Author: Breezy Point Mom
•10:57 PM
October 24, 2010 10:57 p.m.
Someone shared this photo with me today... this church building was just built and completed a year ago.
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| This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. PSALM 118:24. |
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•3:49 PM
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 3:49 p.m.
Continued from the previous post..
When I was six, I first saw the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, The Littlest Angel. I well remember at that age how its portrayal of heaven impressed me and influenced my spiritual life. Years later, when I showed that movie to my own kids, my son’s comment was “If heaven is like that, I’m not interested in going there.” I couldn’t help noting the difference between his experience of the movie and my own as a child.
Some years back, the movie The Passion of the Christ was a big hit in theatres, and the evangelical world was abuzz with excitement about the big screen portraying the suffering and death of our Lord. In doing this, it presented a particularly vivid depiction of the cruel, brutal, gory and horrible method of execution that Christ endured. I chose not to go see this movie, but I know many Christians who did see it. The responses ranged from, “Well, it was the movies, and you know how the movies tend to exaggerate” to “Wow! This movie really made me appreciate what Jesus did for us,” or “I had no idea how bad crucifixion was. This really inspires me, now, to be the best Christian I can be.” You see, the movie was filled with intense imagery that, regardless of how accurate it really was, would definitely make an indelible impression on the mind and heart of the viewer, for better or for worse. Some people even allowed their children to view this R-rated movie because of its biblical subject matter. I can only imagine how a child would have reacted to that movie. I challenge anybody, years after this movie was seen, to say that their brains have been able to shake off the memory of some of those on-screen moments. Now some would think if a movie can inspire us to be more fervent in our following of Jesus Christ, then more power to it. But I wonder how helpful this is to our souls in the long term. For example, just because the movie inspired us to live more fervently for Christ in 2004, when a Christian hits a spiritually dry spell in 2010, what will it take to refresh and inspire him then?
The events and images of our lives and memories often desensitize us to future experiences. If our brains are stamped with images, be they gory crucifixion moments, or Veggie moments, then how will our brains respond in the future to the written or spoken Word of God? How deeply will we be touched, or affected, by any written words that differ from, or partially overlap, the images we have already been exposed to? As we go through our years on earth constantly exposed to the most vivid, intense, and stimulating images that the motion picture industry is able to throw at us, what does this do to our perception of ordinary life over time? Don’t we just grow increasingly bored with it all? Do we find we need more stimulation over time to keep us going?
And another thing: Can any video or photographic image (or great work of art) begin to encapsulate the true glory and power of Christ and of our Father in heaven? Will it not always fall short of His glory by many, many orders of magnitude? Will lifelong deeply impressed images that are stored in our brains support, or forever hinder, our worship of the Living God? Needless to say, I never intend to see the Passion movie, nor will I ever recommend it to my children, for this very reason alone. Because I know that images are potent, and I don’t need any more hindrances to my worship of the True God.
These are at least some of the things I believe that the Lord had in mind when He gave us the second commandment. But of course, I cannot begin to probe or understand all He is or all He knows. The truth is that He knows us, He knows how He created us, and He definitely knows what is best for us. His Word is living and active. It is sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow.. (Hebrews 4:12). Truly His Holy Spirit will lead us home. But obedience to God’s Word, and His commandments, is an essential part of our sanctification.
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•3:43 PM
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 3:43 p.m.
Continued from the previous post...
I also think that the overuse of image-based entertainment and information delivery can rewire our brains in such a way that we become handicapped. We become less able to effectively assimilate information through media such as books and audio recordings, and more dependent upon visual and video modes to absorb information. This may be the reason that so many children have difficulty in learning through reading; rather, they find that they need drawings, photos, and videos in order to grasp information. More often with time, curriculum providers are targeting this growing group of young learners. I can’t help thinking that overexposure to stimulating images, such as modern movies and television, have seared our brains in such a way that we are hampered in our ability to concentrate and derive much satisfaction from the written word. Unfortunately, it has become my personal experience that I am increasingly challenged in my ability to learn from what I read. I am trying with all my heart to prevent this from occurring with my children.
It is difficult for me to exhaustively explain all of my thought about this in blog format, so I will mention some examples.
First off, Self-Reliant Man and I have been attending our adult Sunday School class at church, where one of our elders is giving a three week teaching series on the Book of Esther. This elder is blessed with the skill of being able to use spoken and written words to bring this extraordinary narrative alive to the modern listener. In truth, the story of Esther is an amazing example of God's providence, human sin, foibles, and failings, and extreme acts of courage. I felt that I was newly introduced to the significance and intensity of this biblical story through his teachings.
However, I also recognized that in doing so, the teacher had to overcome a roadblock, even a handicap, within my brain. As long as we’ve had children, even before, we have watched and enjoyed various Veggie Tales videos. Many of these videos are “Veggie” versions of biblical narratives, like the fall of Jericho, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the prophet Daniel, etc. Of course, we had often seen the video
Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen, which is a Veggie Tales adaptation of the book of Esther. These videos, while being entertaining, also retell important Bible stories in a humorous way that tends to trivialize, and make “cute”, the highlights and messages of the actual events. Their adaptation of Esther, in particular, does this. As our Sunday School teacher was talking about Mordecai, I couldn’t shake the cutesy image in my head of Grandpa Grape sitting at the gate of the Persian king’s palace. Similarly, the movie
Jonah and its portrayal of the sin of Ninevah (people slapping one another with fish) makes light of the sin that marked one of ancient history’s most heinous civilizations. Of course there is a reason for this; after all, these are kids’ videos. However, since they are animated images, they do make a deep imprint on our brains that tends to distort, and even overwhelm, that of our imaginations when the Bible story is read to us.
