Ah, yes...the first day of spring in northern Illinois. It's a classic.
So, Shani-Girl, looking forward to having you "up here!" (Don't worry, it's already completely melted away and we're back in the upper 40's to low 50's for the highs this week!)
Today was fun for me and Nathan. Both he and Bryan have an assignment for their English Comp. class that requires them to write a paper about their chosen career. The prof. told them to find someone in that career field and interview them. For Nathan, it's engineering.
We have a friend from our church (a homeschool dad) who is an engineer and works at Argonne National Laboratory. So Nathan and I headed out there for lunch with him and Nathan got to ask him lots of Q's about engineering.
Nathan's not sure exactly what field of engineering he'll enter, but knows he loves math, sciecnce, tecnology, and design of intricate gadgets. So engineering seems a safe pick!
Unfortunately, his body is fighting him a bit this week; he's an insulin-dependent diabetic, has been since the age of 4. For much of this year, he's been feeling great. But the last few weeks have just been tough. He's more tired and that makes his school workload harder to handle. The "spring ahead" time change was rough, losing that hour of sleep. Anyway, he's sleeping now (middle of the day), and I'm praying that he will wake refreshed and feeling better. I'm really glad he felt well to do the interview with our friend!
Hope you have a blessed week!
(My friend Tina at HSB "Solid Rock" started "Quiet Moments." This is from my "Homeschooling Through High School" article series, published at HSB's Company Front Porch blog.)
This week's entry honoring National Women's History Month is a bit of an extension of my last month's writings. We've been talking about developing our emerging adults' (our high schoolers') "saltiness." I began to think of the many wonderful young ladies in our circle of family friends whom I've come to know and love over the last 6 or 7 years. These young ladies are being carefully and intentionally raised for the Lord, and to esteem the role of wife and mother, and I am so grateful to their parents! (I have two sons, you know....)
At the same time, I know that among homeschoolers, in my close circle of friends and abroad, there are many strong opinions about what is "best" for these homeschooled daughters. I have personally heard both ends of this spectrum, plus everything in the middle:
"My daughter will stay at home, under the protection of her father, and will serve God by serving her father and our family until He brings a husband to her in His perfect time."
"My daughter is going to college to get her degree and plan for a career; if God brings a husband to her, and she then decides to be a full-time wife and mother, that's wonderful...but she will finish her education and have that degree."
I tell you what, this is one hot debate. I won't "weigh in" here, at least not directly. I see incredible validity in both points. I see serious potential problems in both points.
What I will say is this, and I've said it before in my "Engage!" article series: these children are given to us by God to raise for Him for a season...and then, to give them back. Back to Him. Serving our daddies and our families as young adults is good. It's valid. It's worthwhile. Praise God for the daddies who are guarding their young adult daughters hearts from unworthy guys who would prey upon their beauty and innocence!
But here's something to think about: as these young women (and how about the daughters at home who are nearing their 25th or 30th birthdays, and to whom God has not yet brought a husband?) grow and mature, are we giving them back to Him? Are they daily seeking God's direction for these years of unbridled time and physical energy, when they are not yet bound in childrearing and homemaking? (Do NOT get me wrong...it's a GOOD thing to be bound to!)
My thoughts turned to such questions this week as I finished yet another enjoyable read from the YWAM Publishing Series, "Christian Heroes Then & Now." These are quick and easy reads, but not without impact. I have read, among others, these biographies (all descriptions are taken directly from YWAM Publishing's webpages for each book):
As I read these wonderful books, the over-arching message stood out in stark relief: God called these brave young women into HIS service. These were young women who were listening for His call. By obeying Him, they were able to do nothing short of miraculous feats through the power of Jesus Christ.
Even if your daughter's deepest heart's desire is to become a wife and mother (just like me!), I highly recommend that she becomes familiar with some of these remarkable women of faith. God may have His eye on your young adult daughter to do a remarkable work for His service, like one of the women from the YWAM Publishers series. He may want her to volunteer her time in a soup kitchen, or assist a Christian magazine publisher like "Above Rubies" for His glory.
Speaking of Above Rubies, its founder, Nancy Campbell, is a modern-day pioneer of the faith! You can learn more about her story in a series of 3 short videos, HERE. In the second video clip, Nancy mentions the overwhelming office-work load of the ministry. Did you know that Above Rubies offers graduated homeschooled young women a 2-month missions opportunity in Tennessee to help them with their magazine and web tasks? They call them "Rubies' Girls." After you've watched the videos, if you want more information, click HERE and scroll down to "Volunteer Opportunities."
The high school years need to be a time of training for many things, but most importantly for seeking God's will and listening for His voice, and being prepared to answer His call with, "Here am I, send me."
