Thankful for the *Naughty List*

   

  I am glad for the "naughty list". The other day, I was wrapping (well, I was trying*to wrap) Christmas gifts, and my sweet 2 year old was *helping* by crumbling and unrolling all the paper, and pulling tape strands at least 2 feet long. I quickly warned her that this might earn her a spot on the "naughty list". She did not care one bit. And then I started pondering the whole "naughty list" thing. There never would even BE a Christmas without the naughty list. That tiny baby that was actually God came because we are all on the "naughty list". Jesus came to save us from our naughtiness. He who is completely Holy and wholly God, came in a dirty, smelly manger because that is where we are. He did not wait until we were on that "nice list." In fact, he didn't just come down to earth that first Christmas, he later actually took the punishment of that naughty list for every single one of us!  For " But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) This is what Christmas is all about. Yet, we teach that you only get great gifts if you are on that nice list. Well, I am so glad that is not true. I got the greatest gift of all while being on that naughty list. And so can you!

Giving gifts with meaning- Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh

**** reposting from my old blog****

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

     A few years ago, I read a little blurb in some magazine about a family that had a Christmas tradition of giving their holiday gifts using "gold, frankincense, and myrrh as a framework.  I decided I could tweak the idea a bit, and make it something really meaningful for our house.  I always "reteach" the kiddos at the beginning of the Christmas season about the three precious gifts of the Magi, and facts about the various gifts and their meaning.  (You can find lots of information on the internet)  We then organize our gift giving into those 3 categories :gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

     GOLD:  These are the extravagant gifts.  God's gift to us in His only Son, Jesus, is extravagant.  Gold is a precious metal, and was an expensive and extravagant gift for the Wise Men to give to Jesus.  I give each child one main "gold" gift.  They also get to pick out "gold" gifts for each other.  These are usually "just for fun" toys, that they know each other are desiring.  We wrap these gifts in gold paper, of course!

     FRANKINCENSE: These are gifts for our spiritual, educational, and emotional needs.  Frankincense is an aromatic resin from a tree that is made into incense and perfumes because of its' fragrance. Smelling a sweet fragrance is good for us on the inside, so are these gifts. Examples are books, Bible studies, music, etc...  Here are some neat facts about frankincense:  It comes out of a plant with a very hard bark.  It actually "bleeds" out, and the resin that seeps out is called "tears". These plants can grow in extremely harsh circumstances, even on solid rock! Their root system is so strong, that even the strongest winds cannot uproot them.  And guess what?  The "tears" from these plants are even more fragrant and valuable!  It is not hard to notice the parallels to our walk as Christians.  The frankincense gifts have the purpose of keeping us strongly rooted in the Lord.  We wrap these gifts in green paper to signify the strength of the tree.

     MYRRH: These are gifts that benefit our physical bodies. Myrrh is also a sweet smelling resin that "bleeds" out of a tree, but it is mostly used for medicinal purposes.  It is often used as an oil, and was one of the main oils used in the Egyptian embalming process.  Many cultures have used myrrh in numerous ways to treat an impressive amount of maladies. We even use it today in our toothpastes and mouthwashes, and to lower cholesterol.  Our "myrrh" gifts are usually articles of clothing. (Everyone has to get some new "slacks" for Christmas, right?)  We wrap these gifts in red paper.

     Having these three categories helps me a lot in organizing my gift giving.  I keep a list of each family member, and their gifts. I can quickly look and see who needs a certain type of gift, and it prevents me from getting off track.  It also helps keep our focus on the true meaning of Christmas - that JESUS is the most incredible gift of all, and we are giving gifts to each other in honor of Him.

From Stressed out Maniac to Satisfied Soul Mama, All in a Week's Work...

How the first few week have been going...
     I have had many people ask how our first few weeks of home school have gone, especially those who know that I have dramatically switched things up this year. I left the "system" I have relied on for the past 7 years, to "change it up". (Read blog post from July 23rd, 2014) This year we are focusing on Scripture, memorizing it, living it, and loving it.
     The first few weeks are always SUPER FUN. Getting kids back in the habit of waking up earlier, and getting to work. We have had maybe two mornings so far where we started on time. We are starting our day, every day, with Bible time together. I purchased composition books for all the kids to use as Bible/prayer journals. Each day, we write what we have read, and some important thoughts about it, or verses to memorize. We have enjoyed drawing some fun pictures, like Jesus and Peter walking on the water. We have had some great discussions during this time. It's awesome to have a high schooler, all the way down to preschoolers in the room, and hear the comments. My 4 year old raises her hand each day with what we have dubbed "Deep Thoughts with Khloe". They are hilarious. It's usually something like, "I am going to make up a Bible verse." The other kids tell her that she can't. She then says, "It will say that God loves us and He loves us very much." Love it.
     We are working on memorizing the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6, in an effort to learn to pray more effectively. I made this poster on my Heritage Maker's site to help us.

