Today’s Wednesday, so don’t forget to pray for the Gambia.
Would anyone else like to share something?
Psalm 79
¹O god, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.
2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.
4 We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
5 How long, Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
8 O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.
11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;
12 And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.
Prayers, please, for patience. Becca has been highly resistant to schoolwork this week and I’m feeling very discouraged. She is still behind in math and is being very defiant, making it nearly impossible to make any progress. We’ve tried grounding her, taking away favorite toys, even spanking, all to no avail. I love my child fiercely, but she’s the strongest willed person I know. I am at a loss for how to get through to her and her behavior is making the days seem interminably long. I am in desperate need of divine help. We usually start school at nine and are done by one. So, prayers during this time would be greatly appreciated.
I wonder if you have ever read Cynthia Tobias’ books? She was and had a strong-willed child. I have heard her interviewed many times and always find her helpful. I have read some of her books. Will keep you both in prayer. All that stubbornness can be marvelous when used in the right way!
Ann,
In case you hadn’t guessed by now, BG was/is a very strong willed child. I read all the books. Lord knows I tried. Eventually she wore me down. I gave up. I have lots of regrets, so I would tell you to find a way not to give up. See a counselor, ask for support, do SOMETHING, but don’t give up and don’t give in.
Beyond that I can’t tell you what to do.
Thank you for new days and new approaches to problems. Thank You for creative solutions. Thank You for the many devices You use to give help when we call out to you in need. Today I ask for your help with Annms as she wants to get back into a good homeschool routine. Please help 6 Arrows, and AJ, too, if they have similar issues. You know, Abba, the pressures on the homeschool parents to thoroughly cover the subjects and the difficulties experienced with noncompliant children. I ask for a softening of Becca’s heart. Please do a work in her so she has understanding of the material to be covered and how it is broken down in little daily bites to be enjoyed. You made people to be inquisitive and wanting to know more. Please put the spark of the joy of learning in Becca. I ask that her resistance would be dissolved. Today, Abba. Please.
I also ask for Your blessings to be upon the oeople and land of The Gambia. Please keep the torment of the Ebola disease out of The Gambia. Keep all the missionaries healthy and well able to minister in their various ways. Please make a way for salvation this day in The Gambia.
Sometimes, praying for a child is all you can do and is a sign you have not given up. “Do unto others..” Would you want others to give up on you? “Don’t weary of doing good.” If nothing else, you will stand before God knowing you did your part. God does not ask us to do the other person’s part. We cannot.
Kim, hang in there. You have lots of people praying for you. We know this is a difficult time for you.
What DOES she want to do, Ann? Can you connect schooling in with that? Assuming it’s not TV or computer games, can you loosen the reigns of workbooks and rote and try a different learning style? I second looking at Tobias’ books.
Annms, I used a lot of games when teaching my son, Wesley. I think sometimes it is difficult for some people to get over into the math part of the brain. They just don’t want to go there. Find some good math games that she looks forward to playing with you as a transition into doing her math lesson. Also, some years we concentrated on other subjects for some months and later concentrated on math which meant we were always doing math in the summers to catch up and to not have distractions from other subjects. If all else fails, you need to look into the Calvert school which we used for 1st through 5th. It is a correspondence type school where Becca will be assigned a teacher to report to. That way she is accountable to someone other than mom. The school is accredited when you use their teacher program. You still have to use their materials to teach the subjects, but tests are sent to the teacher, and the correspond with the student.
Thanks so much for the beautiful prayer, Janice, and for all the encouragement and advice from others. I’m feeling particularly weary and knowing others are praying for me and Becca gives me strength.
Ann – What I’m going to say is harsh, & may not even be necessary yet, but if you feel it becomes necessary…
Make sure they she cannot do anything she likes until schoolwork is finished. Unplug the TV or video games, if those are an issue. (I saw a picture of little padlocks to put on plugs so that the child cannot just plug them in again.) Take away & lock up games or toys or whatnot that she likes to play with. If she likes to be in her room, put a lock on it to keep her out of it until she’s finished with schoolwork. Those kinds of things.
