tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41665070800242693522024-03-08T16:49:36.906-05:00The Boyer BlogAshleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06448835837318172677noreply@blogger.comBlogger233125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-60855410717951404082011-10-07T17:25:00.000-04:002011-10-07T17:25:28.124-04:00I Was Deprived Because I was Homeschooled<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--xNh265Hjhw/To9tJ6M48LI/AAAAAAAABPI/lJqTeyRTRug/s1600/ashley.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--xNh265Hjhw/To9tJ6M48LI/AAAAAAAABPI/lJqTeyRTRug/s200/ashley.JPG" width="133" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Guest Post by Ashley Schnarr....</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Someone recently asked me if I thought I missed out on anything because I was homeschooled. After our conversation it got me to thinking….. <b><i>“Was I deprived any thing?” “Did I miss out because I was homeschooled?” </i></b>After much thought I’ve come to this conclusion:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"></span></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><div align="center">Yes. I DEFINITELY missed out because I was homeschooled.</div><div align="center"></div></b><div> </div><div><br />
</div><div>I missed out on so many things like:</div><ul><li style="margin-left: 15px;">One size fits all teaching style</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Grade segregation</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Mandatory training on subjects that go against my beliefs</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Being restricted to the average grade for my age</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Being unsheltered in a peer dominated environment</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Constrained religious freedoms</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Limited flexibility</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Reduced family time</li>
<div> </div></ul><div>Homeschooling provided me with much flexibly, freedom and family interaction. I learned to thrive socially by mingling with people of varied ages and God’s Word was instilled in me virtually unhindered.</div><div> </div><div>So you ask me “Do you feel deprived?” Yup, I definitely missed out, but you know what? I don’t regret it one bit. <b>I wouldn’t change it for the world.</b></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><div><b><br />
</b></div><div><b>Follow Ashley!</b></div><div>Blog- <a href="http://www.stayathomedaughter.com/" style="color: #147dba;" target="_blank">www.stayathomedaughter.com</a></div><div>Twitter- <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/SAHDblog" style="color: #147dba;" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/#!/SAHDblog</a></div><div>Facebook- <a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/stayathomedaughter" style="color: #147dba;" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/#!/<wbr></wbr>stayathomedaughter</a></div><div>Book- <a href="http://stayathomedaughter.com/?page_id=69" style="color: #147dba;" target="_blank">http://stayathomedaughter.com/<wbr></wbr>?page_id=69</a> </div><div> </div></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-26815192863780183362011-09-19T18:41:00.001-04:002011-09-20T22:30:31.871-04:00A Lesson in Values from the Swamp Fox<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BdpVv5zhneY/TnaWJ-x2X_I/AAAAAAAABPE/EWvSeYIwTlQ/s1600/francis+marion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BdpVv5zhneY/TnaWJ-x2X_I/AAAAAAAABPE/EWvSeYIwTlQ/s200/francis+marion.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">I love being Uncle Rick. I love reading the Scriptures and explaining them to kids. I love telling “example stories” to them to make character applications that, hopefully, will affect the way kids live their lives as they grow up and afterward. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It’s a treat to hear back from the kids, too. Last weekend a family from Delaware was visiting in our town and emailed ahead to ask if six-year-old Hannah could possibly meet Uncle Rick while they were here. You better believe she could, and she did. And there’s little Michael from Alabama, who calls me every few months just to chat. Notes written in pencil on tablet paper and pictures drawn with crayon come every so often and make me feel like a celebrity. </span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">One of the deepest satisfactions of my role as Uncle Rick is knowing that I am introducing children all over the country to some great books that my grandparents may have read as children, but which have long since disappeared from library and bookstore shelves. I’m talking about the kind of books that people used to write for kids, books that teach values and morals and worthy character. Fiction or nonfiction, there was a time when authors saw their job as not just entertaining young people, but inspiring them. I remember a few such books from my childhood, though they were getting scarce even then. Now we’ve found an online source for old books, and I get to revive these treasures and share them with a new generation of young Americans as I read and comment on them as Uncle Rick.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My most recent recording project was a book about General Francis Marion, the famous “Swamp Fox” of the Revolutionary War. Written in 1892, it’s a great true adventure story with action in every chapter. But it’s also a window into the heart of a great patriot who sacrificed much and risked all, to win liberty for future generations. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Let me share with you a condensed section of the book, which I recorded as “Uncle Rick Reads,<a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2911"> <i>Marion’s Men</i></a>”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In chapter 32, <i>True Greatness</i>, General Marion has arranged a prisoner exchange with a British officer and has invited the man to share dinner with him before leaving. Finding that dinner consists of nothing but sweet potatoes roasted in the camp fire, the Englishman questions Marion on what might be the motivation for him and his followers to endure such lean rations as they fought a war. What, he wondered, would men care about so much that they would wear rags, eat scanty provisions, sleep in the swamp and go without pay while daily risking their lives? Marion gave an impassioned reply:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“It is a matter of principle, sir. When a man is interested he will do and suffer anything. Many a youth would think it hard to be indentured at a trade for fourteen years. But let him be head over heels in love with such a beauteous sweetheart as Rachel, and he will think no more of fourteen years’ servitude than did Jacob. That is just my case. I am in love.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“You in love, General?” asked the Englishman.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Yes, I am in love, and I have the most beautiful sweetheart; her name is Liberty.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Be that beauteous nymph my companion, and these wilds and woods have charms beyond London or Paris. To have no proud monarch driving over me with his gilt coaches; nor his host of excise men and tax gatherers insulting and robbing me; but to be my own master, my own prince and sovereign, gloriously preserving my national dignity, and pursuing my true happiness; planting my vineyards and eating the luscious fruit, sowing my fields and reaping the golden grain; and seeing millions of brothers all around me, equally free and happy as myself. This, sir, is what I long and fight for.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The English officer had but seldom listened to such eloquence, simple yet grand, earnest and persuasive.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“As a man and a Briton, I must say your picture is a happy one.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Happy,” said Marion; “yes, happy indeed! And I would rather fight for such blessings for my country, and feed on roots, than keep aloof, though wallowing in all the luxuries a Solomon could bestow.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Now, sir, I walk the soil that gave me birth, and exult in the thought that I am not unworthy of it. I look upon these venerable trees around me, and feel that I do not dishonor them. I think of my sacred rights, and I rejoice that I have not basely deserted them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“And when I look forward, sir, to the long ages of posterity, I glory in the thought that I am fighting their battles. The children of distant generations may never hear my name, but still it gladdens my heart to think that I am now contending for their freedom, and all its countless blessings.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Englishman put out his hand. “We are enemies,” said he, “but as a man I acknowledge you are right, and I would to God my country would let you go your own way.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And the young officer never rested until he had thrown up his commission and left the British service. When the clouds of war had blown over he told Marion that he never again could live under a monarchy. He bought an estate in Carolina, and married an American. Several of his descendants have at times distinguished themselves, and more than one has occupied the gubernatorial chair. The seed sown by General Marion fell on good ground and bore most excellent fruit.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">That book was written fifteen years before my grandfather was born, and is the kind of stuff he used to read as a boy. Now, I have a little part in making it available to thousands of young people all across America, kids who otherwise might never have known it existed. If I had never accomplished anything else in my ministry, these years would not have been wasted.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">See why I love being Uncle Rick?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">~Rick Boyer</span><br />
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<span lang="EN">We’re linked up to: <a href="http://womenlivingwell.org/category/women-living-well-wednesdays/">Women Living Well</a> & <a href="http://raisinghomemakers.com/2010/new-homemaking-link-up-share-your-own/">Raising Homemakers</a></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-3635077278147048442011-08-25T22:37:00.001-04:002011-08-25T22:38:56.641-04:00Part 3: The Importance of Teaching Character to Your Children<div class="MsoNormal">Compelling Reasons (#5-7)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><ol start="5" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal">The 5<sup>th</sup> reason to teach your kids character is that in doing so you are guiding them into being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Romans 8:29 says, “ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” One of the best ways to analyze ourselves is in relation to the character qualities. When we see character weaknesses crop up (and they will) we need to employ the corresponding positive quality. To help you in becoming skillful in this, you can access <a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2517">Identifying and Dealing with Offenses handout<b> </b></a><b>(access it for FREE)</b><o:p></o:p></li>
</ol><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rLTfRqHB1sc/TlcG15D2hmI/AAAAAAAABPA/Lyz-hUzWQhA/s1600/GrowWisdomSet_T.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rLTfRqHB1sc/TlcG15D2hmI/AAAAAAAABPA/Lyz-hUzWQhA/s200/GrowWisdomSet_T.jpg" width="185" /></a>This list has 32 types of negative behavior, such as lying, complaining, teasing, unkindness, and also the corresponding positive behavior. We need to remember in dealing with our children, every negative behavior we see is just a positive character quality misused, and it is our job as parents to guide our children in choosing instead the character of Christ (not that we can ever be perfect in it as He is, but it is He we must learn to imitate instead of giving in to our selfish desires). For instance, if your child is displaying anger, he needs to learn to choose self-control. The handout also supplies you with an insight learned from the Scripture verse,- give a soft answer! Our study <a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2808">Growing in Wisdom </a>is based on this handout and supplies you with short answer questions from Scripture as well as flashcards to assist you in teaching your children how to learn to choose the positive instead of the negative that comes so naturally! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><br />
</div><ol start="6" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal">Teaching character builds a solid foundation on which learning can take place. II Peter 1:3 gives a list to add to our faith in Jesus. Virtue (godly character) is next in line above knowledge. If we just teach our children academics, they will become puffed up. We need to teach them to apply godly character in making wise decisions first. With this foundation, learning comes much more easily. Knowledge without character produces educated fools. Knowledge is not the answer to our problems in society, CHARACTER is the answer!</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Teaching character builds a solid foundation for future generations! Proverbs 20:7 says, “ The just man walketh in his integrity; his children are blessed after him.” When a man has learned to make wise choices and walk in integrity, his children who come after him receive a blessing! If you want to insure that your grandchildren and great grandchildren have a secure foundation, teach your children to make wise decisions! As you pour into the lives of your own children, you are building for future generations!</li>
