It seems like every year when I go to homeschool conventions, I find SOMETHING that I think, "WOW, I wish this had been available when I was homeschooling my kids!"  

This year, I met Bryce, founder of lifefoundationsacademy.  Bryce is a credentialed California Biology teacher, homeschooled himself, and he knows there is a better way than traditional dry lectures and thick textbooks. And now, he is making that "better way" available to homeschool students everywhere - as well as how to double your investment return by using this course to obtain college credit! 

Bryce has years of experience teaching Biology, and he knows that short bursts of engaging instruction are the best bet for student retention - and he has packaged his 17 lesson course to directly attack the core concepts taught at college level general Biology. Your student can use this course not only as their high school Biology course, but confidently use it to prep for the CLEP as well, gaining college credit and saving both money and time! 

I fancy I know a little about online courses (ahem!), and I am delighted at the variety of interactive games and engaging content in these lessons! Parents will love the fact that the learning platform is straightforward and self-directed, and the quizzes are self-grading. Parents can be as hands-off as they need to be - but they will want to be involved simply because the learning Biology from a Christian perspective is something many of us never experienced. Imagine really understanding how science points to a creator, after having engaged with all sides of the discussion? 

Best part of it all? You can try a free lesson to see the style of the content, learn how the course works, and ask all the questions you need to.  Just visit Life Foundations at  lifefoundationsacademy.com and you will be that much closer to securing trustworthy, solid Biology education for your students. 

I really do wish this had been available for my students! 

​Noli Timere, 

    (I know our faith traditions are wide and varying. Perhaps you have been looking for ways to talk and think about Lent with your children. If not, perhaps this post still has something to offer in terms of helping your children and family understand the practices of Lent they will see happening around them this season.  I hope you take from it what might be helpful. Thank you! )

     Ash Wednesday  - the herald note of the Lenten season. As someone who didn't grow up in a tradition that celebrates Lent, but whose very best friends did, I recall a childhood of secretly watching and wondering...watching the somber, sober reflection of the Ash Wednesday service, wondering if an ashen cross on my forehead might burn its way deeper, deeper, down into my heart?
     As an adult, I have come to embrace a season of Lent, much as I embrace a season of Advent. Not because my particular church body prescribes or practices it, but because I find it helpful as a call to remembrance. After all, it's not about ashen crosses, really. It's not even about "giving something up" or my little sacrifice.  No - it's about Jesus. It's about looking forward, focusing, leaning in. Lent is about preparation. Lent is about what's real - not just for today, but for forever. Lean in and look hard.

     ​Leaning in to Jesus. That's what I want to do. In the next 40-some days, I want to focus more on His sacrifice, less on me. I want to think about why Jesus came, why Jesus lived, why Jesus died. Less of me, more of Him. Less of me, much - much - more of Him.
     Ashen crosses point the way to the end of this journey of Lent, which is the foot of the Good Friday cross. It's an outward sign of an inward repentance. It's a symbol that cries out our understanding that it was our sin - the sin of mankind - that led Jesus to the cross. Lean in. Consider. Reflect.
     There is nothing more sobering that realizing the cost - and the commensurate value - of our walk with the Lord. Without the sacrifice of the cross, there would have been no Easter morning resurrection. Without the cross, there would be no offer of eternal life. Without the cross, our sins would still stand between us and our Holy God.

     Lean in with me this Lent, won't you?
     Lean in to His love. Lean in to His grace. Lean in to His forgiveness.
​
     When we are willing to expose our hearts to the penetrating light of the presence of God, we will find the joy and peace of relationship with Him. He is faithful. He is merciful. He is waiting. 

      In our homeschool, we always start the day "together" on the couch. We pray, asking God to focus our hearts and minds, to help us to do our best, to help us understand what He would have us learn. We sing songs - sometimes with the piano, sometimes just a chorus, sometimes the doxology alone. We work on AWANA verses together and then read the day's Psalm and Proverb. It's simple, yet so incredibly profound. When one of my sons went off to college, it was our morning times he missed the most.
      During Lent, much like our Advent practice, we like to focus our Scripture reading on the upcoming season. We also have found it helpful to read through books or a devotional together to help stimulate thoughts and conversation about why and what we celebrate. Whether we make time for the additional reading first thing in the morning or during evening devotions, we read through Scripture, through books about Easter and Good Friday, and yes, books specifically for Lent.  I have linked a few of our favorites below, for families and children of various ages, although it was hard - there are some truly wonderful books available!

First, for the youngest among us! (And by the way, if every family in your homeschool group or at your church buys just one book, you can swap and share for maximum benefit with minimum out-of-pocket!) 

 Next, for those with slightly longer attention spans, although my young ones loves these as well!  (Yes, theone on the end is actually a DVD of music - Scriptural, lovely calls to consider the truth of Easter. What a great way to memorize truth! ) 

And finally, some really wonderful books we have enjoyed as a couple, and with our now-older children: 

Have you discovered a great resource that has helped you prepare for the season of Easter? Do you have a favorite Lenten devotional? Feel free to comment and leave the title for others to check out! 

Psalm 32:1-7
 How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!
 How joyful is the man the LORD does not charge with sin and in whose spirit is no deceit!
 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
 For day and night Your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat.
Selah
Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not conceal my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You took away the guilt of my sin.
Selah
Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to You at a time that You may be found.
When great floodwaters come, they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble,
You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance

​Leaning in,

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

It's hard to discuss some of history's darkest hours with our own precious children. We look in the faces of these children, pictured below at Auschwitz, and we cannot imagine the horrors they experienced. In a very real way, we want to protect our youngest from even knowing such a tragedy ever took place. 

