Christmas Party Time

Christmas Party (courtesy Pixabay)

When: Thurs, Dec 14

Time: 10 - 1ish

Where: Wakemans Grove Church of the Brethren

What: CHRISTMAS PARTY!

Lunch: Dominos pizza (provided by HIS; note that if you have allergies, you may wish to bring your own lunch)

Bring: a bag or two of fun candy (to share) for decorating gingerbread houses

** NO GIFT EXCHANGES THIS YEAR **

SPECIAL CHALLENGE: every kid who tells Ms Rebekah their best Christmas joke will get a piece of Christmas candy!

SPECIAL TREAT FOR GROWNUPS: Barista Jonathan Thompson will be making lattes for us parents, HURRAY! -We'll have hot chocolate and marshmallows for kids.

SCHEDULE:

--The kids will be divided into youngers (preschool/elem) & olders (jr high/high school). 

10 - 11: WELCOME by Dave "Santa" Evans. Then gingerbread house decorating in the cafeteria--ALL

11 - 12: Stations for youngers (3 total: Christmas cards/crafts, stories, games); game time for olders

12pm: PIZZA LUNCH! provided by HIS via Dominos 

1pm: Christmas carol singing, with piano accompaniment by Christine Robitaille

Announcements for October 19!

(Source)

THE 4-1-1:

* What: HIS Regular Meeting

* When: Tomorrow, Thurs Oct 19, 9:30am - 2pm (opening starts PROMPTLY at 10)

* Where: Wakemans Grove Church of the Brethren, Edinburg

* Bring: bag lunches for your family. HIS will provide drinks.

* Bring (optional): Boxtops, nonperishable food for donation (this month to Open Door)

SCHEDULE:

9:30 Sign-in/fellowship

10:00 PROMPTLY - welcome/announcements

10:20 Students dismiss for class

10:25 Class time

11:40 Classes dismiss for lunch (preschool/nursery escorted to lunch room as a group)

12:55 Students reassemble in the lunch room for club

1:00 Clubs begin

2:00 Clubs dismiss/cleanup

BUILDING REMINDER:

The building's off-limits for playing: unless it's class/club time (or inclement weather), students need to be in the lunch room or outside. Thank you!

UPCOMING:

* PE is this Friday, 10/20 @ 1pm @ Liberty Baptist in Strasburg

* Moms' Night Out is this Monday, 10/23, 7pm @ Denny's, Mt Jackson

* Paugh's Orchard Pumpkin Patch is also Monday, 10/23, 9:40am. $5/child.

* Skyline Drive field trip is Monday, 10/30. Details asap. Free.

* Marker-Miller Pumpkin Patch (rescheduled) is Wed, 11/1, 10am. $7/child.

Welcome to 2017-18!

Back to School. Photo courtesy Wokandapix.

"Marilla, isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"
"I'll warrant you'll make plenty in it," said Marilla. "I never saw your beat for making mistakes, Anne."
"Yes, and well I know it," admitted Anne mournfully. "But have you ever noticed one encouraging thing about me, Marilla? I never make the same mistake twice."
"I don't know as that's much benefit when you're always making new ones."
"Oh, don't you see, Marilla? There must be a limit to the mistakes one person can make, and when I get to the end of them, then I'll be through with them. That's a very comforting thought."

L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

***

There's something so hopeful about a new school year, isn't there? All those racks of sparkly new glues, pencils, and gel pens (what is it about gel pens that always makes a person feel like buying twenty packs!?), the fresh sheets of paper with no still-needs-work handwriting or 2 + 2 = 5s... Nothing but hopes and dreams and that ardent, desperate belief that this year we will actually get through everything....

How glad I am that God's mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23), and never reach the end of the school year wondering what happened to Language Arts!

Here at HIS we're looking at the year ahead with a great deal of excitement too. We're scheduling loads of field trips--both old favorites and super fun new ones!, our monthly meetings, volunteer opportunities like helping at Corhaven Graveyard and delivering valentines to veterans, and annual events like the Christmas party and the always-impressive X-Fair.

