Thankfulness: Day 5--Homeschooling

There are plenty of reasons to avoid sending your kids to public schools, but I'd like to focus on five reasons I'm thankful I homeschool my kids.

1. I get to parent my kids instead of relying on an outsider. Parents who are active and involved in their kids' lives have a greater influence on their kids' attitudes and behaviors. Schools have gradually adopted the idea that they are to act in place of parents and have shifted their focus from merely teaching the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, to sex education and politically correct thinking. I'm thankful to be able to spend extra time with my kids and talk to them about life beyond the basics of academia.

Thankfulness: Day 4--Life

This morning I woke up to an aching lower back; sore and stiff muscles in my legs, abs, and rear; one painful jammed big toe; the other big toe with the beginnings of an ingrown toenail; and a right hamstring that hasn't quite healed from being torn this summer. And I'm feeling pretty darned good about all this.

Maybe it's my unusually high threshold for pain after eight non-medicated labors and deliveries. Maybe it's because I've already strained or torn so many muscles that I've forgotten what it's like to not have them. But I think my aches and pains are gentle reminders that I am ALIVE. No, I've never had a near death experience--unless you consider the two times I THOUGHT I was going to die, but in reality I wasn't.* No, I just consider the aches and pains and sore muscles are part of the normal course of life and are reminders that I can touch, see, hear, smell and taste all the wonders of this world. In short, I'm alive.

Thankfulness: Day 3--Friends

If you're a mom of young children, chances are you don't get to spend much time hanging out with friends. "Moms' Night Out" is an infrequent luxury. Time to chat over coffee (or a glass of wine) comes rarely, and those times we eke out after church or picking up kids from activities are too often interrupted by our darling children.

Thankfulness: Day 2--Purgatory

Today is November 2nd, All Soul's Day, the day we especially remember the souls of the faithful departed who are awaiting unity with God in heaven. Purgatory is the name we give to the place where these souls undergo their final purgation, or cleansing, before entering into the beatific vision.

Pugatory isn't an easy thing for me to write about, particularly since it wasn't a part of my spiritual formation as a Protestant. But when I think of the mercy of God, it becomes much easier to comprehend.

For our God is truly a loving and merciful God. We know this is true because he sent his only begotten Son, the Word made flesh, to be born of a human mother. He was dependent upon her and his foster father for protection and the basics of life because, although he was God, he was also a helpless newborn. He came down from heave to save people from their sins and enter into a deeper relationship with all mankind. He lived among the people of his time in poverty and humility. Then, he who was without sin, was convicted as a common criminal, to suffer an ignominious death on a cross on our behalf, all because of the unspeakable mercies of God. If God would go to all that trouble, just to extend his mercy and love to all peoples for all times, shouldn't we clean up our act a little bit before we pop on over to heaven? Maybe scrub our hands and faces and put on some wedding clothes before the great wedding feast?

Thankfulness--Day 1: My family

old picture...the dog is now big enough to be holding a couple of kids

From time to time my wonderful husband and kids remind me that I haven't been writing much lately. Life has been busy and my thoughts too random to take the time and energy needed to rein in a few, organize them and publish them for the world to see. Frankly, I find myself quite fulfilled with my own family and circle of friends to bother much with the wider world of the blogosphere.

But my oldest son recommended I choose a theme and write about that for a while. All day yesterday, different themes have been running through my mind and I wondered if I had enough material to write much about one or the other...or enough Christian charity to write about moral or political issues and still have something to say.

I've decided to attempt a blog posting a day in November with the theme of thankfulness.