I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist

Hello again,

It's been too long since I've posted and I've missed you!  I hope you had a Merry Christmas.  Below is a copy of an email note (with some minor editing) that I sent to the pastors at my church asking them to host Frank Turek from CrossExamined.org at our church.

I've been using his I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist curriculum in my high school homeschool this year and I am so excited about it that I want to share it with you.  I thought that an easy way to share it with you is to share the note I sent to my pastors.  Feel free to forward my note to your pastor(s) too!

Hello Gentlemen,

Would you consider inviting Frank Turek, from CrossExamined.org, to come to our church (*)? Frank is a former Naval aviator, with a PHD in apologetics, who conducts seminars on college campuses, churches, and high schools to help young people understand why the Christian faith is true and reasonable and train them to defend that view.

I am using his curriculum, I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, in my homeschool with my high school boys this year and we are enamored with it. One day I said to my boys, "I can't believe I've never heard this before even though I've been a Christian since I was a child!"

We recently completed the first 6 of 12 chapters in the book, I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Those chapters use science, logic and philosophy, not the Bible, to help people see that it only makes sense that there is a Creator. It's fascinating. My boys, who are generally not jumping up and down with enthusiasm to do their school work, actually like this class and are learning from it....which, I think, is the equivalent of them jumping up and down with joy!

"Christian young people are leaving the church at an alarming rate, mainly because they are not equipped to examine the skepticism and atheism they encounter after leaving home, often coming from their college professors." (CrossExamined.org) I believe that having Frank speak to our church would greatly benefit the Kingdom.

"CrossExamined.org is a non-profit ministry started in 2006 that conducts dynamic I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist seminars on college campuses, churches, and high schools. Led by Frank Turek and other Christian apologists, CrossExamined.org exists to address the problem that 3-out-of-4 Christian youth leave the church while in college, many because they are intellectually skeptical." (CrossExamined.org)

When I asked Frank about coming to our church, he requested that a church pastor contact him to make arrangements. Here is the email address where you can contact him: seminars@crossexamined.org.

Below is a link with more information:

CrossExamined.org

If you would like to take a look at the curriculum, let me know and I would be glad to show you what I have which includes a DVD with 12 recorded sessions of Frank giving his seminar.
Thank you for all you do for our community.

Sincerely,
Sue S

* The original note had the name of our church.

Click here for

You Tube Clip about I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist

What do you think about what Frank says in the clip?

Thanksgiving Recipes for my Kids!

This post is for my kids.  

I want to make sure you have the recipes that I use each year to make our Thanksgiving dinner in case you want to make them in the future.  

I like to set the table the night before so everyone comes downstairs to a pretty surprise!

 

The first year I tried to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving, the bird never cooked.   (I was in my young thirties.)  The most likely reason is because I used a pottery piece to cook it in instead of a roasting pan.  

This roasting pan, on the right, works well.  A metal 9x13 pan works too if you use a bag.

Hopefully I'll teach each of you how to cook a turkey so that doesn't happen to you!  It's really pretty easy to cook a turkey, but I think it helps if you do it with someone else a time or two before doing it on your own.

Luke helped prepare the stuffing and stuffed, cooked and carved the turkey.

Here is our menu for this year:

1. Turkey.  (Recipe follows.) I've been using a 12-13 pound turkey to feed 8 and have leftovers.  Make sure you thaw it if it's frozen.  About three days in the fridge.
2. Stuffing.  (Recipe follows.)
3. Rolls.  Store bought.  Frozen.
4. Mashed potatoes.  Cook them.  Peel them.  Mash them.  Add salt, mild butter and if necessary, mix with beaters.
5. Sweet potatoes.  Baked, peeled and mashed.  Put in casserole and cover with marshmallows.  Bake for just a few minutes to soften and brown the marshmallows.
6. Green bean casserole.  Recipe on French's French Fried Onions.
7. Carrot souffle.  (Recipe follows.)
8. Cranberries.  One can jellied and one can of whole cranberries.
9. Butter.
10. Gravy. (Recipe follows.)
11.  Dessert:  Pie. Cake. Toffee. Whipped Cream.  Ice Cream.  Um...I ahem...shhh...bought. the. pie. this. year. (Recipes follow for Dump Cake and Toffee.)

