Being Domestic

So, when I quit the whole “doctor” gig (because of headaches), I figured I’d be all domestic, hence the name of this blog – “Adventures in Domesticity”. I actuality, there’s far less domesticity going on around here than you’d think for someone who stays at home as much as I do. What do I do?  Ummmmmm, I knit, read, educate the kids, and think about being domestic.

But, I was incredibly domestic yesterday. So domestic that I need to record it for posterity.

First, I sewed. As in used a sewing machine. I threaded the machine, threaded the bobbin, and sewed actual seams. What, you may ask, possessed me to try to sew? I wanted to make a project bag for knitting projects that I found on Pinterest. And I did!! I’m incredibly proud of myself.

Then I made creamy onion-garlic soup. Cooking isn’t a rare thing for me like sewing, but I did cook on the same day that I sewed.

And then I made cookies. I kind of had to make cookies because Wild Man and I (mostly Wild Man) ate the last batch a few weeks ago before PWM got any.

And I finished up by actually cleaning the kitchen – mostly. There’s still one cookie sheet to be washed, but things are overall pretty clean.

That was my “domestic” day. Have you done anything domestic lately?

Our Week In Review–The One Where We’re So Far Behind

The grandparents are all back in Florida and we’re supposed to be getting back to normal. Except that we’re not. Back to normal, that is.

I was overwhelmed with headaches this week which, of course, had a negative impact on our week. But, I did manage to do a huge grocery trip to Woodman’s on Tuesday. We have plenty of meat in our freezer and candy for Halloween. The important things in life, you know.

Wild Man – The big issue for Wild Man this week was that he was behind on his schoolwork from last week and he never got caught up. In fact, I think he got further behind. Most of my non-headache time is going to be spent making sure that he is getting caught up on his work, even if he has to work longer than usual.

I’m learning to be more laid back about things. When Rosie Girl would get behind on her schoolwork, I would get all upset and worry that she was irresponsible, etc., etc. Now, I’m taking it in stride. Of course, Wild Man is behind. He’s 14 years old and needs more of a push than I could give him this last week. I’m not lecturing him about being more responsible, but I am going to try to teach him how to get caught up and stay caught up. Everyone’s life will be easier. (Poor Rosie Girl. We made all our parenting and homeschooling mistakes with her. It’s a miracle she’s survived.)

Rosie Girl – She’s getting ready for her ACT next Saturday. I had her do a timed essay this week and was pleased with the results. The rest of her ACT prep this next week is just going to be doing more math and doing some practice science questions.

Rosie Girl started her college application and got as far as the personal statement. She’s going to work on that after the ACT and will hopefully have all of the application done within the next few weeks. Of course, I need to get her transcript finalized and mailed.

The next thing after the college application is her audition, assuming that she is accepted into the university. She is hoping to audition in February, so she and her piano teacher are working to get her pieces ready. After that, she will work on the rest of her repertoire for her senior recital and any auditions for scholarships. Whew!

That was our week. How was yours? Check our Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what others are up to!!

7 Quick Takes Friday–October 19, 2012

 

1. My mom has been gone for about two weeks and we have finally found the big aluminum bowl. She may have thought that she had won by hiding it so well, but we managed to find it in less than a month. Yay! We won!!

2. This has been a terrible week for headaches, but I did have a good session at physical therapy. My therapist says that my rhomboid muscles (between my shoulder blades) are stronger and that my posture is better. Yippee!!

3. I’ve been using plastic zipper bags to keep my various knitting projects separate, but they’re not really an ideal solution. I came across a tutorial on Pinterest on how to make cloth bags, so I’m going to try that soon. Of course, it will require that I get on speaking terms with my sewing machine . . . .

4. Wild Man (age 14) needs a photo ID to get his passport even though he’s not in school (so he doesn’t have a school ID) and he isn’t old enough to drive (so he doesn’t have a driver’s license).  Sooooo, we’ll be going to the DMV and getting him a photo ID next week. Later the same day, we’ll take the exact same pieces of paper that he used to get the ID from the DMV to the courthouse and use them plus the brand new photo ID to apply for his passport. Does anyone else see the psychosis in this???? (Thankfully, Rosie Girl has a driver’s license so we get to skip this craziness for her.)

5. When my parents were here, my mom bought a bunch of scarf yarn and has been knitting up a storm!! It sounds like she’s still knitting like a crazy woman because she had PWM send her some more yarn and some hand-turned needles this week. I may have created a monster. Oh, well . . . .

6. My computer has taken to overheating again. From what I’ve read online, the next step is to actually take the bottom off and clean out the area around the fan and heat sink. Really? I think I’m going to see if I can bribe PWM to do that so I can play with pretty fabric and the sewing machine.

7. Rosie Girl started her college application this week. I’m trying to keep my hyperventilating down to a minimum. And I’m pretty unsuccessful.

So, what’s up in your world? Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what others are doing!

 

Curriculum Review–Revelation for Everyone

When I picked up Wild Man from camp this summer, he told me all about everything he had done during the week and everything he had learned, including all about what was going to happen in the “end times”. He had learned the popular “premillenial dispensationalist” perspective from his counselors which includes the Pre-tribulation rapture of the church, etc. I didn’t object to his hearing this – he is a teenager, after all. He’s certainly old enough to learn about different points of view. It did, though, remind me that PWM and I needed to make sure he got another perspective rather soon.

Things worked out pretty easily because Wild Man said that he wanted to learn more about Revelation, particularly what PWM and I believe. So, I started looking for a good curriculum for him. I have several really good books on Revelation, particularly that address the use of apocalyptic language, but they are college/seminary level books and not great for a 14 year old. I wasn’t crazy about what I saw for homeschool curriculum.

Then I was reminded of N.T. Wright’s “For Everyone” series of commentaries. I don’t know if they are available for the entire New Testament yet, but they are available for many of the epistles and for Revelation. Revelation for Everyone has been great for Wild Man. The reading level is right about high school age and it’s written for a general audience and doesn’t assume a high level of previous biblical knowledge.

It’s a commentary, not a curriculum, so there are no comprehension or study questions. But, it does have something of a devotional/application tone to it. Wright handles each passage separately, with an introduction, an explanation, and then a little wrap-up/application/lesson. They don’t have “3 action steps” for each section or anything like that, but he does make sure to have a summary at the end of the section.

What I mostly like about this commentary is Wright’s overall approach to Revelation. He looks at the original author, audience, and context to try to figure out the meaning of what are, admittedly, very confusing passages. He doesn’t spend much time detailing apocalyptic literature, but gives a brief explanation. While he doesn’t assume that the reader has a strong grasp of Old Testament apocalyptic literature, he doesn’t hesitate to explain the images that refer back to these passages. And he explains why the first century church would have understood these images so readily.

Wright does not take the premillenial dispensationalist point of view, which is one reason I chose this particular commentary. I think that Wright’s perspective makes the most sense and I hope that my kids will agree. But, I really wanted Wild Man to read that bible scholars can disagree on some of these issues while still taking scripture very seriously. And I think it’s working.

