Love that motivates obedience

"The key to a godly life is not more and more self-generated effort. Instead, Jesus is saying, 'Love me and your obedience will flow naturally from that love.' The secret to obedience isn't formulaic steps found in a self-help book. It is a relentless pursuit of love for him. How then do I cultivate the sincerity of love that motivates obedience? By focusing more intently on his love for me than on my love for him, more on his obedience than mine, more on his faithfulness than mine, more on his strengths than mine."


From Shared from Comforts from the Cross: Celebrating the Gospel One Day at a Time by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

Movie review - Enchanted April

"To those who appreciate Wisteria and Sunshine"

This is one of my favorite movies…if not the favorite.  I call Enchanted April a vacation in a DVD case.  I always feel uplifted and relaxed when I’m done watching it.  And why not, it’s like you are transported to a beautiful castle in Italy.

This is the story of two married ladies in England during winter.  There is rain and rain and more rain.  The rain seems to reflect their lives at this point as well as their marriages.  Lottie feels inexplicably drawn to an advertisement to rent a castle in Italy for the month of April.  She can’t get it out of her mind.  She talks Rose, a woman she has never met before, into joining her.  To defray the cost of the rent they advertise for two more ladies to join them.  They receive only two replies.  So the four ladies set off for Italy.  There they come to see themselves and their lives in a different way and find healing.

It is said that only the best stories have a theme of redemption within them.  I see a kind of redemption in this story and I think that is why I like it so much.  I don’t want to give too much away, but I do want to encourage you to watch it and tell me what you think.

Book Review - "The Housekeeper and the Professor" by Yoko Ogawa

I don’t know where I heard about this book but it’s been sitting around on my Kindle for a while so I decided to give it a read.  The story pulled me right in from the start.   The characters are all so interesting and the story intriguing.  This is a quiet story…not a lot of action…it’s about human relationships.

A mathematics professor has been in a car accident and his short term memory only lasts for 80 minutes.  He does remember everything from his past….right up until the accident.  The professor is getting old, so the housekeeper is hired to clean and cook for him.  The Professor pins notes to his jacket to help him remember things.  He clips on a note that reminds him he has a housekeeper.  Every morning she has to re-introduce herself.  The housekeeper has a son that the Professor calls Root…because the housekeeper’s son has a square head and it reminds the professor of the square root sign.  As the days go on the Housekeeper and Root learn how to deal with the Professor’s 80 minute memory.  They treat him with respect and dignity.  The Professor loves numbers.  He was a mathematics professor before the accident and he is always ready to pass on his enthusiasm for numbers.  He is often giving a little lesson to the Housekeeper…and she begins to see beauty in numbers herself.  

Numbers.  I love numbers.  There’s beauty there, regularity, dependability.  Patterns; beautiful patterns.  I think that numbers point us to attributes of God.  This made me especially enjoy this lovely story that had a few little lessons about numbers tucked here and there.  But there is so much more to this beautiful story.  It’s about loyalty, respect, caring, giving of yourself and friendship.   Even if you don’t like numbers and mathematics class filled you with dread, you will appreciate this story very much…and maybe you will also begin to see the beauty in numbers yourself.

Some of my favorite quotes in the book:

“Eternal truths are ultimately invisible, and you won’t find them in material thing or natural phenomena, or even in human emotions.  Mathematics, however, can illuminate them, can give them expression – in fact, nothing can prevent it from doing so.”

“Math has proven the existence of God, because it is absolute and without contradiction; but the devil must exist as well, because we cannot prove it.”

“He treated Root exactly as he treated prime numbers.  For him, primes were the base on which all other natural numbers relied, and children were the foundation of everything worthwhile in the adult world.”

Five Question Friday

If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be? 

One thing?!  There are many things I would like to change about myself.  Uppermost in my mind right now would be my energy level.  Normally I have very little energy.  The problem is I have lots of ambition to go with it.  So I spend a lot of time resting wishing I could do many other things.  Can be extremely frustrating at times.

Write about a time when you got lost.

I can’t think of one time I ever got lost.  I have “direction angels” that always seem to point me in the right direction.

Camping or 5 star hotel?

