Billy Joe Jim Bob

"18 Kids and Counting" Giveaway!

2011-11-26T06:24:00.000-08:00

"18 Kids and Counting" Giveaway!

Everyone loves giveaways! Enter to win the complete second season of 18 Kids and Counting on DVD! With over seven hours of family-friendly episodes (including two bonus specials), this three-disc set will provide entertainment for all ages!

Go to the Duggar Blog to enter!

Coupon question: How do I eat healthy and save?

2010-02-25T17:21:00.001-08:00

Q: Most coupons are for prepared foods that are truly not good for you. How can I eat healthy and still save?

Actually, most coupons are for non-food items: health and beauty, paper products, over-the-counter medicines, etc. And those are typically your biggest cost items at the grocery store. Slice your spending on those and you'll have more to spend on healthier foods.

But, as you'll find in the mini-course, the biggest paradigm shift you have to make has nothing to do with coupons, but buying at the lowest possible price and stockpiling. THEN, you stack savings by using coupons, if any, rebates, loyalty cards, and register rewards, etc.

Hope that helps.

The Secret to Couponing: Buy Low, Use High

2010-02-08T03:51:00.000-08:00

I recently received this question from a friend:

Ok. I watched this. Seemed rather simple. But I didn’t see anything healthy in her pantry. I saw lots of boxed foods and frozen pre-made food. My biggest expense is fish, veggies, & meat. You are the coupon guru…..are you able to save on healthy fresh food? Yes, I saw she got fish. But it was a ¼ pound of various fish, not one type of fish. I want only the healthy fish.

The main key to winning with couponing is NOT using coupons. It is stacking savings. What that means is you want to buy when you can get the product at its lowest possible price—its "rock bottom" price.

Dollar for dollar, item for item, your goal is to buy as much as you need to last for 3 months (about how long it is between rock bottom prices) when the price gets as low as it will go. For most of your grocery purchases, you can stack savings on top of the rock bottom price by using store coupons, manufacturer coupons, your store card, and rebates. On some items, the coupons are a little harder to come by, but that doesn't change the principle of "buy low, sell (use) high."

For "healthy fish," you need to watch the flyers and track when it sells for the least and stock up and freeze as much as you'll use in 12 weeks. If it's a certain brand you want to buy, look up the brand online and see if they have (a) coupons on their website; (b) an email newsletter in which they send out coupons; and/or (c) a contact email that you can request coupons.

Have you taken my mini-course: Getting Started Saving with Coupons? Also, see my article on Frugal Hacks: Five Secrets to Maximizing Your Coupon Savings.

Hope that helps.

"Shop on your own time, in your jammies"

2010-01-26T03:56:00.000-08:00

Wow! The last time I shared the basics of Getting Started Saving with Coupons, I got some great feedback that I wanted to share with my readers. What a blessing to know how much it's is helping people and changing lives! I'll try posting just a few at a time.

Q: Would you recommend "Start Saving with Coupons"?

YES!!! It is much easier than I expected when you think in terms of stocking up with coupons. Sometimes coupons seem so tedious even if you have them organized, but when you are shopping from your stockpile, you can do it on your own time, in your jammies, and then only go to the store when you see a really great deal! —MaryBeth Welch, Buhl, ID

Yes. Times are tough, most people I know don't have a lot of extra money hanging around. If they are willing to take the time, they will save. —Angela J., WA

Absolutely. Everyone needs to know these tips! —Kate H., IN

Yes, I want to share this with my daughter and daughters-in-law as they get their new homes started! —B. H., CA

Thanks to the 354 people who showed up at for the webinar!

"I just have to share!"

2009-12-11T06:20:00.000-08:00

"I just have to share!"

That was the subject line of an email I received from one of my students on Monday.

Here's the entire note:

I just have to share. This week I've been shopping at Walgreens. I've spent a total of $27.39. If you calculate the actual retail price of all my 86 items, it is $380.47. The sale price total was $291.12. Based on the retail, I saved almost 93%. Based on the sale price, it was 91%. Regardless, it was fantastic! My per item cost came out to $0.32.

Since taking your online class in September, I have totally stocked my 2 refrigerators and deep freezer. I have a huge stockpile of cleaning products, personal care items, etc., etc. I was able to purchase Christmas presents for my extended family by the end of October. Plus, I have excess funds in my budget. It is absolutely incredible. The cost of your class was well worth the money.

Now, when I go to Aldi [a store known for very low discount prices] to get necessary items, I cringe when I have to pay full price for an item. So sad.

I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to do the class and answer the questions I had.

Thank you, again.

Nancy

Wow! What can I add to that? You can join Nancy in building a stock-pile and having excess funds in your budget, by signing up for my one-of-a-kind home study course.

Start Saving with Coupons - Home Study Course
http://www.startsavingwithcoupons.com/students/signup.php

And, if you order by Sunday at midnight, you get the home study course with over 5 hours of training for only $57 (Nancy saved almost 6 times that, just this week!), by using:

$40 off Coupon Code

CAA246

Stop overpaying for groceries!

Blessings,
Jim Bob Howard
http://www.startsavingwithcoupons.com/

A Fundraiser for Christmas

2009-11-01T19:01:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

My 12yo son is privileged to be participating in the Christian Choral Society of Austin's Men's Choir, an elite all-male choir for Jr. High-aged young men. They will be giving performances at the Capitol, the Zilker Park Trail of Lights, several area nursing homes, and many others this winter.

To build the choir's music library, they are having a fund-raiser selling Christmas greenery through Evergreen Industries. Orders are due this Friday (Nov. 6), so if you would like to participate, please let us know quickly.

Balsam Fir

One of our most popular items, this wreath is made from fresh, fragrant and long lasting Northern Balsam Fir. Decorations include 3 white tipped pine cones with 4 red holly berries per cone. The wreath is 22-24 inches in diameter.

Our beautiful bows are made from either velvet or plastic red water proof ribbon. Plastic bows come attached to one style wreath, while the velvet bows, our most popular style, come assembled and boxed for easy installation. All wreaths can be hung from a wire attached to the bow.

Sent via UPS or FedEx in a holiday gift box (continental 48 states only). A gift card can also be included if you would like to send as a gift. We will deliver between Nov. 27 — Dec. 7.

Your cost: $41 (shipping and handling included).

If you would like to order one (or more), please let me know by Thursday night, so I can turn in the order Friday. You can pay me by PayPal (to jimbobhoward {at} gmail {dot} com), or send a check made out to: Jim Bob Howard. I will write one check CCSA for all orders turned in by Thursday evening.

If you would prefer to pay by check, drop me an email and I'll send you the mailing address.

Blessings and thanks for reading,
Jim Bob

5 Secrets to Maximizing Coupon Savings

2009-09-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

I didn’t realize she was talking to me, at first. Undeterred, she tapped me on the shoulder and repeated her emphatic question, “How did you DO that?”

"That" was checking out with two carts overloaded with groceries with an initial total of $498 and then paying only $187 for all of it while receiving a handful of coupons from the cashier.

I looked at my questioner's shopping cart with a few store brand items and then back into her imploring eyes and I knew what she was thinking. I had been there myself only a few months before. But that was before I learned the five secrets to taking home carloads of brand-name products for much less than I used to scrimp and save on generics.

Though I had some dairy products that I needed to get home quickly, I was able to quickly share with this desperate mom a few of the secrets I had discovered.

Buy low
It’s the classic investment strategy: Buy low – Sell high. With a slight variation. In this case, you’re going to buy low and USE high, meaning: You will use the products you bought at a low price later, when the price is higher.

Every week, grocery stores drop a portion (about 1/12) of their merchandise to its lowest offered price. Over a three-month period, almost the entire store goes to its rock-bottom price. And that’s when you should buy your groceries from that portion of the store.
You’ll use it later; when the price has gone back up.
Stack savings
Multiply your savings by using a store coupon in conjunction with the rock-bottom price. Throw in a manufacturer’s coupon for more savings. Use a store loyalty card, store rebates, and manufacturer rebates, to stack on even more.

All of these savings can be stacked on one product, making your groceries pennies on the dollar!
Buy more than you need
When you need it right now, you’re willing to pay more for it. But if you can plan head and buy all you can use between rock-bottom trends, when you need it, you will already have it.

Known as stockpiling or food storage (though many more items than food can be stored for future use), buying more than you need is simply a continuation of “buy low.” You don’t want to run out of something before that low price cycles back around, so buy more than you need, but not more than you will use.
Use a coupon for every item
Leave no product un-couponed. Even on “free” items, use a coupon. When you’re taking advantage of a buy-one-get-one (BOGO) deal, you are getting two products; use two coupons. Although it seems you’ve already gotten one item for “free,” what you really have is two products that have been marked down 50%. You can realize additional stacked savings by using a coupon for each item. Alternately, if you have a “save $ on two” coupon, you can use it in a BOGO deal because you have bought two items.

Bonus: if your coupon is a manufacturer BOGO and the store is offering a BOGO sale, both items are free. This works because the store marked it down 50% and the manufacturer gave you 50% off, for a total of 100% savings!
Understand the fine print
Stacking savings is great, but not always allowed. Understanding the fine print on your coupons will let you know when you can—and can’t—stack savings.

One coupon per customer means you can only use one coupon, regardless of how many items you purchase, or how many transactions you go through. But, do you have other “customers” in your family?

One coupon per transaction means you can only use one coupon per payment. Check with your store for their preferred method of allowing you to make multiple transactions to multiply savings. Typically, you can make multiple transactions during one visit to the checkout counter.

One coupon per purchase means you can only use one coupon per item. An individual item is a purchase, not your entire shopping cart, and not everything you ring up in one transaction. If you buy two bottles of shampoo and have two “one coupon per purchase” coupons, you can use one on each bottle of shampoo; each of which is a single purchase.

Not to be combined with any other offer means any other “offer” from that entity. In this case, you wouldn’t be able to stack a manufacturer coupon with a manufacturer rebate. But if the store puts it on sale, a manufacturer coupon is still redeemable with the store’s “offer.”

Now that I have it typed up, I’m going to print this list and keep some copies with me when I go to the store, for the next person who asks, “How did you DO that?!”

To learn more about maximizing your coupon savings, join me for a class already in progress (replays of missed classes will be provided): Start Saving with Coupons, a 3-part interactive online course, held Thursdays through October 1. Watch a free screencast at http://www.StartSavingWithCoupons.com/GettingStartedReplay, then join us this Thursday at 8PM Central.

Did you register for tomorrow night's special event?

2009-09-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it, I post a note here on my blog before my FREE webinar with my bride takes place this coming Thursday evening.

http://www.StartSavingWithCoupons.com/GettingStarted/

Remember, Amy and I will reveal...

- How an ordinary person without extraordinary talent or skills can save hundreds of dollars EACH WEEK on their groceries, whether they're buying for one... or for a LARGE FAMILY!

- How a homeschool family of seven slashed their budget $1000 in their first month and saved over $18,500 in the first year almost by magic...

- The 5 steps to getting started using and saving with coupons, and how each step plays a specific role in teaching you HOW to save the most with coupons!

- How buying what you DON'T NEED saves you multiple times over buying what you need.

- How to turn EVERY trip to the store into a JACKPOT of savings!

Bottom Line: On this 70-minute Webinar, you'll discover more about how to get started REALLY saving on your groceries ...than you've ever heard anyone reveal before!

It's happening THIS Thursday, September 10 at 8:00PM (Central Time) especially for you.

Right now, lots of people have already claimed their spots...

At this rate, it's a sure bet the call will be completely booked -- so make sure you register below while you still have time!

Here's the full scoop:
http://www.StartSavingWithCoupons.com/GettingStarted/

Not only will you be able to hear Amy and me talking about the fast and painless way to save thousands on groceries, but you'll also get to SEE and WATCH it happening in real time on your computer screen, complete with real examples! Don't miss out!

P.S. - We will have special content that ONLY the LIVE ATTENDEES will see. And a special offer that ONLY the LIVE ATTENDEES will be able to take advantage of. These will NOT be on the replay. Make sure you are there!

http://www.StartSavingWithCoupons.com/GettingStarted/

Putting Christ "Back" in Schools?

2009-08-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

To my Facebook friends who have invited me to the Cause: Put Christ Back in Schools

Dear Friend,

Your invitation is one of many I've gotten for this cause and I've ignored them all. I wanted to tell you why, though.

Christ is in schools. King David wrote,

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. (Ps. 136:7-10)

The government-run, taxpayer-funded schools are no different. He is there.

Christ Is In the Schools
He is there whenever two or more are gathered in His name. He is there in the lives of every Christian who teaches, serves lunch, sweeps the floors, and sits at a desk to learn.

But, He is not acknowledged. He is not given His due worship and glory. The State has taken that for itself. And by "The State," I mean: those in authority, those who have elected or appointed them, and those who have—by tyranny and blasphemy—urged those in authority to keep their acknowledgement of God "private," as though God was a concept invented by man, rather than the Creator of the Universe.

The government school system has been set up against God. It usurps the authority given by God to parents to train up children in the way they should go. It perpetuates the lie that church and state must be separate; that the state is not subject to Christ; that God is irrelevant and to be relegated to Sunday mornings and secret prayer closets only.

Rather than trying to put Christ "back" in schools, we should be encouraging Christians to remove their children from these temples of secular humanism that devote hours on end to teaching our children values training, tolerance, private religion, and the "good of the state."

Seventy-five to eighty-eight percent of children of Christian parents who attend government schools turn their backs on Christianity before they complete their teenage years. Do some make it? Sure. But only some.

It's true, Christ is not acknowledged in government schools. It's also true that that is cosmic treason against the King and His Son. Should they be worshipped in schools? Without a doubt.

But given the fact government-run schools—by official policy—do not acknowledge and worship God, should Christians be giving their children—His children—over to their care?

By contrast, if the proponents of another religion set up a "free" nationwide school—let's say it had great academic success, fun extra-curricular activities, and welcomed and recognized students of all religions—would Christians put their children in that school? If once a generation of students had been through that school, what if the leaders decided to stop allowing the outward practice of religions other than their own? Would Christians leave their children there? What if, after another generation, the leaders decided to incorporate their religious beliefs into its daily training, would the Christian graduates leave their children there? After all, "it was good enough for me."

Should Christians leave their children in a school that openly recognizes and practices another religion, while working to put Christ "back" in schools?

Are You a Visual Learner?

2009-07-31T17:12:00.000-07:00

Some people are just more visual than others. They learn better by seeing, by example, than by reading. Several of the students of my Start Saving With Coupons mini-course have asked to be shown how to save with coupons.

So, I am putting together a free webinar covering everything in my StartSavingWithCoupons.com mini-course, PLUS I will be answering your questions. Even with the best of intentions, explaining new concepts in writing, I am not always as clear as I would hope. The great thing meeting with folks in person is the ability for a student ask for clarification, or another example, or "What about this situation?"

Since I can't meet face-to-face with all of you, the next best thing is a webinar, where you can dial in and talk, ask your questions, and hear me answer them. PLUS I can show you on-screen how it all works.

Now, I have a question for you!

A Question for You
Will you let me know if you are interested in attending a webinar? If so, "raise your hand" by signing up for my Announcement list here:

Raise Your Hand!

The announcement list is free and the webinar is free. By signing up to get the announcement, you will be under no obligation to attend the actual webinar. I would just like to see if there are enough folks who want it. If the interest is high enough, I'll get it on the calendar and let everyone on the Announcement list know when it is scheduled.

Raise Your Hand
So, sign up for the Announcement list if you are interested in the webinar version of my informative FREE 5-Part Mini-Course that will show you:

- Why Using Coupons Fails 92% of the Time...
and How to Use That To Your Advantage
- How You Can Get Your Groceries Tax-Free
- How to Turn Your Pantry Into Your Own Private Store
- How to Stack Savings to Get Free (or Almost Free) Groceries
- PLUS, answer all your questions!

If you want to receive an email when the webinar is scheduled, all you have to do is...

Raise Your Hand!

PS: Don't forget to tell your friends how they, too, can Start Saving With Coupons: www.StartSavingWithCoupons.com.

Great House in Tri-Cities, TN area (Abingdon, VA) Still Available!

2009-06-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

Beautiful ranch with walk-out basement on Rich Valley at Greendale. Convenient to downtown Abingdon. Relax and enjoy the beautiful front porch overlooking the creek. Built in 2003, the house still looks and feels brand new. Finished office and huge rec room—could be converted to in-law suite—in basement. Call today for all details about this wonderful home.

Get the details and call Mark Moormans (276-698-0943) today!

"Child Rights" Forces Mobilize

2009-06-20T18:21:00.001-07:00

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING NOTE. This is REAL. It is URGENT!

It is very serious as our freedoms are at stake. This is from the president of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, and although many of you are not in the battle for homeschool freedoms, this reaches MUCH farther than that. It is really about our freedoms as Americans and whether or not we will continue to have those freedoms.

We have been following ParentalRights.org for almost two years now. They are in serious need of help to win this battle for our (and your) freedom. It's not just about parental rights, it's about what we as Americans hold dear, our freedom to self-govern. The UN is threatening to take that all away, and soon. And the current administration is their willing helper.

Please prayerfully consider standing with our family for the inalienable rights that our founding fathers never wanted to have taken away from us. We need more people to continue this fight.

Sincerely,
Jim Bob Howard
Cedar Park, TX

Note: All emphasis mine

Three major developments—all of them ominous—have occurred in the last several days.

1. On June 1 and 2, Georgetown University Law School hosted a two-day symposium entitled “The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): Why It Is Time to Ratify.”

This well-funded conference was held to organize a new coalition effort by American internationalists to seek ratification of the UN child's rights treaty.

2. In the second week of June, a major study was released by the British education ministry calling for dramatically dangerous increases in the regulation of homeschoolers in that nation.

This study concludes that the UN CRC requires that the government enter every homeschooling home and privately interview each homeschooling child to determine “the child's wishes” regarding his or her education.

3. On June 17, at the UN headquarters in Geneva, the UN's Human Rights Committee—which oversees all human rights treaties—announced that it was forming a committee to draft a new “protocol” for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Under this new addition to the CRC, individual children would be able to file a formal legal complaint if they believe that their rights had been violated. It would give this new international tribunal the right to determine if the child's treaty rights had been violated by any person.

The internationalists believe that this is their moment in history.

They have millions of dollars in their coffers. They have the support of the media. They have the powers of government. They have the entire apparatus of the United Nations.

We have some assets as well.

Our arguments resonate with the American people—the vast majority of Americans believe that Americans should make our own domestic laws and that parents, not government, should make decisions for children.

Leaders at the Georgetown conference publicly admitted that logic and facts will not defeat our arguments. What do they plan to do?

They plan to use emotional arguments. They said so in open public sessions.

At the Georgetown conference, the UN officials and other foreign experts were constantly censored by their American handlers. Why? Because these foreign experts acknowledge that this treaty would be supreme over American law.

The American child's rights propaganda machine denies that we would forfeit American sovereignty—even though they do not have the legal arguments to back their rhetoric. They did everything they could to silence their guest speakers when they strayed from the sanitized version of their message.

We are in a race.
It is a race for the future of the American family and American self-government.

The question is: Will the lies of the internationalists be heard by more Americans than the truth of those who believe in families?

I wish that I could look each person reading this right in the eyes. It is incredibly difficult for written words to explain how serious this situation really is.

The real battle is being fought right now. Our opponents are preparing for a vote in the Senate sometime ahead—as soon as they feel they have laid the groundwork for victory.

Because the internationalists possess the reins of government, have millions of dollars at their disposal, and have powerful allies in the mainstream media, they can build momentum much faster than we are able to do.

We have to get our message out to others and we have to do it today.

I have been leading grassroots political efforts for over thirty years. Without any fear of contradiction, I can tell you that we are going to win or lose the battle over the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the next few months. The key to victory lies in the stage of preparation.

Will we have adequate preparation to win?

The annual budget of Parentalrights.org is less than $500,000. They have millions and millions of dollars at their disposal.

We must raise money right now to employ professionals who can help us get our message out in the media.

We must also raise money right now to employ experienced people to work the halls of Capitol Hill on our behalf.

I cannot do these things alone. We have to have a quality team if we expect to stop the combined power of Geneva, New York, and Washington.

This is the time to decide whether you are willing to take meaningful action.

There are just two tangible things I would ask you to do.

