Depriving our Students of the Classics

 

In December 27, 2020, an article was published concerning a push to remove the classics from education. Entitled Even Homer Gets Mobbed, the article goes on to explain why some teachers feel that many classics are sexist and racist.  And, it is often true that they do contain gender norms that are considered outdated.  They contain racist and anti-Semitic themes. They hold to ideas that have been denounced.

But...  this is why they should be read.

A couple weeks ago I read a five year old opinion piece that talked about Why Public Schools Don’t Teach Critical Thinking.  Children and young adults need to read things that hold differing views, written by people that were raised in a time or with different views.  They need to learn to question what they read.  They need to debate the merits of what they are exposed to and learn to think through what they are exposed to with a critical eye.  Everything they read can’t be easy and agreeable. History was messy and often offensive.  So is current day.  We can’t simply read what pushes an agenda, is comfortable, and never pushes us to see the world through a different perspective. 

There is a lot of talk of confirmation bias, how many people will only read articles that they agree with, only watch news stations that back up their political beliefs, and only “friend” people on social media that support their opinions.  There is talk about how to counter this trend, but it is not given serious consideration.  Instead most are fine with censorship, and that is a big problem. 

Over the last year, censorship has showed up in many areas of life.  It seems we are “fact-checked” on a ridiculous level, until any opinion that varies from what is acceptable is silenced.  We have judges that refuse to hear cases because they don’t agree politically with the person that filed the case, even with evidence.  We have had doctors and scientists silenced because their “experience” and “training” doesn’t correlate with a narrative being pushed.  We have anyone that shares a post that questions major issues happening being “jailed” on social media or their accounts deleted. Who decides what is acceptable?  Politicians?  Social media companies? Professors? Lobbyists? School administrators?

I began homeschooling all those years ago because I wanted an education for my children grounded in our faith.  Over the years, as I went about educating my children, I had to make a thousand decisions.  I had to decide curriculum and methods.  I had to decide which books to require because, no matter how much I want my children to be well-read, we can’t read everything. A thousand conversations occurred around our table with my children as we shared books and studied the Bible and examined world-views.  I wanted my children to know how to look at the world through the lens of Scripture.  That meant we didn’t shy away from the tough topics.  We tackled them.  And perhaps my children formed opinions that didn’t agree with mine, but they did so by thinking about them, not mindlessly agreeing with whatever I believed.

Our children have to know how to think, and that won’t happen as long as we cancel culture, erase history, and feed them a steady diet of fluffy modern ideology.  The meat of critical thinking comes in examining history and looking at both sides of arguments, not simply demanding obedience to modern political correctness, calling names to anyone that feels differently, and censoring information and history.

My job, as a parent and an educator, is to teach my children how to learn and how to think.  My job is to teach them to research for themselves.  Yes, they will acquire knowledge.  I set out to give them the foundation to develop a Biblical worldview.  But I also know they will make their own choices in life.  They are human and will make mistakes.  If I have taught them to think for themselves and to not blindly accept what they are told or what they see on their news feed, I feel I have succeeded.  

Before World War II, Hitler didn’t just take power and begin killing the Jewish people and their sympathizers. He was voted in by the people in his country.  He slowly and methodically took over different aspects and organizations in Germany.  He fed the people a steady diet of propaganda, stirred up division, and made sure the blame for the ills of society was firmly placed on one group. 

Those that have endured socialism have discussed how they see a repeating of patterns occurring here in America.  David Tuck discussed how Trump being compared to Hitler is “sickening.”  Jennifer Zheng and Darion Diachok  discuss the torture they received in China under the “Socialist” regime.  Cuban-born Maximo Alvarez stated that “free health care, and calls to defund the police are “false promises” that “sound familiar” based on his experiences in Cuba.”  And Elizabeth Rogliani stated the following about Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez: 

“He defined capitalism as the "kingdom of the egoism of inequality" and socialism as the "kingdom of love, equality, solidarity, peace and true democracy."”

Holocaust survivor Kitty Werthman stated: “Totalitarianism didn’t come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our freedom.”

Removing the classics from the classroom means that the stories of the past die.  The stories of the fight for freedom all throughout history disappear.  The stories of oppression and hate might be offensive and tough to read, but for a person trained to think critically, they can read the material and determine that today will be different...  that they will be different.

A couple years ago there was an uproar about the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House series.  It was pulled from shelves in schools and stripped of an award because of the anti-Native American sentiments.  And yet, I devoured every book as a girl.  Yes, Ma (Caroline) was very afraid of the “Indians.”  She believed what she had been told by the government at the time.  But if you read the stories, Laura was a tad afraid, but also very intrigued.  She collected the beads the “Indians” left behind at their campsite,.  She wanted to see them.  She wanted to connect in some way to what was strange to her and a bit frightening. 

I look at the current push to remove the classics in the same way.  Yes, there is negative.  But there is also an understanding that comes of the times.  There are the Lauras, the characters that are intimidated but curious and want to know more about what they don’t understand.  There is also the beautiful and horrible history interwoven through each page and character in each classic.  Yes, the characterization of Native Americans in the Little House series is offensive to them. But mixed in is the fighting spirit of the pioneers to etch out farms in the hard earth, living in sod houses and rough cabins.  History always contains a mix of the offensive and the beautiful. 

