Fullfillment by Amazon (FBA) My Amazon Store

I have an Amazon store and have some of my homeschooling books listed (with about 2000 other books) if you'd like to buy from a homeschooler this holiday season! All books are shipped from Amazon, so are eligible for Prime or Free Shipping! See if I have what you're looking for...


It is our family business and it's reflected in my feedback score. :)  Thank you for looking! Just click on the image below:

PS: You can use this awesome deal to save $ on not only my books, but any book on amazon until 12/14!

Amazon has just released a code that will save you 25% off any printed book! Use code BOOKDEAL25 to take advantage of this offer! 

Terms & Conditions
To use this promotion, you must enter "BOOKDEAL25" at checkout under the "Gift cards & promotional codes" section to receive 25% off any ONE (1) book purchased in your order (up to $10 promotional credit).

This offer is only valid on print books. Excludes Kindle eBooks and Audible Audiobooks.
The promotion is valid for a limited time only, from December 11, 2014 at 5pm PST to December 14, 2014 at 11:59pm PST. Amazon reserves the right to modify or cancel this offer at any time.

Offer only applies to products sold and shipped by Amazon.com.

Limit one promotional code per customer and account.

The maximum benefit you may receive from this offer is $10.
Offer good while supplies last.
Offer is non-transferable and may not be resold.
The offer discount will be allocated to the highest priced book in your order.
If any of the products or content related to this promotion are returned, the value of the offer will be subtracted from your return credit.
This promotion may not be combined with other offers, including promotional certificates.
Items must be purchased in a single order and shipped at the same speed to a single address.
If you violate any of the Terms & Conditions, the promotion will be invalid.
Void where prohibited.
Shipping charges may apply to discounted and free promotional items.
Offer does not apply to Amazon Gift Cards.

amzn.to/1vZEvAD

​Feel free to forward this email & share the code.​

Noah Webster: Father of the Dictonary

This is such a wonderful book.  All of my children loved it, and so do I!

Noah Webster is a fascinating person to study, especially how he wrote the Webster's 1828 Dictionary. 

This little book is a wonderful introduction to the man, beginning in his boyhood.

Pilgrim Institute is kicking-off 12 Days of Christmas with special offerings from Bradford Press Inc., beginning with:

Noah Webster: Father of the Dictionary
By Isabel Proudfit

bit.ly/PilgrimInstituteNoahWebster

"A typical American farm boy who made good under difficulties, Noah Webster's influence in the development of the United States was a real contribution to its growth. His life covers a fascinating period in American history when the young republic was just getting on its feet. Where others gave the new country its laws and government, he provided schoolbooks glowing with the American spirit. Twenty-five million copies of Webster's Spelling Book were used in schools during his lifetime. The American Dictionary, which he compiled when he was fifty years of age, was his greatest achievement."

"Biography of the man who gave Americans their most important household book next to the Bible. Very readable account of Noah Webster's long life of eighty-four years, of his gradual realization that he must write a good dictionary for the American school child. Years of teaching and practicing law showed him this great need...A picture of early education in the United states as well as the story of a well-known man and his work."

Newly reprinted. Paperback.

Middle - Upper Elementary Grades – $15.95

bit.ly/PilgrimInstituteNoahWebster

*free shipping on orders of $100 or more

Homeschooling in Transition

Life has a way of not going the way you think it will. 

Hard Providences and the willful choices of the individual can combine to take you down a new path. 

I'll confess, I'm a little bit like Bilbo Baggins.  An adventure wouldn't be of my own choosing.

I like my comfortable "Hobbit hole" and would gladly stay inside, counting the goodies in my larder and reading in front of the fire.  The pipe would be optional.

But, as a change in paths can either be 1) a long road to nowhere or 2) an adventure, I'm going to have a little faith (it only takes a mustard seed, right?) and step out onto the untrodden path of adventure.

That's how I intend to handle the changes of the past year, and how I hope to direct my children to do the same. 