1. Give a gift of $10 or more right now to parentalright.org (PRO). Membership in PRO is just $25 a year. Sustaining membership is just $100. We have to raise a substantial amount of cash or we simply cannot keep up.

2. Please recruit at least three other people to sign up for our online email alerts. We have over 100,000 people who are a part of this team. We need to get to 4,000,000 supporters before the battle starts. We have to dramatically pick-up the pace of recruiting people if we are going to have any hope of beating the other side in the greatest grassroots battle in American history. We need to be doubling our numbers every couple months to get our team in place.

You are the best recruiters we have. Please pick up your phone right now and call a friend and tell them that they need to read the email you are about to send them and that you really need them to become part of the team. This kind of personal attention will work.

In less than two years, American social workers may be in a position to inform all our children that if they have any conflict with their parents over any decisions at all then they can file a formal complaint in an American court to vindicate their international rights. And ultimately, once this new protocol is in place, if they don't like the outcome from the American courts, there will be a new UN tribunal to hear their complaint.

Moms and dads, we have to get ready. The battle for American liberty is about to begin.

Michael Farris

Original post: "Child Rights" Forces Mobilize

How do you spell that, again?

2009-06-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

Teaching phonics and reading to little ones can be so much fun! As they learn the sounds of letters and try to sound out words, it's very satisfying to see them decipher the codes.

And lots of fun!

Driving to HEB grocery store tonight to pick up a few necessities, but 3yo Cinderella (yes, the one in my profile pic!) asked from the backseat in her cute little bubble voice:

Cinderella: "Why are we not toing home?" (She still has lots of words that start with 't'!)

Me: "Because we need to get some things from at HEB, Sweetheart."

Cinderella: "Oh! Tan we dit some ponies while we're day-uh?"

Me: "No, we're just getting what's on the list tonight."

Cinderella: "I mean, I want you to white dem down."

Mommy: "You want us to write them down?"

Cinderella: "Yes. Will you white ponies down on da list, Mommy?"

Mommy: "Do you know how to spell it?"

Cinderella: "Mmm-hmm."

Mommy: "How do you spell 'ponies?'"

Cinderella (sounding out the letters, just like we've taught her): "FFffff, PPppp, KKkkk"

Mommy (sounding it out, too): "F, P, K?"

Cinderella: "Mmm-hm." Pause. "Den a fow-uh."

Mommy (stifling a giggle): "A flower?"

Cinderella: "Mmm-hm! ...and a song!"

Me: "I like the way you spell 'Ponies.' I think we should spell it that way from now on!"

I had to write this down, because I know that Cinderella won't be here forever and I'll forget the precious things she says. But, I'm going to spell 'ponies' with a flower and a song from now on!

Advising a New Twit

2009-05-23T17:52:00.000-07:00

A homeschooling friend on Facebook (who called himself a "New Twit") asked me the other day:

Jim Bob, YOU seem to be somebody who actually knows how to use all this social networking stuff. Any tips for me?

Always happy to assist friends who are new to social media, I answered and began the following conversation:

I'd love to give you some tips. ;) There's a lot you can do. Conversely, there's a great potential for what Clay Clarkson calls, "Social NOTworking."

First thing to do is set limits on how much you're on.

On Facebook, the only applications I installed are Causes and NetworkBlogs. Everything else is a HUGE waste of time. Only check in at regularly schedule times so you can batch what you're doing on FB. I'm check it when I get home from work around 3PM, and that's it, pretty much.

More later... And I'm happy to answer any question you have.

I've seen (and like) Causes... don't know about NetworkBlogs. Will go figure it out...

My goal is to revive a lot of my old contacts and develop a fairly steady presence on Twitter/FB/Plaxo and a blog. I have a LOT to do, but much of it is maintenance and/or marketing, so I think I may be able to afford the time it takes to build an "online presence" by turning little snippets of information into "news you can use."

Having said that... Twitter looks like a potential black hole for "free time." I just got a note from Rob Schearer (Greenleaf) who says, "Twitter is the internet service for people who wish they had a stalker."

On the other hand... it's been a blessing to be able to forward info on Jessica Hulcy's progress or Israel Wayne's speaking tour in Japan. There's room for SOMEBODY to winnow this chaff to share the grain with people who want to keep up on things but actually have a life...

The great thing about NetworkBlogs is that you can add your blog. And when you post something to it, all of your FB friends will know about it and can go read it.

Twitter can be tied to FB and Plaxo, as well, updating your status on both whenever you Tweet. Which is a great feature when you have folks following you on Twitter so you use TwitterFeed to post a tweet about new blog entries so your status on FB and Plaxo is automatically updated.

You should be able to revive your contacts that way, though I wouldn't recommend spending too much time on Plaxo. Sign up and accept connections, but I find it's less a part of my regular social connecting that FB and Twitter.

Look at each of these for whom they connect you to:

FB, you typically want to connect to actual friends. It's easier to post real transparent updates that way. If you're going to use it for "friends" of your business / ministry, then set up a fan page so you can communicate with clients that way.

Twitter is for collecting anyone and everyone who might share an interest (any interest, so it CAN be a little less targeted). But, it's also a way to 'eavesdrop' on a public conversation and make new 'friends' that you might not have met otherwise.

Plaxo is good for maintaining contact information with colleagues and friends, but FB does quite a bit of that as well. It's a little less invasive to connect on Plaxo and therefore a little safer (relationally speaking). It can let you connect a little easier with folks that might be on the fringe of your acquaintance.

LinkedIn is also a great resource for communicating with colleagues and learning what folks are doing professionally. There's limited connectivity to Twitter, but its better benefit is to present a "living" resume of work you're doing or looking for.

Many folks I'm connected to, I'm connected on all four. My blog readership is nowhere near what my Twitter/FB/LinkedIn connections are, but that's my fault for not posting enough. ;)

And yes, Twitter is a great way to keep up with information about situations like Jessica's and Israel's. The best way I've found (so far) to winnow Twitter is using TweetDeck. It can be a bit of a memory hog, but it is great for creating searches and groups to help you narrow down what actually gets your attention. You can also use TweetLater to send you tweets that match a certain search criteria. It has some other cool functionality which can help with "batching" your social media activities for maximum effectiveness.

The thing to think about regarding Twitter is learning how "others" use it. Some aggregate, some only follow select people; some post only business updates and alerts, others post the most mundane things about life; some use TweetDeck and other tools to see what folks are saying; others use widgets to post Twitter streams on their blogs. Figure out how the folks YOU are trying to reach use it, and then participate that way.

Hope all that helps.

How do you use social media?

Update: Jessica Hulcy Awake!

2009-05-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

This arrived this morning (Tuesday):

Dear family and friends,

Jessica's Ford Explorer was broadsided in Melissa, TX about 11:30 on Monday morning. We think she was hit by a volunteer fire truck responding to an accident. After a 25 minute extrication process she was Life Flighted as a level 1 (the most severe) trauma case to Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

She is still in critical condition. Here is what we know so far:
She is still unconscious but is moving all four limbs and attempting to pull the tubes out of her throat which is encouraging to the doctors.

Major Lung trauma, punctures to both lungs. Both were collapsed. One is now working well and they are still draining the other. Doctors are checking for possible damage to wind pipe and trachea.

Head trauma. Medium amounts of blood on the brain. Closely monitoring this to see if it improves. Surgery not necessary now, but possible to come.

As of now multiple broken ribs on both sides, broken left wrist, broken left arm in 2 places. Will require surgery. Possible broken left leg and right wrist. She has undergone 4 hrs of X-rays, over 1000 X-rays taken so far. They are working the broken bones in the order of most life threatening so there is a possibility of more discovery of broken bones.

We will be sending out another email as soon as we know more. Thank-you for your prayers.

Jason Hulcy

Latest Update (Tuesday afternoon): from her son (via Lisa Guidry):

I was just in to see her and she was awake. She was squeezing my hand and could show 2 fingers upon command. She has always had a fear of not being able to breathe, more than the average bear, so please pray specifically for her to be at peace with her condition, as much as possible.

Praise the Lord with me... and keep praying!

Please pray for Jessica Hulcy - Unconscious After Collision with a Fire Truck

2009-05-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

Jessica Hulcy has just been in a traffic accident; she was broadsided by a fire truck. She is alive but badly hurt, in critical condition but stable. Her lungs are collapsed. She has no broken bones. There is some brain trauma but nothing to operate on. She is unconscious. Back in the most challenging days of home schooling there were few options for curriculum. Abeka, BJU or write your own. Two neighbors wrote their own and developed one of the first widely used curriculums written for home education... vs a classroom. Jessica Hulcy, author of KONOS and national speaker... and friend of Texas home school families... Please keep her, the family and doctors in your prayers...

Her husband's name is Wade.

A Mountain Treehouse Cottage

2009-02-25T05:33:00.000-08:00

In God's providence, I have accepted a job in Austin, TX, which means our home in the mountains of SW Virginia is now for sale.

Affectionately dubbed "The Treehouse Cottage" (because in the summer, it's completely hidden by trees; and it feels like you're living in the treetops), the house is close to 2000 sq. ft., including an efficiency apartment (with separate entrance) and a home office finished out in the walkout basement. The basement also houses an oversized one-car garage and lots of built-in shelving. (Great for a grocery stockpile! See www.StartSavingWithCoupons.com for details.)

The Treehouse

From the top of the hill behind the house

Enjoy relaxing on the front deck

The main floor is 1288 sq. ft. and has three bedrooms and two full bathrooms. Hardwood floors in the main living areas; and Berber carpet in all bedrooms. The bathrooms and kitchen have vinyl flooring. Oversized laundry closet with built-in cabinets above. Kitchen refrigerator conveys. Downstairs apartment also has a tile entry and dining area. Both the office and the efficiency have Berber carpet as well. Finished out area adds another ~650 sq. ft. The downstairs apartment has room planned out to add a full bathroom, or convert the office to a large bathroom and create a second master bedroom.

Kitchen - Refrigerator conveys

Entry nook with built-in adjustable shelves

Living Room

Dining Room with built-in adjustable shelving

It's on 3/4 acre, with easy access to Abingdon, Bristol, Lebanon, and even Mendota. It is wired for cable (upstairs) and satellite (downstairs). City water, all electric, and septic (rated for 9-bedroom house). Features both front (entire length of house) and back decks, blueberry and cherry bushes ready to harvest this year. Wrought-iron front porch furniture and wooden porch swing convey... as do the great neighbors! :)

Large Master Bedroom

Master bathroom

Efficiency apartment - bedroom/living room area

Efficiency apartment - kitchenette area

Asking price: $142,500. Ask about leasing options. Email or tweet for further details. Also posted on Craig's List: http://tricities.craigslist.org/reo/1048373687.html

The Whole Point of Social Networking

2009-02-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

Perry Belcher has this whole social networking thing figured out:

Take 10 minutes to watch and listen. (One caveat, he does drop a couple of bombs as he's talking, so screen before sharing with your children. But those notwithstanding, the philosophy of what he's saying is dead on.)

Learn Christian Entrepreneurship at Venture Academy

2009-02-11T07:11:00.000-08:00

My good friend (and writer of Homeschooling Today magazine's "Venture Forth" column) Wade Myers has a passion for training up Christian employers. Next month, he will be hosting a Basic Entrepreneurship Training Course. My twelve-year-old son and I are making plans now to attend and I hope you will join us.

Here are the details from Wade:

The Venture Academy Basic Entrepreneurship Training Course is a six-day intensive mini-MBA training course to prepare Christian entrepreneurs for entrepreneurship. This is first in a series of courses to be offered by the Venture Academy.

When: March 23-28, 2009
Where: Camp Marymount, Fairview, TN (book your flight into Nashville)
Who: Current and future entrepreneurs of all ages and experience. Class size is limited to the first 60 students
What: Lectures and workshops designed for the Christian entrepreneur and aspiring entrepreneur. Whether you already own your own business, or hope to some day, this training is for you.

Forty sessions will cover
Sales & Marketing,
Human Resources,
Accounting & Finance,
Technology,
Operations,
Business Plans,
and more,
…using Harvard Case Studies taught by top Harvard MBA, Wade Myers.

Download the Conference Brochure (PDF)

Register for the Conference

I hope to see you there!

Nathan Clark George

2009-02-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

What a day!

I had the privilege of attending the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Convention in Nashville just for the day today. I met lots of great folks, and reconnected with others.

One of the men I met was Nathan Clark George, whose music and family have inspired and entertained many as they travel together around the country.

The learn more about the George family, see the Charlottesville VA Daily Progress: Keeping the show on the road. I look forward to knowing him better and hearing more great music from him.

Be sure to pick up his CD "Pull Up a Chair" and the DVD documentary of his family by the same name. Both are available from Franklin Springs Family Media.

The BIG Announcement

2009-01-27T03:00:00.000-08:00

The Most Distinctly Christian Home Discipleship Magazine

Homeschooling Today magazine is my favorite publication of all. I first read it right about the time James and Stacy McDonald bought it and have always loved the portrait it has painted of Christian family.

It was with great fear and trepidation that I accepted the role of Editor-in-Chief of the magazine when James offered it to me in the fall of 2006. A short three months later, James told me that God was calling him into more and more full-time pastoring in Peoria and that he was looking to sell the magazine.

Knowing that my good friends Steve and Kara Murphy wanted to purchase a family business that would allow Steve to hand off his construction business to two of his young protégés, I told them that the magazine was for sale. In February 2007, they bought it and kept me at the helm while Steve finished up his last construction/remodeling job.

Because of the increasing time demands on the McDonalds in the new direction the Lord was taking them, the Murphys inherited a production schedule that was almost a half-year behind. In the following twelve months, we worked very hard and with the Lord’s help published ten "bi-monthly" issues: something even some fans said couldn’t be done.

Going Strong
Now after two years, the magazine is on-track, has undergone a great redesign, just launched a new community-focused website, added a digital edition, and is in more capable hands than it ever has been.

The redesign is complete and in the talented hands of Erika Schanzenbach. Bookshelf and Beyond, where you can learn about the greatest resources available to homeschoolers, whether they be new books hot off the press, or tried and true standards from years gone by, is now under the close scrutiny of private homeschool librarians, the Cottrill family.

Instrumental in launching the new HST website, Ken Griffith will continue to tweak and fine-tune it, endeavoring to make it a community portal for all things related to the biblical family. A handful of capable men are making sure Homeschooling Helper, FirstYear, and The Father-Led Home e-newsletters and email blasts keep arriving on-time in your inbox to deliver encouragement between issues, right when you need it.

I have loved every minute of labor at Homeschooling Today magazine: communicating with writers and potential writers, working with editors and publishers, maintaining and updating the website, training customer service interns, speaking at conferences, and especially co-laboring with my friends, Steve and Kara Murphy. But best of all, I've seen God use the magazine to bless the lives of many: encouraging them in their daily walk to disciple their children, exhorting them to think biblically about curriculum, schedules, organization, college, marriage, government, entrepreneurialism, and so many other areas. I am grateful I have been able to serve Him here!

Now He's calling me to serve Him elsewhere.

Parting the Waters
During a Christmas trip to Texas, Amy's and my hearts were stirred to return to Texas to labor with the saints there, closer to our siblings and parents, that we may care and provide for them as the Lord allows. Thus, we began praying that He would move us back to Texas "soon." We pictured paring down our belongings, beginning a job hunt, finding someone to whom I could hand off the labor at Homeschooling Today magazine (but also knowing I could do much of the work remotely as long as high-speed internet was available), preparing our house to sell, and looking for new digs as soon as God revealed my next position.

We arrived home after almost four weeks on the road and began seeing His answer to our prayers the very next morning, when Steve let me know that the long-term plan for keeping the magazine financially strong would require letting me go. This is the second time God has closed employment doors for me here in SW Virginia, which tells me He heard our prayer and was answering our request to return soon.

Editorial oversight will now rest in the capable hands of Steve and Kara Murphy with the trusty help of long-time friend, supporter, and prayer warrior, regular contributor and former Managing Editor, Marilyn Rockett, who was indispensible to me when I wore the Editor-in-Chief hat.

And though He closed a door here before He showed us the one He will open in Texas, it is clearly His hand moving us, directing our hearts like a watercourse "wherever He pleases" (Proverbs 21:1). Our response is to trust Him and begin our journey to the land He will show us.

But, This is a bad time to try to sell a house. And, We’re in a recession. Don't you know that Folks are being laid-off all over the country?

The waters have not yet parted though we move toward the shore while the river overflows its banks (Joshua 3:14-16) and threatens to wash us downstream. We look forward to seeing Him part the waters, allowing us to cross over on dry ground.

New Work
In addition to the new employment we trust He will show us, God has given Amy and me personal success and a voice to help others save lots of money in these difficult times by using coupons to lower their monthly grocery spending. (See In the House of the Wise for details. And look for an upcoming online training class.)

For those of you liked Inherit the Land produced by Franklin Springs Family Media (http://www.franklinsprings.com/) and hosted by yours truly, I hope you will be pleased to learn that I am working on a couple of more projects with Ken Carpenter. Both projects are still in the infancy stage but I am very excited about their potential to deliver a powerful message.

As always, I will continue to be an advocate for home education, writing and publishing where He allows. In that vein, there are some other potential projects in the works that I hope to share with you soon when I have more details and they’re ready to go public.

Not Forsaken
Please join me in praising God and thanking Him for His promises and His provision for my family up until this day and for what He is going to do.

I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
—Psalm 37:25

P. S. Resumes are available on request and a list of my work history and qualifications are available on LinkedIn: www.LinkedIn.com/in/JBHoward.

2009 Master Books Scholarship Essay Contest

2009-01-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

$3000 College Scholarship

Just received this from New Leaf Press/Master Books:

For Immediate Release:
January 19, 2009
Master Books®,a division of New Leaf Publishing Group, proudly announces a new scholarship essay contest which will award one talented high school student $3000 to go towards funding their college education.

Master Books, the world's largest creation-based publisher, is committing its resources to encourage students to further their education on a firm biblical foundation.

"This scholarship opportunity is an example of just how strongly we feel about the importance of a biblically-sound education," said Tim Dudley, president of New Leaf Publishing Group. "We support students with evolution-free education products from an early age and are thrilled to provide one deserving student with the economic boost that may make a huge difference in their college career. It is truly an honor."

The Master Books scholarship is open to any high school junior or senior or the equivalent thereof from any public, private, or homeschool venue. The applicant must be a U.S. citizen and have a minimum GPA of 3.0 or above. This scholarship is a one-time award and may be used at any accredited two-year, four-year, or trade school withing the contiguous United States. This award covers only tuition and university-provided room and board. the scholarship monies will be forwarded to the college, university, or trade school of the winner's choice upon receipt of a copy of the winner's confirmed admission to their chosen school. Application deadline is April 1, 2009.

Students planning to apply for this essay scholarship may download two FREE chapters of the book, Evolution: The Grand Experiment, by Dr. Carl Werner at www.nlpg.com/store/scholarship.htm. After reading these two chapters, students are invited to write a 500 to 1500 word essay with the following focus:
Develop a magazine article based on the information contained in chapters 14 and 15 of the book Evolution: The Grand Experiment addressing the issue of ethics in scientific research.

The essay will be judged on creativity, clarity of thought, accuracy, research, grammar, and spelling. The student's essay will be the property of Master Books and may be used as an example or to promote this scholarship. The student winner and his/her parent or guardian will be notified by email of their winning status and then must submit a written acceptance of the scholarship award by no later than July 30, 2009. If the acceptance of the scholarship is not received by July 30, 2009, the monies will be awarded to the 1st runner-up.

The Master Books Scholarship will be submitted to the winner's accredited school upon receipt of a copy of their acceptance to that school. If the scholarship winner does not complete a full semester at the accredited school, the monies must be returned to Master Books to be awarded to the 1st runner-up. The winner agrees that all of his/her scholarship combined benefits does not exceed the cost of tuition, fees, and university-provided room and board as stated in the institution's cost of attendance.

Visit www.nlpg.com/store/scholarship.htm. or www.masterbooks.net

Request a scholarship link to post on your website.

For more information, contact: Janell Robertson · janell@newleafpress.net

In the House of the Wise

2008-12-17T19:02:00.000-08:00

Last November, my bride and I were going over our finances and realized that we were not going to be able to spend as much on groceries that month as we had been doing previously. Thanksgiving and family were coming soon, but we were going to run out of money long before we ran out of month.

