Mothers Who Know

Salt Lake City 2012 Thomas Jefferson Education Family Forum

2012-01-25T19:49:00.001-07:00

Come to the Salt Lake City 2012 Thomas Jefferson Education Family Forum. Click here for more information.

I am putting together a group who are attending the conference. If you are interested in carpooling down and/or sharing a hotel, let me know.

January's Title Swap

2012-01-21T12:16:00.001-07:00

The Fourth Turning - William Strauss and Neil Howe
Financial Peace - Dave Ramsey
Royal Path of Life - T. L. Haines and L. W. Yaggy
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot
The 5 Love Languages of Children - Gary D. Chapman,Ross Campbell
Democracy in America, part 2 - Alexis de Tocqueville
Hitler's Private Library: The Books That Shaped His Life - Timothy Ryback
The Read -Aloud Handbook - Jim Trelease
Carnival of the Animals (music) - Saint Saens
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (music) - Britten
The Christmas Card (dvd)
http://www.criticalthinking.com/index.jsp

Why Educate Mothers

2012-01-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

"...the education of the common girl ...should be as varied and perfect as possible. If for no other reason to enable her properly to educate and rear her own children. Whatever grand truths are planted in the mother's mind take root in the next generation, and there grow, blossom, and shed their perfume on the world.

"The child receives the mother's very thought by intuition. If the mother's mind is weak and narrow in range, the child is affected by this fact long before it finds any meaning in the mother's words. But if the mother's mind is cultured and refined by study until her thoughts are grand and far-reaching, the child's soul will grow and expand under the mesmeric influence of these thoughts, as the plant grows under the influence of the sun."

pg. 112 - 113
Volume 1

Comfortably in Debt

2011-12-21T19:32:00.001-07:00

"Everybody in Vanity Fair must have remarked how well those live who are comfortably and thoroughly in debt: how they deny themselves nothing; how jolly and easy they are in their minds."

Was this written about the Englishmen of 1848, or Americans in 2012? Oh Vanity Fair!

Title Swap for October

2011-10-23T12:18:00.001-06:00

Miss Peregrines' Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
The Anatomy of Peace - Arbinger Institute
Education of a Wandering Man - Louis L'Amour
Eve and the Choice Made in Eden - Beverly Campbell
Tales From Shakespeare - Mary and Charles Lamb
To the Rescue: President Monson

Genevieve's Thoughts on Macbeth

2011-10-23T09:23:00.002-06:00

I must say that reading it as an adult after joining the church was a much different experience from reading it as a non-member teen! While I remember a lot from performing in it then, I also remember being more into scary movies and more "desensitized" than I am now that I can create my own little bubble. I didn't remember Lady M being quite so creepy and evil, just crazy. Here are a few things that I remember coming to my mind:

1.The whole "fair is foul and foul is fair" theme that frequently pops up reminds me of (paraphrased) in the last days men shall call evil good and good evil.

2.The idea that even a good man, which Macbeth started out as, can become corrupt. No one is immune to temptation.

3.The question is that "would Macbeth have become king/ tyrant/ assassinated had he not known of the prophecy? (I know this is a common question, but it still intrigues me.) If he had let events run their course without the deceptions, would he have become king and perhaps been a better ruler and for a longer period of time?

4.It is amazing the fallacies that Macbeth has throughout. While he is willing to believe and realize the prophecy of him becoming king, he continues to try and undo the other things that have been prophecied... to no avail. It's like those people who spend their lives tearing down others only to find themselves alone and unhappy, which we see a lot of in the world today. Also, that while he bids the martyrs to heaven, he rarely contemplates his own eternal fate or consequence.

Thanks! Even though I wasn't able to come, it was nice having an excuse to read Shakespeare again.

Wishing I had a Mentor too.....

2011-09-19T15:52:00.004-06:00

This month we read The Student Whisper that was written by Oliver DeMille and Tiffany Earl. I found this book to be very helpful for the stage of life I am in right now. I have been running a book group based on Classics and TJEd books for the last 3 1/2 years. To say that my life has been transformed during this process, would be an understatement. But if there was one gaping whole in my education right now, it would be a formal Mentor.

In the first half of the book, Tiffany Earl takes you back into the beginning of her life. I could relate to her honesty and her drive to make a difference in the world. She shares what it felt like to be mentored Oliver DeMille. What a incredible opportunity. As I read about Tiffany's life goals, her struggle to reach them, and the guidance that she received, I began to look at my own. It made realize that I am on a good road. I have experienced some stumbling blocks, but I now have the courage to keep moving forward.

The second half of the book is by Oliver DeMille. He explains in detail, how to be come a great mentor - a Student Whisperer. This was so insightful. I realized that I am Student Whispering my four children all ready in my own natural style. But I can use some fine tuning. I believe with time, I will be able to have a Master's touch too.

Even though I might not have the privilege of being personally Mentored by someone like Oliver, I am so grateful for this book and their insights. It has helped me on my own path and mission.

Urban Survival (Again)

2011-09-12T10:41:00.001-06:00

Its been a few weeks since we met to discuss the book Urban Survival Guide, but I wanted to add some of my thoughts to those that Emma wrote about it. Getting prepared for possible problems can be overwhelming. It can also feel scary because it means acknowledging that bad things can happen and that we are not always in control. (Darn it!) Although scary to consider at first, being prepared brings a measure of peace about the future. Certainly, I cannot be prepared for every single possibility. But I can cover some basics. There are so many resources out there, and any one of them can help you begin to prepare. I think where the Urban Survival Guide really excels is in giving you a plan, including small steps you can take today. It is a starting point with clear explanations for what you should get and what you need. It is broken up week by week, so you can focus on one area at a time.

Urban Survival

2011-08-23T16:18:00.002-06:00

This month we read the book called Urban Survival Guide by David Morris. This book was difficult emotionally to read because it makes you really think about what could happen in our society, in a very short time. It makes you face the fact that we live in a very delicate situation that could become dangerous quickly. For most people, thinking about urban survival is too much. But I refuse to put my head in the sand. I will try my best to be prepared for what every situation may come; and stay level-headed as we step into the unknown.

The following is a list of links and resources that we have found useful to prepare:

http://BePrepared.com/store
http://survivalblog.com/
http://ldsavow.com/
LDS Preparedness Manual - Christopher M. Parrett
Making the Best of Basics, Family Preparedness Handbook - James Talmage Stevens
Preparedness Principles - Barbara Salsbury
10 Essential Herbs - Lalitha Thomas
10 Essential Foods - Lalitha Thomas

We The People

2011-07-15T17:10:00.000-06:00

"It turns out that Constitutional limits and language are only guaranteed to last as long as the people are vigilantly involved. No matter what the Constitution says, it won't endure if the people don't closely read it and demand that it be followed. In this sense they are the fourth branch of government: The Overseers.

When the people, for whatever reasons, stop requiring officials and experts to adhere to the Constitution, those in power alter the Constitution, redefine its precepts, and sometimes mutually agree upon a revisionist and opportunistic definition of its language. The people are left out of the process, and their freedoms decrease."

Pg 84

July's Title Swap

2011-07-15T16:55:00.001-06:00

One Second After - William R. Forstchen
Beyond Capitalism and Socialism - Edited by Tobias J. Lanz
Boys Adrift - Leonard Sax
The Fisherman and His Soul - Oscar Wilde
The Peacegiver - James Ferrel
A Patriot's Handbook - Selected by Caroline Kennedy (CD's)
The Great Illustrated Classics
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child - Dr. Marc Wiessbluth
Woolbur - Leaslie Helakoski
The Declaration of Independence - Illustrated by Sam Fink
The Gettysburg Address - Illustrated by Sam Fink

Schoolhouses are Made Wrong

2011-06-30T21:01:00.000-06:00

"Schoolhouses are made wrong. If they must be, they would be built in a woods pasture beside a stream, where you could wade, swim, and be comfortable in summer, and slide and skate in winter. The windows should be cut to the floor, and stand wide open, so the birds and butterflies could pass through. You ought to learn your geography by climbing a hill, walking through a valley, wading creeks, making islands in them, and promontories, capes, and peninsulas along the bank. You should do your arithmetic sitting under trees adding hickory-nuts, subtracting walnuts, multiplying butternuts, and dividing hazelnuts. You could use apples for fractions, and tin cups for liquid measure. You could spell everything in sight and this would teach you the words that are really used in the world. "

A Man's Character House

2011-05-21T12:23:00.000-06:00

"Son, There is no question but what the thing you have done today deserves severe punishment. You might have killed yourself or the horse, but much worse than that, you have injured your own character. A man's character is like his house. If he tears boards off his house and burns them to keep himself warm and comfortable, his house soon becomes a ruin. If he tells lies to be able to do the things he shouldn't do but wants to, his character will soon becomes a ruin. A man with a ruined character is a shame on the face of the earth."

Shakespeare Says it Best

2011-04-23T19:41:00.001-06:00

"be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon'em"

Twelfth Night, or What You Will

Title Swap for April

2011-04-23T19:33:00.001-06:00

Revealed Education - Jack Monnett
The Out-of-Sync-Child - Perigee
Amazing Grace - DVD
Temple Grandon - DVD

What to do with the "Little Bird" who told you.....

2011-03-21T20:27:00.003-06:00

" 'Oh! a little bird told us,' said Miss Browning. Molly knew that little bird from her childhood, and always hated it, and longed to wring its neck. Why could not people speak out and say that they did not mean to give up the name of their informant?"

March's Title Swap

2011-03-21T20:17:00.000-06:00

Urban Survival Guide - David Morris
Happy for No Reason - Marci Shimoff
Absent in the Spring - Agatha Christe writing as Mary Westmacott
Behind Every Good Man - John By-the-Way

February's Title Swap

2011-02-12T14:52:00.001-07:00

Girls on the Edge - Dr. Sax
Uncommon Genius - Denise Shekerjian
The Profound Effects of Music on Life - Auido CD, Andrew Pudewa
The Adverntures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat - Theoni Pappas
bookshouldbefree.com

What is Self - Government?

2010-12-13T20:23:00.001-07:00

It is being able to determine the cause and effect of any given situation, and possessing the knowledge of your own behaviors so that you can control them.

If you teach a child how to govern his own behaviors, you will teach him how to change his heart. This change of heart is more important that any behavior change.

December's Title Swap

2010-12-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

Parenting with Love and Logic - Fosler Cline and Jim Fay
Educating For Human Greatness - Lynn Stoddard
Hold On to Your Kids (Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers) - Neufeld and Mate
Boys Adrift - Dr. Sax
Freedom Shift - Oliver DeMille

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T11:10:00.003-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving from Carol. I am grateful for all of my book group friends!

What is Money???

2010-11-15T21:23:00.000-07:00

So "on the eighth day" humans created money as an IOU for goods or services received. Money gets its value at the moment of trade. Money is simply a token, an essentially valueless marker for something that theoretically, at one time, had value to someone.

But there are still plenty of people on the earth who never touch the stuff. And despite out arrogance about the almighty dollar it isn't honored everywhere in the world. Money is a "store of value" and a "means of exchange" only within the confines of a cultural agreement.

November's Title Swap

2010-11-15T21:08:00.001-07:00

Financial Peace - Dave Ramsey
The Sidetracked Sisters' Happiness File - Pam Young and Peggy Jones
In Quest of the Abundant Life - Thomas S. Monson
Hold On to Your Kids - Gordon Neudeld
The Slave Dancer - Paula Fox
The Headgate (article) by Brian and Keri Tibbets (I have a copy if you would like me to send it to you.)
Boys Adrift - Dr. Sax
Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization by Dr. Andrew Pudewa

October's Title Swap

2010-10-18T15:54:00.000-06:00

Hold on to Your Kids, Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers - Gordon Neufeld
The Last Child in the Wood - Richard Louv
The Color Code - Taylor Hartman
Myer-Briggs -- Personality Test
Enneagram -- Personality Test
The ABC Herbal - Steven Horne
Raising Up a Family to the Lord - Gene R. Cook

The Green-Eyed Monster!

2010-10-18T15:24:00.000-06:00

"O, beware, my lord, of jealousy:
It is the green-eyed monster which doth
Mock the meat it feeds on."

A True Gentleman

2010-09-17T20:15:00.000-06:00

"....no man who was not a true gentleman at heart, ever was, since the world began, a true gentleman in manner. No varnish can hide he grain of the wood; and that the more varnish you put on, the more the grain will express itself."

The Task of the Modern Educator

2010-08-19T15:46:00.001-06:00

"The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts. The right defence against false sentiments is to inculcate with just sentiments. By starving the sensibility of our pupils we only make them easier prey to the propagandist when he comes. For famished nature will be avenged and a hard heart is no infallible protection against a soft head."

August's Title Swap

2010-08-19T15:26:00.000-06:00

Revealed Education Principles - Jack Monnett
Financial Peace Jr. - Dave Ramsey (daveramsey.com)
And They Were Not Ashamed - Laura Brotherson
Quick to Observe - Elder Bednar's Talk
The Weight of Glory - C.S. Lewis
The Great Divorce - C.S. Lewis

Jefferson Emphasized the Role of Strong Local Self-Government

2010-07-16T15:16:00.003-06:00

Thomas Jefferson probably said it better than anyone when he wrote:

"The way to have a good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many, distributing to every one exactly the functions he is competent to perform best.
Let the national government be entrusted with the defense of the nation and its foreign and federal relations;
The State governments with the civil rights, laws, police, and administration of what concerns the State generally;
The counties with the local concerns of the counties, and each ward (township) direct the interests within itself.
It is by dividing and subdividing these republics, from the great national one down through all its subordination, until it ends in the administration of every man's farm by himself; by placing under every one what his own eye may superintend, that all will be done for the best.

