STEP INTO A STRANGER'S SANDALS

The other day, Faith asked if I might do a quick proof read on something she had written.  It was unlike her other papers which are usually in MLA or APA format, so tidy and professional.  I read it through more than once and my response was, "I have no corrections, Faithie.  Only tears."  

I had to share it with you. 

Love, 

 







By FAITH JONES

 

 

 

 

I see only horror.  The feeling of black night envelops me.  Every image I see and voice I hear all carries a threat.  I cannot control myself.  I cannot do anything to stop the destruction that follows in my wake.  All day and night without rest I shout hoarsely, staggering blindly through the slums of Jerusalem.  I’m not from here; I’m from Magdala.  I wish I was back there now.  Here everyone stares at me distastefully, as if I am the devil himself.  I feel as though I will be ripped apart from the inside.  The writhing in my soul is too great for me to bear.  I scream loudly and shrilly, hoping to ease the agonizing reality I find myself in, but nothing changes.  I cannot remember anything different.  Has it always been this way?  Will it always be this way?  Hope is a foreign concept; I know nothing of it.  I collapse to the ground, head reeling and body shaking.  Through the fog in my mind, I see Him.  He is looking at me.  My face must have contorted into something horrific as I cursed, spitting in His direction.  He does not scurry away, as many do.  He does not curse back, like some do.  He does not even frown at me, making me feel like the scum I am.  He smiles.  A smile?  I had almost forgotten what that was.  I begin to tremble and sweat streams down my face.  My breathing becomes hard and I try to stand up, but to no avail.  Instead, the demons throw me down into the mud on the street.  I convulse wildly, crying out with voices that are not my own.  The Man rushes over to me.  His shadow falls across me in the fading light, and sitting up, I strike out at His feet.  He is not intimidated, nor is He disgusted.  His presence overwhelms me, and I suddenly feel calm.  It is an unfamiliar emotion.  Peace.  What is it?  Fear of this Stranger and His power over my demons begins to grip me.  Who is He, that He can still them?  No witch nor authority has ever been able to do that.  I whimper, covering my face in my hands.  Dirty hands.  Hands broken and bleeding from the years of hardship.  Years of pain.  Years of hopelessness.  I feel His warm hands envelop mine, and His kind voice reaches into my darkness.  He says a command, but it’s not directed at me.  Suddenly, with a loud cry and one last convulsion, I collapse in utter exhaustion.  His strong arm catches me before I hit the ground, and I gaze into His loving eyes in wonder.  My demons are gone!  I feel almost human again.  I inhale shakingly, then melt into tears while He hugs me close.  The struggle, the pain, the alienation from my fellow man: gone.  My muddled thoughts clear, and my everlasting headache recedes.  I look up at Him again, amazed at the kind of love that it took to reach out to such a repulsive person as I am.  Why did He even bother?  Who am I that He cares?  Who is He, that He would be willing to reach down into the sin and grime of my life to rescue me?  Whoever He is, I don’t think He’s human.  No human has that kind of amazing love.  No one can love me.  Except Him.

I am not the same woman as I used to be.  My demons have been cast out.  I am clothed.  I am loved.  I am a follower of Jesus.  He was the One that healed me that day, and I have been His disciple ever since.  I can’t help it; I am possessed by a different Spirit now.  I hope Jesus knew what He was getting into that day, because I’m never letting Him go.  I have tried to express my gratitude many times, but all my feeble efforts fall tremendously short.  I simply cannot repay Him.  He rescued me from a life that was hell on earth, and I will live with Him in His kingdom for all eternity.  He will never let me go.  Salvation is truly an amazing thing.  God doesn’t care for riches, or comfort, or popularity.  He cares for me, and others like me.  Sinners in pain.  I have seen Him heal many other demon possessed people.  I don’t think most of them had as many as I did, but when I looked at them, I felt their despair; despair that I remember quite vividly.  Then, as He healed them, I see the same inexpressibly joy that overwhelmed me.  His compassion is unsurpassed.  I can only thank Him, and all I have to give Him is my meager life.  He has it.  I am His forever.

