My Heart Sings

There is a myth out there in homeschooling circles. It's the myth that every child in the family loves each other all the time. They are always kind to each other, speak sweet words, and never argue. I won't even address the perfect actions and manners in public.

That's what it is: a myth. Let me say that again. IT'S A MYTH!!!!

However, sometimes we do get to see moments of glory in our children, that if I weren't homeschooling, I would not get to see. For instance:

Today, Ponygirl was fussing at Princess for using "her" e-book. Then I turned right around and fussed at her for hoarding something that was not "hers" to begin with.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it.

Anyway, I just noticed a few seconds ago that the house was very quiet.

This makes me nervous, but more on that later....

So, I go check on everyone and what they are doing. Ponygirl is sitting on the basement steps WITH Princess at this moment, and letting her read the e-book and even helping her read the harder words.

What can I say? My heart sings for moments like these. Glimpses of heaven as it will be. No pain, tears, death, or arguing.

A mother's heaven.

The Still Small Voice

"Mommy, will you cuddle with me?"

Most mothers will tell you that those are their favorite words in the English language. Not me. I cringe when I hear that. Not outwardly, but it means I must do something I detest: Choose.

Dishes are piled up in the sink downstairs, the floor needs to be swept; I'm tired, worn out from being police, judge, playmate, chauffeur, doctor, you name it. I feel over done.

I really hate choosing. Because I want to get the chores done so I can snuggle on the couch with Hubby, have a sweet snack, or just read a bit before falling asleep with my clothes still on; anything, but it's "me" time. Even doing the chores every night I get to be alone and be in the quiet. Maybe even hear the still small voice of God calling my name.

The only problem is that the still small voice tells me that Princess will be 6 next month. She's growing up faster than I can see. Reading, writing, even doing math well above her age. While I am very very proud of what she has done, I don't get very much time with her. She'll be grown and gone before I know it. My time is so short, and if I don't grab it, I'll miss it.

These are the whispers I hear from the still small voice of God.

So I snuggled. Maybe not as long as she would have liked (she would prefer that I sleep with her all night every night), but I loved and kissed and hugged and told her I love her the yellowest. She is my sunshine and I think she is one of the cutest things in the whole world.

She went to sleep with a smile on her face; and that, my friends, is the still small voice of God, right there.

Go snuggle,
Bee

Keep your eyes on the Controls

Superhero is 7 1/2 and I swear he is my mechanical engineer. He loves to take things apart, and someday he will be able to put them back together just as well!

One of his interests is airplanes, and I have told him that when he is a little older, I will let him study for his pilot's license. So, being the good homeschool mom I am, I rented the Moody Science video, "Sign Posts Aloft", thinking it would be a great video for learning about airplanes.

Wrong.

It scared the crud out of me and my younger children. You see, it is a video demonstrating the value of flying by your instruments rather than relying on your own senses and instincts. The video revealed several emergency calls from pilots as they crashed into the ground thinking they were level because they were flying through fog or a cloud. You heard the terrifying cries of the pilots just before they died. Wow, that scared us all!

The point, however, was well taken. Apparently, when you fly a plane and cannot see the ground, your senses play tricks on you. The video narrator conducted an experiment that I have seen in person wherein a pilot in very good health was blindfolded. Then he sat in a chair and was twirled around. At first, he could tell he was turning, but as his equilibrium kicked in, he thought he had stopped spinning. He hadn't. When they did stop the chair, the pilot thought he was spinning the other way.

The point of the experiment was to illustrate that we cannot always trust our senses. In the instance of flying aircraft through fog or clouds, pilots must trust their instruments, even if their instinct and/or senses tell them differently.

I believe there are times in your life when your spiritual and emotional senses lie to you. The flight of life can seem easy when you see the horizon. Children behaving, school going well, jobs are secure, relationships are balanced. But what happens when children get sick, jobs are lost, friends betray and spouses don't live up to your expectations?

When life throws you a curve ball and your senses starting whirling like this pilot's had, you must cling to what you know. When you feel alone, betrayed, angry, scared, you name it, you cannot trust your emotions or your other senses. You must rely on unchanging instruments; things in your life that will always be true.

God's "controls" is the Bible. His words are written down for us to have when nothing makes sense, when we don't understand what is going on and cannot see what step to take in front of us for all the fog.

God is unchanging. In James 1:17 it says, "Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning." That does not mean that he only gives gifts that are perceived to be good, but as Romans 8:28 states, "We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose".

So, even though a "gift" may not seem to be good, God's unchanging nature assures us that He will work it for our benefit. That is why we need to keep our eyes on Him and on His unchanging nature. His instrument, the Bible, is the instrument we need to keep our eyes on, for it will never change, and it will always bring us in for a safe landing.

