Dominion Family

Every time I write a Morning Time post I get lots of email and many questions. I don’t mind that at all but behind those emails is usually the assumption that I am someone who is doing it ALL. This post isn’t so much a disclaimer about myself as it is a disclaimer that anyone is doing it ALL.

I have met enough homeschool super-moms to know that no one is doing it all. So many times when we are reading about other families, our imaginations make up all sorts of details that don’t belong in the real picture. I have said this before but we imagine someone having all their own priorities which we read about and all of our own priorities. It takes a little bit of discipline when reading through blogs not to panic. Calm down everyone. I promise no one is doing it all and if she is she is not a fun person to be around. And I have seen those types too. They get more done than the rest of us but they leave a trail of destruction.

The very first year I started homeschooling I implemented Morning Time accidentally. It was just an organic development from my reading of Charlotte Mason. That is why it has such a goofy name. It just developed into that. Later as I continued to read homeschooling books and more and more choices loomed at the curriculum fair, I tried to DO what other people were doing but I could never find time to do what other people were suggesting and what I was already doing. Hence over and over again I had to make a decision: Drop MT or drop the other thing? I consistently chose to drop the other things. Over the years I have added things to our MT that fit naturally into the picture and that has made our time more productive. I learned to make things easier and run smoother. In the end I erred on the side of what worked for us and now I have my grown boys telling me that MT is what was best about their education. They always encourage me to faithfully continue with the little ones.

All this is one reason I enjoyed the Circe conference so much. It was an affirmation that I had made the right choice and it didn’t require me to add to what I was already doing.

If you are a driven mom who is pushing her children so that they are ragged and worn out please don’t add what I am doing to your already full day. If you see something in what I am doing that strikes a chord in your heart and will bring peace and lasting fruit to your homelife then by all means take my ideas.

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Juanita tagged me:
Random Bookishness
1. Grab the nearest book. Home Economics by Wendell Berry
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences (or paragraph) on your blog along with these instructions:

“Buildings and tools wear out, but the topsoil if properly used and maintained, will not wear out. Some agricultural soils have remained in continuous use for four or five thousand years or more. Third, the motives of agriculture are fundamentally different from the motives of industry.”

6. Tag five people. Ok, I tag myself.I have many books at my fingertips.

Random Bookishness

1. Grab the nearest book. Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences (or paragraph) on your blog along with these instructions:
5.

” The proper person for the mantle of Figaro is Scarmouche, who is naturally Figaro’s twin. (Me, you can say that again.) Thus tyrannized, the tyrant Binet gave way, comforted by the reflection that if he understood anything at all about the theatre, he had for fifteen livres a month acquired something that would presently be earning him as many louis. The company’s reception of the canevas(sp?) now confirmed him, if we except Polichinelle, who, annoyed at having lost half his part in the alterations, declared the new scenario fatuous.”

6. And me again.

Random Bookishness

1. Grab the nearest book. The Bible
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences (or paragraph) on your blog along with these instructions:
5.

” Leviticus 27:15-17 And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his. And if a man shall sanctify unto the Lord some part of a field of his possession, then they estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. If he sanctify his field from the year of jubilee, according to thy estimation it shall stand.”

6. Ok, I’m done I just don’t feel like copying sentences from Pensees or The Lees of Virginia. And I genuinely just picked up the books scattered around the computer. My son is in a quote war with a friend so my selection was rich.

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I am sorry these pictures are so small. I think Photobucket did it. I decided to go ahead and publish them since I can’t retrieve the pictures from my old computer anymore. I have added a few quotes about leisure to the sidebar on this Labor Day.

Here is Deputy Fife practicing for his life calling in a spare moment when he was not drowning frogs in the greenhouse. I never knew.

And here is Emily sitting under the cherry tree in Greenwich. This picture is interesting to point out the plowed field behind her. Timothy and I spent many a spring day planting that garden and it was truly beautiful.

And here we have James helping in the garden. Nicholas and Timothy are probably trying to figure out how to destroy the greenhouse plastic. They succeeded.

