He prepareth a table before us...and more!

We are finally posting some photos of the inside of the new house, since we are more or less moved in. Much of the moving in took place after the bus was unloaded, because we came from a much smaller house, and so had very little furniture. We were just rattling around inside this place! Of course, we were thankful to have the space in which to rattle! But, furniture was not at all in our budget. However, what a wonderful provision the Lord has given us through free stuff for our house!



The front living room, which we use mostly as extra work space, now features this oak dining table which seats six. It was being given away. The hanging light above it was free as well; Ben rewired for us so we could plug it in. Also given to us was the brown covered couch, AND the nearby chair, and the cooly-colored throw pillows on said couch and chair! We use this area for working with the little boys in the morning, and when we spread out to do our Bible copy and letter writing, or chore brainstorming sessions. Wow -- space!


This monster desk with hutch was also a free provision for us, from a sweet lady up in Madison. The boys dismantled it, put it together in the old house, dismantled it again, and installed it here. This is the "formal dining room" adjacent to the front living room, but it Mommy's office area. The hanging light (matching the other one over the oak table) was also free. The pink and green quilt was made by my maid of honor!


Behind the oak dining table is this lovely desk for Abi's work area, also given to us. Abi helps with proofing and copying the outgoing family correspondence (we keep copies of the children's to serve as a family history). She will be helping to keep us on track with our Spanish lessons, so her books and a CD player for that purpose are nearby.


This nook off of the kitchen is the creation room. This corner table with the three chairs were also a free provision for us. This is more space for quiet reading or writing.


Welcome to the basement office of Silver Chalice (Zak and Ben's start-up). They let Daddy hang out here too. This work table (minus the shelf thingy) is one of THREE such work tables given to us. The easel and whiteboard is one of two given to us, by the same lady (Abi has the other one by her desk).


Another provision from the Lord, this desk for Zak.


Piecing together my monster desk was good practice for piecing together THIS monster "desk". It was also a free provision from the Lord. It is in perfect condition and the quality is nearly Klein-proof. Sarah did most of the reassembling. Sarah also installed the vinyl tiles in this basement nook which is the sewing/project room.


Back on the main floor, this is our previously empty "den". Except for the rocking chair in the top corner, these pieces of furniture (plus a couch which is not visible) which nicely fill up this HUGE room where we gather for devotions in the morning and evening, were all more of the Lord's provision for us.



The fireplace heats this room. It's really a room made for having company!


This lovely Bible verse picture was also a provision from the Lord. Dave's mom had an identical one, and I was so happy when my friend Linda offered it to me. Thanks!

There is much more to the house, and the stuff the Lord has provided, but you get the picture! We give thanks to Him, not just for this stuff, but for everything He has done for us. To whom much is given, much will be required.

Brainwashing our children

Our children's ages span from 20 to 1, and so we find it necessary to repeat lessons as the younger children grow. From sit down when you eat, to don't run in the house, to measure twice, cut once.

Yesterday, the little boys and I had a discussion that is pretty familiar. It often starts as the school bus passes our house. Where are the children going? What are they doing?

Teaching our children at home began as an experiment for us, but it has developed into a way of life, and we have no other option for accomplishing what God has set before us. The necessity of being the main influence for our impressionable children, the necessity of teaching them God's Word as we go about each day, seeking to live it....there are no other options.

It is sad that educational reasons for homeschooling have eclipsed what really motivated many modern Christian parents to return to keeping children home 30 or 40 or more years ago. We attended a wedding last year, where the 80-something year old father of the FATHER of the groom was present. He was a homeschool dad. Yes, I mean the groom's grandpa! Years ago, he had been a school teacher, and decided he had to pull his children out of the school and teach them at home. It was not for mere educational reasons.

Occasionally someone will ask us if our children ever wanted to go to school. As far as we can tell, the answers is no. From an early age, we have discussed many of the realities of school. These discussions, coupled with what they know already through experience, seems to have them brainwashed. Yes, we brainwash our children! We figure, someone is going to, so it better be us!

Where are the children going? They get up early in the morning and leave their homes and go to school. If they have brothers and sisters, they will not be able to be with them unless they are the same age. If their mom just had a new baby, they will be gone all day long and only see the baby after school.

Don't they want to stay home? At first, many do. But they soon find it more fun than being home.

They will sit in a room with other children their own age. There will be a teacher there who has to try to get them all to listen and obey instructions. Nobody is allowed to be spanked for disobeying the teacher. If the teacher has problems with a certain child, they will tell the parents, but the parents are not there when the problems occur. Sometimes the child convinces their parents that they didn't really do anything wrong.

If the children do or say something bad on the playground, they will not be spanked. Usually, they will have no consequences at all. There are too many children for the teachers to keep track of all the rude talk, or pushing or other bad things. Also, the children can do bad things at school that their parents don't want them to do. The parents may never find out.

The kids who do not dress cool or act cool or are not nice looking are treated badly by most of the other children. This makes most of the children beg their parents to get them cool clothes or hair cuts or to pierce their ears, because they want to be like the other kids. Sometimes they will refuse to wear certain clothes, even if they still fit, just because the kids at school will think they are not cool. They start to think it is more important to please the other kids.

When you go to Walmart, you can see racks and racks of the same clothes. Some are immodest. But the children want to be like the cool kids, so they wear them. The stores know what will be cool and stock up. Even if they are wildly expensive, that is what the children have to have.

At school, the children don't have to do any chores. They get to play on the playground a couple of times a day. When they get home, they want to watch TV or go and play with friends. So, many parents find it is extra hard to teach them to do work, since they only time they do work is when they are home. This makes it easy for them to not want to be home.

When the children are home, it can seem the only time they have to do chores is when they are home. Guess what happens. They usually want to avoid it. Also, the parents become used to a quiet, neat house. When the children are home all week for summer vacation, some parents actually wish summer would be over so the kids would go back to school! More and more, the children learn to want to be with their friends more than their family. That's why you see so many big kids out walking around without their families.

