Archives for 2012

A Month of Travel & Grand-baby Number Five!

To those of you who might be wondering if I still walk this planet, I thought I’d better catch you up to date!

Life’s been a whirlwind this last month, as I’ve been away from home for most of five weeks, traveling back and forth between our new home and our old home state. I’m ready to be out of the car for awhile!

My activities in October:

two friend-filled Family Camps
a welcome visit from our daughter who’s attending Eric Ludy’s Ellerslie in Colorado. She was such a sport! She only got to spend two days of her three weeks getting to know her new home! (We moved while she was at school.)
moving even more of our belongings to our new home
a quick trip home to help my family sell their handmade items and my Scentsy warmers at our local War Eagle Craft Fair. I raised $270 for Danita’s Children from my sales!
and in the middle of all that, I became a grandmomma to number five, little Vincent!

Blessings abound!

Baby #2 to Daughter #1, Grandchild #5!

Most of October was spent at my daughter’s, waiting and waiting while she went in and out of labor with her second child. Alas, no progress, and another c-section for her. That’s quite discouraging, with her being a home-birth midwife! And for the last two weeks we’ve been helping with their transition to two children in the home, recovery from major surgery, plus dealing with viruses attacking right and left. We’re home again, but our 19 year old daughter stayed behind to be “Auntie Nanny” for a few weeks longer!

The purpose and joy of being a woman is summed up in caring for family!

Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law. ”But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Ruth 1:15-16

Invincible – In Christ Alone!

By livingabovethenoise

You know, the older I get, the more I find that I’m not as invincible as I once thought. Yep, I’m ‘vincible’! Okay, so I looked it up, and it’s not a word – but hey, people are making up words all the time. So today, I’m vincible!

I’ve found that my old successes in life were, of course, ordained by my Father in Heaven, and yet, they were founded in my “old man”. They were the product of self. And they were fashioned by my hands with my goals in mind. Oh, how I loved to create things and make myself, my home, and my family just the way I desired them to be! I was born of the seed of man and raised in the hotbed of the feminist revolution.

My mother was part of the first generation that purchased dinners in a box and sung jingles to remind themselves that they could ‘bring home the bacon’ and be their own woman. And so my life was forged in a home that taught me to be strong, be courageous, and never be dependent on anyone. Yep, not even a man – especially a man. Yikes, that’s a difficult place to come from when you enter the Kingdom of God!

Still In Training

Well, I’ve had over twenty years to learn my Lord’s ways. And I can definitely speak of the wonders of finally letting go and letting Him rule my life. (Well, in many areas of my life – but I’m still in training, like we all are.) And it is the most wonderful place to be!

Can I tell you the trick to get there? Can I give you 12 steps to freedom in Christ?….

That’s a big NO……

….for God will use various ways to bring us to our knees and before His throne! But I can tell you how to begin to see the fruit of a life lived for Him and not yourself.

Daily, hourly, constantly – devote yourself to prayer and being in His presence. Oh, I know, you’re probably saying – “but I’m so busy,” or “but I have children underfoot all day,” or “but my husband doesn’t help and my minutes are overbooked!”. But – but – but……

Oh, my friend, I’ve been there. The “buts” have filled my vocabulary over the years – to the point of missing God’s best for my life, my marriage, and my family.

All I can say is, stop making excuses:

For not being in the Lord’s presence.
For not praying while you change that diaper, or drive to work, or help your ailing parent.
For believing that you can make your world, your home, your marriage, your children – better than God can.

With God all things are possible. But the key word there is – with God! Trust Him for the outcome of your obedience.

Severe Mercy

I spent so many years thinking that because I went to church, read my Bible most days, had great discussions with my Christian friends, and interacted with fellow homeschoolers, all things would be possible. Yes, our life is wonderful because of those activities, and they gave our family a great foundation. And yet – only with the power, the foundation, and the confidence of being imbedded in Christ, united to my God, and relying on the Holy Spirit – are all things truly possible!

