If it be so......

Term 1 is over!!

 Once again it seems that time has flown.  If you follow along here you will remember that I was struggling early in the term.  I felt as though fatigue had set in almost as soon as we resumed school.  My ambitious schedule gradually went by the way side.  We started our days later and worked longer into the afternoons.  But here we are at the end of term, our work returns have been sent and we have covered most of the goals for the term.  I am thankful to the Lord that what at first seemed like a very sloppy day moved into a good rhythm in the last few weeks.  We found that we can start formal work a little later, enabling a level of organisation in the house first, and work later into the day quite successfully.  Both of my students are progressing in their reading skills and we are working, as always, on character.  Diligence, patience, kindness.

The Christian Living unit we are studying this term has been on Daniel, "Loyalty Under Pressure" and has challenged us all in our steadfastness and preparedness to stand out from the crowd for the Lord's sake.  When looking at Daniel Chapter 3 I particularly loved these verses :

 ¹⁶Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
 ¹⁷If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
 ¹⁸But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden  which thou hast set up.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego trusted God and effectively said, Thy will be done.  They knew that God could deliver them from the fiery furnace but they acknowledged that for their good, and his own glory, he may not.  Of course, we read then of their marvelous deliverance!  Often we forget that God is working all things together for the good of his people.  Sometimes this means we must suffer illness or persecution or disappointment and we have to accept his will in a given circumstance, believing that He does all things well.

These studies have been a good opportunity to discuss loyalty, the steadfastness and reliability of God and ways to avoid and cope with temptation.  It has also been a good starting point for prayer for specific areas which we have encountered and for courage to follow through with our convictions.

When I look at the society around me, I see that we have so many idols and temptations to draw us away.  Can I be a Daniel in this corrupt world?  Could I like Daniel kneel before my window and pray openly knowing that the authorities are watching my every move.  Courage!
Not forgetting that many brothers and sisters in the Lord are daily staying "Loyal under Pressure"  by the grace of God.

Psalm 137

 ¹By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
 ²We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
 ³For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
 ⁴How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?
 ⁵If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
 ⁶If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
 ⁷Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
 ⁸O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
 ⁹Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

(A beautiful psalm.  I always find the last verse a difficult one :0)  And of course you remember Bony M?

For the Children's Sake

I admit to a major weakness.  My Achilles Heal.  That area in which I am overly soft and smitten and which has proved to be a heart breaker for me over and over.  My obsession, passion, for my children has oft times stood in the way of my objectivity and at times made me a less than effective mother.  I hope that it has also resulted in a strong bond and affection between mother and children, and forgiveness on their part for occasions when I should not have spared the rod.  Fortunately, I don't think I irrevocably spoiled any child.  Can we love them too much?  Yes, if we make an idol of them and put them before our great first love, Christ.

Now, I have a new generation of children to bestow love upon!  Being a grandparent is a wonderful privilege in life.  An opportunity to influence another generation for Lord.  With these children I do  not need to mete out discipline, though I try to remain firm when I care for them.  The Lord has graciously given me the  last fifteen months with four of my six grandchildren living right here with us.  What a challenge and a blessing it has been!

This week my daughter has finalised the mediation concerning her four children and the agreed upon visits with their father.  How difficult this is for her I can only imagine but I know that my own nerves and doubts and fears have battled within me.  I have a new appreciation for families that are seeking to share custody and raise children in divided households.

As my daughter pointed out to me, her responsibility is to do what is best.....for the children.
As always, I will pray for these special little people.  When they are with us I will hold them close and show my love in every possibl way.  I just need to trust that God will protect them and that their father also wants what is best for them.

¹⁵And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
 ¹⁶But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
 ¹⁷Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

Wanted:

Wanted: Women who love the Lord, their husbands and their children. (Titus 2:4)
Must be prepared to work long hours without pay and  sometimes without appreciation.  Must be able to survive on very little sleep, work with a limited budget, forgo adult conversation for long periods of time and leap tall buildings if required!. Experience in nursing, teaching, hospitality, accounting, first aide, taxi driving, refereeing, cooking, industrial cleaning, laundering, counselling, coaching, food and nutrition, cheer leading, animal husbandry or any other skills useful to manage and control a busy household would be an advantage.  However, women without previous training/ experience may apply if they are willing to develop skills in the above mentioned areas.  Guaranteed to produce long term job satisfaction and the undying love and gratitude of her husband and children.


