New Blog??? Or Just Crazy!

As if I have time to manage another blog right?......

The thing is, this blog was supposed to be filled with updates of my family for my family. And it has turned into something else. So much so I don't even really update about the kiddos anymore! And there is so much to tell as you can imagine with 4 incredibly wonderful kids.....ahem. No really they are wonderful.

However, I have been thinking a lot lately about what my passion is right now, and as much as that changes often, my passion has always been  teaching.

From the time I was young, dumpster diving at the school up the road, digging out text books and workbooks and forcing my younger siblings to "play school" in the summer {though I am pretty sure I wasn't playing and actually dolled out homework}.......I have loved teaching.

Everything teaching from lesson planning to bulletin board making to file folder game creating to meandering around the teacher store from time to time {even when I wasn't teaching}.

So I don't know. I'm kicking around the idea. I know technically I can combine the two blogs, but they are so different. And I do want to keep this as the true home of the Hawaiian Heldts.....now that I have more family away than ever.....(boo face).....

I was asked to do a curriculum review, and truly I would love to do that more often....I love curriculum.......looooooveeeeeeee it.

Even my kids know it~ and I quote Jonah, "Hey Pastor Frank, my Mom has this really cool Christian Curriculum!" What 6 year old talks about that? and calls it cool?

So.....just thinking about it, but would you follow? Would you become a fan? Would you trust me to give an honest opinion and come here for fun ideas? Just a little pole, but what do you say??

The Struggle to be weak

This week has been a struggle in so many ways. Some big heavy ugly struggles, some minor life irritants. Life right at this moment seems to be pounding out a beat I can't quiet dance to, or run to. The rhythm is off and sporadic and more spontaneous than I can handle.

I'm struggling to keep the house in an order other than chaos. The laundry, cleaning, cooking.....

Struggling with loving my kids unconditionally as the need for discipline arises again and again for the same offenses....

Struggling to hear God's voice in the chaos, to understand this season of life, to feel close to Him......

Struggling in having to care for 9 people.....

Struggling to live up to my own standards and those around me (don't know which is harder at times).....

Struggling to keep my  time and life organized, to keep on a routine and schedule.....and struggling with the thought of having to have a schedule!

Struggling with not being able to think out one complete sentence or thought, to be constantly interrupted in the simplest of tasks.....

Struggling with the things that are left undone,  the boxes still stashed around the house from trying to move in, Christmas decorations still up (yup you read that right).....

Struggling with not having any time to do anything creative or relaxing......

Struggling with watching the days slip by and pile themselves into one meaningless lump......

Struggling with knowing how to point my kids directly towards Jesus and faith and genuine relationship with the Creator......

And I struggle with doing a lot of this alone.

I poured all this out to God this week. As silly and meaningless as this list is to most, this week it was my struggle to just get through to the next step, the next thing, the next task. I know far too well the pain others are going through in different seasons of life, I know far too well that my struggles are so so minor compared to others.

Regardless......God still wants to hear them. He still wants to comfort me.

Ephesians 3:12 "In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence."

We can lay down all our worries and struggles and know He is there listening, what an awesome privilege! This powerful ruler, creator, is waiting to hear from us, on the darkest of days, we can be in His presence. Instantly! And when we are at our weakest point, that is when His power is most effective. When I come to the realization that loving my children or my husband, having the energy to cook and clean, having a good attitude in the midst of chaos, is too much for me to bare alone, it's then I realize I can rely on Christ and Christ alone. 

2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

In weakness I am building a foundation on Christ, letting go, giving Him the control. And in the letting go, the opening of those tightly gripped fearful fingers, I affirm His strength and power in situations I cannot control. 

Because when I am in control, I don't need God. I don't need His power or divinity in my life, I got it, I can handle it, I can do God's work on my own.....but it's when I allow God's power to truly fill me, to be active and dynamic in my life~I'm stronger than I ever could be on my own. I can rest in Him knowing His power is stronger and more efficient than I will ever be.

It's just a matter of pouring out my heart and letting Him know I need Him......moment by moment.

