We had another raining day here in supposedly sunny California. This month has been a season of rain, which is very unusual. It seems like it never stops. While out on an errand this evening, as the rain poured and poured, Matthew asked “Mommy, why does it rain so much?” Before I could answer, he said, “Is it because God knows we have strawberry plants?” We planted some strawberries in our garden about a month ago but had not installed the drip hose for the water supply. I was told to manually water the strawberries for the time being. I have not even watered those plants at all for the past month because of the ample rain. In Matthew’s mind, God supplies ample rain so we can grow strawberries!

This is really wonderful. We are so blessed — our heart’s desire is to instill in Matthew (and all his siblings) an understanding that God is sovereign and involved in every element of his creation. These are the seeds of faith in our faithful God in the years to come.

I’ve been enjoying listening to Bryan Chapell’s sermons online. His sermons are very concise (about 20-25 minutes long) which is a plus because as a busy and very pregnant mother, I can only handle a little nugget at a time. He is a gifted speaker whose sermons are Christ-centered, clear, and inspirational. His sermon “When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong: Facing Our Weaknesses in Order to Find Strength” ministered to me tremendously.

In this sermon, he speaks from 2 Corinthians 11, 12 about the Apostle Paul boasting in his own weakness as he faces the “super apostles” displaying their credentials. Chapell points out that Paul’s premise is simple: if we are to be strong, we are to be weak. I usually do a double take when I see this statement because it is an odd statement. The natural inclination is to try to be stronger, not weaker, if our goal is to be strong. Yet, Paul urges his listeners to be weak.

I have never felt weaker than since I became a mother. God blessed us with two wonderful sons, and to be honest, they are not easy. I admit that I sometimes envy those with children who are more mellow than mine. I struggle day-to-day in how to channel their exuberant energy level. Then the Lord saw fit to move us to adopt a baby girl from China. In order to fit into this active family, God gave us a little girl whose active personality matches that of the boys. I’m outnumbered. Utterly defeated. Shortly thereafter, the Lord chose to bless us with another one who is currently in the womb (due in 8 weeks). I wonder what this baby will be like? With three very active children and a very tired pregnant body, my weakness is very apparent. I have nothing about which to boast. Many people, whether friends or strangers, are still in awe that we’re about to have our fourth child. Most think I have a high energy level and a great deal of patience. I’m even labelled as a “super mom,” one who can do it all. I shudder when I hear that label because I am not! Believe me, I am not. Again, I have nothing to boast about.

In Chapell’s sermon, he goes on to say how important it is to know our own weakness:

Do you know the extent of your weakness as Paul does? Did you know you’re as weak and sinful as the next guy apart from the grace of God? Do you know that? You have to. Because until you know how weak or bad you are (or could be) you cannot truly be good, or used of God. Until you see the extent of your weakness (even an apostle’s!) you don�t know the value of the lesson that must come your way.

We don’t just stop here. We don’t claim anything just by knowing our own weakness even though this is the first step.

Paul wants us to know our weakness so we will know grace. To know first of all that it’s sufficient in itself… You are sufficient only in His grace. You may have an easy time or hard. You may be very gifted or not. But it is not what we offer up to God that makes us sufficient.You are sufficient only if you rest in Him. He looks at you as bathed in the blood of His own Son, the character & life-giving blood of His Son and that is sufficient.Remember what he says at end of verse 9: “I will boast about my weakness so Christ’s power may rest in me.” The wonderful truth is we rest on Christ alone and His power rests on us. Are you relying on his strength? Ask yourself if you need to confess: if God is really your strength, why have you run past him so often when you try to serve Him? In all those times you use your gifts, talents and never stop to say to God, “Fill me.” We say, “Lord make me a mighty warrior, fortress, etc.” And that’s not wrong in itself, but that prayer must be preceded by, “Lord, make me know how weak or frail I am. Do in my life what you must. That I might know the process AND purpose of my weakness. That I might know your grace is sufficient, your strength perfected in my weakness. Only when I’m weak, then I am strong. Lord teach me, when I am weak, only then I am strong.”

Let us then be reminded that it is on Christ, and Christ alone that we lean and draw strength from. Our weakness displays the strength of God, and only through his grace can we find rest. Like I said, this is a short sermon, and if you have 20-25 minutes to spare, listen to this teaching and be encouraged.

I received a complimentary copy of the Homeschooling Methods book for review. The book is edited by Gena and Paul Suarez, publishers of The Old Schoolhouse homeschooling magazine. The purpose of this book is to examine various popular homeschooling methods such as:

• Classical Education
• Principle Approach
• Traditional Textbook
• Charlotte Mason
• Unit Study
• Special Needs
• Carschooling
• Eclectic
• Unschooling or Delight Directed Studies
• Whole-Heart Learning

The layout for each method is as follows:

• A chapter that presents a short summary or an overview
• A chapter written by a major proponent of the method discussing the theoretic aspect
• A chapter written by another proponent of the method discussing the practical or the “how-to” aspect

I think this is a wonderful book for those who are searching for the right homeschooling approach for their family. Many of the contributers are veteran homeschooling parents so their writings not only encompass the description of the technique but also their candid homeschooling experience. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in homeschooling. It should prove especially those who are a bit confused as to what method or technique is the right one for their family.

We sang the song “The Love of God” at church this morning, and it is one of my favorite hymns. I haven’t played this song for a long time since I no longer have the music sheet. I sure miss it. The lyrics are as follow:

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

When hoary time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hillls and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race
The saints’ and angels’ song

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky

Refrain:
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song

This song is very poetic and it speaks volumes about God’s love.

