"You look so lovely today."
Those were the last words my dear friend Kim spoke to me, last Sunday in church. She passed away suddenly yesterday morning from a recurrance of cancer, taking us all by shock. She taught Sunday School and led worship Sunday morning, full of joy and anointing, with not the least hint that by the end of the week, she'd be gone.
My heart is so heavy for the family. She and her husband have five lovely children whom they've homeschooled from the beginning, the first to graduate next month and the youngest just seven. Her dad is pastor of our church and I can't imagine how difficult it will be for her folks to carry on the ministry without her very gifted and loving presence. Ours is a small church, so she leaves a very large hole.
Kim and I hit it off the first time we met years ago in our homeschool support group. Later, when she left the group, we would run into each other at conferences or fairs, and always it was as though we'd just seen each other just yesterday. It was at one of those times she invited us to their church. We did, and from the first day it was 'home' for us. One of the highlights of these past two years for me has been the reconnect of our friendship and warm fellowship in Jesus. But more significantly, her spiritual strength, radiant joy, and amazing faith has lifted me time and again when I've been discouraged over the long course of healing from health issues of my own.
I've been privileged to know a truly lovely soul and been blessed by her love and genuine, caring heart. We will miss her terribly, but the Word promises that all of this is working together for good, and that we sorrow not as those who have no hope. Thank the Lord, it doesn't end here--she's in our future.
4.15.2011
3.27.2011
Some thoughts from a high school seminar
We ended a very busy week with a full day yesterday attending a homeschooling-high-school seminar put on by our state organization. I'm a semester late on it, but c'est la vie. Better late than never!
Thankfully, I'm not too far off track in what I've been doing for record-keeping, grades, etc. However, we got a lot of new information about after-high-school options, testing, etc. Right now I'm overload about all the stuff you have to do for a college degree, but at least we have a lot of choices now as to how to get that done. I'll cross that bridge a bit later.
In no particular order, these were some of the points about high school I thought noteworthy:
Onward and upward!
Thankfully, I'm not too far off track in what I've been doing for record-keeping, grades, etc. However, we got a lot of new information about after-high-school options, testing, etc. Right now I'm overload about all the stuff you have to do for a college degree, but at least we have a lot of choices now as to how to get that done. I'll cross that bridge a bit later.
In no particular order, these were some of the points about high school I thought noteworthy:
- All the same reasons you chose to homeschool for the elementary years still apply. Don't give in to fear.
- Don't let 'college' drive your life or your homeschool.
- Don't be driven by the calendar--consider a 'gap' year after high school.
- At Ivy league schools, 1% identify themselves as born-again Christians. If you send your children to Rome, don't be surprised if they come back Romans.
- Character is pre-eminent!
- Whatever character flaws your child has will come out even more in high school.
- Any tendency to laziness and other character flaws in your child really show up in math. (Good heads-up.)
- Education is discipleship and all of life is education. Do as many field trips as you can.
- Don't spoon-feed them. Make them take responsibility for their own education, help make them to be a self-motivated problem solver.
- In public schools, they cover only about 80% of the math textbooks--so don't feel you have to complete a book in a year.
- There's a huge dearth in America of students headed for STEM--S=sciences, T=technology, E=engineering, and M=mathematics.
- Enrollment of students in military service academies who were homeschooled is 5-10%.
- Attach the Word of God to everything we teach.
- To quote Vodie Baucham, "If you need to go to college, do it fast, cheap, and close to home."
- We need to teach our children how work; we need to change our definition. When you work, you bless someone and bring glory to God.
- CLEP test scores are good for 20 years.
- Kids will rise to high standards if you set them high.
- Colleges look for students to have had American, British, and World Literature. Always teach literature in the context of history.
- Outlining, timed essays, and research papers are important to learn. Homeschooled students are typically not good at taking notes--make 'em learn!
- Engross your children in the book of Proverbs.
- In a study, millionaires said their reasons for success were 1.) honesty, 2.) supportive spouse, 3.) self-control, 4.) hard-working, and 5.) gets along with people. Having a college degree was #16 on the list.
Onward and upward!