Reading about slavery is offensive.  Reading about Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, the Underground Railroad, and Abraham Lincoln is inspiring.  Reading about confederate soldiers and their views is educational.  

We want a world of black and white, where we can take the black and toss it away and end up with a utopia.  But that isn’t reality.  The reality is that life’s stories are full of good and bad.  We tend to classify people as good or bad based on what they believed at a certain time in history, which we were not a part of, or by poor choices they made.  Reading these classics is how we stop with baseless generalizations and really find out that most people, with the exception of a few psychopaths, are not all bad or all good.  Some were wrong in a view they held, especially compared to today’s standards, but they still worked hard and loved their families.  

Ask yourself how history might see you?  Will you be ripped up and tossed aside like those discarded classics because your views and opinions you hold today will one day be derided and mocked?  Will the stance you hold on a hot button issue today one day change?  Wouldn’t you want to be understood  even if others disagree? 

I don’t expect that my children will read Tom Sawyer and believe slavery is acceptable.  Reading Little House on the Prairie didn’t give me a fear or Native Americans.  In fact, I love reading about Native Americans.  

There are books I don’t let my children read.  There are books I find horrific and offensive. A book that educates and challenges is quite different than a book that poisons the soul.  As a parent, that is my right to be selective.  If I don’t want my thirteen year old to read books full of sexual situations or glorified violence, I don’t choose those books. Age appropriate matters, as does the point of the book.  

The classics aren’t going anywhere.  It is discouraging to read of a new push to take out more history and more chances to teach

 students to think critically.  Our education system has already cheated a generation from being able to compete on the world stage because of dumbed down curriculum and an overemphasis on standardized tests.  Are we going to further cripple them by removing the rich literary legacy available to them?  

Ocean-sized Homeschool Questions

 

As an “experienced” homeschool mama, I find myself often asking the same questions I asked when I first began homeschooling twelve years ago.  Surely I should just “get it” by now.  But the same insecurities often come back to me during the more difficult days. 

Am I doing enough?

Am I doing too much?

Should I be more structured?

Should I be more relaxed?

Is there a magic curriculum that will just do its stuff and give me the desired results?

Should I stick with what I’m doing?

Is my child succeeding?

Question after question plague my mind some days and I wonder if I’m somehow failing my child.  Despite having twelve years of homeschooling experience and three graduates successfully managing adulthood, I still find myself questioning and reading and researching.  I pray and give it to God, and still wonder.  I read a little more and rinse and repeat.  

You see, I’m that mom.  I’m that mom that loves to research.  I’m that mom that never throws away materials that might one day come in useful.  (The boxes of books and curriculum in my garage attest to this fact.). I’m that mom that loves to meet with other homeschooling mamas and discuss what worked for them and what didn’t... and why.  I’m the mom, like many of us moms, that has a head full of ideas and hopes and dreams, but sees the tough days and all the questions in her mind as a personal reflection of where she might fail her child. 

And now I have another teenager.  

It was so much simpler when she was a little sprite that loved to dance to the Hooked on Phonics videos and sang her math facts as she wrote the answers in her messy, left-handed writing.  The days when fall leaves were a fascination and finger paints were a joy have faded. 

Now she wants to study oceanography.  I love the ocean.  I have lived by two oceans in my life.  I want her to be able to dive in (literally would be great) and learn to her heart’s content.  But we live in the Midwest.  My snowplow-driving hubby is on call tonight with a wintry mix expected.  Trying to find hands-on oceanic activities is a little challenging when the Atlantic Ocean is 866 miles away and the Pacific Ocean is nearly 2000 miles away. 

Yes, she has studied the ocean with her earth science studies, but she is missing the experiential aspect of learning oceanography.  The closest we come is Lake Michigan.  And while she may one day get to smell the salt water, collect shells on the shore,  and swim with dolphins; it won’t be in the next year. 

And so, the doubts enter in.  I doubt the reruns of Hawaii Five-O will substitute.  Am I insane for wanting to purchase books on oceanography, perhaps look up educational videos, but know she will be studying something that she can’t experience at this point in time?  And isn’t the earth science studies something that she needs to move past so she can meet the requirements for high school next year with biology and chemistry, etc?

I bounce back and forth between two trains of thought. I tell myself that we have studied centuries of history, but didn’t live at those time periods.  Just today we finished an advent book that dug into the birth of Jesus, studying the time period of Jesus’ birth and the Roman rule over Israel at the time.  We weren’t there.  We didn’t get to see Baby Jesus be born or experience the angelic host as the showed themselves to the shepherds.  And yet, I don’t feel as if I have failed in any way because I could only offer my child the wonder of Christmas without the experience of “being there.”  My goal was to emphasize the meaning of Christmas, to build up my daughter’s knowledge and love of Jesus.  We may not experience ancient Israel, but we do experience Christ.  Would I not be short-changing my child if I didn’t give her the wonder of the birth of Jesus?  Even if our minds have to imagine the young Mary, giving birth to her first child among stable animals?

