Village Voice Media and Backpage.com

I recently heard about 2 teenage girls who were abducted and sold for sex as a result of an ad placed on backpage.com  You can read about the story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/business/media/backpagecom-confronts-new-fight-over-online-sex-ads.html

At first I was thrilled that Craig's list dropped their adult advertising section (which I was clueless about anyway) but their loss was actually Village Voice Media's gain because backpage.com picked up where Craig's list dropped off....and reap the monetary benefits.  Ok, Ok, I get the whole free speech/free press idea but who is going to protect the "freedoms" of those who cannot speak up for themselves?  This is of course, namely the young teenage girl whose life is forever altered by this experience!  Why do Jim Larkin, Michael Lacey and Carl (& the Backpage staff) get to speak on their behalf?  So Craig's list did the right thing but did they win?  I do not think any of us win, especially the families who are paying the price for irresponsible journalism and advertising.
Please people, speak up!  I know the guys at Village Voice seem to thrive on this controversy but I still believe, like Katherine Henderson, that the people's voice matters!  I am starting with this blog, will you join me by lifting your voice in protest?

If you have the WHY, the HOW will follow

Years ago I heard a Christian author mention that "discipline follows vision."  What do you think?  If I have vision to lose 15 pounds, will I have the discipline to exercise and eat right so that it happens?  This is one of those sayings that make you go "hmmmm."  Here is my take on it:
1) Scripture says without vision people perish.  In light of the truth of God's Word, without vision, we move into a state of maintenance and maintenance does not lead to improvement.  Take a table with a wobbly leg for example.  I know you can stick a small toothpick or piece of wood in the hole to fill in the gap but after time you will find that there is a need for repair again.  Finally, that leg is not going to get better.  A new hole has to be drilled or a new table to replace it.  If I don't have a God-given goal for losing weight, educating my children, etc., I will fall into just existing.   I know folks like that and they are living an unsatisfied life because they let go of the goal, the vision, that God gave them.  IN a sense, they are dying inside.  Benjamin Mays said it like this: "It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy of life lies in having no goal to reach.” Do I believe everyone has goals? a mission for life?  Yup, I think its part of our nature whether we want to recognize it or not.
2) Vision is like the "WHY."  Why am I working out?  Why did I pass on another piece of chocolate cake?  Because I want to lose 15 pounds. Because I have been the homeschool arena a number of years, I have seen my share of folks start homeschooling only to quit within the year.  WHY?  Yes, that's the answer.  What is?  WHY is!  O.K., that is starting to sound like "Who's on first?" with Abbott and Costello so let me put it to you this way.  People do not stop homeschooling because there is a lack of curriculum or they do not have enough money.  The homeschool business is booming with ideas with textbooks, workbooks and the like.  People are giving away books; libraries hold shelves of "curriculum," so that cannot be WHY they stopped.  They lost the WHY!  I recently came across an ebook entitled " A Stong Enough WHY"  which addresses this very issue.  The condensed version is that the WHY will propel you through the problems of the HOW.  Interesting concept in light of my first quote.  So could we actually apply this not just to homeschoolers, but to several aspects of life.  If I held on the WHY of losing weight, I would know the HOW? 
3) Discipline follows Vision.  Is discipline the HOW?  Good question.  I usually know WHAT I need to do but still lack the discipline.  So maybe there is more to this idea.  Let's chew on this a bit more.

Busy Days

I learned a new skill a few weeks ago!  How to freeze cream 12's.  I am 2 1/2 years into my stay in Georgia and found out there are so many kinds of peas....cream 40's, purple hull, white acre, and yes, cream 12's.  I've tried white acre through my MIL (Mother-in-law) and they were wonderful...look sort of like mini black eyed peas but sweeter.  So these cream 12's are greener and smaller and sweeter, or that's what I have been told anyway because I haven't had them before.  Recently I found a store in town, P & P, will sell you 8 lbs of shelled peas for $23.  So I signed up for 3 kinds...what was I thinking?!  A month later they call me and offer two kinds.  I had enough wisdom to tell them I would take one kind and would pick them up the next day.  After a phone call to my MIL I realized that all 8 lbs had to be blanched and frozen within 24 hours or they will go bad!  So I spent the better part of the next morning blanching peas but what's one morning when I got 6 bags of peas in my freezer?!  I say 6 because my MIL offered to buy the other half since discovering that all of my children and dh don't even want to try them! 
So let me tell you how simple it is to freeze peas or even sweet corn for that matter:
1) You need double sinks to work with. I also got two inexpensive wash tubs to put in the sinks since I felt like it was more sanitary.
2) I washed about 4 cups of peas at a time.  My MIL told me to look for brown spots that aren't in the middle of the pea.  This means insects have been eating on them. 
3) Place them in water and bring to a boil.  A nice white foamy crust will begin to rise to the surface of the water which has to be skimmed off.  Let them boil for about 2-3 minutes fully and skim the white stuff.
4) Immediately dump them into one of the tubs and cover in ice.  Move your hands through the peas (add water if you want) to cool them off quickly.  We don't want them to cook anymore so the ice stops the purpose.
5) Run cool water through them thoroughly and then drain the ice and water.
6) I measured out 2 cups per freezer bag.  Ta dah!  You have made 2 bags of peas for the freezer.

I can't wait to cook them for Thanksgiving dinner!  They say to bring them to a boil and then let them simmer for about 30-45 min.  I will add a little salt and that will be it!

When we lived in Colorado I froze peaches with my daughter and youngest son.  Those winter cobblers were so rewarding. It's also a penny saver to pick up fresh fruits and vegetables from your local area to freeze, not to mention supporting our local farmers.

Its pretty simple to freeze peaches but I will save that for another blog....
Happy Freezing!

Provoked to change....

A pastor friend once said, "You will be the same as you are next year except for the people you meet and the books you read."  It's one of those quotes I have pondered and realized the truth of it over and over.  Take for example, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay's book, For the Children's Sake.  When I read it years ago, I was challenged and provoked in my role as parent and homeschooler.
She said things like, "Do not see him (a child) as something to prune, form, or mold.  This is an individual who thinks, acts, and feels.  He is a separate human being whose strength lies in who he is, not in who he will become." 
I need to be reminded of this regularly because I think there is a human tendency as a parent to "fix" our children when in fact, on my own I can't even fix myself! If that weren't enough, Macaulay nails it when she says, "We can only love and serve him and be his friend.  We cannot own him.  He is not ours."
For most parents, we want the best for our kids and often our years and experience has given us a leg up on our kids.  I would agree that when we are very young, we are led to share our parents' values and often their habits.
As my children mature, my role shifts to that of fellow traveler alongside them with a sense of wonder and respect for this human being that God created.  Wouldn't you agree that a struggle for a parent is to fear we will become obsolete in their life so we tend to push or pull them in our direction?   Or we try to fix our own poor choices by living through them?  It seems foreign then to invite them to walk next to us in this journey!
Just that little bit of truth in the first pages of that book changed my perspective on parenting and education yet, I need to be reminded.  Perhaps that is why I kept this book on the shelf.  Perhaps that is why I blog...for remembrance; to let that book and these words once again provoke me to change.

Jumping In!

 My husband and friends, Carrie and Seth Schaeffer, who also have a blog called http://www.shortandhat.com/ suggested I share my experiences through homeschooling, saving money, and growing as a family.  So here I am blogging world!