Year / 2009

by Greg

Different View of Education

Last night—after much scheming and manipulating of time and space—we were able to attend a curriculum event for a home school group of which we are members. The event offered parents a chance to share curriculum they use, why they use it, and learn from other parents as each shared what worked—and doesn’t work—for them. Jen is more into the curriculum side of things, to be sure, and was looking forward to being there. She enjoyed it thoroughly. (I occupied the kids for the duration of the meeting in various other nearby locations, waiting to get to talk with everyone after the event was over.)

Once I and my five children in tow were allowed to mingle, I had an interesting conversation with a friend who got me thinking again about what education really means to us. About what we feel is important that we instill in, pass along to our children.

We were chatting a bit about how much home schooling seems to be focused around the Mom in the family. Most of the events are planned, executed, and attended by the moms. The dads are a very secondary—albeit supportive, encouraging—part of the whole home schooling process. Much of it is just logistics. Many of the home schooling families we know consist of the Dad working a full-time job outside of the home, while the Mom works very little (or none at all) outside the home, making her the one who “teaches” the kids.

Our philosophy is slightly different. It may just be semantics, or a mindset, but we really try to “home school” as a family. Not just Jen. Not just me. But really, more as a way of life. As the Campbells.

Once on that topic, my friend asked, “So how do you do that? How do you get involved in the school part?” He really wants to, but again, logistically, just can not. Having tried many different approaches, he has resigned himself to the fact that most of the teaching has to be done by his wife, who is home with the kids.

So, since he asked, it caused me to think about what I really mean when I say that we home school as a family. I mean, I work full-time (and more) though, thankfully, it’s mainly from my home office. But I can’t be involved in the “table time” as Jen calls it. I smile at the stuff that is learned and produced there, enjoying the stories told by our kids who love such academic exercises. But what I explained—and understood better in my head as I did—was that the key is what we think of education.

Many parents who choose to home school feel varying levels of frustration because they are trying to do school at home. I’d say a lot of people assume that’s what home school is. The same subjects, courses, lessons taught by the institutional public school would also be taught—even required to be taught—to children who are “home schooled”. This is not entirely true. While it is true that we must report to the local school district what we are teaching our children (by the way, a “requirement” of which I am not all that fond) there is a good degree of latitude allowed to us in the interpretation of what meets those requirements. And, Jen is very good at assigning various things she teaches at table time, or we learn at other times, to those “requirements”.

But the best part is—and what I told my home schooling Dad friend—that stuff… the “required” learning by the state… that’s really the bonus stuff. Sure, our kids need to learn the basics. Reading, writing, arithmetic. That’s a good deal of what Jen does in “table time”. But the real education of our kids is so much more.

We want our kids to know God. We want them to know Him, not just about him. We want them to know how life works, how to treat other people. How to consider others, treating them as you’d like to be treated. How to learn discipline, and self control. Big stuff like that.

We also want them to know little stuff like how to take care of the stuff God gives you. How to cook, clean, build, repair. How to grow, prune, trim, weed. How to run a business. How to pay bills. How to not take more than God has given you (credit cards, anyone??)

Why do we think that learning ever starts and stops? We don’t take summer breaks. Or winter, or spring. We don’t take weekend breaks. Because from the moment we wake up in the morning, to the time we go to sleep…

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NIV)

That’s a good verse that many home schooling families use, but I think it applies to our view of educating our kids, too. (Though I wouldn’t say it’s complete. That covers the big stuff, as I said earlier.) But it really is an all the time, everywhere thing. And in that way, I—as much as Jen—am an active part of the education of our children. (And even of our family. Just as our children are always learning, aren’t we all? I know I am.)

Jen even actually puts stuff on doorframes. For real. 🙂

So, it’s not perfect. We don’t have all the answers, but perhaps you’re reading this because you home school, or want to, and you don’t feel qualified. Or you don’t feel like you know where to start. I think if you are a parent—and especially a parent who loves their kids, and are trying to help them “grow up right”—then you have most everything you need. All the other stuff is pretty easy to find these days. Not only do you likely have a library nearby, if you’re reading this, you also have access to the World Wide Web. (Not a bad source of information…)

Academic learning is great, and has a place. But it is not education. I still feel that is the bonus. Get the other stuff right, and then the academic stuff is icing on the cake. Build character and integrity into your kids, and even just the confidence of knowing they are loved and accepted, and the rest of the stuff will come as it needs to. And, ultimately, we don’t want our kids to just learn facts and details they can parrot back to us, we want them to learn how to learn. That will serve them much better.

