When a Christian walks irreprovably, his enemies have nowhere to fasten their teeth on him, but are forced to gnaw their own malignant tongues. As it secures the godly, thus to stop the lying mouths of foolish men, so it is as painful to them to be thus stopped, as muzzling is to beasts, and it punishes their malice. And this is a wise Christian's way, instead of impatiently fretting at the mistakes or willful miscensures of men, to keep still on his calm temper of mind, and upright course of life, and silent innocence; this, as a rock, breaks the waves into foam that roar about it.
Robert Leighton

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#7-7: A Potpourri for Mothers

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#1 · May 6, 2004, 1:32 pm

Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

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THE HOPE CHEST

with Virginia Knowles

#7-7 on May 6, 2004

A Potpourri for Mothers

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The Hope Chest is a free email newsletter with encouragement and practical teaching tips. The writer is Virginia Knowles, wife of Thad, mother of nine children, and author of Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade, The Real Life Home School Mom, and The Learner's Journal lesson planner.

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Dear Hope Chest friends,

I’ve got several other newsletter issues in various stages of planning, but today I just want to offer you a motherly potpourri of loosely related thoughts on encouragement, home organizing & redecorating, curriculum purchases, birthdays and more.

I’ve been feeling a bit discouraged lately about lack of progress in the basics of life, namely housework, schoolwork and child training. (That covers pretty much all of my life now, doesn’t it?) No matter how much we do, there is always more to be done. I find myself getting pretty cranky if I dwell on it too much. I need to work at keeping my eyes off of circumstances and on God’s provision.

The other morning while I took my walk, I listened to an Integrity Music Scripture memory song tape on the theme of God’s grace. One of the songs was from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10: “But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” It’s a comfort to know that God takes me where I am, but that he is too loving to just leave me there. He always wants me to grow.

Yesterday, before our school day started, I decided to make a dent in household organization by putting away a few cassette tapes that were lying around. I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into! I ended up organizing ALL of the tapes in our house, throwing out dozens of old ones I had recorded off of Christian radio shows over the past two decades. Then I moved on to straightening up other rooms, all the while trying to oversee the morning school work. I even put a new coating of white duct tape on our broken refrigerator door handle!

As one thing led to another, I decided that my kitchen needed a mini makeover. I had decorated it in red last fall, but I was getting tired of that. I decided on a country blue-and-creme theme, with accents of dusty green, light yellow and pink. I keep an old antique cabinet stocked with various decorative items, so that was my first stop on a household tour looking for anything that would match. I came up with more than I could use, such as a flower pot of pothos from my bedroom, candles and a basket from the cabinet, an antique picture from a box in my closet, a watering can votive holder from my dresser, etc. Back in the kitchen, I removed or camouflaged all of the “red theme” items. For example, I turned a canister of utensils around to hide its bright primary colors, then tied on creamy lace ribbon that my husband’s grandmother had made. Next I made a list of what else I would need from Wal-Mart. My mom always said that new kitchen towels and hotpads always perk up a kitchen, so that came first. I also decided to get a cream colored window valance, which would go with any color scheme I would use in the future. Fortunately, I found one in the clearance aisle for $3.75. Then I bought some craft paint and stencils to redo a wood box and some wooden trivets. And, though I was tempted to buy a new garbage can, I decided to hold off on that. Later, I remembered that I could swap out a blue hamper for the green garbage can. It’s all in shuffling around what you already have, and only buying what you need. If you keep the big stuff neutral (white walls, appliances, and window blinds) then you can easily bring in small accent items to match your mood without spending big bucks.

Curriculum purchases are like this, too! You may be tempted, especially with upcoming conventions, to go out and splurge on everything in sight. You may think you need to scrap everything you have. Out with the old, in with the new! Hold on! Maybe your curriculum does need an “extreme makeover”, but first let’s see if you can just rearrange what you already have. Bring out something you haven’t tried for a while. Use things in a creative way, maybe not like the instructions say. Put away some other things that just don’t work right now. Then plan well for a few new items to perk things up.

