The reasons for the long absences from blogging are many-fold, complex, and tiring to even think about let alone explain. Suffice it to say that 2007 was the year Mom tried everything in her power to be super-mom. Suffice it to say that "her power" wasn't nearly enough, and God had to step in, take a few things off of the plate, and replace them with a hearty serving of grace. Thankfully, my family is chiming in on that, and we are happily uncommitted at the moment to anything but learning and living.
When I got so busy that I felt depressed, I realized that I needed my kids perhaps even more than they need me. I need their simplicity, their happy delight in just about everything, their lack of concern for material things, their constant desire to paint, sketch, play, giggle, tickle, read books together, play pretend and eat popcorn. I didn't need to wear business attire, attend meetings, pound the pavement, suggest alternatives or make projections. I was emotionally stretched by the tension, not to mention the other two or three major family and personal issues I had brewing in the proverbial pot.
The attempt to be super-mom, and the subsequent abandonment of said effort has left me with a super-strong desire to do the spring cleaning and organizing and to get ready for next school year. I want to purge, simplify, reduce, focus. Whenever I have a few moments, I find myself going through things and throwing stuff away without any thought for sentimentality or if I may be sorry later. It's all gotta go! (The good news is that I usually do make the right call on not being a pack-rat...it's rare that I throw away something that I'm sorry for later.)
This is what I have learned from all of this--we tend to fill up on junk, grasp at things that we have no business holding on to, seize control of things that we really have no control over anyway, so it's like trying to steer a runaway train, and worry ourselves to death over things that mean little. I heard in a sermon recently: "Our greatest fear should not be that we not succeed, but rather that we succeed at something that doesn't matter." Last year I filled up on junk, held on to empty things, ran around trying to succeed at something that was not my calling, and ended up an exhausted heap. Then the Lord asked me if I was ready to let him handle things. (chuckling to myself) oh, ya...That's what I need.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Resurrecting the Blog, Weighing in...
Wow...I just realized how long it's been since I last blogged. I've been very deeply ensconced in figuring out what is truly important in life, and somewhere, tripping merrily along (and sometimes not so merrily) I lost track of blogging. I've missed it though, and aim to return here, with some regularity.
For some reason, the issue of global (and especially childhood) obesity always gets my attention. Indeed, it is an "epidemic"--pandemic, if you ask me. It's not from lack of excericise. It's not from too much junk food or McDonald's. It's not from watching too much television or drinking too much coke. Well, indirectly I suppose it is, just as booze is indirectly the cause of alcoholism, or guns are the indirect cause of murders. It is all of these things in the hands of the users that get blamed on one level or another for a major problem. Alcoholism appeared to be a problem in the early part of the century, so the do-gooders decided that prohibition would be a good idea. Bad idea. Rising crime rates led another set of do-gooders to decided that gun control would be a good idea. I'll let you decide on that yourself, but as for me and my house, we like the Constitution. Now that the problem is FOOD ITSELF, what are we going to prohibit? Who are we going to punish?
I'd like to offer a suggestion. If mothers would choose to stay home with their kids, cook meals, take them to parks, read books to them regularly, teach them about healthy living, take them to church, teach them personal responsibility and global awareness, and love them with all they've got, then I wager that a major part of the problem will be improved. Is it the food that's the problem, or the emptiness inside that people are trying to fill with even emptier calories?
Oh, I know...I can already hear people jumping all over me saying, "what about the poor people, what about the people who HAVE to have two incomes, who don't have the time to eat with their kids? It's okay. I grew up in a single-parent, below-poverty income household. We lived on soups and stews and food that could stretch as far as we could make it stretch, but we sat down together every night, and my exhausted mom made us breakfast every morning, and taught us how to be healthy and use common sense when we ate. None of us is fat.
