Keepin' a Schedule

When I first started homeschooling, the idea of following a schedule was the hardest thing for me. I was so used to getting up and planning out my day according to how I felt that day. If I was in the mood for shopping (which was usually the case :)), I would pack up and go! On the way home, I might stop for lunch and then decide to go visit a friend. Usually in the evening I would realize that I had forgotten to home school Brandon that day. I finally came to the conclusion that if I was going to successfully home school my children, I was going to have to learn to live by a schedule.

Disciplining myself to plan out my day took years of training. I would get a good schedule written down, and I'd follow it for a few days.  Then I would get distracted, so I'd try again! I tried to follow a schedule and failed over and over again for years. But I knew it was what I needed, so I just kept trying. Now my life is so scheduled I can hardly believe I used to forget to do school. :)

Scheduling isn't just good for homeschoolers. In his book, The Teenage Years of Jesus Christ, Jerry Ross quotes a pastor who said, "The longer I live, the more convinced I am that the key to a successful Christian life is living by schedule." Mr. Ross says, "To become a disciple of Christ requires discipline - the discipline to do, not just hear. Without a specific schedule and the character to follow that schedule, you will soon forget what you have learned... The desire to live like Jesus cannot be just a fad or a phase. It must be the most important goal of life, a goal that will only be reached when we discipline ourselves to live on purpose and on schedule"  

I know for myself, if I don't plan to read my Bible, it won't happen. If our family doesn't schedule a time for praying together and memorizing scripture, other things will suck up all our time. The important things in life will always get pushed aside by what seems necessary at the moment. Then we will look back and wish we had lived our life differently. How does the Lord want us to spend our time? Let's make a list of things that the Lord has put on our hearts to do and to teach our children, and then let's figure out what time of day we are going to do those things. At first, it will be painful and laborious, but over time we will adjust to the schedule. Then when we look back over our week, we won't have regrets, which becomes the motivation to keep on keepin' on! :)

Should children be made to work?

I was on the blog of a Christian author, and she was writing about how we need to teach our children to work.  I was amazed at one of the comments from a reader.  The person was so upset that there are people in the world who make their children work.  She said that childhood is a time for playing.  She was really bent out of shape and felt that it was a great disservice to a child to make them work.

Emily taking care of her chickens

 I laughed as I read the comment.  My children are all hard workers.  And what ignorant people, like the woman commenting on the blog, don't understand is that children who work hard and live productive lives are very happy children.  It is very rare for my children to wake up grumpy or even want to stay in bed.  They are happy and look forward to life.  I am not saying there is never a bad attitude, but it is rare to see my children feeling down or unhappy.

Boys helping dad pour concrete

  

Brandon mowing the lawn

Jonny cutting chicken throats

People that see work as a crime against children are most likely lazy people themselves.  In our home work is fun!  My husband and I love to work.  And if given the chance, most kids will like work too.  But if dad always sits on the couch watching television and mom always sits in front of the computer on Facebook, the children are not going to naturally think, "I should do the laundry and wash the floors."  They will want to self-indulge too!  And if they are made to work while mom and dad are being lazy, they will become bitter.

Mike and Jonny working on the sugar shack

Mike and Ben cutting off chicken feet

Apple picking day with friends and family

Ben changing the oil in his four wheeler - with Brandon's help

Emily showing of her baked goods

Brandon, Em, and Ben showing off the harvest

Ben with all his potatoes

What little girl will pass on baking with her mommy so that she can go play by herself in the playhouse?  Why play make-believe when you can do the real thing?  And what little boy will want to play with blocks when he can help daddy build something with a real hammer and real nails?  A child who is included in adult activities knows they are loved.  If you want your children to be confident and content, then include them in all you do.  Children who are pushed aside are angry, unhappy children.