"What has destroyed liberty and the rights of man in every government which has ever existed under the sun? The generalizing and concentrating all cares and powers into one body, not matter whether of the autocrats of Russia or France, or the aristocrat of a Venetian senate."

July's Title Swap

2010-07-16T14:54:00.000-06:00

Wee Sing America by Pamela Beall and Suan Nipp - CD
A Patriot's Handbook by Caroline Kennedy - CD
Principles of Liberty by National Center for Constitutional Studies - DVD
Latin for Children by Classical Academic Press - CD and DVD
The Declaration of Independence, The Words that Made America by Sam Fink
The Gettysburg Address, Inscribed and Illustrated by Sam Fink
Take Your Hat Off When the Flag Goes By by Jeanie Brady

That Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen

2010-07-03T17:52:00.001-06:00

At one point, Bastiat offers this little question, "Which of the two is the most exacting parasite, the merchant or the official?" He then goes on to show that government involvement always costs more. He makes a case for keeping charities private and for the government to take a hands off approach to commerce. He demonstrates that frugality benefits a community more financially in the long run. This book is a fantastic read for every American. It can help us evaluate economic policies of our government.

My takeaway from this book: We must always look for the hidden result of any public or economic policy. We must use wisdom in government, just as we utilize wisdom in our private decisions. We must look at long term results not just short term benefits.

What Makes a Economist Good?

2010-06-11T14:29:00.003-06:00

I sometimes wonder what type of economist is advising our country's leaders. Especially when we take into account the following statement that was written in Things that are Seen and Things that are not Seen nearly 200 years ago by M. Frederic Bastiat.

" ...the bad economist pursues a small present good, which will be followed by a great evil to come, while the true economist pursues a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil........When, therefore, a man absorbed in the effect which is seen, has not yet learned to discern those which are not seen, he gives way to fatal habits, not only by inclination, but by calculation."

Bastiat goes on to state that their are only two ways to learn - experience and foresight. Because we are not choosing to use good judgement and foresight by planing appropriately on a national level, I am afraid that we will have to learn the lessons more brutally; by experiences. All I can do is plan within my own family and community for the upcoming events caused by the bad economic choices we have made nationally.

June's Title Swap

2010-06-11T13:55:00.001-06:00

Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth
Teach Your Children Well by Christine Allison
Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall
Motherstyles by Janet Penley
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Remarkable Soul of a Woman by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale
Rework by Jason Fried

The Symbolism of Uncle Tom's Cabin

2010-05-17T21:36:00.003-06:00

I have found it fascinating that so many people are upset and very critical about Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. When this was written, this work infuriated the South because it demonized the practice of slavery. The book quickly became a best seller and helped catalyzed the emotions that erupted into the Civil war. When President Lincoln finally met the author, he stated, "So this is the little lady who started this big war."

So many people attacked the author, claiming that it was not authentic and that she had fabricated the issues of slavery, that Stowe wrote another book called The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin two years latter. In this work she defends each main character and their views with actually letters and documents of the time. I found reading these explanations to be quite fascinating and recommend any one who questions the author's authenticity, to do so.

I believe that although the author may not have been completely striped of all her own prejudices herself, in this great work she was attempting to humanize the blacks who were treated like animals or property. She attempts to have you feel their incredible grief and sorrow. Stowe does a wonderful job exploring all the types and forms of slavery that may have existed.

I applaud Stowe's solution that she suggests through the character George Shelby. He created not only papers that made all of his slaves legally freeman, but also he gave them the opportunity to become educated and earn an honest living on his farm. Although this did not bring instant equality and stop prejudices, it's a start. All men need a chance to better themselves through education and just compensation for their hard work.

I hope that any one who reads this book will follow George Shelby's admonition. That we should, "Think of freedom, every time you see UNCLE TOM'S CABIN; and let it be a memorial to put you in mind to follow in his (Tom's) steps, and be as honest and faithful and Christian as he was."

May's Title Swap

2010-05-14T21:32:00.000-06:00

The Giver by Lois Lowry
Take the Risk by Ben Carson
Gifted Hands, the Ben Carson Story DVD
The Constitution by Sam Fink
The Declaration of Idependence by Sam Fink
Teach Your Children Well by Chrine Allison
Change Your Questions, Change Your Life by Wendy Watson Nelson
3 Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
Abraham Lincoln by Jim Weiss CD
Absent in the Spring by Agatha Christe
Roughin it Easy by Dian Thomas
Boys Should be Boys by Meg Meeker

In praise of Shakespeare

2010-04-20T10:06:00.000-06:00

Even though reading Shakespeare can feel like a lot of work, it is an enriching experience. Midsummer Night’s Dream isn’t my favorite play of his, but it does offer some interesting topics for discussion. One of the things I noticed was that there are apparently no mothers in this play. This may explain why everyone runs around like fools. Also, mothers probably would have something to say about death as a punishment for their daughter refusing to marry. So that would create problems for this plot if Mom was around.

Teenage love can be a crushing weight, causing people to run after another. Betrayal of friends also happens sometimes in the name of “love”. I have seen adults do some pretty crazy things as well, when they thought they were in love. These themes are explored in Midsummer Night’s Dream.

During book group, part of our discussion was about the metaphor of living life in a dream state, rather than living to the fullest. Who among us wants to come to the end of our life only to discover that we didn’t live it to the fullest? This gave me the opportunity to reevaluate some of the choices I am making. At this point, I am not making any major changes. Just paying a bit more attention and trying to make the better choice.

Shakespeare’s writing is timeless. The language can be a struggle. However, I think there is a benefit to this. First, it helps us recognize that this story is iconic. These stories have endured for a long time, and this is a testament to their ability to teach important life lessons. Shakespeare actually made up some of the words he used, creating new words that became accepted as their popularity grew. He also includes in his writing a stunning variety of insults. Discovering the gems hidden in his language is worth the work every time.

Reason and Love

2010-04-19T15:35:00.000-06:00

"And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays."

April's Title Swap

2010-04-19T15:18:00.001-06:00

The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan
The Headgates(New TJEd article - let me know if you would like a copy)
The Blind Side - DVD
The Complete Cheapskate by Mary Hunt
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
And They Were Not Ashamed by Laura Brotherson
Wife Dressing by Anne Fogarty

Learn With Me

2010-03-27T21:15:00.004-06:00

Check out this new product for home schooling families at

Learn With Me

At Learn With Me, our goal is to provide home educators and teachers resources that bring life and depth to a student's study of reading and writing. Our feature product is Read With Me. This book contains the core principles of reading with purpose; we call this strategic reading. These strategies are taught through activities, writing prompts, unique ideas, literary terms and much more. Read With Me is a must have resource for any language arts educator.

Our line of literature study guides are crafted to elicit discussion, foster literary analysis and also inspire change. These are available in book form or digital download.

Title Swap for March

2010-03-12T14:24:00.002-07:00

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
The Parenting Breakthrough by Merrilee Boyack
Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
Financial University by Dave Ramsey
10 Essential Foods by Lalitha Thomas
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth
Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamilo
No More Double Messages: What Every Parent Should Know about Teenage Dating (Talk on CD) by JeaNette Smith
Five Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters by Meg Meeker
http://teachingselfgovernment.com/

Good People

2010-03-12T14:13:00.006-07:00

"Do you think there ought to be fifteen varieties of good people?....
There ain't fifteen. There ain't two. There's one kind. And when I meet it, I respect it. It is not praying nor preaching that has ever caught me and make me ashamed of myself, but one or two people I have known that never said a superior word to me. They thought more of me than I deserved, and that made me behave better than I naturally wanted to."

Some thoughts on Understanding the Times

2010-02-21T14:38:00.001-07:00

As I read Understanding the Times, I came to a better understanding of some underlying beliefs that are guiding other people's choices. I have on occasion been quite perplexed by the choices people make, but reading about these worldviews helped me come to a better understanding of the beliefs driving those choices.

I was actually appalled by some aspects of the viewpoints, and I continue to be surprised that thinking people hold some of these beliefs. I wonder how many of these beliefs are held because these ideas are unexamined and accepted only on the surface. Reading this book strengthened my belief that homeschooling is the best for my children I can see that many of my opinions as a young person were confused by being taught alternate beliefs in school. Even when I knew I didn't agree, it was often difficult to articulate why. I can see that worldviews in direct opposition to my own are being taught to children every day in school. I can think of examples from my own educational experience.

There was one specific idea in the conclusion of the text that I felt was worth some more in-depth concentration. It had some interesting ideas about the different responsibilities of the state, church and family. The authors state that the state is responsible for justice, the church for God's love and grace on the earth, and the family for God's creativity and community. I mostly agree with these ideas, although I think this is a simplification. I also think the family and the church's roles are somewhat different and that the church is also about community. I enjoyed the following quote. "Because government is an institution of justice, not of grace, community, or creativity, it should not interfere with freedom of religion, attempt to dispense grace through tax-funded handouts, control family size, interfere in the raising of children (including their education), or control the economy." If we agree that government is an institution of justice, it would seem that our government has wandered far afield from its duties. I think that taking these ideas and comparing them to doctrinal sources is important. I turned to Doctrine and Covenants 134 to read again what has been said there about governments. I think that verse two is particularly pertinent to the discussion, so I will quote it here. "We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life." I think that this can help guide our decisions about what we vote for and who we choose to represent us. There is a wealth of information in this chapter of the Doctrine and Covenants, and I think it is a resource that I need to turn to and reread from time to time.

My thoughts are still percolating on the different worldviews presented in this book. I think it is a good text for understanding other people, and also for articulating my own worldview. I feel that it was beneficial to read this book as an adult, and I also think that teenagers might benefit as well.

February's Title Swap

2010-02-15T20:22:00.002-07:00

Fascinating Womanhood - Helen Andelin
Our Home - C. E. Sargent
The Giver - Lois Lowry

Absolute Truths

2010-02-15T19:55:00.003-07:00

When we try to understand the way people think today, it can be very confusing. There are so many opinions that we can find ourselves debating around in circles. Some would demand that we have such high levels of tolerance for the cultural relativism of every person, that they insist that no one can state any absolute truth. But as offensive as this may be, "Absolute Truths" do exist. They always have and always will, no matter what is popular today. The following is a list of some of these truths:

* God Exists. He created the world and each of us.
* The God Head consists of 3 separate beings. (Not the Trinity)
* We have a soul. We will be resurrected, judged and have consequences.
* Families are ordained of God. (1 man married to 1 woman raising children)
* Free agency of Man - Free will
* Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the World
* Modern revelation still occurs today.
* Prophets are still on this Earth.

The Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers

2010-01-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

As I read each one of the stories in the book, The Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers by Patrick Kavanaugh, I was touched with how every composer had to overcome his own unique set of challenges to achieve greatness. The one that touched me the most was the story of Anton Bruckner. I was already familiar with many of the great composers, but didn’t know anything about Anton Bruckner. Although all of the composers featured in this book shared various degrees of religious faith in God, I felt that Bruckner understood better than any other composer that the only one he ultimately answers to is God. He was quoted as saying, “Sometime I will have to give an account of myself. How would the Father in Heaven judge me if I followed others and not Him?”

How easy it is to listen to all the voices that pull us in different directions away from what God wants us to hear. Bruckner is a superb example of someone who did not become what others wanted him to be. “He listened to the ‘voice from within’ and looked to God, ‘whose praises he sang in every note of his music.’ Bruckner had a strong ‘conviction that only he who believes and trusts finds true peace and the glory of the Lord.’”

Bruckner also set a great example of perseverance. He experienced decades of hostility from various people in the music community. Sometimes people in the audience would walk out when his symphonies were performed. Another time a director told him to quit composing and threw his symphonies in a trash can. One critic called Bruckner “a fool and a half” and others criticized his music as being “insatiable rhetoric” and “unsingable.” A work that had been accepted by the Vienna Philharmonic was rejected after the first rehearsal. Bruckner found himself the enemy of a famous music critic that gave such malevolent reviews that it became nearly impossible to have his works performed for over a decade, “yet Bruckner continued to compose, believing that this talent was a trust given by God.”

Although Bruckner was not only unappreciated and attacked from many fronts for what he created, he did not attack in kind. “Instead, he continued to compose work after work, believing that his efforts would eventually be blessed...He so firmly believed that God wanted him to compose that he could neither desist nor waste time in meaningless verbal battles with his detractors.”

How often do we get caught up in feeling discouraged, overwhelmed or depleted when our initial or even ongoing attempts to do what we feel or know is right, isn’t met with the outcome or approval from others that we had hoped for? Do we just give up? Stop trying? Change our course of direction so that the world will give us their stamp of approval? It takes a lot of courage, faith and conviction to swim against the stream.

In time, the world came to love Bruckner’s great works and even to scorn those who disagreed. Bruckner never retaliated against his foes. He patiently endured the insults and attempts to stop his work and quietly continued to go on fulfilling his life’s mission. He never lost his faith in God. Anton Bruckner’s music is a lasting legacy of enduring faith, perseverance and humility. I will never listen to his music the same way again.