For the previous twelve months (and probably longer), we had been spending $1200/mo. for our family of six (which became seven last September when my mother-in-law moved in). And many times, even spending that much, we still had "nothing" in the house to make a meal from and would take the whole family out to dinner, spending another $200/mo. on average (often more). Going into November, we had $400 to spend on food, period. We had to do something different.

A New Way of Shopping
We learned that people all over the country are saving a bundle on their groceries—week in and week out—by using coupons.

We had tried using coupons before, but with no measurable success, so we were skeptical. But, we also had to give it a try or Thanksgiving was going be very slim pickins.

At the end of November, we totalled up our grocery and eating out spending. It was $378. And we had a big juicy turkey with all the trimmings for Thanksgiving. And we had a growing stockpile of food in the pantry, in the freezer, and on several full shelves in the basement.

We saved over $1000 off our food budget in November 2007.

Now, we had been in guerrilla warfare mode in November because we had to. In December, we didn't save as much, but we still cut $600 off the budget. In January, we cut $700; February, $750; March, $800. And we've stayed right around the $600/mo. budget mark since then. All told, from November to November, we've cut about $9,500 off our grocery spending.

And all the while we've been cutting our spending in half, we have been multiplying our stockpile, so that some weeks we have had to buy very little besides milk and produce.

At two stores we frequent, they print your YTD savings at the bottom of the receipt. On recent trips, one reported that we had saved over $3500 this year using their loyalty card (we saved more than that with coupons—about $2000 more); the other, over $3200. That's the retail value of products we took home this year above what we paid for them.

In the House of the Wise

In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.
— Prov. 21:20

So many folks from church heard how much we were saving, we were spending every Sunday after worship teaching what we had learned. To save time, we put together three-hour class at the library to teach folks how to save on groceries with coupons.

I am working on putting that information into a e-Book (along with lots more we have learned over the last year). In the meantime, I've created a 5-part mini-course covering some of the basics of why couponing works. The mini-course is sent via email in bite-size chunks every two days. It probably still has some typos in it and I may not have been perfectly clear. But, I really want this to be a help to folks without overwhelming them.

A Favor
Will you do me a favor? Will you read through the course and give me your feedback? After each lesson, please just send me a note and let me know is you see any errors, if it's all clear, or if it was confusing or left you with more questions.

Here's the sign-up page: www.StartSavingWithCoupons.com

Thanks for reading, and feel free to pass this on to anyone else you know that might want to learn how to start saving money with coupons.

Franklin Springs Essay Contest/Giveaway: "Why I chose to homeschool"

2008-12-16T09:18:00.000-08:00

I just learned about this from my friends at Franklin Springs Family Media

Franklin Springs ESSAY CONTEST: Why I chose to homeschool (250 words or less.)

Grand Prize: One essay will be selected to receive the ten-pack collection of DVDs from Franklin Springs Family Media ($199 Value). Send entry to contests@franklinsprings.com – Subject "Essay Contest"

All Entries must be received by Friday, December 19, 2008. Winner will be announced on Monday, December 22, 2008. All entrants will also receive a $5 gift certificate for any film in the Franklin Springs Family Media catalog.

Of course, both of my readers will use their $5 gift certificate to purchase Inherit the Land, right? I'm just sayin'!

Choose up to three GIFTS from Homeschooling Today magazine

2008-12-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

Choose up to three free gifts with your paid subscription:

THE CHILDREN OF CAESAR (DVD) by Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr.
~~$19.95~~ - FREE
[Product details]

THE BOOK TREE (2nd Ed.) (280pg PB) by Elizabeth McCallum and Jane Scott
~~$19.00~~ - FREE
[Product details]

CURRICULUM ADVICE (2 CDs) by Victoria Botkin
~~$20.00~~ - FREE
[Product details]

Subscribe or Renew Now!

--------------------------------------------------

"I've been getting your magazine for a couple of years now. I
love it! Whether or not you homeschool, this magazine is a
wonderful resource for Christian families."

- Twila Paris Christian songwriter and singer

--------------------------------------------------

HOMESCHOOLING TODAY magazine
Still only $21.99 - 40% off the cover price!

To learn more about the most distinctly Christian, most
comprehensive journal of home discipleship available, visit:
www.homeschooltoday.com

Choose one, two, or three free gifts* from HOMESCHOOLING TODAY!

Purchase one year: $21.99 - Receive one free gift.
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*This non-refundable special is good for US and Canadian (in Canada, add US$10 per year) subscribers only.

Blogger Mom Carrie Evans is the Last American Optimist

2008-12-02T03:38:00.000-08:00

Writer for Homeschooling Today magazine's Homeschooling Helper eNewsletter, homeschooling blogger mom, and budding photographer, Carrie Evans (aka "Gremlin Wrangler") is the last American optimist. Here is her video commentary on the economy—and what the new administration can do about it—on CNN's iReport.

After watching, go to iReport and leave a comment… I did.

Carrie, you have a great perspective on the American economy. It is apparent that your commenters fall into one of two categories:

1) "The economic 'crisis' was created by the government and the government should fix it, so that I can maintain my current lifestyle."

...and...

2) "Rising prices mean I need to make adjustments to the way my family and I do things, but we're still alive and we are going to stick together and work through it."

I'll join YOU in Category 2. Carry on the good work you have begun...

Call to Dunkirk

2008-12-01T05:08:00.000-08:00

Even Christian teachers are forced to leave God out of the teaching of children, deeming Him non-existent or—at best—irrelevant to the indoctrination that occurs in the nation's government schools.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, 9:10), and yet we allow our children to be taught without even the slightest acknowledgement that God is the reason 2+2=4; that C-A-T spells cat; that history occurred the way it did; that Barak Obama is President-elect; that the Platypus doesn't fit neatly into one classification.

"Education is the most powerful ally of Humanism, and every American public school is a school of Humanism. What can theistic Sunday School, meeting for an hour once a week, do to stem the tide of a five day program of humanistic teaching?"
—Charles Francis Potter, signer of The Humanist Manifesto, a foundational document of today's public school system.

"You can't make Socialists out of individualists—children who know how to think for themselves spoil the harmony of the collective society which is coming, where everyone is interdependent."
—John Dewey, American psychologist, humanist, philosopher, and educational reformer; known as the Father of Modern education; signer of The Humanist Manifesto

Learn more: Exodus Mandate

Seats Added to December Log Home Builders Class

2008-11-19T05:21:00.000-08:00

For those who share my desire to build a log home one day, here's some updated information on the December classes:

Hi everyone,

We have added a few extra seats to the two December classes. The classes were full, but we managed to add some seats. Space is very limited, and we have no future classes scheduled at this point.

There are 2 class dates in December, and you can use the links below for to get additional information.

Choose which class you want to attend:
December 6th & 7th class
December 13th & 14th class

These classes are at the beautiful the Wallace Falls Lodge, a local log home bed and breakfast. There are currently two rooms still available for the class on 12/6, if you would like to spend the weekend at the bed and breakfast along with your instructor and fellow students. You can use the link below to get additional information about the B&B option (price, what's included, etc).

December 6th & 7th room

As always, please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.

Your friend,

Chuck Kerns, membership services (info@loghomebuilders.org)
Log Home Builders Association
www.loghomebuilders.org

If you have any questions about the class, what I learned, why I think you should go, or need my help building yours, just ask!

What about college?

2008-11-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

[The following is an article I wrote in 2004 for the CHEACT newsletter. I have not modified it, so some of the references are specific to that time and place and it far from exhausts options on the topic, but someone recently asked me "What about college?" so I thought some might benefit from me posting this here.]

The most recent time I heard this question was from a couple in Tennessee. They called me because my phone number is on the front page of the CHEACT website. . . for the dad's breakfast I organized. They're both educators: she's in the public schools, he's a college admissions officer. Turns out, his sister was on her way back home to Texas and was planning to homeschool when she got here.

"What type of umbrella program do you have?" the sister-in-law asked.

"We don't."

"Why not?"

"In Texas, homeschools are private schools and are not regulated by the state with regards to schedule, curriculum or teach credentials."

"Well, what about college?" She was asking this about her 8-year-old nephew.

What ABOUT college?

First of all, I don't consider college to be a given for any of my children. It's not always necessary and the benefits are many time offset by many worldly negatives. I'm raising them for heaven, not Harvard.

But, that's not what she was asking, so I didn't even go there. Her question was: "When my nephew has `graduated' from homeschool, what university is going to accept him?"

The truth is: MANY colleges and universities, service academies and vocational schools around the country are actively seeking homeschoolers. But there are still some things you, as a parent, need to consider.

High School Diploma

Are you planning to issue one? The Texas Homeschool Coalition (THSC) sells a very nice one that you can personalize for your school. As their site says: "In Texas, as private school officials, parents decide the requirements for high school graduation. When met, the student may receive a diploma." See their website, www.thsc.org, for more information.

Of course, THSC doesn't certify or recognize completion of a course of study simply by selling the diploma. That's up to you. You should keep records of course work, especially the last four years of your child's schooling so that you can create a transcript to show to a college. The Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) also has some great pointers for preparing for college at their website: www.hslda.org.

Accelerated Distance Learning

Brad Voeller, a homeschool graduate, is also a college graduate. Great achievement, to be sure. But what makes Brad unique is that he received his college degree in less than six months for less than $5000. And he wrote a book telling others how to do it: Accelerated Distance Learning: The New Way to Earn Your College Degree in the Twenty-First Century. Vision Forum and other great outlets carry it.

Dual Credit at a Community College

Did you know that most community colleges don't require a high school transcript in order to enroll? Did you know that most universities don't require a high school transcript if a student has 30 hours of college credit?

This has long been a popular option for homeschoolers. Simply enroll your child in classes at the local community college his or her sophomore year. It doesn't have to be a full load of classes: just 5 hours per semester. And you can count the coursework toward fulfillment of the high school diploma while your student is gaining college credit and experience.

By the time they graduate from high school, they'll have 30 hours of college credit and can transfer to the four-year college of their choice as a sophomore.

With just a little forethought and planning, your homeschooled student will be well on his or her way to a college degree, should the Lord take them in that direction.

[For a list of colleges that actively seek homeschoolers, see Homeschooling Today magazine's College Locator. —JBH]

STOP Homeschooling!

2008-11-12T09:34:00.000-08:00

As the Editor-in-Chief of Homeschooling Today magazine, I am often asked questions about getting started homeschooling.

I was recently asked this question by the father of a young lady who has been diagnosed with ADHD and is not doing well in the government education system.

After encouraging this loving dad to pray for wisdom and look up his state's homeschooling laws at HSLDA, I felt led to offer a paradigm shift in the way he might be looking at homeschooling. The rest of this post contains that recommendation.

Looking at it differently

Once you've done those two things [pray and contact HSLDA], take a step back and try (it's going to be hard, but it's worth it) to forget everything you know about institutional education models: classes, curriculums, schedules, credentials, grades, expectations, etc. The common term for what you're talking about doing is "homeschooling," but it's a misnomer: neither does your child learn only at home, nor is what you're doing schooling. Schooling is a completely different animal from learning, education, and discipleship. Those three things can happen in the midst of schooling, but they really aren't the same thing.

Like most parents, your goals for your daughter probably don't match up with the school system's goals for her. They want to her to be socialized, which means to be worked into her proper place in the social system. You want her to be a responsible caring adult who enjoys life, liberty, and happiness. Again, those two can go together, but not always.

Train up a child in the way he should go

Before mandatory high school after WWII, no one was diagnosed as ADHD. Not that no one should have been diagnosed, but today's classroom can exacerbate the symptoms, leading to more diagnoses. Ask yourself this question: "What is it that ADHD students are required to pay attention to that they show a deficiency in? And since hyper is a comparative prefix, "They're hyperactive compared to what?" Some of the activities your daughter is engaging may not be "normal," but the institutional environment she is in may be part of the problem. And if you think about it, no one is normal. Every single person is an individual and has inherent value for the way God created them.

The institutional setting—for all practical purposes—requires every person born within a one-year window to behave the same, learn the same subjects at the same rate, dress the same, enjoy the same things, etc. But the truth is that some children excel in math, some excel in language arts, others excel in art; some do well in athletics, some in chess, some in auto shop, and others in music; some excel in mercy, some in love, some in giving, others in administration, and still others in leadership and/or service. Each one has infinite worth as an individual, and yet each one also has his limitations. Above all else, your daughter needs your love, your exhortation, your discipline, and your caring. In addition to that, she needs to be able to balance a checkbook, understand chemical reactions in the kitchen, write a letter of complaint when a product or service is deficient, and take care of the things she has. Most of those things are useful and needful in our society. And only a few are taught through schooling.

Don't homeschool

Back to the homeschooling. A curriculum is only part of what you need, and it doesn't have to be purchased from anyone. Many that try to be "complete" and one-size-fits-all, are rather incomplete and one-size-fits-none. If you are in a state that enjoys freedom of schedule, my advice is to pull your daughter out of the institutional setting she is in and don't do any curriculum until you and your wife and your daughter have spent some time together just being a family. Define who you are as a family, but remove the stress of having to take "schooling" home.

The Founding Fathers of our nation are considered by most to be the most literate, well-read, and well-informed generation the world has ever known—before or since. (Thomas Jefferson conducted a survey which revealed a literacy percentage rate in the high 90s.) And most of them had very little formal schooling, if any. Those who did, didn't go to school until they were at around age nine or ten. If they went to "university," they did so at the age of fourteen-to-sixten. That's why you'll often hear that so-and-so had "no more than an eighth grade education." What they really had was only three or four years of schooling, and eighth grade was as high as it went. After that they were working, building a business, learning a trade, running the farm. They were not dunces who only completed the eighth grade and then dropped out.

So, all that to say, removing your daughter from that situation can be a major paradigm shift in the way you look at education. Their way may have (a) been the standard by which she was considered abnormal, and (b) exacerbated the manifestation of the problem. Don't pull her out of that just to keep her home to do it the same way. She may be acting out because she's bored with a subject she has already mastered. She may be acting out because she can't keep up with her classmates academically, so she tries to do it socially. It may be a combination of those two, or more.

But don't stress about her not getting enough schooling.

Baby steps toward a family culture of learning

If she has strong friendships, don't break those up right away (even if they're somewhat unhealthy) or she is likely to rebel against everything you are trying to do. The move to family discipleship needs to be the first step. When she knows that you care about her and love her and that is why you are doing what you are doing, then it will be easier to reason with her about further changes you want to make: whether that involves letting some friendships go, or accelerating some subjects she does well in, or stepping back a few steps to get back to her pace on other subjects, or spending less time on subjects and more on service or music or art or giving or a family business. Each step take together. You and your wife may have to adjust your strides a bit for all of you to stay together, but the rewards are worth it!

Don't do it alone

Back to my first suggestion. If you and your wife are not Christians, perhaps a lot of what I said is completely foreign to you or sounds impossible. I can tell you that in my home, were it not for Jesus Christ, all of what I mentioned above would be a shabby, weak façade that would not stand up against any kind of pressure. I would be glad to discuss that further, too, if you would like.

Why we don't have health insurance…

2008-11-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

It started when I changed jobs and went from being a W2 employee to a 1099 contractor without benefits. We learned fairly quickly that insurance costs everyone a lot more than it should. Let me explain:

Whenever we would have a doctor's visit and inform them that we were "self-pay," they would usually cut the bill in half. So, while we were paying more than a co-pay would have been, the doctor's office was not paying as much for claims processing and was able to return that savings to us. But insurance for our family of six would have cost us a minimum of $300/mo.—a great deal more than the extra we were paying at the doctor's office—and not covered co-pays, have a deductible of $5000, and give us only the tiniest discount on prescriptions. To get any real "benefit" from health insurance coverage, we would have had to pay $800 or more a month, which is more than our mortgage payment! We decided that we could put that $3600-9600/year to better use:

1. Because we know we are going to have to pay more out-of-pocket when we visit the doctor's office, as parents, we strive to improve our children's (and our) nutrition by eating foods as close to "whole" as we can. Because we ingest few preservatives and processed foods, we are not sick as often. (Not spending as much time in the doctor's office waiting room also cuts down on our exposure to colds and flu.)

2. Because we are not spending as much on insurance, we were able to increase our grocery budget, allowing us to afford the more healthful, closer to natural and whole foods, which keeps us healthier, and therefore needing less medical services/coverage.

3. Because we have chosen to take responsibility for our own health, my employer also doesn't incur the cost of paying for my health/lifestyle choices, and can use that money to invest in the business, including being able to pay me more for the work I do!

So, our reasons for making the "deliberate choice" were a matter of finances and adjusting the way we eat and buy groceries. A by-product of this choice is that we also don't contribute to medical coverage that we disagree with. Insurance, in many cases, has the practical effect of "wealth distribution" and "rewarding" those who don't take care of themselves by providing them with medical care to fix the problems they incur from unhealthy living.

As Christians, we believe that every person is imbued with value—whether they are healthy, productive adults or preborn children or aged and infirm. So, rather than planning to put our parents in a nursing home (another expensive option insurance-wise) to "run out the clock" when they can no longer take care of themselves, we are planning to provide housing and care for them. In fact, we have already brought my mother-in-law into our home to live with us, BEFORE she can't take care of herself.

Additionally—and not surprisingly—we are pro-life regarding preborn children. Our research (and that of friends in the industry) has shown that of all the insurance companies in the country, there are only a dozen insurance underwriters (the organizations that finance—and profit from—the insurance industry). While an individual company may not cover abortion, their underwriters most likely do. An industry professional was able to interview nine of the twelve underwriters: all nine they were able to contact pay for abortions. So, everyone who pays an insurance premium (unless one of the other three doesn't cover them) is paying into a fund that pays for abortions. That's not something we want to be a part of.

We do recognize, however, that there are real medical needs that others don't have the money to pay for and we should be willing to take on the burdens of others as we are able. That's part of the reason we are making plans to take care of our parents as they age. But, we also learn of needs through our church, through friends, and through people God brings into our lives. Rather than sending a check off to an unknown company that will then send a check to cover someone's expenses, we believe we are supposed to be more involved in people's lives than that. Someone who is suffering a painful and/or life-threatening ailment or injury needs more than money to cover their expenses: they need love and caring. I can't provide that to every person who receives a portion of my insurance premium. But, I can provide that to the specific people God brings into my life. My family can bring people into our home to share a meal; we can visit people in the hospital and pray for them; and we can take a meal to families who are celebrating a new life in their home and are resting after childbirth. The healing process is usually much more rapid when a personal touch is included with the care, rather than just relieving the monetary burden. It's a blessing when we're given the opportunity to provide both!

Fortunately, it's actually more cost-effective and healthful to eschew health insurance and take personal responsibility for our own family's health. And more loving and personal to take care of individual needs rather than handing off the responsibility to a claims process.

Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!

2008-11-04T09:24:00.000-08:00

In light of today's elections in the United States, I want to draw your attention to God's work in the town of Nineveh in the days of Jonah. Many look at today's elections and are fearful that we are going to get a leader who will oppress us. Others see that whichever of the front-runners wins, it will be judgment on our country. What we need, they say, is a miracle.

No Guarantees

Talking vegetables notwithstanding, most folks know the story of Jonah. They know he was swallowed by a big fish for disobeying God. But most do not realize that Jonah was not sent to Ninevah with the message: "Stop sinning."

God's message for Nineveh was "Nineveh shall be overthrown." Jonah did not call them to repentance. In fact, chapter four of Jonah tells us that he did not want them to repent. He wanted the city to be destroyed for its crimes.

But, God turned the hearts of the people of Nineveh. They believed God, and fasted and prayed and grieved over their sin, "from the greatest to the least of them." After the people repented, the king of Nineveh heard and called for a fast.

"Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?" —Jonah 3:7b-9

The king had no word from God that there was any hope for mercy on Nineveh. But he chose to lead the people to spend their "final days" in prayer and fasting, denying themselves, and turning away from evil.

But God DID relent.

God Judges Nations

"He makes nations great, and destroys them;

He enlarges nations, and guides them." —Job 12:23

Throughout the times of the Judges and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, godly and ungodly leaders reigned. Some were magnificent; some were cruel. But the judgment pronounced on the nation was that the people did what was right or wrong in God's eyes. If they followed the practices of an evil leader, judgment came as a result of the people's actions, not the leader. (The leader suffered the consequences of his own sin, to be sure. And causing others to stumble carries a hefty penalty.)

When judgment comes on a people, it comes because the people have forgotten God. They have done what is right in their own eyes. They have followed in the sins of their fathers.

Our fathers, a generation ago, made the murder of the most helpless of society a right. But, that stemmed from generations prior disbelieving God when He said that children are a blessing, and a reward from Him.

Around that same time, women began to throw off the safety and responsibility of hearth and home, choosing different chores instead. In the name of equality, they have devalued themselves, so that now they are no longer protected within the home, but are expected to place their lives on the line for their country.

And our country is under judgment. Consider the divorce rate; look at the crime rate; see how heavy is our tax burden; think of the laws that restrict our very lives. "Sign, sign, everywhere a sign. Blocking out the scenery and breaking my mind. Do this, don't do that. Can't you read the signs?"

Removing the Log

In Economics, the Law of the Commons tells us why whales are endangered and cows are not. It comes down to ownership. Cows are the private property of the rancher. He takes responsibility for his cattle, for their health, their survival and multiplication. Whales belong to no one. If one whaler doesn't kill all he can, another whaler will. There is no incentive (or protection) to save some to protect the species. They're succeptible to "just one more" until there are no more.

Judgment is the same way. As long as we point to other people's sins and THEIR responsibility to do this, don't do that, we sin "just one more" time. "It's just a little white lie." "My employer won't miss one box of staples, one pen, one marker, one minute of my time." "It won't hurt if I just take one peak at that internet site." "I'll place one vote for the lesser of two evils; next time I'll fight for more righteousness." Ad infinitum.

Yes, pray for miracle; pray for deliverance. But, first pray for a heart of repentance. I have no word from the Lord that our destruction is coming in forty days, but given our current course—as history shows us—bondage and captivity are coming.

Lord, teach us to loathe our sin. Remove our hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh that cry out, "Abba, Father." We are children caught with our hand in the cookie jar. We need your forgiveness; we need your righteousness. We dare not ask for your justice to be poured out on your enemies, for we know that we would perish in its wake, were it not for the blood of Christ alone. Rend our hearts over our own sin, and help us not to commit "just one more" sin against you. Thank you for your grace and mercy upon us. Amen.

FREE Online Screening of COME WHAT MAY

2008-10-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

a Feature Film Made by Over 40 Homeschool Students

Homeschooling Today magazine is sponsoring a significant event this week that we want to share with you. Now through Friday, there is a FREE Online Screening of Come What May on GodTube and the American Family Association. Come What May is a feature film made by forty homeschooled students, including a dozen from Patrick Henry College.

This nationwide event is helping to get the word out about Advent Film Group (AFG) and their inaugural film. It also showcases the work of homeschoolers who are helping shape our culture. Most importantly, it is starting to help affect the November elections for pro-life candidates, perhaps even the Presidency.

Over 210,000 people have viewed part or all of the movie since it went into a "trial period" this weekend. The film is notable in that even audiences of "choice" have said that Come What May is causing them to "reconsider their position."

You can assist us AFG and Voters by watching the movie online and sending email referrals to friends and family. Please also consider buying a copy so that Advent Film Group can make many more films such as Come What May.

Here is some important information:

FREE Screening of Pro-Life movie: Come What May
For the next few days, October 27 - 31, you can watch Come What May for FREE by visiting:

http://www.adventfilmgroup.com/freemovie

http://www.phc.edu/comewhatmay.php

Direct Link to Articles about Come What May Free Screening Event:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=297500
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78755

Asperger's Syndrome and Homeschooling

2008-10-27T04:40:00.000-07:00

I recently joined a discussion board (www.wrongplanet.net) for adults and children (and their parents) who have Asperger's Syndrome (AS). One note from a mom who has a 9yos who was recently diagnosed with AS and has begun homeschooling him caught my attention. I replied on the board, but thought there might be others who could use the encouragement as well, whether or not you are homeschooling a child with AS:

[My son] is nine. He is of above average intellegence but is lazy when it comes to learning or at least how I am teaching him. How do I find a way of inticing him to learn? He hates to read, and his handwriting and spelling get worse every year. I am on my third week and I feel like I am failing him. Anyone with any suggestions please HELP!

Don't give up. Three weeks is really a very short time considering the transition for him. Start with doing things he likes and finding a way to tie it to learning. Is there a topic he enjoys? Study it together. Read aloud to him, ask him to narrate a story to you (you can write it down, or record it to transcribe later). If he's lazy at reading, find a topic he likes and reward him for reading books on the topic. If necessary, get simpler readers that are "below" his age level, just to get him interested in reading. Sylvan Dell has some great science and math books that are colorful, fact-filled, and engaging.

Remember to give yourself and your son a break. If he has been in an institutional classroom for the last four or five years, then (a) his teachers probably experienced some of the same frustration with his learning style, (b) he probably experienced frustration with their teaching style, and (c) homeschooling is a completely different way of doing everything. The transition is not going to be a really easy one for either of you, but it will be so worth it.

The great thing about homeschooling (for all children, but especially Aspies) is that you don't have to teach every subject "on grade level." Grade levels and what is taught in classroom environments are based on age, average performance across children within that same one-year window, and the agenda of the particular school system. Since you have a smaller number of children than the classroom teacher, you don't have to follow what the school is doing. And since your agenda is to not only raise a competent adult, but to love your son, the way you do things will look totally different from a classroom environment.

When you homeschool, you can tailor the "scope and sequence" and pace of each subject to (a) your child, (b) yourself, and (c) your family life. For instance, your son may be stellar at math, doing calculus at age 9 (we actually reviewed a calculus book in the July/August 2008 issue (pg. 66) that was geared toward nine-year-olds). But, his handwriting may be closer to an "average" kindergartner. And perhaps he reading is "on level" but he's bored with the books he's offered. When you homeschool, you don't have to teach to a test, nor do you have to hold a child within range of the rest of the "class," so he can move on from calculus to quantum physics, read everything there is to know about trebuchets of the Middle Ages, and continue practicing drawing his letters with his five-year-old sibling.

Remember too that there is no one-size-fits-all curriculum—not in institutional schools and not in homeschools. Your child is an individual and so are you. Learn about teaching styles and learning styles, and find a combination that works for BOTH of you. There's no such thing as "getting behind." Each day, you try to take a step forward. Some days you have to back up and cover ground already trod. Some days you get sidetracked chasing rabbits, taking care of someone in need, or resting. And some days you'll play leap frog and cover lots of ground.

That's living life together as a family, and is greater than any "book knowledge" he will acquire.

A Pioneer Departs — His Legacy Lives On

2008-10-21T04:33:00.000-07:00

I recently received the sad news of the passing of DeWelle "Skip" Ellsworth, founder of the Log Home Builders Association.

Last summer, Skip contacted me after reading a blog post about my experience in class. Though Skip has children who are older than I am (and two that are close to my children's ages), I felt a brotherhood with him. We talked about freedom. We talked about Ron Paul. He talked about his sons and life in the Philippines. I talked about wanting to raise up my sons to be as fine men as he had done.

I am proud to have published two articles in the September/October issue of Homeschooling Today magazine that both featured LHBA. The entire issue is available online. The articles are featured on the cover and begin on page 38. I post them here as a tribute to my brother Skip, one of my heroes.

The Legacy Continues
Today, I received a note from the Log Home Builders Association:

It's finally here—we are excited to announce our first new class in six months. We expect this class to fill up fast, so if you plan to attend then sign up right away. The class date will be December 6th and 7th, 2008.

This is a very special class, because it's the first one we've ever had at the spectacular Wallace Falls Lodge in Gold Bar, Washington.

Wallace Falls Lodge is a beautiful three story real butt and pass log home that is a working B&B run by former students. That means that you have the rare opportunity to book a room for the weekend and stay at our class location, along with fellow students and your instructor.

Sign up for the class here: December 6th and 7th log home class

Book a room here: Wallace Falls Lodge Room Add-On (or feel free to stay elsewhere for the class).

Please note that there are only 8 guest rooms available at the lodge for the weekend, and we expect those to fill up within the next 24 hours.

I highly recommend this class. I highly recommend it as a discipleship opportunity for fathers and sons to attend together. If you go, I want to hear about your experience.

Making the "Leap" to Homeschooling

2008-10-13T03:38:00.000-07:00

Susan M. asked:

I'd like to hear from parents of elementary aged students about why you decided to homeschool. We live in an area with the highest scoring public school system in the state. Now, saying that, we are in the lowest performing state in the nation, so I guess it's a dubious distinction. However, I still feel that the public schools here are inadequate and the private schools are not much better—only much more expensive. How did you make the leap from a "decent" public school system to taking/keeping your kids home to teach them yourselves? And what sort of reaction did you get from family and friends? Thanks, and God bless you.

I would like to answer your specific questions, and then offer a couple of additional comments:

Making the "leap" to homeschooling:

When we began homeschooling, we were in Texas and it was the beginning of kindergarten for my oldest son. We simply never enrolled him. No great leap for us.

That's Texas, though: one of the freest states in the country regarding homeschooling. Check with the Home School Legal Defense Association (hslda.org) for the laws in your state. Some states (and especially countries) are much more restrictive than others.

In addition to the legal requirements, there are also lifestyle and financial adjustments: perhaps changing from two incomes to one, creating a home environment for learning, radically re-organizing your schedule to include instruction in your daily routine, to name a few. There are also relational adjustments (in addition to the reactions from family and friends, addressed below): the family dynamic changes if you have had your children in an institutional setting (public or private), educating your child at home (or more precisely, within the context of your own family) will change the way your children perceive you. Your children may resist the change, at least at first. And the longer they have been in an institutional setting, the more they may resist.

It can be a big paradigm shift that Mom and Dad are teachers, "too." Though it is generally accepted that parents are a child's "first" teacher, the idea that they can be the "primary teacher" throughout childhood is a novel and radical idea to most. "Teachers" are professionals, they reason. The parents' role is to feed, clothe, and financially support. All training happens "at school." This perception is false, of course. Training and learning are life-long endeavors, and many of the important things we need to know in life are learned outside of "school."

Reactions from family and friends
Reactions vary. Some (in many cases, most) family and friends are offended by a decision to home educate. People homeschool for a variety of reasons: some because a child has special needs, some for academic reasons, some for religious reasons, some for political reasons, some for lifestyle reasons. And of course, many choose it for a combination of all of these. If your family and friends don't agree with you on your convictions to homeschool, then the reaction will be predictable. Homeschooling changes everything! Though there are (by 2005 estimates) between 1.7 and 2.5 million children in these United States who are educated primarily by their parents, the percentage of the population in any given area may still be pretty small. So the decision in some circles is a radical one: one that is not as "politically correct" as being "green" or giving to your favorite cause or working at a soup kitchen or staying on top of the latest technology trends or working 90 hours a week to climb the corporate ladder.

For some reason, when you decide to homeschool your children, it appears to most as one of the most extreme examples of living out your convictions. I suppose it is because it is such a visible manifestation and testimony about your convictions. Your children are "on display" whenever you are in public, or at a family gathering, or at the park with friends. So, observers will be trying to judge what they see on several levels. They may be watching to see if: a) they should make the same lifestyle change, b) it is as difficult as they think, c) it is worth the sacrifice. On the negative side, they may be: a) contrasting the things they value with the things you value; b) looking for a flaw in your convictions or their outcome to justify sticking to their own; or c) thinking (in the case of parents, sometimes) the fact that you are doing something different from what they did is a negative statement about the way they reared you.

Be prepared for the relationship strain that may come from this decision. If you are convicted to begin, stick to your convictions. But, also remember to be loving and patient with your family and friends.

Additional thoughts about "public" school

The "public" school is not called that because it is "owned" by the public, but because the public pays for it by government decree. However, it is run and regulated by the government—local, state, and federal—and therefore the government sets the goals and agendas of the training that takes place there. Parents get one small vote (IF they vote) regarding the education of their children. But, because it's "public," majority rules and the public has the most say in the rearing of our children.

The cost of government school is actually much greater than most private schools. We just don't see it because it's wrapped up in our property taxes. And not just ours; everyone pays property taxes, whether they have children in the government school or not.

Who tests the government schools to determine how they score? The government does. And what do they test on? The things they have taught. If you are in the highest-scoring school district in the lowest-performing state, you might want to check the criteria by which the schools are scored. It is an extreme example, but if you went to business colleges and gave a test how well they taught deep-sea diving, you might expect very low performance. The "highest-scoring" school is irrelevant. The values it scores on aren't necessarily your values.

Whom Shall We Then Vote For?

2008-10-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

A friend was recently lamenting over who is actually qualified to govern a nation. Anyone? Can anyone actually claim expertise, experience, and valor to do so?

Zaphod Beeblebrox, in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy said "Anyone capable of getting himself elected should by no means be allowed to serve."

Some of the best leaders we have had have actually been chosen by others, rather than themselves. Especially when those "others" have considered what the Scriptures say about who is qualified to govern.

George Washington resigned at Commander-in-Chief, resolved to spend the rest of his life as a private citizen. He was called back into public office and offered the title of King! He refused that title and argued for a representative form of government. Again, he attempted to return to private life, but as our constitutional republic was formed, he was unanimously voted to serve as its first President. Many have argued that none who have followed him have come close to serving as well, including Jefferson and Lincoln (especially Lincoln, but that's another post!).

Four years ago, William Einwechter wrote the following and it's still valid today: http://tinyurl.com/biblical-standards.

The most difficult job we have as voters is determining how God would have us vote. No other consideration matters. He is the Judge of the world and He will do right.

We have to decide whether we choose the "lesser of two evils" that are presented to us as our "only" choices, and thereby choose "less" evil. Or do we vote for a godly man who is not considered popular enough to win the election?

If we are still concerned about the lesser of two evils, we will probably capitulate and not vote for the godly man because others will accuse us of allowing the "more evil" of the "two" choices to win.

If this is where you are, then consider whom God has used in Scripture to lead his people: Moses, a murderer, polygamist, stutterer; David, a runty, smelly, adulterer, the least of the least; Joseph, a boastful slave-turned-prisoner; Gideon, with only 300 men; Deborah, when the men all abdicated.

One sows, another waters, but God gives the increase. So that neither the sower or the waterer are anything. Don't worry about who can win; vote for who should win and leave the rest to God.

Vote for God's man and let God be God.

"Useful" reviews?

2008-10-02T05:07:00.000-07:00

I got an email today telling me that 78% of people who have read my reviews on Amazon find them "useful." I'm not sure what that means.

But it did get me to click over and see what I've said there. I found this review of Lamplighter's reprint of The Spanish Brothers that I particularly like. I really liked the book, too.

If you're not familiar with Lamplighter Publishing, I recommend checking them out. Tell them I sent you.

Look What I Found for $2

2008-09-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

In a box marked $5 $3, I found all of these books! They said they were willing to deal, so I offered $2 and they took it:

Fireproof, the Trailer

2008-07-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

Never Leave Your Partner Behind

Action Items:

Watch the trailer

Contact your local theatre to bring Fireproof to your city

Read the interview with Kirk Cameron and Producer Stephen Kendrick in the September/October issue of Homeschooling Today™ magazine

Go see the film opening weekend

Fireproof YOUR marriage!

Education is Discipleship

2008-05-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

What do you think of when you hear the word education? Most people think of subjects or a classroom. You may also think of a scope and sequence, of a start and end date, of matriculation and graduation.

What do you think of when you hear the word discipleship? Most people think of helping others in their "walk" with Christ. That may involve encouragement to attend church, pray, read their Bible, have a "quiet time," get involved in "ministry."

What does the Bible say about these two terms?

I recently received an email from a young father who is "getting ready" to homeschool. (His oldest child is "only" three.) I encouraged him that he has been homeschooling already, so there was no need to "get ready," just to keep doing what he's been doing. He replied:

...[O]ne of the arguments I have used with folk is that most Christian
parents separate education from discipleship whereas with homeschooling
both can happen simultaneously. And we have certainly been reading to and
praying with and for our children from the beginning, along with Scripture
memory work.

But I think we need to continue to reform regarding even this manner of speaking. We certainly agree that it is unbiblical to separate education out from discipleship. In fact, education as it is defined today is nowhere in the Bible. But there is a lot in there on training, teaching, and discipleship; and almost always in the context of parents and grandparents training up their children and grandchildren.

So we would do well to remove the contemporary notion of "education" from our vocabulary as much as possible and only speak in biblical terms. Rather than disciple and "educate," we simply want to disciple our children in grace, math, home maintenance, mercy, science, balancing a checkbook, esteeming others, writing, menu planning, worship, history, budgeting, prayer, biology, diaper-changing, justice, reading, marriage, etc. All of those "subjects" belong to God. There is not one that is outside of His creation, ordination, or interaction. Therefore, separating them is putting asunder what God has joined together. Too often, that means separating "God stuff" from the rest of "life." But Jesus said He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

Let us think God's thoughts after Him by speaking His words after Him.

Liberty Bell

2007-07-04T10:18:00.001-07:00

by Anonymous

There was tumult in the city,
     In the quaint old Quaker town,
And the streets were rife with people,
     Pacing restless up and down;—
People gathering at corners,
     Where they whispered each to each,
And the sweat stood on their temples,
     With the earnestness of speech.

"Will they do it?" "Dare they do it?"
     "Who is speaking?" "What's the news?"
"What of Adams?" "What of Sherman?"
     "Oh, God grant they won't refuse!"
"Make some way there!" "Let me nearer!"
     "I am stifling!" "Stifle then!
When a nation's life's at hazard,
     We've no time to think of men!"

So they beat against the portal,
     Man and woman, maid and child;
And the July sun in heaven
     On the scene looked down and smiled,
The same sun that saw the Spartan
     Shed his patriot blood in vain,
Now beheld the soul of freedom
     All unconquer'd rise again.

See! See! The dense crowd quivers
     Through all its lengthy line,
As the boy beside the portal
     Looks forth to give the sign!
With his small hands upward lifted,
     Breezes dallying with his hair,
Hark! With deep, clear intonation,
     Breaks his young voice on the air.

Hushed the people's swelling murmur,
     List, the boy's exultant cry!
"Ring!" he shouts, "Ring, Grandpa,
     Ring, O, ring for Liberty!"
And straightway at the signal,
     The old bellman lifts his hand,
And sends the good news, making
     Iron music through the land.

How they shouted! What rejoicing!
     How the old bell shook the air,
Till the clang of freedom ruffled
     The calm, gliding Delaware!
How the bonfires and the torches
     Illumed the night's repose,
And from the flames like fabled Phoenix,
     Our glorious Liberty arose!

That old bell now is silent,
     And hushed its iron tongue,
But the spirit it awakened,
     Still lives—forever young.
And when we greet the smiling sunlight,
     On the fourth of each July,
We'll ne'er forget the bellman,
     Who, betwixt the earth and sky,
Rang out OUR INDEPENDENCE,
     Which, please God, shall never die!

[Thoughts] A Joy in My Life

2007-03-24T18:59:00.001-07:00

The "Patriarchy Psalms," 127 and 128, have been a clarion call to generations of men who have been moved, by God's grace, to throw off the world's view of limiting the size of their families. Of seeing children as a burden and a curse. Of regarding children as "another mouth to feed." They take us back to the Dominion Mandate to "be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it." (Gen. 1:18) Children are described as "a heritage from the LORD," "a reward," "arrows in the hands of a warrior," "olive plants around your table."

For those who say, "I can't handle the ones I've got," or "I can barely afford the two I have," or "I don't have enough patience for more," or "How can I give one-on-one attention to so many?" the Bible tells us that God is the one who feeds us and our children, that He gives us everything we need to perform every good deed, that He will be a God to us and our children, that He rewards us with children so that we may be a blessing to others.

Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. (2 Cor. 9:10-11, emphasis mine)

God gives not only us, but the world, our children as a blessing. When we train up godly seed, the world (which God "so loved") is blessed; first the family of faith and then the ungodly, too, on whom God pours common grace.

