Spring is evaluation time in classrooms throughout the country. We want to know our students are learning what they need to know to become productive citizens.
For homeschool moms evaluation time is personal. Have we used the last several months wisely? Did we present the right material in the right way? Could we have done a better job teaching our children?
Are we as concerned about our spiritual development? It would be profitable for believers to take time to see how we are doing. Are our lives consumed by worry, or are we consistently trusting God in every circumstance?
There is no pen and paper test for this spiritual evaluation. It takes place in prayer as we ask God to show us our hearts.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 139:23, 24 – NKJV)
Friday, April 24, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Biblical Bifocals
When the eye doctor prescribed bifocals I chose the no-line version to booster my vanity. I didn’t want everyone to notice the change from single to dual lenses. With short arms they do help me read better. I’ve tried to convince my daughters that publishers are using smaller font in books these days, but they won’t believe me.
I long to grow old with the dignity befitting a child of God. Yet, I cringe each time I go to the beauty shop. The pile of hair on the floor must belong to someone else! I don’t remember that many silver strands the last time I had my hair cut.
Every event . . . every change . . . every season of our lives must be viewed through the lens of God’s Word. Middle age is full of changes. Grandparents are getting older. Children are growing up and leaving home. Hormones are out of control. If we are going to handle all these changes in a godly way we need to put on our biblical bifocals.
I long to grow old with the dignity befitting a child of God. Yet, I cringe each time I go to the beauty shop. The pile of hair on the floor must belong to someone else! I don’t remember that many silver strands the last time I had my hair cut.
Every event . . . every change . . . every season of our lives must be viewed through the lens of God’s Word. Middle age is full of changes. Grandparents are getting older. Children are growing up and leaving home. Hormones are out of control. If we are going to handle all these changes in a godly way we need to put on our biblical bifocals.
A Favorite Poem
A few days ago I shared my favorite literary passage to help set our minds for the Easter season. Today I want to share a favorite poem for the same reason.
I was first introduced to this poem, written by Martha Snell Nicholson, in my college freshman speech class a quarter of a century ago. It has been one of my favorites ever since.
Martha Snell Nicholson was born around 1898 and died in 1954. She was an invalid confined to her bed for over thirty years and wrote a number of stirring poems.
My Advocate (by Martha Snell Nicholson)
I sinned. And straightway, post-haste, Satan flew
Before the presence of the Most High God,
And made a railing accusation there.
He said, "This soul, this thing of clay and sod,
Has sinned, 'Tis true that he has named Thy name,
But I demand his death, for Thou hast said,
'The Soul that sinneth, it shall die.' Shall not
Thy sentence be fulfilled? Is justice dead?
Send now this wretched sinner to his doom.
What other thing can a righteous ruler do?"
And thus he did accuse me day and night,
And every word he spoke, O God, was true!
Then quickly One rose from God's right hand,
Before whose glory angels veiled their eyes.
He spoke, "Each jot and tittle of the law,
Must be fulfilled: the guilty sinner dies!
But wait . . . Suppose his guilt were all transferred
To ME and that I paid his penalty!
Behold My hands, My side, My feet! One Day
I was made sin for him, and died that he
Might be presented faultless, at Thy throne!"
And Satan fled away. Full well he knew
That he could not prevail against such love,
For every word my dear Lord spoke was true!
I was first introduced to this poem, written by Martha Snell Nicholson, in my college freshman speech class a quarter of a century ago. It has been one of my favorites ever since.
Martha Snell Nicholson was born around 1898 and died in 1954. She was an invalid confined to her bed for over thirty years and wrote a number of stirring poems.
My Advocate (by Martha Snell Nicholson)
I sinned. And straightway, post-haste, Satan flew
Before the presence of the Most High God,
And made a railing accusation there.
He said, "This soul, this thing of clay and sod,
Has sinned, 'Tis true that he has named Thy name,
But I demand his death, for Thou hast said,
'The Soul that sinneth, it shall die.' Shall not
Thy sentence be fulfilled? Is justice dead?
Send now this wretched sinner to his doom.
What other thing can a righteous ruler do?"
And thus he did accuse me day and night,
And every word he spoke, O God, was true!
Then quickly One rose from God's right hand,
Before whose glory angels veiled their eyes.
He spoke, "Each jot and tittle of the law,
Must be fulfilled: the guilty sinner dies!
But wait . . . Suppose his guilt were all transferred
To ME and that I paid his penalty!
Behold My hands, My side, My feet! One Day
I was made sin for him, and died that he
Might be presented faultless, at Thy throne!"
And Satan fled away. Full well he knew
That he could not prevail against such love,
For every word my dear Lord spoke was true!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Rebuilding Walls
A couple of years ago my older daughter built me a raised flowerbed in the front yard under the picture window. It was not only a solution for poor clay soil, but also an aid for my aging knees. Gardening is much easier on the knees with a brick wall on which to sit.
This spring my husband had enough of the wet basement and decided to do something about it. The something included contracting a company to dig around both inside and outside of the foundation repairing cracks and adding a sump pump. With the digging up came the hedges and my rose bush. The brick wall also came down.
After the outside of the foundation was patched and the trenches refilled with dirt we got busy rebuilding the wall. I decided that since we were redoing it anyway why not make it an “L” shape design bringing it on around the side of the porch as well. To our surprise the new design took as many bricks . . . well almost the same amount. I had to run to the neighborhood home and garden store for one more brick.
As my youngest daughter prepares to start her last year of high school this fall I feel like that brick wall, but I’m not sure were to find the needed brick to finish reshaping my life.
The 2009/10 school year will be our sixteenth year to homeschool. By February I normally have the first of the text books for the fall already ordered and am formulating my plan for the next school year. It’s already April and I’ve hardly began. I’m finding myself dragging my feet . . . not wanting our final year of homeschool to begin . . . for the simple reason it will be our final year.
2010 has other mile stones as well. I turn fifty in March. Our older daughter will graduate from college in December. My husband and I will have been married twenty-five years. A possible wedding is even in the works.
Where to find the last brick for my redesigned wall? I’ve loved being a stay home mom and homeschooling our two daughters. But, what is life after homeschool suppose to look like? I’m not sure.
This spring my husband had enough of the wet basement and decided to do something about it. The something included contracting a company to dig around both inside and outside of the foundation repairing cracks and adding a sump pump. With the digging up came the hedges and my rose bush. The brick wall also came down.
After the outside of the foundation was patched and the trenches refilled with dirt we got busy rebuilding the wall. I decided that since we were redoing it anyway why not make it an “L” shape design bringing it on around the side of the porch as well. To our surprise the new design took as many bricks . . . well almost the same amount. I had to run to the neighborhood home and garden store for one more brick.
As my youngest daughter prepares to start her last year of high school this fall I feel like that brick wall, but I’m not sure were to find the needed brick to finish reshaping my life.
The 2009/10 school year will be our sixteenth year to homeschool. By February I normally have the first of the text books for the fall already ordered and am formulating my plan for the next school year. It’s already April and I’ve hardly began. I’m finding myself dragging my feet . . . not wanting our final year of homeschool to begin . . . for the simple reason it will be our final year.
2010 has other mile stones as well. I turn fifty in March. Our older daughter will graduate from college in December. My husband and I will have been married twenty-five years. A possible wedding is even in the works.
Where to find the last brick for my redesigned wall? I’ve loved being a stay home mom and homeschooling our two daughters. But, what is life after homeschool suppose to look like? I’m not sure.
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