While I am leery to tell you what happened, I am going to, and hopefully, I can provide some humor!  Abby said, “Oh my goodness, Mom!!!!  You wouldn’t believe the sour cream that I found in here!” I said, “Oh, I am sure I would.” She continued by telling me how that sour cream was at least four different shades of green.  Being a homeschooling mom, I immediately referred to this day as Science and we logged our time in our book while we discussed mold! Every moment is teachable, moms!!!  Well, Abby continued to pull out one Tupperware bowl after another, after another, after another! I quickly reverted to sarcasm and said, “I think maybe I need to have a Tupperware party, as I definitely don’t have enough bowls here!” As Abby told me how she almost threw up looking at that sour cream, I with tears in my eyes, reaching for the Vick’s Vapor Rub to put under my nose to keep  from smelling the death that was wafting from the garbage disposal, just smiled and nodded!  It is so funny now, but it has me thinking!

How much junk and rotten things do we have in our lives? I mean, we are faced with junk every single day. It could be from a gossipy neighbor, girlfriend or co-worker, or possibly in the tv shows that we allow into our homes as entertainment, what about the books that we read or allow our children to read, the friends we keep, the activities in which we are involved.  All of these things should be reviewed daily, weekly, even monthly! It has been about two years now that my husband and I cleaned our DVR of shows that we just simply couldn’t justify any longer!  I will not name those shows because this isn’t a conviction post, it is just an encouragement to really just sit and re-evaluate what you’re allowing into your life (fridge), because whether we think so or not, it will always rot!

Don’t get me wrong, there are some things worth saving! I love eating left over soup, but if I don’t get to it after a week, it starts to go bad, much in the same way as a relationship problem.  Sometimes, it is best to pray about a situation before discussing it with someone, it’s kind of like putting it away in a spiritual Tupperware bowl, but if you don’t address it, Satan will allow the mold and rot to set in and eventually it will spoil the friendship! Tend to it immediately, friends! It’s important to preserve relationships, as well as purge the ones that are rotting your lives!

We all live life feeling like, whether or not we need it, that it would be nice to have someone tell us that we are doing a good job. We have things in our life in which we are passionate. My passion is raising my children to be fully devoted followers of Christ, to be kind, compassionate and loving, and to be a God honoring wife. I don’t think this is out of the realm of possibility with me and I strive for this daily. Sure, I don’t need to be told that I am doing a good job to do a good job, but it sure is nice to hear it. I remember being a young, stressed out, sweatpants wearing, puke and snot stained mommy of two and feeling completely under-appreciated. God gently rebuked me of this tonight. His words to me were, “Have you been telling the young moms around you how well they are doing?” The answer is, “no.” So, I hope this blog post will be able to reach all my young mommy friends out there, and even those I don’t know.

My dearest mommy friends that are just in the trenches of bringing up your children in the love of our Lord, take heart! These are very tiring times for sure! You may look in the mirror and think, “I am so tired of only wearing ponytails, or will this baby weight ever come off,” but take heart! You may be tired of waking up every. single. night.  to nurse, change and burp your baby, but take heart. You may be so tired of repeating the word, “No” a hundred times a day, but take heart. I look at your babies in admiration, as they are all beautiful children with huge smiles on their face! A smile on a baby’s face says a whole lot! It means that you love them, take care of them, and nurture them. If you are doing those things, you are doing an awesome job!

I am telling you to take heart because as I was watching my children today accomplish tasks that involved my teaching through the very tough years, my heart was overjoyed. God allowed me to see something today that I haven’t seen in a while. He allowed me to see that all my repetitious no’s, and conversations have truly paid off. He allowed me to see that all those talks we’ve had about manners and respect have paid off. I also got to see that God is working on their hearts now. Why is that? Well, it is because I relied on God to get me through the toughest mommy moments and now I am seeing the blessings.

Take heart!!! It will happen, but until it does, just know I admire you and love you for accepting the highest calling a woman could ever have! You are the first one to teach your children to love, care, respect and succeed! From what I see in you, my dear friends, you are doing a great job!