May God Bless you and your homeschool this week!
~Lori
To join the fun, visit Carol's blog at Three Little Ladies , and link us all to your post! Be sure to leave a comment here so I can visit your blog, too!
This has been a "blue" week for me. Not uncommon for the first week of March in Illinois...it's just the tedium taking its toll. Spring Break is not far off!
Foreign Language: Nathan's German professor wants to nominate him for a scholarship to a foreign language camp (total immersion method...everything is done in German) in Northern Minnesota this summer...we are delighted that she is so encouraging and she's given me much good feedback about how well he's doing. Given that it's a college course and he's 16, it's quite a compliment. But we won't send him there...for the same reason we don't send him to public school. That said, they DO have a family camp up there that we may look into. It's also peaked my interest in just going to Germany for 2 weeks...now THAT'S total immersion, LOL! I have relatives in Hamburg who have issued an "open door" invitation to us, so we could stay with them and ask them to speak nothing but German to us unless we have an emergency or it's just too inconvenient. Hmmm, I'll have to pray about what to do.
Bryan continues to do well with his Spanish lessons; we will be travelling to Mexico this summer, so he'll have his "immersion" experience then!
Farm Work: None this week. I have to try and find 12 hours that Bryan can work this month...it's going to be tough.
Social Studies: Economics is going well, but they fell a week behind with it. Now the econ tests are falling on the same day as their chemistry tests...NOT GOOD. I told them that they'll have to deal with it for a couple weeks, and then they can try to catch up during Spring Break (we have a long road trip, so many hours in the car). If they get caught up, that's perfect. If not, we'll back up one more week so the tests don't fall on the same day, and they'll have to complete it in June (bummer).
Nathan is behind again with a few of his College Plus! Prep assignments (it's an extra-credit type thing, not part of the original plan for this year...so it's not unusual for him to fall behind when other classes get really heavy). On Monday they'll begin the dynamic memory and speed-reading course section, so we decided to skip the stuff he hasn't finished yet (from critical thinking) and just move on with the group into speed reading. It'll help, later on, with finishing up the critical thinking! He will, at the end of the course, take the CLEP test for English Lit...if he passes it, he'll get college credit for it, and, combined with the English Comp. course he's taking this semester at the college (Bryan is taking it, too), his college English requirements (for the Gen. Ed. portion of a B.S. degree) will be finished. I sure hope he can pass the CLEP test!
Science: Online Chemistry (Apologia Academy ) lecture was on Tuesday, and the boys have their chapter test to take today (Saturday) by 11:59pm. They had a major lab report due this past week, too, so it's been a busy one.
Math: Unfortunately, math has been "spotty" in terms of getting done this week. I think they did math 3 days out of the 5, due to having 2 exams, the major chem lab report, and their play review paper due in English Comp. That changes BIG TIME next week!
Bible: We've begun our semester-long intensive study of the book of Hebrews. This is going to be good!
Music: Bryan's piano lessons are going really well! We're also praciticing with the church choir again, which is so much fun!
Homekeeping/Family: Again, I'm in the winter-blues. I've not been too great of a housekeeper this week! I did get through some stacks of papers and throw out a lot. Oh, and I re-did our wedding photo album, as the original album cover started sloughing off what looks like paint...it was sticking to everything it touched, and ruined a corner of our wood shelves and a photo album cover that was next to it. Wierd.
I'll be taking the boys out today to the place where they do Airsoft wars with their buddies from church and homeschool support group. I'm sure they'll be covered in mud when they're done...it's in the 40's and all the snow is melting. The laundry room tub awaits us!!!
May God Bless you this coming week! Let me know you were here, and be sure to visit Carol at Three Little Ladies!
Teens...you gotta love 'em. Bryan's volunteer work at Kline Creek Farm sees him doing all sorts of neat stuff; one of the coolest jobs is ice-harvesting. Usually it's frigid cold out when they do this job, but this year it was a bit warmer than usual, so, although the ice was sold, it was in a lot of melt-water. Here's a picture of Bryan:
Good Grief!!! Did this kid relish the idea of taking a bath in ice cold water???
Ahhhh, Youth. You gotta love 'em.
OK, OK...now the moment of truth. Be honest...did you believe that last picture was real? I did when I first saw it! Then I read the email that accompanied it, and learned that Chris was fooling around with PhotoShop software. First, I felt relieved that Bryan was not that foolish! Then I felt foolish!
Needless to say, Bryan LOVES this picture. I'm thinking of having it enlarged and framed for him. That should make a nice Christmas gift if I can hide it from him for that long!
Leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by today, and let me know if you fell for that last photo like I did! (I'm desperate for company on this one!)
Have a blessed day!
