Summer School | Goals

Working through more of our weekly curriculum, I realized it would be good to lay down some goals for our summer for reference later. Most of what we are doing this summer is in preparation for the Fall. Getting in the habit now of planning weekly lessons, as well as working these activities into our daily schedule is one of the major goals I have with this summer adventure.

Most of the following goals are meant to foster learning in areas that Miss J is already showing interest naturally:

1. Character Traits (Fruit of the Spirit)

• Basic understanding of concepts 
• Memorize Galatians 5:22-23 (and maybe a couple other verses too like John 3:16)
• Ability to connect the concept to what it looks like in real life, for example:
• Patience: waiting for mommy to finish feeding Miss M, before getting a snack without yelling, demanding, etc.
• Gentleness: playing carefully with Miss M, not hitting or being rough
• Kindness: sharing toys with friends 
• Love/Peace: saying "I'm sorry" when you have hurt someone

2. Letter Sounds 

• Miss J already knows the ABCs and quite a few of the sounds. As a pre-cursor to reading, I want to focus more specifically on letter sounds beginning with the most frequently used. We will also include some daily reading lessons in a limited capacity depending on how she connects with the material. 

3. Numbers 

• Miss J already has a good handle on numbers 1-15, both visual recognition and counting. For summer, we want to work on counting to 20 along with the ability to recognize the numbers when not saying them in order. 

Summer School | The Fruit of the Spirit

We kicked off our summer preschool curriculum this week...well, I am calling it our curriculum, but really it is a lot of fun activities to drive home some basics in building character in Miss J. I feel like most often we are in behavior management mode, trying to get her to act a certain way when the real problem is heart change and we want this summer to be more focused on pointing her little heart to God. Do we want a child that behaves appropriately, is polite, and plays well with her sister and others? Absolutely! But just like me, as an adult, it will take heart change to build a solid foundation for good behavior to thrive. Enter the Fruit of the Spirit.

Source: beautifullyrooted.com via Amanda H. on Pinterest

Now, it's pretty clear to me that Miss J will not be able to exhibit all of these qualities from the heart because as the verses allude, they are gifts from God...it's the Spirit working inside us that allows all of us to produce this fruit. BUT, what I am hoping for is the opportunity with each week to present her need for a Savior. My hope is that with each Fruit we talk about, I am able to present all or part of The Gospel to her...and that a seed is planted in that little heart of hers. Because, seriously...I don't want to raise some drone of a child who just does what I say out of fear/behavior modification/consequences. I want to raise a daughter of the King who is going to change the world because of her love of Christ! Yep...so those foundations need to be built now, while her heart is pliable and open for me to help direct the course. I am praying for big things for her!! (And truth be told, it wouldn't hurt for me to be reminded of these as well! ha!)

In addition to the spiritual lessons each week, we will also be throwing in some regular preschool activities related to reading, writing, and math. It's never a bad thing to work on fine and gross motor skills...and since my girl looooooooves to get her craft on, there will be plenty of that as well!

Week 1 | Introduction

Verse Introduction | Wall Chart and Coloring/Painting Page

Lessons | Used these links for wordings or examples about good fruit/bad fruit and what each character trait means.
Known by Our Fruit -- Object Lesson
General overview of the Fruit of the Spirit (great wording for each week's lessons for individual fruit)

Song | Fruit of the Spirit by Go Fish Guys


Craft | 
Paint fruit and basket. Miss J glues fruit to basket. Printables here.
Coloring Pages - Printables here.
    


Activities | 
Fruit matching game - Fruit Pictures here -- Laminate and use for game.
Letter Sounds - Letter F

Reading Readiness - What is Different? Picture Matching
Pre-Printing Skills - Practice Tracing Lines



Praise System | Fruit of the Spirit Tree

While I don't want this to be about behavior modification, learning to identify the "fruits" (aka character traits) by her behavior will be important for laying this foundation. The Fruit of the Spirit Tree will be used as a way to praise Miss J when my husband or I see her exhibiting one of these traits. For example, when she shares a toy with her sister, she can hang the Kindness fruit on the tree. When she waits her turn for something without complaining or yelling, she can hang the Patience fruit on the tree and so on and so forth.  My hope is that she will be able to put together what each quality looks like in life rather than just a word on the page and it will begin to click.

Grace

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
2 Corinthians 12:9

The idea that power comes from weakness seems so impossible. The world I live in promotes strength and having it all together -- don't show weakness or you will get eaten alive, or people will judge you, or choose to not associate with you because of it. We wear a mask of strength to keep others at arms length -- pride wants to hold us in this pattern believing that whatever imperfections we see in ourselves can be taken care of by us as well. We strive to keep up appearances before God and others...all the while forgetting...