We don't really talk much about school shootings with the children. We don't talk much about the immorality, the increasing abuse, the social engineering, and the increasing drugging of school children as a means to control behavior. Just the above is enough to inspire our children to be content with not being on the yellow bus.

Teaching our children at home has not caused us to become the perfect family. That is another reality our children have experienced! But even through our stubborn blundering, we all recognize that pressing on, hand in hand, is the best way to move ahead.

Yes, we brainwash our children. Who is brainwashing yours?

Don't ask....

....why Gideon was trying to sneak a rubber ball and a roll of duct tape into his room.

Pray without ceasing

Yesterday, Joanna was giving Joshie a bath.

She asked him to close his eyes so she could wash his hair.

He closed his eyes....and bowed his head, and folded his hands!

Our miscarriage

Yesterday was a day where the Lord walked with us through the valley of the shadow of death. We had a miscarriage and I hemorrhaged. Well, I am home now and the Lord took our baby but spared me. We wanted to share our testimony of how the Lord helped us. This will not be gory, but just wanted to share how the Lord helped us.

The last week or so there had been some signs but we just prayed and waited, like we did with Joshua for 3 months. After lunch yesterday, it became obvious and I called Dave. We had lined up three appointments to pick up some free items on Craigslist. They were all in the same neighborhood. But it didn't seem wise for me to take the boys out to do that, so Dave decided he could do that.

He came home and warmed up the truck, but I was feeling like something wasn't right, so I asked him to stay. We prayed and waited, and eventually decided to head for a nearby hospital.

We have had a number of trips to the hospital that turned out to be expensive and unnecessary, so we prayed the Lord would make it obvious. I brought my bp cuff in the car and took it as we parked. Bp was low, pulse was high. So we went in.

I was feeling okay, but losing a a lot of blood. We saw the triage nurse and they did a blood test and checked bp and pulse. Pulse was high. Second time they checked blood pressure, it had dropped 40 pts. So they were concerned and told us they'd get us a room and to let them know if I felt dizzy.

Not too much later, I did. Dave let them know, and then things went fast. I passed out, was grey and cold. Dave was with me talking as they wheeled me down to a room. I had lost a lot of blood. I thought I had been awake the whole time, though I recall not being able to see at one point. But Dave said I was out and snoring! I had been thinking of each of our children and of Dave and was just waiting on the Lord.

They inverted me so my head was getting more blood and gave me IV fluids, which were refrigerated and cold. They had some heated blankets which helped with the shaking, but it was a while of waiting. They told me to keep talking and not go to sleep. Dave and I recited James 1, and then a song came to me, which had been a blessing to me while waiting for Joshua to be born:

The joy of the Lord will be my strength
I will not falter, I will not faint
He is my shepherd, I am not afraid
and the joy of the Lord is my strength

So, the Lord gave me peace and helped me. He promises to give grace and peace in our trials and He did it. Praise the Lord.

The hospital's procedure was to verify the baby is gone before doing anything that would harm the baby. So we had an ultrasound. A mother can have a lot of bleeding while still being pregnant, so it doesn't always mean that the baby is gone. So, this gave us a little hope that maybe he or she was still okay, and we waited for a while for the tech to come. But there was no baby on the ultrasound.

The OB doctor we saw was very upbeat and his accent made us think he was from a third world country. When he found out we have 13 children, he asked what religion we were. Mormon? Catholic? No, we told him, we are Christians and we believe the Bible. Next he told us: "You must make sure all your children go to college and get a good education." We told him we had a problem with that, because the colleges don't teach the fear of the Lord, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He replied, "By the age of 7, it has already been inculcated in the child to be good or bad."

After his visit, I was disconnected a little from some things, but given more medicine to help with the bleeding. It was much decreased. I was permitted to go clean up in the bathroom. For the first time, I saw my pale face. Dave said it was actually much improved from before!

I went back to bed and rested and they kept checking my blood pressure and pulse, etc. The nurse was so kind and helpful to us. Actually, everyone was. They noticed when I sat up, my pulse went up a lot, so they gave me more of the IV cold fluids and blankets. I was never given blood, but just fluids for blood volume. After waiting for that to finish, were allowed to go home, with lots of instructions.

We got home very late, after everyone was in bed. We were very thankful and talked a bit about all that had happened.

Dave got me all situated, and cozy. I have been kind of weak, but that is normal. We pray that the Lord will use this in our lives to make us be more in awe of his power and love for us. Life is so uncertain, and we need to live like any moment could be our last. We need to be ready to face our Creator and Judge and Savior.

Today, Giddy asked me, "Did our baby die?" and I said, yes. He said, "Then we will see him in heaven." And then he smiled so hard.

Speling

When Dave and I were in school, we remember using spelling workbooks, and later spelling/vocabulary workbooks. They were nice. I always liked workbooks, just that compact little fill in the blank style. Dave received the meritorious distinction of passing "Level Z" when he was a senior in high school. That was the absolute top!

For teaching our children spelling, we initially started out looking for something specific for homeschooling, not a classroom program. We kind of assumed spelling should be taught as its own subject, as that is how we learned it. We found one homeschool program that focused on root words and was customizable. It was neat, but, basically, it was the same method: isolating spelling as a subject.

However, as we sought to try to focus on God's priorities for teaching our children, we began pursuing a focus on writing for real people (letter writing). Before long, we began to discover that many components taught separately in the schools as "language arts" could be taught much easier as a unified way of completing a real task. We found that even teaching spelling could be done mostly through the letter writing process.

It just makes sense. When learning to cook, you don't isolate measuring things into cups x number of times, then proceeding to tablespoon practice, then to teaspoon practice, etc. You learn by doing a real thing. Same thing with many other tasks: sewing, building things. But in the schools, things must be regimented and isolated and easy for teachers to test.

