I am preparing to send out the second part of my Devotionals and Bible Studies newsletter. It will include reviews of devotionals that people have suggested and that I have used. I was reading through one of the suggested devotionals today, Little Pillows. It's a sweet, small book of devotions that are especially touching and deep - though written in somewhat antiquated language. One devotion that I read today was quite nurturing to my own soul. It talked of the fact that Jesus is the same.
The author encouraged you to recount the times when you have felt so close to Jesus, bathed in His love and accepted by Him. Then she reminded us that if you are not feeling that way today, it's not because Jesus loves you any less. His love for you, His acceptance - total and complete joy and delight in you - has not changed one bit. It's because you have drawn away from Him and perhaps believed that He does not feel that way about you right now. The truth is: His feelings for you have not changed. He still feels the same about you as He did when you felt His love so fully.
Jesus stands with His arms just as open, just as ready to forgive and forget and help you with your struggles, sins and attitudes; He's just as willing to embrace you and nurture you with His tender mercy. Turn to Him and receive His love.
Jesus is the same; He never changes.
That's so comforting to me. I hope it blesses you today as well.
If you have not signed up for my newsletter, you can enter your email in the GREEN box to the right. It should be going out within the next week or so.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Clark Howard Speaks to the Heart of Homeschoolers
Although, I'm confident that the California Ban on Homeschooling ruling will be scrapped from the books, Clark Howard makes some wonderful points about homeschooling, and why Finland is a succeeding in education: it's because the teachers are doing what homeschool teachers do - teaching what they are led to teach, choosing their own curriculum and giving kids an education that inspires them, not burns them out and drags them down.
Read the text from Clark Howard's website:
California outlaws home schooling
Clark is glad that he doesn't have high blood pressure, because he'd be steaming right now! The California Court of Appeals has outlawed home schooling. They want parents who wish to take on the burden and challenge of teaching their kids at home to be criminalized. This is an outrageous infringement on personal liberty. The home schooling movement started in the fundamentalist Christian community, but it's since crossed over to about 2 million people of all types. Clark's concern is that as goes California, so goes the nation. Our Soviet-style monopoly school system is not succeeding, so home-schooling must not be outlawed. How does the U.S. rank academically? A recent international test of 10th graders shows that we're sandwiched between Latvia and Lithuania in the middle of the list. Finland has the highest achieving students in the world. The Scandinavian nation doesn't have a government-mandated curriculum; every teacher must decide for him or herself what to teach. Finnish teachers are not well compensated, but people clamor for the job because they can be true entrepreneurs in the classroom. Finnish classrooms don't use modern technology and kids don't start school until age 7. We here in the U.S. have got to get out of our "one size fits all" mindset where we spend fortunes on education for no meaningful results. Think this doesn't affect you because you don't have kids? Huge amount of your taxes are still spent to support schools that are failures.
Read the text from Clark Howard's website:
California outlaws home schooling
Clark is glad that he doesn't have high blood pressure, because he'd be steaming right now! The California Court of Appeals has outlawed home schooling. They want parents who wish to take on the burden and challenge of teaching their kids at home to be criminalized. This is an outrageous infringement on personal liberty. The home schooling movement started in the fundamentalist Christian community, but it's since crossed over to about 2 million people of all types. Clark's concern is that as goes California, so goes the nation. Our Soviet-style monopoly school system is not succeeding, so home-schooling must not be outlawed. How does the U.S. rank academically? A recent international test of 10th graders shows that we're sandwiched between Latvia and Lithuania in the middle of the list. Finland has the highest achieving students in the world. The Scandinavian nation doesn't have a government-mandated curriculum; every teacher must decide for him or herself what to teach. Finnish teachers are not well compensated, but people clamor for the job because they can be true entrepreneurs in the classroom. Finnish classrooms don't use modern technology and kids don't start school until age 7. We here in the U.S. have got to get out of our "one size fits all" mindset where we spend fortunes on education for no meaningful results. Think this doesn't affect you because you don't have kids? Huge amount of your taxes are still spent to support schools that are failures.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Zoology 3 is here!