His grace is sufficient...

Right here, right now if I stop and embrace the fact that I don't have it all together and invite Him in, it is only then that I am able to be real.I need the reminder that my inadequacies should draw me closer to Jesus rather than inward into my own little prideful hole.  Self-sufficiency...the "I can do this alone" mentality will always keep me from experiencing His presence and blessings fully.

Dependence on God first and foremost is the key to living an abundant life with less stress and ultimately better inter-personal relationships. I can't rely on myself...to grow spiritually, to make people like me, to have a great marriage, to love others (friends & enemies). I have to lean into Him and the more I do this, the more it will become second nature.

Seven

Recently, I have found some time to re-visit an old love of mine...reading!! It has been so marvelous and I am thankful each book has been both engaging and entertaining.There is one though that has made a larger impact than I expected. 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess has challenged me to think even more deeply about some of the issues I set out to tackle this year. I can't NOT do something with what I have read now, but I feel stuck now on how to proceed.

The problem with this kind of a book is that it can be hard to process alone. And it can also be hard to process without jumping in at some point and making some big or small changes in life. As I have thought through how some of these ideas fit into our family and our little world, I have struggled with where to begin. I love how the challenges presented can be tweaked and changed according to what God is teaching an individual personally...but what I really love is how the author had a support group of people who were walking through some of the same challenges. I would love my husband to read this with me...so we could make a plan together with how to walk through some of this. But at this point, I at least feel like I need to read through it again...but maybe more slowly and as I finish each chapter to right down some of the ideas I have about how to incorporate more time for God and family and less striving to keep up with the world.

If you are looking to be challenged and to think differently about greed, materialism, and overindulgence and how it affects us as individuals and families, I highly recommend picking this one up. 

5 out of 5 Stars

In the Morning...

Psalm 5:3
In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice;
   in the morning I lay my requests before you
   and wait expectantly.

 Psalm 59:16
But I will sing of your strength,
   in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
   my refuge in times of trouble.

Psalm 90:14
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
   that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Psalm 143:8
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
   for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
   for to you I entrust my life.

Lamentations 3:22-23
It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.  They are new every morning:
great is thy faithfulness.

twelve :: thirty days of thanks :: coffee, challenges, and community

Every Saturday morning, I get up and head to Starbucks to meet up with a fabulous little group of women. Surprisingly, I love this time! I look forward to talking with them to catch up, to sharing prayer requests, , and to challenging and encouraging one another in areas that we need to improve. There is a level of respect and trust that I haven't had in a small group in a long time -- the realness of these women is contagious. What's equally amazing is the fact that I have made it this far into the study. You see, I have attempted this study with other groups three or four other times and never made it past a certain point and definitely never made it to the second semester, which is where all the application is to be learned! But I've made it this time, and it's because of the community I have found with these couple of ladies.



I have also finally enjoyed some of the material...I think it took a couple years for me to get to the point of taking the idea of Biblical Womanhood seriously -- and to let down my walls so I might actually listen and take a few things to heart. The past two week's lessons have been on Depravity. The idea that we are not just a product of our environment where outside forces beyond our control have made us who we are and the reason for our bad choices, but that, in fact, we are broken because of our sin nature...we are not as God intended us to be. We hide behind masks of education, beauty, personality, etc to hide this depravity rather than going straight to God and dealing with it directly. It is only through our relationship with God through Jesus Christ that we can begin the journey to becoming less broken and more like what God intended. This isn't just women either, men struggle with their own battlefields and we have the power to either help or hinder them.

This week, our little group set forth a challenge relating to this idea. One of our struggles is to take control of everything around us -- everything has to be our way and we find ourselves focusing on the negative most often. Because we don't want to hinder the men in our lives, we are recognizing that there are many times when we need to just "shut it." ;) Our way isn't always the best way and the need to control everything does nothing in the way of helping, but instead creates more tension and stirs up more problems. With this in mind, I asked the question, "what would it look like if we didn't focus on the negative, but only shared praise for the good things we saw happening...how might that change the atmosphere in our homes?" And so this week's challenge was born. Pray the Negative, Praise the Positive.