Is it not the same with the ocean?  Beyond learning the basics, if my daughter is fascinated by an ocean she has never seen, shouldn’t I indulge her interest?  Will she not learn so much more about the world as it relates to many other areas of science if she studies oceanography?  Will she not learn about wildlife and sea creatures in her study?  Will she not go even deeper into weather by studying occurrences that happen over the ocean... like hurricanes and tsunamis and tropical storms? Will she not learn more about gravity and even space as she studies ocean currents?  Will she not touch on biology and astronomy and even some chemistry as she digs and studies?

Won’t she one day stand on an ocean shore and be able to smell the salt water, feel the coolness of the water on her skin, hear the waves crashing in a soothing rhythm, and be able to name the shells and plants and types of fish swimming in the shallow reefs? 

After all, she loves the writings of C.S. Lewis, but isn’t going to England this year. She can still imagine the country and switch into an English accent in a heartbeat.  She won’t be going to Narnia, but she still can learn the lessons Mr. Lewis so eloquently brought to life through his stories. 

These are the thoughts that swirl through a homeschool mom’s mind as she contemplates what to study next and if she should stick to the prescribed curriculum plans or venture on a side quest. 

Homeschooling means I can give my child the world, even if I can’t do so physically at this present time. Homeschooling brings options. And with those options come questions.  Sometimes those questions are small, like which phonics program to use for my creative, ADHD girl.  And sometimes those questions are the size of an ocean. 

It would be easy to just go with what’s next in the carefully chosen curriculum.  After all, I selected a curriculum that is quality, that meets college entrance requirements, that is academically sound but set on a solid Biblical foundation. Carefully laid plans can bring a path, a direction.  They can also shut doors on rabbit trails and curiosity.  

Homeschool moms (and dads) take on a huge responsibility when they decide to shoulder the education of their children.  And while the years of experience often bring the wisdom to discern what is busy work and what is relevant, sometimes in saunters doubts and questions.  For me, letting my child wander off the path to dive into her own interests was easier somehow when she was younger.

We spent nearly two years following passions.  My child’s interests in those two years were vast.  She studied horses, weather, volcanoes, Greek mythology, Harriet Tubman, the Underground Railroad, and anything else that caught her interest.  She devoured The Bobbsey Twins and American Girl.  She read nearly every Andrew Clements book in the library.  Together we read Inkheart and The Narnia series and Harry Potter.  I took a leap of faith and let her explore, let her learn what got her attention.  In typical ADHD style, her hyper-focus let her gain vast amounts of knowledge.  I could barely keep up with her as she devoured books and documentaries.  

But as high school nears, I find myself more hesitant to take that leap.  I find myself with those ocean-sized questions returning.  After all, doesn’t she need to be exposed to more than just what interests her?  Doesn’t she need more structure as she prepares for whatever God has for her future?  And don’t I want that routine, that knowing what’s next in the scope and sequence? Don’t the events of this past year prove to me that it isn’t just important but vital that my girl has a strong grasp of history and civics?  Haven’t we seen many examples students that have graduated with a poor understanding of history and socialism and the Constitution willing to make decisions about our country that causes more damage than good? And as a Christian, don’t I want my child to be able to think critically instead of just believing what is on the news or in a social media post?

How can deciding whether to veer from the science route be this big of a deal?  Having taken the road less traveled for those couple years of exploration, I know one interest often leads to other areas.  Will it just be a substituted science path?  Unlikely.  

My daughter at the moment also has developed an interest in Japanese anime.  She purposely chooses to watch the Japanese show with subtitles instead of the Americanized version.  Often she will walk into a room speaking phrases in Japanese that she has learned from what she is watching.  

But learn she does.  She has been taking Spanish for school; but because her interest is in Japanese at the moment, she has learned more of the Japanese language in a few weeks than the Spanish she has studied for months.  I know when a child is interested in what they are studying, he or she absorbs information like a dry sponge does water.  And I also know that if they are just taking the class because it’s expected and listed on the planner, the lessons might not be retained as well. Ironically, if someone else was in this situation and asked for my advice, I would tell them to let their child study the oceanography. I am actually a little shocked that I’m struggling with this, because I have read the science about how children learn.  I know following a natural curiosity leads to deep learning and a development of study skills that are unrivaled when compared with any other method. 

This year has been difficult.  Money has been tight.  I have had to plan very carefully in every area of our finances.  A set plan brings a comfort because I know it checks all the boxes.  The fact that I have a lot of the materials also is reassuring because I don’t have to worry about straining an already tight budget any further.  Even if I let go of what my plans say our homeschool would hold for the next year or so, I’m still bound by budget constraints. 

Ocean-sized questions mean I give the matter some ocean-sized prayer.  To all those homeschool mamas out there with similar questions about what path to take, know you are not alone. 

Thankful For the Tough Times

 This year has been challenging, and it has been challenging for so many.  Some have faced a virus that has taken lives.  Others have been hit so hard by financial difficulties that they are losing or on the verge of losing all they spent years working to build.

My family faced Covid as one after the other were exposed.  The range of severity went from children with no symptoms to ER visits and weeks of recovery.  We were fortunate because there hasn’t been loss of life in our immediate family to this point.  

