Killing Two Birds

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my table. I know you have lessons to prepare or do so let us commence. A little while ago I mentioned to Brandon I was “killing two birds with one stone”. To which he responded, “What? What are you talking about?” So I began to explain to him what the saying meant. As we all know it refers to accomplishing two goals at once. It comes from a Chinese philosopher in the 1600’s who was attempting to solve two arguments with a simple solution. The mindset was that trying to kill two birds with a single stone is difficult. Did you know that? Well now you do and you now have the same useless information in your mind that I have in mine, LOL. Well whatever it meant or means this statement has been my motto for the past month or so. I do not know if you know this or not but home schooling takes a lot of your time. It is necessary to become creative and wise with the time that you have. Trying to accomplish two goals with one act sometimes is the best way to go. So I want to share with you some ways I kill two birds with one stone.

If you live in the North Eastern part of the United States, specifically in Pennsylvania in the Philadelphia area you have just experienced two major snow storms back to back. We were hit hard which caused the schools in the area to be closed for four days. During this time some of my friends and family members whose kids go to public school asked if Brandon was having a snow day. My response went something like this, “For real though, a snow day, why? It’s not like he was going out anyway.” Okay it did not go something like that, it was exactly like that. I did not see the need for a snow day, but after not being able to go out at all we were all starting to get a fever, you know, of the cabin variety. What we did was have school that lasted until 12, 12:30 and then went outside and played in the snow. The kids were able to enjoy the snow, I was able to get out, I clocked that time as PE hours and we built a snowman. I say we hit several birds with that one.

I love to exercise! Okay I can’t get through that with a straight face. The truth is I exercise out of necessity. I have learned how important it is health wise and within the last couple of years I’ve lost some weight and I do not plan on gaining it back. Since home schooling I have had difficulty finding time to work out. I could feel my body swelling with each moment. I had to do something. One morning I woke up with an epiphany (you like that word don’t you?). Brandon likes to listen to Holy Hip Hop in the morning and usually I would prefer to listen to something with a little less bumpity bump, like Israel Houghton or Casting Crowns. I decided to spend an hour dancing with the kids while we took turns listening to what we wanted. We laughed as we did crazy dances and I was able to teach Brandon some of my moves, LOL. Also, I got an aerobic workout that left me truly sweaty and again I was able to clock PE hours.

There are times when trying to teach Brandon and Christian at the same time becomes hectic. One minute I am teaching 2nd grade math and next I am sorting colored craft sticks with Christian. There are times however when I can use Brandon to help with Christian’s learning. If he is reading a story for school I’ll have Brandon read aloud to Christian and because Christian loves to be read to he will sit and listen. At other times Bran will help Chris with his letters as a result Bran taught him how to spell his name. The outcome, two birds one stone.

Above are just some ways I get things done during the day. I tell you this because if you are like me you possess two or more of the following personality traits (maybe all, I don’t know): goal oriented, neat, organized, a tendency to be impatient, the need to be in control and inflexible. Now please do not be offended if you find that you exemplify these traits, I am convinced that most home school parents have some or all of these and furthermore if you look past the negative connotations some of these traits are good to have, in balance that is. So if you are like me you find yourself getting frustrated at trying to do everything a certain way at a certain time. And if you have experienced what I have experienced in becoming a “mommy teacher” your plans often get mixed up. Honestly I am convinced that at times God allows things to happen to remind us that we are NOT in control so we can trust Him and only Him. I know that the times I get the idea to meet two or more goals by one act, did not just come to me out of the blue. I am not that smart, but the Holy Spirit is and I know He was guiding me.

As I come to a close I want to leave you with this final thought. As you go about your day, be about the business of due diligence as you work at what needs to be done but allow the Holy Spirit to give you the creativity and the wisdom you need to kill two birds with one stone. Can I encourage you to do something that we do in my church? As March rolls around let’s read a chapter of Proverbs for the entire month. In other words there are 31 chapters and 31 days in March let’s read a chapter a day. Proverbs is full of wisdom, which we need in this adventure.

We have a special drawing today for the book “Hidden Treasures” by Gloria Copeland. She goes over each chapter of Proverbs in a very thought provoking and enlightening way, and this will be a great tool as you spend the month of March searching Proverbs for words of wisdom. Send an email to thekitchentable2010@yahoo.com, with your name, city and state. This offer is for residents of the USA, UK, Australia and Canada. This drawing ends Saturday, February 20th 8:00am ET, USA. The winner will have to supply a mailing address for the book to be shipped directly to them, and you have 5 days to claim your prize after you are notified that you have won. The winner will be announced in Saturday's blog.

Thank you so much for spending time with me today, I pray as Paul prayed that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9-12) in Jesus’ name Amen.

Until next time, happy home schooling.


Hugs and Kisses,
Cheryl


Well girls, have to run, but hope to see you Thursday, March 4th!


Friday's Blog: Rita Scarborough is up "A Woman/A Wife"