EVERYDAY LIFE

Analogy: the barber shop

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said,

“I don’t believe that God exists.”

“Why do you say that?” asked the customer.

“Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn’t exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can’t imagine a loving a God who would allow all of these things.”

The customer thought for a moment, but didn’t respond because he didn’t want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber,

“You know what? Barbers do not exist.”

“How can you say that?” asked the surprised barber. “I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!”

“No!” the customer exclaimed. “Barbers don’t exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.”

“Ah, but barbers DO exist!” answered the barber. “What happens, is, people do not come to me.”

“Exactly!”– affirmed the customer. “That’s the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don’t go to Him and do not look for Him. That’s why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world.”

Influence of Home

I just had to share this beautiful quote with you!

“What we want to do with our children is not merely to control them and keep them in order, but to implant true principles deep in their hearts which shall rule their whole lives; to shape their character from within into Christlike beauty, and to make of them noble men and women, strong for battle and for duty. They are to be trained rather than governed. Growth of character, not merely good behavior, is the object of all home governing and teaching. Therefore the home influence is far more important than the home laws, and the parents’ lives are of more moment than their teachings.”

~* J. R. Miller in Home-Making *~

And He Shall Sit as a Refiner and Purifier of Silver

We all go through some hard times. Yes, it would seem some people more than others, but it is not in vain. I pray that this will comfort and strengthen all who feel as though they are going through the furnace at this time.

“Some time ago, a few ladies met in a certain city to study the scriptures. While reading the third chapter of Malachi, they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse. ‘ And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.’
One lady proposed to visit a silversmith and report to them on what the smith said about the subject. She went accordingly, and without telling the object of the errant, asked the silversmith to tell her about the process of refining silver.
After he had fully described it to her, she asked, “But sir, do you SIT while the work of refining is going on?”
“Oh, yes madam,” replied the silversmith. “I must sit with my eye steadily fixed on the furnace for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured.”

The ladies at once saw the beauty, and comfort too, of the expression, “He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. God sees it needful to put His children into a furnace. His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for us.
Our trials do not come at random, and He will not let us be tested beyond what we can endure. Before she left, the lady asked one final question, “When do you know the process is complete?”
“Why that is quite simple,” replied the silversmith. “When I can see my own image in the silver, the refining process is finished.”

Serenity, Courage and Wisdom.

God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.

By Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)


This prayer used to hang in my mother’s home and it never made much sense to me. I would read it and just not ‘get it’. Throughout the years, as I’ve grown and experienced more of life, I have come to see the richness of this prayer and the words are ones that I echo often.

God's Goal for Parents

teach

“God’s initial goal for Christian homeschooling families is not the raising of godly children. Instead, God’s wonderful, but subtly hidden agenda is that the homeschooling experience be so challenging for the parents that they feel the need and hunger for a closer walk with their heavenly Father.”

~Wisdom’s Way of Learning by Marilyn Howshall

How is this for the truth? Hard hitting eh? Challenging eh? It sure changes my perspective on homeschooling!

A goal may be a good education and a good job or career or even to have children who are saved but the ULTIMATE goal is that we walk closer with our Father. And all this time I’ve thought it was only about The Children…For Their Sake. But there’s a purpose in here for me!

We are living our lives by loving and glorifying Him. I often think of this quote when I’m about to yell at my kids or look around at my eternally untidy house. There’s a reason for all this … so maybe I’d better get to the business of that reason and stop lingering on the computer.

Another Diary Day

vegeieblog tagged me!? If you get tagged you have to tell what your day TODAY was like…really!? Not what you wish it’d been like or what you’d planned for it to be like, but how it really turned out.

Okay, but of all days to get tagged it HAD to be today…OF COURSE!!!!!! Today was not a usual day for us…but in the spirit of honesty, here goes:

The alarm pulsated in my ear, forcing my face deeper into the pillow. How rude- it was only 5.45am and I was NOT ready to greet the day. So, for the first time in *ages*, I didn’t get up before my hubby and I didn’t even make his breakfast! Instead, he made some toast for the children and brought me a cup of tea and a panadol before he left for work. My head hit the pillow again and I started to ZZZZZZZ off again when 14yodd came in to say good morning. I asked her to supervise the boys cleaning the breakfast mess while I continued to doze and hoped that the thumping headache would subside. The peace and quiet lasted for a whole half an hour before same 14yodd came in to *talk*. This is only alright because she didn’t come empty handed. She brought me another cuppa.? So, for the next 2 hours we sat on my bed and talked…chatted about life, relationships, siblings, the future, this weekend, her social life and her softball life.

I emerged from the shower feeling a little more eager to greet the day…only to go into the kitchen and see that nothing had been cleaned up. Where was this darling 14yodd? Oh, suddenly she is busy doing her lessons! Yeah right!!!! Hang on a minute, now both boys are also SUDDENLY engrossed in their lessons! Now, before you get the wrong idea, let me tell you that this was not a history or geography lesson but it was English and Maths! Oh Puhleeze!!!!!!!? Meany mother that I am, I pulled them away from their ever-so distracting yet obviously engrossing lessons and I shadowed them as they cleaned and tidied the kitchen. THEN, they could go on with some lessons.

I did a quick email check and decided that it was about time I moved my blog from its previous residence. Yeah well, these things never happen quickly, do they?

Hubby came home for lunch, then it was clean-up. The girls had a few more lessons to finish and then they also helped the boys a little with their own lessons while I pottered on the computer.

Before I knew it, it was 4.30pm and hubby was home. Thankfully, 12yodd was more than happy to cook tea for tonight, which is no easy feat in our home of 7. We’re having a Tuna Pie and she has also made a Fruit Crumble with Whipped Cream for dessert. 🙂

I feel physically lousy today, and usually when I feel like this I start to feel mentally and emotionally lousy too…however, I have at least given some one-on-one time to each child today. they have had some uninterrupted time with some eye contact and hugs, so all is not lost.

So, I ask myself, did I learn anything today about the nature of God, myself or the children? I have to be honest and say that I can’t think of anything, thinking makes my head hurt today…but tomorrow’s a new day!

How Many Hours in Bible Study?

John Stott used the following time allocations dedicated to Bible study:

* One hour a day
* One 3 hour period a week
* One day every month
* One week every year

I think this is a good and worthwhile goal to aim for. What do you think?

Drive Thru History DVD

Want a fast-paced, high energy tour through history? Then you might like Drive Thru History with with Dave Stotts!

We have watched Drive Thru History: Rome If You Want To.. and Turkish Delight as well as Greece and the Word. We’re looking forward to the next DVD; East Meets West.

Each DVD is a part of the Drive Thru History series in which the sometimes hilarious Dave Stotts explores the history of Western Civilisation. Some may feel that Dave Stotts is a little irreverent so be warned but we enjoyed his sense of humour- he’s not rude, just tend to point out the obvious. Each DVD has 3 episodes of approximately 30 minutes each.

Personally, those in our family who have studied a full rotation of world history and have an idea of the places mentioned, seem to enjoy this a lot more than the younger children. Therefore, I would recommend these DVD’s to those who are familiar with the places and events visited. It is not a curriculum (although the American history series which is a full curriculum looks so good…I wish they’d one one Australia!) but a good, fun, visual tie-in once you’ve learned about those areas, people or places in your history studies.

