Ordinary for the Lord

I had intended to write this the Monday after coming home from the Women of Joy Conference in Branson; but with all that happened in Virginia that Monday this didn't seem appropriate. I had come home with such joy and a vision of God moving, only to have it in a certain way stripped away. It was hard to write about the joy of the Lord in the midst of what was going on. I know that we shouldn't allow Satan to steal our joy though and what the Lord showed me is true. So I am pulling this out for draft mode, dusting it off a little, and putting it on my blog where it belongs.

The Women of Joy conference in Branson was wonderful. Believe it or not there were people there from as far away as Indiana and Texas. Imagine 2000 women getting together to worship, learn and praise the Lord; it was awesome. All of the women in our group plan to go back again next year and several more that didn't go this time want to go with us next time.

The thing that the Lord kept saying to me time after time through speaker after speaker was how much he loves us. Lisa Harper came out and spoke on a topic I hadn't heard since I was a young child. Years ago they use to talk about the Song of Solomon as an allegory of God's love for the church, but recently most people speak of it as just a husband's and wife's love for each other. I guess we have become to sophisticated to spiritualize it. Anyway as a pastor I had once would say "Sometimes the Bible is not this or that. Sometimes it's this and that." I think that is true of the Song of Solomon.

Lisa Harper spoke of how, while on this earth it is wrong for a woman to pursue a man, God is absolutely pleased with us pursuing Him. He is absolutely Knocked out by us and nothing gives us more pleasure than our worship and praise. Think about it, when you praise your husband doesn't he just beam with pleasure? For days he's walking in the clouds. Well that's God only more so. While our love and praise is God's due, just as our love and respect is our husbands' due, it gives him great joy when we search for ways to please Him. He loves us that much.

Another speaker that touched me deeply was Angela Thomas. Lately I've been down in the dumps because I am getting older and my life is nothing like I planned it to be. You know the old adage, "Man proposes, God disposes." I had planned to do something important, to rock the world; and here I sit, just a simple mother and housewife. Yes, I know that other old adage "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world," but that can be hard to remember as all the women around you answer "Oh that's nice" when you answer the question of "So what do you do" with "I a housewife." I know what I am doing is God's will and that I shouldn't let others rule my self image but it's hard when even your own mother is disappointed that you didn't do more with you life. I guess that's why Angela touched me so deeply.

At one point in Angela's talk she told about going to speak in South Africa. She hadn't really wanted to go but they were so persistant that she felt that maybe the Lord was in it. She tried to pack as much in as she could for the few days that she was there and in the end was exausted. The woman who had hosted the event took her out to eat before taking her to the airport and while they were eating she said to Mz Harper, "Angela I think I have a word from the Lord for you." Well her first thought was "No, Lord not now, I'm so exausted. I can't give any more." But the woman went on and what she had to say was important to Mz Harper and me as well because it gave me a new perspective.

She said her slightly British, South African accent "I have prayed over and over 'Lord, what is it about Angela? Why is it that everyone loves her?' And what He showed me is that it is because you are to Ooordinary." Angela said that, that made her smile. It was the best compliment that she could have recieved because she realized that everyday she got up out of her ooordinary bed, took her ooordinary shower, put on her oooordinary clothes, brushed her oooordinary teeth and hair, got in her oooordinary car, drove out to her ordinary life filled with ordinary people, and was able to allow an Extraordinary God reach all those other ordinary people through her.

The Lord showed me that that was like me. I am a simple housewife in a small town, in the backwoods of Oklahoma, at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, surounded by quite a number of people in great need both spiritually and financially. Suddenly I realized I had it all wrong. I would have never said it but by my thoughts and actions it was as if I was just marking time trying to work for Him where I was at until I He managed to find me where I was at.

How wrong is that?! It's not like I wondered off someplace and the Lord didn't know where I was. I'm exactly where He wants me and I'm exactly the boring, ordinary person He needs to serve Him where I'm at. If I were anybody other than who I am; if I were a vice president of some bank like my cousin, if I had married money or made money, I would never be usable here. And I know this is where He wants me because I never intended to come back here again and yet after traveling the world, here I am. I didn't intend to be here, He put me here. This is my mission field and if I were anyone else I wouldn't be able to understand these people and even if I could they would never believe that I could and they wouldn't trust me.

The bible says to praise God in all things. Sometimes it's hard when we can't see the silver lining in the cloud. We can't understand what God is doing. A month ago I would never have thought to praise God for allowing me to be ordinary. If I bothered to think about it at all I would have sighed in frustration for disappointing so many family members. Once in a while though God pulls back the veil a tiny bit and we are allowed to catch a glimpse of what God is doing. Today I can praise God for my ordinary life, with my ordinary husband and ordinary kids, in our ordinary house, worshiping in our ordinary church, with our ordinary friends, as we work to reach others with the help of an extraordinary God.

How much better would it have been if I had been less like Thomas and trusted in the fact that a loving God knew what He was about?

