A beautiful sight to a homeschooling mom's heart: all of the children voluntarily gathered around for a cozy time of reading together during their free time on a rainy day.
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A homeschooling family of nine moves into the blogging neighborhood, thankful for a little space to run and play and call our own...
"May we remember as parents that we are His children, and that He is about the business of changing our hearts, of repairing our ruins, of remaking us. And though He has not finished with us, He has placed in our care His children. May He in His grace keep our hearts aflame for these children. May He give us minds like steel traps that we would never be distracted, that we would not forsake our calling. May He, the great Steward, make us faithful stewards of children, the most precious gifts, of which is the kingdom of God." RC Sproul, Jr.
email us at
shadybrookacres@gmail.com
The Shadybrook Acres Kids
From left to right:Candace, Abel, Kezzi, Annalise, Priscilla, Hope and Luke
About Me:
I've been married to my husband since January of 1987. In November of that year our first daughter arrived. Twenty-one years and seven children later, we are living a full life in rural Tennessee. Our children are ages 22, 21, 19, 17, 15, 13 and 9. We've homeschooled from the start ~ back when two little girls sat at their desks filling out preschool workbooks. Boy, have we learned a lot! Now we don't own any desks at all but instead we prefer to gather at the large kitchen table or in the living room with cozy blankets and hot tea to read many wonderful books. I really do love my life!
Blog Archive
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2006
(134)
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October
(16)
- Tommy's First Speaker for Little Boys and Girls
- What I've Been Reading
- Beauty
- Home
- Rainy Day Read Aloud
- Encouragement to Face the Giants
- And a Few More For Good Measure
- Excuse Me While I Show Off My Daughter's Talent
- Ahh, The Memories...
- Through Difficult Times
- Bottle of Tears
- A Monster Campfire
- A Promise For Purity
- Beach Pictures
- Day of Atonement
- Weekend Mountain Getaway
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October
(16)
Pastel on Black Paper by Kezzi
Priscilla's Drawing of Kenyan Kids
Kezzi's latest painting
Links
- Shadybrook's Daily Journal
- Candace, previously of Shadybrook Acres
- Priscilla of Shadybrook Acres
- Kezzi of Shadybrook Acres
- Sister/Aunt of the Shadybrook Acres clan
- Hope of Shadybrook Acres
- Heart of Harmony
- Streams in the Desert Devotional
- Great,Free Homeschool curriculum
- The Baldwin Project
- The Common Room
- Dominion Family
- Bona Vita Rusticanda Est
- At Granny's House
- Here in the Bonny Glen
- Buried Treasure Books
- The Beehive
- Dewey's Treehouse
- Liberty and Lily
- Beck's Bounty
- Screaming Penguin
20 comments:
What a sad and sheltered world. I pray that someday you allow your children to experience all the world has to offer. Your poor children must be dying on the inside. Ask them.
That's funny. Our oldest isn't in the picture because she's busy counseling and caring for those who have bought into the lie of what "the world has to offer" at the crisis pregnancy center.
"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philipians 1:21 We offer our lives for something far greater than what the world has to offer. Thank you for reminding me of that today.
Dear Anonymous,
This world has nothing for us, because we beleive in living for so much more than that. Living a life devoted to God will prvent us from missing out on anything worth while. The world has nothing to give me, and I would never choose that over what I've been given. I only want to follow His ways, and not my own desires. No one is capable of serving both yourself and Christ. To serve yourself you have to first turn your back on God, and to serve God you have to first turn your back on yourself, and what you want. Being a Chritian means daily crucifiying your flesh, not giving room for it, and pleasing those ungodly desires purposefully. I know we all have sinned and fall short of the glory God wants for us. Who hasn't lost their way and needed help at some time. But do you have to, again and again, throw a stumbling block in your own path?
As a mother of 7, I see a picture of sweet memories, precious fellowship, and life long close relationships. Can't understand Annonymous's point of view at all!!
Jennifer
A lurker, 1 time commenter (on a post about courtship), and fellow servant of the King!
Hey,
It's good to know we're not the only family that enjoys stuff like that. Those are some really incredible drawings lower down on the page! Way to go telling that anonymous commentor the way it is, so candidly adventure queen. A very vivid picture.
I've come to the conclusion that Mr Potts doesn't exist! I need picture proof. For real!