Em and Jonny working in the garden

Ben mowing the lawn

Ben and Jonny choppin' chicken heads

Em watering the garden

Furthermore what girl, when considering a husband, says with a starry look in her eye, "I hope my husband is lazy."  No woman wants a lazy husband!!  Yet there are parents training their boys to play, play, play.  Then when the boy becomes a man (or maybe I should say...when he gets older), the parents will despise him for not being able to hold a job.  People have always admired my boys (and my daughter) because they are such good workers.  I told my oldest son that he will never have a hard time finding a job because employers are always looking for hard workers.  And he never has struggled to find work or keep a job! 

Ben, Jonny, and a friend (RJ) gutting our chickens

Yes, children need play time.  So do adults!  We love to play with our kids.  Family games and family sports are something we do regularly.  After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  But let's not forget that all play and no work makes Jack a lazy, unhappy, ungrateful, unproductive, bored, confused, and depressed citizen.  It will also make him a good socialist! :)

Boys playing army

A ride in the boat Brandon made

Two fierce Indians

The boys on their contraption

Riding four wheelers together



Making a brick oven



Hunting together

Four wheeler fun!

Time for target practice

We just really like our kids and want to be with them!  We play together, pray together, laugh together, cry together, work together, and enjoy an exciting productive life together!  The bottom line is, life is work, and I want my children to enjoy life! ...and they do! :)



Mama lovin' on Jonny



Sixteen and Pregnant

I met Tracie about a month ago.  She has an incredible testimony!  I asked her if I could share her story on my blog and she graciously sent me this written testimony. 
Her email is tjaigrademacher@yahoo.com  if you would like to get in touch with her.

16 Years Old and Pregnant
“Being 16, scared to death, confused, and deceptively misguided, I was at a loss for what I should do. Everything inside me was telling me that abortion was wrong. However after numerous conversations and an ever present pressure that abortion was the best thing to do by my family, I gave in.
I remember it like it was yesterday. The clinic workers were so cold and the entire place was vacant of any morality. The doctor who murdered my baby even asked me at one point ‘why are you crying?’ I knew before I went that it wasn’t right. However when I walked into that cold room I was literally debilitated. I felt like there was no turning back and no escape. That day I went home in tears and cried for days. No talking, just crying. My mom swept the whole thing under the rug and never brought it up again. I was never able to speak to a counselor or support group I suppressed these emotions for over 5 years. 

After I got married and started having children with my husband it all came flooding back, times 10! What had I done? The abortion didn’t make me un-pregnant, it just made me the mother of a dead baby. I spiraled downward into an abyss of sadness and pain. My depression worsened day by day and it became difficult to function. I didn’t want to ask for help because I was terrified of the “judgment“.

My husband was extremely supportive, however I felt very alone and confused.” After a while I finally hit bottom and I found God waiting there for me with open arms. Up until then I didn’t have much of a relationship with God . However I was so desperate for help that I began to read the bible and study God’s word. I realized that I was forgiven through the blood of Christ. This was great but I still wouldn’t forgive  myself.
God started to put it on my heart that I should get involved with the pro-life cause now that I knew how horrible the affects of abortion were.

It took a some serious time with God  in prayer but he revealed to me that my baby was a little girl and her name is Julia.  Having a name now helped me to focus on her and not the abortion.  I was finally honoring her life.
It was through  40 Days for life and the unconditional love I received from those involved that I was finally able to remove the heavy chains I was carrying and surrender my life fully to God. I realized that GOD’S FORGIVENESS IS ENOUGH!
Once I did that, God has blessed me by using me, my mistake, my baby and my journey to teach others about the TRUTH.  The truth about abortion, and God’s love and forgiveness.  I am now a public speaker on abortion, leading a post abortive bible study and a board member at Pregnancy Resource Center in St. Cloud, MN. 

God is so good and continues to amaze me with his blessings, mercy, love and forgiveness. He has bestowed amazing blessings on my family and I am eternally grateful.
There is a scar on my heart for Julia, but I will walk out the rest of my days on this earth following God’s call for me and honoring the short but beautiful life of my little girl.

