Yesterday was an amazing day! I had one of my favourite preschooler friends over for a lesson in the morning and we got to talking as we were completing a paint with water (and watercolours!) picture.
"Who's your mom?" queried my little friend.
"My mom is Mrs. Edwards who teaches you about Jesus in Children's Church, " I replied.
"And my mom teaches me and [brother] and [sister] at home," she said.
"That's right. And my mom used to teach me and my brother and two sisters about Jesus at my home when we were little. Now, she doesn't have any little people living at her house, so she teaches you about Jesus in Children's Church."
"This paint is white, just like the colour Jesus made my heart," she remarked, moving on. I just treasured this little snippet of conversation because it shows what a difference moms are making. I praise God for a mother who raised me to know Jesus, who taught me to spend time in God's Word and in prayer everyday by setting me the example of doing this herself. Sometimes I don't always see eye to eye with my mom about everything, but I respect her opinions because she has lived out her life demonstrating faithfulness in all she does. She taught me to obey not because she was right (which she was), but because in obeying her, I showed my love and obedience for Jesus. (This early teaching, by the way, saved her a lot of grief when it came to the teenage years!) I remember her reading Little Pilgrim's Progress to us as well as countless children's books, poems, and Bible stories, not because they catered to her interests, but because she wanted to instill in us a love of literature. It is a direct result of this early influence that I was reading at 4 and have a library of over 2000 books today, including a treasured copy of Little Pilgrim's Progress (as well as the original) which I found a couple of years ago in a thrift store rummage!
Anyways, all that is just to say that I love moms and I think they need a lot more encouragement than they get some days. So if you're reading this, and you're feeling guilty because you didn't have time to construct the Great Pyramid out of sugar cubes this week amid running the eight year old to hockey, dance, soccer, swimming, and guitar lessons and making fresh play dough for the 4 year old while hearing her recite the alphabet and feeding the baby and getting meals and making sure the house runs smoothly, please remember that the choices you are making for your kids now have a lasting impact and above all, stay close to Jesus. "Apart from me you can do nothing." John 15. Have a blessed week!
Jennifer
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Still Praying
Well, I'm still looking for full-time preschool / day care kids. This has certainly been an exercise in trusting God. I do not consider myself to be entrepreneurial by nature, so starting my own business and not having a regular paycheck can tend to cause slight panic attacks until I remember that I'm not in this on my own. God has given me a passion for this little corner of Northern Ontario and a passion for educating children to high, Christian standards. There are so few teaching jobs available in the Public or Catholic boards, and we don't have a local Christian school... yet.
What does a Christian preschool mean? It means that every morning, we start the day off with prayer, trusting God to lead us into the learnings He has for us that day. We thank Him for the weather, whatever it may be, knowing that by the "word of His power" He is "upholding all things" (Hebrews 1:3). We thank Him for daily providing for our needs - our snack, our lunch, the roof over our heads, our families. We read Bible stories that tie into our theme - Jonah for Oceans, Noah for Rainbows, Joseph for Clothes... We listen to music that honours God and reminds us of who He is and what Jesus has done for us - Jesus Loves Me, For God so Loved the World, He's Able... It means that we look at all of our science experiments through the lens of God's Intelligent Design of the world - monkeys climb because God made them that way, ice melts because God knew we wouldn't want it to be winter all the time, God gave whales blubber to keep them warm in the cold water... In everything we do, we want to "remember our Creator in the days of our youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1). It is not my job to force kids to make a profession of faith. It's not even my job to lead them through that process. It is God's job to capture their hearts and lead them to Himself through the work of His Holy Spirit. It is their parent's job to daily live out their faith at home, to answer their kids' questions about God, and to lead them in prayer when the time comes. If I can keep on praying for them and encouraging them to see God's hand at work in their lives and in the world around them, to live their lives for His honour and glory, I will have produced much fruit!
This entry may have turned out to be more mission statement-y than I originally intended, but it was good for me to stop and consider why it is still so important for me to advertise as a Christian preschool, when that "label" may turn some people off. I am a Christian and this is the only way I know how to live. God honours faithfulness to Him. Jesus, let me be faithful.
