First, let’s consider the unusual, extreme weather we’ve had in the past nine months.  (And, no, I don’t believe climate change has anything to do with the weather patterns we’ve been seeing.)  In June a hail storm came blasting through that left almost all the homes in our area needing new shingles and many needing new siding as well.  Some of the fields north of us were completely devastated.   Last September there was record rainfall in our area—8 to 12” in a 24-hour period.  That resulted in record flooding in the area rivers.   In October we had a day with record wind speeds.   Winter weather came with a vengeance in mid-November and battered us repeatedly for the next four months.  The first storm of the year included ice that took down electrical wires and many homes were without power for at least 24 hours.  We had record amounts of snow over the winter.  For the first time since we’ve lived in the northern plains, all the roads were shut down during one storm due to drifting and poor visibility.  We had 20-24” of snow on the ground almost all winter.

Of course, when spring came, all that snow had to go somewhere.  And winter was very reluctant to let go of its icy grip which meant a very cool, wet spring with many places receiving way above average amounts of rain.  As the snow melted, the rivers—already full from the torrential rain in the fall—were soon out of their banks.  All that water worked its way into the Mississippi River which sloshed its glutted way through the mid-section of the country, haplessly flooding all along the way.  Thousands of acres of farmland were lost, countless homes and farms inundated while engineers tried to save the cities of St. Louis and New Orleans.

Just as the worst of the flooding was over, tornados began ripping through the Midwest and South.  For a couple of weeks, tornados pounded various states and cities.  We watched the news in awe as we viewed the destruction of these storms.  Then, uncharacteristically, tornados also hit Massachusetts.

Then it was the Missouri River’s turn to flood as all the snowmelt and heavy rains began to drain.  Now, the other side of the Midwest is fighting the rising waters as we helplessly watch the rivers flood to record levels.

Now, besides the weather,  there was the terrible earthquake in Japan in March.  The nuclear ramifications from the Japanese earthquake made that event even more traumatic.  .  Before that one, there was an earthquake in New Zealand.

Weather and earthquakes aside, there is unbelievable turmoil in the Middle East and Africa.  Every day  it seems one more country is locked in bloody battle:  Syria, Yemen, Libya, Egypt.  There are louder rumbles against Israel from many nations than there ever has been before.  The world seems on the verge of erupting in global conflict.  Our troops are being deployed in more places all over the globe.

Closer to home, our country is teetering on the edge of economic collapse.  Every day more dire warnings are being broadcast about the national debt and lack of economic recovery.   Anyone who has tried to get a job doesn’t have to be told what’s happening in that realm!  The housing market is still extremely weak.  The stock market continues to be bearish.   The American dollar is losing strength against most foreign currencies and is being threatened as the world reserve currency.

We are constantly being hit with yet another wave of bad news.  It’s very possible that other periods in our country’s history were as turbulent, but it seems the news on every side is more cumulative.  Perhaps we live more in a global culture where we are more aware of the events outside our nation’s borders.

Whether this is one of the worst periods or not, the constant onslaught of bad news can be overwhelming.  As a culture, I think we are coping by becoming more fixated than ever on the trivial and entertaining.  If we can make it through one more day by dulling our senses and surviving, we count it as positive.  We feel helpless to do anything about a world that seems totally out of control.  So we try to cope by focusing on something we feel we can control:  how much fat/salt/sugar should be in our diets; how much we should be exercising; banning soda from public schools; building new sports stadiums.  Or we may cope by zoning out and soothing our consciousness by playing video games, watching TV or movies, obsessing about sports teams, fixating on the latest celebrity in the news, entertaining ourselves to numb the reality of the world in which we live.

None of these coping mechanisms are inherently wrong.  We NEED to cope, somehow, with the growing sense of helplessness and hopelessness in a world gone crazy.  One of my ways to cope is to be thankful every day for the blessings I have in my life.  It’s easy to lose sight of the good things we have in the whirlwind that swirls around us.  Then I also spend time in prayer and communion with God, to remind myself that ultimately, He is the one in control, even if it seems like the world is coming apart like a two-dollar watch.

During World War II, I’m sure many felt things couldn’t get any worse as millions perished and the entire European continent was engulfed in turmoil.  Yet, out of that terrible time in human history, God drew the remnant of His chosen people back to their Promised Land, fulfilling prophecy that the Jewish people would one day return to their homeland.

It doesn’t always make it easier to face each day when we can’t see the Big Picture like God can, but it helps to know that His ways are greater than our ways and we can trust Him to care for His own.

So why, in the midst of this, do I make a stand against the slobbification of America?  Why is this my personal crusade?  Because I believe we are losing something very vital in this generation.  In a world where nothing is important anymore, nothing is sacred, there is nothing worth living or dying for.

In just the past few years there has been a dramatic change in the way people from all walks of life attire themselves.  A decade ago, when one had to take an airplane flight, one would dress up for it, wearing at least nice slacks and a shirt.  Women would often wear skirts or dresses.  Businessmen would wear suits and ties.  Nowadays, take a walk through the airport and observe the travelers and you will see predominantly jeans.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against jeans.  I just protest against them as being the totality of a wardrobe.  I know most people under the age of thirty don’t even own anything to wear except jeans and tops that can be worn with jeans.  When it comes time for a job interview, if you decide to ‘dress up’, it likely will require a trip to the department store to buy something that will later be shoved to the back of the closet.

At a lot of places of employment, jeans are the usual daily attire.  Some places require khakis but even these are often of a denim-type cut and fabric.  Employers that used to require business wear now settle for business casual.  It’s rare to see any man wearing a tie today except for a funeral or wedding.  And you know what?  They’re always noticed.

