Legacy Homeschool Reflections Podcast 5: Keeping the main thing the main thing

Excited to be a part of The Homeschool Fitting-It-All-In Online Summit.  Register for free here.  I will be speaking on Day 6.  Thank you for listening. ~Ruth L. Adams

Keeping the main thing the main thing; the importance of discipleship.
Subscribe on iTunes.
Click here do download.

If you liked this podcast, please consider my book: Legacy - Reflections of a Homeschooled, Homeschooling Mama.
Click here to buy.

Fighting Narcissism by Teaching our Children to Serve

  I would like to start this blog post with a quote by Andrew Murray.

"God's purpose is that the Holy Spirit should take possession of our sons and daughters, filling them for His service."  

  As parent's, in today's culture, we are trying to bring up young people in a generation where narcissism  and self-absorption is the norm.  So many young people today have been brought up being taught by the culture that they need to believe in themselves, follow their hearts, and achieve all their dreams.  This mindset creates a love of self in young people and leads them to believe that their every whim and desire should be met by others.  We are living in the selfie generation after all.  The book of Second Timothy puts it this way:

"For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy."
                                          - II Timothy 3:2

  I strongly believe that one way to combat this focus on self is to get busy serving others.  I want my children to grow up to be kingdom-minded rather than to be self-absorbed.  My husband and I are trying very hard to pass on this vision to our children.  It is one thing to tell them they need to impact the world for Christ, but it is another thing to get them busy getting their hands dirty and let them experience the joy of serving others.  Honestly we have a long ways to go in this but we are working at it.  

  This week I drove across town with a van full of children in order to take them through the Compassion International Experience where they could walk through and hear stories of children in other countries who are fighting for survival.  https://cts.compassion.com/events/ The experience is sort of like going to a mission field and being met face to face with the needs in poverty stricken places.  My prayer is that our walk through helped grow a greater compassion and awareness in them for the needs of others on foreign soil.  My prayer is that, as a family, our hearts will break over the things that break the heart of our Father God.  

  There is great joy and fulfillment when young people see something bigger than themselves and realize that they are part of God's greater plan for furthering His kingdom.  Last weekend my husband took my son to help with a roofing project at a home of a widow in our church.  It was encouraging to see my son's enthusiasm and excitement about being part of the team of men and young men serving on a Saturday morning.  

My son's comment to his dad is that he felt like this is what a church family should be like; serving and working to bless those in the body.  

  A couple of years ago my husband and children went and spent time helping a local crisis pregnancy center with some cleaning.  That was another opportunity to show them the blessing of serving for a cause greater than their own interests.  My husband and I are talking about our desire to see our children doing more and more of these sorts of things as they grow older.  Here are a few practical ideas for ways to get involved in kingdom work:

* Participate in Operation Christmas Child later in the year https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box/#

*Sponsor a Child Overseas https://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8frK54n52AIV1rbACh0tMAjWEAAYASAAEgLm_vD_BwE

There are other organizations where you can sponsor a child; Compassion is just one that I am aware of.  

* Get involve with Joni and Friends in ministry to the disabled http://joniandfriends.org  

* Show the gift of appreciation by taking cookies to local servants of the community such as police, post office, etc.  Also, have an appreciation gift for the UPS driver and mail deliver who delivers mail/packages to your home.  

* Hopefully your church has mission/outreach opportunities where your family can serve others whether it be at home or abroad.  Ministry in the church is always a great way of getting our families serving the Lord together as a family.  

* If you have an older daughter perhaps she could consider starting a discipleship group to young girls.  My daughter is co-leading a Bright Lights group with a friend at our church.  They have a good group of younger girls they are seeking to encourage towards a growing walk with Jesus.  http://www.brothersandsisters.net/index.php?Itemid=54

* If you have older and younger children you have a built in opportunity for the older ones to develop a servant's heart by loving and helping with their younger siblings.  This is one of the sweetest and most beautiful blessings in a large family!

This certainly is not an exhaustive list of ideas, but hopefully it motivates you to think of ways you can encourage your children/young people to be busy serving the Lord in their youth.

"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity."  - I Timothy 4:12

I started this post with an Andrew Murray quote, and I think I will close it out with another one.  May the Lord give us Mamas creativity in how we can cast vision to our sons and daughters to love and serve others with with kingdom-minded vision.  

"If there were a wholehearted surrender to God’s service and work, the Spirit would come without being sought. The measure of the Spirit will be given according to the work we undertake and what our faith expects to perform." 

