Dominion Family

In an incredible turn of events the Huntsville Falcons baseball team placed 4th in the regional tournament in Atlanta which gives them the privilege of attending the Homeschool World Series.

With only 1 loss left in the tourney they won 2 in a row and blasted the competition in spite of the fact that not one person expected them to advance. Not even me.

Way to go Falcons!!

Speaking of baseball, I am a bit sore from watching the boys play the other night. Christopher was pitching in the cage when the ball went through the fence and pegged me in the thigh. I was pretty mad about the whole episode even though there wasn’t anyone to blame. Pain is like that. It’s a beautiful bruise though.

My friend got hit in the jaw by a foul ball the other day. Being a good Calvinist I thoroughly enjoy watching foul balls drop fractions of an inch from someone. Foul balls are hit often but hardly ever do any damage. Isn’t that amazing?

Oh and Many Happy Returns. Yesterday was Confederate Memorial Day and the kids here were out of school, white and black, who all seem to live perfectly content together in our tiny town and today is May Day and promises to be as beautifully glorious as a May day should. Poetry month is over but nevertheless I give you Swinburne which I very rarely do:

For winter’s rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins.

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They call me Miz Rollins, drawing out the Miz for a long time.

Really old ladies, the kind that tip over while making left turns, drive pick-up trucks. I don’t just mean one either.

Even bad children say Sir and Ma’am.

No ball on Sundays or Wednesdays.

Families gather at the fields spontaneously on Sunday afternoon.

Parents threaten to whup their children in public.

All the men sound like Andy Griffith. “That shore was a good hit.” I just love to hear men say “shore”. It makes me feel that all is right with the world.

Nobody likes the ump.

Being head of the Youth League is more important than being Mayor.

I can walk down a lonely road at 10:00 pm at night alone and not feel any fear.

It’s purty. Real purty.

BBQ is just a minute away. Alabama BBQ, which deserves its own post because people just don’t get it and that really bugs me.

My neighbors.

Everyone plays Rook because regular playing cards might just possibly be of the devil because look at the Jack and a’ that. I like Rook and Rook tournaments with my neighbors.

In a little hollow in the hills of north Alabama is a community. I live there and there is nothing philosophical about that.

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For some reason my blog keeps disappearing.

Have you seen Deja Vu with Denzel Washington? I have seen it twice now, I think. Is it possible that that is an example of what Christian cinema could be? An underlying acknowledgement of the triune God, overtly Christian themes and Tim Powers-type story. I thought it was a great movie. I am pretty sure it wasn’t because I am the worst when it comes to movie recommendations and I have learned to keep my mouth shut, sorta.

Rick Saenz will not be publishing his magazine The Gospel Plow so he has given us permission to put our articles on our blogs. I wrote an article on agrarian weddings before I even knew that I had 2 weddings on the horizon. Sometime over the weekend, Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I plan to publish that article on this blog.

Now for the disclaimer: Our 2 weddings are not going to be ‘agrarian’ weddings. They are going to be wonderful but neither wedding qualifies as agrarian in the sense that I picked up from working on the article last summer. An agrarian wedding would not need long months of preparation and the expense of the wedding would be shared among a community of believers. After watching the two weddings I am involved with unfold and all the stresses involved I am still hoping for a coming wedding revolution among Christians of a certain stripe.

Speaking of agrarianism, on my walk yesterday I came upon my 84yo neighbor in an overgrown field in his wheelchair. He was picking pokeweed for his supper. When he motored out of the field his wheelchair tipped back in the scariest manner. I told him to stay on the road and I would pick pokeweed. I can’t tell you how tickled I was to be picking pokeweed for his supper. I felt so unphilosophical. I did have a slight tinge of fear that maybe I was accidentally picking something poisonous along with the pokeweed. Blame it on too much Dorothy Sayers. My only other contact with pokeweed was when I had to give Timothy ipecac because he swallowed and unknown number of pokeberries. The number turned out to be 1. Come to think of it that is my only ipecac episode in 23 years, although I have called poison control more than once.

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Do you like the absurd?
I thoroughly enjoy the absurd and you will often find me giggling to myself when something hits my absurd bone. Most of the time I am the only one who finds that sort of thing funny.
I once spent an entire Christmas season giggling over the absurdity of putting a tree in the house.

You probably think when I brag about my town I am bragging I am sure I live in the best town in the world. I have learned so much about community from living here.

Friday was Teacher Appreciation Day at the local high school (grades K-12). Guess who they brought the leftovers to? I received, as a gift, huge pans of baked beans, potato salad and rolls. I wanted to cry; the local public school brought Teacher Appreciation leftovers to the local homeschooling mom. It was so entirely absurd that all I could do was thank the Lord for his tremendous kindness to our family in this community.

There is a house for sale on our street. It’s on a couple acres and has a barn.