If you go to the local Wal-Mart, you see shoppers in sloppy sweat pants, pajama or lounge pants and slippers.  My college-age young people tell me their peers show up to class in their pajamas on a regular basis.   If clothes aren’t sloppy, they’re inappropriately tight or revealing.  Strappy tank-tops, skin-tight tops showing every extra bump or roll, pants that reveal way more than anyone wants to see.   America needs a make-over!

Even church, which used to be the bastion of wearing your “Sunday best” is today a sea of denim and t-shirts.  Even the pastors and leaders wear jeans, perhaps with a casual sport coat thrown on over a t-shirt.  In the summertime it’s common to see shorts, capris and flip-flops.

I have nothing against any of these people who choose to dress comfortably in their favorite clothes.  What I protest against is the attitude that there is nothing worth putting out effort for.  If I can throw on any old pair of jeans and any old t-shirt for any event, what makes one day different than another?  And is this attitude indicative of our society as a whole that it’s all just good enough?  Do the bare minimum.  Don’t expect anything beyond the basics.  Don’t ask me to step out of my comfort zone.

Why does a couple planning their wedding take such care and go to such expense to get just the right attire for their special day?  Because it’s a very important aspect of setting that day apart as something very memorable.  Wearing a beautiful wedding gown makes every young woman feel like a princess.  Seeing her Prince Charming in an amazing tuxedo is a moment no bride would want to miss.

There used to be an adage about first impressions, remember?  Nowadays, instead of trying to make a good first impression by wearing sharp-looking clothes, people seem to be afraid to overdress.  A few years ago when we were invited to a graduation reception, we would dress up in our Sunday clothes to attend.  Now, if you wear something like that, you’ll be the only one.

*Sigh*.  Once again I seem to be stalwartly going against the grain of society around me.  I have made a conscious effort to dress professionally when I teach.   When I go to a meeting, I don’t wear jeans.  In fact, I usually wear a skirt.  Why?  Because I do think we live up to what is expected of us.  When people see you dressed in good-looking, sharp attire, they expect you to be smart, articulate and professional.  You feel confident that you look your best.   And, like wearing a beautiful dress on your wedding day, wearing nice clothes makes you feel capable, special and competent.

Two generations ago, a man wouldn’t leave the house to go to ‘town’ unless he was dressed in a tie and coat.  A woman wouldn’t leave without wearing a good dress and shoes and likely a hat.  Even today you can sometimes see one of these older gents in their suits and ties sitting at a coffee shop, reading the paper.  They are quaint and “old-fashioned’ but don’t you also think of them as endearing, charming, and someone with whom you’d like to sit and hear their life story?

I know; we stand out.  (What’s new?)  The young women in our home wear dresses or dressy pants to church and among their peers they totally stand out.  It’s taken time for them to get used to being a flower in the sea of denim.  For adolescents, that’s not an easy feeling.  But they’ve learned to humor their mother and, I hope, seen the benefits of wearing clothes that make them as beautiful on the outside as they are on the inside.

I know this is a futile crusade.  No one cares that I think this is important.   But maybe, if one person pauses before grabbing the familiar pair of jeans, I’ve made a small impact.

The last El Nino year that I know of for sure was 1998.  That was the year of the Great Tornado that swept across our area, wiping out several places just a mile south of our homestead, then roaring to St. Peter, devastating that community.  That same summer we had a storm with 100 mph winds that toppled giant trees in the area.  We lost a big maple tree in our yard that time.  That summer we were in the basement many times as threatening storms charged overhead.

This summer we’ve had a lot of storms too.  I was driving home from dropping my son at his summer job at Interlochen, MI, when we ran into terrible storms only an hour from home.  We spent close to an hour in a Casey’s gas station waiting for it to pass, watching torrents of water pour down.  The tornado sirens kept sounding, over and over.  One group came into the station saying lightening hit a transformer right by them and great bolts of electricity were bouncing all around.

The worst one we weathered so far (pun intended) was the end of June.  The radio reported a tornado sighted just a few miles from us.  I was in the basement with several of the children while dear hubby and a couple of the older offspring were gawking at the roiling clouds.  Suddenly, they come charging down the basement steps hollaring, “Get in the cellar!” and we all dived in.  Our cellar is typical of an almost-century-old home: dirt floor, full of ancient jars and cans, and, of course, the resident spiders with their hoary, dusty webs.  Most of my children refuse to even step into this creepy cave, so nine bodies charging in all at once was full of shrieks and squeals.

As we huddled in the middle of this space, trying to keep from touching any of the disgusting furry things on the walls, the littlest member of our family was sobbing, the next youngest was clinging as tightly as he could.  I was praying audibly as were a couple of the other members of our family.  Our resident teen animal lover had rescued the two kittens that had been born on the porch so they wouldn’t get blown away, and had wrapped them in her t-shirt.  Other than the prayers, it was silent as we listened to the storm pass overhead.

One little window was our only view of what was happening outside.  The weeds that grew outside that window were thrashing around, bending to the ground, the sky was an eerie color.  Then we began hearing things hitting the house.  It sounded like they were right about our heads, on the floor above.  The wind beat against the house and it rained in torrents.  We huddled together tightly, wondering if our house would still be standing when we emerged from this spidery refuge.

Finally, the sky grew lighter and the wind eased up.  It was still raining, but the worst was passed, so we trudged up the steps to see what had happened.  Thankfully, we had no broken windows or serious damage to our house.  However, the strong wind and rain had succeeded in pouring into our two rooms where we’d just finished putting in wooden floors!  Needless to say, the first order of business was mopping up the water!

