• Get the FREE ebook, Smooth and Easy Days by Sonya Shafer explaining Charlotte Mason’s secret to “smooth and easy days”…a book about developing good habits in ourselves and our children.  This is a gem!

• Homeschool Daily Planner

• Starfall:  our favorite site for the little ones just learning to read.
  

Kevin Swanson gave a super-charged and brilliant lesson on child-training last week in Texas.  The thrust of his message was, “If your children don’t obey you it’s because they don’t fear the Lord”. And he went on to ask the obvious question:  “Could it be that if my children don’t fear the Lord it’s because I don’t fear the Lord?”

Be the Police Officer

To make the point, he described how silly it would be for a police officer to pull you over for speeding and give you a high-pitched tongue-lashing:

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!  YOU KNOW BETTER THAN TO BE SPEEDING!  I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M EVEN HAVING THIS CONVERSATION WITH YOU!!!”

We all know that he walks over as cool as a cucumber and says, “You know you were doing 75 in a 55…”

And yet our hands are trembling and we can barely answer.  Why?

Not because we fear the police office, but because we know he has the power of the state behind him to enforce the deserved consequences of our actions.

Furthermore, we know he is only doing his job because ultimately he cares for our safety and the safety of the other drivers.  It is his job to implement correction that will lengthen our lives and protect us from harm.

The state established the laws of safety, then they gave the officer authority to enforce them for the good of the citizens.

Fear Doesn’t Diminish His Love

The fear of the Lord has been so misunderstood and misinterpreted.  Acknowledging our need for the fear of the Lord does not diminish the love of our Heavenly Father.  Scripture cannot contradict itself.  This very disclaimer is necessary because so many Christians have bought a version of Christianity that is fake.

Without the fear of the Lord there is no wisdom, there is no safety, there is no purity, there is no life.  Rejecting the fear of the Lord is foolishness and destruction.

So as we lovingly teach our children of the Lord and His mercy, let us not neglect this life-giving principle lest we destroy them too.

Then, when we walk in to find little brother duct-taped to the wall, let us remain cool…“Son, although ‘no-duct-taping brothers to walls’ is not a specific rule…”

1. Subscribe to an educational magazine (or look for older copies in lots on Ebay); just be mindful of the publisher’s worldview.  I like to “bait” the house with these magazines that spark terrific conversation.
2. Collect resource guides and field guides about animals, plants, etc. and teach your children how to use them.
3. Get a telescope and microscope and let them explore.
4. Get into the habit of saying, “Let’s look it up”.  Show them how to look up information they are interested in finding.
5. Look for conversational opportunities and expand them.
   • For example, if a child says to you, “What kind of bear is this?” You could answer “a panda” and end the conversation. But if you demonstrate an excitement about learning, you can show your child that each subject opens up a world of learning possibilities. With a small child you can offer him different descriptive words about the panda. Couple synonyms together to transfer the meaning of harder words. “He is very big. He is gigantic. He is enormous.” (or colossal, etc.) With older children you may ask, “I wonder where pandas live?” Give them a feel for the way a country is also part of a continent and familiarize them with the name of the continent. These aren’t formal lessons, but rather, you are creating “learning hooks” on which more and more information can be hung as they discover more about the world.
6. Utilize time in the car. Use the sights to explain and describe activities. Listen for questions and answer them as thoroughly as possible.
7. Encourage them to play outside, collect interesting objects, draw them, and observe them for a length of time.  Caterpillars are especially fun to watch metamorphose.
8. Keep building and craft materials available to children.  Blocks, Lincoln Logs, Legos, etc.  Play-Doh, though messy is good too.  Paper, glue, scissors, stickers, felt, Popsicle sticks, cardboard, etc.
9. Severely limit computer games, movie-watching, etc.  Most children do not default to creativity when recreation is readily available.  Boredom, left untreated, can open up a whole new world to a child.

The simplicity of educating our children, as I see it, is having our eyes open for the opportunities that abound all around us and being available to use them.

Hospitality:

“Contribute to the needs of the saints and be given to hospitality.”  Romans 12:13

It’s a command and yet Christians often neglect true hospitality. We confuse it with entertainment and the thought of entertaining paralyzes us.  Practicing hospitality has nothing to do with entertaining.

