I wrote the title to this post feeling pretty positive today but then had to laugh out loud. There is nothing organized, orderly, or emotionally stabilizing about home schooling 4 boys 8 and under and being pregnant with a baby while also watching an infant full time. There just isn't.
But somehow we keep trucking a long. I'm learning that less is more. I'm learning that we should have very few things that we order our day around in order to keep from getting so stressed out that I literally accomplish nothing and instead end up a huge crying mess.
So what do we order our days around? Breakfast, Bible/Catechism/Hymn time, Lunch, quiet time, Dinner, and Bible time with Daddy.
I've also embraced the fact that my oldest is now very capable of being independent in his lessons. He has a math book he is mostly capable of doing alone with short moments of guidance from me, he is interested in learning cursive so I bought him two workbooks that complement each other and he's working through those, and we're working through two different chapter books right now in addition to an audio book series he listens to every day and narrates to his dad when he gets home. We have multiple other things we pick up when we feel like it, social studies and science type books, but it's so nice to be able to, between all the above things we schedule our day around, say, "Hey, I see you're looking for something to do, go grab your math book and I'd like you to do three pages please."
We have a motto in our home, "We work before we play." My kids know that just like the daily household maintenance chores I ask them to do, school work is part of their whole duty of a child which means that it enables them to better serve their family, which is their current vocation. Of course, the typical amount of time they are asked to do anything from curriculum is very small right now because most of the day they are so full of questions of their own and are buried in our books, reference books, and having me look things up online for them. I am much more inclined to watch them hungrily devour knowledge they are pursuing on their own until they are of age where they will be working hard towards a goal that will enable them to pursue their new vocations as adults.
The hard part, for me, is not losing it in the chaos. There just is no perfect way to feel complete order and control when one is managing education, home, meals, outside of the home activities and friends, etc. So, I'm sticking with less is more for now and trying to enjoy these last 10 weeks (!!!!!!) of pregnancy and the baby kicking the daylights out of my ribs.
Showing posts with label Home Schooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home Schooling. Show all posts
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Homeschooling Real life style
It's 8:15 at night and it feels like 10...maybe 11. My neck hurts, my back hurts, and I can hardly keep my eyes open. Today was a good day. God has made me rich in my vocation. Notice I did not say it was a good day because anything particularly fun happened today or because I got to DO anything fun today, but it was good because what God ordains is always best. It was good because it was a day of love and service and God has given me so many ways to serve. Here is one day of many (today):
6:15am: 2 year old wakes up and begins calling to his three brothers in his room that he needs to go potty. I kick my husband and ask him to go help said 2 yr old so his brothers can sleep a little longer. He very graciously obliges and I fall back asleep.
7:05: get up, kiss children good morning, head down to basement to work out.
7:45: dart up the stairs, drink a glass of water, do strength training in the piano room with kids climbing on me and mimicking me.
8:00: kiss husband goodbye, open front door for drop off of baby we are watching full time.
8:05: put on educational show for kids, baby secure in bouncy seat with the kids in the living room, jump in shower.
8:20: Make bed, pray.
8:30: change baby's diaper, put her down for a nap, take kids into kitchen for Bible study. This is probably my favorite time of the day. All four boys gathered coloring supplies and sat down while I opened up to today's readings in the Treasury of Daily Prayer. I am so thankful for the Treasury because just like in Divine Service we get a daily Psalm, Old Testament, and Gospel/Epistle reading (so unlike DS we only get one, either Gospel or Epistle). Then there is a church Father Writing and we also know if there is a specific commemoration that day with an explanation of who the person was or what the commemoration is about.
Devotion time is one I have really struggled with. I grew up in the Baptist belt where one's "personal relationship" with Jesus was emphasized over and over and over. "Devotions" were all about "listening" to Jesus, trying to hear some personal message for you through His Word, some whispering in the wind meant just for you that day. It was all about feelings, emotions, metaphysical gobbledygook. I shake my head now that I ever felt so guilty and so pressured into thinking that was correct. I still fight that mentality today. For the longest time I have made my children sit with nothing to do during our entire 45 min of Bible study, questioning them repeatedly throughout to make sure they were PAYING ATTENTION. But lately I've realized that while there is nothing wrong with helping children learn to sit still, and training them for church on Sunday is good and well, perhaps there is no harm in letting them color and scribble quietly while we read...after all, if I truly believe God's Word does what it says, that it is Living and Active, sharper than any two edge sword, then is it really about them? No. It is not. So they colored. Between readings we pause and youngest to oldest they get to share what they heard, or nothing at all. Questions come up, I try to hold off interruptions until the end of the reading but sometimes we pause. Today the OT reading was David and Bathsheba. You can imagine the questions that brought up. I have never been so thankful to be home schooling where we can age appropriately discuss adultery. I love that there is nothing we won't discuss with our children, they are learning from the earliest age that communication is always open in our home and there is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about even when we must discuss hard things.
After the readings we did our hymn study. We are working on "The Church's One Foundation" and "A Mighty Fortress". We go over when it was written, who wrote it, who composed the tune, etc and we sing each hymn in its entirety. Well, I do. Voices ebb and flow and I don't force it. They listen, hum, tap on the table, sing a line then fall silent. But my favorite thing is when I walk by them later in the day and while they are deep in play they are singing the hymn all on their own.
After hymn study we read our "Follow and Do" book for the week. This week we are working on the 10 commandments. Those Follow and Do books by CPH have made learning the catechism so simple and beautiful with their sweet illustrations but complete sections of the chief parts.
Finally we close in prayer by saying Luther's Morning prayer and sometimes extra petitions for other things. Lately the children have been praying that our church will open the Lord's Supper to them so that they might be strengthened too by Jesus' Body and Blood.
When devotions were over the children showed me what they had drawn during Bible study. My oldest showed me a drawing with landscape of a bald eagle. He made a point to show me that there were things in the background, middle ground, and foreground. He of course did not know these titles so we discussed them and I explained the purpose of each in a piece of art work. My second oldest, who is often very quiet about his faith and often very unexpressive and almost non interested (another time I am thankful to not be non-denominational or Baptist where my trust in his salvation would be in his own works, or lack thereof) quietly and almost embarrassed showed me what he had been drawing...page after page of beautifully designed churches. I smiled privately and whispered to him how beautiful his drawings were. The two year old proudly carried his OWN color book back to the cabinet and put his crayons away and the 4 year old asked me questions about the wolverine he had colored from his Alaskan Animals coloring book.