 We have traced our hands, and we are learning this visual with our fingers to help us learn the prayer, and how to pray.

     The rest of our "schooling" is progressing. It's tough getting used to sitting and concentrating. The biggest challenge we face is the 2 year old. She is a HOT MESS!  She is either standing ON the school table, drawing all over herself with marker or eating glue sticks, or she is climbing on my back as I bend over to help someone with math. If she is not right there, we need to be afraid, VERY AFRAID. Here are some example from the last 2 weeks:

Yes, she covered the kitchen with soapy water, had some fun with chocolate syrup, painted my bathroom mirror using my make up brushes with toothpaste, colored with markers all over the floor, cut her shirt to pieces with scissors, and broke ALL of the eggs in the fridge. So fun. Good thing she is so dang cute.

     But on the flip side, THIS HAPPENED: My three big kids got baptized! Oh, how my soul sings!

 In the last few weeks of more deep conversations of faith and prayer, three of them decided it was time to make a public proclamation of their faith. It has all been worth it already. Fruit is showing. So midst the hard days, I can remember that His mercies are NEW EVERY MORNING! Praise the Lord!

'Twas the Night Before Homeschool.......

'Twas the night before home school, and all through the home,

Mom was  going over new curriculum with a fine-toothed comb.

The pencils, markers, and crayons were laid out with care,

and Mom hoped that in the morning they'd still be there.

The children were jumping on top of their beds,

refusing the new bedtime and giggling instead.

Mama was stressed out about starting again,

but Dad said not to worry, as he kissed the baby's chin.

But how will she do it? She thought with a fright,

As the older kids were still not down for the night.

There's math, and reading, and grammar to teach,

Maybe she could just run away to the beach?

And Bible, science, and history, too!

A huge responsibility, that much is true.

The days will be busy, with school and just "life",

Some days with triumph, some days with strife.

But she has been called to this job, whether she is ready or not,

and God will equip her, for He loves her a lot!

He reminds her it's more about discipleship than a grade,

And this time when they are little will so quickly fade.

Just love them, He says, and I will supply new grace each day,

You are doing this for me, just trust and obey.

So she shut all her books, and climbed in bed for the night,

And prayed to her Father will all of her might.

"Lord, bless this new year, and teach us your way."

And now she felt ready to face the next day.

    So, it has started. School has started in the Wright household. As many of you know, we are doing things a bit differently this year, and I invite you all along on this journey. It is always scary to implement "change", and this is kind of a big one around here. I have always leaned on Classical Conversations' curriculum for most of what I do, so going a different route feels strange and unknown. I am hoping some of my ideas might work, yet I know that some will massively fail. 

    I have totally revamped our curriculum and "school day" this year in an attempt to return to my original reasons for homeschooling. I want to focus on "hiding God's word in their hearts", and learning together to pray more, and love God in all we do. 

     So, what does that look like? First, I bought them all journals for Bible/prayer time. (I just got those composition notebooks). Each morning, we begin all together with a time of Bible reading and discussion. In their journal, they are writing down the passage we read, and a short summary of what was read. Obviously, I help the littles with this part, and only have them write a few key words themselves. If we come across a verse we want to memorize, we write that down as well. We are shooting for one memory verse each week for this. I have also picked a few larger Scripture passages to memorize in addition to these weekly verses. I am making posters of these to hang around the house, to help with the memorization. The first passage we are working on is the Lord's Prayer, as I am going to use that as a basis of learning HOW to pray. In the back part of our Bible journal, we have made a "Prayer Journal" section. We are writing down prayer requests and answers. 

     A few years ago, at a homeschool convention, I purchased two Bible studies by "Explorer's Bible Study." I never implemented them (remember, that is the reason for this change- never feeling I had the "time" to get beyond Math and reading skills). This year, we are doing them! For the preschooler and 1st grader, we are doing "Jesus, My Shepherd." Each day there is a short reading, and simple questions for them to answer. For the older children, we are doing "God's Perfect Plan- Exploring Bible Prophecy From Genesis to Revelation." There are verses to look up each day, and more in depth questions for them to answer.

