Having Purpose in Your Higher Education

So, why are you going to college? Uh, I don't know... because that's what everyone else does, I guess...

Well, what are course are you taking? Um, well, I don't know exactly yet... I think my mom is picking them... I don't really care.

Okay, well, what do you want to do after college? After college? I haven't even thought about that... it's, like, too far into the future. I mean, who knows? I don't really care what I do... as long as I'm making good money.

That's money... but what about like actually doing something worthwhile, for the kingdom of God? Wow, I really have no clue. I mean, I go to church and stuff, but other than that... uh, I don't know.

Yes, that conversation was from my imagination. But doesn't it sound familiar? That is the sort of response you are likely to get if you ask any young person out there today.

I don't know about you, but that is a pathetic excuse of a plan. Where is a life that is started like that going to lead? Nowhere. And fast, too.

As Christians, we must have purpose in these years of preparation for our future lives. We must know what we are learning, why we are learning it, Who we are doing this for, how we are learning, to what end we are learning.

It grieves me greatly to see countless young people going to college for no better reason than that it is the cultural norm. What a shame to see them spending thousands upon thousands of dollars, virtually wasting 2-6 of the most crucial years of their lives... all because that is what is expected of them. If you are going to just drift along aimlessly, why not drift along aimlessly without spending so much money? Or, much better yet, look to the word of God and wise counselors and figure out what you should do with your life.

College can be wonderfully useful. I don't deny that. And God can use even our foolish mistakes for our good and His glory.

But please, please, think long and hard about it before you just jump in because that is what is expected.

Some will be led to go to college to pursue a specific calling. Some will be lead to stay at home, and further their education there. Some will do online courses.

But whatever it is that you do, it is so important that you make that choice consciously, after much prayer and wise counsel, and with a definite purpose.

Progress!

I was looking over my list of things that I said I'd be doing here at home... and was happy to see that I am making progress on many of them! :)

1. Learn Japanese--I bought a book and have been doing it nearly daily
2. "Take over" the kitchen for a month or more :) -- I have been doing more shopping and I made supper yesterday
3. Continue to develop my photography, maybe take a course at the community college--I have continued to develop my skills in this area, mainly by just practicing
4. Continue Bright Lights --We are planning some of this year's meetings ahead of time. Yeah!
5. Lead a study about "Before You Meet Prince Charming" --We are in the middle of this study. It's going pretty well, except that everyone in the study (all 5 of us :) got sick recently, so we're behind
6. Help out families in our church with taking care of their children and cleaning etc... --I am sceduled to go help a mom today!
7. Continue taking care of our little vegetable garden --Well, I took care of it until it died. :) We have some major soil problems. Microscopic things that kill plants. :( We're hoping to do another one in the fall (The joys of FL gardening!)
8. Continue paying bills, etc... for my Dad's business --Still paying bills!
9. Continue writing, but do more --I have been working on my writing, mainly blogging, but I may be writing for the newspaper soon
10. One on One discipleship's with girls in BL would be great... Don't know if it will work... --So far no progress on that...
11.Teach William and Matthew how to read --They are learning!!
12. Help teach at our Home School coops --I haven't really done much of that... yet
13. Teach a writing class here at home -- We haven't started school yet. 14. Possibly a knitting class--My first attempt didn't work-no one came. :) But I found out that some people actually were interested, so I'll have to try again.
15. Continue blogging --Doing some now! :P
16. Studying math (not that I like, but that I need it. :) --I need to do more math!!
17. Maybe a course on graphic design at the community college --I don't know if I'll do that...
18. Cleaning, etc... here at home --Working on that
19. I would like to do an internship with the Mallys (founders of Bright Lights), not sure if that will happen, though.
20. A missions trip-- Maybe next year
21. Continue supporting the missionaries in India that we know --They started a Bright Lights group!!
22. Continue developing my skills in knitting, embroidery, sewing, etc... and learning new ones-- I have been learning new knitting stiches lately! Very fun.

About Comments...

Thank you to all those who have commented on our humble little blog... for those of you who have your own blogs, you know what an encouragement it is to get a comment. (Agreed?)

Many thanks also to those who have commented to me personally about this blog or other blogs... I really do appreciate it. But I think I'd appreciate in more if ya'll would comment on the blogs, too. :D Plus, it would be kind to the others on this blog. If you just comment to me... they'll probably never hear what you said. And that would be just too bad.

And to those who haven't yet commented, but have been reading: we are not opposed to comments, and if you have any, we would be quite glad to have them. :) Thanks!

Don't Waste Your Life

"Only one life,
'Twill soon be past;
Only what's done
For Christ will last."

That basically sums up the book "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper. We, on the Rebelution forums, are studying this book. I am privileged (really, quite surprised) to be one of the discussion leaders and moderators.

It has just started, so if you are reading this and want to join, click Here to get instructions for how to join on the rebelution blog. I highly recommend this book, especially for our age group!

I will most likely be posting thoughts about this book in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned!

Why I'm not going to college

No, this isn't to make you girls feel bad about going to college! :) I'm just hoping to lay out my reasons for myself, and anyone else who wonders.

1. I know several people who have gone to college and then did not use their degree. So in that way it can be a real waste of money and time.


2. At this point, we don't have the finances for college and I don't want to start out my life with such a large debt.
   
3. I have heard too many stories of Christians whose faith was not the same after college. Some even leave the Christian faith. So I feel that at this time in life, when I am still forming my beliefs, it is better to keep the input positive.


4. I am planning on being a stay at home mother, and I don't think college will be the best way to prepare for that.


5. Also, as I have stated before, there are so many ways to continue education at home. I am looking into college plus! and CLEP right now.

Plans, Respect, and Polls

As you all know, I am staying home rather than going to college. When people ask me what I'm doing now, it's kind of hard to explain. I don't want to come off sounding like I really don't have a clue what I'm going to do with my life, and that I'm just going to sit lazily at home. But I'm afraid that's how it comes out sometimes, especially if someone like a cashier asks me and I don't have the time to explain everything. :) Anyway, I was talking to my dad about this, and wanting to have a more clear plan for my year. He suggested that I write a book!

So, I am in the planning stages of that. I'm sure it will be very interesting. :P

The topic I am thinking of writing about right now is how young ladies can show respect and honor to the men in their lives. I think it is a topic that needs to be written about and that currently (at least from what I've seen) doesn't have any book devoted to it.

I would like to include topics such as: What does it mean to respect someone? What does it look and sound like in real life? Why is this so important? What makes a guy feel respected? Disrespected? Who exactly should I be showing respect to?

Here are some questions that I'm wondering about that you all may be able to help me out with:

1. Would you be interested in such a book? (i.e. Would you purchase it?)
2. Do you agree that this is an important, but unaddressed topic?
3. Are these some of the questions you have asked?
4. Are there any other questions related to respect that you would be interested in having addressed?

I would appreciate any input that you all have!

About the poll-- I thought the results were quite interesting! I did not expect to have 50% of the people saying that they were planning on staying at home. Okay, so it was only 6 people... But still! Also, I was wondering what the "other" people are planning on. If you are reading this, and you voted for "other", I would be really interested in knowing what you are planning on! Does anyone else want to add to my thoughts on the results so far?

How to Stay Joyful at Home

I have been reading Jasmine Baucham's blog for awhile now, and yesterday, she started a series about ways to stay joyful at home. So far, it is really helpful, so I asked if I could link to the posts and she graciously allowed me to. :) She is also staying at home. Even though some of you are not planning on staying home, I still think there is much to learn from these posts... Go ahead and read 'em! :)

So here are the links:

Ways to stay joyful at home 1

This post gives an overview of the series, and then talks about the first way, which is to build a strong relationship with your mother.

Way to stay joyful at home 2

Way number 2 is to find your sufficiency in the King of Kings. Very good post! You should read it!

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Rose and Tabitha, maybe you could share why you feel that you should go to college? What prompted you to make that decision?

What I plan on doing here at home

1. Learn Japanese
2. "Take over" the kitchen for a month or more :)
3. Continue to develop my photography, maybe take a course at the community college
4. Continue Bright Lights
5. Lead a study about "Before You Meet Prince Charming"
6. Help out families in our church with taking care of their children and cleaning etc...
7. Continue taking care of our little vegetable garden
8. Continue paying bills, etc... for my Dad's business
9. Continue writing, but do more
10. One on One discipleship's with girls in BL would be great... Don't know if it will work...
11. Teach William and Matthew how to read
12. Help teach at our Home School coops
13. Teach a writing class here at home
14. Possibly a knitting class
15. Continue blogging
16. Helping build our Mona Vie business and building my own
17. Studying math (not that I like, but that I need it. :)
18. Maybe a course on graphic design at the community college
19. Cleaning, etc... here at home
20. I would like to do an internship with the Mallys (founders of Bright Lights), not sure if that will happen, though.
21. A missions trip
22. Continue supporting the missionaries in India that we know
23. Continue developing my skills in knitting, embroidery, sewing, etc... and learning new ones

And more. I don't know where the original list is... So I might have missed something on there.

Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you all know that I have plans for my time here at home, and what some of those are. :)

(I do like to teach, as you may have noticed. :) My parents say that is my spiritual gift...)

It's Carissa!

Well, here I am, diving in and getting this started!

I am 18, soon to be 19, and graduating in a few days. We are going to do a graduation "Thing" at a church with some friends. My cap and gown are forest green and my tassel is forest green and silver. The plates, etc... will also be green. Guess what my favorite color is? :)

Our family has done tons of reading, several homeschool coops (science and history, mostly), workbooks (different curriculum's), some self-directed study (for example, I learned some Japanese, and also did many keepers at home topics on my own), field trips, Presidential physical fitness program, and more. So there's an overview of our type of homeschooling--pretty much some of everything. :)

I am planning on staying at home, helping out and learning more here.

Yes, it's not a normal route-- but then, neither has been the rest of my life. :)

I feel this is the best option for me at this point for several reasons:

1. I belive God has called me to be a wife and mother, and I feel that I can best prepare myself here at, well, a home.
2. I feel that I will be better protected from the world's negative influences.
3. I know that my family (especially one of my little sisters) would be very sad if I left right now
4. I know also that they need my help here at home, and that I want to have that character building from helping out
5. I know that with the internet, library, amazing friends, extremly intelligent father :), tons of books, a communtity college nearby, and more will make it very easy to continue my learning.
6. I will also be able to continue leading Bright Lights
7. And more. I shall add more as I think of more. I have to go right now-- I will look forward to more entries soon!