Day Book

Outside my window… The sun is shining and the temperature is very warm. It is a wonderful spring day.
I am thinking…  About the things that I have to do this week. I’m also thinking how I can’t believe I let Easter Sunday go by without taking pictures of Monkey with his Easter basket and all of us ready for Church. I guess, I have to recreate those things this week. 


I am thankful for… My Salvation!
From the learning rooms… This week is Spring Break. We are taking a much needed break.
From the kitchen… I’m not too sure at this moment.
I am creating…  I’m still working on the afghan for my husband. This is a slow moving project, since it is rather large.
I am reading…  A Promise for Spring by Kim Vogel Sawyer.
I am praying… For several needs
I am hearing… My husband tilling the garden. Monkey playing with Toby.
Around the house… I have some spring cleaning to do this week. Hopefully, I can have most of it finished by the end of tomorrow.
One of my favorite things… Banana Boats
A few plans for the rest of the week… Since this week is Spring Break, we don’t really have any set in stone plans. We’ll take each day as it comes and see what happens.

Being a Lady

What happened to our society? I am so ashamed for my husband and son to go into the mall, to see all the scantily clad girls and women that are walking around. What has happened to being a lady? 

The next generation of girls are not being taught how to be a lady. These girls are not being taught how to dress ~ how to keep their bodies covered. These poor girls are not being taught to keep the boys’ hands off and watch the way they talk. 

They are not being taught to want to be a wife and mother. Why? Are the moms of my generation not happy with their lives? Are these moms still holding on to anger for not being allowed to dress and act like the world, while growing up? Were they really not taught how to be a lady?

Being a Lady 

When I think about the way I was taught to dress as a young girl. I will admit, I get shivers.  When I explain this, I know some will not agree with me, and that is fine. We all have our own opinions.

I grew up wearing dresses, skirts and culottes. All I will say is, as I got older, culottes left the scene, to never be seen on me again. I love wearing a skirt. I feel so much like a lady when I put one on. My husband and son don’t have to worry about me assimilating (a word we have been studying in History) into the crowd in a store.

Being a lady doesn’t mean just dressing like one. You can put the most brazen woman in feminine attire, but that does not make her a lady. One doesn’t have to be “wealthy” to be a lady. The poorest of the poor can be a lady.
I found this quote the other day by Margaret Thatcher, Power is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't. What a powerful statement. Your actions speak LOUDER than WORDS!

Funny how people can think about the same thing. A friend on Facebook added this thought to her status today “When did men stop acting like gentlemen? Oh, wait. Maybe it was when women stopped acting like ladies.”

I am so thankful that the Lord has given me a son, whom I can teach what to look for in a wife and mother for his children. I can teach him to treat ladies with respect. You know, the last comment that was left is SO very true. I’m working to make sure my son treats girls and ladies with respect, when some of them don’t even deserve it. That is hard!

Please note moms, if you are not teaching your daughters to be a lady, my son is being taught to stay away from her.

These are some of the comments my friend received: 

Fair enough!

AMEN!!!!!!!!!

You know, this has been heavy on my heart since I had a son. We are teaching him about chivalry a long forgotten word in my opinion. I am so proud when I see him rush out the door to help our elderly neighbor carry her garbage to the curb, and when he holds doors for people. And I think you are right. ladies need to be ladies!

I have actually had men treat me like a lady. I actually asked a man why he treated me differently than the last lady who walked through the door. He said "You look like a lady, you carry yourself like a lady. You ought to be treated like a lady." basically what he said. I was shocked!

I think it started the same time the Womens' Lib movement began. We wanted our "rights" and the guys gave them to us. The right to open our own car door, the right to do heavy labor like they do, the right to listen to their "bar type talk", etc. etc. We wanted it and we got it. I do not want it but the innocent have to suffer with the guilty. "sigh"

Sounds about right. Very sad, but doesn't mean we have to raise our boys the wrong way!
And it doesn't mean that we have to lower the standard when raising or girls either. I am also proud to say that I am married to a man that treats me like a lady ♥ . He is the man of my dreams. My girls want to marry someone just like daddy Ü

It's a ton of work raising a young boy and teaching him how to treat a woman properly.

