New Post Post

Ha The title of my new post is so correct! Let's see... Where have I been? Oh yeah I know homeschooling my children for the first time in my life! And of course American Heritage Girls!

Now let's see... what to say... what to blog....

"I do not like that man. I must get to know him better." ~ Abraham Lincoln
The other morning I was busy as usual and went to my kitchen sink to throw some spoon I had found, no doubt in a puddle of melted ice creamy slushiness on a living room side table. When I looked at the box of raspberry tea bags and read the above quote from our dear President. This of course endeared me ever more so to the raspberry tea as this is a mantra by which I try to live. Although, not taught to me by Mr. Lincoln, but rather my dear Mother (God rest her soul). It comes to mind also that this is also the teaching of my Lord and Savior as well. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."Matt 5:44
To be quite honest, there are not many at all who I truly do not like so if ever I get a notion to feeling some discomfort associated with someone it is rather bothersome and very evident that it must be addressed to a peaceable resolution. And quickly! The words above have helped in every situation and I do find that in the end it is much better to get to know someone than to judge them based on their behavior. Knowing a person helps to understand their struggles and their history that helped shaped their personality. If God can love me in my sin then surely I can love too!
Now that I have reread this blog before posting I have realized how much what we read effects how we write!! At present I am reading a book "Elijah of Buxton". It is the story of a young free boy whose family escaped from slavery. My two daughters are also picking up the lingo from this book and saying things with a very strong southern drawl and blending words "tagether dat ought not ta be attall." Next we'll have to read some Jane Austen to clear up the grammer issues!

Little Cloud

From the beautiful imagination of my daughter.
She declares:
"I was kicking my ball outside. I kicked it high. It hit a tree. And caught a cloud and brought it back. It was small. So I threw it away."

Wow I am Weak

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family [3] in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

I sure do wish I were the person in Ephesians 3:14-19.

I am not as strong as I think I am. I am therefore not the person I think I am. In my youth I used to think I was strong and could handle anything that came my way. Really who doesn't? There certainly was Grace sufficient to sustain me during those struggles. The picture of that walk looked nothing like "being rooted and grounded in love". In my wiser years, you know after college, I recall even boasting in my ability to handle stressful situations. As if that was a job skill that would set me apart from others. Well, I landed that job. The first chance I had to get out of there... I took it! Because by no means did I "comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth". As I have reflected on these things, my current claim to strength is only in fleeting moments of intensity. So now, I am thinking only in emergency situations. Because they are usually brief! So reading this one might think that I am growing less strong in my faith as the years fly by. But really I am trusting more and more to "know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge". And pretty soon, I'll be just as weak in a crisis as I think I am strong now! Maybe then I will be "filled with all the fullness of God."

Killing Two Birds and My Sin

I was struck today by the irony of me killing two birds in one week! And when I say "killing two birds" I am speaking literally! Although, the reason I post is because of the symbolism that it led me to reflect upon. The first murderous act happened as I was driving down a lovely road admiring the equestrian farms, blooming wisteria and the beautiful breeze that ever so slightly swayed the leaves into a dance. Then it happened. Just beyond the ridge. Approaching the horses on the right. And the house on the hill to the left. And there, in the middle of the two lane highway sat two little birds. Small birds. Finch-like in stature and nothing at all like the vulturous birds one normally sees feeding on carcasses in the middle of the road. It was their sweet innocent-like quality that caught my attention and pulled on my heart strings. The two small birds on a happy little excursion to gather food. And then for one, life was over and for the other, life was changed forever as they lost their little friend. This is the scene as it happened that sunshiny day. The two birds chose their escape as they saw my car approaching. The wiser of the two flew left to the hills and the safety of higher ground. The now deceased bird hesitated just enough in their flight straight up, to be clipped by the front of my hood. I thought for one fleeting moment that it had survived and would now take flight and fight for life. But alas it was not meant to be. I hit it with the hood. It floated up still flapping and then, with a definitive end met my windshield and that was its end.
So now I tell you of the second and perhaps more tragic death. Driving along the same sweet highway, a baby bird fell from above right in my way. Still learning to fly or perhaps this was its maiden voyage. I saw it tumble from up above. Struggle with all its itty bitty might to stretch out those wings and take flight. Then, as suddenly as the speeding truck missed it. And this may be the saddest point of all that only if only it had fallen a moment before it could be on an adventure in a red 4x4. Perhaps it would go to work at the office and get a chance at life once more! Instead, it fell to the ground in front of my vehicle and was flattened like a melted Popsicle!
I was woefully sorry and may have even shed a tear. That poor baby bird had become my second victim.

