Mommy Brain

Moving

2006-04-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

Okay - things are pretty close to the way I want them at the new site, so this will be my last post here. Come visit at the new place:

Mommy Brain

Big Surprise

2006-04-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

"Sexually charged music, magazines, TV and movies push youngsters into intercourse at an earlier age, perhaps by acting as kind of virtual peer that tells them everyone else is doing it, a study said Monday."

Wow, that's a shocker. Read the whole story here.

Review of Global Deception

2006-04-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

(Global Deception: The UN's Stealth Assault on America's Freedom was provided to me free of charge by Mind and Media, who received it from the publisher for the purpose of being reviewed.)

Global Deception is not an easy book to read. Not because it isn't well-written or worth reading, but because so much of the material is outrageous and unbelievable. Joseph Klein has done a thorough job of footnoting his sources, and so I believed what he was saying, don't get me wrong. I just didn't like it.

This book aptly demonstrates how far the United Nations is willing to go to undermine United States sovereignty. From trying to undermine our own judicial system to pushing for global taxation, the UN is determined to prevent the United States from governing itself or spending its own funds.

If you are interested in seeing where the UN is heading - and attempting to drag the USA right along with them - you should read this book.

There are a few typos and formatting errors - such as the chapter heading at the top of the page showing the next chapter's title - but not enough to make it distracting. I assume the publisher will address these issues in any future volumes. Mr. Klein does have a sarcastic style that at times I felt over-the-top. I believe the material would've been better served with a more neutral presentation of the facts. The facts themselves are disturbing enough on their own.

In spite of this, I recommend this book to anyone interested in the political arena and in protecting the United States constitution from outside influences.

Personal DNA Test

2006-04-02T19:26:00.000-07:00

Benevolent Idealist

As an IDEALIST, you are distinctive for your integration of confidence, imagination, willingness to explore, and desire for competence over style.

You have a strong capacity to comprehend the inner workings of things, finding new ideas and innovative insights to feed your curious nature.

You are quite comfortable in the realm of abstract thought. You don't need a practical solution to every one of life's questions.

You are comfortable with the decisions you make in life. You don't need to second-guess yourself, or seek a lot of opinions before you make up your mind.

You enjoy the routines that you have created in your life, and don't feel the need to shake things up just for the sake of change.

You generally succeed at what you do, and others would describe you as successful.

It is important to you that products be efficient – looking good has to come second to working well.

You aren't the kind of person who needs to collect stylish items in an attempt to create an attractive environment – you know that what matters most is function, not style.

You're not one to force your positions on a group, and you tend to be fair in evaluating different options.

You're not afraid to let your emotions guide you, and you're generally considerate of others' feelings as well.

You prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute.

You do your own thing when it comes to clothing, guided more by practical concerns than by other people's notions of style.

Generally, you believe that you control your life, and that external forces only play a limited role in determining what happens to you.

You are a great person to interact with—understanding, giving, and trusting—in a word, BENEVOLENT

You don't mind being in social situations, as you feel comfortable enough with people to be yourself.

Your caring nature goes beyond a basic concern: you take the time to understand the nuances of people's situations before passing any sort of judgment.

You're a good listener, and even better at offering advice.

You're concerned with others at both an individual and societal level—you sympathize with the plights of troubled groups, and you can care about people you've never met.

Considering many different perspectives is something at which you excel, and you appreciate that quality in others.

Other people's feelings are important to you, and you're good at mediating disputes.

Because of your understanding and patience, you tend to bring out the best in people.

If you take the test, leave me a comment so I can check out your results!

Review of King Kong

2006-03-31T21:22:00.000-08:00

(King Kong was provided to me free of charge by Special Ops Media for the purpose of review.)

The kids and I just watched King Kong tonight. Whew! Long movie and kept you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Personally, I think some of the longer chase and action scenes could've been cut down and about an hour of the movie could've been cut out without losing anything. But the special effects were absolutely incredible, and my boys loved those scenes the most, so it was probably just me.

The actors were all incredible, especially Adrien Brody. I've thought he was fascinating every since he planted that smacker on Halle Berry at the Oscars. Then I watched The Village and was amazed at his talent. He gave the best performance of the movie, in my opinion.

I was also pleasantly surprised by Jack Black. I had a hard time believing he could play anything other than a sarcastic slacker like in School of Rock but he was very believable as a glory-mad movie director willing to place his crew and companions in danger to get one more reel of footage.

I'm sure most of you know the story of King Kong and it delivered in the emotional area as well. Natalie and I were both wiping away tears at the end.

I will say that I was surprised by how violent and graphic some of the scenes were for a PG-13. I let the kids watch it on the recommendation of my parents, but I think they must have forgotten some of the scarier scenes. Natalie watched several parts with her hands covering her eyes and me describing what happened so that she didn't have to watch. It wasn't enough to make her not want to finish it, though.

The DVD is a 2-disc edition and the special features include an introduction by director Peter Jackson, post-production diaries of the cast and crew, and in-depth looks at the two main settings: Skull Island and New York City in 1933. I'm looking forward to watching those tomorrow.

You can view a trailer of the movie here and pre-order your own copy here.

Friendship

2006-03-31T15:08:00.000-08:00

"Now friendship in those days was a bit different from what it is today; friends did not have to agree on everything and often agreed on practically nothing. They were people with whom you could argue all day and yet never get irritated or angry at all. In today's world we seem to have lost the real meaning of friendship. If someone disagrees with us, it is fashionable today to dislike them for it. This is silly and robs us of the best kind of friends we could find, for if we are always agreed with, we can never really have a serious conversation; we cannot learn from someone who agrees with what we say."

from Jack's Life: A Memory of C.S. Lewis by Douglas H. Gresham

Great responses...

2006-03-31T12:56:00.000-08:00

...to those rude questions about having more than two children or about why your kids aren't in "school" - from Spunky.

Also, don't forget I'm moving my blog soon! Here's the link. Update: I fixed the link - I guess I was typing too fast and misspelled "homeschool"! The coolest thing so far is that I can put my posts in categories! I'm almost through going through all my back posts. So now you can click on homeschooling, books, faith, kid stuff, etc. and find all the posts on that topic. My sidebar isn't completely fixed yet, but the support department, a.k.a. Andrea and Ron, have a good excuse, since Andrea spent most of the last week passing a kidney stone! Please update your bloglines, blogrolls, favorites, etc.

I am blessed...

2006-03-30T17:23:00.000-08:00

....to have so many wonderful sisters (and brothers, Ron!) in Christ who are praying for me and leaving such wonderful notes of encouragement for me. I sat at the computer and cried this morning as I read all of the precious comments. I was encouraged and lifted up to know that so many people are praying for me. The Body of Christ is especially beautiful to me right now. And since we've just left our church of nine years, this has spoken to me so clearly of how the Body is not confined to one group of people or one building.

I saw my doctor this morning and feel encouraged that he is taking measures to find out what is going on. He said that the elevated dopamine levels could be from something else, but a tumor is definitely a possibility and we need to check on that right away. His nurse is setting up referrals and appointments for me for a CAT scan of my entire torso, and to see an endocrinologist and gastro-intestinal specialist. I will also go in tomorrow morning before I eat and have some more blood drawn to test levels that are specific to the endocrine system.

I am hoping and praying that it won't take long to get the necessary referrals from my insurance company and to get the appointments set up. The waiting and wondering is the worst. I'll feel better emotionally when I know exactly what we're dealing with and have a plan in place to start fixing things.

On a happier note, Kevin and I are going out tonight to the movies to see Firewall and celebrate our 11th anniversary. It's actually tomorrow, but our little town only has one theater and tomorrow Ice Age 2 will start and we'll wait and see that one with the kids - who will appreciate it more.

Thank you again for being such a blessing in my life! I never imagined when I started this blog that God would use the people who read it to build me up and challenge me and to be true friends.

Results

2006-03-28T20:33:00.000-08:00

The nurse called late this afternoon and told me that the dopamine levels in my urine sample were high. I asked her what that meant, and she hedged and said, "The doctor will talk to you when you come in on Thursday."

When he ordered the test, he said it was because a certain tumor on the adrenal gland can cause increased levels of adrenalin, of which there are three kinds; dopamine is one of the three.

A google search of increased dopamine levels showed three possible causes: schizophrenia (I may be a little crazy, but not that crazy), addiction to drugs like methamphetamines and cocaine (no secret habits here), and pheochromocytoma.

Some research into pheochromocytoma shows these symptoms: feelings of adrenaline surges, nausea, heart palpitations, sweating, anxiety and panic attacks, chest pain. It's like a laundry list of everything I've been experiencing.

I see my doctor on Thursday, and I'm guessing the next step will be an MRI or CAT scan to see if this is what we're dealing with. The good news is that 90% of these tumors are benign and can be removed with laproscopic surgery instead of major surgery.

I'm scared. I was really expecting this test to come back normal and I still feel kind of in shock. If you feel like praying, these are the areas I would covet your prayers in: peace of mind, that I would be able to sleep, that if this is a tumor it will be easily spotted with a CAT scan or MRI, and that it would be benign and not have spread to any other part of my body. Also pray for Kevin, my husband, who is worried and already deals with anxiety disorder.

Thank you for all of your comments and encouragement. It is such a blessing to know that in addition to my "real-life" friends, I have all of you standing with me.

Fighting the Good Fight

2006-03-27T20:32:00.000-08:00

First, let me preface this by saying that I am not one of those people who see a demon behind every broken down vehicle, sniffly nose, or crashed computer. I usually shy away from the topic of spiritual warfare, because I believe many people get obsessed with it and forget that our focus is to be Jesus and not our enemy.

But, I also know that we do have an enemy who desires to keep us from being effective in our ministry - whether that's being a Mom or a missionary or writer, or whatever. He also wants to prevent us from living the life abundant that Jesus promises us.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the last year or so, and how much physical illness and injury I have had. It started almost exactly a year ago. I know that because the trouble started right around our 10th anniversary last year - and we'll be celebrating our 11th this Friday. It started with pleurisy and then a heart arrhythmia my doctor noticed for the first time. Test after test revealed - nothing. Reactive airways - which means my airways get irritated a lot from dust, pollen, colds. But the experience was a wake-up call to me that I needed to do something about my weight or else next time it might turn out to be something.

As soon as the pleurisy went away, I made a commitment to myself to start exercising. My daughter wanted to join me, so we made a plan to start doing the Walk Away the Pounds videos every morning. The next day, I sprained my right ankle on an outing at the park.

No exercise for a while, obviously. I felt hopeless and had just about given up on trying to lose weight, when my husband suggested I join Weight Watchers. Some ladies at his work had been having great success with the plan, so I decided, what the heck - I'll give it a try. On a Tuesday night, I went to my first meeting, and found that I had already lost nine pounds from going swimming with the family. I was encouraged and had hope that this was a plan that could work for me - finally.

Three days later, I sprained my left ankle. I'm not kidding. No exercise again for another few weeks. I couldn't even swim, because kicking made my ankle scream with pain.

A month later, I was so excited to have lost ten more pounds - my first Weight Watchers goal reached. Then I sprained my ankle - again. I'm not kidding. Anyone else seeing a pattern here?

I made it through the holidays without gaining any weight back - actually losing some, which is a miracle. Four weeks ago, I reached my 10% goal at Weight Watchers. With the 9 pounds I had already lost, that brought my total lost to 42 pounds. (I've since lost 6 more.) Two days after getting my 10% key-chain, I had a horrible reaction to an antibiotic. I am still having problems - still waiting on test results to find out what's going on and if these problems are still a result of the antibiotic or something else. In the meantime, I have been extremely tired and haven't been able to exercise as much as I was.

To me, this just seems like too much of a coincidence. I know that God wants me at a healthy weight, and that getting there is something He wants me working on. I also know that being heavy has kept me from being all that I could be as a Mom and has been the cause of lost music ministry opportunities. So does Satan have a motive for keeping me overweight and unhealthy? Absolutely. It sure seems that he's doing all he can to sabotage my weight loss efforts.