</ol><div class="MsoNormal">More next week</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">~Marilyn</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-84701771861071031342011-08-20T08:28:00.000-04:002011-08-20T08:28:19.666-04:00Part 2: The Importance of Teaching Character to Your Children<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-524t8UypCXk/Tk6xBYHjIoI/AAAAAAAABO8/7QOrpke1j8s/s1600/kids+of+character+flashcards+set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-524t8UypCXk/Tk6xBYHjIoI/AAAAAAAABO8/7QOrpke1j8s/s200/kids+of+character+flashcards+set.jpg" width="183" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> 10<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Compelling Reasons </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (Reasons 1-4 this week)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1. When we teach our children what character qualities are, we are teaching them to understand Jesus better. Jesus is our perfect example of every character quality. Consider His:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 57.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 57.0pt; text-indent: -.25in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span><b>hospitality</b> in the feeding of the 5000,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 57.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 57.0pt; text-indent: -.25in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span><b>self-control</b> in the Garden of Gethsemanae, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 57.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 57.0pt; text-indent: -.25in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span><b>meekness</b> before Pilate, his determination as he set his face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem knowing what awaited him there,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 57.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 57.0pt; text-indent: -.25in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span><b>flexibility</b> as he was stopped by the woman with the issue of blood who touched him and was healed, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 57.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 57.0pt; text-indent: -.25in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span><b>orderliness</b> in dividing the crowd up in groups of 100’s and 50’s as he instructed his disciples to feed them before sending them home, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 57.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 57.0pt; text-indent: -.25in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span><b>boldness</b> in confronting the Pharisees, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 57.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 57.0pt; text-indent: -.25in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span><b>availability</b> to bless the children when they came to him,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We could continue on and find recorded events in Scripture when Jesus is the perfect example of all the character qualities (that would be a great study!) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I recently heard a sermon by a Pastor Davis who taught his congregation on character and at the end of the sermon read the passage of Jesus feeding the 5000. He asked children 12 years old and younger to raise their hands and tell what character qualities they could see from the lives of either Jesus or his disciples in this passage. The kids came up with 13 different character qualities in just this one passage of Scripture. What a great idea for family devotions!!! The first step in teaching your children to be boys and girls of character is to teach them simple definitions for each character quality and a verse from Scripture for each. After they understand what it means, you can then design projects to help them internalize it into their everyday lives.<a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2833"> Kids of Character study and flashcards</a> is a tool we designed to help you do just that with your children. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2. The second reason to study character is to understand why trials come into our lives. God is using our trials for a purpose- to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ. A wise man once said, “Our trials are custom-made” for each of us. When we learn to properly respond to our trials, we get grace from God and develop in our lives more of the positive character quality. When we respond negatively, we see more of the negative character trait grow in our lives.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">3. The third reason to teach our kids character is help them get the guidance they need for everyday life. Prov. 11:3 says <i>the integrity of the upright will guide them. </i>When your child learns to respond with the character of Christ, he will receive the guidance he needs in everyday life. When he chooses to be truthful, more truthfulness will be built into his life. If he chooses not to be truthful, deceptiveness will grow in his life. When we respond to life’s situations with godly character, we will be receptive to God’s will for our lives</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">4. We should guide our children in studying character so they may experience the blessings of God. Psalm 18:20 says “ <i>The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When your child learns to choose truthfulness, he will receive the blessings of truthfulness. When he chooses responsibility he will receive the blessings of being responsible, when he chooses joyfulness, others will enjoy being around him, etc.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We'll cover more reasons next week!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">~Marilyn</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-39757177320970373682011-08-13T08:03:00.000-04:002011-08-13T08:03:57.378-04:00Part 1: The Importance of Teaching Character to Your Children<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span id="goog_2097959452"></span><span id="goog_2097959453"></span>Praising Character<u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Why is it we so often forget to praise our children? As parents we are responsible to steer them in the right direction and because of that we tend to focus on the negative. Sometimes our kids get the impression that we are not easy to please. Praise is a huge motivator and we need to remember to be lavish with our praise for our children.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Why is it when we do think to praise our children we tend to praise them for the wrong things? Think about it- we tend to praise others for achievement, accomplishments, knowledge, position, physical strength or physical looks. When we do that it tends to create in our kids- pride, vanity, jealousy and contention and strife.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Instead, we should praise our children for their character. When we praise them for their diligence for instance, it inspires them to be more diligent. When we praise them for their initiative, they begin looking for more ways to meet the needs of others without even being asked. When we praise them for their responsibility, they step up and feel the inner satisfaction in working hard to fulfill their given chores. In order for our children to work on implementing character in their lives, they need to understand what character is.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">In essence, the study of character is the study of our God. Character qualities are just the character reflected to us in the life of our Savior. When we teach character to our kids we are helping them to be more like Jesus which is the very reason we were created.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Phillipians 3:10 says “That I may know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” We learn character that we may better know our God.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Remember as you prepare for the upcoming school year to plan and prepare to teach character to your children. It’s the most important subject you will ever teach. In the next couple of weeks, I am going to share with you several reasons I have made it my priority in the home education of my children.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">~Marilyn</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-11178509599616974492011-08-09T08:20:00.001-04:002011-08-09T08:21:29.173-04:00August Giveaway Winner!<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"Rebecca"</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> is our winner with her post that said </b></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I became a follower of the blog."</span></i></b></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Congratulations, Rebecca!!</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Thanks to ALL of you who participated in the Giveaway!!</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b><i>winner was chosen using random.org</i></b></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-16736369478375007942011-08-08T07:27:00.003-04:002011-08-09T08:08:20.321-04:00August Giveaway!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>**This Giveaway is now closed!**</b></span><br />
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It's a new month, and that means it's time for another giveaway! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Proverbs People Collection</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">$67.00 Value!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: small;"><i>Winner will be announced on Tuesday morning. Check back on the blog!</i></span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ytsdy2rG6rA/Tjfi7ulR2rI/AAAAAAAABO4/Kv74x6RnjmQ/s1600/proverbs+people+collection+LARGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ytsdy2rG6rA/Tjfi7ulR2rI/AAAAAAAABO4/Kv74x6RnjmQ/s400/proverbs+people+collection+LARGE.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Proverbs People Collection</b> features<i> Proverbs People workbooks I and II</i>,<b> our most popular products</b> for children aged seven to twelve. In addition, it includes <i>Proverbs People flash cards</i> providing two Bible verses for each character type presented in the Proverbs People workbooks. The collection also features the 5-cd set, <i>Uncle Rick Reads the Proverbs.</i> Pop one of these cd’s in at naptime, bedtime or travel time and your children will hear Uncle Rick read <i>and</i> <i>explain</i> the entire book of Proverbs. They will memorize God’s word effortlessly and can go to sleep each night meditating on its mighty truth. Help your child experience the power of Scripture through character study and reinforced listening as well!</span></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>Here's How to Enter:</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>**NOTE: "Anonymous" comments will not be considered. </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">1. Post a Comment telling us where you first heard about or met the Boyers/The Learning Parent (for example: VA homeschool conference, On this Blog, Friend, Facebook, etc.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>For additional entires, you can:</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">1. Become a "Follower" of this blog and tell us that you did....(see the left side column near the bottom)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">2. <b>Mention</b> this giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter and then tell us that you did. (<i>this time</i> we are not looking for people to tell us that they <i>follow </i>us on FB)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>Be sure to post a separate comment for each thing you do!</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">winner will be chosen using random.org</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">please, no international entries</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com274tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-83099117994805850252011-07-29T22:19:00.000-04:002011-07-29T22:19:20.051-04:00Character Matters<div><span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">Hello. I am your child’s future employer. No doubt you’ve thought about me, though we haven’t met. You’re teaching your child at home because you want the best future possible for him (or her). One of the things you’re concerned about is your child’s preparation for a career. That’s wise. Everybody has to make a living doing something, and it’s not a good idea to wait until they’re grown up and on their own before some preparation is made for that. So I’m going to do you a favor. I’m going to tell you in advance what I’m looking for in a young person I’m considering hiring.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Because of your own schooling, you may be more concerned about grades and tests than you should be. They make a big deal out of such things in school, but frankly I couldn’t care less. Sure, I want your kid to be literate when he comes to see me about a job. I need basic reading, communication and math skills. But I don’t care what your kid’s SAT score was. That doesn’t translate into a good employee.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">If you stop to think about it, you don’t care all that much, either. As a consumer, have you ever asked the plumber, your doctor or the Chief of the fire department what sort of test scores he had in school? No. You’re not concerned about what he did twenty years ago as a student; you want to know what he can do now. As a professional. For you.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">That’s where I’m coming from. I’ve had bright kids and slow kids work for me and I’ve seen good and bad in both. I don’t see any way that real intelligence can be measured on tests, but even if it can, that’s not what makes an employee a winner in my eyes. I’ve had too many intelligent jerks on the payroll.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">I’ll tell you what I’m looking for. And if you’re smart and if you want the best for your kid, you’ll pay attention. I’ve been in business for a long time. I’ve hired a lot of people and I’ve had to fire quite a few. It’s not fun being a boss at a time like that, but it comes with the territory. I can’t afford to employ your kid because he needs a job or he’s a nice person or because you’re a personal friend of mine. But I’ll tell you what will make me eager to be your kid’s employer and I can say it in one word. That word is character.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Yes, I said character. With a capital C. I’m not looking for young people who know everything; I’m looking for young people who are good people. I can teach them the job skills they need, but only you can teach them good character.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">To start with, I need the character quality of <b>honesty</b>. You’d be surprised how hard it is to find people I can trust to come to work, do their jobs and not walk out with a bunch of my property. Besides stealing from me, which is terrible, it’s even worse when employees steal from my customers. The people who do business here trust me, and I take that seriously. I won’t keep an employee who delivers a product or service that is less than the customer intended to pay for. If I send an employee to your home to make a delivery or perform some work, I don’t want to have to worry about him lifting some of your jewelry or silver. If I can’t trust an employee’s basic honesty, I can never have a moment’s peace or rest.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">I need <b>diligent</b> people. People who don’t have to be horsewhipped to keep them working at a responsible pace. I’m not a slave driver, but I want a real hour’s work for an agreed-upon hour’s pay. That doesn’t sound like I’m asking for much, does it? Yet you’d be amazed at how few people have any sense of obligation about it. That is, you’d be amazed if you’ve never been an employer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">I need humble people. People who don’t know everything and don’t mind being told there’s a better way to do it and are willing to do things the way I prefer, just because I prefer it. After all, I’m writing the check. I want what I want for that money, just as much as you want the exact product or service you expect when you’re writing the check as a customer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">I need <b>loyal</b> people. I don’t ask anybody to work for me forever; I understand that people sometimes need to better themselves vocationally or just want to move on to something different. And I understand that loyalty is a two-way street. I try to take care of my people. All I ask is that they give me a decent amount of consideration and act as if I have needs, too. Because I do.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">I need people who are respectful. If your kids backtalk you all the time, if they’re mouthy and rude, please don’t send them to me. I know they’re driving you crazy, and they’ll do the same to me. Worse, they’ll be a thorn in the flesh to their supervisor and co-workers. Your kid does not have enough talent to make up for the problems he’ll cause here if he doesn’t respect authority and—well, just basic human dignity. If he doesn’t respect people I don’t need him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">I need people who are <b>thorough</b>. A lick and a promise just aren’t good enough for my customers. Surely you’ve had the experience of paying good money for a car with hidden defects, an overdone steak, kitchen knives that won’t stay sharp or a cup of lukewarm coffee. Don’t send me your kid with a resume in his hand if he won’t follow through on projects and get it done all the way.