Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Our Memorial Day


Daddy fishing on Memorial Day, 2007


Daddy pulling a hook from the mouth of a catfish (caught my our 8 year old.)


Big sister still waiting for a bite.

Nick's first catch of the day.

I bet this mess of fish weighs as much as my little man does.

As you can see, we had a great day. Hope you all did the same.

Blessings,

Amanda

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Fishing With Papa

Our fishing trip with Papa.

Daddy waiting on a bite.

CJ waiting on a bite.

Daddy was pretending to eat a raw fish.

Nick waiting on a bite.

Papa and CJ getting their lines ready.

Papa caught the first fish of the day.

Nick's first fish of the day.

Papa baiting his line and Nick waiting on the next bite.

CJ's first fish of the day.

Daddy was too busy repairing broken and baiting lines to do much fishing.

Papa is trying to get as close as possible without falling into the water.


CJ caught a fish.


Daddy casing his line; CJ taking lessons.

At the end of the day,

CJ caught 2 and Nick caught 5.

They love to fish and

we love to spend time with them

doing things they enjoy.

They didn't want to leave when we did,

so we will go again Monday,

Memorial Day.

Friends, please remember how important it is to spend time with your little ones,

while they are still small.

Value the quality time, not the quanity of time.

Take care, friends.

I need to go wash fish slime from my hands.

Love, Amanda

OUR GARDEN ~ MAY 2007
Daddy tilling up between rows. (Boy was he stiff the next day.)

Daddy giving me a lesson in weeding. Potatoes need the dirt to form a mound; onions need the dirt pulled away. Who knew there was so much to gardening?

I guess someone decided to take a break.

In the end, this is what our beauty looks like all cleaned up and weeded.

We decided to put our tomato plants beside the barn instead of in the garden.

We have three rows of sweet yellow corn, one row of sweet white corn,

1/2 row of watermelon, one row of cantaloupe, 1/2 row of sweet squash,

two rows of onions, 3/4 row of potatoes, and 16 tomato plants.

I think that is great for my first garden.

I done very little canning last year, so this will be our first year canning and putting up.

I know I have a lot to learn, however I think I am well on my way.

I am still amazed at how well God provides for his children.

So, until next time, Friend. God Bless.

Love, Amanda

Sunday, May 20, 2007

My Heavenly Song

My Heavenly Song

~

Today, as I was preparing for lunch, the sounds of angels rang through the air. I heard children squealing, sounds of laughter, the crackle of the big wheel on the gravel, and the pop of the jump rope each time it came down to sweep underneath my children’s feet. In the background, I heard the beautiful song of the wind chimes as they blew in the wind. At that moment, I felt such a sense peace and satisfaction. Who would have ever known that such a young, unwed mother seeking the love and security from the arms of a protector would have ended up as blessed and cherished as I am today? With the love and protective covering of my Lord and my beloved, I sometimes wonder what I did to deserve such abundant blessings. I finally realized that it wasn’t anything I did or didn’t do. It was something that my Heavenly Father did. He washed me in the Blood of the Lamb. He saved me from eternal hell and blessed my life abundantly. I love the Lord and His blessings shine in my life daily.

~

Blessings,

Amanda

Friday, May 18, 2007

A Bit About ME!

FYI.

Most of the books I read anymore are spiritual "classics". The reformers, revivalists, mystics and puritans of the 1600's, 1700's & 1800's, etc. I have found only a few books that are written today that have absolute truth in them. We have lost sight of truth and instead have substituted what is pleasing to the ears, what writers know people want to hear. There is such a rich treasury of truth and wisdom to be found in the saints of old!

A Strong Woman vs. A Woman of Strength

A Strong Woman vs. A Woman of Strength
~
A strong woman works out everyday to keep her body in shape...
but a woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape.
~
A strong woman isn't afraid of anything...
but a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear.
~
A strong woman won't let anyone get the best of her...
but a woman of strength gives the best of herself to everyone.
~
A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future...
but a woman of strength realizes life's mistakes can also be God's blessings,
and capitalizes on them.
~
A strong woman walks sure-footed...
but a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls.
~
A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face...
but a woman of strength wears grace.
~
A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey...
but a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey
that she will become strong.
~
~Author Unknown~

Thursday, May 17, 2007

FLYing

I would like to encourage you, if you haven’t already, to check out FlyLady.net. I am a SAHM, however that doesn’t mean I have all the free time in the world. I still need to use my time wisely in order to get things done each day. FlyLady had given me a way to do what needs to be done each day with plenty pleasure time remaining. FlyLady has created a schedule that works best for her own needs. However, you can utilize the information and the organizational information and change it to suit your own home.

~

I love the way she has the home broken into Zones. That way, each day you can work on a different Zone. She keeps you reminded about the Morning Routine and the Before Bedtime Routine that makes each and every day run so much more smoothly. I seem to be able to roll in the morning when I have completed my Before Bedtime Routine the night before and my Morning Routine when I get up.

~

I know what you’re thinking. Where do I start? Well, she can help you there, too. She instructs you on how to get started using Baby Steps and Decluttering. She advises you to take frequent short breaks to keep you from getting frustrated. If you join the FlyLady yahoo group, you will receive daily reminders about certain thing to help keep you on top of things during the day.

~

So, check it out and see what you think. I know it will change the way you clean your home.

~

Blessings,

Amanda

Monday, May 14, 2007

Decluttering Day

My schedule for today was somewhat different since house sitting is not on my daily routine.

*

I was house sitting for about 5 hours, today. Afterwards, we came home and started our daily tasks.

*

CJ and I scrubbed the kitchen sink. She and I both like it to be very shiny most of the time. First, we ran a full sink on hot water with a ½ cup of bleach. We let it soak for one hour. We rinsed the sink well and gently scrubbed with a Brillo pad. We rinsed it again and wiped dry with a towel. Finally, we sprayed Windex on the sink and faucet and wiped dry with a towel for a final time.

