Fresh Perspective

I have been trying to set aside special time to prepare for a seminar I'll be helping lead at a women's conference for MONTHS!  I kept waiting for some great inspiration to hit me as the deadline drew near. The conference starts tomorrow, so today is my last chance.  The day has not gone as planned.  A doctor's appointment that should have taken only one hour took up the first 6 hours of my day and involved visiting two different medical facilities with restless kids in tow.  While waiting at the doctor's office, I was humbled by my impatience, however, when I remembered my dear friends who are battling (and defeating!!!) cancer and must spend long days at the hospital 3 to 5 days each week for chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Our home is currently listed on MLS, so keeping the house tidy at all times is a sad priority. I decided to burn off some nervous energy by mopping the kitchen before sitting down with my stack of materials for the seminar. As I mopped, I could almost feel that ugly cortisol surging through my veins.  I needed to relax.  I needed a new perspective.



















Then my 4 year old who had been watching me mop at a frenzied pace said, "Mom, when you mop, it looks like you are painting.  The mop is your brush and the soapy water is your pallet of paint.  Will you teach me to mop?"  What I viewed as a dreaded chore was a beautiful form of artistic expression from his perspective. 

Those who know of my inordinate need to keep my house clean will understand that he wasn't suggesting that the floor was so dirty that mopping it changed it's color.  He actually saw the task of mopping as something pleasing.  So, while he finishes the household chores for me (smile), I'm going to work on my conference preparations with a fresh perspective.  I realize now that the best way I can prepare is to simply empty myself of me and be filled with Christ so that the attendees see and hear Him, not me.  I am excited and grateful for this wonderful opportunity.  May His power and His word flow through the conference speakers and seminar leaders.

Please pray for Whole Woman Day, and ladies, please consider attending.   There is still room for you!  I wrote a little article about it here.

People Get Ready!

Yesterday was our last LAMBS (Ladies AM Bible Study) meeting for the semester.  We wrapped up our fabulous study of the Book of Revelation.  The preschool children gave a cute little concert which our son previewed for us in this post.

Our joyful son before the concert with his teacher, Mrs. Joy

"I don't wanna be a Sadducee...because they are so sad, you see!

The homeschool class presented a drama about the 7 churches of Revelation (Revelation, chapters 1-3).  One of the parents posted a video of the drama here.  A reference to the love story I wrote earlier this year about how I met my husband appeared in the first scene and was my daughter's favorite line in the play!   At the end of the play when the actors normally bow and receive the applause, these young actors did not bow, but they chose instead to point their arms to Heaven signifying that all glory belongs to God alone.  This gesture also reminded me of Revelation 22:8-9.

Our lecturer's presentation yesterday was inspiring as always.  Our last lesson was on Revelation 22 which describes the new Eden as a glorious, breathtaking, eternal Heaven that surpasses our wildest imagination.  After reading this passage, one would think that the obvious response should be, "I can't wait to get there and experience if for myself!".  Yet, how many of us are really that excited and eager to reach Heaven?  We know God placed us here for a purpose, and it is an incredible joy to experience His will being worked in and through us.  Yet, are we so satisfied with this world that we do not hunger for Heaven?

Beth Evan's noted that the closer we get to Heaven, the more joy we should possess.  Yet, many of us (I'm assuming I'm not the only one) choose instead to lament over every gray hair, achy muscle, or wrinkle line which signifies our gradual journey toward physical death.  Beth stated, "If we have trouble desiring Heaven, could it be because we have trouble desiring God?"

Christians have been betrothed to Christ.  According to Jewish custom, once a couple has become engaged, they separate while the bridegroom returns to his homeland to prepare a house for his new bride.  When it is ready, he then returns for his bride who has been waiting expectantly for him.  The marriage vows are exchanged and a week long party ensues.  As the bride of Christ, Christians should be waiting eagerly for Christ to return to take us home.  The party plans are underway and our eternal house is being prepared.  Revelation 22 provides a glimpse of our eternal paradise.  12 pearl gates, streets of gold, 12 tiered foundations of precious gemstones, spectacular light like diamonds, a river of life, fruitful trees that bear 12 different fruits throughout the year, and intimate fellowship with Christ are all little hints of our future home.  Randy Alcorn describes this presentation in Revelation 22 as "little foretastes, like licking the spoon from Mama's beef stew an hour before supper."  The beauty alone should make us long for it, but the riches of heaven are nothing compared to the awe and wonder of standing in the presence of the Almighty God.

