People with a Mind to Work

Nehemiah chapter 4 begins: Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?"

These are questions for us. First, can we restore what has been lost in the educational system of America? Can we do it ourselves? What are these feeble people doing, without a teaching degree? It is a grave responsibility to make sure our children have good education. I look back to the days of math manipulatives and phonics flashcards. I took those things seriously at the time, but with Arielle entering 7th grade, the burden of educating her weighs heavily on me. She needs to study literature, and she will be learning chemistry this fall. Teaching Liana to read has been difficult. She will be in 4th grade and I know fluency will be a great challenge for her and for me helping her to progress.

The second question: Are we willing to sacrifice? When I taught young mothers at church, one of their biggest complaints was "no time to myself." I hear you! That's how mothering is. It was hard for me to give up my time the second round of parenting my daughters. I had been living a life of freedom to basically do as I pleased as a career woman. The daily grind of being at home with preschoolers was very difficult at first. Little by little God pulled away all my "free time". I fought back selfishly and with resentment. I see now how he was preparing me for homeschooling.

To teach our children at home we sacrifice that "time to myself." As soon as our school day ends, there is dinner to prepare, laundry to do, and errands to run. I have to sacrifice a spotless house, time to curl up with a good book, and my hobbies. I admit this is still a struggle. There is also the financial sacrifice with me not working outside the home.

When my boys were young I remember the jubilant neighborhood coffee parties on the morning of the first day of school, when moms were liberated from their children. I joined in the celebration back then. Now I eagerly anticipate the quiet one-on-one with each of my daughters as we plunge into the new school year.

The next question: Will we finish in a day? Of course not. But will we finish? We have to remind ourselves this is God's work. "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6.

The last question: Will we raise up stones and build upon the one Living Stone, our Lord Jesus? A good education is necessary in this world, but are we looking at the big picture? What are our goals for our children? To be successful financially and live a prosperous life? I don't know what God's plans are for my children. I want to prepare them spiritually, first and foremost, so they will be equipped to do his work.

Remember, this study of Nehemiah began because of a class I had on spiritual warfare. It's a battle. The enemy taunts us and tries to prevent us from completing God's work, to foil God's plan and purpose for our children. Nehemiah prays, "Hear, O our God, for we are despised...for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders." Woe to those who try to stop the wall-builders.

I love verse 6: "So we built the wall...for the people had a mind to work."

Don't Try This Alone

In Chapter 3, scriptures gives us the names of many men who are working on the wall. This phrase keeping repeating, "next to them". "Next to them," this person worked, "next to them," that person worked. Each worked at his task according to his gift and skill.

Many people have responded to God's call to homeschool and we work side-by-side, in our own houses, but we are next to others all across the country working toward the same goal of educating our children, according to our particular talents and expertise. In the book of Nehemiah, a huge crowd of men worked diligently and faithfully in their common goal of building the wall to protect the people.

We need others. I tend to prefer to work in isolation, but I am acknowledging my need for the fellowship and encouragement of other homeschooling moms. Our kids need to get together with other kids too. Yesterday a generous woman opened her home to five other moms and thirteen other children ranging in age from four to fourteen. The kids played outdoor group games (which homeschooled kids sometimes miss out on) and we moms shared laughs and good ideas. These events are easier to pull off in the summer, but I hope to continue to meet together regularly with other believers, not only in the faith, but also fellow wall-builders.

I'm reminded of the repeating phrase in Hebrews 11--"by faith". "By faith" these Biblical characters accomplished great things. Hebrews 12 begins with: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith..."

Rise Up and Build

In chapter 2 Nehemiah requests of King Artaxerxes to go to Judah to rebuild the wall. The king asks, "How long will you be gone, and when will you return?"

I am asked all the time, "How long will you homeschool?" Some people are concerned for my kids and their "odd" lifestyle. People wonder when I will return to the "normal" life of a woman my age. With Fred's new career floundering, people wonder why I'm not out working to help support the family.

