Tonight I made some desserts for my big Easter dinner tomorrow night. I was fooling around with a recipe I’ve had for a long time for a chocolate mocha cake. I had some extra batter, so I made some cupcakes, too. Oh my goodness. I tasted one of those cupcakes and it was pure heaven, folks.  I can hardly wait to taste the mocha cake tomorrow!  Here’s how I did it:

Yummiest Chocolate Cupcakes Ever I started with two  Duncan Hines Chocolate Devil’s food cake mixes. Follow the directions on the boxes with these modifications:

1. Secret number one is to make some really strong coffee and use it instead of water. (Let it cool down before adding to your cake, though.)
2. Secret number two is to add 3 tablespoons of  instant coffee crystals  to the coffee before mixing it in the cake.
3. Secret number 3 is to mix your cake really well, at least 3 minutes. (I learned this in cake decorating classes years ago.)
4. Secret number 3 is to chop up 1 cup chocolate chips really fine. Stir them into the batter before pouring into pans.

I used 2 mixes  because I’m making a 3 layer cake, and I used the leftover batter for a dozen  cupcakes. For icing I used the generic milk chocolate brand.  I’m tellin’ ya…………the cupcake  was out of this world!  The whole thing only took me about 10 min to mix up.  I poured 1/4 of the batter into 3 different round layer cake pans and used the last 1/4 of the batter for the cupcakes.  It worked out perfect!  (Fill your layer pans a little under a half full.)

Easter Chocolate Mocha Cake

I’ll go ahead and tell you how I’m going to fix the big cake.  I am going to make a syrup of a few Tbsps of water and instant coffee crystals, and mix in a few Tbsps. of cocoa. I’ll log back in with proportions after I do it. Anyway, I am planning to mix this with cool whip and put between the layers. (Make sure your cake is cool before doing this.)  I am going to heat up  the rest of my generic brand milk chocolate icing in the microwave until it is soft and thin, (about30 seconds or so),  and spread it on top and let it drip down the sides.  Then I will dust the top with chopped pecans and viola!  My super easy decadent delicious chocolate mocha cake. Happy Easter!

Today I want to talk to you about Edith’s book, “What is a Family?”Do you know who Edith Schaeffer is? She is the wife of the late Francis Schaeffer who wrote How Shall We Then Live?

The Schaeffer’s founded L’abri Fellowship, a Christian Community in Switzerland. (The story of L’Abri is fascinating as well.)  Edith is 85 years old and now living in Switzerland near two of her children. I just wanted to introduce you to Edith because she had such a great influence on me when I was a young mother. I thank God that he led me to Edith, because reading her books was like having tea with a Titus woman. I desperately needed one, and she was there for me.

In What is a Family? Edith begins by comparing a family to a work of art. A mobile that has been perfectly balanced and is hanging in its delicate form. Then she helps us imagine a mobile that has been vandalized. Some of the strings have been cut, and some of the beautiful pieces have fallen to the ground. The mobile no longer has the right balance or shape. The work of art has been forever changed for the worse. It no longer has the symmetry or balance. I am from a broken home, and I’m sure that many of you are too. Many years ago, when I was at the stage of life you are in, I began to learn about God and read the Bible. I realized for the first time a lot of the things that went wrong in my home growing up. I knew I could never go back and change those things, but I did make a decision that I could make things different for my kids. I could try my best to make sure that this would not happen to my kids.

One thing that tends to happen as we do anything in life is that we automatically go back to our experience. Even if we don’t want to, if we haven’t been reprogrammed somehow, we revert to type. Well, I prayed about this, and one of the tools God used to reprogram my life was this book.

Edith discusses the different aspects of the family, and the difference they have on the members. Edith talks about the family as a school; the formation center for relationships, a shelter in time of storm, an economic unit and a museum, among other concepts. This book is a treasure and I would encourage you all to get a copy and begin to be intentional and proactive about protecting your marriage and your family.

Some other books by Edith Schaeffer that are wonderful are: the Hidden art of Homemaking, Christianity is Jewish, L’abri, and Everybody Can Know

]]> http://helpforhomeschoolmoms.com/index.php/2008/11/18/what-is-a-family/feed/ http://helpforhomeschoolmoms.com/index.php/2008/09/18/my-bathroom-prayer-closet/ http://helpforhomeschoolmoms.com/index.php/2008/09/18/my-bathroom-prayer-closet/#comments Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:15:08 +0000 admin http://helpforhomeschoolmoms.com/?p=49 Hello lovely homeschool moms! I am getting ready to speak at a church ladies event, and I’m preparing my talk. Even though this is not a homeschooling group, the theme of my talk is applicable to homeschooling moms. I am going to be talking to them about stress. I thought back about some of my stressful days as a homeschool mom. Sometimes I would get frustrated or angry with my students. (Imagine!) At those times I would leave my schoolroom, walk through my bedroom and lock myself in my bathroom. I prayed in there until the stress melted away. I asked God to take over my problem. (When we are weak, He is strong.) I asked Him to renew my attitude and my spirit, to help me not only teach my boys their subjects, but good character. I remember going in there in sheer desperation many times. I don’t remember any giant miracles after my emergency “prayer bolts”, but God somehow sustained me in this work of love for sixteen years. I guess the fact that one of the boys has successfully graduated from college and one is doing pretty well in the middle of it is a testament to God’s faithfulness. I would encourage every homeschooling mom to find a spot where you can go to send a “prayer bolt” to God. Remember the verse,
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.  Jeremiah 33:3