{Un}important

In complete honesty, most days I feel unimportant and often invisible. My job is relatively mundane, it has few perks and little or no recognition and for the most I am okay with that. But every once in a while discontentment sneaks in. Not with my role as a mother or a keeper of the home, but for some reason I want to be important to others.

I want to write fabulous blog posts to make everyone ponder deeply, write my own delectable recipes to   amaze all at my baking and cooking skills, I want to create things that are beautiful and teach everyone how to this or that, or write my own curriculum so you too can download a piece of me, snap artistic photographs, decorate my home on pennies and creativity, give reviews of my oh-so-important opinion and giveaways of the coolest finds.

In reality, I'm not that important or creative. My creative energy is spent on deciding what we are eating everyday and how to occupy the kids time to keep them from making bigger messes than I can't keep up with.I adapt curriculum to include a craft to Math or make something interesting for the bored. I get all my recipes from the internet or cooking books, decorating tips~I don't have, I take mediocre photos when I remember my camera (and I love photoshop) and really what do I know about this or that....

But what the baby wakes in the middle of the night, I become important in a way no one else is.

When a certain 2 year old wants a round of goodnight kisses and giggles or a book read one.more.time, I become important.

When Jonah wants to have a special talk (sometimes code for can I stay up late?) I become important.

When my artist needs encouragement, paint, or an art showing, I am important.

And even though I'm not cooking for royalty, there would be 9 hungry people around here if I didn't chop and simmer each day, those stolen recipes written by someone who knows what they are doing.

The world really doesn't care about me, my opinions,thoughts, my creative ideas. But in my everyday life I mean the world to those who really make me important.

And it is {Monday}

25. For sweet heartfelt eye opening talks with my best friend {otherwise known as Mom}

26. For God gifting others with eloquent writing abilities that encourage me day after day

27. For a quiet morning filled with warm coffee and God's word

28. Making connections and growing relationships

29. A little girl who wants to be a princess all all all all day, and for the gift that one day she'll know she is a princess of the Lord most High.

30. A tenderhearted boy that stands up for the one "crossed off" the friends list.

31. A little baby girl, the gift of God's light, so connected to me.

32. opportunities to be fed spiritual food.

33. Being open to change

34. For freedom from sin and my old self

35. a young girl who forces me to look into the mirror and see me.

36. a soft sunrise and gentle waking

The makings of a {Godly} Mother:: Repost

riday, 22 January 2010

• {The makings of a Godly mother}

  It's been heavy on my heart to be a Godly mother. I can honestly say it is one of the true desires of my heart, something I want to put my whole heart into. But how does one do that? Maybe to some the answer seems quite simplistic, straightforward and obvious. But living that out day by day is not. The decisions, actions, behaviors of a Godly mother and wife do not always come easy even when the answer is staring you in the face.
  
  For me it's begun with a look at not what a mother is or should be, but how God views Children in our lives. Because maybe if I view children as my heavenly Father does, perhaps then I'll get a glimpse of what it is to be blessed with that awesome responsibility.
  
  They are a responsibility, a fiscal responsibility, takers of your selfish time, dependents on you for everything, trouble, stress, an inconvenience at times, importers, leeches, hardships.......offensive isn't it? And yet these terms and hundreds others have been spoken by both Christians and secularists alike. This view is steeped in complete and utter selfishness. I think a view stemming from our turn in society, a turn towards selfishness covered over with the mask of "leaving a carbon footprint",  "over population", "we can't afford kids". 

  Some give advice or silent opinions and think it's Godly, "Well you should decide how many kids you can afford and then stop." or "The Good Lord has given you some beautiful children but you know, the Good Lord also gave you some sense in that head to know when to stop!" Or jokingly they remind you of their quite childless homes that they "get" to return to, the free-time they have, the extra money they have to spend on pedicures and massages. The snide comments about one of you "getting fixed" as if we were stray dogs.
  
  But what does God say about children? How does He view them, view you and me, since we are HIS children. Throughout scripture it is CLEAR that God views children as a blessing, a joy, a benediction from the LORD to grace our lives with fulfillment, meaning, happiness and satisfaction. Parenthood is God's gift to us!
  