But we dare not wait too long. While we do want to preserve their innocence and not terrify them with the true evil that lies at the heart of some of history's worst lessons, we also are responsible to impress upon them the truth of history through a lens of compassion and understanding for the suffering. They must know, through our rememberings and retellings, so that "never again" is their future. 

While middle school children may be ready for "The Diary of Anne Frank," and perhaps touring Holocaust museums, what about the youngest? How do we introduce them to the idea - not placing fear in their minds, but igniting a sense of justice and understanding? 

Well, if you know me, you know part of my answer is almost always, "books."  A well-written book bottles the emotion of the historical moment in print, and allows our children to learn well the lessons of history, from the safety of their living room couch and their parents' arms. 

I suggest these are four "beginning" books on the Holocaust, picture books that will introduce facts and the broad brush of history without being frightening. Of course, parents know their children best and will want to preview these, but in my home they were wonderful starting points for my young elementary students.  Read them. Talk about them. Tell your children to remember - so this never happens again! 

It's hard to reveal the evil side of human history to our children. But if we don't, I assure you they will hear about it somewhere else, from someone else, and there are no guarantees what sort of message they will receive.  I want to be the first to discuss these events, to open the conversation, so that I can show them the beauty and bravery of standing up for what we believe. 

​Noli Timere -

Dear Friends,  I know we come from many different traditions and faiths, but for those of us who are reveling in the advent season, I thought it might be fun to post an advent tradition here that my family has enjoyed for years.  We love to walk the kids through Scripture, helping them understand the cohesiveness of the Bible and its references to Christ from Genesis through the Nativity. If you would like to join us, I will be posting each day's devotion right here! 
     Each day consists of a short Scripture reading & devotion to discuss, a downloadble ornament for the kids to color and hang - either on your tree or on a garland somewhere - and a few songs to choose from. Many of the songs can be found in hymnals, if you play a musical instrument, but they can also be found on YouTube or Godvine - and it's fun to sing along! Finally, a prayer closes out this 5 minute time. This is a great start towards helping your children grasp the basic outline of the Greatest 

​Ornament: Two Tablets – The Ten Commandments
Scripture Reading: Ex. 32:15-18, 20:1-20, Ps.119:11
Songs: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, The Perfect Ten (YouTube), 

Dear Friends,  I know we come from many different traditions and faiths, but for those of us who are reveling in the advent season, I thought it might be fun to post an advent tradition here that my family has enjoyed for years.  We love to walk the kids through Scripture, helping them understand the cohesiveness of the Bible and its references to Christ from Genesis through the Nativity. If you would like to join us, I will be posting each day's devotion right here! 
     Each day consists of a short Scripture reading & devotion to discuss, a downloadble ornament for the kids to color and hang - either on your tree or on a garland somewhere - and a few songs to choose from. Many of the songs can be found in hymnals, if you play a musical instrument, but they can also be found on YouTube or Godvine - and it's fun to sing along! Finally, a prayer closes out this 5 minute time. This is a great start towards helping your children grasp the basic outline of the Greatest Book ​

​Ornament: A Coat of Many Colors
Scripture Reading: Genesis 37:3-36; Gen. 50:18-21
Songs: Our God is an Awesome God, The Little Drummer Boy

    Yesterday we heard about how Jacob learned that God was always with him. Well, Jacob had a big family. One of his sons, Joseph, was special to him.
    You see, Jacob loved all of his family, but he wanted to do something special for his son Joseph. Jacob gave Joseph a really colorful coat. But, Jacob’s brothers got mad because he got a special coat from their father and they didn’t get anything. In fact, they were mad at Joseph because he had been having dreams too. The dreams sounded like they were going to have to serve Joseph – and HE was not even the oldest brother!
    The coat Jacob gave Joseph was a special kind of coat that people wore when they were really important. Joseph’s brothers felt angry that their father gave that important coat to Joseph. They wanted to get rid of Joseph. In fact, they were so angry and sinful that some of the brothers decided to kill Joseph! Instead, other brothers talked them into selling him as a slave to Egypt.
     Wow – that sounds awful, doesn’t it? Do you think God had forgotten Joseph?  No. God knew. God helped Joseph become a great ruler in Egypt. When his father and brothers needed food and help, Joseph was able to take care of the whole family.  God had a plan the whole time. God always takes care of us.    

Questions:  

• Why were the brothers angry at Joseph?
• Who was really in control? Who had a plan? (God)

​
Prayer: Father God, thank You for having a plan for each of our lives. Sometimes bad things happen, or we get hurt or scared. Help us to remember that You can use even our troubles for good when we trust You. Please help us to never be mean or do mean things to others. Amen. 

Looking forward to Christmas,

Looking forward to Christmas! ​

Dear Friends,  I know we come from many different traditions and faiths, but for those of us who are reveling in the advent season, I thought it might be fun to post an advent tradition here that my family has enjoyed for years.  We love to walk the kids through Scripture, helping them understand the cohesiveness of the Bible and its references to Christ from Genesis through the Nativity. If you would like to join us, I will be posting each day's devotion right here! 
     Each day consists of a short Scripture reading & devotion to discuss, a downloadble ornament for the kids to color and hang - either on your tree or on a garland somewhere - and a few songs to choose from. Many of the songs can be found in hymnals, if you play a musical instrument, but they can also be found on YouTube or Godvine - and it's fun to sing along! Finally, a prayer closes out this 5 minute time. This is a great start on helping your children grasp the basic outline of the Greatest Book of All. 