TO BE CONTINUED....
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•3:36 PM
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 3:36 p.m.
I didn't know that I would write so much about this topic, so as not to overwhelm you all, I am dividing it up into three posts.
Notice that I didn't entitle this post "Image Matters", but rather "Images Matter". Images are powerful and have an effect on our brains that can easily eclipse that of the written word. For several years I have noticed this, and this idea has remained in my brain as I have observed and analyzed bits and pieces of information that appear to corroborate my own theory on this. We have all heard the expression about a picture being worth a thousand words. Let's extrapolate this to:
If one picture equals one thousand words;
then, potentially, one video equals one thousand pictures, or one million words.
How many words are in the Bible? How many videos does it take to cover them all?
Growing up Catholic, I never had cause to think much about the Lord's second commandment, but in recent years, now that I am part of a Reformed church, I have given more thought to this commandment. The commandment is:
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep My commandments.
God gave us this commandment because He knows what is good for us, and He knows what He is talking about. He also gave this commandment to His people long before there were such things as cameras, video cameras, cinema, television, the internet, etc. In fact, at the time of the commandment, the only method the Lord's people would have had to create an image would have been to craft one through sculpture, painting, or architecture.
Now in the past, I would have thought that the second commandment had only to do with the overt worship of statues; i.e. did I worship that crucifix or that saint’s statue or not? Of course I wouldn’t do something silly like that! I thought that the commandment strictly meant to forbid such specific acts of worship. But recently, I came to realize that this commandment has a much broader application. Firstly, there is potential danger for us in portraying God, or the things of God, using images in a frivolous way. Secondly, we need to be wise and thoughtful about exposing ourselves (and especially our children) to image-based media in general. Not that all such images are sinful in themselves, but we need to be thoughtful about the effect that images have on our spiritual lives.
Now what does this have to do with technology? My point is that images, and image-based forms of information delivery, make imprints upon our brains that can overwhelm, or annihilate, other impressions that our brains have previously received through the written word. The Lord knows this because He created our brains and He knows how they work, and the effects of various life stimuli upon our brains and our hearts. And if these effects are apparent in our adult brains and hearts, then the effects are all the more amplified with those of our children. The Lord reveals His Truths to us through the written word, scripture, as well as through Creation.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•10:33 PM
July 15, 2010 10:33 p.m.
I have to write about something that makes me very proud. It is about Chips. Chips (and Sweet Girl) have both been having a great time at Music Camp and at VBS, both offered through our church. Chips has been receiving some pretty neat compliments, and I want to share them here.
1. The Chief Musician of our church saw me twice last week (during Music Camp) and commented about Chips. He had been teaching him in a small tone chimes group. He said that he really enjoyed Chips, that he has a great smile and that his attitude is positive and very refreshing. That pleased me.
2. This week, the lady who taught Chips' class at VBS (who happens to be the pastor's wife) told me that she really enjoyed having Chips in her class because he is such a willing participant. That comment made me feel good, too.
3. Yesterday, another mom came up to me and told me that on the way home from VBS the day before, her 11 year old son told her that he really liked Chips a lot, because "he is really nice, he really loves Jesus, and he always tries to do the right thing". The mother followed up by saying she was thankful that Chips was in her son's life, that as a peer, he was a good Christian witness to her son. All I can say about that compliment is WOW! What better words could I possibly hear?
We are still pretty new to this church, but people are starting to appreciate our son as they get to know him. Chips isn't doing anything unusual at these events. He is just being himself. Very cheerful and happy, very engaging, and enjoying everything he does, big and small. He also loves to engage adults in conversation at every opportunity. It is so wonderful to see him growing in Christ in this way!
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•5:08 PM
June 1, 2010 5:07 p.m.
The title of this post might seem mysterious until I tell you that on Wednesday of last week, I began to wear an orthodontic retainer, after not having visited an orthodontist in 29 years. Now those of you who remember what it is to experience orthodontics need no further explanation. But for the rest of you..
It all sounds so simple, you see. You are handed an innocuous looking clear plastic devices that presumably is custom made to fit. You are told to simply "wear the retainer 24/7 for two weeks, only removing it to eat. Then after two weeks, you may wear it only at night. Any questions?"
"Oh no, of course not," I think to myself; after all, how difficult can that be? But as I smile a reply, I can't help noticing that this plastic device seems to not quite fit as comfortably as I expected it to (hoped it would). So, I usher my children out the door and we head home.
Except that a few hours later, I realize that I have become
short-tempered and grouchy and my sinful nature is becoming more evident than usual. And as hour after hour wears on, I realize that this darn contraption is exerting
forces on my teeth that I would prefer not to have to deal with. And when dinner time comes and I remove it, I feel my teeth instantly move back into their normal places and say "
ahhhh..."
Only to have to put it back in after dessert. And wear it at night. And then, homeschool my kids the next day, reading aloud to them and teaching myself to speak correctly again. That was not one of my magazine photo picture perfect homeschool days, I remember that much.
Well, now here it's been six days since the
torture device retainer has been placed, and I have to say that my teeth now know their new places, my bite has been altered as it needed to be, and the retainer apparently has done the trick.
Oh, and apologies for grumpy mommy/ wife have been delivered all around. Now I remember why I didn't miss this particular part of my teenage years.
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•6:37 PM
April 20, 2010 6:33 p.m.