Yesterday I was really praying about this. I was ready to tell Heather to just totally start over here and get a new one up so that I could post. I had just started my email to her, and then I thought, “I haven’t tried to log in in quite a while. Let me try one last time before we get drastic.”  I went to the log in page and I logged right in.  So… hello again everybody!

I’ve been building up a bunch of ideas and info for you during my “lockout”, so I hope to be a blessing to you again.

I have been observing the homeschool graduates that were in the same graduating classes as my boys. Some of them are doing great. Some of them have made some pretty serious mistakes already. When I heard about the problems, my first thought was, how could that have happened? He/she was homeschooled! Homeschooling by itself usually provides many advantages. But it is not a guarantee of success in life. We must be on our knees, praying for our kids and daily teaching them God’s word in a spirit of humility.

One thing I have become interested in since my boys have graduated homeschool is prison ministry. Guess what they are teaching the inmates?(or offenders, as they are referred to now.) Character education! So far I have found two big programs that are teaching this inside Oklahoma prisons. The offenders in prison are also usually deficient in other skills, like reading, but the foundation of a good life is character. There are plenty of offenders who have college degrees that never learned to be good people.

As Christians, we know that before a person can be “good”, he or she must let Christ change the heart. Then he or she can begin to grow in Christ. As we study the Bible, we learn God’s principles for a happy life. We learn verses like, “Love one another, be kind to one another, tenderhearted and forgiving.” We learn to put away anger, wrath, malice, and envy. We learn that we should not kill, steal, or commit adultery. I wonder how many offenders would not have committed their crimes if they had learned to “Be angry, but do not sin.”

As I learn more about crime, prisons and offenders, I just want to encourage you dear ones. Keep homeschooling. Keep loving your kids. Keep teaching them God’s word. It is the most important subject!

To Finish reading this article, click here:   Easy Bible Teaching For Homeschools

Q. What about all of the fun they will miss during their Senior year?
A. Most support groups have Senior class activities and socials during the year. They have a graduation exercise and Baccalaureate Service, and a banquet to replace the prom. Interested Senior homeschoolers get to have a larger part of planning their activities, they can even design their own rings!

Q. Will they be able to get into college?
A. Colleges are soliciting homeschool graduates nowadays, and many are receiving full scholarships. Over one hundred-fifty American universities, including Harvard and Yale, have accepted homeschooled students.Homeschool graduates are proving to be not only academically superior, but also more independent thinkers and self motivated learners.

Q. Can you teach upper level math and science? (This question is a favorite of family members who remember your report cards!)
A. Actually, I’m looking forward to learning with the kids things I missed in government school. For now, there is no problem because I did learn how to multiply and divide. If there is something I don’t know, I just look in my teacher’s manual. Science labs are available through support groups, or they can be arranged by networking with other families and enlisting a tutor. Homeschooling is growing so fast that resources are springing up everywhere to service us.

Q. Are you planning to homeschool all the way through?

A. (Even if you think you are, don’t commit yourself. Why box yourself in?) We feel like we would like to, but we take it one year at a time.

More sound-bytes next time.

READY RESPONSES FOR INQUIRING MINDS
Q. I could never do that!
A. It’s not for everybody.

This response immediately lowers defenses and catches the other person off guard. Your inquirer was expecting you to say, “Oh, yes you could, blah blah blah” She had already thought up a bunch of reasons to tell you as to why she couldn’t. So you just saved her a bunch of time, and presented yourself as a confident and together person who realizes that homeschooling really isn’t for everybody. If you don’t have the love, dedication, and true grit to be a homeschooling mom, then it’s really not for you. (But you don’t want to come out and say that now do you? Answer: No.)

Q. Is it legal?
A. (Research the laws in your state to be prepared for this one.) Homeschooling is legal in all fifty states, although the requirements differ.

Q. How do you stand to be around your kids that much?
A. If you are in charge of your children’s discipline, they are usually much nicer to be around. That’s not to say that we don’t have our moments, but that’s one reason we chose homeschooling. It gives us the chance to teach our values all day long.

Q. Are you qualified to teach?
A. The main qualification for a good teacher is a genuine concern for the student. I have a dream job and small class size! Nobody cares for my students as much as me!

Q. How do you know what to teach? Aren’t you afraid you’re going to leave something out?
A. There are scopes and sequences that tell what should be learned in each grade. Packaged curricula and correspondence schools are available for those who don’t want to build an individualized course.) Teacher’s guides have directions and answers in them, so it’s not as difficult as you might imagine.

Next time more Sound bytes for Homeschooling Skeptics