And yet, I still feel that the extreme measures to contain the virus are a violation of basic rights and civil liberties.  After all, if I can go to Walmart with a mask and see the workers not even wearing them correctly, touch items touched by a hundred others, and stand in a thirty minute line because the store only has one cashier open, I think I can go to church. 

We have kept up with school even in the midst of quarantine and Covid exposure and illness because my daughter was one of the lucky ones that never experienced a symptom...  despite sharing a room with an older sister that got very ill and taking care of me during my most challenging days with this illness.  My thirteen year old is independent in most of her work.  I like to be heavily involved in some subjects, but there is a difference between “needing” me and “benefitting” from working together. 

Our finances have been equally challenged this year.  We have had steady income, but it has been significantly reduced.  I read that up to one-third of all Americans are facing eviction or foreclosure.  We are not in that category, so I consider us blessed. 

But it has changed some things in our home and education.  I had to rework school when the budget became much more strict and I couldn’t afford to purchase what I thought we needed.  The lines between want and need became much less blurred.

There was a saying that developed during The Great Depression that said, “Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it do, Or do without!” This is our family right now.  The expensive, full-color notebooking pages can be replaced with cheaper, black and white print-outs. We don’t need the best materials to get a quality, God-filled education.  In fact, it might just contribute to creativity.  

This isn’t the first time that I have had to evaluate what we are using and set priorities.  When I had several students in my homeschool, similar choices had to be made.  Over the years I had gotten comfortable with spending more.  I had become complacent in our finances. Now I know that I wasn’t careful and it has caught up to me. 

I steered away from a lot of consumable items in our homeschool, though we do have some.  Those consumable items have now become a point of stress when the funds aren’t there to purchase the next level.  The money to buy them at this time just isn’t there. And, after months and months of cut income, I don’t feel guilty about this.  The reality for millions of Americans is much more dire, so I am thankful for what we have.

I have a library card, those non-consumable materials, and internet connection.  Restructuring our school is not what I anticipated when I could confidently purchase needed items without a blink.  And yet, restructuring is what needed to happen.  Ironically, my daughter likes the simpler materials better.

I have learned that I had stopped being a good steward of what God has given us.  I am thankful for that lesson.  Being sick and having our finances significantly impacted has been tough, but it reminded  me of the lessons that I once knew, but forgot in health and prosperity.  God’s lessons are not just for a season, but a lifelong plan.  It is in the healthy and prosperous times that we are store up for the other times.

This Thanksgiving looks different than previous years.  We aren’t getting together with extended family.  Our counties have been hit hard by Covid and those that haven’t been exposed don’t want to risk illness.  I don’t blame them.  I still get to gather with my children and grandchildren.  I still get to enjoy my family, even if it is a bit less than normal.  I will count my blessings, not focus on the trials. 

Most see 2020 as the worst year.  I agree it has been tough.  I pray it might be looked at not as the worst year, but the year in which God taught the best, most life-changing lessons.  I pray that we see what we took for granted in the past: gathering together with family, income we could count on, health, going to church, hanging out with friends, running our businesses.  I pray that we learn that those things are blessings from God that we should cherish and never, ever, ever take them for granted again. 

Count your blessings.  

The Halloween Problem

 

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.””

‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭15:23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Halloween...  that time of year where Christians have opinions that range from complete avoidance of the day (usually while condemning others as pagans) to complete participation.

I feel the need to be honest. I spent a few years despising Halloween. I, too, read of the paganistic, Celtic roots.  I have seen the articles and videos put out by those that used to practice Wicca. 

But...  My dislike for Halloween had more to do with not understanding why there is an obsession for the dark and the dead.  Skulls and zombies and witches flying on a broom are not intimidating to a blood-bought believer.  I was the one that, even before Jesus, wasn’t afraid of haunted houses.  I don’t believe in ghosts.  

I do believe in demons.  I know that evil is real, just as Satan is real.  I know demonic possession and oppression are real. I know the occult is real.

The occult has no pull for me as I love Jesus and feel like messing around with demonic anything is the antithesis of what Jesus has for His Bride.  As a Christian washed in the blood of Christ, those things don’t hold any fascination.  I have seen true evil.  I have seen the damage true evil can do.

What has that to do with Halloween?  Well, according to some, evil reigns on Halloween and Christians should hide in their houses so as not to accidentally worship Satan. Christians that participate in Halloween must not be true Christians as they participate in such a evil day. Right? (Yes, that was a bit sarcastic.)

Every year churches around the country host Trunk or Treats and harvestfests.  Kids often dress up in costume.  This causes nearly as much controversy in some as if the church was playing with an Ouija board on the altar.

For awhile, in my early walk with Christ, I became concerned enough about the day from the articles I was reading that I didn’t take my kids trick-or-treating.  I wanted an alternative.  But the day would come and go.  And I struggled to correlate my child dressing up as a princess and getting candy with actively participating in witchcraft.

Now, my annoyance for Halloween is mostly because the day doesn’t add to my faith.  It can be an expensive day, and I often didn’t have the extra funds for five brand new costumes to be worn once for a couple of hours to get a bunch of junk food.  My kids are now mostly grown, so that is no longer an issue. 

