postaday – Page 8 – Home's Cool!

Meet a New Coffee-Loving Friend Today

Posted on October 24, 2012October 24, 2012 by Katharine

Just met a new blogger, a young missionary in Czech Republic. So far, what he has written is great reading. Thought you’d enjoy taking a peek and wishing him well. Here he is:

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Divine Addiction

I don’t think it’s a very big secret that I love coffee.

Like for real, I have a serious love affair with caffeinated beverages, hot or cold. Whenever I go into a coffee shop, I have a routine.

I myself am a barista, so I already know the best way to prepare these beverages, but I must decide what the flavor combination will be, so I stare at the board, pretending to make a decision based off of what I see there, but what I am really doing is having a discussion with my taste buds and trying to negotiate a compromise between their opposing demands.

Finally, when we all come to a conclusion, I then scan the pastries to decide what would best go with that drink. (The pastries I see may or may not affect the treaty that my taste buds and I have signed.) Once that has all happened, I lay this request at the mercy of the barista behind the register, pay for my order (including a tip; if you want a good drink, you MUST tip) and then find the place that I want to hunker down and celebrate this magnificent creation I am about to receive.

Crazy, right?

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Okay, friends, GO HERE to read the rest of this great post all the way from Czech Republic. You’ll like it, I think.

Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Scripture

Get Grace

Posted on October 23, 2012October 23, 2012 by Katharine

You hear them all the time: people who have fantasies about what they wish God would be like, making up definitions of Bible stuff.

Some of these people have actually read the Bible.

Some have attended church and heard a preacher who decided to redefine something to fit his message, and because of that, think they understand it.

Beware: It will never stop

Grace is not mercy. Mercy is when a judge feels sorry for you or thinks it would be more improvement for society for you not to go to jail; you don’t get what you deserved.

Now, Christians don’t get what we deserve. That is true. But that is not grace. It is mercy. Mercy and grace are not the same things.

Or, why would Paul pray that “grace, mercy, and peace be unto you”?

Paul had too much to say to waste parchment by being redundant.

Still, because we do not grasp what in the world grace is, some of us assign it the definition that belongs to mercy.

So, since we do get mercy, anyway, and we tell folks we get mercy, what is wrong?

What is wrong is that we rob them of also getting grace.

That’s what.

We rob them of the only way to walk with the Lord in the Light of His Word.

Serious stuff.

Life altering stuff.

The essence of actual life.

As opposed to the fabricated life, the fake life, the hypocritical life.

Grace.

You need it.

God provided that you can get it.

And the clueless can keep you away from it.

And they don’t even know that about themselves.

Grace is the power of God doing things in you.

Grace is the power of God doing things with you.

Grace is the power of God doing things for you.

Grace is the power of God doing things through you.

“Stand in His strength alone.
The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own.”

Grace is that strength.

Get that strength.

Go boldly to the Throne of Grace and get grace to help you in your time of need. (See Hebrews 4:16)

Like when someone refuses to get off your case, you can be kind to them, anyway.

Or when someone takes away your things, you can offer them even more.

Or when you are so tired you can hardly move, you can keep moving.

Strength.

God’s strength.

Working in, with, through, and for you.

Out of His great mercy, He does not destroy us.

But He offers to do our doing FOR us, to live IN us, to walk this life WITH us, to work THROUGH us.

Oh, and it’s a gift.

You just have to ask.

Get that grace.

Health, Home School, Inspiring, Wisdom

Did You Learn to Swim in a Sewer?

Posted on October 16, 2012October 16, 2012 by Katharine

They say life out there is sink or swim.

They say we learn to socialize by socializing. You know — make enough social errors and you’ll learn, eventually.

What if our children are, instead, just learning to like the smell of sewage?

Or that it is good?

I never could get used to it.

People kept splashing sewage all over me.

Told me I was too sensitive.

Sighs.

I kinda wish more were. How about you?

Anyway, I found a Stream of Water that is Alive and cordoned off the section of sewer where it was entering, for my children to learn to swim.

Also gave them swimming lessons, instead of just throwing them in and hoping.

Made more sense to me.

How about you?

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photo credit: Wikipedia

Believe it or not!, Health, Home School, Wisdom

A Note to All Bullied Kids

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Katharine

Suicide is not a good answer.

But home schooling is.

Work for a right to homeschool for all children.

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photo credit:

Wikipedia

Health, Home School, Wisdom

Who Should Home School?

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Katharine

: Physical bullying at school, as depicted in the film Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Are you on this list?

Those who think ketchup is not a vegetable
Those who think ketchup is a vegetable
Those who know what bullying feels like
Those who don’t know what bullying feels like.
Those who know there is always free cheese in a mousetrap
Those who care about their children
Those whose conscience is bothering them about lack of school choice
Those whose minds are not concrete (mixed up and permanently set)
Those whose children need to pray before an algebra test
Those who have good horse sense and want their children to have it, too
Those who know the best way to get a life worth living is to make it that way
Those who want to guide their children’s experiences
Those whose hearts are telling them things their minds are not sure about
Those who realize little ones do not learn by the clock.
Those who long for a simpler life
Those who want everything green for their kids
Those whose children have roach allergies
Those whose children stay sick all during the school year
Those who are at home
Those who must travel all the time

You don’t have to cry over spilled milk if you own the cow.

