Homeschooling Excerpt

Excerpt from "Citizen Magazine" July 2008 Issue, p. 25
by Dr. James Dobson

"This is a subject on which my mind has changed dramatically over the years. There was a time when I subscribed wholeheartedly to the notion that early formal childhood education was vital to the child's intellectual well-being. That was widely believed in the '60s and '70s. I no longer accept that idea and favor keeping kids with their parents for a longer time...

The research now validates the wisdom of keeping boys and girls in a protected environment until they have achieved a greater degree of maturity. Not only do they benefit emotionally from that delay, but they typically make better progress academically. That's why homeschooled individuals often gain entrance to the most prestigious universities and colleges in the country. What parents can teach young children in informal one-on-one interactions surpasses what their little minds can absorb sitting among 25 age-mates in a classroom."


Excellently put, and totally true. I know this because of my own experience having been both homeschooled and in public/private schools.

BEAUTIFUL Day!

I have been selling off DVDs over the last week on Amazon and got an email today that another sold. So I printed off my packing slip, packaged the dvd, printed my mailing label, and left for the Post Office. It was perfect outside! The sun was shining bright but the air was crisp and cool. I got into my car and started driving and went to turn on the a/c, but then went, "What am I doing!?!" I turned it off and rolled down my window to enjoy the morning. I meant to turn on music but ended up just praying the whole way there, praising God for this glorious day.

After I had dropped off my package I started home, and this time turned on music! It was a perfect day, so I needed the perfect music... so I put on country! I cranked Toby Keith good and loud so I could hear it over the wind blowing through the window. It was about a perfect moment :-). Many of my best childhood memories are riding with my mother to Redner's on a beautiful day with the windows down, listening to loud, fast country music.

Life is good. I love days like this. Riley is asleep right now, Hannah is on Facebook and I am going to get off now to taste the new cake I baked! It is devil's food cake with whipped white frosting and gobs of coconut on top... good stuff!

Hard Night

I did something last night that I have not done in a long time, I sat in bed and watched some of a movie on my computer before going to sleep... bad move. When I decided to go to bed, my mind started racing. Thoughts were shooting from one end of my brain to the other and then would bounce around like a pinball. I eventually fell asleep but my dreams were the same way and every time I woke up (which was quite often) I felt more mentally exhausted than when I last fell asleep. Ugh. It was a long night. And it did not help that Riley Joy was up for a long time (or at least talking in her sleep) around 4 am. So now I am pretty tired, but still very glad it is Friday.

This week went by faster than anything... but today is crawling so far. I have been able to work at the shipping bench this morning which has been nice. I have been listening to Matthew... wow, rough book. It is hard enough for a Christian to listen to it, but I can not believe how hard it would have been for a Jew to hear the sermon on the mount. It is not a fluffy sermon, instead it is a direct and deep-cutting message that pulls your self-righteous legs out from underneath you, and to the Jews who saw self-righteousness as their way into Heaven it must have been the hardest sermon they had ever heard. I can not help but see people in tears as Jesus told them that though they on the outside were doing right, they were still totally wrong on the inside, which is where it counts. But even as the meek and lowly were in tears before Jesus, the Pharisees and scribes turned up their noses at Him. In that context, it is no wonder that Jesus says the least on the earth will be greatest when the Kingdom of Heaven comes to the earth.

Jesus Talked to Me Tonight

The evening went pretty normal tonight. We had dinner, relaxed for a bit, then we went up to put our little Joy to bed. We played quietly on the bed and then she crawled around on the floor while Michael Card's "Sleep Sound In Jesus" played quietly in the background. At about 7:15 we undressed her and went into the bathroom to give her a bath. But when we pulled back the shower curtain, we found a surprise: almost the entire floor of the tub was coated in some sort of black gunk! It was not just a thin coat, it was caked on and disgusting. Hannah tried rinsing it off, but it was no use. So she pulled out the scrubbing bubbles but they could not cut all the way through. Then she pulled out Soft Scrub and scrubbed the tub down again, this time successfully getting the tub clean. But of course the gunk had clogged the drain by then so it took a matter of minutes for the dirty water to drain. Then Hannah rinsed the bottom a few more times until it was finally ready. Ugh.