But then there are those pagan roots.  Right? Unlike Christmas and Easter, which also hold paganistic traditions, there isn’t an emphasis on Jesus coming to earth as a baby or His sacrifice for the world.  But I do hold a different perspective now that I’ve been a Christian for a number of years.

This is an opportunity for the church.  It is a chance for one more way to serve the community.  Whether it’s a harvest fest with hayrides and games or a trunk-or-treat, it is a day when the community comes to us.  The hardest to reach, the 20 and 30 somethings, come in droves with their young children.  They are looking for something safe for their children.  They don’t worry that the church is going to slip a razor blade in the candy bars they pass out.  They don’t worry that their children are going to hear foul language or their child might be a target of a pedophile.  If the gospel is a part of the festival or the passing out of candy, it’s not seen as “cramming religion.”  It’s seen as part of the church serving the community.

The church should serve the community all year.  And most look for ways to be active in the area.  Some churches hold food pantries.  Others have miracle trees at Christmas.  Some hold large, free holiday dinners for those that have nowhere to go.  A few have soup kitchens, hold back-to-school supply drives, or host free lunches in the summer.  Many churches even hold an Easter egg hunt for the local community.

None of those events in serving the community are seen as “paganistic.”  In fact, the sign of a healthy church is that it finds ways to support the community, even when there isn’t a blatant “in your face” gospel message. To serve the community, to show them love because of Jesus, and to expect nothing in return is the heart of the gospel.  It is being a light in a dark world. 

We shouldn’t shut that light off or hide it just because the calendar date is October 31.  For Christians, washed in the blood of Jesus, we should not live in fear.  We shouldn’t live in fear that we will somehow accidentally worship Satan. 

In the New Testament there were similar quandaries.  The culture then was very paganistic.  In 1 Corinthians 8, there was a discussion about eating food sacrificed to idols.  What does Paul say? 

“Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes. So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords. But for us, There is one God, the Father, by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we live.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭8:1-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So, some people that practice witchcraft or Wicca use Halloween as their day.  They celebrate the dead and worship nature.  They hold their rituals.  We worship the one true God.  We worship a God that overcame the world.  We worship the God that created the world.  We worship the God that gave His life as the ultimate sacrifice.  October 31 is a day created by God, no matter how much pagans twist the day.  Guess what?  People find Jesus on Halloween.  People are fed on Halloween.  People come voluntarily to God’s people on Halloween because God’s people pass out some candy and give a smile and safety and some of the Joy of Christ on Halloween.  

To hide on this day says that God can’t do anything against the power of darkness on this one day of the year, and that’s a lie.  Did He not create October 31 just as much as he created December 25th.  (Guess what?  Jesus wasn’t born in December 25th.)  Instead, the Bride of Christ is reaching out on this day with His love. 

As it says in Psalms 37:

“Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭37:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It’s easy to trust and do good when it’s a miracle tree in December.  It should be just as easy to trust and do good when it’s a chocolate bar and a superhero costume at the end of October.  We redeem the time when we trust and do good, when we add light to what some would make dark, and we refuse to bow to fear. 

But what about those that have this area as a stumbling block?

Yes, some of the redeemed came from a background that included the occult.  They used this day in their worship and rituals in the occult as a day sacred to them.  They know the hold this day had in them, because it was the hold Satan had on them.  To them, seeing this day differently is difficult for them because there was such an emphasis. They know the day held evil intentions for them and holds evil intentions for others. 

If it is a stumbling block, then work to get a perspective on the day.  October 31st should not hold a power over you.  It should not be a day of fear.  It should not be a day of looking down on your brothers and sisters in Christ because they don’t have a history with the Wiccan practices.  If anything, let this day be a day that is a reminder that Jesus redeemed you from Satan and broke the chains of slavery to idol worship and the bondages of the occult. 

For me, personally, the day holds no power.  I don’t fear accidentally contributing to some pagan cause because my heart belongs to Christ.  He has paid a high price for me.  I’m not going to deny any opportunity to be light, and I especially am going to fight the dark on a day some feel I should hide.  I’m certainly not going to live in fear and believe I’m condoning witchcraft by passing out chocolate pumpkins.  I may be promoting tooth decay or unhealthy food choices, but no more so than passing out chocolate Santas at Christmas or Chocolate bunnies at Easter.  

The church hosting a trunk-or-treat or a harvest fest is not the same as holding a Wiccan ritual or playing an ouija board or promoting idol worship.  It’s outreach.   It’s being a light in the community.  

I never want to partake of evil.  But like food offered to idols, I have to ask myself if I believe in the power of the idol over the power of Christ. Do I believe I am compromising my faith by giving our candy on October 31st?  No.  I do believe I am participating in evil when I gossip.  I do believe I am participating in evil when I harbor bitterness.  I do believe I am participating in evil when I have a knowledge that puffs up instead of a love  that builds the church.  I do believe I am participating in evil when I am rebelling and backsliding and am angry at God...  or His Bride.  I’ve seen those do much more damage to my soul and my relationship with the Lord than when I try to bring light to a community on a day in October. 