After the drama team sang the chorus from "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" and my daughter referenced my husband singing that song to me during our courtship days, I began reflecting back to that period of engagement to my husband.  When he proposed, we both wanted to get married right away.  We lived several hours apart and could only see each other every other weekend or so.  After he proposed, I was ready to give up my job, house, community, and almost anything to be with him.  I would have been content to live in a hut as long as we were together.   Young love is irrational, intense, and passionate.  Compare this love to our love for our eternal bridegroom.  Christ loves us more than any earthly spouse ever could as demonstrated by Christ's horrific death on the cross.  Instead of preparing a hut for us, He is building eternal mansions of glory infinitely greater than the sum of all beauty and wealth ever present on earth in the past, present and future.  Yet, do we long for Him the way we longed to be married to our earthly spouse?

While distance separated me from my fiance', I lived for his next phone call, email, or letter.  I cherished every note he wrote or word that fell from his lips.  Our love was all consuming.  Do we hunger for God's word with that same degree of passion?  Do we rely upon His word to sustain and uphold us? Do we treasure His words and yearn for time alone with Him?

Psalm 119

¹⁰ I seek you with all my heart;
   do not let me stray from your commands.
¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
   that I might not sin against you.
¹² Praise be to you, LORD;
   teach me your decrees.
¹³ With my lips I recount
   all the laws that come from your mouth.
¹⁴ I rejoice in following your statutes
   as one rejoices in great riches.
¹⁵ I meditate on your precepts
   and consider your ways.
¹⁶ I delight in your decrees;
   I will not neglect your word.

During my engagement to my husband, my primary focus was preparing for the wedding.  I made sure to wear my hair up as my beloved requested.  I searched far and wide for just the right dress, veil, and other accessories.  He and I both poured over scores of music to select the most suitable songs to honor Christ at our wedding.  We gave great attention to all the details of the reception to express our love and appreciation for our guests.  
 

Christ is making all the preparations for the wedding and the reception for us while we need merely to make ourselves ready.
So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.  (Matthew 24:44)

Are you ready? Are your loved ones ready?

 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.  (Revelation 22:17)

It's Just a House

Most of our friends and family know the trials we have had in trying to sell our house.  We have received so many encouraging words such as "God has a reason for your period of waiting" or "Your ideal next home just isn't ready yet".  Both friends and strangers have told us that our home is beautiful which helped me not take it so personally when it did not sell initially.  I am grateful for all the support and encouraging words we have received.  Now that we have just listed it on MLS again, I have struggled with the reality of the enormous financial loss we will incur if we sell it at the new market value.  One listing agent even recommended that we not even attempt to sell it anytime soon. 

A friend recently shared a link to this graphic on his blog.

 

Click on image source here to enlarge.

Note that home values reached their record peak in July of 2006 which is the exact same month we moved into this house.  Clearly, we are not the only people experiencing this house value frustration right now, and I'm so thankful that we do not owe enough on the house to put us at risk of becoming upside down on the mortgage as so many others are right now.

Yes, God has a reason for our waiting period, but the obvious reality is that housing values have fallen rapidly.  It's a great time to sell if you are looking to move up into a larger, more expensive home, but for people like us, the falling values can be disheartening, especially when our target location is not experiencing the degree of depreciation that is impacting our current residence.

So what should our response be in such uncertain times?    I do not believe that we should necessarily be asking "why?" or "when?".  Lamenting over our losses is probably not the best response either.  Instead, we should allow God to use this experience to draw us closer to Himself.

Seek the Lord

First and foremost, we must seek the Lord.   He bids us come to Him with our burdens and cares and cast them down.   We can only find true peace at His feet.

   ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)

We must regularly ask Him for discernment, wisdom, and direction. 

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  (James 1:5)

Accept the Situation and Trust Him

We must trust the Lord to guide us and direct our steps.

A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?  (Proverbs 20:24)

Realtors, mortgage lenders, home stagers, financial advisers, and economic analysts have their place and can be of immense service to us.  However, we ultimately must place our trust in the Lord.

Psalm 118:7-9 (New International Version, ©2011)

⁷ The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
   I look in triumph on my enemies.
 ⁸ It is better to take refuge in the LORD
   than to trust in humans.
⁹ It is better to take refuge in the LORD
   than to trust in princes.

We must not put our trust in home equity or bank accounts.  Instead, we do better by placing all of our trust in the One who owns it all.  Money is fleeting, but the Lord will sustain us forever.

