How to Gain Wisdom

The Bible tells us God is willing to give us wisdom.

5 If you need wisdom -- if you want to know what God wants you to do -- ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking.  6 But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.   James 1:5-6 New Living Translation

Do you have a question?  Do you have a dilemma running through your mind?  What do you do about it?  Do you turn to your friends?  Or do you turn the internet for solutions to your problems?

The Bible, particularly in the book of James, lets us know that if we need a deeper understanding of anything, we can turn to God.  We can go to Him for anything, and that includes wisdom.  He is ready to tell us anything we want or need to know.  God will not be upset at us for asking for wisdom.

Isn't it awesome!  We can ask God for help in understanding how to proceed in any given situation.  That's why so many people turn to God before setting forth on a new venture.  I think that's a wonderful idea; however, we must believe that He will deliver.  The warning is clear: A doubtful mind is compared to the sea waves which are tossed to and fro by the wind.

Today, let's take the time to ask God for help in our decision-making.  He will not fail us.  Let's have the deep faith in Him to help us when we need knowledge before acting on limited information.  Only then, can we move forward in our everyday decisions.   Well, thanks for reading today's blog entry about asking God for wisdom.  I appreciate you taking the time to read it.

 How about you, my readers?  Have you turned to God for wisdom?  Have you asked Him with unwavering faith?  I hope you will turn to God for help with your problems.  Go to Him today and ask for His help to solve your problems.  I promise you that He will listen and tell you what He thinks is best for your situation.

 God bless you all, my dear friends, with His wisdom and peace.  In Jesus' name.  Amen!
This has been an entry for the Spiritual Sundays series. 

To compile this mini- bible study, I visited: http://www.biblestudytools.com/

Necessary Ingredients for a Successful Homeschool

My oldest child used a computer to learn--more than 10 years ago.

I still remember how I came to the decision to homeschool.  I had a friend who suggested I homeschool.  I had already done my stint at teaching in a public school.  I had decided after I gave birth to my first child, I would not be returning to work.  Since I had some background in teaching, I felt I had an advantage.

Once my oldest was of age to start learning academically, I began buying workbooks and educational software from Walmart and KMart.  Then, when we took in my tween-aged nephew, I had to think of more definitive curriculum.  That's when I turned to the following to help me decide what to use:

  

1. God - If there is anyone who can help with the decision to homeschool, it would be God.  Praying to God to see if that is His will in your life would be a great start.  God will truly bless your venture into homeschooling.  He will also provide the resources and people you will need along the way.

   

2. Spouse - Next, if the idea for homeschooling did not come from your significant other, now is the perfect time to approach him/her.  Having this person's approval and support can help you when needing to make decisions.  After all, this other person might be providing financially to the homeschooling adventure.  It's great to have the other person to bounce off ideas when there are challenges in the homeschooling.

3. Laws of the state - You have to be informed of what is required as far as content of learning material.  Some states are more lenient than others.  For some states, you need an umbrella school.  For some states, you need to keep a portfolio.  For other states, your children might need to take some tests.  For more information you can visit HSLDA, Home School Legal Defense Association.

4. Support - This is one of the most important ingredients to having a successful homeschool.  I have experienced both local and virtual support.  I am very fond of the friends I have gained over the years.  Many of them have helped me in my homeschooling journey by listening to my challenges and providing suggestions on what to do. 

5. Internet - Through the internet, you can meet others who homeschool.  You can research for methods of how to teach and learning styles of your children.  You can compare learning material.  You can also buy material at a cheaper price.

6. Calendar - You need to consider whether you need to teach for a specific number of days during a school calendar.  You might be able to homeschool year round, too.  It all depends on your state.  I like to homeschool year round because it gives me more time to fit in the learning.

7. Guts - Homeschooling is not for the "faint of heart."  You need to have tough skin because there are critics who will question your homeschooling.  Are your kids socializing?  Are they doing as well as public school kids?

8. Money - Yes, you do need enough money to pay for your material.  There are ways, though, in which you can homeschool on the cheap.  I'm telling you that I've cut corners.  You don't always have to buy the most expensive material out there.

9. Curriculum - What do you need to teach?  Math, reading, language arts, history.  You can find the books, workbooks, software, and hands on material online, through friends, book swaps, and even yard sales.  Believe me; that's how I've done it for more than ten years.

10. Learning - You have to be savvy, yes, when it comes to homeschooling.  More than anything, you need to love to learn.  Sometimes, I've learned new concepts about teaching and learning.  Sometimes, I've learned material I didn't know.  Sometimes, I have learned through others who are veterans at homeschooling.

Remember this: If you enlist God in your homeschooling journey, He will provide everything you need.  It's up to you to take action.  Do the research and seek out the people you want to emulate.  Just know that none of us are perfect.  We veteran homeschooling parents are simply trying our best.

Well, thanks for reading this entry.  I hope I've given an idea of the thought process behind my decision to homeschool.  I hope this list helps those of you still holding out on whether to homeschool. 

How about you, my readers?  For those of you who homeschool, how did you arrive at your decision to homeschool?  For those of you considering homeschooling, what is holding you back?  Have you researched the pros and cons of homeschooling?  I ask that those of you who are homeschooling please provide your comments and advice.  You never know how helpful you might be.  

 

I pray that God helps us all, whether we are homeschooling or are thinking of homeschooling.

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace, as you teach your children.

This has been an entry for Thorough Thursdays.  Hope you liked it.

Decisions About My Diet

Diet help is a book on my shelf-- I decide to use it.

I am making important decisions to my diet.

