Prayer Warrior Mom ~ Covering Your Kids with God's Blessings and Protection by Marla Alupoaicei

Are you a mom? Are you a Christian mom? Are you a mom who prays for your kids ~or a mom who worries she doesn't pray for her kids enough? If you can answer "Yup" to any or all of the above, the book Prayer Warrior Mom by Marla Alupoaicei is a book you need on your nightstand.


Divided nicely into 15 easy-to-read, themed chapters, Prayer Warrior Mom is a thoroughly encouraging and heart impacting book. If you read it, you will be moved to pray for your children in specific, powerful ways. And if you're praying for your children, well, then God will begin to do things in their lives that would not happen otherwise. It is both a privilege and a serious responsibility to raise up children in the way they should go. If we're honest, we can all admit that we need help and encouragement to faithfully complete our task as moms. Buying this book will help you fulfill your God-given call to prayer daily, fervently for your kids.

I have long been a praying mom, and I have no plans to lessen my time spent in prayer for my children. This book was a perfect fit for me, and I was very pleased to find such a large list of recommended resources as well as a study guide included in the book! Doing this book with a small group would be a great way to impact your church's moms, encouraging them to become prayer warrior moms. And there is an online community to support you every step of the way. It really is a book that is fit for the times in which we live.

I hope you buy it; I hope you read it; I hope you live it and pray it.

On my "Page Turner Scale" of 1 to 5, I gave this book a 5.

Disclaimer ~ I received this book free of charge for review purposes from BookSneeze. All opinions shared here are solely my own.

Lord bless you, praying mama!!

Day 264 done :)

Jan L. Burt

www.AllThingsHomeschool.weebly.com

www.SavanasClayCreations.com

www.PhotographyByABurt.weebly.com

When The Lord Gives You a Special Dose of Encouragement...

This school year is drawing to a close for our family ~ we have completed 178 academic days and have completely finished almost every single subject, literally "closing the books" on the 2012-13 year. My daughter graduates in TEN DAYS, and in a few short months she will head off to Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. How strange it will be to have two kids in college (my son will be a junior at Wheaton College next year), with only three children still at home!! If you're wondering whether or not the old adage about the days being long but the years being short is true, well, I can tell you that it is indeed true. Very true. Where does the time go?

As I was considering what the last five years of homeschooling will look like for me, the Lord showed me a verse from His Word that is now my "life verse" for these last five years.

     ~ Isaiah 65:23 says "They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune, for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them." ~

Isn't that a great verse to encourage me as I finish well the race laid out before me, and as I begin to embark upon life with adult children? God is truly good to me!

And since God is no respecter of men, I believe He is just as willing to provide you with the encouragement you need for your homeschool journey, whether you are nearing the end of your time homeschooling or are just starting out. Seek Him, through prayer and by getting into the Word on a regular (ideally daily) basis, and believe that He has a specific verse (or verses) for you. Don't be surprised by the verses He leads you to and lays upon your heart; they don't always seem to be what we were expecting, but they do always prove to be perfect for our unique situations.

Write them down in a place where you will see them often, and read them over and over again. In this way God's Word will take root deep in your heart and mind, renewing your thinking, changing your attitudes, refreshing your soul, and preparing you for the work He is planning to do in your life and your children's lives. You will find yourself able to know the Lord's perfect and pleasing will, and will be spiritually equipped for each day's challenges.

All that just from asking the Lord to give you a specific verse, you ask? My answer is - Yes, all that and so much more. Often times we receive so little of what He has for us simply because we believe Him for so little. Go out on a faith-limb and believe Him for something bigger than you believed Him for yesterday, do the same thing tomorrow, and so on. Re-read the promises H gives you until they are cemented in your mind and cannot be forgotten. And count on Him to do immeasurably more than you can think, ask or imagine. He will do it, because He is faithful and true.

If you have a verse that God has given you that has been a source of strength and encouragement, I'd love to hear about it! Leave me a comment, please! I love to hear how the Lord is working in the hearts of my fellow homeschooling moms.

Believe Him for something big today ~ He's a mighty God who delights in showing His might to his children.

