God Made, Home Grown

Monday, November 15, 2010

Around the World with a Missionary

2:03 PM | Edit Post

Last Christmas, my oldest son (currently 6 years old) received a globe from his grandfather. Taking its place in the middle of the dining room table, it has facilitated some great discussions about this world in which we live.

He was, and continues to be, so enchanted with it, that we take every opportunity to incorporate it into our homeschool lessons. You can read about some of the ways we have done this here.

Most people don’t think much about geography when planning lessons for preschoolers and kindergarteners. If our kids know their own address and can tell the difference between a five minute trip to the grocery store and a five hour trip to grandma’s house, that should do until they get a little older.

On the other hand, there is something to be said for opening a little child’s eyes to a world so much bigger than their own corner of it–a world filled with oceans, mountains, valleys, deserts, and people. People created in the image of God. People who are very different from us in many ways, yet the same in many ways.

People who desperately need to hear the gospel.

And so, we teach them about missionaries.

Click here to read more...

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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Thanksgiving and the Self-Centered Preschooler

2:49 AM | Edit Post

t’s that time of year again…

No sooner do the grocery stores and shopping malls take down their Halloween decorations, then they replace them with Christmas lights and holiday advertisements.

And, of course, the catalogs start coming in the mail. Mind you, I have, overall, done a pretty good job of getting our address off of these mailing lists, but still, a few sneak in here and there.

Maybe I’m prematurely aging, but I find the commercialization of Christmas more tiring year after year. Perhaps it is because it drowns out the celebration of the birth of our Savior. Perhaps it is because the retail media machine would like us to skip right over Thanksgiving and dive straight into “Black Friday”. These things have bothered me for years.

However, I think the reason my patience for holiday hype is waning at such a rapid pace is the fact that I have a house full of little ones who already have a hard enough time believing that they are not the center of the universe!

Last week, I wrote about a new thankfulness project that I am trying with my kids this year. We’re only a week into it, and it has certainly helped to change the tone in this household.

What about some other ideas, though? What are some things we can do as mothers and fathers of little ones who are in great need of recognizing how blessed they are?

Click here to read more...

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Monday, November 8, 2010

Nesting...and Trying Not to Panic

5:24 AM | Edit Post

Baby #4's "due date" is a mere six days away.

Now, I have never gone into labor any earlier than a week-and-a-half past my due date. If I stay true to pattern, I'll be birthing this baby on Thanksgiving Day...

...However...I have suddenly been hit with the uneasy feeling that this baby may not come nearly as late as I expect...

...and I'm not ready.

I've recently been asked how I "do it all". I have to laugh because the answer is, "I don't". I have to make choices and set priorities just like everyone else does. Frankly, sometimes I do a lousy job of it. Time management is one of my biggest weaknesses.

Nevertheless, ready or not, here baby comes!

I take a great amount of peace in knowing that God is sovereign over my pregnancy, my labor, my birth, and my baby. He knows when baby will be ready to be born, and he will give me what I need to deal with what comes when it happens. I've blogged about this before. It is a truth that becomes more real and necessary to me as the calendar moves forward.

As I get ready for baby to come, my presence on this blog may be a bit more...well...erratic. My guess is that I'll be writing a lot over the next week or so, and then, I may suddenly disappear for a while. God has been teaching me so much lately, and I have so much that I want to say! On the other hand, I need to balance my work here with my responsibilities here at home, coupled with a healthy dose of rest before the "marathon". (I learned last time, after going into labor in the late afternoon of a busy day, that I should always leave some energy in reserve during these last weeks.)

Anyway, I'm still looking for a couple of guest contributors to this blog for during my "maternity leave". If you don't know how to contact me directly (I prefer not to put my email address directly into posts), just leave a comment and I will contact you. Topics may include Christ-centered homeschooling, child discipleship, and biblical womanhood.