3.20.2011
Jesus' secret
For the longest time I've pondered a question about the incredible way Jesus had with people--how did He do it? What was His secret?
Obviously, He healed them. When you're hurting, sick, and desperate, that would drive you to someone with a reputation for 100% success, whether or not you understood His mission or message.
And He delivered them. He tackled the root causes of devilish oppression, spoke the word of authority and command, and people were set free, totally and permanently. Fear and torment melted in His presence, destructions were halted cold, and hope sprang to life in the wake of instant restorations. Yes, I'd join the crowd, too, running.
I think the most compelling quality we'd all say He had, though, was His love. Somehow, they knew He loved them. Many's the time I've tried to picture the scene: His smiles and glad welcome, an open-armed approachableness that made each one in the crowd feel they were special, that it was them He loved. He must have exuded patience and an unflappable peace that made them feel He had all the time in the world to meet every need.
I've known a few people who love like that. I'm drawn to them, I want to be with them, because--yes, I'll admit to the selfishness of this--they love me. They welcome me with unfeigned approachableness, I don't feel like I'm wasting their time with my stuff (even if I am). I just know that they care. I want to be like that.
But this morning in church, on a teaching about love, I saw another profound aspect that I think answers my question about Jesus. Yes, it was Love that drew people. But a fundamental expression of that Love was no condemnation. "For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." (Jn. 3:17)
To condemn means to pronounce guilty, to declare wrong, to be weighed in the balances and found wanting. Yes, I was guilty and wrong and lost in that, but Jesus, in giving me the gift of no condemnation, showed me what Love really looks like. No longer are my failures and shortcomings the issue--it's that He wants me. He loves me. He has time for me. He wants to give me everything He has, to meet every need.
The hang-up seems to be really believing that. I still don't let myself off the hook that easily; I feel guilty over things real and imagined, I blame myself for whatever, and can just hardly accept that God (or a person) isn't holding up a measuring rod over everything I do. And I know I have an enemy whose purpose is to bring accusation against me in any and every way. BUT...when I can operate from a position of God's total acceptance and love, I can turn and love others like Jesus did.
What does that look like? Not condemning...not being judgmental (my way or no way), not being critical (how far below my exacting standards do they fall?), not blaming (then I don't have to change--it's their fault). It means I can offer forgiveness with no strings attached, no manipulation or retaliation in mind, no effort to control, because I have no agenda other than their best interests and their highest good.
Seems impossible to just live like that, every day, in every encounter. But I can see that this is what will win the world, one person at a time. Just letting them know, 'I hold nothing against you, I don't blame you and neither does God.' That's how they'll see the heart of the Father and be free to come running to Him.
Obviously, He healed them. When you're hurting, sick, and desperate, that would drive you to someone with a reputation for 100% success, whether or not you understood His mission or message.
And He delivered them. He tackled the root causes of devilish oppression, spoke the word of authority and command, and people were set free, totally and permanently. Fear and torment melted in His presence, destructions were halted cold, and hope sprang to life in the wake of instant restorations. Yes, I'd join the crowd, too, running.
I think the most compelling quality we'd all say He had, though, was His love. Somehow, they knew He loved them. Many's the time I've tried to picture the scene: His smiles and glad welcome, an open-armed approachableness that made each one in the crowd feel they were special, that it was them He loved. He must have exuded patience and an unflappable peace that made them feel He had all the time in the world to meet every need.
I've known a few people who love like that. I'm drawn to them, I want to be with them, because--yes, I'll admit to the selfishness of this--they love me. They welcome me with unfeigned approachableness, I don't feel like I'm wasting their time with my stuff (even if I am). I just know that they care. I want to be like that.
But this morning in church, on a teaching about love, I saw another profound aspect that I think answers my question about Jesus. Yes, it was Love that drew people. But a fundamental expression of that Love was no condemnation. "For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." (Jn. 3:17)
To condemn means to pronounce guilty, to declare wrong, to be weighed in the balances and found wanting. Yes, I was guilty and wrong and lost in that, but Jesus, in giving me the gift of no condemnation, showed me what Love really looks like. No longer are my failures and shortcomings the issue--it's that He wants me. He loves me. He has time for me. He wants to give me everything He has, to meet every need.