For some reason, the issue of global (and especially childhood) obesity always gets my attention. Indeed, it is an "epidemic"--pandemic, if you ask me. It's not from lack of excericise. It's not from too much junk food or McDonald's. It's not from watching too much television or drinking too much coke. Well, indirectly I suppose it is, just as booze is indirectly the cause of alcoholism, or guns are the indirect cause of murders. It is all of these things in the hands of the users that get blamed on one level or another for a major problem. Alcoholism appeared to be a problem in the early part of the century, so the do-gooders decided that prohibition would be a good idea. Bad idea. Rising crime rates led another set of do-gooders to decided that gun control would be a good idea. I'll let you decide on that yourself, but as for me and my house, we like the Constitution. Now that the problem is FOOD ITSELF, what are we going to prohibit? Who are we going to punish?
I'd like to offer a suggestion. If mothers would choose to stay home with their kids, cook meals, take them to parks, read books to them regularly, teach them about healthy living, take them to church, teach them personal responsibility and global awareness, and love them with all they've got, then I wager that a major part of the problem will be improved. Is it the food that's the problem, or the emptiness inside that people are trying to fill with even emptier calories?
Oh, I know...I can already hear people jumping all over me saying, "what about the poor people, what about the people who HAVE to have two incomes, who don't have the time to eat with their kids? It's okay. I grew up in a single-parent, below-poverty income household. We lived on soups and stews and food that could stretch as far as we could make it stretch, but we sat down together every night, and my exhausted mom made us breakfast every morning, and taught us how to be healthy and use common sense when we ate. None of us is fat.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
An Unexcused Absense--or, True Freedom.
Good grief...I've been gone so long I almost lost touch with the world of blogging. Things are coming back into focus, however, and I will be better about posting several times a week...But the absense isn't completely unexcused. I just like to say "unexcused absense" because I can get away with it now that I'm a completely free individual.
I mentioned before that we began a new home-based business, and for the last six months that has taken a front seat to just about everything. It is the pot boiling over on the front stove burner, the "squeaky wheel that gets the grease." You get my point.
But this is the beauty of most of the things I do--homeschooling, blogging, working from home--they are all demanding in their own right, but only to the extent that I ALLOW THEM TO BE. I'm starting to realize in my life what true freedom is, and I think that it has become one of the major "whys" for homeschooling my children.
Freedom has to be a state in which we have total control over our time and finances, and in which we are not being governed by external factors or forces. My family has seriously undertaken to make this our permanent state of existence. Certainly, we will still have the ugly beast known as taxes to govern us to some extent, but at least we can afford to pay a really great accountant, get the most money back, and just sign the paper zap it to the IRS. Aside from that, we are working to eliminate the limitation of a job that dictates where my husband will be and for how long. We will "fire our boss" in 18 months! Aside from a home mortgage, we have eliminated all financial obligations. We are heading toward a life in which we can be, do and have without limitation. This, in turn, gives us the freedom to give without limitation.
Ultimately, I want to model this for my children. I want them to be free in their hearts and minds to be who they are without limitation. This doesn't mean that they will be raised without ever having to work or understand the value of money, etc. Quite the contrary--I hope that through this freedom they will understand exactly what the purpose of work and money actually is.
Any American who understands even a little about human rights would likely agree that
slavery has never ceased to exist since the dawn of humanity--it just takes
differeing forms at different times of history--tyranny, bondage, famine,
superstition, low regard for the value of human life, war, debt, obesity...
We are obligated as human beings to be free. We were created with an acute understanding of what it feels like to NOT be free, and an inherent desire to BE free. I could never believe that God's intention for us was for us to suffer under bondage to anything. He has certainly provided avenues for us to alleviate suffering, if only we would turn to them and travel those paths. At this point in our history we must throw off the fetters of inferior education, poor moral examples, poor diet, poor health, chronic debt.
We can, and will be free if we only make the decision to be so, and take decisive steps in that direction. We owe it to our children.