Oh, and last but not least, "God Made, Home Grown" has been nominated in two categories in the HSBA 2010 Homeschool Blog Awards! I am pleasantly surprised and honored! Thank-you all for reading and for your nominations! Click on the link below to cast your vote!:

This blog has been nominated in the "Best Homeschool Mom" category and the "Best Encourager" category.

While you're at it, you can also cast a vote for On the Company Porch, the blog I contribute to on Monday afternoons, in the "Best Group/Family Blog" category. Thanks in advance!

Voting is going on right now, and ends on November 18th.

The only question now is, will I have a baby by then?

Stay tuned...

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Friday, November 5, 2010

The Most Important Election of Your Child's Life

2:32 AM | Edit Post

This week, our country made it to the end of yet another election cycle. Like numerous other home-educating moms, I took my children to the polls with me. I showed them the sample ballot, and explained to them how it was to be marked. In the days and weeks previous, we spent a lot of time talking about who Daddy and I would be voting for, and the values and principles guiding those choices. By the time I was handed my ballot, the children were pleased to be involved in what they were learning was a very important process.

It is always touching for me to see the smiles and friendly greetings my little ones receive from older folks when we go to vote. Perhaps this is because they know, even more than I do, that the choices we make in regards to who will govern us and how they will do so affect our children even more than they effect us. None of us can trust that our children will inherit a country that is as free and prosperous as we had growing up. We can, however, cast our ballots, praying for God's will to be done, and trust Him for the outcome.

It seems that, with every election, someone is saying that this is "the most important election of our lives"! And perhaps, at some time, they might be right.

However, there is a much more important election to consider. Would that people spent as much time contemplating it as they do politics!

"Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fail. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

2 Peter 1:10-11

The most important election in our children's lives has nothing to do with senate seats or gubernatorial candidates. It has everything to do with their eternal destiny, and it is a choice that God himself makes.

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide..."

John 15:16

Have my children put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone to save them from the punishment they deserve for their sins? Will they be in heaven with me when they die? I confess that this is the question most likely to keep me awake at night.

Some people may wonder why I, the unapologetic Calvinist that I am, trouble myself at all with this question. After all, if God made his choice "before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4), what possible good does it do for me to pray and weep over this issue? Why am I so fanatical about my children's biblical literacy and understanding of the gospel? Why can't I do as the rest of the world does, and look at my children as little cherubs who will surely grow out of their bad behaviors, instead of seeing them as sinners in the hands of an angry God, whose hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), who desperately need a Savior?

Why can't I just send them to Sunday School and trust that all will work out okay in the end? Why can't I just pray with them at mealtimes and bedtime and call that "good enough"? Those who have known me for a long time might say, "Tiana, you're sounding like a neurotic perfectionist again! This can't possibly be good for your mental health!".

Maybe not, but echoing the words of Martin Luther, my conscious is held captive by Scripture. I cannot ignore the convictions the Holy Spirit has pressed upon through His Word.

"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up."

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

All day, every day. I am commanded to be teaching them the Word of God.

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'"

Matthew 28:18-20

Most of us, when we hear these words, think of foreign missions. We emphasize the phrase "all the world". Yet, the emphasis is really on the phrase "make disciples". I am to make disciples as I go, wherever I go. And starting with my own children only makes sense. They are my mission field!

Not only that, but I don't think we as parents think enough about what God's purposes for our children's lives might be. Most of us think a lot about college and career, but very little about calling. When Psalm 129:4 speaks of children being like arrows in the hands of a mighty warrior, I picture sending my children out, grown up and mature in their faith, to be of great service to the LORD in His purposes on this earth.

"For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?'

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."

Romans 10:13-17

Parents, you are your child's first and most influential preacher! Are they hearing the gospel in your home, consistently, clearly, daily? Do you think you can rest easy because your child has been made a profession of faith, "prayed a prayer", or been baptized? I don't know about you, but I can't. The stakes are just too high.