                                                                                                                                    - Andrew Murray

Legacy Homeschool Reflections Podcast 4: Blessings gained from being homeschooled

Excited to be a part of The Homeschool Fitting-It-All-In Online Summit.  Register for free here.  I will be speaking on Day 6.  Thank you for listening. ~Ruth L. Adams

Blessings gained from being homeschooled.
Subscribe on iTunes.
Click here to download.

If you liked this podcast, please consider my book: Legacy - Reflections of a Homeschooled, Homeschooling Mama.
Click here to buy.

Keeping the Faith By God's Grace

  Recently I had the privilege of being interviewed on the Generations Radio program.  The interview was on the topic of keeping the faith by God's grace.  The conversation was about how God preserves the faith through multiple generations.  The radio host, Kevin Swanson, and I were both homeschooled back in the pioneer or vintage days of the homeschooling movement and were able to give testimony to how the Lord used our home education experiences to give us a kingdom-minded outlook on life.
  If you have ever had questions about homeschooling, what homeschool graduates think of their home education experience, family discipleship, what to do with hypocrisies in ministries, leaving a spiritual legacy to your children, prioritizing the demands and opportunities of life, and many other such topics then you might find this interview interesting.
  Kevin grew up a missionary kid (MK), and I grew up a preacher's kid (PK).  Both of us have seen our share of falling outs and hypocrisies in various ministries, and we discuss how a person can go through that and still hold fast to Christ.  Our hope must be solidly rooted in Christ alone!  As the old song goes,  "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand!" Truly our hope is not in homeschooling, a church, a pastor, a conference speaker, a parenting method, or in anything else but in Christ alone.
  My experiences in the homeschooling movement span the space of almost four decades now.  A lot has changed since the early days of the modern homeschooling movement.  I praise God for the exponential growth in the movement and share from lessons I have learned along the way.
  Home education is not for the faint of heart, but it is such a worthy thing to pour our lives into for the glory of God. I like to think of our home as a discipleship center where we are seeking to point our children to the Lord in all we do and in all that we teach.  As we teach and train our children we also want to constantly be leading them in praise to our glorious Lord.  It is my prayer that I will be faithful today and that the Lord will bring fruit of that for generations to come.  Certainly the Lord is the only one who can save our children and lead them towards this vision of generational faithfulness. Now I will leave you with the link and pray it blesses and encourages your hearts.  https://www.generations.org/programs/846

Legacy Homeschool Reflections Podcast 3: When ministry leaders fall

Excited to be a part of The Homeschool Fitting-It-All-In Online Summit.  Register for free here.  I will be speaking on Day 6.  Thank you for listening. ~Ruth L. Adams

When ministry leaders fall.
Subscribe on iTunes.
Click to download.

If you liked this podcast, please consider my book: Legacy - Reflections of a Homeschooled, Homeschooling Mama.
Click here to buy.

Things That Strengthen Me in the Motherhood Journey

  Are any other Mamas out there feeling a little cabin fever as you dwell indoors with your children through the cold of the winter months?  I have noticed that winter presents my days with a unique challenge that we don't have for most of the year here in Texas.  This winter especially we have been cooped up indoors day after day with one round after another of illness in our family.  With seven children in the home it can start to feel like the walls are closing in on me even though we live in a large house.  So, I was thinking about what are some of the things that I do to refresh my own soul during the bleak days of winter.  Not all of these will be profound, but they are little things that help me through the long days and give me little joys and comforts.  

  I have found that when I am busy focusing on ministering to others that I am able to maintain a better perspective on what really matters.  As I study, write, podcast, etc. I am renewing my own mind as I try to offer encouragement to my readers and listeners.  When I go back and read my book I am reminded of kingdom priorities, and as I record podcasts it renews vision in my own heart for the things I am sharing.  One reason I love to write and speak is that it strengthens my heart as I seek to minister to others.  Maybe this is part of what the Scripture means when it says, "Give and it will be given to you."  - Luke 6:38 

 It is of paramount importance that I keep my soul fed spiritually through God's Word and substantial books that will stretch me to greater spiritual maturity.  I have a Bible App on my phone, and it has helped me to get more Scripture in on a daily basis.  I can listen as I get ready for the day, as I fold laundry, drive in the car, etc.  Last year I was able to go through the Bible one and a half times by listening instead of reading.  Reading is important as well, but this has been a neat way for me to get more Scripture in during this season of busy motherhood.  Along with my Bible I also love to have a good devotional book going.  Currently I am enjoying going through a classic called "Mornings and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon.  

   I LOVE listening to encouraging podcasts.  Sometimes these can be such a shot in the arm to encourage me along when I'm feeling battle weary.  Some you might want to check out are: 

http://ultimateradioshow.com/family-renewal/

http://www.joniandfriends.org/radio/podcast/

https://www.missionmindedfamilies.org/pages/podcast

https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/revive-our-hearts/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/training-hearts-at-home/id1330670576?mt=2

There are many more, but that is a start on some that might be an encouragement to a busy mama needing to be refueled especially during these winter months.  :) 

  Another suggestion I have is to have some kind of Bible study going on with a friend who inspires you in the Lord.  For me that is currently a book study I am doing with a friend from out of state. We have a book we are reading through and then we email each other with our insights from each chapter.  This doesn't happen every week, as we are both busy Mamas, but we work with each other with a lot of flexibility. Whenever we have a lapse of time in our study we just pick up where we left off.  This interacting with my friend has been very fortifying and encouraging to my Mama heart.  

 I SO appreciate the gift my husband gave me this Christmas!  I am LOVING having this radio/cd player in the kitchen where I can play sacred music that puts a song in my heart as I go about the daily duties of keeping a home.  Somehow having God honoring music has a way of lifting heaviness of heart and putting a spring in my step as I do my chores.  I should have had this player years ago; I am just enjoying it so much!!!  

  Speaking of books, I also feel encouraged by good read alouds I do with my children during our morning circle time.  I often learn so much from the books we read together. We are currently reading through this gem of a book that teaches a strong lesson on the importance of forgiveness.  

  Church is certainly an important place for our batteries to be recharged as we take a day to slow down and focus on worship, fellowship with other believers, and sit under the teaching of God's Word.  I am thankful that we are given the grace of the body of Christ to strengthen us and that we  don't have to journey through life alone.  This is such an incredible blessing!  

  Mamas, I use Lilla Rose hair accessories on a daily basis.  My Flexi Clips are my favorites, and I usually twist my hair up and stick one in every morning.  Some days I just stick one into a pony tail, but either way I get my hair up off my face so that I can be busy and not worry with my hair.  I can take a Flexi and throw up my hair without even looking in the mirror.  It is as easy as sticking a plastic claw in but much more comfortable and certainly prettier.  If you want to learn more about  durable, flexible, comfortable Lilla Rose hair jewelry see my link on the sidebar.  My girls and I LOVE these accessories.  

  Now just a few more things I do to refresh my stamina on these busy days of motherhood; I try to drink a lot of water and add fresh mint leaves for a refreshing flavor.  I enjoy growing different flavors of mint with my favorites being Sweet Mint and Apple Mint.  Yummy!  

  I also diffuse essential oils next to my bed when I rest.  I LOVE Lavender; it is one of my favorites. Of course I am a believer in diffusing Thieves when fighting illness as well.  Lavender has a calming effect for me, and I also play calming sacred instrumental music next to my bed when I rest.  I will even let it play as I read at night and then turn it off as I go to sleep.  The calming effects of sacred music and essential oils help me relax and unwind.  Sometimes I can be wound up pretty tight from a stressful day, and it helps to end my day with sacred songs and reading an evening devotional before bed.  

  In the day I like to try to go out at least once or twice a day to breathe in fresh air.  My excuse to do this is often to take table scraps to our chickens.  They get all worked up when they see me coming, and it changes the pace for me and just feels good to see my ladies scampering about enjoying the scraps I feed them.  The sunshine and fresh air help lift my mood too.  

  Another thing that helps is to have a date night planned with my hubby.  Sometimes that is an in house date.  That would be where I go get some take out food and bring it home for us to eat after the children go to bed.  Other times we go out to a restaurant together.  Either way it is very important, in this crazy busy season of life, for us to have time to connect without constant interruptions.  It helps so much to have my hubby hear my heart and be able to talk through important decisions that are constantly rolling around in my head.  It is important to me that I work at keeping our marriage healthy, because one day this busy season of motherhood will be over, and I want to be left with a healthy marriage when it come back around to just the two of us.  

  I have found that knowing what I am going to prepare for dinner is so helpful!  It is a horrible feeling to get to the end of the day and not know what to make for dinner.  I have been in that situation one too many times, and so I always try to think ahead in the morning and make sure I know what our dinner will be.  I used to be a Crock Pot gal, but I have fallen in love with the Instant Pot which is a Crock Pot, Pressure Cooker, Rice Cooker, and so much more!  If you have not looked into it do yourself a big favor and check it out.  I LOVE filling mine with frozen chicken breasts and shredding up the chicken for tacos and then freezing the rest of the meat for another night's dinner.  It is so helpful!  

