What's that smell?

LOL...The Homeschooled Young Man asked me the other day "Mom, you need to help me figure out how much cologne to put on." My husband replies "Son, don't ask things like that of your Mother, you know how she is. She will plan a unit study, you will have to get on a plane and travel to Zimbabwe to study some exotic herb that is harvested to make cologne." LOL...Me? A Homeschool Mom, do that?

YES!!! I would do that! What about you?

My reply to my husband was, "How do you even know what a unit study is?" He says "I just know."  That totally threw me for a loop, I thought my husband's only understanding of homeschooling was the following...

1. The house is always messy with books & papers

2. We are always taking a field trip

3. The child will graduate with a diploma

4. The house is always messy with books and papers (oh, wait, already said that one...lol...but it's a biggy.

I guess we are rubbing off on him, hahaha. Got to love those husbands that are faithful in many things and know what is going on, even when we think they don't.

Getting Ready For A New School Year...

Need I say more? I think Todd Wilson says it well. After a week of trying to sell our used textbooks I am wiped out!

 

Book Review TOO MUCH STUFF

Too Much stuff
by Kathryn Porter

Well this book was a real eye opener for me. So much of what I have read before on this subject talked about being born a certain way; organized, messy, etc. Now I see that all those labels are just excuses for the way we act.

The book is set up for general reading or a group study format with questions at the end of the book for each chapter to learn more and for reflection.

Not once during the reading of Porter’s book did I feel shameful, beat up or paralyzed. It’s easy to be overwhelmed when reading a book on the topic of clutter, but Too Much Stuff made me look at my “stuff” in a whole new light. No Rough Tote or Sterelite container was ever going to solve my clutter problem! Our 12 year old son went through the book with me. Unfortunately he has picked up my clutter habit over the years. Reading the book together has been a turning point for both of us . My son would give a shout out at the start of each chapter as to who had what clutter issue, him or me. We use to love to go to yard sales, now every time we pass by one he yells out

“CLUTTER SALE!” Once while we were traveling we saw a really neat looking shed with collectibles and such for sale. We both wanted to go in and look around, but he said “Mom, I really want to go in there, but I think that place is full of clutter!”

A quote from the book that has stuck with me is, “But this is why: when you cling to your possessions, you hoard your heart from others. You bury it in the stuff around you. Loved ones believe the stuff is more important to you than they are. They wish you could love them as much as you love the clutter.” WOW! That statement says so much.

Thanks to Kathryn Porter and Too Much Stuff, my son and I are now official CLUTTER Warriors. We still struggle with “Drop it” and “Leave it,” but it’s coming along.

Too Much Stuff will help you to answer some of life’s nagging questions such as:

“Can I get rid of gifts that loved ones give me?” “How do I get paper clutter under control?” “What collections can I keep?” “Why can’t I keep a clean house?”

“How can I get beyond the saboteurs?”

Check out Kathryn Porter’s book Too Much Stuff: Winning the War Against Clutter

published by Beacon Hill Press.

As a side note here, my son and I were able to toss out, give away and sell more than 30 bags of our clutter!! We have a way to go, but it’s been a very freeing experience. The hardest part of all of this was letting go of cards and letters from loved ones. I finally tossed out all the condolence cards that were sent to my parents upon the death of my sister Coreen 43 years ago. I was a toddler when she died suddenly and for me those cards were the only tie I had left to her. But really what were they doing for me? Nothing but taking up space. For my son, it was gifts. He kept every little thing that was given to him, for fear of offending the giver if they asked him about the gift. He even kept little trinket items. He is learning that if someone gives you a gift, you can do whatever you please with it. If you can’t use it, then pass it on to someone who can be blessed by it. It’s a daily struggle for both of us, especially walking in the door from a long day and just doing the “Drop it” and “Leave it” cycle.

I hope that you will be blessed by reading this book and I would love to hear how you have grown through reading the pages of Too Much Stuff.
Moe

I received a copy of this book from the author in order to write the review.