Virginia Tech Shooting

I don't always understand people and no one is able to make sense of what happened today. We cut God out of our lives and wonder why things get worse and not better. My heart grieves for those who were injured or lost their lives in Virginia this day. I pray the Lord will comfort their families and friends as only He can.

Humbled

Recently I was tapped by Shortybear with the Thinking Blogger award. I am touched. Truth is I would have missed it all together if she hadn't told me she had done it. I was reading the article where she had been awarded but my husband was standing at the door saying "Let"s go Let's go. Aren't you done yet?" So when I got to the part about who she was passing the award to I shut it down, intending to come back to read the rest later, but never quite making it. You know how life is, they create all these gadgets to make life easier and all they do is make more work and cause us to run faster.

The second part of the award is that I am supposed to pass it on to five others that I think are deserving. Now if I could, one of those would have been Shortybear but as she has already been picked I suppose I can't pass it back. Another I would have chosen would have been Anita at Ask a Lutheran but she's already been picked as well (Blast, this is getting more difficult!) OK, here goes. The people I have chosen are all people who make me think in different ways. I am listing them alphabetically with a short blurb on why I have chosen them.

The first in the list is a solder overseas going by the name of Dadmanly. Actually he has two sites one called Dadmanly and the other called Gladmanly, which is totally about his thoughts on faith. I enjoy them both very much but as he is busy overseas he doesn't have as much time to write on either as I would like. Maybe when he gets back state side.

The next is Miss Maggie's site. She is an absolute wonder. She has a web site dealing with eating healthily. Another concerning how to feed your family when hard times strike and you haven't much money. (We've had to use this a couple of times when money has been tight due to my husbands health.) The latest thing she has done is start a web site explaining how to homeschool your children almost for free. It is a fount of information and extremely useful.

The blog that I can't believe anyone hasn't chosen is Rocks In My Dryer. I didn't see an award on her site though so I am picking her. She is funny, she is wise, and she talks about everyday stuff. (Yes, I have stuff tucked away in my freezer from the Oklahoma Ice Storm of '07 too.) Anyone who hasn't been there to see what she has to say really should stop by.

Another homeschooling site can be seen here. Sprittibee homeschools using Konos but she has ideas that anyone with any curriculum can use. She is a wealth of information about homeschooling, but she also writes about other things as well. If you are considering homeschooling, especially if you are considering using Konos, visit this site you will be glad you did.

Last, but certainly not least, is Tammy's site. She has been a blessing in many of the everyday things in life. (Sad but true, I'm an everyday kind of person.) Tammy's Recipes more to offer than just recipes. She also offers her ideas on faith, housework, and frugality as well. I love her site.

Well that's it. This list probably offers more of an incite into my thinking than theirs but they truly do make me think.

Note: I've probably said it before, but I'm not much of a computer whiz; I need my sons' help regularly. Now one is going to school to be an aerospace engineer and the other to be a computer engineer, so I sooth myself with the thought that of course they know more than I do about this stuff. But when I am being truthful, I have to admit it doesn't take a computer engineer to figure out some of the things I need help with. When I ran into trouble with this article I put it in draft mode until they were able to help me with it. This didn't happen until after I came home from the woman's conference. This explains the discrepancy between the date and when it was posted. Thanks for being patient with my ignorance, I truly am trying to do better.

He Is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed!

"After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. 'Greetings,' he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.' " Matthew 28:1-7

I sat here fixing baskets for my boys thinking that it was just a few hours away from the time that this took place 2000 years ago. I can't help but wonder if the women had a restless night just as I do when I have a big task in front of me. I know it must have seemed an especially dark time; it had been even during the day light hours.

How could it not have. All their hopes and dreams, the things that they had believed all seemed washed away. They had put their faith in this Man and now He was gone. What was left except to do the last things that they could do for him. Some of those who knew Him sorrowed over their abandonment of Him in His last hours. One felt such guilt that he killed himself.

Another, as had been foretold over thirty years before, had a sword pierce her mothers heart. She probably laid in bed crying out to God "I just don't understand" over the lose of her eldest son. And why not? After all how could a loving and gracious God giver this child in such a miraculous way only to take Him back again in such a horrible way?

They say that it is always darkest before the dawn and I'm sure for those on earth that had followed Christ it must have been a very dark time indeed. It was the darkness of a lost loved one; the darkness of not living up to the expectations of a person they loved greatly; and the darkness of ignorance because they couldn't see how anything good could come from what had happened.

We go through those exact thing in our lives. We have those dark times as well. What we need to remember is that, even though we can't see it, God does have a plan and it's a plan for good. Secondly, even though we can't feel it God is there. We haven't been left orphaned or abandoned. Nothing we go through is a surprise to God anymore than what Christ went through was a surprise to Him. If we allow Him too, He will see us through it.

