thatmom.com

Not too long after my dad had his first stroke, which left him weakened and tired much of the time, my grandmother, his mom, could no longer live on her own so she came to live with my parents. I would often stop by the house, brightening an otherwise dreary situation with the boundless joy and enthusiasm of six children!

One day as my mom was in the kitchen serving peanut butter fudge to eager little ones, I happened to walk past the room where my 70 year old dad was stretched out and taking his nap on the daybed. My grandmother, in her 90’s at the time, was gently and quietly placing a blanket over him, patting his shoulder as she carefully tucked it in. I can still recall her blue, blue eyes spilling over with a single tear and tenderly looking at him with that special love and concern that comes only from a mom.

I have many days like that, moments where an overwhelming sense of compassion and tenderness toward one of my children moves me first to tears and then to prayer. I can’t explain what triggers it…..a brief phone conversation, passing by a photo on the wall, a song or a story that connects me to another day from long ago. Decades and even centuries may change along with the latest in women’s fashions but a mom’s love does not. It is a small picture of the love of God that shines down into our own hearts, enabling us to bear one another’s burdens, beginning with the burdens of our own children!

Happy Mother’s Day, moms! Have a cup of tea, a nap, or a walk in the park. Revel in the joy of being a mom. Today is your day; tomorrow with its laundry will come soon enough!

As usual, this is a virtual potpourri of thought. And also as usual, I welcome any thought or comments you might have!

I was so happy to see this recording of the original radio program I heard that prompted me to desire homeschooling for my kids.  The Moores continue to be inspirational and encouraging for a new generation of homeschoolers! Please pass this one along.

For any visual learners among us, here is a handy resource for teaching theology!

Considering building a home library for this and future generations? Wondering where to start? Here are some great tips!

Did you ever watch a good movie and think “Wouldn’t this be a great study for my kids?” These folks are a step ahead of us.; this looks like a great resource.

Here are a bunch of fun ideas to keep your toddlers busy. Anyone need this?

If you haven’t been following this website on the Institute in Basic Life Principles and Bill Gothard, now might be a good time to check it out. Besides this article, I would encourage you to go back through the April archives.

 
Now I have a few articles on the topic of worship that I think will be enlightening. Michael Horton’s last paragraph is a doozie and, imho, belongs in church bulletins across this land!

Internet Monk takes on Doug Wilson’s perspectives on “feminine” worship.

Eric Pazdziora addresses worship in general and goes on to discuss this notion of feminine worship. Great, great thinking from Eric.

And finally Michael Horton hits it out of the park with this piece on muscular Christianity.

Finally and in case you missed it, I am sharing this fun video that has been making its way around homeschooling circles recently. Doesn’t the child in you long for this kind of day?

During the 1870’s, preacher Dwight L. Moody traveled several times to England to conduct special evangelistic meetings. Mr. Moody had been promoted by Charles Spurgeon and was welcomed by rich and poor, young and old alike.  Having gained an audience on both continents by this time, Moody’s services were well attended, often with standing room only.

On one particular evening, a young mother slipped into a pew along with her baby who became inconsolable as the preaching progressed. Unable to get out of the room quickly, many people became annoyed with the baby’s crying and the poor woman felt thousands of eyes upon her as she eventually made her way out of the auditorium. A father himself who adored little ones, Moody observed her situation and his heart was moved.

The next morning, Moody sent word through all his associates that that evening he would be holding special meetings…just for mothers and their babies!  He greeted them and welcomed them in that night and as they filled the room, many were in tears, incredulous that someone would care enough about them and about their souls to provide for their spiritual needs as moms! How many a mother was open to receiving the message of forgiveness of sins because she had been loved and cared for simply because she was a mother?

And what about these little ones? We know that spiritual truth is spiritually discerned, not calculated by the educated or trained mind. Remembering that John the Baptist stirred in the womb as Mary told his mother, Elizabeth, the Good News of the Gospel message, how possible is it that many a baby in that gathering were also spiritually drawn to the Lord Jesus?

I remember one particular Sunday from my early days of parenting when we had a fussy baby and two wiggly preschoolers. We had recently moved back to my home church after living overseas and I soon discovered that the same frowning faces that had been part of my own childhood were now looking down at my children and offering disapproval from the choir loft. Though they were not naughty, just being normal little ones, I slipped them out of the pew and out of the room so as not to disturb these ladies. I also remember crying in the car on the way home. Rather than disapproval, I needed a kind older woman to assure me my children were welcome and that I was, too.

