Being bitten by the comparison bug {finding contentment in our marriage}

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have:"

Hebrews 13:5 

I have been pondering an issue today, that I know that I used to struggle with in my marriage.  I know that I am not alone, and it is something that is an issue for MANY wives.

No, it's not submission.  I *STILL* struggle with that, so it would not be a "used to" topic.

I think it is something that I would call "spouse coveting".   It can arise from many different sources, and strike in many areas of marriage.  And, it can damage your marriage.  Indeed, discontent in ANY area, can be very destructive.

The verse I quoted at the top actually follows on from a verse that tells us that marriage is honourable.  Strongs lists this exposition for honourable.... "valuable, that is, (objectively) costly, or (subjectively) honoured, esteemed, or (figuratively) beloved: - dear, honourable, (more, most) precious, had in reputation."

I don't think you could find a better list of adjectives to describe how we should view our marriage!!

If we are to hold onto our marriages in that way - thinking of them as valuable, precious and highly esteemed - it's how we should also view our HUSBANDS.


"But Caroline, my husband is FAR from perfect!"


That is as may be, but it does not negate the fact that we are then told in the next verse


"be content with such things as ye have".


Yes, that includes our husbands - warts and all.

Before that, we are first told to " Let your conversation be without covetousness".  This is where the archaic language of some of the AV is a slight disadvantage.  I personally just take it as a reason to study my Bible a bit deeper, though.  "Conversation" here, does not mean what we would mean it to now. It means "character".  Our character should be one that is without coveting.  Remember what it says in Exodus?  Covet not?  It ends with "anything that is thy neighbours".  That would be, if you are a woman, your male "neighbour", and all his strong points, too! We must not want those things that belong to another.

The worst thing you can do, from the standpoint of contentment, is to start comparing YOUR husband, to someone else's.  Whether it's a fictional husband in a book, the husband of someone's blog you read, other husbands you know on a day to day basis, or your own Dad.  If we constantly look and compare, and wish they were more like "so and so", then we are taking our eyes off who they are,  hoping they would be someone else.

Let me say, first of all, that it is not wrong to see each other's faults.  In fact, from a Biblical standpoint, it's hard to miss them.  What I am saying is, it is wrong to see the negatives, or things that your husband lacks, and wish him to be more like someone else. The opposite of contentment is dissatisfaction. You are not satisfied with who and what your husband is, if you constantly wish he was more like another man.

If they are lacking spiritually, then your desire is for them to be more like Christ.  That is not wrong to pray for.  Of course, we should first be looking at OURSELVES in that matter, and praying that WE would become more like Christ.

However, when it comes down to the practical, or how he looks/dresses/cuts his hair, etc, comparing is just not helpful.  Each of us, whether as wives, or as husbands, have been given different strengths and weaknesses.  Some may be really handy with DIY.  Some may be really romantic, and good at thinking of things to do for you without being asked.  Some may be really generous.  Some are hard workers, providing for their family.  Some will be naturally great with the children.  Looking at seeing what your husband does NOT do, is not what we should be doing. Looking to see what someone else's husband does that ours doesn't, is NOT what we should be doing.

It's not wrong to admire a quality in someone else, either.  That is simply seeing and appreciating a positive character trait.  Wishing it upon our own spouse, and despising the fact that they do not possess that trait, is when it's wrong.

Instead, we need to learn to be content.  As with any area of contentment -  whether it's where we live, the family we have, or whatever -  we need to LEARN.  If the apostle Paul acknowledged that it was something that didn't happen overnight, then we are not to be surprised if it something that takes a while for us, too!

We should find the good.  Focus on the positives.  Search for the best parts of our "other half".  I know that it can be hard, but if we have an attitude that looks for the best in everything we see, it won;t be hard to find in our husband. We did, after all, CHOOSE to marry them!!! Those lovely things that attracted us to them in the beginning, are probably still there.  They may be buried deep, or we may need to coax them back out again.  Being an encouraging and appreciative wife is also more than likely going to encourage them to develop those wonderful traits.

Also, there are probably things about  YOUR husband, that other wives can see and admire! They may even be thinking "I like that so-and-so's husband does such-and-such"!!!

