Crown of Beauty

A second book club called and asked if I would come speak to their group. My book was on their reading list! With one book club gig now under my belt, I am as close as I will likely ever be to a celebrity. I readily accepted the second invitation. These little sparks of encouragement on my path to becoming a successful author are like sunflowers on the edge of the tumbledown empty lot I pass on my bicycle. Unexpected , breath catching bursts of beauty, of hope, of life.

A cousin wrote and told me her daughter was having trouble with a teacher. The teacher didn't believe in letting strong students read above their grade level. She felt the content of such books would be too mature, incomprehensible to a 5th grader. It didn't matter to her that the child might be capable of advanced reading and thus bored of the typical 5th grade book. To further turn the screws on this torture to a gifted young mind, the teacher required that the students read a half hour every day outside school time, but they were not allowed above the prescribed reading level.
"I'm sending her to school with your book," said my cousin,"And she will see if the teacher will let her read it." (Stories like this are one of the reasons I homeschool. I understand most teachers are not like this, but oh my! How stories like this hurt my heart!)
Later, my cousin reported back.
"The teacher looked at your book and couldn't find its level in the scholastic system. She said it appeared to be a book for adults, however. Then she looked at my child and told her she seemed to be reading at an advanced level...so yes, she could read your book."
We will conquer the world, one 5th grader at a time.

I sat at the computer, reading the many notes from relatives who grew up watching "School house rock." They sent links to songs which would teach Asherel the Preamble of the Constitution, as well as most educational requirements through graduate school. I didn't grow up with School House Rock. I was a little too old when it came around. However, I was feeling a little down about how unenthusiastic and busy our homeschool seems to be this year. It feels overwhelming right now. Too much to do, too little time, and too little joy. Could School House Rock infuse delight over 9th grade writing assignments, too? I started our school day with a communal prayer with Asherel, who looked at me quizzically. We both start our day with Bible reading, but separately. We usually don't start with prayer together.
"Why?" she asked.
Oh, I thought, I have not been steering this ship properly.

So while musing about all I had been doing poorly, I got a little chat message on the side of my computer screen. It was from my daughter in the next room. I don't know what we did before computers when family members had to actually move from room to room to talk to each other.

I had modified the writing/history assignment that day. My assignment was sparked by a new passion of Asherel. She has a new computer game she loves called Minecraft. She tells me that it is critical she play this game for normal social development since everyone her age plays it. In this game, she builds a city out of lego like pieces, and she has to plan and wisely apportion her "wealth" to build the city with all the essentials it needs to thrive and grow. The city has enemies, like wolves that can attack, but apparently can be tamed and become useful. I am sure this description is somewhat inaccurate, but you get the idea. Anyway, my assignment was to rewrite the Preamble and the first 5 amendments of the constitution as though it were written for the Minecraft community. She had to keep the same concepts and meaning, but use terms the Minecraftians would understand.

So, the little chat window from Asherel on the edge of my computer screen said:
"I am working on the Minecraft Constitution. Can I send you the Preamble so you can be sure I am on the right track? This is FUN!"

Fun? Out of the midst of my funk over how hard our school days had become, learning the Constitution was being described as fun.

That night as I settled down to draw my iPod picture, which I draw each day, sunflowers popped out of my hand and onto the screen. I looked at the  happy faces of the sunny flowers and wondered what had sparked sunflowers from the creative swamp.

Isaiah 61:2-4

² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
 ³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
   instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
   instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
   instead of a spirit of despair.

This day I will be better

Every single morning I pray that this day I will be completely patient, loving, gentle, kind, an excellent teacher to my delightful daughter. I pray every single morning that this day, I will glorify God in every interaction, and will reflect all the character that I want my dear children to see and adopt. And every single morning, by 10:00 latest, I blow it. 

So a couple of days ago, following my daily 'empower me to be better' prayer, Asherel and I settled down for our history lesson. I was determined that this day, I would not lose patience, or lose heart, or be irritated. This day, I had a plan. I would offer only reward based education. I would show no disappointment no matter what answers I received to the simple questions I posed during our history hour. Asherel is a very smart kid, and so my expectations are high. We are working our way through the forming of the US, and had just started on the writing of the constitution.

"I want you to memorize the preamble by Friday."
Why?"
I took a deep cleansing breath.
"If you memorize the preamble by Friday, I will give you a bag of Skittles."
Now, I know what you are thinking. This bribery system is not only abhorrent, but will never work. I totally agree. It was a foolish thing to do, and I should have known better. I should have offered Gummy Worms.
"No thanks," she said.
"Ok," I said, with barely constrained fury, "We scrap the carrot, and go to the stick. If you don't memorize the preamble by Friday...."
"Ok, I will memorize it," she said quickly,"...but why do I need to memorize it when I can just look it up on my iPod?"
"You won't be allowed to bring your iPod into the SAT test, and besides, this is the most important document in our nation, if not the world. The whole stage of what is to come is laid out in the Preamble. If you have that knowledge at your finger tips, you will be able to understand, intelligently discuss, and defend the major tenets of the foundation of our country and why it is great!"
I think I lost her as soon as I said the iPod wouldn't be allowed in the SAT test. She was already mourning the 2 hours she would be "off the grid", disconnected.