These are available from Koorong or Word from $16 through to $21 each DVD.

Not blogging regularly?

14yodd informed that I am just not posting regularly enough! So, in an attempt to do so I’ll let you know about our last week, although I warn you now it wasn’t overly exciting…just normal everyday family activities.

15yodd was at work and lessons. We didn’t teach PE at the primary school this last week as the rain meant we had to cancel. 15yodd attended her first ever youth group camp this past weekend! Yep, that was exciting and she enjoyed it immensely. I’ll let her talk about it though as we have decided to share this blog. In between family, lessons, work, softball and church friends she just wasn’t getting around to writing on her own blog so we’ll share. I think she’s learning a lot through church and youth group although I’m glad that she hasn’t always attended…I think there are *seasons* for these things as well and having such a strong family bond, and such intimate relationships with her parents has been the best precursor to going to youth group.

14yodd has been at school but she has also done a little ‘homework’ as agreed between her and I. Neither of us feel she is having enough or adequate instruction in the art of composition so she is going to do a few things at home. I’m proud of her for recognising this and agreeing to work extra on it. She has made a good friend at school, a girl that DH and I like.

The boys and I have slowly pottering through some lessons. We’re having most of our table time in the Bible, which is great! They’re also powering on with Maths. Did I mention that I am so thankful for Math U See?

I feel for my DH though. Late last year, he had an accident at work and after a few weeks of agony, he had to have a shoulder reconstruction, which had him out of action for months. Well, he isn’t fully recovered yet but he has hurt his back at work. He had a horrid weekend at home, went back to work today where the Dr sent him for an x-ray. The Dr. thinks it is a ‘blown disc’…that there is no cartilage between 2 vertebrae. Ouch! So, he came home and then I took him for an MRI. He has several appointments with doctors this week, so I guess all this will keep me busy for the next week.

And me? I’m enjoying my time of intense Bible study as I delve into the word. It is consuming my every waking hour of late. God is revealing Himself to me in ways that enable me to teach my children every day…many things. God’s word truly is worth studying! Lord Tennyson is reported to have said “Bible reading is an education in itself.” Oh boy, do I agree!

And, last but not least…during the week I heard that another family member reads our blogs so I want to say a special hello to Damian! I hope you’re doing real well at your job. I’m proud of you. Leave me a comment here one day eh?

The next day…

This day was the beginning of a new routine for us, in that we haven’t done ‘lessons’ for quite some time (many months) so we’re trying to ease in gently.

Wednesday 31st Jan, 2007

After a full day out in the raging heat yesterday I had a good night’s sleep and was looking forward to being home for most of the day. I awoke at 5.30am and lay in bed having a quiet time, saying good morning to the Lord and pondering the activities for the day. I got out of bed at 5.45 and put a load in the washing machine and then went on to prepare lunches and breakfasts for my three who are out for the day. I woke dh and we had breakfast together and spent the next hour and a half preparing clothes and food and pottering around until I saw dh off for work at 6.45 to which I then sat and watched the news on Sunrise until 7.15 when the girls woke up. After our morning greetings, one showered while the other started on her breakfast as I pottered around doing odd jobs and chores.

At 7.30am I decided that it was about time the boys got up so I went in for a snuggle. While they dragged themselves from bed, I went to make tomorrow’s espresso and be with the children over their breakfast. Then, I organised the boys starting on their chores (John vacuums the floors and ‘Master C’ does the kitchen) and went and showered, did some cleaning of my bathroom and waved goodbye to Bek who went off to school. I spoke to my Dad who informed me of local (Broken Hill type local) news. I speak to my Dad daily.

At 9am, the four of us piled into the car to take ‘Miss A’ to work but we stopped off first at the library so she could pick up a book. (She works part time at a coffee house) We arrived home after some great discussions in the car) and the boys finished their chores while I prepared our Bible study. From 10.15am until 11.30am we did Bible study and spelling and then went into the lounge room for two chapters of our current read-aloud book, Farmer Boy. Well, don’t all good books bring about some great discussions? They do in our house! John made me a cup of tea and the boys had their ice water. As we have two copies of Farmer Boy, ‘Master C’ sat and followed along with a separate copy (which is great for reading skills) and John and I snuggled as we discussed the difference between the words ’till’ and ‘until’. We also bantered and verbalised our own thoughts as we discussed how Almanzo would rather be working at home on the farm rather than be at school. 😉 The best discussion came about from reading how Father gave Almanzo a half-dollar and Almanzo had to choose between succumbing to peer pressure (to buy lemonade) or the possibility of building his own wealth by buying a pig, raising it (and its future piglets) and then selling them for profit. We discussed the application and possibilities of this for our own life. The boys would love to have some chooks and also would love to plant some vegetables but sadly, it is impossible at this house so we then discussed where we’d like to move next and what qualities we’d like to have in our next house.

Then we pondered what to do next… so we put on a Moody Science video and viewed a segment on Spiders, which somehow led on to a discussion about evolution and Christian Evolutionists (people who believe that God used the process of evolution to create the world) and how this was a popular teaching and train of thought in the early 1900’s, especially prevalent amongst natural historians and naturalists, as evident by literature of that time. Whew! 1pm and the boys ambled into the kitchen to prepare their lunch while I hung some washing on the line and put a new load in the machine and fold clothes while talking to them as they ate.

I took about 15 min to type this up, while the boys hunted outside, in our teensy weensy yard, for spiders. Then they came inside for a few quite minutes in their room (this is their own choice and I love the fact that they know how to take some quiet time for themselves.) I ate lunch while watching the last few minutes of Oprah and I took a few phone calls. I pottered around a bit, waiting for ‘Miss A’ to call in her lunch break and chat but she doesn’t: they must be busy at the shop.  I miss hearing from her. After doing the lunch dishes, we lounged on the sofa and read ‘Drought‘ by Trish Oktober and then ‘Miss R’ came home from school at 2.45pm and I sat with John to lead him back into the ways of doing Math with Math-U-See. Meanwhile ‘Master C’ had been having some free time to play and then he sat down to so his maths lesson. I sat with the boys today and did most of their work with them as it is the first time in a loonngg time since we have done any book work.

Free time! When John comes home, we always sit together and share our day over a cuppa so I run around and try to do a quick house tidy before he arrived home.

Oh, time to go and get ‘Miss A’ . John and I head out to have a few minutes to ourselves while we drive to get her. We waited for awhile as she is a tad late. Then, on the way home we returned the dvd from the previous night. While we’ve been gone the children have had some free time, although that is Screen Free Time for the boys. The table has been set and we eat our tea. Over tea, John asks some probing questions as we have discussed our learnings and discoveries for the day. He confirms and expands on our discussion regarding making money work for us and what instant gratification means. Everyone else shares about their day and it is a wonderful time of coming together, even if the meal is only pies, pasties and quiche from ‘Miss A’ ‘s workplace!

After tea was Praise ‘n’ Wash Up! Various tasks have standard requirements and each child knows what they are, and what is expected of them so we all set about this. ‘Miss A’ takes ‘Master C’ into the booknook and he tells her all about our Bible reading. Then, they come back in and complete their jobs.