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">A little <b>patience</b> would be helpful, too. Your kid will have to work with bosses, fellow employees and customers. If he can’t control his temper and put forth the effort to hide his natural irritations a bit, he’ll constantly be waging word-wars with the other workers and probably some of the people who give us their money in exchange for our services. After all, they’re people too. They occasionally have a bad hair day and may need a little forbearance. If an employee has the maturity to control his temper, we can satisfactorily do business with most people. If not, a moody customer may become an ex-customer. I can’t afford that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Have you ever thought about <b>contentment</b> as a job qualification? By that I don’t mean a guy who never wants to rise above his present position in the company. I like ambition and I respect it. I reward it in my company; the person who is always trying to be better gets raises and promotions here. The contentment I’m talking about is the willingness to tolerate the little discomforts of the present situation and accept them as a normal part of life. One of the most annoying things for an employer is workers who constantly gripe. Nothing is ever good enough for them. If something about the work or the company policies or the boss is less than ideal, these folks make sure to spread the discontent. Suffering in silence is not an option, nor is going through the chain of command and trying to work out a reasonable solution. No, these types have to gripe and fuss and make it a lousy day at work for everybody around them. It never seems to occur to them that I really try to make this a good place to work. Or that there are limitations on me as well, and I can’t control every little detail of the situation. For Pete’s sake, we’re not being paid to have a party, we’re being paid to do what the customer wants us to do. We can try to have everything just like we want it after work, but even then it’s pretty hard to pull off.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Finally, I’d appreciate it if you’d teach your kid some <b>prudence</b>. I mean good, old-fashioned common sense. Some of the people who have worked here didn’t seem to know enough to come in out of the rain. The sort of people you have to leave a trail of bread crumbs for if you want them to get to the right place at the right time. Call it prudence, call it good sense, call it wisdom if you want to. It’s an aspect of character that reduces waste in time, energy and expense. It’s critical to productivity, efficiency and even safety. You wouldn’t believe some of the stupid things I’ve seen people do, causing endless problems for others and even putting fellow employees in danger. Just because of a lack of judgment. Prudence.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">I’m not saying your kid has to be a cherub to work here. I’m not perfect and neither is anybody else in the company. All I’m asking is that applicants show up with a good attitude and act like they have a decent degree of consideration for the needs of others. If they have that attitude they will meet the needs of the job and climb up the career ladder at a good pace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">So if I may offer a little advice from the other side of the employment relationship, teach your kids first and foremost to be<b> people of character</b>. They’ll make the workplace a better place for themselves and everybody else. If they work for me, I’ll see to it that they make more money, get more appreciation, and rise faster in position than any straight-A whiz kid who ever walked through my door thinking he was doing me a favor by applying for a job here. A young person of character can do well in my business or in any business where he chooses to work.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Come to think of it though, that may not last long. Young people like that usually end up being their own boss.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">~Rick</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Related Products:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Be sure to check out our<a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/products.asp?cat=60"> Character Concepts</a> Series of Resources. Our goal is equip you, the parent, with the tools you need to successfully teach your children the principles of good Character!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Kids of Character </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2758">Flashcards</a>, <a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2837">Study Workbook</a>, or <a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2833">Set</a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-62MOMN3OO2E/TjL0TVZpDsI/AAAAAAAABOs/ROJmmhPFV1c/s1600/kids+of+character+flashcards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-62MOMN3OO2E/TjL0TVZpDsI/AAAAAAAABOs/ROJmmhPFV1c/s200/kids+of+character+flashcards.jpg" width="154" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2639">How to Raise Kids of Character </a>(CD or <a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2638">DVD</a>)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yI77UmomoXM/TjL0yADSyRI/AAAAAAAABOw/unDNwyAOvcA/s1600/How+to+raise+kids+of+character+cd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yI77UmomoXM/TjL0yADSyRI/AAAAAAAABOw/unDNwyAOvcA/s1600/How+to+raise+kids+of+character+cd.jpg" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-79132764836748903002011-07-14T21:51:00.002-04:002011-09-27T22:45:32.591-04:00A Few Thoughts on Life with Toddlers....<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qrTUxfmhd8Q/Th-dkZiMiVI/AAAAAAAABN8/NpPkvGyETYs/s1600/anne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qrTUxfmhd8Q/Th-dkZiMiVI/AAAAAAAABN8/NpPkvGyETYs/s200/anne.jpg" width="149" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I had always heard, “Watch out for those terrible two’s”. I really don’t think it has anything to do with being two – sometimes it’s being three. But it doesn’t have to be terrible. It’s just another “season” and as always, each toddler handles it differently according to their God-given personality and how you handle it. Some children are very sensitive and respond to “no” by crying. Others are headstrong and test the limits. You and your husband need to get your heads together (over a steak dinner, of course) and set a <i>few</i> but <i>simple</i> rules of behavior. Don’t expect your child to automatically know what you expect. I remember Carrie, at about a year old, couldn’t talk very well yet, and would want to communicate with me, but couldn’t get her point across, so she would scream. This “season” didn’t last terribly long, but I tried to put myself in her shoes. She was number eight in the lineup, it was hard to get a word in edgewise, and she had trouble mustering up the words anyway. I would try to ask her what the problem was and remedy the situation, but it wasn’t always easy. Neither would it have been right to just spank her and expect quietness. She had a frustration and couldn’t express it so she had to be taught how to properly express it. It was just a blip in her training. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The main thing to remember is to deal with your children reasonably and with understanding, as you would want God to deal with you.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Then there’s Laura, a little bundle of energy (my only child who loved the wind in her face as an infant). She was constantly on the go and making noise. She threw herself into life and made the most of it – loudly. (Her brother coined a special nickname for her: “Mouthy.”) I have memories of her as a 15-month old, as I was trying to do school with the others, sitting in the middle of the kitchen table delightedly taking caps off markers and flinging them wildly in every direction. She didn’t need a spanking, just loving re-direction.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Life with a toddler doesn’t always flow smoothly, but neither does it need to be a constant battle of wills. Stop, pray, ask God for wisdom, try to put yourself in your child’s shoes, and <i>then</i> correct them. Realize that firmness doesn’t mean meanness. The creativity of God is available for the asking.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As a parent, don’t let your emotions go unbridled. Go to God first, get your emotions right, and then correct your child. Learn to distinguish childishness from disobedience. There is a difference. Don’t expect your toddler to act like an adult. Remember not to react as a toddler might, but ask God to guide your correction.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Potty training doesn’t have to be and shouldn’t be a big deal. There comes a time in each toddler’s life when they’re ready, really ready, and if you can be patient and let it occur naturally, it won’t be a big deal. Society tends to put pressure on us to have our kids potty trained, and young moms will get together and compare notes on what age little Tommy and Susie were potty trained. My kids were late, compared to others, and each one was different from the next, but somewhere between two and four years old they were potty trained. I’ve found usually when children are trained early, it’s more mom being trained to run them to the potty every fifteen minutes than anything else. I didn’t have time or interest for that. Training my kids in God’s Word was a priority, not using the potty.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When interest came up, I’d show them how, and sometimes give small rewards for using the potty, but I never pressured them or shamed them when they had an accident. When they’re a little older, they can wait longer periods of time, and you won’t have the problem of having to stop at every public toilet in town. When they’re staying dry all night and interested in trying, then begin training, but if you find they’re just not catching on, big deal. It’s easier to change diapers than having accidents to clean up all over the house and car.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I never had much of a problem with bed wetters by waiting until they were a little older. Often, when a child feels pressure to use the potty and shame or disappointment at accidents, they’ll get over-cautious about it and focus on it too much and be afraid of failing. Let them be free to learn in God’s timing.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Just relax. If they have trouble with wetting the bed, use diapers just at night – it’s usually the deep sleepers that can’t wake up soon enough, but it will come. It’s no big deal. Don’t make them think it is.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">At one point, I had three kids in diapers for a few months, but they all learn, and it’s just not important what age they are when physically and mentally it clicks and underpants can be bought. That’s often an incentive in itself. Also, younger kids will often want to wear big boy pants like big brother does!<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Actually, the toddler stage is quite delightful. We get so many laughs and so many of our funny family stories from the toddler years. As you try to guide your toddler in right behavior, think how we must appear to God at times and learn from it. Hold those toddlers a lot. Learn what delights them and be a part of it. Take time to hold that toad, pick a flower, do a leaf rubbing, take a walk in the woods. Toddlers are delighted by their world. Capitalize on their interests and teach them truths about God. Start teaching them scripture. Read to them <i>a lot</i>. I remember reading one child’s book over eighteen times in one sitting to my firstborn. Say no to lesser things and spend <i>time</i> with your toddler. Let him know you delight in him and love being with him.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It has been said that much of a child’s character is formed by the time he reaches five years of age. Moses’ mother, during the time until she weaned him (about four or five years) had managed to build in him a love for God and sense of destiny for his life.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The toddler years are building-block years of training and teaching. Don’t let your time be squandered away.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; font-size: x-small;">~Marilyn</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; font-size: x-small;">taken from <a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=1950">Parenting from the Heart</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We're linked up to: <a href="http://womenlivingwell.org/">Women Living Well</a> & <a href="http://raisinghomemakers.com/">Raising Homemakers</a></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-52851743201663914732011-07-12T08:17:00.000-04:002011-07-12T08:17:46.992-04:00We Have a Winner!<div>Thanks to ALL of you who participated in our first ever giveaway! I'm sure we will be having more opportunities like this for you in the future! </div><div><br />
</div>But this time- Our Winner is....<div><br />
</div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Jamie~</span></b> (who commented:<i> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">I like you on FB, too! I wish I could "love" you, but sadly, that option isn't given. Thanks for this giveaway!)</span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Congratulations, Jamie! We will be contacting you very soon. We hope you enjoy your Character Concepts for Preschoolers Basic Curriculum!</span></i></div><div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Jamie was selected using random.org</span></i></div></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i><b>Since there can only be one winner, we will be offering this Character Concepts Pack along with our other Character Concepts for Preschoolers packs <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">25% off. </span>Watch for the Sale Email later this week! If you do not receive our Sale Emails- go to <a href="http://www.thelearningparent.com/newaccount.asp">The Learning Parent </a>and Sign up today!</b></i></span></span></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-39382501666832980312011-07-11T10:04:00.004-04:002011-07-12T08:19:31.870-04:00Free Giveaway! Character Concepts for Preschoolers Basic Curriculum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">~This Giveaway is now closed~</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Congratulations to Jamie~! </div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H75g0yvnwCU/ThckyZX0voI/AAAAAAAABN4/o-GahlEIcgw/s1600/CCFPbasicmed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H75g0yvnwCU/ThckyZX0voI/AAAAAAAABN4/o-GahlEIcgw/s400/CCFPbasicmed.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The Character Concepts for Preschoolers Basic Pack values at $89.95 and includes:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #414141; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong>1. Crossroads of Character: Learning to Make Wise Choices</strong><br />
This colorfully illustrated book teaches your child 12 basic character qualities, vital to your his understanding of how to make wise choices in his everyday life. The Boyer cousins (my grandchildren) are the main characters in the simple, but effective, stories in decision making. The goal is to teach your child the definition of the character qualities (your child can't implement character in their lives without understanding what it is), and also teaches them a Scripture verse (what God says about it).<br />
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<strong> 2. History for Preschoolers CD</strong><br />
Uncle Rick has recorded a CD set with stories of American heroes who also illustrate these character qualities in their lives. We supply a picture of these heroes in our<em> Mom's Guide</em> so you can show them to your child as they listen to these Uncle Rick character stories.<br />
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<strong>3. Learning Character with the Cousins Flashcards</strong><br />
These flashcards present the character qualities found in <em>Crossroads of Character</em>, the definition, and the Scripture verse. Full-color pictures on the flashcards also make memorizing easier, as the child will remember the story that is associated with each Character Quality.<br />
