Homeschooling Challenge – Clutter

One of the biggest challenges to homeschooling – based on what I hear at homeschool support meetings and read on homeschooling forums – is clutter!!  I think we all have times when we wonder if there is really a floor under all that stuff in the living room.  We have been known to search for days for a book.  Let’s talk a little about clutter in a homeschooling house!

Causes of clutter

• Kids who are educated at home spend most of the day at home, giving them lots of opportunity to make clutter – there’s also lots of opportunity to clean it up, but somehow THAT seems to happen far more rarely!!
• Homeschooling families generally have lots of educational supplies and books (even when we use the library regularly – how does that happen?).
• Homeschooling parents are so busy educating the kids and making sure that the family is fed that housework often gets pushed aside. 

Aggravating factors for our family (I’m sure you have your own list)

• It’s hard for me to keep up with household clutter with my frequent headaches.
• Our current house is too small for our stuff.  Of course, Mr. Math Tutor would say that we have too much stuff for our house.  Whatever.
• Living in The Great White North, we have snow for 3-4 months which means that we have lots of added coats, gloves, hats, scarves, etc. to add to our mix of stuff.

How to deal with the clutter (Please note that I’m not remotely an expert here – I’m just giving you ideas that work for me and I’ll be asking you to comment and tell us what has worked in your home.)

• Daily chores – My kids have chores to do every day that include keeping the living room vacuumed (requiring that it is at least straightened first).  We’re not perfect about getting them done all the time, but it’s a start.

• Bookcases – We have bookcases filled with books in the living room, dining room , schoolroom (Rosie Girl’s and Mr. Math Tutor’s office), sunroom (my and Wild Man’s office), the landing of the stairway, the upstairs hallway, the master bedroom, and Rosie Girl’s bedroom.  In fact, every room except the bathroom and Wild Man’s room has at least one bookcase.  (The bathroom is too small and humid, and Wild Man just keeps a pile of books near his desk in his room.)

• Boxes – I keep the rest of our supplies in plastic boxes (Rubbermaid or Sterilite).  So, there is a box with microscope slides, another with dissection supplies, another with various art supplies, etc.  These boxes are kept in closets in the schoolroom and in the basement.  (By the way, I just adore these sliding trays in the schoolroom!!  We keep games on the top three shelves and plastic boxes on the bottom two.)

• Each child has their own desk.  Rosie Girl and Mr. Math Tutor share an office  (in what we call the schoolroom) in which they both have desks.  Rosie Girl works at her desk some of the time, but it is a good place for her to store her things.  Wild Man’s desk is in the sunroom with my desk.  Every few months, I have the kids clean up their desks.

• School throughout the house.  We didn’t have any room for a world map in our schoolroom, so we put it in the dining room.  Now, we have a world and US map in our dining room.  It’s actually rather convenient because we refer to it during dinner time discussions more often than we expected!  We use whatever space is available!

• Library basket – I keep a large basket in the living room for library books.  Of course, the kids end up taking the books to their rooms, but before they start reading a book or after they are done with it, the books (or CDs) go into the library basket.  This shortens the book search right before our library trips.

• Phone baskets – We have an antique radio (a large piece of furniture) in our dining room that mostly just looks nice.  I put four baskets on the radio along with a power strip so that we can all keep our phones in the baskets when they’re not in use and they can be charged using the power strip.  The kids can also use the power strip to charge their video games.  Our family whiteboard is right above this.

 

So, what about you?  How do you manage clutter in your home?  Enquiring minds want to know!!  I want to know!!

Check out Thirsty Thursday for more great homeschooling posts!

 

An Inauspicious Start to 2010

Back in the fall, scheduling Rosie Girl’s tonsillectomy for December 31, 2009 seemed like a smart thing to do.  We figured she’d only miss a couple of days of choir at school and it wouldn’t be hard to modify her homeschool work for the first week of January.  She’s a healthy kid, so her recovery was expected to be short and sweet.

Well, it hasn’t been.  The first week of 2010 has been less than stellar, shall we say?  Actually, the first few days after surgery weren’t too bad – well, at least, they were what we expected.  Rosie Girl took lots of pain meds and nausea meds.  On the third or fourth day, she started to get more nauseous and even threw up once, so we made sure to keep up with the nausea meds.  The pain meds were reasonably effective, but when I called the ENT’s office, they said that it was too early to use ibuprofen in addition to the other pain meds.  (Ibuprofen and aspirin-type medications prevent platelets from sticking together normally.  After some kinds of surgery, these medications are not allowed because of the risk of bleeding.  This is important later in the story!)

Rosie Girl didn’t make it to school Monday or Tuesday and didn’t look like she was going to go on Wednesday, either.  Since she only takes two classes, we weren’t terribly worried.  Wild Man got a little bit of work at home done on Monday and Tuesday, but those days were limited by my headaches (which has been going on for a full week).  Not only that, but we just plain forgot that Wild Man had band class on Tuesday afternoon!  Yeah, I know, not terribly responsible on the parenting side of things.  In our defense, Rosie Girl was still needing plenty of attention.

At 7pm on Tuesday night, Rosie Girl started having some bleeding from the back of her throat.  The ENT had warned us about this (said it happens about 5% of the time in teens) and had given us instructions on what to do if it happened.  So, Rosie Girl put a popsicle against the back of her throat to try to constrict the blood vessels.  It didn’t work immediately, so I called the ENT on-call.  While I was on the phone with him, Rosie Girl got the bleeding to stop with the popsicle.  So, armed with new instructions, we went back to watching TV while Rosie Girl drank ice water and sucked on popsicles.

At 2:30am on Wednesday morning, though, Rosie Girl knocked on our bedroom door to tell us that the bleeding had started again.  And, this time, after 20 minutes, it still hadn’t stopped.  So, the ENT on-call said he’d meet us in the ER.  We all (including Wild Man and Mr. Math Tutor) bundled into the car and drove into the city to the “big hospital” ER where we met the ENT.  Thankfully, the bleeding stopped about the time we got in the car, but we weren’t taking any chances.  This episode had lasted well over 30 minutes so she needed to be looked at.  We were quite fortunate – the ER was incredibly quiet, so there was no waiting and Rosie Girl had two nurses to get her all hooked up to monitors, etc.

Well, to make a long story not quite book length, the ENT said that Rosie Girl needed to have the spot on her throat cauterized which required another trip to the OR.  Rosie Girl didn’t really seem to mind this so much.  Once the i.v. was in place, Rosie Girl was just ready to have it done.  She seemed pretty nonchalant about the whole “surgery” part of things – it was quite a change from a week previous when she was so nervous about surgery.

Since the surgery was done before the regular working day started, Rosie Girl did her recovery in the pediatric wing, so she got a stuffed animal and a fleece blanket to bring home with her!  (Several weeks ago, Rosie Girl went to a project at the high school where they made fleece blankets for this pediatric department.  She said this pattern didn’t look familiar, so it might have come from another volunteer group, but it was a neat coincidence.)  We finally were able to bring her home at about 9:30am.

We got home and all went right back to bed.  Mr. Math Tutor had called all the appropriate people from the hospital to cancel his appointments for the day and to let the school know that the kids wouldn’t be there.  I called the Nutrition Site to tell them that Wild Man and I wouldn’t be there.