How are we using this as a curriculum? I have Wild Man read one section each day and then I give him a question to answer in his notebook. Given his dyslexia, this pushes the language part of his brain! He has also started several discussions about what he is reading – sometimes just discussing what Revelation says, sometimes comparing Wright’s perspective to what he learned at camp.

I can strongly recommend this for personal study or for homeschool use. If using it as curriculum, you may choose to add questions or other writing or response, depending on your educational philosophy. I prefer using “real” books, including commentaries, as much as possible for home education, and this one fits quite well into our home education plan.

Al Dente Potatoes

I love to watch cooking shows like Chopped, Top Chef, and Top Chef Masters. Something that happens entirely too often, though, is that the chefs will try to cook rice, pasta, or potatoes in too short a period of time. What gets served to the judges ends up being raw. I have to laugh when I hear the contestant say something like, “Well, I like my potatoes ‘al dente’” or “It’s toothsome!”.

Yesterday, Patrick started some stew meat cooking in the crock pot. I didn’t get around to putting the potatoes in until around 3pm. When cooking potatoes in the crock pot, they take more than the typical 30 minutes or so to cook. In fact, we didn’t end up having our stew until around 8pm, and those potatoes were still rather “al dente”!! (Although, when I reheated my stew today in the microwave, the extra 30 seconds seemed to get them to just about the right level of doneness.)

Lesson learned. Put the potatoes in the crock pot around noon. Or eat raw potatoes. Or “al dente”. Whatever word makes you happy.

TV News

Do you watch the news? I don’t. Not any more. I still keep up with what’s going on in the world, but I’ve found that the packaging of information on television is very frustrating to me.

For one thing, I read quickly, so reading a news story is fast for me. But, I also find that the TV news shows and even the videos on the internet are painfully lacking in information.

And they all have some level of bias – even if it’s just on what stories merit coverage.

The emotionalism is also excessive. I want to know what is happening in the world, not to have my emotions torn from one side to the other. Certainly, some stories are heart-rending and can’t be told completely clinically, but when every story is intended to make me feel big emotions, I eventually feel none. And the emotions are quite often intended to swing my opinion one way or another – when I just came to read about events.

My solution: I read several news websites. I’m not a news junkie, so I no longer subscribe to the in-depth papers like the Wall Street Journal, but I usually check out a couple of news sites every couple of days. I rarely watch TV news except for live events like debates or election returns. PWM and I talk over current events with the kids at least once a week, so they aren’t isolated from what is happening.

During this recent election cycle, I’ve realized how much work it is to manage the media presence. Even without TV news, there are always little sidebars and pop-ups on web pages. I don’t want to completely ignore things, though, because I want to make informed decisions in November. I want to be able to pray for our country right now. And free speech and free elections are such a gift that I don’t want to take them for granted!

I think I’ve got a decent balance right now on how much information and media to allow in. I don’t want to get emotionally overwhelmed by it, but I don’t want to be uninformed. That’s why I need to keep some discipline of reading about what is happening but pay attention to the sources that work for me.

How do you manage all voices around us without losing your mind?

Sunday Mornings Can Be Hard

Going to Sunday morning church service is hard for me sometimes. OK, a lot of times. It’s not the worship, fellowship, or music that’s hard. It’s the logistics. And the timing. And just life.

I know the importance of being part of the local church. I was so thrilled to be present last week when we had communion. I love worshiping through music, and it’s especially cool to when PWM and Wild Man are helping to lead with the worship team. But being there on Sunday morning only happens about half to two-thirds of the time these days.

I have a hard time being up and moving by 10am on a good day. I’m more of a night owl. When I was healthy and working, this wasn’t a big deal. I was at work by 7 or 8, so I could be up and at church whatever time I needed to be. That’s not so easy anymore. This morning, I was up at 6am, but with a headache, neck pain and hip pain. It’s a really slow morning – even if I don’t crawl back into bed for another hour or two. Thankfully, we have a service in the evening, so I can go then if my day perks up. And that often works well for me.

My other “church” issues are really just my own. I get up and get dressed and go and then my headache gets bad in the middle of church and I have to leave. The headache would probably have started at the same time if I had stayed home, but it doesn’t always feel that way. And I feel very obvious when I get up and leave a church service. That’s not logical. Why should the rest of the world notice when I slip out quietly? I’m pretty sure this is all in my own head.

The before and after church crowd noise is also hard on my headache, so I don’t tend to hang around and “fellowship” (aka chat) much these days. I do better in smaller groups. This really frustrates me sometimes because I still have some “extrovertness” at my core. I like being around people and I used to love throwing parties. Not so much these days. I tend to go to church service and then go home.

This doesn’t mean I’ve given up on church or faith or God. It just means that I don’t get to Sunday morning worship services every week. I’m still part of the local body of Christ, and have plenty of ways to interact with my friends and fellow believers. It’s just not always Sunday mornings.  And I need to get over my issues with the fact that American Evangelical culture has made Sunday morning a big deal. Because I am still walking with Jesus and other Christians even when I feel rotten on mornings like today.

Our Week In Review–Grandparents Part 2

Between my headaches and grandparents around, I’m not sure how much “academic” stuff got done this week. But, since we believe that academics aren’t necessarily the most important part of life, it’s all good. Some “school” got done, but all kinds of “real life” got done.

My parents left town last Friday morning so this week, we got to hang out with PWM’s mom. PWM and I worked at the shop all day Saturday, but the kids were free, so she and the kids went to Roche-A-Cri State Park for the day. It was kind of cool and cloudy, but not rainy and they had a great time.

Grandma has been getting the kids ready for their trip to Ireland in June. It’s going to be Grandma, PWM’s sister, her two youngest kids, Rosie Girl, and Wild Man. Grandma took one of the cousins on this same tour a few years ago, so she knows what to expect and is excited about getting to take the other grandkids. On Monday, Grandma took Rosie Girl and Wild Man for passport photos and we would have all gone for their passport applications, but it was Columbus Day and we figured the courthouse was probably closed. In any case, the photos are done and we can do the passport applications on Monday. She also gave the kids journals they can use to record their time in Ireland. Grandma also has a relatively new ipad that they all got to play with so they can Skype and take amazing pictures on the trip!

So, what about the academics? Well, a little bit has been done .  . .