Roles in our home have changed.  I'm finding I have to know more about handling things I've never done before.  And so are the children.

But God is good, and Grace goes a long way.  So, I want to spend some time sharing with you some of the ways I've been handling this transition, in hopes it will encourage you to keep on keeping on when life is tough and you're not sure you can keep up.  Especially with homeschooling.

Remember, "all things work together for good", and it's all meant for our good.  Even the hard things.

My Favorite Black Friday - Cyber Monday Homeschool Deals

I hope you had a Blessed Thanksgiving!  We certainly did and we have enough left overs to last the week!  I'll be spending some time on Pinterest looking for good turkey recipes!  If you have a great one, send it to me!

Now, on to the goodies! Most of these go "live" Black Friday, but be sure and check the details!

Season's Greetings from A Cherished Keeper!
Give yourself the gift of learning something new this season and become acquainted with the Principle Approach method of ‪#‎homeschooling‬.
Free for ‪#‎Kindle‬ http://goo.gl/WbypmU

Homeschool Adventure Company:

I love their selection, and am a big fan of the CS Lewis Mere Christianity Critical Analysis Journal (see my Review)!

" November 29th is C. S. Lewis’s birthday and the Homeschool Adventure Co. is celebrating with a special sale on our Mere Christianity Critical Analysis Journal AND we’re hosting a wonderful giveaway. How would you like to win a vintage set of The Chronicles of Narnia valued at $100?"
http://homeschooladventure.com/chronicles-narnia-christmas-giveaway/?id=1066

And don't miss Homeschool Adventure Co.'s special freebie: Philippians in 28 Days Memory Cards! Plus 25% off any digital order!

Friends & Heroes
Friends and Heroes is always generous with giveaways, and the holidays are no different. 
Read my review here.

Click the link below to learn about great Christmas goodies like:
• 20% savings on DVDs and music from Friends and Heroes and What's in the Bible?
• FREE online advent calendar
• FREE Christmas music video plus FREE downloadable song activities

http://bit.ly/FriendsAndHeroes


Notebooking Pages
I love to notebook.  I love that my kids love to notebook. You can read my posts about our notebooks:
Notebook as Tool
What is a Teacher's Notebook? (part 1)
 What is a Teacher's Notebook? (part 2)
So, of course, I want to share Notebooking Pages big sale with you!
Read more about it here:Notebooking Pages Cyber Sale

 

His Mercy Is New
Friday only ‪#‎freebie‬! 31 Scriptures to Pray for Your Family by Candace Crabtree, His Mercy is New.
Join me as we pray 1 Scripture per day for our families! Each day we will read 1 Scripture passage, a prayer and pray these Scriptures for our families. There are journaling lines for you to personalize these prayers for your own family members or yourself.
Included is a 31 day calendar to use if you wish.
http://www.mercyisnew.com/product/31-scriptures-pray-family/

#‎Free‬ Head to Toe Prayer Cards from Ben & Me Blog!

Marcy says, "I am convinced that praying for our children is the most important act we can do as parents. There is power in prayer. When we go before the throne, with humble hearts and petition the Father on behalf of our children, He hears us and answers those prayers according to His will. "
Find It Here

Media Angels Inc. Publishing offers a wide variety of homeschool curriculum. They also offer a fantastic variety of homeschool expos, you're sure to find something to beat the winter blahs and put the spirit back in your homeschooling!
Find something for your homeschooling and something for you.
USE code BF30 for your 30% Discount!

http://bit.ly/acherishedkeepermediaangels

Homeschool Copywork
Homeschool Copywork Memberships will be 75% off from November 29th - December 1st. This brings the price down to $6.24 for 1346 pages of copywork, artist studies and more.
Plus, we add at least two ebooks to the membership area each month.
(aff link) http://goo.gl/CIRfPS

Celebrate Jesus: An Advent Journey for Families is a 213 page guide to celebrating Advent with daily Bible readings, daily Hymns with sheet music, daily activities or crafts, daily devotions for Moms and teens, recipes, and daily copywork in each of five line styles. It will be on sale for $3.99
All other ebooks will be 99 cents!
http://homeschoolencouragement.com/black-friday-sale-2014/… (aff link)

Like Homeschool Encouragement on Facebook!

