Unschool

 Its been several years since I blogged about anything. Life has a way of just stopping you where you are. Well I will be blogging again...we have started to "Unschool." 

My youngest is in 6th grade and went to a public middle school. The things that were seen on a daily bases, wow. I almost feel like we went back in time where sex, drugs and rock n roll ruled. I don't know about you but when I was in middle school I wasn't thinking about sex, or wondering when I could get high next. We wont discuss the amount of kids that come to school high, and some how stay that way ALL day long. Its not even safe to accept a treat/candy from a friend, as it very well could be an edible. 

Bullying is real. The kids dont care about respect or feelings.. they will hardcore come at you with some "Damn your teeth are janky," "Are you homeless cause you look like it," and so much more. Our state is supposedly "Bully free" but the schools do nothing about it. When the child being bullied gets a belly full and hits the bully, that child gets punished. Hitting is wrong yes but you can only take so much. 

Which lead us to pulling our child from school. He is to be doing "homebound" basically still enrolled but doing school work at home, but I am not willing to continuously deal with the same bs.. so we decided Unschooling was best for our family. 

This will be a journey of how things progress and the positives and negatives we face.  

We are Lillington-Shawtown

School. I never knew how much I appreciated that building until it was gone. There is so much that happens in one day there for the kid, and I just never realized it. And it's so much more than I can give him, alone at home. 

The presence of another adult, to build him up, to show him his strengths and weaknesses. To show him how to continue to grow into a strong and productive young man, to continue festering his love of learning, to show him the finer parts of the education system and how they all fit together. 

The precence of his prior teachers who still made the time to make sure their kid was doing ok. That he was following what they taught him, and that he knew they were there if he needed a hug, or just a place to chill. 

The prescence of the support staff who always made sure the kid was ok. From opening the car door in the morning, with a "Good morning Michael", to Ms. Pat making sure he knew not to leave a mess for her to clean up. To the ladies in the cafeteria knowing that he can have that ice cream, but not that thing of milk. To Ms. Bourey who makes sure the kid is being taught internet safety, to our fabulous guidance counselors trying to teach ALL these kids that its ok to be different. To our wonderful Mrs. Scinta loving these kids and keeping them moving. The support staff in "that" building makes it a home for my kid and so many others!

To our Principal, Ms. Clinton, and VPs, who truly do care about our kids. They walk the halls, calling down kids, but also giving out hugs, and holding onto hands. 

This "BUILDING" was builting out of brick and mortar. It was built to make a school. It was built to hold some kids and teachers, to make some students, and carry on. But what this "BUILDING" has done is made a family, a family that is crying. Our, Lillington-shawtown family, is crying tonight. Our teachers, our staff and our students are hurting because they cant continue the journey they started together. But we will prevail!! The LSES Cougars will come out on top, and come back stronger! And just think - as the building settles, and the lights shut off for the last time for awhile - just think of what the halls will say when it's time to welcome our family back!! #weareHarnett #wearelillingtonshawtown #wewillprevail #stayhome #washyourhands 

Be thankful

Remember that when you are thanking Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, you need to thanks the lab techs that actually run the tests, the janitorial staff that actually cleans and makes sure the room is ready for the next patient, the intake person who is there to great you. Our Police officers, ambulance crews, fired departments are all busy making sure our streets are safe and keeping things going.
The truck drivers who is delivering the tp, the meat, bread, etc that we all need to substain our families. The cashiers who are handling money, being fussed at because they are there, the managers being made to enforce limits, and the stockers doing their best to keep the shelves stocked.
But, dont forget those that are behind the sceens keeping the infrastructure of our country going. The power plants, the water plants, the banks, our military, etc. We have forgotten that these men and women are working just as hard to keep our power and water on in this time of chaos, and they deserve our thanks also!! At the end of COVID-19, when our world has been changed forever, we have 2 options, 1)to go back to the thankless society we were or 2) to become a society that is appreciative of those that do for us. Let's use this as a learning experience and show our gratitude! ⚓ CBC
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Unprecedented Times

We have read books, watched movies, seen tv shows that have all talked about a virus that takes out the world, but hey, that was just a work of fiction, right? Well, it was. Until on day we woke up to a virus, COVID-19, and how it is freezing the world. It has crashed the stock markets, made sane people crazy, made doctors chose who to save, babies or the elderly, and whole countries go on lock down. 