And here are the three amigos with the prize pumpkin:

That would be Timothy (no shirt), Nicholas and James(curly heid) for those who can’t tell them apart.

And just for memories sake I will leave you with one of my favorite poems.

CUDDLE DOON

(open the above link in a new window to hear the audio while reading.)

The bairnies cuddle doon at nicht

Wi’ muckle faucht an’ din;

O, try an’ sleep, ye waukrife rogues,

Your father’s comin’ in.

They never heed a word I speak;

I try to gi’e a froon,

But aye I hap them up, an’ cry,

“O, bairnies, cuddle doon.”

XXXXXXXXXX

Wee Jamie wi’ the curly heid—

He aye sleeps neist the wa’,

Bangs up an’ cries, “I want a piece”;

The rascal starts them a’.

I rin an’ fetch them pieces, drinks,

They stop awee the soun’;

Then draw the blankets up, an’ cry,

“Noo, weanies, cuddle doon.”

XXXXXXXXX

But ere five minutes gang, wee Rab

Cries oot frae ‘neath the claes,

“Mither, mak’ Tam gie ower at ance—

He’s kittlin’ wi’ his taes.”

The mischief’s in that Tam for tricks,

He’d bother half the toon;

But aye I hap them up, an’ cry,

“O, bairnies, cuddle doon.”

XXXXXXXXXX

At length they hear their father’s fit,

And as he steeks the door,

They turn their faces to the wa’,

While Tam pretends to snore.

“Hae a’ the weans been gud?” he asks,

As he pits aff his shoon;

“The bairnies, John, are in their beds,

An’ long since cuddled doon.”

XXXXXXXXX

An’ just afore we bed oorsel’s,

We look at oor wee lambs;

Tam has his airm roun’ wee Rab’s neck,

An’ Rab his airm roun’ Tam’s.

I lift wee Jamie up the bed,

An’, as I straik each croon,

I whisper, till my heart fills up,

“O, bairnies, cuddle doon.”

XXXXXXXX

The bairnies cuddle doon at nicht,

Wi’ mirth that’s dear to me;

But sune the big warl’s cark an’ care

Will quaten doon their glee.

Yet, come what will to ilka ane,

May He who sits aboon

Aye whisper, though their pows be bauld,

“O, bairnies, cuddle doon.”

—ALEXANDER ANDERSON.

Now doesn’t that bring a tear?

(Sorry about the X’s but this new template is temperamental about code.)

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Our whole family was terribly saddened yesterday by news of the death of Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. It seems rather bizarre that he was killed by an animal that rarely kills. The Common Room states that
“there have only been 17 known fatal sting ray deaths worldwide.”

One of the best places on the web is Kim’s Coffee and a Muffin site. If you need help with your homemaking skills, as I do, then you will want to check out her site. All that to say I am not picking on Kim, just thinking out loud.

Here is what she posted yesterday: “May the children all over the world who idolized him learn from this hard lesson.” I don’t disagree with Kim but I had never really thought of it that way and I know my boys haven’t. Steve seemed to be a family man who took risks. In these times when even heterosexual males are fretting over what color to wear, Steve seemed to be a breath of fresh air. I didn’t get a chance to watch him very often so I don’t know how foolish he actually was. It doesn’t seem like he was being especially foolish yesterday.

At any rate, I know that Kim and I will both be praying for his family, that, perhaps, God might grant them grace.

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Ligonier Ministries is suing a blogger according to this Orlando Sentinel article.

What are the implications for bloggers?

What are the Biblical ramifications?

What is free speech?

Is it ok to be critical of a public ministry? As a citizen? As a Christian? As a blogger?

I find all these questions intriguing because, as some of you may remember, I ran an extensive (negative) series on Bill Gothard and ATI when I first began blogging. I got all kinds of Google hits because of that series. I am sorry I deleted my old blog so suddenly because I lost all those old posts. I never felt in the slightest bit that I was crossing a line that I shouldn’t have crossed. Still one wonders. Could Bill Gothard have sued me?