Now, it’s almost midnight and I’m about ready to go back to bed.  Rosie Girl is asleep on the sofa.  She’s been doing well with pain and doing a very good job of staying hydrated.  Wild Man is going to do some schoolwork tomorrow – I let him watch lots of TV today – and even going to go to his band class!  If my headache is calmed down, I hope to start taking down Christmas decorations.  But, the first priority is making sure that Rosie Girl is recovering well.

I’m praying that we’re getting the major stress of the year all done with in the first week!!  And praying that your 2010 is much calmer than ours so far!!

Lagniappe 1/5/2010

Yay!!  The first Lagniappe post of the New Year!!  Hang on for lots of random stuff!

• Rosie Girl had her tonsils out last Thursday.  She was only in the OR for about 40 minutes.  From what I know about OR procedures, I’m guessing that the actual surgery must have taken all of 10 minutes!  Nonetheless, recovery has not been easy.  She has been taking lots of pain medicine and nausea medicine.

• To add to the post-tonsillectomy fun, Rosie Girl started having bleeding from the back of her throat tonight.  The doctor told us that, if she had this complication, it would be obvious, and he was right.  She only lost about 5 or 10 cc’s of blood, but that sure looks like a lot when it’s been spit into the toilet bowl.  Thankfully, Rosie Girl got it to stop pretty quickly by holding a popsicle to the back of her throat for a couple of minutes.  Not only did the bleeding stop, but so did Rosie Girl’s (and my) anxiety.  Whew.

• I got my new mp3 player today and I love it.  My old one played music quite well, but it had a bad habit of not letting me fast forward to the middle of a chapter in an audiobook.  I could fast forward to about 10 minutes and then it would skip to the end of the track.  This new one allows me to fast forward or rewind to wherever I want in the track.  It also lets me do playlists which the other player was supposed to do, but never did.

• We’ve been watching lots of Star Wars movies – both old (i.e. my generation with Harrison Ford) and new.  Mr. Math Tutor and Wild Man bought them on DVD to help amuse Rosie Girl while she’s recovering.

• Wild Man and I did a spelling review today and I was amazed at what he remembers from before the holidays!!  He is doing quite well.  I am going to have him start writing sentences this week so we can start working on actually doing writing (as in paragraph writing) later this spring.

• Mr. Math Tutor bought me some Rubbermaid containers so that we can store our Christmas decorations in Rubbermaid instead of the disintegrating cardboard boxes that we’ve been using.  Unfortunately, right when I started to take ornaments off the tree was when Rosie Girl started bleeding from her throat tonight.  Our house is a disaster and I’m just not emotionally prepared to deal with it.

• In the middle of all this chaos, I’ve had a headache (most of the time a migraine) for the last week.  Rotten timing, I know.  The house cleaning is probably not going to get done any time soon.  Blah.

So, that’s what’s up around here.  Not terribly exciting, if you don’t count bleeding and panicking, which I’m trying to block out of my consciousness.  How has your 2010 been so far?

Temptation

Tonight, I read in Matthew about John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. After that, Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert. Then, Satan came to Jesus and tempted him – talk about kicking a guy when he’s down. I don’t know about you, but being hungry, hot, and tired makes me pretty vulnerable. I’m guessing that Satan chose that moment to tempt Jesus because his defenses were down.

But, Jesus didn’t give in to the temptation. I’ve heard some people say things like “Yeah, but Jesus was God.” Indeed, Jesus is God, but when Jesus was on earth, he was also 100% human. He resisted temptation the same way that you and I do – by relying on God the Father. Notice that all of Jesus’ answers to Satan were Scripture. Jesus didn’t mess around with any arguments – he just quoted the words of God the Father.

The same thing happens to us. Satan attacks us when we are weakest – when we’re in pain, tired, or stressed. But we have the same power available to us that Jesus had – the words of God the Father.

Whatever it is you struggle with, remember that Jesus dealt with the same thing when he was on earth. Hebrews 4:15-16 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

No matter what’s going on in our lives, we have Jesus who has been through this before us. And, he’ll walk through today and tomorrow and forever right beside us. What wonderful comfort that brings!!

Abundant Life

Until a couple of months ago, we thought that our income would significantly decrease in about 18 months. Because of that, we have been living very frugally, trying to save up money and pay off some leftover debt. A few months ago, we found out that we had misunderstood some things and that we actually will not have a decrease in our income. We have been living as if we were poorer than we really are.

It’s very easy for us to live our spiritual lives this same way. As believers, we have access to God’s unspeakable love, grace, joy, and more!! But, too often, we live in fear and worry. It’s easier to sit back in our comfortable Christian lives of doing what’s easy and not taking any risks. God has so much more for us, though. All we have to do is reach out for this abundant life we’ve been promised. Jesus said (in John 10:10), “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”

When we move through our fear and really trust God, the rewards are huge. A few years ago, our family went to Venezuela for a week’s worth of mission work at a boys’ ranch. It was a real step of faith, but the joy and love was amazing!

C. S. Lewis put it well in a sermon in 1941: “Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

And here’s how Steven Curtis Chapman interprets this idea.

God’s promises are truly amazing and I want to live life “to the full” in serving God! How have you learned to live God’s abundant life? How has Jesus been truly real in your life?

P.S. I don’t mean to suggest in the first paragraph that we shouldn’t live frugally even when our income allows for a more extravagant lifestyle. That’s a whole ‘nother discussion!! I’m just trying to make the point that we were living with incorrect information.

Seven Quick Takes Friday – 1/1/2010

Wow – It’s 2010!  It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s already a new year!!  And this is the first meme of 2010.  So, here goes . . .

1. I took lots of pictures before Christmas, but none of December 24-26.  It’s not really a big deal, but it seems a little strange – lots of pictures before the holiday, but none on the holiday itself.

2. I got myself a new purse that came in the mail yesterday.  It doesn’t seem like much of a big deal, but it really is for me.  When I quit working, I put my nice black leather purse in the closet.  For one thing, it was getting old and torn up.  But, for another thing, it was a representation of my working life and putting it away was a sign that I was now a stay-at-home mom.  But, I’ve been using a purse that I knitted or a bag that Mr. Math Tutor crocheted.  The problem is that they don’t have any organization to them, so I can’t ever find my cell phone (or anything else, for that matter) when I need it.  The new purse is similar to my old one (they’re both from Wilson’s leather) with several pockets and an organizer section so I don’t need a wallet.

3. One of my goals for 2010 is to read my American Family Physician journals.  I read a lot, but I haven’t been reading any medical journals or articles.  I don’t think I’ll be going back to work this year unless something drastic happens, but I do want to keep up with what’s going on in the world of medicine.  I want to work eventually, so I hope that reading regularly will keep me up on the newest developments.

4. We gave my nephew (age 8) The Dangerous Book for Boys for a Christmas present.  Wild Man has that book and has been making up secret codes so he sent an email to his cousin with a coded message and the page number where the key to the code is.  His cousin sent back a message yesterday and Wild Man wrote up another one today.  I think this is going to be good for both of them!

