My boys and I are slowly working our way through The Land of Pair Play by Christian Liberty Press.  We are learning so much,  and although some of the material covered is new and somewhat difficult for us, we are truly enjoying  learning more about American Civics and our governmental structure.  I hope you will benefit from reading our Lesson from this week:  “What The Nation Does For Us”

We must understand that our strong national governments most important job is to protect all of our rights of liberty and freedom. Under a weak and unstable government no man’s life or property is secure.

We have studied the beginning years in our country and read about how troubled it was just after the Revolution. Our thirteen colonies were only held together under the Articles of Confederation. Our founders realized that we needed to have a Constitution in order to have a strong union and protect the people’s liberties. Our Preamble to the Constitution states clearly:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.  Read more...

The coming apostasy (falling away) of the church is for some of us the most dreaded prophecy the Bible predicts. It may look like the world would be better off with John Lennon’s world with no religions but in fact that will be the world’s worst nightmare.   America is sliding fast toward becoming the next great post Christian nation behind Europe. This is what all Godless societies throughout time immemorial have thought would be their final advance. Secularism has always labored under the notion that civil government and secular society is all they need to get it right. Perhaps as it pertains to kooky religions, cults, heresies and pseudo Christian religions that may be true. The absence of real Christianity as given to us by Christ himself will produce a vacuum that no one can bear.

As a young man and a new believer I was told that true Christianity as not a religion at all but a great love affair. The people of God love God and his son Jesus Christ. Oddly it is because they find out how much he loves them and are awestruck by his compelling gift of forgiveness and eternal life.

In the Muslim religion God is painted as a murderous entity that requires that we kill and destroy anything or anyone who will not submit to its tenants. It is a picture that is diametrically opposite the picture of Christ dying on the cross not for anything he had done but for the sins in thought, word and deed done by all mankind. This is what draws enlightened men and women who have exercised reason good judgment and faith after investigating and prying into the matter with full cognizance. In other words Christianity requires some real thought not just the consent of dumbbells.  Read more...

“Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ?
Shall trouble or hardship
or persecution or famine
or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written:
‘For your sake we face death
all day long; we are considered
sheep to be slaughtered.’
No, in all these things
we are more than conquerors
through Him who loved us.
For I am convinced that
neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers, neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us
from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It is clear that a major shift has occurred in the American way of life in the last two years. For over 230 years we were involved in the question of how we could best make our mark in the world. Much more than mere foreign policy we had to “let our light” shine because the entire world was watching.

Few Americans in today’s political and moral climate have any doubt that our light has seriously dimmed. At no time in our history more than now does it appear that we have brought on an administration that seems to think that it has been given a mandate to make its mark on America. More than a “change” we can believe in, this has become a change we can hardly endure.

We have taken to reeling instead of standing as an example to the rest of the world. This administration is spending like a drunk out on the town all the while blaming the former administration for the deficits it is incurring. Liberal’s dimmest minds have conspired to advance their long awaited agenda on a citizenry that was always suspicious of it and of late has begun to cringe at its application.

Missouri has emphatically declared that being forced to buy insurance coverage from the fed under Obamacare is an idea whose time must not be allowed to come. Arizona remains defiant under the brave leadership of Jan Brewer even as that state is nearly under siege from a foreign power. Seven million people in California have been upstaged by one homosexual judge who thinks their carefully placed votes have no voice at all in the will of the people.  Read more...

I felt discouraged this week because the voters in California were dismissed and ignored again.

I remember voting on upholding the definition of marriage to be between a man and a woman twice in California.

It shouldn’t  surprise me though, our leaders are corrupt and our citizens are mostly  apathetic and uninformed…..unless they are a part of the  militant minority who are bound and determined to win whether they have the support of the majority or not.  Even if they have to ignore what the voters decided, they will pursue their agenda and continue to  undermine public opinion.

I feel like they will eventually win,  and marriage will never be the same.  Perhaps “groups”  will be able to marry;  polygamists as well.  Perhaps folks could one day marry their sister,  or child or their cat.  What?  Cats should have all of the rights that humans have shouldn’t they? I’m sure that Cass Sunstein, Obama’s Science Czar would agree with that.  After all he believes that animals should be able to sue their owners.  Oh, and trees should be allowed to sue their owners as well.  Perhaps one day we will be able to marry our favorite tree?  Read more...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) is known for his opposition to antisemitism, and his writings on theology and ethics. He was a German Lutheran Pastor and  who stood up for truth and worked to stop Nazism.  Sadly, he was  hanged by the Nazis on April 6, 1945 in the Flossenburg concentration camp.  I hope you will appreciate some of his most famous quotes and use them to empower and encourage you during these insecure days in our America.

“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.”

“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”

“Music… will help dissolve your perplexities and purify your character and sensibilities, and in time of care and sorrow, will keep a fountain of joy alive in you”

“In a word, live together in the forgiveness of your sins, for without it no human fellowship, least of all a marriage, can survive. Don’t insist on your rights, don’t blame each other, don’t judge or condemn each other, don’t find fault with each other, but accept each other as you are, and forgive each other every day from the bottom of your hearts…”  Read more...