 Turkey

Rinse turkey inside and out. 

Salt and pepper the inside cavities.

Put foil into cavities to make it easier to pull out stuffing.

Gently put stuffing into cavities- don't press too hard.  Use skewers to keep the skin closed around the stuffing.

Put turkey into pan breast side down.  

Brown turkey for 30-45 minutes at 325 with lid off.

Spread butter on outside of turkey or pour melted butter over turkey.

Put quartered onions in bottom of pan.

Add some water to cover bottom of roasting pan or 9x13 metal pan.

Check to make sure there is still water in pan every hour and baste the turkey.  Cover and cook until temperature is 180 degrees in the thigh.  (*Make sure you have a meat thermometer.)Or...Use a cooking bag and follow directions- that's what we're doing this year.

Gravy  
Take some of the juice from the turkey and put it in a pot on the stove. Mix some water and corn starch in a bowl.  It will be white colored and watery. The thicker it is, the thicker the gravy will be.  Heat until it boils then gradually add the water/cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened.  Add more cornstarch and water to thicken, or more juice to make it thinner.

Stuffing

Bread, broken into small pieces. 

Bread crumbs.  I use about half a bag of "Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing".

Pour water and melted butter over bread to moisten.   I use about a cup of butter!
Chopped celery

Sage

Salt

Pepper

Mix together in a bowl to taste.

 To make stuffing without turkey, bake at 275-300 degrees covered for about 2 hours.

Carrot Souffle

16 oz fresh carrots, boil till soft, drain, run through food processor

Add

½ c. melted butter

3 Tbsp flour

1 c. sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

Puree all.  Pour into greased soufflé dish.

Bake 350 degrees 45 Min.

Dump Cake
Spray 9x13 with Pam.
Layer ingredients in a pan in this order:
- 1 can of pie filling, any flavor (I used cherry)
-1  can of crushed pineapple with juice (I omitted this at Luke's request)
-1 yellow butter cake mix, sprinkled on top
-1 stick margarine or butter cut up in small pieces all over top of cake mix.
Bake @350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Heath Bar Crunch Toffee (from my sister, Beth, and Tracie)
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 package of chocolate chips
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lay aluminum foil on cookie sheet (I use 11x15 pan) and arrange crackers flat on sheet.  In a small-medium saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar.  Heat over med-high heat until boiling.  Boil for 5 minutes.  Pour mixture over crackers, spread evenly and bake for 5 minutes.  Remove cookie tray from oven and pour chocolate chips over top and bake for about 1.5 minutes.  Remove from oven and spread melting chips evenly with rubber spatula.  Place in refrigerator for 2.5 hours or overnight.  Break into pieces.  I keep them in the refrigerator.

 I make as much as possible the day ahead.  Stuffing, potatoes carrots and desserts.  

I have to go....the kids keep coming in and asking when we are going to eat dessert.....! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!  Happy Memories!!

Running and Homeschooling: Desire Trumping Reason

When I ran the San Antonio Marathon 2 years ago I loved many of the sayings I saw on t-shirts and posters.  Here are a few:

Quotes from the 2010 San Antonio Marathon:
*I thought you said 2.62!

 * Chuck Norris never ran a marathon.

 *Marathons are the triumph of desire over reason.

My friend is going to run her first half-marathon next month and she really wants to run, without walking, and finish well.  The third quote above recently came to my mind after I talked to her the other day.  I know she can do it.  Now, she has to want it.  She's been faithfully training for months.  

Then, I thought that the quote could be applied to homeschooling too.  So for me it would be:  Homeschooling through high school is the triumph of desire over reason.  

I  have just over a year and a half to graduate my first child.  Not...sure...if...I can do it....ugh.  There has been quite a few times I almost transferred one or more children into a public or private school...

  

 My desire is to be obedient to God's calling for our family and that seems to be homeschooling our kids....for our family...at this time.  

  Hebrews 12:1b...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

 How is your homeschooling going?  