The hang-up seems to be really believing that. I still don't let myself off the hook that easily; I feel guilty over things real and imagined, I blame myself for whatever, and can just hardly accept that God (or a person) isn't holding up a measuring rod over everything I do. And I know I have an enemy whose purpose is to bring accusation against me in any and every way. BUT...when I can operate from a position of God's total acceptance and love, I can turn and love others like Jesus did.
What does that look like? Not condemning...not being judgmental (my way or no way), not being critical (how far below my exacting standards do they fall?), not blaming (then I don't have to change--it's their fault). It means I can offer forgiveness with no strings attached, no manipulation or retaliation in mind, no effort to control, because I have no agenda other than their best interests and their highest good.
Seems impossible to just live like that, every day, in every encounter. But I can see that this is what will win the world, one person at a time. Just letting them know, 'I hold nothing against you, I don't blame you and neither does God.' That's how they'll see the heart of the Father and be free to come running to Him.
3.12.2011
A pair of mini-miracles
When God does something really BIG in your life, you're awestruck at His power and faithfulness and mercy. A breakthrough, a healing, an answer to a long-term prayer, they're the memorable milestones of walking with our incredible Lord.
But I find I'm just melted by His love when He does something little. Something that isn't important in the grand scheme of things, but that means something to only me. Personal. Loving. Oh, my, it's those times I'm overwhelmed to realize how much He cares about me, about every detail of my life.
I had two of those this week, and of all the crazy things, they were about earrings.
A couple of months ago I lost one of a pair of my favorite earrings, french earwires with dainty round pieces of abalone shell. They went with so many of my favorite outfits. Not a clue, just gone. Chagrined, I asked the Lord to help me find it, but after all this time, I was thinking I'd try to get stuff from the craft store to make a new one.
Then a few weeks ago, I received a gorgeous pair of turquoise-and-silver danglies as a gift from a dear friend. Again, they were instant favorites. I wore them two weeks ago on a shopping outing--and alas, I didn't realize I'd lost one while trying on clothes in a store until an hour after we'd left. We drove back and retraced my steps, looked in the fitting room, asked at the service desk, but nothing. I felt sick at heart to have lost part of a loving gift, and so frustrated to have this happen a second time. It seemed almost too much to believe it could be found, but I asked the Lord to please find it.
Well, miracle #1...while shoving my sofa across the room this week in my fit of rearranging--there was my abalone earring right on the floor where the sofa had been! It hadn't been a good day so far, and you can't imagine my joy over finding that silly earring.
Miracle #2, today! We were out shopping again today, and on an impulse I grabbed the lonely turquoise-and-silver earring and stuck it in my pocket as we left. Back at that store once more, I showed it to the clerk at the service desk. She remembered me, said no, it hadn't been turned in. As I turned to go, she mumbled something and rummaged around in a bin on the back counter. "Wait!" she cried in surprise, and held up my missing earring! Incredible.
He didn't have to do it, but He did because it meant something to me. And I feel so loved! Just at a time I really needed it, He reminded me that if He can take care of the teeny stuff with such perfection, how can I doubt that He's got the answer for everything else I need?
But I find I'm just melted by His love when He does something little. Something that isn't important in the grand scheme of things, but that means something to only me. Personal. Loving. Oh, my, it's those times I'm overwhelmed to realize how much He cares about me, about every detail of my life.
I had two of those this week, and of all the crazy things, they were about earrings.
A couple of months ago I lost one of a pair of my favorite earrings, french earwires with dainty round pieces of abalone shell. They went with so many of my favorite outfits. Not a clue, just gone. Chagrined, I asked the Lord to help me find it, but after all this time, I was thinking I'd try to get stuff from the craft store to make a new one.
Then a few weeks ago, I received a gorgeous pair of turquoise-and-silver danglies as a gift from a dear friend. Again, they were instant favorites. I wore them two weeks ago on a shopping outing--and alas, I didn't realize I'd lost one while trying on clothes in a store until an hour after we'd left. We drove back and retraced my steps, looked in the fitting room, asked at the service desk, but nothing. I felt sick at heart to have lost part of a loving gift, and so frustrated to have this happen a second time. It seemed almost too much to believe it could be found, but I asked the Lord to please find it.
