There used to be a cartoon on my grandmother's refrigerator that said, "God put me on this earth to do a certain number of things. Right now, I am so far behind that I will never die!" I got reminded on Thanksgiving evening that as silly as that cartoon was, it is pretty accurate.
The family met at my uncle's house in Jonesboro for our Thanksgiving meal. I and 4 of 5 of the children planned on continuing on to Nana and PaPa's house for the weekend. Daddy let the 4yo and 6yo slosh through the ditch ruining their shoes and pants. Thankfully, I had their clothes for the trip and we changed on the back deck.
Well, everyone said their goodbyes and we were on our way. My folks in the truck with 2 kids and me in the van with the other 2. We didn't even get to the interstate before we realized we had left the muddy clothes and must turn around. Then back on the road again for about 20 minutes before we had to stop for gas and bathrooms. After hitting I-16 we had to pull off to find Gorgeous's arms. She had pulled them into her sleeves and could not get them back out. It gets dark early now. I didn't sleep much the night before, so I did not complain when Blondie asked for a restroom break. (You just don't get far with kids in the car.)
Coffee purchased and potty used, I told my passengers no more stops until home, please. Nana and I had been alternating who was in front of who on the road. She was back in the lead. As we approached exit 62, I noticed cars parked along the side of the road. Georgia law requires you to move over one lane when there are vehicles in the emergency lane. No problem.
BIG PROBLEM!
Nana's truck suddenly swerved back right. It's amazing how fast your mind can work when something is happening. I knew instantly that there must be something extremely wrong and hit my brakes as my fingers disengaged the cruise. The thought that I might have to fight it to slow down crossed my mind. I wanted to hit my emergency brake but it is in the floor and I had both feet on the regular brake. I came to a halt about 15 feet from a car sitting across the entire lane. There was silence from the 9yo and 23 mth old but a glance in the mirror showed they had been kept in their seats in the farthest back bench seat and that there were cars still coming up behind me. I hit the flashers as I began searching for a way out.
The car in front of me had obviously been hit by another car. It's primered side was dented. The interior light was on showing no signs of anyone still being inside it. The emergency lane on the left hand side of the road was blocked off because of construction. Cars were coming up along the right hand lane. I waited. Three cars passed before I could pull out and around it. I drove about half a mile down the road and pulled off.
That was the longest few seconds of my life. I took a deep breath and called 911. They had already dispatched help. Then I dialed Nana.
I did not get to see where the truck went after it's sudden maneuver. I had not passed it as I got the van to a safe area. My little "mud pies" from earlier were in there with my parents. The first attempt did not go through. She hung up as she answered. I dialed again. This time she did get it answered. She had fallen apart. Apparently, she had been forced to sharply steer the truck up the exit ramp before slamming to a halt. As PaPa said, her ambulance training kicked in to handle the vehicle. Then she didn't know where we were. He had to work hard to get her moved to the passenger side so he could get the truck moved somewhere safer. She had seen a man on the side of the road waving frantically just before seeing the wrecked car. If not for him, she might not have noticed it.
If not for the truck suddenly turning in front of me, I wouldn't have known to stop.
If not for one of those potty stops... gas stops... coffee... All those delays just timed to keep us out of the wreck.
When we got to the house, I hugged my mother and told her she saved our lives. Her driving kept the truck and passengers safe. Me seeing her do it focused my attention to where the real danger was.
God kept us alive that night. I am sitting here typing very aware that that list of items on God's agenda must not all be checked off.
I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for my children. I am thankful to be alive. I am thankful that I am not done yet.
Did you have a wonderful, thankful Thanksgiving?
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Fairness? Not Really.
I am seething. I just got an email encouraging me to call my representative. It wanted me to ask them to end the Bush tax cuts. WHY? My husband works THREE jobs. He is a full time teacher with one night school, and part time (with full time hours) at a university, and we own a business that he opened while in college. Exactly how much of that money belongs to someone else? In my opinion, God gets 10%, the rest belongs to the person who earned it. History has proven time and time again that lower tax rates equal higher tax revenue, higher employment, and greater wealth creation.
The president himself admitted as much. George Stephanopoulos asked why he wouldn't support the Bush tax cuts since lower rates equaled higher revenues. President Obama said it wasn't about revenue, it was about fairness. What in the world is fair about someone working hard and not keeping his money? What is fair about some lay about getting a check when he has done nothing to deserve it? If he wants to give some one's money away, perhaps he should reach into his own wallet first.
Do you know why my husband became a proponent of homeschooling in the first place? When our oldest went to pre-k he saw that he would NEVER get to see his kids. He was asleep when it was time to go to school. He was at work when it was after school. Weekends were spent at the store. He saw our son when he picked him up from school to drive him to me on his way to work. 15 minutes a day during the week. Homeschool is the only way they know him as something other than a picture.
Now tell me that he should have to give away his money to someone else because of "fairness".
