I’m reading the Husband-Coached Childbirth for my Teacher Training Class. (Lots of homework due, so little time!)

The book is excellent for anyone who is preparing to give birth or who has an interest in the topic of natural birth.

Here’s a memorable quote from chapter 7, “The Coach’s Training Rules”:

“Parents come in pairs. If you think the only task you have as a parent is to get your wife pregnant, you’re going to be like the farmer who thinks all there is to farming is planting seeds. You will harvest only the weeds of resentment to your passivity. You are poorly prepared for parenthood and have yet to recognize your responsibilities….

Maybe I’m old fashioned, but don’t kid yourself, the hand that rocks the cradle still rules the world, and always will. Motherly women and fatherly men acting as wholesome symbols of strength and righteousness in a family setting of mutual love and respect continue to be essential to progress in any civilization.

The reaction your wife has to her pregnancy and the birth of your child will reflect on the relationship between mother and child forever after. Will she look upon childbearing as a horrifying ordeal that ruined her figure and seared her soul? … Or, will she joyfully share with you even the little nuisances involved and thank you for getting her pregnant and bless her God for the privilege of being a woman and of giving birth?…

You are going to live with this woman “until death do us part.” How rich, full and meaningful that life will be is very much dependent upon your ability as a participant in parenthood. This does not exclude but takes precedence over the golf games, pool hall, poker game, CD player, computer, etc. Lets get on with it.”

(Preach it, brother!)

From Ron Paul’s Texas Straight Talk, a weekly column:

“Last month, the House amended the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to expand the government’s ability to monitor our private communications. This measure, if it becomes law, will result in more warrantless government surveillance of innocent American citizens.

Though some opponents claimed that the only controversial part of this legislation was its grant of immunity to telecommunications companies, there is much more to be wary of in the bill. In the House version, Title II, Section 801, extends immunity from prosecution of civil legal action to people and companies including any provider of an electronic communication service, any provider of a remote computing service, “any other communication service provider who has access to wire or electronic communications,” any “parent, subsidiary, affiliate, successor, or assignee” of such company, any “officer, employee, or agent” of any such company, and any “landlord, custodian, or other person who may be authorized or required to furnish assistance.” The Senate version goes even further by granting retroactive immunity to such entities that may have broken the law in the past.

The new FISA bill allows the federal government to compel many more types of companies and individuals to grant the government access to our communications without a warrant. The provisions in the legislation designed to protect Americans from warrantless surveillance are full of loopholes and ambiguities. There is no blanket prohibition against listening in on all American citizens without a warrant.
(more…)

This Psalm is one of my favorites. I go back to it often and apply it to many situations and aspects of life.

Today, I am thinking especially of verse 16, as two family friends are struggling to live and as there is an online friend whose sister in Brazil just caught a potentially fatal virus from a mosquito bite and is not doing well.

How comforting it is to remember, especially when those whom we love are ill, that it is the Lord who determines the length of one’s days and not the doctors.

Something to think about - how does remembering this affect the way that we respond when someone is ill? Personally? To the person whom is sick? To those whom we are comforting?

Psalm 139

1O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
5 You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day
Darkness and light are alike to You.
13For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
14I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand
When I awake, I am still with You.
19O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
20For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
23Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

My father once told me that people are like pendulums. If they are even-keeled, they will swing a little to the left and a little to the right. They more passionate and exuberant they “swing”, the pendulum swings back equally as angry/depressed.

My daughter is a perfect example of the latter. She is way hyper-cheerful OR dramatically crying into her pillow or making death threats towards her brothers.

This afternoon, out of the blue, Tab was a WRECK. She was crying because she no longer liked the black-lace overlay on her bright pink “princess” (fancy Easter dress way on sale, couldn’t pass it up for dress up!) dress. In the middle of talking about that, she said she was hungry. She was ANGRY (stomping, yelling) because I ate the last piece of spaghetti pie (in all fairness, we split it for lunch and she ate the larger of the portions). So, I prepared a glass of chocolate milk for her. Still mad that I had eaten what was my lunch, she pouted, cried and refused to say “thank you”. I gently talked to her about having anger and discontentment in her heart. (She does understand these things… little twerp constantly points out these characteristics when she sees them in others… and then we talk about grace, mercy and overlooking!) She agreed but would not confess them to God.

I sent her to her room for a nap and prayed that the Holy Spirit would work in her heart.

She did not sleep, but she went from sobbing (and not getting attention for it) to contemplating.

Thirty minutes later, she came down a new little girl and said she was ready to talk to God. We prayed and she readily sought the Lord’s forgiveness. She asked for the milk, and said thank you. A free Highlights Hidden Picture puzzle with stickers came in the mail today. I let her do that for fun.

