Kathy Davis has posted a kind review of Pajama School on the Homeschool Buzz website. She says,

As a homeschooling mom to three boys, Pajama School brought me both sighs of relief and smiles. The author’s recollection of her homeschooling days gave me much needed encouragement. After all, don’t we sometimes wonder if we are doing the right thing, educating our children at home? What about socialization, team sports, band, the “prom” and high school requirements? Are they missing out? Of course my answer to those questions is a big no, but every once in a while I wonder….And then…
>>Read the rest of the review>>

Thanks, Kathy!

The Family Research Council is sponsoring a fun Family Photo Contest! If you’re looking for a way to liven up the essential family photo shoot, you’ll definitely want to get in on this. 🙂 Here is the information from FRC:

Let’s face it, family photos aren’t easy to get. From children fidgeting, to getting everyone wearing the proper attire, to blinking eyes and lighting, just getting one good shot can often be an ordeal. But in the end, the effort pays off with for better or worse, a snapshot to fuel memories for generations to come. This year, FRC is offering another incentive to grab the camera and gather the family: the FRC Family Photo 2009 Contest.

Here’s the rundown: this Christmas season, send us your best family photos in one of four categories:

• Photo that best captures the spirit of Christmas
• Most original family Christmas photo
• Photo with the most family members
• Funniest Christmas photo

Once FRC has reviewed and posted your photo online, we’ll make them available on an upcoming web page where send your friends and family to vote for your photo. The winners in each category will each receive 2 free standard admission passes to the 2010 Values Voter Summit, to be held in Washington, D.C. on September 17 to 19, 2010. The contest begins now, and runs until January 15, 2010, and winners will be announced on January 20, 2010.

Send your attached photos to familyphoto@frc.org, and be sure to include the following information with your email:

• First & Last Name
• Photo Category (you may enter different photos in each category, but only one photo per category per entrant)

So ready your camera, gather your family, and best wishes in the contest.

On Wednesday evenings, we have a movie night at our house and the rest of the family lets me choose a video for all of us to watch together. I have collected several sets of documentaries and lectures and we’ve enjoyed watching and learning from them over the past several years. When I recently came across the documentary To Be One, I was excited about the opportunity to view and review it. It arrived Wednesday afternoon – just in time to make it the selection for this week!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from a documentary highlighting the path to marriage for three couples. There are so many different views on dating, courtship, betrothal, etc., so I was prepared for a reiteration of various principles and teachings that I’ve heard over the years advocating for a specific approach or set of rules to follow. I was pleasantly surprised to find that that’s exactly what this video isn’t. Having experienced close-up the courtship of one of my sisters (a story that I share in my book), I echo the truth that God deals with relationships on a personal level, not according to some set formula. It’s important that we don’t become attached to extra-biblical ideas and expectations, but instead trust that God will work according to His purposes in our lives and relationships.

To Be One does an excellent job of emphasizing the centrality of the Lord Jesus Christ and the importance of earnestly seeking Him to guide each of us in matters involving relationships (just as in all else). Each of the three couples that were featured (Jeff and Ashley Baird, Timothy and Brittany Lindvall, and Max and Jenny Parish), along with their parents, shared the very different approaches that ultimately led them to marriage. They each shared specific ways that the Lord led them, making His will clear to them so that they were able to proceed with confidence. A desire to seek the Lord, maintain purity, and honor and involve their parents in the process were unifying themes of each testimony.

In discussing the video afterward, our family concluded that this probably wouldn’t be the best way to introduce alternative relationship practices to someone whose only frame of reference is the dating culture (it might be a bit much – i.e. radical – at points for someone to handle all at once!). But for someone who has already heard about courtship and/or betrothal and is interested in learning more about the heart that undergirds such counter-cultural approaches, To Be One is both informative and inspiring. One thing that especially stands out to me after having watched this documentary is the great deal of thought and care that each of these families put into preparing for and entering marriage. It is a refreshing contrast to the flippant attitude with which most young people today approach relationships. As my Dad declared after watching it, it certainly “provides some food for thought.”

HT: Jasmine Baucham