But despite how much time we might spend planning, it's never the calendar or the number of events that matters most; the heart of our group is in the relationships, and in knowing that no matter where we are in our homeschool journey, we've got a support network right alongside us. As we pray through how God would direct us this year, as always we ask you to pray too. How can we do a better job of encouraging and supporting each other? How can we use the (amazing!) size of our community to better advantage? What changes can we as a group make so our monthly meetings will run smoother?

The sidebar on this blog will be kept updated with field trips and meetings, but here it is below as well, so you can go ahead and mark your calendars. And if you've got ideas to add, please say so!! Some of us older brains especially need the help, haha.

We cherish you all. Thank you for all you do to make HIS the wonderful group it is. xoxo

Aug 14--Planning mtg @ 7pm, Denny's Mt Jackson

Aug 16--Swim & picnic @ Trout Pond

Aug 20/21--Solar Eclipse trip, Knoxville TN

September 4--HIS volunteer day @ Corhaven Graveyard

September 21--Kickoff Picnic @ Woodstock Park--11am

September 27--Field Trip: Monticello

October 19--HIS meeting

October 20--PE

November 16--HIS Meeting

November 18--PE

December TBD--PE trip to Sky Zone

December 14--HIS Christmas party

January 18--HIS meeting

January 19--PE

February 15--HIS meeting

February 16--PE

February 14 (?)--Valentines to Veterans

February TBD--Share Your Gift night 

March 15--HIS Meeting

March 16--PE

March TBD--Cherry blossoms/Smithsonians, DC

April 2 (?)--Montpelier trip

April 13--PE

April 19--HIS Meeting

April TBD--X-Fair

May 11--HIS Graduation

May 17--HIS Grad party

ADDITIONAL FIELD TRIPS/EVENTS to be scheduled:
Scripps Spelling Bee (November?)
JMU planetarium (Dec or Jan)
Belle Grove

New Market battlefields

Luray Caverns (September)

Green Bank Observatory, WV

Skyline Drive tour/class (mid-April)

Handel's Messiah

Concerts @ Shenandoah University

There Is Only One Savior

Public domain image

Guest Post by Susan A. Stevenson

So here we finally are!  Mere hours now from E-Day.  And not a moment too soon, even for a politics junkie like myself.  For months, I have been on a constant diet of refreshing Google News minute by minute, saving and forwarding articles and blog posts, and formulating and reformulating my arguments (for no one but myself).  The nominating conventions—both Republican and Democratic—were like the Super Bowl for me.  If I couldn’t be at home in front of the TV, I was listening to live coverage on the radio.  I couldn’t get enough.

Except now, I have had enough.  I’ve found that even I have my political  limits.  Last Sunday I skipped my after-church tradition of listening to the talk show rebroadcasts on C-SPAN.  Yesterday I listened for only a few minutes.  At this point, I’m exhausted and disgusted.  And honestly a little apprehensive.  Not really about the outcome of the election itself, but about how people will treat their fellow citizens tomorrow at the polls, and after the votes are counted.

I must admit that I haven’t been particularly charitable towards my fellow citizens who will vote differently than I will tomorrow.  I haven’t cussed anybody out (not out loud, anyway), or ripped up any yard signs, but my heart has definitely not been loving towards everyone across the aisle.  Up until now, I have always tried to be careful about how I speak about other people in front of my children.  Whether it’s a personal acquaintance or a celebrity, if I have an issue with someone, I will be diplomatic—or at least silent—in the presence of my children.  Boy did I take a departure from that this year. I have passed up very few opportunities to share my strong opinions of one of the presidential candidates.  My youngest even said he felt sorry for that candidate, no doubt because of my passionate and repeated denunciations of this person.  But as my pastor reminded us during his sermon yesterday, Jesus died for that candidate.  Jesus died for Donald Trump, and for Hillary Clinton, and he died for you and me.