All jokes aside, who can find that virtuous woman?

After asking my readers about their choices in subjects during high school, whether you went to Uni and the usefulness of these courses in your subsequent lives, I asked also about the academic qualifications, if any.  necessary to teach your children at home. I was not surprised that most of my commenters did not think that even a Year 12 pass was required.

We leave school with a little knowledge and not a lot of wisdom.....

Our academic subjects whether learned at home or at school will in the long run often contribute very little to our lives.  Some will study specific subjects to reach a particular goal eg.  many of my school friends took Biology and Chemistry primarily to enter nursing.  Many will try various courses and have various jobs through out life.  The toughest job for us women is motherhood.

As home schooling mothers we are sometimes told, "Oh, you must be sooooo patient!"  No, but we are having on the job training for that !  It is neither academic prowess nor a sweet nature (though that may be very beneficial) but commitment to doing this job which is unrelenting.  As Christians we do not rely on our own strength so it is our God who strengthens us.  It is he who convicts us that this is the right direction for our families.  Whether your husband is saved or not I have noted that it is very important that this is something he wants for your family.  There can be only conflict and division if a mother forces it upon them.

God  requires that we train up our children in the way that they should go.  (Proverbs 22:6)  and he will certainly enable us and strengthen us when the going gets tough.  We are to  teach them as we stand up and as we lie down.  Whether our children attend a public school, private or home school we are to read and teach God's Word but most importantly  show by example what it means to live as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Do we ask forgiveness and humble ourselves before God and our family?  Do we meet and fellowship with the people of God?  Do we extend hospitality to brethren and the needy?  These are just some of the character lessons that children observe from a young age.

The Word of God is our sure foundation.  Learning to read, write and cipher are the basic skills we are to teach to our children.  They are the corner stones. I do not believe it is necessary, nor in fact possible, for us to impart every skerrick of knowledge to our children, but we give them the tools and resources and set them on a voyage of discovery. 

For me the goal is to raise God fearing children who are useful and decent members of society.

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

 but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

P.S.  I am the girl in the second row from front, second on the left!
in the class photo posted on Tuesday.

Readin', Writin' an' 'Rithmatic

Wind back the clock, if you will, to your high school years.  Okay, some of us have to wind a long way and wrack our middle aged minds to get there, but for a moment transport yourself to those long ago, golden days.  I am able to say that because my high school memories are happy ones despite it being five years in an all girls boarding school.

In my last post I mentioned that I had studied Logic!  Premises and conclusions etc. etc. and while this is a source of some hilarity to my better other half I actually believe some of these early "Clear Thinking" methods have served me quite well in later life.  For many years I loved  Logic Puzzles as well but alas, the brain does grow rusty and I find them much more difficult these days.  Sudoku, which I also love,  are solved in much the same way.

Can you remember the subjects you chose in Year Eleven and Twelve?
I'm thinking  English, Maths (Social Maths aka Vegie Maths :-)., Economics, Biology, Home Economics, Logic, RE.  As you can see from the random choices I had no idea what I was going to do when I grew up and just took a stab at general things.  I feel now, over thirty years later that each of these subjects has been useful to me in adult life.

I always imagined I would do teaching and got into the Uni here, but by the end of those five secondary years I was very "over" studying.  I thought I would take a year or two off and maybe  go back to the books at some later time.  Of course, once one has a job, an income and a social life, it is hard to take up that challenge.  So although I mooted it almost every year, encouraged by my various bosses, I never did return to study.

I began my working career in a job I absolutely loved!  I was the Kindergarten Assistant in Biloela for two years.  Not only have I always loved children and been interested in their development and education, but I was blessed to work with a marvelous teacher who informed and encouraged this in me.  I left that job only because of my loneliness for young people of my own age and interests in what was a little bit of a rough country town in those days.

Moving to Rockhampton I almost immediately scored a job in the area of one of my other great loves....books!  I was Library Assistant at the Girls Grammar School for five years.  These were great years.  These were firstly the years of very hectic social life of which I eventually grew weary but also the time in which I learned of my desperate need of a Saviour and by His providence, came to know the Lord.