I could go on about personalities and preferences (every kid is different, and we really try to follow what each of our kids is interested in, help them explore those things more) but … this post is already longer than I intended.

These words are meant as encouragement, not to condemn a different viewpoint or methodology. If you have a format (or a curriculum!) that works for you, keep at it. One of the greatest things about home schooling is that it really gives you the freedom to educate your kids as you see fit. So go for it!

For us, the Campbells, we are enjoying the journey of life, and loving training our kids in the way they should go.

by Greg

The End

Well, it was a great, great season, and a great run through the NCAA tournament for my Spartans, but last night, it came to a screeching halt. Not only did they lose the game, and not only did they lose it by 17 points, they were simply a shell of who they had been all season, and through the previous 5 games in the tournament. They had more than 20 turnovers, they were dominated on the boards (they led the entire nation in rebounding margin in the 2008-2009 season) and their shooting percentage was just horrible.

Still, they kept getting to within about 15 points for the last 10 minutes of the game or so. They were playing some pretty good defense, and started to catch up in the rebound column… but it was too late, and, well… you have to hit some shots! Sheesh! 🙂

It was a great season, though. Definitely fun to see my team get so far, do so well.

The Sabres on the other hand…

They played last night, too. Actually, they played Saturday night as well. Lost both times. Pretty badly. On Saturday, to their credit, they made a valiant attempt at redeeming an awful game. They got the score to 3-2 after being down 3-0 to start the third period. Dominated the third, but lost. And it was a key loss. Had they won it, they would have tied the team directly above them, and been very much “in the hunt” for the last playoff spot.

But they did not.

So, last night, they needed to win, well, pretty much the remaining four games in the season. Tough task against one of the best teams from the Western Conference, Detroit, but it’s what they had to do. It was 0-0 through half of the game, until they allowed a power play goal… then it just crashed and burned. They ended up losing 4-1.

They still have a slight chance at making the playoffs. They would need the three teams ahead of them to lose most or all of their games, while they win all three of theirs… right. Not going to happen.

The difference between the two endings is, even though MSU was not “on their game” they still kept their heads in the game, and were sticking around to the end. The Sabres… I guess you could say they are trying, and they are “sticking around” to the end, but it also seems pretty obvious that they don’t belong. I’d look for major player turnover in the offseason for the Sabres, while the Spartans will return largely the same team of guys… meaning it should be a good season next year, too!

So, my teams are done… time to start getting ready for Buffalo Bills football!!! 🙂

by Greg

God With Us

You have probably seen the words, “God With Us,” around Christmas time. Perhaps along with the word, “Emmanuel.” In my mind, it conjures up images of the baby Jesus, lying in a feed box. They are Chrismas words. In fact, it’s the theme and title (sort of) of our Christmas album.

As I’ve been reading through Genesis, I’ve noticed that from the very beginning, those words have always been true.

It’s apparently not just a New Testament idea. God did not suddenly change his mind about us, deciding it would be OK to hang out with us, once he fixed everything on the cross. Certainly that moment in history was important in restoring our relationship with God (see Romans 5), but as I’ve seen again from even the very moment we chose to separate from God, he was with us.

In Genesis 2, the account of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden and the serpent and the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil… yeah, that story… God was with us. He walked with them in the garden. Even when they were hiding in shame, he was there – and made them coverings.

Even when he posted angels with flaming swords at the entrance of the garden (where the Tree of Life was) God did not remain there, he was present with Adam and Eve and their kids. The next chapters are the unfolding story of how people began to multiply. There were many more people, and God was with them. We see even the story of Cain and Abel, sons of Adam & Eve… God was there to receive their offerings, it seems like he was there in person. The relationship continued, even though it was now different. There was no record of Adam or Eve bringing “offerings” to God before that.

(Interestingly, there’s no record of God asking for those yet, either…)

God even talks to Cain after he killed Abel. He gives him a mark, so that others won’t kill him. As the story unfolds, God is there – right there – throughout. Even though it’s getting worse and worse. Shouldn’t the sin scare him away?

As the story continues, it doesn’t scare him… but it does “break his heart.” It gets so bad that he resolved to get rid of everything. Start over. He chooses to save one person, because his is “righteous”. The qualifications for “righteous” were interesting to me.