Write Bonnie Rose
Would you like to help your children learn and remember why the United States was founded and what the Founding Fathers stood for?
In Revolutionary War Activities for Kids: Patriotic Copywork, you'll find twenty quotes by the Founding Fathers. They are perfect for dictation or copywork.
Copywork pages are provided that include the quotes to trace as well as to copy.

Founding Fathers quoted include George Washington, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and John Adams.
For a limited time, you can get the print, cursive, or manuscript copywork set FREE!
Visit Patriotic Copy Work and enter code GiveThanks to claim your freebie!

Strategic Shopping is not just about coupons! There are many quick and easy ways that will cut your grocery bill down by 50 - 75%! Strategic Shopping teaches you how to get rock-bottom prices, FREE items, and even how to get paid to shop! It is a realistic plan that shows you how to save on things you actually use, including meat, produce, dairy, and more!
Special savings on ebooks! 50% off for Black Friday! Get Your Goodies HERE

And Pilgrim Institute 
You can read my reviews of their products below:
Restoring America's Biblical Foundations
Mighty Works of God 

20 to 50 percent off over 100 of Pilgrim Institute favorites! Cyber Sale!

 Find more on the CHEK Facebook page! Like A Cherished Keeper on Facebook, Twitter, & Pinterest!

Media Angels Black Friday Sale Save 30% off Creation Science Classes and More

Media Angels offers a wide variety of homeschool curriculum.  They also offer a fantastic variety of homeschool expos, you're sure to find something to beat the winter blahs and put the spirit back in your homeschooling!

Find something for your homeschooling and something for you.

USE code BF30 for your 30% Discount!

Notebooking Pages Special Cyber Sale!

I know readers of A Cherished Keeper will love Notebooking Pages!

