Eye Preloader

Month: January 2008

Your Turn!

Cuppa

Those who know me well know that I’m always curious. Curious about anything and everything. One of my most frequently used words is the word, ‘why’. After that would be the words, where, when, what and how. 😉 So in keeping with my nature, I’m going to ask a few questions over the coming weeks so all those people who lurk (and lurking is okay. We all do it at some time and place) and those who don’t, can come forward and tell a little about themselves. Ready? Let’s start with an easy one.

When and where do you blog?

Tell of your own blogging habits- frequent, infrequent, irregular, frequently irregular, etc 😀 How long have you been blogging? Why do you blog? What do you blog about? If you don’t yet blog, tell why not. What’s your favourite aspect of blogging? What is your least favourite aspect of blogging? Leave a comment and provide your URL so others can visit.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Excuse my house!

 

 

Excuse This House
Author: Unknown

 

Some houses try to hide the fact
That children shelter there,
Ours boasts it quite openly,
The signs are everywhere.

 

For smears are on the windows,
Little smudges are on the doors
I should apologize, I guess
For toys strew on the floor.

 

But I sat down with my child
And we played and laughed and read
And if the doorbell doesn’t shine,
His eyes will shine instead.

 

For when at times I’m forced to choose
The one job or the other,
I’d like to cook and clean and scrub,
But first I’ll be a mother.

Don’t Neglect This Important Test

Paranoid teens? Hormonal headaches? Losing interest in things?

Maybe.

But maybe they just need their eyes tested!

A few years ago, one of my daughters would often ask John and I, “What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Our response would be along the lines of, “You’re our beautiful daughter. Of course we look at you!”

But she often thought we were giving her a dirty look and would often respond accordingly. ~sigh~ We weren’t of course, but she couldn’t see us clearly and couldn’t make out the look on our faces. When we would watch a family movie, she often lost interest and would go to bed and read, despite her love for movies. She complained frequently of headaches. So off to the optometrist we went. Not just any optometrist though. I searched for a behavioural optometrist that works with children. Well, as it all turned out the poor lass did need glasses and quite strong ones at that. My darling daughter couldn’t believe how much clearer the world was when wearing the glasses. She is no longer paranoid and thinking we are ‘looking’ at her angrily. She can see our facial expressions quite clearly now. The headaches have also gone. Praise the Lord!

Just a few months ago, I noticed that our older daughter, the athlete, was squinting to see the catcher. She couldn’t see the signals. Her solid fielding of grounders dropped also. Off we went for a check-up. Lo and behold she needed glasses too! She also has contact lenses for playing sport. She is still totally amazed at how clear the world is. She says that she ‘missed out’ on seeing so much as it just wasn’t clear! If she wasn’t playing sport I probably wouldn’t have picked it up and taken her to be checked over. Many children get their eyes tested after a recommendation from a school teacher. Sometimes the children can’t see the blackboard. As homeschooler’s we don’t sit at the back of the class and read from the blackboard (which is a good thing!) but that also means that we may not pick up on a problem quite as quickly as if they were in school. It’s easier for the child to naturally compensate for blurry vision by moving closer or adjusting their position.

Whenever I go to the optometrist they get me to look through a lens to show me what each child sees. Wow! I couldn’t believe how poor the vision of my girls was. No wonder Bek thought we were giving her dirty looks. No wonder she couldn’t be bothered to watch a movie- she couldn’t see it! No wonder ‘Miss A’ couldn’t see the catcher’s signals- all she could see was the outline of the catcher, let alone their fingers! But the girls also didn’t realise their vision was so bad. As with many things that creep into our lives it happened slowly, little bit by little bit so it went unnoticed.

Please, listen and watch your children closely. Take them for a check up. It won’t hurt and you might be glad you did.

What Sort of Poster Are You?

What sort of blog poster are you?

  • Maybe you’re an Invisible Poster? Do you ever post a deep & meaningful post which took awhile and you got no response?
  • Waffle Poster – you rabbit on and on and forget what your point in posting was?
  • Apologetic Poster – do you often find yourself apologising for possibly offending others?
  • A Trivial Poster – do you post heaps of info but never anything original?

So, what type of blog poster are you? What do you post about?

Heart of the Matter Online Magazine

THOM Magazine


There’s a new blog in the blogosphere! So what? There’s new blogs every day I hear one say. True but this one is a little different. It is called Heart of the Matter and its purpose is to is to provide a place for homeschooling parents to find all of the resources they desire in one convenient location. It is written by Christian women but there is much value here even for the secular homeschooler. There are approximately 18 monthly colums written by various homeschool mothers, on a wide variety of themes. The website is clean, bright and easy to navigate.

There is a column down the ride hand side so that you can search by keywords or you can view particular writers columns or you can view the online magazine as it is released each month. I encourage you to head over to Heart of the Matter and have a look.

Why I Don't Make New Year Resolutions

I don’t make New Year resolutions! Years ago, after many failed resolutions I declared that I would make only one more New Year resolution. That would be that I would never make New Year resolutions! I can report that I have been successful with that resolution.