So what am I saying? Take each day and give it to God. Take each moment and seek to find what God is doing In it! You’ll be surprised to find Him there, urging you to know Him better. You’ll someday be glad to know that the pain, discouragement, or frustration you suffer is actually a wonderful, “severe mercy” that draws you closer to Him.

And, of course, that’s His goal. He wants you to kneel before His throne, leaning on His strength, depending on His counsel. Daily, hourly, constantly!

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

Building Up Without Burning Out – Growing Children Into Adults – Part Three

By livingabovethenoise

Hopefully you’ve read my posts Part One and Part Two of this series.

We’ve covered:

simplifying home education to avoid burn out
the freedom to learn from various adventures and interests
and the innumerable knowledge, lessons, and skills learned from those activities!

But what about……

Educational Requirements?

Now I know what you might be asking! How do you stay on track with the necessary educational requirements? How do you fit them in? Our family sees the “Big 3” – reading, writing, arithmetic as fundamental for all ages. Along with Bible, of course. We add in and basic history and science to wet their interest and give them a foundation. Then come the basic high school requirements – science, history, higher math, along with adding knowledge to their ‘bents’ and interests..

We use an assortment of curriculum I’ve found to be my favorites. I’ve created a family resource that is a K-12 list of all the yearly textbooks/workbooks/reading materials which are the foundations of our children’s schooling. But they don’t rule us. I rule them! Profound, huh?!

For example, if we’re working on a remodel project or taking a trip for a CW reenactment, that adventure becomes the mainstay of education for those weeks or months. We try to have the kids do math, spelling, and Bible most days when we’re busy on a project or adventure. This doesn’t always work, but having it as a goal helps to keep them from falling behind in the basics. During spare time they read textbooks or literature early in the morning, or during car travel. Believe it or not, they choose to get up early to do their “school” so they can have the rest of the day for real life!

Life Is Our Classroom

I believe we’ve lost the understanding that life is our classroom. Yes, we need the basics, but understanding those basics is wrought in the real life activities we use them for! I’ve seen my adult children prove their capability even though they haven’t done “school” like others we know. They are proving through their life that they “got” the lessons – both the textbook lessons and the real-life lessons!

So going back to the question about managing school and real-life. You just don’t let textbooks, and what educational “professionals” suggest, dictate your day! You decide what you and your children want to really learn about. Just be sure it isn’t the latest movie or video game!

Meeting Needs Without Burning Out

Now for the last question –

“In short, what is the best way to meet everyone’s individual needs, without mom and dad burning out?”

I guess the answer to that lies in how you, as a parent, view your life. We moms spend the majority of our time meeting the needs of our family. But, we each have our own view of our life and our role as ‘mom’. Some women know what they want and make their family adjust to their plan. Others are more free in what their day looks like and flex more. Your personal views will affect how each of you gets burnt out.

The first mom gets “burned out” when she doesn’t meet her schedule, or have her clean home, or get to her church Bible study. And the second mom gets “burned out” when she says yes a hundred times in one day, or she can’t find the baby in the pile of laundry in the living room. Each mom has different needs and so the “burn out” stems from differing catalyst.

The real answer to that question will be found in searching your heart and your personality.

What makes you tick?
What “gets your goat”?
What do you need to thrive?
What should you avoid to keep from going buggy?

And don’t feel like you’re being selfish! God made each of us to function best in certain ways, you know, right brain/left brain, organizer/flexible.

In answering these questions and really taking time to “consider your ways” you can find a rhythm that works for you! Just remember – what works for one family, won’t necessarily work for another. My willingness to sew quilts, breed goats, dress in 1860’s attire, or remodel our home may not work for you. And that’s okay! The reality is that I didn’t always want to do those things either! But there are ways to make even the things you dislike doing work for your children and their interests.

Compromise Benefits Everyone!

Here’s a few examples of ways we worked out a compromise.

