Here are some photos from our time traveling as a family in our Airstream from July 2022 to December 2022.
Traveling in an Airstream
Heavy hearted
My heart is heavy with an the news coming out about the Texas school shooting. I have an eleven year old and a nine and six year old so I am broken hearted for the parents of the children who were killed.
When I first read about the shooting, the first thing I did was find and hold my littles and prayed for comfort for the parents involved and that somehow God would draw people to Himself through this horror.
I will not make a political statement only lament the loss and trust God has a plan.
Character, Truth and Empathy
A Rhetoric of Love Volume 2 is a great book. This is a Ted talk by the author, Michael A. Collender. This is worth your time to watch.
Protected: Hope
Should I let my kids read fiction?
If you are like my family and am homeschooling your kids this question will come up. Some parents have told me that they believe fiction has many non-christian elements and themes that could lead their little angel astray. Other parents are more practical and just believe it is a waste of time and non-fiction is a better use of the limited educational time available.
Let’s explore the issue of truth and fiction first. We all want our children to know and love God’s truth, the gospel. Is it true to say that the truth is not found in fiction? I don’t believe so. If we look in the Bible we see fiction used to make the truth better understood and more real to the reader. The Bible has characters like the potter, the sower, the shepherd, and the prodigal son, that could all be called fiction. Other fictional elements like the sheep, bread, seeds, and the Word. We see stories and parables throughout scripture.
Why would God use fiction in the Bible?
The truth is easier to know and understand using an existing relationship with characters and elements such as the ones used in the Bible stories and parables. There is another reason to use fiction…emotion and impact. Fiction can move someone when knowledge sometimes falls short. An example of this is the story(fiction) Nathen, the old testament prophet, uses to convict the heart of king David. David had stolen Uriah’s wife and has Uriah killed when God sends Nathen to him. Nathan could have just confronted David with the facts but God lead Nathen to use a story(fiction) to “kindle David’s anger” before revealing David’s sin. Imagine the impact of that fiction over the facts, David is crushed by his sin. Fiction can move us in an emotional way that just facts or knowledge can’t.
Is fiction a waste of time?
Fiction exercises our imagination, our ability to see what could be. I want to be Christlike, it takes imagination to see myself acting Christlike. I see myself using imagination to see myself reacting well to difficult situations and confrontation. You get the idea, we are called to be something we have not yet become and fiction helps me see in a more real way the person Christ wants me to be. I believe fiction doesn’t have to be a waste of time.
We should be discerning in what fiction we read or allow our children to read but I don’t think we should avoid fiction.
New Home in Lancaster PA
What do we really want?
I am very proud of my kids. All the credit goes to my wife, Stacey.
This is a photo of 4 of our 5 kids.
Our kids have been educated “Classically”. If you are not familiar with the classical education method here is a very short (not exhaustive) explanation.
There are 3 parts of Classical Education (Again, not-exhaustive)
Grammar – This is when we learn facts and terms etc. Think of this as getting to know the names of things. It is hard to get on the same page and communicate if you don’t know what to call the items we want to communicate about.
Dialectic – This is a fancy word for logic or reasoning. This is when we learn how things work together with one another. How elements we learned in the grammar phase interact and work with each other.
Rhetoric – This is where we learn how to express ourselves. We know the name of things (Grammar), we know how they work together (Dialectic), now it is time to have an opinion and be able to communicate what we know or feel about the subject. This is about being articulate and persuasive.
DONE! whew! Now that we have that out of the way.
What do we really want?
I think we should start with the end in mind. What does that look like?
Christian, gracious, smart, discerning, understanding, successful, fun, happy, hardworking, healthy, and wise. Ok, you get the idea.
I love Classical education but while I can make a great case for classical education it by itself won’t get my kids to the end result I really want.
The missing piece is…..
“The Word”
Yep, the Bible, Jesus, God is the key to what I really want and it works in concert with classical education.
Grammar – Knowledge – relationship with Christ (get to know Him)
Dialectic – Understanding – wrestling with what scripture (interpretation and application)
Rhetoric – Wisdom – Good judgment (sound application of knowledge and understanding.
Yes, this is what I really want not only for my kids but for myself.
Santa?
My wife and daughters were out shopping and found this Santa that they couldn’t resist getting. I don’t know what they were thinking.
Bryant House Visit
College visits!
We have been looking at colleges and it is amazing what is available and the amount of money is going to these colleges. We went to Asheville to look around at Montreat College. It is beautifully nestled in the mountains and the facility was incredible. The littles and I enjoyed walking around and taking in all the sites.
