Line Upon Line Precept Upon Precept

A repost from last Summer.

I was taking pictures of my children yesterday at the park.  Annie wanted me to show her walking over the platforms.  As I was snapping away it reminded me of the verse above.  As I pondered the whole learning process I came up with a few thoughts...and of course I had to share them with you!

Liberty will be two in October.  She has such a determined spirit about her.  Sometimes determined to go the wrong way, but nonetheless.  She can feed herself, walk, talk, communicate with her brothers and sisters, play games, ride a tricycle, throw a ball...you get the idea.

We didn't buy any crazy, expensive curriculum.  There weren't any online courses or tutors.  She just learned.  As most children do.  It can be easy to complicate things.

Life is full of irony. We send a child to school where they learn order, how to follow and submit, and maybe some letters and colors...oh that's right...I forgot...to go to Kindergarten the parent has to teach their children a long list of things before they could go.  Hmmm...so what is the point of Kindergarten? And if you taught them all this stuff, why do you feel unqualified to keep going?  Sorry, I got off on a rabbit trail...

But, when that same child gets older we have to teach them to become independent thinkers that have a love for learning.

Guess what?  They had both before we stripped it from them.  Have you ever answered the question "Why?" 8,000 times between your house and the store?

Here is an example:  Companies strip our food of necessary nutrients, and then replace them with fake ones, which they expect to react like the natural ones.  If they would have left the food alone, it was already there to begin with.  Following my strange logic here?

What I am trying to say is that God put into our children a natural ability to learn.  Children grasp things so quickly, not because we are using the best curriculum, but because God designed them that way.

Yes, children have different aptitudes; some are good at math, some aren't, for example.  God created each of us as individuals, with unique talents, likes, dislikes, gifts...let's encourage our children to learn those things which will benefit them for life.  Not wasting our time teaching them things for some test that will have no relevance to their life, and that they will forget 20 minutes after the test.  Yes, there are things they must know.  But, I think you know what I am talking about.

Godly character, a work ethic, love for one other.  We are preparing them to be wives, husbands, fathers, mothers....

The majority of our daughters are going to be wives and mothers.  Why do we as a society put such an emphasis on making sure that our daughters are prepared for their career, but miss the training to be a Godly wife and mother?  We are setting them up for failure.

Line upon line.  Precept upon precept... Simplicity.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs and the author, who has 15 children, was sharing a few words of wisdom.  I thought I would share them with you.  To read the whole article click here.

And so I would like to offer some simple suggestions for those with many children up to age seven:

• Don't be afraid. You taught your child how to walk and talk, and reading isn't that complicated. Take the pressure off and you will do much better.

• Have these supplies on hand: Paper, scissors, glue, crayons, a cheap watercolor set (these items will cost you less than ten dollars during the "back to school" sales), some home-made salt dough, some picture books from the library or thrift store and a good set of phonics flash cards and number cards.

• Invest in a child gate. This is good to keep the kids "corralled" so that the mess they make is localized, instead of letting them have free reign over the whole house so that you never feel as though you can get anything accomplished!

• Keep food simple. We used to eat just two different breakfasts and lunches every day. The kids never got tired of them--and I always knew what to fix!

• Have a stash of snacks for yourself. I learned this after I went through a time of being about 10lbs underweight. I would feed the kids and then forget to eat!

• A good book to have on hand that will teach you how to teach reading is Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. My kids usually get tired of this book by lesson 50, but it lays a great foundation for more advanced reading.

• The outward-focused life is for another season.

• Have paper, pencils and crayons always available, with parameters set up to prevent waste. One way I have done this is to tear my sheets of paper into quarters, and in this way if they make one scribble and decide to move on, the whole sheet is not wasted.

• Save the messier supplies for "special" times. This preserves you and your house.

• Have daily "quiet time" after lunch and clean up--do this for your marriage as well as your own health.

• Keep media to a minimum. I don't allow computer time to children this age at all. Television (they don't watch cable or networks) is only for special times.

• Read aloud daily, if at all possible. Even if it is the same book over and over. I think I have Green Eggs and Ham memorized almost completely.

• Answering questions is about the best thing you can do. You are the walking book that a child refers to whenever he is puzzled. Count it as a privilege!

• Use the necessary errands of life as learning experiences. Tell them stories about your childhood and God and sing together in the car. Teach them how to behave in public. Explain things to them as you are doing them so that they will feel included and important to you.

• Teach them how to tie, whistle, blow bubbles, hopscotch, ride a bike, fold a towel. These are both fun and inexpensive activities and help them to develop the fine motor skills necessary for all the other stuff.

If you just live and love your child, he will gain a much better education than he could ever receive during these years in some institutional setting or with some formal curriculum at home.  It's not "parental perfection" but loving response that is key here.

This is a re-post from a few years ago.  If you found it helpful, please consider connecting with me on
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Making Room For Margin Everyday

While reading one of my favorite blogs a few years ago, she addressed the importance of margin in our lives. Here is a short excerpt from that post. 

"Our family needs a lot of margin. Like margin on a page of a book~ we need blank space in our lives.

Have you ever purchased a book with little to no margin? I have. It was an old reprint that was taken from the original with no editing to its format. I never realized before how important margin could be.
It was impossible for me to enjoy reading the book~ even though I am sure the content was wonderful. It was just too stressful.