What does that mean exactly? Well, for us, that means when there is something that bothers us or when we feel the need to control a situation, we will choose to walk away, pray first and keep our mouths shut. But when we are encouraged by something our husbands, co-workers, or friends have done, we will choose to praise them with thanks and appreciation for what they are doing. Why do we want to do this? We believe we have the power to change the atmosphere of our home to be a sanctuary for our families rather than Nag Central. :)

So I am thankful today...for these ladies...for this Bible study material...for being challenged. I'm looking forward to seeing how next semester plays out!

PS: If you are interested to hear more about this, I highly encourage you to check out the whole series...but specifically Weeks Seven and Eight if you want to dig more into this idea of Depravity.

Blessings

"What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life

 is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy?
 What if trials in this life are your mercies in disguise?" ~Blessings by Laura Story

Words

Let the words of my mouth 

and the meditation of my heart
   be acceptable in your sight,
   O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:14 (ESV)

This week's memory verse. Yes, I already know it (head knowledge) from many years of hearing it over and over, but I need to re-learn it and apply it (heart knowledge) in my everyday life. My words can bring life and they can bring pain so I need to submit them to God daily...in every moment. I need to be mindful of what I am going to say and how I am going to say it (tone) before it ever leaves my mouth, which means I need to actually think before I speak, and praying wouldn't hurt either if it is something important. ;) But it doesn't stop there, not only does this apply when speaking to others, but to myself. Self-talk, self-degradation, and internal mumblings can be just as destructive as anything that physically comes out of my mouth and they need to be committed to the Lord . May this sink in this week as I interact with others and in the quiet moments when I am alone and left to "think."

Humility Revisted Again...and Again

Over the course of 2011, I've been reading lots of things to keep the idea of Humility in front of me so as to not loose the vision of what I set out to learn this year. (Backstory, here). Occasionally, when I have put the thought in the backburner, something pops up out of nowhere to challenge my thinking. Today that happened as I was reading a devotional by Jen Hatmaker. It was another reminder...or should I say kick in the face that I haven't made much progress and I am still very far from embracing Humility fully or even partially.

So here's what she said:

When we operate from the central concern of being seen a certain way, we can't develop healthy relationships in the messy soil of reality -- the only place they'll grown. Presenting a perfect, fake life to others generates fear in our own hearts and intimidation in everyone else's and creates nice, fake relationships...Not only did Jesus NOT require perfection, those who pretended they'd attained it disgusted him.

Authenticity ranks terribly high on Jesus' list of required attributes. It's not how good we are that counts, but how truthful we are about how good we're not. Only then can Jesus get busy developing us into the redeemed daughters we already are in him.

Ahhh, yes...Authenticity. The very thing I want from other people, but I am unwilling to extend myself. I want to be real, but I am also distrustful of how other people will use the information I share. I shouldn't be trustful of Jesus though -- He already knows everything there is to know about me. I have so much to learn.

But it is a fight to become less...to lower oneself. Why? Pride. Ugh. I hate pride so much -- I hate seeing other people be prideful and when I realize I am exhibiting the exact same qualities and attitudes, I am even more disgusted. I would argue another key factor is culture. As much as I would like to say I am not influenced by culture, I know I am...and pride is one of the byproducts. We want to "be" something, receive notoriety, attain success, whatever that is, and/or be seen as something better than what we are...all the opposites of what Jesus humbly modeled for us me.

I know it is a little disjointed, but that is what I am ruminating on today...what are you learning these days? Feel like sharing?

Finding Purpose

Day number one of the 31 Days to Clean challenge kicked off with writing a mission statement...well, what was supposed to take a day, actually took me all week. I really needed to think this through before trying to put it into words. I'm also a little behind on the actual cleaning tasks now, but it was worth it to spend the extra time on this first heart task. (Not to mention, I have had a sick kiddo...which slowed some things down this week, too.)

You see, I struggled with the question of why I want a clean home and realized a mission statement for me needed to be a bit more broad. There are other things besides cleaning that I need to focus on like the emotional and spiritual health of my home and I wanted those included as well.

After jotting down some thoughts and then reading some of the other statements people wrote, I ended up with what I think is a very challenging and yet accomplishable mission statement. (A couple of phrases are based on others' statements because they said it so well and concisely - which I struggle with.) I also added verses to each of the sub-statements as a reminder of the Biblical foundation of what I am setting out to do.

my mission is to first spend each day pursuing God so that His character is reflected in my work and interactions (Matt. 6:33, James 4:8), and second, to attend to the needs of my family by intentionally creating and maintaining an organized and peaceful home (1 Cor. 14:33), working consistently at those things that need to be done every-single-day (Prov. 31:27, Prov. 14:1), building up my husband and children through encouragement and affirmation (Luke 6:45, Eph. 4:29, Prov. 31:26, Psalm 139:4), and slowing down so I can "be all there" -- giving each person and/or task the quality time they deserve (Psalm 39:6).