NotebookingPages.com Cyber Week Sale November 28th - December 5th Payment options available. http://notebookingpages.com/memberships Get started for just $9.95 Our Personal Notebooking Story Are you ready to unlock the love of learning in your children? Are you ready to cut out the busywork ONCE and for ALL! Click the video below to learn more about notebooking and hear our personal notebooking testimony. (Link will open in browser window.) “After 5 years of homeschooling, I knew I wasn’t giving my kids the “best of the best”. I didn’t want them to turn out like me, a great student who 20 years later, with high school & college diplomas in hand, doesn’t remember much of anything taught. When we notebook our studies, quite frankly, the knowledge STICKS. Lightbulbs click and eyes shine! We have a growing treasury of their homeschooling journey.” Debra Reed … owner & publisher of NotebookingPages.com Homeschool mom of 10 children (ages toddler – adult) The Notebooking Pages LIFETIME Membership Program Feature #1: Includes over $800 worth of notebooking pages products Our LIFETIME membership gives you access to ALL of our currently available notebooking products. That’s currently over 100 individual notebooking sets including our 50 individual USA state study sets. These printable products are yours to keep and access via your membership account indefinitely. There’s no hurry to download – the links for these products will never expire. We have used so many of these pages in our notebooking, lapbooking, unit studies…I can’t imagine how long it would have taken me to make these up from scratch. And I’m certain they wouldn’t have been nearly as nice! The notebooking publisher is an awesome resource that my children will be using more and more as they improve their typing skills. — Cindy Sinars Feature #2: Access to ALL future notebooking products & updates Your membership comes with ALL past, present, & future downloadable notebooking products — a LIFETIME membership. It seemed like our homeschool was lacking something. The workbooks were dry and boring or repetitive. I discovered your site a year ago, purchased a year membership and we started our notebooking adventure! We have slowly integrated it into our homeschool day and now we are ready to start using it with all of our subjects. It was hard to tell myself to put those workbooks and other materials we purchased out of sight and stick with the notebooking. I can see the difference in my kids, they like school, they want to do more! My children really enjoy being creative with their notebook pages. Notebooking is helping me to teach language arts to my children the natural way with out all the boring workbooks that sometimes bring tears. This method of homeschooling has inspired my children to learn, to explore, to be creative and to write! –Jenny K. Feature #3: FREE 12 months access to our exclusive notebooking & copywork web-application Your LIFETIME membership purchase gives you 12 months FREE access to our exclusive notebooking and copywork web-application. The Notebooking Publisher™ is a web-based application designed to enable mom and students to customize and create their own notebooking (& copywork) pages.   Watch these and other web-app demonstration videos on our membership page. I am a new homeschooling mom and I wanted to make our homeschool different than anything my kids had ever seen. In school they had busy work and nonsense questions that didn’t challenge them at all. Now, after a year of creating wonderful, engaging notebooks on many subjects, they now create their own pages and ask me to notebook everything from a recent family vacation (complete with pictures and drawings) to a great recipe we created (they are writing their own cookbook). These pages make our school day fun exciting and different every day!!! Thank you Debra!!! — Lisa Bonus Feature: $100 homeschooling e-gift package Join today and immediately receive over $100 in homeschool e-gifts from our member sponsors … homeschool planning/planner resources, lapbook unit-studies, art & music mini-unit study, new homeschooler help, Bible curriculum, nature study resources, etc. With 4 children in many different age ranges, I needed something that would be easy to access and put together without a lot of extra time spent creating something they could all use. Notebooking Pages has been just that! We read over the material and use the pages combined with some lapbook style ideas to create a wonderful learning experience that we will always remember. The Lifetime membership was well worth it!! — Janice Boisvert Payment options available. http://notebookingpages.com/memberships Get started for just $9.95 NotebookingPages.com Unlock the Love of Learning in Your Child . . . one page at a time!

Thankfulness

I'm not sure why we only reserve the month of November to honor the idea of thankfulness.

Thankfulness is an expression of gratitude, a lively sense of good received.  Too often (myself included), our expression isn't one of gratitude or joy... we are more prone to ungratefulness.

Maybe we only focus on thankfulness for that one month because we fail to be thankful in the hard things of life.  Those hard providences.

It's hard to be thankful when the harshness of life makes you sad on in the inside, isn't it?

But, somehow it seems that that very shift in focus is what will free you from the sadness.  There's always something to be grateful for. 

This year has been a bittersweet one for me, and I can relate so well to having to look hard to see what I should be grateful for in the midst of change and difficulty.  But, I have realized there are things. Lots of things.

Mainly, other people.

I'll just share from the last two weeks the way others have blessed my family in hopes it'll encourage you to have a little faith that everything will work together for good.

• I had exactly $2.43 in my checking account and a friend (who had no idea!) was generous beyond measure with a financial gift.
• My washing machine died and my neighbor brought me one they had stored in their garage.
• A water pipe burst, and a friend drove from an hour away to repair the pipe.
• An anonymous friend sent me a Kroger gift card.
• Another friend sent me work (oh! those referrals!)

I wish I could say that I walk around always exuding gratefulness.  I don't.  I forget too easily the kindness shown me.  That is a thing about myself to change, so I don't miss out on all the joy there is. Do you struggle that way?

 I'd love to hear stories of how you've received an unexpected blessing! Please leave me a comment.

It's Time for School? I'm Gonna Be Late!

"Ok...so THIS year we are gonna go to bed at a decent hour, wake up early, get started and wrap up school so we can PLAY!"

Yup, those were MY words...I like Charlotte Mason's philosophy of learning and free time...I want to implement it more in my day...I want to get school DONE! The latter is what it really boils down to. I want to check "their"...really "my"...boxes of tasks and be DONE! Efficient, no lallygagging around...wham-bam get it DONE!