You come too.

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When I posted the letter from the church in Smyrna I was almost 100% sure it was accurate. I did not receive it from a blog post but rather in email form from a friend with direct ties to Turkey. I was disturbed when I began to hear rumors that the letter was inaccurate. Turns out the letter was not entirely inaccurate rather it was over-blown. I want to thank Tonia who sent me this information via Tulip Girl. Here is the update:

A preface from Turkish World Outreach:

We received a few emails saying some elements in “A letter to the Global Church from the Protestant Church of Smyrna” were exaggerated. However, since none of the messages stated what was thought to be exaggerated, we did not send a retraction. Instead, we contacted the pastor and his wife who prepared the message and shared the negative email messages we had received. The spouses of the men who were slain reportedly say they want people around the world to know what took place, and the real objections appear to be from foreign workers who understandably feel threatened by unwanted exposure to their mission
work. In addition, some people felt the graphic details of the torture the men experienced (though apparently factual) should be omitted. The following corrections were sent by Pastor Bocek and his wife, and we have made these corrections in the attached text. Thank you for your prayers.

———

Dear Friends,

We are amazed at how quickly the Global Church communicated the message of our friends’ deaths. Thank you for your continued prayers for Semsa, Susanne and the Church in Turkey.

We need to make a couple of corrections on the letter we sent out.

First, if you forward the letter again, due to sensitivity issues please take all the details of the torture off, replacing it with “They were brutally tortured for 3 hours” and ask your friends who you have forwarded the previous email to do the same. Also, later in the article where it says their throats were slit “from ear to ear, practically decapitated” we are not sure of the actual size of the cuts, so please delete those words from the letter as well. We won’t know actual details until autopsy reports are made public; news reports and articles we were basing our information on were possibly exaggerated.

Second, my faulty estimating mistake put the word “thousands” when in fact there were only about 800 people at Necati’s funeral.

Third, I made mistakes in names. Susanne Geske (not Susanne Tilman),
and Tilmann not Tilman.

If you can make those changes, and pass on the information I’d appreciate it.

As a wonderful follow-up, we know for a fact that three people in the last week have committed their hearts to Christ in response to the sufferings our friends went through: John 12: 24-25 I tell you the
truth, unless a kernal of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds. The man who loves His life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Blessings,
Darlene Bocek

for The Protestant Church of Smyrna

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Wes Callihan of Schola Tutorials puts out a newsletter that is always interesting and not lengthy. This month’s Cogitem section is a gem. You have to go to the Schola site and hit the newsletter button Back to Basics and then scroll down to Cogitem to read the whole thing but I think it is just what I need to hear as I plan next year.

Here is the heart of the article:

This is the heart of a good education: a small but well-chosen library, a place to sit and study, some friends to do it with, and the time and tranquility to do it in.

Tranquility. What a great word.

That is almost as good as Andrew Kern’s definition of Classical education:

Classical Education
is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul on truth, goodness, and beauty by means of the liberal arts and the natural, humane, philosophical, and theological sciences.

If you want to read more on leisure and learning be sure to check out Willa’s post on the subject.

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Every once in a while cultural norms hit you in the face from the most surprising places. Yesterday Carmon linked to a couple of blog posts that were negative about homeschooling and they came from strong Reformed circles. Those articles were such an antithesis to the stated purpose of this blog, to encourage homeschooling mothers, that I am not even going to link to them. But in thinking over things this morning and in light of recent events our family has come up against, I am convinced that these attacks are coming from the prevailing victory of feminism in our culture.

I have always known the feminism was a bad philosophy that caused deep problems for a culture and I have always known that ideas have consequences but frankly, I am shocked at the places feminism has taken root.

My future daughters-in-law have faced countless criticisms for their choices, even to get married. Christians can’t understand why one dil isn’t going to college and why the other one isn’t going to use her degree. This makes my blood boil, not because I am haggard and worn (Yes, I sometimes am.) but because I have spent 27 years at home leading a rich, fulfilling life. I have had this satisfaction precisely because I am at home and I have the assurance of knowing that the things I do really matter for eternity. My life has been hard enough to give me the satisfaction of a job well done.

I believe that as homeschoolers we should be honest with one another about the pitfalls and dangers of homeschooling, but I am saddened almost every day now to watch former homeschooling moms trade in their heritage for a mess of pottage: for the approval of the world, for self-fulfillment which isn’t attained by seeking it, for more time at the gym, for financial gain.
These things may help us in the short term to feel better about ourselves especially in the light of such ongoing criticism but in the long run they will take wings and fly away.

