Summer 2007

The summer of 2006, with the exception of our family trip to the beach, was a complete disaster. I was new to being a mom of three. My sons were new to almost every experience they had. They needed more structure, something I don't particularly enjoy in the summer and didn't implement as needed. They couldn't understand that because we didn't go to the pool one day did not mean they would never go again. Their responses to not getting their way (as well as my response to their responses) made a house full of noise, disorder, and unhappiness. A lot of cleaning was left undone. We had to do a lot of fixing things they broke normal repairs.

We lived in chaos, trying to have fun together, but disappointingly, in the end , we were all overjoyed about school starting, except for my daughter who was content, even happy, to be at home by my side.

This school year, we have come a long way. We understand each other better. We have learned about ourselves. God has taught us about Himself. I do not want to go back to last summer.

This summer, I am determined to have a game plan. A friend wisely recommended that I make a few goals for the summer, and then order my summer around accomplishing those goals. She also suggested that I give more structure to my son who needs it, and more freedom to the ones who don't, while still accomplishing those goals. For example, one son may need a schedule for his day. My other son may need to know what must be accomplished by week's end, but I can leave him to figure out how to accomplish that.

With this in mind, here are my goals for the summer, in no particular order:

1. Read some books together. My goal is to read seven or eight books together, and then the children will have some reading to do on their own. Our current book list includes Shanghaied to China (a Trailblazer fictional story that shares part of the true story of Hudson Taylor), Spy for the Night Riders (another Trailblazer book, this time involving Martin Luther), Traitor in the Tower (A Trailblazer book involving about John Bunyan), a biography about Walt Disney, a biography about Betsy Ross, The Call of the Wild, and Little House on the Prairie.

2. Work on math skills. There are a number of reasons for this, but the main one is that my son will hopefully be in a different school next year with a tougher math curriculum, and thus he needs some help catching up to others in his grade.

3. Physical Exercise. My boys NEED this, my daughter loves it, and I could certainly do with some as well. To this end, we will be spending time outdoors and participating in some summer half day camps as well as swimming.

4. Household Chores/Projects. Being part of a family means pitching in to be good stewards of what God has given us. Also, we need to teach our children how to do certain jobs for the time when they eventually move out of our homes. Thus, this summer, we'll be doing some regular chores and some special projects around the house.

5. Cooking. My children all want to help in the kitchen. Honestly, this is often difficult during the school year. I want to take the time to teach them how to cook some things this summer. I haven't decided if this will mean one night a week per child or several nights a week with all the kids.

6. Scripture Memory. I will be memorizing trying to memorize the book of Philippians this summer. I would like my kids to memorize part of it. I am still trying to decide which part, but it will probably be the second chapter. In any case, their minds soak up so much information it should be a piece of cake to them, right?

7. Time with extended family/Fun. Summer also provides us with extra time to spend with out of town grandparents and other family members, and we would like to do some of that as well as create some fun family memories.

8. Catechism/Daily Bible reading. Last summer, we worked on a catechism but once school and thus, AWANA started, we fell out of that habit. We will be picking that up again. Also, now that all the kids can read independently to some degree, I want them to be in that habit of daily spending time in the Word.

Given camps, VBS, time away with relatives, etc., it will be hard to have a firm schedule for the summer, so at the moment I am thinking a weekly one will work better.

What are some things that have worked for your family during the summer? I would love to read your ideas on this subject.

Sunday Scripture

Praise the LORD, all nations!

Extol him, all peoples!

For great is his steadfast love toward us,

and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.

Praise the LORD!

Psalm 117

Teaching a Boy to Fish

A couple of weeks ago, I went to our state's nature center with my oldest son. We were on a field trip to a destination that his teacher had never before taken kids to see. I was delighted that we were doing something other than going to the zoo for the umpteenth time as most of the other classes were doing.

I think his teacher was as surprised as I was when we heard that one of the activities was going to be fishing. Mind you, we were with a bunch of eight and nine year olds. As we were being led in this, our wildlife instructor told the kids to hold their poles and hooks in a certain fashion and then gave examples of people who didn't listen and got hooks barbed in them. All I could think about, at least rationally, was the legal liability, but inside I was secretly feeling pleasure. Almost everything is sanitized these days, and I was glad my Boy would have an opportunity to do something basic, something that has been done for thousands of years.

