"The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Knowledge"

I spent last week fairly ill with some sort of flu.  I haven't been so sick in a long time.  Consequently, I don't have much to write about.  Instead, I'd like to share a sermon by my favourite preacher, my husband!

http://www.charlottetownbiblechapel.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Jan-29-2012-AM-Robbie-MacGregor.mp3

I hope this is helpful and encouraging to you!  Thank you for visiting today.  Linking up to the Hip Homeschool Hop.

How Many Kings Would Do This?

A couple of our brothers in the Lord sang this song at our Christmas Eve meeting, accompanied only by acoustic guitar.  I think I prefer their version to the original, but the words really struck me.  How many kings would do all this... for me?

  Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords

1 Timothy 6.15

Do You Hear What I Hear?

I was rather alarmed to overhear my daughter tell one of her little friends on Sunday that we don't celebrate Christmas at our house.  My jaw just about hit the floor!  She then followed that tidbit with "We celebrate Christmas at Nana's house."

Nana's house is where the Christmas tree, piles of presents, and the Christmas dinner is.

Is that what my kids think "celebrating Christmas" is all about?  I was almost ready to cry.

We exchange presents at Thanksgiving within our own family.  We started doing this a few years ago when the "Christmas craziness" got overwhelming.  So, we don't give each other presents at Christmas, but we still give gifts to people outside our immediate family.  We send out cards, mainly because that is the only time we have contact with some of those people on our Christmas card list.  I put up a few decorations at home, mostly snow themed, and I don't take them down until we get tired of winter!  I do special crafts with my kids and we try to think of a few fun things to do outside the house as well.

It rather grieves me that my daughter seems to think we don't celebrate Christmas because we don't do the same things as other people.  We remember that Christ came into this world.  He didn't come to be a cute little baby in a manger, as many people like to picture Him this time of year.  Christ came to suffer and die to purchase our salvation.  We remember his death every Lord's Day when we gather for the Breaking of Bread.  My husband made an interesting point the other night in a message - Christ only spoke once of His own birth (John 18.37), but many times of His death.

When we remember the Lord's death, we sit in a large circle around a small table on which is the bread  and the cup.  It is simple yet meaningful.  Why can we not remember His birth in a simple way as well?

  Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. 

2 Corinthians 9.15

How Do You Measure Success?

For awhile now, I've been thinking about our society's preoccupation with success, education and information.  Success is generally calculated by how much money you make, which is determined by your level of education, which is determined by how much information you were able to cram into your head.  Sadly, even many Christians have this skewed sense of success, which is often detrimental to their spiritual life.

So what is success - REALLY?  The Webster Universal Dictionary has quite an extensive description of success. "The act of having succeeded; the state of having succeeded; favourable termination of anything attempted; accomplishment; attainment; issue, result, outcome; a happy ending; good fortune; prosperity; a person who has achieved success."  My two favourite definitions are "favourable termination of anything attempted" and "a happy ending".

There is such an emphasis on high achievement today.  Everybody wants to be the best.  College/university education is a must, because a degree is essential to getting a good job.  Even when that college or university education is going to put you thousands and thousands of dollars in debt, which will take many years to pay off even if you do get a "good" job in your chosen field, it is always pushed as the way to succeed.

The thing is, we can't all be doctors or lawyers or the presidents of companies or sports stars.  We aren't all meant to be those things.  Some people are but others aren't.  Since we live in an imperfect world, there are jobs that must be done that are not "nice", "good", or don't make you look successful.  Like the garbage collector.  Not a nice, tidy job; not a fun job but a necessary job.  How would our homes, towns, and cities look if we didn't have garbage collectors?  How would they smell?  Our garbage collectors provide a valuable service to us that increases our quality of life but instead of being applauded for their efforts, they are looked down upon.  It's sad.

Being "successful" does not make you "good".  It does not make you a good person, a good husband/wife, a good mother or father.  There are probably people living on the streets that are "better" people - more moral, kind and caring - than someone who has every material want or need satisfied.  Conversely, not being "successful" does not mean you are a bad or lazy person.  Success does not determine the value of your life.  All people are valuable because we have all been made in the image of God.  God plans different lives for each one of us according to His great wisdom.  He puts us in our families for a reason.  He doesn't make mistakes and nothing happens by accident.  We don't always understand why things happen (or why things DON'T happen, as the case may be).

It would be nice, in a way, for my children to grow up and get jobs that would mean financial security for them.  However, I would not want that to happen at the expense of their spiritual and moral lives.  I would far rather see my child working cheerfully for the Lord as a garbage collector than to see them as a highly successful professional who did not honour God.

I first began writing this piece quite some time ago, and recently came across this quote:
"Too many of us treat education as a competition, with some idea of success as the objective.  This approach is bad for the "winners" and bad for the "losers", who only see themselves more or less as failures.  Such a narrow focus ignores children's strong points, their gifts.  For instance, taking a rather extreme example, a child has Down's syndrome, and yet her personality shines with love and loyalty.  What family, group or community can do without these valuable qualities as an example for others?  We have turned into fools when it comes to appreciating what is really worthwhile in life - proud fools with no understanding of what God treasures.  We live in a worldly generation that encourages a blind pride.