It is hard work to teach a child to read. It can wear you down and make you haggard. It can take years sometimes. Most homeschooling moms are facing a job whose rewards are in the future. It would be a lot more fun to look cute at church so that the pastor thought your husband was a good candidate for eldership. It would be rewarding in the here and now, but we are not in a sprint we are in a marathon. Most of us are the worst part of it, the middle, with the glow of the early race worn off and the end not in sight. I hope you will not give up. I hope you will recognize the slings and arrows of the enemy even when they come from a friend. We wrestle not against flesh and blood.

I am not a Catholic. My views on justification are simple. I believe that Christ death was efficacious for me. It used to bother me tremendously that there were more Catholics than protestants at anti-abortion rallies (not because the Catholics were there but because the protestants weren’t), it bothers me even more now that Reformed moms have to turn to John Mark Reynolds for encouragement when their own ranks decide that is more important for them to have their hair done than teach their children to read.

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Recently, in light of Carmon’s post on negative homeschooling press, I have been thinking of all the things that make a woman look haggard.

Working 8 hour days and coming home to take care of a family

Nursing a baby

Early pregnancy. I bet she feels like Amy, the Haggard these days.

Late pregnancy

Having 1 toddler

The flu

Cancer

Auto-immune disease. I know someone who lost all of her hair along with her vanity.

Having 2 toddlers

Carrying a baby to church

Sitting with a toddler in church

Having twins

Taking care of the sick

Taking meals to the needy

Reading too late at night

Rising also while it is still night

Some husbands

Having 3 toddlers

Cleaning the house

Planning a wedding

Gardening

Feeling alone

Being disconnected from the head

Talking to teenagers until the wee hours (Hey, folks, its got to be done.)

Bad genes

Bad jeans

Talking to teenagers in the wee hours of the night and then waking up early to nurse the baby

Low iron

Straying children

Straying husbands

Laundry

Unit studies

Diapers

Sick children

Conflict

Life

Can you think of anything else?

Seriously though, I certainly don’t think looking haggard should be a goal but I also know that sometimes faithful women don’t look good. Even one baby can wreck havoc on a mom’s rest. I frequently joke that 10 years of my life were a blur. I lost all my earrings during those years and never had time to purchase more. I stopped wearing make-up at 29 and began again at 40. There is a season of life called “haggard.” You don’t have to wallow in it but you probably can’t avoid it.

I Samuel 16:7
“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

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For good or for bad we have listed the things that make us look and feel haggard. Did I mention: Vacations, testosterone, missionary life, aging? How about shopping, dieting, blogging …..?

But what are the things that you do that help you not to look haggard? Any tips?

Frankly, I am a little hesitant to give tips because I think I often do look haggard. Does looking haggard come down to a fashion statement or is there more to it?

I am not a particularly successful dresser. I put my skirt, shirt & sandals on for church, add a little mascara and lip gloss and feel pretty jazzed up. When I get to church I am reminded that some women just know how to put things together. I might, every once in a while, add eyeliner & blush to the ensemble but you will never find me wearing facial cover make-up. What is that stuff called anyway? I would have to have a vastly different personality to be trusted to coat my face in something. I rely on a little color from the sun in the 3 good seasons of the year.

My number one tip for not looking haggard is SMILE. I don’t smile enough but I know a cheerful countenance is one of the greatest gifts a woman can give her family and friends.

My favorite make-up company is not Arbonne or Mary Kay rather Burt’s Bees. I love the Carrot Day Creme.

Light daily exercise

Lots of Water

B Vitamins

French Women Don’t Get Fat

French Women For All Seasons

Mother Culture

Power naps. 15 minutes with the feet elevated and eyes closed.

Prayer

Sunshine

Contentment

Little grains of sand

Well, those are a few of my tips. Take them or leave them. I am rather like Nora Ephron who says:

“Assuming, of course, that you look in the mirror. That’s another thing about being a certain age that I’ve noticed: I try as much as possible not to look in the mirror. If I pass a mirror I avert my eyes. If I must look into it I begin by squinting, so that if anything really bad is looking back at me, I am already halfway to closing my eyes to ward off the sight.”

Now there’s a tip!!

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My brain has completely broken down. I hope that it reappears sometime in July but in the meantime don’t expect too much from The Blog. Really!

We leave in 2 weeks for Nicholas’s wedding. I have to tie up several loose ends before we leave. All the boys need haircuts. The little boys need shoes. Tim needs shoes. I haven’t ordered the BBQ yet. I need to get our prescriptions filled. I have to pack for at least 6 people. I have to fit everything I need to take including pans, supplies, BBQ, luggage & people into the van.

I am starting to feel that if I ever start thinking about everything I am going to hyperventilate. I begin to understand why I was given boys and not girls.

I have taken to reading the Psalms in my spare moments. In spite of all this I am so happy for Nicholas and so happy to have Hannah as a daughter. I can’t even begin to tell you what a joy Hannah is. I can talk to her on the phone almost as long as I talk to her mother.

No matter how the details fall in place or don’t this wedding is a wonderful thing. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

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