With  all of my heart,  Tracie Rademacher

Have you found your life?

Many times, when you talk to the lost about the Lord, they are not interested in committing their life to Him because in their mind it means giving up everything they love.  But for those of us who have joined the Lord's Army, we know that commitment to Him brings about total freedom, joy, peace, and a love for what it right and good.  There is no remorse for what was left behind because through new eyes we see it as the pig pen of life.  The Truth has set us free, and the total fulfillment of our spiritual life has made us completely satisfied and content, beyond what words can describe.  If only the lost could know His freedom.

The evening before my planned abortion in 1992, I sat in my room reading a tract.  It was filled with scriptures telling how God feels about abortion.  I read:

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew 10:39

All I had cared about was MY life and MY future.  God's way seemed like bondage.  I would have to give up everything I loved.  Yet when I read that tract, I knew that all that I was really longing for in my life was found in Christ. The verse above and many others brought me to my knees in repentance.  On that evening in March, almost 20 years ago, Jesus forgave me of my sins and set me free.  I didn't know the life I was living was bondage until I let it go.  Sin feels like freedom until you know the freedom found in Jesus Christ!  "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23  Only when we surrender to Him, do we "find" our life and become totally free! 

If you do not know His freedom, get on your knees and confess your sins to Him.  Then confess Him as your Lord and Savior and believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.  After believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9-10)  Now follow Him, and you will  end all your searching...you will have found your life!!

The Piano

Our old piano has had "issues" for a long time.  We bought it about 10 years ago, when Emily started taking piano lessons.  If I was musically inclined, I could explain its problems to you, but let's just say our piano is a tuner's worst nightmare.  But it is one of the most beautiful pianos I have ever seen. It was built in the 1890s and is a work of art!

Here is a picture of our piano in its new home - the garage.

Last fall we had it tuned again.  After 6 hours, our piano tuner was ready to pull his hair out!  Many of the strings broke as he worked, but he had the piano in good working order when he left.  A few days later, he let us know that he had a piano for us, if we wanted a different one, that was in very good condition, but it wasn't very pretty.  The sound would not compare to our old piano - it would be much better!  Some wanted to keep the old piano because it was so pretty, but Emily, who plays the most, was anxious to play one that sounded good.

Our new piano is very plain.  It was built in the 1950's and is a little scratched up.  It was in a first grade classroom for many years and was well cared for.  And boy can it sing! :)  I often hear Emily say, "I love this piano", while she is playing it. :) 

As I watched the men hauling our very lovely old piano out of the house, I started thinking about something that I have been meditating on for a few weeks - beauty.  How important is beauty?  In our culture, it is one of the most sought after attributes in a woman's life.  Oh to be beautiful!  We color our hair, straighten and whiten our teeth, pad our bras, cover our faces in make-up, purchase sunglasses with latest in-style shape, and search for fashionable clothes, all so that we can be counted beautiful with the masses!  Even men who are running for president desire to be handsome because they are more likely to get elected.  So, if physical beauty is necessary to win the approval of the world, why wasn't Jesus handsome?  (See Isaiah 53:2)

The truth is beauty is empty.  The Bible calls it "vain".  God says that this kind of beauty in a woman's life is worthless, having no substance, value, or importance...just like my old piano.  On the outside my old piano looks fantastic, but inside it's empty.  A piano was created and designed to make beautiful music.  What good is it if it just sits there looking nice?  We were created to glorify God, to be His representatives to a lost and dying world.  While I do not think there is any value in us trying to look ugly, nor do I think that that is what God wants from us, our true beauty is found in the heart.  The Bible says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. God made us beautiful, but His beautiful and the world's beautiful are two different things. "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31:30  This same word, beauty is described in Proverbs 6:25, with a warning to young men about evil women.  "Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids."  We need to start to see this type of beauty from God's perspective.  It is neither necessary or of any value.

