Home For Him

Yesterday, my friend Jennifer dropped by our house unannounced. I was just finishing up with feeding the baby. The kids had just left with some friends. And I was in the process of making a mental list of all the things I still needed (and wanted) to get done before hitting the pillow that night…go to the store, pick up a book from the library, get dinner in the oven on time (we were having company), clean the bathroom, wrap a present, work on a newsletter, blog…

When the doorbell rang followed directly by three knocks, I was jolted out of my fantasy and quickly retorted the blows to my subconscious with “Who in the world is that?? I have a guh-jillion things to do!” I admit. These weren’t very nice thoughts.

But, when I made it to the door to find my girlfriend who I had not seen in months standing there, I quickly let go of any ill-feelings, invited her in, and we made our way to the couch for a little visit. She asked how I’d been and what I’d been doing. I answered honestly and told her the kids had just left and I had been sitting there going through in my head all the things that had to get done. She giggled and gave me that look like, oh good, we’re being honest.

We then entered into a conversation about how busy we all get. I mentioned how crazy life had been since having a fourth child, traveling in and out of town for the holidays, keeping the kids on track with school, and trying desperately hard to manage a home and feed a family. She volleyed back with her concurrence and list of various activities and responsibilities that she was in the middle of tackling. We both nodded our heads and agreed….life gets too busy sometimes. But what can you do? We have these seasons in life. At times it’s utter chaos. At other times, we can breath easier and rest.

After Jenn left, I thought to myself, I needed that. Brief as it was, I was so glad for that moment of “rest” that she brought. Forgive me Lord for getting so focused on my world that I dare not think of spending a few moments of spontaneous face time with a girlfriend. Who am I anyway? Michelle Obama?

There was obviously a good reason why G-d gave us a day of rest per week. And I’m positive He intended for us to have a few breaks during each 24 hour period as well. When I am so focused on myself and my to-do list and  my problems, how do I leave room for thinking about what G-d wants from me (let alone the needs of others around me)?

A few lessons I learned…

• Embrace the interruptions in life. We never know when they’re divinely placed there.
• A rest of the body, mind and spirit is essential….actually, it’s biblical.
• Rest can come in the form of a friend. Thank God for friends that aren’t afraid to “drop-in” to our lives at any given moment.

Summer is now here and we’re taking a much needed break from our schooling and ordinary schedule. Clara and Connor both are away on a week-long camping/canoeing trip with their youth group in Eminence, MO. They worked hard the last couple months raising money with yard sales and car washes. They’ll be back on Monday evening. Briar leaves on the same trip (but with the kids from the FUEL Youth Advisory Council) on July 5th.  He is also going on a two week-long mission trip to the Czech Republic July 20-August 3. He’s also been funding raising all spring to pay for the $1800 trip. The Lord has definitely provided alot of opportunities as well as the money to participate.

I’m working at the FUEL Center with the kids about 10 hours per week.  The FUEL Center btw is a Youth Center that the parish opened for middle and high schoolers last fall. There’s a basketball court and a social room with computers, games, and couches for just hanging out. That’s been a great experience getting to know the kids better and our kids have made some new friends.

We’re praying alot these days about Briar attending the local high school in the fall. We’ve decided to walk through the process of registering and taking the placement tests.  We won’t make a final decision until he gets back from MO in a couple weeks. He’s just really had a hard time the last couple years with motivating himself to do what needs to be done….especially this year with being at a high school level. I’ve struggled alot myself with feelings of guilt and inadequacy. I still feel very led to homeschool the kids through high school, but I also feel that at some point, kids (teenagers primarily) need to understand the full extent of their decisions to do something, or not to do something. God shows us through his Word what’s best for our lives, but He still allows us to make the choice when it comes down to it. As much as I’d like to save my teenager from making the same mistakes that I did, the truth remains that mistakes (and the pain that accompanies them) most of the time lead us to change. We’ve encouraged him to pray (as we are praying also) for guidance and discernment, and to listen intently for God’s voice on the  matter.