Tonight is very cold.  I am fighting hopelessness once again.  This time, though, it’s not demons.  It’s the religious leaders.  I thought they were supposed to be the righteous ones; the teachers, people who are our example.  Now they have arrested the Son of God, and are illegally trying Him for blasphemy.  I think it’s blasphemy to drag God down to their petty level, to bind Him and make Him play their stupid game.  I wish I could do something, but I have absolutely no influence with the Pharisees.  They still look down their lofty noses when I pass them in the street.  They think they are so holy, but in reality, they are prideful and graceless.  They make up impossible rules and judge us all for breaking them.  They call Jesus a criminal.  Jesus!  He was incredible enough to put aside His heavenly throne to come and save us from the consequences of our sin.  Yet they tied Him up, hauled Him to a courtroom, and delight in scorning Him.  He is patient.  All night long He is taken from one courtroom to another.  They are trying to find some fault in God.  Good luck, Pharisees!  God doesn’t make mistakes.  The sun is finally rising, but the chill hasn’t left my heart.  I pray desperately, hoping that God the Father will think of the best course of action.  There’s a crowd now, running and yelling down the street.  I join them, trying to find out what is happening.  Then I see Him.  He is beaten to a pulp, a twisted crown of thorns pressed into His scalp, and He is carrying a monstrous wooden cross.  A cry of anguish leaves my lips as I fall to my knees.  I call His name, tears streaming down my face.  I don’t know how He possibly could have heard me, but somehow He did.  His bloody face turns in my direction, and He smiles at me.  How can He smile?  I watch helplessly as He is forced up the street towards the hill.  Golgotha, the place where the condemned are crucified and left to die.  The horror of the moment fills my soul.  I can do nothing.  Nothing but follow.  I have followed Him ever since that day He healed me.  I will follow Him now.  My body shakes as I try to suppress my grief.  At the top of the hill, nails are driven into His hands and feet.  Every cry of pain that leaves His lips becomes my own.  I turn away as the cross is hoisted high, displaying the King of the universe stripped and dying.  I lose all track of time as I stare numbly at the scene before me.  His breathing is becoming shallow now.  I inhale painfully, wishing I could take His place.  I wish I could heal Him the way He healed me so long ago.  I wish He wasn’t on that cross.  I jerk in surprise when He cries out.  Then His head drops and I know He is dead.  I bite my lip as a soldier pierces His side with a spear.  The mixture of blood and water that pours from His lung is proof of my suspicion.  The sky is suddenly black, and lightening flashes.  I turn and run, not knowing where I am going.  I don’t care.  My Savior is gone.

 

The spices sting my swollen nostrils as I mix them together.  I have no more tears, only a dry grief that eats up my soul with each passing moment.  I am going to anoint Him.  It’s the least I can do for the One who rescued me.  I pick up the box of ointment and walk out of the house.  The early sun hurts my red, puffy eyes.  I forgot my cloak, but I don’t even think about the chilly morning.  I haven’t considered how I will roll the stone from the tomb when I get there.  My feet trudge slowly towards the tomb, mindlessly stepping over the guards’ bodies.  I suddenly look up in surprise; the stone is moved away!  I turn and stare at the guards, passed out before the open grave.  I peek into the dark cave, then drop my spices in amazement.  Turning, I flee down the hill, not stopping until I reach Jesus’ disciples.  I gasp out that He is gone; the grave is empty!  John and Peter immediately begin running back towards the tomb, and I pursue them.  I finally reach them when they are emerging from the tomb, eyes sad.  Peter is shaking his head in despair, but John looks ecstatic.  John keeps going on and on to Peter about how Jesus promised He would raise from the dead, but Peter wordlessly shuffles down the hill.  I watch them go, and grief overcomes me.  Someone must have stolen His body!  But who?  And where would they have taken it?  The grief in my heart flows down my cheeks.  I look into the grave again, but this time it’s not dark.  I gasp as two angels, clothed in white, ask me why I am weeping.  I turn around and see a Man standing behind me.  He also asks me why I am crying.  I figure He was the gardener, so I ask Him where He took Jesus’ body.  The Man says my name, and the life leaves my legs.  I cry out as I recognize my Savior.  He is alive!

  

 

 
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HAVE AN UNMOTIVATED STUDENT?

A RECENT EMAIL

I LOVE your blog!! I stumbled upon it and spent almost a whole night going through all your posts... I admire and appreciate what you do!

I'm a new homeschool mommy. I'm half way through a kindergarten curriculum with my 5 year old. She turned 5 the end of January and we have been taking it easy realizing that I will not start her in "kindergarten" until this coming school year.

My question is what do I do when she has no motivation? I've been seeing it lately where she knows how to do something but sloppily slouches over and squirms not wanting to do it. Some days shes just fine but other days it's a fight between her and I.

I've tried making her rest in her room because of her attitude but then she just gets away with it and doesn't need to do school. She is young, but what can I do so that next year when we do start officially it will go smoothly? Any help I'd appreciate!
Thank you!
Jenn

 

Thanks so much Jenn. I love talking to moms like you!

You know, determining the cause of the symptoms you are describing can certainly be a little tricky.