My son had never been fishing before. This is partly because he hasn't been home that long, and partly because his father would rather sit inside and read a book or blog on the computer. My hubby, who is a wonderful gift from God, killed all the romantic spirit of one of our early dates when he refused to sit out and look at the stars with me on his Papaw's farm. The road was gravel, and he "might get dirt on his jeans."

Anyway, back to the fishing. As a child, my uncles took me fishing, but my father (like my husband) would rather figure out a gadget inside the house than get dirty outside the house. His one exception to this was his pride in having a beautiful yard. And, after all, he could always go buy fish if he wanted some to eat.

For me, memories of fishing are reminders of easier days when, as a child, all I cared about was getting a fish to bite, not how am I going to pay for something or how are we going to reach our children's hearts about a sin habit they have or whether or not the mass they found might be cancerous.

No, fishing was relaxing...sun and sparkling, splashing water, proving that girls could bait their own hooks, and getting a little muddy without caring. It had been a long (as in at least a decade) time since I had done that. I was excited about passing on the bug to my son. After all, his father and grandfathers weren't carrying on the tradition the way my husband's grandfather and my uncles had done for us. Some of you may have heard about catching fish with dynamite--you just didn't know that it started with my husband's grandpa. My uncles, on the other hand, were purists who spent vacations fly fishing in Oklahoma and Arkansas, or in the salty waters of the gulf. Nothing tasted better than our own fish caught and cleaned at the beach, then fried up that night.

The Boy was wildly excited, giddy with happiness, bouncing with sheer joy at the thought of catching a fish.

And then...

The worms. They. Freaked. Him. Out.

Here he was, with his peers, who mostly were handling it, with his teacher, who caught more than anyone, and with me, who showed him how to do it the first time around. The second time, it was his turn. I knew the feeling he would get after successfully baiting his hook. I had had that same feeling before.

I eagerly awaited his expression.

We never got there.

He picked the worm up (f..i..n..a..l..l..y) and screaming, dropped it to the ground. It almost escaped, but mom deftly caught it and once again baited the hook.

The next time, I told the Boy he must do it. After watching him almost lose the whole container of worms (provied for usage by many people), and seeing him fuss for a few seconds, I gave in.

And then I got the greatest pleasure, because he who baits, fishes. Or in this case, she.

And so, even though he enjoyed fishing when he got the rod back from Mama, I think I enjoyed the experience even more.

Oh, yeah...he did manage to catch one himself! Triumph.

And the next time he fishes? Well, it's coming up soon, and Mama won't be around!

Friday Photo

Saturday is Grandma's birthday! We love you Grandma!

Thursday's Thoughtful Lyrics: There You Go

There You Go

Is this the strange feeling
Of you working all to good
'Cause I am so confused
I don't even ask for what I should

When I asked for and deserved a stone
You broke and gave your body as bread
And even the stone that dropped down and rolled away
Spoke of the one who bled

There you go working good from my bad
There you go making robes from my rags
There you go melting crowns from my calves
There you go working good of all I have
Till all I have's not that bad

When I asked for and deserved a serpent
You gave a net full of fish
And even the serpent that told the lie
When lifted high foretold the gift

For you so loved the unlovable
That you gave the ineffable
That who so believes the unbelievable
Will gain the unattainable

This song, put out by Caedmon's Call a number of years ago, remains one of my favorites. I don't own many CDs put out by Caedmon's Call and can't speak to what they do now, but I loved this CD and still enjoy listening to this song.

Unfortunately, half the time that I listen to "Christian" music, I think to myself that while the song may not necessarily be bad, there is nothing overtly Christian about it. Sometimes it seems that to be a musician in the genre of Christian music, you don't have to be familiar with the Scriptures, you just have to sing wholesome songs. That is one reason why I still listen to some older music, such as Rich Mullins or Keith Green or Scott Wesley Brown.

Pathlight is Online

Just a quick post to tell all of you about an exciting new adventure my hubby and I are embarking on today. We are the new owners of Pathlight, an online Christian bookstore.

We both love books, and are excited about this opportunity to be involved in the book business. I purchased a few titles from my own store this week, and was able to get several missionary biographies to read with the kids this summer for a slightly lower cost than Amazon offered. They were from the Trailblazer Books series, by the way, and have been highly recommended to me. I can't wait to get into them soon!

Since I am a SAHM, hubby and I thought this would be an exciting way to generate some extra income. I wouldn't ask anyone to purchase items they didn't already need/want, but if you're considering purchasing a Bible, or a Christian book, CD, or DVD, please check us out and give us a try. Our website is http://www.pathlightstore.com/.