Owen and I will be enjoying a new Autumn unit study and lapbook from Amanda Bennett (yay!) in the next couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to learning and making lots of memories with my guy, and I'm sure the older kids (and the little one too) will want to join in on some things too. :) Check it out...it's free! Autumn Treasures.
I've followed a guy named Brandt Russo online for a couple of years now. Brandt lives on the streets and does whatever he can for the people he comes in contact with. He says, "I just try to love. Everyday." Brandt is a beautiful example of what it means to love like Jesus. Earlier today on Facebook he linked to an amazing article he wrote for Enoch Magazine and I wanted to share it here.
written by Brandt Russo
About a year back, I was in New Orleans with a youth group that wanted to learn how to serve the homeless. Earlier that day, they had made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and brought apples and water hoping it would bring a smile and some hope to someone with an empty stomach. Being that I’d spent a year homeless to better understand the homeless and urban poor, I get asked often to take groups out to teach them how to love practically.
This particular time broke my heart. One of the girls from the group approached a lovely black elderly fellow we called Jazz. Jazz was about 60, and the wrinkles on his face told many stories if you stared long enough. Jazz played the sax in the French Quarter every day hoping to make enough to spend the night in the local shelter (yes they charge every night after week’s free stay). “Hungry, anything helps” read his tattered cardboard sign, dampened by the morning rain. She walked up without asking him his name or how he was and handed him an apple. With a grin, he politely refused and she walked away grumbling something under her breath.
When I approached her to ask her what she was upset about, she had already started telling her friends that “all that homeless man wanted was money. He is probably an alcoholic.” I asked her to walk back with me, and as I walked up to Jazz I offered him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and the biggest, TOOTHLESS smile came on his face as he thanked us for the sandwich. You see, Jazz hadn’t been able to eat an apple since his teeth had been knocked out in a street fight twelve years back. It’s incredible the stories you will hear if you take the time to get to know these beautiful, broken street people. This girl had walked away changed.
I find it simply amazing the chasm between class lines, especially in the “Christian” world. Jesus had this amazing idea that if you mix class lines, they tend to dissolve. That if we fall in love with someone’s heart, they are no longer homeless in our eyes, but become family. It’s a beautiful transition that happens when we take the time to extend ourselves to those whom we are “most afraid” of . If you were to take a group of kids from the ghetto camping in the woods, they would be terrified of every sound, praying not to get eaten by a bear. If we were to take a group of suburban kids to the ghetto, the same would happen (replacing the bear with a gunshot). We are all so afraid of what we don’t know, and sadly, we are usually more afraid of our preconceived ideas of that fear than we are of the “fear” itself.
The media has done wonders dehumanizing the poor, so it’s no wonder that we do all we can to ignore them. If you walk downtown, don’t make eye contact, they say. Don’t carry cash. Walk on the opposite side of the street.
It’s amazing the lengths we take to avoid the very people Jesus spent His life serving. I think what we tend to forget is that every “poor” person is somebody’s loved one. A grandfather or grandmother, son or daughter. We live our lives for our own flesh and blood, and would do ANYTHING we can to fix theirbroken lives, and yet Jesus made it clear that we are ALL FAMILY.
In Genesis 1:27 (Message), it says that “God spoke: ‘Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature’ “. We are all sons and daughters of the creator of this world, all as splendid as the sun and worthy of honor and love. My life has been changed, not only by the stories of these broken people, but by sharing in their joys and sufferings. I’ve found Jesus in the eyes of many a homeless person. We can’t ignore the poor, because as Mother Teresa said, “In the poor, we find Jesus in His most distressing disguise.” Be love to someone today, and find your own “Jazz.” It will change everything.
So this is what happens when we take a break from tv, computers, and video games for over a month...
Here is what Sage looked like today after spending some time upstairs with Brandon. She loves to dress up and I am definitely going to be adding to her "dress up" collection. She came down the stairs saying, "Look, Mommy. I'm a princess."
I love this blog post because it sums up so well what we are trying to put into our children, not only in our homeschool, but in every area of life. For 2500 years the world has watched as two competing philosophies of education have vied for prominence. The Greek philosophy exalts knowledge above all else. Socrates said, “There is only one good, knowledge, and only one evil, ignorance.” The Greeks spent hours debating truth and arguing among themselves. Within the Jewish culture however, there was a different priority. First was a search for relationships. The Jew wanted relationship on two planes- both the vertical and the horizontal. The first quest was to love God. The second quest was to love your fellow man. These two truths were inseparable. John says in 1 John 4:20 “If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” After these relationships were firmly established, THEN Jewish philosophy began to pursue wisdom and knowledge. 1 Cor. 8:1 says “…knowledge puffs up, but love builds ups.” Within these few words Paul clearly articulates the contrast between knowledge and relationships. Loving edifies while knowledge for the sake of knowledge only makes one prideful. And without doubt- the Greeks prided themselves on their knowledge, thinking of themselves as better than anyone else in the ancient world for this very reason. But Paul argues that knowledge apart from loving relationships is a waste of time- foolishness that only blinds us with crippling pride. So which philosophy is the foundation for your homeschool? Are you following the Greek model in the headlong pursuit of academic achievement and knowledge above all else? Or are you following the Jewish model that stresses loving God and loving others as the safeguard which prevents the pursuit of knowledge from turning us into proud, arrogant fools? Different curriculum publishers, homeschool speakers and book authors have all made a choice as well. It shouldn’t take you long to discern whether they have built upon a Greek or a Jewish philosophy of education. One seeks to exalt the human mind and it’s potential first and foremost- while the other seeks to ground us in a knowledge of God and a love for others to avoid the pride which inevitably results from the relentless pursuit of knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Share these truths with your children today. Talk with them about your priorities in education. Ask them what we mean when we say someone is a “know it all.” Even a child knows that someone who has lots of knowledge but doesn’t care about the feelings of the people around him quickly becomes despised because of his pride and arrogance. Before you crack open the math, history or science book today, think of at least one way for you and your children to express your love to God, and at least one way to express your love to another human being. Perhaps a simple prayer or worship song might express your love to God. And perhaps cleaning up a sibling’s room for them, or offering to help weed an elderly neighbor’s garden might be a practical expression of love for others. NOW you can dig deep into geography or grammar knowing that your priorities are rightly grounded today. Go back and look over the verses above and talk with your children about them. And please- don’t ever say that Steve is against knowledge and education. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am 100% in favor of academic excellence and achievement- as long as it’s in its rightful place after we have nurtured a relationship with the Lord and a love for others.
This weekend Jordan and her friend Grace donated their hair to Locks of Love. We went to the salon Friday night and they put their hair in ponytails, then we headed over to the high school track for the opening ceremonies for the Relay for Life. They had their ponytails cut off there. Jordan donated 14 inches and Grace donated 12! After that we headed back to the salon for styles and highlights. What fun! The girls (and I) had a blast. Saturday morning it was back to the salon to restyle their hair and add some makeup, and then back to the track for the closing ceremonies and showing off their new look. I am so glad the girls had a chance to donate their hair in a bit more personal way than just going to the salon. Seeing all the survivors leading the way in the relay was a real blessing, and I think it made Jordan really think about what she was actually doing. I am so thankful that we had a chance to do this and I am so proud of the girls for doing it!