What will this require of me?? Discipline.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

Seriously, writing this mission statement out was painful...let alone, actually putting this stuff into practice. But, oh, how I want to experience the peace and the joy that comes from it. I want to know what it is like to not worry about what needs cleaned next so that I have more time to work on intentional activities with my girl...or that I can feel good about sitting on the couch and reading a book without that guilty feeling coming over me for the 5 tasks that I know need to be done.

And I don't want my life to be constantly run my a list...by a set of tasks. I want flexibility and I am learning that flexibility comes with discipline. Sigh. Maybe discipline should have been my word of the year instead of humility? :) Either way, I'm learning humility by even admitting that I don't have it all together and need to work on certain aspects of my homemaking and attitude.

So what is the answer? How do I live this mission statement out?

Part of the answer is new habits...the mission statement I have written down can only be accomplished if I create new habits. Accomplished effectively and consistently that is. And the first one has nothing to do with housework specifically, but about addressing and getting my heart right at the beginning of each day. If my focus begins with God, how can my day not go a little better? How can my attitude towards the needs of my family and the tasks of the day not shift to one of joy and service if I start my day laying down everything to Him? Oh, and did I mention, dying a little bit to self?? Yeah, that too...

Goal #1: Wake up early (before the baby), shower, and read my bible and journal.

The second part of living out my mission statement effectively, will be to keep it in front of me as a reminder. It is so easy to come up with an idea like this and then walk away from it, forgetting what you are setting out to do after a week or so. I am going to try to come up with some way creatively to display mine...I still don't know where to put it yet, maybe in my Home Management Notebook so that I look at it every day? That might work...

Finally, I think in order to live out this mission statement, I need to be open to critique. I need to allow my family to share if I am "too busy" and not giving them the time they need, or if I am "too busy" and not keeping up on the laundry, etc. I also want them to be able to share their ideas of how to make our home a more peaceful environment without getting defensive. Open communication and sharing -- checking in on what is working and what is not working.

Goal #2: Make an effort to regularly ask my family what I can work on and what is going well. How can I serve them better?

Do you think you would have better consistency in your homemaking if you had a mission statement to focus on? I encourage you...whether you are doing this challenge or not, consider writing a statement. What a great reminder to have to guide you through some of those mundane tasks of the day!

31 Days to Change My Heart

My Proverbs 31 study is kicking my ummm...hiney. :) And I am still only one verse in!! ha ha! I am struggling with  my goals -- albeit, doing better in some areas than others. While I know that change takes time, I am certain that is not my only issue. I could take all the time in the world to work on goals and habits, but if my heart doesn't truly understand why I am doing what I am doing then I will not succeed. You see, I started this new blog with a post entitled, Changing My Mindset, but what I truly need is a Change of Heart.

So while continuing my study of P31 little by little, I am adding another element. I have decided to take the Homemaker's Challenge in May using Sarah Mae's new ebook, 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way. I love how she addresses ideas related to cleaning and staying on task, but she is challenging us as homemakers, mothers, singles...women...to think about the heart behind that housework. Mae puts it best when she says,

"31 Days to Clean is about the “why,” the vision and the heart for taking care of our domains...[it] is a faith journey towards ruling, subduing, and loving. We are forgoing perfection; we are choosing life."

I've already peaked at the first week...and boy howdy! I am gonna be challenged -- not necessarily with the Martha stuff...but the Mary stuff all the way. sigh. Day one kicks off with asking the question, "Why do I want a clean home?" and then writing a mission statement based on the answers. What a great idea -- and a great reminder to look at when you are feeling icky about cleaning. Looking forward to not only a clean house after 31 days, but also a cleaner heart so to speak. :)

I'll be joining others and blogging weekly about progress, challenges, and tips for areas we already have a handle on. Do you want to join in? Sign up here today...and get a copy of the ebook now -- it's only $4.99 -- that's a pretty good deal in my opinion for something to challenge my thinking a bit. :)

Let me know if you're joining in the fun...err...challenge. ha ha! 

P31 -- What does she have to teach me?

Last week, I began digging deeper into the Proverbs 31 woman...I don't know why, but she was "calling my name" so to speak. Okay, I do know why...but I didn't really want to admit it when I first cracked open Proverbs to re-visit this little lady and all that she has to teach me!