Wild Man

• History – We’ve been reading the US Constitution together at night and I found a good article about the electoral college to go over with both kids this next week. There’s a lot about the electoral college (like “faithless electors”) that’s spelled out in state law and not the Constitution, but it would be good for the kids to know about.
• Literature – I love hearing Wild Man tell me that a book (Amos, Free Man) is really good. I was afraid that I’d have to cut down on his reading because of his dyslexia, but he’s keeping up quite well.
• Bible – This week, Wild Man got to the part of Revelation where what he has learned from his counselors at camp is completely different from what he is reading in the N.T. Wright commentary. My main point to him is that sincere believers who hold the Bible in great esteem are disagreeing on these interpretations. Yes, one is right and one is wrong, but it doesn’t mean that one set of people is “good” and one is “bad”, just that they disagree. That’s not always an easy thing for a kid his age to hear, but I think he’s ready. And he’s learning a lot from how Wright uses context and audience to guide his interpretation of the text.
• Science – This is the hardest for Wild Man in terms of reading, but he works hard at it and seems to be learning. I also like seeing how he evaluates the topic with what he knows and then reads to add to it.
• Spelling – Ah, spelling. This would have gone better if I hadn’t felt so rotten all week. As it is, though, I’m seeing some improvement in Wild Man’s spelling when he answers questions for other subjects.
• Writing – Wild Man’s writing fluency is improving significantly. However, the last couple of weeks, he’s forgotten about writing me a paragraph on Thursday. And I’ve been too overwhelmed to deal with it. We’ll be doing more writing next week.
• Math – Wild Man is doing some Flashmaster to help him with ALEKS, but he hasn’t done much ALEKS lately. I think we’ll be doing some focused Algebra over the next few weeks.
• Music – This is not a problem in Wild Man’s world. His band grade is excellent. He stays behind after band when he has questions. He’s playing acoustic guitar, cajon, and mandolin at church. At some point, I might want to add in a bit more formal theory, but I figure maybe we should catch up on spelling first!
• Physical Education – Ideally, he’d be in TaeKwonDo, but right now we’re relying on him walking and riding his bike to school and the shop because no one has the time to drive him to Waupaca for TaeKwonDo class. Sigh.

Rosie Girl

• American Government – The election fits pretty nicely into her government reading. It’s not an exciting course, but it gets her the credit she needs. And it’s useful. She’ll be learning the ins and outs of the electoral college next week, too.
• Literature – Hamlet! Rosie Girl loves Shakespeare, even when she has to read the plays instead of watch them. She’s gotten behind on writing because of this week. One of them is her timed writing practice, which is important because she’s taking the ACT with writing in a few weeks. She’s not crazy about it, but I want to make sure she has it in case she needs it for scholarship applications.
• Math – The bane of her existence. Well, lots of hard work to finish Algebra 2 and then on to Dave Ramsey.
• World Religions – Going along OK.
• Music – Lots of music. She’s mainly working on getting ready for her piano auditions, but she’s also taking composition lessons and playing guitar for fun (and the nursing home). She teaches piano lessons to an 8 year old girl as well.
• PE – Tap class is one of her favorite weekly activities. She’s also demonstrating for two dance classes. Originally, it was going to be the vey little kids, but now it’s the 8-11 year old girls in intermediate ballet and tap. She isn’t having any trouble remembering what to do, but she is having to get into a little better shape to do all the routines with them!

Next week needs to be a little more academic around here so we can get caught up. But it will be worth it. Time with the grandparents is precious. We can do spelling next week. Grandma will be back in Florida next week.

That’s what’s going on in our educational neck of the woods. I’m always amazed to watch what God is doing with my kids. What’s going on in your world? Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what others are up to!!

7 Quick Takes Friday–October 12, 2012

 

1. I can’t say that this has been a great week for me. Early last Friday morning, I fell and hit my head on an end table. For a couple of days, my fibromyalgia flared and I had acute neck and shoulder pain. On Monday and Wednesday, I saw Physical Therapy which has been helpful. I was already on steroids to break a bad migraine, which is probably why I have only had one significant migraine since the fall, but I have had lots of persistent neck and shoulder pain and just chronic headache. Ick. OK, done complaining (for the moment).

2. We’ve had PWM’s mom visiting this week. It’s been nice to have someone else cooking again this week as well as the company.

3. Between two weeks of grandparents and my headaches from h*ll, the kids have gotten behind where I’d like them to be for school. I think there will be lots of math getting done in this house next week.

4. We discovered a new TV show. Actually, Rosie Girl discovered it – and now we’re all watching last year’s episodes on Netflix at our own pace. It’s “Once Upon A Time”. We mostly watch cooking and documentary types of TV shows around here, but it’s nice to find a TV show with plot that we like.

5. I got a new book from the library a few days ago. It’s a short loan – 2 weeks – and 900 pages. I love to read, but I’m just not sure I’m going to get through the entire book in two weeks. I may end up having to wait till I get my turn to get it on audiobook.

6. Wild Man is playing mandolin at church again this week. It really is kind of crazy how he can just pick up a guitar-like instrument and play.

7.  Rosie Girl is teaching piano lessons and doing demonstrating for some dance classes this year and is loving it. She hasn’t minded babysitting in the past, but teaching really seems to be more fun for her. And she really works at finding ways to help her piano student learn. She has far more patience than I!

What’s up in your part of the world? Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday and see what others are up to!!

Thankfully Thursday–October 11, 2012

I have had a really icky day. But, we’re told to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:18) so, here goes.

1. I’m thankful that my bad days involve headaches and aren’t life-threatening.

2. I’m thankful for hanging out with a friend for an hour to just chat.

3. I’m thankful that all three grandparents have wanted to and been able to visit in the last few weeks.

Life looks a lot better from this perspective, huh?

What are you thankful for?

Debate Watching

Monday night, we finally got around to watching the presidential debate from last week. Actually, PWM and I are pretty conservative and don’t think a single debate performance would have changed our minds on much, but we really feel strongly that our kids be as involved in thinking through politics as possible. So, we bribed them. Yes, we let them have chips and soda while we watched. (Bad homeschooling mommy, bad homeschooling mommy . . . .)

After the debate, we had a really good discussion about the two candidates’ debating skills and positions. The kids had very good and pertinent observations. And they had listened to what the candidates said separately from their debating technique. Both kids agreed, though, that President Obama did not have a very strong showing in this format and they are both interested to see how he changes his style for the next two debates.

I thought it was very interesting that the kids were still talking about the debate yesterday and even some today. PWM and I take our civic responsibilities seriously and make sure to stay informed and vote, but we aren’t otherwise very political beings, so I was a bit surprised to hear Wild Man talking about things that one or the other candidate mentioned during the debate.

Rosie Girl is studying American Government this semester and Wild Man is studying American History this year, so following the election links perfectly into their other studies (and if it didn’t, we’d study it anyway!). Wild Man and I have been reading the Constitution together at night and last night we read about the Electoral College and got to talk about why the framers chose that method of choosing a president.

Just some stray thoughts about home education. Although, really, this isn’t specific to home education. Any family can (and probably should) be paying attention to the national election and making sure their kids understand (at age-appropriate levels) what is going on. And the kids might not dislike  it as much as we grown-ups think. . . .

If The Bible’s Not A Self-Help Book, Where Do I Get Help For My Self?