Well, miracle #1...while shoving my sofa across the room this week in my fit of rearranging--there was my abalone earring right on the floor where the sofa had been! It hadn't been a good day so far, and you can't imagine my joy over finding that silly earring.
Miracle #2, today! We were out shopping again today, and on an impulse I grabbed the lonely turquoise-and-silver earring and stuck it in my pocket as we left. Back at that store once more, I showed it to the clerk at the service desk. She remembered me, said no, it hadn't been turned in. As I turned to go, she mumbled something and rummaged around in a bin on the back counter. "Wait!" she cried in surprise, and held up my missing earring! Incredible.
He didn't have to do it, but He did because it meant something to me. And I feel so loved! Just at a time I really needed it, He reminded me that if He can take care of the teeny stuff with such perfection, how can I doubt that He's got the answer for everything else I need?
3.01.2011
My keeper!
We are in such an incredible place as children of the King, every day, every minute, in every situation. I was so blessed to be reminded this morning...
"My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip or to be moved;
He Who keeps you will neither slumber or sleep.
The Lord is your keeper...
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
He will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore."
~ from Psalm 121
Amen!
2.16.2011
This and that
Every day this week I've wanted to post but it's been one thing or another...and sometimes the 'another' is I-need-to-sit-with-a-cup-of-tea-and-gather-my-brains!
Drama took center-stage this week (no pun intended). SweetPea's Tuesday afternoons are now filled with her drama class, a neat group of kids she knows doing a semester of dramatics with a Christian outfit, wrapped in a comedy version of "Robin Hood." My composed and proper daughter will be performing the antics of a bumbling, social-misfit, klutz of girl, the daughter of the Sheriff of Nottingham--complete with a couple of pratfalls. Should be interesting! Over the weekend we attended a play by this same group, a fund-raiser starring the leaders themselves. Pretty funny and quite amazing to see what they could do with good acting and minimal props.
Second on the distraction list this week was a dream-come-true for SweetPea, the acquiring of a DSLR camera. The treasure arrived on Friday, which was a good thing--she could play with it all weekend and have some semblance of focus (no pun intended) on her studies by Monday. Right. Silly mom, what was I thinking? I'm now trying to think of clever assignments for school that will piggy-back on this Distraction...a compare/contrast essay on manual vs. auto focus? A report on the acronyms and cryptic vocabulary associated with digital photography--ISO, BSS, raw vs. what, not-raw??, bracketing?? A psalm to the extreme goodness and generosity of the Lord?? Yes!
Thankfully we're all well once again and able to enjoy the wonderful warm-up we've had this week. Monday I had a Valentine from God--birdsong! That is huge. Seems early, for which I've been inwardly shouting. What might they know about spring that we don't?...
Lots of prayer needs this week that have been on my heart, too, big ones. Mostly friends and family contending with serious health issues, but also the greater picture of our messed-up world. How incredibly thankful I am that we have the revealed love and will of God in His promises, and the place of trust that provides for my troubled heart. Everywhere I'm hearing the call from Christian leaders to press in to the Lord, let our confidence and power come from that never-ending place of intimacy with Him.
I'd love to recommend a wonderful parenting resource for all of you who have teens. A group of us moms did this as a study together a couple of years ago (thanks, Sandy!) and I dug it out again to refresh myself on what I'm supposed to be doing as a savvy, Christian parent and fall short of. It's called Age of Opportunity by Paul David Tripp. I love how his focus is helping our teens develop a whole heart for God, instilling the fear of the Lord in them, helping them to judge themselves by the Word, and living victoriously in the anti-God world they live in. He gives a lot of practical strategies and an astute understanding of the inner workings of a teen's mind and motivations. I've certainly felt the sting of personal conviction where I've failed, yet with renewed hope that the Lord is working in everything--success and failure.
Pressing on in His grace, thankful for unnumbered blessings. A good week!
