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I don’t often toot my own horn, but sometimes it’s fun! Many who read my blogs do not know that I write, write, write. To date, I have seven titles published by Christian publishers (all available on sites like Amazon) as well as eight e-books, available at www.momlifenavigator.com. Let’s take a peek at what’s available:
Check Amazon or your local bookseller for these titles:
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Homeschooling 101: The Essential Handbook (B&H Publishing Group, 2007)
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Homeschooling the Challenging Child: A Practical Guide (B&H Publishing, 2005)
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Help for the Harried Homeschooler: A Practical Guide for Balancing Your Child’s Education with the Rest of Your Life (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, 2002)
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Life Skills for Kids: Equipping Your Child for the Real World (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, 2000)
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A Field Guide to Homeschooling (Fleming H. Revell Publishing, 1998)
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Should You Adopt? (Fleming H. Revell Publishing, 1997)
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Coming Home to Raise Your Children (Fleming Revell, 1994)
These e-books are available for immediate download at www.momlifenavigator.com.
Accidental Learning: A-Z (Field and Vagt
Seasonal Savors: Celebrating & Savoring the Simple Joys of Family Life (Field and Vagt)
Home School Spice: Help for Hum-Drum School Days
What to do When Mothering is a Mess
Managing Multi-Ages: The one room school house all over again
Quibbling Siblings: Learning from the Strife
Should you Adopt?
Help for Struggling Learners
If any of these topics speaks to you, check them out. I’d love to come along side you because no mom walks this journey alone.
Your outer life may be in chaos, but how is your inner life?
As moms, we plan and prepare many aspects of our outer lives – including the lesson plans, the menu plans, the shopping lists – but what amount of time do we spend on our inner lives, on our hearts and minds?
We need to preserve the peace of that inner life, lest we fall into patterns of thinking:
Like a groove – like a stuck needle on an old record album.
Like a frozen computer – if it has too many things running and becomes overwhelmed, it has the sense to freeze and shut down.
Like an old cassette tape – it can become unraveled and become nearly impossible to put back together.
Will you live according to the sinful nature of thought processes out of control, or according to the Spirit? (Read Romans 8:4)
I can think myself into a funk at the drop of a hat. Only the refreshment of the Word of God can get me out of it.
Romans 12:2 advises, “No not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Conforming is funky thinking. Transforming is a work the Spirit can and will do in your life.
www.MomLifeNavigator.com
Listen now or save as mp3 to listen later.
I have so many interests and passions that if I live to be 200 I will not be able to pursue them all.
It’s kind of like an interest driven attention deficit disorder.? That’s not entirely accurate.? My ADD kids have a laser focus when it comes to something they are interested in.? The attention I give to my interests is more scatter shot.
I’m a kid in a candy store when it comes to a used book sale.? I like the way books look, the way they feel and the way they smell.
My thrift store addiction has become fueled by a new interest – collage art and art journaling.? I can justify the purchase of bits and items of obscurity to use in my creations.? They are piling up.
Although I have only completed two quilts, I have plans and fabric for many, many more.
My writing files are frightening.? Partly driven by an inability to throw anything away and partly driven by the paranoid thought that I will someday need that poem I wrote when I was 13 – stacks of buried treasure surround my writing desk.
These good intentions and un-chased dreams invite chaos into my life.? When I’m clear-headed and energetic, it feels good to be surrounded by so much potential.? When I’m stressed out with a bulging schedule, it feels suffocating.
How do you invite chaos into your life?? Here are some of the common ways I have seen other moms invite it:
1. Having too many toys out at once.? While I once thought that doing so would keep my kids engaged and interested, they often felt overwhelmed.? I watch my daughter with admiration as she teaches my grandson to put one toy away before he takes it another.
2. Having too many items in my kitchen.? I have a machine or a gadget to do almost any task in my kitchen.? Sometimes I walk in there and sigh.? Making a decision to use or not use one is another way I invite chaos.? I was shopping the other day for a gift and overheard another shopper say she was looking for an electric corkscrew.? Really? Some of my fondest memories are of hand kneading dough with the kids in the big bread mixing bowl.
3. How many pairs of jeans does your child need?? With 4 young children and two adults in a small house, I quickly earned that buying too much clothing at thrift stores and garage sales could literally bury us!? For each season, take a clothing inventory for each child – and adult.? It’s amazing how little you really need. (I have provided a form below for your use in this process.)
4. A huge problem for me used to be inviting chaos by adding too many commitments outside of my family. My former inability to say NO threatened to derail my health and my relationships more than once.? Getting older has helped me to prioritize more.? I would encourage all parents of kids of any age to ask yourself this: What’s the one thing that only I can do during this time in my life?? The answer always was to be the wife and mother that God called me to be. Other people can represent legal clients, but my babies grew older day by day.
I don’t need or want more chaos in my life.
I want peace. It’s only invited into my life as I cast away the unimportant and focus on the marrow.