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<strong>4. Learning ABC's with the Cousins Flashcards</strong><br />
A set of photographic flashcards for learning the alphabet sounds.<br />
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<strong>5. Hands-on Character Building</strong><br />
Proven ideas and projects for teaching character.<br />
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<strong>6. Mom's Guide</strong><br />
Supplies you with the information and plan to effectively teach your preschoolers for a full 36-week period. Patterns are given for seasonal and educational crafts. Suggestions are made for family fun trips to help make learning fun, and as a bonus, over 30 recipes are included for fun food to make with your preschooler.<br />
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Also included are Bible stories and pictures of a person in Scripture who illustrates this character quality in their life. Provided for your use are coloring pages for your child to use as you read them the Bible story provided.<br />
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The Mom's Guide really does guide you through the curriculum- step by step- our goal was to make it as easy for mom as possible!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #414141; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #414141; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: x-small;">(you can see inside this product at <a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2607">The Learning Parent</a>)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #414141; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><b>Here's how to Enter:</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #414141; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #414141; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">a. "Like" us on<a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheLearningParent"> facebook</a> and then leave a comment here on this post that tells us that you did!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #414141; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">OR</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #414141; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">b. If you already "like" us on<a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheLearningParent"> facebook</a>, leave a comment on this post, and tell us that you're already a fan!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Winner will be announced on Tuesday, July 12! </b><br />
<b>We'll post the winner's name here on the blog and we'll contact you, the winner, via facebook</b><br />
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</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>**</b>Some of you have asked if you can enter this giveaway if you are not on Facebook. This time, we are limiting it to people who are Facebook users since those were the rules that we originally gave.We realize that this does exclude some of you- but I am sure we will be offering more giveaways in the future that can include all of you. We are new at doing these giveaways and are still trying to work out some of the little kinks along the way. We thought starting with Facebook users would be a good starting point. </span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Thanks for your interest!</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">~Kari Boyer</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Winner will be chosen on Tuesday, July 12</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Winners will be decided by random.org, using the True Random Number Generato</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">r</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />
</i></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com161tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-3825953716837842362011-07-08T07:12:00.002-04:002011-07-08T07:30:29.935-04:00Keep it Simple<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Stop Making a School of Yourself.</b></span><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: black;">The biggest problem most home school moms have is the one in their own heads: <i>schoolishness.</i> It’s not surprising. After all, we all grew up in the factory schools where one size misfits all and you’re taught the same things in the same way with the same materials at the same age. As if people had no individual personalities at all.</span><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span><span style="color: black;">So we approach teaching our children with a head full of presuppositions from having seen things done a certain way all our growing-up years. And we find ourselves doing things that don’t make sense and which make life harder, not easier for us and our kids. We make Johnny finish all the practice problems in the math book even though he has already demonstrated mastery and is bored to tears with the useless repetition. Let him turn the page! We interrupt Susy in the middle of writing an exciting story because the clock says it is “time for” her to memorize some list of facts. We jump though all the hoops prescribed by the teacher’s guide just because it says to—even if it burns up time that would be better used for a library trip or an experiment with some yucky thing a little boy found growing in the woods. </span><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span><span style="color: black;">We worry about “gaps” in our program. As if anyone could really write a complete life curriculum. If you take that idea to its logical conclusion, there is a gap in your own education for every question you ever answered incorrectly on a test. </span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: black;">Mom, lighten up. Trust yourself. God did—that’s why He placed those children in your care. You’re living life as a dedicated Christian adult. You already know what it takes to walk the walk. Trust the fact that God entrusted little lives to you. He knows you can lead them through these years in a way that will prepare them for the years to come. Teach them the things you’re glad you learned as a kid and the things you wish you had. Introduce them to important books and interesting people. Take them places that will make them think and ask questions... And do it as a family, not as part of a support group mob. </span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: black;">Get them involved in service projects, teaching them by experience that the world doesn’t revolve around them. Find opportunities for them to trade real work for real money, even in little bits. They need the experience of seeing the value of time by trading it for something of measurable worth.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: black;">Want to make home schooling simpler? Trust yourself to make decisions and God to guide you. Worship Him instead of a curriculum publisher. Design an individual life curriculum for each child as you go. Use published materials where they seem to work well, but realize that learning is all around you all the time. Cultivate in yourself a curiosity about the world around you, and your children will learn to learn by watching you getting an education. Take advantage of the incidental opportunities for learning that come along. Encourage the kids’ individual interests—even if they’re not interesting to you—knowing that one interest leads to another and the learning goes on and on. </span><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span><span style="color: black;">In other words, cultivate a lifestyle of learning and serving, then lead your children through it. That will prepare them for whatever later life may bring.</span><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span><span style="color: black;">It’s really not that complicated unless you make it that way. Keep it simple. </span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
~Rick Boyer<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">For More on this Subject See: <a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=1">Home Educating with Confidence</a> and <a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=1774">Homeschooling: Keeping it Simple</a></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-8203244159781166342011-07-01T15:25:00.000-04:002011-07-01T15:25:15.240-04:00One Nation, Under God<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">George Washington said. “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts in the affairs of men more than the people of the <u></u><u></u>United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinquished by some token of Providential agency…We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of heaven cannot be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which heaven itself has ordained.”<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><u></u> <u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Let me tell you about an instance of this marvelous Hand of God in behalf of the colonists during the American Revolution. It happened at <u></u><u></u>Dorchester<u></u> <u></u>Heights<u></u><u></u>. At the time, the British were occupying <u></u><u></u>Boston<u></u><u></u>, 10, 000 strong. <u></u>Washington<u></u> felt compelled to fortify <u></u><u></u>Dorchester<u></u> <u></u>Heights<u></u><u></u> to try to drive the British away. During the night the soldiers carried bales of hay and drove wagons with fortification supplies up the hill in darkness and utmost quietness. It was a hazy night, down at the foot of the hill, that is. Once the men got to the top, it was crystal clear and they could see to build their fortifications.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><u></u> <u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the morning when the British general awoke, he was stunned to see that the colonial army occupied the hill! He was reported to have said, “The American army got more done in one night than my men would have gotten done in 6 months!<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><u></u> <u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Still, he prepared his cannons on his ships to take the hill. The colonists had no cannons at this point. That night a “natural disaster” occurred in favor of the American troops. A terrible storm blew up such as no one had seen. It blew the British ships into disarray and broke their masts. In the morning, the General saw his ships wrecked and knew by the time he got things repaired, the Americans would have had time enough to have a real advantage.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><u></u> <u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Rev. William Gordon, a local preacher, later said, “When I heard in the night how amazingly strong the wind blew I pleased myself with the reflection that the Lord might be working delivery for us and thus prevent the diffusion of human blood. It proved to be so.”<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><u></u> <u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Without the shedding of a drop of blood, the British quickly withdrew their 10, 000 soldiers from the city of <u></u><u></u>Boston<u></u><u></u> on March 17, 1776. The victory at <u></u><u></u>Dorchester<u></u> <u></u>Heights<u></u><u></u> gave great confidence to the Americans! <u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">John Quincy Adams,son of John Adams later wrote, “Posterity, you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.” That statement pierced me deeply. We have forgotten what it cost! We, in most cases, never truly learned what it cost. We are ignorant. God grant that we may change that fact and rediscover these truths, teach them to our children and pray that God will once again pour out His blessing on our land! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">~Marilyn</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-62172893030262231302011-06-02T18:39:00.000-04:002011-06-02T18:39:05.415-04:00Age Appropriate Chores<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-32NIOGrUmsU/TegQ6xg556I/AAAAAAAABN0/Pd7l1_jaqYo/s1600/cass+doing+chores.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-32NIOGrUmsU/TegQ6xg556I/AAAAAAAABN0/Pd7l1_jaqYo/s320/cass+doing+chores.JPG" width="213" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">It is during the summer months that I assign chores to each of the kids and train them how to properly do their chores. They then keep those chores during the next "school" year so it flows more smoothly by having the chore training done before the usual busyness and readjusting that comes with a new school year. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Initially, I just made a list of all the chores that needed to be done in our home. Every summer then, I evaluate who is best equipped to do which chores, (based on age and maturity) some of which I reserve for myself depending on the maturity levels of the kids at the time. I then <b>do</b> the chores with each child to explain how I want it done. <b>Kids don't just automatically know what you expect of them, so we do it together for a few times until I feel they understand how to do it properly</b>. Then after they begin doing it on their own, I will check up on how it's been done. Maybe I missed explaining an important piece of information, so if it's not done right, I have them watch me one more time. Inspections need to be done on a regular basis though, and sometimes I may need to call them back to complete it thoroughly. If you end up having to interrupt them when they are doing something fun in their free time to come back and do it correctly, they will learn to do it right the first time!</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> I have been asked by moms to share with you my list of chores. I will give a rough idea of what ages are able to do which chores, but that is very dependent on each individual child, so you will have to evaluate that separately for each child. Note that any child can do the chores that younger kids can do, so don't hold to the age suggested very tightly.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b><i>Another tip: </i></b>Often the older kids can help train the younger. When Nate and Josh had the job of cleaning the bathrooms, I told them if they could train Matt and Emily to do it properly, next year it would Matt and Emily's job. They were very motivated to train them correctly!!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Here's our list to help you out based on some of the needs we have had over the years. Your's will be unique to your situation. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">~Marilyn</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b>Chores 2-5 year olds can do:</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">wall washing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">cleaning base boards</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">cleaning door knobs</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">feed animals</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">dusting louvered doors with feather duster</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">clean leather furniture with leather wipes</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b>Chores for 6 years and older</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">dusting</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">vacuuming</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">sweeping</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">mopping</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">wipe table and counters</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">wash dishes or load dishwasher</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">dry dishes of unload dishwasher and put away</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">empty trash</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">organize bookcases</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">clean up after the dog</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">clean cobwebs</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">vacuum furniture</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">dust blinds</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">wash windows</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">clean fireplace doors</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">organize telephone book drawer</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">straighten cabinets</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">straighten linen closet</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">fold laundry- put away</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">pick up yard</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">upkeep of flower beds- pick dead heads off flowers, water, weed, etc</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">clean car</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b>8 years and up</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">clean car</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">mow</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">clean shed</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">clean ashes out of wood stove</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">bring wood to wood pile</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">bake bread</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">make breakfast muffins</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">make lunch</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">plan meals</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">watch baby while you are busy in the house</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">do fun projects with little ones</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-65716507319819100282011-04-26T07:38:00.000-04:002011-04-26T07:38:44.464-04:00Modesty: From a Guy's Point of ViewOur son Matt was recently asked to answer a few questions about modesty from a guys point of view for a blog. You can find the original post <a href="http://stayathomedaughter.wordpress.com/2011/03/27/guest-post-modesty-from-a-guy%E2%80%99s-view/"><b>here</b>.</a> I encourage you to read more from the Stay at Home Daughter blog, which belongs to Ashley Schnarr, who also has written the book, <a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2714">Keeping House While Keeping Sane</a>, which the Learning Parent offers to you. <b><i>(check it out today for a special price) </i></b><br />
<br />
Modesty: From a Guy's Point of View<br />
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Question #1: Do you think modesty is something women should be concerned about, or is it not really very important to consider when choosing clothing?</strong></em></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Answer:</strong> Indeed, it is. In fact, scripture specifically commands it: I Timothy 2:8-10, “I desire….that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works”. Considering that these instructions were given in the context of a local church, it would seem that the implication is that women should dress and behave in such a way as to avoid causing distraction when the Body gathers. Distraction could come from either (1) indecent clothing that would catch the attention of men and feed sexual desires (hence the reference to propriety), or (2) from very costly attire that could incite other, less prosperous women to jealousy (thus, moderation). Conversely, scripture has nothing positive to say about women who dress immodestly (see Prov. 7:10 which, while it addresses far more than the attire of the woman it refers to, does include her dress as one of the ways she entices men).</em></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Question # 2: Do you believe modesty is only about clothing, or is it also a heart/attitude issue?</strong></em></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Answer:</strong> Modesty in attire and behavior is an outworking of a proper attitude of submission toward God and one’s husband (I Peter 3:1-6). It should not be seen as a way of earning favor with God or obtaining spiritual maturity; rather it should be a result of the Holy Spirit applying God’s Word to the heart of the believer. The more we learn of God, and the more mature we become, the more we will desire to obey his commands.</em></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Question # 3: Do you believe modesty is only at the discretion of the woman wearing the clothing, or is it also the role/responsibility of another to ensure a woman is dressing modestly? If so, who has this main role/responsibility, and why?</strong></em></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Answer:</strong> I believe that the husband has the scriptural authority/responsibility to lead his wife in submitting to scripture in every area. Additionally, a woman who dresses immodestly exposes herself to greater danger from men around her who lack self-control, and it is clearly the husband’s job to protect her from harm. Therefore I think he should have enough concern for her spiritual and physical well-being that he would point out if something in her wardrobe is inappropriate. That is not to say that husbands have to choose their wife’s entire wardrobe (as this could result in major fashion problems), only that they should care enough to be involved-and their wives should heed their counsel.</em></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As to other counselors/authority figures (for single ladies), I’m not sure I could give you a chapter and verse to back this up but I would think it would be very wise to address any modesty-related questions to parents/siblings (particularly fathers and brothers, as they would know first-hand what attracts inappropriate attention from guys).</em></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Question # 4: Do you feel it can be modest and feminine for a woman to wear pants provided they are not too tight?</strong></em></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Answer:</strong> Yes; in fact, sometimes it is more modest, considering that there are some very inadequate skirts out there. Also, there are some activities for which pants are better suited.</em></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Question # 5: If a woman dresses modestly is it easier for men to keep their mind focused on the Lord when speaking with her?</strong></em></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Answer:</strong> Yes. A man’s passions and desires are, largely, visually driven and it is therefore much easier to keep our focus right when in the presence of a well-dressed young lady.</em></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Let me say at this point that I do not blame men’s struggles with lust entirely, or even mostly, on women’s attire or behavior. If a man stumbles (or dives) into sin he bears the blame for his own actions/thoughts. One can not be tempted to do something that he has no desire to do, and we often find objects for our desires whether or not they present themselves. <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sin ultimately begins in the depraved heart, something which no one other than God has the power to change. That having been said, however, women certainly have the choice of whether to be a help or a hindrance to us in this battle. You can be a great encouragement, or a stumbling block depending on how you choose to dress and conduct yourself.</strong> I, for one, would like to express my appreciation to those of you who are concerned enough about this issue to even be reading about it, and much more so to be considering it as you make everyday decisions concerning your attire and conduct.</div><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_609" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f1f1f1; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 24px; margin-top: 4px; max-width: 632px !important; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 210px;"><a href="http://stayathomedaughter.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/28848_452004114376_677374376_5780879_7826534_n1.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-609" height="300" src="http://stayathomedaughter.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/28848_452004114376_677374376_5780879_7826534_n1.jpg?w=200&h=300" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-width: initial; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" title="Matt Boyer " width="200" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #888888; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Matt Boyer</div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Matt Boyer</strong>, son of Rick and Marilyn from <a href="http://www.thelearningparent.com/default.asp" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Learning Parent</a>, is a young man with a noticeable passion for Christ. I met Matt at our local church where he ministers to the body in song, as an usher and Small Groups leader. Some of his interests range from music, reading, politics and working with his hands.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve been blessed by his excellent insights on a variety of topics including the one above.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Find more articles from this series at the <a href="http://stayathomedaughter.wordpress.com/category/modesty/">Stay at Home Daughter blog</a></strong></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-44576530347404783602011-04-18T15:36:00.002-04:002011-04-18T15:46:48.729-04:00Easter Cookies with a Gospel Message<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yJObS93KRWk/TaySMpKLYHI/AAAAAAAABNc/fhvcS_p0asM/s1600/Easter....spring+2009+007+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yJObS93KRWk/TaySMpKLYHI/AAAAAAAABNc/fhvcS_p0asM/s200/Easter....spring+2009+007+-+Copy.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B3UEemj9g7A/TaySK-FwDoI/AAAAAAAABNY/d4RMyAVMttQ/s1600/Easter....spring+2009+002+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B3UEemj9g7A/TaySK-FwDoI/AAAAAAAABNY/d4RMyAVMttQ/s1600/Easter....spring+2009+002+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B3UEemj9g7A/TaySK-FwDoI/AAAAAAAABNY/d4RMyAVMttQ/s200/Easter....spring+2009+002+-+Copy.jpg" width="200" /></a>Much like the anticipated tradition of making Christmas cookies, me and my children have made making Easter Cookies a tradition as well. But, aside from enjoying these yummy treats, we like to share them with neighbors and include a message about the true meaning of Easter. Bunnies, eggs, and candies aside- I want to help my kids focus on the message of the gospel.<br />
It is easy- too easy- to find "Spring-time" cookie cutters. But finding some that are actually "Easter" oriented is a little harder. So, I was excited to find this set of cookie cutters at a local grocery store a few years back. The set included a lamb, a church, a cross, (and one other cutter that I did not use.) Amazon.com also carries these cutters...<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fox-Run-Christian-Themed-Cutters/dp/B003D2MUVO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1303154358&sr=8-2">click here</a>.<br />
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We just made sugar cookies and I let the kids take turns cutting out the shapes. While doing this, we talked about what each shape could<a href="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=1rn2m0VLNnyaTPo98i4Xrn_X0tgEYEcGsMLLK8mjm83rHAAEi-Xd8nO_KDNqf&hl=en&authkey=CPWA4-cI"> remind us about Easter.</a> After, finishing the cookies, we prepared plates for neighbors and family, and included a little tag with some verses that explained the cookies.<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=1rn2m0VLNnyaTPo98i4Xrn_X0tgEYEcGsMLLK8mjm83rHAAEi-Xd8nO_KDNqf&hl=en&authkey=CPWA4-cI">Here are the verses and descriptions I used last yea</a>r, just to give you an idea. (Feel free to copy and paste and print to use for yourself.)<br />
To make the tag I just cut out each description with verse, individually, and glued them to a colorful piece of construction paper or card stock. It can be as simple as that or you could definitely get more creative with it, too!<br />
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If you are giving this small gift to unsaved family or friends, pray with your children that God will use this simple seed in their hearts.<br />
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Last year, we took a platter of these cookies to a family get-together, and read the verses out loud before easting them. It was a nice small way to point my kids (and the adults and myself, too!) back to the reason for Easter. Whenever you are able, point your children back to the gospel!<br />
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~Kari BoyerUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-79648926559471953212011-04-05T22:02:00.000-04:002011-04-05T22:02:43.059-04:00When Siblings Don't Get Along: Part 2- Applying God's Word<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">God has created the family to be the training ground for children. Since we are all born with a sin nature, righteous behavior doesn’t come naturally. Therefore, it is our primary job as parents to train our kids to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and mind. That awesome job requires intentional time put into training them to look to Scripture as the practical guidebook for their lives that supplies them with principles to follow and answers to every dilemma they will face. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Of all the things we teach our children, the most crucial of all is how to find answers to everyday situations in life and learn to make wise choices. Many of us are still trying to learn this ourselves. I’ve found as I spend time teaching my children the application of God’s Word, I am learning it myself!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In my 36 years of child training I have gone to Scripture to find out what it says about teasing, mocking, anger, slothfulness, rudeness, etc. in order to be able to share this with my children. When our children have trouble getting along, which they will, it is actually God’s direction for US to search out insight from Scripture and spend time diligently teaching this to our kids. (BTW, our new character/Bible studies are a result of my years of looking up these Scriptures to teach them to my children. <b><a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2833">Kids of Character</a></b> teaches 45 character qualities in simple to understand language and leads the child in searching out what God has to say about them.<a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2808"> <b>Growing in Wisdom</b></a> is from my list of offenses- anger, teasing, mocking etc and leading the children in a study from God’s Word of not only the negative trait, but the corresponding positive as well. The flashcards reinforce the verses to be learned. After sharing with parents for years how we went about it in our family, I finally took the time to get it into a form you and your kids can benefit from without having to dig it all out yourself.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Let me give you a couple of examples: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Your children are speaking to each other in angry tones. You come in to the situation. Who knows who started it?? No one will ever admit to that. Actually, it really doesn’t matter. They are both making the wrong choice. Proverbs 15:1 teaches us: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger</b>.” Both children need to learn how to deal with the anger of another. It never solves the problem to snap angrily back at another. Instead, one person needs to apply God’s solution to the situation and then watch God work. God honors his principles. Try giving a soft answer. You will soon see the anger of the other person begin to subside. (If one child is constantly antagonizing the other, then that is another issue that needs to be dealt with.