*

Wow! That sink is so shiny. I try to keep CJ involved in all of the details of keeping the home in order for her to know how to keep her home, one day.

*

Later in the evening, she and I rearranged her bedroom. She had a set of bunk beds in her room and wanted the top off in order to have it more open feeling. We took the top bunk off and put the mattress on her bottom bunk. Now, she has a tall single bed. We put on clean sheets and pillowcases on her tall bed and cleaned up the mess we made in the process. We moved her sewing table to a more accessible location and her dresser down a bit. I am guessing she is pleased with her room; she has been in there for an hour arranging pillows.

*

I went ahead and sorted through Nick’s room while I was at it. He and I decided to get rid of tons of stuff from his room. I had a problem getting rid of things of theirs up until this week. After speaking with a friend of mine, I decided to let CJ and Nick help me decide whether or not to get rid of something they gave me. If it cost a lot or had great sentimental value to it, we kept it. If not, we tossed it. It made me feel better by getting their opinion on the items. Between both rooms, we ended up getting rid of 6 garbage bags full of things.

*

Supper, tonight, included stew, potatoes, beans, and cornbread for supper. Actually, it is the same supper we had two nights ago. I just warmed up everything; I made fresh cornbread. My family has a problem with warmed up cornbread. That’s okay with me. I just bag it up and put it in the freezer for tomorrow’s meatloaf. Oh, that just reminded me. I need to take the hamburger meat out of the freezer before I go to bed.

*

Okay, well my night is coming to an end. It’s time to go to bed. I certainly enjoy blogging and I am thankful for your interest.

*

God bless,

Amanda

Today's Schedule

Here is my day so far.
~
Got up
Got dressed
Made bed
Picked up my bedroom
Washed face
Swish and Swipe front and back bathroom
Started breakfast
Ate a nice breakfast with my beloved husband
Cleaned up kitchen
~
(Beloved went to bed)
~
Wiped down kitchen cabinets, chairs, pictures, stove, refrigerator, and door facing
Swept kitchen, mud room, and back porch
Folded load of clothes, put more in the dryer, and put another load in washer
~
Children got up
Cleaned their bedrooms
Washed faces
Ate breakfast
Cleaned up their mess
Fed the dogs, cats, and hermit crabs
Now, outside jump roping



~
Details for mid-day:
~
Children will come in and start their chores
Put some beans in crock pot and mix up batter for cornbread
Vacuum the living room, my room, office, Nick's room, bathroom, and CJ's room
Dust entertainment center and mantle
Mop kitchen, mudroom, front bathroom
~
This afternoon:
~
Get ready for Nick's baseball game (we all have to be ready by the time Jeff gets up)
Then, BALL GAME time!!
~
Okay, the dryer just sounded. I need to get the next load of laundry out and folded.
~
Blessings,
Amanda

Boy! It was a barn burner!!


Tonight, we played the #2 team in the league. We were neck and neck until the 7 inning (overtime.) It was 10-10 in the sixth inning and the other team was up to bat. We held them to no runs. We came up to bat and just needed one run to win. We had one of our power hitters up to bat. He sailed it to the outfield and got a triple. One of our weaker batters was up next. He hit a soft hit to third and our third ran home and scored the winning run. 11-10 was the end score. WE WON!! That win put our team in 2nd place and the other team in 3rd place. Saturday we will play the #1 team in the league. If we beat them, we will be tied for 1st place.

It is unbelievable how exciting it is to watch 7 and 8-year-old children play baseball. If we get this excited now, think of how excited we will be when they are 12 and 14-years-old while playing a close ball game. I am so proud of my little 2nd baseman and Coach (my beloved.)

God Bless you and your family.

Amanda

"Created To Be His HelpMeet" by Debi Pearl

Hello friends. I have a minute to update my blog and thought I'd take advantage of it. I want to mention one of my favorite books again, just in case you don't know. If you are a wife and mother, I highly recommend "Created To Be His HelpMeet" by Debi Pearl. It is such a wonderful book. It has changed my life tremendously. I now have that heavenly marriage that I never knew existed. If you want a taste of this wonderful and happy life, go to www.nogreaterjoy.org and purchase the book for $12.00. You could actually consider this as a $12.00 investment in your marriage. You will reap benefits that will last a lifetime.

Blessings,
Amanda

Sweet Dreams

Okay. Parker just went home, the toys are picked up, the house is clean, the kitchen is ready for breakfast, dusting is done, kids are in the bed (and asleep), I've got most of the laundry done, and I am ready for the rest of the week. Praise God for that burst of energy.

I am tired and heading to bed. Good night to all.

Blessings,
Amanda

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Easy Access to Favorite Recipes




Tape your favorite recipes to the inside of your cupboards. I have my favorite baking recipes inside the cupboard next to where I bake and my favorite stovetop recipes inside that cupboard for easy access.



When I need to look at one on the bottom of the stack, I simply use a clothespin to hold the others up.



Happy Belated Mother's Day!