5. Rosie Girl had her tonsillectomy yesterday.  She actually didn’t feel too poorly yesterday, but is definitely feeling icky today.  I had my tonsils out when I was 4 years old, and I’m glad I don’t remember it.  But, Rosie Girl is doing a good job of taking her pain medicine and getting in lots of fluids.  The next few days are going to be rough, but I’m sure it will all be fine next week.

6. The Wii Fit is going to be a great thing for our family.  I have a hard time getting Wild Man to do physical activity during the winter.  Usually, he just walks on the treadmill for 30 minutes a day.  With the Wii Fit, though, he has done lots of different activities for up to a couple of hours a day.

7. I find it difficult to exercise when I have headaches, but I think I can do some of the Wii Fit yoga or balance exercises as long as the headache isn’t too terrible (even if I wouldn’t normally want to walk on the treadmill).  Of course, I am also finding that I’m not in great shape because I’m quite sore after doing much of anything with the Wii Fit.  I suppose this is good, though.

Check out what others have to say at 7 Quick Takes Friday!!

Christmas Memories – 2009

Our family has had a great holiday season this year.  I’ve already posted about all the musical performances that were part of our holidays.    The kids and I made Christmas cookies to send to some of our family members.  We read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever as a family for the first time this year – I think it’s going to be a tradition because we loved it so much.  We also read parts of Letters to Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkein as well as other Christmas read-alouds.

Of course, I did some knitting for my family.  And, of course, I forgot to take pictures.  You’ll have to use your imagination.  I made these gloves for my mom and my sister-in-law.  They were together when they opened their gifts, so I made one pair navy blue and another pair brown and told them that they could exchange if they preferred the other person’s color.

I did hats in camouflage patterned yarn for my nephews.  I made a pair of socks for my brother and started a pair for my dad and plan to make a pair for my husband.  For Rosie Girl, I found a really cool mitten pattern with owls on them.  Wild Man is a huge Packer fan, so I made him a Packer hat.  I did it without a pattern, as usual, but didn’t really pay attention to the number of stitches I was using.  I finished the pattern on the night of the 23rd.  When I fastened off, I realized that it was the size of a doll hat!!  So, I started another one and finished it yesterday.  And this time, it fits.

Santa was very generous this year.  The whole family got Wii Fit Plus.  The kids really enjoy it.  Mr. Math Tutor and I like it despite the soreness that it causes!  Rosie Girl got an iPod Touch from Santa while Wild Man got several video games.  Grams and Grandpa gave Rosie Girl a tenor ocarina which has a lower range than her current ocarina.  They (along with me and Mr. Math Tutor) gave Wild Man some new Legos.

I got a Roku from Santa so that we can watch Netflix movies on the TV instead of just the computer screen.  Rosie Girl gave me a Snuggie and Wild Man gave me a really cool pillow with ribbons to hold my book so I can read hands-free.  I also got the Pioneer Woman’s cookbook, a couple of knitting books, and some jewelry.  My family knows what I like!!  I’m a very happy woman!  (And I’ve changed my mind on the socks I’m making for my dad since I got a new knitting book!!)

On the day after Christmas, we had our “Christmas Dinner” which we shared with a friend and her two kids.  I made some good, old-fashioned Southern food – roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, iced tea, pecan pie, and fudge pie.  The kids had a blast playing games.

Since then, we’ve been mostly hanging around the house and enjoying our Christmas gifts until yesterday.  But, the story of Rosie Girl’s tonsillectomy is for another post.

I hope you and your family had a great Christmas and are enjoying 2010!!

Holiday Performances

Christmas season around here means lots of music and performances!!  There are recitals, concerts, and church performances.  I try not to add too much more to our schedule so we can enjoy the music of the season!

Mr. Math Tutor plays bass guitar at church and had requested an Ashbory bass guitar for Christmas.  At Thanksgiving, the kids and I gave him permission to order the Ashbory as his Christmas gift.  He was thrilled!  And, because he got it well before Christmas, he has been able to play it during the Christmas season.

 

 

 

Rosie Girl played the first movement of a Mozart Sonata at her piano recital.

 

 

 

 

Wild Man was part of the kids’ Christmas program at church.  Rosie Girl sang with the adult choir while Mr. Math Tutor played bass guitar.  I just took pictures!!  You can see a video of the performance here.

 

 

 

 

Rosie Girl sang with the high school choir.  She also sang with the Madrigals at the choir concert and several other performances.

 

 

 

 

Rosie Girl accompanied the choir at church for a Christmas special.  This was her first time to accompany on piano.  And you can also see Mr. Math Tutor playing his new bass guitar.

I have great memories of the music of Christmas 2009!!

New Year’s Eve Eve

So I sat down to write a post about our Christmas since I haven’t written anything in a very long time.  But, the stress level in this house is at about 1000 on a scale of 1 to 10, so I don’t think I’m going to do much writing.  Why are we stressed?  Rosie Girl is having her tonsils out at 8am tomorrow.  From a purely medical point of view, this is not a big deal.  I had my own tonsils out when I was four years old, so I don’t actually remember it.  When I was in practice, I had tons of patients who had tonsillectomies so they were kind of run-of-the-mill for me.

But, it ain’t run-of-the-mill when it’s my own kid.  Nope.  For one thing, we have to leave the house at 5:30am.  The middle of the night.  We have to be at the surgery center at 6:30 and the procedure is at 8am.  I know that they won’t have her occupied for the full hour and a half before the procedure, so we have to make sure she has a bag packed with ipod, books, etc. tonight.

Of course, Rosie Girl is nervous.  I’d like to say that I’m not nervous but that’s not actually true.  Because I am.  Not so much about the outcome but because it’s a big deal and because Rosie Girl is going to have a few days of feeling really yucky afterwards.  And because it’s my kid who’s going to have general anesthesia.  I’d be much calmer if it was me.

And we have to make sure to pack plenty of stuff to keep Wild Man from getting too bored.  Video games, books, audiobooks, etc.  And, there is a man from church upstairs at the hospital recovering from a stroke, so Wild Man and Mr. Math Tutor will probably take a few minutes and visit him.

Of course, I had a migraine last night and today.  So I’ll be packing every migraine medication in the cabinet for tomorrow.  It looks like the weather system is supposed to be past us by tomorrow so the headache shouldn’t be too big an issue.

So, I’ll write a post about Christmas sometime in the next few days.  In the meantime, I’m going to go pack up snacks (for those of us who are allowed to eat tomorrow!) and boredom busters for tomorrow.

Pray for us.  All of us.

Mission Love Our Neighbors – Steps 1 and 2

Our neighbors are difficult to love.  Not the family with kids – they are great people, our kids play together, and we watch each other’s houses when we’re out of town.  Not the couple across the street – they are very sweet and have a cute little great-grandson that they watch during the week.  And not the couple a few houses over – they gave us a van a year ago (yeah – GAVE us a van for free) so we really like them.  No, it’s the neighbors on the other side of our house that we’re having issues with. 

The house is a rental and has been occupied for the last month or so by young people who look like they’re just out of high school.  They play loud music.  They ride a snowmobile in the front yard late at night.  They wait a very long time to shovel their part of the sidewalk (and then don’t keep it well-shoveled).  The police have been there to visit several times.  The owner of the house lives several hours away, so she came by a few weeks ago because a neighbor had called anonymously to complain.  The occupants haven’t done anything illegal or that looks like it would violate the lease, but they are just hard to live near.

