Daring to Draw Near

Again on our home school schedule, right at the top, is the daily requirement of Bible and prayer. It has been there as long as there has been a school schedule in our unscheduled lives. But this year I have chosen to torture the children and really require that they pray. Not just crossing it off the list, or quick praying before we eat, or passing the prayer basket, but to dive deep into conversations with the Almighty. To make it worse, they have to do it sitting next to their brothers and sisters. And, harder yet, most of them aren't saved.

The pull came out of a personal desire, a need for an accounting in my own prayer life which has leaned more towards the Jonah side: fleeing from God rather than drawing near. Numbness is easier than the constant tears, so I've chosen that route rather than bowing before my Creator; traded wooden floors and humbleness for a comfortable recliner and cup of coffee. Mornings are hard enough. Conquering the flesh, getting to gratitude for a son in Heaven before my feet hit the old wooden floor has been something that I've too easily passed over. And, because of that choice, find myself heading straight towards apathy. Holding God at arm's length rather than daring to draw near.

Personal prayer with God alone is powerful, but as Scripture says, where two or more are gathered Christ is there as well (Matthew 18:20). Corporate prayer breaks down walls that we easily hide behind when our eyes are wide open, and especially when we live together twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with no escape from each other than the occasional cross country practice. Our battle weapons get dull when we don't refuel with honesty and by drawing deep from God's well. My greatest desire is to see God glorified through my children, and that will only happen when my children are truly satisfied in Him, so I have set off on a determined effort to train them up and give them the daily habit of authenticity before their maker.

Have you been there? Real, raw, spiritually naked before God?

Lately I find myself not even needing to tell God my heart, not faking the hurt, because He knows. The searcher of hearts knows. My sister reminds me that I am right where He wants me. Right now I don't like where He wants me and He knows it, so there is no point of denying it. Not in anger pointed at God, but honest, lay it all out on the alter, sort it out, hash it out for the ten-thousandth time until joy in God's plans becomes my honest joy. But the majority of that starts with prayer. And prayer is hard work.

After the giggles around the kitchen island, God lead the kids and I to begin our prayer session with acknowledgement of who He is. As children who have been raised in church events their whole lives my kiddos know how to start and end prayer. "Thank you God for this, and heal so-and-so, amen." How pathetic. They know they're not saved and God knows that they're not saved. We think we fool Him. We think those piddly prayers honor Him. But He says that He hears the prayers of the righteous, that honesty is what He desires, that only those with faith please Him (James 5:16; 1 Chronicles 29:17; Acts 17:11).

So we started at the beginning: Who is God?

We all thought we knew. But when our answers are only based on what Scripture says about who God is, it starts to put things into perspective. Eyes closed, five voices getting solemner by the moment, claiming the claims of Jesus Himself. Rather than starting prayer with "thank you" we started with acknowledgement. How hard that proved to be, to break our own rote prayer style that has been acceptable to our lazy selves for so long.

That prayer session revealed much- our doubts as well as our own self righteousness. Pride boiled near the top, but sweet voices longing for eternity were mingled in as well. Prayers spanning between an eight year old boy to a forty year old tired mother revealed where our hearts really are.

Day two brought the discovery of a book on the shelf of our home library by John White called Daring to Draw Near. It is full of insights on prayers that are recorded in Scripture and how God is revealed through them. Not a how-to-pray book, but a peek-at-God-through-prayer book. What an amazing concept: to turn prayer into being about God rather than about us!

If my children can get past the torture concept, past the giggles, and God chooses to reveal Himself to them as they dare to draw near His throne I will give them all A's. And God, Lord willing, will have created a few more powerful warriors for His kingdom.

More on Why we Homeschool

 

 

 

Day number one: Cole came home complaining of a girlfriend. I asked if he informed the twelve year old young lady that he does not have a job, own a car or a home and therefor is not eligible for marriage yet.

 

Day number two: Micah got in trouble for a brawl on the bus. I was not as amused to hear this tidbit of tattling as I was to hear about him being the instigator of the food fight yesterday. Innocent looking little bugger. Cinnamon rolls may have to be added to the list for the bus driver and the neighbor.

 

Day number three, I slept in and let Rob get them on the big yellow school bus, anxiously anticipating what the report will be today.

 

Summer school, with all of its excitement, has given me ample time to host the nieces and nephews and take an abundance of Fair pictures though.



The Underground Railroad History Reenactment

As a final "hurrah" to our home school year we hosted another history reenactment day. A few years ago these events started as a fun idea for my children as well as my sisters kiddos to get them excited about history. They have since morphed into including our home school group plus their friends which made this year the biggest yet with a total of seventy-one participants.

We've gone through the Revolutionary War, the Oregon Trail, a farm day and this past week we traveled the Underground Railroad. The purpose of the day was to introduce our children to living history, with the intent being that there is so much more than names, dates and places to memorize but realizing that these were real people living real adventures.

The day started off with an auction, then the slaves had to go to work. Soon, their conductors rescued them and they started their trek to Canada. Alexis prepared historical parts for our story tellers where each group visited and met characters along the way. They were introduced to a Quaker, an Abolitionist (who fed them lunch) and a common farmer who knew what it was to be saved by God's grace so therefor represented the many unnamed people of this era who opened up their homes and risked their lives so that slaves could gain their freedom.

Along the way they were being hunted down by guards and learning history in a fun way. After each of the stops they made a final run to the Hudson River (the pond) and Canada (the island) where freedom and freezies awaited them. Once the actual event was over one of the best parts of the day began: fellowship. Everybody went home renewed, refreshed and excited about learning again.

Today I am working on putting together a scrapbook of pictures for the families who attended. If anybody is interested in hosting an Underground Railroad History Reenactment for your group and would like to use our schedule just leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send it over. Now they're all wondering what we're going to do next year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Reality of Home School

 

 

This picture is  the epitome of our home school days: if something better comes along, forget the books and live life. "One more week, one more week, one more week," I keep repeating to myself, and I will (Lord willing, if not that will be okay, too) be done teaching first grade math concepts and basic phonic sounds. Yippee! The race is on between all the kiddos to finish their bookwork for the year. Many subjects have already been crossed off the list and some of them are down to the last few lessons before a summer break- can't wait!

School Lunches

In an attempt to become organized and make our lives easier with the new busy home school schedule, I created a two week revolving lunch menu. Based on our four day school week, a menu was planned of items that could either be froze ahead or easily prepared by the older kids if I am busy teaching the younger ones. Most of the meals can stand alone if need be, or a simple vegetable or fruit could be added to round it out. We have a designated school shelf that is stocked with the ingredients needed to make the meals that aren't in the freezer. The other benefit of this plan is that there should even be plenty of left-overs for Rob to take to work the next day. For one afternoon of working in the kitchen we have a whole month of school meals prepared without wondering "what's for lunch today?"

Week 1:

Make your own pizza
Tator Tot Hotdish
Pancakes
Spaghetti Hotdish

Week 2:

Hot Dogs and Macaroni
Chicken and Broccoli Hotdish
Egg/Sausage/Hashbrown Bake
Chili

*Make your own pizza
Monday's are usually easier days for us, because everybody is excited to start a new week of school, which means that {hopefully} a couple of kiddos will be done with their work early in a race to make the pizza dough. The school shelf is stocked with our favorite pizza toppings, and there is pepperoni in the freezer.

*Tator Tot Hotdish
Rather than the typical hamburger and tomato hotdish, this one uses sausage, cheese and sourcream. A family favorite here.

1# ground sausage, browned
1/2 tub of sour cream
1 bag Tator Tots
Shredded Cheddar cheese

Layer in a 9x13 pan as listed, bake covered at 375* for 30 minutes, uncover and bake another 15 minutes or until the cheese is browned.

*Pancakes
Most of our kids can whip up a batch of Grandma Lee's pancakes by themselves and have them ready for me to fry. The school shelf is stocked with extra flour, baking powder, and syrup (plus frozen strawberries are in the freezer) and eggs are usually in abundance around here.

2 Eggs
2 cups of Milk
1/2 cup Sugar
2 cups of Flour
4 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

*Spaghetti Hotdish
1/2 box of Spaghetti noodles, boiled until soft
1# browned hamburger
1 jar Spahetti sauce
Shredded cheddar, parmesan and mozzarella cheese
Black Olives, sliced

Layer all ingredients in a 9x13 pan as listed, bake covered at 375* for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until cheese is browned.

*Chicken and Broccoli Hotdish
1/2 package frozen Broccoli
2 cups cooked, cut chicken
1 can sliced water chestnuts
12 pcs. of American cheese slices
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can of milk
1 package Dried Onions
Serve with White Rice

Layer chicken, broccoli, and water chestnuts in 9x13 pan. Layer cheese on top evenly. Mix mayonnaise, cream of mushroom soup, and milk- pour over the top. Bake covered at 350* for 30 minutes, uncover and sprinkle with dried onions. Bake an additional 15 minutes. Serve with white rice.

*Egg Bake

There are many versions of this egg bake. It can be changed up everytime you make it to use whatever you have on hand. This time I made it with sausage and extra eggs, but you could also use ham or bacon, and even add spinach, black olives, salsa, peppers, onions, etc. I have never tried freezing it before, so it will be a good experiment to use up eggs.

12 eggs
1 pound of browned sausage
1/2 pkg. of frozen hashbrowns
1/2 tub of sourcream
1/2 cups of milk
Shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients, pour in a 9x13 pan. Bake at 375* for 45 minutes, or until eggs are set.

*Chili

2 Quarts of tomatoes (home grown are best:)
2 pounds browned hamburger, seasoned with chili powder and garlic
2 cans kidney beans
1 can chili beans
1 chopped onion
chopped celery
chili seasoning to taste

Mix all ingredients and simmer for several hours. It's always better the next day. Serve with crackers, or sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese. To freeze my chili I did not cook it down, just browned the hamburger and mixed it all together then let it cool and put it in gallon freezer bags.

Back to Real Life

The Holidays are over {yippee!} and we are back to real life: homeschoolin', farmin', regular schedules, even a little structure. I actually heard Cole say last night, "I'm glad we're going to do school tomorrow, I'm excited to read my book." We have ate our fill of sugar, enjoyed all the parties we can endure for a while, and look forward to settling in to a long, cold Wisconsin winter full of cozy things like algebraic equations and phonetic rules while snuggling on the couch. A double ration of coffee and hot chocolate is on the menu as the temperature outside dips to single digits, and maybe I'll even have to dig out the recipe for Cathy's doughnuts~ yummy! Aaahhh! The peace of my little one room schoolhouse makes me smile:))

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Don't forget to leave a comment for the Cheese give away~ I'll pick a winner sometime tomorrow. You have all blessed me with your well wishes and sweet comments! Love you dear friends! YOU make my day a joy!

Home Schoolin'

Home school; we've been doing it for 10 years now. The grades span from elementary through high school this year; a little one-room school house right in our dining room. Young minds are being filled with wisdom every day (now if I could just get them to get dressed first and take out the garbage). Our days have settled into a nice rhythm of reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic. I am learning again about transitive and intransitive verbs, atomic models, allegory and irony, reciprocal fractions, the phonetic sounds of all 26 letters of the alphabet and their partners, as well as the dates and names and important places of the American Revolution (Sounds impressive, huh? Mostly they hurry through the books so they can cross it off the schedule and go play). This little tidbit was interesting from the other day: did you know that the Boston Massacre really started because somebody threw a snowball at somebody else? Me either. My kids didn't either.

This is my favorite part of home school though~ snuggling on the couch with my kiddos reading books. And the best part is that every child in our house can read (to some level at least). Whew! One of my hardest jobs in education has been accomplished. Even the goofy dog enjoys a good story!

Fossils

Fossils have been the science topic around here for the past couple of weeks. Over the years I have somehow morphed from being a "fun home school Mom" to a "get-er-done home school Mom", so it was good to break the mold and do something creative for a change.

I dug out the clay recipe which dates back to when I was the little girl.

1 cup salt

2 cups flour

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

Enough water to make a stiff dough.

Food coloring if desired.

Then the kids found lots of fun things to make their very own fossils. I like being the "fun home school Mom".

I think we're studying gravity next . . . hmmmm......

I Love You, Mom

Micah is in that exciting stage of life where he is just beginning to learn how to read and write. I have to admit, with him as the baby of the family, I am not rushing it. Having taught four other children their abc's and the importance of starting every letter at the top, plus learning myself along the way what is really important in homeschool, I have backed off from rigid formal education and have just let him enjoy being a little boy as long as he can. A couple of month's ago, when he began showing great interest in sitting for school lessons, I reluctantly started teaching him from the 100 Easy Lesson's book. Somewhere along the lines he has even learned how to write. The only words he know's how to spell correctly are "I love you, Mom! Micah." I sort of like it that way.