I got so angry. What kind of immature bum would do something like this! I told Hannah, "Imagine what your dad would have done if he saw this!" We knew it was Sam pretty much from the beginning, but after checking with her mother we knew it for sure. Later we found out he had cleaned his air conditioner filter in the tub, which is what caused the mess.

Well, after the bath and a treatment of drain-o, I was in a pretty bad mood. What was he thinking! How could any grown person do something like that! Those feeling just boiled in me. Then when Hannah got into bed, I jumped in the shower. As the warm water relaxed my muscles, I fell into a sort of meditative state. When my mind was totally clear and all I could think of was the feel of the water, Jesus said to me, "How can you forgive so little when you have been forgiven so much?" and then "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice."

Wow, quite a shot to the heart. In that moment, the parable of the unmerciful servant came into my mind and I knew I was wrong. Then the strength of the second part hit me, I can be pious and read my Bible and do all the right Christian things, but if I am not willing to forgive Sam of this little thing, it is all absolutely nothing. That stuck in my head as I finished my shower and got into bed with Hannah. So I repented to God for my wrong and the anger left me almost instantly and I was able to forgive Sam in my heart. But it really blows me away how easy it is to let human nature take control. In one moment I can be doing so well, and then suddenly somthing happens and everything right goes out the door and I am just a ball of sinful human nature.

But praise Jesus that He is so faithful and forgiving. In His grace He pointed out to me where I was wrong and helped me to do what was right.

Thank You Jesus :-).

The Deed Is Done

I have submitted my remove from courses form to Regent. Within forty eight hours it will have been processed and I will be officially un-registered for Fall 2008... it is just not God's will for now. Though we will see what He has for us in the future.

Friday Party

We went to a party at Charlie's on Friday and it was great! He put on a party back in June which was pretty good, but this was great! Last time it had a seemingly random assortment of exotic foods which made no sense to me and I could not figure out what was supposed to be dipped and what was supposed to be eaten alone. This time it was a taco party. Everyone brought something and boy was the food great! Dan D brought two of his famous salsas and Charlie made his own special dips. Then there was also basic taco parts. But Charlie had this little bowl of brown dip which just blew me away, you dip your chip in and get just the smallest amount on it and then when you bite it the flavor explodes! And the best part is that though it is very very hot, you still can clearly taste and enjoy the flavor!

My addition to the party was my mother's famous butter cookies. They came out perfect! I thought about decorating them but decided against it in the end. But I brought them in and as soon as people started eating them I started getting compliments. Even people who did not know that I had made them were going, "Ummmm, these are really good!" I enjoyed hearing that. Then John and Sarah C came in and Sarah had one and said, "I know these cookies! Debbie Burgett makes these and I have the recipe!" It was fun :-). So the cookies were definitely a hit, though out of the whole batch I was only able to eat three. Oh well... guess I will just have to make more!

Close Call

My arm was almost smashed a few minutes ago... I am still quite shaken at the thought of it, knowing that had circumstances been only slightly different I would be on my way to the hospital with my forearm crushed.

We just finished an organ for Moody Bible Institute, and it is quite a beast. They put in on the truck lift and then realized it was about 6-8 inches too wide for it. So they called me and some others out for what they knew would be a hefty job. I was on the side that was hanging off with John C and Kevin L. They had a handle to lift on, but on my side we had to keep the handle down in order to swing it into the truck. So after we raised the lift, the fun began.

I found as good place as I could to lift and push, with my elbow braced against the corner where the lift met the floor of the truck. Well, when we got our bearings everyone let out grunts and we lifted and pushed with all our might. John C gave a mighty shove and the console which was still hanging off the edge swung forward and the lower edge of the console came forward quickly and came instantly over the corner where my arm was braced. Somehow my arm was not there, even though I can not figure out how. Had it been there, the bottom edge of the massive console would have ground instantly down into my arm and easily broken the bones and skin against the back edge of the truck floor. Praise the Lord all that was caught was my shirt right below my elbow. In the end I just had a ripped shirt. How my arm got out I just don't know.