This great quote was at the bottom of someone’s e-mail to me this week and I thought it was too good not to share, especially in light of the discussions on patriocentricity.

“Never make a principle out of your experience. Allow God to be as original with other people as He is with you.” -Oswald Chambers

Listen here to the final podcast interview with Spunky Homeschool Mom, Karen Braun, as we conclude our discussion series on patriocentricity and the concept of “the visionary daughters.”

Please note that a HUGE discussion of this topic is occurring here. It is a continuation of the first thread which can be found here. I would encourage anyone who wants to know as much as possible about the visionary daughters movement to take some time and read through these comments. I am continually amazed at all the interesting things I learn from contributors to these threads.

Also, if you are just now joining me for these podcasts, I would suggest that you go back to the Introduction to Patriocentricity podcast from September 7th and begin there. You can also access the thatmom podcast archives by visiting www.thatmompodcast.com.

As always, I welcome all comments and look forward to a great discussion with you!

I have several more interviews related to the topic of patriarchy but feel the personal need to take a break and come back some time after Christmas with those broadcasts. I want to have what we call in our house some “soaking time” on the responses I have received and by then will have seen both of the upcoming movies that address the issues of patriarchy (The Return of the Daughters and The Monstrous Regiment of Women) and I will also be ready to review the new Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald book, Passionate Housewives Desperate for God (if I can find someone else willing to spend the money on these items to join me in doing the reviews)! So there will be a second series on patriocentricity coming down the road. We will also be looking at the concept of spiritual abuse and how closely related it is to patriocentricity.

I also have interviewed several awesome homeschooled graduates and have more interviews lined up and will be really excited to introduce them to you. Moms, you will be so encouraged when you hear what they have to say!

Another topic I am looking forward to discussing is that of homeschooling within ministry families and I am in the process of reading a book by the wife of a former pastor and will be interviewing her. I am also hoping to bring you interviews with homeschooling moms from the mission field.

I have been hearing from many women who wish they could live close enough to Central Illinois to attend the Treasures of a Mother’s Heart Day of Encouragement. They have been asking for CD’s and we may be able to arrange that.  In the meantime, in November, my podcasts will include highlights from the Treasures retreats.  All you will need is a bag of Hershey kisses and your computer and life will be good!

November podcast schedule:

November 2 ~ Closing remarks on Patriocentricity

November 9 ~ 16 ~ 23 ~ 30 Highlights from the Treasures of a Mother’s Heart retreats

Great thought number four:

The apostle Paul often referred to his “thorn in the flesh” a certain type of suffering that is unknown to us but that plagued Paul all of his life. Yet, when God promised him that “My grace is sufficient for you” Paul’s own response was “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Gospel singer Michael Card tells the story of a Masai warrior named Joseph who was confronted with the claims of the gospel by a traveling missionary. He trusted Christ for his salvation and knew he was called to preach the gospel message himself. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, he was sent by the Lord to visit a neighboring tribe. Since his own salvation had brought much joy and enthusiasm to his life, he anticipated a similar response as he began going door to door to talk about Jesus.

Instead, the villagers became violent and while the men held him down, the women beat him with strands of barbed wire and then he was dragged to the bush and left him to die.

After several days of fading in and out of consciousness, he regained strength and returned once again to the same village to preach the Gospel. Again he was severely beaten and left alone to die.
The wounds Joseph suffered during the first beating were enough to kill him. Those of the second beating nearly did but, again, he went back to the village and began to preach. This time, the men and women both began to beat him before he even opened his mouth. As he lay dying in the dirt, he preached Jesus and Him crucified one last time before passing out and while closing his eyes he heard the women weeping.

In the morning, he awoke in a bed, surrounded by the men and women who had beaten him as they tended to his wounds and desperately worked to save his life. Every single one of them had come to Christ.

I cannot even imagine experiencing that degree of suffering myself, let alone my child enduring such beatings. As a mom, my greatest desire, from the moment I learned I was pregnant, was to protect my child. As the older ones have grown up, this has been a personal struggle for me, as I believe it is for most, if not all, moms. Every ounce of my being has wanted to protect them, yet I know that that is not entirely possible; only the Lord is able to protect them and sometimes He chooses to appoint suffering for them in order to accomplish His purposes. What one of us would question God’s best for our children if He called them to missions and to face the sufferings of the Cross in order to bring others to His glorious grace?

It is when we realize this that we also recognize what our true job is….to prepare our children for the certain times of trouble that will come to them. You see, suffering is a guarantee for the Christian. And as our children contend for the truth of the gospel message, it will certainly come to them in ways we could never even envision.

