actions speak louder than words

As I was getting ready for church yesterday, I was watching Dr. Kennedy on TV talking about preparing our children before sending them out into the secular world. It is our job to teach our children Godly values all through the years before they leave our home. What stood out to me the most is "patterns". Our children take on our patterns. Our children see and hear what we do, a lot of times unknowingly taking those actions on themselves. He used many parent and child examples in the bible...Eve and Cain, Rebekah and Jacob, and Moses and his mother. I can see how this is so true, but I love to see examples pulled from the bible. Also, a parent telling their child to do one thing, but is doing the opposite themselves doesn't work. The child will eventually notice that the parent(s) does not practice what they preach. Actions speak louder than words.
I would like to think that I am not too much like my family sometimes, but surely I have taken on a few traits. Tim said that he noticed a pattern that happens - that either a child is very much like their parent(s) or different because they consciously made a decision not to take on their ways which were not good in their eyes.

getting snippy

I cut even more off Makayla's hair. Now that school is out, I could try a drastic cut and not embarrass her if I messed up. Having long hair in the summer is a pain to wear and take care of so I went quite a bit shorter, but still long enough to pull up. I wanted to do a more difficult style, but I decided I better keep it simple until I get the hang of cutting hair.

Lori asked me to cut her hair also, but she wouldn't let me post her picture. I'll just say that it looks similar to Makayla's only thinner and straighter.

homeschooling

Lately, God has been laying homeschooling on my heart. I'm not sure how this came about for us. Tim and I started talking about it one day. We want our kids to be raised with morals and Godly values. I am very nervous and excited at the same time. I talked to Makayla about it and she is very receptive.
I talked to a lady at my church who is homeschooling her boys. She is going to connect me with other homeschooling mom's who have children around Makayla's age, and send me some links of the local homeschool co-op. I also went to my state's web site to find out their guidelines and rules for homeschooling.
In the mean time, I am staying with Lori (my sister-in-law) for a few days so we could go to the big homeshooling convention in our area. Last night we went to the book fair. Wow! So much to take in. There is curriculum for all the different teaching and learning styles. You can follow an outlined schedule on a day to day basis from a teacher's manual, come up with your own lesson plans or anywhere in between by combining text book lessons and your own lessons. I found that Makayla is a little behind 1st grade homeschool material so I am going to work with her on reading and math this summer and start 1st grade lessons in the fall. I purchased "Scaredy Cat" materials. This teaches your child to read through making up stories for the letters of the alphabet and catchy sayings in different situations they are used. I like this because I think my children will actually learn to read better than just memorizing words. I am going to use workbooks from Walmart for her math this summer. Makayla looked through her new workbook when we got home last night and she is excited to get started. I think this program is reasonably priced. Go to http://www.joyceherzog.com/scaredy.html to get all the details.
If you are planning to homeschool or even already started, I would highly recommend go to a conference to help you along your way. The vendors will help you to understand their curriculum or what level your child should be at. I would still be lost if we didn't go. Go to Homeschool Convention 2007 to find a convention near you.

kindergarten graduate

Yesterday was Makayla's last day of Kindergarten. Who would of thought this would make me sad. Not because she's getting older, but because she made some really good friends that she may never see again. We will most likely move to a smaller community this summer. Even if we stayed she would not have her friends in the same class. It's kind of ironic because I cried her first day of Kindergarten because I didn't want her to go to school and deal with all the emotional issues and not fitting in like I had. But of course, she enjoyed it a whole lot more than I did.
Lately homeschooling Makayla has been on my heart. The more I learn about it the more excited I get. I plan to try it out this summer to see how well Makayla and I work together. She loves arts and crafts so I figure the more I incorporate that into our lessons, the better Makayla will learn.

a verse in my heart

By the Power of Your Love is a new song on the radio. Well actually I found out it's been around for a while, but it's new to me. The first part of the week I had the verse "...and as I wait, I will rise up like the eagle..." stuck in my head. Wednesday evening we sang it at church. Then I woke up in the middle of the night with these same words in my head as clear as if I had been singing them...actually I think I was almost singing them in my head. After that I decided that God was putting this song in my heart for a reason. The next day I asked Helen (my mother-in-law) about the verse. She recognized it and looked it up in her trusty bible. Turns out the verse comes from Isaiah 40:31...

But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

I had to ponder what this verse means for me. Even though we have been waiting for a long time, I know that during this time God is strengthening us. Looking back two years ago, God has spiritually matured us and prepared us for our future.

Last night I was praying and thanking God for the blessings he has given me. It had occurred to me that God didn't just save me from the dark life I was living for myself. When I called out to him for help one day, he knew that I would follow through as his shepherd. He knew that I would let Him use me to bring others to Him. It's all for God's glory, not mine! Yes, we all benefit from obeying the Lord, but it's not for us but for Him. He is our creator and we must obey him, as we expect our own children to obey us.