Proverbs 23:4-6 (New International Version, ©2011)

 ⁴ Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
   do not trust your own cleverness.
⁵ Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
   for they will surely sprout wings
   and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

We must accept the current state of the economy.   It is all we can really expect in a fallen world.  If our investment portfolio collapses or our home equity disappears, we can remain strong if our trust is in the One who never changes. He who cannot break a promise has promised to meet our every need.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

Renew Your Mind With Kingdom Perspective

Romans 12:2  instructs us to not be "conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

This world tells us that the home we have on earth is all there is, so buy the nicest home you can and live large.  But God teaches us that whatever we own on earth really owns us and that our true and lasting inheritance is in Heaven.  Why mourn over the loss in value of a temporal home that rots and decays when we have mansions of glory waiting for us to inhabit forever?

 ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:3-5)

Yes, this ordeal with the house has been frustrating.  Yes, I'm sad about the loss in equity.  However, this struggle is only for a blink of an eye when compared to eternity.  It's just a house.

 

Matthew 6:19-21

    ¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

When we fix our eyes above and not on earthly things......

 ¹ Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3)

...and when we consider the cross, our only response can be "THANK YOU"!

Happy Easter!

How to Stop the Aging Process

The calendar says I'm a year older today.  My parents left me a message on my voicemail today in which they lamented over the fact that I have gotten SO OLD!  So, I'm trying to follow the advice in this article which suggests that we can significantly reduce the affects of aging by simply acting younger.

 

So, if you look for me this week, you will likely find me on my tricycle or in the tree house out back trying to act younger.  Let's hope this remedy will help my knees stop hurting and cause my wrinkles to vanish soon!

Caption Contest

I posted this photo of me inside of a tornado simulator on Facebook when a slew of tornadoes devastated nearby areas.  A friend suggested that I use it for a photo caption contest.

So, please help me caption this photo.  If you don't have any suggestions, then please leave a comment with your vote.  I will add your suggestions to the list as you send them.  This contest is just for fun, but I might come up with a prize of some sort by the end of it.

Thanks for participating.

 
Caption Suggestions Submitted Thus Far:

1)  ‎"No!! I do NOT weigh 427 pounds!!"

2) "The new 'Barbie Mother Of Two' Mattel doll, shown above in her bubble-wrap packaging concept, was not well received at the toy show."

3) ‎"What? We're out of chocolate!?!?!" 

4) "I"m HOW old today?" 

Eager Offspring, Eggs, and the Elderly

Leviticus 19:32
“‘Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.

For centuries, it has been observed that both children and the elderly benefit by spending time together.  Even the U.S. government has reported that spending time with the elderly helps improve a child's self esteem, ability to communicate, and problem solving skills.  In return, interacting with mild mannered children has been shown to have emotional, social, and health benefits for the elderly.  While separated by over 80 years in age, these two age groups actually have a great deal in common.

We feel blessed to know the activities director at an assisted living facility in our city.  She regularly invites us to bring our children to participate in activities with the residents.  Today, these precious residents sponsored an Easter egg hunt for our children.  Our children put their best effort into making Easter cards for the residents while the residents diligently stuffed and hid eggs for our children.

Babes with baskets

Residents rally

Job 12:12
Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?
 

"Seek and ye shall find!"

He found his allotted 10 eggs in about 60 seconds.

Eggs with a quarter inside merited a bonus prize!

Each kid also received a popsicle!

Colossians 2: 6-7

  ⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Saying "Thank You"

1 John 4:7
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God...

 1 John 4:11
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 1 Peter 3:8
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.

Acts 20:35  

...remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

Meet Kaya

Our mother/daughter American Girl book club continues to be one of our daughter's favorite activities.  This month's book was Meet Kaya.  Considering the native American heritage in our family, I really wanted to host this month's meeting.  In case anyone reading this blog has sons and no daughters, this post will give you a glimpse into some of the drama you are missing

Setting and Characters
This story takes place during midsummer of 1764 in the Pacific northwestern US.  The main characters are all Nimiipuu people who became known as the Nez Perce, which is a French term for "pierced nose".  I tried to prepare our home in such a way that would help the girls imagine themselves as Nimiipuu people living in 1764.

Various genuine buckskin garments were on display.

Our daughter added her doll to our decor.

A woven blanket served as our Nez Perce table cloth.

This pottery is the closest I could get to authentic clay plateware.

In the book, a great discussion about the days gone by took place while the women gathered together to make cord and mend the young twins' moccasins.  So, I left out some moccasins in the hope that the girls would mend them.  As you probably guessed, that didn't happen!

