Simplifying My Life

In an effort to simplify my life, I am retiring this blog.  I will be doing some writing this year, God willing I will have the time, but I will combine all posts in my other blog, www.annehuffman.com. 

May God pour grace and joy into your heart for your children. I know that's what I'm praying for myself. 

Anne

The Year Jack Prayed for Snow

It’s another snow day. The winter of 2011 will be remembered at our house as “the year Jack prayed for snow.” Jack is five now and he has been looking forward to winter since late summer. He is a persistent little fellow and a bit one-tracked. When he started praying for snow in September, we were still mourning the end of summer; when November came, we told him, “It will be a while yet, Jack.” But, Jack prayed, even when it seemed to early. 

I am reminded of the woman, Hannah’s, prayers, recorded in the Bible. She continued to pray and weep to God for a son each year. With tears and pleading, she implored of the Lord to open her womb.  She was willing even to give that child back to God to be set apart, and Samuel was born. Great things happen when we pray.

Perhaps we didn’t give Jack bigger things to pray about and we should have. Jesus said we should have faith like little children and I, motivational mom that I am, told him that if we have even a little faith, we can tell the mountains before us to move and they will. Jack wanted nothing more this year than to see mountains of snow. He’s still short, thankfully, so the mountains he has prayed for have not had to exceed his height, but he’s over three feet now. He began to pray at meal times. When fall began, each time we’d pray, Jack would interrupt and say “... and please let the snow be over my head.” Breakfast, lunch, dinnner, bedtime - Jack interrupted. On the bright side, through correction, Jack has now learned to wait for the pause in prayer before sharing his request, but each time, he added his on the end. 

Winter came - early. We had plenty of snow in November and December this year, and in January we had 53” of snow, the second snowiest month on record. Not yet satisfied, but confident that God was hearing and doing, and with 24” on the ground, Jack persisted. “Lord, please let the snow get higher than this.”  We had had about enough, but we endured his repetitive sentence - at least three times a day. Last night we had a blizzard. Heavy system snow has pelted one-third of the nation. Now, the snow banks are over Jack's head.

I don’t know if any other kids are praying in agreement with Jack around the world, but one thing has happened this year, Jack has gained confidence in prayer, something most adults lack. We’ve read in God’s Word that the angels of children are always before the Father and he has learned to take advantage of it. My oldest boys have been witnessing Jack’s persistence, as have mom and dad. An invaluable seed of faith has been planted in this cold winter. In a season when life struggles to endure amidst harsh conditions, we are watching answers to our own prayers for conviction and faith in our three boys. The world looks different when we pray and trust that God answers our prayers. The world, with faith, is a world where hope never dies and where what we see doesn’t confirm what is real. 

When are we going to believe? Do we toss prayers to God hoping he’ll have pity on us or do we pray with confidence that prayer moves the mountain before us?  Jesus wondered aloud several times at the doubt and lack of belief present around him, even in his disciples. I have been praying for God to heal my unbelief as I commit to prayer this year for those around me. In answer, God put it on my child’s heart to show me how to plead persistently to the Lord for the desires of our heart. Our master said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24) We are humbled at the faith of a child. His eyes sparkle as the snow falls, knowing his God is faithful. Joy in found in answered prayer, in the encouragement of God Most High as he participates in our lives at our asking. No prayer is too complex for a faith this big, for a heart that hasn’t been hardened. 

Feeling a Bit Claustrophobic? The Winter Blues Are Not Terminal

It’s mid-winter again. Outside it’s gray, overcast, snowy and icy. The beauty of winter’s icy sparkle may now seem muted as feelings of isolation and boredom set in. The thrill of sledding has worn off and kids who, weeks ago, slid eagerly like penguins in the snow, need to be prodded to go out to get some fresh air. Longing for the warmth of the summer sun and the vitamin D it provides, some people fall prey to depression. When mid-winter chills our zeal, we become more aware of the need for people and connection. In the fall, academics command our energy and zeal, but with winter, fellowship, group activities and idea sharing can shine light on bleak days. 

After the holiday season, a personal mission of mine is to recapture a sense of organization and do some revisionary work on our schedule. A new year means new beginnings. If you’ve let the order in your home slide through the fall, a week or two of cleaning and purging can shine light where piles previously persecuted you. Have the kids been helping enough? If not, revive hope by establishing a system with clear expectations and set consequences. A card file system works well for us. Take a fresh and prayerful look at what’s necessary, or lacking, in your academic schedule. Is there excess baggage or neglected areas in your learning day? Perhaps some re-purposing is in order there too.  What do you really want to accomplish that you are not? Analyze progress in character and academics then create hope with a plan to implement change.