My mind is spinning with thoughts today.  I remember seeing a trailer of the Invisible Children almost a year ago at a youth gathering.  When I saw the three minute trailer, my heart was stirred at that point, but it wasn’t because I was ready to jump on the bandwagon right at that moment. It was actually very disturbing to me.  I don’t know why, but political rallies on Capitol Hill always make me nervous. I understand that people have passion about certain things, but to me, it’s difficult to see.  I am reminded of flag burnings, and the other insane things that people do in protest.

I share this with caution because I have friends that are passionate about this movement, Kony 2012. After seeing the Kony 2012 video circulate all over facebook, I finally gave in and watched it one day while my children were reading during school.  I have to be honest and tell you that every fiber of my being told me that this is definitely something that we should not mess with.  I will admit, my heart is torn because I have a deep love for children. I want to see them have the best life possible, and to succeed in everything they do.  It is my dream that each child should be afforded a full and happy life, but we can’t always control the outcome of their lives.

I feel like God has given me a spirit of discernment and so, the research began.  I stumbled upon some facts that confirmed my feelings and contacted a good friend to see if she had watched it to find out her opinion.  She had not watched it yet, but later that night she had a chance and her feelings confirmed exactly my thoughts.  Friends, I ask that before you go all in, please think about this.  Read between lines, and listen to the verbiage.  Everything that is being said is focused on a “Global Community” or “One World Government,” we as Christians know where this will take us.  I know that it is inevitable that we end up there, but as Christians, are we really going to embrace this movement? Are we really going to jump into every good, pull on your heartstrings, movement?  People, there is a thing called discernment.  I am praying that the generations that are fully impacted by this get an over abundance of discernment.  The red flags are everywhere.

I want to share with you the thoughts of a very good friend of mine.  She eloquently shared them on Facebook earlier this afternoon, and she has spoken the very words I have been trying to put together.

It’s official: I’m old enough that I’m not easily herded with the rest of the hip flock. You see, my generation and those since have grown up in a world where we jump on band wagons quickly and rather mindlessly. Examples: *livestrong*, *Susan G. Komen*, and *WWJD* wrist bands were ways to show support for something good, right? Or perhaps, the wristbands really said more about ourselves: that we allowed brilliant marketers to use us as their billboards and make some money off of us. They were packaged with wholesome marketing and for the most part, our financial and social support went to worthy and decent causes. So we all wore our cheap plastic wrist bands with blissful smugness, feeling that we were part of the hip flock AND were doing something good. Thus we were mindlessly herded.

Which brings me to *Kony 2012* and the video, *Invisible Children* which has gone viral on FB and other social media sites. I watched it and found myself on an emotional roller coaster: ADMIRING a selfless dad who wanted to impact the world and save Uganda’s children and then INSULTED, realizing that the afore-mentioned dad was actually attempting to manipulate millions of “happy, hip sheep” by explaining his view of a complex political situation in a manner that his five year old would understand. Well, if I continue to move with the happy, hip flock of 5 year old intellectuals, then I’m quite happy to have someone tell me that I should support the simplistically explained political tragedy, I pay a small amount, and run with the “happy, hip flock” and their newest version of the hip new bracelet.

Trouble is, I actually listened to what was said and then did further research. That’s right, the flock kept moving and I decided to stay put and think for myself …. I can always catch the flock if they’re on the right path.

So, to the flock: did you hear the solitary sentence where it was divulged that Kony is no longer in Uganda? Yup! Uganda is now in the rebuilding phase and has been for quite sometime (do your own research or follow some of the links I posted last night and today.) Here’s another mind blowing tid-bit that he somehow made palatable (easy when your target audience has the decided to accept information dumbed down for a five year-old with a heart of gold): we should start an armed conflict with Kony and his army to bring him to justice. “Yay!!!!” the happy flock all “bahhhhs” together. Wait a minute ….. isn’t Kony’s army made up of the Invisible Children of Uganda? Shouldn’t the flock be bahhhing, “Booo!!!!! Bad idea!!!!! Don’t kill the abducted Invisible Children of Uganda!!!”

So, I encourage the happy flock to stand still for a moment, do some research, and think it through. It might take more than 30 minutes and you might not get to wear the newest hip bracelet, but that naked wrist of yours will be advertising your ability to think for yourself.