So, I complain.  That is the Godly thing to do, right?  No, you’re right, of course.  Complaining is rarely useful or Christlike.  Normally, we take over a loaf of bread or cookies within a week or two of someone moving in nearby, but I never got around to it this time.  And, now, I’m not really all that interested in trying to get to know these kids.

And then the Holy Spirit smacks me across the face (metaphorically, of course).  In Matthew 5:43-44, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”  I don’t even know these kids enough for them to be my “enemies”.  If I should love my enemies, then I certainly need to be able to love the kids next door.

Step 1 – Pray.  I’ve started that.  I need to do it lots more.  And quit complaining (‘cause that’s a really rotten example for my children – EEK!)

Step 2 – Christmas cookies.  Who doesn’t love Christmas cookies?!  I baked a bunch of cookies the other day, so I’ll take a bag over to the house this afternoon.

Step 3 – I have no idea.  Mostly it will involve doing good and not complaining.  And more praying.  Can’t forget praying.

How do you love people who are hard to love?  What other ideas can you give me?  Any great stories of how God has changed you or the person you loved?  (Yeah, I could use a little motivation!!)

Book Review – What Women Don’t Know (and a Bonus!)

First, I have to make a short apology.  The actual Value Gifts Blog Tour was last week, so I’m late posting my reviews.  I was sick with one of my worst migraines last week, though, so I wasn’t up to reading or writing.  But, I’m up and about now, and ready to write!!

For the Value Gifts Blog Tour, I received two books to read and review: What Women Don’t Know (and men don’t tell you) and 99 Ways to Increase Your Income.

What Women Don’t Know by Michelle McKinney Hammond and Joel A Brooks Jr. is written to help single women looking for lasting love.  They set the book up into chapters describing 14 “rules” such as “Be patient”, “Know what you want”, and “Know your value”.  Each chapter is built on an important principle and is liberally supported with Scripture.

The one problem I had with reviewing this book is that I’ve been out of the dating arena for close to 20 years!  (Can it really be that long?)  Nonetheless, I found the author’s advice to be practical and on-target.  They encourage women to develop their lives as individuals while waiting for their lifelong love.  The writing was clear and the authors used scripture to support their positions.  The only real negative I found was that this book is pretty much the same as the books I read when I was single.  I think that this book is the Christian dating handbook for the current generation and I can definitely recommend it.

99 Ways to Increase Your Income by Frank Martin was a pleasant little surprise for me.  From the title, I expected a book about actually bringing more money into the household, but the author is really talking about anything that brings money in or keeps money from going out.  He starts with some brief words on managing money then moves on to tips on saving money, ways to improve your job situation, and ends with some information on saving and investing.  This short book is obviously not a comprehensive book on money management, but it has some helpful information and goes along nicely with the principles taught by Dave Ramsey.  It would make a nice stocking stuffer, particularly for a young adult who is just starting to develop their financial habits.

Both books are available online:  99 Ways to Increase Your Income and What Women Don’t Know.  I received a free copy of each book for this blog review.

Fear Not!!

My kids (OK, and the grown-ups, too) love to listen to Jungle Jam. One of our favorite bits is from the Christmas episode.

Angel: (In very deep voice) Fear not!!

Shepherds: Aaaaaaaaaaargh!!

Angel: Fear not!!!

Shepherds: Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!

Angel: What part of “Fear not” do you not understand?!

I can understand why the shepherds might have been a bit nervous. I mean, they’re out in the fields minding their own business when other-worldly beings appear in the sky and start speaking to them. Yeah, pretty fear-inducing in my world!

So, what did the angels mean by “Fear not!” On a surface level, it’s pretty clear that they were trying to say, “Hey, we’re the good guys so you don’t need to run off and leave the sheep and lose your jobs!” We’ve already established that other-worldly beings appearing in the sky is not a normal event and one might think that it’s not necessarily a good thing. The first thing the angels need to get across to the shepherds is that the angels are on the good side and have good news for them.

But then, they give them the news that a baby has been born. OK, tell me how this is fear-inducing!! It’s not like they said that the neighboring village had just been firebombed or something. They said a baby was born in a barn. I picture these shepherds saying to each other, “Ya know, the peace on earth thing is great, but I’m not really seeing how the baby thing fits in.” But, when an angel tells you to go worship, I’m guessing that you go worship. (I’m not speaking from experience here.)

I think, though, that the angels were saying something deeper when they said, “Fear not!” I have no idea if the shepherds ever really got the whole picture or not. But, God was saying, “Don’t be afraid that everything is about to change. Don’t be afraid that all you’ve known about religion is about to come to fruition in the next 33 years.” If the shepherds could have seen what was going to happen over the next 33+ years, I’m betting there would have been some serious fear going on!! The change is good, though.

Because of what happened on that night in Bethlehem (which was likely in the spring, by the way), we don’t have to be afraid! God’s plan was played out exactly the way it was supposed to. Jesus went from baby to child to adult to crucified to resurrected. Now, we need never fear. Remember that perfect love casts out all fear. All because of that first Bethlehem morning when the angels told the shepherds to “Fear Not!”

The Week From H*ll

So, this week has truly been one of the worst weeks that I can remember. And I really hate that it is during the Christmas season. I love Christmas! So, when a week like this happens during the Christmas season, it’s even worse.

What happened to make it so awful? Mostly, the migraine. I did have a little intestinal virus on Monday that made me feel kind of icky, but things weren’t too terrible. Tuesday was when everything went downhill so badly. The blizzard that came through gave me one of the worst migraines that I’ve ever had. Normally, Mr. Math Tutor would have just taken me to the Emergency Department for an IV and some heavy duty meds, but we were in the middle of a blizzard and it wasn’t safe to drive. So, I took my meds by mouth until I was throwing up too much. Then, I took the one med that I have in suppository form. Mostly, I lay on the sofa with an ice pack on my head until I needed to run to the bathroom to throw up. I thought my head was going to explode and my insides were going to turn inside out. It was an awful night. (But, I do have to say that it was pretty cool to watch the snow come down and swirl around – we got over a foot of snow and the winds were pretty wicked!)

I finally fell asleep around 8am Wednesday morning. The time that I was awake on Wednesday I still felt rotten just because I was so sore from vomiting. I had another migraine Thursday morning, but it only lasted about an hour, partly because I threw every medication in the cabinet at it!! I had pretty vivid memories from Tuesday night.

Today was better since I didn’t have a migraine, but I have had a dull headache all day. And, of course, I’m still sore all over. I was finally able to get on the treadmill for about ten minutes this evening. I’ve gotten some reading and knitting done in the last couple of days, but absolutely no housework.

Mr. Math Tutor has gone above and beyond the call of duty in taking care of me during the migraine and taking care of the house. He’s usually very good about keeping the house going when I have migraines anyway, but he didn’t get much sleep Tuesday night, either. And, he had to deal with the foot of snow in our driveway on Wednesday – when he had had very little sleep. He deserves a medal!

