Home-educating~ Part I

The first time I really considered home-schooling was when my first born was about a year old.  We had recently met a family at our church who home-schooled and their kids were just not like "other" kids.  To make a long story short, we were impressed!  They seemed to have a great relationship with each other and enjoyed all ages of people at our church.  Always serving others and making it a point to be self-less.  I decided to start looking into more in depth.  I also brought it up to my husband and with a very unassuring voice, he said, "We'll see. We have a few years to decide!"  As the next couple of years passed, we still continued to interact with the family from our church and eventually met another homeschooled family.  I was still in awe of difference of the children and their families.  I knew I wanted to be a "homeschooler"!  I began to pray more and more and brought it up once more to my husband and decided to leave the rest in God's hands.  (He was still not as convinced as I was that this was the way to go.)  A few months later, when my oldest was 3, we were asked to go to a homeschooling conference.  That was what made it all official in both my husband's eyes and my eyes!  We were convinced this was the only way for us to go.  God began speaking to our hearts more and more and eventually it was not a matter of choice but obedience.  The journey began.

At first, I had the idea that I was going to set my first born down at a desk every day for half a day during his preschool years and make sure he was SCHOOLED the only way I knew, the public school system way.  And eventually, he would sit for 6 hours a day with 5 or more different subjects and we would have our little school room at home.  I was then invited to a workshop/conference in our town given by the Moore Foundation.  My little bubble I had made burst right in front of my eyes!  The approach he had was totally different than anything I had ever heard.  But God began to gently bring a peace to my heart that this was the approach that would be best for our family.  I bought the book, 'Better Late Than Early' and my husband also read it.  It changed everything for us in the way we were going to "school" our children.  A new freedom!  We decided that we did not want to say that we "homeschooled" our children, we were "home-educating".  The idea the Moore's have is that everyday is a chance to educate our children.  We don't need them to sit for hours a day, with workbooks and all kinds of curriculum to make our children successful learners.  Theme teaching (I will expend on that in the next post), waiting until children are ready to learn reading and phonics, not just saying they turned 5 and are in "kindergarten" so it is time to read now.  Were some new thoughts for us.  But it was very freeing for us to see this new way!  Charolette Mason was also introduced to us.  God was opening doors for us and as always, helping us with things that we thought were impossible! 

That is a little testimony how our home-educating journey began.  I will be continuing to expand on more details in the coming days. Theme teaching, creative idea's for using errand day's as a chance to learn even away from home, when to know kids are ready to learn phonics, and some helpful idea's to get out of the stressful mentality of having a public school atmosphere in your home and moving towards a stress-free way to teach your children to learn anything they want to learn by themselves, and how to serve in your community and how we have made that  the most important part of our home-educating experience for us and our children.

  Any questions you would like for me to answer in my coming posts or idea's for a topic, please feel free to ask on my comment page.  I would love to answer anything I can! 

Foto Friday-Needing a rainbow

This has been a hard week,
Today, I am need of a reminder of God's promises!
He is good and faithful,
And His mercies are new every morning!

For that I am truly thankful!

Using your noodle...

Noodles and 2 year olds do not get along well.  (If you're the noodle anyway!)

First, you try with your fingers, (and your eyes closed)

then maybe a fork will work, (with your eyes open of course)

and now maybe if you have your lips prepared, it will work better!  (Then again, maybe not!)

HEY!  At least one made it to the mouth!  

 Maybe the dimple is the key!!
On second thought, Maybe no matter how much you use your "noodle",

2 year olds and NOODLES just can't get along!

How do you do it?!!

The amount of times I have been asked this question goes way beyond the numbers of the numerical system!  (Okay, maybe it just feels like that!)  Some of my anwers I give are:

• By the grace of God
• Lots of time on my knees
• I am married to the greastest man on earth and my kids have the greastest Dad on earth
• I am no different than you, just given a different set of circumstances.
• Do what?  This is my life and I don't know any different!
• I do it, because I love it!

I will be honest, when the question arises, sometimes I feel attacked and ridiculed because of the tone of voice many people use.  Many think I have lost my mind or look down on me.  But usually I am humbled and amazed that anyone thinks it is noble and not humanly possible to be a mother of many children!  Although I am so imperfect at it, it is just like any other "job".  You learn as you go and have a training process!  However, I am in training everyday and just when I get one thing mastered, another task provides more or new training.  That is when I realize if God has called me to do this, He will supply my needs!

Being a mother is a very beautiful plan of God for women!  Our hearts pour ALL that we have into it because He planted a deep love in us to love our children.  We would die for our children, give our last piece of food to feed them and ourselves go witout, lose sleep over thoughts of our child's well-being, lose sleep when they are sick and even go an entire night holding them just so they know we are there!  It is really an incredible thing!  Selfishness?  Not an option when you are a mom!  Just try to be selfish for a moment!  Your child will quickly remind you that it is not about you!   Motherhood is one of the least appreciated job in the world but God considers it of great importance and He is pleased at those who choose to put their whole being into bringing up little ones for His kingdom.   Jesus once said to His disciples, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all! ~ Mark 9:35 and also in verse 37 He says, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."   God has actually given mothers the closest example of how Christ loves us!  He has also given us a chance to serve the "least of these" and show the world His love!  That is what it is all about!  