Clothing Inventory
Make one for each member of your family to carry with you to stores and garage sales. Note current sizes. Sort by HAVE/NEED
Name: ____________________________ Season: _________________________
Shirts pants/shorts skirts jackets/coats sweaters/sweatshirts
dresses nightclothes underwear shoes/boots accessories (gloves,hats,etc.)
Christine Field
www.MomLifeNavigator.com
November is National Adoption Month. Three of my four kiddos are
adopted, so it is a subject near and dear to me.
This month when you subscribe to my newsletter at momlifenavigator.com, you will receive my book, If you are longing for a child … Should You Adopt.
I wrote this in the 1990s to help others make the adoption decision and take some preliminary steps towads that goal. The book is a small part of my story with a big helping of information and support.
If you aren’t interested in adoption, please freely share this e-book with others. It is a wonderful option to build a family!
I pray you will be blessed in this wonderful season of blessings!
Christine Field
www.momlifenavigator.com
PO Box 261, Wheaton, IL 60187, USA
How do you plan your day?
Some kind of list seems essential.
A calendar?
A notebook? A cell phone list?
Without a list we forget important tasks.
We need something to see the-things-that-need-to-get-done.
But as mothers not-following-our-list ALSO seems essential.
Christine Field says children spell “love” T-I-M-E.
She’s right.
We use time, and lots of it, to care for our children and know them.
After they’re grown our children still trump our things-to-do-list.
When a grown-up daughter calls, dinner goes on simmer.
Vacations drift to lands where grown-up children live.
As mothers we overlay everything with caring for and knowing our children.
Children don’t eradicate our tasks.
Children reshape them.
Can we say, “please wait” to a child?
Of course.
Otherwise, we live in a limbo of no clean laundry and our children never learn patience.
But while we finish a task, and while they wait, we’re aware of them.
In the back and front of our minds we’re still thinking of them, of who they are and what they need.
So, we simplify our tasks.
We get back to our children.
Soon.
Can we say, “please wait” to a child, even if we’re reading a book or taking a bath?
Of course.
Otherwise, our mothering becomes manic, or numb, and our children don’t learn that others are “other.”
But while we finish the chapter, or soak a little longer, we’re aware of them.
We get back to them.
Soon.
A mother’s life is a matrix.
Our time is layered, like potatoes au gratin, with people and tasks, and that’s what’s most important!
by Virginia Vagt
(an earlier version first appeared as the Quick Tip in Break Time! at www.home-school-inc.com, August, 2011)
Have you ever had these thoughts? • This isn’t fun anymore • Things are spinning out of control • There’s only one of me and 4 of you • I feel like I’m a hamster on a treadmill • I feel like I’m drowning • There’s too much to do • I feel angry all the time • I always have to pick up the pieces after everyone else During these times, it feels like mothering is a mess. For me, those thoughts would make me behave poorly: • I would be so crabby a wrong look from a child would set me off • My husband would irritate me by just standing there • This might be a week when I have given the kids baths in the kiddy pool all week • Most likely, we’ve had chicken nuggets and fries for the last 5 nights for dinner When I get this way, there is a mean-ness in my spirit. I just didn’t want to give anything else to anyone else because I had nothing else to give. Instead, I would want to be left alone. Or I would want to have chocolate. Or, I would want to be left alone WITH some chocolate. Sooner or later, every mom falls into this ditch. But it’s not the end of the world! There are satisfying solutions for you to dig yourself out of the ditch! Come learn what to do when … Mothering is a Mess. New e-book available for a limited time for $3.00! Visit www.momlifenavigator.com.
Are you having one of “those” days?
The days when you wonder if your labor and sacrifice is worth it?
The days when the grass looks greener just about anywhere else?
The says when you want time to speed up because a more peaceful time lies ahead? (You think!)
For every day that you wish away, you squander a gift, a blessing a memory.
The days of childhood, so short and sweet, are gone in an instant.
You are left with memories of running through the grass,
Small hands clenched around dandelions.
Don’t miss it.
Is it any coincidence that my birthday, April 12th, coincided with national Be Kind to Lawyers Day?
Source: http://www.bekindtolawyers.com/page1.php
We get a bad rap, we lawyers. There are several reasons why:
1. People consult us when they are in crisis. You don’t just make a sweet “hello, how are you” call to your lawyer.
2. People consult us about negative topics. (Except adoption, if you’re adopting.) Lawyers deal in the currency of pain. This can cause you to form a negative association. Usually you call (see above) for a negative reason: You got arrested, you’re getting a divorce, you’re being sued, someone wronged you. You generally don’t have a pleasant reason to call us.
3. Our adversarial system of justice brings out the worst in human nature. There is often a winner and a loser. This can create greediness and the desire for control on the client’s behalf. Because our job is to advocate, this can fan flames that could more sensibly be brought under control.
I agree with the sentiment of Be Kind to Lawyers Day. The reality is that at some point you’re going to need one of us. Let’s be kind to one another and respect each other.
Does this surprise anyone?
“Elected officials at many levels of government, not just the federal government, swear an oath to “uphold and protect” the U.S. Constitution.