What would happen if everybody planned for their children to be business executives, lawyers, scientists, or academics?  Where would we be without the honoured homemakers, craftsmen, artists and musicians?  Where are those who are good at pastoral care?  Who will care for community needs - tend the sick, plow the fields, and, yes, collect the garbage? (Garbage collection, water purification, home construction, and similar activities are arguably more valuable to our human communities than the work of many of our CEOs and star entertainers.  Salary and educational attainments mean nothing in themselves.)      -Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, When Children Love to Learn p.35 (general editor Elaine Cooper)

What are your thoughts on this subject?

"A Mighty Fortress is Our God"

 1. A mighty fortress is our God,

A bulwark never failing;

Our helper He, amid the flood

Of mortal ills prevailing;

For still our ancient foe

Doth seek to work us woe;

His craft and power are great,

And, armed with cruel hate,

On Earth is not his equal.

 

2. Did we in our own strength confide,

Our striving would be losing;

Were not the right Man on our side,

The Man of God's own choosing;

Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is He;

Lord Sabaoth, His name,

From age to age the same,

And He must win the battle.

 

3. And though this world, with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed

His truth to triumph through us;

The Prince of Darkness grim --

We tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure,

For lo, his doom is sure,

One little word shall fell him.

 

4. That word above all earthly powers,

No thanks to them, abideth.

The Spirit and the gifts are ours

Though Him who with us sideth;

Let goods and kindred go,

This mortal life also;

The body they may kill;

God's truth abideth still,

His kingdom is forever.

-Martin Luther-

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 

Psalm 46.1

ASD Assessment Part Two

Today we take our son for his actual assessment.  The appointment is a couple of hours long.  The psychologist and the paediatrician will take turns working with him to evaluate his situation.  I'm fairly nervous about this one because there will likely be some news after the doctors have conferred.  By this afternoon we should have a good idea of what we are dealing with.  I would appreciate prayer.  I think I have prepared myself for the worst and I'm not giving up no matter what the doctors have to say.


Deuteronomy 31.8 - And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. 

Good Intentions

Have you ever had the experience of someone giving you advice that you never asked for and insisting that their advice is what you should do no matter what?  I've had that experience lately.  It really bugs me that people (who are NOT "experts") dish out unsolicited advice and make you feel like a bad parent.  Then you feel bad that you're cross with them and then you just feel anxious and guilty.  I think people mean well but... grr.

I homeschool because I think it is the best thing for my kids and my family.  I am doing the best I can.  I am also doing the best I can to help my son with his problems.  The doctors (the "experts") say we are doing a great job and that he has made remarkable progress.  So why would someone tell me I need to do more?

We were talking about my son's upcoming ASD assessment.  I said all we really wanted to know was what we were dealing with.  The comment?  "Oh, but you want to get him into a programme!  You make sure the doctors get him some help.  He needs so much help with his socialisation (that's the wrong word to say to a homeschooler!).  You don't want him to... this, that, and the other thing.  You want the best for him..."

Yes, I want the best for my son.  What IS the best though?  Success in worldly society or to be the person God made him to be (whatever that might look like)?  I don't want my daughter in public school for various reasons, some moral and some scholastic, so why would I send my son to some kind of public programme?  He is our child and we have to raise him "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6.4), no matter what problems he has.

Psalm 1

In our chapel Bible study, we are now working our way through the Psalms (my husband is speaking on Psalm 3 tonight).  This morning, I was just looking through the first few Psalms.  I think Psalm 1 is one of my favourite passages.  About 5 years ago, we acquired a Psalter and started learning some of the Psalms set to metre.  Of course, the first one we learned (and the only one I can remember off the top of my head) was the first Psalm.  Here is the metrical version of the first two verses:

That man hath perfect blessedness

who walketh not astray

In counsel of ungodly men,

nor stands in sinners' way,

Nor sitteth in the scorner's chair:

But placeth his delight

Upon God's law, and meditates

on his law day and night.

I wanted to include an audio or video link, but I could only find this sung to a different tune than we use or in Gaelic.  (Gaelic is a beautiful language but I don't understand 99% of it!)  We are accustomed to singing acapella.  We do not use musical instruments at our breaking of bread meeting or our Bible study.  There is something wonderful about the sound of unaccompanied human voices singing as a group.  Some sing very well and some not so well, but the combined sound is quite nice.   "Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise." Psalm 98.4

This psalm is what the life of a Christian should look like:  steering clear of the lifestyle of the ungodly and approval of their sin and living a life of purity before God  The Christian should not be rationalising or justifying his/her wrong behaviour but making their life line up to what God says in His Word - the Bible.  That must always be the final authority.

I am linking this post to the Hip Homeschool Hop.  Thanks for visiting today.   

Disabled or Differently Abled?

My son is 4 years old.  He is a sweet, energetic little guy.  He is also almost certainly autistic.

Getting that news was really hard at first, but it was something we had suspected for a long time.  The professionals told us "He's never going to develop more than what he has..."  The funny thing is, we see positive changes just about every day - things parents of "normal" 4 year-olds don't get excited over.  Every new word, moment of independent eye contact, instruction followed is a victory for us.

When we have to explain to people (particularly people we don't know) that he is autistic, you can sometimes see a look come into their eyes like "Oh, he's disabled..."  That's not how we see him.  He is different, certainly, but we are all different (you might even say we're all weird in some way!).  God has created each of us uniquely for the unique purpose He has for us.  We are all "differently abled".  The highest ambition we have for our son is that he would be able to understand his need for a Saviour and to belong to Jesus Christ.  In the long run, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.