So the question is asked, "How do I do it?"  Just know that I am no different than anybody else!  I just have made the choice to follow Him not matter what!  Easy?  Not always!  Worth it?  Definately!

God, motherhood is so close to your heart!  It requires so much of us that that it hurts sometimes!   But nothing compared to the pain you went through for your children!   Please give me the courage to please you and give all that I have to this next generation so that they may know your love!  Their future depends on it!  Help me to listen and hear your voice and the wisdom and understanding to follow it!  Thank you for allowing me the honor of being called "mommy"!  What a privilege! 

Our hearts are good?

The question that has been really making me dig into the Word and think in a way I have never thought of with such intensity is, If we are saved, can our hearts really be good? 
I have never really thought there was even a question that my heart was bad!  I always believed that until we see Jesus face to face someday, I will battle with my heart to be good but until then it is evil.  I am beginning to think differently! 

Before we come to Christ, our hearts are not good.  BUT after we come to Him, He see's our hearts as good!  That has set me free!  Everyday I have things that I struggle with.  I am always thinking in the back of my mind, "I am going to fail!  God must be so disappointed in me!  I have let Him down."  It really is a miserable way to live!  But I never thought there was a chance that God feels differently!  And then I started reading: 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your souland with all your strength.~  Deut 6:5

Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart~ 1 Sam 16:7

Where your treasure, is there your heart will be also.~ Luke 12:34

All of man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.~ Proverbs 21:2

Is is possible that God does know my heart and it's desire to please Him even though I struggle with my flesh daily?  Well, look at David's life in the bible.  He had an affair with Bethsheba that cost him to lose his only son to death!  He fell into sin over and over and yet God said about David, "He is a man after my own heart!" 

Does that mean that I can just live how I want to live and do what I want to do because God knows I don't want to do those things, but He will forgive me anyway!  NO WAY!  But how beautiful to know that when I am continually picking up my cross daily and leaving my life in HIS hands, He see's me as good!  Evil and God cannot dwell together!  You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell~ Psalms 5:4   So to continue to believe that after I come to Christ,  that I am just a sinner saved by grace, or that I need to ask for forgiveness over and over and even then, I am a filthy rag and I will never beable to live up to God's standards, is all a lie that has been planted to keep me closer from my first, true love, Jesus!  We CAN live in peace and victory IF we know that our hearts are good when He is living and dwelling in it!  That our God see's us as His children and He loves us and see's the good in us, not the yuck!  He continually pours out His love and mercy to show us His plan and He will renew's us daily if only we ask! 

The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the work, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.~ Luke 8:15

And think of this awesome verse as you mull this over in your heart:

The lord thier God will save them on that day as the flock of his people.  They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.  How attractive and beautiful they will be! ~ Zechariah 9:16-17

How sweet it is to know God sees me as a jewel on a crown not  a dirty old rag needing to be bleached many times, everyday!  :)


God, as I search for you daily, please remind me that I am yours and you are mine!  May I walk in your ways and seek your face so that I may have the great honor of letting others see you in me!  Thank you for seeing my heart in your way, and not how I FEEL!  I love you and praise you for all that you do and all that you are going to do! 

Foto Friday

Sometimes in the busyness of life,

I don't appreciate the simple joys of motherhood

 and the reasons why I have the greatest job in the world are overlooked.

::adorable smiles

::sweet soft kisses

::the touch of a little tiny hand

::the smell of a baby's head

::a hug from a tall teen-ager

::a simple "thank you, mom"

::pitter patter of little feet

::a heartfelt child's prayer

::a little body sitting on my lap with all kinds of questions

::the thought from a little mind, that I do have all the answsers
::little leg creases (not on me!) :)
::chunky tiny fingers
::belly laughs
::a hug around the neck
::pure, genuine, unconditional love

And the realization that,

Someday,

I am going to miss this! 

Appreciate today,

the little things!

A bunny and a baby, (oh and a couple of sisters)

I have somewhat of a germ phobia. Animals are my worst enemy. But because I am such a selfless person, HA, I have allowed for MANY animals to enter my home because of my adorable children! So while I was out the other day and left my animal loving girls home to babysit, I saw these pictures on my computer. They felt it necessary to allow their germ-infested  sweet bunny to snuggle up to the baby while feeding him my milk through a bottle. 
I just hope they did not try to give a taste to the bunny first! :(

I sure am glad we don't have a pot-belly pig at our house! 

Dying to self...

Dying to self is:

• hard
• a contstant struggle
• a battle
• uncommon to the world
• pleasing to God
• asked of us by God
• led by example from Jesus to the point of His death
• possible
• a command
• profitable to us spiritually
• usable because God can replace the "Him" mentality with the "me" mentality :)
• neccesary
• essential when following Christ

The more of Him we have in us, the better equipt we are to see things the way Christ does.  If we are in the way, He cannot do the things HE desires to do effectively in our life.  If attempting to do things in our own strength, we are just setting ourselves up for failure.  Only in Him and through Him, are we able to give up self and have the ability to replace all that we are not with all that He is! 

Today Jesus, I pray that every inch that I have will be willingly submitted to You and your plan for my life.  The more I seek You, may I find You that much more.  The more I find You, the more I love You!!  Help me to give everything up for You no matter what I "feel"!  Thank you for the true Joy only you can give!