They had some more free time as well as a few chores like feeding the dog. 14yodd (who attends school) had homework and the others couldn’t help but snicker. I glared at them but they can’t help themselves.  (It’s all good fun really)

Everyone then was free to pursue their own free time. I sat and spent a few minutes on the computer. Then it was bedtime for the boys, of which they don’t agree but such is life eh! ‘Miss R’ must have been tired as she decided to head to bed early while ‘Miss A’ and I stayed up to watch Prison Break. We both struggled to keep awake during the show and we headed straight off to bed at about 10.30pm.

In and around the day, we had many enlightening conversations where we shared together, laughed together, learnt together and just hung out together. We prayed together and played together and vegged out together. We even managed to do some daily disciplines (like chores, lessons and things like that) so all in all, it was a great day!

Day at Our House – Tuesday

BEEP BEEP BEEP screeches my alarm clock at the sadistic time of 5am. Ugh, I have to get up early today to go ‘to school’! Why do I do this AGAIN? I ask myself.

I stumble out of bed and shower, make breakfast for all, prepare a few lunches, kiss John as he heads out the door. I throw some clothes at the boys and declare that if they don’t get up in 5 min (which was 7am) then they’d miss out on breakfast! They made it just in time (Oh, lest you think I’m a TOTAL meanie; everyone was warned the day before, of the hecticness of the coming day). We packed the car and ‘Miss A’ , John, ‘Master C’ and I zoomed off to travel 45 min to go to school! Bek saw herself off to school, although she did get a kiss and a hug from me!

‘Miss A’ was asked to go into the school and teach PE lessons for 5 weeks. As I’m a level 2 coach who has done this in schools 4 times before I thought it would be good for me to go and lead her and then support her. Argh, I could kick myself!?

We arrived late due to traffic conditions and not knowing where I was going. There was no teacher to meet us or give us directions although the teacher did send 2 students to tell us to go and set up on the oval. So, we did. My boys were fantastic all day, carrying a heavy gear bag filled with softball gear, and our esky.

Within a few minutes our first class arrived. My boys sat in the shade and talked and read books while for the next 2 hours solid ‘Miss A’ and I were out in the glaring hot sun, teaching 4 classes for 30 minutes each. Now, of course we couldn’t instruct them for a full 30 minutes because the lesson period went for 30 minutes so by the time they got there, we introduced ourselves and they settled down, it left us about 20 minutes! Then, we had 45 minutes for lunch so we all piled back in the car and went to a local general store to get some lunch and buy a bag of ice. We went back to school and did another 3 lessons (11/2 hours solid in the sun) and then had a 20 minute break and did another 1 hour solid, before piling all our gear into the car and heading home. Traffic was horrid.

We got home and Bek had let herself in. I jumped straight into a cold shower, which hurt due to the heat of sunburn! Bek then made me a cuppa and I promptly drank it and fell asleep on the couch. John came home and listened to the horror of our day and somehow I drifted off again! Bek suggested pizza so she and DH organised that. We had tea and then watched Barnyard on DVD and we were all in bed by 9pm.

After it all, neither ‘Miss A’ nor I desired to do this again but we are booked in for another 4 weeks. The students weren’t too bad, but the heat combined with the schedule was blistering. However, throughout it I managed to see some great points:

  • My sons are fantastic! They barely complained the whole day and yet they had every reason to. They are such troopers. They were sworn at by some of the schoolies but they just ignored them.
  • ‘Miss A’ had the opportunity to observe me coaching (I’ve always coached her but this time it was with a different perspective) and then I stood back and made her go it alone! The first time she faltered a bit but then she did fabulously! By the time the grade 2-3 were there, she was even able to adapt and modify the program to suit! Wow, I was impressed!
  • These three children have no desire to go to school and think it is a joke- the boys are now adamant that nothing much gets done at school and good students must either be naturally bright or work extra hard at home! (This is my 11yo’s opinion ) They said they’d rather run away that be forced to go to school.

So all in all, it was a tiring day but some positives came out of it. Whew! I’m looking forward to a quiet day at home tomorrow. (Wednesday)

p.s. oh, in case you’re wondering what it was all about – softball is our sport, it’s what we do. ‘Miss A’ is a softball athlete and as she improves she has been asked to take on this role. We jumped at it, thinking that it would be an excellent opportunity for her personal growth and development. (It is…it’s just hard). It also pays so that helps.

Happy Feet

We went to the Drive In the other night and saw Happy Feet. I commented on my blog that I didn’t like it and Kristal asked me why. Here are my thoughts.

Please bear in mind that this is MY OPINION and I’m sure there will be others who will disagree. That’s fine too…but this is my opinion. Feel free to leave your own review if you like.

Happy Feet is a lively, fast-paced musical animation abut penguins. I didn’t realise it was a full scale musical so was a little taken aback. However, I tend to love many musicals and animations so figured I’d get over it…but I didn’t. I have been asked what I didn’t like about it, so here goes:

Overall the movie was okay. Pretty heavy on the environmental push but I guess I can live with that. :-/ I was disappointed in the films music- I love music and I especially like older songs but would’ve preferred to see an original score (eg: Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella, Jungle Book, Aladdin, etc). I also did not appreciate the s*xual undertones in some scenes. Now, I know that animals mate…but it doesn’t have to be humanised as that’s when it turns into something twisted and not nice and not appropriate. While dancing around, they looked s*xual, which even feels weird to say seeing that I’m talking about animated penguins!!!

eg: There is a song between prospective partners and the main line is,
?You don?t have to be beautiful to turn me on, I just need your body, baby, from dusk till dawn.?
Pfft, this is not what I teach my children!!!!
Another song is taken from the modern one with the line, ?Let?s talk about sex, baby.? Although the line is changed slightly and the S word removed..

Okay, so what else didn’t I like? Well, I thought it had a few digs at Christianity. I could be wrong and being overly sensitive but I thought that the elders (Elder Penguin) were satirical. They told the masses that they need to return to the way of old and believe in ‘The Quin’ and that The Quin won’t bless and prosper them unless they do this. It all sounded very religious to me and I feel it was a dig.

There was another character who I didn’t like. Sure he acted like a tele-evangelist but it just didn’t need to be there, in my opinion. I question why it was there? Do children really need to see and know this? I think not.

I thought it was similar in one way to ‘Footloose‘ but one can only watch a penguin dance so many times!!!! (I actually found more positive discussions arose from Footloose with my teens)

Some young or sensitive children may find one or two scenes scary so be warned.

Mumble (the main character) had a lovely spirit and attitude. He was respectfully obedient, positive and humble. I liked this way his mother saw his differences as qualities to be celebrated not squashed yet overall I was disappointed with the movie. If I previewed it first, I wouldn’t have watched it with my children.

If I were you, I’d check out some trusted review sites and if you decide to watch it, make sure you have some solid discussions with your child about it all.

Kids in Mind

Christian Answers

Out and about…

Saturday

I’d like to be able to say that we all sprung out of bed at 5.15am to take Stef to the airport so she could go back home. But in reality, I sprang out of bed and had to drag everyone else out of bed! However, we did get out of the house on time so all was good. John and the boys dropped us (the girls) at the airport so we could wave goodbye while he took the boys a few kilometres down the road to a small aviation museum.