The president himself admitted as much. George Stephanopoulos asked why he wouldn't support the Bush tax cuts since lower rates equaled higher revenues. President Obama said it wasn't about revenue, it was about fairness. What in the world is fair about someone working hard and not keeping his money? What is fair about some lay about getting a check when he has done nothing to deserve it? If he wants to give some one's money away, perhaps he should reach into his own wallet first.
Do you know why my husband became a proponent of homeschooling in the first place? When our oldest went to pre-k he saw that he would NEVER get to see his kids. He was asleep when it was time to go to school. He was at work when it was after school. Weekends were spent at the store. He saw our son when he picked him up from school to drive him to me on his way to work. 15 minutes a day during the week. Homeschool is the only way they know him as something other than a picture.
Now tell me that he should have to give away his money to someone else because of "fairness".
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Thankfulness
A friend posted on facebook a wise comment. "As children we wish for Christmas to hurry up and get here. As adults we wish it would slow down!" It is now the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Where did the year go?
I am so thankful this year for so many things but most of all for my family. I hear my children giggling and falling over while attempting to follow a kid's yoga video with my hubby coaching from the sidelines. Notice he is not trying to do it himself. I think the 911 operator might have her own emergency if I had to call to get him untied out of the lotus position. Not that I would ever attempt it...
My five blessings can drive me up a wall, out a window, and around the world but I wouldn't trade my life as their mom for anything in this world. Occasionally I threaten to trade them for anything to get a few moments of peace and quiet. When people learn I homeschool, I hear comments along the lines of "I could never do that!" and "My kids would drive me nuts!" You want to know what would drive me nuts? Sending these little beings away for 8-10 hours a day, 180 days a year. I was a teacher. I would hate spending all those hours with another person's children while someone else got to watch mine discover, learn, and grow.
I am thankful that after sitting down and going over the financial side of my working versus my staying home, it was obvious that the studies were right. Many researchers find that a mom's income barely adds a few hundred to the annual family budget. Especially once you factor in wardrobe, transportation, childcare, lunches, etc. See? I wasn't always a homeschool only kind of person although I have become that. Even if I ever have to work, my kids will be schooled at home. I've studied the philosophy of schools, looked into the people who are major influences, have read John Gatto, listened to David Horowitz, and read more on studies, ideas, histories... School is potentially the worst thing to ever happen to so many children. Even watching the nightly news seems to reinforce that conclusion. The Bible says we are to train up our children. I don't think that handing the job over to an institution is the best way to accomplish that goal.
I am thankful that God has allowed me to borrow for this short time these small people to care for and love. One day the last will move out of our home to begin a journey without us right beside them. When that time comes, as with each time before, I will pray that the foundation that was laid in our time together will help keep our child on God's chosen path. Then I will box up the last of the kid's stuff in the house and unpack my sanity.
Until all that peace and quiet drive me up a wall, out the window, and around the world.
I am so thankful this year for so many things but most of all for my family. I hear my children giggling and falling over while attempting to follow a kid's yoga video with my hubby coaching from the sidelines. Notice he is not trying to do it himself. I think the 911 operator might have her own emergency if I had to call to get him untied out of the lotus position. Not that I would ever attempt it...
My five blessings can drive me up a wall, out a window, and around the world but I wouldn't trade my life as their mom for anything in this world. Occasionally I threaten to trade them for anything to get a few moments of peace and quiet. When people learn I homeschool, I hear comments along the lines of "I could never do that!" and "My kids would drive me nuts!" You want to know what would drive me nuts? Sending these little beings away for 8-10 hours a day, 180 days a year. I was a teacher. I would hate spending all those hours with another person's children while someone else got to watch mine discover, learn, and grow.
I am thankful that after sitting down and going over the financial side of my working versus my staying home, it was obvious that the studies were right. Many researchers find that a mom's income barely adds a few hundred to the annual family budget. Especially once you factor in wardrobe, transportation, childcare, lunches, etc. See? I wasn't always a homeschool only kind of person although I have become that. Even if I ever have to work, my kids will be schooled at home. I've studied the philosophy of schools, looked into the people who are major influences, have read John Gatto, listened to David Horowitz, and read more on studies, ideas, histories... School is potentially the worst thing to ever happen to so many children. Even watching the nightly news seems to reinforce that conclusion. The Bible says we are to train up our children. I don't think that handing the job over to an institution is the best way to accomplish that goal.
I am thankful that God has allowed me to borrow for this short time these small people to care for and love. One day the last will move out of our home to begin a journey without us right beside them. When that time comes, as with each time before, I will pray that the foundation that was laid in our time together will help keep our child on God's chosen path. Then I will box up the last of the kid's stuff in the house and unpack my sanity.
Until all that peace and quiet drive me up a wall, out the window, and around the world.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Adventures in Coffee
I should always get up, have a pot of coffee, then deal with anything else. Today I tried to refill the sugar bowl, fix chocolate milk for my youngest boy, and prepare my coffee.
Can you say oops?
I put my coffee cup on the counter. I took the milk cup. It was partially full so I needed to get the instant breakfast (chocolate flavored) he preferred out of the cabinet. I was asked a question. I also pulled out the large sugar canister. I went to the refrigerator to get the milk. As I put a scoop or two of sugar into the pretty container, I had a thought skitter across my brain. "How did the sugar end up between my coffee and his milk?"
