Mother4Jesus

Expectations.  What do you think when you hear that word?  Dictionary.com   has a few different meanings for that word.  The underlying meaning is, "To expect something.".  This one word has been the killer of many relationships. Uncommunicated expectations are the silent killer of friendships, relationships, marriages, work environments, and many more. Too many to list. I'm sure many of you could add to that list.  Some expectations are reasonable and cause growth. Proper expectations help us to grow, and our children to mature. Even our relationship with the Lord has expectations. Some expectations are also needed for our education, to work, and marriage.  What makes for healthy expectations??  That is the million-dollar question.  For me, expressing, explaining, and thoroughly laying out one's expectations is essential.  I'm not always good at this, and it's something that I continue to work on.  ...

Our Pastor has been reading through Ephesians. What a great book. It doesn't hurt that our pastor is a wonderful teacher. I usually don't brag about pastors, but this one and his family are amazing!!!  They're sweet, knowledgable and HUMBLE!!  Very real. We are a world that is looking for REAL!! Real followers of Christ! Real People! Real Sinners!!!  If that's the case , you've come to the right place.  Ephesians 2:10 really speaks to me. I created this 36x24 poster.  I'm actually using it as my desktop background on my compter.  What a great reminder that we are HIS!! Created for GOOD WORKS!! In Christ!!  You can download and print out... have it printed out on photopaper and frame!!!  Please do not share this file directly. Have people come here to download it.  God Bless, Laura Click to Download

I haven't blogged in a long time. For those that don't know, we moved from NY to NC last February. I love NC. Homeschooling here is so much easier and the numbers are so high, we're actually in the majority !!  That brings me to my topic for this blog: Whether you homeschool or send your child to conventional/private schools, each choice has it's benefits and....problems. That includes homeschooling. There, I said it!! Out loud!! Homeschooling, while a great choice and I LOVE IT, has it's problems, or potential problems.  It's time that moms and fellow homeschoolers discuss these issues OPENLY. I certainly don't feel judged but i'm sure there are many that do. We can't help each other with these issues if we don't discuss them.  My issue that I'm going to tackle today is "Screen Time". So many moms confide that they let their children play video games and watch tv but do so secretly. Why?? Why all the secrecy??  ...

Yay!!! You're pregnant!! Now the choices come and along with that , the mommy guilt.  Here's what I have to say to that...... Natural birth? Medication?? Home birth??? Wine ??  **Go with your gut!! Formula?? Breast feeding?? Chocolate?? **Go with  your gut!!! To vaccinate, or NOT to vaccinate??  **Go with your gut!! Cloth diapers?? Disposables?? Naked??  **Go with your gut!! When to start solids?? Extended nursing???  **Go with your gut!!!! (See where I'm going with this?? )  Oh the list goes on... it gets better.  Co-Sleeping?? Crib?? Floor??  **Go with your gut!!! Gentle parenting?? Positive Parenting?? Figure it out as you go??  **Go with your gut!!! When to Potty train?? 2? 3? 24??   **Go with your gut!!! Binki?? No Binki??  **Go with  your gut!! Organic?? Non-Organic?? Dirt??   **Go with your gut!!  Preschool?? No Preschool?? Co...

There are so many "Chore Cleaning" Systems out there...how does one choose?? While I love everything that has to do with organizing, chore charts and systems have really eluded me. My children clean with me. We homeschool, they're with me all the time. We usually are working side-by-side. So chore charts aren't really needed. I only have 2 of my 4 at home with me, so those elaborate systems aren't necessary. Chore charts where you check off the work doesn't fit for us. Simply telling my 5 y/o , "Go clean your bedroom" doesn't work. Many times they don't know where to start or they're not really capable of listing in their own minds what to do first, next, etc. The Zone cleaning looked good but a bit too complicated. While I love the idea of itemizing what they had to do in each room/zone, the flip chart was annoying and the the days of the week on each card wasn't necessary. Again, we work side-by-side. What was I looking f...