I did not do those things, but kind of wish I had. Emily was extremely strong-willed, & I felt completely incompetent to reach her. I wish I had thought of, & had been strong enough to do, some of these things. (Amazingly, when she took the GED test, she got high honors, earning a state high school diploma, so she must have learned something along the way.)
But again, see if something more winsome will help first. These are your “nuclear options”.
Oh, BTW, although I still feel like a homeschool mom failure, I know I didn’t completely fail my girls. They are nice, responsible, & respectful young women. Becca will learn the important things from you, even if she seems to be fighting you all the way.
Continue to pray for the Gambia team. Between one thing and another, the number of people on the team is rapidly shrinking and there are no new missionaries coming forward to join the team. If Ebola comes further north, there would be little that the team could do to help. They need strength from God and help from their fellow believers.
Praying for you Ann….confession…when I was homeschooling my son Jacob, I got so frustrated with our lesson of “casting out nines” and his bad attitude, I threw that Abekka book clear across the room. Jacob looked at me in horror and cracked a smile asking me ” ya think we should try casting out demons”!?! Needless to say, we had a good laugh and he straightened up his attitude for the rest of the afternoon!
Casting out nines? After trying to help the first one figure that out, I told all of the others “ABeka has it carefully laid out, if you follow the directions you will get it. Have fun!” Several of them have used it later for impressing various public school and private school teachers. I still don’t know how.
Okay, we finally had the opportunity for a much needed family meeting and it sounds like everybody is back on track. But it has been a tough few days. Our sixteen year old boy was in an angry mood but I called him on it and he is doing much better. Two of the drivers had lost the privilege of driving others places but that is now resolved. Three of the young ones broke their glasses within twenty four hours of each other but that is another issue. Thanks for praying.
Wandering Views 
Prayers, please, for patience. Becca has been highly resistant to schoolwork this week and I’m feeling very discouraged. She is still behind in math and is being very defiant, making it nearly impossible to make any progress. We’ve tried grounding her, taking away favorite toys, even spanking, all to no avail. I love my child fiercely, but she’s the strongest willed person I know. I am at a loss for how to get through to her and her behavior is making the days seem interminably long. I am in desperate need of divine help. We usually start school at nine and are done by one. So, prayers during this time would be greatly appreciated.
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I wonder if you have ever read Cynthia Tobias’ books? She was and had a strong-willed child. I have heard her interviewed many times and always find her helpful. I have read some of her books. Will keep you both in prayer. All that stubbornness can be marvelous when used in the right way!
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Ann,
In case you hadn’t guessed by now, BG was/is a very strong willed child. I read all the books. Lord knows I tried. Eventually she wore me down. I gave up. I have lots of regrets, so I would tell you to find a way not to give up. See a counselor, ask for support, do SOMETHING, but don’t give up and don’t give in.
Beyond that I can’t tell you what to do.
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Heavenly Father,
Thank you for new days and new approaches to problems. Thank You for creative solutions. Thank You for the many devices You use to give help when we call out to you in need. Today I ask for your help with Annms as she wants to get back into a good homeschool routine. Please help 6 Arrows, and AJ, too, if they have similar issues. You know, Abba, the pressures on the homeschool parents to thoroughly cover the subjects and the difficulties experienced with noncompliant children. I ask for a softening of Becca’s heart. Please do a work in her so she has understanding of the material to be covered and how it is broken down in little daily bites to be enjoyed. You made people to be inquisitive and wanting to know more. Please put the spark of the joy of learning in Becca. I ask that her resistance would be dissolved. Today, Abba. Please.
I also ask for Your blessings to be upon the oeople and land of The Gambia. Please keep the torment of the Ebola disease out of The Gambia. Keep all the missionaries healthy and well able to minister in their various ways. Please make a way for salvation this day in The Gambia.