     I am also planning on using Bible verses as copywork for handwriting. Why buy a handwriting curriculum? We will also use verses and passages for grammar work. We can parse the verses and diagram them. We can rewrite passages in our own words, using the stylistic techniques we learned in the Institute for Excellence in Writing course. (CC Essentials program)

     On top of all this Bible, of course we are still doing math, reading, and the other major subjects.We just aren't going to stress about them as much this year. They are all ahead in their work, so it will be refreshing to have a different focus. If we don't get to much history or science this year- oh well!  We will still sing our CC timeline song and history/science sentences (just at home, instead). These give them plenty of history and science education, even if all they do is sing them once in awhile this year. The older kids have already done this CC Cycle, and the littles will get it later when we are back.

     There you have it, that is the plan. I invite you to follow this blog and our journey. I am praying that I see an amazing move of God on my children's hearts this year~

The post I have been putting off posting...

    I am just going to say it quick, like ripping off a band aid. The Wrights are not doing Classical Conversations Foundations or Essentials this school year. Ok, it has been announced. Word was starting to spread, so I guess it is time for an explanation. Let me say first, that I still LOVE Classical Conversations, and am hoping and praying that this is just a one year break. (This would have been our 7th year in the program!) So many of you know me as "THE" CC mom, tutor, memory song maker, Orchestra teacher, etc... so what in the world is going on here, right?  Well, I truly was struggling all last year with A LOT, some school related, some "turning 40 and re-evaluating life" type things. (Which would require a separate blog post, lol.)
     I originally decided to home school for many reasons, one of the most important was to be able to focus on studying the Bible along side and IN other subjects, to memorize Scripture, and incorporate our faith in Jesus as the most important thing. Needless to say, over the years it has become easier and easier to "just get our math and reading done", and to stress about the academic side of schooling, and bypass the spiritual emphasis I originally intended to have. YUCK! We have been so busy with "activities" and "field trips" and "preparing" and achieving "Memory Master" - which are all GREAT things- that we have sadly left our most important reason to school at home as an "elective" which we rarely have time for. Needless to say, the Lord has been convicting me all year about this, and how the time is SHORT and I need to pull them all in and truly dive into getting closer to God this year. We are going to do a one-year read of the Bible, we are going to memorize MASSIVE amounts of Scripture, and we are going to learn HOW to pray.
     I have always believed whole-heartedly in CC's motto - "To know God and make Him known". I still agree, but this year I want to change it up a bit to - "To LOVE God and make Him LOVED." I know that you can have all the "head- knowledge" about the Bible in the world and still MISS it. Just think of the Pharisees!  Even Satan knows all about God. Oh, I want my children to experience true salvation through Jesus, and to LOVE Him and glorify Him in ALL they do!
     Of course, changing up everything we do is scary, and I know we will have our challenges. I will miss my CC family so, so much. This was an excruciatingly difficult decision to make, and I pray all our friends will understand and support us.
     I made this canvas through Heritage Makers years ago, and want to return to these reasons:

  I covet your prayers this year!

A bit about having teenage daughters...

   I have a beautiful, talented, smart, fashionable, funny, teenage daughter. Now, let me just say first that I find this very difficult to believe sometimes, as I myself don't feel a day over 16. Oh well, I guess I need to face the facts! The journey to "little womanhood" with her has not always been easy. In fact, the year she was 12 was exceptionally difficult. She was going through the worst of the physical and emotional changes of growing up, and I was pregnant, which caused the perfect storm of hormones. There were almost daily shouting  or crying sessions, and I will not say if those were only by her. (clearing throat) Being that we home school, there was no escape. She was stuck with me all the time, and I was "blessed" to get to experience every single second of her life. I thought those days would never end. I wondered where my sweet little girly had gone. Sometimes I was scared to admit even to myself that I felt I didn't really like being around her anymore. How awful for a mom to feel that! Well, I am quite sure she did not like me very much at that point, either. BUT HERE IS THE GREAT NEWS, MOMMA, if you are going through this: She will emerge out of this transition and your relationship can be wonderful. I actually really and truly love the person she is becoming, and I enjoy (honestly) hanging out with her now. The constant influx of hormones has become regulated, and she has learned to control her emotions much better. 
     But there is one thing I have been convicted of lately concerning her, so I wanted to share it with you. Almost on a daily basis, she will ask "Does this outfit look good?", or "Does my make up look all right?", or "How does my hair look?" Now, this is a bit strange to me most days because we are not leaving the house and no one other than her family will even SEE her..... I am usually multi-tasking (holding a baby, pacifying a preschooler, handing out school work, cleaning something, cooking something, etc) and I admit that I have answered her quickly with out even LOOKING at her! And sometimes, my tone of voice may not be so great either. Ugh. The other day, while I was about to tersely respond, the Holy Spirit whispered...."Careful, Momma, think before you speak, and think about what she is really asking."  She is asking, "Am I OK?", "Am I loved?", "Do you think I'm pretty?", and even "Do you have time for me?" Oh my, I was convicted. I need to STOP what I am doing when these questions come. I need to look her in the eye. I need to answer her with feeling and truth, and do everything in my power to fill up her compliment tank. I am praying that I can remember to do this, that I won't let the distractions take over and cause more flippant responses. So, I wanted to share this with other Mommas out there, and I hope it makes you ponder your own girlies a little. And, they are also never to big for a hug. Especially if it's in front of friends and embarrasses them :)