We need to be wives that encourage the great things in our husband, and be content with who they are and what they do. Absolutely, pray for spiritual growth, and even for practical improvements.  But, do NOT become discontent because you are comparing or coveting.

I used to do it.  I would only see the negatives, and forget about all the wonderful, amazing and gifted traits in my husband.  I had to learn to be content, and to leave any negative issues with the Lord, for Him to deal with in HIS time. To not constantly compare and hope for some dream husband, that my husband was not.  And, do you know what?   I realised I had the most wonderful husband I could ever want. He does so much for me, and I deeply appreciate the gifts that God has blessed him with, that I know other men don't always have.  If I am totally honest, I still have to squash down the infrequent little feelings of "I wish....", but I conquer them with "I am so glad that he....", instead.

Let's be thankful, grateful and content with the man that God has given us today, and every day.  Praying earnestly for God to strengthen his walk and life on a spiritual level, yes - but, so very happy with the good that we know is there.

Putting on the right clothes {fighting Monday morning blues}

I know I am not alone when I say I find the thought of a new week rather overwhelming.  A lot of people are back into their normal routine, and for a wife and Mum that usually means BUSY!

If I had a to-do list, it would be filled with many things that need to be accomplished this week.  The list of chores that need to be done seems never-ending.

We finish a day filled with God's Word, God's people and good preaching, only to be thrown back into a "normal" day.

It's tempting to feel overwhelmed, and downright miserable.

I have to confess, that it's more a Tuesday for me.  Mondays for us, are like everyone else's Saturday.  It's our family day, where we do more "fun" things.  But, Tuesday morning arrives, and you have to hit the ground running.

Whatever the day, I am sure you know the feeling very well.

I was finishing my reading of the book of Isaiah just last week.  Isaiah 61:3 talks about putting on some clothes that should help us this week.

"the garment of praise"

If praise is a garment, it's something we need to put ON.  A bit like the Christian's armour, it's something that we need to "wear", in order to be who we should be. In a sense, this item of clothing is as much to do with battle, as our "armour" is.  We are battling a spirit of heaviness - of feeling defeated, low and deflated. I know, for many, depression can kick in at any given point, and it's a battle that you can face on a DAILY basis.

The principle here, is of putting on PRAISE.  There is ALWAYS something to praise God for.  If you start to count your blessings, you will always be filled with a thankful heart. It's having our focus in the right place.

We can be in the most miserable of circumstances, but thankfulness and praise can still be put on. I often think of Corrie Ten Boom, and her sister Betsy praising God for the fleas.  It was, in time, to be found that God had planned that they would be instrumental in being a thing of GOOD, but they didn't know that when they were giving thanks!

It is the same for us.  We need to PUT ON praise.  I like to think of "praise" as a big cloak.  Not a skimpy item of clothing, that doesn't cover much, but something that wraps us up completely!  We should be surrounded by it.

It's not our SKIN though.  We don't just have it there as a natural part of our body.  We need to reach into our spiritual cupboard, grab it, and PUT IT ON! It's no use unless we are wearing it.  Plus, it's not just a fashion accessory.  It's not just to make us pretty, or to look good to other people.  It's functional, like a cloak or a coat.  We are PRAISING.  Praising God, instead of focussing on our circumstances.  Similar to putting a coat on when it's cold, we feel the effect immediately.  When we take our eyes off the negative, and focus on the positive, we are instantly encouraged and blessed.

How do we actually put it into practice, on a practical level?  We can pray.  We can bring our burdens to the Lord, and praise Him instead.  Thank Him for His goodness, and blessings.  I always try and bring praise as my first item of prayer.  The old acrostic "ACTS", is a good one.  Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. When we show our adoration for who God is, we are praising Him.  Our thanksgiving is praise, too.

We can think about the positives.  We can spend some time meditating on scripture.  Dig out your concordance, whether online or a hard copy, and look up reasons to praise God. There are LOADS!  Psalm 107 has to be one of my favourites.  The Psalmist says,  4 times in the one Psalm

"Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"

If you think of the good things that God has done for you, and the ways He has worked in your life, how can we do anything BUT praise Him!?!?