This is Friday; Sunday is coming. Let me encourage you today to look for an overwhelmed mom this Sunday morning. Start praying for her today, that you can be a drink of cool water in her dry and parched week. Tuck a few simple treasures in your purse to share with little ones so they will feel welcomed, too. And if you are that exhausted mom, pray that the Lord will bring someone into your path to encourage you. Hang in there. Do not despise the day of small things (or small children.) Who knows what the Lord intends to do in their little lives this week?

Ever heard the one argument that homeschoolers have an obligation to stay in public school? This myth is officially debunked.

How much time are you spending in “school” every day?

Love this article’s emphasis on being kind in our homes.

A homeschooled pastor shares his thoughts on why he quit the church.

How wide is God’s grace? The power of the anthrax house!

Do you ever feel the mom guilt? Surely not!

What ever happened to kindergarten?

Moms of boys, please don’t miss this one! For more on raising boys, here are some thoughts I had on this subject.

Cal Thomas shares some great thoughts on the life of Chuck Colson.

Has homeschooling Dad Kirk Cameron succumbed to peer pressure and fallen in with the wrong crowd. Be sure to read these insights from Brannon Howse.

 
And now, after all that heavy stuff, here is something hilarious from the homeschooling archives! Enjoy!

I have been thinking for quite some time that many of the state homeschooling groups are becoming more brash, caustic, arrogant, myopic, and delusional all the time. Today I have proof. Look at this quote from CHEA, the California Home Education Association:

“CHEA is the expert in Christian home education in California. No one has the experience, the knowledge of what our state requires, the vision for encouraging California’s Christian homeschooling parents, and the relationship with our state’s homeschooling families that we do. God has blessed us and we are simply the best there is.”

This comes on the tails of stories from attendees and vendors alike who have been marginalized, belittled, called names, threatened, and warned that only “board-approved” homeschooling resources are allowed at their ever-dwindling-in-attendance conventions.  Time to pull out my warnings for those attending conferences this year. I highly recommend a reread if you have read them before and please Tweet and FB them to your friends by clicking the buttons at the end of the articles. I seriously believe homeschooling families to be in danger and they must be warned!!!!!

Homeschooling Conventions Can Be a Threat to Your Sense of Reality

Homeschooling Conventions Can Be a Threat to Contentment with your Husband

Homeschooling Conventions Can Be a threat to Your Relationship with Jesus and Others

*ar·ro·gant
[ar-uh-guhnt]
adjective making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights; overbearingly assuming; insolently proud

Even more where this came from!

“How colorfully and scientifically our generation talks down to the little child! What insipid, stupid, dull stories are trotted out! And we don’t stop there. We don’t respect the children’s thinking or let them come to any conclusions themselves! We ply them with endless questions, the ones we’ve thought up, instead of being silent and letting the child’s questions bubble up with interest. We tire them with workbooks that would squeeze out the last drop of anybody’s patience. We remove interesting books and squander time on ‘reading skill testing,’ using idiotic isolated paragraphs which no one would dream of taking home to read.” ~ Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

 I haven’t posted links for a while so there is quite a variety here. I welcome any thoughts…….

“It is time that such officials learn that being a good parent is a right not a privilege.” What does this mean? If this account is completely accurate, it is outrageous. But I do wonder if there is more to this story. It came along with a fundraising plea and these are the people who are pushing for the Parental Rights Amendment,which Homeschool Legal Advantage and others do not support.

I so appreciated this former EFCA pastor’s perspective on the Trayvon Martin story.  His question for all of us “Do you love truth?” is the right one to ask.

This is not a Christian website but this article that shows the link that evangelist Kirk Cameron has to Doug Phillips, Rushdooney, and the dominionist movement is alarming. Again, do we care about truth or not?

My friend, Sallie, a conservative Christian homeschooling mom whose thoughtful articles always make me think, has written these thoughts on Mark Driscoll and his notion that “manliness” is the future of the church. I can’t help but compare Driscoll’s notions with this story: “Pastor Cho of South Korea grew his church to close to 850,000 members, by encouraging women to have as much influence as God gifted them with, and he did this in a culture that, unlike America’s, has historically assumed women are subservient to men. Christian history may record that Pastor Cho’s decision to open the doors of influence to women in his church was a primary contributing factor in his country’s transformation from a predominantly Buddhist country to a Christian one.” from The Resignation of Eve by Jim Henderson. So, perhaps the so-called “feminization” of the church is a straw man? I have long suspected such. The truth is, the church needs BOTH men and women to fulfill the great commission!!!!!

