Finally one of the computers we ordered came in, so I can blog again! My son took my other one off to school, so I was computer-less for 3 weeks unless I woke up earlier than normal. That didn't always happen.
He's finishing his 3rd week and so far so good. He probably feels like he's there all day every day, cause he is! But we continue to be so grateful for the way things have worked out. He's able to drive to school and back every day with my husband and that has just been awesome. Their schedules are completely coordinated right down to their night classes. This has been just what he needed for his first year.
The other kids and I are wading through the school year. Some enjoying it more than others. Junior quizzing has taken off and we're enjoying that new element to our day. I'm shocked to see how well they are doing. I had received some resistance suggesting that it was too much for the younger ages, two verses a day, but for the most part, these little people are doing it! Rising up to the challenge they've been given and it is absolutely amazing to watch them.
Meanwhile, I'm reading through Jeremiah and came across a classic verse, "Thus says the Lord, 'Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.'" (6:16). The ancient paths. I talked about this with the kids, asking them to pick out the action words. Stand. Look. Ask. Walk. Find Rest. It seems like the perfect formula for peace and joy. Yet why is there sometimes conflict throughout the day either between me and a child or between siblings? Because of the next verse....."But they said, 'We will not walk in it....We will not pay attention." Well, there you go. The Lord tells us how to have a good life, but we just ignore the plan. The results? "I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it."
It was the perfect Bible Study. Do what God says and you will have rest for your souls. Ignore His Law and life will not go so well for you. The rest of the week I just kept telling the kids, "Watch for the ancient paths!" Whether or not they fully grasp it at a young age doesn't matter to me. I'm trying to fill their minds with Biblical vocabulary. I know God's Word will not return void if I just keep getting it out there, in their minds, in their own speech.
Thursday 21 September 2017
Tuesday 12 September 2017
The Art of Self-Discipline via Goats, Geese and Dogs
We made it through week one and now we're into week 2 of formal school. Still trying to be very frugal so I'm stretching meat, making lunches, shopping at thrift stores for clothes. It is waaay easier to buy lunches and shop at stores for new clothes, but I don't mind the challenge. For lunches, I'm trying to pack healthier choices so there's some weightloss (RM enjoyed his summer!) Now that he's stuck at school so long, he has no choice but to eat what I send him!
This year I think the main character goal will be focusing on is "Self-discipline". All of us need it in order to get through school, manage our home, all our work, the many hours we all put in around the farm, etc. To get us on the right path, RM had us listen to an old message from John Macarthur last night for our family worship. It was great. We'll listen to the rest of it tonight. It just immediately reminded me of how easy it is for me to put something off, from simply picking stuff up in the family room, to washing dishes right away, to putting another load in the laundry....After listening to him speak on the importance of it in our lives, I found myself running around the house doing things I should have done earlier on in the day, but had procrastinated on. I give pep talks all the time. It was good for me to hear one, too.
It's funny how God brings certain things or people into our lives to teach us these character traits, or in my daughter's case....goats. Yup, we have goats now. Two of them. We are goat-sitting while our friends are away for 3 months. Seemed like a good idea at the time! My husband is extremely adamant that he is against goats. Thinks they are, uh, of the devil. They escape, look scary, and make awful noises. But, my daughter and I wanted the milk so badly we were willing to try. We wanted to make goat cheese, soap and even try to drink the milk. This has turned into quite the fiasco that the rest of the family did NOT, I repeat, DID NOT, sign up for.
The morning the goats were arriving, my son casually came into the kitchen and said to my unaware husband, "Dad, where should we put the goats when they get here in an hour?" "What? They're coming today?" The next few minutes weren't pretty as he was racing out the door, not able to handle where the goats would be going....He got to work and asked his colleagues, "Does this happen at your home right before you go to work....?" He then went on to explain the funny question he was asked minutes before heading out the door.
My husband has no extra time in his life these days, so goats were not going to be his deal. He told my daughter, "If you are going to have goats, you are going to be in charge of everything about those goats!" "Yes Dad!" And, so the self-discipline training began. First she had to make a pen in the barn for the goats, which fortunately had been mostly made before for the mini horses. Then, she and her goat friend had to muck the barn, for who knows how long. Now that they were in their little enclosure, right on time, it was time for them to start escaping. Sure enough, they did it and have continued to escape every single day. Next, my sleepy daughter, who hates waking up early, now is on a goat milking schedule and is up before dark milking these bleating beasts. Sadly, I haven't quite convinced my kids (no pun intended) to drink the milk, though I'm going to keep at it. I don't love it either, but it's free and so good for you and maybe it is a little "goat-y", but for free?! How can you go wrong? The other kids were glad it wasn't their job to watch these goats, but morning after morning my daughter has run in, yelling, "HELP!!!" Suddenly, more kids are on the self-discipline track, too, helping when they don't want to, serving in a way they never planned. Sorry!
