Eight Statements You Most Likely Agree With If You Were Home Schooled: A musing

Growing up as a member of the first big generation of home schooled students, I have spent a lot of time discussing experiences with fellow home educated alumnus guys and gals, and it is always interesting to watch and listen as we talk, as several similarities and quirks tend to begin to show up in our histories. I have assembled a list here that is by no means complete or extensive, but still should make many of you in my friends circle who called your school your house as well, smile, chortle, or nod in agreement.

You have always kind of had a curiosity for what it would have been like to ride a school bus each day

Off the bat, this one applies exclusively to the ‘lifers’ as I lovingly refer to those of us home schooled folks who were educated in this manner from Kindergarten to our senior year in high school. From the time I was six years old, I often wondered what it would be like to hop on one of those yellow and black high off the ground vehicles with a plethora of small square windows and trek off to school five days a week. Later, I would think about how blessed I was not to have do that in the winter when it was cold outside, but on a sunny spring morning, I would still wonder sometimes…

You actually love to read even now that most of us in the first generation are in or out of college, and you enjoy both fiction and non-fiction work

The more I think about it, the more I realize that so many of my close home school heritage friends love to read! In fact we often talk about the books we have read. There are staples of course; you weren’t home schooled if you didn’t read “The Chronicles of Narnia” or “The Lord Of The Rings” (as a side note, I didn’t read “Lord Of The Rings,” one of the rare inconsistencies I have with my other HS friends). You also had to read at least “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” at some point in high school, and if you were a bit more progressive like me, books like “Dateable” and “I Gave Dating A Chance” too. 

You Possess A Very Varied Vocabulary

Let’s face it, no home schooler who is worth his or her salt is a boring person to have a conversation with. We have a tendency to use different descriptive dialog with good diction, and we know many a synonym for many commonly said words and statements. This ties in with the fact that we love to read, and read a lot as well. Reading classic work by classic authors and theologians forced us to look up words in the dictionary growing up, and while we may have hated it at the time, we are better conversationalists now because of this.

You Interact Well With People Of All Ages

Being home schooled meant that you would spend more of your time each day than other children your age around your Mom and possibly your Dad as well. This means you learned how to interact with them in a more mature manner faster than most children do. Then when you were around other adults at church or home schooler co-ops, you found you enjoyed talking to them as well. Oh don’t get me wrong, you could interact with children your age, but they tended to be less interesting than the adults, or your fellow home schooled peers as well. Basically “Brick Heck” on ABC’s hit sitcom “The Middle” said it best in a episode that aired back in January: “I am going to be spending most of my life around adults, so why shouldn’t I learn to talk to them now at age eight?” Home schoolers with few exceptions of course, seem to grasp this concept well at that age!

“Adventures In Odyssey” was the coolest radio drama ever!

I think I can honestly say that every single home schooled alumnus I know has this one in common. Whether it was during your lunch break, Car trip, or recess time if your Mom gave it to you, you listened to Focus On The Family’s wonderful radio drama series “Adventures In Odyssey” where you learned life lessons that were biblically centered from the main character of “Mr. Whitaker” who owned an ice cream shop and invented crazy contraptions like the “Imagination Station” that allowed you to time travel back and live out bible stories! From this series, you learned that the older a person is, the wiser they are, and thus you should respect them. You also learned that a show aimed at children was so often just as entertaining and enthralling to adults, as many times your parents would join you in listening along!

The words “Saxon Math” still can make your right eye twitch uncontrollably

It seems almost inevitable that at some point during your home-schooled journey through each grade, your parents decided to purchase a popular math curriculum used in schools known as “Saxon Math.” It was highly touted in the mid-90’s, but as so many of us soon learned, if you weren’t a person to whom math came easy, this curriculum flat out stunk! Not nearly enough explanations of how to do problems, or examples either. Talk about frustration to a level ten, this curriculum was it! Thankfully, after a year or two of this, most of our parents sought out other more underground but more well written math curriculums, and our hearts could beat a little less fast, and our eyes stopped twitching…except of course when we hear the name ‘Saxon’ today. Eye twitching yet? Oh, sorry!