I have a few friends (yes, only a few) and I think I sometimes get on their nerves with my incessant questioning of everything. To everything I ask the 5W’s and a H (I think that might be a theme for my year). If a friend tells me they’re moving interstate, I ask ‘Why?’. Yet another friend will excitedly share a new curriculum to use with their child and I’ll ask, ‘Why?’. I can’t help myself. I don’t do it deliberately, I promise. I just want to know why. So it was with New Year resolutions. I wanted to know why it was such a common practice. Oh, I used to love that feeling of being able to have a fresh start, a blank slate to begin again with but then I truly realised that every day is a new day. There isn’t anything special or empowering about a New Year resolution or any other goal for that matter. About 3000 years ago, the Ancient Babylonians were in the practice of making a New Year resolution. (There truly is nothing new under the sun eh? 🙄 ) I’m not sure I need to model myself after them!

So, why make a resolution? I guess people practice it because of that clean, fresh start feeling. But I’m reminded time and time again that every day is a new day. I don’t have to wait until next week, next term or next year to work to a goal. I can start tomorrow.

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23

My motivation is the important matter in setting goals or resolutions. If God is at the centre then I’ll have greater chance f success. For God’s sovereign will comes into the picture even as a homeschooling mum! If my goal is in accordance with His will, and His will is what I most desire then He will enable me to fulfill that goal…giving me strength as I work through with (learning) diligence.

I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

While I don’t do New Year resolutions, I do practice goal setting. This can and should be done regularly, at all times of the year. For me, it is about setting a goal – breaking it into manageable, attainable, smaller steps with frequent evaluation and assessment. This just becomes a part of life- a natural part of life. Years ago, I taught ‘Miss A’ about goal setting, within the context of her chosen sport. She took the principles, applied them and achieved success. So much so, that she is now a better and more efficient goal setter than I am, in every aspect of her life! Now, that’s real life learning!

Goal setting steps

  • Firstly, I pray and ask God for wisdom (James 1:5)
  • Then, I’ll pray (again without ceasing) and ask God for practical steps to fulfilling those goals and breaking them into manageable, little bit by little bit, steps.
  • Pro actively set out to attain the manageable steps, setting in place measures whereby I can be accountable, all the while relying on His strength.
  • Thank Him for any success and failure. When I achieve success, be sure to give God the glory and keep an open heart to Him so that I may be humble and not grow in pride. Sure, but what about giving thanks in failure? What? Why give thanks in failing? Oh I am so thankful that our Father has promised to accept all who believe, regardless of their worthiness. John 6:40 I am thankful that when I fail or lose it or don’t achieve my goals, I am thankful that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

I really liked Leonie’s thoughts about motto’s and themes. (Teehee, she does these but not goals! My, how different we all are 😀 ) I would have to agree with her- at least for my life. I have had themes. I remember a few years ago a theme for me was, Bloom Where You Are Planted. It was just after another interstate move that I didn’t want. I spent a good part of the year sulking and complaining, hibernating from everyone. Until I learned that I need to “Bloom Where I am Planted”! That became my catch-cry for the next year- on until the next move interstate. Another year my theme was “Just Do it!“. I had spent years trying to learn and practice a new method of Bible study…after after it all I found the easiest way was to Just Do It! I’ll figure the finer details out once I start doing it. This past year I guess my theme was Fit n 40.

Unlike Leonie though, I don’t really develop my themes in advance. (Bravo to Leonie for being so gung-ho and proactive though. She has more energy than I do.) I’ll have to wait a little while until this year happens to see what my motto or theme will be, although I strongly suspect I have already written of two themes in this post! If you read my blog regularly you’ll probably pick up on it yourself.

Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
Psalm 37:5-6

So what about you? Do you make New Year resolutions? If so, why? Do they work for you? If so, to what do you credit with your success? Maybe you don’t do goals or resolutions- I’d love to hear from you too! Share with me what works for you.

Overview of December's Posts

Each month I’m going to write an overview of all my posts for each month. I’ll post them in the category “Overview of Monthly Posts” I won’t go back and do this for posts in the past, but it’s something I will in the future.I’ll start by listing the posts at the beginning of each month.

Feel free to leave a comment. You can also subscribe to receive email notification of any comments made. Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts!

If you are looking for a previous, you can use the drop down box, located at the top of each post or use the search engine located in the right had side bar. You can also peruse the Article page where many of the posts that I enjoyed writing or have received most comments will be filed. You can find this at the top left hand sidebar, along with the page of Archives that are grouped by months.