So, why blog about this? For one thing, it’s therapeutic for me to see this in written form. It also reminds me that it’s temporal. Even though I couldn’t go to the Emergency Department Tuesday night like I wanted to, I kept telling myself that the migraine wouldn’t last forever. I held on to the fact that the headache would only last a few hours. The migraines are miserable and they seriously disrupt my life, but I just need to hang on because the individual migraine will end eventually.

I also write so that other migraineurs can see that they aren’t alone with this awful illness. Not only are there lots of other people out there with migraines, but, more importantly, God is with us even in the worst of our pain. The Bible tells us to “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). God may not choose to take away my pain. His plan may include my being in pain. But, it doesn’t include leaving me or deserting me. “Surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

7 Quick Takes Friday – The Christmas Traditions Edition

 

For today’s 7 Quick Takes Friday, I decided I’d share some of our family’s Christmas traditions.

1. We have two cloth Advent calendars – one with a Nativity scene and the other a Christmas tree with candy.  Each day, the kids take a stuffed item (with Velcro on the back) from the numbered pockets and put it onto the scene.

2. Last year, the kids and I made two gingerbread houses and we have decided to make it a tradition because we had so much fun!!  This year, we are planning to do three houses – one for each of us!

3. Santa Claus gives each child one gift as well as filling everyone’s stockings with candy.  The kids won’t take pictures with the big red guy anymore, though!

4. We wrap our presents well before Christmas, but we don’t put them under the tree until Christmas Eve.

5. We eat lots (dare I say too many?) of mint M&Ms this time of year!!  It’s the only time of year that they are sold and I love them!!

6. We open one gift on Christmas Eve right after we read the Christmas story from Matthew or Luke.

7. The kids make a paper chain to put across the stairs Christmas Eve.  No one can go down the stairs until we all go together!

So, what fun Christmas traditions does your family have?  Check out other 7 Quick Takes Friday posts!!

7 Quick Takes Friday – December 4, 2009

 

1. It’s time for the Christmas wars, and the “Christians” are taking the offensive this year.  At Stand for Christmas, you can see if your favorite retailers are using religiously correct language and appropriate symbols for this time of year as they entice you to engage in more gross consumerism.  After all, this is the time of year when we show God’s love by racking up large amounts of debt while giving each other gifts of stuff we don’t need.  And the job of the retailer is to make us feel as holy as possible while we do this.  Because that’s what Christmas is all about, right?  (Jason Boyett has a nice little rant against Stand for Christmas that I like.)

2. Here’s a great post you should read about fear.  As perfect love casts out fear, so imperfect love casts in fear.  So much of the culture war is just fear.  We are afraid that God will be taken out of the public square, that liberals will run the country, and that the cashier won’t say Merry Christmas.  But, God’s perfect love will take away our fear – even the fear of the cultural changes.

3. Apparently, it snowed in Houston today.  I know this because I have several Facebook friends who live in the Houston area (not surprising since I went to college at LSU).  It also snowed some here today.  The people in Houston were ecstatic and thrilled.  The people here were mildly interested and talking about getting the snowblowers/snowmobiles/skis ready for the season.  It’s like two different worlds!

4. Mr. Math Tutor and Wild Man were reading in Luke about the resurrection of Jesus. Mr. Math Tutor had Wild Man tell me that the fact that the burial linen was in the tomb and folded was part of the evidence that Jesus' body wasn't stolen. I told them it was evidence that God wants us to fold our clothes.  They weren’t really amused.

5. So, while I’m trying to simplify Christmas and doing the whole Advent Conspiracy thing, my daughter is getting crazy busy because she’s in the school choir and the church choir.  I was incredibly proud that she made it into the Madrigal’s singing group, but that means that she has three or four Madrigals performances in addition to her Treble Choir performance and church choir performance (where she’ll also be playing accompaniment for one piece).  I’ve tried to make sure she doesn’t have any other external commitments, though, because I want our family to be able to enjoy our time together.

6. I’ve noticed something rather disturbing since my parents left last week.  My kitchen appears to no longer be self-cleaning and our food supply appears to be dwindling.  While my parents were here, the food and kitchen stuff kind of took care of itself as if by magic.  I’m going to have to cook and clean again, I’m afraid.

7. I had my thyroid scan done this week, and all is normal!!  And, I am now back on thyroid hormone and must be having a great placebo effect because I feel great even though I know that there can only be a small amount of hormone in my system yet.  Nonetheless, I’m a happy woman.  I’m also trying desiccated thyroid instead of levothyroxine to see if that helps my migraines any.  It’s a long-shot, but we’ll see what happens!

Check out Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes Friday entries!!

A Whole Bunch Of Wasted Self-Righteousness!

 

Have you heard of Advent Conspiracy?  It’s a great movement that encourages us during the holidays to “Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, and Love All.”  Their website has lots of great ideas, including the chance to contribute to Living Water International, an organization that helps provide clean water to people all over the world.

I found out about Advent Conspiracy last year and Mr. Math Tutor and I thought it sounded like a great idea.  For the last couple of years, we have intentionally spent less on gifts by both giving fewer gifts and making more handmade gifts.  We are trying to give a higher percentage of our income to charities such as Living Water International, but also to Ninos de la Luz and other groups.  And, we’ve radically cut down our schedule and even now celebrate our Christmas over three full days (although you could argue that the schedule changes were mandated by my headaches – but, hey, whatever).

So, I was feeling pretty darn good about myself coming up on this Christmas season.  While everyone else was hitting the malls on Black Friday, Mr. Math Tutor and I did our little bit of shopping online and I went back to my knitting.  We put up our Christmas decorations, but chose not to put up lights outside because they’re just too much trouble.  Even our Christmas tree is a 4 foot artificial tree that we put on a table to make it look larger.  I was feeling pretty smug about how relaxed we are this Christmas season and how we can really focus on what it’s all about.

Apparently, though, I’ve been focusing on how great our family is.  Kind of like a Christmas Pharisee.  I got seriously convicted when I read the following on the Advent Conspiracy blog:

I’m worried that people are being guilted into Advent Conspiracy. The last thing we want is for people to feel like they can’t shop because their church or family member or friend told them it’s not the [AC] way. Because that’s not true. So what is the [AC] way? Simply this: We want to encourage people to do Christmas differently by worshiping Jesus first before anything else. We want to push back on hyper-consumerism. Notice the word “hyper”. We’re not saying you shouldn’t buy a gift, we’re merely suggesting you don’t gorge yourself on gifts or buy stuff out of obligation.

[snip]

I know some think it’s hip to push against “the man”, but when it’s taken to extremes we sound like a man ourselves--an old man who’s gone all Scroogy on everyone, sitting on a hill of righteousness using scripture like rounds of ammunition. Who wants to be around someone like that at Christmas? Plus, we happen to know a few folks who could be considered “the man”, and they’re doing some amazing things for the kingdom through [AC]. You know what that means? That means this movement is for everyone, because Jesus is for everyone. Christ told us in the book of Matthew to love even “the least of these”. And guess what gang, we ARE the “least of these”. We’ve all fallen short, and we all need Jesus.