Lord bless you!

Day 263 done :)

Jan L. Burt

www.AllThingsHomeschool.weebly.com

www.SavanasClayCreations.com

www.PhotographyByABurt.weebly.com

Revealing Jesus ~ A 365-Day Devotional (by Darlene Zschech)

Most people recognize the name Darlene Zschech as the worship leader from Australia who penned the song "Shout to the Lord". So I was very interested in reading the devotional book Revealing Jesus ~ after all, someone who has such a tremendous heart for the Lord (as revealed in her worship music) probably has some profound things to share in a daily devotional.

I wasn't disappointed.

Revealing Jesus takes the reader day-by-day on a journey to greater depth and intimacy with the Lord. Each month begins with a quote taken from the lyrics of a worship song, and the devotionals build one upon another. However, you could easily pick this book up in, say, the middle of June and be challenged to grow in your faith just as much as if you began reading it on the first of January.

Starting with a Bible verse and ending with a prayer, each day's reading spurs the reader on toward love and good works, encouraging with truth and forthrightness that leave you thinking more deeply about the things of God. With strong conviction and an understanding heart, Darlene Zschech's writes to make an impact without the sting of judgement. Revealing Jesus is a devotional that can be read year after year.

On my "Page Turner Scale" of 1 to 5, I gave this book a 5.

(Disclaimer ~ I received this book free of charge for review purposes from Bethany House. All opinions shared here are solely my own.)

Day 262 done :)

Jan L. Burt

www.AllThingsHomeschool.weebly.com

Wow, Is March Really Almost Gone?

It seems that the more I *hope* to blog, the faster the days of the month fly by!  While I'm sure this particular phenomena never happens to anyone but me, I'm going to go ahead and write a post about it...if only so that I can come back and read it later when yet another month blows right by me!

Having a daughter who is a senior this year has kept my focus on our homeschool. She will be the second of our five children to graduate, and I'm working hard to make sure I enjoy the time I have with her before she heads off to college in the fall. Making plans for her graduation reception, gathering things she'll need to take with her in the fall, and generally just doing what needs to get done have kept me busy at home. Busy enough that blogging has taken a bit of a back seat.

There truly are seasons in life for everything, and I am in a season that requires more time spent homeschooling and less time blogging. How about you? What type of season are you in right now?

Whatever season you find yourself in, don't lament that it isn't a different one. It's perfectly fine for some months to slip on by and only after the fact do you realize how little time you spent doing something like blogging. Enjoy the time you're given by enjoying the given times.

Have a very blessed Easter and remember ~ He is risen indeed!

Day 261 done :)

Lord bless!

Jan L. Burt

www.AllThingsHomeschool.weebly.com

www.Etsy/shop/SavanasClayCreations.com

www.PhotographyByABurt.weebly.com
 

Homeschooling Mom's Devotional (# 3)

Psalm 103:13 ~ As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

What a power-packed verse that teaches us how to parent with the heart and attitude of God! Our perfect Father in heaven is compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. We will never be as loving, as patient, as compassionate as Almighty God, but by trusting Him to work in and through us, we can most assuredly be compassionate parents.

You can find a never-ending supply of parenting books at your local bookstore, library or at Amazon, all of which have pages loaded with good advice. I don't discourage anyone from studying to become a better parent! I simply encourage my fellow homeschool moms to filter everything they read through God's Word. Then, and only then, are we able to know what His good and perfect and pleasing will is for us as parents.

The above verse teaches us that a heart of compassion is God's very nature, His character. We can count on the fact that He is compassionate. And we can ask Him to make us more compassionate as we raise the children He has blessed us with. After all, if we believe our children truly are gifts bestowed upon us by the Lord, and we believe homeschooling to be the call He has placed on our lives as we raise those children (those gifts from Him), then we also ought to believe that He will fill us with compassion if we would but ask for it!

Don't wait for another day to ask God to fill you with compassion; do it now, and prepare to be a more compassionate parent!

Lord bless you as you homeschool for His glory!