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!!
Oh, wait it's only Christmas at my house......lol. UPS delivered our homeschooling books today. You would think it was Christmas morning around here. Our son is just begging to get into the box. I think I will wait for a rainy day before I let him open it. hehehehe.

Am I mean?

I just praise my Lord and Savior for the blessing that homeschooling has been and is to our family. Just seeing the love of learning that our son has now it's incredible.  There are not many "I don't want to go to school days" anymore. Life of course is no where near perfection, but God's word in the Bible does not promise perfection in our earthly lives.

We have more "What are we learning today" days and that is a blessing. Another one I like to hear is, "Can we do another Bible lesson?" I also take on questions such as "Why do we have to learn story problems?" You will have to tune in next time to hear the answer that I gave to that one.

We are spending some time this week packaging up personal hygiene bags for needy school children and then another day we will be passing those out, along with backpacks full of school supplies to needy children in our community.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Moe

Organized bookshelves? Clutter? HELP ME!!

Moody Radio's In The Market Place with Janet Parshall Hour 2 today was entitled "Too Much Stuff"

It made me do some thinking and I even had my son listen to it. I plan to get the book. You can listen by going to Moody Radio. Here is a snapshot of Kathryn Porter talking with Janet Parshall today.

"Clutter expert Kathryn Porter joins us to clean up
our houses, and our hearts. Her popular book,
Too Much Stuff, now has a second edition.
She’ll share how God loves us amongst our messes"

Kathryn also has a website Clutter Wise check her out and see how you can conquer what is cluttering your life and it may not just be stuff that is cluttering it up.

So this brings me to my blog post for today:

I'm in need of some ideas on how to get our bookshelves more organized. I really think that we would use more of our materials if we could find them! lol.  Our son has been bored (we don't use that term, but for lack of another word I will  :-)  this past week and so he started digging through the bookshelves and found some science experiment books. He asked if he could do some and I told him that was fine, but to make sure that he marked the pages so that I could count the hours for the up coming school year ~YEAH for the teacher who has a Thinking Cap on!~ 

I also reminded him what science is all about: (Did I say that I just love this homeschool thing!?)
 *thinking ahead (what is going to happen),
 *thinking about why it's going to happen (cause/effect)
 *thinking about how it happened (process)
 *thinking about the outcome (was I correct in my assessment).

Got to love homeschooling and how kids love to learn. The teacher even told him that he could write in the book. GASP! In the past I have said "Don't write in that! I'll resell it." Well, I'm changing my tune on that one as of today, why not use it if you bought it. So write away! lol

Ok, now that I have taken us down that little rabbit trail (friends  you know how I am with rabbit trails, I've never met one that I won't follow!).

So on to organizing the books. I'm just not sure how to do it. I've got several different grades of materials and also many subject areas. One of my main areas that drives me CRAZY is the second shelf from the top on the right side. It's all the CD's DVD's, VHS's that are school stuff. What on earth can I do with those to get them orderly? It's just a mess and I try to hide it with my cute little shelf sitters. I have 2 snowman (ya know I can't pass up a snowman.) and a cute little scarecrow girl that falls off the shelf all the time. GGRR!  There is clutter on those shelves too, I have some recipe books and such that has made there way and other misc. items that need homes.

So send me some ideas on how I can get our school year off to an organized venture!  Feel free to post your areas that need some help and we can put our heads together.


Hugs,
Moe

Book review: Children In Church

I have had the privilege of receiving a pre-publication review copy of Children In Church Nurturing hearts of worship by Curt and Sandra Lovelace. This is a quick read for parents and even our 11 year old has read and gleaned from the pages of this book. You will be left with lots to ponder and prayerfully consider after reading Children In Church.

I highly recommend this book for couples before deciding to have children so that they can get on the same page, but it’s not too late to read the book with children already in the home. The scripture used throughout the book is immensely encouraging and backs up the authors views: a great reminder of how faithful our God is to His children, the Lord sees us through to the end when we follow His leading and direction.