Buckskin moccasins for young boys

Our daughter wore an Indian outfit to carry out the theme.  She also wore this cross that my parents gave her at her baptism.  She explained, "The necklace makes me feel closer to Nana".  Grandparents were highly regarded by the Nez Pearce children for their wisdom and experience.

Food
The Nez Perce were nomads who hunted and gathered their food.  They also did a lot of fishing since salmon are so abundant along the Pacific Ocean. I served both smoked and baked salmon, nuts (whole cashews and cinnamon sugar almonds) and berries, which Kaya might have eaten quite regularly.

My mother-in-law/love has a strong Cherokee heritage, so she suggested that I serve either traditional fry bread or grape dumplings, and she sent me recipes for both.   The fry bread recipe looked easier, so I chose that one for our menu.

Then she went one step further and sent me fry bread mix!  I love her so!

The only thing she did not send me was a photo of properly prepared fry bread to use as my model since I had never before seen fry bread. I hope it isn't supposed to look like the funnel cakes at the fair. She will probably laugh out loud when she sees photos of my finished product!

The first high action event in the book was a race on horseback between Kaya and a taunting boy. For the craft, each girl made her own stick horse. (Kudos to my husband who did all the behind-the-scenes work to turn my crazy idea into a fun craft for the girls!)

Horse head assembly

Decorated horse head

A dowel rod served as the horse's body.

Once the horses were complete and each girl had given her horse a name, the races began!
*Please pardon the clutter in our attic (aka my personal gym!)

We all discussed the book's setting, characters, plot, themes, and lessons learned.  The girls shared the ideas that impressed them the most from the book.  I was struck by the discipline approach of the Nez Perce people.  When Kaya disobeyed, all the children of whipping age, not just Kaya, received swats from the Whipwoman.  This approach teaches that our actions will always affect others, so we must choose our behaviors wisely.

The Nez Perce often give each other nicknames to point out character flaws.  Kaya was called Magpie because magpies tend to only think of themselves.  At the end of the book, she lost that nickname when she bravely risked her life to save someone else.

The girls noted in our discussion that this book teaches the reader to be obedient and responsible, to avoid boasting, and to put the interests of others before your own.  I love a book that teaches history and provides a moral lesson!

Philippians 2:3-4

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

One of the main characters in the book was a blind girl name Speaking Rain.  One of her family chores was to make cord.  So, our guests attempted to braid string into cord while blindfolded to experience what that task must have been like for Speaking Rain. Only one girl could master it.

Then the girls made Indian style dresses out of t-shirts which they decorated. (Thanks to our book club founder for leading this craft!)

Another interesting lesson from the book dealt with courtship traditions.  Kaya's older sister was of marrying age, so she participated in the tribe's courtship dance.  As the drums beat, the young suitors danced in a group while the eligible ladies danced in another group.  During the dance, each boy moved up near the girl he liked best and placed a stick on her shoulder.  If she moved the stick off her shoulder, then that signified her rejection of him.  If she allowed the stick to remain, then the young man had been accepted and could then dance beside her.  Each parent took note of his or her child's preference, but the fathers were ultimately responsible for arranging marriages.

Our guests recognized that they were too young for the courtship dance, but they thought it would be fun to practice dancing.  So while one girl beat out some rhythms on a leather hand crafted drum, the other girls twirled and galloped.  The girls may not let me leave this video up long, so watch while you still can!

Sing it, Boy!

Our extroverted son usually loves to sing for others, so I was really surprised when he preferred to stare at the audience instead of singing and dancing during a performance with his sister at my mother's 70th birthday party. That video was posted on this post under "A=Adorable Act".   This post should hopefully show his more typical stage presence.

At our next LAMBS (Ladies A.M. Bible Study) meeting, he will be singing with all the other LAMBS children in a little concert for the very large group of women who participate in the Bible study.  So, today, he handed me his song sheet and insisted that I help him practice the songs.  Just this morning, I had told a young mother with a cute babbling baby that I wish I had recorded our kids' voices more at that age because the precious sound of that early voice is something I don't ever want to forget.  So, when our son started practicing, I grabbed my video camera.  The first song he sings about a wiggle worm has adorable lyrics.  I plan to use that song with the preschool class I teach when they can't sit still for even a moment.

Parenting Your Mini-Me

People have told me countless times that my daughter looks just like me.


It's more obvious when I compare photos of us at the same age in the same dress.

Me

Mini Me

As an adopted child, I never gave much thought to genetics.  Now that I have my own mini-me, however, genetic similarities are always before me. Our likenesses run deeper than physical appearance. She and I also share an incredible number of personality traits and common interests.  Her dreams, thoughts, emotions, size, shape, and energy level are remarkably similar to my own at that age.

