E-journal July 17, 2007

The Three Bears and a Sense of Wonder

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by Ellyn Davis


Contrasts

It always amazes me how unselfconscious children are.

Last week I drove with a friend along the Mogollan Rim near Payson, Arizona. One of the first places we stopped to explore was Clear Creek, a beautiful stream that runs along a rocky bed between low bluffs.

By the time I hiked down to the creek, a van had pulled up along the road and a group of about a dozen children poured out followed by two very harried-looking adults.

The children ranged in age from around six to 10 years old and were laden with nets, buckets, magnifying glasses and all sorts of collecting paraphernalia. As soon as the van doors were flung open they began racing down the bluff toward the water.

Because the water was crystal clear (hence the name Clear Creek), it was easy to see every crawfish, minnow, salamander, and water creature in the rocky streambed. Soon the air was ringing with squeals of delight and shouts of “Look at that!” “Oh, I caught one!” and “Come over here, quick!”

The kids were having a great time, splashing and sloshing in the water and catching whatever would hold still long enough to be scooped into a net or bucket.

It reminded me of the first stanza of the poem “Barter” by Sara Teasdale:

Life has loveliness to sell, all beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff, soaring fire that sways and sings,
And children's faces looking up holding wonder like a cup.

Next to drive up was a carload of teens. Rock music blared from subwoofers and the boom, boom, boom of the bass reverberated up the canyon. Four very bored looking teens got out of the car, took one disinterested look around, jumped back in the car, and roared off in a cloud of red dust.

What a contrast!

It only took a few short years of age difference for the wonder and excitement about natural beauty, splashing water, and living things to fade to the point that there was nothing appealing about it anymore.

Wonder-full Moments

As I pondered the scene I had just witnessed, I began to realize that what had been lost was the sense of wonder. I’ve often lectured that science should really be about activating a sense of wonder about the natural world, but now I realized that LIFE should really be about activating and nourishing a sense of wonder about LIFE.

Years ago, Rachel Carson, the famed naturalist, wrote a book called The Sense of Wonder. That book is sorely needed today. In it she says,

"A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood."

I particularly love her thoughts about looking up at a night sky filled with stars when she muses, "if this were a sight that could be seen only once in a century...this little headland would be thronged with spectators. But it can be seen many scores of nights in any year, and so the lights burned in the cottages and the inhabitants probably gave not a thought to the beauty overhead; and because they could see it almost any night, perhaps they will never see it."

I think that’s the point. Because things like stars, beautiful creeks, and crawfish are available to anyone who wants to take the time to look at them, people don’t take the time, so they live in a world continually removed from the wonder of life.

I have a friend, Bill McRae, who is 61 years old and understands how to keep alive his sense of wonder about life. Bill says, “At my age, there are very few things left to do for the first time.” Bill nourishes his sense of wonder by continually trying new things.

After my friend and I climbed back up the bluff from the hike along Clear Creek and we began driving toward the Mogollan Rim, I thought about how contact with nature is one of the ways we cultivate a sense of wonder. And I began praying for more wonder-filled moments in my life.

A few minutes later, we stopped and got out of the car to take photos of the canyon at the base of the Rim.

Suddenly, my wonder-full moment occurred. A mother bear and her two cubs sauntered out on the road not 100 feet from where we were standing, walked around for a few minutes, and then slipped back into the woods.

Til next time....

The Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson. This is a wonderful book about children and nature, filled with lush photographs. But on a deeper level, this book is about nourishing for yourself and those you love the delight, surprise and awe one feels when seeing things as a child does for the first time - a sense of wonder.

Resources

This week I don't have any resources for you, but I want to spotlight a product I've found that has made a real difference in my health. It's called Juice Plus+.

I've always been concerned that my family was never getting enough fruits and vegetables because a lot of times, in spite of my best intentions, breakfast wound up being something quick like cereal and lunch wound up being something even quicker, like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I went through periods where I would try and make the meals ahead, but that only lasted a short while. Then I tried getting a juicer, and that lasted an even shorter while because it took three times as long to get the fruits and vegetables ready for the juicer and then to clean it afterwards than it took to make and drink the juice. And I always got stuck cleaning the strainer because no one else wanted to do it.

Then a friend recommended Juice Plus+ to me. It has 17 fruits, vegetables, and grains in capsule form. Somebody has already done the juicing for me, then dried the juice in such a way that all the enzymes from the raw produce is in the capsules, and--big bonus--they are carbohydrate free.

Being the skeptic I am of any kind of health supplement, and wary as I am of any multi-level marketing business, I decided to give Juice Plus+ four months to prove its claims. I started taking two fruit capsules and two vegetable capsules each day (the equivalent of all your recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables).

What did I experience? More energy, better skin, hair and nails, and better sleep. And did I mention that I had more energy. A friend of mine started on them at the same time and experienced significant improvement in a long-standing chronic disease.

So that's my story about Juice Plus+. It is an easy, affordable way to make sure you and your children get all the fruits and vegetables they need. And Juice Plus+ even has a children's health program that lets you get the capsules free for children between the ages of six and fifteen. Plus, there is a family plan to make Juice Plus+ even more affordable.

Another bonus is that Juice Plus+ makes a great home business that Moms can run to make money while they're home schooling.