Fearless Father went to take a look outside and found hailstones as big as golf balls.  There were numerous tree branches down, both large and small.  Half of our dead apricot tree was on the ground (good riddance!) and the middle of the willow tree had its branches stripped out.  There were leaves plastered against the north side of the house. But all in all, we were relieved to see the damage was as light as it was.

Then we noticed a squad car on the highway at the end of our road, blocking traffic going east.  All the normal traffic flow was going past our house.  And there were pick-ups hauling big livestock trailers away from the dairy barn south of us.  Fearless Father again took it upon himself to investigate, and drove down to talk to the state patrol trooper.  It turns out that trees and electrical lines were down in the nearby town, and the dairy barn had its roof torn off so they were evacuating the cows.

Just east of the dairy barn was significant tree damage; big trees broken off or uprooted.  Amazingly, by the hand of protection from the Lord, we had escaped this kind of damage.  The corn and soybean fields near us looked stripped bare.  Just north of our house, the fields were devastated.  They never recovered the rest of the summer, while those east of us look like they’ll still have a yield of some kind.

We did end up having to put new shingles on our roof, which was an adventure all its own!  One day two vans full of dark-skinned, Spanish-speaking men drove in our driveway.  Without scaffolding, elevators to carry shingles to the roof, or hydraulic lifts, these dozen or so men stripped the old shingles off and put new ones on in two days.  It was quite an operation.   There are many, many homes getting new roofs and siding this summer.  On every block there are two or more homes with construction signs in front.  I wonder how long it will be before some of them get their roofs repaired, and am thankful ours is done.

The rest of the summer, thunderstorms have been frequent, but they often passed us to the south.  Northern Iowa has been pounded all summer with one deluging rain after another.   I remember many summers when we went weeks without any significant rain…maybe that was just last summer!  And now, this summer, we’ve had more rain than we know what to do with.   We went so many summers without much rain, I remember standing on the porch watching the rain come in sheets and trying to remember when I’d last seen that kind of precipitation.

This past week, Ames, IA, has been flooded and their drinking water contaminated.  My oldest son graduated from Iowa State in Ames, so we are familiar with the town.  Two small creeks that run through the town were overwhelmed by the 15″ of rain that fell in three days.  Can you imagine?

As we watch this bizarre weather pattern, I am reminded that as out-of-control as things seem, our God is still in control.  We may not understand His ways, but He sits on the great eternal throne, and He rules in the affairs of men.  None of this is a surprise to Him.  It is a good time to learn to cling tightly to Him in the midst of the storms.  He has promised to be our refuge and high tower in the storm.

The porch project, that I wrote about a few weeks ago, is mostly done.  The bookshelves that my dear hubby is constructing are still in process, so that means many stacks of books are waiting to find new homes.  They have been removed from their original places to make room for my mother-in-law to join our household.  We got a new bed and linens, a wardrobe, miscellaneous items to make her room comfortable.  We drove all the way to her home (6 hours away) to retrieve some personal items to make it seem more like home.  We brought all her clothes that were left behind when she had her stroke and was rushed to the hospital.  We did all we could to make her transition here as easy as possible.

It has been 12 days since Grandma has moved in, and we are making plans to move her to a facility close to her home.  She has not been happy here, no matter how we have tried to make her feel like a part of the family.  The stroke she has suffered has caused significant damage to her brain in ways we have trouble understanding.  She can talk, she can move around pretty good, her long-term memory is good.  She can have pleasant conversations, she seems fairly normal.  But there are parts of her brain that don’t work right anymore, and it has resulted in bizarre behavior.  She will suddenly say and do things that are so out of her ‘normal’ character, it leaves us breathless.  She has wounded everyone with angry words that are so unwarranted.  As much as she seemed to enjoy the children in the past, now they cause outbursts of anger with language this woman hasn’t used in her whole life!

It’s been a sad, discouraging journey for our family.  We have spent a lot of time and effort making our home a place for her to share.  It’s been no small sacrifice for our family.  The past seven months since her stroke have been stressful as we’ve overseen her recovery and made ourselves available for her many needs.  As she improved, she seemed to appreciate the closeness of family and enjoyed the time we spent with her.  Despite her bouts of paranoia and confusion, we were hopeful that she would be content and peaceful in familiar surroundings with family she loved.

How could we have been so wrong?  She seems quite lucid when she affirms she wants to be back close to her home near people she knows, even though none of her children live closer than a 6-hour drive.  She can’t wait to leave.  She is eager to be out of our home, which, admittedly, is full of energy and noise with our many children.  We are working hard to understand that she is not the woman we have known all our lives.  She is a different person, no longer focused on her family but totally self-absorbed.  It is a painful process.  It seems to be the ultimate rejection when your mother/grandmother wants to leave, can’t wait to leave, and says so quite emphatically.

Growing old is a journey that is different for all of us.  My father-in-law sank into the abyss of Alzheimer’s and seemed to fade away piece by piece.  Now his wife, my mother-in-law, is also dying in pieces.  My parents, thankfully, are still fairly healthy but they are aging and have seem many of their contemporaries pass from this life into eternity already.  Who knows where their journeys will take us?  It is not something I look forward to; I dread the day I get “the call” that something awful has happened.

So it is with a heavy heart I write these words.  One thing that cannot be changed is the inexorable march of time.  I can only cry out with all that is in me: May my life count for something!  When I enter eternity, may I leave behind a legacy for my children and others that will be a beacon of light pointing to my Savior!