Nehemiah needs letters from the king to pass through the province to get to Judah. He also needs timber to build. The king gives him all he needs, including officers of the army and horsemen. Nehemiah says this is because "the good hand of my God was upon me." God will give us all we need for his own work. Homeschooling can be done on a very limited budget, but we've been blessed by my generous brother and his family passing down many, many books for us to use. What we need now is provision to pay the bills. But that too, God has provided. If I go back to work, I can't build the wall. But because this is God's work, he has been faithful to us.

When Nehemiah arrives in Judah to begin work, the enemies come out. So Nehemiah wisely "told no one what God put into his heart to do." In the middle of the night he inspects the walls and gates. He says to God's people, "You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision." He tells how the king has provided and affirms, "the hand of my God has been upon me for good." And the people were inspired and said, "Let us rise up and build."

"So they strengthened their hands for the good work." It's almost August. Let's get excited about a new school year! Let's prepare our minds with ideas. Let's prepare our attitudes to expect the best of our children and not fall into our mistakes of the past: grumbling, anger, threat, tears, boredom, drudgery, and procrastination. We have a new beginning. Foremost, let's prepare with prayer! Be assured, God will surely bless his work.

So we're eager to begin and we've rallied the troops. What happens now? The enemy rears his head. "They jeered at us and despised us and said, What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?" Are we rebelling against the educational system of the great United States of America? Yes! Yes, we are!

The summer before Arielle began kindergarten we were at our yearly pool party with the families who traveled to China with us. The women began talking about the upcoming school year. I told them we planned to homeschool. Two of the women, both former teachers, were thoroughly disgusted. There is no better word for their response. They ridiculed my "foolish" choice. Their scorn was so obvious my relationship with them ended.

I have friends who are good teachers and I greatly respect their work. I could never teach a classroom full of children. I do not possess the skills or their patience. These friends have made a different educational choice for their children, but they still respect ours. I even look to them for advice.

Nehemiah responds to his enemies, "The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem." Despite the jeers and the sneers, we will build until the wall is finished. Unless of course, God reveals a different plan for our family.

Building the Wall

I'm taking a class at church on spiritual warfare led by a teacher I greatly respect. Last week we studied passages in the book of Nehemiah and it became clear how the truths in this book can be applied to our lives today, even with homeschooling. If we are called by God to do a task, Nehemiah offers words of encouragement.

Here's the background to the book: The Jewish people were struggling to maintain their identity as a people of the Lord. They had been in exile for 70 years and they returned to their own land as strangers among foreigners. They struggled great moral and religious challenges to remain a distinctive people, faithful to God. At the time of this book, the temple had been rebuilt in Jerusalem, but Nehemiah wants to rebuild the city walls for security and protection. However, he suffers tremendous opposition. What sustains him is his faithfulness, perseverance and commitment to God's work and his belief in God's promises. (Jeremiah 25:11)

Nehemiah begins with prayer, acknowledging the reason his people are in this predicament to begin with:

"O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you." (Neh. 1:5,6)

Then he goes on to say that the people have not obeyed the commands of Moses and so were scattered, just as God had warned. But God promises to gather them again if the people return to him. Nehemiah states their identity (and ours). "They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand." (Neh. 1:10)

Nehemiah's conclusion and our prayer too: "O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy." (Neh. 1:11)

God's people are called out and set apart. We are not to be entangled in this world and its deceit, greed, materialism, lust, selfishness, and self-promotion. Homeschooling parents have actually taken the easy way out. To avoid the evil in the world, we limit our kids' exposure to it. Not everyone can or wants to homeschool, but Christians still need to be separate from the world. We don't isolate our children, but we build a foundation, a wall of protection and security, so that when they are mature, they will be strong and equipped for life on the other side of the wall.

We pray they will not be "taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition." (Col. 2:8) We pray they will "walk as children of light and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord and take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them." (Eph. 5:8-11) We pray our children will be "blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom they will shine as lights in the world." (Phil. 2:15).

Jesus prayed to his Father for us, "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one." (John 17:15) He knew the kind of world we had to live in.

Come and explore Nehemiah's lessons for us as we raise our children.

Orchestra Lapbook

My last post about the past school year. Now we are on to new things. I want to recommend two books we used for this project: The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine. This one comes with a CD that children can listen to as they read about different instruments and different eras of classical music. The other is The Story of the Incredible Orchestra by Bruce Koscielniak.