Speaking of curriculum purchases, I’d like to put in a word of support for small home school companies. This is a tough business! These folks work hard to provide you with all of the nifty educational options that you want and need. In their quest to give you variety, they take a huge risk that you won’t buy enough of what they have ordered. They travel to conventions far away, and may not even make enough profit to justify the time and effort. All of this they do in the real life context of training and educating their OWN children. Please, ladies, if you are at a home school store or convention that is displaying materials that you like, BUY IT FROM THEM! Don’t just look and then go buy discount on the Internet from someone else. The small guys deserve your support for the service they offer. I really appreciate Jeff and Doreen Morgan of Faithful Bookshop, who also happen to be the leaders of one of the home school support small groups at our church. Faithful Bookshop is a local home school bookstore, but they also travel to conventions. Last weekend they were in Georgia, this weekend in Texas, and later this month, they will at least get to do the statewide FPEA convention here in Orlando. (You can look for my books at their booths! Do stop and say hello to them. They will appreciate a word of encouragement!) Their specialty is classical curriculum, but they carry a wide variety of other products, new and used. I get a lot of my “perk up the curriculum” stuff from them. This summer, I intend to buy from them all that I can, and only order elsewhere what they don’t carry. I asked Doreen for a blurb, and she replied, “Our one year anniversary was April 16th and we are celebrating all season with tons of new products and reduced prices in many of our old favorites. We are accepting used books now through June 30th which we will either buy of give store a store credit for. Folks will need to set an appointment in order to bring in their used books. Our hours are still 10-6 M-F except W 10-4. We offer a wonderful web special on Shurley Grammar starting May 15th as well as several others through out the summer. Keep watching the web for new products, pictures and descriptions. http://www.faithfulfulbookshop.com”

Faithful Bookshop was originally founded as a used curriculum swap business by our mutual friend Debbie Klinect. Do you recognize her name as the writer of a recent Hope Chest issue on Mother Culture? She may start her own e-mail newsletter soon, as well as publish a literature-based unit study to go along with the Royal Diaries series. I’ll keep you posted on that! Debbie has had some changes in her life since she wrote that issue. Several weeks ago, she stepped down on her little daughter’s sneaker, lost her balance, and broke her ankle in two places. She’s been off her feet ever since then -- at least until the end of this month! OW! Talk about a major life disruption! Folks from our home group have pitched in to provide dinners a few times a week, but that‘s only a drop in the bucket. She doesn’t get out much now, even with a wheelchair, so our park outings are on hold. However, she’s happy to have us over to visit at her home. She’s got a backyard and back porch filled with exciting kid stuff to do, so this is a huge treat for my kids. I’m going over with the six younger children this afternoon, and bringing along cupcakes to celebrate my Andrew’s seventh birthday.

We always have waffles for birthday breakfasts, and this morning was no exception. No, I did not make them from scratch! They were Eggos from Sam’s Club. Then we went into the living room so the birthday boy could open his presents. Andrew had written a list a few days ago, including such items as “a ball just like Naomi’s but bright blue“ and “a little Hot Wheel care that you vroom on the floor.” Yep, he got those, plus a birdhouse kit, a simple remote control car, two shirts, Christian books, colored pencils, and other small items.  Ben, who is 14 months old, is so cute when he tries to carry the huge ball around because it about as big as he is. The interesting thing about the remote control Mercedes is that while it has buttons to flash lights, make car alarm noises, and go forward, it has no “stop” button! It literally crashes into the wall, and then makes squealing brake noises. Why do I feel like this is a metaphor for my life -- lots of noise and breakneck speed, but no way to stop except to crash? Hmmm…

It’s a good thing I have a husband available to help me out with a lot of the running around. Since he is now self-employed, he chauffeurs the kids to various classes, taking along his brief case and cell phone to do his work wherever he finds himself. Mary (almost 17) is taking her Economics final at Valencia Community College as I write, and then Thad is taking her directly to the Man in the Mirror ministry offices so she can sign up for summer volunteer work (http://www.ManInTheMirror.org). After that, they are heading off with Julia (15), Rachel (13) and a friend to Daytona Speedway for the National Day of Prayer program with a Christian concert. They’ll get back late tonight. Three cheers for Dad for his spontaneous idea!

When Mary was filling out a questionnaire on her volunteer application this morning, she noted that she likes to arrange things in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Obviously, her creativity has been an inspiration to me in my kitchen makeover! (Of course,  Micah motivates me when he tells me how pretty the kitchen looks!  He is another aesthetic appreciation guy, even at age four!)   Back to Mary, though.  She recently took an outgrown sun dress, shortened it to shirt length and used the leftover fabric to make more modest cap sleeves. She's not alone in her creative efforts.  Julia, who already plays the piano very well, has also suddenly developed great talent in the visual arts, too. She’s taken up scrapbooking, worked on the home school group yearbook, and done a splendid job on a beach theme banner for the EXCEL class end-of-year party (which is NOT being held at the beach).  The banner even has bamboo poles!  Her next big project is to paint and/or decal the hall bathroom with a coral reef theme to match the new shower curtain. With all of the hours she’s invested in this artsy stuff, I’ve decided to give her a half credit in graphic arts.  My third daughter, Rachel, decided to teach herself piano this year. She’s never had a formal lesson (just a few pointers from Julia and me) but she can sight read and play countless pieces now. I could go all the way down the line describing the other six kids creative stuff, but this is getting a little bit long already. Suffice to say, these kids boggle me with their creative abilities.

I guess that’s enough potpourri for this issue. Happy Mother’s Day to you all!  I'm off to go visit Debbie with a pile of cupcakes!

In His Sovereign Grace,

Virginia Knowles

http://www.thehopechest.net

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