Say Cheese!

From the very beginning, my husband and I felt the Lord calling us to make God's Word the foundation of our homeschool studies. So not only do we use the Bible as our guide for spiritual life, we have also made it the 'spine' upon which the majority of our academic studies are based.

At first you may think, how is that possible? Won't there be huge 'gaps' in your children's education if you limit yourself to studying only those topics found in the Bible? But for our family the answer would have to be a resounding 'no'. In fact, making God's Word the foundation our girls' education has given us great peace and confidence in our homeshooling experience.

I will not go into all the details of our daily schedule here, but in a nutshell, we study the Scriptures in the morning, first gleaning all the spiritual lessons the Lord has for us that day. This also includes vocabulary, geography, and cultural studies from the lesson. In the afternoon, we then study any science, history,or sociology lessons that are associated the morning's lesson. For example, in the morning if we study the story of Samson eating the honey from the lion's carcass, we might take a field trip that afternoon to a local bee keeper and learn all about bees and making honey. Or when studying about King Saul's quest to kill David, we may spend the afternoon studying the serious consequences of jealousy. The complexity of the lesson of course depends upon the age of the child.

Now for the first few years, I put these mini-unit lessons together myself, but later (and quite thankfully) found a wonderful curriculum written by Dr. David L. Bedell that follows this same idea. Most days we follow Dr. Bedell's lessons, other times we select our own topic to study. Either way, it makes for a very interesting homeschool experience.

One of our lessons this week was from 1 Samuel 17 where David's father tells him to bring bread and cheese to his brothers who were facing a possible battle with the Philistines. So after our afternoon Bedell lesson on 'how cheese comes from mold' (eeew!), we decided to spice up the lesson and make our own cheese! (photo above) We went online, found a kid friendly cheese recipe, and in about an hour had some delicious homemade cheese! It was great fun, we learned alot, and it was tasty too. I love using the Bible as our homeschool curriculum!

And for those of you who may be wondering about how we study history beyond the Ancients...Dr. Bedell does a wonderful job of relating American and world history events to Scripture. As these topics arise in his lessons, we read wonderful Historical biographies that correspond. As for Math, that's where we draw the line. Math curriculum, Teaching Textbooks has become my newest best friend!

A Homeschooler's Solution to Spring Fever...

Outdoor math lessons!

A+ for Effort

"As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him; For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." Psalm 103:13-14

I love this card. First, because it's a great reminder of our youngest daughter's love for me. But second(and more importantly), it's a great reminder of God's grace.

How so? Well, just as my daughter's love for me far outweighs her spelling mistakes, so too our love for the Lord far outweighs the mistakes we make. Now I'm not talking about wilful, sinful behavior...for that may require some loving discipline. But in those times when we are trying to follow the Lord and just plain miss the mark (as my daughter did here), I am comforted to know that God not only overlooks our mistakes, but actually pulls us close and tells us how much He loves us, just as we would our own children. Can you for one minute imagine me being angry or actually punishing my daughter for incorrect spelling on this card? No, of course not. So why would we think any less of our Heavenly Father who loves us with a perfect love? Do you feel condemned for the mistakes you've made while trying to follow the Lord? If so, it's not His voice you're listening to. For the Lord 'pities us as a father pities his children...He knows our frame and remembers that we are dust.' Thank you, Jesus!

Look Mom, look!

Just had to share this photo. Remember the joy of blowing your very first bubble?

In Step With the Master

"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." Colossians 4:2

As I looked out our front window this morning, I happened to see our neighbor walking her three little pug dogs. What was interesting was how the dogs had positioned themselves. The first dog was way out in front, pulling so hard his two front paws were off the ground. The second dog was so far behind, my neighbor was having to pull him along, its hind legs in a locked position. But the third dog was walking contentedly beside its owner, keeping step with her exact pace.

The Lord used this picture to remind me of the importance of staying close beside Him on our journey through life. For if we rush out in front of Him, we will experience all the strain that come from striving. And if we lag behind, we will grow weary from resisting His will. But if we stay close to Him and in tune with His pace, we will experience peace and contentment.