I’ve sat through many a music lesson, while my heart’s desire was to be home. Our daughter who plays the harp had a two hour drive to lessons. We decided upon a lesson every two weeks to avoid me being gone from our other children so often.
I’ve driven my boys (when they were 12-16) to mow properties in our area, but as soon as our son turned 16 he got his license so I wouldn’t have to drive them. Our other children waited to get their licenses because of cost, lack of need, and a desire to have them grow in maturity before getting behind the wheel.
All those Civil War reenactments were often taxing on my energy, especially when I had to nurse in a corset! Yep! But when we’d be driving back home, I knew it was all worth it. The family time, the lessons learned, the light shed. And my helpful husband sometimes took the children while I stayed home for a quiet weekend.

So I guess it’s just a matter of finding the balance. And isn’t that the thing about life? Every day is a lesson. Every year we know more. One year we swing one direction in our opinions or ideas, and the next God brings us to the opposite side of the pendulum to reveal something new!

So this year, discover something new with your children! – You’ll learn about yourself. – You’ll learn about each child. – And you’ll discover more of God.

Enjoy the journey!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philipians 4:6

Building Up Without Burning Out – Growing Children Into Adults – Part Two

By livingabovethenoise

Okay, so we’re going for no “burn out” when it comes to home educating our children. I’ll answer a reader’s questions and share some practical application for our family’s ‘method’.

“…if you might share some thoughts on how to try new things without burning up the roads and constantly being ‘on the go’”.

Home Education not Road Education!

First off, let me tell you who I am. I love being home! So this one’s easy! And it translates into avoiding outings as much as possible. During our first years of homeschooling, we attended our homeschool group’s activities, until I was burning out trying to do what I wanted to do in our day, along with what seemed to be the ‘right’ thing to offer my children in extracurricular classes. Totally not my thing!

So we stayed home, and I finally stopped feeling guilty. Especially as we saw the new things we could take on that we were interested in….

Exploring Life’s Possibilities Through Home Education

“How do you encourage exploration within a large family and still manage to do homeschooling?”

Our philosophy – encouraging exploration is homeschooling! Discovery, investigation, and all it entails is the fundamental aspect of home education, along with the freedom to work with our family style and our children’s interests!

Here are some of the activities we were able to do once we let go of all the extras:

Planted vegetable gardens and learn about soil, fertilizer, plant growth, and “putting by” our produce.
Sewed warm lap quilts during the rainy/cold season. The children calculated their own fabric needs and designed and sewed their quilts – boys included! The guys still don’t hesitate to fix their own clothes or sew parachutes, gun bags, and other fun things.
Participated in Civil War reenacting, which stemmed from our oldest daughter’s love – history. We researched, designed, and sewed our clothes and our tent. We read and read and read to learn behind-the-scenes truth about the political issues of the time. We visited historic sites. We learned to make pies in a Dutch oven over the open fire. We learned communication skills and how to instruct the “public” in historic skills.
We remodeled our homes. Construction, fencing, painting, organization, decorating…
We ran a certified organic orchard, which meant learning new rules of gardening along with pruning correctly and how to sell at the local farmer’s market. Again, communication and sales were learned by all.
We’ve had chickens, goats, horses, cats, and dogs over the years. Much is learned from the care and breeding of animals. Our sons have had “egg” businesses for years, selling to local customers. And our daughters had raised registered dairy goats to earn money.
All our children create and sell hand made items at local craft fairs. Again, sales, accounting, marketing, research, creativity, skills training….

And beyond all these areas, which teach so many skills it’s hard to count, there are all the children’s individual interests and work experience. These included: violin, piano, harp, mowing properties, nanny-ing, house cleaning, teaching music lessons, small scale remodeling, alteration and sewing, filing and medical assisting for a local doctor. And that’s just what I can remember!

So you can see, staying home to ‘home’ educate certainly has advantages. It offers us the time to learn and explore our children’s bents and talents, all the while adding to their wonderful and fulfilling education!

In my next post I’ll talk about educational requirements and answer the next question.

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

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