Day 260 done :)

Jan L. Burt

www.AllThingsHomeschool.weebly.com

www.SavanasClayCreations.com

www.PhotographyByABurt.weebly.com

February Is...

This is the month we celebrate love, watch for a groundhog's shadow, and place more focus on black history. All great things to occupy the short but dreary winter month of February. But in our homeschool, I don't like to limit the study of black history to one month of the year. It really is simple to incorporate black history (or the study of Native Americans, those of Asian descent, or any other race for that matter) into your normal homeschool routine. As a woman of Irish ethnicity, I find it important to openly and honestly discuss the good, bad, and ugly of my family history ~ even if some of the details aren't all that flattering to the Irish as a whole. And as an Irish woman who has studied the life of her people during the dark days of Queen Victoria's rule, I have found my heart to be very tender toward those who have struggled to find their place in this world, not matter their race.

Whenever we study history, or read literature with a "real life" setting (in other words, not when we read a book about life on Mars!) I try to incorporate some focus on the people groups involved. It's actually pretty easy, and hardly takes much extra work for me. I just plan ahead and request some library books on the topic. And if I didn't plan ahead, well, then I use Google, and encyclopedia, or find a resource somewhere on my overflowing homeschool bookshelves!

For example, if you are reading about the Lewis & Clark expedition, take time to read up on France. Why did Napoleon want to sell all that land? And why did America want to buy it? What were the trade routes commonly used via New Orleans? And what kind of people lived there? This will lead you to an understanding of the Creole people from that area, and will probably open the door to more discussion about topics such as slavery, French-American-British alliances, the lifestyle of riverboat traders in the 1800's, and perhaps even a pre-study of some of the famous men who later died at the Alamo! Then there is the study of Native Americans - which is an enormously broad topic that does not get enough attention, in my opinion.

Studying about the Second World War? Include some facts about the Tuskegee airmen and the Buffalo Soldiers. Reading the Little House books during family read aloud time? Try and find out who settled in the Dakotas, and why (here's a hint: a lot of Irish settled there after fleeing Ireland and perhaps fleeing the gangs and troubles of New York City!). Mom, are you reading Upton Sinclair's classic The Jungle? Why not discuss some of it's subject matter with your children and do some family research on life in the meat packing industry of Chicago, and the Polish people who settled there.

One day when I am with the Lord, I am going to worship before His throne with those from every tongue and tribe and nation. Since it's a part of my forever, I think I ought to spend some of my homeschooling energies on it.

Happy Homeschooling!

Day 259 done :)

Jan L. Burt

www.AllThingsHomeschool.weebly.com

www.SavanasClayCreations.com

Digital Learning Course from Homespun School

Homespun School is an online learning site that offers a variety of options, including literature, history and web design. My daughter, who is in the 9th grade, took their 6-week Digital Learning course. I could not be more pleased with the end result!

The Digital Learning course teaches via hands-on student work. Over the course of six weeks, students create a digital portfolio (which can be improved upon if the Digi-Designs course is taken at a later time) and covers website building basics, creating bumper stickers, embed codes, Web 2.0, and a fun online shopping spree (using imaginary money, of course!) Digital Learning is described as a "foundational course to help get you the web-savvy you need" ~ and it really does live up to this promise.

Classes are held in an online classroom at Edmodo, which is a safe, members-only site. No one outside the class with have contact with your child. Parents are provided with access to the classroom, with one exception; they are not able to post on the classroom wall (which really is for the best, as it helps facilitate independent learning). The classroom at Edmodo is set up in a style similar to Facebook, making it easy to use with a familiar feel. All assignments are given here, as well as additional information needed to complete assignments and grades. I also received emails from the course instructor, Mr. Chase, each week. I never felt "out of touch" with what my daughter was working on, which is a plus for me as a homeschool mom. (You can find out more about Edmodo at www.Edmodo.com)

The Digital Learning course is best suited for students in 8th grade on up. And the class time is based on Carnegie Units, which is the standard used in public education systems to measure the amount of time students spend on a task (doing seat work, basically); this in turn is the common way public schools measure progress toward high school graduation. A Carnegie Unit is often used as a credit hour in high school. So, if you are wondering if this course can be counted as high school credit on your child's transcript, the answer is a resounding "YES"! You can expect your child to spend between 5 and 12 hours per week on coursework ~ which equates to 72 Carnegie Units. One full high school credit can be given for 122 hours of work, so this course counts as one half a credit upon completion. If you are looking for high school electives for your high school student,  consider this course.