We received a complimentary Jesus doll from one2believe to review. Currently there are four talking dolls available: Jesus, Moses, David, and Mary. These 12″ tall dolls are fully articulated and each has a button in the back which you can push to hear a voice talk. The Jesus doll includes six scriptures for memorization purposes. The dolls are advertised as such:

Messengers of Faith really helps children learn. By appealing to all of their senses, children memorize Scripture and Bible stories via:

a. Auditory Learning (learning by what we hear)
b. Visual Learning (learning by what we see)
c. Kinesthetic Learning (learning by what we physically feel)

Together, all these features make learning about the Bible and its history fun for children of all ages.

What was our experience? Upon receipt of the Jesus doll for review, my children were excited and enjoyed pushing the button in the back to initiate the talking feature. They also liked playing with the doll by bending the arms and legs and twisting different joints. My son even took the doll outside to ride in his little tractor. However, the novelty quick wore off and the Jesus doll got tossed to the floor with the rest of the toys. After observing this, I felt uncomfortable that “Jesus” got played with and then got tossed to the side. I can’t scold or blame my kids for this type of regular play because, after all, it is a doll. Yet it concerns me because it is a doll which attempts to portray the Lord Jesus Christ.

While the intention of the creator of this doll is good in helping children learn scripture verses, my own sense is that it is not a very good medium. The doll only comes with six scriptures which is a good start for children, but how does one move beyond this to encourage more scripture memorization?

For home/private use, I’m inclined to give a gentle thumbs-down to this doll, especially the Jesus doll. Perhaps in a children’s bible class or similar teaching environment, it would make a useful tool. Frankly, though, even though the maker is well-intentioned, I’m not convinced that a Jesus talking action figure really adds much to the conveyance of the gospel or Bible memorization. A few verses and a story booklet fall far short of crucial interactive dialogue about the message of sin and salvation and add little practical value (or at least less than the well-meaning marketing message would have you believe).

As a sidenote, to provide a constructive alternative, we highly recommend that parents help their children memorize Scripture (without props). Evers has been working with Matthew with great success using the Foundation Verses resources from Desiring God. After a month, Matthew’s now memorized seven verses and working on #8.

People began commenting about how smart or how big a vocabulary my son had even at a tender age of 2 or 2 1/2. He’s approaching four now and I still get comments like that. Why do people say my kid is so smart? Why are they even shocked whenever they hear him talk?

I strongly believe it is because we do one simple thing: we talk to him! Whenever he has a question, we do our best to answer him even though the explanation may be well beyond his years. He often wants to know what roads or highways to take whenever we go out. I just tell it to him like I would tell someone who needs directions. For example, I say, “We turn right onto Landess Ave. which becomes Montague Expressway. We keep going straight until we hit Highway 880 and then take the southbound direction to go to Costco. We exit Coleman, then turn right, and Costco is on our left.” Yes, this sounds a bit excessive, but he’s actually grown accustomed to picking up a lot of information. In addition, I believe explaining things to my children is a good habit for me to develop even when the explanation is over their heads. What often surprises me is that they learn lot quicker than I realize.

My parents took my son to Costco a while ago and on the way back, my son told my Dad exactly which roads and highway to take. My parents were shocked! How did this little 3 yr old know which roads to take? It’s simple. We told him, and he remembered.

When Matthew was three, I noticed some residue in his bathtub while he was bathing. Puzzled, I said out loud, “What is this gunk?” Of course this was a rhetorical question so no answer was expected. However, my son answered and said, “I think they are algae, probably.” Algae?? He knew what algae was? The truth was, I think he was probably right because I realized the gunk or the residue came from his bath toys. We hadn’t washed those toys for a while so most likely algae or perhaps mildew formed inside some of them. The point is, the reason he knew what algae was because we keep a fish aquarium, and whenever my husband cleaned it, he explained the whole process to my son by telling him that there was algae inside the tank that needed to be scrubbed away. Learning is something that can — and most often does — happen outside of a classroom or formal teaching environment.

We also don’t do baby talk such as “Oh, you have an owie? Let me kissy kissy it.” Talking baby talk doesn’t encourage good language skills. Instead of talking down to them, have them learn how to speak properly like we do.

I also realize that there’s a tendency for adults to answer their kids in such matter: “Oh, you’re too young to understand. Anyway, this is the way it is, and that’s that.” Kids by nature are curious and when they ask questions, they really want to know. So feed on that curiosity by giving them information. This isn’t rocket science. It doesn’t require you to have a doctoral degree, or have a formal instructional class with your child, or send them to someone else to learn. Just speak to them and tell them what you are doing. By doing so, you are providing an enriched environment which enhances language development.

I find it so amusing that my four year old has adopted our tendency for frugality. How do I know? Check out a few examples:

• Whenever we pass by a gas station, he reads the gas price and then says, “Wow. . . that’s so much!”
• When we were at the store the other day, he found a kid size shopping cart and pushed it around pretending to shop. When he showed it to me, I asked where he got that. He said, “I got it on sale, Mommy.”
• While at the store, he asked if he could go to the toy section. I told him that I wasn’t going to buy any toys. He said to me, “That’s ok, Mommy, I just want to look at it.” Ha. . . .ha. . . ha. . . my usual saying of “It’s free for the looking.” has finally lodged in his brain. I’m also very glad that he doesn’t think he can get whatever he wants at the store. I’ve seen way too many kids pitch a fit when their parents refuse to buy them toys. I’m happy to say that after we were finished shopping, he left contentedly without crying or whining.
• There were times when he asked if I could buy him something. After looking at the price, I told him that it was too expensive so we weren’t going to buy it. He was fine with that decision every time.

My husband says this is actually a good thing, since as a kid he really failed to appreciate the value of money and as a result was something of a spendthrift until he got out of college. But that’s a more serious topic for another post. Let’s just enjoy the silliness of a near-4yo boy eavesdropping on his parents’ frugality.