Happy New Year to all of you and thank you so much for being with us through this journey of curriculum design, blog writing and all around Christian home school living! I had originally planned to share a blog with you about some of my favorite "school" authors, but God decided otherwise. Knowing that His path is always best, I will veer from my book blogs and share with you some things that He has placed on my heart.

I must begin where I do so often…with a book. In this particular case, it is Waking the Dead by John Eldredge. I have a select number of books that I read periodically because I believe that a single or even second reading is not enough to penetrate my overloaded mind. This book is one of those particular reads. It has been almost two years since I last read this book and God drew me back to it with the New Year. To be honest, I really should give the book back to my dear friend, Denise, who loaned it to me a long time ago (Thank you, friend!). I was actually putting together some things to return to her when I came across the book again. I will certainly have to find my own copy soon because it’s very difficult not to highlight in her book!

This is not really a book review but as I was reading Eldredge’s many profound thoughts, I discovered one that may be obvious to many of you, but touched my heart with renewed freshness. It all began with this partial paragraph:

I turned to the New Testament to have another look, read for myself what it said he [Jesus] offers. "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10) Wow. That’s different from saying, "I have come to forgive you. Period." Forgiveness is awesome, but Jesus says here he came to give us life.

Then Eldredge goes on to point out verse after verse representing this same theme including: Proverbs 4:23, Psalm 16:11; John 1:4, 5:40, 7:38 and Acts 5:20. He notes that we so often speak of eternal life as something that comes later. He writes:

I began to get the feeling of a man who’s been robbed. I’m well aware that it’s life I need, and it’s life I’m looking for. But the offer has gotten "interpreted" by well-meaning people to say, "Oh, well. Yes, of course…God intends life for you. But that is eternal life, meaning, because of the death of Jesus Christ you can go to heaven when you die."

A few sentences later, Eldredge asks the following question:

What did Jesus mean when he promised us life?

He refers us to a couple of verses, Psalm 27:13 and Luke 18:19-20. The latter struck my heart as if I had never read it before, although it was quite familiar to me at the same time.

"I will tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come, eternal life."

And if you would allow me just one more verse, Paul tells us, as Eldredge points out,

Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and life to come. (1Timothy 4:8)

Eldredge points out that eternal means "unending," not "later." Really? My initial response was surprise and then outright excitement. My eternal life has already begun?! I am not just biding my time on this earth waiting around for it, but it is here and it is now! Beth Moore, the renowned woman’s Bible Study author and teacher, makes the same point in her series on John, My Beloved Disciple.

I have always thought that this life, while I want to enjoy it and make the most of it, was little more than a brief interlude before getting to the good stuff in heaven. I really bought into the whole idea of being a sojourner and not a citizen of this world. While that may be true, God does not expect me to just wade through this world of sin and hurt avoiding hardship. He expects me to leave the mark of Christ wherever I go and with whomever I share this journey. He also expects me to remember that I am living eternally and everything I say and do is for that eternity. It is my life as a whole, not an earthly life and a heavenly life. Granted, heavenly life will be much sweeter, but there is great joy to be gained by living for Christ right here, right now.

More than my own life, I began to reflect on what I have taught my children. Have I taught them to just get through this age waiting for an eternal life? Am I modeling a life lived in constant awareness of eternity and my role in that eternity? Do I treat today as a part of my entire life or am I always looking toward the future without realizing the potential of this day? Tough questions!

One of the glories of home schooling stems from our ability to influence our children more fully. It’s also one of the great responsibilities. I honestly believe that their observance of our daily actions has a much greater affect on them than anything we tell them. I have a friend who said that she couldn’t home school because she couldn’t imagine her children seeing her all of the time, in every situation.

Are there things I can do each day, as I live my life, to reflect my faith in an eternal salvation? I believe so. Some ideas that come to mind include:

• Celebrating the blessings and the trials in Christ - although a common refrain amongst believers, I still struggle with celebrating trials. Logically, I understand that I will grow during such times, but man, it’s a challenge! Celebrating the blessings can be a little bit of a difficulty, as well. Okay, it’s not the celebrating that’s tough, but sometimes I do forget to give the credit to my Lord and Savior!
• Loving everyone – Now, that’s a tall order! And yet, after loving God, it is Christ’s second command. Some people are just so easy to love and yet others…but God has truly been changing my heart in this area. He reminds me that some of these "difficult" personalities will be spending eternity with me. He has challenged me to draw nearer to those whom I would normally run from hard and fast! My heart is actively changing to not only notice others I might have previously ignored, but also to treat them as any child of God should be treated. I have to tell you that in the process, I am noticing the difference in my own outlook and coming to realize more and more how unworthy I am and how gracious God is to me!
• Responding rather than Reacting – it is so easy to be offended in this world. A simple billboard, Internet pop up or television ad can set me off if I let it. I even find myself being offended for total strangers when they’re mistreated by sales clerks and such. God is teaching me to prayerfully consider such things and to let His Word be my guide, rather than my emotions. At times, I even mess it up when I do refer to His Word because I allow my emotions to do the interpreting. But it’s a lesson I am working on and I always feel like progress is inevitable if you keep trying!
• Praying continually – I am one busy woman and prayer takes time! But it is time well spent and stopping to speak with the Lord is never a moment wasted. I have found that the more I pray, the more inclined I am to pray. It becomes a spiritual habit to turn to God and His voice seems so much clearer these days. My own health is so improved by prayer. Not only my spiritual health, but also my emotional and physical health is positively affected by calming my soul and speaking with my Father. 