I truly want to share some of the highlights of the past several weeks / months here, and have included some photos here. Having said that, I must add that there aren't as many photos as I would have liked to include. Most of the pictures included friends' children, and I don't post pictures of other folks' kids on my blog (unless they are generally unrecognizable in the picture). So that left me with few photos to use, and I shall have to paint the remaining photos in your mind with words alone.
We had two birthdays here in our family. Sweet Girl turned seven in March, and we had a quiet and peaceful home celebration for her. This is the cake that Chips decorated for her. Our children have a custom of treating each other like royalty on their birthdays. When it is time to open the gifts, the non-birthday child sets up a type of "throne" for the birthday child to sit on while opening presents. The throne may be outfitted with cushions, signs, a parasol over it, and a special gift opening table covered with a brightly colored cloth or blanket. We capture it all on video. It's pretty funny!
Chips turned ten earlier this month, and this is a moment from his bowling party. He invited sixteen friends, and they were all able to come. Chips had an ear-to-ear grin the entire time!
Back to February, now. Here are the children watching the Olympics, complete with flags for the team members they were rooting for. Notice Sweet Girl's handmade Korea flag.
For any new readers, yes, we are a TV-free family, but over the seven years of not watching, we have made exceptions for the Olympics, for Presidential inaugurations, space shuttle landings (there was one here just this morning), and hurricane / tornado coverage (because our internet is the first thing to be knocked out).
Uh, yes, that's Self-Reliant Man teaching Chips to shoot targets with his air rifle. Goodness, but what has country living done to me?! Chips was still just nine in that photo.
We had a "field trip" for our homeschool fellowship group at our home. One especially skilled mom led a terrific class on DNA, complete with hands on experimentation, and then the "field trip" morphed into frolicking in the field.
The children were in a musical production at church, singing "Do-Re-Mi" as the von Trapp children, and "So Long, Farewell". It was a great show, but alas I cannot show it here...
Sweet Girl made a profession of faith at church on Maundy Thursday and became a communicant member. She was one of eleven such children, and I have a sweet photo of all those children, too, but darn, I can't show it. Sorry. They really are cute, too.
Finally, our dry erase board in our school room doesn't owe us anything. It has been used, and used, and used, and will need to be replaced rather soon. But what can you do to thank a dry erase board that has consistently passed along to me such priceless messages?
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•3:40 PM
February 3, 2010 4:32 p.m.
For many reasons, I have not been online all that much lately; therefore, no blogging. Not that my life is lacking in bloggability, because it isn't. I am forever thinking up bloggable things, only not to have time to bring them to life. Ah well..
Sweet Girl recently sent in her first real test to her first teacher at Calvert School. This was for lesson 20 of Second Grade. She seemed to have no problem taking the test, and was happy and proud to send in two or three compositions for feedback as well. We are looking forward to discovering who her teacher will be this year, as well as her reaction to Sweet Girl's work. Lessons are going well for her, although we do have some issues with motivation at times. When she is motivated, she can do
amazing work; this frustrates me all the more on those days when she is not motivated, but it is a growing process... for Sweet Girl, and for me.
Chips is approaching his first test for Fifth Grade. He is not especially enthusiastic about any subject, although he does enjoy the Art History material, as well as the reading books. I am enjoying teaching him History the most.
I continue to be happy with Calvert, although I admit I do find the Science to be somewhat irritating at times. I can expand on that in another post, I suppose.
I think the most difficult adjustment for me this year has been the amount of time it takes us to get through a lesson day. There are some days where we get going around 9 or 9:30 a.m., only to find ourselves still at it at 5:30. These days bring out the grouch in me, for I feel resentful of any day that lessons drag beyond 2:30. Today went well, with both children wrapping it up around 1 o'clock. That's why I have time to post today! According to Calvert, lesson days should not exceed four hours. That means no later than 1:00 or 1:30. So I get very impatient with those days when things drag out all day. It is not that there is so much material on those days, but rather that the work to be produced requires a little more effort, more higher order thinking skills, or is not among the "favorite things" to do on the part of the student(s).
So every day, when we pray together in the morning, I ask for the Lord's help for our attitudes toward the tasks He places before us on that day. So when things
go south, I can at least remind my children of that prayer we prayed in the morning. **
smile and wink**
Another reason the days are busy is that it is violin competition time. We have the following events to look forward to....
Feb 5 - a recital in our local area, which turns out to be an opportunity for me to try out my new digital Camc*rder. The children are pretty well prepared for this, and they will be playing their competition pieces (at least some of them). I will try to upload the videos if all works out with the new camera.
Feb 13 - audition for state Federation of Music Clubs annual competition. Chips is still part of a chamber trio, and they will perform two pieces.
It has been a frustrating season with this group, because one of the pieces selected by the director has been exceptionally difficult to learn. It is very contemporary, and not at all intuitive to our ears, and I have no ability, myself, to distinguish correct from incorrect notes, even after hearing it played correctly immediately beforehand. Chips has been very challenged by this piece, and I have had to bolster up his motivation to keep on keeping on, at least for the next three months, when the trio will officially break up. It will be time for these boys to move on to other things.
Another thing -- we just learned this week that this audition is scheduled for the 13th, which means we have to miss a campout with 12 other families from church. It was so disappointing to us, but there is nothing we can do about it.
Feb 20 - auditions for Sweet Girl and Chips for various solo and concerto entries with the state Federation of Music Clubs again. This will be Chips' first chance to play Accolay violin concerto before a judge. I think he is doing wonderfully with this piece, and our teacher, Miss S, appears to be quite satisfied, too, at this point in time.