9:35: heat baby's bottle, get baby up, go into living room to feed baby and read stories to the kids. First we read "The Mitten" and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". In keeping with yesterday, we spent these two books looking for the "ch" "th" "sh" and "wh" consonant digraphs. Each time we found one we would pause on the word, say the digraph together, then sound out the rest of the word. My 2 and 4 year olds are getting really good at spotting them before we even get to the word and then excitedly pointing them out. The 8 year old and 6 year old are a little tired of me pausing in the story to point out something they already know and yet they are very patient and get excited to see their brothers learning. When each story ended each child got to dictate back to me some of what they heard, ask questions, and answer questions I thought of.
10: baby is done drinking bottle, burp her, change her, put her on play mat while kids grab snacks. The snack choice for today was handfuls of pretzels. The giant tub we got from Costco was limited edition pretzels shaped like footballs, football helmets, and football fields. The kids were very excited about these shapes and I explained to them that they are only "limited edition". We discussed what this meant, why it was smart advertising wise, and what limited edition shapes might be next (Halloween? Christmas?). We sat back down on the couch with baby playing next to us and read "Mouse Tales". We talked about the homophones "tail" verses "tale", how they are each spelled and what their different meanings are. Then we read the stories in the book. We also ended up discussing what a "tall tale" is due to the nature of the stories in the book.
10:40: kids ran to play.
10:40-11:30: My oldest folded a load of laundry for me while the two middles took our dog out for some exercise in the backyard. I vacuumed and mopped the kitchen floor, checked my yogurt that I started yesterday, wiped the counters down and the table, and laid the baby back down for a short snooze because she was rubbing her eyes.
11:30-12: played outside with the boys. My oldest began asking questions about our read-aloud "The Secret Garden" from yesterday. We checked our garden, looked at the progress of our apples on our apple tree, watched some airplanes fly over, and the boys showed me some traps they were working on building.
12: lunch prep, lunch, lunch clean up. The boys all help, they all clear their spots, and they all take turns getting drinks, getting plates, getting out dips, etc.
12:35: get baby up, feed her second bottle, change diaper, fold a load of laundry with her playing next to me and the boys playing around her and talking to her.
1pm: put 2 year old down for a nap, a friend of the kids' comes over to play.
1-3: kids play hard outside. Baby plays then goes down for a nap at 2. I fold laundry, straighten house, check email, and begin dinner preparations.
3: get baby up, feed, change diaper and get her ready for pick up. Baby and kids' friend leave at 3:30.
3:30-4:30: give kids snack, sit down on couch for our read-aloud. 2 year old wakes up, I take him potty and he joins us for read-aloud. We read two chapters of "The Secret Garden" and discuss any new words. The kids guess the definition of the word based on it's context, sometimes we look up words in the dictionary and try to come up with new sentences for the word, and when we are done each kid, youngest to oldest gets to dictate back what they heard. Again I ask questions to prompt them or keep them moving.
4:30 kids go play with toys upstairs while I change into a fresh shirt (too much baby spit up) and finish dinner prep.
5:30: welcome Daddy.
This is what our day looked like today. Tomorrow it will look completely different. Some days we do math pages and play with math manipulatives. Right now each kid has their own math book, either Singapore or Rod and Staff. We do it when we feel like it, and I try to make sure that is at least 2-3 times a week. But more and more I feel comfortable teaching through life. I don't need a curriculum to point out all the words that start with "th", "wh", "ch", or "sh" in a book. And starting this young gets kids really focusing on words while we read...it teaches them HOW to read without some hyper time consuming "curriculum". But even more important, it teaches them HOW to LEARN. By observation. By asking questions. By talking to others. By looking in a book.
It has taken me a long time to get this comfortable with real life learning. I still freak out on a very regular basis wanting charts, control, "100 easy ways to homeschool a child into a perfect child".
But here's the thing: when I feel like that I want to ask myself, "You crazy girl, what are you thinking imagining that teaching your children in a way that revolves around real life (family, meals, service) will actually prepare them for REAL LIFE?!" Oh, wait...it will. :) And the other day, when one of the boys came running inside with a question about the sun as he observed it in his play out doors, we grabbed a nearby ball off the floor, tilted it, and spun it around while I held it up over my head by our chandelier that is over our kitchen table. In about 10 minutes the kids all understood orbit, why a day is 24 hours and one full revolution of the earth, why a year is 365 days and one full orbit around the sun, etc. No text book, no graph or diagram, just a ball, a light, and kids running back outside to look up into the sky.
Our life is not organized, it is not super structured, it is messy and chaotic sometimes, and every day at day's end I look back and see opportunities I missed to teach them that one more thing or to have structured that one other moment better... but every day we have breakfast, Bible time, lunch, dinner, and Daddy (and another Bible/prayer time led by Daddy in the evening) and every day my kids have more questions, more energy, and we keep on rich in our vocations of mother, father, husband, wife, brother, son, neighbor, and friend. We live to serve and love. And tomorrow is another day to be rich in our vocations.
6:15am: 2 year old wakes up and begins calling to his three brothers in his room that he needs to go potty. I kick my husband and ask him to go help said 2 yr old so his brothers can sleep a little longer. He very graciously obliges and I fall back asleep.
7:05: get up, kiss children good morning, head down to basement to work out.
7:45: dart up the stairs, drink a glass of water, do strength training in the piano room with kids climbing on me and mimicking me.
8:00: kiss husband goodbye, open front door for drop off of baby we are watching full time.
8:05: put on educational show for kids, baby secure in bouncy seat with the kids in the living room, jump in shower.
8:20: Make bed, pray.
8:30: change baby's diaper, put her down for a nap, take kids into kitchen for Bible study. This is probably my favorite time of the day. All four boys gathered coloring supplies and sat down while I opened up to today's readings in the Treasury of Daily Prayer. I am so thankful for the Treasury because just like in Divine Service we get a daily Psalm, Old Testament, and Gospel/Epistle reading (so unlike DS we only get one, either Gospel or Epistle). Then there is a church Father Writing and we also know if there is a specific commemoration that day with an explanation of who the person was or what the commemoration is about.