BTW: I think Kony and his supporters should be brought to justice, and I trust that Africans are both wise and capable enough to do that on their own.

Now, to deal with my impending midlife crisis: I’m not in the young, happy, hip flock anymore …….. *sniff*

I understand that many of you may support this, and that you may have done your research and have formed your opinion. This is no attack on you, it is just the flip side and should be taken into serious consideration.

Both writing assignments are good, but as you will see, very different. I know that I never have to ask Abby for more detail, but Ethan and I tend to go round and round on what is missing. I am not saying one is better than the other, they are just different. Below is an example of their writing styles.

Abby
4th grade

The Norwegian Adventure
A Tale of a Child’s Bravery During World War II

Hello, my name is Ingrid, and I welcome you to our beloved country, Norway. I am happy to tell you that you have come to visit at the right time. World War II has just ended, and we were being invaded by the German soldiers. This was very frightening, but my story is quite funny. It’s a great story, would you like to hear it? You would? Ok! So, the story starts with the Norwegian soldiers trying to hide the national treasury of our gold bullion. The Norwegian soldiers saw children on sleds and stopped them to ask if they could help. Of course the children said, “yes.” I was one of those children. I was so scared, but we thought of a plan! We didn’t realize how heavy the gold bullion was, they must have been at least 50 pounds each. Some of us couldn’t even lift the bullion. We each grabbed as many as we could and began hiding them in our coat pockets and on our sleds that were all covered in snow. We started sledding down hills and began building snowmen. Little did the German soldiers know, that we were hiding the gold bullion in the snowmen we were building. We would sled by the soldiers or they would walk by us and they didn’t even have a clue! It was so much fun.

I wish you the best, and if you’re ever here again, stop by. Maybe I will have more stories for you. Now you know a little piece of history from my beloved country, Norway.

Ethan
6th Grade

Letters From a Norwegian Child
In the Times of World War II

Dear Joseph,

Today, my friends and I were sledding in the snow when we heard that the German army was coming to attack. We were very nervous, but knew that the Norwegian soldiers would protect us. We overheard our army talking about the national treasury’s gold bullion and they were scared that the German soldiers were going to steal it. My friends and I told the soldiers that we could hide the gold in all the snowmen that we built that day. They were happy to let us help. I sledded right past a Nazi with about four gold bricks in my coat and eight on my sled. We thought the Nazi’s were so dumb because they never saw that we had been loaded up with gold. We couldn’t believe we outsmarted them! We fit about 12 gold bricks in the base of the each snowman.

This was a very fun and exciting day, now we just have to pray that the Nazi’s DON’T FIND THE GOLD!!!

Sincerely,
Gunnar

As you can see, they both have a different writing style, but their writer’s voice is fun to read!

This was a fun assignment to have the children do, but it was more fun learning something about history.  This is one of the most rewarding things of homeschooling my children.  I get to learn with them!

My mind is filled with so many questions that leave me fully relying on a very blind faith. I have always hated the saying, “It’s not fair,” but to me there seems like there’s nothing to say, but that! In my quiet time with God a couple of weeks ago, I had a full out temper tantrum. I cried out to God, saying “God! How is this your plan? How is this even fair! How could you do this?” All the “how” questions you can think of, I asked. I told God that I just don’t understand why life has to be so hard, and the Holy Spirit fell on my spirit and calmed me and whispered ever so gently in my ear, “Kim, you are supposed to long for me, for heaven, for peace, for happiness and nothing of this Earth will ever fill your desires.” I was overcome with such peace. See, the thing I learned is, God is so much happier when we hate being here! We don’t reside on this Earth to fulfill any other purpose than to build God’s Kingdom, and I have been very challenged by this assigment.

Sure, we can enroll our children in the best schools, push them to be the best athletes or to the top of the class, but for what? If we aren’t teaching our children to build the Kingdom, are we even teaching them at all? People, we have a calling! It isn’t to live vicariously through our children, but rather raise bold young men who will be warriors for their family. Who will not fight with them, but rather for them! We are to raise young women who care for her family the way God instructs, to uplift her spouse and be his helpmate. Some young women today, don’t even know how to make toast. What is wrong with our world? We have simplified things so much, that it has dumbed down our society. We have people complaining about things not being fair for their children, thus building the mentality of entitlement. What happened to working hard to accomplish something?