See where this is going?
As I transferred the spoon from his milk to my coffee, some dripped into the container. Oh well. Another spoon scooped out the affected spot and added the spoils to my coffee. Then I picked up the milk to add to my coffee and to his chocolate.
I put it in the sugar.
Oh well. Perhaps if I add a little coffee...
Hope you have an adventurous day!
Can you say oops?
I put my coffee cup on the counter. I took the milk cup. It was partially full so I needed to get the instant breakfast (chocolate flavored) he preferred out of the cabinet. I was asked a question. I also pulled out the large sugar canister. I went to the refrigerator to get the milk. As I put a scoop or two of sugar into the pretty container, I had a thought skitter across my brain. "How did the sugar end up between my coffee and his milk?"
See where this is going?
As I transferred the spoon from his milk to my coffee, some dripped into the container. Oh well. Another spoon scooped out the affected spot and added the spoils to my coffee. Then I picked up the milk to add to my coffee and to his chocolate.
I put it in the sugar.
Oh well. Perhaps if I add a little coffee...
Hope you have an adventurous day!
Seeing Past the Faults
Charlotte Mason is a well known name among many in the homeschooling arena. She wrote in one of her books on education "Remember, no one is made up of one fault, everyone is much greater than all his faults". I am having a fault kind of day.
We have adopted a new schedule. We are not very good with routines. Nor are we very good without routines. We are not unschoolers and we are not school at homers because of this fault. Our new schedule includes our boys' out of house lessons, work at our business, library, errands and field trip. Sounds busy but with the exception of shipment at our store, we are home after only a few hours and have 1-2 days where we don't leave home at all. Sometimes more if needed or if lessons are cancelled for some reason.
My kids like to know what is going on for the week and would prefer there be no surprises. I'm trying to make that easy. I now send an email to each of my 3 older children with a list of expected lessons for school, any extra chores beyond the lists on the fridge, errands to be run and the planned field trips. It lets the oldest 2 figure out how to plan their lessons to make sure they finish as well as giving all 5 a plan of attack for the week.
It is very hard to be a stay at home mom because you are considered the easy person to ask. One of the biggest problems with keeping to our laid back schedule is that I can run that errand or two since I don't have to get to work or meet the bus. I hate to admit to a few loud blow ups over the years where I was asked to do just one more quick thing. (Perhaps I don't deal well with or without a schedule either?) It is not even the fact that I felt put out because of the assumption that I would not have anything else to do. It is because I have to see the reaction of the kids. They would get so tired that all they could do while the vehicle was in motion was sleep. Then they would not feel awake enough to get out and behave inside the stores. I recall weeks in a row where zero lessons of math or science would be done beyond the life versions. Not that learning to add up totals in stores or that dark clouds mean heavy downpour isn't useful learning. I mean no worksheets (I was a teacher once.) No experiments. No sit down and discuss the last chapter kind of learning. I don't know how much a child of any age can learn riding in a car between a seemingly endless list of destinations that was handed to mom late the night before or in the morning while she was barely awake.
That's one of the driving forces behind our new schedule. The kids will expect to be out at these certain times well in advance of our new work schedule come January. Right now I guess we are still in transition stage. The faults are showing.
We have a normally navigable room in disrepair. Not that he is the neat freak but he does tend to insist on keeping his things in his own particular way. We have a boy resorting to loud dramatics. He can shriek with the banshees when he might not be about to get his way. Plus his absolute ignoring of the customers first please rule. We have a girl who chose to lay in the floor of a store and pull a toy on top of her this evening. A truck. Looked like the thing had run her down.
I saw all this starting late Monday. I could punish the faults. I could throw my own fit. I'm trying to get the house neat and tidy for the holidays. I have at least a dozen projects going at once. I don't need to spend all my time trying to split up fights. (Yep, that would be some of my faults getting in the way.)
So we are going to have an at home day instead of a field trip day. We'll sleep late and maybe take a nap. We'll straighten up our rooms. I'll work on some of my projects and the kids will play outside with friends.
I will choose to look past the spot on the blank sheet of paper to the beautiful but tired child holding it aloft. (Illustration borrowed from a Charlotte Mason explanation) If I only see the spot, I miss the picture.
If I miss the picture, I've missed everything.
We have adopted a new schedule. We are not very good with routines. Nor are we very good without routines. We are not unschoolers and we are not school at homers because of this fault. Our new schedule includes our boys' out of house lessons, work at our business, library, errands and field trip. Sounds busy but with the exception of shipment at our store, we are home after only a few hours and have 1-2 days where we don't leave home at all. Sometimes more if needed or if lessons are cancelled for some reason.
My kids like to know what is going on for the week and would prefer there be no surprises. I'm trying to make that easy. I now send an email to each of my 3 older children with a list of expected lessons for school, any extra chores beyond the lists on the fridge, errands to be run and the planned field trips. It lets the oldest 2 figure out how to plan their lessons to make sure they finish as well as giving all 5 a plan of attack for the week.