I have of course been "teaching" for over twenty years!  Again, I think all of the learning I did in high school has in some way benefitted me and my children in our home schooling venture.
Just this week I surprised myself by rattling off  "Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species." when it came up in the boys work.   Such clunking of the old grey matter! But it did get me thinking of the ways in which my school subject choices have  been useful in real life.

You will notice that I did not do History, Ancient or Modern.  While I love History now I am not sorry I didn't study it at school as it is an area that I have loved to learn about in my years of home schooling.  A good general knowledge is so beneficial.  I have always marvelled at my father's fabulous general knowledge being a lad who left school at year seven, didn't have TV till he was in his 50s and has never used a computer.  His one downfall in Trivial Pursuit or TV quiz shows - Arts and Entertainment.  Wouldn't know one movie from another!


So...  What subjects did you choose and were they beneficial for later study, work or home making? Did you go on to University and what did you study?  Were your high school subjects prerequisite for the course you undertook or did you have a complete change of interest?

And on another note, something I have also been pondering with all the home school neglect articles and posts in the past week, What level of education is needed to teach ones children at home?   Do you think this is a factor? Would you disqualify someone who say, left school at Year 10? 12?

Just to finish off another post with a lot of meandering thoughts and get your eyes and brains working.  See if you can pick me out of this Year 9 schoolphotograph.

Remember your creator in the days of your youth.

No Joe Banks Here!

Sir Joseph Banks

As my last post indicated, the youngest child in our family has just entered the teen years.  Youths we like to call them.  Young men on the brink of adulthood.  Such an exciting time of life for them and a new venture for us as parents.  In some ways more difficult than this stage with the girls....but personalities are the main difference rather than the boy/ girl thing I think.

Boys of this age are such a delightful mixture!  Their voices are changing and you, or they, are never quite sure how an answer is going to come out.  I guess this could be embarrassing but hasn't been for my older boy.  It is not an age when young men can appreciate having "the mickey taken out of them" as we say here in Oz.  Some like to give it all out but not so good at receiving.  Suddenly my little boys have the deepening voices, the broadening shoulders, the self conscientious grins and shrugs, a little before unknown shyness.  But one positive, boys at this age know everything!

You mums with older boys (sometimes not very old either) know because when we drive, they are right along there with us, giving directions and correcting and teaching you who has right of way and when you have waited too long at a Stop or Give Way, or perhaps charged across with too little room................ Yep, these guys know about everything.  I think the only thing they don't question me on is cooking.  They know where their next meal is coming from and they will not bite the hand that feeds them!  That's another thing I like about youths.  They show and verbalise their appreciation of every meal.  Music to a mother's ears and heart!

Last week my fourteen year old was not impressed with a unit in Science that we were doing on plants.  He reckoned we had done it all before.  I agreed we'd studied the basics before but that this was a little more in depth and much of it would be new to him.  "Well, why do I need to learn about plants anyway?  When will I ever use it?"  I changed up into teacher mode and explained that all learning is good for general knowledge and perhaps one day he would have a garden of his own to plant and look after and this information would come in handy. *Scowl*   "Who knows you might even want to be a Botanist!"  "Botanist!  Botanist"  We had to laugh at his incredulous expression!
(My husband finds it terribly amusing that I studied Logic for two years in high school :-)  Whatever "usefless bits of information" we collect, they are filed away for later use.

I love my boys.  I loved them as little mischievous tots, as primary school aged Basketball fanatics and now as youths a little too fond of phones, Face Book and PS3.  I love the way they care and play with the little nephews and niece.  The way they come forward to do the heavy lifting for poor old mum.  The way they think they can stay up till all hours and sleep in till all hours.  Okay, I don't love that but I do love the way they think they are in control and responsible.  

If you have small boys in your family give them lots of hugs and cuddles and make special times
and memories.  Big boys like hugs too but are sometimes shy to give them.  In the blink of an eye that little fellow who cuddled on your lap for stories and ran to you with every little scrape and heart ache is a young man, making his own decisions, making his own way in the world.

Psalm 119 

⁹Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?

by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

For non Australian readers, Joseph Banks was the famous Botanist who travelled with Captain Cook on his first great voyage and the discovery of the east  coast of Australia.  Many places and of course flora are named after Banks most notably the Banksia.  The picture on left is one example of this beautiful native flower.