We have about two and a half weeks left of our school schedule. The kids are trooping through the remainder of the year, looking forward to their summer. We do plan to have a reading list through the summer……to which they responding "AWWWWWW MOMMMMMMMM!" LOL But that’s okay. Clara will have some science left to finish over the summer. And she and Connor will have a few more units of math left to get done. No prob.

The official "last day of school" is May 14th. That weekend we’ll leave for Louisville for a short visit, meetings with church and Crossroads, and our Summer Intern Training the next weekend. Bruce and I will head back down to NOLA with our 5 new interns on the 23rd. The kids will be staying through Memorial Day Weekend. We actually plan to have three fun days with the staff here, then head back to Louisville for family time over MDW and then head back down on the 3rd of June to begin field training with the new interns. Yippie!!

The kids are really looking forward to their summer trip to Missouri with the youth group at The Gathering. They’ve been doing all kinds of things to raise their money for the cost. Plus, Briar was invited to go on a mission trip to the Czech Republic for two weeks at the end of July. He’s raising $ for that as well. I can’t believe our 14yo is going to be on another continent for two weeks!!!

I’m watching my youngest son right now trying to juggle three little bags of skittles. The look on his face alone is priceless. I love cheap thrills.

Hesitantly, I thought I would start to fill in the gap of the last few months of silence. I guess I struggle with going that long and not blogging. Part of  the time I wrestle with a terrible bout of "writers block" lately. While the rest of the time, I’m just trying to find the time to sit down to do it. I hate that. Especially because it’s something that I love doing so much. I find it aggravating to want to pen my thoughts….and then not being able to collect the words to write. I don’t know if anyone else finds themselves in that same boat. I’d really appreciate any suggestions on the subject.

At any rate, our new school year is out the gate and rounding the first corner, so to speak. Back in September I found a great online program for organizing, scheduling, and planning the school calendar. It’s at Homeschool Skedtrack. It took some time to get the courses and schedules entered. On a daily basis, it takes a little time to approve and update the work the kids have done. But, you can maintain grades and your school year calendar, and run reports as well. It’s been a great way to lay out the lesson plans for the courses that I’m putting together on my own. I really love it. Each day we can print off the day’s work for each child and that gives them something to manage their work a little more independently. They like being able to check things off. With a 9th grader this year, I’m looking forward to just being able to print off a transcript  and report card from the tip of my fingers.

For curriculum, we have some "old faithfuls" and a few new additions, all as follows…

• Bible ~ All 3 are doing Kay Arthur’s How to Study the Bible ~ for kids to begin with. 
• Math ~ Math-u-See’s Geometry for Bri, Pre-Alg for Sis and Zeta for Con
• Science ~ Apologia’s General Science for Sis, Biology for Bri and Creation Science Botany for Con
• Grammar ~ Our Mother’s Tongue
• Writing ~ IEW American History Vol. 1
• History ~ Beautiful Feet Early American and World History (literature-based) and American Heritage Series DVD’s
• Basic Maps and Geography ~
• Literature ~ a broad look and discussion of different types of literature (Shakespeare, short plays, songs, classics, etc.)
• Art and Music Appreciation ~ I have designed a schedule using the Usborne Book of Art  the Usborne Book of Art Skills and the Usborne Introduction to Music. One 2-hour class each week.
• Keyboarding ~ Mavis Beacon CD-Rom
• Guitar Lessons

It is apparent that God wants us in a drought right now. And that’s okay. The kids are trudging through the remainder of school lessons from this last "school year" and I’m working on the outlook for next year, which is due to start the week after Labor Day. Even with our new yahoogroup up AND the friends we made in the writing class, we still appear to be "out of touch" with homeschooers in this area. I’m wondering if there are any here at all. 

Across the lake and river, groups are booming with activity and communication. I just don’t get it. In greater New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish however, we get crickets. LOL I did get a phone call last week from a gal who lives here in Chalmette. She’s homeschooled for 11 years and has a 13yo and a 9yo. She said that since Katrina, that’s the way it’s been. And she doesn’t like it either….always having to travel across town or the lake to be with other hsrs.