We repeated the Preamble, and discussed its meaning, and then began reading the constitution. When I hit the bit about the electors and how our president is elected, we had to quit for the day. We had to quit because I know some states don't apportion the electors' votes the way it says they are supposed to in the constitution and I have no idea how they can do that. (Am I misreading or can someone explain that quickly before today?)

Meanwhile, we moved on to a discussion of Benjamin Franklin. "Benjamin was taught for a few years at home, " I read, "But that was enough to get him started. He continued to read every book he could get his hands on and became knowledgeable in math, science, philosophy, history...."
I paused and looked pointedly at Asherel.
"What?" she said.
"First of all, what form of education did Ben have?"
"He was home schooled."
"Correct. And notice what it says.... he read voraciously every book he could get his hands on...on his own. His parents got him started, but then his intellectual curiosity and delight took over. In the end, Benjamin Franklin became regarded as one of the most accomplished, well read, and influential figures of the 18th century."
I did not add that I would bet the mortgage his parents never had to bribe him with gummy worms.
"And your point is....?" said Asherel.

Before I go any further, I must say that Asherel is an incredible and wonderful kid. We are both struggling with an overfull schedule this year, but don't know how to cut back, as everything we are doing seems critical. We could cut out horseback, guitar, art, dog agility training, and fun...but that just doesn't seem wise either. So our days are long, and at times, she balks at the load. I am hoping things will settle as we adjust to the new school year. However, there is a low level panic ready to erupt at any moment, and hence the need for daily prayer and if that fails, bribes.

But it is refreshing to read about people like Benjamin Franklin or really any of the early leaders of our country. They were such self motivated, patriotic, Godly, and well rounded characters, by and large. Of course they had their issues that they struggled with. We all do. But the thread of common traits that weave these great people together are: strong work ethic, determined, persevering, self improvement, Godly, moral, sense of destiny and purpose above and beyond their own selfish desires.

Ben Franklin, famously quoted at age 80 during the Constitutional Convention, attempted to convince the delegates that daily prayer was critical, as it was in the days prior to the Revolution. He said:
'' ...we had daily prayers in this room. Do we imagine we no longer need assistance?
I have lived now a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God rules in the affairs of men."

So, once again, like Ben Franklin, I bow my head, and pray that this day, I will be better.

2 Chronicles 6: 39-40
³⁹ then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.  ⁴⁰ “Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

Earthquakes of Consciousness

If all you have ever known is the sky above you and the earth beneathe, you begin to take it for granted. It has always been there. It always will be.  When something shakes you, some earthquake of consciousness, you begin to realize all that you have that is sometimes held by the tiniest of threads. And you realize how much that landscape of your life, that you have come to expect, and perhaps not notice, is something precious....and something that could be lost.

When I listened to the truant officer in Illinois during the hearing on Bill 136 who supported the bill requiring homeschoolers to register with the state ed department, I felt a small earthquake. This officer, who has the power to have our children seized from us, said that he welcomed the proposed Bill. It would give him the power, he claimed , to "help" the homeschoolers. He could then not just confront potential truants loitering on the streets day after day, but he could go to the homes of whomever he wished, and snoop around to see if they were properly educating their children.
His analysis of how to determine guilt- if they let him in their home. If they didn't welcome him, then they must be hiding something.

I pulled out the constitution, my little pocket book copy that sits by the computer. I called Asherel over and we read the preamble and then the first four amendments of the constitution that guides our government and limits its powers such that we are a nation of freedom. Then we watched the video of the truant officer claiming he should have the right, even obligation, to enter a law abiding citizen's home, guilty of no wrong doing and with no evidence of any wrong doing. His presumption of guilt? That would be determined by whether the homeowner willingly let him in to trample her 4th amendment rights. My 13 year old could see this was unconstitutional. Nonetheless, she didn't find the study as enthralling as I did.... and I realized freedom is all she has ever known. A state that respects the enumerated limits of its own power is what she has grown to expect, like waking to the sky above her and the ground beneath her. It is all I have ever known as well, but I am only a generation removed from the ancestors Hitler disposed of. I feel their cries of anguish in my soul.

I understand this bill is just tabled for now. It is not dead. A compromise is being sought. What I really want to know is did anyone grab that truant officer after the hearing. Did someone from the Public Education system pick up a constitution and open it to the 4th amendment and tell him he needed to memorize that section and pass a test on it before he returned to work? Were those committee members as appalled as I was by the ignorance of the constitutional rights that he,they, supposedly were entrusted to uphold? Did they not see where this bill was leading? Surely they were not so blind, or so ignorant. I can only assume they know what they are doing.

The enemies of freedom would never succeed if they came revealing the full extent of their plan. We are frogs being slowly boiled to death because the first warm drops don't seem to matter, creating just a hint of lethargy.

In the history of God's people as they entered and conquered foreign lands, they were told not to intermarry lest they be entrapped by the false gods of the foreign nations. Yet time after time, the people would slowly adopt the pagan practices little by little despite God's commands, and they would stumble into idolatry. God, in His merciful wrath, would create 'earthquakes of consciousness' to shake them out of their complacency and they would veer back, at least for a while, to His path.

I would write more, but I hear a knock on the door. It is a truant officer and he is pointing a finger at me, demanding proof that I taught my algebra lesson yesterday, and he wants to interview my child privately to be sure I didn't withhold Twinkies and milk. Since I did nothing wrong.... I don't have to worry.....right?

2 Kings 17:15-17

¹⁵ They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”
 ¹⁶ They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. ¹⁷ They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger.