Blog - Sherri Seligson

The Blessings of Being Bored in Summer

July 7, 2015

For me, it doesn’t really feel like full-on summer until we have passed the July 4th Independence Day celebrations. That holiday brings with it barbecues, picnics, outside family games, and slower days. But with several weeks of summer behind us, things can get a bit challenging when it comes to activities to keep the kids busy. School has been out for some time now, and the slower days can turn into boring ones for them. Heaven forbid they become…that dreadful word…BORED!

So, summer camps, vacation Bible school, craft camps, movie days, and planned play dates fill their calendars. I have talked with many parents who spend their spring stressing over how to keep their kids’ summer calendar full. But, believe it or not, kids need something more than that…actually, they need something LESS than that.

Why are we so afraid our children will become bored? Why do we go to such lengths to avoid that? “Bored” is actually a good thing for them. It makes them take control of their day and try to fill it up with their own ideas. Now, I am not referring to allowing them to spend entire weeks binge-watching television shows and playing unending video games. I am talking about letting them have excess time on their hands, with a few boundaries. With a whole afternoon ahead of them, and a “no electronics” ban once in a while, the expanse of time allows them to be creative.

They have time to dream. They have time to think. The feeling of “There’s nothing to do!” drives them to want to do SOMETHING. So they go outside and invent a game to play with a ball and some sidewalk chalk. They look at the tall bookshelves in the house and discover a brightly colored book that is interesting. They pull out some old toys and rediscover ways to play with them.

Still unsure that extra time is creative time? Have you ever asked your children to clean out an old toy box? It takes them three times as long as it needs to because they notice long-forgotten toys or an unopened craft kit collecting dust.

Let me encourage you to “plan” unplanned time for your children during these long summer days. Let them have down-time to think. Give them opportunities to have control of their own hours. But, of course, do it within your boundaries. Often assigning time away from computers and television forces them to use their amazingly creative minds. And if my children came to me with the words, “I’m bored!” I first gave them a few suggestions of things to do, and then I told them if they needed to tell me they were bored again, I would help them to fill their time by letting them do some weeding in the garden. That often helped “encourage” them to think of something else to do.

Think about it. When you remember back to a great summer memory, did it involve watching a television show? You rarely say, “Wow, that was the best summer day ever when we watched that rerun of the Brady Bunch!”

Of course not.

You remember the gigantic marble run you and your friends built out of cardboard boxes and whatever else you could find. You smile when you think back to that day when you made a homemade slip and slide out of a big piece of tarp and the garden hose.

Those are memories made from open-ended time.

So as the long summer days lay ahead of you, please try to give your children some unscheduled “boring” days. Let them go through the recycle bin to see what they can create. Assign them a chore of cleaning out the toy box, but call it a treasure hunt, asking them to find three items they forgot they owned, along with a show-and-tell of what they discovered.

And let them be children, even if it is just for one more year. There will be plenty of time for the busy-ness of summer SAT prep classes, part-time jobs, and other responsibilities. Let them have time to expand their minds by creatively USING them this summer! It will be more educational than you think, and perhaps build happier memories than any organized summer camp could.

How the Earth’s Unique Planetary Position Shows Us God’s Design

June 23, 2015

I was watching a NOVA television show on a plane ride home the other day, and a scientist was asked if there was life on other planets. His answer began with, “I believe…,” and he continued to say that because we have evidence of billions and billions of planets in our universe, then the possibility is very likely that there is life on some of them. Now, he certainly has a right to his opinion. We all do. But he stated his answer so matter-of-factly. He has absolutely no evidence of life as we know it to exist, but he definitely assumes it is there. That is not science. We can take the observable facts we have and lay them all out, but what we do with them becomes at best hypothesis, or more often conjecture or belief. That is how science works, but too many times scientists err by stating their beliefs as fact.

What do we know about other planets? Well, not too many details, but we DO know a lot about what it takes to sustain life as we know it on a planet.

You see, the Earth is in a perfect position in the solar system and the galaxy to support life.

First, living things need water occurring naturally in its liquid form. That means a planet needs to be close enough to its sun so water doesn’t freeze (like the ice caps on Mars) and it cannot be too close to the sun so the water remains as vapor. If our Earth was just 5% closer to our sun, all the water would turn to gas, creating a massive greenhouse effect and burning up all life. And if it was 20% further away from the sun, all the water would become ice, carbon dioxide clouds would form, and not enough sunlight would reach the land.

Image courtesy NASA

A planet needs to be orbiting just the right size star. Our sun is a Spectral Type G2 dwarf main sequence star. It puts out just enough heat for the Earth. If it was smaller, the Earth would have to be closer to it for warmth, but then the sun’s gravitational pull would be so strong that it would prevent the Earth from rotating, causing it to have a constant day side with too much solar radiation and a constant night side – too cold and no light for photosynthesis.

A planet needs to be protected by gas giant planets within its solar system. These massive planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune shield the inner planets from comets and other large meteor-like objects. The massive gravitational forces of the larger ones also help to keep Earth’s orbit stable.

A planet needs to have a nearly circular orbit so that its distance from the sun is constant enough to provide constant temperatures. Some planets, like Mercury, Mars, and the dwarf planet Pluto have notably elliptical orbits, sometimes being closer to the sun (where they experience more warmth) and then further from the sun (where they experience more cold).

A planet needs to have an oxygen rich atmosphere to provide for a temperate climate and protection from radiation. Of all the seventy-some known planetary bodies in our solar system (including planets and moons), scientists have figured out that only seven have atmospheres. And out of those seven, only Earth’s atmosphere is made of gases that can sustain life. And it is the only atmosphere that is transparent. That means if you were able to stand on the others like Venus, Jupiter, or the moon Titan (which you couldn’t because you would die), you would be in a constant fog, unable to see anything.

A planet needs to be orbited by a large moon. Our moon is about one-fourth the size of Earth. It’s bigger than the dwarf planet, Pluto. Its gravity drives our oceans’ tides and propels the hydrologic cycle, keeps the Earth’s tilted axis maintained, and provides gentle seasons which are good for life cycles.

A planet needs to have a magnetic field. This is a result of the Earth’s liquid iron core movement. The magnetic field helps to shelter Earth from damaging solar radiation. If the field was smaller, the radiation would strip away the Earth’s atmosphere.

A planet needs to have relatively thin crust with tectonic movement so that the crust recycles itself as new crust forms and old crust moves down into the Earth’s mantle. This regulates the planet’s temperature and recycles chemicals.

A planet needs to have a proper ratio of liquid bodies of water to land. This way there is a more moderate shift in global temperatures and again helps drive the water cycle.

A planet needs to have land – to be a terrestrial planet, unlike Jupiter or Saturn which are made up of gases.

A planet needs to have a moderate rate of rotation so that each portion of the Earth is heated and cooled appropriately by the sun…kind of like a rotisserie oven!

And a planet’s sun needs to be located at a proper spot within a galaxy so that there is not too much affect from the galaxy’s massive center with its large gravitational force, and excessive debris that would constantly fall onto the planet.

If you assign probabilities to all of these components, the likelihood of a planet having all of these features is one thousandth of a trillionth. Now there are likely hundreds of billions of stars out there, but one thousandth of a trillionth is even smaller than that. WE ARE RARE!

I’m not saying that we know that there are no other habitable planets. We don’t. But we DO know that this situation is extremely unique.

We are in the perfect spot in our solar system for life to exist. Close enough but not too far. And interestingly, the Earth has an unusual atmosphere that is transparent to radio waves and visible light, yet it blocks other wavelengths that can be harmful. A rare situation of a transparent atmosphere allows us to be able to see the heavens. Isn’t it interesting that the perfect features that support living things allow those living things to observe the universe we are in?? Are the conditions for habitability and scientific discovery related?

Though our Earth is not the center of the solar system, our galaxy, or likely even our universe, isn’t it amazing to know that we are perfectly placed in a unique position and with unique features so that we are able to live. Add to that the interesting phenomenon of observability being linked to habitability. What keeps us alive also allows to see what’s out there.

So here’s where the “I believe” part comes in. FULL DISCLOSURE: This next part isn’t science; it is my conclusion. Our omniscient and omnipotent God has placed us in the perfect spot and provided for us the sun, surrounding protective planets, and awesome galaxy location for our survival as well as the opportunity to observe the amazing Creation he has made for us so we can give Him the glory!

Quick Gourmet Pizzas from Leftovers

June 16, 2015

One of the challenges of having many children close together in age is that they all hit the teenage years at the same time. Now, three of our four children are boys and if you have any boy teens, you know that they are going through massive growth spurts and physical changes. That means that most of their day is filled with eating: breakfast, after breakfast snack, mid-morning snack, pre-lunch, lunch, after-lunch dessert, mid-afternoon snack, mini-meal, late-afternoon snack…and I could go on and on.

Needless to say, I had to find clever ways to extend our meal budget to feed them while still trying to provide a semblance of healthful foods.

One of the ways I did this was to have a “leftover” pizza night almost each week. Whenever we had any leftover meat, whether it was roast beef, chicken or even lunchmeat, I would quickly hover over it, claiming it as my own for tomorrow night’s dinner. In the same way that Gollum would huddle over “my precious,” when there was a lull in the dinner feasting, I would quickly swoop in with my arms, cradling the main course and say, “Dinner is over and I am saving My Precious for another meal tomorrow! Sure, you can have thirds, just not of this. Look…there are perfectly good string beans in that bowl over there!”

And I would wrap up and mark my hoarded meat for tomorrow night. [DO NOT EAT!! MOM’S]

Years ago, I started a list of meals made from extra beef or chicken for times just like this, when we had (forced) leftovers.

One of my favorites was Margherita pizza. It was inexpensive, fresh, easy-to-make, and delicious!

Here’s one I made recently using sliced roast beef.

The basic ingredients are:

Pizza dough (three small loaves)
Roast beef slices (about ½ pound)
1 large bag fresh spinach
3 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
½ onion sliced into slivers
2 tbsps chopped garlic
2 tbsps balsamic vinegar
2 tbsps olive oil
8 ounces goat cheese

For the pizza dough, I used one package of Rhodes frozen bread dough. Follow the package directions to thaw (it takes about 2 ½ hours at room temperature). When I have time, I make my own pizza dough. It’s easy and much less expensive. If you do a search on Pinterest, I’m sure you will find lots of recipes to choose from. You also can buy fresh pizza dough at most grocery stores, too.

Once your dough is thawed, oil two large cookie sheets. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (Note: depending on your oven and where you live, temperature may need to be adjusted.)

Take one of the loaves and split it in half, adding each half to one of the other two loaves. This will make two larger pizzas instead of three small ones. I find it is helpful to add some oil to your hands so that they don’t stick to the dough. If you use flour, it just makes the pizza crust dryer. Take each lump of dough and gently begin to stretch it out in the air with your hands. Hold one side at a time, allowing gravity to pull the dough down. As you move your hands across the edges of the dough, it should begin to more easily stretch out. Once it is about half the size of your cookie sheet, place the dough down on it and continue to stretch it out to form a large rectangle (it takes a little work, but it will eventually spread out). Repeat with the other ball of dough. Lightly cover dough with a towel until time to put toppings on.

Don’t worry if your dough doesn’t stretch all the way to the edges of the pan. As it rises, it will.

For the toppings, add a little olive oil into a skillet, and heat to medium temperature. Add onions and garlic and saute’. Now add the spinach and sliced roast beef, stirring until the spinach has wilted.

Evenly distribute the meat mixture over the two pizzas. Add sliced fresh tomatoes. Now sprinkle balsamic vinegar over the top, then the crumbled goat cheese. Bake pizzas in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes until edges are browned and cheese just begins to get toasted on the edges.

If you want to cook both pizzas at the same time, you can place one on a top rack and the other on a lower rack of your oven. Then switch them after about 15 minutes of cooking. You just need to watch them more closely if you do this. I had to do it this way because my kids would go through both pizzas so quickly that I needed them to be done at the same time!

The beauty of this “recipe” is that it can be so easily modified. You can change the meat to chicken, ground beef or shredded pork. You can leave the meat out altogether. You can swap the spinach with sweet bell peppers, mushrooms, olives, or whatever veggies you have on hand. You can add pizza sauce. You can change up the cheese with mozzarella or cheddar. One of our family favorites is to use shredded chicken, add barbecue sauce, and top with cheddar cheese. You can go Tex-Mex by adding salsa instead of pizza sauce.

I like to add spinach on most of my pizzas because once it is cooked down, it is almost invisible among the other toppings. But it adds a great boost of nutrition.

Have fun experimenting with the combinations. You will be extending your food budget and making something that is always fun to eat!

When You Have a Child Who Is Not Driven

June 10, 2015

I was recently talking to one of my sons who is in college, discussing a unique opportunity that he had been given. He was excitedly telling me about how this new endeavor really fits his strengths as well as his passion.

Later, I began to reflect on this. This was a child who, as a young boy, would do a full body shrug as he was asked to write his name on top of his paper for school. This was a child who took a long time to learn to read and needed my help when he did any lesson. I was walking that thin line of becoming an educational security blanket when this continued into middle school.

I continually prayed for him, asking the Lord to mature him. I just didn’t see a good work ethic in his heart. He wasn’t trying to do his best, but instead was just looking to do ‘good enough’.

As a family, building character was foremost in our discussions. We desired for our children to understand that God requires our best in all we do. The desire to be driven or to do hard work should not be for the end goal of becoming a millionaire; it is to work diligently for the Lord, using the gifts He has generously given us for His good!

So what do we do when we have a child who hasn’t caught that? I didn’t want to have a 35-year-old son, still living in my home, sitting on my couch, eating Cheetos and playing video games. These children are arrows in our quiver. And what do we do with arrows? We shoot them…we send them out to do what they are designed to do.

When you meet a shy toddler and you want to connect with him or her, what do you do? Well, you squat down to their level so you can talk with them eye-to-eye, right? You relate to them from their vantage point.

Well, that is what I began doing with my son. I tried to see things from his level, his vantage point. This child LOVED building things. Whether it was Legos, K’nex, or even pipe cleaners and clay, he was always building something.

So as we did lessons for school, I allowed him to incorporate that love for building into his assignments. I asked him to construct the layout of a Greek military battalion. We constructed cells out of edible material. (It’s amazing what you can do with Rice Krispie Treats!) I had him write a paper on a topic and include illustrations of the design of whatever he was writing about (even if it was a book report).

And he responded.

He still would sometimes complain about the work he had to do, but he began to see that he could make that work a bit more enjoyable if it had a purpose. Ultimately, THAT was the lesson we were trying to teach.