To avoid exasperating her, and creating a situation where she is overwhelmed and tempted to sin, I do try to keep her fed (she is strong, and sturdily built), hydrated and rested the best I can. I try to avoid exasperating her with school work, as she is five years old and does 2nd grade work - very bright! This is not to say that I walk on eggshells with her, it’s just that she tends to be more sensitive to physical discomfort than some of my other children.

I do think I handled it okay today (goal of seeking forgiveness and changed attitude was achieved), but I’m wondering if there are specific things I can do to more head off such mood attacks before they get out of hand?

Any particular soothing or thought provoking phrases that would diffuse a tense situation?

Any encouragement for me from moms who have been through this? Particularly, how to keep the trust/confidence/friendship as a little girl with this personality hits adolescence?

And yes, I do believe in using the rod as outlined in Shepherding a Child’s Heart.

Thank you for taking the time to respond!!

If I can ever be of encouragement to you, please let me know!

Much love,
SJA

This is from The Homeschool Lounge:

Some of you may have some experience with this, and (while that hurts me to think you’ve lived with it) I need a little help from those who have had some real success!

For those who have had a child who could fire up and respond in anger quickly, I’d love to know more about some of the Godly responses and tools that helped you through it.

Please consider this is a boy about the age of 7. He can become easily frustrated, and it builds rapidly. Sometimes we don’t see it coming, and even when we do, I often say or do the wrong thing.

Help?

Thanks in advance!

Hugs to you, Jennifer!

After experiencing similar anger/tattling/conflict/fighting problems, I decided to incorporate The Young Peacemaker into our day by doing a page or two each morning for our devotional segment of school.

Studying the topic of peacemaking preemptively, instead of only talking about it when there is an anger outburst, has made a huge difference in the atmosphere of our home by reducing the number of kid-conflicts. Reducing, not erasing! We still have at few each day! But, because the foundation has been laid, they are easier to work through than before.

My seven, five, four, and three year old are doing a fantastic job of memorizing the verses for each chapter (we do about a chapter a week).

If you put good things in your heart, good things will come out of your heart. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)

There is even a resource page dedicated to using The Young Peacemaker as part of homeschooling.

I hope this helps. I certainly have learned a lot from doing The Young Peacemaker with my kids - and I’m a moderator at PeaceGals.com! It certainly gave me a new perspective when training my children vs. talking to adults about the same topic!

Much love,
SJA

The Young Peacemaker is a powerful system that parents and teachers can use to teach children how to prevent and resolve conflict in a constructive and biblically faithful manner.

The system emphasizes principles of confession, forgiveness, communication, and character development, and uses realistic stories, practical applications, role plays, and stimulating activities.

Although the material is designed for 3rd through 7th grades, it has been successfully used with preschool and high school students.

The lessons in The Young Peacemaker may be summarized in Twelve Key Principles for Young Peacemakers:

1. Conflict is a slippery slope.
2. Conflict starts in the heart.
3. Choices have consequences.
4. Wise-way choices are better than my-way choices.
5. The blame game makes conflict worse.
6. Conflict is an opportunity.
7. The Five A’s can resolve conflict.
8. Forgiveness is a choice.
9. It is never too late to start doing what’s right.
10. Think before you speak.
11. Respectful communication is more likely to be heard.
12. A respectful appeal can prevent conflict.

The Slippery Slope

The Young Peacemaker uses a simplified version of the Slippery Slope to help children understand the various responses to conflict.

The slope is divided into three zones:

The Five A’s of Confession

Children, like adults, can learn to confess their wrongs in a way that demonstrates that they are taking full responsibility for their contribution to a conflict.

Four Promises of Forgiveness

Children can learn to forgive one another in a way that models the forgiveness they have received from God through the gospel of Jesus Christ:

These promises may be summarized in a poem that is so easy a four-year old can memorize it:

Today was the first day of the driving segment of my motorcycle class.

Above is a picture of the bike I rode in class: a silver, 2007 Kawasaki Eliminator 125.

The pace of the class was just right - it was challenging, but I gained a little more confidence with each skill I mastered.

Prior to this class, the only time I’d ever been on a motorcycle was as a passenger - once - on my father-in-law’s bike. I am tickled that I went from knowing nothing about driving a motorcycle to riding around in (go ahead, laugh!) third gear.

Admittedly, as I watched the instructor do the dry run, there were a few exercises that made my stomach feel like it does at the crest of a tall roller coaster. They seemed impossible for me to do. As I approached the course, I just took a deep breath and relaxed. I ended up doing just fine. (Everyone stalled a few times, so my stalling doesn’t count!) No crashes or bike-dropping to report.