From your note I get the sense that the lack of motivation/ obedience seems to be isolated to school time and not a continual testing of authority or unwillingness to obey. Your goal will be to try to determine if that is the case. : )

If you find that your daughter is diligent and obedient in other areas, in other words this is not simply a training issue, then you might want to consider looking into biological reasons for her lack of motivation. Dianne Craft, MA, CNHP has found that:
 

If you find that your unmotivated learner also has difficulty tying her shoes, with letter reversal (after you have spent at least six months teaching letters), riding a bike or skipping you may have a really gifted kid with a little "glitch" in crossing over her midline. This is repairable, but does need a little help.
 

Or if your daughter does her schoolwork perfectly one day, but then another day she can't, she may have something as simple as a dairy allergy.

In other words, while character is certainly an issue to address when that is the problem, we also don't want to ignore what could be a biological issue that could be easily repaired.

Sometimes it may not be biological at all, but simply that our expectations for seat work are a bit high. Like I said, this is a little tricky.

We do want to gently parent as we prayfully focus on the long-term goals of a love for Christ and a love of learning.

 

I asked my good friend Dana to allow me to interview her on this topic of motivation in kindergarten. Dana is an inspiration to me. She loves the Lord and has a real common sense way about her. I pray the Lord will give you clarity and encouragement as Dana shares her experience and advice with us.

MOTIVATION IN KINDERGARTEN-- An Interview

Q. Hello Dana, would you share with us a little about yourself including how many kiddos you are currently homeschooling?A. Sure. I am currently homeschooling 4 children: Three sons ages 14, 12, 11 and our daughter age 8 and we just completed our 7th year of homeschooling.
Q. In your experience, what would you expect from a little one at kindergarten level?

A. Homeschooling a kindergartner doesn't take very much time out of the day and doesn't require much seat work. Five is young to expect too much.
We keep seat work at a minimum as I am firm believer that kindergarten is a time of continued play and exploration.
I would suggest looking at your goals and finding creative ways to meet them. Parent-directed educational play is a good thing. I will often write down goals even for my older kids and then list creative ways to learn the skills.

Q. Dana, I know that you have had some experience with a non-motivated learner. What avenues would you consider for a child who was a difficulty focusing?
A. First, I'd consider what she is eating. Do you see a pattern in her ability to concentrate depending on what she ate the past hour or so? Even a simple glass of juice can send a kid into a tail-spin. Food reaction’s can range from subtle to severe.

Next, I would recommend listening to Dianne Craft. She has a fantastic website about biological behaviors. I had great success with my then 7 year old when he had trouble concentrating. A generally obedient kid, he just couldn't focus.
Per her suggestion, he took daily supplements (vitamins and EFAs) and within a week I saw an improvement in his ability to concentrate.

Dianne is a former homeschool mom who has 25 years' experience teaching children who struggle with learning. She has both a bachelor's and mater's degree in Special Education and is currently serving as HSLDA's special needs consultant.
Finally, I would also consider any character training you may need to tackle before the fall. Do you have a bouncy child who thinks better on the move? Decide when you need her to be still and when it’s no big deal. For example, when you are reading to her, have her sit quietly listening to you read a book or playing with a toy for a time at the table or on the rug. Try puzzles, tangrams or simple board games.

Work on activities that require concentration but don't require sitting still. I often remind my young ones they can stand at the table to do their work, even kneel on a chair as long as they can show me they are listening..


Q. What would you consider your primary goals for the kindergarten year?

A. 1. To investigate God’s creation and develop a sense of wonder of God’s world

2. Follow through on simple chores.

3. Wash and dress themselves (if they don’t already.)

4. Be ‘can do’ kids. Not be afraid to try new things or learn new skills.

5. Self-control, both verbal and physical

6. To play hard. Run, jump, swim, bike ride …

7. Memory work built around play: poetry, scripture, facts.

Q. What do you wish you would have known when you were just beginning the homeschool journey?
A. Everything must begin with seeking God first. Even what seems simple or commonsense, should first be put before the Lord to ask for His guidance, His will.

There are seasons of intense academic learning and seasons of not.

Mama must take care of herself. Eat healthy, sleep, and get regular exercise. God does not ask us to die on the homeschooling hill. I don’t want to just survive I want to thrive and that can only happen if I take time to take care of myself.

Ask your husband for his opinions and thoughts even if he isn’t involved on the day to day decision making or grind of homeschooling. I am still amazed at my husband’s wisdom when I think I see the whole picture but he has another take.


Q. What are your favorite resources for this age?

A. All About Spelling, A Reason for Writing, small dry erase white board, art supplies, puzzles, music learning cds (memory work put to music). Math-U-See, and a great booklist like Ambleside.


Thank you so much Dana. You can visit Dana at her blog: The Sunny Side of the Room



For those of you who have kindergartners this year, to follow are some additional posts we have published related to this age:

Peace and Growth in Kindergarten
Planning for Kindergarten
Starting the Homeschool Journey




May you be blessed!