Our Lord calls us to do our best.

When we see that we are doing things for our Lord, we have a changed perspective. We learn that our occupation, whether it is student, mother, mail carrier, or king is one that is appointed to us. And when we DO our work from that vantage point, we begin to gain joy in it. Granted, there will be challenging days, days when we really don’t want to get out of bed, days where we feel unable or un-enthused. But those are days when we need to call out to our Lord.

“Father, you have placed me here with these little ones…Lord, you have given me parents who are teaching me and are asking me to do this assignment for school…God, I can’t see why, but you have given me this trial to walk through…”

And THAT is where He desires us to be. When we call out to him, we are able to see HIM work in ways that we could not otherwise see. We can give HIM the glory, then, for bringing us through.

Did you see what I just did? You thought this was a post on how to help our kids when they have no drive. But we ALL need this, don’t we? We ALL need that little kick in the pants to be reminded that we aren’t doing this for ourselves or for others, but we are doing this to give glory to our Lord!

When we see that, we can then help our children to see it, too. We can then help them to understand the benefits of a hard work ethic. We can all change our perspective as we approach our days from “What can I get out of today?” to “What does the Lord have for me today, and how can I serve Him and see Him work in my life?” That brings us ultimate joy, folks.

It is more of a heart thing, isn’t it? I know that this is one of the many reasons God gave me children. He gave me little mirrors of myself, helping me to see areas in my life that I was selfishly holding onto.

And I give Him the glory for it.

Have an extraordinary day!

Sherri

Tears and the Love of God

June 2, 2015

We all have cried at least a few times in our lives. Personally, I cry often. Sometimes it is when I read a touching letter or during an emotional part of a movie. I have even been known to cry at well-marketed commercials, too. But why do we cry? Why do our bodies make tears? And how can we see God’s creative hand in it?Well, first we need to talk about tears themselves. You see, our eyes produce three known types of tears. The first type is basal tears which our eyes constantly produce. They actually are released over our eyes in three layers. The first is a mucus layer to keep moisture on the eye. The second layer is an aqueous (or watery) layer that is for hydration and protection from damage to the eye. It actually has chemicals in it that are antibacterial. The third layer is an oily lipid layer to keep the surface smooth and to prevent other layers from evaporating.

We produce basal tears constantly. In fact, your eyes will produce about 30 gallons of tears during your lifetime!

The second type of tears is called reflex tears. These are made when our eyes experience irritation, such as when we chop onions. Designed to flush away harmful chemicals or particles, they are released in much larger amounts than basal tears. Reflex tears contain lots of antibodies to prevent any harmful microorganisms that might attack, too.

The third type of tears is the one we think of most often: emotional tears. You know why these are released. They happen when we feel deep emotions, such as fear, sadness, or even excess hilarity or happiness. When my family plays board games, for example, I often find myself laughing so hard, I end up crying! Why is that? Well, the amazing design of our body allows us to cry emotional tears when the body feels a loss of stabilization.

You better believe I am unstable when I am laughing that hard!

These tears are released to help stabilize our moods. Scientists are still completely unsure why these tears are helpful, but some studies have shown that emotional tears contain higher levels of stress hormones, such as enkephalin, which is an endorphin and natural painkiller. Isn’t it amazing that our bodies produce hormones that help to reduce pain and make us feel better when we are stressed?

So where am I going with all this?

Well, we know of several times in the Bible where men and women, and even Jesus, shed tears. Usually, the accounts are associated with deep emotions, so they are involving more than the basal or reflex tears. They are emotional tears.

It is not a mistake that we were made as people with emotion. Our modern Western society has often encouraged us to hide our feelings and hold things inside. But think of the Israelites. I often think about why God chose these people and their amazing culture. Many Mediterranean cultures, like the Israelites, are filled with people who freely express their emotions. Coming from a Middle Eastern background, I know this intimately.

When my family is happy about something, there is dancing, food, singing, food, hugging, and more food. When they are sad, there are tears, food, hugging, food, and…well…more food.

You always know what they are thinking because it is held out there for us all to see! But I think that is a good thing.

The Bible often mentions tears as a great means of expressing emotional stress, happiness, and grief. Who are we to think otherwise?

And science is beginning to reveal to us some of the many benefits of shedding tears. They are a healthy part of living life.

So if you are dealing with the emotional stress of grief, don’t hold back your tears! It is a great thing to express your emotions, instead of keeping them inside. We aren’t designed to walk this life alone. We are a part of the greater body of Christ. Find those around you who you can be transparent with. I mean, we shouldn’t be airing our deepest feelings to the world, necessarily. But we shouldn’t be holding them to ourselves, either. Look for a dear friend or family member who you can be safe with. Share your heart!

Parents, it is so important to show emotion in front of your children. Let them see you when you are stressed, happy, sad, or concerned. Then let them watch as you work through those situations, praying, sharing, and living them. You will be opening up opportunities to guide them as they become young adults and need to work through challenges.

