Join me and several other BPA families at 7pm CST for the Summer Splash! It kicks off our BiblePrinciples group Faceboook presence and [re]introduces our online BPA community.

We will have giveaways, door prizes and lots of great information. I’ll be there, along with Lisa of Me and My House Ministries, Renae of Life Nurturing Education and Gina of A Cherished Keeper. Mrs. Smith of Pilgrim Institute will also be on hand with information you won’t want to miss.

It only lasts an hour so don’t miss a minute of it! Be online at 7pm CST and click the picture above to join the conversation and to get in on some fantastic giveaways.

If you know a parent-teacher whom you think would like to join us, please let them know. See you there!

I do not want to watch a show I can’t watch in front of my children.

Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, Christians have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect. Eph 5:4 The Message

I am busy. I don’t have the time.

And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Luke 2:49 NKJV

I don’t want to bring that into my home.

Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you want junk like that in your belly? Prov 26:22 The Message

It’s not setting a good example for the little people in my house.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. Mark 9:42 NAS

It is no different in my mind than being a busy body. It is none of my business what these people are doing.

Evil people relish malicious conversation; the ears of liars itch for dirty gossip. Prov. 17:4 The Message

It’s not real. It should be called “contrived” TV.

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Phil 4:8 The Message

There is nothing to be gained from watching mindless shows that add nothing to my life. I will work hard instead to make sure that what I do will honor God and benefit the kingdom.

So let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. Heb 21:1 NCV

I am not running away from something I see as wrong, rather I am running toward Christ, toward that prize. When my eyes are on the prize I am saved, even from silliness on TV.

What do you think about reality TV?

In case no one has noticed, I’ve been MIA around here. There are several reasons I want to share, hopefully to encourage some of you home educators. I hope my story isn’t too common, only because I don’t want anyone to go through what I did.

It all started more then three years ago. It began slowly and grew to take over my life. It became a giant obstacle that I couldn’t see around or get past. It was choking the very life out of me. It was, in a word, anxiety.

In the beginning it was just annoying but easy enough to manage. But like a cancer it grew and grew. It moved in, and brought with it depression. My days became an inky string of endless weeks. I struggled from hour to hour at times, trying to stay focused, trying not to panic. Many nights I paced the floor, my heart pounding out of my chest, trying to hang on until the crisis passed. I lost weight and looked ill. Many days I really felt like I might die and that was terrifying to me.

There were visits to the ER, to the doctor, to the counselor and [sometimes] to church. Just getting out of bed was a chore, and  trying to homeschool was completely overwhelming. I cried sobbed often. All of life seemed like a dark hole from which there was no hope of escape. No hope. None.

I had to make one of the most difficult decisions of my life. I had to put my children in school. The decision wasn’t hard because I think school is evil. It was hard because I thought I was a failure. I thought I was supposed to homeschool, so I was letting my family down because I couldn’t get myself together. I truly believe I was called to homeschool, so this wasn’t making sense to me.

I also had to get a job to pay for school, so that was a shock to my world as well. But it has been a good shock. I have met new people, gotten out of the house, done hard things and gotten a new perspective. And the money I make as a ICU RN is a nice addition to our household budget. The children have enjoyed school and I have also enjoyed delegating the educational responsibility for a while and simply wearing the hat of “mom.” I got a haircut and some new clothes because I actually felt like dressing up again. Hope has dawned on the inside, shining warm rays of joy in my heart. Thanks to God, counseling and medication I have finally returned to my “normal” and it is terrific.

This wasn’t a result of homeschooling per se, but of my response to it. I became obsessed with perfection, doing just the right thing to make sure my children “turned out right” and it was suffocating all of us. I was trying to be God, trying to ensure that if enough things were done right then they would be okay.

Looking back now, in a balanced state of mind, I would take my old self up in my arms and just hold her for a long time. I would give her a long rest and a cup of tea and nurture her. I would make sure her expectations were not too high and that she remembered to laugh and to shake off that nagging self-criticism. I would see that she had a real hobby and real life friends and time to breathe without guilt.

Will I homeschool again? I don’t know. I really hope so. Right now I am saying that I am on sabattical for a year. I am praying about what God has for our family after that. But I am still sharing my thoughts here, encouraging home educators, offering my ideas on BPA and life and whatever else comes along. I hope you’ll continue on this life’s journey with me. I always enjoy another friend on this journey through life.

This Father’s Day I hope you will take time to pray with your children for Dad. I hope you will visit or call your own father and pray for him. I hope that if your own father has passed away–as mine has– that you will find a father to pray for today.

Please also make sure to pray for a single father. They need an extra dose of TLC today and every day.

What will I pray? you may ask. First I suggest that you take a moment to think about the person you are praying for. What are needs they may have? What about them are you thankful for? Use these things to form a prayer.

What if I (or he) feel uneasy or awkward about praying out loud for him? You can always write your prayer in a note. or record it and play it for him. Or you can just push through the awkwardness–and keep it short!

What if my dad (or husband) isn’t open to the idea? Then pray for him anyway, to yourself. Bring him before the Lord in your quiet time. Again, you can write a nice note instead, letting him know how much you love him.

A simple prayer can be a meaningful way to connect with the father in your life and may open the door to more prayers together in the future.