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say…
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say…
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name

This trait first appeared in my teens.  I was raised in a devout Lutheran home but wanted something more.  I couldn’t explain it but eventually ended up in a Pentecostal church.  In 1984, when our oldest son was about to embark in the adventure of kindergarten, I began to hear about homeschooling and started researching it.  This was when it wasn’t even legal in the state where we live.  This fall we will be embarking on our 25th year of homeschooling.  Then, in 1988, when we had four children–the perfect family, two boys, two girls–I felt a niggling that needed to be investigated.  Thus, we ended up giving up birth control and allowing God to “plan” our family–and now we have a houseful!

My track record for independent thinking is pretty strong.  It can be very frustrating to always be going in a different direction than most of the culture around me.  I can’t help it; I see things differently.  I’ve finally come to accept that I am meant to be different.  I don’t know why.  I get tired of always going against the flow and no one understanding me.

So, once again I am faced with a whole new perspective of thought.  Earlier I wrote a blog on the D-Word (discipline) and in it I mentioned I was going to be taking medication for high cholesterol.  Boy, was I wrong about being so flippant about that!  I began taking simvastatin the end of January.  In two or three weeks, my whole body hurt so bad, I could hardly move.  Getting up and down from a chair made everything below the waist holler in protest.  At night my left hip hurt so bad, every time I rolled over it would wake me up.  In addition to the body aches, I was exhausted.  I could sleep (which is a relative term since I spent most of the night waking up to my aching hip) for 9-10 hours a night and still be exhausted.  And my energy level was zero.

Finally, after seven weeks of torture, I contacted the doctor because he had mentioned muscle pain could be a side effect of this medication.  I had a blood test done which showed reduced cholesterol levels and no indication that there was anything wrong with my muscles.  Apparently there would be some elevated level if the muscle tissue was breaking down!  He told me to go off the medication for a month, then go back on at a reduced level and see if things were better.

I was only off the medication for a few days and my energy level dramatically increased and the fatigue eased.  It didn’t take me long to determine I was not going to go back on that statin!  Unfortunately, the pain in my hip has not completely dissipated.  I have been off the medication for over two months now and the pain in my hip comes and goes.  Some days I don’t notice it at all and other days it’s very annoying.

So, out comes my usual method of operation, and I began to research statin drugs and the whole cholesterol/heart disease thing.  I was totally shocked at what I found.  Statin drugs can actually cause muscle deterioration to the point of death!  It’s rare, of course, but muscle damage is much more common.  It occurs on a cellular level because the statin inhibits the development of cholesterol by preventing biochemical processes (which I don’t even pretend to understand because I’m NOT a scientist).  These processes end up causing mutations in the mitochondria in the muscle cells which result in damage.  Damage which could be permanent.

After only a few weeks of statin use, muscle damage can be permanent!  That means the pain in my hip could be around for the rest of my life!  I can’t tell you how devastating that is to me.  I can deal with aches and pains from aging, but to have to face the rest of my life with pain that is a result of medication is absolutely maddening!

Statin use can also cause memory loss.  Duane Graveline has a website devoted to statin-use problems.  He is a former astronaut and family physician who experienced first-hand serious memory problems while on lipitor.  He is in the forefront of physicians and scientists raising the alarm about statins.  There are more of them.  A website for cholesterol skeptics at www.thincs.org is for medical professionals and other scientists who have been studying this issue.

I have recently read (well, tried to read) two books about cholesterol and heart disease.  They are pretty scientific and I don’t always understand the terminology, but I gleaned enough to know that for all the hoopla about cholesterol and heart disease, it appears high cholesterol doesn’t cause heart disease.  In fact, low cholesterol can cause all sorts of problems.  Memory loss is one because cholesterol is an important component in brain function.

The use of statins can actually cause heart attacks because of the effect on muscle tissue!  There are some respected scientists who believe elevated cholesterol is a sign your body is trying to heal damage to your arteries.  There is agreement that damaged arteries that are then covered over by plaque “scabs” cause the problem, but how they get damaged is another matter entirely.  Guess what?  Arteries are not damaged by cholesterol!

It’s a very complicated matter.  I recommend you do some research of your own, especially if “high” cholesterol is an issue for you or someone in your family.  I think you’ll be surprised.  You will have to wade through layers of the usual low-cholesterol-low-fat stuff to get to what I believe is truth.

Hmmm…maybe that’s what I am.   A truth seeker.  That sounds much nicer than a maverick, independent-thinking rebel.

It is with bittersweet feelings we engage in this project.  I loved the old porch.  It had originally been an open porch, then somewhere along the years, long before we moved in, someone had enclosed it and lined it with windows.  I would have preferred an open porch with a cozy porch swing reminiscent of bygone days.  But, in the state it has been, it was not used a great deal by us and tended to be a catch-all for the things we didn’t know what to do with: toys, lawn chairs, even the benches from the van when we needed to remove them for some reason.  In general, it wasn’t a space we had utilized to it’s full capacity.

So, when the season of our lives changed, it became apparent that it was time to make the porch into usable space.  My mother-in-law will be joining our family circle as soon as this project is done.  She suffered a stroke six months ago, and has spent that time since in a nursing home for rehabilitation.  We are pleased that she has made so much progress.  However, she has only partial vision now and that precludes her from living alone or in assisted living.  So, we chose to offer her a home with us.

That meant, however, we needed to find a space for her to move into.  With ten people living in this house, there is no spare bedroom.  In fact, our oldest daughter is complaining she needs a space of her own, but we tell her she can move into the attic.   Grandma, of course, cannot do many steps anymore, so the best place for her is the back room which now serves as our office/library.

