Home-Education is FUN!

Sometimes you just have to switch things up...like using a dry erase board for math practice...instead of worksheets.  And it's perfectly fine to allow doodling between problems.

I would have never experienced the fantasy of Rose and Jack getting married before the poor guy froze to death if I hadn't allowed Zion to drift a bit. 

And I've learned over the course of 5 kids...to not take them or myself too seriously.  Zion just about had a heart attack when I suggested a sentence for her last Grammar question of the afternoon.  She giggled nervously to see if I would actually allow her to write it down.  Of course I would let her write it down, I assured her.  In fact, she'd BETTER write it down!

It's a very effectual sentence...I think.

Sometimes when we give our kids permission to do what they might be tempted to do behind our backs...the "whatever it is" loses it's charm.

We had a good laugh and nobody was worse off for it.

Relax, Moms.  Home-Education is a blessing.  We are allowed to have fun!

Goodwill

 There are few things I enjoy more than digging for treasures at thrift stores.

My Mom taught me how to pinch pennies.  If we shopped RETAIL for clothing...it was rare.

Even when there was more $$$$$ to spend...we hit the Outlets, Swap Meets & Discount racks.

It all boiled down to...why pay more for an item...if you can find the same thing or something very similar for cheaper?

Jemima was funny the other day...laughing to herself as we drove...she said..."Can you imagine if Dad started working as an actor again and was making millions of dollars and we were being followed by the paparazzi???  They would be saying...."There goes Dawn Gregg again as she enters the Goodwill...cuz I know you, Mom.  You wouldn't change."

Home -Education / Science Stuff

This new post reminded me of an old post of mine as I lay falling asleep last night.  I love when that happens....when time and space is connected by a..... usually unseen and unnoticed..... thread.

Dissecting a fertilized egg.  Even though we eat chickens....the girls held that sweet little baby chick in high esteem.  Lots of "oohhs" and "awwwws"  when they saw it's lifeless little body.


And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.   
Genesis 1:28 

Home-Education / CHARACTER BOOKS

This is the start of Zion's CHARACTER BOOK.

She will sketch characters from literature/film/or television.... and list qualities or attributes that describe them. 

Fashion Design Studio Kits are awesome!!!!!!!  Our set has been passed down thru all three girls.


This Interior Design Studio Kit is on Zion's Wish List.   I have nothing to do w/the products.  I'm not being paid to endorse them or anything.    I just really really really think they are GREAT. 

Celebrate Weirdness

Who wants to take a normal bath...without a sherbet colored towel bubble????????

Home-Education

I'm not alone on this by a long shot....but I have been talking about "college stuff"  for years now.

Like here.

Or here.


Years ago...while away on a vacation in Mexico...I was introduced to the writings of Marylin Howshall. 

Lifechanging!

And this book really affected my thinking. 

Life changing!



We are 13 years into this Home-Education Journey of ours and I am more convicted than ever that is is Lord directed and a blessing beyond blessings.

Some of the stuff we've been up to lately....

Volunteering at and filming a PSA for a local Crisis Pregnancy Center....blowing bubbles w/out a wand...playing The Price Is Right game with our re-purposed trash.


I can't understand those people (home-educators as well)  who require that their children sit still at desks while doing their lessons.    Not the way we fly at all.

We think the bed makes most sense.


And one of my most favorite things about the way we have chosen to spend our days...is in multi-age/multigenerational community. 

The girls are 17. 15. and 9 now...working alongside one another...each at different things...each at their own pace.      

Zion's friends are 10 and 12...not divided by grade levels when spending time together.

And our Ballet Class represents perfectly how life is lived in reality.  Zion's the youngest.  There are three teens participating and 6 full grown ladies.  All ages...twirling together. 

Distressing Times

UPDATE:

They removed the guy flying the distress signal in peaceful protest from the Inaugural route.  So much for the 1st Amendment. 



Looks like Papa wasn't the only American flying the distress signal (alongside Old Betsy...of course) during the Inauguration today.

The guy on the parade route was also flying a Culpeper Minutemen Flag.

Tolerance in an Intolerant World

There is absolute truth.
Truth is not relative.

 
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."  John 14:6


That there's the rub.  

This is the message which turns so many off. 

Alistair Begg here.

John Piper here.

John MacArthur here.

Voddie Baucham here.

R.C. Sproul here.

Charles Spurgeon here.