So now, with the election season about to end (maybe, hopefully), there are two things I believe I should have been telling my kids. Things that have nothing to do with my opinion.  Things that will be true in four years when my oldest will be of voting age.  Things that will be true no matter who is running for president.  And so the following is addressed to them.

There is only One Savior and Lord.

This may seem obvious to a follower of Christ, but it is worth saying.  Why?  Because it is very easy for followers of Christ to make lords of other followers.  Like spouses, pastors, and spiritual mentors.  Or parents.  Or the hottest Christian blogger or the leading authority on family values or Biblical hermeneutics. Scripture does admonish us to sharpen each other (Proverbs 27:17), encourage each other (Hebrews 3:13), and seek wise counsel from other believers (Proverbs 11:14).  But be on guard against turning any one man’s or woman’s word into the final word on anything.  Unless it’s God’s Word, it is at best, a nice human idea.  Examples of nice human ideas include:  news outlets, presidential candidates’ websites, political party platforms, and even the US Constitution, as fabulous as it is.

One problem with having little lords is that it is idolatry.  Another problem is that when little lords mess up, as humans always do, we find ourselves devastated and even questioning God as if the failure were His.  “If so and so committed such and such sin, what does that mean about everything I’ve ever believed?”  The good news: nothing.  If Jesus is the foundation of your faith, the failures of His followers will not (I pray) be able to shake it.  One of my greatest concerns as a parent has been that my mistakes in raising you or the sins you see me commit would negatively impact your walk with God and how you view Him.  And while God does hold me accountable for my witness to you (Matthew 18:6, Proverbs 22:6), I realized something very liberating just yesterday.  Every single person of faith, including the spiritual giants from the Bible and beyond, had human parents who made mistakes.  Somehow, in spite of those parental failings (or even through them, because God has this way of making it seem like everything was in His plan all along :D), God was able to hold on to His saints.  So while I hope that nothing I say or do would be a stumbling block to your faith, I encourage you to look to Jesus, not me or anyone else (certainly not a political leader), as the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Your US passport will not get you into heaven.

Since you were born in the United States, you are an American citizen.  Your parents are also American citizens--both of us having been born here--so you would be a citizen even if you hadn’t been born here. That citizenship confers to you many rights and privileges, as listed in that Constitution I mentioned before.

You are also a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20).  By grace you have been saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8).  And that confers to you status as an heir of God, co-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17), His special possession (1 Peter 2:19), who is seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6).

Both of these citizenships are precious gifts, but only one of them will you keep for eternity.  They are not of the same value; there is no comparison.  No earthly identity, title, status, or relationship compares in significance to your position in Christ.  Even if you end up living in the United States for the rest of your life, consider it your temporary address.  All these other things that you’ve seen me get so excited about—primaries and caucuses and political parties:  also temporary.  Even the Constitution is temporary!  “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever" (Isaiah 40:8).  So, by all means, do your part to make a positive contribution to this American society.  Pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-3) and pay your taxes (Mark 12:17).  Just remember what is really going to count when our time on this earth is done.  And maybe you can remind me the next time I get riled up listening to CSPAN. 

Love,

Mommy

Be Steadfast

Chibok mother/daughter reunion. Photo by Olisa.tv.

Be Steadfast

by David Moore

"To be a good father and mother requires that the parents defer many of their own needs and desires in favor of the needs of their children. As a consequence of this sacrifice, conscientious parents develop a nobility of character and learn to put into practice the selfless truths taught by the Savior Himself.” - James E. Faust

        Each of us has times where we think about our lives;  where we are,  where we think we should be, if we should have made different decisions….  1 Corinthians 15:58 says, "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”  Whether you call yourself a parent teacher, a home educator, the teacher in the torrent, or all of the above (depending on the day), you have been called to serve the Lord, by educating your children.  Each of us may make that decision for different reasons, but it doesn’t change the fact that it was placed on your heart by God, it is a calling.