Clean house, quiet time and the dratted phone

But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.
1 Corinthians 14:40

Ah, the house is perfectly clean and tidy-everything is organised and in its place. I was able to sit down this morning for 15 minutes with a freshly brewed cup of decaf tea and a good book. Wow, it is an amazing feeling! One that I don’t have very often at all. Firstly I hear you ask, how did my house get so clean and tidy and…this is the biggie for me, a paper hoarder, so organised? Well, it is only ‘Miss A’ and I’m home at the moment. John and the three younger children have gone to South Australia for a holiday and to catch up with family. ‘Miss A’ has a time of intense training session in the lead up to the U/19 National Softball Tournament so she couldn’t go to Adelaide. She also doesn’t have her P’s yet so can’t drive herself so the easiest and best way around it all was for the both of us to stay at home. The first two days of our ‘holiday’ were spent cleaning- and I mean really cleaning, home cleaning is a big deal for me! We wanted to get the house ship-shape and see how clean and tidy it would stay with only the two of us in it, seeing that we both like neatness. we spent yesterday in and out of the house, tending to various appointments. ‘Miss A’ went to work this morning which left me all alone. To have some much desired quiet time. Would you believe I couldn’t quite figure out what to do? 🙄 Should I have some quiet Internet time and write a post? Listen to an audio sermon? Listen to the DVD conference tape? Do the ironing? Read one of my two new books? Ring a friend? I decided to start off by reading for an hour so I brewed a nice hot cuppa and sat down. About 8 minutes into the book and the phone rang! It was a call for ‘Miss A’ so I took the message, called ‘Miss A’ at work and passed on the message. I sat down again, wiggled into my recliner and got comfy, for all of 3 minutes. The phone rang again! It was hubby and the children! Oh, he wanted me to hop on the Internet and run some errands for him online…which took about 1 whole hour. While I was on the phone with him, the landline rang and it was a business call for John, which I managed to liase with John on the other line. Whew, both calls ended but in the meantime I had a message left on the answering machine. So, I called my friend. Then, I sat back down to read. The phone rang again. It was John, my darling husband, again. ❗ Some more online errands. After that I decided to forget the book and anything else as it was now the time that I had penciled in to cook a hot lunch for ‘Miss A’ and I. I thought that by cooking our usual amount of Agnolotti, we’d be able to have it for a few meals. No sooner had I started gathering supplies from the fridge when …you guessed it, the phone rang! This time is was my dear Dad so I spent some time, while cooking lunch, talking to him. I have approximately 30min before I go to get ‘Miss A’ . What do I do with that time? Sit down to write a post. Of course.

After getting my study and home semi organised I’ve had some time to reflect on my own nature. What am I so often disorganised? Does it really make a great difference to my life? In one sense, I’m not totally convinced that being organised really makes a great difference to my life. The upside of my nature is that I can be flexible, adaptable, spontaneous, fun and relaxed. But there is a downside- I can’t find important papers when I need them…can’t remember what groceries we need, where I put things or important dates…the list goes on. 😕

When we were first married and BC (Before Children), my home was very ordered. I lined up herbs and spices in alphabetical order! I ironed tea towels and pillow slips. I vacuumed daily, even though it was quite unnecessary. I can tend to have perfectionist tendencies. But as time went by, and more children graced the halls of our home, the organisational side of me went walkabout. I think, I hope, I’m starting to find her again. Occasionally she peeps out in times like this. Times when I have five minutes to breathe and tackle the house with no children or husband in it. (Mind you, it’s a very quiet and lonely house right now too). One of the downsides ofhaving perfectionist tendencies is that I used to think if a job was worth doing, it’s worth doing well. Right? I mean, lots of good books tell us that eh? But for me it means that if I don’t have time to do it completely or 100% then I won’t do it at all, until I can do it 100%. Subsequently, many things get left undone because of this. I am learning that just a quick clean up is okay…that not everything has to be perfect. The bench can have a quick wipe until I get to scrub and disinfect it properly.

So, I will continue to strive, without beating myself up over it, for that so-far elusive state called organisation or being organised for longer than 2 days. It started to happen in my heart last year when we had to move house again. I remember writing about decorating with a minimalist style. Well, while we haven’t quite done that, we still have MANY boxes in our shed that we just haven’t, and won’t, unpack in this house. I thought I’d miss things but I’ve found that the house is so much easier to keep clean and tidy and organised when there is less stuff in it! (Doh!) We have de-cluttered and re-organised, filed and thrown out all the things we needed to. And it feels good. I still want to be flexible and spontaneous but I want to be organised. I want to reflect that orderly part of God.

  • I’m aiming to keep thing simple (KISS principle)
  • Use my body clock to my advantage. Do the most difficult or undesirable jobs when I’m most alert.
  • Learning to multi-task more.

What about you? What helps you in your quest to be organised?

What exactly does organisation mean to you? Not what you think it means? Not what your best friend means? Not what other homeschoolers mean? But what does organisation mean to you? You see, God is a God of order. He, as the Creator, created a world that is so full of order. The earth/universe is an incredibly efficient world. There is a certain serene calm around organised people, isn’t there. Do you think it’s possible to be calm and serene in one’s heart yet still not be able to find your needed documents? Or do those things go hand-in-hand?

What Is Your Theological Worldview?

Well, I’m not sure…I’d like to see the other responses but I’d love to hear what you rated as. Drop me a line if you do the quiz.

What’s your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com
You scored as Evangelical Holiness/WesleyanYou are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God’s grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan
 
71%
Reformed Evangelical
 
71%
Neo orthodox
 
61%
Fundamentalist
 
57%
Charismatic/Pentecostal
 
46%
Emergent/Postmodern
 
39%
Roman Catholic
 
32%
Classical Liberal
 
32%
Modern Liberal
 
18%