Legitimate Dissolution

I got into an argument on the Internet.

*silence*

Big surprise right?

I wasn't meaning to, in fact I wasn't planning on getting into a lengthy discussion about 'religion' with anyone when I posted a comment on a National news forum. I know putting oneself out there runs a risk for public ridicule, but sometimes the truth if not spoken leaks out of me in other ways and would in fact keep me up at night if I didn't share what I know Scripture says to be true.

I covet sleep.

I also can't ignore a direct challenge. <----- (see that pride?)

An outspoken atheist wrote they wished people would just lose religion altogether and according to them if this happened, the world would be a better place. The atheist went on to say that if more people believed in *fact* more than a supernatural 'experience' peace could be realized globally. I half agreed with the sentiment, but I had to explain my observation of that stance with a simple description.

This is what I said:

"You know your heart is a part of you, beating, doing it's job. You know if it stops doing it's job, you will die. You can't see your heart, but you can feel it, and it's a part of who you are."

I went on to explain that the Christian faith is a relationship with Our Creator that becomes a part of us, that born again believers can't help but feel The Holy Spirit and welcome His mighty work in order to function as Christ followers on a daily basis. We are unable to turn it off. We can no more deny Jesus than deny our beating heart. Knowledge of this brings peace.

The response I received was actually pretty cute:

"I can use an x-ray to see my heart, so YOUR point is invalid."

Chuckling, I wrote back, "Great analogy! Let's use that and take it further. An x-ray is an amazing tool used to see your heart. However, it doesn't show you your actual heart, but an image of your heart. You trust the machine is revealing what you believe to exist in your chest."

I went deeper.

"In the same way you trust an x-ray machine, born again believers trust Scripture. The written Word of God reveals Christ Jesus on every page, every story, every verse. Every. Single. Word. Jesus is as real to us as seeing an image of our heart beating on a screen or still in a picture. We are incapable of ignoring God, even if we tried to!"

That ended the argument publicly, privately I was pm'd a bit more. You know, the usual insults and derogatory accusations, but I gave short responses and Bible verses because at the end of the day, God's Word is so much more powerful than I.

Do I blame this atheist for what they hold so dear as their faith?

No.

Not one bit.

If not for the grace of God, I too would believe (Or disbelieve) the same things. Natural man is incapable of recognizing the Supernatural Nature of Our Heavenly Father. This isn't meant as an insult, it proves thousand year old prophetic writings; only God can open the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, the mouth of the mute, and replace the stone heart of the dead.

Recently I received an inquiry as to the spiritual status of my own children. I really didn't know how to respond appropriately, for I didn't want the conversation to veer off course, as these types of conversations have a bad habit of doing when my mouth is involved.

Thankfully, I know deep in my soul that my parental responsibility is to teach my children from Scripture, to model the call that The Lord designed for me, solely trusting Him and His lead all the while. The last thing I want to do in this life of mine is pressure my children into 'accepting' Christ. They are always eager to please Mommy and if I queried, they would 'ask Jesus into their heart' in order to make me happy. If it turned out to be a false relationship as they move on into adulthood my heart would break!

We make disciples.

God converts.

There are too many fake 'believers' out there, people who talk about Jesus as if he's a free ticket to Paradise, but their lives reflect who is actually on the throne of their heart and it's clearly not He who has died, rose again and is sitting at the Right Hand of The Father as I type this. The world has seen too many instances of 'Christians' who have fallen away, who reject the very man they claim to know by their chosen lifestyle. I want to be intentional about my approach when discussing salvation with my kids. I desperately want them to know accepting Jesus is not an easy road, that reward awaits eternally yes but much pain awaits on this earth, especially the part of dying to oneself. My desire is to give the enemy less ammo to drag our Saviour's name through the mud by way of my five offspring and in turn, their choices. I am praying that true repentance, forgiveness and a view of God's Grace remains the theme in their minds as we grow.

Honestly, I would rather my children say they are atheists than declare Jesus is Lord of their lives but produce no fruit of that claim. That, to me, would be exponentially more painful as a Believing Mother. Call me callous or whatever, it's not that I wish for my children go to Hell, it's that I know I personally deserve to be there! I owe everything, my very breath and beating heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I refuse to diminish His ministry even to satisfy my own natural fear as a Mom.