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">As you attempt to lead your children, watch for patterns to emerge. If one child often struggles in a certain area, then that is God’s direction for you to concentrate on teaching them what God’s Word has to say about that sin. We always used the struggles of our child as direction of what Scriptures they needed to be learning. God’s Word never returns void, but if you see a constant battle in your child’s life, that needs to be the focus for their Scripture memory. It is ultimately God’s Word that will change their attitude as they learn to exchange their thoughts for God’s thoughts! (Isaiah 55: 8)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">(As you teach your children, if you choose to use our studies, don’t feel like you have to start at page 1 and work through it. If your kids are battling with teasing, begin there. Let conflicts in your home direct your teaching of God’s Word to your children.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Head knowledge puffeth up. The mind learns information, but we need to move that information to the heart, by practical application, and you as the parent make it your goal to walk your child through their struggles. Show them how the wrong response produces wrong responses in others as well and how God honors and rewards one who chooses to make the wise choices in life. Prepare for an adventure, because it’s a lifestyle we’re talking about. As you lead your child to apply God’s wisdom to his everyday life, God will also reveal sin patterns in your own life that need the application of God’s Word as well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I was reading a book by George Barna recently on Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions. He claims from his study that “by the age of 13, your spiritual identity is largely set in place.” He advises parents to maximize their influence to train their children in the Scriptures while the child is young. He says<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, “If you connect with children today, effectively teaching them Biblical principles and foundations from the start, then you will see the fruit of that effort blossom for decades to come. The more diligent we are in these efforts, the more prodigious a harvest we will reap. Alternatively, the more lackadaisical we choose to be in our efforts to raise up children as moral and spiritual champions, the less healthy the Church and society of the future will be. The choice is yours.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />
</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">~Marilyn</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-22816274626927544592011-03-15T21:43:00.000-04:002011-03-15T21:43:49.866-04:00When Siblings Don't Get Along: Part 1- Why do My Children Argue So Much?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-33lxfUdjxFQ/TYAVp0zUNTI/AAAAAAAABNU/jh7a4wvCVbg/s1600/sibling+rivalry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-33lxfUdjxFQ/TYAVp0zUNTI/AAAAAAAABNU/jh7a4wvCVbg/s1600/sibling+rivalry.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Why do my children argue so much?!"</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It may be simply <i>because you let them.</i> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sometimes when your children have conflicts you can plainly identify the cause. One or both has really done wrong to the other and for the situation to be properly handled, somebody needs to confess fault and possibly make restitution. Would that all arguments could be so easily diagnosed!</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But then there are those times—those irritating, frustrating times—when siblings bicker and bicker over nothing significant at all. They’re irritated with each other, but for the life of you, you can’t figure out how it started and just what it would take to settle the issue to the satisfaction of both. Or even one of them! </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Children are in the process of growing up, and that includes learning how to resolve conflicts with others. And it is the most natural thing in the world for the family to be the first arena in which they practice. They need the opportunity to exercise and develop their skills at negotiation, their ability to express frustration appropriately, and even their ability to forgive. If conflicts never happened in the family, the acquiring of these important interpersonal skills would have to wait until the children encountered conflicts with others outside the family. That’s not God’s plan.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But there are times when it’s obvious that there is no progress being made toward resolution and the two siblings in question are just venting their irritation with each other. They are petulant, irritable and prickly. That’s when it’s time to call a halt.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I believe in giving kids time to settle their arguments on their own. It’s good for them. But I don’t allow spiteful bickering to go on indefinitely. Very shortly after it becomes evident that progress has halted while the fuming goes full speed ahead, I will say something like, “Hey, you guys. You’ve had time to settle this already. Now I suggest you settle it in the next sixty seconds or so, or I will settle it for you.”</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">They know that I will try to be fair, but that the end result may not be exactly what either party wants. Usually they manage to resolve things before the sixty seconds are up.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I know a lady who raised five children on the family farm. When her children were growing up, she would sometimes say something like, “Well, we have a lot of fighting going on here. Somebody must have too much energy going to waste. Jerry, why don’t you go out and hoe the potatoes? Amanda, your room could stand a good cleaning. Tommy and Ed, the chicken house needs to be cleaned out. Let’s not let all this great energy be wasted on arguments!” Usually when the chores were done they found that they didn’t really have an urge to renew the battle.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Moral of the story: If you can find a root cause in the argument, deal with it. But if it’s more of a petty bickering situation than a true justice issue, give them some time to settle their differences and let them know you’ll do it if they can’t. They may surprise both you and themselves with the rapid improvement in their conflict resolution skills. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">~Rick Boyer</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-40210982282260079022011-03-02T21:38:00.000-05:002011-03-02T21:38:39.919-05:00George Washington<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_973053576"><br />
</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_973053576"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-XkuUwLmyjl4/TW79HFpvQNI/AAAAAAAABNI/9gBjg4QDxuQ/s200/george-washington-picture.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’m audio recording a biography of George Washington that was written in 1895 for sale on our web site. This may seem extreme, but I’m dead serious when I say that tears came to my eyes as I read the first two pages.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I guess I’m jaded from living in a culture that devalues history and heroes. But reading this great old book for young people hit me with a powerful reminder that we used to be different.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When this book was written, and even when I was a boy, Washington was held up as a bona fide hero. We believed in heroes then, not “role models.” For a man to be considered a hero, he had to have more qualifications than being good at sports or starring in stage productions or making lots of money. He had to have an old-fashioned attribute known as character.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Today, the trend is to devalue and debunk people who demonstrate character, and especially historical characters once held in almost reverence.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">One of the blessings of having real heroes in our lives is that they call us to our highest and best, rather than accommodating us at our lowest and least. Washington was such a man, and for generations he was held up to boys and girls as a man worth emulating. God help us, we’ve nearly forgotten him.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Presidents Day is a mockery. It lumps giants like Washington in with midgets like Harding, Carter and Clinton. We need to start celebrating Washington’s birthday again, in our homes if the public isn’t wise enough to acknowledge the occasion. It would be a great idea to read from his Maxims or his Farewell Address, which used to be taught to school children as a model of wise and constitutional government.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lord, we need heroes today. Maybe if we rediscover the ones in our history we will inspire our children to greatness again.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">~Rick </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">To read more articles by Rick, visit his<a href="http://takebacktheland.nlpgblogs.com/"> <b>new blog</b></a>!</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>We Recommend:</b></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=1960">The True Story of George Washington</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b> Bestseller!!</b></i></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=1418">When Washington Crossed the Deleware</a></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2516">Life of Washington</a></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2058">Bulletproof George Washington</a></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-59361641846679214932011-02-23T20:01:00.001-05:002011-02-23T20:03:27.960-05:00Building Loving Relationships Within Your Family: Part 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EEA6lZp9ZFk/TWWth5LfGuI/AAAAAAAABNE/ivrnUaYcMQk/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EEA6lZp9ZFk/TWWth5LfGuI/AAAAAAAABNE/ivrnUaYcMQk/s1600/download.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Encourage Communication</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">When we experience problems within the family our natural tendency is to shove it under the rug, so to speak, and hope it's just a stage someone is going through and it will go away. Instead, we need to train ourselves to run toward our problems, not away from them. Early in the development of our family, I remember being frustrated by character issues in the kids or lack of resources I needed to accomplish my job (like the need for more bookshelves or storage containers). One day, Rick encouraged me to write down my frustrations of the day. What I found was that it wasn't 100 things going wrong, but more like 2 or 3 that kept occurring again and again so that it seemed like 100 things. If it was a physical item that I needed such as a bookcase, we wrote it on a priority list to attend to when we had the time and means to get it. It made me feel better just to have determined the need and see that Rick would attend to it when able. It was then that we sat down and came up with a solution for the character needs we saw in our kids at the time. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">One of the frustrations I remember recording that day was my oldest son coming inside, hollering for me from one end of the house to the other, making the dog bark, the baby cry, and setting my nerves on edge. When we isolated the problem, we realized he wasn't trying to do wrong and we hadn't taught him to do differently. We used the verse in I Corinthians 14:40 and then made up a chart, guiding him in the correct way to act- walk inside, quietly look for mom and then ask his question. Rick was more than willing to comply when it was explained to him what we expected him to do. We then added to our character chart when the kids would do other things that needed further guidance. It changed our focus to learn to look at problems more like projects than to feel overwhelmed by them. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I've found it a helpful principle to try to step into the shoes of my children and remember what it was like to be a kid. Instead of instantly reacting to our kids we need to stop and consider why they are feeling and responding the way they are. Things are not always what they seem at face value. I would try to give my kids the benefit of the doubt and encourage them to tell me how they were feeling or how they viewed situations. We tend to think everyone thinks like we do, but nothing could be further from the truth. We all see life from our own perspective, and it takes time to train ourselves to step out of our shoes and into the shoes of our children. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">We need to handle their hearts with compassion and understanding, not just firmness.</b> It only helps a situation to ask questions and not feel like we have to blurt out all the answers before we consider the matter from our child's point of view. I'm not saying we need to excuse wrongdoing or wrong attitudes, but we need to understand before we are able to deal effectively with it. Our children's hearts must be handled with care. When we do this, they will then be able to trust us to deal in their best interests and they will respond to our instruction with trust.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">As you deal with sibling conflicts, encourage each child to communicate with you and each other so you have the benefit of stepping into the shoes of both children involved before you help them to work out a solution. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(More about this topic next month)<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">As our children grew older, we found them asking how we arrived at our values, and instead of feeling threatened at their questions we learned to allow them the freedom to ask and used the opportunity to explain how we had arrived at the values we held to. I would notice sometimes after the little kids had gone to bed at night that sometimes one of the older kids would kind of hanging around the living room. This became a key to me that they possibly had something on their minds that they needed to talk over with me. Some of the best talks I've had with my older kids was late at night when everyone else was asleep and our house was finally quiet. The groundwork you lay when your children are little by trying to step into their shoes and view life from their point of view will make them want to come to you when they are older<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">. They will know they can trust your heart, that you care about them more than you care about yourself.</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Purpose to be the kind of parent you're kids will want to spend time with</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">. Keep the vision before you on tough days when you feel overwhelmed with all the details of life. You are doing what you do to serve the Savior who died that you might live! Your kids are His creation and He has given you the privilege of raising them for Him! What an awesome privilege!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">~Marilyn<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <o:p></o:p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-83147924607143792182011-02-16T21:15:00.000-05:002011-02-16T21:15:35.678-05:00Building Loving Relationships Within Your Family: Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--IA07-bN0hk/TVyEei12giI/AAAAAAAABNA/hd_xR0ZKB18/s1600/chris+grace+and+matt.