New Blog and New Name for Cornflower

The child previously known as Cornflower has started her own blog and now wishes to be called Little La.  :)  Her new blog is called One Little Dream.  Go visit!

LTW 11/4

(Part of an ongoing series detailing our Lost Tools of Writing adventures.  Previous posts here.)  

I like Post-its.  I use them to remind myself of things I need to do, or ideas I need to internalize, or people I need to contact.  They are especially useful when beginning new habits.  A Post-it stating "Make your bed!" or something similar jogs me out of my default routine and challenges me to develop a better one.

The format of the LTW basic persuasive essay is like a series of Post-its.  When I wrote my own essay, I began to see the point of repeating the thesis in every paragraph. I had discovered so many interesting things during the research process that I kept abandoning my purpose and writing about something else.  Restating (and restating and restating) the thesis forced me to notice when my proofs and supports did not follow.

I was tempted to relax the requirement for my kids before I went through the essay-writing process myself.  Now I think I will let the requirement stand.  It is necessary in order to building better writing habits.

Here is my essay so you can see what I mean.

STANDARD OIL (Essay 3)

If you build a better mousetrap, will the regulators beat a path to your door?  John D. Rockefeller and his business partners experienced this very thing.

The Supreme Court should not have ordered the dissolution of the Standard Oil Trust for three reasons.  The oil market regulated Standard Oil, the U.S. Government misunderstood the situation, and the Sherman Act contained vague terms.

The first reason the Supreme Court should not have ordered the dissolution of the Standard Oil Trust is that the oil market regulated Standard Oil.  In 1882, more than 250 oil companies competed for business. Standard Oil gained market share and became wildly successful due to superior products and technology.  But by 1911, after forming the Trust, Standard Oil’s market share had fallen from 90% to 65%: it was in the process of losing its monopoly.

The second reason the Supreme Court should not have ordered the dissolution of the Standard Oil Trust is that the U.S. Government misunderstood the situation.  Rockefeller and his partners formed the first ever holding company.  The government criminalized a business practice it did not understand.  After decades of observation and analysis, today’s antitrust experts believe that vertical integration usually does not damage competition. 

The third reason the Supreme Court should not have ordered the dissolution of the Standard Oil Trust is that the Sherman Act contained vague terminology.  Congress did not define key terms like “exclusionary practice” and “restraint of trade”.  Congress meant for the Act to regulate business owners rather than workers, but President Grover Cleveland  invoked it against the American Railway Union to end the Pullman Strike of 1894.  The Supreme Court decision more narrowly defined the terms of the legislation, but it also introduced another vague term:  “rule of reason”.

The U.S. Supreme Court should not have ordered the dissolution of the Standard Oil Trust.  The oil market regulated Standard Oil, the U.S. Government misunderstood the situation, and the Sherman Act contained vague terms.

Why Are We Doing This?

As my children get older, I am well aware that they have free will and that, despite all the training and loving we give them, at the end of the day all we can do is pray that the Lord will guide their feet. If that were not the case-- if we could follow a checklist and turn out children that love the Lord and seek virtue-- following Christ would not be a walk of faith.

Elizabeth Foss has written an amazingly honest post about teenagers and young adults and Christian homeschooling that I think all young Christian homeschooling parents (as well as seasoned homeschooling parents, and Christian parents that do not homeschool, and all other parents) should read. As we read, we should ask ourselves: "Why are we doing this, after all?" For 'this', plug in whatever you or I work hard to ensure our children receive. Then ask, "Why *should* we do this?"

She puts it so well:

Saint Peter walked with Jesus. Jesus was his teacher in the faith. Jesus was the Master Teacher. And still, Peter was a liar, a denier, a weak-willed wimp-- right up until the time that Jesus died. He was taught by God Himself, surely the best teacher of all, and he didn't get it at first...I think, dear ladies, that some of us will be called to wait in faith for the Second Act (or our own version of Acts 2). 

We need to encourage one another to walk this walk of faith, but we need to be very careful that we don't rally around a certain prideful arrogance. Sometimes, in our zeal to hold each other accountable to a Christian life of virtue, we step dangerously close to pridefully suggesting that if we just do prescribed things all the right way, we will turn out brilliant, holy children. And we forget that it is not mothers and fathers who make Christians of children; it is God Himself, in His own time, according to His own plan.

Wow.  Christ himself had a wayward son.  And the Lord wasn't even a sinner!

I vouch for the list she gives of things that might happen despite our best efforts as parents.  I too have either known personally or read about children who got the best upbringing their parents could offer and still egregiously sinned.  Because, just like their parents, they are sinners in need of a Saviour.

I love our lifestyle.  I believe the CM-method of Christian home education is loaded with benefits for my children, and I am so happy we walk this path.  I have high hopes for my kids, too.  But it is not a magic pill.

If anyone tells you it is-- if their description begins to sound like an informercial ("It slices, it dices, it even makes fries!")-- do not believe them.  Raising children is a human affair, and no matter what you do, the law of sin and death still applies (see Romans 7).

It is NOT all in our hands.  Not only is God involved, but so are the kids.  It may take them some time to do the right thing.  Wait on them, and especially wait on the Lord.

Read the comments in Elizabeth's post.  Her readers have contributed many encouraging words!