Most importantly, show them the importance of throwing “…all your anxiety upon him [God], because he cares for you.” (1Pet. 5:7)

Remember, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Ps. 34:18)

So if you’re dealing with grief, emotional stress, or even sheer joy, you don’t need to hold back your tears. Allowing them to flow helps your body to do its job of keeping you healthy. Allowing them to flow helps you to communicate to those around you what’s going on. Allowing them to flow builds your relationships with dear friends and family.

It can bring you to your knees to the One who made you to feel. The One who loves you! The One who wants you to come to him because, indeed, he cares for you!

The Present Status of Homeschooled Teens

May 26, 2015

Last weekend, I spoke at the Florida Parent Educator’s Association homeschool convention in Orlando, Florida. The previous year, I was a featured speaker there, but THIS year I had the opportunity to speak in the Teen Program. This was part of Apologia Science’s two-day Boldly Explore Creation program where several scientists spoke on fascinating topics, and we did lots of fun hands-on activities. My two talks were titled, The Alien World of the Ocean, and The Science Behind Science Fiction. I had lots of fun sharing how we can see God’s amazing fingerprints as we study his creation as well as how science can help us to dream and create.

But perhaps the most enjoyable experience I had was being with almost two hundred students between the ages of 13 and 19 for those two 8-hour days. Can you believe I just said that? Most people would consider that experience something more like a punishment.

Yet these students were delightful! They were attentive, asked excellent questions, and even though some of them wouldn’t consider science their favorite subject, they respectfully participated in the experiments and activities, and I would say that they actually enjoyed themselves!

I want to attribute this to the fascinating program that Apologia puts on, but I have to give complete credit to the parents who have been pouring into these young people. They are a product of daily encouragement and guidance. They are a product of Mamas who have been up all night in prayer, asking for wisdom in how to train their little ones. They are a product of Fathers who have bravely led and have considered a relationship with their children more valuable than lesser things that the world can offer.

And they are a product of homeschooling.

As I have been speaking to homeschoolers all over the country for well over a decade, I can honestly say that it is the engagement and dialogue, the time (both quality AND quantity), and the continual prayer that help produce students who are mature and well-educated.

For some of the activities, we asked the students to divide up into small groups. I smiled as I saw some of them ask those who were alone to join their team. I saw several multi-aged groups. I heard lots of giggles.

Parents, let me encourage you that you are doing a wonderful job! If you are feeling like the day-to-day work is exhausting or if you aren’t seeing much fruit, you have to believe me that you ARE making progress. It might not feel like it right now, but you are doing so much more for your children in preparing them to live and work in our world than you might realize. You are building relationships with them! You are modeling for them that life sometimes is difficult. You are showing them, in our often fallible ways, how to navigate those challenges.

And they are seeing that you are FOR them!

Please keep going. Keep pursuing them. It is for their good!

And I look forward to meeting more of them and hearing more amazing stories of what they are doing as they enter adulthood!

Have an extraordinary day!

Sherri

Dealing with Anxiety, Drama, and Intensity in Our Homes

May 19, 2015

I mentioned something in one of my last posts about how our perception of something affects how our children view it. And yesterday, I was spending time with a dear friend, catching up on her family. Her daughter recently had a baby, and we were discussing how relaxed this little one was. He was a sweet little boy, very happy and easy-going. Now, this got me thinking… We all like the idea of a child who is easy to care for, always happy and very relaxed. But, of course, our little ones arrive with a fully functioning personality that doesn’t take much time to show itself. Believe me, I know.

Some of my children came into the world in a cloud of peacefulness and joy, while one of them came into it, though very happy, quite intense, challenging everything that came his way.

Now I’m not going to focus on children’s personalities. Much of that is an inherent part of them.

But as moms, we do have an opportunity to create an environment where they are able to learn to handle things around them in a much easier way.

For example, imagine when a toddler is trying to take his first steps. He slowly pulls himself up, swaying back and forth a bit until he gets his bearings. Then he lets go of his support and tries to lift his foot as he toddles forward a bit. Next, the inevitable happens…he plops down on his bottom. That next moment is a critical one. Once he hits the floor, he is gauging his circumstances. He looks to you to see your facial expression. He listens for the tone of your voice to get a clue as to how he should react to this predicament.

If you smile and sweetly say, “You’re OK. You’re fine! Let’s get up again.” He very likely will begin to smile, too, comforted because you are fine with what just happened.

But, on the other hand, if you have a scared or upset expression and respond with, “Oh no! You fell down! Are you hurt? Oh, my poor baby!!!,” you can guess his response to that one. Yep. He will begin to cry, and eventually learn that he should cry every time he falls.

Now, I’m not advocating a stoic face even if your child is hurt. But can you see how our children look to us for clues to how to react in situations? They watch and learn from us to see if they should be apprehensive, fearful, or easily agitated.

I know some young moms who are very relaxed in their parenting. If they don’t know what to do in a situation, they calmly ask questions, trying not to show extreme emotions for the sake of their children. And their children seem to be pretty mellow when it comes to expressing their needs.