5 star hotel….no question!  I did a lot of camping when I was a kid.  I was a girl scout and my mom was the leader.  She loved camping.  I suppose I did at the time too.  But we did so much of it that I think I reached my camping limit. 

Have you donated blood? 

Never.  I have tired blood.  I don’t think anyone would want it.

Do you have a budget or do you 'fly by' most months? 

Budget?  What’s a budget?

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - 12

In my life this week…

I’m frustrated because I’m still dealing with some health issues that are making me feel SO tired.   Which means the house is falling apart around me and school is not getting the amount of attention that I feel it needs.

In our homeschool this week…

Things are chugging along despite my fatigue.  I’m thankful for online classes that take the pressure off me and keep the kids working.  History is the big thing we are behind on.  What I will probably do is spend big chunks of time on history once the online classes are done at the end of May.  Looks like we will be schooling well into June this year.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

The girls are going on an orienteering weekend with the local Boy Scouts troop.   Yes, they are allowing girls to participate.  They are so excited to get the chance to camp and run around in the woods all weekend. 

I will be going to the Opera.  LOL!  How’s that for a contrast.  I’m going to see Juan Diego Florez in Le Comte Ory at the Metropolitan Opera!  I’m so excited.  This will be the third opera I’ve attended this season.  I’ve come to appreciate and enjoy opera more and more. 

What’s working/not working for us…

I still love Math U See and despite not feeling well and not getting everything done….we are getting math done and the girls really understand it.  Another thing working for us is Latin for Children.  This is a very well done and well laid out curriculum. 

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

I’ve been thinking about how I can order or train the affections in my girls.  I’m reading Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis.  Such a little book with such depth!   Here are some quotes from Lewis on the subject of training our children’s affections:

“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts.  The right defense against false sentiments is to inculcate just sentiments.  By starving the sensibility of our pupils we only make them easier prey to the propagandist when he comes.  For famished nature will be avenged and a hard heart is no infallible protection against a hard heart.”

“St. Augustine defines virtue as ordo amoris, the ordinate condition of the affections in which every object is accorded that kind of degree of love which is appropriate to it.  Aristotle says that the aim of education is to make the pupil like and dislike what he ought.  When the age for reflective thought comes, the pupil who has been thus trained in ‘ordinate affections’ or ‘just sentiments’ will easily find the first principles in Ethics; but to the corrupt man they will never be visible at all and he can make no progress in that science.”

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

For more on ordering our children’s affections check out Cindy’s blog, Ordo Amoris.  She has a lot to say about it and many practical ideas as well.

Five-a-Month goals - April 2011

This a little late considering we are a week into April.  But better late than never.

Here’s my review of March:

I will have a Quiet Time where I read my Bible and pray every morning. 

I’ve done pretty well here.  I was able to catch up on my Reading through the Bible in a year.  I was about 2 ½ weeks behind at one point.  Yikes!  I’ve been having regular quiet times with the Lord and it makes such a difference!

I will follow my diet of low-carbing; taking in more healthy fats like coconut oil, ghee and raw butter; eating nutritionally dense foods and no snacking every day.

Doing really well here as well.  I’ve never eaten this well in my entire life.

I will exercise 5 times per week using the PACE program.

Still need lots of work here!  Been very sporatic.

I will faithfully school my girls and cover every subject that is scheduled for that day.

Needs lots of work here….been very inconsistent.

I will finish reading 2 books this month.  This is a small goal but I think it’s a good place to start.  I love to read and usually have several books going at once but I’m not good at finishing those books.

I’ve done much better with reading.  I’ve been turning away from the computer and the DVD player and turning toward a book…actually my Kindle…which I LOVE!  I’ve read 4 books and a short story during March. 

This month I’ve read:

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

Charlotte Collins by Jennifer Becton

Marie Lucas a Short Story by Jennifer Becton

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

Only Mr. Darcy Will Do by Kara Louise

For April 2011, here are my Five-a-Month Goals, Lord helping me:

Again, I want to have time with the Lord every morning, keeping up with my Reading through the Bible in a year plan.

I want to continue to low carb and not snack.  I also want to make sure I am eating nutritionally dense foods every day.

Again, I want to exercise 5 times per week using the PACE program.


 I also want to make sure I am much more faithful homeschooling each day.  I want to make sure I get through every subject each day although I want to balance that with making sure I am educating my children and not just trying to get through a checklist.