Tim Chaddick preaches this same message each and every Sunday in Los Angeles.  This article highlights Reality LA's teachings regarding the Supremacy of Christ.

Chaddick's speech is so casual and contemporary that it's easy to forget how radically conservative his message is. He believes in the literal Genesis account of creation. He says abortion is a sin, even in cases of rape and incest ("a person's value is not determined by the circumstances surrounding their conception"), and that those who do not accept Jesus will go to hell. In short, Chaddick is a fire-and-brimstone Christian—albeit a fashionably styled one—and he's not alone.

With all that being said...a question arises.  

If I believe all of the above to be true...will I experience resistance to the message that my daily life communicates to the world?  

Of course I will.  It's to be expected. 

My job is to walk humbly with my Lord....in confidence that......

.....He will take care of those people or circumstances which He brings into my path or which He allows in His providential care and wisdom to come my way.     


For my good and for His glory. 

Self Service

"It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?"

Ozzie



I don't know about you...but I hear a lot of Christ followers going on and on about how much they are doing for the Lord...when in reality...it is themselves they are serving.

Myself included.

I have a soft spot for women in this area.

Ladies...our role is to give the Lord the first position.  He is to be priority #1.  The Lord first and foremost.  If we have a husband...he comes next.  And then our kids.... extended family/friends...church body etc.

If my husband or my kids are being routinely being overlooked or neglected so that I can do the Lord's will.....it's most probably not the Lord's will that I am doing.

The temptation to deceive ourselves in this area is ever present.

And most people would never even notice that we are full of baloney.  

The culture is all screwed up on this one...and by that ...I mean the church culture as well.  





 

Table Reading / Perez Hilton / Interview Magazine February 2013

"Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one."  Stella Adler

• This was a surreal week for me.  Bradley was asked to participate in a table reading of a screenplay for an independent film being shopped around.  He and I bundled up (it's chilly in LA) and considered the evening out in Hollywood to be a long overdue date nite.   He took to the stage in a small dark theater alongside a dozen or so others...and did his thing.  As an audience member...it was a pleasure to see him work.  As a wife...it was as well.  He's really a good actor.  I don't say that because I am blinded by flowery feelings of affection.  I say it because it's true.  I hope with all my hope that he is given an opportunity to work in the field again.  I watched as the co-writer...an actor you would all know...approached him with an introductory handshake and a sincere..."It's nice to meet you, Man.  I am a big fan of your work."  Bradley was flabbergasted.  He has been humbled and has no idea how talented he actually is.
• We hung out afterwords at the Pig n Whistle w/ an old acting friend and his wife.  As life would have it...his son...an actor... and our sons have become close friends.  We hadn't seen each other in 17 years.  Since that time...he has married a woman...an actress...the child of Hollywood royalty.  I don't really care about that part of her story...even though it's fun trivia...what I am so pleased about is that.... at long last.... I was in her company.  Finally...I could get something off my chest.  I seized the opportunity to apologize for something I did to her as a teen-ager...something she had no clue ever happened.  You see...Bradley once told me while we were dating that prior to our getting together...he had thought she was cute (their paths crossed in acting class.)  One night...in my immaturity and prompted by jealously...I had her removed from an intimate house party in Laurel Canyon.  In protection of me...our dear friend...an actor...asked her & her pal to leave....claiming the space was "too crowded."  Two decades later....she listened to my confession ...and graciously forgave me.  Together we laughed out loud.   She is cute. 

• I walk into Braverijah's room early one morning to find him on a conference call with Perez Hilton...in regards to a music video he is directing. 
• And Today...Mcabe is featured in an Interview story.  
• And also......I have had a strong urge to write.

Maybe this week is the beginning of some movement in a direction some would call "career advancement?"  Maybe it isn't?

Only God knows.

Prayers please.  For protection.  Discernment.  Wisdom.  Guidance.  Open doors.  And closed ones. 

btw.....Mcabe ^^^^^^  is not a smoker.  He was in character :)

 





 

Caribbean Memories

This Rustic Inn is nuts.  Definitely worth a visit if you are ever in Ft. Lauderdale.  They give you a crab cooked in butter and garlic and a wooden hammer.  You smash the shell until the meat can be sucked out.  Delicious!  It was nice having dinner with Papa's sister, Aunt Jean.