I mentioned before that we began a new home-based business, and for the last six months that has taken a front seat to just about everything. It is the pot boiling over on the front stove burner, the "squeaky wheel that gets the grease." You get my point.
But this is the beauty of most of the things I do--homeschooling, blogging, working from home--they are all demanding in their own right, but only to the extent that I ALLOW THEM TO BE. I'm starting to realize in my life what true freedom is, and I think that it has become one of the major "whys" for homeschooling my children.
Freedom has to be a state in which we have total control over our time and finances, and in which we are not being governed by external factors or forces. My family has seriously undertaken to make this our permanent state of existence. Certainly, we will still have the ugly beast known as taxes to govern us to some extent, but at least we can afford to pay a really great accountant, get the most money back, and just sign the paper zap it to the IRS. Aside from that, we are working to eliminate the limitation of a job that dictates where my husband will be and for how long. We will "fire our boss" in 18 months! Aside from a home mortgage, we have eliminated all financial obligations. We are heading toward a life in which we can be, do and have without limitation. This, in turn, gives us the freedom to give without limitation.
Ultimately, I want to model this for my children. I want them to be free in their hearts and minds to be who they are without limitation. This doesn't mean that they will be raised without ever having to work or understand the value of money, etc. Quite the contrary--I hope that through this freedom they will understand exactly what the purpose of work and money actually is.
Any American who understands even a little about human rights would likely agree that
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,We all agree that should be free, but are we really? I sincerely believe that
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
slavery has never ceased to exist since the dawn of humanity--it just takes
differeing forms at different times of history--tyranny, bondage, famine,
superstition, low regard for the value of human life, war, debt, obesity...
We are obligated as human beings to be free. We were created with an acute understanding of what it feels like to NOT be free, and an inherent desire to BE free. I could never believe that God's intention for us was for us to suffer under bondage to anything. He has certainly provided avenues for us to alleviate suffering, if only we would turn to them and travel those paths. At this point in our history we must throw off the fetters of inferior education, poor moral examples, poor diet, poor health, chronic debt.
We can, and will be free if we only make the decision to be so, and take decisive steps in that direction. We owe it to our children.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
What is this, REALLY?
I had a little conversation with my son today. I told him that this year, when people ask him why he's not in school, he should answer that, "we learn at home," as opposed to saying "I'm homeschooled." Why? I'm growing further and further away from the traditional concept of school all the time. I want to imply that our life is home and learning is a central part of that existence. I'm tired of the "little school in the corner of the house" concept. I don't need a little student desk and a little black board and a little teacher's manual.
Here's an example of how it happens--we often talk about what nutrients are in the food we are eating. We think about the food we're eating and whether or not it's good for us. In one of these such conversations, we started talking about cells, free radicals, and antioxidants and what they all do. By the end of the conversation, my son had a very clear understanding of how free radicals can damage our cells and make them sick. We'll go over it a few more times, but for the most part he gets it--all from talking about it over lunch. I didn't need a science book. I didn't need a standardized test to see if he could spew it back, and I didn't need some government oversight to see if he learned it from a qualified teacher.
So, aside from reading and his math programs (which he really enjoys), we're going to learn at home, and let his love of life and all thing interesting drive what we do. Does this mean I'm becoming and unschooler? Maybe. That's just fine with me.
Here's an example of how it happens--we often talk about what nutrients are in the food we are eating. We think about the food we're eating and whether or not it's good for us. In one of these such conversations, we started talking about cells, free radicals, and antioxidants and what they all do. By the end of the conversation, my son had a very clear understanding of how free radicals can damage our cells and make them sick. We'll go over it a few more times, but for the most part he gets it--all from talking about it over lunch. I didn't need a science book. I didn't need a standardized test to see if he could spew it back, and I didn't need some government oversight to see if he learned it from a qualified teacher.
So, aside from reading and his math programs (which he really enjoys), we're going to learn at home, and let his love of life and all thing interesting drive what we do. Does this mean I'm becoming and unschooler? Maybe. That's just fine with me.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Get 'Em While They're Hot!