Jennifer
What does a Christian preschool mean? It means that every morning, we start the day off with prayer, trusting God to lead us into the learnings He has for us that day. We thank Him for the weather, whatever it may be, knowing that by the "word of His power" He is "upholding all things" (Hebrews 1:3). We thank Him for daily providing for our needs - our snack, our lunch, the roof over our heads, our families. We read Bible stories that tie into our theme - Jonah for Oceans, Noah for Rainbows, Joseph for Clothes... We listen to music that honours God and reminds us of who He is and what Jesus has done for us - Jesus Loves Me, For God so Loved the World, He's Able... It means that we look at all of our science experiments through the lens of God's Intelligent Design of the world - monkeys climb because God made them that way, ice melts because God knew we wouldn't want it to be winter all the time, God gave whales blubber to keep them warm in the cold water... In everything we do, we want to "remember our Creator in the days of our youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1). It is not my job to force kids to make a profession of faith. It's not even my job to lead them through that process. It is God's job to capture their hearts and lead them to Himself through the work of His Holy Spirit. It is their parent's job to daily live out their faith at home, to answer their kids' questions about God, and to lead them in prayer when the time comes. If I can keep on praying for them and encouraging them to see God's hand at work in their lives and in the world around them, to live their lives for His honour and glory, I will have produced much fruit!
This entry may have turned out to be more mission statement-y than I originally intended, but it was good for me to stop and consider why it is still so important for me to advertise as a Christian preschool, when that "label" may turn some people off. I am a Christian and this is the only way I know how to live. God honours faithfulness to Him. Jesus, let me be faithful.
Jennifer
Friday, February 18, 2011
Back Online!
Well, I finally have internet access again after my move! This is very exciting, but does not necessarily guarantee that I'll be writing any more frequently!!! My self-education journey continues to progress. Here is a list of my 2011 Reads so far:
Anne of Green Gables series (all 8 books, a yearly reading selection since I've been 12 years old! I still cry in every book!)
Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C.S. Lewis - I had to read it before I saw the movie!)
Gullivers Travels (only Lilliput & Brobdingnag - again, I just watched the movie! Aside: Jack Black is hilarious!)
Brothers Far From Home: The WWI Diary of Eliza Bates (I'm on a bit of a WWI kick right now - it started with Rilla of Ingleside)
The Wingless Bird, Catherine Cookson
Sinners and Shadows, Catrin Collier
Danny Boy, Anne Bennett
(The last three were recommendations from our local librarian... I don't think she quite understood what I was looking for... they were basically romances about women not about the actual events of WWI... oh well, the last one, Danny Boy, I actually quite enjoyed. It is the story of a woman and her husband who had to leave Ireland to get away from the IRA and their search for employment in England, among other touching events.)
Megiddo's Shadow - excellent about Cdn. Yeomanry trooper sent to the Dardanelles
If I Die Before I Wake: The Flu Epidemic Diary of Fiona MacGregor, Toronto, 1918 (Jean Little)... amazing read - I finished it in one afternoon and I cried buckets!
Currently, I'm reading All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque which is written from a German protagonist's perspective and is exceptionally interesting.
I'm also attempting to get through Confessions by St. Augustine, but it's a pretty hard row to hoe! If I can get a couple of Books done per month, I count myself as doing well!
In addition, I'm doing tons of reading from the Old Fashioned Education grade 3 reading list relating to Ancient History. She does have some excellent selections and the Science Readers by William J. Long are amazing... they make me want to become a naturalist!! (http://www.oldfashionededucation.com/)
I'll try to be back soon with more of an update on the preschool program, but wanted to get these readings recorded while they were still fresh in my mind!
Happy life-long learning!
Jennifer
Anne of Green Gables series (all 8 books, a yearly reading selection since I've been 12 years old! I still cry in every book!)
Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C.S. Lewis - I had to read it before I saw the movie!)
Gullivers Travels (only Lilliput & Brobdingnag - again, I just watched the movie! Aside: Jack Black is hilarious!)
Brothers Far From Home: The WWI Diary of Eliza Bates (I'm on a bit of a WWI kick right now - it started with Rilla of Ingleside)
The Wingless Bird, Catherine Cookson
Sinners and Shadows, Catrin Collier
Danny Boy, Anne Bennett
(The last three were recommendations from our local librarian... I don't think she quite understood what I was looking for... they were basically romances about women not about the actual events of WWI... oh well, the last one, Danny Boy, I actually quite enjoyed. It is the story of a woman and her husband who had to leave Ireland to get away from the IRA and their search for employment in England, among other touching events.)
Megiddo's Shadow - excellent about Cdn. Yeomanry trooper sent to the Dardanelles
If I Die Before I Wake: The Flu Epidemic Diary of Fiona MacGregor, Toronto, 1918 (Jean Little)... amazing read - I finished it in one afternoon and I cried buckets!
Currently, I'm reading All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque which is written from a German protagonist's perspective and is exceptionally interesting.
I'm also attempting to get through Confessions by St. Augustine, but it's a pretty hard row to hoe! If I can get a couple of Books done per month, I count myself as doing well!