How do those commonalities affect the relationship between us?  We tend to understand how the other thinks.  This quality can be helpful or strategic, for better or for worse.   Opposites often attract because they complement one another.  Similar personalities may have similar opinions and therefore argue less often, but they are more likely to clash in situations where a complement is needed.

When a mother looks at her mini-me, she more readily notices the imperfections in that child's character that she possesses herself.  God works through all children to refine us, but when a child is such a clear reflection of yourself, it is impossible to ignore areas of sinful strongholds in your own life.   That dear child of mine regularly sends me to my knees in prayer and repentance.  Even the tiny little quirks about her such as her high activity level have made me more mindful of how annoying my similar behaviors might be to others. As I attempt to train her to show respect and preference to others, I am speaking to my heart as much as to hers.

This past Saturday was family yard day at our home.  We had an enormous punch list for the day, and my devoted parents even drove into town to help us.  At approximately 70 years old, they are both strong workhorses when it comes to landscaping, and I love them dearly for serving us in that way.  Since we were all busy with chores, I tried to entice our daughter to join us in our labors.  I offered her $5 per bag she filled with the sweet gum balls that had fallen from our neighbor's tree into our yard.  She replied, "No thanks.  It's not worth it to me.  I would not want to be materialistic or anything."

She would rather pose than work in the yard!

Her comment made us all laugh, but it spoke more deeply to me.  I was the same way at her age.  I much preferred playing in the yard than working in it. Because I wasn't interested in these activities during my youth, I did not learn proper lawn care until I bought my first home as a single gal at age 23 and had to learn all those skills the hard way. I still have so much yet to learn.

Ever since early childhood, I have loved the Lord, going to church, reading the Bible, and sharing God's truths with others.  My daughter is no different in that respect, and she tries to apply the truths she is learning.  When she was challenged at church to go and tell others about Jesus, she proceeded to tell strangers at the fitness center and her gymnastics teacher about Jesus the following week.  This past week, her Sunday School lesson was on humility.  As we were driving home from church on Sunday, we sat at a stoplight for 3 iterations before I said,  "That green light is too short.  Only 2 cars can get through it before it turns red again."  Then she replied, "That light is teaching you humility, Mom.  Put others first."  She refines me alright!  She is also very dogmatic about keeping the Sabbath, especially when I ask her to practice the piano, clean up her room, or help me set the table on Sundays.

I sometimes wonder if my parents found it easier to avoid fault finding with me since I was adopted and had no genetic similarities that they recognized in themselves.  Interestingly, however, I have grown to look and act more like them a little more each day.

I desperately want to view my children through God's eyes, so I have thought much about how God must view us as His adopted children. The Bible emphatically teaches that God looks upon us with inexpressible love.  He sees beyond what we are today to what we will be when we are perfected in Christ.

 John 3:1-2
 ¹ See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears.

From the beginning, His desire for us was that we would reflect His image.

Genesis 1:27
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

So, if the supremely holy God looks at us in the same way that parents look at their children, searching for His image in us, then instead of finding fault, He should only see His perfect attributes reflected in us.

Galatians 5
 ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

When mankind fell into sin, a great schism separated man from the one true and perfectly righteous God who cannot by His very nature be in fellowship with sin.  God loved us too much to keep us separated from Himself, so He put His plan from the beginning of time into motion to redeem mankind through faith in Christ.   God sent His most precious possession, His only begotten Son, to bear the sin of the whole world upon Himself, so that our penalty for sin could be paid in full.  Christ's blood covers those who come to Him in faith, so that when God looks at us, He no longer sees our sin but rather, He sees the righteousness of Christ.

He longs to fellowship with us and have us call Him "Abba" which is an intimate term that means "Daddy".

Galatians 4:4-7
⁴ But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. ⁶ Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Because of His great love and mercy, we can come boldly to His throne of grace and find mercy and compassion.  

Hebrews 4
¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

While I may have one theological concern with the lyrics in Amy Grant's hit from long ago, Father's Eyes (click here to listen), the overriding message of this song speaks directly to my desire to notice the good in my mini-me (not just the imperfections I see in myself) and to nurture her with compassion while offering her hope and help. 

When Christ returns in final victory, He will give us new bodies that will never perish.  Then God and everyone else will see us in perfected, glorified bodies that will never suffer pain or sickness. 

