The times, they are a-changin’
It’s been a low-flow blogging week. I just realized that I have only 2 weeks until my classes start! That means finding all the models and preparing all the handouts, checklists, making sure I have enough notebook dividers and other supplies in stock for 265 students, blessing Sir Speedy with frequent orders, lesson plans, record keeping, etc, etc, for 11, maybe 12 or 13 classes.
And although I think I have all the books my kids will need for the year, and I have a master plan mapped out on the white board in the school room, the school room itself looks like a bomb blew up in it. Clean that up, get kids’ work organized, more checklists, nail down the schedule - independent work, together work, music class, piano lessons, Lego robotics club, guitar lessons?… We will be doing some trial runs this coming week with our new books and routines.
Furthermore, we are WAAAAAY off kilter on a summertime schedule. Read: go to bed when we get there; get up when we do… It’s like an extreme reaction to our strict and sometimes relentless schedule throughout the rest of the year. It also has to do with my natural rythym of 10am to 2am and/or the singlemom factor that by 10pm I’m usually too tired to care. So I realize that God has been asking me questions about the good in routines and discipline. And then this morning I read Ecclesiastes 3:
What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
So I realized that fall is upon us and that has always meant big changes, but maybe this year the changes are happening deeper within. At this point, the schedule still looks a little daunting until next May which will probably mean less blogging among other things. But that’s ok. I really like my job, I love my kids, I am committed to homeschooling, and the Live and Present God makes everything beautiful in its time.
August 20th, 2005 at 3:49 pm
You must have a huge job! Are you a homeschool teacher? Homeschool area coordinator? I can’t tell from your blog or the links what you do.
But the fact that whatever it is that you do involves the well being of 265 students -well, you have my undying respect and admiration.
And you do need to have a decent night ’s sleep -and in the AM some darn good, strong coffee!!!!!
August 20th, 2005 at 8:02 pm
I own a writing tutorial company called Writing Foundations, Inc. (www.writingfoundations.com). I teach most of my classes at a hs co-op for high schoolers and then I have 2 more independent locations of elementary classes. It’s totally a God thing, as this is my “dream job” and the Lord has really called out my giftings through it. Plus the people who run the co-op have a special burden for single parents and have somewhat adopted me and my kids. They have provided for me to bring my kids with me and I have had the cream of the crop of mom’s helpers. I’ve been meaning to write out the story of how it all came to be, and the deadline for that may be coming up soon. My mentor (the coordinator of the co-op) has been writing a book about how to run a co-op like YEAH - Youth Educated At Home (www.ouryeah.org) and my story and her side of the story are amazing to hear side-by-side.
I was born to be a teacher. I used to have a full-sized metal locker and hinged table desk in my bedroom. I unconsiously drool when I pass educational supply, office supply and book stores. Once I learn something, I can’t be still until I can pass it on to someone else. I hate to see kids struggle with basic rhetorical joys in life and am constantly thinking of new ways to make reading and writing accessible. Poor local news websites and blogs receive frequent editing corrections - I can spot a typo at 10 paces (unless it’s my own writing!) sigh… It’s in my blood (or is that the caffiene?)!
September 10th, 2005 at 2:20 pm
I am so happy for all the young writers you teach! Your enthusiasm for teaching and writing would make your classes a truly wonderful place for young thinkers to hone their skills. Thank God for such a fantastic environment for your creativity to bear it’s best fruit!
Sorry for the delay in responding. I had a beloved dog die in my arms and just didn’t have the heart to write one word until now.
I do want to let you know that I raised my son as a single mother,too.
God has been gracious and kind every step of the way.
I came from a non-Christian family of rather bohemian parents. My son was born on my 16th birthday-it was 1968, which was the year of a large German measles outbreak in the US. I got the measles when I was pregnant and as a result, my son was born profoundly deaf. During that time, new born babies were tested to see if they were mentally retarded. The test was flawed and could not differentiate between deafness and mental retardation. I had determined the best thing for my child was to put him up for adoption-because I felt certain that his life would be better if he had 2 stable parents. Then the test came back saying he was retarded and therefore unadoptable. The adoption agency I was working with told me that he would be institutionalized and I could go on with my life, if I would just sign the papers.
I was agonizing over this decision, and although I did not know God I remember looking out into the night’s sky and thinking my very best thought. “I am going to keep this child because if he is retarded, he will not know if he has a mother and a father. He will not know that I am 16 years old and an idiot with crazy parents. He will know that I love him and that is more than any institution can offer him. And if there is any meaning at all in this Universe, then there will be some way for us to make it because this is a really right decision.”
So I kept him-I lived with my parents, took care of my son,attended high school and worked at night. When he was 15 months old it dawned on me that my son seemed to be very alert for a retarded baby. He smiled and made eye contact with me when I came into the room and seemed to try to communicate in a very cheery, alert sort of way. I took him to a new doctor who said “this child is not retarded-he is very smart. He is only deaf.” For me in that moment it was a miracle along the lines of the red sea parting. My son and I quickly discovered the beauty of sign language.
