Jehovah's Morning Manna

O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Psalm 34:8

“Daddy, what is it?”  That’s what the Israelites’ children must have been asking when they first saw manna—the tiny flake-like bread that appeared with the dew. They named it manna, meaning literally, “What is it?”  (See Exodus 16)

Can you just imagine the other questions they must have been asking?  How does God know where we are?  How does He know how much we need?  Why is it always just the right amount?  Why must we gather it every morning?

God’s people were in the wilderness, and they were hungry.  The Lord saw their need, and sent this mystery bread from heaven to feed each one of them.  They discovered it tasted like wafers with honey, and they found it there for them every single morning until the day after they first ate the produce of the Promised Land.  (See Joshua 5:12)  The only exception was Sabbaths, when they had tasty leftovers—which, too, was a miracle in itself.

Think of such a provision!  Wouldn’t it be great—to know the Lord would provide each day exactly what you need?!

Actually, He can, He will, and He does.  Okay, it’s not necessarily outside on your front lawn, and you can’t usually cook it in a pot, but He does.

He knows where you live—your unique situation, every single special nuance.  He knows exactly what you need—whether patience and tenderness, strength to put one foot in front of the other, inspiration to explain a complicated concept again, or wisdom to understand His ways or to know how to find time to make dinner.  His provision is there, just for you, every day, in His Word, and in His power and strength.

Like the Israelites, we can rely on His provision for each day.  Even the best planners among us cannot foresee what a day will hold, but He is perfectly faithful and anticipates every need before a request is even on our lips.  His Word is rich, nourishing, refreshing, and transforming.  His strength and power, unlike ours, are inexhaustible, and He lavishly supplies, if only we will look to Him.

I’ve found Him so faithful.  We’re needy; He’s rich and He’s generous.  I get out of ideas; He’s The Creator of all.  I stumble and fall in a pit; He rescues me because He delights in me.  When I’m not sure I can face another day, His mercies are new every morning.

It was thinking on these things that inspired a song I made up last week on the way to and from the store.  I’d like to share the words with you, and maybe they will become your heart prayer, too.  If you're interested in some related "manna" selections, there's a great feast awaiting in Psalms 18, 34, and 139.

Jehovah’s Morning Manna

 (Unpublished © 2012 Carol Carpenter)

V 1

Before my feet hit the floor,

From my heart I implore,

Father, provide what we need for this day.

You know where I live;

I trust you to give

What I’ll need in this day—to give away.

CHORUS

Oh, Jehovah’s morning manna is exactly what I need.

Straight from Your hand to my heart,

On Your Word I will feed.

Though a million voices woo me, it’s yours, Lord, I will heed.

I depend on you;

You alone are truth;

I will follow where You lead.

V 2

Sometimes this job is too much.

Oh, I need Your touch

To inspire, to strengthen, to teach.

As You’ve done in the past,

I know You’ll do till the last--

What meets our need is never out of Your reach.

V 3

When I really get down to it,

I’m amazed at how You do it--

You fill our every need Your perfect way.

You can take our messes

And make them sweet successes--

When we abide in You and humbly pray.

V 4

You’ll finish what you start;

There’s no unredeemable part,

And nothing is too difficult for You.

When my impossibilities

Meet all your sensibilities,

There’s nothing left on earth to make me blue.

TAG

I know You’ll see me through;

My eyes are fixed on You.

I trust You, dearest Lord; I really do.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” Colossians 3:12.

An 8 x 8 foot room, seven people, a pile of school books, seven hours. Not the recipe for patience.

My husband suffered a massive stroke last summer. Thus, our family travels three times a week to a rehabilitation hospital an hour and a half from home. The facility graciously lends a small room so that I can keep school going while Mike does seven hours of therapy. While I so appreciate their generosity, the small space with no breather makes for an incredibly long day.

A day of trying to operate the entire school day out of the supplies we can fit in my little cart. A day where children try tune out my discussion with others so they can concentrate on math. A day of balancing keeping little ones busy and older ones up to speed on lessons. A day walls close in and carbon dioxide rises to dangerous levels.

When we began home schooling, I was sure God was incredibly concerned about our children’s education and was calling Mike and me to be His hands in that process. I now know He was focused on my education.

Just as I give my children tests—God uses therapy days to test me. It’s easy to be patient and gentle when we’re home with books handy, space to spread out, and a dozen ways for the children to keep busy once lessons are done. The test comes when I am feeling claustrophobic, tired, and we still have an hour to go. To pass this test, I have to remember and apply the text God assigned for memory. “Tess, as My chosen child, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”

I take a deep breath as my daughter whines, “Is it time to go yet?” and pull her to my lap to read another story. Instead of impatiently snapping at two bickering children, I focus on gently reproving. Instead of just aiming to get through the day, I plan afternoon treats to make the day easier for all. In each I ask, “Am I being the kind, compassionate, gentle mom God desires when those traits are needed the most?”