Mar 21 - "Otown" Music Club scholarship competition. Another chance to play Accolay. Chips especially likes this competition because the prize is
$$money$$ and he won some of it last year.
Mar 27 - Music Teachers' Nat'l Assoc division concerto competition. You guessed it - Chips will play Accolay again. He'll be getting a lot of mileage out of this piece!
April 30- May 1 - State Federation competition three hours away in another city. But we aren't focusing on that one yet.
So that's our life in a nutshell these days. There is plenty of reason to be thankful. Fortunately, everybody is healthy and happy, and that is reason to rejoice. As time goes on, I find myself more and more thankful for every single day that is peaceful and basically
uneventful, you know what I mean?
Practice AFTER pizza (can you tell?)
Practicing in front of the Yule Log
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•9:44 PM
January 9, 2010 10:50 p.m.
It didn't snow here, today. The forecasters teased us all. Thousands of Florida children had visions of snowflakes dancing in their heads last night, but precious few around here actually got to see them.
I think my kids were disappointed, a little, but I think I was disappointed a lot. Now mind you, it was an unusual day here. In all my 17-1/2 years here, this was the coldest Florida day I have ever experienced.
It never got above 36 degrees here all day. That's one for my personal record book. And yes, indeed, we did get sleet here. And the children ran outside and rode their bikes through it, and collected ice pellets in their inverted umbrellas.
And the local radar showed the familiar blue color oh, so close by, to the north of us, but where we lived it was pink, so we had to settle for sleet. So close, yet so far.
The failure for snow to materialize triggered emotions in me that I had forgotten. Emotions related to the loss of earlier parts of my life, when I was younger and when I lived where it did snow. I always was a lover of things cold; I was the kind of person who would travel to Canada in the winter months, who couldn't get enough of the cold and snow, with all its beauty and all its inconveniences.
Marriage brought me here to the land of only two seasons and no snow, and I regretfully left my four seasons behind. I truly did, although I was simultaneously gaining a new and wonderful life. Were Self-Reliant Man and I to have settled down where I once lived, life would have been very different for us. Probably more difficult. Perhaps we would have had to remain a two income family, and we may not have been able to afford to homeschool. Who knows? The Lord has us here for his perfect reasons.
But on a day like today, I admit I found myself briefly pining for something different, and as I worked to pack away all of our Christmas decorations, I found myself thinking deeply about life issues, like the matter of contentment, and of the fragility of our own hearts.
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. PROVERBS 4:23 We are warned here to guard our hearts, and it is our duty to do so, and to do the same for our childrens' hearts. I thought, today, that if we were able to see the complete spiritual scenery of our lives, we would realize that we are each traveling on a narrow, rocky trail to our destination. Not only is the trail narrow and the footing difficult, but our path is flanked on one side by a steep drop off. So fragile are our hearts. We are helpless wanderers, dependent on the wavering affections of our hearts. If our hearts go astray, so do we. Go astray a few inches too far and off the edge we go.
Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path. PROVERBS 23:19 We need to protect the hearts of our kids, too. For me, that means being very careful about what sort of things they are exposed to in their young years. Too much too soon and they become jaded and bored with life. Train them to find joys in the simple things, most especially in the beauty of God's creation, which is forever renewed, day by day. Show them how the Lord can be their portion, day after day. Don't roll out the fun experiences of life too quickly.
I had lunch with a dear friend this week, and we talked a bit about friends we each know who "have more". These friends have more money, they travel more, they go places that we only dream about going to. They have healthy, active, willing and available parents to further enrich their adult lives. We all have these kinds of people in our lives. You know who they are. They are the friends who send out Christmas letters every year detailing their world travels. And when we read them, it affects us. It affects our children. Makes us envious. Makes us discontent, even for a moment.
If anybody were to ask me on a typical day if I am happy -- if I am content -- I would quickly answer "yes!", for indeed I am. It is so easy to compare ourselves with those people who mail out those Christmas letters. But also this year, I am aware of friends who are thinking about far more than their annual vacations. They fear for their jobs; fear for their health. They wonder how they are going to make it through that next chemo treatment. They wonder if their husband will come home from active duty on the expected date. They wonder if they need a home health aide for their elderly parents. They wonder how their mother is handling life in the nursing home.
These friends have caused me to think nearly every day of how blessed and precious our lives really are. How thankful we are to have our health. I am thankful that I feel pretty good most of the time, even though I have my off days. I am thankful that we are able to homeschool our children. I am thankful that my kids are so healthy, happy, and easy to please. I am thankful that we are not actively worried about my husband's job security. I am thankful that our biggest problem right now is dealing with our rotten home insurance company, and that we can happily make plans and preparations for our next camping trip fifty miles from home.
Contentment is all about trusting the Lord to provide the things he know we need most of all. He knows our hearts better than we do. He is most concerned with our heart "health". He knows what is coming down the pike for us. He protects us from our own foolishness and poor judgment. He knows how easily we can be bored with our precious lives, and he sees all the cliffs and drop offs -- all the spiritual dangers that lurk around the bend that we cannot see or anticipate.
Contentment is about trusting the Lord.
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. PSALM 27:4
No, maybe it didn't snow today. But this winter is far from over.
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•9:34 PM
January 3, 2010 9:58 p.m.
The party's over! Tomorrow we begin our routine lifestyles again.
Homeschool lessons begin tomorrow. Little Son will start Fifth Grade, lesson one. Baby Girl will continue Second Grade from lesson eight (or just about the beginning of Second Grade).