I have recently asserted that the Bible wasn’t given to us as just a “self-help” book. God gave us the Bible to point us to Jesus, who is far more powerful than 300 pages of “how-to”.  Here’s my issue today: I want self-help. I’m feeling overwhelmed with life and just want a set of rules on how to do things to make life easier. I want to be able to turn on TBN and do what the guys running around with bad hair are yelling about and know that I will then have a perfect little American middle class life.

Isn’t that what American Evangelicalism is all about? If I follow this book’s set of rules on diet and don’t worry about my underlying food issues, I can still be thin and perfect on the outside. Another book will give a list of principles on how to have plenty of money. And then, there are the myriad of books about how to be emotionally healthy and calm. All the time. And all of these books are based on pulling lists of what to do from the Bible. See? It’s all there. If I could just find the key, I could pull out the right set of steps for my perfect life. (‘Cause clearly, I am not emotionally healthy . . .)

Or could I? Looking back through history, I’m betting that the Christians who were fed to the lions in the first few centuries after Jesus’ resurrection weren’t feeling all contentedly American middle class on their way to the arena. Same thing with the Christians being burned at the stake by other Christians for practicing their faith “incorrectly”. And plenty of other folks who just had a rough time despite hanging on to Jesus.

Even in the Bible, Jesus doesn’t tell us to follow him to be comfortable. He tells us to “take up our cross” which means to pick up the means of our execution. Ack! But he reminds us that “In this world you will have trouble. But, take heart; I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33) In Matthew, he tells us to give us his burdens and take up his because his burden is light. (Remember that this is a man who knew he was going to be crucified in the next couple of years – light burden?!)

So, I kind of get it. I need to be walking with Jesus. The Bible is to teach me about Jesus and all the self-help stuff is kind of bonus because it’s teaching me about the character of Jesus. Right now, though, I could use some practical steps. What is the next step when I get off the computer?

My head aches. I want to be at the yarn shop, but I’m at home debating whether to ice my head or put a heating pad on my neck. My 14 year old son is growing up and getting more busy, but also starting to think for himself (who said that could happen?!). My 17 year old daughter is doing a much better job of thinking for herself, but she’s getting overwhelmed by the whole college/school/music thing. I love my husband dearly, but feel like there’s never enough time or energy to spend with him. And at some point, I think the kitchen and bathroom should be clean!

How does walking with Jesus help these problems? This is why our Christian bookstores are more like self-help bookstores! I just want a list of what to do today. How much of my Bible to read. How long to meditate. How long to pray. Who gets more of my time and energy.

My dad points out that faith is uniting my life with Christ. WHERE’S THE HOW TO LIST?

Maybe it’s because my list isn’t the same as yours. Maybe the way Jesus works in my life and wants me to walk with him isn’t the same for me as for the other 7 billion people on this planet. After all, I’m the migraine queen/yarn diva/homeschooling mom of two great kids/wife to an amazing man of rural Wisconsin. My life and walk with Jesus certainly aren’t going to be the same as that of a single mom in an urban area or a suburban mom with four kids.

The Bible is God’s way to point me to Jesus. There’s no list of rules for how I walk with Jesus. I know that my way tends to involve lots of reading, praying, meditating, and music. Other people may find that their spiritual journey is enriched with more music while others  prefer more intellectual stimulation. And the “self-help” books I’ve been complaining about aren’t all bad. Lots of them have great suggestions for how we can practically enrich our own devotional lives. I’m just starting to see that we can’t rely on them like chemical formulas.

I really want a list. But that’s not what you get in a relationship. Thankfully. (Can you imagine getting a list of “what to do” at your wedding ceremony? Ugh.) It’s a lot harder, but I suspect it will be a lot better in the long run. So, back to my life of figuring out how to “cast my cares on the Lord” without having a manual.

What are your thoughts? Any insights?

Lagniappe–10/8/2012

 

How about some unrelated trivia about life? OK? Good.

1. I changed my blog theme again for anyone who comes to the page to read it. Hope it’s not too disorienting that I keep changing it. This time, though, I needed to make this blog different from The Knitting Nest blog page so I could remember what I was supposed  to be writing!!

2. Wild Man is borrowing a friend’s “cajon” to play for youth worship a couple of weeks ago and is also going to be playing it for “grown-up” worship this Sunday. Don’t know what a “cajon” is? That’s OK. Neither did I. “Cajon” is the Spanish word for box. Here’s a link to one in a catalog. Basically, the musician sits on top of it and produces different sounds (snare, bass drum, etc.) by striking different parts of the front of the box. Cool, huh?

3. We had a day of overlapping grandparent visits. Now, though, just Grandma is here. Since PWM and I were both at the shop on Saturday, but neither kid had plans, Grandma took them to Roche-a-Cri state park. It was chilly and overcast, but they had a good time walking trails and doing some (unsuccessful) geo-caching.

4. I had an Occupational Therapy appointment today since I’ve been having some neck and shoulder pain after I used my laptop while it was sitting on a desk for entirely too long about a month or six weeks ago. But, since I took my little fall on Friday morning, my neck and shoulder are now acutely injured and painful. The therapists had a little conference and had me see a Physical Therapist today for my initial evaluation and treatment. Once we get past this injury, I’ll get my lecture on how to properly use my laptop (i.e. don’t be STUPID)!

5. This post is being written at 10pm with the definite hope that I will not be up till some crazy hour of the morning with steroid-induced insomnia. That’s what I’m praying for anyway.

6. And where the heck are my size zero 40 inch cable needles??!!!! Probably at the shop. But, I really wanted to start my second entrelac sock tonight. Did I mention that steroids also make me a bit psychotic?

7. I DVR’d last week’s presidential candidate debate and we watched it tonight with the kids. I was actually pretty impressed with their insights and analysis. Maybe they are actually learning something!

8. Monday = laundry. Unfortunately, I got started a bit late today because of my appointment, so laundry may go into Tuesday. Let’s hope I’m not still working on it when Sunday rolls around.

So, that’s what’s up around here? Anything new with you?

Isaiah 30:15-18

¹⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
¹⁶ You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
¹⁷ A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five
you will all flee away,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.”

¹⁸ Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!