Oh, how I am humbled...every year...about this time...

I have a plan... I am on a mission... I will not deviate.
Until. I. fail. first.
I wake up late...Physically, I have not...but emotionally I have not prepared myself this year. I am the tardy one. O grace to start over.

This year has been a doozy of a year - a consuming summer... there has been much unrest. Deep, life altering unrest. My mind and my heart have been over "there"...with my friend battling cancer...with my "sista from a different mother" choosing a different path...with the hardship of a legal battle...no rest. No time to prep and relish in the fun of preparing for a new school year.

But the school year is HERE. Like yesterday...tomorrow. I have started and we have had good days. So far I like the curriculum I have selected (in a fog)...God always does this for me. Every year I am amazed at how timely the things we are learning about criss-cross with some life happening. Providence. Regardless of my fog and lack of having pre-prepared, I am confident we will have a year of good learning.

Where I am "late" and "failing" is in my surrender.

Giving God my year. Giving God my children. Giving God my heart. Giving God my goals. Giving God my agenda. Giving God my planner. Giving God my boxes to check.

Allowing Him to direct my days. Allowing Him to work in my children. Allowing Him to change my anxious, consumed heart. Allowing Him to rewrite my goals. Allowing Him to direct our days.

To go where His Spirit leads.

I know this because I caught myself today becoming furious because my children could not tell me the "history of England"! Really?!?!! I didn't know the "history of England" until 2 days ago...and I am getting wound up they can't repeat it back verbatim? Oh that God would extend grace through my children.

So I am here - pondering my day. And realizing that I am late for school. I am not prepared. My eyes are off my Teacher. How can I teach them if I am not learning myself. Which leads me to a beautiful, providential criss-cross. This week we have been studying and memorizing 2 Timothy 3:16-17...say it with me...

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness. So that the man of God might be competent, equipped for every good work."

2 Timothy 3:16-17

I was discussing with my kids the reality and the power that Scripture can have in our lives if we allow it to penetrate. I was corrected in that moment and reminded that God has spoken and is speaking. Am I listening? Or am I allowing myself to be consumed. I am in training and I must allow God to speak His ways into my life. I desire to be equipped for good works...so I must allow His words into my heart and mind. That the things of this world would fade away...and I would be left with Him. Him alone. My sustainer. My very breath.

So in that moment my "expectations" dissipated...because who are we kidding - they were unreasonable...and I had to come to a place of surrender. A place of preparing my heart to once again take on this calling of educating my children. Because we can get it DONE...but it doesn't do us any good if it never challenges and molds our hearts and bends us towards Him.

DONE can't be my goal. Jesus has to be my goal.

Showing my children Jesus in the midst of gaining knowledge is what brings lasting wisdom. That is really the only box I want to "check" this year.

"So we will go to bed at a decent hour, wake up early, get started and see how Jesus reveals Himself to us today."

Oh, how I love (this is a difficult word to type...but I know it is good for me...) being taught...reproofed...corrected and trained.

Especially by a gently Teacher.

(that I need to mimic a little better...) 

Share with me your "back to school" struggles and victories!

A Growing Little Library & Homeschooling Highschool

"A little library, growing larger every year, is an honourable part of a man’s history. It is a man’s duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries of life.”

(Henry Ward Beecher in “The Duty of Owning Books”)

It's almost time for the official "start" of our homeschooling year, and it seemed good to maybe share what we'll be up to this year. 

No more middle schoolers, everyone has moved up to the ranks of  highschool.  

The big focus this year is growing our library of real books, and helping each child grow their own libraries.  

Living books we're adding to the reading roster this year include:

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• Isylls of the King
• Beowulf
• MacBeth
• Hamlet
• Utopia
• Romeo and Juliet
• Othellow
• Jonathon Swift's Satire
• Alexander Pope's Poetry
• She Stoops to Conquer
• Frankenstein
• A Tale of Two Cities
• Wuthering Heights
• Pride and Prejeduce
• Arms and the Man 
• How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom
• The Gift of Music
• What Makes a Rembrandt
• What Makes a  Monet
• What Makes a Cassatt
• Music and Appreciation 

We are also going to be diving in to Constitutional Studies this year using The Story of the Constitution  from CLP. 