Life here is never going to be easy, Christ promised us that before he had died, As a matter of fact He said that it would be harder for believer than non believers. He did promise to help us and walk with us. He said that if we would just preserver there would be a place for us with him. And when we reach His side suddenly we will have a V-8 moment and it will all make sense, just as Christ's death finally made sense after His resurrection.

Homeschooling Again???

I guess it's not hard to figure out what has been occupying my time. I had been worrying about my youngest son's narrations. It bothered me that they weren't more complete. Of course he's only six so that should be taken into consideration. Still, it bothered me until recently. I read on one of the groups I belong to where some other mother was having trouble with her 10 year old's narrations as well. A woman who had been at this longer than we have answered in an attempt to help her.

What she had to say was simple but it changed the way that we handle narrations. She said basically it may make you crazy but you need to remember it's not your narration, it's your child's. You can encourage them and help them to get more complete but they are always going to talk about what is important to them. It may not be what's important to you, but again it's not your narration.

From that point on, it was like a light went on. I backed off and gave my son more room. Instead of saying that's not complete enough you need to tell me more, I started saying "And then what happened? How do you think he felt about that?" and so on. A funny thing happened after that; he started narrating better on his own.

Recently we were studying about Hezekiah being granted a longer life. When we were done he started his narration. It went like this:

"There was this king . . ." "Hezekiah?" Yeah that's right! And he got sick and was going to die. So God sent someone to tell him that he was going to die." "Isaiah?" "Yeah Isaiah. He told King Hezekiah that he would die. The king got so sad that he prayed and God changed his mind and sent that prophet Isaiah back to tell him that he changed his mind." "Then what happened?" "Then to prove that it would happen he told the king to pick which way the clock thing would go. He told Isaiah that it should go backward and it did and he lived more years."

Not bad for a 6 year old and quite a lot better than he was doing a couple of months ago. I know we shouldn't brag but boy am I proud of how far he has come.

Homeschooling: the Ending of the Year

The year is winding down in one respect but in another it's just getting started. I'm starting to receive my some of the things I wanted for next year so it's kind of like Christmas in the Hassett House. The kids all gather around, even the older ones that are in college and you here things like "Is that for me?" "OOOO, I like that one!" "Why didn't they have this when I was young?" It's fun and everyone gets excited about the next year.

As for me, I enjoy the thrill of the chase. As some of you may have figured out, we are not the wealthiest family in the world so much of our curriculum choices come to us free or used. I enjoy finding a deal. It makes my money go farther and there is a certain amount of pride in finding what I want at half of less than I would have to spend new.

This year my husband had given me our state tax return for books. I also had put aside my check that I had received for jury duty and one that I had gotten as a refund from CBD. That meant that I had $275.00 to spend on school this year. That made this a really good year for me. On the other hand text books are expensive and when you are buying for two, well it's doubly so. I go through and use what I can from what we have but sometimes it's not always possible.

Add to that the fact that for a period of time my husband was in and out of the hospital a lot. When the boys were young that meant they had to come with us and bring their books. Textbooks can get pretty heavy when you are little and have to carry them all. So we switched to Alpha Omega. They use a mastery learning system called Lifepacs in which each class is divided into 10 worktexts. It was much easier and lighter to carry a tenth of the work from each year than to carry it all. Plus they liked it; so much so as a matter of fact that with the oldest we never changed and with the next we only changed his Math and Science.

Oh, one disclaimer though; There are at least three companies that use this system, Alpha Omega, ACE, and Christian light (I think). They are not the same. I have a hard time turning down free school books so when I was offered ACE for my son I said sure. It was a hard year for us so to be given almost a years worth of schooling was, for me, a blessing. My son, on the other hand hated it. So did my husband, he banned it from the house after that year.

Alpha Omega is very good at saying, this, this and this are true now how do you apply it to this problem. The boys really liked it; it was especially good for my second sons learning style. ACE, on the other hand is much more rote learning, to the point that answers come word for word from the text the students study. That might be fine for some kids, I have friends who's kids love it but it drove mine crazy. They were so board they began to hate school. Our school life has never been a take this book and answer these questions sort of thing so the problem is probably more a fit to our learning style than with the quality of their curriculum.

My Husband says I tend to be rather eclectic when it comes to our homeschooling. I guess that's why I like CM so much. That combined with the fact that I want more books that I can use from son to son is part of why we are using Ambleside Online now. It is more interesting that just memorizing cold facts like "In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue." How much better to read a biography telling about his trials and how the crew was ready to mutiny and how the Lord intervened. Where Columbus failed in following the Lord and where he succeeded. The boys will remember that much longer than a paragraph or two containing a long list of date and events that they memorize for a test and then promptly forget.

I'm ranting again aren't I. Time to step down from My soap box and start school. I think I have the time wrong on my blog. Right now it's 9:30 (yes we're a half hour late; breakfast came slow,) but when I publish this it will read something different. I need to get one of the guys to come help me fix it.