I remember when I was in college, I did a study with some older women in my church on this elusive woman and while I had things to learn then, I think it was more prep work for what I am experiencing now that I am older. It would appear that marriage and becoming a mother are the current sharp chisels with which God is choosing to mold and shape me at this time in my life. Have I mentioned it is painful? Have I mentioned how much I am fighting it? Have I mentioned how much I want the change and I want to be different, but sometimes...sometimes, I just don't want to put the effort into it? Or more accurately, I don't want to allow God in to do some "clean up" in the most inner parts of my heart.

Yet, here I am...digging into the seemingly unattainable idea of the Proverbs 31 woman. The truth is, I don't really believe she is all that unattainable, but realistically,  it could take a lifetime to be molded and shaped into the picture I see in this passage.

So, I have embarked on a journey to study one verse a week or every other week depending on the lessons I am learning and how much work I need on my applications for said lessons. :) I am using various resources to help in my study including Beautiful in God's Eyes by Elizabeth George, who has done an excellent job of laying out some great applications that encourage me to get beyond my narrow focus based on past study.

Last week I started with verse 10:

"A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies."

In this one verse, the writer kicks it off talking about her CHARACTER and her VALUE. And I am pretty sure it is her character that determines her value. By the way, other translations use the phrase "virtuous woman" instead of wife because this doesn't necessarily only apply to those of us who are married, but also to women in general. I think there will be more to learn about her character in subsequent verses, but right off the bat we are talking about a woman who is morally excellent, upright, righteous, honorable, and honest. I am pretty sure she isn't a gossip, and doesn't nag or try to control her husband...she is probably full of grace and the most patient mother on the planet too!

And go figure, it is these things that make her so valuable...to the husband that finds her! You see, she is the "sparkling jewel in her husband's life!" (George, p.24) As another verse in Proverbs puts it, "She is not disgraceful. She is of noble character and is her husband's crown." (12:4) In a world that is desolate and full of grossness, I ,too, am "to supply beauty in the lives of my husband and children as they struggle together. I am to light up the home with sparkle no matter how hard times are." (George, p.24)

Gah! Just reading this one verse and looking into it a bit more, I already see I am in big trouble! I rarely feel like I am bringing sparkle to my family's life...nor do I feel like I can live up to the definition of "virtuous." I definitely do not feel like my husband's crown...So how do I work this out in real life?

I love how Elizabeth George broke this out into two sections: Practical Skills and Emotional Stability.

Regarding the Practical skills, I can definitely work on my homemaking, my money management, and the big kicker -- TIME management to grow in becoming more like the Proverbs 31 woman.  Over the past week, I have already felt a difference in two of those areas just by creating small goals for myself and sticking to them. By accomplishing those goals throughout the week, I was more eager to accomplish other tasks and was pleasantly surprised at how well my house ran over the course of the week. I was also pleasantly surprised that I wasn't as crabby as I am when things are a mess all around me.The atmosphere was just so much better -- much less irritation -- and that makes all the difference in the world!

While practical skills are easier to tackle, the even greater challenge for me in becoming like this "virtuous woman" will be the Emotional Stability. Three key areas to master, according to George, are my tolerance(endurance), my temper(heat of mind, passion), and my tongue. Why? Because as the virtuous woman of this house, I determine the emotional atmosphere under my roof. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Yes, three ughs. One per area. :) What privilege to be the emotional barometer of my home...and yet, what a great responsibility.

So with that, here are my P31 Goals for the week. I have decided to keep the original four that I started with for at least another week to evaluate how I am doing in making these goals actual habits and I am adding a couple of new ones.

1. Do one load of laundry a day (if needed).
2. Wash dishes after every meal. Or rinse and put in dishwasher.
3. Clean off the office desk every night and prepare list for the morning.
4. Go grocery shopping! Cook at least six meals this week.
5. Keep the stairs cleaned off...don't use it as a junk holder.
6. Read my Bible 5x this week.
7. Work through and write down a list of the top 5 things that I need to pray about daily -- the things that I want to give over to God so that maybe they will become less and less a part of me. I want this list to address some of the following thoughts:  I want to replace anger with a peaceful heart  (Prov. 14:30), replace instant gratification with the ability to wait (Prov. 19:2), replace self-indulgence with self-control (Prov. 25:28),  I want to speak less often and only after thinking about what I'm going to say (Prov. 10:19, Prov. 15:28), and speak only what is kind and wise (Prov. 31:26). AND PRAY ABOUT THEM! :)