For math, we're going to continue with Saxon and Video Text.  

We're also finishing up Susan Wise Bauer's writing series Writing with Skill (which I can't say enough great things about!!), awaiting the next in the series to come out.

Finally, the backbone of the our homeschooling  and the part I most enjoy being actively a part of as they grow older,  is philosophy.  We're going to be using Philosophy Adventures by Stacy Farrell and I am so excited about this!! We're going to "learn how to write skillfully, think critically, & speak articulately as we explore the history of ideas."  We're going to pair it with her Mere Christianity Critical Analysis Journal.  (Read my review of that here.) See my sideblog to visit Stacy's site directly: Homeschool Adventures.

I'll be posting throughout the year about our studies as we navigate through highschool. 

See my complete list on Amazon here: (affiliate linked) LISTMANIA LIST

I'd love to hear what you're using this year! Leave me a comment.

What is a Leading Idea? Practical Help with the Principle Approach

I often teach my Momschool moms to view a Leading Idea as a question or series of questions that guide the learner to the Principle that is being taught.

A wonderful tool for this is The Quick Flip Guide to Critical Thinking.
This handy little booklet helps you to formulate questions that will guide your learner along a pathway. The questions are open ended.

For example, the beginning level entitled, "Knowledge" has questions such as "What is____?" and "How did ____happen?"  Learners are asked to exhibit memory of previously learned material by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts and answers.

FCS :: Grace to "get it"

I am hoping you are hanging in there with this book study... Chapter 4 is a long one we are taking two weeks to go through it, so we don't miss anything. There is so much to be said about this 'parenting' thing - it is so much more! Parenting is educating! A home education takes place regardless of where our children go to school. As a nation we are failing at "home educating" our children, we are leaving them to be educated by the world. As parents this falls on us... Oh Lord, have mercy! Call us back to what is right - to what is You!

These chapters cause much pondering for me... evaluating...re-evaluating...considering my own heart...considering the heart of my children...my selfish motivations...my tantrums...my children's tantrums!!!! Oh the responsibility is almost unbearable...until I gaze at Christ.... He bore the greatest responsibility...to die for His children. That would rebel, that would not desire all things right, that would be satisfied with the cheap and easy...

What does the Lord require of us?

To do justice...love kindness...walk humbly with our God. 

Micah 6:8

To do justice... to do what is right versus what I want in that moment. To let go of myself for the sake of Christ...which in turn becomes for the sake of those around me...my children. I know I don't always choose to do what is "right", because I don't always consider my decisions in this way. If I am honest they are usually based on what "I want"... which unfortunately not always "right" because in the short term they satisfy "me".
Oh, Spirit open my eyes to the opportunities in my day to do what is "right" according to You. That I may sense your nudging to stop and evaluate my heart. That he rightness you bring about in me would overflow to those around me. - Amen

Love kindness... to love it so much that I pursue it! To love it as much as I love coffee...seriously, I pursue this on a daily basis - I'm not always looking to be kind. I may be by God's grace at times, but intentional...not often enough. And yet I am reminded that God pursued me because of His kindness...He didn't have to, He wanted to.
Oh, Spirit give me a desire to pursue others with kindness. Help me to see need in the lives of my children - areas where they are lacking in character - that in kindness we can show them the right way. That it may remove evil intentions or selfish desires and bring us back to what is right. - Amen

Walk humbly... oh, pride! To not seek glory for myself but for the Jesus' renown... Often times I realize that my kids are doing things for my sake...and it is in those times I realize how I need to point them to "why"...because the Bible tells us so...or Jesus requires it of us - they are learning for their own sake, so that they can see God for who He is in History, His absoluteness in Math, His creativity in Science, etc. It is in our humility that we can see God in all His glory - our pride blinds us.
Oh, Spirit lower me. In my teaching, in my directing of our day, in my explanations...let them see the reason we do anything...it is You! It is for you we live and breathe and have our being! - Amen

Oh these chapters cause me to evaluate...my motives! I am still that child before the Lord, needing to learn, needing reminding, needing His grace to "get it". The same am I needing to be with my own children. Grace to "get it".

