Radio Interview on Homeschooling

I did a short interview with our local public radio station. The interview is 4:43 long. I begin at about 2:30. Look for Homeschooling date aired July 25, 2008, or the direct link to the interview. My voice isn't as bad as I expected, but I get a little quiet a couple of times.

Tags:
Parents, Parenting, Teachers, Home School, Homeschooling,

Prepare for the Beginning of School with a Party!

Today the kids are having a party. We begin school on Monday. The kids and my wife hung up streamers, blew up ballons (and yes, blew-up in both senses of the word) and are having great food all day. The dear wife said that they had a lot of fun just decorating for the party.



We used to take them out for donuts on the first day of school, but my kids don't get enough sugar to be immune, so they were all hyped-up and a problem all day.

We had a "Fiesta" lunch. For those who don't know about that, here's the recipe:
All these go on as layers on your plate. They don't all sound like they would go together, but you have to try it

corn chips
beans
rice
taco meat
cheese
coconut
raisins
sour cream
black olives
salsa

The kids love it, however all but one has something they want to leave off. Not a big deal as long as it isn't the meat or rice or beans.

They are going to swim. Someone gave us a swimming pool. It was much easier to put up than I expected. It's 15 feet across and 40 inches high. Man they love it.

Tonight we are going out for pizza. The kids haven't been out to a restaurant since my Dad was here in February I think. Wait, that's not true, someone took them to McDonald's for fries last month. Anyway, have a party to start off your school year. It might take some of the sting out.

Thanks to WP Clip Art for the pic.

Tags:
Education, Parents, Parenting, Home School, Homeschooling,

John Wayne Talks about Being a Parent with Dean Martin

The movie with Kirk Douglas is The War Wagon. Martin and Wayne were in Rio Bravo and The Sons of Katie Elder together.

edit: I forgot the HT: Dirty Harry's Place.

Tags:
Parents, Parenting,

Big Tent Homeschooling

I was thinking of doing a post on Phariseeism, but Spunky beat me to it (Dana beat her). Here's what I posted in the comments:

We've been to one homeschool convention after our first year of homeschooling. (Five years ago already?) I wasn't particularly disgusted or inspired. I don't really see a need to "start my own" convention, a lot of us don't get too excited about any kind of convention.

"...the homeschool movement must decide whether it will work to advance a specifically Biblical vision, or take a "big tent" approach..." A movement cannot make a decision. Individuals make decisions. Sorry to disappoint all the idealists out there.

I'm not a Pharisee that wants to add rules to being a Christian. "You aren't a good Christian unless you homeschool." "You aren't a good Christian unless you homeschool the same way we do." "You aren't a good Christian unless you have a ton of kids." Or worse, generalize to everyone, "You aren't a good parent unless you homeschool."

I'm not exclusionary either. "Only Christians of my particular doctrine can homeschool." One of the nice things about homeschooling in a small town is that all the homeschoolers work together without adding additional requirements as to dress code or beliefs.


Tags:
Parents, Parenting, Home School, Homeschooling,

Hugs are Great, Even from Boys

Last night we set up the tent in the back yard for the kids to sleep in. I gave my 8 year old my high-power flashlight. He smiled, took it and started to walk away, but then turned around and gave me a hug around my legs. Then he turned and left. I just said, "You're welcome." Being number three out of four boys, I think he suffers from "middle child syndrome" if any of them do. He really likes the special attention.

This morning my 12 year old son walked in, gave me a hug and walked out, never saying anything. That was nice too.


Tags:
Parents, Parenting

What Kind Of Faith Matters?

I'm going to a funeral tomorrow. My friend Leon was 55. He was diagnosed with cancer last October; less than 10 months ago. He wasn't expected to die this soon. After several months on enferon, he was going to start chemo this week. Leon got sick Wednesday morning and went downhill all day, died that evening. His wife says there are things they didn't clear up or talk about because they were believing God that Leon would be healed. And if you talk about those things, doesn't that mean you are doubting God?

What I have to say about that (now) is that just because YOU have faith that God is going to do something does not mean God is going to do that something. It's a lousy world, a fallen world, and we are not soothsayers or fortune tellers, we do not know what God's will is in any situation, as much as the more hard-line among us think they do. So make those wills, talk about what happens if you die.