He [Noah] consistently followed God’s will, and enjoyed a close relationship with him.
Genesis 6:9

We talk about having a “relationship” with Jesus today, but I don’t remember seeing that as the major qualification of “righteousness” in the Old Testament. Wasn’t it about sacrifices and offerings and repentance and all that? (Actually, Hebrews says that all of those who were “righteous” from the OT were made righteous by their faith…. hmm…)

So God found someone who “had a close relationship” with him, and proclaimed him as the only righteous person on earth. I like, also, that he “consistently” rather than “always” followed God’s will. It was about a relationship, rather than 100% obedience to a code of laws.

The biggest thing I get from the first 10 chapters of Genesis is that God is with us. From the beginning when all was perfect, through the time that we separated ourselves from him, to after that, through the cleansing of the giant Flood, and afterward… God is there. He’s not afraid to be near “sinful” people. The whole story of human history I think is one of God wanting to be in a close relationship – like with Noah – with us. That’s the point. Everything he does, everything he did from the beginning points to that.

More to come…

by Greg

The Icing on the Cake

Last night I was discussing Sunday morning worship services with some friends who lead such an event and said something in a way I am not sure I had prior to that. I think the general thinking had been there, but the thoughts came out more coherently than I expected.

We were talking about the desire for people to really worship – which is a rather nebulous concept, I suppose – at least, in some visible, tangible way for each person there to connect with God in a meaningful way. Be it an experience, a thought, perhaps even an emotion… some authentic expression of their hearts to God, and/or something received from him.

As we discussed possible changes to the setting which might allow people the freedom, or a better opportunity for that to happen, I just realized… we’ve been here before.

Lots of churches in lots of places have tried changing the configuration of the stage, of the chairs (even going from pews to chairs), the lighting on stage, the lighting in the room – all with the goal of facilitating more participatory worship. But mostly, to no avail.

The problem is the mindset. We come expecting to be served something. We come for the good teaching, perhaps the good music. Whatever it is we’re coming for, the general mindset (even if it’s not intended) is that something will be given to you at that place, during that hour. The goal these guys had in mind was that everyone would come together and bring something. To engage. Participate. But until that is the mindset going in, it’s probably not going to happen.

I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago now who also leads such events. He was feeling the same thing. When he is leading people in singing songs of worship to God, he does not see the engagement of their hearts through their faces. That’s not always the best gauge, but he’s probably right. There’s not always the full heart connection that he’s looking for in that setting. We talked about all the reasons it could be, but I thought (and told him) probably the main one is that he’s looking for something in that one hour that is not necessarily true the the rest of the week – the other 167 hours.

If we want engaged, participatory, worship/celebration – we need to assemble worshippers.

We know what worship is. It’s not the music. It’s not the service we attend. It’s not any number of positions, incantations, genuflections, or meditations. All of those can be worship, but Romans 12 says to, “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” A life lived everyday with God, in close relationship with him (see my previous post below) is the main goal, and from whence worship originates.

For so many years we’ve tried to get people to live everyday life with God through the one hour service at the end of the week, when really, that should be the culmination of a week lived with God – then that hour would be great. We’ve been doing it backwards.

I’m not sure exactly how we get to the point that the large group gathering is filled with believers who are living in, learning from, and just enjoying close relationship with Father every day of their lives. The only way is, I suppose, to, “make disciples of all nations,” as Jesus told his first group of followers to do.

Right now we “feed” people. We prepare tasty meals of truth applied nicely to life-lesson sandwiches. We sprinkle in some good music, maybe some other relevant media to spice it up a bit. And then, we send them home, until the next service. When they come back for more. Perhaps instead of feeding, what might work better would be to focus on helping people learn to be disciples. To learn to “feed” directly on the Source – the Bread of Life, the Living Water. He is who we follow, not anyone who might teach us about him, or help us “worship” him. It’s all about him.

I still don’t think there is any structure we can create, and programs we can organize that will accomplish this. I still believe we are made to relate. And in relating – as brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, rather than any spiritual hierarchy – we can pass along what we have learned (and are learning) as we consistently follow God’s will, and live in close relationship with him.

I believe that as we do that, as we help people become disciples of Jesus – for real – then the church will thrive, and any large gatherings of the church will be joyous celebrations of the Life that is in us. Every day. Not just among us one hour of the week. That is just the icing on the cake!

The good news is, God is with us. Everywhere, every day.

by Greg

Distorted View of God

Now, hear me out. I have a feeling my words here could be misunderstood. But I also think I may be seeing something from a slightly new angle (for me) that may also be helpful to you.

