I am into celebrating accomplishments. Especially celebrating anything pertaining to a positive worldview.
Most of the jewelry I wear and the piercings I have represent something. They mean something to me. I am not one to give a gift just to give. Giving gifts out of obligation only is not for me…I want the heart. I can’t give a gift to someone unless it has meaning to it…for them…for me. Just the way I roll. I am deep and everything in me and around me has deep meaning.
This lunch date with my son Mitchell was a celebratory event for the two of us.
Dating
First…as my children were growing up…I dated each of them.
For example…we went through a season where one week out of every month, I took each child individually on a breakfast date at a local coffee shop. We went in a rotation each month. Week one was the firstborn, week two second-born, etc. I had three children at the time so three mornings a month I got a breakfast date with all three children separately. THEY LOVED IT! So did Mom.
It was my favorite coffee shop. Wendy was the owner and her mother Jane helped her out. Wendy was a sweet woman. She served amazing breakfast wraps…equally wonderful frappes, caps, coffees, and teas, so the kids and I stopped there often when in town.
The environment of the shop was peaceful, relaxing, and inviting. Sometimes the kids would pull out board games and play if we had time to hang out for a while.
One morning a month, I would wake one of the kids up at 5:30 for their special breakfast date with me. They didn’t mind getting up early for this little adventure with Mom. The rule was…they got to choose whatever they wanted to eat and drink on their special breakfast date.
It was really fun to listen to them talk all week among their siblings about what frappe they were going to get. They each had their favorites. I loved the fact the siblings chose to celebrate with each other instead of the ugly head of jealousy rising among them. That was always a blessing to me.
Celebrating
Second…I like to celebrate my children’s accomplishments…and/or an exciting change in our lives.
This lunch date was a celebration lunch for Mr. Mitchell Man and I. We had just finished his freshman year of worldview curriculum. We had three more grueling years ahead of us…but year one was down. HAD to celebrate.
Father had told me a few years before Mitchell started high school…his high school years…speaking of curriculum…must be difficult…challenging.
Ok…didn’t know what that meant exactly but I knew He would eventually make that clear.
When He told me Mitchell’s high school years were to be tough…I didn’t realize that would include being tough on me. 😳
The curriculum we did was Cornerstone by David and Shirley Quine. I used the same worldview curriculum for my oldest daughter years before. I am going to include part of the reading list for his four years of high school below. This was JUST his worldview curriculum. Not fully including math, art, languages, government, writing, etc.
The Four-Year Reading List
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
- How to Read Slowly…Reading for Comprehension by James W. Sire
- The Deadliest Monster…An Introduction to Worldviews by J.F. Baldwin
- Know What You Believe by Paul E. Little
- Know Why You Believe by Paul E. Little
- Assumptions That Affect Our Lives by Christian Overman
- Never Before in History: America’s Inspired Birth by Amos and Gardiner
- Let Us Highly Resolve by David and Shirley Quine
- The Iliad by Homer
- The Odyssey by Homer
- The Aeneid by Virgil
- The Republic by Plato
- The City of God by Augustine
- The Universe Next Door by James W. Sire
- The God Who Is There by Francis Schaeffer
- Escape From Reason by Francis Schaeffer
- He Is There and He Is Not Silent by Francis Schaeffer
- How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer
- Genesis Space and Time by Francis Schaeffer
- Affliction by Edith Schaeffer
- Giants of Philosophy…box set of CDs
- The World of Philosophy by Socrates…CDs
- The Institutes of Christian Religion by John Calvin
- The Gift of Music by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson
- The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
- Paradise Lost by Milton
- Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
- The Second Treatise of Government by John Locke
- Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx
- The Law by Frederic Bastiat
- United States at War CD series by George H. Smith
- The United States Constitution…CD series read by Walter Cronkite
- Giants of Political Thought…boxed set CD series
- The Federalist Pater by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
- The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates Edited by Ralph Ketcham
- Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy by Nancy R. Pearcey and Charles B. Thaxton
- Ameritopia by Mark R. Levin
- True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer
- The Indwelling Life of Christ by Major W. Ian Thomas
- Walden Two by B.F. Skinner
- The Plague by Albert Camus
- The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
- That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
- Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
- Darwin on Trial by Phillip Johnson
- Of Pandas and People…The Central Question of Biological Origins
- Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell
- What Happened to the Human Race? by Dr. Francis Schaeffer and Dr. C. Everett Koop
- Darwin and Evolution CD set
- The Second American Revolution by John W. Whitehead
- The Civil War read by George C. Scott…The United States at War by Jeffery Rogers Hummel CD set
- Pollution and the Death of Man by Francis Schaeffer and Udo W. Middlemann
- Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
- Great Economic Thinkers…CD series
Concept
The concept was this…read the material…listen to the CD sets included above plus others not listed and then think critically about what the world teaches man versus truth…Biblical Truth. I also included in mine…what Christianity teaches man…because Christians claim to KNOW the truth although a large part of what is taught in Christianity is built by man’s opinions versus what His truth is. Man’s opinions nullify His truth.