Yet some moms I know face great fear of the unknown, great fear of being unable to control the many situations of parenthood. So they face many situations with anxiety and nervousness. And their children can pick that up.

Don’t get me wrong here. I knew NOTHING about raising children when we had our first baby. I had done very little babysitting and was not around kids for most of my growing up years. And my husband and I were one of the first in our little circle of married friends who had had a baby. So I had nothing to build on. Few to ask. My mother was a great help for many things. But I really wanted peers who could come alongside me and we could walk together. In the days before the hyper-connected-ness of the internet and other social media, there was very little available for us. And, yes, I was nervous and a little scared.

But I am grateful for a few women who spoke into my life, modeling a gentle spirit. They encouraged me to lean on my Lord and trust that He knew what He was doing when he gave me this little life to be a mother to. He gave me His word which was full of wisdom. I had to believe that He knew what He was doing, because He is omniscient. How could I say I knew better?

So I openly embraced this parenting thing. I struggled with it sometimes, but I purposed to give my apprehension to my Lord, and not worry if I would be ruining these little lives that were now in our household. Each day, I prayed for wisdom and did my best. And I tried to exhibit that to my children. I tried to show them that, though I didn’t think that I had it all together, I knew that our God did. And that gave me peace. They could also have peace in their hearts, knowing that their Heavenly Father was in control.

I think that is what helped me to drop the constant worry and anxiety that came into my mind. It helped set a more peaceful tone over our home, and I think that is part of what helped our children to walk through their days without as much drama or intensity.

Now, that doesn’t mean we didn’t have drama and intensity in our days. There was crying, discipline, struggles, and lots of stress. But I tried to call on the Lord daily for His strength through it. As I read my Bible, I was able to regain my focus and get right perspective as I approached the day. It gave me a peace in my heart that helped me to face the definitely un-peaceful moments in our lives.

The more I made it a habit in my day, the easier it was to navigate those stressful times and exhibit that heart of peace to my children.

I don’t have it all together. I don’t.

But I know where to go. And I purposed to keep going there. On my knees, praying. In my mind, reading. And in my heart, meditating on His truth.

Keep going, sweet friends. God gave you your children because He knew YOU would be the best ones to raise them. He will equip you and give you peace as you do it!

Creation, Light, Chemistry, and Aliens?

May 12, 2015

Have you ever had a discussion with someone about the possibility of aliens existing on other planets? Don’t worry. This isn’t going to be a geeky post. But I am serious. Many people believe in the possibility that other life forms exist on other planets. Their major reason for this?

Well, if there are millions and millions of stars, then there must be billions of possible planets. Surely there are some that would harbor life.

Now, this is all conjecture and supposition. I don’t know the answer to this question. No one knows the answer to this question. But as I am studying more and more about our planet, I am learning that we are quite rare.

The conditions to support life as we know it are plentiful and very specific. Such as the size of our sun, Earth’s position within our solar system, the existence of huge, gas giant planets outside of our orbit, our perfectly designed atmosphere, including what it is made of and its existence, and even our solar system’s position within our galaxy. There are so many “required” parameters to support our life that if you assign numerical probability to all of them, the likelihood of another planet existing like ours is even smaller than the possible number of planets that exist!

We are rare!

Now, I am not saying that there is no life on other planets. I just don’t know that. And even if there was, it is God’s wisdom that upholds that life, and I believe it would be for his great purpose.

But I want you to realize the perfection of design of our unique little ball of Earth on which we live.

Here is just one amazing detail: Our sun is the perfect size and brightness to support life. A larger sun would be too hot and create way too much gravitational force. A smaller sun wouldn’t produce enough light for living things to survive on Earth, and it wouldn’t be able to hold many large planets in orbit around it. Well suns produce light, right? And you probably know that our sun produces a wide range of light wavelengths. Visible light is the light that we can observe with our eyes. It includes all the colors of light we see in a rainbow. But it represents only a tiny range of light waves that the sun makes. Radio waves, infrared waves, microwaves, and television waves are also produced by our sun. These waves have a lower energy than visible light. And they are useful to us, aren’t they?

But there are some rays our sun produces that are harmful to us. Ultraviolet rays, x-rays, and gamma rays have such a strong energy that living cells die when they are exposed to them in large amounts. So why aren’t we all being fried to pieces right now?

Simple. These three attackers to our Earth are protected by exactly three perfect lines of defense. You see, the Earth’s atmosphere is composed of lots of gases. And over 70 percent of the atmosphere is made up of nitrogen gas. We don’t need nitrogen gas for our body functions, but we DO need it to be at that perfect concentration in the air. Nitrogen gas doesn’t react with our bodies, but it behaves as a carrier to help us get the oxygen we need to survive. If there was a much higher concentration of oxygen in our atmosphere, our bodies would quickly overheat, and we would not live nearly as long. Oxygen causes metabolic functions to happen faster. And that is bad.