Another way, is to talk about our blessings with others.  Share it!  Rejoice in God's goodness!  TELL YOUR CHILDREN!  Make sure they KNOW how blessed you are, as a family, and acknowledge where the praise should be.  If you have someone show you kindness, remind them we need to praise GOD, for it is HIM who is the giver of every perfect gift!  They are never too young to hear us praising God, and rejoicing in His goodness.

SING!  That's one of my favourite ways to praise.  I love to put on the ipod, plugged into the speakers, and sing God's praises.  We are told to do that, often, in the scriptures as well.  It's not just for a Sunday, you know?! It's for EVERY day! God's people should be a praising people, and that includes in song. It doesn't say it needs to be in tune, just a JOYFUL noise! *grin*

So, dear friends.  Are you feeling the burden of a Monday?  Are burdens pressing you down and make you feel miserable?

Grab that garment of praise, and change your day around!

Chatting on the farmhouse porch {hello, sun!}

Goooood MOrning Patrice!!! Sun is a-shining here, and if it is still nice tomorrow, I plan to be outside with our friends who are coming to visit. 

For today, it's a quick chat with you, then carrying on with tidying and getting ready for them staying overnight. 

1. Do you enjoy grocery shopping?

Well, this is something I can answer easily.  Yes, I do.  

Why such a quick answer? 

Simply because it only involves me sitting with the laptop and clicking.  Yes, I order my grocery shopping online, and it is delivered to my door.  The number of friends in America who DROOL over this prospect, is amazing. 

There are pros and cons to this system.  

Pros are - it doesn't take long; I get it delivered when the children are around and they help put it away; no trailing around the shops with 7 children when pregnant; did I say it's quick? (there is a list of my favourites, and I just scroll down it, clicking...); no germy trolley handles; no temptations to impulse buy.  

The cons are - I probably miss out on certain offers and deals, as I don't always look at them online; I don't get the reduced item bargains; I only have the choice of that one shop, as it would start to become economically senseless to pay delivery to get things from a variety of stores.

There are probably pros and cons, more than I listed, but these are the ones I can think of just now. 

It takes only minutes to order, and then put things away when they are delivered.  Did I say it was quick?! For me, time saved is a MASSIVE thing. 

2.  Are you following any particular news stories?

News?  What is "news"???  We have no TV, so we don't get it on there.  I very rarely have the radio on at a news hour, and we don't get newspapers.  The only news I see is when I sign in to my emails, and anything that is shared on FB!

I guess the only "news" I am "following" is waiting for the Duchess of Cambridge to have her Royal Baby!  Yes, I am that shallow.....

3.  How do you feel about all of the technology we have today? Is it too much, just right, or not enough?

I feel that technology is a great blessing, but if not used properly, like ANYTHING, it can be a curse. I know that the Internet has blessed my immensely - all the friends I have made - some have carried through to meeting IRL, many I may never meet this side of heaven. The number of encouraging websites and blogs that the Lord has used to challenge my heart and life.

I love my household technology - as in, my washing machine, drier, oven, central heating, iron.  They all make my life so much easier than life was even 60 years ago! 

I think we all have to find the right level for our own lives.  We can't ignore it, like the Amish, but it can over-run our lives.  I love having days when we go out, and leave it all behind and have a day in the outdoors.  Life is more peaceful without it, as it all carries some element of noise.  Even as I sit typing, it makes noise.  I think we would notice the peace, if they were all turned off!

4.  On a scale of 1-10(1 being the least) how much do you worry?

Just a tad over 1.  I think maybe a little higher at points. I am generally a fairly laid back person, and I try not worry.  as my lovely husband points out, it is a sin to worry.  I really do try and rest on the Lord, and trust in Him, and not to worry. The only times it jumps up, is if something happens to a child, and until I know exactly what is going on, I guess my heart would jump to anxiety and concern.  Even, when I had my bleed, I wasn't worried.  I was sad at the possibility that the pregnancy was ending, but not worried.  I knew that it was in God's hands, and there was no need for me to worry.  I think other people were worried about the amount of bleeding I was having, but I wasn't!!! 

5.  Without any of your responsibilities or concern with how you would accomplish this, what would your three dream jobs be?

