The Anonymous

No one cares about the anonymous. I mean, why should they. We only show up rarely, when we make a statement that deserves our anonymity, then we disappear. Hiding in plane sight, disguised as stay-at-home moms, 9-5 dads, and full time students. Blending in by shopping for groceries, driving kids to sports, recitals, and dance, having barbecues  and pool parties, and drinking $7 lattes. 

We show up all through out history, disguised as different people. Dukes, military leaders, monks, poets, singers, inventors, writers, scientist, teachers, the list goes on and on, yet you never notice us. Sure you register that we existed, and you admit that we did something important, and you put us in your textbooks in the tiny footnotes. But then you store us in the back of your mind until you need us to prove a point for you, or give you some profound quote for your thesis. Once in a while though, one of us will scream loud enough to  escape the jaws of time, and you will give us as much respect as to put us in your timelines or to be mentioned in a discussion. 

But we are out there, then and today and forever after, so go look for us. Open up a book and find our names, read a poem, or listen to a song. Go find us at your work, your schools, your communities. Make sure we are still there for the future, and then take a look at yourself to see if you are one of us. The history changers, the earth shakers, the life savers, the Anonymous.

The Anonymous

By E.L. Emmert, 12-2-13

We are there

All around you

Hiding in plain sight

We are behind your 

stories

music

art

movies

architecture

 and your

history

present 

future 

We are between the lines

Caught in your photographs

Heard in your music

Presented in your classrooms

We are there 

to hold up your world

And then there were none...

A recent picture of Aunt Edie by my cousin Tanya

Last week my Great-Aunt Edith died. She was the last living sibling of the ten children of my Great-Grandparents Homer and Gertrude Smith. My Grandma Lucile was the oldest, Aunt Edie was number 7. Each of my Grandma's brothers and sisters played an important part in my life. They each taught me something valuable about life and family. I miss them all, but I am making an effort to remember the things they taught me, and teach them to our children.

Aunt Edie - Circa 1940?

There are 4 lasting lessons I learned from Aunt Edie:

1- Be comfortable as yourself. No one else is you. So why try to be someone else? Find out who you are and be yourself.

2- A smile is your best accessory. Your smile can brighten someone's day. A smile makes anyone beautiful.

3- Good manners DO matter. How long has it been since you heard someone say "Thank You!"?  I think it is time we get back to using good manners and teaching them to our children.

4- Love is never-ending! Leave a legacy behind you, one that speaks volumes of love.

Thankful Thursday- 11/28/13 Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are able to spend time today with your family and friends. May you have good fellowship and delicious food! We are looking forward to dinner with family. We are thankful for the many blessings God has given us this past year. What a wild ride it has been.

Now get off your computer and go be thankful for time with your family!

Do you like the new look?

I just updated the look of the blog... well, the background anyway. 

What do you think? I still like the idea of a dark background with light words. I guess it's just the artist in me. 

Look around, read (or reread) a few posts, then leave a comment and let me know if you like the new color scheme.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What's with all the labels?!

Please let me preface this by saying that I am NOT a Doctor, or a nurse, or a psychologist. I am a Mom, and a wife, and a friend. These are just thoughts that have been circling in my head and I need to get them out.

I know and appreciate that God has made us all unique. Each of us comes with our own personality and foibles. I understand that. I'm sure there have been many a day when my friends and family wondered what was wrong with me. 

But please, let's ditch the labels.

Let's appreciate the people in our lives for who they are.

Here is an example: the other day I saw a picture on my Facebook feed that said something like "10 pictures that will bring out your OCD."

There are people in this world who struggle with OCD. Real people with real challenges. I think we belittle them when we off-handly say "Oh she's a little OCD" or "That's just the OCD in my personality." The pictures on Facebook are just of one or two things mis-aligned, like a pencil turned the opposite way. That's NOT OCD. That might be your personal neatness tendency coming out, but it's not OCD.

Here is the definition of OCD from WebMD: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a type of anxiety disorder, is a potentially disabling illness that traps people in endless cycles of repetitive thoughts and behaviors. People with OCD are plagued by recurring and distressing thoughts, fears, or images (obsessions) they cannot control. The anxiety (nervousness) produced by these thoughts leads to an urgent need to perform certain rituals or routines (compulsions). The compulsive rituals are performed in an attempt to prevent the obsessive thoughts or make them go away.

This is not a bunch of mis-matched pencils, or a mistake in the pattern of your bathroom tile-work. OCD is scary, and often life-debilitating.