 

 

7 Tools Book Club: Leadership and Communication

The Question
You know when people ask you, "What do you do?"

You may have been a rocket scientist, or maybe a teacher, or an Army nurse practitioner like me.

But now you are a...um...a mom.  Does anyone say just, "I'm a mom" when they answer that question?  I try to, but it's hard to end it there and not try to qualify it with..."I'm a homeschool mom."  Or, "I'm retired from the Army."  Or, whatever.

The Answer
Years ago, long before I had kids, my very capable, intelligent friend who was also an Army nurse, and had 2 or 3 small children, replied to the above question with an answer that I thought was brilliant, "I'm raising the next generation of leaders."  Period.  No explanation.  She never mentioned she was an esteemed captain in the United States Army. 

I loved her answer.

Do you?  Here's what Zan says in her book:

"We want our homes to be effective, intensive leadership training centers."  (pg. 181)

What is leadership? 

"Taking initiative to use your gifts to influence the world, improve and empower the lives of others, and bring glory to God in the process." (pg. 175)

King Belshazzar was King Nebuchadnezzar's successor and when mysterious finger's of a man's hand began writing on the wall of the king's palace, Belshazzar was scared to death.  He summoned Daniel when none of his wise men could interpret the writing.  Daniel read it and gave the bad news to the king.

Here are Daniel's leadership qualities according to Zan (pg. 177-178):

• had the spirit of the holy gods in him
• he was smart
• he used his intelligence to help others
• his character was sterling
• he exhibited great courage and faith in the midst of adversity
• he openly acknowledged God and gave Him the glory for his success

What was the secret to Daniel's success?

• saying "no" to temptation
• he had knowledge and wisdom in every kind of literature and wisdom
• he prayed and sought God
• demonstrated respect and discernment in dealing with others
• he was levelheaded
• he served those around him

Daniel's life makes an excellent study in leadership.  We want our kids to dare to be like Daniel.  Our homes are their training centers. 

Leadership does not need to focus in the political realm.  It should be focused on where our kids' gifts are...on where their bent is (like she said in the first chapter). 

What about Communication?
Zan's mention of the importance of good communication is brief. 

The bottom line?  "Children who grow up in families who communicate well will usually be good communicators."  They learn from observing you communicate with them. 

I have two things to say about that. 

1. Make sure your children are comfortable speaking in public!  There is a Toastmasters program for children, there are numerous speech and debate clubs for homeschoolers, and the Boy Scouts have public speaking requirements to complete.  All are superb ways to learn and/or enhance public speaking skills.
2. Good communication can trump other assets such as stellar grades.  Here is one example of why I say that.  

 A few years ago my husband attended a conference with influential American leaders, both military and civilian.  One of the attendees was a CEO of a large, powerful business.  This man told my husband that he hires the well-rounded college graduates with good communication skills who get along well with others who may, or may not, have top grades.  He said these people are masters at interacting with others and they will in turn hire the straight A students to do the math and technology work that needs to be done.  The straight A students work for the good communicators. 

How do you develop leadership and communication skills
 in your children?

7 Tools Book Club: World View, Dicipleship & Academics

It's true.  I'm trying to catch up on my 7 Tools Book Club posts, so I'm combining a few chapters in one post.  

Really, I don't have to post on them at all but, by going back through the book to put my thoughts in writing, it helps me gain so much from the book.   If you are reading a book like this, I encourage you to write a synopsis of each chapter if you aren't already.

Chapter 5:  Developing a Biblical World View

"World view gives focus and direction.  When we teach our children to view all of life through the lens of Scripture, we are giving them a priceless gift in today's secular, postmodern society." (pg. 104-105)  A biblical worldview serves as a compass for us to find our way and stay on that course. (pg. 107)

Children need to understand the implications of Christianity in their daily lives and that it's relevant in everything they do, from playing soccer on a team to the job they have as adults.  They need to know that each of them serve God by doing their work well and using their hobbies and gifts to help shape the world.  We were made in God's image and that's what He did.  He made the world and it was good.  I had to explain this (again) to my son who was deviating from serving God on the soccer field by not showing proper respect to the referee.  What he does on the soccer field is relevant to the rest of his life. 