Devotion time is one I have really struggled with. I grew up in the Baptist belt where one's "personal relationship" with Jesus was emphasized over and over and over. "Devotions" were all about "listening" to Jesus, trying to hear some personal message for you through His Word, some whispering in the wind meant just for you that day. It was all about feelings, emotions, metaphysical gobbledygook. I shake my head now that I ever felt so guilty and so pressured into thinking that was correct. I still fight that mentality today. For the longest time I have made my children sit with nothing to do during our entire 45 min of Bible study, questioning them repeatedly throughout to make sure they were PAYING ATTENTION. But lately I've realized that while there is nothing wrong with helping children learn to sit still, and training them for church on Sunday is good and well, perhaps there is no harm in letting them color and scribble quietly while we read...after all, if I truly believe God's Word does what it says, that it is Living and Active, sharper than any two edge sword, then is it really about them? No. It is not. So they colored. Between readings we pause and youngest to oldest they get to share what they heard, or nothing at all. Questions come up, I try to hold off interruptions until the end of the reading but sometimes we pause. Today the OT reading was David and Bathsheba. You can imagine the questions that brought up. I have never been so thankful to be home schooling where we can age appropriately discuss adultery. I love that there is nothing we won't discuss with our children, they are learning from the earliest age that communication is always open in our home and there is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about even when we must discuss hard things.
After the readings we did our hymn study. We are working on "The Church's One Foundation" and "A Mighty Fortress". We go over when it was written, who wrote it, who composed the tune, etc and we sing each hymn in its entirety. Well, I do. Voices ebb and flow and I don't force it. They listen, hum, tap on the table, sing a line then fall silent. But my favorite thing is when I walk by them later in the day and while they are deep in play they are singing the hymn all on their own.
After hymn study we read our "Follow and Do" book for the week. This week we are working on the 10 commandments. Those Follow and Do books by CPH have made learning the catechism so simple and beautiful with their sweet illustrations but complete sections of the chief parts.
Finally we close in prayer by saying Luther's Morning prayer and sometimes extra petitions for other things. Lately the children have been praying that our church will open the Lord's Supper to them so that they might be strengthened too by Jesus' Body and Blood.
When devotions were over the children showed me what they had drawn during Bible study. My oldest showed me a drawing with landscape of a bald eagle. He made a point to show me that there were things in the background, middle ground, and foreground. He of course did not know these titles so we discussed them and I explained the purpose of each in a piece of art work. My second oldest, who is often very quiet about his faith and often very unexpressive and almost non interested (another time I am thankful to not be non-denominational or Baptist where my trust in his salvation would be in his own works, or lack thereof) quietly and almost embarrassed showed me what he had been drawing...page after page of beautifully designed churches. I smiled privately and whispered to him how beautiful his drawings were. The two year old proudly carried his OWN color book back to the cabinet and put his crayons away and the 4 year old asked me questions about the wolverine he had colored from his Alaskan Animals coloring book.
9:35: heat baby's bottle, get baby up, go into living room to feed baby and read stories to the kids. First we read "The Mitten" and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". In keeping with yesterday, we spent these two books looking for the "ch" "th" "sh" and "wh" consonant digraphs. Each time we found one we would pause on the word, say the digraph together, then sound out the rest of the word. My 2 and 4 year olds are getting really good at spotting them before we even get to the word and then excitedly pointing them out. The 8 year old and 6 year old are a little tired of me pausing in the story to point out something they already know and yet they are very patient and get excited to see their brothers learning. When each story ended each child got to dictate back to me some of what they heard, ask questions, and answer questions I thought of.
10: baby is done drinking bottle, burp her, change her, put her on play mat while kids grab snacks. The snack choice for today was handfuls of pretzels. The giant tub we got from Costco was limited edition pretzels shaped like footballs, football helmets, and football fields. The kids were very excited about these shapes and I explained to them that they are only "limited edition". We discussed what this meant, why it was smart advertising wise, and what limited edition shapes might be next (Halloween? Christmas?). We sat back down on the couch with baby playing next to us and read "Mouse Tales". We talked about the homophones "tail" verses "tale", how they are each spelled and what their different meanings are. Then we read the stories in the book. We also ended up discussing what a "tall tale" is due to the nature of the stories in the book.
10:40: kids ran to play.
10:40-11:30: My oldest folded a load of laundry for me while the two middles took our dog out for some exercise in the backyard. I vacuumed and mopped the kitchen floor, checked my yogurt that I started yesterday, wiped the counters down and the table, and laid the baby back down for a short snooze because she was rubbing her eyes.
11:30-12: played outside with the boys. My oldest began asking questions about our read-aloud "The Secret Garden" from yesterday. We checked our garden, looked at the progress of our apples on our apple tree, watched some airplanes fly over, and the boys showed me some traps they were working on building.
12: lunch prep, lunch, lunch clean up. The boys all help, they all clear their spots, and they all take turns getting drinks, getting plates, getting out dips, etc.
12:35: get baby up, feed her second bottle, change diaper, fold a load of laundry with her playing next to me and the boys playing around her and talking to her.
1pm: put 2 year old down for a nap, a friend of the kids' comes over to play.
1-3: kids play hard outside. Baby plays then goes down for a nap at 2. I fold laundry, straighten house, check email, and begin dinner preparations.
3: get baby up, feed, change diaper and get her ready for pick up. Baby and kids' friend leave at 3:30.
3:30-4:30: give kids snack, sit down on couch for our read-aloud. 2 year old wakes up, I take him potty and he joins us for read-aloud. We read two chapters of "The Secret Garden" and discuss any new words. The kids guess the definition of the word based on it's context, sometimes we look up words in the dictionary and try to come up with new sentences for the word, and when we are done each kid, youngest to oldest gets to dictate back what they heard. Again I ask questions to prompt them or keep them moving.
4:30 kids go play with toys upstairs while I change into a fresh shirt (too much baby spit up) and finish dinner prep.
5:30: welcome Daddy.
This is what our day looked like today. Tomorrow it will look completely different. Some days we do math pages and play with math manipulatives. Right now each kid has their own math book, either Singapore or Rod and Staff. We do it when we feel like it, and I try to make sure that is at least 2-3 times a week. But more and more I feel comfortable teaching through life. I don't need a curriculum to point out all the words that start with "th", "wh", "ch", or "sh" in a book. And starting this young gets kids really focusing on words while we read...it teaches them HOW to read without some hyper time consuming "curriculum". But even more important, it teaches them HOW to LEARN. By observation. By asking questions. By talking to others. By looking in a book.
It has taken me a long time to get this comfortable with real life learning. I still freak out on a very regular basis wanting charts, control, "100 easy ways to homeschool a child into a perfect child".
But here's the thing: when I feel like that I want to ask myself, "You crazy girl, what are you thinking imagining that teaching your children in a way that revolves around real life (family, meals, service) will actually prepare them for REAL LIFE?!" Oh, wait...it will. :) And the other day, when one of the boys came running inside with a question about the sun as he observed it in his play out doors, we grabbed a nearby ball off the floor, tilted it, and spun it around while I held it up over my head by our chandelier that is over our kitchen table. In about 10 minutes the kids all understood orbit, why a day is 24 hours and one full revolution of the earth, why a year is 365 days and one full orbit around the sun, etc. No text book, no graph or diagram, just a ball, a light, and kids running back outside to look up into the sky.