January's Title Swap

2010-01-23T14:14:00.003-07:00

The Making of George Washington by William H Wilbur
Teach the Children by Neil Flinders
azurestandard.com Kim's resource for seeds, herbs, and bulk
The Little House Cook book by Garth Williams
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann D. Wyss
The Fourth Turning by Strauss and Howe
Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens by DeMille and Brooks
Making the Best of the Basics, Family Preparedness Handbook by James Talmage Stevens

Some Needed Provisions for Survial During a Nuclear Holocaust

2010-01-21T20:48:00.002-07:00

Cash (became worthless)
Napkins
Canned milk
Running Water
Geiger Counter
Prescriptions for drugs (were worthless)
Short-wave radio
Gasoline
Underground shelter
Oil
Canned meat (freezer meat thawed out)
Candles
Mason jars
Kerosene lamps
Canning supplies
Kerosene
Pickling Salt
Flashlights
Charcoal
Matches
Insulin and syringes (needed refrigeration)
Batteries
Flour (to bake bread)
Lighter fluid
Bicycles (and replacement parts
2 gallon pot to cook over a fire
Tires
Shovel
Coffee
Pitchfork, edger, scythe
Sugar
Wheelbarrow
Dog food
Butter
Cat food
Nylons
Hens for eggs and meat
Portable radio
Pigs
Flint
Oranges and fruit in orchards
First Aid Kits
Ax
Soap
Fishing Supplies
Toilet Paper
Evaporated milk
Rifles, shotguns, pistols
Rubber Nipples
Ammunition
Safety pins, sewing needles, thread
Spark plugs
Car batteries
30 weight oil
Toothpaste
Vulcanizing kits
Honey (liquid gold)
Beeswax
Vaccines of all kinds
Soap powder
Shoes Old
Eyeglasses
Groceries Old
time sewing machine (foot propelled)
Alcohol
Pot bellied stove
Mule
Lawn roller

How Life Changed After "The Day"

2010-01-21T20:46:00.001-07:00

Need to be informed re fallout (obtain pamphlets and read before disaster happens)
No phones
No electricity
No running water
No gas
No Western Union
No trucks
No mail service
No Traveler’s checks
No Government Savings Bonds
No banks
No gas stations
No stores
Need your own strength in a crisis
Dig latrines
Be physically fit to walk/manual labor
Carry a gun at all times
Face reality and cope with it
Neighbors put their resources together and divide and share everything
Stockpiles should be in the country and not in the big cities (as big cities were demolished)
Plant crops
Elderly and sick died
Elderly had difficulty accepting change
Bury the dead quickly
Rule of war: economy of effort and forces
Connected water pipes from artesian well which connected neighbors together
Watched out for each other
Someone has to assume leadership role and gives orders to the others (and it wasn’t necessarily elected community leaders)
Stop feeling sorry for yourself - there are two choices: have to start over or die
Use car battery to power short-wave radio
In everything they did, now, was with an eye for the future
Be a woman of courage
Survival of the fittest and make it a conscious decision
Small dog can be used as a foot warmer in bed
6 inch hunting knife can be used as a razor (sharpened on a whetstone and belt)
Missed music from phonograph and radio
Missed cigarettes
Used whiskey for anesthesia and for trading
Missed coffee (most valuable)
People lost weight and were more fit
No Income Tax
No alimony
No bills/debts/house payments
Barter system (Ex: Gas traded for MD house-calls)
Guard the food supply
Chop wood
Youth take on adult responsibilities
Rotate nights to guard animals
Everyone worked hard all day just to survive and eat - depended on each other
Had assignments (that were taken very seriously)
Finding more wood became more difficult to obtain/transport
All entertainment, amusements, escapes and information again centered on the library
(Because all the other distractions had been removed)
Reading classics was providing a superior education
It required a holocaust to make the librarian’s life worth living - she became an important person
The local park is where goods were traded and notices were posted
This disaster equalized blacks and whites
Cadillac traded for only 2 bike tires and a bike pump
Outdoor, interdenominational Easter Services
Hair and clothing fashions didn’t matter
Survivors didn’t know who won the war and they had differing opinions - topic of discussion
Abandoned cars appeared as stripped, unburied carcasses of giant beetles
No garbage collection
Some people (in Pistolville) defecated and urinated in public
No mongrel dogs or feral cats to be found (they had been eaten)
In four months time, Pistolville had regressed 4000 years
Even pets were killed and eaten
“The rules were off”
The past (life before “The Day”) seemed more removed or distant than actual amount of time that had passed
Everything was remembered as happening “before” or “after” “The Day”
More greed
Radium burns from “hot” looted jewelry
Highwaymen
Unkempt yards quickly turned into jungles of overgrowth
Bubba Offenhaus was Deputy Director of Civil Defense and Undertaker but all the requests and problems frightened him. He did not lead the community. He hid in his home.
Mayor barricaded himself in his home - besieged by imaginary and irrational fears.
Authority had disintegrated
Chief of Police dead and two other police abandoned their posts
No Fire and Sanitation Departments
Martial Law came into effect
Randy Bragg found leadership to be a lonely experience
Everyone had to be careful. A simple fracture could be compound disaster
Make whiskey from homegrown corn and sugar cane
Make own distillery (Use lawn roller, a mule and crush corn and cane on cement slabs. Copper tubing from cars)
Nature is just and even merciful. By natural selection, nature will attempt to undo what man has done.
Helen loses touch with reality and temporarily believes her fantasy that her brother-in-law is her deceased husband
Read book about edible palms, grasses, and herbs from library to find other food sources.
Without communications, the simplest mechanical failure could turn into a nightmare and disaster
Randy didn’t sleep well unless he knew all was well in his perimeter
Made a homemade spear
North American civilization returned to the Neolithic Age
A boy grows up fast or doesn’t grow up at all
The survivors in the contaminated zone wondered if the rest of America had forgot them
Dan Gunn (the town doctor) was attacked by highwaymen; beaten up, lost his car, glasses and medical bag with supplies
Traffic was no longer a problem
Some domestic dogs turned into wolves
There were human jackals for every human disaster
Typhoid was the unwelcome, evil sister of any disaster in which the water supply was destroyed or polluted and normal disposal of human waste difficult or impossible.
Shoes wore out and didn’t have replacements (children’s feet kept growing)
Armadillo’s only enemy was the automobile - now they were multiplying (due to lack of cars)
Lip Radio: once spoken at the library, the news would spread through Fort Repose
After “The Day” people were willing to wake up before dawn and walk three miles on empty stomachs to watch the sun come up and attend an interdenominational Easter service
Under Martial Law can make up own rules and take the law into their own hands
Randy and Lib were married the day after they decided to do it (no preparation time)
Marriages and Births were recorded and records kept at the local library
Highwaymen attacked again - killed the parents and the children escaped to aunt’s home
Three Highwaymen were gunned down by Randy and his helpers
One Highwayman was hung at the park to deter others from plundering the people
Community members enlisted in the Fort Repose Provisional Company (Bragg’s Troop)
Fishing pliers, darning needles, metal hair clips six-pound nylon line sterilized in boiling water would have to become primitive surgical instruments
Unable to replace blown-out tube for short-wave radio - all contact with outside world is cut off
Within 5 months, gasoline vanished entirely
Homemade moonshine (made from corn and sugarcane) made excellent bug repellent, liniment and preoperative skin antiseptic
Books from the library taught Dan Gunn (doctor) how to do hypnotism to be used as anesthesia
Ran out of candles and kerosene for their lamps, burned furnace oil in lamps
Dan operated on Ben on a billiard table using hypnosis and primitive surgical tools
After eight months, ran out of salt (which was used for medical saline solutions, brushing teeth, pickling foods and hides, etc)
In the heat of August, fish stopped biting (had to change how they fished)
Found a hidden source of natural salt and crabs near the salty beach (from a journal kept by Randy’s grandfather)
Responsibility for teaching the children became the parent’s responsibility
Home library room became the schoolroom
Nine months after “The Day” the first post-Day baby was born bright and healthy signifying that life would go on
Military leaflets used as toilet paper, and paper money (10 leaflets would buy an egg, 50 a chicken)
American became at least a 2nd Class Power, if not 3rd Class after the nuclear holocaust
About a year after “The Day” Randy and his family and closest neighbors had no desire to leave their community and start over somewhere else

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

2009-12-19T15:29:00.003-07:00

"God is ever before my eyes. I realize His omnipotence and I fear His anger; but I also recognize His love, His compassion, and His tenderness towards His creatures."

December's Title Swap

2009-12-19T14:57:00.003-07:00

Classical Kids CD's (My favorite are Mozart, Handel and Vivaldi)
My First Book of Classical Music (Easy Piano Arrangements) by Bergerac
Little House on the Prairie Series on CD by Laura Wilder
Alcatraz and The Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

Networks Vs. Communities

2009-11-20T13:25:00.002-07:00

So, I blog...actually I have three blogs to be exact. Yes, I finally decided to see why everyone is so into Facebook. I still snicker whenever I get a "friend request." Especially when it is from a person from high school that I never talked to during the three years we roamed those hallowed halls together, but now we are "friends," and I know their daily thoughts and activities. Although I have to admit that I can't wait to see if anybody has any comments about my latest quip I posted, I find myself feeling more depleted, not fulfilled after such encounters. John Taylor Gatto explains the reason for this feeling of emptiness that occurs after spending time in these social networks perfectly in his book, Dumbing Us Down. What amazes me the most about this book, is that it was first published in 1992, before the Internet was widely used.

He states on page 48 that, "The fragmentation caused by excessive networking creates diminished humanity, a sense that our lives are out of control -- because they are... that when people in networks suffer, they suffer alone, unless they have a family or a community to suffer with them.... These thin human contacts give you the feelings that your 'friends' don't really care about you beyond what you can do for them, that they have no curiosity about the way you manage your life, no curiosity about your hopes, fears, victories, defeats."

In contrast, "A community is a place in which people face each other (not just in cyber space with a web-cam, but really face to face) over time in all their human variety: good parts, bad parts, and all the rest. Such places promote the highest quality of life possible -- lives of engagement and participation."

What is the antidote to the depletion we experience everyday from the numerous networks we belong to-- Service! We can start by serving. Get out and get your hands dirty. Take your kids along and get their hands dirty. Serve your family and friends. Serve strangers. Start rebuilding a community feeling wherever you are. Hopefully this will help build our families, instead of continuing to deplete them.

November's Title Swap

2009-11-19T22:48:00.002-07:00

The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling by Linda Dobson
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez
Created to Be His Helpmeet by Debi Pearl
7 Habits for Happy Kids by Covey
theleaderinme.org

Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

2009-10-24T13:02:00.013-06:00

Hamlet was sane. He was brilliant with his ability to use his interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences. This indicates that he was extremely aware of himself and everyone around him, thus making him responsible for his actions. The following are quotes from the play that demonstrate Hamlet's use of these skills and prove his sanity.

Interpersonal Intelligence (discerning people for who they really are):

Hamlet - Then I would that you were so honest a man. (Act 2, Scene 2, line 177)
Hamlet - Do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? (Act 3, scene 2, line 341)
Hamlet - You go not till I set you up a glass where you may see the inmost part of you. (Act 3, scene 4, line 20)
Hamlet - He keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed to be last swallowed. When he needs what you have gleaned it is but squeezing you and, sponge, you shall be dry again. (Act 4, scene 2, line 17)

Intrapersonal Intelligence (internal reflection):

Hamlet - "Seems," madam? Nay it is. I know not "seems."(Act 1, Scene 2 line 76)
Hamlet - For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. (Act 2 scene 2, line 246)
Hamlet - What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! (Act 2, Scene 2, line 299)
Hamlet - To be, or not to be? That is the question (Act 3, scene 1, line 56)
Gertrude - O'er whom his very madness, like some ore among a mineral of metals base, shows itself pure. He weeps for what is done. (Act 4, scene 1, line 25)
Hamlet - What is a man if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more. (Act 4, scene 4, line 32)

October's Title Swap

2009-10-24T12:57:00.002-06:00

Tales of Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb
Hamlet CD by BBC
Teach Your Own by John Holt
Your Money of Your Life by Joe Dominguez
History Pockets by Evan - Moor

September's Title Swap

2009-09-21T15:17:00.004-06:00

Miss Potter - DVD
Printable Rescources - donnayoung.org
Debra Bells Ultimate Guide to Home Schooling
Charlotte Mason + the Guides to...
Ruth Beechick's 3R's
Confessions of an Organized Homemake
Last Child in the Woods - Richard Louv

Story of the World by Peace Hill Press
Literature Pockets and Daily Language Review - Evan Moore
Code Word Caper by Letter Factory - DVD
Meet the Sight Words - DVD
The Weighty Word Book - Levitt, Burger, Guralnick
Criket in Timesquare - CD
Mr. Popper's Penguins - CD
The Web Files - Margie Palatini

Math-U-See
Primary Grade Challenge Math - Edward Zaccaro
Math-It
Life of Fred - Stanely F. Schmidt
children's math stories - Stuart Murphey

Draw Write Now
Science Units from Debra Bell's Subject by grade lists

Trusting Our Children to Learn

2009-09-18T15:43:00.004-06:00

I was most impressed by the John Holt's incredible empathy he shows for children in his book, How Children Learn. He gives us permission as parents to love children where they are and encourages us to look at things the way they do. I loved every part of this book! It has already changed they way I parent.

John Holt-

"What we have to do is break this long downward cycle of fear and distrust, and trust children as we ourselves were not trusted."

Children learn with the spirit of joy, foolishness and exuberance like the spirit of all good games including the game of trying to find our how the world works which we call "education."

Why Leadership Education?

2009-08-31T14:48:00.002-06:00

In a Deseret News article that was published August 25, 2009 by Irene Maher, stated that “Starting or returning to school can be stressful and trigger emotions and anxiety in children that even the most attentive parents may miss.”