At long last, Exploring Creation with Zoology 3 - Land Animals fo the Sixth Day has arrived! Here is a description of the course:
What separates people from apes? How can a Great Dane be related to a Chihuahua? Is there evidence that people and dinosaurs lived at the same time? What should you do if you encounter a bear? How can you tell if a snake is poisonous? Come find out answers to these questions and many, many more with Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Zoology 3! This third book in the zoology series takes students on a safari through jungles, deserts, forests, farms, and even their own backyard to explore, examine and enjoy the enchanting creatures God designed to inhabit the terrain. Families will snuggle together and discover the amazing animals from primates to parasites, kangaroos to caimans, and turtles to terrifying T-Rexs— this safari doesn’t end there! Students will also keep a record of where each animal is found on a map and learn to identify animal tracks. As with all the Apologia elementary books, students will continue the practice of narration, keeping a notebook of what they have learned, and enjoy many hands on projects and experiments throughout the course.
We will be creating notebook pages for this book this spring, available by the summer.
What separates people from apes? How can a Great Dane be related to a Chihuahua? Is there evidence that people and dinosaurs lived at the same time? What should you do if you encounter a bear? How can you tell if a snake is poisonous? Come find out answers to these questions and many, many more with Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Zoology 3! This third book in the zoology series takes students on a safari through jungles, deserts, forests, farms, and even their own backyard to explore, examine and enjoy the enchanting creatures God designed to inhabit the terrain. Families will snuggle together and discover the amazing animals from primates to parasites, kangaroos to caimans, and turtles to terrifying T-Rexs— this safari doesn’t end there! Students will also keep a record of where each animal is found on a map and learn to identify animal tracks. As with all the Apologia elementary books, students will continue the practice of narration, keeping a notebook of what they have learned, and enjoy many hands on projects and experiments throughout the course.
We will be creating notebook pages for this book this spring, available by the summer.
Monday, March 10, 2008
"He who dwells in the Shelter of the Most High, will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust'...If you make the Most High your dwelling, even the LORD, who is my refuge—then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-12
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-12
How do we dwell in the Shelter of the Most High, because this sure sounds like a place I want to be. How ‘bout you? There seems to be a condition on this promise. The condition is that we "make" the Most High our dwelling place. It's a volitional choice to make God the place where we hang out. It stands to reason that in order to make God our dwelling place, we need to dwell on Him - not on our problems, the circumstances that surround us and the issues that seem to be prevailing against us. We must not dwell on those things, but focus our thoughts and minds on Him. There’s another Scripture that says “He will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.”
When I first pondered this verse, I wondered how do I keep my mind stayed on Him, as well as how do I dwell in His shelter. The Lord seemed to speak to my heart saying “I am The Word.” The Word! "Yes, of course!" I thought. I instantly realized that to keep our minds on the Lord is to focus on Scripture. Perhaps there are other ways, but this was what God showed me.
You see, God usually speaks to us through His Word. So, before you open your Bible, ask the Lord to reveal His Word to your heart as you read, to speak to you through His Word. It is indeed God's will to do this. 1 John 5:14 says that if you ask anything according to His will, it will be done for you.
As you read, God will highlight a Scripture passage or verse for you. You know it's from God if it fills you with hope, insight or answers your questions/problems in a way that brings peace as it reveals truth. Even God's rebukes are not done harshly, but with a spirit of peace that brings confidence and tranquility and yes, even joy as you repent. The enemy is easily recognized by the condemnation and hopelessness you feel - but that's a whole 'nother subject.
As the Lord gives you a Scripture, mediate on it all day long. Write it down and carry it with you. Make a note of the book and chapter so you can find it again when the Lord has you share it with someone else - as He often does. Think on it throughout the day.
This is what it means to keep your mind stayed on Him—for He is the Word, and the Word is Him. This is also how you dwell in His shelter: we abide in Him by keeping our mind, heart and thoughts on Him—His Word– throughout the day. Then, you can rest in the peace of knowing that His promises found in Psalm 91 are for you, as you make Him your shelter.
"The Name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run in and are safe."
Proverbs 18:10
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Guarding Our Thoughts
In my last post, I talked about the temptation to feel overwhelmed. I have been wanting to address this lately because I know what it is to get overwhelmed. I also have discovered a way to protect myself from this emotion.
When I walk through my house, I can easily become overwhelmed. I realized this one day as I passed by a tremendously messy closet filled with books. On the floor, I spied a stack of standardized practice tests that I had never given to my children. In an instant, that emotion of being overwhelmed began to wash over me, like a dark presence entering my entire body. Normally, I would have received that emotion and walked on with whisperings of despair clouding my day. But right at that moment, I turned away from it. I basically resisted the temptation and literally turned my face away from the reminder of my inability to "do it all" and I turned my thoughts away from the lies that I'm not succeeding at homeschooling.