How do we maintain this perfect pace with the Lord? Prayer. Not a little prayer. Not some prayer, but much prayer. Keeping in step with the Master requires faithfully communicating with Him throughout our day. Are you weary of striving ahead or lagging behind? Commit yourself to praying more.

No More Fly-by-Greetings

"Love does not behave rudely." 1 Corinthians 13:5
This week as I was attempting to pull a stubborn shopping cart from its corral in our grocery store entryway, I heard a familiar voice behind me. Someone I knew was speaking to me. As I turned to confirm who it was, I quickly realized this person had no intention of stopping. They merely kept their pace, speaking a few friendly words in my direction and then quickly disappeared into the grocery store. I didn't even get a chance to say hello...or good bye for that matter. In fact, they flew by so quickly I have no idea what they even said to me. I just smiled and nervously laughed, pretending I understood what they said.

Afterward, I thought how sad it is that people don't take time anymore to stop and enjoy each other's company. It seems in our modern-day world of emailing, texting, and voice mail that personal, one-on-one conversations are becoming a lost art. Now don't get me wrong, I certainly don't expect folks to sit and gab with me for 20 minutes in the grocery store, for I realize we all have things to do and places to go. But it's not good when we feel we can't stop for a mere 60 seconds to politely greet one another. 60 seconds to say, 'You're important enough for me to stop what I'm doing and converse with you.' 60 seconds to say, 'I care more about you than getting my bagels and cream cheese.'

But please be assured, I have no ill feelings towards the individual who passed me by that evening, for I am equally guilty of doing the very same thing. I too at times have felt it more important to get my deli order filled than to stop and chat with someone. I too have felt that a quick, fly-by-greeting is sufficient enough when I'm 'in a hurry'. But I'm beginning to realize how much I am missing out on when doing that. I am missing out on God's blessings and the beauty of having relationship with those people He puts in my path. More important, I am exhibiting rudeness to those I pass by.

So that evening at the grocery store I purposed to be more sensitive to the leading of God's Spirit and stop to greet people when I see them out in public. And sure enough, the next day I had opportunity to put this conviction into practice. On my morning walk with the Lord, I ran into one of our elderly neighbors. My first thought was to merely wave and keep on walking, after all this was MY time. But after my grocery store experience I felt it necessary to stop and say hello, so I did. And you know what? It was nice. Nothing miraculous, but nice. 60 seconds to let my neighbor know that she was important to me. 60 seconds to let her know I cared about her. 60 seconds to extend the love of Christ to someone.

Trusting the Lord in Uncertain Times

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own under-standing." Proverbs 3:5

My husband and I recently put our home up for sale. Oh, we don't have any specific plans in mind, just seeing if the Lord would have us make some changes in these challenging economic times. Well as you can imagine, this decision led our 10 year old to begin asking a flurry of questions. "Will our new home be in the country or the city? Will we live in a house or an apartment? How big will my room be? Can I bring my toy horse collection with me?"

You see, our oldest daughter is a planner. She likes all her ducks in a row, knowing all the details of when, where, and how things are going to play out. And most of the time I can give her answers to these questions, but not this time. For I do not know what lay in store for our family. So with great empathy I looked into her turmoiled eyes and said, "Honey, I realize this is difficult for you and that there are aspects of this situation that you will not be able to understand. You're just going to have to trust that mom and dad love you very much and will take care of you."

'You're just going to have to trust...' No sooner were those words off my lips did the Lord use them to pierce my own heart. For apparently I too had some questions and insecurities about the future. Are we going somewhere, Lord? What are you doing in our lives? Is it all going to be okay? My words to our daughter about trusting reminded me that just as she cannot understand what the future holds, neither can I. And just as our daughter needs to trust her parents, I too need to trust my Heavenly Father.

I then turned to our younger daughter and said, "Honey, do you have any questions or concerns about mom and dad putting the house up for sale?" "No, not really," she replied, "Actually sounds like fun!"

Now there was a different perspective! I replayed her words over again in my mind...'actually sounds like fun'. And as I did, I pictured the Lord lovingly winking at me saying, "Sherrie, do you think you could ever get to a place in your life where you think completely letting go of control 'sounds like fun'?

I didn't answer Him right away. In fact, I'm still pondering it.