The article continues: “School can put (children) over the top. It has nothing to do with school, actually. That’s just the place the child brings his emotional baggage, says Dr. Peter Gorski, (a University of South Florida pediatrician who specializes in developmental and behavioral medicine).

Colette Parker of Tampa thought her youngest son, Xavier Williams, would handle kindergarten without much fuss, just as his older brothers did.

But two weeks into his first school year she started getting calls from his teacher. Five-year-old Xavier was throwing things, blowing up emotionally, running out of the classroom, acting aggressively and physically fighting with other children. The teacher couldn’t handle him.

Parker, 33, says her son had a difficult time making the adjustment from the familiar friends and caregivers at day care to the more structured environment of kindergarten. Day care was all about play. ‘In school he had to sit down and do work,’ says Parker.

‘We see a lot of families who never had issues with their kids until school started,’ says John Mayo, a licensed child therapist and deputy executive director of Success 4 Kids & Families.”

What is wrong with this picture?? For most of my life I would have said that some kids are going to have a harder time leaving home and adjusting going to kindergarten than other kids, but it’s a fact of life. Your child “has” to leave you at age five, and like it or not he or she has to start making his or her own way in the world.

I remember very well how I stood in a line of mothers and their kindergartners waiting for the bell to ring, signaling the first day of school. This was my last biological child and I knew I wouldn’t be able to have any more children. My heart was breaking and tears were willfully held back as I attempted to put on a brave face for my little girl. I look back at this experience with much regret and realize there is nothing I can do now to change what happened then. But I have the knowledge and power to change the outcome for the adopted children I have in my home now. The single greatest paradigm shift of my life has occurred because of discovering “Leadership Education.” I would like to share some my favorite parts in the book by Oliver and Rachel DeMille entitled Leadership Education - The Phases of Learning, that contributed to my transformation.

(Page 18) “Leadership Education recognizes the need for freedom in education and encourages self-motivation and personal mission accomplishment that result in feelings of inherent self-worth, leadership and compassion for others. The conveyor belt enforces sameness and aims to foster feelings of societal interdependence, based upon feelings of personal inadequacy and dependency on experts as the norm.”

(Page 23) “The greatest irony in modern education is that we will not let children play when that is practically all our teenagers do. What if children played and worked with their parents more and were lovingly taught about good and bad, right and wrong and true and false? What if youth worked very hard and put in long hours getting a great education and preparing for their life mission? What amazing results could come of making such a reversal in our society!”

(Page 45) “The increasing intellectual demands of the child in Love of Learning Phase upon the parent require that the home life and family’s time be kept as uncomplicated possible. Too many outside activities, no matter how valuable or interesting, can be over-stimulating for the child and draw him much too soon away from the ties that bind him to the nest. Too much “stuff,” either as clutter in the home or as entertainments and possessions that rob time from the necessary “right kind of vacuum” (that space of discomfort/boredom that impels a young person to exert himself to accomplish something worthwhile) can derail a family’s education... It is okay to stay home! It is okay to just play sometimes! We need to take responsibility to fill our homes with wholesomeness, warmth, light and learning and provide the time for family members to benefit from this ideal environment.

(Page 86) “The two biggest complaints are that Scholar Phase is too hard and the Love of Learning Phase is too easy.... There is nothing more challenging in the entire educational world than an excellent Love of Learning Phase. Day in and day out, week after week and year after year, the parent-teacher’s role is to inspire the child to happily, consistently and unswervingly study, learn, search, discover, enlighten, know and apply. The sad reason that people think Love of Learning is ‘easy’ is that they have been brainwashed by the conveyor belt. When they hear ‘Inspire, not Require,’ their brains are so conditioned against combining ‘inspire’ with ‘education’ that they actually go home remembering something very much like ‘ignore, not require.’”

(Page 127) “There are two proven ways to create a teenager: 1) force and push children academically and 2) let them do whatever they want in their personal life. In contrast, young adults are raised by parents who: 1) have firm disciplinary standards and 2) a high quality freedom-oriented educational system. The two components of creating youth are natural and excellent complements.”

(Page 135) “It is interesting that some modern feminists have described the stay-at-home mom or homemaker as caught in a life of boredom, subjugation and sad mediocrity. But true feminine ambition focused on the training of future leaders who fully understand and can accomplish their missions is the greatest challenge and opportunity of our time or any time. It is not enough to train up one’s own children. The true mother must also train and properly raise the whole community in which her children grow up, looking ahead three or four generations and acting accordingly. This is not a government village raising the child, but a mother raising her own children, her future sons- and daughters-in-law, and communities of great and good leaders who will ensure the liberty of their grandchildren. Not, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ but, ‘It takes a mother to raise a village.’”

(Page 135 - con’t) “The greatest educators are fathers and mother - from Eve, Mary, the mothers of Moses , Washington , Jefferson and Lincoln, to the women who embrace and magnify their roles and responsibilities as mothers in your neighborhood and your own family. These are statemen and stateswomen engaged in the work of building the family-the basic unit of society. A stateswoman puts her relationship with God and spouse in their proper place of preeminence, leads an inspirational life, is actively progressing through the phases herself, runs a Mom School, has her home arranged as a leadership home, says ‘no’ and ‘yes’ in the Leadership way, and mentors through the Phases of a Leadership Education. She is a powerful example of a woman living a life of challenging, fulfilling, exciting feminine ambition and expertise that is literally world-changing. It takes a mother to raise a nation.”

(Page 283) “A life spent making the world better for your future grandchildren is a life of service, leadership, and greatness. It takes a full lifetime to really make change. This is the message and purpose of life and the most important thing any of us can ever do. It is the reason for our lives. We better get started on it early, or as soon as we realize what it is all about.”

I didn’t understand “what it is (really) all about” until I was already a grandmother. Nevertheless, it is not too late for me to transform myself and become a scholar and provide leadership education in my home and community. When we open our hearts and souls and become receptive to what blessings God has in store for us, He will lead and guide us to where we need to be so that we can accomplish our missions and true purposes for being here on this earth. It is through applying the principles taught in Leadership Education that we can accomplish our life’s mission by guiding and preparing the future leaders of the world in our own homes and inspiring others to do the same.

No longer do I believe the myth that compulsory education is a fact of life and that there is no other choice but a conveyor belt education that enforces sameness and “feelings of personal inadequacy and dependency on experts as the norm.” I wish I could let all the “Colette Parkers” of the world know about Leadership Education and that there is a much better and more joyful way to nurture and educate your children and be the change you wish to see in the world. Little five year-old Xavier wouldn’t be carrying emotional baggage to school because he would be able to stay home with his mother who would teach him basic core principles and allow him to be a child and not worry about scholarly pursuits until he had a great core phase and loved to learn. Imagine how different Colette and Xavier’s lives would be with Leadership Education.

Les Miserables Preface Quote

2009-06-27T20:20:00.001-06:00

So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation which, in the face of civilization, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine, with human fatality; so long as the three problems of the age - the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night - are not solved; so long as in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and from yet more extended point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, book like this cannot be useless.

Hauteville House 1862

June's Title Swap

2009-06-27T20:13:00.003-06:00

Napoleon by Lucy Lethbridge
The Parenting Break Through by Merrilee Boyack
Blink by Malcome Gladwell
The Tipping Point by Malcome Gladwell
The Star Catchers and Peter Pan by Dave Barry (recommended as a family read aloud)
Music Theatre of Idaho mtionline.org

My Life in the Millennial Saeculum

2009-05-27T09:18:00.000-06:00

I was born in April during a First Turning. I am one of many post war or victory babies born during an era of good schools, strong families, and general security. The 4th Turning has special meaning for me because the seasons of the Saeculum exactly match those of my own life. From Spring to Winter, history’s seasons are those of my life cycle as well.

My childhood was simple. My parents immigrated from Germany in 1956 to start their lives all over again. They carried all their worldly possessions in two suitcases and were 500 dollars in debt. They came to America with one goal in mind: give their children a better life than what they had endured during the Great Depression and World War II. My father and his brother started up their own concrete business making fireplaces, building facades and garden figurines. My father was also a part-time musician and assembled his own band that entertained other German immigrants. My mother stayed home and raised us four children. We went from abject poverty to a comfortable level of existence in a few years through hard work and the opportunities that America provided my family.

In this era, children were raised to be idealistic. We were adorable as babies, cute as grade school pupils and striking as we entered our teens, after which our parents would be very, very proud of us. I was supposed to become famous when I grew up. My parents expected me to become a famous dancer or violinist. Then my Opa in Germany would see me on television and he could tell all his friends that I was his granddaughter. But I had other ideas and without realizing it at the time, joined the many other Boomers who questioned their parents’ values and then rebelled against the establishment. I could not accept that the purpose of my life was to simply live out the fantasies of my parents and grandparents because they had been deprived of the opportunities that were given to me. Even as a young child I knew I had been born for a different purpose.

Along came Summer and the great Awakening. Shakespeare wrote, “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,” and my secure world was shaken up with my parent’s divorce in 1970. America ’s sexual revolution hit the Silent Generation at an awkward phase of life, just when they had kids at home. From 1969-1975, there was a divorce epidemic. Men felt claustrophobic and women felt resentful. My parents were no exception. The 1970's were the cult of the adult. The cost of raising a child became a hot topic. Adults ranked autos ahead of children as necessary for a good life. My father valued his exotic birds more than he did his children. He was deeply engrossed in himself and satisfying his own needs. Meanwhile, my mother was burdened with raising her four children by herself and needing to rely on church welfare to get us through the hard times. What a rude awakening!

I got married in 1977. My three children were born in 1978, 1980 and 1983, all during the end of the 2nd Turning. I went back to nursing school in 1985 and spent the next three straight years going to school full-time. My youngest was two years old at the time and she (and her siblings) had to get used to having a part-time mom. I had married young and started having children before I had the chance to fulfill my dream of becoming a Registered Nurse. My children had to pay the price of my dream because I had had them before I could do what I wanted to. After all, I am my father’s daughter.

My three biological children and an adopted son had to grow up in a hurry. They were latch-key kids while I worked full-time. They learned to be independent, resourceful and competitive at an early age. They were given every opportunity to learn survival skills. When my oldest son, David, was only 11 years old, he went on a two week trip across the United States with a private school that he had barely joined during the middle of the school year. He was subject to migraine type headaches when stressed, and of course experienced one in Denver , after the first couple of days on the trip. We were ready to go and pick him up and bring him home, but he toughed it out. At age 12, he spent 24 hours in isolation in the desert near Escalante as part of his curriculum. At age 15, he and his 17 year old sister flew unaccompanied to Germany to spend the summer traveling all over Europe with my sister’s family. Is it any wonder that David left home (to attend college) at age 17, after spending the summer working as a Boy Scout river running guide on the Snake River? David’s sisters have had similar growing up experiences. They are all grown up now, have children of their own and live out of state. At times it is painful for us to live so far away from one another, but we all know that they know how to survive without me. They were raised that way.

In the 1st Turning there is an economy of abundance and a psychology of scarcity. In the 3rd Turning there is an economy of scarcity and a psychology of abundance. 1984 started economic policy of large deficits, unchecked growth in entitlements spending, decreased national savings rates and heavy borrowing from foreigners. By the 1990's, fiscal excess, as well as personal excess was a way of life. The gap between the rich and poor widened. Most of America ’s adults grew up in a society with perpetually improving outcomes, better jobs, fatter wallets, stronger government, finer culture, nicer families, smarter kids, all the usual fruits of progress, but during the Unraveling, these goals were slipping away and we feared for our children and grandchildren. Dan Quayle diagnosed an ethical cancer that had metastasized through all levels of society. The Unraveling had darkened the quality of American Life.

People no longer trusted the government, but trusted the individual. There was no such thing as “normal” opinions. People found their own “niche” groups and each group exalted its own authenticity. It defined its adversary’s values as indecent, stupid, obscene and evil. The institutional order was not working and not worth defending and no one felt responsible for things as they now stood. During the 1990's, America ’s niche groups conflict came to be known as the “culture wars.” By empowering the ideals of the Awakening, the Unraveling laid the agenda for the crisis to follow.

During the 3rd Turning, my husband and I looked forward to having our children grown up and having some time for ourselves. I enrolled in college when my last two children were in high school so I could finally pursue an advanced nursing degree and further my career opportunities. At the same time I felt conflicted inside while fighting my own culture war. I came to realize that I had not yet fulfilled the divine purpose of my life. I was disenchanted with the pursuit of material wealth, status and entertainment. Staring at the prospect of having an empty nest, it didn’t seem so appealing anymore. We were at a major crossroad in our lives. My husband and I both had wonderful, secure jobs that we loved. We lived in a five-level stucco home that had recently been built for us and a large yard that we had landscaped ourselves. We loved our neighborhood and our ward. I was the Young Women’s President and I had great girls that I loved. We sang in a community choir that was very talented and sang at various community events. Our lives were full and busy and as perfect as they could be.

But the burning question I had inside of me that I had to know the answer to was this: Did I have the faith and courage necessary to sacrifice everything (as the Mormon Pioneers did) for a greater cause than just my own selfish consumption of material goods? What could I possibly contribute to the world in the very deepest sense, to give my life true meaning and purpose? I discussed my questions with my husband and turned my quest over to God and He answered me in ways beyond my wildest imagination.