​Ornament: a Lamb
Scripture Reading: Genesis 22:1-14, John 1:29b, Hebrews 11:17
Songs:  God is so Good, Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus, ABC-Jesus Died for You &Me

      Yesterday, we heard that God had promised Abraham that through his family the whole world would be blessed. Well, God gave Abraham a wonderful son named Isaac. Abraham loved his son very, very much. But, Abram loved God even more.

     One day, God asked Abraham to take Isaac on a journey up a mountain. Then, God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac – to kill him. Abraham was incredibly sad, but he was going to obey God. Abraham trusted that God would make everything right. God had promised that through Isaac the world would be blessed, and Abraham knew God keeps His promises. Abraham trusted that God could bring Isaac back to life again. 

    As Abraham was getting ready to sacrifice Isaac, God stopped him. He told Abraham to look in the bushes. Do you know what God put in the bush? (a lamb) God told Abraham to let the lamb take Isaac’s place. Isaac lived, but the lamb had to die. This was a picture of what God was planning for the whole world – He was sending a lamb to die for the world’s sins.
​
    Do you know who the Lamb was that God sent? (Jesus) Jesus took our place on the cross, He paid for our sins, so that we could live. Jesus had no sin at all – but He died for us.

     Questions:  

• What did God tell Abram to do? Why?
• Who is our Lamb? Why?

Prayer:  Father God, Thank You for providing Jesus to protect us from the punishment for our sins. You love us so much that You sent Your only son, Jesus, to be our Lamb. What a wonderful Christmas present for the whole world!  Thank You for our Lamb, in His name, amen. ​

​Looking forward to Christmas,

Dear Friends,  I know we come from many different traditions and faiths, but for those of us who are reveling in the advent season, I thought it might be fun to post an advent tradition here that my family has enjoyed for years.  We love to walk the kids through Scripture, helping them understand the cohesiveness of the Bible and its references to Christ from Genesis 3 through the Nativity. If you would like to join us, I will be posting each day's devotion right here! 

     Each day consists of a short Scripture reading & devotion to discuss, a downloadble ornament for the kids to color and hang - either on your tree or on a garland somewhere - and a few songs to choose from. Many of the songs can be found in hymnals, but they can also be found on YouTube or Godvine - and it's fun to sing along! Finally, a prayer closes out this 5 minute time. This is a great start on helping your children grasp the basic outline of the Greatest Book of All. 

​Ornament: A camel (Representing the call to Abram)
Scripture Reading: Genesis 12:1-7 and  Romans 4:13-16; 
Songs: Father Abraham, Trust and Obey, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus

Dear Friends,  I know we come from many different traditions and faiths, but for those of us who are reveling in the advent season, I thought it might be fun to post an advent tradition here that my family has enjoyed for years.  We love to walk the kids through Scripture, helping them understand the cohesiveness of the Bible and its references to Christ from Genesis 3 through the Nativity. If you would like to join us, I will be posting each day's devotion right here! 
     Each day consists of a short Scripture reading & devotion to discuss, a downloadble ornament for the kids to color and hang - either on your tree or on a garland somewhere - and a few songs to choose from. Many of the songs can be found in hymnals, but they can also be found on YouTube or Godvine - and it's fun to sing along! Finally, a prayer closes out this 5 minute time. This is a great start on helping your children grasp the basic outline of the Greatest Book of All. 

​Ornament: An ark & rainbow (Remind us of God's Promises)
Scripture Reading: Genesis 6:5-8, 7:17-23; 9:16 & Romans 6:23
Songs : Rise & Shine, Standing on the Promises

Dear Friends,  I know we come from many different traditions and faiths, but for those of us who are reveling in the advent season, I thought it might be fun to post an advent tradition here that my family has enjoyed for years.  We love to walk the kids through Scripture, helping them understand the cohesiveness of the Bible and its references to Christ from Genesis 3 through the Nativity. If you would like to join us, I will be posting each day's devotion right here! 
     Each day consists of a short Scripture reading & devotion to discuss, a downloadble ornament for the kids to color and hang - either on your tree or on a garland somewhere - and a few songs to choose from. Many of the songs can be found in hymnals, but they can also be found on YouTube or Godvine - and it's fun to sing along! Finally, a prayer closes out this 5 minute time. This is a great start on helping your children grasp the basic outline of the Greatest Book of All. 

​Ornament: Fruit & Snake (representing the Fall)
Read Scripture: Genesis 3:1-10, 23 & Is. 53:6
Songs: Jesus Loves Me, Just as I Am, Grace Greater Than Our Sin

    Dear Friends,  I know we come from many different traditions and faiths, but for those of us who are reveling in the advent season, I thought it might be fun to post an advent tradition here that my family has enjoyed for years.  We love to walk the kids through Scripture, helping them understand the cohesiveness of the Bible and its references to Christ from Genesis 3 through the Nativity. If you would like to join us, I will be posting each day's devotion right here! 
     Each day consists of a short Scripture reading & devotion to discuss, a downloadble ornament for the kids to color and hang - either on your tree or on a garland somewhere - and a few songs to choose from. Many of the songs can be found in hymnals, but they can also be found on YouTube or Godvine - and it's fun to sing along! Finally, a prayer closes out this 5 minute time. This is a great start on helping your children grasp the basic outline of the Greatest Book of All. 