Shopping for conch shells in Grenada.
Of course...Jemima and I had to have a little Lord of the Flies/symbolism discussion :)

A mom's work is never done.  Doing laundry for 7 on the ship.  And that includes a Current Events discussion while waiting for the dryer.  It was a pleasant surprise to find Fox News being broadcast in the laundromat.

It's lots of fun traveling with the boys as adults.  So handsome.  Especially when they dressed for dinner.

Eating dinner around the same table 11 nights in a row was such a blessing.  Not living near Nana and Papa is so strange...and has taken some getting used to. 

Wonderful memories. 

The Spirit of Truth

UPDATE:

I haven't been reading My Utmost For His Highest lately.  Discussing an issue that the Holy Spirit is currently guiding me through... my mom told me to go back to a specific date and read from there...each message...meant for each day of this current issue..... as it unfolds. 


Very specifically...
Jan 11
Jan 12
Jan 13
Jan 14

What an intimate Father!  To send his Son.  What a loving Son.  To go to the Father and send the Spirit!
_______________________________________________
This is off.
That is off.

This is skewed.
That is skewed.

This is backwards.
That is upside down.

This is wonky.
That is wacky.
 
It all boils down to the problem of sin.  And the gaping whole sin leaves in hearts and in relationships and in worldviews...and in history...and in current events.

The world has a sin problem.  The nations have sin problems.  Our nation has a sin problem.  Our churches have  sin problems.  Our communities have sin problems.  Our families have sin problems.  We ourselves have sin problems.

Collective sin and personal sin.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked : who can know it?   Jeremiah 17:9

There are times when I am angry over sin (hopefully my anger is a righteous one....and hopefully I do not react to my anger in a sinful way.)

I am usually grieved by sin.  That's how sinful I am...usually....how sinful is that?

Other times....I am overwhelmed.  And I am tempted to become apathetic.

Depression threatens to set in.  It's as if the issues swirling are so huge.  The mountains are so massive and eyes are so blinded...hearts so hardened....that I tend to shut down.

I don't though.  Entirely. 

During those times I  become quiet.

I watch.  I listen.  I pray.

And I wait.

Sometimes....I wait for days.  Other times...it is for weeks...maybe months.

And then there are the times that I wait for years.

When the Holy Spirit prompts me to move...I obey.
I act.  I say.  I do.  I text.  I call.  I pray harder and I pray again.

This relationship that I have with the Holy Spirit cannot be described adequately.

It's intimate.  It's alive.  It's growing.  It is deepening.

He is ever present and on my side.  He is...my Helper...my Kick in the Pants...my Restrainer...my Trustworthy Companion. He knows my heart and He knows my needs.  He intercedes on my behalf.  He goes before me...He hold my hand during... and He swoops in after me.

When I walk in the Spirit and obey what is whispered (not audibly :)...I can leave the consequences of whatever life's circumstances may be in His hands.

When He awakens me in the middle of the night to wrestle something out...I can trust that the skirmish we are engaged in is a worthy one.

It's been a long night.  And I am tired.  My flesh is weak. 



The following won't mean much to most.  It might speak to a few.

This post has been in the works in my heart and mind and in my blog drafts folder for over a week now....and then I entered Sunday's service to be met with  a sermon.

The Spirit of Truth

Intimacy as He urges me to search amongst the things that appear dry & brittle & lifeless...scattered in the wind....

...in order to find treasure.

 

Bubble Blowing w/Zion

Click to see Zion's Bubble Blowing Demonstration.

Official Family Portraits

 

One of my kids favorite things to do is gather around my parent's living room and dig through a chest of old family photos.  They never tire of it.  Neither do I. 

Next time we are at Nana & Papa's...I promise to find the FUNNIEST picture of Bradley, Braverijah, and I in the early days....and I'll post it.

Brad threatens to burn it...but we won't let him.

Holiday Memories

Bonaire snorkel trip.  Breathtaking. 

Magen's Bay on St. Thomas.  Jemima ^ reading...of course.

Grenada...known as the "friendliest spot in the Caribbean."  Riri (who LOVED Nana & visa versa) and Tanisha lived up to their island's reputation.  ^ Jemima reading again.

I have a thing for patinas.

Be still my heart.

Lots of faith displayed on the islands.  We didn't feel so bad leaving the boys with a random driver we met on the street who promised to bring them back in one piece (after a rainforest waterfall dive and a river rafting ride) once we saw his van message. 

What's a vacation without a little WWII history thrown in?