I would not have chosen to murder that day. But I did. I would not have wanted to hurt those two birds but it was unavoidable. There was nothing I could do to prevent it no matter how much I wanted them to live. And so it is with my sin. Not all of it of course. But recently, God has been revealing my sin to me. You know those sins that you never had a clue you had. Until someone ELSE points them out to you. And they just smack you in the face with the reality and truth of it all. Just like a bird falling from the sky. But these birds are no bearer of innocence. They are little sacks of dung. And the stench is now drowning out all those sweet spring time scents. With those revelations I can see how my heart has murdered. Even though I never would have wanted to commit these sins. Yet I do. I am much more comfortable with my "known" sins. I can see them in advance and make adjustments to avoid them. But these new ones falling from out of nowhere are... well.. new to me (not to those around me) and they really stink! Now this may seem disparaging but the hope that comforted me was knowing that God knows about these sins already. He knew I would murder these birds and there was nothing I could do. And so my sins must help me to know His grace even more. He has prepared a way for me to conquer them. He has conquered them already. His Son died for this unexpected sin. I am learning to love all over again.

A Multi-colored Morning!

Among the brightly colored baskets and pastel eggs that will be shared Easter morning in my home, we will continue the tradition my Mother started so long ago. We will have a very colorful breakfast. Every Easter my Mom would use food coloring to dye our breakfast food so that we had a rainbow of colors on our plates! It was quite the site. The meal would include Green Grits, Pink Scrambled Eggs, Ham (it's really hard to color ham) or bacon,& huge Biscuits. My parents would call the biscuits "cat head " biscuits. They were the best! I like to just call them huge because I really don't like the thought of eating a cat's head!:-) My Mom was a great cook and I will miss her a lot this Easter. I will think of her fondly as I color food for my own children and remember her standing at the stove with her hair a mess, a sink full of dishes from the night before, with my Dad on the couch watching TV and my siblings and I NOT waiting patiently at the table. The sounds of bacon frying and watching her in amazement as the grease would pop as if in a competition to see which pop of grease could land on the cooks arm, and she stood there carrying on the duties of cooking for her family as if there had been no attack. Her whole life could be summed up by those few words... for she certainly did go through life taking it all in stride as if she knew something we didn't. And indeed she did know something and that was her Faith that kept her eyes on those things that were heavenly and stood strong against the attacks of life. So this Sunday, I will read the accounts of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to my children and with my own hair a mess and most likely a sink full of dishes...color some grits green or even purple.
Happy Easter... my God lives

Testing out New Backgrounds for my Blog

HEY ! I am trying out new looks for this blog. please be patient as I figure this out!

A Hardened Heart

I pray this week for those whom I know have their eyes closed to the truth of the Gospel, for those whose hearts have been hardened. And I specifically am in prayer for one dear person I know. I used to read this passage and be discouraged and sometimes even angry that God had hardened the heart of someone that I love. But now I read it and see the hope that He has given and I do not give up hoping and praying for those I love to know Him. Please take a moment to read this passage.

John 12

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart, and turn,
and I would heal them.”

41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

March Madness?

So it appears I have not blogged once in the whole month of March. Could it be because I was entirely too busy with watching basketball on TV? No, I doubt it. The March madness I refer to is that of being busy with work, home, friends and family! And While I thoroughly enjoy a good blog. Sometimes I find that I am far too contemplative to post my thoughts or actually put them to words. I am, however, grateful that the Words of my Savior are written for me and that He wasn't too tired, too busy, too consumed with bringing people back from the dead to see to it that I have a Bible to read.
I wonder what the Bible would look like if Jesus came back today? What if instead of being written on stone tablets, or parchment paper... it was posted on a blog, or twitter (Jesus wept John11:35), or Facebook and people just chatted back and forth about all the He said. How cool that would be. Then I think, God is still inspiring people to speak His truth today and indeed He does use these modern forms of communication. Of course, it's not the Bible. I am thankful for these communicative resources to the extent they connect loved ones and promote truth. I hope that out there somewhere there are people seeking the Gospel online as we approach this Easter celebration and that they stumble on the truth.