My husband and I willingly walked away from everything we had built up together and started over again because it was for us, the right thing to do. We were born during the Spring and grew up during the Summer of this saeculum. We are principled visionaries with passionate values. Life isn’t worth living for us without being able to actually live what we believe deep down inside. Now that we have moved to a small community with our six adopted children and have returned back to the basics, living a much simpler lifestyle, we are living The Dream. We are no longer wasting our time and energy pursuing that which has no lasting value. We are fulfilling the measure of our creation by parenting and teaching six beautiful children that would otherwise have had no future. We have become Prophet parents raising a Hero generation along with our Nomad Children raising our Hero grandchildren in the 4th Turning.

Winter has arrived and we are preparing for tough times ahead. These are the most exciting and challenging times of all the seasons. Each generation serves a unique and important role in the 4th Turning constellation of generational archetypes.

As elder Prophets, we translate our lifelong values agenda into commandments that exact sacrifice from ourselves and others. From the young, we seek personal obedience and respect. To the young, we offer opportunity for heroism and achievement unlike anything they themselves had known at like age. As elder Prophets, we will provide the torch of conviction for younger generations during their times of trials. The Gray Champions will lead at a time of maximum danger and opportunity.

As midlife Nomads, our older children must step forward as the saeculum’s repair generation, the ones stuck with fixing the messes and cleaning up the debris left by others. They are the pragmatic managers of the crisis. They must keep the Prophets from wreaking needless destruction and the Heroes from marching too mindlessly under their elders’ banner. History is counting on them to do whatever hard jobs are necessary.

As young adult Heroes, our younger children and older grandchildren are the soldiers of the crisis. This generation complies with authority and accepts the need for public sacrifice and public virtue. They will work together as a team and build a reputation for meeting and exceeding older adult expectations.

As children Artists, our younger and future grandchildren are sensitive souls that must be protected during times of crisis. They are the vulnerable seeds of society’s future that must be saved while the emergency is overcome and the enemy defeated. They are the crisis era’s fearful watchers, tiny helpers and lucky inheritors if things turn out well.

With every 4th Turning there occurs an “ekpyrosis” - the death of an old order and a rebirth of something new. A 4th Turning clears out society’s exhausted elements and creates opportunity for fresh growth. It allows society’s survival instincts to emerge and harnesses all the archetypal strengths to maximum advantage, enabling society to work through problems that might otherwise destroy it.

There are three key points that I noticed are reoccurring themes in the book, The Fourth Turning. They are as follows:
1. An oscillation between the overprotection and underprotection of children.
2. The four archetypes lend balance and self-correction to each other and history.
3. History’s endings are open and subject to the good or bad acts of each generation.

“History is seasonal, but its outcomes are not foreordained. Much will depend on how tall we stand in the trials to come. But there is more to do than just wait for the time to come. The course of our national and personal destinies will depend in large measure on what we do now, as a society and as individuals, to prepare.” We need to move with the seasons and be present in the now. We cannot be stuck in the past, pining for easier times. We can best prepare by anticipating and preparing for the future.

My parents’ wish for their children to have a better life than they had, has come true. Without the sacrifices made by older generations in a previous 4th Turning, and my parents’sacrifice to leave their homeland and come to this amazing country of America , I would never have had the opportunity to live out my dreams. I will be forever grateful for all they have taught me to prepare me for my ultimate and final role as an elder Prophet during this 4th Turning. It is really true: the core dynamic of the saeculum is that history shapes generations and generations shape history. May we each play our parts well when it matters the most, so that our future generations can also have the opportunity to live out their dreams. It’s all up to us now and the outcome of the last turning of the Millennial Saeculum.

May's Title Swap

2009-05-23T12:03:00.002-06:00

The Other Eminent Men of Wilford Woodruff by Vicki Jo Anderson
Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky A. Bailey
Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankel
Teaching Your Children to Fly by Merrilee Boyack

A New Perspective

2009-05-23T12:01:00.000-06:00

Steven R. Covey declares in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “we see the world not as it is, but as we are – or, as we are conditioned to see it.” (pg 28) In order to live our lives most effectively, the author encourages us to have a complete paradigm shift that is principle based, not just a personality shift of behaviors and attitude.

Personality ethics are social comparisons and judgments. When we focus on improving personality ethics, we tend to try to change just our techniques and often attempt to manipulate others into what is the acceptable social model. If there isn’t deep integrity and fundamental character strength, the challenges of life will cause our true motives to surface and relationships will fail.

Many people fall in the trap of only focusing on personality ethics. Instead, we have to look deep inside ourselves and find what we fundamentally believe and think. True character ethics are timeless and universal to all humanity because they are principle based. Principles such as: fairness, integrity, honesty, human dignity, service, quality or excellence, potential and growth.

A little over a year ago, my husband and I felt so lost and unsure about parenting our oldest son, who was only four at the time. We had tried every parenting technique heard of, and felt we were “losing him.” After coming across an educational model, known as a “Thomas Jefferson Education,” that was principle based, Richard and I had such a significant paradigm shift we have profoundly changed our lives.

We stopped trying to squish our son (or any of our children) into the box of social norms. We began to focus first on ourselves by fundamentally changing our self-perception and how we viewed our children. We realized that we needed to begin with the end in mind – to know what our missions were, and then watch for and help each of our children with their individual missions.

We began to put first things first to create a more inspiring learning environment by reading classics and removing the television from our home. As parents, we realized that we needed to model the type of behavior and attitudes that we expected our children to have, by being more emotionally mature than they were, instead of borrowing strength from our position and authority.

Richard and I realized that “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them,” (Albert Einstein, pg 42). We found that principle based living and thinking was much more effective and satisfying, than just changing our parenting techniques. This road to valuing correct principles has been difficult, but well worth the effort. Keeping the end in mind, enables us to us have the courage to continue forward.

April's Title Swap

2009-04-30T11:48:00.000-06:00

10 Essential Herbs by Lalitha Thomas
Applewood Books (Historical and Biographical)
Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson
Value Tales by Spencer Johnson
The Core Knowledge Series by E.D Hirsch, Jr.

The Taming of the Shrew

2009-03-28T18:33:00.000-06:00

In Shakespeare’s play, The Taming of the Shrew, there are two beautiful sisters who are upper-class young maidens-in-waiting. The oldest sister, Katherine is known by everyone as foul tempered, sharp tongued and disobedient. Her sister, Bianca is seen as a sweet, soft-spoken, well-behaved and obedient daughter to her doting father, Signor Baptista Minola. But we soon find out that appearances are not always what they seem.

It becomes apparent that there is an intense sibling rivalry between the two sisters and that Bianca is given preferential treatment by everyone because Katherine is known as “the shrew.” No potential suitor who knows Katherine wants to have anything to do with her and they all flock to seek Bianca’s hand in marriage, but Baptisa lays down the law and won’t let any man woo Bianca until Katherine is married off first. The play never reveals the reasons for Katherine’s wrath, but clearly she was unhappy and miserable. It seems it was easy for Bianca to become her father’s favorite when her sister was struggling.

I remember as a child that often when my siblings were in trouble, I felt happiness and satisfaction that I wasn’t the one getting scolded. I enjoyed being on top when they were down. I thought I found success because of their failures. On a daily basis, I notice how several of my children take turns behaving like shrews and angels. When one or more children are misbehaving, the others act sugary sweet, and then when the angelic siblings are found struggling and behaving like shrews, the one(s) who previously had behavioral issues instantly sweeten up. It is like a pendulum that swings back and forth and rarely can a time be found when every child in the family is feeling good about him/her-self and others, all at the same time. Why does it have to be like this? Isn’t it possible to have a win-win situation and not have to compete for your parent’s approval through your sibling’s downfalls? It appears that this is a common human tendency that a child feels “up” only when his sibling is “down” and some adults never grow up and get past this kind of behavior with others. From the book by C. Terry Warner, Bonds that Make You Free, he states that “to the immature, others are not real.” Maybe this is one key that can help us understand why the immature have difficulty in feeling compassion for another’s struggle.

At the same time, it can be a temptation for parents to consistently build up the child that is eager to please and to maintain a general negative attitude with the child that is frequently difficult to deal with as was the case with Signor Baptista Minola and his two daughters. No one expected Katherine to ever be anything but a shrew all her life, and who would have expected anything but virtue and sweetness from Bianca?

Bianca had the opportunity to tell her new tutor, Cambio, that she did not want to have anything to do with his dishonesty when he revealed himself to really be Lucentio, a rich nobleman from Pisa . Instead, she goes along with his charades and secretly gets married to him without her father’s knowledge that he is the “real” Lucentio.

Meanwhile, Katherine allows herself to become tamed by her new husband, Petruchio, and is the only one that is obedient and loving to her husband when he calls for her in the presence of a celebration gathering. Katherine has become a refined, dignified woman who encourages her sister and her former suitor’s new wife to humble their pride and stop being so foolish as to “offer war where they should kneel for peace; or seek for rule, supremacy and sway when they are bound to serve, love and obey.”

Petruchio saw beyond the label that others had assigned to Katherine. He didn’t pay attention to everyone who ridiculed him for marrying Katherine and helping her to become the lovely young woman that was hidden inside of her. It would have been interesting to see had Shakespeare continued the play, if Bianca would have ended up becoming more like a shrew in her marriage to Lucentio now that her sister had become more “pure” as the name Katherine implies.

And as parents of children who struggle with not feeling good about themselves unless their siblings are down, or who struggle with children who have an abundance of less desirable character traits, we need to remember that our children will live up to whatever we believe they can become. Beneath the undesirable behavior is a beautiful person that can rejoice in being someone special and who can value their siblings’successes and feel true empathy for their struggles.

March's Title Swap

2009-03-27T19:23:00.005-06:00

Magic Tree House Series - Mary Pope Osborne
The Read Aloud Handbook - Jim Trelease
Our Home - C. E. Sargent, A.B.
Cardboard Can Rotater - click here for site
Honey for a Child's Heart
The Introvert Advantage: How to thrive in an Extroverted World
Love and Respect
What You Say When You Talk to Yourself

The Secret to Taming a Shrew: Virtue

2009-03-27T17:17:00.000-06:00

In the last line of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” the character Lucentio is awed by the change he has witnessed in his sister-in-law, Katherine, when he declares, “Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be tamed so.” How does one “Tame a Shrew?” Petruchio not only understood how, but he succeeded in genuinely winning Katherine’s love, affection, and devotion because of his unwavering virtue.

Upon arriving in Pudua, Petruchio seeks to increase his fortune by marrying rich. All he wants is a bride with an enormous dowry, and Katherine fits the bill. When he approaches her father to settle the terms of marrying Katherine, he is so honest and direct that he is chastised. “You are too blunt. Go about it orderly,” they chide. But Petruchio retorts, “You wrong me…give me leave.” On their wedding day, Petruchio arrives in what others deem to be very inappropriate clothing. When asked to change his attire, he declares, “To me she is married, not unto my clothes.”

Petruchio held a moral compass that few in his day possessed. Whenever anyone called Kate anything unkind, such as referring to her as a “shrew”, he protested and declared her to be virtuous and witty. Although he deprived Kate of shelter, food, sleep, and fine clothing, Petruchio did it all in the name of love. Because of the personal virtue he lived by, it enabled him to “kill a wife with kindness, and thus (I’ll) curb her mad and head strong humor.” It caused Kate to appreciate all an honest husband provides for a wife. She later publicly proclaims that, “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper…and such duty as the subject owes the prince, even such a woman oweth to her husband.”

In contrast, Lucentio possessing no sense of morals, desired to win Katherine’s younger and more docile sister Bianca’s hand in marriage. Arriving in Pudua to study, he ironically declares to his servant, Tranio, “for the time I study virtue, and that part of philosophy will I apply that treats of happiness by virtue specially to be achieved.” Yet any scruples Lucentio possessed fled quickly when he beheld the beauty of Bianca. “I burn, I pine, I perish, Tranio, if I achieve not this young modest girl.” Upon hearing that Bianca’s hand cannot be had, unless the elder sister was tamed and married first, Lucentio and Tranio devise up a plan to deceive Bianca’s father in order to let Lucentio get close and woo Bianca. Their deceptive antics get so out of hand, that Tranio even attempts to send Lucentio’s father to jail in order to save face.

Does this lack of virtue bring the happiness to Lucentio that he specially wanted to achieve in the opening of the play? No. Although he does succeeded in wooing Bianca by winning her affection and love and eloping with her, Bianca does not respect or honor him. After Bianca denounces her sister Katherine’s duty to her husband, Lucentio miserably declares, “I would your duty were as foolish too. The wisdom of your duty, fair Bianca, hath cost me an hundred crowns since suppertime.” Bianca quips right back, “the more fool you for laying on my duty.” No wonder Lucentio is in awe of Katherine’s devotion to her husband. He contains no virtue that would demand the respect of anyone, least of all his wife’s.

TJEd Social Leadership

2009-03-10T13:57:00.006-06:00

This weekend I was blessed to attend the Annual TJEd Form in SLC. One of the most thought provoking seminars was given by Shannon Brooks. He stated:

A Renaissance of Social Leadership means a rediscover of the joy of learning for learning sake, the development of personal mission and a focus on unleashing your personal genius.
He also stated that TJEd is not a curriculum or a method. It's the principals that allow you to suck the marrow out of the life! He challenged us to find the WILL to do so...

Finding our Modern Day "Walden"

2009-02-28T19:42:00.005-07:00

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I can to die, discover that I had not lived."

Although I can not escape to the woods permanently, I can still simplify my life and try to live day deliberately...