Laters~
The Neighbor Boy
all these kids love to read anonymous. you dont know them enough to say that theyre missing out. reading a book to them is like experiencing an adventure through words. Isnt that AWESOME! i only wished that i too could enjoy reading as much as they do. reading is a beautiful passion.
Loving and honoring the Lord and experiencing the world are not mutually exclusive. My world is not exclusively comprised of "poo" or crisis centers. It is filled with beautiful places, friends, family, church and interactions with people from all walks of life. It is very easy to retreat and take shots at all that is wrong. Instead, go out and make a difference. Let your children spread their wings and branch out. I'm sure that you have sone a wonderful job raising them; They will not stray!
I guess when terms like "all the world has to offer" are used certain assumptions are made. And when "sad and sheltered" is used to describe my children enjoying some reading time together, a certain worldview is supposed. We do not live a life of constant retreat. We are so busy with "beautiful places, friends, family, church and interactions with people from all walks of life" that we have to make sure we have some time to chill out at home, especially on school days. We live in a society of complulsory education. Some don't take that as serious as we do.
Since we don't know who you are and if you know us at all, we don't know what you base your opinions on and why you feel it necessary to give me advice on parenting. Maybe you could find the courage to identify yourself.
I am not identifying myself because of lack of courage, it is because I found your blog while reading a family members blog. It appears that you have a close friend that I know very well. I know where she is from and what she has done. I know about her previous life and her husbands previous and current life. They are not good people and have cheated, lied and stolen things for most of their life. It amazed me that they picked up and left their previous home and moved to TN. The reason for their move was to avoid obligations to their creditors and family. She claims to be college educated and from a prominent family (Physician father)but instead is from nothing. She has all of you fooled! So, the reason that I am not identifying myself is so that she does not have to come clean. She can run and hide for as long as she can get away with it. I am not going to sell her out. It is not my place.
Hey!
Anonymous is the one that needs to spread their wings and open their eyes. I know many families who enjoy reading together, but are still very capable of impacting the wrold. I personally have a family very much like that of shadybrookacres and I am not "dying on the inside". I graduated from high school a year early, have spent six weeks in Europe, and have spent the last two weeks going door to door every day, campaining. (I see this as a "way to make a difference") I also work a full time job and deal with many different people from all kinds of backgrounds every single day. I am not inept or incapable of hadling any situation that I have faced thus far, and one of my favorite things to do in life is STILL to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate on a rainy day and READ.
This was not about reading. Reading is wonderful. Wow! I wish all of you the very best. I would love to have conversation with all of you but this is a very difficult forum to effectively communicate. My reason for responding was more related to "poo" and "getting mixed up in the world stinks". I just don't believe that! Congratulations on finishing high school one year early. That's very admirable. Where did you go to college? The point that I was trying to make was this (apparently not so well); Love your children, teach your children,let them explore and give them the tools that they need to make their own decisions in life. The world can be a beautiful and wonderful place. It seems that you are hanging on so tightly and squeezing all of the life our of them!
"It seems that you are hanging on so tightly and squeezing all of the life our of them!"
How do you come to this conclusion?
Hey Again,
I would love to have a conversation too! I agree that this is not the ideal set up. There is so much that I would like to go into, but can't here. I guess my formost thought is this. Each child is different. Each one has to be taught and raised uniquely. To say that we should all "experience the world" does not take into account the fact that everyone is different. I have a sibling that would flip out if he knew a lot of what goes on in the world today. My other brother, however, is very outgoing and loves to be involved in anything and everything that he can. I guess a lot of this comes down to your deffinition of "the world". Do you mean that you would want everyone to "experiment" in/with everything that the world has to offer? Or do you mean that you want everyone to look around them, see what God has given them and do their best to enjoy it and improve upon it? If your answer is the first, than I strongly disagree with you, there are some places that we as Christians just aren't allowed to go. If it is the second, then I say you are right on, but need to realize that everyone goes about it in a different way, and who are we to say that they are wrong?
P.S. God did not have collage in my life plan, so I am working and waiting for the next step in His plan. I hope to go into missions ASAP.