I know for a fact God is LOVE. I know God is GOOD always. I know He is THE just God, with wisdom incomprehensible. I know the cross event has erased all of the sins of His people. I know that I cannot save my children, but they WILL be taught truth while they are in my care. Love will be our banner, mercy our path. No one can convince me otherwise.

Faith is what drives me.

The Spirit sustains me.

Hope is why I carry on.

Moxie Vestige

Happy New Year!

It is:

Can you believe that?

As I reflect on the past year I can't help but think of the wonderful gift and freedom which comes from knowing Jesus Christ. I recall being convicted of 'Just Being' me, and that has carried me through changes in my life since I wrote that post, relying on my Saviour and His Grace and Power and Wisdom alone. It's been a challenging battle to say the least, but victory has been achieved at the cross!

What hope we have, dear Christan. <3

Our family sat around the table on New Years Eve discussing our yays and nays about the past year and predictions for 2015. The biggest impact on me as a Mother was that each child expressed a desire to do something fun as a family. A few were thinking of individual goals but ultimately, my kids enjoy each others company. That IS a huge blessing. I think it is the harvest of being at home together, with parents who decline involvement in our kids wars with one another. We are eager to encourage them to 'figure things out' removing ourselves from the conflict because neither of us signed up to be referees!! Equipping our children to come to terms with one another and work through the bullshit has been worth every second of our 'non effort'. I know this will only be a short term solution, because as Spouse and I learn and grow as followers of Christ and our parenting reflects this, in turn our children will grow and need less parenting and more Jesus!
I do pray each of them comes to know Our Saviour personally and that they always tend to their sibling relationships. I also know that in an instant things can change and people can grow apart and those who once played, laughed, loved, learned and lived together, end up enemies. To tear families apart is Satan's will, but even that falls under GOD'S Sovereignty.

As a Mother, it does fill my heart with gratitude to picture my family now, as it is today. My oldest will be perusing more independence as he will get his drivers permit this year. (It's a few months off, but as 2014 and prior has proven, it flies by.) Our second oldest is continuing on with his theatrical education, piano and voice lessons and as his wings spread, we will do our best to fan a strong wind for him.

I ambitiously decided we're learning Spanish this year, and even though I have a full time job, a part time job and a stay-at-home-homeschooling-mom job, I think as long as I wait upon the Lord, He will make our path straight in His time. This knowledge is a result of Christ's imputed wisdom.


Wisdom.

It is a sweet companion when sourced from our Creator. Otherwise I believe wisdom can become stale and artificial, always tainted by our sin because no one but Christ is sinless, no matter the book, Scripture excepted.

It is easy for me to dismiss a famous author/person as it is to sneeze, I place no man in an authority position meant only for Jesus Christ. That being said, I struggle with submission unto my husband as the head of my home, and we are slowly learning what that truly means as a couple, individually and together. My husband endeavors to lead, us to follow, and so for the two of us, simple prayer with reliance on The Lord has helped and supported us to endure whatever may pass and grow stronger in our faith and our commitment to this marriage even more.

There is no such thing as a perfect life.

If you think I have it all, then I apologize because it is never my intent to make you think my life is full of roses and sunshine and bbq's and happiness. There are bits and pieces, glimpses of these things we refer to as 'joy' mixed in no doubt, but to be honest the natural part of me still reels back and would flee in an instant if it weren't for the chains of the cross binding me to this life God called me to live. Wisdom has brought me to this knowledge, along with grace and mercy from The Father.

Wisdom is that soft whisper through the loudest of activities, and the boldest when we take the time to sit in the quiet lost in deep thought and The Word. True God-breathed wisdom is attainable and abundant, like an overflowing river always at hand. It's the healing salve of wounded hearts and minds. It brings grey hair. (Or so I'm told.)

We wrestled with the idea of putting our children in school now that I am running my own business from home plus helping run my Husband's. It was getting very difficult for me as the demand of my time increased ten fold in a few short months. I was concerned that my children would 'feel' neglected to a certain degree, because now they had to share me. With my husband's help I have realized that no matter what I am doing, this is what God has designed perfectly for me, my Spouse and my family, and as soon as I lose sight of His awesome power, that is when I falter and worry and fear seeps in.
My husband is pleased with the kids progress educationally bless his kind heart, and yes they aren't high achievers in an academic sense, but they have incredible gifts and talents in other areas that a public setting could not cultivate. We will continue to struggle with this, but I will continue to follow my husband's lead, however weak an attempt.

