A Song

"Precious Lord, take my hand.  Lead me on.  Help me stand.  I am tired. I am weak. I am worn.  Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light.  Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home."

Correction

Proverbs 23:13-14 KJV  "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.  Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell."

I was reminded of the truth of this verse last night.  One of the little girls who is staying with me while he Mama is in the hospital had a rough day yesterday.   She was whiny, difficult, easily offended, and quick to respond negatively.  I knew that most of this bad attitude was based on the fact that she misses her parents, home, and routine, so I tried to be understanding.  She yelled at some of the other kids, and I took her into another room and spoke with her about better ways to handle frustration.  She struck another little girl, and I put her into the corner and admonished her, severely, about her behavior.  Finally, she just completely lost control and lashed out at her older sister.  So I administered the next level of correction.  And the most amazing thing happened.  The little girl crumpled into my lap, wrapped her arms around me, and sobbed out her loneliness for her parents, her desire for her home and her things, and her honest feeling of being overwhelmed.  After she finished crying, we talked a little more about having a right attitude even when time are hard and I rocked her just a little.  Then she got to face time with her parents, and then it was time for bed.  As I was tucking her in, she said this to me...."Sister Alisa, thanks for thanks for taking care of me when I act bad, even the scolding.  I feel better."

That melted my heart, and I remembered this Proverb.  Children need boundaries and discipline as much as they need love and kindness.  Discipline without love is a disaster, as is love without discipline.  But both together will yield the fruit of peace.  I am thankful for a God who loved little children enough that He left instruction for their parents in His word.  I pray I would follow those instructions more each day as I continue to raise my children and to interact with those the Lord puts under my care for a little while.

Here We Go!

The next few days promise to be interesting .  We will have three precious girls staying with us while their Momma undergoes a major operation and recovery.  I look forward to them being here.  Miss Stubborn is a smart little eight year old who knows what she likes.  Miss Sneaky is a charming six year old who has a contagious smile.  Little Miss is a loving two year old who is ....well..two.  Add them in with my eleven year old Drama Queen, and four year old Tornado, and you have the makings of an exciting adventure for a sometimes cranky Mom.  Y'all remember to pray for HBON this week.  He and Tornado will be over run with females!!

Seriously, please say a prayer for my friend having surgery and for her girls.  They are awful young to be dealing with all the turmoil a major illness can cause to a family.  And if you don't mind, say a little prayer for me, that I will be patient and kind over the next few days that these girls may feel the love of Christ in our home.  Thanks!

A Poem by Edgar A. Guest

The Home Builders

by

Edgar A. Guest

The world is filled with bustle and with selfishness and greed,

It is filled with restless people that are dreaming of a deed.

You can read it in their faces; they are dreaming of the day

when they'll come to fame and fortune and put all their cares away.

And I think as I behold them, though it's far indeed they roam,

They will never find contentment save they seek fir it from home.

I watch them as they hurry through the surging lines of men,

They are weary, sick, and footsore, but their goal seems far away,

And it's little they've accomplished at the ending of the day.

It is rest they're vainly seeking, love and laughter in the gloam,

But they'll never come to claim it, save they claim it hear at home.

For the peace that is the sweetest isn't born of minted gold,

And the joy that lasts the longest and still lingers when we're old

Is no dim and distant pleasure - it is not tomorrow's prize,

It is not the end of toiling, or the rainbow of our sighs.

It is every day within us - all the rest in hippodrome-

And the soul that is the gladdest is the soul that builds at home.

They are fools who build for glory!  They are fools who pin their hopes

On the come and go of battles or some vessel's slender ropes.

They shall sicken and shall wither and shall never peace attain

Who believe that real contentment only men victorious gain.

For the only happy toilers under earth's majestic dome

Are the one who find their glories in the little spot called home.

Now I am off to build my home today.  I think it is a worthwhile endeavor.

Lessons

I know I have been neglecting this blog lately.  I would like to say that this is the beginning of timely posting, but I cannot.  I would like to say that I have so much to share with you that I am excited about posting, but I cannot.  I would like to tell you something remarkably insightful that will make your day better, but I cannot.

I can say that the end of a very busy season should come next week.  I can say that my stress level is decreasing daily.  I can say that the Lord has been gracious to me throughout this hectic, one-project-after-another (more like several-projects-at-the-same-time after another) period of my life.  I can say that I have learned some of my limits over the past few months.