As we pursued letter writing as a way to teach, a helpful tool by Gayle Graham, was a spelling notebook (I think its called "My Spelling Notebook"). Instead of having pre-made lists of words to work on each week, the children build their own list based on words in their writing that they don't spell correctly. The notebook she designed has pages for each spelling rule or letter sound or combo. We used this book in conjunction with proofreading the child's writing; one book is all they ever need. Find the misspelled words, write them on the page corresponding to the spelling rule or letter combo. Those are the words to work on.

In the schools, teachers must teach spelling, and many other companion skills, with the reality that most children are not doing any reading or writing outside the classroom, unless it is required by the teacher. This greatly limits the children's ability to absorb and use and therefore learn what is taught. We recall how normal it was to memorize things just to pass a test, then forgetting and going on. But our focus is not just reading and writing, but seeking to teach our children God's Word, and encouraging others through letter writing.

Since God's desire is for us to impress His Word on our children throughout the day, in various ways, we have a great reason and focus in teaching reading, writing and spelling and other related skills. But we have learned that instead of isolating things as "reading," "writing", and "spelling," we just focus on God's desire and command for us to teach them His Word. If that is our focus, "all these things" will be added (Matthew 6:33). We've really seen this in our family!

In schools, if a child has difficulty with reading or spelling, they are put in a special class and skills are further isolated and re-taught.

We have found that if a child has difficulty with reading or spelling, instead of focusing on the difficulty, we can just continue helping them to keep plodding along with their writing, for the benefit of others, and reading and learning and memorizing God's Word. With that as their focus, they just plod on at their own rate, not worrying about a test to pass, but on a task to accomplish. We've seen an older child, absorbed in writing a letter to a real person, quickly ask younger siblings how to spell a word so they could continue their writing. As time passes, this is needed less and less, because rather than focusing on the skill, they are focusing on using the skill to meet a goal. We've seen real improvement, but not by a special focus on skills. The focus remained using the skills.

Again, its like the difference between focusing on steering straight, versus steering towards the point on the horizon.

This has been one way God has really taught us that homeschooling is NOT a realm in which His Word is not the authority. As we have gone to the Lord, asking for wisdom, He is so very gracious to guide us. We are so thankful that He guides us as we lean not on our own understanding!

A new year!

The snowflakes are beginning to settle here in St Louis.

We are grateful to God for helping us through a very challenging, exciting and c c cold move from Wisconsin. Our moving in is not done, but it is amazing what the Lord has enabled us to accomplish this far. I can remember there was a point before things really got rolling that I thought to myself, "This is going to be really difficult," and it was, but thanksgiving to God really makes a difference. Dave and I are really grateful to the Lord for all the opportunities to trust Him when things did not go as planned, and to work hard through this difficult move.

We have dear friends who do dairy farming, and every day, several family members are up at 3 in the morning, snow or not, to milk and feed the cows! They work hard as a way of life. This was a child training plan decided on by the parents, who work alongside. And they sing hymns doing it! The father says, "I'm not using my children to build my business, I'm using my business to build my children." There is much wisdom in that.

We are praying for a quick sale of the house in Wisconsin. We have many wonderful memories there and know it will be a great place for the right people. The kids finished up many of the last-minute projects and took a few photos, and its looking ready to move in, for the most part.

Health wise, we are faring pretty well through all the cold and exertion. Of late, Zak is having some symptoms. Probably just worn out. I was feeling pretty queasy after my last round trip to Wisconsin. When we got back to St Louis, it just hung on, that queasy feeling. Hmmm... that familiar feeling....

And so last Friday, we informed the children we are expecting number 14! Universal hoots of glee were heard from everyone, except for Joshie (16 mos) who is totally clueless, but happy anyway. Not sure of the due date, but it is probably near August, near Joshie's 2nd birthday.

Lowest unloading height!

Praise the Lord, Dave and crew made it home after the boys did a quick but secure homemade fix on the brakes, saving us towing, parts and labor, and time! The arrived safe and sound by 10 pm, and we enjoyed a nice supper, Bible time, songs and 'SECRET DOCUMENTS' (currently reading 'East Wind' by Ruth Hunt). This morning, we sprung into action with our block the street maneuver which allows us to not do all the lifting required in Wisconsin. Many hands make light work!

The last leg

We are on our last leg with the move from Wisconsin...literally and figuratively.

Figuratively because we are hoping to soon head back to St Louis after wrapping up our third and possibly final bus trip to the old house, after working on cleaning, paining and finishing up, etc.

Literally, because the boys discovered what might be a major mechanical problem on the bus. It looks like the brake line is broken.

Our prayer is that we can get it into the shop and it won't turn out to be as major as it seems right now. We were hoping they could head home tomorrow morning, but of course, as long as they make it safe, we'll be happy. We are very thankful that this didn't happen on the road.

We made it back praise the LORD!

We made it safely home this morning at 2 am. We had to make numerous stops, as more hose leaks sprang up. The boys did one more repair, and then we started a regimen of stopping to add a couple of gallons of water every 30 miles. However, Dave came out with the wagon for the last 70 miles, letting me drive the wagon. It was nice, as we had to drive most of the way with our heater OFF to help retain coolant. The kids were all warm with blankets, but driver has to run the c c cold defroster! So he was our knight in shining station wagon! Today, we will start unloading. Heavy rain and thunderstorms expected all day, but we shouldn't have to work in the mud today!.

Out of hot water praise the Lord!

We finished the last minute packing this morning, which took quite a while. We left about noon, got diesel and burgers (for brunch), and headed south. About 40 min south of Madison, the coolant light went off, so we pulled over on the shoulder of the interstate. Coolant was steaming under the hood. Traffic slow because of the plows on the road. We called a mobile truck mechanic, who brought more coolant and 'accidentally' found a hose leak while checking our oil. He checked oil for lack of anything else to do, not able to find a leak! Praise the Lord! So we are traveling later than expected into the evening.