          God is the creator of the entire world – and everything in it: air, water, plants, fish, animals…and people! This big round world we live on is GOD’S creative masterpiece. Have you seen something you think is especially beautiful in this world? What is it? God is so good!  
     Before God made the Earth, there was no light – everything was dark. There was nothing to see, and no light to see it by.
         When God finished creating the world, it was perfect. Even the people God had created were perfect at first – they had not sinned yet or done anything to make God unhappy. He had made a man – Adam – and a woman – Eve – to live in the beautiful Garden of Eden. They lived there with all the animals, and when God looked at all He had made, He thought everything was very good! 
            
     Discuss:  

• What did the world look like in the very beginning? (It was dark and not formed into land)
• Even though the Earth wasn’t formed, was God there?
• Who made the world, everything in it, and even us?
• For older kids, you can point out that in Genesis 1, we have the first mention of the Trinity (make man in our image) in the Bible!

Prayer: Father God, thank You making a beautiful creation for us to live in. We belong to You, because You made us! It amazes me that you keep track of a whole universe and yet know and care all about me. Thank you for sending Jesus as a baby, so we could know and love you. Thank you so much, Lord. Amen.

Looking forward to Christmas! 

            This summer was a first, after decades of gardening. We harvested next to nothing. We picked one fully-formed and ripe tomato, yesterday and one cantaloupe, just today. Well, we DID get peppers. Evidently rats don’t like peppers. And, yes, I confess I titled this “catch the foxes” because I just didn’t think you’d get this far if I had started off with rats.
            I went out to pick the first of the cantaloupes back in June. It looked lovely, and I had been anticipating it for weeks. But when I grabbed it to pick it up? It was light, too light. I twisted it off the stem and turned it over, quickly recoiling  - it was completely hollowed-out. Only a thin, 1/8” rind was left as a shell, with a chewed hole in the underside about the size of a …well, of one of the tomatoes I also never got to harvest.
            That was the next thing. While we were battling the critters over the melons, I thought, well, at least there will be tomatoes and zucchini. There are ALWAYS tomatoes and zucchini, right? Not this year. As the green tomatoes turned yellow, they disappeared.  It took me a while to realize what was happening. Wait, weren’t there green tomatoes on this branch last week? I thought for sure there would be some squash ready by now. What about the cucumbers? Didn’t this plant have a bunch of baby cukes? They were all devoured whole, including any remnant of stem, leaving only a barely discernable scar on the plant branch.

  Thus the battle raged into August. It involved nightly trappings and every-morning emptying of traps. Suffice to say that in Southern California we have citrus and avocado trees in backyards, and those trees attract tree rats, and those tree rats evidently had quite a year. It’s not that “we” had rats; it’s that our town did, and I was feeding all of them. We were the rodent restaurant of choice this summer. And yes, I have a cat. She was out-numbered and frankly not of size to battle this horde.
            After over 90 days of battling vermin, very little is left of either my garden or my desire to garden. I pulled out much of what was attracting them, tried to save two tomato plants, replanted a zucchini in hopes that maybe it wasn’t too late  - because is it ever too late for zucchini?
            But the sweet pleasure is gone. I don’t even want to touch the plants, much less run my fingers through the soil. The joy of watching tiny green marbles puff up into my luscious lunch fare became a tragi-comedy, a farce. I’m repulsed by the memories of rats longer than their traps, and the thoughts of them scouring around my garden leaves it with little appeal. The strong temptation is to turn the whole thing over and never touch it again, because I am not exaggerating when I tell you that is exactly how disturbing this has been. I stood and considered ripping out not just the garden, but my carefully constructed garden beds. I wanted to burn the whole thing down. 
            Have you ever felt like that? That something you have poured so much time and effort into has been a total waste? That you just want to rip it out, burn it down, have nothing to do with it ever again? I think we all have, and I suspect many of us have given in to that temptation at least once in our lives.
            Perspective-wise, this little garden in my backyard isn’t that important, but it reveals something about my heart - my humanness, that is. 
            When things get hard, frustrating, repugnant, and there is no end in sight…when there is no harvest and the seeds sown seem to be a waste…when the devouring horde has taken it all and there seems to be nothing left …What then? What happens if I sow and do not reap? When I didn’t take the cue from Song 2:15, when I didn’t catch the little foxes before they devoured the tender grapes? Where is the promise of harvest then?
            The answer has to be seen with the eyes of faith. The harvest always has really belonged to the Lord. It is mine to be faithful, but it is His to bring the harvest. Farmers know this; their faithfulness can be wiped out by a change in the weather, yet they don’t have the luxury of giving up. Often all is not quite as lost as it first appears if they wait and don’t give up. And then, the working of the soil, the tending of the field, the tilling, and manure, and all that seems lost for one season still builds into the next.
            And so with me.  When I have worked, and prayed, and reasoned, and poured my love into a spiritual work that is suddenly, starkly, fruitless? There will be mourning and grief, and understandably so. But my vision is so short! I focus on this season, this field, while God’s vision encompasses what is beyond my horizons to know. It is a discipline of faith, a type of guarding my mind, to remember that the harvest is the Lord’s, and so is the timing, and so is His stewardship of my efforts. I must focus on my own faithfulness, trusting that the seeds that have been sown, the tilling and working of a heart’s soil, are not in vain.
            Do the promises of the harvest hold, even when I don’t see the harvest? I think we all know they do. God has promised that His Word will not return void, “…Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.” (Is 55:11) We are told, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up,” (Gal. 6:9) yet we forget that the season we are in may not be the “due season,” the appointed time for results to be palpable.   
            We do grow weary of the battle with the devouring horde, sometimes, don’t we? We pace in front of the microwave of life, thinking surely it should be due time now! Yet clearly in Scripture, God lifts our eyes to a time beyond our own calendar to rest on His plan.  Nowhere is this more evident than in our parenting journey.
            So my friend, join me in taking a deep breath, releasing the frustration and the sadness and the regret and the done-ness to Him. Let’s keep being faithful sowers, waterers, and tenders of that which He has given into our hands. Our lives are part of the soil of the Lord’s vineyard. And as for me and my garden? Well, I’ll try to take my own advice! – but I’ll be keeping a weather-eye out for those, um, “little foxes”! 