I know I am on a soapbox. I know I am on a tangent, but we need to wake up! Our days are short! People are out in the world dying without a relationship with Christ and how many of us are just sitting by and watching it happen? Where is the passion that God so badly wants us all to have? I remember hearing a message by Tony Campolo, and he said something like this to a congregation of believers, “People are dying and going to hell and you don’t even give a damn! As a matter of fact, you are sitting there more concerned that I said ‘damn’, than the fact that people are dying and going to hell.” What is wrong with us?

Sure we want our children to be intelligent, and want to watch them succeed. We want them to have the best and why wouldn’t we? We are created in His image and he wants the same for us. Our problem is when we fail to let God receive all the glory for our accomplishments. I am not trying to bash us all over the head with a Jesus stick, but I just feel so burdened that we have dropped the ball! Instead of being weird, we have become just like the world. We are not called to blend in with the world, but rather to stand out and be a shining light.

There are simple solutions to these problems! We should always be seeking opportunities to shine God’s light and to start good relationships with non-believers, or those who’ve been away from God and the church for too long. It is our HIGHEST calling!

Listen, I am not trying to scare or even make predictions, but let me just put this out there. Since my dad’s been gone (5 months), our family either knows or knows of people who have lost their loved ones and it’s been in the double digits. Granted people die everyday, and our sensitivities are very heightened because we’ve lost a loved one, but I believe the people that God has called to be with him are about to serve a greater purpose. God is building his army for a great war, where he will swoop in and finally save us from this sinfilled world! Aren’t you longing for the day? I know I am! I wish I could join hands with everyone I love so deeply and just walk right into heaven, but I can’t. So, until then, I will do my very best to live in this world, but be not of it!

Dr. Karen Gushta

My husband and I recently attended the Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio.  It was a weekend jam-packed with wonderful and inspiring speakers.  I still can’t stop thinking about the session I had the privilege of attending.  It was titled “Homeschool Apologetics 101“, and Karen Gushta was the speaker.  She gave ten reasons to home school your children.  Now, I know that this is not a popular topic, but I cannot always write about what is popular.  Gushta was full of insight and a wealth of knowledge. I wish I could have spent more time with her.

My husband and I decided to take the home school plunge in 2010. It’s a decision which many feel is a weak and cowardly way of handling the “real” world, but to us has been one of the boldest decisions we’ve made as a couple. We knew there were things about the public school system that were broken.  I didn’t realize how broken it truly was until I heard Gushta speak.  She shared with us that the government controlled schools really aren’t teaching “our” values.  I used the quotes because, you may have a different value system. What I have to say may offend you, but I will not apologize for my beliefs.

Karen told us that parents are believing a myth that their children’s school is fine. In 2009, 77% of parents gave their school a grade of an A or B.  Why?  She shared that many parents really have no idea what is truly going on in the school.  There is another curriculum being taught in the schools and she called it, “The Hidden Curriculum”.  Hidden?  What could this possibly mean?  Here are three topics that if they haven’t already invaded your child’s school, they will before you know it.

1. Sex Education – Do you know that most sex ed classes are sponsored by Planned Parenthood and based on findings of Alfred Kinsey.  Here’s a link to learn more about who is Alfred Kinsey. I’m not sure about you, but I know I don’t want this agenda pushed on my child when the time comes.
2. Homosexual “apologetics” – Are you aware that many high schools around us currently have clubs that teach tolerance for homosexuality?  It is a fact that a high school just ten minutes away from our home encourages the kids to wear purple on Wednesday to show their support for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community.
3. LGBT curricula (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) – If this doesn’t get your attention, I don’t know what will. Kevin Jennings the Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education is actively pushing this agenda in our public schools.