Quick Blog

Ahhh I am headed to the grocery store. Why? Because I've been captive in my house all week with two sick children and am completely out of groceries. However, I am thinking the same will not be true for the rest of the rednecks out there who heard that there is a remote chance that we will get some snow tonight. Now all the stores will be out of bread, milk and eggs. And I just need to get my shopping done! Pray for me.

I Pause.... And Walk Away

It's always nice when someone points out encouraging habits you may possess. I like to hear my praises sung. Who doesn't? You know... things like "Gee Beav you're a swell guy." However, (here I purposely avoided the use of the word but since it is often the cause of much trouble) My sweet husband has pointed out to me one not so glorifying habit of mine. Not that this is the only one by any means! Ya see the thing is that I talk a lot. No shocker there. I not only talk a lot but I like to talk to several people at the same time and not necessarily about the same topic or even in the same conversation! Confused? Let me break it down. Let's say I was talking to "Pam" about her weekend and how she had a plumbing problem. And then I see "Melissa" who I haven't seen in ages walk up and start talking to "Julie". So now Pam and I are having a conversation and Melissa and Julie are also. Here's where it gets tricky. I am now talking to Pam and listening intently simultaneously to Melissa and Julie. I have caught every word of it. And now I realize Melissa, who I haven't seen in forever, is leaving. Yikes! Pam and I are still talking and we are also wrapping things up. At least I think we are. We have a pause in our conversation and I choose to initiate a conversation with Melissa. I have not said excuse me to Pam or goodbye even. I just walk away and start talking to Melissa. So it goes from "So anyway I got my father in law to fix the sink. " And in my mind I hear "pause, conversation wrapped up, concluding statement" TO "Hey Melissa!" This is what my husband pointed out to me. And I have aptly named "pausing and walking away". Of course the part about me having multiple conversations is also true but I fear far too complicated to explain at this time. Because I have already depleted a serious amount of your time messing with your head about this first issue. I hope you are not thinking that I for a second was not completely engaged in my conversation. It's just that my skill set as an interpreter has created this undying ability. Also, it's rather efficient and fun! I know I am not the only woman out there that does this! Also, I am going to work on saying things like " excuse me " and "pardon me" and " good bye" before I walk away. Pause...

I support the Mom of Octuplets!

Yes, I am against large public opinion that this woman is among other things selfish and irresponsible. Hello people! Since when did we become so insensitive and aggresiously arrogant that we only applaud when intelligent people have children. At some point it became irresponsible for the poor to procreate. Now only smart educated people are allowed to have children? This is so ridiculous. Sure 14 children is a lot. There's no denying that. And I certainly wish that there was a father in the picture. And maybe she really does have some mental issues. But there is no law against having children if you're IQ falls below a certain level. Or at least not yet. So far we still allow mentally disabled people to procreate. And we don't force them to be steralized yet! And here now are all these babies and the country has decided NOT to help them because their mother seems like she is opportunistic. Well excuse me but if I knew 9 months ago that I was about to bring 8 babies into the world I too would be planning a way to get help in whatever way I could! Then of course there are those who say she should have chosen to abort some of them. What? It is a freaking miracle that all 8 of them were born healthy! That ALL eight of them survived! That there were no serious complications! What an incredible gift that God blessed her for whatever reason with EIGHT babies plus the other 6 at home. He has a plan for them. No matter how crazy and foolish their mother may be. I am so thankful that America is still a free democratic society where people can choose to have as many children as they want! And why is it you suppose that its all these liberal big government people who are so vehemtly objecting to this woman's lifestyle? Aren't they the ones that promote welfare and government assistance? Or is that just supposed to go to wealthy politicians? Once again there is no law that stupid people can't have babies!! So shut up your whining and let this woman alone. Or better yet lend her not so smart self a hand and send her some diapers!!!

Great Theologians! (think scooby doo and try it again)

I am Presbyterian PCA. In my theological studies I have read, listened to, been preached by, and discussed many great theologians. But, let's face I'm just a girl and my brain is often too full to listen to all the fine details. I'm more of a big picture kinda thinker. And more than often I listen to the extent with which I think the content may have personal ramifications for myself and those around me. That's not to say I don't pay attention to the details. It's just that sometimes the historical context may get lost on me. Even though I love history. For example, some people study Calvin, Luther and even Piper to the extent where they know his birthdate where he grew up, schools attended, mother/father relationships etc. Much like the rest of us study the life of Jesus in the Bible and Paul. Then these same folks quote the aforementioned theologians "religiously" if I may. Please hear me that I am not saying there is anything wrong with all this grandizing and quoting and the such. But here is what I AM saying. And I know for a fact that I am NOT the only one who up until today thought this. John Piper did not live during, about, or around the time of Calvin, Luther, Tolkein, or Lewis! John Piper was born in 1946, which makes him the same age as my Dad. He is indeed not dead although he is quoted and reffered to as though he were!! So from now on I will try to make a note at the end of not dead people with nd. Now you may all laugh and think how uneducated I must be! But think for a moment... I had you all fooled and hung in your midst and you never knew! Thoughts from Stacey Fischer ND.

