Too Much Work to Be Tired

So, yeah, I've been up all night at work.  I haven't been to bed yet and it's 11am.  Dancer and I are heading to Tampa FL tomorrow for 2 weeks of relaxation!  I'm doing laundry and packing and all that goes into getting ready to take a trip.

My dad is getting married this weekend on the beach, Fort Desoto, I believe.  He and his wife-to-be are both from here in IL but she wants to get married on the beach and we have family down there anyway... to it's a good fit.

They are heading off to Puerto Villarta, Mexico for their honeymoon.  My grandpa has a condo down there.  I'd love to go stay there before my grandpa kicks the bucket.  Maybe it's in the cards for Dodger and I in the near future.

I've got lots of errands to run before this afternoon.  Tying up loose ends.  All the bills are paid 'till the end of the month... thank goodness for online bill pay!

“Rebellious Children?” by Sharon Hockenbury

Sharon is a fellow unschooler and posted this during a discussion on our unschooling yahoo group. **Reprinted here with permission.**

I have thought about "rebellious children" a lot in my own family. I have 9 children. The oldest is 24, the youngest is 3. The ones remaining at home are almost 17, 14, 12, 9, 7, 3. I just want to share some "ramblings" with you and use what you can. First of all, if you are like me, you have read a lot and HOPED for all that you perceive that God would have for your family. In other words, you have expectations. When our children begin to "come into their own" and they fall short of our expectations, they sense our "conditional love". Our body language, our comments and our reactions show our disappointment. I believe this causes even a greater division. One of the things that I have been working on is NOT reacting to their actions, but responding slowly allowing the Holy Spirit time to invoke wisdom in my answer. To love unconditionally is a HUGE challenge. It is so easy when the baby is snuggled to your breast or a smiling toddler greets your sleepy eyes in the morning. It is definitely more challenging when the eyes of the teen glare with resentment and disdain. I see homeschoolers "bail" so to speak. No judgement intended here, but we have a hard time persevering. The teenager gets mouthy, it's not the "yes mom" child any more and we send them back to school, or begin to clamp down in fear. I've seen children pulled out, put back in. The message is: "I'll deal with you as long as it is easy. Cause me trouble and I am bailing.". They need to know, come hell or high water, you are going to stick with what God has called you do . I've had said to my children more than once. "I love you, all that I do is motivated by love and I am not going to bail on what God wants me to do. NO matter how difficult it is, I am in this for the long haul." As far as the younger children go, if they see you acting in righteousness, the light will overshadow the darkness. I talk to my younger children about what they see and what they think. I then keep referring back to the Bible to show them the truth.

Be proactive and not reactive. My daughter's first "love" was a non-christian druggy. She thought she could save him. Thank God she did not fall into sin with him. It was my REACTION to forbid her to see him. Instead, we told her he was welcome in our home anytime. We loved him, and shared the Gospel. We walked through the rough waters. It was not always pleasant, but the night she finally broke off the relationship on her own accord, we sat and cried in each others arms until dawn. In my idealistic dreams, her first should have been her husband and her first kiss on her wedding day, I am not God and He dreams bigger for my daughter than I do. She is married now to an incredible Christian man! She tells me the greatest gift I gave her was a strong sense of self and confidence.

My mom gave me this advice, which I think is very good. Whenever we tell the teen child that something is "right" or "wrong", in the Bible or against the Bible, they will usually get their feathers ruffled. We know it is the flesh, but their immaturity and lack of wisdom will not let them see this. My wording things in a way that minimizes the opportunity for argument helps. Try saying, "I am not comfortable or at peace with such and such." Bottom line, it is your home and how you "feel" in it IS important. We over come by the blood of the Lamb and the POWER OF OUR TESTIMONY. They may disagree with our ideals, but our testimony is ours! Another thing I am FINALLY learning is not to take their insults personally. To respond, "I am sorry you feel that way." and call it a day. I am not a bad mom because my children have bad attitudes. I am in the process also. I wish I could have been perfected when the Lord decided to make me a parent, but obviously that is not the case. But one person's sin or faults is NEVER license for another to sin. Keep seeking the Lord in faith. Cry out for wisdom and for unconditional love to be poured out in your heart. I can look on others with love knowing they are in sin, yet find my self being far to conditional with my own less than perfect children. I said to my oldest son one day. "You know, when I just step back and objectively look at who you are and what you are doing, I really like you. You are a great young man." It made him beam. I began to speak life to him. How great he is right NOW! . I quite drowning him in religious expectation and started to really believe that God has a plan for him and a process. I began to see that the tatoos and the chewing tabacco, ( no judgement on tatoos, just another "expectation" I had that was definitely challenged), were not the measure of who he is or will what he will be when God is done with him. Mind you, he is almost 24 and just got back from Iraq. He is incredibly confident in who he is and has a great world view. He is born again and does love us. He can communicate with us. We do not always agree, but I know he loves us. My daughter is 22.

Again, if I step back and look from outside my legalistic mother eyes, my children are great people.! So. the beat goes on!!! God is faithful. Who HE is IS , IS important!! Keep seeking Him with your whole heart and learn to rest in HIS provision. Ask for wisdom, expect to hear from God and He will be there to give you all you need. In the battle with you!

Thanks, Sharon, for letting me post this here. I love the journey that I'm on with my daughter. I am so glad that the Lord has brought me out of legalism so soon in my parenting and in my life. I have a tendency to be very passionate about letting go of the self-imposed rules and living in the freedom that we received when Jesus Christ died on the cross for us so long ago. Sometimes my passion boils over in a way that doesn't seem so positive (though that is certainly not my intention)... I am working on extending that grace that I've received to others. Usually it's other Christians that I have a problem with because I have a tough time with what Christianity has become.

I hope that your post can help someone else see a different POV... to make the home the cushion instead of the battleground.

Just For Fun: Short Story

A college class was told they had to write a short story in as few
words as possible. The instructions were:

The short story must contain the following three things;
(1) Religion (2) Sexuality (3) Mystery.

There was only one A+ paper in the entire class, it is shown below.

Good God, I'm pregnant. I wonder who did it?