In Bible study this quarter, we are studying the book of Nehemiah. The parallels are amazing. Nehemiah went back to Jerusalem from Babylon in order to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He knew it was what God wanted done and yet there were attacks from outsiders and from within their own people. Our leader has been asking questions like, "What does re-building the wall mean in your own life? Have their been attacks to keep you from completing the work? What is your response to these attacks? Do you feel like giving up? Do you remember what you're fighting for?" This has been such a huge encouragement and stretching time for me. I am learning a lot, and yet struggle every day with getting discouraged. And being afraid. Not trusting that "all things work together for good".

And yet the fact that God has somehow worked out the timing of things so that I'm studying this book right now, at this time, shows me that He has me in His hand. He hasn't forgotten me. He has a plan, and part of that plan is for me to learn how to fight.

So I won't give up. I know what I'm fighting for. Whenever I get frustrated and want to quit, I remember the day Natalie asked me, "Will you ever be able to run with us like other moms do?" And I know the answer is yes.

Recommended Viewing

2006-03-25T12:09:00.000-08:00

Kevin and I have been watching this documentary on DVD through Netflix. It's funny how many times Kevin's said, "I don't remember ever being taught that!" I don't usually, either, but I read the book 1776 earlier this year, so more of it is familiar to me. It's nice to have faces and places to put to the events I had read about. Liberty is very well-done. Actors portraying various historical people recite from letters, journals, and newspaper articles of the time. Definitely a worth-while investment of time - and older students would probably enjoy it, too. I'll definitely be watching it again with my kids when they're older.

Calling Lord of the Rings fans...

2006-03-24T14:24:00.000-08:00

I just received this in my e-mail from Special Ops Media, the company that occasionally sends me DVDs to review:

Have you seen every “Lord of the Rings” episode ten times? Were you in line at midnight to go see “King Kong”? What would you do to win a phone call from Academy Award winning director, Peter Jackson?

To celebrate the release of the King Kong DVD, one lucky fan will win a 15 minute phone call with Peter Jackson…

King Kong is being released on DVD on Tuesday, the 28th, and I will have a copy on the way to me to review. We didn't make it out to the theaters to see it, so I can't wait. Anyone out there seen it already? What did you think?

Soapbox

2006-03-23T15:16:00.000-08:00

So funny - check this out.

Hat tip: Lisa Samson.

Also, I'm getting closer to moving to Mommy Brain's new home permanently. Right now the sidebar is kind of a mess, but I found a template I absolutely love and hopefully it will be all sorted out in the next week or so. At that time, I'll post a permanent "I've moved" link to the top of this blog. Hope you'll all follow me over!

Links

2006-03-22T14:51:00.000-08:00

I found the links to the two posts I had written before about our issues at church, in case you're interested:

Good Enough
Good Enough, Part Two

As if there wasn't enough going on...

2006-03-21T17:43:00.000-08:00

...Kevin and I have finally made a decision about our church situation. We've decided to find another church home. I think it's been almost a year since I posted about our struggles over the direction our church had taken (I tried to find the post and couldn't and I'm too tired to continue wading through).

I know we've made the right decision - it's been prayed over and discussed for many months, so this isn't a quick decision made on the fly. But it's still hard.

We've been in this church for nine years. Natalie, our oldest, was six months old when we moved here and started attending. The people love our kids and our kids love them. My best friends are there. I have such a topsy-turvy of feelings right now - relief to have finally made the decision, and sadness that this part of our life is over. Wariness at having to find a new church - and excitement over what God has for us.

I will still be attending the women's Bible study, because it meets in my best friend's home and is open to ladies from any - or no - church. That is what is holding me together emotionally - that I will still have my support group. And to be honest, much more real relationship stuff happens there than is ever able to happen at a Sunday morning service.

Change is not easy - even when you know it's a change that must be made. I'll be glad when we're on the other side of this and I stop running into people who don't know yet or want to ask why.

12th Carnival of Homeschooling

2006-03-21T08:08:00.000-08:00

Be sure and check out the latest Carnival of Homeschooling being hosted by Phat Mommy. Lots of good stuff there! It includes my post on negative attitudes toward homeschooling.

I'm moving...