As I’ve been reading Genesis again, I’ve been watching for how God is interacting with us (people) in the stories. What seems to be his heart. Where is the person we see in Jesus in the gospels. I’ve commented here already on how much I can see that God is with us, and wants to be. Even though we have been a mess pretty much from the start. That’s amazingly cool.

Another line stood out to me.

When Seth [son of Adam and Eve, after Cain killed Abel] grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. It was during his lifetime that people first began to worship the Lord.
Genesis 4:26

Wait. Say that again?

It was during his [Enosh, grandson of Adam] lifetime that people first began to worship the Lord.

Really? What about Adam? And Eve? And Cain and Abel… what about the offerings that they brought, the ones that were acceptable and unacceptable. Didn’t God establish some kind of worship rules and schedule for them to follow? He didn’t?

Huh.

Strangely, in this brief, overviewish jaunt through Genesis so far, one thing I have noticed is that God did not require worship. At least, I haven’t seen it. What I have noticed is a slow progression in the way we (people) feel towards him and interact with him.

In Genesis 2, Adam and Eve spent time literally in God’s presence. And he with them. When they had to fess up to eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, God was walking around in the garden. He was right there.

There is a line in this account that I remember just chuckling at as a kid. Remember it? “Now, although Adam and his wife were both naked, neither of them felt any shame.” Tee hee! They were naked! Isn’t that funny!?

Until this day, I don’t think I really understood the significance of that. The fact that there is no shame was revealing much more than the basis for a life of nudism.

Consider the role shame seems to play not only in the next chapter, but the next ten chapters of Genesis, as sin completely overwhelms the human race, and Genesis says, “all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil.” The first effect of shame was that they felt they had to cover up their bodies. God found them hiding from him, the account says, because they realized they were naked. But could it also have been that they realized they had chosen what God had told them not to?

Following that, notice that Cain and Abel both start bringing offerings to God. Already, they are separating God from themselves. Adam did not do that. Adam and Eve did not. But one generation later, that is what is happening. And God continued to be with them.

Then Seth was born, and as I wrote above, it was during his son Enosh’s lifetime that people first began worshipping the Lord. Another step towards removing ourselves from God, distancing ourselves from him.

By the time Noah and his family got on the ark, God told them to make provisions for sacrifices which they offered after the flood was over and they were all alone on the planet.

Now, did God command them to offer sacrifices? Didn’t he by saying bring enough animals for a sacrifice demand to be worshipped? I don’t think so. Jesus said that God allows for divorce because the people had hardened their hearts. God knew that even “righteous” Noah and his family felt the need to offer sacrifices – which seems to be another step further down the road of separating ourselves from God than Cain and Abel’s offerings. (Says nothing of a “sacrifice” in that instance.)

Do you see how important it was that we had no shame?

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

We’re almost to Easter. Easter is often a time when we implore people to feel shame. Remember that it was our fault that Jesus went to the cross! He grudgingly took our guilt upon him, all the way to the cross, scorning its shame. Wait, what? It doesn’t say “grudgingly”? Oh? Right! It says this:

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
Ephesians 1:5

Great pleasure. From the beginning of time, all God has wanted is to have a relationship with us. Him… with us. He pursues us. I submit that we, out of understandable shame, are the ones who separate ourselves from him. Not that he is not deserving of reverence and awe and worship. He is. But I believe he made us to be his kids… not his subservient subjugated subjects.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)

Jesus defeated sin, death, and shame on the cross that day. “For the joy set before him.” We’ve read before that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” It’s so hard to see it, because we live with shame. We move God off to a distance because we know our shortcomings. He is holy, different, other. And he is. But I think what he wanted us to see in Jesus – the perfect representation of who he is – is that he’s not afraid to get a little dirty.

I think it’s great to sing to and worship God and even remind ourselves just how amazing and awesome he really is. But in the end, what he seems to want most of all, is for us to just be with him. To know him.

Jesus, and the cross, gives us the freedom to do that. The freedom to be ourselves – naked – with him.

That’s something worth celebrating.

by Greg

Kids Shows @ iTunes

I just spotted an ad on the iTunes store homepage today… something about $0.99 kids shows. Intrigued, I clicked through to find this page, full of not only current shows which are near and dear to the hearts of our kids (Fetch with Ruff Ruffman, Dora, Oswald, etc.) but also awesomely old shows like The Electric Company, Fraggle Rock, the Smurfs… nice!!!