And while I know God is teaching me through these days, I’m also convinced He’s using me as His hands to educate my children. It’s one thing to read God’s word each morning, explaining to my children the importance of obeying God. It’s another for them to see me do it. On the days they know my patience is running out, and they see me pray—ask for patience—and witness God taking over, they learn how to obey themselves. On the days I fail the test, they experience first-hand why God gave this command. Either way, God uses me to teach them.

An 8 x 8 foot room, seven people, a pile of school books, seven hours. The perfect recipe for learning the lessons of God.

Could New Education Standards Impact Us Some Day?

There is a hearing on January 25th in the Indiana Senate Education Committee on Senate Bill 373 which would opt Indiana out of the new "Common Core" state standards coming from Washington, DC.

Some critics question the value of these standards and wonder if they could impact standardized testing and therefore home and private school educators some day in the future. The bill is authored by Senator Scott Schneider, but opposed by Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Bennett.

It will be interesting to hear the testimony, see if this bill passes to leave education standards in the hands of local Hoosiers. . . or if Indiana goes along with the federal government and the national education groups promoting this program.

UPDATE: Jan 25th -10pm -- SB 373 failed to pass the Senate Education hearing this evening. One clarification, the Common Core state standards are not federal standards. They come from a Bill Gates foundation-funded entity. Twenty-six states have signed on to these standards including Indiana. I spoke with Dr. Bennett about these today at a lunch with Sen. Schneider before the hearing, that included experts from the Hoover Institute, First Principles and others who supported the bill and questioned the State Superintendent. Dr. Bennett believes that Common Core would be better than our current state standards for improved academics and teaching. The issue of changing tests or future impact upon home school families seemed secondary to the discussion and hypothetical at this time.

"When will I ever use this?"

“Why do I need this? When will I ever use it?”

Is there a home schooling parent who hasn’t heard those words—generally connected to math?

I recently overheard a conversation at the grocery between a child and her mom on this very subject. Mom’s answer, “I don’t know. Maybe it will help you win on Jeopardy some day.”

There’s a better answer. Most good educators can offer the practical reasons for learning math. But, we home schoolers have a few insights even beyond these.

Math teaches perseverance. Our child struggles to make it through the steps of a complex division problem or to come up with the right strategy for a geometry proof and wonders, loudly, “Why do I have to do this?!! I’m going to be an artist! (writer, missionary, car mechanic).” We can try to come up with some real life situation where knowing the various ways to prove triangles congruent will save her life. We will likely fail. Even if we can imagine the scenario, it won’t assuage our child.

Instead, focus on the fact God wants us to have character that perseveres. Perseverance takes practice. Getting through the geometry proof offers that practice. You might say to your child, "As you stick to getting each step right until you get to the end, you learn how to get to the end of a long, hard project--like getting the details right for your art portraits (rewriting your book for the seventh time, translating a gospel, or tracing the electrical shortage in your client’s car.) You may not use the math for any of this—you will use the character you’ve built while doing math."

Math teaches self-control. The whole perseverance thing—it requires a LOT of self-control. Child must remain in his seat. Child must refrain from complaining in order to concentrate on doing. Child must be able to find a mistake and start again. Child must keep all this going for 30 problems.

To follow God we must have self-control. Self-control enables our children to resist the impulses of selfishness and instead do what’s right even when hard. Only with self-control can our child obey others’ authority, show grace to someone who wronged him, or deny himself to show love. God so wants us to have self-control He gives self-control to us as a means of following His lead. But, we must practice using it. Math offers great practice.

Math shows the complexity of God’s mind. My children love math puzzles. You know—ones like “take any three-digit number whose digits decrease in order, write the same number backward, subtract, and the middle number is always nine.” These fun puzzles show the convoluted ways numbers combine to reveal underlying patterns and connections. Creation reveals the Creator. As we work math puzzles and math problems, they offer insight to the underlying patterns and connections of God’s mind. In a world that often presents God as a mindless dispenser of blessing—math offers a glimmer of the depth, complexity, and perfection of God’s mind.

“Why do I have to learn this?” Home schooling yet again offers some of the best answers. We don’t learn math just to get better at using numbers—though that’s a great goal. We learn math, and everything else, to know God better and to grow to be more like Him. The very complexity of math lets us do this. And who knows—maybe, our child will someday win Jeopardy because they can prove two triangles congruent.