The grading scale is based on a point system. Each assignment is worth a given number of points, and each week about 100 points can be earned. In addition, there are opportunities to earn extra credit. My daughter enjoyed seeing her points increase as each assignment was graded, and she ended the course with an average above 100%. Students who work hard and finish well may have their work featured in the "Portfolio Hall of Fame", which can be found on the website's Digital Learning page. 

Here is a very brief run-down of the course: the teacher, Mr. Chase, gave assignments to the class each week (usually several times a week). He provided students with the amount of points each assignment was worth, along with instructions, links for web tools and resources to help complete assignments, and a checklist that was filled out for each assignment. But he aimed to enable students to learn web design on their own, without being spoon-fed. Considering that the purpose of this class is for students to be able to design a website from beginning to end, completely on their own, it makes perfect sense that he expects them to learn by doing rather than depend on him to provide each and every answer. Of course, help is available as needed, so students aren't on their own by any means. But they are encouraged to attempt to solve problems and find answers on their own before requesting help from the teacher. If your child could use some real-world experience working on their own, this course would work well.

Be willing to encourage your child along the way. Take the time to look at their assignments, their websites and their portfolios. They can have a lot of fun with Digital Learning, and the hard work they put in can be very rewarding ~ but they need to share their work with you in order to really "complete" this course. I cannot recommend this course strongly enough. It is an excellent resource available to the homeschool community.

To see the website my daughter built during this course, click the link below ~

http://somethingsavvy.weebly.com/

To see some of her other work on the web, visit these sites ~

www.SavanasClayCreations.com

www.Etsy.com/shop/SavanasClayCreations

www.Facebook.com/SavanasClayCreations?ref=h

www.YouTube.com/user/SavanasClayCreations?feature=mbee


Finally, to sign up for the Digital Learning course (or any other Homespun School course) to to www.Homespun-School.net


Thank you for taking the time to read this review, and may the Lord richly bless you and your family as you homeschool for His glory!

Day 258 done :)

Jan L. Burt

www.AllThingsHomeschool.weebly.com

Do You Homeschool? Then You Need to Read This Article!

Whether you have been homeschooling for a month, a year, or a decade, you've inevitably faced the "questions". Questions about socialization, college, athletics, driver's ed, high-school biology, etc. etc. etc. and so on.....

It seems as if homeschoolers are ripe for questions from day one; but the flip side seems to be that there really is no flip side. We are expected to patiently answer any and all questions, smiling politely and pretending we've never heard this line of questioning before. But when we try to ask a few questions about, say, public schools as a whole or the issue of private schools being used as a last-ditch landing spot for students expelled from public school, well...ahem...we're pretty much told to keep quiet. No one wants to hear our questions, and often times no one really wants to hear our answers to their questions. They just kind of want us to....go....away.

I'm not planning on going away any time soon. And neither are my five remarkable, fantastic, amazing children. We're here to stay. And I'm here to say that homeschooling isn't going to go away; I believe it's going to continue to grow in the United States and around the world. Nope, we're not going away and it's probably time we started asking a few questions of our own. Here's one to start with ~ "What's so wrong with choosing to homeschool, anyway?" (And don't start asking me questions and then hand me that line of hooey that you're talking about some other homeschool family and you don't really have a problem with it...Pul-Leazz!! Give me some credit - after all, if I can teach high school math I think I know that if you are asking ME a question then you are, in all actuality, talking to ME!)

I'll tell you what's wrong with homeschooling - absolutely nothing! That's a hill I am ready to die on. And if you happen to have met any or all of my five kids, then you should be in total agreement with me that there is absolutely nothing wrong with homeschooling. My kids should convince you that homeschooling yields some pretty awesome results, and has formed five pretty socially functional, responsible young people.