Sallie further shares her concerns about the Acts 29 churches. I have seen this more and more….patriocentricity and patriarchy are becoming part of the code of orthodoxy to a point that differing views on baptism or cessation of tongues, for example, are all welcomed but the place of women in the body of Christ is never to be discussed. Be sure you are patient and look at Sallie’s link…I was stunned.

Here is also some insights from George Barna on why women are leaving the organized church in droves!

And now for a few fun educational/child development links that I found. Enjoy!

“Is your baby a good baby?” Ever get tired of hearing this? You will love this article plus all the links!

Are you also tired of hearing that you might be spoiling your baby because she actually wants to be held? This research confirms what mamas already know!

Those of you who love music will love this connection between rhythm and math!

The Hurried Child has been released….and none too soon! You will want to own a copy of this wonderful book!

Fans of Charlotte Mason and Susan Schaeffer Macaulay will appreciate these reminders on children basically needing to be children!

Some sound thinking on young dating. I so appreciated this balanced view.  

And finally, more thoughts on the Barna research regarding teens leaving the church and leaving the faith.

And last but not least, if you are thinking about attending a homeschooling convention this year, not sure you have the time, energy, or finances, or just want a little something different, I have just the resource for you! Now you can enjoy the perks of a homeschooling convention, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from the comfort and convenience of your own home! And the best part is that new and exciting resources, including reviews, workshops, forums, and much more are being added all the time! Check it out!

a family dinner shortly before the day of the fire

A couple weeks ago I spent the evening at a fundraiser with my friend Dawndra, whom I have known and loved for about 20 years! She reminded me that I had anniversary coming up soon since it had been almost 16 years since our house fire. She remembers it well because she was in the hospital 2 blocks away laboring and delivering her daughter while the wind blew and my house burned. It reminded me that I have never written much about that event, a really big one in our family history, and one where God showed Himself so faithful to us in so many ways. I thought this might be the time to do so.

We bought our old turn-of-the-century house in 1984, one of the original old lovely Victorian homes that sat on a street lined with Elm trees and brick sidewalks. I will never forget the older couples who warmly greeted us the week we moved in, welcoming us to the neighborhood, telling us stories of their grandparents who had also lived on this block. “This was all a big sheep pasture,” one woman told us, motioning broadly with her arms. “And of course, when I was a child, I used to play with the daughter,” she went on, describing the inside of the old Orrendorf estate and the man who founded the plow company and much of the town as well. While Clay and the other men unloaded boxes and the children madly drove their Big Wheels down the sloping drive, I absorbed all this woman told me, the history of her own beloved home, a few tidbits about our house, and the neighborhood we could now call home as well.

We had been living in a 5 room farmhouse before finding this antique treasure. My dad had walked through the basement, crawled through the attic, and thoroughly examined everything in between before pronouncing the house “a good solid home.” With three growing children we had room to spread out and space to be creative. From that first day we walked in the door, following a realtor who had shown this house numerous times and offhandedly gave us her presentation, we loved this old house.

When we first moved into our home, we were just beginning to think a bit about homeschooling. Though we hadn’t clearly decided it was what we would do, the notion kept introducing itself to us. We also hadn’t considered having a larger family or ever considered the fact that we might have one of our parents living in our home. So as I begin to share our story, I will say that the first lesson the Lord wanted to teach me was that He goes before us and provides for all our needs, even those we don’t know that we are going to have! It is a truth we have seen over and over again and one I will never take for granted!

Since that day nearly 28 years ago when we moved into this house, so much has changed….we went from being a public school family to a homeschooling family, a household with 3 children to one with 6 children and a grandmother, and now one where grandchildren come to visit and sleep under its sturdy old eaves. We have celebrated dozens of birthdays and nearly 3 decades of anniversaries. We have grieved together over death and loss and rejoiced at bringing babies and a grandbaby home from the hospital to this house. Clay has changed jobs, I have kept everyone fed and clothed, and together we have made a home. We have welcomed in strangers and loved ones alike and through it all the Lord has cared for us. It is because of His past faithfulness that we can rejoice every single day…His mercies to us are new every morning! Next is part two…..

Today’s lesson: the Lord goes before us and provides for all our needs, even the ones we don’t know we are going to have!

This is such a powerful reminder to moms as well as to anyone who spends time with little ones. In this exposition on 1 Thessalonians 5:14, Chris Yount Jones from Children’s Ministry reminds us of the importance of being discerning as we teach our kids.

You can also join their FB page for encouraging messages like this one.

Also, another good resource for ministering to our kids can arrive daily in your e-mail. Would love to hear your thoughts!