I made this book for her when she was 12, to be a tangible thing to remind her she is loved. It has letters from me, and from other women in her life, telling her how much she is loved, and to hold on to the Lord.

Copy and paste link to read entire book:

http://www.heritagemakers.com/projectBrowserStandAlone.cfm?projectId=1808556&productId=9&projectSponsor=397128

  

Welcome to my BLOG!

    Hello, and welcome to my new blog. This has been on my heart for awhile, and the new year brought the perfect opportunity to start something new. Those of you who know me, may think I am crazy to take on something else. Well, that is sort of the point of this. And you are right, I am crazy! 
     People are always calling me "supermom". This is most likely meant as a compliment, but it often makes me feel a little phony. I do not think of myself that way. I am just on a journey every day to serve the Lord the best I can, glorify Him in all I do, and honor Him in my marriage, parenting, and business. I am no more "super" than anyone else. Yes, I have lots of kids. And I manage to feed them everyday. (They have this habit of demanding it.) And yes, I home school them. This is  sometimes awesome, sometimes an immense struggle. It also in no way makes me "super". I also run two pretty successful businesses, a piano studio and a direct sales business. This is not easy. I have to work very hard at squeezing things in, and trying to manage my time. I do not have more hours in the day than anyone else, as some have accused, lol!  We have a house bursting full of kids, and that eating habit that I mentioned earlier means that I have to find creative ways to help with the family income. It is necessity, but I also love my jobs. 
     This blog will chronicle our adventures, mostly my mommy adventures. I will share our stories, and let you peek into my brain. I hope you enjoy it!
     So, for this first post, I am going to let you all in on a little secret. Even though I am outgoing, I am totally insecure. I always feel that people don't really like me....that they *tolerate* my presence. This is Satan's #1 to get at me, and I know (somewhere deep inside) that it is a lie. But it is still my kryptonite. In opening up to some other moms about this, I have come to realize that MANY of us mommies deal with this. And many of these sweet ladies are women I really admire and desire closer friendships with myself! This makes me so sad, because in believing this lie, we actually cut ourselves off from other women who God has put in our lives as blessings for us. I wish we could all be more *real* with each other about our struggles, and not be so worried about being judged all the time. One of my New Year's resolutions is to be a better friend, and make truly make an effort to invest in those precious relationships. We need each other :)
     In the past six months, I have gone through a bit of a rough patch. Nothing terrible has happened, just lots of changes, that when added up just overwhelmed me a bit.  I always thought I was a very "fly by the seat of my pants" gal, ready for change and excited to embrace it. Well, I have either changed, or getting older has started to effect me more than I want to admit! I have fought some of these changes, and wrestled with *who* I am, *what* I am doing, and *why* I am doing it more than ever before. I have felt completely alone. All of a sudden, during my prayer time (actually more like "complaining" time it seemed), I heard God whisper *why* I am going through these struggles. He said "I am jealous for you." He is jealous for me!  He is jealous for you! He wants me to throw my eyes away from all these fears and know that He loves me enough to be JEALOUS when I look elsewhere for acceptance and meaning. Have you thought about that? The only real jealousy we usually understand is the romantic type of jealousy. And that is a strong emotion!  That is how He loves us! What a wonderful thing! He is teaching me to look to Him first for friendship, for direction, and for meaning in it all. Let Him whisper to you, too!