The down time between Christmas and this first day of school always provides an opportunity for me to gather up some of the loose ends in my life. This includes, but is not limited to:
- decluttering the house
- straightening and organizing shelves, closets, and cabinets
- filing away or purging loose papers
- clearing off the horizontal surfaces of the home (primary the kitchen counters!!)
- mailing off letters and packages that have been sitting around for a while
- removing old toys that the children no longer want or need, and setting up space for their new gifts
- setting up binders for filing the children's new school year papers
- thinking about my daily schedule and ways to improve it
- visiting friends I don't see often enough
- identifying books I want to read, Bible reading and devotional habits I want to improve, and goals I want to be mindful of for my family
I feel pretty good about my efforts on the above bullet list, and I am now fully ready to begin on the new school year. Over the past month, I was lulled into believing that I have time to accomplish certain things, but by the end of this coming week, reality will hit me again and I will realize how much time is running past me in my daily life. But that's okay, because now I can see it coming and will not be surprised when it does. When it happens, I will try this year to exercise more self-discipline and less screen time. I realize that it is the screen time I still allow in my daily life that prevents me from staying on top of other important family and home responsibilities. So, expect to hear from me only on odd days. Even days, I have the day off -- no email and no online (except for Calvert requirements or emergency needs).
And here is a Bible verse that I read this weekend that is my prayer for 2010 for myself and my family, as well as all the believers who I love and care about, including my bloggy friends. I pray that..
you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. COLOSSIANS 1:10-12
p.s. It isn't warm here anymore. If you noticed my sidebar at the time I am writing this, the temperature here is 39 degrees and expecting to head down to 32 degrees overnight. By Tuesday night, it is supposed to get down into the 20s. Brrrr...
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•10:37 PM
December 7, 2009 8:02 p.m.
The Christmas season often brings a range of emotions to me as my present day life mixes with the memories of Christmases past. I have a wonderful new life with my immediate family of four, yet I can't forget the wonderful life of my past, with family members who are either deceased, or living a thousand miles away. And there are those childhood Christmas experiences we all had, both good and bad, that can never be repeated again, remake the same impression on our hearts, or be experienced ever again in the same way.
As we have entered this final crescendo of 2009, I realize how truly blessed our family has been this year. While nothing especially dramatic or tremendous has occurred, we have experienced God's common grace in all areas of our lives. Many friends and acquaintances are struggling with tough situations around us, and these things just serve to remind me all the more of our blessings.
Which brings me to yesterday, a day of special blessing. Yesterday's worship service at church was completely beautiful, in an unexpected way. The music, the choir, the organ, the prayers -- seemed especially ethereal to me, filling me with happiness as I reflected on all our blessings this year.
To top it off, our children were participants in a lovely Christmas pageant yesterday afternoon. I had an opportunity to help with this, being in charge of the seven wise men (who said there had to be three?) and providing some of the refreshments. Considering that we are still pretty new to this church, one nice part was that the other ladies who were helping out made me feel like an old friend and not like the new mom in town, as we met the challenge of being sure that Joseph and Mary were available when they were needed in the program, as well as dozens of adorable sheep, shepherds, and angels. And the fact that my wise men were perfect gentlemen, both on and off stage (well, most of the time, anyway) was nothing short of miraculous.
It was a beautiful children's Christmas pageant, in a beautiful setting, with help from some very talented people. I was thankful that we could be part of everything at church yesterday, and the entire day placed a song of happiness in my heart.
I forgot (AGAIN!) my camera, so I hope to get some photos from others to post really soon. It was a beautiful day!
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•7:37 AM
Truly, some bloggers write the most incredible posts. Take
this one for instance, which describes so well what happens when we apply our limited human wisdom to God's words and use it as an excuse for disobedience.
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•7:24 PM
A lot of things have been going on at Mighty Oak Country School lately, therefore partially explaining my relative quietness on this blog.
First of all, I put up a new header photo of our mighty oak. It looks better than the old one did, doesn't it?
Saturday, Little Son participated in a Bible Quiz team from our local AWANA club. We had to travel to the Big City for this event, and there were eight teams in all. Little Son's team came in sixth place, but I have to say that they had a good time. A bonus was the special Ch*ck Fil-A lunch afterward! My favorite memorable moment was when a question was asked such as: "Which scripture verse teaches that God is true?" followed by three possible references. A, B, or C. (multiple choice question). Well, our precious Bible Quiz team held up their agreed-upon answer and it read "false". We moms had a lot of smiles over that one.
One of my frustrations this winter/spring season has been the length of time it has been taking for Self-Reliant Man to rebuild our tractor's engine. Yes, I am sure you are shaking your head, saying "is she still complaining about that?" It is not so much that Self-Reliant Man is incapable; quite the opposite is true... he is, in fact, very resourceful and self-reliant (grin) but the truth is that we are not exactly the kind of folks that have a lot of time on our hands for working on such a large project. Anyway, Sunday evening seemed rather glum around here as we reflected on our failed attempt to press cylinder sleeves into the engine block by cool shrinking them with 14 pounds of dry ice. A lot of money was spent on this ice, and all for naught.
Or, maybe not?
We sure did get a lot of entertainment from a cooler full of dry ice! That is some pretty amazing stuff.
The wonder of carbon dioxide in solid form.
Self-Reliant Man stirring up the cauldron.
So much fun. This stuff just doesn't melt!
Little Son received
Mouse Trap for his ninth birthday, and we had a good time playing it together. It is a game I had as a child.