A mom believes in you before you were even born.
~
A mom carries you in prayer before she ever carries you in her arms.
~
A mom can disguise a vegetable in a hundred ways to get you to eat it.
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A mom can take a simple bone and make the most fabulous soup with it.
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A mom can sew you a dress for a special occasion and make you feel like a princess when you finally wear it.
~
A mom can crochet your first baby a blanket and send it half way across the country reminding you that you are not alone, but years and years of wisdom are behind you.
~
A mom is always in your heart, even when you've left her home to start your own.
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A mom will tell you she loves you in the most awkward places, especially when you are a teen.
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A mom will kiss your face off your whole life.
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A mom can make every birthday feel like its your most important birthday -even when you're 45 years old.
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A mom doesn't mind messes as long as you are learning something - and she's always wanting you to learn something, so there's always some sort of mess involved.
~
A mom is the first person you look for when you come home and walk through the house.
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A mom may look humble on the outside, but she's really rich on the inside, especially when her children are all home around her table.
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A mom never stops praying for you, even when everyone else does.
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A mom has hands that are busy blessing, and blessing, and blessing...then blessing still more.
~
A mom makes a simple shelter into a loving home - apartment, house, hotel, or even a tent.
~
A mom can see something delectable in the refrigerator when you see nothing whatsoever.
~
A mom makes sweet summer memories at the seashore or the lake.
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A mom can kiss away a "boo boo" better than any doctor with all his training.
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A mom can find pocket change in the most obscure places and then take you out for some fried clams and a ride on your bike on a hot summer evening.
~
A mom might weep for a night, but there will be joy in the morning.
~
A mom is the first person you think of when it's time for dinner.
~
A mom can set a table with a well worn tablecloth and mismatched dishes and leave you longing for the same meal again in the same week.
~
A mom can make the most ordinary tasks so pleasurable - like taking a bath full of bubbles with soft, squishy toys and duck shaped facecloths.
~
A mom can take four plain walls and cozy them up in the most comforting way possible on the tightest of budgets.
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A mom can make the most arduous task seem a little easier with the promise of tea and toast at the end of it.
~
A mom makes you feel secure in a crazy world - especially when you are two or fourteen.
~
A mom always seems to be home when you need her.
~
A mom smells so good, like a rose or a lavender bloom just freshly picked.
~
A mom can make a simple bed so soft and comforting with lots of scraps of cloth sewn tightly together or yarn crocheted into a pleasant pattern.
~
A mom can really listen like no other, so when you walk away you feel you've really been heard.
~
A mom can take a fistful of flowering weeds and adorn the table with them in the prettiest vase making the little giver smile at supper time.
~
A mom will help you with homework no matter how late it is or how hard it is for you to get it.
~
A mom will help you to hug your dad when you are so mad at him - and vice versa.
~
A mom will help you look your best at her expense.
~
A mom is always trying to reorganize something, rearrange something, or repair something.
~
A mom can be called on no matter what time of the day or night -she's always on call.
~
A mom can laugh and the whole room lights up.
~
A mom often has a baby on her hip or a toddler clinging to her leg - even if she's 60 years old.
~
A mom's work is so hidden until she is sick or called away to help someone else.
~
A mom is there to nurse you back to health and to prevent you from getting sick in the first place.
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A mom is the first person you call when you are sick at school or out of the country.
~
A mom teaches you how to make your husband's favorite food bonding you forever.
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A mom will help you to understand your father when he's the least understandable.
~
A mom can take four simple ingredients and make the tenderest tortillas.
~
A mom can take the worst day and turn it around with a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies and an old movie.
~
A mom can make you want to get up in the morning with the smell of bacon and biscuits wafting through the house from the old kitchen.
~
A mom can plant some seeds against the wall of the house, and the most beautiful grapes vines begin to grow because she prayed first over the seeds.
~
A mom can say a joke that no one gets, but everyone starts laughing because she's laughing so hard before she's even finished.
~
A mom can look so beautiful in your mind's eye out at the clothesline on a windy day.
~
A mom can look so ordinary at home, but when it's time to go out, she looks like some sort of beauty queen.
~
A mom will put portraits of you all over the house - even in the bathroom.
~
A mom will run outside to help a neighbor in need - even when she has a cake in the oven.
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A mom can paint and reupholster the ugliest chair and make it absolutely beautiful - then put it in your room - so that each time you look at it, you remember her transformation.
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A mom always wants to know how your day went and if you missed her as much as she missed you.
~
A mom is always up before you are.
~
A mom always wants to know if you slept well.
~
A mom can make an old kitchen the most memorable room in the house.
~
A mom will listen to the doctor, then do a bit of her own doctoring as well, which helps his prescription work even better.
~
A mom will teach you things you never knew you learned until you have kids of your own.
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A mom is always snapping your photo and then showing it to anyone who will look, especially strangers in grocery stores standing in line.
~
A mom can stretch a tight grocery budget to its limits and leave only the most sweetest memories of comforting foods.
~
A mom will write you letter after letter when you are the most lonely in an obscure part of the world.
~
A mom will take you blueberry picking for two weeks straight in the hottest of summers, but you'll never forget the blueberry biscuits in the dead of winter on a blizzardy day.
~
A mom will teach you how to make peanut brittle when your little brother is out with Dad.
~
A mom can play music in the house that you never forget your whole life.
~
A mom will read to you as though she has all the time in the world.
~
A mom is a resource of recipes, remedies, and diaper rash treatments.
~
A mom will teach you God's Word which gives you your first thirst for the Book of Life.
~
A mom never fully falls asleep until everyone is home.
~
A mom can make an ugly striped rug look better, or a floor full of holes look better just by her special touches here and there.
~
A mom will seem so much younger when she's around her friends reminiscing making you realize for the first time that she was indeed a teen once upon a time.
~
A mom teaches you your first prayers.
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A mom can make a rainy day so special with chicken soup, hot bread, candles, and a fire going in the fireplace.
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A mom is full of help and hope and honor.
~
A mom is a storehouse full of childhood memories - her own and yours.
~
A mom will be there when your heart is breaking because someone was mean to you just when you thought he liked you.
~
A mom can figure out an answer to a problem because she's always talking to Jesus.
~
A mom is found at every ballgame, play, dental appointment, recital, or race.
~
A mom can get a stain out, a sliver out, and a sickly cat out...all in one hour.
~
A mom is worth fighting for - as any junior high boy finds out at his first summer camp.
~
A mom can talk on the phone like no other woman and then call it her "phone ministry."
~
A mom will stand outside in the street waving until your car is completely out of sight, and then she'll do it all over again if you've forgotten something.
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A mom can tell something is wrong the minute you say, "hello" on the telephone.
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A mom will cry just when you least expect her to and when you most expect her to.
~
A mom is one of the most memorable women on earth.
~
Happy Belated Mothers Day!

