And of course, I'm furious because he was 'homeschooled.' He should have known better. My guess is that they were the 'new homeschoolers' (as opposed people who homeschool for Religious conviction and moral concerns -- as did those who started the homeschool movement. My family is an 'old' homeschool family. If homeschooling was aristocracy, we'd be one of the old noble families--families with pride, heritage, history, and values, not one of these nouveau riche families. You homeschoolers know what I'm talking about. But I digress...)
But enough of the news. I spent all day yesterday being depressed over National and World affairs.
I wrote this prayer last night when I should have been working on something else, and it's not a particularly 'good' prayer, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway.
It's easier to Die than it is to Live.
It's harder to Exhale than it is to Inhale.
It's so easy to be Wrong and so difficult to be Right.
It isn't convenient to be good, and it isn't pleasant to suffer.
O Father in heaven, give me a will to Live--
A will to fight for the lives of others,
Even if it should cost my own.
You know it's much simpler
To die for something than it is to truly live for something.
Help me Live for You.
O Father, help me to give and give of myself
And not to expect anything for myself--
And when I do recieve, let me be truly grateful
And recieve with the innocent pleasure of a child--
Taking delight in the love of the giver.
O Father, teach me Truth--You being the Father of truth.
Teach me how and what to learn.
It's so hard to stand up under all the attacks.
I want to keep from being an embarrassment to Your name.
Help me to demolish strongholds in love and humility
And never in anger,
So that those who have declared themselves your enemies
Might be won over.
But Father, it's so hard.
Living is so hard.
Being vigilant is exhausting.
And suffering burns like acid.
It's far more than I can bear.
They say that Religion is a crutch for the weak.
Yes, I am weak, but so are they who think themselves strong.
We are all dead or dying.
Save us, dear Father.
Save us from Your wrath
And save us from our own folly.
I'm not asking for it to be easier--
I'm just asking that You would hold my hand--
That you would help me Live.
It's harder to Exhale than it is to Inhale.
It's so easy to be Wrong and so difficult to be Right.
It isn't convenient to be good, and it isn't pleasant to suffer.
O Father in heaven, give me a will to Live--
A will to fight for the lives of others,
Even if it should cost my own.
You know it's much simpler
To die for something than it is to truly live for something.
Help me Live for You.
O Father, help me to give and give of myself
And not to expect anything for myself--
And when I do recieve, let me be truly grateful
And recieve with the innocent pleasure of a child--
Taking delight in the love of the giver.
O Father, teach me Truth--You being the Father of truth.
Teach me how and what to learn.
It's so hard to stand up under all the attacks.
I want to keep from being an embarrassment to Your name.
Help me to demolish strongholds in love and humility
And never in anger,
So that those who have declared themselves your enemies
Might be won over.
But Father, it's so hard.
Living is so hard.
Being vigilant is exhausting.
And suffering burns like acid.
It's far more than I can bear.
They say that Religion is a crutch for the weak.
Yes, I am weak, but so are they who think themselves strong.
We are all dead or dying.
Save us, dear Father.
Save us from Your wrath
And save us from our own folly.
I'm not asking for it to be easier--
I'm just asking that You would hold my hand--
That you would help me Live.
Hello! Nice post, nice writing and an excellent and thoughtful prayer. What brought me here, though was your question about my homeschool co-op.
ReplyDeleteThis year was the first year for this co-op, and our goals were small. We didn't intend for the co-op to replace any required curriculum. We wanted our kids to make friends by getting together three times a month, and to experience having other adults as teachers. Four families who met at a park over the summer got the co-op started, and we advertised for more families. At this point, we decided that families of all homeschool philosophies would be welcome. People would be free to express their faith, but no statement of faith would be signed or required. (We knew this was important to decide before we started.)
Once we had about 12 families, parents decided whether they'd pick a month to teach the older kids, help with the younger kids or help in the nursery. The parent teacher would prepare a 90 minute lesson for the older kids and suggest related activities for other parents taking care of the other ages. Each month focused on different subjects. The first two weeks were lessons and the third week would be a field trip.
Members made connections that allowed them to meet independent of the co-op, of course.
There were no tests. The academic part was purely enrichment. We'd all eat lunch together afterward.
Thanks for your visit to my blog!