This 10×10′ room houses thousands of books, and that’s no exaggeration!  I am a bibliophile, and cherish out-of-print childrens books.  Over the 24 years of homeschooling, I have collected thousands of books.  I often tell my husband I never met a book I didn’t like (which isn’t REALLY true) and that you can never have too many books (which, of course, IS true).

So, with the prospect of Grandma joining our household, what to do with all these treasures is the main question.  Fortunately, it hasn’t been too hard to find an answer.  The Porch Project will be the new home for our two desktop computers and their miscellaneous paraphernalia.    The bookshelves already in residence in the present office/library/soon-to-be-Grandma’s-room will be able to stay in their familiar surroundings.  We will nestle her bed and chair and personal belongings in between and around the bookshelves.  Hopefully she will be comfortable with all the words that will envelope her!   The good news is that new bookshelves in the Porch Project will give  homes to the many books that are stashed in many corners of the house and reduce the claustrophobic feeling of being overwhelmed by them….I hope!

We have watched eagerly as the old windows were removed and all of the outdoors felt like it was in our living room.  Then the new walls and windows went up and suddenly it seemed like a room, a real room.  From the outside, with siding applied, it looks attractive.  From the inside there is still much to be done.  My dear hubby, handyman that he is, got the electrical wiring done last night, and the sheetrock will be going up early next week.

Then comes our part, for which we went shopping today: constructing bookshelves, painting, finishing off the woodwork, putting in the oak flooring, installing the lighting.  The goal is to be done in two weeks…we’ll see if that goal is met.  Grandma is eager to join us, and we hope to have her here for a couple of weeks before she heads to Oklahoma to spend the rest of the summer with her daughter’s family.

This is the first time we’ve ever hired anyone to do work around our house.  It has been a fascinating process to watch, even as we mourn the loss of the original design of the house.  On one side of this room will be our computer stations, on the other, a reading corner and the musical instruments, music and practice space.  However, I’ve been eyeballing that corner and have determined that a five-foot grand piano will fit lovely into the corner, so now I am waiting for that to appear in my life.  I have the long-awaited space for it, that’s a big step in the right direction!

My son, the graduate, is embarking on a career as a pilot–well, of course, he has to go through all the training first!  But that is his desired field and has been since he was four years old, when he can to me and asked me to teach him how to fly!  Come August, this son will begin his pilot’s training, and this mother will be on her knees a lot, praying for his safety!  I just got to the point where I can ride in the car when he’s driving without being extremely nervous!  I’m glad I don’ t have to fly in the plane with him for awhile!  Those pilot instructors must have nerves of steel!

As I watch one more child leave our nest and begin his flight pattern, so to speak, I have bittersweet melancholic feelings.  As one more of my offspring graduates, I see how the rest have grown and matured, and every other year now another one of them will be taking their leave.   I’m so glad I have lots of children because it will still be ten years before my last little one is ready to try her wings.  But having many children doesn’t make the parting easier, just familiar.  I know that the letting-go process is is just that–a process.  Sometimes my young’uns are impatient with the process as I peel my fingers off one-by-one.  I try to explain to them that I’m still trying to get used to this whole idea: that they’re adults and capable of making their own choices.  (Gulp!)

Sending a child off into the world in these days is challenging because the world around us is so uncertain and tumultuous.  As a mother, I want to embrace my children tightly and do my best to keep them safe.  I was just reading about the increase of tensions between North and South Korea (as if they need more to fight about!) and the escalating situation in the Middle East with Iran and Israel.  Some investors are saying cash is the best place for your money right now since the stock market is so volatile.   Add to that the economic meltdown happening in Europe, the border tensions with our country and Mexico,  the distressing governmental decisions, and the world seems like a very unstable place.  Almost like walking on a water mattress–every time you move, the surface underneath you changes.

Every day seems to bring more news of an entire world in free fall.  I think most people are trying to cope the best way they can by focusing on the daily aspects of their lives and hope the rest of the world doesn’t totally disintegrate.  I know,  just keeping body and soul together these days is a struggle.  If a person tried to carry much of the weight of the world events,  they would collapse under it.

I’m so glad I don’t have to carry that weight!  World events truly are out of our control.  Do you know why?  Because they are in the hands of the One who created the world.  Out of OUR control and in HIS.  It makes it so much easier to cope all the insanity of the world around us when you realize that it is ultimately in the hands of the Ruler of the Universe.

This year in our homeschool we have been concentrating on ancient history.  My main exposure to that time period was an extremely boring school session long ago, and I dreaded tackling it.  I can’t tell you what an amazing experience it has been!  I’ve read the Bible most of my life, but to see how all of that actually fits into history, that all the people mentioned really did exist, is mind-boggling.  And how God used all these events in history to bring about His will.

For instance, Persia was a powerful empire in the BC-years.  They fought with Greece for dominion, they aligned with Assyria awhile, and they were the dominating force of the world for a period.  Cyrus, the ruler of Persia, was used in a mighty way by God even though he was not of the Jewish faith.  He allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild Jerusalem and even supplied them with the materials and valuables to do it!

In the course of human history, nations have fallen and new ones arisen.  In their own turn, various countries were dominating world powers: Persia, Assyria, Egypt, Greece, Spain, England, France.  Now we come to this day and age, which has been the age of the dominance of America as a world leader.  As a nation, America is only 230 years old.  Yet we see before us the possible diminishing of the power she has held as our economy falters, our debt load overwhelms our productive ability, and our government becomes more socialist instead of republican.

In the natural sense, I fear for my country and her future.  And I fear for the future of my children in this unstable world.  But in a spiritual sense, I know God is in control, and He will rule the nations.  In 1948 He established the nation of Israel.  After centuries of disbursement, the children of Israel had a homeland again.  However, it came at a very high price, as a result of the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust.   Prior to that time, no one could conceive of a Jewish homeland and suddenly, there it was.

