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Redeeming the Time

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By Ashley Vaughan

Thanksgiving is over (though who else has turkey leftovers still?) and the Christmas season is knocking on our door. It’s a wonderful time of year. But let’s face it, with all of the parties, concerts, shopping, Christmas card writing, family get-togethers, and more, we often feel like this…

And in the hubbub and uproar of a season that can include the equivalent of 60 hour work weeks, it can be easy to miss the reason for the season.

What if, before sailing full steam ahead into a flurry of activities, we took a moment (or several) to take a step back and evaluate our traditional busy-ness? And also ask ourselves, are we passing on to our kids the materialistic values of our godless society? Or are we intentionally laying a foundation in their hearts of a God-centered view of this time of year?

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Captured by the Cowpoke

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By guest author Brandee Gillham

As my cowboy and I are working on transitioning our life to having four boys in our band of cowpokes I found myself under attack. I was trapped by the toddler. Our third son is about as rough and wooly as they get. His older brothers have toughened him up very quickly and he is a child we will have to put a tight set of reins on to control his eager spirit (figuratively speaking, of course).

I was in town the other day with my two littlest ‘pokes. The baby needed to eat so I scooted to the back seat, vented the windows and let the toddler out of his car seat. This was my first mistake. Always keep the toddler restrained when you are trapped in a vehicle with him!

The lil’ ‘poke sweetly mentioned crawling up to the front seat. I sincerely tried to discourage him, but I was in no position to resist his movement. Off he went and unfortunately he found the car keys while unloading and scattering the contents of my purse. This lil’ fella is pretty smart and managed to put the keys in the ignition. Still being trapped in the back while feeding the baby I simply tried to discourage the toddler from starting the car. He was able to turn it on accessory and that’s when the party started.

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Slacking in Follow Through

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By guest author Suzanne Wales

Raise your hand if you have made a parenting mistake in your homeschool. My hand is up too. Thankfully, we serve a loving, gracious God who can turn our failures into beautiful opportunities for redemption. 

It had been two weeks since I’d followed up. This has happened more times than I care to admit in the last sixteen years of homeschooling. I allowed my own business to become a priority over following up on my children’s education. Independence is important, but it does not mean we leave our children to their own devices, nor should we neglect accountability. This last time, however, my spouse brought to my attention that I seemed overly busy with my own affairs, and he believed our children needed help and accountability. As I pondered his words, I renewed my pledge to follow up just after finishing my project, which, by the way, was to last a few more days.

I know you can see what was going on, but I was blind to the fact I was still putting myself first. There was a lot of “I and me,” and very little “one-anothering” going on by me inside the four walls of our home. Thankfully God in His kindness does not allow us as His children to remain in our current state. He opened my eyes to the example I was setting when I observed one of my children dismissing an opportunity to help a sibling who asked for help with a chore that was too difficult to be handled alone by one so small. It did not hit me right away that this was my lesson. I called out the child at fault for dismissing an opportunity to help in lieu of continuing on with what they wanted to do, but what happened next was painful, humbling, and life giving all at once.

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Instilling a Love of Learning

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By Ashley Vaughan

Who wouldn’t want an easy, stress-free homeschooling experience? One where the students wake up every morning, eagerly get dressed and rush downstairs, and sit in their chairs without fussing, just begging for you to share some new tidbits of knowledge and expand their world in grand and marvelous ways.

Sounds like a pipe dream, huh?

While it’s true that a perfect homeschooling experience doesn’t exist — every family has days where getting anything done is harder than pulling teeth — there are some things we can do to help smooth the path of learning.

One of these ways of smoothing the path is by instilling a love of learning in your children.

You’ve probably heard this rather unhelpful, vague statement in the past. And if you’re anything like me, you’re tempted to think, “Great! But *how* do you do that? What does that look like on a Tuesday morning?” Don’t worry. My goal is to give you something practical to try at home.

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4 Ways to Pass on a Love for Freedom in Your Daily Family Life

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By Julianna Duerksen

For the past six months, my husband and I have been on a D-Day kick. We’ve watched documentaries, read first-hand accounts, and listened to countless podcasts interviewing the men who landed on the beaches. The men are as varied as the stories they tell — some were clueless, having no idea where they were or what was going on the entire time. Others, in equally disjointing circumstances, rose to the occasion as leaders and heroes. Some are gentlemen, others crass, as only the army can make one. Some were believers, many definitely were not. 

But throughout the various accounts of crisis and heroism, one theme clearly emerges. Each hero of that “greatest generation” understood the cost of freedom. And they were more than willing to pay for it. These were men who didn’t wait to get drafted. They were the first to enlist (even if that took some finagling with age or weight to get in!). They grew up in an age in America when duty to God, family, and country was deeply impressed upon them. 

Two generations later, we’ve grown lax. As a society, we nod to their sacrifice on Veteran’s Day while forgetting that freedom requires sacrifice of every generation. It’s not a once and done deal. 

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