2006-03-20T14:53:00.000-08:00

...my blog. Blogger has been on the fritz so much lately, and then I received an invitation to try a new Homeschool Journal site set up by my friend's Ron and Andrea of Atypical Homeschool. It's still in the "just starting out" stage, but it has the wonderful benefit of support from real, live people - who happen to be wonderful, in my opinion. Here's the link to my new site. I'll be double-posting for a while to give everyone a chance to get their blogrolls and bookmarks changed. I'll have to learn how to work with Word Press, but I learned how to get around on Blogger, so I'm sure I can do this - it will just take a while to get it exactly the way I want it. Right now the sidebar is pretty bare-looking - lots of links, but no graphics. I'll be working on that in the next few weeks.

Don't you just love the satisfaction...

2006-03-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

....of a clean house? The house has been very neglected this week, what with multiple trips to the doctor and homeschooling and not sleeping well, etc. So this afternoon the whole family spent an hour and a half in frenzied cleaning mode. Kevin cleaned the downstairs family room and the boys room, including vacuuming. The boys helped me clean the living room, including the dining room table. It's totally bare for the first time in months and months. Noah dusted, Jonathan vacuumed under the edges of the couches, Josiah washed baseboards, Natalie swept. Kevin did dishes, I cleaned the bathroom, swept and mopped the kitchen. Lots and lots got accomplished and the house looks wonderful - and bigger, I might add.

I was getting really overwhelmed by how much needed to be done just to get it into decent order, let alone spring cleaning. I forget that the kids can help more than they do. I am a pushover sometimes and find it easier to just do it myself than fight the kids. Not anymore - especially not after I saw how much they were capable of today and how quickly it went from disaster to clean.

I spent all day at the doctor's office yesterday doing a glucose tolerance test. It made me feel pretty horrible, but the results were good: no diabetes, no hypoglycemia. In fact, most of my tests had come back: thyroid, liver, kidneys all good. The results of the adrenaline production test (the 24-hour pee collection jug) won't be back until Friday because our little tiny lab doesn't do that test and they had to send it to Spokane. They're testing for an over-production of adrenaline, which can be caused by a few different things, including a couple different kinds of cancer. I'm trying to trust. I really don't think that's it - the timing is too suspicious for all of this to start happening right after I had the horrible reaction to the Bactrim. The timing is just a little too coincidental. So I'm not worrying - mostly.

I also have an appointment for one of those lovely women's physicals in a week and a half. I haven't had one of those in a few years. I've never had an abnormal one, so my doctor said I could wait two years for my next one. He looked in my chart this week and told me it was closer to four. Not good. Again, I don't think they'll find anything as everything is pretty normal in "that" realm of things.

In three weeks I go in and get a heart monitor that I'll wear for several days - if I'm still having symptoms by then. I'm hoping my body is just still reacting to getting off the Bactrim, off caffeine, and off Prilosec. Yes, I went off Prilosec, too, after reading some yucky stuff about long-term use. I'm treating my acid reflux with aloe vera juice and papaya enzymes - so far so good. I just want to get anything pharmaceutical out of my body and hopefully it will get back into whack.

It looks like my trip to my sisters across the state will have to be postponed. Kevin's not thrilled about me driving across the mountains with the kids if I'm still having these weird symptoms - and I don't like the idea either. Or the idea of sleeping on my sister's couch and then in a hotel room with all four of the kids when I'm not sleeping real well in my own bed. My sister is bummed and the kids are still praying that God will just miraculously heal me before then so we can still go. Who knows - stranger things have happened.

We're off to take the kids to the pool- I hope everyone's having a good weekend.

Who Knew?

2006-03-17T18:27:00.000-08:00

Josiah, our four-year-old, was sitting on the couch drawing this evening while Kevin and I were watching a Seinfeld episode on DVD. (Have I mentioned how much I love Netflix?) When we were finished and Kevin headed downstairs, Josiah brought his paper over to me and asked me to draw a puppy for him. I looked down at his paper, on which I assumed he had been drawing his favorite spiders and monsters, and found row after row of this:

JOSIAH
Josiah
JOsiaH
JOSiah
josiah

I have written his name before when he's asked me to, but I've never before seen him try to write any letters other than J. How cool is that?

Too cute not to post...