A Spiritual Birthday

 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭5:17

I don’t know my spiritual birthday date exactly.  I didn’t know, back then, that I should mark the day of my rebirth.  Everything was so chaotic in my life when I became a Christian back in 2005 that I was just desperate to find something that would help me.  Through the example of my husband, who turned to Christ during a very dark time in our family and marriage, I gave church and Jesus a chance.  

Fifteen years later the ups and downs of my walk could only be described as roller coaster.  But know, the roller coaster was me.  He always remained steady. 

I know it was on an October Sunday in 2005 when I ventured into a church with my family.  My brother-in-law was attending this specific church at the time and I was so out of my element. I had been raised in church off and on.  Had been serious about my walk as a young teen, but fell away in my later teen years, discouraged by the stuff I saw in the church.  I also totally felt like God has abandoned me in my young, heartfelt prayers.  

But there I was, years later, in my early 30s, needing peace in the storms that were ravaging my life.  I was a mess.  My marriage was a mess.  My children were a mess. 

I had been fighting the pull of God’s Spirit since my husband told me he had given his life to Jesus a few weeks earlier.  Nothing about our circumstances had changed.  Everything was a mess.  And yet. my husband had become peaceful.  

It was so annoying!  I wanted to have the arguments.  But I also secretly wanted what my husband now had, also.  I wanted to have that sense that it was going to be okay. 

As I stood in that church, the music not an old-fashioned hymn but a contemporary song that tugged my heart, I felt the tears well up.  I could fight a hymn, declaring it not relevant or hokey.  I couldn’t fight the Third Day song sung as if it was just to me and the current chaos happening in my life.  

And just like that, the weeks of fighting with my husband and fighting the drawing of the Holy Spirit were over.  I gave my heart before the worship set had ended, before a sermon was preached or a Bible verse was read.  

I still remember that simple faith that I felt that day.  If I had known what the future held, I would have run for the hills.  It would be seven years before the chaotic situation in our marriage was resolved completely.  Fox would give us another child.  He would call me to homeschool.  He would call us into ministry.  We would endure unemployment, crisis moments of health, and lose everything at one point. 

We would fall away and come back.  We would grow and slowly come to realizations about what God had for us.  

I would look back every October and reevaluate.  I spent way too many years asking God why it was all such a mess, when in truth, the mess was me.  

In the last eighteen months, God has increased my walk greatly.  It’s like a switch was flipped.  My study time and prayer life have become so much deeper and richer.  Our lives are centered on Jesus.  Each day we live as a gift. 

I wanted to acknowledge my spiritual birthday this year.  It’s been such a rough year.  Even now I am quarantined at home, having been exposed to Covid, and dealing with symptoms.  I needed to find the positive, as we face a tempestuous election and a country divided.  It’s a similar chaos as fifteen years ago, except this time the mess is the world and not just my world.  

And Jesus is still there, the peace in the storm.  With a word, He calms the seas. Thank You, Jesus, for fifteen years of loving me and guiding me and being my Savior and my everything. 

Men... You Matter

When a mother comes to Christ, her family will join her at church only 17% of the time; but when a father comes to Christ, his family joins him 93% of the time (WACMM)

I can’t get past this statistic.  This morning I was listening to a pastor on Facebook live as he told the story of a young father that had hated God.  This young father had mocked God.  But, like Saul on the road to Damascus, God had other plans.  This young man was saved, baptized, and filled with the Holy Spirit in moments.  The story then reveals that this young man and his girlfriend, already having had children together, decided to marry. 

In a world where men are too often seen as unimportant, the statistic above and the Word of God reveal this to be untrue.  They are important and, by serving God, can impact eternity.

Why does a man’s family join him at church 93% of the time? Why is it that when a woman attends the percent is only 17%?  

The answer seems unfair and sexist, but the reality is unchanged.  When a man is sold out for Christ, his entire family is changed.  When a woman is sold out for Christ, she then begins an uphill battle for the souls of her family.

Millions have beat the statistics. Millions of godly women have led the way for their families.  They have seen their children find and follow Jesus.  It is far from impossible.  It is simply much more challenging. 

The Bible knows that a spouse can have an impact.  In 1 Corinthians it states:

“Don’t you wives realize that your husbands might be saved because of you? And don’t you husbands realize that your wives might be saved because of you?”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭7:16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The verse doesn’t state just how challenging it can be to have a spouse that isn’t following Christ.  And while ladies want to believe we can conquer the world, statistically, the journey to lead even our own children to serve Jesus with their lives without a husband to partner with us is not an easy path.

I saw this first hand in my own life.  It was during a very dark time in my marriage that my husband turned to Jesus.  He actually turned to his dad.  But his daddy was a pastor and, with the help of a second pastor, my husband turned to Jesus.  

I had not witnessed a lot of positive Christianity up till that point.  My grandma had been a beautiful woman of God, but I had also seen cliques and bullying, been treated harshly by Christian family when I had been an unwed teenager, and had a bitter taste in my mouth about Christians. I was hesitant about the decision to follow Christ that my husband had made.  

I didn’t have a bitter taste about Christ, however.  And when my husband began to go to church, I joined him. Soon, I had given my heart to Jesus and our family was changed.  For many years, as we started as baby Christians and grew and learned, I didn’t stop to consider how it could all change. 