At home there is grace...at home they can learn, make mistakes, be corrected in love and experience grace. Grace to "get it".
Thank you Jesus for the opportunity to have them home and for teaching me these lessons over and over again. I am always in need of Christ, always in need of forgiveness, always in need of your guiding Spirit, always in need of your tender mercies...grateful for their lives, the responsibility to mother, for the time...thankful that you are pursuing them to know You. - Amen

FCS :: Trust & Obey

...Obedience...

Obedience of the parent, first.

Obedience of the child follows.

It is interesting how we limit obedience to a child doing whatever the parent requests. But if we dig deeper and want to pursue obedience in our children we must first, as the parent, obey Christ. We must come to that place where we know God to be our Authority. He has already laid out our parameters to follow in loving our children well. Understanding them, knowing them, seeing their sin for what it is and extending discipline for their sake and allowing them to taste grace. That is how He is towards us!

For the parent we must understand the implications of abusing our authority and we must take on the responsibility of truly educating our children in the way of the Lord. Self-control is essential, so that our children can come to trust us and be reassured that they are considered. It is with His Word that we rebuke and bring forth freedom from sin in the lives of our children!

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

- 2 Timothy 3: 16-17

Parents should seek, prayerfully, to become worthy leaders with understanding, wisdom, and love. - p.57

 With obedience comes great freedom. We enjoy freedom in the Lord when we are in His will. We need to trust God's ways and obey them. A child too, will have great understanding of the boundaries set before them, if they are consistent and loving. And they too must learn to trust and obey us as their authority in order to experience freedom in relationship, not only with us but with God. Therefore, it is so important to make our words and requests count. That what we ask of them we truly require and expect to be completed - well.

As my children are growing I am enjoying the fruit of having been (mostly...) consistent when they were little. This was not easy (and I failed miserably at times...) - and I paid the price when I was lacking in my consistency. There were many days/nights when it felt like they would never get it when mommy said "no!" or when I found myself "loosing it" because of my frustration. And it was important for the Holy Spirit to correct me so that I could adjust and correct my actions and ask my children for forgiveness. The transparency that it brought was so freeing. To lay it before God and my children allowed them to see that I am not perfect. And on the days that followed and they saw my frustrations rising, it was my MercifulOne that asked... "Mommy, should we pray for you?" YES! YES! YES! A million times YES! And on days when they were having a hard time being obedient, it was precious for my soul to have them confess "Mommy, I am trying...I'm sorry." and so we prayed for strength to keep trying to obey the first time - and more patience for Mommy...

So it is that our relationship is more than just parent & child or Master & servant... It is a relationship with the understanding that it is good to be in fellowship with one another with the loving boundaries that the Lord has shown us. And that obedience is good - it gives the parent/Master the opportunity to protect and bless. It gives the child/servant protection, freedom to live fully and the privilege to enjoy all the goodness that comes from the parent/Master. We get to fully enjoy one another!

Jesus is our friend and we can fully enjoy Him!

I want to fully enjoy my children - they constantly amaze me. And I am humbled by my responsibility for them and the trust that they have in me as Mom to do right on their behalf. And the only Right is God's way.

Onto Chapter 4! It is a longer chapter...but hang in there!

FCS :: Word Study for Chapter 3 (and Link Up)

Authority & Freedom

AUTHOR'ITY, noun [Latin auctoritas.]

1. Legal power, or a right to command or to act; as the authority of a prince over subjects, and of parents over children. Power; rule; sway.