For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men. (2 Cor. 9:12-13, emphasis mine)

So, when we're obedient to our confession to the gospel of Christ, and believe God's proclamation that children are a blessing and that through the seed of Abraham (which means, through our seed) all nations will be blessed, the saints and all men rejoice and give thanks to God. That thanksgiving is also a blessing. Jesus was the firstborn of many brethren, of whom are we and our children.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! (2 Cor. 9: 15)

"Amen and Amen!" we say. We affirm with our mouths that children are blessing. We confess with our tongues that God is Lord of the womb. We ask God to bring more children into our families, "by whatever means." But for all our thanks to God, we often follow the world—and that which is worldly in the church—and treat our children like trophies. Our "obedience" like a badge of righteousness. Our patriarchal vision like a ticket to the front of the line of elder candidates.

We focus on ruling our own families well, not for our families sake—that they would grow in grace, learning to submit with all joy to the authority God has, in His love, placed over them—but for our own "advancement" in the eyes of men. We parade our obedient children in front of others to "show the world" that Jesus' ways are good.

But, it's not just about those who are afar off believing the gospel. It's about building the kingdom through our calling as fathers to our children. It's not about having children. It's about training up children. Making disciples of them. Enjoying them as the blessings they are, and the blessings they are to all men. And so, to really see them as blessings, we must also treat them as blessings.

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil. 1:3-6)

Like Paul, we ought to give thanks to our God on "every remembrance" of our children, always in every prayer making request for them with joy. And, like Paul, we need to express gratitude for our children to our children. God has made our wilderness like Eden, our desert like the garden of the Lord. May we let joy and gladness be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. (Is. 51:3, emphasis mine)

Our children, like we, have been brought back from captivity; they have been established in God's covenant and the ruins have been rebuilt. Now, says the Lord, "out of them shall come thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry." (Jer. 30:19) He goes on to say, in verse 20, "And I will punish all who oppress them." Who oppresses our children? We do when we provoke them to wrath.

Delight in your children. Enjoy sitting with them and hearing their tales of adventure—even if it's the ninety-ninth time you've heard it. Rejoice to hold them in your lap and read to them, whether it's God's word, or Dr. Seuss, or poetry, or the story they just wrote. Write songs to and about your children and sing them. Learn to harmonize hymns as a family. A movie once had a family sharing "Highs and Lows" at the dinner table. Forget the lows and ask them about their highs. Share your heart and get to know theirs. For all physical indications to the contrary, they are not Mini-Me's; God has made them unique and He's given them to you so you will grow in grace.

Thank your children for their godly character. For being a blessing to you and your family. For reading God's word and hiding it in their hearts. For being your "little man" or "little lady." Let them be your joy and your joy will increase!

Thank God for kids. For your kids!

Now, if you'll excuse me… I need to go thank my children for being my children.

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Posted By Jim Bob Howard to Thoughts at 3/24/2007 06:42:00 PM

[Poetry] The Right Family

2007-03-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

by Edgar Guest

With time our notions allus change,
An' years make old idees seem strange—
Take Mary there—time was when she
Thought one child made a family,
An' when our delest, Jim, was born,
She used to say, both night an' morn':
"One little one to love an' keep,
To guard awake, an' watch asleep;
To bring up right an' lead him through
Life's path is all we ought to do."

Two years from then our Jennie came,
But Mary didn't talk the same;
"Now that's just right," she said to me,
"We've got the proper family—
A boy an' girl, God sure is good;
It seems as though He understood
That I've been hopin' every way
To have a little girl some day;
Sometimes I've prayed the whole night through—
One ain't enough; we needed two."

Then as the months went rollin' on,
One day the stork brought little John,
An' Mary smiled an' said to me;
"The proper family is three;
Two boys, a girl to romp an' play—
Jus' enough work to fill the day.
I never had enough to do,
The months that we had only two;
"Three's jus' right, pa, we don't want more."
Still time when on an' we had four.

An' that was years ago, I vow,
An' we have six fine children now;
An' Mary's plumb forgot the day
She used to sit an' sweetly say
That one child was enough for her
To love an' give the proper care;
One, two or three or four or five—
Why, goodness gracious, sakes alive,
If God should send her ten to-night,
She'd vow her fam'ly was jus' right!

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Posted By Jim Bob Howard to Poetry at 3/24/2007 06:49:00 PM

[Thoughts] Thank You Sir, May I Have Another?

2006-09-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

At five o'clock on the due date, R. C. asked me to write an article for Every Thought Captive. The topic? Obeying foolish rulers. Fitting.

It sounded like a request. He seemed to be asking me if I wanted to write an article. But as I walked over to his desk to learn more about what he expected before accepting, I saw that he had already typed by name next to the title. This wasn't a request. It was a requirement of my new job as Assistant Director of the Highlands Study Center.

So I write. Not because I am new in the job and want to make a good early impression, although that's certainly true. Not because I am an expert on obeying foolish rulers, although I do… I mean, have… worked for a few. I write because my boss told me to write. And though I think him foolish for asking me to write at this late date, I do want to please R. C.

But I want to please Jesus more.

In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul tells us employees to "be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men." (Eph. 6:5-7)

Which is why, in my former life—last month—I worked 200 hours in two weeks with practically no help to meet a ridiculous deadline which was foolishly and arbitrarily set, having been based on false assumptions, incomplete information and unrealistic expectations. I was obeying foolish rulers. Rulers, I submit, who do not kiss the Son.

My house near Austin was already on the market. I had already interviewed for a couple of jobs, including this one. We had already told friends and family that we were leaving Texas within the month. We were moving to Saint Peter as soon as I had a job or the house sold, whichever came first. The job came first—right during the home stretch of meeting that deadline.

Nevertheless, I worked twelve days in two weeks averaging over 16 hours per day. I met the deadline. The project was a huge success. Everyone was elated with the outcome.

I gave my notice the next day.

My project coordinator couldn't figure out why I'd put in so many hours to assure the success of this project. She couldn't figure out why I wasn't slacking off on the job with "short-timers' disease." But what she didn't know was that I wasn't serving her but Christ my Husband, who is never a foolish ruler.

Which is also the reason I didn't work fourteen 16-hour days in two weeks.

"And God spake all these words… Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." (Ex. 20:1a, 8-11)

My manager had already handed down a poor evaluation for me two months prior for being "unwilling to work on weekends." The one "weekend" I supposedly was unwilling to work, I had worked sixteen hours on Friday and another ten on Saturday. It was Sunday that I told them I was unavailable because it's the Lord's Day and my family would be attending worship together and resting.

Knowing that I was leaving the company and the state to move my family to Saint Peter, I was tempted to assume a laissez faire attitude toward the work. What're they going to do? Fire me? But that would have been disobedient to and dishonoring of my Head. After my poor performance evaluation, I was certainly tempted to work on Sundays to complete the project on time and please my boss. But, that wouldn't have been pleasing to my Boss.

Again, my project coordinator was totally confused on why she couldn't reach me all day on Sunday. But, again, what she didn't know was that I wasn't serving her but Christ my Husband, who is never a foolish ruler.

Jesus bid me labor six days and do all my work. And He bid me rest on the seventh day.

My children saw—and helped—my dear wife, Amy who is great with child, as she worked extra strenuously those two weeks because of my work schedule. And they saw me rest on Sunday. By obeying Christ; by working to please Him and not man, I was also teaching my children to obey their Husband by obeying me, even when I am the foolish ruler.

Amy had it more difficult than I did. As she served me, she was serving those who were over me. But she didn't work for them. They didn't pay her for her time. She had no recourse against them. No "open door" through which she could walk to air her grievances. She had a schedule imposed on her from someone to whom she was never called to submit. But, because she loves her Husband, she served her husband as he served his Husband by serving his boss.

So, in the midst of unpacking and learning the myriad ways to drive to Mendota from just about any exit off I-81, I write my first article for Every Thought Captive, in obedience to my new boss. But it's Christ who put me here, and Christ that I'm serving, even as I serve R. C.

Thank you, Sir. May I have another?

[Originally published in Every Thought Captive, Vol. 9, Issue 2; March/April 2005]

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Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Thoughts at 9/30/2006 12:16:00 PM

[Leading The Way] Returning to Patriarchy

2006-08-18T05:12:00.000-07:00

My friend Danny wants to know: "Is it possible to "turn" a passive father into an active leader?"

I say, Yes, in the same way a wife "turns" her husband into an active leader… Leaders need followers—submissive followers—those who line up on the same team by choice.

But, where the difference comes in is… whereas a wife has a duty and obligation to submit to her own husband, a grown man does not have that same duty and obligation to his father.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. —Gen. 2:24

We are nonetheless to honor our father and mother our entire lives that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. (Eph. 6:2-3; cf. Ex. 20:12) So you "turn" your father into a leader by honoring him, seeking his advice as one who is wise. He's lived longer than you have… he's made some mistakes from which he has learned valuable lessons; ask him about them—not in such a way that he'll feel ridiculed, but as a request from a son who wants to learn from the wisdom of his father.

Psalm 78 is a call for men to speak to their children and grandchildren (and through them, their great- and great-great-grandchildren—that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children [v.6]) about the things of God, what He has taught them, what He has done. If your father doesn't acknowledge God's hand in his life, perhaps you can help your children see it… and through them, help your father see it. But, even if your father doesn't acknowledge God, you are building a "story" of God's faithfulness to tell to your children and grandchildren, that you may be the faithful patriarch you are called to be.

To honor means to "place a high value on" something. If you place a high value on your father's wisdom and experience, you are doing what God commands. Follow the example of 1 Peter 3:1-2:

Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

It's not a long walk to apply the same principle to honoring parents:

Sons and daughters, likewise, be honoring to your own mothers and fathers, that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word, may be won by the conduct of their children, when they observe your humility accompanied by fear.

As I often tell my children, it is "not your concern" how someone responds to your actions… if your actions are obedient and righteous. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18). The same applies to your efforts to love your wife, train up your children, love the brethren… and honor your parents. As much as depends on you means reading only the exhortations to you:

• "Honor your father and your mother…,"
• "Husbands, love your wives…,"
• "Fathers, do not provoke your children…,"
• "Love the Lord your God…,"
• "Impress them on your children…,"
• "I will open my mouth… I will utter dark sayings of old… [and] will not hide them from their children…"

…and not those that pertain to how others should treat you. Focus on your responsibilities and leave the rest to God.

Remember that God gave you your father. And He commands you to honor him. It's YOU He's after!

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Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Leading The Way at 8/18/2006 06:38:00 AM

[Leading The Way] The Family Meal Table is "Pure Nostalgia?"

2006-08-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

The kids won't behave. We work late. We sold our dining room table. Who wants to cook these days?

And the kids don't want to eat with mom and dad anyway.

Those are just a few of the reasons parents are showing a declining interest in dining with their children.

--John A. Blankenship, Point Blank, The Register-Herald

Blankenship goes on to lament that the afternoon family meal went out "with black-and-white television." One poor misguided mom admits, "It's too much bother to cook a meal nowadays. It's much easier to hit the drive-thru on the way home than it is to plan an entire meal and cook it. There just isn't enough time."

Praise God that He is restoring the family, turning the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, so that Mr. Blankenship's assessment that "the happy family meal is pure nostalgia" happily misses the mark.

There are many flaws to the arguments for "why" Blankenship believes it to be nostalgia... and even larger gaps in his interviewee selection skills. (Sorry, John, but a couple of colleagues and teenagers hanging out at the mall do not a random sample make.)

For example, he's got it all figured out why families don't eat dinner together anymore. "Reason: Too many parents work. It takes two incomes just to keep up with the mortgage payments." Question: Which came first: the mortgage, or a family economy with both parents working?

And he's a bit quick to sign the family meal table's death certificate. "The American family meal—by which most people mean the evening meal—has been dead for so long that chances for reviving it seem remote at best." Ken and Devon Carpenter, Colin and Nancy Campbell and Doug and Beall Phillips would beg to differ. In fact, their family meal tables are not only continuing to thrive, but are breathing life into dining rooms across the country with their godly example and heritage.

I pray Mr. Blankenship's colleague (at the Register-Herald?) will pick up a copy of "The Family Meal Table" and that she and her husband will reclaim their family; redeeming the evening meal, shaking off past defeat, and raise up a godly generation that will be "the family of [her] dreams."

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Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Leading The Way at 8/11/2006 02:51:00 PM

[Leading The Way] Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

2006-08-01T05:47:00.000-07:00

Today, I was reading Oswald Chambers' daily devotional from "My Utmost for His Highest," and it gives a picture not only of how to actually apply his collection's title, but also how I am to be toward my children.

Chambers instructs us not to see Jesus primarily as Teacher because what He teaches is unattainable. If we look at Him as only "fixing" our ignorance by downloading the way we should act, and then go try to do it in our own strength, we will fail. We must realize that the teaching is intended to lead us to despair of our own ability to perform it. Our sin-rent bodies are incapable of pleasing God, even if we know how to. When we try to do it on our own, we will inevitably break on some obstacle. Then, we may come to Him as paupers, empty-handed, and receive strength and ability to perform what He teaches. As Chambers says:

But when I am born again of the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ did not come to teach only: He came to make me what He teaches I should be. The Redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into any man the disposition that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives are based on that disposition.

This is what Jesus rebukes about in Matthew 23:4. He comes to us and reverses the hypocritical attitude of "do as I say, not as I do" and tells us, when it comes to to obeying the scribe and Pharisees (those who "sit in Moses' seat") we should only do as they say and not as as they do. What they "do" is nothing to help.

My pastor has hermeneutical principle (rule for interpreting Scripture) that he names after himself and encourages people to use when reading the Bible. It goes like this: "When you see someone doing something really stupid in the Bible, do not think, 'How could they be so stupid?' Rather, ask yourself the question, 'How am I this stupid?'"

Here is where we should use that principle as fathers.

Jesus told the multitude and his disciples not to act like the scribes and Pharisees. "For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." When training our children, we must not pile burden after burden on them, instructing them to godliness, but doing nothing to help them achieve it. We paint a very ugly picture of our Father in heaven, when we simply download Scripture, precept-upon-precept, "heavy burdens, hard to bear," into our children's heads, admonishing them without nurturing (training) them (Eph. 6:4).

We must not act that way toward them. When we give them instructions, we must also help them do it. This is what training is; showing how to do it. And not in the classic medical way: "watch one, do one, teach one." We need to continue to help until they have so accomplished the task that they begin helping us. That's when we know they don't need our help to accomplish it anymore.

Oh, and by the way, we can't even do that. Again, Jesus is the only Source that can work in us to accomplish this task. And not only do we need to draw from that Source when training our children, but must also point to that Source so they'll know from whence comes our strength.

Only when we trust in Christ alone to help our children trust in Christ alone have we actually trained them to come to Him poor in spirit and give their utmost for His highest!

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Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Leading The Way at 7/21/2006 06:54:00 AM

[Thoughts] Laboring the Extra Mile

2006-07-20T19:31:00.000-07:00

Having only been in Southwest Virginia a short while, I haven't yet learned whom it is they tell jokes about. But, where I come from, it's Aggies (folks who attend, attended, or ever knew anyone they liked who attends or attended Texas A&M University).

An Aggie had just completed his studies and was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. The Texas Highway Department knew a qualified candidate when they saw one, so they hired him immediately. He was tasked with painting the yellow stripe down the middle of the highway.

After three days, his boss called him in and advised him that he was no longer needed. When the Aggie asked why he was being dismissed, the boss answered, "On your first day here, you painted three miles of stripe, which is good. On your second day, you painted two miles—not as good, but still acceptable. Today, you only painted one mile. This is too far below our standards."

The Aggie accepted the explanation and left. On his way out the door, he said, "Well, alright, but I want you to know, it wasn't my fault. The paint can kept getting farther and farther away."

We hear jokes like this and think, "Work Smarter Not Harder." But, is that was God says? Because we're worldly, when God says to Adam in Genesis 3:17, "Cursed is the ground for your sake," we hear, "work is a curse." We forget that man was created to till the earth (Gen. 2:5) and woman was created to help him (Gen. 2:18, 21-22). It wasn't until after the Fall that that work became difficult (Gen. 3:17-19). The tilling is not the curse, it's weeding. We now have an extra task.

But, we're not off the hook there, either. God tells Adam that he is still to bring forth his food from the ground. It is by taking dominion that we are even allowed to eat! Paul said, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." (2 Thess. 3:10). This is not a new commandment, but a reiteration of the dominion mandate God gave to Adam. If we don't weed the garden, it quickly turns into jungle, producing very little, if any, that will provide nourishment. Jesus said, "in the world you will have tribulation." (John 16:33) Escaping the tribulation that comes with work, means avoiding the work. And going hungry.

God created man in His image; on that we can agree. But even here, we tend to think in ontological terms: because God is a choosing being, we can choose what socks to wear; because God is an emotive being, we can laugh. What we miss is that the exercise of dominion is a reflection of His image. Work reflects the image of God. The first view we have of God is of Him working. "In the beginning, God created…" He's working. To truly reflect his image, we must go out, take the dirt and turn it into something.

And that's how we are to love our jobs, to see the short line between our work and God. Indeed, this is the proper way to enjoy anything, when we can recognize the short walk it is to God. The shorter the walk, the more enjoyment. And work is a very short walk.

Satan has sold us a lie that work is a curse—that everybody's working for the weekend. Everybody's working so they can take a couple of days to do something they really enjoy. Nobody enjoys work; it's just a means to an end. And that end is to stop working… to retire. Which is why you see so many "mature" Americans "running out the clock," traveling across the country in their RVs.

Ironically, though we hate our jobs, we're concerned about them being "outsourced" and sent overseas. Which is even more ironic when you consider that most of our brethren in the evangelical church have already outsourced themselves from their parenting job when they send their children off to day care, pre-school or the local government school. I received an email from my friend, Greg de Mocskonyi, in which he coined what he believes is a new term:

Educational/Parental Outsourcing. It's gotta ring to it, huh? I came up with it listening to some bloke complaining about his job going overseas—being outsourced—and how hard it is to pay for daycare on one paycheck—his wife's. I asked if his wife minded her job being outsourced. He was puzzled. He said her clerical job (Why do wives always seem to have clerical jobs?) was fine and was safe from outsourcing. I said, "Not her employment, her parenting job. You've outsourced her role as a mother. It's parental outsourcing." The conversation pretty much ended there. I don't think he was nearly as amused at my coinage of a new term as I was.

As we discussed on a recent Basement Tape titled All in the Family, we're afraid to actually parent our children because it's hard. That's why we send them off to the "experts" (the government, the Sunday School teacher, the youth group leader), so that we can avoid the work. But, when we do that, we miss out on the blessing of building the Kingdom. God has ordained that we teach our children who God is, what He has done and what He requires of them. And he has given us the means in Deuteronomy 6:

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.(vv 6-7)

Pretty straightforward, huh?
Likewise, he gives clear instructions on how to work in Colossians 3:

Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. (vv 22-24)

So, as Jonathan Daugherty says, "quit complaining about the thorns and thistles." Roll up your sleeves, get your fingernails dirty, go the extra mile, work the extra hour; go out and take some dirt and turn it into stuff. That's worship. That's reflecting the image of God. Then you can truly enter into your Master's rest with peace.

[Originally published in Every Thought Captive, Vol. 9, Issue 5; Sept/Oct. 2005]

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Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Thoughts at 7/20/2006 07:13:00 PM

[Poetry] Rich

2006-06-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

by Edgar Guest

Who has a troop of romping youth
  About his parlor floor,
Who nightly hears a round of cheers,
  When he is at the door,
Who is attacked on every side
  By eager little hands
That reach to tug his grizzled mug,
  The wealth of earth commands.

Who knows the joys of girls and boys,
  His lads and lassies, too,
Who's pounced upon and bounced upon
  When his day's work is through,
Whose trousers know the gentle tug
  Of some glad little tot,
The baby of his crew of love,
  Is wealthier than a lot.

Oh, be he poor and sore distressed
  And weary with the fight,
If with a whoop his healthy troop
  Run, welcoming at night,
And kisses greet him at the end
  Of all his toiling grim,
With what is best in life he's blest
  And rich men envy him.

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Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Poetry at 6/29/2006 06:41:00 AM

[Thoughts] Family Meal Table

2006-06-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

When RCJR and I had the privilege of visiting in the Phillips family home last September, I witnessed a mealtime like I'd never experienced before. Doug sat at the head of a table of 21 people: the Phillips family, the Vision Forum interns, other VF staff, a couple of young ladies who helped with the meal, and us. From this seat of honor (with children on his left and his right), Doug lead a two-hour discussion wherein he led us through a history lesson, a recap of the day's activities, a status report of upcoming events, a Bible quiz (with prizes), poetry-reading, and prayer. I know I learned a great deal during the two evening meals I enjoyed there. His children get this every day!