When a dark time came upon our family once again (they come on us all), we left church.  I went back after a few weeks, feeling a conviction that my youngest daughter needed to be in church. But convincing the husband to come at that time was a point of contention.  He didn’t want to be there.  He had closed out the voice of God after a few difficult years and circumstances that had left us both broken and shattered. 

My going back to church didn’t change my husband’s mind. Our daughter crying for daddy to come didn’t alter his resolve to not go.  It took a long time.  It took the prayers of a church.  It took another Godly man coming alongside my husband to encourage him to break that apathy. 

None of this happened within a couple weeks.  The slide to apathy and the climb out took years.  Jesus has done an amazing work in my husband over the last 18 or so months.   He is a new man, different even from the man he was when he first followed the Lord in newbie excitement.  His walk with Christ is now not simply based on circumstances; for we have learned that circumstances will rip us apart from the heart of God and send us spiraling into a dark abyss without a relationship based on much more than what is happening in our lives or how we feel.

The contrast is stark between the man he was and the man God is making him.  He knew he was called to ministry years ago, but when life knocked him down, he ran away from that call. I think back to those dark times and how broken I was.  I remember crying all the way to church, trying to hide my tears from my daughter.  I remember feeling like I was carrying the weight of the world, taking her to church alone, feeling like I needed a partner to raise her for Christ.  I didn’t want to do it alone!

And yet, every week, I see other women fighting that same battle.  I see them coming to church, children (or grandchildren) in tow, praying and praising God despite the fact that they are doing it alone.  Some are single moms, clinging to Jesus to get them through the struggles of single parenting.  Some stick.  Many more decide that it’s too hard, and they leave church and a relationship with Jesus just to not have to feel that overwhelming struggle to do it alone.  

Others are married but their husbands aren’t saved, or come to church occasionally.  I know of many women that were saved after they had gotten married.  The deepest desire of their heart is for their husband to give his life to Christ.  I know their hearts.  I know they are praying for the man they love to be a spiritual partner in life.  I know they crave the companionship of a man that will pray with them, pray for them, and help raise their children to love the Lord.  These women are determined to beat the statistics, but they know their husband at their side would change the entire dynamic of their family.

Our culture is one that says following Jesus is unimportant.  When a woman gives her heart to the Lord, and does her best to raise her children for the Lord, she is already fighting a culture that demeans her efforts. When she goes home and, instead of finding support and encouragement, finds she must also battle her husband to change her family, she is fighting a tough battle indeed. 

I didn’t want to have to beat the odds.  I knew what it was like to have that husband by my side serving the Lord.  I took my daughter to church and did my best, but beating the odds wasn’t the cry of my heart.  The cry of my heart was for my husband to be by my side.  

Men, you matter.  You matter to the wives and children in your life.  You can change your family for eternity.  You can be an example for your children, your grandchildren, and even those other kids that witness a man of God being active in his relationship with the Lord.  

Our culture demeans the importance of men and their influence in their children’s lives.  Yes, there have been bad apples.  Yes, there have been abuses.  However, the statistics clearly reveal that men, when they serve Jesus with clean hearts and a deep love for their Creator, bring their family alongside them 93% of the time!

Ninety-three percent!!!

Consider the average two-child family.  For every 100 men that serve the Lord and take their family to church, that is 186 children that are being raised in Christ.  For true believers, Jesus isn’t just a church experience, but impacts home and work.  Those children see Jesus in their home as well as at church.  

It was during the dark times when we stumbled in our faith and my husband’s apathy grew that one of our children went from a believer to a prodigal.  I don’t believe God is done, but I know that our actions at the time contributed.  It was easy to see how moms serving Christ without the support of her husband are going to struggle to keep their children in the faith.  After all, more is caught than taught.  Even as a homeschool mom, where Christian principles and the Word of God was part of our daily lives, the example set was poor.  We were a divided home, and I was so heartbroken and defeated so much of the time that I didn’t hold up well. I made so many mistakes in fear and anger and grief. 

I’m not living in blame or failure.  God has forgiven our actions of that time.  We faced some circumstances and situations that Left us reeling and stripped bare.  I am so thankful to the Lord for drawing us back.  He truly has healed some circumstances that I wasn’t sure we would survive. He restored our faith, our hearts, and placed us on ground that wasn’t solid in the past. If He wasn’t done with us, I have to believe He isn’t down with our prodigal.

There will always be those outliers in the statistics.  There will be women that raise world-changers for the Lord without a spouse by their side.  There will be men that go to church alone, without the support of their spouse. And there will be those children that walk away from the Lord despite parents that love Him and serve Him faithfully. But statistically, the odds are strong that families, churches, and eternity will be impacted by men that trust in the Lord and take their families to church.  

Please be that man.  We are fighting a war that is just as spiritual as physical.  Satan knows that if he wants to destroy what Christ is doing in the world, he can discourage the men first.  He can make them too busy, too distracted, too angry, too apathetic...  anything to keep them from taking their family to church and serving the Lord in his home.  He knows the battle is much more difficult for everyone else if he bombards men.  Satan targets all Christians because he targets those anointed and being remade in the image of Christ.  But he gains a much easier victory when he goes after the husbands and fathers.  