May 14, 2007 is National Wear an Apron Day

I find it funny that today, May 14, 2007, is National Wear an Apron Day. Not funny that there is such a day. Funny that there is a National day to do something I do everyday. *SMILE* I started wearing an apron everyday about a year ago (maybe longer.) I sometimes forget I am wearing an apron and leave with it on. I have made several as well. Most of the ones I've made, I've given away. My daughter has also made a few. We love our aprons. Have a nice National Wear an Apron Day.

Blessings,
Amanda

The Game Ball


Yes, you guessed it. I am talking about baseball. After each game that our little league teams wins, the umpire gives Jeff (my husband and the head coach) the baseball used in the game. Jeff has to decide which child done the best or played the hardest to give the game ball to. During Saturday's baseball game, Nick turned two double plays. After the ball game was over, no one was surprised to see that Nick got the game ball. He was so excited and I was so proud. Not as proud of the game ball as I was of him playing his very best. He couldn't wait to get home to put it on his baseball shelf. I still have to write all the information on the baseball. However, it still looks great sitting on the baseball shelf. Congratulations, Son! You certainly deserve the Game Ball.

Click on the title of this passage and see a shot of Nick making a play. Be sure to come back!

Blessings,
Amanda
Happy Mother's Day, Ladies!
Blessings,
The Gowans

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Secrets Of A Happy Home Life



Secrets Of A Happy Home Life
~
J.R. Miller
1894

~

(I believe this article came from http://www.more-of-him.blogspot.com/)

~

~The Secret Of A Happy Home Life~
~

Home is among the holiest of words. A true home is one of the most sacred of places. It is a sanctuary into which men flee from the world's perils and alarms. It is a resting-place to which at close of day the weary retire to gather new strength for the battle and toils of tomorrow. It is the place where love learns its lessons, where life is schooled into discipline and strength, where character is molded. Out of the homes of a community comes the life of the community, as a river from the thousand springs that gush out on the hillsides.


~


We are all concerned in the making of some one home--our own home. One instrument out of tune in an orchestra mars the music which breaks upon the ears of the listeners. One discordant life in a household mars the perfectness of the music of love in the family. We should make sure that our life is not the one that is out of tune. We do not need to worry about the other lives; if each looks to his own, that will do.


When our Lord sent His disciples out to preach, one of His instructions was--"Into whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house." Peace is a good word. It is more than a salutation; falling from the Master's lips, it is a divine benediction as well. Peace, too, is a fruit of grace, which includes all that is sweetest and most divine in Christian culture. It is especially suggestive of the harmony of love, which is the perfection of beautiful living. Christ's peace is a blessing, which comes out of struggle and discipline. Well, therefore, does the salutation "Peace!" befit a Christian home, which ought to be the abode of peace.


What are some of the secrets of happy home life? The answer might be given in one word--Christ. Christ at the marriage-altar; Christ on the bridal journey; Christ when the new home is set up; Christ when the baby is born; Christ when a child dies; Christ in the pinching times; Christ in the days of plenty; Christ in the nursery, in the kitchen, in the parlor; Christ in the toil and in the rest; Christ along all the years; Christ when the wedded pair walk toward the sunset gates; Christ in the sad hour when farewells are spoken, and one goes on before and the other stays, bearing the unshared grief. Christ is the secret of happy home life.

~ Site Meter









~The Husband's Part~

~

He is to be to her what Christ is to the Church

~

No man is fit to be a husband who is not a good man. He need not be great, nor rich, nor brilliant, nor clever, but he must be good, or he is not worthy to take a gentle, trusting woman's tender life into his keeping. Of course he must love his wife; without love there is no real marriage, and ceremony and ring and vows and prayer are only empty formalities. He must love his wife and be always her lover. The world has read and heard quite enough moralizing about a wife's duty to be always winning and attractive, retaining the charm of girlhood amid all cares, toils, and sorrows. Of course; but is a husband under less obligation to love his wife and always to be lover-like? This is a good rule, which should work both ways.

~

But affectionateness, however desirable, is not all that is needed in a husband who would do his full share in happy home making. Life is not all sentiment. We cannot live on ambrosia. Happiness must have a very practical basis. A good husband must be a man. He must be a good man-manly, true, worthy, brave, generous, a man whom a noble woman can respect and honor all the days of her life. He must be a sober man; no man who comes home under the influence of intoxicating drink, even occasionally only, is going to do quite his share in making happiness for the woman who has trusted her all to him. He must be a man of pure, unblemished life, whose character is above suspicion, whose name will always be an honor and a pride in his own home. The husband has a great deal to do with the question of home happiness.

~

If a man will insist on his wife fulfilling her part, he must also insist on honestly fulfilling his own part,--all the sacred duties which are his as a HUSBAND. What, then, is the husband's share in this happy home making? "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself up for it" (Eph. 5:25). A husband is to love his wife. Is love despotic? Does love put its object in a servant's place? No; love serves. It seeks not its own. It desires "not to be served, but to serve." It does not demand attention, deference, service, subjection. It seeks rather to serve, to give, to honor.

~

The measure of the love required by the husband is to be well noted--"Even as Christ also loved the Church." This is a lofty standard. How did Christ show His love for His Church? Think of His gentleness to His friends, His patience with them in all their faultiness, His thoughtfulness, His unwearying kindness. Never did a harsh word fall from His lips upon their ears. Never did He do anything to give them pain. It was not easy for Him at all times to maintain such constancy and such composure and quietness of love toward them; for they were very faulty, and tried Him in a thousand ways. But His affection never wearied nor failed for an instant. Husbands are to love their wives even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself up for it. He loved even to the cost of utmost self-sacrifice.