Drama took center-stage this week (no pun intended). SweetPea's Tuesday afternoons are now filled with her drama class, a neat group of kids she knows doing a semester of dramatics with a Christian outfit, wrapped in a comedy version of "Robin Hood." My composed and proper daughter will be performing the antics of a bumbling, social-misfit, klutz of girl, the daughter of the Sheriff of Nottingham--complete with a couple of pratfalls. Should be interesting! Over the weekend we attended a play by this same group, a fund-raiser starring the leaders themselves. Pretty funny and quite amazing to see what they could do with good acting and minimal props.
Second on the distraction list this week was a dream-come-true for SweetPea, the acquiring of a DSLR camera. The treasure arrived on Friday, which was a good thing--she could play with it all weekend and have some semblance of focus (no pun intended) on her studies by Monday. Right. Silly mom, what was I thinking? I'm now trying to think of clever assignments for school that will piggy-back on this Distraction...a compare/contrast essay on manual vs. auto focus? A report on the acronyms and cryptic vocabulary associated with digital photography--ISO, BSS, raw vs. what, not-raw??, bracketing?? A psalm to the extreme goodness and generosity of the Lord?? Yes!
Thankfully we're all well once again and able to enjoy the wonderful warm-up we've had this week. Monday I had a Valentine from God--birdsong! That is huge. Seems early, for which I've been inwardly shouting. What might they know about spring that we don't?...
Lots of prayer needs this week that have been on my heart, too, big ones. Mostly friends and family contending with serious health issues, but also the greater picture of our messed-up world. How incredibly thankful I am that we have the revealed love and will of God in His promises, and the place of trust that provides for my troubled heart. Everywhere I'm hearing the call from Christian leaders to press in to the Lord, let our confidence and power come from that never-ending place of intimacy with Him.
I'd love to recommend a wonderful parenting resource for all of you who have teens. A group of us moms did this as a study together a couple of years ago (thanks, Sandy!) and I dug it out again to refresh myself on what I'm supposed to be doing as a savvy, Christian parent and fall short of. It's called Age of Opportunity by Paul David Tripp. I love how his focus is helping our teens develop a whole heart for God, instilling the fear of the Lord in them, helping them to judge themselves by the Word, and living victoriously in the anti-God world they live in. He gives a lot of practical strategies and an astute understanding of the inner workings of a teen's mind and motivations. I've certainly felt the sting of personal conviction where I've failed, yet with renewed hope that the Lord is working in everything--success and failure.
Pressing on in His grace, thankful for unnumbered blessings. A good week!
2.08.2011
A silver lining
What's white and cold, comes in fluffy mounds, kids love it, and you can have too much of it?
No, it's not ice cream.
I'm staring out at our third 'occurrence' of it this week, piled coldly on top of every tree and bush, looking lovely and seasonal and, well, sort of defiant. "There's more where I came from! You just think spring will be here in a few weeks...Punxatawney Phil is only a rodent. What does he know? I am the Snow, I cover all."
Ahem. No, I'm not really morbid, just feeling a bit confined. The white stuff has defined our life this week--church cancelled, quick-get-to-the-grocery-store before the next round, too cold to walk, not too cold to shovel, and shovel, and shovel. Daydreams of warm beaches with silky white sand, the smell of green things, and hot sun on my head interfere with school and pots of hot soup. Flip-flops, sunscreen, iced tea, and crickets...sigh.
But back to reality. The confinement has actually been really good for me--I've steeped myself in high school planning and praying, a much needed exercise. I sense the Lord leading us to a more out-of-the-box approach for SweetPea's last three years, so with little distraction I've been able to read or reread some good homeschooling books to lift my vision a bit. I'm loving Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La. Barbara Shelton brings you back to the spiritual reasons we homeschool and encourages you to truly follow His lead--bravely--and not settle for the safety of a pre-scribed plan. After a semester of frustrations on many fronts, I've concluded that both of us are chafing at the constraints of someone else defining what our studies should look like. It worked wonderfully in the elementary years, but now that she's beginning to discover some of her God-given interests and abilities, I think it's time to customize the system a bit!