But why is hospitality a command in the first place?  Understanding what it is helps us understand why it’s so important.

Hospitality seeks to:

• Relieve
• Encourage
• Bond
• Build relationships
• Serve

Hospitality is not limited to having guests over for a meal.  Hospitality may also mean generously providing care and kindness to whomever is in need.  It may very well mean taking a meal, sharing financially with someone in need, giving one’s material possessions to meet another’s need or even sending a card or making a phone call.

And lest we think it optional, hospitality is really the core of the Christian life, and neglecting to care for others in this basic sense is regarded in Scripture as the very neglect of Christ Himself, and will result in eternal damnation!

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels….I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ” Matthew 25:41-45

AND WATCH THIS:  based on these definitions, hospitality is merely an extension of what we should already be doing within our families.  Perhaps hospitality is so neglected a practice because we are not learning to serve one another–to live out Christ’s example first among each other at home.

Because relationships are the key element in discipleship, and because discipleship is the Great Commission command, I submit that hospitality is the venue through which the gospel is best shared, through which Love is best shown, and through which discipleship and mentoring are best accomplished. Sharing our lives and our homes is one of the greatest opportunities available to us to further the Kingdom, both as we serve and minister to others and also as serving changes us.

The spiritual implications of hospitality should compel us to seek out the practical methods by which we can make it a regular part of our lives.

My first thought about hospitality is that some people just seem naturally more gifted in this area and yet we are all called to practice it.  Which means some of us will have to study and prepare a bit more than others.

I also think the most important consideration as you ponder hospitality, is your season of life.  It may be a busy season with lots of little ones.  It may be a financially difficult season.  It very well could be both.  Adjusting your own expectations to fit the needs of the season you’re in will make a tremendous difference in your ability to practice hospitality.

My season is a busy one with little extra income, so my approach may be different than yours.

The next post will suggest some practical ways to reduce the stress of practicing hospitality!

“The standard of the world, and the standard of the Lord Jesus, are indeed widely different. They are more than different. They are flatly contradictory one to the other. Among the children of this world, he is thought the greatest man who has most land, most money, most servants, most rank, and most earthly power. Among the children of God, he is reckoned the greatest who does most to promote the spiritual and temporal happiness of his fellow-creatures. True greatness consists not in receiving, but in giving – not in selfish absorption of good things, but in imparting good to others – not in being served, but in serving - not in sitting still and being ministered to, but in going about and ministering to others.”

~ J.C. Ryle

“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks….For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” From Matthew 12 

“To judge is to assume the hidden things of the heart.  But when once the mouth has spoken, the heart betrays itself and the judging has already been done.  What is left is to measure the evidence against truth.” -Kelly Crawford

A timely resource for our series, I think you’ll find lots of helpful information and tips about how to provide healthier food for less.

Check it out!

Here’s what others are saying about “Healthy Food Choices“:

“I was so excited to be able to read Healthy Food Choices That Won’t Break The Bank. As a stay at home mom of 5 children, I need to stay in my budget while making the healthiest choices possible. I learned a lot from Ashley, from the 12 foods to always buy organic to making my own pantry staples. I loved that I have all the ingredients in her recipes already on hand. Now making changes in my family’s diet is actually doable.

I really can’t wait to try all the recipes you have. The ones online always contain stuff that I just don’t keep around. Yours are so doable.”

Rosie, mother of 5

“This e-book is brimming with healthful, money-saving ideas, delicious recipes and the author’s delightful enthusiasm. After reading this report I feel very encouraged that I can make positive changes my whole family will be happy about!” Teresa P.

In “Healthy Food Choices That Won’t Break The Bank”, I learned about a few ways to save money and eat healthfully that I hadn’t known before. I had heard about people buying large bulk cuts of meat but didn’t know the first thing about how to try to obtain it for my own family. I also didn’t know how people got raw milk-I thought these things were limited to people in rural areas. Ashley lists several resources that will tell you exactly where to go to get high quality, cheap, healthful foods for your family. She even includes some great recipes (I can’t wait to try the chimichangas and the ranch dressing!) You can save the purchase price of this e book many times over by implementing the ideas in the book.