~

There are men, however, who would do this, whose love would sacrifice even life itself for a wife, but who fail in daily and hourly tenderness, when there is no demand for great self-denial. Hence the other counsel must be remembered--"Love your wives, and be not bitter against them." More wives might complain of the lack of love in the little tendernesses than in great acts and manifestations.

~

A true woman's heart craves gentleness. It is hurt by bitter words, by coldness, by impatience, by harsh criticisms, by neglect, by the withholding of the expressions of affection. Love craves its daily bread of tenderness. No husband should deny his wife the little things of affection, the amenities of love, along the busy, trying days, and then think to make amends by putting a flower in her cold hand when she lies in the coffin. Will not conscience then whisper love's reproach?

~

A FATHER also should be a blessing to a home. The modern tendency to put upon the wife and mother all the responsibility for the making of the home and its happiness is not sanctioned by Christian teachings. The divine commands for the building of the home and the training of the children are given primarily to the man, although meant for both husband and wife. He cannot evade the responsibility; his position as the head of the family puts upon him the obligation. Besides, it is not manly that a man should want to put the whole burden on her whom he calls "the weaker vessel." If his wife is weak and he is so strong, let him remember that it is the privilege and the duty of strength to bear the heavy part of life's burdens.

~

There are parts of the home duty which a woman can do infinitely better than a man. Men's hands are clumsy, and often hurt gentle hearts, when it was meant that they should give healing and help. The man has the heavy care of providing for the household. There are tasks, too, for which woman's gentler hands are better fitted. But let no husband nurse the notion that he has no responsibility for the happiness of his home beyond providing food and clothing and other comforts. His strong life should be the secure shelter beneath which his wife and children may safely abide. His character should be a continual revealing of the love and truth and holiness of God. He should live so that, seeing him day after day, his family shall learn to know the beauty of Christ. He is the priest of his house, and as such should both speak to God for his family and speak to them for God. Through him blessings should come to his home every day.

~

~The Wife's Part~

~

The WIFE, too, has a responsibility. The prosaic arts of housekeeping are far more important factors of home happiness than many people without experience imagine. John Ruskin talks to young women of the etymology of the name 'wife'--"What do you think the beautiful word 'wife' comes from?" he asks. "It means 'weaver.' You must either be house-wives or house-moths; remember that. In the deep sense, you must weave men's fortunes, and embroider them, or feed upon them, and bring them to decay. Wherever a true wife comes, home is always around her. The stars may be the canopy over her head, the glow-worm in the night's cold grass be the fire at her feet, but home is where she is; and for a noble woman it stretches far around her,--better than houses with ceilings of cedar, or with paintings of the masters, shedding its quiet light for those who else were homeless."

~

Home is the true wife's kingdom. There, first of all places, she must be strong and beautiful. She may touch life outside in many ways, if she can do it without slighting the duties that are hers within her own doors. But if any calls for her service must be declined, they should not be the duties of her home. These are hers, and no other one's. Very largely does the wife hold in her hands, as a sacred trust, the happiness and the highest good of the hearts that nestle there. The best husband--the truest, the noblest, the gentlest, the richest-hearted--cannot make his home happy if his wife be not, in every reasonable sense, a helpmate to him.

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In the last analysis, home happiness depends on the wife. Her spirit gives the home its atmosphere. Her hands fashion its beauty. Her heart makes its love. And the end is so worthy, so noble, so divine, that no woman who has been called to be a wife, and has listened to the call, should consider any price too great to pay, to be the light, the joy, the blessing, the inspiration of a home.

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Men with fine gifts think it worth while to live to paint a few great pictures which shall be looked at and admired for generations; or to write a few songs which shall sing themselves into the ears and hearts of men. But the woman who makes a sweet, beautiful home, filling it with love and prayer and purity, is doing something better than anything else her hands could find to do beneath the skies.

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On the other hand, true love in a wife also lives to serve. Love always serves, or it is not love at all. The greatest in Christ's kingdom are those who serve the most unselfishly. Husband and wife vie with each other in loving and serving. They mutually bear each other's burdens. The husband is the head, but he never says so; never reminds his wife of it; never claims authority; and defers to her in everything.

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The wife recognizes her husband as head, honors him, looks up to him with esteem and confidence--all the more because he never demands subjection. Thus true love in husband and wife never has any trouble about rights or place. Side by side they stand, these two wedded lovers, each a part of the other, each incomplete, a mere fragment without the other, but strong in their happy union in love.

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But there are other elements in the composition of the home. Among the blessings which make happiness are the CHILDREN, who come with their sweet life and their holy gladness. Children bring cares and troubles, and demand toil and sacrifice, ofttimes cost pain and grief; yet the blessing they bring to a true home a thousand times repays the care and the cost. It is a sacred hour in a home when a baby is born and laid in the arms of a young father and mother. It is the final seal upon their wedded love. It is the closing benediction of the marriage ceremony. It draws fragments of heaven trailing after it to the home on earth. Few deeper, purer joys are ever experienced in this world than the joy of true parents on the birth of their first child. Much of home's happiness along the years is made by the children. They are also great blessings to their parents. Ofttimes they teach more lessons than they are taught. We say we train our children; but they train us, also, if we think of them as we should,--as immortal beings come from God to be prepared by us for their mission. A reverent mother sings softly over her child's cradle–

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"My child, I fear you; you are a spirit, soul!
How shall I walk before you?
and keep my garments whole?
O Lord, give strength,
give wisdom for the task.
To train this child for You."


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Jesus said of little children, that those who receive them in His name receive Him. May we not, then, surely say that children bring great possibility of blessing and happiness to a home? If we receive them as Christ's messengers, as sent to us in His name, and entertain them as we would entertain Him if He had come in place of them, we shall get from them deep and rich good and joy.

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A true mother is one of the holiest secrets of home happiness. God sends many beautiful things to this world, many noble gifts; but no blessing is richer than that which He bestows in a mother who has learned love's lessons well, and has realized something of the meaning of her sacred calling.