Our life is not organized, it is not super structured, it is messy and chaotic sometimes, and every day at day's end I look back and see opportunities I missed to teach them that one more thing or to have structured that one other moment better... but every day we have breakfast, Bible time, lunch, dinner, and Daddy (and another Bible/prayer time led by Daddy in the evening) and every day my kids have more questions, more energy, and we keep on rich in our vocations of mother, father, husband, wife, brother, son, neighbor, and friend. We live to serve and love. And tomorrow is another day to be rich in our vocations.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Planning
I loved school when I was a kid. Nothing excited me more than that back-to-school shopping list and filling my new back pack with all the perfect supplies in all their brand new perfection. I loved perfect college-ruled notebook paper with it's perfect red and blue lines and spiral bound notebooks without a single thing written in them yet. Perfection.
Sigh, then I had to write my name on it. I have awful handwriting. Every one of my teachers cheerfully told me I would make a fantastic Dr one day because of my illegible handwriting. I tried, the Lord knows I tried, but alas, I inherited my father's handwriting instead of my mother's.
So, I don't know if it's the time of year that draws up in me a desire to plan and organize and categorize or if it's the fact that I had an energy burst today or both, but I began to have one of those days where I suddenly felt the need to micro manage the home.
I once bought a book that encouraged planning every 15 minutes of every family member's day for the entire day on a massive wall chart with sticky notes.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
ahem.
But the reality is, micro managing has two major downfalls.
1. It takes away the opportunity for initiative.
Example: A few days ago I was standing in the kitchen and my four year old wandered out into our huge half acre backyard. At first he just wandered around and then I saw him go back into the garage and emerge with the dog poo rake and scooper. I watched him spend about 30 minutes scanning the entire backyard and cleaning up every last pile of dog poop, which was considerable since it had been two days since we had cleaned up. You better believe I went out there when he was done and praised him for his initiative along with rewarding him. And I had to wonder...if that job had been assigned to someone for the day and if he had a list of jobs already assigned to him, would he have done that? Now I am certainly not against giving kids chores, but this gave me a whole new idea of how to manage chores in the home that I'll share later.
2. It forgets that the real moments of life are the interruptions. C.S. Lewis said it best:
“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own,' or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life -- the life God is sending one day by day.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Collected Works of C.S. Lewis
Sigh, then I had to write my name on it. I have awful handwriting. Every one of my teachers cheerfully told me I would make a fantastic Dr one day because of my illegible handwriting. I tried, the Lord knows I tried, but alas, I inherited my father's handwriting instead of my mother's.
So, I don't know if it's the time of year that draws up in me a desire to plan and organize and categorize or if it's the fact that I had an energy burst today or both, but I began to have one of those days where I suddenly felt the need to micro manage the home.
I once bought a book that encouraged planning every 15 minutes of every family member's day for the entire day on a massive wall chart with sticky notes.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
ahem.
But the reality is, micro managing has two major downfalls.
1. It takes away the opportunity for initiative.
Example: A few days ago I was standing in the kitchen and my four year old wandered out into our huge half acre backyard. At first he just wandered around and then I saw him go back into the garage and emerge with the dog poo rake and scooper. I watched him spend about 30 minutes scanning the entire backyard and cleaning up every last pile of dog poop, which was considerable since it had been two days since we had cleaned up. You better believe I went out there when he was done and praised him for his initiative along with rewarding him. And I had to wonder...if that job had been assigned to someone for the day and if he had a list of jobs already assigned to him, would he have done that? Now I am certainly not against giving kids chores, but this gave me a whole new idea of how to manage chores in the home that I'll share later.
2. It forgets that the real moments of life are the interruptions. C.S. Lewis said it best:
“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own,' or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life -- the life God is sending one day by day.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Collected Works of C.S. Lewis
So, my goals now are to focus on the real things and simply use organization as a tool to help only in the areas that really need help. AKA: IF IT'S NOT BROKE, DON'T FIX IT.
It's so tempting to want to control and perfect, but it's never going to be perfect and, really, I think it's such a joy stealer to see life's work as something that needs perfecting and controlling instead of viewing it as something that can constantly remind us of Christ. Example:
Laundry. (I can hear the collective groan right now throughout cyber space.) IT. NEVER. ENDS. EVER. This reminds me that all of creation tends towards the fall. But the redundancy of our work humbles us. In the drudgery, in the relentlessness, in the dirt, we may sigh, but we don't sigh as those that do not have a release. I need to put a crucifix over my washer and dryer so I can see in the drudgery my glorious release. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
So, as I sat at the table today so tempted to begin the micro managing that makes me feel more perfect and makes me feel like maybe, maybe this time I will be able to control this mess that is our sinful world and life, I looked at the crucifix over our kitchen table and lectured myself, "only fix what really needs fixing"..and even that is such meager attempts. And yet, I feel pretty proud of the managing that has worked out!
So the planning I did accomplish was for our school year. My 2 year old will begin learning his letters and numbers and already knows his colors. My 4 year old will begin "4K" at home and we are using Rod and Staff's ABCDEFG books. I'm also using "Beginning Reading at Home" which is an old, out-of-print set of 10 kits that introduces letters and words in a multi-sensory way. My 6 year old will be using the "Beginning Reading at Home" as well as our CLE readers and for math will be using Singapore math. And my 8 year old will be using Singapore math, finishing his CLE readers, Story of the World, Apologia Science, and Spelling Power. We are not doing any further work in Language Arts this year because next year we will be using Classical Writing's upper level books...the primers just seem too much a waste of time. I really want him to focus on lots and lots of free time reading to get him reading proficiently enough to tackle Classical Writing and Latin next fall.
The way I play to get through all of this each day is as follows:
Every day we will do:
Morning: Catechism/Bible/Hymn study with all, 15-20 min per child of math instruction.
Afternoon: 15 min per child of reading instruction
In addition:
Monday: Writing for 8 year old (whatever I assign, no curriculum).
Tuesday: History for 8 yr old: Story of the World
Wednesday: Science for 8 yr old: Apologia
Thursday: Piano. He practices every day but Thursday he will practice double the time.
Friday: Dad's day off.
And that's it. We keep it as minimal as possible so that the rest of the day learning can flow from all the interesting things we do, see, and talk about. And, if at breakfast someone asks a question that flows into a rabbit trail of learning as often happens with curious little boys, well, so be it.