        God equips those he calls.  He doesn’t call you to the task and leave you stranded.  I came across a homeschool mothers prayer (although I believe it applies to all homeschool parents, not just the ladies) that illustrates this:

        Dear Lord,
                I am tired, but You lift me up.
                I am confused, but You make my paths straight.
                I am busy, but You teach me to be still.
                I am unsure, but You teach me to stand.
                I am weary, You give me life.
                I am nothing, but You are my All.
                May I declare to my children Your sufficiency all day long.
                                                Amen.

        While you are “abounding in the work of the Lord”, you are developing a nobility of character that exemplifies Jesus to our children.  Our children get to see our bad days, our good days, and our "out of this world” days.  They also get to see how God moves in our lives on a daily basis, and how we declare His sufficiency in our lives.  You get to serve in the capacity God has called you to.  Be steadfast, knowing that your labor is not in vain.

Feeling Like A Homeschool Mom Failure??

CBP Rescues Man After Crash. US Govt photo.

So I just spent 12 years worrying  teaching  my oldest son all (or as close to that as possible) that I thought he needed to know to graduate. I changed curriculums when things were not coming together, I read all the suggestions from the expert moms. I asked other homeschool moms for their best advice, and in the end I usually ended up on a different path than all those suggestions. 

Prayer was my friend, and my prayer was, “Lord, help me to be the homeschool mom you want me to be. Help my children to learn what you want them to learn for the things you have planned for them.”  Over the years, I kept a little running clock in my head that counted down the time left to accomplish all the things he needed to learn: I need to work on his memorizing those multiplication tables. We need to do Biology with a lab. He needs to know both MLA and APA style writing. We haven’t completed US Government yet! What about that science book we never finished? We only have 7 years…4 years…1 year!… and on and on the countdown went. As we pushed through his senior year I went back and forth contemplating, Do I need to add another year or two?? It just seems like there are things I still need to work on with him, things he has not mastered. Maybe I’m letting go too early.

My son struggled with writing and spelling. It wasn’t that he couldn’t come up with great things to say, it was that the process of getting it from his head onto paper caused him difficulty. We spent many years working on this, and when he graduated I still struggled with where he was in this area. His math, science, history, and every other subject were on par. After much prayer, I knew I just had to let go. The Lord made it clear to both of us that He had other plans that were starting soon for my son’s life, and I needed to release him to those plans. (The last thing I ever want to do is stand in God’s way!)

So here we are 5 months later, and I have learned a few things I want to share with those of you feeling like a failure, like you aren’t doing enough, that you chose the wrong curriculum, that your kids aren’t where the other kids his age are, or the biggie: that you are messing your kids up for-ev-er. You may be struggling through elementary, middle or high school with these lovely thoughts. 

I’ve been there, too. As a matter of fact, I have 3 children that I’m currently homeschooling and I still feel like that some days.  So as a testimony to God’s faithfulness I want to tell you that even though I may have messed up at times, my son is in college. He is writing papers (yes, more than one or two weekly) and there are no teeth being pulled by anyone! All those things that I taught him about writing that he could not implement before? He found them somewhere tucked into his brain and he is using them. Does he still struggle? Yes, but what I’ve found is that God is faithful and is giving him all that he needs to complete the work required.  It doesn’t matter what I missed teaching him because he has a better teacher than me: he has God.  

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 

1 Corinthians 3:7

You know what else I learned? It was only me who thought I had only 12 years to teach him everything. I have some of my finest teaching moments with my son over email when my son sends me his college papers to look over. God is still teaching and working on him. God has no time limits. There are still things my son needs to learn or practice, but he has time to learn it now. Mind you that I’m not saying you should just quit teaching/homeschooling your child or be careless about providing a good education. What I am saying is stop with the worrying. If you are praying, and you and your child are doing your best, you can trust that God is there. 