So this year, I will try my hardest to do whatever I am called to, and take it day by day, knowing that things change but it is always good and was indeed planned by our great and Wonderful God before the foundations of the earth.

All Play and No Work.

I recently read somewhere the comment "If it makes you happy it can't be wrong!" The statement itself seems pretty harmless. Who doesn't want to be happy? Happiness is the epitome of life is it not? We are taught even God HIMSELF wants us to be happy.

But, have we got that backwards?

On whose authority are we basing this on?

What does Scripture really say about our personal happiness? Are we to pursue it?

I'm having many health issues again, similar to after I had my last child with 15 month old twins still needing me fully, (tandem nursing 3 was zero fun, trust me). My breasts still fill with milk when I hear a newborn bleat even though I have not nourished a child from them in 4 years, painfully so.
My health has occupied much of my life, because it affects my living so deeply. If Momma is sick, nothing gets done. Sad but true. Anyone who knows me personally can understand my need for organized living. Everything must have a place, and in that place it must return after use. No one in my family is the same. In fact, many of my children just don't SEE the filth they create. Even my oldest, who tends to be the neatest individual of my spawn so far needs to be reminded 'edges are important'. Cleanliness makes me happy. Rooms that look like they could be photographed for a magazine make me happy. Realistically, a home with a family of seven, majority of whom are under 10, plus two currently shedding dogs, clean is tragically short lived. Especially when every single meal and snack must be made completely from scratch, and the outside amasses itself onto clothing every single day.

Why am I obsessed with this neat appearance?

Why do I pursue my own happiness?

I can justify my crazy control freak OCD from the idea that I am teaching my children to respect things and be good stewards of what has been given them/us by God. Yeah, that is true. However, my approach to achieving this is usually anger when they aren't doing the job I've given them (especially in the toy room) and are instead playing quietly amongst the chaos. Anger does not come from righteousness.
As a child I would choose places that were clear of clutter in order to play. Coming from a larger family that fully lived hard in a small space, untidiness was a given. I usually played on top of furniture or on my bed on my side of the room, sometimes even in closets. My mind cannot wrap itself around these kids who can ignore their surroundings.

I want things done now, my way because it's right, yesterday if possible!!

I forget that life IS mess.

Because I no longer have energy to keep up with my regular routine, I get stressed, and my stress worsens my health, and so on. It is a vicious cycle. I want to get healthy and back to my normal self, I seem to be my worst enemy though. Recently I've lashed out at my husband, and it is only by God's perfect Grace that he forgives me.








Last week, I had an epiphany.

In my striving for excellence in domestic duties, I have put less energy into what matters the most.

People.

People matter.

Let that sink in.

I am the first to admit that I am motivated by tasks. I like to DO. God in His wisdom created me this way. I draw my worth from my performance when I'm not drawing it from Jesus, but I have focused more on the wrong things and by slowing me down, The Lord has again gently reminded me to stop. He does this often, but like a spoiled rotten brat I naturally move toward my own way of thinking and doing because that is what I think makes me happy.

Father God, help me to:

Stop striving for self.

Stop striving for perfection.

Remind me that:

Perfection exists only in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ.

Thank you Father for directing my sight to your Word and your Truth.

Will I stop being a neat freak? No. I will always need to live in a orderly home, and I will always enjoy the task of organizing. With help from my King I guess I could live in a home that looks like there are people around enjoying their stay here as I enjoy them. These people are only in my care for a little while longer.

So there is hope.

“Go forth today, by the help of God’s Spirit, vowing and declaring that in life—-come poverty, come wealth, in death—come pain or come what may, you are and ever must be the Lord’s. For this is written on your heart, ‘We love Him because He first loved us.’” ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

 

 Ecclesiastes 7:14
When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other.

Psalm 68:3
But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.

Like A (Security) Blanket

I was excited to be able to sit down at my computer today in anticipation, knowing I'd be visiting my blog, getting some of these thoughts out that have been banging around in my abnormally tiny skull the last few months. (Although, this type of musing is happening less frequently, I think my mind really does get affected by my health, or by life in general in all it's crazy.)

On that note, it's already almost June 2014, and I am amazed at the continued grace The Lord pours forth abundantly!!

My Husband continues to lead our family, and I continue to try to let him without some sort of crack.  I've realized that much of our marital problems emerge when I open my mouth before thinking. (duh right?)  My personality will never change, but by The Power of The Holy Spirit my strengths could be used for building up, instead of the opposite.  As an A type control freak, I've really been focusing on letting go and letting God. I need not be concerned with the future, I need only be concerned with the tasks I face TODAY.