Please do me a favor, stop using this label. If you're upset by things being out of line, call yourself a perfectionist if you must, but stop 'labeling' yourself OCD.

I think at times we use labels that don't really apply to us as an excuse to sin.

That's right - sin.

We are ALL sinners in need of a Savior- Jesus.

If you REALLY TRULY have a disorder like OCD, call it what it is. (And please, let me know, I would be privileged to pray for you!) 

If you're just looking for an excuse to sin, whether in your own behavior or your judgement of other people, call your sin, sin, and confess it.

I sin. I don't want to. I want to live a Godly life. As Paul wrote in Romans 7, 'the good I want to do is not what I do.' Yet, I know that when I draw near to God, He comforts me, He directs me, He heals me.

I have friends with children with AD/HD. They struggle mightily some days because their children are just not wired like everyone else. This shows me the effects of the Curse. I pray for those sweet families & their children. Each day can be a roller-coaster.

Yet, I see them cringe just a little when someone excuses a child's lack of self-control as "he's just a little ADD" or sorry, "she's got some ADHD." Some children REALLY do have this disorder. I am in NO WAY saying anything against calling it what it is. I'm trying to get us ALL to realize the power our words have, and our actions. If you or your child are lacking in self-control - ask God for help. Then take the help He gives and apply it!

Our daughter is not AD/HD. But, she is impulsive. We have worked with her for years on self-control. She is doing much better. I can see the most improvement in her self-control when I have been exercising self-control in my own life.

Ever hear the expression "more is caught than taught."? Our children learn from us. Daily, hourly, minute by minute. Are you modeling a life that puts others first? A life that loves and protects? A life that does NOT try to be like everyone else, but focuses on the unique individual God has made you?

When we, as parents, choose to love, honor, and protect those around us... then we'll drop the labels. When we call sin, sin, when we repent of our own foolishness, or hard hearts, God can work miracles through us. He can heal us. He can grow us into His children. When our words speak love instead of labels, they change the world.

Speak love.

Thankful Thursday - 11/21/13 - The Schoolhouse Review Crew

For the past two years we have been blessed to be a part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, the reviewing arm of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. We have tried many different curriculums and been given wonderful opportunities to see things first, often as a PDF or galley copy.

Being on the Crew takes time and a lot of hard work. It is worth it! To tell the truth, I'm pretty sure the girls do more of the work than I do. I do a lot more of the reporting. I try to have them write up their impressions of the products we are reviewing, but sometimes they just tell me and I write it into the review. 

I have learned a lot about blogging while on the Crew. This is a wonderful, caring group of about 200-250 Moms who share their thoughts on products, and share their knowledge of blogging with the other members.

The Crew has been a support group to me, and a place to ask honest questions. Locally, I have many friends and acquaintances who homeschool. I am blessed in having those nearby. But sometimes, you just want to ask other people who have a similar teaching style about a particular product. This is where the Crew becomes invaluable to me. When you visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew website, you can click the links to read all of the reviews from the past two years. I like this option because as I read the other members' reviews, I get a feel for how a particular product worked in their home. I can find out if it is geared towards those who like Unit Studies, Classical Education, workbooks, or a Charlotte Mason style of learning.

If you've never read through any reviews but ours, I would encourage you to take some time and really read through reviews you are curious about. Sometimes the Crew reviews for well known vendors, like Math-U-See or Apologia. Sometimes we work with lesser known vendors who carry wonderful products.

Before the Crew, I had not heard of Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns or Science For High School, but they became some of our favorite reviews. If you want to read through any of our Crew reviews from this year, just click the 'TOS Reviews' link on the right side of the blog.

This month a lot of people are focusing on being Thankful. I would like to remind you to be thankful everyday, every month, every year. We are so blessed.

Today I am focusing on being thankful for the Crew. Tomorrow? Who knows, you'll have to check back in then!

Thankful Thursday 11/14/13- Pumpkin

This week we have been extremely thankful for our friends who provided us with some free pumpkins! We have been baking, and baking, and baking the pumpkins to get them ready to use. Our freezer now has a lot of pumpkin puree!

We now have enough pumpkin for 22 pies, and 14 loaves of pumpkin bread! That is a huge blessing!
Truly, we are thankful for pumpkin! Emily's prayer at dinner ended with "...and thank You God that we are almost done cooking the pumpkin!"

Guess what we'll be taking to the pitch-in next week?!