You Have Confidence In Who You Are

To be honest this is one thing that one of my traditional school alums pointed out to me that I had never noticed before. He told me that I am extremely confident in who I am and that I don’t struggle with insecurities that most other folks do. This surprised me a bit, and he went on to tell me that this is both a blessing and a curse, as confidence is huge when it comes to surviving in society, but it is a downfall when it comes to being understanding that others around me are often not confident in who God has made them to be, and I therefore must not let this confidence lead to pride. As I reflected on this more, I realized that all my home-educated friends tend to have this confidence. We are a little weird in terms of our humor at times, and our certain nerdiness, but we like that about ourselves and we don’t worry too much about whether or not others around us like that side of us or not. Overall, I think it is a good thing, but something we all should be aware of as well, just as my friend cautioned me J

Ultimately, We Know That We Owe Our Parents, Especially Our Mom’s, A Debt Of Gratitude We Can’t Ever Repay!

Face it friends, our parents gave us a huge gift when they made the controversial decision back in the early to mid-90’s to home school us instead of putting us in traditional school. Back then, homeschooling was still a relatively new idea, and if your parents are anything like mine, they endured some scrutiny among friends and extended family members over this decision. Our Mom’s especially sacrificed a ton, as most of them gave up full time jobs and careers to stay home and educated us children! I know I can personally say that in those early years, I gave my Mom a very hard time when it came to doing school each day, especially when it came to math, the subject I hated with a passion! She tried everything from having my cars talk to me while doing math, to finding music to dance around to and recite my math facts in tune, but I still hated it. However, without my parents decision to home school me, I know I would not be the same person I am today. Certainly my faith in Christ wouldn’t’ be a solid, and my confidence in who I am wouldn’t be there. I also wouldn’t be able to say that I have friends of all ages, or have the close relationship I have with my parents, had they not chosen to sacrifice and educate me at home.

So yes, ultimately, this post is a way of me saying a very special “Happy Mother’s Day” to my Mom and all the home school Mom’s out there! Thank you for your dedication to us, for not giving up on us, and for pushing us to do our best, and instilling in us a confidence in who we are, both in our personalities and our identities in Christ!

Also, Mom, thank you for teaching me to read J

  

Life Together: The Beginnings of Christian Community: An Anticipatory Writing

I just moved for the first time ever in my entire 25+ years of life! I moved out of my parents house and in with four other Christian men from my church, and we are going to share a four bedroom- plus finished basement for a fifth bedroom- house together. There are several things that excite me about this, as I have seen God have His hand in the process so far, and believe we are all going to encourage each other to grow closer to the Lord as we do life together. This won’t be just through nights of Bible studies and prayer times, but I believe will happen in the daily life moments we will share.

Here are five things I am looking forward to and or excited about in the coming year of community living at the “1 Corinthians 16:13-14 House” or the “1 Cor. 16 House” for short J

1. Coffee Time

I kid you not, one of the biggest things I am looking forward to is coming home from work, or coming downstairs from my room into our kitchen and having a friend around to sit down and have coffee and conversation with. Being that I am living with four other fellas, the chance for this to occur is quite high. We can sit down, have a hot cup of caffeine infused liquid and talk about our lives, and what other things God has put on our heart, and we can do this without needing to meet up somewhere and spend three bucks on a cup of coffee!

2. Having a Room Upstairs

Prior to last week, I had spent my whole life living in a ranch house, and thus never had an upstairs bedroom. My room at my parents’ house was awesome and sits centralized, facing the back of the house, so there is a lot of privacy. Yet, since I was about seven years old, I had always dreamed about what it would be like to have an upstairs bedroom. Well, now I finally am fulfilling my curiosity, as we are renting a colonial, which has bedrooms upstairs! My room also faced the front of the house, so I can watch as my housemates arrive back home, as well as watching action going on up and down our street, action, which should increase as summer approaches!