1 Corinthians 15:49
⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.

So when I consider how God sees us, I'm reminded that genetics are not really the issue.  What really matters is that my children know Christ intimately and live in perpetual communication with Him.  I should be searching for His likeness in them, not my own.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me. 

(Lorica of St. Patrick, 7th paragraph, circa 377)

As a parent, my number one priority must be to reflect Christ to our children.  Phillips, Craig, and Dean expressed this idea beautifully in their song, "I Want To Be Just Like You".  Heavenly Father, please mold my mini-me into a mini-Jesus who will spread your love, joy, grace, and peace across the earth throughout her life.

Fitness: Dispelling Myths

Too often, I have complained that my body started falling apart as soon as I reached my mid 30s.  I kept injuring myself, so I assumed that I had already run all the miles my aging body could take. It wasn't until after the birth of my 2nd child, that severe neck, back, and knee pain compelled me to see dozens of health professionals for a diagnosis and for rehabilitation.  Was my body giving out or were complications from child birth and inadequate injury prevention on my part working together to expose underlying issues I never knew I had before? I blamed my issues on age and on too much running.  Yet, the more I researched and asked questions of my doctors, the more I realized that neither age nor years of running were underlying causes of my pain.

Excuse #1:  I'm too old!

It's hard to blame a lack of fitness on age when you consider Ernestine Shepherd.  At age 56, she decided it was time to get fit, and now at age 74 (yes, seventy-four!), she is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest female body builder ever!  Having been trained by a former Mr. Universe, she is now a physical trainer herself who inspires others with her motto, "Determined, Dedicated, and Disciplined." She sprints though 5K races and also runs full marathons.  She can bench press 150 pounds.  She is truly amazing, but she gives all credit and glory to God.  Here is an inspiring video about her produced by CBN.com:


Excuse #2:  I don't run because it causes injury and is bad for my knees.

Several family members and friends have suggested that all those years of running have caused my pains. So, except for a few months of hard training last fall, I have dramatically reduced my running frequency, speed, distance, and intensity.  While trying to recover from a patellae tracking disorder due to tight IT bands, I have done quite a bit of research looking for a study proving that running ruins the joints.

What I am finding, however, is that studies show no correlation at all between running and the development of osteoarthritis later on in life.  Running actually protects the knee. The repetitive forces on the knee may cause tiny splinters in the bones and running does increase risk for some injuries, but experts agree that the benefits far outweigh the risks.  Check out this article, Is Running Bad For Your Knees?  Maybe Not, or this article by Rick Morris for more information:   However, special attention should be taken to help avoid injury, especially for someone like me who has scoliosis, leg length differences, and flat feet.   Some suggestions for injury prevention include:

• Use proper mechanics!  Land on the ball of your foot instead of the heel.
• Run with a smooth gait and avoid over striding.
• Choose soft surfaces such as a grass, dirt or asphalt.  Avoid concrete sidewalks.
• Run with proper footwear.  For me, that has meant wearing shoes with lots of stability and support designed for pronators with a very expensive custom made foot stabilizer in each shoe.  Orthopedists and trainers are now recommending running barefoot or in barefoot style running shoes like five finger or Nike Free Run to increase natural ankle and foot strength and stability, but I would do this very gradually (maybe 1/4 mile max per day at first) and under careful guidance from an expert so as to avoid plantar fasciitis. 
• Do not run every day.  Cross training is essential for prevention of overuse injuries.
• Incorporate strength training and especially focus on strengthening the calf muscles.
• Use a foam roller regularly (for me, 2-3 times per day) to roll out tight muscles and break down scar tissue.
• Vary running workouts.  Do not always focus on time or distance, but strive to reach or maintain a target heart rate.

When injury happens, then running becomes bad for you, right?  Even that answer depends on the injury.  Tight IT bands can actually be loosened by running short distances, but it is never wise to run through pain.  I'm not running at all right now, but many who suffer from iliotibial band syndrome still run approximately 25% of their usual distance at an easy pace.  Taking extended breaks from any form of exercise will increase your injury risk when you start back, so doctors encourage patients to stay active in whatever way that does not cause pain or cause further injury.

Conclusions

1. Do not use old age as an excuse for not pursuing physical fitness.
2. Don't avoid running out of fear that it may damage your joints, but do consult a doctor.
3. Whenever you exercise, focus on using proper form.  I'm in the process of learning more about Chi Running to help improve my form.
4. Variety is essential for injury prevention.
5. Do incorporate strength training.