Recently I put this quote from the 7 Tools book on our family's white board in response to a question that my husband posed about why our family homeschools.

"Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3) and therefore lay Christ at the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning."  (pg.  119)  This quote was from  Harvard's 1646 ""Rules and Precepts." 

 How do we teach our children worldview?  Zan recommends the What We Believe series from Apologia (for ages 6-14), and the Thinking Like a Christian curriculum for parents and high school students (pg. 119).  I didn't read this until after I ordered my curriculum and I'm using the What We Believe series for my younger kids this year and the I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist curriculum for (myself) and my high schoolers.  

Chapter 6:  Building Character Through Discipleship

 I'm not sure if more needs to be said than what Zan said at the beginning of this chapter:

"This is the heart of  discipleship- helping our children reach the point in their lives where they are concerned first and foremost with what their heavenly Father thinks, and as a result are trying to please Him in all that they think, say and do."  (pg. 126-127)

Remembering God.  Zan writes that God wants us to remember Him and on page 132 she gives scripture verses/admonitions that she recommends we share with our children about remembering God in our daily lives.

• Deut 7:18  "...remember what the Lord your God did..."
• Deut 8:18  "Remember His wonderful deeds..."
• Neh 4:14  "...remember the Lord who is great and awesome..."
• Eccl 12:1  "Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth..."  (My husband graduated from the Citadel in South Carolina, and this verse was posted plainly for all of the cadets to see.)

What's important to God?  Two things:  loving God and loving your neighbor.

•  Loving God.  "He wants our undivided love and worship, and he will go to great lengths to secure both.  We need to teach our children how to "live in an attitude of worship"sacred activity or calling when we offer it to God and do it for His glory."  Even on the soccer field...ahem.   And, while we homeschool them...ahem.
• Loving Your Neighbor.  Ways to do this include service, good manners and good behavior.  Our family has a small group ministry and one of the events we do with our group is serve at a local homeless shelter.  That is somehow easier for us than having good manners and good behaviors, especially within our family.  Zan gives me some grace regarding that by saying that we don't live in a perfect world and that misbehavior can be controlled but not completely prevented. 

         So, how do we do that?  Intentionally parent.  Pray.  Encourage.  Have a strong family unit. Homeschooling can contribute to a strong family unit.  (John Rosemond, in the article, "Living with Children")  pg. 147

Chapter 7:  Providing Stimulating Academics

I didn't really want to read this chapter.  Why not? Because I thought it was entirely possible that Zan intimate that I've been doing it all wrong for the past 13 years.  Until now in the book she hasn't been anything but encouraging, so my thoughts were certainly unfounded.  Nonetheless, that thought did enter my mind.

In reality, Zan continued to be an encouragement in this chapter too!

I loved how she defined academics:  the Bible, conversation, and oh....the occasional textbook! 

This past summer I sent my two high school boys to a week long camp to learn about the government.  Yes, gasp, in the summer!

Before they left for the camp they had to complete some assignments (yes, in the summer ...ugh) which included reading the U.S. Constitution and drafting two bills.

Knowing that there was complete lack of interest to comply (although not blatant)  I asked one of our friends, a retired Army Colonel lawyer, to help guide them (so they would "get er dun").

 I thought it would be less painful for my boys if someone explained the process who was, ya know, excited about those types of things.  Thankfully I was right.  Although they didn't finish the bills during their meeting with him, they came back excited about all of the stories he told them and they were ready to write.  It turns out that our friend had been an instructor at West Point- teaching Constitutional Law!  So, he gave my boys the assignment to write up their bills and send him their drafts so he could assess their work!  I think he was glad to have students again. 

Although my boys did NOT want to go to that camp for a week they returned totally stoked (excited) about their experience. During the week, they role-played being part of the government.  One of my boys was a congressman in the House of Representatives and the other was selected to be the Ambassador from Germany (we've lived there and he speaks German).  I think that was the best way for them to learn about our government. 

When I finish this inspiring book, I will have such a feeling of thankfulness and accomplishment, and also some sadness that it came to an end! 

What are some outside-the-box stimulating curriculum ideas you have or you've heard about?