Dominion Family

I have been meaning to write on a my favorite chapter in The Pursuit of God, the last chapter on not separating the secular from the sacred. I am finally getting around to it because I had some thoughts about homeschooling and I see now they relate back to this issue. I h0pe to write the homeschooling post tomorrow.

The first time I read TPoG, many years ago, that final chapter jumped out and hit me. Ironically*, growing up in the C&MA I had been taught that you could either be in full-time Christian service or you could get a job and do something else. The highest calling anyone could ever have was to be a missionary. Both my dh and I went to Bible college to be missionaries.

Needless to say, God had other plans and we did not become missionaries. For many years, I hoped we would someday be back in God’s perfect will by being missionaries. You can see why reading that chapter would hit me hard and give me hope.

I remember with some shock, many years following our leaving the C&MA, leaving our Baptist church and attending a Presbyterian church to find the Presbyterian pastor praying for the men as they did God’s will at work each day. My Baptist pastor had always made it seem that church and ministry were in competition with a man’s job.

Recently this hit home when the local highschool baseball coach, a devout Christian, resigned to “go into the ministry”. I was dismayed. This man had a wonderful reputation in the community and a chance to work with the public school kids in a way no one else could. In our little town school, grades K-12 in one building, no one would ever get kicked out for preaching the Gospel, not yet.

I don’t want to make this a long post so if you really want to explore the idea of not separating the sacred and the secular then please pick up a copy of TPoG.
And I will continue the topic tomorrow in a discussion on homeschooling.

* Tozer was C&MA

For the latest updates on Timothy scroll to the last update on the previous post.

  Leave a Comment »

I moved this note from Timothy from the comment section to this post.

Hey Y’all,
Thanks so much for all the prayers. I am sipping on coffee at my Cousin Jeff’s house, trying to reconcile the past few weeks. One thing is certain, God is in control, he led me through so much, and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to train with some of the toughest guys in the world. Last night I made a promise to myself to go as hard as I could until I knew I wasn’t able to be an asset to my Boat crew. Breakout was crazy there was LOUD machine gun fire everywhere, and bombs going off. Every instructor in BUD’s was out there screaming and shooting off weapons; it was awesome. After that we were sent to the water for surf torture, and I knew right away I wasn’t where I needed to be. My body usually is able to handle cold fairly well, but I was jackhammering almost immediately, and could not stop. Later on when we started log p.t. it got worse, I was not able to keep up, barely able to hold my arms over my head, let alone hold up my end of the log. The instructors singled me out right away, and rightly so, they could see I was hurting my b.c. and they were right. We started doing lunges and God knows I was putting out with everything I had, but on this night it wasn’t enough. About 50 lunges in I could barely stand, and was trembling all over, I rang out. On one hand I question myself, knowing that everyone out there was hurting, why was I not able to perform like I normally do? Should I have just sucked it up, and kept going, maybe with food in the next hour I would have been rejuvenated. But honestly I did the right thing. I fought, fought hard,and wasn’t able to complete the training. I quit, but deep down the shame of that is tempered with the fact that I did the best I could, and it wasn’t good enough. God’s has given me a peace that he will show me what is next, and I greatly appreciate those who have prayed and prayed for me. David and the rest of my Boat Crew except for Trueheart(he quit as well) are out there still. Those guys need prayer, please continue to lift them up. On a final note…..Man it is good to be warm….Timothy

  Leave a Comment »

One of the reasons I homeschool…the way that I homeschool….relates back to yesterday’s post on not separating the secular from the sacred. For several years now I have been trying to wrap my mind around why I believe in a strong liberal arts education.

It would almost seem pedantic for me to state my reasons if it weren’t for the fact that the obvious so easily slips away in the atmosphere of education we see on all fronts today.

How naive it would sound for me to say that I believe in educating the “whole man.” After all John Dewey said something remarkably similar. I believe Dewey was wrong, very wrong.

It isn’t that we should educate the whole man: send the boy out camping and call it a school day; it is that we should not be separating the mind from the soul.

To teach “subjects” in the way that they are now taught almost universally is to strip the glorious creation of God down to the barest facts and call it education. Ha, I am not original. Didn’t someone really smart once say that,

“We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and then bid the geldings to be fruitful.”