To stop bullying, start with YOU! (highvoltagehealth.com)
Jesse Ferreras: The One Thing I Know Bullies Cannot Take Away (huffingtonpost.ca)
Bullied Teen Bullied on Camera While Talking About Being Bullied (bilerico.com)
Parents protest bullying at Glendale elementary school (azfamily.com)

Pencils need erasers like I need the Lord.

Inspiring, Wisdom

I’m a very good pencil.

Posted on October 8, 2012July 9, 2018 by Katharine

A pencil is only as good as its eraser, otherwise it might as well be a pen. —S. W. Orren

A pencil does stuff like I do.

It creates things—me too.

It can communicate deep thoughts—so deep I’d drown without a pencil.

It can keep track of all needed groceries—which actually is more than I can do.

It sometimes even tells jokes.

A pencil often works best when it is sharp, as do I.

A sharp pencil can do math and keep track of appointments.

Yet the most beloved pencil often is the soft kind that yields to slight pressure to produce a better work. This type seldom is really sharp, but no one really cares.

I’m hoping my soft answers make up for my lack of sharpness . . .

A pencil can make mistakes. The lead can break. It can form letters wrong. It can misplace a few jots and tittles. Mostly, though, the pencil is a very good study partner.

The pen:

Pens also can make mistakes. The ink can blob. The ink can run dry. The ink can smear. The ink can drip. The ink seems to be the main trouble with a pen.

Yet what good is a pen without ink?

About as good as a pencil without lead.

Ah, but enter the eraser!

This wonderful remover of the past, this delete button for the pencil, is most recognized for its worth during times of trouble.

In fact, having an eraser can make me, as a pencil, less prone to mistakes—more relaxed, I guess.

I have a very good Eraser. My Eraser can fix anything. My Eraser makes all things new—a very present help in trouble.

And I am very glad.

But how about you? Do you make mistakes? Do you cringe when I ask? Do you wish you could get rid of the past? It’s a simple walk to a stationery store for a decent eraser, you know. The Eraser of all life mistakes is a simple contact, too. Best thing is He wants to be yours. He longs to be in your life, so much so, that He comes running to meet you more than half-way. Your pain is killing Him, especially because He could fix it. Really. He won’t be shocked at your life—He’s been watching it since before you were born.

Get yourself this Good Eraser.

He will change the past and even the future.

You will never be sorry.

Home School, Inspiring, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom

No Marshmallow Answers Here.

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Katharine

We were homeschoolers when homeschool wasn’t cool.

We started with no support because there was no such thing as a homeschool support group. At about the same time, Home School Legal Defense Association started. They and we did not know about each other, so we also had no legal support.

Internet was only a child, then, and had not maximized its potential to help homeschoolers. Computers had no practical applications in home schools.

All, all the curriculum available to us was published for collective institutions and often, publishers refused to sell to home educators.

Back in these very good, old days, only the driven, committed, principled, loyal, persevering, stubborn, maverick, determined, motivated, obsessed, dedicated, devoted, steadfast, unswerving, faithful, home educating parents survived. We had somewhat of a reputation for being a pain, especially among status-quo legislators. Many of us could relate to the Washington/Jefferson/Adams triumvirate, always questioned by those around us and always questioning ourselves, testing ourselves, proving ourselves. Always hunted and attacked by the government that claimed to protect us. Always in semi-hiding. Always ready with an escape plan. Always losing money on this project. Always making do with do-by-self.

We faced obstacles, penalties, hindrances, impediments, barriers, hurdles, deterrents, limitations, and interference.

We were hated. We were arrested.

I guess it’s the American way.

Now that home educating is the bright star it has become, and we have retired, after a quarter century of it, people want our opinions:

What curriculum do I think is best? Pick one you like and get busy.
What is my child’s learning style? Lazy and stubborn. What about yours?
Do I homeschool during summer? All parents homeschool at all times.
Do I think you’re harming your child? Probably, but better you, than someone who doesn’t care enough to ask.
What do I do about socialization? I talk to my child; I teach my child; I read to my child; I produce siblings for him; I take him to church.
What about computers? Teach your children to read well, spell correctly, write legibly, and type accurately, and to love English, in that order, before even thinking about computers. Then, no computers allowed until high school and no Internet until the last half of the senior year.

Does all that sound harsh to you? Does it sound grumpy? You will not get a marshmallow answer from a homeschool-callused person. We did not plant our homeschool garden with a tractor, but with a shovel and a hoe. We did not have curriculum choice unless we wrote the curriculum, which we did.

I beg you, for your own and your children’s sakes: Pick one you like and get busy.

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