Food for Thought for Homeschool Moms (and other onlookers)

"In a seemingly obscure NT passage of Scripture, Jesus says some of the most profound words concerning education and discipleship in the entire Bible. Luke records His words: 'A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.' (Luke 6:40) ... This raises one of the most important questions Christian parents will face concerning the discipleship of their children. Whom will your children resemble at the completion of their 'formal' education?"

~Voddie Baucham Jr. , Family Driven Faith, p.123

Of course, this makes me consider carefully who else I might ever put as a teacher over my children (I currently teach our children at home, and my husband does an excellent job discipling through regular family devotions and life-on-life discipleship of our children). And when I first read this passage, I'll be honest-- that's where my mind went... "wow! I can't imagine putting some other random person or entity in charge of my children's character!"

But it also reminds me of my own inadequacies as a teacher of my children. If my children continue to be fully trained by my husband and I, will that be enough? Am I being all that I want them to one day be? And of course, the answer is woefully "no". I lack so much that I want them to have. When I look at the other options, though, I am personally convicted that the responsibility rests on me to teach my children (even if I eventually "outsource" for things like geometry and physics).

Which means I need to BE what I want them to become.

I've got a judgmental/critical spirit that needs to be turned away from. I've got impatience, arrogance, hatred, bitterness, and more that needs to be dealt with... and I lack the self-control, love for others, and compassion that I desperately want my children to have. It is ridiculous for me to try to teach them to avoid doing the things that they consistently see me doing (losing my temper, criticizing others)... and it is silly for me to hope to teach them to consistently do things that I don't do (take my frustrations to God in prayer first, for example) .

Which means I've got a lot of work to do. The only solution, of course, is that I intentionally and willfully make Jesus my teacher-- and prayerfully strive to become more and more filled with Him, and thus, more and more like Him. I must be in the Word-- I must be filling my mind with the pure, good, and right, and casting off those sins that would destroy both me and my children.

It's a tall order-- only possible with His grace.

I Won An Award At Marburger!

Okay I'm not sure some people would be flattered to win an award for being the #1 Junker at Marburger, but if you know the context of the word "junker" in the circles I travel in, then you know it's a good one. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the JunkMarket Girls~~Sue Whitney and Ki Nassauer. They've been featured on HGTV many times and have written two books on re-purposing "junk" into treasures. Well, Sue was at Marburger doing a book-signing and giving demos on several of their projects. She also walked the show looking for booths that featured treasures made from salvaged materials and gave out awards to a few select dealers. And...looky looky~~I got an award for the potting table Mr. Pea and I made from an old dresser and various pieces and parts!! I was super flattered and even teared up!! Check it out~~I got a trophy cup, a best-in-show pin and an autographed card showing what I won for. How cool is that?

Thanks Sue! For more info on the JunkMarket go to www.junkmarketonline.com.

Rode Hard and Put Up Wet aka First Time At Marburger

Howdy Y'all! Well I finally feel like I'm getting my head above water! What an eye opener these last two weeks have been! Mr. Pea and I are just back from the fabulous Marburger Farms show where we set up for the first time. What a blast although we are both exhausted. We met the nicest people and made many new friends, and I have developed a profound addiction to clothing by Magnolia Pearl. She is the sweetest person as is her partner John. The latest issue of Country Living features an article about her that is pure eye candy. See my favs list for a link to her.

So after an interesting trip out where the framework near the wheels on my brand new trailer was coming apart and a lengthy detour off I-10 in Houston we finally arrived. The first three days were set-up days and the show started on Tuesday. We had beautiful weather all but one day when it rained and the temp dropped to the low 50's. Can you say Brrrrrr? But Saturday was back to normal and all in all I was pretty happy with my debut at the show. I can tell you that this is the real deal of shows. No garage sale junk and the best of the best in all categories of antiques. Here's a peek at my booth before the onslaught...











We started home on Sunday hoping for an uneventful trip. Alas it was not to be. We hit another detour off I-10 in Biloxi and then at 3:30 am on Monday (yes we drove straight through) after almost 22 hours of driving we had a blow out on a trailer tire. Again with the trailer! We were less than an hour from home but luck was not ours this time. We crawled into bed at almost 5 am and pretty much wrote off the rest of the day. The next day we were back at it as we had to load the trailer contents back into the shop. I really must say I can't remember the last time I felt so pooped but slowly I am getting on track. The shop is 99% back together and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Please check back as I will be posting more on the show and a couple of the fun events we went to in our "off" time. I'll also let you know about an award I won for the re-purposed pieces Mr. Sweet Pea and I made as well. Until next time....