I was reflecting on the meaning of happiness, and happened upon a fun poll online which asked, "Are Single People Happier Or Are Married People Happier?" The obvious answer came from people, but I had a different perspective altogether.

In my case, my relationship status had no influence on whether I was happy or not. In my life, I've always known about Jesus, and once actually KNOWing him personally, he is the only source of happiness that is truly fulfilling and all I have ever needed. I am thankful for the childhood which pointed me to Christ, and even more so I am grateful that he chose me and made me His. I hope my children learn this. I hope they don't seek after success according to this world. I hope each of them serve The Lord fully and completely, but I also understand that God in His Sovereign grace has already ordained their lives, and HE will be glorified and justice will be done. I know I repeat myself, but it's just so amazing to comprehend this eternal truth, and I am sustained in it, immersed deeply.

My husband thanked me today.

This is actually big news because he's not big on encouraging words, which I lap up like a starving hog. He had a business decision, and in the past I have been quick to give an opinion, but was understood by my spouse more like barking orders, yappy actually, which did damage to our unity. My husband is rich in forgiveness, so when he asked me another life changing question recently I asked him to allow me to have time to think and pray, because I didn't want to fall into the same pattern as times before. This was completely against my character of course. I do know what I know well, and I'm usually eager to share it. (Nothing wrong with being confident right?) But my precious Saviour spoke to my heart.

"Wait."

Wait on His wisdom.

Rest in His love.

Cling to His feet.

Sleep under His wings. 

Submitting to the headship of my husband and my King brought so much comfort to me! I kind of kicked myself it took this long for me to realize it! Ever try to kick your own bum? Attractive. No, not really.

As it turned out, after I sought the Lord, then shared with my husband my thoughts, I didn't feel like I was undermining his leadership, or casting his dreams aside. And neither did he.  He weighed my words with what He himself has been praying about, and his path became crystal clear to him.

'You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ - Acts 2:28

'Our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.' - Psalm 32:21

'These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.' - John 16:33

I am in awe of God.

To Be Vexed

Hello my lovely people! I've had an amazing summer, how about you?

It seems every time I have a chance to sit down and type my thoughts out the words I want to say change shape and the message I wanted to get across when I opened my browser isn't at all what I thought I should be talking about, but instead becomes this. :)

It still comes together though.
 
We moved. AGAIN!

Which is cool.

Because it is.

We stayed in the City, just moved right into the middle of it. It's Uber-Urban awesome.


We now live in a larger home with more square footage. >>>I have my own bathroom!<<<
This came about unexpectedly and was definitely God's perfect timing. He provided all our needs including help from people who have busy lives of their own. The only downfall of this home was tripling our expenses. (Sort of, I'm not a math person but I'm also pretty sure our outgoing increased greatly by a lot.) This financial increase was fine, as we had enough of a cushion to draw from if we did have a breakdown of vehicle or medical emergency or if our kids ate even MORE. *sigh*

Swiftly did we learn that hoping and trusting in money is never the right thing to do! I must mention that we didn't even realize we WERE in fact giving money a throne in our heart, but our Heavenly Father knows us best.

God saw that our security was removed quite suddenly, in fact out income is now 1/4 of what it was, and now we rely solely on Him to provide, in fact my husband and I are both extremely excited to see where the money to pay bills and buy food and rent will come from. This is nothing new, I rejoice that I'm not even worried one bit! This is not of my own will and strength but of Him who works His power through Christ Jesus by The Holy Spirit!

I love it!

I shouldn't say my care meter is broken, but rather I really don't have time to get caught up in the 'bad things' of life. When I hear of another struggling, or even come across my own, I decide quickly if it's worth prayer, worth deeper thought and reflection with prayer, or should it be tossed aside and left behind as I journey on through this Valley called life.

Ultimately God uses all things for His purposes and glory, whether it's 'bad' or good.  That's comforting isn't it?

1 Timothy 4:4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.


1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.


Do you tend to be concerned when life flips you the bird?

Can you change the outcome of the future?

I hope you're encouraged as you too battle these fears chained to our nature, and rest at the feet of Him who died, was raised from this death and is reigning over His people, yes US, at every moment! 

Now I have to think of what I'm feeding these children of mine, because they've appeared.