I'm rereading A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van DeMille (wow, if you were public-schooled, you ought to read this!), and The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. This last one is specifically for the classical homeschool model, but I have found some wonderful stuff in it, not the least of which is a great reading list for high school.
Anyway, I feel a bubbling of excitement in me of new things, of adventure with the Lord, of seeing in actuality the promise of homeschooling at its best for SweetPea's best. God is able, is He not? I don't have to pull this off myself, I think I just need to get out of the way and let Him lead.
Yay! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
No, it's not ice cream.
I'm staring out at our third 'occurrence' of it this week, piled coldly on top of every tree and bush, looking lovely and seasonal and, well, sort of defiant. "There's more where I came from! You just think spring will be here in a few weeks...Punxatawney Phil is only a rodent. What does he know? I am the Snow, I cover all."
Ahem. No, I'm not really morbid, just feeling a bit confined. The white stuff has defined our life this week--church cancelled, quick-get-to-the-grocery-store before the next round, too cold to walk, not too cold to shovel, and shovel, and shovel. Daydreams of warm beaches with silky white sand, the smell of green things, and hot sun on my head interfere with school and pots of hot soup. Flip-flops, sunscreen, iced tea, and crickets...sigh.
But back to reality. The confinement has actually been really good for me--I've steeped myself in high school planning and praying, a much needed exercise. I sense the Lord leading us to a more out-of-the-box approach for SweetPea's last three years, so with little distraction I've been able to read or reread some good homeschooling books to lift my vision a bit. I'm loving Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La. Barbara Shelton brings you back to the spiritual reasons we homeschool and encourages you to truly follow His lead--bravely--and not settle for the safety of a pre-scribed plan. After a semester of frustrations on many fronts, I've concluded that both of us are chafing at the constraints of someone else defining what our studies should look like. It worked wonderfully in the elementary years, but now that she's beginning to discover some of her God-given interests and abilities, I think it's time to customize the system a bit!
I'm rereading A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van DeMille (wow, if you were public-schooled, you ought to read this!), and The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. This last one is specifically for the classical homeschool model, but I have found some wonderful stuff in it, not the least of which is a great reading list for high school.
Anyway, I feel a bubbling of excitement in me of new things, of adventure with the Lord, of seeing in actuality the promise of homeschooling at its best for SweetPea's best. God is able, is He not? I don't have to pull this off myself, I think I just need to get out of the way and let Him lead.
Yay! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
1.30.2011
Love
Our adult Sunday School class today included some talk about our love walk with God and each others. As an exercise, we read out loud together those few famous verses (4-7) from I Corinthians 13 in the Amplified version, personalized with "I" in place of "love". Wow, powerful:
I endure long and am patient and kind; I never am envious nor boil over with jealousy; I am not boastful or vainglorious, I do not display myself haughtily.
I am not conceited--arrogant and inflated with pride; I am not rude (unmannerly), and I do not act unbecomingly. I do not insist on my own rights or my own way, for I am not self-seeking; I am not touchy or fretful or resentful; I take no account of evil done to me--I pay no attention to a suffered wrong.
I do not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but I rejoice when right and truth prevail.
I bear up under anything and everything that comes, am ever ready to believe the best of every person, my hopes are fadeless under all circumstances and I endure everything without weakening.O, Lord, how I fail You in this, how many times a day do I let my flesh take over. I'm so sorry. I want to love without reservation and definition, without "self" tainting any relationship. Thank You for loving me this way!
1.28.2011
Plugging along
Yay, it's Friday! We like Fridays around here, not only because we can wrap up our school week, but because it also means something fun for SweetPea. Today it's art class where they'll be doing a monochromatic watercolor of a sailboat on the water (blacks and grays). Monica teaches out of her home and I'm quite impressed with the results of her instruction to this group of teens--and my dad's an artist by profession so I tend to have higher-than-normal expectations! Her students are having a chance to show their work this month at a local library, so I'll try to get some pics.
And it's Family Night, so that means fun food--maybe tacos--and a movie or games. Tomorrow is more fun; we're headed to an international snow sculpture festival at a ski town, something I've wanted to do for years. These things are huge and amazing! I'll post some pictures of that, too.