Little Son loves God's creation, and one evening as we were practicing violin indoors, he remarked on the unearthly orange glow outside the windows from a striking sunset. We hurried outside to appreciate it better. It really was beautiful. Little Son and Baby Girl called it "the glory of God".
We are always trying to capture photos of nature to send in to R*nger Rick magazine. Here is a close up of a lily outside our house.
One more thing. The children are really into writing notes... to their friends, to each other, to us parents. Here is a note I found in our school room just the other day, from Baby Girl to her big brother.
Little Son wrote notes on heart shaped paper for us, too. We found them on our bed, on each side, as we were going to sleep last night. One read: "Dear Mommy, I love you. Good mothers can get rare now! Love, Little Son". The other one said: "To Daddy. I love you. The Dad I love is you."
Definitely gives you a reason to smile as you drift off for the night. This is what being a parent is all about, right?
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•8:10 AM
... you just need some renewal of spirit.
This morning's prayer from Baby Girl went something like this:
Dear God, please help my teacher, mommy, not drop school, and keep teaching me. Please help her like what she has to do. Amen.
Not that I have ever talked about "dropping school", but she is aware that it is a big commitment for me.
Certainly, a prayer like that one can do much to renew my spirit!
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•9:10 PM
Continuing my series from Marva Dawn's book
Is It A Lost Cause?Question #4: Are there some people in your congregation that you don't like?
Do we seek out a community where we will feel cozy and comfortable, where we think we won't have any social frictions because everybody is so like-minded?
Do we simply plan to leave a church to find a more compatible one when conflicts arise?
If so, how will we learn to love those who are not like ourselves? Wouldn't it be great if our children could observe us actively loving others in whom we don't delight?
I was thinking about this today, for even though we have settled on a church to attend for now, there are some things about it that don't enchant me. I was fretting a bit because it doesn't seem people are all that friendly. We are relative newcomers, but I need to cut these folks a break. This church is unique in that every Sunday there are a fair amount of "tourist" attenders: people who stop by and worship here when they are on vacation in the area, people who just want to hear the pastor, who is nationally known, preach. So these members are used to seeing a fair number of unfamiliar faces --- Every. Single. Sunday. Most of whom will not be back. So it is no wonder that they don't all extend themselves to us.
But as I was meditating on that today, I had to ask myself: why should everything about a church enchant me? Should I not be content that the church teaches the truth, that it has God-centered worship, that it is stable and growing, that it is a good steward of its resources, that it offers educational, fellowship, and service opportunities for our family? Since when does a church have to be custom-designed to suit me?
Wouldn't it be great if I just learned to accept a church with its imperfections, even as I hope that I will be accepted?
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•9:02 PM
So we were doing our morning scripture discussion this week. I was sitting on my bed with pillows propped behind me, and Little Son and Baby Girl had picked their routine listening spots. We are talking about the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 6, and I reminded my children of the earlier discussion where Jesus taught that Christians are the salt of the earth.
To which Baby Girl replied: "and sinners [the non-Christian type] are the pepper of the earth!"
Guess I'll never read that passage the same way again.
note: My annotations in [brackets] above.
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•6:49 AM
I saw the symptoms before affluenza became a known buzzword. Before I was a mom myself. I saw kids who were never satisfied, and the older they got, the bigger the thrills they needed. I spoke to a dad of a 3 year old in my neighborhood who said to me one day "If you think it is hard to keep them happy when they are babies, just wait. It gets really hard when they're three!" Hmmm. I tucked that comment in my brain for pondering. We live near the world's biggest tourist attraction. I mean 42 square miles of ultimate entertainment -- the biggest mouse-related theme park and vacation kingdom there is. I knew kids in my neighborhood who, at age 10 or 12, had gotten bored with going there. Didn't want to "do D*SN*Y" anymore. Boring.
This is insane!! What is going on here? I have since learned it is called affluenza. A disease that is bred by the affluence we enjoy here in our country. We have the resources, so lets give all we've got to the kids. For better or for worse. So I thought about what effect this overstimulation of kids with entertainment and activities would have on them. It bothered me so much, that at some point when my oldest was still a toddler, I saw the handwriting on the wall, so to speak, and decided to change our path. My dh understood the problem immediately, and he was on board as well.
Since then, we have made a deliberate decision not to overstimulate our kids. Keep life simple and natural. Toys we chose were simpler, we tried to avoid logos and name brands, we shyed away from characters of all sorts (which are just ways of getting kids to recognize a brand at an early age). We stopped watching TV, and therefore, TV commercials. We tried to eliminate every aspect of commercialism that we could from our home. We minimized electronic toys and gadgets, for ourselves as well as the kids. We dish out computer game time in very sparing doses.
Now the kids don't know what they are supposed to want for Christmas. They just know what they like.
We heard of a family that gave their kids three gifts per child for Christmas. After all, Jesus himeself received three gifts. We did this each Christmas, and found that they still ended up with too much stuff. (this past Christmas, we loosened this rule to allow for stocking items and educational items as extras. Since we don't buy them gifts all year round, except birthday and Christmas, we find we need to stock up a bit on those educational items).
I know. By now you think we are very odd. Just keep reading. Horror of horrors -- we never take the children to any of the world famous theme parks that we are "privileged" to live nearby. We tried it once, when my oldest was 4. He couldn't handle the stimulation, and had repeated meltdowns in the park. We decided we wouldn't do it again for years to come, and we haven't.