 Some of those lessons have been freeing....like learning my limit on trying to please everyone.  It finally became absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to please everybody, so I quit trying, and oh! I felt better.  Some of those lessons have been humbling....like learning I have a limit on well-doing, which according to scripture we should not weary of.  (Galatians 6:9)  Trying to balance these two lessons has been good for me, and, I hope, has caused me to grow.  Learning the difference between pleasing everybody and well doing is a valuable lesson for women in particular.  We generally are the nurturers, the care givers, the fixers; and in that role, can easily become overwhelmed.  But if we can stop trying to please people, and focus on pleasing God, life becomes much more simple.

 Well doing is performing those things that will please our heavenly Father.  He cares whether or not we help the brethren, pray to Him, and study His word.  He doesn't care if we attend every social function, have the best dressed family, or are first in line to volunteer for every opportunity that comes our way.  He cares if we love our husbands and our children, but He does not care if we fix a gourmet dinner every night, or if we have the smartest kids in the class.  He cares if we attend His worship service and do not forsake the assembly of ourselves together, but He does not care if the food we bring for lunch is pizza from the gas station, or if our makeup is perfect when we get there.

Pleasing God instead of man is a important key to calmness in the midst of chaos.  I have found  that if I am working to please God, then most of the people I care about are also pleased.  And those that are not, are presented with the opportunity to practice forgiveness.  There is a lot that I cannot say and do, but there is much I can.......and that is where my focus must lie.  My daddy once told me "Do what is right, and let everything else just fall where it may."  That was wise council then, and it still is today.  I pray that you and I will have the strength to do right today.

Tribulation...aka Stress

Accomplishing something great involves tribulation...otherwise the accomplishment would not be great.  Therefore, tribulation is a indication of good things to come. The trick is to remember this fact.

A Happy Ending...or Beginning

We have decided to send Hannah to public school this year.  When we began homeschooling, my husband and I both felt that she would return to our little public school some day.  I thought it would be in the 9th grade, but it turns out she is returning in the 6th grade.  We home schooled her for three years, and I can honestly say it was the absolute hardest and most rewarding task I have ever accomplished.

For Hannah to reenter the public school system, she needed to take a test to determine her grade placement.  When I learned this fact, I immediately became nervous.  As a home school family, being judged by others becomes a way of life and you develop a thick skin.  When your children are in the store with you Christmas shopping during "school hours", or you take a week off in the middle of February because you can, or you schedule appointments anytime of the day because you have a flexible schedule, you inevitably get the question, "Are you out of school today?"

"No, we home school."

Sometimes the response to this statement is positive, but more often, in my experience, the response has been puzzlement or outright disdain.  So you try to learn to let the comments bounce off of you, you try to turn the other cheek, and you really try to not rip the condescending expression off of other's people face.  You develop a thick skin, or at least a thicker skin.

But this testing felt different to me.  It felt like I was going to be graded.  Though Hannah was the one being tested, I knew I would receive from the employees of the school the blame for failure or the credit for success.  And I was nervous.  I tried to have her tested at the end of our school year last year when everything was fresh in her mind.  No go.  She had to be tested in August before school started, specifically yesterday, and I was a bundle of nerves.

We have had a busy summer and have done almost no school work, she had a sleepover the night before and was tired, and she was nervous about the test because she wanted to be in the same class as her friends from the community and probably because she could sense my nerves.  I told her I knew she would do great, and that all would be well, but I was reassuring myself as much as I was her, and I am sure she knew this.  Long story short, she passed with beautifully flying colors.  In math she was at a grade equivalent level of 8.5 and in reading a grade equivalent level of 8.4.  The test administrator told me that they were excited Hannah was coming back, and that I had done an excellent job.  

That felt superb.  

To have validation from a source of skepticism (the school, not the test administrator) was such a blessing.  Hannah and I both felt triumphant.  Not only had we succeeded in the last three years, we had thrived.  I had not failed her.  All of her hard work was worth something.  Home schooling was an absolute success.  And while I can't say I won't miss it (every curriculum catalog I get in the mail twists my heart), I am excited to start on our new adventure in education.  It will be different.  It will be hard.  But with God's grace, it will be well.