These friends also brought two beautiful white "guard" geese. That caused quite a stir in the chicken coop. Never have I heard so many barnyard noises at once. The roosters were crowing, the chickens were squawking, the geese were honking, the dogs and puppies were barking, the goats were bleating.......oh my goodness.....I couldn't believe how loud it was! I was sure the neighbours were going to call someone on us. Since then, all the animals have settled in....a little less noise.
Meanwhile, the puppies have grown up to be big puppies with big smells. My oldest son is now off to school and has no time to manage his dogs, so I delegated the work while he was away to another son. He'll get paid once the puppies are sold. More self-discipline training going on. He hates this job. It is awful. You have to scrape stuff off the floor, sweep, vacuum, sometimes mop. What a mess, what a smell. We're trying to keep them outdoors all day now in the kennel. That is helping me manage the smell in my house. We won't sell them soon enough, though they are at the cutest stage!
So, I'm grateful for all the tasks we have. I don't love how busy it makes us all feel. I don't love the sense of being overwhelmed, but I love the character it is developing in all of us, through the use of animals, no less. Well, whatever it takes, I guess!
This year I think the main character goal will be focusing on is "Self-discipline". All of us need it in order to get through school, manage our home, all our work, the many hours we all put in around the farm, etc. To get us on the right path, RM had us listen to an old message from John Macarthur last night for our family worship. It was great. We'll listen to the rest of it tonight. It just immediately reminded me of how easy it is for me to put something off, from simply picking stuff up in the family room, to washing dishes right away, to putting another load in the laundry....After listening to him speak on the importance of it in our lives, I found myself running around the house doing things I should have done earlier on in the day, but had procrastinated on. I give pep talks all the time. It was good for me to hear one, too.
It's funny how God brings certain things or people into our lives to teach us these character traits, or in my daughter's case....goats. Yup, we have goats now. Two of them. We are goat-sitting while our friends are away for 3 months. Seemed like a good idea at the time! My husband is extremely adamant that he is against goats. Thinks they are, uh, of the devil. They escape, look scary, and make awful noises. But, my daughter and I wanted the milk so badly we were willing to try. We wanted to make goat cheese, soap and even try to drink the milk. This has turned into quite the fiasco that the rest of the family did NOT, I repeat, DID NOT, sign up for.
The morning the goats were arriving, my son casually came into the kitchen and said to my unaware husband, "Dad, where should we put the goats when they get here in an hour?" "What? They're coming today?" The next few minutes weren't pretty as he was racing out the door, not able to handle where the goats would be going....He got to work and asked his colleagues, "Does this happen at your home right before you go to work....?" He then went on to explain the funny question he was asked minutes before heading out the door.
My husband has no extra time in his life these days, so goats were not going to be his deal. He told my daughter, "If you are going to have goats, you are going to be in charge of everything about those goats!" "Yes Dad!" And, so the self-discipline training began. First she had to make a pen in the barn for the goats, which fortunately had been mostly made before for the mini horses. Then, she and her goat friend had to muck the barn, for who knows how long. Now that they were in their little enclosure, right on time, it was time for them to start escaping. Sure enough, they did it and have continued to escape every single day. Next, my sleepy daughter, who hates waking up early, now is on a goat milking schedule and is up before dark milking these bleating beasts. Sadly, I haven't quite convinced my kids (no pun intended) to drink the milk, though I'm going to keep at it. I don't love it either, but it's free and so good for you and maybe it is a little "goat-y", but for free?! How can you go wrong? The other kids were glad it wasn't their job to watch these goats, but morning after morning my daughter has run in, yelling, "HELP!!!" Suddenly, more kids are on the self-discipline track, too, helping when they don't want to, serving in a way they never planned. Sorry!
These friends also brought two beautiful white "guard" geese. That caused quite a stir in the chicken coop. Never have I heard so many barnyard noises at once. The roosters were crowing, the chickens were squawking, the geese were honking, the dogs and puppies were barking, the goats were bleating.......oh my goodness.....I couldn't believe how loud it was! I was sure the neighbours were going to call someone on us. Since then, all the animals have settled in....a little less noise.
Meanwhile, the puppies have grown up to be big puppies with big smells. My oldest son is now off to school and has no time to manage his dogs, so I delegated the work while he was away to another son. He'll get paid once the puppies are sold. More self-discipline training going on. He hates this job. It is awful. You have to scrape stuff off the floor, sweep, vacuum, sometimes mop. What a mess, what a smell. We're trying to keep them outdoors all day now in the kennel. That is helping me manage the smell in my house. We won't sell them soon enough, though they are at the cutest stage!