Fresh ideas can be like sunshine in the depth of winter. Get out a bowl and give those kids some squares of paper. Send them hunting for ideas. Is there a place or thing they’d love to know more about? Encyclopedias are full of unexplored topics. For a change of pace, a biography can serve as literature, narration and writing, history and geography. The internet is full of resources that can take you across the world to places, or to other teachers with ideas to share. Find a way to accomplish your goals that may be more fun that what you’re doing now. Whatever you choose, pick something that the whole bunch will find something of interest in. 

After the cleaning and re-organizing is done, what next? There is no substitute for the fellowship of others.  A few years ago we felt the darkness of winter isolation shading our enthusiasm. Is there a place you can schedule a weekly, or bi-weekly outing?  Our church had a gym and fellowship hall that wasn’t used during the day. I reserved the space and advertised a day for homeschoolers to come for free play in the gym, board games and mom-time.  It is now a popular place for regular friends to meet and new homeschoolers to connect, share ideas and find direction.  It was easy and rewarding. 

Friendship doesn’t have to involve something large or labor intensive, but finding others who are like minded to support you can change your homeschooling worldview.  No matter how you feel, someone else has been there and can take your hand through the struggle. Online groups are helpful if you need a quick answer to a question, but keep looking locally until you find a group of families with similar age kids to share life with. The homeschool community is a wonderful blessing, but you won’t find it sitting inside your house waiting for it to show up. Find a large co-op and advertise a club or group that would interest your own children. Blessings await you when you do. Securing friendship for yourself and your kids alleviates the agony of loneliness. It is in giving that we receive the most. If you have a talent to share or a skill, offer a class in that.  Swapping our talents is a fun way to give what we do well and receive what we don’t. 

While reading the last four paragraphs, it is likely that winter has remained. Go do a snow check if you must. We still have 12 inches on the ground here in Indiana. My writing students would see getting to the last paragraph as the light at the end of the tunnel.  In life, we often must find the light ourselves, taking steps in a direction we haven’t gone before.  God multiplies the gifts we give; it is likely that a solution you create will be a solution for someone else at the same time. The choice to homeschool brings enduring rewards, but as we stand on the mountain of the present, low-lying clouds can block our view. Endure friend. The sun will shine again! 

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

   -Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”

The Founding Father's and Acts 2 - You Can't Secularize History

It was breakfast.  The kids and I were having a discussion about the founders of our constitution and chose Benjamin Rush as our man of history to study this morning.  Mr. Rush was a devout Christian and God prophesied through him in a dream about his friends, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.  Mr. Rush wrote a letter to his friend, John, telling him what God had revealed to him about the future, about his relationship with Thomas Jefferson. He went so far as to tell Mr. Adams that God revealed to him, in this dream, that they would both die on the same day - 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This prophesy was fulfilled.  

American history boring? I don't think so.  The kids and I reflected upon other empires we'd studied in the last three years, from ancient times through the Dark Ages then through the Middle Ages.  God's hand was moving continually, as he raised and deposed of leaders and nations.  Now, here we are in America, where God had arranged a group of men to form a government, men who were deeply Christian and moved by the Spirit in their relationships and actions.   Over the last 50 years these truths about our government have been removed from common knowledge in America through the process of "education". 

Next, the boys and I connected this prophesy to it's foundation, where the gifts were first given, in Acts 2 of the Bible. If you doubt you can teach your children effectively, trust God.  He is the giver of wisdom and He provides it when you need it.  It was just today that I truly grasped and felt what Acts 2 looked like, not little "tongues of fire hovering over the heads of the crowd, but a sweeping wind like arms reaching out and laying hands right on the people - grabbing them with power, infilling them until they overflowed! Tongues stick out, don't they!  (Ask your kids to show you for comic relief.) Remember the Passover account, when the wind came through the streets? This story is similar but instead of bringing death, it brings life, joy and understanding.  I encourage you to watch the video link below on Acts 2.  It's powerful. 

Take a moment to reflect on truth.  How important IS truth?  How can we effectively teach history and religion apart from one another, let alone values? (Did you learn that our government's formation was only about taxation without representation?  I did. I know I would have paid attention in history if I'd learned it this way.  I also would have seen God's power in a mighty way through it's study.  I was cheated, were you?


Teach your children real history, true history... God's hand is all through it... there is NO history apart from God...  

Wallbuilder's Segment on Benjamin Rush 

Acts 2 - This is where it all began!  

Worship together! Just get up and dance to this... you won't be able to help it.  


Enjoy teaching your children today. You are blessed.  You are free.  This is America and we can live our faith every day and study it as it really happened.  Today you can inspire them in a direction.  What seeds will you plant? What fruit will it bear? Let this truth take root in you in a powerful way so that generations will be blessed through your efforts.  