Oh, this is a fun question!! 

I ALWAYS wanted to be a florist when I was younger! I think it would be lovely to work with beautiful flowers all day.

I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to have a tea shop.  To do my own baking and have others come and enjoy it.  I would love to do that with my girls.

Hmmm, what would number 3 be??..... a food critic, and get to eat at fancy restaurants?.... a photographer?.... not sure, really! I would NOT go back to being a health professional.  It's too stressful.  

Right, onward and upward.  Have a great day, Patrice. 

Proverbs 31 Ponderings {The dutiful seamstress?}

It's been a looooong while since I started looking at the Proverbs 31 woman, but, to be fair, I *DID* say that I was not going to promise with what regularity the posts were to be delivered!  I have decided I need to come back to looking at her, having been pondering it myself, for various reasons.

We come in our look at the Proverbs 31 woman, to some areas that may cast fear into the souls of some women.

They do, that is, if you take every single word in literally, and think you have to obey it to the letter.

"She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands."

verse 13

Some of you are going to see the words "wool, flax and hands", and run to the hills - as far as you can get from the nearest wool shop or haberdashery.  The words "knit, crochet and sew", cast fear into your very soul.

"PLEASE don't tell me I have to start making my own clothes... PLEASE?", I may hear you plead.

However, fear not!!!  I do NOT believe that this is the spirit of what this verse is going to teach us.  

We do NOT live in Israel, sometime in the BCs, or even the early ADs.  We live firmly planted in modern day Britain, (ok, modern day SOMEWHERE) in 2013.  We live in the land of Debenhams, of H&M and of Next. (Department stores, US folks...department stores)  

You're getting my drift, right?  We don't make our own clothes any more, on the whole.  Some still do, but it's not for lack of possible places to buy them from.  Our world is full of places to buy clothes from.  I do believe, that for those of us who like to dress our girls in skirts, and modest ones at that, that it is becoming increasingly harder to FIND any that are pretty and modest.  I am actually intending to get my sewing machine into use, and start making or adapting other skirts, to be more like how we prefer them to be.  (My newly created sewing corner of my kitchen will be another blog post of its own!....)

However, the spirit of this verse, I believe, is not necessarily to do with making things yourself.  There are many ladies who I admire greatly, because they are able to so capably make a skirt, or sew some other marvel.  Contrary to what many may think, there is nowhere in the Bible that tells you that you are a sinner, or even some kind of second-grade housewife, if you don't make your own clothes.  There can be a lot of pressure given and felt, when you see what amazing things other ladies can do.  You can perhaps feel that you are not up to scratch if you don't even try.  But, we need to be careful not to be legalistic, especially when we are not even COMMANDED to do such a thing!

However, it does not mean that this verse is not of any importance to us, or there is nothing to learn from it.

You are about to get a mini grammar lesson here, so brace yourself! It's the verbs and the adverb that we need to focus on.  THEY tell us the meaning of this verse for us modern-day women.

"seeketh"             "worketh"          "willingly"


(For those who are not sure, the first two are verbs and the third is an adverb! *wink* )


"Seeking", "working" and "being willing" are concepts that stand alone, and are applicable to us today.


First we have the WHAT we have to do.  We need to hunt down, and work to find the clothing that our household needs. If you have ever looked for modest clothing, I am sure you understand how much looking and working it requires to find the clothes we need!  No matter what your standards of clothing, it takes EFFORT to find clothing.  Whatever your search parameters are, you need to put effort into finding thr type of clothes worn in your household.  Maybe you are driven, through necessity, to buy clothes cheaply.  It's certainly an issue that we have to think about in our family, clothing so many! (Although, we hand down a lot, but that's another story....) If that is the case, the seeking may require going to charity shops or looking on ebay! I have a friend, Lydia, who, to me, is the Queen of charity shopping and ebay.  She regularly gets some brilliant deals, and I long to be as good a shopper as she is! I *DID* manage to get a skirt for Abi for just 50p on ebay the other week.  I know that shipping has become more expensive, but as I live in the middle of nowhere, it's still worth it for me. When I consider that the shops are simply not selling what I am looking for AT ALL, then I am willing to pay what it costs to buy it.