This recent article from Forbes hits the nail on the head - then hits it again - and nails it a few more times just for good measure.

Do you homeschool? Then read this article! Know someone who is considering homeschooling? Have them read it! Have in-laws or friends or "others" who aren't sold on homeschooling? Force-feed it to them!! (Just kidding...sort of.)

Read it. Pin it on Pinterest. Post it on Facebook. Tweet about it. Put the link on your blog. Bookmark it, print it out, read it often, hand out copies. And then do all those things again. It's important that we be represented fairly and accurately, for a change, and this article does it better than most I've seen.

In fact, keep a couple of copies on your person to hand to the next person who questions you about homeschooling. Who knows, it might change their min....or at least shut them up for a few minutes :)

Click HERE to read the article for yourself.

And forgive me for coming across much more forcefully than usual. I'm growing more and more passionate about homeschooling as the years go by, and maybe I'm really finding my voice for the first time. It's a cause near and dear to my heart, and I hope this post, and the excellent Forbes article, open the eyes of some who have misunderstood homeschoolers.

Day 257 done :)

Jan L. Burt

www.AllThingsHomeschool.weebly.com

www.SavanasClayCreations.com

Desiring God (Revised Edition) by John Piper

Right off the bat, let me just say, this is, after all, a book by John Piper. It isn't exactly light reading, and Piper most certainly is not interested in babying you along in your walk with Christ. Desiring God will touch every raw nerve you have, provided you allow it to penetrate your heart as well as your mind, and will remind you that God is, indeed, sovereign and is very much indeed the only place in which we can find our happiness.

In Desiring God, John Piper covers the topics of worship, love, marriage, money, missions, suffering, prayer and more. And he does so in a manner that is uniquely his. If you have ever read anything by Piper, then you know exactly what I mean by that. And if you have not read any of Piper's works, then Desiring God is a good place to start. He will make you think, even while he makes you sweat a little. But he will encourage you to find out for yourself if it is really true that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." I have found this to be true, and I would love for more and more believers to come to the same conclusion.

Let me also say that I am biased toward Piper's work because he is a Wheatie, as is my son (and possibly my daughter who recently applied to Wheaton College). However, well before my children were even thinking about which college to attend, I found myself challenged by his book "Don't Waste Your Life". So yes, in part I opted to review this book because I am a Wheaton mom...but more so because I want to mature in the Lord and see others mature as well.

I hope you will consider reading this book ~ I am confident you will be blessed if you do.

(Disclaimer ~ I received this book in eBook format free of charge for review purposes. All opinions shared here are solely my own.)

Day 256 done :)

Jan L. Burt

www.AllThingsHomeschool.weebly.com

www.SavanasClayCreations.com

Les Mise'rables Audio Drama from Focus on the Family Radio Theatre

Everyone seems to be talking about Les Mise'rables right now, with the recent release of the latest movie adaptation. So it was natural for me to review the audio drama from Focus on the Family. This set consists of 3 Cd's, and each is about one hour in length. And as it is an audio drama, there aren't any songs in this version of Victor Hugo's work. That may or may not appeal to you, depending on your preferred way of enjoying Les Mise'rables!

I'm a homeschooling mom, so of course I decided to make Les Mise'rables a part of our curriculum. I had my sophomore and my senior listen to these Cd's. They both enjoyed it immensely, and as each disc is about one hour long it was easy to divide it up over a few days. I think this particular performance would make a nice addition for anyone reading the book, and could make the movie easier to understand if it is the first time seeing it.

The acting is good, the sound effects aren't too cheesy or over-the-top (like some audio dramas I've listened to) and the performance sticks closely to Hugo's original work. I would not hesitate to purchase this audio drama set; our family will listen to it many times over. Of course, certain aspects of this era in France's history are touchy, so parental guidance is recommended for younger listeners.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this product. All opinions shared here are solely my own.

I hope you make room for the classics and the arts in your homeschool! 

Day 255 done :)

Jan L. Burt

www.AllThingsHomeschool.weebly.com

www.SavanasClayCreations.com