3. Not Having To Take the Trash Out!

Funny story here; since high school it has been my job to take the trash out at home as one of my daily chores, as well as taking the trash out to the street once a week. Part of my agreement with my housemates has been that this is one job I will NOT do as a member of the “1 Cor. 16 House.” I am glad to be our main cook, as well as helping to clean around the house, and anything else that may need done, but I do not want to take the trash out! They have kindly agreed to this J

4. Having Friends Over Often

To this point in my life, my parents have been awesome and always open to allowing me to have friends over for various summer holidays and other fun events! Now at the “1 Cor 16 House” I look forward to having friends over quite often. As the five of us housemates met up over the last couple of months to discuss various aspects of community living, we all agreed that we want our house to be a ministry to our friends and church community. A big part of that will be having friends over just about any point during the day and evening. We want our house to be a place where people feel welcome all the time, and a place where we can reflect the love of God to those who enter our home! Also, I look forward to movie nights, prayer nights, and just overall fellowship nights!

5. Being Able To Host Bible Studies

One of the things God has laid on my heart the last few months has been stepping out in faith and leading a Bible study small group this upcoming summer. My dad and I have co-led studies before, and I now feel he has mentored me enough to step out on my own. I have spoken with the man in charge of small groups at our church and he is very open to me leading one this upcoming summer semester. Now I have our house to offer as a meeting place, and it is a house with a very large family room that will be perfect for hosting a small group. The five of us fellas have been blessed that all of our families have donated couches, recliners and end tables so that we have been able to furnish all of our large living spaces. The stage is set, now I just need to trust God and see what He does!

In fact, that truth about trusting God is kind of what we all are realizing with community living. God has orchestrated so much already in leading us to the house, allowing us to work with a realtor who also knows the Lord, and providing us with so many people who not only helped us move in, but offered us house items as well. So many pieces of have fallen into place, now it is time to watch what God does! So this next year I dedicate to God using me however he wishes in being a contributor to the community and brotherhood of “1 Cor 16 House.” Here we go!

"It is time you learn some about the game of baseball" -A story about baseball, the Indians, and a bond between grandfather and grandson

This time of year is such a special time for me! Spring is officially here, at least by the calendars standards, not necessarily by what the weather is actually outside, and that means baseball season is about to begin. Growing up in the suburbs of Cleveland, OH, I began playing T-Ball at age six, not really because I had any interest in it, but because my parents wanted to find something else for me to enjoy doing besides listening to music, which was the main thing I wanted to do when I wasn’t in school.

That was the summer of 1993, and if you know baseball history at all, you know that the Cleveland Indians at that point in time had been, to be brutally honest, mediocre for almost forty years. Thus I knew nothing about baseball, the Indians or anything sports related at that point. I didn’t know the positions or anything and my coach, who was a very patient man, would always have to tell me where to go on the field.

I continued to play T-ball every summer through 1994, and 1995, when I was eight and could only play one more year. As any fan of baseball knows, the summer of 1995 was kind of the greatest summer the Cleveland Indians have had to this point in my lifetime. They would go on to win 100 games in a strike shortened 144 game season, and that summer I still didn’t know anything about baseball. Enter my grandfather, who loved the Indians, and baseball more than any man I have ever known. I will never forget one summer day in June when he called me aside in my backyard after one of my T-ball games had ended.

“Jimmy” he said (because that was what my grandfather called me at that point, later on as I got older it became “Jim”) “It is time you learn some about the game of baseball, like where each position is on the diamond, so when your coach says ‘go play shortstop’ you know where to go on the field.”

“Grandpa, I really don’t need to know that because Coach Ron always just tells me where to go” I responded.

