Who Says Homeschoolers Aren't Socialized???

College football star Tim Tebow is under attack by pro-abortion feminist groups after CBS agreed to air his 30-second Super Bowl ad celebrating life.

The commercial, paid for by Christian group Focus on the Family, tells the story of his mother, Pam Tebow, and her 1987 pregnancy with a theme of "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life." The ad is scheduled to be aired on the Feb. 7 broadcast of the Super Bowl at Dolphin Stadium in South Florida.

Pam became sick during her mission trip to the Philippines, contracting amoebic dysentery. She took strong antibiotics to rescue her from her coma. Pam's doctors warned that her baby would be stillborn or seriously ill. They suggested she abort the baby, but Pam refused. She gave birth to Tebow, who would later win the 2007 Heisman Trophy and help his Florida team to two national championships. (more)

The Teacher as Student

The Homeschool Life -- Segment One

Vintage People

One of the mistakes we can make when meeting elderly people whom we have not known in their younger days is to fail to appreciate their unique personalities. I learned this lesson when my son was little. Since we did not live near either his paternal grandmother or maternal grandfather, we used to visit nursing homes to spend some time with their residents. I discovered how prone I was to stereotype the “grandmas and grandpas” (as my son called them), as though white hair adequately defined them as a demographic I could easily categorize.

We made this a “family affair” and my husband often joined us. Over time, each of us had our “favorite” person to share our time with during our visits. My son was a big hit with the group of women who sat around and played cards. Because he was not a shy person, he endeared himself to them with his jokes and funny faces. I enjoyed my time with a woman who told me about her husband who had been a surgeon and had passed away almost two decades before. She was eager to share about her six grown sons who had followed in their dad’s profession. My husband’s friend, Earl, was quite a character. He would repeat the same stories over and over again about the “good old days” and never failed to express his gratitude for the “ratios.” At first, my husband did not question him about this, feeling as though he should have known what Earl meant. Finally, he inquired, “What ratios?” Earl bent over and whispered in his ear, “The ratio of women to men. It’s great to be this outnumbered; there are women all over the place and I am one of three men!”

These stories came to mind today when I received an email from a friend from childhood. She and I remain friends, having first become acquainted because our mothers were each other’s best friend. She keeps me up-to-date with news about her mom. Aunt Carrie, as I used to refer to her, is now in her late 80s and unable to live alone due to a number of strokes. I have fond memories of summer vacations and holidays spent with her and remember her as a fun-loving, spirited woman with a pronounced sense of humor. As the story below will demonstrate, she hasn’t changed all that much. Her daughter writes,

The other day, I took [my mom] to her monthly “aphasia” meeting at Greenwich Hospital with a group of aphasia patients. Aphasia is the communication problem that people get with words and thoughts due to brain injuries.

Anyway, the group was humming some obscure 1935 song. I think it was called Melody of Love. Everyone was humming and only my mother was singing the words, which actually sounded great. The doctor who runs the meeting said, “Caroline, you knew all the words! That’s wonderful.”

My mother, upon leaving the group, came over and whispered to me, “I made them up.”

Stability in Troubling Times

Twenty years ago, California experienced the Loma Prieta earthquake. I remember vividly sitting in a karate studio watching my daughter’s class when the ground began to shake. I gathered the children and moved them under the doorframe just in time to avoid being hit by all the trophies that were on a shelf above where I had been sitting. It was obvious that this was not your run-of-the-mill quake—something significant had occurred. In October of 1989, there were no cell phones so I was unable to contact my husband or find out how my elderly mother-in-law, who lived with us, had fared. Instability ruled the hour. (more)

A Model City?

Education for Freedom

...[C]hristian education emphasizes that freedom is through Christ’s salvation and in obedience thereafter to the whole Word of God. Instead of teaching freedom as a radical independence from God, the Christian school teaches freedom as a radical and total dependence upon God. It insists on the interdependence of all men under God and in terms of God’s law. It is thus a liberal arts curriculum for which Scripture is the key book, and in terms of which every subject and area is principled and informed. Teacher and student alike are under that binding word; and are free in terms of their faithfulness to it.

…For the Christian, man is responsible to God, and to man under God and according to the Word of God. Freedom is from sin, and therefore it is freedom from ourselves and from other men, and from slavery and bondage to ourselves and to men, to become the covenant people of God in Christ, our Redeemer and King.

Christian education is thus not the curriculum with the Bible added to it, but a curriculum in which the Word of God governs and informs every subject. Only the Christian school, when it is faithful to Scripture, can have a truly liberal arts curriculum.

(Excerpted from The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum by RJ Rushdoony)

The Righteous Are as Bold as a Lion

Friendly Fire

Years ago when I was new to the Christian faith, I was resolute that I needed to be direct and forthright with people when I saw an area of life they were not living according to Biblical standards. At the time I was sure that I was doing the Lord’s work well by pointing out the failings of my fellow man. Later I came to realize that my zeal for the truth was entangled with areas of sin in my own life that needed sanctification.

Over time, I have seen the aftermath of much of my enthusiasm and in many cases, it is not a pretty picture. Instead of showing the patient love of Christ as I talked to people, I wanted to impress them by demonstrating my knowledge of orthodoxy. In other words, my focus was seriously misplaced and often had a detrimental effect.

I remember hearing Dr. Rushdoony answer questions at the end of a talk he gave not long before his death. He was on the platform with two other speakers. Someone asked a question that involved the difficult situation of children being taken from their parents by social workers when it was determined the parents had neglected their children. The other men answered first. Both gave somewhat polarizing answers that left little room for disagreement. When it was Dr. Rushdoony’s turn, he gave a thoroughly orthodox answer but without the divisive tone of the other men. His answer drove his listeners to greater faithfulness to the Scriptures and did not create unnecessary enmity.

Often when Christians embrace a greater understanding of the faith they fail to abstain from firing verbal shots at their brothers and sisters in Christ who seem to lag behind them in knowledge. Many seem to make it a sport, as though they have served the Kingdom by shooting at their listeners. Instead of finding a way to kindly share a point of view, they relish the opportunity to say something theologically biting to demonstrate their greater knowledge and understanding.

Let us never forget that whatsoever we do to Christ’s brethren, we do to Him.