Healing and Hope for Struggling Learners

As parents, it is our desire to give our children the best start possible- in every area. I know that is certainly true for my long time friend, Terri Hall. So when Terri began to see that one of her children had real learning difficulties, she wondered what was wrong and searched for answers.

Many of her daughter's symptoms pointed to Dyslexia, but in Terri's experience, she found the difficulties her daughter was experiencing were inconsistent and not truly in line with the Dyslexia after all. Terri prayed and searched and finally the Lord showed her a way to help her struggling learner.

I asked her to share her story with us in the hope that it might be a help to you or to someone you know.

Blessings to you!




HEALING AND HOPE FOR STRUGGLING LEARNERS

By Terri Hall







We knew something was wrong with our 9 year old daughter, Jenna, when her younger sister could read better than she could, but my husband and I had no idea why or how to help her. It wasn't until she was 11 years old, and in a homeschool co-op with other peers, that we realized how much her delays affected her view of herself and her ability to interact with others.

As homeschool moms, we have the ability to shelter our children from negative peer influences, bullying and the like, but I hadn't realized how even positive peer influences wound the heart of struggling learners. Jenna knew she was behind and couldn't read like her friends. She would retreat to Mom whenever she grew uncomfortable with her limitations. It was one of only a few coping mechanisms she had for the internal struggles that ensued.

I knew I had to do something, anything, to help her overcome her learning challenges. We suspected Dyslexia when the usual switching of her B's and D's lingered. Jenna would skip words, start reading a word she couldn't decode and fill in the wrong word with one that started with similar letters. She complained of headaches when she did her academics. Keeping her on task and getting her schoolwork done everyday began to strain our relationship. And usually the day ended in tears.

I had no idea it would be such a challenge for a homeschooler to get help. Even tried and true homeschool sources couldn't offer any resources that we could afford. As with many homeschoolers, we have both a large family (8 children) and a single income. So we searched and searched, bet couldn't seem to find any way for her to be tested or evaluated to see if she truly had Dyslexia or something else. I was also concerned that even with a Dyslexia diagnosis, that would not help us to address or fix the problem for her.

My Mom suggested reading and trying some of the things in the book Gift of Dyslexia, which we did. We found that when we tried one of the remedies it made her seriously sick to her stomach and so dizzy that she couldn't even walk. So we were told to try an alternative method in a companion book Gift of Learning, but we saw no marked progress. We continued to search...

After trying a developmental pediatrician through our insurance we were told she had ADD and should be put on Ritalin. We knew this was a wrong diagnosis. Jenna's issues had nothing to do with an inability to stay on task, and everything to do with her inability to read at grade level.

We felt like we were back at square one with no real options to help Jenna overcome her challenges. We were at our wits end, yet we owed it to Jenna to find something to help her reach her potential.

My frustration came up one day when speaking to a friend and fellow homeschool mom who shared with us that another mutual friend had similar issues with her daughter and that she not only overcame her issues, but advanced to college level work by the age of 16 using the program.

Hope returned. We learned about this program- called Little Giant Steps (LGS), which uses a neurodevelopmental approach to addressing a gamut of learning disabilities. Nationally, LGS specialists are part of the International Christian Association of Neurodevelopmentalist (ICAN) network.

The approach has found that certain children have incomplete neuropathways that cause the brain to become disorganized and information to stored and recalled improperly. By doing certain exercises, these pathways are completed and the brain becomes properly organized so that information can be stored and retrieved efficiently and without obstacles.

When Jenna was first evaluated by an LGS neurodevelopmental specialist, we were shocked to discover that she couldn't skip across a room, crawl or track and object with her eyes. Though she seemed to go through all the stages of development as expected as an infant and toddler, it was clear that there were pathways that were not complete and likely the source of her reading challenges and other physical manifestations we hadn't realized before.

We began the journey of healing. And we are so relieved and grateful. In the first four months alone, Jenna improved one and a half grade levels. Along the way, an extra blessing surfaced. Jenna had also been diagnosed with scoliosis. Jenna's curvature of her spine had advanced so drastically and so quickly that the doctor believed she would require a brace. But to our surprise, Jenna scoliosis not only arrested- it receded (which is medically unheard of) due to a hanging exercises required by her LGS therapy.

Jenna is not even halfway through our eighteen month commitment with LGS, but has made significant strides and for the first time in a long time we, with God's help, feel she is FINALLY on the path toward healing... healing for both body and soul.




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Terri is a homeschool Mom of eight beautiful and specially gifted children as well as a taxpayer advocate, columnist for two news outlets, and wife to Roger.