Tess Worrell is married to Mike Worrell and together they enjoy discipling their eight children. They are in their 14^th year of home schooling. Tess also writes and speaks to various groups on issues of marriage, parenting, and living as a Godly woman. Tess would love to hear your input. You can contact her at tess@yourfamilymatterstous.com or visit her website: YourFamilyMatterstous.com.

The "Drop Out and Home School" Problem

Indiana Senate Bill 374 is a piece of legislation written by the Indiana Department of Education designed to address the problem of high school drop outs who claim to home school.

Many readers may have heard of this secondary effect from a law designed to improve Indiana's public school graduation and attendance rates. Some schools have complained about drop out students who avoid efforts to keep them in school by claiming to home educate. However, it is also true that many school leaders appear to be telling drop out students and parents that they should claim to "home school" in order to avoid harming the school's drop out count.

Somehow, this problem has been twisted into an indictment of home education or our freedom to home educate with very limited restrictions. No one seems to consider that a child not interested in public education, will probably not value home education either, (if it is even tried), until the school of hard knocks causes him to get a GED or to reinvest in his education.

Senate Bill 374 has been reviewed for us by attorneys with the Home School Legal Defense Association. They very strongly oppose parts of the bill. Section 6 is particularly problematic and unacceptable for home school families in Indiana because it creates new curriculum approval authority for public schools over home educating families.

I have met with the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, who is also the author of this bill. He has agreed with the HSLDA review and does not want to give the bill a hearing. However, I expect that he, (Sen. Kruse), may take some pressure and criticism for this decision. We need to keep our eyes on this bill and any similar effort in the Indiana House.

If you would like to read SB 374 you can do so through this link: http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2012/IN/IN0374.1.html

The 84,300 Challenge

A letter arrives. Out of millions of contestants—you won! Every day, from this day forth, you will receive $84,300. The money will deposit in your bank account first thing every morning. You can use it however you want.

One catch. Any money not spent by the end of the day disappears. You start each day with $84,300.

With such great blessing, you likely begin very intentionally using the money. Pay off bills. Invest in college funds. Give to those missionaries you’ve always wanted to support.

After a few years, are you still as intentional? Does the money become routine—so routine you don’t think much about it? After all, more will be there tomorrow. So, if a few thousand goes unspent today—no big deal. Sure, you have plans for investing the money in your dream, but somehow each day’s distractions get in the way. No problem. You can begin tomorrow.

While we may not have experienced this phenomenon—we have received one very like it.

A letter arrives. It’s the number indicating the state recognizes our home school. We won! Every day from this day forth God gives 84,300 seconds to train our children for Him. The seconds are deposited at the beginning of every day. We can use them however we want.

One catch. Any time not spent by the end of the day disappears. We start the next day with only 84,300 seconds.

As we begin home schooling, most of us are overwhelmed by the treasure of time and opportunity to train our children that God is giving. We very intentionally make big plans for using our time wisely.

After a few years, are we as intentional? Does the treasure of time become routine—so routine that we don’t think much about it? After all, we have tomorrow.

The dayliness of our homeschooling can cause us to lose sight of just how precious this time with our children is. We need to remember the treasure we’ve been given and again become intentional.

For some this will mean being more faithful to the books—actually sticking to the plan God gave at the beginning of the school year to accomplish the goals He laid out for the school year. For others, this means being less concerned with the books—taking moments to enjoy relationship with children and building memories rather than simply pounding out worksheets.

This morning, thank God for your 84,300 seconds. Ask how He wants you to use them today. Rest in the confidence, that if you see each day as a treasure and faithfully steward your time, He will take your offering and build an eternity. No second will be wasted.

Tess Worrell is married to Mike Worrell and together they enjoy discipling their eight children. They are in their 14^th year of home schooling. Tess also writes and speaks to various groups on issues of marriage, parenting, and living as a Godly woman. Tess would love to hear your input. You can contact her at tess@yourfamilymatterstous.com or visit her website: YourFamilyMatterstous.com.

Do you have January-itis?

Is the sun shining in your corner of the world today? Are you feeling challenged today in your homeschool journey? If so, you aren't alone. 

I remember the first year of our homeschooling journey. We had pulled our daughter out of the public school system at the end of her 6th grade year. We spent the summer making plans for what our homeschool life would be like. The fall was challenging, but exciting as we tried to navigate this brand new world. Christmas came quickly and was a welcome break, we happily put the books aside. Then came January. 

January. Cold. Dark. Ugly.

Homeschooling became even more challenging and we found ourselves struggling. Did we make a mistake? Could I really do this every day? Only by the grace of God, we survived and spring finally arrived. 

For a time, I brushed off this rough season as just one of the hurdles of our first year of homeschooling. In part, that was true. We did have some adjustments to make with our curriculum choices and we had to learn how to relax. 

But when we hit a similar wall the following year I realized that it was more than that.

