Author Archives: Barb

Do You Fear the Future?

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Every time I click on Drudge these days I see all sorts of headlines about the scary stuff going on in our economy. People are losing their retirement accounts and investments. Other countries are having money issues, too. It’s easy to become frightened.

But blog reader Jan A. emailed me something that is the perfect antidote for those headlines. Thanks, Jan!

 

God’s Bank Ain’t Busted Yet
By Alice P. Moss

The bank had closed; my earthly store
had vanished from my hand;
I felt that there was no sadder one
than I in all the land.
But my washerwoman, too,
had lost her little mite with mine,
And she was singing as she hung
the clothes upon the line.

“How can you be so gay?” I asked;
“Your loss don’t you regret?”
“Yes, ma’am, but what’s the use to fret?
God’s bank ain’t busted yet!”
I felt my burden lighter grow;
her faith I seemed to share;
In prayer I went to God’s great throne
and laid my troubles there.

The sun burst from behind the clouds,
in golden splendor set;
I thanked God for her simple words:
“God’s bank ain’t busted yet!”
And now I draw rich dividends,
more than my hands can hold
Of faith and love and hope and trust
and peace of mind untold.

I thank the Giver of it all,
but still I can’t forget
My washerwoman’s simple words:
“God’s bank ain’t busted yet!”

Oh, weary ones upon life’s road,
when everything seems drear,
And losses loom on every hand
and skies seem not to clear;
Throw back your shoulders, lift your head,
and cease to chafe and fret.
Your dividends will be declared:
“God’s bank ain’t busted yet!”

Cooking School

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Last week dd17 and I went to the Taste of Home Cooking School. (I mentioned getting the tickets a while back at my old blog.) It wasn’t what I expected, but we still enjoyed the demonstration part of it.

The girl who “taught the class” was young and had a good sense of humor. She worked quickly and prepared nine or ten recipes in about two hours, with several breaks in between. We were given copies of the recipes, which was helpful. She also demonstrated some different techniques that I was aware of but my daughter was not, so I’m glad she had the chance to be there. (Last night she successfully made the chocolate lava cake recipe we saw demonstrated that night…were they good!)

The best thing about the evening was the chance to spend some time alone with my daughter. But the program itself was a bit disappointing. The highly promoted free samples turned out to be a packet of seasoned bread crumbs, another seasoning packet and some plastic bags for steaming veggies in the microwave. There were a few coupons and a lot of ads. There were no samples of the recipes demonstrated. All of the food made that night was given away on serving dishes as door prizes.

Oh, yes, the door prizes. There were many of them, and they were handed out throughout the evening. But it seemed as though quite of few of them went to people sitting together. In fact, my daughter counted five prizes going to people sitting together in one short row, which seemed pretty coincidental in a packed auditorium of about 700 people. Most of the door prize entries were not drawn out of the bin right before being awarded (we couldn’t see most being taken out at all), so we suspected a bit of collusion.

The worst part of the evening was not the fault of the program’s producers. I got there thirty minutes before showtime but the only available seats were way in back. Soon after I sat down, four young adults sat down two rows behind me. They spent the entire first half of the program talking, and were they ever awful. The things they said about our country, certain presidential and vice-presidential candidates and even some of the people in the audience were sickening. I kept giving them the evil eye, but they kept talking. I had to pray for self-control. God answered my prayer in another way: they never came back after intermission. But I’ll tell you, it was depressing to hear how crass and depraved some young people are today. More than ever, we need to pray for our country. 

The Current Financial Crisis

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The current financial crisis has been coming for a long time, but it’s just over the past few weeks that the media seems to have noticed, and boy, everyone’s noticing now that the stock market has plunged. It’s scary to contemplate the future in light of what we’re finally seeing in the news.

Christians know that God will look out for them, but also that they need to follow His guidance about money and how to handle it. As homeschooling parents, we have ample time and opportunity to share those precepts with our children.

But what we teach is not nearly as compelling to them as how (or whether) we walk our talk. Recently columnist Cal Thomas wrote about how we are to look at money:

Throughout Scripture, people are warned that money is a false G-d that leads to destruction. Wealth is best used when it becomes a river, not a reservoir; when it blesses and encourages others and does not solely feed one’s personal empire.

It’s easy to point to the greedy people who are responsible for the economic troubles our country now faces. But, are we living within our own means? Are we giving to our church, to other areas of need, and to those who need our help? We can talk ourselves blue in the face about how God wants us to handle the money He has given us, but our kids won’t really hear that talk unless it’s accompanied by action.

Homeschooling on the Decline?

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Recently I was surprised to read that the number of homeschoolers here in Wisconsin has decreased. Since I’m accustomed to the homeschooling movement growing like a weed, that was news to me.

And it’s likely to be accurate, because we have to submit a form every fall stating the sex and grade level of each of our children. So the state should have a pretty good idea of how many homeschoolers there are here.

I realize that Wisconsin has a virtual academy, a program where kids learn at home using a state program. They are counted as public school students, and rightly so. Some homeschoolers have switched over to that program and thus reduce the headcount of homeschooled. But nationally, the annual increases in the rate of homeschooling are shrinking, so I don’t think the virtual academy gets all of the blame (or credit, depending on which side of the fence you’re on).

I think this decline was inevitable. For one thing, my generation has not replaced itself. Even parochial schools are seeing decreases in enrollment, and many small local public schools long ago disappeared in favor of larger consolidated schools. So there has not been as high of an increase in the birth rate as one would expect. (The millions aborted since 1973 represent a good portion of the missing.)

Also, the economic difficulties of the past few years have sent some stay-at-home moms back into the work force. I’ve known some parents who could work and homeschool, but it’s certainly not easy, and many parents don’t feel up to it.

Last but not least, the homeschooling movement could not continue the exponential growth rate it saw over the last 25 years. Few movements do. Sooner or later, it was inevitable that things would start to taper off. I know many people don’t want to hear that, especially those who earn a living off of homeschooling (full disclosure: I’m one of them.) But it couldn’t go on expanding like it did.

And that’s a good thing, really, because there are plenty of parents who should not homeschool their kids. I remember a woman I used to know who told me, right in front of her child, that she was an accident whose arrival ruined her parents’ carefree lifestyle. They put her in daycare as soon as she was old enough to be allowed in (six weeks old). When she was five, they put cable television in her room so she’d stay upstairs. To make a long story short, she grew up to be a drug-using, promiscuous mess. But had she spent every day being homeschooled by her hostile mother (I can’t even picture that!), she would likely be even worse off now.

So I don’t think homeschooling could (or should) ever expand to include all parents. Thus its growth had to slow down sooner or later.