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Thinking inside the box

We stumbled onto a great idea for a substitute highchair for Joshie! It's hard to let him feed himself with no highchair here, but we wanted to conserve space in the bus for the next trip. This highchair is durable, educational, disposable and recyclable. We are having rice and beans tonight and packing the night away, except for Mommy. I am not crucial for packing personnel, so will probably go to bed earlier so I can drive.

Doing his part

Noah found the impact driver - no stopping him now! Zak put out the call for stuff in bags, to use the arched roof space remaining. It's getting dark outside.

Loading up the bus

Solomon and Ben are the main movers, bringing out the Zak-specified furniture. Noah hit some tight screws and is looking all over for the impact driver. We have a long way to go!

Heatwave!

We are basking in our 24 degrees today, really, as we move. It had been even colder, but below 22 is pretty difficult, even for the occasional sledding trip. Zak is supervising and specifying which items to bring. Our empty dressers were loaded with homeless items, and now we are bringing in more furniture. We are all ready to use every nook and cranny for the trip. Noah is removing our coat hooks and other screwed in organizers. The house here is nearly chairless, which was how we left the house in St Louis.

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Gideon

"Mommy, I don't have a single winkle pair of socks!"

Perfect timing!

We had a special blessing this weekend! Some friends from Upper Michigan came for a visit for a couple of days. They are praying and working towards returning to Romania to serve the Lord. We had been praying we could get both our families together for the first time, somehow, before we moved. When they called last week, we thought ideal for a visit this weekend because it might be our family's last time in Wisconsin altogether. It worked out! We had a great time of fellowship and sharing missionanary stories and singing in Romanian and Spanish. Sunday, we all headed to church in our bus and we enjoyed a special time with our church family in Madison. We are so blessed. The Lord has allowed us many special visits with friends old and new during the last couple of months! Today we hope to pack the bus for our second trip down. Lord willing, we'd like to go tomorrow.

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Snow place like home

The boys are loading up the pickup for Dave's return tomorrow. He has to be back at work Monday, and we remembered certain items are too tall for the bus. It's about 30 degrees with light snow, making things a little interesting. After this trip, we will transition to calling the new place home, as the majority of the stuff will be in St Louis. We should be heading back with the second busload on Tues or Wed, Lord willing.

We're off like a herd of turtles!

We are back on the road now, after a quick return to the house to get some forgotten JACKETS! I think we have most everything else. Chance of snow in St Louis. (We credit the Tauberts of Beaver Creek Minnesota for the reptillian similie! Love you guys!)

One more time!

Today we are putting it in reverse and getting ready to head back to Wisconsin for the next load. Bekah is getting things ready for a fun snack dinner on the bus tonight. The kids are strategically packing for about five days. It's a huge job! There is no clothes washer at the old house, as we brought it here, so we have to bring enough but not too much. Plus, house trash cans, rugs, brooms, kitchen items, can opener, bedding, linens, empty boxes that we can reuse, tools, all winter wear, including our pressure washed snowboots which were encased in Mississippi mud from the pre-move yardwork in the rain, etc. We are looking forward to a weekend trip with Daddy. He will have to head back in the pickup to St Louis for work Monday, and is bringing our queen box spring which does not fit in the bus, among other things. I think that is the only thing that we can't get into the bus. Lord willing, the rest of will follow back with a busload on Wednesday or so.

Where to find the sharpest knife in the drawer!

This gentleman is nearby and has a sharpening shop in his garage. After hurricaine Katrina, he took his chainsaw sharpening machine with a chainsaw team and sharpened 70 chainsaws a night!

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Getting ready for more

Today we are shifting gears a bit and getting ready for the return trip to Wisconsin for another bus load. We are getting our chainsaw sharpened by a gentleman who says he can clue us in on level spots where we can do some bus maintenance. The boys will be working in the sweltering 40s (Wisconsinites, do I jest? Nay!) to change oil and trans filter, both of which are leaking badly. Guess you could say we are leaving a mark on Missouri.

Spacing out

Those who visited out Wisconsin home will note a slight increase in the size of the new place. I had the interesting experience yesterday of having to leave the kitchen, and travel down the hall, to check on nappers yesterday. In Portage, all the children could be checked on while I flipped pancakes, without leaving the kitchen!

Stump? What stump?

By the light of the hallogen worklamp, as the temps plunged, the boys' objective was achieved! Wow!

Keeping busy

Sammy is unwrapping dishes and flattening the paper for safe keeping.

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We're in!

Dave just picked up our conditional permit to occupy the house! We still have to remove, re-seed and mulch the stump area by Jan 13, but now we can just relax and MOVE IN! Praise the Lord! The boys are celebrating by trying to take out the last of the stump! It's getting dark and cold...but I guess it's exhilarating in some way. Taco Bell tomorrow with Daddy!

Don't tell them it's impossible...

The inspector was out this morning and seemed somewhat impressed with overall progress. At seeing the moat- encircled stump, he looked bewildered and sympathetic, recommending a grinding service. Not in our budget right now, however Taco Bell may be...the boys have made LOTS of progress since this morning! Praise the Lord!

Checking it twice!

The bus tug did not budge the stump. We are back to working on roots. Sarah finished washing siding yesterday. All required before we can move in! We've gotten much done, but two items remain on list!

Stumped!

We are trying to see how loose we've gotten thus far, by pulling on the stump with the bus, a modfied tip from my growing up/baby tooth years (Grandpa Bill knows what I mean.) We'll keep you posted.

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There goes the neighborhood.

One small complication is the 35 foot bus. The driveway is really steep, but it must be parked off street and off grass. We may downsize after the move. Sniff.

Progress!

I noticed that they increase the pace when I say I'm taking a photo.

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George Washington - Help!