  My last thought for this post is just to mention that I do love having a cup of coffee first thing in the morning.  It helps motivate me to get up and moving, and after that I go to my mint flavored water.  I also enjoy drinking various herbal teas especially in the evenings.  

  Ladies, I know that the days can be long especially in the cold of winter but spring is on its way!!!   I look forward to throwing the windows open and allowing the children to run outside and get cooped up energy out.  Let's stay faithful persevering in the strength that only Jesus can supply.  Let's stay closely connected to the vine knowing that Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing." - John 15:5  Let's be Word saturated, prayed up Mamas and remember to take care of ourselves by getting fresh air, rest, plenty of water, and feeding our souls with God's Word.  I hope some of these ideas are encouraging. We're in this together persevering for the glory of our Lord and Savior.  May those who come behind us find us faithful.  

  

Legacy Homeschool Reflections Podcast 2: Character training, 1 John 5:2-4

Excited to be a part of The Homeschool Fitting-It-All-In Online Summit.  Register for free here.  I will be speaking on Day 6.  Thank you for listening. ~Ruth L. Adams

Character training: 1 John 5:2-4.
Subscribe on iTunes.
Click here to download.

If you liked this podcast, please consider my book: Legacy - Reflections of a Homeschooled, Homeschooling Mama.
Click here to buy.

Let's Make 2018 an Intentional Year of Family Discipleship!

  As we start off 2018 it is a great time to refresh our vision for our goals of discipling our children in our homes.  In this post I would like to give an overview of some of the things that are important to my husband and me to teach our children.  These are things that we pray about and trust the Lord to help us to impart to our children.  I could do a long post on each of these values, but the goal of this post is just to throw out some ideas to get us thinking about ways we can work on leading our families in these specific areas of spiritual training.

  One thing that is sobering to me is to remember that I cannot teach what I do not possess.  This is why it is so important that we, as busy Mamas, continue going back to the Lord and His Word to be refueled so that we can think Biblically and authentically live out the things we are seeking to teach our children.  Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing." - John 15:5  Let us cast ourselves upon the Lord daily as we go about teaching our children.
  *The Gospel.  Out of all the things we need to teach our children nothing is as important as the glorious good news of the gospel.  It is the best news of all!  Each day affords us plenteous opportunities to bring our families back to the gospel message.  Whenever children struggle with sin it is a great time to remind them of God's standards and that they are incapable of living up to His righteous standards.  This is what makes the gospel such good news; although we are born dead in sin, Christ desires to make us alive in Him and lead us on to sanctification and victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
  *Ongoing Repentance.  Here is an area where we can set an example for our children by parenting in humility, admitting our failures, and asking forgiveness when we blow it.  We may think our children will see us as weak by admitting our impatience, anger, etc. but in reality they will gain respect for us when they see us parenting with authenticity.  They will see by our example that when we make mistakes we need to admit it and ask forgiveness of those we hurt and of the Lord.

  *Prayer.  There are so many opportunities all throughout the day to lead our children before the throne of grace.  Sibling rivalry is one opportunity to model praying without ceasing.  Just yesterday there was some disputing between two of my children, and I handled it by praying a LONG prayer with them about the matter.  I prayed that the Lord would soften their hearts and cause them to love each other and speak kindly, etc.  I think it can be effective to pray through the fruits of the spirit with frustrated children and ask the Lord to do a work in their hearts.  There is certainly time for parental correction, but I think sometimes instead of lecturing I need to stop and just pray.  This is an area I am trying to grow in.
  Also, when a child is sick, scared, worried, etc. it is an opportune time to stop and say, "Let's pray about that right now."  Prayer is powerful and such a grace in our lives. Anytime is a perfect time to take our children by the hand and lead them before the throne of grace.  When we pray all throughout the day we are teaching them to pray without ceasing.

  *Cherish, Read, and Trust the Word of God.  As a little girl I grew up singing a song that went like this:

The B-I_B-L-E
Yes, that's the book for me
I stand alone on the Word of God
The B-I_B-L-E!