I don’t expect that any of the above is new to you. However, if you’re like me, there can’t be too many reminders. I encourage each of you to put on your eternal glasses and view life as a neverending process, with each day you growing in your walk with the Lord and modeling so others may do so as well. Thank you for encouraging me with your words and for taking the time to read the ramblings of a woman who has discovered her life is not ending, and that it’s only just in its early stages!

Lord, I pray that you will keep me eternally minded. I ask that you help me to influence others in seeing their own impact on eternity. Thank you for beginning my new eternal life at my salvation and allowing me the opportunity to truly live on this earth while I exist here. Help me, Father, to do your Will and let my daily living reflect my eternal heart and love for You. I know it is only through Your grace and Your Son’s death that I am saved to live eternally. In Your blessed and holy name, Amen.

God’s blessings on you and your family,

Beth

Happy 2009, Everyone!

If you have been following our blog, you know we have one more book to give away.  Due to everyone’s desire to focus on our families and on the holidays in December, we decided to save our last book for the new year.  If you are visiting our blog for the first time, we are referring to our Christmas Book Give-away.  We have given away at least one book a week for the month of December. To be considered for a free book, all you have to do is subscribe to our mailing list and make a comment on our blog.  Please keep checking back to see what book we will be giving away this month!  In the meantime, we hope you enjoy Dana’s review of the book below.

Have a wonderful week!

Beth

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

“What you are holding in your hands right now is a challenging book for teens by teens who believe our generation is ready for a change. Ready for something that doesn’t promise a whole new life if you’ll just buy the right pair of jeans or use the right kind of deodorant. We believe our generation is ready to rethink what teens are capable of doing and becoming. And we’ve noticed that once wrong ideas are debunked and cleared away, our generation is quick to choose a better way, even if it’s also more difficult.”

Thus opens the book Do Hard Things: a Teenage Rebellion against Low Expectations, written by Alex and Brett Harris, forward by Chuck Norris. If those names sound familiar, it is because the authors are the 19 year old twin sons of well-known homeschool veterans Gregg and Sono Harris, and younger brothers of popular author Joshua Harris (I Kissed Dating Goodbye). This book lays the groundwork for understanding The Rebelution – a term coined by the twins (combining the words “revolution” and “rebellion”) to define a “rebellion against low expectations.”

Their insightful premise states that our culture has bought into the deception that teens are helpless, weak, irresponsible individuals, incapable of caring for anyone but themselves. They assert, as most fellow homeschoolers believe, that “the teen years are not a vacation from responsibility,” but instead “they are the training ground of future leaders who dare to be responsible now.” They exhort teens as well as adult Christians to be an effective countercultural force by truly living as salt and light in the world: by having Christ-like character, by a commitment to competency in their endeavors, and by their willingness to work in collaboration with other like-minded believers.

Not only do the authors feature accounts of several amazing teens who accomplished phenomenal, large-scale projects, but the Harris twins bring the concepts down to earth by also sharing stories of ‘normal’ teens who have chosen to stand apart from the stereotypical norms with smaller scale endeavors. This section includes a helpful, easy-to-understand list of principles that are recommended as a beneficial place to start self-examination before crafting one’s own action plan. Additionally, the Harris twins walk us through this process by sharing a few teens’ stories as well as their strategies to become ‘rebelutionaries.’

My favorite chapter describes accomplishing “Small Hard Things.” (Every mommy can relate: these are the things done behind closed doors that are often tedious, mundane, repeated constantly and don’t come with accolades or recognition.) As we know, often it is these small disciplines that have to be mastered before we are ready for the “big” things. The twins encourage teens to first identify those “small” things in their lives and to take control of them before launching into the larger-scale projects.

This challenging book is peppered with scripture, encouragement and simple strategies to help identify and deal with stumbling blocks in our teens (and our) lives and describes principles to adopt to help us accomplish more for Christ’s kingdom. The book ends with a very clear and compelling presentation of the gospel.

I recommend this book, especially for those teens who are likely to respond best to peer encouragement. Check here for more information!

May God bless your transition back to school!