I loved the stimulating conversations Mitchell and I had as we went through the writings and teachings. I always had him share his thoughts before I shared mine, so I could learn how he thought…what his beliefs were…etc. His high school years were some of my favorite years of schooling. Wonderful discussions throughout.
Learning Styles
According to my understanding at this time, there are three learning styles. Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.
I had one child per learning style. Kept me on my toes as I homeschooled them all.
My oldest daughter read each of the books and sailed through the program like a champ. With my oldest son, that program would have destroyed him…he was hands-on. Forcing him to sit for hours reading those deep books would have made him hate me. 😂 He did a different…less intensive worldview curriculum…one suited to him.
Mitchell is an auditory learner. I subscribed to Audible for him. He has strengthened me in the auditory part of who I am.
For me…the phrase…”actions speak louder than words”…is true to me. I am a visual learner. I am VERY strong visually. If I see it…I believe it. If your actions don’t line up with your words…to me…your words are easy to dismiss as lies. I believe your behavior OVER your words. Auditory is second to me…vision reigns supreme in my world. I need to see it to believe it.
Our Process
During this high school worldview marathon, Father had ME read each of the books to Mitchell. This way…as the visual person, I was seeing the material…while Mitchell as the auditory learner was hearing the material. Then we discussed the material together. Brilliant on Father’s part.
It was incredible…in many ways…incredibly hard. It pushed us BOTH outside of our comfort zones to force ourselves to sit and read that many very complex books. Some we found on Audible, so I got to listen too…which pushed me outside of my comfort zone…having to learn to listen…TO LEARN. This is why I say Mitchell has helped to strengthen my auditory/listening skills.
As we would sit and listen…we put puzzles together. It is a thing our family does. I am not one to sit still unless I have something to do with my hands. I need to feel like I am still producing something while sitting.
Each year upon finishing our year of studies…we celebrated. We earned that celebration man.
The Importance of Worldview
For me…how you SEE the world is of paramount importance. Do you see it based on lies and deception…or based on truth? What have you built your worldview on…the sand…or the rock? What you stand on…determines your eternal standing…or falling.
If you are swayed by every little wind that blows through this world…you will always be changing your mind…your beliefs will change with the latest bandwagon that drives by. Father calls man fickle…because they are wishy-washy…always changing their minds.
If you stand on the foundation of truth…those bandwagons will roll past, and you will see them for what they truly are…lies and deception. You won’t constantly be buying what the world is selling. You won’t be buying bad products from the world…investing in Ponzi schemes daily that suck you dry of your retirement fund.
Investing in the Future
Mitchell is not a complainer…thankfully…but he was vocal a few times about his feelings about his high school curriculum. I told him…you will be thankful for this in the future. You will see and you will know why I put you through this.
After high school, he got a job with a bunch of physically mature men. He would come home and share stories with me along with his reflections on how shocked he was by the thought processes of these men. Years later, he still marvels how little people use logic, reasoning, and critical thinking skills…in conjunction with the truth.
He has thanked me several times since high school for pushing him to do the work…think through the deeper questions and issues in life…to see the truth. He has often commented how grateful he is to be able to have the eyes to see truths others can’t see. It changes how you live…see? You make better choices when you are guided by the truth…versus being driven by your lie-based emotions.
Your Point of View Matters
How you SEE the world matters…greatly. How you SEE yourself matters…greatly. How you SEE yourself and your place in this world…matters greatly.
I celebrate the truth…and the ability to SEE through His lenses of truth. His view…is the right view. It is the only view that will set you free. 😍