​Noli Timere!​

As we come to the end of the very strange year, I have been thinking how to make a Christmas for a relative that is in a care facility and will not be able to have much contact with us at all for the Holidays that have always meant so much.  We are going to do a "Twelve Days of Christmas" surprise for them. It does mean twelve trips up the road a bit to drop a different gift each day outside with their name clearly labeled. (I did check with the staff, they are totally onboard! I suggest you do the same. Determine a PLACE you should leave the gift each day.) If your shut-in is at home, it might be easier - but watch out for those video doorbells we all gave grandma last year! Sneakiness is a plus, and my kids have enjoyed doing the "ring-and-dash" part of the equation in the past. 

It occurred to me, as I planned, that perhaps many of you have a neighbor, or a relative, or a friend who is also shut-in this year, in a new and uncomfortable way.  Some of us who homeschool have found that the comforts of home and family, and the familiar rhythms of a homeschool life still lived together, have meant that we feel almost insulated from the hardships of stay-at-home orders.  We certainly are missing our groups and gatherings, church friends, and traveling - but I know for my family, the happiness of shared movies, books, and meals makes our experience far different from the one (or the couple) who are alone when they want nothing more than to be together with extended family and friends. 

So. First - apologies for getting this printed up so late. I was honestly putting the finishing touches on my planning when it occured to me to share this. I hope you don't feel that the time is too late. You can start this at any time this season. Traditionally, the twelve days begins 12/25 and runs through 1/6 of the New Year.  I like to begin early (on 12/14) and end on Christmas day when we do this, and my tags reflect that fact. It would be an easy task to simply change up the poem for different days. My tags are also built around the legend of the "Twelve Days," with each day standing for some part of the Gospel message. Of course, you could alter also if you prefer not to include that.  

I'm going to upload the file for my twelve tags down below (totally free, no anything required) for you to print. If not, PLEASE, feel free to borrow and ammend my silly poems to your own gifts & days.  You should not feel limited by calendar or budget. This can be as simple as making sugar cookies and delivering a few each night, perhaps shaped or decorated to go with the night's theme. If you don't bake - you could have your children create a picture for each night, or make a small Christmas ornament. Really, the possibilities are endless and do not need to be either expensive or time-consuming.  It truly IS the thought that counts! 

My nights & gifts are as follows: 
1st Day-12/14 (Mon)  - Partridge in a Pear Tree - a small basket of Pears w/gold bow
2nd day-12/15 (Tue) - Two Turtle Doves - Dove Chocolate Candy  ( OR  Dove lotion, bathsoap)
3rd Day-12/16 (Wed) - Three French Hens -Popcorn & movie
4th Day-12/17 (Thur) - Four Calling Birds  - 4 cds of Christmas music (OR  4 CANS OF CHICKEN SOUP !)
5th Day-12/18 (Fri) - Five Golden Rings - 5 GOLDEN DONUTS (or five gold napkin rings around something?)
6th Day-12/19 (Sat) -Six Geese a-laying - 6 Plastic Eggs filled with nuts/seeds 
7th Day-12/20 (Sun) - Seven Swans a-swimming  - 7 Specialty Coffee packs in a mug  (OR 7 Scented soaps, Or Schwans ice cream bars)
8th Day-12/21 (Mon) - Eight Maids a-milking - 8 Hot Cocoa packets
9th Day-12/22 (Tue) -Nine ladies dancing - Socks & 9 small Candy Canes (or Pink Lady Apples)
10th Day-12/23 (Wed) -Lords a leaping - Ten Gingerbread Men Cookies on a festive plate
11th Day-12/24 (Thur) - Pipers piping - 11 Piroulini Cookies (OR Biscotti OR Breadsticks OR anything “Piping” hot…)
12th Day-12/25 (Fri) - Drummers drumming - A drum of holiday popcorn or a "drum" of fruitcake..or anything else they might enjoy, but in one of those cute Christmas tins ...er, Christmas drums!

I guarantee that your family will have AS MUCH fun doing this as your recipient does finding the little gifts. We have "revealed" ourselves some years when we have done this; other years we have just kept the secret to ourselves. We have given "bigger" gifts (socks, dvds) and we have given tiny gifts (an ornament or cookies) and have found they are received with equal delight. 

I challenge you - find someone who is alone this Christmas, and brighten up their season!

Noli Timere!