2006-03-16T19:28:00.000-08:00

If we are unable to go to our homeschooling class on Thursdays, the kids have to send in an e-mail report to our teacher, since we're affiliated with the public school. (Which we won't be doing again next year, but that's another post.) Here are Jonathan's comments on this week:

Hi, Mr. Ramos. Mr. Ramos, I have done my schoolwork all by myself at the table without mom helping me. She goes over the 'structions and then I do it all by myself, Mr. Ramos. And then I even played with Lucy our hamster and she got on my arm and it tickled so bad. I want to tell you something, Mr. Ramos. I watched a movie called Really Wild Animals and it had muddy muddy fish that walk in mud. And it was very interesting. You should go to the encyclopedia and you'll see a frilled lizard and they're not poison and know what? They just scare enemies off by putting their neck thingies out and then running. And that's it.

Horrifying

2006-03-16T14:24:00.000-08:00

"Paddock ordered Michael and Debi Pearl's books and started spanking her adopted children as suggested. After Sean, the youngest of Paddock's six adopted children, died last month, his older sister and brother told investigators about Paddock's spankings.

Sean's 9-year-old brother was beaten so badly he limped, a prosecutor said. Bruises marred Sean's backside, too, doctors found.

Sean died after being wrapped so tightly in blankets he suffocated. That, too, was a form of punishment, Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said."

You can read the whole article here.

I know that many people, especially homeschoolers, use the child training and marriage materials written by Michael and Debi Pearl. However, after reading the controversy over Created to Be His Helpmeet, which advocates taking Biblical submission to an unhealthy level, and now this tragedy as a result of their parenting book, To Train Up a Child, someone needs to be holding these people accountable for what they are writing. It may be well-intentioned, but the examples of their principles being taken to an abusive level should cause them to stand up and take back their discipline advice rather than defend it. This is so sad. The picture of little Sean Paddock breaks my heart.

Those Ballerinas

2006-03-15T17:29:00.000-08:00

Natalie asked me today how ballerinas are able to twist their feet around into all the different positions.

"Practice," I said.

"They must be really flexilated," she said. ~grin~

Waiting for Test Results

2006-03-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I went to see my doctor today and gave about a gallon of blood. Not really a gallon, but six of those little vials. They will be testing for problems with my thyroid, liver, pancreas, and just about anything else they can think of. I will also spend 24 hours starting tomorrow morning peeing in a hat to pour into a collection jar with preservatives and then take that back to the lab. More information than you wanted to know, huh? They will test the urine for an excess of adrenaline, to see if there's a problem with my adrenal glands. Or is it gland? I don't know how many there are! I will also be testing my blood sugar levels three times a day for the next couple of weeks and calling in those results. Lots of finger-pokes. Hopefully the doctor will be able to get to the bottom of this. Prayers for healing and results that aren't too scary would be greatly appreciated. And prayers for the panic attacks that the hypoglycemia seems to bring on. Thanks!

Review of Credo

2006-03-14T17:27:00.000-08:00

(Credo was provided to me free of charge by Mind and Media, who received it from the publisher for the purpose of being reviewed.)

I grew up reciting the Apostles' Creed. Catholic until I was twelve, I remember the Creed as part of mass. When my Dad became a believer, we left the Catholic church and joined an evangelical denomination. We didn't recite the Creed anymore, and being a teenager, I didn't think much of it. As an adult, I very rarely come into contact with the Apostle's Creed, and that is only when we sing a worship chorus based on it.

After reading Mr. Pritchard's book, Credo: Believing in Something to Die For, I will never take the Apostles' Creed for granted. He takes the Creed apart, phrase by phrase, and explains why each section is central to the Christian faith. These statements of belief cross denominational lines - they are the basic, non-negotiable beliefs that show us what it means to be a Christian. Mr. Pritchard states:

"Christianity is a doctrinal faith. You can't just fill it in with whatever content you desire. Christianity is a life based on the doctrines of the Bible. We must never say, "As long as you believe in Jesus, it doesn't matter what else you believe." Unless the Jesus we believe in is the Christ of the Bible, he's not the real Jesus at all.

This means that Christianity is more than a conversion experience.

There are things to learn, and there are doctrines we are required to believe. That's why the Apostles' Creed is so important in the history of the church. Truth is not up for grabs, and it is not decided by what we feel or by a majority vote or by the latest opinion poll. The Creed reminds us that truth comes from God, and that is where we must start in our spiritual journey." page 19

This book is well worth your time and money. It affirms what our faith is about and why it is so important to know what we believe.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of Heaven and Earth...