February's Title Swap

2009-02-28T19:38:00.002-07:00

Project Organization - Marie Ricks (Deseret Book)
Amazing Grace - The DVD
It's All Too Much - Peter Walsch
Muhammad

The Home Feeling

2009-02-03T19:31:00.002-07:00

“Do you know that being a stranger is the hardest thing that can happen to anyone in all this world?” This is what the Princess told Little Sister in the book, “Laddie” by Gene Stratton-Porter. The Princess, along with her mother and father, the Pryors, were the newcomers in town and they had a dark, family secret they tried to keep hidden from their neighbors.

Mr. Pryor was a man who felt betrayed by his own son. He was so overcome with grief and shame over what his son had been accused of doing that he forced his wife and daughter to leave their home in England . They moved to the United States and changed their last name hoping to forget their past, yet ever living a daily nightmare of untold anguish and disappointment. They don’t fit in very well and reject help from others. Mr. Pryor becomes especially bitter and hardened as he rejects God. Various members of the Stanton family especially notice their suffering and isolation and desire to help them carry their burden.

One day, the mother of the Stanton family, Ruth, gets her opportunity to have a heart to heart talk with Mr. Pryor. Ruth explains to Mr. Pryor how much she would like to help him carry his burden. She tells him that it doesn’t matter to her what the burden is, if he had betrayed his country, blasphemed against God or killed his own child, he could not stop her from caring about him and praying for him. Mr. Pryor doesn’t believe that Ruth (or anyone) could ever understand his trials. Ruth’s response is, “You’re in the position of a man doubly bereft. You are without a country, and without a God. Your face tells every passer-by how you are enjoying that kind of life.”

The author, Gene Stratton-Porter does a beautiful job of setting side by side the polar opposites of the Pryors’ bitterness and pain that leads to their isolation and loneliness and the Stantons ’ creation of the home feeling that invites inclusion and friendship.

Ruth talks to Mr. Pryor about her family life and why it matters so much to her. She and her husband, Paul, are partners with God in everything they do and build their lives on this solid foundation. She says, “Shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart, I’ve stood beside my man, and done what had to be done, to build this home, rear our children, save our property.” Together they raise twelve children whom they teach self-control, how to study, to work hard, to have joy of life and to be satisfied with what they had.

Ruth explains that they always focused their energies on striving to transform this land “into the dearest, the most beautiful, spot on earth.” In making their home the best they could, in improving their township, county and state, they are doing their share toward building up this nation. Ruth’s highest aspiration is to be a clean, thrifty housekeeper, a bountiful cook, a faithful wife, a sympathetic mother. “That is life work for any woman, and to be a good woman is the greatest thing on earth....to hold the respect and love of my husband is the greatest object of my life.”

I don’t think it was a coincidence that the author chose to give Mrs. Stanton the name of “Ruth” which means “compassion” and “pity.” Ruth is filled with goodness and concern for everyone she comes in contact with.

At the end of their discussion, Ruth sends Mr. Pryor away with some cuttings and roots to plant in his own yard. When her husband Paul came home that night she exclaimed, “Praise God, the wedge is in!...Once he begins planting, and watching things grow, the home feeling is bound to come. I tell you, Paul, the wedge is in! Oh, I’m so happy.”

And Ruth is right. The wedge is in; the healing has begun. And through some fateful events the Stantons and Pryors become family through the marriages of their children. Mr. Pryor is reconciled to his son, and his daughter, the Princess, asks her father to forgive her for having hard feelings against him. She exclaims, “Oh Daddy, do let’s forget, and begin all over new, like other people!” I have no doubt the Pryors are learning how to have the “home feeling” for themselves.

January's Title Swap

2009-01-30T14:59:00.008-07:00

The following are the titles that were brought to our January book group. Each member brought a book from their family's personal cannon:

The Secret Garden - F.H. Burnett
Sign of the Beaver - E. G. Speare
Hank the Cow Dog - John Erickson
The Standard Works of the LDS Faith
The Narcissistic Family - Robert Pressman
Leadership Education - Oliver and Rachel DeMille

We had a great discussion for all those who were able to attend on the Fourth Turning. We discussed:

What our personal generational constellations were.
Archetypes Myths and meanings.
What our Scripts are in a Fourth Turning.
And the great importance of raising the next generation of Heroes.

After studying and discussing this topic at length, our group came to the conclusion that the US has already begun the Fourth Turning. It was trigger by the events that took place in 9-11-2001 and the crises will climax within 25 years from that event, (if we follow the cycles of history from the last 500 years). May we all be prepared as best we can for the upcoming times.

Salt Lake City TJEd Forum for 2009

2009-01-08T17:04:00.002-07:00

Mark your Calendars, it's time for the TJEd Annual Forum for 2009. It will be held on March 7th, in Salt Lake City.
If you are interested, the web site is found on http://www.tjedmarketplace.com/.

Early birds must register by Feb 7th, 2009.
Prices at a glance:

Early Bird Adult $52.00
Early Bird Couple: $72.00

Regular Price Adult: $72.00
Regular Price Couple: $92.00

There are special events the day before that cost more if you would like to go earlier. I am personally only attending, on March 7th myself. I think that you can order lunch through the conference or leave to get lunch. What a wonderful time to have a get-away!

Finding Relevance in History

2009-01-06T10:19:00.008-07:00

"The farther backward you look, the farther forward you are likely to see," Winston Churchill

Perhaps you yearned for a closer connection to the ancestral wisdom gained by real people who struggled to build the civilizations you inherited. Perhaps you yearned for a feeling Americans haven't known in decades: to be active participants in a destiny that is both positive and plausible...This is a book that turns History into Prophcey.

Quotes from this month book, The Fourth Turning, page 20-21

Living the Dream

2008-12-12T19:25:00.001-07:00

I have spent most of my life falsely believing that I must sacrifice my own individual development so that I could support my children to learn what the public school system required of them. Good parenting meant enrolling my children in every kind of extra curricular program I could squeeze in after-school hours and during the summer. I was so caught up in giving my kids every possible opportunity to excel that there wasn’t time to focus on real family life. The most important outcome was their accomplishments and not the focus on relationships.

It’s a painful realization that in many ways I was following the masses along a conveyor belt of compulsory education. I sent my children out the door each morning and didn’t see them until the late afternoon. Then my time was spent making sure they got to all their lessons and games. There was little time or energy left over to focus on the children’s real needs. My heart often cried out in quiet anguish, yet I had no idea there existed a different and better way of living. Pulling my kids out of school and staying home from work to raise them simply was not an option.

But extending my parenting time into a second season has brought new opportunities to enlighten me in ways I never dreamed were possible. Through my discovery of the principles found in the book by Oliver DeMille, “Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century,” I have had a major paradigm shift. I no longer sacrifice my own development. My children no longer have compulsory education and now have the freedom to choose what they’d like to study and have unencumbered time to do it. My focus is on my family and not my career and they get the best part of me each and every day, no longer having to get by on my left-overs.

Oliver DeMille said in a recent seminar that the biggest challenge of the 21st century is the “lost family” because most people don’t talk about classics, tradition, family history and stories anymore. There isn’t time because of over-commitment. Building and nurturing long-term relationships based on core values of right and wrong, true and false, good and bad through family work and play are fundamental to everything else.

In our home we are raising youth instead of teenagers. Youth who get themselves up early everyday to go out in the dark and cold to feed a variety of animals. Who chop wood, keep the fire going that heats the house, complete their stewardship without complaining, read and enjoy the classics and study for hours independently. Youth, who have no desire for television, video games, I-pods, cell phones and are not concerned about the latest fashions or fitting in with the crowd. It really is possible to say no to stuff and yes to family.

Our family life has never been better. We make the time to focus on what matters most. I no longer experience the regrets I had when our family was on the conveyor-belt. We are happy just being together day in and day out. We enjoy a much richer, deeper friendship with each other as we learn to serve and help our family relationships grow and thrive. This is what I have always wanted for my family. We are finally “living the dream.”

Title Swap for December

2008-12-11T19:47:00.003-07:00

The Children's Treasury of Virtues - William J. Bennett
Wrinkle In Time - Madeline L'Engle
The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch
Chicken in the Headlights - Matthew Buckley
The Giver - Lois Lowry
John Adams - David McCullough
Mandy - Julie Edwards (Andrews)
Seven Medieval Queens -
Man of LaMancha - Don Quixote
Kidnapped - Robert Lewis Stevensen

An Adult On the Path of Leadership

2008-12-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

I was the oldest of us four children while we were growing up. My mother and father both worked outside of the home, thus I was left in charge during the hours in between school and when our parents returned home from work. Our generation has been referred to as the “Latch-Key Kids” or “Generation X.” Although no real harm came to us during these hours alone, most of us missed the paternal guidance that is helpful to naturally acquire the skills needed to become effective leaders as adults. The results are a nation of parents who are dependable followers, trying to guide and raise their own children in a very difficult and demoralized society. I refuse to believe that what the conveyor belt has to offer is all that is available for my life and my children’s. I want to break free from being a dependable follower.

According to Dr. Oliver DeMille, in his book, “Leadership Education, the Phases of Learning,” the best dependable followers are great at copying, counting, and comparing with others. In contrast, responsible leaders create, value, and impact others.

An example of a mother who is lost as a dependable follower was found on a recent blog entry I came across. In an effort to save money, she and her husband had decided to turn off their cable. She wrote that she was bored out of her mind because she was not able to watch TV and she had already read the Harry Potter and Twilight series. She was desperate for advice because her husband was about to go out of town. To my astonishment, she received 18 comments, ranging in advice on how to download illegal copies of her favorite TV show off the Internet, to renting a TV series from Blockbusters. Others commented on how they were too addicted to TV to ever consider trying to cut out their cable bill. I was deeply saddened by this mother and her friend’s inability to think outside of the conveyor belt box. What if this mother pulled out a classic, like Jane Eyre or began to study the Constitution? What if she began organizing her home or did a 6-month purge in her new found time? I commend her for turning off the TV, but filling the void with something worthwhile would have made her a leader, instead of a follower.

I am finding that simply by reading classics, I am weird. You would not believe how many strange looks I get when I tell people that not only my book group reads classics, but writes papers to share with one another. Pulling yourself off the conveyor belt can be very scary and isolating. At first, I found myself excusing and apologizing for my son being instructed at home. I have had to find the courage to not only take the smart risk of home schooling my children, but to not look for external approval and to stop fearing my own greatness. All of these are transition skills that are needed to be an effective leader; skills that I did not acquire when I should have because I was a “Latch-Key Kid” left on my own.

To create, to value, and to impact: this is what I want for my life and my family’s. I want to create an inspiring environment that enables my children to have a love of learning. I hope to show them how to value the good things in life, instead of how to count them. I pray that I may acquire the skills needed to make a positive impact on others.

2008-12-03T07:13:00.003-07:00

Marinade
When I slow down and take time to reflect and feel the pulse of my family, I know there are some things missing. Reading “Leadership Education” by Oliver and Rachel DeMille confirms it. Obviously I can’t incorporate everything I think would be ideal for us overnight, but as a result of reading, studying, and praying, the Lord has helped me to prioritize what my family specifically needs.

One of the concepts mentioned in several ingredients of “Leadership Education” is the concept of hard work building both character and body. The pictures created in my mind when reading about Oliver James chopping wood, milking goats, mending fences, planting trees, and still doing the work of a scholar make my heart race. My soul hungers as I read of the DeMille children taking care of bunnies, the dog, the chickens, and most importantly, their handicapped brother, Hyrum. The DeMille’s explain, “We simply could not imagine how to have the kind of family culture our grandparents did without having the environment and activities they had. . . The yard, the animals and the home required our attention as if the homestead were a part of the family. We had to take care of it so it could take care of us.”

I recently had an invitation to my friend, Molly’s house in Round Valley. Her house is twelve miles south of Cascade. As I drove the nearly two hours to get there, I felt like I was entering into the presence of God. That sounds dramatic, I know, but the absence of everything commercial had the same effect on me as leaving a smoke-filled building to suck in that first breath of pure air. The experience, although lasting less than 24 hours, was surreal to me. Round Valley is a place where keys are left in the ignition in full faith that they will still be there upon return, where the night sky is darker and yet brighter at the same time, where you can clearly see the view of the mist hanging in the trees at the base of the mountain, and where cattle have the right of way.

Upon my return, I cried: first, because I felt like I was headed back to Sodom; second, because we were 4 weeks away from buying a house in a perfect little neighborhood with a yard, a fence and lots of neighbors. It’s all I ever wanted . . . until Cascade. I don’t want what I used to want. I want a place for my children to play and explore outside without the worry of neighbors disliking the noise, or traffic whizzing by, or sex offenders in the house down the street. I am tired of the HOA complaining about toys left in the front yard and weeds in the cracks of the driveway (true story). This is the season in my life that is for rearing children, molding character, building human edifices to God. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t have the delusion that simply moving a few miles south, buying a few chickens, and chopping some wood will fix all our problems and make us magically complete. However, I do feel that a change in the lifestyle of my family will aid us in becoming the kind of people Heavenly Father needs.

I’ve heard that when you read a book over and over, you have a different experience each time —not because the book has changed but because you have. That’s how I felt when I came home. Everything was different. I saw my house and family differently. I treated them with more care. My house hadn’t changed, my children and husband were the same, but I had changed through my experience in Cascade. And it made all the difference. What changes could come through a daily marinade of souls in such an environment? I can only imagine.

Title Swap

2008-11-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

I just want to remind everyone that we have our next meeting in one week, December 2nd. It will be at the Red Feather Club house again at 7:30 pm.

I would like to add something new this week. I would like you to bring any books you have read besides the five pillars to share in a "Title Swap" at the beginning of our group. The only thing I request is that you share only titles that you have actually read, not intend to read.