There are two things I need to practice:

One, I have very small hands. I really have to stretch them to reach the clutch or the brake levers. The instructor said that I can put my wrist at the very top edge of the grips in order to operate the levers - this is a little trickier than it sounds! I really have to almost let go of the throttle or the left handle bar in order to squeeze the levers completely. Obviously, my hand isn’t going to grow, so I need to just be smoother in transitioning.

The second thing I need to work on is shifting. There were a few times when I felt like the bike was getting away from me. To compensate, I’d try to do the clutch/downshift and I’d lurch a little. Or, I’d be looking through a turn and would be trying to shift up a gear and would have trouble finding or feeling the gearshift through my boot and then would kick it more than what I needed to. Eek!

Again, though, in the last quarter of the class, I was much improved compared to the third quarter. Really, if I can do this anyone can. The instructors are so thorough and really coach the riders each step of the way. Exercises were followed by a discussion time during which we identified the skills we used and the instructors offered pointers.

About 20 minutes before the class ended, Tom brought the kids by to watch. It was so cute to listen to them talking in the back seats about mommy on the motorcycle - two “m” words that I never thought I’d hear in the same sentence, EVER.

UPDATE -April 5

Well, I passed the written test but failed the driving test.

My foot touched down in the middle of a “figure-8″ (which is done within in a very small rectangle on the pavement) and I went a few seconds over in the lap/sharp corner test (gaging speed before going around a sharp corner - apparently, I could have gone faster) . I passed the quick-steering around an object (counter-weighting) test and the “stop on a dime” test.

So… I’m really bummed. BUT, the instructor said that I did great and that it’s just a matter of having more practice.

To have a little perspective, Saturday was only the second time I’d ever driven a bike in my life. Many of the other students had been riding for years, illegally, and then were regularly riding their bikes since recently obtaining their permits for the class.

I’m not sure if I’ll take the PenDot test at the driver’s license branch or if I’ll retake the free class. Either way, I’m focusing on the Bradley Teacher’s Training for the next few weeks. The next motorcycle class opening isn’t until I get back from Florida anyway.

In the mean time, Tom’s once-frightening bike doesn’t seem so scary to me anymore and I think I’ll take it to a parking lot for a spin to see if I am comfortable enough to take it out in traffic. With my permit, I can ride during the daylight and without passengers.

What do I think about motorcycles now? If you know how to ride them safely, you won’t be as afraid of them. Ladies, if you are afraid of your husband getting a bike - may I suggest that you and he take the class together and see if it changes your mind Even if you are not the primary driver of the motorcycle, and plan on just riding on the back, this skill is helpful to know if you are ever in a situation where your husband is unable to drive and you are stranded somewhere with only a motorcycle to get help or go home.

Processes up to 3,000 plates per hour.

Wikipedia offers some more information on Automatic Number Plate Recognition, including circumvention techniques.

If you think plate recognition is scary, I dare you to read about facial recognition.

Think it will never happen? It already has. FaceIt was used in 2001 at the Super Bowl XXXV and resulted in the apprehension of 19 humans.

(Doesn’t the word “humans” sound like “animals”? What is friendlier about the word “people”?)

If you want to learn more about FaceIT, you could always check out the product guidelines online.

Dear L&F,

How are you doing?

I hope you are enjoying each day that the Lord gives to you!

Sometimes, if I am having a particularly terrible day, Psalm 11:24 serves as a kick-in-the-pants reminder for me:

“This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Reading this helps me to stop thinking (okay, the more specific words would be stewing or worrying) about my problems and to instead think about ways to apply this verse to my day.

When the day is so bad that I wish that I could just start it over, I look for ways to do just that. I call it, “Taking Back the Day”.

I might put on some pleasant music - especially music that is edifying to the soul, like hymns. I concentrate on the words, and I find it’s very hard to sulk after that.

Or, I might do something different from the normal routine like packing everyone up and going for a walk or to the Dollar Tree.

If there seems to be “nothing” (and I put it in quotes, because, really, there is always something - even if it is just the air we breathe) I try to actively find things to create or do to lift the dark clouds, thanking God for each step of the process. I might walk around a room and thank God for providing every little thing I see. It sounds silly but it works! Another thing to do that is fun is to look through photos and thank God for happy memories and for the people we see in each picture. We can take a moment to pray for each one specifically or to thank God for allowing us the pleasure of knowing that person while they were still alive and for the influence they had on our family.

“Taking Back the Day” isn’t just to make us feel better, it is reclaiming it for God’s glory.

Sometimes days are bad, not just because of events beyond our control, but because of the way we have responded to them. If this is the case, reclaiming the day for God’s glory must include, and even begin with, confession of sin. This means attitudes we have or things we have said or done in selfishness, anger or revenge. Or, we may need to confess that we have not had a thankful heart throughout the day.