We have some well-meaning friends who are just sure if we have enough faith God will heal our every disease and discomfort. Hogwash. We had faith God would heal my wife when her pain started and it went on and on and on. How much faith is required? If you simply believe, isn't that faith? Leon's family is a family of massive faith. He suffered and then he died. That enferon is nasty stuff. My wife was in a much worse place mentally and emotionally when she was trying to drum up enough "faith" to be healed. She was much better after she reread Calm My Anxious Heart: A Women's Guide to Finding Contentment by Linda Dillow.

The lie with faith-healing is that it puts the focus back on me. Almost like "If I have enough faith, I can heal myself." "God is powerless unless I do something about it." That kind of mentality.

Paul "left Trophimus sick in Miletus." (2 Timothy 4:20) Does that mean Paul or a companion of Paul did not have enough faith? Timothy had a bad stomach "Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." (1 Timothy 5:23) Does that mean Timothy had a lack of faith?

Job was a man of faith and look what happened to him.

I read Job recently. My wife went through some really horrible months of pain that no one could figure out (this started right after Leon found out about his cancer - our families frequently commiserated). Job didn't answer any questions, except that there is no point to suffering; it just happens and we have to deal with it the best we can, holding on to God's goodness. I didn't do so well. Don't give me any nonsense about how Job was given everything back. His children died. Were they raised from the dead? No. Having more children does not make up for losing children.

Ecclesiastes was more comforting, if you can believe that. Ecclesiastes talks about what a meaningless life this is and you should just enjoy the good days when you have them. "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future." (Ecclesiastes 7:14)

My faith has been tested by fire, and I'm not sure what it'll look like when I'm done. Perhaps there was more dross than I knew.




Tags:
Job (Bible), Suffering,

Lack of Solid Roll Models for our Young Poor

Andrew Klavan has written a good piece on the lack of husbands and fathers with America's poor.

I visited a fourth-grade class in a slum school recently. Since I’m a storyteller by trade, the teacher asked me if I’d tell the kids a story. Now I’m a good storyteller and an all-around charming guy, no doubt, but I wasn’t prepared for the degree of fascination I inspired. Rambunctious mischief ceased on the instant and resolved itself into riveted attention and awestruck stares. I was awfully pleased with myself by the time I was done.

“Don’t take it personally,” the teacher told me brusquely. “It’s just that they’ve never seen anyone like you before. A man—obviously tough—who’s not a gangster.”

...Her point was that you have to take just one look at me to see what, in fact, I am: an unapologetic, because-I-said-so, head-of-household male. They used to call us “husbands” and “fathers” back in the day. That’s what these kids had never seen.

This is not only a problem in the cities, but many rural areas are facing the same problems. From southeast Kansas to the Great Smokey Mountains, if the area was built on something other than farming, such as mining, or small factories, or as a transportation hub, then poverty is a big problem. Most of those types of jobs are now gone and so is hope for a better future. Then, any motivated young people leave the area taking with them the chance of better jobs in the future. Families break down and meth moves in. At least that's what happened around here.

The most important part of Klavan's article is where he talks about conservatives rebuilding culture. If I was more creative, I'd love to take part in that.


Technorati Tags:
Roll Models, Public Schools, Parents, Parenting, Fathers

Evan Almighty DVD Movie Review

Rated PG, Directed by Tom Shadyac, Starring Steve Carrel, Lauren Graham, Morgan Freeman, John Goodman. 2007.

“The LORD works in mysterious ways.” Evan Almighty supports this non-Biblical saying in a very funny fashion. Just so you know where I cam coming from, I am theologically conservative and am always concerned about how Believers are portrayed in movies. So, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this Hollywood film, but I am pleasantly surprised to find it enjoyable on a just-a-movie level, and to see positive examples of outrageous acts of faith.

You may remember Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) from Bruce Almighty as Bruce Nolan’s (Jim Carrey) job rival. Baxter is a newscaster from Buffalo, New York, who wins a seat in the US Senate. He moves his wife Joan and three sons, Ham, Shem, and Japeth Dylan, Jordan, and Ryan, to suburban Virginia, outside D.C. The family is so excited they even pray. The wife (Lauren Graham), nervous about how much time Evan will spend on his new job, prays for the family to grow closer. Evan prays for God to help him fulfill his campaign slogan: “Change the World.” Evan, like most of us, just expects a little unseen nudge from above to make things go smoothly. His prayer does not get answered the way he expected. Neither does Joan’s.