Memory Masters

I fell in love with the classical model of education when we began exploring schooling options for our children.  The sequence of learning according to a child's God given developmental pattern (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and the integration of all subjects along a correlated and sequential timeline seemed superior to the traditional approach I had in school.  I've always admired the way our founding fathers, who were educated according to the classical model, thought and wrote, and I still wonder why our public education system abandoned the classical philosophy in the 1940s.

However, I began with more of skeptical view regarding a few aspects of the classical model that are especially emphasized in the Foundations program within our homeschool co-op.  I have always heard that kids are sponges, but the memory capability of children during the earliest years is far greater than I ever imagined.  Even so, I could not understand why classical students were memorizing advanced facts such as the laws of thermodynamics, ancient history, grammar rules, Latin verb endings, or the distributive law in the early grades before the child could understand such facts. I asked, "Why would a 5-year old need to know the laws of matter and the location of the highest mountain on each continent?" It all seemed like a total waste of time to me at first.  The mantra in my engineering coursework was "learn the process, but don't worry about memorizing formulas". We were always allowed to bring in a formula card for tests.  Even the professional engineers exam allowed formula cards.

What I am discovering, however, is that as kids progress in their education, those memorized facts prove invaluable.  I would spend so much time during those math and engineering exams trying to find the right equation for each problem that I barely had time to finish the exams, much less check my answers for accuracy.  In the workplace, time is money.  Granted, much of the computation is automated in the marketplace, but the mind still needs to process information efficiently without getting hung up on data that should have been memorized from the very beginning.

When our daughter learned to skip-count for her co-op class, it seemed silly, but when I taught her multiplication, she quickly mastered the concepts and could perform quick mental computations all because she knew how to skip count.  Her mastery in the multiplication tables gave her a much needed boost of confidence in her weakest subject.

Memorizing Bible passages is of extreme importance to our family.  When I am teaching our children proper behavior or when they are trying to make wise decisions for themselves, those passages of Scripture they have memorized flash through their heads showing them what is right and giving credibility to my instruction.

Each week our children usually learn five geography points.  My 7-year-old knows more European, Asian, and African waters, mountains, cities, and features than I do, and I have the advantage of having traveled to many of those regions of the world.

I've been told that memorizing Latin noun endings and conjugations will be very useful when our children begin formally studying Latin.  I have been teaching our kids simple Latin words to supplement the memory work, but they seem to enjoy learning the rote Latin grammar itself as long as we put the facts to music.

Our favorite subject for memory work is history.  The kids love singing and dancing to the history songs.  Music and hand motions have been key tools in helping our kids memorize facts.  We make up songs for almost anything we study now.

I'm finding that memorization is like glue for the brain.  When the kids memorize a fact they don't understand, the fact still remains in their head like a product with a UPC code inside a warehouse.   Before we started memory work with the children, visiting the natural science museum held little significance for the kids. They thought the dinosaurs were creepy, but they enjoyed riding the escalator, and that's about it.

Dinosaur room in 2007

Now when they visit the museum, they receive a lot of new information and some of it actually sticks. When I took my son to the museum after our first year of memory work, he saw a rock display featuring the different types of rock found in our state.  Since he had memorized some of the rock classifications, some of those rocks were filed into the rock bay of his mental warehouse.   When we observed different habitats in the museum, the biome names were familiar to him from his previous memory work, so some of the information about the animals living in each habitat stuck to the "biome" bay in his mind. 

Exploring habitats in 2010

During the hands-on alligator presentation, our son recognized the term "amphibian" and remembered that they reproduce by laying eggs.  Some of the information presented that day stuck to the "amphibian" glue in his little brain.  Those mental connections facilitate the acquisition of more knowledge and mental processing.  Since these mental connections are so important in learning, reading a large volume and a wide variety of classic, high quality literature is a key component of the classical model.

Petting a baby alligator in 2010

Today, each student in our homeschool co-op was given the opportunity to be tested in their memory work for the past 24 weeks.  To achieve the status of  "Memory Master" a student must recite all facts in all subjects without any mistakes.  The memory work this past year included:

1.  Geography:  Locate the 123 different points on a world map (rivers, oceans, cities, countries, continents, mountains, and features) that we studied this past year.

2. Bible:  Recite Ephesians, Chapter 6, in the King James Version. (This task would have been so much easier if they could have recited from a more modern translation!)