^{What a great section of Isaiah this is! Isaiah is telling the people to remember that God is there to fight for them. The Israelites are seeing the Egyptians come on horses and are getting all freaked out and wanting to run (which is, I am sure, immensely logical), but God is telling them that He will take care of them. This is not the time for them to run away, but to stand firm.}

^{What I love is that God is telling them that their salvation isn’t coming from being “rough and ready”, but from repentance and resting in Him. He’s saying that their strength must come from trusting God alone.}

^{Those promises are repeated at the end. God wants to be good to us because He is a God of justice! We are to continue to live in hopeful expectation (i.e. waiting) of his love and grace.}

^{Is this passage telling us to be passive? NO! Repentance is a moment-by-moment activity of walking with Jesus (although you may have a different experience if you sin less than I do, I suppose). Resting in Jesus is not sitting around waiting for the right circumstances to happen – rather, it is letting him take our burdens and worries and taking His burdens on us (Matthew 11:28-30). When we trust that God can meet our needs, we are free to put our energy towards creative solutions to problem and quit spending time and emotional energy worrying.}

^{In my situation right now, I’m frustrated that my occipital nerve block almost two weeks ago was a failure. But, my neurologist started me on some dexamethasone for the severe headache which worked great until I fell in the living room at about 3am (dexamethasone gives me insomnia) and hit the back of my head on a table. I don’t have a significant head injury, just a goose egg, but my neck and shoulder pain are getting worse. Thankfully, I already had planned to see occupational therapy tomorrow for an older and far less problematic neck injury. This therapist is going to get a lot more than he/she bargained for.}

^{What does that have to do with this scripture section?  When we see obstacles coming up at us – another temptation, more headaches, falling down and getting a sore neck and shoulder – instead of responding in fear about what will happen next or rumination on how much time and energy it will cost to get to feeling better or stressing about how this is going to affect my headache recovery, I should be spending more time repenting for my lack of faith and asking God for more faith. I need to be willing to rest from whatever is giving me problems right now, even if it’s knitting (although, please, God, no!!). My goal is not to be passively accepting circumstances, but neither is it to be running away from a problem like the Israelites were trying to do here.}

^{Isaiah clearly had a different audience, setting, and context for this prophecy, but I think it very easily applies to the Christian life. God’s essential nature hasn’t changed. He doesn’t want us running off like chickens with our heads cut off trying to sort out problems that we don’t need to worry about. God is big enough for our anxiety. Our part is to repent, rest, be quiet, and listen. When God says to do something, then do it.}

^{So, tonight, I’ll try to sleep (again). I’ll call my neurologist  and see my occupational therapist and, hopefully, get through this little “blip” in a reasonable time frame. And in the meantime, I will steadily, but not anxiously, do the work of educating kids, keeping house, and selling yarn in between migraines, all while walking with Jesus.}

^{How do you handle the day-to-day walking with Jesus? What tends to make you anxious and feel “unrested”?}

Our Week In Review–The One With All The Grandparents

My parents came to visit this week. We only got two weeks notice, so I didn’t change up the entire school schedule around their visit; it’s gone well despite the interruptions. PWM’s mom arrived Thursday so we had some overlap in visits. She usually comes twice a year so I don’t worry so much about working school around her visits. It’s all good.

Overall, it has gone remarkably well, except for my near constant severe headache. I did get started on some dexamethasone on Tuesday afternoon. It definitely has side effects, but the headache was much better on Thursday. Early Friday morning, though, I slipped and fell in the wee hours of the morning (dexamethasone gives me insomnia) and hit my head on the corner of a table and strained most of my other muscles. I didn’t tell my parents till they were Friday night, when they were already stopping for dinner in Missouri! The headaches weren’t fun, but they allowed the grandparents to spend more time with the grandchildren, I suppose, and I felt no guilt over not doing anything useful in my own house!

My mom was completely taken in by the yarn shop. I refused to make a shawl out of novelty yarn for her because it’s so simple that she can do it herself and I don’t like working with that yarn. So, she’s well on the way to having a lovely Organza scarf that she knitted herself. But, she did twist my arm (about 3 degrees did it!) to make her a silk shawl.  By the time she left, she had yarn and needles for three projects along with some shawl pins.

Grandma (PWMs mom) arrived late Thursday morning. She got to hang out some with my parents, but she’s staying at a friend’s house, so we will get to see her after breakfast most days. She has a new  toy – an ipad! I’m a bit jealous, especially of the picture quality! She’ll be here for a week or so. And Rosie Girl actually has this weekend completely off, so she requested that we do something family-like. We’ll see what we can manage!

Wild Man

He seems to be enjoying his American History. Yesterday, he was particularly intrigued by Roger Williams since he  seems to embody the American ideal of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of association.

The N.T. Wright Revelation commentary is also rather interesting. I’m glad we’re using this particular commentary because it is the clearest explanation of some of the confusing images from the book of Revelation that I’ve read. Wright is good about explaining what the various options are for a symbol and then explaining the most likely meaning. Wild Man understands what he’s reading, but has told me that this is more unusual than he expected when he requested to study it!

Grandpa was most impressed  with Wild Man’s science book. I have Wild Man read a section of DK/Smithsonian Earth each day and answer a question or write a summary sentence for me. Grandpa was amazed by the amount of information and pictures, but then also by the price! I bought the book about 5 years ago for only $25 off Amazon. It’s now being used for the second time for a high school science credit – probably the best money I’ve ever spent on these kids’ high school studies!

I’ve found that his handwriting fluency and legibility is much improved by having him answer questions for each subject each day. The questions aren’t hard, but they make sure that  he  has read the material.

He’s playing drum kit for one of the Christmas songs in band but still playing bells in marching band and cymbals in pep band. And I’m super-proud of him for staying a few minutes after class to get the band director to help him with his timpani part when none of the other percussion players could.

At church, he and another few teenagers lead worship for the kids during the 10:30 service on Sunday. The teen bands have practice on Sunday afternoon where Wild Man plays drums or acoustic guitar. On Wednesday night, he and a couple of other teens lead worship with just keyboard and drums.

Wild Man and Rosie Girl Went to the local nursing home a few weeks ago and played guitars and sang for several residents. They are working up some pieces to play in a few weeks when they go again.

Wild Man is delighting Grams by eating everything she makes plus some! He and Grandpa shared some “guy time” by watching LSU play pitifully against Towson (although they won) and the Packers play OK against the Saints (again, they won). There was much testosterone to be had in the living room during those games. During half-time of the Bears/Cowboys game, the kids brought out their guitars and played and sang some beautiful music for the grandparents. And a good time was had by all!!

Rosie Girl

Rosie Girl is enjoying British Literature except for poetry – although I suspect that deep down she really doesn’t mind it all that badly. She’s reading Sherlock Holmes right now and really likes it.

I DVR’d the presidential debate to watch next week as part of her American Government (and Wild Man’s American History). She likes her American Government Text even though I regularly assign her questions that require a little internet research.

Rosie Girl is finished with Japanese except for taking the final exam! Now she gets to use Rosetta Stone for her second credit of Japanese. And now she has extra time to finish Algebra 2 before Personal Finance starts. Yippee!! Can you tell that  these aren’t her favorite credits to rack up.

In music, Rosie Girl is learning pieces for her college audition (while also filling out her general college application). She’s taking composition lessons as well. And, we are borrowing an old electric guitar from church so Wild Man can practice guitar without bothering Rosie Girl, but Rosie Girl is finding that she likes the idea of getting to learn to play electric guitar when Wild Man isn’t using it. I think she has musical ADD.

And, of course, she’s taking a tap dance class and demonstrating for  intermediate child ballet and intermediate child tap classes. And teaching piano lessons.