We had January-itis. 

Many moms consider January their favorite time to homeschool, they find the winter season to be quiet and ideal for studying. We weren't feeling it. The shorter days and lack of sunshine affected the mood of our homeschool. The lack of fresh air made for very gloomy days. We were grumpy and tired.

Over time I learned to distinguish between our 'homeschool frustrations' and our 'seasonal frustrations'. The realization that January-itis was lurking in the corner made life easier as we found ways to fight back.

Here are a few easy tips that have worked for us: 

• Keep a scented candle lit on your desk.
• Have classical music playing while doing schoolwork. You can also grab a CD of nature's sounds.
• Be willing to put the books aside on those rare January days filled with sunshine.
• Schedule trips to the museum or special performances of the arts.
• Try to be objective with your homeschool frustrations and distinguish what isn't working from what  may just be a 'seasonal frustration'.
• When frustrations come and tensions run high, stop and pray.

Here are a few other ideas shared recently on our IAHE Facebook page:

• Debi K: This may seem silly, but I like to keep white Christmas lights up with greenery on the bannister until spring. It feels so homey and brightens up our place. Since we try to stay home as much as possible, I try to make it a place I enjoy. 

• Joann B: I have always found the deep winter months to be our best learning months because there is not the pull to be busy outside and no enticement to leave the house unless necessary. And most years there is convention in March to help finish out the year. So I would say, Enjoy the warm house, grab blanket, get everyone curled up on the couch with a good biography or even an encyclopedia and let the learning begin.

• Moe B: We snuggle under blankets to do school work, read more books together and also take a week off in Feb. to just do whatever, sometimes we get a hotel room and go swimming for the weekend or just lay around. It's a nice break. We also keep a sled in the trunk so when we are out driving by a park with nice hills I let them go sledding sort of spur of the moment.

• Jenise P: Florida! Sunshine & fresh air helps our family. We find great condos/homes on VRBO for the same price as a dinky hotel room. We also save money buy making meals, and the beach is free! We also look for educational opportunities as well. The Edison/Ford Winter Home in Ft. Myers is an awesome learning opportunity! Many of Eddison's inventions & museum is there..you could spend days checking that out.

What does your family do to fight the winter doldrums?

Expert Home Schooling?

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3

How do you describe home schooling to others?

Fruitful, close-knit, joyful—when people publicly discuss home schooling, they often focus on the positive. Yet, when speaking privately adjectives like frustrating, overwhelming, and discouraging often enter the conversation.

The IAHE is excited to introduce a new website complete with a blog to encourage and nurture homeschooling parents all along the continuum. For days where your homeschooling endeavors prove fruitful, we want to rejoice with you and encourage your joy. For days when home schooling seems more overwhelming and discouraging, we want to come alongside to grieve with you in what is troublesome and to encourage you through the difficulty—perhaps even offering a tip or insight that will create a better way.

Most often the discouragement comes from comparing our home schooling efforts to families around us. The other family’s five children all won art competitions this year; we can’t even find our drawing pencils. The other family excels at science fairs; our caterpillar died before becoming a monarch. Comparison kills joy.

As this blog begins, please be encouraged by this foundational principle—you are the expert for your children. God says so. When God fashioned you in the womb of your mother, His design included enabling you to disciple your children in all areas of life –including their education

Sure, you can learn from others. Sure, you can grow, adjust, transition to new ways. But, God fashioned you to be the teacher your children need—not your neighbor, not your co-op leader, not the speaker at the convention, not the author of this blog. He has already provided everything you need to train up your children in the way they need to go. 2 Peter 1:3. You simply need to turn to Him in every moment of home schooling and ask Him to fill you with His Spirit to guide and direct your ways. God’s rejoices to answer that prayer.

A fruitful, close-knit, joyful home schooling family comes first and foremost from being the family God designed. Though each home schooling family should share the traits of excellence, faithfulness, and perseverance, God shapes our families to exhibit those traits in very different ways. He designed your family to fit a unique role in bringing about His kingdom. Because your family’s role is unique, your focus, your pattern, and your priorities in home schooling will uniquely tailor to that purpose.

Through this blog, the authors hope to offer tips, insights, and encouragements for your home schooling journey. Please use those that edify your family; toss those that don’t. In everything ask, “God, how can I use this to train my children in Your ways?” As God answers this prayer, may your fruitfulness and joy in your home schooling endeavor increase.

Tess Worrell is married to Mike Worrell and together they enjoy discipling their eight children. They are in their 14^th year of home schooling. Tess also writes and speaks to various groups on issues of marriage, parenting, and living as a Godly woman. Tess would love to hear your input. You can contact her at tess@yourfamilymatterstous.com or visit her website: YourFamilyMatterstous.com.