It is very hard to be a stay at home mom because you are considered the easy person to ask. One of the biggest problems with keeping to our laid back schedule is that I can run that errand or two since I don't have to get to work or meet the bus. I hate to admit to a few loud blow ups over the years where I was asked to do just one more quick thing. (Perhaps I don't deal well with or without a schedule either?) It is not even the fact that I felt put out because of the assumption that I would not have anything else to do. It is because I have to see the reaction of the kids. They would get so tired that all they could do while the vehicle was in motion was sleep. Then they would not feel awake enough to get out and behave inside the stores. I recall weeks in a row where zero lessons of math or science would be done beyond the life versions. Not that learning to add up totals in stores or that dark clouds mean heavy downpour isn't useful learning. I mean no worksheets (I was a teacher once.) No experiments. No sit down and discuss the last chapter kind of learning. I don't know how much a child of any age can learn riding in a car between a seemingly endless list of destinations that was handed to mom late the night before or in the morning while she was barely awake.
That's one of the driving forces behind our new schedule. The kids will expect to be out at these certain times well in advance of our new work schedule come January. Right now I guess we are still in transition stage. The faults are showing.
We have a normally navigable room in disrepair. Not that he is the neat freak but he does tend to insist on keeping his things in his own particular way. We have a boy resorting to loud dramatics. He can shriek with the banshees when he might not be about to get his way. Plus his absolute ignoring of the customers first please rule. We have a girl who chose to lay in the floor of a store and pull a toy on top of her this evening. A truck. Looked like the thing had run her down.
I saw all this starting late Monday. I could punish the faults. I could throw my own fit. I'm trying to get the house neat and tidy for the holidays. I have at least a dozen projects going at once. I don't need to spend all my time trying to split up fights. (Yep, that would be some of my faults getting in the way.)
So we are going to have an at home day instead of a field trip day. We'll sleep late and maybe take a nap. We'll straighten up our rooms. I'll work on some of my projects and the kids will play outside with friends.
I will choose to look past the spot on the blank sheet of paper to the beautiful but tired child holding it aloft. (Illustration borrowed from a Charlotte Mason explanation) If I only see the spot, I miss the picture.
If I miss the picture, I've missed everything.
Monday, November 8, 2010
What Are They Thinking?!?
On November 4th, 2010 an article appeared discussing the fact that the Federal Reserve Bank has chosen to monetize the debt. Monetize the debt!
I would not have known what that actually meant a few years ago. Now I understand. If I chose to monetize my debt, I would write a check to myself to deposit into my checking account. Example: I have $100 in my account. I write a check to myself for $100 and deposit it. Now I have $200 in my account. Umm, NOT! Our federal government is going to do that by purchasing our own bonds. It will print money to pay for money. In the private sector they would be imprisoned for counterfeiting or fraud or theft.
I don't know about your family, but we have had to cut back. There are things we can't buy now. There are things we can't do now. We have to watch every penny that comes in and goes out. I am not allowed by law to write a check to myself to put in my checking account and use the money to buy other things. Why does the government think this is a good idea?
Think hard. I would love to see a plus side to this. I can't. I feel like I'm watching a train wreck and I'm stuck on the train.
Thank God I believe in the fact that God is in control. I don't know if everything will work out the way I'd like, but at least I know it will work out the way He planned. I think if I did not know this I would curl up in my bed and stay there.
I would not have known what that actually meant a few years ago. Now I understand. If I chose to monetize my debt, I would write a check to myself to deposit into my checking account. Example: I have $100 in my account. I write a check to myself for $100 and deposit it. Now I have $200 in my account. Umm, NOT! Our federal government is going to do that by purchasing our own bonds. It will print money to pay for money. In the private sector they would be imprisoned for counterfeiting or fraud or theft.
I don't know about your family, but we have had to cut back. There are things we can't buy now. There are things we can't do now. We have to watch every penny that comes in and goes out. I am not allowed by law to write a check to myself to put in my checking account and use the money to buy other things. Why does the government think this is a good idea?
Think hard. I would love to see a plus side to this. I can't. I feel like I'm watching a train wreck and I'm stuck on the train.
Thank God I believe in the fact that God is in control. I don't know if everything will work out the way I'd like, but at least I know it will work out the way He planned. I think if I did not know this I would curl up in my bed and stay there.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Seems Clear
Okay. It's called the "Liberal Left" and the "Conservative Right" when it comes to politics. Hmmm. That pretty much says it all, doesn't it?
On November 2nd, records were broken. Some 682 Republicans took state level seats. The highest ever. The Democrats lost the House and their super majority in the Senate. The only reason they hold the presidency was because of the fact that it wasn't on the ballot. VP Dick Cheney said that President Obama may be the biggest boost to the conservative movement that anyone could have conceived. If you want to learn what is right, apparently seeing the excessive left helps.
The ones losing power began setting up their rather lame arguments way ahead of time. It was the economy still being slow. It was the racists resentful of a black man in office.