Please also bring the current TJEd book and paper you would like share like usual. I can't wait to see you. Let me know if you have any questions.....thanks, Emma

The Statesmen

2008-11-19T11:35:00.003-07:00

Yesterday, my husband and two other fathers met for the first official "Statesmen" book group discussion. Their first read was "The Inferno" from Dante's Divine Comedy.

If any other Fathers are interested in joining them, check out their web site at: statesmenread.blogspot.com
The Statesmen plan to read "Red Badge of Courage," by Stephan Crane. Their next meeting is December 16th at 7:30pm

Good and Great Leaders

2008-10-29T13:48:00.005-06:00

This quote is found on page 2 in the introduction of the Leadership Education book, by Dr. Oliver DeMille we are reading this month:

Separation of intellectual learning from moral development most characterizes the modern conveyor belt educational system - from pre-school through post-doctoral studies. It is precisely this separation that parents and educators of our generation must overcome if we are to educate a generation of leaders with character and competence, who are both good and great.

Today, more than ever we need leaders with a moral backbone. WE are the ones who are educating tomorrows leaders, this is a very exciting but daunting task. I hope you find this book helpful in your endeavour to educate...I can't wait to hear what you think.

Seek Knowledge

2008-10-23T15:10:00.003-06:00

There are times in my life when I feel as though I cannot get enough information on a particular subject. I am engrossed. I want to read all I can. I wish I could read faster so I could get the information in faster. I inhale the information. In "The Walking Drum", by L'Amour, this is how Kerbouchard seems to live EVERY moment. "Learning to me is a way of life. I do not learn to obtain position or reputation. I want only to know." If someone has a skill he does not, he takes the time to observe and learn or to be taught. He listens to gain knowledge. He reads to gain knowledge. He not only learns because it is enjoyable, but because he wants to be prepared for a future when he may need that knowledge.

"The mind must be prepared for knowledge...a discovery made too soon is no better than a discovery not make at all." This is so true for us and our children. If we WANT to know, we are prepared, it will be enjoyable to learn and we will remember what they learn. The same is true for our children. If we try to teach them things they don't want to know, or don't care about. It's not enjoyable and the knowledge we are trying to impart will soon fade away.

Just as Kerbouchard did, we would do well to use every moment as a learning opportunity. A final quote from the book that gives great direction on learning is, "You are your own best teacher. My advise is to question all things. Seek for answers and when you find what seems to be an answer, question that, too."

The Frontier Within

2008-10-22T20:43:00.001-06:00

“Our challenges define us, our reactions to them mold and shape us.” (p. 51) I’ve read those words several times, now, but it wasn’t until this most recent reading of Oliver van De Mille’s, “A Thomas Jefferson Education,” that I saw my challenges in a different light. I have a choice, to let my challenges beat me or to beat them. The Lord didn’t send me here to be beat. He sent me here to discover and my potential and reach for it with all my energy. Our challenges are to fight against physical, mental, and spiritual atrophy. De Mille calls this, “the frontier within.” (p. 51) Brutal reality tells me than my frontier has at least three major challenges. First, I need to make the changes in myself that I would like others to make, in this case, my children. Second, as I make changes and begin to really have “aha” moments, I need to share them with my children. And third, I need to practice what De Mille calls, “Socratic self-restraint.” The world will provide my children with enough criticism—I need to be their biggest cheerleader. These concepts, to me, embody the Thomas Jefferson Principle of Inspire, Not Require.

Oft times I find myself expecting my children to have qualities that I do not exhibit. I yell if they do not obey right away, but expect them not to yell if they are frustrated when not immediately responded to. I tell them not to compare themselves to their siblings, but they hear me on the phone comparing them to one another. I apply the “Tough Noogies” rule if we have something for dinner that they do not like, but I refuse to eat Ramen noodles when we have them for lunch. I expect them to write in their learning journals each day, yet haven’t written in mine for over a week. And then I wonder why my children act the way they do. I don’t know who said it, but the saying goes, “Your actions scream so loudly at me, I can’t hear what you’re saying.” Since my latest reading of TJEd, I have begun to really examine what my actions are teaching my children. I watch myself, as if an outsider, and ask myself what I would like my children to learn from watching me. I then respond in the appropriate manner, allowing myself to reflect and adjust when necessary.

I often get excited about my “aha” moments, but rarely do I share them with Todd or the kids. I assume that they won’t understand what I’m so excited about, or that they will think I’m silly for my excitement. Sometimes I want so much for them to have the same “aha” moment as I had that I try to plan out the teaching moment perfectly. By the time I actually have a chance to share it, I cannot remember anymore why I thought they would appreciate it. My excitement has waned. My spark is gone. I cannot spread the fire of inspiration without a spark. What is important is not that someone have my “aha” moment, but that someone desires to have their own “aha” moment. I have begun to share my excitement, even if it comes out in indecipherable shouts of sweet success. My family may not know why I am excited, just that because of my hard work and perseverance, I am excited!

I loved the way De Mille used the phrase, “Socratic self-restraint.” He follows with this: “Be positive and use restraint; you are simply a resource, not a critic: Focus on content, not technique.” (p.51) Too often, I have told my children, “Well, that’s great, but it would have been better if …” or, “You’re right about that, but it is spelled like this …” or, “I like what you have here, but don’t you think it would sound more exciting if . . .?” They walk away thinking, “Can’t I do anything right? I’m not good at this. I always mess up. I’m not as smart as _______. I don’t want to show her next time I write something. I don’t think I will try again,” instead of walking away thinking, “My mom loves what I do. I am a great learner. I am a talented writer. My thoughts are worth something. I can produce good work. I want to do it again. I’ll do even better next time. I’ll blow Mom out of the water!” I was glad to understand Love to Learners better than before in this aspect. And because I am in the Love to Learn Phase, I can ask myself the questions, “What do I want people to say when they read my papers? What responses make me want to try harder and keep fighting for a great education? How can I respond to my children in a way that shows my confidence in them?”

These concepts of Starting with Self, Sharing my excitement, and Socratic Self-Restraint may seem elementary. But every concept that it is possible to learn in life has many layers of understanding. They are similar to the Phases of Learning. I have found another layer to the concept of Inspire, Not Require in my own life. True application of this principle is what will boost me to the higher thought processes that I am searching for. Sometimes we think we know where we want to be, but we don’t know how to get there. I still have a lot of questions, but focusing on applying these principles has been revelatory and refreshing to me. My challenges can still be frightening, but no longer are they the enemy.

Honor be to Portia

2008-10-22T20:41:00.002-06:00

“It is a good divine that follows his own instructions. I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching.” Shakespeare’s Portia, soon-to-be wife of Bassanio, best friend to The Merchant of Venice, spoke this truth.
I wanted to write about how we often expect things of others—spouses, children, friends, the driver in front of us, our grocery store clerk—and then during poignant times of self-evaluation, find ourselves to be hypocrites.
I wanted to point out that we have no right to put “no-exceptions” expectations on other, especially children, when we ourselves, adults, fail to act in accordance with some or other of those expectations daily.
I wanted to point out that Portia must be quite the flake to say what she said about it being easier to teach twenty what is right than to make herself do what she professed to be right.
I wanted to challenge each of us here to put special effort to having more integrity and living more as we expect others to live—to stop holding back that little nuisance of a flaw that we keep holding on to. After all, perfecting ourselves would finally give us the right to point out others flaws, wouldn’t it?
I have had to humble myself numerous times in my life, but not usually to a made-up character in a play. I have decided that Portia knows more than I do. She has made an honest assessment of human nature. She must have understood that we have each been given flaws in this life that are meant to be challenging to overcome. If it were as easy to do everything right all the time as it is for us to teach others what is good and right and true, we would all be perfect right now, and there would be no reason for us to be here.
So instead of calling us all to repentance of imperfection on penalty of hellfire and damnation, I thought it wiser to call us each on a mission of mercy. If we each gave others the same grace that we wish for ourselves when we err, perhaps there would be less self-pity in our families, perhaps less broken friendships in our communities, less divorce, less suicide, less offense, less loneliness. Perhaps there would be more understanding, more self-evaluation and subsequent motivation to change, more unity, more “whole” families, more self-esteem, more obedience, more kindness, more love toward one another.
It might be the perfect time to remember a couple of things. First, as we judge others, so will we be judged. It is always the right thing to do to be merciful. Second, as we treat others, we are also treating our Savior. The only way to truly show appreciation for our Savior for what He did for us is to treat our fellow men with respect and forgiveness. If we only realized that most of the people we encounter in this life know that they have flaws and are sincerely working on them, we would be more apt to forgive and forget.
Obviously in focusing on mercy towards others, I did not intend that we neglect the pursuit of righteousness. However, maybe finding sympathy and understanding for others is the first step in truly being able to transfer our energy from being frustrated with others to transforming ourselves.
Well does Portia play her part as she forgives Bassanio his parting with the ring—the ring given him by Portia that he swore never to part with.
But is it enough? I have pondered recently on the burdens we carry when faced with the need to forgive. My wounds have been deep, and many turned to scars that I am so used to that I forget that I once was beautiful. Of course I am speaking spiritually. We speak so much of forgiveness, and I do not want to downplay its importance to each of us, but what if we could avoid some of the situations that required forgiveness? What if we chose not to judge others, not to find a reason for feeling hurt by their actions or pushed to change them to be, “more like us,” whatever that may be? What if we loved people where they were at and focused on what they had to offer us—not in a one-sided, usury sort of friendship—but in a way that says to them, “This person thinks I have worth, they are looking for my positive traits, I am comfortable with them and want to be a better person because of their influence on me.”
As our Savior was on the cross, He begged the Father’s forgiveness of the soldiers and the people who had sent Him to His death. Forgiveness is the obvious lesson from this scripture. The hidden one that was revealed to me was this: If we were more like our Savior, we would need to do more than forgive—He didn’t say, “I forgive them,” He said, “Father, forgive them.” If we want to be like Him, we will be advocates with the Father for those we meet who are imperfect. We may need to forgive first, but the extra mile is becoming their advocates. Weren’t we told to, “Pray for them that hate you?”
As Portia would say in our lingo, “Easier said than done.” I think that’s what she meant. We each preach a good sermon, but to really live it, to follow the “path less traveled,” is the ultimate test.

A Tapestry

2008-10-22T19:56:00.001-06:00

“How young is too young to begin to discover the power and the beauty of words?” Louis L’Amour answers his self-posed question time and again in The Lonesome Gods. Such discovery, he asserts, has no beginning. Nor has it an end. L’Amour’s bold assertion is that learning is eternal. Further reading exposes his demand that each be responsible for his own education. Thus The Lonesome Gods awakens in us a sense of tradition—a continuous thread, unbroken, keeping the tapestry of time from unraveling. What the past understood, L’Amour desires us to foster; for without nurture, it will fray. Each generation is called to keep it vibrant and whole, then to add its own unique hue to the tapestry.
L’Amour’s favored character, Johannes Verne, lost his mother at age five and his father at seven. Many would declare he had not enough time with his parents to learn much. Yet Johannes reveals as a teenager, “My father had prepared me for marvels.” Pondering the timeline of my own children, I found it impossible to pinpoint the exact time their education began. Generations ago, parents ingrained principles into their children that have since found their way into me. Consequently, even before conception, my choices, formed by those endless principles, affected each of my children. Their formal education began the first time I smiled and said, “I love you,” to the warm bundle handed me. Children learn more from what we as parents are than from what we profess to teach them.
Johannes learned from his father’s words as well as his example. He shared, “My father always said that was the wonderful thing about learning, that there was no end to it.” Speaking of the desert, Johannes’s father, Zachary Verne, said, “[It] is a book of many pages, and just when you believe you know all there is to know it will surprise you with the unexpected.” Does this hold true for the desert only? No, but for marriage, parenting, industry, business, art, language, people. And of those things that seem concrete, tangible, or quantifiable, L’Amour teaches, “Nothing remains the same. Things are forever changing, and one must understand the changes and change with them, or be lost by the way.” This lesson, no doubt, was one learned by the author himself as he lived through the final stages of the change from the agricultural age to the industrial age, and then saw the birth of another change—one from the industrial age to the information age. We can learn the same lesson if we choose, as we are living to see that change come to full fruition.
Who can see to it that we keep up with the changes? L’Amour holds us accountable. He simply stated, “All education is self-education.” Once read, the words award ownership to the reader. Awareness and responsibility are instantaneous. He continues, “A teacher is only a guide, to point out the way, and no school, no matter how excellent, can give you an education.” The obvious point is that we are responsible to initiate the search for truth. The secondary point is that education comes in diverse forms. In addition to books, examples from mentors, living and long gone, are a precious resource for the hungry. L’Amour entreats us, “Do not be like the oyster who rests on the sea bottom waiting for the good things to come by. Search for them and find them.” We are our children’s first mentors, and our parents were ours. To find additional mentors who can stretch us and challenge us is a worthy goal.
Of his young son’s education, Zachary Verne confided, “Perhaps he will not understand, but there is a clash of shields and a call of trumpets in those lines. . .In some year yet unborn he may hear those words again, or read them, and find in them something hauntingly familiar, as of something long ago heard and only half-remembered.” In my personal search for wisdom, I find both comfort and determination in L’Amour’s The Lonesome Gods—comfort in knowing that all of humanity has been or will be where I am now—in search of truth, goodness, and mercy—and determination to push through the deserts, Fletchers and Isidro’s of my own. I do not think I can phrase my feelings any better than this very author who wrote, “What I am to be is something I must become. I must create myself from this that I have. We are nothing until we make ourselves something.” To own my future is my gift, my strand in the tapestry.