The advent season has begun. Let’s use this season to love one another well instead of making us-vs-them statements. Let’s put Jesus in front of us and let Him lead us into a life of joy and exhilaration to the point where we can barely catch our breath.

I was feeling self-righteous over how good I was being about Christmas.  Just like the Pharisee who prayed  “Thank you, God, that I am not like that tax collector”, I was saying, “Thank you, God, that I am not like all those materialists”.  Yet, I am.  Maybe not as much of a materialist as I used to be, but just as much of a sinner.  And, apparently, you can add pride and self-righteousness to my (incredibly long) list of sins.  What wasted energy I was spending on being self-righteous!  Ugh!

So, tonight, let’s all sit down and enjoy the Advent season.  Let’s shop joyfully because we are giving gifts to show our friends and family how much we love them.  Let’s bake with abandon because we love our friends and coworkers (enough to ask them to consume thousands of extra calories, apparently).  Mostly, let’s love others like Jesus loves them – completely and with abandon.  I’ll do Christmas in a way that works for our family and not worry about how you do your Christmas celebrations (unless you plan to send cookies, in which case, chocolate chip without nuts is preferred - ‘cause that’s what Jesus would want).

If Advent Conspiracy sounds like something you’d like to get involved in, check out their website.  They also have resources for churches that would like to participate in Trade As One and Living Water International.  And remember to Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, and Love All!!

More on Thankfulness in Difficulty

First of all, can I just say that I love it when I get to quote someone way smarter than I am about something I’ve previously written. So, I’m pretty happy about this.

Tullian Tchividjian wrote on his blog about being thankful for pain.

To be thankful for our comforts only is to make an idol of this life. “God-sent afflictions”, says Maurice Roberts, “have a health-giving effect upon the soul” because they are the medicine used to purge the soul of self-centeredness and this world’s vanities. Pain, in other words, sharpens us, matures us, and gives us clear “eye-sight.” Pain transforms us like nothing else can. It turns us into “solid” people. Roberts continues, “Those who have been in the crucible have lost more of their scum.” All of this should cause us to be deeply thankful.

It’s been said that pain is the second best thing because it leads us to the Best Thing (God). For, it is only when we come to the end of ourselves that we come to the beginning of God. And it is only when we come to the beginning of God that we come to the beginning of life.

What more can I say? I am thankful for my pain because God is leading me to Him. What more could I want?

Hard To Be Thankful

So, we just got finished with Thanksgiving when we were supposed to give thanks for all of our blessings. Just having a stable food supply and a place to live makes us more fortunate than probably 90% of the rest of the world, so we should be thanking God every day for just about everything!! Nonetheless, it is nice to have a day to remember that everything that sustains us comes from God.

So, I’m thankful for all the usual things like food, shelter, and family. I’m thankful for LSU football at the moment because they’re winning against Arkansas (but that may be temporary depending on the outcome of the game). I’m thankful for two funny and beautiful children. I’m thankful for an amazing husband who loves me as much as he does.

But, sometimes, it’s hard to be thankful. But, God tells us to be thankful for everything – and he doesn’t qualify it by saying to be thankful for all the good stuff. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” Ouch.

It’s hard to be thankful for migraines, but Paul writes that we are to give thanks in ALL circumstances, not just the ones that we like. And, I’m not liking the migraine I’ve got right now. Being thankful for the tests and trials of life doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t make an attempt to resolve them. I’m still seeing my chiropractor and adjusting my medications. But, I have to thank God for the migraines.

Why? Why in the world would God want us to thank him for bad things as well as good things? A couple of things come to mind. First of all, what appears to be bad may eventually turn out to be good. Joseph told his brothers that what they intended for evil, God intended for good. God may have some greater use for my migraines. Second, I think that God teaches us simply through the act of gratitude. When we can take our eyes off ourselves long enough to thank God for the bad stuff in our lives, we can look around and see what other needs there are in the world. That’s just my thoughts. Let’s face it – God’s mind is way bigger than mine and so he’s probably got even more going on than I can think of right now.

So, what do you need to be thankful for today? What is hard to be thankful for?

Of Scans and Psychosis

When I was 10 years old – 32 years ago, for those of you keeping track – I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, aka chronic thyroiditis.  At that time I was started on desiccated thyroid tablets (aka pork or cow thyroid gland ground up and dried – yeah, it’s gross, but I didn’t find this out till much later).  This was in the days before Synthroid (aka levothyroxine – stuff made in a lab – I don’t know if that’s better or worse than the ground up thyroid glands of other mammals).

So, before it became trendy to have thyroid trouble, I had thyroid trouble.  Of course, I can’t really blame much on my thyroid because my thyroid levels have been in good shape since I started medication.  Well, except for one month.  You see, when I was ten, the doctors took blood and felt my thyroid gland and made the diagnosis and gave me medicine and I was good with all this.  When I was 14, though, they decided they wanted to do a nuclear medicine scan of my thyroid gland.  The only reason I can think that they decided to do this at that time in my life was that the scanner was new and exciting.  I mean, what could have changed in 4 years.  We already knew that my thyroid gland was the size of, well, something larger than it should be. 

So, the doctors in their great wisdom (I didn’t know then that I would join their ranks 20-odd years later) had me go off my thyroid medicine for a month so they could do the scan.  I don’t remember much about this time in my life.  I was 14 and the major decisions in my world generally involved clothing choices and who to sit with at lunch.  But, as my mother tells it, the month was not pretty.  By the time we got to the scan, she told the technicians to get the scan over with so I could have my medication back because I was crying at the drop of a hat.  Apparently, I was a little more moody than usual.  Although, I remember 14 being a pretty moody time of life, so I’m not sure how she could be sure.  But, she was. 

I remember getting to see the scan itself, which was cool.  The thyroid gland looks like a butterfly.  Mine looked like a really big butterfly.  According to the technicians, at least.  I’m not sure it was good for a teen girl’s psyche to hear the techs marvel about “the size of that thing”!  But, there it was, in all it’s glory – my 5x normal size thyroid gland.  (When I got a lovely string of pearls after graduating med school, I had to get an extender because they didn’t fit around my neck because of my enlarged thyroid gland.  True story.)

Well, I went back on medication and had no further incidents until I was 17 when I was switched over to Synthroid which made me happy because the crushed-up cow or pork thyroid gland kind of grossed me out a bit.  Then my endocrinologist also decided that he wanted to do a fine needle aspiration, yet another new technology.  I was starting to feel like a thyroid guinea pig.  I politely declined.  My mother accepted.  I declined.  My mother accepted and told me that if I wanted to eat at her table again, I would have the procedure done.  She won.  I’m not proud.  Food is my downfall.  And I was a minor – what were my options?  I almost fainted during the procedure, but it only took 10 minutes and did not require giving up my thyroid medication.  And the samples were completely normal.  Yippee.

So, for the next 28 years, I’ve been faithfully taking my levothyroxine (various brand names based on what was cheapest), having my levels checked, and having different doctors feel my thyroid gland (wow, that’s a big gland!).  No big deal.  I know I have a couple of nodules and nothing has changed.