These comments are so true. We have fewer and fewer true ladies in our society today. This is so sad. I just wonder what some of grandmothers and mothers would think if they knew how some of their daughters and granddaughters were behaving.

Letter Perfect a Review

                                                 

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Letter Perfect


Laugh-Out-Loud Historical Fiction!

Ruth Caldwell has always tried to live up to her mother's expectations of what a lady should be...often with less-than-impressive results. But when she's forced to journey west to meet the father she's never seen, Ruth hopes that this might be the place she'll finally fit in.

But her arrival brings about more mayhem than even Ruth is used to. She soon meets Josh McCain, the son of her father's business partner, but discovers some startling news: Her father passed away years ago. And though Josh urges Ruth to claim her inheritance, he grows suspicious of something more sinister at hand when her "accidents" seem to go beyond Ruth's normal bumbling ways and leave her very life in danger.


Letter Perfect written by Cathy Marie Hake is a fun read. I loved it. This little number has a good bit of drama and mystery with just enough romance. I laughed, I cried, I even pitied the main character. A delightful read, you won’t be disappointed.

Letter Perfect - eBook By Cathy Marie Hake / Bethany House

My Thoughts on Our Country

A lot has happened on the soil of this great nation.

We’ve had the early settlers to come to make a better life and for the freedom of religion. We’ve had the Revolutionary War, where men (and women) took a stand to fight to become a free nation, to have a government ran according to God’s Word.



We’ve been honored to have men with great minds like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, The Wright Brothers. These men worked to make this nation great or to bring modernization to our country and the whole world.

We even went through the pains of slavery and the Civil War. A war that put brothers on the opposite sides of the line. We’ve watched the struggles of many people as they tried to make a better life for their children and grandchildren. *To be counted an equal*

These are just a few things that I think makes this nation great. We are not a perfect nation. We are far from it. The vote on the new Healthcare Reform Bill is proof of that.

You know, it is really heart breaking when you think about what our country used to be – A GOD FEARING NATION.

Over the years we’ve allowed people to persuade us to vote for a specific political party, instead of seeking God’s guidance in how our country should be led. We’ve been falling for the lies these men and women speak, just so another party member will not be voted in. We’re trusting these same deceitful people to teach our children in the government schools. (Take a look at all the problems that are running ramped in those hallways and classrooms.)

We’ve opened our homes to “Hollywood.” We’ve allowed a certain cute and funny television show to be played in our homes, for the innocent eyes and ears of our children to take in. We’ve allowed music in that is so degrading and graphic, music that would have been banned from the air 20 years ago.

We’re allowing our children to grow up and think that a “certain lifestyle” is a natural born gene, instead of teaching them the truth – It’s a SIN! It’s an Abomination to God!

It’s easy to repair a building when the crumbling is on the outside. But if the crumbling is on the inside, it is only a matter of time when the building will fall.

I’m afraid our nation is that building. The wall of fearing God has been crumbling on the outside since we won our independence. We have had many men and women willing to work and make the repairs on the outside. I see our nation crumbling from the inside. I’m not trying to prophecy here, I’m not smart enough for that. But I do know what I see.

We’ve allowed our jobs, over due bills, politics, television and carting our children around from one activity to another to take our eyes off God. We are spending our Sundays and Wednesday nights at the ball field instead of having our families under the preaching of God’s Word. Because of this we are allowing our daughters to dress “not so dressed.” They are being taught, “Do what you want. You are far better than settling to be a homemaker and a mommy.” They are being taught to be proud about being pregnant at 14. They are being taught to kill an innocent child ~ hide the evidence of indiscretion. We have stopped teaching our boys to be men. We’ve taken away their pocket knives, Tonka trucks, their guns, bows & arrows and replaced them with the idea that it is okay to dress like, talk like, and act like a female. (Even the Brawny paper towel commercial has softened up that lumberjack!)

Our nation faces many problems. We are dealing with nations that hate us for the stand that we have taken with Israel and on terr*rism. You know what? I’m not worried. I am more concerned about what is happening on the inside of our nation ~ And so should you!