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--IA07-bN0hk/TVyEei12giI/AAAAAAAABNA/hd_xR0ZKB18/s1600/chris+grace+and+matt.png" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Appreciate each other’s differences</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another thing that promotes close relationships within families is to teach your children to appreciate each other’s differences. In a family, there should be a spirit of cooperation fostered rather than a spirit of competition. God has uniquely shaped each individual within your family as a special part of his creation. We’re not all supposed to be alike or do things at the same time or the same way. Point out each other’s strengths and tell your children how God created each one of them to fulfill purposes that only they can accomplish. God took precise care in all the specific details of personality, talents, desires, etc. that uniquely make up who each of your children is, and God makes no mistakes. Even in homeschooling, you will find one child learns certain subjects more easily and struggles with something else. This is normal.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within the family, you need to teach your children that God made us all different. Through the years as the kids were growing up, I would never let the older kids say, "Oh, that is so easy!" when a younger sibling was struggling with their work. I would tell them it wasn't as easy for them when they were younger, and even if it was a subject they excelled in </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">there were things they struggled with. It wasn't right to make a younger sibling feel "dumb". </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When we learn to appreciate each person, we can better begin to help each one with the special “missions or exploits” God has given each to do. As I learned to teach to the passions of each child, the other kids would come to see how each one did really have special areas of interest and how God had equipped them with natural talents or personality to accomplish those interests.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our goal should be to cultivate a kind of “team spirit” in your kids. When one child is exploring his passion in a certain pursuit then everyone else can chip in with ways God has gifted them to help each other accomplish their goals. Team spirit, or rather, family cohesiveness is learned as your family takes on projects to serve others. Whether you are taking your little ones by the hand and showing them how to serve an elderly person or a mom with a new baby or as you join your older children in projects they attempt, the closeness of your family is a natural byproduct. Even as my children have grown to adulthood and established families of their own, they still are each other’s best friends. When one is involved in any project, such as buying and fixing up an old house, or campaigning for a good candidate, or bringing meals to a family under stress or watching the kids to give them a break, or whatever, everyone else chips in and helps them out. Their loyalties are strong and their tendencies are to look for ways to help each other when a need arises.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Spend time together</b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The way society tends to do things is everyone participates in activities with kids his own age and although a family lives together in the same house, their social spheres are totally separate from one another. I remember this as a child. My sister, who was eight years older than I was, lived in our house, but our paths often never crossed.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One day I asked each of my children why they were glad they were homeschooled. I love what my son Matt said. “I got to really know my family, instead of just meeting up with them in the evening.” To effectively build close relationships, you have to be together! When you are supplying a mom’s taxi and constantly going to and fro, it’s a distraction to enjoying one another’s company. I had to learn to say no to lots of “good” things, both for myself and my kids. The possibilities of good activities to be involved in are limitless! Especially when your children are young, resist the pressure to have them involved in every activity or opportunity that comes along. Our goal is not to raise well rounded kids, but spiritually prepared servants of God, providentially placed within our families to first be a blessing to each other and then to reach out to bless the lives of those around us. We as parents need to come alongside our children and train them to be sensitive to the needs of first of all siblings and then others whom our lives touch. It is a lifestyle. I would caution you to remember you don’t have forever with your kids. Some days it may seem that way, but believe me, the day comes sooner than you would wish when they are grown and your opportunities for training are over. I will never regret having spent “too much time” with my children. The days went by so quickly. Once today is over, you’ll never get it back. If we are too busy for each other, we are too busy!</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">More next week</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">~Marilyn<o:p></o:p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-26412150383624701052011-02-09T20:40:00.002-05:002011-02-09T20:42:41.765-05:00Building Loving Relationships Within Your Family: Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n6vPrQgA_Ew/TVM9SlyR88I/AAAAAAAABMc/SMNSzl6JnsE/s1600/building+loving+relationships.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n6vPrQgA_Ew/TVM9SlyR88I/AAAAAAAABMc/SMNSzl6JnsE/s320/building+loving+relationships.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px;"><b>Laying a Strong Foundation</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px;">One of the biggest advantages I’ve seen from homeschooling my family has been the lasting relationships that have been built over the years. My kids are each other’s best friends! This month’s focus for the blog will be sharing with you some of the factors that help to foster this type of relationship.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the early years: <b>Lay a Strong Foundation.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">You may wonder what some of these first points have to do with <i>Building Loving Relationships within Your Family</i>! But, notice I titled this section “<i>Laying a Strong Foundation</i>”- because there is some groundwork to be laid, some foundational principles and concepts that will help grow godly relationships. Your children need to know your love and God’s love, your discipline and God’s discipline, God’s Word needs to be present in your home- in order for them to know how to properly love others. So, first things first:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Children are, the Bible tells us, a blessing from the Lord. Over the years, when we would learn a new baby was coming, we would tell our children that God was sending them a new baby brother or sister and it was a special gift to our family from God. When the baby arrived I would always try to make feeding time for the baby a special time when I would read to the toddler next in line age-wise. Then, instead of resenting the time mom was spending with the baby, they would look forward to it. I would involve them in getting diapers or choosing blankets or outfits to put on their new baby. I would talk in a little voice pretending I was the baby, telling my big brother or sister how happy I was that they were my big brother/sister and how much I loved them. They, of course would verbalize their love for the baby which affected their attitude toward the new one instead of building resentment that mom was so often busy with someone other than them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Teach your children that God is omnipresent. In other words, He sees all and is with us all the time! We taught our children the verse, “Thou God seest me” (Gen 16:13)</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">We told them that God was watching them all the time and He was there for them all the time. This not only builds a healthy fear of the Lord. (“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”), but it gives them the comfort of knowing God is there to help them always as well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Establish Biblical guidelines for behavior in your family. The Bible is the one constant, the light for their path. Learn to use the Bible to redirect misbehavior to instead focus on learning godly character. It is our duty to God and to others to learn how to control our selfishness and to seek to meet needs in others. This does not come naturally and we need to be intentional in training them. For instance, to help establish guidelines for right behavior we made up a <b><a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2312">Consequence Chart</a></b>. We wanted our kids to understand they had choices to make, but choices come with consequences. Parents need to guide their children in learning to make wise decisions. We are making available one of the <a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/productid.asp?id=2312">Consequence Charts</a> we used. It is not inclusive. It just reflects things our kids were struggling with at the time and may serve as a stepping stone to help you establish some guidelines in your family. I remember Kelley coming to me one day and asking what the consequence was for…………. I told her and she said, “Oh, I don’t think I’ll do it then.” She was learning to make wise decisions. =)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Learn to use God’s Word effectively in training your child.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We attempted to saturate our child’s mind with Scripture. There were many ways we did this, but one of the most effective was making<a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/products.asp?cat=37&emphasis=13"> Bible recordings</a> in which Rick read sections of Scripture to our kids, explaining difficult words and giving example stories to illustrate the truths found in the Word. We then played them for our children at both naptime and bedtime. As our children drifted off to sleep they were <a href="https://www.thelearningparent.com/products.asp?cat=37&emphasis=13">listening to Scripture</a>. We found this served to build within them a godly value system. As they committed portions of Scripture to memory (by not even trying, just hearing) they learned to exchange some of their ungodly thought patterns for God’s thoughts on the matter. As they got older, they found when going through various situations, God’s Word, which never returns void would come back to them, providing them with God’s wisdom when they most needed it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">More specifics next week….<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">~Marilyn</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-61256118850230647302011-02-03T13:47:00.001-05:002011-02-03T13:48:09.125-05:00Growing up in the Boyer Family<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>this article, written by Laura Boyer was recently posted on <a href="http://whateverstate.wordpress.com/">http://whateverstate.wordpress.com/</a> in their "Ask the Grad" section.</i><br />
<div style="font-size: 16px;"></div><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_1536" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f1f1f1; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: left; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 24px; margin-top: 4px; max-width: 632px !important; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 310px;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-1536" height="200" src="http://whateverstate.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/img_6303.jpg?w=300&h=200" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" title="Laura Boyer" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #888888; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Laura and her niece, Melody</div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When my parents began homeschooling in 1980, they were the only people they knew who were doing it. It was my mom’s idea, simply as a matter of convenience. With four young boys, and another child on the way, the long drive to and from the little preschool 5 times a week to accommodate both of the oldest boys’ schedules was getting to be too much.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">My dad agreed to try it for a year, and, as the old saying goes, the rest is history. What had started as convenience grew into a strong conviction that this was what God wanted them to do.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In 1982 my parents were taken to court on truancy charges. Though they had a perfectly legitimate case, (and homeschool today under the same law as they were back then), the judge refused to listen. He didn’t want to hear anything<span id="more-1533" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span> about religion, he said, and ordered my parents to put their children back in school.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To finish out the school year, my mom was allowed to use a classroom at their church’s preschool to teach her own children, and the following year she brought them back home. They knew to stay indoors and keep the curtains drawn during school hours; if anyone knocked on the door, they were to hide under the bed, knowing that if they were discovered, they might be taken away.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Meanwhile, my parents and others were lobbying for a new law, which passed in 1984. Now they were free to home educate without fear of prosecution, and they have been doing so ever since.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Six years later, I came along, as the tenth of the fourteen children that would make up our family.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In our house, homeschooling was not simply a different way of teaching us the basic academics, but rather it was a whole different lifestyle: the lifestyle of discipleship. As Jesus chose His 12 disciples so that they might be with Him and learn from His example, so my parents, though not perfect by any stretch, endeavored to follow Christ’s model, teaching us diligently, as it says in Deuteronomy 6:7, “when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Early on in my life, I was taught that the Scriptures were to be the basis for everything we did. Everywhere you looked in our house, there were Bible verses. (Deut. 6:9) Mom made flashcards, games, and crafts to help us memorize Scripture, and Dad recorded books of the Bible on cassette tapes for us to listen to at night as we went to sleep.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I am so thankful for this training that I had in the Scriptures, beginning at such a young age. I learned from the beginning what was truly important.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Of course, we learned the academics as well; they just took second place to training in God’s Word.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Even though Mom at one time had 12 school-aged children at once, she managed to have</div><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_1538" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f1f1f1; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: left; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 24px; margin-top: 4px; max-width: 632px !important; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 310px;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-1538" height="199" src="http://whateverstate.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/laurahistory.jpg?w=300&h=199" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" title="laurahistory" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #888888; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Laura and her sister Grace, enjoying a hands on history lesson</div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">time for each of us. Not only that, but we would complete our school work in about 3 hours a day! As every child learns differently, and no one curriculum fits all, Mom picked pieces from different curriculums, tailoring our education to our own individual learning styles. My brother Tucker, for instance, loved science, and for a time Mom performed experiments with him every day. My brother Rick was fascinated by history and politics, so he did a lot of extra reading on the subject, and for writing assignments he would write letters to the editor of our local newspaper regarding current events.