas I made various phone calls and sent letters and applications to the school systems in and surrounding the Ft. Worth, TX area.  Apparently, no one needed  a newly graduated master's level music teacher who was certified K-12.  After arriving in Ft. Worth, we began searching more thoroughly.  We also remembered that interview with the Moore's that we had heard two years earlier.  The desire had never really left our hearts, so we prayed that IF the Lord wanted us to begin homeschooling our four year old that He would close all the doors of employment for me.  And He did!  I had two opportunities open up for me.  One was teaching music in a K-2 day school.  The other was teaching in a day care.  Having heard and read the financial teachings of Larry Burkett, we knew to carefully consider the costs of mom being away from home.  After crunching the numbers we quickly realized that child care, a teaching wardrobe, travel, and convenience foods would demand all of the income and more.  What a blessing to see God's hand revealed!  Thus, we began our homeschooling journey.  Jeff did continue his full-time seminary training and, at times, worked 3-4 jobs as well.  He did well in his studies and even  received a few honors along the way.

God provided all we needed and so much more in those early years and I can say the same for today.  There have been days that have been extremely frustrating as I have tried to teach my children and there have been days that have been extremely rewarding as well.   There has only been one period in our homeschooling life that I have felt so discouraged that I could have sent the children off to school, but thankfully, I can see now that it was during a season of post-partum depression and God somehow sustained us all through that.  Homeschooling is never easy.  I really am convinced that you MUST take the command in Deuteronomy 6 to heart if you are to succeed.  Diligently teaching God's Word as you sit in your house, as  you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up seems to be a 24 hour a day job.  Yes, it can be exhausting but God has a precious promise for us in Galatians 6: 9.  "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."


Being with your children 24 hours a day, 7 days a week has to be one of the most humbling and sanctifying positions to be in.  My children see me for what I am....and I have to admit on some days what I am is not pretty.  The faults that I try to correct in my children are faults that they have learned from me.  How can I correct them when I continue to fail in the same areas?  Yes, God uses homeschooling to sanctify parents and especially moms who spend so much of their days working with and teaching their children.

Our homeschooling days are not always those days that bring tears of joy to my eyes as a child finally grasps a new concept or we have an extra special moment sharing the wonder of God's Creation.  There are many days that tears of frustration come as personalities clash, attitudes must be dealt with or a concept just seems too hard to learn.  There are times that LIFE gets so busy that the books need to be put aside for a time so that the life lessons can be learned.  Educating our children is definitely not limited to what we study from a book.  Some of the most important lessons come from what God is teaching us as we learn to live together.

Why do we home educate our children?  Because we truly feel that God called us to do so 23 years ago and unless He tells us otherwise we will continue on this course for another 17 years.  Why am I sharing this today?  I think it is because I needed to be reminded!  It is so very easy for me to get frustrated when LIFE prevents me from spending time working on MY lesson plans.  I need to remember that God's plans are always more important than anything I can plan.  Learning to graciously handle interruptions and little twists in our day will, in the long run, be much more helpful to my children than learning the details of the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, the greenhouse effect or unit multipliers.  And, I share because I hope to encourage someone else out there who might be struggling today as well.

 1 Thessalonians 5: 11  Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.










  

Getting Rid of the Clutter Stream of Consciousness

This past Saturday I was finally able to spend some time in my bedroom sorting through clothes, various Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations.  It would be so nice if our bedroom was just our bedroom, but as we lack extra rooms and extra storage in this house our bedroom also serves as Jeff home office/studio, my scrapbooking and sewing room (ok, I don't really sew, but I have lots of sewing equipment) and until recently it was also Caedmon's room.  Our attic access is also in our bedroom, so anything that needs to go up into the attic finds its way to my room until I can find the time to sort through and put it in the correct box.

I was able to get all the clothes that  Aaron, Jackson and Caedmon had outgrown sorted and put up in the attic.  The leftover Christmas and Thanksgiving items are now where they belong.  I still have a huge stack of boxes of items to get rid of either through ebay, consignment shop, yard sale or giveaway.  There are also several boxes in the attic to get rid off as well.  I have kitchen items, homeschool books, young women's clothing, girl clothes, baby boy clothes including Robeez shoes and tons of other things.