America, We need to wake up! We need to take back control over our families – turn off the television and radio. We need to hold our leaders responsible for the actions that they make for us citizens. Refuse to hire the ones who are against the Bible. Fire the ones who don’t stand behind their word!

Have mercy on America, Lord.

Day Book

Outside my window...  The sun is not even up yet. We are definitely having early spring time weather here; warm a few days then it drops off to cooler days. It’s suppose to be close to 75 today. WooHoo!! 


I am thinking... Maybe I need to wait to go to bed a little later than I did last night. I always end up waking up before the chickens the next morning.
I am thankful for... My husband being able to work these past few weeks. Today will be the end of the work and he’ll be back home with us during the week.
From the learning rooms... Well we have school today. We swapped our Monday and Saturday this week, so we could spend time with my husband. We are about to finish the chapter on Adverbs. YAY! I’m excited. The rest of our Language book will be all the “fun” stuff that is taught at the end of the book. You know like the word usage (they’re, their,there) using the dictionary. That kind of fund stuff.
From the kitchen... I made a Mississippi Mud Cake last night. I did not take any pictures of it, since it fell! Who knows? I still can’t think of a reason why. But it is alright, it is oh so good!
I am creating...I’m still plugging away on the afghan. I have a pair of socks in the works. Hopefully, I’ll have them finished before too long.
I am reading... Love Finds You in Poetry, Texas by Janice Hanna I just started the book last night, it looks like it might be something good.
I am praying... That everything works out for two meetings that are coming up, one in Kansas and the other in Virginia. 
I am hearing... Nothing, since I’m up early.
Around the house... I have some dusting and vacuuming to do today.
One of my favorite things... SPRING! I love the warmer temperatures.
A few plans for the rest of the week... I have to go to the mall today, Monkey needs some new pants and shirts for church. My husband is preaching and presenting our work at a church in the morning. We will be back at our church tomorrow night to be with church in celebrating our Pastor’s 20th anniversary of being pastor.

Why We Home Educate Part 3

This is part three of my series on Why We Home Educate.

III. We are to teach our children what God has done.

Exodus 13:8, 14 And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:

In the Old Testament,  the Children of Israel were told to teach their younger generations about the things that happened with their fathers and grandfathers. This was so the new generations coming along, would know the works of God and believe in Him.

How are our children going to know about the Lord and the things that He has done for our families, if we don’t tell them?  If they don’t hear about the times when the Lord provided our needs or answered a very special prayer request, then they are going to go into the world to find how the unbelievers are succeeding according to the worldly view.

 IV.Now that I know what the Bible says about teaching our children, what am I going to teach my son?

The state of Georgia has a “standard” that is required in home education. This standard is the “core” of an education: Math, Reading, Language Arts, History and Science. As parents, we can expand and go in different areas as long as these are taught.

I remember the day, that my husband and I decided that we were going to home educate our son. I was very excited. Would you believe that it was during the first week of school? I had to face 9 months of  teaching other people’s children, before we could step out on faith and trust the Lord with the education of our son. Those months were some of the longest, that I have had to live through.

Through out the months, I had to deal with Satan coming and attacking me with doubt. The biggest thing, he placed in front of me was Science and Math. How was I going to teach my son these subjects, when I really don’t care for one or have a hard time with the other? As I began praying and asking the Lord for perfect peace about this decision He brought back James 1:5 to my remembrance. As a child growing up and struggling with Math, I memorized the verse,  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

I have come to a point in teaching my son, when I really needed some help. I prayed and asked the Lord to give me the wisdom to show Monkey how to work that Math problem, without confusing him more than he was already. The Lord opened my mind and Monkey’s and we were able to get through it, now, he loves long division.

There are many who say that home educators are not qualified to teach their children at home. That is a bucket of hog wash! I have seen many “qualified” teachers in schools who could not teach. They could not keep their train of thought together to make it through a situation that came up in the class room. Why is it that it is alright to put these “qualified” teachers in a role of educating our children. But it is wrong for a parent, who knows the specific needs of their child to make the decision to educate their child at home?  All I can say is, “God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.” I think this statement works with parents who have answered the call to educate their children at home.