My comfort, when we don't stick to curriculum, comes in a handy print-out for each child's grade from wordbook.com that gives a list subject by subject of each thing they should know by the end of the year. Whenever I begin to worry whether my kids are actually learning I begin to go down the list for each child and see how ahead they actually are. This also allows me to watch for gaps or areas I wouldn't think to cover.
I've also been doing some further planning in the area of chores and housework and meals/cooking but I'll save that for another day. :)
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Many Hands Make Work Light....I Hope
This week I began a full time job. No, not outside of the home. I am now caring full time for a precious baby girl while her mama returns to work. I adore this little girl, she is seriously the best behaved baby ever. She adores her sleep and goes to sleep happy as can be every time simply by being swaddled and laid in the pack n' play. She takes her bottles of her Mama's milk like a pro. And when this little girl is awake, so long as she has one of my four boys near by to watch, she is just as content as can be. She is so cute.
Having her in our home full time 5 days a week is going to be a big change. When she's hungry, everything stops so I can feed her. When she's tired, the boys have to be quiet so she can nap. Obviously they will have these changes in four months, God willing, anyhow, but this time it's for someone outside of our family and came on with rather short notice. They are handling it beautifully and adore having her here. They are all now unanimous that they want the baby in my belly to be a sister.
So, we work to view this in the eyes of Christian service and think "this makes me rich in my vocation". We have yet another opportunity to serve our neighbor and a family in Christ and be a loving home for this sweet girl for the next few years during the day.
We are also working on a major home "renovation" and making 3 big room changes. The main floor master is becoming a study/play room/baby nap room. The second floor room that was home to our four boys is now becoming my husband's and my room. And the second floor play room is now the boys' room. This is a lot of furniture to move. This is also a lot of cleaning to do. The old boys' room is requiring a ton of work as a drop down ceiling needed to be removed, fake paneling ripped out, and then we discovered some mold on one wall behind the paneling because an air return had been covered. So, dry wall had to be ripped out, the insulation removed, and fresh insulation and new dry wall placed. We have to repair the other dry wall from the paneling, paint, refinish the wood floors in that room, and move our furniture from the downstairs bedroom up the stairs and down to hallways into our bedroom. Then we will move the toys that are in the guest room and basement down to the new play room. This will give us a definite sleep area upstairs (which will keep us from needing to use the upstairs during the day and give me better oversight over little ones) and a definite living and play space downstairs. The new play room has a door that can shut so it will also make a good school room for older boys as they need quiet with more intensive studies.
And just for kicks we decided to refinish our kitchen table and deep clean the basement this week, you know, since we don't have anything going on. :)
We have four months until this sweet baby is due. In that time we need to finish these projects, make a trip to see some dear friends about 12 hours away, and complete a few other home renovations before winter sets in.
Oh!!! And I just got some supplies in the mail today to finally give sprouting grains a try! I bought ancient Einkorn wheat that I'm going to sprout, dry, and grind to make into baked goods because I discovered my allergic son can have sprouted Einkorn wheat! We bought a barrel of berries so I need to get sprouting. I also bought some glycerin so I can make my own child friendly herbal tinctures for fall and winter illnesses. I want to get those made before October so we are prepared for cold and flu season.
Finally I've started my pregnancy work out regimen. With my 4th I began working out at 22 weeks in an attempt to make labor easier. It worked. I was in such amazing shape by labor that my ability to handle the pain, stay ahead of it, and not get exhausted was greatly improved. My husband was so impressed that he's been really encouraging me to get at it again and I know he's right. But it's hard going because during my year of miscarriages I was afraid to work out much in case working out too hard was hurting my pregnancies. We found a treadmill at a garage sale and I've been doing 45 min workouts on a high speed and decent incline doing different arm workouts while walking fast.
And of course, home schooling continues and the boys are all loving their new math books while we continue to work through Bible/catechism, reading, handwriting, history, and science.
Did I mention I have about 35 tomato plants that are mass producing right now? Anyone want to come help make ketchup, salsa, and spaghetti sauce to can? :)
Having her in our home full time 5 days a week is going to be a big change. When she's hungry, everything stops so I can feed her. When she's tired, the boys have to be quiet so she can nap. Obviously they will have these changes in four months, God willing, anyhow, but this time it's for someone outside of our family and came on with rather short notice. They are handling it beautifully and adore having her here. They are all now unanimous that they want the baby in my belly to be a sister.
So, we work to view this in the eyes of Christian service and think "this makes me rich in my vocation". We have yet another opportunity to serve our neighbor and a family in Christ and be a loving home for this sweet girl for the next few years during the day.
We are also working on a major home "renovation" and making 3 big room changes. The main floor master is becoming a study/play room/baby nap room. The second floor room that was home to our four boys is now becoming my husband's and my room. And the second floor play room is now the boys' room. This is a lot of furniture to move. This is also a lot of cleaning to do. The old boys' room is requiring a ton of work as a drop down ceiling needed to be removed, fake paneling ripped out, and then we discovered some mold on one wall behind the paneling because an air return had been covered. So, dry wall had to be ripped out, the insulation removed, and fresh insulation and new dry wall placed. We have to repair the other dry wall from the paneling, paint, refinish the wood floors in that room, and move our furniture from the downstairs bedroom up the stairs and down to hallways into our bedroom. Then we will move the toys that are in the guest room and basement down to the new play room. This will give us a definite sleep area upstairs (which will keep us from needing to use the upstairs during the day and give me better oversight over little ones) and a definite living and play space downstairs. The new play room has a door that can shut so it will also make a good school room for older boys as they need quiet with more intensive studies.
And just for kicks we decided to refinish our kitchen table and deep clean the basement this week, you know, since we don't have anything going on. :)
We have four months until this sweet baby is due. In that time we need to finish these projects, make a trip to see some dear friends about 12 hours away, and complete a few other home renovations before winter sets in.
Oh!!! And I just got some supplies in the mail today to finally give sprouting grains a try! I bought ancient Einkorn wheat that I'm going to sprout, dry, and grind to make into baked goods because I discovered my allergic son can have sprouted Einkorn wheat! We bought a barrel of berries so I need to get sprouting. I also bought some glycerin so I can make my own child friendly herbal tinctures for fall and winter illnesses. I want to get those made before October so we are prepared for cold and flu season.
Finally I've started my pregnancy work out regimen. With my 4th I began working out at 22 weeks in an attempt to make labor easier. It worked. I was in such amazing shape by labor that my ability to handle the pain, stay ahead of it, and not get exhausted was greatly improved. My husband was so impressed that he's been really encouraging me to get at it again and I know he's right. But it's hard going because during my year of miscarriages I was afraid to work out much in case working out too hard was hurting my pregnancies. We found a treadmill at a garage sale and I've been doing 45 min workouts on a high speed and decent incline doing different arm workouts while walking fast.