OH PLEASE! I can assure you if the government had not done so many business damaging things, the economy would have been in true recovery. I don't care how many times you say it, a "jobless recovery" is not a recovery. Perhaps the leadership of the last 4 years (Yes, I'm including Bush and his TARP) could have looked at the Great Depression and how FDR's policies extended the hardship, and done something else. Watching them pass stimulus, health care, tax hikes, was like reading the biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Had he ever made it on his own, he might have realized how horrible his financial policies were. Unfortunately, he never managed to really make it as a businessman. I've heard the old joke that those who can't, teach. I think those who can't, legislate.
Racists turned the Democrats out by the droves? If that were true, then how could a man of mixed racial heritage have gotten into the Oval Office in the first place? Have the people making that ridiculous argument even noticed how many African-American Republicans took offices? Can you say Alan West? How about the first female, Hispanic governor (Republican by the way) in New Mexico? These are Tea Party style candidates that got that part of the vote. Perhaps those folks should look up the meaning of the word racist. I can only assume they believe it means the opposite of the definition that I find in the dictionary.
I'm sorry to burst the liberal bubble. People have come to realize that true freedom comes with responsibility. If you want to live your life the way you want to live it, you will have to deal with the consequences of your actions. How can you succeed if you had no chance to fail? If there is no risk, how can there be reward? If you don't like where you are in your life, DO SOMETHING! Fix it. If it takes getting 2nd, 3rd, 4th jobs, do it! If it takes going back to school, grab your books. Take responsibility for your life and get it right. I know there are some things that are hard to impossible to fix. Those things you have to work within your limits and keep going. Your past choices may get in your way but don't stop. Freedom is the ability to make your life better. You keep your freedom by striving towards your goals. Don't hand it over to a bunch of bureaucrats that only care about keeping their power over their "plantations" by making you stay their slaves begging for every scrap. If you have to look to the government for your life, they have the right to deny it.
On November 2nd, records were broken. Some 682 Republicans took state level seats. The highest ever. The Democrats lost the House and their super majority in the Senate. The only reason they hold the presidency was because of the fact that it wasn't on the ballot. VP Dick Cheney said that President Obama may be the biggest boost to the conservative movement that anyone could have conceived. If you want to learn what is right, apparently seeing the excessive left helps.
The ones losing power began setting up their rather lame arguments way ahead of time. It was the economy still being slow. It was the racists resentful of a black man in office.
OH PLEASE! I can assure you if the government had not done so many business damaging things, the economy would have been in true recovery. I don't care how many times you say it, a "jobless recovery" is not a recovery. Perhaps the leadership of the last 4 years (Yes, I'm including Bush and his TARP) could have looked at the Great Depression and how FDR's policies extended the hardship, and done something else. Watching them pass stimulus, health care, tax hikes, was like reading the biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Had he ever made it on his own, he might have realized how horrible his financial policies were. Unfortunately, he never managed to really make it as a businessman. I've heard the old joke that those who can't, teach. I think those who can't, legislate.
Racists turned the Democrats out by the droves? If that were true, then how could a man of mixed racial heritage have gotten into the Oval Office in the first place? Have the people making that ridiculous argument even noticed how many African-American Republicans took offices? Can you say Alan West? How about the first female, Hispanic governor (Republican by the way) in New Mexico? These are Tea Party style candidates that got that part of the vote. Perhaps those folks should look up the meaning of the word racist. I can only assume they believe it means the opposite of the definition that I find in the dictionary.
I'm sorry to burst the liberal bubble. People have come to realize that true freedom comes with responsibility. If you want to live your life the way you want to live it, you will have to deal with the consequences of your actions. How can you succeed if you had no chance to fail? If there is no risk, how can there be reward? If you don't like where you are in your life, DO SOMETHING! Fix it. If it takes getting 2nd, 3rd, 4th jobs, do it! If it takes going back to school, grab your books. Take responsibility for your life and get it right. I know there are some things that are hard to impossible to fix. Those things you have to work within your limits and keep going. Your past choices may get in your way but don't stop. Freedom is the ability to make your life better. You keep your freedom by striving towards your goals. Don't hand it over to a bunch of bureaucrats that only care about keeping their power over their "plantations" by making you stay their slaves begging for every scrap. If you have to look to the government for your life, they have the right to deny it.
Monday, November 1, 2010
I Believe
I believe that you should listen to and follow the wishes of your parents. Each time I ignored them as a child, I suffered a consequence that had nothing to do with punishment at their hands. These people in charge of your life tend to want the best for you. They've made the mistakes long before you were born. They can see beyond the moment thanks to the wisdom of age. Sure, they are still just humans but they are trying to help you.
I believe that murder is wrong. To end a life is simply not in my job description. Wife, mother, business woman, nope, murderer just doesn't seem to fit in there anywhere. People murder one another on purpose for some perceived or actual wrong. People murder one another by accident when they become enraged or distracted. Those reasons, those excuses, diminish the worth of human life to nothing. Frankly, if that person's life is worthless, what makes you think yours isn't. Just remember, that murdered person didn't consider his life worthless.