Ladies, if your spouse has walked away, or has never been a Christian, or if you are a single mom trying to raise your children for Jesus against what feels like impossible odds, know you don’t battle alone.  I pray every woman feeling discouraged will know she isn’t alone, that God walked with her even when she cannot see.  He has a plan.  Keep praying.  Keep trusting.  Keep loving.  Keep serving.  Don’t give up!  When you are crying over Scriptures, know the promises are for you.  When you are praying through fear and discouragement, know your prayers are heard and there is a battle going on that may not be apparent in the physical realm.  Surround yourself with other believers that will join you in prayer to battle for your family.  Keep going.  God is faithful and, even if it feels like it will never happen, He is still working. 

Hidden in Him

Corona...  Covid-19...  Like millions of others, this plague with its shutdowns and quarantines has hurt our finances.  Unlike many, we still have an income. So, I consider ourselves blessed.

But we have lost some of what we had counted on.  Who could know we would lose up to a few hundred a month?  Who knew the loss would not just be for a few weeks but stretch on and on, month after month?

I struggle in my spirit during some trials.  Challenging times in our finances is one of them.  I get frustrated when trying to budget and balance and the money isn’t there.  I fight fear when I see the bills and know the income barely covers, or doesn’t cover. 

The Lord has been doing such incredible things over the last few months, however.  I have been so in awe of the things He has done in other areas that, while the concern for finances is still there in my prayers, I can’t separate what God is doing in other areas from finances.

Practically, this impacts our homeschool.  It means slowing down on a few things we are working through, supplementing with materials we already have or free materials online, because the finances aren’t there to cover even the few things I need to purchase.  

And yet, even here, God has provided.  A quick trip to a  resale shop...  a bag of books for $3... some books that I had on my shelves I had forgotten about...  all ways God has provided in just the last few weeks. 

Other ways have been provided that I couldn’t have imagined.  We had a conference we had signed up to attend, that I knew God wanted us to attend.  This conference proved to be pivotal in our family.  What God did in that conference in our family was the answer to years of prayers.  And yet, the finances weren’t there.  Somehow, God provided them.  He made a way through His people.

After the conference, I have felt led to fast all but one meal a day...  fasting for spiritual breakthrough for our finances and any other areas of strongholds.  Finances have always been an area of struggle for our family.  We have five children, and while four are now grown, raising five children on one income was so difficult.  I could stretch a dollar farther than it seemed possible just to get us through.  In recent years, as children moved out and began their own families and lives, finances weren’t as tight.  That led to me spending more than I would have considered in the past.  I had stopped practicing good stewardship the way I had in the past.  This time of less income made me remember that those principles are just as important in the more prosperous times as in the tougher times. 

God still provides. Little things have happened.  It hasn’t been anything big in our finances yet, but those little things have occurred that bring small provision: a payment reduced, a part of a deposit returned, warmer weather to keep us from having to turn on the heat, a daughter that was able to find employment she loves so she can contribute.  Those little things that remind me that God is in the littlest areas. 

 The fast for financial breakthrough is impacting other areas of life.  Relationships are being restored.  Old wounds are being healed.  My relationship with the Lord is somehow deeper.  I feel it’s a time of waiting, of absorbing and preparing.  In the past I might have felt a little forgotten, as if the struggle meant that God had abandoned me.  But now I feel hidden, not from Him, but by Him.  Hidden in Him...  sheltered by Him...  studying, waiting for finances for the next step, praying like I never have before for His presence to be with me, to guide me, to fill me and my home.

I’m so flawed.  I mess up so often.  I doubt some days.  I cry. 

Every night, when the house grows quiet, I attempt to go outside and, in the stillness of the night, spend a dedicated time with Jesus.  I like to walk when I pray.  And so, I walk around my home, praying as I go.  I pray in the Spirit.  I sometimes sing quietly.  I pour out my heart and gives my cares to the Lord.  I am so often reminded of His faithfulness in that time.  I feel that protective shelter.  My husband fears I am walking a path into the grass, which frustrates his landscaping heart; but this time has become special to me.  I’ve always been more of a night owl than a morning bird. 

During the day, with a one year old grandson and homeschooling and bouts of insomnia, I don’t have as much available time for prayer.  And to be honest, my mind in the morning is focused on what all needs to be accomplished for the day.  In the evening, I can focus better. 

I still battle trepidation over our finances.  I shouldn’t, but I must confess that I do.  I keep tithing, keep giving, because I know this may feel like a battle in my life but it is actually a spiritual battle.  It is a way for Satan to bring doubt of God’s goodness and provision.  It is a way to try to stop ministry. It’s an attempt to derail what God has planned for my family, my children, and me. 

Being hidden in Him is a place of safety.  Being hidden in Him as we walk by faith and not by sight allows those steps to be taken with quiet anticipation.  In fear, I would be tempted to take my own actions, which never goes well, or to give up.  I will take being hidden in God over my own great ideas or public platitudes any day. 

I want to learn the lessons well.  I want to pass the tests and bless the heart of my Father.  I want to spend this time, not as a time when I am on an emotional roller coaster of fears and doubts, but a time when I can find Him.  Please Lord...  pull me ever closer.