And of course, home schooling continues and the boys are all loving their new math books while we continue to work through Bible/catechism, reading, handwriting, history, and science.
Did I mention I have about 35 tomato plants that are mass producing right now? Anyone want to come help make ketchup, salsa, and spaghetti sauce to can? :)
Monday, July 7, 2014
Growing pains
I remember as a child when I would randomly get pains in my legs. They would be achy and crampy and feel just awful. My parents would tell me they were "growing pains" and that I should eat more bananas. I wonder how many bananas they got me to consume throughout the years from growing pains. *smile* Of course I know they were honestly hoping the potassium would help, but it still makes me chuckle to think of stuffing my face with bananas in hopes the pain would go away.
I wish there was a solution as simple as bananas for every parenting conundrum. This makes this post sound like I'm struggling with a particular child but I'm not. Instead, my children are growing, changing, and becoming complicated individuals with thoughts, ideas, and views on what they have been taught and what they see in the world/individuals around them and in some ways it's thrilling, in some ways it's terrifying.
This journey of home schooling has been the craziest ride of my life. Well, other than venturing off to a city unknown over a thousand miles away from home after my dad died for college. Well, and maybe having all my babies at home with no drugs. ;) I think those three tie.
But this journey is scary, humbling, never ending (it seems), exhausting...and yet the most rewarding journey I could ask for. It is rewarding because I am starting to see that by home schooling them I am not depriving them, I am opening up the entire world to them. I am also opening up the entire world to myself. And some days, I'm not sure I like what I find. And that makes me want to fold my children into the protective and controlled and scheduled environment of school. And yet, we all know that especially today there is no such environment in those institutions. Besides, though I may not like what I find and though I may feel challenged and stretched and confused and uneducated when I open up myself and my children to the vast world around us, how will I ever show them how to be courageous and strong and capable young men if we can't even be brave enough to step out?
I am reading some new books and new ideas that challenge me and scare me. They call into question things I was taught in school and ways I understood the world and our own country and government. I am thankful that at the end of the day, regardless of what the world really is and what our country really is, Christ is before and over and in all.
And when the day is done, my husband and I hear God's Word, pray, and I am so thankful that as long as our home is full of Christ and His love, there is nothing better in all the world that we could give our children.
I wish there was a solution as simple as bananas for every parenting conundrum. This makes this post sound like I'm struggling with a particular child but I'm not. Instead, my children are growing, changing, and becoming complicated individuals with thoughts, ideas, and views on what they have been taught and what they see in the world/individuals around them and in some ways it's thrilling, in some ways it's terrifying.
This journey of home schooling has been the craziest ride of my life. Well, other than venturing off to a city unknown over a thousand miles away from home after my dad died for college. Well, and maybe having all my babies at home with no drugs. ;) I think those three tie.
But this journey is scary, humbling, never ending (it seems), exhausting...and yet the most rewarding journey I could ask for. It is rewarding because I am starting to see that by home schooling them I am not depriving them, I am opening up the entire world to them. I am also opening up the entire world to myself. And some days, I'm not sure I like what I find. And that makes me want to fold my children into the protective and controlled and scheduled environment of school. And yet, we all know that especially today there is no such environment in those institutions. Besides, though I may not like what I find and though I may feel challenged and stretched and confused and uneducated when I open up myself and my children to the vast world around us, how will I ever show them how to be courageous and strong and capable young men if we can't even be brave enough to step out?
I am reading some new books and new ideas that challenge me and scare me. They call into question things I was taught in school and ways I understood the world and our own country and government. I am thankful that at the end of the day, regardless of what the world really is and what our country really is, Christ is before and over and in all.
And when the day is done, my husband and I hear God's Word, pray, and I am so thankful that as long as our home is full of Christ and His love, there is nothing better in all the world that we could give our children.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Unschooling
Nomenclature is a powerful thing. One word can conjure up all sorts of images, positive or negative, in someone's mind. People will avoid or cringe at the use of certain words based on their experience, impression, or the reputation associated with using them.
For a long time the word "unschooling" made me cringe. I saw strange loner kids running comic book shops in my mind when I heard the word. Now, however, in the last several months I have learned to love the word. But, not for my children. I love the word for MYSELF. To explain I'll share this article:
http://thelibertarianhomeschooler.com/a/ Go read it. I'll wait.
Seriously, read it people. It's short, I promise. And, really worth it.
Done?
That article was me. In my class of over 600 students I graduated 7th. I rocked the school thing. I was a "GOOD STUDENT". But was I really? Was I really a dedicated learner? To be fair there were a fair number of subjects that really interested me that I could probably still tell you quite a bit of information concerning the things I learned. But, my grades do not reflect the classes in which this was true. Because, if they did, I would be able to tell you about every subject with great accuracy.
It makes me sad that the only thing I really learned to do well is please people by following the rules, being likable and submissive, and doing what was expected of me.
I did not learn to love learning. I did not learn to think independently. I did not learn to ask questions, to question, to be critical, to refuse, and to truly understand my rights and lack thereof.
I looked up the definition of the prefix "un" and this is what I found:
My children fit under the first definition, 1 and 2.
My children are living. They are serving. They are growing, but we are not schooling them. We are raising them. We are training them. And they, with all their God-given curiosities and passions, are devouring knowledge as quickly as they can. It's amazing to watch. We learn in all sorts of ways, at all times, in all places. We read, we study, we write, we listen, we ask questions, we debate, but we are not robots drilling information that someone else decided my children had to know in order to be a functioning person. There's a reason the show "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" was so popular. It was hysterical to watch adults flounder at information that if a 9 year old child does not regurgitate, he or she will fail! And yet, all of these adults were functioning, working, successful adults.
Government schools are a blessing to many people. They provide opportunities for not only jobs but also for children who cannot be at home for one reason or another. I had many amazing teachers who made a huge impact in my life and tons of fun experiences in those government schools. But I am so thankful, SO thankful to live in a country where that can be a last resort for my children. May that right never be taken away.
For a long time the word "unschooling" made me cringe. I saw strange loner kids running comic book shops in my mind when I heard the word. Now, however, in the last several months I have learned to love the word. But, not for my children. I love the word for MYSELF. To explain I'll share this article:
http://thelibertarianhomeschooler.com/a/ Go read it. I'll wait.
Seriously, read it people. It's short, I promise. And, really worth it.
Done?