  "This is true even in a fallen world, infected with the curse of sin. In the midst of all that 's evil, children are tokens of God's lovingkindness. They are living proof that God's mercy extends even to fallen, sinful creatures." ~John MacArthur
  The Lord is the source of children, even Eve recognized this and regarded her children as a gift and as an emblem of God's grace to her. The running theme of scriptures is non other than children being a blessing from the hand of a loving and merciful God. Children signified blessings from God and they STILL DO. Despite over population, despite your income, despite your belief! The are designed to bring you joy, happiness, contentment, satisfaction and love.
  
  Psalm 127:3-5
  "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate."
  
  Did you catch some of that language?
  
  Blessing:: a special favor, mercy, or benefit, a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness, the invoking of God's favor upon a person.
  
  Reward:: honor: bestow honor or rewards upon, benefit, strengthen, support.
  God's rewards of children are not necessarily based on your actions, though I think they can be as we see in scripture. But he rewards those who are non believers as well, those who abuse and mistreat children. But that is not what His blessing is meant for. God has the power to open and close wombs, to create life and take it. It's all in His hands whether you use the best birth control or non at all.
  
  It's up to us as parents to view children and handle parenting with correct Biblical perspectives in order to fully enjoy the benefit of those responsibilities. If you are a parent, you know there is NO love like the one you have for your child. Nothing can even compare or come close to that type of love, that depth of love. I LOVE Dave, I've never loved anyone as much as I love him. We share a blessing and a bond I don't think many married couples do. 
  
  

  But the love we have for our children, is unexplainable to those who don't have children. It's not even in the same ballpark as the love you feel for your spouse. It would be like explaining a rose to someone who had never seen in their life. Oh sure you could come close and they could touch and smell and get an idea of what it was like, but they will never fully know what you are describing.
  
  Suddenly as a parent, you understand a little more the Love God has for us, His children. The heartache and joy we give him. You understand a little more why he would have any desire to save us, to extend his mercy and Grace upon us when we clearly don't deserve it. I see glimpses of that everyday in my own relationship with my children.
  For me the making of my own role as a mother has to start here, with viewing what God has really blessed me with, and how I will respond to that. To gain a right perspective of what these little souls are in my own life, help drive the way I then respond and treat them. When I am failing to view them the way God does, I allow behavior in my own life that is unworthy of that blessing. I am often amazed and literally cry out to God and ask Him why? I don't feel worthy to be a parent. It's the hardest job I've ever done, hands down. But if I could just see my children the way God does, as His inheritance!!!! Than maybe making those daily decisions to treat them as rewards, as gifts, as precious will come easier.
  
  Because it isn't easy....it's almost never easy.

  
  

The Real Reason we Homeschool

Sure, we Homeschool for many of the same reasons other Christian parents do. To monitor learning, or specialize learning, to provide our kids with a strong foundation in a God-centered learning atmosphere.....

Slowly God has been showing my that my venture in Homeschooling is not all about them, it's a lot about me.

He's teaching my about being flexible. When things need to change, or days aren't going as planned.

He's teaching me about change, to step out of my own comfort zone and into HIS zone.

He's teaching me about patience, with myself as well as with my children.

He's teaching me about organization and being orderly, becoming more Christlike and less chaotic!

He's teaching me about letting go of perfectionist ideals of how my home should be and the school day should run.

He's teaching me about giving of myself, when I really don't want to, past the points where I think I can.

He's teaching me about trusting Him, in the smallest of things and the grandest.


Homeschooling is about them, it is about teaching and learning and sacrifice for them, but I'm realizing just how much it's about me as well. God doesn't have me in this role just for them, He's growing me up as well.

{Fun}day Fridays

So you've read we've been changing things up, and we did. And it was fabulous!! I think I am really going to love doing this each week. It makes Fridays so much more fun, relaxed and educational as well! (Gotta stick that in there right!?)

Our First Unit was on the Arctic/Antarctic Regions~ learning about the animals and the Inuit People who live in these regions! I'll include some fun links and activities I found for this week.

Videos:: (my kids love the addition of videos in our learning)
Nat Geo has great links, photos and activities. This one was short and great for some basic info:  

Answers in Genesis has one of the Ice Age which talks a little about how the Ice got there (from a creationist view point: 

What to know How to Build an Igloo??? This 10 minute video shows you.....seriously I never knew.....