​The ‘lasts’ can be hard, can’t they? Sometimes a ‘last’ passes by and we aren’t aware it is a last – until it is long gone. The opportunity to savor and purposefully remember is gone, and the wind of time blows it down the street of our days into the past.  Today wasn’t like that, though. I knew ahead of time this ‘last’ was coming. I have been thinking about it, preparing for it, for a while now.
 
Today our ‘last’ child drove away for the ‘last’ time for a first day of school.   It wasn’t that long ago that he had the cat in his lap, made himself a cozy nest in a laundry basket, and proclaimed himself ready for kindergarten.  Different cat today, and the curriculum has certainly progressed (hey! Phonics worked!), but again he took some things to make himself a cozy nest while he settles in to do the hard work of preparing for a career. 

I had anticipated feeling overwhelmed and maybe a little weepy after he left.  With his older siblings on their own, including a newly married brother & sister-in-law, his leaving left us -alone. And then my husband left for work. I braced for a hard tug on my mama-heart. Homeschooling had been decades of loud laughter in a houseful of activity and energy.  In my empty house this morning, all was still. Even our usually frenetic husky-dog lay asleep in the sun by the sliding door. For the first time in 33 years (at least for this practice run semester!), we are empty-nesters. This is how it will be. I waited.
 
But you know what? Instead of feeling an overwhelming wave of sorrow or emptiness, what I felt instead was an irresistible, tremendous surge of gratitude.  This child for whom I prayed and with whom I worked so long; this child is going to be just fine.  He struggled for five years to overcome dyslexia, sounding out words bit by bit well into fifth grade. Yet like a tiny single prop airplane, when he finally lifted off – oh, away he soared – higher, higher, higher – with seemingly no bounds to where he could go. Trust me, his reading comprehension has come a long, long way, baby.  I am so grateful. 

Not only that. He was the one left behind by circumstances. My elderly mother lived with us, and it seemed that every spring, just as we finished the long fall review and turned a corner into new material, she would have a serious medical crisis: a stroke, a knee replacement after a fall, open-heart surgery, necrotizing fasciitis, another series of strokes.  After twelve hours a day at the hospital, I would return to that little face – that sweet little face.  And he would show me what he was trying to learn to do, on his own.  Just by reading the instructions,  with some not-always-detailed help from an older sibling, he taught himself to borrow for subtraction, to multiply in columns, to do long division.  During his elementary years, all the tricky things? all the steps that kids stumble over in math? I was absent for many of them – trying, desperately, at night to show him the next day’s work.  When I mourned over all he was having to do on his own, a wise mentor gave me this verse, Psalm 127:2 "... The Lord gives to His beloved, even in his sleep,” and reminded me that this child was learning an awful lot about faithfulness, about giving and living and love.  I clung to that. I was trying; he was trying. We were not enough; God had to make up for an awful lot. But He did, and I am so grateful.

So, today, that sweet-faced boy is a mechanical engineering student well past all that calculus and linear algebra and – well, past me!  I laugh to think how I worried that he would never learn to borrow for subtraction! I laugh to think how worried I was that he was having to learn how to learn. Even at 7, 8, or 9, under the watchful guidance of his older siblings when I was away, he developed the understanding that learning was important and working at it made a sweeter victory when something was understood and conquered.  How can I now be sad to see the seeds thus planted and prayed over coming to a bountiful and blessed harvest as he drives away to his own life and career? I can’t! 

I have become so aware of the patterns of lasts and firsts in life these past few years; I am learning to appreciate and embrace their coming. As my children have grown into young adults, the lasts have been coming at us fast! Yet…we noticed that if we were willing to release the fear of the “last” – we were really watching the birth of a “first.”  Last days at home become first days in their new place.  Last days here become our first new days as “the old folks.” Last nights in a childhood bedroom lead to a first night in their own home. Lasts are easy to mourn, perhaps harder to see as incipient firsts, but – oh the beauty when you glimpse it in that new perspective!

Just as God was faithful to lead and guide and provide for our family during those long, full, ride-them-like-a-rollercoaster years of homeschooling, God is faithful today. After 33 years with kids in the home as my primary focus and priority, I turn my eyes to tomorrow -- what is next?  If God so ordains, and Jesus tarries, I may yet have 30 or 33 more years on this earth.  I’m excited to see the “first” that this “last” ushers in!

But I’m still going to be really happy to see that kid, come Thanksgiving break! <3 

​Noli Timere!

            Usually words come easily for me, but today I am struggling.  The juxtaposition of the video of George Floyd struggling to breath under abuse of power and the video of Amy Cooper attempting to leverage fear of that same abuse were a combination that truly left me speechless, horrified, sick.  
             Racism is evil. To not speak out against it at this point feels like tacit approval. We each need to say it out loud - no matter how small or how large our audience.  Yes, I must do something.  I am aware that it is a small something. Please bear with me - so many words are fighting to bubble to the surface. I will say this awkwardly and without grace, because I am trying to say what should not ever need to be articulated; it is such plain fact - RACISM IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. THIS CANNOT CONTINUE.       