Yol Bolsun! May There Be A Road: Women and A Walking Drum

2008-10-21T21:25:00.007-06:00

By Diane (What is the trick to indent paragraphs?)

Mathurin is a lustful youth accustomed to the cultures of his time, yet he treats each woman with the respect she seeks. “This tribute have I always paid to women. I have not forgotten [them].”(188) The village woman, captured by pirates inspired him with her escape and he repeatedly honored her for it. “Aziza…even lovelier than I remembered… had made her peace with her new life and had forgotten...I remembered.”(188) Of the shepherds dark-eyed daughter, he mused “…she was such a woman as could topple kingdoms and lay dukedoms in the dust.”(123)

Disapproval is clear when he relates “With all the talk of chivalry among the Franks, women were considered mere chattels.”(139) Among the “Moslem worlds of Spain or the Middle East [women] were not restricted [in education] and had attained eminence in the field of letters. Many had attended universities…”(139) In spite of these paltry educational freedoms women continued to be bought for politics, sold with a dowry, and beauty was too often a curse. Even those women who obtained a measure of power held their scepters with a shaky hand, their very physique betraying them by simultaneously offering temptation and displaying frailty. L’amour makes it clear that the same creature so easily procured for any harem is also capable of such influence as Helen or Cleopatra.

In spite of the apparently unanimous religious & societal views of women at that time Aziza explains “We manage, somehow. ...some become very clever at politics and intrigue. Some simply find a lover; some sink into whatever life they have with their children, and often they are enough.”(107) Mathurin accepts her statement without question, but later relates that “Women are neither weaklings nor fools, and they, too, must plan for what is to come.”(290)

Mathurin’s praise transcends gender and pits Safia triumphantly against humanity when he relates that “It had taken more courage than a person had a right to possess for her to come to warn me.”(174) “Safia” he explains, “was unreadable, beautiful again, and a mystery forever. She was soft and lovely…yet quiet, with much of the queen in her presence. There was a steel in her, a command of herself and those about her such as I had seen in no other woman.”(188) How easily he could have kept her with him, instead he respects her wishes and bids farewell as she travels her road to Paris. With Suzanne he is playful and taunting but he still allows her freedom to choose or deny him. Of Sundari, the woman he vows to marry, this book says little, but Mathurin prepares to risk everything for her. Finally he had found “Someone more important to me than anyone or anything….”(348)

“[T]here comes a time when it lies within [ones] grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be.”(336) Mathruin warns that we must be careful what we wish for as the “woman who wishes to be the equal of a man usually turns out to be less than a man and less than a woman. A woman is herself, which is something altogether different than a man.”(219) Through the character of Mathruin, Loui L’amour subtly encourages all women to recognize their historical importance, find the road that calls, and stride forward with confidence. Woman is not man, she was not meant to be and will find greatness only in being woman. Yol bolsun! May there be a road for the women who wish to exit mans’ marathon and travel a feminine path.

The Dogma of Yesterday

2008-10-21T19:32:00.000-06:00

In the book, “The Walking Drum,” by Louis L’Amour, we find the author illustrates the idea that each civilization is always in a state of transition. After Kerbouchard leaves the progressive and intellectual environment of Muslim Cordoba and returns to his native Christian France, he finds his home to be an alien world that he is no longer a part. Kerbouchard declares to a young scholar of Paris, that the “radical ideas of today are often the conservative policies of tomorrow, and dogma is left protesting by the wayside.”(255) Today we are experiencing firsthand the decadence of our traditional family values with the legalization of same-sex marriages. Is the ideal of marriage between only a man and wife going to be the “dogma” that is left protesting by the wayside? Can we progress too far?

In the state of Massachusetts, gay marriages have recently been made legal. Because their state government deems same-sex marriage as being morally equal, they felt it was necessary to affirm these new ideals in the children’s minds through the public schools starting as young as kindergarten. This last January David and Tonia Parker, residents of Massachusetts, were shocked when their five-year-old brought home a diversity backpack that contained the book, “Who’s In a Family,” by Robert Skutch.

Same-sex relationships use to be deemed as “radical ideas,” but unfortunately they are becoming the “conservative polices” of today as declared by Robert Skutches own words, "The whole purpose of the book was to get the subject [of same-sex parent households] out into the minds and the awareness of children before they are old enough to have been convinced that there's another way of looking at life . . . It would be really nice if children were not subjected to the -- I don't want to use the word 'bigotry,' but that's what I want to say anyway -- of their parents and older people.” In their cry for tolerance of same-sex marriage to be deemed equal, they are ironically no longer tolerating traditional family values. Because I uphold that marriage is scared only between a man and women, I am being referred to as a “bigot.”’ This country is starting to feel like a world that I am an alien, and am on longer apart.

The Parkers also felt that this subject was not appropriate to be introduced at such a young age and asked the school’s administration for a parental notification in the future, so that their children could opt out when same sex relationships are being discussed. They felt like the policies were infringing upon their sacred parental duties to teach what they believed. David Parker stood his ground in his beliefs of traditional values and found himself shouting his dogma in jail.

Every great civilization of the world has risen, enjoyed prosperity that soon leads to decadence. Are we witnessing the transition of our society going too far? Kerbouchard declares, “The important thing is to know where you stand and what you believe, then be true to yourself in all things.” Even if you find yourself protesting your dogma by the wayside… I hope to protest until I am hoarse…

Who Shapes the Clay of a Man's Life?

2008-10-19T14:10:00.008-06:00

There are so many good quotes from The Walking Drum, by Louis L'Amour, but I just had to share one that I would love to tell many people I have encountered in my life:

Up to a point a man's life is shaped by environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him.
Then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wished to be.
Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, lack of good fortune, or the quirks of fate. Everyone has it within his power to say, this I am today, that I shall be tomorrow. The wish, however, must be implemented by deeds.

All That Glisters is Not Gold

2008-09-23T15:07:00.006-06:00

In the play, The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, we find a major theme portrayed in the struggle to distinguish between appearances and reality. The ability to choose wisely, to distinguish between what appears to be valuable and what really is so, depends not on intelligence, but on something deeper. In this play it is love, not for glory, or nobility of place, or wealth, but for another human being that brings true happiness and joy.

This theme is expressed in the choosing of one of three caskets to win the hand in marriage the beautiful yet witty Portia, who is the wealthy heiress of Belmont. The Prince of Morocco, one of Portia’s numerous suitors, chooses the gold cast because it is made of the most precious metal and is inscribed with, “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.” Upon opening the casket, Morocco is so shocked he calls upon hell when he finds a skull staring back at him instead of Portia’s portrait. He discovers a scrolls that instructs, “All that glister is not gold; Often have you heard that told. Many a man his life hath sold but my outside to behold. Glided tombs do worms in fold.” The Prince of Morocco is only interested in the glory that winning Portia’s hand in marriage would have brought him, and so he chooses unwisely.

The next suitor of Portia we watch is the arrogant Spanish Prince of Arragon. He decides upon the sliver casket because the precious metal’s inscription, which reads, “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.” But when he opens this casket he exclaims, “What’s here? The portrait of a blinking idiot…do I deserve no more than a fool’s head?” The Prince of Arragon is blinded by his own self-importance and pride and thus he also chooses unwisely.

Unlike the previous two suitors, Bassanio does not set his heart upon glory or wealth. He has to borrow the money from is friend, Antonio to even attempt to court Portia. He rejects the golden casket stating that gold is “hard food for Midas.” He turns away from the silver casket because silver is the “common drudge,”’ a medium of exchange, a means rather than an end. And so Bassanio finally comes to choose the least likely looking casket – the leaden one – which bears the inscription, “who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.” He finds Portia’s portrait in the casket and is rewarded with the chance to marry her because of his love for her and his willingness to sacrifice all he has.

Shylock, a rich Jewish merchant, is the villain of the play because his heart is set on only his possessions. When he finds he only daughter, Jessica has not only abandoned him, but also has stolen much of his wealth when she elopes with a Christian, he morns over the lost of both interchangeably. Shylock cries out, “My Daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!” in anguish. Although Shylock may be the most intelligent character in the play, he finds himself utterly alone. He loses his wealth, this daughter, and his faith. Shylock’s obsession for acquiring wealth blinds him with such hatred that he is unable to distinguish between what appears to be valuable and what really is so.

Are our hearts set upon glory, pride, wealth, or upon the love we have for others? Which will bring us lasting happiness and joy? What do each of us value most…

Beck Family Education

2008-08-27T14:46:00.003-06:00

What do I want for each of my children? I long for each of them to be faithful, compassionate, hardworking, educated individuals; possessing a clear sense of direction towards their personal mission in life. Today, we live in a “conveyor-belt” society that naturally consumes our family’s time, energy, thoughts and values. “People sup together, play together, travel together but they do not think together. Hardly any homes have any intellectual life whatsoever.” (Pg 66 from A Thomas Jefferson Education by Dr. Oliver DeMille) How do Richard and I remove our family off this absorbing conveyor-belt and promote intellectual life into our home?

First, we must set forth a strong foundation of our family’s faith and belief in God. The simplest way for us to do this is by slowing our lives down. When we become too busy and distracted by outside events (even too many play dates) our time is quickly eaten up and the spiritually things tend to go by the wayside first. These distractions may all be “good” things, but the spiritual teachings we can share with our children are “better.” When your life is quiet and simplified, it allows the spirit to return to your home and all are edified within.

Second, we wish for each of our children to have compassionate relationships. Teaching them academics is very important to us, but how to be Christ-like is the most valuable lesson a child could ever learn.

Next, it is a joyful task to lead and guide each child into the “real world” of a productive adult. My curriculum involves: laundry, dishes, cooking, gardening, reading, singing, playing the piano and violin, sewing and caring of our baby. Richard’s includes: mowing the lawn, car maintenance, studying, and household repairs. Naturally children love to “play” at the work you do, so let them come along for the ride. When I do the dishes, the younger ones play with dishes at our feet while the older ones contribute to the chore. Once a work ethic is established through daily responsibilities, it can easily be transferred to academics latter.

Finally, we desire each of our children to become genuinely educated. As parents, we must inspire them to educate themselves. Richard’s strongest impression he felt after reading this book was that he was not fully educated after all. We, as parents are trying to fill in the gaps of our own education by reading the classics ourselves. Although it is challenging, we have found that as Oliver DeMille states, “You as the reader awaken. Your exposure to greatness changes you: your ideas are bigger, your dreams wilder, your plans more challenging, your faith more powerful.” (Pg 71) Already our excitement to study has begun to inspire our children to educate themselves.

Every moment we are with our children they are watching, absorbing and mimicking us. What lessons do we want them to learn? As parents we must consciously exemplify the attributes of faith, compassion, work and education in our home because: “Indeed, coaching occurs one way or another, even if just by bad example or ambivalence.” (Pg 89) In our home class is never dismissed!

Human Nature

2008-07-22T14:53:00.001-06:00

My quote was taken from Louis L’Amour’s book, Lonesome Gods found on page, 251. “Yet no doubt the Indians thought all white men strange, for our ways and different from theirs and each people is apt to consider their own ways as ‘human nature,’ not realizing they were merely a pattern imposed upon them by rearing, by education, by the behavior of those with whom they associated.” Because Don Isidro was caught up by his own “human nature” he led a very unhappy, destructive, and lonely life. Miss Nesselrode chose to break away from her “human nature” and found happiness and enjoyed a very fulfilling life.

“Don Isidro had fierce pride in a name whose reputation had been won by others and to which he had contributed nothing. He had fled to this country to keep from his peers a knowledge he deemed disgraceful (the birth of a giant son, Alfredo, who would be his natural heir,) and he had driven his daughter (son-in-law, and grandson, Johannes) from his door for the same reason. Now a lonely and embittered man, he was left with nothing.”(pg 372) Don Federico (a distant relative that could inherit Isidro’s estate) sensed Don Isidro’s passionate weakness of pride and preyed upon it. In the end, Dona Elena explains to her brother that, “He has been your evil genius, always at your elbow, advising or suggesting. I think you would have relented long ago had it not been for Federico.” (pg 515) It was Don Federico who had wanted to kill Johannes in the desert instead of just leaving him there, as his grandfather insisted. This event will haunt Don Isidro for the rest of his life. If Don Isidro had not surrounded himself with such an evil associate as Don Federico, he may have chosen to break away from his upbringing (human nature) and instead, accepted, loved and cherished his grandson. “The little one” he muttered. “He called me grandpa.”

Miss Nesselrode was a woman whose “heart was made of iron.” She fled her country to ours as a felon. Her crime stemmed from being raised by a family who were deemed traitors that were banished and then almost executed. As the sole survivor of her family, she decides to break away from her “human nature” and start a new life in California. Miss Nesselrode listens and watches for opportunities to contribute to the growing community of Los Angeles by opening a bookshop that allows the business men to come and relax and talk in her presences, where she may not have otherwise heard their schemes. She surrounds herself with good friends and associates. She opens her heart and home to Johannes where his grandfather does not. She lives a very successful, rich and happy life.

They main difference between these two characters is whom they choose to associate with after they move to California. Both have chosen to come here for a chance at a new life. But whom they surround themselves with shapes their destinies for them. Therefore, we may not have a choice about our past upbringing that determines our “human nature,” but each of us has a choice about what our future will become by whom we collaborate ourselves with. Thus we can always change our future “human nature.”