A couple of mini-breakthroughs this week brought some nice help to our school. One was figuring out some specific help for SweetPea with her Algebra program, Teaching Textbooks. Thankfully, the program provides a complete work-through of every single problem, so with some careful review and some help from dad, I think she's on higher ground.
Another improvement for me was to decide that I should create my own weekly instructor guide. We use Sonlight, which provides a wonderful schedule and which has always worked for us. But I've ended up using so much White-Out to customize it this year, I finally broke down and made my own look-alike template and put everything and only what we needed on it. I can color-code tests or out-and-about events, etc. It's wonderful! And of all the silly things...not having those boxes I didn't plan to check off (optional stuff Sonlight puts in), my guilt level has plummeted. :-) All you box-checkers out there will know what I mean. Why didn't I do this before??? I actually think there's been this suggestion posed to the Sonlight people, the option of an online/customizable template, but I don't know where they're at with it. In any case, what a time-saver.
Time for breakfast and off to art!
And it's Family Night, so that means fun food--maybe tacos--and a movie or games. Tomorrow is more fun; we're headed to an international snow sculpture festival at a ski town, something I've wanted to do for years. These things are huge and amazing! I'll post some pictures of that, too.
A couple of mini-breakthroughs this week brought some nice help to our school. One was figuring out some specific help for SweetPea with her Algebra program, Teaching Textbooks. Thankfully, the program provides a complete work-through of every single problem, so with some careful review and some help from dad, I think she's on higher ground.
Another improvement for me was to decide that I should create my own weekly instructor guide. We use Sonlight, which provides a wonderful schedule and which has always worked for us. But I've ended up using so much White-Out to customize it this year, I finally broke down and made my own look-alike template and put everything and only what we needed on it. I can color-code tests or out-and-about events, etc. It's wonderful! And of all the silly things...not having those boxes I didn't plan to check off (optional stuff Sonlight puts in), my guilt level has plummeted. :-) All you box-checkers out there will know what I mean. Why didn't I do this before??? I actually think there's been this suggestion posed to the Sonlight people, the option of an online/customizable template, but I don't know where they're at with it. In any case, what a time-saver.
Time for breakfast and off to art!
1.18.2011
A winter day's bouquet for you
Gray is not my favorite color. Nor is brown or tan.
Green is! But since this is usually not a very green time of year around here, I thought I'd cheer us both up with remembrances of a few months ago, some lovely flowers in my yard.
The first brave posies that pop their heads up, usually in March, are Grape Hyacinths. In case you've never had a whiff--yes, they smell just like grapes!
Then in early May my favorites bloom in happy profusion all along our fence, lilacs. Wish I could bottle that smell! I love to open my kitchen windows and fill the room with it.
In my terrace garden, I have some lovely, old-fashioned Canterbury Bells. They reseed themselves every year (they're actually biannuals) and I discovered I can get a second blooming from them if I cut the stalk down by two-thirds when they're beginning to fade. I caught these one morning just as the sun was rising:
And I love the old stand-bys of every gardener, geraniums. My only regret is that I don't a have a south-exposure window for them to winter in, so I have to replace them every year.
And as summer comes on, my clematis vine goes crazy. What's nice about this one is that it thrives in a complete-shade environment, which this north side of our patio is.
There you have it. A walk in the garden in the middle of winter! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! :-)
Green is! But since this is usually not a very green time of year around here, I thought I'd cheer us both up with remembrances of a few months ago, some lovely flowers in my yard.
The first brave posies that pop their heads up, usually in March, are Grape Hyacinths. In case you've never had a whiff--yes, they smell just like grapes!
Then in early May my favorites bloom in happy profusion all along our fence, lilacs. Wish I could bottle that smell! I love to open my kitchen windows and fill the room with it.
In my terrace garden, I have some lovely, old-fashioned Canterbury Bells. They reseed themselves every year (they're actually biannuals) and I discovered I can get a second blooming from them if I cut the stalk down by two-thirds when they're beginning to fade. I caught these one morning just as the sun was rising:
And I love the old stand-bys of every gardener, geraniums. My only regret is that I don't a have a south-exposure window for them to winter in, so I have to replace them every year.