But . . . and that’s where things get dicey.  Chronic thyroiditis is associated with an increased chance of thyroid cancer as well as lymphoma.  (It’s also associated with diabetes, Addison’s disease, and other autoimmune diseases which my doctor and I keep in the backs of our minds.)  So, since it’s been 28 years since my thyroid gland has been imaged, I’m having another nuclear med scan done the first week of December.  This time they wanted me off my meds for 6 weeks.  It’s been almost 4 weeks now.

And this is where we get to the psychosis part of the title!!  OK, that may be a little hyperbole.  Or not.  But, let me tell you, I am seriously missing my thyroid replacement.  My headaches are worse.  I’m exhausted, but have trouble sleeping.  My skin is more dry.  My moods are all over the place – and I don’t realize that I’m being moody until I’ve already gone and said or done something I regret.  And I’m freezing cold!!!  I feel like my entire body has gone on full-scale rebellion! 

Two and a half more weeks till I can have my meds back!!  And, I’m probably going back to desiccated thyroid to see if that might help the headaches a bit.  I figure that, at 42, I should be able to get over the source of the tablet.  Right?  Right.  But,the main thing is that I get my meds back as of December 3!!!!!!!!!!!  I will be a truly happy girl again!  Well, after about a week or so when the levels come back up.  In the meantime, I’m hanging on by my fingernails and praying for my poor family!

 

Our Week in Review – November 15, 2009

We finished Week 11 here in our little corner of the educational world.  Nothing terribly earth-shattering happened, but it was generally enjoyable.

Rosie Girl

Her choir class sang at a Veteran’s Day presentation at the Middle School on Wednesday.  They did quite well and I was very proud of them.  It was also very interesting to see all the kids sitting on the bleachers and almost all of them were slouching, but Rosie Girl was sitting straight up – remnants of all those years in ballet class!

I continue to be thrilled with Writeathome.com.  Rosie Girl has had two graded assignments returned, one was a “B” and the other an “A”.  She clearly showed improvement from the initial drafts to the final drafts.  And there was no arguing with me!!

Rosie Girl asked me last night if she could loan out one of her Sonlight books from last year - Don’t All Religions Lead to God?.  I told her it was fine with me and asked why and to whom.  She said that one of her friends in choir believes that all religions believe pretty much the same thing, so it doesn’t matter which religion you believe as long as you’re sincere.  Rosie Girl thought that this book would be very helpful for her and offered to let her read it.  I’m definitely pleased that my girl is talking about faith issues to her friends.

For Science this week, Rosie Girl was supposed to do a microscope lab, but I couldn’t find the slides that she needs.  I have concluded that I actually didn’t purchase those slides, so I have to decide how strongly I feel about her looking at them. 

At the public school parent-teacher conferences, Rosie Girl’s art teacher was very pleased with how she’s doing.  He commented that she does tend to get behind easily, but that’s because she’s something of a perfectionist.  She’s getting a little better at choosing projects that are more doable, and her teacher definitely is happy to have a student who wants to work hard, so he’s happy.  We didn’t get to talk to her choir teacher.  In any case, she has “A’s” in both classes.

Wild Man

One of the main things that I have noticed with Wild Man has been that reading is not an obstacle to much of anything anymore.  He still does Explode the Code which is helpful for the sounds that he still has trouble with, but he is able to figure out most words now from context that he rarely gets completely stumped in a book.

In light of Wild Man’s reading prowess and my spate of migraines, I have had him start reading “Adventures of an Early American Boy” for Science since we haven’t done nearly as many experiments as I would have liked.  After he finishes that book, I’ll have him reading biographies of scientists.

I have been constantly surprised by how much information Wild Man has been learning from sources unknown to me.  For example, he was able to tell me about guerilla warfare tactics used by the American colonists and why they were effective against the British regulars.  We talked about World War 1 on Veteran’s Day and Wild Man knew a good bit about trench warfare and why it was so horrendous.  There’s information stored in his head that comes out at surprising times!

On Wednesday, Wild Man and I worked at the Nutrition Center as usual.  After working, he took out his bell set and drum pad and played a little bit for the clients.  Several of the clients that day stayed at the center until time to go to the Veteran’s Day program at the Middle School.  Wild Man and I went home first, but then walked to the Middle School for the program.  There was something very special about seeing these guys who were just the elderly men who at lunch at the center most of the time who were now dressed up sharp and carrying the flags.  It made and impression on me and Wild Man.  All of the sudden, we realized that these guys had done more than just run the farm and raise a family – they protected our country.  Wow.

On parent-teacher conference day, Mr. Math Tutor and I visited Wild Man’s band teacher.  He agreed that Wild Man is, indeed, very distractible, but said that he was easily redirected back to the task at hand and wasn’t a behavior problem.  Wild Man needs to practice more, but is otherwise doing well in band. 

So, that was our week.  This next week is going to be just a four day week for academics because the grandparents are coming on Thursday night.  I’m going to be working on the schedules tonight.  We are taking all of Thanksgiving week off of school.  The kids will still have to go to their public school classes, but they won’t have to do their academic work here that week.

So, how was your week?  Anything exciting happen?  Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers for more great posts!!

 

The Secret to Homeschooling High School

Yes, indeed, you have come to the right place because I’m going to tell you the secret to homeschooling high school – how to make sure our precious darlings one day become productive citizens who move out of our house, quit eating our food, and buy their own clothes, how to ensure that they can spell their own names and know their date of birth, how to get a child from reading Dr. Seuss to Shakespeare.  Are you ready?  Here it is.

I have no idea!!!!

We are eleven weeks into my daughter’s freshman year of high school and I have only one concrete piece of advice for anyone attempting this crazy venture:

Pray without ceasing!

It really helps that it was God’s idea first, so I’m clearly a total copycat here.  But, I can’t stress enough that praying is the only thing that seems like it might do a lick of good over the next four years.

So, why did we even attempt to homeschool through high school – besides the obvious fact that I’m crazy?  First of all, we were doing so well through eighth grade that it just seemed like the right thing to do.  Second, we live in a small town and the local public school doesn’t have much in the way of curricular choices.  For example, all the kids take the same English 1, 2, 3, and 4.  There aren’t any advanced classes except for a few AP classes and nothing like Creative Writing.  Third, I really want to spend the next few years working on developing an even closer relationship with my daughter and that’s easier to do when she’s here instead of at school.  Then there are the other things like the fact that schools don’t fit well with kids’ circadian rhythms, the entire institutional nature of schools rubs me the wrong way, and I want my kids to spend more time with groups of people of different ages, not just their own age (to name a few reasons of about a hundred).

But it’s not easy.  Rosie Girl and I butt heads about getting her work done just about every week.  Part of me wonders if it is really worth doing this or should we put her in school or do an online school.  We are already having her do an online writing course since that’s the subject that has given us such fits in the past.  The reason that we continue with what we’re doing right now is that I see progress in our relationship every week.  Rosie Girl is not only learning to manage her work (and I’m learning to help her) but the two of us are learning to talk about the problem, not just carp at each other.

I hope that I can give some of you some more concrete advice at the end of this year, but right now, we’re just hanging on for dear life and enjoying the ride!!  And, of course, praying without ceasing!!

Check out Thirsty Thursday to see what others have to say this week!