As I look at the books I read last month, I’m unhappy with the amount of light fiction in the list.  I want to add in more substantial non-fiction and fiction this month.  I hope to get through two non-fiction works and one worthwhile fiction.

Book Review: Charlotte Collins: A Continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice by Jennifer Becton

I actually liked this book.  I needed something light to read and since I love Jane Austen I thought I would give this book a try.  I give the author a lot of credit.  It can’t be easy to write a book that is a sequel to Pride and Prejudice.  While she is no Jane Austen, I think she did a good job and came up with a fun and interesting plot line. 

The story picks up 7 years after Pride and Prejudice ends.  Mr. Collins is killed in a carriage accident leaving Charlotte a widow.  He leaves behind no children; the only child they had, a girl, died in infancy.  Charlotte now has to make a life for herself.  Her sister Maria is not married so she comes to live with Charlotte so that Charlotte can be her chaperon out in society since their parents are now quite old and confined to their home.  Maria hopes to make a good match.  While Charlotte would prefer to live out her life in peace and quiet, she accompanies Maria to country dances and dinner parties.  Along the way their are many twists and turns in the story making Charlotte question many of her preconceived ideas on love and marriage.  

Five Question Friday

1. Have you ever had surgery?

I don’t know if it’s technically considered having surgery…but I had 4 C-sections.  I think in one way C-sections are worse than surgery because you have to be AWAKE during the whole thing.   It freaks me out that I am awake while they are cutting me open.  Ahhh!!!  But they are way better than surgery because you get a beautiful baby to show for it!

2. Ever ride in an ambulance?

Only once.  The daughter of some friends of ours was quad riding on our property.  She decided to ride through some tall (not mown) grass in the middle of our mown field.  There is only one reason for tall grass in the middle of a mown field….boulders.  Needless to say she and the quad went flying.  Both her parents were out so I rode in the ambulance with her.  Turns out she ruptured her spleen and broke her thumb.  After that we had the boulder blown up and we sent her a piece of it. 

3. How are you in a medical emergency? Panicked? Calm?

I am relatively calm during a medical emergency but it is a fight to keep the panic under control.  It is after it’s all over and everything is fine that I fall apart.

4. Do you have a garden? Flowers or veggies?

Neither…I wish I had both.

5. When did you move out of your parents’ house?

I went away to college but was still home on holidays and summers. But once I graduated from college, I packed up my car and headed to Washington, DC.  My college roommate had an apartment there.  I slept on her couch and looked for work.  After about 2 weeks I had a job and an apartment of my own.  I lost that job 2 weeks later.  L  But I was determined that I was not going to go back home with my tail between my legs.  So for the next month or two I hunted for another job during the day and worked in the local mall in the evenings.  I lived on peanut butter and hot dogs during that month.  I was very happy when I would get asked out on a date. Then I would be taken out to dinner and get a decent meal.  LOL!  I finally did get a job that would pay the bills and never did have to move back home.

The Homeschool Mother’s Journal - 11

In my life this week...

Has it been a week ALREADY?!  It was a quiet week…my favorite kind!  I prefer to be home rather running around every day. The major happening of the week was: My oldest turned 20!  How did that happen?? 

In our homeschool this week...

We were not as productive as I would have liked but not bad.  We got most things done.  Because I’m feeling tired, I’m moving in slow motion…which means school moves in slow motion.

We did get our online classes picked out for next year and the girls are all signed up.  I love Potter’s School.  I find it a huge help with my older students. It allows me to farm out those subjects that I don’t feel comfortable teaching…mainly English!

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

We picked up the girls’ Civil War Ball gowns after they had been altered.  The girls will be attending a Civil War Ball put on for homeschoolers in our area.  They looked beautiful and are SO excited.

My favorite thing this week was...

Sitting down with my sophomore and getting her opinions on her classes for next year.  We also discussed colleges and looked at a few websites. I love making plans!  Looking at colleges for child number 2 is much less stressful than it was the first time through. 

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

Here’s my question…where DO all the pencils go?  Do you think they are in the same place as the missing socks?

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

This is a photo my daughter took for her Potter’s School Photography class.  It’s a great class.  Oh, and this is our dog, Kay.