Rosie Girl  and Grams spent some time Monday driving around and taking pictures of Fall colors. She’s also been driving Grandpa around making sure he knows where the grocery store, etc. are. And, of course, there’s cooking. They made some delicious Zuppa Toscana on Thursday morning for all of us to have as the weather cooled down! And then they proceeded to have a girls’ day out. Grams went with Rosie Girl and watched her demonstrate for dance classes. Then they did a bit of shopping and stopped at Starbucks. A teenager and her Grams. Does it get much better than that?

How has your week gone? Anything exciting or educational in your world?

Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what others are doing!

7 Quick Takes Friday–October 5, 2012

 

This has been quite the week – many more than seven things have happened, but I’ll see if I can get it down to the seven most interesting.

1. My parents arrived on Saturday afternoon just as our knitting class was ending. We got to show them around the shop since the last time that they saw the building, it was just two empty rooms. Now, though, it is two rooms full of yarn, notions, and books. PWM and I are pretty darn proud of our little knitting shop!

2. My mom took over custody of the kitchen Saturday night after I made some spaghetti. I felt kind of bad because she took over before I had gotten everything nice and clean for  her, but she likes to clean and said she was happy, so I guess it’s all OK. They leave tomorrow morning which means that I have to take back custody of the kitchen. Actually, than means I have to make the kids fill and empty the dishwasher and PWM and I will alternate the rest of the kitchen cleaning. And Grams will come back in a year or two and give the kitchen a deep cleaning again.

3. I don’t need to cook for a good week or so, though, since Grams cooked double the amount that we needed at each meal. The refrigerator is completely full! No arguments from me. I was having too many headaches to cook this week. If it had been up to me, people would have had lots of sandwiches.

4. Grams and Rosie Girl spent the day together today. They started by making the soup for dinner tonight. Then Rosie Girl did her schoolwork while Grams came to the shop to buy more yarn than she’ll ever use. Then, they drove to Stevens Point so Rosie Girl could demonstrate during two dance classes. Of course, they needed a Starbucks break on the way home! Overall, it sounds like they had a very nice girls’ afternoon out.

5. I’m now on dexamethasone for a week and a half to try to break my headache cycle. I’m headache-y tonight because of the weather change, but the medication (which is a steroid) has me pretty hopped up! I got lots of work done at the shop today and I’m not very tired yet. Hence the blogging at 1am.

6. Grams decided that she needed to hem some pants tonight. Unfortunately, I don’t have a good relationship with my sewing machine. I managed to get it working a few weeks ago to make a bag for Rosie Girl’s Zelda costume, so I tried the same thing again tonight with no luck. Then Grams tried. With no luck. So we got Rosie Girl out of bed. And she had it working in about 25 seconds. This is what you get when you have a grandmother with a gift of shopping and a mother with a gift of knitting facing a sewing machine. We’re pathetic.

7. It’s always interesting to see what the parents think of our current state of home education. This time, Grandpa was very taken with the Smithsonian/DK book Earth that Wild Man uses for Earth Science. Rosie Girl used it 4 years ago. I would have her read a section and write a response every week. That worked great until she gave me a haiku about volcanoes. The next week, I requested prose again. Wild Man isn’t as comfortable writing yet, so I give him a question to answer about what he reads each day. My dad was really impressed about the level of information, but was shocked that the book was only $25. And, truly, I think it’s some of the best $25 we’ve spent in high school home education. And then Grandpa and I talked some about Bible curricula, especially since I’ve veered away from formal curricula. Wild Man is reading N.T. Wright commentaries which are written at about a high school level. Rosie Girl spent the last two years reading the Bible along with some basic introductory and cultural material. She’s studying world religions right now. Grandpa and I share a strong conviction that we would understand the Bible better if we would pay more attention to the cultural time and location of the writers and readers of the text.

That’s been our week. Lots of headache, lots of good food, lots  of yarn, lots of learning. How about yours?

Check out what others are saying at 7 Quick Takes Friday!

Music

Our family LOVES music. Obviously. I play piano and clarinet and have been known to sing in a church choir or two. PWM plays acoustic guitar and bass guitar as well as doing sound for the worship team at church. In high school, he played clarinet, trumpet, and drums (but not all at the same time). Rosie Girl is outshining both of us musically, playing piano, acoustic (nylon string) guitar, ocarina, and clarinet (a little); arranging and composing music; and planning to study music composition next year in college. Wild Man is musical but managing to be different from us all. He plays percussion in the high school band. In the youth worship band, he plays drum kit, acoustic guitar, and bass guitar while on Sunday mornings, he and a few other teenagers lead worship for the children’s ministry.

Now that I’ve laid down our family’s music-loving credentials, I’ll tell you that the point of this post is to express appreciation for all the artists out there who are making beautiful instrumental music that continues to fascinate and inspire my children. When I was younger, I loved listening to Chopin and Debussy, but I doubt that there were many of my friends who shared such tastes. And, even with those tastes, I still didn’t turn to NPR or other classical sources for most of my music. Baroque and Classical didn’t do much for me at the time.

My kids, though, are loving a wide variety of musical eras due to artists like The Piano Guys. They’ve got some amazingly beautiful Beethoven and Bach reimagined musically and then videotaped in some amazing scenes. And then there’s the very silly Rockabel’s Canon (well, the video is silly – the arrangement is still beautiful). Even the pop songs sound less “pop” when done on grand piano and cello.

One of Rosie Girl’s passions is movie and video game soundtracks. She has several movie soundtracks that she can tell you the action and dialogue that is happening throughout the entire score. And explain why the composer made the choices he/she did. A couple of weekends ago, Rosie Girl and I spend a “Girls’ Weekend” in the Twin Cities and saw the Zelda Symphony. Because of the 25th anniversary of the Zelda video game series, the composers had put together the music of the series into a symphony. It was amazing! Rosie Girl and I loved it. And there were two harps!! The Zelda video games were what got Rosie Girl playing ocarina. In fact, at music camp this summer, Rosie Girl composed a piece for ocarina and piano.

These are the kinds of things that are getting my kids excited about instruments besides piano and guitar. I’m not sure Wild Man is going to be asking for cello lessons anytime soon, but I love that he’s listening to these “classical” instruments and isn’t turned off by them like so many teens have been in the last few decades.

When the kids were younger, I would put classical music on to play while they were doing their schoolwork. They didn’t complain. These days, they quite often have their ipods on while they are working and I don’t complain because they are usually listening to one of the soundtracks or Piano Guys. Generally, they manage to choose things that have a rhythm that helps them focus – especially good for Wild Man.

Music is not some accident of nature. It’s wired into us. Not everyone is as talented as my kids at making music, but I dare say that almost all of us enjoy it at some level. And God enjoys our making music. Entire families were devoted to making music in the temple. The whole book of Psalms is music to be sung to God – everything from laments to wild praises! And the New Testament also tells us to continue to sing hymns and psalms. All of this music is like part of nature – it points us to the beauty of God. And I’m so thankful.

A Missive on Migraines

Did ya see that alliteration? Huh? As a homeschooling mama, I’m pretty proud of myself! Now, to get my kids to see and use alliteration. . . .