I saw this article today and it inspired the previous post...
It made me realize that this age of technology will not fade away. Nothing short of total destruction of the planet (which may in fact happen someday) will stop the advance of the internet and virtual reality. So, the next question is, do you have your web address? If you don't, there's no need to worry--they're adding "340 undecillion, 282 decillion, 366 nonillion, 920 octillion, 938 septillion — enough for the foreseeable future, Mr Kessens said." I'll say. Enough, perhaps even for my grandchildren, but by then they'll start needing more...
Here are some interesting statistics that are current, but what will they be 10 years from now, when my boy is 15. Ten years ago when my hubby and I were courting via the internet, we were just tackling instant messaging...
It made me realize that this age of technology will not fade away. Nothing short of total destruction of the planet (which may in fact happen someday) will stop the advance of the internet and virtual reality. So, the next question is, do you have your web address? If you don't, there's no need to worry--they're adding "340 undecillion, 282 decillion, 366 nonillion, 920 octillion, 938 septillion — enough for the foreseeable future, Mr Kessens said." I'll say. Enough, perhaps even for my grandchildren, but by then they'll start needing more...
Here are some interesting statistics that are current, but what will they be 10 years from now, when my boy is 15. Ten years ago when my hubby and I were courting via the internet, we were just tackling instant messaging...
ONLINE, ON THE PHONE, ON THE UP
50 billion the number of e-mails dispatched every day wordwide; in 2001 the traffic was less than 12 billion
88 per cent of e-mails are junk including about 1 per cent which are virus-infected
32 The average number of e-mail messages received per person per day. This is rising by 84 per cent each year
440 million the number of electronic mailboxes in use, including 170 million corporate ones, growing by 32 per cent per year
1,035 million the total number of mobile phone text messages sent each month in Britain
37 The average number of texts a user sends per month compared with 21 in 2001 1 million the number of children aged under 10 in Britain — one in three — who own a phone
8 The average age at which a child gets a mobile phone in Britain
Think about it...
Nintendo, Computer Games, and the like...Comments Please!
Perhaps you can help me with this...
My son loves computer games. He also loves playing Nintendo at friends' houses on rainy days. He loves anything computers and the like--but it stands to reason...so do his dad and I. My struggle is the balance issue. I read unschoolers who say that if their child wants / needs to spend two days conquering a game on their game cube, so be it--it will pass and he will move on to something else soon. Other homeschoolers are opposed to anything that doesn't involve gardening, playing outside and interacting with books and nature.
This morning as I played with my boy and started tickling and rough-housing with him, his ribs were poking out all over the place and I was impressed with his five-year-old muscles. He's a miniature man, in love with playing outside, sword fighting, playing make-believe, and climbing trees. He eats very well, is passionate about taking his vitamins, and knows that drinking lots of water is important for staying healthy.
Then why do I feel guilty for even entertaining the idea of a Nintendo for him for Christmas?
All comments are welcome! What do you think?
My son loves computer games. He also loves playing Nintendo at friends' houses on rainy days. He loves anything computers and the like--but it stands to reason...so do his dad and I. My struggle is the balance issue. I read unschoolers who say that if their child wants / needs to spend two days conquering a game on their game cube, so be it--it will pass and he will move on to something else soon. Other homeschoolers are opposed to anything that doesn't involve gardening, playing outside and interacting with books and nature.
This morning as I played with my boy and started tickling and rough-housing with him, his ribs were poking out all over the place and I was impressed with his five-year-old muscles. He's a miniature man, in love with playing outside, sword fighting, playing make-believe, and climbing trees. He eats very well, is passionate about taking his vitamins, and knows that drinking lots of water is important for staying healthy.
Then why do I feel guilty for even entertaining the idea of a Nintendo for him for Christmas?
All comments are welcome! What do you think?
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