In addition, I'm doing tons of reading from the Old Fashioned Education grade 3 reading list relating to Ancient History. She does have some excellent selections and the Science Readers by William J. Long are amazing... they make me want to become a naturalist!! (http://www.oldfashionededucation.com/)
I'll try to be back soon with more of an update on the preschool program, but wanted to get these readings recorded while they were still fresh in my mind!
Happy life-long learning!
Jennifer
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Poetry... the stuff of life!
So as part of my journey to self-education, I adore reading and copying poetry. Having begun a study on the 17th century (simply because other than some American history, I don't know that much about it), I came across the Puritan writer Anne Bradford and her poem "By Night When Others Soundly Slept". I have copied it here for your enjoyment.
By night when others soundly slept
And hath at once both ease and Rest,
My waking eyes were open kept
And so to lie I found it best.
I sought him whom my Soul did Love,
With tears I sought him earnestly.
He bow'd his ear down from Above.
In vain I did not seek or cry.
My hungry Soul he fill'd with Good;
He in his Bottle put my tears,
My smarting wounds washt in his blood,
And banisht thence my Doubts and fears.
What to my Saviour shall I give
Who freely hath done this for me?
I'll serve him here whilst I shall live
And Love him to Eternity.
Being of the type to stay up at night and pour out my heart to God, I felt a decided kinship with this poem. I'm now headed off to copy it into my poetry journal. Poems do not have the same effect unless they are copied out by hand!
By night when others soundly slept
And hath at once both ease and Rest,
My waking eyes were open kept
And so to lie I found it best.
I sought him whom my Soul did Love,
With tears I sought him earnestly.
He bow'd his ear down from Above.
In vain I did not seek or cry.
My hungry Soul he fill'd with Good;
He in his Bottle put my tears,
My smarting wounds washt in his blood,
And banisht thence my Doubts and fears.
What to my Saviour shall I give
Who freely hath done this for me?
I'll serve him here whilst I shall live
And Love him to Eternity.
Being of the type to stay up at night and pour out my heart to God, I felt a decided kinship with this poem. I'm now headed off to copy it into my poetry journal. Poems do not have the same effect unless they are copied out by hand!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Leadership and Vision
Yet another entry that has nothing at all to do with preschool or homeschool! God, in His infinite wisdom had ordained that tonight at church we would have a guest pastor conducting the last in a session of leadership seminars that he has been leading over the past year. It was definitely very challenging! Especially the part where he was talking about how leaders see in advance where God is moving and working and plan for it. It reminds me of one of my favourite verses Galatians 5:25 "If we walk in the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."... So this is what I'm working towards, but the challenge is having enough confidence that God will not allow your foot to be moved as you move along the straight and narrow way in following Him. I am finding my current phase of life (supply teaching, tutoring, and babysitting when I'm not busy) to be not extremely conducive to living a life that is planned with a purpose. Things are too up in the air for me to say, "This is my goal for the week and this is how I am going to live and what I am going to do to achieve my goal." I guess the perpetual challenge is to set aside a purposeful time each day to re-examine your priorities in the light of how God is moving and working in those around you. My prayer for this week is that I would spend some time each day renewing my mind in God's Word and investing in the relationships which God has allowed me to build with others.
On a completely unrelated note, Christmas time is coming and it's time to start thinking about our church's Bethlehem Walk outreach ministry. (Every year we act out the Christmas story for our friends and neighbours in the community and collect food to be given to our local food bank or to families who we know of through the church who could use some encouragement.) I have the amazing privilege of writing the script for this ministry and this week, when I couldn't sleep at 4:00 in the morning, I planned out all of the sites for this year. Our focus for this year will be Jesus is the Son of God and we will be looking at the life of Christ through the eyes of the "beloved" disciple, John. I'm so excited to present this to the church at our business meeting tomorrow night!
May you be encouraged in the knowledge that God is completing the work He began in you and He has graciously ordained the days of your life. You can trust God's plans today because He loves you and He knows what tomorrow holds.
Blessings!
Jennifer
On a completely unrelated note, Christmas time is coming and it's time to start thinking about our church's Bethlehem Walk outreach ministry. (Every year we act out the Christmas story for our friends and neighbours in the community and collect food to be given to our local food bank or to families who we know of through the church who could use some encouragement.) I have the amazing privilege of writing the script for this ministry and this week, when I couldn't sleep at 4:00 in the morning, I planned out all of the sites for this year. Our focus for this year will be Jesus is the Son of God and we will be looking at the life of Christ through the eyes of the "beloved" disciple, John. I'm so excited to present this to the church at our business meeting tomorrow night!
