December 14, 2007
The threshing floor
Welcome to the 19th edition of A Living Education E-zine!Do you know that the word “threshing” is used often in the Bible and not only when talking about agricultural pastimes. Gideon was threshing his wheat hiding in a winepress to try to protect his crop (and himself) from the Midianite raiders.
Yet even in Gideon’s state of fear, the Angel of the Lord came to him and told him that God would equip him to do what was needed to be done for His people. What do you think Gideon’s reaction was? “Yippee Lord, you are going to help me overcome my fear by sending me out to face this fierce tribe?” I don’t think so...Judges 6 tells us how he asked the Lord for a sign and how he fleeced the Lord twice thereafter. Praise God for His patience with us!
Sometimes homeschooling can be a threshing process in a mom’s life and we can also feel like Gideon and want to hide from those things that threaten us. But God in His infinite love for us has promised that He will mature us if we will just listen to and obey Him.
As I look back over my year there were times that I felt like hiding, as Gideon did, and there were times when I felt the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit in my life. As each situation happened – feeling threatened or fearful, the loving but painful work of the Holy Spirit – I was so very aware of God’s absolute love for me and my family.
I have been so aware of how he has used my husband, children and homeschooling to expose my fears, weaknesses and challenges. Yet, never have I despaired, as this God we know is patient, kind, always looking for the best and His love never fails.
Read more Articles to Encourage
Charlotte Mason
I am, I can, I ought, I will was Charlotte Mason’s educational motto. What does this mean to you? In our home we have adopted it as follows: I am created in the image of God, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, I ought to do my best and let my light shine, I will choose to walk in obedience to the Lord.
There are many times when I have had to remind myself of these four things and then act upon them. There are many times that I encourage my children with these same words.
Can they begin to be part of your home too?
Family and Sibling Relationships
There is always an ongoing debate about whether TV has any part to play in families who want to have active, healthy Christian Kids. In our home we have chosen to use television selectively for educational purposes, sport and a weekly movie night.
Movie night in our home means making an easy meal like subs or pizza, bowls of popcorn and piling onto the couches to watch our favourite movies. Because so many of the popular family movies do not exhibit the values that we want to teach our children we have been careful to select older movies with more balanced morals. Here are our favourite movie night movies that we recommend but please take your own family’s sensitivities into consideration.
The Adventures of Ociee Nash, DVD
Organizational Tips
A principal I have taught myself over years of being a homemaker and what I am trying to teach my children, is to touch something once.
So as we finish our dinner we “touch our plate once” as we put it in the dishwasher. When we bring in towels or costumes from outside, we immediately hang them up or put them away. When I receive an email, I do my utmost to deal with it once. When we get home from an outing or picnic we immediately unpack our bags and return the items to the correct spot.
This principal saves a lot of time and pile up of things around the home. Read more organization tips
Your Marriage
Has your husband ever bought something that you thought needed to be talked over with you before he went and paid for it? These types of things can cause lots of fireworks in a marriage.
Some have suggested that a monetary limit be set after which discussion is called for before money is spent. This can work in a home where husband and wife live in accountability to one another. But what about the home where this is not the situation?
A wife in this situation has two ways to deal with it. If the purchase has robbed your family of food or shelter you will need to approach your husband with a submissive heart and in God’s timing- having prayed first. Husbands who spend recklessly already know they have a problem – they don’t need a wife to point it out. What they do need is for a wife to speak once and then cry out to the Lord.
Another option is that if your husband does this, but does not get you into debt to buy his luxuries (this could be anything from a new DVD to a sound system) then choose rather to enjoy the blessing together. Be thrilled for him that he is financially able to do this. Don’t pout, moan or drop little snide remarks.
However you choose to approach your husband – or not too – please remember to be Spirit led in your choice. Honouring your husband in either of these situations is more important that pointing out his mistakes.
Quote
“The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.” Unknown
Living books
As it is holiday time for us here in South Africa I thought I would share some of my favourite living books for moms. These are books that have given me ideas and food for thought. Please note that these links go to Christian Book.com and as always it is better for South African’s to order through Kalahari or Loot.co.za
I Dared to Call Him Father, The Miraculous Story of a Muslim Woman's Encounter with God By Bilquis Lohse
Gods Smuggler, By Brother Andrew
Hinds' Feet on High Places By Hannah Hurnard
The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story Of Chinese Christian Brother Yun By Brother Yun
The Jesus I Never Knew By Philip Yancey
I recently updated my book store on my favourite book page. Take a look at our family’s favorites.
Homeschool Curriculum For Life News!
Moms who have been on my subscription list for this Ezine for sometime have heard me mention Sitesell.com a few times. I often get queries about how moms can earn an income from a website when they don’t have anything to sell. Well, here’s how – you take your personal knowledge on a subject, your passion or hobby and turn it into web pages.
These web pages can be linked to various affiliate schemes which earn and income for you. These links also provide your visitor with further information on the topic and thus your site becomes a content rich site.
There have been many homeschool moms who have started websites with Sitesell - take a look at Denise’s Cottage Home Decorating site or Ali’s Cape Town Tourist site for example. Both homeschool moms with a passion and a desire to contribute to the family purse!
And you can do it too...at this time of year for a short period Ken Evoy, CEO of Sitesell, offers a buy-one-get-one-free website package. What this means is that if you have a friend or family member who would like to also create a content rich website on their favourite topic then you can split the cost of the site and get an even greater saving!
You could of course give the other away to your older homeschool student and get them going on building a profitable online business which will pay for their college fees or business start up costs in the future. Be sure to contact me if you have any further questions on this topic and I will help you as best I can.
May God bless you all over this season and may the love of Jesus penetrate your hearts and minds.
Take care until next time,
God’s richest blessings to you as you homeschool,
Wendy
PS Please pay it forward by sending this E-zine on to other homeschooling moms who will benefit from my thoughts. If you received this from a friend, sign up here