The Big Bad Banksia Men
immortalised by May Gibbs

The Teen Scene

Youngest of the six grandchildren
up where the action is.

The rapid passage of time, which seems to be accelerating, has been in my thoughts and a few posts lately.  Today we celebrated the birth thirteen years ago of our fifth child.  Thirteen years!  How can it be?  My older girls were almost eleven and eight when  A Beacon was born so they have lots of memories to share with us of that day .  My favourite thing to do is to have all the family together, which we had for dinner tonight.  I like to think, "My Kitchen Rules", if only in the hearts  minds and tummies of my own family! Meals like this are hectic.  Not only with three toddlers at the table, but now three babies wanting to sit in high chairs and be part of the fun.

The birthday boy is still keen on basketball as I noted in a previous birthday post.  He is also still fairly short for his age and desperate to have a growth spurt soon.  He is friendly and helpful but has a great weakness for fast food and for Play Station Games :-(  He and a few friends will meet at the pool on Saturday, Lord willing, and he hopes to go roller skating with his cousin on Friday night, so hopefully with basketball and training he is compensating for these addictions not so good habits.

He was spoilt today with brekkie at Maccas.  Lunch and shopping with one of his big sisters and then dinner with the family.  This son has been waiting very impatiently, to be allowed to have Face Book.  He is stoked to be on there but like his older brother, I think the novelty will wear off.

Signing in on Face Book

Are they too young?  It is hard to say.  I don't find Face Book too bad but I find we need to be allowed access to their pages/ profiles etc.  This is a condition of them being allowed to join.  (I also have mine so my husband can read on it for the reason of accountability.)  The occasional unsuitable link has slipped through, usually because my son hasn't read carefully what he was clicking on.  One of the positive for my boys using Face Book and email has been a desire to write and read better.

Numbers 6

²⁴The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

 ²⁵The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

 ²⁶The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Brain Drain #2

Continuing the weekly waffle.

As I sit at the computer, I hear my little grand daughter several rooms away. "Mum! Mum! Mum!"  her strident little voice is calling.  The twins will be nine months old soon.  They have been scooting around the floor for some time and are standing momentarily.  Before we know it they will be walking.  I cannot vouch for the state of the floors here but I trust these little ones are building up lots of immunity!  Their little cousin just over the hill is up and rocking on all fours.  Sigh...they are not babies for long ♥.

Having babies in the house once again is reminding me just how precious and fleeting life is.  My own "baby" will be thirteen next week!  I love that I have been given so much time with my grandchildren.  Yes, they are boisterous.  They're loud and they bellow and roar when things don't go their way.  They do make a lot of mess :-) But they fill our lives with cuddles and cute one liners and we wonder what we will do when they actually do go?

Each night, the two year old pulls my clothes and says, "Come. 'Tars"  We three, the two and three year olds and Mumma, sit on the top steps and point out the moon and stars and sing appropriate nursery rhymes.  Then the little fellows run squealing into the house, "Dinosaurs!" as car lights come down the road.  Like a lot of little boys they love dinosaurs and loud roaring creatures.  Then we all snuggle in for "'Tory Time".  Sweet dreams, little men. ♥

I really think that draining my brain has worked to some degree.  Much of my fogginess has lifted which is a puzzle to me as I was attributing it to medication.  None of which has changed.  But yes, definitely feeling sharper.  I still need a lot of sleep but managing.  I am actually fairly happy with how our school days are panning out though I admit to many doubts and fears.  The boys and I have settled fairly well into the new "routine" which is basically....we have done away with the routine and do whatever can be managed!  I hope this is just another season but it is turning into quite a looong winter.

I even ventured to the Mothers' Night out.  It was so good to socialise with my friends.  Sometimes these nights are for sharing things we are struggling with, which we touched on, but mostly it is good just to relax, enjoy company, compare notes and indulge in some nice food and beverages.

My short daily devotional on prayer has been helpful.  Prayer is a given in the Christian walk and yet we do not always use this wonderful communication with our God. We sometimes take it for granted and presume upon his goodness.  I am humbled as I read through the Biblical examples at just how similar our Godly forbears were to us in their failures and faults.  However, the gracious dealing of the Lord with them and his preserving hand upon them is also a great encouragement.  How amazing to think that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the same God forever.