We must also go back and be reconciled to the people we have sinned against. We must never blame the bad day for our sin - though we can certainly explain what happened that day because the people in our life care about us and can give us a much-needed hug!

Remember, bad days only bring out things that are already stored in our hearts:

Matthew 12:34-35 says, “(34c)For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (35)For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. ”

We can reclaim the day for God’s glory no matter how late into our bad day by confessing our sin to God and to others, and by obeying God’s word. Meditate on things from Philippians 4:4-9. Notice how this passage begins with rejoicing?

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Some of the suggestions I mentioned before are helpful ways to find lovely things

I hope that this note finds you both having a good day - one where things that cause your heart to rejoice seem to be all around you and obviously so!

I love you both very much and I write these important things to you because I wish that someone had written them to me when I was your age. If you know and practice these things, not only will you be more mature than most adults, you will find that your life will be enjoyable because your relationship with God is strong and because you trust in Him during both good time as and bad times.

If I’m ever having a bad day, please remind me what I wrote okay?

[Noted personal prayer requests]

Let me know how I can pray for you!

Much love,
Mrs. Albrecht

I passed!

With a permit, I can only drive during the day and without passengers.

For those of you who don’t know, we bought a motorcycle (a royal blue Honda Shadow 600vlx) last weekend. There was no way I was going to be the wife who owned a bike but didn’t know how to ride it! Actually, I feel more comfortable with riding (behind Tom or on my own) after reading the safety manual. I think the trickier part will be just being more mindful of being seen by other vehicles.

The next step towards a license is taking a motorcycle class. Hopefully, I can get into the same one my brothers in law are taking! Bikes are provided for the class. They teach you how to completely operate the bike. It’s like a driver’s training class.

In order to get a motorcycle license through the class, one must pass the course and then take a written and driving test.

It’s hard to believe that I’m pursuing a motorcycle license.

Lately, I’ve resolved that I need to be less fearless of things. I also determined that, to overcome the fear, it was OKAY to yield my learning style and take classes. I’m the kind of person that needs to see something a few times in order to grasp a new skill. I am not an auditory learner! Rather than just make excuses as to why I can’t learn something, I decided I need to try to find a way to learn that helps it “stick”.

Heh. This being said, my hands still sweat when I’m getting on a tall, downward escalator. I don’t think any amount of classes will get rid of this fear

I woke up this morning around 5am and noticed something was wrong - NO HEAT!

Overnight, we had quite a snow storm (it’s still snowing, actually). These things never happen on mild-weathered days.

Not wanting to cause mass-panic, I put an extra blanket on each kid and let them sleep.

It was cold but bearable, so I waited till 8am to call the repairman.

Despite the snowy roads, the repairman was here within an hour. He flushed out the clogged hoses that circulate the water in our radiators through the boiler and then waited for the water to heat and the radiators began to warm.

This isn’t the first time that it was clogged.

A year a ago last week, we had the same thing happen.

Tom was in Japan. It was below freezing outside and very windy.

The children and I had been visiting at my in-laws and we came home around 10pm. After getting the kids in bed, I sat down to go over the bills and realized it was quite cold!

I tried to figure it out for about an hour. I replaced the batteries in the thermostat for good measure, checked to make sure all the switches were “on” and bled the air in the radiators.

I couldn’t think of anything else I could do on my own to fix the problem and finally called the the repairman at 11:30pm.

He came over and it took about three hours to fix. The clog was in a little hidden hose and was very hard to find.

When he found it, he emptied the debris, which was quite substantial compared to this year’s, into my utility sink.

The next afternoon, I was rinsing out the sink and the water wasn’t draining. The debris wouldn’t “tap out” of the strainer into the trash. I had to clean it out by hand.

I pinched the slimy blackness between my fingers. It crunched.

Instantly, I realized what it was: two dead mouse skeletons in a compacted furry dirty mush. Ooo… I shudder just thinking about it. I picked the little bones out of the holes in the strainer and then bleached my hands. I avoided eating finger food for a while after that!

Well, I’m praising God the house is warming up. Now it’s time to go play in the snow!

If anyone in eastern Pennsylvania is looking for a heating and air conditioning company (they both install systems and repair them), I recommend Absolute Heating & Cooling in Parkesburg. Both times we called them, they were prompt when called and tenacious until the job was complete. The employees are professional and kind. Today, the guy didn’t seem to mind that the children sat on the steps and watched him while he worked. He answered all their questions about the heater, and even laughed at the 20 “Why did the chicken cross the road?” joke variations they told him.