Today, as you tuck your little ones in for a nap or you listen to them read, don’t fret over their futures and devise ways to keep them little forever. Instead, seize every opportunity you have to share God’s word with them. Building their faith is essential in preparing them for the future and we are promised that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17

Great thought number three:

“The goal of the Christian life is not simply to get us into heaven, but to get heaven into us! God is intent upon making you and making me into a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror that reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness.” Richard Foster in Streams of Living Water

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9

I have been meditating the past few weeks on the “great thought” that perhaps God has chosen homeschooling mothers to school their children because of what He wants to do in their own lives, not only in the lives of their children. The Scripture passage that I am studying is 1 Peter 2:4-12 and as I have contemplated what it means to be called out of darkness into his marvelous light, I am seeing all the glories and the blessings there are in basking in the light of God’s truth. As my lazy tomcat stretches out in the patch of sun on my kitchen floor, I am to rest and wallow in the warmth and goodness and mercy and grace, all found in God’s glorious light.

Today, just for a few moments, rest in God’s goodness to you. In the midst of the phonics, the laundry, and the paying of bills, proclaim His excellencies, reflect His glory, wrap yourself in His eternal sunshine.

Great thought number two:

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

Francis Schaeffer made application of this passage in his book The Mark of the Christian:

“The command in John 13 and 1 John 3 is to love our fellow Christians, our brothers. But of course, we must strike a balance and not forget the other side of Jesus’ teaching: we are to love our fellow men, to love all men in fact, as neighbors.

All men bear the image of God. They have value, not because they are redeemed, but because they are God’s creation in God’s image. Modern man, who has rejected this, has no clue as to who he is, and because of this he can find no real value for himself or for other men. Hence, he downgrades the value of other men and produces the horrible thing we face today, a sick culture in which men treat men as less than human, as machines. As Christians, however, we know the value of men.

All men are our neighbors, and we are to love them as ourselves. We are to do this on the basis of creation, even if they are not redeemed, for all men have value because they are made in the image of god. Therefore, they are to be loved even at great cost.

This is, of course, the whole point of Jesus’ story of the good Samaritan: because a man is a man, he is to be loved at all cost.”

It is often the tendency of Christian homeschoolers, once they have rejected the public school systems, to pull away from others who are not homeschoolers, even within their own churches. As I have watched this over the years, and even as my own family has, to my chagrin, practiced the same, I have come to the conclusion that we are missing an opportunity to teach our children the essential truths of loving our neighbors as ourselves. This does not mean that we are to lack discernment in our relationships; in fact, discernment is something that we must develop ourselves and then pass on to our children. But discernment cannot be learned apart from humility and faith.

Are there people in your circle of associations who are not Christ followers? How are they received by your family? Have you declared that you “hate so and so” because they are “the enemies of God” as some within the homeschooling movement would encourage you to do? Or do you imitate Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, while we were yet sinners, died for us?

President and CEO of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, Chip Ingram, shares that one of the ten most common practices of Christians who have led productive lives for Christ is to “think great thoughts.” He quotes Philippians 4: 8 that says “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” *

Pastor Ingram goes on to explain that the word “dwell” in the original Greek is not a casual word, but rather it means “to deduce, to reason, to calculate, to ponder, to deliberate, to subject to prolonged analysis or thought.” He says that “it implies thinking about a matter long enough to take into account its character and realize its implications for your life.”

I have long been an advocate of building a personal library and I have many books that have introduced me to great thoughts and great thinkers. Our family has especially enjoyed reading biographies, the practice of which has introduced us to the thoughts others have had of God, His creation, and the working out of His purposes in man. I thought it might be encouraging to share some of those “great thoughts” on this blog and seek to apply them to our lives as homeschooling moms. I hope to do this several times a week and pray that it will bless all of us.

Great thought number one:

C.S. Spurgeon once encouraged his students by saying “Let, us, dear brethren, try to get saturated with the gospel. I always find that I can preach best when I can lie a-soak in my text. I like to get a text, and find out its meanings and bearings, and so on; and then, after I have bathed in it, I delight to lie down in it, and let it soak into me.”

Homeschooling moms don’t always have time every day for hours upon hours of in-depth Bible study, but we do have time to read each day and meditate on at least one verse of God’s word. Only as our spiritual tanks are filled can we give all we need to give to our families. What are you bathing in this week? Is it something that you want to have “soaked into you?” Is it something honorable, true, right and lovely? Think a great thought today by meditating on Scripture and ask the Lord to show you how He wants you to apply it to your own life.

* Please note that Chip Ingram is the current president and CEO rather than the founder as I had previously stated.  My friend, Deanne, brought that to my attention and I wanted to note that I changed it!