There are habits I need to drop and some I need to add.  Years ago, I heard Dr. Phil say that in order to lose one habit, you must replace it with a positive one.  I want to get away from eating junk food which is convenient time-wise but harmful to the body in the long run.  Drinking caffeine gives a sudden energy lift, but I crash several times in the day.  That's why I am researching.

I want to get healthier.  Yes, I want to lose weight.  Yes, I want to be thin.  I just want to make sure to keep my mind focused on the right goal.  I don't want to starve myself to get there.

I want to reread some of the books that are already on my bookshelves.  To lose the initial 30 lbs., I used the tips in those books.  It's time for me to read them again.  I want to revisit books like: You, on a Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management by Michael F. Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D.   

 

I previously posted that I lost 30 lbs.  You might think this is a lot of weight, but I am not at a healthy weight, yet.  At my height of 5 feet  and 1 3/4 inches, 175 lbs. was too much.  I am now at about 140 lbs.  Since I am a woman, my optimum weight is about 117 lbs.  You see, 5 feet equals 100 lbs., plus 10 lbs. for the 1 full inch, and 7.5 lbs. for the 3/4 of an inch.

I could lose up to 23 lbs. for my petite frame.  Of course I may never get there or stay there, if I ever reach that weight.  I would be happy to weigh 127 lbs.  That means that 140 lbs. minus 127 equals 13 lbs. to lose.  That is doable!

My goal could be to lose one to two pounds per week.  Of course, I am tweaking my food plan.  I also need to tone away the flabbiness.   My body needs to adjust to the changes in my diet.  Finally, I must find and use the new tips I find.

There are some things to consider.  It is not the number of pounds that is the main focus.  A healthy lifestyle is my aim.  I think that for a long time I had been depressed and did not care for myself.  I am reaping the results of that decision, and I want to reverse the damage.

How about you, my readers?  Do you own the book I mention?  Do you own any of books of the series by Dr. Oz and his colleague?  Have you ever watched his show?  I hope you do because the books have loads of useful information to help you get healthier.

God bless you all with His peace, my beloveds.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints that I discussed here are just my opinions.  Please consult your physician before altering anything relating to your health.  I am only suggesting here to take charge of your health.  Don't just leave your health in the hands of your doctors; become your own advocate.  You know best how your body is doing.

The Beginning of My Homeschooling Journey

Homeschooling was the best decision I ever made.

I am a mother who was (and remains) compelled to homeschool her children.  I can't say that there is one main reason for this decision.  There are many reasons why one would homeschool.  Some of the reasons include religious, medical, and physical reasons.  For me, homeschooling began because of several reasons and morphed into others.

What do I mean by that?  Well, you have to understand that I have a background in education.  I received my Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education.  Then, during my first year of teaching a fourth grade class, I realized many truths.  Those truths startled me into deciding to stay home with my first born baby.

For one, I heard that children were assaulting each other in the bathroom of the school where I was teaching.  Second, a big majority of the children in my own classroom were severely behind.  Third, the philosophies of how to teach children how to read varied every school year.  My biggest pet peeve was the big emphasis in teaching the children to pass the standardized testing.  I still don't know if it was due to me being a new teacher, but the administrators had all sorts of extra teachers coming in and out of my classroom. 

In the end, I felt like I was a mere baby-sitter to my students so I quit.  I felt that I wasn't earning my paycheck.  With these realizations, I eventually decided to take up the challenge from a friend to homeschool.  She had already decided to do it, even though she was of a different religion and not even college educated.  She had an asthmatic child and was afraid he would go without quick treatment should an emergency occur.  She also knew her own temperament, that if anyone "messed" with her kid, she would go ballistic. 

With that beginning, I had also to homeschool a nephew who had come to live with my family and me.  My mother, who had been his guardian, passed away.  I had decided that, as he was a child who had been in and out of the principal's office (due to his ADHD--hyperactivity and emotional problems--going back and forth between my mother and my sister, his birth mother), he needed time to heal his broken heart over the loss of his grandmother. I had envisioned me dragging my three children with me to every meeting due to his misbehavior at public school and I decided NO, I am not going through that, especially the psychiatrist's appointments for prescriptions to drug my nephew into submission.

Oh, the struggles I had with that boy!  He was a soon to be 13 year-old who would ride his bike in the streets often leaving my mother wondering where he was.  When he came to live with us, the only way he would listen up is if we shouted at him.  I hated that!  If I gave him work to do, he practically wanted me to hold his hand, wanting me to sit right next to him like the special education teachers did in the public school.

It was so frustrating!  It was even harder when he would give me the excuse that he needed his medication in order to attend to his work.  I told him that it was a crutch to depend on those medications.  Imagine what it was like to teach him how to write.  He would protest for many long minutes after which I would point out that he could have been writing all that time that he was protesting.

In the end, he did learn how to make a decent essay.  He was doing very well school-wise, but then he wanted to go live with his mother.  It was so sad to see him go, but I understood that he wanted to give it a shot at being with her.  I didn't get to teach him about how to budget his money or other life skills.  To be honest, he did not go on to finish high school.

He did attempt to go to high school at one point.  One English teacher was impressed with his writing.  Well, at least that went well.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not mad at anyone for this failure.

I was disappointed that time ran out before I could finish educating my nephew.  That's why I have striven thus far to occasionally review what needs to be taught to my children.  I have recently dug out a checklist of skills to be learned by every child, not just homeschooled children.  I will be looking at it closely to check off those skills already learned.  I will then focus on the ones yet to be acquired.

I hope to make my next blog about What I Want My Children to Attain.  Please tune in to that tomorrow.

Thanks for reading, friends and family.

My peace I extend to you all, my beloveds.