On to more important (?) things. My head and the pain therein.

So, I’m still seeing this neurologist who seems to know what he’s up to. And he listens to me and doesn’t think I’m crazy (although he didn’t quite know what to make of the needle phobia). I went back last Tuesday (9/25) for my next scheduled Botox treatment. I told the Neurologist that the treatment had probably worked – the headaches were probably 30% less intense, but no less frequent. And I’d had a 4 day raging migraine the week before, the timing of which added weight to the fact that the Botox might have been helpful. We decided to go ahead with another series of Botox. Since I haven’t had a completely headache free day in long enough that I can’t remember when, he offered to do an occipital block which has a 95% chance of giving me complete migraine relief for 1 day to 2 weeks. The other 5% have no improvement or worsening of the headache. Well, with my parents coming, I thought 95% were good odds.

The doctor did the Botox (which was a bit more painful this time since I still had a bit of a migraine from the day before) and then did the occipital block (which took all of 2 seconds). By the time I got to the car, the back of my head was numb and I was feeling pretty good, not to mention optimistic. Unfortunately, by the time I got back to Weyauwega, the right side of my arm and neck were hurting, as if the medication had traveled down some tissue planes or something. The left side seemed OK.

The neck and arm weirdness improved by that night. But, by the next morning, my headache was up to an 8/10 and stayed there all day. And Thursday, it was a 7/10. Friday, it let up to about a 6. Thankfully, it seemed to calm down, which was nice because my parents got into town that afternoon. But, the headache returned back to a 5+ on Sunday morning and worsened during the day. On Monday, it was only a 6 and I thought I’d be OK. I had called the neurologist on Friday, so when his nurse called on Monday and offered some steroids or a 3 day hospitalization for another medication, I figured I was OK to decline it. Until Tuesday when I had a rip-roaring migraine at about an 8 all day which went up to a 9-10 at 4 am on Wednesday am. Thankfully, some Imitrex and Zofran and Compazine got me down off the ceiling. With a few naps, I managed to get back into a normal range. I called neuro again and said I’d like to try the steroid.

So, here I sit. Awake. Due to a combination of sleeping all day and being hyped up on Dexamethasone. I’m also keeping a heating pad on my neck because I injured it a month ago. I see occupational therapy about trying to calm that down in a week or so.

I think I’m in really good hands with this neurologist. He’s up on all the literature. I come home and check out the things he’s doing (I still have access to the medical literature) and he seems to be on target. He’s willing to adjust medications as well as do Botox and other interventions. This  time around, he wants to see me in six weeks. I’m doing a better job of keeping a headache diary. And still seeing my therapist.

And, on my good days, I’m a Yarn Diva. I prefer that title to Headache Queen. Maybe soon I’ll be able to use it more often.

A Girls’ Weekend

The Rosie Girl and I spent Saturday and Sunday together on a Girls’ Weekend – being girls together and having fun. I’d share photos, but I only took a couple. I’ll just share  memories instead.

• We shared the driving from Weyauwega to Minneapolis and listened to Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card most of the time. Interspersed we had some serious conversations about religion and life.
• I’m really glad Rosie Girl is old enough to drive.
• We were hobbits and had breakfast when we left home and then second breakfast a few hours later.
• When we reached our hotel, I took a nap (because I’d slept so poorly the night before) while Rosie Girl researched whether we could take public transportation to the Mall of America and/or the concert that night. Short answer – no.
• After my nap, we drove to the Mall of American for dinner and shopping. And, can I just say, thank you, Minneapolis for all your clear driving instructions through the construction – NOT! Thankfully, Rosie Girl reads quickly.
• For dinner, we went to Bubba Gump’s and shared snow crab legs. Wow. Yummy.
• Then, a quick stop at Hot Topic for Rosie Girl to find some more T-shirts (like she needs any more!) before we were off to the concert.
• We needed to drive west for one exit and then go north into downtown Minneapolis to the Orpheum theater. Unfortunately, it was about 7pm and the sun was directly in our eyes. Despite sunglasses, Rosie Girl and I were completely blinded. I couldn’t see the cars in front of me or the barricades beside me (again, thank you, Minneapolis construction!) and Rosie Girl couldn’t read the signs because of the sun!! Talk about stressed! Rosie Girl had me just keep going for another couple exits till we got to the exit for our hotel where we knew we could turn around and then go east to find the correct exit to go north.
• We got to the Orpheum theater and parked in time for the concert – Zelda Orchestra: Symphony of the Goddesses!
• Talk about geek heaven!! Rosie Girl didn’t change into her costume until we got to the theater, but there were tons of folks of all ages already in costume when we got there! Some were costumes purchased online or in costume shops, others were homemade, while others (like Rosie Girl’s) were a combination of thrift shop and homemade.
• The Orpheum Theater is beautiful! I have no idea how old it is, but it has been restored and looks amazing. We were in balcony (aka cheap) seats, and could see so much. It was gorgeous!
• The symphony conductor is a woman! I realize I should not be shocked, especially since I went to medical school at a time when women were still a minority. But I was still surprised since I’ve never seen a woman conduct in person.
• The conductor was just wonderful, but her jacket was atrocious. She wore what looked like a black suit with pants, but the jacket had ruffles on the back right on the butt that were just awful. Thankfully, the music more than made up for it.
• And the music was, indeed, amazing!! They had two harps!!
• On a large video screen, there was footage from the game that went along with what the orchestra was playing. I understood some of it really well, but some of it I was completely unfamiliar with. But the music was wonderful!
• At intermission, Rosie Girl got a T-shirt and a poster.
• I can’t say enough good things about the music. What was really cool was that I was used to hearing it while the other three family members played the video game, but hearing it played by a symphony was like going from 2 dimensions to 3 dimensions. Wow.
• Saturday night, Rosie Girl and I stayed up and I listened to her chatter for about an hour about music, Zelda, and books.
• We were a bit disappointed that there was no free continental breakfast in the morning, but that motivated us to get moving and get to the Mall of America.
• When we got to the Mall, we had manicures at an Aveda salon – something we’ve never had done before.
• The next few hours were spent shopping (I got some cute tops at Lane Bryant) and generally sight seeing.
• The hardest part of the trip was coming home! We were both tired and had a hard time staying awake, so we traded off frequently. At every stop, the next driver would get some soda and run around outside in the chilly air.
• But, the best part of the trip was coming home because we were very glad to get home to PWM and Wild Man – and to tell them about the amazing concert and all the fun we had!

On How to Read the Bible

Note 1: This is not a post on how you should read the Bible. Rather, it is a post about the myriad of ways I’ve read the Bible in my 45 years. You may or may not get anything useful out of it, but it may be entertaining nonetheless.

Note 2: I’m coming off a 36 hour migraine. See Note 1 about this post possible being entertaining.