This is our morning project! We are cutting roots and will use bus to dislodge from earth!

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We made it fine yesterday afternoon! House is an awesome provison but we have work to do before city lets us move in.

Off to a great start this morning. Made it to Illinois! 7 degrees but bus is toasty!

Getting ready to move...maybe!

If you have to move in the future,
we strongly suggest you borrow boxes
from friends who make soap in their home
.....mmmmmm, their boxes will smell so good!

Anyone who has become acquainted with us over the last year or so may recall, upon our introduction, that we are currently from Wisconsin, but are, Lord willing, moving to St Louis, sometime in the future.

Well, we seem to be nearing the end of a touch and go escrow that has spanned three seasons! Lord willing, we will be in Ferguson, Missouri before 2010!

All along the way, the Lord has given us grace to wait on him in the uncertainty. As a family, we have constantly prayed, "Lord, close the door if you don't want us to move." We have seen so many situations related to the loan process so obviously orchestrated by the Lord. If the Lord wills, after we are settled in Missouri, I hope to sit down and bullet point it, or do a flow chart or something. Wow.

One of the biggest helps to aid us in the waiting has been work! Along with the bus removal process, and the clothes dryer repair incident, we have had plenty to keep us busy. Now we are hunkering down with our packing tape and UHaul boxes, and we mean business.

The earliest we should be able to get into the new place is a week from Friday. But as always, that can change.

Uncertainty and waiting go hand in hand and are good teachers for us all. We are thankful for this opportunity to teach our children to be flexible! What a stress-reliever it is to be flexible! One of the things we have most admired in others is flexibility -- not striving to be in control of things over which we really are not in control. Peace that passes understanding is from trusting the Lord to work it all out for us. No doubt we still have much to learn in this department!

But that is not to say we are not looking forward to moving!

We'll keep you posted!

"Just wait until they're teenagers!"

As we began having children, we would often hear that ominous phrase, usually prefaced by a comment on how sweet our baby looked. "They look so sweet now," the onlooker would grant us, "but just wait until they're a teenager!"

The unspoken continuation of the thought was: then they'd become ungrateful, deceitful, aloof, disrespectful and lazy.

At some point, we calculated that for the next 20 years or so, we'll have about six "teenagers" with us. So we realized we needed a strategy to deal with teenagers.

The strategy was simple and practical: denial.

We decided years ago to not refer to our young adults as teenagers. "Teenager" is a new term crafted by those who have profited from creating a subculture with its own dress and hairstyles, music, entertainment, church programs, and speech. Rather than having a goal of being an adult, the goal of this subculture is to extend childhood.

From the Bible, we see young adulthood as a time of training for bigger and better things. After all...

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."
1 Cor 13:11

"But don't they need to break away and be independent?"

We find that this thought is just fed by the non-Biblical idea that people need pride in themselves. Self confidence and self esteem. (Like the world doesn't have enough of that already?) We have observed that the biggest problem people have with young adults, and people in general, is PRIDE. The Bible has nothing good to say about pride! Pride is in fact the enemy of learning anything worth learning! The humble receive instruction, but the prideful think they know it all already...sound familiar?

As parents, we find we need to give up our pride! What regret we have of reactions and words born out of pride. Ug. As new parents, we eventually realized we were ignorant of the wealth of instruction to PARENTS found in the Bible! Likewise, for the good of our children, we need to point them to God's wealth of instruction in his Word, much given as warnings to young people (the Book of Proverbs). And when you take a look in the book, there is no doubt: pride is like cancer! Cut it out!

So anything aimed at instilling pride in our children, in their abilities, their income, appearance, potential, etc. we want to steer away from it like the plague. We sure haven't got perfect discernment and we have had regrets. The Bible says God resists the proud and that is not the boat in which we wish to be. We feel there is a real difference between feeding our children's pride versus helping them recognize that the skills and experience and knowledge and opportunities they are now gathering demonstrates God is preparing them for his service.

But back to the independence idea: We feel that, especially for those of our children who will eventually marry and have a family, gaining the feeling of "independence" can often contribute to planting selfish ways of doing things. How many parents struggle with frustration because they feel "tied down" to family responsibilities? Where does that begin? Probably from independence!

On the contrary, if a goal for our young adults is real responsibility, it seems you can't beat living at home as a young adult: learning to put others before oneself and other real Christian virtues, the real world context of a family, with increasing real responsibilities, the experience of being depended on and depending on others, the inconveniences, and stomach viruses, and just operating in a real home, preferably one with a very high person to bathroom ratio.

And further, if we follow the world's wisdom of "letting them find their way" aren't we rather just leaving them at the mercy of others who desire to influence them for evil, for self-profit (merchandisers on TV for example). How much better is God's plan...

"My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck."
Proverbs 1:8,9

So, responsibility - YES.
Independence - doing it my way - NO.

We are happily discovering God has a plan for people of all ages, even young adults. It is definitely a demanding time for all of us, primarily because of the importance of us as parents being real godly examples, and because the human tendency in ourselves and our children towards pride is real. We do feel God has given us ample opportunities to show our children a better way.

So, that is why when a stranger sees our baby and warns "Just wait until they're teenagers," it doesn't strike our hearts with fear and foreboding. Yes, parenting is always a challenge, but we are trusting that God will help us guide each one into fruitful service for Christ, which is the only thing that will last!


How wonderful that the Lord Jesus gave for us all, young and old, the example of humbling himself and being a servant.

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Matthew 20:28

Our website contains a new pdf with some articles on this subject which we have found helpful. It's called "Training our Children for Leadership" and asks the question, "Are we training our children to be servants?".

Random recent photos

Here are some photos in the order that they got uploaded, just to make things fun.


Joshie loves to toddle all over, and you can see the backside of his first haircut!



Here are some of the children doing a leaf journey...a favorite fall activity...hauling leaves to our compost bin using a tarp.