I know God has all things in His hand, even though it looks frightening to us.  He has a Master Plan.  America is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible, so we can’t know what His plan is for us as a nation.  But as His children we can rest assured that He will care for us through all the trials and challenges ahead.

So, with comfort and trust in that, I send yet another of my precious children out into the world.  His purpose for each  of us is revealed as we walk in fellowship with Him day by day.  When things look too frightening, I need to fix my gaze on Him, not on the world around me.  None of this is a surprise to Him.  Someday we will be able to look back and see how perfectly He brought about His will in the world.

I’ve never been a disciplined person by temperament.  I’m much more of a free-spirited kind of person, creative, impulsive, go-with-the-flow.  And, in general, I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with that kind of personality.  But, as with any nature, the negative aspects need to be reined in, and over the years I’ve had to work pretty hard on reining in the free-wheeling part of my temperament.

I graduated from high school with pretty good grades without trying very hard.  When I went to college, I suddenly learned what it meant to study when my first semester, along with ‘regular’ classes, I was plunged into two upper-level English classes, by sheer stupidity.  I am proud to say I got an A in one and a B in the other.  As a music major, you’d think I would have understood the value of practice.  However, my creative side warred with the idea of long practice sessions, and another area of my life came under strict scrutiny.  An hour of practice time a day seemed horrendously long!   (Don’t tell my children or my piano students that!)

Somehow, I gained some skills to graduate from college with honors, and ventured into the world of wife and mother.  Now, my days were my own to use as I chose, and I had long days to fill with creative pursuits.  Never mind that there was cleaning to do.   That was always something to be done when I had exhausted all of my other interests.

Baby #1 came along, and being a complacent, easy-going baby, he fit in with my haphazard way of life.  My patient, non-judgmental husband rarely complained at the dishes undone or laundry unfolded.  In fact, he often enjoyed the results of my creativity.  Fortunately, some of that was played out in experiments in culinary creations, which he enjoyed.

Babies continued to join our household and in 8 years we had three children and began homeschooling.  I thought I’d never survive!  No longer did I have open hours to dabble in creative pursuits, but was faced with a long day of childcare, housekeeping, and homeschooling.  Thus began a lifetime of pursuing Discipline.

Now, twenty-five years later, I have been able to instill a lot of discipline in many ways in our family life.  My children are assigned daily and weekly chores, daily practicing on their instruments, schoolwork is done in a regular, timely fashion.   They are much more disciplined than I was at more than twice their ages!  I have learned to plan menus so meals are prepared without the four o’clock panic and children whining because they’re hungry.  I have my regular household chores organized so things get done on a fairly-regular basis.  (Okay, I admit I HATE cleaning the oven and the refrigerator….guess what happens when some child needs some disciplinary action–in the wrong behavioral sense of the word!)

I’m cruising along, content with my generally orderly world, when once again the need for yet more discipline slaps me in the face.   Contrary to the other areas that directly affect the other people in my family, these areas of discipline are much more self-focused.  And that makes them much harder to implement because it’s so easy to talk myself out of them!

I am fifty-something, and reaching middle age has brought with it some minor but irritating physical changes.  I recently had a doctor’s appointment to check on some of these changes, and found my cholesterol is high.  Fortunately, my blood pressure is good, but high cholesterol runs in my family so it was not a surprise.  I’ll be looking at taking some medication for it shortly.   One of the best ways to deal with high cholesterol is to lose weight.  Hmmm….here is self-discipline staring me in the face once again.

To top it off, some arthritis issues I’m having with my knee can be best dealt with by regular exercise, as in EVERY day.  I have been swimming 2-3 times a week for a couple of years, but now I must face daily exercise, even on Sundays in order to keep my knee in good shape.  So, if I don’t swim, I have to walk 1 mile.  Now, that’s not hard, it takes twenty minutes or so, but it’s such a PAIN!  Every day, rain or shine, busy day or not, EVERY day!

Big Sigh.  So, Discipline is once again rearing its ugly head in my life, jeering at me for failing to be self-controlled and well structured.  I’m finding it has other tentacles in my life, too, like spending habits (remember I said I was impulsive?) and sleeping habits.  Now, after more than twenty-five years of having small children waking me up in the middle of the night, I have supposedly unhampered sleep.  And now I’m supposed to discipline myself to get up in the mornings, even when little children are not calling at me.  It’s very tempting to roll over for another little snooze when I know all my children would rather I do just that.

I know there are disciplined people in the world.  They count every penny carefully before they spend it, and document their expenditures faithfully.  They delight in exercising without having to screw up their motivation.  They go to bed early and get up early.  They can eat what they ‘should’ and shun things they ‘shouldn’t’.

I am not one of them.  I enjoy an occasional late night with a couple of movies, a big bowl of popcorn (buttered, of course!) with the prospect of sleeping in in the morning.  I relish lazy days when I don’t have much to do.  I’d rather get out my latest sewing project than tackle the cleaning projects that are screaming to be done (but I try hard not to listen).

For people like me, there ought to be some kind of cosmic gold star awarded when we knuckle down and discipline ourselves against everything in our nature.  I know, I should be pleased with the intrinsic rewards and hopefully, eventually the external rewards.  But it sure would be nice if we could get a pat on the back for doing what is so hard for us and seems so easy for others!

But then, maybe  the strict, disciplined folks should get a gold star when they don’t turn on their alarm clock one Friday night.  Can you imagine, forcing yourself to turn off your alarm clock?!  Forcing yourself to stay in bed?!