I grew up in a Christian home, going to a Baptist church, and (for my elementary years) going to a Christian school. I have been exposed to the Bible. In many ways. And many were good and useful. Although some not so much. But I see a counselor about those. (I kid, I kid. I see a counselor about lots of other things, too.)

As a very young child, I was read Bible stories at home, church, and school. Generally, these were the basic Adam and Eve, Esther, David, etc. stories. Much of the book of Genesis was left for later.  (PWM and I learned to edit on the fly when we decided to read the Bible all the way through to our kids one year when they were entirely too young to hear about Lot’s daughters, Tamar, and plenty of other stuff that makes me blush.) One rather disturbing thing that I do remember during my elementary years about Bible stories is that the third grade class one year acted out the story of Aachen. You know, Israel is told by God to completely destroy the city of Ai and collect all the treasure. Well, Aachen hides some treasure in his tent, which God knows about because he’s God. Joshua calls Aachen on it. Aachen and his entire family are stoned. What disturbed me as a first grader was that they acted out the stoning part, too, although they had the decency to use tissue paper “stones”. That’s a tough story to understand, but then to act out as 8 year olds? Hmmmm.

A big part of what I learned about reading the Bible in my Evangelical and vaguely Fundamentalist Christian school was that it is full of rules. And, man, this school did rules like no body’s business. We had rules for how short our skirts could be at school, for how close boys and girls could sit on the bus, and even that we couldn’t wear blue jeans at school events. In fact, every classroom I was every in had a board with the kids’ names and little paper pockets for “tallies” which were the slips we got when we broke rules. We learned lots of Bible verses, particularly the ones with rules. But, I was good at following rules, so I did well at that school.

We also only used the King James Version of the Bible. I think the NIV was still pretty new, but the school was also pretty conservative. There are lots of verses that I memorized as a kid that I still have in my head in the KJV and probably always will! As a child, I got a gorgeous Bible with a blue leather cover with my name in silver script and silver edging on the paper. I still have that Bible but I hardly ever use it because the cover is coming off and we have about a zillion Bibles at home. When I was a teenager, my parents gave me a leather bound Thompson Chain Reference NIV Bible which I still use as my primary study Bible when I’m not at the computer. But, being a child of the modern age, I have to admit that I usually use Bible Gateway at home and my ipod at church.

As I got older, I learned some more important things about reading the Bible. In the 80s, people were getting worked up over the Bible being “inerrant”. In the two youth groups I attended when I was in junior high school and high school, this translated to “literal”. Particularly when we were talking about the first two chapters of Genesis. Not only were we supposed to read them literally – as in, God spoke the universe into existence 6000 years ago in 6-24 hour days – but, we were supposed to make sure that our Biology teachers knew that we believed this. The good news for me was that my Biology teacher didn’t seem to think that evolution was all that necessary for a good Biology education (or I fell asleep that day – but, really, the man could only handle so much controversy; he also had to teach us about sex that year and I think that almost did him in). Somewhere along the way, we were also told that Psalms and Proverbs didn’t have to be read literally, but that if we didn’t read Genesis literally, then we were probably denying the Gospel. Life got really confusing around high school. (That was also when the hormones showed up, though, so I don’t think it’s fair to blame it all on the Bible or biblical interpretation.)

Somewhere along the way, I also learned to “proof-text”. If someone had a problem, someone else would find a verse for them. (As you’ll see later, I’m not so much a fan of this nowadays.) I was pretty good at this since I’d learned tons of Bible verses in school and at church. Need prayer answered? “Pray without ceasing” Need help in making a decision? “Seek ye first the kingdom of God . . . “ Things not going your way? “But I know the plans for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you . . .”
Feeling stressed? “The Lord is my shepherd . . . “ Heck, with a little work, I could come up with some serious enemy-smiting verses, too!!

When we hit the 90s, people got more enlightened and started reading the Bible for answers to life’s tough questions: how to lose weight, how to find a spouse, how to become emotionally healthy. And guess what? They found answers! It wasn’t much different than the way the Bible was used in my elementary school – it was a whole bunch of rules. This time, though, they had come across some really cool verses with promises about what would happen when you followed the rules. People are still doing this today, by the way. Check out your local Christian bookstore. The Christian Living section looks pretty similar to the Personal Growth section of Barnes and Noble – and about as large.

I bought into it, too! Some author would take some section of scripture and decide that we could also apply to some problem that’s common to our current society. Wow! What an idea. We’d be off and running. But, when we quit following the rules, we weren’t any better off. Turns out that following rules doesn’t actually effect much inner change. But, eating your fruits and veggies still is good for your cholesterol.

But, then, post-modernism came along and told us that we needed to quit reading the Bible as a puzzle to be solved and instead get into the narrative and understand the story. We’re all part of the grand meta-narrative and we just need to understand our place within it! Huh? That didn’t resonate too much with me. I’m a decidedly modern thinker.

A few years ago, our pastor was taking some online seminary classes and he asked me to read and outline his hermeneutics book to help him study. That was one of the best things I’ve done for my Bible study! I started to get a picture of how a text is situated in time and place and situation. For us to understand it, we need to first understand what it was saying to it’s original audience and then try to figure out how God wants us to understand it today. (BTW, this wasn’t my first introduction to this concept. My dad had already given me and PWM a set of Barclay New Testament commentaries and Broadman entire Bible commentaries. This book was the best explanation of how to use commentaries, other resources, the rest of the Bible, prayer, and common sense.) One of the biggest practical effects of this “little education” was that I almost never take proof-texting at face value any more. I always want to know the original source and context of the text.

Most recently, in the last few years, I’ve been reading some blogs and books that have helped to sharpen my focus on reading and studying the Bible. They are a reminder that the Bible is about Jesus. It’s not a science textbook. While it gives a lot of history about Israel, it does it in order to point to Jesus. It may give us lots of good guidelines for living, but it’s not a book on how to live – it’s a book on how to know Jesus, and he’ll walk with us through life. it’s still quite important to look for the best scholarship out there to find out what the text says. How is it pointing us  to Jesus? In some parts of the Old Testament, it may just be giving us some background or history of Israel. But, God gave it all to us.

So, what does this mean for me now? I usually try to study what the pastor is preaching at church since he likes to preach through books of the Bible. Right now he’s doing “King Jesus Rules the World” about the book of Ruth. I also read daily (well, I don’t actually get around to them daily, but it’s a goal . . . ) readings on Bible Gateway. I have an audio Bible on my ipod and I’ve started listening to the Gospels recently. The advantage of audio is that I can listen to a large section and get a real “feel” for it while I’m knitting or cleaning and don’t need to feel like I’m “studying”. These are all valid ways of interacting with the Bible as long as I understand their strengths and weaknesses. (A blog I enjoy is studying Esther over the next couple of months, so I might do some of that as well. It will be a nice contrast to look at women of the ancient East while studying Ruth.)

I hope this has been helpful, enlightening, or entertaining. If nothing else, it got some stuff out of my head and written down. How has your interaction with the Bible changed, if at all?