We need to be opening the Word of God all throughout the day with our children.  Bible is not just a subject in school.  No, it is something we look to for guidance in all kinds of situations all throughout the day.  When we give correction, training, counsel, etc. it is so helpful to open God's Word and show our children for themselves exactly what the Scripture says.  We need to encourage them to get into the Bible for themselves learning to have a quiet time with the Lord.  This is such an important habit to cultivate in their lives from a young age.  Even before our children learn to read we like to tell them that we are so excited for them to learn to read because then they can read God's Word for themselves.  This past Christmas our seven year old daughter asked for her own Bible for Christmas. I was thrilled that this is something that she valued and wanted.

  *Teach them to defend the faith, to embrace sound doctrine, and to know church history.  We are living in a day when Biblical truth is under massive attack.  Knowing church history, proper Biblical apologetics, and sound doctrine will help them to discern error and know how to articulate the truth.
  *Memorize God's Word.  Our children are born with brains that are like sponges and they can memorize so quickly when they are young.  This is an excellent time for them to memorize Scripture that will stick with them for life.  You might even want to check out the National Bible Bee https://biblebee.org as a great motivation to memorize huge portions of Scripture.
  *Suffering for Christ and stories of great Christians.  We want our children to know that Christ is worthy of their all.  We don't want them to worship the pop culture icons of the day but rather to be inspired by great heroes of the Christian faith.  This is why we encourage books, documentaries, audio dramas, and movies about people like Corrie Ten Boom, Eric Liddell, Jim Elliot, George Mueller and others.  They can learn so much by studying the lives of great Christians.
  *Obedience and Character

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.  Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" - Ephesians 6:1-4

  It is important for our children to learn to obey parental commands in order that they will know how to obey and bow the knee to the lordship of Christ.  J.C. Ryle puts it this way:

"Parents, do you wish to see your children happy?  Take care, then, that you train them to obey when they are spoken to-to do as they are bid.  Believe me, we are not made for entire independence-we are not fit for it.  Even Christ's freemen have a yoke to wear-they "serve the Lord Christ.  Children cannot learn too soon that this is a world in which we are not all intended to rule, and that we are never in our right place until we know how to obey better.  Teach them to obey while they are young, or they will be fretting against God all their lives long, and wear themselves out with the vain idea of being independent of His control."  

  Going along with training our children in obedience is also the matter of training their character in areas such as truthfulness, kindness, promptness, etc.  As we teach them the necessity for these virtues we must frequently remind them that they can only do what is right with the help of the Lord.  

"For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." - Philippians 2:13

 Character training without the gospel will frustrate our children or make them proud.  They will be either defeated that they cannot be good enough or prideful at how good they think they are.  We must balance our training with the constant reminder that all our righteousness is as filthy rags, and in order to produce true character that pleases the Lord our hearts have to be right before the Lord.  It is He who works in us to do what we ought to His glory.  

*Teach them to serve.  We live in a narcissistic generation, and leading our children to get out of themselves to serve others can help to combat the selfie generation mentality.  We desperately want our children to live for the glory of God, His kingdom, and His righteousness.  Children that live only for themselves become very bored and hopeless.  

*Contentment.  Paul said that he had LEARNED to be content in any circumstance.  

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:11-13

*Hymnody.  The last thing I am listing in this post is hymnody.  My husband and I grew up with the hymns of the faith, and we are both grateful for that heritage.  We desire that our children will also know the hymns, and so we spend time singing with them.  Sometimes we will attend a hymn sing where we sit around and sing for an hour or so and that time has been so encouraging!  You can also teach hymns by playing them in the home.  I grew up in a home that had sacred Christian music playing throughout our house everyday.  That is part of my legacy and I am grateful for it.  While I see value in substantial praise choruses as well, nothing can replace the great hymns of the faith that have stanza after stanza of Bible doctrine and tend to be God oriented instead of man oriented.  These hymns even make good devotional material just to read or sing through a hymn a day with your devotional reading.  

  I hope this list of things has excited you to be intentional in 2018 with your family discipleship.  I hope it has given you some ideas that you can run with and add your own creativity according to your own individual families.  By God's grace may we make 2018 count for eternity as our families grow in the knowledge of Christ and serve Him purposefully!  

Legacy Homeschool Reflections Podcast 1: Observations from 4 decades in homeschooling

Excited to be a part of The Homeschool Fitting-It-All-In Online Summit.  Register for free here.  I will be speaking on Day 6.  Thank you for listening. ~Ruth L. Adams

Observations from nearly 4 decades in the homeschooling movement.
Subscribe on iTunes.
Click here to download.

If you liked this podcast, please consider my book: Legacy - Reflections of a Homeschooled, Homeschooling Mama.
Click here to buy.