In making out our chore charts I quickly came to realize that if I really wanted to have an orderly home I would have to first get rid of things.  There are eight of us living in our home.  We have been homeschooling for over 22 years and have accumulated a. lot. of. stuff. that we use.  I am clearing out things that we haven't used in a while or things that no longer work for us.  We have had children for almost 27 years and have accumulated lots of toys.  Now, I am very picky about what kind of toys we bring into the house.  Just ask my mother in law!  ; )   At this stage in my life I have come to the conclusion that you can only have so many building toys.  We have Legos, KNEX, Fischer Technic, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Waffle Blocks, Duplos, plain ole wooden blocks and wooden sets from Melissa and Doug.   We even had giant Duplos but I have relegated them to the "get rid of" pile.

I also greatly dislike electronic toys or toys that make noises.  In a house with many people there is always noise whether it be someone listening to a book on tape, an audio lesson, Christian talk radio, piano practice, violin practice or just some wild boys cutting loose.  We just don't need any more noise.  Really!  Extra noises make my shoulders creep up to my ear lobes.

As soon as the weather warms up I would like to clean out our garage and install more shelving out there.  The boys have been storing sleeping bags in the top of their closet, but I would like them stored away.  Jackson likes to drag them all out and can't put them away without help.  My solution is to put them out of sight where he can't get them.  Then the top of the closet can be used for other storage.  The boys have a good sized closet, but there are now four of them sharing it.  Or they will be as soon as I find an extender rod or another shelf with a rod for Caedmon's clothes.

I have also decided we have way too many clothes.  I have not gone shopping for clearance clothing this winter as I normally do.  Jackson and Caedmon both have plenty of clothes for now and boxes for each size they will need as they grow are in the attic.  All of the other children have many clothes hanging in their closets that they never wear.  I cleaned out all of my drawers this weekend and threw away anything that was stained or misshapen or that I just never wore.  My drawers now look nice, I can find what I need and can actually close them without any trouble.   I keep my hanging clothes pretty well weeded out.  Now if I can just talk Jeff into taking care of cleaning out his drawers.  I may have to do that myself when he is out of town.  He tends to be a packrat and hates to depart with anything.  I do promise, though, not to burn anything....this time.  (yes, I did burn a huge stack of astronomy magazines--with evolutionary content and notebooks of papers, etc that had been in the attic for 10 years and had not been touched since college or seminary days...except to move them....FIVE times).

Decluttering and organizing seem to be themes for me this year,   This all fits into my goal to be more deliberate in my life.  Making weekly menus for three meals a day, making lesson plans for five of the children, planning our food storage, working with Jordan to plan for our garden, making goals for our home to run more smoothly...I  don't think it was in God's plan for us to live such cluttered lives.  All the clutter that we accumulate (in physical items and in cluttering up our day with too many activities) takes away time and energy that could be spent in more meaningful time with our families and in a deeper relationship with God.  It is my hope and prayer that as I declutter my home and my life that I will be able to focus even more time and energy on building better relationships with my family and deepening my relationship with God.

Who Me?

I really don't know what it was... Maybe the fact that I couldn't sleep, it was 4:30 in the morning and I hadn't had a cup of coffee yet...or maybe I am just getting older.

Early this morning I went into the bathroom to wash my sleep deprived face with warm water.  I turned the water on and patiently waited for it to warm up.  No need to wake up with a splash of icy cold water!  Well, I waited and waited and waited some more and the water just seemed to get COLDER!!  Jeff was already working at his computer with his headphones on, so I decided not to disturb him but headed to the boys' bathroom with a wash cloth in hand.

I was thinking the our hot water heater (which only serves the master bath) must be broken.  I was rejoicing that the boys' bathroom was now completed so we would still have two bathrooms to use until the hot water heater could be replaced.  I was happy that we have two hot water heaters for our home.  I was planning ahead as to how we would pay for a new hot water heater, how I would have to clear out the closet so it could be reached, how it was so very dusty in there and I would have to dust it off before a repairman could see it.  Do you do things like that?   My brain was awake now!