John and 'Master C'

After seeing Stef safely on the plane, we headed a few hours down the coast to go to the beach. We stopped at Surfer’s Paradise and did a little shopping and then we went to Main Beach and caught some rollicking waves. We had a great time, although the girls and I did get sunburnt. Why is it that we, who use sunscreen, do get sunburnt and the other’s don’t?

The beach!

Then we headed to another beach which was quieter and less waves as we *thought* ‘Master C’ would have more fun there, but he didn’t: he preferred the other place although he didn’t venture in very far.

Pondering...beach and bad hair

Riding the waves does NOT make for a good hair day!!!

All this led me to thinking about life…some people like to go on all the roller coaster rides; they go from one to another and they have such fun. (I used to be like this when I was younger) but there are other people who really do like the merry-go-round; they are happy, content and filled with fun at that. I used to wonder how that could be (I loved the scary, fast-paced rides) but as I’m getting older, and having more responsibility in life, I find that I’m extremely happy and content to go on the merry-go-round. I simply don’t need to go on the fast-paced rides anymore. ‘Master C’ is like that. While the other children are trying to tell him what he ‘is missing’, he just doesn’t see it that way. I think that is beautiful. Life is like that, isn’t it?

Anyway, we went from there to another shopping centre and had a stroll around (had one of the best cappuccino?s I’ve ever had!) and then we started to drive back…we pulled in and had tea, which ‘Miss A’ had prepared earlier (Chicken Caesar Salad) and then we went to the Drive-In. We love the Drive-In, although there aren’t very many around nowadays. We actually hunted this one down and planned the whole day around it. We backed our van in and got ourselves all set up to watch Happy Feet and Night at the Museum. While we didn’t really enjoy either of the movies, we thoroughly enjoyed our time together as a family. Being out and about from 6am until 1.30am certainly left us all very tired the next day, although I managed to stay up long enough to catch the tennis.

Argh HSB is not allowing me to post piccies at the moment so here is the URL of us at the Drive-In. The photo isn’t great because it was pitch black and I couldn’t see what I was taking a photo of!

Now, it’s back to normality. John is at work, ‘Miss A’ is at work, ‘Miss R’ is at school and it is the boys and I home today! I have some jobs to do which will take most of the day but I will do some Bible study, reading aloud and maths with the boys before heading out for softball training tonight.

Family…I’m so fortunate and blessed to have a wonderful family!

When Internet goes wrong

I spent most of yesterday afternoon working on a forum that I run. It was time-consuming, frustrating, hard, long and tiring…did I mention frustrating? Worst thing is…some people will not be happy. They won’t like it. The Admin staff and I decided that some changes needed to be made for the sake of the homeschooling community that frequents the forum. We didn’t do it to annoy people or make their time on the forum harder, even though it may seem that way to people at times.

Tehee, I remember nearly 10 years ago when my husband first wanted to connect our dinky computer to the Internet. I did not want it at all…I thought it would one day be used as an instrument of the enemy and I didn’t want any part of it. Well, sure enough here we are- blog, website, forums, email and just about anything else one can think of. But, I’ve had my fair share of computer crashes, dumps and horrid things go wrong. Nothing is more frustrating that losing everything on the computer- or not being able to access one’s information at call. I recall saying many a time, “I hate having my life on the computer!” as I could not access my homeschool records or planning after a PC crash. I did however, learn to back up my work well. Change is a necessary evil with all things Internet…not always desired but necessary.

My, the homeschooling movement has changed a lot over the years. Let me tell you a little story. A few years ago, I had a home-based business supplying books to fellow home-schoolers. At first, people (I hope you know I speak very generally here) were patient and quite content to wait 3 months for an order to come in from the States- it was just the way it was. Slowly, over the years though, as online ordering became easier, a few people found it easier and quicker to order their supplies straight from them States themselves. I didn’t have a problem with that as they could get it quicker- sometimes even cheaper than what I could supply them with! (Sad, isn’t it?) Well, business grows and time goes on…

So, I started ordering more stock to have on hand here, which is risky for a small business but on the occasion where I would run out of a book or resource, people simply could not wait for their curriculum to arrive by air mail…they needed it now. They could get it quicker themselves via the ‘net. I started to go crazy by trying to meet the continually changing needs of the homeschool community that I served and meet the needs of my family. I couldn’t do it- something had to go. Obviously, it wasn’t going to be homeschooling so HomeGrownKids closed down. But I have noticed how much the emergence of the Internet has totally changed our society…and our homeschool society.

I think it’s wonderful that so many Christians and homeschoolers have embraced technology and use it as their tool. I think that the Internet, in general, has allowed for the generosity of some people to shine. I mean honestly, how much legally free stuff can one get on the ‘net? It’s incredible…this truly is the Super Information Highway-the Information Age. People share their time, the gifts, their knowledge, their energy, their whole being…for the good of others. Sure some people are making money on the Internet- good on ’em. Other’s are not…they just enjoy serving others.

It’s good to remember where we were 10 years ago and to think ahead as to where we’ll be in another 10 years. Time has a way of changing things, doesn’t it? Our perspective changes when we start to see things in the light of eternity…when we try to look at the Big Picture (God’s Kingdom).

I know blogs are important and it is incredibly frustrating when something goes wrong. However, there are many biblical principles that one can try to live by. We can show our character through these time: are we thankful for the many free opportunities we are given or do we grumble? Are we quick to judge, quick to form opinions and hasty with our words and actions? Or are we allowing the Lord to develop patience in our lives?

PRO 15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.

ECC 7:8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

Eph 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Patience is very easy to display when things are going well eh? But the true mark of patience is when things don’t go our way. Patience is a Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5;22) and as believers, we should all be growing in this area. ?I am extraordinarily patient provided I get my own way in the end.? is something that Margaret Thatcher has said. Does this sound like you?

But how do we display patience when we want our blog up and running? Well, patience is persevering toward a goal, enduring trials and expectantly waiting for a promise to be fulfilled. We can do that with HSB. They have our best interest at heart, I’m sure. They have a goal – to get us all up and running as soon as possible. We can try to be patient during this trial while we wait expectantly for the goal/promise to be fulfilled. (Hope I’m not sounding heretical here)

During this wait, we can do something proactive!

1) Be thankful. Take this time to enjoy your family and other things around you…giving thanks to God for ALL things.
2) Seek another purpose for a time…ask God to show you something else to do in the blogging time.
3) Encourage each other to be patient, to give thanks and to persevere.

2006 Yearly Review

Well, it’s getting on toward the end of the year…which means a new year is acomin’. I’ve had such an interesting journey so far this year, and I’ve chronicled it a little on my blog but in scattered bits and pieces.

It all started when I pursued my own study on ‘the Sabbath‘ (Nov 2005)

I decided to try focusing on the 3 R’s for 2006- the new 3 R’s – Rest, Relationship and Refreshment.

Jan 2006 saw me not too excited about lessons this year so deciding to have a “Sabbath Season”

We moved interstate in May so we had to ride the waves of moving. Throughout this I was becoming more interested in getting fitter…and I realised something about our home and family, from reading Body for Life. The book talks about hitting high points and efficient workouts, etc. Gee, this sounds a bit like my homeschool- instead of wanting to do lessons and booky stuff all day every day, I want to do our lessons efficiently, hit some high points AND have a life!!!

In July, I was having such a good time that I decided to take stock of the year so far:
and in August I started to formulate our recipe for success… or not!

