A Good Reminder

Last night, I attended a bridal shower for a young woman who will be married later this month. Her family from Italy has come out for the wedding, and it is sure to be a great celebration for them. At the shower, the bride's mother was taken with the fellowship that her daughter has found in our little church. The mother of the bride spent quite some time telling us how happy she was that her daughter had found friends to share her life with and who would pray for her.

I needed that reminder. I definitely count myself among the very blessed of God's children, but I sometimes fail to count the "little" blessings that, if they were not there, would seem awfully large. I'll list three blessings that I have tended to gloss over, and I encourage you to take stock and do the same.

1. A bible teaching church with a gifted teacher in the pulpit.
2. Wonderful women friends who all challenge me, are smarter than me, and love me in spite of myself.
3. A body of believers and friends who pray for me.

Sad, But True

Peggy Noonan has an article about manners in our Gilded Age. Her point is that though we are a country of enormous wealth, we have hideous manners. I think she nails it. Here is a keen observation:

There are good things and bad in the Gilded Age, pluses and minuses. I write here of a minus. It has to do with our manners, the ones we show each other on the street. I think riches, or the pursuit of riches, has made us ruder. You'd think broad comfort would assuage certain hungers. It has not. It has sharpened them.

It is a thoughtful look at something that was creeping up on us, but is now getting a bit more obvious. Take the time to read the whole thing.

Good, Beautiful, True

The keynote speaker at the Veritas conference was Leland Ryken. He had many great speeches. The following challenge struck me. Dr. Ryken said that for something to be incorporated into one's life (like a book, piece of art, or a movie) it should be Good, Beautiful, or True. The best things, he said, are all three.

Re-Reading

Why I do this when my To Be Read (TBR) pile is so big, I have no idea. Anyway, I am again reading "Recovering The Lost Tools Of Learning" by Douglas Wilson. It is one of the books that put the nail in the coffin of my kids' traditional education.

When I first read the book, I truly had a love-hate relationship with it. I loved that it spoke such clarity and truth into my foggy and confused mind. However, I hated that what Wilson was saying was true. I had big plans for my life. And they definitely didn't include homeschooling, for heaven's sake.

Fast forward seven years and here I am, beginning my sixth year of homeschooling. It's nice to have some experience. It's nice that things feel a bit familiar. But I need to remember where my heart was when this all began: it was tentative, at best. In light of that, this quote about parents and double standards stuck out at me while I was re-reading:

"...a junior high student may be pulled out of a Christian school because there are not enough social activities, or the sports program is not adequate. The child is then placed in a school where social activities are plentiful, but so are drugs and alcohol, along with rampant sexual immorality."

This is why I need to remember my own heart in the beginning of this homeschooling adventure. I know many people who make decisions about their kids based on the above rationale (or worse). And I just can't wrap my head around that thinking. It only gets worse, though, because my kids are getting older. The fruit of these decisions is growing and getting ripe. For kids hitting adolescence, this isn't good, believe me.

So I need to guard my heart and pray for them. It is too easy for me to be stunned at "their" thinking. I need to remember my own foolish thinking, and the grace of God that opened my eyes to the realities of this world.

Quote of the Day

"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens....There has never been a moment of my life in which I should have relinquished for it the enjoyments of my family, my farm, my friends & books."

-- Thomas Jefferson (letter to John Melish, 13 January 1813)

"Aha!" to "Amen!"

Last night, I returned home from Veritas Academy Teacher Training. It was as wonderful an experience this time, as it was last year.

This year, however, there were fewer "Aha!" moments and more "Amen!" moments My dear friend and I attended with two other good friends. They had their own "Aha!" experiences, and it was greatly encouraging for us all. I'm not sure how or when I transitioned from the former to the latter, but I know that it was different this time around.

If you are a homeschooler and you have the chance to get this kind of encouragement, you simply must do it.

Dewey's Heritage

So much of our culture's ills can be readily blamed upon the decline of American education. In an effort to rehabilitate society, the current educational establishment has a few trendy buzzwords. Not the least of which is "Character Education". The problem is, without Christ at the center, all character education is merely slapping paint on a termite ridden house. It looks good for a time, but it will eventually show itself to be the wretched mess it is.

Permit me this long quote from John Dewey and the Decline of American Education :

To be meaningful, character education must be based upon a clear notion of individual virtue developed within an unapologetic context of right and wrong, all of which must be drawn from our best philosophical traditions. Many contemporary programs teach students to cultivate character traits for mere utilitarian advantage: "If you are loyal then your friends will be loyal to you." Students must be taught that virtue is its own reward--even if the consequence is personal loss, as it sometimes is.