So we need just the right concentration of oxygen in our atmosphere. Twenty-one percent is perfect. And that is exactly what we have.

Well, back to the damaging light waves. Gamma rays are light waves that have the greatest energy and are the most damaging. But interestingly, nitrogen gas stops most of them before they reach the Earth. I won’t go into the chemistry behind it, but it is pretty fascinating how the way that nitrogen gas forms strong little molecules in air is the perfect configuration to stop gamma rays from hitting the earth.

X-rays have a little less energy, so they are unable to break up nitrogen gas and aren’t affected by its presence. But oxygen gas has the perfect molecular configuration to stop x-rays. And that is just what it does. Lastly, ultraviolet rays, the ones we are always warned about when going out in the sun, have a little less energy than x-rays, but they are still damaging to living tissue. Well, they are stopped by a third type of gas in our atmosphere: ozone. Ozone is made up of three oxygen atoms, and has the perfect molecular configuration for breaking up ultraviolet rays.

But ozone is poisonous to living things. So it “just so happens” to be located in a layer within our atmosphere that is higher than where living things are. Isn’t that amazing? We need it to protect our Earth, but we can’t have it where we are living. So instead of being mixed in with the other gases in our atmosphere in large concentrations, ozone exists high up above us, but still within our protective atmospheric layer.

All of these specific parameters I just mentioned need to exist or we would not be able to survive. And this is just one planetary requirement for life.

The “take home” on this? Earth is a unique planet located in a unique position in a unique solar system in a unique position in its galaxy.

Add to that our God who is continually upholding every single molecule He has created, completely intimate with our every move, every breath, every thought, and we can truly say with Colossians 1:17, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

The Wisdom of God and the Hydrologic Cycle

May 5, 2015

One of the most fascinating things to me when I read the Bible is discovering deep explanations of how our world works. I should not be surprised when I stumble upon these, but it amazes me anyway.

Many of you know my story of how I was a young believer when I was in college, reading the Bible for the first time with all the zeal and excitement that comes with it. At the same time, I was taking a required course for my Pre-Med major, titled Evolution. The “textbook” for that class was Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species (the actual title is much longer, but you get the gist).

So as I was richly digging into the Word of God, I was also learning about this man’s idea of how the world and everything else in the universe came to be. I had to reconcile these two ideas: I knew that God’s word was truth, but I had to understand how the ideals of evolution either fit into it or were completely wrong. [Let me tell you now…they are completely wrong!]

This began my journey of reading all things from an apologetic point of view. I wanted to always be able to give an answer for my belief, and I was continually searching for places in the Bible that contained wisdom to how our world worked.

Well, one of my favorite ones has to do with the hydrologic cycle of the Earth.

Oh, yes! There are plenty of scientific principles discussed in the Bible.

If you don’t know what the hydrologic cycle is, the name should give you a clue. The prefix “hydro” means water, and a cycle refers to a series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order. And, indeed, that is what a hydrologic cycle does. It refers to the continuous process by which water is circulated throughout the Earth and its atmosphere.

Beginning in our oceans, lakes, and rivers, liquid water is exposed to heat by the sun, causing some of its individual molecules to gain enough energy to become gaseous water. We call that water vapor. You deal with water vapor when you are heating a pot of water on the stove and finally see that steam rise out of the pot, letting you know it’s time to put the pasta in.

This vaporization of water is called evaporation. See the root word “vapor” in it?

Well, once water evaporates, it rises in the air, because, believe it or not, it is lighter than the air molecules around it. As it rises high enough, it cools because the higher the altitude, the cooler the temperature is. When water vapor cools, it eventually wants to become liquid water again. It needs to do this onto a hard surface. So it finds tiny dust particles in the air, and condenses onto them. This is the process of condensation. And that is what forms clouds. In fact, you could say that clouds are just tiny bits of dusty-water droplets. I know that is not very poetic. But I am the first one to say that I am not a poet.

As these condensed droplets collect, if enough of them get together, the droplets of water become heavier until they are too heavy to remain in the air any more. So they begin to fall back to Earth. We call that rain or snow (or sleet, or hail, or freezing rain, depending on the temperature and humidity in the area). This process is called precipitation.

If you think about it, then, the water travels from the Earth to the sky and back to Earth again. Evaporation, condensation, precipitation. As it does this, it moves around from the ocean or other bodies of water to land. The water on land eventually flows to bodies of water again where the cycle starts over.

And that is the water cycle.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “Of course it is the water cycle. Everyone knows it exists. That is an easy one.”

But here is the cool thing.

The first person to think that rainfall was what helped to maintain river water levels was Bernard Palisy who is considered the discoverer of the modern theory of the water cycle. He lived in the late 1500s. His ideas weren’t scientifically tested until the late 1600s and weren’t even accepted by the scientific community until the early 1800s.

Well, here is the most amazing thing to me.

Job 36:27-28 “For He draws up the drops of water; they distill his mist in rain, which the skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly.”

Think about that. “He draws up the drops of water.” That is evaporation.