I believe that marriage vows are vows. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary vow means a solemn promise or assertion; specifically one by which a person is bound to an act, service, or condition. Bound is stressed by me. This isn't a "I promise to try to be nice" kind of thing you get from your kids about five minutes before the yelling starts again. This is a binding contractual kind of "there's no way you are going to NOT do this" sort of thing. The couple vows to love, honor, and respect one another until they die. I don't think adultery, lying, or any other kind of abuse hold true to that vow.
I believe theft is wrong. All kinds of theft. The theft of money or toys from a business or a person is wrong. Theft of an idea by claiming it as your own is wrong. Theft of time by disregarding others' needs or schedule is wrong. Theft of thought by forcing someone to do what you want, when you want, how you want, is wrong. Theft of childhood by taking away a child's innocence of thought, play, or life is wrong. If it is not yours, it is NOT yours. Leave it alone!
It is wrong to lie about someone. It's wrong to tell a story about another person that is not true. It is assassination of character, murder, theft, of that person's reputation. All it takes is to repeat one little piece of gossip and you have lied about a person. It may seem innocent to you, not even a bad story, but who knows how far that little story will go or how big it could grow. Lying is not just making something up out of thin air. If you take the truth and stretch it, reduce it, leave something out, you have still told a lie about that person. Like the pledge in court says, "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
I believe jealousy is wrong. Lusting after another person's house, car, job, spouse, only leads to unhappiness. Jealousy is the excuse for stealing. Jealousy is the excuse for lying. Jealousy is the excuse for adultery. Jealousy is the excuse for murder. Even if you never do anything except be jealous, how happy can your life possibly be? You can't be happy with your home if the house next door is all you can think about. You can't be happy with your car if you sit around wishing for a different one. You can't be happy with your job if all you can do is complain that you want his job. You can not be happily married or happily single if you are constantly having fantasies about someone who is with someone else.
What is wrong with believing these things? According to some people the problem is that these are commandments 5 through 10 that God declares in the book of Exodus to Moses. Our national and local laws are based on these commandments. Can anyone really tell me that there is something wrong with taking other people into consideration before you act? Can anyone really argue that it is okay to do any of these things?
Let me play devil's advocate for a moment.
Just lusting after person's spouse is okay, right? Well, until you continue that line of thought to it's logical conclusion. After all those thoughts you end up alone, maybe a little drunk, with the person you lust after and you break a commandment. You didn't mean to and you feel guilty but it happened anyway. How many murders occur because of enraged significant others once they have learned of the betrayal? How many rapists admit to having had fantasies prior to committing the crime?
You accidentally walk out of the store with a bauble. It's just a dollar or so. You have already gotten to your car, it's raining, it's cold, whatever, and you don't want to have to go all the way back in. So it's okay to steal if you would be inconvenienced by NOT committing a crime? What if your daughter is with you? What would she learn from seeing you do that? How could you later scold her when she steals a lipstick from the store?
You hear a funny story about a friend of a friend. She made a rude comment that struck someone as hilarious enough to pass along. The exact circumstances surrounding the comment were a little fuzzy, so someone else sharpens the focus. Eventually it gets around to the original person or her significant other. Unfortunately now it has become so much more than it was. She has been humiliated.
So, breaking the "little" commandments is no big deal? Just wait until you are at the receiving end of one of those broken laws.
The fact is that if you trace back any crime, you eventually arrive at a little commandment. Murder starts as coveting. Theft is jealousy. The teen busted for drugs had long since ignored curfew. Consider the recent teen suicides based on mean gossip and cruelty. Do you really think the bullies are honoring their parents? That they aren't jealous of their victim? That if they had been raised to believe in the 10 Commandments that they might not have committed their crimes? I stress believe because an unfortunate effect of decades of ignoring God has been the spoken belief of the Bible without the heart, mind, and soul belief to support it. Going to church a couple times on Sunday while living like there is no God the rest of the week does not equal Christianity. Not by a long stretch of the imagination. But that is a post for another day.
I believe that murder is wrong. To end a life is simply not in my job description. Wife, mother, business woman, nope, murderer just doesn't seem to fit in there anywhere. People murder one another on purpose for some perceived or actual wrong. People murder one another by accident when they become enraged or distracted. Those reasons, those excuses, diminish the worth of human life to nothing. Frankly, if that person's life is worthless, what makes you think yours isn't. Just remember, that murdered person didn't consider his life worthless.
I believe that marriage vows are vows. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary vow means a solemn promise or assertion; specifically one by which a person is bound to an act, service, or condition. Bound is stressed by me. This isn't a "I promise to try to be nice" kind of thing you get from your kids about five minutes before the yelling starts again. This is a binding contractual kind of "there's no way you are going to NOT do this" sort of thing. The couple vows to love, honor, and respect one another until they die. I don't think adultery, lying, or any other kind of abuse hold true to that vow.