After cutting all the big boys' hair one evening, I sat down to rest a while. As I watched shaggy Joshie toddle by, I realized it was time. I sat him on my lap and powered up the clippers. He absolutely loved it! He got all cuddly with me! It was so precious!


Later we will post a sequence, but this is basically our old bus chassis. Today we finished scrapping it, dropping off the last load at the metal recycler...with NO accidents, praise the Lord! This was such a blessing for us, that the kids could get this done, as we are trying to sell the house, and the "broken down bus in the backyard" look does not aid in making your home attractive to buyers.

You may be wondering how we got these beams into the back of the bus to haul...


Our wonderful neighbor again came through with the lending of his acetylene torch. Solomon took to it like a fish riding a bike! It was waaaaay faster that the reciprocating saw we used for most of the bus!


In case I confused you by mentioning how we got the chunks of old bus into the back of the bus, I will remind you that we, until recently, have been a two bus family!


Here are pieces of the walls of the old bus. They were disassembled largely by popping screws off the panels. This was a great job for the younger kids, with earplugs!


Oh yeah, here is that cutie pie again, enjoying the leaves!


Here is the last of our trees to turn and shed leaves. By the time you read this, the leaves will all be gone on a leaf journey...

We hope to post more thematically organized photos soon...including those of our new source of Swiss Rolls!

Reading comprehension

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,
shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell:
and great was the fall of it.
Matthew 7:24-27

As we continue to work with Sammy, we keep seeing amazing benefits from teaching children to read using the Bible.

Reading comprehension means that you are trying to teach the child to get information from what they are reading, that is, to understand it. In the schools, this is often tested by asking children multiple choice or fill in the blank questions. (I remember being pretty good at fill in the blank tests, because I would just scan the subject passage for words with over 3 syllables, and that was often the one.)

Everyone agrees it is pointless to labor over sounding out the words without knowing what you are reading. However, if we are just trying to follow the Bible's instruction to parents in teaching our children God's Word, it's all in the bag. We are coming to think its not even a separate step: if we are trying to follow the Bible's instructions to parents...we are teaching the WORDS and their application, reading for meaning, reading for living. Perhaps the learning is in increments, but its simultaneous, at least it seems that way.

Schools need to separate everything into TESTABLE steps. That is one of many limitations of schools, and its not because its the best way to teach a child a thing, but for the convenience of the teachers. Parents who teach their children at home are not so limited in how we teach. If we are teaching our children the word of God, we are steering towards a known point on the horizon. Is the goal literacy? No, that would fall short of the Bible's instruction. There are plenty of literate people who are lost. We have to be so careful to seek first the kingdom of God, not literacy, and not even literacy as a tool to seek the kingdom of God. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, Jesus said, and all these things (including literacy) will be added unto you.

We are really seeing the more we try to make this our focus, it really works.

We are working on the book of Job, and Sammy is doing pretty well on most of the words. In the first chapter so far, most of the words he is reading without much effort. I noted these words which he either didn't already know, or needed extra help sounding out, so we can put them in his notebook:

upright - we have an " - ight " page in his notebook, to which we added this word
eschewed - we had to sound this out and define it, old word
perfect - in sounding it out, he used the soft c sound
thousand - define
hundred - use this in thousand
yoke of oxen - I am thinking a yoke's worth is two oxen...
household - defining this word
nought - adding this to the " - ought " page in his notebook, and defining this word.

After reading through verse 3, where it says Job was the greatest of the men of the east, we stopped and looked at all the stuff we know about Job so far, what made him great? He picked out things we had read.

Now he is working on a two page spread in his notebook, where he is making pictures and copying phrases about Job and all his stuff from the first few verses of Job.


As he was reading and doing his spread, he commented that the word daughters has the "aught" sound, which we have a page for, so we are adding that. In my mind, back when we made that page, I didn't think he'd memorize it, but he does seem to remember that letter combination.

I have noticed my tendency to want to present certain things as a classroom teacher would. But many times, before I have it all laid out, Sammy already has the concept. I don't think its because he is precocious. Rather, outside the artificial confines of a classroom, things are so connected, and in a real context. It's kind of a habit we have to form: to teach children as a parent rather than as if we are a classroom teacher. Parents came first, and teachers are often just imitations for parents.

As parents, we pray our children will build their lives on a rock: hearing and doing the Word of God!

It goes like this:

We found a twin bed and mattress and dresser for sale. It's a good price and includes delivery. Such a deal!

For the interim, we want to keep the new bed in the girls' room, even though they are good for beds right now. To fit the bed in the girls' room, we have to move the plastic storage tubs under their window. The large tub cannot be moved once its filled, and we want to put the extra blankets stored on Zak's bed in it. They are on Zak's bed because his cot is torn and he has been sleeping on the floor. So, we are going to take the full size mattress from the back of the bus and put it where Noah's cot used to be, and let Zak have Noah's cot. Zak's broken cot will go in the scrap pile, growing in the backyard. (These are old army stretchers, which we use for our trademark triple bunk beds. They are very sturdy, but still were not built to withstand daily use! Zak's only lasted 8 years...)

However, we realized that moving the full size mattress from the back of the bus into the boys' room will make it impossible to open the boys' main dresser.

So, we were going to put the full size mattress in the girls' lower bunk spot, and give Zak their cot. But if we put the mattress in the girls' room, there is no room for the new bed.

The full size mattress, coincidentally, HAS to be moved from the back of the bus so we can haul scrap metal from our old bus. It's just a coincidence it came up today. Sorry if that is confusing.

Well, so either way, Zak can get a new cot out of the deal, except, we are storing all kinds of stuff on his old broken cot. Most of it could go in a large tub in the girls' room. But, again, until we get a location for the large tub, it doesn't make sense to put it in there.

So, the temporary solution is to leave the new stuff in the driveway until we figure out where the other mattress is going to go!