Yes, I believe it is just too easy for homeschoolers to castrate and then bid the geldings to be fruitful. More and more of us are doing that everyday.

This all brings me to why in many ways our homeschool is so weak in some areas and so strong in others. I just cannot bring myself to compromise the soul of education in order to fit in the dry bones. Even so, I am a long way from the mark. Every year I strive to find more and more ways to feed my children’s souls.

This does not mean I shy away from rigorous study. I love rigorous study. It is just that I don’t confuse taking a test with learning. I try not to forget the things that can’t be measured: poetry in the heart, deep discussions, time for thoughtful reflections, love of beauty, the fellowship of suffering, the euphoric feeling of using the right word, honest toil, gentle breezes and warm days.

None of this is original; Charlotte Mason said these very things a hundred years ago, “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life,”
it is just so easily lost as the train we are on barrels on towards unifomity.

I hope this little drop of water will remind not to get too carried away with that homeschool catalog. You can’t buy souls for your children.

Recommended Reading:
Norms and Nobility

  Leave a Comment »

We recieved a package in the mail last week from Cumberland Books.

Now I can resume my forays into philosophical agrarianism. To illustrate that I am a serious philosophical agrarian I will relate an incident that occurred on the way to the baseball game yesterday.

We passed the farmer’s stand that I haunt and it had a big sign saying Fresh Strawberries.

I wasn’t driving so we whizzed past without stopping and I expressed disappointment.

Later the driver, trying to make it up to me, noticed a sign that said U Pick Strawberrries.

“Do you want me to stop?” He kindly asked.

“Goodness no, I don’t want to pick them!”

I almost resent Herrick Kimball’s title Writings of a Delibrate Agrarian

Is that a rebuke or something? Both of my grandfather’s were handsome and had big garden’s too. (Buy the book.)

Seriously, I am enjoying the book so far and love Mr Kimball’s writing style.

Tomorrow I will tell you about what I am listening to from Cumberland Books.

  Leave a Comment »

My friend, Sandy, the on-again blogger has kindly tagged me. This saves me from having nothing at all to say today.

Hummmm…6 interesting things about myself. I am gonna have to dig deep. Weird might be a little easier.

1. I graduated from highschool at 16 and have never regretted it. I went to Stetson University and then Toccoa Falls College but I never graduated. I planned on being a missionary?

2. I married a 19yo when I was 18 and firmly believe it was a great idea. At the time, we were in college and during that summer he made $45.oo a week and I made $35.00. I make less money now but thankfully he makes more. We had very little help from our parents financially but somehow it all worked out, which is one reason I can’t understand all this whoopla about young men needing to make lots of money before marriage. Whatever happened to walking by faith not sight?

3. I have been pregnant 16 times. I have been pregnant for 9 complete years of my life. I am not a fan of pregnancy. If you are pregnant I will be burdened to pray for you. On the other hand, I am a huge fan of babies just minutes old.

4. I like to do crossword and word variety puzzles and I like Suduko. I would play computer games frequently if I didn’t have any discipline. Thankfully, I rarely play. My sense of guilt overwhelms me if I waste too much time on the computer.

5. I spent my summers as a teen at my grandmother’s reading Harlequin Romances and playing croquet. I haven’t read a Harlequin since I was 17 but I can still play a mean game of croquet. What I can’t do is keep the kids from ruining any croquet set I buy.

6. I was born in Cincinnati, raised in Florida but my husband makes me say I’m from Georgia. (That’s one of his jokes.)

Cincinnati:
I love Cincinnati Chili, Barg’s Red Creme Soda and goetta. I love the Cincinnati zoo and driving around the city listening to my dad tell us about his childhood.

Florida:
I love going to the beach. I even still like Daytona Beach, my old hang-out, although I don’t especially care for beach attire. Unfortunately, I had melanoma 10 years ago, too many sunburns.

Georgia:
I should say here that I like the Georgia Bulldogs but what I really mean is that I like them to win at football. My husband gets real discouraged when they lose and he cheers up a little when they win, although he usually mentions that they played bad anyway. Definetly a Puddleglum when it comes to Georgia football.

Tagging: Just find 6 interesting things about yourself and pick 6 people to tag.

