Mom Monday Week 42 – When It Rains

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You have heard the expression, “When it rains, it pours.” You have experienced it in all its symbolic glory, no doubt. When the kids misbehave, they all misbehave at once, while you are talking on your cell, getting a meal ready and watching helplessly as the house phone rings – no doubt, hubby trying to let you know something important.

mom monday wk42

When bad news hits, it hits on all fronts: your work, your kids’ health, their school performance, your husband’s parents etc etc etc. Fortunately, the rain which pours can also bring about happy events, all at once. Happy in our limited scope and worldview, mind you, for we have established several weeks back that all is relative and that all things work together for good, according to Romans 8:28 and many other Bible verses.  Continue reading »


Mom Monday Week 41 – Raccoon Devotionals

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One day a week, I take the kids to Knoxville – two hours from where we live, both ways. We spend four hours there. After my son’s soccer practice and violin lesson, it’s off to the Adventurer Club (scouting with a Christian component).

devotional for homeschooling moms

By the time we return, I am exhausted. The kids are exhausted. They get silly and loud in the car. “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin,” says Paul in Hebrews 12:4. I keep calm, by God’s grace.

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Mom Monday Week 40 – Eight-Car Wreck

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In my neck of the woods, we have a dangerous road called Chapman Highway. It is the best alternative to avoid heavy tourist traffic on Highway 66, which is coming into the county from I-40. However, because of its twists, turns, and blind spots, Chapman Highway is best not traveled.

The other day, we traveled to Knoxville for my son’s group violin lesson. Once a month, all his teacher’s students get together for group practice, musical games and theory. It’s fun and educational at the same time. Parents and younger siblings sit in quietly, like flies on chairs, not walls.

Mom Monday Devotional

For some reason, I decided to take Chapman Highway instead of the regular route through the interstate. Good thing I was running a bit late. We missed an eight-car wreck by about 15 minutes. We crossed paths with an ambulance and three tow trucks, each carrying a smashed up car – the last three removed from the scene.  Continue reading »


Mom Monday Week 39 – Fall Decorations

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A few years ago, this friend asked me if I decorated for fall. I said, “No, I don’t decorate for fall.” We were both married with no children. She seemed to feel the pressure to decorate her home because she lived in a subdivision where people decorated. Plus, she was a successful REALTOR. Her neighbors knew she was a successful REALTOR. They looked to her for tips about their own homes and, indirectly, put pressure on her to keep her house just so.

Fall Decorations

I, on the other hand, was not that well-known in my subdivision. Plus, our neighborhood was and still is wooded. One can barely see the homes from the street. Whew! I don’t have to keep up with the Joneses in any way.

This year, however, I decided to put together a fall wreath. I explain here how I reached that decision. It was a lot of fun. I did it for fun.

Fun. Hmmm… Fun… When was the last time you, mom, took time for fun? Whatever fun means to you. I have a hard time with the concept of fun because I like to get things done. And, as a homeschooling mom, my list of things to do is long. It does not leave much time for fun. Continue reading »


Mom Monday Week 38 – Athens and Jerusalem

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What are you reading these days?

After finishing up Einstein and Music Lessons while we were at the beach last week, I started When Athens Met Jerusalem – an introduction to Classical and Christian thought.

Western civilization, founded on Greek, Roman and Christian thought, cannot truly be understood until one considers each of these underpinnings. Christianity owes much to Judaism, so one must start there. On the other hand, Roman thought and life built itself on Greece.

When Athens Met Jerusalem

The title spells out that Athens, as a metaphor for Greek philosophy, and Jerusalem, as a symbol of early Christianity, represent two major forces one must understand before truly grasping Christianity and Western culture.

When most people think of Athens and Greece, they think of philosophy and reason. After all, it is the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers who became the first scientists.

On the other hand, when people think of Jerusalem, they think of faith and belief in God. As such, Athens and Jerusalem might seem like opposites and, really, like enemies.  Continue reading »


Mom Monday Week 37 – Life Is A Beach

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I hear the ocean. I smell it. I see it. I’m in a beach front condo in North Myrtle Beach. The wall décor reminds me that “Life is a beach,” “Our house rules are relax, relax, relax” and “If you are lucky enough to be at the beach, you are lucky enough.”

Why do we need a vacation to feel happy and to relax? Do we get happier while on vacation?

mom monday wk37

According to a study done in Holland and quoted by the New York Times in 2010, vacations do make us happy while we plan and anticipate them. But we don’t stay happy. Even those who said their vacation was “very relaxing” share that, two weeks after they come home, their happiness level drops down.

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Mom Monday Week 36 – Your Physical Space

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A few years back, somebody told me that I have an organized mind. Maybe so. What I know for sure is that I can’t live in a disorganized home. Now, there are different levels of organization.

Trust me, my home is not picture perfect. A brutally honest relative came by a few years back and said with disgust as he looked at our living room, “This has become a play room now…” Well, those are his feelings. We like our living room peppered with LEGO bricks and dolls and toy trucks and ponies. It’s the price we pay for having children.  Continue reading »


Mom Monday Week 35 – Just Pray

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I hate to sound like a Christian Pollyanna, but, many times in life, it really is that simple. Just pray. I could tell you story after story – mine or my friends’ – when results were not forthcoming. Then, when the people involved decided to make their situation a matter of heartfelt prayer, things went smoothly. Here are only two… Continue reading »


Mom Monday Week 34 – Einstein Flunked Physics

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So, it’s a new homeschooling year. Some of you have already started. Others, like me, wait for September. Regardless, we all start the new school year with mixed feelings, don’t we?

Somewhere, mixed in with excitement and confidence, there are some fears. Maybe you don’t like a particular subject. Maybe you don’t know much about a subject.  Continue reading »


Mom Monday Week 32 – Teach Them How to Pray

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“I would pray, but I don’t know how… Nobody taught me how to pray… Nobody… taught me… how to pray…” says Sandra Bullock’s character in “Gravity” – a recent Hollywood movie which garnered seven Oscars. If that’s not the cry of every adult who grew up without religious guidance from his parents… If that’s not the cry of every young adult who goes off to college, runs into trouble, and does not know what to do.

I know that cry. Nobody taught me how to pray growing up.  Continue reading »