Today, March 16th, 2020, was day 1, of 14 days of schools being closed, by governor orders in NC. I went and picked up Michael's school work. Went to the grocery store and dollar general, and seen how crazy people are. The past 2 weeks we have watched the world hoard toilet paper, and all online stores sell out of tp, lysol wipes and hand sanitizer. Bath and body works is completely sold out in all their stores, and they normally have thousands of little hand sanitizers. People are trying to sale it for 10-15.00 a small bottle. Costco is selling out of tp in minutes, people are buying 4 and 5 packs of their bulk packs of tp. You have the elderly that are struggling and people not caring. I had to go to 3 stores today for milk. And offering a kind smile and helping hand to an elderly gentleman was rewarded with a thank you from him, and a "tisk" from his wife. 

This virus will keep spreading if people dont slow down and follow common sense. Social distancing - 6 feet people, 6 feet. Dont stand right on top of one another. Give everyone some room. Remember that this virus is airborne and can linger on surfaces. WASH YOUR HANDS!!! Stay home if you can! 

Be safe out there. The world has changed in just 2 weeks, and before this is all over, it will change again. When its all done and said, we wont wake up to the same world we woke up to on 1/1/2020! 

My prayers to our heavenly Father and my many praises and thanks for His hedge of protection over my family, my friends, my church family, and those who mean the world to me!! Amen!

30 coins

As I am laying here, sick, I am going through old sermon notes and ran across my notes from the service at Elevation. Pastor Steven Furtick spoke an amazing message and it took four words to remind me what it was about, just four words... 30 pieces of silver. See when Judas sold out Jesus, when he gave up our Savior, he did it for 30 pieces of silver.  In their time that pay was what was recieved for the accidental death of a slave, so can you imagine being Judas. Here you stand, saying that you will hand over the most significant man ever to have walked the face of the earth, and you are offered something so insignificant. I couldn't have done it. But then again that wasnt my calling. My calling wasnt to turn in the Son of God, to turn my back on my closest friend, to turn him over to be slaughtered. 30 pieces of silver is all it took for Judas to deny his relationship with Jesus.

It wont be long before we are asked what it will take to deny our relationship with Jesus, to deny our faith or to die. We already see it happening in so many counties around the world. We see families dieing for their right to worship and love Jesus. They dont turn their backs on him to save their life, they dont accept 30 pieces of silver, or that new house, they accept their fate and say they know their Yahweh is waiting for them. What if that was you today? What if the gestapo came knocking on your door and saying that you have to speak out against your God or die, what would you do? Would you accept your 30 pieces of silver? Something to think about as we see more and more signs that John wrote about!

Ask yourself this question, would you sell out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver?

Fixer Upper

All my life, I have always aimed to please whoever I was around. I would get extremely anxious if I sensed disappointment, or if I had to ask to do something. And it never made sense until my husband laid a piece of knowledge on me. He said "I believe your gift is to be there for everyone else. To help heal, or fix and that's it." I was taken aback. Why is that my gift? Why would God give me a gift that would, time after time, hurt me? So that HE would be my ultimate healer. See, I have looked at every person in my life and had standards and when they couldn't meet them, I would be crushed. And this was everyone, so after be crushed over and over, I just quit trying. I quit reaching out. I started building walls and keeping people at arms length. But I was miserable. I wasnt there for anyone. I was allowing Satan to use my pain to keep me from seeing what God had intended for me. Now, I'm not saying that since my hubby told me that I am healed, I'm not, but I can see clearer now. I can understand why I get anxious, or why I struggle. See I look at myself like that gorgeous country farmhouse, sitting off in the distance. It has a wrap around porch with porch swings and its gorgeous. Has a fresh coat of paint, and looks new. But under closer examination, you realize the painters didnt remove the old paint in all spots, so there's already some chips happening. And that's me, I know God has me, but I am a work in progress. Just as I am there for those around me, and I may be crushed again in the future, I know God will scrap off the old paint, and paint new!

Who are you?

So, I just finished visiting with a dear friend, and as she was leaving we got to talking about "old school" Christians and how most tend to ignore grace. And it made me wonder where do I fit in.

I see you sitting there eating that 3 piece of pie, and then hear you complain of your weight;
I see you sitting there loving all over your spouse, all the while having an affair with your neighbor;
I see you sitting there Sunday morning, in your Sunday finest, praising Jesus, to only go home and start abusing your family;

I see you come in with 3 kids in tow, dressed in what I assume are your best clothes, only to be looked down on;
I see you asking for 20.00, and being laughed at and told no you dont need more beer, but what they dont know is you have a sick baby at home;
I see you struggling to finish high school, but instead of giving help, your teachers ridicule you, they dont know you would be the 1st in your family to graduate.

Who are you? Jesus doesnt want nice and neat! He doesn't want fake followers. He wants real. He wants dirty. He wants the followers that will say "Here I am Lord, take me, use me. I am yours." Remember who He broke bread with? Remember who He appeared to?

Ask yourself that question today.. Who am I? Am I a nice and neat Christian? Or am I am dirty and real Christian?