Barney
James
Dana
Kelly, so she will blog a bit more
Valerie
Tootle’s Time

  Leave a Comment »

Spunky is giving away a Benz Microscope and Apologia Biology Set this week. Click Here to get the details.

This is indeed and exciting contest. Good Luck!

  Leave a Comment »

The new Cumberland Books catalog arrived and it is as hefty as a book itself. In spite of the fact I just got a whole box in the mail from Rick and I own quite a few of the titles already, proving that I at least think like an agrarian, I am finding plenty more to drool over. They even carry a few titles in the children’s literature section I haven’t heard of. I am especially excited by a new (to me) Robert Lawson title. As usual Rick has written extensively about each book and section. This catalog will make the leisure reading pile for many a long day.

Now what did I recently order from Cumberland Books besides Herrick Kimball’s lovely book?

The 6 new Plain Talk recordings:
Russ Nellis
Chad Degenhart
Cheri Shelnutt
DJ Hammond
Dave Black
Nathan Black

Tim has beat me to the punch in listening to them but I should be able to catch up now that I finally have a vehicle that runs and has a cd player. With the kind of vehicles we usually buy running and cd players are definitely optional. I am basking in God’s goodness as I drive to baseball in my blue Honda Odyssey.
I have listened partially to Dave Black, Chad Degenhart and Cheri Shelnutt. Cheri has a musical voice and an infectious laugh. She talks a lot about herbs which used to be a hobby of mine. I still have a little herb garden with rosemary (for remembrance) and thyme. It goes along with our Ambleside folk singing and our reading of The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare).

We also purchased The Ridgewood Boy’s CD Things I Used to Do. After listening to quite few of their podcasts, I knew I would enjoy the CD and I do. Quite a contrast to Strauss but enjoyable all the same.

  Leave a Comment »

I moved this from the comments so everyone who was praying for D. George could hear the wonderful news!! I only used his initial.

Hi Cindy, I got a call from D. about 6:00PM Friday night and he made it to the end. His voice was quite hoarse and I think he was running on adrenalin. He said he doesn’t remember alot of it after the first day. He says he’d never want to do it again!! He did say they had one of the best boat crews and were often awarded with “little nap” for winning races. His legs are very chafed, and he has some back pain, but other than than he seemed okay. He called me again yesterday and was at the mall, so he can’t be in too much pain. He went to Denny’s with Blake, his buddy who was in the same boat crew as Tim, and they gorged themselves with the all you can eat buffet!! Needless to say we are all very proud of D. He barely made it out of high school and only because of sports was he forced to keep his grades up, and was heading in the wrong direction before he went in the Navy. Once he went thru bootcamp, he became much more focused and self deciplined…probably should of sent him when he was 15!! Anyway, he just needed to find his niche in life, and I think getting away from some of his old buddies and going in the military was just what he needed.
He was so suprised when I told him about chatting with you and Tim. He said he really likes Tim and was sorry to see him leave but said he realized that he had been sick with the strep and cellutis right before “hellweek” and knew that was a tough way to start. He said he hopes to get to see Tim again soon, as he said he’s a “great guy” Will Tim stay in San Diego?

I really appreciate having this opportunity to share in this together with you all. And any prayers you sent D’s way are greatly appreciated!! My best to you all.
Regards,
Mary

  Leave a Comment »

Barney posted this picture of the McDonald’s Air and Sea Show in Ft Lauderdale. He said people were waist deep in water to get a good look at the show. The air show sounds wonderful but the crowds are insane. They had lots of lost children. Isn’t that horrifying?

We could hardly get a parking place near the beach when we were there in February.

  Leave a Comment »

The DHM liked my idea about recording special soul-filling moments we have with our children. If possible I will try to blog about that in the coming days. Maybe just putting a little note at the bottom of each post. I do not want it to become a pride thing. I think this is an area we would all enjoy getting ideas in.

So now I am sitting here trying to think what I did today to fill the buckets……I am having a bit of trouble….. Can you spell h-o-r-m-o-t-i-o-n-a-l?

Bisy backson.

Back: I spent the evening with my oldest son at home. Talking. I think I am the one getting my soul-filled.
Sometimes family relationships are difficult but communication and prayer always help.

  Leave a Comment »