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~The Children's Part~

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BROTHERS and SISTERS have their part in making the home happiness. Yet not always do they live together so as to make the music of the home one glad, sweet song. Sometimes there is a lack of congeniality in their dispositions. Then ofttimes there seems to be the feeling that home affections do not need the culture that other friendships require. We cannot be brusque, curt, or crude with other people, and expect them to bear patiently with us in spite of our unmannerly behavior. But we are sure of our 'home friends',--so we let ourselves feel,--and do not need to be gentle and thoughtful towards them. So it is that in too many homes brothers and sisters live together year after year under the same roof, mingling in the household communion, yet never forming close friendships, soul never knitting to soul, strangers to each other's inner life. Thus many rich possibilities of close and holiest friendships are missed.

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Another thing that too often mars the home life of brothers and sisters is a spirit of 'commanding' and criticism. Faults are seen, and openly, and not in a gentle way, pointed out and reproved. What one does the others are apt to do; and thus the habit grows, until little but 'sharp speech' and 'inappropriate wrangling' is heard in the home where the conversation might have so much in it of sweetness and profit.

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These are suggestions of ways in which, in too many homes, one of the secrets of happiness is lost. It is possible for brothers and sisters to live together in a home so as to add greatly to the happiness and the richness of the household life, and to be comforts and helps to each other. It is said that the poet sisters, Alice and Phoebe Cary, had a secret of happy living together which it were well if all brothers and sisters could learn. "Whatever one felt or endured, because of it she would not inflict any suffering upon her sister! no, not even if that sister had inadvertently been the cause of it. If one sister was out of sorts, she went into her own room, shut her door, and had it out by herself."

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These are good rules to be adopted in other homes. If we are feeling uncomfortable from any cause, we have no right, according to the law of love, to diffuse our irritations through the household. If we are in any unhappy mood, in which we cannot suppress the ill-humor, we have no right to vent it in the circle of our loved ones, and would far better go to our own room, or out into the fresh air, alone, somewhere, and stay until we have gotten back our sweet spirit again, so that we can scatter roses, not thorns, among our loved ones.

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The possibilities of happiness and blessing among brothers and sisters can be realized only by cultivating the love that seeks not its own, that is not provoked, that bears all things, endures all things, and never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Love's first lesson is that of giving up one's own way, denying one's self, suffering in silence. Where this lesson has been learned, or is being learned, in a household of young people, each thinks of giving to the others, not of taking from them. Each cultivates gentleness and kindness. The speech of the home grows quiet and tender, is never loud nor angry. The Golden Rule is the law of each life. There is love, and love that reveals itself in a thousand little ways of courtesy and thoughtfulness--nameless things, but things that make up a home happiness on which heaven's angels look down with delight.

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Not very long can any family life go on unbroken. Death will visit every home. While we may, we should live together sweetly, patiently, loving and serving each other in all beautiful and Christly ways.

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~Some Suggestions~

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1. One is that love must prevail in all the family life. Let parents keep the confidence and affection of their children as long as they live. One of the ways to make sure of this is never to tire of the little marks and tokens of love which children naturally give. The time never comes when it is unmanly for a man to kiss his mother. In the ideal home every child has a good-night kiss for the parents before parting for bed. Let the children do their part, too, in showing affection. There are homes, chill and cold, which could be warmed into love's richest glow in a little time, if all the household hearts were to grow affectionate to each other.

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2. Another suggestion is, that all family strife and contention should cease. Why should parents discourage their children by continually nagging and finding fault with them? Why should children dishonor their parents by disobedience, by crude and unfilial treatment, by lack of respect, by refusing to yield to the order of the home? Why should brothers fail in the duties of civility and courtesy to their sisters? Why should sisters show no loving interest in their brothers, and fail to overshadow them as with angel-wings? Why should brothers wrangle and quarrel, separate their interests, and not stand together? Why should sisters have their miserable little disputes, their envies, jealousies and resentments? Let there be peace in all the home-life.

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3. Another suggestion is, that we should not grow discouraged, even if our homes are not yet what we crave. There are some who feel that the battle is hopeless; that they can never grow into beautiful life and character in their present circumstances. That is a mistake. It is possible to grow into all the beauty of peace wherever we may be placed. A lily finds its home in a black bog, but blooms into perfect loveliness.

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Suppose that your home-life is discouraging, even to the last degree; yet you may live sweetly in the midst of it, through the grace and help of God. And who knows but that your sweet life may become the power of God to change the home-life into heavenliness? Perhaps God has put you as leaven there, to leaven the whole lump.

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I have known a girl go out of a godless, worldly home to college, to find Christ and return home a beautiful earnest Christian. Then I have seen that home transformed in a few years, by that daughter's quiet influence, into an ideal Christian home.

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At least, though our home be not what we would like it to be, though it lack warmth and tenderness and congeniality, still, while it is our home, it is our duty to stay in it contentedly, and grow in it into beauty. We know that Jesus lived until thirty years of age in a humble peasant home, with but little culture and education, amid the privations of poverty and hard toil. Yet He was not discontented there. He did not complain of the narrowness and the littleness. He did not chafe under the limitations and the burdens. There His life grew into that marvelous sweetness, that wondrous beauty, that richness and greatness, which we see in Him, when, at thirty years of age, He went out to begin His ministry. Wherever we are planted, we, too, can grow into strength, nobleness and loveliness.

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4. Patience is another lesson in learning to live happily together at home. The children of a family have not all the same tastes. It is very easy to fall into the habit of criticizing each other. We know how nearly Martha spoiled her home happiness, and her sister's also, by criticism. Criticism never fosters affection; you never loved any one better for criticizing you. Usually the best service we can do to a brother or sister is to live a sweet, patient, beautiful, Christly life ourselves, leaving to God the fashioning of their lives. If they are true Christians, He is teaching them and putting His own image on their souls. We might mar this divine work by our criticism.