There you have it. A walk in the garden in the middle of winter! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! :-)
1.01.2011
New beginnings
I love, love, love a new year. I start getting excited about mid-December when Christmas and it's clutter is weighing heavily on me and clean-up sounds inspiring.
I met a big goal this year, reading the Bible through. Usually I'm at it for a lot longer, studying and chewing on what I learn, but it was wonderful to get the 'big picture' again. I'm aiming to do again this year, though not to the exclusion of deeper study.
I had mixed results with my home goals. On the one hand, I did a lot of clean-out and organizing of drawers and closets, boxes of stuff donated to the thrift store, better time-saving methods in the kitchen, etc. But my nemesis, The Basement, still defies me at every turn. I suspect I need more shelving and less stuff...the two best weapons to conquer the beast. So that's high on list for 2011.
Our transition into high school has been a bit bumpy this year, not so much about content or results as organization and vision. I know where I'd like us to get (I think). I like the path we're on (I think). But it has been unsettling to consider that the once-endless-seeming homeschool journey will end in 3 1/2 years. What do we still need to do? What is really important? What does she want to do with her life? And when am I going to get a handle on all this high-school record-keeping for hours and credits and requirements and testing?!?? Hopefully in 2011.
I met a few of my writing goals this year...attended a conference, stayed consistent with a small networking group, got published, learned a ton. I'm praying a lot about truly, deep down, viewing my writing as a call from God rather than "I'll-get-to-it-when-I-can"--and acting accordingly. I've been working on a children's devotional for years but I think it's time to get it written and out there where it can do some good. So I'm planning on a regular writing night (thank you, Sandy, for the kick in the pants!) this year, along with any other time I can squeeze in.
And I'd like to see progress this year in...time management and priorities, praise and thanksgiving, being a good wife and mother, hospitality, friendship, financial management, health and fitness, and peace. Today the Lord reminded me in Psalm 1 what His formula for progress and success really is--seeking Him first and always.
So I commit 2011 to Him and pray I'll cooperate with all He wants to do in my life!
May your year be abundantly blessed above and beyond all you can ask or think. :-)
I met a big goal this year, reading the Bible through. Usually I'm at it for a lot longer, studying and chewing on what I learn, but it was wonderful to get the 'big picture' again. I'm aiming to do again this year, though not to the exclusion of deeper study.
I had mixed results with my home goals. On the one hand, I did a lot of clean-out and organizing of drawers and closets, boxes of stuff donated to the thrift store, better time-saving methods in the kitchen, etc. But my nemesis, The Basement, still defies me at every turn. I suspect I need more shelving and less stuff...the two best weapons to conquer the beast. So that's high on list for 2011.
Our transition into high school has been a bit bumpy this year, not so much about content or results as organization and vision. I know where I'd like us to get (I think). I like the path we're on (I think). But it has been unsettling to consider that the once-endless-seeming homeschool journey will end in 3 1/2 years. What do we still need to do? What is really important? What does she want to do with her life? And when am I going to get a handle on all this high-school record-keeping for hours and credits and requirements and testing?!?? Hopefully in 2011.
I met a few of my writing goals this year...attended a conference, stayed consistent with a small networking group, got published, learned a ton. I'm praying a lot about truly, deep down, viewing my writing as a call from God rather than "I'll-get-to-it-when-I-can"--and acting accordingly. I've been working on a children's devotional for years but I think it's time to get it written and out there where it can do some good. So I'm planning on a regular writing night (thank you, Sandy, for the kick in the pants!) this year, along with any other time I can squeeze in.
And I'd like to see progress this year in...time management and priorities, praise and thanksgiving, being a good wife and mother, hospitality, friendship, financial management, health and fitness, and peace. Today the Lord reminded me in Psalm 1 what His formula for progress and success really is--seeking Him first and always.
So I commit 2011 to Him and pray I'll cooperate with all He wants to do in my life!
May your year be abundantly blessed above and beyond all you can ask or think. :-)
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