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Three Things to Daily Thank God For

April 14, 2013 By Kathie 8 Comments

The past few days have been so much fun. I feel like my cup is full and overflowing with joy. I spoke at a homeschool conference in St. Louis on Friday and Saturday, and on the way there Wednesday, and then again today, we stopped in Clinton IN to visit my son Daniel and his wife, Melissa. Daniel preached for the services today, and I was blessed to be there tonight for the sermon. He preached on three things that we should thank God for daily: His grace, His forgiveness, and His mercies. He pointed out that grace is not getting what I deserve, while mercy is getting something I don’t deserve. What a thrill it was for me to listen as my son shared what God had laid on his heart. A couple of times he teared up, as he talked about how amazing it is that we, who deserve nothing from a holy God, are offered his grace, forgiveness, and mercy. What a great reminder of how awesome our God is, and how much we have to be thankful for. Not only was I encouraged by the content of his message, but what a thrill it was for me to see how God is using my son and his wife to serve Him. It gives new meaning to the verse “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (III John 1:4)

After the service we (my youngest son Mark, and daughter Anna who were with me) went to Dairy Queen and enjoyed a fun time of food and fun – just catching up on things with them, and enjoying being with them.

On top of that, my daughter and her husband, who live in Kansas, made a spontaneous decision to come over to St. Louis to spend some time with us Friday evening, and Saturday morning. It was a short visit, but I was thrilled to see them and my precious granddaughters! Here they are with me and my youngest son Mark:

Feeling blessed to have been able to spend time with some of my “kids” that I don’t get to see very often, while being reminded also of all that God has done for me!

Filed Under: Character, God's grace, God's mercy Tagged With: God's forgiveness

New Purity Resources & Giveaway!

April 10, 2013 By Kathie 32 Comments

We just added two GREAT new purity resources to our store products. The first one, Being Faithful to Your Future Spouse, is written for teens. This is a valuable resource to help them navigate relationships during the teen years, while remaining faithful to the person they will one day marry. The second book, Parenting for Purity, is a valuable resource for parents to help them as they raise their children and young people in today’s world. Included are things parents should teach to help their child to equip them to avoid sexual immorality, hearthbreak, and divorce.

Tom Houck, the author, is giving away a free copy of each of these books to my readers. To be entered to win, leave a comment. (Contest runs till Monday, April 15). If you share this, enter another comment about sharing to be entered again.

BEING FAITHFUL TO YOUR FUTURE SPOUSE

Faithfulness Begins Before You Meet

Most of the boyfriend/girlfriend relationships we see today do not match the type of relationship needed to translate into a successful marriage. Those relationships are usually not created for the right purpose, nor do they contain the right preparation or practice. In fact, the way that dating is commonly conducted today is divorce practice. A major contradiction found in those relationships is faithfulness.

Faithfulness is the lifetime commitment to remain emotionally and physically devoted to only one person and is one of the requirements of marriage that should be practiced prior to entering into it. A person should be faithful to their future souse both before and after they meet their spouse.

Parenting for Purity

Our culture is in the midst of a divorce epidemic that has lasted for more than three decades. The grievous tragedy is, the Christian community is no different than the world: half of all marriages end in divorce. Parents today must be acutely aware of this danger to their children, and know how to protect their children from that danger.

Why these serious and astonishing percentages? The most common reason there is so much failure in marriage is because of the unbiblical relationships people engage in prior to marriage. Harmful beliefs concerning male/female relationships are being taught to our children at early ages. Children are being programmed to travel down a lifelong road of immorality and, in many cases, divorce.

Therefore, parents must begin to counteract these teachings by discipling the truth about these matters at an early age. Parents can use their influence to save their influence to save their children from broken hearts, emotional scarring, and divorce that often arises from worldly relationships.

Filed Under: Character, Purity

Tuesday Link Up Party

April 8, 2013 By Kathie 3 Comments

Our most visited link this past week was by Sarah over at Hope In Every Season

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STOP THE GLORIFICATION OF BUSY

Filed Under: Character, link up party

Looking back as a Homeschooling Parent

April 7, 2013 By Kathie 13 Comments

As parents, it’s easy to look back on our parenting years, and think: “I wish I had…..” It’s also fun to look back, and say “I’m glad I did…..”

After homeschooling for 28 years, and caring for and training my 8 children for 32 years, I am feeling a little sad as I realize how close I am to “the end”. In a little over two years, my youngest child, my 16 year-old son will graduate, and more than likely leave home to go to college. Thinking about it made me kind of introspective, and I pondered just a few things that I would do differently.