Throughout this time of Sabbath I have learned a lot…about myself, the nature of Man, the nature of God, how we learn, etc I also learned, in a whole new way, that ‘people will learn what they need to know, when they need to know it’.

So where to for next year? I’m getting a little excited about planning for next year…but with the lessons I’ve learnt firmly in my mind.

Our focus will still be on the 3 R’s.
Rest, Relationship and Refreshment.

There are so many books that we haven’t read……books that I know we won’t even get to read…lessons that I haven’t done, but that’s okay! The important ones have been read, the important lessons have been discussed, relationships have been nurtured and the curiosity that is essential for learning has been kindled. Whenever I start to look at how much a child hasn’t done, I stop and look at how much they care, not how much they know…and I’m left feeling content.

My family dynamics have changed a fair bit over the last 12 months and I’m looking forward to a new season of working with my boys. The girls and I have always loved learning about history- it has been our favourite subject but the boys are more interested in geography and science. Science is something I’ve tried to almost avoid! but I’ve even been writing a unit study based on a Willard Price book in preparation for next year. My goal is to bring John to a level where he will be able to work more independently so that I can spend a little more time with ‘Master C’ . I want to streamline the basics so that we an all spend more time in God’s word and learning according to their delights and interests.

We’ll still have interruptions as we’re probably moving again in May and with two girls working part time and youth group, and ‘A’s softball this means the waves are starting get a little bigger, but that’s fine because that’s life! It’s how we know we’re alive!

So I’m excited about switching focus to a new subject (science) and
teaching my boys, which is totally different to teaching my girls. I’m excited about teaching and showing them God’s word…ahhh, much to be thankful for.

Yummy Zucchini Dishes

We had an abundance of fresh zucchini at our place and I needed to find a way to use them before it was too late. So, I ran them through the food processor and was left with about 3 kgs of grated zucchini.

I made a Zucchini Slice with salad and it was delicious. I doubled the recipe and it filled the six of us plus there were three generous serves left over for the following day’s lunch

Zucchini Slice
375grams grated Zucchini
1 lg. onion,finely chopped
3 rashers bacon,chopped (I didn’t use this as I didn’t have it)
1 cup S.R. flour
1 cup grated cheese (Oops, I didn’t have this either- I used Serene’s Parmesan Sprinkles on top instead)
5 beaten eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup oil
pepper and salt
(optional: grated carrot, chopped capsicum, finely sliced celery.)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Place in shallow greased baking dish and spread mix evenly. Bake at 190 – 200 Degrees Celcius for 30 to 40 mins or til browned. If desired, parmesan cheese can be sprinkled on top before baking. Serve with lightly cooked green vegetables or with salad. Enjoyable hot or cold.

While I still had more zucchini left over, I made Zucchini Bread, which we all enjoyed for breakfast this morning:

Zucchini Bread
? 3 cups shredded zucchini (about 3 medium)
? 1 2/3 cups sugar
? 2/3 cup vegetable oil
? 2 teaspoons vanilla
? 4 eggs
? 3 cups all-purpose flour
? 2 teaspoons baking soda
? 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
? 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans that are 9x5x3 inches. Mix zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pans. Bake 50 – 60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves and remove from pans.

The Recipe for Success

fafrecipes

Aha! I bet that subject line roped you in, eh? We all want to achieve success – successful , godly children right?

I’m learning that my initial thoughts and ideas on things are not always what is deeply in my heart. Over the years, I have been asking God to cleanse me, to reveal my heart that I may surrender it to Him. He has been showing me the darkness of my heart. This is scary on the one hand yet good on another because I know that it is because He loves me that He is doing this work.

We all know that there is no formula for guaranteed success with our children, right? Well, I believe that many of us deeply believe that there is a formula:

1 child +homeschool = Success

I also believe that many of us believe there is a recipe for failure, and it looks like this:

1 child + school = Failure.

Oh, I know that when we see it written so boldly like that we don’t agree that we think that way but…when it gets down to the heart of the matter…

In my opinion, this is way to simple and basic and it is missing some key ingredients of which the main one is Relationships.

I have met and had the pleasure of knowing a few Christian young people. Young ones who have a desire to serve God, to serve others and have a great relationship with their parents and siblings. Yet, they were not taught at home. They attended schools. Both public schools and private schools. Upon talking to their parent’s, I came to see that there are some common denominators.

A love for God. A love for their children. They worked at developing and maintaining a relationship WITH their children. They lived together. Played together. Prayed together. Served together. In fact, they worked quite hard at it all… they were committed to parenting.

Is that me? Am I committed to all of that or am I more concerned or consumed with Math and history?

Oh Lord, help me to see that parenting is bigger than ‘lessons’…bigger than homeschooling…help me to play with my children not just pray with them…to serve them and to serve with them.

Our Sabbath Season…six months on…

Here we are midway through the year and it’s time to look back, to assess and take stock of how things are going.

In January of this year, I decided to have a Sabbath period.? I called it a Sabbath year but later changed it to a ‘Sabbath Season‘…I was content to take up to a year but didn’t want to be bound by that.

The point of this Sabbath Season was to not strive. Not to plan. Not to be so consumed by homeschooling. Not to feel so driven most of the time but to relax in Him. To focus on relationships. I knew that this should/could be the way of learning-at-home but it wasn’t reality for me. Not really.

So, where are we now six months later? What have we been doing? Surely we haven’t just been sleeping in late each day and doing nothing? No. As I had posted? we really have been focusing on the 3 R’s – Rest, Relationship and Refreshment.

Yes we?ve been moving interstate, having visitors stay with us and going away for softball trips but we’ve also been doing some things that could/should/would be classified as lessons.

How is this different to what we were doing last year when I thought that God was directing our home? Well, it’s the same but different. The change is in *me*. I didn’t realize exactly how many layers of self I had wrapped up in homeschooling- but there’s a few. A few years ago, I thought I had given it all over to God…that He could do what He wanted with me and that I had died to self and let go of my ideals. And I did do that. However, I believe that there were still parts of it, my goals that had to be given over to God. I’m learning at a deeper level what He means when He says to commit our ways to Him.

So far this year, we have read history, science, done math’s and English, watched many movies and had great discussions on the nature of man, practiced real life skills, trained our physical bodies, and implemented new chores and routines. But more than that, we have spent more time in God’s word- reading, studying…immersing ourselves in Him.

It’s not that we have stopped learning how to write or spell or do math’s…rather that I don’t plan. We simply pick up the lesson where we left off and if this means that we don’t do math’s for 2 or 3 weeks then so be it!? It isn’t going anywhere and we’ll get back to it one day. Meanwhile, there are other things for us to learn or do.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how much my children have been able to achieve independently WHEN THEY ARE READY. Oh, I used to try and have them read this and that…to do this report and that essay…but it was a bit of a slog. Now I see that as they are ready, (and I’m watching all the time to see when the time is right) they are able to go through 3 -4 times the amount of work that I could have ‘taught’ them. But the added bonus is that they have done it themselves and so they taste success in doing something themselves.