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Suppose you went into an artist's studio and saw a picture at which he had been working for months, yet unfinished; would you, not being an artist, take up his brush and begin to put touches here and there on the canvas? Each life of husband or wife, child, brother or sister, in your home is a picture which God is painting, and which is yet unfinished. Beware that you mar not His work! So let us be patient with one another at home. We all have our faults, we all make mistakes--but we can help each other more by loving patience, than by scathing criticism.

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5. True Religion is the great master-secret of all happy home life! The spirit of Christ alone will enable us to live together in perfect peace and love. The presence of Christ in the home is a perpetual blessing. We cannot be selfish, we cannot wrangle and strive, we cannot be bitter and unkind, we cannot be irritable and unreasonable, when conscious of the presence of Christ. If only we can make Christ an abiding guest in our home, and if we can keep ourselves aware of His being with us, our household life cannot help but grow wondrously sweet!

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Into every home, at some time, SORROW comes. Then it is that the blessing of religion is specially revealed. We do not see the stars until the sun goes down. The comforts of Christian faith do not reveal themselves to us in their richest light and peace until the darkness of sorrow rests upon our home. But there is light in the darkness when Christ is the guest. Indeed, it is true that when Christ is in a home, even sorrow itself becomes one of the secrets of happiness. Our Lord's beatitude says--"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4).

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Homes that have never known grief may be very happy in love, and very bright with sweet gladness; but after sorrow has been a guest within their doors, and has left its messages and blessings, there is a depth of quiet joy never experienced before. The family fellowship is sweeter after there has been a break in the circle. The love is tenderer when tears have come into its gladness. A vacant chair is a new and sacred bond in the household life.

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But it is only when Christ is in the home that sorrow sweetens the life. There can be no rainbow without cloud and rain; but neither can there be a rainbow, even with cloud and rain, unless the sun is shining through the falling drops. The rarest splendors of happiness can be known only when sorrow's clouds have overshadowed the home and the rain of tears is falling; but unless the light of divine love is pouring through the tears there can be no splendor of peace and comfort; nothing but darkness and cloud.

~

Few things we can do in this world are so well worth doing as the making of a beautiful and happy home. He who does this builds a sanctuary for God and opens a fountain of blessing for men. Far more than we know, do the strength and beauty of our lives depend upon the home in which we dwell. He who goes forth in the morning from a happy, loving, prayerful home, into the world's strife, temptation, struggle, and duty, is strong--inspired for noble and victorious living. The children who are brought up in a true home go out trained and equipped for life's battles and tasks, carrying in their hearts a secret of strength which will make them brave and loyal to God, and will keep them pure in the world's severest temptations.

~

We may all do loving service, therefore, by helping to make one of the world's homes,--the one in which we dwell--brighter and happier. No matter how plain it may be, or how old-fashioned, if love is in it, if prayer connects it with heaven, if Christ's blessing is upon it, it will be a transfigured spot! Poverty is no severe trial if the home is full of bright cheer. The hardest toil is light if love sings its songs amid the clatter.

~

Let us live more for our homes. Let us love one another more. Let us cease to complain, criticize and contradict each other. Let us be more patient with each other's faults. Let us not keep back the warm loving words that lie in our hearts until it is too late for them to give comfort. Soon separations will come. One of every wedded pair will stand by the other's coffin and grave. Then every bitter word spoken, and every neglect of love's duty, will be as a thorn in the heart.

~

Thomas Carlyle, that gifted author, when he passed the spot where he had last seen his wife alive, would bare his old head in wind or rain, his features wrung with bitter, unavailing sorrow. "Oh", he would say, "if I could see her but for five minutes, to assure her that I really cared for her throughout all that time! But she never knew it--she never knew it!"

~

We must give account for our idle silences as well as for our idle words.

~



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Friday, May 4, 2007

Socialization: Homeschool vs. Schools


Socialization: Homeschooling vs. Schools
By Michael F. Haverluck

CBNNews.com

May 2, 2007
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CBNNews.com - It was Theodore Roosevelt who said, "To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society."


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Many homeschoolers share this sentiment when it comes to public schools, believing that the moral relativism, violence, peer pressure, drugs and promiscuity found inside their gates provide an inadequate setting to properly socialize their children.


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Yet 92 percent of superintendents believe that home learners are emotionally unstable, deprived of proper social development and too judgmental of the world around them, according to a California study by researcher Dr. Brian Ray .
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What makes homeschool socialization such a hot topic?


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With approximately 4 million children currently being homeschooled in the U.S., along with a 15- to 20-percent yearly growth rate, many professional educators and school boards are concerned that this exodus will keep funds from entering the public education system.


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Many teachers also believe that successful home instruction by uncredentialed parents undermines their expertise and jeopardizes their jobs.


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Questions about inadequate socialization are often brought up as a means to disqualify homeschooling as a viable alternative form of education, but are the arguments valid?


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A look at the research on this socialization debate shines further light on the issue.


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There's no place like home


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Why is there such a dichotomy in the socialization experienced between homeschoolers and conventional students? It all has to do with the learning environment.


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The National Home Education Research Institute disclosed that the 36 to 54 hours that students spend in school-related weekly activities make peers and adults outside of the home the primary influences in children's lives - not the parents.


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Realizing the harm that this constant exposure can produce, especially if it's not countered by involved parenting, most homeschoolers are well aware of their children's need for close one-to-one contact throughout the education process.


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Jesus understood the importance of continual intimate contact with His students, as He ate, slept and fellowshipped with His disciples 24 hours a day. It is unlikely that Jesus would have entrusted their training to strangers.


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So how do these different settings affect children? Dr. Thomas Smedley believes that homeschoolers have superior socialization skills, and his research supports this claim. He conducted a study in which he administered the Vineyard Adaptive Behavior Scales test to identify mature and well-adapted behaviors in children. Home learners ranked in the 84th percentile, compared to publicly schooled students, who were drastically lower in the 23rd.


