10 Famous Homeschooled Poeple

I found this at Mental Floss blog & wanted to share it with you. One thing I noticed is that many of these listed were homeschooled by their fathers, or their fathers had a very active role. I think that is very important to note. The dads have an important role in the education of their children. Homeschooling doesn't have to be just a mom thing, it can be a family thing.

1. Agatha Christie. Agatha was a painfully shy girl, so her mom homeschooled her even though her two older siblings attended private school.
2. Pearl S. Buck was born in West Virginia, but her family moved to China when she was just three months old. She was homeschooled by a Confucian scholar and learned English as a second language from her mom.
3. Alexander Graham Bell was homeschooled by his mother until he was about 10. It was at this point that she started to go deaf and didn’t feel she could properly educate him any more. Her deafness inspired Bell to study acoustics and sound later in life.

4. If Thomas Edison was around today, he would probably be diagnosed with ADD – he leff public school after only three months because his mind wouldn’t stop wandering. His mom homeschooled him after that, and he credited her with the success of his education: “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.”

5. Ansel Adams was homeschooled at the age of 12 after his “wild laughter and undisguised contempt for the inept ramblings of his teachers” disrupted the classroom. His father took on his education from that point forward.

6. Robert Frost hated school so much he would get physically ill at the thought of going. He was homeschooled until his high school years.

7. Woodrow Wilson studied under his dad, one of the founders of the Southern Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS). He didn’t learn to read until he was about 12. He took a few classes at a school in Augusta, Georgia, to supplement his father’s teachings, and ended up spending a year at Davidson College before transferring to Princeton.

8. Mozart was educated by his dad as the Mozart family toured Europe from 1763-1766.

9. Laura Ingalls Wilder was homeschooled until her parents finally settled in De Smet in what was then Dakota Territory. She started teaching school herself when she was only 15 years old.

10. Louisa May Alcott studied mostly with her dad, but had a few lessons from family friends Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Can you imagine?

Creating Space for God

As mothers, we are used to fighting for time for ourselves. But, do you fight for time with God? How much trouble do you go to so that you can spend time with Him in prayer & Bible Study? I heard a guy talking about his father on the radio one morning. He was describing to the audience of how important it was to his father to spend time alone with the Lord. He explained that his father would dismiss himself every night about 9 o'clock to go to bed, so that he would be rested enough to get up early the next morning for his quiet time. I thought that was great! I know what you are thinking! He is a man, he is not the one putting the kids to bed, making lunches for the nest day of school or trying to get that last load of laundry folded & put away. His commitment is what I admire. He knew what he had to do so that he was ready to spend time alone with God & he did it.

I have written about this before, but if you truly want that time with the Lord, pray and ask him to show you how & where & when. He will show you. Once he shows you & you are able to establish a great new habit, you now need a plan.

I recently was sent a link to a website of a fantastic woman who is passionate about helping others develop a meaning ful quiet time. Catherine Martin of Quiet Time Ministries is an author & speaker. Visit her site! You will be blessed. Sign up for her "7 Days to Energize Your Quiet time" In Day 4, she advises you to make a plan, & this is what she shared...

Henri Nouwen made a very important statement that offers an incredible perspective for your relationship with the Lord. Henri Nouwen defines discipline as the effort to "create some space in which God can act. Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life, discipline means to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn't planned or counted on."

What discipline will help you create that space? The discipline of a plan - a very simple plan for your quiet time. The Lord gave me this plan many years ago and it has been incredible in helping me to draw near to God. You can remember it according to the acrostic: P.R.A.Y.E.R.:

Prepare Your Heart

Read And Study God's Word

Adore God In Prayer

Yield Yourself To God

Enjoy His Presence

Rest In His Love

Prepare Your Heart is necessary at the beginning of your quiet time. It allows you to turn your eyes upon Jesus as the hymn goes. There are many ways to prepare your heart including reading a devotional or a psalm. Then Read And Study God's Word to hear God speak to you. Adore God In Prayer and respond to what you have heard Him say. Then Yield Yourself To God as a response to what you have learned in His Word. Enjoy His Presence and take all you have experienced in your quiet time throughout the day. Then take God's promise and Rest In His Love.

Establishing a good habit of drawing away & spending time with the Lord won't happen magically, we must be disciplined with our time & priorities. But it will happen, just don't give up. Your life is at stake here & the lives of your family.

Are You a Well Watered Garden?

On our way home from church the other night, my husband told me that the teacher of the men's Bible study he was in, asked a show of hands of how many men were out of work. My husband said there were too many hands to count. Out of about 500 men, there were close to half who raised their hands. My husband was among the group who raised his hand.