From his first day in the Senate, Baxter is favored by bigwig Senator Long (John Goodman) and his career looks great. Plans go awry when God (Morgan Freeman) reveals to Evan that he needs to build a boat. Not just any boat, a 450 foot long Ark. Baxter is your standard reluctant hero. But, animals start following him. His beard grows rapidly. Soon it’s a not really a choice between God or a comfortable life. Don’t worry, God does not break his promise and flood the world again. But there is a reason for the Ark.

Don’t think of this as a sequel to Bruce Almighty,think of it as a companion movie. Carell’s humor is not as broad as Carrey’s. The movie is appropriate for families and non-offensive to Christians or Jews.

The biggest problem in the movie happens right off the bat. Carell does not seem like the kind of guy who could win a Senate seat in New York. His character is a driven perfectionist, and a newscaster may be popular enough to win. So, for the sake of the rest of the movie, just let that pass.

Morgan Freeman is an inspired choice for God (pun intended). One has to have a certain gravitas to play God. A generation earlier James Earl Jones would have played the part. Much biblical wisdom about obedience is dispensed. It’s good to remember Psalm 110:10 and Proverbs 9:10 going in: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

The movie is funnier than expected (unless you are expecting Jim Carrey funny). Of course, I don’t have high expectations for most current comedy. Not that I’m nostalgic for some “good-old-days.” Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions. Ecclesiastes 7:10 (New International Version) Most new comedies are coarse and lack wit. Many seem like a series of sketches put together, rather than a story with humorous situations arising out of the storyline that builds to a climax. The climax here is ridiculous, but keeps with the spirit of the tale.

Evan Almighty has some cleverness. Pay attention to the names of the wood company and the real estate lady, though her name has no significance the way the wood companies does.

You’ll find Evan Almightysomewhat predictable (especially if you know the Noah story), but an enjoyable ride.





Tags:
Evan Almighty, Steve Carell, Movie Reviews, DVD Reviews

Should I Homeschool my Children?

I wrote this in 2003. We now homeschool all our children and they all like it more than public school.

To Home School or Not to Home School

Should you consider home schooling for your children? For one of them? For all of them? Is there one that may need direct attention more than others? Our first grader is very bright and has a vocabulary that is way beyond first grade, however he isn’t getting his seat work done in school. His Kindergarten brother loves school and does very well with his paper work (this has changed somewhat). The first grader is very flighty and doesn’t appear to be listening, but when he asked a direct question he almost always knows the answer. But ask him to put the answer on paper and you may have to wait for over an hour to get two sentences. It's possible he is gifted, or he could be right-brained, he is most certainly strong willed, spirited, and internally motivated. These can be good or bad traits, depending on what he does with them.

So what is the best way to get him turned the right direction? Would leaving him in public school with a teacher that must divider her time between 23 other children be best or would taking him out for a few years and investing in him be the wiser path? Home schooling seems to have the most advantages according to everything we have read, except for the amount of work required for the parents (even though the mother usually does the majority of the teaching, both parents should be involved for home schooling to work).

One concern many people express about home schooling is "Won't the child be deprived of important socialization?" The smart-alack answer is "I'm homeschooling the child, not hiding him." There are plenty of opportunities for socialization. Is the only way for a child to gain social skills to be stuck in a room with 25 other immature kids his age? There are opportunities during worship times, the park, the store, the YMCA, and of course with the family.

Home schooling may not be for every child or every parent, but it is a viable option for those who are willing to put in the extra effort for those kids that may not fit the regular school system. Our decision has been to home school one, while leaving the other in school. One wants to be home schooled, while the other wants to stay in public school.



Technorati Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools, Parents, Parenting, Teachers, Home School, Homeschooling,

One Tough Mom and One Dumb Kid

A mom puts an ad in the paper to sell the kid's car after she finds alcohol in it. Good for her.

Technorati Tags:
Parenting

The Simple Life and Celebration of Discipline

This last couple of months on Sunday evenings, we had a small group reading Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth. Foster has a chapter on “Simplicity.” It should be obvious that it is a discipline to live simply. Many things in our culture conspire against a simple life. Many things in human nature conspire against living simply. I myself frequently cannot decide if I want my beat up old Ford Ranger to drive around, or if I want a ‘34 Ford Sedan hot rod with flames and lots of chrome. Do I want to live in an uber-practical home built into the earth, or do I want to live in a fancy Victorian? Both are equally appealing to me. A librarian’s salary keeps me pretty practical for now.

One of my comments was about those who use their simple life as a source of pride. Many of the “crunchy-granola” types are just as much into consumerism as any Lexus driver, they have just chosen a different type of consumerism. My wife was looking at Mother Earth News and decided she isn’t green enough, at least green with cash, to do or buy a lot of what is considered “the simple life” by them.