Fun Links:: (photos, games, slide shows)

Critter Cam Arctic Game 

Explore this Website for Great info on the Tundra and other regions! 

Photo Slide show with info about How Arctic Animals Camouflage themselves!  

FREE Powerpoint presentations on the Inuit Tribes plus this site has all sorts of activities and links! 

Hands On Activities:: (this makes every lesson more fun!)

• Making a sugar igloo

• Make your own Inuksuk
• Polar Bear Painting: Blue Construction paper, Bear shape, cotton balls, white paint.

Resources and Activities::

FREE Lesson Plans! Look around this site and download all sorts of free activities and games!

Kidssoup This is a really great resource and SO affordable at $2.15 a month. I use it all the time! There are Activities, Games (printable file folder), Activites AND Resources for Bulletin Boards, felt stories etc. New units are added every month!

SeaWorld FREE downloadable lesson

ABCteach tons of freebies, you can become a member, but I just use what is free!

Worksheets included in their Unit Folders:

• Sonlight curriculum
• Map of the Arctic Tundra (color and lable)
• Color the Igloo
• “My Book about the Inuit People”
• Polar Bear Crossword puzzle (Jonah)
• AA writing practice (Ellie)

• AA Coloring page
• Arctic Report, KWL Chart (Jonah)

 So How did it go???

Well it didn't run perfectly of course. But it was great. We had a nice relaxed paced day, watched videos, read books, learned a LOT.....and the best part is their unit activities can be worked on throughout the week. They can color, play a file folder game, work on the Igloo, write a report (only Jonah and more like a few sentences about Arctic Animals and People). I'm excited to see how the week looks.......and now off to build the next Unit on Ocean Animals! (that should be hard huh?living in Hawaii and all!)

 

Permission to Change

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”

Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

 

This is only my second year of Official Homeschooling, though Jonah and I started when he was 3 with preschool. And each year, no multiply times each year, God shows my how to change and tweak things to make our homeschooling better. 

 

I am not a creature of Change, in fact I don't like it much at all. So when I get headed in one direction I tend to stay in that direction even after I realize it's stressful and isn't working! It's one of the million things I'm learning and changing about myself through this Homeschooling journey.

 

I'm learning that God loves me and knows me so well, well enough to teach me gently.

 

We started this school year working on 6 subjects a day. (That was WAY too much for a 4 and 6 year old) I was flustered at the end of each day when it was 2pm and we had been at it since 9am! My day had evaporated, the kids were exhausted. It wasn't working!

 

So I cut down the days to 5 subjects and alternating between science and History, with one day for Art. It was STILL too much. We were still  too worn out by the end of the day to get to Science and History. Those were the kids favorite subjects and we were rushing through them and not enjoying them very much at all.

 

Then God opened a door for me and he has been slowly opening it wider and wider allowing me to peak in on what our days should look like. And I had to give myself permission to follow His lead. See even though I say I want God in control, my actions don't always speak to that. I do things the way I think they should be, set up our schedule the way I think it will work best. But in reality, I don't know best! He does.

 

He put it on my heart to have one day a week where all we do is Science, History and Art. I cried out,"But what about READING!!! and MATH!!!!!" Nope, just Science and History and Art. So we have been going on that path for a few weeks. Then this week again I was praying, giving God control and telling Him how I still wasn't happy about that ONE day. Again He showed me a new way for us to do things. I'm so excited now, I wish we had done this all along! 

 

This week I spent time (way too much time), putting together 2 Units for the kids. There are tons of great resources, vidoes, activities, games out there on Every subject! Believe me I even found a FREE power point show on The Babylonians and Assyrians! Amazing! So now each week instead of just doing the worksheets provided by Sonlight, and Story of the World.....I've added to it, plugging in FUN along the way. That way we can dig into a subject on Fridays and the kids can work through the unit throughout the week at their own pace! When there is down time, or I need to nurse a baby, they can pull out their Unit studies and do a little!

 

Eventually I'll get a post up of what that looks like (complete with photographs)......but for now, I've gotta get kids dressed and ready to learn about some Arctic Animals! BBBrrrrrrr!