So where to from here? I’ve often said that learning-at-home is a marathon, not a sprint. Maybe if I only had the one or two children at home I could do it with 100% focus but I don’t- I have four beautiful children. This means that it is truly a marathon…the long haul. It has to be a lifestyle for it to be sustainable (for us). This means that I approach the educating of our children a little differently to someone who is homeschooling for a year or so or until high school. This is our 9th year…and I have approximately another 7-8 years before my youngest son finishes yr 12. It isn’t about ‘resting’ and not planning for another 8 years. It’s about not being consumed by that planning. It’s about truly trusting in Him and commiting my way to Him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.? Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.? For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I’ve come to learn that this Sabbath Season isn’t meant to be just for a month or so, for me. Rather it is to be the way we live for now, until the Lord directs us differently. This will come too, I think as there is a time for work and a time for rest. But on a much smaller scale, I’m even finding this to be true WITHIN our Sabbath Season. There is a time to focus on spelling, on math’s, on history…but I don’t need to focus on them every day, every week, every month. Seasons – what a gift from God!

When I wake in the morning are my thoughts about curricula, lessons or history or are they on the Lord and how I can best serve Him this day?

Oh, I think that others such as Marilyn Howshall and Robin Sampson say all this much more eloquently and concisely than I do…but I have to speak from my own experience.

'I Dared to Call Him Father' – Must Read

I’ve just read a biography called “I dared to call Him Father” by Bilquis Sheikh. It is the wonderful true story of a prominent Muslim woman who was called to Christ and of her subsequent trials, ups and downs. I remember reading this book many years ago as a fairly young Christian (also a young woman then too) but it touched me more deeply this time round. I believe there is a new updated version of the book but I still have my old tattered copy. Throughout the book, the author has a true, deep sense of being In His Presence. She cares more about doing right by Him than doing right in the world’s eyes. She doesn’t look at what a Christian considers the right thing, right words or what labels they wear. Rather she looks at the simple truth of loving one’s neighbour…being guided by His presence…sharing His love with others.

Wow.


This is what I aim to impart to my children. Not whether or not they know church doctrine or man’s theology rather that they worship the Lord by loving their neighbour…being guided always by the Holy Spirit…be doing all possible to be obedient to Him and having a desire to share our knowledge of God with others.

I Am A Flylady Flunkie

Okay, I’ll confess…I’m a Flylady Flunkie. Nope, not just once but three times!!!! Yes, three times I’ve tried to do the Flylady program as it looks so good…but I just couldn’t tweak it to suit, nor could I apply it to myself.

However, I stumbled (actually it was more clicked) my way through a site which has helped me! It is called Large Family Logistics. While I don’t have a large family, or as large as some of these families, I certainly do need all the organisational help I can get. I have tweaked some things to suit my family and for a few weeks now, I’ve been organised, tidy and clean and spent time with the children doing good things.

My household routine is:

  • Monday ~ Laundry & Kitchen Day (All washing, drying, folding, ironing and putting away.) ‘Miss A’ does cleans the kitchen.
  • Tuesday ~ Bathrooms and bedrooms.
  • Wednesday ~ Home Office/Study Day. Organise finances, file all papers, clean study area, post letters, meny plan, and shopping lists. This works well as it is the day before…Town Day.
  • Thursday ~ Town Day. The kitchen is clean ready for the groceries. The finances are in order, ready for shopping and bill paying. The meal for today is organised from the day before.
  • Friday ~ Cleaning and/or Town Day. On pay week, we will go to town again and get further supplies or when it is off-pay week, we go through the house from top to bottom.
  • Saturday ~ Outside Day. The girls and I go to softball while John stays at home with the boys and sometimes tends to the yard and garden. (Also John’s Shed Day)

Particular Protocol for Jobs.
After spending time at this site I decided to make my own Protocol Sheets, which have been laminated and are in easy reach. We have protocols for? Dishes Duty and Pre-Tea Chores, Bathroom and Bedroom work. I’ve always liked using standard sheets so that I can refer to them – I also feel that it makes me not nag.

Anyway, just wanted to post about this site as I have found it helpful.

There and back again…

There and Back Again…

A Tale of our Adventures across 3 states and a territory.

You may have guessed that we did in fact manage to leave home and actually reach our destination on the third try! Dad, Mum, and four kids (22yods, 12yodd, 10yods and 8yods) all bundled into the van, complete with the dog’s kennel in the trailer, about 4.30am and set off for Melbourne to pick up 14yodd, who had been staying with others while training. Of course, with our family nothing seems to be simple and this trip was no exception. We were making good time until we got to the West Gate Bridge? where they just happened to be be doing maintenance work and heavy delays were expected. Both ‘A’ and I are a little scared of heights and what shoulda/coulda/woulda been a 10min drive across took nearly 40 minutes on the now 2 lane bridge, sandwiched in between impatient motorists and trucks. ‘A’ and I found it pretty stressful, to say the least.

17 hours after setting off from our home we finally arrived in Adelaide- seven stinking hot, sweaty, tired, hungry, sore bodies emerged from the car on what happened to be the HOTTEST South Australian day in December on record since 1939!!!!! That is so …*us*. Oh, and did I mention that our only form of air conditioning is the four windows??!!! The family calls us the Priowalds – and we had finally reached our Wally World.

It was great to catch up with Nonna and Nonno and all the other relatives. It’s been 3 years since we last saw them and the nieces and nephews have all grwon so much. We didn’t do an awful lot aside from rest and catch up with family. I had planned on seeing a few people but we just couldn’t manage it.

We did, however, get to make our traditional visit to the Drive-In Theatre to watch “NARNIA~The Lion, the Witch and the Wardobe“. We backed the car in and put the back seat down so that the children could lie on their tummies and all watch the big screen while John and I sat out on chairs. Everytime we go back to Adelaide we go to the Drive-In; it is a ritual that we all look forward to.

‘A’ had to catch the plane back to Melbourne on the 3rd of Jan to join her team. She’s becoming quite the seasoned traveler nowadays. In fact, I’ve missed her so much as we would’ve only been together for 4 days out of 25 in the last month. But, she’s home now.

Two days later we bundled up again and headed for Canberra, only this time we weren’t so squashed. ‘A’ was in Melbourne and ‘D’ (22yo) had stayed in Adelaide for a few weeks. Twelve and a half hours later we reached our home. We were so tired that we slept in the next morning but, as soon as we arose we headed straight back into the car for another 4 hours until we reached Canberra. We managed to find our way to the cabin…eventually. In all the caffuffles of leaving and not leaving, I had accidentally left the directions at home!

I’d thought I was fortunate to find some accommodation for a good price and I truly wasn’t expecting a palace but I was also taken aback when we saw our cabin for the week. I hadn’t realised that it was a ‘communal’ type cabin where each family cleans after their stay and that’s it for the next family. Suffice to say that it wasn’t in the cleanest condition. But I could cope with that- nothing that a little soap and water wouldn’t fix. It was the Nature and Wildlife that I couldn’t cope with. The park was in the middle of a grasshopper plague which also brought out lizards and many spiders. Once we got through the front door, it was almost like cutting through ropes, such were the spider webs. I didn’t sleep too well that night, in our one room cabin, as I lay tossing and turning, feeling (or imagining I was feeling) creepy crawlies all over me and the children. John bought some surface spray the next day and cleaned out the cabin. It was still really hot and there were no windows in the cabin but there was an air conditioner so we used that…but it couldn’t be adjusted so we started to freeze. That’s okay, we thought – we’ll just open the door, letting some fresh air in. Great idea eh? Yeah, it was …except that the screen door fell off the minute that John touched it! Tehee, John had had some tools in the trailer so he fixed it the next day.