That article was me. In my class of over 600 students I graduated 7th. I rocked the school thing. I was a "GOOD STUDENT". But was I really? Was I really a dedicated learner? To be fair there were a fair number of subjects that really interested me that I could probably still tell you quite a bit of information concerning the things I learned. But, my grades do not reflect the classes in which this was true. Because, if they did, I would be able to tell you about every subject with great accuracy.
It makes me sad that the only thing I really learned to do well is please people by following the rules, being likable and submissive, and doing what was expected of me.
I did not learn to love learning. I did not learn to think independently. I did not learn to ask questions, to question, to be critical, to refuse, and to truly understand my rights and lack thereof.
I looked up the definition of the prefix "un" and this is what I found:
un- 1
pref.
1. Not: unhappy.
2. Opposite of; contrary to: unrest.
|
My children fit under the first definition, 1 and 2.
My children are living. They are serving. They are growing, but we are not schooling them. We are raising them. We are training them. And they, with all their God-given curiosities and passions, are devouring knowledge as quickly as they can. It's amazing to watch. We learn in all sorts of ways, at all times, in all places. We read, we study, we write, we listen, we ask questions, we debate, but we are not robots drilling information that someone else decided my children had to know in order to be a functioning person. There's a reason the show "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" was so popular. It was hysterical to watch adults flounder at information that if a 9 year old child does not regurgitate, he or she will fail! And yet, all of these adults were functioning, working, successful adults.
Government schools are a blessing to many people. They provide opportunities for not only jobs but also for children who cannot be at home for one reason or another. I had many amazing teachers who made a huge impact in my life and tons of fun experiences in those government schools. But I am so thankful, SO thankful to live in a country where that can be a last resort for my children. May that right never be taken away.
Monday, March 17, 2014
The grind
As far as we know, I am still pregnant. Last Monday I went in for a draw and once again my numbers had shown exactly what they needed to. Today, I went in for another draw and should get the results by tomorrow. The length of this pregnancy has surpassed the last three pregnancies which gives us some cautious hope that this pregnancy will continue on.
I have to confess something though, the irony of all of this is striking. Sometimes in the past year when I have been grieving the loss of another child and at the same time struggling to get through my days with the 4 children I have, I look at my husband half laughing-half crying and say, "What is wrong with me?! I must be crazy to want more children! Why do I want more children when they are so very hard to raise?"
It is a very good question. Loving and nurturing four boys-four very manly (or as my husband and I call them: boybarian) boys is difficult. Oh my boys are very tender and sweet and oh so loving and caring, but they also have lungs, and a lot of brute force strength and energy. But add that I am the only one other than my husband that cares for my children-except for the rare occasion when the boys' uncle comes to babysit for a couple hours- and that I am the one responsible for schooling them and sometimes I wonder how long I have left before I march them all over to our church's school and say, "Here 'ya go!"
But the reason I keep on is the same reason I continue to be a vessel to whatever the Lord gives or does not give...I am not my own. And this realization, though hard and sobering, also is what has filled me with the true meaning of life: dying to myself in order to love and serve those around me. And now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to go serve my littlest neighbor and take a nap!
I have to confess something though, the irony of all of this is striking. Sometimes in the past year when I have been grieving the loss of another child and at the same time struggling to get through my days with the 4 children I have, I look at my husband half laughing-half crying and say, "What is wrong with me?! I must be crazy to want more children! Why do I want more children when they are so very hard to raise?"
It is a very good question. Loving and nurturing four boys-four very manly (or as my husband and I call them: boybarian) boys is difficult. Oh my boys are very tender and sweet and oh so loving and caring, but they also have lungs, and a lot of brute force strength and energy. But add that I am the only one other than my husband that cares for my children-except for the rare occasion when the boys' uncle comes to babysit for a couple hours- and that I am the one responsible for schooling them and sometimes I wonder how long I have left before I march them all over to our church's school and say, "Here 'ya go!"
But the reason I keep on is the same reason I continue to be a vessel to whatever the Lord gives or does not give...I am not my own. And this realization, though hard and sobering, also is what has filled me with the true meaning of life: dying to myself in order to love and serve those around me. And now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to go serve my littlest neighbor and take a nap!
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Shut doors
Once upon a time there was a shut door in a house with 4 boys. There was a light on behind that shut door. And that door stayed shut All. Day. Long. Like, seriously ya'll, that door was shut from 8:30 am until 4 pm. Well, except for when the occupants came out for 10 minutes to eat lunch. What was going on behind that door you ask?
Legos. Legos ya'll. And when you play legos in the bathroom, you don't have to leave your game to go potty. And that is what it is like to be a 5 and 4 year old boy. And yes, there were legos in the bathtub too.
And this is what their older brother does when the little ones are occupied and he has the army guys to himself.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Maybe you know you've arrived...
When you get to that point in your adulthood/motherhood where you realize you have nothing of importance to say. When you wake up so humbled by life that you just feel a lot quieter.
Writing has been hard since our last miscarriage in August. I might have had another one in September. I had 4 days of light positive tests before they got even lighter and I started. But I had just miscarried two babies in two months so honestly it felt like a continuation of the previous two, if it was.
But life is carrying on. My boys are all having birthdays and will soon be 8, 5, 4, and 2. My second will have a birthday in April and then we'll be able to have the nice even two year spacing until November when the birthday chain starts again.
School is going really well. But that's because we don't do it. I've decided to call our education "freestyle" until I come up with a better name. Basically I pick up things when and where I can use them for a little, put them away, use them again later or with another kid, etc etc. I have each kid practice reading each day using whatever I feel like on any given day, finding tools as each kid comes to a hurdle I can't get them through, but we're finding a lot of success. Our tool with our 5 year old is Teach your Child to Read in 100 easy lessons. I HATED it when I bought it with my first but holy moly, I lOVE it with my second! It gives us what we need, a sweet cuddle time on the couch and it's also great for him to look at my lips while we pronounce "new" sounds and then learn to make words with them. He's always struggled with pronunciation so it's working so well. We also do devotions every day which is the bulk of our education time right now. We read a Psalm, an Old Testament reading, a New Testament reading, a church Father writing, and a prayer for the day. Then we sing a hymn or two and then we read through an entire chief part using a "Follow and Do" book. Then we say Luther's Morning prayer and pray petitions for our family and friends.
My oldest is doing copy work through a Memoria Press book and my preschool/5K boys are doing some work in Rod and Staff workbooks but that's our stuff for now. I just love picking and choosing using curriculum like a took box when you're doing a job. The focus isn't the tool, it's the long term goals. For us our goals are Christ and family. Everything else will figure itself out.
I haven't conceived in 4 months now. This is strange, hard, grief causing, and...restful. God is gracious and merciful and while my heart yearns desperately for our family to grow more, it is what it is and Jesus is coming back.