All honor and praise to God for what He teaches me daily.

 

Abundant Life Homeschooling: Part 2 - Conquering Your Fears

Now that we've talked about some spiritual reasons why you may consider homeschooling, it is important to get over the big hurdle, your fears.  When God calls you to do something, he also promises to equip you to do it!  "But you don't know MY kids,"  you say.  What if I told you that your kids would change.  When we send our kids to school they are absorbing information for eight to nine hours a day from sources other than their family and their God.  In that time, they are not just learning academics, they are learning behavioral patterns.  No, I do not know YOUR kids, but I do know these things about kids:

• Kids are tired after a long day of traditional school, and they have had very little free time while they are there.  
• Tired minds don't retain the information that would be better presented and completed while they have plenty of mental energy.
• They value of homework is minimal in real learning.
• That they now do or will soon love to learn.
• Freedom and love change the personality of a child.  
• Socialization in a same grade school environment is not as beneficial as socialization between students of mixed ages and adults.
• Your kids will like you, respect you, obey you, and admire you as they see you sacrifice and live together.  
• You will win back your authority as you teach Biblical wisdom throughout your day. If they can't learn to submit to you, how will they learn to submit to God as their master?
• They won't miss being evaluated by their peers, peer pressure, being bullied or criticized by other kids,  and a lack of recess.  
• Their vocabulary, integrity and logical reasoning will improve as they spend more time with adults than kids their own age. 
• God made all kids uniquely perfect and intentionally, they don't all learn alike, and they definitely aren't motivated by the same things.  They just endure and do their best to fit into a pattern that is created to the mass, not the individual.  Labels are applied too young and are dangerous to a child's self-image.
• The labels schools apply are almost always artificial.  Bring them home and see what happens. Many kids who are learning disabled in school suddenly "become" gifted when they are home schooled.
• Kids learn differently and mature at different ages.  Reading readiness is not always there when the schools want to teach it.   
• Boys don't sit still well. This is not a defect. 
• Pressuring kids to learn does not increase their real intelligence.  More is not better.
• They will be free to answer every question or pose questions at home that may intimidate them in school.  
• Mastery is better than moving on.  Classrooms cannot cater to individual readiness easily.
• Their siblings become their best friends and accountability partners when you homeschool.
• Homeschooled kids avoid many of the behavioral problems found in traditionally schooled children.  They make great friends because they are accepting of others' differences and find it easier to see people as God would see them, as special and unique.  There is little or no peer pressure to ridicule others.
• Kids are confused by an environment that teaches different truths and values than you teach them at home.  For example, at home God created them; in school they evolved from a monkey. At home our behavior is motivated by Godly wisdom.  In our PS system, humanist values are taught with no truth behind it. This makes good behavior a matter of personal opinion. 
• The teenage years are seldom a problem in a homeschooling family.  Young adults can take on young adult responsibilities at an earlier age and they no longer rebel out of a lack of purpose or to assert their individuality.

I know that's a lot to digest, but I hope it gives you encouragement and hope.  Homeschooling is not torture, it's improved family living in an environment of freedom.   There is a lot of support available from other families, groups and the internet.  Socialization becomes positive socialization when the kids are with you and in the real world, so you really lose a lot of the struggles you now face simply by removing your kids from an environment with out of balance, age segregated, peer interaction. 

Now, about you.  You will have to give up some freedoms, but you will GAIN many more!  Yes, it is a commitment.  There may be hard days as you figure out what is best for your child, but your perseverance when they are young means that when you have teenagers they will be a joy, not a nightmare. As your children grow in responsibility and training, you will regain more freedom and have more freedom than you would helping in the school and re-learning their homework in order to help them after school. You will be there to guide and God will guide you all.  A Godly mom grows Godly children.  Your husband, who may begin with the same fear, will enjoy having respectful, bright, joyful kids and after watching them grow and thrive, will soon be an advocate of homeschooling if he isn't now.

Where would you start? You may begin with what is called de-schooling; we give kids back their lives, their minds and their love of learning.  Don't jump into re-creating a school environment at home.  Work on the basics, math, handwriting, and maybe grammar with a lot of Bible mixed in.   Your main job outside of that is to inspire and watch how their own interests lead their learning.   Much of what schools do is busywork to keep kids occupied and manageable in a group setting.  Reading aloud is a great way to build discussion, shape values, and build vocabulary skills. Best of all, you do it together; you pick the books. They don't have to be grade "appropriate" material, and they can be read in the park, on the patio, on a blanket, or in front of a fire in the afternoon on a rainy day.  God will shape you through this process and you'll learn about yourself, your kids, and your Creator. 

School is the advertising agency which makes you believe that you need the society as it is.
~ Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society

Here is a sampling of helpful resources available to get you started: