Untangling the Snarls in my life

One of my very favorite books which I usually read daily is Thirty One Days of Praise by Ruth Meyers.

If I had enough money I would buy you all one.

The Truth impacts my life each day with fresh, life-giving perspective about the Lord and my relationship with Him.

I was again so encouraged by what I read, I just wanted to pour those words over you.

You see, homeschooling moms are among the most sacrificial and diligent people I know.

However, they are also among the most stressed and self-condemning people I know.

So sit back; meditate and pray on these words and hear what the Word says about you and who you are.

I’m so grateful, Lord, that the Christian life is not a rigorous self-improvement course or a do-it-yourself kit… that it is not a call to prove myself, or improve myself, by overcoming my own shortcomings and failures, in my own way, by my own resources… Thank You that, instead, You are at work in me and in my situation to break old patterns of thought and action, to create within me both the desire and the power to do Your gracious will… and to make me a joy to you in new ways.

Isn’t that an amazing thought. I can be a joy to Him in new ways today! And He will do it in me… not because I am working so hard to make myself better for Him.

I praise You that “Jesus Christ is able to untangle all the snarls in my soul, to banish all my complexes, and to transform even my fixed habit patterns, no matter how deeply they are etched in my subconscious.” (Corrie Ten Boom)

So I pray right now Father, that you would do this work in us today. You by your grace and Spirit would untangle us and that we can trust you to change us and pour Your Life in us. All I have to do is trust and depend on you and obey what you empower me to do.

Q: Did Noah need oxygen on the Ark?

Q: Did Noah need oxygen on the Ark?

A: Why would someone ask this question? Let’s back up and look at this from a big picture. Consider what the Bible says about the voyage of the Ark:

The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. (Genesis 7:19–20)

People then look at the earth today and note that the highest mountain is Mt. Everest, which stands just over 29,000 feet above sea level. Then they put two and two together and say that Noah’s Ark floated at least 15 cubits above Mt. Everest—and at such high altitude, people need oxygen!

It sounds like a straightforward argument, doesn’t it? But did you notice that I emphasized the word today? In light of this, the solution is quite simple: the Flood did not happen on today’s earth, but rather on the earth of nearly 4,300 years ago (according to Ussher).

The world today is not the same as it was before the Flood, or even during the Flood. For instance, if the mountains, continents, and oceans basins of today’s earth were more leveled out (as would be expected in a global Flood), the planet’s surface water alone would cover the earth an estimated 1.66 miles deep—about 8,000 feet. Yet when I visited Cusco, Peru, which is around 11,000 feet above sea level, I didn’t need an oxygen tank.

Furthermore, atmospheric air pressure is relative to sea level. So as rising sea levels pushed the air column higher, the air pressure at sea level would stay the same.

Read more from Answers in Genesis.

Reading Aloud 4

For decades, Jim Trelease has been one of the best-known advocates of reading in America. His book Read-Aloud Handbook has made a huge impact on many families and education – and on me and my family and how we homeschool and what I teach others.

I will be sharing from some of his writings (From “Ten Reading Facts” brochure) over the next few blogs

THE most economical device to teach reading is already in your home. Finland’s children have the highest reading scores in the world and they use this device more than any other country—and it’s free!

It’s closed-captioning on the TV. Turn it on by using the “menu” button on the remote to reach the “cc” area. Children unconsciously absorb the sight of the words and their sounds, making connections to how print is used. It’s like having a free magazine subscription in the home. All print counts. What about recorded books—do they count? Read on.

10. WHILE a recorded voice is not as good as a live adult who can stop and explain something

in the story, it’s better than nothing. It’s also a great assist for the parent who has a reading disability or for whom English is a second language. (Incidentally, reading to a child in a foreign language accomplishes many of the same things—feeds vocabulary and builds a bridge to the love of reading and books.) Public libraries have huge collections of audio books—all available for free.

Trelease has a lot of facts, studies, and experience to demonstrate and encourage the benefits of reading and how to do it.

I highly recommend what he has to say in his Read Aloud Handbook. Go read some of the excerpts and impacting statistics.

Although I don’t fully recommend his book lists, he has some good choices to pick from.

Now with Kindle and its ability to do text to speech, there is practically an unlimited number of books and materials available as an audio book!

Reading Aloud 3

For decades, Jim Trelease has been one of the best-known advocates of reading in America. His book Read-Aloud Handbook has made a huge impact on many families and education – and on me and my family and how we homeschool and what I teach others.

I will be sharing from some of his writings (From “Ten Reading Facts” brochure) over the next few blogs

7. THE top winter Olympians come from states where they have the most ice and snow. And reading research shows that children who come from homes with the most print—books, magazines, and newspapers—have the highest reading scores. They also use the library more than those with lower scores. Libraries have the most and best books in the world—all for free. Remember: a used book for 50 cents— like you find in garage sales or thrift shops —has the same words as a brand new copy for $12.95. Reading families use the 3 B’s (to help the 3 R’s): Books, Bathroom, and Bed Lamp. Make sure there’s a box for books and magazines in the bathroom for idle or captive moments, and add one near the kitchen table. Install a reading lamp near the child’s bed and allow the privilege of staying up 15 minutes later to read (or just look at book’s pictures) in bed. It might be the most important night-school he’ll ever attend.

8. THERE is a strong connection between over-viewing of TV by children and underachieving in school. Simply put: those who watch the most know the least. Research shows that up to 10 TV-hours a week has no impact on children’s grades but beyond that the grades decline. Sixty percent of children now have a TV in their bedroom. Oh-oh! A side-by-side comparison of third-graders’ math and reading scores tells it all —scores of children with or without a TV in their bedroom (from —Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2005): Third grade math scores: 53.3 with TV in bedroom 63.1 without TV in bedroom (That is TEN whole points difference) Third grade reading scores: 47.5 with TV in bedroom 55 without TV in bedroom The average child spends 1,460 hours a year watching TV/DVD’s and playing computer games—equal to watching “Gone With the Wind” 392 times year. What about buying those computer programs or tapes you see advertised on TV that teach reading?

Read on next time.

Trials, Trash, and Treasure 3

We’re talking about trials.

We need to understand                The Purpose

The Perspective

The Preparation

Last blog we saw His first purpose of trials is for His Glory.

He has another purpose revealed in James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. NIV

Not only can He get immeasurable glory through our response during testing but we have the chance to be changed to be like Him!

The word translated here “perseverance” means patience and endurance, stamina. But it has the idea of cheerful and full of hope not just slugging it out and barely getting by.

You see, I don’t mind a trial or difficulty.

I just want them to be about 10 minutes long.

I am just a quarter horse when it comes to adversity.

I do pretty well in the sprint.

But put me into the Kentucky Derby  of problems with the thoroughbreds – and I am sunk. About that second turn, I am winded. I start pulling up with a limp. They all start passing me up.

But James tells us here that it is the “going through” of the adversities that can make us mature and complete. (Train me to be a thoroughbred!)

Otherwise, I am only good out in the pasture or with the kids in the yard.

The analogy to physical training is excellent.

None of us would expect to run a marathon the first time we put on shoes and a number. Nor swim in the Olympics or climb a 14er in Colorado.

We know that takes practice – hard work building up the endurance, calluses, and stamina to go the distance.

Weird isn’t it? Many of us will suffer and sweat to get in physical shape, like for a marathon. But we often don’t want to sacrifice that much when it comes to something eternal like God’s glory or our transformation because the trial is too painful

However, the Word and experience are both clear, it is the trial that grows us up, changes us to be like Jesus, brings us joy and hope, and floods eternity with His glory.

If I can stay focused on these Truths, it can completely change my attitude and perspective on trials.

Next time we’ll talk about the preparation.

Byrds and drum beats part 2

“To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven.”

Believe it or not, that quote is from the hit rock song  by the Byrds that spent a month at the Top of the charts in 1965!

So why am I blogging about some classic oldies rock song? (see blog)

First, amazingly it is all Scripture. (from the third chapter of Ecclesiastes.)

And, because it is all about seasons.

And I am struggling as I enter a new season of my life.

My children are growing up and I am beginning to experience the actual beginning to the end of my life parenting my children at home.

My youngest just turned 14.

The next oldest just got her license (an alias for “now she will be gone so much more”) and is spending a month away following part of her dream.

My next eldest will be gone the SAME month serving in Africa.

So I am feeling the emptiness and alone-ness of the “Empty Nest.”

I always dreaded it.

And now it looks as dreary as I thought it might.

However, Ecclesiates 3 has really been talking to me about seasons.

Some of it says:

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

When I researched that word “time”, I found something very interesting.

And it is changing the way  I see the changes in my life and the way I experience them, evaluate them, and feel about them.

We’ll talk about what I learned next time.

Reading Aloud part 2

For decades, Jim Trelease has been one of the best-known advocates of reading in America. His book Read-Aloud Handbook has made a huge impact on many families and education – and on me and my family and how we homeschool and what I teach others.

I will be sharing from some of his writings (From “Ten Reading Facts” brochure) over the next few blogs :

CHILDREN usually read on one level and listen on a higher level.

It’s usually not until eighth grade that the reading level catches up to the listening level.

This means that first-graders can hear and understand third- and fourth-grade books they can’t read yet.

These chapter books gradually introduce them to new words, new ideas, and the world beyond their neighborhood—and that, in turn, helps them better understand what they need to read in their school books.

