Happy Thanksgiving!  Heres my top ten 'thankful list', in no particular order...

 

 

1. salvation in Jesus

2. family

3. friends

4. heat on a cold day

5. my husbnds job

6. healthy  children

7. enough food

8. to live in a country where I can worship freely

9. that I can homeschool my children

10. my health

 

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?

 

God bless and have a warm wonderful day

Tanna

Ya know when you have "one of THOSE" days? The kind where if the world were to end it would be a blessing? Oh Man, I had the WORST day I have had in long time. You name it, it went wrong. From a broken coffee pot(gasp, that alone would have been enough to send me into fits) to a gallon of cool aid on the floor, to a family member entering the hospital,my computer dying...and numerous other events I am trying to forget, it was worse then bad! That day I had talked to a friend briefly, telling her I was having a bad day and I would talk to her later. I never got the chance to call her back, but this friend came to church with the most perfect birthday gift for me. I have gotten a few 'perfect' gifts in my life, but this was excatly what I needed. She handed me a bag with two little angels in side. They are tea light holders, one says Hope and the other,Faith. She said "I thought you needed a little hope and a little faith".  I thought I was going to start crying right there, it was my most perfect gift. That doesnt happen very often.

 Also,for my birthday my brother and sister in law know me well enough to get me boxes of chi tea and 2 new tea mugs(yes mugs),which I love and have used several times already! The girls gave me a great gift too,a day with little noise and bickering! So,My birthday was nice and just about made up for the 'worst day ever'.

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Because the kids only have 3 days of school this week, we are doing 'mini school'. We are getting out the workbooks and just doing work sheets this week. I didnt want to start a whole new unit and only work on it for 3 days, so I have put it off until next week. The girls are greatful for the break in routine and I am too. Its refreshing. I still havent decided if we are going to take the month of December off.  We usually do, but this year we seem to be needing more 3 day weekends and days off. If we take the month off, we wont get anymore vacation days, unless we go into June with school. I guess we will take it day by day,that seems to be working for us right now. I shouldnt get so caught up in the actual number of days for school,the girls continue school throughout the summer anyway. Besides that, they are always learning,have you ever tried to keep a child from learning? It cant happen! Only adults have the ablity to stop learning....

 

Learn well and learn more

Tanna

I had a teacher in 3rd grade who loved football. In fact, the way she chose to motivate the students was by putting a giant football field bullietin board on the wall. Each student had to pick a football team, and that students team moved closer to the end zone based on the score of each math quiz or test that was taken.  Sounds great right? For some of the kids it was, but for me it became a daily reminder of how bad I was at math(I wasnt that bad in math, I just dont take tests well). See, the bulletin board was just inside the classroom, on the wall by the door, and everyday as we students lined up for recess or lunch or anything, the topic of conversation was about whos team was the best because so& so was the smartest and whos team was last because she was dumb. My team was dead last, I was last...for the whole world to see and laugh at. I was so embarrassed and humiliated,to the point I wanted to throw-up every time a test or quiz was handed out. When the /test/quiz was over, I would go to the bathroom and cry, I knew my team would stay last. I started to hate/fear going to school...

Did you know there is now a term/name for this? http://www.wmur.com/health/17981602/detail.html

(I wonder how long it will be before the drug companies market another mind/mood altering drug for KIDS?)

 

I got to thinking about this and wondering how this event has effected my attitude towards institutional learning. I think in someway, it made me afraid to fail in front of someone. So, I never asked questions in class,kept my hand down even if I knew I had the right answer. Sad.

Last Wednesday the girls memorized a poem for a poetry recital. Keg. chose Longfellow, Mack chose Robert Louis Stevenson. You have to understand, this is a HUGE thing for Mack because first,she has trouble memorizing things and second because she hates speaking in front of large groups. Keag. got up(she went 1st ofcourse) and did a flawless job. Mack stood up next, said 2 lines then froze.

She put her head down and said I'm sorry I dont remember and walked of the stage.

My kids are encouraged to 'fail' so that we can learn from our mistakes, and keep going. Its amazing to me that my daughter(severely dyslexic) will stand in front of a crowd of people and in essence, fail.  With no fear of humilation,embarrassment or "phobia".  How will it effect her attitude toward learning and failing in the future?

 

Just thinking....

Tanna

 

 

 

 

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Imagine taking your innocent, trusting children by the hand and relinquishing them to a life of bondage. As unthinkable as that may sound, an account in one of my children's books, "A Child's History of the World" (Hillyer, 1924), told of this very act during the Children's Crusade of 1212:

Children from all over France left their homes and their mothers and fathers – it seems strange to us that [the parents] would let them start off on such a trip – and marched south to the Mediterranean Sea. … [They] expected the waters of the sea to part and allow them to march on dry land to Jerusalem … but the waters did not part. Sailors offered to take the children to Jerusalem in their ships. … But it turned out that these sailors were really pirates, and as soon as they got the children on board their ships they steered them straight into … the very land of their enemies. … Here, it is said, the pirates sold the children as slaves.

We have virtually the same thing occurring in our culture today. The ships of bondage are the public schools, but instead of thousands of children, millions are led aboard. Founded by secular humanists over 150 years ago to delegate the training of children to the state, the public school of today is where the "old and irrelevant" has been removed – God, the Bible, prayer – and new godless, socialist and New Age agendas have assumed their place.

Sadly, many parents are either unaware or unwilling to see the true depravity of today's government schools. Although many well-meaning parents may rationalize sending their children to secular institutions, there are big reasons to remove them from these public stumbling centers immediately.

Public school is where the "blind guides lead the blind" (Matthew 15:14) in centers of secular-humanistic indoctrination. This is no longer up for debate. The research is in. Please make yourself familiar with the following research: The National Study of Youth and Religion by Smith and Denton (2005), The Southern Baptist Council on Family Life Report (2002), and the 20 years of study by Dan Smithwick and the Nehemiah Institute with over 40,000 youth who professed to be born-again. The facts are mind-boggling! The American church is currently losing between 70-90 percent of the next generation. The vast majority of our children's worldviews have been decimated, the inevitable result of nearly 1,100 hours a year of teaching that runs antithetical to Christianity.

E. Ray Moore of Exodus Mandate, at the forefront of this battle for the last 11 years, wrote the following: "… the lion's share of converting and witnessing is accomplished through the public education curriculum, peer pressure from other children – most of whom are non-Christian – and educators who implant (either subtly or obviously and conscientiously or unconscientiously) their humanistic, neo-pagan or New Age doctrines within the minds and hearts of Christian children." One recent Barna study shows that if current trends continue, in 10 years church attendance will be half of what it is today. Parents: the pagan institution down the street may have sports activities, marching bands, school plays, homecomings, proms, et cetera, but in light of eternity, do they really matter? Is not your child's soul worth so much more?

Public schools, by design, bring not one thought captive under Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). We as taxpayers now spend roughly $9,000-plus annually per student on K-12 public education, topping the charts globally in per-student spending, to produce scores near the bottom of all industrialized nations. So, what do our nearly 600 billion tax dollars a year generate besides a generation of youth thinking, acting and growing up to vote like socialists? As put by Mrs. Charlotte Iserbyt, former senior policy adviser in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, public educated children are being "deliberately dumbed down." The damage is not only spiritual, but mental and emotional as well.

Public schools surround children daily with the companionship of fools that corrupts good morals (Proverbs 13:20 and 1 Corinthians 15:33). Our impressionable children are faced with even greater temptations than in generations past. Why would we send them to places that are in a moral free-fall?

The facts speak for themselves. A recent Heritage Group study reports, "Every day, 8,000 teenagers in the United States become infected by a sexually transmitted disease." A recent study by Congress estimated that one out of 10 students (K-12) are "subject to sexual misconduct by an employee of a school" and that most of the abuse is never reported. To put this into perspective: a child going to a public school nowadays has a significantly greater chance of being sexually abused in school than being in an automobile accident. Yet every day millions of parents insist on seatbelts as they drive their children straight to a place where they are subject not only to the temptation of other fools but also potential physical harm.