            Because racism is evil - sinful- the only lasting answer comes from repentance, a change of heart.  We can legislate and we can have better training and we can protest (and I am not denying the benefit or reality of the need for any of those) - but true change must be won in each human heart. Racism is a sin. It takes a change of heart to overturn that.  People are made in God's image - the Image Dei - and to deny the stamp of His image on any of His children is to deny Him. 
            That said, I am appealing today to the moms and dads that make up the majority of my audience, mostly homeschool families, primarily Christian homeschool families. Friends - we need to address this in our homes. We must. We MUST talk with our children.  It is painfully obvious that racism is a sin prevalent in the world, and just like any other sin we must lay a foundational understanding of why it is absolutely against God's design. 
            We hear a lot about how important representation is in books and movies and on TV.  But, honestly, I wonder if we have been missing something in all that discussion. Yes, yes, YES - it is critically important to children of color to see themselves represented - to see both the beauty and the potential in their lives. But you know what? I think it is also critical that we see each other represented. Bluntly stated: white children need to see children of color represented in books as beautiful, as smart, as creative, as heroes, as full of potential as every human being is. We all - every family, every parent - need to make sure to lay the foundation in our home that every single human being bears the image of God and is intrisincally valuable, because as with many other values we hold, they will surely encounter its opposite in this world.    
             So, here is one small something we can all do to change the future: We should purposefully use books to reinforce the natural and obvious fact that all people are created by God in His image. As I read a picture book with a two or three or four year old, I can point to the child on the page and say, "Isn't she smart? Look how handsome he is! Oh, isn't her hair pretty? Wow, he is so brave!" and in doing so teach my child that race is no arbiter of beauty or intelligence or success or worth.  Go to your home library, right now.  Do you have picture books representing black children and adults as joyful image bearers of God? Make sure, right now.  Here are a few for your consideration (I LOVE the Matthew Turner books - the illustrations are so JOYFUL!):        

As kids get older, make sure they read biographies of people of color, not because of the race of the protagonist but because these are people our children should know. If they don't know, there is a hole in their worldview. That is part of the point.  There are picture books, chapter books, and award-winning biographies sure to inspire everyone from a budding artist to an aspiring engineer. The Harriet Tubman book "Moses" makes me cry every single time I read it, simply for the beauty of the faith etched in her face. Here is just a tiny sampling - check them out: 

               Later, as teens, our kids are going to need us to help them procees the horrific struggle of Frederick Douglass, not that there are any good answers to those hard questions.  They are ready to explore the staunch determination of Sojourner Truth, the modern narrative of Colin Powell or Ben Carson, the bigger story behind Martin Luther King.   Maybe they will even want to discover the truly miraculous call on the life of Samuel Morris.  These are people who have spoken and continue to speak into the history and legacy of our nation and the world, and it behooves us all to be listening: 

           I started out by telling you what a small thing this was, and it is. I can't convict white supremacists of their sin. I can't turn the tide of racism or abuse of power. I can't, and neither can you.  Only God can change such a hard heart. 
          However, just because we can't do those big things does not mean our small things are meaningless. Let's "do the next right thing" (as Elizabeth Elliot said decades before Frozen II was ever dreamed of).  Let's make it a matter of importance to discuss equality in our family, with our children. Purpose to live lives that model respect for the image of God inherent in every human being. 
           Finally - the big thing - let's pray for an end to racism with this generation. Pray that God will allow His people to come together as a model of unity that will be a testimony to the nations. Will you commit to pray? To speak up? To use your sphere of influence to push back against racism?  To lay that foundation for change in your own family?  Let's do something.

​Noli Timere, 

-Then, as I watered, I walked around.  

Oh. From the other side, I was shocked to see these giant heads of cauliflower! I had to laugh at myself.  I had somehow missed two bigger-than-bowling-ball sized heads of cauliflower. How is that even possible?  

But you see - my perspective was off.  I wasn't looking at the bed from a good angle to see what it was producing, and I was hastily trying to move on to the next thing. Patience is not my natural strong suit, can you tell?  

I wondered, then, what spiritual growth was happening unnoticed and unappreciated in this time? My trials are so small - SO SMALL.  I have a little backyard that I love, and my home is filled with people I enjoy. What punishment is there in that? We are healthy. Our faith informs our view of this time as a trial, but not as a threat. Finances are what finances will be - but we have learned not to fret over such material things too much.  

So...why do I wriggle under these restrictions so?  Well, partly because we were designed for fellowship. It is GOOD that we do not enjoy being apart. We were born to "assemble together" as one body.  

But the truth is? I know that a good deal of my frustration this morning was simply not wanting to do something I didn't want to do. Stubborness. Willfulness. I just want my own way.  I like freedom and making up my own mind and going where I want to go.

But what if God is growing something beautiful in this time?  What if this lump of clay needs to sit still on the potter's wheel rather than wriggling under His hand as He forms me? 

I have often said the last great gift my mama gave me was patience. Impatient naturally, I was 40 years old and homeschooling my three children, when my mama came to live with us. God used her to knock some of my sharper edges back, to smooth a few rough spots, and to sand away daily at that lack of patience. But, oh, it was painful. 

In retrospect, as sharp as that time was, and as much as I often felt like I could feel my flesh-y self dying a fiery and humbling death, I would not trade it for anything. In fact, I so wish I had submitted to learning that lesson much earlier, so my early parenting years would have been kinder, gentler.  

So I am leaning in to the quiet today. I am not trying to fill my time. I am listening, asking, searching for what I can learn. How can I grow closer to God? How can I be His hands or feet or heart in this time?  

Most of all, I must remember, I simply do not have God's eternal perspective. I look at things too often from all the wrong angles, hastily, trying to get back to how I think things should be.  