“Trust me on this, as you get older here you ‘ll want to know. Why don’t we start by having you watch the Indians games with me sometimes” he said gently (that is another thing about my grandfather, he had patience that is truly unparalleled)

“Well, it is kind of boring” I said “But I can do that for a little bit some”

Over that summer of 95 I was true to my word and watched snippets of games with my grandfather and he patiently answered any question I had about the game. By the time autumn rolled around and the Indians entered the playoffs for the first time in 41 years, I began to actually enjoy watching the games, and remember feeling quite devastated when the Tribe lost the World Series that year to the Atlanta Braves.

You baseball historians out there would know that the Indians had a sellout streak that reached from June of 1995 to April of 2001, so my grandfather and I didn’t get to go to many games together. The company my Dad worked for had season tickets, so he once or twice a year would be able to get tickets to a game. He managed to get four tickets in June of 1995 and he, my mom, me and of course my grandfather came with us to my first Indians game. The Tribe won 11-0 that night over the Baltimore Orioles, and I remember how much my grandfather was enjoying his first trip to Jacob’s Field.

From that point on, my grandfather and I would forever share a bond over the baseball. He was the one who invented the ‘sockball’ which any of you who have been at the summer holiday gatherings my parents and I have hosted in recent years, are familiar with. They are basically rolled up socks that you can hit around with an aluminum bat in your backyard without having the threat of breaking any windows or body parts with a real baseball. In order to help me develop my baseball skills growing up, my grandfather figured this out, and made the first ‘sockballs’ I owned, to help me practice! I then complimented his creation with one of my own, the game of ‘sockball’ in my backyard, complete with strange ground rules for when the ball gets caught in any of the large trees in my backyard, and a home run porch: the garage roof!

Our Indians bond also grew, as since games were sold out and my family and I didn’t have cable until 1999, the next three baseball seasons from 1996-1998 I would often spend summer evenings over my grandparents house to watch the games that were not on free TV sitting on the coach next to my grandfather who would sit in his recliner and continue to tell stories about baseball and the Indians to me, filling in my increasing interest in the history of the Cleveland boys of summer. He always had such an excitement whenever he told me about Tribe legends such as Lou Boudreau, Bob Feller, Larry Doby, and Satchel Paige.

One other occasion during the sellout streak, I won two tickets from a roller rink I often attended growing up. I immediately knew I wanted to go the game with my grandfather. So on May 11^th, 2000 we headed downtown on the rapid to see the Indians square off against the Kansas City Royals. It was a rainy Thursday evening and the game was delayed at the beginning. However, by the time we got to our seats, the grounds crew was coming out to take the tarp off the field! We watched as the players warmed up and settled down to watch the game. Indians slugger Manny Ramirez would slug a grand slam home run in the first inning as the Indians were on their way to a 16-0 rout of the Royals, leaving my grandfather and I with more great memories to talk about and share over the years.

Once the Indians sellout streak ended and I grew older into high school and college and beyond, my grandfather and I would go to many more Tribe games together, and also would watch them on TV together when we would have the opportunity. Even when we weren’t at the game or watching together, the moment something amazing and exciting would happen it was always a race to the phone to see who would call whom first!

On September 29^th, 2010 my mom and Grandfather decided last minute to go down to the final two games of the season. Yes you read that right, it was a double header, and one of the twi-night variety, meaning the first game started at 4pm and the second game would start 20 minutes after the first one ended. You could see both games for the price of one ticket! I had dreamed of doing this for years and we decided to seize the opportunity and go! The Indians would win both games that evening, which included a very exciting 4-3 win over the Tigers and Justin Verlander in game two, in which Jason Donald executed a perfect suicide squeeze bunt on the sixth inning to bring home Michael Brantley with what proved to be the winning run! It was a truly amazing time that was everything I dreamed attendance of a double header would be! I didn’t know it at the time, but it would also be the last game my grandfather and I would attend together.