Baked Garlic and Onion Cream Soup

 

It’s Fall – time for soup!!  On Sunday, I made two kinds of soup, along with some foccacia and a chocolate sheet cake.  Yep, I have a happy family!!  So, here’s a recipe to warm you up this Fall.

Baked Garlic and Onion Cream Soup

  (Source:  Appleton Post-Crescent Newspaper  By Darryl Kilsdonk)

Ingredients

• 6 large onions, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 2 heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled
• 5 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves (I used ground thyme with good results)
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 2 cups heavy or whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley for garnish

Directions

• Preheat over to 350 degrees.
• Place the onions and garlic in a shallow roasting pan.  Add 3 cups of the chicken stock.  Sprinkle with the thyme, pepper, and salt.  Dot with butter.
• Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours.  Stir once or twice while it is baking.
• Remove the pan from the oven and use a blender or food processor to puree the onions and garlic with the liquid in batches, until smooth.
• With the motor on, gradually add the remaining 2 cups stock and the cream.  Pour the soup into a large saucepan.
• Adjust the seasonings and slowly heat through.  Do not allow the soup to boil.
• Sprinkle with the parsley and serve.
• Serves 6-8

My modifications

• I don’t have a roasting pan, so I use 2 9x13 glass baking pans and divide the onions and garlic between them.
• I have found that baking the onions for longer than the 1 1/2 hours makes them softer, but also sweeter.  Experiment to see which consistency and flavor you prefer.
• My blender won’t hold all of this soup, so I puree (actually liquefy or grind!) the contents of one baking pan then empty it into the saucepan, then do the contents of the other baking pan and empty it into the saucepan.  I then add the remaining stock (broth) and cream to the saucepan and stir.  I make my soup really smooth, so there’s nothing lost by not having it all in the blender at once.
• I didn’t have enough cream on Sunday, so I used 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of Half and Half with good results.
• This stores well in the fridge for several days.
• I love it with fresh bread – particularly French bread or foccacia.
• This is also a great soup to keep your insides moving, if you know what I mean!!

Here are the other recipes I used Sunday night:

• Pioneer Woman Chocolate Sheet Cake recipe from Serious Eats
• Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe from Big Mama. 
• Focaccia recipe from Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here for More Food.

Happy Cooking!!

Check out what others are saying on Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and I Am Blissfully Domestic!!

Christians as Slave Owners??

So, I was reading the book of Philemon the other day and was a little perplexed.  What?  The book of Philemon?  It’s the little one-pager right before Hebrews.  Yeah, there it is.  You haven’t heard of it?  That’s OK.  I think the only time most of us hear about it is when we memorize the books of the Bible or do a read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year thing.  Which is why I was reading the book of Philemon.  It came up in my Year-long Bible.

Philemon is a letter written by the Apostle Paul to Philemon regarding Onesimus.  Apparently, Onesimus was a slave who belonged to Philemon but had run away.  Philemon was a Christian who had apparently been won to Christ by Paul.  At some point, Onesimus came into contact with Paul and became a believer.  Paul seems to have convinced Onesimus to return to Philemon with this letter in which Paul exhorts Philemon to accept Onesimus back into his household as a brother in Christ.

I got a lot of the info in the previous paragraph from the Broadman Bible Commentary.  Some of it can be easily inferred from Philemon itself, but some of the other information is more obscure.  For example, it is generally agreed that Onesimus was a runaway slave, although it is not explicitly stated in the letter.  Some people have speculated that Onesimus was an apprentice which would make most of the rest of this post irrelevant, but bear with me anyway.

The part of the letter I have a question about is verses 15-17 “Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a while was that you might have him back for good – no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.  He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.  So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.”

Here’s my question – why didn’t the Apostle Paul explicitly tell (or ask) Philemon to free Onesimus?  It is agreed among Christians today that slavery is completely foreign to the will of God.  There is an implied request that Philemon accept Onesimus as a brother, but there is no explicit statement that Philemon shouldn’t OWN another person.  It’s so obvious to me that slavery is wrong and I have a hard time seeing that this belief is culturally conditioned.  So why doesn’t Paul tell people, “Hey, quit it!  You can’t own another person!  You need to treat each other with the dignity God has given you.”

In Ephesians 6, Paul tells the Ephesian church that slaves should obey their earthly masters with respect – OK, that’s understandable since they can’t do anything about it.  But then he goes on to tell masters to treat their slaves well.  Hmmmm.

Here are some options and my thoughts:

1. Slavery is no big deal.  People can own each other and God is cool with it. 

I seriously doubt it!!

2. Slavery is a cultural situation to which we should adapt as Christians (think – women wearing pants in the 20th century). 

I’m not comfortable with this explanation.  Clothing can be a cultural issue that can change while the primary moral issue – modesty – remains in place.  In the situation of slavery, it’s hard to see how there can be any acceptable ethical or moral situation for Christians to own slaves.

3. Baby steps.  When an individual comes to Christ, the Holy Spirit doesn’t convict them of every sin all at once. 

Talk about overwhelming!  In a modern situation, a business person who comes to Christ may be convicted first to deal with anger issues with a spouse before dealing with shady business dealings.  The point here is that the Holy Spirit convicts.  Perhaps Paul knew that Philemon was not yet ready to deal with the slavery issue.  Perhaps, having Onesimus return as a Christian was going to be the impetus for him to deal with it.  But, this doesn’t really deal with the fact that nowhere in Scripture does Paul speak against slavery like he does adultery and plenty of other sins.  The Apostle Paul certainly wasn’t shy!!

4. Paul was trying to get across concepts that transcend earthly relationships. 

This might be a reasonable explanation.  In whatever situation, we need to act in a Christ-like fashion.  There may have been a very few examples in which freeing a slave was not in anyone’s best interest (I’m thinking of 19th century American in which free blacks were often picked up and sold back into slavery) and treating each other in a Christ-like way is more important.  Paul’s statements would also apply to employer/employee relationships as well.

5. Paul may not be terribly concerned about slavery because once we have freedom in Christ, our situation on this earth is paltry compared to what awaits us in Heaven. 

I’m not sure what I think about this explanation.  I think it makes sense from the perspective of the slave, in that, our soul’s are free no matter what happens to the body.  I still have trouble with the idea that a Christian could be a slave owner. 

I know that the book of Philemon and verses from Ephesians 6 were used to justify continuing slavery in the United States, even though most slaveholders were nominally Christian.  Why isn’t Scripture more explicit on this topic?  Do you have any ideas or thoughts?

 

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

I love modern worship music, but I have a special place in my heart for hymns from my childhood and adolescence. Not only do they bring back memories of when I first gave my life to Christ, but they have beautiful language from years gone by. Here’s one of my favorites:

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

1. Come Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of God's unchanging love.

2. Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

3. O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let that grace now like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

“Ebenezer” refers to 1 Samuel 7:12 - “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped us.” Ebenezer means “stone of help”. When I sing “Here I raise my Ebenezer”, I’m saying that God is my helper, the only one who will bring me safely home.

When I sing “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love”, I sometimes just want to cry. God loves me so much, but yet I’ll wander away at the drop of a hat like I’ve got spiritual ADD or something. But, not God. He doesn’t wander and He will “bind my wandering heart” to Him. Amazing.