Which led me on a study of the family meal table... My studies aren't complete, but I have found some resources that have helped a great deal. And I've written about them on my other blog, Leading the Way, which focuses on a father's role to lead his family in every way.

[Read more...]

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Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Thoughts at 6/16/2006 04:45:00 AM

Entertaining Angels

2006-06-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. —Hebrews 13:2

But, you know, sometimes those who entertain strangers are the angels.

We had the unique (to us; though I'm sure it's common for them) pleasure of being guests in the home of the Ken Carpenter Family outside Nashville over the weekend. We're not strangers, but we were last month before the Generations conference. (I did have the pleasure of briefly meeting Ken and his lovely family at the 2005 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival where my boss was a judge, and Ken won the Jubilee Award for best documentary for "A Journey Home.")

What made the visit unique for us, as I told the Carpenters, is that this was the BEST vacation we've ever had! We were greeted with the utmost in hospitality: delicious food, comfortable beds and rooms, great conversation, delightful children (including ours, there were a dozen) and warm Christian charity, love and camaraderie. This family knows how to have fun together and it shows!

Mrs. C, preparing the family meal	Mr. C, preparing the family meal table
Carpenter and Howard clans together again

We also got to enjoy the fellowship of our friend, Peter Serven, handsome and talented webmaster for The Serven Clan; and our new friends, Graham and Joel Fisher, who won the 2004 "Best of Festival" Jubilee Award at the SAICFF for their delightful 14-minute short, "The Art of Play."

Peter, REALLY up close and personal!

Heartthrobs of the two-year-old set,
Joel and Graham (or is it Graham and Joel?) Fisher

How encouraging to have my sons see how godly young men conduct themselves, preparing themselves to be husbands and fathers! Peter, Joel and Graham, you're each an inspiration to me!

[Scrapbook] Like Arrows in the Hands of a Warrior...

2006-06-08T05:53:00.000-07:00

Psalm 127:3-4
A Song of Ascents.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Boys protect girls!

A righteous man regards his animals

4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.

Sweet Little Mama

Joyful maiden

5 Happy is the man...

I shall call her... Femi-Me

...who has his quiver full of them.

Psalm 128:1-3
A Song of Ascents.

1 Blessed is every one who fears the LORD,
         Who walks in His ways.
2 When you eat the labor of your hands,
         You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
         In the very heart of your house,

Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.

Your children like olive plants
All around your table.

"Gimme that camera!"

"Da- Da- DA!"

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Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Scrapbook at 6/06/2006 04:34:00 AM

...And Then There Were None (Killing Time, Part 2)

2006-06-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood." — Genesis 9:1-4

The world around us calls animals people, insisting that they have "rights." It then calls people animals, without purpose, accidental parasites on the planet. But God says, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." (Gen. 1:26) The United States Constitution affirms "that all men are ... endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men." In fact, it was right after God gave Noah permission to have a cook-out (see Gen. 9:1-4 above) that He established the authority of "the State."

From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man.

Whoever sheds man's blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man."

It is precisely because He created man in His image that we have the "unalienable Right" to life! But the beasts of the field, not so...

Warning: Following the wisdom of Herrick Kimball, I'll tell you that the following story is not for the squeamish and/or sissified (though it's written by someone who mostly fits that description). If you want the basic story without graphic descriptions, just read the captions.

As planned, I show up with the boys to help "process" chickens at the house of my friend, the Chicken Farmer.

process /prä'-ses/ v.t. to turn live chickens into dinners.
SYN. butcher or slaughter poultry (ex. chickens)

To be...

The boys and I arrive around 11:15 and find Farmer at the killing shed (a VERY old log building), with all the macabre apparatus assembled to do the deed: killing cones, a cleaver, a gutting knife, pots of scalding water, a trash bag for feathers, heads and feet, and one for the carcasses. Oh! and a hose, poised ready to clean dirt and dropping off the chickens, and blood off of everything else.

Farmer hasn't always had chickens... in fact this is his first flock of meat birds. And the only processing he's done before today was a reaction to an aggressive rooster. Rooster, it seems, was chasing the children and otherwise hastening his arrival at the dinner table. So Farmer called a fellow-agrarian adept in the processing arts and in true med school fashion, Farmer got to "watch one, do one, teach one." And the first one he did on his own was Chicken #1 today.

Apparently these particular chickens are eight-weekers and should be processed when they're eight weeks old. Though God's plans are never thwarted, things don't always go according to our plans: Other priorities prevented Farmer from processing these birds at the 8-week mark. During week ten, the temperatures heated up and he lost more birds than we currently have in the line up. The survivors (who soon won't be) are now ten weeks old, and a couple of them aren't looking like they've got much fight left.

"You ready?" asked Farmer.

"Sure," I said, hoping I sounded convincing.

Head-first into the cone goes Chicken #1.

[Note: Here comes the descriptive part... to squeamish, sissified suburban folks, click here] to skip it.

Still with me? Good... to read the graphic parts, you'll have to highlight all of the following...

Click here -->As he's putting Chicken #1 into the cone, Farmer asks me to hold the feet.

"Now, she doesn't want to be in here, especially once I slit her throat, so you'll have to be ready to hold her in."

"OK." I say, more resolutely than I feel.

Then, as Herrick describes, sure enough, Farmer pulls the Chicken's head down and cuts through the artery. The object is to keep the brain connected to the nervous system so it will continue to tell the heart to keep pumping blood to that artery which will now spill it on the ground. Meanwhile, Chicken is squawking only a little bit... apparently from the initial pain of the cut, but then only as she tries to fight her way out of the cone.

When it looks like she's finally done bleeding out and appears to be dead, my job is to pull her out of the cone and chop her head off with a cleaver. (No, Herrick, I didn't do it the manly way and pull the heads off with my bare hands.) Sometimes, Chicken isn't quite done dying and begins flapping furiously, making me hold on more securely. If I put her down, she'd be running around "like a chicken with her head cut off"—literally.

Still holding Chicken's feet, I dip her in scalding water—about 160-170°F—for about 30-40 seconds, which loosens the feathers. I then tie her feet to a rope and begin plucking all the feathers on her legs and breast—we've decided to process them down to only breasts and leg quarters.

Once the feathers are removed, I take the cleaver again and chop the legs off at the end of the drumstick, and then give the bird to Farmer who cuts through the skin and removes the breast "filets" and cuts off the leq quarters. A thorough rinse and that bird goes into a plastic zipper bag and into the fridge. The rest of the carcass is discarded into a separate trash bag. We put the bags in the fridge for three days and then the meat is eaten or frozen.

The first two take about an hour, but then we start to get into a groove.<-- and drag to here.

Ten hours later we finally bag the last one.

...or not to be...

There is no question - homegrown chicken is the best!

[Beards] Procrastinated Pogonotrophic Progress Post

2006-06-02T23:35:00.000-07:00

I suppose it was inevitable. Thinking back on it, I can see with 20/20 hindsight that it was a bad idea. I mean how much can one actually say about beards? Enough for an entire topic devoted to it? Not so much. My last entry in this category was in late 2004. Sheesh!

This will probably be my last post in this category, so I thought you might like to see (maybe you couldn't care less, but then... would you still be reading, if that were the case?) some pictures in the progression.

Speaking of procrastination, we have been slackers in the Getting Film Developed Department. We have a bag of rolls that need to be developed and every once in awhile, we'll grab a couple to throw in with a new roll we're developing. Today was one of those days.

Our little church community recently celebrated the baptism of a covenant child by enjoying a feast hosted by the baby's parents. There was food and drink and dancing and food and music and food and touch football and tire-swinging and food and laughter and conversation and food and dancing and joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. WHERE?! Down in m-- uh... sorry. Where was I? Oh yeah, the feast! And we got some great pictures of parents and children and babies and grandparents dancing. (Watch Every Thought Captive for the highlights.) Today we ran those two rolls to get developed and grabbed a couple from the bag to go with them.

One of the rolls was from Christmas 2002! We only had two children then, and ds#2 (now age 6) was wearing the pajamas that dd#1 (age 2) is wearing tonight. Ds#2 had curly hair back then (it didn't come back as curly after his first "real" haircut, around his third birthday). The other roll was from about the time of my last "Beard" blog entry.

So, here are a couple of pictures of the early stages of my beard:

Homeschool Dad's Breakfast - October, 2004

(BTW, the gentleman to my left in this pic, is my friend Wade Myers, one of the speakers at Vision Forum's Entrepreneurial Bootcamp. Wade is worth the price of admission!)

Feasting with our good friends after visiting Saint Peter

Celebrating the news that dd#1 was going to be a big sister

All of the above are during the VERY early stages of my beardedness. For a current view, this was recently posted by our friends, the Serven Clan, on their blog:

Enrapt in coversation with the Serven "children" — the four oldest are adults!

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Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Beards at 6/02/2006 10:49:00 PM

Killing Time

2006-05-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

When we moved to Abingdon, it was a step toward "the country." Abingdon itself is pretty rural compared to our upbringing in the suburbs of Dallas and then subsequent life in the suburbs of Austin. (Heck, Bristol was rural compared to those places!) We're on a whopping three-quarter acres of hillside, but we're hoping to make the best of it. We've planted a garden with several lettuce types, carrots (not doing so well in this rocky soil), peas, corn, potatoes and pumpkin. We're running late, but still hope to get some green beans and squash in around the corn in the "three sisters" method. We also have blueberry and cherry bushes, and two cherry trees. We won't get blueberries until year three, but we're hoping for cherries this year.

I never had "farm" animals growing up; only a plethora of furry house-pets: cats, a dog or two, and a rabbit once. But since we moved here, I've wanted to get some animals, starting with something small like chickens, then moving "up" to goats, pigs, and cows, etc. Even though my boss is famous in our circles for being the World's Worst Chicken Farmer, several other folks in our community have made a pretty good go of it. One friend, in fact, has begun selling us his farm-fresh free-ish-range eggs. They're delicious!

I mentioned in my last post that we have been reading Herrick Kimball's excellent book, Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian. We've really been enjoying Mr. Kimball's delightful delivery of his exploits into a simple, separate and deliberate life of agrarianism. Though reading, you're first response might be, "It can't always be all that he cracks it up to be," you still come away with a sense that, "Yeah, in most ways, I think he's on to something." Until...

Chapter 17 has the ominous title, "Pulling Chicken Heads Off." Mr. Kimball, assuming you didn't read the chapter title very well, graciously includes a warning here:

WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions that may appall and offend some non-agrarian readers.

After reading "graphic descriptions" of Killing, Scalding, Plucking, Head Removing and Gutting, I realized even more clearly how non-agrarian (read: "squeamish, sissified suburban boy") I am. But, still, this is the direction I believe God would have us move, so I'm willing to take on graphic descriptions and take them captive to the obedience of Christ.

Now, though, we're really going to get the opportunity to get our hands dirty... literally!

I spoke with our egg supplier yesterday and he was lamenting the fact that heat had claimed 10 of his birds, and that we wasn't able to take off work to "process" them. "Need some help?" I offered. "Oh, man... we were just talking last night about how we were going to need some help processing them and were wondering who we could ask. That would be great!"

So, this Saturday, the Howards are going to his house to help process their chickens. It'll be a great day of taking dominion over the earth—and getting disgustingly messy. What more could a boy ask for? :)

Stay tuned... I expect to have my own "Pulling Chicken Heads Off" chapter very soon!

[Reading] Book: Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian

2006-05-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian by Herrick Kimball
Whizbang Books, 2006

I know you've heard of this book from others, but then maybe you haven't. This is a great book!

I recently brought this delightful treasure home and then it quickly disappeared as Amy began savoring it, little by little. I managed to get some time to read more today. I'm only on the fourth chapter (Amy's way further along and regularly whets my appetite with, "Wait 'til you get the part where he talks about...!") and I just had to share one of these little nuggets of truth that many of us miss unless we're paying attention. And even then, we might still miss it because we're Moderns:

Moderns can't help but do the math: two hours of work to prepare five packages of frozen strawberries... "Wow! Those are some expensive berries you got there! Don't you agrarians realize it's cheaper and easier to just go buy frozen fruit at the supermarket?"

That is the natural conclusion of people who live their lives believing that money is the only—or, at least, the most important—standard of value.

Agrarians, on the other hand, see this sort of thing very differently. We see value in the doing of planting, tending, harvesting, processing, and putting up our own food. We see value in knowing where our food comes from. We see value in the assurance that this food is pure and safe. We see value in the incredibly superior flavor of homegrown and fresh-picked food. We see value in the satisfaction that comes with being able to take care of our own food needs and not being dependent on the industrial providers, even if it is just in part. This is freedom. This is part of what makes The Good Life good.

Preach it, Brother! Pick up this book and read Mr. Kimball's blog. He has some great things to say. We need to hear it!

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Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Reading at 5/26/2006 08:04:00 PM

[Thoughts] Pre-, Inter-, and Post-Conference Hobnobbing

2006-05-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Well, another Highlands Study Center conference is behind us. I received lots of positive feedback. The title of the conference was Generations: Giving Honor to Whom Honor is Due. The speakers were top-notch and delivered powerful lectures to our crowd of over 700 people (in less than 200 families, mind you).

One of the wonderful aspects of my job is that I get to interact with godly men and families who are impacting the lives of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands or millions of lives. Of course, working for R. C. Sproul Jr. is a joy and a privilege. He is a wonderful father, a devoted husband, a caring friend and shining example of Christ's grace to men. His father, R. C. Sproul—whom I've listened to and read for years, I've had the privilege of meeting only once before, after a long trip to RCJR's house. We didn't converse much on that occasion, but this one was different. He is a gracious, godly man, who loves his son and his grandchildren with abandon. (He also loves the Steelers, but I'm willing to overlook that—indeed, it's a Sproul family trait!) Doug Phillips, founder of Vision Forum, is a man among men. How wonderful it was to have Beall and all the children with him this time! And Doug's father, Howard Phillips, is a powerhouse who understands the major challenges of our day!

Rowan and I arrived at the airport Thursday in time to see the younger Phillips family, along with Peter Bradrick, Doug's personal assistant, and Nathaniel Darnell, Vision Forum's new "video guy," exit the plane—they had half the seats on the plane. We loaded up the 15-passenger van—with Nathaniel and all of their luggage; everyone else rode in two other rental cars! ;)

After depositing them all at the hotel and making sure they found a place to have dinner, Rowan and I headed home for a quick dinner ourselves. Later that evening, I had the pleasure of a "being a fly on the wall" during a conversation between all four of our speakers on the topic of "Reformation and Revolution." It will be our next Basement Tape that will soon go out to all of our monthly supporters, who, like me, will also get to be a "fly on the wall."

In the conversation after the conversation, Doug asked RCJR to share some of his memories of great and godly men who had shared the family meal table with them when he was growing up. The ensuing conversation revealed a common thread between these two families in the way they had families meals. Both of the "second generation" families continue the tradition of a father teaching his children at the family meal table, with differences of style and content, of course. Stay tuned for a post in the near future regarding the family meal table...

Talking with RC Sr. and Howard was a treat. Both are gracious, humble men, and I count it a privilege to know them. I had a chance to talk with Howard during lunch on Saturday about the work my friend, Robert, and I had done founding the Constitution Party of Williamson County while we were still in Texas. When I asked what we could do locally to get a party going, he recruited me to run for office... almost. ;) Lunch took longer than expected, and Howard offered to skip his lunch and head back to the conference in order to keep us on track. As we continued to wait, I took him up on his offer, wrapping his meal up to go when it came. He ate it (cold) between the next two breaks with no complaint. I'm deeply grateful for his sacrifice for the sake of our conferees. (He also gave me some catering advice that I'll use next year!)

Another meal, after the conference, at the Sprouls' Jr. home was another delight. A delicious dinner cooked by Matt Clement (a local favorite chef!) and extraordinary hospitality by the Williams family of Kennesaw, GA, set the stage for engaging conversation and warm fellowship with the Phillips and Sproul families. While Rowan was playing outside with the Sproul and Phillips children, Amy and I had the pleasure of relaxed conversation at our table with Doug & Beall, Howard, Laurence & Angela, and Dakota & Samantha. The family meal table came up again here and the ensuing discussion helped Amy and me solidify some plans of our own to change the way we do things.

Later, we all roared at the banter and antics of RC Sr. and Howard as they "one-upped" one another naming Boston Braves players (the Braves left Boston after the 1952 season!). These two made quick friends and we all laughed at their stories from days gone by.

One of the highlights of the conference was the beautiful singing of Genevan Foundation, made up of the three oldest Serven children and our own Jonathon Landell (who also played piano and was our roving photographer). This talented quartet led us all in a Psalm Sing Saturday morning, with a beautiful rendition of Psalm 98.

We were touched by a request after worship on Sunday. Mrs. Serven approached me and said her children had discussed it and they wanted to get to know us better, but only had two small hotel rooms to offer as a place to fellowship. So, the sixteen of us spread out at one long table at Cracker Barrel and had a wonderful time! After that, we welcomed them into our somewhat messy (from a week of conference preparation) home. What a joy they were! Our only regret is that Marcus (the patriarch of the clan) was unable to be with them. However, a great treat, especially for Rowan, was when Rebecca, Nathan and Elizabeth let him join in as tenor on singing "Genevan Song," which was featured on the SAICFF 2005 Jubilee Award-winning documentary, "A Journey Home," directed/produced by Ken Carpenter at Franklin Springs Family Media. Rowan just beamed! Thanks, guys!

Speaking of the Carpenters... Amy had the pleasure of getting to know Ken and his lovely wife, Devon, at the Franklin Springs booth during the conference. During their conversation, they worked out to spend some time with us on Monday before they headed home. We met them at Java J's for coffees and danishes and pleasant conversation, while the children enjoyed the board games provided. Then it was back to our house for lunch. Again, a delightful visit was had by all!

This is a conference our family will never forget! And we can't wait to see all of our new friends again.

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Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Thoughts at 5/10/2006 01:41:00 PM

[Advice] Build a Log Home and Be Free!

2006-04-20T20:06:00.000-07:00

To fail to plan is to plan to fail. — Some Wise Fellow Somewhere

I have a plan... well, a vision, actually... OK, for now, it's still a bit of a dream. But, I'm in the process of planning out my vision to make my dream a reality.

Though I was born in one of the wealthiest, most free countries ever founded in the history of the world, by the time I came along, most of that freedom had been lost, stolen, given away and otherwise squandered. We have given up our freedom for security; we've given it up for convenience; we've let it slip away piecemeal through various tax, building and zoning codes; we've squandered our freedom on the altar of personal peace and affluence. I've heard that in California, you can actually take out a 90-year mortgage! In order to have the house we want now, we're actually willing to make ourselves slaves for the rest of our lives, paying a multiplier just a little less than our interest rate times the sales price just for the privilege of living in it now (On a 100-year mortgage at 7.5% would cost 7.5 times the loan amount). But is it "living," when we're owned by the house we own. We actually enslave our children with our endless debt, just so we can have what we want when we want it.

Enter Skip Ellsworth, fourth-generation log home builder. Forty years ago, having grown up building log homes with his father, Skip started teaching others how to build log homes the right way. The "right way" to build a log home and Skip's philosophy of life have inspired tens of thousands of people to build their own homes at a fraction of the cost of other stick-and-mortar site-built homes. Skip has now passed the baton on to his son who, every month or so, invites about forty would-be log home builders to Skip's 7000-sq. ft house (Maurice Minifield's home in Northern Exposure) outside Seattle to teach them Skip's way of building log homes.

Now, Ellsworth and his co-teacher, Steve, know alot about building log homes; not just Skip's way, but how others have done it, how the kit home folks typically do theirs and why you want to avoid them like the plague, what makes a "log" home and when it becomes something else. They have a bias toward actual logs (as opposed to perfectly round 'dowels' made from trees, or so-called 'D-logs') because trees have an outer protective ring which naturally helps fight insect infestation; making a dowel or a 'D' out of them removes that protection, as does rough-hewing them into square beams. Additionally, logs have a God-given beauty to them that is destroyed when you make them all look the same: they taper from one end to the other, they bow, they have knots and branches, they 'check' over time and have a strong, rugged beauty to them that you lose when they're no longer logs. Once you start on the path toward log-home building (that is, building with actual logs), you find that there are several building techniques that have been used over the years, and a couple more that are used by kit home makers.