I believe theft is wrong. All kinds of theft. The theft of money or toys from a business or a person is wrong. Theft of an idea by claiming it as your own is wrong. Theft of time by disregarding others' needs or schedule is wrong. Theft of thought by forcing someone to do what you want, when you want, how you want, is wrong. Theft of childhood by taking away a child's innocence of thought, play, or life is wrong. If it is not yours, it is NOT yours. Leave it alone!
It is wrong to lie about someone. It's wrong to tell a story about another person that is not true. It is assassination of character, murder, theft, of that person's reputation. All it takes is to repeat one little piece of gossip and you have lied about a person. It may seem innocent to you, not even a bad story, but who knows how far that little story will go or how big it could grow. Lying is not just making something up out of thin air. If you take the truth and stretch it, reduce it, leave something out, you have still told a lie about that person. Like the pledge in court says, "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
I believe jealousy is wrong. Lusting after another person's house, car, job, spouse, only leads to unhappiness. Jealousy is the excuse for stealing. Jealousy is the excuse for lying. Jealousy is the excuse for adultery. Jealousy is the excuse for murder. Even if you never do anything except be jealous, how happy can your life possibly be? You can't be happy with your home if the house next door is all you can think about. You can't be happy with your car if you sit around wishing for a different one. You can't be happy with your job if all you can do is complain that you want his job. You can not be happily married or happily single if you are constantly having fantasies about someone who is with someone else.
What is wrong with believing these things? According to some people the problem is that these are commandments 5 through 10 that God declares in the book of Exodus to Moses. Our national and local laws are based on these commandments. Can anyone really tell me that there is something wrong with taking other people into consideration before you act? Can anyone really argue that it is okay to do any of these things?
Let me play devil's advocate for a moment.
Just lusting after person's spouse is okay, right? Well, until you continue that line of thought to it's logical conclusion. After all those thoughts you end up alone, maybe a little drunk, with the person you lust after and you break a commandment. You didn't mean to and you feel guilty but it happened anyway. How many murders occur because of enraged significant others once they have learned of the betrayal? How many rapists admit to having had fantasies prior to committing the crime?
You accidentally walk out of the store with a bauble. It's just a dollar or so. You have already gotten to your car, it's raining, it's cold, whatever, and you don't want to have to go all the way back in. So it's okay to steal if you would be inconvenienced by NOT committing a crime? What if your daughter is with you? What would she learn from seeing you do that? How could you later scold her when she steals a lipstick from the store?
You hear a funny story about a friend of a friend. She made a rude comment that struck someone as hilarious enough to pass along. The exact circumstances surrounding the comment were a little fuzzy, so someone else sharpens the focus. Eventually it gets around to the original person or her significant other. Unfortunately now it has become so much more than it was. She has been humiliated.
So, breaking the "little" commandments is no big deal? Just wait until you are at the receiving end of one of those broken laws.
The fact is that if you trace back any crime, you eventually arrive at a little commandment. Murder starts as coveting. Theft is jealousy. The teen busted for drugs had long since ignored curfew. Consider the recent teen suicides based on mean gossip and cruelty. Do you really think the bullies are honoring their parents? That they aren't jealous of their victim? That if they had been raised to believe in the 10 Commandments that they might not have committed their crimes? I stress believe because an unfortunate effect of decades of ignoring God has been the spoken belief of the Bible without the heart, mind, and soul belief to support it. Going to church a couple times on Sunday while living like there is no God the rest of the week does not equal Christianity. Not by a long stretch of the imagination. But that is a post for another day.
Experts?
Wow. What a day. First I woke up late. Actually that's wrong. I woke up too early and accidentally fell back to sleep waiting for time to get my oldest boys up. Then I woke up 5 minutes before I should have left to make the appointment. We were only 5 minutes late and I ended up having to carry the baby too! Whew.
The plumber was here when I returned home. Someone will be in tomorrow to pump our septic tank. It could've been worse. I've lived in a home that had to have most of the outside pipes replaced. Now that's a bad day. Course with a new plumbing appointment, our field trip plans go out the door. Perhaps we can go later in the week...
My day seemed absolutely uneventful in comparison to someone I know who was just forbidden from homeschooling. By an expert. That is against the law. Unless there has been some serious legislation slipped in, the right to raise and educate your child still exists. Now this poor woman has to deal with someone blatantly crossing the line who happens to have a small amount of power and authority. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Small power is sometimes worse because it can be a heavy sledgehammer used to beat some into submission. It can be used to make life hell on earth even when it is completely wrong.
I have taught at a private school. I have been a long term substitute at a public school. I have taken teaching classes. I do not have my degree, nor do I particularly want it. I learned a very valuable lesson sitting in those classes, listening to the professors, especially through the lens of having been in a classroom. The one thing a teacher is an expert in is filling out paperwork. A teacher takes dozens of classes on how to fill out IEPs, how to fill out discipline forms, how to repeat the test, what form to fill out if too many kids can't regurgitate the test information, how to fill out requests for assistance on several levels, how to keep control of a classroom on paper, how to fill out attendance forms, how to transfer lesson plans from the curriculum onto the form to be turned into the office, you get the point. They are taught how to be buried in mountains of paperwork where the only thing they want is quiet so they can work. When thrown into a classroom with 20-30 children, survival becomes top priority. The twenty something new teacher who may or may not have any kids is now facing a flood of short people. For younger ages, that flood is people who are too young to be forced to sit in chairs like an unhappy adult in an office cubicle. Young kids should be up moving, counting clouds and trees, building towers, making letters out of mud. These "experts" are taught how to do nothing to create a love of learning or how to help a child learn to think for themselves. Both of these things are necessary in life. Being able to fill in a circle has rarely been a necessity for me in the real world. Sitting quietly in a roomful of equally aged persons has never been an issue. It is easy to see how a student graduates high school with honors and without the ability to read anything beyond picture books.