2. The power derived from opinion, respect or esteem; influence of character or office; credit; as the authority of age or example, which is submitted to or respected, in some measure, as a law, or rule of action.

Romans 13:1-7 :: Submission to Governing Authorities 

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.

"Authority is that aspect of love which parents present to their children; parents know that it is love, because to them it means continual self-denial, self-representation, self-sacrifice; children recognize it as love, because to them it means quiet rest and gaiety of heart. Perhaps the best aid to the maintenance of authority in the home is for those in authority to ask themselves daily that question which is presumptuously put to our Lord - 'Who gave thee this authority?'" - CM

FREE'DOM, noun

1. A state of exemption from the power or control of another; liberty; exemption from slavery, servitude or confinement. freedom is personal, civil, political, and religious.
2. Particular privileges; franchise; immunity

Freedom is found in obedience.

OBE'DIENCE, noun [Latin obedientia]

Compliance with a command, prohibition or known law and rule of duty prescribed; the performance of what is required or enjoined by authority, or the abstaining from what is prohibited, in compliance with the command or prohibition. To constitute obedience the act or forbearance to act must be in submission to authority; the command must be known to the person, and his compliance must be in consequence of it, or it is not obedience. Obedience is not synonymous with obsequiousness; the latter often implying meanness or servility, and obedience being merely a proper submission to authority. That which duty requires implies dignity of conduct rather than servility. Obedience may be voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary obedience alone can be acceptable to God.

Deuteronomy 5:33

Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

"...the principle of obedience is within him (the child) waiting to be called into existence. There is no need to berate a child, or threaten him, or use any manner of violence, because the parent is invested with authority which the child intuitively recognizes. It is enough to say, 'Do this,' in a quiet authoritative tone, and expect it to be done. The mother often loses her hold over her children because they detect in the tone of her voice that she does not expect them to obey her behests; she does not think enough of her position; has not sufficient confidence in her own authority. The mother's great stronghold is in the habit of obedience." - CM

 

Authority and Freedom

Chapter 3 :: Authority and Freedom

"There are good and evil tendencies in body and mind, heart and soul; and the hope set before us is that we can foster the good so as to attenuate the evil; that is, on condition that we put education in her true place as the handmaid of Religion." - CM

Education has a place of purpose, it serves something, it reinforces Truth, without it Truth may struggle in the hearts of man. And so education must submit to Something greater than itself. Willingly. For the soul purpose to fulfill its calling.

Who is in authority in our lives? And how do our children see authority as a good thing? It is a good thing - left on our own we destroy ourselves... It is in our nature to run from authority...to gain what we claim as 'freedom'. But after you have lived a bit you realize what the reality is... running from authority doesn't lead us to freedom, it makes us a slave to another....and this applies to everyone. Parent included. We are called to be good examples of authority - not dominating but understanding the child. So that their best is before us, considered and acted upon.

Our guide for right and wrong is the Bible and it is that simple - this is for the child as much as the parent - and it should set up our home standards for living out life and learning. Our teaching should be an overflow of what the Holy Spirit is teaching us. And when we have to correct the child's character is should be presented from scripture itself. So that the child can see and understand that the standard we live by is God's...it is not man made. We can also sympathize and share how we struggle with the same sin...and there are appropriate consequences.

"Authority is that aspect of love which parents present to their children; parents know what it is to love, because to them it means continual self-denial, self-representation, self-sacrifice; children recognize it as love, because to them it means quiet rest and a gaiety of heart." - CM

 

We surrender to God because He is love. He is our authority because He is good and just. Guaranteeing that our best is before Him and He acts on our behalf. He has already made the ultimate sacrifice in Christ and that brings us rest in our hearts... So we submit to Him and use His word as our guide in order to teach and be taught. Freedom.

Keep reading and digging in...

Word Study Wednesday...lets look up both these words to gain a deeper understanding... authority and freedom