Then, there is the heart issue dealt with in the adverb.  HOW we do it.  "Willingly".  We need to be a wife and mother that is WILLING to manage our resources well.  We need to care about being faithful stewards of our money, and about what our family is wearing. I will deal more with the details of that concept when we get further down the chapter. We need to be willing to put in the effort to clothe our family, rather than have them running around in ripped, dirty, old and tatty clothes.  It may take effort, but there is no reason, in this day and age of those who cast off things so quickly, to not find things that look reasonable and well kept. I actually believe it can be a poor testimony to us, as Christians, if we do not look after our family's clothing.

Maybe your working willingly with your hands is typing words into a search engine, to find the right clothes, for the right price, for your own situation!??

This working can also include mending things. I have endlessly mended ripped and torn clothing - taken up hems - sewn on buttons.  We have to be willing to keep our clothing looking smart and presentable. Again, it's not a good testimony to look like we don't care about the things that are in our possession. Whatever we do, should be to God's glory.  I believe we glorify Him by not looking like tramps! Plus, as we can see from this chapter, how we dress DOES matter. Again, I will deal with this more at a later date.

So, there you see.  You don't have to worry about skirting (HA!!) around this verse, because you are worried that you are expected to become a professional seamstress.  It's more about making sure we clothe our family well, than HOW we do it.  If you want to make everything yourself - carry on!! Just don't expect me to do it, too!

Please feel free to chime in on the comments, if you have your own perspective on this verse.

  

Monday morning blues {and God's Word as the antidote!}

How do you feel on a Monday morning? Do you struggle to get going after a more relaxing weekend?  Do you find it hard to get your mind and body back into the routine of the working week?

For me, this Monday is particularly hard.  We educate with a 4-day week currently.  That may change somewhat when the children get older ant it takes longer to get all their work done.  However, for just now, a 4-day week it is.  Normally, we have a Monday off. If we have something we need to do later in the week, as a family, we switch things around and we have to do school on a MONDAY! Horror of horrors!!! For me, it adds an extra element of busyness.  I don't have that extra day to recover from the weekend, and get jobs done, I have to be ready to hit the ground running on a Monday morning.  I am not entirely sure how much of the rest of the world manages Monday mornings!!

When I got up this morning, my feet were metaphorically dragging on the ground.  I even managed to hit snooze on the alarm, instead of off - my half asleep mind KNOWING that, allowed me to go back to sleep, instead of getting up when I should have.  Starting even 10 minutes behind had me in a mental "blah" mode.

Thankfully, it wasn't late enough to stand in the way of having my quiet time. Whatever way your day starts, try and make even a few moments to read God's Word.  It is there to encourage us and bless us, and making time for it will  never be a disservice.  God is so good, because He knew I would need a challenge to set me up for the week, and my daily readings brought me to the first 4 chapters of Exodus.  There is SO much in there, and there were many things that struck me this morning.

It was the bravery and courage of 2 ladies - Shiprah and Puah - which struck me this morning. Not all the ladies of the Bible (nor the men) are mentioned by name, and so when they are, my ears prick up.  These are the Hebrew midwives, who chose NOT to kill the male children who were born.

On a side note, the picture of Pharaoh and his attitude toward life, was a stark reminder of how many view life today - the massive ending of early life, in the womb, around the world - selective abortion of little girls, and gendercide upon the birth of many baby girls around the world.  The fact is, millions of people, rather than just one dictator, are choosing death over life - it makes my heart sad beyond words.

However, Shiprah and Puah have a more positive message for us this morning.  The phrase that struck me was this

"but the midwives feared God"

The midwives' opinion of God mattered more to them than the opinions of man.  They feared, respected or revered GOD, more than Pharaoh.  Now, do not forget that Pharaoh was a mighty man, humanly speaking.  He held the power of life and death, and he was, after all, placing a death sentence upon all the Hebrew boys.  Could he not, too, do the same for all Hebrew midwives?  You may have thought that THAT caused them to fear more than anything else.  But,  no.  They had a God-given courage, which made them care more about GOD thought, than what MAN thought.