That following summer of 2011, my grandfather’s health began to decline and he didn’t have the energy to go down to the games in person anymore. However, we still watched the games at home together and one particularly stands out in my memory. It was July 7^th, 2011 and the Indians trailed 4-0 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. My grandfather was over at my house, and at this point having trouble with his lungs, and thus not driving very much on his own. I was set to give him a ride home, but my Mom said ‘you might as well wait until the game is over’ and so we kinda just all agreed and sat back down. I have since been forever grateful for my Mom suggesting that for what would happen shortly afterwards!

Incredibly the Indians staged a stunning rally! Before you knew it, the Tribe was trailing 4-1 and had the bases loaded with one out and their best, though often injured power hitter, Travis Hafner was up. On the first pitch Hafner crushed a belt high fastball that sailed well over the right field fence for an unbelievable walk off grand slam home run netting the Indians a 5-4 victory!!! As we all screamed and yelled with zealous enjoyment I remember looking back at my grandfather who had stood up from the couch with his arms raised exclaiming  ‘oh my goodness, he did it!!!!”

That would be the last incredible win my grandfather and I would watch together, as in November of 2011 he would go on to join my grandmother in Heaven. We are now on the cusp of the beginning of the second baseball season without my grandfather. The Indians have finally decided to start spending money again adding such star power as Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, not to mention hiring the managerial genius that is Terry Francona! Thus, while I find myself excited beyond belief for this season to start, I can’t help but feel a bit sad that my grandfather isn’t here to enjoy what is poised to be one of the most exciting seasons of Indians baseball since the 1990’s.

Just think if it hadn’t been for the patience of my grandfather back in that summer of 1995 to patiently teach me about the game of baseball, I may never have grown to love it as much as he did, and thus never had the incredible bond that God allowed me to have with him. So tomorrow as the 2013 Indians season kicks off and all throughout this season, I will forever have my grandfather on my mind as the Indians play each game, knowing that without his patience I may never have received one of the greatest gifts anyone has ever given me: a love for the game of baseball!

                                             

On Movie Viewing And Purity: An Editorial

“I have made a covenant with my eyes” –Job 31:1a

As a gigantic fan of movies who also happens to be a Christian, I have analyzed and thought about the movies I watch. The question I am sure you are asking at this point is: as a Christian then, what are your thoughts James, on R rated films? Or  what about PG-13 films? As a Christian should we avoid them altogether? Do we take it on a film-by-film basis?

Personally, I think that the above verse I opened this blog with applies to movies and particularly how the Christian film fan should weigh in on whether or not they should or should not see a movie.

There are some great online resources that allow you to know specifically how much sexual content, violence and fowl language a film contains. They rate the movie in each of these categories on a scale of 1-10 and/or also list specifics in each category, all while attempting to not spoil the actual movie. Websites such as www.kidsinmind.com and www.pluggedinonline.com are sites I use as my guide before I go see any movie, not just an R rated one. Following are my thoughts on how one should choose from a Biblical perspective, whether or not to see a movie based on the three categories of violence, language, and sexual content. 

Violence

I personally find myself the least concerned about this section. When I get angry, I never struggle with thoughts of murdering or shooting the person I am angry at. However, if you find this is an area you struggle with, I advise that you may want to limit the amount of violence in films you allow your eyes to see. Paul tells us in Ephesians to “be angry and do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26a) and this includes the thoughts in your heart (Matthew 5:21-23). Thus, I would say that if you struggle with violent thoughts, part of keeping a ‘covenant with your eyes’ would be to not expose yourself to violent images that are present in some movies.

Language

In the book of James, he tells us that the tongue is impossible to tame (v. 8) and that we both bless and curse with the same tongue (v10) and that is NOT okay. Therefore, since so many people struggle with cussing when they are angry, and so many of us are easily influenced by what we hear, it is probably a good idea for us as Christians to be careful how much foul language we regularly expose ourselves to in the movie theater. There are of course various degrees of how much each of us can handle. Some people struggle with uttering foul language when they are angry more than others. To those folks, I would say it is very important that you keep your intake of R rated F-bomb laced cuss fests to a minimum, but as a general rule for all of us believers, I would say moderation is key here, especially if you are prepared and going in to the film knowing there will be foul language.