Postscript:

After we got back with a swapped oxygen tank for the torch the boys have borrowed to chop up our old bus, we found they had moved the new dresser to the dining room and the new bed in girls' room. The mattress from the bus is stuffed up in the attic somehow...for later! However, I just remembered we still have one more dresser in the bus to bring in.

Glad we already found a home for the 5 drawer file cabinet we used to have in the bus -- that would have been really crazy.

Waiting on the Lord...

It is a blessing to be so busy during a time when we are basically waiting. Waiting usually implies doing nothing. But we are far from doing that! There are so many uncertainties in our circumstances, but some things you can count on...

1. Things break! Our dryer has been making strange noises, but we hardly give it a break. If we had the space, we'd be a two dryer family. So, we took it apart, even though it was limping along, and in the process, we broke a new part. So, we have been thankful for windy and partly sunny days to hang our wash, but we are still getting backed up. Nothing a couple of hours at the laundromat can't take care of.
2. Things wear out! We are nearing the 3/4's mark on the remodel of the bathroom formerly known as "yucky". It is coming together and looking great. Sarah is working on the wallpaper now. After that, its only trim work...except for the hairline crack in the toilet tank (see #1).
3. Seasons change! The recent blustery winds are causing major leaf drifts all over town. We have to be very dilligent in putting away rakes, shovels, and demolition tools, as we work on dismantling and scrapping our old white bus (see #2), lest they are buried in leaves. Our woods are lit up with sunshine on sunny days, and today we can see through the trees to the marsh, where the wind is fantastic! Attempts at raking are cheerfully undertaken, but border on pointless.
   
4. Children grow! Joshie is a full time, Cheerio-munching, duck-calling, 14 month old toddler, desperately in need of his first hair cut! As Gideon and I cuddled last night at bedtime, he asked to read John 3 and asked about how I became a Christian, starting with my 10 commandment charm bracelet, which I modified in a disobedient tantrum, my realization that I was headed for hell, my attempt to save myself by later wearing a cross necklace (he thinks that part is hillarious, and it actually is). Sammy's favorite verse, which he copied into a tiny notebook, and reads with little provocation, is John 3:17. Noah is an aspiring Mr. Fixit with his new cordless drill set, helping Solomon with the bus scrapping project in his spare time. Zak is looking at his 2nd head gasket repair, and he and Ben have officially launched their first client's website. I think I'll save the rest of the milestones for our annual year-end letter! You get the picture...
5. The Lord is good. We could never thank Him enough for all our blessings. Life is a miracle, every moment. There are innumerable things that have to be perfectly operating for you to even read these words, and you can't even control them! We are looking to Him to lead us and keep us focused on the things that matter.

Maybe next time, we'll have some news...or at least have the dryer working...

Gideon's calendar questions

Giddy is almost 5 years old.

He asked, "Are the Bradfords coming Friday?"

Mommy: "They are coming today."

Giddy: "Are they coming Thursday?"

Mommy: "Yes, they are coming today."

Giddy: "Is this today?"

Hooked on scripture!

 Zak helped us set up video conferencing with Daddy, sent to the projector, so we could have our evening Bible time with him!  It is, second to him being here, absolutely wonderful!

In the last few months, Sammy has jumped into the shallow end of the pool of literacy. He is reading and writing. Very fun! What makes it the most fun for us is that his reading instruction has been almost exclusively from the Bible!

Why does this matter?  Do we think this is the only approved way to teach a child to read?  

For many years, we have used a certain homeschool phonics program, for many of our children. They would get about half way through, and then it would click, and we'd discard it, and they'd go on with reading and writing.  However, as we have made changes in our family through the years, we have noticed how God seems to have laid out an excellent reading instruction program in Deuteronomy 6:4-9...

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.



We have tried to dedicate the first and last hours of each day to family devotions, and so even the pre-readers are present and absorbing Scriptures.  While the oldest of us don't memorize as easily, the youngest ones are like sponges.  They look like they are zoning, but later in the day, at the strangest of times, they will start reciting the verses we are working on!

Not with total understanding, no, that comes slower.  But it does come, and it has to start somewhere, and it seems like it starts with God's Word!  Just like that scripture says, we have to talk about it all the day long.  It seems I am always hearing friends tell me how surprised they are that their young children can grasp so much Bible!  It's not what we parents are told to expect. 

Many phonics programs are designed with the assumption that children aren't being immersed in the Bible.  For example, commercials tell us, "Give your child delicious Ovaltine, which is balanced with all the nutrition and vitamins they need,  if you can't get them to eat a healthy diet."   Reading programs just seem designed for children who aren't normally exposed to reading, let alone, the Bible.  Rather, the assumption is that in order to appeal to a child (who will like what they are brought up to like!!!) you have to make everything Disney or whatever.  This is called:  "the child's level."  And you hear things like, "...will introduce your child to the world of literature..." or something to that effect.

It's almost like if you have stairs in your home.  When your baby is young, you obviously carry them up and down the stairs.  As they crawl, you supervise them and keep them off the stairs.  As they begin to walk, you stay with them, and eventually they get to the point where they can use the stairs safely on their own.  But they have been observing and absorbing the whole while, real stairs.

You don't have to create a rubber, primary-colored replica of child-scale stairs, and give them 5 minute daily lessons on using the stairs, or demonstrate using rainbow colored animals. 

Getting back to that question, which I kind of anticipated in my paranoid way, "Do you think teaching reading with the Bible is the only approved way to do it?"  It seems like God has the verses in Deutronomy wired in such a way that if you try to follow them, your child will learn to read.  Like the hokey example about rubber, primary-colored stairs, by following God's direction to dilligently teach our children the Bible by talking about it all the day long, you are already teaching reading.  It's more than phonics.