Aaaaaaahhhhh My head hurts!

Guess what! My 8 year whines a lot. She always has and probably always will. So sad. Guess what else? ME TOO!! Yes I am a whiner. It is an incurable disease. There are no known treatments at this time and it is quite possibly contagious! It is Definitely hereditary as I have clearly passed it on to my eldest daughter. Thankfully, though it appears that it can lay dormant for many years in others... as evidenced by my youngest who is 6 and has yet to exhibit any symptoms. This could be that she has witnessed the incessant whining of both her sister and Mother and therefore is unable to participate out of shear lack of opportunity. Because surely whatever the case may be we would have beaten her to the "whine". Early on in life I just assumed I had just cause to whine and therefore it must have been some inherit right with which I was blessed. However, at some point I had to grow up and therefore seemingly have less cause to whine. So why has the disease not subsided?! Aah alas there was some time when it lay in remission. Strangely, though it manifest itself again shortly after I had children. I cannot begin to imagine the correlation!

Yes It IS A REAL AMERICAN GIRL DOLL!!!

OK So why is the American Girl Doll company trying to make my life more difficult?! I mean really! Santa brought my daughter the Molly doll for Christmas and she has been perfectly satisfied with her lovely and I might add overpriced doll. Until of course her "friends" begin to compare their dolls. And lo and behold what did she discover? The brilliant and wise doll makers stamp the back of the neck on each of their prized possessions. Great, no problem. Excellent decision on their part. This maintains the integrity of their product and prevents knock offs from passing as the real deal. Lovely! Splendid idea!
The only problem is that they are apparently NOT stamping all the dolls with the same stamp!! So, for example my neighbor's doll's neck stamp is American Girl llc or something like that. My daughter's doll's neck stamp is Pleasant Company. This is the original name of the American Girl doll company. Apparently, they changed the stamp in 2005. So, why in the world does our Molly doll (purchased directly from the AG website in 2008) have the Pleasant Company stamp?!! I have no idea!!
I went to their website and researched all over the internet today in an attempt to unravel the mystery. To no avail. I found one site with a semi-reasonable explanation which I read aloud to my doubting daughters. This seemed to appease them for now.

This is not a life crisis. There are certainly more important and pressing matters in the world to deal with. It's just sad when your child comes to you crying because she thinks Santa put a knock off in a AG Box and added to the deceit!

Parachutes and Pajamas

Have you heard of the whole "Parachute" analogy? Somebody somewhere wrote a book to help people discover their purpose (job) in life and they dubbed the process discovering "What Color is Your Parachute?" Well, let me just say that in my process of researching a parachute image for this post I discovered that most all parachutes are not just one color! So this leads me to ponder... what the heck kind of box is this author trying out people in? Of course, I can say all this because I haven't actually read the book. Although, I think I picked it up to read. But it doesn't really interest me because I know my purpose in life and what kind of job God has called me to. However, this is not the case for many people and I get that.
So here's a question for whoever is reading this. Recently, and I mean like yesterday, my husband decided, prompted by a coworker, that he would try to figure out what color his parachute is. Of course, it's GREEN! Hello?! For those that know my sweetie pie you will totally get that he is green. But not in a global warming kinda way. Anywho, so besides the fact that it's green I happen to know what it is. That's to say that I indeed believe I know what his "calling" is in life. Besides being my undying love, faithful servant and personal home remodeler! What I don't know is if I should tell him what it is. That may sound selfish that I am keeping it from him. Although, you may think do I really know what it is? I know I am sounding a little sure of myself but that's MY gift. I am thinking self discovery may be the best process for him to figure it out. And that through this process he will discover more than just what he wants to be when he grows up.
So, those are my thoughts for this morning. Stay tuned for more craziness. The Pajama part of the title was just catchy. I don't really have anything to say about said jammies. Except that maybe I am not in mine! Are you?