When I get all dressed up and look my best, and I go out and someone says, "You look so pretty!", what value does that have in my life?  Not that it is wicked to get dressed up and look nice....don't get me wrong!  But do I really think that God looks down from heaven at that moment and says, "Mindy, that's my girl! I am so proud of you! You look so pretty!"  You would think, at times, by the value that my mind tries to put on beauty, that I really do believe that!

Trying to look beautiful is bondage!  There will always be a new and ever changing standard for "pretty".  It is like a hungry monster that can never be satisfied.  If we let it, it will keep us striving our whole life, never able to find rest and contentment.  In the end, it will keeps us full of ourselves and distant from God.  To be honest, I have bondages in this area that run so deep that there are days when I wonder if I will every be free from them.  Yet another thought reminds me that God is able!  I want God's mind on this matter! I want balance, but it is hard to find balance in a culture that worships beauty.  It feels at times like I am going against a tidal wave of lies that constantly bombard my mind and contradict God's Word, making me focus on the worthless and empty things of this world.

The real problem is a focus on outward appearance.  It not only keeps captive those seeking the world's approval, it keeps anyone captive who is overly concerned with how they look.  An Amish woman can be in just as much bondage as the young girl who is consumed with fashion magazines, seeking the next fad.  Oh to get our focus off ourselves and onto the Lord!  May we seek to impress only Him and rest in His love for us!  And like my new piano, may our true beauty be found within!

"I'm Bored!"

Years ago, I had gotten into the habit of putting movies on for Brandon.  He was my only child at the time.  When I wanted some time alone, I used the TV as a babysitter.  I justified this action by making sure they were good, quality videos. 

Brandon gradually got to the point where he needed to be entertained more and more.   When he wasn't watching a movie, he didn't have any idea what to do with himself.  I began hearing, "I'm bored!" more and more.

One day we decided that we needed to go on a movie fast.  I figured this would be a good exercise in self-control, but I had no idea that it would produce the results that it did.  Brandon suddenly became very creative!  I was amazed when he would show me the things that he had made out of Legos.  He began drawing and doing other things that showed great talent.  It made me so sad to think that I had squelched all these abilities in him by encouraging him to let something else control his mind.  By my poor decisions, I had created a lazy child.  But the reality was that Brandon wasn't lazy or dumb.  He just needed someone to unlock the potential that was within him.

It's easy to just let our children's time slip away in meaningless activities.  If they are quiet and entertained, why bother them?  But I want to encourage you to find activities for your children that will help them discover the gifts that God has put in them.  Ever since that day, when I realized how talented Brandon was, I have told him, "You will invent something one day!"  I have continued, over the years, to be amazed at his abilities!  And it's all because of that one decision to take away the TV.

That incident with Brandon happened about 16 years ago, but Mike and I continue to exercise caution when it comes to movie time.   Too much time sitting in front of a screen produces bad fruit, bored children, and unleashed potential!  Your children may not be thrilled when you take away the forms of entertainment that are not producing any good fruit, but, trust me, the day will come when they will be thankful for it! :)

Please Pray!

Our family and our church body have been praying for Youcef.  Would you please pray for him too?  We received this email today:

URGENT PRAYER NEEDED for cancellation of execution for Pastor Youcef in IRAN
This Prayer Chain is calling ALL Christians into action NOW on behalf of this Iranian pastor, who faces execution!

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani never practiced the Muslim faith and converted to Christianity at age 19, becoming a pastor later. But the courts say that since his mother and father were practicing Muslims, he must recant his Christian faith or die. So far, in three court appearances, he has refused to do so - RISKING EXECUTION AT ANY MOMENT.   The Iranian Supreme Court often acts quickly in administering the death penalty.

According to a report, when asked by judges to "repent," Youcef replied: "Repent,  What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?"

The judges replied: "To the religion of your ancestors - Islam." To which Yousef replied: "I cannot."

It's time for the body of Christ to act, to pray, to plead for the life of our Brother before Christ so that His servant may be spared.