In Jesus name, Amen
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Sometimes, praying for a child is all you can do and is a sign you have not given up. “Do unto others..” Would you want others to give up on you? “Don’t weary of doing good.” If nothing else, you will stand before God knowing you did your part. God does not ask us to do the other person’s part. We cannot.
Kim, hang in there. You have lots of people praying for you. We know this is a difficult time for you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What DOES she want to do, Ann? Can you connect schooling in with that? Assuming it’s not TV or computer games, can you loosen the reigns of workbooks and rote and try a different learning style? I second looking at Tobias’ books.
And well always love and pray for BG.
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Sigh. Put in your own personal Autocorrect . . . .
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Annms, I used a lot of games when teaching my son, Wesley. I think sometimes it is difficult for some people to get over into the math part of the brain. They just don’t want to go there. Find some good math games that she looks forward to playing with you as a transition into doing her math lesson. Also, some years we concentrated on other subjects for some months and later concentrated on math which meant we were always doing math in the summers to catch up and to not have distractions from other subjects. If all else fails, you need to look into the Calvert school which we used for 1st through 5th. It is a correspondence type school where Becca will be assigned a teacher to report to. That way she is accountable to someone other than mom. The school is accredited when you use their teacher program. You still have to use their materials to teach the subjects, but tests are sent to the teacher, and the correspond with the student.
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Thanks so much for the beautiful prayer, Janice, and for all the encouragement and advice from others. I’m feeling particularly weary and knowing others are praying for me and Becca gives me strength.
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Ann – What I’m going to say is harsh, & may not even be necessary yet, but if you feel it becomes necessary…
Make sure they she cannot do anything she likes until schoolwork is finished. Unplug the TV or video games, if those are an issue. (I saw a picture of little padlocks to put on plugs so that the child cannot just plug them in again.) Take away & lock up games or toys or whatnot that she likes to play with. If she likes to be in her room, put a lock on it to keep her out of it until she’s finished with schoolwork. Those kinds of things.
I did not do those things, but kind of wish I had. Emily was extremely strong-willed, & I felt completely incompetent to reach her. I wish I had thought of, & had been strong enough to do, some of these things. (Amazingly, when she took the GED test, she got high honors, earning a state high school diploma, so she must have learned something along the way.)
But again, see if something more winsome will help first. These are your “nuclear options”.
Oh, BTW, although I still feel like a homeschool mom failure, I know I didn’t completely fail my girls. They are nice, responsible, & respectful young women. Becca will learn the important things from you, even if she seems to be fighting you all the way.
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Prayer here, please. Thanks.
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Continue to pray for the Gambia team. Between one thing and another, the number of people on the team is rapidly shrinking and there are no new missionaries coming forward to join the team. If Ebola comes further north, there would be little that the team could do to help. They need strength from God and help from their fellow believers.
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Thanks, Phos.
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Praying with you today in your sadness, Michelle.
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Praying for you Ann….confession…when I was homeschooling my son Jacob, I got so frustrated with our lesson of “casting out nines” and his bad attitude, I threw that Abekka book clear across the room. Jacob looked at me in horror and cracked a smile asking me ” ya think we should try casting out demons”!?! Needless to say, we had a good laugh and he straightened up his attitude for the rest of the afternoon!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Casting out nines? After trying to help the first one figure that out, I told all of the others “ABeka has it carefully laid out, if you follow the directions you will get it. Have fun!” Several of them have used it later for impressing various public school and private school teachers. I still don’t know how.
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I don’t know how to cast out nines and I taught math
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Okay, we finally had the opportunity for a much needed family meeting and it sounds like everybody is back on track. But it has been a tough few days. Our sixteen year old boy was in an angry mood but I called him on it and he is doing much better. Two of the drivers had lost the privilege of driving others places but that is now resolved. Three of the young ones broke their glasses within twenty four hours of each other but that is another issue. Thanks for praying.
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Oh, yes! The broken eyeglasses routine. We have been there a number of times in the past.
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