How could I have missed that before? I don’t know. God teaches me things daily and I suppose I forgot that He can do the same for my grown (or younger) children. Lay it down and give it to God. He’s already in control and just letting you think you are anyway.

Seek the Wisdom of the Grey Hair (or dyed hair, as the case may be)

"Speak to me, honey. What do you need to know?"
(Photo credit: pexels.com/photos/24884)

Seek the Wisdom of the Grey Hair

by Carol J. Alexander

My oldest son is almost 29 years old. He's a husband and a father. He and his wife own their own home. He's a skilled craftsman and owns his own business. He's well respected in his community. Would I have thought that would be the case 20 years ago? Absolutely not!

Drew was very strong-willed. He tried every nerve in my being. Once, when he was about 7 years old, I sent him to his room for an hour. While he was in there, and the house was actually quiet, I enjoyed talking to my girlfriend on the phone. But after some time passed, it occurred to me that it was just too quiet; so I checked on him. He was gone. The window was open. I found him in the backyard playing. SIGH!

I made a lot of mistakes. One was trying to get help from books.

While reading The Strong-Willed Child by Dr. James Dobson*, I realized that his book was no help to me what-so-ever. When I thought about why this great learned man, with such a large following, was feeding me non-practical theorizing fluff through this book, I realized, "He only has two kids, a boy and a girl, with plenty of money to put food on the table, drive a reliable car and pay the bills every month. What does he know about my life?"

Dr. Dobson was never down in the trenches with me. Oh, he may have had a strong-willed child. (And he may have studied strong-willed children in his laboratory, er practice.) But he never had my child, oldest of six. Dobson wasn't stressed-out trying to make it on one very low income in order to homeschool. He didn't live in a 500-square foot cottage with four kids! He didn't have parents and in-laws telling him that everything would be okay if he just put his child in school. His trench and my trench were worlds apart.

Then and there I decided that I would never ask parenting advice from someone again (or read their books or their blogs!) unless they had more kids than I did. You know what that took? Someone older. Someone further ahead in the journey. Someone with grey hair, so to speak.

I see a trend with younger parents asking for advice from their peers. I get that. You hang with your friends at the park, kids playing, you chatting. It's only natural to ask what brand of diapers work, where she bought her baby wrap, how to get over a breastfeeding hurdle. But let's face it, when it comes to life-changing decisions like how to discipline for lying or when to get your child a smart phone, do you really want the advice of someone who is experimenting with options right along with you?

The best thing that ever happened to this young mother was Kay. Kay was an older woman in my church. I asked her if she would meet with me and other young moms for Bible study. She said my request was an answer to prayer for her, as she had been asking God for direction in her empty-nested life. So we started meeting regularly at the park. (We lived in Florida at the time, so it was possible to meet outdoors year round.) The children played while the moms gleaned from Kay's wisdom regarding marriage and parenting. With a special-needs son, one income and four children, Kay had experience in my trench--and a love for Jesus that governed everything she did and said.

Fortunately, our Home Instructed Students support group is not new and has a wide range of experienced, Godly parents. There is no lack of grey (or dyed) hair in HIS. And even though we often don't feel it, there is no lack of wisdom.

The following HIS moms regularly attend meetings and have homeschooled for longer than 12 years. Why 12? It takes that long to graduate a child. I'm sure everyone on the list would love to share what worked, and what didn't work, for their family. I'm sure they would also love to pray with you and for you as you make life-changing decisions for your family. Feel free to seek one of us out.

Nita Sudlow--27 years.
Carol Alexander--23 years.
Cherie Ellis--21 years.
Staci Woods--13 years.

If that's not enough, there are those who have finished homeschooling but are still around. Watch for future posts from them.



*By sharing my experience with Dr. Dobson's book, I in no way mean to discredit him or his advice. I'm merely using it as an example of what did not work for me. I have not tried to re-read his books since, so I do not have a new perspective.