Well, I better be disciplined and get my upcoming week planned!  Wish me well!

I have mused often on the culture that goes with certain leisure pursuits.  BMX biking, Nascar racing, ice fishing, youth hockey, rodeos, orchestral music, snowmobiling–they all have certain cultural characteristics that define those who are passionate about them.   And those on the outside of these social groups look on in confusion or puzzled amusement.

Homeschooling has a very definite culture that those outside the movement most likely do not understand.  As a veteran homeschooler, I have experienced plenty of negatively charged comments from onlookers who do not comprehend the choices and decisions we have made.  Even well-meaning, Christian acquaintances have revealed their lack of understanding.

I’ve decided it’s time to delineate, at least partially, the cultural definitions of homeschooling.  Within any social group, there are bound to be variations, but I think I can pinpoint a few that are applicable to most homeschoolers…at least those who homeschool for moral and religious reasons.  Homeschoolers are many and varied in their lifestyles and temperaments.  Some live very ‘back-to-nature’, producing most of their own food, living simply.  Others live very urban lifestyles.  We are as different as any cross-section of America today in our living environments.  But there are some aspects that unite us.

ISOLATION.  By definition, homeschooling is an inward experience.  Parents choose to keep their children home from the public or even private schools and this, in essence, is isolating.  But isolation has a negative connotation that doesn’t necessarily apply to most homeschoolers.  Many non-homeschoolers view homeschooling parents are over-protective.  By ‘sheltering’ their children from the ‘real’ world, homeschoolers are accused of warping the development of their offspring.

The first two questions I have been asked when people find out we are homeschoolers is: 1) Is that legal?  (In the days before it was as mainstream as it is today) and 2) What about socialization?

I have no idea where that buzz word came from!  Do ‘normal’ parents worry about ‘socialization’?  Do they sit down and think, “Now, if I refuse to let Junior join the Boy Scouts, will he get enough socialization?”  I never heard anyone mention anything about socialization until educators were worried about homeschoolers removing their children from the public schools.  What is socialization, anyway?  Learning how to interact with others outside your immediate family circle.  This can take place at church, in extracurricular activities, in social gatherings, playtime with friends, the possibilities are endless.  Why is school the only place official socialization can take place?

We are all different in our living environments and our genetic temperaments and that affects how we live within our homes.   Some families are very reserved and quiet, others are loud and boisterous.  Some are very academic, others are very interested in athletics, sports or musical endeavors.  How we live our daily lives, how we interact with one another, how we instruct our children to relate to each other all affects how we relate to others outside our family circle.

By nature some homeschoolers are more quiet and reserved.  I have met some of them.  Outsiders may consider them socially inept because they are not bantering or teasing the way the majority of the youngsters do.  Hence comes the question of socialization.  Instead of entering conversations they find distasteful, these homeschoolers will choose to remain silent.  Yet they are labeled socially awkward because they choose not to enter into behavior they find offensive.

Homeschooling parents choose to keep their children home precisely because they want to protect them from many of the influences in our society they find destructive.  Overtly sexual behavior, destructive interaction with peers, peer pressure to conform, drugs, alcohol, smoking, and rebellion to parental authority to name a few.  Instead, they spend a lot of time providing positive experiences for their children to learn and grow into responsible, productive adults.

No homeschoolers I have met in my 24 years of homeschooling want their children to be insulated from the world for their whole lives.  The goal is to nurture and train up their youngsters to be mature, educated, intelligent, informed, productive, generous adults who will benefit the society in which they live.  The conviction of these parents is that spending the majority of time in the home where they can be carefully trained and taught will produce these kinds of young adults.

So, isolation, yes, but not insulation.  For a short time, homeschoolers choose to keep their children protected from the destructive elements of our society so that they can grow into strong adults.

FAMILY VALUES.   This is another buzz word, used more in political circles than anywhere else.  But the emphasis of ‘family’ values is really what homeschooling is all about.  Family values are the core of who we are as a family, what we believe to be true, our world view.  It is extremely important to most families, I think, and particularly to homeschoolers, that we pass on to our children the ideals we believe are important to a quality life.

Another synonym would be traditional values.  Traditional marriage where Mom and Dad stick it out through thick and thin to provide a stable home for their children.  Old-fashioned ideas like Dad going to work to provide for the family and Mom staying at home to care for the children.  Beliefs that the Bible is right and true and we should live our lives by it.   Caring for one another when times are tough.  Sacrifice, hard work, integrity, honesty, generosity, responsibility, and a myriad of other timeless but oft-forgotten qualities.

It has taken a whole generation, but I think most of the world around us is beginning to see the fruit of the labor of the pioneering wave of homeschoolers.  From having a hard time getting accepted into college, we are now seeing homeschoolers being sought after because of their reputation for academic excellence, leadership skills, reliability and hard work.  Employers who have had exposure to homeschoolers are eager to hire them.  More and more I believe homeschool graduates will be making names for themselves as they disperse into society in every field imaginable.

CHILDREN.  It makes sense that people who focus on family values would enjoy children.  Homeschoolers, in general, have much larger families than most of Americans.  The average birthrate of Americans is 2.1, just above replacement rate.  (For more on this, see my earlier post “In Defense of Large Families”)  I don’t know of any studies or statistics on the family size of homeschoolers, but in my casual observations, almost all the homeschoolers I know have three or more children.  Many of them have 4,6, 8 or more!   I would say the average size of homeschooling families is four children, but it could be more.