Moving Forward While Stepping Back

The Lord has been squeezing me and others close to me, especially in matters that affect my local Church. We live in a free Country, so you'd think oppression or persecution would be long gone as we are a forward-thinking civilization in regards to freedom.

This is true except if the freedom you push is found in Christ Alone.

I want to be careful that I don't share too much, but the background is that we've been meeting in my Pastor's home for several years, taking the burden of keeping a building maintained off the congregant's shoulders. Circumstances led to our Body being forced to stop meeting at this residence, because of blah blah blah blah, and if we don't comply, loss of home would be the only option.

May I remind you we live in North America.

Although the authorities were wrong, we accepted that God was leading our Church to seek fellowship with another local similar-minded Church, which was an entirely different culture/language! It was a complete shock to find ourselves immersed in a new worship service where music was the highlight of the morning and very little was spent being taught from the pulpit. We did very little music and more learning from the Word. That being said, this Body was elbow deep in reaching the community with their own food bank, outreach we as a Body have never achieved. All of us could see the weirdness and the great potential of us working together, two distinct Bodies of Jesus Christ, will two obviously specific callings.

Both Churches lost members because of our fellowship. Some were looking for an excuse to leave regardless, others because something like this was unheard of. Not much has changed service wise, but because we are so different, we being only English speaking, and most of them not speaking English at all, communication is almost impossible. Some have actually come back over time as we've figured out how to do everything in both languages, and really, can Scripture be read too much? Hugs and smiles are not limited by tongue either. *wink*

Our leadership and their Leadership are meeting twice a week, and the glory of Christ is pouring out every Sunday morning. God is glorified! Goes to show that God has a plan and it's never what we think it's going to be.

We'll keep stepping forward and follow The Holy Spirit, continually checking that we stay out of His way as we do so.

Along this journey, we'll see miracles happen.

On Wanting to Punch Somone In The Face

I know my title isn't very loving, and not reflective of who I'm striving to be at all, but it is the only response that quells my deep seated anger at an individual who is a ravenous wolf, trying to appear like an expert committed in helping others with a lifestyle she clearly knows nothing about. Just reading the Mission and Vision Statement on the About Page causes me to growl. Her name is well known in the Home School Community now but not in a positive light.

She actually wants to control and manipulate what she refers to as a 'system' and make money by doing so.

From "About Us" on the website:

I support regulation (mandatory notification of intent to provide home-schooling) of home-school in Ontario to keep an accurate count of children being home-schooled.

I believe that being a parent is a great responsibility, and an educator, an even greater one. I believe that it was intended for parents to provide for their children in both capacities; however, the responsibility of life and multiple children can lead to anxiety, burn-out, frustration and in some cases, abuse of the child or children . There are also different levels of abuse that can be misrepresented by some groups as gentle discipline.

Parents who are teaching their children at home have the responsibility of providing adequate education to their child or children. Parents teaching more than one child at a time and taking care of other responsibilities in the home can also affect the amount and quality of education a child receives.

I am therefore in support of,

mandatory notification of intent to provide home-schooling for parents of registered and non-registered (with school board) children implemented satisfactory education for home-school initiatives that educate home-school and non-home-school families on child abuse and related issues.


I can't explain her website any other way.  I don't fault her for wanting to make money at all. However, the community has been up in arms ever since she was discovered. She's been questioned. She's had official letters written to her by official organisations. She's been offered help, but through it all she has refused and threatened to bring legal action against veterans who have seen and done it all because in her mind if a group doesn't side with and join her that group is harboring abusers.

From "GROUP-CONNECT"

Home-school support groups and organizations should connect with us to ensure the future of home-schooling. Operating separately and independently as most home-school groups do, will significantly decrease our chances of building effective infrastructure that will sustain the home-school industry for generations to come. It has been proven on many occasions that high quality governance (regulation) result in better outcomes and a more sustainable future. We welcome home-school support groups and organizations of all denominations.

She's viscous. She states she welcomes all, but they MUST conform to her business model, no ifs ands or buts.

She's purposefully working towards getting laws changed, laws that many have fought to be established, so that parents understand they are in full control of their child's education no matter what, whether they home educate is irrelevant.

This woman is striking me square in my gut over and over every time I read her statement.


This is her website..http://homeschoolregulation.org/ Since she began it's been edited, changed, and now it's back 'under construction'. It seems someone else is directing her, or she is taking bits and pieces from similar sites and play-d'ohing it together. Clever wordage can masterfully hide the underlying intent.