My songbird

We are listening to an audiobook called Fairest by Gail Carson Levine. The book is delightful, the language lively, and the audio version is superb with a multitude of different voices and music to dramatize it. The story is a fairytale about a girl who is not at all pretty but has a beautiful singing voice in a kingdom of song. This author also wrote Ella Enchanted. We thoroughly enjoyed that one too. (Don't watch the movie though. It was mediocre at best.)

We listen to audio books in the car. When we came home yesterday, the story was at a strategic point and the girls didn't want to get out of the car. So we sat in the driveway awhile and heard more of it until I finally said we had other things to do! The book was in the middle of telling about the Composing Game. A group of people play by taking a passage from a dull book and making up a melody and singing the words from it. It is supposed to be funny but have good musical quality. Liana was intrigued by this. After we got out of the car, she picked up a library book and started singing the words from Make Way for Ducklings. She wanted me to alternate pages with her. We did that for awhile, me croaking along after her high clear tones. Liana certainly has musical talent. She composed the tunes on the spot and her voice is rich and beautiful. Then she picked up an American Girl catalogue and started singing the advertisements! I was laughing so much I could hardly sing my parts.

Liana would fit right in with this enchanted kingdom in the book Fairest. She is my songbird, always singing.

Miss Martha

After winter ends, Arielle heads back to the 4-H center for sewing instruction for three or four hours every Saturday. The first year she made a backpack and a skirt, and the second year she made a sundress and a shrug. This past few months she completed another dress.

Now I am able to teach my daughters to sew. But since we are together pretty much all the time, I think it's beneficial for the girls to learn from and spend time with other women. There are many wonderful volunteers involved in 4-H. But for the past two sewing seasons, Arielle has been paired with Miss Martha, a widow in her eighties.

Miss Martha is beautiful with her sparkly blue eyes, white hair, and clear, rosy complexion. I think skin like that used to be called "peaches and cream." She is elegant in her soft pastel sweaters and she wears her jewelry every week as if she is going some place important. Miss Martha is kind and soft-spoken and she is an excellent seamstress. She used to make suits for her husband in years past. She has sewn for her children and grandchildren for many, many years. She is a perfectionist and she knows special techniques for getting the job done and she is able to interpret those poorly written pattern directions. Best of all, she is willing to pass on these skills to a new generation of young women.

By chance Arielle had Miss Martha as her personal tutor one year. The next, as we arrived on the first day, Miss Martha was sitting quietly, waiting. She said, "I'd like to work with Arielle, if she doesn't mind." If she doesn't mind? We were delighted to see her and I was secretly hoping Arielle could work with her again. They had quite a time together this year. Arielle had a very difficult pattern and there were fitting problems. Miss Martha patiently worked through them all with her, and Arielle patiently took out seams over and over until the dress was just right. To see them work, it was a solemn affair. Heads bent down together, neither spoke much, and when they did, it was softly and with few words. But there was a connection. Martha told me several times how much she enjoyed teaching Arielle. She said, "I just have to tell her something once and she does it."

Once again, Arielle modeled for the County Fashion Revue and once again she qualified for the regional competition. Miss Martha did not attend the fashion show but Arielle got a lovely note of congratulations from her. But we give most of the credit to Miss Martha! Yes, Arielle did the work, but Miss Martha guided her and taught her. As a result, Arielle is meticulous, careful, and willing to work slowly and methodically to complete a project.

What a gift Miss Martha has been to my daughter! She is a wonderful teacher and mentor. Most of all, she is the picture of I Peter 3:4, "the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." As we left the 4-H center on the last day of sewing, Miss Martha was in the parking lot. We said our good-byes and then she told me she didn't think she would return next spring. She said it was getting to be too hard for her. I did notice the past few weeks she's seemed tired. But then she said, "I think I'd like to work with your younger daughter too." Liana also completed a winning outfit this year.

So maybe Miss Martha will come back. A friend of mine attends her church, so hopefully she will help me keep tabs on Miss Martha. I hope the opportunity will arise when we can give back to this beautiful woman what she has so generously given to others.