Not sure how much money we can allot for such a thing at the moment, but… pretty fun that you can get that stuff at iTunes now, and at a discount, no less! Fun stuff from my childhood. May just have to introduce a new generation to them…

[Editor’s Note: When I first published this, I accidentally posted a link to this page at iTunes… and while that page (a list of all of our recorded music you can purchase from iTunes) is a fantastic page… it was not the one I intended to send you to. 🙂 Link above has been corrected…]

by Greg

Cooperation

Yesterday the kids were all having trouble coexisting, and it was driving a very tired Mommy crazy! So, after they made peace with Mom, (and on a bit of a whim on my part) I gave them an assignment. All four of them were to work together to create a story – typed up on one of their computers – to present at dinner time. I gave them an outline of four things that they could decide that would help them craft the story, and I insisted that each of them had to have contributed a part to the story.

When it seemed they understood, I left them to their task (and that left Mom a couple hours by herself while the baby was sleeping!)

I stopped by a while later to see how it was going, and they were working beautifully together! They all had little chairs set up around one computer where the biggest brother was doing the typing. They all seemed engaged, and the best part was… it was working! They were each being considerate of the other, welcoming and accepting each other’s ideas. They were just being nice!

I actually couldn’t wait to hear the story they were producing, too! 🙂

Just before lunch time (probably a couple hours later), Ian came up and announced that they had finished, and asked if they could read it at lunch, instead of dinner. I smiled and agreed. Really, all that I had wanted to happen had already happened… the fun story was the “icing on the cake”. Still, I was quite interested to hear what they had come up with, all from their own little brains!

I think I’ll post it here, exactly as Ian typed it. The title is, “Picnic Mystery,” … enjoy.

Picnic Mystery

There once was a family who’s name was the Schroders. The kids names were : 1. Aaron age 17

2. Scott age 15 3. Victoria (Vicky for short) age 14 4. stephanie age 12 5. antonio age 10 (tony for short) and then there is Momma,Pop. Now lets start the story!

We begin in Idaho the Schroders (who lived on a farm)were going on a picnic. They were bringing balogna sandwiches,a ceaser salad,apples and bananas,and ice cold lemonade,and last but not least Momma had baked a blueberry pie. Aaron and Scott were helping Pop in the fields. Vicky and Steph were helping Momma pack the food and other things that you bring on a picnic. Antonio went to tell the other boys to come in and wash up.
They started off, they were going to the park that was about half a mile away. They had cleared a nice path that they liked to walk through every once in a while. When they got to the park they decided to play a game of softball and then they would eat after the softball game. Momma did not want to play so she was the ump. They chose Aaron and pop as the team captains. Tony and Vicky were on Pop’s team. Scott and Steph were on Aaron’s team. They started the game and the first team to bat was Aaron’s team and he was first to bat. He it a triple and Scott hit a homer and they both scored. Then they struck out. So it was Pop’s teams turn Pop hit a single then Vicky hit double and Tony hit a triple and then he tried to score but he got tagged. There was no more scoring so they called a tie and ate. When it was time to eat the pie was missing! They looked everywhere but they couldn’t find it and momma said she would make another so they started to go home when suddenly Antonio shoutd “Hey look up there the squirrels have our pie”. SPLAT!! The squirels droped the pie on Atonio. They went home and Antonio cleand up.And Momma made another pie and enjoyed withOUT any squirrels.

Made on a mac

Written by Ian,Alex,Kirsten and julia

by Greg

$100,000,000.00

$100M sure sounds like a lot of money. And as you can see in the title, it sure is a lot of zeros. However, this blog post by radio talkshow guy Glenn Beck, points out how ridiculously small it is both in comparison to the already large budget as well as the outlandish amount of “money” being spent in all of these “stimulus” packages. Interesting look at the numbers. How do these crazy politicians think we won’t realize this, and just go along with them saying, “Wow! They cut $100M from the budget!!”

by Greg

Sad Things

There are a few things in life that seem to really get to me emotionally any time I hear of them. Divorce is one, especially involving people we know. It just breaks my heart, every time. Then any injustice involving kids… that’s another. (Don’t think that’s at all unique to me, think that’s built into nearly every human being, especially we who are parents.)

The other one though is suicide. I heard this story on the top-of-the-hour radio news, and just immediately felt sad. I’m really not sure what it is, but my heart instantly breaks for the person who felt that was the only remaining course of action. I’m not sure how you get there, but as I said, it just makes me overflow with compassion for them.

I’m not sure why these three things affect me so much, but they do. Perhaps I could be a helpful, listening ear to people facing such tragedies? Perhaps.

Whoever you are reading this right now, I hope they are far away from you.