Theme parks are like Fr*tos or L*y's Potato Chips to a child's sensibilities. Once they get a couple of experiences of them, it grays out all other more subtle life experiences. Especially when you live right near those theme parks. No other place quite measures up. We want to avoid that. There is plenty of time for them, when they are older.
We approach every event, every vacation trip, from the point of view of how much it could overstimulate our children. Because when you overstimulate, and overstimulate, and overstimulate, pretty soon it takes more, and more, and more to provide the same thrill anymore. Life itself gets duller and duller. We human beings are made that way.
We talk to the kids about being wise consumers, and avoiding the pitfalls that advertising set up. Recognizing a gimmick when you see one. Does this toy really look like it did on the cover of the box? Isn't it just a bunch of little plastic pieces and stickers to put on? Where does the fun come from? YOU! You can make your own fun.
I hear parents comment often in amazement about how their youngest children were alway initially more enthralled with the box than they were with the toy the box contained. We parents (and grandparents) are the ones who teach them to crave the toys. This doesn't have to be. They really can make their own fun, and should be required to, now and them. It is so good for them to be understimulated more. This is the classic case of less is better.
So, we remain low key in every area of the children's lives. Lives as commercial free as possible. As a result, they really do know how to make their own fun. They have a blast playing with blankets hanging over things. Exploring nature in our yard. Pretending together for hours. We read so many family read aloud books, so they have the ideas they need to create pretend play. Now that the door of reading is being unlocked to our younger child, I have caught them in the same room both reading their own books. It is a very rare time when they report that they are bored. Maybe once every couple of months.
Vacations are getting simpler and more frequent. We have stopped the nice hotels, and integrated camping into our lives. It took some getting used to, and we had to build up some new planning, packing and camping skills, but now we really love it. Vacation destinations are nature-based now. Mountains, scenery, state parks. The kids love it because they love nature.
Did I mention that my kids almost never have nightmares? (if I could just say the same about nosebleeds!)
Now, if you can find a down side, it is this. My kids are very sensitive to stimulation. Sometimes, we are watching a DVD, and if the movie is less than, say, 20 or 25 years old, it can be very stimulating. The scene changes at a frenetic pace, the action is non-stop, and it is difficult to always know what is happening. My kids, especially the 5 year old, don't care for this. My youngest has had a couple of nightmares in her life, and they have always (always!) occurred after a movie that I later regretted letting them watch. Yes, these are G-rated movies. They are just very stimulating, because folks demand that nowadays.
Tonight, we are going to do something that is unusual for us. My husband's work group has provided a fun night out. There will be S*nny's Bar-B-Q served for supper(yum!) and then a minor league baseball game, topped off with fireworks. We've never done anything like this before. We are looking forward to it, because it is such a rare experience, a big deal for our family. I'll post about how it goes.
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•8:13 PM
It is deep in the heart of summer, and temperatures are the highest they will get all year. Our porch had been neglected for awhile, but we are rediscovering its pleasant atmosphere, even during the dog days of summer. Our schedules are lighter, and there is more time to just sit and enjoy on those weekends that the grass doesn't have to be cut.
So lately, we have been making good use of our porch rockers. When other moms come for a visit, we chat on the porch rockers and keep an eye on the kids at play around the yard. I have been enjoying having my quiet times on the porch again, rather than indoors. Sitting on the front porch makes me feel more vivacious (caffeine just wasn't cutting it anymore..)
At first, when sitting out there in the morning, the air is close and humid and still. But after awhile, as the sunrise has its effect on the atmosphere, breezes begin to stir and cool and dry out the air and it feels great. And now my son has agreed to come out and do our morning scripture reading and discussion on the porch, instead of in the house. It makes us sit up, and be wide awake and alert and mentally and spiritually aware.
Just this Saturday, the guys (dh and ds) did some tractor repair work in the barn. They were there for awhile, and my daughter and I decided to spend the time playing
Go Fish and
Old Maid on the porch rockers. It was really nice, and the cool post-rainstorm air felt so relaxing. Later on, my son joined in on the card playing with her.
I enjoyed watching them have fun together. . . right on our front porch. I am thankful for a simple Saturday afternoon such as this was.
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•10:45 PM
It's been sitting on my bookshelf for some 23 years. I have packed it and unpacked it and packed it again as I moved from state to state, home to home. But I never read it. In fact, I tried to get into it a few times, and never got anywhere. I'm not sure why. But then I read an article recently by someone who rediscovered the book in her own life, and I thought - gee, I have that book! I think I'll get it down and read it. The name of the book is The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life and it was written in 1875, and revised in 1888 by Hannah Whitall Smith. I think there was a reason that I haven't read this book until now. At my age, after being a believer for over 24 years, perhaps it is just now that I can bring enough of my own life's perspective to bear on the contents of this book.
So now, I am reading it, slowly, and rereading many of the sentences over and over again as I go... partly to relish its contents, partly to let the message sink into my brain and heart, and mostly because my ability to concentrate in my reading has been at a low ebb these days (more on that in some other post..)
Ms. Smith had the ability to break spiritual concepts down in concrete terms, and this my concrete engineer brain really needs, always has. She wrote, initially, about how Jesus not only frees us from the guilt and penalty of sin in the future, but also from its power in the present moment. How too many Christians are not living the life of being delivered from the power of sin. She indicated how we must abandon ourselves fully into our Father's hands, as the clay to the divine Potter. We must lie passive in His hands, in total trust, and allow Him to work in us to make us a vessel pleasing to Him, and suitable for his purposes.