THAT is the message that challenged me this morning. Fearing and respecting God - looking for HIS approval above that of those around me.

There are so many challenges facing us, as women, on a day to day basis, where we have to choose whether to look for the "well done " of God, or of man.  Most of the time, we have to make a choice - we can't have it every way.  Whether it be our choice to stay at home and be a mother at all -  our convictions about education - what we wear - what we choose to do in our free time as entertainment - who we allow our children to play with - choosing to obey God and be a submissive, Christ-honouring wife, rather than an independent, feminist one - choosing to fight to keep our marriage alive rather than giving up. The list of choices is endless, and those who would challenge our choice to obey God rather than men are many. The only one who we should fear and respect is GOD.  Obeying God rather than men should be our daily echo in our mind.  Every time we are faced with opposition, no matter where it comes from (and it can be as near to home as family and very close friends), we need to think "am I pleasing God or man?"

We should not do things in life for anything other than that "well done thou good and faithful servant", upon the conclusion of our lives, but do you see that God honoured the midwives for their commitment to God and His ways? He "dealt well with the midwives" - he gave them success.  He also gave them somewhere to live.  He provided for them and made them to prosper in their work.  We certainly should not look for reward, but we ARE told that if we honour God, He will honour us.  We need to keep our eyes on God, and His rewards, not on the world and its favour.

As I enter into another week, with all its challenges that will lie ahead (because we ALL know that there is no such thing as a week without them!!), I can go in the knowledge that fearing God, and honouring Him in my choices, is always the best way to go.  The big choices, and the little, moment-by-moment, choices to do right and good (when children are squabbling and nothing seems to be going right...), all should rotate around pleasing God. If the Hebrew midwives could say "no" to Pharaoh and his demands, I can say "no" to the things that would tempt me to do wrong and fall away from honouring God.

Don't worry about the opinions of anyone else today - just respect and obey God, and He will show you favour in ways that matter more than the world and what *IT* thinks.

My prayer is that your week will be blessed as you honour God in your lives. 

Pregnancy Update {more than half way to the finish line!}

Yesterday I had my 20 week scan at the hospital.  I am continually amazed by what you can see when they scan.  Robert was particularly struck by the detail.  We saw a little foot, with toes stretching and wiggling - a hand being lifted and the thumb going in the mouth - each individual  chamber of the heart, all beating away and doing its job.  The brain, the spine, the stomach, the kidneys - all appear to be in the right place, and doing the right job.

The area where there was an issue before is still present.  The sonographer explained that the area was looking more of a grey colour, which means it is not bleeding like before, and probably being reabsorbed instead of bleeding out. Her report said this "no obvious fetal abnormality detected.  However, this does not guarentee normality. The previously reported area of haemorrhage lying over the cervix appears reduced in size and now measures 5.0 x 1.6 x 6.2 cms.  Patient is no longer bleeding."

Don't you just love the "back covering" that medics have to do?  In case I was to ever blame HER if there was something "wrong" when the baby is born, they have to have disclaimers. A sad day and age that this has to happen, but never mind.  My hope is in the Lord, not in "chariots or horses".  I trust an almighty God to do all things well.

Based on that report, the consultant decided I should be scanned every 4 weeks until 36 weeks.  I am not sure why just until that stage, unless they decide to do it more at that point? I should have asked, but typically thought about it afterwards! It's my only ever pregnancy to need a scan beyond the anomaly one at 20 weeks, so it will certainly be fascinating to see the detail as the baby grows. It will be a bit of a pain, having to traipse to the hospital every 4 weeks, as these things are never quick.  However, I think it's worth just seeing that everything it still ok, and being able to decide on how busy my life can be, based on resolution of the problem.

Whilst there is still and area that looks like a haemorrhage, I will continue to avoid heavy work, and relatively rest. In other words, I will not sit with my feet up all day, but I will be careful what I take on, and certainly won't do any heavy lifting.  I would hate for the problem to return because I have not been careful.  Certainly, until the baby is bigger and stronger, and would be able to survive "on the outside", I will be especially careful.  As much as I have had nearly every kind of delivery, a premature one is not one I wish to add to my list!