"If we lose the doctrine of creation, we will eventually lose the doctrine of redemption.

Many evangelicals seem to have missed this fact. The story of creation leads to the reality of the fall. Genesis 1-2 tells us where we came from. Genesis 3 explains how sin entered the human race and why we need a Savior. Take away the factual reality of the first three chapters of the Bible and the rest cannot be trusted." page 47

and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord...

"In order to understand this properly, we need a bit of background on how the Romans ruled their vast empire. Because the empire stretched from Europe into the Middle East and across the northern coast of Africa, it encompassed many provinces and included many local religions. "Mystery religions" were found in many parts of the empire. Each religion has its own code of conduct, sacred scriptures, pattern of worship, form of sacrifice, sacred rites, priesthood, and so on. Because these religions tended to keep the people pacified, the Romans left them alone as much as possible. Rome required only that taxes be paid and that everyone be required to say, "Caesar is Lord." "Just affirm that Caesar is sovereign and follow whatever religion suits you."

For many people in the Empire, that was no big burden. But Christians couldn't say "Caesar is Lord" and remain faithful to Christ. How could they say, "Caesar is Lord" when their faith taught them that Jesus is Lord? They refused to deny Christ, and that is why Christians were murdered by the thousands - crucified, burned at the stake, run through with the sword, thrown to wild animals.

Chuck Colson notes that in the first century if you stood in a public gathering and cried out, "Jesus is God!" no one would be upset. But if you shouted, "Jesus is Lord!" you would start a riot. Rome did not persecute Christians because they believed in the deity of Christ or proclaimed that Jesus was the promised Messiah or that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. Rome did not kill Christians because they said Jesus is the only way of salvation. Those religious beliefs did not threaten the state. But when Christians declared, "Jesus Christ is our Lord, and there is no other!" that was a direct attack on Caesar-worship and thus punishable by death.

To call him Lord means we surrender all we have to him and follow him gladly wherever he leads, whatever it costs." page 57

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary...

"The Virgin Birth forces us to confront what we believe about Jesus Christ. Who is he? Where did he come from? At issue is the supernatural character of our Lord. Is he truly the Son of God from heaven? If you answer yes, you'll have no problem with the Virgin Birth. If you answer no, you'll have no reason to believe it. Is he just a prophet, or a great teacher, or a martyr, or a revolutionary who never intended to start a religion? Or is he God incarnate, the Lord of Glory, the Son of God, our Lord and our Savior? The Virgin Birth tells us that we can't be neutral and we can't say the stories of his birth don't matter. Those with an anti-supernatural bias will have no use for the Virgin Birth, and they will try to explain it away. But those who believe in a supernatural Christ will find the Virgin Birth a mysterious miracle that, instead of destroying their faith, actually makes it stronger.

In order for Jesus to be our Savior he had to be a man, God, and sinless. The Virgin Birth guarantees that all those conditions have been met.

Thus there is a direct connection between the manger and the cross.

Without the Virgin Birth, his sufferings have no meaning. His birth makes his death meaningful. His birth establishes his true identity as the Son of God, the promised Messiah, our Savior. When the angel told Joseph that the baby Mary was carrying had been conceived by the Holy Spirit, in the very next breath he told Joseph to name him Jesus, "for he will save his people from his sins" (Matthew 1:21). The angel connects his birth with his saving work on the cross. Thus the Virgin Birth matters greatly because it tells us plainly who Jesus is and lays the foundation for the great work he would accomplish on the cross." pages 67-68

...suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he arose again from the dead.
He ascended into Heaven...

"By seating his Son at his right hand, the father vindicated his Son. Now at last Jesus receives what He truly deserves - glory, laud, and honor. Philippians 2:5-7 tells us that Christ "made himself nothing," emptying himself of the outward trappings of his deity in order to take on the form of a man. He humbled himself by leaving the palaces of heaven to be born in a stable in Bethlehem. He veiled his glory and lived a life of humiliation. All of us feel it was unfair for the King of kings to be treated so rudely by those he came to save. As he hung on the cross, onlookers jeered as his life ebbed away. They laughed at his pain and cried, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross" (Matthew 27:40). The Ascension means that Jesus has been vindicated in all that he came to do, and his days of humiliation are over forever." page 131

...and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church...