I sat down in my favorite chair wrapped in a comforter trying to warm up with a cup of hot chocolate.  Jeff came in a little later and kissed me on the head.  I asked him what was wrong with the hot water in the bathroom.  He said there was nothing wrong.  He had just used the hot water.  I thought, "Well, all that time I left the water running probably started the warming process or something."

A little later....and after a cup of coffee, I headed back to the bathroom....something to do with the hot chocolate and coffee...ahem....and I started to turn the water on to wash up.  Then it dawned on me that I had turned on the COLD water earlier and let it run and run and it NEVER heated up.  Oh, my!

I'm Pooped!

I think I need a vacation!  At this point of the preparations I generally wonder if the trip is worth all the trouble.  Adding in all that food takes up a lot more space, plus we are taking some games and books for some family fun time.  I think I could sleep for a very loooong time, if no one would wake me.  But someone has woken me every night for the last 26 years.  Hmm, wonder what that is doing to my sanity?
I am looking forward to being lazy next week. How does Lazy Hands Lazy Minds sound for a new blog?

Running

Okay, this is not a post about RUNNING as in getting my body outside and actually picking up my feet quickly and moving forward kind of running, but RUNNING as in errands.

I generally go to town on ONE day a week...Tuesdays, because Aaron and Kaelan have piano lessons.  Yesterday, I also had several errands to run, so this is what my afternoon looked like.

1. Dropped Jordan off at work, picked up a check from Jeff (they work in the same  building)
2. Ran through the drive through at McD's to get a chicken sandwich and COKE!!  (off the wagon, big time!)
3. Went to the bank to deposit check from number 1
4.  Went to the health food store (why is it that I can't get out of there without spending $100?)
5.  Went to the library to drop off an overdue book and pay the fine (now, maybe I can get online to check out books...I don't have time to actually look through the shelves myself!!)
6. dropped A and K off at piano after talking with piano teacher for a couple of minutes
7. stood in line at Hobby Lobby to return unused soap making supplies while holding Caedmon and trying to keep Jackson from picking up all the pumpkins, indians and scarecrows behind us and listening to Hobby Lobby employees discuss the cake decorating class with a disgruntled employee and then finally getting to the check out myself only to find out that I couldn't make the return without my driver's license, so back to the car with both boys to get said license then back in the store and back in line.....sigh!  Good thing I already had my Coke!
8.  on to make an exchange at Kohl's
9. back to pick up A and K at piano lessons where I actually see a real RUNNER, Lynn, who actually goes running while her son is at piano lessons
10. to Wally World to pick up prescriptions that got messed up LAST Tuesday and to grab a few groceries
11. to the park to kill a few minutes before...
12. time to pick up Jeff and Jordan from work

So yes, I am a homeschooling mom and have lots of super powers.  I might not be a runner, but I am super fast at running errands.  We even made it back home and had a great dinner of baked turkey (baked it yesterday morning) mashed potatoes and gravy (confession....for the first time in umpteen years I bought instant potatoes to replace the real potatoes that we would have had IF I had been at home....instant is just not the same), and green beans.  Then, Jeff and the kids were ALL in the bed before 9!!  If I could just get Caedmon to sleep, I would have been in the bed, too!  Super powers or not, this mom needs to sleep a little bit!

I'm Falling Off the Wagon and I May Not Get Back On!

During a hectic moment today, I confessed to my dear husband that I could use a Coke and a candy bar. I was really kidding, not!! But really, I didn't want him to go out and get them. But he did....and I just finished them... Sigh!

Today Devin decided to make boiled cookies...you know, the ones with chocolate, peanut butter and oatmeal? The ones that you can't eat just one or two or, if you are like me, even three of? Do you know? THOSE cookies? I think they are all gone now. They were delicious while they lasted. We have some serious chocolate addictions here in Chambleeville. And Devin is such an enabler. She is the baker/maker of all things sweet and chocolate-y here. It's so hard living with someone like that! Another sigh!!!

Oh, well...tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to kick the Coke habit, again. But, just in case you want to have some sweet, chocolate-y goodness at your house, try this recipe for boiled cookies. I have also heard them called no-bake cookies. Delighful!!