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I really didn’t intend to blog about this subject anymore but today I got quite sad thinking about it.

It seems to me that the Apostle Paul certainly understood that Christians would disagree, argue and fight. And it also seems to me that there is a great danger in I Corinthians 6:1 of losing your shirt. After all some Christians are going to take that verse to mean they can treat you any way they want to treat you and you can’t do a thing about it nanny-nanny-boo-boo.

How many times have you regretted giving a contract to a Christian brother?

How many times have you met people with Jesus in their hearts and dollar signs in their eyes?

But after all that is the point, isn’t it? Shouldn’t being defrauded make us happy sort of like:
Matthew 10:11 (ESV)

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Eventually when dealing with fights among children a mother will not be able to get to the bottom of an issue. She can then beat all involved or appeal to her children to let themselves be wronged and misunderstood. I have found, for the most part, in family squabbles, the best way out for all parties in confusing situations is just to let it go, to let someone treat you unfairly and not hold a grudge. I think that is what living in a family is all about. Living in a family is not about getting my way. It is about learning to live among each other deferring and preferring and forgiving.

I Corinthians 6:1-11

(ESV)
6:1 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! 4 So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? 5 I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, 6 but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

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My friend, Sandy, just sent me the link to this audio from NPR.

Lo and behold, it is Franky Schaeffer speaking about childbearing and young families. I would suggest you use earphones if young children are about because Franky admits to a few sins. But over all it is a wonderful affirmation of life in an unlikely place.

Sandy says this reminds her of the Frederica Matthews-Greene article Let’s Have More Teen Pregnancy.

To which I say amen and happy birthday, Sandy.

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In the spirit of reciprocal links, Izzy gave us Who Are the Real Girls from Daniel Amos and I respond with Mall all Over the World. Both of which I saw performed in concert 22 years ago. I am not bragging, but who could forget.

Mannequin left!
Mannequin right!
Do the mannequin day and night
Elevator up, Escalate down
It spreads like the blob
It swallows your town

Which is almost as good as Randy Stonehill’s Stop the World I Wanna Get Off

From memory because I can’t find it online and my tape is busted:

Stop the world
I wanna get off
This is too weird for me…..
Stop the world
I wanna get off
I just got to find a planet
That is interested in sanity

dododdoodoodooddodo

It really is a pretty good song

Which reminds me of Wordsworth:

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. -Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Maybe a guitar lick would help the old guy.

I should get to bed. It is 10:00 pm and you will rarely find me at the computer of an evening. I get giddy at about 8:30 pm.

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Psalm 90

A Prayer of Moses the man of God.

1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place[a] in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

3 You turn man to destruction,
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
4 For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
5 You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
6 In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.

7 For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
8 You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
10 The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Return, O LORD!
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
16 Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.

When I Survey by Issac Watts

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

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Make no mistake, not only is our society becoming more and more feminized every day but we are already bearing the fruit, the rotten fruit of feminized males.

Look around, even Christian boys are beginning to look more feminine. Metrosexuality almost seems to be the Christian response to homosexuality.

At the Circe conference several of the speakers decried the feminization of their own classrooms. Take a look at the following links. In the Al Mohler audio he says that 80% of all school teachers are female. Is that different at the local Christian school? No, it is probably more like 95% female at the Christian school.

Homeschooling moms have the unique opportunity to make a difference in this area. We don’t have to let somebody else’s mom educate our boys, but we do have to be distinctly aware that even we are brainwashed by our culture. This is a hard thing to discuss just because we are so brainwashed.

Al Mohler encourages us to help our boys love the Word and to get them reading.

Here you can read the article (some bad language) Al Mohler posted and listen to the audio.

Article

Audio

I do not believe we can talk about this subject too much. When my children were little I could read the little pamphlet Under Loving Command almost daily. I needed that frequent encouragement to stay the course in disciplining consistently.
In the same way we need to constantly urge each other forward towards biblical views of masculinity and femininity.

What are you doing with your boys to combat this incredible cultural trend?

Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

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