3. Science: Recite all facts for each week's lesson (3-9 facts per week) covering the following topics:

• Ecology (types of biomes, types of consumers, food chain, natural cycles, forms of pollution, how animals react to environmental change)
• Astronomy (types of stars, parts of the sun, names of the planets, phases of the moon, solar bodies, space missions)
• Physical Science (states of matter, acid vs. base, forms of energy, Newton's laws of motion, laws of thermodynamics, characteristics of light, heat flow, and electricity)

4.  History:  Recite the 24 history sentences for cycle 2 including key names, dates, locations, and events.

5.  Timeline:

• Name 160 events on the world history timeline beginning with creation and include key dates and names of people, locations, and events.

• Name all of the US presidents in chronological order.

6.  Math:

• Skip count the 1's through the 15's for 12 intervals.
• Name the squares up to 15x15.
• Name the cubes up to 10x10x10.
• State the following conversion formulas: meters to kilometers, inches to feet, feet to miles, centimeters to inches.
• Give the formulas for calculating the area of rectangles, squares, triangles and circles.
• What is the formula for calculating the circumference of a circle?
• Describe the associative, commutative, and identity laws for addition and multiplication.
• Write the distributive law.
• Pi = 3.14

7.  Latin:  Conjugate "to love" in Latin for the following:

• 1st, 2nd, 3rd person
• Singular and plural
• Present, Imperfect, future, present perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect tenses

8.  English Grammar

• List the 8 parts of speech.
• Pronouns:  Define "pronoun" and list the pronoun order. Name all of the nominative, objective, possessive, reflective, interrogative, demonstrative, possessive adjectives, and indefinite pronouns
• Define "adverb" and list the adverbs.
• Name the 4 kinds of sentences.
• List examples of double negatives.
• Define "noun" and name the 5 usages of a noun. 
• Define "gerund", "appositive", "conjunction", "adjective", and "interjection".
• List the coordinating conjunctions.

I was completely overwhelmed when I first saw the memory work schedule for our co-op.  At my stage in life, memorization requires more work than it does for K-5th graders.  Had I honed my memorization skills through the classical method during those years of my life, perhaps memorization would be much easier for me now, but people my age will never have the memorization potential of kids in K-5th grade. 

Surprisingly, most kids enjoy memorization work, especially when they can communicate the facts through song and dance.  Had I diligently worked with our daughter each week on this memory work, she quite possibly could have achieved "Memory Master" as could most any young child.  However, since one of my primary goals in homeschooling is to help our children fall in love with learning without them experiencing the great stress and pressure I put on myself in school, I never pushed her to memorize the work each week.  That, and I was too lazy to diligently go through all the material with her every week!

Very rarely do first graders ever attempt Memory Master.  That challenge is more for the older students.  However, our daughter's tutor suggested that each student in her class attempt mastery at one subject and possibly up to 4 subjects.  Geography and timeline are the most arduous subjects (for me anyway), yet our daughter mastered those subjects really well.  She can recite Ephesians 6 in modern Bible translations and can almost quote it in the KJV, but some of the old English occasionally stumps her.   She knows most of the grammar.  She eventually decided to attempt math, timeline, history, and Latin.  I rarely worked with her on these subjects throughout the year.  I did review facts with her this past week and tried to cram a few math facts into her head the night before the evaluation even though I know that is the worst way to learn. 

She did not miss a single word or date in history or Latin.  She made one mistake out of the 160 timeline cards that must have been due to being nervous because she never missed that one at home.  She even pronounced difficult names like Ulrich Zwingli, Champlain, and Cabot correctly.  She named all the presidents easily thanks to a great presidents song.  She got most of her math right but missed the 4 facts I tried to cram into her head yesterday.  That's what I get for waiting until the night before the evaluation to review math with her.   I think she did wonderfully as did ALL the other students.  Best of all, she loves memorizing and is honing that skill.  Co-op continues to be one of her favorite activities each week.

Our 4-year old almost attempted mastery of history, but I was afraid it would be too much pressure for him.  He loves singing the songs as much as his sister.  A child's mind is so fascinating to me.  Learning all these facts is wonderful, especially as they point to our infinitely wise Creator, but watching our kids place God's word into their hearts and minds each week is the greatest joy of all.

Psalm 119:11
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

When we returned home this afternoon, the kids played outside in the gorgeous weather, and then our daughter took a nap for the first time in years. She slept for four hours straight.  

Meanwhile, our son successfully finished his reading program for the year with the exact same grade to the tenth of a percent as his sister when she learned to read.  Then he followed his sister's example again by taking a nap which is very rare for him.  All that thinking today wore those sweet kids out!

When they awoke, we took them out for dinner to celebrate at the restaurant of their choice. Congratulations, my precious children!