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A typical day for us also often involved what my dad called, ‘incidental learning’-like the time dad and the boys were driving down the road and saw a freshly killed raccoon. What did they do but throw it up on the roof of the station wagon and bring it home to enjoy an impromptu lesson on anatomy-and, after the major organs had been identified, a game of ‘What is it?’</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Or the time I learned all about energy and motion with a sheet of plywood nailed to the deck stairs, a croquet ball and a mallet…and a window…</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Homeschooling also gave us much more time to minister to others. My dad and brothers helped out with numerous Habitat for Humanity houses, us girls helped make meals for families in need, we watched children for young moms who had just had a child, we frequently had guests over for dinner, and so much more.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">One ministry that I was involved in was that of visiting some elderly folks from church with my Mom. One couple were retired missionaries, and their stories from the mission field were incredible! I loved visiting them, planning gifts to bring to them, writing them letters, making cakes for their birthdays…And while our goal was to be a blessing to them, they blessed me in so many ways. From them I learned about having a true servant’s heart, and saw what it means to be totally devoted to the Lord. I still regularly correspond with the one lady who is still living, even though she has moved out of state.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I always find it comical when people who are considering homeschooling are worried about socialization. In our home, at least, we were much better socialized than if we had gone to school, and spent all of our time with our peers. We learned how to interact with people of all ages, and were just as comfortable talking with an adult as with one of our peers.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I decided in high school that I would attempt to complete 3 grades in 2 years, and graduated a year early, at 17.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I also decided not to pursue a college degree, mainly because I did not fancy going thousands of dollars into debt to earn a degree I probably would not use. What I really want to do in life doesn’t require a college degree.</div><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_1539" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f1f1f1; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: left; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 24px; margin-top: 4px; max-width: 632px !important; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 310px;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-1539" height="225" src="http://whateverstate.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/romania-2010-156.jpg?w=300&h=225" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" title="Romania 2010 156" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #888888; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Romania, March 2010</div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Since then, I have done lots of babysitting, worked as a tutor, volunteered with various ministries at our church, and gone on a mission trip to Romania. .</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Currently I am working as a nanny 3 days a week, cleaning houses 2 other days, and volunteering in the tech crew at church. I also travel quite a bit in the spring and summer with my parents’ business, The Learning Parent. They have written several books on parenting/homeschooling, and speak at conferences all over the US and some other countries.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I love my jobs, especially nannying. To some it may seem mundane or unimportant, but I see it as an enormous privilege to be able to help train these precious children to ‘love the Lord their God with all their hearts, souls, and minds.’</div><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_1535" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f1f1f1; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: left; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 24px; margin-top: 4px; max-width: 632px !important; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 310px;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-1535" height="182" src="http://whateverstate.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/family_pic.jpg?w=300&h=182" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" title="family_pic" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #888888; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Family</div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Life in a family of 14 children was rarely dull. Having spent so much time together, we were (and are) a very close family. Even now, no one can make me laugh like my brothers. No one can laugh at my predicaments and then give advice like my sisters. No one can lend a listening ear like my mom. No one can embarrass me like my dad. I am incredibly grateful for the time we spent together, truly getting to know each other and cultivating such close relationships that will last for a lifetime.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">One of the defining moments for us was when my brother Josh was diagnosed with</div><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_1537" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f1f1f1; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: left; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 24px; margin-top: 4px; max-width: 632px !important; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 310px;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-1537" height="261" src="http://whateverstate.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/josh.jpg?w=300&h=261" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" title="josh" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #888888; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Josh with sister Kelley, shortly before he passed away in 1997</div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">leukemia in September of 1996. For seven months he suffered, most of that time being spent at a hospital about 2 hours away. It was difficult for Mom and Dad, as they tried to spend as much time as they could with him, while my oldest sister cared for us younger children at home. In March of the following year, Josh went to be with the Lord. It was a very hard time for all of us, yet the Lord used it to bring us closer to each other and closer to Him. For years afterwards, we were learning of people who had been touched by his testimony. In fact, God used Josh’s testimony to show me my need for salvation, and I gave my life to Christ just a few weeks after his death. I am looking forward to seeing him again one day, and worshipping our Savior together!</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overall, I had a wonderful homeschool experience, and cannot even begin to share how grateful I am to my parents for making the sacrifices they did to allow me to have that privilege. I know I will reap the benefits for the rest of my life.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rather than sending me out to have strangers constantly bombarding me with their ungodly worldviews, I was discipled by loving parents who, although not perfect, desired to ‘train me up in the way I should go’ and teach me to be a servant of Christ.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Parents, regardless of the sacrifices you are making today, you will never regret the time and effort you are spending pouring into your children. They are arrows that you will one day be able to send out, to glorify God and fulfill His plans in ways beyond what you could have imagined! Yes, it takes much effort, and much sacrifice, but I assure you, it is worth it!<br />
<br />
~Laura Boyer</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-72963442419520512582011-02-03T13:46:00.000-05:002011-02-03T13:46:28.155-05:00Welcome to the Family!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last week Baby Michael was born to our son, Rick and his wife Christina. Michael is their third sweet child. He also has broken the tie of boy/girl grandchildren. We now have 4 girl and 5 boy grandkids- the boys are very happy =)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We praise God for this new little life!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_K4pcoMfRD9k/TUr3qL9o8iI/AAAAAAAABMU/TaKpCTynpDY/s1600/IMG_6811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_K4pcoMfRD9k/TUr3qL9o8iI/AAAAAAAABMU/TaKpCTynpDY/s320/IMG_6811.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166507080024269352.post-61699303676315666952011-01-26T18:38:00.001-05:002011-01-26T18:38:41.039-05:00Cultivating a Servant's Heart in Your Children: Part 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_K4pcoMfRD9k/TUAuM0IOcYI/AAAAAAAABMQ/H_wI-FbkmHM/s1600/serving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_K4pcoMfRD9k/TUAuM0IOcYI/AAAAAAAABMQ/H_wI-FbkmHM/s200/serving.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Attending to the Needs of Others in Everyday Life</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In thinking how to close out this series (for now) I decided to give you a peek into the lives of the members of the Boyer family over, say the past month or so to see how this is played out in everyday life. We now have 9 kids still at home. Only 3 are still school aged. The kids are very involved in the lives of others. Our neighbor recently lost his wife and is now in a local nursing home. Four of my girls go to visit him on a regular basis, sometimes overlapping their visits. One of my daughters decorated his room for him for Christmas. They read the Bible to him, witness about their Lord and how He can become his Lord too and just make him happy and comfortable in any way they can. His wife taught all my children how to play the piano and now they have the chance to make his last days a little more joyful. He sometimes has as many as 8 visits per week among them!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">There was one day this last month during which 5 supper meals were cooked in my kitchen. The girls were bringing meals to 4 different families in one day and one was for us! Meals have been brought to friends who lost family members, who had surgery, who had a new baby, who had just moved, who were sick, etc. I don't even think I could count the meals made this last month for others in need. Sometimes I'm tempted to think, Wow! Look at all these dishes! But then the truth hits me that my girls are investing in the lives of others. I recall that verse about where there are no oxen, the stable is clean, but much strength comes from the oxen. I am so thankful that my girls especially at this time in their lives, not being married and having families of their own yet, can clearly see that it's more blessed to learn to serve than to expect others to serve them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kasey was in the Dollar Tree this past week and found a little turtle knick knack. She immediately asked if she could buy it for her friend, who is an older lady with a turtle collection. This is one of the ladies that Kasey makes a point of giving a hug and a smile to every Sunday. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The picture in this posting was taken a little over a month ago when our younger kids, Rick and I, and another family had a birthday party for one of our favorite World War II vets. He was so surprised and touched. He invited us back to celebrate with him next year. Just this morning in church, I noticed him scanning the crowd looking for his little Kasey! Even your young children can have a ministry of hugs! In fact, I am constantly reminding myself of that. Instead of just going to church, I try to think, who can I say hello to who might need a little extra encouragement? We do go to church to learn how to serve God better, but we also need to go to church to try to be a blessing to someone else.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Matt, a week or so ago got home pretty late after helping a family move after he got off work for the day. One of girls, I believe fixed them a meal. Carrie cleaned the house for a soon to be mom and Chris helped her organize the kids and baby clothes. The girls have babysat for a mom having an ultrasound, for a mom who had to take some of her children to the doctor, etc. Chris has a special lady friend who had surgery this month and has visited with her and her husband. Carrie helped plan a big birthday dinner party for a special friend!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kate planned and had a tea just before Christmas with the purpose of inviting some widows along with some other ladies to do something special for the widows who might not get as many invitations as couples do. It was very nice, lots of sandwiches, sweets, tea, hot chocolate and a time of fellowship. As a teen when she wanted to go on a missions trip, Rick arranged for her to go with the senior saints from our church, rather than with the teens. She had a blast and has built some close relationships with many of the older people who were on that trip. It was actually of one of those ladies who was recently widowed that inspired her to plan this tea.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Laura, wanting to be involved with some of the younger girls in our church, had some over to make Christmas cookies for the local sheriff's departments, police officers and fire and rescue folks. She invited the girls over, made cookies, took them to lunch, and then delivered the cookies along with a gospel tract to the various emergency service departments. Just yesterday she had a pre-teen girl over for supper and an evening of fun making snowman cupcakes, playing games etc. just to be a blessing to her. They had a fun evening! Tuck has spent a lot of hours volunteering at a friend's farm with the many chores that need to be done there. (He loves every minute of that!)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is not to mention all the times the girls have taken their nieces and nephews out to Chick Fil- A or to Amazement Square-our local museum- or just out shopping to the Dollar Store or Sams with them. My head swims when I try to keep everyone's schedules straight anymore, but suffice it to say, I am amazed at the hours the kids spend in lending a helping hand to make life a little easier for another. Even Kelley and Kasey invest time in their nieces and nephews. They are always looking for fun things to do or projects to do with them or fun ways to help teach them character lessons they were taught.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I'm sharing this to give you a glimpse into what life looks like when you invest your time to train your kids to notice and attend to the needs of others. It doesn't come naturally. It's something you need to foster just as early as possible. Ask God for opportunities for your family to minister. It doesn't need to be something official to be a ministry. I think God plans for the family to be the primary training ground for future service. If you're the one feeling overwhelmed with a house full of little ones, that's where you begin. Ministering to the needs of brothers, sisters, mommy and daddy is a great place to begin! It's when you pour your life out for others, that God will fill you up!! God bless you all as you raise up a mighty army of ground soldiers for Jesus!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">~Marilyn</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4