 Not only are we teaching the “core” subjects at our house. We are also teaching a set Bible curriculum. Right now, we are working on a New Test survey and we are learning so much. There are many things that my husband is able to reinforce with our study.  We are working on Character Traits that are included in our Bible.

Life skills are an important thing to me. My son is learning how to clean house and cook. Boys and men need to know these things, because we don’t know what is in our future for our household. He is also learning how to sew buttons on and fix a hem in a shirt or pair of pants. He is also working on keeping up with the money he spends, so he’ll know where it all goes. He knows that credit cards are a SIN and to stay away from them. If he wants something, he’ll pay cash for it. Monkey has been able to learn to use a couple of saws in the work shop. He learned how to plow the garden last year, and is looking forward to it again this year.

We are working on Sign Language as this will help us in communicating in our ministry. Once we return to Montana and know where we are going to be settled, I want us to be able to learn some of the language of the closest Native American Nation.  This too, will help in being able to reach the unsaved.

Home educating our son takes a lot of prayer. It is not something that we went into lightly. The Lord has blessed us to live in a free country and right now, we have the freedoms to choose what to teach our children. As for our family, we are going to work to make sure our son succeeds in all his does. We are going to encourage college when the time comes. As of right now, Monkey has decided that he wants to drive big trucks. That is fine with me, as long as he lives for the Lord.
When we meet other people and talk about our home education experience, I want them to think, “Wow, you’re one of those!” not “Oh, you’re one of them.”
 

Why We Home Educate Part 2

If you have not seen the first part of this series, you can read it HERE.

Let me tell you a little about our home educating experience:

For kindergarten, we were at home and loved it. We were able to blow right through the school year without any glitches. It was also during this year, when the Lord called us to the ministry.  During the summer we put our house up for sale and our school year was gaining on us. Both my husband and I prayed about what to do for school. We felt that the Lord wanted us to put Monkey into school since we were going through the selling of our house and the beginning of deputation. The only thing, we could not put him in the Christian school due to finances, so we put him in the public school. This was a good thing. Our first grade teacher was a Christian. In fact, most of the staff at the school were all Christians and  involved in some of the local churches.  We had a good couple of months; we went on the deputation road, and a traditional school was not going to work. So we began home educating again and all was going well. For second grade we schooled at home in Montana.  Then for our third grade year, we were back in Georgia and dealing with returning to mission field and deputation all over again. We thought we would try the public school system for a second try. Boy, was that a huge mistake! Over the past year and half the school district changed some things and we ended up at another school. We had a teacher who was not a Christian and in fact tried to have Monkey removed from her class room because we were “Missionaries”; for some reason that did not work out. Every week, Monkey came home at least 3 days crying about something that had happened. The straw that broke the camel’s back, was when Monkey had to take a stand against evolution. He had told his teacher that he would never believe in it and that he believed what the Bible says about creation.  His teacher did not like this and told him that the Bible was a lie and that his parents were foolish to believe in it and for teaching it to him. We were never allowed to meet with the teacher about this. Instead of fighting to get a meeting and ruining our testimony, we pulled Jamie out that Wednesday.

Needless to say, we have not even thought about putting Monkey back in a school. There are many verses in the Bible that tells us as parents our responsibility in raising our children.

I. Our children are a gift from the Lord.

Psalm 127:3-5  Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gates. 

The Lord gave us our children,  we are to raise them for Him. These precious souls that we are trusted with are truly a gift. The Lord did not have to give them to us. He could have shut the door from the beginning in our lives and not allowed us the privilege to raise them. Yes, I look at raising my son as a privilege. The Lord knew in advance that I am not perfect but He trusted me to raise Monkey to serve Him.

II. We are to teach OUR children.

Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. 

In the early years of our nation, most families educated their children at home. There were some who sent their boys to a school to help in the aid of learning a trade. At that time, there was no government stepping in and controlling what was taught. Families had the freedom in choosing what their children learned. Down through the years, Bible was a major topic in schools. Sadly, Satan used and is using many people to do all they can to remove anything biblical from our society.