Sincerely,

Puzzled

Thankfully, we are no longer in our homeschooling drought. What do I mean by "drought"? I mean that for almost five months, we’ve lived here in New Orleans and have not been able to find any homeschoolers with tweens and teens. It’s crazy.

A few weeks ago I found a Classical Conversations group having a 3-day practicum on logic. Long story short, I wanted to attend the practicum, but ended up teaching the IEW Intensive Writing B class for the nine to seventeen year olds. That was a first for me. My kids had taken the Style and Structure last year with Miss Alicia and then I had bought the teacher’s curriculum to go further with them. Apparently, CC couldn’t find anyone else to teach it and were desperate. The great thing was, my kids could take the class too. So, we all benefited. I acquired a new teaching experience, that went rather well if I do say so myself. And the kids harvested a classroom full of new friends.

It was hilarious the first day. There were 26 kids and all but my three and one other 9yo had never even heard of IEW and key word outlines. Their question was, "Is this school? ‘Cause this seems alot like school."

"Noooo" I exclaimed. "This is a "creative flow workshop"….we are learning to flow our creative thoughts from our brains, down our arms, through our fingers and pens, and on to paper…..it’ll be FUN!" There were many moans and groans that followed, but I tried my best to keep it fun, entertaining, and a bit different from the normal "school scene".

All in all, by the end of the three days, most said that even though they didn’t think they were going to like it, they had now changed their minds about writing and in fact, had alot of FUN. Hooray! Maybe I can get my kids to get one of their writing pieces to a final draft and we can share it here.

Sidenote: In our quest for finding new homeschool friends, we have started a new yahoogroup: NOLATween2TeenHSClub.  Wish us luck!

I would so love to be able to say that I am one of those women who seem to be great at everything they do. I wish I completely satisfied my husband 24/7. I wish I always had it all together and never had to worry about tramatizing my children with my mood swings and occasional outbursts. I wish I always had dinner planned, and a grocery list stuck on the frig, and the kids never had to worry about having to sit on the pot and call for someone to bring them napkins from the kitchen.

I wish I religiously sat at the computer every Sunday evening, typing out each of my children’s schedules, highlighting the calendar’s important events for the week, and making sure to already have any science experiment materials "in stock". As much as I love to write, I wish I could just sit down and begin one of the several book ideas I’ve had bumping around in my knoggin for years. The list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, I’m not that woman. I’m not that wife. I’m not that mom, home manager, or homeschool teacher. I am none of the above.

I could get really down about that. Well, let’s be honest, I do get really down about it….sometimes. I think to myself, why do I even try?? I can’t seem to do anything right. The older I get, the more I forget stuff. It’s like my brain has become a container of mush.  

But thankfully, I’ve learned that that is exactly what Satan would want me to believe. And those are lies.

God’s truth is the opposite. He would never want me to believe that there’s no use in trying, that I can’t do anything right, or that my brain is mush!! He created me. And He says that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

David says in Psalm 19:14, "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." In other words, I want the things that I say to be a reflection of the things that I feel and know in my heart. This will be pleasing to God, when it’s of God. I have to replace the lies that Satan whispers in my hear, with the truth of His Word.

I recently picked up Beth Moore’s Believing God from my bookshelf again. She encourages you to memorize five key statements of truth:

• God is who He says He is.
• God can do what He says He can do.
• I am who God says I am.
• I can do all things through Christ.
• God’s Word is living and active in me.

These are truths taken straight from God’s word. When I’m feeling down, depressed, even oppressed, I can raise my Shielf of Faith by proclaiming this, and my spirit and soul are revived. I keep saying it to myself over and over again until I believe it from the inside out.

Being a homeschool parent is not an easy job.Gosh, just being a parent is a challenge. It takes time, energy, discipline, creativity, a great love for your children, and a supernatural ability sometimes that can only come from God. I’m so thankful this week for His word and how He’s proven Himself my Rock again.

Here it is, the middle of April, and we are living in a whole new state, as new missionaries, with a whole new schedule, doing life with a whole new circle of friends. That about sums it up.