"Some evangelicals are troubled by the word "catholic" in the Creed because they think it has something to do with the Roman Catholic Church. But catholic with a small c simply means "universal." When applied to the church, it means that the message of the gospel is for all people everywhere, in every generation and in every situation." pages 164-165

...the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins...

"This phrase summarizes the entire Christian life. That's amazing when you think about how the Apostles' Creed is constructed. The Creed is a God-centered statement of the Christian faith, placing great emphasis on God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is mentioned in one brief phrase. Two phrases deal with the church as the fellowship of true believers. But when we come to the realm of the Christian life, it's all summed up in one phrase, a brief seven words: "I believe in...the forgiveness of sins."

That's certainly not how we think about things today. Go to just about any Christian bookstore and you'll see a small shelf called "Bible Doctrine" or "Theology," and then you'll see a huge section called "The Christian Life." There you will find books on prayer, growing in faith, enduring hard times, spiritual gifts, spiritual growth, overcoming temptation, sharing your faith, and growing in holiness. There are books on marriage, books for men, books for women, books on the family, raising children, overcoming an addiction, forgiving others, spiritual warfare, singleness, sex, health, the purpose-driven life, and the end times, to name only a few. To us the Christian life is all about these different categories. But the Creed takes the whole Christian life and boils it down to this one essential thing: "I believe in...the forgiveness of sins." As if to say, "If your sins are forgiven, everything else is just details. And if your sins are not forgiven, nothing else really matters."" page 180

...the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

"Truth matters. That's why we need to come back to the Apostles' Creed. I know we live in an anti-intellectual age, but truth matters. I realize that in the evangelical movement we have elevated personal experience almost to the level of Scripture itself, but truth matters.

Truth towers over our personal experience and stands in judgment over our personal opinions." page 208

Negative Attitudes About Homeschooling

2006-03-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty lucky so far in our homeschooling adventure. I haven't come across many negative attitudes or comments from people I've come in contact with. Maybe it's because we live in a small, rural area and a pretty conservative section of our state. I'm sure homeschoolers in Western Washington State, where the demographics are predominantly liberal, deal with this on a more regular basis.

But now that I've put myself out there on Club Mom as a Christian, homeschooling Mom, I know that I will have contact from a much more varied group of people than my own circle of family, friends, and acquaintances.

I found this comment on my article, Why We Homeschool, today:

Any mother who thinks that she can effectively teach her children their math and reading without losing the mom factor is deluding herself. With very few exceptions, home schooled kids are not able to keep up once they hit the real world. And when the kids have exceeded the mother's knowledge base, they can't function in real schools as suddenly they are expected to sit still for a period of time and do what the teacher requests.

Can I just say....Aaarrgh! (Warning: rant coming!)

This irks me in so many different ways. First of all, when we teach our babies to talk and walk and know colors and how to interact with people, do we lose the "mom factor"? I think not. That's primarily what being a mom is! So why should that change when it comes to reading, writing, and arithmetic?

Then, she says this: "With very few exceptions, home schooled kids are not able to keep up once they hit the real world." What is she basing this on? The main-stream media's portrayal of homeschoolers as anti-social, overly-weird individuals who can't cope in society? She is definitely not basing it on any of the valid studies that have been done recently that show that homeschool graduates excel in college, the business world, and as responsible citizens who volunteer and vote at a much higher rate than their public-schooled counterparts.

Lastly, why would my kids have to ever exceed my knowledge base? I'm a college-educated individual, and even if I wasn't, I'm fully capable of learning anything my kids need me to teach them. As are any parents who desire to home educate their children.

I'm going to choose to ignore this comment and let my articles speak for themselves. And one of my topics for next month will address this issue of homeschool graduates and how they "cope" in the "real world." But I had to rant somewhere, so here it is. I know with most of you I'm "preaching to the choir," but I feel much better for having gotten it all out instead of walking around all day sputtering, "But, but, but...how dare she!"