The next few days brought softball and more softball which was great. Having lived in ACT for nearly 4 years meant that the kids were very familiar with the softball grounds and so we hardly saw the boys as they were off playing with a mate only surfacing for meals.

As we used to live in Canberra and I had a few homeschooling friends, they had decided to have a meeting while I was there on the Monday evening. Well, was I shocked or what??!! The size of the group had tripled and there were so many new faces…but some very family ones too. It? was great to catch up with Shelso, Jocelyn, Chris, Liz, Susan,? and Janette. We talked about Language Arts – copywork, narration and a few different resources. I felt like we didn’t get through a lot of ground but it gets like that when we all get together. I had a wonderful time and it reinforced to me how much I missed them and what a truly lovely group of families they are.

I received a distressing phone call from my Dad on Wednesday lunch time. He asked how we all were and he sounded ‘weird’. I knew something was wrong as we hadn’t planned on talking for a few days as our schedule was all over the place and yet here he was calling me. He had been having very bad chest pains for a few hours and didn’t know what they were so he wanted to hear my voice before he tried to drive himself to hospital. Here I was over 8oo kms away, fretting over my father, telling him to call an ambulance and feeling horribly useless. He refused to call for an ambulance or a friend which made me more concerned. Dad was meant to go to a friends’ house for tea but had called and canceled so this friend called another mutual friend and asked him to pop in on Dad. This friend arrived at Dad’s just as he was trying to get himself into his car! Meanwhile, I was on the phone trying to call the pastor of Dad’s church and see if he could help. I was worried sick until I heard that after arriving at hospital and having a? shot of morphine Dad had settled a little. He was in intensive care but at least he was in the hospital. But the worst thing was that we had to go back to the cabin for the night where I couldn’t get any mobile reception! We stayed at softball for as long as we could (I could get phone reception there) but I didn’t sleep much that night as I tossed and turned, praying, thinking, remembering, hoping…

I hated the feeling of not knowing anything and not being able to be contacted. I felt so useless. We didn’t know if we should jump in the car and head to Broken Hill or wait and see or what???!!! We headed into town the next morning as early as possible and I was very relieved to hear that Dad was okay and the pains had subsided. I called the hospital and spoke to Dad. Apparently it wasn’t a heart attack (he had one 25 years ago) but they did find that one of the valve’s on the lower part of the heart isn’t working properly. (Dad said it wasn’t firing on all cylinders)? Once I knew he was okay and not in immediate danger I told him off! Yeah, John can’t believe that after all that I’d tell my Dad off but I did. I told him that next time anything like that happens he is not to muck around and be silly and that he is to call an ambulance. I told him to reverse our positions and he’d understand me- to which he agreed.

Meanwhile, a friend had offered the use of a relatives home as they were away. We couldn’t take it earlier as we had already paid the deposit on the cabin and the boys were thoroughly enjoying their adventure. But, not being able to be contacted by phone was enough to drive me to distraction so we were blessed to be able to move that day into the friends’ relatives home …and I could get mobile reception and speak to my Dad whenever I needed. (Praise God)

During all this, ‘A’ was still playing softball and doing quite well. We chose not to alert her unless it was absolutely necessary. ‘R’ left us on the Thursday and had gone to stay with another homeschooling family about one hour from Canberra. She’s good friends with this family and she will have lots of fun there, even though I’ll miss her.

The Victorian team managed to play their way into the finals and ‘A’ had opportunity to pitch on Saturday morning in the Final. She pitched very well against QLD taking 10 strikeouts, gave no walks and allowed no runs to score. They then had to play NSW who were undefeated all tournament and had been the Champions for the last four years consecutively. It was a tough ask but our girls took the challenge. NSW were very strong and usually mercied their opponents and our girls did very well to keep them to only 3 runs while also scoring 2 runs themselves. It was a Grand Final loss but they played to the best of their ability and fought hard.

I’m so amazed at how much my daughter has learned through her sporting life- the life lessons, character training, personal development, health and nutrition, team work and much more have contributed towards building her personality and strengthening her character.

We picked ‘A’ up on the Sunday morning and started to head for home, expecting a slight detour to pick ‘R’ up but the family called and asked if she could stay for a few more days…to which we reluctantly agreed. It’s great for her to be with them and they are wonderful but we’re also desperate to just be at home with our own family and regroup. But, she’s coming home later on this week and for that, I’m thankful.

Since we’ve been home we have just rested and vegged out. I have tried to check emails and forums but my head just isn’t really ‘there’. I’m not quite ready to jump back into the online world…it will happen soon enough anyway.

So, that’s our journey – there and back again. Praise God that we are all safe and well, albeit tired, weary and very sunburnt.

Giving thanks for the Internet

This will not come as much of a surprise to some who know me but…I LOVE the Internet!!! Oh sure, at times it has been a hindrance in my life but for the most part I love the technology.

Let me explain a little…

I used to like putting on my Cindy Rushton or sermon audio download to listen to while I did dishes or other housework. I was constantly refreshed and encouraged. The downfall was that to listen to it on my computer meant that the whole family had to listen to it. Now, don’t get me wrong- they didn’t complain (well, not too much anyway ;)) but it was very distracting for them.

My dear husband bought me an MP3 player, at the girls insistence (so maybe they DID complain ;)) Well, I have been blessed, refreshed and renewed as I potter round the house, listening to audio encouragement, sermons and good books. The children have been able to go on with their productive activity (and sometimes their non productive activity) without hearing my audio’s at full blast.

I started to read The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence last year but found that I lacked time (or energy) to get through it. But, I’ve listened to it once now and am going through a second time ; thanks to modern technology and my MP3 player.

Another side benefit: 15yodd is going to play softball at the National Tournament in a few weeks and they aren’t allowed to have their mobile phones, which is usually how we keep in touch and where her father and I offer her encouragement and support. Well we’ve decided that I shall record some daily encouragement that she can load in her MP3 player so she can listen to Dad and I each day- sure it’s not *live* but it’s the next best thing. She has also asked that I record myself reading some of her favourite Scriptures so she can listen to them during her tournament. She is also going to listen to some books as part of her Year 11 studies next year! This is why I love technology!

Well, typical to my form I can’t finish a post without sharing some links:

LibriVox? volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net. Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. Great Site!

SermonAudio is the BEST site for sermons, both recent and older sermons.

MomtoMomRadioShow with Cindy Rushton is The Best!

Project Gutenberg (Human Read)

BooksonMP3

Health program by Sue Becker

All for now…

Susan <><
So many audio’s…so little time.

'If at first you don't succeed…' takes on a whole new meaning…

This is no longer a holiday. My husband is on a quest…a mission…this is bordering on obsession!? We are living out the quote,

“If at first you don’t succeed,
Try, Try, Try again.”


We’re heading off in the small hours of the morning again…to head for our home town. Let’s hope that it’s third time lucky eh?

The Trip That Wasn't…

Talk about an adventure that wasn’t!? That’ll be the title by which our family remembers this Christmas period.

