Clearing Webs

A Rarely Touted Benefit of Homeschooling

Gid's working on the numbers 11 - 20 lately. Today we're doing 13 & 14. This morning we practiced writing all the numbers on my leg with our fingernails. With fine motor skills undeveloped bigger writing surfaces are better than beginning with pencil and paper. Teaching school we did writing in shaving cream & paint but this is one I don't think we could've done in school. And this is really a little better b/c the kids get distracted making other stuff with the paint and with this all the fun's in the actual writing. Gid wanted to do all numbers from the beginning straight up to twenty. I've gotta be honest and tell you I made him stop at 14. I've got a nice sore red spot on my leg and just couldn't sacrifice any more in the name of education. Maybe Dad'll let us use his back tonight. . . it's been a nice practicing spot before for writing out memorization.

Clifford in Ill-Repute?

Gid has requested Clifford for his fifth birthday party. I've ordered a dog-shaped cake pan that should look sufficiently Cliffordish when red and figured it would be an easy no-brainer to order Clifford plates, napkins, etc online. Apparently not so much. I can get my hands on Clifford mylar balloons, Clifford stickers and a twenty dollar Clifford pinata, but apparently everything else Clifford is unavailable. That's right. Do the search yourself. Oh, the sites look promising but once you click on the item they're all sold out, out of stock or discontinued. Oh well. We'll order a mylar balloon, hope my cake turns out okay, consider taking out a loan for the pinata and go with red and yellow for the balloons, streamers, table cover, plates, napkins, cups and hats. Oh the hats are what Gid really wanted! Maybe if sickness here subsides and energies rise I'll make some cool Clifford stuff before the end of April. For now I need to call a few people to see if they can come over in a couple days for Phin's party. . . Poor neglected third child.

Gorgeous Pics of my Boys

My sister Willa and nephew Sam are in town for a few days (yay!). Willa's a photographer and she's taken some great shots while she's here. Check 'em out. And, hey, if you've been itching for some beautiful pictures of the Perkins boys you can buy a few!

I'm loving having a little piece of my family here and I'm already wishing it was just going to be longer. Apparently it's blessed to be with sisters week internationally. Have fun and those of you who live in town with family take the time to be grateful.

On an obviously Just As Weighty Issue

Usually when I get Phin up from nap or bedtime he hands me his two socks which I take and put back on his cold feet. Today I put him down for nap with his shoes still on, which he hasn't figured out how to take off yet. When I went to get him up his socks and shoes were indeed still on his feet, yet to my surprise he stood there smiling, somehow still holding out a pair of socks for me. ???

An Attempt to Expand on my Gay Marriage Opinion

First, I agree Dad that you can't equate the death penalty for truly guilty offenders with abortion but unfortunately as it stands I have very little faith in our justice system to come anywhere close to "correctly" convicting and we should therefore assume the innocence of all to a certain degree.

Second, while I don't think we should abandon the hungry and poor our welfare system as it stands serves to help keep people ignorant and in the system. It's in drastic need of reform to truly minister. That said, I don't believe the state's job is to minister. That's the church's job. As it is now I think we've gotten ourselves turned around. The state should be requiring folks to work and earn assistance (however possible) while training and enabling folks to get out from under the system. The church should be giving food, clothes, shelter to those in need regardless of how they got there, emphasizing God's love for them where they are and His power to supernaturally free them from whatever outer or inner shackles are holding them there. Right now what I see a lot of is Christians refusing to feed drunkards b/c they are slaves to the bottle (or whatever irresponsible sin). Bondages are what God calls us to free! Jesus ministered to physical needs and in that way pointed to the greater healing he gives.

I know I'm just going to end up muddling and have to come back to clarify more again later, but I'm trying to get as much down as I can while my sweeties are still napping and dinner is cooking. Now, for the gay marriage issue. It's not one I should have thrown out so flippantly in passing, huh? To clarify: I am not for gay marriage, but neither am I against gay marriage. I think probably ideally we should have civil unions, thus not giving the sacred nod to gay marriage, but not denying the unions in the governmental realm (I was very pleased to see you saying the same thing, Kristin). My problem is that so many Christians seem to think it very important to take a public, active stand against gay marriage instead of using those energies to make positive investments in these issues. And for those actively campaigning against gay marriage what homosexuals are hearing isn't "I love you but not the sin", what they're hearing is a desire to discriminate against a group of people. As Christians we should never encourage gay marriage, but the sinfulness of an act should be convicted on someone within the context of the person and grace of Christ, not by imposing the law (none of us can live up to) without grace and actual Jesus-like love. This is my opinion.

With all this said there is an anti-gay marriage argument that seems to make sense to me right now, though honestly not very strongly. Andy said that making it legal will increase the social acceptance of the sin therefore making it more prominent. He likened it to pornography, where keeping it behind the counters makes it less easy for those tempted to fall into the sin. I'm not so sure I buy into that application to gay marriage, seeing as how those getting married aren't going to be folks experimenting or playing around - it will be those who would be in this lifestyle anyway and those committed enough that societal norms are not going to hold them back anyway. I don't think legalizing the relationships that are already there will increase the amount of gay couples we see in society and therefore tempt folks into experimentation or play - but it could be plausible.

And now all three of my boys are awake and in need, so my immediate responsibilities call. I've no doubt of the biblical sinfulness of homosexuality. I don't need to be convinced of that. What I do seem to disagree with some on is whether or not the biblical sexual standards should be made into secular law and the good or harm that would do.

*An addendum: This is an interesting conversation on the role of Law esp. if you read through the comments. I think it touches at the heart of this issue. This from the same blog speaks well to the Is.58 post.

A Religious America Votes Today

This has been heavy on my heart the last several months, but especially today. Is it really asking so much to find someone who's consistent on life issues, standing up for the unborn as well as those sentenced to death in prison when more and more scientific evidence brings to light the large number of those falsely convicted to death in our country? Is it really so Biblically inconsistent to want to act responsibly toward our environment? And can I please have a Christian besides my husband who's not against same sex marriages?

Can we work on a little rehab and grace toward those stuck in the welfare system? Can we realize that forcing public prayer, making loving relationships illegal b/c of sexual orientation and killing fellow sinners is not going to win the hearts of individuals nor is it biblically consistent. God clearly states we aren't to associate with believers who live certain lives, but in the same passage He just as clearly states we aren't to judge those outside the church. It seems we are so busy judging the actions of non-believers we're forgetting the God who loved us while we were still sinners and who spent his time on earth dining with whores, deceivers and the carnal? God associates the pointing finger and malicious talk with the yoke of oppression he tells us to get rid of. We're not told to give to the worthy hungry, the worthy naked & the worthy wandering. We're simply told to give. Will not a hot drink and a listening ear open up an oppressed heart much faster than laws, prisons and haughty eyes?

As our nation votes today in these historic primaries I'm frustrated but not angry. I'm not bitter, reactionary, or simply anti-establishment as some believe. I honestly have tears in my eyes as I see God's heart when I read this chapter lately. Call me pregnant and hormonal but I'm sad. I'm simply and purely sad.


For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.