Simple sentences in Dr. Seuss books like “Hop on Pop” were written to be read by beginning readers to themselves; that’s why the cover label reads “I Can Read It All by Myself.” Six-year olds are capable of understanding sentences that are longer and richer than “All Fall. Fall off the wall” but an adult must help by reading richer sentences like, “Mr. McGregor was on his hands and knees planting out cabbages, but he jumped up and ran after Peter, waving a rake and calling out, “Stop thief!” (TheTale of Peter Rabbit)

What about families that can’t afford books?

Read on…

Reading Aloud

For decades, Jim Trelease has been one of the best-known advocates of reading in America. His book Read-Aloud Handbook has made a huge impact on many families and education – and on me and my family and how we homeschool and what I teach others.

I will be sharing from some of his writings (From “Ten Reading Facts” brochure) over the next few blogs :

Why is reading outloud so important?

READ aloud to them, even as infants.Initially, the sound of your voice is a beacon
of calmness, conditioning the child to associate you and the book with security. As
the child grows, so too does the time you should spend reading in one sitting, from a
few minutes to at least 20 minutes, from picture books to chapter books. I can see the
benefits for younger children but I thought my 1st grader was supposed to come home and read to me. How can he get better at reading if I’m doing the
reading? Read on

LISTENING comprehension comes before reading comprehension. You must hear a
word before you can say it or read and write it. If you’ve never heard the word“enormous” in a meaningful way, you won’t understand it when it’s time to read or write
it. There’s a kind of “word reservoir” in a child’s brain and one of the jobs of a parent
is to pour so many words into it that it overflows into speech and then reading and
writing. By age four, high-income children have heard 45 million words from their
families and low-income children have heard just 13 million. That’s a 32 million word
difference equalling one year’s headstart for the advantaged child. HUGE
FACTOR: a child spends 900 hours a year in school and 7,800 hours at home. Who’s
the most important teacher? At what age do you stop reading to a child?

What are your experiences reading aloud?

Trials, Trash and Treasure part 2

We’ve been looking at what God says about our trials and problems in 1 Peter 1:6

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. NIV

In our last blog, we discussed what the verses mean.

So now the question is –

How do I do it?

How can I change so that I see trials with leaps of joy and not be discouraged because they are inevitable and ever-changing?

We need to :

Understand their Purpose

Change our Perspective.

Get Prepared.

First I need to truly grasp that ALL my problems have a purpose.

In fact, it is the real purpose for which I was born – to bring God glory.

I like the way the NLT puts it.

2 Cor 4:17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever

This verse again says that ALL our trials and difficulties last only a moment- when compared to their benefits and eternity. So what benefit does it mention?

God’s GLORY.

It is the trials that are the “vehicle” that accomplishes the glory. He is glorified when we go through trials His way, in the Spirit.

There isn’t another path that has such a glorious payoff.

Or He would have said, “Have everything go your way and eat chocolate  to bring me lots of Glory”

The word “outweigh” – oh my. It doesn’t mean a few ounces or even a bunch. It means overflowing of super over the top overflowing and then some more overflowing again.

So it is an amazing exchange.

A little “short lived” trial, handled with Spirit – Spiritual eyes and attitude -  results in uncontainable Glory!

Why would I resist this opportunity?! So that I can live a few more years in a little more comfort?

Next time we will focus on another great benefit of problems.

Trials, Trash and Treasure

Throughout my life, I have had an unspoken basic view of life –

I expect things to work out.

I expect the car tire not to get flat.
I expect the stain on my new shirt to wash out.
I expect my children to appreciate everything I do.
I expect my tummy to stay flat; my hair to stay blond; and my face to stay unwrinkled.

So as you can imagine, real life has been rather a shock to me.

And it has been a source of disappointment, discouragement, and grief.

But the word of God tells me something different.

I have been studying in 1 Peter and wanted to share some of what I found there.
And it casts a new perspective on my expectations and response to life.

1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. NIV
I saw several points in this verse.

1.    Contrary to my inborn ideas, we will go through trials. It isn’t the un-usual but instead the usual. In fact, 1 Peter 4:12 says that we should not even be surprised that hard times happen. Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. So I need to be prepared knowing that it will be coming. And rather than protecting me from hardships, the context of 1 Peter tells me that if I am standing for and walking with Christ, more rather than fewer trials and adversities will happen.

2.    Although most difficulties seem to me to last a long time – much longer than we would choose, Peter says something different. He says they only last a “little while”. The Greek word means brief, quickly over. 2 Cor 4:17 calls them “instantaneous and light and easy to bear.”

3.    We should “greatly rejoice” about these trials. That word doesn’t mean to smile a little and bear it. It is an over the top word. It means literally to jump, skip, and leap for joy. It a word that is used for someone so ecstatic that they are singing and dancing for delight.

4.    And it won’t just be one problem but “all kinds of trials”. Those words mean many variations and actually multi-colored – our troubles in this life will have every sort of color, hue, shade, tint, darkness, and variation to them.

So, if this is what the verse means? How can I LIVE like this? How can I adjust to this way of viewing things?

Let’s talk about that tomorrow.