So it is in life.  It means that I have to say "no" to certain things. 

Because our family doesn't run well without margin, when things get busy I work at planning margin into our schedule.

HOW I KNOW WHEN I NEED MORE MARGIN:

#1 When I am feeling overwhelmed

#2 When I am neglecting some training area with my children

#3 When I am not connecting with my children

#4 When I don't have the time to do the things I know I need to do~ read the Word, exercise, laundry etc.

#5 When I don't see my children acting in love towards one another

That is when I STOP. I hit the brakes and re-prioritize. Are you there right now? I am. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and wanting time to look into the sweet faces of my children.

There are so many good things in life, but not all things are helpful for us in this season. There are only so many things that God and our husbands actually call us to.

I think of 1 Corinthians 6:12: "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything."

We have the liberty to do many things. And we will be given the opportunity to do many good things. But not all of those good things will be profitable for our family at the time in which they are offered.

We only have one chance to lead these little hearts home."

To read her full post click here.

I read this article and it really hit home with me.  At the time my husband worked a full time job, was a part time assistant pastor at our church, very involved in local politics; including being on City Council.  We have 7 children, we homeschool, they are music lessons and sign language lessons, volunteering at the library...OK I'm tired just typing. I have no doubt that your list would be just as busy.

I love the word: margin 

It gives us pause, time to reflect, time to do nothing.

But, where is the margin? The free time?

Like Rebecca says above, we have to make it.  Aside from work responsibilities, we control our calendars.

It is hard for me to see things in small chunks.  My brain gets things wrapped up in a huge ball that I can't seem to unravel.  If we can learn to say No to some of our everyday activities, we can gain back some much needed "margin."

Instead of throwing in the towel, prioritize.  Do I really need to go to the store today?  Can the mall wait? Is another play date essential?  Do you really need to play another sport?  Another youth group activity this weekend?

Life is made up of decisions.  One at a time.  Figure out what is best for your family, and sometimes, probably more than not,  the things we feel we have to do...we really don't.

As we get ready to move to Cleveland I am looking forward to be able to make our own margins... recreate them the way that is best for our family.  

Join me on the journey to freedom.... find the much needed margin in your life.

A Day Of The Week For Everything

There is something so rhythmical about planning our days.  Knowing what is going to happen, and when.  It can give a peace to you, your husband and children.  

I remember talking to my Grandma about the way things were when she was young.  The routines were always the same.  

She knew that Saturday, for example, was baking day for them.  They would be baking for the week to come, and also getting ready for Sunday.  This was a day of rest for them, and they didn't cook on this day.

Just the word 'schedule' can make many people nervous.  As soon as we put something in writing to follow...well, it seems that we go backwards.  Things get worse than they were before.  

But, if we can implement a simple plan.  Nothing overwhelming.  Having a plan, no matter how simple, can bring blessings to our home.  By having a day of the week devoted to our various tasks, we can gain some much needed peace.

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.  Psalm 90:12

For a few years now my weekly schedule has looked like this:

Monday- Laundry

With 9 people in our house the laundry piles can add up fast.  After the weekend the piles are really large.  I use Monday to tame the beast.  I still do laundry the rest of the week, but only about 3 loads a day.

Tuesday- Ironing, Clothes Put Away

Wednesday- Office Day: bills, paperwork, homeschool filing, homeschool meeting with each school age child

Thursday- Errands, Music Lessons, Outdoor Nature Study

Friday- General House Cleaning,  Family Movie Night

Saturday- Outside Day, Extra Projects, Prepare for Sunday

Sunday- Church Day

This is not a hard and fast schedule.  There are days when I have to run errands on Tuesday, too.   Or music lessons were rescheduled for a different day.  But, generally our weeks keep the same rhythm.  I know that if I don't get the homeschooling filing done on Wednesday, I can do it next Wednesday.  No stress.  I know that it will get done, and I am not trying to add something to the next days work. And I don't go to bed at night feeling like a failure.

Simple.  Easy to follow.  Room for adjustments.  This is doable.

Sit down with a piece of paper and a pen.  (yes, they still make those)  Write down all the tasks that need to be done in any given week.  For you, your husband, your children, and anything else you are responsible for.  

Can you group those tasks?  List them under the day of the week that works best for you.  Put like, with like.  If possible, reschedule meetings or practices for the same day.  If our days are always spent away from home running here and there, we won't find that rhythm.  If you work outside the home, than that's a different matter.  But, the basic principles can still apply.

We all have about a million things to do in any given week.  Let's make sure that we are the ones in charge, not our To Do List!  As moms we need to run our castle, like the Queens that we are.  We are the CEO of our homes.  I'm not talking about the spiritual leader, but as moms and wives we keep the wheels spinning.

Embrace it.  Make it work for you.  Get your kids involved.  Summer is a great time to try out new routines.  Give each child a weekly schedule, too.  Add in chores, free time, practices, etc.  When Fall rolls around your home will be humming along.

A day of the week for everything.  We only get one life to live, let's live it to the fullest.  We only get so many days with our children at home.  Let's not waste them on stress and disorganization.

It's not about winning the battle, but successfully, and purposefully winning the war.