The Lovelaces share the truth of how “others” may see us and how we may be viewed for having our children in church with us. The authors are very adept at using scripture, they do not rely on opinions or feelings, but on the inerrant word of God.

It’s REFRESHING to read a parenting book that is not full of emotional and self-esteem fluff, spiritual parenting is hard work in today‘s world. When we parent our children using God‘s Word, it may bring discomfort through conviction and the authors address how to handle this with prayer and discussion.

The Lovelaces provide advice on bring your children into church services, they share practical, tried and true tips to guide your family in enjoying worship together.

Must read pages..........

Page 29
“Are those without children beside them willing to grant charity to parents who are in the process of training their children? Are parents with children willing to grant compassion to those who need quieter surroundings?” Something to really ponder in the scope of this topic of children in the church.

Page 35 “Parents who are serious before the Lord about worshipping together in the corporate setting must understand that moving toward that goal will entail commitment, diligence, wisdom, strength, courage, determination, discipline, effort, energy, and so much more.” The authors emulate the essence of the challenges you may face stay the course and you reap the harvest.

Page 49 “Their primary goal was to present the character of Christ in this new setting…..” How to prepare kids for different social situations.

Page 61 Chapter on preparations, I’m not even going to share a quote from this chapter because you need to get the book and read it for yourself! WOW! I found that I was very lacking in this area and was very convicted of things that I do in my own life that are keeping me from being prepared for worship on Sunday mornings. An example from my own life is that we tend to stay up late on Saturday night as a family and then we are tired and grumpy on Sunday mornings as we get ready for church. If you could only read a single chapter in Children in Church, it should be chapter 5, it will transform your entire families view of worship.

Page 73
The chapter on supplies is invaluable!!

Page 113The chapter on conflicts has wonderful encouragement for when the going gets tough, we have to remember that Satan does not want our kids to grow spiritually and he will fight us tooth and nail in raising our children for the Lord. Once again Lovelace points us to God’s word for answers and guidance. Praise the Lord for an author of a modern day parenting book that uses scripture to enlighten us in our parenting journey.

Page 120 “Thus, parents who are making their way along this journey will do well to go before the Lord to see what He might reveal to them about their own attitudes, actions, expectations, and judgments.”

Children in Church
has it all folks, guidance for every step of the way in bring your children together with you as a family to worship. I highly recommend reading through the book with a highlighter and marking up the pages, because you will want to refer back to the timeless biblical truths contained within its pages.

I know from personal experience that prayer is the number one need in the area of Children in Church. We began praying about this several years ago, just my husband and I, never once mentioned it to our child. One day a few years ago our son told us that he wanted to come to worship service to hear pastor preach, we told him to pray about it and we would revisit the topic again. He came to us again and said he was ready, we reminded him that there would be no going back and forth to children’s church for the fun stuff: parties, outings, etc. He said that he was ready. We survived the looks, comments, the whispers and phone calls that we and our son received regarding our not following the rules. We are a couple of years out now and have never looked back. The conversations that we have after church regarding pastors preaching are so enlightening, before we would ask, “What did you do in class today?” We would get a one or two word answer, now we get a commentary. Needless to say having our child in church has blessed us beyond measure.

This book is a must read for lay people as well as pastors and church workers. All I can say is WOW! Children in Church has a powerful question for parents, “Why are we separating out the children from the main worship service?” Is this separation hindering spiritual growth in our families?

Head on over to http://childreninchurch.com/order/ and order a copy, get one for your pastor and your best friend at church. This is a must read.

Dreaming of a room like this

This is too cool!!!  Oh, I could spend hours in that room reading and enjoying a good cup of tea. Though I think I would change the flooring, I like a darker wood grain.

I just think that this is a very cool room. Got a dream room that you would like to share? Post a link to it.

Moe