The bonus, at least I know exactly what I will be doing, at 11am, on a Wednesday morning, every 4 weeks until early October!!! Also, Robert does not need to come with me, so it makes it all a bit easier.

So, there we have it.  The baby is looking healthy (as far as they can tell....) and I am certainly loving all the little kicks and wiggles I can now feel really clearly, and will soon be able to let the children feel as well, as they get more vigorous and obvious "on the outside".  I just LOVE this stage - feeling our little one moving around and making their presence known.  Precious.

You wanna picture???

Baby number 8. Blessed. 

We continue to rest in hope, as the pregnancy continues, and we look forward to the delivery of this precious gift from God in His perfect time. 

"Branching" out into lapbooks {including freebie resources}

I have tried multiple times to do lapbooking with my children.  Tapestry of Grace actually has lapbooking templates that you can purchase to go alongside the curriculum.  I attempted them in years gone by, but with all the other resources to tap into, we never seemed to complete a whole one!

So, what IS a lapbook?  A lapbook is a way of displaying things that you have learnt about a particular subject, in a visual form.  It is created by making lots of "minibooks", filling them with pictures and information, and then putting them in your "lapbook".  In America, they use "file folders" to mount everything.  We can't seem to easily get them here, so we just used card stock to create ours. You can do them on any subject you like, and make them as simple or detailed as you so desire.  We used a mixture of information I printed, and they stuck into their books, some drawing, some printed pictures and some handwritten information.

When Heidi St John was with us last year, she did  a talk, with Savannah (her daughter), about lapbooks. There were some AMAZING ones, and if I can get some pictures of them I will add them to this post at a later date.


Last week, I decided to have a break from Tapestry of Grace. (Only because there are only 32 weeks per year of the curriculum, and we do more than 32 weeks in our school year...) I decided it would be nice to do a lapbook with ALL the school-aged children together.  We started off the week by going for a walk and looking for the different trees we have in our village.  We used the printable from the Woodland Trust, which is free. (It would not be much use to American's as it is British Trees! Sorry!) Then, we spent the next days learning about the different parts of trees, and what their function was.  I learnt a lot as well, as is often the case with home ed!

We used the terrific resources from Homeschool Share.  They have an amazing number of Lapbooking ideas and templates, filled with all the information you would need to complete them. They also have some excellent Unit Studies, based around some lovely literature.  (This week I will doing that with the girls, on the book "Just Like Mamma", by Beverly Lewis, one of my favourite authors!) It's worth having a look, and using the site as a spring-board for trying out lapbooking.

We used the one called "Tree Study and Lapbook".

The children chose different ways to put together their lapbooks.  We dug out the sticky backed tape, the leaf stamp, skills in leaf rubbing and utilised the wavy line setting on my guillotine! They all did it slightly differently, in their own ways.  All were pleased with the outcome, and as soon as Daddy stepped in the door, he got bombarded with children showing him their completed lapbooks!

Susie with her lapbook - she did some leaf rubbings for the cover.

Inside, we had to add an extra "layer" to fit in all her books. 

This is under the flaps. 

This is a cute, twirly one. You spin it around to read different facts... did you know the oldest recorded tree was 4,900 years old?!?

This is Bethany's.

...and Daniel's 

... and Josh's. 

This is inside Joshua's

This shows Josh's love of drawing pictures.  His eternal cry is "do I have to write anything, can I not just draw a picture??!" 

Nothing quite like school that inspires children to share what they have done with others.

This week, I am doing the one I mentioned, with the girls, and the boys have each chosen their own.  Josh is putting his together from scratch, using the blank templates on Homeschool Share, and Daniel is doing one about Grey Wolves.  His one comes with all the information you will need to be able to fill in the lapbook, as well as information you could do more as a Unit Study.

I will let you know how we get on with those other ones.  I am particularly looking forward to the one with the girl's and spending some time looking at Biblical truths that we learn from it.

So, there we have it.  Our first ever COMPLETED lapbook!  Hopefully there will be many more to come.  All in all, they seemed to get on well with them, but my 6yo, Susie, was the most enthusiastic, and loved EVERY moment.

Have a look at Homeschool Share, and see if there is one that captures your interest.