We had planned the trip for weeks, with the children all getting excited, saving our pennies, organising the house, and figuring out the logistics of having ‘Miss A’ back and forth to Melbourne during our holiday. The day came and we all awoke at 2am. That turned out to be the easy part. We were all bundled in the car by 3am, complete with Jazz in her kennel, in the trailer. We were off on the 4 hour journey to Melbourne to pick ‘Miss A’ up and continue on to Adelaide to visit with John’s family. (A further 8-9 hours)

We got to Glenrowan? and John thought he’d just check on the dog and the trailer to make sure all was well. Problem? You betcha! The car wouldn’t start and the charge light stayed on, telling us that the battery wasn’t charging. Oh dear, we had a deadline to pick ‘Miss A’ up and here we were at 4.15am in the middle of nowhere…John thought the problem was with the alternator and seeing as how we have a spare one at home, he didn’t think it wise to attempt a 12 hour drive with the car not working properly. So, I called ‘A’ (don’t you love mobile phones!) and she ended up catching the train home while we waited in Glenrowan until the sun came up, so that we wouldn’t have to use the car lights, thinking that this might take even more power from the dying battery.

We got home, and the children and I all had a sleep while poor John worked on the car. We went and picked ‘A’ up at 11.30am and then John tinkered with the car for the remainder of the day. He couldn’t figure out what the problem was but tried a few things and it all seemed to be going well. We thought that we’d try again.

TAKE 2
I groggily awoke and showerd this morning at 3.30am but I could NOT wake John. (He didn’t have a sleep yesterday when we all did, and he had a late night.) I flopped back on the bed beside him and didn’t wake until 8am!!! Argh, so much for our early start! Oh well, the children had only just woken too so I guess we all needed some sleep.

We piled in the car yet again and set off…this time we were altogether. 2 adults, 5 children and Jazz, the beagle. The car seemed to be going fine and we stopped at Glenrowan AGAIN just to check the car and trailer. Would you believe it? The charge light came on and the battery seemed to have no life in it. John fiddled with it for an hour while we fed and watered Jazz and eventually John decided that it still wasn’t *right* so we came home again. The weird thing is that the battery and car seemed fine when we got home!!!!

For two days in a row we have set off only to get (approximately) 100 kilometres away, turn back and head home. We’re staying…for now.?? We don’t give up easily in this family and have set our minds to trying again. We’ll set off next week, dropping ‘A’ in Melbourne for training and we’ll continue on to Adelaide where we’ll stay for one week and then head over to Canberra for Softball Nationals. I guess that means we’re one of a few things. We’re either:

1) Stupid
2) Stubborn
3) Really enjoy traveling
4) Really want to go to Adelaide or
5) All of the above…and then some.

Usually when we go away on holdays we are quite disorganised and leave things until the last minute. Not so for this trip! I left the house clean and tidy and have all things organised. John spent a few days working on the car to make sure it was all going well. Despite all this, stuff still went wrong.

However, I have been reminded of Scripture, which I may have taken slightly out of context but the Lord will use it to show me things anyway.

A person may plan his path, but ADONAI directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

ADONAI directs a person’s steps, and he delights in his way. He may stumble, but he won’t fall headlong, for ADONAI holds him by the hand. Psalm 37:23


We can devise many plans in which to try to be successful yet God knows it all- the ups and downs of it all . However, sometimes these things are not in our control but what is in our control is to say , If God wills it, we can do this or that. James 4:14,15

Throughout all these trials and happenings we see that our plans go awry but we can rest assured? because God is holding us…He has directed our steps and will see us in all eternity because of his Son.
Thank you Jesus.

Leaving a Legacy

Driving in the car…washing dishes…sweeping the floor, preparing a meal…reading a good book…visiting the new neighbour…running errands and paying bills. What do these have in common? These are a few things that I have had opportunity to do this week…to do with my children. And it is through these tasks and delights that I have opportunity to share the good news of God with them.

One of my favourite verses in God’s word is Deuteronomy, chapter 6. I particularly like Chapter 6: but that’s only because of the surrounding verses. The writer of these verses is Moses.

Moses went to Egypt and led the Israelites out of Egypt. They wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years. So close yet so far away from the Promised Land. During all this time the people of Israel had fallen away form the Lord and the teachings of Moses. Moses goes to Mt. Sinai and receives the Commandments from God. I often need to remember why the Law was given. It was given to reveal divine holiness! It showed who God is… His standards of righteousness. When I look at the commandments I can see how far short I have fallen…and how I can never attain adherence to them of myself.

I was intrigued to learn that it took the Israelites about 40 hours to get out of Egypt but it took 40 years for the Israelites to find the promised land- or as I’ve heard is said somewhere before, “It took 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel.” However, the other interesting point is that Moses didn’t get to enter the promised land. Only two of the Israelites who were taken out of Egypt got to enter it and they were Joshua and ‘Master C’ . Al the others had died and there was a new generation.

Just before his death, before the entrance to the promised land, Moses gave a final word of admonition and exhortation or additional instruction. (Interestingly, Jesus also quotes this verse)
Moses was their leader. He helped them to live godly lives amongst heathen nations. As THE Word was taught to us, so we must teach it to our children.

God knows that our teachings, lives and beliefs can influence future generations. He wants us to think this way. How many generations can you see in the verses? Three! That means me, my children and my grandchildren!

I’ve heard many people say that they wish there was a? handbook or guidebook for this whole parenting caper. But there is!!!!! It is the Bible!

So, what are we to pass down to the generations- to our children. Head knowledge? Well, I believe it can start there but it must be more than that. It must be in our lives. The word must change us. Along with a knowledge of God we must also have a fear of the lord – a love. Otherwise, all we have is religion.

I wasn’t raised a Christian although my mother converted before I came to know the Lord so I say that my mother is the first generation Christian. It began with her :-)? She started to live out her life in God in front of me…and I picked up on that passion. I think that a possible danger for me is that I may become complacent in the living out of my faith and thus my children will become that way or even acknowledge God’s commands but not live in the fear or love of the Lord. Oh Lord, create in me a clean heart…keep my heart drawn to you.

I often ask myself if I am really excited about what God is doing in my life or has done for me? Do I share my walk with them? How are they to ‘catch’ my passion if I don’t share it with them?

Constant Chatter

Our home is noisy! Our home is loud! And is filled with constant talk! But, this is a good thing- discussion is a cord that helps to bind the family together. Nevertheless, constant talk can be a drain upon others and it isn’t necessarily beneficial for the talker either. We have discussed a few slogans that have been able to help us to control our tongue- I’ll share them here.

THINK

T – It is True?
H – Is it Helpful?
I – Is it Inspiring?
N – Is it Necessary?
K – Is it Kind?

“The good person brings forth good things from his store of good, and the evil person brings forth evil things from his store of evil. Moreover, I tell you this: on the Day of Judgment people will have to give account for every careless word they have spoken; for by your own words you will be acquitted, and by your own words you will be condemned.”
Matthew 12: 35-37

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“If you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak.”
~Acts 13:15

Speak when the words build up.

Speak if the words bring a smile.

Speak where reassurance is needed.

Speak what gives hearts courage.

Speak how He would.

Words that encourage. Words that give life. Words that bless. If you have those kinds of words on the tip of your tongue, then please speak.

Otherwise, maybe it is best not to.

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