I felt the proverbial “butterflies in the stomach” this week as I thought of how I had agreed to play guitar and sing in public with my son.  At first, I had used my gift of persuasion to convince him that he would do much better alone in a solo than in a duet.  I was sure I had succeeded in getting out of any participation in performing in front of a crowd, but for that crestfallen look in my nine year old’s eyes... 

I enjoy public speaking.  In fact, I used to teach Public Speaking, among other subjects, back when I was a college instructor. I have been in front of plenty of crowds in the past for ministry, church, teaching and business.  But, singing is quite another story; people expect you to actually sound good.

One of the wonderful side benefits of homeschooling is that we as parents get to “learn along with our children.”  My husband and I want our children to be good musicians to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. So, not too long ago, I decided to take up the guitar, not just to learn to play an instrument, but to be right in the midst of what our children are doing.  

By learning an instrument, too, I am in the same boat as they are when it comes to the rigors of daily practice. I am convinced our children’s abilities in music have increased because they see me trying hard to learn a piece, not just telling them to do so. But, I did not expect I would have to go beyond my comfort zone.

Well, I looked into my son’s eyes and realized that while the duet represented an uncomfortable experience to me, it represented a special time with Mom to him.  We may never have such a chance again, and would God want me to forfeit it to fear?   One thing God has so impressed upon my heart lately is that our children are little such a short time, and we need not take any minute for granted. So, I agreed to the duet.  

We decided to sing and strum one of our favorite songs, I Will Call Upon the Lord by Michael O’Shields, which comes from a psalm David wrote after God delivered him from Saul and the Philistines.

No one threw rotten tomatoes, so I breathed a sigh of relief and my son was beaming. I am so motivated to practice and do better next time, because I realize that having many children means there will likely be a few more “next times” in which I am asked be the other half in a duet (unless I can persuade my husband to take up the guitar...)

I Will Call Upon the Lord
By Michael O’Shields

I will call upon the Lord,

Who is worthy to be praised.

So shall I be saved from my enemies.

The Lord liveth, and blessed be the Rock,

And let the God of my salvation be exalted.

The Lord liveth, and blessed be the Rock,

And let the God of my salvation be exalted.

Heroes that have served and fallen in Iraq & Afghanistan:

Teach your children about their sacrifice. Honor them by fighting evil wherever you find it.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

- Galatians 6:7-10

I just had to post this... funny, but scary.

Warning: This is a funny parody, but it looks like most of the other content on "ucb comedy" is offensive... so beware.

Should read: "Mine is my homeschool super mom." 

Happy Mother's Day

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

Sir Winston Churchill
June 4, 1940
House of Commons

For those who are asking where I’ve been, well, I’ve been having fun. I was thinking the other day while I was helping my kids relocate approximately 200 praying mantises we hatched that hey, I homeschooled all day, I could be blogging the many ideas I have to share with those considering homeschooling.  But, then I looked around at my children, fascinated by this army of miniature mantises (and let me tell you baby praying mantises are unbelievably cute) – and some of the best advice I could give anyone interested in homeschooling is contained in just a few words – have fun making memories with your children. 

So lately my free time (if a mother of six can ever honestly ever say she has “free time”) has been filled with making potholders (remember the kind that you made when you were a kid on a loom with cotton loops?  Well, I am becoming quite the expert these days...) or watching one of my children try out the electronics kit he just purchased with his chore money or seeing the kitchen floor get doused with flour from a recipe I am making with the child who has “kitchen buddy” duty that day.

Today one of the elders of our church, who is a pretty old guy who raised six kids of his own, told my husband and I that it seems that you but blink a few times, and the kids are grown. So, he said, the first and best ministry is to be with the children every minute you can.  Reminds me of one of my favorite country music songs, Don’t Blink by Kenny Chesney.  Here are some of the verses:

I turned on the evening news
Saw a old man being interviewed
Turning a hundred and two today
Asked him what's the secret to life
He looked up from his old pipe
Laughed and said "All I can say is."

Don't blink
Just like that you're six years old
and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you're twenty-five
and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife

Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your "better half"
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink

I was glued to my tv when it looked like he looked at me and said
"Best start putting first things first."
Cause when your hourglass runs out of sand
You can't flip it over and start again
Take every breathe God gives you for what it's worth

There is also something wonderful God is doing that I wanted to share with you.  A few weeks ago, a lady who is in leadership in a homeschool group was having problems with someone who was being contentious.  She wanted to solve it Biblically and felt led of the Lord to ask me to pray and fast with her not just for her situation, but for mine as well (my family is being harassed by a person who is refusing to enter Christian conciliation, and is instead dredging up contention).

So we started fasting once a week.  God works everything out for good for those who love Him as Romans 8:28 says, and we fasted and prayed for peace and for the people involved as Jesus commands.  This friend also told me that a well-known pastor’s mother had fasted once a week for him when he was little, so we also added praying for the salvation of our children.

Then more and more people started hearing we were fasting one day a week and they gave me prayer requests to pray through and some joined in, so that now about fifteen have committed to fasting.   It sure seems the Holy Spirit is calling people to a more significant prayer life with Him, which is so exciting. 

I have been absolutely amazed at how God is answering prayer, and in deeper ways than we could have ever imagined.  Just in the last two weeks or so, there have been five times I have written “prayer answered” on the list – and they were situations I did not expect to see resolved so soon.  And the friend who got us to fast --  God resolved her situation in a way that gave glory to Him.

Fasting makes you realize how weak and sinful you are and how you are totally dependent on God.  When you are well fed, a sort of pride seems to enter in, making you think you are strong.  When you fast long enough, you are humbled.  You also realize you need to listen for God’s voice, to have a Holy Spirit led walk, not one of the flesh. There are many reference both the Old and New Testament regarding fasting.  Jesus said, “this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”  Before Esther risked going before the king she called a fast, and Jehoshaphat declared a fast, seeking the Lord, and God granted him relief from the overwhelming armies that were coming against him.

Maybe you are in a dark or uncertain time now.  Maybe you don’t feel up to being home all day with your children.  Maybe your marriage is waning.  Maybe you have been diagnosed with something.  Maybe you have someone who is being hurtful in your life, whom God wants you to pray for.  Maybe you need God’s guidance in a matter. Won’t you join us in prayer and fasting and see what God will do? (But if you are pregnant, nursing or have a medical condition, do NOT fast food, but do join us in prayer).

My husband and I were blessed to see the new Ben Stein move, Expelled, this week.  The part of the movie that moved me the most was when a few professors described how they became evolutionists and how any belief in God was simultaneously extinguished in their lives.  As one professor detailed, it happened when his biology teacher turned him on to evolution and by the end of the course, he was both an atheist and evolutionist. 

I have heard this same story over and over again in the lives of everyday Christian parents.  For example, I used to tutor this very smart boy who took several honors classes – honors physics, honors English, etc.  But I told his Christian mother that I was worried that she was going to send him to a liberal ivy league college as he already had been exposed to so much secular humanism in this public school high school and he had little grasp of a Christian worldview.
 
She dismissed such thoughts, telling me he was the head of the children’s ministry in their church and was active in other church work.  Sure enough, after one semester of college biology in which the professor bulldozed Darwinism into the students, this ignorant and unprepared teen declared to his shocked parents that he was now an atheist. 

You need to homeschool to make sure your children understand Dawinism thoroughly before encountering it from the elites in academia.  And they need to study the vast evidence for God as the creator, the infinitely intelligent designer of the universe. Otherwise, a child weakened by a public school education will likely be seduced by the fantasy of evolution and overwhelmed by the peer pressure to adopt an atheist view of the world.