Of course this post reflects my opinions. It is up to us to do the research and to decide what is best for our family. I may try too hard to push my opinion off on others, but I also feel strongly that the Bible instructs us to be the educators of our children.  This is how I have felt God leading me, so it is very difficult for me to sit back and watch families think all is well here in the Bible-belt of America. Do some research, ask questions of your kids about what they’re learning in school. What are they hearing from friends? What are they being “fed” at the lunch table? You may be very surprised by the realities of your children hearing and learning things that you thought they wouldn’t learn for a very long time.  I don’t want my children to be naive, but I also don’t want them to grow up too fast.  I don’t want their innocence raped and I certainly don’t want their morals and values molded by the public school system.

If you’d like to hear another story of why a family decided to home school their children, I encourage you to read these two posts by my friend Heidi: Why We Home School – Part 1 and Why We Home School – Part 2

Forget just the parties though.  Tonight while at the mall with my daughter, I saw a young girl who looked to be maybe 17 years old.  She had on a low cut shirt, with a much older looking boyfriend hanging all over her.  Her shirt was so low that it was completely obvious that she had had cosmetic surgery on her breasts.  I mean, they seriously looked fake.  My first thought was, why would a parent think that was okay?  An article from Focus on the Family highlights this very thing.  Many parents don’t realize what they are doing to their daughters by allowing boob or nose jobs, immodest clothing or even recreational dating.

Recently I have felt the urgency to educate myself more on this topic, as I have a daughter who is quickly approaching the stages where many other parents check out.  I don’t want to be one of those parents.  My daughter is too important.  I want to raise her to be a pure and holy daughter for the King.  This is a very huge burden and undertaking for me, especially with the world in which we live.  I have begun reading articles and having the much needed conversations with my daughter.  I take great pride in knowing I do not have to do this alone.  I have many family members, friends and resources around to help keep me encouraged and provide me with many great ideas.  Our church, Stones Crossing Church has an annual Royal Sleepover where girls first through fourth grade learn the importance of living a pure and holy life for the King. What a blessing to belong to a church who is willing to partner with me in this responsibility.

I am willing to do what it takes and to be the outcast to dispel this misconception.  It is not okay for girls to grow up too quickly.  It’s time for all of us to put on the brakes.

So, I have decided I am going to try (try being the operative word) to be more committed to write more regularly on this blog.

Just as a reminder, the titles of my blogs are THE misconception and usually not HOW I actually feel.

Let the blogging begin.

My son is quite the baseball player and bowler.  The competition rises everytime our family takes part in a game or two.  We also sit in front of the tv and sing with the High School Musical game!  We have enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to everyone!

The Nintento Wii is tons of fun for the entire Familii, try it and you will Sii!

It is days like today that makes me proud to be a strong, feeling and caring woman.  A woman who loves her family and tries to serve them to the best of my abilities, which at times I feel like aren’t many. I had to touch base with my girl who just got back from a funeral out of state and then had the priviledge to seek council from a great friend in the morning, and right after that, my phone rang where I could pass it on to another girl friend.  I then was able to apologize for causing hurt feelings, by just being careless.  I met my friend and her little babies for lunch today and then was able to practice with the girls from worship team tonight….A busy day, but submersed in a circle of girls that are my girls!

I am quickly reminded that without my girls I would be lost–Granted, Jesus is the ultimate friend, but he is so relational that I know these friendships please him, so without His presence in their lives pouring out into mine, I would infact be lost.

Tonight on the way to practice, I stopped at Starbucks to grab a cup of coffee and I just enjoy reading The Way I See It the quote was from Madeleine Albright, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”  Now, while I don’t believe that and I’m sure she probably doesn’t either, but she is making a point that we are, as women, suppose to stick together and help each other out.

This is a long post, but it has to be said.  Friendships are golden and not to be handed out like candy.  They are special and should be cherished.  I am very excited about this weekend, as my best friends from grade school all through high school and I are going to get together.  We’ve known each other for 29 years!  I can’t believe it’s been that long, but it has and these are friendships that I NEVER want to lose.  I am very much in love with my friendships and will always thank God for them…If you have a close friend, please let her know how much she means to you!  If you don’t have a close friend, please for whatever reason you don’t, find one and cultivate a friendship!  You will be so glad you did!