In fact, in one book, I remember the author talking about how you teach the child all these phonics sounds, using the letter dice and the cue cards and the puppets on popsicle sticks,  but they still may not get it until one day, click, they are decoding. Its so funny how, up until that time, you introduce the letter sounds in some scientificly prescribed order, but that's not enough, there has to be this spontaneous click, and then they get it.  

Well, we are now wondering  if that click isn't helped along by having packed away lots of scripture in their hearts and minds, and starting them on reading the Book they are most familiar with.

We kind of observed this with our middle girls, that they required much less phonics instruction.  They were hearing God's Word daily, plus they were very handy with hymnals.  That exposed them to all kinds of nutty English words which followed no regular rules.  Since they MEMORIZED the songs, they could figure out the letter sounds.  They followed verse by verse, and eventually started selecting songs they didn't know, and would sing along, out of tune, since they could READ the words!

As Sammy once said, "Is the P silent?  Because its supposed to say 'salm'."

When I used to hear people say, "Historically, people taught their children to read with the Bible," I found that hard to comprehend.  I was thinking "Hooked on Phonics."  Maybe there was more to it than that.  If a child is memorizing the Bible before they ever see a page, you can show them a passage they know, and they have a head start.  In his reading, Sammy generally wants to figure out a word.  Some times, a child says a word wrong, and you correct them, but they just skip over it and don't even repeat your correction.  But Sammy knows the Bible means something, so he doesn't normally do that.  Currently, we are finishing up memorizing John 3, so many of the words are fresh in his mind. 

But what about the King James English?  We happen to use the King James Bible.  You know, it has been no big deal, because they can differentiate between our spoken English and what they are reading.  They have enough exposure to modern English, that they are actually translating anything archaic to what it means...because of course, we explain it to them.  (Archaic just means an old word, not a meaningless word.)  Of course, there are days when we conduct all our conversation in our mock Old English, but they realize we don't normally talk that way.

Well, this is, of course, just our experience.  But it is so wonderful to hear Sammy wanting to read John chapter 3 twice in a row, with Gideon listening and saying "The Bible is the best book of all.  It's the only thing I like!" which may not always be true, but it sure is a neat aspiration!   Its not a video curriculum or an incentive program that did that...it's just hearing and reading the Bible and believing it. 

I guess this is such an exciting thing for me because it just demonstrates that God has a plan for families, and if we seek HIM first and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS (by transforming our minds in HIS WORD), then all these things (reading) will be added unto us. 


Here are some of the things we have been doing with Sammy, and have done with most of the children.

He has his Bible in a case, and a composition book.  In the book, we write something down to remember.  Sometimes the goal is learning some kind of rule, like apostrophes (possessive vs plural), sometimes it is similar words (spelling or meaning), one time we did forming irregular plurals (which is when he told me, "You can only have ONE WIFE!"), sometimes its compass points, whatever.   We compare or classify words, or find other words spelled similarly. 

In the beginning, I did the writing.  Now he copies off a small white board, or I dictate.  Lately I have had him sound out words. 

Some of these things you don't have to teach, because the child just figures it out.  Since we are not using a "child's Bible", Sammy has to figure out that titles are not Bible verses, footnotes are not Bible verses, etc.  He caught on right away.

He is also doing letter writing, which is largely copying a draft we write for him.  He is already trying to write his own sentences.   Letter writing has been the biggest tool we have used in teaching writing, because all aspects have to be working together.

So, we are getting ready to start him doing Bible copy in Genesis.  He works hard on his handwriting, and is still learning all the letters (how to make them by the book -- we use italic basic).  We've noticed that our children generally do very well with penmanship if their attitudes are right.  We've never had messy penmanship without an attitude problem or a distraction problem.

From our earliest days of homeschooling, Dave and I felt that if it was really the Lord's plan for families, it wouldn't be dependent on man-made programs and such.  It would be a tool for us to teach and train our children in the way they should go.  We have had (and continue) to rethink a lot of our assumptions about what we are trying to accomplish and why and how.  God continues to show us how little we know. One of the most thought-provoking message we have heard, and continue enjoy listening to, is "Homeschooling versus Discipleship" by Jonathan Lindvall.

The Egg-noggeration

Sarah made and hung her famous birthday Bible verse signs all over the house.  She embellished them with artwork cut from the cereal box...



Specially appointed guardians guarded the specially mixed Cheerio/Honey Nut Cheerio blend for the morning festivities.

We had a special celebration on Joshua Arthur's first birthday, August 27.

Unknown many, including Joshie, we have worked up the following trivia for him. It goes like this:

1. Joshie is the president of the country of Penguinlandia.
2. It is the only country in Antarctica.
3. The penguins are his constituents.
4. He is financing road construction by selling icebergs to north African countries on Ebay.
5. He is offering discounted citizenships to friends and family.
6. The national anthem of Penguilandia goes like this:

You've got a friend,
in Penguinlandia His name is Sven, 
in Penguinlandia You've got a friend, 
in Penguinlandia
It's the only country 
in 
Ant-
arc-
tica!!!!!

Immediately after he woke up he started saying "Wow, wow, wow..." but that was before he saw the decorations that his big siblings had created the night before...




We found an adorable "penguin suit" at Goodwill last spring, but rarely have had opportunity to use it, until now.




Here he is, greeting his constituents, with his handcrocheted penguin bath body scrub (???) we found at Goodwill.  Though he looks like he knows what is up, he is normally just a very happy baby boy.



What to wear to the Egg-noggeration? Penguin suits!



Fitting in with the constituents.

One of his first acts after the egg-nogeration was to eat cake.  Joshie enjoyed his carrot cake (Mommy picked that flavor).  His gifts were all penguin-based, but he finds it easier to say "duck", in two syllables:

du ----- ck!

We are so thankful for our littlest blessing!

The way it is

In discussing a kind of crossroads our family is facing (actually it's more like a cloverleaf), Dave made the statement, "Christianity is not making it happen, but following the path laid out before you."  Very encouraging!