III. We are to protect our children’s eyes, ears and minds. 

When we allow our children to be in an environment where they are taught that the Bible is wrong and that there is no God; we are opening a door to problems. Think about this~ We send our children to a school for at least seven hours a day. That is 35 hours a week spent hearing and seeing and even participating in things that are worldly. We as parents will have to spend much more time in “retraining” our children.

What about a Christian school? I honestly believe that there are some great Christian schools around. You are really going to have to look to find them. Before allowing your children to step foot through the doors, parents need to do a thorough research on the school. There are some who have Christian in their name, when they are no more than a “paid” public school. A good thing to check into is their Statement of Faith. They should have one, if they don’t LEAVE. IMMEDIATELY.  When a school asks for a letter of recommendation from your pastor, don't take offense. Know the school is looking out for the lives who enter their building. I will warn you as a former Christian school student and teacher, your children will learn all sorts of things that are not pleasing to God. They will be exposed to some of the same things that are found in the public school systems. There are many parents who put their children in a Christian school in hopes that the school will reform their child. It does not happen! Remember the saying, “It only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch?” Every Christian school has that one bad apple and then some.

It is up to the parent  to protect their children. No one else will protect them, like a parent.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. 

This is a verse that I lean on. I can only pray after all the years of teaching my son, that he will continue on the right path and serve the Lord. I know of many families who did all they could do in raising their children for the Lord, and the child left the right path. I honestly believe that the Lord will not hold the parents responsible. If the teaching, the guidance and the discipline is put to use along with prayer, then the parents obeyed what is required of them. The child has left the “umbrella of protection” and will have to answer to the Lord, for his actions.

Why We Home Educate Part 1

Over the last couple of days, I have thought about the reasons why we home educate our son. When we started this trek in our lives, it was more of a time for me to be at home with Monkey, since I had worked 5 years out of the 6 years of his life.  I remember when I went back to work after Monkey was born. I hated it! I cried every morning on the way to school and during the first hour of being at school. I began praying that the Lord would allow me to  quit my teaching job and stay at home. Of course, the Lord’s timing is always perfect, even though it may take a while before he answers. It took 5 years of praying for me to receive an answer to my prayers.

 As I began the work of teaching Monkey, I loved the idea of not having him compared to other children his age. It does happen to all children when they are in a classroom. Think about those academic awards that are handed out at the end of the school year. You would not believe how children and parents both brag on who got “top student,” and who got “B Honor Roll.” Why does it matter as long as a child has done his best?

 Speed is not an option at home. I was able to slow down in Math and speed up in Language Arts. This does not happen in a classroom. In fact, there are many children who are left behind in a subject because those who are more advanced can not be allowed to get bored. Those who are not helped at an early age, will struggle until someone reaches out to help them. There are many times when there is no one, who will be willing to help. No wonder we have so many children who either don’t succeed or drop out of school altogether.

 Teaching at home allowed me to choose what my son learned and when he learned it. For the first couple of years, I used what I knew. I used a curriculum in a box. Although, this curriculum is wonderful, it does have it’s bad points for at home learning. For the past year and half, I have taught what I think Monkey needs. We have been able to expand into things that he has wanted to learn, instead of being told what to learn.

As a mother who taught school for twelve years, I saw students who dealt with problems in their lives.  I did not want my son to have to go through those things. At this point, I’m not talking about home life problems. I’m talking about those situations that children face when they are around other children. I remember how sad I would feel for one who was left out of something, or when one was called a name.What really got me, was when lies were told. Kids can be mean, and when you think about it, they can become almost vicious towards others. If you don’t believe me,watch the news. Think back to your childhood, we all have either been on the receiving end of meanness or we know someone who has been.

 I don’t know about you, but when someone gives me a special gift that I love dearly, I do all that I can to take care of it. It will be placed where it is protected and admired. My son is a gift from God and I’m going to do all that is in my power to protect him.

 You can find part 2 HERE.