Americans forget what anti-consumerism really looks like. For example, the movie American Beauty is called an anti-consumerism movie. Kevin Spacey’s character rejects suburban values, but he spends $2000 per ounce for marijuana and buys the 1972 Pontiac Firebird of his dreams. Yes, in many ways he simplifies; works minimum wage, doesn’t care about the $4000 sofa, etc, but what he does buy is solely for recreation.

At our house we do many of the things that Crunchy Cons do; recycle, compost, garden, homeschool, conservation, want solar panels, avoid buying stuff, are pro-small community, anti-big business (to a degree). However, we don’t get all worked up about any of these items and don’t get onto others for not doing them.

We had a family living across from us that had two children. We have four. Every week when the trash went out to the curb they had an overflowing trash can, ours is usually only half full. I wondered how that could be. I think we just buy less stuff in addition to the recycling. I can very easily get proud about our simple lifestyle, but I do what I do because it’s the right thing to do, or it’s what I want to do, not because of anyone else around me. Indeed, one of my shortcomings is probably that I don’t give a hang what anyone other than my wife thinks. This too can be overdone.

My wife is on a healthy eating kick. “As long as it tastes good,” I say to her. She claims she doesn’t feel well and this will help. Between all the conflicting ideas; “Canola oil is good for you” “Never use canola oil,” “Lard is bad for you,” “Lard is natural so your body can process it,” and the price of eating healthy, I’m not sure how much we can do, but every little bit helps. And as our homesteading homeschooling all-natural friends assure us, just start with a few things, then you can add more later. Don’t try to do it all at once.
Tags:
Living Simply, Frugal Living, Mother Earth News, Celebration of Discipline,

Solomon, the First Existentialist

Solomon, the first Existentialist. Ecclesiastes is a book for the weary, the hopeless, those with a bleak outlook on life. James W. Sire in his book The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog claims that Existentialism builds from Naturalism which, with its denial of any higher purpose than ourselves, leads either to Hedonism (the worship of pleasure), or to Nihilism (the denial of purpose) which if one has the guts to go on, leads to Existentialism. Existentialism seeks meaning in “Authenticity” of the self and the choices one makes. Existentialism's focus is Doing and Subjective understanding of truth. Hence, many aspects/elements of Postmodernism are just Existentialism writ large.

Solomon was despondent. He looked for meaning in "this miserable life" and found none in the several things that he searched for, all idols, workaholism, hedonism (my personal favorite), power, wealth, and its relative, materialism. All things that we also turn to instead of God for our comfort, our meaning, and all are just as empty today. Without God, what sort of purpose would make sense? The reason I say Solomon was an Existentialist, is that even when he gave it all up to God, there is still a pervading sense of melancholy and fatalism about it.

Do you know why he was so down? 300 wives. Add to that, 700 concubines. 1000 women. I can't even imagine. Sure, his flesh was happy but his soul was empty. Something happened between Song of Solomon, his passionate, explicit letter to his first love, and the end of his life with 1000 women. I can't help but think that if he had stuck with that one, life would have been fulfilling for him. One special person to share his burdens, to know him intimately, to meet his needs, to grow with him. I cannot express how wonderful marriage can be. To share a life with one other person and to grow together.


Tags:
Ecclesiastes, Existentialism, Meaning of Life

Kids Say the Darndest Things

My seven-year-old was in the room while my lovely wife and I were talking, and the lovely wife said the word "enthusiastically." The seven-year-old perked up and said, "That's a book of the Bible!"

He was thinking of Ecclesiastes.

Homeschool Stereotypes

I get an email from Books and Culture. Editor John Wilson writes some personal notes to begin each week and this week he wrote this:

On Saturday, before Joel left for the airport, I asked him if he had something good to read on the flight home. He told me he'd been reading in the Founding era, and he was struck by the frequent references to Locke, so he was reading Locke's treatises on civil government. Joel is homeschooled, which means among other things that he's currently (in what would be his senior year of high school) taking classes at a junior college in the Houston area (and tutoring students there and in high school in math and physics). Spending time with him made me think again about the absurd caricatures of homeschooling and homeschooled kids that many people accept at face value.

I thought that was quite nice.

Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools, Parents, Parenting, Teachers, Home School, Homeschooling,

The Disappearance of Shop Class

Here are two interesting articles on "The Disappearance of Shop Class" and how we are made to handle things, fix things and create things. In our disposable culture we are missing this very important "agency" of who we are. Boy, don't I know it. I get really frustrated with guys who sit impotent claiming they can't fix things or work on the car, or the house, or whatever. I take everything apart to see if I can fix it before I decide to buy something new. I don't always do a perfect job, many times (every time?) a professional would do a much better job, but I believe it is worthwhile to my self-image for me to try. Plus it saves money. Although, I will admit, I've pretty much given up on plumbing. I say that, but just this week I replaced the dishwasher (after taking the old one apart) and the kitchen faucet (after taking the old one apart) and neither one leaked! On the dishwasher, the circuit board was bad after 5 years of 2 or 3 loads a day, and the thing never worked well anyway. You get what you pay for. The faucet leaked from the factory seal where the pipe goes into the unit and the new one was given to me by someone who got a fancier one given to him.

The original article is "Shop Class as Soulcraft" by Matthew B. Crawford. Here is an interview with Matthew Crawford in PDF. Starts on page 8. Both are very good. If you want a short intro to the idea, read the interview. The New Atlantis essay is long. I would say this should be required reading for all young men and those training boys to be men.


Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools, Parents, Parenting, Manual Labor, Home School, Homeschooling,

Vacation Part II

Jamestown
Jamestown is a great place to visit. If you are a homeschooler, your family can get in part of it free. There are two parts of Jamestown, the National Parks Service side, which is the original location, and a part run by the Jamestowne/Yorktown group. The NPS side is free to school groups and homeschools. Check the guidelines on the website. Basically you have to write a letter stating who you are, and how many you have. As a side note, when we went, the guy who takes the money or letters didn’t seem to want to give us the map or pamphlet that he had just given the cash paying man in front of me. I guess you can come with your own information, but we didn’t haul our books and website printouts with us from Kansas to Virginia. Besides, we wanted some keepsakes in addition to the information.

The NPS park has a live archeological dig going on, and a museum with a lot the stuff they discovered, including some skeletons. Other than that, they have a few cannon, some statues, and the church, but mostly it’s just “this is where they really were.”

The other side of Jamestown is right next to the NPS site. It has recreations of the Jamestown fort, a Powhattan village, and the three ships that brought over the original settlers; The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. You will not believe how small the ships are. Though, as one of the “actors” said when my kids said something about the diminutive ships, “The Titanic sunk.” The Indian village was pretty cool. Out here all we ever see are teepees, so to see more permanent structures of wood and skin was pretty cool.

In the fort, by boys were mostly impressed with the armory, where all the weapons were kept; pikes, swords, shields, and of course, matchlock guns (don’t call them rifles). There was armor just inside the gate that kids could put on, and every child did.

Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. was really something. We only had one day there (I know, bad planning, we thought we would have two, still not enough), and tried to see the monuments. When I talked to people before we went, they kept saying “You have to see suchandsuch, it’s right off the Mall.” I couldn’t see how everything could be “right off the Mall.” Now that I’ve been there, I know how. The Mall is HUGE. Don’t think you are going to walk it with small kids. And the Jefferson Memorial is way off to the side. About one hour walking with kids. That’s just for the Jefferson and the FDR memorials. It was beautiful however. The whole mall area is. I couldn’t even feel the corruption in the air. There were lots of people jogging. I mean lots. They were everywhere, all day long. It was amazing.

Jamestown part 2

How do some people post every day? I had this great plan for a three-part series on our trip to Virginia and Washington D.C., but here it is, one month later, and I haven't even got part two written yet. Here are some pictures. Hope this works.


Slideshow: Click on the picture to be taken to photo album.


Monticello, Virginia


A photo album:

by poncho58


Another slide show: Which way do you prefer?


Wahington D.C.

Tags:
Virginia, Monticello, Jamestown, Washington, D.C.

Families going on Vacation

We took our tax return this year and spent it on our first real family vacation. A good friend from high school and college lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, and a cousin lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. We went to Monticello, Jamestown, and Washington, D.C. I’m going to post several tips for families planning a trip.

We rented a minivan. Our 10 year old van has a few problems for such a long trip (Kansas to the East Coast – about 20 hours each way). We couldn’t get an affordable price locally, so we had to pick one up at the Kansas City International Airport. This was a few hours out of our way, but near the In-laws, so we could drop-off our van and not pay the airport fees, and they fed us lunch. TIP The best price we could get was through http://www.hotwire.com/. They sent us to Hertz. I’m not sure why Hertz didn’t give us the same or better deal themselves without the middleman, but there you have it. We will NEVER rent from Enterprise. They ripped off a friend of ours so badly, even the cynic I am, I was amazed. I don’t know if it was just the Joplin, MO store, or if it’s company wide, but they will NEVER get my business. I should blog about it sometime. If there was a chance Hotwire would send us to Enterprise, we wouldn’t use them either. One note about Hotwire, they only have locations in very large cities. More on the minivan later. It was great.