I think the home schooling thing is the part that I don't really understand. I look back and remember school as such an amazing and important time. It was not always easy; lots of trials and tribulations but so important to my development as a child and young adult. I would get other perspectives on worldy things. Some I agreed with and some I didn't. I always enjoyed hearing other people's thoughts and perspectives on things. My parents were and still are a very important part of my life, however, I was interested in how others viewed things. I needed to form my own conclusions and not just accept everything my parents (or teachers) told me was true.
Well, regarding anonymous's comments, I grew up in a very rural area in TN with VERY conservative, strict parents, whose priority was to raise their children in a Christian home and teach them to make the right decisions in life. I rarely went to ballgames, dances, movies, etc., the things most teenagers just commonly do. Most of my time was spent at home with my family (which includes a brother and sister.) Anonymous would probably call my life too sheltered and that I had my life squeezed out of me. It's funny. I have never looked back on my growing up years and thought anything remotely like that. I love where I grew up and the way I grew up. I loved the outdoors, nature, animals, etc. Now I have a family of my own and my children are still very young. We spend most of our time at home, in the country, reading lots of good books and enjoying God's wonderful creation. I seriously doubt they will look back on their childhood, either, and think that their parents "sqeezed the life out of them."
DW
Wow. Who would have thought one little picture with a caption would spur so many comments. Of all the things I've written about, I never would have guessed that this post would win the prize for the most comments on our blog. Even though it's been a little insulting, it has been interesting anyway.
Anonymous,
So, all of this advice and conclusions about our family are based simply on the fact that we homeschool? That is a lot of assumptions. You obviously have no clue about how sheltered my kids are, what our relationships are like, what outside activities they are involved in and how or if they are "making a difference". (And add to that, who my close friends are) Maybe a better plan would be to ask some questions before you make judgements with such provoking language. We welcome you to ask. Our choices are mostly well thought out ones and we enjoy explaining them. If you'd like to communicate through a more private means, our email is shadybrookacres@gmail.com
"...but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence..." 1 Peter 3:14 - 17
My comments were really not meant to be insulting and I'm sorry if it came across that way. I am certainly not in a position to judge. I do believe that children should attend school (public, private, Christian, etc.)to obtain multiples perspectives on life/world issues. And I am not saying that there is anything wrong with rural TN. It actually sounds very nice to me most days. If your children decide that the rural TN life is the life for them, then perfect. What would be tragic is that they have to live the rural TN life because they know no other way. I have small children that are not yet old enough for school, but my wife and I obviously talk about their future. My thoughts are that they will go to school and they will go to college. After that, they can do whatever it is that makes them happy and feel fufilled. They can be a garbage man or a doctor and I will be proud of either decision. What would haunt me is if they did not have the tools (education) to make that decision for themselves when the time was right. I do not want them to be limited by not being educated. One quick story and I will not bother your family or clog up your blog...
When I was a sophmore in college, I tool a course on Philosophy of Religion. It involved the study of Christianity, Buddism, Islam and other religions. Our Professor did not ask our individual religions but did ask why we are the religion that we are. There were a whole bunch of different responses but it was determined that the REAL answer was "because that's what our parents are". That really bothered me and I was determined to figure it out for myself; And I did.I was and still am a Christian. It is so important for children and young adults to be led but they still need to freedom to make their own decisions.
By the way DW, I agree with the second part of your response. I would never suggest that it's okay for children to experiement with drugs, alchohol, sex or other immoral stuff!
Sorry for the long response!
So, what are they reading? They all look so engrossed, it must have been a great book!
It was Detectives In Togas, one of our Roman History historical fiction books. I started reading it in our morning time but they couldn't wait to hear the rest so PearlKeeper volunteered to read it to them during every spare minute! I think now she is reading the sequel, Mystery of the Roman Ransom.
Who could help but chime in here? As a HS parent, when told I'm sheltering my children I often wonder what I'll be accused of next. Maybe feeding and clothing them? God surely knew what He was doing when He decided the ideal place for each new individual was in the care of parents. It is a mother and father's job to teach their children about Him and the world in the care and protection of the home and family. This is where children blossom. I know of no better example than the Shadybrook Acre family. They are truly rich in spirit, loving the Lord and loving life. I pray my own children will grow so beautifully. If it appears life is being squeezed out of these children it is only because it's being generously poured over every soul around them and is apparently restored to them daily by their parents and the Lord. Thank God for their family. I would that the world be filled with such as these.
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