Carissa, mother of 5

by Rea Berg

“For many Christians who have grown up in the United States, liturgy and the attention to a liturgical calendar have not been prominent emphases in religious experience. However, in spite of the fact that empty forms and religious exercises are often associated with notions of liturgy, the liturgical calendar can offer a way to mark the days of the year with special attention to the vibrant history of the Church and the men and the women who have gone before us. This discipline can add another level to our appreciation for the Body of Christ universal and for the profound legacy we enjoy as members of that Body.

Our family currently lives in different geographic regions due to marriage, work, and study abroad. This Easter we enjoyed a unique sense of richness as we worshiped in a number of uniquely different parts of the Church. Our eldest son attended a Good Friday service at City Church in San Francisco, and our daughter and her husband enjoyed the same at Imago Dei in Portland, Oregon. My husband and I were in a Good Friday service at Park Street Church in Boston, and our eldest daughter and her husband enjoyed the Easter celebration at Westminster Cathedral in London. In our home church, our youngest children attended a Passover celebration that marked the profound symbolism foreshadowing Christ’s passion and redemption of mankind. In a beautiful way we were all united—despite the thousands of miles between us.

Following a liturgical calendar by noting the special days in the year and marking them with specific Scripture readings or establishing family traditions around them can give rhythm and beauty to the passage of time. It also connects us to the historical Body of Christ by transcending our present time and space and helping us to recognize the sublime relationship we have with those who have gone before us and also those who will come after. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s A Psalm of Life speaks to this notion:

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Intentionally connecting ourselves to the history of the Church universal requires a humility that recognizes how myopic our grasp of truth can be when we view it only through our own cultural lens. Books such as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Real Christianity by William Wilberforce, or Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans connect us to the broader expression of Christ through the limitless diversity of his Body. In this way, our own faith is enlarged, stretched, and enriched.”

Copyright 2009, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com

I heard an employer recently lament: 

“I can’t find anyone under the age of 30 that will even show up consistently for work, much less actually work when they get here.”

Last night another lady stopped at our family’s table at a restaurant and said, “This is a rare sight“.  She went on to explain that her two grandsons “would have the place upside down”. I’m not encouraged that children, even if they are mine, sitting at a table eating is “a rare sight”.

Dishonesty brought a professing Christian we know to jail, ultimately taking all that he has–possessions, wife, children–in a matter of months.

Example after example comes to my mind just in our tiny circumference, of the lack of character leaving behind a trail of destruction.

Scripture’s prophecy is clear:

“…in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof…” 2 Timothy 3:1-5

This quote grabbed my attention:

“The formative period for building character for eternity is in the nursery. The mother is queen of that realm and sways a scepter more potent than that of kings or priests.” ~Author Unknown

I’ve maintained since the birth of this blog that the widespread exodus of mothers out of the home have implications we can barely grasp. A societal problem is never a symptom of just one disease, but it’s hard to think of a more destructive shift than that of mothers leaving her domestic realm in droves.

And here is where tomatoes are thrown.  Which is why so few people are willing to say what needs to be said…that mothers have a full time, very important job already and when they abdicate that responsibility, we all pay for it.

“It’s my business”.  Actually, it’s not.  The character of a child, multiplied exponentially, becomes the character of society.  That affects me greatly.  It affects you.  It affects us on a personal level when we are left in the wake of familial distress, and it affects us on a much larger level as we deal with economic effects and the influences of those who lead our country.  We do not live autonomously!

So back around….dear mothers, we have a hard job.  Some days I feel like giving up.  I’m sure you do too.  It would be easier to let someone else do this work.  But it’s not about what’s easiest.  It’s about what’s best.  For us, for them and for everyone.  You’re not just feeding babies, or keeping a clean house or sweeping up Cheerios.

Every little moment you are planting, watering and weeding around those tender seeds of character which will one day either grow to flourish and give life all around it, or become a needy, sucking vacuum that depletes the life around it.

Rule your realm.