Keeping my eyes on the controls,
Brandie

The Anger Monster Within

Have you ever wondered, dear reader, why it is that when you buy a new car, you suddenly see that car on the road every where you go? I remember when I bought my first van, and apparently everyone else had gone out and bought one the same day.

Well, it seems I am a trend setter. You see, circumstances in our house have reached such proportions as to keep me from blogging for months. That is a long time for someone who loves to write. Circumstances I am referring to are issues within myself that have to deal with anger management.

I am not an angry person. For those of you who know me personally, you know that I am a fairly easy going person with a pretty cool head. But for some reason, there has been a monster sleeping within me that seems to come alive. It also seems to have a propensity to enjoy engulfing small children.

It seems that the only people on this earth that are able to wake this monster within are my own lovable monkeys. They don't mean to do it, I just think they like to play with the monster, so they ask it to come out and play. The only problem is that they don't ever seem to remember that this monster does not play nice.

So what does this have to do with new cars? Well, as I was praying for God to make this monster move away, I started noticing advertisements for webinars, books, DVDs, and tapes dealing with parental anger. Did you know, up to 50% of homeschooling moms describe similar symptoms of anger and rage coming out in their everyday lives? Even those like me who tend to be level headed people most of the time.

Weird! It's like God was trying to tell me something!

So, how has it been? Well, actually, it's been pretty good around here. The monster comes out to play less often. It still thrives on the anger my children seem to give it, but it comes out less and less, and thanks to me (and my trend setting abilities), now you too can have help when you need it.

The website I have found to be the most helpful has been the National Center for Biblical Parenting. They even have "Parenting University" an online seminar you can watch and learn in 5 minute segments.

The Coolest Hallelujah Chorus Ever

You watered what?

Sometimes as a homeschooling parent, I find that my children have learned lessons that I didn't even think had gotten through.

None of my children have really taken to gardening. Sure they enjoyed the planting of the seed and liked the idea of eating something from the garden, but as the heat index goes up, down goes their enthusiasm. So, unless I push through and weed myself, we don't usually end up with much at harvest time. Most goes to the rabbits and chipmunks.

Well, the other day, "Ladybug" very excitedly told me she watered her garden.

Garden? What garden?

Well, she dragged me up to my room and pointed to my bed. "Look, Mommy! I even watered the seed!"

Well, my worst fears were confirmed when I looked, and indeed, she had taken an acorn from the front yard and "planted it" on my nice white down comforter.

And she had indeed "watered" the acorn. Three times from what she told me...

Sigh.

Oh well, off to the dry cleaners with that. At least it's warm enough now to do without for a couple of days.

At least she learned her gardening lesson.

Right?

1 Corinthians 13 for Homeschoolers

(Copied by permission)

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and teach my children Latin conjugations, Chinese and Portuguese, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal, and no matter what I say, they will not hear me. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know my children’s bents and God’s plan for their lives, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and am the keeper of the teacher’s editions and solutions manuals, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, and even keep up with my giant piles of laundry and dishes, but do not have love, I am nothing, even if all the people at church think I’m Supermom. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and my formal dining room gets turned into a schoolroom and our family vacations look more like educational field trips, and if I surrender my body to be burned, never having time to get my nails done, put makeup on or even take a bath, but do not have love, it profits me nothing, because all my family cares about is the expression on my face, anyway.

Love is patient with the child who still can’t get double-digit subtraction with borrowing, and kind to the one who hasn’t turned in his research paper. It is not jealous of moms with more, fewer, neater, more self-directed, better-behaved or smarter children. Love does not brag about homemade bread, book lists, or scholarships and is not arrogant about her lifestyle or curriculum choices. It does not act unbecomingly or correct the children in front of their friends. It does not seek its own, trying to squeeze in alone time when someone still needs help; it is not provoked when interrupted for the nineteenth time by a child, the phone, the doorbell or the dog; does not take into account a wrong suffered, even when no one compliments the dinner that took hours to make or the house that took so long to clean.

Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness or pointing out everyone else’s flaws, but rejoices with the truth and with every small step her children take in becoming more like Jesus, knowing it’s only by the grace of God when that occurs.

Love bears all things even while running on no sleep; believes all things, especially God’s promise to indwell and empower her; hopes all things, such as that she’ll actually complete the English curriculum this year and the kids will eventually graduate; endures all things, even questioning from strangers, worried relatives, and most of all, herself."Love never fails. And neither will she. As long as she never, never, never gives up.

Misty Krasawski is the overly-blessed mom of eight children whom she homeschools in sunshine-y Florida. She has been clinging ferociously to the hand of her Lord since she was knee-high to a grasshopper, homeschooling for the past thirteen years, and has eighteen more years ahead of her with the children who are glad she will have done most of her experimenting on those who went before. Her wonderful husband Rob has much treasure laid up for him in heaven for having been called to such a daunting task. After the house goes to sleep she can sometimes be found gathering her thoughts at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/MistyKrasawski.