Category: Home Education

I was speaking with my mom yesterday and she was sharing news about a death notice which she read in the newspaper. The notice referred to someone who was my age and the name was familiar to her. It seems, it is likely this person had been the child of the neighbour next door when my mom and dad moved into the new subdivision not long after they were married. This family only stayed a few years and moved on.

The conversation then involved the neighbour who then moved into the house. It is interesting, neither of us could immediately remember the name of the single woman who lived there for a number of years, but my mom was the first to identify, Mrs Gilbert. Mrs Gilbert was a cancer survivor back in the 1950’s. One of my earliest childhood memories is connected to this lady. There was an apple tree in her back yard and in those days there were very few fences between the homes. I was part of a scouting team that was involved in an incursion to raid that tree of its treasure. The mission was compromised when my mom discovered the treasure in our possession.

I learned a lesson when I was very young that crime does not pay and stealing has consequences. There was no question about accountability and responsibility for my actions. The blame game would not be tolerated. My first remembered meeting with Mrs. Gilbert was when I had to knock on her door and confess what I had done. I am thankful for the actions of my parents in this situation, because it was a lesson that has stayed with me through my life. It was also a foundation for recognition that there are principles that matter in our life and we benefit when we live by those principles.

Mrs Gilbert became a family friend for many years after that event. Eventually work took her away from the community and out of our lives, but not forgotten after all these years. Little decisions which allow us to align our lives with God’s Word so that they build lasting foundational principles are important. Do your children and grandchildren a favour and seek to take every opportunity to instill in them the importance, choices matter in our life. You may not see the results immediately, but the influence will never completely go away. Be thankful if you have someone in your past who provided such an opportunity for you. Check your history and learn the benefits of the foundational principles of your life!

Every spring, as soon as the winter weather begins to retreat you will see families in our community begin to get out and begin to invest time walking together. They may still need to bundle up with heavy coats, but there is a sense that things are changing and the warmth in the sun is a promise of better things coming their way.

During the years we were home educating our children we came to realize that the short daylight of winter and the challenges of weather often brought a reduction in enthusiasm and commitment to the goals and processes which we were engaged in. As a consequence, at some point in February we often simply took a break from the regular routine and set aside some time for personal interests and passions to be pursued. This allowed us to take our focus off the growing negativism around us and be able to realize the blessings we not only had experienced in the past, but were part of our present moments.

Taking the time to look for and acknowledge your blessings and express your thankfulness and appreciation for what God has done in your life does have benefits. James 1:17 reminds us, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Beyond taking a stroll in the outdoors, why not also take a stroll down memory lane and allow such a time to Shift your mindset, Elevate your Energetic awareness and enhance the quality of your life. The ability to SEE and perceive your life from a longer and bigger perspective will often reignite your passion and imagination to allow you to more forward towards your dreams and goals more effectively.

Something to consider as we work our way through the last half of this winter month, at least for those in the northern hemisphere. I challenge you to realize your blessings! Invest in a stroll down memory lane.

How many parents have heard the word’s, “I’m bored” echo through the rooms of their house? Our children learned a lesson very early in life. Never express that sentiment. Their mother taught them, “Your bored, find something creative and beneficial to do, or I will find it for you.” They were quick to learn how to find something they wanted to do, rather than something that was assigned to them. Since they were home educated from the younger grades through high school, choosing to be bored was never an option.

Whether children are bored in the school system, or at home, boredom is never a pleasant and profitable use of time. In a world of increasing technological influence, imagination and creativity are often set aside for the easy way of technological babysitting. As this is happening with increasing regularity, technological addiction is also increasing. Really? Watch the response when parents threaten to, or do remove the technology, even for a short time.

What may have been designed with a benevolent and beneficial purpose has gotten out of control. The challenge is, many of the parents of such children are just as addicted to technology as their children and do not, no cannot, see its challenges and dangers.

What is true of any addiction, is it takes greater amounts of consumption, just to get the same level of satisfaction. The habit and addiction becomes more and more entrenched, controlling greater amounts of a person’s life.

In this moment of time, I simply ask the questions. What outside influences may be at work to diminish an individual’s ability to think clearly, lower their conscious and energetic awareness and their capacity to see and respond to situations in life that were once just plain common sense? What external elements might be finding their way into a person’s body to create changes in thought patterns, emotions, and their ability to clearly make their own decisions? What are the entry points into the body that is causing the damage? It might also be worth considering who has the power, the resources and the ability to bring that to fruition in our country, or even the world? “I’m bored!” What is that statement really expressing to you?