Will you come sit with me, in this time of "safer at home"?  Let's make sure to soak up all we can of home, of family, of together.  When everything in the world gets back to "normal" - or whatever the new normal may look like - may we never lose the new sense of home we are discovering, the appreciation for time just spent together, the ease and comfort of family, the centrality of home, the anchor of faith. 

And, above all, 
Noli Timere - 

(This is an update version of a post first published several St. Pat's ago!) :D 

When I take my reading basket and head out to read to children, I have some strick guidelines for what books make it in that basket: reading must be fun, should be - at least most of the time - informative, and ought to be enhanced by lovely illustrations, well-chosen words, evocative descriptions and imagery. In short, everything I want from a great classic work of literature, I demand for my story time books as well.

Holidays are especially tricky. There are SO many fun, rollicking rhyme books with goofy illustrations – and don’t get me wrong, we read them! But, if you have just a select amount of time, perhaps you are looking for more. For instance, St. Patrick was a wonderful hero of the faith, a bold and fearless man. It is worth celebrating his day, learning a little of the Emerald Isle’s myths and traditions, and maybe even feasting on Irish Soda Bread as you read (the link takes you to my favorite recipe - serve with green punch!)  At my house we also enjoy the wearing of the green, finding four-leaf clovers, and perhaps even making leprechaun traps!

Here are just a few of my favorite St. Patrick’s Day reading choices :

If you have younger children, you might also enjoy some of these fingerplays and silly songs I use with 3-7 year olds! (If there are younger children, older children will often happily join right in!) 

​In our family, we call today "Christmas Eve-Eve."  It is a funny, left-over-from-childhood saying, but it indicates that we are all leaning forward to the joy and celebration of Christ's birth. We long for that day, as we long for his return, because his coming changed everything - in an instant.

In the instant that Jesus was born in that manger, time and eternity changed. Even the little letters which divide our history into two great eras reflect the reality that everything has changed: B.C., (Before Christ) and A. D. (Anno Domini, the year of our Lord).

Christmas affected our personal lives in a dramatic way, too. Christmas brings the joy of knowing the nature of God. Christ was and is Immanuel, God with us. The joy of having access to a divine mediator is now ours. Christ is indeed our great High Priest, merciful and faithful to his flock. Today, having satisfied our need for forgiveness, He makes constant and effectual intercession for us. Therefore, our access to peace came through His birth as well. 

Still anther joy we celebrate at Christmas  is the joy of our conscious adoption into God’s family. As children of God by faith in Christ, with His name upon us and His spirit in us, we are welcomed, loved, and cherished members of His family.

 We also celebrate the kindlier graces, the fruits of the spirit which Christ provides to each of us through the Holy Spirit. He said, “Blessed are the meek…Blessed are the merciful… Blessed are the pure in heart…” To follow Christ is to exchange the harsh and hard way of the law for the way of love.

Finally, this Christmas let’s celebrate the eternal flame of hope that was kindled that long-ago  morning. The birth of Jesus was the earnest of our expectation - of a day to come when the Son of Righteousness will reign in glory!

This Christmas, the world is one year farther away from the birth of Christ but one year nearer His blessed return. Merry Christmas, from our house to yours!

Noli Timere,

Does it feel like it's time for Thanksgiving at your house? It sure does at mine. Even in sunny SoCal, I notice a chill breeze sneaking in at sundown, and a few leaves are turning brown in the neighborhood. This year, Thanksgiving is running exceptionally late! I'm grateful for that, because it gives me time to suggest a few books for your family this Thanksgiving! 

Other holidays provide distraction in the form of candy, presents, or fireworks...but Thanksgiving is literally all about family and home and snuggling in with those you love - how could there be a more perfect setting for reading some wonderful books?  It's always hard to know "what age" a book is for - but the truly magical thing about holiday books is that they are the "one-size-fits-almost-all" of books. I like to keep a stack of picture books and early reader books around on the holidays, and I am always surprised to see who picks them up! 

I'll suggest some of my favorite picture books and such in just a moment...but first!!  First, I have to recommend this family favorite: Over the River and Through the Woods, a Thanksgiving Poem by Lydia Maria Child. I like this particular version for two very important reasons: first, the woodcut illustrations by Christopher Manson are just old-fashioned enough to be charming, yet crisp and beautiful on their own; second, the music for the song is on the inside back cover so you can teach your children the melody and they they can SING the book as you go. This is a tradition that I promise makes sweet memories! The music is quite easy, as well. You may even have a piano student among your kids capable of playing it. 

Okay, now down to the serious business of Thanksgiving picture books!  We have such favorites, and have loved so many wonderful Thanksgiving books, that it is truly difficult to narrow down to just a few. We have tried to cull from the best of "first Thanksgiving" plus fun, family, and faith - see what you think! 

Of course, we also have a list of favorite FUN Thanksgiving books that focus on family, and fun, and turkeys, and, well, THANKSGIVING...in all its autumn wonder! 

Aren't those just the BEST?  I hope you see some of your favorites listed, and I hope you have found a few new books to try out as well! Now. What about those of us who are a little older?  We need some lovely prods to thankfulness as well, right?  Here are few books I have enjoyed and found to be especially meaningful during Thanksgiving - I hope you will too! 

I always struggle to END these book recommendation posts, because there are so many more books that are simply wonderful and waiting to be read!  I apologize if I have left off one of your favorites, but invite you to recommend it yourself in the comments.

​Now, from my home to yours, best wishes for the blessing of a warm home, time with loved ones, and the grace of gratitude. 

Noli Timere,