When my mom first started homeschooling it was unheard of. It caused quite the stir with relatives and neighbours and friends alike. I don't remember much of what happened in the early years but I do know we were under close scrutiny by the board of education, and at one point the CAS was notified. I remember being worried about showing my work to a total stranger, wondering if I was 'smart enough', afraid that I would be forced to go somewhere my parents didn't feel comfortable sending me to. There was also that looming threat of us being taken away, that somehow my parents weren't qualified to teach us so therefore we needed to be removed if our work wasn't satisfactory. I got used to the frequent visits from strangers but my feeling about it never changed. Once the examiner even asked me if I wouldn't rather go to his school, to which I replied, "Why?"

Being constantly watched/interrogated made my early education difficult on an emotional level, and I carry the scars from that to this day. I don't blame my Mom or my Dad, in fact I fully believe they did exactly what they thought would be the best thing for their children, and it was. I know I received a superior education, an education built around my gifts and talents, customized. I had the freedom to do what I wanted. I would be given a short list of tasks Mom required and once I finished them I could pursue other avenues that interested me. My love of writing started very early, and I was able to compose until I had calloused fingers. (I didn't get computer time very often as I had two older siblings who won out most of the time, so pencils became a close friend.)

If we had been regulated, like this woman is pushing, I would not be me. I would not have thrived. I do not do well with formal education, rules, lists, WAITING. I get bored very fast. I'm pretty sure I have ADD but I won't bother to be tested because who cares, I deal, and my approach works. My best is someone else's worst and visa versa. No one is the same, no ones education should be. I'm not bashing public education, in fact I know there are many excellent teachers who truly care about their students. Some may even be able to do things outside of the approved curriculum the government supplies, but for someone like me, with the learning style I have, I would have fallen through the cracks. My mom recognized this and as we grew her method of strict classroom desks/chalkboard/textbook/ changed, and we branched out in whole new territory, especially in my high school years.

As this will be my 7th year of educating my children, I've noticed my own tactics have morphed into more of an unschooling model. I teach my children to read, and we read the bible together, but then everything else is fair game. We run on curiosity, have adventures, and practice living. Math is done on a daily basis, just not in a book. (Mostly) My youngest knows if he has two cars and his brother has 3, they would have five cars together. And what child doesn't recognize a sibling that has more of anything! Kids play card games, the older ones bake, the younger ones help me measure out laundry detergent, I could go on. Education is meant to prepare a child for the rest of their life, and that is exactly what we're doing.


"Unschooling is an acknowledgment that schools and education are in many ways contradictory, that there's an implicit tension between them." says Jason Price, an assistant professor at the University of Victoria.

"People learn by playing, thinking, and amazing themselves. They learn while they're laughing at something surprising, and they learn while they're wondering, 'What the heck IS this?" Sandra Dodd

"Some focus on allowing the child to lead, even if it leads to using textbooks and workbooks and other schoolish materials — unschooling as "child-led learning." Others focus on encouraging the child to learn through real life situations and discoveries rather than textbooks — unschooling as "life learning." Unschooling is also sometimes known as "natural learning," "delight-driven learning," "experience-based learning," "independent learning," "non-coercive parenting," ... Each of these phrases has a slightly different nuance and emphasis, confirming that there are as many ways to manifest unschooling as there are families living it."

My journey this far has been hard, but super rewarding. When I see my child figure something out on their own, the expression on that perfect face makes all the exhaustion of having 5 children home all day seven days a week worth every minute.

That's why when someone comes in with no warning and no humility saying my lifestyle is abusive to children, my she-bear awakens, and the gloves are off.

I've learned to be careful about what I say, but even tact doesn't work sometimes.

I've been blocked from commenting on her facebook page for her website, as have other veteran homeschooling moms and dads, which is all the evidence I need to know her true agenda. If she really did want to help, would she not want to have as much information from those that KNOW what homeschooling is, instead of floundering around in the dark making assumptions and in one case accusing parents of hiding or wanting to diminish actual abuse?

I'm thankful there are groups that will ensure she doesn't get far, and I pray they will shut her down quick. I hope she finds a niche that works for her, without infringing on other people's way of life.

Resources:

http://sandradodd.com/unschooling

http://ontariohomeschool.org/unschooling.shtml

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/more-families-are-deciding-that-schools-out---forever/article570684/?page=all