All of us who had Lincoln Logs™ growing up know about the 'chinked' method of building with logs: cut a notch on the top and bottom of the log, near the end, so that each layer's notches fit into the next layer. In this method, all of the 'load' is on the corners, which have been weakened by the notching. Any variation of the 'chink' to make the logs fit together will weaken the logs, right at the point that they're supposed to be holding up the weight of the house.

Kit builders use various 'cuts' into the logs to make them sit on top of each other, each of which contributes to splitting the logs over time (sometimes it's a very short time). Even though the weight is more evenly distributed down the length of the log, the weight from above pressing on the 'cut' below causes the logs to split. What you want is a full intact log on each layer, that is in full contact with the log below it to allow for equal weight distribution throughout. The only way to get logs to sit perfectly on logs is to 'cope' the top log so that it perfectly fits the log below it. This is called the Scandinavian Chinkless method. It's a very meticulous process if done right. Which is why kit home makers and even custom log home builders aren't likely to use this method.

So, the strongest wood-on-wood home is a Scandy. And to have it done right, you're going to have to do it yourself. But there's still a problem: rot. When wood gets wet and stays wet, it rots and disintegrates. Wood is of course very porous and 'wicks' water like the wick of an oil lamp pulls the oil up to be burned by the flame. When two pieces of wood are in constant contact with each other, water will be wicked to points of contact and stay there. Go to an outdoor lumber yard in the summertime when there hasn't been rain in a couple of weeks. As you lift dry boards, you'll see water between them. This water, over time, will rot both pieces of wood, so even though you have a stronger, more evenly-distributed home with a Scandinavian Chinkless home, you still have to figure out a way to keep the moisture out (or let it escape) so that your walls don't fall down from rot on the inside.

Ellsworth and Steve are all about energy conservation. "It's just that it's our energy we want to conserve." So their goal is to teach you the best, easiest, cheapest, fastest, lowest-maintenance, longest-lasting log home building methods and techniques. The object is to get a CO (certificate of occupancy) as quickly as possible so that you can move in to your debt-free home.

Now, they're also about quality construction, which is why they teach the butt-and-pass method. Using this method, you can build with "green" logs and your house won't shrink and it won't fall down. It doesn't settle. You don't have to use telescoping plumbing fixtures and leave big gaps behind the headers of your doors and windows, because the logs aren't moving, even though they'll shrink toward their own center over the first year and continue to expand and contract with climate changes. This is also one of the quicker ways to build.

Wallace Falls Lodge was built by Log Home Builders Association members. All of the wall logs were put up in two weeks by Tim and his daughter (who was nine years old, at the time!) during Spring Break. Then Tim put the entire roof on by himself in another ten days. You can see from the pictures that the place is beautiful, and well-constructed!

One of the great things about the LHBA is you only pay for the initial class. After that, the meetings are free for members to share plans, critique scale models; network for land deals, free mobile homes to live in while you build, sign up to help someone who's ready to build in order to learn hands-on; swap tools, etc. All the meetings are currently hosted at Skip's house in Washington, so there is the airfare, rental car and lodging aspect if you're not local. But Steve mentioned that they were hoping someone would build something big enough on the east coast (because there are LOTS of members on this side of the country, too) so that we could have some of those members meetings in our neck of the woods. I'm game!! ;)

But even if you can't make it to the members meetings, they have a "member's only" forum where Steve and Ellsworth and other "Certified Log Home Builders" share ideas, deals, etc... the only thing you can't get in the forum is face-to-face with a scale model. It's a great place to ask a question, to share your successes and get encouragement.

Do you want to be free? Build your own low-maintenance log home, debt-free. They recommend you take the class at least two years before you start building... the longer the lead time, the cheaper it's going to be; and the less frustrated you're going to be.

If you go to the class, drop me a line (especially if you're in the Mid-Atlantic, more specifically, Southern Appalachia). I'd be glad to compare notes, critique your scale model and swing a sledge to help you make your dream a reality.

Two tips when you go to class: (a) take some slippers to class (Steve says: "There are two kinds of people who take this class. Those who wear slippers, and those who wish they had."); and (b) don't forget your lunch—they have a large fridge and all the standard kitchen appliances, which you're welcome to use.

FREEDOM!!! —William Wallace

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Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Advice at 4/19/2006 08:41:00 PM

[Poetry] How Did You Die?

2006-04-14T18:37:00.001-07:00

by Edmund Cooke

Did you tackle that trouble that came your way
With a resolute heart and cheerful?
Or hide your face from the light of day
With a craven soul and fearful?
Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it.
And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts,
But only how did you take it?

You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what's that?
Come up with a smiling face.
It's nothing against you to fall down flat,
But to lie there-that's a disgrace.
The harder you're thrown, why the higher you bounce;
Be proud of your blackened eye!
It isn't the fact that you're licked that counts;
It's how did you fight and why?

And though you be done to death, what then?
If you battled the best you could;
If you played your part in the world of men,
Why, the Critic will call it good.
Death comes with a crawl, or comes with a pounce,
And whether he's slow or spry,
It isn't the fact that you're dead that counts,
But only, how did you die?

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Poetry at 4/13/2006 04:35:00 PM

[Poetry] The Telephone

2006-04-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

by Robert Frost

"When I was just as far as I could walk
From here today,
There was an hour
All still
When leaning with my head against a flower
I heard you talk.
Don't say I didn't, for I heard you say—
You spoke from that flower on the windowsill—
Do you remember what it was you said?"

"First tell me what it was you thought you heard."

"Having found the flower and driven a bee away,
I leaned my head,
And holding by the stalk,
I listened and I thought I caught the word—
What was it? Did you call me by my name?
Or did you say—
Someone said 'Come'—I heard it as I bowed."

"I may have thought as much, but not aloud."

"Well, so I came."

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Poetry at 4/12/2006 02:00:00 PM

[Poetry] It Couldn't Be Done

2006-04-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

by Edgar Guest

Somebody said it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing and he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one has ever done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing and he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Poetry at 4/06/2006 04:45:00 PM

[Poetry] If

2006-04-06T16:11:00.000-07:00

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream-and not make dreams your master;
If you can think-and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings-nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And-which is more-you'll be a Man, my son!

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Poetry at 4/05/2006 07:20:00 AM

[Poetry] Blueberries

2006-04-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

by Robert Frost

"YOU ought to have seen what I saw on my way
To the village, through Mortenson's pasture to-day:
Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb,
Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum
In the cavernous pail of the first one to come!
And all ripe together, not some of them green
And some of them ripe! You ought to have seen!"

"I don't know what part of the pasture you mean."

"You know where they cut off the woods-let me see-
It was two years ago-or no!-can it be
No longer than that?-and the following fall
The fire ran and burned it all up but the wall."

"Why, there hasn't been time for the bushes to grow.
That's always the way with the blueberries, though:
There may not have been the ghost of a sign
Of them anywhere under the shade of the pine,
But get the pine out of the way, you may burn
The pasture all over until not a fern
Or grass-blade is left, not to mention a stick,
And presto, they're up all around you as thick
And hard to explain as a conjuror's trick."

"It must be on charcoal they fatten their fruit.
I taste in them sometimes the flavour of soot.
And after all really they're ebony skinned:
The blue's but a mist from the breath of the wind,
A tarnish that goes at a touch of the hand,
And less than the tan with which pickers are tanned."

"Does Mortenson know what he has, do you think?"

"He may and not care and so leave the chewink
To gather them for him-you know what he is.
He won't make the fact that they're rightfully his
An excuse for keeping us other folk out."

"I wonder you didn't see Loren about."

"The best of it was that I did. Do you know,
I was just getting through what the field had to show
And over the wall and into the road,
When who should come by, with a democrat-load
Of all the young chattering Lorens alive,
But Loren, the fatherly, out for a drive."

"He saw you, then? What did he do? Did he frown?"
"He just kept nodding his head up and down.
You know how politely he always goes by.
But he thought a big thought-I could tell by his eye-
Which being expressed, might be this in effect:
'I have left those there berries, I shrewdly suspect,
To ripen too long. I am greatly to blame.'"

"He's a thriftier person than some I could name."

"He seems to be thrifty; and hasn't he need,
With the mouths of all those young Lorens to feed?
He has brought them all up on wild berries, they say,
Like birds. They store a great many away.
They eat them the year round, and those they don't eat
They sell in the store and buy shoes for their feet."

"Who cares what they say? It's a nice way to live,
Just taking what Nature is willing to give,
Not forcing her hand with harrow and plow."

"I wish you had seen his perpetual bow-
And the air of the youngsters! Not one of them turned,
And they looked so solemn-absurdly concerned."

"I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
I met them one day and each had a flower
Stuck into his berries as fresh as a shower;
Some strange kind-they told me it hadn't a name."

"I've told you how once not long after we came,
I almost provoked poor Loren to mirth
By going to him of all people on earth
To ask if he knew any fruit to be had
For the picking. The rascal, he said he'd be glad
To tell if he knew. But the year had been bad.
There had been some berries-but those were all gone.
He didn't say where they had been. He went on:
'I'm sure-I'm sure'-as polite as could be.
He spoke to his wife in the door, 'Let me see,
Mame, we don't know any good berrying place?'
It was all he could do to keep a straight face.

"If he thinks all the fruit that grows wild is for him,
He'll find he's mistaken. See here, for a whim,
We'll pick in the Mortensons' pasture this year.
We'll go in the morning, that is, if it's clear,
And the sun shines out warm: the vines must be wet.
It's so long since I picked I almost forget
How we used to pick berries: we took one look round,
Then sank out of sight like trolls underground,
And saw nothing more of each other, or heard,
Unless when you said I was keeping a bird
Away from its nest, and I said it was you.
'Well, one of us is.' For complaining it flew
Around and around us. And then for a while
We picked, till I feared you had wandered a mile,
And I thought I had lost you. I lifted a shout
Too loud for the distance you were, it turned out,
For when you made answer, your voice was as low
As talking-you stood up beside me, you know."

"We sha'n't have the place to ourselves to enjoy-
Not likely, when all the young Lorens deploy.
They'll be there to-morrow, or even to-night.
They won't be too friendly-they may be polite-
To people they look on as having no right
To pick where they're picking. But we won't complain.
You ought to have seen how it looked in the rain,
The fruit mixed with water in layers of leaves,
Like two kinds of jewels, a vision for thieves."

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Poetry at 4/03/2006 04:26:00 PM

National Poetry Month

2006-04-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Well, some bureaucrat somewhere decided that April is National Poetry Month. Not sure what that means we're all supposed to do: read poetry? write poetry? speak only in quatrains? iambic pentameter? do haikus count?

So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to post some of my favorite poems (I already had a Poetry category, so it seemed only logical).

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

[Scrapbook] Boyz in the Wood

2006-03-25T18:43:00.000-08:00

In January, we moved to what we affectionately call, the "Treehouse," just outside of Abingdon. It's a small homestead, barely an acre on the side of a hill—but we LOVE it! The views are wonderful.

Views from the Treehouse

We've already planted carrots (see my bride's blog for details), two cherry trees, two cherry bushes and two blueberry bushes. By the light of the moon, we'll be planting lettuce and peas in our kitchen garden. When the snow stops, we'll really get going with the rest of the gardens: vegetable and herb.

Until it stops snowing...

In the meantime, when the weather is nice, the boys and I have started taking hikes in the woods up to the top of "our" hill.

Boyz in hoods in the woods

God has blessed us tremendously with this house and we look forward to many years here, Lord willing.

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Scrapbook at 3/25/2006 06:11:00 PM

New Blog: Amy Joe Jim Bob

2006-03-23T08:38:00.000-08:00

My precious bride has begun blogging, as a journal of what God is teaching her, in the hope that God might use it to encourage others in the spirit of Titus 2.

I invite you to read her blog and let her know your thoughts:
Amy Joe Jim Bob

Blessings,
Jim Bob

Announcing: Charlotte Virginia Howard

2005-07-01T18:12:00.000-07:00

Charlotte Virginia Howard was born at 1:25PM EDT, July 1, 2005.

She weighed in at 8lbs 8oz, and is 21.5 in. long.

Mom and daughter are both recovering nicely. Big sister, Faith, doesn't know what to think. Big brothers Rowan and Tommy are excited, but haven't met her yet. They'll meet her after the Ice Cream Social tonight.

[Thoughts] In praise of Mr. Phillips

2005-04-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

Things didn't start off so well, but they soon got better...

Two Thursdays ago, DJ, a friend from Saint Peter, picked me up on the way to retrieve Doug Phillips from the airport along with his daughter, Jubilee, and his personal assistant, Peter. Just before we got to the exit for the airport, the transmission went out on the car. We coasted to a stop on the side of the road... and, well... stopped.

Doug's plane was due to land in 20 minutes and here we were, three miles from the airport, stranded. A quick call to RC and a vehicle and driver were dispatched from Mendota, 45 minutes away. Another call and a tow truck would be there within the hour. After waiting 50 minutes, another car and driver were dispatched from the Tennessee side of Bristol—15 minutes away, I was told. Twenty minutes later, I had a short phone conversation with Peter assuring him our ride was "five minutes away." Ten minutes later, Driver A pulls up. I hop out and meet him while DJ waits for Driver B and the tow truck.

We finally arrive at the airport an hour and 10 minutes after the plane landed. Doug and Company are waiting for us with smiles and quickly load up. We're finally on the way to the Sprouls. (As we pass DJ, we see that indeed, Driver B and the tow truck have arrived.)

Now, I find it a rare pleasure to get to work with RC. This is the great encourager who writes those convicting articles for dads (for me, that is!) in Homeschooling Today; the author who wrote the book that challenges me daily in leading my family, When You Rise Up; the teacher who helps me understand the battle between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent; the pundit who helped me see the validity of not voting for the lesser of two evils; the agrarian who is the reason I'm considering getting chickens this summer.

He's also my pastor; the baptiser of my children, who presented them to the congregation as three of the "stars" or "grains of sand" promised to Abram; my neighbor; my friend... and my boss. That God would bless me with the job of serving this man is a great testimony to His grace and I thank Him for the privilege, while begging for the wisdom to serve him well.

But, here I am, riding in a van with Doug Phillips, the great encourager who first exhorted me to lead my family well; the preacher of the Gospel who first challenged me to believe the Bible that children are a blessing, a reward from God; the promoter of Beautiful Girlhood and Courageous Boyhood who offers tools for training boys for manhood and girls for womanhood; a pundit who helped me see the validity of not voting for the lesser of two evils; the standard-bearer of honor and loyalty who has taught me the meaning of honoring those in authority over me.

Thinking Peter and I would be working out the details of Doug's visit while Doug worked on his presentations or relaxed from the flight and the wait at the airport, I didn't expect to have much talk time with Doug. In actuality, he spoke more than anyone. After interrogating our driver, young Jonathan Kiser, Doug turned his attentions to me.

"So, are you here doing work for RC or did you just decide this is place for your family?"

"I decided this was the place for my family."

"Oh! And have you found work here?"

"Yes. I work for RC."

"Oh! You're the one we've been praying for!" Doug exclaimed.

Wow! I hadn't thought about the fact that I was an answer to the prayers of so many people who read ETC and support the work of the Highlands Study Center... including Doug Phillips! That was inspiring and humbling all at the same time.

A little later in our journey, Doug stated that he wished to share something that was unprecedented and unsolicited and asked my permission to share it. What was I going to say? Out with it, man! RC wrote a squib after Vision Forum's Christian Film Festival last year about that fact that Doug's parents had given him the wrong name; that they should have named him Barnabus ("The Encourager"). I'm here to tell you... it's not just to his peers that this is true. He spent the next 15 minutes encouraging me, exhorting me, mentoring me.

I was privileged to spend several other occasions with Mr. "Please call me Doug" Phillips during his 4-day visit to the Highlands Study Center: lunch, brief chats in the speakers' lounge, driving him to his hotel, dinner with the Sprouls and Windhams, third Sunday picnic, breakfast, and driving him to his flight on Monday. He was always considerate, always encouraging, always respectful, always honoring.

I can't wait until next year when he comes back with his father, Howard Phillips, to speak at our annual conference again. He'll join the intrepid Dr. R. C. Sproul Jr., and his father, Dr. R. C. Sproul. If you want to know more about next year's conference (including registering for it), visit the Highlands Study Center website.

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Thoughts at 4/30/2005 12:07:00 PM

[Poetry] Visitor From The Past

2004-12-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

by Thelen Paulk

I had a dream the other night I didn't understand.
A figure walking through the mist with a flintlock in his hand.
His clothes were torn and dirty, as he stood there by my bed.
He took off his three cornered hat and speaking low, he said:

We fought a revolution, to secure our liberty.
We wrote the Constitution, as a shield from tyranny.
For future generations, this legacy we gave,
In this, the land of the free and the home of the brave.

You buy permits to travel, and permits to own a gun.
Permits to start a business, or to build a place for one.
On land that you believe you own, you pay a yearly rent.
Although you have no voice in choosing, how the money's spent.

Your children must attend a school that doesn't educate.
Your Christian values can't be taught, according to the state.
You read about the current news in a regulated press.
You pay a tax you do not owe, to please the foreign I.R.S.

Your money is no longer made of silver, or of gold.
You trade your wealth for paper, so your lives can be controlled.
You pay for crimes that make our Nation turn from God in shame.
You've taken Satan's number, as you've traded in your name.

You've given government control, to those who do you harm,
So they can padlock churches, and steal the family farm.
And keep our country deep in debt, put men of God in jail.
Harass your fellow countrymen, while corrupted courts prevail.

Your public servants don't uphold the solemn oath they've sworn.
They defy and rape the nation, and leave it's fabric tattered, torn.
Your leaders ship artillery and guns to foreign shores.
And send your sons to slaughter, fighting other people's wars.

Can you regain the freedom for which we fought and died?
Or don't you have the courage, or the faith to stand with pride?
Are there no more values for which you'll fight to save?
Or do you wish your children to live in fear as a slave?

People of the Republic arise and take a stand!
Defend the Constitution, the Supreme Law of the Land!
Preserve our Great Republic, and God Given Right!
And pray to God, to keep the torch of Freedom burning
bright!

As I awoke he vanished, in the mist from whence he came.
His words were true, we are not Free, we have ourselves to blame.
For even now as tyrants trample each God Given Right,
We only watch and tremble, too afraid to stand and fight.

If he stood by your bedside, in a dream, while you're asleep,
And wonders what remains of our Rights he fought so hard to keep,
What would be your answer, if he called out from the grave;
IS THIS STILL THE LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE?

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Poetry at 12/13/2004 01:19:31 PM

[Advice] Using 'topics' or 'categories' in Blogger

2004-12-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

So you want to have Topics/Categories in Blogger...

It's easy... once you've done all the hard stuff.

[UPDATE: As with most things, there are more than one way to do Topics/Categories... See the comments for this post for more options. Thanks, Everyone! —JBH]

As has been posted elsewhere on Blogger, the way to go about this is to have a separate blog set up for each Topic you wish to have. For example, you'll notice that I have 7 topics (when this entry was written) listed on the left sidebar. If you hover over the links, you'll see that each is actually its own blog ('Home' is the main blog).

Home: http://billyjoejimbob.blogspot.com
Advice: http://billyjoejimbob-advice.blogspot.com
Beards: http://billyjoejimbob-beards.blogspot.com
etc...

The way they're "posted" to the main blog is by setting a BlogSend Address on each topic (use the same one for each topic). This "catcher" email account must have the ability to filter incoming emails and forward them out to a different email address. Your email filter will then post your blog topic entries back to the main blog.

So, whenever you want to set up a new topic, you simply click on the "GET YOUR OWN BLOG" link at the top right of the screen, then follow the instructions below and your new topic will show up on your main blog.

Set up "Main" Blog

The first thing you want to do is set up your main blog. Blogger will help you with all of that. I suggest setting up your topics with the same template and description as your main blog, so you'll want to make note of those things for the future setup of the topics.

Special settings for the main blog. Two things need to be set up for the main blog to "catch" the categories.

The first is on the blog itself. Go to Settings and then click on Email. You'll need to identify a Mail-to-Blogger Address and check the Publish box. Remember the address you set up; you'll need it for the second thing. This is the email address you can use to 'send' a blog entry to your blog for publish.