There are so many "Chore Cleaning" Systems out there...how does one choose?? While I love everything that has to do with organizing, chore charts and systems have really eluded me. My children clean with me. We homeschool, they're with me all the time. We usually are working side-by-side. So chore charts aren't really needed. I only have 2 of my 4 at home with me, so those elaborate systems aren't necessary. Chore charts where you check off the work doesn't fit for us. Simply telling my 5 y/o , "Go clean your bedroom" doesn't work. Many times they don't know where to start or they're not really capable of listing in their own minds what to do first, next, etc. The Zone cleaning looked good but a bit too complicated. While I love the idea of itemizing what they had to do in each room/zone, the flip chart was annoying and the the days of the week on each card wasn't necessary. Again, we work side-by-side. What was I looking f...

This is probably going to be one of the most honest blogs i'll ever write. I'm not really an open person. Over the years i've mastered the art of having an entire conversation without really revealing anything deep or private. I'm a guarded person but for the first time...the veil (Pun intended) is coming down. My heart breaks when I see moms so passionately putting others down for not breast feeding or for vaccinating, or NOT Vaccinating. We see memes and even commercials trying to bridge these gaps and I for one love those!! I breast fed, I bottle fed, I home birthed, I had a c-section, I vaccinated, I don't vaccinate.....I "Cried it out", I co-slept.... and I can tell you that I did ALL THESE THINGS...having had two sets of kids, I can say that I had a "Do-over". God is good!!! Did my decisions make much of a difference?? Sure..some did , some didn't but I don't think my way is the ONLY Way, or the right way. Why?? Because paren...

I know my title may upset many but there are times where homeschooling isn't a good choice. There...I said it. When I had my younger two children, there was no doubt that i'd be homeschooling. I had already homeschooled my older two through high school and I simply love doing it. My reasons for homeschooling my younger two is that I simply love being with them and teaching them. This however, is VERY different than the reasons I homeschooled my older two. With my older two, I was going to give the a better education, more God-centered. I was going instill in them the biblical and moral values I felt were important and more importantly , I was keeping the government from instilling their political and social morals to my children. This is what I would tell people....Now, here are some of the reasons in my heart. *I was going to be a perfect parent. *I was going to keep them from making the same mistakes I made *I was going to have perfect teens who never rebelled. I...

I know that many homeschoolers are told, "It's not school at home...it's homeschooling". For my children that doesn't work. They LOVE school at home and was made aware of that when my daughter fell in love with A.C.E, Accelerated Christian Education. I can't complain because she loves school, her reading has improved and her math is great. Not to mention it's one of the easiest curriculums to implement at home. When it's right...it's right!! The other day my daughter ( 2nd grade, 7 y/o) said to me, "Mom, You know those offices that Ace gets to use at his school? Can I have one?" I looked at my child and said, "uuummmmmm Yes!!!!"  "Hold on a minute".. My mind was racing with crafty goodness!!! I had a trifold science board down in the basement and my brain was whirling with ideas. *I know where my daughter gets her annoying love of crafting from. *  I cut the board in half. One for her and one for her brother. The...

Extreme Makeover: School Room Edition What a dramatic title eh??  I've been homeschooling since 1998 and i've NEVER had an official school room. I've never really felt the need for one. I feel that learning is something we do all over the house and so i've never allocated a space for it. I have had shelving for our books but never a whole room!!  With my youngest two children, we're using a different type of curriculum, so many days I would find myself with books, teachers manuals and my teacher binder sprawled all over the kitchen table. If the kids wanted a drink or a snack , I would shove all those over to one side and hope that no one spilled anything.  I had decided that when we paint, I would take the toy room and convert it to school room.  With our "Before" video, you can see that in our "After" video that the room is like what I had planned, as the room was forming, it was amazing to see my vision come to life. This i...

I can NOT help but read all the stuff today about health, food, diet...There are times I just want to block it all out and forget what I know. How many times do you read something and then realize that there isn't anything you can do about it?? We live in the information age. We have so much at our fingertips, it can be overwhelming. As a mom I find I can worry about every food I put on the table for my family. With all the appliances we have , you would think that we'd have all this extra time but the fact is...we don't. I don't have time to make EVERY*THING*FROM*SCRATCH!! Even so, I do attempt to make as much as I can from scratch for a few reasons... health and finances. I want to eat all organic...all whole foods but here are a few things i've noticed.  *You can eat all organic and whole foods and STILL have health issues. *Be over weight * not be healthy There are many times that I will ask the Lord, "Why show me all this if there isn...