“They distill his mist…” That is condensation.

“…in rain. The skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly.” That is precipitation.

The hydrologic cycle: Liquid water evaporating as gas and rising. Then condensing out as liquid water, eventually building up to precipitate back onto land or sea.

The book of Job is traditionally believed to be written over 2,000 years before Christ. Where did the writer get that scientific information? How did he know of the hydrologic cycle?

In the discourse of this verse, Elihu is speaking to Job to remind him of God’s omnipotence and omniscience. God is all powerful and all-knowing. In verse 4, he says of God, “…one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.”

And, indeed, that is what we can learn from this. The One who made the universe and everything in it set up principles so that it could function. And one of those functions is the hydrologic cycle. It is necessary for life to survive on Earth. It is fascinating to study. And it is amazing to realize that the wisdom God imparted for us in His word is truly full of richness.

The next time you are looking at the clouds (dusty water droplets), be reminded of the power of our Lord who set them in the sky and began the process of circulation so that we can be refreshed. It is given to us in His word. And we should be filled with awe when we see it!

Are You Living in the Fantasy of a Perfect Tomorrow?

April 28, 2015

My days have been very busy. But once the school year is over, with all the graduation open houses and end-of-year events, things will finally slow down and I can enjoy life again. Well, actually, I was thinking this same thing over the holidays. Once Christmas break ends and out-of-town family leave, things will finally slow down and I can enjoy life again.

Wait. During the beginning of the school year, I was thinking that once the kids settled into their school schedule, things will finally slow down and I can enjoy life again.

Now that I think about it, I thought this in the summer, too, with its crazy travel, mission trips, and non-routine activities.

Have you ever had these thoughts? As I look back to the days when my children were toddlers and infants, I sometimes felt that things would finally slow down once they all were potty trained and I didn’t need to carry that diaper bag around.

Then I believed, once they were all out of car seats, things would finally become easier.

Or once they were all reading for themselves… Or once they were all driving…

It seemed that there was always some season of the year or season of life that was making my life crazy-busy, and I believed that once that time was over, things would finally slow down and I could enjoy life again.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I haven’t always been living with this “I can’t wait for this to be over” feeling. I did enjoy the times we were in. But those thoughts definitely came into my head often.

Well, I am finally realizing that that type of thinking is not only a waste of time, it is completely wrong!

You see, we will ALWAYS be in a busy season. We will ALWAYS have something that seems like a time hurdle, and once it is over, things will go back to normal.

What is normal?

“Normal” is the fullness of living. It is the busy-ness of raising our children. It is the messy-ness of dealing with others. It is sick children, parties, ailing parents, celebrations, financial issues, graduations, educational struggles, hostessing, deaths, and births.

If we are always living in the “I can’t wait until tomorrow” mode, then we will never be able to enjoy today. I think the challenge is for us to realize that “back to normal” is a fantasy.

Wiping runny noses, tending to fevers, sitting down to hash out issues with your spouse, balancing the budget after the Christmas holiday, teaching fractions, helping out aging parents all are a part of the normal. And if we are always imagining that those things are just hurdles to pass so we can finally slow down, not only will we be missing out on what is going on around us, we could become bitter and resent anything that makes our life busier.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I would find myself resenting the impending Christmas break. I loved celebrating Christmas, but all of the extra work and activity often made me wish we could just skip it.

How sad is that?

My problem? (well, ONE of my problems)

I am owning my time. I feel like these things infringe into my perfect plans and keep me from having my peace.

I, my, me.

Yep. That’s the issue.

I keep falling into it, too.

This is what reminds me that I should not be living in a fantasy version of tomorrow. I should make the most of the opportunities God has given me. What are those you might ask?

Well, He has given me a marriage to continue to build as we help each other to grow spiritually and can serve others around us. He has given me children to raise and train, eventually so they can launch out of our home to become a light to the world. He has given me extended family and dear friends to celebrate life’s joys and to support during life’s challenges.

This is the messy stuff. This is the stuff I couldn’t wait until it was over so I could finally get “back to normal.” I am finally realizing that THIS IS THE NORMAL.

And in God’s perfect wisdom, it is exactly what I need to keep me on my knees before Him. It is exactly what I need so that I don’t become lazy, or prideful, or apathetic, or callous.

I can truly say I am grateful for the busy (when I am in my right mind). I am grateful that I have these children in my life to watch them grow and mature, I am grateful I have my parents to be with so I can continue to learn from them, I am grateful for extended family and friends who I can support and marvel as I see God working in their lives.

I need to be making the best use of my time. The “finally slowing down” I have been fantasizing about is false. If I had no one to love, to be with, to serve, then things may be slower but there would be no joy in life, would there?

Yes, we need to plan rest into our days. But if we are always living in the imagined perfection of tomorrow, we will never embrace the beauty that is around us right now.

So today, take some time to thank the Lord for the busy-ness around you. Ask Him for strength to live in it and realize that there are so many blessings that come from it!

Have an extraordinary day!

Sherri