My husband and I were talking tonight as I cried that it's been a year this week since I found out I was pregnant with our Anastasia. I said, "I wonder if it gets harder as we get older, you know, the knowing that things aren't the way they're supposed to be ever...even when we're at our happiest on earth." He said based on the shut-ins he visits he would say yes.
Do you feel it? The sensation that something isn't right, like a family member missing or that odd tingling in the back of your heart that something, something is amiss? I know what it is. It's heaven calling. We know this is not the way things are supposed to be. The Holy Spirit can't help but groan within us for the release from our sin and pain. He intercedes for us and we groan for release from labor into the birth into heaven. Come soon Jesus, come soon and take us home.
Writing has been hard since our last miscarriage in August. I might have had another one in September. I had 4 days of light positive tests before they got even lighter and I started. But I had just miscarried two babies in two months so honestly it felt like a continuation of the previous two, if it was.
But life is carrying on. My boys are all having birthdays and will soon be 8, 5, 4, and 2. My second will have a birthday in April and then we'll be able to have the nice even two year spacing until November when the birthday chain starts again.
School is going really well. But that's because we don't do it. I've decided to call our education "freestyle" until I come up with a better name. Basically I pick up things when and where I can use them for a little, put them away, use them again later or with another kid, etc etc. I have each kid practice reading each day using whatever I feel like on any given day, finding tools as each kid comes to a hurdle I can't get them through, but we're finding a lot of success. Our tool with our 5 year old is Teach your Child to Read in 100 easy lessons. I HATED it when I bought it with my first but holy moly, I lOVE it with my second! It gives us what we need, a sweet cuddle time on the couch and it's also great for him to look at my lips while we pronounce "new" sounds and then learn to make words with them. He's always struggled with pronunciation so it's working so well. We also do devotions every day which is the bulk of our education time right now. We read a Psalm, an Old Testament reading, a New Testament reading, a church Father writing, and a prayer for the day. Then we sing a hymn or two and then we read through an entire chief part using a "Follow and Do" book. Then we say Luther's Morning prayer and pray petitions for our family and friends.
My oldest is doing copy work through a Memoria Press book and my preschool/5K boys are doing some work in Rod and Staff workbooks but that's our stuff for now. I just love picking and choosing using curriculum like a took box when you're doing a job. The focus isn't the tool, it's the long term goals. For us our goals are Christ and family. Everything else will figure itself out.
I haven't conceived in 4 months now. This is strange, hard, grief causing, and...restful. God is gracious and merciful and while my heart yearns desperately for our family to grow more, it is what it is and Jesus is coming back.
My husband and I were talking tonight as I cried that it's been a year this week since I found out I was pregnant with our Anastasia. I said, "I wonder if it gets harder as we get older, you know, the knowing that things aren't the way they're supposed to be ever...even when we're at our happiest on earth." He said based on the shut-ins he visits he would say yes.
Do you feel it? The sensation that something isn't right, like a family member missing or that odd tingling in the back of your heart that something, something is amiss? I know what it is. It's heaven calling. We know this is not the way things are supposed to be. The Holy Spirit can't help but groan within us for the release from our sin and pain. He intercedes for us and we groan for release from labor into the birth into heaven. Come soon Jesus, come soon and take us home.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Happiness
For the past year my children and I have belonged to a local Lutheran home school group that meets once a week for the morning. In this group one of the mothers is from Hungary. I love her. She is different and so not like all of us entitled Americans. A couple weeks ago I was talking with her about her home country and I asked her what one of the main differences is between America and Hungary. She responded, without even hesitating, that Americans "try too hard to be happy". I laughed out loud and asked what on earth she meant. She explained that in her country people do not smile very much. She said if she were to smile and wave at someone on the street there they would be afraid of you and think you were crazy. She said people are not afraid to admit life is hard and they don't feel the need to "be fake like Americans". At first I took offense at that last part as I truly don't ever intend to be fake in my polite gestures of greeting or smiles that are on my face.
But I have to admit after thinking about it for a couple weeks I actually find myself longing for a country like that. Why is it that any time I talk about suffering, especially to my family, they ask me if I'm depressed? Good grief we are so obsessed with diagnosing and "treating" EVERYTHING. Why can't people just be people? What is so wrong with being sad? Or at least SERIOUS?
Life for a Christian is like being stuck in the labor of childbirth for your entire life. There are moments of peace and joy when you're on a break between contractions and you realize how soon, very soon, your relief will come and your joy will be complete, but there are many many many moments of hell. Anguish. Despair. Fear. Suffering. Agony. Isolation. Battle. And I am sick and tired of well meaning Christians putting on this happy face as if they are not a Christian if they aren't happy all the time. And of course genuine happiness is good, but why is something wrong with someone simply because they are in a period of hardship?
There is a huge difference between happiness and faith, between happiness and trust, between happiness and contentment, between happiness and hope, between happiness and salvation, and between happiness and Jesus Christ.
We are fighting a battle, an all out war against the forces of evil that tempt us and prey on us and love to play between trying to make us happy and complacent or filled with terror and despair. Both are dangerous and threaten to rip away even the elect.
But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord that we have a Lord who is acquainted with our grief and suffering and has come to redeem us and one day, to wipe every tear from our eyes. Christ is coming as He said.
But I have to admit after thinking about it for a couple weeks I actually find myself longing for a country like that. Why is it that any time I talk about suffering, especially to my family, they ask me if I'm depressed? Good grief we are so obsessed with diagnosing and "treating" EVERYTHING. Why can't people just be people? What is so wrong with being sad? Or at least SERIOUS?
Life for a Christian is like being stuck in the labor of childbirth for your entire life. There are moments of peace and joy when you're on a break between contractions and you realize how soon, very soon, your relief will come and your joy will be complete, but there are many many many moments of hell. Anguish. Despair. Fear. Suffering. Agony. Isolation. Battle. And I am sick and tired of well meaning Christians putting on this happy face as if they are not a Christian if they aren't happy all the time. And of course genuine happiness is good, but why is something wrong with someone simply because they are in a period of hardship?
There is a huge difference between happiness and faith, between happiness and trust, between happiness and contentment, between happiness and hope, between happiness and salvation, and between happiness and Jesus Christ.
We are fighting a battle, an all out war against the forces of evil that tempt us and prey on us and love to play between trying to make us happy and complacent or filled with terror and despair. Both are dangerous and threaten to rip away even the elect.
But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord that we have a Lord who is acquainted with our grief and suffering and has come to redeem us and one day, to wipe every tear from our eyes. Christ is coming as He said.
Who has believed what he has heard from us?1
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