The Kingdom-Driven Family

Paying Lip-Service to God’s Word

Andrea Schwartz

July 16, 2014

Recently an event occurred that forced me to re-evaluate my modus operandi. Up until this point, something that God decries as sin was something I carried around as a badge of honor. Keep in mind that I have been a professing Christian and a student of God’s Word for over three decades, and, yet, this insight revealed to me that I had been paying “lip-service” to many of God’s directives. Like these:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls..” (Matt. 11:28–29)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:6–7)

Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. (Ps. 55:22)

Raising a Champion ~ An Interview with Twyla Anderson

Andrea Schwartz

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July 14, 2014

The Anderson Family (Twyla, Mark, Amy, and Nathan) Amy currently plays on the LPGA Tour and has the distinction of holding the record of winning the most Div. 1 women’s college golf tournaments ever!

One of God’s greatest blessings is that parents have “special” eyes for their children, seeing their strengths and weaknesses. What do you do when you realize that your children are gifted in a unique way? How do you encourage them without producing a prideful brat?

In this podcast interview, Andrea Schwartz chats with the Twyla Anderson about homeschooling her “gifted” children athletes while making Jesus Christ the focus of their lives.

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Ways To Become A Better Wife & Mother ~ An Interview with Kay Ness

Andrea Schwartz

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July 10, 2014

Why is it understood that to be a good mechanic, physician, or pilot, it takes preparation and training? Yet, when it comes to running a household, all-too-many women think they will figure it out as they go along.

In this podcast interview, neurodevelopmentalist Kay Ness talks about ways to better manage a Kingdom-drive family in the areas of health, nutrition, and lifestyle.

The Kingdom-Driven Library

Andrea Schwartz

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July 9, 2014

Among the fondest memories of my childhood were our Saturday morning trips to the public library. I loved being around all those books stacked on beautiful shelves nested in mahogany-paneled walls. So it was not really surprising that, early on in my homeschooling career, we made frequent trips to the library and I would allow the children to pick out books on subjects that interested them. However, the more I became a student of R. J. Rushdoony, the more I realized that the public library was by no means a “neutral” place. In fact, I discovered that it was a repository of humanistic views diametrically opposed to a true Christian world and life view, cloaked in an illusion of “neutrality.” Continue reading

Incentives

Andrea Schwartz

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July 3, 2014

Many times during my tenure as a home educating parent, I ran into the situation where my child just wasn’t “getting” a particular subject, despite the fact that I had good curriculum, a good personal grasp of the material, and had attempted many different approaches to the subject matter. More than once I almost succumbed to the idea that I just wasn’t qualified to deal with this learning issue. I thought that maybe an “expert” needed to be called in. So, I made phone calls and talked to those who taught professionally. I soon discovered that they didn’t have any easy fixes or answers. In fact, much of their advice included avenues I had already explored, and they were impressed with things I had tried that they’d never considered. But before too long, I had a breakthrough that enabled me to help my students over seemingly impossible hurdles. Continue reading

Honor Among Thieves

Andrea Schwartz

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July 2, 2014

One muggy afternoon in mid-summer, my husband accidentally locked the keys to our maroon Volvo in the car. We weren’t terribly worried, as he had a doctor’s appointment to attend to, giving the locksmith plenty of time to show up. Sure enough, once the doctor visit was over the truck arrived and the locksmith tried for about fifteen minutes (to no avail) to unlock the car. I was hot and tired, and had an appointment of my own to get to and I made the comment, “I’m going to pray for God to send us a car thief!”

Both men were more annoyed than amused by my comment, as I went to a pay phone (didn’t carry mobile phones back then) to alert the person I was scheduled to meet, that I would be late. As I was walking back, a Hispanic male about 23 years old walked up to them and said, “Are you trying to get into this car?” When they replied in the affirmative, he boasted, “Let me show you how we do this on the east side!” Within 30 seconds he had the door opened. Continue reading

Looking For a Few Good Men

Andrea Schwartz

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June 27, 2014

That’s the lament of many single Christian women as they survey prospects for a godly husband, one willing and capable of leading them. These are no ordinary women. They have been raised to be dedicated Christians who look to the law-word of God as their standard for femininity. They embrace their chastity as a deliberate decision of obedience; and they understand that God’s Word informs every area of life and thought. From a young age, these young ladies have aspired to be wives and mothers, even when their immediate role models fell far short of Biblical standards. Has their obedience destined them to the society of godly old maids? Is there some sort of cosmic injustice going on? Continue reading

A Mother’s Nose

Andrea Schwartz

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June 27, 2014

My nearsightedness can be easily be traced to my father, whose myopia was genetically passed on to me. It has been said that if a person is deficient in one of his senses, the other ones are sometimes amplified to make up for it. Well, that may explain why I have a heightened olfactory sense. Just recently this “gift” was driving me crazy.

There was an awful smell in my kitchen. I repeatedly brought my husband and daughter into the room to see if they smelled it. Both initially said “no,” but eventually said that maybe they smelled something. I even brought another person in to see if he smelled it. His conclusion, “You have a very good sense of smell, but I don’t smell anything.”

I tried to identify the source of the odor. I thoroughly cleaned the kitchen, sanitized the garbage disposal, and removed potential culprits. Nothing seemed to work and after a while the smell disappeared. Then a couple of days ago, the house was filled with a swarm of small flies that made me feel like a ninja because they were so easy to swat. (Normally, I fail in achieving a successful swat!) Continue reading

Experience is a Dear Teacher

Andrea Schwartz

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June 27, 2014

Every mother has a story about a time she lost her child. Even when the situation resolves positively, the sinking feeling in the stomach takes a long time to subside. And, I believe that is a good thing! When people hear your story they quickly assure you that you are not a bad mother, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up. Not only does this not help, it really is off the point. The problem arose, not because of who you are, but because of what you did or did not do.

I’ve heard stories about a large family who inadvertently left one of their children at a rest stop. It was quite some time and distance before anyone figured it out. And we all have heard the tragic stories of a parent who forgot about his/her child in the backseat of a car, and that child died of suffocation after being left there for hours.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with the expression: Experience is the best teacher. I learned while teaching my children history that this is not a correct rendering of what he said. It turned out to be a bad paraphrase. What he actually said was, “Experience is a dear [meaning expensive] teacher; the fool will learn in the school of no other!” In other words, those who must learn everything by experience are fools indeed. Continue reading

Of Course There’s Time

Andrea Schwartz

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June 27, 2014

Many women claim that they are just too busy to put serious reading into their schedules. By serious reading, I mean books on a variety of subjects that will improve a woman’s ability to run her household better. A woman’s response to a problem or crisis that arises in her household will be enhanced to the degree she has become competent in a variety of areas prior to the need. With all the resources available in the internet age, she can become knowledgeable in the subject where she needs assistance.

Suppose one of her children is having difficulty in acquiring a skill that older children learned easily. Rather than categorize the child as “slow” or “delayed,” the mother needs to do some online research, seek out experienced mothers, and possibly make a trip to the library. These efforts can help the mother understand how to help the child through this learning difficulty. Continue reading