Brokpa, Bhutan

Beautiful Brokpa woman of Bhutan

This week, as we continue to study our book "From Akebu to Zapotec," by June Hathersmith, please join us in praying for the Brokpa (BROK-pa) people in Bhutan.  Bhutan is a small country in South Asia that lies between India and China, with the Great Himalaya mountain range on its northern border.

Yak... (pardon me.) 

The Brokpa people know all about shaggy mountain yaks, which make it possible for them to live in their very cold country.  Yaks provide wool, leather, meat, milk and cheese.  The Brokpas build their homes on very steep hills and herd their yaks on alpine pastures.  The country of Bhutan is 100% Buddhist, and the Brokpa people, who speak Brokkat, do not have the Bible in their own language.

For more information on this and other unreached people groups, please visit Joshua Project:  Bringing Definition to the Unfinished Task.

Our Homeschooling Groove

This year had the smoothest first week of all four previous years, and it has me wondering why.  I think it's a mixture of experience, a little added patience, and maybe a dash of wisdom tossed in.  Here's what I've learned that is helping make our 5th year the best so far!

My kids are only 8, 6, and 3.  Remembering this little fact, and treating each child according to his or her age, has really, really, really taken the pressure off of me and them!  Even my oldest needs me to see the humor in a math worksheet, and laugh with him over Language Arts material.  They need me to see the pure wonder of science, and to notice how interesting history can be.  They need ME to see it FIRST, and then show it to THEM.  They need me to be willing, and prepared, to do the "optional" activities that I always used to skip.  Tickle breaks must be taken daily, and it is a necessity to have at least a little fun and a measure of awe in everything we do.  Learning is about living, and vice versa.  It doesn't have to be dull and daily drudgery.

I am not a slave to the Instructor's Guide... or even to my own daily schedule.   Oh, this is a big one for me!  I have these horribly detailed schedules that I made up years ago to "keep myself in line."  I mean, every minute of the day, from 4:45am to 9:00pm, was work, work, work!  Keeping the house perfect at all times, doing every homeschooling lesson and activity scheduled without fail, and driving myself straight into the ground.  In reality, I was treating myself harshly because I didn't like who I was.  I couldn't keep it up, so my schedule only served to make me feel worse about myself.  All I saw in myself was laziness, mediocrity, and failure.  I struggled to change myself, but nothing helped that sinking feeling.  It wasn't until I let the Lord heal me from past brokenness, pain, and regrets that I finally saw the truth.  God made me, and He doesn't make mistakes.

I am partially laid-back (read "messy") and introverted, and partially ultra-organized and social.  I still make charts, lists, and schedules, but only to help me keep my thoughts in order and my life easier.  Those things are my TOOLS now, not my MASTERS... and I get a real rush from putting together a good plan!  (Sick, I know.)  Also, I have no bad feelings about chucking the schedule and taking a movie day... or a zoo day... or a lay-around-the-house day when needed.  Do you hear what I'm saying?  I enjoy my life now... weirdo contradictory messy perfectionist that I am!

Life is good.  No matter what happens, it's good to be alive... good to be happy (no longer depressed)... good to be free... good to have my needs met... good to be loved.  It's easy to take happiness and freedom for granted, but Lord, forgive us when we do!  After living through many years of depression and anxiety, it's good to be able to smile, from the inside out, and be happy.  

We should try to see all of life in the light of what Jesus has done for us.  I often feel weird for being so happy around people.  I don't have a lot of things to stress over or complain about.  I mean, sure, I have things that I'm praying about... money, homeschooling, friends, family members, and more... and who doesn't get into negativity once in a while?  But really, why worry?  God already has a plan.  I can be happy, at peace, and satisfied in the midst of all this because Jesus died to set me free... and I am free!

First week down... 35 to go!

We made it through our first week of homeschool, and I have to say, it wasn't torture!  That's GREAT progress!  Sure, we had our hiccups... whining, complaining, fit throwing... but this isn't about me.

Seriously, though, it was a pretty uneventful first week.  There were some "behavior training opportunities" (wink wink), but we got through them quickly.  We finished all of our work, and watched some great online videos of different animals... like different jellyfish and the Jesus Christ (Basilisk) lizard.  Thanks to our Usborne World of Animals book (which gave us the idea), we try to find videos that go with each daily science lesson.  That is a great addition to our homeschooling experience that we can all enjoy.

We're also using Usborne Science Activities: Volume One.  Last week we did some experiments with magnets, testing what will stick to magnets and what won't.  The kids made charts to record the results.  It was pretty fun.  

Thanks to our book "From Akebu to Zapotec," we found out that there are people groups in the world that do not have the Bible in their own languages.  I guess if I had thought about it, I would have assumed that there were.  Reading about specific groups that don't have the Bible was very sad.

The book we have is the 2nd book in a series.  It had to be written because the publication of the 1st book caused Christians to pray, and most of those people groups now have at least some portion of the Bible in their languages!

We are reading about one "Bibleless" people group each week--this week it was the Akebu people of Togo, West Africa--and spending some time praying for them.  Actually, the book comes with a cd, so we are listening to each story.  It gives my vocal chords a good break.  Love that!

Everything else is going well.  The kids are progressing in every area, and it feels like we've finally found our homeschooling groove.  The only thing that's falling through the cracks right now is Sarah's pk3 materials.  I find that if she's happily playing or whatever, I don't feel compelled to stop her in order to teach her something.  My opinion is that very young children need more free-play than sit-down learning and scheduled activities.  So at this point, I'm keeping her activities scheduled, but will only use them as needed to ward off boredom.

Alrighty, so week 2 is in full swing.  Today is Caleb's 6th birthday, so we are having a very light school day... more of a movie day, actually.  Planet 51 and G-Force are on the agenda.  We had donuts for breakfast at his request, and tonight's dinner will be at McDonald's play place, with cupcakes and presents following.  It's a good, sugary day. 

P.S.  I forgot to mention that housework is also falling through the cracks, but that's not really a new occurence.....   

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one...

This blog is about living my dream of being a homeschooling homemaker... striving to be a good wife and all-around "whole" person... complete with real stories about the ups and downs of it all.

I'm a bit of a contradiction.  A phlegmatic-sanguine.  I can be a scatterbrained, head-in-the-clouds, optimistic, dreamer type... but I'm also a responsible, first-born, serious, intellectual type.  The two equally strong sides of my personality sometimes war against each other and, let me tell you, it can get MESSY in my brain.  Scary messy.

I like to plan, plan, plan--and I LOVE coming up with new ways of doing things--but I sometimes fall short on the do, do, do.  And I'm okay with that.  (More on that later.)  I have struggled with weight, messiness, procrastination, laziness (yikes!), and controlling perfectionism (of all the crazy things)... and I've been down the depression/anxiety road and back.    However, today I can tell you that I'm free, I love being imperfect me--and instead of struggling, striving, worrying, and gritting my teeth, I'm learning to trust in the Lord and depend on Him.  More about that later, too. 

So, this blog will be about the joys and frustrations of parenting, homeschooling and homemaking... with a little wifedom and multitasking mania thrown in... and  practical tips for anchoring a scattered mind like mine.  I've come up with a few tricks to help me keep a handle on things while protecting who God made me to be.  I definitely have not "arrived," but I do have joy and peace in the journey... and that's something to share!