It seems as though we are amid an epidemic of unemployment. It is rare to find a man who knows that his job is secure. We praise the Lord with those friends we have who still have their jobs, because we have even more friends who have lost theirs. It would be very easy to get panicked by what we see going on around us.

My husband is in real estate & has not had a closing since September. So, he is on the job search to find some part time work until the real estate business picks back up. In the mean time we have experienced extreme financial adversity. It has been very hard & many times my husband & I have struggled with depression as we trudge through this journey. But we always have the Truth of God's Word to bring us through & remind us of his wonderful promises of provision.

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11

There are so many times I have found myself on my knees crying out to God for direction & mercy. I felt the life was being sucked out of me from this "sun-scorched" land. His silence rang so loud in my soul. "Where are you God?" I know that He is with me, but His silence is unbearable at times.

When I find myself beginning to doubt whether or not the Lord will really provide for us, I turn to His word & speak out loud his promises. It is the only way I can replace my fears & doubts with hope for tomorrow. I am like a well watered garden because I have been drinking of the Living Water. Below are a few of my favorite verses to meditate on.

Lamentations 3:22-23, "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed for his compassion's never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Isaiah 41:10, "So, do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Psalm 125:1, "Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion; which cannot be shaken, but endure forever."

Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS." Read the whole chapter!

Colossians 1:17, "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

When we are in the midst of impossible circumstances, we often do not think of ourselves as being something pleasant to look at. But when we can come to a place where we can rejoice & praise him while living in difficult times, we are like a well watered garden, flourishing, colorful & pleasant to the eyes to our God. Our praises lifted up to him are like a sweet aroma, satisfying to the senses. I don't know about you, but this is what I want. I want Him to see me as a beautiful desert flower that blooms amid the most dry and treacherous deserts.

How does your Heavenly Father see you? Are you praising him or asking why He is letting this happen? Yes, we are living in a sun parched land. Many of us are enduring extremely difficult times, but He promises to meet our needs, he promises to guide us & he promises to strengthen us. Believe that! He has never broke a promise yet & He never will!

1Timothy 1:12, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service."

My husband writes a blog for men , mostly focusing on the fathers Biblical role in their home. He had a neat story on his blog this morning & I wanted to share it with you.

In learning how to have a Christlike prayer life, we need to approach every aspect of life in prayer…when we take a walk we can pray about it, when we are about to make a phone call-ask the Lord to direct what you say, when you type an email to someone-ask God to direct what you say and how you say it, etc. Approach each area of life by saying “Lord, I can’t do one thing apart from You. Father, with Your power and might, please, do this ‘thing’ through me.”

*One time someone asked a dear older lady what her “prayer method” was? She simply replied, I don’t know nothin’ about method. I just pray like this:

When I wash my clothes, I pray, “Lord, wash my heart clean.”
When I iron the clothes, I pray, “Lord, iron out all these troubles I can’t do nothin about.”
When I sweep the floor, I pray, “Lord, sweep all the corners of my life like I am sweepin the corners of this floor.”

This is being in an attitude of constant prayer…and this is a real prayer life all day long.

Scott Bailey (c) 2009

*story was found in Ray C. Stedman’s “Talking With the Father” book.

An Old Hymn to Pray

A few Sunday's ago, our pastor had us turn in our hymnal(yes, we still use hymnals) to an old hymn that we had sung before, but not often enough for me to remember. This time we didn't sing it, we spoke it as a prayer. Than a friend gave me a copy of the hymn printed on nice paper. I keep it by my desk & have begun to use it as a prayer. As you read the words of this hymn, I urge you to ask the Lord how you can, not just speak the words, but apply them as well. There is so much that Christ wants to do for us, but we must seek the mind of Christ in order that we may gain his insight & wisdom.

May the Mind of Christ, My Savior

1. May the mind of Christ, my Savior, Live in me from day to day, by His love and power controlling all I do and say.

2. May the Word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour, so that all may see I triumph only throu' His power.

3. May the peace of God my Father Rule my life in everything, that I may be calm to comfort sick and sorrowing.

4. May the love of Jesus fill me as the waters fill the sea; Him exalting, self abasing - This is victory.

5. May I run the race before me, strong and brave to face the foe, Looking only unto Jesus as I onward go.

6. May His beauty rest upon me as I seek the lost to win; and may they forget the channel, seeing only Him.

Go to this website to read the story behind this hymn. You can listen to it also. I encourage you to print it out & keep it where you can ponder & pray these words.