BOILED COOKIES

2 c. sugar 1/2 c. peanut butter
3 T. cocoa 1 t. vanilla
1/2 stick butter 3 c. quick oats, uncooked
1/2 c. milk nuts (optional)

Mix first 4 ingredients together. Boil for 1 minute in medium pan. Remove; add peanut butter, vanilla, uncooked oats and nuts (optional). Stir only enough to blend and drop by spoon on waxed paper. Let set about 30 minutes. If you can!!

I Knew It Would Happen

My husband, Jeff, is multi-gifted and has had many career changes that reflect his giftings. Jeff can sing and is a great trumpeter and thought about playing professionally while we were in college, but the Lord called him to music ministry in order to use those talents for Him. (It was on a drive to check out SW Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth that we first heard about homeschooling) For several years Jeff was in full-time music ministry and did a terrific job. However, when our oldest child arrived at "Youth Group" age we felt led to leave the full-time ministry because our family's convictions didn't line up with what was happening at the "Youth House."

As I stated at the beginning, Jeff is multi-gifted. While in high school he worked as a dj at a local radio station and his mentor there was now head of the production team at American Family Radio. Jeff had done some free-lance work for them, but he now began an 11 year journey with AFR that ended this past April. He was then the head of the production department himself, a talk show host and head of the new AFR Talk network of 130 stations. His plate was full! But for those first 8 years he was also a bi-vocational music minister at a small Baptist church. We hadn't really left church music ministry at all. Just down-sized and eliminated the youth group. Oh, and he hasn't left the American Family Association, just moved across the street to head up The Homeschool Channel!

Three years ago we felt the time had come to leave the part-time position. It was very scary for us, because we had never, ever, looked for a church. We had always been called to serve and, for almost 20 years had never had a Sunday that Jeff was not serving. We knew what we were looking for in a church, ( we wanted to find a family - integrated church) but could we find one? For about a year we visited back and forth between two churches while Jeff filled in from time to time in a couple of the larger churches in our area. We never felt that either of the churches we were attending was the right church, but we were waiting on the Lord to show us what to do. Then an interim position at another large church in the area was offered to Jeff and he accepted it and served from Dec. to July. I have to admit that I am spoiled. Jeff is really great at leading worship and it was wonderful to actually feel like we had WORSHIPPED each Sunday. Music, for me, is such an integral part of worship. Anyway, since last August we have been attending a smaller church in another town and it is quite different. There are some aspects that we appreciate, but it is very different from what we are accustomed to....and the music is very different. And since Caedmon has gotten older, he has also gotten impossible to manage in the worship service. There is no way to slip out quietly and it is too crowded for me to nurse on the back row. So, I go upstairs and keep Caedmon during two services (sometimes able to hear the sermon on the speaker in the room, but Caedmon has found it and likes to unplug it, so I have to unplug it and put it out of his reach). Needless to say, I am not getting much out of going to church and there are other issues I have about it as well, but will leave that alone.

A couple of weeks ago Jeff had been asked by one of his former trumpet students to play at his church this Sunday (yes, we are old enough that Jeff has a former trumpet student who is now around 30 and leads worship at one of the large churches in our area!) We all went and while the beginning of the service was a little more lively than I prefer, what I knew would happen came to pass. The choir special was a selection that we had done at a few churches where Jeff had served. It was straight from Scripture, Philippians 2: 8-11. What a blessing to my worship starved soul! It was beautifully done by choir and orchestra and I sang quietly from the back pew as tears rolled down my cheeks. That's what I knew would happen....that I would cry the moment some familiar hymn or special was sung. My tears continued for quite awhile, but I noticed that I wasn't the only one in my family with tears flowing. I was able to stay in the service the entire time as I was able to discretely nurse Caedmon when he became restless and he fell asleep for the remainder of the service.

We are still trying to figure out what the Lord is leading us to, but yesterday made things a little easier to bear for me. These last three years have been difficult in many ways. Who knew that finding a church could be so difficult? We will continue to wait on the Lord and ask Him to show us where we are to be. Until then, I will be grateful for the time of worship that we experienced yesterday. An oasis in the middle of my desert.

Philippians 2: 8-11 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.