A believer may point to Scripture and accuse another of being "judgmental," "legalistic" or "binding another's conscience" and therefore unduly burdening them because they choose to send their own children to public schools. I would graciously ask my fellow believers to read beyond the "don't judge me" verses to the ends of these chapters. In Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, Paul's overarching theme is, "Whatever you do as a believer, do not offend or cause another weaker believer to stumble." Here Paul uses the Greek words for "offend" or "stumble" from which we derive our English word "scandal." Paul could have written the following to millions of Christian parents today in a tone of genuine love and concern: "Parents, yes, you have been given freedom in Christ and yes, you are no longer 'under the Law,' but you are using your freedom in Christ as a license to send your children to a place that is causing these little ones 'scandal' – to stumble, to be offended, to turn away from our Lord. Why? Do you not remember what our Lord has told us? 'If anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.'"

Sending our children to public schools clearly causes them to stumble in their walk with God. The answer is not more youth groups, children's ministries, or even a teaching series by our pastors. The answer begins with parents loving their children more than they love the convenience or tradition of their local public schools. We must spark a debate within our churches. Since it appears that many of our Christian leaders and pastors – the shepherds – are afraid or unwilling to tackle this topic, then let the sheep address it, and let them begin now.

The facts, Scripture, and plain reason clearly demonstrate that when parents send their children to today's public schools, they put them in harm's way. Evidence and history have shown it is a fool's errand to try to reform the schools – a waste of time, money and children. It also runs contradictory to God's Word. In the words of Martin Luther, "My conscience is captive to the Word of God … to go against conscience is neither right nor safe."

Let us come together as the Body of Christ, repent and honor the Lord by raising our children for God's glory! Before another precious soul stumbles and falls away, let us stop leading our kids onto the pirate ships and work together to rescue those who are already on board. It is time to abandon ship.

Soli Deo Gloria!

David d'Escoto is a teaching elder, the co-author of "The Little Book of Big Reasons to Homeschool" and co-hosted the former radio program "Homeschooling for Life." He and his wife, Kim, have homeschooled their five children for over 10 years. Visit their website at http://dexios.info.

 

 

Gods Peace...

Tanna

I dont know why, but I love this and could watch it over and over! If you've seen any others like this can you send me the link?

 

 

Ya Know, sometimes I really love my blogger friends! You guys make me smile! I have had many birthday wishes, questions about me, but the #1 question has been "WHAT'S FOR DINNER?"

I do a weekly menu so that I stay within our budget and eliminate the "I'm out of...I need..." quick trips to the stores, gas wasting mistakes. So you want to see whats for dinner?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Mom reserves the right to switch meal days if need be. Remember,you have 2 dinner choices... 1. Take it. 2.Leave it"  Then at the bottom it says

"Oh taste and see that the Lord is good" Psalm 34:8

 

Have a great week and thank you for taking an intrest in my blog!

Tanna

 

HEY..do you know me? If you've read my blog awhile, you prob. know my girls but not ME !  So I thought I 'd share a little about myself.

 

1. I love to read, I have ended the habbit of reading 2-3 books at a time and now just finish my book(s) in 24 hours...I try to get in one book a week.

 

2. I Dye my hair red. I love Nice and Easy's #108...it was made for me!

 

3.I started developing symptoms of type 2 over the summer. I am now a Low Carb-er with no symptoms and am 15lbs lighter.

 

4. I love peanut butter.

 

5. I get thru my days with coffee or spiced chi tea.

 

6. I love to cook and could spend my entire day in the kitchen if allowed!

 

7. I LOVE to use my crock pot, and use it as much as I can.

 

8. My birthday is in November.

 

9. I prefer quiet, lazy days to hectic, noisey ones.

 

10. I like feeding people....want to come to dinner?

 

Have a great day,

Tanna