Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11

Ever since my children were tiny, I have desired that they would know God's word. As I began homeschooling my son, I was even more convinced that I needed to be diligent in this area of scripture memorization. I found that memorizing scripture wasn't very difficult for me or my children, but retaining those precious morsels in our memory was a whole different subject! We would memorize a scripture, move on to the next one and find that we had forgotten the one we had just finished! All that changed when I stumbled on (or rather was led there by a faithful God who honors the desire of those who seek to know Him more) to an excellent scripture memory system. I have gladly shared this system with all who ask. I find that there are so many moms that have the same dilemma that I had with my kids. The solution came in the form of a index card box. My children and I now  retain ALL scripture that we memorize.
The system is easy to put together and utilize. All you need are a few simple things-an index card box,  tabbed dividers (you can print some out @ http://simplycharlottemason.com/wp-content/uploads/2005/08/tab-cards.pdf),index cards and a bible! All this info can be found at http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/memorysys/, but I've included it here for your convenience.The first step is to label your dividers.  Label the dividers and put them into the box in this order: 

1 divider — Daily 
1 divider — Odd 
1 divider — Even 
7 dividers — Days of the Week (Sunday, Monday, etc.-Though I only do Monday-Friday)
31 dividers — Numbered 1-31
Next you're going to want to use the index cards to write down any verses you and your family already have memorized. It's okay if you have none-you will be amazed at how much you are going to know within a short period of time! Make sure you use a different card for each verse and label the top of the card with the reference. Put those index cards behind the numbered tabs, but make sure you spread them out evenly. After doing that, you need to write down on the index cards the verses you want to memorize. Put one verse (this is the verse you will begin memorizing) behind the "Daily" tab. When you start this system, you won't have any cards behind the Even, Odd or Days of the Week tabs. As you memorize scripture, these will fill in. Now the fun part!  Each day you will say together the verses behind four dividers: 
Daily
Odd or Even 
Day of the Week 
Date of the Month

So if today is Tuesday, the 3rd, you will say the verses behind Daily, Odd (because 3 is an odd number), Tuesday, and 3. The next day (Wednesday, the 4th), you will say the verses behind Daily, Even, Wednesday, and 4. Keep in mind that only the verse behind Daily is a new one that you are memorizing; all the others are just review.
Lastly, when your children have memorized the scripture behind the Daily tab, you will move that scripture to either the Odd or Even tab, that scripture to one of the Days of the Week tabs and that scripture to one of the numbered Dates of the Month tabs. Now you can start memorizing a new verse, yet in a month you will have reviewed every memorized scripture at least once! What a wonderful way to equip and nourish our kids with God's word!

"Why is that tape there?"

"Why is that tape there?" Yes, that's the first thing my husband said when he saw the timeline. Though I was glad he didn't bust out his level and point out how crooked my lines were (which I totally expected and was prepared for), that single question did point out how little the hours of forethought, tons of preparation and excess of caution helped me. The planning, the prepping, the agonizing over each detail and still I messed up. Okay, so I admit it-the longer this project went on, the less cautious I became-and I messed up. And not just once. Luckily, I was able to cover up my mistakes rather easily and although not perfect, it is our timeline. Now, Lord willing,  my babies can spend years filling these crooked lines with me by their sides making history more tangible and creating memories that I hope will last all their lives.
Not only that, but this near disastrous experience has reinforced two simple but powerful concepts about my walk with the Lord.
#1-God does not grow weary while dealing with us, like I grew weary making this timeline! Like me, He sees what He wants us to become. Unlike me, He has the patience and mercy to see the work through to the end without becoming faint or hasty (Philippians 1:6).
#2-While I made a quick fix and covered up my errors, the Lord is transforming me from the inside out as I uncover my faults and present them to Him with repentance. The change in me is real, not just a cover up of all that is imperfect (2 Corinthians 3:18).

A Scary Sight

    A wall scary you ask? How can this be so? Though this may look like an ordinary wall to you,  I see  an entirely different picture. Take a good look at this wall and you will notice one thing- it is completely empty. That is where the terror lies! Let me explain.
    For a couple years now, I have been playing with the idea of  making a historical timeline as we study history. How to create this, nonetheless, has eluded me. It seems simple enough, but for some reason I have put it off time and time again.  This year I have decided I will be paralyzed by fear no more! The first step was deciding what type of timeline we would make. I looked at countless websites before I finally made my decision. Would it be on the computer, in a notebook, contained in a scroll? No, my friend, none of those will suffice. Confirming my family's suspicions that I am homeschool crazy, we will take up yet another wall in our humble little home with our adventures in learning.  I will have it no other way.
    Now, deciding how to perform this is where the anxiety stems from. I have the supplies, the timeline clipart and even an awesome history curriculum to go by and yet they are all sitting in a little pile sad and untouched. Today, however, is a new day! A day that I will conquer this empty wall and our dreams of what history can be with the aid of a timeline will come to fruition.

Let's call this an "accountablity blog"

Some people start a blog to show off their mad cooking skills, some to stay connected with friends and family, and others just to express their thoughts and opinions about life in general. While this blog may fall into 2 of those 3 categories (here's a hint, I won't be posting about "how you too can make a successful turducken!") it's main purpose is to keep accountability as far as my homeschool journey is concerned. There will be no clever wording, no dramatic details and no attempt to keep the reader hanging on every word. If it does manage to encourage and inspire my fellow homeschooling moms, glory be to God alone! That being said, please pay no regard to grammar and sentence structure(you know who you are)! Some of you may just want to close this page now and forget you ever saw it in the first place!