I know I just gave away a book last week, but I am so excited about my new look that I want to give some goodies away! Here’s how it’s gonna go down:

Because this blog incorporates several things I am passionate about, I want you to leave me a comment about what you are passionate about. I will draw THREE winners. Two will win my ebook and one will win a for real blank journal. (US residents only please. )

Deadline is September 15, 2009. Only one entry per person please. I’ll announce the winner Sept. 16.

Three wrapped Christmas presents

I have kept separate blogs for several years. I have a book arts blog, a blog for creative homeschool ideas. (I used to have a blog about praying with children too.) All this is fun but really tiring. There’s a lot to keeping up a blog, much less three. My dear friend Renae suggested I combine my blogs rather than quit one altogether. It was just the pep talk I needed.

So here it is, the new and improved PrincipledMom. No more slicing my life into pieces. This is me–happy mom, inspired home educator, enthusiastic book artist, pursuer of Biblical principles, fountain of creative ideas. For whatever reason you follow my blog(s) I am sure you’ll enjoy the renewed energy and focus here. Hopefully you’ll see how art and home education can happily coexist. And I plan to take you all on the amazing ride that is my life; books, children and all. I’m getting more personal, more current and more artistic. If you want me to address a specific topic or idea, just let me know.

So welcome to my modeled blog! I tried to make things easy to find. If you have trouble navigating the site, please leave a comment and let me know.

photo courtesy m@rg

I’m convinced of it. The over-achievers are distracted with perfection and, well, over achieving. Their parents make sure they always get a trophy and always get an A and that they always feel good.

The slackers aren’t a threat because they are mostly lazy–mentally, if not physically. Their parents might not make them do chores if they don’t feel like it. They may just lack ambition and their parents don’t require more. But they are not doing much. And they aren’t going to do much. At least not unless their feelings say so.

It’s the average kids who are gonna get ‘er done. They’re the ones with a healthy self-image and a solid work ethic. Their parents aren’t so concerned with their kids’ feelings. They’re more concerned with their character–which they know is lacking at times. These kids know they aren’t always the best but they’re okay with that. The average kids know their limitations. They know they have to work hard to do things because not everything comes easily to them. But they appreciate the reward of hard work and know that if they try they can probably do it. And if they work really hard maybe they can do it really well.

There are average kids in the news every day, doing little works with love. Helping a neighbor. Writing a pen pal. Maybe even winning an award. But they are still just going to scouts, practicing their music, playing outside, doing their chores. They may not excel at much of anything but they are really good at being average, being themselves.

They know mistakes are for learning, not covering up or running from. Failure can be an excellent teacher and they learn well. Their parents probably didn’t spend a lot of time telling them how they are the most special kid ever and how they are practically perfect in every way. But their parents didn’t insult them or require nothing of them either. Their parents are probably telling them that sometimes life is messy, but they’re good kids and that if they work hard they will have a good life. So they do, and they do. And I pray that more average kids get the idea that average isn’t so average anymore. And that they will band together and take over the world–in an average way.

They know that average is a really good place to be.

It’s fun and easy to make your own math manipulatives. There’s no need to invest lots of money in these fun math helps. You can whip lots of these up in an afternoon, mostly with stuff you have around the house, and it’s fun to get the whole family involved. (These items can keep preschoolers busy too!) Decide what you really need, not just what your math program says you need. Then get busy and make your own alternatives to the pricey manipulatives.

• Money for counting. Make change at your bank. For $5, which is about the same cost as the plastic coins from the teacher store, your kids can get the feel of making real change. Or let them count their piggy bank.
  lacing cards. You can recycle cereal boxes or large plastic lids. Cut into the shape you want and punch holes all around the edges. Use an old shoelace and let them go to town.
• buttons, macaroni, beans, bottlecaps, candy pieces or anything small can be used for counting, sorting, predicting and quantitative measurements. Mini muffin tins are great with these. You can also use these for simple math operations, like adding and subtracting.
• Make your own place value sheet on a paper divided into place values with a marker (in “landscape” position). They can lay the beans or candy pieces in the proper place value.
• Color rigatoni or other large pasta with a little alcohol and food color. Lay them out to dry and then use some twine or yarn to string them together. (A little tape around the end like a shoelace will make stringing easier.) You can teach patterns and fine motor skills.
• I found a small food scale at the dollar store. This is great for predicting and comparing amounts.
  Use your measuring cups and spoons to measure all sots of things.
• I also got a ruler at Wal-Mart for 50 cents. And a fabric tape measure for a dollar. Kids love to compare and predict measurements. T-charts are simple for recording their results.
• Make your own flash cards. There are free programs online or you can get out your markers and index cards and have a great time creating your own. You can make silly word problems too.
• Another fun idea is to get two large tubs. Fill one with uncooked rice and use different size containers to see how many it takes to move the rice from one tub to another. Little kids really like to scoop the rice. You can keep preschoolers busy for a long time with some fun tools like a big spoon and a cup or some sand box tools.

Originally posted at PrincipledMom blog.

I am so excited about this blog. I have been offering creative advice and resources for a long time and just now thought about starting a blog about it. Please be patient as I add stuff here. I’m only one mama! Anything creative you care to add, please feel free. This works better with feedback and suggestions.