May you be encouraged in the knowledge that God is completing the work He began in you and He has graciously ordained the days of your life. You can trust God's plans today because He loves you and He knows what tomorrow holds.
Blessings!
Jennifer
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
God Answers Prayer
Well, as usual, I've started this blog and forgotten about it for a week or so. Things are still going well towards starting up the preschool, however I don't have a definitive moving date yet! I have been very thankful lately, though regarding specific answers to prayer in my life. First of all, my little sister finally has a reliable car! (This has been a big prayer issue, because she is making an eight-hour trip North this weekend to see the family and attend a wedding and her old car's muffler was riding in her back seat!) She got it from a Christian dealer who gave her a great lease rate becasue she teaches at a Christian school. I love the family of God! Secondly, since moving back home, I have been praying for God to send along a "kindred spirit". Don't get me wrong, I have loads of wonderful friends and my church is awesome, but I have been missing that iron sharpens iron relationship for a while. BUT! God has so surprisingingly blessed me by bringing this wonderful girl to our church. She just started teaching at a local school and we hit it off right away. I don't mean to say that I was surprised by God's blessing, but I had put that request to the back burner for a bit and voila! an answer out of the blue! It's kind of made me think that that is the way He is going to provide a husband as well?!? There's a prayer request that's been on the front burner for a long time now! Anyways, completely unrelatedly, I am one of those crazy interesting people who pray for their children long before they are born, and I was looking at baby girl names online last night when I couldn't sleep and I found the perfect name for my first-born daughter (who for a long time I've been praying for as Elisabeth, which I also think is lovely): Eliana, which means My Lord has responded. I love it! Eliana Ruth... now all I need is a last name for her!!! God really will have to respond to provide that one, though! So really this entry had nothing at all to do with homeschooling or preschool, but I just wanted to send out a little praise to the God who answers prayer! Hope you all are having a wonderful day!
Blessings!
Jennifer
Blessings!
Jennifer
Friday, September 3, 2010
George Washington Copywork
So, in re-reading my last (and first!) entry, I realized that when I said I was a homeschool consultant, that could sound somewhat arrogant coming from someone who has no kids!!! Actually, one of the benefits of having no children at this stage of my life is that I have time to read and research obsessively about different methods and resources available to homeschoolers and I have a number of friends who come to me to see if I know anything about such and such a program, because with all their munchkins running around they haven't had time to research it... So basically, I'm a dork with a passion for homeschooling, but no outlet for that passion other than to become as knowledgeable as I can about the subject! When I read "homeschool consultant" trying to be an objective third party, I didn't like myself very much, so I hope that explanation helps!!
Anyways, I found this great resource for copywork this morning from Albright News. She has great copywork selections from Scripture and historical sources. I tweaked her George Washington copywork document so that the copywork selections were written on lined paper so that children could focus on making their letters the correct size for the lines that I used. There are a limited number of selections for copywork, so I'll add some more as I stumble across them! I was trying to link to the PDF file on my computer, but I have no idea how to do that! I'll have to do some more research and try to figure it out!
Oh well! Technology and I have a love-hate relationship! While I am infinitely patient with people (easy to say when you don't have children!), I find it very easy to kick any piece of equipment that is not operating in the way I think it should! (I have a particular hatred for fritzy photocopiers!)
So there may be a copywork file uploaded shortly, or there may not be... depending on my frustration level! Have a wonderful Friday!
On a completely different note, and just so I remember, I met a lovely girl last night who was homeschooled and it really cemented my resolve to raise my own children well! (By the way, this girl (along with the many other homeschool children in my circle of friends) was completely socialized and only had 1 head!!)
Jennifer
Anyways, I found this great resource for copywork this morning from Albright News. She has great copywork selections from Scripture and historical sources. I tweaked her George Washington copywork document so that the copywork selections were written on lined paper so that children could focus on making their letters the correct size for the lines that I used. There are a limited number of selections for copywork, so I'll add some more as I stumble across them! I was trying to link to the PDF file on my computer, but I have no idea how to do that! I'll have to do some more research and try to figure it out!
Oh well! Technology and I have a love-hate relationship! While I am infinitely patient with people (easy to say when you don't have children!), I find it very easy to kick any piece of equipment that is not operating in the way I think it should! (I have a particular hatred for fritzy photocopiers!)
So there may be a copywork file uploaded shortly, or there may not be... depending on my frustration level! Have a wonderful Friday!
On a completely different note, and just so I remember, I met a lovely girl last night who was homeschooled and it really cemented my resolve to raise my own children well! (By the way, this girl (along with the many other homeschool children in my circle of friends) was completely socialized and only had 1 head!!)
Jennifer
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)