Back in February, we made our move to New Orleans working with an organization called CrossRoads Missions. Bruce is the field project manager here. And basically, as self-supported missionaries,  we are hosting short-term mission trips for volunteer teams from all over the nation. Each week, we house, feed and put to work in the community, up to 125 individuals that come from churches, schools and universities. From a local standpoint, we are partnering with evangelical organizations by providing the manpower to help them accomplish their goals of furthering the gospel in the Greater New Orleans area.

Much of this is fleshed out by building new homes, renovating existing homes, clearing lots of debris and over-growth, and doing yardwork for those that aren’t able to do it themselves. By investing time into a particular neighborhood week after week, we are able to meet folks, build relationships with them, and introduce them to the love and hope experienced and given through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We have yet another reason for appreciating the fact that we homeschool. What a blessing it is to have the flexibility to go and work with the teams each week. And to use the diverse setting to educate our children in a variety of ways,  We have been trying out a four day school week for the last month, seeing if we can try to go to the worksites atleast twice a week. Plus, we usually meet back at CrossRoads most evenings for dinner with the crews. Wednesday afternoon we set aside for family time. Friday night is the final sharing time and good-byes. The volunteers normally take off early Saturday morning. We’ll continue to tweak the schedule until it works out the way we need.

I am very interested in how other missionary families homeschool in the field. Would love to hear any input…

I’ve been thinking long and hard about ending this blog all together. When we started our ministry blog back in November, I have found little time to maintain both. And I feel like Five to Go is a "must" right now for us and our supporters. However, I’m thinking that once we’ve settled into things around here, I’ll be able to get back in the groove of blogging on Home For Him atleast a couple times a week. Lord, please help me do Your will with this.

It’s very nice to be coming off of a two and a half week vacation for Christmas. We really needed it. Things can get too crazy around here sometimes and we fall into bad habits, like not following through, or not finishing projects, or not keeping to a good routine.

I really believe that a good, healthy routine does wonders for anyone. I know it does for me. It’s too early in the game to claim any "new habits" but we do seem to be more determined than usual. =] 

Today being our first day of the new year went rather well. We accomplished everything we set out to do. We seriously started our Spanish curriculum….again. I hate that that gets put on the back burner too often. But, with some new friends from El Salvador, our desire and motivation is back to learn the language even more.

We met the Morales’ a couple weeks before Bruce went to El Salvador. They own a grocery store in the front of our subdivision. They speak very good English and don’t seem to mind our humble attempts to converse with them in Spanish. They appreciate it I think. Before Christmas we went over to their home for dinner one evening….an all authentic Salvadorean feast! Pan-fried tilapia, cheese and pork papooses (unique to their country), some type of shrimp and tomato saucy mixture that went over rice (it was delicious!), and a type of coleslaw that you put on a large corn tortilla chip and then smother with homemade salsa. Yum!!! It was wonderful!!

Throughout the evening we got to hear the story of how Jose and Maria came to America back in 1989. Rosa (Maria’s niece) and her two children arrived in 1995. They have since developed a commercial and residential cleaning business with over 45 clients. And took over ownership of this hispanic grocery a little over a year ago. Their perseverence and hardworking spirit are quite admirable. Although we’ve been telling them ever since we’ve met them that they need more time to enjoy life. They work entirely too much!!

One last thought….we were blessed to talk with Adri and her family on New Year’s Eve (their NY’s Day). It was so good to hear from them. Adri has been diligent about calling us about every 4-6 weeks. We miss her so much and I know she misses us too. She’s talking about making a trip to New Orleans and Louisville….perhaps over the summer. That’s a sweet thought to look forward to.

As you might’ve noticed down the right margin, we have become Affiliates for Amazon.com, SpiritualCinema and Textbook.com. Our purpose for this is too generate more funds to go toward our budget as we enter into the mission field of New Orleans. If you plan to shop at Amazon or any of the other affiliates, please consider entering their website through the link on our blog. We will receive 8-15% of the total sale. And it would ultimately benefit our ministry and the work God is doing in NO. We soon plan to add more to the list.