My hubby was undecided to uncaring about our homeschooling when it first came up. He'd been teaching for 2 years when our oldest was born. He had a physics degree earned the decade before. He was taking the teaching classes in his spare time to get certified. It wasn't until he ended up in the recertification classes and on committees to chose curriculum before he really got it. He dealt with other teachers, some at levels that would have been his son's teacher, and finally understood. He actually told one that we homeschooled so that our 5 year old son wouldn't have to deal with someone less intelligent than he was. No malice, just simple fact. By the time he had that conversation, the boy already had a better understanding of the physics concept the teachers had been discussing than the gentlemen to whom my hubby was speaking.
There are so many experts now. Makes you wonder why there is so much trouble. Is that because of or in spite of all those experts? I firmly believe that if parents would step up, get themselves and their kids back in church, and paid attention, the experts would become even more useless, if that is even possible.
Just visited my facebook page. This ad was posted alongside it. This could explain some things.
"Quality Teachers are in short supply. Get your BS/MS in Education in as little as 1 Year."
Quality masters in one year? Guess it shouldn't take multiple years to learn how to fill out paperwork. So very thankful that I am blessed to be able to homeschool.
The plumber was here when I returned home. Someone will be in tomorrow to pump our septic tank. It could've been worse. I've lived in a home that had to have most of the outside pipes replaced. Now that's a bad day. Course with a new plumbing appointment, our field trip plans go out the door. Perhaps we can go later in the week...
My day seemed absolutely uneventful in comparison to someone I know who was just forbidden from homeschooling. By an expert. That is against the law. Unless there has been some serious legislation slipped in, the right to raise and educate your child still exists. Now this poor woman has to deal with someone blatantly crossing the line who happens to have a small amount of power and authority. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Small power is sometimes worse because it can be a heavy sledgehammer used to beat some into submission. It can be used to make life hell on earth even when it is completely wrong.
I have taught at a private school. I have been a long term substitute at a public school. I have taken teaching classes. I do not have my degree, nor do I particularly want it. I learned a very valuable lesson sitting in those classes, listening to the professors, especially through the lens of having been in a classroom. The one thing a teacher is an expert in is filling out paperwork. A teacher takes dozens of classes on how to fill out IEPs, how to fill out discipline forms, how to repeat the test, what form to fill out if too many kids can't regurgitate the test information, how to fill out requests for assistance on several levels, how to keep control of a classroom on paper, how to fill out attendance forms, how to transfer lesson plans from the curriculum onto the form to be turned into the office, you get the point. They are taught how to be buried in mountains of paperwork where the only thing they want is quiet so they can work. When thrown into a classroom with 20-30 children, survival becomes top priority. The twenty something new teacher who may or may not have any kids is now facing a flood of short people. For younger ages, that flood is people who are too young to be forced to sit in chairs like an unhappy adult in an office cubicle. Young kids should be up moving, counting clouds and trees, building towers, making letters out of mud. These "experts" are taught how to do nothing to create a love of learning or how to help a child learn to think for themselves. Both of these things are necessary in life. Being able to fill in a circle has rarely been a necessity for me in the real world. Sitting quietly in a roomful of equally aged persons has never been an issue. It is easy to see how a student graduates high school with honors and without the ability to read anything beyond picture books.
My hubby was undecided to uncaring about our homeschooling when it first came up. He'd been teaching for 2 years when our oldest was born. He had a physics degree earned the decade before. He was taking the teaching classes in his spare time to get certified. It wasn't until he ended up in the recertification classes and on committees to chose curriculum before he really got it. He dealt with other teachers, some at levels that would have been his son's teacher, and finally understood. He actually told one that we homeschooled so that our 5 year old son wouldn't have to deal with someone less intelligent than he was. No malice, just simple fact. By the time he had that conversation, the boy already had a better understanding of the physics concept the teachers had been discussing than the gentlemen to whom my hubby was speaking.
There are so many experts now. Makes you wonder why there is so much trouble. Is that because of or in spite of all those experts? I firmly believe that if parents would step up, get themselves and their kids back in church, and paid attention, the experts would become even more useless, if that is even possible.
Just visited my facebook page. This ad was posted alongside it. This could explain some things.
"Quality Teachers are in short supply. Get your BS/MS in Education in as little as 1 Year."
Quality masters in one year? Guess it shouldn't take multiple years to learn how to fill out paperwork. So very thankful that I am blessed to be able to homeschool.
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