But those elected officials who took the test scored an average 5 percentage points lower than the national average (49 percent vs. 54 percent), with ordinary citizens outscoring these elected officials on each constitutional question. Examples:
- Only 49 percent of elected officials could name all three branches of government, compared with 50 percent of the general public.
- Only 46 percent knew that Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war — 54 percent of the general public knows that.
- Just 15 percent answered correctly that the phrase “wall of separation” appears in Thomas Jefferson’s letters — not in the U.S. Constitution — compared with 19 percent of the general public.
- And only 57 percent of those who’ve held elective office know what the Electoral College does, while 66 percent of the public got that answer right. (Of elected officials, 20 percent thought the Electoral College was a school for ‘training those aspiring for higher political office.’)”
Source: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/14/opinion-who-are-the-constitutional-illiterates/
Make it your goal to know more about your government than your governors. How can you understand, interact with or ever hope to change a system you don’t understand?
I recommend the book, Understanding the Constitution by Attorney David Gibbs. (http://www.christianlaw.org/cla/index.php/resources/P10/
Read it as a family and discuss its application to the items you hear about in the news.
It could change the way you view your government.
I have a homeschool-in-my-head.
Do you?
If you don’t homeschool, maybe you have a picture in your mind of what homeschool looks like?
Funny – yet true – those of us who do homeschool also have a picture in our minds of what it looks like.
Here’s mine!
In my homeschool-in-my-head, each morning I greet my four smiling children in a bright, cheery room.
They are well dressed. Their clothes are pressed. So are mine.
Several informative and interesting posters hang on the walls.
A bulletin board is bedecked with our children’s beautifully written papers and their extraordinary artwork.
As I enter the room the children chime together, “Good morning, Mother!”
That’s the picture in my head!
Frequently, in real life, our homeschool takes place at a messy dining room table.
Currently we are ensconced in the basement family room, with outdated paneling and dark green carpet. Our room has tables, a few comfy reading chairs, over-stuffed (over-flowing?) bookshelves, and piles and stacks of papers.
In the distance (not too far, as the laundry room is nearby) you can spot the baskets of clothes beckoning me to attend to them.
More often, after nagging the children out of bed, I corral them to the basement and they slunk into our chairs. In the homeschool-in-our-home I am dressed in sweat pants and a shirt that has seen better days. The children whine in unison, “Mom, do we have to do school today?”
In the homeschool-in-my-head we have cutting-edge curriculum and materials. Each child’s laptop has carefully selected streaming video lessons for a few of their courses. The rest of the time they read (avidly!) from books that perfectly address their strengths and weaknesses. Our lesson plans encompass each child’s learning styles. We have many “Aha” learning moments and the children are always thrilled with our science experiments.
In real life, more often our books are used and tired. We have a shared desktop computer that sometimes works. Each child often struggles through a workbook or a reading selection that is less than ideal for them. We talk about doing science experiments. We realize that the frog I ordered last year has dried out and there will be no live dissection. Thank goodness there is a virtual frog dissection we can watch online – when the Internet is working well.
In my homeschool-in-my-head, field trips are delightful! The children are, as-always, carefully dressed and give me their full cooperation during our peaceful drive to the field trip site. They follow quietly behind me, studying the exhibits as they ask intelligent questions. When we get home, they can’t wait to get to their journals to memorialize this special day. One child scrapbooks the handouts she has collected during the visit.
In real life, our field trips are like cat wrangling. Each child runs in a separate direction. My son decides to try to climb the fence that runs alongside the line we must wait in to obtain admission. I try to interest them in the exhibits, but the oldest says, “Mom this is boring!” Child number two has an electronic game in her hand and bumps into her sister. It’s my son’s naptime and he starts to whine and fuss. I get a headache that does not leave me until the next day.
In my homeschool-in-my-head, my husband leads our family devotions before he leaves for work in the morning. Each child cheerfully finds their Bible and gathers around the table. Daddy reads the selection, offers his enlightened commentary, and asks questions to bring the passage to life for the children. We all pray together and he blesses each child before he leaves for the day.
In real life, we sometimes get around to devotions – often not. I bring a lesson to the basement once in a while, but it’s definitely not a regular event. The kids know the Bible stories, but clearly have not fathomed the depths of Scripture. They ask so many questions! I don’t know if I have the answers they seek and I feel inadequate most of the time to do the job I am doing.
Yet in our real lives, in each of our days, God is with us – even in our imperfection. The homeschool-in-my-home doesn’t look like the homeschool-in-my-head, but we are together each day, striving to be this imperfect thing called “a family.” My kids are not perfectly behaved and we have more than our fair share of issues and problems. Our marriage is often challenged by the stress of our lives and lifestyle.
Through it all, He is present. He is present in the arms of a sister who takes time to read a story with her little brother. He is present in the words I find to speak to the child who is discouraged with math. He is present in the interaction between two sisters as they giggle over some surprise they have planned for after dinner. He is present in the warm greeting we receive from my husband who has spent his energy providing for us. He is present in our midst every day as we muddle through this journey of the homeschooling-while-living-family-life.
Would I trade it for the homeschool-in-my-head? No thanks.
your friend,
Christine M. Field
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