To just sit back and assume that, because God is sovereign, everything will be alright and I can do nothing, ignores the means that God has laid out in His Word by which people believe and are saved.

Friends, this weekend, let us take some time to think and reflect upon these things:

Are my priorities and schedule consistent with the goals I have for my kids?
What about God's goals and priorities?
If I am to make the eternal salvation of my children a top priority, what changes might I have to make?
Do I need help? Who will help me?

Let us commit to praying for each other in this as well. Leave a comment and let us know how we can pray for you as you disciple your children.

By His Grace,

Tiana

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Monday, November 1, 2010

Reformation and Thankfulness

9:58 AM | Edit Post

We had a Reformation Day celebration at church yesterday evening, and it gave me a great idea for a craft project you can do with your kids.

What??? A craft idea from me? Ummm…not exactly.

This craft was literally handed to me by another experienced homeschooling mom; it’s just one more reason why you shouldn’t go it alone. If you surround yourself with other parents who are further along on this journey than you are, you are bound to get ideas that you never would have come up with on your own.

This craft will help you count the days between Reformation Day (October 31st) and Thanksgiving (this year, November 25th). It will add some continuity to the season–almost like an Advent calendar for Thanksgiving–and will help to brighten your home as the days get colder and darker.

Click here to read more...

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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Read-Aloud Resources

7:48 AM | Edit Post

When I was just beginning homeschooling my oldest child, a wise, experienced homeschooling mom told me this:

Homeschooling in the early years is mostly reading out loud and playing outside. Everything else can be accomplished in less than 30 minutes a day.”

At first, this might seem counter-intuitive. Most of us were raised to think that sitting in a desk, listening to a teacher talk, is the only legitimate way to learn anything. We might think that we need expensive curriculum and elaborate lesson plans to really educate our children.

But we don’t.

Last week, I talked about how, with a back-yard, a library card, and some writing materials, we can turn outdoor play into simple nature study with little ones.

This week, we’ll dip our toes into the fascinating waters of reading out loud to our children.

Click here to read more...

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Thursday, October 21, 2010

Why Can't You Just Be NORMAL???

3:59 AM | Edit Post

Has anyone ever asked you that question? If you care at all about raising your children to walk with God, chances are, you have.

I will admit that I often feel like the lemming at the edge of the cliff, who, after seeing the fate that awaits him if he follows the crowd, turns around, flails his arms, and screams,

"Hey, guys! Could we stop and think this over for a minute???"

...only to have his annoyed brethren push passed him, wondering why he's obstructing traffic!

Yes, friends, we have a problem, and it is not one that being more normal will fix.

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them, for they are spiritually discerned."

1 Corinthians 2:14

Our natural (dare I say, "normal"?) way, is our way, not God's way. In fact, business as usual for us is to consider God's way foolish.

"As it is written:

'None is righteous, no not one;

no one understands, no one seeks after God.

All have turned aside, together they have become worthless;

no one does good, not even one.'"

Romans 3:10-12

Did you catch that, folks? We have all together become worthless. Psalm 14:3, one of the passages that Paul is echoing here in Romans 3, reads, "together they have become corrupt." This is all of us. This is our normal state of affairs. Not godliness, not righteousness...but sin.

"And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind, to do what ought not to be done...Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."

Romans 1:28, 32

Misery loves company. Sin loves it even more. If we're following the crowd, doing things simply because other's are doing them or because the world around us approves, we are probably sinning.

Leo the Lop taught us that "normal is whatever you are". A more accurate statement would be that man has infinite tolerance for virtually every form of deviancy (take a look at that list in verses 29-31), while having almost no patience for God's perfect standard of holiness.

Now, I'm not advocating strange for the sake of strange, but normal for the sake of normal is equally foolish. When we place a higher value on being normal than we do on being obedient to God, we do so at our own peril.

When it comes to the education and discipleship of our children, we do so at the risk of their very souls.

Just something to think about, next time you're asked why you can't "just be normal".

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