So, check it out by going HERE>>


"The news isn't that fruits  and vegetables are good for you.  It's that they are so good for you they could save your life."   David Bjerklie, TIME Magazine, October  20, 2003


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Be a part of our Home Business Incubator!

At Home School Marketplace we are not just about home schooling. We also want to encourage and support you in developing home centered income.

One of the ways we want to do this is by providing you with the opportunity for involvement in businesses that we and other home schooling families develop.

So for years we have thought about creating a home business incubator that home schooling families can participate in.

What is a Business Incubator?

What is a business incubator? A business incubator is a collection of resources designed to help businesses become established and sustainable.

U.S. statistics show that business incubators increase the survival rate of start-ups from 35 percent to 87 percent. This is very, very good news, considering 90% of small businesses fail within their first five years.

We want to create businesses that allow home schooling families to participate in their development and share in their future profits.

Let me assure you that we are not talking about multi-level marketing and we’re not trying to recruit you into becoming some sort of sales force for an existing business.

We are talking about you helping build a traditional business from the ground up. Not only do we have several really good business ideas that we’d like to build a team around, but there are many of you who have some great business ideas who could really use a business incubator.

If you would like to participate in one of our Business Incubators, please GO HERE NOW>>>

Breaking News!!! The first Business Incubator Call shared our vision for a Home Business Incubator and discussed the strategy that would be implemented. We've had lots of feedback from those on the call telling us how excited they are about the idea. CLICK HERE to listen to this call and understand our vision for a Home School Business Incubator.

P.S. We've had such an overwhelming response we may have to cut off membership until we get teams built and projects up and running, so if you are interested, go ahead and SIGN UP NOW while you still can .




Home Business Resources



The Market Institute Stock and Options Home Study Program I keep encouraging you to at least check this program out because there have been so many home schooling families who have used it to create extra income at home. Also, my son James mentored under Chris Verhaegh, author of the program and has used the techniques taught in this program to support himself for the past two years. Find out more about it HERE>>

If you've ever thought about learning to invest in the stock market, do it now. Find out more about the Market Institute HERE>>





Rhea's Entrepreneur Days I've known Rhea Perry for over ten years and seen her heart for helping home school families develop an entrepreneurial mindset and start their own family businesses. She also is very concerned that teens are trained to become entrepreneurs. So for the last five or six years Rhea has held "Entrepreneur Days" where she brings together leaders in different businesses and lets them share their secrets.

This August there are two Entrepreneur Days, one in Denver and one in Atlanta, so that means wherever you live in the U.S. you are close enough to come to one of them.

If you want to:

1) Create additional income or replace current monthly income

2) Reduce debt to manage monthly bills

3) Work for yourself instead of for someone else

4) Train your children to own their own business so they can become financially free

5) Create a family business that the whole family can participate in

....then this is the place to go!
Find out more about Rhea's Entrepreneur Days here.




Let Your Mortgage Make You Rich.
A friend in my internet marketing group discovered this technique for paying down your mortgage incredibly quickly without making an extra payment or refinancing. Using her method, people are cutting a 30 year mortgage down to eight or nine years. It’s true; without extra payments or refinancing – you could save tens of thousands of dollars - even hundreds of thousands - on what you pay for your home. And the best part is that the book comes with a money-back guarantee. If you don't save more on your mortgage than the book costs in the first 18 months of using the techniques, you'll get your money back.
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Building the Business of Your Dreams
(8 CD Set)
I've had requests for just the business portion of the From Home School to Home Business Seminar, so have developed a set of the business CDs from that set. It contains 8 CDs and includes sessions on The Entrepreneurial Mind, Multiple Streams of Home Income, Discovering Your Ideal Life and Ideal Business (2 CDs) , Developing a Business Plan (2 CDs), and The Importance of Business Relationships. Plus, there is a very important and insightful interview on Redeeming the Marketplace. Find out about this life-changing set of CDs HERE>>


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Home School Resources

I Saw the Angel in the Marble


With over 4,000 copies sold in just a few months, I Saw the Angel in the Marble is becoming a home schooling best seller!

This book represents the best of 15 years of Elijah Company articles. Find our more HERE>>

Turning Hearts: Davis Seminar Set (8 CDs)

The Best of Chris and Ellyn Davis, this set contains seminars given by Chris and Ellyn Davis of The Elijah Company at home schooling conventions. The set contains all of the favorites that home schoolers ask for over and over. People have told us this set of CDs changed their lives. Find out more about them HERE>>


Angel in the Marble/Davis Seminars Set
Order a combination of I Saw the Angel in the Marble and the Davis Seminars CDs HERE>>


From Home School to Home Business
(14 CD Set)

If you missed one of our From Home School to Home Business Conferences, you missed a great time.People who have attended tell us that it changed their lives—not only in the area of home schooling, but also in the area of creating their own sources of home income.This set is huge and filled with useful and encouraging information about how to be successful at home schooling and at home business! Find out more about this life-changing set of CDs HERE>>


Building the Home School of Your Dreams

Building the Home School of Your Dreams is a 6 CD set taken from the From Home School To Home Business Seminar and features sessions by Chris Davis and Mary Hood. Find out more HERE>>


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