Next, you'll need to decide on an email box where you can route your topics back to main. I use Google's Gmail, which has great filtering abilities. You'll need to set up a filter that will take your blog topics and forward them to the "Mail-to-Blogger Address" you set up on your main blog. You'll have to experiment with the filter options to make sure only your blog entries are forwarded to the main blog.

(Note: When using Gmail, I also "Skip the Inbox" and give it a label of "Blog.")

Creating a "Topic" Blog

Now, you're ready to create a topic. Simply create a new blog. Give it a name (don't include the main blog's name) and a URL (I recommend that you include the main blog's name).

Settings. Some things will be the same as the main blog, some things will be different.

Things that are the same: Description and Template. (We'll actually modify the Template in a future step, but you want the look and feel to be the same.)

Things that are NOT the same:

Basic - Add your Blog to our listing?: No
Comments - Comments: Hide
Site Feed - Publish Site Feed: No
Email - BlogSend Address: yourFilteringInbox@yourMailDomain.com
Email - Mail-to-Blogger Address: blank

Now, if this is all you do, you can post entries to your Topic Blog and they'll show up on your main blog, eventually. I say, 'eventually,' because Blogger doesn't appear to post Mail-to-Blogger entries immediately. So, there will be a lag time where your item will be on your topic blog, but not the main.

[UPDATE - 9 June 2006: I'm not sure if Blogger has been reading through this post, but they seem to have fixed the lag time, too. Thanks, Blogger! —JBH]

Main v. Topic Templates

As I said, you'll want the Templates to look the "same," but there are some modifications you'll probably want to make to each to make the overall blog experience more seamless for your readers.

(For the purposes of these examples, I'll use "Billy Joe Jim Bob" as the title of the main blog.)

Title bar. The default page title—that is, the title that's displayed on your browser title bar—is the name of the blog. In this case, the name of the blog is simply your topic name, with no mention of the main blog at all. To remedy this, you'll need to make the following edit in your template.

Change:

<title><$BlogPageTitle$></title>

To:

<title>Billy Joe Jim Bob - <$BlogPageTitle$></title>

Page Title. Next, you'll want to modify the Title that appears on the page. Search your template for '$BlogTitle' and you should find something that looks like this.

<h1 id="blog-title">

<MainOrArchivePage><a href="<$BlogURL$">"></MainOrArchivePage>

<$BlogTitle$>

<MainOrArchivePage></a></MainOrArchivePage>

</h1>

(Aside. [The following is not required for posting topics, but is useful in understanding how the page will work. —JBH] The <MainOrArchivePage> tags tell Blogger to only show this part on the main page or an archive page for the blog. Basically this means it will not draw this portion of the code on the "detail" pages—the 'permalink' pages. In the above case, what that means is that the BlogTitle is not a link on the detail pages, but IS on the main and archive pages. I didn't like that "functionality" so I removed those tags from this section altogether.)

So, here's how that might look, showing the main blog title along with the topic. Note that I've chosen to make the main blog title be a link to the main blog.

Change:

<h1 id="blog-title">

<MainOrArchivePage><a href="<$BlogURL$">"></MainOrArchivePage>

<$BlogTitle$>

<MainOrArchivePage></a></MainOrArchivePage>

</h1>

To:

<h1 id="blog-title">

<a href="http://billyjoejimbob.blogspot.com">Billy Joe Jim Bob</a> - <a href="<$BlogURL$>"><$BlogTitle$></a>

</h1>

Comments. Since you've hidden comments, you'll want to point your readers back to the main blog to leave comments on the post there. I haven't yet come up with an algorithm for pointing directly to the comments form of the given entry on the main blog, so I've simply added the following after the section that begins with 'posted by...'

<MainOrArchivePage>

<a class="comment-link" href="http://billyjoejimbob.blogspot.com">Comment from the Home page</a>

</MainOrArchivePage>

Topics in sidebar. One last thing you'll probably want to do is add your topics to the template. Look for a line that looks like this:

Under this line—placement at your discretion—you'll add something that looks like this:

<h2 class="sidebar-title">Topics</h2>

<ul class="archive-list">

<li><a href="http://billyjoejimbob.blogspot.com"> Home</a></li>

<li><a href="http://billyjoejimbob-advice.blogspot.com"> Advice</a></li>

<li><a href="http://billyjoejimbob-beards.blogspot.com"> Beards</a></li>

<li><a href="http://billyjoejimbob-poetry.blogspot.com"> Poetry</a></li>

<li><a href="http://billyjoejimbob-reading.blogspot.com"> Reading</a></li>

<li><a href="http://billyjoejimbob-scrapbook.blogspot.com"> Scrapbook</a></li>

<li><a href="http://billyjoejimbob-squib.blogspot.com"> Thoughts</a></li>

</ul>

(Caveat. Whenever you add a new topic, you'll need to update this section on all of your topics and the main and republish all of them.)

One more thing. One problem I've noticed with this method—at least when using Gmail—is that each post messes up the formatting on the main blog and you have to edit the post there to fix it. Unfortunately, Blogger sends <head> and <body> tags with the post to the BlogSend email address, and, unfortunately, Gmail just passes it on. What happens is that the HTML for the blog page then has two of each of these and it causes the Blogger NavBar to get hosed.

To fix it, edit the post in the main blog and remove those tags. Publish and it'll be fixed.

[UPDATE - 5 June 2006 Blogger has removed the head and body tags when posting to the BlogSend email address. Thanks, Blogger!! —JBH]

Summary

Having topics is a nice-to-have that Blogger doesn't offer. This is one way to make it do it. It's not a trivial process for the blogger, but it does offer some benefits to the reader.

Addenda and Errata. If you come up with some better processes to make this flow more smoothly, please let me know and I'll modify this entry on my blog. Likewise, if something is unclear or doesn't work the way I stated here, please let me know and I'll fix it.

As it has some value to many using this service, I will place a high-profile link on my blog so that it will always be easily accessible and edits will be easy to find.

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Advice at 12/7/2004 08:22:02 AM

[Advice] The Twelve Days of Christmas -- Start a Holiday Tradition

2004-12-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

Mike Noel has a great suggestion for you men out there looking to bless your wives. As he says, "it's not rocket science," but I'll let him share it with you in his own words.

Here's an excerpt:

"As Christmas approaches each year I look forward to continuing a tradition that I started a few years ago. On each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas Day I give my wife a small gift. While this idea was inspired by the song I don't actually give the gifts that the song suggests. She might like the five golden rings each year but I doubt she'd have much use for eight maids a milking, or the swans, or the geese, and so on. Instead, I give her small gifts that are sometimes sentimental, sometimes useful, and sometimes just funny."

Keeping reading...

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Advice at 12/6/2004 08:58:26 AM

[Poetry] The Patriarch

2004-12-02T20:45:00.000-08:00

by Doug Phillips

More noble than the valiant deeds of shining knights of yore,
More powerful
than terran plights that make the rich man poor,
More kingly than an earthly throne or a lion with his pride,
Is he whose babes sleep well at night, sure Daddy will provide.

There is a spirit in this land, and Jezebel's her name.
She's calling you to leave your home for power, fun, and fame,
She wants your wife, your children, too; she'll never compromise,
Until your house is torn in two by listening to her lies.

But though a hundred thousand million men may fall prey to her lures,
And wives en masse leave home in search of more fulfilling chores,
Though preachers praise and friends embrace her pagan plan of death,
Stand strong and quit you like a man with every blessed breath.

Stand strong and rise, O man of God to meet this noble call.
The battle is not new you see, it's been here since the Fall.
Your wife is your helpmeet, my friend, not another man's,
So care for her and keep her far from Mistress Jezebel's plans.

Protect, provide, and give to her your undivided life,
This is the dear one of your youth, your precious bride, your wife.
Rally to those tiny ones who trust you for their care,
A lifetime spent discipling them is a lifetime pure and rare.

For when they put their hand in yours and know a daddy's love,
You're showing them a picture of the Father from above.
So look not to worldly goals of gain or for your liberty.
Look only into their sweet eyes to find your ministry.

Devote your heart and sacrifice and make your manly mark,
There is none so great as he who finds his call as PATRIARCH!

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Poetry at 12/2/2004 07:33:38 PM

[Poetry] The Glove and the Lions

2004-12-02T15:37:00.000-08:00

by James Leigh Hunt

King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport,
And one day, as his lions fought, sat looking on the court.
The nobles filled the benches, with the ladies in their pride,
And 'mongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he sighed:
And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show,
Valor and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below.

Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws;
They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their paws;
With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled on one another,
Till all the pit with sand and mane was in a thunderous smother;
The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air;
Said Francis then, "Faith, gentlemen, we're better here than there."

De Lorge's love o'er heard the King, a beauteous lively dame,
With smiling lips and sharp bright eyes, which always seemed the same;
She thought, The Count my lover is brave as brave can be;
He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me;
King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine;
I'll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine.

She dropped her glove, to prove his love, then looked at him and smiled;
He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild:
The leap was quick, return was quick, he has regained his place,
Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's face.
"By Heaven," said Francis, "rightly done!" and he rose from where he sat;
"No love," quoth he, "but vanity, sets love a task like that."

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Poetry at 12/2/2004 01:58:54 PM

[Poetry] Sonnet 116

2004-12-02T15:20:00.000-08:00

by William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

(also prominent in the Emma Thompson screenplay version of "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen)

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Poetry at 12/2/2004 01:17:22 PM

[Thoughts] Thanksgiving Season

2004-11-10T13:52:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine recently related in an email his family's plan for "The Holidays" this year:

We really look forward to Thanksgiving, especially this year. This year we have decided to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day very differently.

What's it all about?
We have for years been perplexed to how to celebrate Christmas faithfully, deliberately, simply and wholeheartedly. Due to the common mixing together of religious traditions with secular traditions and rabid commercialism, we often felt more comfortable minimizing the seasonal religious traditions in an effort not to trivialize the name of Christ. We also did not want ourselves and our children to be immersed in selfish commercialism.

No matter what direction we would consider, we were left with questions such as:
Is the big deal about having a tree living deliberately?
How do we keep peace with grandparents and their traditions?
Do we really believe that it is better to give than to receive, and what's the point anyway?
Isn't Christmas Roman Catholic (Christ-Mass)?
Can we afford it?
What's wrong with having a good time?
What are we teaching the children and declaring about Christ before the world?
Well, I think we found what we were looking for. It all finally came together one evening after having the [pastor's family] over for supper. We had discussed the topic lightly, but just enough to get the wheels spinning again. I had declared that I thought Thanksgiving was the best holiday and that you could never be too thankful. We discussed the differences between families, with some celebrating the birth of Christ to some not celebrating at all. [Pastor] noted that they wait until New Year's Day to unwrapped presents with grandparents. When they left it fell together instantly.

Thanksgiving Season
We are going to celebrate Thanksgiving from November 23rd to January 1st. We will start the celebration with our traditional Thanksgiving feast with the inclusion of many prayers, hymns and songs of thanks, stories of Thanksgiving past, reading of the Word and more feasting throughout the day. This year we will be hosting both my parents, my brother, [my wife]'s parents and siblings and possibly an aunt.

The weekend following Thanksgiving day, we will obtain a 'Thanksgiving Tree.' This is not just a cop-out and relabeling of the Christmas tree. Each day leading up to Christmas Day, we will put ornaments on the Thanksgiving Tree that symbolize things that we are thankful for. This should fit nicely with all the family pictures we receive this time of year. Once we receive a picture we will create a ornament frame for it and hang it on the tree out of thanksgiving for that family in out lives.

No santas or elves. Only things deliberate and ascetically ornamenting.

Christmas... I mean... Thanksgiving Celebration
Then on Christmas day, we highlight our Thanksgiving by remembering the One we are most thankful for, the Gift of the eternal Son. We will spend the whole day celebrating Christ in worship, music, feasting, dancing and stories. No presents under the tree (other than those we plan to give to others) and no common 'reindeer games.' Our church does have a Christmas eve worship service that we will also participate in and we will likely go to some local Christmas choir concerts, but no parades and such.

We will really seek to elevate our celebration to a level of meaningful gratitude and deliberate participation. Even though our celebration will find its pinnacle on Christmas day, we will still call this celebration Thanksgiving throughout.

New Year's Party
And as the year comes to an end, we will summarize and recollect the events of the past year that we are thankful for and party once again with feasting on New Year's day as we petition our Lord for sanctification, contentment and greater faithfulness in the year ahead. We also will gather with family and open a few gifts from one another (maybe a slight compromise, but gift giving is good and we hope to learn how to give more faithfully also). [I read recently that we ought to be more thoughtful with our gift giving and give representations of ourselves in our gift because God the Father gave to us one that represents Him. Doug Wilson in My Life for Yours, I believe.]

We are also tossing out our Christmas stockings tradition and replacing with a new cornucopias tradition. It is still under development at the moment, but it has a promising start.

I only wish I lived close enough to this brother to partake in his celebration!

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Thoughts at 11/10/2004 01:21:50 PM

Where we were for two weekends in October...

2004-10-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

Apologia
by Dakota Tremayne

"The first time my family and I attended worship at St. Peter, we were overwhelmed with the depth of reverence of the congregation. So much happened within that short period of time that I could not grasp it all; yet I could not get enough. Confession, absolution, congregational prayers, singing... Laurence even preached from the Bible without using polls, pop psychology, or stupid jokes (you know, the court jester never could lead true worship). After my soul was tossed, turned, purged, filled, then moved, I knelt at the Lord's Table to eat and drink of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus. Space is far too limited for me to describe my awe. At several moments my wife wept. What happened in there? she asked me as we left. That was worship, my dear. Worship."

Keep reading...

[JBH: I met Dakota (and his wife) during our visit to St. Peter (we went "to Bristol, VA," but it had nothing to do with Bristol—we went to be a part of this church for a week). Upon returning home, I found this article by him, which comes close to describing our experience as a part of this body. Dakota's a great guy, a faithful brother and a fast friend. If you visit, tell him I said, "Hi."]

[Thoughts] From the... uh, mouths... of babes...

2004-10-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

We've always taught our children that obedience is only obedience if it's "done the first time, every time with a happy heart."

Having recently read the article, "The Beauty of a Child Who Sits Still" in Family Reformation, my wife and I have been trying to put into practice some of the principles and lessons recommended in the article.

After a recent "training session," my wife was coaching our 4-yo son, who was standing in his doorway, on waiting in his room—sitting still and quiet—at the end of rest period until she came to get him. Well, he went back in... but with great wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Going in, my bride calmly asked him, "What's man's primary purpose?"

"To gworify God and enjoy him fohever."

"That's right. And how to you glorify God?"

"By Oh! BAYing."

Then Mom prompted, "...with a ____ ?"

To which the little cherub replied, "...a happy fart!"

...and he complied!

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Thoughts at 10/27/2004 05:00:31 PM

[Reading] Article: Celebrations for Beginners

2004-10-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

Celebrations for Beginners by Laurence Windham
"Practicum" from Every Thought Captive, Vol. 4, Issue 6

I read this on Saturday as we were preparing to have our first Sabbath feast the next evening with our good friends from Liberty Hill. God was so gracious to us as we prepared for this time of feasting and celebration of the His goodness of bringing this precious family of seven (going on eight) into our lives a year and a half ago.

We had learned of feasting during our visit to Saint Peter Presbyterian Church. One of the families (well, actually four, but I'm focusing on this one event) invited us over for dinner during our stay. Our six (mother-in-law included) joined their five and another mom and her two blessings (dad was travelling on business) for a delightful evening of feasting, fellowshipping, bible reading, hymn singing, desserting (did I just make that up?) and spiritual warfare!

Charles, our host, told us of the significance of feasting here on earth, where we are but aliens. Our citizenship is in heaven, where we will be the honored Bride at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. And while what and how we celebrate here is only a shadow of what is to come, we engage the battle against the enemy of our souls when we act "on earth as it is in heaven."

We hemmed in our feasting by giving thanks before and after the meal. Reading "Evening Praise" from Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotionals, Charles lead us in thanking God for the meal we had just completed. Then every man, woman and child raised his glass of wine (red, to symbolize the blood of the One Whose feast we're preparing for) and toasted our Host, our hosts and one another.

As we were planning our feast, I called Charles and asked him the name of the book (as I'd forgotten at that point) and he stated that there was also a "Lord's Day Evening" prayer that I might be interested in reciting for our meal which was to take place on the Sabbath. This one I was not able to find online...

But, God provided it.

As we were leaving Lord's Day worship Sunday morning, my wife noticed that on the cover of our congregation's announcements bulletin, was the "Lord's Day Evening" prayer from Valley of Vision. Thanks, God!

Having read Laurence's article and seeing that he mentioned an article his wife had read in a "recent" Credenda/Agenda, I sought to find that article. Not only did I find "The Sabbath Wedding" by Douglas Jones, but I printed it and read it several times before our feast and plan to put many of its suggestions into practice in our home.

Inspired by both articles, we set about to make this a memorable feast! Our home was not set up for feasting. The "dining room," in conjunction with the front "living room" is being used as a library/homeschool/play room; we "dine" at the kitchen table. For our feast, we moved our sitting area (two lounge chairs, table and lamp) into the kitchen; and the kitchen table (3'x5' rectangle with two windsors and two benches) into the library. We put one leaf into our "homeschooling table" and placed the oval and rectangle tables end-to-end, covering them with tablecloths. We set out candles, a center-piece of pumpkins, gourds and silk autumn leaves, and used our wedding china and crystal (all five place settings; the children had plastic plates [note to self: finish out china and crystal patterns]). I also picked up a "Bagpipe Classics" CD at Wal-Mart, which played low on repeat all evening.

Also in that issue of Credenda/Agenda were several quotations regarding the Sabbath. The poem by George Herbert, which was last on the page, grabbed me and we openned our evening as I read it to those gathered in the house. Only then was everyone invited to the table.

What a blessed time we enjoyed with one another and our Lord! We can't wait for the next feast we may be privileged to host! In fact, we're leaving the furniture the way it is...

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Reading at 10/26/2004 09:54:02 AM

[Scrapbook] Fall Foliage

2004-10-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

Stopping by the roadside near Mt. Rogers, on the way to Damascus

Boys rolling down a hillside through autumn leaves

Beautiful rolling hills of a homestead in Bristol, VA

Morning clouds sequestered on Boone Lake, TN

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Scrapbook at 10/25/2004 02:08:51 PM

[Thoughts] Great question!

2004-10-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

My family recently had the pleasure of spending eight days with the portion of the body of Christ known as St. Peter Presbyterian Church in "Far Southwest" Virginia (that's the proper description, according to Joshua Blackburn). After the Tuesday night bible study, my 7-yo son had been playing with Dr. Sproul's 8-yo son, when I informed him it was time to leave.

My boy went up to Dr. Sproul and asked, "Can I play with your son again?"

"I don't know," came the reply. "Will you spur him on to righteousness?"

"Well, he'd probably spur me on to righteousness. He's older than I am."

I've never asked that question of one of my children's friends. ...but, I will now.

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Thoughts at 10/25/2004 01:20:47 PM

[Beards] I'm growing a beard...

2004-10-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

...and my family likes it, as per this exchange 10 minutes ago with my 7yo son:

My son just brought some things upstairs that Mom had asked him to. As he left, I said, "Thanks. You're a good boy."

To which, he replied, "That deserves a hug," as he returned to my chair for the hug. As he leaned around my chair, I kissed his neck.

"I like your beard," he said, starting down the stairs. "It scratches more."

"Yeah?" I inquired. "Did you have an itch on your neck that needed to be scratched?"

"Yeah!" he said, as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

--
Posted by Jim Bob Howard to Beards at 10/25/2004 10:05:11 AM

When:	March 23-28, 2009
Where:	Camp Marymount, Fairview, TN (book your flight into Nashville)
Who:	Current and future entrepreneurs of all ages and experience. Class size is limited to the first 60 students
What:	Lectures and workshops designed for the Christian entrepreneur and aspiring entrepreneur. Whether you already own your own business, or hope to some day, this training is for you. Forty sessions will cover Sales & Marketing, Human Resources, Accounting & Finance, Technology, Operations, Business Plans, and more, …using Harvard Case Studies taught by top Harvard MBA, Wade Myers.