Sexual Content

This one I think is the one that requires the most caution for the Christian viewer, especially those of us who are guys! Because God has wired us to be very visually stimulated when it comes to attraction and desire of the opposite sex, watching graphic sexual scenes in films where nudity is present seems to render it impossible for guys not begin to have impure thoughts. Jesus taught that ‘everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has committed adultery with her in his heart” and Paul strengthens this further in telling us to ‘flee sexual immortality’ (1 Cor. 6:18). Therefore, I can deduce that watching films with graphic sexual content should definitely be avoided, unless, somehow and person can say they feel no lustful thoughts whatsoever when watching it, and that my friends seems truly impossible to me! If you really want to see a movie that you know has one scene with nudity in it, wait until the film comes out on DVD, rent it and skip over that scene when it arrives. I have done that on several occasions.

Summation

So basically if I could sum up my thoughts on being a Christian and a huge fan of film, I would say use the resources I have mentioned to weigh in on what you will be exposing yourself to before entering the theater, and then decide, knowing the areas in which you struggle, whether or not it will cause you more harm than good to see such films. Therefore I personally make my decision on each PG-13 and R-Rated film on a movie-by-movie basis. Our eyes are very powerful mediums in which our brains take in information, and it is important to always bear in mind once we have seen certain images, they can take a long time to be erased from our minds, and some may be permanent! This is how I decide on what movies I allow myself to see, and how I take Job’s commitment to ‘make a convenient with his eyes’ and incorporate it into my own life. 

Secrets Of A Storyteller: How To Tell Better Stories

I have recently discovered that telling a great story is actually an art form. Not everyone is good at it.  In my family both of my grandfathers were awesome storytellers, so as I was growing up, I studied the way they would tell stories, and how they would use such an incredible amount of enthusiasm in recalling events from their past. Many friends have told me that I am a good storyteller as well, so I thought it might be fun to give you five ideas for improving your storytelling ability.

1. Be enthusiastic

Telling a story should be fun for you! Let your friends and family know that what happened was, cool, unique, fun, and that you are actually reliving it in your mind as you tell them about it. Using hand motions and pantomimes are also a huge plus! If you are describing the size of something use your hands to show it. If you are speaking about a conversation that took place over the phone, pretend to be actually talking on the phone, complete with a hand held up to your ear!

2. Be detailed!

One of the great parts about the art of storytelling is that people actually doubly enjoy hearing it if you include more details about what happened. Seriously, if you remember things like the weather outside at the time, and the song you were listening to on your iPod the morning of the event took place, it adds a lot of flavor to the story. Remembering the exact date and time that the story occurred is also a huge plus!

3. Use different voices

If you story involves dialog between you and another friend, family member, or even a complete stranger, be sure to use a different voice inflection for when you are telling your audience what the other person said on their end of the discussion.  This allows your audience to keep track easier of who said what, and how each person reacted to what was said.

4. Know how to build suspense to a climax

This goes hand in hand with being detailed in telling your stories. The more background information you give, the more build up you have to draw your audience into your tale. Take them along on the journey with you, as you describe an event or conversation you had. Then as you build up to the crux of your story, they will be captivated and waiting to hear what happened next!!

5. Be sure to give God the glory when it applies

“Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105) 

Our life stories should reflect that, thus it is important to tell others when God intersects our paths and becomes a huge part of our stories, as He has a way of jumping in to our lives and writing and re-writing the stories of our lives in ways we could never imagine or dream! This always is a way of encouraging your story hearers, that God can intervene in the stories of their lives as well!

So there in a nutshell are some ideas to tell better stories when one pops into your head over lunch with a friend or at a party when many friends surround you. Never be afraid to share a story, you just may encourage someone right at a point in their own life story that they need it!