So, I'm grateful for all the tasks we have. I don't love how busy it makes us all feel. I don't love the sense of being overwhelmed, but I love the character it is developing in all of us, through the use of animals, no less. Well, whatever it takes, I guess!
Wednesday 6 September 2017
Arise, Get Dressed and Go Play Hotwheels!
Yesterday was the first day of school for our younger one and today is the first day of school for our oldest boy...off to university. Wow, what extremes we have in our family. One child just learning to read and the other doing physics, biology and chemistry. It's amazing what can happen in just a few years! It gives me hope!
I reflect back on that first day of school for the oldest boy, 14 years ago.....I called my husband at work because my son just refused to write an "F". "He won't write an 'F'!" I cried into the phone. "Relax," my husband said, "let him play hotwheels." And so I did. I relaxed, all along the way, and let him learn at his own pace. We enjoyed our life, without stress, doing the work in between play and just being curious about so many things, and guess what? He still got in to university! Without me freaking out on him all the time. I can't help but think that actually helped him figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He was free to explore his multiple interests all day long, and trust me, he did. He was always up to something, and still is.
I have to try to remember this. Yesterday I was trying to get my 7 year old to do his math, but he kept escaping to lie down with the puppies! My husband called and I told him, "J keeps escaping to play with the puppies! He won't do his work!" "Let him play with the puppies....." He may as well of said, "Let him play with hotwheels...." And so I did. He played with the puppies for most of the day. It's going to be such a small window that we have these puppies here. I want him to enjoy them. The work will get done, just like with my other son, in between all the things he's curious about.
However, I still had to have my annual pep talk! Actually, I give them basically daily, but yesterday's was a particularly good one, if I say so myself! I had read Jeremiah 1 that morning. It was describing Jeremiah's call by God to go be a prophet to the nations. He had lots of excuses why he shouldn't do what God had said, "I do not not how to speak, for I am only a youth." But God would have none of it. "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to who I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you , you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord." What struck me is that we are also called. Maybe we aren't prophets, but we are moms, students, fathers.....we all have a job to do right now. For my kids, it is living at home, under our roof, under our rules, in my "school", doing the work I've planned for them. I've been given the role of helping develop their character, their spirits, their brains! They just have to do what I say, pretty much! After God's pep talk to Jeremiah he says, "But you, dress yourself for work, arise, and say to them everything that I command you." That was our verse for the day - Get up! Get dressed for school! And do everything I tell you to! I loved it!
I hear a very loud alarm going off right now....the kids have to get up early now. Don't think they'll love that aspect to life this fall, but oh well! Arise, get dressed and go to work!
I reflect back on that first day of school for the oldest boy, 14 years ago.....I called my husband at work because my son just refused to write an "F". "He won't write an 'F'!" I cried into the phone. "Relax," my husband said, "let him play hotwheels." And so I did. I relaxed, all along the way, and let him learn at his own pace. We enjoyed our life, without stress, doing the work in between play and just being curious about so many things, and guess what? He still got in to university! Without me freaking out on him all the time. I can't help but think that actually helped him figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He was free to explore his multiple interests all day long, and trust me, he did. He was always up to something, and still is.
I have to try to remember this. Yesterday I was trying to get my 7 year old to do his math, but he kept escaping to lie down with the puppies! My husband called and I told him, "J keeps escaping to play with the puppies! He won't do his work!" "Let him play with the puppies....." He may as well of said, "Let him play with hotwheels...." And so I did. He played with the puppies for most of the day. It's going to be such a small window that we have these puppies here. I want him to enjoy them. The work will get done, just like with my other son, in between all the things he's curious about.
However, I still had to have my annual pep talk! Actually, I give them basically daily, but yesterday's was a particularly good one, if I say so myself! I had read Jeremiah 1 that morning. It was describing Jeremiah's call by God to go be a prophet to the nations. He had lots of excuses why he shouldn't do what God had said, "I do not not how to speak, for I am only a youth." But God would have none of it. "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to who I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you , you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord." What struck me is that we are also called. Maybe we aren't prophets, but we are moms, students, fathers.....we all have a job to do right now. For my kids, it is living at home, under our roof, under our rules, in my "school", doing the work I've planned for them. I've been given the role of helping develop their character, their spirits, their brains! They just have to do what I say, pretty much! After God's pep talk to Jeremiah he says, "But you, dress yourself for work, arise, and say to them everything that I command you." That was our verse for the day - Get up! Get dressed for school! And do everything I tell you to! I loved it!
I hear a very loud alarm going off right now....the kids have to get up early now. Don't think they'll love that aspect to life this fall, but oh well! Arise, get dressed and go to work!
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