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Welcome to the real world


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Many school socialization advocates argue that homeschooling precludes children from experiencing real life.


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Instead of being locked behind school gates in what some would consider an artificial setting characterized by bells, forced silence and age-segregation, homeschoolers frequently extend their everyday classroom to fire departments, hospitals, museums, repair shops, city halls, national parks, churches and colleges, where real community interaction and contacts are made.


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Dismantling the stereotype that home learners spend their days isolated from society at kitchen tables with workbooks in hand, NHERI reports that they actually participate in approximately five different social activities outside the home on a regular basis.


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Furthermore, researcher Dr. Linda Montgomery found that 78 percent of high school home learners were employed with paying jobs, while a majority engaged in volunteering and community service.


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Research presented at the National Christian Home Educators Leadership Conference divulged that homeschool graduates far exceeded their public and private school counterparts in college by ranking the highest in 42 of 63 indicators of collegiate success. They were also ranked as being superior in four out of five achievement categories, including socialization, as they were assessed as being the most charismatic and influential.


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Biblical or worldly socialization?


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When most home educators and school administrators speak of successful socialization, are they referring to the same thing?


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Education researcher Dr. Michael Mitchell found that being popular, aggressively competitive, materialistically driven and self-confident are traits promoted in conventional schools.


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His study shows that these campus ideals are discouraged by Christian home educators in favor of building their children's character and dismantling selfish ambitions. Integrity, responsibility, respect for others, trust in God, biblical soundness and an amiable disposition topped the ideal social qualities they desired their youth to embody.


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Many Christians who homeschool believe that the greatest socialization their children can have is to be trained to emulate Jesus, who is a servant of man. Home educators examined by Mitchell strive to dismantle any selfish ambitions and self-aggrandizement seen in their children, as opposed to cultivating them.


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Getting ahead of one's peers is not consistent with Jesus' urging in Matthew 20:25b-28, which calls for Christians to seek a lowly and servile role to those around them. However, this does not mean that Christians are called to underachieve, as Colossians 3:23 exhorts readers to push for peak performance in every endeavor, but for the glory of God rather than for selfish ambition.


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Pride is also promoted in the public schools. It is often repackaged as self-esteem in programs such as "Here's Looking at You, 2000," in which education researcher Dr. Amy Binder reports that students are instructed to believe that they are "the most important person in the world."


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Many Christian home educators assert that the kind of pride being taught in the schools is discouraged throughout Scripture by Jesus and Paul, who preach against lifting oneself up or putting oneself first in favor of assuming a lowly position among others, as seen in Luke 14:10-11 and Romans 12:3.


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They often contend that traditional students are driven to achieve high marks in order to attain lucrative and prestigious jobs that can lead to lives of self-indulgence, while the Bible calls man not to be overcome by material concerns.


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Even though God enjoys prospering His children, He also warns us in 1 Timothy 6:10 that "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."


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Negative socialization


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The mass socialization conducted within schools has brought about a proliferation of delinquent behavior within this nation's youth, reports education researcher, Dr. Michael Slavinski. He notes that student bodies are increasingly riddled with violence, drugs, promiscuity, emotional disorders, crime, contempt for authority, desperate behavior, illiteracy and peer dependency - just to name a few.


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Today, parents are not as surprised to see reports of fifth-graders having sex in class; hear about school shootings; find drugs or condoms in backpacks; receive phone calls from the police and principals; or witness defiant, apathetic and unrecognizable tones in their children's voices.


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"Live and let learn," say many parents. Most home educators are fine with this, as long as their children's learning comes from mature, seasoned and embracing adults who have the children's best interests at heart - above political or economic agendas. They believe that such training shouldn't come from peers either, which amounts to the blind leading the blind.


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When the Direct Observation Form of the Child Behavior Checklist was administered by education researcher Dr. Larry Shyers to identify 97 problematic behaviors in two groups of children, traditionally schooled students exuded eight times as many antisocial traits than their homeschooled counterparts. This lies in direct contrast to claims by public school advocates that exposure to campus life leads to proper socialization.


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Light of the world


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Many Christian parents are concerned that homeschooling would not allow their children to fulfill the great commission of sharing the gospel with non-believers. They often site Matthew 5:14-16 about being the light of the world.


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Some Christian homeschool parents argue that even though young believers are to reach out to the lost, they are not called to immerse themselves daily in a hostile setting that constantly works to influence them in the ways of the world. They recognize that those with strong Christian upbringings are still vulnerable to the ungodly climate of the schools.


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In Proverbs 4:11-15, King Solomon realized the vulnerability of his son, proclaiming his responsibility to train him in godly teachings and keep him from stumbling over the vices of this world.


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Just as parents know that children are not prepared for war, many Christians believe that youth are not equipped to fend for themselves in the spiritual warfare taking place within schools.


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A nationwide survey conducted by The Barna Group shows that 80 percent of Christian families send their children to public schools where their faith is attacked. Based on the study's findings, it appears that their kids are the ones being "evangelized" by the religion of secular humanism. More than half of their Christian teens believe Jesus actually sinned and only nine percent hold to moral absolutes, while 83 percent of children from committed Christian families attending public schools adopt a Marxist-Socialist worldview, reports the group.


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For more statistics on Christians in education, click on The Barna Group.


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Consistent with these figures, Christian producer and occult expert Caryl Matrisciana reports that 75 percent of public-schooled American youth brought up in Christian households disown their Christian faith by the first year of college. NHERI finds that this is only true for less than four percent of homeschooled youth.


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Most home educators would not trade the blessings that homeschooling brings their families and society for the world.


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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, The Barna Group, NHERI, Dr. Michael Slavinski, Dr. Brian Ray, Dr. Thomas C. Smedley, Dr. Larry E. Shyers, Dr. Michael Mitchell, Dr. Linda Montgomery, Dr. Rhonda A. Galloway, Dr. Amy Binder