If I had it to do over:

1. I would say yes more often.

2. I would smile and laugh more, rather than being so intense.

3. I wouldn’t be so idealistic, but rather strive more for realistic.

4. I would have kept “tucking” my kids in and praying with them at night all the way into and through the teen years.

5. I would work more on training the difficult child, rather than asking a more compliant child to do things to “avoid the hassle” of dealing with the difficult one.

6. I would not compare myself to other homeschooling moms, or moms in general.

7. I would judge my homeschooling success more on how much my children have learned wisdom, rather than on if they were “caught up” for their age/grade level.

8. I would remember that the time I spend daily teaching, training, and caring for the children, my husband, and our home is more important than anything I didn’t accomplish on my “to do” list.

The things I am glad I did, and that I would do all over again:

1. Homeschool all the kids all the way through grade 12.

2. Spend a lot of time on Scripture memory, and character training with them.

3. Give up a good paying secular job to stay home and raise my children, and spend every day with them.

4. Correct the children with Scripture when wrong behavior was shown.

5. Seek Godly wisdom and counsel from those who are older and wiser.

Just a few thoughts from my heart.

Linking up with:

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Filed Under: Bible, Character, difficult child, disciplining wtih Scripture, Homeschooling, Parenting

Why I Love Homeschooling Parents

April 5, 2013 By Kathie Leave a Comment

I’m at the Great Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati this weekend. I spoke yesterday on Sibling Squabbles in the Schoolroom. Today I’m speaking on Training Character Into Your Children, and tomorrow the topic of purity.

Can I just say that I LOVE speaking at these conferences, and hope so much that I will be a blessing and encouragement to these wonderful parents. I have been speaking at conferences for 15 years now, and each year I am reminded of how much I love these parents that I meet at them. Here are some things that I have noticed that make me love them:

1. Their commitment to their children.

2. Their commitment to God.

3. Their desire to learn and grow.

4. Their honesty and openness about their struggles and failings. (which we ALL have!)

5. Their encouragement to ME!

6. Their willingness to sacrifice their time and energy to be the best parent they can be.

7. Their perseverance when things get tough.

8. Their courage to do what God wants them to do for their family – not what other families are called to do.

9. Their obvious love for their children, and willingness to put them first in their lives for this season.

10. Their vision of raising kids that aren’t just smart, but are filled with wisdom.

Afer 28 years of homeschooling, I know the difficulties of homeschooling, but I have also seen some of the end product with my older children. There will be times when you are weary, and discouraged, but let me encourage you to KEEP ON! Stay committed to God, and your children, and the vision He has given you. You WILL make it with His help, and it is SO worth it in the end. I applaud you, and you inspire me. Keep up the good work!

Filed Under: Character, Homeschooling

Young Love & Tuesday Link up Party

April 2, 2013 By Kathie 3 Comments

Hope all of you had a blessed Easter! We had an encouraging services at church on Sunday, and my daughter & her husband came over for dinner. They have been married a little over two years, and are so happy together. It makes this mama’s heart smile to see them together! Young love – so sweet!
I shared on my Facebook page how much I love the hymn “He Lives”. I have always liked that hymn, but for the past few years it has had special memories because of my mom. She had Alzheimers for the last few years of her life, and for about her last year, she really was no longer able to communicate with us verbally. However, she would smile and laugh when we visited, and as we talked to her. One of the things we always tried to do was sing hymns for her. I still remember how surprised we were when we started singing “He Lives”, and she joined in on the chorus! She hadn’t spoken words in quite awhile, but could still sing the song that was in her heart. What a precious time that was! So glad that because He lives, I will see my mom again in heaven!

Now it’s your turn to share what’s on your heart. Looking forward to this week’s linkups!

Filed Under: He lives, link up party

Changing Behavior or Changing Hearts?

March 28, 2013 By Kathie 6 Comments

Often when we see wrong behavior or attitudes in our children, we look at it as an interruption to what we are doing or trying to get done, and it aggravates us to have to stop and deal with that child’s actions or attitude. At that point, it’s easy to scold out of frustration, or tell them,”Stop arguing!”, “Don’t do that!”, or “Behave!” When we do that, we are letting an opportunity go by to point them to what God says about that behavior. In the book, Passionate Parenting, author Cary Schmidt asks the question, “If you had to quantify your parenting focus with following words, which two would be most accurate: Managing Behavior or Mentoring Hearts?”