At times I struggle to remind myself of why we chose to homeschool in the first place. What Biblical principles led us here? I want to catch that vision again.

Oh yes… I remember… I look back to our little “Mission Statement” that we wrote up so many years ago. I am so glad I took the time to write down our thoughts, as they now encourage me and help direct our steps, influence our choices, bring clarity to our vision for our family and our children.

Here is a portion of it: “… We consider homeschooling a means to an end… the end being a family that loves and serves the Lord, and a Country that can continue to be free to do these things. We are practicing Biblical homeschooling rather than Government homeschooling, because we believe that the government schools do not share our vision for our family or our country. We are deliberate about choosing to disciple and train up our children without any interference or ”help” from the public schools. We believe that God commands us to train up our children and disciple them in the ways of the Lord and to protect and shelter them, understanding that we are the ”gate-keepers” for our family…. “  Read more...

Margaret E. Sangster was born Margaret Munson on February 22, 1838, in New Rochelle, New York. She gave up an early career in writing when she married George Sangster in 1858. When he died in 1871, she began writing again. She became an associate editor of Hearth and Home. In 1875, she edited “Christian at Work” and then the “Christian Intelligencer,”. She was a prolific writer of fiction and verse, famous for such poems as “Are the Children at Home?” A member of the Dutch Reformed Church, she died blind on June 4, 1912, in South Orange, New Jersey.

It isn’t the thing you do, dear,
Its the thing you leave undone
That gives you a bit of a heartache
At setting of the sun.
The tender work forgotten,
The letter you did not write,
The flowers you did not send, dear,
Are your haunting ghosts at night.

The stone you might have lifted
Out of a brother’s way;
The bit of heartsome counsel
You were hurried too much to say;
The loving touch of the hand, dear,
The gentle, winning tone
Which you had no time nor thought for
With troubles enough of your own.

Those little acts of kindness
So easily out of mind,
Those chances to be angels
Which we poor mortals find
They come in night and silence,
Each sad, reproachful wraith,
When hope is faint and flagging,
And a chill has fallen on faith.  Read more...

Even though I’m still enjoying  summer with my boys, I know the weeks are flying by and I must begin thinking about our fall schedule.  I’m resisting though,  because I want to   have  experienced an old fashioned summer break before I do my planning.  We have not taken a vacation like so many families do because of lack of funds, and  we’ve only gone to the beach once.  We have had quite a few swim days though, and have been enjoying having friends over for lunch and summer fun.

Each year  I write up a “schedule”,  and post it on our bulletin board. Perhaps  I should call it a routine,  to be more accurate, but we  refer to it during the day in order to stay on task. Eventually, we settle into a groove and this  plan becomes the new “normal”  for our days,  and we do not need to refer to it as much.

This summer as I contemplate the next school year,  I can tell I’m changing a bit.  I’m not sure if it is because I am getting older,  or because my boys are growing so fast, but I’m re-thinking my homeschooling goals.

I’m really enjoying this season of our lives,  and my boys are such a delight for my husband and I.  I know that times could get harder,  and I won’t be smug,  because the teen years often bring new challenges for parents,   but 10 and 12 have sure been  a pleasure for us.  My boys are changing, becoming more self-governed and independent,  but are still so sweet and kind…funny and pleasant to be with.  We feel so blessed. I don’t want these days to end.  Read more...

Years ago our family enjoyed the “Considering God’s Creation” curriculum by Eagel’s wings.  One thing we really liked was that there were songs to reinforce some of the concepts we learned.  There were songs about the planets, the weather, the water cycle, reptiles and even mold. There was one song though that I wish I could sing to you.  It was basically the prayer of a mother’s heart.

The melody is simple, and the lyrics are very basic,  but it has become a theme song for me to remember while on my homeschooling journey.

A Man of God

I don’t care if you play football or play in the band,

I don’t care if you’re a doctor or a garbage man,

it doesn’t matter if you’re good in school or great at art,

there is just one thing I care with all my heart.

That you grow up to be a man of God,

That you use his word as a measuring rod,

that you love your neighbor as yourself,

that you do not trust in this world’s wealth,

that you grow up to be a man of God.

I don’t care if you’re a loner or have lots of friends,

I don’t care if your clothes are new or they have lots of mends,

it doesn’t matter if your tall and thin or short and round,

there’s just one important thing that I have found.  Read more...

I received this in my email today…I don’t know if it is true that a 15 year old boy from Arizona wrote it. But…I thought it did have quite a bit of truth in it.  Yes, it is the sad truth.

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That’s no offense; it’s a freedom scene..
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all..
In silence alone we must meditate,
God’s name is prohibited by the state.

We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks…
They’ve outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the ‘unwed daddy,’ our Senior King.
It’s ‘inappropriate’ to teach right from wrong,
We’re taught that such ‘judgments’ do not belong..

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles..
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.  Read more...