The Future is Now

I just finished a practice session for my son's online Omnibus I class. It uses VoIP (voice over internet protocol) so that students can hear and speak to each other as though they are in the same room. I am thrilled and amazed that my son and about 20 other students from around the world will be taught by Bruce Etter of Veritas Academy. Now even more people can benefit from the generosity of teachers like Mr. Etter. He is teaching two classes in the evenings (after full days of work!). The time change works out marvelously for us, as it puts the class at about 2PM our time.

I am so excited about the prospects of this opportunity. Imagine what this means for people in rural little no where towns? Or stranded on an island in the Pacific, for that matter. As long as teachers are willing to share their expertise this way, geography will no longer be a factor in the quality of one's education. I know several of you have done this before. And some of you are even those college teachers who have done this for years, but it's all new to me! :-)

Now if we can get Boy-a-thon as excited as I am!

Time Crunch

Most of the family has been gone to youth group summer camp since Monday, so I have had some coveted uninterrupted time to work on school planning. I have gotten the bookshelves nearly organized for the last time (it takes about three passes to get it "just right"). But the pile of mending is staring at me from across the room. (In the background I hear the far off theme to "The Good, the Bad, nad the Ugly" as a tumbleweed blows by in the dust...I have until 2PM to tackle the pile in peace...it's either me or the mending; only one of us will be left standing at the end of the day!!)

"Life is really time consuming."

From a friend as we tried to set up a time and date to get together. I had to laugh. Hope you do too.

A Time For Everything

In the last few days, two dear families have moved away, and though that is part and parcel of living here, it has been hard to say goodbye.

One friend met her husband, got married, and had two babies here. One friend and I shared the last seven years of our children's lives together. Both of them have been dear to me in many ways. We've had laughter and tears and a few good bottles of wine. God blessed me with them, and I am sad that it is over now. Sure, we will be able to stay in touch (better than ever with Email) but it isn't the same as having those last minute get-togethers.

Octosquid? Squidopus?

This was found in a filter of the Bid Island this week. Full story here.

"A Quiet, Humble Man"

By all accounts I have read, that is the description of John Dewey. However, just as I am sure the cow that started the Chicago fire was sweet and docile (as most cows are), this one man has caused incalculable damage to the educational system in this country.

I have just begun to read the book pictured here. It is a short read, but filled with a thorough explanation of why Dewey's ideas and influence are so insidious. Sure, I knew Dewey was really a socialist at heart. Yes, I knew he was hostile to religion of any sort. But I never really thought that he purposefully sought to change the nation through education. I had no idea that he actually knew it was a shortcut through our nation's lengthy political process. Because of his reputation as "a quiet, humble man", I thought of him as a nice guy who accidentally brought a deadly virus virus into American education. With Edmundson's look at each and every one of Dewey's writings (the book took 20 years to finish) one can only come away understanding that the current education system Is anything but an accident. It is a mess, for sure, but it is so by design.

Boots On The Ground

I woke up thinking of this strange wartime analogy for parenting. Who knows why? Anyway, it occurred to me that one of the many reasons that parenting is such a challenge is not just that it is demanding on all fronts--physical, mental, emotional. But that the job requires that you are to be the philosopher, policy maker, and the implementor of those policies. You are commander in chief, general, and infantryman: boots on the ground.

Perhaps you are an extremely talented person and can balance all these demands with ease. Personally, I find it a real challenge to concurrently use both sides of my brain. When I play and joke around with my children, there is a part of my mind distracted by the philosophy of child-rearing: How will this impact them in the long run? Will they be prepared? Do they know how much I adore them?. Or, I can research, consider, and pray about the child rearing, all the while a part of me wants to blow that off and go play with the kids.

Again, as with all areas of this life, I am grateful for a sovereign God. If I were trying to do this gig on my own strength, I would fail miserably. I am grateful that God does indeed have a plan, that it is good, and He loves me. Without that baseline in my world, it would be rather easily rocked, I'm afraid.

Heavens to Betsy!

I have no idea where that phrase comes from, but it pretty much sums up my last few days. Since I last blogged, we have added a new member to our family, lost internet, and I was out for the count with the flu. Thus, I have had LOTS to say, and no ability to say it. Hmm...wondering if there is a lesson there? ;-)

We now have TeenGirl-a-thon with us (really, these names are getting a bit ridiculous). Her story is heartbreaking, but not rare. As we have come to know her and a few of her friends, they have all been in the same situation growing up: parents on drugs, on welfare (fraudulently) and kids basically fending for themselves. By the grace of God, this child has managed to stay out of big trouble, and has maintained a positive and even thoughtful attitude.

I wonder how it will all be over time, but for now, I have been nothing short of amazed at the things I have seen this child endure.

Please keep us in your prayers, as we are figuring it all out as we go, over here.