For this God is our God for ever and ever,
He will be our Guide, even unto death.

Psalm 48: 14

FRAGILE....

Remember this post?

I got the repair bill today from the Insurer of the car I hit.

I needed more than a coffee.

I think  I will take a Panadol and have a good lie down.

Psalm 42

¹¹Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

To blog or not to blog?

This seems to be the question.

This week on several blogs the author has wondered whether to continue to blog.  It seems this happens regularly with women who are juggling a lot of things and wonder whether this little pleasure should take a back seat.  Trisha, is just feeling perhaps now is not the time to be blogging, Jeanne at A Peaceful Day, feeling that her followers had dwindled and the effort was not worth it.



In my three plus years of blogging I have  tossed this very question over....often!  In the early days it was the fear of becoming all consumed by blogging, reading other blogs, commenting, gaining followers.  Then when I got that under control, it would be the business of life, the realities of coping with a family, home schooling  etc.  Just when life was hectic and full of exciting potential posts I would find I had not a moment to write them down!  Sometimes I even wonder whether my cyberspace friends in actual fact get more of my time and energy than my real life friends!?

My health and family situations have helped me to get a better focus and balance , I think.  I have built up some good and special relationships over the net and I really want to keep them.  But I no longer blog to get comments but for my own pleasure and record and I suppose, speaking to those friends out there who are interested.  I still love comments.  I would love to have an intelligent, radical blog which stimulated lots of feedback and discussion.....but Mumma's Place is and always was, just a homely little eclectic blog where friends are welcome and every once in a while something earth shaking is written!

I had not been monitoring traffic on my blog for ages when the new Blogger came in.  Now it is much easier to see the numbers and I have to say that on most posts the number of visits is at least double and often more than the number of comments.  I am always surprised but not upset that people have read but not commented. 

Recently,  Susan and Jeanne were discussing blog interaction and Susan made this comment (in part)

"I like forums bcz there are lots of people there... which means lots of opinions. Whereas on my blog, I'll ask a question and usually receive limited responses because the people who pop in and comment do so because they follow my blog - which means they are usually of a similar mind or approach. But with forums I get all different kinds of opinions, based around home education.

I hate that FB has pretty much killed the life of forums because no matter the pro's of fb, it cannot replace the beauty of forums. Ever. It just isn't set up the same way, to handle in depth discussions, etc. KWIM?"

This rang very true to me.  We tend to frequent the blogs which we find hold similar  views and interests eg.  Christianity, homeschooling, a hobby perhaps.  We very often comment in agreement or encouragement, perhaps sharing tips and advice.  We rarely comment if our opinions differ.  I remember making a negative comment about a book once and feeling howled down.  I was sorry to cause that sort of emotion and regretted voicing that opinion.  A persons blog is not the place for that. Now, I don't comment if I do not agree on personal blogs.

As Susan pointed out above, Forums are a different realm.  The person you wish to disagree/ debate/ or advise does not usually own the site.  It is not a personal attack on someones private space.  It is an open arena to test thoughts and ideas and usually moderated so that every one plays nice.

I have joined a couple of Christian Forums over the years and still read regularly on the Puritan Board.  I have come to a point where I almost entirely comment only in the Ladies Tea Parlor there.  Some of the big boys play rough!  But I do read and learn a great deal from the discussions on PB. This can be time consuming as well so I have to watch my self.  I find I keep going over to see the follow up comments . I have also made some really lovely and special friends there with whom I correspond and pray and even play on line Wordscraper with!  Hi Carol, Heidi, who actually also read my blog and  Nancy, Mindy!

Although I have been a member at the Aussie Homeschool Forum for about three years I have only just started to read and comment there regularly.  This in part because of Susan's arm twisting,  persuasion, encouragement.  I think for me this might be a nice balance for use of Internet time.  I blog maybe, once or twice a week, and keep up with my buddies here.  I can meet new people, and have interaction more specifically in the home schooing area on the Forum.

BTW I had written most of this post earlier in the week, even asking Susan permission to quote her.  I added the first paragraph in tonight after reading these ladies thoughts this week.