He then goes on to remind us of the purpose of discipline: “In the big picture, all discipline is about bringing our children into a right relationship with their Heavenly Father that He might bless their lives. It’s not about controlling behavior, modifying behavior, or minimizing embarrassment. Biblically correcting your child is one of the greatest ways to win their heart to you and to God forever.” (Passionate Parenting)

This is such an important truth to remember! The exciting thing is that God gave us His word as the tool we need to discipline in a way that will bring them into a right relationship with Him. Using Scripture is one of the most powerful way to correct and train our children’s hearts, because God’s Word has power that our words don’t have. With that in mind, I’d like to tell you about my new ebook that I just completed:

“Training and Correcting the Heart with Scripture”

This book is designed to make it simple for parents to use God’s Word for reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. Included is a Bible study of 21 character qualities, including the Bible commands concerning it, the negative consequences of it, and the positive consequences of following God’s way instead.

There is also a Topical List of Behaviors and Applicable Bible Verses for 17 behaviors we often deal with when raising our children. The final section is a study that compares the foolish person to the wise person.

This is an excellent resource that will easily enable parents to use God’s Word for correction and training throughout each day, and make the most of those training/correcting opportunities when they arise!

For more info CLICK HERE.

Filed Under: Bible, consistent discipline, disciplining wtih Scripture, frustrated mom, Heart issues, Parenting, Teaching God's Word, training children

Tuesday Link Up Party

March 26, 2013 By Kathie 1 Comment

Anybody else feel like winter has returned? I sure didn’t expect to have snow the week of Easter!

I’m busy preparing for “convention season”. We had our first conference last weekend, and next week we will be heading to Cincinnati for the Great Homeschool Conference. The week after that, it’s St. Louis. Things will stay busy now till the end of June, so I may not be posting as much as usual. Therefore, I’m counting on all of you faithful bloggers out there to fill the gap for me by linking up some more of your great posts each week!

Filed Under: link up party

Stress Free Multi-level Planning

March 22, 2013 By Kathie 3 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post called 7 Tips for Multi-level Teaching.

Today I’m going to share a few more tips from my friends on Facebook. I asked them this question: “What would be your biggest tip for a new homeschooling mom for teaching several ages/grades?” Here are some of the great responses that I got from these veteran homeschool moms:

* You can’t fail as long as they are learning something. NO ONE COVERS IT ALL.

* Do what works for YOU, not what you think you should do based on what you see OTHERS doing. God has a special plan for your family.

* Combine as many topics as you can! It makes life so much easier! In my first couple years of homeschooling, each of my four children had their own math, history, science, writing, and reading. Clearly, math can’t be combined but now almost everything else is for at least some of them!

* Laugh a lot. Pray a lot. Remember your joy.

* Relax!

* Combine what you can, relax and enjoy life! Kids minds are like sponges, just living is a huge learning experience for them. And lastly, answer their questions. If you don’t know the answer, then research it with them. Following their cues will help them to maintain what they have been taught because they actually WANT to know it.

* Train toddlers and babies to sit and play quietly for 15/20 mins so that you have time to help your older kids when needed.

* One thing at a time or you will be overwhelmed! It takes years to get a routine down and it will change with every new baby you have. Don’t worry about things you don’t cover, your kids will be fine! You can always do light school in summer if you need to catch up. You know your children and you are capable to teach them! Don’t let the public school system make you feel inadequate, you’re the best for them!

* Pray!!!!

* Pray for what God has for your family, not everyone else’s schedules!

* Pray, know your state laws, check out a homeschool support group,and think about unit studies.

* First thing in the morning I love up all my little people!! Lots of nursing, cuddles and playing. When Littles love tanks are full….lessons go soooo much better!!

* Don’t be afraid to ask! There is no point in reinventing the wheel (in most cases). Seek out godly wisdom from those that have walked down the road before you.

Aren’t those ideas helpful and encouraging?! And now, I’d like to tell you about a new package I just put together to help homeschooling moms, called “Charts for Stress Free Planning & Scheduling”. Not only does this include multiple charts to help you organize your homeschool, but also some practical tips and suggestions are included. These include: Goals of Homeschooling, Ideas for Multi-level Teaching, Ideas for Keeping Toddlers Busy, Creating Your Homeschool Schedule, How to Use the Planning Charts, and Setting a Yearly Schedule. These are all things that helped me homeschool our 8 children over the last 28 years, and not be totally stressed about keeping up with it all! This is available as an ebook for you to download and print, or you can buy it in printed form: CHARTS FOR STRESS FREE PLANNING & SCHEDULING.

Filed Under: Homeschool goals, Homeschooling, multi-level teaching, Scheduling