She used excellent word-pictures. I like the picture of us as children in the Father's house, running free and light-hearted with the happy carelessness of childhood. And how God's heart is grieved when his beloved children take such anxious care and thought about their lives, instead of resting in His care.
But most meaningful to me so far was the prayer of abandonment and trust by which the Christian can enter (or re-enter) into this life. I will paraphrase it here:
Lord Jesus, I believe that you are able and willing to deliver me from all the care and unrest and bondage of my Christian life. I believe you did die to set me free, not only in the future, but now and here. I believe you are stronger than sin, and that you can keep me, even me, in my extreme of weakness, from falling into its snares or yielding obedience to its commands. And Lord, I am going to trust you to keep me. I have tried keeping myself, and have failed, and failed most grievously. I am absolutely helpless. So now I will trust you. I give myself to you. I keep back no reserves. Body, soul, and spirit, I present myself to you, as a piece of clay, to be fashioned into anything your love and your wisdom shall choose. And now I am yours. I believe you accept that which I present to you. I believe that this poor, weak, foolish heart has been taken possession of by you, and that you have even at this very moment begun to work in me to will and to do of your good pleasure. I trust you utterly, and I trust you now.
What a refreshing and renewing prayer to pray at this point in my Christian life. I picture myself as that child running gleefully through the rooms of my Father's mansion. Knowing that all is well as long as he is keeping my life. He loves me, and he is my Father. He knows more than anyone what's best for me, and would never withhold His best from me. He knows what's best. He knows what's best. If we Christians can really grab hold of this meaning, then we should know true peace and joy in the here and now.
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•7:03 AM
Last Friday, I got to see my buddy. (that's her in the picture, wearing black. I'm in pink). We will call her L. My kids call her TTL. Sometimes I even call her U/B, but that's a story that is not for this blog. L and I met over 12 years ago, during a past phase of my life, when I was an electrical engineer for the utility company of a very large and significant MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTION and WORLD FAMOUS THEME PARK in this part of our state. Anyway, we became friends rather quickly, not so much due to MY great personality, but mostly do to L's amazing ability to connect with people on a level that is beyond superficial in a short time.
It wasn't long before I knew from her, and from another work associate there (remember Susan H?), that L and her dh were very committed Christians who were searching out the Lord's purpose for their lives, and trying to live it. This resonated with me, because I was at a point where I was seeking to "put off the old [wo]man and put on the new" in my life as well. We clicked and got to be really good friends. Within weeks, we were meeting during lunch time to study the book of James together. This mini one-on-one bible study eventually grew to include others at our workplace, including my own supervisor. It was pretty neat to have this spiritual refueling in the middle of the work day. I know I really needed it there.
While I was working there, before I became a MOM, L and I had offices right next door to each other, and we were able to share so many of the details of our everyday lives, and the lives of our families together. Fast forward 12 years later, and we still do that, as much as we can on an extended phone call every week or two, but it is impossible to be aware of all the details that working together provided. I do miss that aspect of working, although I don't miss working there that much otherwise (L is still in that office part time now) since it could be very stressful.
L has two sons. One is little yet, like my dd, and the other son is medium going on big (very soon). Let's say, when L and her husband came to our home for dinner for the first time, back in 1996, her oldest son was 6 months old, and I remember L having to clean out his messy nose with Q-Tips! I still have a vivid picture of that.
Back in those days, she shared with me all she was learning about being a parent of an infant, then 1 year old, then 2 year old, etc. And I was going through the whole entire infertility / adoption saga that can span many long years, and she walked, with compassion, with us through that valley.
Well, my friendship with L is one of the big joys of my life. We have a good level of understanding and appreciation of each other that falls not far short of family. In fact, we have met, and gotten to know, each other's family and extended family, and they are a part of my heart, too, especially L's beautiful and wonderful parents (who I always would like to see more frequently!).
I can count on L to point the way to Christ in any situation that I share with her. In fact, when our children were baptized in our previous church, L and her dh were our sponsors, which means that we parents are accountable to them for bringing up our children as Christians. L has taken this role seriously, bless her, and to this day she has sincere and loving interest in the spiritual wellbeing of our kids. When our son "turned his back on sin" and trusted in Christ, L was the one to really celebrate that event with us.
I could go on and on about L, and this post would be way too long, but hey, it's my blog, and I can post endlessly if I want to! She is the person I have called when bad things have happened. When I was in New Jersey with my dad in the hospital, and he was in the process of dying from chemotherapy, L was the person I called and cried to on the phone for an hour. When I thought my son was missing, and a search helicopter was hovering over our neighborhood, L was the person I called asking for prayer. And L knows that when bad things strike in her life, I will be there to uphold and support her, as she upholds and supports me.
When I become a shameless bragger about my children's successes, she really and truly rejoices and shares heart to heart in my thrills and my pride. Not very many folks can do THAT!
As far as pointing the way to Christ, L has the ability and desire to speak the truth to me in all things, and has challenged me on several occasions to do the right and responsible thing. Whew! Scary!
So, last Friday was an opportunity for one of our summertime visits where we go to her house and she treats me like a queen giving me a delicious lunch and chatting about our families, our churches, current events and politics from our "enlightened" point of view, and well you get it. She even celebrated three of our birthdays with us, all at once. It does my heart so much good to see how excited my children get when they are going to her home and playing with her sons. Perhaps their family holds the central place in their hearts that it does in my heart. Time flies at TTL's house. Now, I hope that they can make it to our place on August 7th like we discussed, because it would truly be a double treat for us.