My Paper Heart

So, one of our, and when I say our I mean me and the girls, favorite artist is Francesca Battistelli. I really enjoy being able to sing along with her songs and so do the girls. Especially ANNA!! So anyway, today we were singing along... with the volume up to 23 in the car, thinking that this song, Free To Be Me, was really preaching the Gospel. The catchy little chorus is "gotta couple dents in my fenders, rips in my jeans" the enemy is perfection but with our faith in God we are all free to be ourselves. What a great picture of the Grace of God's love. I could go on but what I was reminded of was that I indeed have a couple dents in my fenders and rip in my jeans! Sometimes my life indeed imitates art! Most of the time my life just imitates chaos!

Rainy Day

What a rainy and cold day! A great day for paying the bills. I hope my husband is reading this! hee hee
I wish I had a funny story to share but really I don't!
And that is just plain sad. So I am writing today in order to keep up the habit.
So maybe I'll be like Oprah and share with you a few of my favorite things...
Some things that make my life a little bit easier:
1. Bill Pay and anything I can possibly get auto drafted is a beautiful thing!
2. e-mealz.com Because sometimes planning the meals are just too much of a pain!
3. minivans!
4. iPhones without a doubt are the most convenient and easy way to keep in touch!
5. Spot shot - it will get any stain out and you don't have to scrub and way easier than anything Martha Stewart uses!
6. Aqua Globes. Yes I know. It is completely cheesy but it is true. They are quite helpful. And thanks to my six year old who apparently watches too much tv... I have her to thank for a heart felt Christmas present!

I absolutely do NOT encourage anyone to purchase products from the TV but you can find the aqua globes at Walmart. Although, if you are feeling the constant urge to make a purchase from a TV infomercial. I recommend you buy some "Piano Music". It will cure you of the urge. Thankfully, my piano music purchase was back in my college days and I have been able to abstain ever since. Although, I am sure my roommate, Jennifer Baker, is still making crazy purchases of the like!

Sleeping till Noon!

Oh heavens! Are you kidding me? I should have known life would change forever when I officially became a minivan driving mom. I naively believed it was just a convenient and a great way to haul off large unwanted items to the Salvation Army. (Which by the way does not accept light fixtures or ceiling fans.) Not to mention carpooling with the kiddos. And oh how I looked forward to taking road trips and being able to seat the children far enough behind me that I didn't hear their arguing!

But now It looks like the minivan was just foreshadowing what was to come. Last week we learned that our school tuition for our girls was going to triple! Yikes!!!!! While we are still prayerfully considering our limited options. We are entertaining the thought homeschooling them next year! I won't get into all the details and funny anecdotes with which I could fill this post. I will save those for a later date.

Today, I will share with you the diversity in homeschooling which I previously knew existed but had not experienced myself. While I was freakishly, I mean fervently researching information on homeschooling... I thought to myself the best thing to do is to go straight to the source. So naturally, I contacted my Aunt who is a homeschooling mother of four. We had a lengthy discussion regarding this new world for me and she imparted much wisdom. However, I am only pointing out one aspect of that conversation which I found most... hmmm.... interesting. My Aunt said "the first thing I need to do is to train my kids to sleep till noon."
The next call I made was to a homeschooling friend who also imparted much wisdom. Her "first" thing to do was to select a home school covering and then our curriculum. Wow at the contrast! Of course my aunt said I needed to do these things as well. I just found it amusing how the differences in personality impact their homeschooling theology, if you will. For those of you who know me you will understand how completely freaked out I would be at the prospect of sleeping until noon. Of course, (I use that phrase far too exceedingly) sleeping till noon is just a analogy of having a more relaxed method of instruction. Which is by no means less efficacious. However, my personality is more aligned with that of my friend who gave me clearly definable paths of achievement.
Things that can be met with completion of paper work. This I am good at! I can complete great deals of paper work. Although, the core of my being has a great disdain for said paper. That's because for some reason paper work is inevitably attached to proving one thing or another. Things like... "why yes I can drive or love or be a good parent or wife or mother or candlestick maker" And while I appreciate paper work's worthiness I severely dislike having to actually prove the things I know. Wouldn't it just be so pleasant to be able to say to a person, company, supervisor, school... "Yes I do know how to add." Without having to actually take a test to proove it. Wait a m i n u t e, isn't that what politicians do all the time? hmm Something to ponder. And there-in-lies the rub! So here I am set off on a path with conflicting direction and eagerly looking forward to the future God has planned for me.