Over the weeks, this temptation has arisen several times. When I saw the the Latin book lying upside down on a broken shelf in the hallway, both the broken shelf and the unused book scream their insult at me. But I turned away from the negative thoughts that were spewing through my mind. No, I didn't give my kids standardized practice tests, we failed to use that Latin book and I may have to throw that shelf away if it keeps accusing me like that. But, all of that does not make me a failure. I cannot let undone projects, plans or curriculum rob me of my peace. Neither should you.
So, we are big planners and big dreamers; that's a good thing - as long as we don't get down on ourselves for not doing all we planned or reaching all our dreams. Planning and dreaming are important. It causes us to move forward, closer to our goals. But it's so important to guard our thoughts from the accusations that we are not measuring up because we have not accomplished domestic success in some area or perfection in our homeschooling dreams and plans.
We need to believe that God is truly God over our lives, our homeschool and our children. Perhaps it was not His perfect will that I make my children work through those practice tests. Perhaps He doesn't want us to study Latin yet, or ever. As one of his precious children, He has promised to lead me and guide me. I'm believing that I'm in the center of His will and being led by Him, even when I don't fulfill my big ideas and grandious plans. I can rest in Him, trusting that we are on the right track - even when I don't "feel" like it. I'm not supposed to be leaning on my own understanding anyway...
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5
If I were to lean on my own understanding, I would certainly think I should be doing much more, accomplishing much more, reaching all my dreams and fulfilling all my big plans. I think God's more interested in giving us rest - while we are more interested in being supermom and creating superkids and being a family of superheroes. Yet, He came so that we could enter into His rest. Rest for our souls.
"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." Matthew 11:29
So, next time I walk by that enormously cluttered and disorganized closet with hundreds of great homeschool products I'll never have time to use even if I homeschooled a hundred years, I plan to quote that Scripture, breathe a sigh of relief and allow Him to bring rest to my soul.
When I walk through my house, I can easily become overwhelmed. I realized this one day as I passed by a tremendously messy closet filled with books. On the floor, I spied a stack of standardized practice tests that I had never given to my children. In an instant, that emotion of being overwhelmed began to wash over me, like a dark presence entering my entire body. Normally, I would have received that emotion and walked on with whisperings of despair clouding my day. But right at that moment, I turned away from it. I basically resisted the temptation and literally turned my face away from the reminder of my inability to "do it all" and I turned my thoughts away from the lies that I'm not succeeding at homeschooling.
Over the weeks, this temptation has arisen several times. When I saw the the Latin book lying upside down on a broken shelf in the hallway, both the broken shelf and the unused book scream their insult at me. But I turned away from the negative thoughts that were spewing through my mind. No, I didn't give my kids standardized practice tests, we failed to use that Latin book and I may have to throw that shelf away if it keeps accusing me like that. But, all of that does not make me a failure. I cannot let undone projects, plans or curriculum rob me of my peace. Neither should you.
So, we are big planners and big dreamers; that's a good thing - as long as we don't get down on ourselves for not doing all we planned or reaching all our dreams. Planning and dreaming are important. It causes us to move forward, closer to our goals. But it's so important to guard our thoughts from the accusations that we are not measuring up because we have not accomplished domestic success in some area or perfection in our homeschooling dreams and plans.
We need to believe that God is truly God over our lives, our homeschool and our children. Perhaps it was not His perfect will that I make my children work through those practice tests. Perhaps He doesn't want us to study Latin yet, or ever. As one of his precious children, He has promised to lead me and guide me. I'm believing that I'm in the center of His will and being led by Him, even when I don't fulfill my big ideas and grandious plans. I can rest in Him, trusting that we are on the right track - even when I don't "feel" like it. I'm not supposed to be leaning on my own understanding anyway...
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5
If I were to lean on my own understanding, I would certainly think I should be doing much more, accomplishing much more, reaching all my dreams and fulfilling all my big plans. I think God's more interested in giving us rest - while we are more interested in being supermom and creating superkids and being a family of superheroes. Yet, He came so that we could enter into His rest. Rest for our souls.
"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." Matthew 11:29
So, next time I walk by that enormously cluttered and disorganized closet with hundreds of great homeschool products I'll never have time to use even if I homeschooled a hundred years, I plan to quote that Scripture, breathe a sigh of relief and allow Him to bring rest to my soul.
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