The idea that children are a blessing, which is Biblical, by the way, has taken a firm foothold in the homeschooling community.  Prominent leaders in the movement advocate large families.  If you see a family with more than four children in a local store, you can bet they are homeschoolers, and be right most of the time!  And if they have several under the age of twelve, you could bet money on it!

There is much more that could be said on this topic, but suffice it to say that homeschoolers are strong advocates of family and children and are raising these multiple children to be salt and light in the world around them.

CONSERVATIVE.  This goes along with family values, but extends into the realm of politics, finances, even apparel and living environment.  Homeschoolers, at least those who choose to educate their children at home because of spiritual convictions, are extremely conservative.  The world of homeschooling is very eclectic in many ways, but if you go to a homeschool conference, you will see many, many women dressed in modest apparel; skirts, dresses, even head coverings on many.  You may find people selling grain mills and bread mixers for those who want to make their own bread with fresh-ground flour.  There is the vegetarian element, too.

Homeschoolers are conservative in how they spend their money, usually because they are living on one income in a mostly two-income world.  They often live without a television in their homes and are very careful on what kind of electronic media their children are exposed to.  They choose carefully their leisure activities and their social outings.  Every decision is based on what is good for the family.  It’s a restrictive way to live, for those who are used to the free-for-all environment of our society.  But for those who choose it, they find it a peaceful, rewarding lifestyle.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.  Without a doubt, homeschoolers are focused on providing a quality academic experience for their children.  Within the movement, this pursuit takes almost infinitely divergent paths.  There are more educational approaches than you can imagine, and everyone has their vocal advocate.  It can be overwhelming for a newbie in homeschooling to find their way, but it is an important part of the process to discover what you believe education is and how you’re going to acheive it.

Homeschooling parents are passionate about education and that passion takes many forms.  In our home, we have books, books and more books.  My young adult daughters have already started their book collections, especially prizing out-of-print books that can be found only at thrift stores and used-book sales.  I don’t know if I’ll ever read all these books, but I treasure them.  We are endeavoring to teach our children the value of lifetime learning, and so by example, my husband and I are always reading and learning.  My one regret at this point in life is how little time I have to read.  I have to avoid going to the library because I always come home with several books I don’t have time to read!

Education isn’t just academics and many homeschooled students excel in music or other fields that require a lot of devotion.  One of the beauties of homeschooling is the ability to structure the academics so that they can include other areas of interest, and the time to pursue them.  We have had a couple of children who pursued musical interests that required hours of practice during their high school years.  Computers, art, even horse or dog training, all these things and much more can be on the list of subjects.

As a long-time homeschooler, I have endured, mostly silently, the many jibes towards the homeschooling community.  I dislike being lumped into the stereotypical view of most ‘outsiders’, yet I recognize that we are different.   By choice.  We choose to be different because we believe there is a better way to educate, train and nurture our children.

We never had lefsa or lutefisk–I think those are more Norwegian in origin.  But we did have herring which I suspect is similar to lutefisk.  And tongue was considered a special delicacy; boiled and sliced, served cold with vinegar.  My children almost throw up at this sight, but I grew up on it and still enjoy tongue.

Swedish rye bread was my grandmother’s traditional bread and I loved going to her  home to have it, slathered with butter.  It is a sweet bread with molasses, corn syrup and brown sugar in it.  I love it but my children have not acquired a taste for it either.

Of course, Christmas wouldn’t be the same without potato baloney.  Here in the German community we live in, you can purchase potato sausage from the meat department during the holiday season,  but it isn’t nearly the same as our family-made potato baloney.  Everyone who comes to the house for the celebration loves it, and they eat it even if they can’t stomach the oyster soup that goes with it.  My parents make a big batch of potato baloney after Thanksgiving and freeze it in rings for use during the holidays.  My immediate family is determined to get the equipment to make it ourselves so this family tradition will live on.

Another Swedish dish we have at Christmas is ostakaka, which means cheesecake, I think.  That’s basically what it is, and for years I disdained it, refusing to try it.  Last year, yes, just last year, I decided to try it since it was supposed to be cheesecake and I like cheesecake.  Much to my surprise (and chagrin since I’d waited so long to try it!) I really liked it!  My older sister has taken on the task of making ostakaka for us at Christmas.  It’s traditionally served with lingonberries, but we have always had strawberries since lingonberries are not native to the U.S.  Now, though, I’ve found IKEA sells lingonberries so next year I am planning to bring some to the family celebration to eat with the ostakaka.

In the spirit of the holidays just past, I’ve decided to post the Ostakaka recipe in case anyone out there is brave enough to try it….it’s an old-fashioned recipe that takes a few hours to make but the tradition that is seeped into it is well worth the effort!

OSTAKAKA

1 gal. whole milk            2 eggs
1 rennet tablet               1 egg yolk
2 T. warm water            1 c. sugar
1 c. milk                            1 c. cream
1 c. flour                           1 t. salt

Warm milk to 100-105 degrees. Test with a candy thermometer.  Dissolve rennet in warm water and add to warm milk.  Mix 1 c. milk and flour together in a smooth paste and add to warm milk.  Stir well.  Let set for 1/2 hour.  Cut through milk with metal spatula about 1″ apart.  Let set an additional 1/2 hour.  Meanwhile, mix remaining ingredients.  Skim off a scant 1/2 gallon of whey from top of milk mixture.  Beat egg mixture into milk and put into 9×13 pan or casserole dish.  Bake at 400 for 10 min.  Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 1 hr. or until brown.   Serve with sweetened strawberries or lingonberries.

Caution: this will puff up as it cooks and may spill out.

Note: rennet tablets can be found by ice cream-making supplies.

Enjoy this new taste experience!  God Jul!