That was the beginning of thrashing around for about 8 years before I became a Christian. To make a long story short, I met the Lord. After a year or so, He began to speak to me in the Parable of the Talents. I believed He was telling me that a He gave me a good brain, I was expected to use it and being a single mother was no excuse for neglecting His gifts.
So I quit my “lucrative” waitressing job, took my son and lived in a tenement. I went to community college where I managed to maintain a 4.0 gpa. I did nothing but go to college, attend church and raise my son. I had no income but a high gpa and a great testamony. I ended up graduating from Westmont College (with great financial aid). I worked for the President of Westmont for years after graduation.
I have since worked for Cal Tech, The Salvation Army, Save the Children and now work for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I am a non-profit fundraising specialist.
My son graduated from college, has traveled the world, lives on his own, attends church. He often shares the gospel with others who are deaf.
God in His infinite mercy and kindness continues to be gracious to us.
September 10th, 2005 at 2:44 pm
Wow. Dore’, that is a phenomenal story of God’s hand in your life. I recently have met and will be working with another mom whose story rings in similar tones. Here name is Linda Heaner and she has a ministry website at http://abidinghope.com/index.html. She went through the welfare system with 3 kids and lived to tell about it. The co-op I work for is branching out in ministry to single parents who are homeschooling. Linda has written a book that brings tears to your eyes - even though it’s “just her story”, you can’t help but praise God for His faithfulness - your story does the same. I’m so glad you shared it. The part about looking into the night sky and determining to love and care for your son really gets me. Wow. I am so grateful that God is who He says He is!!!
Incidentally, the wife of the couple who started the co-op is the one with the passion for single parents. Her husband has a great burden for the deaf. He works in the mortgage industry and is in the midst of publishing a book about how the industry deals with the deaf and what they need to do to change. I got to help edit it. I learned tons about the what deaf people have to deal with in general and in financial areas. God is doing much good for the community with this book.
I’m so glad you stopped by again and shared your story. I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your pet. Yes, indeed, may His endless love hold us close. Bless you!
September 10th, 2005 at 4:18 pm
Thanks for your kind words.
I just went to Linda Heaner’s website. and plan to read her book. She really has a powerful message of hope to share. I know she will give many, many people strength, courage and assurance by sharing her story of God’s faithfulness. These personal stories are vitally important to pass on to others. How else does each generation know that God is with us?
I remember when I was a new Christian, Joni Earickson’s story had just been made into a movie by Billy Graham’s World Wide Pictures. A sign language interpreter at our church took the 6 kids in our deaf Sunday school class to see the film. I held a flashlight on the interpreter so the kids could see her sign and watch the movie at the same time. We were all astonished by the story. My son felt very certain that if God could give Joni a purposeful, meaningful life, He could do that for him,too.
I think that perhaps sometime God will give me the opportunity to encourage others with what He has done in my life, too. I think my stories can give people hope, too.
Please let the co-op owners know that I applaud them! The book sounds very helpful and I want to buy a copy when it is published. Please let the author know that his efforts are greatly needed and deeply appreciated.
I have to add one more thought- I have endless respect and admiration for single mothers who live in Minnesota. I did all my single mothering out here in sunny California. I did not have to contend with shoveling snow, temperatures below zero and ice storms- on top of raising a child. That is such hard, hard heroic work. Good grief!!!
I actually spent one frostbitten winter living in Bloomington. I had spoken at a Christian Stewardship Conference in Minneapolis the previous September. No place on earth is more beautiful than Minnesota in the late summer, early fall. I was offered a dream job by a national fundraising consulting firm based in Minneapolis. My son, who was away at college encouraged me to go for it and I said yes.
I moved soon after. Then the snow started to fall and it didn’t stop. I tried so hard to adapt, but I had no friends and no “Idiots Guide to Survival in Minnesota” was available. I made every mistake possible; spun the car into a snowbank, wore the wrong shoes and nearly froze my toes off, etc.
I tried to cope…I bought a snow shovel, carried around rock salt and even bought those little plastic things you glue on the car bumper that are supposed to whistle at a pitch only deer could hear to keep them from running in front of your car……
Finally in desperation I laid prostrate on the floor and called out to God. I had been there for 5 months and said I would stay if He really wanted me there. But I asked Him fervently to let me go back to California. After a series of wonderful events in 6 weeks I was on my way to Pasadena with a new job and I have been here since.
God bless you, too! And God bless Linda and your friends who own the co-op!
September 10th, 2005 at 8:28 pm
I have many friends who have Godly compassion and love for me, but it is always something special to talk to another who *knows*. I never dreamed that even in a million years someone on earth would acknowledge what MN winters are like for a single mom. Thankfully, the first year when the kids were 1, 4, and 6, we had a really mild winter and believe it or not, I never had to shovel once. I recognized it even at that time that the weather was a special grace from God - at least in my life. And then someone gave us a snowblower and that helps when I can get it to work (I’m certain that it’s the mechanical things in life that are going to push me over the edge - not the single parenting). In the meantime, my kids are older now, and I’ve learned to lift it up to Him. Somehow, He always gets us through. But I must say, I lived in San Diego from 88 to 93 and if I had family there, I’d be prostrate in prayer too.