We planned on spending the night in Frankfort, Kentucky. That seemed about halfway. Daniel Boone’s grave is there. We booked for two adults and 4 children. When we got to the hotel (really a motel) there were only two beds in the room. So I had to go ask for a cot and get all that straightened out. The gal was very friendly and helpful, but she told me it was best to call the hotel directly to make reservations. This is good for two reasons. One, things are more likely to be done right, and two, the full amount goes to the local hotel and part of it is not siphoned off to some conglomerate somewhere else. TIP So search the internet to find the best price, then find the phone number of the local hotel that you want and talk to them directly.

Also, because I stay in hotels once a year or so for conferences, I am member of something called Trip Rewards. This is because, at one hotel, the person said “If you join today you can save 10% on your room.” So I said “OK,” figuring I would never use it again. It works at Days Inn, Ramada, Super 8, and several other hotels as well as airlines and travel things. I forgot about it for a while and probably could have used it when I flew for the first time in 20 years last year. As you use your membership, you add up points that you can eventually redeem for a free (romantic?) night stay in a hotel, free CDs, charitable donations, etc. It’s going to take us forever before we have enough points to amount to anything, but so what? It doesn’t cost anything to join, all I have to do is give my Trip Rewards number when making a reservation. I don’t think you can use Trip Rewards if you use Hotwire, so we couldn’t use it for the van rental.


Tags:
Vacation, Travel,

Carnival of Family Life

We are in the new Carnival Of Family Life.

Tags:
Carnival of Family Life, Parents, Parenting,

Lost Sheep and Answered Prayer

This is something my wife wrote and sent out in an email.

Hello!

Over a month ago we lost Mr. Ellie, Seth's favorite, beloved stuffed elephant who is 'well-loved,' and VERY 'real.' (If you've ever read the Velveteen Rabbit, you'll know what I mean by 'real,' loved so much and so heartily you are not so good looking any more.) Seth has been very sad about this and has refused to sleep with a replacement animal.

Yesterday we were reading the Bible story about Jesus going after the one lost sheep and that brought to mind Mr. Ellie. We talked about how sad we were that he was lost and how we had looked everywhere we could think of but still hadn't been able to find him. Tears welled up in Seth and Isaac's eyes. Then it occurred to me to ask him if he had prayed to find the elephant. (I wonder where that thought came from? Ha!)

He said he had not and I told him, "Why don't we pray now that the God who loves to find the lost would help us." So we did. They could not pray because they were choked up so I prayed for us all.

A little while later, it occurred to me to look in our bin that holds coats, hats, etc. that we were getting ready to put away, wondering if he might have been thrown in there by mistake. (I wonder where that thought came from? Ha!) I had no natural reason to look there.

Well I forgot to look right away...

So later, when I was talking to Robert, the thought came to me again to look in the bin. (I wonder where that thought came from? Ha!) So I started emptying it out and lo and behold, THERE WAS MR. ELLIE!!! You should have seen me. I was ecstatic! Such a tender and obvious answer to our prayer.

When Seth saw that elephant, JOY was written all over his face. He hugged that elephant like he would NEVER let it go again. Tears were in his eyes (and would be off and on for quite awhile). We talked about, with much praise and rejoicing, how Jesus had helped us to find our 'lost sheep,' just like the Bible story that morning. I know this memory will imprint that story and the Lord's love for us and the lost indelibly on my mind. (And I pray that it will also be stored in the hearts of my 2 small children who witnessed this answer to prayer.) That He cares enough to help us find a lost stuffed elephant speaks volumes since, in the eternal scheme of things, stuffed animals are low in priority I would imagine!

So I send out this story as an offering of praise to a wonderful Holy God who cares about the minute details of my life and my family's lives. To the God Who cared enough to send His only Son, Jesus, to die for sins of all (including mine) so the lost could be saved if they would believe in Him! Thank Father and Jesus for the sacrifice You made on our behalf.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved!" John 3:16-17

May God treat you as tenderly today as He treats me!
Love,
L

Tags:
Prayer, Parenting